in the womb he was accounted by his supposed father to be but a bastard in his Cradle cruelly dealt withal exiled banished into Egypt tumbled and tossed up and down tempted in the wildernesse by the Devil In all places in the Temple in the Pharisees house in the City in the Countrey in the wildernesse within and without abused by all sorts of men the Scribes and Pharisees the high Priests and Rulers and by the multitude of people he did suffer in every action Did he preach where had he his learning Did he eat and drink a man gluttonous and a wine-bibber Did he keep company a friend of Publicans and sinners Did he cast out Devils 't was censured to be by Belzebub the Prince of the Devils In his life in his death in all things and in his sufferings two things are remarkable First that he suffered alone he trod the wine-presse alone he suffered solus Secondly he suffered totus he suffered for his Preaching for his works of mercy that for which he should have been applauded The Disciple that before hugg'd his Master and lay in his arms now for haste left his shirt behinde him he ran so hard that he left his linnen garment Thomas that before would dye with Lazarus he is now gone The sons of Zebedee that forsooth could drink of the cup that he drank of they were far enough off not onely his friends on earth but his best friend in Heaven he suffered a terrible withdrawing of his countenance he sees him not as he was wont to be in his glorious Majesty yet still he cryes Deus meus My God his best friends on earth fled and his best friend in Heaven hid his face from him he suffered totus his head buffetted his face spitted on his hands nailed and his feet bored his side pierced his glorious temples crowned with thorns he led Captivity captive to whom we pray Lord enter not into Captivity with thy servant he to whom the Saints cry Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts he to whom the blessed Spirits sing Hallelujahs to him that sits on the Throne upon him they cryed All Hail King of the Jews he that lashed the Nations with a rod of Iron to have his back beaten with a whip he suffered in all his outward senses What tastes he What sees he What hears he What smells he What feels he In all his faculties and members in his understanding the whole wrath of God in his memory what he was and what he had been in his judgment what strugling and irresolution Let this Cup passe and let it not passe he will have his will and he will not have his will he was astonished affrighted perplexed in an agony such an agony wherein he sweat drops of bloud of the reproches done to him if we consider ubi where He suffered at Jerusalem the stage of the world and where he did display all his works of mercy Quando at what time at the time of the Passeover at the concourse of most people that he might be a scorn to all and cum quibus with two thieves and between them both as the worst of the three and per quos by whom this was done by his own Countreymen those for whom this was done so gracelesse not so much as thanking him for what he did when he was at his last gasp upon the Cross beneath beneath him the Devil gaping for him on the one side a thief reviling him on the other none but a thief Hell wide open under him his friends flying from him round about him what sees he the earth trembling and quaking the rocks rending in pieces the mountains leaping the air thundering the clouds pouring down the Heavens as it were burning with lightning the Sun hiding his face as ashamed to see his Master so used at their hands for whom he thus suffered What hears he those that did it crying His bloud be upon us and our children and if there be any evil in us not to save us but to damn us when an Angel durst not shew his head or so much as peep out of Heaven upon him A preservation wrought by such a Saviour to free us from such a condition and bring us to such a condition by such a means he suffered both in body and soul I think I need not say more of it doth not this deserve to be prized as a great mercy But because the keeping of a Good Friday doth not consist so much by the making of a Tragical relation of his sufferings as it doth in something else this is not all that is to be done 'T is true our presenting him to your eyes is no more then needs but we must praise the Lord for his wondrous works Can we with the Israelites look up to this Brasen Serpent that it may cure our souls Here is an object of love of fear of joy of grief of affection and what not There is something of the solemnity lies in this to consider what God hath done for our souls I gave you a taste at the beginning how that Job after his sin comes home to the Preserver of men So this points us to the duty of the day and that is to make use of Christs sufferings and considering that Job in the midst of all his sufferings had his eye to the Preserver of men he deplored his sins and cast his eyes upon him I finde the holy Ghost more then once mentioning the duty of the day they shall look upon him whom they have pierced Zach. 12. and looking to the Author and Finisher of their faith Hebr. 12. looking with such eyes upon him as the lame man in the Gospel upon Paul and Barnabas to have some good from him Looking upon him as a Preserver as those Israelites did upon the Brasen Serpent to cure them not to wink with our eyes let no man think the work of a Good Friday to see him with our bodily eyes as the Papists in the sight of the Crucifix but the eyes we are to make use of are the eyes of our souls the beholding of Christ crucified in our thoughts Take him into your hearts and souls and there preserve him let him challenge a mansion room in thee thy whole heart Christ is to be made the sole object of this day if you celebrate his crucifying aright What kind of object Christ ought to be I will deliver in few words Our Saviour doth present himself as an object of the eye to behold him as an object of the ear as an object of trouble as an object of joy as an object of hope if upon our sin then he is an object of wonder an object of fear The motive of Christs sufferings it was his love the merit of Christs sufferings procures us pardon and the end of Christs sufferings was our salvation Give me leave to point my finger at each of these and that in a familiar way without danger of puzling our selves He
Scripture tells you you shall rise and where 's the power that 's in the Scriptures Also there 's Moses leprous hand and presently healed there 's Aarons rod dry yet presently budded and blossomed Sarah being barren shortly after bears a child Jonah three dayes and three nights in the whales belly yet riseth again Eze. 37. There were dry bones and yet bones creep unto bones sinews creep unto those bones and knit them together and flesh comes and knits those sinews and then God puts life and then they become men But we are to deal with the man that is meerly natural and stands altogether upon his own reason and therefore thus If he will take the pains to go into Arabia there he may hear of the Phoenix that consumes it self in the fire and another riseth out of those ashes But that 's too far Come neerer hand to the Bombyx the Silk-worm he dyes and out of his dust comes a Fly These are yet remote will you have them domestical in our own Land we shall finde the like In some places the Bees the Flyes the Wasps are produced out of the Hides of Beasts of divers kinds But except I see a natural reason I will not believe it Perhaps you will say with Thomas I will not believe unlesse I see it and feel it Well seeing these will not serve thy turn what shall I do unto thee Even as Solomon sent the Sluggard to the Ant to labour so must I thee Saint Paul he sends a Naturalist or natural Fool to learn of a little seed of Corn the resurrection from the dead Thou fool when thou sowest the seed lives not before it dyes and yet you may see it live you may see it dye after it is turned to dust it lives again And by this he foolifies all the generation of Philosophers and Infidels and as we say Jannes and Jambres which withstood Moses by false miracles were conquered by one true miracle of Lice So all these are confounded in this one seed and even here is the finger of God and as much in this as ever it was in that to the confusion of those that withstand it Now beloved that you have heard all these points opened there remains the fourth and that 's the Moral point About which I had studied not a little but foreseeing I should trespasse upon your patience I have contracted my self into some few Instructions concerning the Moral part and the first is this That the Resurrection of Christ requires of every Christian a conformity of holinesse of life and the Apostle will make it good for thus he saith Rom. 6. That as Christ rose again so should we walk in newness of life So that newnesse of life is a conformity to the Resurrection of Christ I speak of this newnesse of life the rather because it is a resurrection in it self So Saint John Apoc. 20. Those that are partakers of the first resurrection saith he shall never fall into the second death By the first Resurrection newnesse of life we are made partakers of the second resurrection and from hence may arise divers instructions The first shall be this That all Christian vertues they take their rising from the doctrine of the resurrection unto eternal life that comprehends all vertues that can be imagined Coloss 1. Saint Paul gives a direction that we should live soberly justly holily in this present world Here 's a Triplicative vertue which contains all others we must live soberly this requires temperance and sobriety c. justly that extends to all relation we have to Superiours or Governours and the other is holinesse which brings upon us all the obligations that we have concerning God and his worship in this present world What follows looking for the hope of the mighty God and of our Lord Jesus Christ Beloved how should this ravish the hearts of men to live soberly justly and holily in this present world When as the true Christian regenerate may say with the holy Apostle that he hath an expectation an hope a looking for the appearance the blessed appearance the glorious appearance of God a mighty God and of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Here you see that our salvation depends upon these triplicite vertues Again Saint Paul 1 Cor. 13. saith thus there are the three Faith Hope and Charity What have these to do with the resurrection Certainly the doctrine of the resurrection is made sure by these Therefore for Faith first be it known unto you I speak of a living faith not of a dead faith void of repentance and newnesse of life This is a dead faith which he calls a Devillish faith but I speak of that faith which Saint Paul affirms to work by love Of this faith our Saviour Christ saith He that believeth in me though he dye yet shall be live Here is living of dying This is a resurrection and he that believes this doth believe he shall rise The next to Faith is Charity of this St. John speaks We know we are translated from death to life because we love the brethren Therefore love the brethren because we shall be preserved from death to life Now come to open it and that in the Old Testament where it is said The people of God were tormented racked suffered all manner of persecution because they looked for a better resurrection that is the resurrection of the body to be better then all the torments and afflictions the world could lay upon them Surely beloved we can look for no better resurrection then these holy men did that suffered for the resurrection but we may better look for it then they they looked upon it with dim eyes and they believed but we have open eyes we may see it by most evident demonstrations they never saw Christ raised from the dead reigning in Majesty in Eternity and Glory this doctrine are we made sensible of Now therefore saith the Apostle If we suffer with him we shall also be glorified with him So much for our Hope The second point is this That our first resurrection requires that our worship and service unto God in holinesse be as well performed in body as in soul Thus the Apostle 1 Cor. 1.6 Glorifie God in your bodies and souls you are bought with a price Glorifie God with your bodies and yet behold greater then these Let every man say unto himself I am created by God both body and soul Ergo I will glorifie him in both But since I have trespassed against my God and thereby lost both body and soul Therefore thirdly there comes a Redeemer unto me and he suffers for me agonies and pangs both in body and soul therefore by this suffering he hath freed me from everlasting death and torments both of body and soul This is not all but besides this the price spoken of here which is the price of redemption is also a price purchasing of glory in the Heavens for my body and soul and therefore let
prophecie but a dark mystery what is eloquence but untunable musick what is munificence but prodigality what is martyrdome but a rash and unadvised slaying a mans self Without love they may all hang down in their own weaknesse and infirmity and therefore Saint Paul tells us We know but in part and therefore prophecie but in part We know but in part that 's the first and I fear the time will suffer me to go no farther We know but in part Take knowledge to be what you will take it at the largest extent the wisest men on earth those that have been in the uppermost chambers of Divinity and sounded the depths of all Learning yea that have gone round all humane Learning they know but in part Some things there are that we know not and there are some things we know but in part and what we know objectively it may be full but subjectively it is weak First some things we know not as the Essence of God instant in things past and to come we cannot know it it is not fit for our understanding Who knows what God did before the world Who knows when the Angels were created who knows we may collect and conjecture but who can positively affirm it who can tell whether the Sun before the Stars were created did rise and set or no those are beyond our knowledge We know not the end of the world when all things shall be out of date when the tongue shall be tied up from prophecying in this world when faith shall be turned into feeblenesse and hope into quaking and that when hope shall quake love shall stand still when the rest faint and vanish This is confirmed in the words neer the Text and in the words of my Text. The Argument stands thus That which is but in part cannot last But knowledg is but in part and faith is but in part For we know but in part and we prophecie but in part And beloved if so be these Preachers you have heard have faln short in any particular in the prosecution of their Text and if I as I know I must being weary of proceeding and I undervalue my own thoughts neither will I be so in love with the brood of my own brain as to trouble you and my self long with it but onely in behalf of all the Ministers that have preached and of my self that we know but in part and prophecie but in part The head and tongue divide the Text the head is like unto Heaven that doth disperse abroad its light and influence by the tongue and the tongue it is a many-stringed instrument whereby we do praise God Here 's the knowledge of the head the tongue but that this tongue may be tied up from self-commendation therefore we come to the ignorant terms of antipathy as Why doth the Load-stone draw Iron to it what answer can we give but that it is the quality as much as to say I do not know And so for the times to come it is not for us to know the times of God Prophecies are best understood in the fulfilling of them there are many things God hath left to his own Cabinet-Councel and we must not intrude into them Secret things belong to God but revealed things to as and to our children And secondly our knowledge is but imperfect in respect of the object We see but through a glass darkly and imperfectly First what can we say or know of God Damasin saith he is not an essence or substance he is somewhat above we do not know what to call him bring in a contribution of all kind of language there 's too much inability to expresse the nature of Almighty God our knowledge of God rises not by adding to it but as a statue rises by cutting somewhat from it and we know him by an imperfect knowledge We see the Sun in a dim kind of way we see but the back-parts of God as we see a man that is past we have but a glimpse of it And so for the Trinity the Father Son and holy Ghost three Persons and one God it is a mystery that made Hillary cry out and fall back and go again and say there 's a stupidity in my understanding I know not what to say and therefore the Nicene Fathers would not have the words of Essence used they thought there was more in God And so for the Decree of God how far is it beyond our knowledge How unsearchable are his Judgments they are past finding out And if you cannot finde out the reason of Gods decrees see the reason of it it is well for you to be of his Court though not of his Councel His decrees may amaze a man to consider them read but Saint Pauls discourse how shall we puzzle and gravel what shall we say more then this I will not say Do thou reason the case how thou wilt Ego credam I will believe And then fourthly for the Creation of the world what a vast difference is there between nothing and something We may believe there is a Creation but we cannot grasp it in our understanding And then in the fifth place the prophanation of sin That God should create us so holy that the body should have no sin in it and yet there should now be sin in both body soul we know it But how do we know it Come to the Person and Offices of Christ that he that was the Ancient of dayes should dye that he that was the mouth of his Father and the Word should not speak this is a mystery and great is the mystery And then again the mystery or our bodies that our bodies should be destroyed that they should be turned to ashes or cut in pieces and one piece many miles from another and yet the same body to arise gloriously We may believe it but we are not able to conceive it Now to the joyes of Heaven Eye hath not seen ear hath not heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive the joyes that are there The eye can see far and the ear can hear far the one can see the lightning afar off and the other hear the thunder yet eye and ear are both dull and heavy if you bring them to the consideration of this thing here are things unutterable I was rapt up into the third Heaven saith Saint Paul and I saw things that were unutterable And so for the Scriptures though in all things necessary to salvation the Scriptures are plain and evident but take many places of the Scripture how far remote are they from our understanding what great mysteries are there One being asked what God was took first a day then two then three dayes then four and so the farther he went to search the more he was plunged So in the Scriptures some places are plain a Lamb may feed in them In prophecies we fix upon one man he must be the deliverer we see him taken from the world
when thou goest down in the world it will find thee and like Ahab it will say unto thee Have I found thee O mine enemy And as the Malus genius said to Caius Thou shalt meet me at Philippi which was the place where he should dye If thou hearest not of sin by way of sorrow now it will find thee at the day of thy death if not here yet there is a place of weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth aut penitentium lachrymas aut damnatorum if thou hearest not of it here thou wilt hear of it there and who would not rather choose to take his part with Job here in my Text then to dye with sorrow Who would not strive to turn the current of his griefs this way then to let them run till he come to everlasting torments In a word in two things Jobs pattern is to be followed First for sins immediatly committed against God we must sorrow I have sinned against thee what shall I do to thee which is a point to be considered God will have it done to him When you fast saith God was it unto me Against thee onely have I sinned saith David Psalm 51. Why Uriah was killed Bathsheba abused Israel scandalized No But one God is worth a thousand Uriahs Bathsheba's and Israels and he was dishonoured by it Our sorrow for sin must be directed to God for he is the Preserver Now I come to the second point from the question propounded in an inquisitive manner which was the first which is this That turning to God is not enough unlesse we confesse and confession is nothing unless we deplore and deploration will do us no good unlesse we inquire Quid faciam and not onely inquire but we must put it in execution careful as well as sorrowful practical as well as inquisitive something to be done to get us friends with God Who can tell whether God will turn and repent it held up the Ninevites from sinking When Davids faith was like fire in the embers quite covered over and he crying out Why art thou disquieted within me yet he had hope in God This is that we must look for but we cannot find this in the breast of most wicked men to bring them to practise as God prescribes them For Christ when he came to cure the blind man he had a question to ask him Visuè sanari Wilt thou be made whole There are many on the way side that if you ask them if they will be cured of their sore arms and legs they will tell you no for say they we can make more of them fore then whole So there are many that will not be made clean nor sorrow for their sins because of losing their joy To speak one word concerning this Quid faciam of Job With the same breath wherein he pronounces himself willing to do he pronounces himself at a lost estate not knowing what to do especially in the way of satisfaction to God as Hugo and others do understand it And so they consider it as if Job had said O Lord if I had to do with any but with thee I could tell how to make satisfaction but to thee qui bonis meis non eges which standest in need of nothing that I have with thee between whom there is an infinite disproportion what can I do to thee What are ten thousand rivers of oil the seed of my body for the sin of my soul I can bemoan I can consult I can resolve upon what thou wilt direct me but more then this I cannot do nor any satisfaction worthy of thee Giving us to understand that whatsoever may be thought of satisfaction to God if we do propose an equivalence it is a dream However it may be necessary to make satisfaction fraternal if we have done him any hurt or wrong to restore to him or material to our Mother the Church for giving scandalous examples that the scandal of the Church may be some way repaired but for the satisfaction to God it is too great a thing to be done Job knew not what to do he makes his query he turns himself to God and becomes an humble suppliant for mercy leaving all hopes of merits or satisfaction What shall I do unto thee O thou Preserver of men So that I come to the third branch his resolution We have had Job confessing bemoaning bewailing and inquiring hear him now resolving what to do he addresses himself to the throne of the divine Majesty What shall I do c. These words are not onely spoken consultively to God as to an Oracle for advice but resolutely whence we have a good point That in things concerning God it is good to go to to addresse our selves to God especially in matters of satisfaction but that 's not all but to go to him as to a Sanctuary Job here flies to God as to a City of Refuge to a Castle of defence as the Malefactors were wont to the horns of the Altar so doth Job after his sin to the Preserver of men And here it is to be handled whom Job means by the Preserver doubtless he whom in most places he calls his Redeemer and here was the object of his faith without all peradventure the same It must needs be the same for how can they call upon him in whom they have not believed and so here Job's prayer is preferred to him in whom he had believed the Preserver of men And in handling of this there are two things offered to your consideration First how well this title of Preserver of men doth agree with him to whom Job prayes Secondly how well the meditation of a Preserver did fit Job in the case wherein he was First I say how well this title of Preserver doth suit with God how well God had deserved it at Jobs hands to be known by the name of the Preserver of men and how well by the world in general the whole frame masse and pillar thereof how well at the hands of that part of the world called men how well I say at men such as Job was It is admirable to consider how true God is to the title of Preserver of men he hath not onely ordained means to supply the needs of every man and the care of every man in preservation of himself also his Angels about us he gives his Angels charge over us also the supply of every one to take care of another and not onely so but the care of our Ancestors to preserve our liberties they pitched our Tents not onely his care of great men to set them over lesse he saith to Magistrates and Ministers Keep this man safe thy life shall go for his he is thy preserver every way and hath still reserved to himself the name of chief Preserver He is Archiepiscopus the chief Bishop of our souls he hath taken upon him all the names of salvation he is our Father and Mother and Brother and Husband and Keeper to shew how true
him is as he is risen as an example That it is possible there may be a resurrection from the death of the body First the resurrection of Christ teacheth us a certainty of resurrection that he is the special effectual cause of the resurrection to life everlasting unto the sons of God that shew the actions of the resurrection of Christ Secondly there is a generality or universality of Resurrection Thirdly the possibility of the bodies resurrection unto life To begin with the universality all must rise again by whom by whose power why by Christs 1 Cor. 15.6 As by the sin of the first Adam death came upon all men so by Christ the Resurrection from the dead all men all manner of men all men dying all men rising all the sons of men We have an Apostle for it All men saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 6. All men must dye all men must appear before the Tribunal Seat of Christ and give an account of all things they did in this life be it good or bad Here 's good and bad all men This was believed by the Jews before Christ came so the Apostle Saint Peter Acts 2. shews unto us That they believed the resurrection from the dead They believed the Prophet Daniel that they should rise the just and the unjust Dan. 12. Here 's all that Prophets prophecy some to honour and some to shame here 's either honour or shame A shame therefore it will be unto us beloved if we do not believe that which they believed That we having before us not a prophecie which Saint Peter saith is a dark light they believed in a dark light in a light in a dark place and we have the very Sun-shine of the Gospel to instruct us But what instruction do we learn from this universality It commends unto us the general Justice of God that as he will be both vindicative and remunerative to the bodies of men they must rise again vindicative to punish wicked men and remunerative to reward the godly even in their bodies Our reason That as the body hath been an instrument unto the soul for acting either good or evil so they should be co-partners together in weal or woe We see the same shadowed in the Parable the finger of the poor man in Heaven and the tongue of the rich man in Hell yet notwithstanding it must be the same body and as Job said of his eyes I know that my Redeemer liveth and I shall see him with these eyes and no other The same eyes For beloved how should it consist with the Justice of God that one body should glutton gormandise and swell with excesse and wallow in sensual pleasures and there should be another body put upon him that should cry out I am tormented in these flames Or for the godly as for example Saint Stephen whose name signifies a Crown that he should suffer Martyrdome for this truth we are now proving the Resurrection and afterwards another body be given unto him which should be clothed with blessednesse which is called the Crown of Righteousness No beloved it is a certain and an infallible truth that it must be disposed according to the Justice of God There 's a statute for it Heb. 1.9 Statutum est c. It is appointed and statuted for all men to dye and after death comes Judgment all men first to dye and then comes Judgment Judgment as sure as death Here is matter of horrour and matter of comfort horrour to the wicked that when that great and general Goal-delivery comes it shall be as it is sometimes at the Assises there are two men in prison and one hath either got his pardon or else he is innocent that none can impeach him and he saith to his fellows I am going before the Judge for deliverance out of prison Another he hath Guilty branded in his forehead and he cryes I am going before the Judge but it is to receive my condemnation and to be delivered over to execution So shall it be in the end of time and in this general Resurrection Then as it is in the Apocalypse the wicked that should appear before the Judge shall cry to the rocks to cover them and the mountains to fall upon them to deliver them from the wrath of the Lamb and yet to them he is a Tyger looking upon their guiltinesse and desperation they call and cry for impossibilities rocks to hide them from the Judge of all Judges and hills to cover them from the God of all Gods But as for the godly they come and say Now is our Redemption at hand for that which concerns redemption and comfort it belongs to them The next consideration is the necessity of the resurrection Now hear how necessary this resurrection is We read of many benefits in the Scripture of God concerning all men by vertue of Christs birth his life his merits his preaching his passion his dying But what if there were no Resurrection The Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 15. Then were our faith in vain Our whole faith were vain if there were not a resurrection we preach in vain And indeed were there no resurrection though the birth of Christ were never so joyous the miracles that he wrought in the world never so miraculous his promises for everlasting life never so gracious his work and price of Redemption never so meritorious yet if there were no resurrection his birth his life his miracles his passion yea his death it self put together the same stone that covered his corpse should cover all those singular infinite benefits But now he is risen this work of the resurrection it is both the perfection and complement of all the Articles that went before so it is also the foundation of all the Articles that come after rising communion sitting at the right hand of God in glory See the necessity of this resurrection and there is also the like necessity laid upon us seeing this resurrection is the vertue of our resurrection So the Apostle to the Colossians tells us That Christ is the Head of the Church and the first begotten of the dead He must have the preeminence he is the first begotten of the dead for he ascended first into Heaven to take possession there 's his preheminence Happy are we if we can come after as we may come for he did not take possession for himself alone but as the head of the whole body he is the first begotten among the dead And this for the comfort of all Be that inseparable union between us and Christ known unto you I do not say in our souls alone but in our bodies also for so the Apostle Eph. 5. We are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone Oh beloved when the holy Fathers of the Primitive Church fell upon this Text they were ravished with contemplations thereof to think there was such an individual union between Christ and them even our bodies And this union is more then if there were
them that have bodies and souls know that there is a duty lies upon them to glorifie God in their lives both in their bodies and souls The next point is this That the sinful body hath a dead soul every sinful body wallowing in sin hath a dead soul So we read 1 Tim. 1.5 The woman living in pleasure she was dead though she lived Again the Bishop of Sardis a wicked Bishop but yet a Bishop I am sure a Bishop Thou hast a name that thou livest but thou art dead Our Saviour Christ said unto the survivers of those that were dead Survivers unto them and go and attend their Funeral and Herse Go saith he let the dead in sins bury their dead So you see that these wicked ones they have but the carkasse of Christians And as nothing is more ugly and odious in the sight of man then the carkasse of man so there is nothing more detestable in the sight of God then a wicked obstinate and impenitent sinner Again the mortified body hath a living soul It is necessary that this be preached unto all the world because most of the world have forgot themselves And the principal part of Christianity consists in this mortification and sanctification We all live in sins dost thou live in actual sin bodily sin thou art dead if thou be not mortified in them Give up your bodies a living sacrifice that is mortification let not sin reign in your mortal bodies I will give you a pattern of S. Paul himself 1 Cor. 9. But I chastise my body and bring it into subjection So then you see that this is a matter on which consists eternal life The Apostle tells us If you mortifie the lusts of the flesh you shall live if not you shall dye It s a matter of life and death which is to shew that those that are mortified men have a living soul Again we must take heed of bodily and actual transgressions for I must tell you that these acts of men done in their bodies shall have resurrection with them even with their bodies This is a profitable point for God sees all things before him all things that have been or can be he sees them all in present as it were in present that 's the infinitenesse of his Science Now then what saith the Apostle We all must appear before the Tribunal-Seat of Christ and every one shall give an account of those things that are done in his flesh fleshly body So then whereas the Epicure sings his Ballad and the burthen of his Song is Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye yet death will come and then we must give an account of all our actions So much for my Text. Because I was told I should make some application concerning the present occasion I do therefore addresse my self and my speech unto you Right Honourable and to all your reverend Senate and to all your Associate Worthies First we must give an acknowledgment unto God and blesse his great goodnesse that hath so sanctified the hearts of our Predecessors of former times to leave such worthy and real Testimonies to the world of their piety and godly devotion devotion both for the Church and Houses of God and charity unto the poor these have received their rewards the full rewards of all their labours on Earth in the Heavens where they shall remain for ever in the highest Seat of Glory they are now Canonized by God himself and have left themselves in their memories and examples for you and those that shall be able to walk in their steps The Roll that I have seen speaks of wonderful blessed Foundations of Hospitality for the relief of hundreds and hundreds and thousands It doth not need so much to put them here in your Calendar and Paper for the comfort of men but that their good examples might stir up others to the like duties of piety and charity in respect of those that are the Founders all their names are registred in the Book of Life for all Eternity My Exhortation unto you must be that you would enlarge your munificence both wayes in duties of piety and charity but especially of charity because of the objects before our eyes the Orphans that have sung joyfully and comfortably unto God by way of Thanksgiving I shall not stand to reason with you I shall onely apply those things which are appliable unto the men of the world as they are worldly men and apply the promises of God unto them as they are worldly though the promises are all Heavenly and ye with a recommendation to men as worldly men for you look to have habitation here in the world behold the poor that you bestow your charity on they shall bring you you know the place of Scripture I do but name the words into eternal habitations You labour for treasure and the promise is that you shall have treasure in Heaven Will you have bags for your treasures the Gospel is that these Orphans and such like how mortal soever they may be yet unto God they are bags those bags that will never wear out Will you have a trade of life for the best advantage then without all comparison it is charitable usury the promise is You shall receive an hundred fold be the poor what they will of themselves the gift is to God and to Christ not so much unto them for be they wanderers in the world as we say rogues sometimes charity is not alwayes suspicious without cause What faith the Wise man to us Cast thy bread upon the waters for after many dayes thou shalt find it with advantage that thou givest unto such a man though unworthy what saith Job his loins shall bless thee thou givest mortal things and he gives immortal blessings his loins shall blesse thee Whatsoever thou dost to the poor their loins and their back and their belly shall blesse thee for it comes from God But withal let us know and remember why it is that the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour would set down the tenure of salvation or damnation upon the giving or not giving unto the poor it is because it is such a work if rightly done that proceeds from a true faith and therefore God knows that it is a work that proceeds from true charity and those that do thus and make conscience of it as giving it for Gods sake indeed and Christs sake indeed certainly they are Christs and will walk according to the Precepts of Faith And now I conclude with prayer c. And thus this Pillar this reverend Father of the Church of God this sound Divine as heretofore he hath asserted the truth of our Religion by his hand-writing against grand Apostates and against all the Chaos of Antichrists devises as then by his pen so now by his tongue did vindicate the Resurrection which is the Fundamental Article of our Religion for Resurrectio à mortuis est fides Christianorum the resurrection from the dead
one another the two latter are but explicable to the former not to hold you long upon these beginnings of Divinity although they are profitable First he is our Jesus our Saviour Our Saviour saith Tully what word 's that reading it in an Inscription over a door in Syracuse What mean the words Non possunt exprimi it cannot be expressed with one word Will you say it is Servator or Salvator it is a made word Tertullian in his African Language will call it Salutifica but this comes from the former Well but saith Saint Austin he is a Saviour which is a Saviour and will be a Saviour He came at the first to save our bodies from sin he shall come to save our souls and he shall come from Heaven This is the name by which we must look to be saved and there is no other name under Heaven He is a Lord also as well as a Jesus Lord is a name of honour and a name of power A name of honour and therefore given unto Kings unto Priests unto Prophets and unto great men Unto Kings My Lord the King every where used Unto Priests so Hannah unto Eli. To the Prophets so to Elisha To great men so to Naaman the Syrian My Lord if the Prophet c. And therefore Christ being a greater King then David a greater Priest then Eli a greater Prophet then Elisha doth well deserve this title of Lord. And secondly in regard of power there is in Christ a double power there is potestas innata and potestas data a power innate and a power given And he is sometimes called the Lord with addition the Lord of the world the Lord of his Church sometimes he is called the Lord by way of Appropriation My Lord 〈◊〉 my God saith Thomas The Lord said unto my Lord saith David Sometimes in a way of Foundation My Lord the King but what 's the Lord without his honour If Christ be a Lord then in the first place let us honour him If I be a Lord where is my fear Secondly let us obey him To give him the name and to deny obedience it were to mock him Thirdly submit to his Law in all things whatsoever It is the Lord saith Eli let him do what seemeth good in his own eyes Fourthly you must part with any thing for this God They let loose the Foal and the Asse because the Lord hath need of them It is the Lords wherefore wilt thou keep it from him Fifthly take heed of giving thy self over to any lust to be Lord Pride would be Lord as Tertullian saith Idlenesse would be my Lord Vain-glâ—â—â— would be my Lord but thou onely shalt be my Lord. Sixthly we must not use our own means we cannot say our tongues are our own our hands are our own we have a Lord over them and us You that are Lords on earth have a Lord in Heaven You that are Kings on earth have a King in Heaven And lastly we must expect this Lord we must look for him And so I come from the first particular of this general the person expected to the second the place from whence he is expected and that 's from Heaven But our conversation is in the Heavens Out of which Heavens we must expect our Saviour it is a dissonant in the expression and it is but a circumstance but we must pause upon it Heaven is the place from whence we expect Christ When Christ is in Heaven he cannot be on earth Christ is not upon the earth bodily as the Papists would have him but he is now in Heaven and the Heavens must contain him till the time of the restitution of all things 'T is true Christ is here by his protecting power by his Word and by his Love and by his Spirit he walks amidst the golden Candlesticks I am he you know the Text saith but not in a bodily way he hath not lost the essential property of his Godhead he is in all places in heavenly things he hath called us together to sit down with him not onely in hope we are in Heaven even while we are on earth Securi estis c. saith Tertullian Oh my flesh and spirit be you secure Christ is gone to prepare Heaven for you he is gone he hath left us the pledge of his Spirit that he will come to us and he hath taken with him the pledge of our flesh to assure us that we shall come to him What would we have more What better rock can we rest upon then this our Saviour is in Heaven There 's a double expectation of our Saviour Christ First his first coming was expected Oh that thou wouldst rend the Heavens and come down Esa 66. He is called the desire of the Nations Heb. 2. The hope of the people of God We see how Hannah the Prophetesse and the rest did wait for the coming of Christ and there 's another expectation and that 's of the second coming of Christ And thus we must expect our Saviour but how after what manner There are many conditions we must expect him in We must first look for him with faith and with assurance that he that shall come will come and will not tarry he will come in his own time but we must wait for him Secondly we must wait for his coming with the love of his coming There are many accused as Malefactors that look for the Judge to come to absolve them and to deliver them out of prison Others to condemn them one looks with an hateful and an angry eye the other with a loving expecting and a longing eye So the Saints of Christ they wait and long for his coming they are sick of love and desire to be united to him not with remisse affections but with ardent love intensively and yet patiently expecting him To him that believes he will make haste to come and sup with him Even so Come Lord Jesus And then lastly we must look for this coming of our Saviour with care and with Conscience 1 Pet. 3.11 We look for a new Heaven and a new Earth according to his promise Consider therefore what manner of persons we ought to be if we look for the Resurrection for Christs coming in all holinesse The word in the Original is in all holinesses There are many have forms of godlines but they deny the power of it Oh the swearing the lying the Sabbath-breaking the murdering the abuse and injuring one of another doth this fit us for the coming of Christ with what tongues can we say Come Lord Jesus when we live so basely and entertain such horrid crimes we must be carefull as well as expecting Christians we must live in heaven and therefore expect our Saviour thence that he may change our vile bodies to be like unto his glorious body when he shall come in glory The very creatures groan for the coming of Christ the very creatures desire a dissolution and much more Christians It is to put forth the
unto a worm thou art my father and unto rottenness thou art my mother Thus you see what we are food for worms but let us take heed we meet not with another worm and that 's the worm of Conscience it is no matter though other worms eat us Though I be meat for worms saith Job yet I know that my Redeemer lives and that I shall see him with these eyes c. But the worm of Conscience shall never die the fire of Hell shall never go out And if your bodies be vile of themselves make them not viler The Drunkard he makes himself a swine and the Glutton he makes it an hoggeshead the adulterer makes his body the member of an harlot yet with a good Conscience though this be our misery that they are vile bodies yet this shall be our happiness that they shall be made like unto his glorious body And there are four special indowments or privileges of a glorious body Impassibility Activity Spirituality and Clarity First Impassibility we shall be past suffering at the last day sentire est pati even to feel is to suffer now and in every action there is a passion but it shall not be so hereafter when our bodies shall be changed then there shall be no sorrow no fainting no crying Farewel Gout and Stone and Strangury and all if I shall be brought to happiness I shall be brought to safety Secondly there is Activity here our bodies are dull and slow these Asses of ours must be beaten and spurr'd and whipt to do any good our spirit may be willing when our flesh is weak It shall not be so hereafter we shall be vigorous and active and lively and these our bodies which are now so dull shall be then lively and go on with cheerfulnesse And thirdly it is a spiritual body corpus spirituale a spiritual body but not a spirit it shall be spiritual but not a spirit Fourthly it shall be a clear body a clarified body that 's the fourth prerogative of a glorified body Daniel 12.1 The righteous shall shine like the stars in the Firmament and those that convert many to righteousness like the Sun for ever and ever nay more then this our Saviour goes farther they shall shine sicut Sol in potestate like the Sun in its strength yet farther here in the Text our bodies shall be like unto his glorious body What sayest thou Paul faith Saint Chrysostome to Saint Paul here Dost thou know what thou sayest What like unto Christs glorious body That body that sits at Gods right hand that body that is worshipped by Angels Yes like unto his glorious body Let me then look for the saving of my soul Let the world weep for what they please I will weep more for the losse of my body and soul I wonder saith Saint Chrysostome That men should give away their souls throw them away upon trifles to disrobe themselves of this transcendent glory to lose such a glory as this is to be made like unto the glorious body of our Saviour Wilt thou cast away this soul what a madnesse is it of thee Many men do compare the pain of losse with the pain of sence which the damned have in Hell and do think the pain of losse to be worse then the pain of sence To lose the sight of my Saviour to lose this glory that I should have arrived at this sticks more at me then all the pains of Hell could do so I may enjoy my God O Lord whatever thou takest from me take not from me this glory this eternal glory Lord here cut me and slay me do what thou wilt with me onely save my soul There are many losses in this world of husbands of children of goods by unfaithful servants by fire by irreligious and prodigal children but these are not to be named when we speak of the losse of Heaven And therefore to conclude this point I lose my father my mother my husband my wise my children but from this this losse this eternal losse of the soul good Lord deliver us And thus much the fourth Preacher He was also even in Heaven while he was on earth as his Text speaks Our conversation is in Heaven and if ever there were a lively Commentary upon the Text his Preaching was the Commentary it self he was an example next to the example of Saint Paul while he preached he spake as if he had been in Heaven And thus have I run this race done this task laid upon me with my small abilities I hope you will not lay unto my charge the slips the infirmities which have passed from me The three last they were old Disciples of Christ they made among them two hundred and thirty or two hundred and forty years Christ doth love old Disciples and he loves young ones he loves old Disciples because they hold out so long and he loves young Disciples because they begin so soon Juniores Discipulos Christus diligit c. Christ loved his young Disciples best because they began early he loves his old Disciples because they cleave closely unto him But the Tyrant time requires another discourse of me but I must tell you before hand that it will be but as a dinner of herbs after a Feast of fat things Take it as it is You have heard of the death of our Saviour in the first of the resurrection of our Saviour and of his manner of rising in the second you have heard of the mercy of God in the forgivenesse of sin propounded to all that serve him in an heavenly conversation in the third and of our body by an heavenly conversation transformed to be like unto his glorious body in the fourth These are rare mysteries and when we have said all we can we must break off with silence with amazement and stupefaction These are deep mysteries we are not able to sound them with our corrupt judgement Great is the mystery of Godliness God manifest in the flesh seen of Angels c. We are not able to conceive of him we cannot expresse him and therefore I think it will cohere with the matter in hand to display before your eyes the profoundnesse of these mysteries which we may see in 1 Cor. 13.9 A Sermon Preached by Master Price at S. Paul's Church on Low-Sunday May 2. 1641. 1 CORINTHIANS 13.9 For we know but in part and we prophecie but in part AS the eleventh Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews may be called the Triumph of Faith so this Chapter may be well stiled the Triumph of Love Which triumphant grace besides that it is invested with admirable qualities and seconded by glorious effects and besides that it bears away the bell from the knowledge of the brain from the prophecie of the tongue the eloquence of that little member the munificence of the hand and the Martyrdome of the whole body All which we find spoken of in this Chapter Without love what is faith but fancie what is