in regard of the Sonnes being Incarnate and taking our nature upon him For this indeed brings in many points to bee beleeved whereof considered onely as the second person in the Trinity there should be no need So as the two Natures in Christ must needs give cause to have more spoken of him then of the holy Ghost that hath but one nature The Doctrine concerning the Holy Ghost hath in all Ages beene most obscure so much that in some Churches it was some time before it was beleeved at all or so much as knowne whether there were a Holy Ghost or no even in these present times the Greeke Church a Church of great extent differs thus from us that where we beleeve the Holy Ghost to proceede from the Father and the Son that Church beleeves the Holy Ghost to proceed from the Father by the Sonne a nice difference in so Incomprehensible a Mystery that there seemes no just cause to lay such Anathemaes as some doe upon that Church for so beleeving If wee should beleeve in the Father and in the Sonne and not beleeve in the Holy Ghost this beliefe would never be sanctified seeing the Holy Ghost onely is the Sanctifier and sanctifies none that beleeve not in him and the beliefe not being sanctified would never bee acceptable to the Father himselfe notwithstanding our beliefe in him And this perhaps was the cause why the Offering of Cain was not accepted because though a Sacrifice yet it wanted a devotion sanctified by the Holy Ghost There is a sinne which is properly called The sinne against the Holy Ghost and for them that commit this sinne we are forbidden to pray a grievous sinne no doubt which stops the current of Charity whose nature is wont to overflow al banks but what the sinne is and by what marks it may certainly be known though a Question much agitated is not yet so fully explicated but that it leaves scruples but whatsoever it is or may be we may be sure that the Not-beleeving in the Holy Ghost is one principall ingredient in it Or rather where a true beleeving in the Holy Ghost is this sinne properly can never bee committed And therefore in making profession of our Faith there is none of all the Articles in the whole Creed that seemes more necessary to be said then this For by saying this Article we make it appeare there can bee no danger in praying for us as not being likely to commit the sin against the Holy Ghost who beleeve in the Holy Ghost But why is it that sinnes committed against the Father or the Sonne shall bee forgiven but a sinne committed against the Holy Ghost shall never bee forgiven neither in this world nor in the world to come Is it not that if a sinne bee committed against the Father or the Sonne the Holy Ghost being the Sanctifier can sanctifie that sinne and make it pardonable but if a sinne bee committed against the Holy Ghost there is none to sanctifie it and not being sanctified it justly exceeds all bounds of Remission O therefore thou blessed God the Holy Ghost Vouchsafe to endue me with a Spirit of sanctification that what other sinnes soever I may happily unhappily commit yet I may never be so unhappy to commit this dreadfull sinne of sinning against thee When we read the order of the Persons in the Trinitie the Father placed first the Sonne second the Holy Ghost last wee must not conceive it as though there were any Priority betweene them in time who are all Go-eternall or any disparity betweene them in dignitie who are all Consubstantiall but that it is an expressing of Order onely to our capacities seeing although they be Three Persons yet they are all but One God All but One in Substance though Three in Subsistence The Incomprehensiblenesse of which Mysterie though it exceed our capacities yet not our Beliefe Or therefore the fitter for beliefe because it exceeds our capacities And now having professed our Beliefe in God the Father God the Sonne and God the Holy Ghost wee may justly conclude and say O Holy Blessed and glorious Trinity Three Persons and One God have mercy upon us miserable sinners And thus is finished the first part of our Creed In whom it is we Beleeve the other part remaines containing What it is we Beleeve For to know In whom to beleeve and not know what to beleeve were to stand at a gaze and bee to seeke when wee come to our lesson Indeede the things wee beleeve have dependance upon the Persons in whom we beleeve and such dependance as without beleeving in those wee cannot truely beleeve these If wee did not beleeve in the Holy Ghost we could not beleeve the Holy Catholike Church nor the Communion of Saints for these are benefits that come by the Holy Ghost And if we did not beleeve in the Son of God Christ Jesus we could not beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes nor the Resurrection of the body for these are benefits that accrue unto us by the Sonne of God Christ Jesus And if we did not beleeve in God the Father we could not beleeve the life Everlasting seeing by him onely it is that we live and have our present being and shall have our eternall being And the first Article of this kinde is this I beleeve the holy Catholike Church I beleeve the Holy Catholike Church I beleeve it in deed but not in it as I doe in God For this is a Priviledge due onely to him and besides if I should beleeve in it I should beleeve partly in my selfe as being a Member of it but I beleeve there is a Holy Catholike Church Holy as in which are the Elect of God and Catholike as in which are of all Nations under heaven and this is not the Church of the Jewes for that Church though at some time it were Holy yet it was never Catholike as being bounded within Canaan but now as the Holy Ghost hath made the Church Holy by sanctifying it so Christ hath made it Catholike by enlarging it for at his comming at least at his going away he broke downe the Partition wall by his last Warrant to the Apostles Goe teach all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost But though Christ set his Church at large yet not long after his time a Sect of Hereticks would needs restraine it againe For Donatus and his followers would perswade the world that as before the true Church was onely in Canaan so now the true Church was onely in Africa but by beleeving the Holy Catholike Church I now disclaime both these Churches the Church of the Jewes as not being Catholike and the Church of the Donatists as being neither Catholike nor Holy But what use is there of this Article May not a Christian man doe well enough and yet leave this Article out of his Creed Indeed there is not onely great use of it but even necessitie For
perhaps that his Fasting and Watching and Scourging the night before had so exceedingly weakened him that he that could beare the burthen of our sinne yet could not heare the burthen of his Crosse but was faine to have Symon of Cyrene to beare it for him and therefore was little better then dead already Or if these were not enough to hasten his death was it not perhaps his own doing who had power to lay downe his life and to take it up againe at his pleasure and therefore dyed the sooner that it might be verified which was Prophesied There shall not a bone of him bee broken For if hee had not dyed when hee did his legges should have beene broken as the two Malefactors were to hasten their death that they might be dead before the Sabbath O deare Jesus what such haste was there for thy death who onely wert worthy never to dye but that by thy death thou hast given us life though all our lives were not worth the hastening it but that thy infinite love never thought it to be haste enough It is an olde Heresie of some that Christ himselfe was not Crucified but Symon of Cyrene in his stead but the Temple and the Sunne make this knowne to bee a Fable For would the Temple have rent in twaine Would the Sunne have beene darkened so long together for Symon of Cyrene No alas too true it is that Christ himselfe was Crucified and woe to us that true it is and yet more woe to us if it were not true but woe of all Woes that true it is in that for us and for our sinnes it was that he was Crucified O my Soule that thou couldst bee alwaies meditating upon this Crucifying of Christ Not that it could be any pleasure to thinke of his being Crucified but the better to make thee apprehend First the great causes of it thy own sinne and his love and then the great effect of it thy Everlasting Redemption for which thou canst never bee enough gratefull if thou bee never so little unmindefull Dead And now having Beleeved that Christ was Crucified our next Beliefe is that hee was Dead and yet how can we Beleeve that hee could Dye For is not Death the Wages of Sinne and could hee receive the Wages that had not done the Service Had committed no sinne But is it not that hee dyed not for any sinne he committed himselfe but for the sinnes of others which he tooke upon him Even as a Surety payes the Penaltie of a Debt that was none of his owne And this reason the Prophet Daniel gives where hee saith Messiah shall bee slaine not for himselfe but for his people to make reconciliation for their Iniquities and to bring in Everlasting Salvation And here appeares another reason why Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate For the same Prophet Daniel fore-sheweth That after seven weekes and threescore and two weekes from the going forth of the Commandem at to restore and build Hierâ—salem Messiah shall bee slaine Which being computed according to 〈◊〉 Prophets sense agreeth just with the time that Pontius Pilate was Governour in Judea And thus as in the Article before the Virgin Mary was justly mentioned to shew that Christ was the true Messiah by the circumstance of his Discent So in this Article Pontius Pilate is justly mentioned to shew that Christ is the true Messiah by the circumstance of the time And for whose sinne was it then that Christ dyed O my Soule this Question reflects upon thee for amongst others even for thine Thy sinnes were the cause that Christ was Crucified Thy sinnes the cause that Christ Dyed and Alas will be the cause to make him Dye continually if continued that if there bee any sparke of Grace if any life of the Spirit at all in thee thou wilt now at last dye to those sinnes that made him to Dye and every nayle that fastned him to his Crosse will bee a nayle to peirce thy heart But if wee Beleeve that Christ was Dead will wee fix our Beliefe upon a Dead man Can we hope for Life from him who was Dead himselfe Indeed therefore we hope for life from him because he was dead himselfe For if hee had not Dyed we could not have Lived seeing hee therefore Dyed that hee might Redeeme us from Death as it is said of him Thou wast slaine and hast redeemed us to God by thy bloud For though hee were now dead yet hee continued not dead long but after three dayes wee shall heare of his rising to life againe and then wee shall heare him say I am hee that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore But howsoever now dead he is and with him is dead all our joy and all our comfort but where is the Lamentation that is made for his death David when he heard Absolon was dead cryed out Oâ— Absolon my Sonne would to God I had dyed for thee my sonne Absolon but where is any now he heares Christ is dead that crieth out O deare Jesus would to God I had dyed for thee most deare Jesus And is it not a grievous thing that David should more lament the death of a wicked Sonne then we should lament the death of the Sonne of God and by whom we are made the Sonnes of God Is it not a shame that a Heathen should say of a Heathen In ignem posita est fletur and that we hearing Christ to be dead should not affoord him so much as a teare Alas it were well if we would floore him but the common office of Humanity to see him Buried but where are they should doe it His friends have all forsaken him Not an Apostle now that will be seen about him even Peter himself that had made such Protestations what great matters he would doe for his sake is slunke away and gone perhaps to looke after the Sheepe committed to his charge never regarding what became of the Shepherd and if it had not beene for one good man the blessed Joseph of Arimathea God knowes what Indignities they might have offered to his Sacred Body being dead who had so vilely abused it being alive But thou blessed Joseph hadst the bâ—lâ—â—esse to begge his Body of Pilate Thoâ— tookest it downe from the â—â—resse Thou wâ—ap'dst it Linnen Cloathes and laid'st it in a Sepulchre where never man was laid that as his Bodie at first came out of a Virgins Wombe so now at last it is laid in a Virgine Tombe thereby perhaps in mysterie to honour Virginity both in Life and Death And thou blessed Joseph for this thy pious Fact shalt live in the memories of men as long as there shall be memories in men and thy name shall bee had in everlasting remembrance It may be thought no great matter what becomes of the Body when the Soule is out of it For lay it where you will or lay it how you will it turnes to Dust and yet I know not how there seemes to
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
last day And in another place This is the Will of him that sent mee that every one that seeth the Sonne and beleeveth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day And now if we be satisfied of his Will shall we fall back againe into a relapse of doubting his Power But alas is it any hard matter for God to make the same body again which hee had made once before Or is it harder for him to make a Body the same it was before then it was to make it at first when it was not at all Is it not easier for God to make a Body out of something then it was at first to make it out of nothing Is it any hard matter for God to reduce all Bodies to their first Elements and then to mixe and compound them againe as he did at first When our Bodies were first made they were made but of dust and when they are dead they shall but be turned into dust and cannot God take the same dust to make the same body againe as well now as hee did then What though it bee scattered about in a thousand places is distance of place any thing to God who is equally in all places at once Is it hard for God to know which is the proper dust of every particular Body and to give to every one their own dust whose knowledge extends to count the just number of the sand and to call all the stars of Heaven by their names Is there any dust upon the Earth any mote in the Sun which God hath not made And if hee have made them all by his power shall he not dispose of them all at his pleasure If by onely saying Congregentur Aquae God made the great Ocean which we cannot look upon without wonder Can he not as well by onely saying Congregetur Pulvis make the dust of all Bodies come together again that every Body may be the very same Bodie it was before Say a Body be devoured of Beasts be eaten of Fishes so as by digestion it become a part of their Bodies say it suffer never so many alterations yet all those alterations shall be resolved at last into the same dust it was at first and cannot God of the same dust make the same Body againe as well now as he did before God of nothing made the dust of the Earth and of that dust the Body of man and though the dust which was made of nothing shall returne againe to nothing yet the Body of man that was made of dust shall never returne to lesse then dust and to so little should never have returned neither if God for mans transgression had not denounced against him Pulvis es in pulverem reverteris If then Gods saying Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt returne have been the cause of the Bodies returning to dust why shall not his saying A Body thou art and a Body thou shalt rise againe be as well a cause of the Resurrection of the body And now if we be satisfied of his power shall wee fall back againe into a relapse of doubting his Will But why did God make the Body of man of dust where he made the bodies of Beasts of nothing but because the bodies of Beasts shall returne againe to nothing where the Body of man shall never returne but into dust that out of that dust it may rise againe to be the same Body it was before Why did God make the Body of man himselfe where he commanded the Earth to bring forth the Bodies of other Creatures but because he meant it a further preservation then hee meant other creatures and what further preservation if the body did not rise againe And if now againe we bee satisfied of his Will shall wee fall backe into another relapse of doubting his power Cannot God doe as much upon a sudden as Nature can doe with Time Though Nature must have nine Moneths lying in the Mothers wombe before it can make a mans Body perfit yet God made Adam a perfect Body in an Instant and could he transcend Nature then and can he not now Is he growne to bee as impotent as Nature able to doe no more then what naturally may be done What though the world doubt it and Sadducees deny it shall we rather assent to them then say with Job Though wormes destroy this Body yet I shall see God in my Flesh And if see God in his Flesh then must his Body rise againe that hee may have Eyes to see him And as these be some reasons of many to shew that the Resurrection of the body may be So there are other reasons as strong to shew that it shall and must be When Moses met Christ on the Mount how came hee by his Body againe which had beene dead and buried many hundred yeares before How came those men by their bodies againe who having beene dead and buried arose at the time of Christs rising and appeared unto many in the Holy Citie When Christ at the last day shall say Venite Benedicti Patris Come yee Blessed of my Father hee shal not say it to the soule alone nor to the body alone but to the whole man and if to the whole man then must the body bee joyned to the soule againe that it may be a whole man but no such conjunction if no Resurrection of the Body Is not Christ our head and we his members and if hee Ascended up to Heaven in body and soule must not we that are his members doe the like But no such Ascension if no Resurrection of the body Hath not Christ promised That wee shall sit with him at his Table and eate and drinke with him in his Fathers Kingdome But no such Eating and Drinking if no Resurrection of the Body When Christ in the Gospel meant to confute the Sadducees denying the Resurrection hee used this Argument Have ye not read what God said to Moses in the Bush I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaak and the God of Jakob God is not the God of the dead but of the living and with this Argument he put them to silence But how their Errour is confuted by this Argument or how this Argument proves the Resurrection of the Body is not easie to bee perceived It seemes the Argument is not so much ad Rem as ad Hominem though it prove not directly the Resurrection of the body yet it proves it sufficiently against the Sadduces who therefore denyed the Resurrection of the body because they beleeved not the immortality of the soule and this Argument proving directly the immortality of the soule proves sufficiently against them the Resurrection of the body Or is it perhaps meant thus God is the God of Abraham but Abraham is not the soule onely but the whole man and therefore the Body of Abraham though now dead must of necessity bee raised to life againe seeing God is not the God
rising seeing hee therefore did rise that hee might be Primitiae resurgentium The first fruits of them that rise but the first Fruits he could not be if others did not rise as well as hee And therefore having beleeved in an Article before that Christ rose from the dead this Article of our own rising is but Ex Abundanti more then needed but that the difficulty of beleeving it requires as it were a double Buttresse to strengthen our Faith There are some perhaps that look for Naturall reasons to prove Demonstratively the Resurrection of the body but is not their expectation very unjust to expect Naturall reasons to prove a thing that is not Naturall If Naturall reasons could be given of it it should be fitter for the Metaphysicks then a Creed and as able to breed a Knowledge as Beliefe Our Reason onely helps us thus farre to make us know there is something left for Beliefe which Reason cannot reach to and of this nature is the Resurrection of the body our Beliefe shall then be turned into knowledge when we shall come to have experience of it in the meane time wee must content our selves with Beleeving it And O my Soule doe thou beleeve it indeed and be most assured that though thy Body leave thee for a time and bee laid in dust and bee turned to dust yet it will not bee long ere it shall rise and bee joyned with thee againe as now it is but in a far happier condition then now it is Not stubborne and restiffe then but tractable and obsequious not earthly and lumpish then but Aery and light and indeed such a body it shall be as thou wouldst wish it to be Not subject to diseases Not weary with labours Not itching with lust Not drowsie with sleep Not hungring after meat and which is most of all where now it takes upon it to be thy Master It shall then be content to be thy servant but such a servant as shall therefore serve thee because thou servest God For it is sowne a Naturall body it shall bee raised up a spirituall Body It is sowne in corruption it shall be raysed in incorruption the same body in substance that now it is but endued with Spirituall and better qualities Many questions are here moved by the Schoolmen as whether the bodies of Abortives which were never borne but dyed in their Mothers wombes shall be partakers of the Resurrection seeing though they never came to see the light yet they had beene once alive and quicke Then whether bodies shall arise of the same age and stature at which they died as Infants at the stature and age of Infants and others at their severall statures and ages Or else shall all rise at a perfect age and stature because of the words of Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians Till we all come unto a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulnes of Christ Then whether bodies shall arise with the same deformities and defects which they had living as Crooked Lame Blinde or otherwise mutilation of Members seeing Christ arose with the same wounds which he received when his body was pierced with the Speare And many such questions moved more out of vaine curiosity then tending to Edification and which perhaps may probabably be argued as having coulours on both sides but can never directly be defined as having warrant on either side Reason may make conjectures of it but Faith will build no certainty on it It may bee sufficient for us to beleeve that the bodies of all men shall rise at the last day and stand at the Tribunall of Christ who shall come from Heaven to judge the Quick and the Dead And now having beleeved the two Articles that properly relate to the Sonne of God Christ Jesus the Forgivenesse of sinnes and the Resurrection of the Bodie It followes fitly to beleeve the Article that properly relates to God the Father The life Everlasting and it followes not onely fitly but very necessarily For if we should not adde the life Everlasting it might be thought that our Resurrection were but like theirs who rose at the time of Christs rising and appeared to many in the Holy City who rose indeede but then died againe at least who can tell what became of them and so our Beliefe should cast Anchor in a very unsafe harbour but now by adding the life Everlasting we make the Resurrection of our Bodies a perpetuity and beleeve they shall rise againe never any more to dy And indeed how can it be otherwise seeing there never was but one sentence of death denounced against man and that sentence once executed by his dying once there is no new sentence of dying any more and therefore the Body being beleeved to be raised from the dead the life Everlasting will bee beleeved of course Death indeede is a debt due to nature and a debt that nature lookes to have payd but yet nature is not so unjust to looke that a debt should be payd her more then once and therefore the body having payd the debt once by dying once if it can get to rise againe and live it will not be then in natures debt any more and therefore cannot naturally dy any more but shall live for ever But why is there no mention made in our Creed of the Immortality of the soule that of this poynt there might be left no scruple for as long as this is in sufpence wee shall necessarily fall into the errour of the Sadduces and never beleeve the Resurrection of the body Is it not that the Immortalitie of the soule is therefore not made an Article of our Creed because it is not so properly credible Per fidem as demonstrable per artem there being so apparent reasons for it that even the Heathen themselves have not denyed it and one of their owne Poets could say Parte tamen meliore mei super acta perennis Astra forar meaning his soule Besides what need is there of mentioning it when it is sufficiently intimated or included rather in these two last Articles For if we beleeve the resurrection of the body we cannot doubt of the Immortality of the soule seeing the body cannot rise without the soule and if we beleeve the life Everlasting we cannot but beleeve the soule to bee Immortall seeing without the soule there can be no life at all And now wee are come to the last Article of our Creed which may well bee the last seeing it brings us to that which is Everlasting And here it may not be unfit to examine a little the extent of this Everlasting life seeing it is not momentary and fading as our present life is but continuing and lasting without having any lâ—st that if we say it shall last a Thousand years if a million of thousand years if so many millions of thousand yeares as there are sands in the sea although an infinite incomprehensible extent of time yet wee shall
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
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
mention made of the Virgin Mary Is it not enough to beleeve that Christ was borne of a Virgin but there must be added the Virgin Mary Indeed it is added very justly for by this it appeares that Christ was Descended of the Lynage of David his Mother being of the same Lynage as the Prophets had foretold the true Christ should bee and this is no small strengthening to our Beliefe that Christ is the true Messias But how is it like that Mary was a Virgine when shee had a Husband at least how can wee beleeve shee was a Virgin when shee had a Child Is it not that her Marriage was Inchoate indeed but not Consummate shee was Desponsata but not Nupta shee was not Married And therefore Espoused that there might bee One to take care of her and her Childe when it should be borne But why should her Husband take care of a Childe that was none of his owne might he not rather justly suspect her to have played false with him and therefore rather put her to shame at least put her from him then to take her to him It is indeed a hard matter to make one beleeve that a woman should have a Childe and not accompany with man but as it was the Holy Ghost that wrought the conception of Christ in his Mothers Wombe so it was the Holy Ghost that wrought this Beliefe in the minde of her husband Joseph that the Angell told him true when he said unto him Feare not Joseph to take Mary thy wife For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost And though shee were the Mother of a Childe yet she continued a Virgin still For neither the conception of Christ nor the Birth of Christ did abrogate her Virginitie but rather made her if not a more Virgin at least a pureâ— Virgin then shee was before For such is the purity of Christs Body that it makes all passages the â—urer by which it passeth and therefore it may bee piouslâ— beleeved and without Hyperbole that as she was Virgo ante partum so shee was Virgo in partu and Virgo post partum a Virgin before the Birth and in the Birth and after the Birth for though shee had Purification yet that perhaps was but as Christ had Baptisme to fulfill all righteousnesse And as Christ was conceived of Mary without sinne so Mary was Delivered of Christ without paine for it was but just that she who brought him forth that Freed mankind from the generall Curse should in bringing him forth bee Freed her selfe from the particular Curse laid upon Woman-kind which was That in sorrow they should bring forth Children But if Jesus Christ were Borne of the Virgin Mary how could he be the Sonne of the Virgin foretold by the Prophet Esay For the Sonne of that Virgin was to be called Immanuell and not Jesus where this Sonne of the Virgin Marie was called Jesus and not Immanuell But is it not that Immanuell was not properly meant a Name of Appellation but of Act and then was the Name Acted when the Sonne of God tooke Flesh and was Incarnate For being the Son of God and taking our nature upon him he was God with us and to be God with Us was to be Immanuell Blessed Marie what Tongue can expresse thy Happinesse in thy selfe thy glory in the world to have thy Body nine moneths together be made a Heaven for the Son of God to dwell in to have thy Wombe bee the sacred Bed for the Holy Ghost to overshadow and more then both these to have the Sonne of God to bee thy Sonne and take Flesh of thy Flesh and Bone of thy Bone that all our Affinitie now to Heaven must be attributed to thee that our flesh which was never before without sinne is now made as pure as when it was first made must bee attributed to thee and more then Both these that our Flesh is now exalted up to Heaven must bee attributed to thee that Christ sitteth at the Right hand of his Father to bee our Advocate must be attributed to thee and therefore all Generations shall justly call thee Blessed justly thou mayest say Thy Soule doth magnifie the Lord and thy Spirit rejoyceth in God thy Saviour For if ever Soule had cause to Magnifie the Lord If ever Spirit had cause to rejoyce in God It is Thine It is Thine most Blessed most Glorious and most to bee Admired Marie Suffered under Pontius Pilate After we have Beleeved that Christ was Borne of the Virgin Marie It followes next that we Beleeve Hee suffered under Pontius Pilate But what Suffered as soone as hee was borne Indeed as all of us beginne our life with Crying which is an effect of Suffering and bring this Omen with us into the world of the miseries that are to follow So Christ was more like to doe it then any other who was Vir Dolorum a man of sorrowes all his life long but yet this is not the suffering that is here meant For the suffering heere spoken of was under Pontius Pilate which was not till many yeares after the time of Christs birth Was it then that hee was smitten and buffeted had a Crown of Thornes platted upon his Head was mocked and scourged under Pontius Pilate Great suffrings all yet neither were these the Suffering that is heere meant but as we use to say when men are Executed and put to death that then they suffer so the suffering here meant was his Executing and putting to Death as Christ himselfe calleth it where he saith I have desired to eate this Passeover with you before I suffer which was done also under Pontius Pilate at that time Governour for the Romanes in Hierusalem But though it bee necessary to beleeve that Christ suffered yet why is it necessary to beleeve that he suffered under Pontius Pilate Indeede because there were many afterwards that tooke upon them to be Christ as Christ had fore-told that many should come in his Name saying I am Christ But wee acknowledge none of them to be the true Christ but Him onely that suffered under Pontius Pilate We have here an Example what little good there is in good Intentions if they bee not followed home to their full period for a good Intention in Pilate for want of pursuing cost Christ a scourging more then otherwise perhaps hee should have had for out of a desire to save his life he caused him to bee scourged hoping in a good intention it would have passed with the Jewes for a satisfying punishment but when his scourging would not serve their turnes nor pacifie their malice he then left pursuing his good intention and delivered him into their hands to be put to death Unhappy Pilate that seeking to doe him good didst him hurt and thinking to save his life didst adde a scourging to his death What ill lucke hadst thou to bee a Governour at this time thereby to be made a Minister of so fowle a
there might be time sufficient for his soules triumphing Nor latter that there might not be time sufficient for his bodies corrupting Not sooner then the third day that hee might not abolish the old Sabbath upon the old Sabbath Nor later that he might not leave the world without a Sabbath for if hee had not risen till the fourth day then had the third day beene neither Sabbath-day nor working-day Not a Sabbath because hee was not then risen whose onely rising made the new Sabbath not a working-day because but one day by it selfe and none of the six that were at first ordained to bee working-dayes And now is performed the thing signified of which Jonas was the signe for as Jonas went down into the Whales belly and after three dayes was cast out safe upon the shoare So Christ having descended into the Whales belly of Hell was the third day set a shore on the earth and rose from the dead Now is verified the saying of Christ at which the Jewes tooke such scandall Destroy yee the Temple and in three dayes I will build it up againe For when the Jewes had destroyed the sacred Temple of his Body by putting him to death upon the Crosse in three dayes he built it up againe and rose from the dead And now was verified the Prophecie That the glory of the second Temple should bee greater then that of the former For so was Christs body being risen from the dead farre more glorious then the body in which he dyed And now the third day being come hee rose from the dead but why from the dead For onely his body from the dead his soule from Hell and why then from the dead rather then from Hell Is not the rising of his soule as worthy of our beliefe as the rising of his body And why then not as well mentioned as the rising of his body But is it not that to say he rose from the dead includes them both seeing his body could not rise without his soule besides it more concernes us to say hee rose from the dead then to rise from hell because to rise from the dead is our owne case but to rise from Hell is never like to be the case of any but onely of himselfe Neither indeed can it properly be said He rose from Hell seeing there can bee no rising where there was not a falling first but though his soule descended into Hell yet it fell not in Hell as his body did by death and therefore proper onely to say Hee rose from the Dead and not from Hell Never Cordiall was more comfortable to a fainting spirit then this Article is to us The Article before put us almost cleane out of heart For if his being dead and buried touched us so very neerely how could his descending into Hell but touch us to the very quick But now this Article of his rising from the dead puts new life into us seeing by this we are assured not only of the greatnesse of his power that could so easily vanquish Death and Hell but of the greatnesse of his love that as hee did it for our sakes so for our comfort he would come againe to let us know it And indeed though Christ did well enough himselfe with his descending into Hell yet we for our parts could never well brooke this Article for two unpleasing words that are in it Hell and Descending extreamely distastfull both For Hell is a terrour and Descending a disgrace but now this Article of his Rising cheeres us up againe for Hell is no terrour to him that can vanquish it and Descending is no disgrace to him that can rise againe and indeed there is nothing that more pleaseth us then rising For as long as we be rising wee can never doe amisse as the word never gives offence so the action never takes hurt and specially if wee rise as Christ did from the dead For how much the place from which wee rise is more hatefull so much the rising it selfe is more gratefull and seeing nothing is more hatefull then death therefore nothing is more gratefull then rising from the Dead But though Christ continued longer dead then his Disciples could have wished yet hee rose sooner from the Dead then perhaps they expected and perhaps they expected not he should rise at all For if Mary Magdalene had beleeved that Christ should rise againe would shee have come to the Sepulchre with Spices to Embalme him But how is it true that Christ did rise the third day when it appeares he rose before it was day For the Sunne was not risen when Christ rose and it is the rising of the Sunne that makes it day But though the Sunne were not risen yet it was upon rising and that was enough to denominate it day And besides before the Sun riseth there is alwaies a Diluculum a day-breake and that certainely enough to make it bee called Day But it seems it is meant in the Gospell to expresse not only that it was the third day but what time of the third day it was when Christ arose And indeed whether wee take the day after the account of the Jewes who begin their day at Sun setting or after the account of the Romans who begin their day at Midnight as we do in both the accounts it was the third day and then the Sun rising was the time of the day in which he rose But why then would Mary Magdalene come no sooner with her Spices seeing by this account the Sabbath day that had hindred her was ended long before Was it not that if shee had gone sooner shee must have gone by darke and could shee in the darke have done the worke shee went about And to have gone by candle-light would have bred suspition The Watchmen then might justly have said His Disciples came by night and stole him away but now shee tooke advantage of the first light to bee going to the Sepulchre as Christ may be thought at the same time to bee rising from the Sepulchre and perhaps it was but the distance of place that made the difference of time betweene her comming and his rising and it was well there was that difference of time For if shee had come sooner shee had found Christ lying dead in his grave still and to have Embalmed him then with her Spices might have brought imputation upon his Resurrection have made it be thought that the vertue of her Spices had revived him and therefore to prevent this scandall Christ was up before Mary Magdalen came and as soone as the third day affoorded but any dawning of light for where Saint John saith While it was yet darke is but a phrase of expressing It was not broad day-light He rose from the Dead And is there not in this a Mystery May we not say that Christ would not rise but with the rising of the Sunne because the Sunne could not rise but with the rising of Christ For as when Christ left his life
the innumerable number of persons that must make their appearance there scarse the whole earth would be roome enough to make a Sessions-house for such a company unlesse perhaps by the like miracle as is said to have beene usuall in the Jewish Synagogue that when the people kneeled downe there was roome enough in the Temple to hold them all but when they stood up they were fain many of them to goe out of the Temple for want of roome when yet kneeling downe must needs take up more roome then standing up But though we know not either at what time or to what place hee shall come yet we beleeve to what purpose hee shall come For hee shall come to judge the quicke and the dead The quick those whom hee shall finde alive at his comming and the dead those who dyed before his comming Or the quicke those that are alive in grace and the dead them that are dead in sin But not to judge the dead while they are dead for so they should not bee able to answer for themselves which cannot stand with the justice of so righteous a Judge but at his comming at the sound of a Trumpet The Sea and the Earth shall give up their dead and they shall all arise and stand at his Tribunall to receive their sentence of pardon or condemnation according to their works And oh how terrible will that day be For if the day were terrible in which the Law was given so terrible that Mount Sinai was all of a smoake how terrible will that day bee in which the transgressors of the Law shall all be brought to receiue their Triall If the day were terrible which was a day of grace how terrible will the day be which shall be a day of punishment O my soule let the remembrance of this Article be never out of thy minde and if at any time thou find in thy selfe either suggestions of Satan or motions to sinne then thinke upon this Article and when thou thinkest upon it beleeve it and be most assured that there shall most certainly bee a day of judgement in which all thoughts of the heart though never brought forth in words shall bee discovered all actions of life though never so secretly done shall all be laid open and judgement shall be given upon them all without favour or partialitie And let us not flatter our selves in security because he who is now our Advocate shall be then our Judge but rather consider that though hee be now a Lambe he will then be found to be a Lyon Demonstravit potentiam qui demonstravit patientiam and let us prepare our selves against that day in feare and trembling and let us send up strong cries to him that as the good Thiefe obtained to be remembred of him when he came into his kingdome so wee may obtaine of him to be remembred in mercy when he comes to judgement Before wee leave this Article there is one observation which may not be omitted that this Article is of a different making from all the rest all the other might bee made by Apostles but this seemes rather to bee made by a Prophet For our beliefe in it is Propheticall and tells what Christ will doe in time to come Indeed none of the Articles concerning Christ are in the Future tense but onely this as none of them is in the Present tense but onely the next before He fitteth at the right hand of his Father all the other Articles are in the Preter perfect tense and speake of the time past even from his conception to his ascending into Heaven in the Preterperfect tense all but once ascended into Heaven where all time is Present no more Preterperfect tense then no more mention of time past and therefore our Article turnes Present too He sitteth at the right hand of his Father and there should sit and enjoy his Present tense and time for ever if it were not for us but as once before for our sakes hee left Heaven and came downe to redeeme us so once againe for our sakes hee will leave Heaven and come downe to judge us For without judging he could not come to rewarding No comming to Venite benedicti Patris Come yee blessed of my Father untill hee have judged first and without comming to this Venite all that went before would come to nothing And therefore all the benefit of these Preterperfect tenses consists in this Future all the harvest I may say of the other Articles is reaped in this last that Christ shall come to judge the quick and the dead O therefore my soule be carefull to lead thy life so in this present world that thou maist not bee afraid of his comming to judgement because of Ite maledicti in ignem aeternum Goe yee cursed into everlasting fire but maist rather rejoyce at his comming because of Venite benedicti Patris Come yee blessed of my Father For as that Ite will pay them home for all the pleasures of a wicked life So this Venite will make amends for all the pressures of a wretched life and indeed without the benefit of this Venite all the delights and pleasures the world can afford will prove but as Naboths Vineyard to Ahab Corosives in the end And now having beleeved in the first and second Person of the Trinity I beleeve in the Holy Ghost the Father and the Son if wee should not beleeve in the third Person the Holy Ghost wee should doe him great wrong and our selves more seeing it hath been through him and by his assistance that we have beleeved in thē For as it is true that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son so it is true that beleeving in the Father the Son proceeds from the Holy Ghost For beleeving being a work of Faith and Faith a worke of Sanctification and Sanctification a worke of onely the Holy Ghost how should wee come to beleeving but by the Holy Ghost And it is indeed for this that he hath his Name to be called the Holy Ghost or Spirit Not but that the Father and the Sonne are both Holy and Spirits as well as he but because it is properly Hee that inspires our mindes with all good thoughts and holy desires And now my soule while I beleeve in the Father as the author of my Creation and in the Sonne as the author of my Redemption and in the Holy Ghost as the author of my Regeneration that all the Persons in the Deity may have their severall operations in me and bestow their severall gifts upon me will there not be cause of my thankefulnesse to every one of them and of returning to every one of them all praise and glory who are all of them but one But why is there so much spoken of Christ and so little of the Holy Ghost being a Person in the Trinity as well as hee Is it not that there is more spoken of the Sonne then of the Holy Ghost
seeing there is no salvation out of the Catholike Church what assurance could I have of my salvation if I did not beleeve that there is a Catholike Church How can I beleeve my selfe to be a member of that Body which I doe not beleeve to bee For this Holy Catholike Church is the number of all those whō God hath Predestinated and Elected and though the Catholike Church may have in it errours and perhaps Heresies yet the Holy Catholike Church can have none in it but Orthodoxe and true beleevers For it is as the Arke of Noah to save all that beleeve the comming of the Flood but unbeleevers are all excluded from entring into it It is as the Corporation of the Citizens of the New Hierusalem in which whose names are not Enrolled and none are Enrolled that beleeve not they can bee no partakers of the Heavenly Priviledges of which Salvation is the chiefest If there were not a Holy Cathotholike Church then Christ should be a Shepherd without a Flocke then God the Father should bee a King without a People then the Holy Ghost should bee a guide and have none to lead but the Two first of these are assured us by Christ where he saith Feare not little Flock For it is your Fathers pleasure to give you a kingdome and the last where hee saith Hee will send the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth Therefore there is an Holy Catholike Church which he that beleeves not is not of it and not being of it can have no hope of salvation by it To be Holy and Catholike are indeed the proper Caracters of a Christian Church the first representation whereof was then when at Pentecost there met at Hierusalem of all Nations under heaven Parthyans and Medes and Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia and Judea in Cappadocia Pontus and Asia Phrygia and Pamphylia in Aegypt and in the parts of Lybia and sirangers of Rome Jewes and Proselites Creetes and Arabians For here was no bounding within Canaan no bounding within Africa but the Church was made apparent by plurality of Nations to bee Catholike and by visible graces to be Holy This Church therefore I beleeve to be holy yet not holy in perfection but tending to perfection and justly called holy for its Inchoation and I beleeve it to bee Catholike but Catholike in doctrine not in discipline and therefore the rule of it as concerning doctrine is this Quod ab omnibus Quod ubique Quod semper For if it be not ab Omnibus It is not Catholike in Persons if not Vbique not Catholike in place if not Semper not Catholike in time and all these must concurre to make the Church be Catholik in Doctrin In Discipline not so for there neither ab omnibus nor ubique nor semper is required but it may be various and diverse according to the diversity of Time and Place and yet in doctrine bee the Catholike Church For Discipline is but onely Ecclesiasticall where Doctrine is divine This Article bindes my beliefe to no particular Church as it is a particular but as it is a Member of the Catholike For take it by it selfe without considering it as a Member of the Catholike Church and it is not so properly a Church as a Conventicle which though I cannot deny but it may be Holy at least in a Morall holinesse yet I can deny that I am bound to beleeve it to be holy because I am bound to beleeve no true holinesse to bee out of the Catholike Church This Catholike Church is a Schoole of instruction to teach us as much as we are bound to know and a Rule of direction to informe us as much as wee are bound to beleeve if it were but onely what Saint Thomas saith this might make us doubt of Christs resurrection or if it were but onely what Saint Peter saith this might make us incline to comply with the Jewes but when it is that which all the Apostles with one consent say this is the voice of the Catholike Church and can never make us to goe astray And therfore to this Church I submit all my faculties both my understanding to her decrees and my will to her counsels and make account that if I know any thing and not of her instruction it will prove but falsehood if doe any thing and not by her direction it will prove but folly For this that Spouse of Christ of which it is said Thou art all faire and there is no spot in thee Oh then let not me beginne to make any spot in the face of thy Spouse O Lord but so purge me with Hysope that though I be not pure yet I may bee cleane at least not so foule to defile others nor deserve with Miriam to be put out of the campe of thy Militant Church but may come to thy Triumphant As therefore this Article is the first of all we have to beleeve so let it have the honor that is due to the first and have the highest place in our beliefe For indeed all the Articles that follow are but as flowres that grow in the garden of this Catholike Church The Communion of Saints as the flowre of Charitie The forgivenesse of sinnes as the flowre of Faith The resurrection of the body as the flowre of Hope and the life everlasting as the flowre of reward if I may not rather say as the whole nosegay of all the other flowres together seeing in this they have all their smels united into one fragrant odour Charity raised to perfection Faith turned into love and Hope into enjoying But what should be the cause why amongst these Articles that are to be beleeved there is no mention at all made of the Scriptures For seeing we are commanded to search the Scriptures No doubt it is required wee should beleeve the Scriptures and if we should beleeve them why are they left out in the Article of our beliefe Is it not that these were Articles of Beliefe for a Christian man before any Gospell of Christ was written and how then could they have any place in the Creed when they had not as yet any being in the world For the life and doctrine of Christ was published by word before it was recorded by writing and the Apostles preached it before the Evangelists writ it and this Creede being a Breviate and summe of that which was preached who can tell but it may bee more antient then that which is written at least being the substance of them both what more is it to beleeve the Scripture then the Creed And then what neede is there to have them named when they are exprest And as for the words of Christ Scrutamini Scripturas Search the Scriptures or yee search the Scriptures if we extend them no further then Christ spake them we may be farre enough off from beleeving the Gospel For Christ spake then but of the Olde Testament and not of the New which at that time was none For
remedy and so between the little knowing of sinne and the little acknowledging of sinne the beliefe of this Article is in no little danger to be very little only Faith stands in the breach and supplies all defects and it is the worke of Faith and indeed of a great Faith that can truly say I beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes There have been Hereticks of old who held this opinion that no fins should be forgiven that were committed after Baptisme and they grounded their opinion upon the saying of Saint Paul If wee sinne wilfully after we have received knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for sinnes and grounding themselves upon this Text they would neither Baptise others nor be Baptized themselves till in their old age making account that Age having repulsed in them inordinate desires they might safely then bee Baptized without feare of committing any wilfull sinnes afterward But would any man beleeve that men of common sense could ever fall into so grosse an errour especially having heard it said At what time soever a sinner repenteth him of his sinnes I will put all his wickednesse out of my remembrance saith the Lord. That we may see it is not time that prejudiceth Gods forgivenesse whether before Baptisme or after whether sooner or latter but come at any time and bring Repentance and God at no time will be wanting to Forgivenesse For as it is mercy in God which is the motive to us to Beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes so it is Repentance in us that is the motive to God to Forgive us our sinnes But why is the Forgivenes of sins put here inter Credenda amongst things to be Beleeved and not rather inter Agenda amongst things to be done seeing to Remission of sinnes there belongs Repentance a thing to bee done and without Repentance no forgivenesse Is it not that forgivenesse of sinnes is an effect of Faith and therefore justly placed amongst things to be Beleeved and though Repentance be necessary to come in the Recre yet Faith must lead the Vant-gaurd and have the Preceedence For if Faith goe not before Repentance will not follow indeed cannot follow seeing without Faith It is impossible to please God And now my soule observe the great extent of this Article it keeps mee from sinning against the Holy Ghost whilst I beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes by his inspiring it appeaseth the wrath of God the Father whilst I beleeve the forgivenesse in onely his mercy It glorifies his Sonne Christ Jesus whilst I beleeve Gods mercy through onely his Merits that seeing this Article is reguardant to all the Persons in the Trinity I may hope that by beleeving it all the Persons in the Trinity will be reguardant upon me and specially the Sonne For indeed this Article and the next that followes are two flowres I may say that grow upon the very Grave of Christ For as there is no Forgivenes of sinnes but onely by the vertue of his death so there is no Resurrection of the body but onely by the operation of his Rising from the Dead And thus farre wee are brought by this flower of Faith I beleeve the Forgivenes of sinnes The next is the flower of Hope The Resurrection of the Body by which wee Beleeve the Resurrection of the Body and it followes indeed very fitly for seeing the body dyed not at first but by reason of sinne what should hinder if sinne bee forgiven but that the bodie should rise againe and returne to life This indeed is a flower something hard of growing but 〈◊〉 growne sends forth a most 〈◊〉 savour and as of all the Articles in the Creed there is none more hard to be beleeved so once beleeved there is none that ministers greater comfort For what need I care though my body bee laid in the grave and bee turned to dust so long as I am sure and undoubtedly beleeve that hereafter it shall rise againe and bee in the same but a better state then now it is In the same for substance but in a better for quallities and endowments If there were no Resurrection of the body then neither the godly should have Reward in their Bodies nor the wicked Punished but seeing both the godly shall bee Rewarded in their Bodies and the wicked Punished therefore there shall bee a Resurrection of the Body This Article no doubt is hard to be beleeved For who would beleeve there should be Regressus a corruptione ad generationem a privatione ad habitum a going backe from Corruption to Generation from Privation to Habit a thing impossible in Nature and improbable in Reason yet this impossibility in Nature this improbality in Reason must be beleeved before wee can beleeve the Resurrection of the Body Who would beleeve that a Body consumed to dust and that dust scattered by the wind into a thousand places should ever be brought together againe to be the same body it was before who would believe that a Body devoured perhaps by wild beasts perhaps eaten by Fishes and by digestion become a part of those Beasts or Fishes should ever returne to be the Body of a man againe as it had beene before Indeed none would beleeve it that looked only upon the power of Nature as were ledde only with the light of Reason but when we looke upon a Power that is stronger then Nature and are led by a Light that is brighter then Reason what should hinder why we should not beleeve it Shall we not beleeve the Resurrection of the body because we know not by what wayes it shall bee raysed Is it not enough that we know the power of Gods wayes but that we must also know the waies of his Power Doe we know how the body at first is formed in the Mothers wombe and would we looke to know how it shall bee formed the second time in the wombe of the Earth Have wee professed by the first Article of our Creed that God is Almighty and will we not allow him to do the works of an Almighty Doe we beleeve that nothing is impossible for God to doe and yet thinke there is this thing which he cannot doe Looke upon the Corne when it is cast into the earth and after a few daies you shall see it to bee nothing but as a kind of corruption and yet of that corruption doth God make the same Corne to spring up againe and to bee as flourishing as it had beene before and if God doe this in the Corne shall hee not as well doe it in our bodies But it is not perhaps that wee doubt of his Power but of his Will seeing his Will is not alwaies to doe all hee can And can we doubt of his Will his Will so often revealed to us in his Word so firmely assured to us by his Word This is the Fathers Will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given mee I should loose nothing but should raise it up againe at the
of the dead but of the living Indeed all Morall reasons that can be brought to prove the Immortalitie of the soule may serve as well to prove the Resurrection of the body For if there bee reward for the godly in another life certainely that reward shall not bee to the soule onely but as well to the bodie and if to the body then must the body of necessity rise againe that it may be capable to receive the reward But what capacitie as long as it is lying in the dust And as this reason is of force to prove the Resurrection of the body in the godly so the punishment due to sinne makes it of no lesse force to prove it in the wicked All that hath been said and all that can be said in this matter are as so many links that may be made into a chaine and will necessarily draw us on to this beliefe For will you except against the body that it is not worthy to bee raised from the dead Or will yee except against God that he is not able to raise it from the dead Or will yee except against the cause that it ought not to bee raised from the dead and when all these Exceptions are proved unjust what doubt can there bee of its rising from the dead For first is not the body worthy to rise againe which is Vagina afflatus Divini the receptacle and sheath as it were of the Divine breath and is not our Flesh as one cals it soror Christi the sister of Christ that if of it self it be not at least by this Consanguinitie it is most worthy Is not God able to raise it againe out of dust who at first made it of dust and dust of nothing Is there not just cause it should be raised againe indeed so just that it is of necessitie if God be just For if the body be not raised again how can it appeare in judgement And if it appeare not in judgement how can it receive the sentence of Absolution or Condemnation and if it receive not such sentence how can it be Punished or Rewarded and if it be not Punished or Rewarded how can God bee just that neither punisheth nor rewardeth the good or evill it hath done in this life And seeing God is most Just even Justice it se fe It followes of necessitie that the Body shall be raised againe to life which though it be here made an Article of our Beliefe for the difficultie yet it falls within the compasse of our knowledge for the certainty To doubt of the Resurrection of the Body is to doubt as hath been said of either Gods Power or of his Will and to doubt of his Power is to make him no God and to doubt of his Will is to make him not good For how should he be good to destroy our Bodies which are Temples of the Holy Ghost if hee should not raise them up againe that they may bee Temples for his service O my soule let this be thy joy for the resurrection of thy Bodie Not that it shall rise againe to be sinneful flesh and bloud as now it is but that it shall rise to be a Temple for the Holy Ghost fitted to bee taken into the Quire of Angels to sing the praises of God and of his Christ for ever And indeed if I thought my Body should rise againe to bee in the state that now it is though with enjoying as much happinesse as the world can affoord yet I would make it my humble suit to God rather to let it lye in the dust still then to raise it up to such a life For alas O Lord what do the pleasures of the World but distract mee from thee and what is my hope but to enjoy thy presence What is the World but a barre to keepe thee from me and what contentment can I have while I am without thee No my soule thou shouldst do most unkindly to wish my Bodies rising againe if it were not to bee with God and to serve him as a Temple of his glorie For without this no Resurrection of the body shall be welcome to me Alas not so good as lying quickly in the dust But if it were meant that our Bodies indeed should rise againe and be the same hereafter as now they are why would God suffer them to dye at all and not rather continue them alive still For so hee might have saved himselfe the trouble of new making them and us the misery of so long missing them But now seeing the soule hath beene without its body so many hundred yeares already and is like to bee without it God knowes how many hundred yeares more why may it not be contented to be without it altogether and never stand expecting this impossible Resurrection But O my soule how vaine are these thoughts For what are we that we should enter into Gods secrets as though wee could comprehend that which is Incomprehensible and search out that which is Unsearchable As for Gods suffering the bodie to die and not continuing it alive still who sees not the reason that knowes the sentence pronounced by God upon Adams transgression And as for the Soules wanting the Body so long who can thinke it long that considers Eternity If we did but know or would but consider the admirable wonderfulnesse of the frame of Mans body we would much more wonder at the Formation of it then at the Resurrection of it and David shewed himselfe well seene in Anatomie when he said I am wonderfully and fearefully made Fearefully made indeed For hee that should looke into the frame of Mans body and see upon what wonderfull tickle points our life stands might well be afraid it were not possible wee could live one minute If then we see before our eyes the great wonderfulnesse of the formation of the body why should we doubt of the lesse wonderfulnesse the Resurrection of the body There is a place in one of Davids Psalmes where he saith The Lord keepeth the bones of the just one of them shall not bee consumed from which place the Jewes conceive an opinion that In Spina dorsi in the ridge of a mans backe there is a little bone which will never decay how long soever it lye in the earth and this little bone to be as it were Semen Resurrecturi Corporis the seed out of which the Body shall rise againe and as God made Eve of onely a bone of Adam yet of that bone he made her bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh So of this little backe bone God will raise the Body againe to bee the same bones and flesh it was before But what need we looke after any such bone when the least crumme of dust is Seed sufficient for God to raise it up the same body it was before And indeed we have surer ground for our beliefe then Jewish Fables For if wee Beleeve that Christ is risen from the dead we cannot doubt of our owne