SERMON XVI.
Acs m 36. Therefore let ail the bouse of Israel know assuredly, that God bath ruade that saine Jesus whom ye bave crcified, both Lord, and Christ. Trie tiret word of the text, nms% be the last part of the sermon, therefore; therefore let all know it. Here is somethin é necessary to ho known, and the means by which we are fo know it: and theso will be out two parts; Ecientia, et modus, Knowledge, and the way to it; for, Qui testatur de scietia, tetatur de modo
#iioe, s a ood rule n all laws, He that wil! testiïy anything Ul)On his ]nowlede mus declare how he came bi that knowo led. $o then, what we must conclude, ad upon what remises, what we must resolve, and what must lead us to that resolution are our two stages, our two resting places: and to those two, our several steps are these; in the first, Let all te lwuse of Israel know, $yc. We shall consider iïrst, the manner oï St. Peter, (ïor the text is part oï a sermon oï St. Pet&s) in imprinting this knowledge in lais auditory; which is, first, in that compellation oï love and honour, Domus Irael, T/e oue of Israel: but yet, when he hath raised them to a scnse oï their dignity, in that attribute, he doth hot pamper them with an over-value of them, he lcts thcm know their worst, as well as their best, Though you be the bouse of Israel, yet it is you that have rucified Christ Jesus, Tient Jesu» wo» ye ]are cru«ifled; and from this his manner of preparing them, we shall pass to the matter that he proposes to them: when he had remembered them what God had done for them (You are te oe of Israel), and what they had done against God ( You ]are cr«(ed tkat Jesu), he imparts a blessed message to them all, Let «ll ]bww.it: let them know it, and know it assuredly; he exhibits it to their reason, to their natural understanding, and what. The greatest mystery, the entire mystery of our salvation, Tient tiret Jesus i» botl Lord, and Crist; but he is made so; made so by God; ruade both; ruade Christ, that is, anointed, embalmed, preserved from corruption, even in the grave, and ruade Lord by his triumph, and by being ruade Head of the church, in the resurrection, and in the Escension: and so, that which is the last stop oï our first stage, (Tk«t that Jesus is nade Lord, a well as he is ruade Ckrist) enters us upon our second stage, the meaus by which we are o know, and pi'ove all thisto ourselves; Tkerefore, says the text, let all know if; wherefore. why, because God hath raised him, ai'ter you had crucified him; because God katle looed the bahut» of death, because it was i»qossible that he sltould be kolde b3t death; beeause David's prophecy of a delivemnee fi'om the grave is fulfilled in him, therefore let all know this to be thus. So that the resurrection of Christ is argument enough to pmve, that Christ is ruade Lord of all; and if he be Lord, he bath subjects, that do
SR. XVL] rACHeV O- eASTR WY. 309 as he does; and so his resurrection is become n argument and an assurance of or resurrection toe; and that is as far as we go in out second pa, tat fit Cris restriction is proof enough to us of his dominion; if he be risen, he is Lord then his dominion is pmof enouh to us of out resrrection if he be Lord Lord of us» we shall fise too: and when we eed, and psed through ail these sts, we shall in me mesure bave solemnized this day of the resurreetion of Christ and in some measure bave ruade it the day of out resurmaion o. Fiat then, the apostle applies himself to his auditory, in a fait, in a gentle manner; he gives them their titles, Domus Israel, The bouse Israd. We bave a word noxv denizened, and bmught into familiar use amongs us, compliment; and for the most pa, in an i sense; so if is, xvhen the hea of the speaker doth hOt answer his tone; but God forbid but a tme heart, and a fait tone might very well consist together: as virtue itself reeeives an addition, by being in a fait dy, so do intentions of the beaU, by being expressed in fair langqmge. That man aravates his condemnation, that givea me goed woMs, and means ill; but he x-es me a rich jewel, and in fait cabinet, he gives me precious wine, and iu a clean glass, tlla intends well, and exl»reses his goed intentions well toe. If I believe a fait speaker, I bave eomtbrt a little while, thougll ho deeeive me, but a froward and peremptory refuser, unsades me at first. I remember a vulgar Spanish author, who writes the Josq)hi»a, the lire of Joseph, the husband of the blessed Virgin Iary, who moving that question, -hy that Virgin is never oeHed by any style of majesty, or llonour in the Scl'iptul'es, he ys, Tllat if er the declaring of 1,er to be the mother of God, he had added any other title, the Hdy Ghost had hot been a go courtier, (as hi« very word is) nor exereised in good langage, and he thinks that had been a defeet in the Holy Ghost hilnself. I[e means surely the same that Epiphanius doth, Tllat in naming the saints of God, and espccially the blessed Virgin, we slould always give them the best titles that ara appliable to them; Q«is t»çtam au, us, (ays he) rofirre nomen
Mariw, et no statim id/ zyo z? Who ever durst utter the nme of that Mary, thout tht dition of incomçrale honour, Te Viryin lary? That Spauish author ueed hot be spicious of the]Holy Ghost in tht kind, that he is no goed courier ; for in all the boo of the world, you shall never read so civil language, nor fmr expressions dE themselves to one another, as in the Bible: when Abham shall ca himse du, t, and ashe, (and indeed if tho Son of G wero a worm, and w man, what was Abraham ) If God shall eaH this Abraham, this dust, this worm of the dush thefrie God, (and all frienhip impfies a pafity, an equality in mething;) when Dard shall caH himselfa, atd a de doy, e'en in respect of Saul, and God shall accordi»y to big o heam, when God shall ca us, The apple of his ou'n eye, the seal upon hk ou'n iyht haï, who would go farther for an example, or farther than that example for a mle of fait accesses, of civil approach, ofsweet and honourable entrances into the affections of them with whom they were to deal Eecially is this manner necessary in men of o profession break a bruised reM, nor fo quench smoakiny flax, not to avert any from a will to hear, by any frowardnes¢ any moroeity, any defrauding them of their due praise, and due titles. accompany this blessed apostle, in this way of his discreet, and religious insinuation, to call them)len Judea, ver. ] . and)len Israel, ver. 22. and)len and brethren, ver. 29. and hero Domus Israd, thc ancientest house, the honourablcst bouse, thc lastingest housc in the world, the kouse Israel. He takes from them nothing that is due, that would but exasperate; he is civil, but his civility doth not amount to a flattcry, as though ¢he cause of God needed ¢hem, or God must be beholden fo them, or G must pay for it, or smart for it, if theywere hot blessed. And therefore, though he do give them their titles, ATerte illis imputat crucxionem Christi, says St. Ch'sostom, Plainly and without disguise he imputes and purs home to them thc crucifying of Chris; hov honourably soever they were deoeended, he lays that murder close to their consciences, ]%t, you hottse " hrael sEa. xvl.] PSEACH.V 0. EASrR V'. }ae ¢roEedt} Iord Jes. There is a great deal of difference between Shimei's vociferations against David; Thon blood, thon ma of Belial , and Nathan's proceeding with David and yet Nathan forbore hot to tell him, Thon art the ma , Thon hast deised the Lord, thon hast killed Uriah, thou hast taken his wife. If is one thing to sew pillows under the elbows of kings, (fltterers do so) another thing to pull the chair from umler the king, and popular and seditious mon do so. Vhero intbriors instùt over their superiors, we tel] them, Cristi Tey are tte Lorcs anointed, and the Lord bath said, To«c hot mine aointed; and when such superiors insult over the Lord himself, and think themselves gods withont limitation, as tho God of heaven is, when they do so we must tell them they do so, Etsi Crist Domini, Though you be the Lords anointed, yet you crucify the anointed Lord: for this was St. Peters methoà, though his successor vill hOt be bound by it. When ho bath carried the matter thus evenly between them, (I do hot deny, but you are the bouse of Israel, you cannot deny but you bave crucified the Lord Jesus; you are heirs of a great deal of honour, but you are guilty of a shrewd fanlt too) stand or rail to your Master, your Master bath thus dealt mercifully with you ail, that to you ail, al], ho sends a messa.ge,,'at ome, Let all the hotse of Israel know thls. Needs the llouse of Israel know anything. needs there any learning in persons of honour. We know, this characterizes, this (listin-uishes some whole nations in one nation it is almost a scorn for a gentlcnmn to be lcarned, in another almost every gentleman, is conveniently, and in some measure, lea'rned. But I enlarge not myself, I pretend hOt to comprehend national virtues, or national vices. For this ledge, which is proclaimed bore, which is, the knowledge that the true Messiah is corne, and that there is no other to be expected, is such a knowledge, as that even the bouse of Israel itself, is without a foundation, if it be without this knowledge. Is there any bouse, that needs no repamtions. is there a house of Israel, (let it be the library, the depository of the oracles of God, a truo church, that hath the true word of the true God, let it be the house fed with manna, that hath the true administration of
12 rEAtmEV Oh" EAS'L VXY. [Sn. XV. the truc sacraments of Christ Jcsus) is thero any such house, that needs not a ïarther knowledge, that thero are always thieves about that house, that would rob us of that word, and of thoso sacraments. Thc Holy Ghost is a dove, and the dove couples, pairs, is not alone; tako hced of singular, of schismatical opinions; and what is more singular, more schismatical, than when ail religion is confined in one man's breast. Thc dove is animal sociale r, sociable creature, and not singular and thc Holy Ghost is that; and Christ is a sheep, aMmal.qreyale, They floek together: embraco thou those truths, which the whole flock of Christ Jcsus, thc whole Christian church, bath ri'oto tho beginning acknowledged to be truths, and truths necessary to salvation; for, for other traditional, and conditional, and occasional, and collateral, and circumstantial points, for almanack divinity, that changes with the scason, with the rime, and meridional divinity, calculated to the hcight of such a place, and lunary divinity, that ebbs and flows, and state divinity, that obcys affections of persons, doms lraêl, thc truc church of God, had need of a continual succession of light, a continual assistance of thc Spirit of God, and of her own industry, to know those things that belong to her peacc. And therefore let no church, no man, think that ho bath doue enough, or knows enou£h. If the dcvil thought so too, we might thc better think so: but since we sec, that ho is in continual practice against us, let us be in continual diligence, and watchfulness, to counterminc him. We are domu Irael, the bouse of Israel, and it is a eat measure of knowledge, that God bath aflbrded us; but if every pastor look into his pafish, and every toaster into his own family, and see what is practising there,,'ciat domus Israel, Let all our Israel know, that there is moto ](nowledge, and more wisdom necessary; b¢ every man far from calumniating his superiors, for that mercy which is used towards them that are fallen, but be every man as far from renlitting, or slackening his diligence, for the preserving of them, that are hot fa!len. The wisest must know more, though)-ou be domus I.«'ael, the house of Israel already: and then Etsi crw.fixlsti.% Though you have ccified the Lord Jeu, you may know it, Let all know it. St. Paul says once, lftey aJ gnou'n ft, tey would o «ve cruced te Lord they have crucied the Lord of lire, they are exclud from knowlcdge. I mean no more, but that the mercy of G in manifesting and applying himself to us, is above ail our fins. o man knows enough; what measure of temptations soever he have now, he may have temptations, through which this knowledgo, and this gre, wil] hot carry him; and therefore he pcoed fm ace fo grace. So no man hath sinned so deeply, but that G offers himself to him yet;,S'ciant omnes, The wisest man hth ever mmething to leurn, he must hot presnme; the sinfest man bath God ever ready to ach him, he nmst hOt despair. Now the univcrsality of this mercy, God bath enlarged, and extended very far, in that he proposes it, even fo out knowlcdge, ciant, Let all knosv it. It is hot only Credant, Let ail be]ieve it: for the infusing of faith is hOt in our power: but God bath put it in out power to satisfy their reason, and fo chafe that wax, wch he himself vouchsafes to set fo the great seal of faire. And tiret St. Hiemme takes to be most properly his conumssion, Tentemus anbnas, quw d«ciunt a ride, naturalibus rat&nibus adjuvare; Let ns endeavour to assist flmm, who are weak in fith, with the strenh of reamn. And truly it is very well worthy of z serious consideration, that wheoeas ail the articles of out creed, are objects of faith, so, as that we are bound to receive them de ride, as nmtters of faith, yet God hath left that, out whieh ail these aieles e to be deduced, and proved, (tlmt is, e Seripture) to human arments; it is hot an article of the ereed, to bdieve these, and these books, to be, or hOt to be Canonieal Seripture; but out arguments for the Scripture are human argmnents, proporfioned to the remn of natural man. God does hot seal in wzter, in the fluid and tmnsitou- imaginations, and opinions of men; we never set the sezl of faith to them but in wzx, in the recfified reason of man, that tenon flat is ductile, and flexible, and pliant, to the impressions that are natnrally proportioned nnto if, God sets fo his scal of faith.
1 e.cv.D os .SE D" [SES. xw. They are hot continual, but they are contiguous, they flow hot from one another, but they touch one another, they are hot both of & pioce, but they enwrap one another, fitll and reason. Faith itself, by the prophet Esay, is called knowledge; B!! h-is knowledye shall my -iyhteotts serant justj many , says God of Christ; that is, by that knowledge that men shall have of him. So Zechary ex-presses it at the circmncision of John Baptist, T&at he was fo yire knowledye of salatio, for tle remission of sins e. As therefore it is hot enough for us in our profession, to tell you, Qui non crediderit, damnabit«r, Except you believe ail this, you shall be damned, without we execute that con»mission belote, Ite lrwdicate, Go and preach, work upon their affections, satisfy their reason: so it is not enough for you, to rest in inaginary faith, and easiness in bdieving, except you know also v«hat, and why, and how you corne to that belie£ Implicit believers, ignorant believers, the adversary may swallow; but the understanding believer, he must chaw, and pick bones, before he come to assimilate him, and make him like himself. The implicit believer stands in an open field, and the enemy will ride over him easily; the understanding believer, is in a fenced tom, and he bath out-works to lose, before the town be pressed; that is, reasons to be answered, before his faith be shaked, and he will sell himself dear, and lose himself by inches, if he be sold or lost at last; and therefore,çciant omne, Let all men know, that is, endcavour to inform themselves, to understand. That particular, that gcneral particular, (if we may so say, for if includes ail) which ail were to know, is, that the saine Jesus, whom thcy crucified, was exalted above them ail. Suppose an impoibility; (St. Paul does so, when he says to the Galatians, If an an.qel from hearen should preach any other Gosel; for that is impossible;) if we eould have been in paradise, and seen God take a elod of red earth, and make that wretehed elod of eontemptible earth, sueh a body as should be fit to reeeive his breath, an immortal soul, fit to be the house of the second person in the Trinity, for God the Son to dwell in bodily; fit to be the temple for the third person, for the Holy Ghost, should we hot have wondered more, than at the production of all other s Isaiah tlil. 11. e Luke i. 77.
cretures . If is more, tht the sme Jesus, wom thcy ad crucified, is exlted thus, to sit in tiret despioed flesh, at the right hand dE out ]orious God; that ail teir spitting hod but memte him, nd dissolve him into better mold, botter Ulaster; that ll their bffetin shou]d but kned him nd press him into better form; that ail their sco, and contumelies should be prol&ies; that tbat Ecce Rex, BehoM ylottr A'ity; and that Rex J«cleortm, This is the A'çq OE the Jeu's, which words, fley who spoke them, thought to be lies, in their own mouths, should become truths, and he be truly the king, hOt of the Jews only, but of ail nations too; that their nailing him uln the cross, should be a settling of him upon an everlasting thne; and their lifting him up upon the cross, awaiting upon him, so far un his way to heaven, that this Jesus, whom they had thus evacuated, thus crucified, should be thus exalted, was a subject of infinite a&niration, but mixed with infinite confusion too. Wretchcd blasphemer of the naine of Jesus, that Jesus, whom thou crucifiest, and treadest under thy feet, in that oath, is thus exalt. Unclean adulterer, that Jesus, whom thou crucifiest, in retching out those forbidden amas in a strange bed, thou that beheadest thyself, castest off thy head, rist Jesus, that thou mightst make thy body, the body of a harlot, that Jesus, whom thou defilest there, is exalted. Let several sinners pass this thvugh their several sins, and remcmber with wonder, but with confusion too, that that Jesns, whom they bave crucified, is exalted abore ail. How far exalted Three steps, which car him above St. Paul's third heaven: he is Lo, and he is Christ, and he is ruade by God; God hath marie him both Lord and ('hri. XVe rcturn up these steps, as they fie, and take the lowest first: Fect Deus, Goal marie him so: nature did hOt nake him so, no, hOt if we consider him in that nature, wherein he consists of two natures, God, and man. Ve place in the School, (for the mos part) the infinite nwrit of Christ Jesus (that his one act of dng once, should be a suEcient satisfaction to Goal, in his justice, for all the sins of ail men) we place if, I say, rather in pacto, than in l»t rsona, ratber that this oentract w thus ruade between the
Father and the Son, than that, whatsoever that pcrson, thus consisting of God and man, should do, should, only in respect of the person, be of an infinite value, and extension, to that purpose; for then, any act of his, his incarnation, his circumcision, any had been sufficient for out redemption, without his death. But F«cit Deus, God ruade him that, that he is; the contract between the Father and him, that all that he did, should be doue so, and to that purpose, that way, and to that end, this is that, that hath exalted him, and us iri him. If then, hot the subtlety, and curiosity, but the wisdom of the school, and of the church of God, bave justly round it most commodious, to place all the mysteries of out religion, in I>acto, rather than '1» lpersona, in the covenant, rather than in the person, though a person of incomprehensible value, let us also, in applying to ourselves those mysteries of out religion, still adlwrere lactis, and hot personis, still rely upon the covenant of God with man, revealed in his word, and hot upon the person of any man: hot upon dru persons of martyrs, as if they had doue more than they needed for themselves, and might relieve us, with their supcremgations for, if they may work for us, they may believe for us; and Jtst«sflde s«a tiret, says the prophet, T]e rçqhteo«s sltall lire by itis own. f«ith . Not upon that person, who hath ruade himseIf supernumerary, and a controller upon the three pcrsons in the Trinity, the Bishop of Romc; hot upon the consideration of accidents upon lersons, xvhen God suiTers some to fall, who would llave advanced his cause, and some to be advanced, who wouId bave thrown down hs cause, but let us ever dwell in Tacto, and in the Fecit Deus, this covenant God had ruade in his word, and in this we rest. It is God then, hOt nature, hOt his nature that lnade him; and what . Christ; Christ is, anointed: and then Mary Magdalen ruade him Christ, for she anointed him before his death; and Joseph of Arimathea ruade him Christ, for he anointed him, and embalmed him, after his death. But ber anointing before, kept him hOt from death, nor his anointing after, would hot have kept him from putrefaction in the grave, if God had hot in a far other manner, ruade him Christ, anointed him Trw cosortibs, above his fellows. GOe hth anointed him, embalm him, enwrapped him in the leav of the prophe, That hic fleh sould ot cee corruption in the grave, that the flas of hell should t tag'e hold of him, nor singe him there; so anointed him, as that, in his human nature, He is aeveed ittto heaven, and t dowtt at the right hand of G; for, de eo quod ex Maria est, Petrus loqdtur, says St. Basil, That making of him Christ, that is, that anointing which St. Peter speaks of in this place, is the dignitng of his human nature, that was anointcd, that was consecrated, that was glorified in heaven. But he had a higher sp than that; God ruade this Christ, and he ruade him Zord; he brought him to heaven, in his own peroen, in his human nature; so he shall all us; but when we shMl be all there, he only shMl be Lord of ail. And if Omre should be no other bodies in heaven, than his, yet, yet now he is Lord of ail, as he is head of the chueh. Ask " me, says his Father, and I will yive thee the kthen for thine ittheritawe, and the uttermost parts of tke earth for tky possessio if is added, ver. 6, I kave set mg Kity upo mg holy bill of,S'ion; m he bath ruade him Lord, head of the Jews, and of the Gentiles t, of Sion, and of the nations Mso; he bath consecrated his person, raised his human nature, to the glorious region of blessed spirits, to heaven, and he bath dignified him with an oce, ruade him Lord, head of the ehurch, hot only of Jews, and Gentiles upon earth, but of the militant and triumphant church Our two general parts were S'vlentia, et modtt¢ what we must all know, and by what we nmst know it. Out knowledge this exaltation of Jesus; and our nleans is implied, in the first word of the text, Therore, Therefore because he is raised from the dcad; for to tt resurrection, expressed in throe, or fot several phrases before the text, is this text, and this exaltation referred; Christ was delivered for out sins, raised for out jtification, and upon that depends ail. Chri's descending into hell, and his resurrection, in out creed, make but one article, and in out creed we believe them th alike: QMs nisi id«lis eyaverit, apud inros fi«is Christum? says St. Austine; Vho but an infidel, will deny Christ's descending into hell And if he be-
318 IRZACHD OS raszza vA'z. Issu. xvt. lieve that to be a limb of the article of the resta'rection, his descent into hell, must rather be an inchoation of his triumph, than s consummation of his exinanition, the first step of his exaltation there, rather than the last step of his passion upon the cross: but the declaration, the manifestation, that which admits no disputation, was his resurrection. Factu#, id est, dedaratua per resurrectlonem, savs St. Cyril, He was ruade Christ, and Lord, that;is, declared eidently to he so, by his resurrection; as there is the like phrase, in St. Patd, God bath ruade the wisd»m of this world, foolishness', that is, declared it to he so. And thereforo it is imputed to be a crucifying of the Lord Jesus again 1°, Non credere eum, post mortem, immortalem, lot to helieve, that now aler his having overeome death in his resurroction, he is in an immorrai, and in a glorious state in heaven. For when tho apostlo argztes thus, If Crist be wt risen, theu is onr lareaekin ff in vain, and your dth in valn , he implies the contrary Ix)o, if you bclieve the resurrection, we bave preached to good purpose: Jlortuum esse Christum, Ta9ani credunt; resuv'rexisse TroTria rides Christianorum: The heathen confess Christ's death; to believo his resurreetion, is the proper charaeter of a Christian: for the first stone of the Christian faith, was laid in this article of the resurreetion; in the resurreetion only was the first promiso performed, ITse conteret, He shall ruîse the serTent's head; for, in this, he triumphed orer death, and hell; and the last stone of our faith, is laid in the saine article too, that is, the day of judgment; of a day of judgment God bath given an assurance unto ail men (says St. Paul at Athens) Ia that he bath raised Christ.[esusfrom the deadL In this Christ makes up his circle; in this he is truly Alpha and Omega; his coming in Paradise in a promise, his coming to judgment in the clouds, are tied together in tho resurrection: and thereforo all tho Gospel, all our preaching, is contracted to that one text, To bear ritness of the resurreetion«; only for that, was thero need of a new apostle, There was a necessity of one to be chosen in Juda room, to be a witness of the resurrection '; Aon ait cwterorum, sed tantum resurrectionis, says S. Chrysostom, He does hOt say, to boat witness of the other ° 1 Cor. i. 20. te Heb. vl. (;. n 1 Cor. xv. 14. Augustine. - Aets xvii. 31. Acts i. 22.
fiER. XVIo] PRECHED ON EASTER DAYo 19 articles, but only oï the resurrcctio; he charcs hiro wth no more instructions, ho needs no roore, in his coromission, but te preach the resurrection: for in that, Trophwura de morte excitavit, e imtubitaum redàidi corrwTtiomm deletam : Here is a retreat from the wholo warfare, hero is a trophy ereeted upon tho last onemy; The last enem thae,hall be destroyed i, death, and here is the death of" that eneroy, in tho resurreetion. And thereforo, te all thoso who importuned him for -. sign, Christ stiil turns upon the resurreetion. Tho Jews pressed him in general, What d#n hou'est thou unto "? And ho answcrs, Detroy this temple (this body), and in three àays I u'ill raise t. In another place, the scribes and the Pharisees join, Iastêr u'e eould see a si#n frein thee 7, and he tclls thcm, There »hall be fzo si#n, but the siyn of the ProThd Jonas; who was a type of the resurrection. And then the Pharisees, and Sadducees join; new they were bitter enemies te ono another; but, as Tertuilian ays, 5'emper inter dues latrones crucifixz Christus, It was always Christ's case te ho crucified between two thieves; 8o these, though enemies, join in this vexation, The ask a al#n, as the rest, and, as te tho rest, Christ gives that answer of Jonas. Se that Cqlrist hiroself determines ail, sums up ail in tkis ono article, tho resurrection. low, if the resurrection of this Jesus, haro made him, net only Christ, anointed and consecrated in heaven, in his own person, but mado him Lord, then he bath subjects, upon whom that dominion, and that power works, and se we have assurance of a resurrection in hiro too. That he is roade Lord of us by his resurrection, is rooted in prophecy; If pleased the Lord te bruise him, says the prophet Esay; But he shall see his seed, and he shall Trolomj his days TM; that is, he shall see those that are regenerate in hiro, lire with him, for ever. It is rooted in prophecy, and it spreads forth in the Gospel. I"o this end, sa.ys the apostle, Christ died, and rose, that he raiyht be Lord of the dead, an of the living", low, what kind of Lord, if he had no subjeets. Cure idemua caput »uTer aquas'°, when the head is above water, will any iroagine the body te ho drowned. Vhat a perverse con- Athanasius. John il. 18. * lIatt, xiL 38. e Isaiah Lift. 10. Rem. xiv. 9. o Gregory.
sideration were it, to imagine a lire head, and dead members Or, consider out boxes in ourselves, and Out oies are of te Hdy Gost; and 11 the temples of the oly Ght lie tbr ever, tbr ever, uried in the rubbi They shall hot; for, the dy of judent, is the day of regenetion , as it is called in the Gospel; Quia caro nostra ita yenerabittr per i¢orruptionem, s&ut anima per fldm : Becae out body shall be regenerat by gry there, as out souls are by faith here. Therefore, Tertullian caRs the resurrtion, Exvmlum sei nostroe, The original, out of which we copy out out hope; and Claem chrorum nostrorum, How hard ever my ave be locked, 'et xvith that key, with the application of the msurrtion of Christ Jesus, it will opcn; and thcy are all names, which express ts wcll, which Tertuian gives Christ, Vent, obsidem, fidejsorem esurrect&nis tostrw, That he is the pledge, the hogage, the surety of our resurrection: doth thut also which is said in the school,,$icut Adam ]brma wrientium, ira Christt ]brnm re8uryetium'; Without Adam, there had been no such thing death, without Cist, no such tng as a resurrection: but ascendit ille effractor, ( the prophet speaks) The breaker is one bore, and they hae iased tkrotyh tle yate , that is, assureoey, infallibly, they shall pass. But what needs all this ht, ail this animosity, all this vehelnence, about the resurrection May hot man be happy enough in heaven, though his by never corne thither ] Upon what wi ye ground the resurrection ' Upon file omnitence of «lsylum hoereticorun e O»nipotettia Dei, (which was vell said, and often repeat amongst the ancients) The omnipotence of GOEI, hath always bn the sanctua of heretics, that is, always their refuge, in aH their incredible doetrines, God is able to do it, tan do it. You confess, the resurrection is a macle; and miracles are not to be mtiplied, nor imagined without ne sity; and what necessity of boSes in heaven Bdove we make the ground and foundation of the resurre tion, m be, hot merely the onmipotency of God, for God will hot do MI, that he tan do: but the ground is, Omnipotens ohtntas Dd rerelata, Tho Almighty will of God revealed by him, to Matt. . 28. m Aute. m Thphyt. Mich. ri. 13.
SRo XV|.J P]EACIIED ON EATER DAY. ad thercore Christ jos both these toethe]ç err, o 'nowiny te,S'criturê», or te ow« of God'; tbat is, hot considering the power of God, as it is reveMed in the Scfiptures: for there is out fouudtion of this doctrine: we know, o of the omnipotence of GI, it may be; nd we know out of the Scptures it must be: that works upon out fitb, this upon out on; that it is mau that must be saved, nmn tht mu he damned; and to eonstitute man, there must he as a ul. Ny, the immomoElity of the soul, xvill uot so wcll lie in proot without a resuming of the dy. For, upon those words of the apostle, If te u'ere no resurrectlon, u'e ere tAe dserablest of ail men, the schl reaoens reasonbly: naturaily the ul nd body re united; when they are parated by death, it is contry to nture, which nture still affeets this union; and oensequently the soul is the less perfeet, for this paration; and it lu hot likdç that the perfect naturel stte of the soul, which is, be uuiteh to the hody, should last but the or four seo)s, and, in most, much legs, and the unperfect state, that in the oeparation, should last eternally, for ever: so that either the dy mug be bdieved to lire ain, or the soul bdieved fo die. ever therefore dispute against thine owu happiness; never say, God asks the heart, that is, tbe soul, aud therefore rewards e ul, or punishes the soul, and bath uo respect to the body; Ne¢ m«amr«s caitat;ones a colleio ca'nis, says Teulliau, ever go about to separate the thoughts of the heart, ti'om tbe cdlege, from the feliowship of the by; STquidem in carne, et cure carne, et per carnem agitur, quicquid ab anima OE¢itur, Ail that the soul does, it does in, and with, and by the body. And therefore, (says he also) 6'aro abluitur, ni anima emaculo', Tbe y is washed in baptism, but it is that the soul might be nlade clean; 6'aro nnitur, rit anima covecroeur, In M1 unctions, whether that which vas then in use in ptism, or that which was in use at out transmigration, and passage out of this world, the body was mmiutcd, that the soul nfight be conoeerated; Caro signatur, (says Teaullian still) "tt anima mnniatnr; The body is sigued with the cross, that tbe soul might be armed agaiust teniprations; and again, Caro de cotore Chri,ti,escitur, ut anima de t Matt. xxii. VOL.!. Y
Deo syiaur; My body received the body of Christ, that my sou] might partake of his merits. He extends it into many particulars, and sums up ail thus, Aron possunt in mereede.ïarari, 9uoe opera conjungunt, These two, body, and sou], canner be separated for ever. which, whilst they are together, concur in all that either of them de. Never think it presumption, says St. Gregory, A'perare in te, quod in se eMdbuit Deus home, Te hope for that in thyself, whieh God admitted, vhen he took thy nature upon him. And God bath ruade it, says he, more easy than se, tbr thee te believe it, beeause net only Christ himself, but sueh men, as thou art, did rise at tho resurrection of Christ. And therefore when our bodies are dissolved and liquefied in the sea, putrified in the earth, resolved te ashes in the tire, maeerated in thc air, Velut in rasa sua transfunditur tare nostra e, make account that ail the world is God's cabinet, and water, and earth, and tire, and air, are the proper boxes, in which God lays up our bodies, for tho resurrection. Curiously te dispute against our own resurrection, is seditiously te dispute against the doninion of Jesus; who is net ruade Lord by the resurreetion, if he have no subjects te follow him in the saine way. We believe him te be Lord, therefore let us believo his, and our resurrection. This blcssed day, which vo celebrate new, he rose: he rose se, as none before did, none aftor ever shall rise; he rose; others are but raised: Destroy tkis temple, says ho, and I will raise it '; I, vithout employing any other arehitect, I lay dow mV lire , says he: the Jews eou]d net have killed him, when he was alive; if he were alive here new, the Jesuits eou]d net kill him here new; except his being ruade Ctrist and Lord, an anointed king, lmve made him more open te them. I ia,#e a power te lay it down, says he, and I bave a power to take it np a9ain. This da)', we celebmte his resurrection; this day let us celebrate our own: our own, net our one resurrection, for we need many. Upon those words of our Saviour te Nicodemus '°, Oportet d«mw nasci, speaking of the necessity of baptism, Non solum denuo, sed tertio asci oportet, says St. Bernard, He nust be born again, and again; again by baptism, tbr original sin, and for actual sin, again by repentanee; Itfdi.r omo eyo, ét misra- Tertullian. John ii. 19. « John x. 17. John iL 3.
bilis casu», says he, cul non suffclt ¢zna 'eyene'atio! Miserable man that I am, and miserable condition that I ana faLlen into, whom one regeneration will hot serve! So is it miserable death that bath swallowed us, whom one resurrection will serve. We nsed three, but it" we bave lmt two, we were as good be without one. There is resurrection from worldly calamities, a resurrection from sin, and resurrection from the grave. First, ri'oto calamities; for, as dangers are called death, (Pharaoh calls the plague of locusts, a death, 1"treat the Lord your God, that he may tale from ne, this deatl only °, and so St. Paul ays, in his dangers, I die daily ) so is the deliveranee ïrom danger ealled resurreetion: it is the hope of the wieked upon the godly, Now that he lieth, he shall fise o more ; that is, now that he is dead in misery, he shall bave no resurreetion in this world. Now, this resurrection God does hOt always give to his servants, neither is this resurrection the measttre of God's love of man, whether ho do raise him from worldly calamities or no. The second is the resurrection fronl sin; and therefore, this St. John calls, Theflrst rêsurrêction , as though the other, whether we fise from worldly calamities, or no, were hot to be reckoned. Anima spiritualiter cadit, et spirltualiter resuryet, says St. Augustine, Since we are sure, there is spiritual death of the soul, let us lnake sure a spiritual resurrection too. A udacter dicam, says St. Hierome, I say confidently, Ctt» omnkt Tosset ])eus, suscitare viryine» post 'uinam, non potest; Howsoever God can do ail things, he cannot restore a virgin, that is fallen fmm if, to virginity again. He cannot do this in the body, but God is a spirit, and bath reserved more power, upon the spirit and soul, than upon the body, and therefore Audact«r dicam, I may say, with the saine assurance, that St. Hierome does, no soul bath so prostituted herself, so multiplied ber fornications, but that God can make ber a virgin again, and give ber, even the chastity of Christ hilnself. Fulfil therefore that which Christ says, The tour is co¢ni..q, ad now is, tcken the dead shall beau" the 'oice of the of God, aud the!! tkat k« af shall lire : be this that hour, be this thy first resta.rection. Bless {od's ],resent çoodness, for this now; co Exod..x. 17, * I Cor. xv. 31, l%al. xi, 8. Rev. xx. 5.: John v. 25.
and attend God'. leisure, for the other resurrection hereafter. He that is tkefir.«tfrdts tkem tkat oloptç Christ Jesus is awake: he dies no more, he sleeps no more. A'acrcium pro te fuit, sed a te apit, 9uod pro te obtulit : He offered a sncrifice for thee, but he d that ri'oto thee, that he offered for thee: Primitiwfidt, s tuoe primitioe; He was the st fi'uits, but the first fruits of thy corn:,çera in te f aturum, quod proecessit in primltiis tuis: Doubt not of having that in the whole erop, which thou hast ah'eady in thy first fruits; that is, to have tt in thyscl£ which thou hast in thy Saviour. And what glory soever thou hast had in this wofld, glory inherited from noble ancestors, gIory acquired by merit and se-ice, glory purchased by money, and observation, what glory of beauty and plmrtion, what glory of health and strenh ever thou hast had in this houso of clay, The glory the later bouse, shall be greater ta the for»wr . To this g]ory, the Goal of this glory, hy glorious or inglorious ways, sueh as mEy most advanee his own glory, bring us in his time, for his Son Christ Jesus" sake. Amen.