Eighty Sermons, Lent · Sermon 15
SERMON XV. Preached at VVhite-hall, March 8. 1621.
1 COR. 15.26.
The laſt Enemie that ſhall be deſtroyed, is Death.
THis is a Text of the Reſurrection, and it is not Eaſter yet; but it is Eaſter Eve; All Lent, is but the Vigill, the Eve of Eaſter: to ſo long a Feſtivall as never ſhall end, the Reſurrection, wee may well begin the Eve betimes. Forty yeares long was God grieved for that Generation which he loved; let us be content to humble our ſelves forty daies, to be fitter for that glory which we expect. In the Booke of God there are many Songs; there is but one Lamentation: And that one Song of Solomon, nay ſome one of Davids hundred and fiftie Pſalmes, is longer then the whole booke of Lamentations. Make way to an everlaſting Eaſter by a ſhort Lent, to an undeterminable glory, by a temporary humiliation. You muſt weepe theſe teares, teares of contrition, teares of mortification, before God will wipe all teares from your eyes; You muſt dye this death, this death of the righteous, the death to ſin, before this laſt enemy, Death, ſhalbe deſtroyed in you, and you made partakers of everlaſting life in ſoule and body too.
Our diviſion ſhall be but a ſhort,Diviſio. and our whole exerciſe but a larger paraphraſe upon the words. The words imply firſt, That the Kingdome of Chriſt, which muſt be perfected, muſt be accompliſhed, (becauſe all things muſt be ſubdued unto him) is not yet perfected, not accompliſhed yet. Why? what lacks it? It lacks the bodies of Men, which yet lie under the dominion of another. When we ſhall alſo ſee by that Metaphor which the Holy Ghoſt chooſeth to expreſſe that in, which is that there is Hoſtis, and ſo Militia, an enemie, and a warre, and therefore that Kingdome is not perfected, that he places perfect happineſſe, and perfect glory, in perfect peace. But then how far is any State conſiſting of many men, how far the ſtate, and condition of any one man in particular, from this perfect peace? How truly a warfare is this life, if the Kingdome of Heaven it ſelfe, have not this peace in perfection? And it hath it not, Quia hoſtis, becauſe there is an enemy: though that enemy ſhall not overthrow it, yet becauſe it plots, and workes, and machinates, and would overthrow it, this is a defect in that peace.
Who then is this enemy? An enemy that may thus far thinke himſelfe equall to God, that as no man ever ſaw God, and lived; ſo no man ever ſaw this enemy and lived, for it is Death; And in this may thinke himſelfe in number ſuperiour to God, that many men live who ſhall never ſee God; But Quis homo, is Davids queſtion, which was never anſwered, Is there any man that lives, and ſhall not ſee death? An enemie that is ſo well victualled againſt man, as that he cannot want as long as there are men, for he feeds upon man himſelfe. And ſo well armed againſt Man, as that he cannot want Munition, while there are men, for he fights with our weapons, our owne faculties, nay our calamities, yea our owne pleaſures are our death. And therefore he is Noviſsimus hoſtis, ſaith the Text, The laſt enemy.
We have other Enemies; Satan about us, ſin within us; but the power of both thoſe, this enemie ſhall deſtroy; but when they are deſtroyed, he ſhall retaine a hoſtile, and triumphant dominion over us. But Vſque quo Domine? How long O Lord? for ever? No, Abolebitur: wee ſee this Enemy all the way, and all the way we feele him; but we ſhall ſee him deſtroyed; Abolebitur. But how? or when? At, and by the reſurrection of our bodies: for as upon my expiration, my tranſmigration from hence, as ſoone as my ſoule enters into Heaven, I ſhall be able to ſay to the Angels, I am of the ſame ſtuffe as you, ſpirit, and ſpirit, and therefore let me ſtand with you, and looke upon the face of your God, and my God, ſo at the Reſurrection of this body, I ſhall be able to ſay to the Angel of the great Councell, the Son of God, Chriſt Jeſus himſelfe, I am of the ſame ſtuffe as you, Body and body, Fleſh and fleſh, and therefore let me ſit downe with you, at the right hand of the Father in an everlaſting ſecurity from this laſt enemie, who is now deſtroyed, death. And in theſe ſeven ſteps we ſhall paſſe apace, and yet cleerely through this paraphraſe.
We begin with this;Veſtig. 1. Quia deſunt Corpora. That the Kingdome of Heaven hath not all that it muſt have to a conſummate perfection, till it have bodies too. In thoſe infinite millions of millions of generations, in which the holy, bleſſed, and glorious Trinity enjoyed themſelves one another, and no more, they thought not their glory ſo perfect, but that it might receive an addition from creatures; and therefore they made a world, a materiall world, a corporeall world, they would have bodies. In that noble part of that world which Moſes cals the Firmament, that great expanſion from Gods chaire to his footſtoole, from Heaven to earth, there was a defect, which God did not ſupply that day, nor the next, but the fourth day, he did; for that day he made thoſe bodies, thoſe great, and lightſome bodies, the Sunne, and Moone, and Starres, and placed them in the Firmament. So alſo the Heaven of Heavens, the Preſence Chamber of God himſelfe, expects the preſence of our bodies.
No State upon earth, can ſubſiſt without thoſe bodies, Men of their owne. For men that are ſupplied from others, may either in neceſſity, or in indignation, be withdrawne, and ſo that State which ſtood upon forraine legs, ſinks. Let the head be gold,Dan. 2.31. and the armes ſilver, and the belly braſſe, if the feete be clay, Men that may ſlip, and molder away, all is but an Image, all is but a dreame of an Image: for forraine helps are rather crutches then legs. There muſt be bodies, Men, and able bodies, able men; Men that eate the good things of the land, their owne figges and olives; Men not macerated with extortions: They are glorified bodies that make up the kingdome of Heaven; bodies that partake of the good of the State, that make up the State. Bodies, able bodies, and laſtly, bodies inanimated with one ſoule: one vegetative ſoule, all muſt be ſenſible and compaſſionate of one anothers miſerie; and eſpecially the Immortall ſoule, one ſupreame ſoule, one Religion. For as God hath made us under good Princes, a great example of all that, Abundance of Men, Men that live like men, men united in one Religion, ſo wee need not goe farre for an example of a ſlippery, and uncertaine being, where they muſt ſtand upon others Mens men, and muſt over-load all men with exactions, and diſtortions, and convulſions, and earthquakes in the multiplicity of Religions.
The Kingdome of Heaven muſt have bodies; Kingdomes of the earth muſt have them; and if upon the earth thou beeſt in the way to Heaven, thou muſt have a body too, a body of thine owne, a body in thy poſſeſſion: for thy body hath thee, and not thou it, if thy body tyrannize over thee. If thou canſt not withdraw thine eye from an object of tentation, or withhold thy hand from ſubſcribing againſt thy conſcience, nor turne thine eare from a popular, and ſeditious Libell, what haſt thou towards a man? Thou haſt no ſoule, nay thou haſt no body: There is a body, but thou haſt it not, it is not thine, it is not in thy power. Thy body will rebell againſt thee even in a ſin: It will not performe a ſin, when, and where thou wouldſt have it. Much more will it rebell againſt any good worke, till thou have imprinted Stigmata Ieſu, Gal. 6.17.The Markes of the Lord Ieſus, which were but exemplar in him, but are eſſentiall, and neceſſary to thee, abſtinencies, and ſuch diſcreete diſciplines, and mortifications, as may ſubdue that body to thee, and make it thine: for till then it is but thine enemy, and maintaines a warre againſt thee; and war, and enemie is the Metaphore which the holy Ghoſt hath taken here to expreſſe a want, a kind of imperfectneſſe even in Heaven it ſelfe. Bellum Symbolum mali. As peace is of all goodneſſe, ſo warre is an embleme, a Hieroglyphique, of all miſery; And that is our ſecond ſtep in this paraphraſe.
If the feete of them that preach peace, be beautifull, (And,Veſtig. 2. Pax & bellum. O how beautifull are the feete of them that preach peace? The Prophet Iſaiah askes the queſtion, 52.7. And the Prophet Nahum askes it, 1.15. and the Apoſtle S. Paul askes it, Rom. 10.15. They all aske it, but none anſwers it) who ſhall anſwer us, if we aske, How beautifull is his face, who is the Author of this peace, when we ſhall ſee that in the glory of Heaven, the Center of all true peace? It was the inheritance of Chriſt Jeſus upon the earth, he had it at his birth, he brought it with him, Glory be to God on high, peace upon earth. Luke 2.14. Coloſ. 1.20.It was his purchaſe upon earth, He made peace (indeed he bought peace) through the blood of his Croſſe. It was his Teſtament,Iohn 14.27. when he went from earth; Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Divide with him in that bleſſed Inheritance, partake with him in that bleſſed Purchaſe, enrich thy ſelfe with that bleſſed Legacy, his Peace.
Let the whole world be in thy conſideration as one houſe; and then conſider in that, in the peacefull harmony of creatures, in the peacefull ſucceſſion, and connexion of cauſes, and effects, the peace of Nature. Let this Kingdome, where God hath bleſſed thee with a being, be the Gallery, the beſt roome of that houſe, and conſider in the two walls of that Gallery, the Church and the State, the peace of a royall, and a religious Wiſedome; Let thine owne family be a Cabinet in this Gallery, and finde in all the boxes thereof, in the ſeverall duties of Wife, and Children, and ſervants, the peace of vertue, and of the father and mother of all vertues, active diſcretion, paſſive obedience; and then laſtly, let thine owne boſome be the ſecret box, and reſerve in this Cabinet, and then the beſt Jewell in the beſt Cabinet, and that in the beſt Gallery of the beſt houſe that can be had, peace with the Creature, peace in the Church, peace in the State, peace in thy houſe, peace in thy heart, is a faire Modell, and a lovely deſigne even of the heavenly Jeruſalem which is Viſio pacis, where there is no object but peace.
And therefore the holy Ghoſt to intimate to us, that happy perfectneſſe, which wee ſhall have at laſt, and not till then, chooſes the Metaphor of an enemy, and enmity, to avert us from looking for true peace from any thing that preſents it ſelfe in the way. Neither truly could the holy Ghoſt imprint more horror by any word, then that which intimates war, as the word enemy does. It is but a little way that the Poet hath got in deſcription of war, Iam ſeges eſt, that now, that place is ploughed where the great City ſtood: for it is not ſo great a depopulation to tranſlate a City from Merchants to huſbandmen, from ſhops to ploughes, as it is from many Husbandmen to one Shepheard, and yet that hath beene often done. And all that, at moſt, is but a depopulation, it is not a devaſtation, that Troy was ploughed. But, when the Prophet Iſaiah comes to the devaſtation, to the extermination of a war,Eſay 7.23. he expreſſes it firſt thus; Where there were a thouſand Vineyards at a cheape rate, all the land become briars and thornes: That is much; but there is more,Eſay 13.13. The earth ſhall be removed out of her place; that Land, that Nation, ſhall no more be called that Nation, nor that Land: But, yet more then that too; Not onelyonly, not that people,Eſay 13.19. but no othe ſhall ever inhabit it. It ſhall never be inhabited from generation to generation, neither ſhall Shepheards be there; Not onelyonly no Merchant, nor Husbandman, but no depopulator: none but Owles, and Oſtriches, and Satyres, Indeed God knowes what, Ochim, and Ziim, words which truly we cannot tranſlate.
In a word,2 Sam. 24.13. the horror of War is beſt diſcerned in the company he keeps, in his aſſociates. And when the Prophet God brought War into the preſence of David, there came with him Famine, and Peſtilence. And when Famine entred, we ſee the effects; It brought Mothers to eat their Children of a ſpan long; that is, as ſome Expoſitors take it, to take medicines to procure abortions, to caſt their Children, that they might have Children to eate. And when War's other companion, the Peſtilence entred, we ſee the effects of that too: In leſſe then half the time that it was threatned for, it devoured threeſcore and ten thouſand of Davids men; and yet for all the vehemence, the violence, the impetuouſneſſe of this Peſtilence, David choſe this Peſtilence rather then a War. Militia and Malitia, are words of ſo neare a ſound, as that the vulgat Edition takes them as one. For where the Prophet ſpeaking of the miſeries that Hieruſalem had ſuffered, ſayes, Finita militia ejus, Eſay 42.2.Let her warfare be at an end, they reade, Finita malitia ejus, Let her miſery be at an end; War and Miſery is all one thing. But is there any of this in heaven? Even the Saints in heaven lack ſomething of the conſummation of their happineſſe, Quia hoſtis, becauſe they have an enemy. And that is our third and next ſtep.
Michael and his Angels fought againſt the devill and his Angels; though that war ended in victory,Veſt. 3. Quia Hoſtis. yet (taking that war, as divers Expoſitors doe, for the fall of Angels) that Kingdome loſt ſo many inhabitants, as that all the ſoules of all that ſhall be ſaved, ſhall but fill up the places of them that fell, and ſo make that Kingdome but as well as it was before that war: So ill effects accompany even the moſt victorious war. There is no war in heaven, yet all is not well, becauſe there is an enemy; for that enemy would kindle a war again, but that he remembers how ill he ſped laſt time he did ſo. It is not an enemy that invades neither, but only detaines: he detaines the bodies of the Saints which are in heaven, and therefore is an enemy to the Kingdome of Chriſt; He that detaines the ſoules of men in Superſtition, he that detaines the hearts and allegeance of Subjects in an haeſitation, a vacillation, an irreſolution, where they ſhall fix them, whether upon their Soveraign, or a forraigne power, he is in the notion, and acceptation of enemy in this Text; an enemy, though no hoſtile act be done. It is not a war, it is but an enemy; not an invading, but a detaining enemy; and then this enemy is but one enemy, and yet he troubles, and retards the conſummation of that Kingdome.
Antichriſt alone is enemy enough; but never carry this conſideration beyond thy ſelf. As long as there remaines in thee one ſin, or the ſinfull gain of that one ſin, ſo long there is one enemy, and where there is one enemy, there is no peace. Gardners that husband their ground to the beſt advantage, ſow all their ſeeds in ſuch order, one under another, that their Garden is alwayes full of that which is then in ſeaſon. If thou ſin with that providence, with that ſeaſonableneſſe, that all thy ſpring, thy youth be ſpent in wantonneſſe, all thy Summer, thy middle-age in ambition, and the wayes of preferment, and thy Autumne, thy Winter in indevotion and covetouſneſſe, though thou have no farther taſte of licentiouſneſſe, in thy middle-age, thou haſt thy ſatiety in that ſin, nor of ambition in thy laſt yeares, thou haſt accumulated titles of honour, yet all the way thou haſt had one enemy, and therefore never any perfect peace. But who is this one enemy in this Text? As long as we put it off, and as loath as we are to look this enemy in the face, yet we muſt, though it be Death. And this is Veſtigium quartum, The fourth and next ſtep in this paraphraſe.
Surge & deſcende in domum figuli, ſayes the Prophet Ieremy, that is,Mors. Jer. 18.2. ſay the Expoſitors, to the conſideration of thy Mortality. It is Surge, deſcende, Ariſe and go down: A deſcent with an aſcenſion: Our grave is upward, and our heart is upon Iacobs Ladder, in the way, and nearer to heaven. Our daily Funerals are ſome Emblemes of that; for though we be laid down in the earth after, yet we are lifted up upon mens ſhoulders before. We riſe in the deſcent to death, and ſo we do in the deſcent to the contemplation of it. In all the Potters houſe, is there one veſſell made of better ſtuffe then clay? There is his matter. And of all formes, a Circle is the perfecteſt, and art thou loath to make up that Circle, with returning to the earth again?
Thou muſt, though thou be loath. Fortaſſe, ſayes S. Auguſtine, That word of contingency, of caſualty, Perchance, In omnibus ferme rebus, praeterquam in morte locum habet: It hath roome in all humane actions excepting death. He makes his example thus: ſuch a man is married; where he would, or at leaſt where he muſt, where his parents, or his Gardian will have him; ſhall he have Children? Fortaſſe, ſayes he, They are a yong couple, perchance they ſhall: And ſhall thoſe Children be ſons? Fortaſſe, they are of a ſtrong conſtitution, perchance they ſhall: And ſhall thoſe ſons live to be men? Fortaſſe, they are from healthy parents, perchance they ſhall: And when they have lived to be men, ſhall they be good men? Such as good men may be glad they may live? Fortaſſe, ſtill; They are of vertuous parents, it may be they ſhall: But when they are come to that Morientur, ſhall thoſe good men die? here, ſayes that Father, the Fortaſſe vaniſhes; here it is omnino, certè, ſine dubitatione; infallibly, inevitably, irrecoverably they muſt die. Doth not man die even in his birth? The breaking of priſon is death, and what is our birth, but a breaking of priſon? Aſſoon as we were clothed by God, our very apparell was an Embleme of death. In the skins of dead beaſts, he covered the skins of dying men. Aſſoon as God ſet us on work, our very occupation was an Embleme of death; It was to digge the earth; not to digge pitfals for other men, but graves for our ſelves. Hath any man here forgot to day, that yeſterday is dead? And the Bell tolls for to day, and will ring out anon; and for as much of every one of us, as appertaines to this day. Quotidiè morimur, & tamen nos eſſe aeternos putamus, ſayes S. Hierome; We die every day, and we die all the day long; and becauſe we are notabſolutely dead, we call that an eternity, an eternity of dying: And is there comfort in that ſtate? why, that is the ſtate of hell it ſelf, Eternall dying, and not dead.
But for this there is enough ſaid, by the Morall man; (that we may reſpite divine proofes, for divine points anon, for our ſeverall Reſurrections) for this death is meerly naturall, and it is enough that the morall man ſayes, Mors lex, tributum, officium mortalium. Firſt it is lex, you were born under that law, upon that condition to die:Sencea. ſo it is a rebellious thing not to be content to die, it oppoſes the Law. Then it is Tributum, an impoſition which nature the Queen of this world layes upon us, and which ſhe will take, when and where ſe lift; here a yong man, there an old man, herea happy, there a miſerable man; And ſo itis a ſeditious thing not to be content to die, it oppoſes the prerogative. And laſtly, it is Officium, men are to have rheir turnes, to take their time, and then to give way by death to ſucceſſors; and ſo it is Incivile, inofficioſum, not to be content to die, it oppoſes the frame and form of government. It comes equally to us all, and makes us all equall when it comes. The eſhes of an Oak in the Chimney, are no Epitaph of that Oak, to tell me how high or how large that was; It tels me not what flocks it ſheltered while it ſtood, nor what men it hurt when it fell. The duſt of great perſons graves is ſpeechleſſe too, it ſayes nothing, it diſtinguiſhes nothing: As ſoon the duſt of a wretch whom thou wouldeſt not, as of a Prince whom thou couldeſt not look upon, will trouble thine eyes, if the winde blow it thither; and when a whirle-winde hath blowne the duſt of the Church-yard into the Church, and the man ſweeps out the duſt of the Church into the Church-yard, who will undertake to ſift thoſe duſts again, and to pronounce, This is the Patrician, this is the noble flowre, and this the yeomanly, this the Plebeian bran. Sois the death of Ieſabel (Ieabel was a Queen) expreſſed; They ſhall not ſay, this is Ieſabel; not only not wonder that it is, not pity that it ſhould be, but they ſhall not ſay, they ſhall not know, This is Ieſabel. It comes to all, to all alike; but not alike welcome to all. To die too willingly, out ofimpatience to wiſh, or out of violence to haſten death, or to die too unwillingly, to murmure at Gods purpoſe reveled by age, or by ſickneſſe, are equall diſtempers; and to harbour a diſobedient loathneſſe all the way, or to entertain it at laſt, argues but an irreligious ignorance; An ignorance, that death is in nature but Expiratio, a breathing out, and we do that every minute; An ignorance that God himſelf took a day to reſt in, and a good mans grave is his Sabbath; An ignorance that Abel the beſt of thoſe whom we can compare with him, was the firſt that dyed. Howſoever, whenſoever, all times are Gods times: Vocantur obni ne diutiús vexentur á noxiis, mali ne diutiús bonos perſequantur, God cals the good to take them from their dangers, and God takes the bad to take them from their trumph. And therefore neither grudge that thou goeſt, nor that worſe ſtay, for God can make his profit of both; Aut ideo vivit ut corrigatur, aut utper allum bonus exerceatur; God reprieves him to mend him, or to make another better by his exerciſe; and not to exult in the miſery of another, but to glorifie God in the wayes of his juſtice, let him know, Quantumcun que ſeró, ſubitó ex hac óitatollitur, qui finem praevidere neſcivit: How long ſoever he live, how long ſoever he lie ſick, that man dies a ſudden death, who never thought of it, If we conſider death in S. Pauls Statutum eſt, It is decréed that all men muſt die, there death is indifferent; If we conſider it in his Mori lucrum, that is an advantage to die, there death is good; and ſo much the vulgat Edition ſeemes to intimate, when (Deut. 30. 19) whereas we reade, I have ſet before you life and death, that reades it, Vitam & honum, Life and that which is good. If then death be at the worſt indifferent, and to the good, good, how is it Hoſtis, an enemy to the Kingdome of Chriſt? for that alſo is Veſtigium quintum, the fift and next ſtep in this paraphraſe.
Firſt God did not make death, ſaies the Wiſeman, And therefore S. Auguſtine makes a reaſonable prayer to God, Ne permittas Domine quod nonfeciſti, dominari Creatur ae quam feciſti; Suffer not O Lord, death, whom thou didſt not make, to have dominion over me whom thou didſt. Whence then came death? The ſame Wiſeman hath ſhewed us the father, Through envy of the devill, came death into the world; and a wiſer then he, the holy Ghoſt himſelfe hath ſhewed us the Mother, By ſin came death into the world. But yet if God have naturalized death, taken death into the number of his ſervants, and made Death his Commiſſioner to puniſh ſin, and he doe but that, how is Death an enemy? Firſt, he was an enemy in invading Chriſt, who was not in his Commiſſion, becauſe he had no ſin; and ſtill he is an enemie, becauſe ſtill he adheres to the enemy. Death hangs upon the edge of every perſecutors ſword; and upon the ſting of every calumniators, and accuſers tongue. In the Bull of Phalaris, in the Bulls of Baſan, in the Buls of Babylon, the ſhrewdeſt Buls of all, in temporall, in ſpirituall perſecutions, ever ſince God put an enmity between Man, and the Serpent, from the time of Cain who began in a murther, to the time of Antichriſt, who proceeds in Maſſacres, Death hath adhered to the enemy, and ſo is an enemy.
Death hath a Commiſſion, Stipendium peccati mors eſt, The reward of ſin Death, but where God gives a Superſedeas, upon that Commiſſion, Vivo Ego, nolo mortem, As I live ſaith the Lord, I would have no ſinner dye, not dye the ſecond death, yet Death proceeds to that execution: And where as the enemy, whom he adheres to, Serpent himſelfe, hath power but In calcaneo, upon the heele, the lower, the mortall part, the body of man, Death is come up into our windowes, ſaith the Prophet, into our beſt lights,Jer. 9.21. our underſtandings, and benights us there, either with ignorance, before ſin, or with ſenſeleſneſſe after: And a Sheriffe that ſhould burne him, who were condemned to be hanged, were a murderer, though that man muſt have dyed: To come in by the doore, by the way of ſickneſſe upon the body, is, but to come in at the window by the way of ſin, is not deaths Commiſſion; God opens not that window.
So then he is an enemy, for they that adhere to the enemy are enemies: And adhering is not only a preſent ſubminiſtration of ſupply to the enemy (for that death doth not) but it is alſo a diſpoſition to aſſiſt the enemy, then when he ſhall be ſtrong enough to make benefit of that aſſiſtance. And ſo death adheres; when ſin and Satan have weakned body and minde, death enters upon both. And in that reſpect he is Vltimus hoſtis, the laſt enemy, and that is Sextum veſtigium, our ſixth and next ſtep in this paraphraſe.
Death is the laſt, and in that reſpect the worſt enemy. In an enemy,Noviſſsns…s hoſtis. that appeares at firſt, when we are or may be provided againſt him, there is ſome of that, which we call Honour: but in the enemie that reſerves himſelfe unto the laſt, and attends our weake eſtate, there is more danger. Keepe it, where I intend it, in that which is my ſpheare, the Conſcience: If mine enemie meet me betimes in my youth, in an object of tentation, (ſo Ioſephs enemie met him in Putifars Wife) yet if I doe not adhere to this enemy, dwell upon a delightfull meditation of that ſin, if I doe not fuell, and foment that ſin, aſſiſt and encourage that ſin, by high diet, wanton diſcourſe, other provocation, I ſhall have reaſon on my ſide, and I ſhall have grace on my ſide, and I ſhall have the Hiſtory of thouſand that have periſhed by that ſin, on my ſide; Even Spittles will give me ſouldiers to fight for me, by their miſerable example againſt taht ſin; nay perchance ſometimes the vertue of that woman, whom I ſollicite, will aſſiſt me. But when I lye under the hands of that enemie, that hath reſerved himſelfe to the laſt, to my laſt bed, then when I ſhall be able to ſtir no limbe in any other meaſure then a Feaver or a Palſie ſhall ſhake them, when everlaſting darkneſſe ſhal have an inchoation in the preſent dimneſſe of mine eyes, and the everlaſting gnaſhing in the preſent chattering of my teeth, and the everlaſting worme in the preſent gnawing of the Agonies of my body, and anguiſhes of my minde, when the laſt enemie ſhall watch my remedilſſe body, and my deſconſolate ſoule there, there, where not the Phyſitian, in his way, perchance not the Priiſt in hi, ſhall be able to give any aſſiſtance, And when he hath ſported himſelfe with my miſery upon that ſtage, my death-bed, ſhall ſhift the Scene, and throw me from that bed, into the grave, and there triumph over me, God knowes, how many generations, till the Redeemer, my Redeemer, the Redeemer of all me, body, aſwell as ſoule, come againe; As death is Noviſſimus hoſtis, the enemy which watches me, at my laſt weakneſſe, and ſhall hold me, when I ſhall be no more, till that Angel come, Who ſhall ſay, and ſweare that time ſhall be no more, in that conſideration, in that apprehenſion, he is the powerfulleſt, the fearefuleſt enemy; and yet evern there this enemy Abolebitur, he ſhall be deſtroyed, which is, Septimum veſtigium, our ſeventh and laſt ſtep in this paraphraſe.
This deſtruction, this abolition of this laſt enemy, is by the Reſurrection;Abolebieur. for the Text is part of an argument for the Reſurrection. And truly, it is a faire intimation, and teſtimony of an everlaſting end in that ſtate of the Reſurrection (that no time ſhall end it) that we have it preſented to us in all the parts of time; in the paſt, in the preſent, and in the future. We had a Reſurrection in prophecy; we have a Reſurrection in the preſent working of Gods Sprit; we ſhall have a Reſurrection in the finall conſummation. The Prophet ſpeaks in the furture, He will ſwallow up death in victory, there it is Abolebit: Eſay 25.8.All the Erangeliſts ſpeak hiſtorically, of matter of fact, in them it is Abolevit. And here in this Apoſtle, it is in the preſent, Aboletur, now he is deſtroyed. And this exhibites unto us a threefold occaſion of advancing our devotion, in conſidering a threefold Reſurrection; Firſt, a Reſurrection from dejections and calamities in this world, a Temporary Reſurrection; Secondly, a Reſurrection from ſin, a Spirituall Reſurrection; and then a Reſurrection; Secondly, a Reſurrection.
A calamitate; When the Prophets ſpeak of a Reſurrection in the old Teſtament,1. A calamitate. for the moſt part their principall intention is, upon a temporall reſtitution from calamities that oppreſſe them then. Neither doth Calvin carry thoſe emphaticall words, which are ſo often cited for a proofe of the laſt Reſurrection:Job 19.25. That he knows his Redeemer lives, that he knows he ſhall ſtand the laſt man upon earth, that though his body be deſtroyed, yet in his fleſh and with his eyes he ſhall ſee God, to any higher ſenſe then ſo, that how low ſoeve he bee brought, to what deſperate ſtate ſoever he be reducedin the eyes of the world, yet he aſſures himſelf of a Reſurrection, a reparation, a reſtitution to his former bodily health, and worldly fortune which he had before, And ſuch a Reſurrection we all know Iob had.
In that famous, and moſt conſiderable propheticall viſion which God exhibited to Ezekiel, where God ſet the Prophet in a valley of very many, and very dry bones, and invites the ſeverall joynts to knit again, tyes them with their old ſinews, and ligaments, clothes them in their old fleſt, wraps them in their old skin, and cals life into them again, Gods, principall intention in that viſion was thereby to give them an aſſurance of a Reſurrection from their preſent calamity, not but that there is alſo good evidence of the laſt Reſurrection in that viſion too; Thus far God argues with them áre nota; from that which they knew before, the finall Reſurrection, he aſſures them that which they knew not till then, a preſent Reſurrection from thoſe preſſures: Remember by this viſion that which you all know already, that at laſt I ſhall re-unite the dead, and dry bones of all men in a generall Reſurrection: And them if you remember, if you conſider, if you look upon that, can you doubt, but that I who can do that, can alſo recollect you, from your preſent deſperation, and give you a Reſurrection to your former temporall happineſſe? And this truly ariſes pregnantly, neceſſarily out of the Prophets anſwer; God asks him there, Son of man, cna theſe bones live? And he anſwers, Domine tu nóſti, O Lord God thou knoweſt. The Prophet anſwers according to Gods intention in the queſtion. If that had been for their living in the laſt Reſurrection, Ezekiel would have anſwered God as Martha anſwered Chriſt,John 11.24. when he ſaid, Thy brother Lazarus ſhall riſe again; I know that he ſhall riſe again at the Reſurrection at the laſt day; but when the queſtion was, whether men ſo macerated, ſo ſeattered in this world, could have a Reſurrection to their former temprorall happineſſe, here, that puts the Prophet to his Domine tu nóſti, It is in thy breaſt to propoſeit, itis in thy hand to execute it, whether thou do it, or do it not, thy name be gloriſied; It fals not within our conjecture, which way it ſhall pleaſe thee to take for this Reſurrection, Domine tu nóſti, Thou Lord, and thou only knoweſt; Which is alſo the ſenſe of thoſe words,Heb. 11.35. Others were tortured, and accepted not a deliverance, that they might obtain a better Reſurrection: A preſent deliverance had been a Reſurrection, but to be the more ſure of a better hereafter, they leſſe reſpected that; According to that of our Saviour,Mat. 10.39. He that findes hi life, ſhall loſe it; He that fixeth himſelf too earneſtly upon this Reſurrection, ſhall loſe a better.
This is then the propheticall Reſurrection for the future, but a future in this world; That if Rulers take counſell againſt the Lord, the Lord ſhall have their counſell in deriſion; If they take armes againſt the Lord, the Lord ſhall break their Bows, and cut their Spears in ſunder;Pſal. 2.4. If they hiſſe, and gnaſh their teeth, and ſay, we have ſwallowed him up; If we be made their by-word, their parable, their proverb, their libell, the theame and burden of their ſongs, as Iob complaines, yet whatſoever fall upon me, dmage, diſtreſſe, ſcorn, or Hoſtis ultimus, death it ſelf, that death which we conſider here, death of poſſeſſions, death of eſtimation, death of health, death of contentment, yet Abolebitur, it ſahll be deſtroyed in a Reſurrection, in the return of the light of Gods countenance upon me even in this world. And this is the firſt Reſurrection.
But this firſt Reſurrection,2. Apeecatis. which is but from temporall calamities, doth ſo little concerne a true and eſtabliſhed Chriſtian, whether it come or no, (for ſtill Iobs Baſis is his Baſis, and his Centre, Etiamſi occiderit, though he kill me, kill me, kill me, in all theſe ſeverall deaths, and give me no Reſurrection in this world, yet I will truſt in him) as that, as though this firſt reſurrection were no reſurrection, not to be numbred among the rerſurrections, S. Iohn calls that which we call the ſecond, which is from ſin, the firſt reſurrection: Bleſſed and holy is be, who hath part in the firſtreſurrection: And this reſurrection, Chriſtimplies,Apoe. 20.6. John 5.25. when he ſaies, Verely, verely, I ſay unto you, the houre is comming, and now is, when the dead ſhall heare the ovyce of the Son of God; and they that heare it ſhall live: That is, by the voyce of the word of life, the Goſpell of repentance, they ſhall have a ſpirituall reſurrection to a new life. S. Auſtine and Lactantius both were ſo hard in beleeving the roundneſſe of the earth, that they thought that thoſe homines penſiles, as they call them, thoſe men that hang upon the other cheek of the face of the earth, thoſe Antipodes, whoſe feet are directly againſt ours, muſt neceſſarily fall from the earth, if the earth be round. But whither ſhould they fall? If they fall, they muſt fall upwards, for heaven is above them too as it is to us. So if the ſpirituall Antipodes of this world, the Sons of God, that walk with feet oppoſed in wayes contrary to the ſons of men, ſhall be ſaid to fall, when they fall to repentance, to mortification, to a religious negligence, and contempt of the pleaſures of this life, truly their fall is up wards, they fall towards heaven, God gives breath unto the people upon the earth, ſayes the Prophet, Et ſpiritum his, qui calcant illam. Eſay 45.5Our Tranſlation carries that no farther, but that God gives breath to people upon the earth, and ſpirit to them that walk thereon; But Irenaeus makes a uſefull difference between afflatus and ſpiritus, that God gives breath to all upon earth, but his ſpirit onelyonly to them, who tread in a religious ſcorne upon earthly things.
Is it not a ſtrange phraſe of the Apoſtle, Mortifie your members; fornication, uncleaneneſſe, inordinate affections? He does not ſay, mortifie your members againſt thoſe ſins,Col. 3.5. but he calls thoſe very ſins, the members of our bodies, as though we were elemented and compacted of nothing but ſin, till we come to this reſurrection, this mortification, which is indeed our vivification; Till we beare in our body, the dying of our Lord Ieſus, that the life alſo of Ieſus may be made manifeſt in our body. 2 Cor. 4.10.God may give the other reſurrection from worldly miſery, and not give this. A widow may be reſcued from the ſorrow and ſolitarineſſe of that ſtate, by having a plentifull fortune; there ſhe hath one reſurrection; but the widow that liveth in pleaſure, is dead while ſhe lives; 1 Tim. 5.6.ſhee hath no ſecond reſurrection; and ſo in that ſenſe, even this Chappell may be a Church-yard, men may ſtand, and ſit, and kneele, and yet be dead; and any Chamber alone may be a Golgotha, a place of dead mens bones, of men not come to this reſurrection, which is the renunciation of their beloved ſin.
It was inhumanely ſaid by Vitellius, upon the death of Otho, when he walkedin the field of carcaſſes, where the battle was fought; O how ſweet a perfume is a dead enemy! But it is a divine ſaying to thy ſoule, O what a ſavor of life, unto life, is the death of a beloved ſin! What an Angelicall comfort was that to Ioſeph and Mary in Aegypt, after the death of Herod, Ariſe, for they are dead, that ſought the childes life! Mat. 2.20.And even that comfort is multiplied upon thy ſoul, when the Spirit of God ſaies to thee, Ariſe come to this reſurrection: for that Herod, that ſin, that ſought the life, the everlaſting life of this childe, the childe of God, thy ſoule, is dead, dead by repentance, dead by mortification. The higheſt cruelty that ſtory relates, or Poets imagine, is when a perſecutor will not afford a miſerable man death, not be ſo mercifull to him, as to take his life. Thou haſt made thy ſin, thy ſoule, thy life; inanimated all thy actions, all thy purpoſes with that ſin. Miſerere animatuae, be ſo mercifull to thy ſelfe, as to take away that life by mortification, by repentance, and thou art come to this Reſurrection: and thugh a man may have the former reſurrection, and not this, peace in his fortune, and yet not peace in his conſcience, yet whoſoever hath this ſecond, hath an infallible ſeale of the third reſurrection too, to a fulneſſe of glory in body, as well as in ſoule. For Spiritus maturam efficit carnem & capacem incorruptelae; this reſurrection by the ſpirit,Irenaeus. mellowes the body of man, and makes that capable of everlaſting glory, which is the laſt weapon, by which the laſt enemy death, ſhall be deſtroyed; A morte.
Upon that pious ground that all Scriptures were written for us, as we are Chriſtians, that all Scriptures conduce to the proofe of Chriſt, and of the Chriſtian ſtate,3. A morte. it is the ordinary manner of the Fathers to make all that David ſpeaks hiſtorically of himſelfe, and all that the Prophet ſpeaks futurely of the Jews, if thoſe place may be referred to Chriſt, to referre them to Chriſt primarily, and but by reflection, and in a ſecond conſideration upon David or upon the Jews, Thereupon doe the Father (truly I think more generally more unanimely then in any other place of Scripture) take that place of Ezekile which we ſpake of before, to be primarily intended of the laſt reſurrection, & but ſecundarily of the Jews reſtitution. But Gaſper Sanctius a learned Jeſuit, (that is not ſo rare, but an ingenuous Jeſuit too) though he be bound by the Councel Trent to interpret Scriptures according to the Fathers, yet he here ackowledges the whole truth, that Gods purpoſe was to prove, by that which they did know, which was the generall reſurrection, that which they knew not, their temporall reſtitution. Tertullian is vehement at firſt, but after, more ſupple, Allegoricae Scripturae, ſaies he, reſurrectionem ſubradiant aliae, aliae determinant: Some figurative places of Scripture, doe intimate a reſurrection, and ſome manifeſt it; and of thoſe manifeſt places he takes this viſion of Ezekiel to be one. But he comes after to this, Sit & corporum, & rerum, & meánihilintereſt; let it ſighnifie a temporall reſurrection, ſo it may ſignifie the generall reſurrection of our bodies too, ſaies he, and I am well ſatisfied; and then the truth ſatisfies him, for it doth ſignifie both. It is true that Tertullian ſayes, De vacuo ſimilitudo non competit; If the viſion be but a compariſon, if there were no ſuch thing as a reſurrection, the compariſon did not hold. De nullo par abola non convenit, ſaies he, and truly; If there were no reſurrection to which that Parable might have relation, it were no Parable. All that is true; but there was a reſurrection alwaies knowne to them, alwaies beleeved by them, and that made their preſent reſurrection from that calamity, the more eaſie, the more intelligible, the more credible, the more diſcernable to them.
Let therefore Gods method, be thy method; fixe thy ſelf firmly upon that beliefe of the penerall reſurrection, and thou wilt never doubt of either of the particular reſurrections, either from ſin, by Gods grace, or from worldly calamities, by Gods power. For that laſt reſurrection is the ground of all. By that Verévicta mors, ſaies Irenaeus, this Laſt enemy, death, is truly deſtroyed, becauſe his laſt ſpoile, the body, is taken out of his hands. The ſame body, eadem ovis, (as the ſame Father notes) Chriſt did not fetch another ſheep to the flock, in the place of that which was loſt, but the ſame ſheep: God ſhall not give me another, abetter body at the reſurrection, but the ſame body made better; for Sinon haberet caro ſalvari, neutiquam verbum Dei caro factum fuiſſet, If the fleſh of man were not to be ſaved,Idem. the Anchor of ſalvation would never have taken the fleſh of man upon him.
The puniſhment that God laid upon Adam, In dolore & in ſudore, In ſweat, and in ſorrow ſbalt thou eate thy bread, is but Donecreverteris, till man returne to duſt: but when Man is returned to duſt,Gen. 3.17. God returnes to the remembrance of that promiſe, Awake and ſing yethat dwell in the duſt. A mercy already exhibited to us, in the perſon of our Saviour Chriſt Jeſus,Eſay 26.19. in whom, Per primitias benedixit campo, (ſaies S. Chryſoſtome) as God by taking a handfull for the firſt Fruits, gave ableſſing to the wholw field; ſo he hath ſealed the bodies of all mankind to his glory, by pre-aſſuming the body of Chriſt to that glory. For by that there is now Commercium inter Coelum & terram; there is a Trade driven, a Staple eſtabliſhed betweene Heaven and earth;Bernard. Ibi caronoſtra, hic Spiritus ejus; Thither have we ſent our fleſt, and hither hath he ſent his Spirti.
This is the laſt abolition of this enemy, Death; for after this, the bodies of the Saints he cannot touch, the bodes of the damned he cannot kill, and if he could, hee were not therein their enemy, but their friend. This is that bleſſed and glorious State, of which, when all the Apoſtles met to make the Creed, they could ſay no more, but Credo Reſurrectionem, I heleeve the Reſurrection of the body; and when thoſe two Reverend Fathers, to whom it belongs, ſhall come to ſpeake of it, upon the day proper for it, in this place, and if all the Biſhops, that ever met in Councels ſhould meet them here, they could but ſecond the Apoſtles Credo, with their Anathema, We beleeve, and woe be unto them that doe not beleeve the Reſurrection of the body; but in gong about to expreſſe it, the lips of an Angell would be uncircumciſed lips, and the tongue of an Archangell would ſtammer. I offer not therefore at it: but in reſpect of, and with relation to that bleſſed State, according to the doctrine, and practiſe of our Church, we doe pray for the dead; for the militant Church upon earth, and the trimphant Church in Heaven, and the whole Catholique Church in Heaveen, and earth; we doe pray that God will be pleaſed to haſten that Kingdome, that we with all others departed in the true Faith of his holy Name, may have this perfect conſummation, both of body and ſoule, in his everlaſting glory, Amen.