A Golden Chain — William Perkins

A Golden Chain · William Perkins

The time when Christ was buried was the euening, wherein the Sabbath was to begin according to the manner of the Iewes, which began their daies at sunne setting from euening to euening according to that in Genesis:Luk. 23.54. Math. 27.17. the euening and the morning was the first day. Nowe Ioseph commeth a little before euening and beggeth the body of Christ and burieth it: where note, that howsoeuer we are not bounde to keepe the sabbath so strictly as the Iewes were, yet when we hauehave any busines or worke to be done of our ordinarie calling, wee must not take a part of the Lords sabbath to doe it in, but preuent the time, and doe it either before as Ioseph did, or rather after the sabbath. This is little practised in the worlde. Men thinke if they goe to Church before and after noone to heare Gods worde, then all the day after they may doe what they list, and spend the rest of the time at their owne pleasure: but the whole day is the Lords, and therefore must be spent wholly in his seruice both by publike hearing of the word, and also by priuate reading and meditation on the same.

To conclude the doctrine of Christs buriall. Here it may bee demanded, howe he was alwaies after his incarnation both God and man, considering he was dead and buried, and therfore bodie and soule were sundered, and a dead man seemes to be no man. Ans. A dead man in his kind is as true a man as a liuing man: for though bodie and soule be not vnited by the bond of life, yet are they vnited by a relation which the one hath to the other in the counsell & good pleasure of god; and that as truely as man and woman r…maine coupled into one flesh by a couenant of marriage, though afterward they be distant a thousand miles asunder. And by vertue of this relation eueryevery soule in the day of iudgement shall be reunited to his own bodie, and euerie bodie to his own soule. But there is yet a more straighter bond betweene the bodie and soule of Christ in his death and buriall.Damasc. For as when he was liuing his soule was a meane or bond to vnite his godhead and his bodie togither: so when hee was dead his verie Godhead was a meane or middle bonde to vnite the bodie and soule: and to say otherwise is to dissolue the hypostaticall vnion, by vertue whereof Christs bodie and soule though seuered each from other, yet both were still ioyned to the godhead of the sonne.

The vse and profit which may be made of Christs buriall is twofolde: I. It serueth to worke in vsus the buriall of all our sinnes.Rom. 3.6. Knowe ye not (saith Paul) that all who hauehave beene baptized into Christ; hauehave beene baptized into his death, & are buried with him by baptisme into his death? If any shall demaund howe any man is buried into the death of Christ, the answere is this: EueryEvery Christian man and woman are by faith mystically vnited vntounto Christ, and made all members of one bodie, whereof Christ is the head. Nowe therefore as Christ by the power of his godhead when hee was dead and buried, did ouercome the graue & the power of death in his own person: so by the very same power by meanes of his spirituall coniunction doth he worke in all his members a spirituall death and buriall of sinne and naturall corruption.…. King. 3.21. When the Israelites were in burying of a man, for feare of the souldiours of the Moabites, they cast him for hast into the sepulchre of Elisha. Nowe the dead man, so soone as hee was downe, and had touched the bodie of Elisha, hee reuiued and stood vponupon his feete: so let a man that is dead in sinne bee cast into the graue of Christ, that is, let him by faith but touch Christ dead and buried; it will come to passe by the vertue of Christs death and buriall that he shall be raised from death and bondage of sinne to become a newe man.

Secondly, the buriall of Christ serues to be a sweete perfume of all our graues and burials: for the graue in it selfe is the house of perdition; but Christ by his buriall hath as it were consecrated and perfumed all our graues: and in stead of houses of perdition,Isa. 57.2. hath made them chambers of rest and sleepe, yea beds of downe, and therefore howesoeuer to the eie of man the beholding of a funerall is terrible, yet if wee could then remember the buriall of Christ, and consider howe he thereby hath changed the nature of the graue, euen then it would make vsus to reioice. Lastly, wee must imitate Christs buriall in beeing continually occupied in the spirituall buriall of our sinnes.

Thus much of the buriall. Nowe followeth the third and last degree of Christs humiliation:P. Viret. in symb. Erasm. in Colloq. He descended into hell. It seemes very likely that these words were not placed in the Creede at the first, (or as some thinke) that they crept in by negligence, because aboue threescore Creeds of the most ancient counsels and fathers want this clause: and among the rest the Nicene Creede. But if the auncient and learned fathers assembled in that Counsell had beene perswaded, or at the least had imagined that these words had bin set down at the first by the Apostles, no doubt they would not in any wise hauehave left them out.Ruff. in exposit. symb. And an auncient writer saith directly, that these wordes, he descended into hell, are not found in the Creede of the Romane Church, nor vsed in the churches of the East: and if they be, that then they signifie the buriall of Christ. And it must not seeme straunge to any… that a worde or twaine in processe of time should creepe into the Creed, considering that the originall copies of the bookes of the olde and new testament hauehave in them sundrie aVaria…. lectiones.varieties of readings and b…ath. 27.9. Ieremie for Zacharie.wordes otherwhiles which from the margine hauehave crept into the text. Neuerthelesse considering that this clause hath long continued in the Creede, and that by common consent of the Catholike Church of God, and …t may carrie a fitte sense and exposition; it is not as some would hauehave it, to bee put forth.

Therfore that we may come to speake of the meaning of it, we must know that it hath foure vsuall expositions, which we will rehearse in order, and then make choice of that which shall be thought to be the fittest. The first is, that Christs soule after his passion vponupon the crosse, did really and locally descend into the place of the damned. But this seemes not to be true. The reasons are these. I. all the Euangelists, and among the rest S. Luke,Luk 1.3. intending to make an c.Omnia asseq…to. foreign.exact narration of the life and death of Christ, hauehave set downe at large his passion, death, buriall, resurrection, and ascension, and withall they make rehearsall of small circumstances, therefore no doubt they would not hauehave omitted Christ locall descent into the place of the damned, if there had beene any such thing. And the ende why they penned this historie was, that wee might beleeue that Iesus is Christ the sonne of God;Ioh. 20.31. and beleeuing, wee might hauehave life euerlasting. Nowe there could not hauehave beene a greater matter for the confirmation of our faith then this, that Iesus the sonne of Marie who went downe to the place of the damned, returned thence to liue in happines for euer. II. If Christ did goe into the place of the damned, then either in soule or in bodie, or in his godhead. But his Godhead could not descend, because it is eueryevery where, and his bodie was in the graue. And as for his soule it went not to hell, but presently after his death it went to paradise, that is, the third heauen, a place of ioy and happinesse, Luk. 23.43. This day shalt thou bee with me in Paradise: which wordes of Christ must be vnderstoode of his manhood or soule, and not of his Godhead. For they are an answere to a demand: and therefore vntounto it, they must be sutable. Nowe the thiefe seeing that Christ was first of all crucified, and therefore in all likelihood should first of all die, makes his request to this effect: Lord, thou shalt shortly enter into thy kingdome, remember me then; to which Christs answere (as the very wordes import) is thus much. I shall enter into paradise this day, and there shalt thou bee with me. Now there is no entrance, but in regard of his soule or manhood. For the Godhead which is at all times in all places, cannot be said properly to enter into a place. Againe when Christ saith, thou shalt be with me in Paradise, he doth intimate a resemblance, which is betweene the first and second Adam. The first Adam sinned against God, and was presently cast forth out of paradise. Christ the second Adam hauing made a satisfaction for sinne, must immediately enter into paradise. Nowe to say that Christ in soule descended locally into hell, is to abolish this anolagie between the first & second Adā. III. Auncient councels in their confessions and Creeds omitting this clause shew, that they did not acknowledge any reall descent, and that the true meaning of these words, he descēded, was sufficiētly included in some of the former articles, and that may appeare, because when they set downe it, they omit some of the former: as Athanasius in his Creede setting downe these words, he descended, &c. omits the buriall, putting them both for one, as he expoundes himselfe aLib. de inca…. Chrys. hom. 1. & 2. in. symb.elsewhere. Now let vsus see the reasons which may be alleadged to the cōtrary.

Obiect. I. Matth. 12.40. The sonne of man shall be three daies and three nights in the heart of the earth, that is, in hell. Ans. I. This exposition is directly against the scope of the place: for the Pharises desired to see a signe, that is, some sensible and manifest miracle: and hereunto Christ answers that he will giuegive them the signe of Ionas, which cannot be the descent of his soule into the place of the dāned, because it was insensible; but rather his buriall, and after it his manifest and glorious resurrection. II. The heart of the earth may as well signifie the graue as the center of the earth. For thus Tyrus bordering vponupon the sea, is said to be in the heart of the sea.Ezech. 27.4. In corde marium. III. This exposition takes it for graunted that hell is seated in the middest of the earth: whereas the scriptures reueale vntounto vsus no more but this, that hell is in the lower parts: but where these lower parts should be, no man is able to define.

Obiect. II. Act. 2.37. Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. Answer. These words cannot prooue any locall descent of Christs soule. For Peters drift in alleadging of them is, to prooue the resurrection, and he saith expresly, that the words must be vnderstood of the resurrection of Christ, vers. 31. Hee seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ. What? namely these wordes, his soule was not left in hell, &c. Nowe there is no resurrection of the soule, but of the bodie onelyonly, as the soule can not be said to fall, but the bodie. It will be replied that the worde foreign cannot signifie the bodie, and the word foreign the graue. Ans. The first worde signifies not onelyonly the spirituall part of a man, the soule; but also the whole person, or the man himselfe, Rom. 13.1. 1. Cor. 15.41. And the second is as well taken for the graue, as for hel. Apoc. 20. 14. Death and foreign are cast into the lake of fire. Nowe wee can not say, that hell is cast into hell, but the graue into hell. And the very same word in this text, must needes hauehave this sense. For Peter makes an opposition betweene the graue into which Dauid is shut vp, and the hell out of which Christ was deliuered, vers. 29.31. Againe it will be said, that in this text there be two distinct partes: the first of the soules comming forth of hell, in these wordes,Bellar. quest. de descen. Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell. The secōd, of the bodies rising out of the graue, in the next words: neither wilt thou suffer my flesh to see corruptiō. Ans. It is not so. For flesh in this place signifies not the bodie alone, but the humane nature of Christ, as appeares vers. 30. vnlesse we shall say that one and the same word in the same sentence is taken two waies. And the words rather carrie this sense: Thou wilt not suffer me to continue long in the graue; nay which is more, in the time of my continuance there, thou wilt not suffer me so much as to feele any corruption; because I am thy holy one.

Obiect. III. 1. Pet. 3.19. Christ was quickened in spirit, by the which spirit he went and preached to the spirits which are in prison. Answere. The place is not for this purpose. For by spirit is not meant the soule of Christ, but his godhead, which in the ministerie of Noe preached repentance to the olde world. And I thinke that Peter in this place alludes to another place in Genesis 6.3. where the Lord saith, My spirit shall not alwaies striue with man, because he is but flesh. And if the spirit doe signifie the soule, then Christ was quickned either by his soule or in his soule. But neither is true. For the first, it can not bee said, that Christ was quickened by his soule, because it did not ioyne it selfe to the bodie: but the godhead ioyned them both. Neither was he quickened in soule: for his soule died not. It could not die the first death, which belongs to the bodie: and it did not die the second death, which is a totall separation from God: onelyonly it suffered the sorrowes of the second death, which is the apprehension of the wrath of God; as a man may feele the pangs of the first death, and yet not die the first death, but liue. Againe, it is to no ende that Christs soule should goe to hell to preach, considering that it was neuer heard of that one soule should preach to another, especially in hell, where all are condemned, and in conscience conuicted of their iust damnation, and where there is no hope of repentance or redemption. It will be answered, that this preaching is onelyonly reall or experimentall, because Christ shewes himselfe there to conuince the vnbeleefe of his enemies: but this is flatte against reason. For when a man is iustly condemned by God, and therefore sufficiently conuicted:After iust ex… cution convictio… is needelesse. what neede the iudge himselfe come to the place of execution to conuict him. And it is flat against the text. For the preaching that is spoken of here, is that which is performed by men in the ministerie of the word, as Peter expounds himselfe, 1. Pet. 4.6. To this purpose was the Gospel also preached vntounto the dead, that they might be condemned according to men in the flesh, that they might liue according to God in the spirit. Lastly, there is no reason why Christ should rather preach and shew himselfe in hell, to them that were disobedient in the daies of Noe, then to the rest of the damned.

And this is the first exposition, the second follows. He descended into hell, that is, Christ descended into the graue, or was buried. This exposition is agreeable to the truth, yet is it not meete or conuenient. For the clause next before, he was buried, contained this point: and therefore if the next wordes following yeelde the same sense, there must be a vaine and needlesse repetition of one and the same thing twise, which is not in any wise to be allowed in so short a Creede as this. If it be said that these words are an exposition of the former, the answer is, that then they should be more plaine then the former. For when one sentence expoundeth an other, the latter must alwaies be the plainer: but of these two sentences, He was buried, he descended into hell, the first is very plaine and easie, but the latter very obscure and hard, and therefore it can be no exposition thereof: and for this cause this exposition neither is to be receiued.

Thirdly, others there be which expound it thus, He descended into hell, that is, Christ Iesus, when he was dying vponupon the crosse, felt and suffered the pangs of hell and the full wrath of God seazing vponupon his soule. This exposition hath his warrant in Gods word, where hell often signifies the sorrowes and paines of hell, as Hanna in her song vntounto the Lord saith,1. Sam. 2.6 The Lord killeth and maketh aliue, he bringeth downe to hell and raiseth vp, that is, he maketh men feele woe and miserie in their soules, euen the pangs of hell, and after restoreth them. And Dauid saith,Psal. 18.5 The sorrowes of death compassed me, and the terrours of hell laid hold on me. This is an vsuall exposition receiued of the Church, and they which expound this article thus, giues this reason thereof: The former words, was crucified, dead, and buried, doe containe (say they) the outward sufferings of Christ: now because he suffered not onelyonly outwardly in bodie, but also inwardly in soule, therefore these words, he descended into hell, doe set forth vntounto vsus his inward sufferings in soule, when he felt vponupon the crosse the full wrath of God vponupon him. This exposition is good and true, and whosoeuer will may receiue it. Yet neuerthelesse it seemes not so fitly to agree with the order of the former articles. For these words, was crucified, dead, and buried, must not be vnderstood of any ordinarie death, but of a cursed death in which Christ suffered the full wrath of God, euen the pangs of hell both in soule and bodie: seeing then this exposition is contained in the former words, it cannot fitly stand with the order of this short Creede, vnlesse there should be a distinct article of things repeated before.

But let vsus come to the fourth exposition, He descended into hell, that is, when he was dead and buried, he was held captiue in the graue, and lay in bondage vnderunder death for the space of three daies. This exposition also may be gathered forth of the Scriptures. Saint Peter faith,Act. ….…4. God hath raised him vp, (speaking of Christ) and loosed the sorrowes of death, because it was vnpossible that he should bee holden of it. Where wee may see, that betweene the death and resurrection of Christ, there is placed a third matter, which is not mentioned in any clause of the Apostles Creede, saue in this; and that is his bondage vnderunder death, which commeth in betweene his death and rising againe. And the words themselues doe most fitly beare this sense, as the speech of Iacob sheweth,Gen. ….53. I will goe downe into ao…h… graue.hell vntounto my sonne mourning. And this exposition doth also best agree with the order of the Creede; first he was crucified and died, secondly he was buried, thirdly laid in the graue, & was therein held in captiuitie and bondage vnderunder death. And these three degrees of Christs humiliatiō, are most fitly correspondent to the three degrees of his exaltation. The first degree of exaltation, he rose againe the third day, answering to the first degree of his humiliation, he died: the second degree of his exaltation, hee ascended into heauen, answering to his going downe into the graue, was buried: and thirdly his sitting at the right hand of God (which is the highest degree of his exaltation) answering to the lowest degree of his humiliation, he descended into hell. These two last expositions are commonly receiued, and wee may indifferently make choice of either: but the last (as I take it) is most agreeable to the order and wordes of the Creede.

Thus much for the meaning of the wordes. Nowe followe the vses. And first of all Christs descending into hell, teacheth eueryevery one of vsus that professe the name of Christ, that, if it shall please God to afflict vsus, either in bodie or in mind, or in both, though it be in most grieuous and tedious manner, yet must we not thinke it straunge. For if Christ vponupon the crosse not onelyonly suffered the pangs of hell, but after he was dead, death takes him, and as it were carries him into his denne, or cabbin… and there triumpheth ouer him, holding him in captiuitie and bondage, and yet for all this was he the sonne of God: and therfore when Gods hand is heauie vponupon vsus any way, we are not to despaire, but rather thinke it is the good pleasure of God to frame and fashion vsus, that we may become like vntounto Christ Iesus as good children of God. Dauid a man after Gods owne heart was by Samuel annointed King ouer Israel, but withall God raised vp Saul to persecute him, as the fowler hunteth the partridge in the mountaine, in so much that Dauid said, there was but one steppe between him and death. So likewise Iob a iust man and one that feared God with all his heart,Io…. 5…9. yet how heauily did God lay his hand vponupon him: his goods and cattell were all taken away, and his children slaine, and his bodie stri…k…n by Satan with loathsome byles from the sole of his foote vntounto the crown… of his head: so as he was faine to take a potsheard and scrape himselfe sitting among the ashes. And Ionah the seruant and Prophet of the most high God, when he was called to preach to Niniuie, because he refused for feare of that great cittie, God mette with him, and hee must bee cast into the sea, and there be swallowed vp of a Whale, that so he might chastice him: and thus doth hee deale with his owne seruants, to make them conformable to Christ. And further, when it pleaseth God to lay his hand vponupon our soules, and make vsus hauehave a troubled and distressed conscience, so as we do as it were struggle with gods wrath as for life and death, and can finde nothing but his indignation seazing vponupon our soules, which is the most grieuous and perplexed estate that any man can be in: in this case howesoeuer we cannot discerne or see any hope or comfort in our selues, wee must not thinke it straunge, nor quite despaire of his mercy. For the sonne of God himselfe descended into hell, and death carried him captiue, and triumphed ouer him in the graue: and therefore though God seeme to be our vtter enemie, yet we must not despaire of his helpe.Psal. 32.3. In diuers Psalmes we read how Dauid was not onelyonly persecuted outwardly of his enemies, but euen his soule and conscience were perplexed for his sinnes, so as his very bones were consumed within him, and his moisture was turned into the drought in sommer.Iob. ….4. This caused Iob to crie out that the arrowes of God were within him, and the venyme thereof did drinke vp his spirit, the terrours of God did fight against him, & the griefe of his soule was as waightie as the sand of the sea, by reason whereof he saith, that the Lord did make him a marke and a but to shoote at: and therefore when God shall thus afflict vsus, either in bodie or in soule, or in both,& 16.9.1…. we must not alwaies thinke that it is the wrathfull hand of the Lord that beginnes to bring vsus to vtter condemnation for our sinnes, but rather his fatherly work to kill sinne in vsus, and to make vsus growe in humilitie, that so we may become like vntounto Christ Iesus. Secondly, whereas Christ for our sakes was thus abased euen vntounto the lowest degree of humiliation that can be, it is an example for vsus to imitate, as Christ himselfe prescribeth:Mat. 11.29… Learne of me that I am meeke and lowely. And that we may the better doe this, we must learne to become nothing in our selues, that we may bee al in al forth of our selues in Christ: we must loath and thinke as basely of our selues as possibly may be in regard of our sinnes. Christ Iesus vponupon the crosse was content for our sakes, to become a worme and no man, as Dauid saith,Psal. 22.6. which did cheifly appeare in this lowest degree of his humiliation, when as death did as it were tread on him in his denne; and the same mind must likewise be in vsus which was in him. The liking that we hauehave of our selues must be meere nothing, but all our louelove and liking must be forth of our selues in the death and blood of Christ.

And thus much of this clause, as also of the state of Christs humiliation. Nowe followeth his second estate, which is his exaltation into glorie, set downe t… these wordes, The third day hee arose againe from the deade, &c. And of it wee are first to speake in generall, then in particular according to the seuerall degrees thereof. In generall, the exaltation of Christ is, that glorious or happie estate, into which Christ entred after he had wrought the worke of our redemption vponupon the crosse. And hee was exalted according to both natures, in regard of his godhead, and also of his manhoode. The exaltation of the godhead of Christ, was the manifestation of the glorie of his godhead in the manhoode. Some will peraduenture demaunde, howe Christs godhead can bee exalted, seeing it admits no alteration at all. Answere. In it selfe it cannot bee exalted, yet beeing considered as it is ioyned with the manhoode into one person, in this respect it may bee said to bee exalted: and therefore I say, the exaltation of Christs godhead is the manifestation of the glorie thereof in the manhood. For though Christ from his incarnation was both God and man, and his godhead all that time dwelt in his manhood; yet from his birth vntounto his death, the same godhead did little shewe it selfe, and in the time of his suffering did as it were lie hidde vnderunder the vaile of his flesh as the soule doth in the bodie, when a man is sleeping, that thereby in his humane nature he might suffer the curse of the lawe, and accomplish the worke of redemption for vsus, in the lo…e and base estate of a seruant. But after this worke was finished, hee began by degrees to make manifest the power of his Godhead in his manhood. And in this respect his godhead may be said to be exalted. The exaltation of Christs humanitie stood in two things. The first, that he laid downe all the infirmities of mans nature, which he carried about him so long as hee was in the state of a seruant, in that he ceased to be wearie, hungrie, thirstie, &c. Here it may be demanded, whether the wounds and skars remaine in the bodie of Christ nowe after it is glorified.Olev lib. de subst f…d. & …. Ans. Some thinke that they doe remaine as testimonies of that victorie which Christ obtained of his and our enemies, and that they are no deformitie to the glorious bodie of the Lord, but are themselues also in him in some vnspeakable manner glorified. But indeede it rather seemes to be a trueth, to say that they are quite abolished; because they were a part of that ignominious and base estate in which our Sauiour was vponupon the crosse: which after his entrance into glorie he laid aside. And if it may be thought that the woundes in the handes and feete of Christ remaine to bee seene, euen to the last iudgement, why may we not in the same manner thinke that the veines of his bodie remaine emptied of their blood, because it was shed vponupon the crosse.

The second thing required in the exaltation of Christs manhood is, that both his bodie and soule were beutified and adorned with all qualities of glorie. His mind was inriched with as much knowledge & vnderstanding as can possibly befall any creature, & more in measure then all men & angels hauehave: and the same is to be said of the graces of the spirit in his will and affections: his bodie also was incorruptible, & it was made a shining bodie, a resemblance whereof some of his disciples sawe in the mount: and it was indued with agilitie, to mooue as well vpward as downeward… as may appeare by the ascension of his bodie into heauen, which was not caused by constraint or by any violent motion, but by a propertie agreeing to all bodies glorified. Yet in the exaltation of Christs manhood we must remember two caueats: first, that hee did neuer lay aside the essentiall properties of a true bodie: as length, breadth, thicknes, visibilitie, locallitie which is to be in one place at once and no more, but keepeth all these stil, because they serue for the being of his bodie. Secondly, we must remember that the gifts of glorie in Christs bodie are not infinite but finite: for his humane nature beeing but a creature, and therefore finite, could not receiue infinite graces and gifts of glorie And hence it is more then manifest that the opinion of those men is false, which hold that Christs bodie glorified, is omnipotent and infinit, eueryevery way able to doe whatsoeuer he wil: for this is to make a creature to be the Creator.

Thus much of Christs exaltation in generall. Nowe let vsus come to the degrees thereof, as they are noted in the Creed, which are in number three: I. He rose againe the third day: II. He ascended into heauen: III. He sitteth at the right hand of God the father almightie. In the handling of Christs resurrection wee must consider these points: I. why Christ ought to rise againe: II. the manner of his rising: III. the time when he rose: IV. the place where: V. the vses therof. For the first, it was necessarie that Christ should rise againe, and that for three especiall causes. First, that hereby he might shewe to all the people of God that he had fully ouercome death. For, else, if Christ had not risen, howe should we hauehave beene perswaded in our consciences, that he had made a ful & perfect satisfaction for vsus: nay rather we should hauehave reasoned thus: Christ is not risen, & therfore he hath not ouercome death, but death hath ouercome him. Secondly, Christ which died, was the sonne of God; therefore the author of life it selfe: and for this cause it was neither meete nor possible for him to be holden of death, but hee must needes rise from death to life. Thirdly, Christs priesthood hath two parts: one, to make satisfaction for sinne by his one onelyonly sacrifice vponupon the crosse: the other, to apply the vertue of this sacrifice vntounto eueryevery beleeuer. Now he offered the sacrifice for sinne vponupon the crosse, before the last pang of his death, and in dying satisfied the iustice of God: and therefore beeing dead must needes rise againe to performe the second part of his priesthood, namely to apply the vertue thereof vntounto all that shall truely beleeue in him, and to make intercession in heauen vntounto his father for vsus here on earth. And thus much of the first point.

Nowe to come to the manner of Christs resurrection, fiue things are to be considered in it. The first, that Christ rose againe not as eueryevery priuate man doth, but as a publike person representing all men that are to come to life eternall. For as in his passion, so also in his resurrection, he stood in our roome and place:…ph. 2.6. and therfore when he rose from death, we al, yea the whole Church rose in him, and togither with him. And this point not considered, we doe not conceiue aright of Christs resurrection, neither can we reape sound comfort by it.

The second is that Christ himselfe and no other for him, did by his owne power raise himselfe to life. This was the thing which he meant, when hee said, Destroy this temple, and in three daies I will build it vp againe: Ioh. 10.1….& more plainly, I hauehave (saith he) power to lay downe my life, and I hauehave power to take it againe. From whence we learne diuers instructions. First, whereas Christ raiseth himselfe from death to life, it serueth to prooue that he was not onelyonly man, but also true God. For the bodie beeing dead, could not bring againe the soule and ioyne it selfe vntounto the same, and make it selfe aliue againe; neither yet the soule that is departed from the bodie, can returne againe and quicken the bodie: and therefore there was some other nature in Christ, namely his godhead, which did revnite soule and bodie togither, and there…y quicken the manhood. Secondly, if Christ giuegive life to himselfe beeing dead in the graue then much more nowe beeing aliue and in heauen glorified, is hee able to raise vp his members from death to life. Wee are all by nature euen starke dead in sinne, as the deade bodie rotten in the graue: and therefore our duty is, to come to Christ our Lord by humble prayer, earnestly intreating him that he would raise vsus vp eueryevery day more and more from the graue of our sinnes to newnesse of life. He can of men deade in their sinnes, make vsus aliue vntounto himselfe to liue in righteousnes and true holines all the daies of our life.

The third thing is, that Christ rose againe with an earthquake. And this serueth to prooue that he lost nothing of his power by death, but still remained the absolute Lord and King of heauen and earth, to whome therefore the earth vnderunder his feete trembling doth him homage. This also prooueth vntounto vsus that Christ which lay dead in the graue did raise himselfe againe by his owne almightie power. Lastly it serueth to conuince the keepers of the graue, the women which came to embalme him, and the disciples which came to the sepulchre, and would not yet beleeue that he was risen againe. But how came this earthquake? Ans. Saint Matthew saith, there was a great earthquake.Math. 28.2. For the Angel of the Lord descended from heauen, &c. This shewes that the power of angels is great, in that they can mooue and stirre the earth. Three angels destroied Sodom and Gomorrha.Gen. 19.1,13. Ezech. 12.29. 2. King. 19.35. An angel destroied the first borne of Egypt in one night. In the hoast of Senacherib one angel slue in one night an hundreth fourescore and fiue thousand men. Of like power is the deuill himselfe to shake the earth, and to destroy vsus all, but that God of his goodnesse limits and restraines him of his libertie. Well, if one angel be able to shake the earth, what then will Christ himselfe doe when he shall come to iudgement the second time, with many thousand thousands of angels? oh how terrible and fearefull will his comming be! Not without cause, saith the holy Ghost, that the wicked at that day shall crie out, wishing the hills to fall vponupon them, and the mountaines to couer them for feare of that great and terrible day of the Lord.

The fourth thing is, that an Angel ministred to Christ, beeing to rise againe, in that he came to the graue and rolled away the stone, and sate vponupon it. Where obserue, first how the angels of God minister vntounto Christ, though dead and buried; whereby they acknowledge that his power, maiestie, and authoritie is not included within the bonds of the earth, but extends it selfe euen to the heauens themselues and the hosts thereof, and that according to his humanitie. Wicked men for their parts laboured to close him vp in the earth, as the basest of all creatures: but the angels of heauen most readily accept him as their soueraigne Lord and king:Math. 4.1…. as in like manner they did in his temptation in the wildernes, and in his agonie in the garden. Secondly, that the opinion of the Papists and others, which thinke that the bodie of Christ went through the graue-stone when he rose againe, is without warrant. For the end, no doubt, why the angel rolled away the stone was, that Christ might come forth. And indeed it is against the order of nature that one body should passe through another, without corruption or alteration of either; considering that eueryevery bodie occupies a place, and two bodies at the same instant can not be in one proper place.

Furthermore it is saide, that when the angel sate on the stone, his countenance was like lightening, and his rayment as white as snow: and this serued to shew what was the glorie of Christ himselfe. For if the seruant and minister be so glorious, then endles is the glorie of the lord and master himselfe. Lastly it is saide, that for feare of the angel, the watchmen were astonied, and became as dead men: which teacheth vsus, that, what God would hauehave come to passe, all the world can neuer hinder. For though the Iewes had closed vp the graue with a stone, and set a band of souldiours to watch, least Christ should by any meanes be taken away, yet all this auaileth nothing: by an angel from heauen the seale is broken, the stone is remooued, and the watchmen at their wittes endes. And this came to passe by the prouidence of God; that after the watchmen had testified these things to the Iewes, they might at length be conuicted that Christ, whome they crucified, was the Messias.

The fifth and last point is, that Christ rose not alone, but accompanied with others: as S. Matthew saith,Math 27.32. that the graues opened, and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose, and came out of the graues, and went into the holy citie, and appeared vntounto many after Christs resurrection. And this came to passe that the church of God might know and consider that there is a reuiuing and quickning vertue in the resurrection of Christ, wherby he is able not onelyonly to raise our dead bodies vntounto life, but also when we are dead in sinne, to raise vsus vp to newnesse of life. And in this very point stands a maine difference betweene the resurrection of Christ, and the resurrection of any other man. For the resurrection of Peter nothing auailes to the raising of Dauid or Paul: but Christs resurrection auailes for all that hauehave beleeued in him: by the very same power whereby he raised himselfe, he raiseth all his members: and therfore he is called a quickning spirit. And let vsus marke the order obserued in rising. First Christ riseth, and thē the Saints after him. And this came to passe to verefie the Scripture, which saith that Christ is the first borne of the dead. Col. 1.28.Now he is the first borne of the dead… in that he hath this dignitie and priuiledge to rise to eternall life the first of all men. It is true indeed that Lazarus and sundrie others in time rose before Christ: but yet they rose to liue a mortall life, and to die againe: Christ he is the first of all that rose to life euerlasting and to glorie: neuer any rose before Christ in this manner. And the persons that rose with Christ are to be noted, they were the Saints of God, not wicked men: whereby we are put in minde that the elect children of God onelyonly are partakers of Christs resurrection. Indeede both good and bad rise againe, but there is a great difference in their rising: for the godly rise by the vertue of Christs resurrection, and that to eternall glorie: but the vngodly rise by the vertue of Christ, not as he is a redeemer, but as he is a terrible iudge, and is to execute iustice on them. And they rise againe for this ende, that besides the first death of the bodie, they might suffer the second death, which is the powring forth of the wrath of god vponupon bodie and soule eternally. This difference is prooued vntounto vsus by that which Paul saith,2. Cor. 5.…. Christ is the first fruits of them that sleepe. Among the Iewes such as had corne fields gathered some little quantitie thereof, before they reaped the rest; and offered the same vntounto God, signifying thereby that they acknowledged him to be the author & giuer of all increase: & this offering was also an assurance vntounto the owner, of the blessing of God vponupon the rest, & this beeing but one handful did sanctifie the whole crop. Now Christ to the dead is as the first fruits to the rest of the corne, because his resurrection is a pledge & an assurāce of the resurrectiō of all the faithful. When a man is cast into the sea, and all his bodie is vnderunder the water, there is nothing to be looked for but present death; but if he carie his head aboue the water, there is good hope of a recouerie: Christ himselfe is risen as a pledge that all the iust shall rise againe: he is the head vntounto his Church, and therefore all his members must needes follow in their time. It may be demaunded what became of the Saints that rose againe after Christs resurrection. Answ. Some thinke they died againe, but seeing they rose for this ende to manifest the quickening vertue of Christs resurrection, it is as like, that they were also glorified with Christ, and ascended with him to heauen.

Thus much of the manner of Christs resurrection. Now followes the time when he rose againe, and that is specified in the Creede, The third day he rose againe. Thus saith our Sauiour Christ vntounto the Pharises,Math. 12 30. As Ionas was three daies and three nights in the whales bellie: so shall the sonne of man be three daies and three nights in the heart of the earth. And though Christ was but one day and two pieces of two daies in the graue;His abode in the graue was about 38. houres. (for he was buried in the euening before the Sabbath, and rose in the morning the next day after the Sabbath) yet is this sufficient to verifie this saying of Christ. For if the analogie had stoode in three whole daies, then Christ should hauehave risen the fourth day. And it was the pleasure of God that he should lie thus long in the graue, that in might be knowne that he was throughly dead: and he continued no longer, that he might not in his bodie see corruption. Againe, it is saide, Christ rose againe in the end of the Sabbath,Math. 28.1. when the first day of the weeke began to dawne. And this very time must be considered, as the reall beginning of the new spirituall world, in which we are made the sonnes of God. And as in the first day of the first world, light was commanded to shine out of darknes vponupon the deepes: so in the first day of this new world, the sonne of righteousnes riseth and giues light to them that sit in darknes, and dispells the darknes that was vnderunder the old Testament. And here let vsus marke the reason why the Sabbath day was changed. For the first day of the weeke, which was the day following the Iewes sabbath, is our sabbath day, which day we keepe holy in memorie of the glorious resurrection of Christ:Apoc. 1.10. and therefore it is called the Lords day. And it may not vnfitly be tearmed aHierome.Sunday, though the name came first from the heathen, because on this day the blessed sonne of righteousnesse rose from death to life.

Let vsus now in the next place proceede to the proofes of Christs resurrection, which are diligently to be obserued, because it is one of the most principall points of our religion. For as the Apostle saith,Rom. 4.25. He died for our sinnes, and rose againe for our iustification: and againe,1. Cor. 15.14. If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vaine, and our faith is also vaine. The proofes are of two sorts: first, Christs appearances vntounto men: secondly, the testimonies of men. Christs appearances were either on the first day, or on the daies following. The appearances of Christ the same day he rose againe are fiue. And first of all earely in the morning he appeared to Marie Magdalen.… ….16.9. In this appearance diuers things are to be considered. The first, of what note and qualitie the partie was, to whome Christ appeared. Ans. Marie Magdalen was one that had bin possessed with seuen deuils, but was deliuered and became a repentant sinner, and stood by, when Christ suffered; and came with sweete odours when he was dead to embalme him. And therefore to her is graunted this prerogatiue, that she should be the first that should testifie his resurrection vntounto men. And hence we learne, that Christ is readie and willing to receiue most miserable wretched sinners, euen such as hauehave bin vassals and bondslaues of the deuill, if they will come to him. Any man would thinke it a fearefull case, to be thus possessed with deuills, as Marie was: but let all those that liue in ignorance, and by reason thereof liue in sinne without repentance, know this; that their case is a thousand times worse then Marie Magdalens was. For what is an impenitent sinner? Surely nothing els but the castle and hold of the deuill, both in bodie and soule. For looke as a captaine that hath taken some hold or skonse, doth rule and gouerne all therein, and disposeth it at his will and pleasure: euen so it is with all blind and impenitent sinners; not one deuill alone, but euen legions of deuils possesse them, and rule their hearts: and therefore howsoeuer they may soothe themselues and say, all is well, for God is mercifull; yet their case is farre worse then Maries was. Now then, would any be freed from this fearefull bondage? let them learne of Marie Magdalen to follow Christ, and to seeke vntounto him, and then albeit the deuil and al his angels possesse their hearts, yet Christ beeing the strong man, will come and cast them all out, and dwell there himselfe.

The second is, what Christ in his appearance said to Marie. Ans. He saide, Touch me not: for I am not yet ascended to my father. Marie no doubt was glad to see Christ, and therefore looked to hauehave conuersed as familiarly with him as shee was wont before his death, but he forbids her to touch him, that is, not to looke to enioy his corporall presence as before, but rather to seeke for his spirituall presence by faith, considering he was shortly to ascend to his father. For this cause when he appeared to his disciples, he staied not long with them at any time, but onelyonly to manifest himselfe vntounto them, thereby to prooue the certentie of his resurrection. This prohibition shewes first of all that it is but a fond thing to delight in the outward picture and portraiture of Christ, as the Iesuits doe, who stand much vponupon his outward forme and lineaments. Secondly, it ouerthroweth the popish crucifixes, and all the carued and molten images of Christ, wherein the Papists worship him. For corporall presence is not now required: therefore spiritual worship onelyonly must be giuen vntounto him. Thirdly it ouerthrowes the reall presence of Christ in the Sacrament. Many are of minde that they can not receiue Christ, except they eate and drinke his bodie and blood corporally: but it is not much materiall whether we touch him with the bodily hand or no, so be it we apprehend him spiritually by faith. Lastly, as we must not hauehave earthly considerations of Christ; so must we on the contrarie labour for the spirituall hand of faith, which may reach vp it selfe to heauen, and there lay hold on him. This is the very thing which Christ insinuateth vntounto Marie in saying, Touch me not. And Saint Paul saith,2. Cor. 5.19. Henceforth know we no man after the flesh, yea though we had knowne Christ after the flesh, yet now know we him no more, that is, we know him no more as a man liuing among vsus, and therefore he addeth, If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: and this new creation is not by the bodily presence of Christ but by the apprehension of faith.

Math. 2….9.The second appearance was to Marie Magdalen and to the other Marie, as they were going from the graue to tell his disciples: at which time, Christ meeteth them, and bids them goe tell his brethren that he is risen againe. And whereas Christ sendeth women to his disciples, he purposed hereby to check them for their vnbeleefe. For these women forsooke him not at his death, but stood by and saw him suffer, and when he was buried they came to embalme him: but all this while what became of Christs disciples? Surely Peter denied him, and all the rest fled away, euen Iames and Iohn the sonnes of thunder, saue that Iohn stood aloofe to behold his death. Hereupon Christ to make them ashamed of their fault, sendeth these women vntounto them to publish that to them which they by their calling ought aboue all other to hauehave published. Secondly this teacheth, that whereas Christ buildeth his kingdome and publisheth his Gospell by Apostles, Euangelists, Pastours, teachers, he can if it so please him, performe the same by other meanes. In this his second appearance, he vsed weake and silly women to publish his resurrection, and thereby shewes that he is not bound to the ordinarie meanes, which now he vseth. Thirdly, he sent them to his disciples, to shew, that howsoeuer they had dealt vnfaithfully with him by forsaking him and denying him, yet he had not quite forsaken them, but if they would repent and beleeue, he would receiue them into his louelove and fauour againe, and therefore calleth them his brethren, saying, Goe and tell my brethren. This teacheth vsus a good lesson, that howsoeuer our sinnes past are to humble vsus in regard of our selues, yet must they not cut vsus off or dismay vsus from seeking to Christ; yea euen then when we are laden with the burden of them, we must come vntounto him, and he will ease vsus. Fourthly whereas silly women are sent to teach Christs disciples,Mark. 16.7. which were schollers brought vp in his owne schoole, we are admonished, that superioritie in place and calling, must not hinder vsus sometime to heare and to be taught of our inferiours. Iob saith, he neuer refused the counsell of his seruant: and Naaman the Syrian obeyed the counsell of a silly maide which aduised him to goe to the Prophet of the Lord in Samaria to be cured of his leprosie:2. King. 5.13. and when he had bin with the Prophet, he obeyed the counsell of his seruant, that perswaded him to doe all the Prophet has saide, Wash and be cleane.

Now after that the women are come to the disciples and make relation of Christs resurrection, the text saith, Their wordes seemed as fained things vntounto them, neither beleeued they them. Luk. 24.11.Hence we learne two things: the first, that men of themselues can not beleeue the doctrine of Christian religion: it is a hard matter for a man to beleeue sundrie things in the worke of creation. The temporall deliuerance of the children of Israel seemed to them as a dreame: and the resurrection of Christ euen to Christs owne disciples seemed a faigned thing. The second, that it is an hard thing truly and vnfainedly to beleeue the points of religion. Disciples brought vp in the schoole of Christ, and often catechised in this very point of Christs resurrection, yet dull are they to beleeue it. This confuteth & condemneth our carnall gospellers, that make it the lightest and easiest thing that can be to beleeue in Christ: and therefore they say their faith is so strong, that they would not for all the world doubt of gods merciemercy: whereas indeede they are deceiued and hauehave no faith at all, but blinde presumption.

The third appearance was on this maner.Luk. 23.13. As two of Christs disciples were going from Ierusalem to Emmaus about threescore furlongs, and talked togither of all the things that were done, Iesus drew neare and talked with them, but their eyes were holden that they could not know him: and as they went he communed with them; and prooued out of the Scripture his resurrection, expounding vntounto them all things that were written of him: then they made him stay with them, and their eyes were opened, and they knew him by breaking of bread; but he was taken out of their sight. In this notable appearance we may obserue these foure points. The first, that Christ held their eyes that they could not know him: they saw a man indeed, but who he was, they could not tel. By this it is more thē manifest, that the vse of our outward senses, as seeing, feeling, smelling, &c. is supplied vntounto vsus continually by the power of Christ; and therefore euen in these things we must acknowledge the continuall goodnesse of God. Now if one man can not so much as discerne another but by the blessing of Christ, then shall we neuer be able to discerne the way of life from the way of death without him: and therefore we must pray vntounto God that he would giuegive vsus his holy spirit to inlighten the eyes of our vnderstanding, whereby we may be able to see and know the way that leadeth vntounto life, and also to walke in the same.

The second, that as Christ was in expounding the Scriptures vntounto them their hearts burned within them. By this we learne, that howsoeuer the ministers of God publish the Gospell to the outward eares of men; yet is it the proper worke of Christ alone to touch and inflame the heart by the fire of his holy spirit,Luk. 3 15. and to quicken and raise men vp to the life of righteousnes & true holines: it is he onelyonly that baptizeth with the holy Ghost and with fire. And it further admonisheth vsus, that we should heare the word preached from the mouth of Gods ministers with burning and melting hearts: but, alas, the ordinarie practise is flatte contrarie; mens eyes are drousie and heauie, and their hearts dead and frozen within them: and that is the cause why after much teaching there followes but little profit.

The third thing is, that Christ did eate with the two disciples and was knowne of them in breaking of bread. It is very like that our Sauiour Christ did in some speciall manner blesse the bread which he brake, whereby his disciples discerned him from others. And in like maner we must by blessing our meates and drinkes distinguish our selues, though not from such as are the seruants of God, yet from all vngodly and carelesse men. Many beeing silent thē selues doe make their children to giuegive thanks, and to blesse their meates. And indeede it is a cōmendable thing if it be done sometimes to nurture the child, but for men to disburden themselues wholly of this dutie is a fault. And it is a shame that, that mouth which openeth it selfe to receiue the good creatures of God, should neuer open it selfe to blesse and praise God for the same. Therefore in this action of eating and drinking, let vsus shew our selues followers of Christ, that as by blessing the same he was knowne from all other; so we may also hereby distinguish our selues from the profane and wicked of this world. Otherwise what difference shall there be betweene vsus & the very hogge that eates mast on the ground, but neuer lookes vp to the tree from whence it falls. And as Christ reuealed himselfe vntounto his disciples, at that time when they caused him to eate meate with them; so let vsus suffer Christ to be our guest, and let vsus entertaine him in his members, and no doubt he will blesse vsus, and withall reueale himselfe vntounto vsus. The fourth thing is, that hauing eaten, he is taken out of their sight. And this came to passe not because the bodie of Christ bec…me spirituall, but because either he held their eyes as before, or he departed with celeritie and speede according to the properties of a bodie glorified.

The fourth appearance of Christ was to Peter alone, mentioned onelyonly by S. Paul,1. Cor. 15.5. He was seene of Cephas.

The fifth appearance was to all the disciples together saue Thomas. In it we must consider three things,Ioh. 20.19. which are all effectuall arguments to prooue Christs resurrection. The first, that he came and stood in the middest among them, the dores beeing shut. Now it may be demaunded, how this could be. Ans. The Papists say, his bodie was glorified and so passed through the dore, but (as I hauehave saide) it is against the nature of a bodie, that one should passe through an other, as heate doth through a piece of yron, both bodies remaining intire & sound: therfore we may rather think, that wheras Christ came in, when the dores were shut; it was either, because by his mightie power he caused the dores to giuegive place, the disciples not knowing how: or else because he altered the very substance of the dores, that his bodie might passe through, as he thickned the waters to carrie his bodie when he walked vponupon the sea. Now if this be true, as very like it is, that these dumbe creatures gaue place to Christ, and became plyable vntounto his commandement, then much more ought we to carrie our hearts conformable and pliant to the wil of our Lord Iesus in all his commandements. The second point is, that when as the disciples thought Ch…ist to hauehave beene a spirit, he to prooue the truth of his manhood, sheweth vntounto them his hands and his feete, and the wound in his side, and calls for meate, and eates it among them. But it may be asked how this could be, considering that a glorified bodie hath no blemish, and needes not to eate, but is supported by God without meate: for if this be true in our bodies when they shall be glorified, then much more was it true in Christ. Ans. True it is, a glorified bodie hath no blemishes; but our Sauiour Christ had not yet entred into the fulnesse of his glorie. If he had beene fully glorified, he could not so sensibly and plainely hauehave made manifest the truth of his resurrection vntounto his disciples: and therefore for their sakes and ours he is content after his entrance into glorie still to retaine in his bodie some remnants of the ignominies and blemishes, which if it had pleased him, he might hauehave laid aside; he is also content to eate, not for neede, but to prooue that his bodie was not a bodie in shew but a true bodie. This teacheth vsus two lessons: I. if Christ for our good and comfort be content to retaine these ignominious blemishes, then answerably eueryevery one of vsus must as good followers of Christ referre the workes of our callings to the good of others, as Paul saith,…. Cor. 9.19. He was free from all men, yet he was content to become all things vntounto all men, that by all meanes he might winne the moe. Secondly we learne, that for the good of our neighbour, & for the maintaining of louelove & charitie, we must be content to yeeld from our owne right, as in this place our Sauiour Christ yeeldes of his owne glorie for the good of his Church.

The third point is, that he then gaue the disciples their Apostolicall commissions, saying, Goe and teach all the nations: of which, three points are to bee considered: the first, to whome it is giuen. Ansvvere. To them all, as well to one as to another, and not to Peter onelyonly. And this ouerthrowes the fonde and forged opinions of the Papists concerning Peters supremacy. If his calling had beene aboue the rest, then he should hauehave had a speciall commission aboue the rest: but one and the same commission is giuen alike to all. The second, that with the commission he giues his spirit; for whome he appointeth to publish his will and word, them hee furnisheth with sufficient gifts of his holy spirit to discharge that great function: & therefore it is a defect, that any are set apart to be ministers of the gospell of Christ, which hauehave not receiued the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of wisdome, and the spirit of prophesie in some measure. The third point is, that in conferring of his spirit he vseth an outward signe, for the text saith, He breathed on them, and said, receiue the Holy Ghost. The reasons hereof may be these. First when God created Adam and put into him a liuing soule, it is said, he breathed in his face. And so our Sauiour Christ in giuing vntounto his disciples the holy Ghost, doth the same, to shewe vntounto them, that the same person that giueth life, giueth grace; and also to signifie vntounto them, that beeing to send them ouer all the worlde to preach his Gospel, he was as it were to make a second creation of man, by renuing the image of God in him which he had lost by the fall of Adam. Againe he breathed on them in giuing his spirit, to put them in mind that their preaching of the gospel could not be effectuall in the hearts of their hearers, before the Lord doth breath into them his spirit, and thereby drawe them to beleeue: and therefore the spouse of Christ desireth the Lord to send forth his north and south winde to blow on her garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Cant 4.16.This garden is the church of God, which desireth Christ to comfort her, and to poure out the graces of his spirit on her, that the people of God which are the hearbes and trees of righteousnesse, may bring forth sweet spices whose fruit may be for meat and their leaues for medicines.

Thus much for the fiue appearances of Christ the same day he rose again: Now follow the rest of his appearāces which were in the forty daies following, which are in number sixe. The first is mentioned by Saint Iohn in these wordes,Ioh. 20.16. Eight daies after when the disciples were within, and Thomas with them, came Iesus when the dores were shut, and stood in the middest of them, & said, Peace be vntounto you. In it we must consider two things: I. the occasion thereof. II. the dealing of Christ. The occasion was this: after Christ had appeared vntounto the other disciples in Thomas his absence, they told him that they had seene the Lord: but he made aunswere, Except I see in his bodie the print of his nailes, and put mine hand into his side I will not beleeue. Nowe eight daies after, our S…uiour Christ appeared againe vntounto all the disciples, especially for the curing of Thomas his vnbeleefe, which was no smal sinne, considering it containes in it three great sinnes. The first is blindnes of minde, for he had beene a hearer of our Sauiour Christ a long time, and had beene instructed touching the resurrection diuers times: he was also with Christ and saw him when he raised Lazarus, and had seene, or at least wise had heard the miracles which he did: and also he had heard all the disciples say that had seene the Lord, and yet will it not sinke into his head. The second is deadnesse of heart. When our Sauiour Christ went to raise Lazarus that was dead, Thomas spake very cōfidently to him and said,I…h. 11. Let vsus go, that we may die with him, yet when Christ was crucified he fled away, and is the longest from Christ after his resurrection, and when he is certenly told thereof he will not acknowledge it or yeelde vntounto it. The third is wilfulnesse: for when the disciples tolde him that they had seene the Lord, he said slatly, that vnlesse he sawe in his handes the print of the nailes, he would not beleeue, and that which is worse then all this, hee continued eight daies in this wilful minde. Nowe in this exceeding measure of vnbeleefe in Thomas; any man, euen he that hath the most grace, may see what a masse of vnbeleefe is in himselfe, and what wilfulnesse and vntowardnesse to any good thing, in so much that wee may truely say with Dauid,Psal. 3. Lord, what is man, that thou so regardest him. And if such measure of vnbeleefe was in such men, as the disciples were, then we may assure our selues, that it doth much more exceede in the common professours of religion in these daies, let them protest to the contrarie what they will.

Nowe the cause of his vnbeleefe was this: he makes a lawe to himselfe that he will see and feele or else he wil not beleeue: but this is flat against the nature of faith which consisteth neither in seeing nor feeling. Indeede in things naturall a man must first hauehave experience in seeing and feeling, and then beleeue: but it is contrary in diuinitie: a man must first hauehave faith and beleeue, and then comes experience afterward. But Thomas hauing not learned this, doth ouershoot himselfe: and herein also many deceiue themselues, which think they hauehave no faith because they hauehave no feeling. For the chiefest feeling that wee must hauehave in this life must be the feeling of our sinnes and the miseries of this life: and though wee hauehave no other feeling at all, yet wee must not therefore cease to beleeue.

Iob. …0.27.In Christs dealing with Thomas we may consider three actions. The first, that he speaks to Thomas alone, & answers him according to the very words which he had spoken of him in his absence, and that word for word. And by this he laboured to ouerthrow his vnbeleefe, and to conuince him, that being absent he knewe what he spake. And by this we learne, that though wee want the bodily presence of Christ hee beeing now in heauen, yet he knoweth wel what we say, and if need were could repeat all our sayings word by word: and if it were not so, how could it be true that we must giuegive an account of eueryevery idle word. Now this must teach vsus to looke that our speech be gratious according to the rule of Gods holy word. Secondly this must make vsus willing and readie to direct our praiers to Christ, considering he knoweth what wee pray for, and heareth eueryevery word we speake. The second action is, that Christ condescends to Thomas, and giues him libertie to feele the print of the nailes, and to put his finger into his side. He might hauehave reiected Thomas for his wilfulnes, yet to helpe his vnbeleefe, he yeeldeth vntounto his weaknesse. This sheweth, that Christ is most compassionate to all those that vnfainedly repent them of their sinnes and cleaue vntounto him, although they doe it laden with manifolde wants.…sal. 103.1… Dauid saith, that the Lord hath compassion on all them that feare him, as a father hath compassion on his children: and he addes the reason, For he knoweth of what we are made. And the prophet Esay,Isa. 4.3. Hee will not breake the bruised reede, and smoking flaxe he will not quench. When a child is very sicke, in so much that it casteth vp all the meate which it taketh, the mother will not be offended thereat, but rather pittie it. Nowe our Sauiour Christ is ten thousand times more mercifull to them that beleeue in him, then any mother is or can be. The third action is, that when Thomas had seene & felt the woundes, Christ reuiued his faith, whereupon he brake forth and said,Ioh. 1… 28. My Lord, and my God. In which wordes he doth most notably bewaile his blindnesse and vnbeleefe; and as a fire that hath beene smothered, so doth his faith burst forth and shewe it selfe. And in this example of Thomas we may see the state of Gods people in this life. First, God giueth them faith, yet afterward for a time hee doth as it were, hide the same in some corner of their hearts, so as they hauehave no feeling thereof, but thinke themselues to be void of all grace: and this he doth for no other ende but to humble them: and yet againe after all this, the first grace is further renued and reuiued. Thus dealt the Lord with Dauid and Salomon (for whereas he was a pen-man of Scripture, and therefore an holy man of God, we may not thinke that he was wholly forsaken) with Peter, and in this place with Thomas. And the experience of this shall eueryevery seruant of God finde in himselfe.

The second appearance of Christ was to seuen of the disciples as they went on fishing,Ioh. 1…. in which hee giues three testimonies of his godhead, and that by death his power was nothing diminished. The first, that when the disciples had fished all night and caught nothing, afterward by his direction they catch fish in aboundance, and that presently. This teacheth vsus, that Christ is a soueraigne Lord ouer all creatures, and hath the disposing of them in his owne handes: and that if good successe followe not when men are painefull in their callings, it is because God will prepare and make them fit for a further blessing. Christ comes in the morning and giues his disciples a great draught of fish: yet before this can be, they must labour all night in vaine. Ioseph must be made ruler ouer all Egypt, but first he must be cast into a dungeon where he can see no sunn nor light, to prepare him to that honour. And Dauid must be King ouer Israel, but the Lord will first prepare him hereunto by raising vp Saul to persecute him. Therefore when God s…ndeth any hinderances vntounto vsus in our callings, wee must not despaire nor bee discouraged, for they are the meanes whereby God maketh vsus fit to receiue greater blessings at his handes either in this life or in the life to come. The second is, that the net was vnbroke though it had in it great fishes to the number of an hundred fifty three. The third, that when the disciples came to land, they sawe hotte coales and fish laid thereon and bread. Nowe some may aske, whence was this foode? Answ. The same Lord that was able to prouide a Whale to swallowe vp Ionas, and so to saue him: and he that was able to prouide a fish for Peters angle with a peece of twentie pence in the mouth: and to make a little bread and a fewe fishes to feede so many thousands in the wildernesse: the same also doeth of himselfe prouide bread and fishes for his disciples. This teacheth vsus, that not not onelyonly the blessing, but also the very hauing of meate, drinke, apparell is from Christ: and hereupon all states of men, euen the kings of the earth are taught to pray that God would giuegive them their daily bread. Againe, when we sit downe to eate and drinke, this must put vsus in minde that wee are the guests of Christ himselfe: our foode which we hauehave comes of his meere gift; and hee it is that entertaines vsus, if wee could see it. And for this cause wee must soberly and with great reuerence in feare and trembling vse all gods creatures as in his presence. And when we eate and drinke, wee must alwaies looke that all our speech be such as may beseeme the guests of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ. Vsually the practise of men is farre otherwise; for in feasting many take libertie to surfet, & to be drunke, to sweare, & to blas…heme: but if we serue the Lord, let vsus remember whose guests we are, and who is our entertainer; and so behaue our selues as being in his presence, that all our actions and words may tend to his glorie.

1. Cor. 15.7.The third appearance was to Iames, as S. Paul recordeth, although the same be not mentioned in any of the Euangelists.

Mat 28.16.The fourth was to all his disciples in a mountaine, whither he had appointed them to come.

… 1.12.The fift & last appearance was in the mount of Oliues, when he ascended into heauen. Of these three last appearances because the holy Ghost hath only mentioned them, I omitte to speake, and with the repeating of them, I let them passe.

Thus much of the appearances of Christ after his resurrection: the witnesses thereof are of three sorts: I. angels. II. women that came to the graue to embaulme him. III. Christs owne disciples who did publish and preach the same, according as they had seene and heard of our Sauiour Christ: and of these likewise I omit to speake, because there is not any speciall thing mentioned of them by the Euangelists.

Nowe follow the vses, which are twofold: some respect Christ, and some respect our selues. Vses which concerne Christ are three: I. whereas Christ Iesus beeing starke dead rose againe to life by his owne power, it serueth to prooue vntounto vsus that he was the sonne of God. Thus Paul speaking of Christ saith,Rom. 1.4. that hee was de…lared mightily to bee the sonne of God touching the spirit of sanctification by the resurrection from the dead. And by the mouth of Dauid God said,Psal. 2.7. Thou art my sonne, this day I hauehave begot thee. Which place must bee vnderstood not so much of the eternal generation of Christ before al worlds, as of the manifestation thereof in time after this manner. This day, that is, at the time of thine incarn…tion, but especially at the daie of thy resurrection, hauehave I begotten thee, that is, I hauehave made manifest that thou art my sonne: so is this place expoūded by S. Paul in the Acts.Act. 13.32.33. Secōdly Christs rising frō death by his own po…er, prooues vntounto vsus euidently that he is Lord ouer al things that are: & this vse S. Paul makes hereof, for saith he,Ro…. 1…9. Christ therefore died that he might be Lord both of the dead & of the quick. And indeed whereas he rose againe on this m…ner, he did hereb… shew himselfe most plainly to be a mighty prince ouer the graue… death, hel, & condemnation, & one that had al… sufficient power to ouercome them. Thirdly it prooues vntounto vsus, that he was a perfit priest, and that his death & passion was a perfect satisfaction to the iustice of god for the …innes of mankind. For whereas Christ died, he died for our sinnes: now if he had not fully satisfied for them all (though there had remained but one sinne for which he had made no satisfaction) he had not risen againe: but death which came into the world by sinne, and is strengthened by it, would hauehave held him in bondage: and therefore, whereas he rose againe, it is more then manifest, that he hath made so full a satisfaction that the merit therof doth and shall counteruaile the iustice of God for all our offences. To this purpose Paul saith,1. Cor. 15.…. If Christ be not risen againe, your faith is vaine, and you are yet in your sinnes, that is, Christ had not satisfied for your sinnes, or at least you could not possibly hauehave knowne that he had made satisfaction for any of them, if he had not risen againe.

The vses which concerne our selues are of two sorts: comforts to the children of God, and duties that are to be learned and practised of vsus all. The comforts are especially three. First Christs resurrection serueth for the iustification of all that beleeue in him, euen before God the father: as Paul saith,Rom. 4.25. Christ was giuen to death for our sinnes, and is risen againe for our iustification: which wordes hauehave this meaning: when Christ died, we must not consider him as a priuate man, as we hauehave shewed before, but as one that stoode in the stead and roome of all the elect: in his death he bare our sinnes and suffered all that we should hauehave suffered in our owne persons for euer, and the guilt of our offences was laide vponupon him: and therefore Esai saith, he was numbred among the wicked. Now in his rising againe he freed and disburdened himselfe not from any sinnes of his owne, because he was without sinne, but from the guilt and punishment of our sinnes imputed vntounto him. And hence it comes to passe that all those which put their trust and affiance in the merit of Christ, at the very first instant of their beleeuing hauehave their owne sinnes not imputed vntounto them, and his righteousnes imputed.

Secondly the resurrection of Christ serueth as a notable meanes to worke inward sanctification, as S. Peter saith,1. Pet. 1.3. We are regenerate to a liuely hope by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead. And S. Paul,Rom. 6.3. We are then (saith he) buried with him by baptisme into his death, that like as Christ was raised vp from the dead by the glorie of his father, so we also should walke in newnesse of life. For if we be grafted with him to the similitude of his death, we shall be also to the similitude of his resurrection. Which words import thus much, that as Christ by the power of his owne Godhead, freed his manhood from death and from the guilt of our sinnes: so doth he free those that are knit vntounto him by the bond of one spirit, from the corruption of their natures in which they are dead, that they may liue vntounto God. In the naturall bodie, the head is the fountaine of all the senses and of motion: and therefore by sundrie nerues dispersed through the bodie, the power of moouing and of sense is deriued euen to the least parts; so as the hands and the feete mooue by meanes of that power which comes from the head: and so it is in the spirituall bodie of Christ, namely the church: he is the head and the fountaine of life, and therefore he conueyeth spirituall life to eueryevery one of his members: and that very power of his Godhead whereby he raised vp himselfe when he was deade, he conueyeth from himselfe to his members, and thereby raiseth them vp from the death of sinne to newnes of life. And looke as in a perfect body, when the head hath sense and motion, the hand that is of the same bodie hath also the sense and motion conuenient for it: so likewise Christ beeing the resurrection and the life; as there is spirituall life in him, so eueryevery member of his shall feele in it selfe spirituall sense and motion, whereby it is raised vp from sinne and liueth vntounto God. For the better cōceiuing of this, we must consider two things: the outward means of this spirituall life, and the measure of it. For the meanes, if we wil hauehave common water we must goe to the well: and if we would hauehave water of life, wee must goe vntounto Christ, who saith, If any man thirst, let him come vntounto me and drinke. …oh. 7 37.Now this well of the water of life is very deepe and we hauehave nothing to draw with, therefore we must hauehave our pipes and conduits to conuey the same vntounto vsus, which are the word of God preached, and the administration of the sacraments. Christ saith, The dead shall heare the voice of the sonne of God, and they that heare it shall liue; where by the dead is meant, not the dead in the graue,Ioh. 5.25… but those that are dead in sinne. And againe Christ saith, the wordes which I speake are spirit and life, Ioh. 6.63.because the word of God is the pipe whereby he conueieth into our dead hearts spirit and life. As Christ when he raised vp dead men did one…y speake the word and they were made aliue: and at the day of iudgement by his very voice, when the trumpe shall blow, all that are dead shall rise againe. So it is in the first resurrection: they that are dead in their sins, at his voice vttered in the ministerie of the word shall rise againe. To goe further, Christ raised three from the dead. Iairus daughter newly dead: the widowes sonne dead and wound vp and lying on the hearse: Lazarus dead and buried and stinking in the graue; and all this he did by his very voice: so also by the preaching of his word, he raiseth all sorts of sinners, euen such as hauehave lien long in their sinnes as rotting and stinking carrion. The sacraments also are the pipes and conduits whereby God conueieth grace into the heart, if they be rightly vsed, that is, if they be receiued in vnfained repentance for all our sinnes, and with a true & liuely faith in Christ for the pardon of the same sinnes.Can…. 2.4. And so, I take it, they are compared to flagons of wine, which reuiue the Church beeing sicke and fallen into a swound. As for the measure of life deriued from Christ, it is but small in this life and giuen by little and little, as Ose saith,Ose 6.1,2. The Lord hath spoiled vsus, and he will heale vsus, he hath wounded vsus, and he will bind vsus vp. After two daies he will reuiue vsus, and in the third he will raise vsus vp, and we shall liue in his sight. The prophet Ezechiel in a vision is carried into the midst of a field full of dead bones, and he is caused to prophecy ouer them, and say,…ze. 37.4.5.8. O ye drie bones, heare the word of the Lord: at the fi…st there was a shaking, and the bones came togither bone to bone, and then sinewes and flesh grewe vponupon them, and vponupon the flesh grewe a skinne. Then he prophecied vntounto the windes the second time, and they liued and stood vponupon their feete, for the breath came vponupon them, and they were an exceeding great army of men. Hereby it signified not onelyonly the state of the Iewes after their captiuitie… but in them the state of the whole Church of God. For these temporall deliuerances signified further a spirituall deliuerance. And wee may here see most pla…nely, that God worketh in the hearts of his children the gifts & graces of regeneration by little and little. First he giueth no more then flesh, sinewes, and skin: then after he giueth them further graces of his spirit, which quickeneth them and maketh them aliue vntounto God.Eze. 47.3,4,5. The same also we may see in the vision of the waters that ranne out of the temple: First, a man must wade to the ankles, then after to the knees, and so to the loynes: then after the waters growe to a riuer that cannot be passed ouer: and so the Lord conueyeth his graces by little and little, till at the last men hauehave a full measure thereof.

Thirdly the resurrection of Christ serues as an argument to prooue vntounto vsus our resurrection at the day of iudgement. Paul saith,Rom. 8.11. If the spirit of Christ that raised vp Iesus from the dead dwell in you: he that raised Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortall bodies. Some will say, that this is no benefit, for all must rise againe, as well the wicked as the godly. Answ. True indeed: but yet the wicked rise not againe by the same cause that the godly doe. They rise againe by the power of Christ, not as hee is a Sauiour, but as hee is a iudge to condemne them: For God had said to Adam; at what time he should eate of the forbidden fruite, hee should die the death; meaning a double death, both the first and the second death. Nowe then the vngodly rise againe that God may inflict vponupon them the punishment of the second death, which is the reward of sinne, that so Gods iustice may be satisfied: but the godly rise againe by the power of Christ their head and redeemer, who raiseth them vp that they may be partakers of the benefit of his death, which is to enioy both in bodie and soule the kingdome of heauen, which he hath so deerely bought for them.

Thus much for the comforts: Nowe followe the duties, and they are also three. First as Christ Iesus when he was dead rose againe from death to life by his owne power, so wee by his grace, in imitation of Christ, must endeauour our selues to rise vp from all our sinnes both originall and actuall vntounto newenesse of life. This is worthily set downe by the Apostle, saying,Rom. 6.4. Wee are buried by baptisme into his death, that as Christ was raised vp from the dead by the glorie of the father, so wee also should walke in newnesse of life: and therefore we must endeauour our selues to shewe the same power to be in vsus eueryevery day, by rising vp from our owne personall sinnes to a reformed life. This ought to be remē bred of vsus, because howesoeuer many heare and knowe this point, yet very fewe doe practise the same. For (to speake plainly) as dead men buried would neuer heare though a man should speake neuer so loud: so vndoubtedly amōg vsus there be also many liuing men, which are almost in the same case. The ministers of God may crie vntounto them daily, and iterate the same thing a thousand times, and tell them that they must rise vp from their sinnes and lead a newe life, but they heare no more then the dead carkas that lieth in the graue. Indeede men heare with their outward eares, but they are so farre from practising this dutie, that many iudge it to bee a matter of reproch and ignominy. And those which make any conscience of this dutie, how they are laden with nicknames and taunts, who knoweth not? I neede not to rehearse them: so odious a thing nowe a daies is the rising from sinne to newnesse of life. Sound a trumpet in a dead mans eares, he stirs not: & let vsus crie for amendment of life till breath go out of our bodies, no man almost saith, What hauehave I done? And for this cause vndoubtedly, if it were not for cōscience of that duty which mē owe vntounto God, wee should hauehave but fewe ministers in England. For it is the ioy of a minister to see the vnfained conuersion of his people: whereas, alas, men generally lie snorting in their corruptions, and rather goe forward in them still, then come to any amendment; such is the wonderful hardnesse that hath possessed the hearts of most men. He which hath but halfe an eie may see this to be true. Oh! howe exceedes Atheisme in all places, contempt of Gods worship, prophanation of the sabbath: the whordomes & fornications, the crueltie and oppression of this age, crie to heauen for vengeance. By these & such like sinnes the world crucifies Christ againe. For looke as Pilats souldiers with the wicked Iewes tooke Christ and stripped him of his garments, buffeted him, and slue him; so vngodly men by their wicked behauiour strip him of al honour, and slaie him againe. If an infidel should come among vsus, & yeeld himselfe to be of our religiō, after he had seene the behauiour of men, he would peraduenture leaue all religion: for hee might say, surely it seemes this God whome these men worship, is not the true God, but a God of licentious libertie. And that which is more, whereas at all times wee ought to shewe our selues newe creatures, and to walke worthie of our Sauiour and redeemer, and therefore also ought to rise out of our sinnes, and to liue in righteousnes and true holinesse, yet we for the most part goe on still forward in sinne, and eueryevery day goe deeper then other to hel-ward. This hath beene heretofore the common practise, but let vsus nowe learne after the example of Christ, beeing quickened and reuiued by his grace, to endeauour our selues especially to come out of the graue of sinne, and learne to make conscience of eueryevery bad action. True it is, a Christian man may vse the creatures of God for his delight, in a moderate and godly manner, but Christ neuer gaue libertie to any to liue licentiously:2. Cor. 7.22. for he that is free is yet seruant vntounto Christ, as Paul saith: and therefore we must not enterprise any thing but that which may be a worke of some good dutie vntounto God; to which ende the Apostle saith,Eph. 5.14. Awake thou that sleepest, and stand vp from the dead, and Christ shall giuegive thee life. If this will not mooue vsus, yet let the iudgements of God drawe vsus hereunto,Rev. 20.6. Blessed is he (saith the holy Ghost) that hath part in the first resurrection: for on such the second death hath no power: where mention is made of a double death: the first is the separation of soule and bodie, the second is the eternal condemnation of soule and bodie in hell fire. Would we nowe escape the second death after this life? we must then labour in this life to be partakers of the first resurrection, and that on this manner: Looke what sinnes we hauehave liued in heretofore, we must endeauour to come out of them all, and lead a better life according to all the commandements of God. But if it be so that ye wil hauehave no care of your own soules, goe on hardly to your owne perill, and so yee shall be sure to enter into the second death, which is eternall damnation.

Secondly, we are taught by the example of Saint Paul to labour aboue all things,Phil. 3.10. to know Christ and the vertue of his resurrection. And this we shall doe, when we can say by experience, that our hearts are not content with a formall and drowsie profession of religion, but that we feele the same power of Christ whereby he raised vp himselfe from death to life, to be effectuall and powerfull in vsus, to worke in our hearts a conuersion from all our sinnes, wherein we hauehave lien dead, to newenesse of life, with care to liue godly in Christ Iesus. And that we may further attaine to all this, we must come to heare the worde of God preached and taught with feare & trembling; hauing heard the word, we must meditate therein, and pray vntounto God, not onelyonly publikely but priuately also, intreating him that he would reach forth his hand, and pull vsus out of the graue of sinne, wherein we hauehave lien dead so long. And in so doing, the Lord of his mercy, according as he hath promised, will send his spirit of grace into our hearts to worke in vsus an inward sense and feeling of the vertue of Christs resurrection. So dealt he with the two disciples that were going to Emmaus; they were occupied in the meditation of Christ his death and passion; and whiles they were in hearing of Christ who conferred with them, he gaue them such a measure of his spirit as made their hearts to burne within them.Eph. 8.19. And Paul praieth for the Ephesians, that God would inlighten their eies, that they might see and feele in themselues the exceeding greatnesse of the power of God, which he wrought in Christ Iesus, when he raised him from the dead.

Thirdly as Saint Paul saith,Col. 3.1. If wee be risen with Christ, then we must seeke the things that are aboue. But howe and by what meanes can wee rise with Christ, seeing we did not die with him? Ans. We rise with Christ thus. The burgesse of a towne in the parliament house beareth the person of the whole towne, and whatsoeuer he saith, that the whole towne saith, and whatsoeuer is done to him, is also done to all the towne: so Christ vponupon the crosse stood in our place, and bare our person; and what he suffered, we suffered; and when he died, all the faithfull died in him: and so likewise as he is risen againe, so are all the faithfull risen in him. The consideration whereof doth teach vsus, that we must not hauehave our hearts wedded to this world. We may vse the thinges of this life, but yet so as though we vsed them not. For all our louelove and care must be for thinges aboue, and specially wee must seeke the kingdome of God and his righteousnesse, peace of conscience, and ioy in the holy Ghost. Wee must therefore sue for the pardon of sinne, for reconciliation to God in Christ, and for sanctification. These are the pretious pearles which we must seeke, and when we hauehave found them, we must sell all that we hauehave to buy them; and hauing bought them, wee must lay them vp in the secret corners of our hearts, valuing and esteeming of them better then all things in the world beside.

Thus much of Christs resurrection, containing the first degree of Christs exaltation. Nowe followeth the second in these wordes, Hee ascended into heauen: in the handling whereof we are to consider these speciall points: I. the time of his ascension. II. the place. III. the manner. IV. the witnesses. V. the vses thereof. For the first, the time of Christs ascension was fortie daies after his resurrection,Act. 1 3 4. when he taught his disciples the things which appertaine to the kingdome of God. And this shewes that he is a most faithfull King ouer his Church, procuring the good thereof. And therefore Esay saith,Esay… 9.6. Heb… 5.6. The gouernment is on his shoulder: and the Apostle saith, hee was more faithfull in all the house of God, then Moses was. Hence we gather that whereas the Apostles chaunged the sabboth from the seauenth d…y to the eight, it was no doubt, by the counsell and direction of Christ before his ascension: and likewise in that they planted Churches and appointed teachers and meete ouerseers for the guiding and instruction hereof, we may resolue our selues that Christ prescribed the same vntounto them before his ascension: and for these and such like causes did he ascend no sooner.

Now looke what care Christ at his ascension had ouer his Church, the same must all masters of families hauehave ouer their housholds when God shall call them out of this world. They must hauehave care not onelyonly that their families be well gouerned while they liue; but also, that after their death; peace, louelove, and good order may be continued in their posteritie. And therefore the prophet Esay is sent to Ezechias King of Iudah, to bid him set his house in order: for he must die, Isa. 38.1.signifying that it is the dutie of a good master of a familie, to hauehave care not onelyonly for the gouernment of his house whilst he is aliue, but also that it may be well gouerned when he is dead. The same also must be practised of Gods ministers: a part of whose fidelitie is this, that they hauehave not onelyonly a care to feede their particular flocks while they are aliue, but also that they further prouide for the people after their departure, as much as they can. Example whereof we hauehave in Peter, who saith,2. Pet. 1.15. I will endeauour alwaies that ye may be able also to hauehave remembrance of these things after my departure.

…uk. 24.50. & 19.29. Act. 1.12.The place of Christs ascension was, the mount of Oliues neere Bethanie: and it was the same place from whence Christ went to Ierusalem to be crucified. One place serued to be a passage both to paine and torments, and also to glorie. This shewes that the way to the kingdome of heauen is through afflictions. There are many which hauehave Gods hand heauie vponupon them in lingering sicknesses, as the dead palsie and such like; wherein they are saine to lie many yeares without hope of cure, whereupon their beddes which should be vntounto them places of rest and ease, are but places of woe and miserie. Yet may these men hence hauehave great comfort, if they can make good vse of their sicknesses: for the beddes whereon they suffer so much torment, shall be places from whence they shall passe to ioy and happinesse. Againe, there be many that for the testimonie of the truth, and for religions sake suffer imprisonment, with many afflictions; now if they can vse their afflictions well, their prisons shall be Bethanies vntounto them: although they be places of bondage, yet God will at length make them places of entrance to libertie. Many a man for the maintaining of faith and good conscience, is banished out of his countrey, and is faine to liue in a strange place among a people to whome he is vnknowne: but let him vse it well: for though it be a place of griefe for a time, as Bethanie was to Christ when he went to suffer, yet God will make it one day to be his passage into heauen.

Thus much of the place of his ascending. The third thing to be considered, is the manner of Christs ascension; and it containeth three points. The first, that Christ beeing now to ascend, lifts vp his hands and blessed his disciples.Luk. 24.50. In the Scripture are mentioned diuers kinds of blessings. The first when one man praieth to God for a blessing vponupon an other: and this blessing doe Kings and princes bestow vponupon their subiects, and parents on their children: and for this cause children are well taught to aske their fathers and mothers blessing, that they may pray to God to blesse them. There is an other kinde of blessing, when a man doth not onelyonly pray for a blessing, but also pronounceth it. This did the priests in the old Testament: and thus Melchisedeck when he met Abraham blessed him, saying,Gen. 14.19. Blessed art thou Abraham of God, the most high possessour of heauen & earth. And this was the ordinarie duty of the priests, prescribed by God himselfe: & therefore the very forme of words which they vsed is set downe after this maner,Numb. 6.2…. The Lord blesse thee, and keepe thee, the Lord make his face to shine vponupon thee, &c. The third kind of blessing is, when a man doth not onelyonly pray to God, & pronounce blessing, but by the spirit of prophecie doth foretell a particular blessing vponupon any. Thus Isaac blessed Iaacob and Esau, particularly foretelling both their estates.Gen. 49. And Iaacob blessed the twelue Patriarks by the same spirit, foretelling them what should befall them many hundred yeares after. Now our Sauiour Christ did not blesse his disciples any of these three waies: and therefore there remaineth a fourth kinde of blessing which he vsed, & that was after this manner: Christ in blessing his disciples did not onelyonly pronounce or foretell a blessing that should come to his disciples, but did conferre & giuegive the same vntounto them. For he is the fountaine and author of all blessings. And therefore Paul saith,Eph. 1.3. that God the father hath blessed vsus in all spiritual blessings in Christ. Hence we learne, first that al those which denie themselues & flie to Christ, and put their affiance in him, shall be freed from the curse of the law, & from the wrath of God, due vntounto them for their sinns, whatsoeuer they are. Secondly, that the curses of men must not discourage vsus from doing well. For though men curse, yet Christ blesseth: and for this cause he saith,Luk. 6.26. Woe be vntounto you, when all men speake well of you: as if he should say, then you want the blessing of God. And we must remember, that when men shall curse vsus for doing our dutie, euen then the blessing of God shall be vponupon vsus;Gen. 12.3. & the curse causeles shall not hurt. And God saith to Abraham, he will curse them that curs… him. Thirdly, we learne that no witchcraft, nor sorcerie, (which often are done with cursing) shall be able to hurt vsus. For looke where Christ will blesse, there all the deuills in hell can neuer fasten a curse. This is found true by experiēce. For when Balaam the wizzard should hauehave cursed the people of Israel, & had assaied to doe it many waies, but could not; at length he said,Num…. 13 2…. there is no sorcerie aThe engl…sh transla…ion being o…h…wise here seem…s to fa…e.against Iacob, nor soothsaying against Israel. This is a notable comfort to the people of God, that witches and sorcerers, doe what they can, shall neuer be able to hurt them. It may be, that their badde practises may annoy mens bodies and goods, yet the Lord will turne all to a blessing vponupon his seruants either in this life or the life to come.

A Golden Chain, Text 1 (8 of 13)