promise his flesh hereafter that all his life hath abused it to all vncleanesse and iniquity This priviledge of the fleshes rest and Resurrection Tertullian earnestly pleadeth against the ancient Heretiques Lib. de Carnis resurrectione They haue scriptures saith he by heart by which the flesh is vilified but little consider other passages where its dignity is expressed They read that all flesh is grasse and quote the place in Isaiah but the same Prophet could haue told them that all flesh shall see the Salvation of the Lord. Out of Genesis they will vrge the Lord speaking that his spirit shall not alwaies striue with men because he is but flesh but Ioel relateth a promise to salue all this Cap. 6. C. 2. I will powre out my spirit vpon all flesh How are these things reconciled Non Carnis substantia sed actus inhonoratur saith the same Father doubtlesse it shall goe the better with the substance of the flesh the sharper its rebellions are reprooued and subdued But the maine vse of this Doctrine is against the terrours of death where there is most need of encouragement What was that which made the martyrs so resolute to confront all torments but the perswasion of the soules better estate and the securing of the body for a happier condition Say they were to be sawen a sunder with Isaiah or stoned with S. Steven or to be dismembred into a thousand peeces with popish powder plots could they be better armed then with this meditation that their flesh should rest and rise to the confusion of their deadliest enemies Art thou vexed with continuall diseases or pined with penury or oppressed by tyrants or stabd as it were at the heart with remedilesse crosses and calamities Haue the paines of Hell beset thee and the snares of death incompassed thee round about O thou of little faith wherefore doest thou doubt and sinke Can thy soule doe amisse when thy body shall rest in hope And shall a momentary brunt dismay thee that shalt be recompenced with the fulnesse of ioy in the Lords chamber of Presence S. Augustine obserueth in his 22. booke de Civitate Dei and 5. chapter three incredible things which the Heathen at the first spreading of Christianity could no way gainesay yet were loath to acknowledge First it could not sinke into their conceits that Christ was raised in the flesh and so ascended into Heaven Secondly they stormed that the World belieued a thing so incredible But that which perplexed thē most was that a few ignoble and vnlearned fishermen should haue that power to bring divers of their best schollers to thinke so and perswade others But these were not acquainted with our Prophets ground For why thou shalt not leaue my soule in Hell which had his warrant from Heaven that all Christians must stand vpon and succeedeth in the next place to be examined 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For thou wilt not leaue my soule in Hell About these few words wee haue a world of wrangling what they properly signify and how they are here to bee taken vpon the Ambiguity of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which primarily imports a breath of life sometimes the whole living man other times the soule and its facultyes In a passage or two a dead Carcasse may be vnderstood Some new writers haue taken the vantage to clap vp those two Periods together and burye them in one Sepulcher For with these men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall not signifie in this place Hell the place of the damned but the Grave only wherein the Carcasse corrupteth or at least the state of the dead which consisteth in the soule and bodyes actuall separation So that the latter member here should be but an explication of the former and the whole summe according to this sense Thou shalt not leaue my soule in Hell that is my selfe to remaine in the sepulcher but free me therein from Rottennesse and Corruption Thus Caluin and a great number of our Reformed writers who deseruedly are highly esteemed of vs. But that which S. Augustine answereth S. Hierome Ep. 19. alleadging many Authors to proue that S. Pauls Reprouing S. Peter to his face Gal. 2. was but a kinde of dispensable vntruth in regard it was not like that S. Peter would so dissemble as it was obiected Ipse mihi saith he pro omnibus immò supra hos omnes Apostolus Paulus occurrit dent veniam quidlibet aliud opinantes Ego magis credo tanto Apostolo may be my Apologie for not admitting this interpretation howsoeuer plausible and learnedly defended S. Peter in the 2. of the Act. v. 31. purposely repeateth these words and expoundeth them severally in this manner Hee that is David seeing this before spake of the Resurrection of Christ But what spake he that his soul was not left in hel neither his flesh did see corruption where for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words seldome vsed in the greek but to expresse the soul of a man and Prison of the damned where to prevent as it were such blending of words and things together to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or soule in the first place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or flesh is opposed And in the second their Attributes are as clearly distinguished the soule was not left in Hell the flesh was not to see corruption Serm. 74. ep 99. 57. q. 1. p. 15. Beda Fulgent c. In which interpretation S. Ambrose Augustine Hierome with the rest of the Fathers and Schoolmen generally agree And what needs other figure flinging to finde out Novelties where the natiue sense brings with it no absurdity I must craue pardon therefore in this cause if I forsake the Sonnes to follow the Fathers and preferre that I take to be our Apostles interpretation before all latter Comments whatsoeuer The soule then vnderstood for the immortall part of man and Hell for the place of the damned we haue the first maine ground of our Prophets triumph to wit an vndoubted assurance for the freeing of his soule from Hell by the victory of the blessed seed which was to descend thither as a Conquerour to bruise the Serpents Head and returne to tread out the path of life to all beleeuers Against this some suppose they haue vnanswerable arguments in the word leaue which thus they prosecute If Davids soule were not left in Hell then it was there and Christ came not thither for that is denied by the Apostle to haue befallen Christ which happened to David But S. Augustine long since hath fitted vs with a solution in his 99. Epistle to Evodius concerning this argument Solvipossunt laquei venantium ne teneant non quiatenuerunt We may breake through saith that good Father the hunters snare not because they haue caught vs but that they caught vs not at all In like manner Davids soule may be denied to
greater then all creatures could sustaine or conceiue of Calvin is blamed by some for exaggerating it too much but let all things be rightly considered hee hardly to my vnderstanding in that point goes beyond his warrant For he neuer affirmed that Christ despaired or suffered the torments of Hell which some would willingly wrest from him but onely hellish torments in regard of the bitternesse of his agonie Not that ever he came vnder the lash in Satans prison as a malefactour but that he endured the frowne of an angry iudge as a surety for those who had so deeply runne in arrerages Where the Godhead left him not to despaire but to suffer and the manhood struggling in the combate cryes out as forsaken to be the sooner relieued All which when we freely allow his followers must not therevpon thus infer Our Saviour in the Garden and on the Crosse endured hellish torments equall at least in bitternesse to those of Hell therefore after his death his soule descended not into hell for then they mistake the point it being not what Christ suffered in this life but what became of his soule in the Interim betweene his passion and resurrection I finde in my Creed in plaine termes as also in that of Athanasius incorporated to our Church Liturgie Hee descended into hell This particular amongst the rest my Sureties in Baptisme haue vndertaken that I should professe To this wee haue all subscribed in the third Article of our Church All our approued translations hold vs to it My Text expounded by S. Peter in expresse termes according to my vnderstanding warranteth it The Fathers and Schoolemen generally concurre with vs. The most part of our Reformed writers approue it and those that are otherwise perswaded bring no vnanswerable reason to oppugne it For what force hath that they commonly alleage Ob. This Article may bee suspected as foysted into the Creed Answ By the same liberty discredit all the rest set at naught all Antiquitie and call every thing in question Ob. But you vnderstand that litterally which had its truth only in a figure of speech Answ So I am taught to doe by S. Augustine and all Divines that haue lighted their candles at his lampe when no absurdity therevpon followes the liberty to the contrary would giue way to greater inconveniences Ob. in other verities But there is no end say they why after our debt was paid on the Crosse our Saviour should so descend Suppose I conceaue not the end or reason Answ should not my faith relye on the waighty authority that saith it was so Many things we must beleeue which exceed our capacities not that the thing is but in what manner it is This prying into the reasons of things not revealed hath vexed the Church with many vnnecessary dissentions What quarrels haue the Schoolemen raised by broaching such quiddities and how hardly haue we escaped the combustion that Arminius meditations with our reading Vorstius liberty of prophecying some others misinquiring whether Christs actiue or passiue justice sufficed for our iustification hath kindled amongst our neighbours Notwithstanding our Divines in this cause haue so answered that it might suffice any moderate demander Christ descended saith learned Zanchius into that most darke and wretched place not there to suffer any thing but to begin his triumph ouer the power of the Divell And this opinion of the Fathers saith hee I dare not condemne sith it is not repugnant to the sacred scriptures and hath likely reasons Ver. 8.9 vpon the 4th Chap. of the Epistle of S. Paul to the Ephesians Nay Bucanus a compiler as it were of Calvin and in this point also sticking to him in the censure of that we hold hath no more to say but this Non audeo damnare quando non pugnat cum sacris literis nihil habet absurdi I dare not saith he in his 25. common place condemne that tenent of the Fathers seeing it containeth nothing repugnant to holy writ nor brings with it any absurdity for surely in such cases the consent of Fathers is not lightly to bee regarded But these men tell vs Ob. that Christ commended his departing soule vnto his Fathers hands Answ As though it were out of his hands when it triumphed ouer hell and Satan Ob. But how could he then keepe touch with the Theefe to meet with him the very day of his passion in Paradise Answ S. Augustine will tell vs according to his Divinity or happily as Titus Bostrensis saith on the 23. of Luke hee setled first the beleeuing theefe and then descended afterward Both these things might be well done and seeing we read both why should wee not beleeue both I spare the quotation of Fathers Councills Schoolemen whole reformed Churches most of the eminentest writers since the Reformation that haue concurred vpon this point as I haue deliuered it both for easing your patience my selfe and him that is to be your Remembrancer As Christ dyed for vs and was buryed so also it is to be beleeued that he went downe into Hell Art 3. My conclusion shall bee that of S. Augustines Christs Divinity immediatly after his passion was as it was ever before and so continueth every where his body rested in the graue his soule descended into hell Locally our Church tyes vs not to say but really and truely it surely meaneth That the divell who had tempted and insulted ouer him by his ministers the damned who had contemned him non quasi verbis sed praesentia as learned Zanchius expounds the Fathers not by heare-say onely In Ephes cap. 4. v. 9. but by his victorious presence might be fully convinced and his chosen legally freed That in their own home to their eternall confusion he might once for all giue the fullest notice of this concluding and canonicall expostulation I haue troden the winepresse of my Fathers wrath alone satisfied his iustice paid the ransome for my chosen O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victory O Divell where is thy malice what part haue any of you in this soule of mine Or what exception can your hellish repining take against it By the carriage of this whole businesse schollers may learne Moderation not to censure them presently for Heretikes who in expounding such hiddē mysteries in any sort dissent from them Others not to bee offended at euery difference amongst the learned especially where there is consent in the maine and the Revelation as often it may fall out to be is not so manifest to curbe curiosities All may cheere vp their soules with our Prophets confidence Praise the Lord O my soule which saueth thy life from destruction hath freed thee from that place of horror by triumphing in thy nature ouer it Which is to bee extended also further vnto the body as it followeth in the last place to make vp the conclusion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 12. Neither shalt
stupendious miracles in all kinds he daily wrought were severally as well as iointly sufficient proofes that he was the promised Messias Yet all this may not satisfie without search of these Records Search the scripture saith he for against them yee haue no exception as yee may haue against miracles and other evidences In them yee your selues are convinced in your owne consciences and thinke to haue eternall life Now these are they which testifie of me Ioh. 5. When the Lawyer therefore last of all would needs haue a Rule whereby to inherit eternall life his dispatch was without further adoe What is written Luk. 10. How readest thou After such eminent Elogies from the Master for the scriptures supreame esteeme and vse the suffrages of all his followers may bee well deemed needlesse 10. Vpon this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this scriptum est the Fathers came in with their forcible exhortations It is a manifest revolt from faith saith the great Basil to bring in any thing for religion Definit 80 c. 22. that is not written and because it is not of faith it must needs bee sinne for who may speake 0 saith Saint Ambrose De vocat gent. l. 2. c. 3. where the Scripture is silent That which hath not ground from hence addes Saint Hierome is as easily put off as vrged In Mat. 23. I therefore rest saith Theodoret only vpon the Scriptures Dial. l. 1. c. 8. This must end all differences when all is done as S. Augustine affirmes Cont. Crescon l. 2. c. 31. with Origen The Schoolemen here fall in full in the maine with the Fathers Lumbard in in praefat Aq. Scotus to whom those that follow them are not opposite howsoever their practise hath beene stragling and dissonant in the infinite distractions of these syding times Thus farre these two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is written direct vs. But here we are not to mould the Scriptures according to our fancies or wrest them to serue our owne turnes or stand vpon our owne private iudgement in their doubtfull exposition nor content our selues that this or that is written except we take it and partake it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is written Church Councells Fathers Schoolemen new and old Expositors tongues Arts Histories may and ought to be vsed in their severall places Mat. 13. for the more iudicious clearing and applying of them For every Scribe which is instructed vnto the kingdome of heauen saith our Saviour is like vnto a man that is an housholder who bringeth forth out of his treasurie things new and old How much then doth it stand vs vpon heartily and seriously to pray as our Church teacheth vs in the Collect of the last weeke Blessed Lord which hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning grant that we may in such wise heare them read marke learne and inwardly digest them that by patience and comfort of thy holy word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life which thou hast given vs in our Saviour Iesus Christ Amen For to what end should these things bee written Beloued if not to be read and learned and pondred and conferred and revised againe and againe of vs for our eternall good Precept vpon precept line vpon line must here be taken according to the Prophets method least at any time we should let thē slip as our Apostle tells the Hebrewes Records for our temporall estates will be carefully looked after Heb. 2. and shall these heavenly evidences bee neglected No dainties shall bee thought too deare for the bodies well-fare and is not the soules eternall happines worth the looking after Certainely when modesty blusheth feare faultreth flattery sootheth ignorance sticketh craft adviseth for it's owne endes hypocrisies makes shewes and performes nothing This scriptum est will ever continue to bee bold with the best and greatest to tell all truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth as here it doth of these debosh't Israelites 11. The people sate downe to eat and drinke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and rose vp to play The people not all as we had before but the greater summe the most part Those that gathered themselues together vnto Aaron not to make them a new leader in steed of Moses for I thinke they greatly cared not whether they had any or no but new Gods insteed of Iehovah not to giue them lawes for directions or punish them when they offended but to leaue them to their owne licentiousnesse and when they were disposed to travell to goe before them Exod. 32.1 such is mans corrupt and selfe-wild nature We loue not Gods or Governors that will be punctuall or busie vpon vs for the observation of morall ceremoniall and iudiciall laws that wil thunder or lighten in the giuing or breach of their commandements but galdly admit of those that will quietly permit vs to follow our owne humours eat and drinke without a reckoning play without exception at vnlawfull games or in vnfit times or places without any restraint or moderation Now such Gods must needs be of our own making otherwise they would be hardly so fitted to our intemperate desires This skill this people had gotten without a teacher God they knew made them and now in requitall they would make them Gods But how would they serue them Not with grace before meat in their eating and drinking nor with the Psalmists excitation to devotion piously premised in our Church Liturgie O come let vs sing vnto the Lord let vs heartily reioyce in the strength of our salvation Let vs come before his presence with thanksgiuing and shew our selues glad in him with Psalmes O come let vs worship and fall down kneel before the Lord our maker Fal down and kneele and worship Nay sit downe to eat and drinke and rise againe to play O the vngratefull and perverse disposition of vs all the more God in mercy remembers vs the sooner wee forget both our selues and him and the better hee deales with vs the worse most commonly wee proue Pius Quintus that Pope who excommunicated Queene Elizabeth was wont to say I should not relate it but that I haue a Iesuit for my author and that is Cornelius à Lapide vpon the 11th of Numbers at the 11th verse Cum essem religiosus when I was a religious man he meant I thinke a plaine Monk without any Ecclesiasticall degree or dignity I had a very good hope of the salvation of my soule Being made Cardinall Extimui I was much afraid of it Nunc Pontifex creatus but now being Pope what now Penè despero I almost despaire of it And so thought Clement the 8th addes my former Author that followed after him An ingenious confession I must needs professe especially from such men so much ingaged in the pompes and vanities of this wicked world We can censure such passages at our pleasure but I
presence of that greatest Lord chiefe Iustice who hath bound vs to the peace both with our brethren and adversaries And now consider I beseech you Beloued would true men fall out in that way amongst themselues where from every bush they may expect a thiefe or souldiers bee tumultuous in such a garrison where they ever stand in danger of their mortall enemies That bee farre from vs who march vnder the banner of the King of peace Let it be the infamy of Cain to rise against his brother and the curse of the Midiaâ—ites Gen. 4.8 to sheath every man his sword in his neighbours side Iudg. 7.22 and a just imputation laid on Ahab that hee and his fathers house had troubled Israel 1. King 18.18 But let vs beloued according to our Captaines command and precept loue one another as he hath loued vs. We are all children of the same heauenly Father children must dwell together members of the same body members must grow together sheepe of the same pasture sheepe must feede together souldiers of the same army souldiers must march together Seest thou therefore a bruised reed breake it not or smoaking flaxe quench it not or a fainting soule thrust it not or one that is falne trample him not Reioyce not at anothers crosses but feare what thou hast deserued and what may befall thy selfe Hearest thou of a Saul's overthrow bewaile him with David though perchance hee hated thee and sought thy vtter vndoing Hath a Lyon killed a disobedient Prophet afford him in compassion Alas my brother Brethren and children and beloued and babes and friends are the most frequent titles we are called by in Scripture O let vs curbe our swelling affections and endevour to bee answerable to such excellent appellations Archidamus as wee reade in Plutarch being chosen an vmpire to reconcile two parties who had sworne solemnely to stand to his award gets them into Minerua's groue and there enioynes them that they should never depart thence till they had reconciled themselues O that my intreaty now might bee as his policie then to bring you all here present to the like exigent that this moment might bee the quickely and this Temple the very way out of which you might neuer passe without a full resolution for this Christianlike agreement But this is his only to effect who hath commanded it should bee so Paul may plant and Apollos may water but it is thou O Lord that must giue the increase O thou therefore that art the Author of peace and lover of concord who givest vnto thy servants that peace which the world cannot giue Incline wee beseech thee our stubborne and carnall affections so to loue one another as thou hast taught vs that thy eternall peace which passeth all vnderstanding may keepe our hearts and minds in the knowledge and loue of thee and thy sonne Iesus Christ our Lord that the blessing of God Almighty the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost may be amongst vs and remaine with vs now and evermore Amen CHRISTS COVNSELL FOR ENDING LAW CASES THE SECOND SERMON MATTH 5.25 Least thine Adversary deliuer thee to the Iudge and the Iudge deliver thee to the Sergeant and thou be cast into prison SVch is the servile disposition of the sonnes of Adam that in the ordinary passages of this life feare more availeth then loue to worke a consideration of their owne estates according to that of the Prophet Ver. 67. Psalm 119. Before I was troubled I went wrong but now haue I kept thy Word The reason I take to bee the sharpenesse of our senses and dulnesse of our vnderstanding this being more apprehensiue of bitter then that of sweete In regard whereof an iniury more galleth then a benefit contenteth and we remember to revenge the one when wee forget to bee thankfull for the other So sicknesse more then health crosses more then curtesies imprisonment more then liberty make a deepe impression Aquin. 12.1 ae q. 25. ar 4. ex Boetio feare as the Schooles obserue is one of the foure principall passions that vsually overswayeth all our deliberations Wherevpon the holy Ghost the deepest searcher and expertest applyer in all our affections imperfections infections and defections annexeth a penalty to his chiefest mandates Eate not least yee dye Gen. 3.3 Gen. 3.3 Levit 20.5 Commit not Idolatry least thou be cut off Leuit. 20.5 Watch Mark 13.36 Rom. 11.21 least he finde you sleeping Mark 13.36 Take heed least he spare not thee Rom. 11.21 It is his ordinary stile to rouze our security and is here the burden of this song of iudgement Agree with thine Adversary quickly whilest thou art in the way with him least thine Adversary deliuer thee to the Iudge and the Iudge deliuer thee to the Sergeant and thou be cast into prison 2 In the vnfolding of the former part of this Text it may be easily recalled that it was divided into a Precept and the reason thereof The Precept was there enlarged according to these foure Circumstances The matter whereof Agree the party with whom thine Adversary the time when quickly the place where whilest thou art in the way with him The reason now followes to bee farther followed carrying with it as it were threats and whips to scourge on ward the assent as though in more words our Saviour had thus vrged it Ioh. 9.4 I haue advised you quickly to agree whiles space and place is granted to take order in the day before the night approach and not to suffer your brabbles to come to a scanning after this life but if your frowardnesse bee such as to admit no good counsell see what will be the issue Appearance without delay iudgement without partiality imprisonment without baile will be strictly exacted and inflicted Adversary Iudge Sergeant Prison no way to be shifted or escaped twice deliuered then cast never to bee repriued or eased Thinke vpon these damages before the action bee entred for all this will befall if agreement prevent it not And this I take to bee the drift of our Saviour in the words I haue read vnto you The summe whereof is A declaration of the exceeding danger which attendeth the neglect of reconciliation And is here exemplified by three circumstances drawne from the rigorous proceeding of the 1. Adversary in these words lest thine Adversary deliuer thee to the Iudge 2. Iudge And the Iudge deliver thee to the Sergeant 3. Sergeant and thou be cast into Prison Least thine Adversary deliver thee to c. The first includeth an accusation exhibited by the Adversary The second a condemnation pronounced by the Iudge The third an Execution performed by the Sergeant Facilis descensus Averni Hee tumbleth with a witnes whom the Lord forsaketh and the Divell driueth From Adversary to Iudge from Iudge to Sergeant from Sergeant to Prison so one in the necke of another that the first may checke our impatience for abusing our neighbour the second our arrogance in
to be that the faith of thine might not fayle and may somewhat now incense thee that hast paid the ransome for all our sinnes But feare not little flocke he that strikes will heale This somewhat through his mercy will proue as much as nothing Satan accuseth through malice to condemne but Christ through loue to amend thee Non deser it ad poenam saith Richardus à Sancto Victore sed monet ad poenitentiam In textum His accusations are instructions his chastisements peace his precious balmes shall neuer breake our heads In Ezechiel homil 11. Non parcit vt parcat non miseretur vt magis misereatur Hieron in Ezech. cap. 7.4 As a Surgeon being to lance his best-beloued child he long handleth softly saith Gregory before he strikes and then cutteth and weepeth and weepeth and cutteth againe as Saint Bernard feelingly expresseth it otherwise sparing would be spilling in such a pleurisy which cannot bee cured without letting blood so this great Physitian of our soules will not sticke to reproue any thing where something may grow to set all things out of order Whence I inferre that The smallest faults in the Church are not to passe vncontrouled No toleration is to be granted for any thing that is amisse either in Pastor or people 10 As the plague is in the body so is sinne in the soule nothing sooner infecteth spreadeth killeth being like a bemired Dogge that in fawning defileth Mat. 13.31 speedier then a graine of Mustard-seed from the least seed becomming the greatest amongst hearbes Not to quash therefore in the egge this venemous Cockatrice is to foster it against our selues till it bee vnconquerable and not to purge the least leauen thereof is to endanger and corrupt the whole masse of goodnesse In regard whereof the walker amongst the Candlesticks with the two-edged sword in his mouth hath furnished out his Prophets to bee fitte for such a purpose One hath his forehead as an Adamant harder then a flint not to bee dismayed at mens proud lookes howsoeuer they bee hard-hearted and impudent Ezech. 3.8 Another is a fenced brazen wall not to be prevailed against Ier. 15.20 And hence grew the resolution of poore silly Prophets not to fauour the least offences in the greatest persons Samuel is bold with Saul Wherefore didst thou euill in the sight of the Lord Vers 19. 1. Sam. 15. Nathan with David Wherefore hast thou despised the commandement of the Lord Vers 9. 2. Sam. 12. So Hanani to Asa Vers 9. Thou hast done foolishly 2. Chron. 16. Azariah to Vzziah It pertaineth not to thee Vzziah to burne Incense to the Lord Vers 18. 2. Chro. 26. Iohn Baptist to Herod It is not lawfull for thee to haue thy brothers wife Vers 4. Math. 14. No sinne in his owne nature may passe here for veniall as the a Bellar. lib. 1 de Amissione grat statu peccat cap. 9. seq Romanists footh their Popelings nay concupiscence it selfe so extenuated by the b Thom. 1.2 q. 85. ar 3. Bonau in 2. Sent. d. 32. q. 1. Schoolemen and pargetted ouer by the c Beslarm de Amis grat et statu pec l. 5. cap. 5. Greg. de Valent. in 1.2 q. 82. disp 6. q. 12. punct vnico Iesuits must here come vnder the lash For Gen. 6.5 is not exception taken at the very imagination of the thoughts Doth not David acknowledge the wickednesse of his shaping and pollution of his conception Psal 51 And that chosen vessell S. Paul fiue times in the sixth to the Romanes sixe times in the seauenth and three times in the eighth disclaime by the name of sinne our originall corruption What fault more pardonable in these our daies then the remisnesse of a father to vntoward children Or the carefulnesse of a young man to hold his owne Or the forwardnesse of a man of parts to purchase preferment 1. Sam. 4.18 Mar. 10.21 Yet Eli smarted for the first and the young man in the Gospell otherwise commended was touched by our Saviour for the second Act. 8.23 and the gall of Simon Magus was broken for the third The reason whereof is pregnant The commandement is peremptory against all as the Apostle vrgeth it Thou shalt not lust Now a Botch is neuer cured Rom. 7.7 as long as the core remaineth Excrements growe in dead carkasses Scintilla erat Arrius c. lib. 3. Comment in Gal. cap. 5. while the humour lasteth And the fire increaseth as the fewell is ministred Arrius was but a sparke in the beginning saith Saint Hierome but being not then troden out it cost the world a groane to quench his heresie The least cranny or hole vnstopped as Saint Chrysostome well adviseth is sufficient to sinke the largest ship Wilt thou then except at a moate in thy brothers eye and canst thou favour a sinne to fester in his conversation In cap. 2. Apocalyps 1. Vnhappy friendship saith Carthusian quae illum quem diligit tacendo tradit diabolo God saue every good Christian from such a friend who by soothing and forbearing will damne his soule Hee betrayeth therefore his brother that favoureth his eares to breake his necke seeing somewhat vncontrolled may grow to any thing one diuell finding entrance to an house swept and garnished Math. 12.45 will quickly get a company farre worse then himselfe 11 If then no fault in a Church in a family in a private person in substance or circumstance whether it be much or somewhat must bee suffered vnchecked what impudencie armes our adversaries the Papists to mention a toleration of their superstition especially amongst vs whose eyes God hath so farre opened to see their abominations Hath the Lord so mercifully freed vs from this spirituall Egypt and shall wee againe bee longing for their Pepons and Onyons Hath hee enlightned vs so clearely by the lanthorne of his Word not to make vse of it our selues but to see how grosly our adversaries are misled to crosse it It cannot be the conceit of a true Christian to be so false-hearted to his Lord and Master If Baal be God professe it wholely but if the Lord be God Deut. 22. Ver. 11. cursed be such halting A plow of an Oxe and an Asse a garment of Linsie-wolsie Meremaids halfe fish and halfe flesh Centaures halfe horse and halfe man are monstrous and abominable in his iealous affection Deut. 7. v. 1. seq When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land saith Moses to Israel which thou goest to possesse thou shalt make no covenāt with the people thereof but downe with their Groues and burne their Images with fire no marriages must be made betweene them and Gods people and reasons are giuen Exod. 23.33 It will turne thy children to serue other gods It will be a snare vnto thee And did it not proue so to strong Sampson to wise Salomon to vxorious Achab to all that ever
presume rather then in such an Auditorie as this where Knowledge and Humours abound and the Divell is most busie that some are proud and factious standing vpon their gifts to the vilifying and discouraging of their weaker brethren others profane and peremptory to reject all good order irreuerently to abuse the Word and Sacraments and turne all Gods graces into a customarie wantonnesse On the other side what hearers may be imagined to bee more vnderstanding of the Apostles Logicke for setling of their own consciences against all Atheisticall opposers and the profitable imparting of it to the strengthening of others Every one therefore in his passage may rubbe out the Corne of such eares as hee liketh I shall deale with the whole heape which the Apostle hath here in good measure and running over shaken together in this narrow vessell But now Christ is risen againe and become the first fruits of them that slept 3. The words as you see of their own accord fall asunder into these two parts First the ground of our Resurrection in these But now Christ is risen from the dead Secondly the Fruits of this rising of Christ And is become the first fruits of them that slept The first includeth the cause the second the effect of the greatest good that ever befell mankinde Ioyne both together and no Logicke ever instanced in the like Enthymeme Christ is risen again therefore we shall also rise That Merchant can never breake who hath sold all to purchase this Plot of ground and thrice happy is that beneficed man who hath so payed his first fruits When the witty Athenians heard this doctrine of the Resurrection of the dead Act. 17. howsoeuer some Epicures and Stoicks gaine sayd verse 18. others mocked verse 32. yet the wiser sort were desirous to haue it repeated againe and certaine claue vnto Paul and beleeued of the Noblest and best ranke amongst them as Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others of both sexes by their good example Wee are all Christian Peripatetiques B. and therefore as our Apostle elsewhere admonisheth vs Rom. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must walk honestly as in the day and be armed against the Epicurisme and Stoicisme of such brutish opposers Now the custome of the place will shortly call for a repetition and I make no doubt but many a Denys and Damaris will sticke to that which shall bee spoken This is a day of good tidings and better then the Lepers could bring to the almost starued Samaritanes of the flight of their besiegers and the plenty left behinde them and therefore we should not doe well to hold our peace for now is Christ risen from the dead the ground of our former freedome and future happinesse which commeth now in order to be first thought on 4. But now is Christ risen from the dead If I did not purposely now abstaine from controversies I could here from this particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 referred to the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now is Christ the first Fruites take occasion to discusse against some needlesse muttering in these dayes First what became of the Fathers before the Resurrectiō of Christ whether they were in Limbo which Bellarmine in his sermons of the Resurrection takes for a ground and Rhetorically descants vpon and many of the Faethers and Schoolemen giue way to it or else enjoy the presence of God in a degree of happinesse competent to soules separated as also from the word Christ referred to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ raised to require whether this were done by his owne Power as Redeemer or else by Gods Omnipotencie helping His inferioritie as a distinct Agent with that ability that he wanted in himselfe for such an archieuement Besides a doubt might bee also moued concerning the obiect raysed whether it were the person intire or natures disseuered and if so whether the Godhead or manhood or if the manhood whether the body only or Soule or both or how The Schoolmen you know make work for such speculations vpon the 3. of the sentences 21. distinct and the 3. part of Aquinas the 53. question The practice whereof we haue in Abulensis on the 22. of Matth spending at least 24. disputations vpon this and the like curiosities And lastly quarrels might arise and are pickt from the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the dead what should bee the terminus or bound from whence the Soule of Christ returned whether from Purgatorie or the prison of the Patriarckes as too many haue ventered to define or from Paradice or Hades of Blessed Spirits as others would haue it or that his descent was no farther then the graue and the passion torments as a third sort stifly defend But this dayes solemnitie houres compasse places custome your expectations should bee wronged to bee so entertained being content I trust to take by the way in grosse First that the Fathers before Christ and those that follow like the Cherubims within the vayle Apocal. 13.8 looke vpon the same Mercy-seat For Christ was the Lambe slayne from the beginning of the World in Gods immutable purpose and therefore takes away the sinnes of the World as well before as after this actuall Resurrection 1. Cor. 10. Brethren I would not haue you ignorant faith our blessed Apostle that all our Fathers were vnder the cloud and in the Sea and were all baptised vnto Moses in the cloud and in the Sea and did all eate the same Spirituall meat and did all drinke the same Spirituall drinke for they dranke of the spirituall Rocke that followed them and that Rock was Christ Secondly that the Person of this Christ was raysed the Godhead one with the Father and the Holy Ghost and the same Actor in all externall effects reducing and conjoyning the soule againe to the body Ioh. 10.17 I haue power to lay downe my life and to take it Thirdly that this returne both of soule and body was from the state of the dead by loosing the fetters of death and Hell in which it was impossible hee should be with holden Acts 2.24 This may satisfie for the present those that can content themselues to bee wise with sobriety My progresse therefore shall rather touch on these especiall passages that concerne the mayne First how this resurrection of our Sauiour in the old Testament was prefigured and fore-prophecied Then how manifestly fore-told by himselfe and shrewdly feared by his persecutors before his death Afterward how vncontrolably witnessed both on the present day when it was done as also in the forty dayes wherein hee conversed with his Disciples before his ascension For this especially maketh for the setling of our Faith in this grand Article This is opus diei the work of the day which Satan cannot endure wee should take due notice of we are all negligent beloued need remembrancers to mind vs of that which we knowe in the most receiued points of Christianity 't is to good
tongue to vtter Thou hast loued to speake all words that may doe hurt O thou false tongue Psal 52. therefore shall God destroy thee for ever he shall take thee and pluck thee out of thy dwelling and roote thee out of the land of the liuing I make no doubt but one of the reasons why our Prophet is called a man after Gods owne heart was for his plaine syncerity without closing or glozing and the faithfull agreement of his heart and tongue together For when his heart melted like waxe in the mid'st of his body his tongue straight cleaued vnto his gummes Psal 22. and if his heart be once hot within him at the sight of the vngodly the fire must needs be kindled with musing and the tongue giue vent vnto it Hee cannot keepe his tongue from singing Psal 39. Psal 28. when his heart danceth for ioy so violently the hearts beliefe breakes out into the mouthes confession But we are either sicke of that old Iewish disease to honour with the lipps when the heart is farre off or else both heart and tongue are so otherwise engaged that the setting forth of Gods glory shall breake no square between them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nothing is so much affected in these vnsetled times which Nazianzen long sithence observed as that Athenian Itch of bartering newes and fidling about matters that least concerne vs. Are your minds set vpon righteousnesse ô yee congregation and doe yee iudge the thing that is right ô yee sonnes of men Where are then our Mictam's of David in sounding forth the Lords praises by recounting the wonders he hath wrought for the setling of our salvation why are our discourses so wide from the chiefe point we should be talking of If the round world and all that is therein the blessings we daily enioy the dangers we continually escape the noble workes we successiuely behold and heare of yeeld not matter sufficient for the tongues glorying yet the meditation of the happinesse to come should fill the mouth with laughter Psal 126 and the tongue with ioy this apprehension should secure the lumpish flesh through a ioyfull hope Which is the third circumstance as you may remember that presented it selfe to our former consideration 7 My flesh also shall rest in hope As Aarons ointment distilled from the head to the skirts of his clothing Psal 133. so Gods blessings are imparted from one member to an other The method in Arts will lead vs from the beginning successiuely to the end but divinity begins in the middle and thence as from the center most commonly drawes lines to the whole circumference Here we see how from the heart affected the tongue gloryeth and from the tongues reioycing how the flesh is comforted If our Saviour wash but the Disciples feete Iohn 13.10 the whole body shall bee held as clensed so diffusiue is that good which the holy Ghost communicateth The body shall be partaker of the soules happinesse and at length blesse the time that ever it came to be the casket of a Iewell so pretious A strange matter that the flesh which is here so rebellious should presume on such quiet hereafter The flesh which is the grandmother of originall corruption Gen. 6. Gal. 5. the mother of so many actuall mischiefes the confederate with the Divell in the most of his temptations plots and invasions which profiteth nothing Iam. 1. Iohn 6. Rom. 7. 1. Cor. 15. Ioh. 6. hath no good thing in it nay is as it were death it selfe and cannot inherit the Kingdome of God should not only escape vnpunished but also rest and rest in hope and hope with confidence and be confident in the expectation of a joyfull resurrection Notwithstanding yet you heare what our Prophet saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the hearts gladnesse the tongues glorying the soules happinesse is not all but besides this the flesh which is so fraile in life so fearfull in death so forlorne in the graue also that flesh of mine shall dwell in the dust securely Where by flesh he meanes not fleshly lusts which fight against the spirit but the body as it is separated from and opposed to the soule To such a carcase howsoever laid low and dissolued there is hope of a restoring And this no doubt was the reason that after the soule was departed to its last home a respectiue care was had for interring the corps amongst all Nations that ever professed civility How solemnely among the Iews were the Patriarchs buried together in the caue of Machpelah To be laid in the sepulchers of their Fathers was counted a blessing to posterity but to be left to be meate for the foules of the aire or a prey for beasts 1. Sam. 17. was the terriblest thing Goliah could thinke vpon to affright David with Much are the men of Iabesh Gilead commended 2. Sam. 2. for recouering the carcasses of Saul and Ionathan from the walls of Bethshan and honouring them with a decent funerall whereas it is added to Iehoiakim as the extremity of disgrace and misery that he should be buried with the buriall of an Asse drawen and cast forth beyond the gates of Ierusalem Ier. 22.19 All which proceeded from the hope which our Prophet here relyeth on For to what purpose were erected Tombes and Piramides or other the like Monuments Annointings Embalmings Baptizings or Washings of the dead vsed as the Apostle argueth 1. Cor. 15. but to testify the confidence they had that the dead should rise againe vpon this Iob sets vp his rest Cap. 19 26. though after my skinne wormes destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God The same quietus est is brought forth by Martha as the general assurance of the people of God amongst the midst of Pharises Sadduces I know that my brother shall rise againe in the resurrectiō of the last day Iohn 11. 8 Thus they comforted themselues in the losse of friends and animated their trembling flesh against deaths gastly lookes But our provision for the flesh is in another kinde Wee feed it delitiously cloath it pompously no preservation or recreation shall be neglected no physicke thought too deare or troublesome to giue it the best content But how it shall be disposed in the graue and provided for the call of the last trumpe it puts vs into a melancholy to consider and bewrays the little hope we haue of our future hope hereafter I suppose it would grieue any of vs all to see a Church converted vnto base offices or holy things polluted by luxurious or superstitious Miscreants but know we not that our bodies are the temples of the holy Ghost and should there be no care taken for the keeping of these vessels pure and presenting them in the most decent manner to their Redeemer and Saviour 1. Thes 4.4 What hope may hee haue for rest that purposely thrusteth himselfe into vnnecessary tumults Or what happinesse can he
thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption As our Saviours soule triumphed ouer the powers of darknesse so his flesh was to be free among the dead from the least taynt of corruption B. Bilson For his body and soule saith a Reverend writer were appointed to be superiour to al contrary powers that is the soule to hell the flesh to the graue and from both was Christ to rise as subduer of both That he might sit in his heauenly Throne as Lord over all not by promise onely as before but by proofe also as appeareth in his Resurrection Some would haue this to be only a repetition or reason of that which went before David was to be freed from the graue because Christ saw no corruption which sense howsoeuer it bee true in it this Text will not beare as proper Wee must repaire therefore to S. Peter in the second of the Acts and to S. Paul in the 13. and thence learne the right meaning Who both disproue the common errour which vnderstood it onely of David by this one sensible demonstration All the world might see by looking into Davids sepulcher that his body was turned to dust through corruption it could not therefore be said that hee was that holy one who was to see no corruption It must needs therefore be some other This could bee no other then the Messias whose Resurrection the third day before his body could be corrupted they had reason to bleeue seeing David had so distinctly foretold it Whence wee may plainely gather that all the Immunities that David here standeth vpon as his free-hold came to him but at the second hand This holy one then was Christ this priviledge not to see corruption was peculiar only to his sacred body All the faith full hold it of him in Capite when it is attributed to David it is no way to bee vnderstood or his person but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the fruit of his loynes as S. Peter speaketh Take therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which all our Translatours following Peter and the 72. render Holy one either for corpus sanctificatum as the Interlineary Glosse or for a Favorite whom it pleaseth God especially to grace as Beza or for one that being al-sufficiet in himself most bountifully dispenseth his fauours as Piscator It will come all to one that his body in the graue saw not that is felt not tried not endured not any corruption Corruption I meane of putrifaction or turning into dust not dissolution of soule and body as Athanasius well distinguished For where the Soule triumphed ouer powers of darknesse the body slept in the graue in expectation of its speedy returne which accomplished the third day there ensued vpon it immediatly this victorious Resurrection which our Prophet so much reioyceth here to fore-see we on this day doe thankfully celebrate 13. And now what belongeth to us Beloued but to let passe all vnnecessary trifles as what became of the bloud that was spilt on the ground at our Sauiours circumcision and the opening of his side at the crosse and seriously to fasten vpon that comfort which here is proposed vnto vs. O Lord saith S. Bernard I haue but two mytes my soule and my body with these I dare not trust my selfe and therefore I cast them into thy treasurie as knowing then they shall be in safe custody That which was proposed in a vision concerning IESVS the sonne of Iosedeck who by interpretation is the Iust one of the Lord in the 3d of Zachary is here fully accomplished according to S. Hieromes application on that place The filthy garments wherewith he was clothed for our sakes are taken from our Saviour And now he sheweth himselfe a King hath put on glorious apparell 2. Sam. 23. Among the Worthies of David we read of one Benaiah that went downe slew a Lion in a pit in the time of snow But this is but a cold Modell of that victory of the Lion of the Tribe of Iudah ouer that roaring and devouring Lion in the pit of Hell and the Graue There are none I suppose that heare me this day but are or after may be vexed with discontentments and feele a necessary decay of this earthly Tabernacle But alas beloued what remedy may serue vs in this world Looke further therefore with our Prophet whosoever thou art that expectest true comfort and take these grounds with thee which shall never fayle thee Christs soule hath conquered and triumphed ouer the sorrowes of Hell that thou shouldest neuer be enthralled to them and his body hath shaken off the shackles of the graue that thine in its due time might enioy the same freedom Beloued we were al in worse case in regard of eternall death then Peter was in the 12. of the Acts bound with two chaines and lying betweene two souldiers with a guard before the prison dore surely to be executed the next day after But our Saviour comes in stead of the Angell and rayseth vs vp the chaines fall off the Iron gate which was held impregnable opened of its owne accord and the way of life which leadeth vnto the fulnesse of ioy is chalked out vnto vs. And are not our lots now falne vnto vs in a good ground and is not this a goodly heritage Let vs thanke the Lord therefore for giuing vs so often this effectuall warning and set him at our right hand and then we shall never be moued So leaning with good old Iacob vpon the top of our staues and giuing vp the last gaspe wee may confidently conclude with our Prophet in the end of Psal 4. I will lay me downe in peace take my rest for it is thou Lord only that through the victory of thy son over hel the graue makest me dwel safely Which God grant of his mercy we may constantly doe for his sonne Christ Iesus sake to whom with the Father the blessed spirit be all Honour and Glory now and evermore AMEN THE CHRISTIANS EXPECTATION A SERMON PREACHED AT THE COVRT BY IOHN PRIDEAVX Rector of Exceter Colledge His MAIESTIE'S Professor in Divinity in the Vniversity of OXFORD OXFORD Imprinted by LEONARD LICHFIELD Anno Salutis 1636. 2. PET. 3.13 Neverthelesse we according to his promise looke for new Heauens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousnesse 1 THe first word of my text Neverthelesse sends vs backe for the fuller meaning to some what that went before That was a serious caveat of our Apostle to beware of fiue sorts of people who would turne vs out of the good way the preaching of the Gospell had prescribed Those Cap. 2. Y. 1.2.3 in the beginning of the former chapter ye shall finde to be First false Prophets or teachers who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies denying the Lord that bought them And many shall follow their pernitious waies by reason of whom the way of truth shall be ill spoken of and through covetousnesse shall they with fained words make
beare it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God that is when such a deliuerance comes of men these shall be freed from their seruitude by being not at all hauing done the businesse they were ordained for For the second place of the Apocalyps wherein the binding of Satan is related after the destruction of the Beast This concludes not that it must bee done afterward Which briefly may be thus made plaine In the 12. Chapter we haue the dragon pursuing the flying woman but in the 13. ver 2. This Dragon hauing done his worst to drowne her and foyled in his project he resignes his authority and power to his Vicar the Beast who vnder a pretext of Religion might doe more hurt then he could being loose by heathenish-persecution How this beast behaued himselfe in his Vicar-ship we haue from the 13. to the end of the 19. Chapter where his ruine is related Then the Apocalypt returnes to relate how Satan was bound in particular which hee had formerly mentioned onely in generall How I say bound how loosed and what he did after with Gog and Magog This the very ordering of the Text intimates For in the beginning of the 18 and 19. Chapters we haue this note of continuation with that which went before And after these things but in the 20 no such connexion appeareth the text only running And I saw an Angell As though he should haue said Thus much concerning the destruction of the Beast Now I returne to relate what shall become of the Dragon that resigned his authority to this Beast mentioned before in the 13. Chapter Out of which exposition that for ought I perceaue may passe with greater probability then any Chiliasticall will clearely follow that the 1000 yeares of Satans binding and raigne of the Saints which all grant to be the same time are not now to be looked for in New Heavens and a new Earth or a Heaven vpon Earth as some haue fancied but are expired and past already which may be further thus briefly evidenced 12 For we may conceit of a foure-fold binding of Satan intimated by our fourefold deliuerance from his fourefold Tyranny The first from terrifying vs by his right and might over vs which hee had gotten when by the Apostasy of our first parents in whose loynes wee all were all became his vassals The deliuerance from this was by our Saviours Incarnation who in the nature of man bound the strong man that we being delivered from the hands of our enemies might serue him without feare The second was from vrging the hand writing that was against vs whereby hee claimed vs as it were his villaines or apprentises The deliverance from this was by our Saviours passion whereby this hand writing that was against vs was blotted out and nailed to the crosse and so taken vtterly out of the way The third was from burdening vs with the killing letter and Ceremonies of the Law A yoake that neither wee nor our fathers were ever able to beare This some convèrted Iews euer presse to haue oblieged in equall commission with Christianity But from this wee were fully acquitted at the destruction of Ierusalem ruine of the Temple whereby was also remoued that stumbling blocke The last was from the mercilesse persecution of heathenish tyrants which continued as 't is well knowne vntill Constantine the great who attaining the Empire being a Christian put a period also to that Now then if from these foure bindings of Satan we account a 1000 yeares downeward the foure loosings will fall out neere about this reckoning from the Incarnation the thousand yeares are expired about Sylvester the seconds time from the passion in Benedicts the 9th from the Destruction of Ierusalem in Hildebrands from the raigne of Constantine the great in the time of Boniface the eight and the rising of the Ottoman family Now what Monsters these Popes were and what prodigies then appeared in the world and what exclamations there were of good and learned men That Satan was then loosed the histories of those times approued by all sides at large declare which I may not stand vpon Three things are here vsually opposed The twofold Resurrection The temporall felicity of the Church here vpon Earth and the Nationall calling of the Iewes to Christianity which these thousand yeares reckoned as past leaue no place nor space for hereafter after But the two first are taken by judicious Interpreters spiritually For we haue but one resurrection of the body in our Creed This first then in the Revelations may be wel expounded of the rising of our soules by grace and faith to a liuely apprehension of the manner of our saluation For the second our Saviour professeth that his kingdome is not of this world he calleth his followers to crosses and afflictions who raigne notwithstanding and triumph in the midst of oppositions by the inward testifying of their consciences and haue alwaies the better of their Adversaries in the end And therefore last of all by ought that hath been before delivered the calling of the Iewes which S. Paul reveales as a mystery Rom. 11. may hereafter take its place when it shall please God to bring it about That after the plucking downe of Antichrist with his horrible superstitions and Idolatries which I take to be the greatest stumbling blocke that yet keepes them back from imbracing Christianity they may thinke vpon the evidence of truth which the fulfilling of the Old Testament in the New most apparantly suggesteth so at length see their obstinate blindnesse and bee converted From all which premisses may be concluded that New Heavens or New Earth are left to be expected here of vs before the day of Iudgement but after that to be inherited eternally in the highest estate of our soules and bodies with God and his blessed Angels in the highest Heavens In which dwelleth righteousnesse The excellency of this inheritance my last part to conclude with 13. Wherein or in which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dwelleth righteousnesse There is here a double reading Beza and Serrarius the Iesuite intimate it in this sense We in whom dwelleth the righteousnesse of faith looke for a New Heaven and a New Earth Others as our Translation hath it we the children of God looke for a New Heaven and a New Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which new heauen and new earth dwelleth righteousnesse Here it only soiourneth there it dwels Here it hath only a moueable tabernacle there a mansion Here it is mixed with manifold imperfections there entyre and in the greatest eminency Here among some there in all Here for a time or flash there eternally What vse then should we better conclude with Beloued then with that which our Apostle here vrgeth both before and after my Text Seeing that all these things shall be dissolued these better are to bee only looked for what manner of Persons ought we to be