A Century of Sermons, Sermon 1
THE FIRST SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION.
ACTS ii. 24.
Whom God hath raiſed up, having looſed the pains of death, becauſe it was not poſsible that he ſhould be holden of it.
A Reſurrection Text out of the firſt Sermon that ever the Apoſtles Preached upon the Reſurrection, preached in their full vigour of ſanctification, immediately after they had received the Holy Ghoſt, to let us know that Whitſunday was principally ordeined for this end, to make Eaſter-day famous over all the world: for when God filled Peter, and all that were gathered together with that new wine of the Spirit which is mentioned in the begining of the Chapter; what did it produce in the firſt inſtant? what effect did immediately flow from it as an eſſential property? read and mark from my Text onward to the end of ver. 36. this is the nail altogether ſtruck upon; this is the Theme gone over and over, that God had raiſed up Jeſus; the Book of the Pſalms did prove it, and the Diſciples were witneſſes of it. O myſtery of myſteries, and wonder of Miracles! the firſt leſſon of faith, the Corner-ſtone of the Building, the moſt neceſſary Pillar of the Goſpel, indeed the bloudy paſſion of our Saviour which was delivered us in the former verſe, and the victory over death after that bloudy Paſſion, which I ſhall inſtance upon in this verſe; theſe two are the ſupporters of all Chriſtianity, take away theſe two Pillars, as Samſon broke down thoſe that held up the Theatre of the Philiſtins, and you ruinate the whole Tower of Faith, and demoliſh it to nothing. Very fit it was therefore that all the tongues wherewith the Holy Ghoſt had endowed the Apoſtles with utterance to ſpeak, ſhould concur in this one point, and go no further in their firſt days labour, namely that Chriſt was become the firſt fruits of them that ſlept, that his ſoul was not left in hell, neither did his fleſh ſee corruption. And becauſe this Sermon of St. Peters in the forenamed reſpects is ſuch an illuſtrious teſtimony of our Lords reſurrection; therefore both Eaſtern and Weſtern Churches have ſelected this Chapter of old to be the ſecond Leſſon for the Evening Prayer of this great Feſtival; ſo our Liturgie reteins it, which never recedes from good antiquity: and where our Church hath gone before me in her judgment, I thought it meet to follow her at this time in my duty, and to parcel out my Text from that great variety which the Chapter affords upon this occaſion in theſe words, &c.
The diviſion that I will give you upon this verſe ſhall be eaſie to conceive, and that will help out ſome things which are a little difficult in the handling of the parts. Firſt here is the Reſurrection of our Saviour barely and poſitively affirmed, whom God hath raiſed up. Secondly the complement of it, God looſed withall the pains of death. Thirdly the neceſſity of it, for it was not poſſible that He ſhould be holden of death. He humbled himſelf, and became obedient to death, therefore He was raiſed up: He undertook the death of the Croſs, being faſt bound in miſery and iron; but as faſt as they bound him God looſed him from thoſe pains: neither were theſe things arbitrary, accidental, obnoxious to any human impediment, but contrived and fixed by Gods inevitable Decree, ought not Chriſt to ſuffer, and ſo to enter into his glory, ſays the mouth of truth and wiſdom? There is an oportuit upon both, he muſt ſuffer, and he muſt overcome thoſe ſufferings. Oportuit, the former muſt be, and it was impoſſible he ſhould fail of the latter. Or you compoſe this Text with the Points of the former Text, immediately connexed with it, and ſee the amends made by Gods mercy for the Jews fury. Ye have ſlain that holy one, ſays the Apoſtle; but what follows? God hath raiſed him up. Ye have taken and crucified him, but ſee the alteration, God hath looſened all the pains and pangs of death: He muſt not eſcape your hands, it was permitted unto you from above, he was delivered by the determinate counſel and foreknowledge of God: And he muſt eſcape all his ghoſtly enemies, ſin, and death, and hell, for it was impoſſible he ſhould be holden of them.
Whom God hath raiſed up. Since the world began there was never any thing oppoſed ſo much as this, that Chriſt roſe again the third day according to the Scriptures. For what ſhall we think of others, when the Apoſtles of our Lord did not only ſuſpend their belief when tidings were brought of it, but with ſome diſdain rejected it? For when Mary Magdalen, and Joanna, and Mary the Mother of James did tell the Eleven what the Angel had teſtified, their words ſeemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not, Luc. xxiv. 11. Nay, when Chriſt had appeared to ten of that company, Thomas only being out of the way, they could not all perſwade him that they had ſeen the Lord alive. Was ever any Tenet of faith ſo difficultly received even into the hearts of the beſt men? Then you may be ſure that when this good ſeed fell into worſe ſoil it was miſerably choaked with thorns. A ſudden and a ſtrong Faction combined againſt it inſtantly after it began to ſound abroad, Acts iv. 2. The Prieſts, and the Captain of the Temple, and the Sadduces were grieved at no other part of their doctrine but this, That they taught the people, and preached through Jeſus the reſurrection of the dead. Joſephus ſays, that as long as the Sadduces continued, till they were all deſtroyed, they became as horrid, and ſavage as beaſts in cruelty, raging againſt thoſe that affirmed the immortality of ſoul and body. When that Doctrine ſpread it ſelf abroad, and came to the Philoſophers of Athens, Some cenſured Paul for a babler, ſome for a ſetter forth of ſtrange Gods, Acts xvii. 18. And St. Chryſoſtome ſays upon it, that Anaſtaſia, which ſignifies the Reſurrection, was accounted a God which the Chriſtians only worſhipped. The ſame Paul opening the knowledge of the Goſpel before Feſtus and King Agrippa, that Chriſt ſhould ſuffer, and that he ſhould be the firſt that ſhould riſe from the dead; Feſtus broke out in reviling at that paſſage, Paul thou art beſide thy ſelf, much learning doth make thee mad. I would the oppoſition had gone no further, but St. Auſtin and Epiphanius in their Catalogues of Hereticks rehearſe more Adverſaries againſt the Reſurrection of Chriſt than any other doctrinal Point that concerns our Salvation. Simon Magus wrote many books againſt it. Baſilides, a venemous Dogmatiſt, taught that Chriſt as he was led to be crucified vaniſhed away by Art and Praeſtigiation, and that Simon of Cyrene, who bore his Croſs ſome part of the way, was put to death in his ſtead, but that Jeſus did never die, and therefore was never raiſed from the dead. The droſs of ſo many Hereſies was ſtained through theſe wicked wits, that the Church might enjoy truth more triumphantly after ſuch great reſiſtance.
Acts 26.8But let me go on with the Apoſtles queſtion, Why ſhould it be thought a thing incredible with you that God ſhould raiſe the Dead? He that created the ſoul and body of nothing, doth it not appear much eaſier to him to joyn them together again in one ſubſtance when they are ſeparated? Finemque potentia coeli non habet, & ſuperi quicquid voluere peractum eſt. To expound that Heathen Poet by our Heavenly Poet, Whatſoever the Lord pleaſed, that did he in heaven, in earth, in the ſea, and in all deep places. He that will conſider how every day is renewed after the night hath overcaſt it by the dawning of a new morning; how every year is renewed, after the cold and darkneſs of Winter, by the return and advancement of the Sun; how the naked Trees reflouriſh by the Vegetative vertue of the Spring; how Flies, and Moths, and the brood of the Silk-worm have no motion, no quickneſs, no token of life in them for many months together, and yet inſtantly quicken again when the warmth of the Sun beams do cheriſh them: Finally, to end in that chief inſtance, for the Scripture hath made it ſo, how the ſeed of Corn falls into the ground and dies, and then revives again, and brings forth much fruit; he that puts all this together rationally will more eaſily conſent, that it is not improbable that God will ſhew more wonderful ſigns of his workmanſhip in man, being next under the Angels the beauty of all his Creatures. An unwiſe man doth not mark this, as the Pſalmiſt ſaid, and a fool doth not underſtand it. St. Auſtin ſays that Tully in his 3. lib. de Repub. diſputed againſt the reuniting of ſoul and body. His Argument was, To what end?Civ. Dei. lib. 22. c 4. Where ſhould they remain together? For a body cannot be aſſumed into heaven. I believe God cauſed thoſe famous monuments of his Wit to periſh, becauſe of ſuch impious opinions wherewith they were farced. But to his ſlender Argument, the body raiſed up ſhall have ſhaken off all malignancy of fleſh and bloud, which made it unfit for heaven. And when it is become a glorious body, why not a body inhabit heaven as well as a ſpiritual coeleſtial ſoul converſe upon earth? But Plato was more Theological than Tully, and he taught very truly, that ſouls could not remain ſeparated for ever without their bodies. And though he put not a reaſon to his opinion, there is a very ſufficient one, Poſſe perficere materiam eſt animae hominis eſſentiale. Biel. lib. 2. Senten. c. 2.It is the eſſential difference, for ought we know, between the Spirit of a man and an Angel who is a ſpiritual ſubſtance, that mans ſoul hath an aptitude, a deſire, a natural reference to inform, and actuate a body, and ſo hath not an Angel. Therefore it cannot be that this natural aptitude to dwell in fleſh ſhould be in it unto all eternity, when it is ſeparated from the body, and never be ſatisfied.
Perhaps ſome will think that this labour may be ſpared to ſhew the poſſibility of a body to be raiſed from the dead, for here is that power in act, it is done, it is manifeſted in Chriſt, it cannot be controuled, Whom God hath raiſed up. Some have wondred at our Saviour for his Birth, his obedience to his Parents, his Poverty, his Paſſion, that he ſhould humble himſelf ſo far; but no man can take hold of any occaſion to wonder why he ſhould be raiſed from the dead, and glorified ſo far! It was conformable to the eternal juſtice of his Father to exalt him that had humbled himſelf ſo much; Lowlineſs ſhall not always be left in the duſt to be deſpiſed. Therefore ſome of the ancient Writers make thoſe words by Analogy to ſuit with Chriſt, Pſal cxxxix. 2. Thou knoweſt my down-ſitting, and mine up-riſing. And that of Micah in the ſame Key, Chap. vii. 8. Rejoyce not againſt me O mine enemy, when I fall I ſhall ariſe. Obedience and patience ſhall not be forgotten at laſt. Every Valley that ſubjecteth it ſelf under the mighty hand of God ſhall be exalted. Jeſus Chriſt though he was crucified through weakneſs, yet he liveth by the power of God, 2 Cor. xiii. 4. Secondly, Satan muſt make this reſtitution for the wrong that he had done to an innocent. Death had dominion no further than ſin did reign, ſo that it was a moſt unjuſt uſurpation in death to ſeize upon him who knew no ſin; the Devil ſet on his Inſtruments to kill our Lord, and prevailed, but Hell and the Grave muſt needs regorge that which they had ſo unjuſtly received. That eternal Law which hath deſtined moſt ſeveral retributions to the pure and impure, would not ſuffer that he ſhould continue in death, whoſe ſoul was pure, and his body undefiled. The Reſurrection of us ſinners is out of grace and mercy, the Reſurrection of Chriſt is out of merit and juſtice. Both ſhall ariſe alike, as St. Auſtin ſays, Similiter ſurgent corpora, quae diſſimiliter orta ſunt, Chriſti, Adami, noſtrum. Auguſt. Ep. 49.Bodies that were diverſly framed and made as Chriſts, and Adams, and ours, ſhall not riſe after a divers manner, but have the ſame kind of Reſurrection. Yet the excellency of the head is above the members, (for though the head and members are conformable in nature, yet they are not in vertue.) Therefore I bring it home to my ſecond reaſon that God is pleaſed in his loving kindneſs that we ſhould overcome death, but he conſented to his own juſtice that Chriſt ſhould overcome death for Satan muſt make reſtitution again becauſe he had ſlain an innocent. That is the ſecond reaſon upon the main, whom God hath raiſed up.
Thirdly, As God hath turned the ſting of death to our benefit, ſo, much more out of the Reſurrection of his Son he hath given us a ſalve of conſolation. For if his humility and reproach were our bleſſing, how much more his glory? Death is two ways aboliſhed, firſt, by the pardoning of our ſins, for it is now become the paſſage to heaven for all penitent ſinners, which before was the gate of hell for all tranſgreſſors. Secondly, It is much more aboliſhed by the Reſurrection, evacuating all that mortality had cauſed by the reſtauration of ſoul and body into an integral compoſition. We have three grand enemies combined together againſt us, Sin, and Death, and Hell: But through the happy victory of Chriſt of all theſe Enemies Death doth leaſt harm, and therefore of all our Enemies he is laſt deſtroyed. Among the Heathen death was their foreign, the moſt amating terror that could be ſet before a man, the reaſon, for they knew neither how that loſs ſhould ever be repaired, nor what entertainment their Spirit ſhould find in another world when it was departed. But God hath provided better things for us, not to let us fluctuate in theſe fears and uncertainties: Nay, we are enlightened to know, that the malediction which was in death is extinguiſhed, how that which was at firſt inflicted as an entrance into perpetual pain is now a reſt from all our labours, Rev. xiv. Furthermore, that it is a reſt from ſin, for while we draw in our breath we ſuck in iniquity, grace doth mitigate our pronity to evil, nothing but death will quite ſtop and repreſs ſin in us, the wiſdom of God providing, that as ſin brought death into the world, ſo death ſhould utterly aboliſh ſin out of the world. So death diſſolves the works of the Devil, but the Reſurrection diſſolves the works of death. It is the laſt thing that the Saints deſire of God to be cloathed again. With that requeſt being heard they leave wiſhing, and the end of all deſires muſt be the crown and top of all felicity. Finally, to bring it home to the Perſon of Chriſt, whom God raiſed up, much was our benefit by his Death, but much more by his Reſurrection. For lay theſe two in compariſon together, to be eaſed of miſery, and to be brought into a ſtate of joy and gladneſs: Is not the addition of ſome good thing more thanks-worthy than the taking away of ſome evil? Why, thus it ſtands with thoſe two bleſſings which our Saviour obtained for us, they are the words of St. Auſtin I think, Sicut humiliatus eſt moriendo ut nos liberaret à malis, ita glorificatus eſt reſurgendo ut nos promoveret ad bona. As he was humbled unto death to deliver us from the evil of death, ſo he was glorified by riſing again that he might bring us to happineſs and glory.
And of this great work of raiſing up enough at this once, this being the tenth of theſe Eaſter Feſtivals wherein I have ſpoken upon the ſame Argument and occaſion before you. Yet I have a little to add before I leave this firſt Point touching the Agent, and the Patient. God was the Author of this great work, and Chriſt in his own body returned again to life, whom God raiſed up. May not the Power and Majeſty of Chriſt ſeem to ſuffer in this, that St. Peter ſays, God raiſed him up? For our Saviour did often give the Jews to know, that he would raiſe himſelf again from the dead on the third day, Deſtroy this Temple, and I will raiſe it up again in three days, Joh. ii. 19. And without any Parabolical ſpeech, Joh. x. 18. No man taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of my ſelf, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. Why then doth not the Apoſtle clearly attribute unto him, that he was the Author of his own Reſurrection? Becauſe he ſpake of his Humane Nature firſt impotently obnoxious to Paſſion, and then powerfully reſtored to life. The Omnipotent vertue to revoke the ſoul into the body again was in the Divinity of Chriſt, not in his Humane Nature. Therefore Chriſt declareth in thoſe words of St. John, that it is not in the power of man to reſerve the ſoul in the body when the pangs of death are upon it; but for his own part, though deadly wounds ſhould be gaſhed in his body, yet he had power through the union of his Godhead to ſtay his life, and not to lay it down. Likewiſe it is far from the ability of man to re-unite his Spirit to his Fleſh when it is ſeparated, but the Divinity of our Saviour kept perſonal union with the body in the Grave, and with the ſoul when it is flown away, therefore he could bring them together again to remain in incorruption; the ancient ſimilitude was,Tolet in 10. Jo. As a man that draws a Sword out of a Scabbard holds the Sword in one hand, and the Scabbard in another: So the Soul was unſheathed from the body, but the Divine Nature held perſonal union with them both. And as the Weapon is fit to be put into the Caſe that held it, yet it cannot ſheath it ſelf without the hand of the Ownor thruſt it in: So the Soul of Chriſt was reſtored again to the body, not by any vertue, or activity in the humane ſoul, but by the Power of God. Chriſt was made like unto other men in all things, ſin only excepted, and re-made,Lib. 3. hereſ. c. 20. or raiſed up like other men. Si homo non viciſſet inimicum hominis, non juſtè victus eſſet, ſays Irenaeus; The Enemy of man was overcome by a man, elſe he would have clamoured that he was overcome by Power and not by Juſtice. Therefore St. Paul, to let us know that Chriſt was left in death as man to be raiſed up,1 Cor. 15.21. ſays he, As by man came death, by man came alſo the reſurrection of the dead.
Him God raiſed up, him, that man Chriſt Jeſus that was crucified, the ſelf-ſame body, let me touch upon that, and then I will go on to new matter. The Reſurrection of our Lord is the Samplar of ours, that very ſame material Fleſh that died was revived again in him, and ſo it ſhall be in us. The impious Socinians, the laſt and one of the worſt and moſt peſtilent Sects that ever was in the Church, teach that we are not bound to believe it as an Article of Faith that we ſhall riſe again in our own bodies. Why then the ſame dead ſhall not riſe again, for if they want one eſſential part, and the matter is one eſſential part of our compoſition, it is not the ſame man. Matter is the principle of individuation, or numerical diſtinction ſay the Metaphyſicks. And the old Pythagoraeans could not deny in their Paradox of foreign, if one mans ſoul came by many tranſmigrations into another mans body, it was another man. But leave we the help of humane reaſon, though that be ſtrong on our ſide, and come to Divinity. All the Enſamples or Preludiums of the Reſurrection both in Old and New Teſtament were of ſuch as had life reſtored to them in their own body, the Shunamites Child, the Widows Son, Lazarus the Brother of Mary and Martha, the Saints that came out of their Graves in the holy City, and Chriſt himſelf that came out of the Sepulchre. And let any equal Auditor judge if Job were not an Anti-Socinian, Job xix. 26. Though after my skin worms deſtroy this body, yet in my fleſh ſhall I ſee God, whom I ſhall behold for my ſelf, and mine eyes ſhall ſee, and not another. And is it not equity, that the righteous in the ſame body wherein they have worſhipped God they ſhall be glorified, that the wicked in the ſame body wherein they have luſted after evil things they ſhall be puniſhed? I will name no Fathers to Patronize this cauſe, for all concur with one voice, that as God raiſed up Chriſt, ſo he will raiſe us up in our own bodies.
With the Reſurrection of our Saviour, which I have handled hitherto in the firſt part of my Text, there is adjoyned in the next place the Complement of his Reſurrection, the full weight and excellency of it, having looſed the pains of death. Solutis doloribus inferni, having looſed the pains of hell, ſo the vulgar Latine; and I will now go over the divers interpretations of both readings. The firſt, which is the reading of our Tranſlation is the right and beſt, therefore I will begin with that. Firſt, St. Chryſoſtomes judgment upon it is, that when Chriſt came out of the Grave death it ſelf was delivered from pain and anxiety, foreign, death knew it held him captive whom it ought not to have ſeized upon, and therefore it ſuffered torments like a woman in travel, till it had given him up again. Thus he. But the Scripture elſewhere teſtifies that death was put to ſorrow, becauſe it had loſt its ſting, rather than releaſed from ſorrow by our Saviours Reſurrection. Secondly, Cajetan underſtands by the looſening of the pains of death, the undoing or taking off thoſe penalties which he ſuffered in triduo mortis, in thoſe three days while he lay aſleep in the Sepulchre. But what penalties are thoſe in his conſtruction? Why one thing irkſom unto him was that the body and ſoul ſhould be divided in ſunder, the other that the very place of hell, to which his ſoul deſcended is in it ſelf ordained for torment? Et mora in inferno erat paena infamiae, as another ſaid, any ſtay or delay in hell was a derogation to his honour: and for the body reſting in the Grave, though then it have no ſenſe of ſmart, yet for that while it is ſub mortis victoriâ & imperio, under the charge and Empire of death. There is ſomewhat near to truth in this Expoſition, as I will manifeſt by and by, and ſomewhat clean miſtaken. For all the ſorrow and puniſhment of Chriſt was finiſhed in his death, that was the conſummation of all his penal ſufferings. Wherefore his body was not kept in the Grave, much leſs his ſoul made progreſs to Hell, to bear any penalty, revenge, or ſorrow for our ſakes, or to ſatisfie for our ſins, but to fulfill all righteouſneſs, to confirm our faith that he was truly dead, and to captivate the Devil. Therefore his Reſurrection did not cut off or mitigate any ſorrows which he ſuſtained in death, I cannot conſent to Cajetan if he mean the contrary. But if he take not ſorrows in a proper ſignification, but Metaphorically for the bands of death, as the Syrian Paraphraſt reads it, Solvens funes mortis, looſening the cords or twiſts of death, ſo I think it to be the very marrow and true ſenſe of the Text, that God raiſed up his Son, not Chriſt, but God, the ſenſe continuing in the ſame perſon, having looſened or unbound him from that death wherein he was detained three days.
But if it agree to the Perſon of Chriſt, that he looſed the pains of death, though it be a little violence to Grammer, me thinks then thirdly it comes to this interpretation, that Chriſt had paid, (you know that is ſolvere too) he had undergone, he had ſatisfied the pains of death, or a moſt painful death. So Beza ſays it may be taken here, Dolores mortis pro morte dolorum; The pains of death, for a death full of pains, even all that ſpight and malice could wreck upon him, Andradius likewiſe in his defence of the Tridentine Faith agrees with Beza, that Chriſt after he had given up the Ghoſt, and paid the debt of Nature upon the Croſs, was acquitted or exempted from the ſorrows of death, that is, from a death full of ſorrows, ſorrows that were not only deeply impreſſed into the body, as far as whips, and thorns, and nails could reach, but exceeding anguiſh and pain of mind, ſighs and horrors that we can not conceive: Thus far only we may peep into it, that God was repreſented to him moſt …ngry at our ſins, that He felt the malediction of his wrath lying upon him for our ſakes, eſpecially that He was troubled to ſhed his bloud for ſo many ungrateful wretches that had no regard of it; theſe were the ſorrows of death that compaſſed him about; but that He ſhould put on the horror of our guiltineſs ſo far, and ſuppoſe himſelf to ſtand in our perſon at his Fathers Tribunal, even to the forgetting of himſelf, to the confuſion of his reaſon, to the pangs of deſperation, as if He felt hell about him, whatſoever a grave and worthy Author ſays to this point upon my Text, and in other places, I draw my conſent from it. Exceeding ſorrows both of body and mind gat hold of him, but they were looſened and finiſhed upon the Croſs. But will ſome man ſay, why doth St. Luke ſpeak of theſe in order after his Reſurrection? I anſwer, that Chriſt ſatisfied the wrath of God to the full upon the Croſs, and paid that debt for which He was our ſurety, to the utmoſt farthing: Thereby He looſed the deadly ſorrows, yet it did not appear ſo well that He had looſed thoſe ſorrows, till the time He roſe from the dead, therefore the victory over thoſe ſorrows being eſtated as it were in his riſing again, St. Luke aſcribes it to his reſurrection. I have not ſpared you ſee to open this third and moſt common opinion unto you; yet I rather ſatisfie my ſelf in this Interpretation, that as it was Gods work to raiſe up Chriſt, ſo it was his act to looſe the pains of death, ſolvere i. e. irritum reddere, all that the pains and ſharpneſs of death could do was to divorce his Soul from his Body, and God did fruſtrate and diſſolve all that by uniting them again in the Reſurrection.
And according to this true reading of the words which I have hitherto beaten upon the Expoſitions are eaſie and full of conſolation; full of conſolation I ſay; for neither could the Scripture ſay that the ſorrows of death were all paid, neither had it been poſſible for Chriſt to have got out of the Grave, if there had been any one ſin, though the leaſt in the world unſatisfied. The other reading is ſtrange to the Original, yet admitted by all them that are bound even to the errors of the vulgar Latin Tranſlation, and often quoted and cited for great authority in ſome Controverſies, ſolvens dolores inferni, having looſed the pains of Hell. 'Tis true that Irenaeus and ſome others of good credit of old do uſe the ſame; and our Criticks tell us of one antient Greek Copy that concurrs with them; and a learned Biſhop of our own Church reconciles the ſeeming difference on this wiſe, that by death in that place is meant, not the firſt but the ſecond Death; the ſecond Death you know is eternal puniſhment in Hell fire, and in his opinion it comes all to one paſs to ſay, having looſed the ſorrows of death, and having looſed the ſorrows of hell. This will be examined by and by: but firſt I will premiſe how ſome have blundered themſelves in this reading.
Ep. 99.St. Auſtin in that famous Epiſtle of his to Evodius, propounds it, though very faintly, that it is not improbable that the Soul of Chriſt went into Hell in triduo mortis, and carried away with him ſome that were there tormented; and if none other were releaſed, yet at leaſt Adam was: If the Father can be expounded to mean that Chriſt blotted out the hand-writing againſt us, harrowed Hell, and took away all power from it againſt penitent ſinners, and ſo preſerved Adam and other juſt men from that place of torment, his Judgment is right; but if his Sentence be flat for the other meaning, that any of the damned were redeemed of thoſe pains, that ſo he looſed the ſorrows of Hell, then we forbear to give him credit. But you ſhall hear him in the right anon. Secondly there are more than many that think they have found their ſo much contended for fire of Purgatory in my Text: for neither the Schoolmen, nor almoſt any other of the Church of Rome do take the word Hell in the Creed properly and litterally as they ought, for the Hell of the Damned, it is their Doctrine that Chriſt went virtually thither, but not locally; no in their common Tenent he deſcended but to the Limbus of the Fathers, or to the place of temporal ſorrows, where ſome were deteined for a while for the ſatisfaction of ſome venial ſins. Therefore Bellarmine having laid his concluſion at firſt that Chriſt deſcended to the nethermoſt Hell, afterward went from it, and held with their common way, that in his ſubſtantial preſence he went at the moſt no further than Purgatory. This Pill being commonly ſwallowed among men, it purgeth this fancy out of divers of their Authors, that Chriſt redeemed not the damned out of Hell, but He releaſed many by a Plenary Indulgence out of Purgatory. This is nothing elſe but to make the Scriptures chime according to that idle conceit that runs in their brains. And thirdly Aquinas ſhuts this opinion out of doors to take in another, to wit, that to looſe the pains of Hell, was to looſe the pains of the Patriarchs and Fathers, who were ſequeſtred in a Receptacle of eaſe, but not admitted into any joys of Heaven till Chriſt had firſt aſcended: but what pains had theſe that were to be mitigated, if they lived in quiet refreſhment, and in no pain at all? he anſwers that they were full of ſadneſs and affliction of mind, becauſe their deliverance was ſo long ſtopt, and Chriſt ſtaid ſo long before He came in the fleſh to releaſe them. But I rejoyn, if they were in ſuch a ſtate as they deſcribe, dato non conceſſo, they might be full of deſire and expectation, but without any moleſtation or anxiety. All theſe opinions which I have rankt formoſt, as they miſs the meaning of the Text, ſo neither are they right according to analogie of faith.
But the laſt Paraphraſe of the words, though it rove from the meaning of the Text, yet it is ſound according to analogie of faith, 'tis thus that Chriſt looſed the ſorrows of Hell, not as if ever He had felt the ſorrows of Hell in himſelf, and ſhook them off, but He ſubdued Satan for our ſakes,Ep. praedi…. and delivered us from thoſe pains, with which we ſhould have been held and captivated. And herein St. Auſtin ſpeaks to this point moſt intelligently, that it is eaſie to underſtand how theſe ſorrows were looſed to ſet us free, quemadmodum ſolvi poſſunt laquei venantium ne teneant, non quia tenuerunt; as the ſnares of Hunters may be untied, not to redeem that which is caught, but that they may never catch any thing. No man will ever deny but that we may be as well delivered from that torment which is deſerved, as from that which is inflicted, and to prevent the Devil that he ſhould not tyranniſe over us, is to looſe and break in ſunder the fetters that he had prepared for us, and enough to make us confeſs with David, Thou haſt brought my ſoul out of hell, thou haſt kept my life from them that go down into the pit. The three headed Monſter that fights againſt us is the ſtrength of Sin, and Death, and Hell put together: Sin muſt not reign, Death muſt no more ſever Soul and Body, Hell muſt have no power to receive and torment us, all theſe muſt be vanquiſhed, or elſe Satans Kingdom is not quite deſtroyed: and Chriſt ſubdued them all: but the greateſt and moſt perfect Conqueſt that He made, whereof we moſt triumph in this life is, that He overcame Hell, or looſened the ſorrows of Hell: For Sin doth remain in us here, though the force be broken; Death alſo prevails againſt our body, though it ſhall be but for a time; but here is the fulneſs of our Redemption, and of Chriſts Victory, that Hell is abſolutely conquered, and ſhall never lay hold of them that believe.
And I muſt go one ſtep further with them that follow this interpretation, wherein my judgment favours them for true Doctrine, that Chriſt did locally go down into Hell, when He looſed the ſorrows of Hell for his Elects ſake.Lib. de An. cap. 55. Chriſtus inferos adiit ne nos adiremus, ſays Tertullian; Chriſt went into Hell that we might never come thither: and Fulgentius is a great light to this Article of the Creed.De Paſ. Dom. lib 3. It was fit that the Son of God being without ſin ſhould deſcend as far as man had faln by ſin, and ſo He freed all the faithful of the world from the beginning to the end, that they ſhould never come thither. I will fill the Scale with no more authorities than St. Auſtin's, this is his Sentence, it was convenient that Chriſt ſhould deſcend into Hell to procure us freedom from Hell; as it behoved him to die, and to riſe again the third day, that we might not die for ever, but riſe from death. Some that affect not this way of Chriſts local deſcending into Hell, rejoyn thus, that no man denies but Chriſt delivered us from the power of darkneſs, and that He ſpoiled Principalities and Powers,Coloſ. 1.13.2.15. and made a ſhew of them openly; but it is not certain by what means this was done, by his Divinity, or by his Humanity, or both; by the vertue of his Sufferings, Death, Burial, Reſurrection, or by the real Deſcending of his Soul in that place: nay one Lutheran Confeſſion is not averſe to think that He went thither both in Body and Soul in the very moment of his Reſurrection.Confeſ, Suevica. art. 2. I believe by the penetration of the groſs body of the Earth they would bring in ſome ſuccour to help forward their Conſubſtantiation. The moſt equal way to try this is the expreſs Letter of the Scripture, the cleareſt expoſition of the Apoſtles Creed, and the greateſt conſonancy of reaſon.
The Teſtimonies of Scripture moſt firmly to be inſiſted on is Epheſ. iv. 9. That he aſcended, what is it but that he firſt deſcended into the loweſt parts of the earth I know this may well be expounded, that Chriſt was humbled to be a man upon earth in the form of a Servant But if the learned and pious Fathers that were of old may be the Judges of the interpretation: And who fitter? the loweſt parts of the earth are the nethermoſt Hell. Beza hath cited a parallel place out of the Pſalms to make theſe words of the Apoſtle agree unto the Incarnation of our Lord, Pſal. cxxxix. 15. My ſubſtance was hidden from thee, and curiouſly wrought in the loweſt parts of the earth: But St. Paul doth not uſe to obſcure plain Doctrin with ſtrange Poetical Phraſes: and Eſtius hath requited Beza with another place out of the Pſalms to confirm my Doctrin, Pſal. lxiii. 9. Thoſe that ſeek my Soul to deſtroy it ſhall go into the lower parts of the earth; that is, the enemies of the innocent ſhould go into the place of the damned: The other Teſtimony of Scripture, for I will preſs no more, is Pſal. xvi. 10. and rehearſed by St. Peter in this Chapter, Thou ſhalt not leave my Soul in hell, &c. What pains ſome men have taken, to no fruitful end that I know, to make theſe words bear any ſenſe rather than that which is literal; no man that marks their diligence muſt deny, but the Soul in divers Authors is taken for the Body, and Hell for the Grave, and ſo they patch it up, Thou wilt not leave my life in the Sepulcher: but why ſhould literal Scripture be ſo eluded? St. Auſtins rule is, that when the literal ſenſe of the Text ſounds ſomewhat that is ſinful or impoſſible, then diſcreet and learned Interpretations muſt mollifie the letter: but it is not to be ſuffered, where good divinity is conteined in the letter, as there is in this: the meaning is, as no fleſh in the Sepulcher was ever free from corruption but only Chriſts, ſo no Soul in Hell was ever ſupported and aſſiſted by God, and not forſaken, but only Chriſts. So Fulgentius moſt divinely, anima immunis à peccato non erat ſubdenda ſupplicio, & carnem ſine peccato non debuit vitiare corruptio: Chriſts Soul knowing no ſin, went not to Hell to pay any debt of puniſhment, for an innocent could not be obnoxious to thoſe flames and torments; and his Body never executing any evil act, could not be tainted with corruption and putrefaction. Is it not therefore conſonant to reaſon to ſtick to the letter of Scripture, when it bears an Orthodox expoſition of faith: and whether we ſay that Chriſt being free among the dead, to walk whither he would, his Soul being ſeparated in death firſt ſhewed it ſelf to the Saints in Joy to their exceeding comfort, then to the Unbelievers in Hell to their woe and confuſion; or whether we ſay He deſcended, that ſuch as believed may never be thruſt into that infernal Priſon, or rather that He brought his triumph over death with him before the face of Hell, and brought thoſe unruly ſpirits under his yoke, entred upon the ſtrong mans houſe, and ſpoiled his houſe, as it is in the Parable Matth. xii. All theſe ways are agreeable to Gods word, and to be admitted without contention.
Thus far upon Scripture attended by reaſon. Indeed Stapleton ſays, that two Articles of the Creed are not to be found in Scripture, this of Chriſts deſcent in to Hell, the other of the Catholick Church. I confeſs in his ſenſe they are not to be found in Scripture, but in ours they are. But laſt of all attend what light the very Creed it ſelf will give to the confirmation of this Doctrin. The ground that a learned Father of our own Church lays I take to be moſt rational. Thus take theſe words properly and not figuratively, as it is fit in a ſhort abſtract of faith; next let them have a ſenſe different in matter from all other Articles, or elſe they were a ſuperfluous repetition; then let every Article keep a true conſequent order of time one after another, or elſe it would make a ſtrange confuſion, and all other Expoſitions will give place. Some of the Romiſh and ſome of our own part have taught, that when Chriſt was crucified he ſuſteined the pains of Hell: but obſerve againſt them how this Article ſhould come in moſt prepoſterouſly after his death and burial, which was in time before. Others make this ſenſe of it, that he was dead, and deteined in death; others to be no more but that he was buried; but according to theſe opinions there ſhall neither be property of phraſe, nor difference of matter in this Article from them that went before. To be dead and buried are as plain ſpeeches as be in all the Creed, and ſhould theſe be explained by an enigmatical Phraſe to deſcend into Hell, rather to obſcure than to explain the former. Obſerve how our Church of England hath differenced it from death and burial, art. 3. As Chriſt died for us, and was buried, ſo alſo it is believed (mark, that's another point) that He went down into Hell. And the thirtieth Article of the Church of Ireland doth not ſatisfie me, that this line is in one comma, I know not whether by the negligence of the Printer, He was buried and deſcended into Hell.
I cannot come to the third part of my Text, and I have done as much as the time will permit upon the ſecond; only let me add, let weak capacities be no ways diſcomforted, though they cannot explicitly underſtand the meaning of this controverted Article of the Creed, Chriſts deſcending into Hell: they muſt believe that Chriſt vanquiſhed the Devil for our ſakes, that's neceſſary both for their comfort and ſalvation. And all Articles of Faith are not equally neceſſary and fundamental. Gregory Valenza, and many others, I think not imprudently, hold that the main and neceſſary points for unlearned ſimple people to believe, are the great works of God remembred in the principal Feaſts of the year, Chriſts Nativity, his Paſſion, Reſurrection, Aſcenſion into Heaven, and the coming of the Holy Ghoſt. And though this Article of the Deſcent into Hell contein an excellent myſtery of Faith, yet it comes not near the excellent knowledg and uſe of the former. Suarez the Jeſuit writes confidently, that if by an Article of Faith we underſtand a Truth which all faithful people are bound explicitly to believe, ſo he did not think it neceſſary to reckon it among the Articles of Faith. The Nicene Creed in our Common-prayer Book hath left it out. Ruffinus ſays that after 400 years it came into the Latin Church, and like enough, for St. Auſtin expounds the Creed five times, and Chryſologus of Ravenna, ann. 440. ſix times and never glance it. For that Creed called the Apoſtles, was not ſo drawn up by the Apoſtles, for ought we can find in good antiquity, but called ſo becauſe it conteins the ſum of all Apoſtolical Doctrin: one part of it was laid too after another, and this I believe was the laſt addition of all. Therefore it is a main arm of faith, that Chriſt looſed the ſorrows of death, and a Truth it is no doubt, though not of ſuch prime conſequence, that He deſcended into Hell to looſe thoſe ſorrows for our liberty: but the main Pillar of Faith is the firſt Comma of my Text, that God raiſed up Jeſus from death, and it was impoſſible He ſhould be holden of it. AMEN.