live also because he is risen they shall rise together with him And are they risen together with him Then is here a lesson of humility for every Christian If thou findest life in thy selfe that thou art not benummed nor the spirit of drowsinesse is upon thee but that as a living member of Christs body thou art laden with fruit and doest those workes which become one that is alive see here the root upon which thou growest the fountaine from whence all this goodnesse of thine proceedeth even Christ by vertue of whose resurrection from the grave thou which before wert dead art now alive thou which before hadst sinned mortally art now raised eternally Sacrifice not therefore with proud Pelagius to thine owne net nor burne incense to thine owne yarne as if by them thy portion were fat and thy meat plenteous thinke not these good workes of thine to come from thine owne strength thine owne free will rightly used by thee but goe a little higher than thy selfe and know thy will to bee but a lower spheare quae non nisi mota movet which cannot of it selfe doe anything but in him who by his resurrection hath quickened and raised thee up into the estate of grace Dost thou beleeve that thou art risen with Christ Thou must so beleeve if thou beleevest the Scriptures I demand then Who separated thee And what hast thou that thou hast not received And if thou hast received it why boastest thou as if thou hadst not received it 1. Cor. 4. 7. Boast not then thy selfe either against thy fellow-branches for that thou art better than they or against the root as if thou grewest of thy selfe but know that the root beareth thee Rom. 11. 18. and therefore confesse both in humility and verity thy selfe to be an unprofitable servant and say with David Not unto mee O Lord not unto me Psal 115. 1. not unto me for my rising not unto me for the fruits of my rising but to thy Name bee the praise And thus much of our rising in causa as it proceedeth from Christs Resurrection which was the first thing The second is our rising in it selfe what it is for upon Christ his rising we are also risen and what then is our rising Surely our rising hath great similitude and likenesse with Christs rising Now in Christs rising we may especially observe three things 1. Corporis expulvere resuscitationem the bringing up of his body from the dust of death 2. Vnionem animae corpori resuscitato the uniting of the soule with the body risen 3. Vnitorum inseparabilem colligationem the impossibility of ever having his soule and body thus united to be served So must there be in our spirituall resurrection this rising with Christ these three things 1. The raysing of the soule from sinne which is the very dust and death therof 2. The uniting of it to God who is anima animae the very life and soule of the soule in whom it liveth moveth and hath it being not in nature only but also in grace 3. The knitting of these two God and the soule together in the perfect bands of love which may not be upon every little jarre broken but remaine inviolably for ever firme and sure 1. Wee must rise out of the grave of sinne sinne it is as death Saint Gregory elegantly sheweth us the Greg in Psal 142. estate of the dead sinner in sepulchro conscientia tumulatum c. he is buried in the sepulcher of his conscience is bound with the napkins of concupiscence is cast out from the sight of God is covered with hardnesse of heart is shut in with the stone of iniquity a miserable death As then God said to Elias in the Cave What dost thou here Elias Come out and stand in the Munt before the Lord 1. King 19. 9. So let mee sound this speech in the eare of the sinner covered over with the moulds of sinne What makest thou there thou sinner Come out of this Sepulcher of sinne if thou wilt appeare before the Lord in the land of the living To this the Scripture calleth when it biddeth us awake and stand up from the dead Ephes 5. 14. To mortifie our members which are upon the earth Col. 3. 5. To crucifie the old man that the body of sinne in us may be destroyed Rom. 6. 6. This is done by repentance sorrow for sinne breaking off sin leaving sinne which is the first degree of our rising the first step to life 2. Having risen from sinne we must also unite our selves unto God for hee is our life Deut. 30. 20. Therefore must we cleave to him if we meane to live else are we as a body without a soule a filthy carkasse It was to no purpose that the dry bones came together bone to his bone that the sinewes and flesh grew upon them that they were covered with skinne unlesse 〈◊〉 winds had breathed upon them also and they had lived for what difference betweene a dry bone and a senselesse body And to as smal end are we roused from the grave of sinne unlesse there be a spirit within that quickeneth for what excellency hath a carkasse unburied above that which is buried a man not righteous above him that is a sinner Life then is yet further required to our rising which because wee are members of a body is not to be had but in the body get faith therefore which ingrafteth into the mysticall body of Christ being ingrafted we shall bee partakers of the Spirit which diffusing it selfe through every member knitteth us to God to whom to be joyned is life Of this speaketh our Saviour Ioh. â—5 3. Abide in me and I in you As the branch cannot beare fruit except it abide in the Vine no more can you except ye abide in mee 3. Being united unto God and living this new life of raysed persons we must continue in this life even as Christ having risen from death now dyeth no more this is the true conformity to his resurrection whereas those that live to dye againe were rather risen in shew than truth moved artificially by some Engine to make them stirre than naturally by a vitall power of their owne and of this continuance excellently sings the Prophet Psal 92. 12. The righteous shall flourish like a Palme tree and spread abroad like a Cedar in Lebanon such as be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of the house of our God they shall still bring forth fruit in their age and shall be fat and well liking To conclude then this point Let all of us who professe our selves Christians and triumph in our Saviours resurrection let all of us I say rise with him as well he that hath beene dead but an houre or two hee that hath fallen lately as he that like Lazarus hath beene in the grave foure dayes and through his continuance in sinne beginneth to stinke in the nostrils of the Lord. Let not the young
doe they who seek the things which are at ove and let every man aske himselfe Are we such What meaneth then the high-climbing ambition of haughty spirits to places of promotion and dignity What meaneth the hoording up of treasures by the covetous the swimming in lascivious pleasures by the voluptutuous Doe we not hereby testifie that wee are worldly and if worldly how heavenly Assuredly our love of earth cannot stand with the love of heaven our seeking of things below with seeking things above If then we would have comfort in our owne soules that we are risen with Christ let us aseend with him from licking the base dust with the cursed creatures to feed of celestiall Manna that though our bodies tread upon the earth yet our conversation maybe in heaven from whence we looke for our Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ to come who at his comming as he hath raysed our soules already to the life of grace will rayse our bodies to the life of glory and make them like his owne most glorious body The end of the third Sermon THE FOURTH SERMON ON HOS 1. 4. HOSEA 1. 4. I will avenge the blood of Iezreel upon the house of Iehu MAn sins and vengeance sleepes sentence against an evill worke is not speedily executed So the Preacher Eccles 8. 11. When thou didst these things I kept silence So God himselfe Psal 50 21. The sleeping of vengeance causeth the overflow of sinne because sentence is not executed the harts of men are set to doe mischiefe because God keepes silence the sinner thinkes hee is haile fellow with him And the overflow of sinne causeth the awaking of vengeance The sinner shall not prolong his dayes though without controule hee doth evill an hundred times the same Preacher telleth us I will reprove thee and set thy sins in order the same God speakes it So that in few words I have pointed out to you foure things Mans sinne Gods connivence upon his sinne Mans blodnesse upon his connivence Gods punishment upon mans boldnesse Will you see all these verefied by an example You need go no further than Iehu whom my Text nameth looke his history 2 King 9 10 chap. and compare it with these words you shall find them all plainely laid before you 1. He kills his Master leboram the King chap. 9. vers 24. there is his sinne how farre he sinned in this action you shal heare afterward 2. There neither comes thunderbolt from heaven to strike him neither doth the earth open her mouth to devoure him nor any other plague seize upon him for it there is Gods connivence 3. Hereupon he proceedeth to dash lezabel the Queene against the walls to behead the kings children to cut off from Ahab all that remained chap 10. there is his boldnesse Hitherto all sorts well with him the world goeth on his side still but you looke for a fourth part what God prepared for him all this while my Text wil tel you that which is nothing else but the denouncing of vengeance against Iehu's house for this bloody cruelty Heare the words and you shal understand his punishment I will avenge the blood of Iezreel upon the house of Iehu You have the scope and the summe The parts are three Paena Crimen Reus A punishment denounced I will avenge A fault to be punished The blood of Iezreel A part to sustaine the punishment The house of Iehu Each part subdivideth it selfe into two branches In the punishment you have two things 1. The foreshewing of an evill to come The tense affoordeth this consideration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the future signification I will avenge 2. The nature of the evill foreshowne this the Verbe telleth us it is avenging In the crime you have likewise two things 1. The fault in generall to bee punished that is murder set downe here under the name of blood 2. The restriction of this fault in respect of the persons murthered in the word Iezreel the blood of Iezreel Finally in the party sustaining you have two things the root and the branches the fountaine and the rivers Iehu and his posterity the house of Iehu So that these words doe give us to consider of fix things 1. Gods prediction of evill to come 2. Gods punishing of evill men 3. His punishing of murther 4. His punishing the murther done in Iezreel 5. His avenging it upon Iehu 6. His avenging it upon his house Of these briefely I will avenge this is the prediction It is observed in earthly policy among Princes that upon any offence offered by their neighbours they doe not presently set upon them with fire and sword untill they have sent an Herauld to declare their grievance and denounce warre God commanded it to the Israelites Deut 20. 10. and the law of nature as it seemeth dispersed it to all Nations The manner thereof among the Romans is described by Gellius Gell. l. 16. c. 4. The Herauld threw his weapon upon the enemies ground with this speech Ego populu que Romanus hominibus Hermundulis bellum dico facioque In like manner God being justly offended with the sinnes of men openeth not by and by the treasures of his wrath but sendeth out his Embassadours to see if satisfaction may be made and so the course of his revenge stayed This the very Gentiles obserued in their false gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 said Herodotus Musaâ— l. 6. The gods take pleasure in premenitions And we find it every where verefied of the Lord of Hosts the God of Battels that hee smites not before he hath given warning sends not the executioners of his Iustice till hee hath fore-sent the messengers of his mercy Thus had the old world before the flood Noah to teach them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 2. 5. the Trumpet of Gods righteousnesse and the Arke in building by the space of 120 years to be a visible signe unto them of their succeeding misery Thus Moses and Aaron foretold Pharaoh of those plagues Ioseph de hello Iud. l. 6. c. 3. which lighted upon him and his people Thus the blazing Starre the battel 's seene in the Ayre the voice heard in the Temple the constant cry of Iesus the sonne of Anani in the streets were to the Iewes forerunners of their ensuing destruction Not to heape up examples the sinnes of Israel were now growne ripe and the posterity of Iehu fitted for the sword which made God stirre up the spirit of the Prophet Hosea to let them understand that their end drew nigh and that the kingdome should cease from the house of Israel for by then a yeare and an halfe were expired the race of Iehu Zanch. in huâ—â— loâ—â—m was expired likewise Shallum the usurper having slaine Zachariah the fourth from Iehu and so that line ceased Now the end of these predictions are two-fold 1. To move the warned to labour reconciliation with God 2. To assure them of vengeance if they be not reconciled For the first
willeth us when we are reviled not to revile again when we suffer not to threaten because Christ himselfe also did so 1 Pet. 2. 23. In the latter we are to imitate him by similitude translating that unto our spirituall life which he did as Mediator thus his dying teacheth us not to die the death of the body but of sinne to crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof and his rising againe teacheth us not to come out of the graves when we are buried alas it passeth the strength of all humanity but to arise from sinne the death of the soule Behold then apish man who art ready to follow every fashion a patterne worthy the looking upon an example worthy the following even thy Saviour rising Oh be thou a Saint and rise with him Dye he might but could not be overcome of death and therefore loosed the sorrowes of it So howsoever thou hast sinned yet bee not over-ruled by sinne suffer it not to reigne in thy mortall body Voluntarily went hee once into the darke bowels of the earth and there remained three dayes necessarily through the corruption of thy nature and voluntarily also through the depravation of thy will hast thou fallen into the depths of sinne and there hast laid three daies the day of thy conception for thou wert shapen in wickednesse the day of thy birth for thou wert polluted in thine owne blood the day of thy life hitherto for thou hast beene a stranger from the womb from the wombe hast thou erred as therefore thy death of sinne hath beene like unto Christs being in the grave so let thy rising from sinne bee comformed to the similitude of his Resurrection now the third day breake forth into the light throw away thy grave-clothes the workes of darkenesse and put on the apparell of a man the armour of light It was that they say which made Alexanders souldiers so willing to attempt desperate matters that what he would have them doe himselfe first beganne and therefore was wont to say Eamus faciamus what you see mee doe doe you the same likewise Wee have here the same encouragement which they had Christ our head is risen before us to lead the way and shew us how wee should rise Et nos ideo surgamus de tumulo terrae saith Saint Ambrose having so good a President for our direction let us also rise 2. Christ is the cause of our rising by way of efficacy for by vertue of his Resurrection hath hee derived grace and strength to us all Mr. Calvins note is good upon this place That wee are not here invited onely by the example of Christ risen to follow newnesse of life sed eius fieri virtute docemur ut regeneremur in iustitiam this Text teacheth us that our regeneration is from the vertue of his Resurrection To small purpose had it beene for Christ to have gone before us in that which we could not doe unlesse he had enabled us also that we might doe it To teach a cripple how to goe or a dumbe man how to speake is a fruitlesse thing but to strengthen the feet and ankle-bones of the one to untye the strings of the others tongue this is the way to make them goe and speake So fareth it with us all my beloved wee were like that man possessed with Divels who abode among the graves sinne had so wounded us that we were cut off from the land of the living being dead in trespasses Ephe. 2. 1. what could it then have benefited us if one whose life was within him should walke and stirre that Christ who was quickened by the Spirit could come out of the grave surely nothing unlesse he that raised up Christ from the dead had also quickened our benummed soules then and not otherwise could wee arise it was therefore requisite that to his example set before us Christ should adde the communication of vertue to us that we might rise with him And this is that which the Apostle Paul speaketh Ephesians 2. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God hath quickned us together with Christ giving him the Spirit of life whereby he was raised from the dead and withall to us the life of the Spirit that we might rise from sinne And this is that medicinalis convenientia of Saint Austins wherby the Example of Christs rising is made effectuall namely the applying of medicines to out infirmities purging out all humours whereby we might be stayed in our corruptions and strengthening the vitall faculties for the exercise of spirituall things for as Christ dyed to take away from sinne the guilt the punishment and dominion which it got over man so that man might be said to be dead to sinne because hee no longer lived therein so did he rise againe to furnish man with all gifts and graces necessary for his soules salvation and every faithfull man is partaker as of Mortification by vertue of Christs death so of Vivification by vertue of his Resurrection For fuller perceiving wherof we must know that Christ is as the head his Saints the members Christ the root his Saints the branches as therefore the motion of the members and governing them in their actions proceedeth from the head where is the motive faculty in greatest vigour so doe the members of Christ his mysticall body derive from him the influence of grace whereby they are enabled to performe their functions de plenitudine eius Ioh. 1. 16. from him we draw of him we receive Now Christ is the head of his Church as Mediator and by his workes of Mediation most of all diffuseth life and motion and that sweetly in an analogy to the worke so his death giveth a motion to corruption the corrupting of the old man and his Resurrection a motion to quickening the quickening of the new man these two like maine channels convey whole streames of graces from him into the Church neither doth the disproportion of soule and body hinder this conveyance at all Christ rising in his body onely the soule of man being the proper subject of grace for it is not the vertue of the body raised that maketh this diffusion but the Divine vertue raysing the body scattereth abroad his graces per actionem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by this wonderfull act of God-man his resurrection and thus as Augustine Ser. 181. de temp observes Resurrectio simplex format resurrectionem duplicem Christs rising in his body causeth in his Saints a double resurrection the one of their bodies at the last day because his flesh is of the same masse with theirs the other of their soules continually because hee is the head of the whole man Behold then the vertue of Christs resurrection as Saint Paul calleth it Phil. 3. 10. the raysing vertue giving to him that was downe through infidelity saith to beleeve and stand up aright to him that was fettered in malice and could not stirre charity to walk in good workes because Christ lives therefore shall his
account and the small number of them also that pride may not steale into his heart to make him forget God and overtop his brethren Hee that walketh in this middle way of the estimate of his gifts riches honours authority and such like shall when hee comes to make up his reckoning have God acknowledge him for one of his and say Well done good and faithfull servant thou hast beene faithfull in few things but this acknowledgment is not all there followes a promise of greater endowment J will make thee ruler over many things Where are two things Remuneratio I will make thee modus remunerationis ruler over many things 1. The reward propounded I will make thee I wil set thee in an happy state and condition No man ever served God in vaine when hee sends men into his Vineyard hee agreeth with them for a penny and a penny they shall bee sure of howsoever the Atheist saith it is no profit to serve God yet Saint Paul saw benefit in his service I presse forward to the marke Phil. 3. 13. And faithfull Moses looked to the recompence of reward Heb. 11. 26. A great encouragement it is to a man in all his labours to know that they are not fruitlesse but that after wrastling hee shall bee crowned after running haue the prize after sowing reape after painefull employing of his Talents bee advanced Though without a promise a man might bee idle and have no heart unto his worke yet hope should make him active to overcome all impediments Virtus ad praemium prompta vinci non potest saith Gregory Vertue inflamed with sight of reward is invincible 2. The manner of the reward Ruler over many things where two particulars observable 1. The nature of heavenly things opposed to earthly they are few these many the opposition is manifold they light these weighty 2 Cor. 4. 1 â— they finite these infinite Psal 36. 8. those of narrow compasse these incomprehensible 1 Cor. 2. 9. they small these great Psalm 31. 19. Rightly Saint Hierome Omnia quae in presentihabemus lieet magna videantur comparatione tamen futurorum exigua sunt Oh that ye could see how excellent these many things are they would provoke us to infinite love of them Oh that we could esteeme them as we ought it would make us sell all to purchase them Foolish Esau's they are who for a messe of pottage part with their birth-right like Glaucus in Homer exchaÌ„ge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chooselight for heavy finite for infinite comprehensible for incomprehensible small for great few for many Pray wee with the Apostle Ephes 3. 17. that wee may bee able to comprehend those many things in all their dimensions bredth length depth height that seeing the small current of these few things here and the vast sea of those many hereafter we may to passe from these former that wee misle not finally to attaine the latter 2. The Order wherein this faithfull servant is to these many things hee is super â—ulta made ruler over them â—is vessell shall so be filled with those glorious qualities that he shall with full liberty use them to his perfection the glory of God there shall not then bee that strife betweene flesh and spirit the spirit willing the flesh weake the spirit lifting up the heart the flesh depressing it but that body of sinne which warreth against the mind being wholly destroyed wee shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 love God with all our hearts our soules and strength delight in him as the chiefe good and have all our facultie prest to sing with the Elders a praise and glory to his holy name This is the end of our Creation for it were we made and had wee command of oâ— selves now we should doe it in this vaile of mortality but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sin that compasseth us will not now permit it the divell who opposeth us maketh us as slaves to follow his will then then shalâ— wee perfectly serve our God when we shall be full commanders of ourselves when the sting of sinne being removed and Satan trodden under our feet our hearts shall be W els of living waters our eyes shall behold our blessed Saviour our hands take hold of happinesle and felicity and we wholly instead of toyling among the few things of this world shall bee rulers over those many things which attend Eternity Thus have I briefly runne through these words in a word of Application I conclude You Right Honourable and all that have to doe in these affaires of the Common-wealth see your places you are God's servants your duties goodnesse and fidelity are required of you God invites you to them by his approbation testimony and reward doe you your parts I dare say God will not be wanting in his When the great Assise of the world shall be kept you shall heare Well done good anâ— faithfull servants you have beeâ— faithfull in few things I wiâ—â— make you rulers over manâ— things The end of the first Sermon THE SECOND SERMON Assize Sermon Momento mâ—i Pous ON NEHEM 5. 15. NEH. 5. 15. But so did not I because of the feare of God THE whole duty of man hath ever beene reduced to two heads by the Stoikes unto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abstaining and sustaining by Saint Paul to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tit. 2. 12. denying ungodlinesse living godly And surely all the lawe of God being either negative prohibiting evil or affirmative commanding good whâ— mens actions are correspodent to the lawes both forbâ— ring to doe what is forbiddeâ— and doing that which is enioâ—ned then are they due obseâ—vers of the Law Nehemiah whose speeâ— my Text is was both a go man and a good Magistratâ— and doth in this Chapter declâ— his integrity in those two fâ—â—mer respects My Text to you what hee did not So not I. The last verse sheâ— what he did The good th◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 have done for the people Tâ—â—â— was hee square and every 〈◊〉 complete complete in person a godly man and honest Governour complâ—â— in his actions not doing wrâ— but doing right My Text suffers mee not set the whole face of this worthy Patriot before you but a part of it For if I consider his person I am to speake of him onely as a Commander this particle I points at him as he was Tirshatha the Kings Deputy or Legate and yet on the by you may here see what he was as a man for Magistratus indicat virum let the Politickes dispute the question I take the conclusion to be this A good Citizen is a good Christian Againe if I consider his actions I must speake of him onely as abstaining from evill my Text is negative sic non feci I did not so yet by concomitance also as doing rightly for the whole booke shewes that his disposition was not like Galba's Hist l. 1. â— 12. in
at the Assizes in Bury Maurice Barrow Esquire then high Sheriffe of Suffolk The end of the second Sermon THE THIRD SERMOEN ON COLOS. 3. 1. COL 3. 1. If ye be risen with Christ seeke the things that are above IN Repentance are two things Aversio a malo Conversio ad bonum the loathing of what is evill by sorrow for it the pursuit of that which is good by longing after it Or to speake the same thing in other words Mortification whereby the world is crucified to the penitent and he unto the world and Vivification whereby his dead and beâ—ummed limbs are warmed in righteousnesle to live the life of God and bring forth the fruits of the spirit the former commeth unto him by vertue of Christs death we are buried with him into his death that the body of sinne might be destroyed the second by vertue of Christs Resurrection we are ingrafted with him into the similitude of his resurrection that like as Christ was raised from death by the glory of the father so we also should walke in newnesse of life Rom. 6. 4. This present Chapter presenteth unto our view both these Vivification in this first verfe If yee be risew with Christ Mortification in the 3. and 5 verseâ— You are dead mortifie therefore your members In the words read of which alone I am to intreat we have a double vivification one substantiall the o ther accidentall one of Christs body his resurrection from the grave wherein hee lay three dayes the other of our whole man his resurrection from the grave of sinne wherein nature hath buried us all Here is Christs rising and here is our rising both in their causality Christs rising is the cause that wee rise ye are risen with Christ our rising is the cause of our seeking heavenly things If yee be rison seeke the things that are above A Text which beside the generall doctrine of rising from sinne and seeking heaven matter necessary to be taught at all times is fitted likewise to the season one part pointing at Easter a feast not long since past 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you are risen with Christ another part pointing at the Ascension the feast wee now solemnize 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things above among which Christ is the chiefe who having conversed with his Disciples by the space of forty dayes as on this day was taken up on high and exalted with great glory into his kingdome in heaven In the words I purpose to speake of three things 1. That glorious worke performed by our Saviour his resurrection this the Text neceslarily implyeth The Elect are risen with Christ therefore Christ is risen 2. The vertue of his resurrection in his members they are risen with him 3. The effect or fruit of their rising they seeke the things that are above for this conditionall conjunction if maketh this seeking a note of rising if you be risen you will seeke things above if you seeke not things above it is a plaine argument that you are not risen And first of Christs Resurrection of which while wee speake it is necessary that wee cast backe our eyes a little to that which was done but as two dayes before namely his buriall and intombing in the earth Quis enim ascendit idem qui descendit faith the Apostle Ephes 4. 9. Resurrection presupposeth falling and it is Tertullians Lib. de resur car note Cum audio Resurrectionem homini imminere quaeram necesse est quid eius cadere sortiâ—um sit None can know that Christ hath rose to life but hee that knoweth hee once fell by death See then after he had breathed forth his so blessed soule and committed it into the hands of his father how carefull just Ioseph was to interre his body wrapping it decently in linnen clothes with sweet odours as the Iewes used to bury thinking good soule that as he now was dead so he was to goe in statum mortuorum and that the same condition should befall him as did other men See now the amazed hearts of all his Disciples cast downe and doubting what was become of the hope of Israell they looked indeed that he should have beene a Savior but now because he would not they thought he could not save himselfe they looked that hee should have restored the kingdome to Israel but behold they now they wot well all hope of a kingdome to bee cleane gone from him having lost both kingdome and life and being conquered of the all-devouring grave Which of them all had not now his heart resolved into teares and his eyes full fountaines to send them foorth Which of them now hanged not downe his head for shame and thought himselfe mocked in following him But stay a while O yee afflicted soules expect but the dawning of the third day and your eyes shall well perceive that hee whom you thought to have beene among the dead is among the living your selves shall witnesse that he was not holden long of the sorrowes of death but hath loosed them breaking like a victorious Conquerour the gates of brasle and smiting the barres of Iron a sunder untying the bands of darknesse and of death and carrying them away with him as Sampson his type did the gates and bars of the City Azzah wherein he was inclosed the first day of the weeke is come et ecce non est hic looke for him no longer among the graves for he is risen He is risen the Iewes count this a fable for so it is noysed among them to this day That all his rising was but his Apostles theft their stealing away his body while the Watch-men slept and the Gentiles thinke it a meere imposture Habakâ—k so foretold Hab. 1. 5. and the event sheweth how truly Acts 1. 3. 41. that God wrought a worke in these latter dayes a worke which men would not beleeve no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let them be told it never so plainly But let Iew and Gentile be as incredulous as they will the Scriptures testifie and we must beleeve that Christ is risen What though all the world beside make this signe of Christs Divinity his Resurrection as a thing worthy to be spoken against yet amplectatur et gandeat Christianus the Christian must embrace it with joy and joyfully acknowledge that Christ is risen But not to stand upon this point which I would have but an Introduction to that which followeth observe in it onely three things briefly Suscitatum suscitans suscitati statum the thing raised the vertue raising it the estate of it being risen 1. The thing raised was his body which alone catched the fall and was layd low in the dust yet doe we referre this resurrection to the whole person when wee say Christ is risen because the soule was returned tothe body whose mansion hard entreaties e're-while made itleave and the Deity though in abstracto in it selfe uncapable of either falling or rising yet in concreto in his person because of that
unspeakable union with the manhood and communication of properties having rising truly attributed unto it Christ then rose but secundum humanam naturam in his Humanity and his Humanity properly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the body which being to stand up from the dead was met by that glorious soule which for a time had departed from it Christ he was not as once his Disciples swallowed up with feare mistooke him and other since blasphemously have said in earnest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a spirit a shadow a man of Ayre but he had a reall substantiall humane body like unto ours which as hee walked with all his life time and carried up with him to the Crosse at his death and left it after death to be buried by his loving Disciples so brought hee the same againe from the depth of the grave not changed in kinde but the very same behold me for it is I even I myselfe Luke 24. 39. Christ demonstrated his body to bee the same by certaine degrees one proofe being more strong than another 1. In that it had veram corporis effigiem a bodies shape and proportion therefore hee bid deth his Apostles behold and see him but so spectra spirits as they call them appeare in humane forme 2. In that it was solidum a fast solid body not thinne and subtill therefore he biddeth his Disciples handle him but this though it prove a body yet not the same 3. Therefore to take away al doubt and to shew indeed it was the same he calleth for Thomas who now might see his hands and touch his side his hands bored with the nayles his side pierced with the Souldiers Speare and then as faithlesse as he was before he became faithfull with the assurance of faith and cryed My Lord and my God Here then wee have to consider of these three things 1. The verity of Christs humane nature that the same body which hee brought from the wombe of the Virgin at his first being upon the earth the same hee brought againe from the womb of the earth when hee opened it the second time to tread upon it a maine pillar of our comfort that Christ tooke our flesh for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if he tooke not our flesh wee are not saved by him 2. Here is the truth of his Resurrection the eleven incredulous Apostles the two Travellers to Emaus Mary Magdalen five hundred brethren at once a thicke cloud of witnesses all these saw all these testifie and we know their testimony is true that the same body which was hanged upon the tree the same did God raise up the third day having loosed the sorrowes of death 3. Here wee see with what bodies we shal arise at the day of Iudgement with these we have about us as Christ rose with his So Iob speaketh Iob 19. 26. Though after my skinne wormes destroy my body yet shall J see God in my flesh whom I my selfe shall see and mine eyes shall behold and none other for me And this is the thing raised But what great matter will the Atheist say is this that Christ rose againe Have not others risen which have beene longer dead than he It is true they have but marke the vertue Raising and you shall finde novum super terram a thing never heard of upon earth before they were raised Christ raised himselfe Lazarus must have the lowd call of Christ Joh. 11. 43. or else had hee slept his long sleepe Elizeus with the touch of his bones set a man upon his feet who was cast dead into his Sepulcher 2 King 13. 21. yet long and long may Elizeus lye in the grave himselfe waiting to bee raised by another because hee cannot raise himselfe Hence came Saint Bernards distinction Aliorum resurrectiones vel suscitationes potius they had externall force raysing them Christ alone internall as hee saith of himselfe I have power to lay downe my life and I have power to take it againe Joh. 16. 18. But what then meant Peter to say God raised up Iesus Acts 2. 32. and Paul Christ was raised from death by the glory of the Father Rom 6. 3. The answer is plaine that Christ may be considered two wayes 1. Ratione unitae Deitatis as he was God as well as man and so wee may say his body resumed the soule which before it lost and the soule came againe to the body which before it left the Divinity of Christ which never left the Humanity but was united unto it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 working this wonderfull conjunction 2. Ratione natura create he may bee considered in his passible humane nature which was raysed and this had not that great power in it selfe but was raised by the God-head both of the Father himself for opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa in these outward actions the persons of the Trinity concurre joyntly so that when God the Father raiseth the Sonne rayseth also and therefore might truly say of the Temple of his body In three dayes I will raise it up againe Ioh. 2. 19. and herein did Christ plainly shew himselfe to be God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mightily saith the Apostle Rom. 1. 4. for super as evadere ad auras hic labor hoe opus est It passeth the bounds of all humane strength to unwind it selfe out of the snares of death Let then the accursed Arrian call into question the God-head of our Saviour let him imagine this rising to proceed from the assistance of the Deity present with him not from the verity thereof in him but let us following the rule and light of Scripture acknowledge the bright beames of his Divinity amidst the most dusky clouds of his Humanity confessing him to be God one with the Father and co-equall as upon other grounds so among the rest upon this That once he was dead but is now alive once he was buried but the third day risen This is the second thing the power whereby Christ was raysed The third is his state being risen and this was a state of immortality hee had privilege from future death hee dyed indeed but it was but once Being raysed from the dead hee dyeth no more death hath no more power over him Rom 6. 9 Others being raised must passe the second time the streights of death the anxiety whereof being once acquainted with it must surely bee great horror to thinke that once againe they must goe through them but Christ having once made spoile of that All-ruling Tyrant hath so over-mastered him that he durst never since set upon him Therefore is it the Motto of the Sonne of man I am alive and I live for evermore Rev. 1. 18. Others rising was in this imperfect that being actually freed from death and ransomed from his captivity yet are they subject every houre to become his thralls and to be catched in his ginnes but Christs rising was perfect in that hee was freed non a morte solum sed a
man lye still and thinke another day will come and then it will be time enough for him to rise but as Christ rose early in the morning so let him rise in the prime morning of his youth if he find the grave now open and his soule to be in him let him take heed lest the grave shut her mouth againe upon him lest his soule being taken againe out of that drowsie mansion he have no more such oportunity to rise Againe let not the old man lye still and not arise because hee feareth hee hath laid too long and there is no hope for him to recover life for sweet and comfortable is that saying of Saint Austine Vâ— radius oculi nostri c. As our eye doth not sooner see things that are near it theÌ„ the things that are further off but with a like swiftnesse doth behold them both so the vertue of Christs rising commeth not first to them who are new dead in sinne and scarcely to those that are of long continuance in it sed ei tam facile est ut quaeque recentia diuturno tempori dilapsa cadavera suscitare it can as easily raise those which have longest as those which have had smallest time therein Let us then all both old and young rouse up our selves for the Master is up and shall it not shame the servants to be behinde Christ is risen and draweth us also with the cords of love oh let us runne after him in the sweet savour of his oyntments and ascend after him in our hearts to heaven whither hee hath already ascended which is the third thing propounded in the Text the fruit of our rising with Christ Seeke the things that are above Where two things offer themselves to be considered the Object things above the Act seeke which Act is proportioned to the Object and is divers according to the diversity of it Now things above may bee taken two wayes 1. For Christ the truth opposed to Iewish ceremonies and this interpretation is made good by comparing this verse with the latter part of the second chapter where the Apostle reasoneth in this manner They which wrongly conceive oâ— Christ live still to the Ordinances of the world and burthen themselves with traditions touch not tast not handle not but such as beleeving a right in his resurrection are freed from these beggerly rudiments looke after things oâ— â—n higher nature Christ himselfe who is the body and substance of all those shadowes and is now to be apprehended â—n himselfe without the interâ—osition of those former observances and then seeking is taken for right understanding and conceiving of the state of Religion as if the Apostle had said You that are Christians must know that the Ceremoniall Law is abolished which good in distinction of meats â—ayes apparell things though at first appointed by God yet â—ut for a season and therefore â—ave perished in their use and â—ow are become commandements and doctrines of men You must know that the true worshippers must worship the father in spirit and in truth â—omming to him by Christ who above in heaven at his right hand beleeving in his death â—nd resurrection letting goe the sacrifices of the Law aâ— Mosaicall injunctions which though they had a shew of wisdome in them yet were ordained to endure but till the truâ— came We see how the Apostle opposeth Christ to the earthly ceremonies and dissâ—â—deth Christians who were 〈◊〉 lay hold on him from any further dealing with them and that for two reasons 1. Because he was come whom the prefigured and therefore theâ— were to cease in him 2. Fâ—â— that hee was now againe ascended into heaven and therefore looked for the heart and the affections not bodily observances Now these earthly ceremonies are not such onely were legall belonging to Moses Law but even those which draw the heart from heaven unto the earth placing Religion in outward shewes and wiâ—â— worship such as the Christian within the Papacy hath beene miserably pestered with Saint Austine in his time complained Epist 119. c. 19. of these servile burthens which though they could not be proved to bee directly against the faith yet made the Church of the Christians in worse case than the Church of the Iewes the one being in bondage to a â—egall yoke the other to mens presumptions such as are the â—et number of Paternosters Creeds and Ave-maries to be â—aily said over the adoring of Christ in the Rood Windows c. their Pilgrimages Whipâ—ing themselves and a world more such as these which make indeed a great shew of Devotion in the eyes of men and â—old the beguiled senses in admiration yet are not of any value but for the satisfying of the flesh mans carnall desires who for the sinne of his soule would give any thing rather than his soule or doe any thing rather than the workes of the soule Well are we who have shaked off this bondage and are free to come to Christ as himselfe hath appointed with hearty repentance earnest faith willing affections so to seeke the things that are above 2. By things above may be meant heavenly things the happinesse which aboundeth in heaven and which we are by God ordained unto and then seeking signifieth two things 1. A desire of this happinesse 2. The using of the meanes to attaine this happinesse 1. They which are risen desire things above not with a lazy wish oh that some would give mee to drinke of the waters of life but with ardor and fervency such as was in David Psal 42. 1. Like as the Hart panteth after the water brookes so longeth my soule after thee O God my soule is athirst for God yea even for the living God oh when shall I come and appeare in the presence of God 2. They use the meanes of attaining it no way so straight that they will not walke in if it lead to heaven no labour so hard which they will not endure if it end in happinesse fire water swords stones they will passe through them all to this wealthy place Thus doe the Saints Ascensiones disponere in corde thinke of nothing but ascending upward they digge not downe to hell to fetch from thence wicked plots and devices they spend not themselves upon the earth to get riches honours and preferments but sursum corda all their delight is above these transitory things their soules are heaven-walking spirits ravished with the joy they know to be there and therefore attend ever to partake of it Christ who is their head ascending hath invited them that are his members as Saint Austine speaketh to a region of Angels to the friendship of the Father and the holy Ghost to an everlasting supper to communion with him to himselfe this maketh them to confesse with the Patriarkes Heb. 11. 13. that they are strangers pilgrims upon the earth looking still towards heaven as if they sought a Countrey hic generatio quaerentium quae sunt supra thus
It is directly expressed by the Prophet Amos chap. 4. 12. Thus will I doe unto thee O Israel and because I will doe thus unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel The comminations of God in Scripture doe not shut up the way to repentance but rather open it inviting the sinner to send up his humility his penitence his prayers to stand in the gappe and to keepe off the wrath of God that it come not foorth to consume him If I speake saith God against a Nation to plucke it up and destroy it if that Nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evill way I will repent of the evill which I thought to do unto them Ier. 18. 7. A manifest example wherof we have in that threatning denounced against Ninivie a threatning than which in Scripture none more absolute none more peremptory yet forty dayes and Ninivie shall be destroyed yet was this sentence reversed by God upon the Ninivits conversion though hereby men might conceive of him that he was as a man to repent and of Ionas his messenger that he was a false prophet And I doubt not but I may safely say If the house of Iehu had by the message of Hosea learned to walke in the wayes of God this revenge here denounced might have beene removed or at leastwise deferred till succeeding generations Let men who find the curses due by the Law dogging them for their transgressions not hereupon grow desperate as if there were no way of evasion but they must dye for it Daniels counsel was otherwise to Nebuchadnezzar even after the decree of the Watch-man and the word of the holy One O King breake off thy sinnes by righteousnesse if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity Dan 4. 27. Prolata est sententia ut non fiat saith Chrysostome upon these words God threatneth Iudgment that he may not execute it telleth men of evils to come not onely that they may know but especially that they may avoyd them For the second these predictions assure the impenitent of vengeance they are the earnest of that price which shall hereafter be paid them to the utmost farthing for shall God speake the word and shal it not be done hath he said and shall he not make it good assuredly his word shall stand and his threatning not returne to him in vaine every jot and tittle thereof shall be fulfilled in his season He foretold of a flood to come upon the old world the world remained impenitent the flood came and swept them all away Hee foretold plagues to light upon Egypt Egypt remained impenitent and the plagues with multiplication layd hold upon them In a word hee foretold to Iehu's house the departing of their glory Jehu's house remayned impenitent and in a smal while their glory departed from them This point the Apostle Paul hath laid down in plaine terms Rom. 9. 6. It is impossible the word of God should fall and yet many stumble at this stone calling into question both the justice and truth of God when as contrary to the propheticall threats impenitent sinners enjoy earthly good things the Law having denounced many temporall judgements against them all which notwithstanding they live many times in great delight and prosperity as if they were the sonnes of blessing and had nothing to doe with cursing To cleare therefore this point in a word or two I affirme that not to exccute vengeance threatned against impenitent sinners is neither against the Iustice nor the Truth of God 1. Not against his Iustice for the rule whereby God squareth his Iustice is not alwayes retributio pro meritis that hee doe to the sinner according to his desert but sometime condecentia bonitatis suae that he doe to the sinner what becommeth his owne goodnesse as Aquinas Prima q. 2. primo 3. speaketh though evill men in themselves deserve most righteously all the punishments denounced in the Law yet the goodnesse of God requireth that hee empty not the treasure of his wrath upon every occasion but sometime spare when he might strike whether therefore he striketh he is just or whether he holdeth his hands he is still just Cum punis malos iustus es quia illorum meritis eonvenit cum parcis iustus quiae bonitatituae condicit said Anselmus Ansel ciâ— Aq. loco pred cto truly In the former just because mans sinnes deserve it in the latter just because it is consonant to his owne goodnesse 2. Not against his Truth If the sinner goe unpunished in Zanch in 2. praecep p. 374. one sort or other even of temporall punishments then say God is untrue but never think a thought against his truth because the sinner is not punished in this kind or that for howsoever God hath annexed these and these judgements to the violation of his Precepts to the intent that the wicked may know what is their due guerdon and what they may expect De nâ—t Dei l. 4. 6. 5. q 2. from him yet is he Iâ—dex liber not Iuratus as Zanchy saith well Hee is not bound at all times to inflict them or upon all sinners but in his wise dispensation so to order them as may make most for the manifestation of his owne Iustice for the conviction of the wicked for the good of his Saints and for the terror of all men His speciall threatnings against particular either Nations or men lay fast hold and misse not the burthen of Ierusalem of Ahab of Jehu of infinite more wee see have fallen heavy upon them but his generall threatnings against generall sinners are then made good not when they al light upon every sinner but when some of them light upon all and so it may be truly averred God never said hee would avenge but hee hath avenged to the full and the transgressor hath found it to his smart To conclude this point wee which are the Heraulds of the Lord of Hosts are bound to denounce destruction against his enemies not so that wee can surely tell them as the Prophets did If they offend in this kind they shall be punished in this sort we have no such visions now adayes and we may be too bold in speaking beyond our Commission but this we may yea and must say that even the temporall evils of this life are the portion of sinners as Zophar hath excellently described it through the whole twentieth Chapter of Job and they may justly feare to be overtaken by them cursings in the City cursings in the field cursings in their body cursings in their seed cursings in their soules cursings in their estate all these wait for them and were it not for the curbing fence of Gods mercy would suddenly as the old worlds water make away with them Repent therefore this is the end of all that you may bee free from the curse sons of promise not of threatning to whom God may say I will doe good and not as hee did here to
and afterward Ierusalem where Solomon built the Temple which places being designed it was unlawfull to sacrifice any where else and therefore it was left as a blot to many the good Kings of Iudah that though they did many things well yet the high places were not removed but the people sacrificed in the high places This being the history wee may from hence observe how dangerous and uncertaine a thing it is for a man to bee led in any Religious Action onely by the Example of others without further weighing the lawfulnesse or unlawfulnesse of the Act it selfe and that in two regards For 1. If a man have done evill to imitate his example must needs be naught this womans forefathers for some generations did ill in worshipping upon Mount Gerazim and shee doth ill in following them 2. If a man have done well yet may another doe evill in following him for want of duly considering some circumstance which may marre the imitation thus Iacob did well to worship in this mountaine but the Samaritans and this woman erred in worshipping there because the prohibition of God came betweene which was not in force in Iacobs daies but afterwards 1. It is dangerous following Examples if they be ill for alas a man may bee easily thus mistaken hee may give himselfe to imitate one who may pretend much and make great shewes and yet bring forth but an evill effect in the end It was a doubtfull speech in it selfe which Ruth spake to Naâ—mi Ruth 1. 16 though no doubt good in respect of her experience she had of her Whither thou goest I wâ—ll goe where thou dwellest I will dwell thy people shall be my people thy God my God Hee that will give unto any man this power of him to be at his becke may soone be drawn into a thousand inconveniences into haeresies into schisme into prophanenesse and all kinde of loose living Into heresies thus commeth many a poore soule to be seduced when as resigning up himselfe into the power of his Priest hee will worship an Image because his Priest doth so hee will pray to Saints because his Priest doth so will plot the life of his Soveraigne because his Priest doth so will be hood-winked and willingly suffer his right eye to be pulled out by his sinfull obedience and conforming himselfe without any ground of knowledge to the will of his Superiour It is Saint Iohns counsell to try the spirits whom wee follow because false spirits are gone into the world 1 Ioh. 4. 1. Into Schisme thus many fall daily into Brownisme and separation because they see some whom they account holy men to doe so not observing what pride of spirit what conceited discontent hath put them out of their right Bias and so like silly sheepe if one goe the rest will after though it be to the slaughter-house Into wickednesse thus when Ieho shaphat would be like Ahab hee did what God was displeased with 1 King 22. 4. and wee see it by wofull experience daily in many especially young Gentlemen that they give themselves up to the fashions of roaring boyes and the great masters of iniquity till if the Mercy of God bee not the greater they fall into hell e're they bee aware Beloved let us learne to follow men as they follow Christ and no further choose out for patternes men of wisedome men of vertue those you may trust the more yet always hold this conclusion not to imitate them in that whereof you cannot see a reason that it is good lest under the cover of sugar you swallow a bitter Pill under pretence of piety bee drawne into wickednesse 2. It is dangerous and uncertaine to give too much to examples though they be good for there are many observable circumstances which may make a man erre in doing that which another man did and erred not The Philosopher tells us that examples must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both in the same kinde or else they warrant nothing in the same kinde I say in regard of many circumstances I will name these five the person doing the thing done the person to whom the time when thâ— end why if these concurre not a man shall bee wonderfully deceived in his imitation of another 1. Examples must be the same in regard of the person doing for all men stand not in like reference in respect of actions he said well in the Comedy Hoc licet impune facere huic illi non licet non quia dissimiliâ— res sit sed quod is qui facit Be the thing never so like be the person unlike there is an error When the King of Israel sent two Captaines with their fifties to bring the Prophet Elias unto him hee commanded fire to come downe from heaven to destroy them this was an action warrantable in Elias who was a minister of Gods wrath to punish the Idolatrous Israelites but when the Apostles Iames and Iohn moved by his Example would have done so to the Samaritans as Elias did they are sharpely reproved by their Master Nesâ—itis cuius spiritus sitiâ— vos Luk 9. 55. You know not of what spirit you are you are men of another mould than Elias was hee a minister of indignation you of consolation hee came in the spirit of severity you in the spirit of lenity his actions fit you because your persons are not like his 2. Examples must bee of the same kind in regard of the thing that is done else instead of a fish a man may take a stone instead of an egge a serpent and so manifestly deceive himselfe in that which hee doth upon so unsound a warrant It was an excellent worke of David to provide instruments of Musicke Harpes Cymbals and such like to be used in sounding out the prayses of God but when Drunkards furnished themselves with lascivious and wanton Musicke and patronaged it by the example of David the Prophet denounceth a woe against them Amos 6. 5. Wo to those that invent to themselves Instruments of Musicke like David His Instruments were holy their 's unholy his songs Divine theirs prophane they had no reason to shrowd themselves under the example of David the thing done agreed like Harpe and Harrow as it is in the proverbe 3. Examples must be of the same kinde in regard of the person to whom a thing is done for oft times a thing is well done in regard of one which would be ill done in regard of another hee were a strange Physician and such they say are many Empyricks who seeing a man of rare skill giving a Potion to a sicke Patient whose disease and state of body hee knowes full well would give the same to another who peradventure hath not the same disease or if hee have is not of the same constitution to beare the Physicke If because Peter spake sharply to Simon Magus Acts 8. 24. telling him that hee was in the gall of bitternesse and bonds of iniquity and that hee had no part or portion