Eighty Sermons, Easter · Sermon 18
SERMON XVIII. Preached at S. Pauls, in the Evening, upon Eaſter-day. 1623.
ACTS 2.36.
Part of the ſecond Leſſon of that Evening Prayer.
Therefore let all the houſe of Iſrael know aſſuredly, That God hath made that ſame Ieſus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord, and Chriſt.
THe firſt word of the Text, muſt be the laſt part of the Sermon,Diviſio. Therefore; Therefore let all know it. Here is ſomething neceſſary to be knowne, And the Meanes by which we are to know it; And theſe will be our two parts; Scientia, & Modus, Knowledge, and the way to it; For, Qui teſtatur de ſcientia, teſtatur de modo ſcientiae, is a good rule, in all Laws, He that will teſtifie any thing upon his knowledge, muſt declare how he came by that knowledge. So then, what we muſt conclude, and upon what premiſſes, what we muſt reſolve, and what muſt lead us to that reſolution, are our two ſtages, our two reſting places: And to thoſe two, our ſeverall ſteps are theſe; In the firſt, Let all the houſe of Iſrael know, &c. we ſhall conſider firſt, The Manner of S. Peter, (for the Text is part of a Sermon of S. Peters) in imprinting this Knowledge in his Auditory; which is, firſt, in that Compellation of love and honour, Domus Iſrael, The houſe of Iſrael: But yet, when hee hath raiſed them to a ſenſe of their dignity, in that attribute, he doth not pamper them with an over-value of them, he lets them know their worſt, as well as their beſt, Though you be the houſe of Iſrael, yet it is you that have crucified Chriſt Jeſus, That Ieſus, whom ye have crucified; And from this his Manner of preparing them, we ſhall paſſe to the Matter that he propoſes to them: When he had remembred them what God had done for them (You are the houſe of Iſrael) and what they had done againſt God, (You have crucified that Ieſus) He imparts a bleſſed meſſage to them all, Let all know it: Let them know it, and know it aſſuredly; He exhibits it to their reaſon, to their naturall underſtanding, And what? The greateſt myſtery, the entire myſtery of our ſalvation, That that Ieſus is both Lord, and Chriſt; But he is made ſo; Made ſo by God; Made both; Made Chriſt, that is, anointed, embalmed, preſerved from corruption, even in the grave, And made Lord by his triumph, and by being made Head of the Church, in the Reſurrection, and in the Aſcenſion: And ſo, that which is the laſt ſtep of our firſt ſtage, (That that Ieſus is made Lord, as well as he is made Chriſt) enters us upon our ſecond ſtage, The meanes by which we are to know, and prove all this to our ſelves; Therefore, ſayes the Text, let all know it; wherefore? why, becauſe God hath raiſed him, after you had crucified him; Becauſe God hath looſed the bands of death, Ver. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27.becauſe it was impoſsible that he ſhould be holden by death; Becauſe Davids prophecy of a deliverance from the grave is fulfilled in him, Therefore let all know this to be thus. So that the Reſurrection of Chriſt is argument enough to prove, that Chriſt is made Lord of all; And if he be Lord, he hath Subjects, that do as he does; And ſo his Reſurrection is become an argument, and an aſſurance of our Reſurrection too; and that is as far as we ſhall go in our ſecond part, That firſt Chriſts Reſurrection is proofe enough to us of his Dominion, if he be riſen, he is Lord, and then his Dominion is proofe enough to us of our Reſurrection, if he be Lord, Lord of us, we ſhall riſe too: And when we have paced, and paſſed through all theſe ſteps, we ſhall in ſome meaſure have ſolemnized this day of the Reſurrection of Chriſt; and in ſome meaſure have made it the day of our Reſurrection too.
Firſt then,1. Part. Domus Iſrael. the Apoſtle applies himſelf to his Auditory, in a faire, in a gentle manner; he gives them their Titles, Domus Iſrael, The houſe of Iſrael. We have a word now denizened, and brought into familiar uſe amongſt us, Complement; and for the moſt part, in an ill ſenſe; ſo it is, when the heart of the ſpeaker doth not anſwer his tongue; but God forbid but a true heart, and a faire tongue might very well conſiſt together: As vertue it ſelf receives an addition, by being in a faire body, ſo do good intentions of the heart, by being expreſſed in faire language. That man aggravates his condemnation, that gives me good words, and meanes ill; but he gives me a rich Jewell, and in a faire Cabinet, he gives me precious wine, and in a clean glaſſe, that intends well, and expreſſes his good intentions well too. If I beleeve a faire ſpeaker, I have comfort a little while, though he deceive me, but a froward and peremptory refuſer, unſaddles me at firſt. I remember a vulgar Spaniſh Author, who writes, the Ioſephina, the life of Ioſeph, the husband of the bleſſed Virgin Mary, who moving that queſtion, why that Virgin is never called by any ſtyle of Majeſty, or Honour in the Scriptures, he ſayes, That if after the declaring of her to be the Mother of God, he had added any other Title, the Holy Ghoſt had not been a good Courtier, (as his very word is) nor exerciſed in good language, and he thinks that had been a defect in the Holy Ghoſt in himſelf. He meanes ſurely the ſame that Epiphanius doth, That in naming the Saints of God, and eſpecially the bleſſed Virgin, we ſhould alwayes give them the beſt Titles that are applyable to them;Epiphan. Haereſ. 78. Quis unquam auſus, (ſaies he) proferre nomen Mariae, & non ſtatim addidit virgo? Who ever durſt utter the name of that Mary, without that addition of incomparable honour, The Virgin Mary?
That Spaniſh Author need not be ſuſpitious of the Holy Ghoſt in that kinde, that he is no good Courtier ſo; for in all the books of the world, you ſhall never reade ſo civill language, nor ſo faire expreſſions of themſelves to one another, as in the Bible: When Abraham ſhall call himſelf duſt, and aſhes, (and indeed if the Son of God were a worme and no man, what was Abraham?) If God ſhall call this Abraham, this Duſt, this Worme of the duſt, The friend of God, (and all friendſhip implyes a parity, an equality in ſomething;) when David ſhall call himſelf a flea, and a dead dog, even in reſpect of Saul, and God ſhall call David, A man according to his own heart, when God ſhall call us, The Apple of his own eye, The Seale upon his own right hand, who would go farther for an Example, or farther then that example for a Rule, of faire acceſſes, of civill approaches, of ſweet and honourable entrances into the affections of them with whom they were to deale? Eſpecially is this manner neceſſary in men of our profeſſion; Not to break a bruiſed reed, nor to quench ſmoaking flaxe, not to avert any, from a will to heare, by any frowardneſſe, any moroſity, any defrauding them of their due praiſe, and due titles; but to accompany this bleſſed Apoſtle, in this way of his diſcreet, and religious inſinuation, to call them Men of Iudea, ver. 14. and Men of Iſrael, ver. 22. and Men and Brethren, ver. 29. and here Domus Iſrael, the ancienteſt houſe, the honourableſt houſe, the laſtingeſt houſe in the world, The houſe of Iſrael.
He takes from them nothing that is due,Accuſat tamen. that would but exaſperate; He is civill, but his civility doth not amount to a flattery, as though the cauſe of God needed them, or God muſt be beholding to them, or God muſt pay for it, or ſmart for it, if they were not pleaſed. And therefore, though he do give them their titles, Apertè illis imputat crucifixionem Chriſti, ſayes S. Chryſoſtome, Plainly and without diſguiſe he imputes and puts home to them, the crucifying of Chriſt; how honourably ſoever they were deſcended, he layes that murder cloſe to their Conſciences, You, you houſe of Iſrael have crucified the Lord Ieſus. There is a great deale of difference between Shimeis vociferations againſt David; 2 Sam. 16.5.Thou man of blood, thou man of Belial, And Nathans proceeding with David; and yet Nathan forbore not to tell him,2 Sam. 12.7. Thou art the man, Thou haſt deſpiſed the Lord, Thou haſt killed Vriah, Thou haſt taken his wife. It is one thing to ſow pillows under the elbows of Kings, (flatterers do ſo) another thing to pull the chaire from under the King, and popular and ſeditious men do ſo. Where Inferiours inſult over their Superiours, we tell them, Chriſti Domini, they are the Lords anointed, and the Lord hath ſaid, Touch not mine anointed; And when ſuch Superiours inſult over the Lord himſelfe, and think themſelves Gods without limitation, as the God of heaven is, when they doe ſo, we muſt tell them they doe ſo, Etſi Chriſti Domini, though you be the Lords anointed, yet you crucifie the anointed Lord: for this was S. Peters method, though his ſucceſſor will not be bound by it.
When he hath carried the matter thus evenly betweene them, (I doe not deny,Omnes. but you are the Houſe of Iſrael, you cannot deny but you have crucified the Lord Jeſus; you are heires of a great deale of honour, but you are guilty of a ſhrewd fault too) ſtand or fall to your Maſter, your Maſter hath dealt thus mercifully with you all, that to you all, all, he ſends a meſſage, Sciant omnes, Let all the houſe of Iſrael know this. Needs the houſe of Iſrael know any thing? Needs there any learning in perſons of Honour? We know, this characterizes, this diſtinguiſhes ſome whole Nations; In one Nation it is almoſt a ſcorn for a gentleman to be learned, in another almoſt every gentleman, is conveniently, and in ſome meaſure, learned. But I enlarge not my ſelf, I pretend not to comprehend Nationall vertues, or Nationall vices. For this knowledge, which is proclaimed here, which is, the knowledge that the true Meſſias is come, and that there is no other to bee expected, is ſuch a knowledge, as that even the houſe of Iſrael it ſelf, is without a Foundation, if it be without this knowledge. Is there any houſe, that needs no reparations? Is there a houſe of Iſrael, (let it be the Library, the depoſitary of the Oracles of God, a true Church, that hath the true word of the true God, let it be the houſe fed with Manna, that hath the true adminiſtration of the true Sacraments of Chriſt Jeſus) is there any ſuch houſe, that needs not a farther knowledge, that there are alwaies thieves about that houſe, that would rob us of that Word, and of thoſe Sacraments?
The Holy Ghoſt is a Dove, and the Dove couples, paires, is not alone; Take heed of ſingular, of ſchiſmatical opinions; & what is more ſingular, more ſchiſmaticall, then when all Religion is confined in one mans breaſt? The Dove is animal ſociale, a ſociable creature, and not ſingular; and the Holy Ghoſt is that; And Chriſt is a Sheep, animal gregale, they flock together: Embrace thou thoſe truths, which the whole flock of Chriſt Jeſus, the whole Chriſtian Church, hath from the beginning acknowledged to be truths, and truths neceſſary to ſalvation; for, for other Traditionall, and Conditionall, and Occaſionall, and Collaterall, and Circumſtantiall points, for Almanack Divinity, that changes with the ſeaſon, with the time, and Meridionall Divinity, calculated to the heighth of ſuch a place, and Lunary Divinity, that ebbes and flowes, and State Divinity, that obeyes affections of perſons, Domus Iſrael, the true Church of God, had need of a continuall ſucceſſion of light, a contiuall aſſiſtance of the Spirit of God, and of her own induſtry, to know thoſe things that belong to her peace.
And therefore let no Church, no man, think that he hath done enough, or knowes enough. If the Devill thought ſo too, we might the better think ſo: but ſince we ſee, that he is in continuall practiſe againſt us, let us be in a continuall diligence, and watchfulneſſe, to countermine him. We are domus Iſrael, the houſe of Iſrael, and it is a great meaſure of knowledge, that God hath afforded us; but if every Paſtor look into his Pariſh, and every Maſter into his own Family, and ſee what is practiſing there, ſciat domus Iſrael, let all our Iſrael know, that there is more knowledge, and more wiſdome neceſſary; Be every man farre from calumniating his Superiours, for that mercy which is uſed towards them that are fallen, but be every man as far from remitting, or ſlackning his diligence, for the preſerving of them, that are not fallen.
The wiſeſt muſt know more, though you be domus Iſrael, the houſe of Iſrael already;Crucifixiſtis. and then, Etſi Crucifixiſtis, though you have crucified the Lord Jeſus, you may know it, ſciant omnes, let all know it. S. Paul ſaies once, If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of life; but he never ſaies, if they have crucified the Lord of life,1 Cor. 2.8. they are excluded from knowledge. I meane no more, but that the mercy of God in manifeſting and applying himſelf to us, is above all our ſins. No man knowes enough; what meaſure of tentations ſoever he have now, he may have tentations, through which, this knowledge, and this grace, will not carry him; and therefore he muſt proceed from grace to grace. So no man hath ſinned ſo deeply, but that God offers himſelf to him yet; Sciant omnes, the wiſeſt man hath ever ſomething to learn, he muſt not preſume; the ſinfulleſt man hath God ever ready to teach him, he muſt not deſpaire.
Now the univerſality of this mercy,Sciant. hath God enlarged, and extended very farre, in that he propoſes it, even to our knowledge, Sciant, let all know it. It is not only credant, let all beleeve it; for the infuſing of faith, is not in our power: but God hath put it in our power to ſatisfie their reaſon, and to chafe that waxe, to which he himſelf vouchſafes to ſet to the great ſeale of faith. And that S. Hierome takes to be moſt properly his Commiſſion, Tentemus animas, quae deficiunt a fide, natur alibus rationibus adjuvare; Let us indevour to aſſiſt them, who are weak in faith, with the ſtrength of reaſon. And truly it is very well worthy of a ſerious conſideration, that whereas all the Articles of our Creed, are objects of faith, ſo, as that we are bound to receive them de fide, as matters of faith, yet God hath left that, out of which, all theſe Articles are to be deduced, and proved, (that is, the Scripture) to humane arguments; It is not an Article of the Creed, to beleeve theſe, and theſe Books, to be, or not to be Canonicall Scripture; but our arguments for the Scripture are humane arguments, proportioned to the reaſon of a naturall man. God does not ſeale in water, in the fluid and tranſitory imaginations, and opinions of men; we never ſet the ſeale of faith to them; But in Waxe, in the rectified reaſon of man, that reaſon that is ductile, and flexible, and pliant, to the impreſſions that are naturally proportioned unto it, God ſets to his ſeale of faith. They are not continuall, but they are contiguous, they flow not from one another, but they touch one another, they are not both of a peece, but they enwrap one another, Faith and Reaſon. Faith it ſelf, by the Prophet Eſay is called knowledge;Eſay 53.11. By his knowledge ſhall my righteous ſervant juſtifie many, ſayes God of Chriſt; that is, by that knowledge, that men ſhall have of him. So Zechary expreſſes it at the Circumciſion of Iohn Baptiſt, That hee was to give knowledge of ſalvation, Luke 1.77.for the remiſsion of ſins.
As therefore it is not enough for us, in our profeſſion to tell you, Qui non crediderit, damnabitur, Except you beleeve all this, you ſhall be damned, without we execute that Commiſſion before, Ite praedicate, go and preach, work upon their affections, ſatisfie their reaſon; ſo it is not enough for you, to reſt in an imaginary faith, and eaſineſſe in beleeving, except you know alſo what, and why, and how you come to that beliefe. Implicite beleevers, ignorant beleevers, the adverſary may ſwallow; but the underſtanding beleever, he muſt chaw, and pick bones, before he come to aſſimilate him, and make him like himſelf. The implicite beleever ſtands in an open field, and the enemy will ride over him eaſily; the underſtanding beleever, is in a fenced town, and he hath out-works to loſe, before the town be preſſed; that is, reaſons to be anſwered, before his faith be ſhaked, and he will ſell himſelf deare, and loſe himſelf by inches, if he be ſold or loſt at laſt; and therefore ſciant omnes, let all men know, that is, endeavour to informe themſelves, to underſtand.
That particular,Ieſum. that generall particular, (if we may ſo ſay, for it includes all) which all were to know, is, that the ſame Jeſus, whom they Crucified, was exalted above them all.
Suppoſe an impoſſibility; (S. Paul does ſo, when he ſayes to the Galatians, If an Angell from heaven ſhould preach any other Goſpell; for that is impoſſible;) If we could have been in Paradiſe, and ſeen God take a clod of red earth, and make that wretched clod of contemptible earth, ſuch a body as ſhould be fit to receive his breath, an immortall ſoule, fit to be the houſe of the ſecond perſon in the Trinity, for God the Son to dwel in bodily; fit to be the Temple for the third perſon, for the Holy Ghoſt, ſhould we not have wondred more, then at the production of all other creatures? It is more, that the ſame Jeſus, whom they had crucified, is exalted thus, to ſit in that deſpiſed fleſh, at the right hand of our glorious God; that all their ſpitting ſhould but macerate him, and diſſolve him to a better mold, a better plaiſter; that all their buffetings ſhould but knead him, and preſſe him into a better forme; that all their ſcoffes, and contumelies ſhould be propheſies; that that Ecce Rex, Behold your King; and that Rex Iudaeorum, This is the King of the Iews, which words, they who ſpoke them, thought to be lies, in their own mouthes, ſhould become truths, and he be truly the King, not of the Jews only, but of all Nations too; that their nayling him upon the Croſſe, ſhould be a ſetling of him upon an everlaſting Throne; and their lifting him up upon the Croſſe, a waiting upon him, ſo farre upon his way to heaven, that this Jeſus, whom they had thus evacuated, thus crucified, ſhould bee thus exalted, was a ſubject of infinite admiration, but mixt with infinite confuſion too.
Wretched Blaſphemer of the name of Jeſus, that Jeſus, whom thou crucifieſt, and treadeſt under thy feet, in that oath, is thus exalted. Uncleane Adulterer, that Jeſus, whom thou crucifieſt, in ſtretching out thoſe forbidden armes in a ſtrange bed, thou that beheadeſt thy ſelf, caſteſt off thy Head; Chriſt Jeſus, that thou mightſt make thy body, the body of a Harlot, that Jeſus, whom thou defileſt there, is exalted. Let ſeverall ſinners paſſe this through their ſeverall ſins, and remember with wonder, but with confuſion too, that that Jeſus, whom they hauehave crucified, is exalted above all.
How farre exalted? Three ſteps, which carry him above S. Pauls third heaven:Factus. He is Lord, and he is Chriſt, and he is made ſo by God; God hath made him both Lord and Chriſt. We return up theſe ſteps, as they lie, and take the loweſt firſt: Fecit Deus, God made him ſo: Nature did not make him ſo, no, not if we conſider him in that Nature, wherein he conſiſts of two Natures, God, and Man. We place in the Schoole, (for the moſt part) the infinite Merit of Chriſt Jeſus (that his one act of dying once, ſhould be a ſufficient ſatisfaction to God, in his Juſtice, for all the ſins of all men) we place it, I ſay, rather in pacto, then in perſona, rather that this contract was thus made between the Father, and the Son, then that, whatſoever that perſon, thus conſiſting of God and Man, ſhould doe, ſhould, onelyonly in reſpect of the perſon, bee of an infinite value, and extention, to that purpoſe; for then, any act of his, his Incarnation, his Circumciſion, any had been ſufficient for our Redemption, without his death. But fecit Deus, God made him that, that he is; The contract between the Father and him, that all that he did, ſhould be done ſo, and to that purpoſe, that way, and to that end, this is that, that hath exalted him, and us in him.
If then, not the ſubtilty, and curioſity, but the wiſedome of the Schoole, and of the Church of God, have juſtly found it moſt commodious, to place all the myſteries of our Religion, in pacto, rather then in perſona, in the Covenant, rather then in the perſon, though a perſon of incomprehenſible value, let us alſo, in applying to our ſelves thoſe myſteries of our Religion, ſtill adhaerere pactis, and not perſonis, ſtill rely upon the Covenant of God, with man, revealed in his word, and not upon the perſon of any man: Not upon the perſons of Martyrs, as if they had done more then they needed for themſelves, and might relieve us, with their ſupererogations; for, if they may work for us, they may beleeve for us; and Iuſtus fide ſua vivet, ſayes the Prophet,Habak. 2.4. The righteous ſhall live by his owne faith. Not upon that perſon, who hath made himſelf ſupernumerary, and a Controller upon the three perſons in the Trinity, the Biſhop of Rome; not upon the conſideration of accidents upon perſons, when God ſuffers ſome to fall, who would have advanced his cauſe, and ſome to be advanced, who would have throwne downe his cauſe, but let us ever dwell in pacto, and in the fecit Deus, this Covenant God hath made in his word, and in this we reſt.
It is God then, not nature, not his nature that made him; And what? Chriſt; Chriſtus.Chriſt is anointed: And then Mary Magdalen made him Chriſt, for ſhe anointed him before his death; And Ioſeph of Arimathea made him Chriſt, for he anointed him, and embalmed him, after his death. But her anointing before, kept him not from death, nor his anointing after, would not have kept him from putrefaction in the grave, if God had not in a farre other manner, made him Chriſt, anointed him praeconſortibus, above his fellows. God hath anointed him, embalmed him, enwrapped him in the leaves of the Prophets, That his fleſh ſhould not ſee corruption in the grave, That the flames of hell ſhould not take hold of him, nor ſindge him there; ſo anointed him, as that, in his Humane nature, He is aſcended into heaven, and ſet downe at the right hand of God; For, de eo quod ex Maria eſt, Petrus loquitur, ſayes S. Baſil, That making of him Chriſt, that is, that anointing which S. Peter ſpeakes of in this place, is the dignifying of his humane nature, that was anointed, that was conſecrated, that was glorified in heaven.
But he had a higher ſtep then that; God made this Ieſus, Chriſt, and he made him Lord; Dominus.He brought him to heaven, in his own perſon, in his humane nature; ſo he ſhall all us; but when we ſhall be all there, he onelyonly ſhall be Lord of all. And if there ſhould be no other bodies in heaven, then his, yet, yet now he is Lord of all, as he is Head of the Church. Aske of me, ſayes his Father, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, Pſal. 2.8.and the utter moſt parts of the Earth for thy poſſeſsion. And, as it is added, ver. 6. I have ſet my King upon my holy hill of Sion; So he hath made him Lord, Head of the Jews, and of the Gentiles too, of Sion, and of the Nations alſo; Hee hath conſecrated his perſon, raiſed his humane nature, to the glorious region of bleſſed Spirits, to Heaven, and he hath dignified him with an office, made him Lord, Head of the Church, not only of Jews, and Gentiles upon earth, but of the Militant and Triumphant Church too.
Our two generall parts were Scientia, 2. Part.& modus, what we muſt all know, and by what we muſt know it. Our knowledge is, this Exaltation of Jeſus; and our meanes is implied, in the firſt word of the Text,Therefore. Therefore, Therefore becauſe he is raiſed from the Dead; for to that Reſurrection, expreſſed in three, or foure ſeverall phraſes before the Text, is this Text, and this Exaltation referred; Chriſt was delivered for our ſins, raiſed for our juſtification, and upon that depends all. Chriſts deſcending into hell, and his Reſurrection, in our Creed, make but one Article, and in our Creed we beleeve them both alike: Quis niſi Infidelis negaverit, apud inferos fuiſſe Chriſtum? ſaies S. Auguſtine; Who but an Infidell, will deny Chriſts deſcending into hell? And if he beleeve that to be a limme of the article of the Reſurrection, His deſcent into hell, muſt rather be an inchoation of his triumph, then a conſummation of his Exinanition, The firſt ſtep of his Exaltation there, rather then the laſt ſtep of his Paſſion upon the Croſſe: But the Declaration, the Manifeſtation, that which admits no diſputation, was his Reſurrection. Factus, id eſt, declaratus per Reſurrectionem, ſaies S. Cyrill, He was made Chriſt, and Lord, that is, declared evidently to be ſo,1 Cor. 1.20. by his Reſurrection; As there is the like phraſe, in S. Paul, God hath made the wiſdome of this world, fooliſhneſſe, that is, declared it to be ſo. And therefore it is imputed to be a crucifying of the Lord Jeſus againe,Heb. 6.6. Non credere eum, poſt mortem, immortalem, Not to beleeve, that now after his having overcome death in his Reſurrection, he is in an immortall, and in a glorious ſtate in heaven. For when the Apoſtle argues thus,1 Cor. 15.14. If Chriſt be not riſen, then is our preaching in vaine, and your faith in vaine, he implies the contrary too, If you beleeve the Reſurrection, we have preached to good purpoſe: Mortuum eſſe Chriſtum, Auguſt.pagani credunt; reſurrexiſſe propria fides Chriſtianorum: The Heathen confeſſe Chriſts death; To beleeve his Reſurrection, is the proper character of a Chriſtian: for the firſt ſtone of the Chriſtian faith, was laid in this article of the Reſurrection; In the Reſurrection onelyonly was the firſt promiſe performed, Ipſe conteret, He ſhall bruiſe the Serpents head; for, in this, he triumphed over Death, and Hell; And the laſt ſtone of our faith, is laid in the ſame article too, that is, the day of Judgement; of a day of Judgement God hath given an aſſurance unto all men (ſaies S. Paul at Athens) In that he hath raiſed Chriſt Ieſus from the dead. Acts 17.31.In this Chriſt makes up his circle; in this he is truly Alpha and Omega, His comming in Paradiſe in a promiſe, his comming to Judgement in the clouds, are tied together in the Reſurrection: And therefore all the Goſpell, all our preaching, is contracted to that one text, To beare witneſſe of the Reſurrection; onelyonly for that,Acts 1.22. was there need of a new Apoſtle, There was a neceſsity of one to be choſen in Iudas roome, to be a witneſſe of the Reſurrection; Non ait caeterorum, ſed tantùm Reſurrectionis, ſaies S. Chryſoſtome, He does not ſay, to beare witneſſe of the other articles, but onelyonly of the Reſurrection; he charges him with no more inſtructions, he needs no more, in his Commiſſion, but to preach the Reſurrection:Athan. for in that, Trophaeum de morte excitavit, & indubitatum reddidit corruptionem deletam: Here is a retreat from the whole warfare, here is a Trophee erected upon the laſt enemy; The laſt enemy that ſhall be deſtroyed is death, and here is the death of that enemy, in the Reſurrection.
And therefore, to all thoſe who importuned him for a ſigne, Chriſt ſtill turnes upon the Reſurrection.Iohn 2.38. Mat. 12.38. The Jewes preſſed him in generall, Quod ſignum, What ſigne ſhoweſt thou unto us? and he anſwers, Deſtroy this Temple, (this body) and in three dayes I will raiſe it. In another place, the Scribes and the Phariſees joyne, Maſter we would ſee a ſigne from thee, and he tels them, There ſhall be no ſigne, but the ſigne of the Prophet Ionas; who was a type of the Reſurrection. And then the Phariſees, and Sadduces joyn; now they were bitter enemies to one another; but, as Tertullian ſaies, Semper inter duos latrones crucifixus Chriſtus, It was alwaies Chriſts caſe to be crucified betweene two Thieves; So theſe, though enemies joyne in this vexation, They aske a ſigne, as the reſt, and, as to the reſt, Chriſt gives that anſwer of Ionas. So that Chriſt himſelfe determines all, ſummes up all in this one Article, the Reſurrection.
Now,Nos. if the Reſurrection of this Jeſus, have made him, not onelyonly Chriſt, Anointed and conſecrated in Heaven, in his owne perſon, but made him Lord, then he hath Subjects, upon whom that dominion, and that power works, and ſo we have aſſurance of a reſurrection in him too. That he is made Lord of us by his Reſurrection, is rooted in prophecie; It pleaſed the Lord to bruiſe him, ſaies the Prophet Eſay; But he ſhall ſee his ſeed, Eſay 53.10.and he ſhall prolong his daies; that is, he ſhall ſee thoſe that are regenerate in him, live with him, forever. It is rooted in prophecy, and it ſpreads forth in the Goſpell. To this end, ſaies the Apoſtle, Chriſt died, and roſe, that he might be Lord of the dead, and of the living. Now,Rom. 14.9. Gregor. what kinde of Lord, if he had no ſubjects? Cum videmus caput ſuper aquas, when the head is above water, will any imagine the body to be drowned? What a perverſe conſideration were it, to imagine a live head, and dead members? Or, conſider our bodies in our ſelves, and Our bodies are Temples of the Holy Ghoſt; and ſhall the Temples of the holy Ghoſt lye for ever, for ever, buried in their rubbidge? They ſhall not; for, the day of Judgement, is the day of Regeneration, as it is called in the Goſpell;Mat. 19.28. Auguſt. Quia caro noſtra ita generabitur per incorruptionem, ſicut anima per fidem: Becauſe our bodie ſhall be regenerated by glory there, as our ſoules are by faith here. Therefore, Tertul. cals the Reſurrection, Exemplum ſpei noſtrae, The Originall, out of which we copy out our hope; and Clavem ſepulchrorū noſtrorum, How hard ſoever my grave be locked, yet with that key, with the application of the Reſurrection of Chriſt Jeſus, it will open; And they are all names, which expreſſe this well, which Tertullian gives Chriſt, Vadem, obſidem, fidejuſſorem reſurrectionis noſtrae, That he is the pledge, the hoſtage, the ſurety of our Reſurrection: So doth that alſo which is ſaid in the Schoole, Sicut Adam forma morientium, Theoph.it a Chriſtus forma reſurgentium; Without Adam, there had beene no ſuch thing as death, without Chriſt, no ſuch thing as a Reſurrection: But aſcendit ille effractor, (as the Prophet ſpeaks) The breaker is gone up before, and they have paſſed through the gate, that is, aſſuredly,Mich. 2.13. infallibly, they ſhall paſſe.
But what needs all this heat, all this animoſity, all this vehemence, about the Reſurrection? May not man be happy enough in heaven, though his body never come thither? upon what will ye ground the Reſurrection? upon the Omnipotence of God? Aſylum haereticorum eſt Omnipotentia Dei, (which was well ſaid, and often repeated amongſt the Ancients) The Omnipotence of God, hath alwaies been the Sanctuary of Heretiques, that is, alwaies their refuge, in all their incredible doctrines, God is able to do it, can do it. You confeſſe, the Reſurrection is a miracle; And miracles are not to be multiplied, nor imagined without neceſſity; and what neceſſity of bodies in Heaven?
Beloved, we make the ground and foundation of the Reſurrection, to be, not meerely the Omnipotency of God, for God will not doe all, that he can doe: but the ground is, Omnipotens voluntas Dei revelata, The Almighty will of God revealed by him, to us: And therefore Chriſt joynes both theſe together, Erratis, Ye erre, Mat. 22.29.not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God; that is, not conſidering the power of God, as it is revealed in the Scriptures: for there is our foundation of this Doctrine: we know, out of the Omnipotence of God, it may be; and we know out of the Scriptures it muſt be: That works upon our faith, this upon our reaſon; That it is man that muſt be ſaved, man that muſt be damned; and to conſtitute a man, there muſt be a body, as well as a ſoule. Nay, the Immortality of the ſoule, will not ſo well lie in proofe, without a reſuming of the body. For, upon thoſe words of the Apoſtle, If there were no Reſurrection, we were the miſerableſt of all men, the Schoole reaſons reaſonably; Naturally the ſoule and body are united, when they are ſeparated by Death, it is contrary to nature, which nature ſtill affects this union; and conſequently the ſoule is the leſſe perfect, for this ſeparation; and it is not likely, that the perfect naturall ſtate of the ſoule, which is, to be united to the body, ſhould laſt but three or foure ſcore yeares, and, in moſt, much leſſe, and the unperfect ſtate, that in the ſeparation, ſhould laſt eternally, for ever: ſo that either the body muſt be beleeved to live againe, or the ſoule beleeved to die.
Never therefore diſpute againſt thine own happineſſe; never ſay, God asks the heart, that is, the ſoule, and therefore rewards the ſoule, or puniſhes the ſoule, and hath no reſpect to the body; Nec auferamus cogitationes a collegio carnis, ſaies Tertullian, Never go about to ſeparate the thoughts of the heart, from the colledge, from the fellowſhip of the body; Siquidem in carne, & cum carne, & per carnem agitur, quicquid ab anima agitur, All that the ſoule does, it does in, and with, and by the body. And therefore, (ſaies he alſo) Caro abluitur, ut anima emaculetur, The body is waſhed in baptiſme, but it is that the ſoule might be made cleane; Caro ungitur, ut anima conſecretur, In all unctions, whether that which was then in uſe in Baptiſme, or that which was in uſe at our tranſmigration, and paſſage out of this world, the body was anointed, that the ſoule might be conſecrated; Caro ſignatur, (ſaies Tertullian ſtill) ut anima muniatur; The body is ſigned with the Croſſe, that the ſoule might be armed againſt tentations; And againe, Caro de Corpore Chriſti veſcitur, ut anima de Deo ſaginetur; My body received the body of Chriſt, that my ſoule might partake of his merits. He extends it into many particulars, and ſummes up all thus, Non poſſunt in mercede ſeparari, quae opera conjungunt, Theſe two, Body, and Soule, cannot be ſeparated for ever, which, whilſt they are together, concurre in all that either of them doe. Never thinke it preſumption, ſaies S. Gregory, Sperare in te, quod in ſe exhibuit Deus homo, To hope for that in thy ſelfe, which God admitted, when he tooke thy nature upon him. And God hath made it, ſaies he, more eaſie then ſo, for thee, to beleeve it, becauſe not onelyonly Chriſt himſelfe, but ſuch men, as thou art, did riſe at the Reſurrection of Chriſt. And therefore when our bodies are diſſolved and liquefied in the Sea, putrified in the earth, reſolv'd to aſhes in the fire, macerated in the ayre, Velut in vaſa ſua transfunditur caro noſtra, Tertul.make account that all the world is Gods cabinet, and water, and earth, and fire, and ayre, are the proper boxes, in which God laies up our bodies, for the Reſurrection. Curiouſly to diſpute againſt our owne Reſurrection, is ſeditiouſly to diſpute againſt the dominion of Jeſus; who is not made Lord by the Reſurrection, if he have no ſubjects to follow him in the ſame way. Wee beleeve him to be Lord, therefore let us beleeve his, and our Reſurrection.
This bleſſed day,Ille. Iohn 2.19. Iohn 10.17. which we celebrate now, he roſe: he roſe ſo, as none before did, none after, ever ſhall riſe; He roſe; others are but raiſed: Deſtroy this Temple, ſaies he, and I will raiſe it; I, without imploying any other Architect. I lay downe my life, ſaies he: the Jewes could not have killed him, when he was alive; If he were alive here now, the Jeſuits could not kill him here now; except his being made Chriſt, and Lord, an anointed King, have made him more open to them. I have a power to lay it downe, ſaies he, and I have a power to take it up againe.
This day,Nos. Iohn 2.3. we celebrate his Reſurrection; this day let us celebrate our owne: Our own, not our one Reſurrection, for we need many. Upon thoſe words of our Saviour to Nicodemus, Oportet denuo naſci, ſpeaking of the neceſſity of Baptiſme, Non ſolum denuo, ſed tertiò naſci oportet, ſaies S. Bernard, He muſt be born againe, and againe; againe by baptiſme, for Originall ſin, and for actuall ſin, againe by repentance; Infoelix homo ego, & miſer abilis caſus, ſaies he, cui non ſufficit una regeneratio! Miſerable man that I am, and miſerable condition that I am fallen into, whom one regeneration will not ſerve! So is it a miſerable death that hath ſwallowed us, whom one Reſurrection will ſerve. We need three, but if we have not two, we were as good be without one. There is a Reſurrection from worldly calamities, a reſurrection from ſin, and a reſurrection from the grave.
Firſt,Exod. 10.17. 1 Cor. 15.31. Pſal. 41.8. from calamities; for, as dangers are called death, (Pharaoh cals the plague of Locuſts, a death, Intreat the Lord your God, that he may take from me, this death onelyonly, And ſo S. Paul ſaies, in his dangers, I dye daily) So is the deliverance from danger called a Reſurrection: It is the hope of the wicked upon the godly, Now that he lieth, he ſhall riſe no more; that is, Now that he is dead in miſery, he ſhall have no reſurrection in this world. Now, this reſurrection God does not alwaies give to his ſervants, neither is this reſurrection the meaſure of Gods love of man, whether he do raiſe him from worldly calamities or no.
The ſecond is the reſurrection from ſin;Apec. 20.5. and therefore, this S. Iohn calls The firſt Reſurrection, as though the other, whether we riſe from worldly calamities, or no, were not to be reckoned. Anima ſpiritualiter cadit, & ſpiritualiter reſurget, ſaies S. Auguſtine, Since we are ſure, there is a ſpirituall death of the ſoule, let us make ſure a ſpirituall reſurrection too. Audacter dicam, ſaies S. Hierome, I ſay confidently, Cum omnia poſſet Deus, ſuſcitare Virginem poſt ruinam, non poteſt; Howſoever God can do all things, he cannot reſtore a Virgin, that is fallen from it, to virginity againe. He cannot do this in the body, but God is a Spirit, and hath reſerved more power, upon the ſpirit and ſoule, then upon the body, and therefore Audacter dicam, I may ſay, with the ſame aſſurance, that S. Hierome does, No ſoule hath ſo proſtituted her ſelfe, ſo multiplied her fornications; but that God can make her a virgin againe, and give her, even the chaſtity of Chriſt himſelfe. Fulfill therefore that which Chriſt ſaies,Iohn 5.25. The houre is comming, and now is, when the dead ſhall heare the voyce of the Son of God, and they that heare ſhall live: Be this that houre, be this thy firſt Reſurrection. Bleſſe Gods preſent goodneſſe, for this now; and attend Gods leaſure, for the other Reſurrection hereafter.1 Cor. 15.20. He that is the firſt fruits of them that ſlept, Chriſt Jeſus is awake; he dyes no more, he ſleepes no more. Sacrificium pro te fuit, ſed à te accepit, Auguſt.quod pro te obtulit: He offered a Sacrifice for thee, but he had that from thee, that he offered for thee: Primitiae fuit, ſed tuae primitiae; He was the firſt fruits, but the firſt fruits of thy Corne: Spera in te futurum, quod praeceſs it in primitiis tuis: Doubt not of having that in the whole Croppe, which thou haſt already in thy firſt fruits; that is, to have that in thy ſelf, which thou haſt in thy Saviour. And what glory ſoever thou haſt had in this world, Glory inherited from noble Anceſtors, Glory acquired by merit and ſervice, Glory purchaſed by money, and obſervation, what glory of beauty and proportion, what glory of health and ſtrength ſoever thou haſt had in this houſe of clay, The glory of the later houſe, Hag. 2.9.ſhall be greater then of the former. To this glory, the God of this glory, by glorious or inglorious waies, ſuch as may moſt advance his own glory, bring us in his time, for his Son Chriſt Jeſus ſake. Amen.