Eighty Sermons, Easter · Sermon 19
SERMON XIX. Preached at S. Pauls, upon Eaſter-day, in the Evening. 1624.
APOC. 20.6.
Bleſſed and holy is he that hath part in the firſt Reſurrection.
IN the firſt book of the Scriptures, that of Geneſis, there is danger in departing from the letter; In this laſt book, this of the Revelation, there is as much danger in adhering too cloſe to the letter. The literall ſenſe is alwayes to be preſerved; but the literall ſenſe is not alwayes to be diſcerned: for the literall ſenſe is not alwayes that, which the very Letter and Grammer of the place preſents, as where it is literally ſaid, That Chriſt is a Vine, and literally, That his fleſh is bread, and literally, That the new Ieruſalem is thus ſituated, thus built, thus furniſhed: But the literall ſenſe of every place, is the principall intention of the Holy Ghoſt, in that place: And his principall intention in many places, is to expreſſe things by allegories, by figures; ſo that in many places of Scripture, a figurative ſenſe is the literall ſenſe, and more in this book then in any other. As then to depart from the literall ſenſe, that ſenſe which the very letter preſents, in the book of Geneſis, is dangerous, becauſe if we do ſo there, we have no hiſtory of the Creation of the world in any other place to ſtick to; ſo to binde our ſelves to ſuch a literall ſenſe in this book, will take from us the conſolation of many ſpirituall happineſſes, and bury us in the carnall things of this world.
The firſt error of being too allegoricall in Geneſis, tranſported divers of the ancients beyond the certain evidence of truth, and the ſecond error of being too literall in this book, fixed many, very many, very ancient, very learned, upon an evident falſhood; which was, that becauſe here is mention of a firſt Reſurrection, and of raigning with Chriſt a thouſand years after that firſt Reſurrection, There ſhould be to all the Saints of God, a ſtate of happineſſe in this world, after Chriſts comming, for a thouſand yeares; In which happy ſtate, though ſome of them have limited themſelves in ſpirituall things, that they ſhould enjoy a kinde of converſation with Chriſt, and an impeccability, and a quiet ſerving of God without any reluctations, or cōcupiſcences; or perſecutions; yet others have dreamed on, and enlarged their dreames to an enjoying of all theſe worldly happineſſes, which they, being formerly perſecuted, did formerly want in this world, and then ſhould have them for a thouſand yeares together in recompence. And even this branch of that error, of poſſeſſing the things of this world, ſo long, in this world, did very many, and very good, and very great men, whoſe names are in honour, and juſtly in the Church of God, in thoſe firſt times ſtray into; and flattered themſelves with an imaginary intimation of ſome ſuch thing, in theſe words, Bleſſed and holy is he, that hath part in the firſt Reſurrection.
Thus far then the text is literall,Diviſio. That this Reſurrection in the text, is different from the generall Reſurrection. The firſt differs from the laſt: And thus far it is figurative, allegoricall, myſticall, that it is a ſpirituall Reſurrection, that is intended. But wherein ſpirituall? or of what ſpirituall Reſurrection? In the figurative expoſition of thoſe places of Scripture, which require that way oft to be figuratively expounded, that Expoſitor is not to be blamed, who not deſtroying the literall ſenſe, propoſes ſuch a figurative ſenſe, as may exalt our devotion, and advance our edification; And as no one of thoſe Expoſitors did ill, in propoſing one ſuch ſenſe, ſo neither do thoſe Expoſitors ill, who with thoſe limitations, that it deſtroy not the literall ſenſe, that it violate not the analogy of faith, that it advance devotion, do propoſe another and another ſuch ſenſe. So doth that preacher well alſo, who to the ſame end, and within the ſame limit, makes his uſe of both, of all thoſe expoſitions; becauſe all may ſtand, and it is not evident in ſuch figurative ſpeeches, which is the literall, that is, the principall intention of the Holy Ghoſt.
Of theſe words of this firſt Reſurrection (which is not the laſt, of the body, but a ſpirituall Reſurrection) there are three expoſitions authorized by perſons of good note in the Church.Alcazar. Firſt, that this firſt Reſurrection, is a Reſurrection from that low eſtate, to which perſecution had brought the Church; and ſo it belongs to this whole State, and Church,Auguſt. & noſtri. and Bleſſed are we who have our part in this firſt Reſurrection. Secondly, that it is a Reſurrection from the death of ſin, of actuall, and habituall ſin; ſo it belongs to every particular penitent ſoul; and Bleſſed art thou, bleſſed am I, if we have part in this firſt Reſurrection. And then thirdly, becauſe after this Reſurrection, it is ſaid, That we ſhall raign with Chriſt a thouſand yeares, Ribera.(which is a certain for an uncertain, a limited, for a long time) it hath alſo been taken for the ſtate of the ſoul in heaven, after it is parted from the body by death; for though the ſoul cannot be ſaid properly to have a Reſurrection, becauſe properly it cannot die, yet to be thus delivered from the danger of a ſecond death, by future ſin, to be removed from the diſtance, and latitude, and poſſibility of tentations in this world, is by very good Expoſitors called a Reſurrection; and ſo it belongs to all them who are departed in the Lord; Bleſſed and holy is he that hath part in this firſt Reſurrection. And then the occaſion of the day, which we celebrate now, being the Reſurrection of our Lord and Saviour Chriſt Jeſus, invites me to propoſe a fourth ſenſe, or rather uſe of the words; not indeed as an expoſition of the words, but as a convenient exaltation of our devotion; which is, that this firſt Reſurrection ſhould be the firſt fruits of the dead; The firſt Riſing, is the firſt Riſer, Chriſt Jeſus: for as Chriſt ſayes of himſelf, that He is the Reſurrection, ſo he is the firſt Reſurrection, the root of the Reſurrection. He upon whom our Reſurrection, all ours, all our kindes of Reſurrections are founded; and ſo it belongs to State and Church, and particular perſons, alive, and dead; Bleſſed and holy is he that hath part in this firſt Reſurrection.
And theſe foure conſiderations of the words; A Reſurrection from perſecution, by deliverance; a Reſurrection from ſin, by grace; a Reſurrection from tentation to ſin, by the way of death, to the glory of heaven; and all theſe, in the firſt Reſurrection, in him that is the roote of all, in Chriſt Jeſus, Theſe foure ſteps, theſe foure paſſages, theſe foure tranſitions will be our quarter Clock, for this houres exerciſe.
Firſt then,1. Part. From perſecution. we conſider this firſt Reſurrection, to be a Reſurrection from a perſecution for religion, for the profeſſion of the Goſpell, to a forward glorious paſſage of the Goſpell. And ſo a learned Expoſitor in the Romane Church carries the expoſition of this whole place (though not indeed the ordinary way, yet truly not incommodiouſly, not improperly) upon that deliverance, which God afforded his Church, from thoſe great perſecutions, which had otherwiſe ſupplanted her, in her firſt planting, in the primitive times. Then ſayes he (and in part well towards the letter of the place) The devill was chained for a thouſand yeares, and then we began to raign with Chriſt for a thouſand yeares; reckoning the time from that time, when God deſtroyed Idolatry more fully, and gave peace and reſt, and free exerciſe of the Chriſtian religion, under the Chriſtian Emperours, till Antichriſt in the height of his rage ſhall come, and let this thouſand yeares priſoner Satan looſe, and ſo interrupt our thouſand yeares raign with Chriſt, with new perſecutions. In that perſecution was the death of the Church, in the eye of the world; In that deliverance by Chriſtian Emperours was the Reſurrection of the Church; And in Gods protecting her ever ſince is the chaining up of the devill, and our raigning with Chriſt for thoſe thouſand yeares.
And truly, beloved, if we conſider the low, the very low eſtate of Chriſtians in thoſe perſecutions, tryed ten times in the fire, ten ſeverall and diſtinct perſecutions, in which ten perſecutions, God may ſeem to have had a minde to deale eavenly with the world, and to lay as much upon his people whom he would try then, as he had laid upon others, for his people before, and ſo to equall the ten plagues of Aegypt, in ten perſecutions, in the primitive Church; if we conſider that low, that very low eſtate, we may juſtly call their deliverance a Reſurrection. For as God ſaid to Jeruſalem, I found thee in thy blood, and waſhed thee, ſo Chriſt Jeſus found the Church, the Chriſtian Church in her blood, and waſhed her, and wiped her; waſhed her in his own blood, which waſhes white, and wiped her with the garments of his own righteouſneſſe, that ſhe might be acceptable in the ſight of God, and then wiped all teares from her eyes, took away all occaſions of complaint, and lamentation, that ſhe might be glorious in the eyes of man, and chearefull in her own; ſuch was her Reſurrection.
We wonder, and juſtly, at the effuſion, at the pouring out of blood, in the ſacrifices of the old Law; that that little countrey ſcarce bigger then ſome three of our Shires, ſhould ſpend more cattle in ſome few dayes ſacrifice at ſome ſolemnities, and every yeare in the ſacrifices of the whole yeare, then perchance this kingdome could give to any uſe. Seas of blood, and yet but brooks, tuns of blood, and yet but baſons, compared with the ſacrifices, the ſacrifices of the blood of men, in the perſecutions of the Primitive Church. For every Oxe of the Jew, the Chriſtian ſpent a man, and for every Sheep and Lamb, a Mother and her childe; and for every heard of cattle, ſometimes a towne of Inhabitants, ſometimes a Legion of Souldiers, all martyred at once; ſo that they did not ſtand to fill their Martyrologies with names, but with numbers, they had not roome to ſay, ſuch a day, ſuch a Biſhop, ſuch a day, ſuch a Generall, but the day of 500. the day of 5000. Martyrs, and the martyrdome of a City, or the Martyrdome of an Army; This was not a red Sea, ſuch as the Jews paſſed, a Sinus, a Creek, an Arm, an Inlet, a gut of a Sea, but a red Ocean, that overflowed, and ſurrounded all parts; and from the depth of this Sea God raiſed them; and ſuch was their Reſurrection. Such, as that they which ſuffered, lay, and bled with more eaſe, then the executioner ſtood and ſweat; and embraced the fire more fervently, then he blew it; and many times had this triumph in their death, that even the executioner himſelf, was in the act of execution converted to Chriſt, and executed with them; ſuch was their Reſurrection.
When the State of the Jews was in that depreſſion, in that conculcation, in that conſternation, in that extermination in the captivity of Babylon, as that God preſents it to the Prophet in that Viſion, in the field of dry bones, ſo, Fili hominis, Son of man, as thou art a reaſonable man, doſt thou think theſe bones can live, that theſe men can ever be re-collected to make up a Nation? The Prophet ſaith, Domine tu ſcis, Lord thou knoweſt; which is, not only thou knoweſt whether they can, or no, but thou knoweſt clearly they can; thou canſt make them up of bones again, for thou madeſt thoſe bones of earth before. If God had called in the Angels to the making of man at firſt, and as he ſaid to the Prophet, Fili hominis, Son of man, as thou art a reaſonable man, ſo he had ſaid to them, Filii Dei, as you are the Sons of God, illumined by his face, do you think, that this clod of red earth can make a man, a man that ſhall be equall to you, in one of his parts, in his ſoul, and yet then ſhall have ſuch another part, as that he, whom all you worſhip, my eſſentiall Son ſhall aſſume, and inveſt that part himſelf, can that man made of that body, and that ſoul, be made of this clod of earth? Thoſe Angels would have ſaid, Domine tu ſcis, Lord thou muſt needs know, how to make as good creatures as us of earth, who madeſt us of that which is infinitely leſſe then earth, of nothing, before. To induce, to facilitate theſe apprehenſions, there were ſome precedents, ſome ſuch thing had been done before. But when the Church was newly conceived, and then lay like the egge of a Dove, and a Gyants foot over it, like a worm, like an ant, and hill upon hill whelmed upon it, nay, like a grain of corn between the upper and lower Mill-ſtone, ground to duſt between Tyrans and Heretiques, when as ſhe bled in her Cradle, in thoſe children whom Herod ſlew, ſo ſhe bled upon her crutches, in thoſe decrepit men whom former perſecutions and tortures had creepled before, when Eaſt and Weſt joyned hands to cruſh her, and hands, and brains, joyned execution to conſultation to annihilate her; in this wane of the Moon, God gave her an inſtant fulneſſe; in this exinanition, inſtant glory; in this grave, an inſtant Reſurrection.
But beloved, the expreſſing the preſſing of their depreſſions, does but chafe the Wax; the Printing of the ſeale, is the reducing to your memory, your own caſe: and not that point in your caſe, as you were for a few yeares under a ſenſible perſecution of fire, and priſons; that was the leaſt part of your perſecution; for it is a cheap purchaſe of heaven, if we may have it for dying;Mat. 13.44. To ſell all we have to buy that field where we know the treaſure is, is not ſo hard, as not to know it; To part with all, for the great Pearle, not ſo hard a bargaine, as not to know that ſuch a Pearle there might have beene had; we could not ſay heaven was kept from us, when we might have it for a Fagot, and when even our enemies helpt us to it: but your greater affliction was, as you were long before, in an inſenſibleneſſe, you thought your ſelves well enough, and yet were under a worſe perſecution of ignorance, and of ſuperſtition, when you, in your Fathers, were ſo farre from expecting a reſurrection, as that you did not know your low eſtate, or that you needed a Reſurrection; And yet God gave you a Reſurrection from it, a reformation of it.
Now, who have their parts in this firſt reſurrection? or upon what conditions have you it? We ſee in the fourth verſe, They that are beheaded for the witneſſe of Ieſus; that is, that are ready to be ſo, when the glory of Jeſus ſhall require that teſtimony. In the meane time, as it followes there, They that have not worſhipped the Beaſt; that is, not applied the Honour, and the Allegiance due to their Soveraign, to any forraign State; nor the Honor due to God, that is, infallibility, to another Prelate; That have not worſhipped the Beaſt, nor his Image, ſayes the Text; that is, that have not been tranſported with vain imaginations of his power, and his growth upon us here, which hath been ſo diligently Painted, and Printed, and Preached, and ſet out in the promiſes, and practiſes of his Inſtruments, to delude ſlack, and eaſie perſons: And then, as it is added there, That have not received his mark upon their foreheads; That is, not declared themſelves Romaniſts apparently; nor in their hands, ſayes the Text; that is, which have not under-hand ſold their ſecret endeavours, though not their publique profeſſion, to the advancement of his cauſe. Theſe men, who are ready to be beheaded for Chriſt, and have not worſhipped the Beaſt, nor the Image of the Beaſt, nor received his mark upon their foreheads, nor in their hands, theſe have their parts in this firſt reſurrection. Theſe are bleſſed, and holy, ſayes our Text; Bleſſed, becauſe they have meanes to be holy, in this reſurrection; For the Lamb hath unclaſped the book; the Scriptures are open; which way to holineſſe, our Fathers lacked; And then, our bleſſedneſſe is, that we ſhall raigne a thouſand yeares with Chriſt; Now ſince this firſt reſurrection, ſince the reformation we have raigned ſo with Chriſt, but 100. yeares: But if we perſiſt in a good uſe of it, our poſterity ſhall adde the Cypher, and make that 100. 1000. even to the time, when Chriſt Jeſus ſhall come againe, and as he hath given us the firſt, ſo ſhall give us the laſt reſurrection; and to that come Lord Jeſus, come quickly; and till that, continue this.
This is the firſt reſurrection,2 Part. Apeccato. in the firſt acceptation, a reſurrection from perſecution, and a peaceable enjoying of the Goſpell: And in a ſecond, it is a reſurrection from ſin; and ſo it hath a more particular appropriation to every perſon.Aug. So S. Auguſtine takes this place, and with him many of the Fathers, and with them, many of the ſons of the Fathers, better ſons of the Fathers, then the Romane Church will confeſſe them to be, or then they are themſelves, The Expoſitors of the Reformed Church. They, for the moſt part, with S. Auguſtine, take this firſt reſurrection, to be a reſurrection from ſin. Inter abjectos abjectiſsimus peccator: Grego:No man falls lower, then he that falls into a courſe of ſin; Sin is a fall; It is not onelyonly a deviation, a turning out of the way, upon the right, or the left hand, but it is a ſinking, a falling: In the other caſe, of going out of the way, a man may ſtand upon the way, and inquire, and then proceed in the way, if he be right, or to the way, if he be wrong; But when he is fallen, and lies ſtill, he proceeds no farther, inquires no farther. To be too apt to conceive ſcruples in matters of religion, ſtops, and retards a man in the way; to miſtake ſome points in the truth of religion, puts a man for that time in a wrong way; But to fall into a courſe of ſin, this makes him unſenſible of any end, that he hath to goe to, of any way that he hath to goe by. God hath not removed man, not with-drawne man from this Earth; he hath not given him the Aire to flie in, as to Birds, nor Spheares to move in, as to Sun and Moone; he hath left him upon the Earth; and not onelyonly to tread upon it, as in contempt, or in meere Dominion, but to walk upon it, in the diſcharge of the duties of his calling; and ſo to be converſant with the Earth, is not a falling. But as when man was nothing but earth, nothing but a body, he lay flat upon the earth, his mouth kiſſed the earth, his hands embraced the earth, his eyes reſpected the earth; And then God breathed the breath of life into him, and that raiſed him ſo farre from the earth, as that onelyonly one part of his body, (the ſoles of his feet) touches it, And yet man, ſo raiſed by God, by ſin fell lower to the earth againe, then before, from the face of the earth, to the womb, to the bowels, to the grave; So God, finding the whole man, as low as he found Adams body then, fallen in Originall ſin, yet erects us by a new breath of life, in the Sacrament of Baptiſme, and yet we fall lower then before we were raiſed, from Originall into Actuall, into Habituall ſins; So low, as that we think not, that we need, know not, that there is a reſurrection; and that is the wonderfull, that is the fearfull fall.
Though thoſe words, Quomodo cecidiſti de Coelo, Lucifer, Eſay 14.12.How art thou fallen from heaven O Lucifer, the Son of the morning? be ordinarily applied to the fall of the Angels, yet it is evident, that they are literally ſpoken of the fall of a man: It deſerves wonder, more then pity, that man, whom God had raiſed, to ſo Noble a heighth in him, ſhould fall ſo low from him. Man was borne to love; he was made in the love of God; but then man falls in love; when he growes in love with the creature, he falls in love: As we are bid to honour the Phyſitian, and to uſe the Phyſitian, but yet it is ſaid in the ſame Chapter,Ecclus. 38.1. V. 15. He that ſinneth before his Maker, let him fall into the hands of the Phyſitian; It is a bleſſing to uſe him, it is a curſe to rely upon him, ſo it is a bleſſing to glorifie God, in the right uſe of his creatures, but to grow in love with them, is a fall: For we love nothing that is ſo good as our ſelves; Beauty, Riches, Honour, is not ſo good as man; Man capable of grace here, of glory hereafter. Nay as thoſe things, which we love, in their nature, are worſe then we which love them, ſo in our loving them, we endeavour to make them worſe then they in their own nature are; by over-loving the beauty of the body, we corrupt the ſoule, by overloving honour, and riches, we deflect, and detort theſe things, which are not in their nature ill, to ill uſes, and make them ſerve our ill purpoſes: Man falls, as a fall of waters, that throwes downe, and corrupts all that it embraces. Nay beloved, when a man hath uſed thoſe wings, which God hath given him, and raiſed himſelfe to ſome heighth in religious knowledge, and religious practiſe,Acts 29.9. as Eutichus, out of a deſire to hear Paul preach, was got up into a Chamber, and up into a window of that Chamber, and yet falling aſleep, fell downe dead; ſo we may fall into a ſecurity of our preſent ſtate, into a pride of our knowledge, or of our purity, and ſo fall lower, then they, who never came to our heighth. So much need have we of a reſurrection.
So ſin is a fall, and every man is affraid of falling, even from his temporall ſtation;M…rs. Clem. Alex. more affraid of falling, then of not beeing raiſed. And Qui peccat, quatenus peccat, fit ſeipſo deterior: In every ſin a man falls from that degree which himſelfe had before; In every ſin, he is diſhonoured, he is not ſo good a man, as he was; impoveriſhed, he hath not ſo great a portion of grace as hee had; Infatuated, hee hath not ſo much of the true wiſedome of the feare of God, as he had; diſarmed, he hath not that intereſt and confidence in the love of God, that he had: and deformed, he hath not ſo lively a repreſentation of the Image of God as before. In every ſin, we become prodigals, but in the habit of ſin, we become bankrupts, affraid to come to an account. A fall is a fearfull thing, that needs a raiſing, a help; but ſin is a death, and that needs a reſurrection; and a reſurrection is as great a work, as the very Creation it ſelfe. It is death in ſemine, in the roote, it produces, it brings forth death; It is death in arbore, in the body, in it ſelfe; death is a divorce, and ſo is ſin; and it is death in fructu, in the fruit thereof; ſin plants ſpirituall death, and this death produces more ſin, Obduration, Impenitence, and the like.
Be pleaſed to returne, and caſt one halfe thought upon each of theſe: Sin is the roote of death; Death by ſin entred, and death paſſed upon all men, for all men have ſinned. Rom. 5.12.It is death becauſe we ſhall dye for it. But it is death in it ſelfe, We are dead already, dead in it; Thou haſt a name, that thou liveſt, and art dead, was ſpoken to a whole Church.Apoc. 3.1. It is not evidence enough, to prove that thou art alive, to ſay, I ſaw thee at a Sermon; that ſpirit, that knowes thy ſpirit, he that knowes whether thou wert moved by a Sermon, melted by a Sermon, mended by a Sermon, he knows whether thou be alive or no.
That which had wont to be ſaid, That dead men walked in Churches, is too true; Men walk out a Sermon, or walk out after a Sermon, as ill as they walked in; they have a name that they live,Iohn 5.25. and are dead: But the houre is come, and now is, when the dead ſhall heare the voyce of the Son of God: That is, at theſe houres they may heare, if they will, and till they doe heare, they are dead. Sin is the root of death, the body of death, and then it is the fruit of death.Auguſt. S. Auguſtine confeſſes of himſelfe, that he was Alliſus intra parietes in celebritate ſolemnitatum tuarum, that in great meetings upon ſolemne dayes, in the Church, there, within the walls of Gods houſe, Egit negotium procurandi fructus mortis, he was not buying and ſelling doves, but buying and ſelling ſoules, by wanton lookes, cheapning and making the bargaine of the fruits of death, as himſelfe expreſſes it. Sin is the root, and the tree, and the fruit of death; The mother of death, death it ſelfe, and the daughter of death; and from this death, this threefold death, death paſt in our paſt ſins, preſent death in our preſent in ſenſibleneſſe of ſin, future death in thoſe ſins, with which ſins God will puniſh our former, and preſent ſins, (if he proceed meerly in juſtice) God affords us this firſt reſurrection.
How?Reſurrectio. Thus. Death is the Divorce of body and ſoule; Reſurrection is the Re-union of body and ſoule: And in this ſpirituall death, and reſurrection, which we conſider now, and which is all determined in the ſoule it ſelfe, Grace is the ſoule of the ſoule, and ſo the departing of grace, is the death, and the returning of grace is the reſurrection of this ſinfull ſoule. But how? By what way, what meanes? Conſider Adam; Adam was made to enjoy an immortality in his body; He induced death upon himſelfe: And then, as God having made Marriage for a remedy againſt uncleanneſſe, intemperate men make even Marriage it ſelfe an occaſion of more uncleanneſſe, then if they had never married; ſo man having induced and created death, by ſin, God takes death, and makes it a means of the glorifying of his body, in heaven. God did not induce death, death was not in his purpoſe;Cyril. Alex. but veluti medium opportunum, quo vas confractum rurſus fingeretur, As a means, whereby a broken veſſell might be made up againe, God tooke death, and made it ſerve for that purpoſe, That men by the grave might be tranſlated to heaven.
So then, to the reſurrection of the body, there is an ordinary way, The grave; To the reſurrection of the ſoule, there is an ordinary way too, The Church. In the grave, the body that muſt be there prepared for the laſt reſurrection, hath wormes that eat upon it: In the Church, the ſoule that comes to this firſt reſurrection, muſt have wormes, The worme, the ſting, the remorſe, the compunction of Conſcience; In thoſe that have no part in this firſt reſurrection, the worme of conſcience ſhall never die, but gnaw on, to deſperation; but thoſe that have not this worme of conſcience, this remorſe, this compunction, ſhall never live. In the grave, which is the furnace, which ripens the body for the laſt reſurrection, there is a putrefaction of the body, and an ill ſavour: In the Church, the wombe where my ſoule muſt be mellowed for this firſt reſurrection, my ſoul, which hath the ſavour of death in it, as it is leavened throughout with ſin, muſt ſtink in my noſtrils, and I come to a deteſtation of all thoſe ſins, which have putrified her. And I muſt not be afraid to accuſe my ſelfe, to condemne my ſelfe, to humble my ſelfe, leſt I become a ſcorne to men;Auguſ…. Nemo me derideat ab eo medico aegrum ſanari, à quo ſibi praeſtitum eſt ne aegrotaret, Let no man deſpiſe me, or wonder at me, that I am ſo humbled under the hand of God, or that I fly to God as to my Phyſitian when I am ſick, ſince the ſame God that hath recovered me as my Phyſitian when I was ſick, hath been his Phyſitian too, and kept him from being ſick, who, but for that Phyſitian, had been as ill as I was: At leaſt he muſt be his Phyſitian, if ever he come to be ſick, and come to know that he is ſick, and come to a right deſire to be well. Spirituall death was before bodily; ſinne before the wages of ſin; God hath provided a reſurrection for both deaths, but firſt for the firſt; This is the firſt reſurrection, Reconciliation to God, and the returning of the ſoule of our ſoule, Grace, in his Church, by his Word, and his ſeales there.
Now every repentance is not a reſurrection; It is rather a waking out of a dreame, then a riſing to a new life: Nay it is rather a ſtartling in our ſleep, then any awaking at all,Epheſ. 5.14. Eſay …0.1. to have a ſudden remorſe, a ſudden flaſh, and no conſtant perſeverance. Awake thou that ſleepeſt, ſayes the Apoſtle, out of the Prophet: Firſt awake, come to a ſenſe of thy ſtate; and then ariſe from the dead, ſayes he, from the practiſe of dead works; and then, Chriſt ſhall give thee light: life, and ſtrength to walk in new wayes. It is a long work, and hath many ſteps; Awake, ariſe, and walke, and therefore ſet out betimes; At the laſt day, in thoſe, which ſhall be found alive upon the earth, we ſay there ſhall be a ſudden death, and a ſudden reſurrection; In raptu, in tranſitu, in ictu oculi, In an inſtant, in the twinckling of an eye; but do not thou truſt to have this firſt Reſurrection In raptu, in tranſitu, in ictu oculi, In thy laſt paſſage upon thy death-bed, when the twinckling of the eye, muſt be the cloſing of thine eyes: But as we aſſign to glorified bodies after the laſt Reſurrection, certaine Dotes, (as we call them in the Schoole) certaine Endowments, ſo labour thou to finde thoſe endowments, in thy ſoule here, if thou beeſt come to this firſt Reſurrection.
Amongſt thoſe Endowments we aſſigne Subtilitatem, Agilitatem; The glorified bodie is become more ſubtile, more nimble, not encumbred, not diſable for any motion, that it would make; So hath that ſoule, which is come to this firſt Reſurrection, by grace, a ſpirituall agility, a holy nimbleneſſe in it, that it can ſlide by tentations, and paſſe through tentations, and never be polluted; follow a calling, without taking infection, by the ordinary tentations of that calling. So have thoſe glorified bodies Claritatem, a brightneſſe upon them, from the face of God; and ſo have theſe ſoules, which are come to this firſt reſurrection, a ſun in themſelves, an inherent light, by which they can preſently diſtinguiſh betweene action and action; what muſt, what may, what muſt not bee done. But of all the endowments of the glorified body, we conſider moſt, Impaſsibilitatem, That that body ſhall ſuffer nothing; and is ſure that it ſhall ſuffer nothing. And that which anſwers that endowment of the body moſt in this ſoule, that is come to this firſt reſurrection, is as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, That neither perſecution, ſickneſſe, nor death, Rom. 8.ſhall ſeparate her from Chriſt Ieſus. In Heaven we doe not ſay, that our bodies ſhall deveſt their mortality, ſo, as that naturally they could not dye; for they ſhall have a compoſition ſtill; and every compounded thing may periſh: but they ſhal be ſo aſſured, and with ſuch a preſervation, as they ſhall alwaies know they ſhall never dye. S. Auguſtine ſaies well,Aug. Aſsit motio, abſit fatigatio, aſsit poteſtas veſcendi, abſit neceſsitas eſuriendi; They have in their nature a mortality, and yet be immortall; a poſſibility and an impoſſibility of dying, with thoſe two divers relations, one to nature, the other to preſervation, will conſiſt together. So in this ſoule, that hath this firſt Reſurrection from ſin, by grace, a conſcience of her owne infirmity, that ſhe may relapſe, and yet a teſtimony of the powerfulneſſe of Gods Spirit, that eaſily ſhe ſhall not relapſe, may conſiſt well together. But the laſt ſeale of this holy confidence is reſerved for that, which is the third acceptation of this firſt Reſurrection; not from perſecutions in this world, nor from ſin in this world, but from all poſſibility of falling back into ſin, in the world to come; and to this, have divers Expoſitors referred theſe words, this firſt reſurrection. Bleſſed and holy is he, that hath part in this firſt Reſurrection.
Now, a Reſurrection of the ſoule, ſeemes an improper, an impertinent, an improbable,3 Part. an impoſſible forme of ſpeech; for, Reſurrection implies death, and the ſoule does not dye in her paſſage to Heaven. And therefore Damaſcen makes account,De ortho. ſid. l. 4. c. ult. that he hath ſufficiently proved the Reſurrection of the body (which ſeems ſo incredible) if he could prove any Reſurrection; if there be any Reſurrection at all, ſaies he, it muſt be of the body, for the ſoule cannot dye, therefore not riſe. Yet have not thoſe Fathers, nor thoſe Expoſitors, who have in this text, acknowledged a Reſurrection of the ſoule, miſtaken nor miſcalled the matter. Take Damaſcens owne definition of Reſurrection: Reſurrectio eſt ejus quod cecidit ſecunda ſurrectio: A Reſurrection is a ſecond riſing to that ſtate, from which any thing is formerly fallen. Now though by death, the ſoule do not fall into any ſuch ſtate, as that it can complaine, (for what can that lack, which God fils?) yet by death, the ſoule fals from that, for which it was infuſed, and poured into man at firſt; that is, to be the forme of that body, the King of that Kingdome; and therefore, when in the generall Reſurrection, the ſoule returnes to that ſtate, for which it was created, and to which it hath had an affection, and a deſire, even in the fulneſſe of the Joyes of Heaven, then, when the ſoule returnes to her office, to make up the man, becauſe the whole man hath, therefore the ſoule hath a Reſurrection; not from death, but from a deprivation of her former ſtate; that ſtate, which ſhe was made for, and is ever enclined to.
But that is the laſt Reſurrection; and ſo the ſoule hath part even in that laſt Reſurrection; But we are in hand with the firſt Reſurrection of the ſoule; and that is, when that ſoule, which was at firſt breath'd from God, and hath long ſuffered a baniſhment, a cloſe impriſonment in this body, returnes to God againe; The returning of the ſoule to him, from whom it proceeded at firſt, is a Reſurrection of the ſoule. Here then eſpecially, I feele the ſtraitneſſe of time; two conſiderations open themſelves together, of ſuch a largeneſſe, as all the time from Moſes his In principio, when time began, to the Angels Affidavit, in this booke, That ſhall ſay and ſweare, that time ſhall be no more, were too narrow to contemplate theſe two Hemiſpheares of Man, this Evening, and Morning of Mans everlaſting day; The miſeries of man, in this baniſhment, in this empriſonment, in this grave of the ſoule, the body, And the glory, and exaltation of that ſoule in her Reſurrection to Heaven. That ſoule, which being borne free, is made a ſlave to this body, by comming to it; It muſt act, but what this body will give it leave to act, according to the Organs, which this body affords it; and if the body be lame in any limme, the ſoule muſt be lame in her operation, in that limme too; It muſt doe, but what the body will have it doe, and then it muſt ſuffer, whatſoever that body puts it to, or whatſoever any others will put that body to: If the body oppreſſe it ſelfe with Melancholy, the ſoule muſt be ſad; and if other men oppreſſe the body with injury, the ſoule muſt be ſad too; Conſider, (it is too immenſe a thing to conſider it) reflect but one thought, but upon this one thing in the ſoule, here, and hereafter, In her grave, the body, and in her Reſurrection in Heaven; That is the knowledge of the ſoule.
Here ſaies S. Auguſtine, when the ſoule conſiders the things of this world, Non veritate certior, ſed conſuetudine ſecurior; She reſts upon ſuch things as ſhe is not ſure are true, but ſuch as ſhe ſees, are ordinarily received and accepted for truths: ſo that the end of her knowledge is not Truth, but opinion, and the way, not Inquiſition, but eaſe: But ſaies he, when ſhe proceeds in this life, to ſearch into heavenly things, Verberatur luce veritatis, The beames of that light are too ſtrong for her, and they ſink her, and caſt her downe, Et ad familiaritatem tenebrarum ſuarum, non electione ſed fatigatione convertitur; and ſo ſhe returnes to her owne darkneſſe, becauſe ſhe is moſt familiar, and beſt acquainted with it; Non electione, not becauſe ſhe loves ignorance, but becauſe ſhe is weary of the trouble of ſeeking out the truth, and ſo ſwallowes even any Religion to eſcape the paine of debating, and diſputing; and in this lazineſſe ſhe ſleeps out her leaſe, her terme of life, in this death, in this grave, in this body.
But then in her Reſurrection, her meaſure is enlarged, and filled at once; There ſhe reads without ſpelling, and knowes without thinking, and concludes without arguing; ſhe is at the end of her race, without running; In her triumph, without fighting; In her Haven, without ſayling: A free-man, without any prentiſhip; at full yeares, without any wardſhip; and a Doctor, without any proceeding: She knowes truly, and eaſily, and immediately, and entirely, and everlaſtingly; Nothing left out at firſt, nothing worne out at laſt, that conduces to her happineſſe. What a death is this life? what a reſurrection is this death? For though this world be a ſea, yet (which is moſt ſtrange) our Harbour is larger then the ſea; Heaven infinitely larger then this world. For, though that be not true, which Origen is ſaid to ſay, That at laſt all ſhall be ſaved, nor that evident, which Cyril of Alexandria ſaies, That without doubt the number of them that are ſaved, is far greater then of them that periſh, yet ſurely the number of them, with whom we ſhall have communion in Heaven, is greater then ever lived at once upon the face of the earth: And of thoſe who lived in our time, how few did we know? and of thoſe whom we did know, how few did we care much for? In Heaven we ſhall have Communion of Joy and Glory with all,Aug. alwaies; Vbi non intrat inimicus, nec amicus exit, Where never any man ſhall come in that loves us not, nor go from us that does.
Beloved, I thinke you could be content to heare, I could be content to ſpeake of this Reſurrection, our glorious ſtate, by the low way of the grave, till God by that gate of earth, let us in at the other of precious Stones. And bleſſed and holy is he, who in a rectified conſcience deſires that reſurrection now. But we ſhall not depart far from this conſideration, by departing into our laſt branch, or concluſion, That this firſt Reſurrection may alſo be underſtood to be the firſt riſer Chriſt Jeſus; and Bleſſed and holy is he that hath part in that firſt Reſurrection.
This firſt Reſurrection is then without any detorting,4 Part. any violence, very appliable to Chriſt himſelf, who was Primitiae dormientium, in that, that action, That he roſc again, he is become (ſayes the Apoſtle) the firſt fruits of them that ſleep: 1 Cor. 15.20. Hier. in Mat. 27.52.He did riſe, and riſe firſt; others roſe with him, none before him: for S. Hierome taking the words as he finds them in that Euangeliſt, makes this note, That though the graves were opened, at the inſtant of Chriſts death, (death was overcome, the City opened the gates) yet the bodies did not riſe till after Chriſts Reſurrection. For, for ſuch Reſurrections as are ſpoken of, That women received their dead raiſed to life again, Heb. 11.35.and ſuch as are recorded in the old and new Teſtament, they were all unperfect and temporary reſurrections, ſuch, as S. Hierome ſayes of them all, Reſurgebant iterum morituri; They were but reprieved, not pardoned;Hier. They had a Reſurrection to life, but yet a Reſurrection to another death. Chriſt is the firſt Reſurrection; others were raiſed; but he only roſe; they by a forraine, and extrinſique, he by his owne power.
But we call him not the firſt, in that reſpect onelyonly; for ſo he was not onelyonly the firſt, but the onelyonly; he alone aroſe by his owne power; but with relation to all our future Reſurrections, he is the firſt Reſurrection. Firſt, If Chriſt be not raiſed, your faith is in vaine, 1 Cor. 15.17.ſaies the Apoſtle; You have a vaine faith if you beleeve in a dead man. He might be true Man, though he remained in death; but it concernes you to beleeve, that he was the Son of God too; And he was declared to be the Son of God, Rom. 11.4.by the Reſurrection from the dead. That was the declaration of himſelfe, his Juſtification; he was juſtified by the Spirit, when he was proved to be God, by raiſing himſelfe. But thus our Juſtification is alſo in his Reſurrection. For, He was raiſed from the dead, for our Iuſtification: how for ours?Rom. 4. ult. That we ſhould be alſo in the likeneſſe of his Reſurrection. What is that? that he hath told us before; Our Reſurrection in Chriſt is, that we ſhould walke in newneſſe of life.Rom. 6.4.
So that then Chriſt is the firſt Reſurrection, firſt, Efficiently, the onelyonly cauſe of his owne Reſurrection; Firſt, Meritoriouſly, the onelyonly cauſe of our Reſurrection; firſt, Exemplarily, the onelyonly patterne, how we ſhould riſe, and how we ſhould walke, when we are up; and therefore, Bleſſed and happy are we, if we referre all our reſurrections to this firſt Reſurrection Chriſt Jeſus. For as Iob ſaid of Comforters, ſo miſerable Reſurrections are they all without him.
If therefore thou need and ſeeke this firſt Reſurrection, in the firſt acceptation, a Reſurrection from perſecutions, and calamities, as they oppreſſe thee here, have thy recourſe to him, to Chriſt. Remember that at the death of Chriſt, there were earthquakes; the whole earth trembled; There were rendings of the Temple; Schiſmes, Convulſions, diſtractions in the Church will be: But then, the graves opened in the midſt of thoſe commotions; Then when thou thinkeſt thy ſelfe ſwallowed, and buried in affliction, as the Angell did his, Chriſt Jeſus ſhall remove thy grave ſtone, and give thee a reſurrection; but if thou thinke to remove it by thine owne wit, thine owne power, or the favour of potent Friends, Digitus Dei non eſt hic, The hand of God is not in all this, and the ſtone ſhall lye ſtill upon thee, till thou putrifie into deſperation, and thou ſhalt have no part in this firſt Reſurrection.
If thou need, and ſeek this firſt reſurrection, in the ſecond acceptation, from the fearfull death of hainous ſin, have thy recourſe to him, to Chriſt Jeſus, & remember the waight of the ſins that lay upon him: All thy ſins, and all thy Fathers, and all thy childrens ſins, all thoſe ſins that did induce the firſt flood, and ſhall induce the laſt fire upon this world; All thoſe ſins, which that we might take example by them to ſcape them, are recorded, and which, leſt we ſhould take example by them, to imitate them, are left unrecorded; all ſins, of all ages, all ſexes, all places, al times, all callings, ſins heavy in their ſubſtance, ſins aggravated by their circumſtances, all kinds of ſins, and all particular ſins of every kind, were upon him, upon Chriſt Jeſus; and yet he raiſed his holy Head, his royall Head, though under thornes, yet crowned with thoſe thornes, and triumphed in this firſt Reſurrection: and his body was not left in the Grave, nor his ſoule in Hell. Chriſts firſt tongue was a tongue that might be heard, He ſpoke to the Shepheards by Angels; His ſecond tongue was a Star, a tongue which might be ſeene; He ſpoke to the Wiſemen of the Eaſt by that. Hearken after him theſe two waies; As he ſpeakes to thine eare, (and to thy ſoul, by it) in the preaching of his Word, as he ſpeakes to thine eye, (and ſo to thy ſoule by that) in the exhibiting of his Sacraments: And thou ſhalt have thy part in this firſt Reſurrection. But if thou thinke to overcome this death, this ſenſe of ſin, by diverſions, by worldly delights, by mirth, and muſique, and ſociety, or by good works, with a confidence of merit in them, or with a relation to God himſelfe, but not as God hath manifeſted himſelfe to thee, not in Chriſt Jeſus, The ſtone ſhall lye ſtill upon thee, till thou putrifie into deſperation, and then haſt thou no part in this firſt Reſurrection.
If thou deſire this firſt Reſurrection in the third acceptation, as S. Paul did, To be diſſolved, and to be with Chriſt, go Chriſts way to that alſo. He deſired that glory that thou doeſt; and he could have laid down his ſoul when he would; but he ſtaid his houre, ſayes the Goſpel. He could have aſcended immediatly, immediatly in time, yet he ſtaid to deſcend into hell firſt; and he could have aſcended immediatly of himſelf, by going up, yet he ſtaid till he was taken up. Thou haſt no ſuch power of thine own ſoul and life, not for the time, not for the means of comming to this firſt Reſurrection by death; Stay therefore patiently, ſtay chearfully Gods leaſure till he call; but not ſo over-chearfully, as to be loath to go when he cals. Reliefe in perſecution by power, reconciliation in ſin by grace, diſſolution, and tranſmigration to heaven by death, are all within this firſt Reſurrection: But that which is before them all, is Chriſt Jeſus.
And therefore, as all that the naturall man promiſes himſelf without God, is impious, ſo all that we promiſe our ſelves, though by God, without Chriſt, is frivolous. God, who hath ſpoken to us by his Son, works upon us by his Son too; He was our Creation, he was our Redemption, he is our Reſurrection. And that man trades in the world without money, and goes out of the world without recommendation, that leaves out Chriſt Jeſus. To be a good Morall man, and refer all to the law of Nature in our hearts, is but Diluculum, The dawning of the day; To be a godly man, and refer all to God, is but Crepuſculum, A twylight; But the Meridionall brightneſſe, the glorious noon, and heighth, is to be a Chriſtian, to pretend to no ſpirituall, no temporall bleſſing, but for, and by, and through, and in our only Lord and Saviour Chriſt Jeſus; for he is this firſt Reſurrection, and Bleſſed and holy is he, that hath part in this firſt Reſurrection.