lectures, UPON THE HISTORY OF THE PASSION, RESURRECTION, AND ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. Beginning at the eighteenth Chapter of the Gospel, according to S. JOHN, and from the 16. verse of the 19 Chapter thereof, containing a perfect Harmony of all the four Evangelists, for the better understanding of all the Circumstances of the LORDS death, and Resurrection.  
PREACHED BY THAT reverend and faithful servant of God, Mr. ROBERT ROLLOCKE, sometime Minister of the evangel of JESUS CHRIST, and Rector of the College of EDINBURGH.  
EDINBURGH, Printed by ANDRO heart. ANNO 1616.   

TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL, THEIR MOST LOVING FRIEND IN THE LORD, MASTER WILLIAM SCOT, OF ELI, Grace in this life, and Everlasting Glory in the life to come.  
RIght worshipful, albeit that the true knowledge of Christ crucified, of all other, be the most worthy and excellent: & albeit that in him be the only and full matter of man's gloriation: yet few there be who strive to know him as they should, and to make him the matter of their rejoicing. For to speak nothing of the Gentiles, who count the preaching of Christ crucified to be foolishness, or of the jews who count it a stumbling block, 1. Cor. 1, 23. or of the Turks, who will not acknowledge him to be their Redeemer: even they who have been baptised in Christ, & profess outwardly his word, & true doctrine, if they remain in nature, & be not prevented by the spirit of adoption, whereby they may see their own misery, their sins, & the terrors of the wrath of God for sin, in the mean time that they profess Christ, they in heart scorn the Cross of Christ, his wounds, and his blood, they account the knowledge thereof of little value: yea, they will prefer to it the knowledge of any thing here beneath, and they will seek the matter of their gloriation not in it, but either in themselves, or else into the creatures of God, which in themselves are but transitorious shadows. The natural man will never think, that he can find greater things in Christ crucified, than he will find, if he obtain the object which most he desires, likes and longs for. The ambitious man will not think that he can get greater honour, than to be called the son of a King or Emperor: he will not refuse with Moses, to be called the son of Pharaoes' daughter, that he may be called the son of God, Heb. 11.24. The sensual man cannot think that he can find any greater pleasure, than in his sinful lust, & he will never choose, rather to suffer adversity with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin. The covetous man can never think, that any greater happiness can be, than here on earth to have gold, silver and treasures: he will never with Moses esteem the rebuke of Christ greater riches, than the treasures of Egypt. Only that man whom God prevents by his Spirit, and calls effectually from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, will account duly of the Cross of Christ, & will say with the Apostle, God forbidden that I should rejoice, but in the cross of our Lord jesus Christ, Gal. 6.14. and, I decreed not to know any thing, save jesus Christ, & him crucified, 1. Cor. 2.2: that man will call it the supereminent knowledge of jesus Christ, Philip. 3.8: & he only will make Christ crucified to be the matter of his gloriation: for he will see, that God in him, as in a storehouse hath placed all treasures, & that in him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily, Col. 2.9: he will thirst to be woompled in the wounds of jesus, and washed in the blood of jesus: yea, that man will see, that God hath manifested in Christ our Saviour, and in his death and resurrection his glorious properties more clearly, than in the work of our creation, or any other of his works whatsoever: (for he is called, the brightness of the glory, & the engraved form of the person of the Father, & the Image of the invisible God, Heb. 1.3.) and that man will see, that there is nothing, which the soul of man inlakes, stands in need of, or can desire, but he will find it in Christ. Wouldst thou see the glorious properties of God? consider first, his power: albeit in the work of creation his power appeared to be incomprehensible & omnipotent, when by his word he form all things of nothing, & called these things that are not, and made them to be yet in the work of the Redemption he manifested greater power: for notwithstanding Satan, the power of darkness, the sins of the Elect, which jesus bore, death and the grave were against him, yet powerfully he raised jesus from death, Eph. 1.19: there is a great power: and whereas in the Creation he form to Adam a spous out of his own rib: in the Redemption, he form the Church of God out of the blood of Christ: there he gave life, in commanding that to be which was not: here he gives life, not by life, but by death, & by the death even of his own Son. Albeit in the work of Creation great, and more than wonderful doth his wisdom appear, in making this glorious and beautiful fabric, & in making all things, even contraries, to agree in such an harmony: yet in the work of Redemption, God by finding out a way, which no creature, neither man nor Angel, could invent, how that justice and mercy could stand together, hath showed greater wisdom: his wisdom is such, that the Angels admires, and desires to look in it, 1. Pet. 1.22. Albeit great anger & wrath did the Lord utter many times against sinners: as in the old world by the Flood, and on Sodom & Gomorrhe, by raining from heaven brimstone and fire, he destroyed man, woman, young, old, rich and poor without exception: yet more clearly was his anger against sin seen, when for the sins of the Elect he spared not his own well beloved Son, on whom they were laid: but made his wrath so fearfully to pursue him, that he cried, My soul is very heavy, even unto the death, Marc. 14.34: and, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matt. 27.46. And albeit great love did the Lord show toward men, & gave many testimonies thereof, in giving them life, & breath, & all things, Act. 17.25, in making his sun to shine on them, his rain to fall on them, giving them fruitful seasons, & filling their hearts with food & gladness, Act. 14.17: yet never such love showed he, as when he sent the Son of God to be the Son of man, that the sons of men might be made the sons of God again: and when he made him to die, that men might live. Herein (says joh. 4.10) is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a reconciliation for our sins: here only is an incontrollable testimony of an undoubted love: and if ye will duly consider all the rest of God's glorious properties, ye shall find them all most clearly manifested in the person of jesus Christ. Now wouldst thou know that in him thou shalt find all things that the soul of man stands in need of, & can require? What can the soul of man require? Desirest thou honour? If thou believest in him, he shall grant thee that power & prerogative, that thou shalt be the Son of God, joh. 1.12. Desirest thou riches? He was made poor, that thou through his poverty mightest be made rich, 2. Cor. 8.9: not with transitory and corruptible riches, but with riches and treasures incorruptible & permanent: desirest thou food, meat, drink to thy soul? He is that bread of life, he is that water of life: desirest thou wisdom, sanctification and redemption? Christ is all these unto thee, 1. Cor. 1.29: joh. 8.12: Desirest thou light? He is the light of the world, joh. 8.12. Desirest thou life? He is thy life, Col. 3.4: What ever he suffered, it was for thee: for by his stripes we are healed, isaiah 53.5: He was burdened with shame, that he might redeem thee from shame, and clothe thee with glory: he was taken and bound, to set thee at liberty, who was bound with Satan and sin: he was mocked, and was dumb before the earthly judge, that thou whose mouth before was closed through the guilt of sin before God, might have boldness & peartnesse in thy prayers & supplications: he suffered-anguish and grief, that thou mightst find comfort & joy▪ he drank the gall, that thou mightst drink of a sweet and joyful cup: he was naked, that thou mightst be clothed: and if thou wilt go through all the points of his suffering, and apply them to thy broken and casten down soul, thou shalt find, that every one of them shall furnish comfort unto thee: yea, if thou be a true penitent sinner, & believest in him, thou shalt find all these miracles to be wrought and performed in thy soul, which ever the Lord in the days of his humiliy wrought on the body of any: thou shalt find life to thy dead soul, eyes to thy blind soul, ears to thy deaf soul, limbs to thy lame soul, a new tongue to thy dumb soul, etc. Therefore, as we should take pleasure & delight in reading the whole parts of the Scripture (for it is all by divine inspiration, & is profitable to teach, to convince, to correct, & to instruct in righteousness, 2. Tim. 3.16) so chief, that part which contains the history of the passion & resurrection of Christ: for of all there is none more profitable, none more necessary, none more easy to be understood by the simple, none more easy to be kept in memory, none more forcible to move the affections, either to admire the incomprehensible and infinite love of God toward sinners, or the fierceness of his wrath for sin, or the severity of his justice in seeking such exact satisfaction, or to move to detest & abhor sin, which made the Son of God to be made so unworthily always handled, & at last to be so shamefully crucified, or to rejoice for these incomprehensible benefits that Christ hath acquired to us, our effectual calling from the kingdom of darkness to his marvelous light, our justification in pacifying the wrath of God, in satisfying for sin, in absolving us from guiltiness, in dying that we might live, in bringing peace & joy to the conscience, etc. our sanctification, whereby we are repaired to his own Image. Nothing serves more for the mortification, nor when we consider how Christ hang upon the Cross for sin, nothing will move us more effectually to conform ourselves to him as an ensample in his humility▪ patience, obedience, love: & finally in offering ourselves to him, as he offered himself for us, nor when by faith we behold Christ on the Cross crucified for us.  
Now this history of the death & resurrection of Christ have many worthy men learnedly & comfortably handled & exponed with great painfulness, & no less commendation: amongst the rest, that reverent & faithful man of God, M. Robert Rollocke of blessed memory for his learned & judicious exposition thereof, & for his manifold other graces which God vouchsafed on him, deserves with the first to be commennded: for God in him, as in a vine ensample, gave us a show of such qualities & conditions, as are required to be in a Bishop of jesus Christ, 1. Tim. 3. In him learning & godliness strove together, knowledge & conscience, art & nature, a profession & an answerable conversation: he was faithful & painful in his calling, & his calling did he decore with an holy & harmless life: for between these two there was such an harmony & consent, that in reading his writings, any man might see the manner of his life: & in seeing his life, he might also therein read his writings: for his life spoke what his pen wrote & his person was a pattern of his written precepts: he was never idle, but ever doing the office of a Minister of jesus: either did he read, meditate, pray, comfort, preach or write: no travel did he refuse that he might glorify God, who sent him, enlarge the kingdom of jesus Christ, & acquire miserable souls from misery to felicity, from darkness to light, & from death to life, that so at last he might finish his course with joy: that was his meat & his drink, the delight & pleasure of his soul. Great graces did the Lord bestow upon him, excellent knowledge, great humility, fervent zeal, charitable interpreting of all men's doings, compassion toward all sorts of sinners. Who in conceiving was more quick? in judgement more solid? in memory more steadfast & sure? in delivery more pithy, in convincing more powerful? who with learning had greater facility & easiness in declaring his mind, & resolving the text of Scripture? greater clearness in raising the grounds of doctrine? greater power in applying, greater wisdom in furnishing consolation, & greater dexterity in losing of things obscure & doubtsome? In one word we may be bold to say of him, that which Nazianzene spoke of Athanasius, that his life was a good definition of a true Minister & preacher of the Gospel. But we need not to insist in praising him, seeing so many: even all that knew him by face, or heard him, do praise him for the singular & excellent virtues & graces, that God bestowed on him: yea, they who never knew him by face, but by his learned & judicious writings dwelling afar off, have highly commended him, & the posterity whose profit so much he regarded in his labours, we doubt not, shall know & praise him, and we had rather be silent, than to speak too little.  
Now, Sir, because we thought, that these Lectures on this history of the passion & resurrection of Christ in itself: for the matter so moving & alluring, would profit & edify many, if not of the most learned, at least, of the simple sort: & that other Sermons that were delivered by him, and set out by us of before, were well liked of by many, & that sundry hearing that they were in hands, longed to see them come to light, we have taken some pains in revising & correcting them, not only for the love & duty that we ought to that faithful & reverend Author of them, who was our master: but also that with the greater liking & profit they might be read by all them that desire to be edified. And what our pains herein hath been, few can well judge, but those who have been acquainted with such cases: we have endeavoured to give the true meaning of the Author clearly, to make his method plain: we have omitted many superfluous repetitions: we filled out unperfect sentences: we cleared things obscure: we rectified the sentences which were inverted: we endeavoured so far as was possible, to give out his own phrase, style and matter. As for the matter, this we may boldly affirm, that it is fully set down, and that it is as good at least, if it be not better than his Latin Commentary set forth by himself: yea, we doubt nothing, but the matter shall satisfy all men, who crave edification: but as for the phrase & style, we dare not say, that it will be found so absolute and exact in all things, as if it had been finished by himself, before he ended his course, neither as we would wish, and other men would require: And what marvel? seeing neither did he deliver them of purpose to be printed, neither did he ever see them thereafter, neither were they received by his Scholars upon that purpose: but only for the helping of their own memory: yea, and at the first time after, that upon your request, Sir, we took pains upon them, we found such hardness & imperfections, & that his own phrase & elegancy was not observed, that we feared to hazard the name and credit of the learned & judicious Author, who deserved so well of us, yea, of the whole Church of God, & had left off the work as unperfect, if the earnest request of you, & of some other of the learned, (whose judgements are to be reverenced) had not encouraged us thereto. Yet we trust, that the style shall not be much blamed, except by those, who being delicate eared, regards language more than matter: for there is here an easy method, with a familiar style condescending to the capacity of the meanest, & answerable to the matter entreated, to wit, the cross of Christ, which refuses to be decored with human eloquence, that the matter be not obscured by the style, but may appear above it, as oft time's M. Rollocke himself was wont to speak. Yea albeit it may be, that the style in some few of the first Sermons be somewhat hard and unpleasant, which we might easily have amended, if we had not thought it unmeet to have set out his matter in our words: yet if any will read forward: especially, from that part where the Harmony of all the Evangelists is taken in, & all the four are in such sort conferred together, that no circumstance of the history of Christ's death & resurrection is omitted, he shall ever find more & more contentment in all things. And as we have taken pains for the profit & edification of many: so we doubt not, but the success & event shall answer to our desire. For to speak nothing of the history itself, which is so pleasant, sweet, plain, easy & forcible to move all the affections of the soul: here ye will find, how every clause & sentence of every one of the evangelists are linked together, & depend one upon another; according to the order of nature: here ye will see a plain and an easy method: here ye will see how clearly the doctrine resultes off the doctrine laid down: here ye will see fit applications to these times: & here ye will see, when occasion offers, how the enemies of the truth of God, are pithily convinced and confuted.  
And now, if we would presume to dedicate this work & our labours therein to any other than to you, Sir, whose deservings have been so great, both towards the Author himself, & us also, we might be justly blamed, and could have no show of reasonable excuse: for first, who knew M. Robert Rollocke, but they also knew what entire affection you carried towards him, & how careful you were in all things to please him: even from the time that first your acquaintance began, till the time that he finished his course: none loved him more tenderly, none used him more familiarly, none delighted more to confer with him privately, & to hear his preachings publicly, none showed greater gratitude towards him: for it was known by many, that it would have been your pleasure, if from your hand he would have received a testimony of your love, as a fruit of your faith wrought by his ministery: yea, he himself did acknowledge, that none was to be compared with you for gratitude & goodwill towards him: but chief, you declared your love towards him▪ when in his last disease you would have him to come to your house, where you entertained him (& for his cause many that came to visit him) liberally & honourably to his last breath, without any regard of expenses, even as a loving son entertaineth his father. Next, seeing the will of the Testator should be sacred & inviolable: & in his testament he ordained, that whatsoever of his works should see the light thereafter, should be dedicated to you, with these solemn words, expressly dyted by himself, GULIELMO SCOTO in perpetuum testimonium amicitiae nostrae dedico, consecróque (that where ever his works were read, your kindness & affection towards him might be known, & your memorial might endure to the posterity) who can justly be offended, that this work be dedicated unto you? who can envy your praise herein? thirdly, if there were no more, this one cause may be more than sufficient, to make this work to come out under your patronage & protection, that you have been the only instrument to make it to see the light: for through your great care, earnest endeavour & large expenses these Lectures were collected & gathered from all the parts of the Country, East, West, South, North, how far distant that ever they were, from the hands of his scholars, who wrote them from his mouth: by your dealing & procurement they were written over and over again, revised, corrected, & now made apt for the Printing: so that by your means they now go abroad in the hands of men, we trust, to the comfort of many: lastly, we for our own parts offer our travels in this work unto your patronage, as a monument, that we acknowledge ourselves to be more obliged unto you, than we can requite: & of minds desirous not to be found unthankful for the undeserved favour you showed to us particularly: to speak nothing of the testimonies of your love, which you showed many ways towards them whom the Lord hath set in his service, both far & near, which they themselves do acknowledge & profess. We offer therefore these Lectures, & our labours therein, unto your patronage & protection, not only as a testimony of the Author's great liking and gratitude toward you, but also as a monument of our thankfulness for your kindness showed unto us: finally, Sir, as God hath prevented you many ways with his blessings, & hath made you sensible of his love, & hath given you an honourable account, & estate in this world: so continue in the honouring of God, & doing good unto his Saints, for his sake, & the Lord shall perform the fruit of his promises in you, which his Saints find by experience, his mercy shall never leave you, until the time that he accomplish the work he hath begun, & he crown his grace with glory. Now, the God of all grace & peace, who is able to do all things exceeding abundantly, above all that we can ask or think, grant to you, Sir, according to the riches of his mercy, a long, happy & peaceable life here, to the comfort of his Church & Commonwealth, & that you may abound in every word & work, & that you may fight constantly the good fight of faith here on earth, that when your course is finished, ye may be assured to receive that crown of glory in the heavens, which jesus hath acquired to them that love him: To whose gracious protection we recommend you in body and soul, with all the actions you enterprise according to his will, for now and ever, AMEN.  
Yours in the Lord, 

H.C.  
W.A.     

THE FIRST LECTURE OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  JOHN CHAP. XVIII. 
verse 1 WHEN JESUS had spoken these things, he went forth, with his Disciples over the Brook Cedron; where was a Garden, into the which he entered, and his Disciples.  
verse 2 And judas, who betrayed him, knew also the place: for JESUS oft times resorted thither, with his Disciples.  
verse 3 judas then, after he had received a band of men, and officers of the high Priests, & of the Pharises, came thither with lanterns, & torches, & weapons.  
verse 4 Then JESUS, knowing all things that should come unto him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?  
verse 5 They answered him, JESUS of Nazareth. JESUS said unto them, I am he. Now judas also, who betrayed him, stood with them.  
verse 6 Assoon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went away backwards, and fell to the ground.  
UNTO this part of this GOSPEL (beloved in the LORD JESUS) the LORD hath done the office of a Prophet and Doctor, going about to instruct the people of the JEWS in the way of Life and salvation, and to instruct and comfort His own Disciples especially in these last CHAPTERS. Now in the eighteenth and nineteenth CHAPTERS following, He doth the office of a Priest. Ye know the LORD he is a King, a Priest, and a Prophet: He playeth the part of a Priest, in offering up himself: He offered up none other sacrifice than his own body for the world, and for the redemption and salvation of mankind. As concerning his passion and suffering, which is rehearsed in these two CHAPTERS, the history divideth itself very clearly: First, we have his Passion and suffering in the Garden: Next, we have his suffering in the Hall of Caiaphas the high Priest: Thirdly, we have his suffering before Pontius Pilate the judge: Fourthly, we have his suffering in the place of Execution, which is called Caluaria, or in Hebrew GOLGOTHA, where he was crucified: And last, in the end of the nineteenth Chap. we have the last point of his suffering, standing in his sepulchre and burial, which is the last part of his humiliation. Now this day we shall speak somewhat, as the time shall serve, of his suffering in the Garden.  
In this first head of Christ's suffering in the Garden, first we have the part of Christ, offering himself to be taken and bound willingly, and of a set purpose: Next, we have the part of judas, in coming out with a company of men of war against him, to the same Garden: he knew the place well enough, because the Lord, with his Disciples, were wont to resort thither: In the third place, we have the communication betwixt the Lord and them that came with judas to take him: And four, we have a fact of Peter, who will show his love towards his Master, and his manhood, by cutting off the ear of Malchus, the high priests servant: And last, the taking of Christ, offering himself willingly, his putting into the hands of his enemies, and his binding. These things are set down in the first part of this history, Of the Passion of the Lord, concerning his suffering in the Garden.  
Now to come to the words, and first to Christ's part: It is said, When JESUS had spoken these things, he went forth, with his Disciples, over the Brook Cedron, where was a Garden, into the which he entered, and his Disciples. There is Christ's part: of very purpose he casteth himself to that place, which judas knew, and where he knew that he was wont to resort: of very purpose he went thither, because the hour of his death was at hand. The time is well to be noted when he doth this, when he had spoken these things, that is, when ●ee had sufficiently instructed and comforted his Disciples, and made that prayer for them, and recommended them to the Father, to keep them in his absence: then he maketh himself for death, and purposely he went to that place to be taken. Hear is a plain lesson offered unto us in the person of Christ: when he had discharged a duty, especially to them who were concredite unto him, after that he had instructed them, and after that by prayer he had commended first his own self, and then all his own to God: then in security and peace he goeth on to death: he goeth not to die before he discharge a duty to them that were committed unto him: then willingly he addresseth himself to death. Ye know the lesson. When a man or a woman hath discharged their calling faithfully towards them that were committed unto them, and done their duty to them to whom they are addebted, then in peace & rest, and with a good conscience they may offer up themselves at the pleasure of God, to lay down their life, and to die: therefore, whosoever they be that would die in rest and peace, (and alas, when shouldest thou have rest, peace, and quietness to thy soul, if in the hour of death thou have it not?) Let them take heed before they go to die, that they have discharged a faithful duty: and then having been faithful, when they go to die, they may lie down and rest in peace, and in a good conscience. But ye know again one folly in this point, and this is the common fashion of men, when they have their health, before the Lord call on them they are so slothful in discharging their duty to them to whom they are indebted, that when the soul is to departed out of the body, they are most occupied with business, and most troubled in making their Testament, and I know not what: Now make thy Testament before hand, and discharge thee of all things, and denude thine hand of all worldly affairs, that in that hour thy soul may rest on God, and be delighted on heavenly things, and on that life which thou art going unto by death.  
But to come forwards: It is said, He went over the Brook Cedron, with his Disciples: This Brook Cedron was a water, which ran between Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives, in a little and low valley: (Luke 2. Sam. 15.23.) and it was a little streape that ran when it was rain, but in time of drought it was dry: Now here was a Garden, into the which the Lord entered, with his Disciples; to the end, that even as in the Garden (to wit, the Garden of Paradise) the salvation of mankind was lost through the fall of Adam and Eve; Even so in a Garden, the salvation of mankind should begin to be recovered. Christ began his agony and passion in this Garden. There are sundry things concerning the suffering of Christ in this Garden of purpose omitted, and left out by john, which is mentioned and set down at large by the rest of the Evangelists, by Matt. in his 26. chap. & 36. vers. Mark. 14.37. Luk. 22.9. Only john speaketh of his taking and binding in the Garden: the rest speak of that agony and conflict that he had with the wrath of his Father in the Garden. They who are desirous to have these things more at large, let them read the rest of the Evangelists: only I shall touch that battle & agony that Christ had in his soul with the terrible wrath of his Father before any laid hands upon him. When he entereth into the garden, the first thing he doth, he choosed out three of his disciples, Peter, john, & james: & he calleth them aside from the rest, to the end, that as these three were witnesses of his glory, in that his glorious Transfiguration upon Mount Tabor, when Moses and Helias appeared unto him, Matt. 17.1. Even so, the same three should be witnesses of his humiliation, and that dejection in the Garden: and he commandeth the rest to sit down together. So these he calleth apart, Peter, john, and james, by name: and in their sight, first he beginneth to enter into that combat, and he beginneth to shiver and quake, & to be exceedingly heavy: and he crieth out with a loud voice in their audience, My soul is heavy on all sides to the death. There beginneth he his agony and conflict with the wrath of the Father for our sins, wherewith he was burdened. After that, he went from these disciples, about a stone cast, and he prayed to the Father with a loud voice, saying, Father, if it be possible remove from me this cup: that is, this cup of wrath & death, but not my will, but thy will be done. Thirdly, he goeth forward in that conflict & battle with the wrath of his Father: he feeleth the wrath of God to increase, & he crieth again that they might hear, Father, if it be possible, remove from me this cup. Then again the battle increaseth, & the agony groweth, & then the third time he prayeth the same words, Father, take this cup from me: that is, the cup of the heavy wrath of God: at the which time an Angel came from heaven, & comforteth him. Yet the battle holdeth on, and he is in a greater agony with his Father than ever he was in before, & he prayeth at greater length, and more ardently & vehemently than ever he did of before: So that in his agony the drops of purple blood fell down from his face to the ground: such a thing was never seen, nor never befell unto any man since the beginning of the world, as to sweat blood: no man was ever under such a terrible and horrible wrath of God, as Christ was for our sins, and for the sins of the whole world.  
Now in all this mean time, he is not forgetful of his disciples, whom he brought with him to be witnesses of his suffering, he is ay going to them, & from them, to hold them waking, & do what he could do, they are ay sleeping, the Devil is busy with them, that in the suffering of CHRIST (they being then sleeping) they should bear no witness of the suffering of Christ, the Devil was as busy to cast them in a sleep, as the Lord was busy to hold them waking, to bear witness of that agony & conflict. I will not insist in this matter, read thereof in Matth. 26. & in Luke 22. & in Marc. 14. and ye shall get this History at large: only we have thus far of the suffering of jesus Christ in the garden: first, how heavy ● weighty a thing sin is, all this was not for his sin, but for our sins, for the sins of the world: Next, ye see how heavy a thing the wrath of God is, that followeth on sin, for as jesus Christ took on his back the burden of our sins, so did he also the weight of the wrath of God, and the punishment that followeth upon sin: if ye know not this, ye know nothing of Christ. Thirdly, ye see the greatness of the love of CHRIST to man, that first took on his back so heavy a burden of sin, and secondly, so heavy a burden of wrath, and all for mankind. If CHRIST had not suffered, never a man had been safe, but these burdens had pressed them down to hell, never a soul had been saved from Adam to the end of the world: Look then what love he hath showed to us: and last, this agony & suffering in the garden letteth us see that the Son of God, as he is very God, so he is very man also, and that he hath the body of a man, & the soul of a man, for this suffering in the garden was especially in the soul: in this battle the soul of jesus Christ was especially set on by the wrath of the Father. There was none, touching the body of the Lord at this time, but the wrath of the Father was fight with the soul. But to leave this, and to mark the purpose of JOHN, his purpose is only to let you see, that when jesus Christ died, he died with a great willingness and readiness, that willingly he goeth to death, and is not drawn out against his will, but knowing that JUDAS would come with a company of men of war to that place where he was wont to walk and pray, of set purpose that he should be taken▪ he resorted thither. So this is the purpose of JOHN, to let us see that JESUS CHRIST offered up a voluntary Sacrifice for the sins of the world, for except He had offered up a voluntary sacrifice, His suffering had not been obedience to the Father, He had not been as is said, Phil. 2.8. obedient to the Father. So the Lord died, and he died to be obedient to the Father, that is, He died willingly at the good will and pleasure of the Father. And if He had not been obedient, His sacrifice had never been a satisfaction for the sins of the world, and then what good had the sacrifice of CHRIST done to me, or thee, or to any man: and therefore hereupon is our faith grounded, that we know the LORD JESUS, not only died, but also, that He died willingly; and so willingly, and with such a readiness to pleasure his Father, and to satisfy the wrath of the Father, as no tongue of man nor Angel can express. And when ever thou settlest thine heart on the death of CHRIST, look that thine heart settle it on a willing and obedient death: for if thou think not that He died willingly and cheerfully for thee, thou canst have no comfort.  
Now to come to judas part: judas knoweth the place where the LORD was: he knoweth the Garden well enough, because JESUS oftentimes was wont to resort thither with his disciples, and Judas was one of them: for many times he was there with the rest of his disciples, and he knew, that commonly the LORD was wont to resort thither with his disciples, and on this he taketh occasion to betray Him: and when he hath gotten a band of men of war, and the servants of the high Priests, and Pharises, he as a Captain to them, and they as a guard with sword and staves enter within the Garden to take the LORD JESUS.  
Well, Brethren, it is the acquaintance and familiarity that Judas had with CHRIST, and with the place where He was want to resort, that was the occasion of the betraying of the Lord. If judas had not been acquainted with Christ, judas had not come to this place to take Him. It is familiarity that makes traitors: he that will betray a man, must be a domestic & a household man to him. Will every man betray Christ? No: not every man, he that will betray Christ, must be one that knoweth Him, and His truth in some measure. Then thou that knowest Christ, take good heed to thy knowledge, and to thy familiarity, take good heed that knowledge of Christ be in sincerity, and that thou be not an Hypocrite, but be a friend indeed, and not outwardly, otherwise, if thy knowledge be but in hypocrisy, and if thy friendship be coloured, thou shalt be a traitor, and in the end thou shalt make apostasy with Judas, from jesus Christ. What is the cause that men become Apostates and traitors, and after that they have professed and subscribed, they fall away from jesus Christ? what? but because they were never true nor sincere friends to jesus Christ: All was but dissimulation, and shall end in persecution of jesus Christ, and his members, and they shall end in destruction, as judas did: for after that he had once made apostasy from the Lord, and betrayed his Master, he never took rest till he hanged himself. If ye will mark well, ye will find in the company of judas two ranks & sorts of men: The first is a band of men of war of the Roman Deputies, that was one part of the guard: The other was the officers and ministers of the high Priest, they make out the other part. Then the third guard is partly of Gentiles, & partly of jews. How came they? They came with lanterns & weapons & lights on a naked man with fear of war: they needed not. What needed all this company▪ the Lord jesus being a naked man in the Garden, not minded to fight: What needed judas to bring such a guard with him? The Spirit of God marketh in this Narrative, that judas in doing this, had an evil conscience, through his evil doing.  
The man that taketh an evil or a wicked deed in hand, will think that he can never get men enew to do it with him, he shall fear for no cause: if ye should guard him with all the world, scarcely shall he be in security: for he wants that peace of GOD. Paul to the Philippians calls it that peace that passes all understanding, and that guards the heart of man: for peace is nothing, but a good conscience, and he who wants this good conscience which is the inward guard, that man can never be saved with an outward guard: if all the world should stand about that man, he will ever be in fear, and albeit he were in the mids of an army, he will tremble and quake, but a good conscience will rest in peace: as David sayeth, Although I were helmed about with ten thousand men, yet would I not be afraid, for I know assuredly that thou wilt be with me. That heart is well guarded that hath a good conscience, for it will have peace inwardly, and will not seek that outward guard. The same thing is set out in the manner of his coming, he cometh with lanterns, and he cometh with lights, and in the night. This coming in the night manifesteth▪ that he had an evil conscience: for he that doth evil, hateth the light. What needed all this company? Was not the Lord jesus daily going in and out in Jerusalem? And was He not daily teaching in the Temple? & yet they laid not an hand upon him. The very season and time of his outcomming, testifieth, that he had an evil conscience in doing of it, and therefore he came not in the day light. He that hath an evil conscience feareth the Sun, he dreadeth the light, and he seeketh to execute his purpose in the night. The night maketh an evil man impudent. All these things manifest unto us, that judas had an evil conscience, but it was not well wakened, but when it was wakened, than he despaired, and he had Hell in his soul, and got no rest, till he had hanged himself.  
Now I go forward to the communication betwixt the Lord and the Guard: John saith, The Lord knowing all things that should happen unto him, and that were to come unto him, he cometh forward, he fleeth not away, he hideth not himself, he is not drawn out of an hole, as men who have done an evil fact, but vnrequired he cometh forth unto them, and upon his own free motive he offereth himself unto them: then he tarrieth not till they begin to talk, but first the Lord speaketh, & saith, Whom seek ye? and they answer (not knowing him by the face) they say, JESUS of Nazareth. He answereth, not denying himself, I am he: he confessed himself. Will ye mark these things: when he saith, he knew all things that should come unto him, john would let you see that the Lord jesus willingly and wittingly offered Himself unto the death. This taking and laying hands upon Him, cometh not of haphazard: No, the Lord knew well enough all the things that should come to Him: He is taken wittingly: and as He is taken wittingly, so is He taken willingly: and He is readier to offer Himself to be taken, than they are to take Him.  
But to come to the words: He saith, Whom seek ye here? and when they say, JESUS of Nazareth, than He answereth, I am he. These words do testify, that wittingly and willingly He offereth Himself to be taken. And if ye mark, ye shall see in His answer such mildness as is unspeakable: He beginneth not to speak in wrath: and when they say, JESUS of Nazareth, He giveth not an answer scornfully: So that as He offereth Himself willingly, so ye see also such a mildness in Him, when He is taken, (even as the Scripture spoke) as He had been a Lamb. So that ye see that neither in word nor deed, he uttereth any thing to hinder his obedience to his Father: this than is the thing that JOHN recommendeth unto us, and letteth us see, even that jesus Christ was willing to die. And this lesson we should all learn, if it shall please GOD to call any of us to suffer for jesus Christ's sake, that we suffer with such willingness and pleasure, that we run to death, and embrace it with our arms: let this mildness utter itself in all thy doings: away with that scorning: if thou would be like jesus Christ, die in peace, & willingly; look not to the instrument, nor the Hangman who putteth hands in thee, but lift thine heart to the God of heaven, and say, O LORD, seeing that it is thy will that I die, mine eye is on thee, and as JESUS CHRIST offered himself willingly, to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world: even so am I willing to obey thy will: It is noted that judas was amongst the rest, and no question the eye of the Lord is on him, but never a word he speaketh to him. Now I think that this standing of Judas is mentioned, to let us see two things, the first is, that patiented suffering of jesus Christ, he beginneth not to upbraid him, and to speak angry words to him, or to look to him angrily. Some would have thought, that the LORD seeing judas, might have said to him, Well Traitor, art thou there who hast betrayed me: No: he giveth him not an angry look, he is even a very Lamb, as the Prophet speaketh of him: a Lamb without anger either in look or in word, but in suffering he useth such a mildness and patience as is wonderful: Next, to let us see that impudency of the traitor judas, how dared he face the Lord JESUS whom he betrayed? a traitor is ay impudent and shameless, he hath ay an hard heart, and then a brazen face to the man whom he hath betrayed. Ye see how dangerous a thing it is once to harden the heart against Christ, and once to begin to do evil against conscience: if thine heart begin once to be endured, thou shalt not come back, whilst thou comest to extreme induration, and at last, to perdition. judas could never come back, after that once his heart was hardened against the Lord, but past forward, till he came to that final induration and hardness of heart. Therefore far be it from us once to begin to harden our hearts against the LORD: If thou beginnest once, thou shalt grow in hardness, till thou comest to that final induration. Lord save us from that sin, the hardness of heart against the truth, and against jesus Christ. It is to be feared, that these men, who with the betrayers of jesus Christ have set their faces against Christ, & His true religion, & against their native country, and go forward in such induration and obstinacy of heart, that they shall come to that part of judas. And it is a rare thing to see a man who hath gone so far forward in induration, come ever back again to grace. Now we have the effect that follows on this word that He speaks, I am he: for these words are no sooner spoken, (albeit they be few and gentle) but they are all amazed, tremble, and fall down backward to the ground. It is an admirable thing, that one word (and that so mildly spoken) should have wrought such an effect: for it is such a word, as they would have wished for. It is very wondrous, that such a gentle word should as a whirlwind, or as a flash of fire, so have strucken them. No question, this is to let them see, that the Lord needed not to have been taken with them, except it had been His own will: No, it was not possible for them to touch one hair of His head: for He saith Himself in the 10. Chap. and 18. vers. of this Gospel, No man taketh my life from me, I have power to lay it down, and to take it up again. So the Lord, by this wonderful effect of that word, I am he, will let them know, that they had no power to lay hands on Him, if it had not been His own will. And no doubt, He hath had a respect unto them, howbeit they were enemies to Him, yet He wished them well. And by the striking of them to the ground, He would let them see, that if they encountered with Him, they would die: and He will let them see His power, that He might cause them to repent, or else to make them unexcusable: and to let them see, that He was the Lord of Glory, and that they put hands to the Lord of Glory, and slew the Lord of Life. We may gather of the effect of this word, that if such a sober and gentle word, coming out of the mouth of jesus Christ, did drive them upon their backs, and cast them to the ground, what if jesus Christ had spoken an angry word? what force would that have had? If the bleating of a Lamb had such a force, what force shall the roaring of a Lion have? Where shall the wicked stand? And if the voice of the Lord jesus, humbly and like a Lamb, standing before them Himself alone, and speaking with such gentleness, had such effect, as to throw them down upon the ground, what effect shall that roaring, full of wrath and indignation, at that Great day: not out of the mouth of a Lamb, nor of an humble man, jesus of Nazareth: but out of the mouth of a lion, out of the mouth of jesus Christ, the judge, sitting in His Glory & Majesty, & saying to the wicked, Away ye cursed to that fire which is prepared for the Devil and his angels, Mat. 25.41. What effect then shall that voice have? Whither shall that voice drive them? And further mark: If that voice had such an effect, being no threatening, nor boasting, but gentle and mild; now what effect shall this voice have, whereby He threateneth the world, by His servants, with His judgements? If the mild speaking had such a force, what effect shall these terrible threatenings have against the wicked? for it is another thing when Christ threateneth in wrath, and when He speaketh meekly. Now, as certainly as this word that Christ Himself spoke, wrought such an effect: As certainly also the word of jesus Christ, which He putteth into the mouth of His faithful Teachers and Pastors, here in this world, shall be effectual, either to thy life, or to thy death: and as certainly the same word shall have effect to drive the wicked men upon their backs: as Zacharie saith, Chap. 1. vers. 4.5.6. When the men are dead that have spoken that word, after it hath been spoken, it shall be found living: and that same voice shall have effect when we are dead. It is true (sayeth the LORD) my Prophets died with your fathers: but my voice, which I put into their mouths, died not with them: and your fathers knew, that that word which I did put into their mouths, was living, and never left them, until it brought on judgement upon them. The LORD grant, that every soul may reverence the word of JESUS CHRIST: for it shall be found, that either it was spoken to thy salvation, or to thy damnation: And, Heaven and Earth shall vanish away, before one jote of that word pass away without its own effect.  
But now let us see what they do after they are fallen down upon the ground: Leave they off? No, no, they rise again, and the LORD JESUS standeth still, and letteth them rise again: and when they are risen, they speak nothing: but He speaketh first, and He saith, Whom seek ye? and they say, JESUS of NAZARETH. And He answereth, I am he. Now this is a strange thing: Who can think, that these men, who found so great a power proceeding out of the mouth of the LORD JESUS CHRIST finding such force, should have meddled with Him again. But left they Him for all this? No: but they get up again, and pursue Him, and take Him, and bind Him. It is an hard matter, to be given over to a reprobate sense: that is, to want feeling, when the Lord taketh out of the soul in His judgement all sight & sense, that person is miserable: and if thou be once strucken with that senselessness of the soul, albeit thou be thrown down upon thy back, thou shalt get up again, like a drunken man, and fight against the Lord▪ and that man is worse than any beast, horse, or mule: for once strike a Horse down, & he hath a feeling thereof, and he will beware of the like peril again: But a man, who should have reason, after that the Lord hath once strucken him with senselessness, there is no beast so senseless as he is: and as he is senseless, so he shall not leave off from evil doing: and he shall count no more of the power of God, than of a flee: for they feel not the hand of God, they are so astonished: and they will up again, after they are casten down▪ and they will assay His power again, and will not leave off till His wrath destroy him. Strive therefore, ever to keep the soul in a sense and feeling and let not that miserable scroofe to go over thy soul: but have still a feeling of the power of God, and mercy of God in thy soul, and always have a wakened conscience: for if thine heart come to that extreme senselessness, thy soul shall overgrow with such a fatness, that thou shalt have no more sense, than a dead stock: and thou shalt be like an Ox fed to destruction: thou shalt neither have feeling of mercy, nor of judgement. To end with this: ye see that jesus Christ, albeit he was but himself alone, a simple man to look to, and without armour: yet He provoketh them, and speaketh to them first: He dischargeth them to stir Him, until first they entered into a condition with Him, That His disciples should pass free, there is not such a thing that one of them could have power to put out their hand to take Him. And if there were no more but this, that they had no power to stir him, they might see more in jesus Christ, than in a common man: they might see power in Him to keep Himself: yet their senselessness is so great, that they cannot see this. The Lord keep us in sense and feeling of Him, that when He hath ado with us, we may feel Him, and see Him, that our conscience may be wakened, and our hearts mollified, through jesus Christ: to whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all praise and honour for evermore, AMEN.   

THE SECOND LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  JOHN. CHAP. XVIII. 
verse 7 Then he asked them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, JESUS of Nazareth. verse 8 JESUS answered, I said unto you, that I am he: therefore, if ye seek me, let these go their way. verse 9 This was that the word might be fulfilled which he spoke, Of them which thou gavest me, have I lost none. verse 10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and smote the high priests servant, and cut off his right ear. Now the servants name was Malchus. verse 11 Then said JESUS unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: shall I not drink of the cup which my Father hath given me? verse 12 Then the band, and the captain, and the officers of the jews, took JESUS, and bound him.  
THE last day (beloved in the LORD JESUS) we divided the whole History of the Passion and suffering of jesus Christ, which is contained in these two CHAPTERS, to wit, the XVIII. and XIX. of this Gospel, in these parts: First, we have his suffering in the Garden: Then we have his suffering in the Hall of the high Priest: Thirdly, we have his suffering before the judge Pontius Pilate: Fourthly, we have his suffering in the place of Execution, in Caluaria, otherwise GOLGOTHA: And last, we have the last part of his suffering, which is his Burial. The last day we entered into the first part of his suffering, which JOHN in this Chapter setteth down to be this: The Lord jesus being in the Garden, is taken captive, and bound: John passeth by all that agony and conflict that the Lord had before his taking in the Garden, with the heavy wrath of his Father, for our sin, which he did bear. As concerning his taking▪ we have first the part of jesus, who of purpose, wittingly, and willingly, came to this Garden to be taken: which Garden was known to Judas the Traitor. Then we have the part of judas, he knowing the Garden, cometh forward, (because the Lord used, with his Disciples, to resort thither) accompanied with a band of men of war, with the officers, and servants of the high Priest, to take▪ and apprehend, the Lord. In the third place, we have the communing that fell out betwixt Christ, and them that came to take him; he knowing all things that should come unto him; he taketh not the flight, nor seeketh not to go his way, as he might have done, because it was night: but he cometh out unsought, and beginneth the speech, and saith, Whom seek ye? They not knowing him by face, answered, JESUS of Nazareth. He answered again, not denying himself, I am he: as he would say in plain words, I am the man whom ye seek, why seek ye any further? to let us see how wittingly, and willingly, how joyfully, and gladly, and how patiently he offereth himself unto death for our sins. Now he hath no sooner spoken this one word, I am he, which is a gentle word, but assoon they start backwards, and fall to the ground: whereby the Lord would testify unto them, that they had no power to take his life from him, as he said before himself, he had both his life, and his death in his own hands, all the power in heaven and in earth was not able to cause him to die, if he had pleased to have lived.  
But to come to this Text: When he hath strucken them to the ground, they leave not off: but when they are risen, they are as bend as they were before. It is a marvelous thing, for if it had been his will, he might not only have strucken them to the ground, but he might have strucken them thorough the earth, into hell: yet he letteth them rise again: but they are all senseless of that divine power, wherewith they are strucken. The Lord beginneth the speech, and he saith, Whom seek ye? They answer, not knowing him, JESUS of Nazareth. He replieth again, I said unto you, that I am he: he denieth not himself, but in a manner provoketh them to dispatch that business which they were about: yet he entereth into a condition with them, Take not these that are with me, stir not my Disciples: he giveth them a charge that they stir them not: and indeed none of that whole company had any power to lift up their hand against them. The words are plain: ye may easily perceive the note that riseth of this: It is a marvelous thing, that a naked and a simple man, (who was base than the King of Glory was in the earth?) a man naked without armour: he is standing before them, who are like as many Tyrants, or tigers, and yet none of them had power to lay hands upon him, till he give them power: and more, he will not let them stir him, till he make a condition with them, That they handle not his disciples: He imponeth laws unto them, and without this law, that they meddle not with his Disciples, he will not yield himself unto them. So, Brethren, this is to let you see first that divine power which was in the Lord jesus: Behold it, for it is a comfortable thing for Christians, to know that divine power that is in jesus Christ: for although he never touched one of them, yet that divine power did so bind fast their hands, and so restrained that pride of their hearts, that they had no power once to move against him. Next, behold a miserable senselessness in them; for it is a wonderful thing, that they cannot perceive nor feel this power that was in him. If they had had any sight of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily, would they not have ceased from such a wicked enterprise? Brethren, it is an hard matter for any man or woman once to be given over unto a reprobate sense, and to be strucken with blindness and hardness of heart: And if God in his just judgement give thee to blindness and hardness of soul, albeit he would make judgement after judgement to cease upon thee, and albeit he would strike thee and beat thee upon thy back, thou wilt not be the better: but thou wilt get up again, like a drunken man: and if thou be once given over to thine own self, it is as sure a thing as is in the world, that except the Lord let thee see with his power a sight of mercy, thou shalt ever become worse and worse: and except the face of jesus shine into thy soul, all afflictions shall harden thee like iron, that is often strucken upon: and the greater the afflictions be, except that mercy shine into thine heart, thou wilt be the more endured. Paul saith, When the heart is converted to the Lord, the vail is taken away, 2. Corinth. 3.16. Without conversion of the heart to the face of JESUS, that that merciful face may shine into the heart, all the things in the world will not be able to mollify thine heart: Therefore, whensoever the Lord afflicteth thee, pray for mercy, that as the power striketh thee, so the mercy may be powerful to convert thee: Yea, cry aye for the mercy, or else the power shall work a further induration in thee, and make thee worse.  
To go forward: Ye see how careful He is of his disciples: men would think, that He being so hard straited, & so near the death, should have forgotten his Disciples: for this is our fashion, but the Lord doth not so. And Brethren, this is a true note and token of a true Shepherd: he will forget himself, and his life, and he will remember his flock: and when he is adying, he will be careful of his flock: and when the Wolf is worrying him, yet he will do what lieth in him, that his flock, and every sheep thereof, may escape: and he will give his life for the safety of his flock. This is a good pastor. So we see the vive image of a faithful Pastor, in the Lord jesus: he will give his life for his sheep, as he saith himself, He is but an hireling, that will not for the love of his sheep lay down his life. And this is the thing that I note chiefly here: When the Lord becometh weak in himself, thorough infirmity, yea, voluntary infirmity (he needed not to be infirm: what need had the God of glory to be infirm?) he suffereth himself to be bound till he become infirm. In the mean time he is strong and powerful in his Disciples to their safety: for although these that were in the Garden would never so feign, yet they could not get their hands laid upon his Disciples. The Lord jesus, when he was hanging upon the Cross, the jews scorned him, and tauntingly said unto him, Thou who savedst others, come down and save thyself: meaning he could not save himself, because he was crucified, as if he had no power: but they are deceived, for that same hour that the Lord was upon the Cross, and that same very time that thorough infirmity he died, and when he was hanging dead upon the Cross, that power went out from him that kept his Disciples, and all the faithful in the world: For except that the Lord had kept them then when he was hanging dead, they had been a prey to the Devil. For this is our nature and infirmity, we cannot stand a moment in this world, except it be by the power of jesus Christ.  
Well then, Brethren, if Christ jesus crucified, and crucified (as the Apostle speaketh, 2. Cor. 13.4.) thorough infirmity, and so weak in himself in his human nature, had so great a power to save his Church, what shall we say then? What a power is that which proceedeth from jesus Christ glorified? and cometh down now from the Heaven, and who liveth now (as the Apostle sayeth there) by the power of GOD, and liveth now in glory at the right hand of the Father. How great a power must this be, that proceedeth out from Christ glorified! Alas, if the world saw this, if the blind men saw the thousand part of that terrible power that cometh from jesus Christ glorified, think ye, that for all the world, they durst confederate with the King of Spain, the Pope, and his power, and enterprise any thing against Christ and his Church: but, alas, this blindness and induration letteth them not see nor feel, but in the end they shall feel it (if the Lord in mercy convert them not) to their everlasting shame & confusion.  
Well, to go forward, JOHN to this purpose allegeth an old prophecy which was prophesied before of jesus Christ long before he came into the world; and this is the prophecy: Of them which thou gavest me, have I lost none. Now john draweth this prophecy to the preservation of Christ's disciples at this time, because the disciples that were concredite unto him, escaped at this time. Mark, Brethren, It is true indeed, that the prophecy properly is to be understood, not so much of a safety in this life presently, as of a spiritual safety to life everlasting: this is the meaning: Yet it hath pleased the Spirit of God, to apply this prophecy to this bodily preservation: the cause is this, At this time the bodily safety of his disciples, importeth that spiritual safety & the life to come: as by the contrary, the endangering of the present life, endangered the life to come. If the disciples had been taken at this time, to have suffered with their Master, they had all revolted and denied their Master: We may see the proof of this in Peter, and so they had hazarded not only this life, but also the life to come, because that the disciples were as yet but children in jesus Christ, and were not strengthened enough with the power of Christ: and woe is to that soul that will deny jesus Christ, and chief in death. There is not one who will suffer their little finger only to be burnt for the cause of Christ, except he be strengthened with the power of jesus Christ, and there is not one that will now suffer affliction but they who are guarded with the power of God, and therefore ye see here God's mercy towards his disciples. This is the merciful dealing of God with his own, he will never let one of his own be tempted, but he will give them power to bear out the temptation, and He will never suffer them to be tempted, till He give them ability: and when He hath given them strength, than the LORD will lay on the burden. It is a wonderful thing, the heavier the burden be, that the Lord lays on his own, the greater strength He gives them to sustain it. The world hath wondered at the Martyrs of God, who had so great comfort in the time of their burning in the fire, and how in suffering they would sing Psalms unto their latter breath. The world wondereth at this: The heavier that the death hath been, the greater hath the power of God been, and the greater hath the life of jesus been in the Martyrs. And these disciples whom he spared now, when He saw that they were ripe, Spared He them then? No, no, what was the whole life-time of the disciples, after that Christ departed out of this world, but a perpetual suffering, till the life was taken from them, they died all by persecution, and then by the losing of this life, they got life everlasting, in dying they died not, but in dying they entered into a more glorious life: So this is that merciful power of God. It appears that in this country there is little ripeness, because of this little suffering: and therefore the Lord hath dealt mercifully with us, and in great mercy hath holden men's hands off us: therefore we should pray, if it shall please him to bring any to the trial, to suffer for his glorious Names sake, Lord, I am not able to behold the sight of the fire, much less to suffer the cruelty of the fire: therefore if thou wilt have me to suffer, give me strength whereby I may be able to suffer. Now I go to Peter's part: he setteth down his action, & certainly, it is worth nothing, albeit it seemeth to be very zealous. What doth he? he hath a sword about him, & he seeing them rush on his Master, showeth his manhood. And he striketh the servant of the high Priest, whose name was Malchus, and he cut off his right ear. The rest of the Evangelists, Mat, 26. Mark 14. Luke 22) speak of some thing that was done before this: When the Lord was communing with them that took Him, then comes the traitor judas to the Lord, and cries, Rabbi, Rabbi, Master, Master, & with that he kisseth Him: now this was a sign that he had given unto his company, that that man whom he should kiss, was the man that they should take. Now what doth the Lord, He makes no sign of anger, and there is none of us, but we think that He should have uttered great anger to the traitor (fie on thee, traitor, for of all men he is most detestable) but the Lord in mildness & meekness of Spirit (for all this whole time He takes purpose to suffer patiently: as Esay sayeth: He was as a Lamb before the shearer, & as a sheep led to the slaughter, & openeth not his mouth) He says, friend, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss, He assayeth if the conscience will be brought to remorse: There is a wonderful patience of God to the most vile sinner, & when he hath given them a sign, the whole company rushed upon Him. Then the disciples said, Master, shall we defend thee by the sword, but Peter not staying upon an answer, he was hardy, & striketh off the ear of Malchus the high Priests servant. Now, Brethren, albeit that this Malchus the high Priests servant, deserved, that not only his ear should be cut off, but also that the head & the life should be taken from him (for he was in a very evil action: indeed he was clad with authority, but with an evil authority: if thou hadst the authority of all the kings in the world, it will never excuse thee before God, if thou shouldest get a subscription to do evil against an innocent man, the Lord shall not allow thee, but His judgement shall overtake thee) & whether Peter did this of zeal, for no doubt he loved his Master exceeding well, & he would have had his Master out of his hands: yet for all this, the Lords own words testify, that this fact of Peter is to be condemned. If ye will examine the zeal, it is a very preposterous and unskilful zeal: the zeal is nothing worth if a man go beyond the bounds of his calling. What was Peter but a private man, & this company being sent by the Magistrates & superior power, Peter ought not to have resisted them, & to recompense this injury by reason of his calling, albeit it was the greatest injury that ever was done in the world. Then the words of Christ do declare, that he did it of blindness: for he did that lay in him, to stay the work of the redemption of the world, he took no heed to his hand. Now to mark something: There is nothing more common to men, than this, to cloak their actions with the pretence of zeal, & he or she will say, I did it of zeal, but the Spirit of God in this place, (and mark it) letteth thee see, if thy zeal be a naked zeal, & if it go beyond the bounds of thy calling, albeit it be in a good cause, yet thy zeal is worth nothing: if thy zeal be with ignorance, & if thou hast not the warrant of this word, thy zeal is of no value, it will not warrant thine action: if ye would have surer rules of actions nor zeal is, take heed to th●se two things: First, to thy calling: Look that thou go not beyond the bounds of thy calling. Shalt thou that art a private man, strike with a sword? Is that thy calling? Then next, to God's word: What availeth it unto a man to go forward in blindness? if he be not illuminate with the light of God, it is but a blind zeal: and if thou wouldst have thine actions well ruled, then take that lantern of the word going before thee, to warrant thy conscience in all thy proceed: for of all graces this is one of the greatest, to have the word of God thy warrant in all thine actions. As for zeal, I cast it not away, (it is over rare to be casten away) for it is a special grace of God: but take heed, if thou wouldst have zeal, look that it be moderate, and pass not the bounds of thy calling: and then look that thou have a firebrand of the word of God: look that the eye of thy soul be illuminate: join these two together, and then go forwards to the work of the Lord. Certainly▪ experience hath taught us▪ that this zeal hath had an evil success: no man by this zeal did ever get commendation of God. It may be, that men will run forwards rashly in zeal, and will have a good entry: but the end will tell thee, that it was but foolish hardiness, & it will forethink them. And no doubt, Peter, when he got this answer of his Master, he repent. No man hath need to find fault with men of this age: for there are few Peter's now adays: where ye shall find one like Peter, who hath zeal, ye shall find ten, who have none. The zeal of God is away, that did eat up the hearts of the men of God of old. Then again, ye shall see in this fact of Peter's, Peter was a good man, and one who loved jesus Christ very well, and he was loath to leave Him: and when as the Lord said to His disciples, Will ye departed also from me? Peter answered, and saith: LORD, Whither shall we go? thou hast the words of life: he was very loath to departed from Him: And this action also which he hath in hand, is a good action & in the defence of Christ. Yet for all this, in this good action, and in the cause of God, see how he is miscarried, & the Lord findeth fault with him. Well, this is our nature, that when we would do the work of the Lord, our corruption defileth it, and oftentimes in doing it we will sin, and we will blot it with some foul blot. And Peter doing this, with some preposterous zeal, he is not allowed: for an unclean man, as he is unclean, so he shall make the work of the Lord unclean. So the chief thing that a man should be exercised withal, is prayer, that the Lord would sanctify the person, that the work that the Lord hath employed him in may be holily done: and mark again, the greatest default that was in Peter, was his too great zeal. We need not to be afraid for this in this land: Nay, we may be afraid for default of it that the work of the Lord should perish, and we are to pray, that the King, and those whom he hath employed in this work may have an upright heart, and such an heart, as David and good Ezechias had, an heart loving God, and hating Gods enemies, I would not doubt then, but the work in his hand should take a good end, and he should report honour and glory. Now the Lord seeing what Peter did, He forbiddeth him, and showeth a greater anger against him, than against judas: He spoke not so angrily against judas, or any of them that pursued Him, as He did to Peter, and He sayeth: Put up thy sword into the sheath: and then he subjoineth the reason: Shall I not drink of the cup that my Father hath given me, Thou dost what lieth in thee, to hold off the cup, I will drink of the cup that my Father hath given me, of necessity I must drink it: for it was preordinate before all times, that I should drink it: and seeing it is so, I will drink it. Shall any thing be enjoined to us to do of necessity, and shall we not do it willingly: The Father hath propined unto me a bitter cup of affliction, and I shall drink it out, dregs and all. Matthew in his 26. Chapter, giveth more reasons, wherefore the Lord disallowed Peter, and this is one: He who strikes with the sword at his own hand, whom the Lord hath not armed to strike, he shall be strucken with the sword. It is a dangerous matter to slay, if the Lord put not the sword into thine hand: then he gives another reason, will I be defended with the arm of man: No, if I would pray to my Father, He would send me twelve legions of Angels: and lastly, sayeth He, Shall not the Scripture be accomplished of me, Shall I make the word of the Lord false, which hath foretold of my suffering: and therefore stay thy rashness. And note what Luke sayeth in his 22. Chapter, verse 51, He takes up the ear, and puts it on again: Ye may see here, that the Lord will have no man hurt in his taking, the Lord will have no unjust defence, jesus Christ will not be defended with unlawful means, He will not be defended with Peter's sword: for he had no power given him of the Lord, for to strike, He will not have injury repressed with injury: Nay, He will not have the man that hath the just cause to repress an authority. This guard came from the authority, from the Roman empire, and Christ will not have Peter a private man, to meddle with the superior power▪ He will not have him to defend Him against the authority. It is a dangerous thing to resist authority, albeit it be unlawfully used, & chief, a private man: and albeit that the authority had done wrong, yet a man who hath not authority, should not repress the injury done by the authority, the Lord will not allow it, the Lord will not have injury repaid by an injury. Well then, if the Lord will not have a wrong defence against injuries, He will not have a wrong to meet a wrong. What damnation lies on these men, who do an injury, & do delight to oppress the innocent. If Peter got such a reproof for the defence of Christ, against his enemies: What damnation shall these murderers get, who oppress the innocent man, the damnation of these men shall be great: I denounce an heavy damnation against thee: Let the King, the Magistrates, and all the world wink at thee, the hand of the Lord shall light on thee, this shall be thy recompense. Thou who takest pleasure in oppression, shalt be oppressed▪ the Lord shall thrust down thine head, and bloody hand, & shall press thee down for ever: the Lord save us from this judgement: woe to them that oppress their neighbour either in word or deed. Now to go forward: Shall I not drink of the cup that my Father hath given me: By the cup is understood a measure of affliction, that the Lord will lay on any man: as a cup is a measure, so the Lord hath a measure of affliction to lay on his own: as the Master of a family hath a cup & drinketh to his family, & says, Drink thou this, & drink thou that: even so, the Lord is the Master of this world, & He will fill the cup of affliction, & He will say, Drink thou this, & drink thou that: & if He propine thee a cup, He will cause thee drink it: all the world cannot save thee, but if the Lord bid thee do it, thou must drink it, He hath commandment over his creatures, & good reason that we do His will, either to live or die as He pleaseth: if the Lord propine thee with a cup of affliction, if thou drink it not willingly (here is the danger) thou shalt be compelled to drink the dregs thereof, to thy destruction. Woe is to the soul that will in no measure lay down his neck to that burden: but again if thou take that cup gladly, as the Lord jesus did (He drank the dregs of the bitter cup of the wrath of the Father: yea, He received it gladly, and thanked Him for it) albeit thou hadst bitterness in the beginning, yet in the end thou shalt find joy and sweetness. What followed on that cup? Glory: the more that thou sufferest, if it be patiently, the greater glory shall be to thee. Then seeing that we must also suffer in this world: for it is nothing but a suffering life (& woe is to thee, that wilt make thy heaven into this world, thou needest not to look for an heaven in the world to come,) What ever we suffer, let us strive against our rebellious nature (for it is full of rebellion) and strive to get patience, and say, Lord, I have no patience in mine hand, Lord give me patience & contentment, let this be our prayer in distress, and they who will seek this, I will promise them, the most glorious issue that ever was, the bitterness of the affliction shall not stay that glory. In this world we are all as it were on a Scaffold to try our faith, & to try our patience, that afterward all our afflictions may be turned in joy & glory, & all the tears that will gush out of thine eyes, the Lord with his hand shall wipe them away (wilt thou await to see this end) & thou shalt never again see dolour nor displeasure. Now remaineth one thing of the taking of the Lord, then sayeth he, Then the band and the captain, and the officers of the jews took Jesus and bound him, He gave them good leave, or else they could never have bound Him: but will ye mark how particularly they are named that took Him: there is the band of the men of war, and the captain, and the servants, to let you see, that there was no man that was there, and was partaker of that doing, but the eye of God was on him & the holy Spirit recounteth them. Beware ever to be in evil company, if there were never so many in that company: yea, if there were ten thousand with thee, the Lord shall see thee, and judge thee, whether thou be a Captain, or a single soldier, or a gudget, beware to be in evil company, Say not, I am not a principal man, but a servant, I must obey the authority, and I must follow my Captain: No, that shall be no warrant to thee, for if thou shalt be in evil company, the eye of the LORD shall be upon thee, to judge thee, let none of these worldly excuses move thee, but say, Lord, thou seest whither I go, & with whom I come, & what I come to do, or else thy conscience shall terrify thee, whether thou be highest or lowest in doing an ill fact, the judgement of the Lord shall fall on thee. Now to come to his taking, the Lord is taken willingly, & resistes not, & when they bound him, he put out his hands to be bound: look how he points out the suffering of Christ, First, he says he was taken, & then he was bound: think ye this is for no purpose There is not a word or a syllable lost here: the taking of the Lord, and the laying hands on him, was for our cause, who lying under sin, the devil, and death, and this taking recounters, and meets our taking by the devil, and death: Every thing in Him and His suffering behoved to meet us, and our suffering, He that should redeem us, as we were taken: so it behoved Him to be taken, and as we were bound, so it behoved Him to be bound, and if His taking and binding had not answered to our taking and binding, He had not been a meet redeemer for us, and if he had not been bound as we were, we had not been delivered from the bands of sin, albeit it is hard to Him, yet to the sinner it is joyful, and if thou findest thine hands bound hard: thus the Lord jesus was a captive bound for thee, it would be the joyfullest tithings to thee that ever was. Who is he, or she that feel the bands of death and damnation, but this will be joyful tithings to them, & because we feel not this, when we hear word of His taking, we take little thought of it, and are so little moved therewith. Therefore, Brethren, I recommend this lesson to you, and myself, seeing we are all sinners, lying under sin, and death, that we strive to be found in jesus, that by faith in Him, we may find his passion, and all the parts thereof to be forcible and effectual to free and deliver us from the bands of sin and death, and so may be made partakers of life and glory, through Him. To whom with the Father, and the holy Spirit, be all honour, praise and glory. AMEN.   

THE THIRD LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  JOHN CHAP. XVIII. 
verse 13 And led him away to Anna's first (for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, who was the high Priest that same year.) verse 14 And Caiaphas was he, that gave counsel to the jews, that it was expedient, that one man should die for the people. verse 15 Now Simon Peter followed JESUS, and another Disciple, and that Disciple was known of the high Priest: therefore he went in with JESUS into the Hall of the high Priest: verse 16 But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out the other Disciple, which was known unto the high Priest, and spoke to her that kept the door, & brought in Peter. verse 17 Then said the maid that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's Disciples? He said, I am not. verse 18 And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals: for it was cold, and they warmed themselves: And Peter also stood among them, and warmed himself.  
WE have heard (Brethren) the first part of the suffering of Christ, which was in the Garden, by the Brook Cedron, into the which the Lord, as he was accustomed, entered, with His Disciples. In this Garden, after that a communing passed betwixt Him and them that came to take Him, the Lord jesus is taken, and bound. This is that outward suffering in the Garden, besides the inward agony in the soul with the wrath of the Father, for our sins, which He did bear.  
Now, Brethren, to pass by all things which we have already spoken, we enter into the second part of His suffering, which was in the Hall of the High Priest Caiaphas. It is said, when He is taken and bound, they lead Him away, first to the house of Annas, who was father-in-law to Caiaphas, who was high Priest for that year. The rest of the Evangelists, before they come to his part, they report some things done before: and namely, they make mention of a gentle reproof which the Lord gave to these that took Him, & handled Him so roughly, being the justest man in the world, He says, What needeth all this, that ye should come out against me, as a thief and an enemy? Might ye not have had me daily whilst I was teaching in your Temple in Jerusalem? for I avowed my doctrine before the world. Then He adviseth Himself, and says, Whereto should I speak this? this is your hour, and this is the time that the Father hath granted to you to work the work of darkness for a time, and as the Lord hath ordained, so it must be. But say what He would say, the miserable creatures are so blinded, that they go on furiously against the Lord. Another thing likewise they report: In the mean time that they were binding the Lord, the disciples are scattered and fled. Another thing also, (Mark 14.51.52.) whilst they were leading Him to Jerusalem, there followed a young man, clothed with linen upon his bare body: and certain of the young men followed him, and sought to have caught him, but he left his linen cloth, and fled from them naked. This seemeth to have been one, who in the night being in his b●d, and hearing a noise and a din, cometh hastily to see what it was. Ye see here the insolency of these men who will run upon the Lord, they will take all the world if they might: they spare none. Now to come to our matter: They lead the Lord jesus to Jerusalem, & they bring Him first to the house of Annas, because perchance it was the first house in the way that they came to, that was an house of estimation: and again, because Annas was father-in-law to Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, & they would gratify him to see this miserable spectacle, for he was a wicked man: Woe is them that delight to see the bands of jesus Christ. They led Him before the world to an open spectacle, after they had once caught Him. In these words (to speak this by the way) ye may mark & perceive a great corruption at this time in the Church of the jews: for before the coming of Christ, immediately all the estates of Churches and common weals were confused & troubled: and the estate of the High Priest being a most notable estate among them, was corrupted. By the law of God it was appointed, that only one High Priest should be at once, & he all his days should brook it: yet such was the corruption then, that they chose more high priests together: & every one of these served their course about in the office: & this was that year that Caiaphas served: but it had been better for him he had never served: for in his time the most mischievous fact was done that ever was in the world, to wit, the crucifying of jesus Christ, the God of glory. So it was not for his good the he served. I might tell you more corruptions in the high priesthood among them: the high priest was wont to be choose by the people, & by the mouth of God: this power was taken from them, & given to Ethnic princes, & precedents that ruled the people, they chose them. And then the high priests were wont to be choose of the tribe of Levi, & posterity of Aaron only: but then any man was taken in by bribery, it was bought & sold: & when they would shoot in one, they would shoot out another: this was the confusion of the high priests estate immediately before Christ came. There is nothing mentioned what was done with jesus in the house of Annas: they took Him in here to drive over a piece of time, till Caiaphas should gather his counsel, before whon jesus was to be accused: & it appears here, that there He was bound more straightly than before: Annas sends Him to Caiaphas his son-in-law, straighter bound than He was in the garden. It is marked what Caiaphas was, not to his praise, but to his shame, This Caiaphas was he that gave counsel, that one should die for the people: ye heard of this in the 11. Chap. and 49. vers. This was both a prophesy and a counsel. When the Scribes & Pharises were in doubt what to do with Christ, he says, It is expedient that one should die for the people. In giving counsel, the Lord guides the foul tongue of him, as He did Balaams' tongue: for when Balaam was purposed to curse God's people, the Lord made him to bless them: Even so the Lord used the tongue of Caiaphas: he shall never have commendation of that prophesy: he was seeking the blood of jesus Christ: yet the Lord ruled the tongue of him to prophesy of that which came to pass. But whereto is this repeated here, that Caiaphas gave them counsel? These words are not in vain: john would let us see by this description, that they who took the Lord, they brought Him to the greatest enemy He had, to him that gave counsel that He should die: all men would have their counsels put in execution: & namely, a wicked man, if he give counsel, he would gladly have it put in execution, albeit it were never so wicked, if he should do it himself, he had rather hang himself than it went back, as ye may see in Achitophel. john, the writer of this history, leaves Christ, and he returns to Peter, and makes rehearsal of a thing that befell to Peter in the mean time, of that foul fall of Peter, who boasted so fast of his strength, to be an example to the whole posterity never to trust in the power of man: he got a worse fall than any of the rest of the disciples: for he denied the Lord with an execration, the rest fled only. In this fact of Peter's, we have first, how he tempts God: then next, because he tempted the Lord, the Lord tempts him again: he who tempts God, God will tempt him: thirdly, we have the foul denial of Peter by a light temptation. Then Peter first tempts the Lord: for when as they led away the Lord to the Hall of the High Priest, there followed him Peter (albeit the Lord had forewarned him of his weakness) but afar off, as Matt. 26.58. Mark 14.54. and Luke 22. 54. do note, and another disciple. What this disciple was, his name is not mentioned: some think it was john, for john, when he speaks of himself, he uses commonly to suppress his name, as ye see often in this book. Others think it was not john, nor any of the twelve: but some other godly man, who loved the Lord jesus well, to see what issue should follow upon that taking; and this is more prooveable: for I think john had not such an acquaintance and court with the High Priest▪ being but a simple man, a poor fisher, namely, a disciple of jesus Christ: but whosoever it was▪ it is not much to the purpose. When they come to Caiaphas' Hall, the Lord is taken in: amongst the rest, this other disciple getteth in, because (says john) he was known to the High Priest. As for Peter, because he was not known, he stands at the door, which was straightly kept at this time. The other disciple pities Peter's case and estate, (but it was a preposterous pity) And he entreateth the doorkeeper to let in Peter. Take heed to friendship: and look that in pleasuring thy friend, thou be not an instrument of his destruction. Now Peter cometh in, and warmeth himself amongst the rest. This for Peter's tempting of GOD: Now let us examine here what is commendable, and what is not. Indeed, there is no man that will not like of this love which Peter did bear towards his Master CHRIST JESUS, and of this zeal, and of this his unwillingness to departed from his Master: for he loved Him so well, that he would follow Him to the death: and would to God in this cold age, there were but a piece of this zeal in us, that Peter had: we have no zeal: and if it were but this inconsiderative zeal, yet it is better to have it, than no zeal. So this love is commendable: for albeit he did well to love his master, yet he faileth in this, that in receiving advertisement out of the mouth of the Lord, that he was not able to suffer for Him, yet he would go forward: & when jesus said to His takers, If ye seek me, let these go their way, Peter might have perceived by this, that he was not able to suffer, he might have retired to some private place with prayer & mourning, but he would step forward, & would not accept of that, that the Lord said to him, thou art not able: so he falleth here very far. We all have our lesson here, the day of our trial may come: let us therefore ever have our eye on the will of God, & that which He will have thee to do, that do thou, & what the Lord requireth not of us, that do not. Thou canst do nothing better than this, to take up thy Cross, and to follow Christ: but if the Lord bid thee not do it, do it not, if he require not at thine hand that thou suffer, enter not to suffer, if he forewarn thee that thou art not able to suffer the fire, go thy way, step aside, and let it be. But one will say, How can I get advertisement? Peter had the mouth of the Lord: how shall we be advertised by God, whether we shall offer ourselves to the fire or not? jesus Christ is not amongst us now face to face. I answer, The only way to know this▪ is this: Ere any man offer to put his hand to the Cross of Christ, look what he is able to bear: look what strength of God he hath: if thou werest like a Giant, thou wilt not bear the Cross of Christ, with man's strength: if thou findest in trial that thou hast not strength enough, take it for a warning from heaven, & draw thyself away to prayer & meditation, & then being furnished with strength, come out and suffer, & then if thou hast strength, step forward & suffer. Another fault in Peter, when he cometh to the door of the high Priest, & finding it shut, yet he standeth, whereas by the shutting of the door he was commanded to leave off, at least, to try whether the deed in hand was lawful or no. It was by the providence of God, that the door was shut: he got a warning there to leave off, yet he would not. These impediments that are casten in, when we are of purpose to effectuate or do any thing should not be idly looked on, but they should make us to enter into a careful and earnest trial of that deed, to see whether it be lawful or not: for nothing is without the providence of God: & when thou hast considered the work, & findest it a good work conformable to Gods will, & that thou art able to do it, then go forward in despite of the Devil, and the world; but if thou findest after trial otherwise, either that it is an evil work, or else a good work, and yet that thou art not able to do it: then stay, and leave off: for if thou dost not, thou shalt think shame in the end, as Peter did: Therefore, let no man look lightly to such impediments as they shall find to be casten in, in doing any thing. Well, ye see Peter's fall in these two points: First, he will not receive advertisement: secondly, he will not go from the door, till he get in. Search the ground of his doing, and ye shall see, that albeit Peter was a very weak man, yet he saw not his own infirmity: and when he thought himself strong enough in his vain conceit, he was blinded: he saw not his own infirmity, & this is the ground of his fall. It was the strength of flesh and blood that was in Peter, and an human spirit, such a courage as the Roman warriors had. This courage of flesh and blood will carry men a good piece forward in the cause of Christ, and will make them take up and lift the cross on their shoulders, and to go to the Hall of the High Priest, and to come to the fire: but there it leaveth them, for they will not put their hand to the fire: and in end, this human courage will leave thee in the mire: for thou wilt neither die, nor put thine head under the axe: therefore, if thou find boldness in thee, look whether it be throw the spirit of jesus Christ, or of manly courage: whether it be spiritual or human: and if it be of man, thou shalt fall, and if it be of God, thou shalt know it. He who is strong in jesus Christ▪ he is strong in infirmity: & he who hath greatest faith in jesus Christ, he hath greatest sense & sight of his own weakness: & when he finds Christ living in him, he will find himself dying in himself: if thou find thyself nothing, thou hast strength in God: if thou take a conceit of thyself, & boast of thy power, thou hast no power in jesus Christ. Our Lord said to Paul, My grace may suffice thee only, for my power is made perfect thorough weakness. The Martyrs have confessed in the hour of death, that they had no strength in themselves, but that they were strong in Christ: if thou have strength of thyself, & not of Christ, it shall leave thee in the end. Now when Peter hath tempted God, God meeteth him, & tempts him again: he cometh in, & who is the instrument that the Lord useth to tempt him with? even she that would gratify him to let him in: he bought his coming in too dear, with the denial of his Master: And she saith, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? First mark this well, ye will think this to be a light temptation. Who is the instrument that tempts him? who, but a silly damsel? if it had been a man of war, or a man, it had been thought he had had some occasion to fall back. And what s●ies she to him? not boastingly, Art thou one of this seducers servants? but in simplicity & gentleness, Art thou one of this man's disciples? So, whether we look to the tempter, or to the temptation, it is very light: & therefore, the greater is his fall and shame: thou gettest a foul shame, who for a light temptation fallest aback. Behold how the Lord will humble the vain and proud confidence of man: Peter was too proud: & the Lord will raise up the silliest of all His creatures, to tempt that man that is proud. All this natural boldness is nothing but weakness, & He will not encounter it with a great strength, but with a silly instrument: that man may see, that his own strength is nothing. Beside the fall of the proud man, there is shame with it, that shall pierce the heart more, than the hurt, that it should be smitten to the dirt with such an instrument. He will not raise up a champion against them, nor He will not enter Himself with them, but He will stir up a thing of nothing to beat down carnal courage. She says, Art thou a disciple of this man's? He says, I am not. Is this he, that brags and says, I will not leave thee Lord, though all should leave thee? is this he that denies his master? By this example we have a lively image of the vain pride and strength of man. The Lord will cause a girl to cast thee down & it both: yea, the very shaking of a leaf, shall make thee tremble: and vain fantasies and imaginations shall terrify thee, although there were nothing out with thee: for whosoever hath a confidence in himself, the Lord shall cast such terrors into his heart, as shall overthrow him. The terroures of his mind, though all the world should let him be, shall trouble him, and cast him down, so that he shall get no rest. Therefore, be never strong in the power of man: for if thou hadst all the world, yet the basest thing in the world shall cast thee down. But he or she, that would take up the cross of jesus Christ, should strive to be strong in God, and care not how weak thou art in thyself, for that strength of God will hold thee up. Paul says to Timothy, Be partaker of my affliction by the power of God: and ground thine afflictions upon this power, for it is the strength which will hold thee up: & this is the thing that will bear up the cross thorough all temptations manfully to the end. In the next verse. the Evangelist telleth where Peter is standing, and setteth down the place, & a certain occasion of his temptation, He is standing with a company of the servants and officers of the Priests and Pharises, who had made a fire of Coals, for it was cold, & they warmed themselves. And then the Maiden cometh unto him: he was gone in too far: for it is not good to enter over far into the houses of wicked men: neither is it good for thee to warm thyself in the company of wicked men, nor yet to be at their table: it were far better for thee to abide the cold: for if thou accompany thyself with them, & take pleasure at their fire side, than a tempter shall come unto thee, either a Damsel, or a Boy: And therefore, let every man & woman beware, and as they would be free from temptation, so let them eschew evil company. He is well worthy to be tempted, who knoweth his own weakness, & yet will not tarry out of the company of the wicked: And it is Gods just judgement, that our men make Apostasy, and come home foul Apostates, and Atheists, who will not tarry out of FRANCE, and SPAIN, where all is full of temptation: It were better to sit at home, and serve the LORD: for it is hard to know, if ever thou shalt get grace to take up thyself, as PETER did. The rest of the Evangelists say, that PETER had scarce said that, (when as the Cock crew, even as the Lord had foretold him) but he getteth the warning, that he had made defection. Now after sin, there cometh commonly an induration and blindness; and in sinning the conscience sleepeth, yea, it sleepeth so sound, that when it getteth advertisement, it cannot be wakened: but the third time it was wakened: for PETER denied his Master once, twice, yea thrice, but at length he wakeneth; and yet not so much for the crowing of the Cock, as for the look of his Master; whereof LUKE maketh mention, CHAP. XXII. VERS. 61. And PAUL saith, When the heart shall be turned unto the LORD, the vail is taken away, 2. COR. CHAP. III. VERS. 16. This is my lesson: When a man committeth sin, the conscience will be asleep, and will not be wakened: and this falleth not out in the wicked only, but also in the godly: Ye read of DAVID, after he had committed adultery, his conscience sleepeth still; and after the adultery, he falleth out in murder, and yet he is not wakened, till the Prophet of the LORD came unto him. The longer that thy conscience lieth still in sin, the bitterer the wakening will be. A reprobate will get an hard wakening, judas got a sore wakening, he was asleep whilst he kissed his Master, but when he wakened, he hanged himself. But the Lord dealeth otherwise with His own, He will waken them in mercy: and in the heaviest displeasure, they shall have the sweetest joy: and in the greatest abundance of tears, the greatest comfort.  
Of all the things in the world, take best heed to the conscience: for it is always very ready to fall asleep, and of all judgements, a sleeping conscience is the greatest: and therefore let us strive night and day to have a waking conscience, which may round in our ears, when we lay us down at Even, what we have done all the day: if thou hast done good, than thou mayest sleep with a sound conscience: but if thou hast done evil, it is better a thousand times, to weep with tears, and wake in mourning, till thou findest thyself to be reconciled to God again, than to sleep. We should never let the conscience sleep, but ever hold it waking, to tell us when we do evil, that we may have dolour: & when we have done well, we may have joy, through jesus Christ: To whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all Praise, Honour, and Glory, for evermore: AMEN.   

THE FOURTH LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  JOHN CHAP. XVIII. 
verse 19 (The high Priest than asked JESUS of his Disciples, and of his Doctrine. verse 20 JESUS answered him, I spoke openly to the world, I ever taught in the Synagogue, and in the Temple, whither the jews resort continually, and in secret have I said nothing. verse 21 Why askest thou me? ask them that heard me what I said unto them: behold, they know what I said. verse 22 When he had spoken these things, one of the officers which stood by, smote JESUS with his rod, saying, Answerest thou the high Priest so? verse 23 JESUS answered him, if I have evil spoken, bear witness of the evil: but if I have well spoken, why smitest thou me? verse 24 Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high Priest.) verse 25 And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself, and they said unto him, Art not thou also one of his Disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not. verse 26 One of the servants of the high Priest, his cousin whose ear Peter smote off, said, Did not I see thee in the Garden with him? verse 27 Peter then denied again, and immediately the Cock crew.  
BELOVED in the LORD JESUS, we have heard the first part of the Passion of the LORD, which was in the Garden; beside that inward agony with the wrath of His Father, that He felt in His soul, outwardly in the Garden, where He was taken like a thief & bound: He was taken to deliver us from that captivity and bondage of sin and death. And then after we entered into the second part of His suffering which was in the Hall of Caiaphas: being taken and bound, He is led away to Jerusalem. The first house that He is brought unto, is the house of Anna●, the father-in-law to Caiaphas: and there He tarrieth a certain time, till the Priests, the Elders, and Scribes were assembled in the house of Caiaphas: and then Annas sends Him bound to Caiaphas the High Priest.  
Now we heard the last day the History of Peter, how he denied his Lord and Master: Peter, upon a vain confidence, notwithstanding of an admonition of the Lord, he will follow Him to the house of the High Priest. Now the Lord entereth in, and the other disciple who knew the High Priest, and Peter was stopped at the door: this might have been an advertisement for him to have left off, but yet he would not: and the other disciple, thinking to gratify him, he desireth the maiden that kept the door, to let him in: and being no sooner entered in, but that same servant woman tempteth him. This temptation is by a sober instrument, neither uttered she any reviling words unto him: yet nevertheless Peter falleth: whereby ye may see whereunto the confidence of flesh and blood turneth, for the lightest assault will throw him down who trusteth in it. He is standing warming himself with evil company: and being standing securely, he getteth his reward: he dear bought his warming there: for he is tempted, and denieth his Lord and Master.  
Now to come to this Text: There are two parts of it shortly: the first contains the suffering of the Lord jesus in the Hall of the high Priest: the second contains the second and third denial of Peter. As for the first, it is said, that Caiaphas the high Priest beginneth to ask of jesus concerning his doctrine and his disciples: he layeth not down first such and such particular points of false doctrine, because he had none to lay to the charge of the Lord, and therefore this was no formal proceeding and dealing, to draw a man before a judge, and then not to have one word to lay to his charge. Should not the dittay be made before the man was taken: ye may see the malice of this persecution. Well then, to examine his words, he inquireth about his doctrine, and then for his disciples, whilst he asked him of his doctrine, he would mean, that his doctrine was not allowable, and that it might not abide the light, and that He teached lies, and whilst as he speaketh of His disciples, he would mean, that the Lord was a seducer, and had seduced so many among the people: the Lord answers, The thing that I have teached, I have teached openly before the world: and therefore, why askest thou me of my doctrine, as though it were not allowable, and as if I had teached in secret holes and caves: then he appealeth to the witnessing of his enemies, ask of these men, who have heard me, I will be judged by them. This is the effect first, of the question of the high Priest, and next of the answer of the Lord. The first thing that we mark here, is shortly this, Behold in the person of Caiaphas, the malice of the enemies of the truth in their hearts, they know the truth, and yet they will seem that they know it not: CAAIPHAS knew the truth, but he seemeth not to know it, the enemies will count light darkness, albeit the truth should shine in their faces more bright than the Sun in the noontide of the day, yet they will say, Light is darkness: But to come to Christ's part, as the truth loves the light, and desires not to be hid, neither to be teached in secret holes and caves: so the truth (so far as is possible) is publicly to be teached, in the presence of the world, it would have all men to know it, it would ever be heard, and the light would ever shine through the world. The Ministers of the truth should ever strive to preach in public, that all the men and women of the world may hear, even to preach in the most public places of the world, and if it were for no other thing than this: that thou mayest answer to the Lord, if it fall out that the light come to be challenged for darkness, them thou mayest appeal & say, We have teached nothing in holes, and that the enemies of the truth may be convicted in their conscience, and compelled to bear witness of the truth: I mean not, that at no time it is lawful to preach in secret places, and as though the truth of God had ever a free course, and were publicly preached: for experience hath teached, that the truth of God hath fled to the wilderness in time of persecution, and the Saints of God have been glad to go to holes, to get the comfort of the word: but I mean this, that so far as possibly can be, is to be preached openly, and if that liberty of the truth be restrained, let us be content to suffer, and deliver in secret consolation by the word. Then mark again in Christ's answer: albeit the Lord suffereth willingly, offereth Himself to be taken, & giveth his hands to be bound, yet ye may see, that the Lord will not yield to the enemies, that He is a false teacher, or that He is a seducer, or that that light is darkness, or that the truth is a lie. It is true, that if it please the Lord, that we suffer for the truths sake, we are bound to suffer patiently and willingly: but look to this again, let never the truth of God be said to be a lie, never yield to the enemies that the truth of God is false, for all the torments of the world: Peter sayeth, Let us suffer for a good cause, and not as thieves and murderers, 1. Pet. 4. 15, 16. It is a pain to suffer for an evil cause, so long as the Lord giveth us a mouth, let us protest that the truth is truth. Paul says, 2. Tim. 2.9. I am in bands, and I am afflicted in bands as though I were an evil doer: yet the word of God that He hath put in my mouth is not bound, & all the enemies in the world, so long as I have a mouth, shall not restrain it. The Martyrs were never brought to this, to confess that they suffered for an evil cause: albeit thou yield hands and foot to any torture, beware of this, that thou never confess that it is an evil cause, wherefore thou diest; let ever the verity be free in all our suffering. When the Lord makes this answer, One of the officers which stood by, smote jesus with his rod, and said, Answerest thou the high Priest so? Meaning▪ that the Lord had not answered him so reverently as He should have done. The Lord answereth, If I have evil spoken, bear witness of the evil, but if I have well spoken, why smitest thou me. Always, whether He had well or evil spoken, He findeth fault with him, that he should have smitten Him so rashly: so, brethren, this is another part of the suffering of jesus Christ: He suffers not only of the high Priest, but of his servants also: He suffers of all men, all this was done without any order of law. The high Priest speaks to Him against order of Law, and the officer strikes Him against order of Law: he fails in this, because he strikes Him for well doing, for He maintained the truth of His father. Then again, why should he have strucken Him, till He had been judged? and then, if He were judged, yet it was no place to punish a man in judgement, though he were never so evil. So ye see in how many things these men fail. What shall I say? Ye shall commonly find the most innocent man, who hath been brought before evil men, and corrupted judges of the world, of all sort of men have been handled most unformally, & unreasonably. A thief, or a murderer hath not been so evil handled, as the most innocent: for they will let a murderer, or the wickedest man in the world, tell his tale in patience: and they will delay striking of him till the place of execution: but experience hath taught this, that when an innocent man is judged, all the proceeding is without order: as we see in this example of Christ, the most innocent man that ever was. And such like in the Martyrs of God; never thief nor robber was so unreasonably handled as they. What is the cause of this? Even this, the malice of the heart of man was never so bend against an evil man, as the wicked man is against the innocent: yea, a just judge hates not so much unrighteousness, as a wicked judge hates innocency. And therefore, it is a wonder that the judgement of the wicked proceeds unorderly against the godly: the Lord answers, If I have spoken evil, thou shouldst not strike me without order, & if well, why smitest thou me. The Lord binds him that he hath done wrong, howbeit He suffered most willingly & patiently: but He strikes not again. Yet mark, in this patiented suffering He will have wrong appear to be wrong, & that which is unjust to be unjust. In all our patiented suffering let ay right appear to be right, and wrong to be wrong. Let not a man that suffers be so dumb that he say not that wrong is wrong. No, let them speak, that the conscience of the wicked man may be convict, and brought to some remorse. The Lord no doubt pities this man that struck Him, & would have had his conscience convict, that he might repent. So let the wicked see, that wrong is wrong in the most patiented suffering, that the wicked may be convict, and God glorified. Now is subjoined, that Annas had sent Him bound to Caiaphas. He returns to the ground of His accusation: and the ground is this, Annas sent Him bound unto Caiaphas: howbeit in the house of Annas the Lord was not strucken, yet Annas was not blameless: for these words are registrated to his everlasting shame, that he sent such an innocent man to such a burrio, & this makes him guilty of the blood of the Lord jesus. Meddle nothing with the suffering of an innocent man, for if once thou seemest to consent to his death, thou art guilty, and if thou rejoicest in the wrack of the innocent, for if thou shalt once consent unto it, thou art guilty of all the innocent blood, from the blood of Abel that was shed, unto the end of the world: for whosoever will consent to the blood of an innocent man, he may easily be brought on to consent to the shedding of the blood of all innocents that ever was: keep therefore thine hands, thine eyes, & thine heart clean from any assent to the wrack of the innocent. Now to come to the second part of our text, which contains the two denials of Peter. All this time, Peter is standing warming him with the officers of the High Priest: on this rises another temptation, Some say, Art thou not one of his disciples, there he denies, saying, I am not. First, ye have the occasion of the temptation, Secondly, the temptation itself, Thirdly, the second fall, and denial. The occasion is, he is standing warming him in such a company, the words import a great security in Peter, he is so far from a remorse, that is, careless: think ye not, that having denied his Master once, that he should have gone aside & mourned & wept bitterly, but ye see he did not so. Sin when it is committed, bringeth on commonly a careless security: when a man hath fallen into a great sin, he will commonly lie still in a deadness & senselessness, & as a man who falls down from an high place, for a certain space lies without sense, & is dammished with the fall: even so▪ (what is sin but a fall from God) after that once we are fallen from God, we are senlesse altogether, we lie without sense or motion, & the greater always that the sin be whereinto we fall, the greater is the senselessness: but above all sins, the denial of the Lord jesus, & of His truth, brings on most fearful & deadly senselessness, especially if that sin proceed of a maliciousness of the heart, as that sin of Iuda● did: he was senseless, he was so impudent in sinning, that he kissed His Master, to show Him to his takers. It is true, the sin of judas, was of the hatred of the heart, but the sin of Peter was not of malice, but of infirmity, yet he falls into a deadness and sleep: So, Brethren, ever beware to fall, for after a fall comes a security. The estate of security is the most dangerous estate that ever was, better to be mourning day & night, than to be in this security: so then falling, he lies still senseless But look what follows, lying still in security, another tempter cometh again, to wit, One of the servants of the high Priest, his cousin, whose ca●e Peter smote off, said, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? look what the estate of security brings on it, never wants temptation, & if thou shalt be put to that pinch, that thou should deny thy Lord, let a man lie still in security from hour to hour, he shall never want temptation: when the devil lulles thee asleep in security, than he thinks that he gets his will. Peter says, I am not his disciple: the temptation is but light, yet for all the lightness of it he denies his Lord: for denying Him to be his disciple (albeit he spoke slenderly) he denies Christ to be his Master: & in effect he denies the Messiah: then, Brethren, a man or a woman lying in security, the least thing in the world, will draw him away, as a sleeping man with a small motion will fall: so when thou art sleeping, if the devil cometh, the least finger of the tempter will put thee over: above all things in the world, keep thee from security: for the smallest temptation will put thee away from thy God: so men in this life should ever be groaning under the burden of sin: had Peter been groaning after his first denial, he had not been so easily overcome. Now to take it up in one word, sin brings on security, & when one lies in security, the devil is busy to tempt him, & that person is easily put over: so beware of sin, and strive to get a waking conscience, that thou sleep not in security: for the end of security is death everlasting▪ when he is crying peace, peace, then cometh a sudden judgement, like the pains of a woman in travel. Now come to the last denial of Peter: he hath denied the Lord twice: after his second denial, he is no more touched, than he was of before: & the second fall brings on a greater senselessness, than the first fall: the oftener that a man or woman falls, they are the more senseless, & once falling, & falling again, thou contractest the greater security. There is not a man or a woman that continues in sin: but after the second fall, that person shall be more senseless, than after the first: so growing in sin, brings on a growing in deadly security, & continuance in a dead sleep, thou shalt find thyself after the second sin more senseless than after the first: Well then, Peter continues in a security, & as Luke noteth, there interu●enes one hour between the second & third denial: yet he is without remorse, & he is not moved▪ so continuing in this dead sleep of security, cometh on the third temptation, by a cousin of Malchus, whose ear he smote off: if thou sleepest in security, thou shalt not want new temptation: when thou sleepest, thy tempter is busily waking about thee: the more thou sleepest, and liest in security, the more busy is the devil to tempt thee: albeit thou feelest it not. Now when Peter hath denied Him once and twice, & as the other Evangelists do note, he putteth to a curse: Mark, as continuance in security bringeth on continuance in temptation: so continuance in temptation bringeth on continuance in sin. Now, I think, if the Lord had not stayed him in the end, he had denied Him a thousand times: even so oft as they had asked of him. So there is never an end of tumbling over and over, till the creature tumble in hell, where there shall be a black wakening: for if thou deniest the Lord once, thou shalt deny Him again and again: it is noted when he denied the third time, Then the cock crew, and Luke noteth, even as the cock crew, the Lord looked over his shoulder: there goes two things together, the crowing of the cock, & the looking of the Lord. S. Mark notes, the cock crew the second time: well then, doth Peter waken at the crowing of the cock? began he to get a remorse by it? No, all the crying & crowing of the world, will not waken the soul out of sin, except the Lord look in, by the beams of his countenance, and strike in to the heart, if the gracious beams of the Lords face had not strucken on Peter's heart, he had never wakened. This is to let you see, how hard a thing it is to raise a dead body that lies in sin: what crying in the world will raise a dead body: & so there is no crying, or remedy in heaven or in earth, to thy dead soul, except jesus Christ look favourably unto thee, & make his gracious countenance to shine in thy soul: who would have that remorse of sin that Peter got, and that waking conscience, let that person strive to turn the heart to jesus Christ: when the heart is turned to the Lord, then the vail shallbe taken away: all the light of knowledge is in the face of jesus Christ: no heat in the world is able to mollify thine heart, except that heat that cometh from the face of jesus Christ: so, hold ever thine heart up to the face of jesus Christ, that thou mayest have a continual remorse: for in the bitterness of sin, is the sweetness of joy: Now to make an end, and shortly to examine this fall of Peter's. Certainly, there are many faults in this fall: First, he is carried away with a vain confidence of flesh and blood: he will take up his cross and follow the Lord, albeit that the Lord advertised him that he was not able: and then the door was shut upon him, to advertise him, and put him in mind, yet he would not stay: then when he is let in, alas, he denies his Lord once, he denies Him twice & thrice, till the LORD did stay him: I dare not say, but all this time Peter carried a good heart towards his Lord, & a spunk of faith, & a spunk of love in the heart, albeit his faith & love were choked: it was suppressed with infirmities of the flesh, & namely with fear: then when he is entered in and come unto the fire side, if that faith and love was suppressed before with his nature, than it was far more suppressed, & this little spunk of love in the man, was smothered, & there falls such a weight of infirmity on it, that it was pressed down under the burden of corruption, and under security: if thou be sleeping in security, albeit thou have a spunk of love, it will be smothered, and this is most true, that this spunk of love was so smothered, yea, I say more, it was pressed, that except the Lord had looked over his shoulder, with the eye of his mercy, and wakened that spunk of love, it had died out. In Peter we have a clear example of the weakness of the godly men, into this life: albeit we have faith, and love, yet in the example of Peter we see, that the spunk of grace will be choked with corruption & infirmity: and then will ye come to God: Peter is one of the chief examples of the mercy of God in jesus Christ: Paul to Timothy counts, that he was one of the greatest examples of mercy in the world: but if ye look to the sin of Peter, ye will find that it was greater than the sin of Paul: for Paul did all of ignorance, and so if Paul, as he says, was made an example of the mercy of God to sinners: surely this example of Peter, ought much more to be an example to all sinners: let no sinner that looks to him, despair of mercy, how burdened so ever he be with sin: for that same jesus Christ, who was merciful to Peter, hath store of mercy for all them, that it pleaseth him mercifully to look upon: To Him therefore, with the Father, and holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, AMEN.   

THE FIFT LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  JOHN CHAP. XVIII. 
verse 28 Then led they JESUS from Caiaphas, into the common Hall. Now it was morning, and they themselves went not into the common Hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the passover verse 29 Pilate than went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring you against this man? verse 30 They answered, and said unto him. If he were not an evil doer, we would not have delivered him unto thee. verse 31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him after your own Law. Then the jews said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death. verse 32 It was that the word of JESUS might be fulfilled which he spoke, signifying what death he should die.  
IN the eighteenth and nineteenth Chapters of this Gospel (Brethren) is contained the History of the Passion of the Lord jesus Christ; and it is divided in these parts: The first is the suffering of the Lord in the Garden: The next, is the suffering of the Lord under the High Priest Caiaphas, the Ecclesiastical judge: The third, is the suffering of the Lord under Pontius Pilate, the Civil and Roman Magistrate: The fourth, is the suffering of the Lord in the place of Execution: The last, in the sepulchre. We have spoken of the first part of His suffering in the Garden▪ besides the inward conflict He had with the wrath of His Father for the sins of the elect which He did bear upon Him. The▪ Lord is taken like a thief or vagabond, and bound, & led to Jerusalem. We heard also the suffering of the Lord in the Hall of the High Priest, whose name was Caiaphas. When the High Priests & Elders are set down in council. He is brought in before them: and being brought, they have not a word to say against Him, howbeit they bond Him, & brought Him to judgement. This was an unformall dealing: therefore the high priest demands of Him His doctrine, & of His disciples, to catch a word out of His mouth, whereupon he might make his accusation: when they prevail not this way, the rest of the evangelists note, that they begin to suborn false witness: but they get no vantage that way neither: for they cannot agree together. Then the high priest gins in wrath to adjure Him, to tell him, whether he be that Christ or no? The Lord denies it not, but says, Thou hast said it: He gives him a fair testimony of this: after this He says, Ye shall see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power of God, & come in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rend his clothes, as though He had blasphemed, & said What have we more need of witness? behold, now ye heard His blasphemy, what think ye? Then he, & the rest of the council, concluded, that the Lord was worthy of death, & so the council departed. In the mean time the Lord is kept still in the Hall of the high priest, & the officers are all about Him, working all kind of injury against Him: the rebukes that should have befallen to us, are laid on Him, as the prophet said of Him, Psal. 69.10. Some spitted on Him, some put a vail on His face▪ & smote Him, saying in scorn, Prophesy Christ, who it is that striketh thee: nothing in the Lord but patience, He spoke nothing He made no more resistance than a silly lamb before the shearer: when it is begun to become light in the morning, the Priests & Elders begin to sit down in council: & the high priest asked of Him the same again, whether he was that Christ or no? He answereth, If I should tell you, ye will not believe me (what avails it to speak to an endured heart?) & He testifies again, Thou hast said it: & he gives an argument of this, hereafter shall the son of man sit at the right hand of the power of God: Then the high priest and the Elders, the second time, concludes Him to be worthy of death, & adjudges Him to die: them the council arises: & the first thing they do, they lead Him to Pontius Pilate the Roman deputy to the judgement Hall, to him to execute that sentence they had given out. In this Text we enter into the third part of the suffering of Christ under Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. First, in the Text we have read how the Lord is led into the Common Hall of Pilate: then we have what conference was betwixt Pilate & the jews, concerning Christ. Then it is said, They led him into the common Hall: which is, as we call it, the Session-house, where the Roman Governor sat for the time, and ministrated judgement. Now Brethren, it would be well marked, when it is that they led Him to Pilate: it appears plainly in the writings of the evangelists: namely, Mat. 26.59. Mark. 14.55. & Luk. 22.63. that they led Him in after they adjudged Him to be worthy of death. They led Him not in thinking that Pilate should sit down & try whether He was worthy of death or no: but that Pilate upon their word should give out the sentence of condemnation against Him. Mark & consider how they abused the judge a man better than themselves, they make him but a torturer, & the best is, a damner to give out the sentence. Ye may see here a lively image of him who will be called the high priest in the Kirke this day: I mean that beast of Rome, the Roman antichrist. Indeed, this day, there is no high priest, but jesus Christ only, who did put an end to that office among the jews: there is no high priest, or small priest, great or small in the world, all is but usurped authority, He is that only high priest according to the order of Melchisedeck, who endureth for ever. But he who falsely takes upon him that style, follows the fact & example of Caiaphas, first condemning Christ, and then giving Him over to Pilate to execute the sentence: for he will sit down in his council, & adjudge the innocent to death▪ as Caiaphas did Christ, & then he will use the power & arm of the Emperor: for what is the Emp. & so many kings, who have given themselves over to his slavery, but like as many hangmen to the Pope? What is the king of Spain, but a Burrio to the Pope? he dare not but execute the decree of the inquisition: was he not compelled to pleasure the Pope & his crew in putting his own son to death? Ye saw never two things liker to other, than the Pope & Caiaphas. The time is noted when the Lord jesus is led to the Common Hall: first it is in the morning, after the rising of the Sun, and after the council of the high priest, and of the Elders was loosed. The manner of the delivery is noted: when they come to the place of judgement, the jews will not enter in, because they will not defile themselves, if it were with the touching of a profane ethnik, or the walls of an house. O hypocrites! The cause is set down, They were in a preparation to eat the passover that same night: now will ye see these holy folk, they will not be polluted with the touching of Pilate: they had polluted themselves miserably with touching of jesus that innocent, & polluted both hand & heart, in taking him, & leading him to the judge, accusing him, & abusing him: yet when they have done all this, they will not be defiled with Pilate: they are profane in the greatest thing in the world, to slay the Lord jesus: they are religious in a light ceremony of their own invention. Look the nature of Hypocrites, Paul Ephes. 5.12: It is ashame even to speak of those things which an Hypocrite will do in secret: and if ye will come to ceremonies and outward observations, no man is so precise, and will seem so holy as they, the faithfullest creature will not be so holy in bodily exercise as they: yea, I say unto you, if there be no more, but this bodily exercise, & keeping of ceremonies, the Lord counts all but abominations, as ye may see in Esay Chap. 1. Preaching and hearing, speaking, conferring, the Lord counts no more of them, than if He had never ordained them, if there be no more but this outward action, and as before, even so now I say, we have a vive image of the deceivers of the world. The Pope's religion is nothing but a deceiving of the world, by keeping of vain and unprofitable ceremonies invented by him: will ye come to trifles, of their own inventions, they appear to be very religious, and exceeding holy, touch not, handle not, taste not, but their Cloister Monks are so defiled, that they defile the world: offer him gold, or silver, he will not touch it, and if a woman come into their Cloister, all must be purified with fire, after that she is come out, though she were a Queen: there is the lounes religion. I pronounce that in Popedom there is but a show of godliness, & have denied the power thereof: follow the Papists who will, they have nothing almost but trifles, & their own inventions. Well then, come to the conference between the jews & Pilate, Pilate yielding to their vanity, & superstition, not so much to their religion, He cometh out to them, & seeing he must judge the Lord, He asketh if they had any accusation against Him, because they would not come in. It is not enough to judge a man, except the pursuer have an accusation, & Pilate would not sit down to judge, except he saw the accusation: indeed, the jews took him, bound Him, and in the high Priests hall handled Him unworthily, before they had any accusation against Him, & they bring Him in judgement, but Pilate an Ethnic & a sinner as they called him, will not proceed that way, he is more formal, he will not sit down in judgement, till he hear the accusation, an Ethnic who lives without God in the world and without the promises, as Paul speaks, he is more just & formal in judgement, than all the jews who professed the true God. This falls out oftentimes, that a ●urke or pagan who living without God in the world) will deal more uprightly in judgement, and especially with Christians who are persecuted for the Name of Christ, than they that take upon them the name of the Church. It is better for a Christian to fall into the hands of the Turk, than of the Pope▪ or of the Inquisition of Spain, let them assay it who please. Well, Brethren, there is no cruelty or wrong comparable to the cruelty of these who take upon them the name of the Church: Experience hath proved this. Now he requires a vardict of the jews: but what answer they? If he had not been an evil doer, we had not delivered him unto thee. They answer presumptuously, What needest thou to doubt of his deserving? or of us? Thinkest thou, that this man would have been condemned by us without a sufficient cause of death? So ye see, it is not that he should sit down, and try whether He were innocent or no, that they brought Him to Pilate, but that upon their words he might give out the sentence: Yet there is some accusation here, that he is an evil doer. Is that sufficient, when a man is delivered to the judge, to say, This man is an evil man? No, he must qualify it in particular, wherein he is evil, and hath failed: if they had found any, they would not have passed by it: in their own judgement seat they could get nothing to say against Him. Now when they came to the judgement of Pilate, and striving to accuse Him, they can say nothing, but in general, This is an evil man. Then this I mark thorough this whole process, that the Lord will always have these two things to be seen manifestly: First, the innocency of Christ, for (look the whole process, yea, when He is slain & dead upon the Cross) His very enemies themselves are constrained to testify, that He is an innocent man, as the Centurion did: The next is the wrongful dealing of the jews against their consciences.  
Now Brethren, as it was in this matter of jesus Christ, so it hath been since in all the Martyrs: The Lord hath made both the innocency of the Martyrs to appear clearly, and also He hath made the cruelty and tyranny of their enemies to appear. Read the books of the Martyrs, and ye shall find these two. So Brethren, it is well for them that will suffer for a good cause, and chiefly, for the cause of jesus Christ: yea, although it were but in this, That the Lord will have their innocency appearing. What and if all the world condemn thee, so the Lord jesus justify thee? for albeit thou die, yet thine innocency dieth never. And this is our comfort indeed, that albeit this body should be burnt▪ yet the day shall come that our innocency shall appear: for at the glorious coming of the Lord jesus, thou, and thine innocency shall stand up to shame the Tyrants of the world: Thus for their answer. Pilate says again, Ye have a law, take and judge Him after your law. Albeit Pilate seem to speak these things tauntingly, to mock the jews, speaking one thing, and thinking another, to repress their pride: yet the Text following, testifies, that he spoke it in earnestness, as he would say, Before that I should condemn any man this way without an accusation, for your pleasure, I had rather renounce of my right, and permit judgement to you, condemn and do as ye will. Well then, it is to be marked: I see here, that ere Pilate had judged the Lord wrangously, he had rather have given over his right, and the judgement of Capital crimes: and well had it been for Pilate, if he had stood to this sentence, and it had been better that he had given over his right that the Romans had, albeit that he should have immediately been taken and hanged by the Emperor for it. Alas, the miserable man lost himself by the maliciousness of the jews: yet albeit he be an Ethnic, he is a man of better conscience than the Jews were: The light of a natural conscience in this Pilate surpasses all the knowledge of the jews: And the Lord at this time did set up that light of pilate's on a Scaffold, as a lantern and light, to condemn these jews that had no conscience. The very words of Pilate are a lantern to let the jews see, that they had no conscience: God in his wisdom, from time to time uses to do so, He will make the Pagans to stand up like light, to shame the professors of the Gospel, whose conscience is as it were burnt up with a hot iron. Is it not a great shame to thee, when the Lord will raise him up to be a light unto thee, who should be a light to him: and as in this world He will make men without God, to stand before the Professors in this world to shame them: So in the world to come, He will raise them up to shame, and to condemn them: Sodom and Gomorrha shall rise up to the judgement of many in this age who profess Christ. Ye shall see how Pilate, although he was a very evil man, yet he pities the Lord jesus, & will not for their importunity consent to his death: They say, It is not lawful for us, to put any man to death: They require not that power to be given them▪ that the Romans had: for forty year before the destruction of the town and Temple of jerusalem, they lost all authority to judge on Capital crimes: they spoke truly; And here they would appear to gratify Pilate, when they would acknowledge him to judge in capital crimes: but in effect they take the power of a judge from Pilate, when upon their sentence only, without accusation, trial, or verdict they will have him to condemn Christ: But better had it been a thousand times for Pilate, that they had taken that power to themselves: for they involved the man in their guiltiness by condemning Christ jesus. And I say more, it had been better for the Priests, that they had taken the whole judgement unto themselves, because that blood of Pilate lies upon them. This is a true thing; the moc thou drawest to communicate with thy sin, thy damnation shall be the greater. It were better for the Princes of this world, who are like as many slaves to the Pope, the Emperor, the King of Spain, etc. to renounce all the right they have of judgement to the Pope, when he and his crew have condemned on innocent of Heresy, to execute him; rather than to be the Pope's Burrio. It had been better for Sigismundus the Emperor, that he had resigned all authority to the Pope in burning john Husse, and Jerome of La prague, than breaking promise and oath, to have executed the Pope's malice upon them: it had been better he had never seen that council: and one day the Princes of the earth shall curse the time, that ever they were executors to the Pope. And it were good for the Pope also, that he involved not these Princes in the same guiltiness, for their blood lies upon him. Would God their eyes could be opened, to see that deceiver.  
To return again: It is not they that must condemn the Lord: no, but it must be Pilate, he must do all, that they may be clean: and when the Lord is slain, are they clean? no Brethren, let Pilate condemn Him, and put Him to execution, yet the Priests and the jews are greater murderers of jesus Christ, than Pilate was: indeed Pilate hath his part in that woeful action, & woe unto him that ever he meddled with it, and now he findeth that he hath his part therein. But those High Priests, & those jews, are the greatest murderers of jesus Christ. Ye know the Papists use to say when a man is put to death, It is not we that slay the man, it is the civil sword of the secular power. Who burned john hus, and Jerome of prague, but the Emperor? The Pope is holy, and his hands are clean, and these sins hurt him not which are done by the hands of the Emperor. Who executes them in the Inquisition? The Kings, the Pope's holy hands are clean of all. Excuse as they will, I pronounce (and the Lord shall ratify it in that Great day) that they are greater murderers than the secular power. Away with their vain excuses. When they have murdered the man, they will put the fault in the Magistrate. Will God accept such excuses? In the next verse. john subjoins wherefore the jews would not take upon them to judge of the life or death of jesus Christ, and says, that they answered so, that that might be fulfilled, that the Lord spoke, signifying what death he should die. When He was conversant with His Disciples, He foretold them, that He should die upon the Cross. Now the jews will not take upon them the right of the judging Him, that these words might be fulfilled. If the jews had taken it upon them, they would not have crucified him, because it was not usual among the jews: they used to stone a deceiver or blasphemer to the death, according to the law, as they did Steven afterwards. This death of the Cross was familiar, and usual among the Romans. Then Brethrens, we see here, the God of Heaven is the disposer of the whole action of the persecution & passion of Christ, what ever be man's part. There is not a word uttered, nor an action done, either by Pilate, or any of the jews, which the Lord did not dispose. All that Pilate did, & all that the jews did, as that spitting and buffeting of Christ, were all disposed by the Lord, And this is it that ye read in that prayer in the Acts of the Apostles, cap. 4. vers. 28. The princes of the earth are gathered against thine anointed, Herode, Pilate, and the Gentiles. Whereto? That they should do that thing that thine hand and thy council hath ordained. Neither Herode, Pilate, nor any of the jews or Gentiles, did any thing in this execution, but that which God appointed. The understanding hereof serves to this, that there was nothing done to our redeemer, but that which His father appointed: they were but persecutors appointed by God, even as the hangman: the jews, & Pilate & Herod, were like as many hangmen, to execute that decree of God. This would seem a very light word that the jews say, We have no power to sit over the life or death of men: yet this is a mean whereby the Lord brings to pass that form of Cursed death. Brethren, we may speak as lightly of things as we please, and many times to little purpose: but there is nothing that passes GOD'S decree. Look to that providence that GOD hath in His creatures. The LORD disposes the lightest words that thou speakest, & He rules thine hand so, that whatsoever thou dost, He makes all to effectuate & produce that which He hath discerned: the thing that thou wilt speak or do, it will serve for some purpose to Him, how beit little for thee. In the mean time, let no man think, that when men speak or do evil, that they shall be the more excusable: for if there were no more but this, it shall make thee unexcusable: because in speaking evil, and in doing evil, thou hast not the LORD before thine eyes. Thou dost it not for obedience to His will. Take this lesson: Let every man and woman take good heed, that they be well exercised: and if our GOD employ us, let us take good heed, that we be in a good service, in speaking good, and doing good: Lend not thine heart, thine hand, nor thy tongue to the Devil in unrighteousness: And seeing thou canst not sleep from morning to evening, but must be speaking and doing; pray, that the LORD may employ thee to do well, and to speak well; and say, LORD, let me be an instrument to do well: And more, in doing well, be not content of the outward face of the action: but in doing, whether it be little or much, go ever to the heart, and see the disposition thereof: and look thou do it in sincerity, having regard to GOD. Think it not enough, and if the LORD work a good work by thee as an instrument: but look still, that He work in thee, that thou mayest find a good motion in thine heart: For alas, what availeth the outward action, if the heart be foul, which defileth all? Indeed we may not think, that there is any perfection in us, or in our actions in this life: but this is the perfect ground that makes that action to smell sweetly in the sight of GOD, to wit, Faith in JESUS CHRIST. If that thou findest that thou hast JESUS CHRIST in thine heart by Faith, albeit with great weakness in thyself, yet in CHRIST all the imperfection and weakness is hidden: and when the action cometh before the LORD, it is pleasant and acceptable to Him. All things are pleasant that come to the Father thorough the Son: there is the ground of all grace and acceptation. Stick to the LORD JESUS, and have Him not in thy mouth only, as the Hypocrites do: but let Him also be enclosed in thine heart, and dwell therein: for than thou shalt be acceptable to GOD, through Him: To whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all Praise, Honour, and Glory, for ever and ever, world without end: AMEN.   

THE sixth LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  JOHN CHAP. XVIII. 
verse 33 So Pilate entered into the common Hall again, and called JESUS, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the jews? verse 34 JESUS answered him, Sayest thou that of thyself, or did other tell it thee of me? verse 35 Pilate answered, Am I a jew? Thine own nation, and the high Priests, have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? verse 36 JESUS answered, My Kingdom is not of this world: if my Kingdom were of this world, my servants would surely fight, that I should not be delivered to the jews: but now is my Kingdom not from hence. verse 37 Pilate than said unto him, Art thou a King then? JESUS answered, Thou sayest that I am a King: for this cause am I borne, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth: every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice.  
THE last day (Brethren) we entered into the suffering of Christ under Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, & Civil judge in judeae for the time. jesus is led into the Common Hall to the House of justice, as ye heard, where Pilate sat. Now Pilate is not rash in judging: but before he sit down to judge, he will have an indictment, and will see what things the jews have to lay to the charge of the Lord: He saw the accusers of Him, the jews in multitudes: he saw no accusation: therefore he goes out unto them (because they would not come to him) and asketh, what accusation have they against Him: he receiveth little answer, or at least, little to the purpose: for they answer presumptuously, If he had not been an evil doer, we had not brought him unto thee. The thing they delate is very general: it is a sober indictment to say, He is an evil man, that must be qualified, and Pilate thinks this of no valour, and casts it off: at the last, after many words, he throws another accusation out of the jews: the accusation is this, as may be gathered of the Text: he calls Him a king, and king of the jews, and an enemy to Caesar, who would reave the kingdom from him, and a traitor, and guilty against the Majesty of Caesar. The rest of the Evangelists have this accusation more plainly, and at greater length. The jews say (Luke 23.2,) We have found this man perverting the people, and forbidding the people to pay tribute to Caesar, saying, he is Christ and king. So howbeit in this Gospel of john is not mentioned, that the Jews gave up this point of accusation, but that Pilate inquires, whether He was a king or no? It is manifest, that they were delators of Christ to Pilate: and Pilate knew not this of his own head, as the Text following declares. Let us examine this more deeply: The jews that persecuted Him, they delate Him not before Pilate, for blasphemy, they had adjudged Him already worthy of death in their own council for blasphemy: but when it cometh to the Roman judge, He is deleated of treason against the Emperor. This is a piece of craft, and of the wisdom of the children of this world: they knew the judge to be a profane man, who counted of religion, but as of a trifle, and knew that he was deputy to Caesar, and that he would be loath to see Caesar's hurt: therefore, they apply well their accusation to the honour of the man, and delates jesus, as one who had committed treason against Caesar. Ye shall then note here a piece of craft in this their doing. Yet consider it more deeply: The thing that they deleate to Pilate of jesus, was a lie: for jesus was so far from that, to accept a kingdom in this world, that when the people assembled to make Him a King, He conveyed Himself secretly away to the Wilderness: (JOHN CHAP. VI.) and whereas they say, that He forbade to pay tribute unto Caesar, that was false also: for He paid tribute unto Caesar for Him and Peter, and gave commandment, to give unto Caesar, that which was Caesar's. So this point of accusation is nothing else, but a calumny, and a false accusation.  
Yet let us look something further here. The JEWS would seem to be careful for CAESAR'S kingdom, and take delight to have CAESAR to reign over them: but indeed CAESAR was the only man in the world that they loved worst, and hated most: and the thing that moved them to give up this accusation, was an hatred they had against Christ. They flatter the judge: and as they are crafty in their accusation, so they are flatterers, and all to get the innocent blood shed: they have an evil action in hand, yea, the worst that ever man had: and so they care not by what evil means, craft, calumny, or flattery they bring their purpose to pass. If thou once takest purpose to do an evil turn, thou wilt not care by what unlawful doing thou bringest it to pass: & to speak the truth, if once a man take an evil action in hand, than he will of necessity be compelled to follow out evil means: for an evil turn cannot be done but by evil means. If a man once set his mind to pursue innocent blood, of force he must use flattery, calumnies, and evil means. Therefore, as ye would eschew evil doing, eschew evil purposes: for thou wilt not care to get thy purpose, by all unlawful things. Now to come to pilate's part: when he hath gotten this indictment, he enters into the Common Hall, & calls on jesus, & says, Art thou the king of the jews? no doubt, they thought, that they having accused Him so, that Pilate should not have looked on Him, but incontinent should have given out the doom: for treason against great Caesar was no small matter, yet Pilate was so far from that, that he speaks not a rough word to Him, he says not, What traitor, art thou seeking the empire of Caesar? but modestly, Art thou the king of the jews? A fair example of modesty and equity, to be in such a man, a profane Ethnic. Christian judges may learn at Pilate, what modesty and equity they should use in judgement. This tells us plainly, that the mind of Pilate was void of such affections as makes judges to pervert judgement: he shows he was void of hatred, he carried no hatred against Christ, neither sought he His blood: the man is evil abused by the High Priests and the jews: he doth all his endeavour to get jesus absolved. Look this whole discourse. So pilate's mind is void of these affections, of hatred, desire of revenge, and seeking of innocent blood: for Brethren, we know it is these affections that perverts judgement. The judge who hates and envies the person accused, he will have him slain, though he were as innocent as jesus Christ Himself. Therefore, let judges learn this lesson▪ To be void of hatred in judgement: I suppose the man be the wickedest in the world, yet seek not the destruction of the creature, but hate his crime, & look that thine affections slay not the man, but look that justice slay him: for if thou seekest the blood of the man, thou shalt be guilty of his blood in the latter day. The Lord answereth, and He answereth not at the first time to the point: but first, He says to Pilate Askest thou that of thyself, Is that crime that thou layest to my charge, of thine own head: Or hath any other told it thee: There is the meaning: So ye see, before the Lord will answer, He will understand who is the inventor of this accusation. Well, Brethren, I see this through all this History, that the Lord will have every man's part known in the action: He will know, who is the delator, and who gives out the verdict: He will have Herodes part, pilate's part, the jews part, Caiaphas' part, all their parts distinctly known, what each man doth: the Lord hath a great eye to this action, as it were the greatest in the world: and when all is tried, ye shall see that the burden is laid upon the jews, and especially upon the Clergy, to speak it so: Pilate had his part, Herode had his part, and both were guilty of the blood of jesus Christ, but the sin of Pilate is laid upon the Jews, & of his blood they are guilty. So Pilate this day may curse the jews, that ever he was governor of judea. Let the Papists say what they will, and extenuate their martyring of the Saints, and say, that it was the civil sword that slew them: I affirm in the presence of God, that the whole blood of the Saints shall be required at their hands, & the sins of the Princes, whom they have abused, shall be laid to their charge, and the blood of those who perish, shall be required at their hands, and we shall see, that the blood of all that have been slain from Abel the just, shall be laid upon the back of the Pope, and his Clergy. The Lord save the Princes of the world from them. Another thing I would mark here: jesus would have Pilate to take heed, not to the delation only, but to these also, who gives it up: He would have him to look to the jews, and to their disposition and affection. It is not enough to a judge, to look to the crime, but he must look to the accusers, and try their disposition: for if the accuser seek the man's blood, he will be a calumniator. There is not a judge who is set on life and death, but he is bound to set his eye on the delators. Take heed to pilate's answer: when jesus hath demanded him thus, then Pilate grows somewhat angry, that Christ should have meaned that that sentence should have proceeded from him: So this is a sure argument, that Pilate very gladly would have kept his hands free of that blood of jesus: for he saw that He was an innocent man, & that it was a false accusation which was laid against Him. Am I a jew, says he, Thine own nation, and the High Priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? First, he cleanses himself, that he was not the author thereof, because he was not a jew: and therefore knew not perfectly His doings: Next, he showeth who was the author, to wit, His country men, & namely the High Priests: for in conscience he was persuaded, both of Christ's innocency, and of their calumny: and therefore cleanses himself▪ but he was far entangled in this judgement, that he could not get himself free: he had done well, if he had said, I will have nothing to do with thee, or if he had delivered Him from these jews, by his power, but putting his hands once to judgement, he could not get himself free. Look what it is, once to begin to judge the innocent: when the judge begins to satisfy the appetite of wicked men, he can not well quite himself, till he defile himself with the blood of the innocent, albeit he would absolve the man, yet his mouth shall condemn him. So, for no man's appetite let not a judge enter in judgement against an innocent man, whom he knows in his conscience to be innocent: And if thou enter in judgement with him, absolve him, under the pain of thy life, or else thou shalt be guilty of his blood. This is a corruption sometime of the judgement of SCOTLAND, how the judge will say, I behoved to do it, I did it against my will, I was compelled to do it. Well, that shall be none excuse to th●e, for if thou do it, thou shalt be condemned for it: it is no small thing be a judge. We have heard pilate's cleansing of Christ, he is so touched in his conscience, with the innocency of jesus Christ, that he is compelled to cleanse himself first to jesus Christ, before that jesus cleanses Himself to him. Now follows the answer of Christ to this calumny: My Kingdom is not in this world: Thou askest at me, if I be a King: I answer, My Kingdom is not in this world▪ he denies not absolutely that He was a King: for the Lord jesus is the most glorious King that ever was, or shall be, but He denies that He was an earthly king. As the jews accused Him, He gives a reason, If my Kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight for me: he who aspires to a kingdom▪ he will fight & all that may do for him to the very death: if he had been seeking a kingdom, He would not have stayed Peter from fight as He did. Now to examine Christ's answer, First, He denies not that He is a king, Next, not denying that He is a King▪ cometh to a distinction, I am a King, But what a King? Not an earthly, but a spiritual King, that is true, the jews lay to my charge, that I affect an earthly Kingdom that is not true. Now, Brethren, this is to be marked, He telleth him indeed, that his Kingdom is not of this world, but He telleth him not where His Kingdom was: He says not▪ My Kingdom is in Heaven, He says not this, My Kingdom is in the conscience of men and women in the world: He teaches not Pilate: this. Some would think, that He should speak more clearly of this matter to Pilate, but Christ entered not into the common Hall to play the Doctor, and to teach: but the Lord jesus set Himself to play the Priest, & to suffer patiently, that part of teaching was ended but knowing that the hour of His suffering was come, & that Pontius Pilate should be his judge, He would not stay him: And therefore He would not enter in doctrine, because the time of teaching was past: if Pilate would have been taught, he might have heard jesus teach before, but he would not hear Him: He teaches Pilate as much as might make him inexcusable. Then, Brethren, I see, as Christ hath a time of teaching, wherein He will teach men, yea, his very enemies, as He uttereth, when they would have taken Him▪ & sought his life: so He hath a time of silence, when He will not open his mouth, He speaketh some thing, albeit little to Pilate, but He speaks not so much as one word to the High Priests, because He would have rather had him safe than them, because they were malicious. Christ hath not as yet shut his mouth in this land, but He teaches, not sparingly nor scantly, for to speak it so: The rain of the word of God, is powered abundantly out of Heaven, to water the thirsty souls of men: & if thou spendest thy time, & wilt not use it well, I warn thee, that the day will come, when thou shalt not get one word to thy comfort: wilt thou always have the blessed evangel, and the ministry thereof? No, as Christ had but one time, & when that time was past, He would teach no more: so hath his ministers: all their teaching shall end as His did: I say, GOD showeth grace on the persecutors of this Land, when as yet He offereth grace to them: but I denounce, as the Lord lives, if they repent not in time, they shall not get so much as one good word to comfort them. Wherefore, let not the opportunity slip, & whilst it called the day, let us not harden our hearts. Thus far the Lord hath purged himself, & hath teached Pilate, what a King He was, not an earthly but a spiritual King. I will not digress here, to speak of the kingdom of Christ, & therefore I come to pilate's answer, Art thou a King? well then, would Pilate say, thou deniest not that thou art a King: he should have asked what a King He was, & where his kingdom was, that He might have gotten a part of it: there is the confession that jesus gave under Pontius Pilate, as is said 1. Tim. 6.13. Pilate should have been inquisitive of these things, and followed out that purpose about his kingdom: but he breaks off the conference, by an accusation of jesus. An earthly hearted man knows not things heavenly, & so he cannot speak of them, but rather he will stay an heavenly purpose: Ye see earthly hearted men, when one will begin to speak of heavenly things, hath no more pleasure in them, than Pilate had: begin once to speak of heavenly things to a profane man, than he cannot keep purpose with thee, but he will break off purpose, & speak of earthly things, Paul 1. Cor, 2. sets down the ground here: The natural man, says he, knows, not the things of the Spirit of God: yea, he will wonder what that means, when thou speakest of Heaven, yea, he hath no power nor spiritual sense: for they are but foolishness to him: the most wise things of God, are but foolishness to the natural man, he delights not in them, because he hath not tasted how sweet the Lord is: So Pilate interrupteth Christ, Christ answers, & He says, Thou sayest that I am a King. In the which answer, the Lord denies not that He is a King, but He takes the mouth of Pilate to be witness that He was a King. Then he lets us see for what cause He came into the world: not to be an earthly King, Came I into the world: but that I might bear witness of the truth: I came not to be an earthly King, as other Kings are, but I came from the throne of a King, & a glorious Kingdom, that I may play the part of a servant in bearing witness to the truth. jesus Christ, was God, equal with the Father, & thought it no robbery, but He made Himself of no reputation, by taking on the form of a servant, Phil. 2.6. As though he would say, I came into the world, & took on the flesh of man to be a servant to my Father, & to be a witness to the truth: then He subjoins, lest that Pilate should think that office of little effect, & that He laboured in vain, & says, They who are of verity, to wit, begotten of the word, the immortal seed of the word of God: (for by verity here is meant the word of verity, as Chap, 17. vers. 17. preceding, They hear my word. He draweth ne●re unto Pilate: if thou be such an one as is begotten of the truth, thou wilt hear my word: albeit Christ be stayed from speaking▪ & Pilate would have put Him off. He leaves not, but speaks again to Pilate: He would have win Pilate it had been possible. Albeit we be interrupted when we speak of heavenly things to profane men and women, we ought not to leave off, by the example of Christ: but howbeit we be interrupted, we should return again, and follow out the thing we have begun, to see if some words will sink in their hearts: or if they will not return, that they may be unexcusable. Speak of Christ, and of Heaven, it shall never be in vain, but as Paul says, 2. Corin. 2. it shall be a sweet odour to God, either to their salvation or damnation that God may be glorified, either in mercy in winning of them, or in justice in their perdition. And therefore, it is good to speak of things Heavenly, the soul is nourished thereby. A man that redresses himself to a kingdom, would ever take delight to speak of it: if thou hast no pleasure at no time to speak of Heavenly things, it is a sure token that thou hast no part of that kingdom, thou hast never tasted the sweetness of it: for they who have tasted thereof, will have sometimes a delight to speak of things Heavenly, and will desire that sincere milk of the word, as Peter speaks. So if thou findest the word of life sweet, why shouldst thou not desire it continually? for it is that only food by the which the life of God is nourished within thee here: and one day it shall present unto thee such satiety of all pleasure and joy in the face of God, as the heart cannot think of now, howbeit thou gettest but scant in this world. Alas, that we should let such a joy pass away, for fault of feeling & tasting! What is the verity, says Pilate? he asks this not with pleasure, but loathing & disdaining, & tarries no answer, but goes his way: His stomach loathes Christ. Then in Pilate we have an example of natural men: if any will speak of things Heavenly unto them, of Christ, and of His benefits, they will stay the speech so far as they can: and if thereafter any will insist, and yet speak on, then at the last, if thou wilt urge them, they must speak something, but they will speak as Pilate did, lightly and disdainfully: and when they have asked, they will leave off, and will not care for an answer but asks for the fashion's cause, when they are constrained thereunto. We are by nature like to Pilate, either we will not speak one word of things Heavenly, or else if we be compelled to speak, and words be thrown out of us, we will speak with a loathing, and disdaining of the heart. There was never any thing in the world that could move the natural man more to loathing, than the word of God, he will hear it with such disdain, that when one thing is said in word, he will say another in heart, and he will think him who teaches him the most foolish man in the world. And he who is wisest, if he be not regenerated and renewed, he shall count Christ, and things Heavenly, most foolish. A simple body is sooner won, than he who is wise in his own conceit in the world. If thou wouldst be an hearer or speaker of Heavenly things, strive always to get a reformation of thine own corrupt nature, and let thy meditation and prayer be thus, Lord, reform mine heart, that thy word may be fruitful in me, so that both I may hear with pleasure, and also that the words come not from the teeth forward, but from the deepness of mine heart, when I speak of Thee, and things Heavenly, that so thy word may edify both me and others. It is a more dangerous thing, to come to hear, if we be not duly prepared, than to tarry away: and better not to speak at all, than to speak of things Heavenly without the inward sense of the heart. Now the Lord grant us grace, that in hearing & speaking of things Heavenly, we may have this Heavenly disposition in some measure, for Christ's sake: To whom with the Father and Holy Spirit, be all Praise, Honour and Glory, both now and evermore: Amen.   

THE SEVENTH LECTURE OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  JOHN CHAP. XVIII. 
verse 38 Pilate said unto him, What is truth? And when he had said that, he went out again unto the jews, and said unto them, I find in him no cause at all. verse 39 But you have a custom, that I should deliver you one lose at the passover: will ye then, that I lose unto you the King of the jews? verse 40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not him, but Barrabas: now this Barrabas was a murderer.  
WE heard these days past (Brethren) of the suffering of the Lord, First, in the Garden, Next, under Caiaphas, the High Priest for the time, and then we entered into the third part of His suffering under Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, who abode in Jerusalem for the time. We heard the accusation that the High Priests and the jews allege to Pilate the judge, where he sat in judgement against jesus Christ: the accusation was not blasphemous against God, for when the Priests thought Him afore in their own judgement seat worthy of death, but treason against the majesty of Caesar, he calls himself, say they, the king of the jews, as though Christ had come into the world to be an earthly king, and to take the kingdom over Caesar's head. When Pilate had posed Christ about this, after one or two answers, he finds this accusation vain, false, & feigned. And therefore, Brethren, first in this Text we have read this day, we have the purgation of jesus, and that out of pilate's own mouth: Next, how he seeks by all means to get Him out of the jews hands: Thirdly, we have the part of the jews, how they seek maliciously the life of the innocent, & prefers Barrabas (a murderer) unto Him. As to the first part, it is said, that Pilate went out again to the jews, out of the Hall, and professed before them all, that he found no fault in that man worthy of death. Then Pilate, after his inquisition, finding jesus Christ, who was accused before him, free of all affectation of Caesar's kingdom, yet finding that He denied not but that He was a king: and that was that good witnessing that Christ gave under Pontius Pilate, as Paul (1. Tim. 6.13.) says: but He was no king of this world. Then Pilate thinks there was no crime in Christ jesus: as concerning the other kingdom, Pilate thought it but an imagination & fantasy: therefore, thinking that jesus made Himself to be a fantastic king, and sought not Caesar's kingdom from him, he would not count Him worthy of death, but he cleanses Him. Politic and profane hearted men in this world, who smell of nothing, but of the earth, and have no sense of Heavenly things, if ye will but leave them the things of this world, as Caesar's kingdom, the glory, the honour, the riches, and the pleasures of this world, unto them, they care not what men speak of God, or His kingdom, or of jesus Christ, or of matters of religion: howbeit that they would say, that they would climb up to the Heaven, and rave it from God: they care not for it, as Paul says, The natural man counts heavenly things but foolishness: speak to them of heavenly things, all is but imagination, & Heaven is as dream to them. Lysias the chief Captain who was in Jerusalem after this man, under the Governor Felix, when Paul was persecuted in jerusalem, ye remember what he wrote to Felix, They accuse him of trifles, and of questions of their law, but I find no thing in the man worthy either of death, or of bands, Acts 23.29. Worldly men counts it not a crime, or a thing worthy of punishment, to derogate from God's glory. Well, let men spend their time, one day they shall feel it to their grief, that religion is the most earnest & excellent thing that ever was: and they shall curse the time that ever they esteemed any thing excellent, but religion. Yet this is commendable in Pilate, that he gives so fair a testimony of jesus, a Ethnic, who had no knowledge of God, nor sense of the life to come, to stand up in the face of them, who should have known jesus Christ, & to purge the innocent, might have made the High Priests & the jews ashamed. Yet, will ye mark this more narrowly, albeit his purgation be fair, yet he faileth far, for in purgation he uttereth a profane heart, whilst he purges Him in words, he scorneth Him in his heart, & condemneth that Kingdom of His, & that truth whereof He spoke, as a fable. Profane men, who have no part of sanctification, when they speak fairest, and when they seem to do best, they do nothing but sin: Why? because in the mean time when they speak fairest, their heart is full of vanity, & in their heart they scorn God: Albeit thou standest up & speakest much for the defence of Christ, & seemest to be angry at the jews, as Pilate did: if in the mean time thine heart believe not in that jesus, thou art but a scorner, & all thy speech serveth for no purpose to thee, if thou believest not: therefore in speaking of Heaven, & of religion, & of jesus Christ, we should take heed to the heart that it be sanctified, & remember, that while the mouth speaks God sees the heart, & when thou speakest of that Name of jesus Christ, let tihne heart grippe into Him, & so thy speech shallbe edifying and gracious. Now when he hath cleansed Him by word, thereafter by deed he seeks to get him lose; And it is subjoined that Pilate says: Ye have a custom that I should deliver you a prisoner lose at the passover, Will ye that I let lose the King of the jews. The rest of the Evangelists, Matthew 27.12. Mark 15.3. Luke 23. setteth down another accusation that passed in order before this immediately, which I shall touch shortly: the High Priests seeing that they obtained nothing by the first accusation, wherein they accuse Him of treason against Caesar, yet they will not leave off, but delates to Pilate many things, and heaps calumny upon calumny, and oppresses Him with accusations, as for jesus, He made none answer: Pilate seeing this, he urges Him once & twice to speak: He will not speak: Pilate wondereth at his great silence: the High Priests insist, & at last they accuse Him of false doctrine, which He had uttered from Galilee unto Jerusalem. When Pilate understood that He was a Galilean, he sends Him to Herode, who was Tetrarch of Galilee, thinking to gratify Herode, that being at variance, friendship should have been made: Herode rejoiced at his coming, and hoped that he should have seen some wonders of Him: for both Pilate and Herode thought to make a juggler of jesus: but Herode gets not one word of Him, much less a sign or a wonder: then Herode begins to mock Him, & puts on a garment on Him, in token of derision, and sends Him to Pilate: then Pilate the second time with his own voice cleanses Him. Some will marvel, what moved jesus to keep such a silence to them all: and some may think that this proceeded from stubbornness in jesus: No, Brethren, in this He was so far from disobedience either to God, or to the Magistrate, that the Lord jesus uttered a great obedience to God, and the Magistrate, and a wonderful patience, in that He will not repine in one word, knowing well, that it was the will of his Father in heaven, the hour was come: and therefore the hour coming, He will not help Himself in one word: so pleasantly and willingly He offereth Himself to the death. This was prophesied of Him in the 53. of Esay: He maketh no more repining, than a sheep or a lamb that stands before the shearer, He opened not His mouth, not for stubborness, but He was patiented. Brethren, some would marvel of the boldness of the Martyrs when they suffered (O the boldness that they had in answering, even in the fire) they suffered not one word to sl●p, but they answered for God's glory, and well of them that stood by: O! but the Lord kept silence. Some would think that jesus Christ in this point was inferior to the Martyrs: but this is the m●tter, Christ was silent, that the Martyrs might speak: for except He had been silent, they in persecution should not have opened their mouths: He was dumb, that we might speak: and was made nothing that we might be some thing. Now to return to our text again: Pilate uses all means to get jesus lose: he uses the present occasion to that purpose, knowing the use of the jews, he would have been glad to have had jesus set at liberty, above all the prisoners. To speak somewhat of this custom: they had this custom, to get a prisoner set at liberty at festival times, to the honour of their Feasts: the passover was a Feast, in remembrance of that deliverance out of Egypt, now as they were delivered, so they would have a prisoner delivered, but therewith they dishonoured God: is that to honour God, to break His commandment? this custom was not from the beginning, but entered in, when the Roman Emperor entered in, and this manner of doing wanted not a fair pretence, it had a pretence of clemency & mercy of the Governor: we know this, there is nothing wherein a Prince resembleth God, more, than in clemency: but it is a sin to let a wicked man escape, or that the Emperor should let him go: for God's Law says, Deut 11.12.13. Thine eye shall not spare the murderer, neither look upon him with a pitiful eye. Will ye see what things these men have for them, who think, that Princes may give men that are convict of Capital crimes their lives. Some will say, hath not a free Prince licence to give him his life, albeit the Law of God say, The murderer shall die the death: well, I say, and it is the truth, that were as much, as to give him an absolute power, but all the world shall not give him such a power, he may well usurp it: but not an Angel in Heaven hath absolute power over a beggar, to put him to death, and to keep him alive at his pleasure: much less a mortal man: only the great Creator (whose will is the rule of all righteousness) hath this power over his creature. It is true indeed, a Prince should be loath to put out that life that God hath put in, & should beware to judge rashly in Capital crimes: It is no small matter, to make a crime Capital, but if the crime be Capital and deadly, the Prince hath no power to hold his hand aback from execution, and to forgive. Indeed for weighty and great considerations a Prince may mitigate the punishment, but to say, he may let the man go free, he hath no power: but yet they will insist further and say, Is not this one of the judicial laws, that was given to the Jews, then what have we to do with it. I answer, these laws, seeing the jews and their Commonwealth, and laws politic, are abrogate, in so far as they concerned that people, we have nothing ado with them, they are abolished, but for as much as they are grounded upon nature, and natural law, we have ado with them: as for this law, it is natural. Ye know that natural men, Ethnics, who had never the law of the jews, they executed the murderer: but yet they insist, & they will bring in the example of good kings, who forgave Capital crimes committed against the very universal and natural law: and namely of David: forgave he not Joab for slaying of Abner and Amasa? and Amnon for committing incest: and again, forgave he not Absolom for slaying of Amnon his brother: but I answer: We are bound to live by God's laws, & not by examples: as for David if he had power to have punished those men, he failed: but it lay not in the hands of David: says he not of joab, the sons of Servia, are too strong for me, 2. Sam. 3.39. Ye know what he left in his Testament to Solomon concerning Joab? 1 Kings 1. joab was a great man, if David might have punished, he failed: sin cannot be excused, albeit he punished it not. Some will say further, Should not, and ought not each private man forgive a private offence: is not that Gods will and commandment? Hereupon they would conclude, and make it to follow: A Prince may forgive a wicked man for Capital crimes: but I say and affirm, that there is a great difference between a private man and a King: When a King forgives a Capital crime, he forgives Gods right, he is free in another man's right: indeed there is a difference between these crimes that are Capital, and the crimes that in their own nature are not Capital, but by the laws of Princes are made Capital: for upon just considerations the Prince hath power to dispense with them: as for Example, It was not deadly of the own nature to Simei, to go out of the Ports of jerusalem, but because Solomon forbade it, it became deadly. Like as it is in the hands of Princes, to make & to change such special laws: so it lies in his hands to forgive such a man, transgressing them upon weighty and great considerations. So to return, these crimes that are Capital by natural law, a Prince hath no power to remit them, albeit he were ruler of all the world, he derogates to God's glory: and secondly, if there were no more to let us see, that God hath not given that power to forgive Capital crimes, against God's Law and nature, the judgements of God, which ceased on such men and their posterity, were sufficient to show it: for if thou forgivest a thief, he would hang thee on the same gallows. That sad example of the judgement of God upon Saul, who against God's express commandment, spared Agag king of Amaleck, might terrify other Princes to remit such persons. Some will come forth, and his remission to his abominable murder and crimes in his bosom, upon whom the sun is not worthy to shine: God forgive them, who gives or purchases such remissions: the King of Heaven will not have any to usurp His authority.  
Now, let us return, and consider pilate's part: Pilate is careful to get jesus the innocent let lose, and at liberty: and herein he is worthy of some praise. They who should have saved Him, are persecuting Him: and yet mark well, and ye shall see, that Pilate in thus doing and speaking sinneth. When he is of purpose to set Him free and at liberty: he cares not, albeit jesus was most innocent, that He were counted nocent and guilty: he cares not, although He pass free as one worthy of death, and he compares Him with Barrabas: and when he doth the best he can, he doth but evil. Mark the duty of judges, It is not enough to seek to set the innocent free and at liberty only: No, but also thou must see that the innocent be set free as an innocent man, albeit that all the world should speak against it. The will of that great judge is, that not only the innocent should escape with their life, but also that they escape as innocent, that their innocency may serve to the glory of God: thou suppresses the glory of that great judge, if thou clea●sest him not as an innocent: it were better for an innocent to die the death innocently, than to take on him a crime which he hath not done, or to take a remission of a crime whereof he is not guilty. To come to the part of the jews, Pilate goes far beyond them, albeit he doth evil▪ yet they do ten times worse: Alas, the judgement of Pilate in that day shall be nothing to the judgement of the malicious jews: in doing of this, that he compares Him with Barrabas, & albeit he compares Him with him, yet he counts Him an innocent: but he compares Him with Barrabas by a policy, to pleasure the jews: they will not only compare Him with Barrabas, but will prefer Barrabas to Him: Pilate compares, they prefer. Brethren, an ungodly man will hate more extremely virtue, and grace in a good man▪ than vice in an evil man: as concerning the wicked man, because he is wicked himself, he will not hate sin as it is sin: the pleasure that a wicked man hath, is to see the GOD of heaven displeased, that is his meat, that is his drink: if he do hate vice, it is not for the vices sake, but because the vice troubles him, because of some scathe and shame that follows it, and because he would have an easy life.  
But to come to the ground: An ungodly man hates virtue, because it is virtue, and because godliness is of GOD, he hates it; and he hates a godly man, because he bears the image of GOD: the extremity of his hatred is against GOD: he will rather suffer a wicked man, than an innocent or godly man: but he never hates unce, because it is vice. The Pope will suffer Sodomites to dwell beside him, and Bordels: but he cannot hear of a godly man, but will persecute him who will profess to teach Christ truly: yea, he will pursue him to the death. There is greater hatred in the heart of an obstinate Papist against a Christian, than in the heart of a Turk: & the greatest hatred, is ever under cloak of religion. So there is not one that hates a godly man so greatly, as they who cloaks all things under the name of the Church: The LORD save us from them. I say, I had rather fall into the hands of a Turk, than into the hands of a Papist.  
What is CHRIST'S part? there is nothing but shame for Him: Where was there ever such an ignominy as this? Barrabas is preferred unto that just one: (if thou be an innocent man, and art counted worse than the wicked, it is a great shame:) and then not only is he preferred unto Him, but in hanging upon the Cross, He is put between two thieves, to testify, that they counted Him more worthy of death, than they were. And then, besides the suffering of that pain, He suffered pain in that they blasphemed Him, and held Him in derision. What ever was the part of the jews, and of Pilate, the Father of JESUS CHRIST hath His part also: there was not a word spoken, but that which He directed: the jews spoke not this, but by the Lord's disposition, who ruled all this action: they did nothing, (as ye may read, Acts 4.28.) but that which He had appointed from all eternity. Now, His dispensation was for thy weal: the dispensation of His shame was for thine honour, and, if He had not died in this ignominy, thou hadst died ignominious everlastingly, and He had not been a perfect redeemer, if He had not suffered this: and as the Lord dispensed all this, how ever it be that they did unjustly, yet it is all turned to our weal. See the wonderful just dealing of GOD, when they are doing unjustly, He burdens His Son, with no burden either in body or soul, but that which our sin (that JESUS CHRIST did bear upon His back) procured and deserved. He was most innocent in Himself, and altogether without sin, but our sins were laid upon His back: for He who knew no sin, was made sin for us, as the Apostle says, 2. Cor. 5.21. Look to these sins that Christ had upon Him: they were a thousand times greater than the sins of Barrabas: for He bore upon Him the sins of all the world, many murders, many adulteries, the LORD JESUS bore them all. So there is nothing that falls to JESUS CHRIST, but that which we procured unto Him. What ever CHRIST sustained, the reproaches, shame, and blasphemies, the pain, and extremity of pain in soul and body, it is thy sin that procured all this. Brethren, mark this well: When men either hear or read this History, they turn them to the jews, and will defy the Priests, and the Pharises, and Pilate, and in the mean time they look not to themselves: but look not to others, but to thine own self, for it is thy sin also that pierced Him thorough: and, if thou wouldst weep, weep for thine own sin. I mean not this, that any man should think to take his sins away from Christ, and lay them upon his own back: for there is no body that is able to bear so much as an evil thought: then let thy sins lie upon Christ, for He is able to bear them all: And as thou layest thy sins upon Him, seek to be clad with His righteousness: and as He is made sin for thee, look that thou be made righteous before God in Him, for if thou be clothed with that everlasting righteousness in that Great day, thou shalt be counted just, and get that life of JESUS. Wherefore, to end here, let us so abhor the malice, indignity, and cruelty of the jews against CHRIST the innocent, that upon the other part we may with our whole heart reverence and embrace that most just dispensation of GOD upon Him as guilty in us, and for our cause: and let us give Him thanks and praise continually, because He hath given His only Son for us, and He hath made Him sin for us, and He hath made Him subject to all shame, ignominy, dolour, and pain, both of body and soul, for our sakes. To Him, therefore, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all Praise, Honour, Power, and Glory for ever and ever: Amen.   

THE EIGHT LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 
verse 1 THAN Pilate took JESUS, and scourged him. verse 2 And the Soldiers plaited a Crown of Thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple garment, verse 3 And said, Hail King of the jews. And they smote him with their rods. verse 4 Then Pilate went forth again, and said unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know, that I find no fault in him at all. verse 5 Then came JESUS forth, wearing a Crown of Thorns, and a purple garment. And Pilate said unto them, Behold the man. verse 6 Then when the high Priests and officers saw him, they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.  
Now Brethren, we insist further in the suffering of CHRIST, under Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, who abode in Jerusalem. We have heard of two accusations that were laid against the innocent jesus Christ: The first was, that He called Himself The king of the jews, & so was guilty of treason against Caesar. Ye heard the effect of this accusation to be nothing: and therefore he goes forth, and with his voice before them all, purgeth the innocent. In the next accusation, there were many things laid to His charge: and this chiefly, that He had corrupted the whole Country, from Galilee to Jerusalem with false doctrine. Now when this was tried, Pilate yet holds Him innocent, in testifying His innocency: and therefore, he seeks yet to get Him set at liberty out of the hands of the jews: and considering that the jews at the passover were accustomed to seek the liberty of a prisoner, who was guilty of a capital crime, he uses this opportunity, and asks of them whether they would have JESUS or Barrabas set at liberty? We heard the answer to this proposition, to wit, they cry, they will not have Him delivered, but Barrabas. Now the other Evangelists do insist more largely in this purpose, and write more of it: and they report, that Pilate, when he heard this word, he asketh, What shall I do with jesus? They cry all with one voice, Crucify him. Pilate the third time hearing this, he cleanses the innocent. Yet they report more, that whilst Pilate was sitting in judgement, there cometh a messenger from his wife, and says, Have nothing ado with this innocent man: Why? for I have been troubled for Him in my sleep. This is an advertisement sharp enough unto him, and the LORD wanted not His own work therein: for the LORD brought this to pass, partly in respect of JESUS CHRIST, that His innocency might clearly appear before the world, and that He might receive a testimony of His innocency from them who had little regard unto it: for, had not jesus been innocent, we had been little the better of Him, for He could not have justified us: for, ere our faith rest on Him, we must have the full assurance of His innocency: partly in respect of Pilate, that he should be converted, or made unexcusable, if he would go forward. The working of the Lord is wonderful in the reprobate: for ere that decree of their reprobation be put in execution, the Lord assays to bring them to repentance. Rom. 9.22. He suffers with a long suffering the vessels of wrath. Rom. 2.4. He invites the reprobate to repentance: Yea, ere He put them in Hell, He will invite them to Heaven: There is not a reprobate that perishes in the justice of God, but ere He utter His justice towards them, He will utter His mercy in warning them to repent. We come, Brethren, to our Text: He follows out the suffering in these words which we have read: He tells us how earnestly Pilate seeks the liberty of jesus: and he lets us see the means that Pilate uses to set jesus at liberty: first, he takes Him out, and scourges Him, & puts Him out to be mocked; thinking that this would satisfy the jews; and then the fourth time, he professes His innocency: Then he brings Him out to them with a crown of thorns and a purple garment, thinking that he should have contented and moved the jews to pity, but all was in vain. It is said, Pilate took JESUS, and scourged him, and not content with this, commanded His soldiers to put a crown of thorns upon His head, and a purple garment on Him, to scorn the Kingdom of jesus Christ: and then smiteth Him with rods. Ye see, the Lord suffers mocking, & pain in body: the Lord of glory is put to ignominy: consider well & let it never go out of thy mind, that the Lord of Glory suffered such shame for thy cause: But to examine this fact of pilate's, this is commendable, that he speaks so, to get the innocent jesus set at liberty, but in the mean that he useth, he fails very far: Ye shall mark this, in profane and ungodly men, that one of these two things falls out, if not both: Either they shall not take in hand a good and godly purpose, or else, if any time it falls out, that they enterprise any good deed, that they shall choose ungodly & unlawful means to affectuate it, they shall do evil, that good may come of it. Cast your eyes upon this Land, & ye shall see this to be true: Yet let us search up the ground of this proceeding of Pilate: It cannot be denied, but that he hath a good purpose and deed in hand: but it is as true again, that as he hath a good deed in hand: he looks not upon it with an upright eye, he hath not God, nor his Glory before his eyes: for his conscience rather than any regard to God's Glory, or His will moved him to purpose to lose Him. Thou must not propone only to do good, but also thou must propone it, for God's cause, and for His glory, Pilate having no respect to God, goes astray, and out of the way. This is certain, Brethren, if the purpose were never so good and if thou have not the Glory of God before thine eyes, thou shalt waver: but by the contrary, that man that hath respect unto the Lord, he shall not readily waver, but the Glory of God shall glance before him as a lantern into his way, until he prosecute that deed. Blessed is he that hath the Glory of God before him: there is no light to bring us thorough this thorny way, but only the Glory of our God. Next, I see in this fact, in following out the means, that he would have had the innocent loosed, but so, that it were with contentment of the jews, he would please all parties,, and for their pleasure, when he would cleanse the innocent, he punishes Him as a nocent: seeing than that he depended upon the appetite of ungodly men, it could not be possible, that he could bring a good action to pass: yea, whomsoever depends upon the lust of malicious men, can never affectuate any good thing: or if they do any thing, they do it by evil means, and so fail greatly: let us therefore ay study to please God, let us, if we should die in the mean time, do that which is pleasant unto God, setting aside the pleasure of men. Mark pilate's form of doing, he useth worse & worse means: The first mean is evil, in comparing jesus with Barrabas the wicked man, the murderer: yet he thought by that means to set jesus at liberty, but now he scourges Him: this is a higher degree of evil, and now he fails further: begin once to do against conscience, for pleasuring of wicked men, as Pilate doth all this against conscience: if thou hadst never so good & so fair a pretence, thou shalt be compelled by process of time, to do a greater evil, albeit thou begannest with less evil, & thou shalt not speed at last: It is true, Pilate would do a less evil to get a greater Good done: but when he hath once or twice, against his conscience most unworthily abused the Lord jesus: thou shalt see the end of it, he prevailed not. Thus for pilate's part: The men of war under him, have their part of this action, they plat a crown of thorns, and put it on His head to his scorn, and to his pain, and they cloth Him with a purple garment, & smites Him with their rods, and then they go before Him, and say, Hail King of the jews, and this they did at the commandment of Pilate: Lamentable is the estate of the subjects, when the Prince is ungodly, and it is a sore thing for the officers, when the judge is unrighteous, yea, all the inferiors, even to the Hangman, may curse the wicked judge. This commandment excuses not the soldiers: they lend their hands the members of their body, to be weapons of unrighteousness: and this showeth that there was some malice in their hearts: there is none that dareth the members of their body to be weapons of unrighteousness, but they will be condemned: thou mayest not say, It was my masters will & commandment, & therefore I behoved to do it: the commandment of thy master will not excuse thee for no man's pleasure do evil, for his commandment shall be none excuse to thee at that great day: ye shall find that these soldiers were worse inclined than Pilate was: this falls out, if the master command them to do one evil deed, oftentimes the servants will do two: they desire but one word, or one wink to set all the country in a fire. Look the Acts of the Apostles, Chap. 4. vers. 27, Every man in particular who had part in this work are counted: Herode first, and next Pilate: leaveth he the part of the men of war: he calleth them the Gentiles, & next the people of Israel. This witnesses that the eye of the Lord was on them that did this fact, and not one of them all shall be excused: and if it were but a common soldier that is in an evil fact, he shall die at that day. Vain therefore is the opinion of silly ignorant bodies, who think that the commandment and will of their master will excuse them, for they shall die for their own sins, but their blood shall be required at the hands of their masters. Christ hath his part, Pilate is a worker of evil, and the men of war also. Now let us consider the part of jesus the innocent. He is the sufferer, He suffers dolours and shame, and many unworthy things, & that by the most just dispensation of God: & being our surety, he bore our sins and iniquities: therefore the wrath of God ceased upon Him most vehemently. There is not a deed done here, or a word spoken, but the Lord decreed it from all eternity, and dispenseth it in time, and on his part all was just, because jesus had taken on Him the sins of the Lord, therefore this pain and shame follows that burden. See the weight of the wrath of God, that lies on Him who had no sin in Himself: and further, the wrath of God, lieth not on a common man, but on His only begotten Son our cautioner. The Apostle to the Hebrews Chap, 5. verse 9, says, Although He was the only begotten Son of God, yet He learned obndience through His suffering, that is, He learned, what, and how good a thing obedience was, and what wrath & damnation follows disobedience: And there is not one of the Sons of God, but by afflictions they learn the same thing that the first begotten learned, how good a thing it is not to sin: It is good therefore that God humble us, that we may say, Now I learn what is wrath, and how good a thing it is to serve God, and to bestow my life for Him: & the godly when they feel a portion of this wrath, they will take up a better course, and will say, What if this God would power on His whole wrath, on me, it is no children's play to play with God, & make a pastime of sin, and then cry peace, that wrath shall come upon thee like a mountain, and then thou shalt cry, Cursed be the time that I have disobeyed God, for now I shall feel that infinite wrath. If ye will mark the Text well, ye will see in the whole passion of Christ, that the Lord endeavours to manifest two things, and things contrary the one to the other by appearance. By appearance He will have Him appear before the world the most innocent man, and the most guilty man in the world: How can these two stand? The Lord thus wise will have Christ to appear, in Himself the most innocent man, and in us the most guilty man in the world. Hereupon it cometh to pass, that Pilate absolved Him as innocent, & yet punishes Him as nocent: for jesus Christ bore the sins of the whole faithful: and it is for this purpose, that we seeing these two things in Him, that we should account Him a meet Mediator for us, and our faith should rest on Him: Come to Experience, Except I understand that my Redeemer be innocent in Himself, I will never believe, that He can be able to bear my sin, and to redeem me: for He could not be able to bear his own sin, much less another man's sin, except He were innocent, Heb. 7.26: such a Priest it behoved us to have, which is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners: Next, except I understand that my sins are taken off my back, and laid on His back, and that He hath taken my guiltiness on Him, the consideration of His innocency will never move me to account Him my Redeemer: for without this, what is His innocency to me. But when thine heart is persuaded of these two things, ye would marvel what great and marvelous effects will follow in the heart of a faithful man: when I look to His innocency, I will be moved with commiseration towards Him, I will pity Him: As the women followed Him out of jerusalem weeping and pitying His innocency, Luke 23.17, and when I see, that He being most innocent in Himself, is become guilty for me: then arises in mine heart a dolour and displeasure for that, that I should be the cause that He suffered innocently, I am moved for that, that I should have pierced the Lord through with my sins: I will be moved with sadness, as it is said in the first Chapter of the Revelation, and seventh verse. They shall wail before Him whom they pierced thorough: Then again, when I find myself disburdened of my sin and guiltiness through His guiltiness, mine heart will be filled with a joy unspeakable: it is a wonder what a joy will be mingled with the displeasure, that the world would wonder that these contrary effects should be in the heart of a Christian, this is the effect of repentance, if any man hath felt it: Again, when I see, that He hath loved me, mine heart will melt with love to Him again, as Paul says in the 2, Epistle to the Corinthians, 5.14, 15. The love of Christ constrains me, & binds up fast my senses, because that once we know that we were dead, and He hath died for us: And, he to whom much is forgiven, loveth much. (LUKE CHAP. VII. VERS. XLVII.)  
Brethren, ye that have heard of the History of that notable Martyr JOHN HVSSE, who was burnt for the love of CHRIST: now when he was brought forth to be burnt quick, than his executors put a paper upon his head, whereupon were pictured three Devils, with this title set over their heads, HAERESIARCHA: the which when he saw, he said, My LORD JESUS CHRIST for my sake did wear a Crown of thorns; why should not I therefore for His sake, wear this light crown, be it never so ignominious? Suffer on: thou shalt not suffer the extremity: thou who wilt suffer pain or shame for Him, thou shalt be partaker of glory with Him.  
Now I go to the rest of the means that Pilate uses. Pilate, when this is done, he goeth into the Common Hall, and cometh out himself, and the fourth time he witnesseth of the innocency of JESUS, that he could find no fault in Him. I see this, and it appears well by the testimony that he gives to jesus, that all that Pilate did to jesus, was against conscience: for would he immediately after he had scourged Him, have cried out to cleanse Him, if his conscience had not told him that He was just? He did it to a good end to deliver Him from death. This is the doing of ungodly men, who are not drawn out of the puddle of nature: they will do a smaller evil, for a greater good, as they think against conscience: they will not start at a stray; but behold the end; it may be that a good thing may follow thereupon: yet thou shalt have no reward for it. Beware to sin against conscience, and when thou goest about to do any thing that thy conscience forbiddeth thee, leave it off, and let it be, or else thou shalt go forward, till thou crucify Christ, and make shipwreck of Faith: Therefore, do nothing against conscience, yea, albeit it were a good deed.  
The third thing: he caused JESUS to be brought forth before the people, with a Crown of Thorns, and a purple Garment, to see if the Jews would pity Him: To see an innocent man so handled, it would have moved any man to pity: then he says, Behold the man, I have done enough unto Him, ye may be satisfied now. I see here, that even during the time that he saw jesus misused so sharply, this doing shows that he was moved with some pity of the innocent: for his conscience told him, that He was innocent: and not only did he this against conscience, but even against natural pity: and yet he went forwards to examination. If a man have but a natural pity, nature, and all the power therein will never hinder him to do a mischief.  
Then Brethren, let us always seek night and day, to be raised up above nature, for if we have but the power of nature to hold us from sin, we and our nature both will go to Hell. Albeit that nature move us to pity men, yet if there be no more but nature, the malice of the heart smoothers it, and overcomes it: only, the Spirit of GOD is able to fight and prevail against nature. Otherwise, albeit the light of nature were never so great, the worse shall prevail. Therefore, as ye would be saved from evil, strive to get the Spirit of grace, and say, Lord, give m●e Thy Spirit, that by his power I may strive against the corruption of nature. This should be our exercise, if we would be partakers of Heaven: for never a soul shall see Heaven by nature. Look what effect this works in the hearts of the jews: nothing can satisfy them but the blood of the innocent: they cried, Crucify him, crucify him. When men are given over to cruelty, nothing will satisfy them but the blood of the innocent. Pilate by all means assayed to set jesus the innocent at liberty, yet all in vain: for nothing will satisfy them, because malice possesses their hearts. Indeed it is true, that by the eternal decree of God it behoved Christ to die: but in the mean time they are unexcusable: for they did all of malice. If ye will compare them with Pilate, they did worse than he: he is to be preferred to them a thousand degrees: they had the light of the word of God to have instructed them, which Pilate wanted: when Pilate got sundry warnings, and last a sharp warning from his wife, he in a manner gainstood them not, but he had a conscience of the innocency of Christ, and he had a natural pity in his heart, and feign would have delivered Him, yea, four several times he preached to the jews, that Christ was innocent. But as for the jews, for as oft as they are told of Christ's innocency, yet their conscience is not wakened, neither can they be moved so much as to a natural pity. So if ye speak of want of conscience, of induration, there is no comparison betwixt Pilate and the jews. Think not that there is any man in the world that will have less pity in their hearts, than they who are liars against the Truth, & than they that say they are Churchmen, Holy men, and Defenders of the Truth: And I say, that the Pope makes less conscience of evil, than the Turk: And it were better for an innocent person to fall into the hands of a Turk, than into the hands of the Pope, and those silly souls that lie in the Holy house would exchange the one with the other. The judgement of GOD is lying upon these doers, on HERODE, on PILATE, on the High Priests, and upon the JEWS: yet PILATE gets this grace, that he hath some conscience, and it is holden waking, and sounding in his ear, and staying him from that wicked action; and than Pilate gets a pitiful heart. But come to them, to wit, the jews and High Priests, the judgement of GOD lies so upon them, that they proceed from degree to degree to fearful induration, till the action be finished, and the hearts of them are locked up from all pity, and their consciences are blotted away; so heavy is the judgement that lies upon the jews. Therefore, think not that we are free from judgement, when we are sitting in ease, eating, and drinking, in wealth, honour, and glory: for I affirm, that the heaviest judgement that ever GOD lays upon any creature, is a senselessness: For, when as a man or a woman is doing evil, and hath no sense of that their evil doing; O! that is the most miserable estate that can be: for it is a sure forerunner of eternal damnation. No outward cross, neither sickness nor poverty, is so sure a token of GOD'S judgement, as to be rocked up in security, and to be lying sleeping in sin. senselessness is a sure token of a sore judgement which shall overtake thee, so that thou shalt not be able to open thy mouth, to say, GOD help me: and therefore, beware of senselessness. Now the LORD hold our consciences waking, although it should trouble us, that we may cease from going forwards in sin, for CHRIST'S sake, To whom be all Praise, Honour, and Glory, for evermore:  
AMEN.   

THE NINTH LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 
verse 7 The jews answered him, We have a Law, and by our Law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of GOD. verse 8 When Pilate then heard that word, he was the more afraid, verse 9 And went again into the common Hall, and said unto JESUS, Whence art thou? But JESUS gave him none answer.  
WE heard in the beginning of this CHAPTER (Brethren) how Pilate the judge insisted earnestly to get JESUS (whom his conscience dited to be innocent) set free and loosed: and therefore, first he commands Him to be taken and scourged, to be crowned with a Crown of Thorns, and clad with a purple Garment, in derision of His kingdom; thinking thereby to have satisfied the jews. Then, when he had done this, he cometh forth himself, and in presence of all the people, protests the fourth time, that He was innocent. Thirdly, when he brings Him forth with a Crown of Thorns, and with a purple raiment, he utters a pitiful voice, saying, Behold the man, to move the jews to be content: but their malice could not be satisfied, but the jews and Priests cried out, Crucify him crucify him. Thus much we have heard already. Now in the beginning of this Text, we have the reply of Pilate to the jews, and the communication betwixt him and them: Take ye him (says he) and crucify him, as for me, I find no fault in him: He answers indeed with an anger for he is commoned with the obstinacy of the jews, because nothing would move them, but still they cried out, Crucify him: but he says, If ye will take it on your conscience, crucify ye Him, as for me, albeit I have right to crucify Him, I had rather give my right to you, than to de●ile mine hands with the blood of the innocent. Ye heard, when they urged Pilate, to condemn Him without a verdict: he answered, on this manner, Ye have a law, judge Him according to your law: Before I judged a man without a crime, I had rather resign my right to you. Ye see there, Pilate had rather give over his right, that he had of the Roman Emperor, in judging and executing, before he had condemned an innocent man: this had been very commendable in this Ethnic man, if it had not been forced out of him by the guiltiness of his conscience: his conscience cried within him, jesus is innocent. So this is forced out of him: for Brethren, ye shall understand, that men do things in conscience two ways: either against their will, when they are compelled violently to do it: or else, with their will, when they do any thing willingly, when the heart is as ready to do it, as the conscience charges. When a man doth a thing upon constraint, he getteth little praise before God: when a man doth willingly, then there is matter of true praise▪ if ye compare Pilate with the jews, who had lost their conscience, he hath his own praise: for it is better to be commoned on conscience, to do any thing, than to do against conscience: But let him who would have the true praise: not do any thing on constraint of conscience only, but also with a willing heart, as the conscience requireth, that he do it: so let him be as glad to do it. Natural men will have a conscience, and do upon conscience, albeit they were never so profane, but if the heart agree willingly to do God service, there is more than nature there: if thou wouldst have praise of God, take not only heed to thy conscience, but look also that thou have a joy in thine heart in well doing. Will ye mark through this whole discourse, that the Lord lets not the conscience of Pilate sleep (judges now who will be counted Christians, have not such a conscience) and as it is waking, so it lets him not rest, but causes him speak: if thy conscience be wakened, thou shalt be speaking, and shalt be compelled to say, the good cause is the good cause. But look to the High Priests: there is as great difference between them and Pilate, as it between the heaven & the earth: ye shall see nothing in them, but the conscience sleeping & locked up in a sound sleep: & the more that Pilate testifies of the innocency of Christ, they are the more hardened. This is a wonder, Pilate was but a natural man, who had none illumination, but through the light of nature: & ye must know that it is knowledge that makes a conscience. As for the High Priests, they had light by the word of God, yet come to the conscience, Pilate had a better conscience than they had all. Would ye search the ground of it: the High Priests, albeit they had the word of God, and light and illumination there thorough: yet the maliciousness of their hearts put out that light, corruption blotted it out: and when once a man is illuminate, and then beginneth to extinguish that light, it cometh by the just judgement of God, that the light of nature is put out, and then all conscience is scraped out, and then he becometh like a beast, and so falleth into a reprobate sense: keep the light that ye have gotten by the word of God, and by that Spirit, as ye would see life: and if ye put it out, the Lord shall make you as senseless as a beast. They cried both, but Pilate cries, Judge ye him, They cry, crucify him: Pilate cries, I find no fault in him worthy of death. What ever be pilate's part, who was a judge: what ever was the part of the jews the accusers, the Lord hath His part also in it, and he appoints it by His eternal decree: the hour was come, and He will have His only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world, and He will be glorified in His death at this hour, and He will not have Him to die as one worthy of death in Himself, but like an innocent in the sight of the world. Now look to this wisdom, that his innocency should appear: He will have the judge protesting His innocency oftentimes, before He should die. On the other part, He will have the conscience of the High Priests scraped out, and He will have them getting His blood: if the High Priests conscience had been wakened, jesus had not died at this time for the sins of the world: and therefore to the end that He should die, He hardened the hearts of the accusers. When any innocent man suffers, and chief for Christ, the Lord hath disposed the world so, that He hath made some to testify of the innocency of the Martyrs, and some hath He hardened to seek the blood of the Martyrs, that He might be glorified. Look to Daniel, Darius had a conscience of his innocency, but the Princes had hardened hearts, Daniel 6.1. Look when Paul was accused, the Roman Governors, Lysias, Felix, and Festus, had a conscience of the innocency of Paul: but the High Priests persecutes Him to the death. When a malefactor sufferes, the Lord will not use this manner of doing: He will not have the judge to testify the man's innocency where there is none, but he will let him die and suffer, like a murderer, an oppressor, or a blasphemer, as he is in very deed, he will have judge, accusers, and all men conspire together to take away such pests from the earth: Therefore, if there were no more but this, if we must die, it should move us to die in a good cause, and the best cause is the cause of jesus Christ. Take heed, that thou suffer not like a nocent, and guilty person, but like an innocent: so thy death shall be glorious: it is a pain to die, and a greater pain to die for an evil cause. Now the Priests answer: We have a law, and according to our law He merits the death: they challenge not a law to crucify Him, or any power to punish Him capitally: for all power of this was taken away from them by the Romans, yet for all this, they forget not the right of their law, That the blasphemer should die the death: according to this law they affirm Him worthy of death. So, Brethren, What ever Pilate can do, or say, to mitigate and to assuage their malice: speak what he can speak, they continue in hardness against Christ: look what blinds them: The word of God that should make them to see it, it blinds them, and they use it to their blinding. All the things in the world, yea, the best things: the very word of God serves to wicked men for nothing else, but for their farther induration: the more they see, the blinder they are, they will read, but the more they read, the blinder are they: for why? they abuse the word, they will not make it a rule to direct their affections and actions: but they abuse it to their fantasy, & makes a slave of it. Look to the Papists this day, they abuse the old and new Testaments, they make them to serve their appetites, they interpret, expone and apply the word as they please, they make the word of God the author of their lies. I affirm, that the word of God doth nothing to the Papists but blind them: it had been good for them, that they had never seen, heard, nor read the Scripture of God: Writ on, say on, this shall be verified one day: but let us consider their reasoning: The law ordains, that the blasphemer shall die the death, but so it is, that this man is a blasphemer: for He hath made himself the Son of God: therefore He should die the death, If ye look the ground, & the general: No man can find fault with it: for it is set down in the Law, levit: 24.14▪ but come to the application where they subsume, jesus is a blasphemer, there they fail for jesus was, is, and shall be that only begotten Son of God: & therefore the conclusion is false, that He ought to die the death. So ye see the general is true, but the assumption, and the conclusion, is a lie. In wicked men ye shall find this, that no man will lay down fairer generals out of the word of God than they, no man will do that better: but come on to the application, there they go astray, they apply not right, but they apply either to this affection or that: As for example, The murderer should die the death: if there be an hatred in them against the man, they will apply it unto him, but by the contrary, if he be a kinsman or a friend, they will say, this man is no murderer, howbeit he be as great a murderer as Barrabas was, and therefore, he should not die. Take heed to thine heart, and think it not enough to know the general to be true, but take heed to thine heart, and to the affections thereof, that they may be sanctified, and chiefly thou who art a judge: look that thine heart be free of hatred, and of perverse love: or else thy love, thine hatred, and thy perverse affections shall be poison to thee, and shall blind thee, and shall make thee pronounce false judgement. For, what avails knowledge, what avails it thee to have a great light in thine head, either thorough nature, or yet thorough the word of God, if thou wantest reformation and sanctification to thine affections? all is for nothing. True Christianity stands in the reformation of the heart, and without this, all the knowledge in the Scripture shall poison thee to the death: for except thou be reform, it had been better for thee that thou hadst been ignorant, and never seen the Scripture. Now to go forward: When they have answered Pilate, he continues: and it is said, when he heard that that man was the Son of God, if he had a conscience before, now he hath a greater conscience: Even, as whatsoever Pilate can speak to the high priests, did no more but harden them on: so all the words they use to put out his conscience, stirs it up, and wakens it the more: Indeed they sought by all means to blot out his conscience. And all the doing of a consciencelesse man is to blind thee, and put out thy conscience, like as his conscience is put out, and such a man is dangerous company: But the Lord, who only hath power over the conscience, disappointes their purpose. The Lord hath such power over the soul & conscience of man, that when He will have it blinded, all the doings in the world will not waken it: by the contrary, when God will have it wakened, all the world shall not still it: the more means thou usest to still it, it shall be the more aloft: None hath power of the conscience, to waken it, or to still it: No, not a King, nor an Emperor, no, not all the world hath power of the conscience, but only God: He hath His throne in the conscience. Yet let us examine this better, When Pilate heard this, he was the more afraid. Pilate had no knowledge of God, but so much as nature furnished him: he was a man who lived without God in the world, yet at the Name of GOD, and at the Name of the Son of God he is terrified, and his conscience abhorreth to do any thing against Him. Albeit thou never heard of the Scripture, nor never saw one of God's works, there is one thing within thee, that will tell thee, that there is a God, whom thou shouldest fear and honour: that is, thy conscience, & if thou honour'st not that God, thy conscience shall stand up & judge thee: I say more, this conscience is very powerful: for if it serve not to thy salvation, it shall serve thee to thy damnation conscience natural abhorreth to violate that Majesty, it telleth thee this, honour this God, if thou dishonourest Him, thou shalt die, albeit thou never sawest the Scripture, & if there come a wicked thought in thine heart, the conscience will stand up to challenge it, & like an armed man to sl●y thee, & if thou werest but a natural man, ere ever thou get that Majesty violate, thy conscience shall stand up to plead for God, & to guard Him from thine injuries, & ere thou get Him dishonoured, thou shalt tread upon the belly of thy conscience. It is true indeed, albeit this natural spunk of light of conscience in man be as a precious rain to bridle man from sin, that the Lord hath left him after his fall (He hath left it of mercy) for if it had been taken away, men had been more miserable than beasts) yet it is very weak, there is nothing perfect in us, and there is nothing in us by nature, that will be able to hold us in the fear of God. This natural conscience for a time will brangle and stand up against the maliciousness of the heart: and if thou have no more, thou mayest stand for a while, but in the end thou shalt give it over and succumb. It is a pity to see, how Pilate strives, and then how in the end the conscience fails, and against conscience, he gives sentence against the innocent, and gainstanding the conscience, he overthrows it. Trust not to nature, but strive to get grace: nothing is able to overcome nature, but the Holy Spirit, for it strives and gets the victory in the end: Therefore as we would be safe in that great day, let us strive to get that Spirit to pingill out, and get the victory against this canker in the heart. I see some thing more in Pilate: he gets not only a sight of God, and so is terrified: but he cometh forward, and his conscience gets advertisement of that same very man, who was standing before them all, that that same very man was God, not only that He was an innocent man, but that He was the God of heaven, he gets a supernatural knowledge, that that silly man was God: the reason is: if he had not gotten that advertisement, that that man standing in such contempt before him a glorious judge, was God: would his conscience have accused him, would he have been so terrified, and would he have desired to absolve Him, if he had not gotten advertisement, that jesus Christ was the God of glory? It is a natural thing to the conscience to speak of God, but not to speak of Christ, that He is the Son of God: Pilate was more afraid for Christ, who stood before him, like a poor silly man, than Christ was for him, albeit he was a glorious judge in the eyes of the world, but this sight was like the glance of a flash of fire that went over the conscience of Pilate. The Lord will give the wicked glances & tastes of Heaven, but all is but in vain. Ye see of Agripp● Acts. 26.28. When Paul was speaking to him, he says, Thou persuadest me almost to be a Christian: his heart was almost bowed, and was beginning to be persuaded, he scarcely begins to have this persuasion, when it evanishes: the Lord will furnish to wicked men glimmerings of that life, but they vanish away: thou wilt dream of happiness, but this is happiness, when the Lord gives thee a light, & bows thine heart, & establishes grace in thee & grace bides with thee, there is thy happiness. This glimmering is not for nothing: it serveth for this, to make Pilate unexcusable, and if it were no more: When Pilate shall appear before that judge, this same blencke shall be a testimony against him to his everlasting damnation. If thou gettest a blencke of Heaven, pursue it, or else better it had been for thee, if thou hadst never seen it, or never to have seen Christ, or to have read the Scriptures. Again this glimmering that Pilate got, shall stand up against the High Priests, and give sentence against them, who had not only nature, but the word to guide them. Pilate looks in thorough that baseness, and gets a sight of that glory, that was in our nature in Christ, they cannot look in thorough that baseness: And if there were no more, Pilate shall stand up like a judge to condemn all the jews, who by the word was informed, that CHRIST should come in baseness and humility, Esay 53.2. I come nearer: And if there were no more, but that light that Pilate goat, it shall condemn all them that do stumble at the ministry of the Gospel. The LORD will not have the Gospel with an outward glory, He will have it to shine in baseness: and if that outward baseness stop thee to look into it, thou shalt perish, and if thou get not a fight of that glory, therein Pilate shall condemn thee one day: yea, Pilate in that great day shall stand up against all men, who are offended at the voice of Christ: if thou contemnest the base ministry, I promise thee, that thou shalt never get life by that Gospel: if the Gospel be base, humble thyself under it, and strive to get thine eyes opened, to look to that glory of the Gospel, Look not to men, who do preach, and be not offended at the outward face of the Gospel, as thou wouldst be saved: Blessed are they who are not offended at the baseness of jesus Christ. Now Pilate being terrified in conscience, and getting little blenckes, immediately he goes in again to the common Hall, and takes in jesus Christ, and he says to jesus, Whence art thou? Art thou the Son of God: he had no certainty of this: this is worthy of commendation, that he getting a blencke, he will follow it out: who will say? but this was worthy of commendation in an Ethnic. If it shall please GOD, to give us a blencke any time, let us strive to follow it forth, and let that glimmering move thee to follow it out further: for all the joy in the world, is in the sight of GOD, thou never knewest what joy is, who hast not tasted of the pleasure of Heaven: fie on thee, who hast not tasted of this joy.  
So, if it shall please the Lord to give us a glance of jesus Christ, Pilate learns us to follow it: albeit it go out of thine eyes for a time, rest never till thou gettest it again, although men would give thee all the pleasures in the world.  
Now, Brethren, we must not think that it was the love of the truth, that moved Pilate to ask this: No, it was rather the fear of danger, that moved him to ask it: for he feared some danger to come unto himself, when he heard that he was the Son of God: therefore partly for this cause, and partly, because Christ knew that Pilate disdained Him, and all spiritual graces in Him: He gave him none answer. But let us follow out the knowledge of CHRIST once begun upon the love of the truth, than we may be assured, that according to His promise He will hear us: for He says, Verily, verily, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, that shall he give you, JOH. XVI. 23. Thou who hast that sweet promise, Knock, and it shall be opened, shouldest thou not be instant to make inquiry of JESUS, who offereth Himself so willingly, and says, I am the Light of the world: and, Come to Me to get the water of Life: Alas, that thou shouldest perish for default of seeking of grace! Ye would marvel, that JESUS answered not a word: I spoke of this somewhat before I shall say only this for the present: The Lord He knew His hour was coming that He should die, and He knew it was His Father's will: therefore He would not utter so much as a word to stay and hold back His death. If He had given Pilate evident and sure information what manner of person He was, then happily He would have stayed, and would have proceeded no further, and would not have slain Him: but he knew not with whom he dealt, when he gave out the sentence of death against Him. But it may be asked (with reverence we speak it) Was not this an hard matter, that Christ would not do so much as to tell Pilate that this was God's work, and that He Himself was the Son of God? was it not an hard matter so to hinder this man's salvation? But I say, What reckoning is to be made of Pilate, and all the creatures in the world, Angels, and men, so that God be glorified? We are all made to glorify Him, and except He had a respect to His own glory in the creature, He would never have made man nor Angel: If it please the Lord to be glorified in thy damnation, hold thee content: Hath not the Potter (says Paul) power of the clay, to make of the same lump one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour. Roman. 9.21. I say more, God in that his great sa nilie, hath some vessels of honour, and some of dishonour. 2. Tim●th. 2.20. If that thou find thyself to be one of the vessels of honour, thou hast no cause to complain, and to say, Wherefore was this man made to shame? for thou hast enough: if thou hast gotten mercy, thank GOD, that of His free will He hath put a difference betwixt thee and him. There are none who are ordained to be vessels of honour, but they will seek the honour of God, even suppose it were by their own destruction, as ye may read of Moses. This is the nature of all them who have gotten some assurance of GOD'S favour in JESUS: and if thou have this assurance in thine heart, certainly thou art an instrument of glory.  
Now to end: Ye see, Brethren, in this whole action the pitiful estate of Pilate: he is tossed to and fro betwixt two parties, his own conscience on the one part, urges and forces him to stand and plead for Christ; and on the other part, the desire that he hath to pleasure the unportunate jews, and the fear that he hath to offend Cesar, moves him to go on in that process against Christ, till at last he pronounces sentence against Him. judges by his example are to take good heed to their proceedings in judgement, and to keep their hands from evil; and that they sit not in a wicked judgement. Be not judge against the innocent: Pilate sat in judgement doing wickedly, pronouncing sentence against the Lord of Glory. If thou sit in judgement, pronounce not sentence against the innocent, either leave that judgement, or then absolve the innocent in despite of the world. It is no small matter to pronounce sentence of damnation. The Lord grant us this conscience, that whensoever we shall be employed, we may be employed in doing of good deeds, and in glorifying God, that we may have that assurance of grace in jesus Christ: To whom with the Father, and Holy Spirit, be all Honour and Praise, for ever: Amen.   

THE TENTH LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 
verse 10 Then said Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to lose thee?  
verse 11 JESUS answered, Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore, he that delivered me unto thee, hath the greater sin.  
IN this whole History of the suffering of JESUS CHRIST under Pontius Pilate, we see a continual strife betwixt the judge Pilate, and the accusers. Pilate labours by all means to get the innocent set free: The High Priests be the contrary endeavour themselves to get jesus Christ crucified. Pilate seeks, if it had been possible, to follow his conscience: they seek by all means the contrary, to harden the heart of Pilate. The last words as ye heard, the jews rose, and said, We have a law, by the which he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God: These words of theirs are so far from that, that they take away the conscience of Pilate, that by the contrary, by these words the conscience of Pilate is more wakened than before, and he gins to fear JESUS CHRIST, and humbles himself more than ever he did, yea, in such sort, that when as he hears tell, that JESUS was the Son of GOD, he demands of Him, Whether He was the Son of GOD, or no? but he receives no answer: for the LORD JESUS had concluded to suffer in all patience, and to obey the Heavenly will of His Father. Now in this Text that we have read, we have heard how Pilate in anger speaks to jesus, thinking that He had not known him, and that He gave him not his due honour, and says, Knowest thou not, with whom thou hast to do? and that I have power to crucify thee, and I have power to lose thee? The Lord answers, No, thou would have no power, except it were given thee from above: he therefore, who hath delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. In the first part of this Text, we have the conference betwixt Pilate and jesus. To speak of this demand of pilate's, ye may see by his words that the warning that he got a little before, that jesus was the Son of God, that fear & reverence of jesus Christ, wherewith the heart was touched, it was but vanishing. We may mark here the instability of Pilate: first, he hath no fear of JESUS, and then of a suddenty he is moved with a reverence and fear: and last, this reverence is scarcely entered into his heart, when it evanishes away: and being angry against CHRIST, he falls out in blasphemy against GOD. And this is no new thing, for we see this same in men now adays: Ye will see men who have lived very loosely, taking their pastime, and upon a suddenty ye shall see them have a kind of repentance and reverence, but ere ye look about you, all shall vanish. This is too plentiful in great men and small. The ground is this, the heart was never truly renewed, but in the mean time of the feigned repentance the heart was full, of the gall of bitterness, as Peter speaketh to Simon Magus. The reverence or repentance, was but like a scroofe of honey rubbed on venom, and then when the venom breaks out, the scroofe goes away, as the morning dew before the sun. Then, if thou wouldst have the fear of God to abide in thine heart, thou must always be delving and digging down into the heart, there is an infinite deepness of maliciousness in it. Therefore, he who would have stability, let him see, that that ground be honest and good, and be not content with the dregs, look that the heart be sound. There is nothing so deceitful as the heart of man, jerem. 17.9: it will not only beguile another man, but it will be guile a man himself, and if that fraud bide in thee, it will not leave thee, till it bring thee to destruction.  
Now, let us mark the words of Pilate, Knowest thou not that I have pow●r to crucify thee, and to absolve thee. Brethren, wl at else is this, but to claim to himself an absolute power, either to slay the innocent, or to let Him go free, as he pleases: this is such a power, as only the God of Heaven hath: He hath not given this power to no creature, neither to man, nor Angel, this is only proper to the great God. We see by the example of Pilate, that this is natural to Magistrates and Princes, to think that their power cannot be restrained or limitated by any law, to slay, or save by the law, but to do with the law: as they please. Albeit Princes or judges will seem to be very modest, and to claim nothing, but that which is right, and agreeable both to God's Law, and man's law. Pilate said a little before, I will not crucify Christ, because he is innocent: yet for all this modesty: provoke them once, make them angry once, they shall utter suddenly in wrath, what they think and esteem of their power, they will then blaspheme, and & say that their power is absolute.  
Experience may teach this, that of all men in the world, the estate of Princes, judges and Potentates is most dangerous. The more that a man have of power, of riches, or of the goods of this world, his estate is more dangerous. There is nothing more dangerous, than to put a sword or a sceptre in the hand of a natural man: for, Brethren, to put power in the hands of a natural man, is as much as to put the sword in the hands of a mad man. Paul the third Chapter to Titus, and third verse, calls a natural man a mad man, albeit he were never so discreet, he is mad. We were all mad, says Paul, as they are. A mad man will slay others, and lastly, he will slay himself in the end, and so shall he who hath power, if he be no more but a natural man.  
Would to God, that Princes and Magistrates, would take heed to this, it is required that all estates be renewed by the Spirit. Woe is to the King, and to the subject, the rich and the beggar, who is not borne again. In the evangel according to John, Christ says to Nicodemus, Except a man be borne again, he shall not see the Kingdom of GOD. But it is most requisite that these men who are set in high rooms, and have gotten all the pleasures in the world at their will, that they be renewed: for without sanctification, all outward things will make thee worse: As great riches, and honours, as great temptations to make thee to forget GOD. All thy pleasures shall bring to thee as great displeasure: yea, they shall work damnation to thee in hell, except the LORD give thee His Spirit. There was never a King so wise, great and high, but if he got not regeneration, he shall kill himself with that same power he got in his hand.  
So let us all seek this regeneration, and chief Kings, who think, & will say, Who should be renewed but poor silly persons: they think it lawful for themselves to commit all uncleanness, fornication, blasphemy, etc. and to sell themselves to all sin: No, if thou, who hast gotten honour be not renewed, thy damnation shall far exceed the damnation of the beggar.  
Let us weigh the words: This is a marvelous thing Pilate stood up before and protested that Christ jesus was innocent: Now he stands up again, and says, That he hath power to do with him what he pleased. How can these stand? what can be gathered of these two voices: Even this, that notwithstanding of His innocency, he might crucify Him: for it is as much as this, jesus, for all thine innocency I have power to crucify thee.  
Who will s●and up and say, that he hath power over an innocent man, to slay, but only he who is a murderer: So Pilate in effect professes himself to be a murderer, for it is as much as he said, I am a murderer, & will take thy life from thee, albeit thou be an innocent. Is not this a great madness to a Magistrate, who is placed in power above others, to call himself a murderer? The ground of this, is pride against God in the heart: a proud man is ever a mad man, for pride is against God, & it makes a man mad: and therefore as the heart is proud, so the mouth is foolish: the most proud man is the most foolish in talking: Look and consider the proud man when thou hearest him speak, and thou wilt say: Yonder man is a foolish man. And this proceeds of the Lords just and wise dispensation: the proud man in his heart dishonoures the Majesty of GOD. (Thou who art proud haste ado with God, and not with thy fellows) Therefore the LORD in His just judgement will cause thy mouth to speak to thy shame to accuse thyself: He will cause thee who art a proud King call thyself a murderer to shame thyself, and to be revenged of thy proud heart. Thus much for pilate's demand: which contains a blasphemy against that Majesty: and therefore JESUS will not let him go away unreproved: He says to him, Well, Thou wouldst have no power over me, except it were given thee from above: as for them who have put me in thine hands, woe is to them. their sin is the greater, & their damnation the more: to wit, the Priests & the jews. There are two parts of this answer: The first concerns the Majesty of GOD, the second concerns the High Priests, and the jews: for the LORD hath ado with two sorts of persons: for there was two sorts of persons who put Him in the hands of Pilate: The first was GOD: The next was the jews▪ who delivered Him to be condemned: As for GOD, Look what He speaks of him, and how reverently, Thou wouldst have no power, except it were given thee from above: As for man, He accuses him of sin. Now let us examine every part of these: Thou wouldst have no power over me, except it were given thee from above: Thou gloriest too much of thy power, as though it were of thyself, and not of GOD: for if thou forgettest that heavenly providence, without the which nothing can come unto me: But I tell thee, Pilate, if thou shouldest have had power over me, if it were not given thee: this is spoken for two respects: First, because all superior power is of God: Next, in this respect because when a man hath gotten power over others, he can do nothing to them, nor stir an hair of their head, but by the providence of God: Pilate was ignorant of both these, he believed he had his power of Cesar only, but Christ lets him know that there was one higher than Cesar, from whom he had his power: he was ignorant of God's providence, he uttered him to be a blasphemer of God: & therefore the Lord hearing this blasphemer, albeit He held His tongue before, now He speaks when He hears His Father dishonoured: for all His suffering was for the honour of His Father: therefore He will now reprove Pilate: how far are we from thus doing, we are clean contrary to this: the very silliest of us all, if we hear any thing tending to our own reproach, than there is such anger in us, that we cannot be pacified: but who is angry to hear God dishonoured: Where shall the Lord find a zealous man in this Land, few in Court, or Council hath that zeal: they who are greatest blasphemers, & greatest enemies to God, by convoys are most advanced: the zeal of God is out of the hearts of men for the most part so that by all appearance, certainly a judgement shall light upon this Nation, for albeit we were created & redeemed for God's glory, yet we have no care of it, all that is away: wherefore serves our creation, it had been better we had never been created, if we set not ourselves to glorify Him. Yet to weigh the words better, we see this plainly, albeit a man be in the hands of a superior power, whether he be an innocent man, or wicked, yet he is in the hands of God: & there is not a King in the world that is able to open his mouth against a man, but by the special dispensation of God: so that the life, or the death of the man hangeth not so much on the sentence of the King, as it doth on the decree of God, the life of man hangs more on that decree of His, than all the decrees of Kings. There is great blindness and beastliness in us, that we see not that providence: therefore now and then the Lord will let men see, and feel, that the life and death of men hangs not so much on the sentence and decree of the Prince▪ as on that eternal decree & sentence of God. 1. Sam. Chap. 14. When Saul had given out the sentence that jonathan should die, & that for breaking of an unlawful law, it lay not in his hands to slay him: & then in Chap. 15 when he ordained that Agag should live, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Samuel, and hewed him with a sword. The Lord will let us see, that the sentence of Kings makes not a man to die, or live, but His eternal decree. This is not to be passed by: jesus warneth Pilate of two things: First, that he hath his authority not of Cesar, He sends him to the heavens above Caesar's throne, to God's Throne: Next, whatsoever he did in his office and authority, he did it by the dispensation of God. So we have first this lesson: to wit, it appertaineth unto Princes to know, that the authority which they have, it is of GOD: monarchs should understand, that they have that power of GOD, and so should inferior Magistrates, how beit they should acknowledge the superior. Know ye not how Nabuchadonezer learned, that all the power was of God, he was sent forth like a beast, to live seven years among the beasts, to learn this lesson, that all the power he had was of God, Dan. 4. Next learn, howbeit Princes have gotten that power of God, yet God will not denude Himself of power over them: but He so rules them by His providence, that they cannot stir without His will. Then Princes should look to God, seeing they can do nothing without His blessed providence, Esa●. 10. When Assur boasted, that he had done all things by his own hands, & his own wisdom, the Lord is more angry at him for not acknowledging of his power to be from God in that persecution, than He is for the persecution itself. He pronounces the sentence against Him, What art thou but an axe or a saw, in the hands of the sawer? It is a vain thing for a king, to ascribe power to himself, & not to God: woe is him! it is a sore thing to match with God. Then again, when jesus was in the hands of Pilate, denied He the power of Pilate? No, He acknowledges his power, but He acknowledged it was of God, and therefore He willingly submits Himself unto it. Wherefore, all subjects should learn this lesson: When they look to their Princes, or to their superiors, not to look so much to the man as to God, who hath armed him with that power: he is foolish that thinks not that the power that the Magistrate or Prince hath gotten, is of God: & this should be the ground of obedience, when I see the image of God in him, when I see him armed with the power of God, I ought to obey him for the conscience of God. Then a game: mark in jesus Christ, when Pilate the earthly judge hath to do with Him, He looks not so much to Pilate, as to His Father. jesus Christ all this time when He is pulled here and there, sets not His eye so much upon men, as upon His Father, and upon His providence. This teaches a lesson unto all men, but chiefly to them who fall into the hands of men of authority and power. They ought not so much to set their eyes upon this or that man, as upon God and acknowledge, albeit it were in the midst of all torments, it is not man that deals with me, it is not so much any person deals with me, as it is my God. The King hath not an hand to move, or a word to speak against me, if my God give it not to him: he who is in the hands of men, and looks not to this, is worse than a beast. This is a chief point, whereby thou glorifiest God, to acknowledge His providence, in suffering or in torment▪ none can have consolation, but he who seethe this, there is the matter of consolation, and patience in torments, to see, that when he is in the hands of a Tyrant, he is in the hands of a mercifulll Father, and to say, Albeit these torments be sore and grievous, and albeit men deal with me, it is my Father that deals with me in mercy. Let thee be torn and rend, yet acknowledge this, thou shalt find joy that shall exceed all thy torments: Look to the Martyrs, So, Brethren, it is no small comfort to a man, for to set his eyes always upon God, and especially when he is into the hands of a judge or Tyrant. Now thus far the Lord hath given an answer to Pilate: and hath challenged the glory of that Majesty. Would to God, we could learn that lesson, to defend the glory of God, which is blasphemed in this world. Come to the other part it is in respect of the High Priests: they were the instruments of God, working by his providence, to put Christ in his hands: Pilate, thou gloriest over me, but woe is to them who have put me into thine hands. Woe is to them who put an innocent man in the hands of a Tyrant. Mark this: There is nothing spoken of Pilate, that he sinned, albeit he sinned, but He speaks of the sins of the jews, and of the High Priests, this lets us see, that albeit Pilate sinned, yet they sinned more, and their damnation is greater than his: he that begins mischief, the wrath of God shall especially overtake him, and if there were no more but the example of judas, it may tell us this, that judas was the first that began this work, judas put Him first in the hands of the High Priest: On whom strikes the wrath first? What befell to judas? Whilst the Lord jesus is so handled, the traitor judas is put to the torture, and the Lord rends the soul of him in pieces: the miserable Caitiff to be free of that torture, he hangs himself: Did the wrath of God light first upon judas, who was the first traitor: the wrath of God lights first upon the traitors, yet the Jews are sleeping, they thought they were free of judgement, but still the wrath prosecutes them to induration. Think ye that these traitors are free of wrath, No, no, the dolour and vengeance in its own time shall overtake them, and they shall not have a word to speak. The Papists, when they have caught a Christian, who confesseth jesus Christ, when they have tried Him, they will put Him into the hands of the Emperor, or King of Spain, they will wash their hands as clean of the blood of the innocent, and who took his life, but the King of Spain? O! but the wrath of GOD persecutes them, and all the blood of the innocent lies upon them, because they delivered them into their hands to be tormented by them. The judgement of that Antichrist, and of that accursed crew, shall be heavier than the judgement of the Kings, who execute their malice. I denounce this IN THE NAME OF GOD: and therefore, let every man and woman beware that they be not partakers in the murder of the innocent: yea, if the Hangman know that he is innocent, (albeit he thinks howsoever the matter goes, he is free) let him not touch him. Read ye not in the History of the three Children, Sidrach, Mesach, and Abednego, who being taken and casten into the hot fiery furnace at the commandment of Nebuchadnezar the King, that the men that cast them into the furnace were slain with the flame of the fire? Yea, if it were but in a thought, take heed thou consent not to the death of the innocent.  
Now to end in a word: Ye see here, when jesus speaks of His Father, and of His doings, He blames Him not, but He speaks in all submission of Him: but when He speaks of the jews, who were instruments of this work of God: He rebukes them shamefully, and imputes sin unto them. This is a wonder, and yet it is the work of God, and they are instruments ruled by God: yet the Lord is Holy, and they are unholy and wicked, Act. chap. 2. verse 23. They crucified Him with wicked ha●des: now the Lord was clean, and the jews hands were unholy. How was this? The cause was, because in all this doing there was not such a thing as that any of these wicked instruments looked unto God: they are satisfying the affection of their hearts, and drinking up the innocent blood maliciously. Mark this: Whatsoever thou dost in this world, whether thou goest out or in, eatest or drinkest, set always thine eyes upon the Lord, and do it all to His pleasure, and say with thyself, I do this to pleasure and to glorify thee, O Lord, And I advertise thee, that albeit thou dost any thing agreeable in itself to the will of GOD, yet if thine heart be not set upon GOD in the doing, that work is unholy in thine hand. There is nothing to sanctify thy soul, if thine eye be not set upon GOD: for when the eye of the soul is set upon the LORD, there cometh light down from Him, that sanctifieth the heart. And this is it in a word that I would say: Bee never at the end of an evil thing: if thy conscience tell thee in thine ear, that thou art at an evil turn, do it not: I appeal you, when ye do any thing in secret, if your conscience will not say, O caitiff, that which thou dost will bring thee to destruction? Many men in this Land, think themselves never well, but when they are at an evil turn: But I forewarn thee, as thou wouldst be safe, and find mercy at that Great day, to hold thine hands clean from all evil turns: and chiefly, from the blood of the innocent. Whatsoever thou dost, look that thou have a warrande of that revealed will of GOD. And think it not enough to be an executer of the decree of GOD: but see thou be assured of this revealed will. And yet more: Be not an Hypocrite in thy doing, but do all things with sincerity, and not for man's cause, but for GOD'S cause, that thou mayest be partaker of that everlasting glory with JESUS: To whom, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all Praise, Honour, and Glory, both now, and forever, AMEN.   

THE ELEVENTH LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 
verse 12 From thenceforth Pilate sought to lose him, but the jews cried, saying If thou deliver him, thou art not Caesar's friend: for whosoever makes himself a King▪ speaks against Caesar. verse 13 When Pilate heard this word, he brought JESUS forth, and sat down in the judgement-seate, in a place called the Pavement, and in Hebrew GABBATHA, verse 14 And it was the Preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he said unto the jews, Behold your King. verse 15 But they cried, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The high Priests answered, We have no King but Caesar.  
YE have heard (Brethren) that in this whole History of the suffering of JESUS CHRIST, under Pontius Pilate, the Roman Deputy, we might clearly see a continual strife and debate betwixt the judge Pilate, and the accusers, Pilate ever striving to get jesus, that just one, and that innocent (for his conscience told him that He was innocent) set at liberty: The accusers on the other part, strive to blot out the conscience of Pilate, and to get jesus crucified: and as we have found this debate in the whole History before, so also in these words which we have read, we find the same strife: And, if Pilate before was earnest to get jesus set lose, he is far more earnest now than ever he was: and with all his might he seeks to get Him set at liberty: but look how earnest Pilate is to have Him loosed, the High Priests and the jews are as earnest to have Him crucified: In end, as we shall hear, the victory inclines to the accusers: Pilate gives it over, and sits down to condemn the innocent.  
Now to come to the words, they are plain, and offer very plain and easy doctrine, therefore we shall be also plain by God's grace. It is said concerning Pilate, that from that time when he had heard these last words of jesus, accusing Him for that blasphemy against His Father, than he took a greater fear, and from that time he studied more and more to absolve jesus. Brethren, we see here thorough this whole History, that the more Pilate hears of jesus, and the more that jesus insistes with him, continually the conscience is the more wakened: and the more that it is wakened, the more earnestly strives he to get Him set at liberty. So it is a wonder, to see an Ethnic, without God, to have such a conscience of the innocency of jesus: and then, that such a man should labour to get Him lose. I know not if many of our judges now adays, will have such a conscience, and would be so earnest to have the innocent set at liberty. So when I look to the vigilantness of his conscience, I am compelled to say, that this man had a special grace in this point: for one of the best blessings of a judge, who sits on life and death, is to have a vigilant conscience: By the contrary, a judge wanting conscience of right and wrong, of all men he is the most accursed. Then, Brethren, if ye will look to this matter narrowly, ye shall say, that Pilate had a great vigilantness in his conscience: but alas, he falls at the last: for certainly, this conscience had been a blessing, if he had obeyed this counsel of the conscience: but because he falls in the end, and obeys not his conscience, that which was given for a blessing, becomes a cursing unto him. If God give thee a blessing, as a vigilant conscience, if thou abuse it, and refuse to hear thy conscience, the blessing sh●ll turn to a curse, and that conscience, which was a counsellor, becomes a sore tormenter, and urges thee to put hand into thine own soul, and tear it in pieces. pilate's conscience so judged and tormented him, till he was feign to put hand in himself, that was his end. Now, what do Christ's accusers? look how b●sie Pilate can be to get the innocent set at liberty, as earnest are they to get Him crucified: and now they begin to handle Pilate more sharply than before. The greatest arguments they used before was taken from a crime laid to the charge of jesus, from jesus treason against Caesar the Emperor, and from His blasphemy against God. Now they leave off such accusation, and they lay treason to Pilate, & accuse him of treason against his Master Caesar, If thou lettest this man lose, thou art no friend to thy Master Caesar, thou wilt endanger thyself, and make thyself guilty of treason: and more, this man will pull the Crown from Caesar's head: so if thou let such a man lose, thou shalt be guilty of treason as well as he, and thou shalt be the friend of the enemies of Caesar: The effect of the accusation is this, They accuse Pilate of treason against Caesa●: now Pilate heard not the like of this all the day before: and as he studies to keep a good conscience towards the innocent JESUS, so the temptation gro●es on. Now, it is not possible to keep a good conscience without temptation both inwardly and outwardly, and aye the better conscience, the greater temptation, and the last the worst. The Devil and his imps gins softly with alluring but in end, if thou yieldest not they will threaten thee, & say, Thou shalt either lose thy conscience, or else thy life. Then ye shall mark what is the forest temptation that the devil & evil men c●n use against men who have a conscience, Either do or die, as though one took a dagger, and held it to thy breast, and said, Do, or die, either renounce thy conscience, or die: there is a sore temptation: but to whom is this a grievous temptation? even to such a man as Pilate was, whose God was Caesar, a man whose Heaven was in the honour of this world, a man who saw no better life than this present life. And mark the craft of Satan and his instruments: when they go to tempt, there is not a mediciner who can apply their medicine better than they: ere they tempt, they will see the quality of the person. So that if they find a man only worldly hearted without God, without hope of life, as Pilate was, than they can well bring against him temptations from worldly things, if thou wilt not do it, thou shalt lose the world, and thyself. But if thou do as I bid thee do, thou shalt have the world. By worldly things he will allure the natural man: and by the loss of them, he will terrify him, and make him to yield. This is our lesson. Let never any man again after Pilate trust to a natural conscience, except he find the conscience propped up by faith, and with better things, and higher things, than the things of this world: and if this conscience be backed with hope of that life, it will be a wonder to see how a man will stand to the end: No Crown, but to him who stands to the end. He who is so backed, he will stand against the Devil, and he will say, I care not for this life, when the Devil tempts him, if I lose this life, I shall get a better, if I lose the king. I shall see a more glorious king, if I lose this world, I shall find a better: happy is that man, who hath his conscience backed with faith in jesus Christ, and hath a sight of Heaven, and of God: It is only this man and woman that can stand in temptations against the Devil, and the world.  
Now let us see the effect: Alas, this assault was sore to Pilate: we shall see how by little & little he loses his conscience, & inclines to pronounce the sentence of damnation against the innocent: assoon as he hears these words, he is astonished, and in all hast he brings forth jesus, and comes out in sight of the whole people, and sits down in his tribunal: he calls it The Pavement, in Hebrew GABBATHA: we call it an high seat or fit where the judge sat: The time is noted when he goes to that woeful judgement, to wit, when as the Jews were in a preparation to the passover: the hour is noted. The sixth hour, which in our account is the twelft hour: the Lord jesus was condemned, and delivered to the men of war. I need not to speak of the calculation of the jews; they divide the day and the night into twelve hours, six hours before noon, and six after noon. The time and the place is so particularly noted, that we should give greater credit to the History. But to come to the matter: Ye see clearly, that this last temptation had the greatest force, & astonished Pilate, and that conscience that had stood so long, it began to sail him, and he gins to decline. Then Brethren, note the force of such temptations, what force they have in respect of natural men: It is impossible for a man, who hath nothing but nature, without any portion of grace in him, to abide the force of such a temptation: When he is straited with these, either to lose conscience, or else to lose honour, riches, life, etc. & so to die the death, it is impossible for him to keep a natural conscience, & he will think that man to be a wise man, who will redeem his life by the loss of his conscience, & will think him a fool, who will lay down his life ere he want his conscience. Whereto should we insist in this point? O fool! what is thy life when thou hast lost sense & conscience? the senses, whereby men properly live, are not so much these outward senses, as tasting, touching, seeing, hearing, & smelling, as the feeling of that inward conscience: So if once thou lose that inward feeling, thou art no better than a beast, for they have all these outward senses. What better art thou than dead? No, the carrion is not so dead as thou, when thou art past feeling: but yet there is worse: well were it for a senseless man to live in security, that that conscience should sleep: but mark that same conscience that before was a counsellor, telling thee what was right & wrong, what thou shouldest do, and what thou shouldest not do, (it is the faithfullest counsellor that a man can have, for it will counsel thee night & day to do good, & leave evil) after once thou hast hardened thine heart against conscience, suppose thou lay it asleep, and pass thy time, yet it will not sleep for ever: I forewarn all that have a sleeping conscience, that it shall not sleep aye, but it shall come with the terriblest face that ever was, ere all be done. The face of the Burrio was never so terrible as thy conscience, when it comes again to tear thee, rend thee, and draw in pieces thy miserable soul. Howbeit wicked men for a while will be busy, playing, riding, and running, to get the tormenter at rest: yet I tell thee, that if the LORD have not mercy upon thee, it shall waken so, that it shall never sleep again, & never let thee rest. Of all the torments in the world, the worst is the torment of the conscience, driving thee before the terrible tribunal, to cling in thy soul, and dry it up with the fire of the wrath of God: No peace for the wicked▪ sleep on as they will, they shall be wakened. Now, Brethren, beside the force of this tentation, there is an inward malice of the heart against the conscience: Certainly, a conscience in a natural man is good, and it is a remnent of grace after the fall, but there is as evil a thing that dwelleth in thine heart, since that fall, & that is a bitterness & malice of thine heart, there is such a gall of bitterness, that if there were no more to slay them, it is enough. It is not this outward tentation only, that draws Pilate so far back, but also the malice of the heart: when the conscience sounded in his ear, and said, Pilate do not this, the malice of the heart carried him against conscience. I say again, albeit that there were nothing without thee to move thee, there is too much within thee. These men who run headlong unto blood, to wrack religion, and their country, think ye not, but they have advertisement in the mean time, by their conscience, and they know that they do wrong: But, alas, such is the gall of bitterness, such is the malice of their heart, against conscience that it carries them as mad men with a fury, over the belly of their conscience. Now, Brethren, this is well to be marked, When Pilate is set down in His tribunal, albeit he be carried away by his conscience, will ye look, ye shall see a privy battle between the spunk of the conscience he had, and the malice of the heart. When he sits down, he hath a doubt in his heart, that conscience draws him back, that he dare not at the first pronounce the sentence, but he says, Behold your King. He says scornfully of His Kingdom, yet he meaneth in his heart, to have Him lose: as if he had said: Is this the man? Alas, he is little likely to be a King, a poor miserable silly poor man: this is his meaning, that he might move them to let Him live: So, as I marked before: the force of the tentation outward, and of the inward malice of the heart against the conscience. So I cannot pass by this, but in these words, I must mark the striving of the poor conscience, albeit it be once dumb, yet it will come again & say, O miserable man, thou art gone too far in this evil action, repent, As the natural conscience is a continual torture, so it will cleave unto him, & will not leave him. Brethren, as the conscience is an admonisher, so it cleaveth fast, and no man will get it extinguished, albeit the loune will strive to shake it off, yet it will stick to him, and whisper again to him: but after it be once changed from an admonisher to a tormentor, when thou hast tempted it, if it stack to thee before it shall stick an hundredth times sorer, and shall fasten itself in thy miserable soul; so that if thou wouldst hang thyself to escape, yet the torment shall never die out. Well shake on, and contemn her, she shall come, and be the terriblest sight that ever was: and, if thou gettest no mercy, she shall be thine everlasting tormentor in the Hell for ever and ever. Thus far for pilate's part.  
Now we come to the jews: They would have nothing but the death of jesus, and that a most ignominious death: they seeing Pilate yet striving, howbeit they had his head down, (for now they had him at the downfall and swerving from conscience) they had him down with mightier force than before, and they double their temptation: they speak no more modestly, but for speaking they shout in his ear, that he cannot hear one thing or other, & double the shoutings & cry. Away with him, away with him, Crucify him, crucify him. Take heed to this: if once the devil have gotten thy head down, that thou sweruest, than he will come with a double force & he will cry & deaffen thine head: & howbeit the conscience would cry to thee, he will make thee so dashed, that thou canst not hear the conscience. Ye know (2. Chron. chap. 28) concerning the idolaters who took their sons & burned them quick in a valley near Ierusa●em. when the children wept, they caused timbrels to sound, that they might not hear that pitiful voice: So it is that when the devil hath gotten thine head once down he shall make it so dampish, & so dash thee with double forces that he will make thy conscience to have no place: therefore, let every man with all his main fore resist, & let no tentation sunder thee from thy conscience: for once down, & aye down: when a man once stumbles on the head of a bank, he will never stay till he go over the mountain: close once the ear of the conscience, and the devil will deaffen thee, & shout so in thine ear, that thou shalt not hear again a word of thy conscience: there is none of us▪ but we may find this by experience. Now come to Pilate: when they shout & cry, he says, Shall I crucify your king? yet he gives not over, he ha●h a doubt in the heart, and a strange fight: as he would say, Call ye it a well favoured thing that I should crucify your king? this he spoke somewhat scornfully, half in jest, and half in earnest. This is a voice of the conscience, but of weak and decaying conscience, he speaks doubtfully now by an interrogation putting it in their option: now the conscience is drawing its last breath, & after that speaks not a word. There are two voices in the conscience: one voice that will say resolutely, I will not do evil, I will not do against my conscience for all the world: that is a token of a strong conscience: The other is, which will say doubtfully, Shall I do this or not? that is a weak conscience, when a man will say, Shall I slay? shall I strike? I will say, that man hath done with his conscience. The voice of a strong conscience will say, I will do this, if God will give me grace, and for the world I will not do evil. Come to their part again, We have none other king but Caesar. Alas! woe woe to them that renounce such a King: He, and Caesar might both have been their king: Caesar was but His lieutenant: and the wickedest men that now most repine against Him, shall confess Him once to be their king. Alas, Caesar is casten in the poor man's teeth, because he had none other God: and all the care he had, was to pleasure Caesar. But mark the hypocrisy of the Jews: they say, they have no king but Caesar: but loved the jews Caesar? No, there was nothing that they would fainer have been quite of, than of him, yet they pretend the authority of Caesar to slay the poor man's conscience, & to crucify jesus Christ. This is hypocrisy, they loved not, the king, for they who loves not God, love not the King, nor the Kirke. Look the form of Hypocrites: Papistry is but Hypocrisy: the Pope is an Hypocrite, and all that rabble, haters of God, of Caesar, and of the king: they desire no king, but the king of Spain, because he is their Burrio: and, if he would refuse to be their Hangman, they would hate him as they do others. They pretend the authority of Caesar to slay Christ, when they would have the king slain, and they will pretend God and religion, to murder the king of France: Fie upon these lownes, let never king credit them, woe shall be to him. What do our men pretend? Religion. Our Earls pretend Religion, and Reformation. What is this? a pretence to destroy Religion and the King: Shame and confusion shall light on all, and first on them, if they get their intention. The Lord give every man and woman grace to take heed, that they have no meddling with such men, who under the pretence of Religion seek to spoil Religion, the king, and the Country for Christ's sake: To whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be all Praise, Honour, and Glory, both now and evermore: AMEN.   

THE TWELFTH LECTURE. OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  MATTHEW, CHAP. XXVII. 
verse 24 When Pilate saw, that he availed nothing, but that more tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just man: look you to it. verse 25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. verse 26 Thus let he Barrabas lose unto them, and scourged JESUS, and delivered him to be crucified.  JOHN CHAP. XIX. 
verse 16 Then delivered he him unto them to be crucified. And they took JESUS, and led him away.  
WE have heard (Brethren) that Pilate the Roman Governor hath striven very long against the importunity and obstinacy of the jews and High Priests, to get the Lord jesus, whom his conscience told him was innocent, set lose and at liberty, but all in vain: for they are as earnest to have Him condemned, as Pilate was to have Him absolved. At the last, when they could prevail nothing at the hands of Pilate, by any delation, or point of indictment against jesus, whether treason against Caesar, or blasphemy against GOD, they come more roundly to the matter, and come to the accusation of Pilate, & lay treason against him, If thou let this man go (say they) thou art not Caesar's friend: This is the greatest temptation that ever Pilate got, he had no God but Caesar, he sought for no honour but in this world, he saw no life but this life: therefore, hearing treason laid to his charge he gins to faint & fail, and then quickly he enters into judgement, and cometh out, and bringeth out jesus, and cometh to his tribunal, in a place called the Pavement, an open place, and there sitteth down to give judgement against the innocent: yet he hath a doubt in conscience: yea, when he is running to pronounce sentence of damnation, he says, Behold your King, to move them yet to suffer the innocent to escape, but he prevails not: for once getting Him under, Priests and people begin to shout in the ear of the miserable man, so that he could not hear his conscience crying, jesus is innocent yet for all this, yet he hath a doubt & stir in his conscience, and says, Shall I crucify your King. They answer, We have no King but Cesar: Woe to them that made such change, and they find it in experience. Now, brethren, john in his Gospel, Chap. 19 verse 16: he subjoins that Pilate delivered jesus in the hands of the men of war, to be crucified, & that they received Him, and led Him to the place of execution, But Matthew, as ye heard read, reports of some things that intervened & there are three things in special (as he records) that passed before the leading of jesus to the place of execution: The first thing, Pilate by a ceremony of washing his hands, cleanses him of the innocent blood: and as he disburthens himself, so he burthenes the jews, as guilty of the most innocent blood, that ever was, or shall be shed: And they are more glad to take on the burden, than he is to lay it over on them: for with their own tongue they bond the blood of the innocent on their own back, saying, His blood be on us, and on our children: The second thing that Matthew rehearses, is, after that he hath exonered himself, as he thought (a vain thought▪ he was never quite of it, nor never shall be) when he thinks he is exonered, than he goes quickly to work, than he gins to serve the foul and cruel appetite of the jews, he lets lose Barrabas, a foul murderer: Then as Luke, marks, he gives out the sentence of condemnation against the innocent, than he takes Him, and scourges Him the second time, and lastly, he puts Him in the hands of the Burrio, this is the second thing: yet there is one third thing: when they get Him, they lead Him not incontinent out of the Ports, to that filthy place of execution: but to satisfy the maliciousness of their hearts, they led Him to the common Hall again, and there mis-use the Lord of glory. When all this was done, they lead Him out to the place of execution.  
We shall speak of these things according to the rehearsal of Matthew: As for the first, Matthew says that, When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing at their hands, but that more tumult was made, he cries for water, and washes his hands, and makes a protestation, I am innocent of the blood of this Just man: And as he protests that he is clean, he turns it over upon the jews, saying, See ye to it: ye shall give an account for this days work, it shall be the dearest work that ever ye wrought: They say, Let His blood be on us, and on our children. First, we shall mark somewhat on the part of Pilate, Secondly, on the part of the High Priests, and the rest of the jews. The History is very plain. This miserable man Pilate hath fought on a reasonable space: yea, a long time for the Lord jesus Christ, against the obstinacy of the Jews, at the last, when he is charged as guilty of treason, when he sees, he cannot prevail, and finds him so straited with so great incommodities, he is compelled to yield, and he thinks that this necessity should excuse him for his part well enough. Brethren, this is the lesson: Men commonly, and especially, such as Pilate was: men without God, natural men, that see not another life, that see not another world, they will strive, and they will strive wonderfully through the instinct of nature, to keep a good conscience: but at the last if they be importunately straited with great incommodity, and fear of dangers, they will yield and give over. Alas, nature, and all the benefits thereof is but a weak ground, at the last they will yield: and that good conscience that they contended to keep they bid farewell, and at the last they will yield to a mischief: and when they have done, they will think that necessity, wherewith they were straited: that importunity of men that compelled them, will excuse them for their doing sufficiently: they will think, that albeit they put to their hand, to do the most wicked action in the world, that that necessity will disburden them: This is the judgement of natural men: But this is as true: What ever he or she be that perseveres not to the end, shall never get the crown. Take the sentence: Albeit thou hast begun well, if thou goest not on to the end, thou shalt nor get the crown of glory, and the Lord shall never account of thy former well doing, more than if thou hadst never done a good action. Indeed, I grant, that necessity which is without the consent & forces & compelles men against their wills: As for example: When our bodies moved with external force and violence, without consent, or voluntary moving of the members thereof hurteth another: I say, that necessity excuseth a man, but as for that necessity, which for fear of inconveniences and great dangers to follow, makes a man consent to an evil action, it excuseth not. Some will say, I was sore straitted, and I behoved to do, or die, I strove so long as I might: and I saw I could not escape, if I had not done it: But I say, that kind of necessity, and compulsion, th●t draws on an evil action upon thy conscience, shall neu●r excuse thee albeit all the King● of the world should threaten thee, & terrify thee with the fear of torture, & if thou once consentest, all that shall never excuse thee: No, if we once consent to an evil action, which may hurt the conscience, we should rather suffer to be beheaded or hanged, & die ten thousand deaths. The Lord of life, can and will give thee life, if thou diest in his fear: but miserable shall that life be, that thou shalt live, when thou hast done against the Lord, and a good conscience. Pilate calleth for water and washeth his hands: then mark what he says, I am innocent of the blood of this just man: See ye to it. Well, is this out of his own mouth: both the speaking and doing of Pilate testifieth, that jesus was innocent: he confesseth, that he was going to condemn an innocent man: so I see, that the conscience of the innocency of Christ, never leaves Pilate: I doubt not, but he would gladly have wanted it. It is a marvel, that during all the time of the suffering of jesus Christ, the Lord will have the innocency of His dear Son to appear in the beginning, in the mids, and in the ending thereof. All the time of His accusation, Pilate preaches His innocency, when it cometh to condemnation, the judge both by word and deed testifies that He was innocent: it is not a common person, that protests this but the judge himself: then again, look to the end of this work, when jesus is lifted on the cross, than the Father from the heaven testifies, that He was innocent, than the Centurion with the burrio & the men of war, seeing the wonders, are compelled to say, this is the Son of God, and the people seeing this, go home thumping on their breasts, & say, alas: & so they had cause: so the innocency of jesus Christ is declared all this whole time out of the mouth of the judge himself, & of many others. What means all this? No doubt but the Father herein had respect to the honour of His Son, for indeed the most honourable death, is to die as an innocent, and if thou wouldst die honourably, die not as a guilty person, but die innocently: And this was to aggreadge pilate's damnation, and the damnation of the jews: But brethren, there is another cause that pertains more to us, and serves more to our comfort, even, that we should have faith in this Mediator the Lord jesus: for except He had died as an innocent, I would never lay my sin on Him: the thing that makes me to believe, that He hath made satisfaction, is because He suffered innocently, and had no sin in Himself, Heb. 7.26. and as Peter says, He bore our sins, because I am persuaded, He bore my sins upon Him, I believe in Him: so this redounds to the comfort of the members of the Church of God. Yet I see more here, Pilate he hath not only the conscience of the innocency of jesus, but this same very conscience, it makes him to turn to the jews, & to summoned them before that terrible tribunal. See ye to it, says he, I tell you, ye will give an account of this days work: so this is a citation of the Jews before that terrible tribunal, and they have found it, and shall find it: No, Brethren, take heed, thou shalt never want summonding: let Kings, and them who are in authority, cease to summound thee, let thine own conscience never speak a word to thee, nor charge thee, the Lord shall not let thee be without a citation: if thy conscience will not waken thee, He will waken the conscience of a Turk or a pagan, and he shall charge thee to appear before that terrible Tribunal. Thou thinkest when thou sleepest, and thy conscience accuses thee not, that all is well, no, the Lord shall raise up the conscience of a pagan to summound thee, and I say to thee, albeit thou thinkest thou art at rest, when thy conscience is sleeping & wilt spend thy time, thou wilt eat & drink be merry & take thy pastime, yet it is one of the most heaviest judgements that ever God laid on any: & then, when He hath raised the conscience of another man to warn thee, it is a sore warning that if thou sleep on, and repent not▪ thou shalt be wakened, that thou shalt not get leisure to say, God be merciful to me. This world knows not what it is doing. Yet mark further, Notwithstanding all this conscience of the innocency of jesus: Alas, I s●e not this, that his own conscience accuses him, or says to him, Woe to thee, Pilate, thou art going an evil way, thou wilt make thyself guilty of that innocent blood, that will burden thee everlastingly: his conscience is busier to accuse the jews as himself: he should not be so busy to accuse the jews, as himself: for if his conscience had accused himself sharply, had he ever said, Thus I am clean of the blood of this just & innocent one? By the contrary, it had urged out another confession & sentence, There is nothing but damnation for me, for the condemning of the innocent. What should have been the cause of this? He was bu● a silly natural man, & his conscience was wrong informed concerning that thing: & he thought himself well enough, seeing he had striven so long, & yielded thorough necessity. All this sluggishness of his conscience came of a wrong information, he knew no better. The more thou knowest, the better informed conscience thou hast. Strive ay to get knowledge. Alas, that blindness that man lies in by nature, that makes thee think, that sin is no sin: that is deceit. Strive ay to get a clear mind, & a well informed conscience, whereof thou should excuse thee, and whereof to accuse thee. Get this out of the word of God, which is the only rule of our life & of all our actions, from that light that comes from Heaven, for the light of nature will beguile thee, and it will say, that thou art blessed, when the malediction of God is upon thee, and it will say, Thou dost well, when thou dost evil: Therefore, get that light that comes from Heaven to make thee to see. This for pilate's part. Now let us come to the part of the jews: Their part is far worse. This is a great deformity, when these who have the Oracles of God, are warned by Turks and Pagans: This is to turn the up-side of the world down. Look how ready Pilate is to lay off the burden from himself upon the jews; as ready are they to lay it both upon their own backs, and upon their posterity. If this exoneration of himself when he disburthens himself of the blood of jesus, testifies, that he had a conscience of His blood that was innocent: It must follow, if the jews were ready to take on this burden, than they had no sight of His innocency, neither were they touched therewith in conscience: and therefore, like blinded bodies, seeing nothing, with an imprecation, they translate the burden from Pilate, and lay it upon themselves. Ignorance is ever temerarious: the blinder the body is, the more rashly will it endanger itself. A blind body without knowledge, will run itself speedily & without remorse into Hell, and will take on such a burden that it shall never be able to lay it off again. What means all this running so speedily in wicked courses, but that men want conscience, and their own corruption hath blindfolded them: Is there any man that hath light, that will run on to their death, to dash themselves on the sword to devour them? It is a miserable thing to want the light of the soul: so the jews saw not with whom they had to do they had no conscience, as Pilate had, and therefore being through malice and appetite of revenge, incensed against the Lord jesus: blindfolded, they regard not what imprecations they utter, for they saw not Hell: or else if these jews had a light of conscience, they did so rashly against jesus with knowledge, which is most likely: them it follows, that they were marvelous malicious: as ignorance is hardy, so is maliciousness more hardy, albeit such a man should see, yet against the light, his malice will make him to run over the belly of his conscience. Ye know the voices of profane men, Ere I were not revenged of him, I had rather be in Hell: this cometh of maliciousness, to get the soul spirit within him satisfied: but if thou felt one twitch of Hell, thou wouldst recant these words: for it would cause thee shout, and squeele hideously: & I incline to this judgement, that this wicked action is more to be ascribed to malice than ignorance: the jews and the High Priests had the word of God, and the Prophets, whereby they might have known the Messiah. When I read of the Prophets that speak of induration in the time of jesus Christ, I say, it hath come of an hardness and induration of heart: And when I see the words of the Apostles, that say, O stiff necked people, I think that they put their own fingers in their eyes, that they should not see. The Lord save us from maliciousness, and namely from such maliciousness as is not without knowledge: when a man sees, and will pull out his eyes. Compare the jews with Pilate: now Pilate sinneth, he killed himself in the end, and the Lord made his own hands to be his burrio▪ No doubt, he sinned, who can excuse him? he sinned maliciously he had a conscience, & goes against it maliciously. But Brethren, to speak the truth, it was not so much malice that pushed him forward, as great infirmity and fear for first, he fears to be accused of treason against Cesar: it was no marvel to such a man to fear, who had no God, but Cesar: ●hen he saw appearance of great tumult to rise amongst the jews. What necessity was laid on them to have the blood of the innocent So I see nothing in them but malice, if it were but in this respect, that the sin of the jews weigheth down the sin of Pilate, and their damnation is a thousand times greater. What had this man? He had nothing but nature: The contravension of the light of nature will never make up the sin against the Holy Ghost, which gets no mercy: but come to them. They had the light of nature, and the light that cometh from Heaven: they had the word of GOD amongst them, they contraveened an heavenly light that came down from Heaven, and was wrought into their hearts by the Spirit. Steven says in the 7. Chapter, and 51. verse of the Acts of the Apostles, Ye have always resisted the Holy Ghost, as did your fathers, so do you, that is not a natural light but a light that came from above. There were some of these men who sinned maliciously against the Holy Spirit. What marvel was it then, that they got no grace to repent: for of all sins the sin against the Holy Spirit, is the most dangerous: they that commit this sin, have no grace to repent, & therefore no mercy to them, the Lord strikes their souls with impenitency: so that soul is everlastingly hardened: and so being strucken with impenitency they got never grace to say, God be merciful to me. Seeing then their sin against Christ, was so great, seeing it was not so much of ignorance, as of malice: it was not only against the light of nature, but also against the illumination of the Holy Spirit: what marvel was it, that such a terrible judgement overtook them, as never lighted on any nation. The jews found this innocent blood in experience laid to their charge. joseph that saw all these things with his eyes, writeth, what heavy vengeance and judgement fell upon Jerusalem & the jews: for he testifies, that there was slain at the siege of jerusalem eleven hundredth thousand, beside ninety thousand that were ta'en captives: thereafter the town was lamentably destroyed and sacked. So the blood of the innocent never left them: & these that remain, yet feel the judgement of the blood of the innocent: for according as they desired that His blood should be upon them & their posterity: so the wrath of God came upon them to the uttermost 1. Thess: 2.16. It is a wonder that a jew should be safe, & if ye hear of a jew to be converted, think it to be a great mercy. Now to apply this shortly to us, if it were but this terrible example of vengeance which followed the jews, it should terrify to the end of the world, all souls to take on the blood of the innocent, take on one, & take on all: if thou takest on the blood of one servant of God, thou shalt take on all the innocent blood from Abel, to that man whom thou hast slain. Fie upon foul butchers who are more meet to be butcher's dogs, than men. What care they to wash their hands in innocent blood. But I say to thee, if ever thou gettest grace it is a wonder: fie upon the butchers of Scotland: No, if the Lord would waken thy conscience to torment thee, & present to thee the sight of Him of whose blood thou hast shed, it would be so terrible, that it would make thee to curse the time that ever thou did it, & one day fearfully without comfort it will torment thee: when will these bloody men leave off the shedding of innocent blood, in this bloody & barbarous nation: o● all nations it is the most barbarous and bloody. Above all things dip not thine hands in the blood of jesus Christ. Thou who sheadest innocent blood, & is a persecuter of the servants of jesus Christ, and who resistest the truth, thou wilt say, If thou hadst been in Christ's days, thou wouldst not have consented to His death, but thou who sayest so, if thou hadst fallen in these days, thou hadst maliciously been partaker of the death of Christ, & hadst put hands in Him, thou wantest nothing but time: I will tell you, who is it that sheds the blood of jesus Christ, & takes His blood on them, what ever he or she be that will resist this known truth of jesus Christ, and persecute the professors thereof, I affirm, they are as guilty of the blood of Christ, as the jews & the High Priests were, and that same blood shall be laid to their charge in the great day of the Lord▪ Read ye not in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Chap. 6. and 10. of them who have repined, & have begun to cast off that heavenly power, & so go like dogs to their vomit, & spews out the light they had received, they are as guilty of the blood of Christ, as Pilate, & tramp the blood of the Covenant under their feet. Woe to them that resist the Gospel, woe to the apostate Lords of this Land, for thus resisting the light: there is no light but this, to lead thee to heaven. I denounce woe to them if they continue, the treasure of wrath, and woe shall be heaped on them, they shall be as guilty as judas, or Pilate, or the jews: hasty & sudden shall be their judgement, except the Lord prevent them with repentance, they & their posterity shall be cursed, & underlie a terrible vengeance: Woe to their friends, who will join with them: Separate thee from them, as thou wouldst see salvation: Away out of Babylon. Ye would think this a light word, Let his blood be upon our head: As they wish the blood of the innocent to light on them, so it never leaves them, nor shall never leave so many of them as repent not, the blood of the innocent shall lie upon their backs everlastingly. This should learn us to take good heed to our words: it was but a word to cast off the God of glory, and to take on a Tyrant: They got Caesar to be their King, and he spoiled them: Take good heed to thy words, for thou who usest against thyself imprecations and cursings, and wilt say, God plague me, God's vengeance light upon me, I give my soul to the Devil, if this or that be not. Well, hast thou given thy soul to the Devil, he shall get it: hast thou taken a curse upon thyself, thou shalt be cursed: it is a wonder that the earth should not open to swallow such men. The Lord makes these things to come to pass: now and then He makes the cursed creature that uses such speeches to be a terrible example. And if thou be a profane person, who wilt say, I give my soul to the Devil, I say, and if the Devil get thee not then, and thou be not thrust into Hell, but gettest repentance, it is a wonder. Such is the judgement of God, that oft times He will let no reversion be, except that earnestly thou seek for grace and mercy, the Lord, I say, shall make that word which thou sakest to have no reversion, wilt thou, or wilt thou not: but like as thy foul mouth spoke it, so thou shalt be given to the Devil: for there is nothing more effectual to a man's destruction, than the words which proceed out of his own mouth.  
Well, Pilate is lying in security, and he thinks himself well enough: when he hath once disburdened himself, he sits down, and gives out sentence, and absolves a seditious vagabond, He letteth Barrabas lose unto them. Woe to them, who will absolve a seditious loon, and a murderer. The next thing is more woeful, he gins to give out the sentence against the innocent, he comes on and strikes Him, he scourges Him: this is the second time, and when he hath done, he giveth Him into the hands of the Jews, to satisfy their wicked appetite. As long as thou hast a wakened conscience, and so long as it tells thee, This is good, and this is evil, thou wilt not go so boldly and forwardly in evil. (Well is that body who hath a wakened conscience, suppose it terrify thee, and hold thee waking) But after it be once lulled in a sleep and security, than thou runnest on, as the arrow doth out of the bow, to a mischief: there is nothing to hold thee, but thou runnest swiftly to mischief. Ephes. 4.19. After they once lost feeling, they ran out to all wantonness, committing all uncleanness, with greediness. There was never any creature so griedy of any thing in the world, as men who live without conscience will be of filthiness. As thou wouldst keep thyself, so keep feeling in thy conscience, & count it more precious than all things in the world. Nothing can guard thy soul from Satan, but the approbation of a feeling conscience. Thou wilt come out with thy Pearls, and with decked clothing: but if thou want this conscience, thou art a prey to the Devil. Fie on these men, who lie in such a senselessness, shame and confusion shall light upon them. Was there ever such a dead and senseless Generation as this? It is a token that Hell is overtaking them, seeing they lie all in such a senseless security. Mark notes a word here that would be considered, Chap. 15. vers. 15. Pilate did this, to gratify an evil people: he would not displease the Jews. This is the common fashion of Princes, to seek to be populare, to seek the favour of the people. Look that a Prince seek not by evil means the favour of the people: for he will hang an innocent man, and let a murderer go free, for the favour of the people: thou buyest it too dear, with the loss of the favour of God. Woe be unto the man, though he were a King, that mischievously falls aback from the Truth, and so loses the favour of God, for the favour of Idolaters. But will ye come on yet? Got Pilate the favour of the people? No: they persecuted him to the death, they delated him to the Emperor, and he was banished: and for fear of greater shame, he put hands in himself, and slew himself. Yea, if he were all the kings in the world, who seeks to gratify a wicked people in an evil cause, namely, in Idolatry, and if the LORD have not mercy on him, that same people shall be his destruction. The Lord grant Kings and Princes to see that howbeit they have the favour of the people by unlawful means, and want the favour of God, that all the favour of the people that they can have, without God's favour is nothing: that they may seek God's favour above all things. And the Lord be merciful to our King for Christ's sake: To whom be all Honour and Glory, forevermore.  
AMEN.   

THE XIII. LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVII. 
verse 27 Then the Soldiers of the Governor took JESUS into the common hall, and gathered about him the whole band. verse 28. And they stripped him, and put about him a scarlet rob, verse 29 And plaited a crown of thorns, and put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand, and bowed their knees before him, and mocked him, saying, God save thee King of the Jews, verse 30 And spitted upon him, and took a reed, and smote him on the head. verse 31 Thus when they had mocked him, they took the rob from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. verse 32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, named Simon: him they compelled to bear his Cross.  MARC. CHAP. XV. 
verse 16 Then the soldiers led him away into the hall, which is the common hall, and called together the whole band, verse 17 And clad him with purple, & plaited a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, verse 18 And began to salute him, saying, Hail King of the Jews. verse 19 And they smote him on the headwith a reed, and spate upon him, and bowed the knees, and did him reverence. verse 20 And when they had mocked him, they took the purple off him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.  
verse 21 And they compelled one that passed by, called Simon of Cyrene (who came out of the country, and was father of Alexander and Rufus) to bear his Cross.  LUKE XXIII. 
verse 24 So Pilate gave sentence, that it should be as they required. verse 25 And he let lose unto them him that for insurrection and murder was cast into prison, whom they desired, and delivered JESUS to do with him what they would. verse 26 And as they led him away, they caught one Simon of Cyrene, coming out of the field, and on him they laid the cross, to bear it after JESUS. verse 27 And there followed him a great multitude of people, and of women, which women bewailed and lamented him. verse 28 But JESUS turned back: unto them, and said, Daughters of jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. verse 29 For behold, the days will come, when men shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the paps which never gave suck. verse 30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us: and to the hills, Cover us. verse 31 For if they do these things to a green tree, what shall be done to the dry?  
WE have heard (Brethren) these days past, the whole accusation of Christ before the judge, & the Roman Governor Pilate. Last, we came to that woeful sentence of damnation, pronounced against this innocent. Now jesus being condemned to die, & to die the ignominious death of the cross; it rests, that we should come to His suffering on the Cross; but before we come to it, we have to speak of these things, namely, which we have read unto you, partly out of MATTHEW, and partly out of LUKE: Then first we have to speak of the delivering of jesus into the hands of men of war, to be crucified at the pleasure of the jews; and how they received Him: and then we shall see what they do with Him, being received: they bring Him back again being received, to the common Hall, to a secret part thereof, and misuses Him at their pleasure: therefore, we shall come to the leading of Him out: with the Cross, out of the ports of Jerusalem, to that vile place where He should be crucified. We shall speak of the manner of His going out; how he goes out to suffer the death of the Cross: and last, of two incidentes that fell in by the way, as they were leading Him out: The one how He met with a man, named SIMON of CYRENE, whom they compelled to help Him to bear His Cross: Another, the multitude that followed Him: and as all Nations resorted to JERUSALEM at the passover, they followed Him, and women followed Him weeping, He turns, and answers them, as ye will hear.  
It is said then, that Pilate delivered JESUS, when He was condemned, to the soldiers to be crucified: and it is said of them, that as he delivered the innocent unto them, so they took Him to the common Hall: they are far readier to receive Him, and to crucify Him, than He was to deliver Him. The lesson, Brethren, is very easy, and many experiences teaches it daily: There was never yet a wicked judge in the world, so ready to deliver the innocent to suffer, or to desire an evil action to be done, as he will find wicked executioners under him, to put his wicked sentence in execution: the good judges could never find good officers under them so readily to execute an evil action as the wicked judges find for an evil action.  
Saul, when he had Achimeleck, and the Priests of the LORD to slay, he found Doeg the Edomite the knave ready, and he slew fourscore five Priests of the LORD, 1: Sam. 22.18. But David the good King, when he had to do with joab, who had committed many foul murders, could not put in execution his will, therefore he laments, and says: I am this day weak, and newly anointed King: and these men, the sons of Servia are too strong for me, me, 2. Sam. 3.38, 39 This is oft seen of good men: that there are very few good counsellors in the world, to help a good King in a good action: and where ye shall find one good, ye shall find four evil: Evil men and wicked counsellors are very rise: a wicked King shall not want, but shall get more than he desires: the devil hath many servants in the world, but GOD hath few: Our own Country may speak of the experience of this.  
But to go forward: When he hath delivered the innocent jesus to the soldiers, and they received Him: Take they Him to the place of execution? No, but whilst all was in preparation, whilst the place, and the Cross, was in preparation, and whilst all things were making ready, in the mean time the soldiers, with the malicious Jews could never get their heart satisfied with CHRIST, They bring Him to the common Hall, to the Session house, to a secret part of it, and uses Him more cruelly, than they did before: and there They being gathered, like as many torturers, there is not one of them, but they abuse Him: First, They put a crown of thorns upon His head: This is the second time: Next they take off His own clothes, and clothes Him with Purple, and they put a reed in His hand, and they kneel before Him, and mocks the King of Glory, saying, Hail King of the jews: Then they take the reed, and strikes Him with it, and in despite spits on His face: When they have done this, they take off that Royal raiment, and lead Him out, to crucify Him. Ye would wonder at this, for a man, though he were never so wicked, a thief and a murderer. yet after he be once condemned, men will give him peace till he die, and men will strive to comfort him before he die against the terroures of death, that he may die in peace: yea, his very enemies will think they have gotten enough, when they have gotten him condemned, and they desire no more: But behold the enemies of our LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST▪ they can never get their hearts satisfied upon Him, they cannot suffer Him to rest or breath, their insatiable wrath cannot be satiated. The malice of men against wickedness will end, but the malice of men against an Innocent, will never end, and namely against him who suffers for CHRIST'S sake: there is no measure of their cruelty, there is nothing that can satiate their bloody hearts: for the children of darkness do deadly hate the children of light: the suffering of the Martyrs hath ever proved this, that the Antichrist could never be satisfied in drinking of their blood. The persecutors of the Truth will never be satiate, there is no satiety of the malice of the haert of the child of darkness against the child of light. If thou hadst slain a man's father, it may be he would have forgiven thee: but and if thou be the child of GOD, and if he be the child of darkness, he will never be satiate, till he get thine heart blood. The JEWS and the Soldiers could never be satiate, till they had gotten the heart blood of the Innocent.  
But Brethren, we must look up higher: for it was not so much with these jews and Soldiers that JESUS hath to do, as with an angry GOD▪ and th●t because He bore the burden of our sins: these torturers were but instruments of that terrible wrath of the Father upon the Son: It was not so much their wrath, as the wrath of the Father that pursued Him so ardently. After He was once delivered into the hands of these Hangmen, wrath gins so to be powered forth on Him from Heaven, that He got no rest till He was crucified & dead on the cross. It is a terrible thing for a sinner, yea, if he were a king, who is not in jesus, and partaker of His suffering, to fall into the hands of an angry God and a consuming fire: if thou be out of Christ, thou shalt feel it the terriblest sight that ever was, howbeit wanton men and women make their pastime to anger that great judge, going to murder, defiling their bodies and souls by harlotry: it may be for a time, that they get rest: but after that once that righteous judge put hands in thee, I promise thee, that thou shalt never get rest: The very reprobate when they shall see that there is none end of wrath, shall cry: O Lord, shall never this wrath have an end: if thou goest to Hell, thou shalt find none end of wrath. Now blessed is that sinner that gets grace to have recourse to jesus Christ, & to lurk under His suffering. When they have used Him so unworthily within the common Hall, and when all is made ready: Then they lead out jesus, & carries Him out of the Ports of Jerusalem, to an ignominious death: and as they lead Him out: so jesus Christ goes out willingly to suffer, at the good pleasure of His Father, knowing that now His hour was come. God forbidden, but that we should think that jesus Christ suffered willingly: No, Brethren, in this example of jesus Christ the innocent: and that His willing going to death, we see, that it is the innocent who go to death willingly, and namely, they who are innocent in the blood of jesus Christ, that have their conscience sprinkled with the blood of the immaculate Lamb: As for men, who are not clad with this innocency, alas for them, It is not possible, that these can have consolation, or can with gladness offer up their lives: it may be, that some will pretend willingness, but that is but a show: Again, it may be, that there be some senseless bodies, that knows not how terrible death is, and what evil is in it. O! death is terrible for either Heaven or Hell follows on the tail thereof: and wilt thou count little of that port, by the which thou passest from this life to eternity. So, some may be senseless, as a Kow goes to the shambles: and some may have a false conscience: but if thou have not an assurance, that thou art washed with the blood of jesus Christ, Woe shall come to thee, wrath shall light on thee. There is no consolation in death to any, but to these who die in the innocencencie of jesus Christ. I mark the manner how He goes out: He goes out, bearing His own Cross: or rather drew it after Him: this was after the manner of the Romans, that the man whom they condemned to die this death, they commanded to bear His Cross, and therefore they were called Furciferi, gallows bearers: now they practise this on the innocent jesus.  
Now to come to it, that falls out whilst He is bearing His Cross. As they are going out, They meet a man by the way whose name was Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, a man in a town of Africa, and the town was called Cyrene, a laborious man, returning from the Country, to Jerusalem, they meet the poor man, and compelles the man to take up the one end of the Cross jesus goes before, and he goes behind: they would not have jesus relieved: No, they pitied Him not, but they would have Him formest in the burden. Think not, Brethren, that this relieving was of any compassion they had to jesus: No, they had no pity upon Him: but it came to p●sse, because Christ jesus was faint, weak, and wearied under the burden: and no wonder, He was a man: He took on our nature, and all the infirmities thereof, that we might be made strong. After that once the Lord had fallen in their hands, He got no rest, He got no sleep that night, He fasted, and His soul was vexed: and then all that night, and all that day following, from the morning to the noontide, he got no rest, but was twice scourged, and buffeted: As for the soldiers, they thought themselves too gay: As for the jews they thought themselves too holy, and in end He was made a curse (but for our cause) And therefore meeting with this Gentile, Simon, they compelled him to help Him. This wants not a Mystery: This Simon was a figure of the Gentiles, and this calling, albeit of compulsion, signifies our calling, being Gentiles, to take up our cross, and follow jesus out of the ports of Jerusalem. And as the Apostle to the Hebrews Chap, 13. verse 13. says, Go forth of the Ca●●●e bearing His reproach: for here we have no continuing city: but we seek for one to come. As for the jews, they would neither touch Christ, nor His Cross with their finger, because they judged Him accursed. Indeed, I grant, GOD made Him accursed, but He was made a curse, that we should be the blessing of GOD, through H●m: As Paul says to the Galathians, Chap. 3. verse 13. wouldst thou know thy felicity in this world, and in the world to come: it stands in joining with that man that was accursed, & whosoever thou be, that shalt not join with this man who is accursed, I give thee this doom, Cursed shalt thou be everlastingly, vengeance & malediction shall lie on thine head everlastingly. We are Gentiles, not jews: let us then with this Simon of Cyrene take up the Cross of Christ, & follow Him out of the ports of Jerusalem, to bear His shame, that we may be partakers of His glory: if thou be not partaker of His ignominy and shame, I denounce to thee, thou shalt not be partaker of His glory: thou who wast not humbled with Christ, thou shalt never be exalted with Him: this for the first incident. There is another thing that falls out, whereof we read in the 23 Chapter Luke, as He goes to the place of execution, it is said, that the multitude followed Him: This multitude was not only of the jews, but also of all Nations who resorted to Jerusalem, at the time of the passover. Now this multitude followed to see what should become of Him, as men who are inclined to see wonders. S●e on what mind thou followest a man to death, these spectacles are spectacles of thy misery: they follow to see the fashion: but surely this following of Christ, and this going of Christ to His suffering with such a multitude, learneth us a lesson: it pleased the Father, that jesus Christ should suffer an open shame: He would not have Him stolen down, or secretly executed in the night: He would have Him accused publicly before the great judge, who represented Caesar's person: Then as He went out, He would have all the world to see Him: and then He would have Him mounted up, and nailed upon the Cross in the face of the world: in a word, the Father would have the Son who became surety for us, to die; and not only to die, but also to be pined: and not only pined, but also to be pined shamefully. There is not a sin in the world, (let wanton men take their pastime in sin, albeit it were done never so secretly, go to thy chamber & do it, do it in the night, go to holes and most secret places and commit wickedness) but the end thereof, how secret so ever it was, shall be with open shame: I denounce against secret sins against God, thy secret sins shall bring an open shame to thee, if thou have not recourse to the shame of jesus: either of necessity thou must suffer in thy person eternally, and drink out the full cup of the wrath of God: or else, thou must have recourse to the shame of jesus Christ: and this is our comfort, that we have: Wilt thou first of all repent thee (an impenitent man will never get the cloak of Christ's righteousness to cover his shame) and turn and believe in jesus Christ: Wilt thou have recourse to Him, and louvre under His Passion: I promise thee, that thou shalt never come to an open shame: it my be that men come to an open shame for sin in this world, but in the world to come, I promise thee, thou shalt not suffer any shame, in that day thy sins shall not come to the light, neither man nor Angel shall see them. But if thou have not recourse to jesus, thou shalt be roo●ed out like a thief out of a hole, before millions of millions of Angels, and before all the world, and the secrets of thine heart shall be revealed, and heaps of the wrath of God, shall be powered on thy miserable head: Hell stands not only in pain, but in shame and confusion: thou shalt go down to Hell with a fearful shout, from the sight of this world, at that judgement.  
Now to come to these women: amongst the rest there follows Him certain women out of Jerusalem: there is a great difference between them and the multitude: women oft times shames men. The soldiers pities Him not, their pleasure is in His misery: we see not here, that any of the multitude mourns, but it is said, that the women of Jerusalem that followed Him, wept for Him. This was done of the Father, to testify His innocency, the Father at all times, will have the innocency of His Son witnessed: during the time of His accusation, the judge preached His innocency: & as he was giving out the sentence against Him: he both by deed, in washing of his hands, & word, testifies His innocency: And now whilst He goes out, He makes these women to bewail Him. No question all this was done by the Lord's providence, jesus the innocent He was lamented for. Wilt thou be innocent like to Him, thou shalt not want bewailing: ye see this, if he be a thief, and he be penitent, and have recourse to jesus, and seek to be innocent with that innocency of jesus Christ, men will pity him: but especially in that great day, if thou appearest innocent in the innocency of jesus Christ, thou shalt get such pitying of God, and of all the Angels, that thou shalt never die, but shalt be received to glory: and if thou appearest before Him without this innocency, thou shalt not be bewailed: none shall pity thee, neither God, nor Angel, but thou shalt go to destruction: and when thou art going to Hell, thy father nor thy mother shall not weep nor lament for it, but shall rejoice & approve God's judgement. Ye see then, how good a thing it is to be innocent in the innocency of jesus Christ, albeit we be not innocent, but guilty in ourselves. When Christ hears the lamentation and mourning of the women, He looks over His shoulder, And beholding them, He stands, and speaks, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but for yourselves, and for your children: and He gives the reason wherefore they should weep so, because of that fierce & terrible judgement which should overtake Jerusalem, and all for this innocent blood, and for the refusal of that innocent One: For behold, the days will come (says He) when men will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the paps that never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us: and to the hills, Cover us. And under the destruction of Jerusalem, He understands & adumbrates that terrible judgement & wrath in the latter day, & that great destruction that remains for the wicked: & He confirms this judgement which He threatens, by an argument taken from the greatest to the smallest, If they do so to a griene tree, what shall they do to a withered? what shall they do to you? By the green tree He means Himself, who in Himself was fresh, sappy, green, and fruitful, albeit for us He was like a dry tree, because He was guilty for us. And by the dry tree He means us, who are unfruitful in ourselves, and meet for nothing, but for confusion, to be casten into the fire. Mark here shortly of this: It is the sense of misery that makes any body to weep: No doubt when one weeps sore, the heart hath a sense of misery: and this sense is either of a man's own misery, or for a sympathy of the misery of another. They who have a sense of the misery of others, they will mourn. I see few of this sort in these days. There are few now that will weep for the misery of another. All sympathy is out of the world, and the pleasure of men is in the pleasure of others. Indeed I think that jesus condemned not this compassion. Certainly, compassion upon the estate of another is good. Away with a pitiless heart, for it hath not felt the mercy of God, and bowels of His compassion. But this is Christ's will, that the ground of their lamentation should not be so much His suffering for them as the sense of their own misery & sin, which brought Him to such a misery. The Lord would have the women considering the greatness of their own misery, which made Christ for their cause to be so miserable: that should have been chiefly the cause of their mourning: that should have been the cause of their dolour: for as john says out of Zacharie, They shall see Him whom they pierced. Our sins have pierced Him. The godly in the latter day, when they shall see Him, they shall mourn. It was not so much the Soldiers that pierced Him, as thy sins. Have not therefore thine eye so much on Pilate, Herode, or the jews, or on the men of war, or Hangman, as on thyself, and on thine own sins: for it was thy sins that pierced Him thorough: and in the latter day, when the godly shall see Him, whom they have pierced, they shall weep. Turn thine eyes on thyself, and let the ground of thy weeping Bee for thine own sin, that pierced the Innocent.  
There is another thing here worthy to be considered: I see it is a good thing to be in heaviness: and ye see that the LORD speaks nothing to the men of war, nor to any others in the way, but only to the poor women who were weeping: He comforts them, and instructes them, He leads them to the ground of their weeping, to the end that they should repent, and have recourse unto Him. The best estate of men and women, is to be sad in heart, and mourning, either for their own misery, or the misery of others: for the Lord says, Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. And, GOD dwells in a coutrite heart, ESAY. CHAP. 66. VERS. 2. PSAL. 51. VERS. 19 Thou who laughest, thou needest no comfort. Thou who art mourning for thy sins, and the sins of the world, the Lord He shall speak to thee, and give thee consolation with His own mouth. Nothing becometh a Christian better, than sadness, and to have his sins before his eyes, and to be sad both at noon and at Even: for all this joy that a true Christian hath, is sadness. Away with wantonness, mocking, and jesting, there is no true joy there: and the Lord uses not to comfort such, nor speak to such, for they need it not. I forewarn thee, that thou shalt never get the taste of that joy, but in tears: and then when the heart is broken, and casten down, than the LORD is mighty to raise thee up, and to comfort thee. The Lord therefore give us grace, when we look to the death and passion of CHRIST, that we may get a sense of our own misery: and that we may be in sadness, and mourn, that our sins pierced the sides of the innocent, who was the GOD of Glory: and that we may have recourse to this suffering, and get grace in our LORD: To whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be all Honour, Praise, and Glory, for ever and ever: AMEN.   

THE XIV. LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVII. 
verse 33 And when they came unto the place called Golgotha, (that is to say, the place of dead men's skulls) verse 34 They gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.  MARK 15. 
verse 22 And they brought him to a place named Golgotha, which is by interpretation, the place of dead men's skulls. verse 23 And they gave h●m to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.  LUKE XXIII. 
verse 32 And there were two others which were evil doers, led with him to be slain.  JOHN CHAP. XIX. 
verse 17 And he bore his own cross, and came into a place named of dead men's skulls, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha:  
Now ye have heard (Brethren) of the accusation of CHRIST before the judge Pontius Pilate, and of His condemnation out of the mouth of the judge Pilate, and then we heard that after the sentence of damnation was pronounced, he delivered Him into the hands of the jews to be crucified, they take Him, and first of all they lead Him in again to a most secret part of the Common Hall, and there they handled Him more freely, yea, more vilely than ever before, seeing He was a condemned man: and when they had used whatsoever indignity they pleased against Him, they lead Him to the place where He should be executed. In the History we have marked three or four things that fell out in the way: First, how the Lord is bearing His own Cross to the place of execution: Next, He being wearied under the burden, one Simon of Cyrene coming from the Country to the town, is compelled to take up one end of the Cross, to help him: So jesus goes before, and bears the one end of the Cross, Simon of Cyrene follows, bearing the other end thereof: The third thing: the multitude follows, men of all countries, that were convened, and come out of jerusalem, at such a solemn time at the passover: Amongst the rest, there were women of jerusalem, better than the rest of the multitude, who followed him, and wept for him. We have heard what answer the Lord gave them, and how he instructed them in the right cause of their weeping. Now the last thing that is marked: it is this, that we have read out of the Gospel of Luke, there were led out two thieves with him. Then in this days exercise, we shall hear of these points: The first, concerning the two thieves that were led out with him: The next is concerning the place: The third is concerning the sour & bitter drink that they gave him to drink: The fourth, concerning the act of the suffering, and fifthly, concerning the hour.  
To return to the first: As he goes out to the place where he should suffer: There are led out with Him two thieves, to suffer with him in that same place: jesus is led out to the place of execution like a thief, being innocent, and led out with thieves to suffer with thieves. Amongst all the rest of the things that jesus Christ suffered, beside the pain that he suffered in soul and body, he suffered extreme shame, as we say, he was shamed and shent: I showed to you, that shame followed always upon sin. jesus Christ took upon him the sins of the world, and therefore he behoved to suffer shame before the world. The Lord jesus Christ was ignominious in respect of the painful and ignominious death: for he was mounted up upon the Cross, in presence of them all: and in respect of the multitude, all the world was gazing upon him: and in this respect, when he goes out to suffer, he is counted a thief among the thieves, and the Lord was also ignominious in respect of the place.  
Brethren, in this matter, I look not so much to the jews, or to the soldiers, as I look to his Father in heaven: who was the disposer of this whole work. There was nothing done, but that which GOD the Father had decreed to be done, and what He does concerning His Son, He does it most justly: for JESUS became surety for the sins of the world, and He bore the burden not only of murder and theft: but of all the sins of the Elect. And as He goes out with the two thieves, He bore the burden of one of them, and relieved him of his sins: and the one of them that same night supped with Him in Paradise: Therefore, say I, whatsoever was the part of the Jews or of the soldiers▪ yet the doing of the FATHER to the SON was most just. And when we read of this, let us bless the FATHER of JESUS CHRIST, for we have good cause so to do: For in this justice He shows great mercy towards us: and, if He had not done this, woeful and miserable had the estate of man been. Now I come to the place, which in Hebrew is called GOLGOTHA, that is, a place of dead men's skulls, or brain pans. This place was without the ports of the Town of Jerusalem. And no question jesus like an unworthy reprobate was carried out of the ports of Jerusalem to suffer, and this was figured under the Law. The beasts that were to be offered were carried out of the camps of the people, and there were burnt, and afterwards their blood was carried into the Sanctuary, to be a typical propitiation for the sins of the people, and the people were sprinkled therewith: Even so, JESUS CHRIST, that eternal Sacrifice, was carried out like an outcast out of the ports of the Town, to suffer that ignominious death, that when He had suffered He might enter in with His precious blood into that Heavenly Sanctuary for the sins of the world by that eternal propitiation, HEBR. CHAP. XIII. VERS. 11. and 12. Concerning the name of the place wherefore it is so called, there is great controversy and doubting: Some think that it was so named, because the skull (or brain pan) of ADAM was delved up out of that same place where the Cross was set, and where JESUS suffered. But I count this but a vain fable of the vain Papists, for their Legends are full of such like fables. And again, some think that it was so named, because in this place were used to be casten heaps of skulls, and dead men's bones to be kept, which use may be seen in sundry parts, and this is more likely. And last, others think that it was so named, in respect of the figure & shape of the place: It was a round knoll, like a man's head, rising up, and round at the height; also, it was high, that these who were executed might be a spectacle to the people to be wondered at, and therefore in respect of the shape, it was called Caluarie, that is, the skull of a dead man: and those who have resorted to those parts, they report this day, that the same place is a round knolle like a dead man's skull, where the Lord jesus was crucified beside jerusalem. But how ever it be, this is most certain, that this place was shameful and ignominious: and the innocent is conveyed to that place where the murderers used to be execute. No doubt, it was vile, and stinked, yet it hindered not that sweet savour to ascend to the Father, through His death, and the more ignominious that the death was, the glory and triumph was the greater, and the more stinking that the place was, the more sweetly savoured He to the Father, His sacrifice had a most sweet smell in the nosthirles of the Father. This is the thing that I mark: I see, that these jews who persecuted the Lord of glory to the death, cannot be satisfied, and the hatred against the innocent is endless. They are not content that He die a shameful death: but they will have Him to die a shameful death in a shameful place, and they will have Him convoyed and led out like a thief. No, brethren, the hatred of the world against the children of the light, hath none end: they hated the Lord first: The Lord jesus is the light of the world, and ever from that day the children of darkness shall never cease to hate the children of light: assoon so ever as a man shall profess that he appertains to jesus Christ, at that same moment, the world, and the children of darkness shall begin to hate them, and to persecute them: As the rage of the jews was unquenchable against Christ, so it was after His passion and ascension against all Christians. Brethren, in this matter, we must pass above the malice of the jews, and behold the counsel of God, and see, that all this doing comes from Heaven, for the Father doth it, albeit He use the ministery of these Hangmen: I see this, He lays on shame upon His own Son: and not only shame, but He heaps shame upon shame upon Him: He will first have Him shamed in respect of the death of the Cross: then He will have the world to gaze upon Him: and next, in respect of the two thieves that were led out with Him: and then in respect of the place: He will have Him to suffer shame in all things, in presence of the world: So that one would wonder, that the Father would pursue the Son with such extremity of wrath: it is no small thing to take on the burden of sin. O sinful soul! run under sin as thou wilt, yet one day thou shalt find it the heaviest burden that ever was. If the surety suffered such a pain, and such a burden, what shall become of thee? If thou by thyself shalt undertake such an heavy burden of wrath for thy sins? But Brethren, the thing that appertains to us concerning the place of execution is this: All this process & judgement is a type of that great & terrible judgement of the world in that Great day: & ye shall see that visible judgement to be like this judgement that was holden on jesus. He suffers like a reprobate, and is judged, and that same thing that jesus suffered temporally, when the great judge shall sit, the reprobate shall suffer eternally. Then take heed: It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of that living God, who is a consuming fire. Look to it as ye will, for whosoever he be that shall not be saved in jesus in that day, beside all the shame that they shall bear, the very place wherein they shall suffer shall add something to their shame: As their soul and body shall be ignominious; so the place shall be stinking: the very place shall heap shame after shame: let Hell be where it will, it is the most shameful and ignominious place that ever was: and thou shalt be shamed and shent whosoever shall be casten into it. And by the contrary, in that Great day of judgement, they who shall be saved in this JESUS, as they shall be glorious many ways: so even in respect of the place, they shall be glorious. That Heavenly Jerusalem is the pleasandest place that ever was, and those that shall come to Heaven, beside all that glory that they shall have therein, they shall have glory in the very place: for Christ suffered in a place, foul, vile and ignominious, that they might dwell for ever most glorious in that glorious place, that Heavenly Paradise.  
Now to come to the third, which is that drink which is propined unto CHRIST when He comes to that place: no question He was very thirsty: beside the pain, He had an extreme thirst: and being thirsty, He desired to drink: He was a wearied man, for He was holden all the whole night over without either meat, drink, or sleep, yea, and all the next day also, beside the fear of death: and therefore, it was no marvel that He desired to drink. And MATTHEW says, that they gave Him Vinegar to drink, mixed with Gall: Then, both sour and bitter was His drink. Now it is true that Saint MARK says, that it was Wine mixed with Myrrh: All is alike: for Myrrh hath the bitterness of the gall. There are sundry opinions about this drink, which they gave Him: Some thinks that this was a delicious drink, and that it was carried there, and offered by the women who followed Him weeping: to the end He might feel the less pain, so long as He underlay so longsome and cruel death. There are others who think that this drink served to hasten the death: because the death was painful, for they count Myrrh to be of this force, that it will cast out blood at any wound. So when the LORD had drunk, they thought, that the blood should have sprung out at the wounds, and should have most hastily procured His death.  
But I leave these opinions, and I think, that this was no delicious drink: and I think again, that this drink was not given to hasten His death: & I think that this sour & bitter drink, was offered in derision and scorn by the jews, and soldiers, who had no pity nor compassion upon Him, and that of the bitter malice of their hearts they offered it to Him. No mercy for Christ now, but all extremity: and to think so, I am partly moved by that Prophecy which is contained in the 62. Psalm, and 22. verse, wherein the LORD is brought in, complaining and saying, In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink: and partly, by the History following, wherein it is said, Then they brought Him in derision a sponge with vinegar, and put it to His mouth: and this His drink is to be counted a part of His Passion. Of this we have this lesson, always keeping this ground, That this judgement is a type of the latter judgement. Amongst all the pains that they shall suffer, who shall not be found in JESUS CHRIST, they shall thirst to death, both of soul and body, as the LORD thirsted, who was counted as a reprobate: so the reprobate shall thirst exceedingly: And as the LORD got not so much as a drink of water, to quench His thirst, no more shalt thou.  
As the rich Glutton, when he was in Hell, could not get one drop of water to cool his tongue, that was so sore burning in torment: no more shalt thou be quenched of that eternal wrath: for sin brings the most terrible drowght and hotness in the soul and body that ever was. Thou shalt drink the cup of the bitter wrath of God for ever & ever▪ Blessed are they who hunger & thirsts for righteousness they shall be filled, says Christ. They who shall be saved in jesus Christ, shall never thirst, for they shall have in their bellies the fountain of living water. jesus Christ, when this drink is propined, He tastes it, and would have no more of it, because as jesus Christ bore the nature of man, so He had this natural taste, and nature abhorred this drink: And albeit that patiently He suffered all injuries of others: yet He would not use violence against nature to His own self: let one suffer violence of others, but do no violence to thine own self: Yet we see, that albeit He knew well enough, both the bitterness and sourness of it, yet He tasted it: This learns us, that there was no bitterness nor sourness but the LORD would taste it, that thou shouldest not only taste, but also drink, yea quaff all delicious and sweet drink evermore: yea, not only of the water of life, but even the delicious drink of this world, for refreshment of our body. Then when thou art drinking a sweet drink, remember that jesus Christ drank a bitter drink, that thou shouldest drink a sweet drink. Otherwise, I tell thee, drink on, and pamper thy belly as thou wilt, thy sweet drink shall become a bitter curse unto thee.  
Now we come to the very action of crucifying: He is thirsty, He cannot get the thirst quenched: He must suffer the death with an extreme thirst: there is not a thief, but he will get a drink. The men of war come to the execution: and first, they stripped the LORD of glory: They take His garments off Him: So the LORD, before He was mounted upon the Cross, He was stripped naked, and then being stark naked, they mount and spread out that glorious body on the Cross, And nails Him with nails: and this is complained of before: They pierced through mine hands and my feet, Psalm 22.17. And now being nailed on the Cross, it cometh to pass, as Paul says in the Epistle to the Galathians, Chap. 3. verse 13, 14: He is become a curse for us, that we should become the blessing of God in Him: Not that jesus began then to be accursed of the Father, when He hang upon the Cross: No, from the time of His conception: even all the time that He was in the world: As our sins were laid upon Him, so the curse of God was on Him, pursuing our sin: All these three and thirty years that He lived in the world, the curse of God goes never off Him: for the curse of God never leaves sin. A wicked man will seem to be blessed, and to prosper, and who will sit at such ease as he will, play him, and bless himself in his own heart, but when he comes to a miserable end, and dies a miserable death, when the miserable death appears, than the world sees, that that man was cursed. It appeared not that jesus Christ was cursed, till He was dying, and going to be nailed on the Cross, than all the world sees that He is cursed, beside all the things that sin brings on a man to: it shall bring thee to a shameful death: and if thou be not found in jesus Christ, and be not covered with His Cross, than thou shalt die in the end a cursed death: although thou be in thy bed, and thy Wife, thy friends, and all thy children about thee, the death that thou shalt die, shall be accursed. Blessed are they who die in the Lord: Cursed are they who die not in the Lord, let them be hanged, beheaded, or die in their bed, terrible shall be that death that follows after this death: The death that He died, was a sore & odious kind of death, to a man to be taken quick, and nailed quick on the Cross: and no doubt, He hang for the space of three hours: so as the death of those who are not in Christ, is accursed, so it is sore: He suffered not only this pain in body, No, the chief torment was in the soul, & it was tormented with that bitter sense of the wrath of the Father. It is not a death of the body that sin brings on, it brings an extreme bitter pain to the soul. The Lord dies not in a moment, he is dying, and not dead, a vive image of the death of hell: thou shalt die in the pain of hell, and never get an end. Those who die in Christ, die what death they will, be they beheaded, or hanged, or drawn in raxes, or burnt, they shall never die a cursed death: their death is a sweet death, and all the joys that ever was, shall issue of their death: It must be so, What makes a cursed death but sin: and if thou be in Him, as JESUS was crucified: so thy sin is nailed upon His back: and therefore being taken away, what must follow, but that thou must be glorified.  
And either thou shalt be crucified thyself, No, not in the Earth, but in the Hells everlastingly: or else thou must have thy sins crucified on the Cross of JESUS CHRIST, and be partaker of his death: and therefore, if any of us would die a blessed death (it is certain, that we must die) let us see whether our sin was crucified with Christ, or not: Shall I have no warrant of the death of sin in me, and that I was crucified with JESUS CHRIST, and am freed of all pain eternally, thorough His Cross? Will ye that I shall tell you, how ye shall get the certainty of this? Look if thou findest a continual death of sin, look if thou findest this regeneration and a new life, and love of GOD and a delight to serve Him in some measure, then assure thyself, that thy sin was crucified on the Cross with JESUS CHRIST: and, if thou livest in wantonness, and gettest no mortification, thou shalt be crucified in the Hell, yea, though thou were a King. Our lords and gentlemen will pass their time, but I denounce, albeit thou be an Emperor, thou shalt be tormented, and consumed away by that eternal wrath of GOD in Hell. Go on thy ways. O, the world is sleeping! Shall they never know what they are doing? What are these oppressors doing? these murderers doing? these adulterers and fornicators doing? Is there any care of Heaven in them? Is Heaven or Hell but tales? No, no: it shall be the terriblest sight that ever thou saw. It is not as men say, to wit, Hell is but a boggarde to scar children only: No, thy miserable soul shall find in woeful experience the dolour and woe of that place.  
Now it rests, that I speak about the hour in the which He was crucified. Only Saint MARK calls it, About the third hour. Then apparently, the LORD JESUS was nailed on the Cross betwixt eleven and twelve of the clock: And a little before twelve He was mounted up upon the Cross: for betwixt the sentence of Condemnation and Execution, there passed not an hour: For there was a malicious earnestness to hasten Him to the Cross, neither would they give Him leisure to draw His breath. This lets us see the fierceness of the wrath of the Father when He judges sin. After that He was once condemned, He got no rest, but was hastened to the place of Execution, to suffer pain and shame. Look still to the ground. This judgement is the type of the latter judgement: if the sentence of condemnation be passed, immediately thou shalt be pulled away (look to it as ye will) to everlasting torment. Therefore, blessed is that soul that hath part of the suffering of JESUS CHRIST. To Him, therefore, who once was ignominious, and now is glorious, be all Honour for evermore: AMEN.   

THE XV. LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVII. 
verse 35 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, and did cast lots, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Prophet, They divided my garments among them, and upon my vesture did cast lots. verse 36 And they sat and watched him there. verse 37 They set up also over his head his cause written, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. verse 38 And there were two thicks crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.  MARK CHAP. XV. 
verse 24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots for them, what every man should have. verse 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. verse 26 And the title of his cause was written above, THAT KING OF THE JEWS. verse 27 They crucified also with him two thieves, the one on the right hand, and the other on his left. verse 28 Thus the Scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was counted among the wicked.  LUKE, CHAP. XXIII. 
verse 33 And when they were come to the place which is called Caluarie, there they crucified him, and the evil doers; one at the right hand, and the other at the left. verse 34 Then said JESUS, Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.  
verse 35 And the people stood, and beheld: and the Rulers mocked him with them, saying, He saved others: let him saved himself, if he be that Christ, the Chosen of God. verse 36 The soldiers also mocked him, and came, and offered him vinegar, verse 37 And said, If thou be the King of the jews, save thyself. verse 38 And a superscription was also written over him, in Greek letters, and in Latin, and in Hebrew, THIS IS THAT KING OF THE JEWS.  JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 
verse 18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and JESUS in the mids. verse 19 And Pilate wrote also a title, and put it on the Cross, and it was written, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. verse 20 This title then read many of the jews: for the place where JESUS was crucified, was near to the City: & it was written in Hebrew Greek, and Latin. verse 21 Then said the high Priests of the jews to Pilate, Writ not, The King of the jews, but that he said, I am King of the jews. verse 20 Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.  
IN these days past (beloved in the LORD JESUS) we have brought this History of the Passion of jesus Christ, to the very act itself, to the crucifying of Him upon the Cross. The last day we spoke something of His crucifying, and last we spoke of the hour of the day, in the which He was crucified: MARK names it to have been about the third hour of the day, which according to our reckoning, and our fashion of dividing of the day, fell about the twelfth hour of the day: which manifestes a very hasty dispatch and a short space betwixt the doom, and the execution: yea, all this matter was very hastily dispatched, for He was taken in the night, in the which He got no rest, but was hurried first to Annas, and from him to Caiaphas' Hall, and then before Pilate the Roman judge, and there before him condemned: So that He is taken in the night, and the next day before twelve a clock He is crucified. In the night He is taken, and brought before the judge: The accusation passeth: The doom is given: and He is crucified on the morrow following before twelve of the clock. Now to pass by the malice of the Jews, and their earnestness to have the Lord put to death, we shall mark, that all this judgement we may see the swiftness of the wrath of the Father, which pursued the Son, because He bore the sins of the world. It lets us see plainly that the judgement that shall be in the latter day, to the which this is proportionate (it is a type of the latter judgement) that judgement also, I say shall pass over swiftly, and the reprobate in that judgement, when the Lord is once entered into judgement, shall not get leave nor leisure to draw their breath, till they be casten into Hel. And after that the terrible judge shall once enter into account with them, and give out that sentence, Depart from me ye cursed of my Father, with the Devil and his angels, immediately those damned souls shall be hurled to Hell. If the wrath was so swift upon the Son of God Himself, what shall be the swiftness of the wrath upon the reprobate in that Great day? Then come to the Text which we have read, and to go forwards to speak of the things and circumstances that fell out in the time that the Lord did hang quick nailed upon the Cross: for, as I have already declared, He hung the ●pace of three hours quick, nailed upon the Cross, ere He gave up the ghost. The first thing we have to speak of, is concerning the two thieves that were crucified with Him, the one at the one hand, and the other at the other hand. Next, we shall speak of that prayer that jesus conceived whilst He was hanging on the Cross before His enemies. And thirdly, we shall speak of that title and inscription that Pilate commanded to be fixed on the Cross: to wit, JESUS of Nazareth, the King of the jews: and this contained the crime and cause of His suffering. Last, we shall speak of the dividing of His garments, and how they cast lots on His coat. All these heads are plain, & they offer plain doctrine. Then to come to the first; It is said, that They crucified with him two thieves, two vagabonds, two throat-cutters, and they crucified the one of them at his right hand, and the other at his left hand. And He hung on the Cross in the midst between them both. They crucify not the Lord jesus Himself alone but betwixt two thieves: and not at the side, but one of them at each side, and Him in the midst: gluing out thereby to be understood by all the world, who looked on Him, (and there was an huge multitude of jews, Romans, and Gentiles, looking on) that of all Malefactors He was the greatest. Brethren, I see this thorough all the History of the Passion of jesus Christ, ever His dolour enc●easses, till it come to the end & to the height. And I see this, that as His pain grows continually, So shame is heaped on His head continually: and whilst He is hanging on the Cross, at the same time the greatest shame is heaped on His head: for He hangs upon the Tree, betwixt the evil doers▪ as Prince of all evil doers in the world. To let you see, that as the pain of the reprobate shall be extreme; so the sh●me and confusion that they shall suffer in Hell, shall pass all measure. In this circumstance, as in all the rest, I look not so much to the jews, and to their malice, as I look to His Father in Heaven, to His wrath, and to His justice: it is He who is the chief worker of all these things. All the●e men, Pilate, Herode, the men of war, and the High Priests, they are like as many burrioes to that judge.  
The LORD hangs on the Cross in extreme pain of body and soul: and as He hangs, in extreme pain, so there is extreme shame joined with it. Now, if the shame and pain was extreme, it must follow, that He bore an extreme but then of sin: these go together in GOD'S justice, extreme burden of sin, extreme pain, and extreme shame: for the justice of GOD requires, that extreme sin be punished by extreme pain and shame. It is true, the Martyrs suffered greater shame & pain, than ever murderer did, or malefactor: yet it follows not, that their sin was greater than the sin of them who suffers not so great pain. Why? The Martyrs suffered not for sin, Non eo nomine. Never a Martyr suffered for sin, but for the testimony of the same Lord jesus Christ who suffered for their sin: and therefore in their suffering they had an exceeding great joy, assuring them, that they had a remission of their sins in the blood of the Lamb JESUS CHRIST. But JESUS CHRIST suffered for sin Eo nomine: it is one thing to a sinner to suffer, & it is another thing to suffer for sin: No, if the Lord make thee to suffer for the least sin, if it were but for an evil thought, thou shalt feel how terrible a judge He is. The LORD suffers, and is shamed for sin: the Lord JESUS suffered extreme shame and pain: therefore the consequent follows, He bore an extreme but then of sin. When I look to this utter shame, as I call to mind all the sins that JESUS suffered for: so chief, I look to that high pride of Adam, and of us all in Adam, whereby we aspire to be like to that High and glorious Majesty, that pride, whereby we would have spoiled that great GOD of that honour and glory which was due to Him: Therefore in this utter shame, the Father of Heaven meets, randers and requites that high pride of Adam▪ and for that He heaps shame on the head of His Son: As thou aspirest to dishonour Him by pride, so He meets thy pride in His dear Son. If thou be not found in JESUS in that great day: the prouder thou be in the world, the greater shall be thy shame, beside that unspeakable torment of soul and body. Now, will ye see in this extreme pain & shame that the Lord suffers, how the wonder of our salvation is wrought: it is so far from that, that it is wrought with a glorious pomp (the jews would have had this work wrought gloriously, and would have had the Saviour a glorious King, and therefore they stumbled at this, at the ignominious Cross of jesus,) Ye see by the plain contrary, that there cannot be a greater pain nor shame. We are not bought by glory nor pomp: we are redeemed from death and shame, by death and shame: such a redemption cannot stand with His justice: His justice requires blood, Heb. 9.22, Noremission of sins without blood, Then every one of us, who would attain to salvation, we must not look to Heaven first, to get it in JESUS glorified, but we must look to Jerusalem, and to Golgotha: first, To see Him there hanging and crucified: spare not to kiss Him on the Cross, and to bathe thyself in His blood: and if thou takest offence at His Cross, thou shalt never see Him in glory, but to thy shame: No, by the contrary, take on persecution with Him, that in that great day thou mayest be glorified with Him.  
To go forward, Luke in his 23. Chapter, verse 34. marks a circumstance which is not marked by the rest, to wit, that JESUS prayed to His Father for His persecutors. This prayer apparently hath been either at this time when they were striking the nails thorough Him, or else very soon thereafter: howsoever, He is hanging on the Cross at that time: The words are, Father, forgive them▪ for they know not what they do: 1. Pet. Chap. 2. ver. 23, says of Him: When He was reviled, He reviled not again: He rendered none evil words again, when He suffered, He threatened not again, but committed it to Him who judges righteously. When they were nailing Him on the Cross, and scorning Him on it He show not an angry countenance: He committed the vengeance to GOD. In these words, he would let you see, a marvelous meekness and patience in JESUS CHRIST, and therefore by the Prophets He was compared to a Lamb. No, never a Lamb suffered with such mildness, as JESUS did. But now in this History he goes somewhat further: he lets us see, that the LORD IEnot only recompensed evil with evil: but He rewarded good for evil, & whilst they torment Him, he conceives a fervent prayer for them: and this lets us see not only a wonderful patience, but also a great love and pity He bore to His enemies. It is a wonderful thing to see any in torment to be patiented toward the tormenter, but it is greater in the torment, both to be patiented, & to pray to GOD for him who torments him: and this is the greatest of all, to suffer for the tormenter. This love properly pertains to JESUS CHRIST only. The Martyrs have prayed for them who persecuted them, as STEVEN did, Act, Chapter 7. verse 60. LORD, lay not this sin to their change: but neither STEVEN, nor any other Martyr in the earth suffered extreme torment for the tormenter. Never a man had such a love, to suffer for his tormenter: No, this love is proper only to JESUS CHRIST: and in the Scripture it is ascribed unto JESUS CHRIST, that He died for His enemies His torments. These last words of that place of Peter, where he says, He committed vengeance to Him who judges righteously, are worthy of consideration: for there he will let us see the ground of patience in suffering, His eye was on His Father, and He saw his Father to be a just judge, and to take vengeance on them who persecuted them. wouldst thou be patiented in suffering, go not to revenge, but put the revenge in the hand of the judge: except a man have this consideration, it is impossible for him to suffer a wrong patiently. And it is as true, that these men of this Land, who in no measure are patiented, but are ay revenging: those who will do two wrongs for one, (he will glory that he hath slain two for one, and he will brag of his foul murder: and say, I have one slain, he hath two, he hath better than his own) It is impossible, I say, that these men cannot have GOD before their eyes, they look not to GOD, because in suffering injuries, they leave not the revenge to GOD, and so their damnation shall not be so much for the wrongs, as because they usurped the office of the judge, and gave him not vengeance to whom it belongeth. Some of you may ask, how can this be, that Peter says. The LORD committed vengeance to His Father, stand with this, that Luke says, He prayed for them? how can these two stand? To commit the vengeance to God, and to pray for thine enemies? I answer, These things are different, To commit vengeance to GOD, to commit a wicked man to his own judge, and to beg a vengeance to a wicked man: JESUS gave them over to their own judge, and gave the judgement to GOD: he begged not vengeance on them: he prays for them to his Father, that he would forgive them. To speak my mind here: This Prayer that the LORD made upon the Cross, I take it not so much to be for the malicious Scribes, Pharises, and Priests, who did this, not so much of ignorance, as of malice: For in the 17. Chapter and 9 verse he says, I pray not for the world, but for them that thou hast given me: As for the poor multitude of the Jews, and the men of war, and for the ignorant Gentiles, who were there. The effect declares the force and power of this Prayer, for by one preaching of Peter, there were three thousand souls converted of the enemies of Christ, Act. Chapter 2. verse 41. No question this hasty conversion of so many, came of the effectualness of the Prayer that he made to the Father, on the Cross: yea, by appearance the force of that Prayer uttered itself then, when the multitude came from the spectacle of the Cross home again, knocking on their breasts. But consider the form of the Prayer, he says, Father, forgive them, the reason is, They know not what they do: But they are silly blinded people, Paul 2. Cor. 2. Chapter verse. 8. says: If they had known what He was, they would not have crucified the LORD of Glory. Ye shall ever mark, Brethren, two series of sinners, and two sorts of sinning. There are some malicious sinners, woe to those. Some are ignorant: some sins of knowledge: yea, the malice of the heart draws them to a mischief: and some because they know no better, being wrong informed. No doubt, many of this multitude thought they were doing good service to GOD: Malice in sinning, makes a man inexcusable, and closes his mouth before that judge: ye shall see this one day. The malicious sinners, when the sentence shall be pronounced against them, shall not whisper once again: But ignorance, albeit it makes not a man inexcusable (it will never excuse thee before that great judge, Beguile not thyself, thou shalt not once open thy mouth, and say, LORD, the thing that I did, I did it of ignorance: and therefore I deserved not death) yet it is not so evil as malice: for whereas malice provokes the wrath, and judgement of the judge: for it is a terrible thing to have an malicious heart, and of set purpose to sin against the judge. Ignorance will move the judge to pity and commiseration: and so, ye see, the LORD seeing the poor ignorant multitude He pities them, and as He pities them, so He prays for them: Ignorance moved Him to pity, and to pray for them. In a word: The Christian man that is persecuted wrongfully, either hath to do with malicious men, (we may find this in experience ere we die) who persecute of malice: or with enemies, who are not so much malicious, as ignorant: if he have to do with malicious persons, patience is required: but if he have to do with ignorant bodies, than not only patience is required, but also ruth and love. wouldst thou have patience? then commit vengeance unto Him who judges justly: for if thou wouldst be patiented, look to thy GOD, and say, I commit thee in the hands of the judge. And, if thou have to do with an ignorant, see that thou be pitiful: look to the ignorance of them that persecute thee; and thou shalt not so soon look to their blindness, but thou shalt not only be patiented, but also pitiful, and the ignorant will seem to be miserable, and to be pitied: for this is certain, that the innocent man, who is persecuted, is not so much to be pitied, as he who of blind ignorance persecutes him. Alas! What is to be pitied, but that which procures damnation before GOD? So ignorant blinded bodies are most to be pitied.  
Now consider how all ranks and sorts of people shame Him: and first Pilate shames Him, and commands an inscription and title to be written on the Cross, bearing the crime and cause of His death: It is said, that Pilate the judge, Writeth a title to be fixed on the Cross: and be writeth it, in Hebrew, and in Grecke, and in Latin, to the end, that men of all Languages might read it, and understand it, and the effect thereof is this, JESUS of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This was in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin: three Languages, to be read by Hebrews, Grecians, & Romans. There is no question, but this was written according to the fashion of that time: for among the people of GOD, both the judgements and also the punishments, with inscriptions containing the cause thereof, used to be publicked. And this was a commendable and allowable custom, that when a man was condemned to die, they always used to put up an inscription, containing the crime and cause: to testify, that he was worthily executed. According hereunto they handle the Lord JESUS: for they lead the whole process in the sight of the people, & went not into a corner to judge Him, but in the presence of the whole people, they led Him out of the Ports of Jerusalem, to execute Him. Read of this custom, josh. Chapter 7. verse 19 Of Achan, who stolle the Babylonians garment, how he was judged of the whole people. Read of that blasphemer, in the wilderness, Leuit. 24.23. how before the whole people he was executed publicly. Read of jonathan, how he was judged and condemned of his father Saul, in the sight of the whole people, 1. Sam. Chapter 14. verse 5. As the judgement was public, so they used to put an inscription above them, to testify to the people their crime, and the cause of their death, that they died justly. It is no small matter to slay a man, albeit he were the poorest that ever was, and there is not a Prince in the face of the earth, that may slay a man without a good cause: No, not the Emperor hath that power. And as no man should be slain lightly: so if there be a just cause of execution, the man may not be executed privily at the pleasure of the judge, but if there be good justice, the judgement must be before the people. The people have their own right and entress in judgement seats.  
Ye know in that great judgement of the world, which shall be at the latter day, not one shall be judged and condemned without the approbation and consent of the whole Elect, which shall stand round about their Lord. Then, how much more hath the people, at the least the best part, entress in earthly judgements, to see good administration of justice, and judgement, and that the judge use no Tyranny. This than was the cause of this Inscription, even that the cause of the death of jesus should be made manifest to the people, according to common commendable custom. But Pilate had another respect: Pilate did this, not so much, that the people should know the cause of His death: for his conscience told him that He was innocent, as he put it up, to revenge him on the malicious jews, who compelled him against his heart and conscience to condemn Him. He will have this put up, that their King was hanged, and that they hanged Him with their own hands. But GOD hath His part here, and all was governed by that heavenly Providence, Neither is Pilate, nor the jews here so much to be looked to, as the dispensation of the Father, As Pilate did it for one end, so the LORD did it for another end: Men will do a thing upon an evil intent, GOD will do the same thing by a wicked instrument to His good end, by His effectual providence He will have this to be put up, to ratify the Heavenly and Spiritual Kingdom of JESUS CHRIST: and He will let them all see, that JESUS is the only King: and inspeciall by this inscription the LORD will have it testified to the world, that as JESUS hung upon the Cross with pain and shame, that so likewise upon the same Cross He triumphed gloriously over His enemies: ere He came to Heaven, on the Cross He got victory, and He triumphed over them all, and led them all captives on the Cross, as it is written to the COLOSS. CHAP. 2. VERS. 15. More than this: The LORD did it to this end, To fore-shaddowe, that the preaching of the Kingdom of JESUS CHRIST, to follow on His Ascension should be to all Nations▪ Kingdoms, and Languages: for immediately after that He passed out of the world, JESUS was proclaimed to all Nations the King of Glory, and continues to this day, and shall be for ever. Pilate is a preacher hereof, albeit he have little mind of it: but he was like Caiaphas, who prophesied, that it was expedient, that one should die for the sins of the whole people, CHAP. 11. VERS. 40. And this is done by the special providence of GOD, no doubt. The constancy of Pilate in his sentence and writing, notwithstanding the strong opposition of the Scribes and the High Priests, who desired him to alter and change the title, and for that which was written by Pilate, to wit, This is the King of the Jews, to write, That He said He was the King of the jews: this declares that it was of the immutable decree of GOD. Pilate had no power to alter one letter of it for his life. GOD led the pene of him so, that he had no power to do otherwise, to testify, that it was of that Eternal decree. And this is that drecree whereof we read, PSAL. 2.7. I will declare the decree, that is, The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, etc. This decree is unchangeable, it must be executed, and it shall last to the end of the world: And I say, the LORD JESUS shall be King in despite of the jew and the High Priests, and all His enemies, and that one day we shall see to the full joy of our hearts: To that Glorious King, with His Father, and the Holy Spirit, be Honour and Glory for evermore, Amen.   

THE XVI. LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVII. 
verse 39 And they that passed by, reviled him, wagging their heads,  
verse 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the Temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself: if thou be the Son of God, come down from the Cross. verse 41 Likewise also the high Priesles mocking him, with the Scribes, and Elders, and Pharises, said, verse 42 He saved others, but he cannot save himself: if he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the Cross, and we will believe in him. verse 43 He trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.  
verse 44 The self same thing also the thieves which were crucified with him, cast in his teeth.  MARK, CHAP. XV. 
verse 29 And they that went by, railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, hay, thou that destroyest the Temple, and buildest it in three days,  
verse 30 Save thyself, and come down from the Cross. verse 31 Likewise also, even the high Priests, mocking, said among themselves, with the Scribes, He saved other men, himself he cannot save. verse 32 Let Christ the King of Israel now come down from the Cross, that we may see, and believe. They also that were crucified with him, reviled him.  LUKE CHAP. XXIII. 
verse 35 And the people stood, and beheld: and the Rulers mocked him with them, saying, He saved others: let him save himself, if he be that Christ, the Chosen of God. verse 36 The soldiers also mocked him, and came, and offered him vinegar, verse 37 And said, If thou be the King of the jews, save thyself. verse 38 And a superscription was also written over him, in Greek letters, and in Latin, and in Hebrew, THIS IS THAT KING OF THE JEWS.  JOHN CHAP. XIX. 
verse 23 Then the Soldiers, when they had crucified jesus, took his garments, (and made four parts, to every Soldier a part) and his coat: and the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.  
verse 24 Therefore they said one to another, Let us not divide it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be. This was, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my garments among them, and on my coat did they cast lots. So the Soldiers did these things indeed.  
THE time that JESUS CHRIST is hanging on the Cross, (Brethren) and whilst He is in extreme pain and torment, those that stand by they set themselves to do Him all the shame they can, to the end, that in that agony He might have the more annoy and grief. I cannot divide better that shame that they did Him, than from the persons who went about to shame Him: the whole, both jews and Gentiles, are set to shame Him: And therefore, after He is condemned, they take two thieves, and they crucify them with Him, the one at the one hand, and the other at the other, and jesus the Innocent in the midst, as if He had been the greatest of all. Then there is not a rank of persons amongst them, but every one gins to rail upon Him, and shame Him. And first to begin at Pilate, he gins and shames Him, for he writes an inscription concerning treason against the Majesty of Caesar, and affixes it on the Cross, where He hung, This is the King of the jews: howbeit to speak the truth, Pilate sought more the shame of the jews, who by their obstinacy compelled him to give out the sentence of death against the Innocent, than the shame of jesus Christ: and by the inscription the Lord will have the jews shamed, because they hanged their King. But we have spoken of pilate's part the last day: therefore now let us go forward to the parts of all the rest. Then after Pilate, comes in the executioners, who with their hands had nailed Him on the Cross. It appears by the words of john, speaking of the dividing of His garments into four parts, that there were four Executioners: (or Hangmen) So that every one of them got a part thereof. These in contempt, and in despite of Him, in His face, whilst as He hangs on the Cross, they take His garments, and divide them in four parts, and on his coat they cast lots. Then after the Hangmen, comes the people, and they wag their heads on him, and in despite, and bitterness of heart, they rail on him, and say, Is this the man that said he would destroy the Temple, and build it up again? Is it likely that He can do this, who cannot save Himself from the Cross? Then comes there the Princes of the JEWS, the SCRIBES, the High PRIESTS, and PHARISES, and they taunt Him also, saying, Thou who savedst others, save thyself. And after them, comes in the men of war, the ROMAN soldiers, and they begin to rail out also, and They offered him Vinegar to drink, and said, If thou be the King of the jew save thyself, and come down from the Cross. And last, one of the thieves, who was hanged with Him, falls out in railing, If thou be that CHRIST, save thyself and us.  
But now we shall speak of every one of these in particular as the LORD shall give us grace: and first we begin at the part of the Hangmen. Then in His sight, whilst he hangs, they take his garments, (and made four parts of them, that every one of the men might have a part thereof: and as for his coat, because it had no seam, and was not sowed, but was a woven coat, from the top throughout: therefore, they would not divide it, but would cast lots for it, whose it should be. And all this was done, that that which was prophesied (by David, who was the figure of Christ, Psal. 22.19.) might be fulfilled, which saith, They divided my garments among them, and on my coat did cast lots.  
Now to let you see that these Hangmen did nothing in all this action, but that which from all eternity was appointed to be done in the council of GOD. To examine this fact better: First they do Him wrong in spoiling the LORD JESUS of His own goods: (Howsoever they esteemed of Him, yet He was innocent) Next, they do Him shame, in stripping Him, and setting Him naked upon the Cross, in the sight of all the world. And last of all, they despite Him, and contemn Him, in taking His garments, and parting them in His own presence, where He Himself might behold it. So they did Him wrong, shame, and despite. But Brethren, as in all other circumstances conjoined with the Passion. I look not so much to men, as to the Lord: So here I look not so much to these executioners in parting of these garments, as to that heavenvly judge His Father, & to His justice in this matter: for whatsoever be their part, and how unjust soever they be, that Heavenly Father is just, and that burden of our sin which jesus Christ took upon Him, deserved all this: as surety for us, He demerited all this.  
Now to examine more narrowly every one of these: to wit, the wrong, shame, and despite, we shall see how justly all is done: if ye will look to His Father, and first consider the wrong done unto Him, in taking His clothes: He was wearied of His garments, because He was cledde with our sin. Now would to GOD that we could feel in mercy this weight of sin, which our Mediator did bear upon His back for us: for than we would not run on so wanton as we do. And it tells us this, That a sinner that is not in jesus Christ, who hath not put off sin, but yet bears the burden of sin, hath no right to wear so much as a most vile garment, yea, though it were but a bratte of a sack to hide his shame from the sight of the world; let be Gold, Silver, or precious raiment: and if it shall fall out at any time, that he bereaved and spoiled of his clothes, let him take it to be of the just judgement of GOD, whatsoever be man's part therein. And though the thieves bereave him, yet the GOD of Heaven is just in punishing of him, whatsoever part man hath in the action. Yet it tells us more, for I tell you still, that this judgement of jesus Christ is the image and figure of the latter judgement: for such process as is used here, shall be used in the latter judgement. Then, I say, it tells us, that in that latter day, a reprobate and sinner, who shall not be found in jesus Christ, shall be deprived, and spoiled of all the creatures, made for the use and ornament of man, and there shall never a one of them be left him, neither shall he have so much a foot-breadth of earth, or the meanest commodity in the world: yea, albeit he were a king, let him have possessions, kingdoms, and the whole earth now, but then there shall not be any thing in this world that he shall possess at that day, but shame in the Hell for evermore. Where by the contrary, they who shall be found in jesus Christ, shall not only be clad with incorruption and glory in Christ; but also shall be put in possession of a new Heaven and new Earth, to reign with their Head and Lord jesus Christ for evermore. Ye see then what happiness it is to be found in jesus Christ at that Great day. O the misery of him who shall be found out of Him!  
Now to come to that shame which He suffers on the Cross. The Father, thorough His nakedness herein also is just: He was cledde on the Cross with our sins. It tells us this: that among all the punishments of sin, this is one, to wit, nakedness, to set the body naked in the sight of the world. Ye read in Esay. 3.17. where the sinful women are threatened for their pride, that the Lord JEHOVAH shall make naked and discover their secret parts to the world. But to speak of the latter day: beside all the rest of the punishments of the reprobate, the nakedness of their carcases shall be a punishment, they shall rise with foul bodies, whereas the Elect shall rise with glorified bodies: and the reprobate shall stand up in the sight of all men & Angels, with naked bodies, that their shame may be seen, & they shall cry (to hide their shame) on the mountains, to cover them, and on the hills to fall on them. Now last to speak of that despite that He suffered: They part His garments before Him, in despite of Him: They go not to a backside to deal them. Look to God's dealing here: this is a just thing with God, that he who is a sinner, and who in contempt and despite of God hath sinned, that he be contemned again, and suffer despite openly. And Christ, among all other punishments, bore this punishment of contempt upon the Cross. Then if contempt be done unto thee, who art a sinner, & not in jesus Christ, not cledde with His justice, in respect of God; it is due justice, if thy goods be taken and pulled from thee before thine eyes, if thy sons be slain in despite of thee, or thy virgins destored, thyself looking on, take it for the just judgement of God. In the latter day, beside all the punishments that shall fall upon a reprobate, despite shall be done to them. If it were but this, that the persons whom they disdained, contemned, and spitted upon, shall be glorified in despite of them. So to end this: This teaches us, how good a thing it is to be in jesus Christ, and how blessed that body shall be who is found in Him. And as for thee, who art out of jesus Christ, woe shall be to thee, suppose thou were an Emperor. Now to go forward: After the Hangman, and after their despite, follows the part of the people who gazed on Him, they begin, and wag their heads. David foretelles of that in the 22. Psalm, vers. 7. They had me in derision, and made a mow, and nod their heads, and they said, Is this the man who said, he would destroy the glorious Temple of Jerusalem, and build it after in three days▪ Come down from the Cross, and save thyself. They mistook the LORD, for the LORD understood of the Temple of His body, which after three days by His glorious resurrection, he should re-edify and build up again: so the opprobry that they cast up to Him is this: He was wont to say, He would cast down the Temple, and build it up again in three days: But this is a thing impossible: and their ground they take from His present infirm estate, that inability He was in on the Cross. So they gather of that, Seeing He could not free Himself, that the other was impossible. Before I mark or observe any thing on this place, I shall follow out the scoffing, railing, and mocking of others, After the people came in the Princes of the people, as High Priests, Scribes, Pharises, Elders, and Rulers, and they rail on Him, saying, This man took on Him the Name of CHRIST, let us see if He can save Himself: As they would say, It is impossible to Him who now hangs so ignominiously to save Himself. After them came the men of war●e, and in derision: They offer Him vinegar to drink, And they say, this is very like a King. How can He do the duty of a King, to deliver the people, who cannot deliver Himself. This they said, because He had called Himself a King, to the prejudice, as they thought, of Caesar's Kingdom▪ And last, one of the thieves railed on Him, to wit, He that hang at His left hand, saying, So like as thou art that Christ who can neither save us nor thyself. Now, because the railing of the whole is all to one effect: therefore, shortly I shall observe some things in general, as the Lord shall offer.  
In all this railing out against Him, ye see the extreme humiliation of JESUS CHRIST, for our sins: He is made of no reputation: No, He is trodden on as a worm: And no question, that extreme torment of body was not so grievous to Him, as was this railing on Him. They speak to Him as a very reprobate: and so far as lay in them, they endeavoured to make Him to despare of all help. So ye may see, this railing was a thing most grievous to Him. And David being His type, he complains on this shame, that they heaped on Him, in the 22. Psalm. All this lets us see, how dearly the Lord hath bought our life and Salvation: And we are more than miserable, if we see not this: And also it lets us see, what should have become of us, if He had not satisfied for us: and what should become of thee, if thou be not in CHRIST in that great day. And it tells thee, seeing all this is for thy sin, that thou shouldest have a sad heart to have such a Redeemer made such a spectacle, and thou shouldest groan under the burden of sin: and when thou readest of the Cross, thine heart should be sorrowful, that ever thou shouldest have moved the GOD of glory to such vengeance of His dear Son for thee. Think not that every man shall be relieved of his sin by Him. No, only those who learn to groan under the burden of their own sins, by the which they have pierced Him: and turn to the LORD unfeignedly, and get favour. So if thou learnest not at one time or other to groan, under the burden of thy sin, thou shalt never be relieved by Him.  
But to mark something of this railing: I see, that these things they cast up to Him, is the very verdict, whereupon they accused Him. They accused Him, because He called Himself the Christ, and because He called Himself the King of the jews: and because He said, that He would destroy the Temple, and build it up again the third day. So the very thing that they cast up to Him in despite, is the very crime wherefore they condemned Him. Men would think, that it should have contented them to had Him hanging in torment: but Brethren, alas, the malice of the enemies of jesus Christ is endless, there is none end of it: it will not be the death of one Christian: that will satisfy them, it will not be thy blood that will quench their thirst: but in thy torment they will rail on, and strive to cause thee to despare, that thy soul may perish. There is such an extreme despite in their hearts, that they would have thine ashes and thy bones to be exponed to opprobry and shame, which hath lain so long in the grave. See we not this, how the bones of faithful Christians have been taken up, and burnt by the Antichrist. The LORD save us from their cruelty: But here I lift up mine eyes, and look unto GOD. The Lord jesus, He suffered most justly, who was clad with our sins, and bore them on the Cross for our cause: and it learns thee this, that if thou sufferest opprobry and shame▪ and men rail on thee, that thou go ever to see, if thou be in Christ, in thy suffering: for if thou be out of Christ, woe is to thee, for that is but the beginning and forerunner of that pain and shame that thou shalt suffer in Hell. I tell this more, in that latter day, when the reprobate shallbe condemned, their sin which was the cause of their death, shall ever be had in memory, but if once thou goest to Hell, the remembrance of thy sin shall never be buried▪ but thy verdict shallbe cast in thy teeth, & thy conscience shall taunt thee, and shall say to thee, Murderer, thou delitedst in murder, now go to murder, now free thyself out of Hell, if thou canst: and to them who followed Harlots, Thou delitedst in Harlotry, and in offending of GOD thou who couldst not be satisfied in pleasuring thy fool lusts, now satisfy thyself with these extreme torments; now go to thy harlotry, let see: And to the blasphemer, Thou delitedst in blaspheming of GOD, now let see if thou dare blaspheme, go thy way now, and blaspheme: And to the Idolater, Thou delitedst in worshipping of Idols, and leftest the worshipping of the true GOD; now go thy way to Idolatry, etc. Now, would to GOD the world could thinks Hell to be earnest. This torment and railing in the death of CHRIST, is an image of the torment of Hell.  
I see here further, that besides this, there is a ground of all their opprobry, to wit, that shameful Cross which JESUS was hanging on: They thought, that seeing JESUS was crucified, it was impossible for Him to cast down the Temple, and to build it up again: They thought it was impossible for Him to save the world, seeing He could not save Himself: and that He could not do the duty of a King, who was already hanged: How becomes it a King to be hanged? The cause of their offence was that shame which He suffered and that they saw that He could not deliver Himself. The Cross of jesus is foolishness to the world: & blessed are they who will not take offence at the Cross of Christ. Look how they are deceived in their judgements: Because the Cross was the only mean whereby He should have done all things, when He was hanging, was He not destroying the Temple of His body, that after three days, by His glorious resurrection He might build it up again? And when He was on the Cross, did He not the office of Christ? that is, of an anointed Priest: for than He was offering that Sacrifice of His body to the Father: And was He not by the Cross purchasing to Himself and to us a glorious Kingdom? Yea, on the Cross, He like a glorious King, triumphed over the Devils and made an open show of them: for He had a battle with the Devils on the Cross, and triumphed over them all. Col. 2.15. This same blindness of the world remains still in it: for when the world sees a body under affliction, in poverty, burned or martyred for Christ's sake, than the world thinks it is impossible that that body can attain to glory. They think him as an outcast, and will scorn his profession. They will say, Are these your Christians? of all men they are the most miserable, if that be the way to Heaven, I will renounce to go that way, this is rather the way to go to Hell. This is the voice of the world: And the cause is, because miserable caitiffs know not what sin is, which at that time behoved to be purged by the Cross: for the justice and Majesty of GOD being offended, required that it should be so: and now in us sin thorough manifold crosses and afflictions must be mortified. Let the world think and speak as it pleases, the only way whereby thou shalt come to life, is suffering and affliction: and thou must think this, that we must be racked thorough Hell, ere we come to Heaven. Our redemption is wrought by the Cross: thou shalt not come to Heaven, but by the Cross. The ground of all is sin: But alas, the world sees it not. The word will teach thee, that there is no other way to come to Heaven, but by affliction: and it will thee, that if thou be not purged and changed by trouble and affliction, thou shalt never see Heaven. Alas, that we could once groan under sin. And blessed is the soul, that hath a sight of the weight of sin: and woe to that soul, that hath no sight of sin.  
To go forward: I see in this Thief, who rails on Christ, some special thing: he hath a particular of his own, he is in torment, and therefore he says, If thou be that CHRIST, save thyself and us. Brethren, a torment, whatsoever it be, if it be not the better sanctified, it will move the creature to fall out in blasphemy: thou wilt blaspheme both in heart and mouth, and thou wilt say, that there is no power in GOD to save thee: And the Thief in effect said this, There is no power in thee to save me▪ I renounce thee as a Saviour: and, if thou confess His power, thou wilt deny His mercy, and wilt say, GOD is but a Tyrant. And, if thou wilt say, He is merciful: be merciful to whom He will, He cannot be merciful unto me: This last distrusting of mercy to thyself, is a great sin. And that to say altogether, that there is no mercy in GOD, it is a plain blasphemy. And last, to say, there is no power in GOD it is to deny GOD to be GOD: For how can He be GOD, if He want power? So I think, that this caitiff hath been a great blasphemer of that Majesty: and when I look on it, I see in him the image of the death of the reprobate, when they are dying and changing this life. (The Lord give us grace to die well.) The reprobate shall think, that in their doing, God hath no power to save them: for, of all men in the world, the reprobate is the most loath to die: for either they shall think that God is not merciful at all, or else at least, that there is no mercy in Him for them: and so the miserable creature will turn his back on GOD, and immediately shall cast himself into Hell and damnation. We read of Sidrach, Mesach, and Abednego, that they were so far from this blasphemy, that when the Tyrant falls out in blasphemy, they meet him, and say, Our GOD is Almighty, and He hath power to deliver us if He please. Never come thou to despair, though thou shouldest die ten thousand deaths: but sleep in His bosom, & hang on Him, and save His honour, and think not that which may derogate His honour, and say, Though thou shouldest slay me, LORD, yet will I trust in thee, and so die sweetly, resting in His arms. Well, I see this hath been a miserable body, and hath died miserably, blaspheming the God of Glory: and this is even as the reprobate shall do at the latter judgement. And yet when I compare him with the Pharises and Priests, I find their blasphemy greater than his. Well shall it be to the Thief, in respect of them, for they had knowledge, and he wanted. Who should have had knowledge but they? They had no torment, he had sore torment. What need had they to blaspheme? Therefore, their condemnation shall be greater than his. And when I compare this blasphemy of the Thief with the blasphemy of some men in these days, who when any cross falls upon them without their expectation, will say, What can GOD do more unto me? so in effect denying power to be in GOD, and in JESUS CHRIST: I count the blasphemy of these men to be greater than his was. For now JESUS is in Glory: and the Thief saw Him on the Cross in misery with himself. If thou now blasphemest Him so, it were well done, that thy mouth were sowed up, that thou never spakest a word.  
Now to end with this. The LORD give us grace, that neither in thought nor in word we dishonour that MAJESTY, but may acknowledge His mercy and power towards us in JESUS CHRIST: To whom be all Honour, Glory, Praise, Power, and Dominion, both now and evermore, World without end: AMEN.   

THE XVII. LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  LUKE CHAP. XXIII. 
verse 40 But the other answered, and rebuked him, saying, Fearest thou not GOD, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? verse 41 We are indeed righteously here: for we receive things worthy of that we have done: but this man hath done nothing amiss. verse 42 And he said unto jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom.  
WE heard the last day (Brethren) of all these railings and blasphemies that the Lord jesus suffered of all ranks and estates of persons, whilst He hang on the Cross naked, living in torment. Pilate began, & fixed on the Cross an ignominious inscription, That jesus was a Traitor against Caesar, and that He suffered death for His treason. Then the Hangmen, four in number, in despite, and in His sight, took his garments, and divided them in four parts: and because his coat had no seam, but was woven throughout, therefore they cast lots for it, who should have it whole. Then comes on the people, with their part, and rail upon Him, and blaspheme Him, saying, Now if thou be that Christ, come down and save thyself. Then follow the high Priests, the Scribes, and the Elders, who rail on Him, and say, Is this he who will save others? let see if he can be able to save himself. Then the men of war and Gentiles begin to rail, if thou be the King of the jews, save thyself, and come down from the Cross. And then one of the thieves rails out on Him, If thou be that Christ, save thyself, and us both: but now so like as thou art the Christ, thou art adying as well as we, and art neither able to s●ue thyself, nor us: and therefore thou art not a King. Now, Brethren, ye may perceive that it was no prayer that this thief made to CHRIST, as some think.  
We spoke of this thief the last day: now we have to speak of the part of the other thief: he is twitched with repentance: in an instant he becomes penitent: and the inward conversion of the heart to GOD, he utters outwardly in sundry effects: First, perceiving the other thief his companion to blaspheme GOD, the first action that he does, he defends the honour of the LORD against the other thief, and rebukes him: and after that, gives a free confession of his sins: and last, he turns to jesus Christ hanging on the Cross, and says, LORD remember me when thou comest to thy Kingdom. The LORD answers immediately to the thief: Verily, thou shalt be with me this day in Paradise.  
To come then first to the rebuke he gives to the other thief, Fearest thou not GOD? The meaning is, Thief, fie on thee, seeing thou hangs in a common misery and torment with me, and this man, fearest thou not GOD, who wilt blaspheme and rail on Him, seeing thou art shortly to appear before that Tribunal, and give an account of all thine evil deeds, & chief of the blaspheming of the innocent. So he takes up the blaspheming from the fountain, and he lets him see that his heart was void of the fear of GOD: for if he had any spunk of the fear of GOD, he had not fallen out in railing against the GOD of glory.  
We learn this lesson, that when the hand of GOD is lying on any man, and pressing him to the death, than it is time to be humble, and to fear the LORD, and that terrible judgement wherein thou must stand immediately after this life: and if there appear no fear of that judge in thee, and if thou utterest a plain rebellion, that testifies that his hand shall never leave thee, until it bruise thee in powder, and thrust thee to the lowest Hells. This is the thing that affliction should work in us, Humiliation and the fear of GOD. Learn the lesson at the thief. Proud soul, and proud creature, if thou wilt not learn at others: But as this rebuke testifies, that this should be: so the railing of the other testifies, that it is not ay in men. There are some men whom all the torments in the world will not move, ere they be the better, they will be in Hell, hang them, nail them to the Cross, tear them with pincers, they shall never be the better. What is the cause of this? It is a wonderful thing, that such trouble & torment should not work some fear of GOD in the creature. But how can any affliction press out of the creature that which was never in it. The fear of GOD is not in the hearts of many, and therefore how can they utter it: a rotten and withered stick was never more meet to be burnt, than thou by nature. So we being by nature like as many rotten sticks, albeit we were pressed with mountains, we shall never yield a sweet sap, or any repentance: No, before we yield any drop of repentance, we shall be bruised in powder: fie on nature: if thou werest a Prince, thou shalt go to Hell, if thou have no more but nature, if thou gettest not one drop of grace. Yet ye see, that the other thief, when he is pressed, yields one drop of sap: he becomes penitent, and is zealous of the glory of the Lord JESUS. These are good effects: The Cross that wrought evil in the other thief, works good in this thief: But who made the difference? Who discerneth thee, saith Paul: Not nature: They were alike in nature, alike in misdeeds, alike in a wicked life, the one had lived as wickedly as the other, alike in torment: It was JESUS that made the separation, it was a happy time for the one thief, that ever he was crucified beside the LORD of glory. The Lord JESUS made the difference: out of that fullness He powers out one drop of His grace: He gives none to the other.  
Learn this, that all troubles and afflictions, crosses, and all the torments in the world, shall never make thee better: All the torments in the world, shall not work one drop of spiritual moisture out of thee: the torments may well press out sour and bitter sap, as blasphemy, railing, and despare, but no good sap, as Faith, or Repentance: except thou get it of the fullness of JESUS CHRIST: and therefore my counsel is, When thou feelest the hand of the Lord on thee, & namely in the hour of death (a dangerous hour) turn thee to jesus Christ, and say, thou mayest press me down, but long ere I yield one drop of grace, except thou give it me: Lord, therefore give me one drop of grace. Another thing I mark in the rebuke of the other thief. Common misery should work a mutual compassion: thou should pity them who are in a like misery with thee, and if thou dost it not, thou do●st as the evil thief did: I say thou hast no fear of God: & if thou railest on him who is in misery with thee, thine heart is full of the gall of bitterness. By nature we are all alike in misery: there is not a thing that becomes a sinner better, than to have compassion on others: an heart without pity, shall never be pitied, not never shall see life.  
Now, to go forward, when he hath said, Thou art in like damnation, lest that the thief rebuked should have thought, that Christ should have deserved that pain as well as he (think not that they who are alike in misery, are alike guilty: No, no, ye are deceived) Well, he meets this, we suffer nothing but that which we demerit: I & thou are justly in this common condemnation, but this man hath done nothing amiss. This railing and pain, this man demerits not: yet if ye will weigh the words narrowly: we shall see other two arguments, whereby he rebukes this blasphemous companion. The first is, from their merits: The second from the innocency of Christ: The first, thou meritest this torment: and therefore should not thy merit work a fear of God, and a fear of an heavier judgement: Lord save us from the merit of sin. When a man is in torment, and chief in death, the pain should work a fear of God: and then considering the merit, there should strike a greater fear in the heart, that there should ensue a greater damnation afterward. The consideration of merit should work a fear, and the conscience should not so soon stand up to accuse us of sin, but we should be stricken with a fear of that terrible judge: but every man hath not this sense: the thief hath not that sense of the merit of the present pain, nor yet of the greater pain that was to ensue. What is the cause of this, that every man feels not this, The conscience of the merit of sin is not given to every man: We are all sinners, and merits all our pain, we merit death and Hell. But, alas, where one gets the conscience of their merit, and feels that they deserve death, ten wants it. It is a pity to see, how many dies without sense like dogs, and then if it fall so, that one get the conscience of sin in the hour of death, it falls out ofttimes, that they get not the sense of mercy. It may be, that thou get the sense of sin, and be stricken with a fear, but with a desperate fear: for with the sense and feeling of sin, if there be not also a sense of mercy, there is nothing but terror, and a servile fear. So thou shalt die like a vile slave in damnation. So the conscience of this thieves merit makes him to fear God: & no doubt, he hath had a sweet sense of the mercy of God in jesus Christ. But who made this difference? It was the Lord: It was a happy thing for this thief to be crucified with JESUS CHRIST: for all this slowed out of the Cross of JESUS CHRIST. Therefore take up the lesson. Think not that in the hour of death thou shalt be twitched as thou shouldest, either with the feeling of thy sin and misery, or yet of mercy: except that thou sweetly turn thee to the Cross of CHRIST, and say, LORD, I feel neither sense of my merit, and what my sins deserves, nor of mercy: LORD, therefore give me it, than the sweetness of that sense shall swallow up that pain. No comfort in death but in JESUS CHRIST: except thine eyes be set on that Cross, Woe is to thee, and woe to thee again, and better for thee, if thou hadst never come in the world. Thou and I, says he, suffer justly. This confession witnesss the inward conversion to JESUS CHRIST: for when the heart of a sinner is turned to JESUS CHRIST, it will taste a such sweetness, that the creature will not care by that it be shamed, so it can get that LORD in whom it feels such a sweetness, glorified: it is a sure token, that these shameless sinners, these men who will not shame themselves in the sight of the world, but will stand in their points of honour, with GOD, these miserable souls, these bloody murderers, these adulterers, tasted never of that mercy in JESUS CHRIST.  
If thou wouldst have thy sins hid from the eyes of GOD, that terrible judge, then open them to the world, that the LORD may be glorified: and if thou hidest thy sins, the LORD shall rip up thy breast in that great day, and let all the world see the most hid and secret corner of thine heart, to thy shame and confusion.  
Now come to the third argument of reproof, and it is taken from the innocency of jesus: This is an innocent and just man, Fearest thou not GOD, to rail on the innocent: if He were guilty, as thou and I am, thy railing were more tolerable, but how canst thou rail on this just man? The lesson is, Just ones who suffer innocently, should not be railed upon: the LORD keep our mouths from railing on them: if thy conscience tell thee of their innocency, revile them not: & a man who suffers, may be innocent two manner of ways: for either he is innocent in himself, and not guilty of that for which he suffers, or else if he be a malefactor, and guilty, he may be innocent through Faith and repentance through the blood of jesus Christ, as this thief was innocent in Christ. Now if a man be innocent of that crime for which he suffers, rail not on him on pain of thy life: and if thou findest him innocent in the blood of jesus Christ, and findest him to have true and unfeigned repentance in Him, albeit he be never so wicked, let him die, and suffer these pains he should suffer: for repentance should not exeme and free him from civil punishment: but beware thou rail on him: surely thy mouth should be stopped, to rail out on him. God forbidden that an evil word be spoken out against him as a reprobate, whom the LORD jesus counts innocent in His blood: for this railing testifies that thou counts that man as a reprobate: and that is too sore a judgement thou takes to thee. I see here further, the LORD never leaves His Son without a testimony of His innocency: Pilate ever on testified His innocency before he condemned Him, and said, once, twice, thrice, I find nothing worthy of death in Him: No, Pilate was never brought to say, that Christ was guilty, suppose he condemned Him, but ever preached, and proclaimed His innocency. Then when He is coming to suffer, the poor women follows and testifies: and now the poor penitent thief testifies the innocency of Christ: and lastly, the men of war were compelled to say, Of a truth, this is the Son of God. And if ye consider well, ye shall see two things very contrary: that of all men that suffered, He was both the most just, and the most unjust: He was innocent in Himself, and He was guilty in us: and this for our consolation: for this lets us see, how meet a Mediator He was for us: my Saviour must be innocent in Himself, Heb. 7.26. and He must be guilty in me. Thus far this thief hath uttered that inward repentance, in rebuking the other for his blasphemy, and sin, and in confessing his sins before the other thief and those that stood by: now follows the third effect, he turns him to the Lord, and in all humility seeking remission, grace, and life, and says, Lord remember me when thou comest to thy Kingdom. Prayer should follow upon confession of sins: but mark the word, he calls Him Lord, albeit he saw Him hanging on the tree▪ there like a vile slave, yet he acknowledges Him to be a King, when he ascribeth a Kingdom to Him, albeit he sees Him hanging there like a slave, yet he asks life of Him: albeit he saw Him in weakness, in torment, and at the point of death. All these things are marvelous, and ye shall see them the more marvelous, if ye will consider well the person of him who prays, what a man before this time he was, and then what is his estate present, and last, the person of Him to whom he directs his Prayer.  
This his conversion was marvelous: if this man had been trained up in the school of Christ any space of time, it had been less marvelous: but being trained up in a den of thieves, where he had lost all kind of equity and naturality, where he had lived like a beast, like a lion, living by cutting of throats, theft, and by the blood of men: this man to be turned from such an foul heart: to get faith, and seek mercy so suddenly in a moment: such sudden mutation is more than marvelous and wonderful.  
Then will ye look to his present estate: if he had been free in the body without pain, so that he had gotten leisure and licence to look thorough that body to His Kingdom, and to that eternal Life: then this doing had been less marvelous: but being nailed quick on the Cross, in such extreme pain, that might have occupied and exercised all his senses: and when he is looking and waiting for the hand of the hangman to break him quick on the Cross, to this man to have driven his senses, and to have set them on a better life, from that hell he was in, to that heavenly Life, it was more than wonderful: and I say, it was as wonderful, as if he had leapt out of the lowest hell, to the highest heaven.  
Then come to the person of him to whom he prays: if he had seen jesus Christ standing before him like a glorious King, it had been less to have been wondered at, but he is hanging in that shameful death, and in greater shame than he: for they railed not on him, as they did on Christ (which, no question, was more grievous than all torments, as if He had been a reprobate from GOD) So if he had seen Him in glory, it had been no marvel, but to seek life in a man who was dying ignominiously, and who was hanging in a worse estate than Himself, and to have pierced thorough, and seen thorough such a cloud of ignominy, such a fair Life and glory: I say, it was more than wonderful.  
Further, if he had seen Him before, and been familiar with Him, heard Him teach, and had seen His wonders, as the Apostles did, it had not been much to marvel at: but this being the first meeting, the first acquaintance, and never to have spoken with Him before, they met in an ignominious Cross together, then to seek in such a death, such a life: in such ignominy, such glory, it is a thing more than marvelous. Came any of the jews then, and prayed unto Him? Yea, came any of the Apostles? Came any of His Disciples? Came either Peter, or john, or Matthew? No, all were offended with Him. I say of this man, to the glory of God, that he shamed all that stood by, he shamed the Apostles, and made them to cast down their faces: And I say, he shames all men and women, who will not believe when they see Him not crucified, as he saw, but glorified now in the Heavens, sitting at the right hand of that Majesty: shame shall light on thee, and this Thief shall be set up in glory, to testify against thee, and to condemn thee. 1. COR. 1.27. Paul says, GOD will raise up things naughty, to shame things high in the world, and to humble the pride of the flesh. If ever this was practised, it is practised in this Thief. Therefore, in time learn thy lesson at this Thief: for if he do thee no good, he shall do thee evil: and this same preaching shall do thee evil, if it do thee no good. The LORD raised him up upon a Gallows, to be a Teacher of Faith and Repentance, of Hope, of Patience, of Love, and of all graces: and think no shame to learn at him: for, if thou thinkest shame of the Thief to be thy master, he shall give out a testimony to aggreadge thy damnation: and he shall say, I went to teach the Infideles on the Cross with Thee, and they heard it, and believed not, Lord, let their damnation be aggreadged. All this that I speak tends to this, That he who glories, may glory in the Lord: And they who would marvel, let them marvel at the Lord. I speak not these things, that ye should wonder at the Thief, that silly creature: But all this is, That ye should wonder at jesus Christ, who wrought such a wonder at this time, and showed such a power when He was weakened: It is a wonder to show such power in His humiliation, and such mercy on such a vile sinner, who was not worthy that the earth should bear him, let be to dwell in Heaven. Wonder at Him who is so merciful and gracious to poor sinners. To Him therefore, be praise for evermore: AMEN.   

THE XVIII. LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  LUKE CHAP. XXIII. 
verse 43 Then jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, to day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.  JOHN CHAP. XIX. 
verse 25 Then stood by the cross of jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Marry the wife of Cleopas, and Marie Magdalene. verse 26 And when jesus saw his mother, and the disciples standing by, whom he loved, He said unto his mother, woman, behold thy son. verse 27 Then said He to the disciple, behold thy mother: and from that hour, the disciple took her home unto him.  
WE heard the last day (Beloved in jesus) of the repentance of one of the thieves that hung on the Cross with Christ: in a moment, wonderfully he gins to be penitent for all his misdeeds, and former life: and he utters his penitency, and the displeasure that was in his heart for sin in sundry effects: First, he rebukes bitterly that blasphemy that the other Thief speaks out against the Lord, and says, Fearest thou not God, seeing thou art in the same damnation? Thou and I suffer justly, for we have demerited all this: but this man (pointing out Christ) hath done nothing amiss. When he hath thus rebuked the Thief, he turns him about to jesus Christ, who hung in the midst, and he directs his prayer to Him, and says, Lord remember me when thou comest to thy Kingdom. The other, the blasphemer, would feign have lived in the world: And therefore, because he saw that JESUS had no power to give him this earthly life: therefore, he blasphemeth CHRIST in His face.  
But the penitent Thief seeks not this present life, but desires that he may get entry in to that Heavenly Kingdom. The last day I spoke concerning the petition of the penitent Thief. I repeat nothing. Only wonder not at the Thief, or at such an earnest repentance in him suddenly: b●● wonder at jesus Christ, who in such weakness, hanging so shamefully upon the Cross, yet uttered such mercy, and such infinite power, yea, one of the most miserable caitiffs that ever was in the world. I go forward, and first I shall show you of the answer that the Lord gives to the penitent Thief: and then I shall come to the earnest recommendation that jesus made of His Mother MARIE, unto JOHN. The Lord answers him, Verily I say unto thee, this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise. The answer contains a promise: and the thing that the Lord promises, is, Thou shalt be with me: thou seekest to be with me in my Kingdom: thou shalt be with me, and thou shalt be a subject with me and more, a follower: and whereas thou werest a vile Thief, I shall make thee a glorious King in the Heaven. And when shall this be? Without delay: it shall not be to morrow, or other morrow, but this same day immediately thou shalt be transported to that unspeakable glory. And where shall this be? It shall be in Paradise. Thou shalt not go to Purgatory, but into Celestial Paradise. Of this word Paradise we read in sundry places of the New Testament, as namely, 2. COR. 12.4. (where PAUL speaks of his ravishing to Paradise) and also REVEL. 2.7. But to leave the words, and to come to the meaning: This Paradise signifies none other thing, but that House of the Father, in the which is many mansions, as we said in the fourteenth Chapter. Now would ye know the place of it? PAUL says, It is far above these visible heavens, where Christ himself ascended, EPHES. 4.10. It is the place of the Throne of that Majesty of that Glory, and of that everlasting rest of the Kirke of jesus Christ, and of His Saints, where they shall rest in a wonderful glory everlastingly. The word is borrowed from that Paradise, that Park of pleasure, in the which ADAM and EVAH were planted, to live in a wonderful pleasure for ever, if they had stood without sin.  
But to come to the matter. First in this answer that the Lord makes to the penitent Thief, ye may see a wonderful readiness in Christ, to hear the petition of a miserable sinner: for he hath scarcely spoken the word, when the Lord makes an answer: and no marvel; for He that preventes thee with grace, ere thou thinkest of grace, He will follow after with grace: He who gives grace to beg grace, He will give a gracious answer. ROMAN. 8.26. The Spirit of GOD interceadeth for us, with sighs unspeakable. That is the first grace. Then he subjoins▪ The Lord who searcheth the heart, knoweth the sense and meaning of his own Spirit. There is the second grace. Thou shalt not so soon open thy mouth to speak to Him with the Spirit, but He shall as soon hear thy word: thou shalt not so soon have a meaning, but it shall as soon touch the heart of the Lord, as it touches thine heart: because it is not thy spirit, but the lords Spirit who speaks in thee. So all the difficulty and hardness, is, to get the first grace to pray: there is no difficulty of the next. And there are wondrous few who gets this grace, to beg, to sigh, to sob, etc. yea, where one hath it, ten wants it: and when this is once gotten, the other follows of its own will: for if thou askest spiritual graces, of necessity thou shalt get thy petition granted. And, if we ask earthly things, either shall we get our petition, or else the Lord once shall show us, why He will not grant it: and so we shall have contentment to undertake His will, and shall hearty thank Him. There is more yet in this answer: Besides this easiness to hear, mark an abounding mercy, and exceeding liberality, of the Lord, passing above the petition: The Thief only prayed the Lord to remember him, when He came in His Kingdom: The Lord answers, Behold, even I give thee more than thou requirest, for thou shalt be with me this day in Paradise, so thou needest not to fear that I forget thee. The Thief seeks but a little thing: the Lord gives him more than he can seek: the hand of the Lord is not so scarce. Wilt thou seek a little thing? the Lord shall give a thousand times more than thou canst seek: the Lord hath neither scant nor want. Brethren, the glory which we shall find one day, shall be greater than we can look or hope for in this world. No, things Heavenly, which He shall give, surmounts further above our capacity, than the Heaven does above the Earth. Yea, if thou speakest of earthly things, finds not many by experience, that they get such an estate in the world, as they would never have looked or hoped for: I sought but life (says David, Psal. 21. 5) yet the Lord gave me to be a king: that is, He gave me not only a private & obscure life, but a glorious life in the sight of the people. Besides this easiness and liberality of the Lord, to grant to a poor man, above that that he durst presume, He prescribes no time, but this same day. I know not if he durst have been so bold, as to have sought such a time, that same day. Mark further here, a wonderful power in the Lord, at that time when He was in a most vile and ignominious death, which was the image of Hell, to pull a man quick on the Cross, to break Him on a Cross. The Lord is weakened: the jews thought more of the dirt they trod on, than of jesus: yet ye see what a wonderful power which strikes out from Him to the thief: this is the power of a King, This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise What Emperor durst speak this? Yea, He utters the power of GOD Himself: This promise is proper to GOD only, to promise participation of that heavenly Kingdom. What Angel durst do this? None, but the eternal and immortal GOD. It is true, the LORD jesus, whilst as He hang upon the Cross, was wonderfully weakened, and that glorious Godhead that dwelled in the human Nature kept itself close for a time, and held in the beams of His glory for a time, within that vail of His body (for if He had not kept close that Glory of His Godhead, the world, could not have crucified Him) yet He kept Him not so close, but in the Cross He manifests Himself, He does the part of a King, and fought a fiercer battle, than all the Kings in the world. He fought against all the enemies, and in the end He triumphs in that Cross, as in a Chariot, and leads them all, as thieves before Him: And if there were no more to show that He was a King, than this hasty conversion of the thief, it may tell you, if Christ had such a power, whilst as He hang in such weakness on the Cross: What power hath He now when He is in the Heaven, exalted in the Throne of glory. If it be so, that we feel not CHRIST powerful in us to life, as the thief felt. Blame not JESUS, as if He wanted power sufficient now in glory, who had such power in His humility: but blame thyself: Thou wants that which the thief had: thou wants Faith in Christ glorified: the thief may shame thee, who believed in Him, when He was in extreme ignominy. Then to end all this that hath been spoken of this answer in a word. Seeing the Lord of lords, the Lord jesus is so ready (Never was there King so ready to hear a subject, as jesus is:) if thou werest the vilest body that goes, a Thief, a Harlot, etc. yet if thou wilt say this, Lord, remember on me, and give me a part of thy Kingdom: if thou prayest to Him from a penitent heart, with confidence and assurance, I promise unto thee, Heaven and Earth shall go together, ere thou wantest thine ask. Seeing our Lord jesus is so liberal, then seek more than enough, more than a Kingdom, and thou shalt get more. The only cause why we want, is in us, we have no hearts to seek it. And last: Seeing He is so powerful, let us seek from Him with this assurance, that He can give all things which either we can seek, or can conceive, and that according to His effectual power working in us. Now I end with this History of the Thief, & I come to the other History, concerning that recommendation that jesus makes of His Mother Marie, to John, His Disciple, whom He loved. The Lord jesus hanging on the Cross in extreme torment & pain: He is not only a sufferer (howbeit indeed He sufferes all extremity) but in suffering He does many works: First, He does like a King, in giving life and glory to the Thief. All the Kings in the Earth in their Royal Robes, shall not do so much as He did on that vile Cross. Now next, He utters a very natural and loving affection to His Mother, who bore Him, when He is to departed out of this life and to be taken away hastily, He is careful how she shall live when He is gone from her. To come to the History: We have first the occasion that brings on this: and secondly, the commendation itself: and thirdly, how John accepts of her. As concerning the occasion: There stands by the Cross, a man and three women, whilst the LORD is hanging quick in extreme torment, He spies out these four persons, MARRY His Mother, and MARRY His Mother's Sister, that is, her kinswoman according to their HEBREW phrase, who was either the Wise, or the Daughter of Cleopas, and MARIE MAGDALENE, a kind woman, out of whom He had casten seven devils: (kindness meets kindness) Their hearts were with Him, howbeit He was hanging upon the Cross. Then, if thou canst do no more unto Him, yet follow Him with these women to the death of the Cross. There are three Maries, better Maries were never in the world: and john, whom here he calls the disciple whom Jesus loved: this style he gets in the Gospel, because, as jesus loved him entirely, so he finds this love deeply settled in his soul: & well is he that finds that the Lord loves him: All the Kingdoms in the Earth are nothing in respect of that sense. Well. These are the four that are standing by the Cross, together. As for john, I see now certainly this doing of his in the following of the Lord, & this standing by the Cross, shows, albeit that Faith in jesus Christ, in the heart of john, and all the rest, was wonderfully smothered, for all were offended in Him that night: yet that Faith in his heart was not altogether quenched: No, it was not quenched in one of the Apostles, nor in Peter, who denied Him. To speak of john, Think, ye that except he had had Faith, that ever he would have followed Him to the Cross, and except he had believed that jesus after such a death should have risen again in glory, except he had looked for a glorious resurrection, that ever he could have beholden such a miserable spectacle: Faith gave him boldness to follow Christ to the Cross, Hope furnished him comfort, when he beheld Him in ignominy and pain. These three women utters a tender and loving heart towards Him. Brethren, if there had been no more, but this natural love that a mother bears to the son, Marie would never have followed her Son, to such a vile death, if she had not believed that death should have turned into such a glorious Life. Would she have stood beside her Son, and seen Him torn and rend quick in such torments? What mother would have done it? 1. Thess, 4.13. ye read what Paul writes to them: I would not have you ignorant, that ye mourn not for them which are asleep, as the Gentiles who are desperate in their displeasure. If thou have but a natural love in thine heart, when thou seest him, or her, whom thou lovest, depart, that love shall work but impatiency in thee, & a desperate displeasure, that is, if with that love thou have no hope of a glorious resurrection, desperate shall be thy dolour, and it were better for thee to want thy natural affection. Indeed it is true, our Faith▪ and Hope of glory after this life, will not extinguish the natural love, neither puts it away the dolour that one should have.  
I desire not that a man should be senseless without love: and I count more of a stone, than of one without love, and better were it, that that person were a stone So I say, Faith and Hope will not extinguish displeasure, but it will mitigate it so, that in a wonderful heaviness it will find joy, and thou wilt say, albeit we sunder now, the day will come, wherein we shall have a joyful meeting.  
Come yet to these women: They may teach all men and women to the end of the world: Think ye not, that they should have been terrified at such a Cross, and that Marie should have thought shame of her Son, so shamefully tormented, and railed out on by all men. Well then, if these women by the sight of that shameful death of jesus Christ on the Cross are not terrified nor diverted from following, albeit they saw His glory to come, but very obscurely, and if their hearts were knit with Him, whilst as He hang on the Cross, and there was never a band so surely knit, as their hearts were with Him. Fie on all men and women after these women, who will think shame of the Cross of Christ, albeit they have greater presence and sight of the glory of jesus Christ, than these women had. Shall a silly word, shall the sword, shall the fire, terrify thee? And if it be so, these same women shall stand up and condemn thee in that great day. Now let us consider these words, whereby He recommends His mother to john. The Lord, as He is looking from Him, He sees these four standing together, (for wicked scorners stood together, so the godly who mourn for Christ drew together) and He directs His speech to two of them: First, to Marry, and next to john: Woman, He says, Behold thy son, pointing to john, not to Himself. This style that He gives her would not be passed by, He calls her not mother, but Woman, and this is the common style which jesus gave her, whilst as He was in the world: it lets us see whilst jesus was in the world, as at all times, so especially at the hour of death, whilst He is living in the world, He had His eyes raised up from all earthly and carnal things, which men in this life count much of, as are, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, kindred, Country: And by His example, He would teach us, when we are here to know none according to the flesh: No, not Christ Himself: for in Heavens there shall be neither father nor mother, nor husband, nor wife: but we shall be (all old things which accompany the old creature, being abolished) like Angels in Heaven. Therefore, jesus, as a pattern, teaches us this, to turn away the eye piece and piece from this Earth, & all that is in it, that we count not much of them, but that ●e behold that heavenly life. Paul. 2. Cor. 5.16. When he was speaking of the redemption that the Lord bought with His precious blood, says, From henceforth I will know no man according to the flesh, and if I did know Jesus sometimes according to the flesh now I will not know Him & he gives a reason Who ever is in Christ, let him be a new creature, the old creatures are passed away, behold all things are made new. Fie on thee, that hast thine heart fixed on these earthly things, and forgettest Heaven. This for the style that He gives her: Come to the words, He says, Behold thy son: As if He had said, Woman, I am to departed this life, and I put john in my stead, and I ordain him to take the protection of thee, and to do the duty of a son to thee, in my stead: then He turns Him to john, and He says, Behold thy mother: As if He had said, I go out of the world, and I leave my mother to thee, and I ordain that thou be a son to her, and she a mother to thee, and that thou keep her, and entertain her, so long as thou and she live together. It may be asked, The LORD JESUS CHRIST going to Heaven, might He not from the Heaven have kept His own mother? might He not have taken the defence of His own mother? might He not have preserved Her from all dangers? No question, He might have kept her well enough: yet He commits her to john, whom He loves, because He loves His mother well, He commends her to a man whom He loved intierely, He will not contemn the ordinary means, and manner of doing, this same He does daily, the LORD JESUS hath power to save His Church, and all the members of the same, to protect and defend them, but He will not contemn these ordinary means, He will have every one to keep another, as He commended His mother to john to be kept: And woe be to thee, who may, if thou keep none: And namely the LORD hath a care of that infirm sex, that women be kept by the protection of men, who are faithful. She who is kept under the protection of any in the world, let her give CHRIST glory for it: for it is by His direction: as Marie was directed to john. Consider here further: The LORD at this time is in the service of His heavenly Father: and there was never a man so occupied in His life, as He was at this hour, and He was never so occupied all His time, as now: and He was now occupied chief in suffering. It is an easy thing to be occupied in performing duties of the service of GOD, in respect of suffering: it is a sore thing to suffer, as to be cast in a fire, to be nailed on a Cross: yet in suffering albeit He is occupied so, that He forgets His own self, yet when He sees His mother, He forgets not her. I would all men should mark this lesson: The malediction of GOD shall fall on these that deserve the curse of their mother, who glory in it, let them glory in it as they will: our duty to GOD prejudges nothing our duty to father or mother: thou was never so occupied in the service of GOD, as was jesus Christ, at this hour, who in the midst of all this did His duty to His mother: and Christ will let us see, that our duty to our GOD stands well with our duty to man. Wilt thou pull the first and the second Table asunder, the one from the other: Wilt thou say, that the first prejudges the second, thou dost lie: But look the order: That CHRIST keeps in these duties: doth He first His duty to His mother? No, first, He doth His duty to His Father: He is obedient to His Father, to the death, and in the midst of that obedience to the Father, He doth His duty to His mother. Begin at thy GOD, if thou wouldst do thy duty: and next, come to man, and if thou passest by GOD, to do thy duty to man, thou shalt do nothing of love, nor of sincerity. Fie on thee, and that love, and that duty thou utterest to man: follow not on that love thou bearest to GOD, and wilt thou say this: I see my duty to the King, and to my father binds me, I will do my duty to them, and last, I will serve GOD: any thing will serve Him: wilt thou jest so with the LORD, I say to thee, if thou beginnest at man, even at the King, or at thy father or mother, and postpone the LORD, I say to thee, the LORD will have none of thy service: And if thou hatest not, says CHRIST, father and mother for my cause, thou art not worthy of me, Luke 14.26. Then, what shall become of them, who prefer father and mother to GOD, he is but a knave, that will take on him the name of a Christian, and will serve men before GOD: No, that name shall turn to thy shame. Therefore under the pain of thy life, do thy duty first to GOD, and then for GOD'S cause do thy duty to man, that GOD may have the glory of it. Further, there are some in the hour of death that will take so little care of the world, and of them whom they leave behind them, that they are destitute of natural affection, that they regard not if they die, though all the world should fall in one moment: for men wanting that natural affection, will say, What care I, if once I be gone from the world. Now there are others, albeit they lose not altogether that natural affection, who have their senses so occupied, and exercised about the present pain, that they will not know their parents, kinsfolks, or any that appertain unto them. Who was ever in such a pain as jesus was? And yet out of the midst of torment, of blasphemies, of wrestling with death everlasting, with the wrath of the Father, and with all the Infernal powers, He is careful of His Mother. No man was ever borne, that had such a natural affection as He: no son in this world ever loved his mother so well as He. And except thou be in jesus Christ, and He sanctify thy affections, that in the hour of death thou mayest sleep in Him sweetly; either thou shalt lose altogether this natural affection, or else it shall be suffocate: that albeit thy Parents, and all thy kindred were about thee, thou shalt have no care of them: No, thou shalt not once by thine head and countenance utter any meaning, that thou hast a care of their weal. JESUS CHRIST honoured His Mother beyond any man, even on the Cross, in such a pain, and such a displeasure. And this testifies, that natural affection was greater in jesus, than in any man. Further: Seeing jesus from the Cross, in shame, in torment, in that fearful battle, etc. commends His Mother to john, it tells us, that the duty which we own to Parents, stands not in ceremonies, so much as in performing of necessary duties. One word is greater in the hour of death (or the meanest care; than all that thou couldst do being in health. It is said, Honour thy father, and thy mother. But our lords and gentlemen think it enough to take off their hats, and to bow their knees to them. Stands the honour of thy Parents in a ceremony? Commends God hypocrisy? Learn at jesus Christ: the honour of thy Parents stands in performing all essential parts of thy duty to them. Was thy Mother bound to give thee suck? and to bring thee up in thy youth? I say thou art as straightly bound to honour thy Mother, and to nourish her in her old age. Woe to them that procure their mother's curse, and who are not tender to their mothers, and will neither foster them, nor have a care of them. This example of jesus Christ, which is registrate in the Gospel, shall bear witness against thee, when thy conscience shall rend and tear thee. Men are come to such unnaturalness, that the Lion was never so cruel, as men in Scotland, to them out of whose bellies they came. Now what does john? He takes her home hearty. John takes another man's mother and entertains her, and he gets but this direction from the Cross Fie on thee that gettest a direction from the throne of heaven, to honour thy own mother. I say not (says Christ) my mother, but thy mother. When men will not obey Christ from that heavenvly Throne, what shall become of them in that great day? Shame shall be heaped on them. And john who took not home his own mother, but another man's mother, shall stand up & condemn thee, who would not entertain thine own mother. All the speeches of the world will not learn men in this wicked generation. Further, this is not to be p●ssed by, that john had an House, and so had the rest of the Apostles: say not that they were beggars: it is but folly to place religion in beggary. I say it in a word, These privileges in the world, Houses, wives, children, etc. are as well sanctified to a Minister, as thy lordship is to thee. Now I beseech thee, as ever thou wouldest that the Lord should bless thee & thy posseshons in this world, & should give thee an hope of that life to come, let the Ministers of the Gospel have a part of their own: (It is not yours:) as ever ye would give an account to the judge, & to be answerable to Him in that great Chequer: for all the blood of perishing souls shall be required at them, who withdraw these temporal things whereon those should be sustained, whom God hath sent to feed the souls of men and women to that Heavenly life. To the Lord of that life, be all Honour, Praise, and Glory, for evermore: Amen.   

THE XIX. LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVII. 
verse 45 Now from the sixth hour was there darkness over all the land, unto the ninth hour.  
verse 46 And about the ninth hour jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lamasabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?  MARK CHAP. XV. 
verse 33 Now when the sixth hour was come, darkness arose over all the land, until the ninth hour.  
verse 34 And at the ninth hour, jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lammasabachthani? which is by interpretation, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?  LUKE, CHAP. XXIII. 
verse 44 And it was about the sixth hour: and there was a darkness over all the land, until the ninth hour.  
verse 45 And the Sun was darkened, and the vail of the Temple rend through the mids.  
BELOVED in the LORD JESUS CHRIST, we have heard the last day, that the Lord, when He is hanging on the Cross, He was not only occupied in suffering, at the will of His Heavenly Father; but also He was occupied in doing. First we heard He did like a king, howbeit He hung on the Cross like a vile slave in the sight of the world: Yea, He did like God, He appardoned the poor Thief that hung at His right hand, and was penitent, and sought grace and mercy at Him for his sins: and He makes a promise to him, that he should be with Him shortly in Paradise. Then next we heard, that when as He hung quick on the Cross, He did like a loving & kind Son to His Mother, who bore Him: He recommends her earnestly to be entertained with john His well beloved disciple. Now in this days exercise we have a rehearsal of other things that fell ou● when as jesus hung on the Cross: there falls a wonder, there falls a darkness at the noontide, the Sun is obscured: the time is noted, when, at the sixth hour, the space of three hours, as we shall hear: All the time that He hung on the Cross, the darkness continued on the Earth: The next thing we have, namely, out of Matthew and Mark, an heavy complaint, that the Lord falls out into when He had hung on the Cross about three hours: for He falls out in the beginning of the ninth hour into an heavy complaint to His Father, saying, My GOD, my GOD, why hast thou forsaken me? Then we have how the jews misconstrues the voice of the Lord: but first we shall speak of the wonder: there falls a darkness in the whole land: or as some interpret, on the whole earth, the cause is noted: The Sun which should have given light, is obscured: a marvelous Eclipse contrary to the common course of Nature, fell on the Sun. The time is noted: When it was the sixth hour. Now, Brethren, This place requires, that I should speak something concerning the division of the night, and the day: for this is requisite for the understanding of the History of the Passion of jesus Christ: the jews took up the beginning of their night, from the going down of the Sun, and ended at the rising of the Sun: they divided their night in twelve hours, whether long or short: they had a more compendious division, and divided it in four parts, which they called quatuor vigilias, four watches, every watch containing three hours: as for their day, they measured it from the rising of the Sun in the morning, to the going down: and as they divided the night: so did they the day in twelve hours, whether it were long or short: and as they divided the night, so did they the day in four parts, each part containing three hours: they called the first part of the day, the first morning, prima diluculi, and the first hour, albeit it contained three hours, taking the name from the hour where it began, the second part, which contained other three hours: they called the third hour, taking the name from the hour it began at, speaking exclusiuè, as we use to say: the third part taking the name from the part it began at, they called the sixth hour: the fourth part they called the ninth hour. This much for the division of the day and night, after the fashion of the jews. To apply this to our purpose, In this History of the Passion of jesus Christ, ye shall find mention of all these four parts: of the first, the third, sixth, and ninth. In the first hour, or in the morning, the LORD JESUS was led into the Common-Hall, to Pilate to be accused: His accusation continued the first three hours, and much of the third hour, or second quarter, as we counted it: His accusation continued about the space of five hours: Then alitle after the sixth hour in the end of the third hour: as JOHN in his nineteen Chapter says, The doom and sentence of damnation was given out against the Lord, In the same third hour, as MARK in his fourteenth Chapter says, The Lord jesus was crucified, so that He was both condemned & crucified in the end of the third hour: So between eleven and twelve, a short space passed between the sentence of damnation, and the execution. In the sixth hour, which was the third part of their day: ye see, there falls out, a fearful and terrible darkness on the face of the earth: and according to our account the darkness remains from twelve hours, to three in the afternoon, the space of three hours: for so long hang the Lord upon the Cross. Then ye have mention here of the ninth hour, the fourth part of their day. The Lord then uttered His complaint to His Father: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? This is according to our account when it was three after noon: and hastily after this, He yields His blessed Spirit in the hands of His Father. So the Lord jesus died, and yielded the Spirit, between three and four hours afternoon. Now this shortly, for the better understanding of the History. Now to speak of this wonder and darkness, His heavenly Father would testify by this darkness, that whilst His glorious Son was humbled on that vile & ignominious Cross: & as Paul to the Philippians 2. says Whilst as He was weakened, and made of no reputation, at this time His Father would testify, not only of His innocency, as He was man, but also of His glory, as He was God. In humbling of Him, the Father would glorify Him: But will ye look to the Sun, and the senseless creatures of Heaven and Earth, the very Sun and senseless creatures would testify, that they were addebted unto that glorious Creator: they would testify that sorrow that they had, that the Lord of glory should suffer such an ignominious death. The senseless creatures were moved, the Sun gloomes, & hides his face at that wicked action: the earth shivers and quakes, ready to swallow up and devour those miserable persons: and the Sun, and the senseless creatures begin to teach that senseless and hardened people, with whom they had to do: Not with a man, but with the Lord of glory: but teach what they would teach (here is a miserable example of induration) this miserable people for all this darkness was not moved, they would not turn. So, Brethren, see what it is once to be given to a reprobate sense: if the LORD give thee up to a reprobate sense, the earth shall not be so senseless as thou: and though the earth should stand up and teach thee, thou shalt not hear nor see what it says: Of all judgements that falls on the soul, this reprobate sense is the heaviest and most dangerous: and if thou continuest in it, it were a thousand times better for thee, when thou werest made a man or a woman, to have been made a stock or a stone: for if there be not a wakning in time out of so dead a sleep, ere ever thou beware, the wrath of God from Heaven shall overtake thee, when thou criest peace: then shall the wrath come, thou shalt not get leisure to think of mercy. The Lord waken this senseless generation, for there was never a generation more senseless than this generation is, notwithstanding of so many voices sounding, not only voices of men, but of the heaven, the earth, and senseless creatures. I will speak sparingly of this darkening, and (as the Philosopher calls it) the eclipse of the Sun, for it serves not much to edification: Only thus far, that ye may see the greatness of the wonder, and that ye may wonder at the Lord jesus hanging on the Cross: This Eclipse was not natural, for the natural Eclipse of the Sun, falls out, when the Moon is in the changing, at the which time there is a concourse and conjunction between the two Planets, the Sun, and the Moon: The Moon goes under the Sun, and takes away a great part of the light of the Sun from the Earth. But this Eclipse falls out in the full moon. The Law commanded the passover to be celebrated in the month of March, the fourteenth day of their month, in the which time, the Sun and the Moon are as far asunder as they can be, the one being in the one side of the Heaven, & the other on the other side: so that between them the whole Globe of the Earth is cast in. But in this Eclipse against Nature, the Moon which was now opposite to the Sun, turns her suddenly about, and comes under the Sun, and hides the sight thereof, and brings on a terrible darkness on the world: So that, as ye will read in profane writings, during that darkness, the stars were seen at the noontide, as at Midnight. And to be short, it is written that the Philosophers in Athens marking this Eclipse, endeavoured to search the cause of it, could not find out the natural cause, and one Dionysius Areopagita said, It behoved to be that, either the God of Nature suffered, or else the world should suddenly be dissolved, and be lied not. The Lord jesus the GOD of Nature suffered, and they raised up an Altar then, and wrote on it, To the unknown God, whereof ye read in the Acts 17.  
This for the wonder. Now let us come to that that fell out in the ninth hour, that is, our three hours afternoon: Mark, This serves for our edification: ye heard, the Lord jesus was in extreme agony, and anguish in His soul, and also He suffered great pain in His body: yet all was nothing to that extreme bitterness, that He felt in His soul when as He hung on the Cross. Now in this agony, He utters this voice with a cry, Eli, Eli, lamasabachthani, that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? These are the first words of the XXII. PSALM: for David being the Type of Christ, and feeling that vexation of spirit in some measure, which Christ felt out of measure, he cries out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? This place & these words minister occasion unto us, to speak of the inward conflict & passion that jesus had in His soul: And, that ye may understand this matter the better, I shall rehearse unto you the whole Passion of JESUS CHRIST, in as few words as I can. Then, the whole life of jesus Christ whilst He was in this world, was a continual suffering of the burden of our sins that He bore, and that obedience to His Father, required, that not only in His lifetime should He do for our salvation: but chiefly, it required, that the Mediator should die. All that He did had been nothing worth to us, and if He had not died: for as the Apostle sayeth, HEBR. CHAP. IX. VERS. XXII. No remission of sins without blood. Think not, that ever thy sins shall be forgiven thee, without the shedding of the blood of jesus Christ: And either thou must die, or have part in the death of the Mediator. The end of His suffering, was the perfect abolishing and undoing of the sins of the Elect, as ye may read in the ninth CHAPTER to the HEBREWES. Now mark again: This perfect abolishing and undoing of our sins required a perfect passion and suffering of the Mediator. Whether ye look to the time, it required a perfect time: or will ye look to the greatness of it, it required an infinite quantity of greatness: for if it had not been perfect in time and quantity, thou hadst never been redeemed.  
Brethren, that ye may the better understand the whole Passion of JESUS CHRIST, I shall point out unto you the whole manner of His sufferings: For, why should we not know this? Our life stands in His death: He suffered all for us. And I see thorough out the Scripture, the whole sufferings of Christ may be drawn to these three sorts: The first is, The Lord jesus suffered temptations: secondly, The Lord jesus suffered shame and ignominy: the GOD of glory suffered shame: How agree these two together, Shame and Glory? The third, the LORD JESUS suffered pain, and that very grievous pain in soul and body: I shall go thorough all these three kinds of suffering shortly, and so I shall make an end: And first, to speak of these temptations shortly. I call the temptations that the LORD suffered, those tryalles of Him, by the Devil His enemy, for he let Him never rest, (and woeful was that battle that He had with him on the Cross) and His temptations by the ministers of the Devil in the world, who solicitated Him to leave His GOD, even such temptations as we are subject to in this world, only except sin: for He knew no sin, there was not one spot of sin in that holy One: and so He was not subject to these foul motions, & inward temptations, as we are, who dare not face the Sun nor the Moon. And wherefore suffered He all these temptations? Even for thy cause: the end of all His suffering was, that He might secure all them who were tempted either in body or soul. HEBR. Chap. 2. vers. 18. Art thou tempted: if thou canst have recourse to Him, who was tempted for thy sake, He will pity thee: As He suffered, and was tempted, so by His suffering, He hath learned to pity thee. He who never hath tasted of misery, he cannot pity the miserable body: And therefore, when thou art tempted, go to CHRIST, and say, LORD, thou wast tempted as I am, therefore, now help and secure me. Thus far for the first sort of Christ's sufferings.  
The second sort was His shame and ignominy, that open ignominy that He suffered, especially on the Cross. Whether ye look to His accusation, (they accused that most innocent One, as a vile sinner) or whether ye look to all these false Testimonies that were brought against Him, or yet whether ye look to the taunts and mockings that He suffered, and to that spitting on His face, and blasphemies upon the Cross. In all these ye shall s●e that shame He suffered for our sins. The Apostle, ROMAN. Chap. 15. vers. 3. says, jesus Christ, when he was in the world, he spared not, nor he pleased not himself, as we do: but, as it is written. The rebukes of them which rebuke thee fell on me. All these despites thou shouldest have suffered, but the LORD He translated them upon Himself. O the shame that the sinner should have suffered, and if the LORD JESUS had not taken it off the back of the sinner, and laid it on His own back. Come to the last sort: Thou who wouldst be freed of pain, either in body, or soul: Mark the pain of the Lord, lay hold on it, and apply it to thy soul: for otherwise, Nothing shall remain for thee, but pain everlastingly: all the kingdoms of the world shall not save thee. Then the last sort, was pain and dolour in body, and pain and dolour in soul, but in the soul chief: Look to the time of it, from His first conception, to His last breath: scarcely was the Lord well borne when thorough the persecution of Herode the Tyrant, His mother was compelled to flee with Him to Egypt, from that time He was under continual affliction, whilst as He entered into the thirty year of His age, when He takes upon Him the part of a Mediator for mankind: from this forth (for He lived after this space three years, and an half) His pain grew, and increased in body and soul: and ay nearer the last hour His displeasure and pain grew the more.  
Now, Brethren, we shall speak shortly of these pains and dolours that the Lord suffered in the time of these three years, and an half: for the Gospel makes mention of that suffering: during this space, the Lord jesus is in continual pain both of body and soul: not in body only, but chief in the soul. His pain during this time is chief that inward anguish: all His pain was for our sins: if ye compare the soul and the body together, the soul is ten times worse, and more sinful than the body: the soul is nothing but a sink of sin: all sin proceeds out of that stinking puddle of the soul: The body hath no life in it, but that which it hath of the soul: and therefore seeing the Lord offered Him to suffer for our sins, He behoved to suffer chief in the soul.  
What shall I say of the impudent Papists, who maintain this doctrine, that the Lord suffered not that inward pain of the soul: O! that they dare be so bold, as to avouch such doctrine against the manifest words of the Holy Spirit: They know not what sin is: They know not what is the greatness of the evil of sin, or the justice of GOD: and lastly they know not what is the mercy of JESUS CHRIST, In a word I proclaim both before GOD, and His Angels, the Pope and his shavelings are open enemies to the Cross of CHRIST, if it were but in this, that they take away the chief part of His suffering. Be thou a Papist, if thou continuest in that fantasy, thou shalt never have no part, nor portion of His suffering.  
Concerning the suffering of His body, and of that ignominious death of the Cross, we have been speaking: Only now I shall point out the ground whereupon the sufferings of the LORD arises: First, they rise of that natural infirmity: He was an infirm man without sin: He hungered, as we do, He thirsted, as we, and through traveling (He rested never day nor night) and sojourned through the world: He wearied, as we do.  
Then another ground was, that sadness and heaviness of the soul: He was in a continual sadness: there was never so sad a man as He was: we read that He did weep, but we never read that He did laugh. And think not, that when the soul is in heaviness, that the body can be well. And last, His suffering proceeded of a violent dealing against Him, and nailing Him on the Cross: (who was so violently handled, as the LORD of glory was.)  
I leave this, and we will speak of the dolours which He suffered in His soul: First, the LORD JESUS, whilst as He traveled up and down amongst His people, He was in a continual displeasure. When He looked upon that obstinate people, He was sad when He entered in jerusalem, He wepes and says, jerusalem, jerusalem, feign would I have gathered you, as a hen gathereth her birds under her wings, but thou wouldst not.  
The most special grief that the LORD suffered in His soul, was that which Luke in his twentieth two Chapter names an agony, that is, an anguish in the soul, and an heavy pain proceeding from a battle that He had in His soul: it proceeded from the wrestling with the wrath of GOD, and infinite wrath) with Hell, and the powers of it, with death not temporal, but everlastingly.  
Now this agony He utters in the Garden, when He says, My soul is heavy on all sides, even to the death. That word was expressed out of that bitter anguish that He had in His soul, whilst He spoke so.  
To speak of the time of it, I am of that mind, that it was not only when He was in the Garden, but before in the twelfth Chapter of john, when He was speaking to His disciples He says, My soul is troubled: And He turns Him to His Father, and He says, Father save me from this hour, yet the nearer He drew to death, it grew greater and greater: it was greater in the Garden, than it was of before: but now on the Cross, when He said, My God, my God why hast thou forsaken Me? it was the greatest of all. I will speak something of this, I will certify you, the special understanding of the suffering of jesus Christ stands in the knowing of this inward agony which JESUS CHRIST had in His soul: and if ye know not this, ye know nothing of His suffering: it is true, that no tongue is able to tell it: No, all the tongues of Angels: the heart of man, nor Angel, is not able to conceive the greatness of it. The words of the Scriptures express not the greatness of the anguish but so far forth as the LORD will give me the grace, I will speak somewhat of it. In the words that the Spirit uses in the Scripture ye shall find this: The LORD suffers a torment in His soul: than ye shall see in the words, an exceeding greatness of the anguish in the soul: and lastly, ye shall see in the words of the Spirit, not only that He suffered anguish in the soul, and the greatness of it, but the very degrees and parts of it particularly.  
First, go to the old Testament, in the fiftieth and third Chapter, and fifth verse of the prophecy of Esay, hath these words, It pleased the LORD JEHOVAH, to break Him, the words imports, not only the breaking of the body, but also of the soul.  
Then in the hundredth and sixteen Psalm, and at the fifth verse David who was a type of CHRIST says, The sorrows of death have compassed Me, and the anguish of Hell hath overtaken Me: These words import not only a bodily suffering, but they import an anguish in the soul.  
Come to the New Testament▪ Matthew in his twentieth and sixth Chapter, My soul is heavy and compassed to the death. wouldst thou have the greatness of it, He says, On all sides: And whereto? Even to the death: not of the temporal death▪ but even to the death of the soul. Then Luke in his twentieth and two Chapter says, He was in an agony: He was in anguish, He was wrestling. With whom was this? His disciples were away from Him: There was no man with Him. It was with the wrath of the Father from Heaven with a wrath unspeakable. Peter 2. Acts says, GOD raised Him up from death, and raised Him the dolors of death, being loosed, He could not be retained with them. The words in their own language is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and signifies extreme dolour, like as a woman hath in bearing her birth. The Spirit of GOD useth to express the pain of the Hell in the soul by a similitude of a woman who traveleth in birth: for of all pains in the body, it is the greatest and sorest, and ye that have felt it, ye know, that ye could not live, if it continued with you. 1. THESSALON. CHAP. 5. VERS. 3. He sets down the pain of Hell, by that similitude, When they shall say, Peace, then shall come the sudden dolour upon them, like a woman traveling, then shall they not escape. And MARK, CHAP. 14. VERS. 33. comes on more particularly, and says, Not only he had a pain in the soul: but also he sets down the degrees of the pain. The native Language is most proper, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: that is, He began to be astonished: and then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, He began to be in a grievous and extreme anguish. When the wrath began to press down the soul, than the anguish arose, and the extremity of pain.  
But I leave the opening up of all thess words until the next occasion, and so to end: As we speak of the suffering of CHRIST, So I beseech GOD to open our souls, and our hearts, to feel it: For there is no life, but in His suffering: And the LORD give us grace, that our hearts may take fast hold of his sadness and dolour to our joy everlasting. To this LORD be Honour and Praise, for evermore.  
AMEN.   

THE XX. LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVII. 
verse 46 And about the ninth hour JESUS cried with a loud voice, saying, ELI, ELI, LAMASABACHTHANI? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?  
THE last day (well-beloved in Christ) upon occasion offered in this place, we began to rehearse over all the whole Passion of Christ: and we brought the matter to that agony, and that inward anguish of the soul, which the Lord suffered, beside all the outward passions of His body, especially during the time of three years and an half, to wit, the time in the which He bore openly the office of a Mediator betwixt God and man. Now as the Lord will give us grace, by occasion of this voice, whereby the Lord uttered this heavy complaint to His Father, before He yield up the ghost, when He says, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? we shall speak this day of that inward agony and anguish of the soul that the Lord was in, when He uttered this voice. I perceive three grounds whereby we may be able in some measure (for who is able to attain to the perfect knowledge of the greatness of that agony that the Lord suffered?) to come to the knowledge of that agony. The first ground I shall take out of the words of Scripture, whereby that agony is expressed. The second ground I take from these effects, that the Lord uttered, partly in prayer, and partly in heavy complaint in that agony. And the third ground I shall take from our own feeling. What avails all the knowledge in the world without feeling of His Passion, and of His Resurrection? Then to go forward in order, and to open up every one of these grounds: The last day I began to bring to you the words of Scripture, some out of the old Testament, & some out of the New, by the which this inward agony that the Lord suffered in his soul is expressed most vively. I cited to you those words that are in the 53. chap. of Esay, where there is a vive and lively prophesy of jesus to come into the world: The Lord (says the Prophet) took pleasure to break him. This breaking is not only of the body on the Cross, but chiefly in breaking of the soul: for the soul of jesus was rend with sorrow. Then I cited out of the 116. Psalm, the words of David, being the type of Christ: The dolours of death have compassed me, the sorrows of Hell have overtaken me. Then I came to the Gospel of Matthew, and I cited these words out of the 26. CHAP. My soul is heavy on all sides to the death. There is the heaviness of the soul, and an heaviness without any joy, and a heaviness to death, even to everlasting death. Then I came to Luke, who in his 22. CHAP. hath these words, And he was in an agony: there is a battle. But where? In the Garden. With whom? None was fight with Him: no man was near Him. Whom with, but with the heavy wrath of the Father, that He felt in His soul? In the 2. of the Acts I cited the words of Peter, Whom God raised up again, when He had loosed the dolours of death: The word in its own language signifies that pain that women suffer in traveling, whereby the Scripture uses to express the pain of Hell. And last of all I came to the words of Mark, in his 14. Chap. where he not only utters this inward pain that the Lord had in His soul, but also the greatness of it, and the degrees, and parts thereof. The words are, When the Lord was in the Garden, he began to be afraid, and astonished, and then to be in a wonderful heaviness. The words in their own language are more significative.  
Now Brethren, we shall examine and weigh these words of Mark. The first word that Mark uses signifies an astonishment, a fear, and an horror, whereby the Lord in the Garden was troubled suddenly from the Heaven: so that all the members of His body shook and trembled. It is not a matter of jests: it arose upon a sense of the wrath of God coming from Heaven: and a most vehement sense thereof, that lighted on Him suddenly, because He bore our sins, and this terrible wrath overtook all the powers of His soul, and occupied them. Brethren, I take this to be none other thing, but that first stroke of everlasting death, whereby the reprobate sh●ll be stricken in the first entry to Hell, when they set in their head first to Hell, the wrath shall so strike them, that all the powers of the soul shall be dammished. The suffering of Christ in His soul is the vive image of the suffering of the reprobate in Hell. And ●t is it that Paul in the 1. Epistle to the Thessalonians, sets down, When they shall cry peace, & all things are sure, then sudden destruction approaches: the wrath and vengeance from Heaven lights on suddenly: so that all the hairs of their heads shall stand on end, and it shall come upon them suddenly, even as the showers and dolour, comes on a woman who is traveling in birth. I can give no better example of it, than ye have in the Prophecy of Daniel, in Belshazzar the profane man, he is sitting with his Princes, banqueting and profaning the holy vessels of the House of the Lord. What falls out? he sees come out of the wall suddenly, an hand writing, he sees it not so soon, (look the first stroke of Hell) but he is stricken with a fear & horror, his knees shiver & smite one another, & he becomes like a dead man: a vive image of Hell.  
This for the first word that Mark uses, and the first part of that agony that JESUS CHRIST suffered for us in His soul. Now we have to weigh the second word, He says, He began to be astonished, and to be in a wonderful heaviness, The word in its own language signifies an extreme pain in the soul: Who is able to tell it? (The Lord save us from the extremity thereof) it rose upon that horrible wrath that He was stricken with, and was lying on Him, and pressing down His soul: First, He was stricken, than the heavy wrath of GOD lies still on the soul so that He hath dolour in His soul, that all the powers of His soul is full of wrath. Who can bear the wrath of the Omnipotent GOD: No, not CHRIST as He was man only, no not all the Angels in Heaven: The LORD save us from it. When the wrath of the great GOD strikes on any in the Hell, all the powers of the soul fail, and all leave off to do their duties, being full of displeasure.  
It is a mar●eilous thing (for as careful as the LORD was wont to be of the redemption of man▪ for that was His only care night and day, it was His meat and drink) yet all that care was now away, and He forgets it, and He falls out in a Prayer, and He says, Take away this cup from Me: and that was the cup of His Passion for our Redemption: yea He bids His Father take it away, which if it had been taken from Him, never a soul should have been redeemed: Consider then, if He was in an agony, or not: when He forgot the work of our Redemption. Now we must not think that this forgetfulness came of sin (our forgetfulness comes of sin) the Holy one had no sin: but it rose of an infirmity of Nature, wherewith He was clad for our sin. Ye see, if a man be in a distress in the soul the senses, and all the powers of the soul are so occupied about that sorrow, that they forget their own functions and operations, to help the part that is distressed: Even so it was with the LORD: for when for our sins He was underlying the wrath of that Omnipotent judge, all the faculties of His soul, His understanding, His memory▪ etc., left all their functions, that all might concur to help Him in that common agony. Well, Brethren, if ye would see Hell, ye have here the vive image of it: The reprobate after that at the first they are astonished with the sudden wrath: as they continue in Hell, their dolour and pain shall ever be augmented: the wrath shall still lie upon them, like a mountain tumbling on them, and pressing them ever in soul & body: so that they remain ever in this everlasting pain. Christ made an end of it: but if thou be a reprobate: this anguish shall never leave thee. Oh! that the world will not know this, and once pause on it: would they then, think ye, run to all mischief as they do. And if once thou be cast into Hell, mountains of dolour, and heaps of wrath shall be heaped on thee for evermore. These are two parts of that Hell that the Lord suffers: now would ye have the third part▪ I remit you to the 5. Chapter to the Hebrews where there Paul says, that the Lord when He prayed in the days of His flesh, with strong cries, and with tears, He was heard: He had a terrible fear, beside the present pain: He was in a fear of a greater danger to ensue. If thou goest to Hell once, beside the present pain that thou shalt be in: And, O the weight of that pain that shall be on thee! thou shalt ever have a terrible fear of a greater pain to fall on thee, the pain of Hell is not ended in a moment, but thou shalt find the pain g●owing everlastingly, & a mountain of wrath shall come after another, as the waves of the sea following one another. It is a sore matter to be in this pain everlastingly.  
Now we have heard the first ground out of the words of the Holy Spirit: Come to the second ground. When He was in the agony, He utters such effects, that they who saw Him, and heard that pitiful voice, might easily see, what anguish He had in the soul, He falls out in a prayer, Father, take away this cup; that is, the cup of thy wrath, wherein He utters a forgetfulness of our redemption, the dolour so increases upon Him, that He prays with greater intention, with tears, and with strong cries, and with weeping. Hell will cause thee to mourn, and compel thee to squeele, and howl like a dog: laugh not, it will cause thee to gnash thy teeth, if thou be cast in utter darkness: yet as He prays, the wrath increases, that He did sweat blood, and the drops of blood fell from His face to the ground. What man read ye of, or heard ye ever of, or ever shall, that was in such a fear, in such a torment, that for the fear of the torment, he did sweat blood. So, that ye see, that the Lord was in such anguish, as never a man was. Were any of the Martyrs in such a fear, or such an anguish, as this? No, no: Then as He utters His agony in prayer, so He utters it in many, heavy and bitter complaints, john 12. When he is speaking of His glorification suddenly, He breaks off, and says, My soul is troubled, what shall I say? and than He turned Him to His Father, and says, Save me from this hour: and last He says, My soul is heavy on all sides, even to the death. But of all complaints, this that He utters on the Cross: My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me? is the most heavy, and it proceeds from the most bitter anguish of the soul. Now the Lord grant, that this complaint may save us from that complaint of the reprobate, that they shall utter in Hell: No question, these words utter a forsaking of Him, and that He was deserted for a time: He was left off, without all comfort in the world: Of all joy that He was wont to have: all joy was taken from Him: They import not a diwlsion of the Godhead from the manhood: the glorious Godhead dwelled in the Lord jesus, whilst as He hang on the Cross: GOD never left Him at any time, after that once the Son of God took to Himself our flesh: He left it never, no, not on the Cross, nor in the grave: He left it never, nor never shall, but the Godhead kept itself so close in Christ the man, that it would let Him have no joy, whilst He should pay that ransom to the uttermost farthing, whereby the justice of God was satisfied for our sins. And this is the thing He complains on: Yet whilst He says, My God, my God, He lets us see He despairs not, but in the mean time whilst He was left, He cleaveth to God, & hath His confidence in His God, the Devil and all the world cannot separate Him from His GOD that dwelled within Him. Confidence in God will ofttimes be in the godly without feeling of joy, albeit that Spirit will not be out of their souls: The Spirit will minister no joy to them, yet the poor soul will never leave off to put confidence in God. Well, this complaint tells us, that jesus Christ was deserted for a time, to save us, who should have been reprobates for ever. But there is a great difference between jesus Christ, and the reprobate. Indeed they agree in this, that both He and they are left comfortless, He uttered a great complaint: so they shall complain and howl: And as He cried and wept, so shall they: But here is the difference. He was for a time in a manner reprobate, they shall be made reprobates for ever: He complained for a time, but they shall complain for ever: He ceases not to put His confidence in God: the reprobate shall have no confidence, but as God shall leave them, so shall they leave God, & as God shall turn His back on them, so shall they turn their back on God. This is a sore matter. Then jesus He uttered this complaint, My God, my God: They shall not say, My God, why hast thou left me: but shall cry, alas, for ever! God hath left me for ever, and cast me off from His presence for ever. This speech My God, is a speech of confidence, and He cleaves to God in His heart, they shall shout and cry, GOD hath left me for evermore & cast me off. This for the two grounds, come to the third ground, that is, our own feeling: for if thou feelest not, all thy knowledge avails not a straw, Paul to the Phillippians Chapter 3. says, He counted all things to be but loss and dung, that he might know Him, that is, jesus Christ. Then he sets down the parts of this knowledge, that I may know Him, & the virtue of His resurrection, & the communion of His Passions, & be made conformable to His death. Wherein stands the knowledge of the resurrection of Christ? It is not enough to know it only: The knowledge stands in a fe●ling of the force of the glorious resurrection in thine heart, and thou shalt feel the old canker of sin mortified, and thee to be quickened with a new life to live to God. And likewise wherein stands the knowledge of His suffering? It stands of the feeling in thine heart of the mortification of sin: Thou must feel a regeneration in thee, or else thou feelest nothing, and thy soul shall get no life, howbeit thou knewest all the Bible: All this knowledge of Christ is but a dream, without a feeling: and thou art but sleeping, except thou findest a virtue proceeding from His suffering to thy soul, to reform it. But to speak of that feeling-knowledge of jesus Christ who died for our sins: How shalt thou find and feel in thine heart that He suffered anguish for thy sins, not only in body, but also in soul? I think there should be no body, but they should be meditating on an answer: I shall tell you, how I, and thou, and every one of us shall feel that curse and malediction that jesus suffered, and that was laid on Him for our sins. If I find in my soul in some measure that wrath for my sins, which jesus felt in full measure (Lord save us from that measure) if I taste and get a proving of that bitter cup of the wrath of God, that jesus drank the dregs of, and all for my sins: if I taste of it, and put it to my mouth, when I feel this way and taste, I will begin and reason: If I find my sins and the burden thereof so heavy, that I can scarcely bear one sin among a thousand, yea, though it were but an evil thought: If I find the burden of my sins so heavy, who am but a man, O how heavy must all the sins of the Elect be, that jesus bore on His back! (Look how I come to His feeling from the other.) Then I will say, O how heavy were the sins that JESUS bore on His back! And then I shall say, If once I can but taste one drop of that wrath that follows my sins, and finds it to be so bitter: (Let them taste of that cup who will, they never tasted of so bitter a thing) Then will I say, O how bitter was that full cup of wrath whereof JESUS drank out the dregs and all, seeing one drop of it is so bitter in my soul. There we come in some measure to the feeling of that bitter wrath that JESUS felt. Behold the dealing of GOD with His own: for although He loved them never so well, yet He will let them feel the burden of their own sins in some measure, & He will tie the burden of them on their own backs, whilst they groan and peach: and He will touch them with the sense of wrath from heaven; and that to let them understand how sad and heavy a wrath it was that jesus suffered for our redemption. And when we feel any burden for sin, let us run to meditate on the sore burden of JESUS CHRIST, or else thy sickness and thy trouble is not sanctified to thee, if thou feelest not that jesus Christ hath borne the burden of thy sin. Well, Brethren, this is a way, whereby we come to the feeling knowledge of the pain that CHRIST suffered, and this is bitter. But there is a sweeter manner: If I feel that sweet mercy of GOD in mine heart, and that peace of conscience in my soul, I will begin and reason with myself after this manner: This mercy that I taste of, this peace of conscience that I have, this joy and gladness that I taste, it behoved to proceed out of the malediction, and out of the wrath that lighted on my Mediator, it had been unpossible for me to taste of mercy, if my Redeemer had not drunken out that full cup of wrath. And I say, indeed to thee, if the Lord jesus Christ had not drunken out that cup of the wrath of God, there had never been such a thing, as any joy, or any piece of conscience in this world, nor in the world to come, if it had not been ransomed with the precious blood of jesus Christ; there is not one drop of grace, peace or joy, but that which is bought and which the blood of jesus Christ, hath paid for. Alas, if the world could understand how dear one drop of grace is: No, ere one drop of grace came, it behoved the Lord to be taken, & put in the winepress of Hell, & tread on, & tramped on with the feet of the wrath of God: for this justice of God who was offended, should never have suffered one drop of grace to come, if it had not been satisfied by the blood of the mediator.  
Now to end this purpose, I know perfectly that all this speech of the Cross, is but foolishness to the wise of the world: These wise Heads who compass the World with wisdom, all is but foolishness to them. It is foolishness to them who perish, as Paul says, 2. Cor. 4.4. If thou findest the Cross of jesus but foolishness, take thee a doom: thou shalt perish, all the world shall not save thee: & again by the contrary says Paul, The speech of the Cross is the wisdom of God, & the power of God to them who are saved. All is but foolishness in respect of the Cross: all the strength & might of the world, & things under Heaven is but weakness, in respect of jesus Christ, and His strength. If thou countest the speech of the Cross, to be power & wisdom: assure thyself, thou hast an earnest penny, that thou shalt get life, & blessed is that soul that delights to hear of the Cross of Christ, & counts it to be the power & wisdom of God, which shines wonderfully in this base Cross: the wisdom of GOD shined never so in the creation of the Heavens, and of the world, as in the vile and abject Cross of JESUS CHRIST. The power of GOD shined not so much in creating thee of nothing, as it shines in thy redemption: The more foolish that this mean is that the LORD uses in redemption, to wit, a silly Cross; the more base it appears to be, the greater is the glory of the wisdom of GOD, who wrought such a great work of redemption thorough such base means. I say, the more infirm that this mean is, (for what is more infirm than a silly poor man, or a vile Cross?) the power of GOD appears the greater, who hath wrought such a glorious work out of such a base mean. And I say, if thy redemption had been wrought with a glory, as the jews and the Gentiles imagined, if GOD had yielded to their fantasy, and wrought our redemption by a glorious mean, that glory of GOD had been obscured, and the mean had gotten all the glory. But it hath pleased the LORD to work this work of redemption and salvation by base and naughty means, that the world respects no more of, than the dirt which they tread on. Look what is the difference betwixt the wisdom of GOD, and the wisdom of man: Will ye look to the cause of our redemption, to JESUS CHRIST, or to the Professors, and to Ministers, they are the foolishest in the world: silly bodies, and compare them with potent men, they are but contemptible, and of no valour: and, compare them with wise men, they are but fools. So look to the Cross, and to the ministery thereof, whereby we are saved, all is weak, base, and contemptible: and all to this end, that the LORD only may get the glory: and, as the APOSTLE says, He that glorieth, may only glory in the LORD: And let every one of us give glory to that LORD of Glory: To whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all Honour and Praise for evermore.  
AMEN.   

THE XXI. LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVII. 
verse 47 And some of them that stood there, when they heard it, said, This man calleth Elias.  
verse 48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.  
verse 49 Other said, Let be: let us see if Elias will come and save him.  
verse 50 Then jesus cried again with a loud voice, & yielded up the ghost.  MARK, CHAP. XV. 
verse 35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.  
verse 36 And one ran, and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let him alone: let us see if Elias will come, and take him down.  
verse 37 And jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.  LUKE CHAP. XXIII. 
verse 46 And jesus cried with a loud voice, and said, Father, into thine hands I commend my spirit. And when he had thus said, he gave up the ghost.  JOHN CHAP. XIX. 
verse 28 After, when jesus knew that all things were performed, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, I thirst.  
verse 29 And there was set a vessel, full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it about an hyssop stalk, and put it to his mouth.  
verse 30 Now when jesus had received of the vinegar, he said, It is finished, and bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.  
DURING the time that the LORD JESUS hung quick on the Cross, which was three hours, and large more, ye may read (well-beloved in Christ) sundry voices that He uttered. When I look thorough the four Evangelists, I find in number six sundry voices, and every one of them is well to be marked: for at that time He uttered nothing in vain. The first voice we read of, was a voice of divine power, together with mercy, when one of the thieves, who hung at His right hand, said to Him, Lord remember me, when thou comest to thy Kingdom: The Lord answered him like a King, and like a powerful and merciful God, Verily I say unto thee, this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise▪ The next voice, was a voice of human pity, and natural affection toward His Mother: she being by the Cross with john, and other women, He recommends her to the custody of His w●ll beloved Disciple. The third voice we read of, was a voice of sadness, proceeding from an heart that was sad on every side to the death, and from that agony on the Cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The fourth voice in like manner, was a voice of sadness, proceeding from a wonderful heat in the soul and body, I thirst. The fifth voice by all appearance was a voice of joy, seeing the work of Redemption to be wrought, and the wrath of His Father to be assuaged, He says, after He had drunken the vinegar, It is finished. The sixth and last voice in like manner was a voice of joy: for finding He was to give up the ghost immediately, and finding His Father sweetly to lose His soul from His body, He says, Father, into thine hands I commend my spirit.  
Now Brethren, all th●se foresaid voices the Lord uttered during the time that He hung quick on the Cross: Of these we have heard, the first, the second, & the third, which was that heavy complaint that He made to His Father, My God, my God, etc. This day as God shall give us grace, we shall speak of the three other voices; one of them of sadness, and the other two of joy. But before we come to these voices which are the three l●st voices, we have to speak something of the misconstruing of the complaint of the Lord uttered to His God. Now the jews that stood by Him, and heard Him cry, Eli, Eli, (for He cried aloud) of maliciousness, not of mistaking Him, they begin to calumniate and to misconstrue His words, because the word Eli, which is, My God, sounded like Elias: Therefore they said, He cried for Elias, when He cried on His God, Let us see if Elias will come, and take Him down. In the which words we may see clearly, that they sought not only to destroy His body, but the Devil in them sought to sunder and sever Him both in soul and body from His God: they would not hear Him cry upon His God, but they sought to destroy His body and His soul, such was the insatiable malice of the hearts of these jews against jesus Christ. This is the common dealing of the Devil and his instruments with the godly, and chiefly in that last hour, when the separation of the soul from the body is to follow: Not only to get the body dead, but the soul & God separated: if thou beginnest to pray & call on God, they will scorn thy prayer, & seek to cut thee from God, & all hope of life. But to leave them, & their bitter maliciousness: As in all the points of the suffering of Christ, I look more to the disposition of His Father, than to the jews, to the devil, or his instruments: So I do in this. No question as His Father exercises Him inwardly with a bitter wrath: even so, when as the Lord by making an heavy moan, seeks an outgaet, & cries, My God, my God, &c: He will have Him met outwardly with bitterness. Aim where He will, He meets Him with nothing but bitterness & wrath inwardly & outwardly, hell inward & outward, no refuge, nor escaping till that ransom be paid to the least farthing. Well Brethrens, if ye would see an image of hell, see it here. The Lord jesus was for a time, & felt nothing but extreme bitterness. But the reprobate, after they be once casten into hell, there is nothing for them but bitterness: let them aim here & there to escape, howl & cry, they shallbe met wi●h bitterness. What if it were but for a time! The Lord escaped, His suffering was but for a time; but no escaping for thee, if thou be thrust into hell, thou shalt never get out, and shalt find nothing but bitterness, aim here or there, all shallbe in vain, & everlasting bitterness shallbe casten in thy teeth, and compass thee on all sides: that is a sore word, An everlasting bitterness, never to have an end. So blessed is that soul for ever, who in that Day shallbe found in Christ to get a part of that passion that He suffered: the Lord give every one of us grace now while we have time, to know Him, & to seek to be found in Him for woe to that soul that shallbe found out of Him in the great day. Now I come ●o the voices, & first to that fourth voice that the Lord uttered, when He said, I thirst. When uttered He it? When He knew that all things were ended: To the end that the prophesy might be fulfilled that was spoken of Him before, He said, I thirst. A voice of sadness, coming from an extreme drought of body. The Lord jesus, as He too●e our nature upon Him, so He took on all our infirmities sin excepted. Many times was He hungry and thirsty: but chiefly wh●n He hangs on the Cross in that extreme heat of His soul and His body. The soul was burnt up with wrath, and all the moisture of the body likewise dried up with wrath: at this time the Lord had such a thirst, that the tongue of man cannot express it: thou suffered'st never such a thirst, in any Fever or disease, as the Lord jesus suffered for thee on the Cross. And no doubt, beside other pains, this exceeding thirst was a part of His pain, and a part of that ransom that He paid to the Father for our redemption. Ye see when a man is in a Fever, the thirst will be a special part of the pain that he hath: Therefore, albeit the thirst that the Lord suffered on the Cross, was an exceeding great pain: yet He will not utter His voice, I thirst, till the ransom was paid: He would not seek to quench that thirst, till that wrath of the Father was satisfied. The drought was insatiable: for the infinite wrath of God thirsted after the blood of the Mediator, bearing our sins, and was not quenched till the blood of the Mediator was drunken up. No quenching of sin, but by the blood of the Mediator: if thou be not in Him, the wrath of God will thirst for thy blood. After this, follows that bodily thirst: The soul is dried up: the moisture of the body is clung up: the wrath sucks all up. On this rises the thirst of the body: for except the Lord had had a spiritual thirst, and a pleasure to obey His Father to the death, & to save thy soul from Hell; it had been unpossible for Him to have suffered that bodily thirst so long. Learn this lesson at the Lord jesus, and follow His example: we should suffer patiently all pain that it pleases the Lord to lay on body and soul, knowing that it is according to His will, and that by thy suffering, thy obedience to Him is tried. And, as we should suffer patiently all paine●; so we learn at Christ to abide patiently this bodily thirst in sickness or Fevers, knowing well that the Lord lays it on us, to try our obedience & patience. But wilt thou know how thou shouldest abide it patiently? The Lord jesus had a spiritual thirst to obey His heavenvly Father, & for thy salvation, that swallowed up that bodily thirst. Get thee an earnest thirst to obey thy God: it will be a wondrous thing how patiently thou wilt suffer whatsoever God will lay on thee. Therefore Brethrens, in all things we should set our hearts to obey God: and wink and close thy eyes at all dangers: yea, if thou be in extreme thirst, and going to die, say, Lord, I will obey thee: &, if thou get thy heart thus resolved, and humbled under the hand of thy God, howbeit thou be in pain for a time, thou shalt see a fair end. The Lord jesus after this thirst, and after death, saw a glorious end. So no question, wilt thou lean on thy God, as He did, & abide His will patiently, thou shalt see the joyfullest, & most glorious end that ever was. The Lord give us grace to obey God, and to say, Cast me here, or there, & lay on me what thou wilt, I shall obey thee, though thou shouldest slay me, I will trust in thee. This is an happy resolution. We shall speak of the end wherefore the Lord uttered this voice: To the end (says john) that the Scripture might be fulfilled. In the 5. of Matt. the Lord says, I come not to dissolve the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfil the Law, and to fulfil every jote of that Law: Heaven and Earth shall perish, ere one jote of that Law shall pass away. Now among all the prophecies that Christ fulfilled, there is one here made mention of in the 69. Psalm, In my meat they gave me bitterness, and in my drink they gave me g●ll to drink. Now this prophesy is accomplished: David spoke this in his own person typically: but the veri●y thereof was fulfilled in Christ. David got no vinegar to drink: but jesus Christ drunk vinegar. When the Lord came into the world▪ & wrought the work of our redemption there was not so much as a title that was foretold of Him, but He fulfilled it: there was not a circumstance of His death, but it was foretold: That nailing was foretold, where it is said, They pierced mine hands, and my feet: The hanging of Him betwixt two thieves was foretold, They reckon me (says the Prophet) among the unjust: The dividing of His garments was forespoken, They divided my garments among them, and cast lots for my coat. Look the XXII. and IXVI. PSALMS, and the LIII. CHAPTER of ESAY. So this drinking of vinegar was foretold. Now what learns this unto us? Was there ever any man whose death was pointed out this way? No, never any one. All the Kings, nor all the Emperors, had never such a particular pointing out of their death. This lets us see, that the Father had a more special care of the death of JESUS, than of the death of any man that ever was: and consequently, it lets us see▪ that there was never such a worthy parsonage in the world as JESUS, and that there was never such excellency in the death of any, as in the death of jesus: in it stood the life of the world. Let men make pomps of the death of Emperors, the Lord had never such an eye to the death of any, as to the death of His only well beloved Son, and all the predictions of His death are to this end, that we comparing the issue of His death, with the predictions, we might believe that jesus was sent to be the only Saviour of the world. When I think on this, I wonder at the blindness of the jews, that cannot know Him to be the Mediator, but after that once a man be given to a reprobate sense, he will say, the Sun in the noontide is but darkness. The Gospel is hid, says Paul 2. Cor. 4.4. to them who perish: if thou see not & believe not the Gospel, thou hast an earnest penny in thy bosom, that thy damnation is sealed up Thus far for His thirst they gave Him a drink: There is a vessel full of vinegar: This was a custom that they used: they had a drink beside them who were crucified: Some think it was for this end, that the pain might be staunched: There is a drink of vinegar standing beside the Lord: but I know not if they gave such a sour drink to the thieves. So this vessel standing beside one of them steps to it in scorn, and takes a water sponge, and puts it on a reed, and puts it to His head, he got little thank for his work: I take this giving of this drink to the Lord at this time, to have proceeded from bitter malice. The wrath of His Father was begun to be assuaged: yet the wrath of the jews could not be assuaged. There is none end of the malice of the jews, so long as breath is in Him, they never cease to rage's against Him. When He was dead they persecute Him: when He was in glory, they thought to shame Him. When the Lord loses the rains of the devil, & of wicked men to chastise his own, they run headlongs to wrack His Church: the Lord seeks but chastisement: they seek wrack of body & soul: he that knows not this, he knows nothing, & if these persecutors got their will, they would not only seek the wrack of the body, but also of the soul. What doth the Lord for this? when the Lord hath pulled in their rains, He takes the scourge, & casts it in the fire, because they run far beyond their commission. This shallbe the end of their miserable souls. O that damnation that shall overtake them! when the Lord hath chastened us by them, they shallbe cast in the fire for ever. Refuses the Lord the drink? indeed before He was raised up on the Cross, He tasted of this, but would not drink, but He being on the Cross▪ it is said, He drank it. It may by that after such a troublesome labour, that His drought was so great, that He was glad to drink any liquor. Always, this I know, except the Lord had had a thirst of thy salvation, He had not drunken it. The thirst of thy salvation made Him as He drank out the cup of the wrath of His Father: So to drink out this bitter cup that was propined to Him, out of the bitterness of their hearts, He drank out the wrath of God, and the wrath of man, that thou shouldest drink the water of Life. I say, remember upon that drink that jesus drank, when thou drinkest delicious drinks: it is not thy money that buys the wine, except it be bought with the precious blood of jesus: not a piece of bread, or any thing pertains to thee, if it be not bought with the blood of jesus: to them who are sanctified, all thing is sanctified, & if thou be not in Him, thou shalt be accused as a violent possessor of all things, in that great day. Now I go to the next voice, when He hath drunken, He says, It is finished, that is, that wearisome work is now put to an end: now the ransom is paid: now the work of Redemption is ended. Brethren, that ye may understand this, The Lord when He was in the Garden, had two works: The first was, to buy Heaven, to conquer life to us: The second, to put us in possession of it. The first work He began it in the first moment of His conception, and continues still from that time to that moment: He gave up the Spirit to the Father. Now that work being ended, He proclaims on the Cross, cries out in the audience of them all, Consummatum est, it is finished. Now that wearisome work is ended, the dear work is ended, Heaven and life, and righteousness is conquered to the world for ever. This is the sum of the Gospel, the work of our Redemption is ended: this is all our preaching, Heaven, life, & glory is conquered again, to the lost world. Thou needest not to give one penny out of thy purse for Heaven. Cursed are they from the High Heaven, to the low Hell, that open their mouth to say, Thou must pay some of that ransom out of thy purse: Woe to the Papists who will stand up & say, Thou must pay some part of that ransom, woe to that foul mouth that dare be so bold to open it, and say, pay thou a part of that ransom with thy money, seeing that jesus Christ hath proclaimed that all is finished & bought by His blood, woe, vengeance and everlasting damnation shall light on the Pope, and all the Papists that dare open their mouths to speak such presumptuous words. Yet there is another work remaining, which is to put us in possession of Heaven, and He began this, at His resurrection: and He holds it on y●t, and shall continue it unto His coming again: And at that day of His coming, ye shall hear Him crying, All is ended: not on His Cross, but in glory: and all the Angels and all the Saints shall cry, All is ended, Glory to him who hath ended all, & no more shall be. Look down to His heart, and to the sense, from whence this voice arose, when He says this: ye shall find that jesus felt the wrath of His Father assuaged. Before He was in an agony: now He feels the agony to cease: where before He found no joy, now joy returns: On the sense of all these things, falls out this voice, All is ended. When I look to this, I think I see the image of a godly Saint dying: for the godly are like to him in death and life. Before the last moment they are in a battle, and suddenly they will say, I have gotten the victory in jesus: and then last they will yield up the spirit. Come to the last voice: It is a voice of joy. I am of that opinion, that before the Lord yielded up the ghost, the agony left him, and that joy that had left him, returned again, and made him to utter joyful words. The Evangelists say, He cried with a loud voice. What voice this is, Luke expresses, Father, into thine hands I recommend my spirit. All that were standing about might have heard him uttering this powerful voice. Now ye would wonder, that a man immediately yielding up his spirit, should have such a strong voice. Ye see men and women, in death their voice will fail them: some will not have any voice, and some not any sign: some, if they get that grace to speak, yet it will be a weak voice, because the strength of nature fails. Yet jesus all the day before uttered not so shrill a voice. So it must follow, that natural strength was not failed in jesus Christ, and that by the strength of nature, he might have lived long: for the other two lived long, and were not dead, till they came and broke their legs. jesus died against nature: neither was he broken as they were. What follows of this? jesus Christ in that same moment that he yielded the spirit, he had a power above nature: and a divine power against nature, which puts out the life: and, if he had power against nature to put out his life, he uttered before the jews, that they had no power to put out his life, and that he had a power to keep his life if it had pleased him: And that is it which he says, None takes my life from me, but I lay it down, and I take it up again. Ye will hear, that when word came to Pilate that JESUS was dead, he wondered, and all the world wondered at this yielding up of the spirit. And by this the Lord would show, that he was not a common man: he would show, that he was God, either to keep his life, or to put it out, at his pleasure. He says, Father, into thine hands I commend my spirit. These words are far from this, My God, my God, why hast, etc. for those words proceeded of great sadness mixed with confidence, but of no joy: but these words, Father, into thine hands, etc. as they proceeded of confidence, so they proceeded of a wonderful joy. No doubt, at this time he feels that sweet hand of the Father dealing with him most sweetly: not as the reprobate: Alas, the hand of the Lord in justice striking the soul of the reprobate, loses it from the body, with the sense of extreme wrath. But the Lord feels the hand of the Father losing his soul from the body with sweetness. And all they who die in CHRIST, will feel the Father losing the soul with sweetness, as these last words utter. Look to the Martyrs: they never utter the first voice, My God, my God, etc. No, but the second, Father, into thine hands I commend my spirit, because they find joy in torment▪ Steven, the first Martyr, uttered the second voice, ACTS, CHAP. VII. VERS. 59 And the rest of the Martyrs followed him: which testifies plainly, that this was a voice of joy that JESUS uttered. But mark the words of CHRIST: ye see that every man and woman, beside the body, they have a spirit, and more beautiful, and far more precious of substance than the body, and yet it lodges in an house of clay, and in an earthly Tabernacle. Next, there will be a separation of the soul and the body. Thou thinkest ever to live, but whether thou wilt or thou wilt not, thy soul shall be separate from the body, and then the body shall die. Shall thy soul die? No, if thou be in CHRIST, the Father shall take thy soul.  
Now again, Brethren, see how careful the Lord is of his soul at the point of death. If jesus, who had no sin, is so careful of his soul; I pray thee, who art a sinful body, how careful shouldest thou be thereof? It must live, either in Heaven, or in Hell: if the Lord cried so loud that the earth quaked again, & till the Temple rend asunder; wilt not thou, a sinful creature, be careful of thy soul? A man should have care of the soul at all times, but chief at the hour of the separation, for at that time the Devil is busy to devour thee, and the golf of Hell to swallow thee up. Then look how careful thou shouldest be in following the example of jesus, to recommend the soul into the hands of the Father: and look how careful thou art to render the soul into the hands of the Father; the Father shall be as careful to lose the soul, if thou be in jesus Christ, to convoy it with Him to rest for evermore in His blessed bosom. The LORD give us grace to commend our souls into the hands of that faithful keeper in the hour of death, and that we may find Him ready to receive and convoye them with Him to that everlasting rest, purchased to us through Christ: To whom with the Father, and the blessed Spirit, be praise for evermore: AMEN.   

THE XXII. LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVII. 
verse 50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up the ghost.  
verse 51 And behold, the vail of the Temple was rend in twain, from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the stones were cloven.  
verse 52 And the graves did open themselves, and many bodies of the Saints, which slept, arose,  
verse 53 And came out of the graves, after his resurrection, and went into the holy City, and appeared unto many.  
verse 54 When the Centurion, and they that were with him, watching jesus, saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.  MARK, CHAP. XV. 
verse 37 And jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.  
verse 38 And the vail of the Temple was rend in twain, from the top to the bottom.  
verse 39 Now when the Centurion, who stood over against him, saw that he thus crying, gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.  LUKE CHAP. XXIII. 
verse 46 And jesus cried with a loud voice, and said, Father, into thine hands I commend my spirit. And when he had thus said, he gave up the ghost.  
verse 47 Now when the Centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Of a surety this man was just.  
verse 48 And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things that were done, smote their breasts, and returned.  JOHN CHAP. XIX. 
verse 30 Now when jesus had received of the vinegar, he said, It is finished, and bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.  
WE heard the last day (well-beloved Brethren) the sundry voices and speeches which jesus Christ, whilst He hung quick on the Cross, and was nailed thorough hands and feet uttered in the audience of the whole people. The first two voices were the voices of pity and mercy. The one of mercy, to one of the thieves, that was crucified with Him, Verily (says the Lord) this day shalt thou be with me in Paradise. The other of pity, to His own Mother, (who stood by, looking on Him, when as He hung upon the Cross in extreme pain) recommending her to JOHN, His well-beloved Disciple. Other two voices, were voices of sadness, and heaviness of heart: The one an heavy complaint to His Father, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The other proceeding from an extreme drought, that came of that sense of wrath and pain which He felt during the time that He hung upon the Cross, I thirst. The last two voices were of joy, for it appears well, that before the Lord gave up the ghost, comfort and joy returned to Him again. And I am of this mind, that there are none, who are Gods own, but before their departure out of this life, (sooner or later) they will get a sense of that joy which they are to pass unto immediately. The first voice of joy, was, All is ended: As though He would say, This w●●ke is done, and ended, and now the ransom of the redemption of man is paid to the least farthing. Now the last voice was when He was immediately ready to render up His spirit into the hands of the Father, says, with a feeling of joy in the heart, Into thine hands, Father, I commend my Spirit. Now this day, we have to speak by His grace, First, of His death, and the yielding up of His Spirit: Next, of those wonders that fell out immediately after the Lord had rendered the Spirit: and thirdly, we have to speak how the multitude were moved when they saw these wonders. Now as concerning His death, the words are but few. john says, When He had spoken, and cried with a loud voice, He bowed down His head, and He rendered His Spirit. The words are to be marked, He renders His Spirit, first, as it were, He took His soul in His own Hand, and delivered it in the hands of the Father, desiring Him to keep it well, to the day of His glorious resurrection: for, Brethren, this is the difference between the godly, & ungodly in their death: as they differ, and are unlike to other in their life: so especially in their death. The ungodly cast away the soul and life, and cares not where it goes: but woe is to them that do so, they will never take up such a life again, when they have cast it▪ away, not regarding where it goes to, but thinking lightly of it. No, let no man nor woman cast away this life, or dislodge this soul lightly: if the soul go from thee lightly, and thou carest not for it: better it were for thee, never to have had a life, a soul, or a body. But again, Brethren, The Lord jesus, as all His life-time He is careful for the soul that is lodged in an earthly tabernacle: so chief, in the moment, when it is to fllit, The godly, they will not let the soul flit out of the body, until they know that the hand of the Lord, is sweetly losing the soul, to keep it, until the day of their glorious resurrection. Brethren, it would be well marked, There is not one of the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or john, but they note very precisely the death of the Lord, and the yielding up of His Spirit. As for the circumstances that fell out in His Passion: some will note one thing and leave another. As for example, These voices that He utters on the Cross, not one of the Evangelists hath them all, some hath one, and some another. But when it comes to the yielding of the Spirit, they all in one harmony note, The Lord gave up the Spirit. This is a thing not to be passed by, nor to be lightly looked on, and it lets us see, the death of our Saviour, the separation of His soul from His body, is so substantial, and so needful a thing both to Him to have suffered, and us to know, that except the Lord had suffered the death, all the crucifying of Him inwardly & outwardly, all the rest of His suffering had availed us nothing, the ransom of our sins had not been paid: for that was the curse that was laid upon us, to pull our soul from our body: and as it was needful that He should suffer the death for us, so it is needful to every one of us to know this, that my Saviour died, and His soul was really separated from His body, it is needful that thou have evermore the Lord jesus crucified before thee, and know that the soul was separated from His blessed body: for grace and remission of sins is conquered thorough the death of the Mediator: if thou hast not Faith of the death of the Mediator, it is unpossible that thou canst believe that thy soul shall come to Heaven. The Apost. Heb. 9 hath a notable comparison, he says, When a man hath made a Testament, and his legacy, wherein he leaves such inheritance to any man: his Testament can never be sure, nor ratified, before the man be dead: and if he ratify not the Testament with his death, it cannot be sure: for the man in this life may alter the Testament: But after that once he die, there it stands, it cannot be revoked: Even so says the Apostle, The Heir of the world, jesus Christ hath made a Testament, and such one as never man made, leaving such goods and heritage to His Saints, as never man left, even that heavenly Heritage, that exceeding Glory, Now, says the Apostle, If the Heir of the World, jesus Christ had not sealed up His Testament by His blood, it had never been sure, but His death interueening and closing it, than the Testament is sure, & all the world is not able to alter one jote of it, to add or diminish it. Woe be to him that will add any thing to the Testament of jesus Christ: he is counted a villain, who will add to a man's Testament. Wilt thou add or diminish any thing at thy pleasure, from the Testament of jesus Christ. This New Testament is the best Testament that ever was: Let Worldlings be content with the Testaments of their forefathers, yet count thou nothing at all, except thou get a part of the legacy left in His Testament. Woe be to thee, albeit thou get Earldoms and Kingdoms and great possessions left to thee by the Testament of thy forefathers, if thou gettest not this Testament. Well, Brethren, this Testament can not be ratified, but by the blood of the Testator. How can I believe it, except I know that He died, and that the soul was as verily separated from the body as ever the soul of man was: so when I consider the death of my Saviour, who hath made such a Testament, I am so far from that, to be offended at that shameful death, that the death is the ground of my salvation, and that in His death is all my glory, & the assurance of my life is in the assurance of His death, and His ignominy and shame is my glory.  
Now thus far for the death of the Lord jesus, Now come to the consideration of these wonders that fell out immediately, as He gave up the Ghost: The vail of the Temple rend asunder, from the top to the bottom, The earth quaked: Such things never fell out in all the deaths of men in the world: No, not in the deaths of all the Kings in the world: The stones were cloven, the graves of the dead did open. These are the four wonders that are noted to have fallen out immediately, when the Lord gave up the Ghost. Brethren, the Lord in His death, He was even in the extremity of His humiliation, He was weakened, made of no reputation the Lord of glory was tread upon by the feet of death, death stamping on Him, He could not be further humbled: there is nothing so ignominious as death: except it be sanctified: it is terrible and ignominious, so that if it be not sanctified in the death of the Lord jesus: it is but a curse to thee, & a vengeance from Heaven: yet for all this casting down of Him, His heavenly Father leaves Him not, but in His greatest humiliation the Father gives the greatest tokens of His glory, and He testifies that He was not only innocent, but that He was the Lord of glory, & that Godhead never left Him in that ignominious death, nor never shall leave Him, albeit it kept the self close, y● He might suffer that ignominious death, because it was not expedient that He should utter His power: yet that Godhead in His death wrought such wonders, that He testifies before the jews that that same man which hung there was the Lord of glory and the Lord of life. Will ye come further, that albeit that miserable people had not a tongue to speak, and would not give a testimony of the glory of CHRIST, the dumb and senseless creatures, who had not mouth, nor tongue, nor life, will not be silent, but will do their homage to the Lord. Fie on thee, and woe is thee, that ever thou got the mouth or tongue: the dumb creatures in their kinds do homage to their God, & glorifies Him, & shames all the world, & they shame all the disciples: for all were offended at Him now. So now the earth and the rocks shame them all: fie on them. The Lord as He came riding to jerusalem, like a glorious King, to give them a show of His glory, Luke 19 When the disciples cries, Hosanna, Blessed be he that comes in the Name of the Lord, the Pharises were angry at it: they were offended to see the Lord glorified. Then jesus answered, if these would hold their tongue, the stones would cry: These stones & senseless creatures shall cry and glorify Me, there should not be a wall in jerusalem, but they should have cried: if the disciples and the multitude had holden their tongue: and if men had their tongue, and glorify not God, the stones shall rise up, and shame them, and glorify Him. Now the mouth of the people is close, and not one of the disciples cried, Hosanna: yet the earth forgets Him not, she cries in her own manner, Hosanna: the rocks cry: the vail of the Temple cries, Hosanna whilst it rend asunder. Well, Brethren, blessed is the soul the hath a mouth to glorify God: woe to thee that hath gotten a tongue to glorify the Lord, & does it not: if the Lord in humiliation was glorified by the dumb creatures, can He want His glory now in Heaven? if thou glorifiest not God, another shall glorify Him: if no man shall glorify Him, the sea, the earth, the sun, & the moon shall glorify Him: & thou, albeit thou were a King, shalt be thrust in Hell to thine everlasting shame. Now Brethren, there is not one of these four wonders, but particularly they would be considered: & first, The renting of the vail of the Temple. The vail of the Temple was a fair wall, overgilt with fine gold there was never a thing so glorious outward in this world, as that Temple, upon the which hang a glorious Tapestry wrought curiously: it divided the most holy place, called the Sanctuary, wherein the Lord gave His presence, & it was the type of that heavenly Sanctuary, wherein jesus Christ entered by His blood, it got the name from the office & use, it was called a vail, a covering, because it hide the Sanctuary from the sight of the people, & of the Priests: only the High Priests excepted who entered in it once in the year, and that not without blood: No, for his life he durst not enter in it without blood. Now when the LORD gives up the Ghost, this vail cleaves in twain▪ and in a manner he makes an answer to the voice of the Lord. Wilt thou who hast life, reason, mou●h, and tongue, answer Him, He will make the vail to answer Him. The Lord said a little, before He gave up the Ghost, Consummatum est: All is ended, the ceremonies of the Law of Moses are ended: the shadows are away: there is no more use of that vail. When the vail hears this, The vail says, Amen, it is true my Lord, & here for my part, I give over my office, and I give the sight of the Sanctuary to the people, and shall not hide it any mo●e: for jesus Christ hath opene● up the vail, and pulled it down, and mad● an entry to the Sanctuary by His blood. Well, this is the preaching of the vail to the jews. But heard they this? Take the High Priests any h●ed to this lang●age of the vail? No, they were never busier in the Ceremonies, than after they heard this speech: They saw the vail rend, but they took no lesson by it, there is a wonderful induration, Paul 2. Cor. 3. tells the cause, There was another vail laid on their hearts, so that they could neither see not hear. It was harder to rend that vail, than an hundredth veils of stone. Lord keep us from that reprobate sense: alas, that we should not take heed to this: The earthly vail rend asunder at the voice of the Lord, but the vail of their heart could not b●e rend, neither for the voice of the Lord, nor yet for the wonders. This is the lesson: Every one of us should take heed to our heart: after that once a man be given up to a reprobate sense, as this people was: after that once thou beginnest to do against thy knowledge, either in manners, or in religion: after that once thou beginnest to do against: conscience, thou wilt do the contrary of all that it bids thee▪ thy conscience telling thee, when thou art going to murder, to harlotry, to oppression, to anger thy God, all is wrong do it not: yet thou wilt tramp on the belly of thy conscience. In the first Chapter to the Romans ye may read the end of this, As thou wilt not hear thy conscience, and the voice of God, the Lord catches thy conscience from thee, and casts thee over to a reprobate sense: so that thou art past feeling, that it were better to speak to a stone, than to thine heart, and when I speak to that pillar, it sh●ll rather rend than thine heart. wouldst thou see a wonder: The Papists would bring in wonders, but bring in a man who is regenerate that is a wonder: yea, it is a great wonder, to alter thine hard and stony heart, than to cleave the hardest rock that ever was. Let me see an regenerate man, from whom that scroofe is taken away: it is a greater wonder to see a regenerate man from whom that scroofe is taken away, than that all the rocks should rend. This for the first wonder: now follows the second. The Earth quakes: No doubt, but with the quaking of the earth, there was a sore din, whilst the soul of the Lord separated from the body. O! what a thing was it to draw the soul of the Saviour of the world from the body: No, the renting of the rocks was nothing in respect of that drawing of the soul of the Mediator from the body: The Earth is holden up by the mighty hand of the Lord: and when it shakes, the mighty hand of the Lord shakes it. When the Lord gins to shake His arm, all the mountains shakes: it is no jesting for if He hit thee, He will bruise thee in pieces, although all the world were about thee. What is miserable man doing, that will not know the power of the Almighty God: This shaking means a threatening to this people: and the earth threatens to swallow them all up, for their indignity they wrought to their Lord their Maker. If thou dishonourest thy Maker, the earth shall open and swallow thee up, as it did Core, Dathan and Abiram▪ who withstood Moses: No, it is a wonder that the earth should bear men. No, I protest, I would not wonder so much, if the earth opened and swallowed some men, as I wonder that the Lord in His long suffering patience spares them, and holds His hand and judgement off them. It is a wonder that the houses fall not down on the blasphemers, and the chambers, where they commit their filthiness should not smother them▪ But He shall cause an heavier thing fall on the body and soul, than a thousand mountains were tumbled on them: thou dost nothing but heaps up wrath, as the Apost. says, against the day of wrath. No, wrath, and heavy wrath shall be heaped on them. So the earth threatens th●m, for the indignity they did to their Lord. Ye see, that after the earth quaked, it will swallow up towns and people: but she swallows them not up now, but the earth vomits them out, as not worthy to bear them in her belly No, she thought them over bitter to be within her, who had dishonoured her Creator: but afterward look what came on them. The earth will revenge that foul thing done to her Lord: the land of judea spewed them out, and the earth will not let that cursed kind have a foot-breadth of her. O! what is it to have battle with the Creator, when He gins to arm the earth or any creature against thee, we would think that this shaking of the earth should have moved them, yet t●ey take no thought for it. At the voice of the Lord the earth did shake, but did the Priests and the Scribes shake? Are they moved at the din and shaking of the earth? So again, I say there is nothing so unmovable: No, not the earth, as thine hardened heart will be at all the denunciations that will come from Heaven, or Hell: save thy self from a reprobate sense, or else thou shalt never be wakened, till thou be thrust into hell, where thou shalt be tormented with endless vexation without any hope of comfort. This for the second wonder. Now let us come to the clieving of the Mountains. This follows on the former: as the earth opened to swallow them, so the mountains clove to tumble upon them: The mountains will not suffer them to dishonour their maker. What moved this, the jews? Even as much as the other two. No question it was a great and terrible noise, when the mountains clove. Woe to a senseless heart: The mountains may cleave, and shiver and quake, but if thy soul be given to induration, the stones & mountains shall be moved, and broken, but thine heart shall never break. Woe again to a senseless heart, which is not moved at the word of God: that Sceptre of iron (whereof ye read, 2. Psal.) shall light on thee, & bruise thee in pieces: Therefore, cast away that vail from thine heart, and strive to keep light in thy soul & conscience, and walk in sobriety, till thy God call on thee, and then thou shalt see a blessed end. Now we come to the last wonder which was wrought. The graves do their duty: they forget not their maker: but in their manner, they glorify their Lord God, and honour Him: yea, death itself, with the grave, do Him homage and honour. But miserable man will not honour Him: The graves lay open from three a clock after noon (for about three a clock the Lord gave up the ghost,) and they lay open all that day & all that night, & all the day following, and the next night till the morning that the Lord rises: and then the bodies of the Saints also arole, by virtue of His resurrection, and went into the City. The graves will tell the miserable people, that the Lord jesus had loosed the bands of the grave by His death. By death He slew death: with her own sword He slew her, as we speak. She would teach them, that the bodies in that Great day shall rise up by the virtue of that resurrection of jesus Christ. This question may be asked. What became of those bodies which arose & went into the City? Did they lay them down again in the grave, or ascended they to Heaven? I will not be curious in this purpose: But in my judgement, they were taken up to the heavens with jesus Christ, to be an argument of our resurrection & going to the heavens. This was a fair lesson: but this miserable people was not moved. Woe to a stony & senseless heart: the grave may open, but nothing will open a senseless soul. Therefore, I beseech you strive to get a soft and mollified heart. The voice of jesus made the earth to quake, the rocks to rent, the graves to open, the dead to rise: but the voice of the LORD opened not their hearts: then He opens the graves: It is an easier thing to raise a dead body out of the grave, than to raise thy soul, if it be once hardened: it is more wonderful to raise a dead soul, and to see that soul get a sense of Heaven, than to see all the bodies of the Churchyard rising.  
Now to compare these wonders, There are two of them, The first and the last that teach this people: The other two, the second and the third that threatens them. The quaking of the earth, and the renting of the rocks threaten a damage and destruction to them: and in this temperature of His wonders: As the power of God, so the wisdom of God appears wonderfully: He threatens this people for the indignity, that they had done to the LORD of glory, with Hell and death, yet He holds up His hands. O! how unwilling He is to strike, but if He light on thee, He will cause thee squeele: He is aiming: He is shaking that terrible arm, and threatening them: in the mean time the Lord is remembering His mercy, and teaches them by wonders, to look yet if they will take a lesson, to repent of all the indignity that they had done: He threatens them with the one hand, and offers mercy with the other, to see if they will repent. This is the dealing of the Lord He warns them, and He says. Yet I will not swallow thee up with the earth, and I will not let the rocks tumble down on thee, to devour thee, yet repent: for there is g●ace for thee, if thou turnest. Brethren, no man shall go to Hell, without advertisement to stand, to the end, that if thou wilt not repent, when the Lord gins to put hand in thee, and to rend thee, thy mouth may be closed, that thou canst not say: Lord▪ I got no warning, all excuses shall be put away. Alas, will not men learn for all this shaking of the mountains. Lord shake these hearts of ours, & the Lord be merciful to all sinful souls, & to senseless creatures, lest when they shall cry Peace, & all things are sure enough, them sudden judgement approach & the wrath come & overtake them. Now come to the last thing & I shall end. Are there none that are moved at all at these wonders? Amongst so many hundreths & thousands is there not one moved? yes there are some moved, & who are these? are the high Priests moved? No, not a whit, is there any of the rest of the order of the Priests moved? Not, They continue blind and dumb. Are the Pharises, and the Scribes, or the Elders moved? No: They are not moved; but the more they hear, their hearts are the more hardened. Who are then moved at these wonders? It is an Ethnic body, a Captain of men of war under PILATE, and a pagan, who never once knew GOD, yet when he sees this, and heard the voices, he says, Of a surety this man was just: And more he says, Truly this was the Son of GOD. Is there any more? Yes: A band of men of war: Not of the jew, but such as had lived on robbery, without the fear of GOD, they feared greatly, and said also, Truly this man was the Son of GOD. Who of the jew is moved? Not the Scribes, and the Pharises, and the rest of the Order, they are nothing moved: but the silly multitude, who cried before, Crucify him, now they go home, smiting on their breasts, and crying, woe to them for that days labour: but there was never a motion in the Priests, or in any of the Princes or Pharises▪ or Scribes. It is a wonderful thing, to see that they who had judgement and understanding, and who had read all the prophecies of the MESSIAH to come, got no sense: yet a silly multitude gets some sight and sense. Would ye know and point out a senseless creature, who will not be moved neither by work nor word: It is such a man, as hath this worldly wisdom: Such a man, as hath knowledge, and yet does against his knowledge and conscience: for all that these Priests and Pharises did, was both against knowledge and conscience: They repined against the Holy Spirit, and against their conscience, they crucify jesus. Whosoever thou art, who opponest thee to the brightness of the Gospel, thou crucifiest the Lord of glory: and as it shallbe laid to the charge of the high Priests and Pharises, and of Pilate, and Herode, in that Great day, that they crucified JESUS CHRIST: So it shall be laid to thy charge, and thou shalt be as guilty of His blood, as they. Woe to that soul which will resist that word and the Holy Spirit. Woe shall be to the great men in this land, who against conscience conspires against CHRIST, Religion, and their native Country, for wrath and vengeance remaineth for them, if they leave not off this unhappy course: The King of SPAIN, and all their associates shall not be able to hold vengeance off them, that shall one day be heaped upon their heads. The LORD save us from induration, and never suffer us to repine against Light, nor to scrape it out of our soul and conscience.  
I see here further: The LORD gets more friends in His death, than in His life: The Centurion, and the men of war, they curse the time that ever they were employed in that service: The multitude, who bade crucify Him, thorough blindness and ignorance; now they repent the time that ever they did it, and they return homewards, knocking upon their breasts. That immaculate Lamb, that precious Sacrifice, hanging thus on the Cross, He cast such a sweet smell on the earth, and on the people, that they who were His enemies, go away mourning. This falls out often times in the Martyrs, for some people goes out with them, who would eat them: and yet the LORD JESUS makes their death to cast such a sweet smell, that it is effectual to move many thousands to mourn, and to be converted: So that it is found to be true, that the blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the Kirke. And they who would have swallowed them before in their death, pities them, and become their friends, thorough the sweet smell, which they felt coming from their death, and would go home mourning, that ever they were enemies unto them, and were instruments of their death.  
Therefore, let the enemies of the truth persecute the Saints of GOD, and His Truth, with Fire and Sword, as they please; They shall get no vantage, and they shall not get this Light quenched: for there shall such a sweet smell arise out of the ashes of the Saints, which in despite of the enemies far more shall be won to JESUS CHRIST by their death, than ever was won to Him by their life: To Him, therefore, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all Honour, Praise, and Glory, for evermore:  
AMEN.   

THE XXIII. LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVII. 
verse 55 And many women were there, beholding him afar off, who had followed jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him.  
verse 56 Among whom was Marie Magdalene, and Marie the Mother of james, and joses, and the mother of Zebedeus sons.  MARK, CHAP. XV. 
verse 40 There were also women, who beheld afar off, among whom was Marie Magdalene, and Marie the Mother of James the less, and of joses, and Salome,  
verse 41 Who also when He was in Galilee, followed Him, and ministered unto Him, and many other women, who came up with Him unto Jerusalem.  LUKE CHAP. XXIII. 
verse 49 And all his acquaintance stood afar off, and the women that followed him from Galilee, beholding these things.  JOHN CHAP. XIX. 
verse 31 The jews then (because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the Cross on the Sabbath day: for that Sabbath was an high day●) besought Pilate, that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken down.  
WE have heard these days past (beloved Brethren in Christ) what was the part of the whole multitude of the wicked, and persecutors of JESUS CHRIST, in crucifying Him, in taunting and scorning Him: Doubtless, there were in that company some of the godly, who loved the LORD JESUS: but seeing we have heard nothing of them as yet, therefore this day we shall speak somewhat in their behalf. Now, what are they doing in the mean time? They are standing afar off. Some men & many women, who all that time had followed Him before, standing to see that sad spectacle: yet with sadness they had joy, no question: And this is the first part of our TEXT, which we have read, out of MATTHEW, MARK, and LUKE. After this we enter into the History of Christ's burial: But before we come to His burial, we have in the XIX. CHAPTER of JOHN, the History of the taking down of His body from the Cross: So at this time, by God's grace, we shall speak of these two, to wit, Of the part of the godly, who loved Him, and next, Of the taking down of that blessed body from the Cross, after it was dead. Then, to come shortly to the purpose: It is said, And all his acquaintance stood afar off. There is the general: Then comes on the particular, Many women: particular mention is made of them: Many women are standing afar off, looking on. We heard of before in the XIX. of JOHN, vers. 23. of three women chiefly, Marry the Mother of jesus, and other two Maries, together with His well-beloved Disciple JOHN: and they were standing at that time when He hung quick upon the Cross, so near hand Him, that He speaks to them from the Cross, and they heard Him. So Brethren, this standing afar off at this time, as I take it, hath been after the Lord had given up the ghost, when the women are returning home again, being loath to part company with Him: and as they were going home, they turned about, & looked to jesus hinging on the Cross, on Mount Caluarie: They stand first near, & then turning home again, they stand afar off. No question, it was the love they bore to the Lord, that drew them after him, when he went to be crucified, & that same love that they bore to him was so tender & entire, that it made them to stand & look on him when he hung on the Cross: and that love they bore to the Lord jesus made them to sever from the rest of the multitude, and to gather themselves together, and look back to Him where He was hanging. For this is a sure thing, Those that meet together in one faith and love in the Lord jesus, of mere force they must meet together among themselves, and be linked together by the band of love in one body. By the contrary, those who meet not together in one faith in jesus Christ, their hearts will never be joined in this world, they will never meet to make one body, they will never separate themselves from the multitude of this world: No, if it were all my kindred, father, and mother, brother, and sister, if they love not the Lord jesus, mine heart and his shall never be linked together in this world, nor in the world to come: He that loveth not the Lord jesus, (as Paul says, 1. Corin. Chap. 16.) let him be Anathema maran-atha▪ that is, cursed for evermore. But he who loves the Lord jesus, and meets with me in Him, let him be what he will, let him be in the utmost corner of the world, mine heart and his is linked together, and there is a conjunction which never shall be separated, neither in the Heaven, nor in the Earth: it shall last for ever.  
Brethren, when I consider this multitude here standing, looking upon Him when He hung upon the Cross, I think I see an image of the whole world: for it is a world of people, who are standing about Him: there are Gentiles, there are Jews, and the false adulterous kirk, there are Priests, Pharises, Elders, blind guides of the people, & a profane multitude, enemies of all sorts: And as there are many enemies to Christ, So there is a silly handful of godly men and women, gathered together, looking upon that sad spectacle; who resembled the true Kirke militant here upon the face of the earth: And as in all this multitude, like draws to like, The wicked and the ungodly rank themselves together, The Priest's rank themselves together. The soldiers rank themselves together; and also the godly rank themselves together, and look upon that sad spectacle, their Lord crucified. Well, this is common to all: all are standing looking to CHRIST, hanging on the Cross upon the top of the Mount Caluarie, Jewe, and Gentile, wicked, and godly, all are looking: But in looking there is a great difference: There are some delighting their eyes with the spectacle, there are some feeding the malice of their hearts, and drinking the blood of JESUS CHRIST, the Priests, the Pharises, and the Elders: But the godly are looking on with sadness of their hearts: And I doubt not, but as with sadness, so also they are looking on Him with joy, by faith in His glorious resurrection. There are many this same hour who have their eyes fixed on Christ, both Turks and Pagans, and the true Kirke, and the false Kirke: but one cause moves not all. Take heed, therefore, how thou lookest, either to His Cross, or to His glory: look that thy soul be set on Him, and see that by looking unto Him, thou press to be partaker of the fruit of His death and resurrection: for if thou lookest to Him for the fashion, or in malice, as the Turks do, and the Pagans, and the Papists, enemies to His Cross, thou shalt perish: & better had it been to thee never to have heard of jesus, or never to have seen Him. Further, this would be well considered: We see if we have a friend, whom we love well, if he betaken out to a shameful death (there was never such a shameful death as this) we will think shame of him, and he will think shame that his friends should see him in that estate. Who would think but that the acquaintances of jesus should have thought shame of Him, to have convoyed their friend to such an ignominious death, and to have seen Him so shamefully demained. So that, Brethren, when I consider this matter well, I perceive that those His familiars and acquaintance have seen further into Christ, than men & women do commonly. No doubt but the friends of Christ, who came to see Him hanging in ignominy, saw life in that death: they saw glory in His ignominy; otherwise they had never come to see Him hanging in ignominy: And no doubt they felt a sweet perfume flowing from that Sacrifice: It was the sweetest smelling Sacrifice that ever was offered. All the perfume and incense that ever was offered, passed not up with such a sweet smell in the nostrils of the Father, as that one blessed sacrifice did: And as it smelled sweetly in the nostrils of the Father: so did it cast a sweeter smell in the nose of the godly, than ever they found: and they thought it had such a fragrant odour, and such a sweet smell unto them, that they thought, ere they had been separated from Him in His death, they had rather chosen to have died a thousand deaths: for as the Lord says, Wheresoever the carrion is, there must the eagle's resort. Well is the man who in his death finds the sweet smell of the death of jesus Christ. I have no more to say of this matter, but if this acquaintance of jesus for the time took such a pleasure in His death, (being shameful,) that they could not be separated from Him, it is a shame to us to draw so far back from Him, not now hanging in ignominy on the cross, but most glorious in the Heavens. Fie on this dull headed and dead world, that hath no sense of that glory, and is not alured by that unspeakable glory, rather to suffer a thou and deaths, albeit it were the sword, the fire, and all torments, than to be separated from this jesus Christ: But the women's part is more particularly to be considered: Let all women take heed: it is said, Many women were there, More of them, have followed the Lord to the cross, than men, that I may speak to the glory of GOD, and shame of men. As for men, I find nothing but this general. In Luke a company of men and women, but in Matthew and Mark, I find of women especially: they are looking on Him with sadness mixed with joy: And from whence came they? It is said, that They came out of Galilee, following on Him: they never left Him, they wearied not to follow such a guide, they ministered to Him on their own charge: As they were fed with that bread of life, that came out of His mouth, so they spared not, freely and liberally to communicate all that they had to Him: And happy is the man, who so finds the effect of the word of life in his heart, that he would bestow again, all that he hath for the love of that word. Brethren, ye know, what is in hand presently: many words need not: seeing this division of the town in competent Congregations intended, is to feed your souls with the word of life: spare not for goods to get that word of life.  
Now, I see beside the multitude, mention made of three women, Marry Magdalene, then, Marry the mother of james the less, and of joses, and Salome, the mother of the two sons of Zebedeus: No question, these women mentioned here have borne a tender affection to the Lord: forgets the Lord that love they bore to Him in all times before, in following Him from Galilee to jerusalem, and from jerusalem unto the ignominious death of the cross and there staying with the Lord, and not leaving Him, but ministering to Him: forgets the Lord this? No, but He remembers upon it: thou shalt never do a good deed to JESUS CHRIST, but He shall meet thee: they love Him, and He honours them: they never left Him: they shamed the men yea, His disciples: yea, even the very Apostles: for we read not of any of all His Apostles, that any of them was there present, except john: Peter had taken him to a back side, for all his stoutness before: the rest were offended in Him: These women did cleave to Him through the band of love: forgets the Lord this? No: as they love Him beyond His Apostles: so the Lord honours them above the Apostles. It is no small thing to get the honour to be an eye witness of the death and resurrection of JESUS CHRIST: it is greater honour than all the honour in the world. No doubt, the LORD made these women in their turning back preachers to the Apostles themselves: they told Peter, james and Matthew what they had seen: there is none end of honour, when the Lord gins to honour: as He honours them to be witnesses of His death, and preachers of it to others: so He will have the names of some of them to be registrate to the posterity. And it is the will of JESUS CHRIST, that this day I promulgate the names of these women in your audience, to their honour, after so many hundredth years, and their names shall be registrate perpetually to their everlasting honour, whilst JESUS CHRIST come again: yea, their names shall be written in the Heavens everlastingly. Never one reputes the gratitude done to JESUS CHRIST: thou shalt get two good deeds for one. Again, the LORD will let us see in the example of these women that oft times in women there will be a more tender love to the Lord JESUS, than in men, who are the stronger sex: ye will see the weaker and simpler that the sex be, and the less worldly wit that it have, the more spiritually it is disposed, the more affectionate it is to heavenly things, the greater heavenly wisdom it hath. If any man, says PAUL, seem to be wise in this world, let him be a fool, that he may be wise, that is tru●ly wise, wise in GOD, 1. Cor. 3.18. And as their love is great, so the Lord will honour them to the shame of men, and whereas men should preach CHRIST, He will make women to preach JESUS CHRIST to men, to the shame of men, and His own glory. All tends to this, that as men and women do desire to be honoured of God, so all men and women should strive continually to love and glorify GOD. GOD loves none, nor honours none, but only those who love and honour the Lord jesus Christ: if thou lovest not the Lord jesus Christ, thou shalt get no love nor honour of God: yet further, this is not to be passed by, the world wonders now, that He had such an eye to these three women: There were many hundredth men, but how many of their names were registrate to their honour? He had such a respect to them, that He espied them out beside the rest of thousands that were there, and by His Holy Spirit caused registrate them. This registrating of them came not rashly, but from an ordinance of God, and His especial Providence. There is not a public convention, albeit it were a man hanged, where multitudes of men and women run together to hear & see, but the allseeing eye of the Lord is upon every person in particular, man, woman, lad, or lass. Never an head there, great or small, poor or rich, noble, or ignoble, but the eye of the Lord is on them: yea, it goes down to the inward affections, to rip and search them, to see of what disposition every soul is. As for example, we are all met together here, sundry men and women, some greater, some smaller, some younger, some older: yet there is not one of us, on whom the Lord hath not His eye. We are met, to see jesus Christ crucified on mount Caluarie, there is not one of our hearts, but the eye of the Lord sees it, and He sees wherefore, and for what end thou art come to that meeting, whether it be to feed thine ears, and to take delectation in hearing of new things, or to take pastime to see, and be seen, or to eschew the shame of the world, or whether thou comest to reap profit, and to be edified of that thou hearest, and to get life of that Cross and death of Christ: for therein stands thy life, and this should be the end of thy meeting with God's children. Th●n seeing the eye of the Lord is set on every soul: therefore it becomes every one of us, to strive to approve our hearts to the Lord: so that every one of us may say to the Lord, for this end am I come, O Lord, to be partaker of the fruit of the death of jesus Christ. Woe to them who come for another cause, or sinistrous respect, and come not to be edified: for the Gospel shall never be a word of life to them, but a savour of death unto death. If it work not life in thee, and if the Spirit work not life by the preaching of the Cross, it shall be the power of death to thy soul.  
Brethren, we have hear the first part: Now we have to speak of the second part: The taking of His body down from the Cross before His burial. The taking down of the body of the Lord jesus Christ, the Lord of lords▪ comes of a request made to Pilate, and made not by His friends, but by His enemies. I see this, this miserable people of the jews were spoiled of all power, as they had no power to hang any: so they had no power to take any down from the Cross, or from the gallows, without the leave of the Magistrate: they were spoiled of all power by the judgement of God, & therefore, they behoved to have recourse to Pilate: they were slaves, yet they would not acknowledge the true King of glory, who might have made them free. I see here a commendable thing in the Roman policy, As it was not lawful to hang any without the command and licence of the Magistrate, so they who were hanged, might not be taken without the licence of the judge. There sold nothing be done to a guilty person, but by the authority of the judge. God in His judicial Law, gave not only Laws concerning the lifting of men upon the cross, but also of the taking down of them from the cross. It is well to be marked, who it is that gives the advise, that the Lord with the other two should be taken down from the cross, to put an end both to their pain, and their ignominy. It is not one of His disciples, it is not Peter, nor john, nor Matthew, they are not so bold, they durst not presume it: No, it was His enemies that crucified Him, that interponed their request for Him? Was this a benefit they did to Him? Certainly this was a benefit they did to Him, to take Him down from the cross: yet they do it, not to benefit Him, for any pity they had on Him: for they thought, that He was living but the Lord had given up the Ghost. When thy friends will not make a suit for thee, the Lord will raise up thine enemies to do thee good: He cannot only make thy friend do thee good, but thy foe also. If thou be the Lords, He can make them who would wish thee woe, to do thee good: if thou be the Lords, the fire, the water, and the sword, which otherwise would devour thee, shall benefit thee: the Lord, against all men's expectation, shall do thee good, if thou be the Lords▪ thou shalt not want relief. Now, what was the sum of their request? They besought Pilate, that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken down. That is, that they might be put out of pain, and that they might make an end of them: for they thought they were quick. Now, whether this request was upon a custom used amongst them, or not, the Text declares not: but it seems, except the feast of the passover had intervened that same time, that they would not have been careful of them▪ but would have suffered them to hang whilst they had yielded up the Ghost. The other two were quick in pain, when the Lord yielded up the spirit. I note this: When thy enemies do thee a good turn, they do it never of love. These might have dispatched the Lord, and the two thieves, with less pain, than to have broken their thighs: They had taken their lives sooner from them, if they had beaten out their brains. So when thy enemy benefits thee, and does thee any good turn, be sure he does it not of purpose, to do thee good: as we commonly speak, If he give thee a bit, he will give thee a buffet with it: Sour and bitter is the benefit of the enemy. Indeed it is true, that the Lord, who makes all things to work for the best, to them that loves Him, will dispose their doings otherwise, and make them to work thy good: And therefore, have thine eye set upon the Lord, and He shall make the malice and bitterness of thine enemy to turn to thy comfort. There is another thing to be marked: The Lord had ordained, that there should not be one bone broken of CHRIST, and so it was foretold. Now will ye see the force of the word and providence of God: The force of the word and providence of God appears the more clearly by this opposition which is made to His ordinance: The jews requested to have His bones broken, and Pilate gave commandment to break them: But is there any bone broken, notwithstanding their suit, and pilate's commandment? No, not one. This lets us see, That if God have ordained & said any thing, it lies not in the hands of any man to disannul it: If God shall say, There shall not be one bone of my anointed broken; great Caesar, and all the Kings of the earth, the king of Spain, and the Pope, and all their adherents, shall not be able to do the contrary. So in the midst of all fear and danger, let us depend upon the providence of God, and say, Lord, if thou hast said otherwise, than these men's intentions are, I will not be afraid for them, I know they are not able to do any thing without thy providence▪ and so, Lord, I lean only on thy providence, and am content with thy will. So in these miserable days, we are to lean to God, and to depend on His providence, and we shall see the vain enterprises of men vanish away like smoke, and we shall see the wicked to be made spectacles to all the world. Let us see what moved the jew to make this request: Was it pity that moved them? No: They had no pity of Him. Was it obedience to the commandment of God, who commanded, that an hanged man should be cut down that same day, because he was accursed? Deu. 21.22.23. No, it was a vain superstition that moved them, they were to celebrate the Pass●ouer, and this was the day of their preparation, they were preparing them by crucifying the innocent, the Lord of glory. Was this an holy preparation? This was the Friday, and the morn was the Pa●che. john says, that was, an high day, or a great Sabbath, because they kept two holy days together, both their own ordinary Sabbath, and the extraordinary passover, and this they did contrary to the ordinance of GOD: for they should have celebrated the passover on Thursday, as the LORD did: for He celebrated it that night that He was betrayed by judas, and led away captive by the jews. So they did cast in the two Holy days together, according to their custom: for when the passover fell to be on Thursday, they used to delay it until the Saturday which was their Sabbath day, lest that if these feasts which are so near other, had been both kept, the people should have wearied, and if Christ & the other had not been taken down, tha● that Holy exercise would have been defiled. So they thought, if they had been taken down from the cross, and put away, they had been holy enough. And upon that same pretence, when they were to accuse Christ, they would not enter in the common Hall, lest they should have been polluted. They were Hypocrites, they polluted the world, and defiled the earth that they tread on. A polluted body who hath no sanctification in Christ, there is nothing that he touches, meat, or drink: yea, the earth he walks on, but he defiles all: yet these foul Hypocrites thought, that if jesus who sanctifies the Sabbath, and sanctifies the heart, had been taken away they had been holy enough. An Hypocrite is a foul body, & defiles all that he handles. All his religion is outward standing in bodily exercises: and when he hath polluted all, yea, the very earth he treads on: he will say, Handle not, touch not, taste not, that will pollute thee, Coloss. 2.21. There is his religion: When the foul body defiles the air, the earth, the Heaven, he bids thee touch it not, lest it defile thee, when he defiles all that he touches.  
Now they get the request granted them, and gets a commandment of Pilate, and so The men of war came forward, and broke the legs of the one first▪ and then they came to the other, and broke his also: They broke both their legs with great pain and torment.  
Now, will ye see these 2 thieves, they are like in their death, both are crucified, & in end both their thighs are broken: yet for all this, the one of them is a vessel of glory, and he had a promise of glory, and an assurance of it in his heart: the other had none. So, Brethren, take heed: though the death of the wicked, and the godly be alike: yet they are not alike in condition: judge not of men's estate by the outward misery: measure not Heaven and Hell by the outward death: The Elect and the wicked will be oft times alike in death, and oft times the Elect will die in the greatest torments. Who suffered more painful deaths, than the Martyrs did: Beware that thou say, as the Papists, who are enemies to Christ, say: They teach, albeit that in jesus Christ thy sin be forgiven: yet the pain is not forgiven: and they say, that the pain that the godly suffer in death, is a satisfaction for sin: They say that the pain of the penitent thief was the punishment of his sin: but they lie, and the Lord shall justify it. The Elect suffer no pain for sin: torment them as they will, burn them, scaled them, all is but a merciful chastisement, and death to them is a fair port to Heaven: He makes darkness to be light to His own.  
Well, this for the execution of the two thieves: They come to the Lord, to see whether He was dead or not: they are not rash: they find Him dead: they find no spunk of life in Him: therefore they offer not to break His thighs: See how the word and providence of God takes effect. The Lord had said, One bone of Him should not be broken: and therefore to preveene the breaking, the Lord miraculously took the Spirit from His Son: His death was miraculous, as ye heard before: by the strength of nature He might have lived longer, as that great and mighty voice which he uttered last, testifies: and so His sudden death was a mean to perform the lords ordinance: He would use this, as the ordinary mean to execute the eternal decree of the Father. It is a folly to thee, to say, thou wilt depend on the providence of God, and in the mean time to leave off means: for by so doing thou temptest God, who as He hath ordained the end, so He hath also ordained the means to the end. As for example, If thou wouldst go to Heaven, thou must use the means, the hearing of the word, etc. Yet many will contemn the means, and yet brag they are assured to come to Heaven, they will contemn the preaching which is the instrument that God uses. But I say to thee, thou deceivest thyself: for I denounce, if thou werest an Emperor, thou shalt never see Heaven, nor life, who contemnest that mean and instrument which the Lord hath ordained to be used, to bring thee to Heaven, which is the preaching of His truth. Now, Brethren, ye see here the testimony of the death of Christ, given by the bu●rioes, they preach His death, as though they had said, Mark, all people: This jesus whom we have crucified is dead: and therefore in token that this is true, we will not break His bones: after that comes another burrio, a man of war, and gives the last witness, He smites Him with a spear: so that out of the wound gushed out blood and water: As though the knave had said, I shall let you see, that He is dead, & that there is no life in Him, and so he smites Him to the heart, with a spear: The Lord would have the death of the Lord testified sundry ways for thy comfort: for the most shameful thing that ever was, is death, except it be sanctified: it is the greatest misery that can come to man: if thou gettest no remedy against it, for that death of the body is a port to that death everlasting. It is no children's play to have the soul dislodged: No, it was an ignominy to the Lord of glory, to be holden under the bands of death, and to be tread under the feet of death: yet the Father will have His death testified sundry ways: First, He will have it testified with a cry, when He cried with a loud voice, Father, into thine hands I commend my Spirit: Next, He will have the burrioes to testify His death, and then He will have a spear thrust to His heart, to testify His death, besides the testimony that all the creatures gave of His death. Is this for nothing? No, for suppose the Lord jesus had been crucified, taunted and scorned, and suffered all the ignominy that ever could have been, and yet had been taken down quick, and the nails loosed, & gotten His wounds healed, thou hadst not been s●u●d, thy salvation had not been wrought: Our sins had never been forgiven us, for without shedding of blood, and death, there had been no remission of sins, except I know, beside all the pain the Lord suffered that He suffered the death also, I would never believe to get life▪ & to be saved. Now to end in a word, Look to the witnesses: the burrioes, they were evil witnesses for themselves but good witnesses for us▪ for their witnessing testifies to our w●ll, that the Lord was dead: and so these burrioes have done a notable good work to us, but not to themselves, because they were His enemies. It is as true this day, as it was that day: there is, and shall be witnesses, preaching the death of CHRIST, crying, That CHRIST died for the redemption of the world, and teaching salvation by CHRIST to others, and others shall get good by them, yet they shall get no good themselves. Why? Because they are enemies to the Cross of CHRIST. An enemy to His death, can preach His death well enough. All Preachers of the death of JESUS CHRIST ought to take heed to this: That when they preach to others (as the Apostle saith) they be not reprobate themselves. Woe to the man who preaches salvation to others, if in the mean time he be a reprobate himself. I must be as careful for mine own salvation, as for the salvation of others: And therefore, if thou speakest of the death of CHRIST to thy Neighbour, strive to be assured, that thou thyself art partaker of that salvation, through JESUS: To whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all Honour, Praise, and Glory, for evermore, Amen.   

THE XXIV. LECTURE OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 
verse 34 But one of the Soldiers, with a Spear, pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.  
verse 35 And he that saw it, bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe it.  
verse 36 For these things were done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled, Not a bone of him shall be broken.  
verse 37 And again another Scripture saith, They shall see him, whom they have thrust thorough.  
THE last day (beloved Brethren in Christ) we entered into the History of the taking of the Lord from the Cross, before He was buried: The taking of Him from the Cross, it came by a request: The jews His enemies, made request to Pilate, the Roman deputy, and judge for the time. The sum of the request was, that the thighs of the crucified men might be broken, and so they might be taken from the Cross▪ Pilate the judge yielded to the request, & gave commandment to the soldiers▪ & to the burreo, to execute & slay them, that afterward they might be buried. The soldiers came first to the one thief, & broke his thighs: them they came to the other thief, & broke his thighs also: and last, they came to jesus, and finding Him already dead, and to have given up ●he spirit, they would not break His legs: Yet to put the matter out of doubt, one of the soldiers came with a spear, and pierced the Lords side, thorough the heart, & out of the wound there gushed blood and water. Now Brethren, this day, as the Lord shall give us grace, we shall follow out this History, and we shall speak of three things: First, of the effusion & gushing out of the blood & the water out of the side of the Lord. Then we sh●ll speak of that grave testimony that john, the writer of this Gospel, gave to the History, & narration, that the bones of the Lord were not broken, and that His side was pierced, and that thereafter the blood and the water gushed out: Last, we shall speak of the end wherefore these things came to pass. There was not one bone of Him broken: His side was pierced, to the end that the word of the Lord (long time spoken of before) might be accomplished: And he brings in two Scriptures, the one concerning that His bones should not be broken, & the other concerning the piercing of His side with the spear. Now come to the first of these heads. I leave the vain dream of the papists (for all their religion is but dreams & fantasies) I pass their dream concerning this soldier that pierced the side of the Lord with a spear how they say that the Griek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifies a spear, was the name of the man that pierced Christ's side, and how they say, that this man was a Centurion, & an old Captain, who was blind: & after he had pierced the Lords side, he washed his eyes with the blood that issued out, & got his sight, & thereafter in an instant was converted, & became a Christian man and a Martyr: and this is he whom they worship, and whose bones are kept as a relict, and he is called Saint Longimus. I leave the spirit of vanities: fie on them, they fill the hearts of the people of God with such vanities, and therefore shame and confusion shall come upon them in the end. Now Brethren, to speak of that which is more profitable, Of the gushing out of the blood and water out of the side of the Lord. JOHN says, that one of the soldiers, with a spear, pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. No doubt this effusion of the blood and water in a part was natural and ordinary: for, they who have skill in the things which concern the body of man, and know the Anatomy, they know that the heart of man is a receptacle of blood, and in the heart is the cleannest and finest blood: The vital blood is fined in the heart of man, and the blood there is finer than in the rest of the body: Ye hear commonly that the heart blood is the finest blood, and most precious: Ye know likewise that there is a fleece, which compasseth and goes about the heart, which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: and in it there is some liquor and water wherewith the heat in the heart is cooled and refreshed. Then to come to the purpose: The Lord being pierced thorough the sid●, and in thorough the heart, it was no wonder, that that blood in the heart: and that water in the fleece should have gushed out, especially seeing that He had but newly given up the ghost, and He was yet warm: so that this blood and this water could not be yet much altered, by reason of the shortness of time. But Brethren, when I weigh this matter more deeply, and consider that this blood and this water gushes out in such abundance, and so distinctly, that the one is so severed from the other, that they who stood beside might discern very well the blood from the water, and the water from the blood. I see here something above nature, and I am compelled to think, and say, that there was something here extraordinary: As all things that fell out in the death of the LORD JESUS was extraordinary, and showed Him to be more and greater than any common man that ever died: The giving up of the ghost, with a loud voice, showed, that He was more than a man. For Brethren, to leave the speaking of this matter, let us see what this blood & this water means, and to what use the gushing out of the blood & the water serves for. No question, the gushing out of the blood and the water out of the wound testifies, that the Lord was verily dead. What man will live when his heart blood is shed? The heart is the most vital part of the body: It is the seat of the life: pierce it, and there is no life for the man: So this effusion of the blood & water testifies, that the Lord was dead, and there was no life in Him. Yet Brethren, this blood & this water meaned more than this: they testified of the force of that death: they testified not of a death only, but of a powerful death. No man's death was ever so powerful, as the death of the Lord jesus. All the Emperors in the world had no such power in their death▪ as Christ had. It testifies of a power to purge the sins of man. What Emperors blood ransomed sinful man, or could purge him from his sins? What water came there ever from an emperors heart, which washed away the corruption of thy nature? Now to speak it in a word: This blood and this water testified of a power that flowed from the death of Christ, to the remission of sins, and the washing of our foul nature: with the blood brack out remission of sins, and with the water burst out regeneration. Yet to make this plainer: By the blood of Christ, (which is the blood of God, God and man in one) we are ransomed from death and Hell, the guiltiness of all our sins is taken away, the punishment with the guilt is taken away, Hell is taken away, the justice of God that required our blood, is satisfied by that blood of Christ, that wrath that would have sucked up thy blood, (it would not have left one drop of thy blood unsucked) and that wrath which cannot be satiate without blood, is satiate by the only blood of CHRIST. Mark well: It was not blood only that came out of His side, but it was blood and water: it was a watery blood: JOHN, who stood by, left this in register, That sensibly in the blood he perceived water: to testify, That by that blood of JESUS we obtain not only remission of our sins: but by this same blood the foulness and uncleanness of our nature is washen away: for water serves to wash away filthiness. This same JOHN, in his first Epistle, Chap. 5. vers. 6. says, that Christ came into the world by water, meaning the water which gushed out of His side: (JOHN could never forget this sight) He came by water to wash away this inherent corruption which is in us: for if it be not purged, there is no entry to Heaven. I forewarn thee, thou shalt never see Heaven, if thy corruption be not purged away. Then he says, He came by water and blood: not by water only, but by water and blood: meaning this blood was watery, and this water was bloody: Not only to wash away the inherent corruption, but also to ransom● us, to obtain to us remission of our sins, and to take away the guiltiness of our sin, both original and actual, and that punishment, and wrath that was due to us: In that same Chapter john points out the three witnesses of Christ in the Heavens, and three witnesses of Christ in the earth: And for the witnessing in the earth, he counts these same two, the blood and the water, & the third, the Spirit, who testifies th●t jesus came & died for thee: where we may see, that this blood and this water that came out of the side of the Lord never leaves the earth, never ceases to cry, The Redeemer of the world is come. If thou be in jesus, that blood sprinkling thine heart, & conscience within thee shall testify unto thee, that jesus is come in the world for thy purgation. So that, Brethren, I affirm this, that all the words in the world, and all the hearing, shall not put that persuasion in thine heart, that jesus Christ is come for thy Redemption: except that blood and that water cry within thee: certainly, we have no better assurance that the Lord is come, than when we feel that effectual working of the remission of our sins, and the purgation of them by the mortifying of sin. Now we have daily in our Sacraments of Baptism, & the Lords Supper outward signs of this water, and this blood whereby they are outwardly represented to our eyes. In the Sacrament of the Lords Supper we have the sign of the blood, in the Sacrament of Baptism, we have the sign of the water: and therefore the blood & the water remain ever in the earth, as witnesses, testifying that Christ is come, and they are ever represented to us in these outward signs and symbols in the Sacraments. So in a word, this blood gushing out of the Lords side, and this water testifies: First, that the Lord was truly dead: Next, that His death is forcible to the remission of our sins, and to our regeneration. Unto these two uses, we may join the third: this gushingou● of the blood and water out of the Lords side, testified, that the sacrifices, purgations, and washing of the Law, were now abolished they were now no more to have place, because they were only certain types and shadows of the blood and water to come, whic● gushed out both together out of the Lords side. Now I come t● the testimony of john, concerning the breaking of the thighs o● the Lord, & the piercing of His side with the spear, john seals up this & first, he says, I testify this, I bear witness to this, then he aggreages hi● testimony in sundry words: First, I, as an eye-seeing witness, stood by, and I saw with mine eyes, that the thighs of the Lord were not broken, and that a soldier pierced H●m thorough ●he side unto the heart, and that blood and water came out of His side. Next: As I saw these, so I tell thee, that my testimony is true. Thirdly, I know, & am persuaded, my testimony to be true: my conscience persuades me, that it is true, & I believe it myself, to the end that ye may believe it. So therefore, as I believe, believe thou: This he says to all, to the end of the world yea, who hears this, believe it as well as I. Ye see here, JOHN is earnest to testify the death of Christ, that verily He died: And he testifies it with great weight, and many grave words. We have heard before sundry testimonies of His death. The Lord in the last words He testifies of His own death, when He cries, Father, into thine hands I commend my spirit: All those wonders from the Heaven testified, that the Lord had given up the ghost: His Heavenly Father made the Burreoes and the men of war to testify, that He was dead, and to preach it to all the people about. Now JOHN comes in last, and with many words, and words of great weight, testifies, that the Lord gave up the ghost. What means all this? Ye see there is not any thing in all the history testified by so many testimonies. The Spirit of God labours not to persuade us of any thing in all His Passion, so much, as that He died: and to certify this, that He was pierced with a spear. To leave the Heresies, which fell in the world, concerning the death of Christ, for it was much to persuade the world of it: they would not believe that JESUS died truly. All these testimonies lets us see such a necessity to be in the death of JESUS, that except the LORD had died as truly as ever man died, He could not have been our Redeemer: And except He had died truly, we could never have believed to have been saved by Him. Except I know as truly as ever I knew any thing in the world, that my Redeemer died for me, I would never go seek life out of His death. Indeed, a wanton sinner, who is laden with sin, & feels not the weight thereof, so long as his conscience is sleeping, that he feels not the burreo, & sees not that fearful wrath that cannot be quenched without blood & that terrible justice of God, that cannot be satisfied, but by death, will count little of the death of Christ: It is alike to him, whether He had died or no: so long as thou sleepest all is alike, but after the conscience is wakened, & the Lord once let thee feel the weight of thy sins, wherewith thou art ladned: No, if thou didst but feel the weight of an evil thought, thou wouldst groan as fast as if the mountains and rocks were tumbled on thee▪ and then thou wouldest think no life nor salvation for thee, but Hell and damnation, if thou gottest not a Saviour for thee: and if thou feelest that justice of God, and the terrors of Hell before thee, the sight of the death of jesus would be the most joyful and comfortable sight that ever thou sawest, and all thy joy & glory would be in that death of Christ, Paul says Gal. 6.14 Far be it from me, that I should rejoice in any thing, but in the death of Christ: he found all his life to be in that death, 1. Cor. 2.2. he says, When I came amongst you, to speak of the death of Christ to you who knew not what it meant (a vain company they were, who delighted in vain oratory) I would not begin to claw your itching ears, but I decreed to know nothing but jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Now, Brethren, besides this, In these words that JOHN sets down, and 〈◊〉 the which he aggreadges his testimony, mark another lesson. Will ye see, from whence our Faith comes? from whence comes our Faith? from whence flows it? JOHN says, And he that saw it, bare record, and his record is true and he knoweth that he saith true, that they should believe. From whence then comes Faith in this death? it comes by hearing: Faith is of hearing of a testimony and record: and if thou hearest not a record, thou shalt not believe, and if thou believest not, thou shalt never see Heaven. And if thou contemnest the record, I give thee this doom, thou shalt never see Heaven with thine eyes, if thou werest a King: So Faith is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, by a record and witness bearing. So ere thou gettest Faith, some witness must stand up and bear record. The Lord must send out some witness to cry and preach? but what witnesses must these be? JOHN says, He that saw these things, hath testified of them. The witnesses must be seeing witnesses: it must be john, and such as saw Him, and felt Him with their hands. Then, who must be the witnesses? They must be the Apostles that were conversant in this world with jesus Christ, who heard Him preach, and saw Him work wonders, and saw Him dead, and saw Him crucified, and saw Him pierced thorough the side: They must be the first witnesses. But more, Brethren, Is it enough that they saw Him with their bodily eye? No, john adds more, that he was persuaded that his testimony was true. The witnesses, as they testify that which they saw: so they must believe it with their hearts. There were great multitudes, hundreths, thousands, who heard Him, touched Him, and saw Him crucified, and some of them crucified Him too: yet none of these are made witnesses, to preach to the world, but the Apostles who saw and believed: these are set up as witness in the world, that all should believe. Then the first ground of thy Faith is the very eye of the Apostles, & their sight and sense: The next ground, is Faith in the hearts of the Apostles. And if ye will say to me, Why believe ye the Gospel of john? and the Gospel of Matthew, and the Epistles of Paul, etc. I answer, because these were men who heard and saw Christ, and I will say more, I believe them, because they believed in their hearts that thing which they saw, and go before not only by sight of the body, but also by Faith in the heart.  
When ye hear these records (albeit the men be not living, yet we have that same thing that they wrote, and that which they themselves believed) I beseech you consider them, and pass not over lightly, when ye read of john or Paul, or the rest: I beseech you pass not lightly, seeing the ground of thy Faith is not only their sight, but the sense of their hearts and Faith: ye who would read with judgement, travel to go into the heart, to seek that Faith into the heart, and that joy, and that sadness that they felt: and pray, LORD, seeing these men utter a feeling of these things that they saw, and which they wrote, touch mine heart, and give me thine Holy Spirit, that I may attain to the sense and feeling of these things. If ye would have a testimony of this: behold what PAUL says, in the second Epistle to the Corinthians the fourth Chapter, and fourteenth verse, I believe, that I myself shall gloriously rise: and then he brings in David's words: I believed, and therefore I spoke. Always, look that in reading we strive to have a feeling and sense in our heart of that which we read: otherwise we make no fruit of our reading, we speak like parrots, we know not what we speak: I say to thee, if the word of grace rise not from the deep persuasion of thine heart, thou speakest like a Parrot, thou profanest that Holy word, and knowest not what thou speakest.  
Now all the Apostles are away yet their testimony remains, & this is that blessed Gospel that we have this day, yet the Lord leaves not the world, destitute of witnesses, who have lively voices, who will preach like the Apostles, & indeed their record should be believed: if thou believed'st never a preaching, I say, thou hast no Faith, thou shalt never see Heaven. Indeed we are not Apostles, but sinful men, yet if thou believest us not, thou shalt die, as well as they who would not believe the Apostles: I bid no man nor woman believe us simply, but only so far as our record agrees with the record of the Apostles: We may not compare with the Apostles: we have not seen Him, we have not heard Him, as they did: they had a greater measure of persuasion, & of Faith, and of feeling, than any Preacher hath now (yet the Lord hath given His measure to every one) therefore we desire not that ye should believe us simply, to believe every thing that we say, as the Pope, and that soul crew will bid you believe all that they affirm: No, if he were the best Minister that ever preached, believe his record, if it agree not with the writing of the Apostles: They have set down the ground, and they who teach any other thing but that which is written by the Apostles, or else that follow on their writes by a necessary consequence, I pronounce a vengeance and a curse shall be on them. Woe to deceivers, who poison souls daily by their vengeance and poison. Now to come to the last head, john lays down the end wherefore His thighs were not broken, and by piercing of His side: These things were set down, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, and he cities two testimonies: The first is out of the twelfth Chapter of Exodus, Not one bone of Him shall be broken. The next is out of the twelfth Chapter of Zacharie, They shall see Him whom they have pierced. Some will marvel, that it is said oft times in the Gospel, this was done, that the Scripture might be fulfilled: Some would think that this had been but a light cause, that the thighs of Christ, and the bones were not broken: Wherefore? That the Scripture might be fulfilled: the side was pierced, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Men would count this but light: but wilt thou count that light, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled. Thinkest thou it a light thing▪ that that thing that the Lord spoke long time before, should come to pass, and the LORD should be glorified in His Truth. Thinkest thou it a light thing that the Lord should be found a liar: No, ere He be a liar, and ere a jote or title that He hath spoken, should pass away unfulfilled, it is better that Heaven and Earth, men, and Angels, and all the creatures should vanish to nothing. The Lord speaks none idle talk, as man will do, but what thing so ever that He speaks, He speaks it of set purpose, to the glory of God, and to the well of His Church: and therefore it is very requisite, both for His own glory, and for the well of His Church, that His word be accomplished. Would to God we could consider how highly we sold regard the glory of God, in believing of His promises of mercy, and His threatenings of justice: Well, the end of these things was, that GOD should be glorified, in the truth of His word. There is nothing the Lord seeks more, than to be known in the truth of His word, and therefore look what He will do to be known to be true in His promise: rather than His promise be not performed, He will invert the course of nature: the thing that the Lord hath once spoken, it shall be performed, albeit all the world should say the contrary. It is said, Numb. 23.19. God is not as man, that He should lie, neither as the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said it, and shall He not do it? and hath He spoken, and shall He not accomplish it? Men may lie, but God cannot lie: ere He bring not about the thing that He hath spoken, He will mix the Heaven and the Earth together, He will bring things about, against all the means in the world: not only by and above nature, but also contrary and against nature: As He brought the promise made to Abraham to pass. Nature can be no impediment to the LORD, albeit a creature can do nothing against Nature. Look then what a Faith we should have? We should believe His promise, albeit it were never so unpossible to Nature: Thou must not only glorify God, when thou seest His promise come to pass, but also thou must also glorify Him, by depending and hanging on His word, ere ever thou see it accomplished. It is an easy thing, when thou seest the Lords promise come to pass, to say▪ Glorified be GOD in the truth of His promise: but except thou glorify Him by Faith in His word, ere ever thou see the promise effectuate, thou dost nothing worthy of praise: believe His word, let never death, nor life, nor power in Heaven or i● Earth or the Devils separate thee from that Faith in His word. No▪ I say further, thou must so glorify God by Faith in His word that albeit thou sawest all things threaten the contrary: yet notwithstanding thou feelest in thine heart that God is true, & this was a fined and purified Faith. Such was the Faith of Abraham, who above hope believed under hope, that he should have a seed, not considering the deadness of his own body, nor the deadness of Sara's womb; he believed in despite of nature, and all ordinary means; and therefore worthily he is called, The Father of the Faithful. Then, wouldst thou have such a faith as the Lord commends; believe in His promise, though all the things in the world should threaten the contrary: Hath He promised to thee Heaven and Life, and albeit thou saw nothing but Hell and Death; yet believe Him, for there is nothing more contrary to Life than Death: And yet, albeit thine own heart would make opposition, and say unto thee, It cannot be that ever thou canst get Life and Heaven, for what seest thou but Death and Hell? Yet thou wouldst glorify God by believing His promise in despite of Hell and Death: Notwithstanding thou seest the Devil, man, Death, and Hell threatening, that thou shalt not get life, yet believe the lords promise. And if in this case thou believest, thou hast a fined faith, fined and made more precious than Gold in the furnace. And, except thou be tried by such temptations, thou knowest not what faith means. Faith must be tried by temptations, by troubles, and afflictions. Our Christians would pass thorough the world with ease and rest: they will believe: but how? In peace and rest: they cannot abide to be charged with fire and sword, but would slip over in wealth and quietness. But true faith must abide the trial of the fire, of manifold temptations and afflictions. Well, the day shall come when it will be seen who among us hath this fined faith: They have the fined faith, who will seek to jesus Christ, and to His promise in the fire.  
I would have spoken of these two Testimonies, but I leave them until the next occasion, and so I end here, beseeching the Lord to have a care of every one of us, and to furnish us with grace and strength, that we may stick fast unto Him, and His promises: Not only now in peace, but even in the midst of the fire, and in death itself: That after this life be ended, we may be glorified in the Heavens, thorough Christ: To whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all Honour and Glory, for evermore: AMEN.   

THE XXV. LECTURE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVII. 
verse 57 And when the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named joseph, who had also himself been jesus disciple.  MARK, CHAP. XV. 
verse 42 And now when the night was come, (because it was the day of the preparation that is before the Sabbath)  
verse 43 joseph of Arimathea, an honourable Counsellor, who also looked for the Kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and asked the body of Jesus.  LUKE CHAP. XXIII. 
verse 50 And behold, there was a man named joseph, who was a Counsellor, a good man, and a just.  JOHN CHAP. XIX. 
verse 38 And after these things, joseph of Arimathea (who was a disciple of jesus, but secretly for fear of the jews) besought Pilate that he might take down the body of jesus. And Pilate gave him licence. He came then, and took jesus body.  
THese days past (beloved Brethren in Christ) we have spoken of the taking down of the Lord from the Cross, after He was dead, which came as ye heard by a request made to Pilate: these who made the request were the jews, his enemies: they requested that he should be taken from the cross: not for any love they bore to him, but because it was the time of the preparation to the passover: & they believed, that jesus & the other two crucified men who hung on the Cross should have polluted their holy feast, & holy action: & request Pilate, that the thighs of the crucified men might be broken, that thereafter they might be taken down from from the Cross. The soldiers came first to the one thief, & broke his thy, them they came to the other, & broke his thy also: last, they came to jesus, & finding Him to be dead, they would not break His thy: but one of the soldiers came with a spear in his hand, and to put the matter out of doubt, he thrust Him thorough the heart, so that out of the wound ran blood & water in abundance. When john hath made a rehearsal of these things, he joins to a weighty testimony, He who saw these things, hath testified of them, & his testimony is true, & he knows, that they are true, that ye might believe. Last, he sets down the end of these things: first, wherefore the thighs of jesus were not broken: them, wherefore His side was pierced: These things were done (says john) that the Scripture might be fulfilled: & for this he alleges first the which is spoken of the type (Exod. 12) Not one bone of the Pascal lamb might be broken: and Zachar. 12. They shall see him whom they have pierced thorough. The last day, Brethren, we left off at these testimonies of Scripture: therefore this day, as God shall give us grace, we shall speak first of these 2 testimonies, & thereafter we shall enter to the next History, that is, to the burial of jesus. Then to speak of the first testimony, Not one bone of him shall be broken. Moses speaks these words (Exod. 12) of the paschal lamb: he gives a commandment, that in the eating of the paschal lamb, not one bone of it should be broken. That which Moses speaks of the paschal lamb, joh. draws it unto jesus Christ, because the Lord jesus was the true paschal lamb: and that lamb that the jews ate, was but a figure & shadow of that true lamb, the Lord jesus, who took away the sins of the world: therefore, seeing the type & shadow had ceased by the death of jesus Christ (there was not a paschal lamb any more, and all the celebration of the passover that the jews used after the death of jesus Christ, was but vanity) it was good reason, that john should draw that which was spoken of the figure, to the thing signified by the figure: for these words that Moses spoke of the paschal lamb were accomplished in Christ: there was not one jot of it, but it was perfected and accomplished in Him. Paul (1. Cor. 5) draws to Christ the very words which Moses used in prescribing of the eating of the paschal lamb, Put away the old leaven, that we may be a new lump, as we are unleavened, for Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Mark this lesson for our instruction: When thou readest of the Types and Figures in the old Testament, cast away the Types, and keep the verity, and appl●e it to CHRIST, who is figured by the Types. We are ever reading that old Scripture that speaks of the types used in the old Church of the jews, as that Scripture of the Paschal lamb and all the other ceremonies of the jews: but take heed how ye read them: read them not, as the jews read them: read not these Scriptures, as though they were to be understood of as many types, yet to be kept in the earth: beware of that: Hear them not, as though they were any figures and shadows unfulfilled, for that were, to exclude the Lord jesus, who only is the body. But in reading cast away the types, because they have all ceased at the coming, and after the death of Christ. Cast not away the Scripture, but draw it unto jesus: and that whole Scripture which the jews understood of the type, understand thou of Christ. As for Example, In reading of this Scripture, Exod. 12.41. Cast aside the type, the Paschall Lamb, but cast not away the Scripture, Ye shall not break one bone of Him, Take this Scripture and understand it of jesus Christ, that Lamb of God, and His bones. And we must not think, Brethren, that this is any wrying and wresting of the old Scripture by the own sense, because the same Scripture which spoke of the Type, spoke of jesus, but mediately by the Types: and the Fathers of old, by reading of the Types, got a sight of the body, looking in thorough the shadow to the body. This is no wresting of the Scripture. But now, seeing all Types are away, it is good reason, that those Scriptures now immediately be understood of Christ, which before mediately were applied to Christ. I go to the second testimony, Zacharie 12.10. prophecies that the jews that pierced thorough Christ, should see Him: and when they see Him, they should weep for Him, as for their only begotten son. It is a prophecy of the repentance of the Jews, who had crucified Christ, & pierced Him thorough: a promise of their repentance for that woeful deed they did. This same thing came to pass in the 2. of the Acts when Peter in his preaching laid to their charge that wicked deed, that they had crucified the Lord of glory, & had put hand into the Lord of life, at his preaching their hearts were pricked & pierced thorough with bitterness, & they demand of Peter, & the rest, What shall they do to be safe? & it is said, three thousand of them repent & believed at that one preaching. The words would be marked, How is this, that They pierced jesus. They pierced Him first with their sins: it was the Jews sins chief that procured the death of Christ: Next, they pierced Him when they persecuted Him, when they crucified Him, & blasphemed Him, and railed on Him hanging on the cross: & last they pierced Him, when by the spear in the hands of a soldier, they thrust Him thorough, and pierced His side. And who is this that pierced Him. It was not so much the Ethnic man that did this, as the jews, for whose sins He came to die: for they were the occasion of all this wickedness. If we will mark narrowly, and will weigh narrowly this matter aright, we will see great wickedness, malice, and unthankfulness to have been in this people: The Lord came to die for them? And who are these that slay Him? Even these for whom He came to die. Was not this a mischievous deed? Who will not abhor and detest such a villainy and malice? Alas, should I who am a sinner, when an innocent man comes to die for my sins, slay that man, and be a burrio to Him? Lord save me from such wickedness, and let never mine hands be a slayer of that man: and yet this was the malice of the ungrateful jews. Again, will ye consider the wonderful love that Christ carried to this people, when they deserved nothing at His hands but death, He dies for them, when they were His enemies: He shed His blood for them: & thereafter when they executed Him and crucified Him, (behold His wonderful love) He brings them to repentance, His mercy overcomes their malice: so that in them ye see that which is said to be verified, Where sin abounds, grace and mercy superabounds, ROM. 5.20. There is no comparison between the love of jesus, and the sins of men: Albeit thy sins were never so great and heinous, yet the love & mercy of Christ, will compass them, and go round about them all: so that no sinner hath occasion to despare of mercy and of grace. I doubt not, there is none of us all, but we will condemn the Jews, and will find fault with the malice of this people: but look to thyself, whilst as thou condemnest them, that thou disfigure thine own face, and condemn thine own self. Are there none in this land that have put hand in jesus, that died for them, as surely, as ever the jews did. Who dare cleanse themselves? Thou darest not say, but thou hast pierced the Lord, either one way or other: There is not a sin that thou committest, but therewith thou hast pierced the Lord. Hast thou opponed thyself to the Truth, and persecuted the Gospel, than thou hast pierced Christ. Hast thou persecuted the Church of Christ, and troubled His members on the earth? thou hast pierced the Lord: for He cries out: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me 〈◊〉? Hast thou been given over to thy lusts, and led a wicked life? I say, if thou be in any of these ranks: if thou gain standest His Truth, persecutest Him in His members, or by thy evil life: Protest as thou wilt, thou hast pierced Him, as well, as the jews, and thou shalt be as guilty of His death, as they were, and as Pilate, Herode, judas and Caiaphas were challenged for His death, so shalt thou, except the Lord of His mercy grant thee grace to repent. The Lord give every one of us grace in time to repent, JOH. REVEL. 1.7. draws this Scripture to the second coming of Christ in the clouds: for he says, They shall see Him whom they have pierced, and all the Tribes of the earth shall mourn before Him. Of the which we may gather, that in the latter day the very Elect, when they shall rise, and see the Lord, when they shall see these hands, and these feet, and that side, which by their sins they have pierced thorough, their first meeting shall be with bitter mourning, they shall mourn, as a man will do for His only begotten son, but immediately that weeping shall be turned into joy, and the Lord shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, so that they shall never mourn nor sorrow any more, but they shall be with the Lord, and rejoice with a solid joy for ever more,  
Now I come to the burial of that blessed body: As the down taking from the cross came by a request, so this burial also comes by request. But who requests for His burial? Not the jews that requested for His down taking, but good joseph of Ar●mathea requests for the burial. The jews requested not for any love they bore to Him, but Joseph that worthy disciple of Christ requests upon love. Then the things that we shall speak of the burial this day are these: First, by the conference of the four Evangelists, we have a fair description of this man joseph: Next, we have especially in the Gospel of Luke, how boldly he comes to Pilate: thirdly, we have the suit itself: then the good and human answer that he receives out of the mouth of Pilate. Then look how this man is pointed out: First, he is described by his name, his name is joseph: Next, he is described by his country: he was of Arimathea, a town in judea: Thirdly, he was described from his substance, He was a rich and wealthy man: and what more? What matter of all outward things, of our birth, of the place of it, or all the riches and substance in the world, if there be no more: Fourthly, he is described from his office, He was a wise and grave Senator, and apparently he was in that Council of the jew, which was called SANEDRIM: yea, apparently he was on pilate's counsel, because he was a wise and potent man. But all these are outward things, therefore the Spirit afterward paints him out by his inward qualities: for if thou have no good properties, I will not give a penny for all thy calling, thy substance, and all outward things: He is painted out in these qualities, which concern this life, & his behaviour toward men: he is called a good & upright man in his life. But what help all these civil and moral virtues, if there be no more, they are little worth. Therefore, the Spirit of God describes him from the inward grace of the heart, from faith and hope. And it is said He waited for the kingdom of God. All his riches closed not his eyes from the sight of that life to come. Then as he hoped for that Kingdom, so he used the means: He believed in jesus Christ, and was His Disciple. So then, if thou be not a scholar to Christ in this earth, look never to dwell with Him in Heaven. Yet there is something wanting: He durst not avow himself openly, for fear of his riches and honour: But now at last, when it comes to extreme persecution, he manifestes himself: When they sat in the Counsel, concerning the death of Christ, JOSEPH would not give his counsel nor consent thereunto. But yet there is an impediment in this man: for he should not only have refrained to have given his consent, but should have opponed himself against them, as Nicodemus did, for he opponed himself boldly unto them: Doth our law (says he) condemn a man before he be heard? JOH. 7.50. where learn ye that? So ye see, it is an hard and dangerous matter to be a Counsellor, either in Kirke or in Policy. There will be many impediments in Counsellors; yea, even in the best of them: and ye see that when hard matters do come in question, men will absent themselves from the Council: but that is not well done. For, if thou be a Counsellor, albeit there were never so hard a matter in hand, thou art bound in conscience to be present: But indeed it is better to absent thyself, than to come and give an evil vote. Again, there are some, who will come, but will not consent to evil; as JOSEPH here did: But this is not enough: there is an infirmity here: for thou that art a Counsellor, art bound to make opposition to evil. Again there are other some who will come, & not only refuse to consent to that which their conscience judges to be evil: but also will oppone themselves boldly thereunto, as Nicodemus did. And these are the best sort of Counsellors. Always, we see this: It is an hard matter to be a good Counsellor: for often times this terror and that terror will be casten in to thee, if thou incline either this way or that way: and sometimes the matter will fall out so ambiguously, that thou wilt not know how to vote, or what way to turn thee: So that of all men, he who is a Counsellor, either in Kirke or Policy in these dangerous days, wherein such terrors are casten in, hath most need to depend upon the counsel of God, revealed in His word: & in all things to keep a good conscience. Let no man offer to do against his conscience, for then the conscience shall take hold on him, intent a process against him, and challenge him, convict him, and torment him with anguish before the Lords Tribunal▪ This for the description of the man. We must not think that by fortune or chance or of his own accord rashly he came to this point: No, the providence of God guided him, led him out for that purpose. And in this action God had respect, not only to the heavenvly honour of Christ: but also to the worldly things, to riches & power. The Lord chose a worldly, rich, & potent man to bury Him; to this end, that the jews who by all means sought to heap shame & ignominy upon the Lord, should not oppone themselves, & stay Him to be buried: for if it had been a poor or mean man, that had taken this in hand, doubtless they had opponed themselves, & hindered His burial. Again: an honourable man is chosen to bury His Son honourably. The Father will have an Honourable rich man to bury His dear Son. Indeed joseph of Arimathea got never such honour, as by that burial of the blessed body of jesus, the Son of God. His calling was nothing: he had never been registrate for that he was a Senator in judea, except that the Lord had put in his hand the burial of His dear Son. It is true, the burial of the Lord jesus is the last point of His humiliation: for what is the burial of the body, but the continuance of the body under death? And, if thy burial be not sanctified, it is a terrible thing to be casten in a hole, & to be bound under the earth. Woe to that body who is casten into a hole, and in the belly of the earth, and if it be not sanctified in the burial of JESUS CHRIST. So I say, the burial of jesus Christ was the last point of His humiliation. He was holden in the fetters of death. Yet the Lord gins the glory of the Son at that which was ignominious in itself. He will not employ every man in this work, but the most honourable man in the City. And then He will have His Burial not in a vile place, nor in a backside, but in a notable & fair place, covered with a stone. So the Heavenly Father will have the honour of the Son & His glory, to begin at the burial, which was shameful in itself: and then He goes forward, till His resurrection, and to His ascending to Heaven, & sitting at the right hand of the Father. To worldlings, this honour of their burial, is but a part of worldly honour: but here unto Christ, that same piece of honour was the beginning of his heavenly glory. If thou be in jesus this same honour which is done to thy body in this life in thy burial, is the beginning of thy glory which thou shalt enjoy in the Heavens. The dishonour of the faithful in this life shall be turned to their honour and glory, and it shall be turned to their weal: All things work together for the best unto them that love God, says Paul, Rom. 8.29. If thou lovest the Lord, that shame that shall be heaped on thee in this earth, shall be the beginning of thine honour. Then much more shall the honour that thou shalt get in this life, be the beginning of that everlasting honour. Now when joseph takes up the body of the Lord lying so low at the Gallows foot, and intends to bury that body: I doubt not, but he hath an eye to that glorious resurrection, and he saw that glory wherewith that body should be glorified & should glorify the bodies of the faithful, & make them like His glorious body. If there were no more but that respect of the resurrection of the bodies of the faithful, in that day it should make us count of the bodies of the faithful, of their death and burial. 1. Pet. 3.7. Ye read, that husband should give honour to their wives, because they are the infirmer and weake● vessels, and because that with them they are to be heirs of the kingdom of glory, and of that life. Ye see this, that if there were but an earthly body, who were appearing heir to a kingdom, men will count of him: Much more then, when we see a man or woman ordained to that Heavenly kingdom, and to that glory, should we not honour them for that respect of glory. Paul to Tim. says, In a great house are many vessels, some to honour, & some to dishonour. Ye see in a Noble man's house how honourably they will handle golden and silu●r vessels. Then when we look to a faithful man, should we not count greatly of him, because he is so glorious a vessel, and is to be partaker of that glory? All the glory of this world appertains properly to the faithful: Indeed, often times they have least part thereof (that they may know their happiness stands not in this earthly glory, but in that glory of Heaven) & the wicked have most of it. Yet I say: All the glory even of this world appertains to the faithful only. No honour appertains to a king who is a reprobate: He is but a violent usurper of these worldly things, and he shall one day give account of his violent usurpation: nothing but shame appertains to him, and all his honour shall be turned into shame.  
Now I go to the next thing: The boldness that joseph had in coming to Pilate: He lurked before, but now when jesus is lying in greatest ignominy, as we use to speak, At the Gallows foot: The man takes boldness, & steps in to pilate's Hall, & makes his request. His riches, his substance, & honour held him aback awhile: but now he comes out & forgets all, & interceades for the body of jesus, to bury it. Thy riches & honour of the world, are like as many fetters & iron chains, to retain thee & hold thee aback from Christ. Yet all the riches & honour in the world cannot hinder nor hold back GOD'S calling, when He puts out His hand to draw thee in to Him: But if He put not out His hand, & draw thee out, thou art so fast detained, that all the strength in the world will not be able to draw thee. It is true that Paul says, 1. Cor. 1.26. Ye see your calling, how that not many wise men after the flesh, nor many noble are called; It is a rare thing to see the Lord draw such men: He uses not to call many wise men, out of the hands of their wisdom; nor many rich men, out of the hands of their riches; nor many Noble men, out of the hands of their Nobility: No, He lets them be. We read not of any potent men among the Jews, whom the Lord pulled out to be His Disciples, except these two, joseph & Nicodemus. There might have been more among the Princes of the jews, but we find the names of no more registrate. O how hard a thing it is, to draw a wise man a mighty man, or a Noble man to Christ: for it is true that Christ says, It is as hard to draw a rich man to Christ, as to draw a Camel thorough a needle's eye. To draw a great body thorough a needle's eye, is no less difficulty than to draw thee to Christ, who art a Noble man, who wilt sit up, & talk of thy kindred, & of thy blood. This doing of joseph may be marveled at. Think ye not that joseph should have manifested himself rather in jesus life-time, than now after His death? When He was going, working wonders, and speaking such sweet sentences as never man spoke, yet all this moved him not to come forth, and show himself. But now Christ being in shame, he comes out. Whereunto shall I ascribe this? I ascribe it to the force that came from the death of jesus. There was never a living man in the world, that had such force as that dead body had. No, I say, He had more power hanging dead on the cross, than when He was living in the world, & more mighty was His death than His life. The Lord give us a sense & feeling of the force of the death of Christ▪ it is able to cause a dead body rise from death to life. john 12.24. He foretold the power of His death: When the corn of wheat lies in the ground and dies, it fructifies and brings forth much fruit: so the dead body of jesus fructified, and brought with it out of the grave to life many thousand souls, & so does it to the end of the world. Hast thou life into thee, From whom came that life? Even from the death of jesus Christ: if Christ had not died, thou hadst never felt life. He uses also for this purpose another similitude, Where ever the dead carcasse●s, thither resort the Eagles: Meaning, where His dead body was, the faithful where ever they were, they should take them to their wings, from all the ends of the earth, & leave their riches and honour, and by Faith flee to Him, to feed upon Him, for His dead body casts such a sweet smell thorough the Heavens, and the Earth (a carioun casts such an evil smell, but the body of jesus hath a sweet smell) that it will allure men & women to come to it. The Lord give every one such a taste of His sweetness, as joseph and Nicodemus found, that with pleasure we may flee to Him, and feed on Him. Now follows the request, he comes in to pilate's Hall, and desires leave to take up the dead body of jesus, as ye saw before, the body of jesus was not taken from the cross without the licence of the judge, Pontius Pilate: so they durst not bury the body of jesus without leave, Why? The Lord was condemned, and the man who is condemned, is yet in the hands of the judge, until he give Him over. If we consider well this whole History of the suffering of Christ, we shall find one thing worthy to be marked, Albeit the Lord jesus was the most innocent man that ever was in the world, yet having to do with Magistrates, both civil and ecclesiastical, as Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, and the rest, from the beginning to the end, He will have nothing done but with their leave: when the Magistrate sent out men of war to take Him, He would not suffer Peter to resist them, but He reproved him for drawing his sword: He would not have His body taken down from the Cross, without the leave of the Magistrate: He would have nothing done to Him: He would not be buried without the leave of the Magistrate. He leaves thee His example, to teach thee, if thou werest never so innocent, yet if thou fallest in the hands of the Magistrate, suffer nothing to be done to thee with offence, and with the disgrace of justice and judgement: he who would die well, and in the Lord, let Him protest that nothing be done to him that will disgrace justice, albeit he suffer innocently. I might let you see an higher ground of this matter, but I will touch it only. The Lord that came in the world to relieve thee from that great judge, and from all the points of his justice, it behoved Him to suffer all the points of justice under the earthly judge Pontius Pilate, in His condemnation, in His taking from the cross, & in His burial: this was all to the intent, that thou mightest be fully freed from all the points of the justice of GOD, for whatsoever thing He either did or suffered, it was for thy cause. There is another thing here, that would not be passed by: There is no question, but it comes of the Providence of God, that this body is neither reaved away by violence, nor stolen away by slight, but the taking away comes of a special requests: no question, this matter was so dispensed, that the death of jesus should be made notable, and come to the ears of Pilate, and all other men: the death was to be made notable to the world, & likewise the burial was to be made notable, to the end, that His glorious resurrection might be made known to the world. These are the two pillars of our Faith, the death of Christ, and His resurrection, & these are the two points that the devil and the Heretics have from time to time striven to hue and cut down, that they should not appear to the world, because they are the chief pillars of our Faith: but honour & glory be to the Lord, who of His grace hath kept these pillars constantly in His Church, in despite of the devil, & all his instruments. Now the God of Heaven grant us grace to take hold on His death, and glorious resurrection, that through His death and resurrection we may be raised from death to newness of life here, that hereafter we may reign in glory with Him, To whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all honour, praise and glory, world without end.  
AMEN.   

THE XXVI. LECTURE, OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST.  MARK, CHAP. XV. 
verse 44 And Pilate marveled; if he were already dead, and called unto him the Centurion, and asked of him, whether he had been any while dead?  
verse 45 And when he know the truth of the Centurion, he gave the body to joseph:  
verse 46 Who bought a linen cloth, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen cloth, etc.  JOHN CHAP. XIX. 
verse 38 And after these things, joseph of Arimathea (who was a disciple of jesus, but secretly for fear of the jews) besought Pilate that he might take down the body of jesus. And Pilate gave him licence. He came then, and took jesus body.  
verse 39 And there came also Nicodemus (who first came to jesus by night) and brought of myrrh and aloes mingled together about an hundredth pound.  
verse 40 Then took they the body of jesus, and wrapped it in linen clothes, with the odours, as the manner of the jews is to bury.  
THE last day (well-beloved in jesus Christ) we entered into the History of the Burial of the Lord jesus: and we heard that the Burial came by a request, made to Pilate the Roman Deputy for the time: The request maker was one JOSEPH: He is set down and described by all the four EVANGELISTES, in all his properties: He was a man of ARIMATHEA, a Town in JURIE. He was a rich man, and also an honourable and grave Counsellor. Then, as concerning the qualities of his person: He was a good and an upright man, who lived uprightly in the world: and yet he had a further respect than unto this life, for he waited constantly for the Kingdom of God. And therefore, when Christ came into the world, and took upon Him that great office of the Mediator betwixt GOD and man, he enters into His school, and became His Disciple, howbeit for fear of the jew, he durst not manifest himself, but lurked secretly for a time, even to this time that it came to the Burial of the body of jesus; and then he shows himself to be a Disciple of Christ. In that Council, which was against the Lord, he was a Counsellor; but he would neither give counsel, nor consent to the condemning and slaying of CHRIST. Thus much ye heard before concerning this man and his properties: Then we heard how he goes forward boldly to Pilate to seek the lords body. He lurked before, so long as jesus was in the world, working such wonders as never man wrought, & speaking with such a grace as never man spoke with. But now when He is dead, he comes out boldly, and goes to Pilate, and he manifestes himself: To let us see, that JESUS in His death, had greater force to draw the souls of men unto Him, than He had in His life: for from that death there came so sweet and sensible a smell to the souls of sinners, that it drew the souls of sinners unto Him: Namely, the heart of this man JOSEPH: So that he comes out boldly, as said is, and he goes to PILATE, and requests him to give him the body of JESUS to be buried. Thus far we heard the last day: Now this day we have pilate's answer to joseph's request.  
PILATE wonders that He was dead so soon: and for the more certainty he calls a Centurion, and asks him, if He was dead already. The Centurion affirms, that He was dead already. PILATE grants the request. After this we come to the manner of His Burial. We shall go forward as time shall suffer, & God shall give us grace. Pilate wonders that he was so soon dead. This wondering of Pilate, no question, imports, that the death of jesus was extraordinary: It was not after the common fashion of men that were crucified, for men who were crucified, they used to hang long on the Cross, before they yielded the spirit, days & nights; and in end, ere they yielded the spirit, the life was taken from them by violence: They were broken on the Cross. So Pilate hearing, that the Lord was so soon dead, he wondered, as at an extraordinary thing. There are sundry things that testify that death of jesus to have been extraordinary: as first, That mighty and loud voice & crying which the Lord uttered on the Cross immediately before He yielded the spirit: for who will give a loud cry at the yielding of his spirit? for at the point of death, when nature fails, it is a rare thing to find a man to have a voice or a word. Next, The yielding of His spirit so suddenly, when by the power of nature He might have lived longer. Last: This wondering of Pilate testifies, That His death was extraordinary, & that there was a power in jesus which controlled nature. When nature would have kept life, the divine power puts it out. In a word: This wondering testifies, That the death of jesus was the death of God, the death of a man, but God in the man, glorious and blessed for evermore.  
Now it is said, Pilate understood of the Centurion, that jesus was dead, when he granted the request of joseph, and gave the body to him to be buried. First, I see Pilate is a good justitier, (the Roman justice was a good justice, the Roman justitiers were good) he showed himself to be a good justitier in this: a man condemned to die, he would not give Him out of His hands, till he knew perfectly that He was dead. The judge should not give a man out of his hands to any, till he know he be dead; justice requires that: If they did so to the green tree, the Lord Himself says, what shall they do to the withered? If so precise justice was kept on the innocent, what shall become of the reprobate, who must suffer every point of justice? Lord save us from that justice of the reprobate. I put it out of doubt: This justice kept on jesus is a lively image of that justice, that shallbe kept on the reprobate. Thou shalt not escape one point of that justice, but thou shalt suffer in thy carcage the extremity, if thou be not participate of His blood. Another thing is to be marked in Pilate: I see a part of humanity in him: he grants the dead body humanly. And surely this was by the fashion: for the bodies of crucified men were not given & yielded at the request of men: as their death was ignominious, so was their burial. I put no doubt, the conscience of the innocency of jesus never left him, & the conscience of His innocency made him to be so easy to grant the body of jesus at the request of joseph. Brethren, if this matter had been in the hands of Caiaphas, & the Priests, and the Scribes, & the Elders, they would not have been so ready to have given the body to be buried▪ for as they sought to shame Him in His death, so would they in His burial: they had buried Him like an Ass, & casten Him out like a beast. So who is this that dishonours the Saints of God in their burial? It is not Pilate, or an Ethnic, or Turk, or Pagan: it is hypocrite professors, hypocrites, Caiaphas, it is false priests, knaves, with a coloured religion: it is the counterfeit high priests, those shavelings, those monks & friars, who murder the innocents': there was never bitterness nor gall of heart like their bitterness, who will call themselves the kirk (they are a false & a deceiving kirk) they have not been content to martyr the dear Saints of God, (that bloody massacre shall never go out of memory, it shallbe recent to their perpetual shame, & they shall pay for it one day) but they have raised up the bones of the dead to burn them: The vessels of dishonour seek the dishonour of the vessels of honour: but shame and confusion shall light upon them, when the Saints of God shall get honour. The Lord save us from them, and that judgement which they shall receive. We go now to the manner of the Burial. Look the loving affection of this holy man joseph, would to God we could learn at him (who loved the dead jesus so well) to love Him now living and glorified in the Heavens. When he hath gotten the body of the Lord, he takes it, & puts it, not in a foul cloth; he takes not an old sheet, but he buys the cleanest linen, & finest that could be gotten: & the Spirit of God notes, that it was a fine linen cloth, which had never touched any man's body before: then he wraps the body of jesus in that winding sheet. I suppone it was with his own hands (for we read of none other that touched Him) for he thought his own hands over unworthy to wind such a precious and glorious body.  
Now Brethren, as the Burial of the Lord was honoured by an honourable man, who was the Burier of Him: so it was honoured with a clean winding-sheet, which is a piece of the honour of the Burial. But look to this man's doings better: When he procures leave to bury Him, he departs not, & leaves another to bury Him: he says not, I have done enough. I have gotten his body, he has other friends than I, here he has his mother, & his disciples, & other women, who came with him out of Galilee, and others, let them bury him, & do the rest to him: No, he says not so: So this is a commendable thing in him, who having gotten leave to bury him, he perfects the work, he will bury him, himself with his own hands. Let us learn at joseph: If we put to our hands to the work of jesus to honour him, (woe to him that honours him not) if thou begin to do him any service, leave not off, whilst thou have ended it: Count not that which thou hast done, as men do, who will say, I have professed, I have suffered for religion, more than the best of them. But when thou art running that race: never look over thy shoulder until thou comest to thy races end: and say, thou art an unprofitable servant, suppose thou hadst done never so much: go forward, the crown is not in the midst of the race, but at the end: and he who persistes to the end of the race, he shall get the crown, & not he who goes back again. Yet the affection of the man would be considered and weighed, after that once that sweet smell (the sweetest smell that ever was felt) comes from the body of jesus, that sweet smell of love (for the savour of that body is the savour of love, such love as man never bore to man, such love as made the Lord to die for sinners) after that the smell comes to joseph's soul, it wakened up in his heart love towards the Lord: for He must love us, before we love Him: and whilst He gins to love Him, he makes request for Him, & ever the nearer that he draws to that precious body: the sweet smell that came from that precious body was always the greater, and the heart of joseph warmed ay the more with Him: so that he could never get rest until he got that body in his arms, and wrapped it in linen clothes. So when we begin to taste that fragrant odour, that sweet smell, our hearts will be alured to draw near to Him, and as we draw the nearer to Him, we will ay find the sweeter savour proceeding from Him: Thou shalt feel always the more that sweet odour, the more near thou meet with Him: and who ever thou be that seekest Him once, thou wilt never rest whilst thou see Him, and be with Him. Paul speaks this of himself, 2. Cor. 4.8. I approve rather to be with the Lord, than to dwell in this body. And to the Phillipians, 1.23. I desire to be loosed, and to be with Christ: For as well as we love this body, we will be content to slit out of it, to let the body fall down, like a broken pitcher, that we may be conjoined with Christ: we will be content to slit, and to obtain jesus Christ, even with the dissolution of the body.  
This for the part of joseph, in the burying of Christ, now follows the part of one Nicodemus: Whilst as joseph is wrapping the body of jesus in the winding-sheete, one Nicodemus who had come to jesus by night to be instructed secretly by Him, he comes to Him, and he comes not empty handed (come not empty handed to Christ, bring with thee some gift) he comes with a mixture of Myrrh, and aloes, a precious odour, and with a great weight, an hundredth pound weight, a great weight, and a great price, for this gift hath been a costly gift. But to speak of this Nicodemus, to compare him with Joseph, as joseph was an honourable man, & a Prince amongst the people, so was Nicodemus an honourable man, & a Prince amongst the people, read the 3. of john. As Joseph was a rich man, so Nicodemus was a rich and mighty man, as joseph was a secret disciple of Christ, so Nicodemus was a quiet disciple of Christ, who lurked before, and now comes to light. I read of one property in Nicodemus, which was not in joseph. This Nicodemus is called by Christ, a Doctor, and Master in Israel: He was a Pharise, learned in the law of the jews, we read not this of joseph. Yet to go forward in the comparison, As joseph brought his honour and riches, and laid them down at the feet of jesus Christ, who lay dead in ignominy in the sight of the world, so this Nicodemus brings his honour and his riches, his learning, and his wisdom, and lays them down at the feet of jesus lying dead: there he humbles his head, as it were at the feet of jesus: So that this was the greatest honour that jesus got in His death and burial: the wisdom, the honour, and the learning of the world, and the riches in the persons of these men was all cast under His feet, and no doubt, these two men, before they met with jesus, and knew Him, they stood much on their reputation, they thought their riches, and their honour was something, and they counted much of their prerogatives in the world, but after they got a sight of jesus, all these, as Paul speaks of himself, seemed but loss unto them: they seemed but dung and dirt, in respect of jesus Christ, whom they counted to be their only vantage. If thou hadst wisdom to compass the world, it is nothing but folly, in respect of that eminency of the wisdom of jesus Christ, all would stink, and be dung to thee, thou wouldst not endure to look upon them, if thou hadst a sight of that eminency of the wisdom of jesus Christ. Wise men will spit at the Cross of Christ: these wise men, if ye speak to them of the Cross of Christ, they will spit at it: yet albeit they be wise, the foolishness of the Cross of Christ will shame them all, the foolishness of it shames all the wise in the world, the poverty shames all the riches of the world, the ignominy of it shames all the honour, all the crowns and sceptres in the world: and therefore PAUL 1. Cor. in Esayes words, he glories, Where is the wisemen now? where are the Scribes? where is the disputer of the world? Hath not this foolish Cross of Christ made all but folly: the very foolishness of the Cross of Christ hath made all the prerogatives of the world but foolishness: the world would not know God in His wisdom, when He had set out such a fair Fabric of the world, He determined to save so many as should believe. But how? by Philosophy? No, by wisdom? No, but by the foolishness of preaching: thou shalt never see Heaven, I give thee this doom, if thou be not saved by this foolish preaching. This for the person of Nicodemus, now let us see his gift, it is a rich gift, a mixture of Myrrh & Aloes of an hundredth pound weight what moved the man to do this? now certainly there are few folks that will cast away their goods, & give them for nothing: it behoved that some great matter should have moved this man: if he had not seen some thing in that body, to have moved him to have brought this gift, he had never brought such a precious gift: if he had not seen a wonderful preciousness in the body (even that dead body was the most precious thing in the world) he had never been so liberal, as to have bought so much precious ointment what causes men be so loath to bestow any thing on Christ, & His Gospel: the world sees not how precious He is in His Gospel, when thou seest not the preciousness of the Gospel & of Christ: O! what marvel is this? that thou bestowest nothing on jesus & His Gospel: I doubt not, if thou couldst see the power of the light, & the preciousness of that Gospel, thou wouldst bestow gifts & presents, yea, all that thou hast to the glory of jesus, & and to the maintenance of it: ye had need to look on this matter at this time. The Lord open the eyes of men to see the price of this glorious Gospel. But to speak of Nicodemus gift: that gift is honourable, a gift of odours: what should have moved this man to have both such a gift of odours more than any other: if Nicodemus had not felt the sweetest savour & odour, that ever was, coming from the body of jesus, he had never brought such a gift, he meets a sweet savour with a sweet savour: that body needed no odours of Nicodemus, because that body was filled with the presence of God, and therefore needed none odours, to preserve it from corruption. The natural body of a man, being dead, will stink, but the body of the Lord jesus was not subject to corruption: so ye see, Brethren, all things honour the burial, the honourable man joseph honours the burial, the winding sheet honours the burial, that man Nicodemus honours the burial that rich gift honours the burial of the Lord, so His burial was on all ways honourable: So the glory of jesus began in His burial. When Nicodemus is come with his gift, Joseph & Nicodemus join hands in hands together, & They took towels, and buries the body of jesus, after the manner of the burial of the jews: Yet I see in this joseph a thing commendable: When Nicodemus comes with a rich gift, and a richer gift than he gave, he envies him not, he envies neither the man, nor his gift, but heartily they take the body together, and anoint it. Let no man envy another, who comes with a gift to jesus, but let me with my small gift, and thee with thy great gift, heartily join hand in hand together, and glorify jesus Christ: put away envy and emulation, and heartily honour JESUS CHRIST, for if we saw that all our honour stands in the honour of jesus Christ, we would be content, that every man should come with greater gifts to honour jesus Christ: and so emulation would be put away. Now the Lord give us grace to see, that all our honour stands in that, that jesus Christ may be honoured, that we may be content with all men to glorify Him: he says not, Nicodemus do thou the rest of it, I have done my part, I have bought the winding-sheet, & now I will go my way, do thou the rest, anoint thou Him, & bury thou Him. No, he leaves Him not, but when once he put his hand to Him he will not leave Him: hast thou begun to serve Christ, leave Him not, albeit a King should command thee, leave Him not: if thou come not which odours come with a windingsheet, if not with the windingsheet, come, put the towel about Him, & bind Him, & if thou dost no more, stand by, & speak to His honour, & glorify Him, and if thou hast not a tongue to speak reverently of Him, think of Him reverently, & honour Him in thy heart If thou honour Him not, woe to thee if thou were a King: woe to thee, if thou glorify not the God of glory, & this may let us see by experience, that the soul that hath any will to glorify jesus, can never be at rest, but when it is occupied in glorifying Him, he says, this was done after the custom of the Jew's: as they buried honourable men, so they buried jesus, good reason was it that so it should be, there came never such an honourable man among them as Christ: no, not their kings, David, Solomon. etc. were nothing to Him. So it appears that this custom in the burial was according to their ceremonial law, & therefore these ceremonies that the jews used in these burials, their washing, their odours & the rest were all figures of jesus to come, & of that glorious resurrection of His, which is the earnest penny of our resurrection, for our resurrection depends on His glorious resurrection, and if He had not risen, we should never have risen in glory. Seeing therefore they were shadows after His death and resurrection, all these ceremonies, all this balming, washing, etc. take an end: and except thou wouldst say, that jesus is not risen and extinguish the sweet smell of His resurrection, thou must leave off all the ceremonies. It is true, burial should be honoured, and certainly in the burial of men and women, a great respect should be had: Why should the body of a man be cast away: the very light of Nature imprinted in the heart by the creation dites, that the dead body of a man or a woman should be buried honourably, and that in hope of immortality: Nature hath a smell of immortality, and it causes the body be had in due regard: the beasts bodies ye see, when they are dead, they are cast away and no more is made of them. Come to custom, the custom of burial that the Fathers used from the beginning, teaches us, that the burial of man and woman should be respected, and that upon the hope of resurrection: Begin at Adam, go to Abraham, Isaac, jacob, Joseph, and all the rest of the holy patriarchs, they had a regard of their burials, upon hope of their resurrection: for the bodies of the Saints who are buried, shall rise gloriously in that great day: and this they did not so much by Nature, as by a revelation of God, and on this hope followed these ceremonies: the washing and balming of the bodies, Acts 9.37 The very word the Scripture uses, the word of sleeping, show the body would not die for ever: but that they laid down the body in the grave to sleep, as if it were laid down in a soft bed to sleep, not to lie for ay there, but to rise against in the morning, when the day shall rise. jesus Christ is the most glorious morning that ever was: and the body that sleeps in Him, sh●ll rise again to glory, when He shall come in the clouds w●th millions of His Angels. Come to the custom of the nations: their burial was honoured, they did it of imitation following the Father's, like Apes, wanting the hope of resurrection. What h●lpeth thee thy burial, or the honours of it, if thou want'st that hope of resurrection: they wanted the word of God the life of all ceremonies, what good do all these ceremonies without the word and promises of God, by them only they are quickened, by them only they live, without them they are dead shadows. The very ethnics had a respect to burial: But this was in hope of resurrection, but upon a custom for pomp and vain glory. As in all things the Lord gave them up unto a reprobate sense, so in burial He gave them up to a reprobate sense. They would cast out some dead bodies like dogs, and some used to burn the dead bodies in the fire, these are barbarous and inhuman fashions. The body should be buried in the earth, thou shouldest return to the earth, as thou camest of the earth: Again, some amongst the Gentiles used over great gorgeousness, and sumptuousness in their burials, placing the effect of the burial in gorgeousness. But to come to us, if thou werest a King, thou shouldest not follow the Ethnics in sumptuousness: when the Lord brings a man low, wilt thou exalt his head, and exceed measure in gorgeousness: wilt thou hold up his head, when the Lord is casting down his head, the Lord will cast down thine head, and his both to the dust. Eschew two extremities, First, eschew contempt, cast not away the body: and secondly, eschew gorgeousness and superfluity, keep a Christian honour: albeit thou werest a King, or an Emperor, thou shouldest keep a mediocrity, and Christian honesty, and let that sweet smell of the death and resurrection of JESUS CHRIST savour into his burial.  
What shall we say in burials then? Shall we make none exception, No, let us look to Circumstances: Bury not a beggar like a King, look to the place and time, and person: yet in all times places and persons, let the burial smell of that sweet smelling odour of JESUS CHRIST, and let that simple Christian honesty be seen in your burials.  
Now because the time is spent, and I will not weary you: I leave the rest till the next day, and commend you to GOD, beseeching Him, that ye may be like to Him, both in life and death, and in His burial and resurrection, that we may dwell with Him for evermore in the Heavens. To whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all honour, praise and glory, world without end.  
AMEN.   

THE XXVII. LECTURE, OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVII. 
verse 59 So joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,  MARK, CHAP. XV. 
verse 46 And laid him in a tomb that was h●wen out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.  LUKE CHAP. XXIII. 
verse 53 And took it down, and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb hewn out of a rock, wherein was never man yet laid.  JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 
verse 41 And in that place where jesus was crucified, was a Garden, and in the Garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.  
WE have in hand at this present (well-beloved in CHRIST) this Gospel of the Burial of the Lord: When He is crucified and dead, His Burial is obtained by a request: which request was made to Pilate, the judge and Roman Deputy: he that made the request, was joseph of Arimathea, an honourable man, a Senator, a rich, a good, and a godly man. There comes afterward to joseph, one Nicodemus, a Doctor in Israel, an honourable, a wise, and a good man, and a Disciple of jesus, albeit quietly, as joseph was: and he joins hands in this work with joseph: So these two take the whole work in hand: first joseph, and then Nicodemus. In the History of this Burial we have these two parts: First, we have the winding of Christ, as we speak commonly, He is wound and wrapped in a new linen cloth, being embalmed with sweet odours. We have heard already of this first part of His Burial: The second part of His Burial, is the laying of His precious body in the grave. First this day we shall speak of the laying of that body in the grave: & next falls out a piece of a History, concerning certain women, namely, Marry Magdalene, & the other Marry, the mother of joses, who are witnesses of that burial, & saw that all things were well done. Thirdly, in that part we have read in the Gospel of Matthew especially, we have a piece of History concerning the watching & keeping of the grave of jesus, after He was buried. The History is very plain, and the doctrine thereof shall be plain also. Then to begin at the first part of the history: The burying of jesus after he was wrapped in the winding-sheet, john in his Gospel marks the place where he was buried: First in general, he notes it to be in a Garden; not a Kirke, not an house but, a Garden, in the fair fields: not under a roof, but under the roof of heaven. This burying in Kirks is come in upon superstition. It may suffice the greatest lord of them all to be buried in the fields, as the Lord jesus was buried. So the place was a Garden. Next, it is described from the situation of it: Near Mount Caluarie, the place where he was crucified: Joseph and Nicodemus choosed this place, of very purpose, because it was near hand: the time straited them: the time of the passover was drawing near, and they were to celebrate it after the going down of the Sun: and therefore they take the commodity of the place. This was their purpose. But the Father of heaven had his purpose in this work. The place was notable, & known to all the indwellers in Jerusalem. The Lord of purpose chose that place: that as the place of His Burial was known to Jerusalem, so the Resurrection of the Lord should be known to Jerusalem. All this knowledge that: He was buried avails nothing: if thou knowest not that He is risen again: & without this knowledge no remission of sins, no life. But to come more particularly to the place: john, when he had set it down in general, he comes in special, and he calls it, a monument; he calls it, a new grave, wherein never man lay. It was a grave, not hewn out of the earth: it was hewn out of a stone: and joseph caused it to be hewn out, not to jesus, but to himself: but yet he vouchsafes it upon jesus. All was notable; the place, the garden, the time, the grave, that His Resurrection might be notable & easily known to all the indwellers in jerusalem, for He made all things to fall out so, that His resurrection should be patent: the Lord provided that in all respects the burial of jesus might be honourable. Look to these men that buried Him, Joseph and Nicodemus, honourable men: look to His windingsheete, and clean linen cloth: look to the odours wherewith He was embalmed, they were costly: look to the place, it was hewn out of a stone, with great cost, and travel, it was a new grave wherein never man lay, it was ordained for an honourable man: the Lord will have His Son honoured in all these things, and as He was a chief man, far above all the kings in the world, separate from sinners, & made higher than the Heavens, as the Apostle says, Heb. 7.26. So His heavenly Father would have Him appearing a special man in His burial, and namely in His grave: for in that grave wherein He was laid, never sinful man come, & well worthy was He, who was separate from sinners to be laid in a grave, wherein never sinner was laid: yet the newness of the grave, it imports something more, that when He rose it should not be said, that any other man should have risen, but that it was only jesus that had risen. To go forward to the laying of the body in the grave, the two men, joseph & Nicodemus they take the body, & lay it in. They cast it not in, but softly & tenderly they laid that precious body that they loved so well, they laid it in a grave, as it were in a bed, to sleep: when they have laid Him down in the grave, they take a great stone, & rolls it on the door of the grave, & when they have done that, they go to the celebration of the passover: As all this work was directed by providence of God, so in laying on of this great stone, the Lord He had His providence. No question, joseph and Nicodemus rolled on this stone to honour the Lord, but the providence of the Lord in this stone was chief, that when the Lord rose again, the enemies should not say, that the Lord was stolen out of the grave: for it was no small matter to roll away such a great stone: so the Lord would meet the calumnies of His enemies in raising the stone, and not only in raising the stone, but in breaking the bands of death, and of the grave, and in raising from death to life, wherein He showed the power of His Godhead: for in nothing did the power of GOD appear so evidently, as in the raising of Christ from the death: and therefore the Apostle Paul in the first Chapter to the Ephesians, verse 19 brings it in as a singular proof of the strong power of God. Now we have ended this discourse of the burial, which in all respects ye see is honourable: so that, albeit the burial be otherwise ignominious, and by the last part of His humiliation: yet in it the Lord gins to honour Him, He gins at it His glory: even so, albeit the burial of all men & women being shameful of the own nature, yet the burial of all faithful men and women being sanctified in the burial of jesus Christ, is the first part of their honour for by it they pass to that eternal glory: but the unbelievers by their burial pass to shame and confusion. Now we go unto the second part of this Text, to the part of the godly women, good Marie Magdalene, who never left the Lord, but followed Him from Galilee, than the other Marry, the mother of Joses: As they followed Him to the Cross, so they followed Him to the burial, and they stand aside, and see Him buried. O that love! that wonderful tender love! that could not suffer them to bereaved from the LORD: for woe is the heart that is separate from jesus, and that love that drew them to the Cross, that same draws them to the grave with Him: for nothing could separate these women from jesus: No, the cross, the grave, death itself, cannot separate these women's hearts from the LORD: so out of all question, this following of jesus to the grave was a token of an entire love that they bore to Him: yea, it was rather a token of that love that came from jesus to them: that following of Him uttered such a love and smell, to flow from that dead body, that hang on the cross, and was buried, that never man nor woman felt the like: He so loved the world, that He died for it, He gave Himself for it: for, Brethren, except that force that came from the body, had drawn their hearts, it had been unpossible that they could have followed Him. No man can love GOD first, but because He loves us, we love Him: None can come to me, says Christ, except my Father draw him: if He lay not hold on us first, our hearts will never incline to love Him. Now certainly, I put no question in it: these women looked with sad and heavy hearts on this burial: for when we see one buried, whom we love, we will be sad, nature dites this: But as they were heavy hearted in looking on the spectacle: so their heart had joy in looking thereon, for they had a great hope to see: that glorious body rise again, so they had sadness mixed with joy, for woe to that sadness that hath not joy mixed with it. Now yet I see as they continued in following Him, first to the cross, & then to the burial: so the Lord continues in honouring them, for He sends them out as Preachers, & eye witnesses of his death, which honour never one of the Apostles got, but john: so He honoured them in His burial: therefore honour Christ, follow Him to the cross, follow Him to the grave: think not shame of His cross or His grave, love Him with thine heart, wait on Him, for He will let thee see the most glorious things that ever the eye saw: hold therefore the eye upon Him, look to Him night & day, now when He is in the Heavens: and I promise thee, thou shalt find by experience, He shall make thee a proclaimer of His glory: but thou who settest not thine heart to seek Him now, when He is gone to the Heavens, thou shalt not have a mouth to glorify Him, or to speak of His Name hereafter. Now, will ye look to the carefulness of these women, they stand against the grave a far off & they look no doubt with sad hearts, how these two men, joseph & Nicodemus handles the glorious body of jesus, & lays it in the grave. Men & women for curiosity & delectation use to look upon such spectacles, but these women looked with a careful & sorrowful heart, looking that this body should be tenderly & honourably handled & buried. Therefore, if thou haste that ability to be a handler, & meddler with the work of the Lord, as joseph & Nicodemus was: look at least, that thou be a careful onlooker & tender it in thy heart, & see that all things go well, & if thou dost that, the Lord shall count it a piece of good service for the furthering of the glory of His Kingdom, If thou hast not to bestow on Christ, yet speak well of Him, if thou canst not speak, yet think well of Him: yet these women are not content to look on only, but they will be also meddlers in this action: & for this cause, when the grave is closed, they go home with, unspeakable sadness, & joy mixed together, going home, they prepare sweet odours for the embalming of Him the third day following, they cease upon that morn, because it was the Sabbath, & upon the third day He rose & disappointed them of the embalming of Him, but yet their intention is to be commended, they are not content to look on Him, but according to their power, they put to their hand: but ere they prepared these odours, a sweet smell came from His body to them: for except a sweeter smell come from Him, except He give thee a greater grace, thou wilt not bestow a penny on Him, except He give thee a pound: but being once benefited by Him, thou wilt bestow if it were thy own life, (let be thy goods) for Him & His glory: and if thou wilt not bestow on Christ, and upon His Gospel, I testify thou hast never found the sweetness of the Lord, nor of His grace, It may be that He cast a Lordship to thee, or portion of heritage as it were a bone to a dog, but if thou bestowest nothing on Him, thou hast never felt the grace of God, thy soul hath never tasted of that odour & sweetness that is in Him Now I come to the last part which I have read out of the Gospel of Matthew, concerning the watching of jesus after He was buried. This watching came upon a suit, as all other things came upon a suit, for nothing durst be done without licence of the Magistrate, of Pilate the Roman Deputy: the judge was reverenced, without him nothing was done. The time of the suit is noted, to wit, the next day after He was buried. This was, no doubt, the Sabbath day, for they began their day at Even, when the Sun goes down, (as ye would say on Friday at Even) for no doubt, the watch stood about the grave all night. The suit is made to Pilate, & all is done by the judge: it is a circumstance should be well noted, think it not a light matter. The Lord in all His suffering is subject to the judge, it behoved Him to underlie the sentence of the earthly judge in all sorts: if He had not underlyed it, it had behoved thee to underlie the fearful judgement of that everlasting judge. But who makes the suit? It is not joseph, nor Nicodemus, none of them that loved Christ. joseph indeed made a suit that the body should be buried? But who is it that makes this suit? Who but they who suited to crucify the LORD, The Scribes, the Pharises, that were enemies to Him. Look thorough all this History, & ye shall find sundry suits, some evil, some good, some on an evil mind, some on a good mind, many evil, few good, many suitors to crucify Him, many suitors to break Him, many suitors to hold Him down in the grave: ye read of none but of one joseph, who makes suit to get the dead body of jesus buried. Read all the Ecclesiastical Histories, and ye shall find these same things that fell out in Christ, to have fallen out in His members: when a godly man hath been drawn out before the civil judge, or to martyrdom: there hath been sundry suitors for him, some suitors good, some evil yet ever more evil than good. Therefore a Prince or Magistrate was never in such danger, in any judgement, as when he gets a good man fallen in his hands. Pilate was never in such danger, as he was into through this action, for it lost him his life present, & the life to come. When the action of a thief or a murderer comes before a King there is no such danger: but when a godly man is brought before him for the cause of CHRIST, than he should take good heed, where he shall get one to give him a good counsel: he shall get many to give him evil counsel, many shall cry, crucify Him: & woe to him, if he assent, as Pilate did, for he shall involve himself in that same guiltiness with them that cried crucify him. It is true indeed, that Pilate granted a good suit, he gave leave to joseph, to bury the body of Christ, yet did this any good to Pilate, saved it him? No, Thinkest thou when thou hast executed an innocent, that thou dost enough, when thou hast given His body to be buried? No, that shall not excuse thee, nor free thee from guiltiness. O how great and weighty is the burden of Magistrates! Therefore they had need ever to have good men about them, and we should pray the Lord earnestly to guide them and direct them in judgement.  
This much for the suitors, now come to the suit: the words are these: The deceiver said, whilst as He was alive, that within three days He should rise: command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure, until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, that He is risen from the dead: so shall the last error be worse than the first. In effect this is as much, as if they had said these words, this man said, that He should rise the third day, therefore appoint Him a guard to testify of His glorious resurrection: the Lord so directed their words, albeit their meaning was flat contrary: Mark therefore a good lesson: ever more the Lord h●th snared the reprobate in their wicked devices, & hath ever turned them from that mischievous end they aimed them, to the manifestation of His own glory. The Priests & Pharises thought to obscure the glory of Christ's resurrection, & if it had lain in their hands to hold Him by force in the grave: but the Lord who works light out of darkness, makes their suit to serve for the clearer manifestation of His resurrection, for they could have done no more for the manifestation of His resurrection, if they had been hired for that purpose: so look what enterprise wicked men will devise to dishonour Him: I say, the Lord shall turn it in end to His glory, but to their destruction: I will say further, (& it may seem marvelous) perverse devices of the wicked often times do serve more to His glory, than the good purposes & deeds of the godly: for it is not a greater glory to GOD, to bring light out of darkness, than to bring light out of light: the Lord is a most skilful and mighty workman, He makes His glory to appear, by bringing light out of darkness, by bringing life out of death, and by calling the things that are not, as if they were: all the devices of the wicked are darkness, the doings of the godly are light: so the Lord will sometimes be more wonderfully glorified in the doings of the wicked, than in the doings of the godly. But this doth the wicked no good, nor it serves nothing for their benefit, for in the mean time they are more malicious against the Lord, than ever they were, they call Him a deceiver: this is a wonderful thing, they saw the Lords power in obscuring of the sun, in renting of the rocks, in opening of the graves, they saw His great glory shine in all these wonders: yet such is the maliciousness of these wicked men, they call the Lord of glory, a deceiver, & in so doing not only they oppone themselves against God, but also they do so far as in them lay, as to have spitted in the face of God: yet these miserable creatures, I mean the Scribes & Pharises, came not on a suddenty to this extreme maliciousness, but they show some mean & small beginnings of it, when Christ first manifested Himself, & began to preach amongst them: then they proceeded from worse to worse continually, all the time He was conversant amongst them: thereafter in His Cross & death they taunted & mocked Him, & put Him to the most shameful death they could devise: & now when He is buried & laid in the grave, they utter more maliciousness than ever they did, they come to the extremity of maliciousness and induration, they call the Lord a deceiver. Cursed be that mouth that calls the Lord a deceiver, & as Paul says, He that loveth not the Lord jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha, 1. Cor. 16.22. This lets us see the nature of their sin, it was a sin against the Holy Spirit, and this is the nature of that sin, when once thou shalt enter in it, thou wilt hardly get back again, until thou comest to extreme excecation and induration, to thine everlasting destruction. My lesson is this, If the Lord give us grace to learn it. When it pleases the Lord to shine unto thee, albeit thou werest a King, or Earl, or Lord, look, as thou would eschew H●ll & damnation, that thou repine not to this light, but greedily embrace it, and walk in it: for if thou step forward in repining, thou shalt have an hard backe-comming again, and thou shalt come from excecation to excecation, until thou come to utter destruction. Now, I doubt not, but ye are sorrowful, when ye hear the Lord a deceiver, ye are sorrowful to hear light called darkness▪ but comfort ourselves with this, the Lord who was free of all guile and deceit, suffers Himself to be called a deceiver, to purge us from guile and deceit: for it might seem marvelous, that the Spirit of God should register this name of a deceiver, suppose they called Him a deceiver: for this name defiles the air to call the Lord of Truth a deceiver: Yet no question the Spirit hath left it in register to be heard and read of all Christians, to the end of the world, that thou mayest know what the Lord hath suffered for thee. And doubtless this name was heavier to Him, than all the vexation that was done to Him: it was heavier than the crucifying of him itself: and when thou hearest this name thou shouldest say, He was not a deceiver, but it was I that was a deceiver, & He was called a deceiver for me who was damned for deceit, that I should be delivered from the debt & punishment of deceit, and deceivers.  
Now to end shortly: Ye have a watch, says he, go and make it sure, keep it as ye please. He was an easy man to grant to any man whatsoever thing he sought of him: either good or evil. He granted to joseph his suit to bury Christ: so he grants to the Priests and Pharises this suit to keep Him in the grave: The reason is, because being an Ethnic, he served not God, but the affections of men, whether good or evil: he looked not to God, but he had a respect to his own standing: and therefore he cares not to grant a suit suppose it were against God and Christ: He had a respect to his own standing, when he commanded Christ to be crucified: Such like he respected his own standing, when he gave joseph leave to bury Him: and likewise now when he grants this suit to the Priests to watch His grave, he respected his own standing. Mark this Brethren: It is a miserable thing, when a King or a judge hath not God before his eyes: woe to that king who hath not God & a good conscience before his eyes: for he will be a slave to the affections of any varlet in the Country. A Beggar, a Horserubber, and the vilest slave that can be among men, is not so vile a slave as he who serves the affections of men, and hath not God and a good conscience before him: and ever the higher, and the greater his estate be, he is the greater slave. Now having gotten leave of Pilate, they set men of war to keep Him in the grave, they make the sepulchre sure with the watch, to the end He should not be stolen away: and for the more security, they s●aled the stone, and signated it with pilate's ring: and then it was death to any man in the world to touch it: Yet the more busy they are, and the more they strive to hold Him in the grave, the more the Lord glorifies Him, and the more clear and manifest was his Resurrection. Can pilate's seal hold him in the grave? Can the men of war hold him in? No, they could not keep him: but ye will haare: They fell all down dead at his Resurrection, and they had not a word to speak, suppose such was the impudency of the Priests, that although they knew that he was risen: Yet they hired the men of war to say that he was not risen but his disciples stole him away by night: And this error continues in the world among the jews ever since. But the Lord jesus arose with great power and glory, and now is in infinite glory in the Heavens, at the right hand of the Father: To whom, with the Son, and holy Spirit, from our hearts, we render all praise, honour, and glory, for ever and ever, AMEN.   

THE XXVIII. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVIII. 
NOw, in the end of the Sabbath, when the first day of the week began to dawn, Marry Magdalene, and the other Marie came to see the sepulchre.  
verse 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake: for the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came, and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.  
verse 3 And his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow.  
verse 4 And for fear of him, the keepers were astonished, and became as dead men.  MARK CHAP. XVI. 
ANd when the Sabbath day was past, Marry Magdalene, and Marie the mother of james and Salome, bought sweet ointments, that they might come and anoint him.  
verse 2 Therefore early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre, when the Sun was now risen.  LUKE, CHAP. XXIIII. 
NOw the first day of the week, early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, and brought the odours, which th●y had prepared, and certain women with them.  JOHN CHAP. XX. 
NOw the first day of the week, came Marie Magdalene, early when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and saw the stone taken away from the tomb.  
THESE days past (beloved Brethren in Christ) we have heard at length of the death and Passion of our Lord jesus Christ: and in end we heard of His Burial after His death and passion. Now it follows, as the Lord shall give us grace, that we speak of His glorious resurrection from the dead. In speaking of the Resurrection of jesus Christ, we shall follow out the whole four Evangelists. Matthew in his last Chapter, Mark in his last Chapter, and Luke in his last Chapter, sets down the History of the resurrection of jesus Christ; but John insists more largely than the rest, for he hath two Chapters of the History of the Resurrection. Then to come to the purpose. We find in none of the four Evangelists the time and the hour when the Lord arose from the dead precisely noted. We find not the manner of His rising out of the grave. We find no mention made of any witnesses that saw Him rise out of the grave. It hath pleased the Lord in His wisdom, to conceal all these things: yet it is certain He arose out of the grave in the morning (what hour he knows Himself) in the morning, after the jewish Sabbath, which was the beginning of the third day after His Burial: for the jews counted their day from even till even: so the third day began at evening. As it is certain that the Lord arose out of the grave in the night; so we find in the four Evangelists, that when He is risen, He testifies a little after, His glorious Resurrection, by many witnesses: And first of all the emptiness and roomnesse of the grave testifies th●s Resurrection. Marry Magdalene, and the other Marry, and Salome, testify of it: The Angels of Heaven testify of it: The Lord Himself testifies of it by appearing to the women: And these women testify of it to His Disciples: And then the Lord witnesss His Resurrection by His own appearing unto them.  
To come to the Text that we have read: We have first of all out of the Gospel of MARK noted the occasion, how it comes to pass that these women are made witnesses to the Resurrection of jesus Christ. Next, we have the coming of these holy women out of Jerusalem with odours to anoint the dead body of jesus, which they supponed to have been in the grave: Thirdly, we have the rehearsal of some things that fell out whilst the women were coming to the grave: There falls out a great earthquake, because their was a glorious Angel coming from Heaven to the grave: And last of all, we shall speak of the part of Marie Magdalene particularly, because she prevented the other, and came first to the grave: she was a woman who loved the Lord marvelously, and waited continually upon Him. As touching the occasion▪ MARK says, that when the Sabbath day was past, Marry Magdalene, & Marie the mother of james and Salome, bought sweet ointments, that they might come and anoint him: that is, the dead body of the Lord, which, as they supponed, lay in the grave. Note the time well. It was after the Sabbath was passed: for after they had seen the Lord laid in the grave by joseph and Nicodemus, they returned home to the Preparation of the passover, which was as we count on the Friday at even, when the Sun was gone down. On the morrow after, which was their Sabbath, they celebrated the passover, and they rested all that day until the evening: Then upon their Sabbath at even, which is our saturday at even, when the Sun was gone down, their Sabbath being ended, they remember their purpose, and buy sweet odours, that on the morrow early they might embalm the dead body of the Lord.  
Now Brethren, surely the love and affection of these women cannot be passed by: They take a purpose to honour the Lord by embaulming His body: They rest on the Sabbath day: a day & a night intervenes yet this time stays not their purpose (I shall cause one night intervening put a good purpose out of our heads. Indeed we will keep an evil purpose long in our mind: But if we have a good purpose at even, we will forget it ere the morn, it will be buried with us, as if we had never thought it.) But this purpose of these holy women would be better examined, that we may see wherein they are to be commended: they buy and prepare sweet smelling odours to anoint the body of the LORD, the LORD was risen at this time, & the LORD had foretold them oftener than once or twice, that He was after His death to rise on the third day, yet they go out of very purpose that same day, this cannot be commendable in them. As for the love that was in the hearts of these women, it cannot but be commended to all posterities to the end of the world, & would to GOD the like love & zeal to God were in the hearts of men & women in these days, but certainly the deed itself, seeing they had the word of God in the contrary, is not commendable: But look again in all this doing, the Lord takes more heed to the heart, than to the deed, & not only forgives He the sin, but also He works out of it, not only His own glory, but the well of the women: they went out of set purpose to embalm Him, the Lord turns this so about, that He makes them to be witnesses of His glorious resurrection. Now well is them that loves the Lord: for to them all things works for the best, out of their sins He works their salvation, & out of darkness light. But to come forward to the next head: The sweet odours being bought, confected & prepared▪ the women go toward the grave, the time is very precisely noted by all the four Evangelists, Matthew calls it, the end of the Sabbath, when the first day in the week began to dawn. It was in the dawning before the Lord's day (so called in remembrance of His glorious resurrection, which we use to call our Sunday). Mark says, it was the first day of the Sabbath, early in the morning, in the beginning of the week, as he would say, Sunday, early in the morning, before the rising of the sun, Luke says the same, john says, early the first day of the week when it was dark, in a world, it was on Sunday in the morning, at the very point of time, when the sun rose. Now the purpose of these women was not to be witnesses of the resurrection of the Lord but to embalm His body (which as they thought, was lying in the grave) but the Lord turns the matter so about that He makes them to be witnesses of Christ's resurrection, & this was no small honour, He makes women witnesses of the resurrection, even to the shame of men, yea, even to the shame of His Apostles: for they rose early in the morning but His Apostles lay lurking still, & go not out: So in the example of these women, we may see that to be true which Paul says, 1. Cor. 1.27. The Lord hath chosen the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the mighty things, that all glory might redound to Him. Another thing we see in their example, that which the Apostle says, 1. Cor. 3.18. If any man seem to be wise in this world, let him be a fool, that he may be wise. The LORD in this doing will have His disciples to sit down in the school of women, to learn of them that glorious resurrection, He will make them to be fools, that they may be made wise, and He will have the women to be their teachers, and if thou acceptest not of the testimony of these women, & become not as a fool, albeit thou werest never so wise, thou shalt never get a part of the resurrection of jesus Christ. Now I go forward to the third thing we have here set down. It is an incident that falls out whilst as the women is on their journey, going to the grave, for as they are going to the grave, there falls out, says Matthew, a great earthquake, the cause is noted, for as they were going to the grave, the Lord of glory sends an Angel to tell the resurrection of the Lord to these women: so in very deed, the Angel is a witness before the women, but the women before the men: Always, the Angel that comes from Heaven, he is a honourable ambassador: the blessed Angels are very glorious, & no question the Lord would have His resurrection first witnessed by so glorious an ambassador, He would not have man to testify first of it, but He would have a glorious Angel from Heaven to tell, & proclaim the Lord of glory was risen, and that He had broken the bands of death, & risen up in despite of the Devil, & death, & that to our well, that both we may rise to a newness of life, & that we may be assured, that they who sleep in Him, as Paul says, and lies in the gave, shall be raised with Him at that great day in glory. An Angel, a glorious creature honours the message, but yet I say, the message and commission honours the Angel more, than the Angel does the message: yea, if it were all the Angels in Heaven, they get more honour by it, than they can give to it. Well, if the preaching of the Gospel, the testifying of jesus, & His resurrection, honours the Angels, shall we think that any man in earth is too good to preach the Gospel of Christ, No, if thou werest a King, it is a great honour to thee, that thou shouldest have grace to speak of His blessed Name. Well, Brethrens, as the ambassador was glorious, & the message was glorious, so y● commission was the joyfullest thing that ever thou heardest: all the Angels in Heaven, are too unworthy to tell it. Now as the ambassador was glorious, & the message more glorious, so the Lord of Heaven honours His Ambassador with a terrible earthquake: the ambassador of a King hath honour, and why should not the ambassador of the LORD JESUS have honour above all the Kings of the world? No doubt the LORD in this Earthquake hath a further respect, for hereby He testified, that His glorious presence accompanied the Angel, and that to the weal and comfort of the silly women: for as all the rest was to prepare their hearts reverently to receive so glorious an Ambassador, so was also this Earthquake: For if both men and women be not prepared to receive the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST, let an Angel come from Heaven, if they be not prepared by the power of GOD, they will not believe, they will not hear, nor receive the message with reverence. Therefore, let no man say, What needs all this, a glorious Angel to come from Heaven▪ and such an Earthquake? He might have come otherwise, He might have come fair and softly, and in more quiet manner, I answer to this: The LORD looked not so much to the Angel, or the message, as to the women: for if it were an Angel that came from Heaven, He shall never be received by the silliest body, except thine heart be prepared by the power of God.  
Now to go forward: When this Angel comes down first, we have what He does: Then we have a fair description of this Angel: The first thing He does, is, He goes to the grave, and rowles away the stone from the door. Ye would think this was but a sober and servile office, to so glorious an Ambassador. Might not men have done it? It was Joseph and Nicodemus who rolled the stone to the tomb. Might not men have rolled it away again? Mark, and compare the Burial with His glorious resurrection: In His Burial He kept the Godhead close: for if either in the death of Christ, or in His Burial, that Godhead should have uttered itself, He could neither have died, nor yet have been buried: for the Godhead can neither die, nor be buried: but in the resurrection, the Godhead that dwelled in Him bodily breaks out, and raises the stone. Upon this difference there follows another: in His Burial, the Godhead keeping itself close, He had no Angels, but mortal men, to wit, joseph, and Nicodemus, to serve Him: they wind Him, they lay Him in the grave, they roll the stone to the door of the grave: But when it comes to His glorious resurrection, in the which that Godhead that before kept itself close, broke out, He uses not the ministery of men, but of a glorious Angel, an Angel rolls away the stone, as it were with His own hand. Now this lets us see how highly and honourably we should think of this glorious resurrection. It is true, the LORD in His Burial was honourable, but He was far more honourable in His Resurrection: for the honour that He had in His Burial was but a worldly honour; but in His Resurrection He had an Heavenly honour: Indeed joseph and Nicodemus who buried Him, were two Honourable men, but an Angel is an hundredth times more Honourable and glorious than any man, albeit he were a king, or Caesar himself. And so the LORD in His Burial uttered Himself to be a Lord over men, but in His glorious Resurrection He uttered Himself even in our nature, not only to be Lord of men, but also of Angels. So Brethren, all tends to this, to let us see the glory of the Resurrection of jesus. Now would to God we could strive night and day to get a sight of it: for except we get a sight of it, in some measure here, we shall never see glory hereafter. But before I leave this, I see, that in the rolling away of the stone, the Lord hath a respect to the weakness of these women, knowing well they were not able to remove so heavy a stone, to see whether the Lord was there or no: He sends this Angel to roll it away, to the end, that when the women came, they should see that the LORD was risen from the dead. Well, here we have a comfortable lesson: The LORD will help them that seek Him: Seek the Lord where ever He be: Seek the Lord in the grave: seek the Lord in the Heaven, and thou shalt be assured, if thou be a weak body, the Lord shall supply thy weakness, and He shall cause the strong Angel to do that which thou art not able to do. Read we not how the Lord hath sent His Angels to fight the battles of His own? And if thou wilt seek the Lord when thou art going any way, thou shalt find in experience that the Lord shall send His Angel before thee, and prepare things before thy coming. And I doubt not, but some of you who hears me, have found this in your own experience, in such sort, that ye have wondered at that blessed providence of His Majesty, and hath been moved glorify Him.  
Now there is another thing to be marked: When He hath rolled the stone from the door, He departs not, but he sits down, and abides there, to testify that the Lord jesus was risen. So ye see the first witness of the Resurrection of jesus Christ is an Angel, He remains sitting upon the stone, to testify, that Christ was risen in glory. The first witnesses of His death and Burial, were men and women; but the first witness of His glorious resurrection, is His blessed Angel; to let us see how the Lord would honour His Resurrection, and to make us esteem of it, & to wonder at it, for in the sight of it stands our life and glory. Alas! that once our eyes could be opened, to see the glory of our Redeemer, sitting at the right hand of that Majesty, then could we not but wonder at the greatness of that glory.  
Well then, as I said before in this point: The Lord had a great respect to the poor women. Alas! an Earthly King will have a small respect to the poor: But the Lord of glory had a great respect to these poor women. Indeed, the sight of the emptiness of the grave might have been a sufficient testimony to them of Christ's Resurrection, considering the forewarning they had before, to wit, That the Lord should rise again the third day: but they were weak in faith: And therefore, He that supplied the weakness of their bodies, by the strength of the Angel, He supplies their faith by this same Angel: for they began to doubt, whether He was risen: they thought He was stolen away: Yet the Lord jesus supplies their weakness, and to the emptiness of the grave, He subjoins the saying of the Angel, The Lord is risen from the dead. Then the lesson is this: Again seek the Lord: Art thou sick in body, He will supply thy weakness: Art thou weak in faith, seek the Lord: & as certainly as He supplied the faith of these women, He shall supply thy faith. And if thou wilt not believe for one testimony, He will testify again: and I testify, He will never leave thee, if thou once aimest to seek Him: yea, He will heap testimony upon testimony, till He confirm thee, and bring thee to perfection.  
Now Brethren, follows hereafter a fair description of this Angel. In MATTHEW first he is described from his look & countenance. The look and his eyes glanced, as ye see flashes of fire. Then he is described from his raiment: He is clad with fair bright raiment, white like the snow: He hath fiery eyes, and his raiment is like white snow. Last of all, he is described from the effect that followed on his sight. But on whom? Not on the women, but on the strong men of war: for assoon as they saw him, they were not able to look upon him but fell down as dead: they might not sustain to behold him, and his glorious countenance. Now, as this great Earthquake, which was joined with his coming down from Heaven, was a visible sign of the presence of God, accompanying Him, so that terrible countenance & white raiment were also visible signs of that same presence of GOD, accompanying Him when he came to the grave. The Majesty of GOD shined in his face, & raiment, & the same presence made the men of war to fall down as dead. Whereto was all this? To glorify & honour that great commission that the Angel had. Why should not the ambassador of a glorious King be glorious? Why should not His look, his countenance, His raiment, and all be glorious? But yet again, all this is for the well of the poor women: In all this the LORD regarded them: for even as the terrible earthquake was to prepare their hearts to receive the embassage reverently: Even so, was the bright countenance and shining raiment of this Angel. Now to speak something of the signs of the presence of God, that He hath used since the beginning, to set out His invisible glory: No, all the Angels in Heaven had never power to get access nor apprehend that inaccessible light. It is true, the great God hath no need to borrow either light from the fire-flash, or whiteness from the snow, or hue, or hotness from the fire, to set forth His glory, for all the beauties in all the creatures are not to be compared to that glory that is in Him. The fire had never that glance to set forth His glory▪ etc. yet it hath pleased the Lord, for our capacity submitting Himself to our infirmity, by those things that are most glorious & exquisite in Nature, to set out & represent His incomprehensible glory: He takes as it were a dark shadow thereby, to let us see His shining glory: & therefore (Brethren) take up the lesson. When ever the Lord utters His Majesty by outward signs of His creatures, hold not altogether thine eye fixed on the outward signs, as though His Majesty extended the self no further, as though there were no greater glory in Him than in them, as though He were no whiter than the snow, nor brighter than the fire: for the visible creature cannot fully express the glory of the Creator: but by the eye of Faith, thou shouldest pierce into that inward light and incomprehensible glory, whereinto GOD dwells, blessed for ever, which is represented by the beauty of these outward signs. Therefore when He sets out His brightness by the brightness of the Sun: when thou seest the Sun shining, thou shouldest say with thyself, I cannot abide the brightness of this Sun: & therefore what brightness is in that God that made it: and if by the eye of Faith thou lookest thorough the glory of all the creatures, to the infinite glory of the Creator, thou shalt have a fair vantage, for thou shalt no sooner look upon His glory, by the eye of faith, but assoon shall the Lord by the beams of His infinite glory, and by a marvelous light shine in thine heart: for as the Apostle says, 2. Cor. 4.6. God that commanded the light to shine out of darkness, is He which hath shined in our hearts. And I doubt not but these poor women looking to the glory of the Angel, who was an Ambassador of jesus: they saw and considered how glorious jesus was who sent him: and so they found the glory of the Lord shining in their soul afterwards, which made them to rejoice with a joy unspeakable, and glorious.  
Now to end shortly, it is said, That for fear of Him the keepers were astonished, and became as dead men. The men of war, are standing about the grave when His Angel comes: but when they see the Angel, the earth did not shake so fast as they did: they shake and fall down dead, as it were in a trance: these men were stout before: and it is likely that they had bragged before, that all the world should not get Him out of the grave: for they were acquainted with tumults of war, and they had seen as many terrible sights, as any men: yet for all their stoutness, they look not so soon to the Angel's face, and raiment, but assoon they fall down dead. Well, thou art a stout man, if thou wilt say: All the devils in Hell shall not smite thee, nor affright thee, thou thinkest thou wilt outface all the world: this Land is full of such foolish bragger's, who will say, they will not be afraid to meet the Devil: but one blencke of the face of that Majesty of GOD, will cause them fall down as dead to the ground. Will ye weigh this matter aright, It is not only the outward sight of the Angel that astonishes these men: for if it was the sight of the Angel, why fell not the women down? Why were they not astonished? the women stood still, and the Angel spoke to them, and they to him: so there must be another cause of this terror? and what was the cause? They were great sinners: sin did reign in them without repentance: they had an evil conscience: they were enemies to jesus Christ: and therefore at the sight of the Angel, when the light of GOD enters in, and wakens their consciences, they are stricken with exceeding terror and fear. The children of God, who have their consciences purged from the guiltiness of sin, uses not to be stricken with such terror at the sight of God, but rather receive joy thereby. It is true: The presence of the Majesty of God is terrible in itself: and the Angels themselves can not behold it in the own brightness: yet it is joyful, sweet and comfortable to them who are in jesus Christ: but when it meets with a sinful heart, and an evil conscience, of all things it is most terrible: if thou who art a sinful man, and who art not in the Lord jesus: if thou sawest Him shine in thine heart, & if thou gettest not a sight of thy sin, thou shalt find such terror and fear, that all the world cannot comfort thee, for that sight of all sights is most terrible to them who are not in jesus Christ. I grant, indeed, that the very children of God: yea, even the best of them all, so long as this remanent corruption abides in them, they find the Majesty and glorious presence of God makes them to be afraid: We may see the example of this in these women, at the sight of the Angel they were afraid: but after that once sin be altogether abolished, than His presence shall not be fearful, but comfortable. We shall have no fear, but joy everlasting: As for the reprobate, they cannot be able to abide His glorious presence in that great day: for if that glory was so terrible that shined in one Angel, how terrible shall it be to them that are out with Christ, when not one Angel, but millions of Angels in glory: yea, the Lord Himself as judge of the world, shall appear in His incomprehensible glory, it shall be so terrible, that it shall cause them to cry, Hills and mountains fall on us, and save us from the presence of the Lamb. The Lord grant, that we may be found in the Lord jesus Christ here, and that we may have our consciences sprinkled with His blood, that we may find the lords presence not only comfortable to us here, but chief in that great day, when we shall see Him face to face. To this Lord jesus, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be all praise, honour and glory for ever.  
AMEN.   

THE XXIX. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVIII. 
verse 5 But the Angel answered, and said to the women, Fear ye not: for I know that ye seek JESUS, who was crucified:  MARK CHAP. XVI. 
verse 2 Therefore, early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre, when the Sun was now risen.  
verse 3 And they said one to another, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?  
verse 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away (for in was a very great one)  
verse 5 So they went into the sepulchre, and saw a young man sitting at the right side, clothed in a long white rob: and they were sore troubled.  JOHN CHAP. XX. 
verse 1 Now the first day of the week, came Marie Magdalene, early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and saw the stone taken away from the tomb.  
verse 2 Then she ran, and came to Simon Peter, and to the other Disciple whom JESUS loved, and said unto them, They have taken away the LORD out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.  
THe Resurrection of jesus (Beloved Brethren) was without any witnesses; no man saw Him rise: therefore, the four Evangelists record not that any man or woman saw the Lord rise out of the grave: for so it pleased the Lord to arise from the dead, that He would not have neither man nor woman in this world seeing Him rise. The Testimony of the four Evangelists, is, That after He was risen without any witnesses, than His Resurrection was known & made manifest to the world by many witnesses. They set down two occasions of the Resurrection of jesus Christ: The first occasion was thorough the women, Marry Magd. & Mary the mother of james, who after they had seen Him buried, returned home to buy odours to embalm the dead body of jesus, where He lay in the grave. Now when the Sabbath had passed by, the women buys the sweet odours in the night time, which proceeded the Lords day, as we term it: & in the night time they confect them, that in the day they might embalm the precious body of jesus. These women (in the dawning of the day, before the Sun rose) went out of set purpose to anoint the Lord. There is the first occasion how his resurrection came to light. The other occasion: As these women came, the Angel of the Lord came down: his purpose is to testify to these women that came out of the Town, that the Lord was risen. Now follows the manifestation of His Resurrection: The Angel prevents the women, and rolls the stone from the grave, and abides still there, to testify to the women, that the Lord Jesus was risen from the dead. After this, the Lord jesus Himself appears to the women, and confirms the Testimony of the Angel. The women having received these two manifestations of His rising, they get this honour to be made the first preachers of the Resurrection before all men: yea, even before th' Apostles themselves: and this preaching of the women is the third manifestation. Then after the women had testified to His Apostles, that He was risen, the Lord appears Himself to the Apostles, and confirms their Testimony, that verily He was risen from the dead. Now Brethren, it is to be known first of all, concerning these women, who next after the Angels were made witnesses of the Resurrection of jesus Christ, that they came not all to the grave in one company, but as it appears well of the History, there has been two companies of them, one company that came first to the grave, & went out of jerusalem before sun rising: another company that came out after this company, & came to the grave of the Lord before the other company. If we mark not this difference, we will see well how the four Evangelists agree in that History of the Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST. As for the first company: There were two women especially, named Marie Magdalene, and Marie the mother of James, not excluding the rest: but they are named, because among all the rest they were most notable, and best known to the Apostles. Mark notes three to be in the first company, these two, and one Salome. Luke notes none, but calls them certain women, who followed jesus out of Galilee, understanding these same women. john names none, but one, Marry Magdalene, (not excluding the rest) because she was best known for her love, for her zeal, for her faith, and for her affection to Christ, her name is registrate. Brethrens, the last day we heard something of the first company, & the time when they came, in the dawning of the day before the Lord's day, which we call Sunday. Now we heard, as they came out of jerusalem, the Angel of the Lord descended from Heaven, with a great earthquake: No question the women were afraid at this: but being strengthened with the Spirit, they came forward: as they were coming to the grave, they fell in question about the rolling away of the stone from the door of the grave: they foresaw not this impediment ere they came from home: but being carried with an earnest desire to anoint the Lords dead body: they were not mindful of any impediments. We know when a man or a woman, would feign have a thing done, they will not forecast for all perils: but it is better to provide & foresee in time the impediments ere thou begin the work: Yet a man or a woman who hath the work of the Lord, should not cast for all perils: for if he put not his hand to the work of the Lord, except he see all impediments removed, he will never do any thing to the glory of God: for in performing of the Lords work, we must not think that He will remove all impediments at the first, as these women found all impediments to be taken away. Now these women came forward, & as they came, they perceived the stone to be rolled from the grave. Marry Magdalene seeing the stone away, she ran back, & showed the matter to Peter & james, in Jerusalem, where they lay lurking she brings in her conceit evil tidings to them, & says, The body of the Lord is stolen away out of the grave & we know not where they have laid him. So Brethren, in this Text that we have read, we have first a particular History of Marie Magdalene, registrate by john: Then we have the History of the rest of the women: As concerning Mary Magdalene, we note of her these four things out of the Gospel of john: First, her outcomming: Next, what she sees when she is come, to wit, the stone rolled away: Thirdly, what she does when she sees the stone removed▪ she returns to Peter: & four, what she says: she brings no good tidings to Peter and james, but she says, They have stolen away the body of the Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. Touching the going out of Marry, I stay not on it, for she came out with the rest of the first company of women: only this, if any man would ask wherefore the women got this honour above men, ye even the Apostles, to be made first witnesses of this Resurrection of Christ? I answer, So it pleased the Lord that directed them: & this only one cause makes their witnessing also to be authentic, that no man should except against it. Ye see in civil things women are not admitted to be witnesses: but here ye see in this spiritual m●tter they are made witnesses before all the world: & their testimony is so autentik, that if john or Peter or any of th'apostles had refused this testimony, they had hazarded their part & portion in the resurrection of jesus Christ: & if thou reject their witnessing this day, thou shalt never have part of His resurrection. To come to the Text: What sees she, & the rest when they come to the grave? They see the stone rolled away, & so they are relieved of that care that troubled them by the way. Marry Magd. & the rest, came of a great zeal to the grave, to anoint the Lords dead body: yet I will not commend this purpose, because they had no warrant of the word of the Lord: for He told He would rise the third day: & therefore they should not have come out to anoint Him the third day. Yet when they go out the third day to anoint Him, ere they came to the grave, they find the impediment to be taken away, the stone to be removed. Mark this well: If they the came to this action without any firebrand, got all impediments removed: How much more, if any man or woman of zeal to God, & to His glory have a good purpose, & have an express warrant of His word, shall they find all impediments to be taken away? God is the same to us now, that He was to them then. Yet I see again, it is not to be too wise in the work of the Lord: but assoon as we know what is the Lords will, we should address ourselves to perform the same, & commit the success to Him, who can remove all impediments: for in so doing thou honour'st God, & givest Him the glory, that is due to Him, when under hope against hope thou believest, as Abraham did, Rom. 4.18. But ye will say, Albeit Marie Magd. found the stone rolled away, yet she found not the body of the Lord, which she meant to anoint with odours: I answer: she found not the thing she sought: but what lost she? She found a better thing than she sought: she seeks the Lord among the dead, and she finds Him among the living: the faithful who seek the Lord, shall never be disappointed: if thou missest that thing that thou seekest, thou shalt get a better thing, & if thou seekest this life (if thou be in the Lord) if thou lose it: what losest thou? thou shalt find a better life. Marry seeing the stone rolled away, she goes not forward but returns home again. Now certainly I cannot deny, but this came of zeal, but I will not excuse her but she should have stayed with the rest, & have looked into the grave, to hear the Angel's information, but on a suddenty she returns. Brethren, this falls out in the best & most godly, they will oft times be miscarried for a while, not that there is any fault to be found with their zeal, or with their affection to the Lord: but the hasty & sudden doing, comes more of a blindness & ignorance than of zeal: & therefore mark the lesson: Who ever would be zealous in a good cause, & would utter their affection toward the Lord, ere they begin, they should beware & know well what they are doing: let knowledge go before, & let it be borne as a torch, to show the way, & then let zeal follow, for if zeal follow not, I will not give a penny for thy knowledge, zeal without knowledge is better than knowledge without zeal: a great zeal with a sober measure of knowledge is better than all the knowledge in the world without zeal: knowledge without zeal serves for nothing but for damnation: if thou understood, & couldst tell over the whole Bible, without zeal that serves thee for nothing: I had rather have one that can speak two words with zeal, than have all thy knowledge: little knowledge with zeal will save thee, but if thou hadst all the knowledge in the world, without zeal it will not save thee. Now the last thing concerning Marie: when she hath returned back to Peter & john: here she gins to make a sad narration, & complains, & says, alas, They have stolen away the body of the Lord, & we know not where to seek it, speaking in the plural number: she makes a moan & look to the affection of the woman toward the Lord: she could not be separate from Him, when He was dead in the grave (alas she had another kind of love to Him, than we have now: but now, albeit He be now glorified in the Heavens, we will suffer ourself easily to sunder from Him without a complaint or moan: but if we found either the force of His death, or yet the force of His life & glory, we would never be glad until we were joined with Him▪ Now when she says, they had taken away the Lord, albeit she speaks not the truth, yet I will not say, she made a lie, but she failed in ignorance, she spoke as she thought, but she knew not that the Lord was risen. Ignorance is a sore thing: for when once any man commits a sin through ignorance, he goes forward from one sin to another: so she makes an evil report to the Apostles: strive therefore to get this misty cloud of ignorance removed from thee: for if thou takest pleasure to lie in it, the end of it shall be utter darkness. Brethrens, mark the mercy of God: the Lord lays not this to her charge: it is said commonly, love hides a multitude of sins: the Lord when He loves a person, He casts the mantle of His mercy over his sins, & hides them: He will be loath to revile them whom He loves: a man will not shame another whom he loves well, much less will the Lord do it: No, He will cast the cloak of His mercy upon them that they appear not before the judgement seat of His Father. Now, I see further, albeit those things were not true, yet by them the Lord brings good to the disciples: for they were lying in sluggishness, & so wakens them: so He works light out of darkness, yet that is no warrant for thee to do evil. Let no man do evil, that good may come of it, Rom. 3.8. Mark last concerning this woman Marie, I see she comes to the knowledge of the resurrection of jesus with great pain, for she waked the night before with care: she comes out early in the morning to the grave, & goes home with great care & heaviness. It is not a little thing to come to Christ in His glory: thinkest thou to step in at the first, to see God in His glory: thou wilt not get leave to see the glory of a King at the first, & thinkest thou to come to Christ at the first: No, thou must come to Christ, & the sight of His glory with many tears, & great pain But what if thou shouldst pain thyself all thy life-time if thou get a sight of this resurrection in glory, & if thou gettest a blencke of that countenance, if it were at thy last end, it shall swallow up in a moment all thy displeasure & pain: if thou shouldest suffer martyrdom, yet that sight of His glory shall furnish such joy, as shall swallow up all displeasure, the sight of that eternal weight of glory makes us to count all the afflictions of this present life to be but light and momentanean, when we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. Thou thinkest the time here to be longsome, but once thou gettest a sight of that glory, thou shalt think it but a moment. Now leaving Marie Magdalene, I come to the rest of the women that were at the grave, of whom we have these four things shortly, first, what they do, they enter into the grave of the Lord, for it was large, not an hole: surely they behoved to love Him well in whose grave they went. Next, when they enter in the grave, we have set down what they see: they see an Angel in the shape of a young man, clothed in a fair white rob sitting in the grave: thirdly, we have how they are terrified; and lastly, we have the speech of the Angel to the women. Then first, coming to the grave, they run not away, as Marry Magdalene did, but enter in the grave, seeking the LORD: and in this point, they go beyond Marie, she went back, but they go forward: otherwise she went beyond them, for love zeal, and faith in Christ. No, not one of the disciples surpassed Marie Magdalene in love, faith and zeal, yet they surpass her in this point, and as they excel her in going forward, they get sure information of the resurrection of jesus Christ, for their reward. Mark the lesson, they who are inferior in spiritual graces, in some duties will excel them who are superior: and when the superior falls back, they will go forward: and this lets us see, that it is the LORD who makes the difference? Hast thou more graces than thy companion: He that preferred thee at one time, will pluck His hand from thee, another time, and put them before thee, and to this end, that thou who gloriest in thy graces, may glory in the Lord: for thy grace is not in thyself, but in His Hand. This for the first thing, follows the next: What see they? They see in the shape of a young man an Angel, clad with a long rob, from top to toe. I take this Angel to be the same of whom we spoke the last day, who first removed away the stone, and then sat down on it, his eyes burning like lightning: and clad in white raiment. Now this Angel withdraws himself, and hides him in the grave, when he saw the women coming near, lest he should have frighted them away, he goes in the grave, but he sat on the stone, first, to terrify the men of war, lest they should trouble the women: & besides this, there is another cause, why he goes in the grave, being to testify the Resurrection, he chooses the commodity of the place, that when he should get the women in the grave, that the Lord was risen in the grave, he might instruct them better by the emptiness and roomenesse of the grave, that the Lord was risen from the dead. Well, that same Lord that terrifies the wicked with His look, that same GOD is merciful to His own: and that Angel, that terrifies the men of war, he is a minister of mercy to the godly women. I say more, at that same time, whilst as He chases away the wicked, in doing of that, He shows mercy to the godly, and He terrifies the wicked, that they should not be a stop or terror to the godly: all the terrors and judgements of the wicked, as they serve to the glory of God: so they serve for the well of His own: for the LORD hath not only His own glory before His eyes: but also of the ●ell of His own. Then consider again the circumstance of the place, wherein the Angel teaches these women, the resurrection of jesus Christ. The Father of Heaven is very careful of every circumstance, that serves for the testimony of Christ's Resurrection: first, He is careful of the first witness of His Resurrection: He will not have a man to be witness, but an Angel. Then He is careful to whom this Angel should tell His Resurrection: He will not have him testifying it to the men of war (He will not have pearls casten before swine) but to the women: The LORD is careful of the place where His doctrine should be taught: He will have the women to go to the grave, to the end they should receive the doctrine of Resurrection the better, that by the emptiness of the grave, the Angel might the better demonstrate, that the LORD was risen. Think ye now, that the LORD hath casten off that care He had then: That care He had of the person of the Preacher, of the person to whom He sends Him, of the place of preaching? No, that same LORD hath the same care yet, and He will love them well, to whom He concredites His glorious evangel: He loves them well, whom He lets attentively and carefully hear His glorious Gospel, and the LORD hath a care where a man may most commodiously speak for edification, and where men & women may hear Christ pointed out commodiously. This for the thing they saw: what follows? The silly women are terrified▪ as the guard of the men of war were terrified: I see then, in the person of these women, the presence of GOD is terrible to the godly: and more I see: when men and women are seeking jesus Christ, the first sight they get of Him is terrible. The ground of this is not only that terrible Majesty, that no creature can be able to look on, (and why should not all flesh stoop at the presence of that glorious GOD: but this is not the only ground: but because in the most godly man or woman there is a remanent corruption: therefore they are afraid at the presence of GOD. Feelest thou it not now, thou shalt feel it ere thou go. This remanent corruption can not abide the sight of that glory: a spot of uncleanness cannot stand in the presence of that Holy Majesty: yet I see a greater difference between the women and the guard: for the men of war were terrified to the death, but so were not the women. Where fro came this difference between the women and the Guard? That Guard was but a company of profane bodies, without God, without grace, without faith, without hope, without love, & was full of sin, & of an evil conscience: But the women, suppose they were sinful, & had partly an evil conscience (for where sin is, there is part of an evil conscience) yet in a part they were purged from sin, & thorough the death of jesus Christ they had their conscience sprinkled with His blood: & as that evil conscience terrified them, so that good conscience held them up. Suppose so long as we remain in this body we cannot be quit & free of sin & corruption: ye well is the soul that in the blood of jesus finds their sins forgiven them: for suppose it be terrified, yet it will not despair. Now I come to the speech of the Angel to the women: The Angel seeing them terrified, he speaks and encourages them first, and says to them, Fear ye not: and then he gins to testify of the Resurrection of Christ: & last, he gives them a commandment, to tell the Disciples▪ First he says to the women, Fear not. He spoke not such a word to the Guard, but let them lie still, till they gathered their spirits, and rose up, and ran home: for, for all the world they durst not tarry there. There is another difference between the godly and the wicked: When the Lord hath casten the wicked down, He will not give them a word to comfort them, but will let them lie still. Woe to them! nothing within them to raise them up, no faith, no hope, no part of good conscience: they are full of sin: nothing without them: no, the Lord shall not vouchsafe a good word on them: He will neither give them an inward nor an outward comfort: and at the latter day, the Lord shall speak one joyful word to them: but He will say, Go your way ye cursed company to be tormented with the Devil and his angels. Woe to the estate of them that shallbe found out of jesus Christ. Albeit that now these things sound not in thy ears, & now thinkest Heaven & Hell to be but matters of jests: yet one day, though thou be a king, thou shalt find these things to be earnest, & thou shalt wish, when thou wast made a man or a woman, thou hadst been made a stock or stone. But by the contrary: The Lord holds up the godly, not only inwardly by a piece of good conscience, but also by outward means, He speaks comfortably to them: And He will say to them by His Ministers, Fear not. Mark further: He will not only hold them up, but that same thing that terrified the wicked, He will make it to comfort them: He makes this same Angel, that terrified the men of war, to comfort and encourage them. More than this: He will not only free and relieve them from terror, but He will pour in joy: And no question, this word had a powerful force to raise them up, & comfort them: And then besides this, He ministers joy, by telling them of that glorious resurrection. So not only fear is put away, but the glorious Resurrection of jesus Christ is told them, whereof there arises an unspeakable joy. Well Brethren: albeit we feel not this joy for the present: yet hold still thy ear, & hear on continually, howbeit with pain: for it thou get grace to hold still thy ear, & hear: I promise thee in the name of God, thou shalt get such a joy in the end as shall make thee to think all thy pain to be nothing. Now one word ere I end: Mark how the Lord prepares His own to hear these tidings: He will not have them to come with a light disposition of heart, as we use to do, without any sight & premeditation of sin & misery. Thou wilt come in, & not once think thou hast need of the preaching of the glorious Resurrection of Christ. But look the preparation of these women: Ere ever the Lord will have the Angel speaking one word, He will have them terrified: & no question they were exceedingly afraid: As ever thou wouldst look for joy, thine heart must be prepared with terror, & in some measure casten down, ere ever the Lord speak one comfortable word to thee: And therefore, let no man take hardily with the terrors of the word. This is the first. Then the next point of preparation is, When thou art casten down, ere He begin to speak to thee the glad tidings of salvation, He will raise thee up, He will say to thee who art casten down thorough the sense of thy sin, Be not terrified, but be of good comfort. And if the Lord's spirit accompany this word, it will encourage thee, & it will raise up thy dead soul. Then when the sinner is raised up to hear gladly, than he comes on to the glad tidings of salvation. jesus is come into the world for thy sins, & this jesus is crucified, dead and buried for thy sins: and this same jesus is risen, and ascended up to the Heaven, to be an everlasting Advocate for thee. What more? This same jesus shall come to judge the world, and to take thee with Him one day, and to make thee partaker of His glory. This is the whole sum of the Gospel. The Lord give us grace to be partakers of that joy which the glorious Gospel offers in this JESUS CHRIST: To whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all Praise and Honour for evermore: AMEN.   

THE XXX. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVIII. 
verse 5 But the Angel answered, and said to the women, Fear ye not: for I know that ye seek Jesus, who was crucified:  
verse 6 He is not here, for he is risen, as he said: come, see the place where the Lord was laid,  
verse 7 And go quickly, and tell his Disciples, that he is risen from the dead: and behold, he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.  MARK, CHAP. XVI. 
verse 6 But he said unto them, Be not so troubled: ye seek jesus of Nazareth, who hath been crucified: he is risen, he is not here: behold the place where they put him.  
verse 7 But go your way, and tell his Disciples, and Peter, that he will go before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.  
WE heard the last day (Brethrens) that there were two companies of women, that came out of Jerusalem, to the grave of JESUS CHRIST: The first company came forth in the dawning of the day, before the rising of the Sun: The next company came forth somewhat later, I think about the rising of the Sun. In the first company were Marie Magdalene, and Marie the mother of james, and Salome, & others, who are not named: These came out of Jerusalem altogether: and as they drew near to the grave, they saw the great stone that was rolled to the door of the grave, rolled away. Marry Magdalene, assoon as she sees the stone to be rolled away, tarries no longer, but supponing it was done by men, and that they had stolen away the lords body by night: then in haste she runs home, and tells PETER and JOHN, and she says to them, They have stolen away the body of the Lord, and we know not where they have laid him. But the other women took more advisement, than Marie Magdalene, for they abode still, and when she was gone home, they entered into the grave, and they saw an Angel standing in the grave, in the likeness of a young man, clothed with a long white rob, sitting at the right side of the grave, at which sight they were wonderfully astonished. And this Angel to my judgement, was even that same Angel that rolled away the stone from the grave: and with His bright look terrified the Guard, and frighted them, lest they should have troubled the women. The women being astonished at the sight of the glorious Angel, He gins to speak to them of the Resurrection, and to tell them of these tidings. For the better understanding of the Oration of the Angel, we shall speak of it in these four parts: The first is a voice of comfort, a word of encouragement, Fear not, says the Angel. The next, having encouraged them, he begins to preach to them of the Resurrection of jesus Christ, testifying unto them, that the Lord was risen. And he confirms by one or two arguments that the Lord was risen. In the third part of his Oration, he gives a commandment to the women, to tell the Apostles, and namely Peter, that the Lord was risen: and more than that, that that same Lord should go before them into Galilee, and there they should see him. In the fourth and last part, he concludes this speech, and he says, Behold, I have told you. Then after the Oration of the Angel, we have the effect that the Oration wrought in the hearts of the women, to wit, they fear and rejoice exceedingly, and they obey the voice of the Angel, and they run home with all haste to tell the Apostles, that the Lord was risen.  
Now to return to the Oration of the Angel: It is short, but wondrous pitthie: As for the first part of the Oration, Fear not: (We spoke of it the last day, and there we left off: therefore now we proceed to the second part, to that grave testimony, which the Angel gives to the Resurrection of Christ) Before he speaks, he conciliates authority to his person. Whosoever speaks in the name of Christ, should have an authority of person. The words are these: I know perfectly, that ye seek jesus of Nazareth, that was crucified, says the Angel; he asks not, Whom seek ye? but he breaks off the speech, and he says, I know, ye seek jesus of Nazareth, that was crucified and buried, and by this knowledge he lets them see, that he was sent of God, and knew the purpose of the women, ere ever they revealed it to Him. What man is he? that knows the mind of a man, except that the Lord give him knowledge extraordinarily: No, all the Angels of Heaven will not know my mind, except the Lord reveal it: No man, nor Angel, can know the heart, and search the secrets thereof, but only GOD, that made the heart. So he lets them see, that he was sent of God: that the word might have the greater credit: for wherefore serves the authority of persons, but that the word they speak, may have the greater credit. Mark the lesson: There is never one that the Lord sends to be witnesses in the world of Christ, of His cross, and passion, of His resurrection, of the mercies and graces that pass all understanding, flowing from His Passion, and Resurrection, but either in one measure or other, He will have them decored with heavenly revelation, with power, even to go down to the secret thoughts of men's hearts, and to lay them open to them, that they may see their own vile hearts (for our hearts are not known, not to our own selves, until we go down, and pull off the vail off them) and all to this end, that we may see God, in that person that speaks: and the last end is this, that credit may be given to that gracious word: and should the word of life pass without credit? Paul 1. Cor. 14.24, 25. says, If a Prophet stand up to prophecy, or a Preacher to preach, and if an ignorant person come in, loadned with sin, and not feeling the burden (alas, there are too many of this sort) if this person come in, with the force of the word, he is dejected, and he falls down and glorifies God, and he will say, GOD is with that man that speaks, and if God were not with the man that speaks, the heart of the man would never be dejected: No, all the Kings under the Heaven could not deject the heart of the poorest beggar. So to end this in a word: The Lord will know well whom He sends to speak these glorious tithings, that Christ hath suffered, and is risen: and this is sure, these that He sends▪ He will give them power to pull down, if it were the heart of a King to the ground: yet the style he gives to Christ, would not be passed by: mark it well, he says not, I know ye seek JESUS the Son of GOD: he says not so: but he says, I know ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was lately crucified: So the Angel, in styling of Him, gives Him the basest and vilest names that he can: he names Him from a silly Town in JURIE, JESUS OF NAZARETH: Then from that vile death of the Cross, That man that was crucified. I doubt not, but in this name he had a respect to the women, who knew these styles which He had in the days of His flesh, when He was conversant here: they knew these styles better than the styles of His Godhead, which were from all eternity: Yet he hath a further respect to these styles, to let us and these women see, that he was not ashamed of His infirmity, nor at the shameful death of the Cross: Noah, the Angels, to whom this death appertains not so much, as to us (says PETER, in his first EPISTLE, the first CHAPTER, and the eleventh VERSE) delight to look in to CHRIST, to look in to that infirmity, and to that death of the Cross. Alas, proud sinner! wilt thou be offended to look in to it? when Peter says, it is the delight of the holy Angels to look in to it: Because these Angels in the infirmity of CHRIST, they saw the power of GOD shining: in that foolishness of the Cross of CHRIST, they saw that wisdom of GOD and, in that justice of GOD, they found a passing me 〈…〉 and therefore now, and everlastingly, their delight is to look 〈◊〉 CHRIST, and His suffering: And as they delight to look in to CHRIST, and His suffering, so they shall give praise to Him: and more for that, than for the making of the world in His great wisdom and power.  
Yet, if we will weigh and consider well, we shall find another respect, which the Angels have in naming Him after such base styles, which is, That the glory of His Resurrection might appear the greater. It is even as he should have said, JESUS, of that sober Village NAZARETH, who was counted vile in the world, and was crucified, yet for that infirmity He is risen again, and is in the glory of the Heavens. So he names Him after these base styles, to enlarge the glory of His Resurrection: for the humbler that He was, the Resurrection was the more glorious. It was indeed a great matter, and a wonder, to see a man, a worm, tread on by the Devil, tread on by death, (it was a wonder, to see Him, how He was humbled,) that He should have risen again to such a wondrous glory. So that at the Name of jesus all knees shall bow, Philipp. Chap. 2. vers. 10. But I leave this, and I go forward. Next comes on the tidings. The words of MATTHEW are these: First, He is not here. Then the next words, He is risen. The first word was an heavy word to these holy women: for appar●ntlie they conceived with Marie Magdalene, that His body was stolen away out of the sepulchre, and thought not that He was risen again. The next word they hear comforts them: The first word makes them exceeding heavy, but the second word makes them to rejoice, when he says, He is risen, He is not stolen away craftily, but by His own power He is risen.  
In this anunciation, as in a picture, ye may observe the form which is used in proponing the EVANGEL and glad tidings of Salvation: The beginning is always in dolour and in sadness, but the end is in joy and gladness. The first word that we hear, is, That the LORD is come into the world, and suffered shame, reproaches, and ignominy, and at last, the shameful death of the Cross under PONTIUS PILATE: These are heavy tidings to us, to hear that our LORD was so hardly, and so evil entr●● 〈◊〉 the world; and that in end, He died the vile death of ●●●osse for us, and was buried: And yet immediately it follows, That the same LORD is risen, and ascended up in glory to the Heavens, and there sits at the right hand of GOD; and, that thorough His Passion, death, and Resurrection, our sins are forgiven us, we shall rise again, and get life everlasting: And these are joyful tidings.  
Now to insist further: The first tidings which is told to the Kirke in this earth, are sad and heavy: Thou must suffer: And whosoever will strive to live godly in CHRIST, of necessity he must suffer affliction: There are sad tidings. But it follows, if thou suffer with Him, thou shalt reign with Him: These are glad tidings. Now I shall give you the words of the Scripture for my firebrand: Christ (Matth. 16.21.) says the same to His Disciples, I am to go up to Jerusalem, and to suffer, and to be slain. And Peter took evil with it: These are sad tidings. But He says, I will rise again the third day: And this is joyful. And in the XVI. CHAPTER and XXXII. VERS. of JOHN, He says to them, The time will come when ye shall be scattered, and leave me alone: (Sad tidings.) But I am not alone, for the Father is with me: joyful tidings. Then He says to them, Ye shall be hated of all men for my Names sake: (That is sad tidings to them.) But they who continue to the end, shall be saved: Glad tithings. And again, in the 16. Chapter of JOHN, and 33. verse. He says, In the world ye shall have affliction: (A sad word) But I have overcome the world: glad tidings. So ye see these tidings always begin with sadness, but they end with joy. And as it is of the word, so it is of the disposition of the hearers: The sinner will first be sad: and then find such a joy as is unspeakable: and this shall be thy disposition, so long as thou art an hearer: But when thou shalt be a beholder, no heaviness of heart, but joy for ever, and all tears shall be wiped away from thine eyes. While thou art hearing, thy tears shall be mingled with joy, but when thou art seeing there shall be perfect joy without tears. Thus far for the tidings. He is not content to tell them only, the Lord is risen: no, one word will not suffice them, but He confirms it by Christ's prediction, He said it before, the Lord was to suffer, and to rise the third day. Look the XVI. Chap. of Matth. So he confirms them by the Lords own Testimony. These prophecies and predictions which are foretold of Christ, are much worth: for they have this use: When thou readest them in that old Testament, they seal up the word of the Gospel, of the manifestation of Christ in the flesh, of His suffering, and glorification, that that report of old is fulfilled. But before I leave this: I see the Lord will not let His own forget His word which He hath once told them: suppose they would forget it, yet the Lord will have it called to their remembrance. These women would have forgotten that which the chief Priests remembered, when they sought a guard of Pilate to watch the sepulchre. Sometimes it comes to pass, that the godly remembers not so much as the wicked, who hears the word to their destruction: but if thou be one of His, He will have it called to thy memory: but if thou be none of His, He will not regard, that when thou hearest, thou let it go in at thine one ear, and out at the other. Great grace they get, who are in Him: Well is that soul for ever that is in Him. A man will think it a great thing, that a king will speak unto him: but it is a far greater thing, that the King of Heaven will speak to thee. There is some proportion betwixt the king and his subject, betwixt the king and the beggar: but there is no proportion betwixt GOD and thee: So than this is a great mercy, that He will bring that word that thou hast contemned to thy remembrance, and ere thou remember it not, He will send down an Angel from the Heaven, to call it to thy remembrance. We have not Angels now, as these women had then, but I say to thee, as many true and faithful Ministers, are as like many Angels: take away these men that preach the Gospel (indeed I grant properly this, to call all things spoken to remembrance, pertains to the Holy Spirit, john 14.26.) thou shalt forget the word of God that is preached, and thou shalt grow more blockish than a stock or a stone, and they that will not hear this word, He makes them like stones, and well were it to thee, albeit thou werest a King, if thou hearest not this word, that thou werest a stone. But mark the time, when He brings it to their remembrance, when the Lord is risen: this tenor of time is not ay kept, but sometimes ere the thing be done, He calls it to remembrance: for that is a part of our felicity, ever to be holden in memory of grace. Woe to thee, that is not holden in memory of it, but indeed it is more joyful to remember after it is done: and therefore at that great day, when we shall see all things fulfilled, which were foretold, our joy shall be perfected. I grant, that Hope hath joy, yet it hath heaviness joined with it, but sight hath perfect joy, without any heaviness: and when we shall see all these things, that were foretold us, when we shall see that glorious God, when we shall see every word that ever we read in the Gospel to be fulfilled, we shall remember them all with such joy as no tongue can tell. We glory here under Hope, but then our glory shall be in sight, and we shall have it in our hand, and as we shall rejoice then, we shall also glorify GOD perfectly all manner of ways, now we do it with great infirmity, but when we shall see Him, we shall glorify Him everlastingly▪ and this shall be a part of our song: Glory for ever be to that true GOD, He promised me much, and now, I see He hath fulfilled it: and so we see, there is never one word, that we have heard, but that Holy and true GOD shall bring it to our memory, with such a joy as cannot be spoken.  
This for the first argument: now follows the second argument: The Angel uses to confirm his speech: Come hither and see, says the Angel: The LORD is not here, if ye will not credit my word, believe your own eyes, and see it, is not this a great mercy, when thou wilt not believe His word, the Lord will let thee see: the Lord is not contented to let thee hear these glad tithings, but He will: bring them before thine eyes. What means these visible Sacraments, but to help the infirmity of the weak Faith, & besides the Sacraments, this word of God is not like the word of man, or of an Orator, like Demosthenes or Cicero, or any man in this world: No, that word in the gospel in great simplicity hath a great Majesty shining in it: yea, it is visible, as the Apostle says in the first to the Corinthians 2.4. It hath an ocular demonstration, and when it speaks to thee of Heaven, it will draw thine eye to Heaven: and when it speaks to thee of the Cross, it will let thee see Christ crucified, and if it speak to thee of His glory, it shall let thee see Him in glory, and that is it which Paul says in the Epistle to the Galathians, Chapter 3. verse 1. He preaches Christ so to them, that he made them see Christ crucified before their eyes.  
Now I come to the third part: it contains a commandment that he gives to the women. Tithings have ever some commandment joined with them, and commandment requires ever obedience: so when ever thou gettest tithings, thou gettest a commandment, do this, or thou shalt never get part nor portion of the tithings. No, Brethren, a Christian life is not an idle life, but practic, if ever thou wouldst be partaker of these good tithings, look that thou strive to do that which He bids thee: Ruane says the Angel, home, this have I told you, Preach ye to the Apostles: Go tell the disciples, that He is risen. Go your way hastily, to testify the Resurrection. This glorious Resurrection requires an hasty preaching: and I say to you, that testimony that is given of Christ, requires expedition: and therefore if thou aimest to testify of the Lord, do it hastily: the glory He gets, would not be delayed.  
The next part of the direction the Angel gives them, is that they tell the Apostles, that they go to Galilee, because Christ would be before them there.  
The Papists think that they have gotten a great vantage of this, that Peter's name was expressed, and not the rest. This special direction that is sent to Peter, imports no supremacy, but rather, if ye consider well, that he was inferior to them all. It imports this plainly, that Peter had done a great fault, by the threefold denial of the Lord. Alas, in this action he had an evil conscience, and if there had not been a particular direction to Him, he durst not for his life have come to CHRIST. Think ye, that a man that hath denied GOD, dare come to Him, except He be prevented: No, Peter durst not for his life have looked to the LORD: so this is their supremacy, that they mark of Peter above the rest. Now one thing: I think no man nor woman should doubt, why these women preached this Resurrection: The LORD gives, them a special direction: first, from GOD, then from His Angel, and this commission might satisfy: so that the Apostles were bound to receive this commission, that was ordained by the LORD of Heaven. I mark this lesson, There is neither man, nor woman can speak in the Name of the Lord except they be sent. So says Paul to the Romans tenth Chapter, and fifteenth verse. None can preach, except he be sent? How can one preach CHRIST, and if he be not sent by CHRIST? da●e a knave stand up in the midst of a city, or town, and make a proclamation in the name of the Prince, and not have a warrant, and darest thou stand up, and speak in the Name of the great GOD of Heaven, and have no warrant, Indeed it is the LORD who knows who is sent, & if thou werest never so admitted, and warranded by the Church, & the Lord in that great day shall never count of thy preaching, except thou have a warrant in thy conscience. Will He put His word in the mouth of every knave: No, that is a grace, to call JESUS the LORD: No, thou canst not call JESUS the Lord, except thou have the Spirit of jesus as the Apostle says, in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, the twelfth Chapter, and third verse. So whether we be Ministers, or others, who speak of JESUS, we should look that that Spirit be in the heart to direct us when we speak.  
I mark next, it was not enough to have seen this resurrection, and never to have spoken one word of it: No, He commands them to testify to the Apostles, and the Apostles got this commandment to preach it again: for the Gospel is not a candle to put under a bushel, but to hold it up, and show it to the world: for it is the life, and the light of the world. PAUL says to Timothy in his second Epistle, the second Chapter, first verse, That that thou hast heard of me before many witnesses, the same deliver thou to faithful men, which shall be able to teach others also. No, it is not to be concredite to every knave: it is too precious a jewel to deliver to knaves: let them deliver it to them that are able to teach others: let the first deliver to the second, and the second to the third, and the third to the fourth, and the fourth to the fifth, and so let it ever sound in the world. Woe to that soul that impedes the course of the glorious Gospel: for what can there be, where it is not teached, but death: No, this Gospel is a stumbling block to the world. Tell them, says the Angel, He will meet them in Galilee: for jury denied me: No, would CHRIST say, I will not appoint to meet with them in jerusalem: for jerusalem is not worthy of me, but I will meet them in Galilee, and so they met with Him, as ye shall see hereafter by God's grace. Then I see that all these tithings that tell us of things that are not seen: hath every one of them a promise joined with them, that we shall see them come to pass? Believe thou that He hath suffered, and thou shalt see that He hath suffered, and believe that He is in glory, & thou shalt see Him in glory. We saw Him not with our bodily eyes, but we have that blessing which the LORD pronounced to Thomas, john Chapter 20. verse 29. Blessed are they which never saw me, and yet do believe in me. Now blessed for ever shall that soul be, that never saw the LORD, and yet believes in Him, and I speak to thee a sore word, if thou believest not, until thou see Him, thou shalt never see Him, if thou believest not that He died, until thou see that He died, thou shalt n●uer see Him, but to thy damnation. Hope under hope, and against Hope.  
Brethren, many are the impediments that will stay us: so that we will say, I will never see Him: I hear much speaking of Heaven, but alas, I fear I shall never see it: I hear much spoken of life, but alas, I fear, I shall never see life.  
And these are the temptations of the most godly men and women of this world, yet against all these temptations, believe God's promises, and hope for life: for PAUL says in the Epistle to the Romans. the fifth Chapter, and the fifth verse, Faith brings forth experience, and Hope makes not ashamed: because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts abundantly by the holy Ghost which is given unto us. No, let none of these temptations hinder us: that thing that holds back the infidels, shall work for the best to thee that fearest the Lord: & if thou fearest the Lord, I promise thee in the name of GOD, all these temptations shall further thee, and thou shalt be partaker of Life. Now a word, and I shall end: He signets & seals up, that which he hath told: I have told you it, says he: as he would say, It is true that I have told you, and I will seal it to be true, and ye sh●ll find it to be true, & therefore doubt not. So our lesson is this: Whensoever thou comest to testify to the people of God, in pain of thy life look thou speak nothing but that which God bids thee speak: and that thou mayest say in conclusion, This is true that I have said: and that this is true, I will bide by it: and seal it up with my blood. The Angel had no blood: but if thou be not of that mind to shed thy blood, thou art but a deceiver. This is a great boldness to seal, to seal it up with thy blood: but if thou have it not sealed up in thine heart, thou shalt never seal it up with thy blood: and when it comes to the sealing thou shalt steal away. No, it is a great word to say with the Prophet David, I believed, and therefore I spoke. Look thou speak nothing to the people of God, but that which thou strivest to believe. How is this assurance gotten? And will every wanton man get this assurance to stand, and seal it up with his blood? No, except thou strive night and day to get the Lord in thy presence, and not to have any joy but in His presence, thou shalt never have this assurance. Then, how is it kept? The Lord hath appointed reading: Take heed to thy reading, says Paul to Timothy, in his first Epistle, the fourth CHAPTER, and 13. vers. and give thyself to meditation, and sh●we thy knowledge in that that thou hast read, and get not a knowledge only, but a sense to speak to others. Reading brings knowledge, and meditation brings feeling: and last is prayer. And if it be the duty of all men to pray, then especially the Minister is bound to pray, both for himself, and for them also to whom he is sent. So in a word: Read, meditate, and pray night and day, so far as is possible to thee to do. And if thou do these things, thou shalt seal it up with the effusion of thy blood, and thou shalt have more joy in thy death, than ever thou hadst in thy life: So that thy death shall be the beginning of thy life, and of that fullness of joy, which thou shalt possess with Him in the Heavens for ever: To Him, therefore, with the Father, and His blessed Spirit, be all Praise and Honour, for ever: AMEN.   

THE XXXI. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVIII. 
verse 8 So they departed quickly from the sepulchre, with fear and great, joy, and did run to bring his disciples word.  MARK, CHAP. XVI. 
verse 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre: for they trembled, and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man: for they were afraid.  LUKE, CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 1 NOw the first day of the week, early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, and brought the odours which they had prepared, and certain women with them.  
verse 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre,  
verse 3 And went in, but found not the body of the Lord Jesus.  
verse 4 And it came to pass, that as they were amazed thereat, behold, two men suddenly stood by them in shining vestures.  
verse 5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said to them, Why seek ye him that liveth, among the dead?  
verse 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spoke unto you, when he was yet in Galilee,  
verse 7 Saying, that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.  
verse 8 And they remembered his words,  
verse 9 And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the remnant.  
verse 10 Now it was Marie Magdalene, and joanna, and Marie the mother of james, and other women with them, who told these things unto the Apostles.  
verse 11 But their words seemed unto them as a feigned thing, neither believed they them.  
I showed you from the beginning (well-beloved in the Lord jesus) that there were two compainies of women, that came out of Jerusalem, to the grave of the Lord: First, one company, in the which was Mary Magdalene, & Mary the mother of James & Solome, with some others: Then soon after that there came out another company of women, whose names we find not registrated. We have heard already of the History of the first women, we heard of their outcomming, we heard what they saw, and what they heard when they came to the grave of the Lord. Now this day we have the returning of the first company home to Jerusalem, set down in few words. Then we shall go to the History of the second company of women, wherein first we have their outcomming: secondly, what they hear and see: and thirdly, their tidings to the Apostles, what they had heard and seen. And this History concerning the second company is written, by Luke, Chap. 24. vers. 2. Matthew writes concerning the first company, and Mark also: john speaks only of Marie Magdalene. Luke sets down the whole second company. But now to return to the home-comming of the first company of women: It is written by MATTHEW and MARK, that when they had received direction of the Angel, They returned home with fear and great joy, to tell the eleven Apostles (for JUDAS was fallen away) what they had heard and seen. I note shortly these three things in these women: First, I see that there was a fear in them: Next, I see that they had an exceeding joy: And last of all, I see in them obedience to the voice of the Angel with all expedition. The fear was, because of the presence of that glorious Angel: The joy, because of the joyful news, to wit, That the LORD was risen: The obedience, was, because of the commandment of the Angel, to run home, and tell the APOSTLES. All these three things are to be commended in them: And they teach us this lesson, how we should departed from the presence of our GOD: when we meet to hear these glorious tidings, without the which there is no life: and without the hearing whereof, thou shalt never see Heaven. Let no man deceive himself: they teach us how we should departed from the word: Depart with fear and reverence: that is the first: Then depart with joy: that is the second: And thirdly: depart with a mind to obey that which thou hast heard: and this is the last. We should fear, in respect of the presence of the Lord, whereat all the Angels were afraid: and, where two or three are gathered together in His Name, there is His presence. And if thou seest not His presence in the Congregation, it were better for thee that thou presentedst not thyself in the Congregation: The joy should be of the hearing of these tidings. Thou delightest to hear tidings: but all the tidings of the world is nothing to these, to wit, That jesus is come into the world, and hath died for thee. And last of all: Depart with obedience: for thou gettest this commandment, When thou goest home, communicate these tidings to others, that thy joy may be increased. The light of the Gospel requires holiness and a godly conversation: that thou live soberly in thine own person, justly with thy neighbour, and godly with thy God. When the day breaks out, and when the Sun rises, the light of the day is not for nothing, it cries upon thee, to thy labours, to fall to an honest conversation: Then much more, the Sun of righteousness, that light of lights, that LORD, when He shines, and cries, Shake off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light: Shake off thy murder, thy adultery, and oppression, in pain of thy life: Thou wilt come out, and stick and slay a man in sight of the Sun: No, that murder shall not so much be laid to thy charge, as the contemning of GOD, who shined before thee when as thou slewest that man. We are fallen now to such a shameful murder, as was never heard of among the TURKS. What will become of this Kingdom? Suppose there were none other sin, but this sin of blood, O, it cries for a vengeance. Mark this: sie upon thee, that in such a light, and in the sight of that great GOD, thou shouldest commit such villainy. But I go forward: and I enter to the History of the second company of women, who went out to the grave of the Lord. The first company saw but one Angel, but this saw two Angels: and therefore they are diverse. The History is very plain, and there can be no other thing almost marked, than that which is already touched: and therefore I shall go thorough it shortly, as God shall give the grace. This second company came out shortly after the first company: they draw near, They saw the stone away fro● the sepulchre, as the first did, And they enter into the grave, as the first ●id, But they found not the body of the Lord jesus, and they are very sad and heavy, supposing it had been stolen away: they see two Angels, whom they supposed to be two men, fearful to look on: the first company see but one Angel these see two, and the earthly witnesses grow in number: so the heavenly grow: there was but one Angel only who appeared to the first company, now this company see two Angels, and all this was for the greater certainty of the matter, and resurrection of jesus Christ: they seeing two Angels, are afraid: therefore the Angels begin and comfort the women, by telling that Christ was risen, and bids them go tell the Apostles. Now we shall mark something of the part of the women, and then we shall come to the part of the Angels. As this carefulness of the Lord that was in these women, was worthy of praise: so the Apostles carelessness of their Lord cannot be praised: for it became them to have come out first: & as the courageousness of these women is to be commended, so the Apostles cowardness merits no commendation: and the more women testify of His Resurrection, that same brings the greater sh●●c to the Apostles. When thou art a man, and hast a calling, and wil● let a Wife go before thee, it shames thee: and no doubt, the force of His Resurrection, was more powerful in the poor women, than it was in the very Apostles: for all this spiritual courage flows from the life of Christ: for except He had risen from the death, and that we got life thorough His life, we would never have life: yea, all the spiritual life, and quickness that was in the fathers of old, was by the virtue of Christ's Resurrection to come, and all this quickness of ours, is by the virtue of His Resurrection already past, if thou have that life begun, it shall be a sure earnestpennie that thou shalt rise in glory, and live a life, like to the glorious life of thy glorious Head and Saviour jesus Christ. Then I mark another thing in these women: They are subject to diverse perturbations of mind: they come out with sadness, and when they found not the body of the Lord jesus, their dolour is increased: then when they see and hear the Angels, they are terrified, and last of all, they find joy. Wilt thou compare the godly with the ungodly, ye shall find sometimes in the hearts of the ungodly, greater peace than in the hearts of the godly: no pain, nor vexation in them, but they say, peace: peace, as the Apostle says in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians, the fifth Chapter, and the third verse: but behold the end: when they have cried Peace, than a sudden destruction from the Heaven, shall overtake them, and their peace shall end in disquietness for ever. The trouble of the godly ends in endless joy, the godly begins in sadness, goes forward in sadness, but ever in the end they find joy, and the greater trouble thou be in, in the end thou shalt find greater joy: and when thou shalt attain to that joy, the very remembrance of that trouble that thou hadst in this life, shall augment thy joy, and thou shalt rejoice, that ever thou hadst trouble here, if thou hadst been even burnt or martyred for CHRIST'S sake: and by the contrary: The wicked that have lived here in security, when they are thrust in Hell, in endless pain and displeasure, shall find that the remembrance of the joy that they had in this life shall augment their pain, and they shall curse the time that ever they lived here in such pleasure, and had this false peace on earth. This History is plain, and therefore I go forward: I come to the part of the Angel: the first speech is somewhat rough: Why do ye seek the living amongst the dead? Why do ye this? Then He comes on, and says, He is not here, He is risen. Then he confirms it by a reason: Remember, women, what He said to you, when He was with you in Galilee, Said He not, that He behoved to be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and to rise again the third day. This is the meaning in effect. Then where He begins with a reproof, there must be a fault in them: No, the LORD will not reprove thee for nothing: I take their fault to be oblivion: for so the words of the Angel import: they had forgot that He should rise the third day, suppose He had told them.  
Well, Brethren, I see this, It is the will of God, that we never forget His word, & more I see, If thou lettest it slip out of thy mind, as we do too readily: the Lord will reprove thee, but in His reproving & in His anger: He never forgets mercy & lenity: in reproving of the women, He makes the Angel to instruct and tell them that He was risen: so in reproving of thee, He will teach thee, and it learns us this lesson: Always in all reproofs, teach them whom thou reprovest: if thou reprove them, without a care to instruct them, thy reproof avails nothing at all. Then look, so soon as his anger goes away, and when he hath spoken two words, thereafter he says, He is not here, He is risen, Remember, He said to you, He behoved to suffer, and die, and rise the third day: So we learn this at the Angel, It may be, that God speak a word of anger, but it will soon go away, and the mercy remains for ever: and when He hath laid His anger aside, He teaches in mercy: and I speak this to the child of God: Many faults in us all, and now and then He speaks in anger, that His own perish not with the wicked world: He will waken them with some angry word, and think as thou wilt, and if thou be not wakened with some angry word, thou shalt die in thy stink, and canker of thy corrupt nature: and so long as we are here, there is ever some matter of anger: so that now and then He will speak to thee in anger (for we are as foolish children, thinking and speaking as children: and therefore have need to be chastised) but when we are perfect men, never an angry word, nor a gloom shall be, but always mercy and pleasure for ever. Then I mark another thing in the Angel, Remember (says he) that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and to die, and the third day to rise again, as He showed to you. Well, than I see, the Lord He forgets not His own word, that He speaks, suppose the women had forgotten it: No, the Lord that speaks it, thinks never so light of it as thou dost: Thou wilt forget soon, and thou takest no thought of it: but that word that He speaks, either by Himself, or by His Ministers: He will never forget it. The word of a King is much, and of great might: then how weighty is the word that comes from the King of kings: Heaven and earth shall perish, ere one jote of that word perish, or fall to the ground: and as He forgets not, so He will have it called to the remembrance, not only of the godly, but also of the wicked: but mark the difference: When He brings it to the Elects memory: H●e brings it ever with great joy▪ as He did to these women. But as to the wicked, it is ever a doleful and woeful remembrance, with pain and grief and this is no small part and cause of the pain of Hell, that all the words which God spoke to them whilst they lived, and which they contemned, shall be brought to their memory, that book of remembrance shall be holden ever before their eyes, that there they may see and read all the wicked works that they have done in their life: yea, the least evil word shall be laid to their charge: and then the conscience shall stand up and accuse them everlastingly: No, if thou be out with Christ, I say to thee, terrible shall that sight be, that thou shalt see,: for the least evil thought shall be laid to thy charge, let be evil deeds, and that forgetfulness of the word of God, whilst thou livedst, shall be a great part of thy pain and grief: but the forgetfulness of the godly shall be hid, as all the rest of their sins shall be hid in Him, and in that blood they shall be counted as clean, as if they had never sinned, nor had forgotten God's word.  
Thus far for the part of the Angel: Now, I return to the women: When the Angel hath spoken, and informed them of the Resurrection: They return, and tell to the Apostles, what they had heard and seen: Mark this lesson, They cannot keep it within their breast, but they will communicate it to others, they will tell the Apostles: Brethren, after that once a man, or a woman hath conceived that spiritual joy, all the world will not hold their tongue: put them in a fire, they cannot but speak of it. Many Martyrs have proved this to be true, if it were but a woman, she must preach it to others: & I say more, if thou hast not pleasure one time or other, to speak with joy of Christ to others: to speak of His Passion, and Resurrection, thou never heardest with joy. We all have pleasure enough to talk with joy of vain and profane tales: but of that pleasure of pleasures, little or no delight have we to speak. I condemn not only the world, but also the children of GOD, and myself with the first. Alas, too little pleasure have we in our hearts to speak of Christ, and His Resurrection. But to whom go they? Go they to tell the wicked people? No, that people was not worthy of it: they steal in to the Apostles, and them who loved Christ, who were lurking in jerusalem. So the lesson is this: A man that finds joy, will not communicate it to the profane man: he will know well, that he communicates it to such one as will have joy with him: if any man be sad, ye see they will not communicate it▪ but to them that will be sad with them: so it is with joy, they will not tell to every man the joy, but to such as will have joy with them. Look the twelfth Chapter to the Romans and the fifteenth verse: he wishes them To rejoice with them that rejoice, and to be sad with them who are sad. Mark this thing also. Is not this joy a precious thing? Nothing so precious in the world, as joy: and marvel ye not, that they should be so liberal of it? And if thou hadst all the world, it is nothing in respect of this joy, and yet they are liberal of it. Paul, Rom. chap. 1. vers. 11. he answers to this, I long, says he, to come to you, to impart some spiritual gift to strengthen you. No, this hurt not him, for he expones himself, saying, That I might be comforted, together with you, through our mutual faith, both yours and mine. So when he cometh to give grace, he got grace: No, it is a wonderful thing, when two holy bodies meet, what joy the one will pour into the heart of the other: Put all the Infideles together, they cannot minister this joy one to another. So in a word, Communication of joy shall not impair, but it shall enlarge the joy in thee. Whereto should one stand up to preach CHRIST, but that by his joy, he may minister joy to them that hear him. Now the LORD grant, that both Preachers and hearers may find in their hearts this joy, which is in CHRIST.  
Now I go forward: As they go in the part where the Apostles lurked, they find before them that first company of women, who had returned from the sepulchre, Marry Magdalene, and Marie the mother of james, and Salome: and as they enter in, they find them telling these same news to the eleven Apostles: So that the eleven Apostles wanted not witnesses; women, after women, testifying, that the Lord was risen. Will ye consider this well, and ye shall see, that it imports a deadly security in the Apostles: alas, it should have been they, who should have come to the women, to have told them of the Resurrection of Christ. When He sends so women after women, it testifies, that they were in a dead security, and so it testifies a great mercy of the LORD, who will not let them sleep in that carnal security.  
Brethren, this same mercy of God towards His own, abideth as yet, for in us is nothing but sleeping, (and if thou feelest it not, thou feelest nothing) Pastors, people, and all sleeps in security, as the Apostles did: And I say to thee, that if the LORD would let thee alone, and would send to thee no witnesses to waken thee, and to say to thee, Sinner, wake, and arise: No, there is none of us, but we would sleep to death. So look to the LORDS mercy in this thy misery, He sends men to thee, He sends crosses and troubles to waken thee. Take men away, take away these clouds of wickedness, take away closes, I give the world their doom (no exception, from the King to the Beggar,) and if thou wantest witnessing, that CHRIST died, and rose again, thou shalt sleep to destruction. Thou thinkest that this needs not to be preached: but thou shalt see one day, that there was never any thing so needful in the earth, as this preaching: and thou shalt curse the time that ever thou waste set in the world, except thou count this preaching the greatest earnest that ever was.  
So this is a token of great mercy towards them: and ye will wonder that they should be so sluggish, who heard him so long, and that now they cannot be wakened. Alas! they were not as yet so well skilled, that Heavenly wit was not as yet in their heads, and they had more of that worldly and fleshly wit, than of that Heavenly wit: and this drew them to this security.  
This is the nature of the Regenerate: Suppose the Regenerate in this world count, in some measure, of the cross of Christ, and of the power of God: yet in the best of them, there is some lack, some infirmities, and wants, and they will think sometime the preaching of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ to be but vanity, and a dream of wives, as JOHN, PETER, MATTHEW, and the rest of the Apostles did: for none of them would believe this, That CHRIST was risen. We will think that there is some great folly in these tidings: (I will tell you my nature, and the nature of the best man or woman:) but when we shall see That joyful Morning, as DAVID calls it, than we shall say with SARAH, THE LORD hath made me now to laugh indeed: She scorned, when she heard say, she should conceive, and bear a child: she thought she could not bear a child: and now when she sees it come to pass, she says, The LORD makes me to laugh indeed. And so shall we say one day, that thing which we thought but jests, than we shall say, I see this now, that I could not believe well enough, now I see it is true indeed.  
So then, in despite of all natural wit, strive to get an hope above hope: and then shalt thou greatly wonder at that sight, and marvel forever, that there could be such a joy. Now blessed is that man, or that woman that gets a taste of it here for they shall be assured of it for ever. But to go forward, I see, that it avails not much to speak to a sleeping person, that is loadned with sin, and feels it not, that is the worst estate in the world, never to groan under this mortality, under this burden of death: They can never say with the Apostle: Miserable man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death. And if ye speak to these persons of the Resurrection & death of Christ, it availeth nothing to them. What did the Apostles? They thought it but a scorn: if the Apostles thought so, what wilt thou do, that sleepest in thy murder, in thine adultery, in thy theft, in thine oppression? If the Apostles slept, how! wilt thou sleep: a sleeping sinner must be once wakened, as PAUL says in the Epistle to the Romans the first Chapter, and eighteenth verse. The wrath of God is manifest from the Heaven, against all the unrighteousness of men: And I say, the wrath and the vengeance of GOD is manifest upon the sleeping sinner, and death comes on him, that never shall have an end. But PAUL in the Epistle to the Romans, the third CHAPTER, and the twenty and one VERSE: he comes on with other tithings, and says, That the righteousness of GOD through faith in Jesus Christ is made manifest to them that believe. And I will say to thee, that jesus is come into the world, and died for thee, if thou believest thou shalt be freed of that burden of sin and wrath; and when a man hears this, he will think it the sweetest tithings that ever he heard: for the sinner will find life in that death, and that blood will sprinkle his conscience, as the Apostle says to the Hebrews, and thou wilt find a wonderful joy, when thy sins are remitted in Christ, of all joys under the Heaven, this is the greatest. The preaching of Christ avails to none, but to him who finds his soul loadned with sin.  
Now one word, and so I shall end: I see in the Apostles, and in their great infirmity, the great providence of GOD: they will neither believe, nor misbeleeve, but by His Providence: what ever was their part in it, the work was good, & of a good purpose: The LORD will not have them to believe the testimony of the first company, nor yet of the second company of women: No, no, He will not have them to believe, until they see it with their eyes, and feel it with their hands, and ere they pass out to others, He will speak to them, and let them see, that they may be persuaded that it was true.  
I always tell you this, It is not a small thing to testify of the Resurrection of Christ, to preach His Passion and Resurrection: and wilt thou of a light knowledge preach it: No, beware thou speak this, or that, upon a report. Of all men that speaks in this earth, or is sent with a commission, a Minister hath most need to beware what he speaks: Speak he of the Passion, or Resurrection of CHRIST ere ever he speak, let him get a sight of Him, suppose not with the bodily eyes, lay hold on Him by Faith in thine heart. Think it not enough to be an hearing witness, but a seeing witness: and when thou hast gotten that persuasion, with what confidence wilt thou speak of His death: thou wilt speak with such evidency, that the high hearts of men shall be humbled, finding such weight in thy words. The LORD give us grace, that when we stand up to speak of the Resurrection of CHRIST to others: we may have the persuasion of it in our own hearts, and that we may find His gracious Spirit working in us, and as we speak of Heaven, and these joys to others, so we may find some joy begin in our own hearts here, that after this life is ended, we may reign with Him in glory for ever with CHRIST: To whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all honour, praise and glory, for evermore.  
AMEN.   

THE XXXII. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  LUKE, CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 12 Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre, and looked in, and saw the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.  JOHN, CHAP. XX. 
verse 3 Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they came unto the sepulchre.  
verse 4 So they ran both together, but the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.  
verse 5 And he stooped down, and saw the linen clothes lying: yet went he not in.  
verse 6 Then came Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and saw the linen clothes lie,  
verse 7 And the kerchief that was upon his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.  
verse 8 Then went in also the other disciple, who came first to the sepulchre, and he saw it, and believed.  
verse 9 For as yet they knew not the Scripture, That he must rise again from the dead.  
verse 10 And the disciples went away again unto their own home.  
WE have heard these days past (beloved in the Lord jesus) of the two companies of women, that went out of Jerusalem, toward the grave of the Lord, early in the morning. The one company that came first, wherein was Marie Magd. and Marie the mother of james, and Salome, with other women. And the next company of women, whose names are not expressed, nor registrate: We heard of their returning home again from the grave of the Lord: how they come to the place where the XI. Apostles were lurking, with some other disciples, who loved the Lord: We heard of the preaching that the first company makes: & then the preaching of the second company, their preaching all testifying, that the Lord jesus was risen. We heard last, what effect this preaching wrought in the hearts of the XI. Apostles, to wit, they thought it all but folly, fables, & a feigned report, & believed it not. It is an hard matter, to believe the report of Christ, of His Passion & glorious resurrection. Thus far we heard the last day. Now to come to the Text that we have read: We have first another effect which this report wrought: howbeit it wrought not faith, yet it had its own effect in 2. disciples at least, Peter & john, they are wakened by it, to seek to the grave of the Lord, to see if it was so as the women reported. Well then, the report of the women is not altogether fruitless, at the least it wakens some of them up to run to the grave, to see if it was so as the women had reported. This testifies clearly, that even all the time that these Apostles lay lurking like cowards, yet all that time there remained in them a seed of faith, a seed of godliness, & a spunk of love toward their Master Christ: Indeed it was smothered with the dross of the corruption of nature, but yet it was not quite put out: and therefore, assoon as these women come, and make report of the Resurrection of jesus Christ, the seed gins to waken and draw spirits, and makes them to run to see if it was true that He was risen. For it is true, that they who once have gotten faith in Christ, in whose heart this seed is once sown, howbeit for a time they will fall in a slumber, yea, in an heavy sleep, & that seed will be so held down, that it will not be seen to the world, yea, they that have it, will not feel it themselves: yet it is sure, that true seed of faith, sown once in the heart, will never be clean put out & extinguished altogether. It is true, it will be for a time lying dead in the heart without life or motion. The Lord will be lying in thee without working for a time, and taking a shape and fashion, as the birth in the mother's womb does, as the Apostle says; Galath Chap. 4. vers. 19 until Christ be form in you. And all this time He lies without working, the man will seem then to be but dead: but assoon as that word sounds, which is the word of Life, the word of the Cross, and of the Resurrection of jesus, than that man who appeared to be dead, will take life, and jesus, who appeared to be dead in thee, will be quick. Howbeit they will not have faith, yet it will stir them up to seek Christ, and inquire whether it be so or not. In the History of the Acts, (Chap. 17. vers. 11.) ye may read a vine example of this: There were certain of the jew in a Town called Berea, and they were in the same estate, they had no thought of jesus, but were enemies unto Him: yet notwithstanding there was some good seed within them: And therefore they are said to be more Noble than the jew at Thessalonica. Now the Apostle PAUL comes in amongst them, and begins to preach CHRIST: then that little seed begins to stir, and they begin to be wakened, and they are thereby moved to read the old Testament, to see if it was true that PAUL preached or no: And then they finding it to be so as PAUL had spoken; many of them believed in CHRIST.  
We have our lesson here: It is not good to be hasty in judgement, be loath to condemn any, howbeit thou see men fall, and lie long, yet judge not too hastily of them, for who knows if there be a spunk in their hearts, which neither thou, nor they themselves know of: but try, whether the seed be or no: And thou shalt try it by this thing: Speak of the Death, Passion, and Resurrection of CHRIST unto them: if after long speaking there be no wakening, certainly that is a very evil token, that there is no good in that heart: if he be in such a deadly sleep, that nothing will waken him, that is a faithless heart, and an heart full of gall and bitterness, and replenished with iniquity: But if there be some quickening, although it were never so little, yea, suppose he believe not, and yet hath a readiness to hear, and say this, LORD open mine eyes to see, and mine heart to believe: And if this be found in him, that is a good heart, and that birth shall come forth in its own time, for as the birth is not perfected in an instant in the mother's womb, so faith is not perfected at the first, but it grows by little & little.  
Now when they are wakened, what do they? They run to the grave. They went not fair and softly, but they ran to the grave. Now certainly this running must needs proceed of some motion in the heart; some motion behoved to stir them up: Ye see what motion moved Marie Magdalene to run home: she was in displeasure, because she missed the body of the LORD: for she thought it had been stolen away. It cannot be displeasure that moved them to run: No doubt it was joy in their hearts, which made their hearts light, and the light heart made the feet speedy: And if thou have joy, it will cause thee to run and seek Him. But from whence came this joy? I see no matter of joy, but in these tidings which they heard: But how could they have joy, seeing they believed them not? I answer to this They would have believed, and feign would have had it so, and that was the thing which they most desired: And ye know, that we hear that thing which we would feign have come to pass, we will have joy to hear of it, and our delight will be to see if it be so. And so suppose there was not a full faith in them, yet there was a bowing, and an inclination to faith. And it is a strange thing to bow the heart, for it will be as hard to bow the heart, as to bow a strong Oak. So the least bowing to yield to the report of jesus, is wonderful, and there shall follow an unspeakable joy which passes all understanding. The least conception of that joy will be greater, than thou wilt have, yea, and make thee a King or a Queen. Seek ever to that Heavenly affection, for the Beast hath this earthly affection: then seek thou after the Heavenly, or thine estate shall be worse than the Beasts one day. So when the heart is wakened, thou wilt seek the Lord: but if thine heart be not bowed, it shall stand up like a wall, or a brazen pillar, and this shall be thine estate, Thou wilt have no joy, but sadness, at the hearing of these tidings: for the stiff heart receives no joy, but is in dolour, and there is no seeking of CHRIST there, to see whether He be there or not: So in a word, our lesson is this: Let not a stiff heart deprive thee of that solid joy which is in CHRIST: fie upon that heart.  
Now to go forward: They run, and they ran together, striving who should be foremost, and who should come first to the grave, to understand the truth of these women's reports. Now our lesson is this: It is an happy thing to strive in good things, who should be readiest & farthest forwards: No, I shall never blame one to strive to be first at CHRIST: No, strive with thy father, and with thy mother: No, strive with all thy kindred, to be first in Heaven, and look that thou never give place to another to go before thee: but alas, our people strive far otherwise: we strive who should run fastest from the LORD, and fastest forward to a mischief, to murder, blood, and in oppression: this is all the strife in this country: Who strives to be first in Heaven? The LORD says, Matth. CHAPTER 11. VERSE 12. The Kingdom of Heaven suffer violence, and the violent take it by force, and possess it: The LORD meaneth, that we should strive to throng in, and to see who should be first in Heaven: Alas, how far are we from this godly striving, doleful experience teaches us this day in Scotland. Thou wilt possess another man's heritage, but who strives to possess that heavenly heritage. The LORD says in Luke, 13. Chapter, and verse 24. Strive to enter in at the straight gate, Meaning, that we should strive with our whole kindred to be first in Heaven, suppose thou wilt let a King go in before thee at an earthly gate, yet strive to go in before him to Heaven, and strive to go in before all thy kindred. Paul that exhorted all men to run, he ran himself: he says, in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, the ninth Chapter, and the twenty three verse: He ran, and he ran on, to be partaker of the Gospel that he preached to others, and he ran so fast, that he never looked behind him: No, if thou standest to count thy footsteps, another shall pass by thee, and thou shalt come behind: He says, He looked to that prize of the high calling of GOD, Philip. 3.14. If two be running here on the earth, striving to get the crown, the one will envy the other, and he will travel to get himself forward, and put his companion backward. This earthly race is with envy, and every one would take the feet from another: Paul gives a reason hereof, in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, the ninth Chapter, and the twenty four verse, and says There is but one crown: but it is not so with thee that runnest in that heavenly race, the one will not envy the other, the one will not put the other behind, he will not put him back, but he will take him by the hand & say, Go forward to the end, brother, and thou shalt get the crown: & this is it, that we should every one exhort another to do, ever to go forward to Heaven, and every one take another by the hand, to help him forward, because there is not a crown only, but many crowns: look how many run, there are as many crowns: wilt thou run, thou shalt get a crown, will I run, I shall get a crown, and will the third run he shall get a crown: never one who runs shall be destitute of a crown. PAUL in the second Epistle to Timothy, the fourth Chapter, and the 7. and eight verses, says, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: now henceforth is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord that righteous judge will give to me at that day: No, he cannot be just, but He must give the crown to thee that hast run: And not only to me, says he, but unto all them also that love that His appearing: As he would say, to all them that will run with me: and I say to thee, if thou wilt run on, & lead thy neighbour by the hand, that is weaker than thou: it shall be so far from hindering thee from the crown, that thine honour and glory shall be augmented, when thou shalt come to Heaven. Paul says in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians, the 2. Chapter, and the nineteenth verse, What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not ye it, even in the presence of our Lord jesus Christ, at His coming: And therefore well is that soul that wins another to Heaven, be thou King, Lord, Gentleman, or Minister: if thou helpest many to Heaven, thou shalt get the more glorious crown. To go forward: they run together, but in the running, the one is speedier than the other, & john leaves Peter behind him, & outruns him, but when it comes to the grave, he only looks in, and sees the linen clothes lying, but he enters not in, to get knowledge, but seeing the linen clothes, he stands still: Peter that came behind him, enters first in into the grave, & sees the matter as it was: the windingsheete, as we call it, lying in one place, and the kerchief that was upon His head in another place by itself. To speak this by the way: it lets us understand this: Amongst the jews that the windingsheete was not put over the whole body and head, as we use to do, but from the shoulders down, and the linen was about the head: after this manner Christ was wrapped. Wherefore should I speak of the vanity of the Papists: they will say to you, they have the same windingsheete, and this same kerchief remaining as relics: and they will have them in six or seven places at one time: is not this a great wonder it should have lasted so long, and yet should be kept in so many places at one time: and more they say, the vine picture of Christ is in that windingsheete, His body, they say, made such a dint, that His picture might be seen there: but think ye, if it were so, that the Evangelists, who register smaller things, would have hid and concealed it. But I leave them to their vanity, as unworthy of any refutation, and I come to the matter. In this course and race of Peter, and john, to the grave, I see this course that we have in this life, is very unequable: it keeps not always one constant tenor, nor we are not ay alike speedy: sometimes one runs fast, sometimes he will settle and weary, and go slowly forward, and whilst as he wearies, his neighbour will outrun him, and ere they come to the end, he that came out last, will sometimes be first at the mark, and get the crown. Mark this well▪ it lets us see, that to be true which Paul writes in the ninth Chapter to the Romans, and the sixteenth verse, It is not in the hands of him that willeth, nor in him that runneth, but in the hands of the Lord that showeth mercy: when the Lord holds His hand to thee, thou wilt run, and when He takes His hand from thee, thou wilt stay behind, and he that dragled behind, will be before thee: this is the course we keep to that mark: we should not think, that all men should run alike: and suppose thou seest a draggling person, think not, that person will never come to the mark.  
Peter gets the sight first, john, suppose he got it not first, yet he gets it, and it is said in the Text, He saw, and he believed. Mark the lesson: Albeit there be many changes by the way, yet he or she that will persevere in draggling, shall not want the crown, as well as they that ran speedily, and came first. It stands not so much in the fast running, as in the persevering: it is not said, he or she that runs fast, shall be crowned, but he or she that continues to the end, shall be crowned: look ay thou peresevere, if thou may not run, go: yet if thou may not go, fall down upon thine hands and feet, and creep as it were a snail, or worm, albeit it were but two foot in the day: & as ever thou wouldst be safe, lie not still: it stands thee upon life & death: thou must wear away, and night and day thou goest ever to this end: and if this outward man decay, grow in the inward man: and as thou growest weak in this life, striu● to grow strong in that heavenly life, that thou art to go to. Paul in the second Epistle to the Corinthians, the fourth Chapter, and the sixteenth verse, says, As the outward man decayed daily, so the inward man grew daily. So to end this in a word: As ever thou wouldst see Heaven, go either fast or else softly to that life. Well, it is said, They were ignorant of the Scripture, that told, He should rise again from the dead: and so because he saw, he believed: he should have believed, because he heard it: for he had the Scripture for his warrant: he and Peter should have grounded their Faith on the Scripture.  
Take heed to this: The Apostle says, We live by Faith, and not by sight: yet how ever it be, that man or woman believe, they are blessed: and blessed art thou, man, or woman, that believest either for hearing or seeing: and suppose thou feelest him by the hands, and believest in Him, as Thomas did, that felt Him, thou art blessed: but that is an evil thing, when thou hast the word, and yet suspends thy faith, until thou seest.  
It was an evil thing in Peter and john, that they let the word pass, and believed it not: it was an evil thing in Thomas, that he believed not, until he felt Christ: and I say to thee, it is a sure thing, if thou refusest to believe, until thou seest, thou adventurest and hazardest thy life and salvation: and I say to thee, if thou contemnest this word, and say this, I will not believe until I see Him, I give thee thy doom, thou shalt never see Him to thy comfort nor salvation.  
Therefore if He say to thee, and if He promise, He will give thee Heaven, believe it, and lay hold on it, although thou werest dying: and if He say to thee, that He will give thee life, depend and stick by His promise.  
Thou honour'st thy GOD in believing and depending on His promise: for thou canst not do Him greater honour, than to believe His promise.  
And albeit thou see little appearance outwardly, and if thou believest the word, without doubt, thou shalt get a sight of Him one day to thy comfort and endless consolation.  
Depend and wait on patiently with Abraham, and ever stick and lay hold on the promise, and I promise to thee in His Name, believe the promise of life, and thou shalt see life: believe in Him, and thou shalt see Him one day.  
Blessed are they who believe in Him, and yet see Him not: blessed are they who walk by Faith: for one day they shall walk by sight. Strive to believe in His word, and look on Him, and Heaven and earth shall perish, ere thou wantest that sight of Him one day. Yet I may not pass by the words of JOHN: I see in him a wonderful plainness, and singleness of heart: which of us will be contented that another registrate our faults, that any other might read them. This man sinned this way, and that way? Then, who will write up his own faults, with his own hands, as he does? He says, he was ignorant. So then, if there were none other argument to tell us, that this Book is dyted by the SPIRIT of GOD, and that it is the word of GOD, this singleness of writing their own faults without affection or self-love, which ever would entice us to honour ourselves, tells us sufficiently.  
But naturally, rather than thou hadst thy Parents, or thy kinsfolk ashamed, thou wouldst rather have GOD'S glory and justice smothered and defaced. But see if MOSES spared to register the faults of LEVI, of whom he was descended: see if he spared? AARON: See if he spared himself: No, he tells his own fault, he tells his own infidelity. And again, see if DAVID spares himself: sets he not down his own adultery, and murder? JOHN registrates his own ignorance. Let GOD be glorified, and all creatures ashamed: for, to that end were we created: for except He had respected His own glory, we should never have been made. Should we not then seek His glory, although it were with our own shame? JOHN learns us here another good lesson, how often soever we fail through ignorance: (Alas, we fail often through ignorance and misbelief, and ignorance brings on infidelity.) And therefore, whensoever we fail through ignorance, lay not the blame of thy blindness upon the Scripture: In pain of thy life say not, I am ignorant, because the Scripture is obscure and dark, as the Pope & his shavelings blasphemously allege: but I affirm, that it is so perfect, that all things appertaining to thy salvation are contained therein. And I say in despite of the Pope, thou who sayest it is obscure, one day thou shalt not be challenged so much for thine ignorance, as for thy blasphemy against GOD, when thou wilt stand up, and say, The Scripture of GOD is not perfect, but obscure and wanting: I tell you, one day these blasphemers (for all their out-crying) shall have their mouths sowed up, and they shall make an offer to speak, and to say. The Scripture of God was not perfect: but the conscience of them shall so strike them with fear and terror, that they shall not be able to answer one word. Woe to them that impair the authority of the Scripture: we may pingle with them a while here, but we remit them to that great day, that the judge appear, and then they shall receive their reward for their blasphemy. But to leave them, What are these Scriptures that preach CHRIST'S Resurrection from the dead? In what part is His Resurrection foretold? In the 13. of the Acts Paul preaching of Christ, he confirms it by the old Scriptures: The first Scripture is out of the 55, of Esay, verse 3.24. Where He says, He will make an everlasting covenant with you of the sure mercies of David: Then he concludes, Therefore it behoved the Lord to rise from death: Mark the consequent: No, there is not such a thing, as that ever mercy had continued, if Christ had not risen. The Apostle says in the 2. Epistle to the Corinthians, the first CHAPTER, and the 20. VERSE, In Him are all the promises of God, Yea, and Amen, No, thou, or I should never have had Faith, nor any spiritual grace, if Christ had not risen: So, so oft as ever thou feelest a spunk or motion of that spiritual life within thee, thou mayest say, I am sure, that jesus is risen from the death: for this is sure, all grace and life flows from the life of jesus. So, if He had not risen, thou shouldest have had no life. He hath another Scripture, out of the sixteenth Psalm, at the tenth verse, Thou wilt not leave my soul in the grave, neither wilt suffer thine Holy One, to see corruption. Then he concludes, therefore He is risen. How follows this? It follows well enough, for if He had not risen, His body behoved to rot, and to be corrupted, as ours rot. And Peter in the second Chapter of the Acts, and verse 31. uses the same testimony: Likewise in the fifty three Chapter of Esay, and the 8. verse, where he prophecies of Christ, he says, And who is able to count His generation: for all His death He is that everlasting Essence: meaning, that albeit He died, He shall rise to life without end.  
There is another Scripture, Then they should have believed without sight: But, alas, who is careful to get this knowledge of this Resurrection: and if we had a care to seek Christ, we would turn over these old Scriptures, to see the prophecies of Christ to come, & then we would come to the New Testament▪ to see these things accomplished, & so would meditate in the Scriptures, night & day, to confirm our faith, & to get our hearts set & established on the LORD: for it is a matter of great difficulty, to get the heart established with grace: and if thine heart be not established and filled with that word, thou wilt never see CHRIST, nor get any grace in Him. So to end this: I beseech you, as ever ye would see CHRIST, be diligent to seek the Scriptures, that ye may settle your hearts here upon Him, and believe in Him, that hereafter ye may see Him to your comfort and consolation at His second coming, when He shall appear in the clouds, with the millions of Angels: To Him be glory for ever, Amen.   

THE XXXIII. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  MARK CHAP. XVI. 
verse 9 And when jesus was risen again, early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Marie Magdalene, out of whom he cast seven devils:  JOHN CHAP. XX. 
verse 11 But Marie stood without at the sepulchre, weeping: and as she wept, she bowed herself into the sepulchre,  
verse 12 And saw two Angels in white, sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of jesus had lain.  
verse 13 And they said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She said unto them, They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.  
verse 14 When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw jesus standing, and knew not that it was jesus.  
verse 15 jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She supposing that he had been the Gardener, said unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.  
WE have heard (Brethren) before, first of the outcomming of the first company of women to the grave of the Lord, and of their returning home again: secondly, we heard of the outcomming of the second company of women, and their returning home again. thirdly, and last of all, we heard how Peter and John, being wakened with the tidings which the women told them of His Resurrection, came out to the grave, to see if it was so, as the women had reported: They ran, and in running, they strive who shall be first: john out runs Peter, (whether it was because he was younger, and more able in his person, or whether he had greater joy in his mind, I leave that to any man to judge) and comes first to the grave, and looks in, and goes back again. Peter comes after him, and looks better about him, and seeing the winding-sheet in one part of the grave, and the linen cloth, wherewith the lords head was wrapped, to be in another part, he wonders at it, and thereafter goes into the grave. Then came JOHN again, who afore only looked in: and now the second time enters in, and when he saw, he believed, and went his way. Thus far we heard the last day.  
Now in this Text, ye will see, MARRY MAGDALENE, of whom ye heard before, who came to the grave of the LORD, with the first company: and drawing near to the grave, saw that great stone removed: who hastily ran home, thinking verily, that the body of the Lord had been stolen away, and witted not where it was laid. This same MARIE, as appears, hath followed after Peter and john, suppose she ran not with them, yet she came soon after: but before she came, they had gotten the sight of the grave, and went away: she coming to it, goes not in, but stands without, at the grave weeping. So this day we return to the History of MARIE MAGDALENE: and first, we shall speak of her mourning: And secondly, we shall speak of these things which she saw in the grave, and about the grave, and how she met with the LORD, for whom she mourned: and last, we shall speak of the effect that followed upon these sights, as GOD shall give the grace, and as the time shall permit. Then to begin at the first: it is said in the Text, Marry Magdalene stood without weeping, when she came to the grave. She enters not in the grave, nor looks not into it, but abode in that opinion, that the body of the Lord, was stolen away, she stands without, weeping and mourning. Now certainly, I must ascribe this to a wonderful love of this woman: there is no man that can express sufficiently this love, that she bore to Christ: No, well were we, if we could love Him half so well, as she did. Yet in this mourning, she sinneth, for all her love, her mourning passed measure: No, ye will not find scarcely in all the Scripture such a mourning as was in this woman: she mourns too much & almost desperately for the body of the Lord: she mourns in vain, where there was no cause of mourning, but cause of joy. The ground of all this mourning was ignorance and forgetfulness: she had forgotten that which He had told her, that He should rise again the third day: she remembered not, but the third day missing the body, she thinks it to be stolen away. Mark this: The godly, when they think they do best, they are oft miscarried with their own affections, they are mourning for Christ, and also loving Christ, and yet in the mean time they are sinning against Him. The ground of this in them, is ignorance and forgetfulness of the promises of the Lord, so that if ye would look into that word, ye need not be ignorant concerning God: & if thou mournest for ignorance, blame thyself, thou lookest not to the word: for if thou lookest into this word, and mournest, thou hast forgot, as Marie Magdalene did: and therefore thou deservest to be casten in a perplexity. Yet to consider this somewhat better: First, when she came out to the grave, she ran home, and seeing the stone rolled away, she tells false tithings, and she once conceives a false opinion. Now she stands, and abides in this opinion, and will not go in to the grave, but stands without the grave, and mourns desperately for a time. Well, Brethren, after that once a wrong opinion & conceit enter into the head of any, it is not lightly removed again: thou mayest conceive it lightly, as Marie Magdalene did: but thou shalt not lay it down so lightly: Beware of opinions concerning God, & religion: & ere ever thou suffer an opinion to enter into thine head, consider it in the beginning: had she considered it well, she had not been overcome with it now. Therefore, let not opinions concerning GOD, Religion, and that Life to come, lightly enter into your heads. Now at last she bows her body, & goes in to the grave. When she hath gone forward for a season in this vain displeasure▪ at the last the Lord bows her heart: for if she had not bowed her heart, she should never have bowed her body, to have looked in to the grave: Mark the goodness of the LORD towards His own: when they have gone forward a while in their own perplexity, the LORD looks unto them, and will not let them go on so desperately to destruction: but He wiil bow thine heart first. The first grace is not the giving to thee the thing thou seekest, but the moving of thine heart to seek, is the first. No, He will not present Himself at the first before thee▪ but He will have thee to bow thyself to seek Him. And it lies not in the hands of any body to bow himself to seek Him: No, as life is of mercy, so seeking of life is of mercy: And if thou gettest an inclination to seek Christ and Heaven, that is the first grace: and He that hath gruen thee the fi●st grace to seek, without doubt He will also give thee the second to find Him.  
Now she looks in to the grave, and her looking in is not in vain, for looking in, she seeks; and seeking, she finds: And mark what she finds; she finds not a dead body, as she thought (she would have been glad to have found it) but she sees two glorious Angels, sitting in the grave, clothed in bright raiment, the one where His head had lain, and the other where His feet had lain. So our lesson is this, Bow thy body, and thou shalt see, seek and thou shalt find: yea, I s●y to thee, if thou wilt bow thy body to seek, thou shalt get greater things than thou seekest. MARRY sought but Christ's dead body, and she finds Angels, bearing witness that He was risen. So in a word: Seek, and thou shalt find greater things than ever thou soughtest. Alas, we w●nt grace, for fault of seeking: And I testify this, that the world wants grace and salvation for fault of seeking, for their heart, cannot bow down to seek. Now what sees she? She saw Angels. Peter and John saw something also: but what saw they when they went to the grave? They saw but a winding-sheet, lying in one place of the grave, and a kerchief in another: but MARIE saw not this only, which might have witnessed that the LORD was risen, and not stolen away: for if He had been stolen, they would have stolen the winding-sheete and the kerchief also. She sees a fairer sight than JOHN and PETER did: MARRY that was a woman, sees a more glorious sight than two Apostles saw: they see but linen clothes: Marie sees two Angels: and in this, she is preferred to the two Apostles. That which I say of her, I say of all these women, that they were preferred above the Apostles.  
Mark this, ye that are women: All your s●xe is honoured in these women: The first and the second company got the sight of Angels, which none of the Apostles got. And when I consider this their preferment, I find it stands in these two points chiefly: First, they get the first revelation: it is first told to them: and secondly, it is not told to them by men, but by Angels. In both these the Apostles are postponed, they get it told them by women, and then they get it told them in the second room: So that all women have a prerogative in these women. In this, That the LORD gives this prerogative to this infirm sex, He shames the Apostles: and that to this end, that all glory may be given to GOD.  
Yet I will not pass by the sitting of the two Angels: Nothing here fell out rashly, all was ordained, he that was appointed to sit at the head of the grave, he sat at the head: and he that was appointed to sit at the feet, sat at the feet: So the LORD appointed, that not only they should speak with their tongue: but also by their placing, tell, that He was risen. And the Angel of GOD that sat at the head would say, Magdalene, here is the place where his head lay, he is risen. And the other that sat at the feet, would say, Hear is the place where his feet lay, he is risen. It is even so yet in the world, they whom He sends to teach, He disposes them so, that by their sitting, their going, and standing, He will preach, and He will make their sitting to inform them, that He ordained to life and salvation: The Lord works all for the weal of His Elect: yea, the least circumstance is for the weal and salvation of His own.  
Now to go forward: Marie hath seen a fair sight: but stays the grace here? and thinks the LORD He hath done enough, because He hath let her see such a glorious sight? No, He will have them also to speak: They both with one voice, say, Why weepest thou? When the LORD begins once to bow the heart, He will let thee see grace: yea, He will not let thee see only: but He will also let thee hear. He would not only let her see dumb Angels, but He would have them also to speak unto her, that she might hear joyfully: When He hath once begun, ere He leave, He will fill all the senses with grace, He shall fill the eye with sight, the ear with hearing, and in the end, He shall fill thine heart fully with grace and mercy. Now what hears Marie? The Angels say unto her, Woman, why mournest thou? For, as she looked in to the grave, she wept bitterly, the tears went never from her eyes, nor the sadness from her heart, till the LORD Himself said, MARRY, why weepest thou? Mark the words: The Angel no doubt rejectes her, because she wept without measure, and in vain, because she thought that the body of the LORD had been stolen away: she wept for Him who was living. But as the Angel reproves her, so he pities her. Then, if thou weep for the LORD, He shall cause the Angels of Heaven to pity thee. Yet again: What say the Angels? They say not, Woman, fear not, as they did to the rest of the women that came before: And why say they not, Fear not? She was so overcome with displeasure, and so sad hearted, that she was not afraid of the Angels, and was not astonished, as the other women: for they had not so sad an heart as she had: for her heart was so filled with sadness and displeasure, that fear could not get place. The Angel says, Woman why mournest thou? because it was mourning that ailed her. The LORD gives always medicine according to the sore: If thou be sad, He will say, Why mournest thou? The Angel applies the medicine, and stills her. A mourning body for CHRIST would be stilled: If thou weepest for CHRIST, suppose thou pass bounds, yet thou shalt not want stilling, though He should send his Angels to still thee: No, there was never any that mourned for Christ, that wanted stilling: Nor there was never any child that got so sweet words to still them, as thou shalt get, who mournest for CHRIST. Then, Blessed are they (says CHRIST) that mourn, for they shall receive consolation, Matth. 5.4. If thou mourn for the love of the LORD, thou shalt be stilled and comforted, and blessed shalt thou be one day. Alas, this is a laughing worl●●-woe unto it, few men or women are now mourning wi●● 〈◊〉 Magdalene: alas, what need have we of stilling: No, we are laughing, notwithstanding of all th●se judgements that approach fast, and are near at hand: they will cause us all mourn one day: But what says the Angels to her? Say they in an anger, Why seek ye the living amongst the dead? Behold the mercy of GOD to His children: she merited, if ye look to her fault, to have been reproved more sharply: she forgot the word of our Saviour, and she would not look in to the grave, yet he reproves her not: he says not to her. Why seek ye Him that is living amongst the dead, as the Angel spoke to the other women. This is our lesson in a word: The LORD looks not what thou meritest but He looks what thou needest: He will not speak according to thy merit, but according to thy need and necessity: for if thou mournest for the LORD, He will minister comfort to thee: No, He will not make a sorrowful heart more sorrowful: he is a cruel person that will do so: no, the Lord will not do so He will not bru●se the broken reed▪ neither will He quench the smoking flax▪ as it was prophesied of Him long before, Esay Chapter 42. and the third verse: But if thou be sad, He will raise thee up with such comfort, as cannot be told.  
Now to go forward: When they have demanded: Why weepest thou? ●hee answers without any fear: as their sight terrifies her not, so neither is she terrified with their voice. What was the cause that she feared not? and that at the voice of the terrible Angels she is not moved? Even because her heart was overcome and loadned with dolour and sadness, that there could be no place almost left to fear.  
She says: They have stolen away the body of the Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him. What could she do with it▪ & wherefore was she so careful? She tells what she would do with it: sh●e says to Himself: I would bury it: now all this came of a surpassing love: and therefore look not so much to her doing, as to her love. Learn at Marie Magdalene to love the LORD, and she may learn all the world.  
This love and zeal of GOD is almost out of the hearts of men and women: and when I consider her great love, I find it is more than any natural affection, as father to son, or man to woman.  
〈◊〉 ●●cept, there had come a force & virtue out of that body, she could never have loved the Lord so well: No, except He lose our hearts with that love he bears to us, we cannot love Him: but when once He loses thine heart, thou wilt hate thyself to love Him: so what ever I discommend in her, I discommend not her love: No, I shall never discommend love, nor zeal in any person: Alas, we have too little of it, to discommend it: and I doubt not, but all these imperfections that were in her, were covered by the LORD JESUS whom she loved. Our comfort is this, if we love the LORD our GOD well, albeit we had a thousand imperfections, they shall be covered with the mantle of the righteousness of JESUS: yea, He shall meet thy love with unspeakable love.  
Thus far for the sight, and hearing of the Angels: The Text says: assoon as she had spoken, She turns her about again: Men would think this an undiscreet behaviour, to stand and hear two Angels, and then like a vain person, to turn her about. I will not excuse this altogether, but I impute this to the exceeding dolour and sadness, wherewith their soul was loadned: there must be many faults overseen in a sad person: I had rather bear with twenty faults in such a person, as to bear with one, in a vain person.  
Now as she is speaking to the Angels: so the LORD comes near toward her back, and ere ever He came or she saw Him, He touches her with a secret and powerful presence of His Spirit: for I doubt not, as He came near her, but His Spirit both turns her about, and closes the mouth of the Angels: for He is the LORD both of man and Angel: and if He come, His presence must turn thee: and when He comes to speak, all the Angels must hold their tongue, and be dumb. Ye know, that JOHN the BAPTIST was a great light before the LORD came, and many followed him: but when CHRIST comes, JOHN closes his mouth, and as he says, joh. Chap. 3. vers. 29. It is the bridegroom that hath the bride: and I stand, says he, & hear Him, and hearing Him, I rejoice with an joy unspeakable and glorious: No, it is the greatest joy under the Heaven to hear Him speak, and if thou hearest Him, thou wilt not desire to speak: she turns her, and she sees JESUS standing whom she sought, she sought Himself, and finds His Messengers, but at the last she finds Himself. In a word, we have our lesson: Seek ever the Lord, thou will not get Him at the first: (Thou wilt not get a King at the first) for He hath Messengers afore: and we His Ministers, are all His Messengers: and we all tell you, and I tell you, that CHRIST is coming, and blessed be that comer: I bid thee stand a while, and then the LORD shall come at thy back: Happy and blessed art thou that shalt be ask for Him: thou shalt get such a joyful meeting as Marie Magdalene did: but woeful shall that meeting be to thee, who delightest not to hear, nor to speak of Him: for He shall come upon thee like a thief in the night. So, blessed art thou who art talking with His Messengers: for He shall call thee by name, as He did Marie, and that shall be the joyef●llest voice that ever thou heardest. I said before, that she got a preferment above the Apostles, in getting a sight of the Angels: but that was common to her with the other women: Hear ye see further, she got a preferment above all women: she gets the first sight of jesus, as MARK says, after His Resurrection. And this argues, that her desire to see Him exceeded the desire of all the Apostles, and all the women. So thou that longest most for the LORD shall see Him first, and joyful shall that sight be to thee. Yet mark how she receives it: She knows Him not. This is a marvelous thing: she never left Him, but followed Him from GALILEE: and yet when the LORD offers Himself unto her eyes, she knows Him not. This must be imputed to that great stupidity which was in her eyes, they were so dim, that she could not see. If the LORD had any secret dispensation in it, or in what form He appeared, I will not dispute.  
Our lesson is this: There enters such a mist into our eyes, that suppose the LORD offer Himself to be seen in the word, crucified, and glorified in His Gospel, yet thou wilt not see Him, till the beams which glance from His face, shine into thine heart, and scatter that cloud of darkness: and when that cloud is away, thou wilt see with such a sweetness, as cannot be uttered: and thou who didst never see that sight, thou never sawest joy.  
Now blessed is that soul that can behold the LORD in the Mirror, as it were coming behind, and happy is that soul that can delight to see Him in the Mirror: for certainly they shall see Him one day face to face, and the LORD will turn them about, as He did Marie, and then these vile bodies, shall be like unto His glorious body; and that face, which is now but vile, shall then glance as the Sun in the Noon day. So blessed are they that can await till the LORD come: Thou never mettest with one in this world, who can make thee so joyful as He will: and ever the greater languor that thou hast for Him, the greater shall be thy joy. Alas, we seek joy here, and there is but few who seek CHRIST, in whom is all true joy.  
Well, Marie knew not the LORD, but yet He knew her: No, thou mayst well forget Him, but He will not forget thee: but He shall cause thee to know Him ere thou go. He says to Marie, Woman, why mournest thou? At the first He lies aloof. He says not Marie, but like an uncouth man: He says to her, Woman, why mournest thou? Then He says not, I know thou weepest for me: but He says, Why, weepest thou? He says not, I know whom thou seekest: but, Whom seekest thou? So then at the first He holds Him aloof with His own, He gives them not His familiar presence at the first: but as long as we are here on earth, His speech shall be a far off: As long as we live by faith, He looks to us as it were afar off: And this speech is to waken a languor and piece of sadness in us, till we meet with the LORD: for the more thou mournest, the greater shall be thy joy. The Lord if He please, in an instant may take thee to the Heavens, but He will let thee lie here for a while, and the greater that thy sadness is in this life, the greater shall thy joy be in the life to come. O, that joy which that body shall have, who hath longed for the LORD! Then, think long, and wait for that His bright and glorious coming, as Paul speaks: for no man shall get a crown, but th●y who have waited for Him.  
Now I shall end in a word: She supposing that he had been the Gardener of the Garden where the LORD was buried, she said unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, that I may take him aways. Look if she loved Him not well when He was living, for in His death she could not be severed from Him, so did the love of JESUS constrain her. In the twenty and fourth CHAPTER OF MATTHEW it is said, Wheresoever a dead carkeiss is, thither will the Eagles be gathered together. Now she is a Mirror of love and zeal. Alas, if thine heart could melt with love as hers did. Yet I see in her a marvelous stupidity: She knows Him neither by sight nor voice, her heart was so overcome with dolour & sadness. And this senselessness that fell on good Marie Magdalene, will oftentimes fall on the best man or woman in this life, That, as the Prophet says, in hearing, they will not hear, and in seeing, they will not see. So all tends to this: Let every one judge charitably of another: Be loath to condemn any, for as lively as thou art, thou mayest fall down dead: and therefore wait on the LORD, and the voice of the LORD shall come unto thee, and call on thee, as He called on Marie: and that voice shall open both the eyes of thy body, and of thy soul: and He shall let thee see and feel that it is He: and that joy shall be complete, when thou shalt come and inherit that Kingdom which was prepared for thee before the foundation of the world. The LORD grant it may be our only joy, and that we may hold up our eyes, and wait night and day for that blessed coming of JESUS, at the which time our joy begun, shall be perfected, and never have end. To this LORD JESUS, with the Father, and that blessed SPIRIT, be all Praise, Honour, and glory, for ever and ever, AMEN.   

THE XXXIV. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XX. 
verse 16 jesus sayeth unto her, Marry. She turned herself, and said unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master.  
verse 17 jesus sayeth unto her, Touch me not: for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my Brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and to your Father, and to my God, and your God.  
verse 18 Marie Magdalene came and told the Disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.  
WE heard these days p●st (beloved in CHRIST) how that early in the morning, first one company of women came out of JERUSALEM, to the grave of the LORD: and next after them another company: thirdly, we heard of PETER and JOHN, two of the Apostles, how they came out to the grave of the LORD, being stirred up by the report of the women. And last, we heard of the outcomming of MARIE MAGDALENE to the grave of the LORD the second time, following after the Disciples PETER and JOHNNE: after they were returned, she comes again to the grave: She offered not to look in, but stood mourning for a space without, thinking certainly, that the body of the LORD had been stolen away: But at the last it pleased the LORD to bow her mind, and then she bowed her body, and looked in to the grave, and saw two Angeles, the one at the head, and the other at thee feet of the grave where our LORD had lain, sitting, clothed in bright raiment: and when she saw them, she was nothing afraid, as the other women: she was so filled with displeasure and sorrow, and her eyes were so dim with mourning, that she could not see. The Angels ask her, Why weepest thou? She answers them, They have taken away the body of the LORD, and I know not where they have laid it. Ye will marvel at this: there is nothing in her mind, but the dead body of the LORD: and as she is not terrified with the sight of the Angels, so she is not terrified with their voice: and she turns her about from them: and finding Him standing beside her in His own proper person: and the LORD said as the Angel had said before unto her, that is, Woman, why weepest thou? He calls her Woman; speaking strangely: and He proceeds further, and sayeth, Whom seekest thou? as though He had not known whom she had been seeking. MARRY supposing Him to have been the Gardener of that Yard where the LORD was buried, she says, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, that I may take him up, and bury him. Now, as said is, there is nothing else in her mind but that dead body of jesus, which is an argument that she loved Him exceedingly, when He was living: I say, all that was in her was exceeding & vehement: in her was exceeding love to the Lord, & exceeding vehement desire to see Him, & exceeding displeasure for Him, & for stealing Him out of the grave, as she supposed: so that I may say, she was one of the violent ones, that Christ speaks of in the 11 of Matthew, that breaks up Heaven: he says there, That violence is done to the Kingdom of Heaven, and the violent possess it. She pulled Christ out of the hands of the Apostles and of the rest of the women, and went betwixt them and Him: and therefore she meets Him first, because she seeks Him before them. Thus far we heard the last day: now we follow out the rest of the History, and that thing that follows of the communing betwixt the Lord and her: the Lord leaves her not so lying in ignorance, & displeasure, but as He had before somewhat strangely and uncouthly talked with her: so now He comes on more homely, and He utters a more kindly word, and He names Her by her name, Marry, He speaks nothing but one word but a well chosen word, an homely word, the word of a Pastor, of a shepherd: naming her by her own name, as it is said in the 10. of john, The good shepherd will name his sheep by their name: this was a powerful word, as will be seen by the effects that were wrought in her: she saw not of before: it opened her eyes, to see, and her ears to hear: and in a word, it opened all her dead senses. Mark this lesson: When the Lord hath spoken to us for a time, as a stranger afar off, as though He knew us not: at last He will come on with an homely & kind word, and He will let thee see, that He knows thee by thy name, by thy face, by thine heart, and by thine actions: Read the 4. of john, speaking to the woman of Samaria, He speaks to her at the first, as though He had not known her, but at the last He gins and tells her of all that she had done, and that she was but an harlot lying presently in harlotry: she hearing that, she understands that He is a Prophet, and at last that He is Christ the Messiah. Brethren, though the Lord speaks to us afar off, as a stranger that knows us not, and we answer, as though we knew Him not: yet stay still, & hear on, and thou shalt hear one word that shall do the deed: thy effectual calling will be performed with one word, it stands not in many words. When He will waken thee, one word will do the deed. Yet to come to her, assoon as she hearest the word, she comes, & turns her in an instant to Him again: so it seems, that she had turned her from Him, as she did from the Angels that spoke to her before: she says, Rabboni: it is a Chaldaicke word, which in our language signifies Master, He speaks but one word, & she another: His word is a well chosen word, and so was hers: His word was homely: hers also was homely, His was the word of a Pastor: her word is the word of one of the flock, His word is the word of a Master, her word is the word of an obedient disciple: and last His word is the word of power to call her, His word testifies his calling, and the effect of His power. In this stands our calling, when the LORD names us by our name, and speaks kindly to us, and then we answer Him: We may not answer any way: No, thou must answer like one of the flock, like one that knows the voice of the shepherd: thou must answer like one that knows the voice of His Master: thou must answer like one that feelest the effect of His calling. When the Lord speaks homely, if thou answerest homely, there shall be exceeding joy, this is it that we call effectual calling. The thing that I note, is this shortly: As long as the LORD speaks strangely to us, we will hear Him strangely, and as long as He knows not us, we will not know Him, if it were a thousand years, we will not know Him: and this lets us see, that neither man nor woman can do aught, except He prevent them with grace: if He love thee not first, thou wilt never love Him, 1. john 4. and if He know not thee first, thou shalt never know Him: No, never a man will know the Lord, except He know them first: He says in the 4. Chapter to the Galathians, verse 9 Now seeing ye know God, then bethinking himself, he says, yea, rather are known of God: and therefore thou shouldest say, Lord, love me, that I may love thee, Lord, know me, that I may know thee, etc.  
Now I go forward: When she hath uttered this word Rabboni, she goes forward to have embraced Him in her arms: He meets her, and says, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father: Some would marvel what moved the Lord jesus to stay that woman that loved Him so entirely, to touch Him. We will hear hereafter, how a whole company took Him by the feet and adored Him, as ye may read, Matth. 28 8. and the disciples touched Him, as ye may read in the 24. of Luke, and the 39 verse, & Thomas put his hands in His side, in this same Chapter, and it cannot be said, that these touched Him, after that He ascended up to Heaven, that could not be possible: it is a marvel then, that He should be so strange to MARIE: I answer to this, and I take mine answer first, out of the reason, and next out of the commission He gives to Marie: for first, when He says to her, I am not gone up to my Father, and therefore touch me not now the meaning is this in effect: it is not time for thee to touch me now, till that time I be in glory, and then touch me by the arms of Faith, as much as thou canst or mayest: ye must consider, that she was too much addicted to His bodily presence, and she thought that He should have remained and dwelled with her on earth, as He did before: and therefore He would not let her come near Him, until He instructed her of a spiritual touching: that He was not to stay here, but to dwell with His Father in the Heavens: but after He hath instructed her, He lets her & the other women touch Him as much as they would: This is the first answer: The other, I take it out of the commission He gives her: the commission was, to tell the disciples, and He wills her to tell hastily: and therefore He will not let her come near to touch Him, until she have done her commission  
Now let us mark somethings in Marie Magdalene: Ye read in the second Epistle to the Corinthians, the fifth Chapter, and the fourteenth verse, PAUL says, The love of God constrains me, that is, the love of GOD binds up mine heart, and hand, and all my senses. Now would to GOD we could love Him half so well, as he did: he gives the reason: because He loved me, and died, and gave His life for me: I will consecrate me to His service, & it is little enough, thou shouldest do so, seeing He hath bought thee, and then He defines the service: he says now, I will know no man after the flesh, that is, for carnal respects, as for Country, land, kindred, or parentage. But I acknowledge them as new creatures, I will look to the grace of regeneration: this is the service of Christ, & if I have known CHRIST Himself after the flesh: yet I know Him no more: so, He had His friends, His kindred, and His Country as other men had: but since He is exalted above the Heavens: I will know Him no more, so I will compare Marie with Paul: a godly man, with a godly woman: she is like Him in this, that she loved the Lord exceeding well. He died to redeem Paul, & therefore He loved Him exceeding well: she loved Him, because He died for her: but when it comes to the service, Marie is not well learned: Paul touches Him by Faith in the Heavens: Marie looks not to the Heavens, but she goes to embrace Him in her bodily arms: in this she is behind, but she got better instruction hereafter.  
Mark this lesson: There are some men that will love the Lord entirely: and yet when they come to His service, they will fail: for such is the grossness of our nature, that we cannot incline to that spiritual service, which He chief requires. Papistry is full of this grossness, they can do nothing, if they want His carnal presence, either in Himself, or in a stock, or a stone, or in a piece of bread: and therefore they dream a bodily presence of Him in the Sacrament: all their Religion is earthly, no Spirit, no grace in it. But accepted the Lord of that gross service of Marie that she offered: I am certain, He loved Marie better than the Pope, & all his shavelings: yet for as well as He liked Marie, He likes not this her service: He says to her, Touch me not: then how will he like of that person, that He loves not so well, that delights in gross and wilful ignorance. The LORD keep us from such gross service, and make us to touch Him by Faith.  
Another thing here: He will not suffer her to touch Him, before that she had gotten commission to her brethren. This lets us see, if the LORD have given us a commission, He will have us doing it with speed, not being entangled with any thing: Paul says, in the second Epistle to Timothy, the second Chapter, and the fourth verse: No man that warreth, entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, because he would please him that hath chosen him to be a soldier: if the embracing of a person may hinder thee, do it not: & if the saluting of a person in the journey may hinder thee, do it not. Ye read in 2. Kings, Chapter 4. verse 29 Where the Prophet Elisha sends his servant Gehazi to the Shunnamite, he says, Make haste Salute no man by the way, and if any salute thee, answer him not: and when Christ sends out His disciples, He bids them make hazel, and salute no man by the way, LUKE CHAPTER 10. VERSE 4. The LORD will not have us to decline neither to the right hand, nor to the left, if it were but a look, if it may hinder thee in the Lords work, do it not. Paul received a commission, as ye may read, Philip. Chapter 3. verse 13. he ran so, that he never looked over his shoulder, but that he forgot that which was behind, and endeavoured to that which was before, till he had ended his course: Ye remember of the wife of Lot, how she was forbidden by the Lord, to look back to Sodom: she would not go forward in her journey, but she would look back again, and therefore the Lord turned her in a pillar of salt: He would have them speedy in His work, and, Woe is them, that do the work of the Lord negligently, jerem. 48.10.  
Now, let us come to the commission, He says to her, Marry, Go and tell my brethren, Well, gets a woman the commission, where is Peter, & john, and Matthew, and the rest of the Apostles? always in the beginning, it is a woman that gets the commission. The last day, ye remember, I spoke of sundry preferments of women, that they goat before all men: they got the revelation of His Resurrection before all men in the world, and not by men, but by glorious Angels: but Marie is preferred to all men and women in this, that she first sees the Lord, and then she gets a revelation of the Lord, that the women got not: she gets the revelation of His ascension, and yet there is more, she got it not to herself alone, but He says: Tell the Apostles, tell them, says Christ, I go to my Father: So this is a special grace that women got, and especially, Marry, that was furthest casten down, possessed with seven devils. What should I say? The further thou be casten down: the higher shalt thou be exalted. But mark the words, He says, Tell my brethren. Notwithstanding of their sluggishness, notwithstanding they were offended in Him, yet He says, Tell my brethren. In the 22. Psalm verse 23. DAVID says, I shall preach to my brethren. The LORD accomplished here that prophecy: here He preaches to His brethren: ye read in Heb. 2.11.12. He that sanctifies, and we which are sanctified, are all of one, that is, we are of one common nature: and therefore He is not ashamed to call us brethren: and therefore he brings in this place of the 22. Psalm, saying, I will declare thy Name unto my brethren: the reason is this: He hath a common nature with us, and therefore He is not ashamed of us: mark it well. Now when He is risen, He calls them brethren, and now when He is in that passing glory, the LORD is not ashamed to call us brethren: if a man of small lineage be exalted in this world, he will not know his father, or his mother: But the LORD that is exalted above all the Angels, is not the prouder: He is also humble to His brethren, as ever He was in the earth: He is not ashamed to call us poor wretches, His brethren, and sisters, that are here in the earth: No, if thou be not ashamed of Him first, He will never be ashamed of thee.  
Now to come to the commission, He says, Tell them: I go to my Father, and to your Father, and to my God, and to your God: Tell them this: The commission that is given before by the Angels, tells that He was risen, but the commission that the LORD Himself gives to Marie, is of an higher degree of glorification: it is of His ascension: for, Tell them, says He, I go to my Father, and to your Father, and to my God, and to your God: The LORD, when He comes in proper person, brings ever a greater revelation, than was of before: All the light that the Angels, Prophets, or JOHN the BAPTIST revealed of Him, was but darkness, in respect of that light that Himself brought. Likewise, after His going to Heaven, the Apostles, the disciples, and Ministers: Ministers light to the end of the world: but in that great day, when the LORD shall come, thou shalt see a greater light: thou sawest never light comparable to that light. It is hard for thee now to believe, but sober things, but then thou shalt see great things (thou shalt have no stop) even things, that the eye hath not seen, neither hath entered in the heart of man.  
Yet let us weigh the words better: I go up to my Father: I go not down, let them not seek me in the earth: I have been in it, as PAUL says to the Ephesians, the fourth CHAPTER, and the ninth VERSE, He descended into the lowest parts of the earth: I go now to the Heaven. The word imports, that He was to leave them, and that word was sad to them, and to Marry, and they took it heavy. I go, says He, to my Father, and to my God: He went not for His own well to the Father, that the Father might communicate His glory to Him: I go, says▪ He, to my Father, and to your Father, and to my God, and to your God: This imports, that as He went to His Father for His own glory and well, so He went for their glory and well, and assoon as He should get that glory, He should communicate it to them: and no doubt, this word, your Father, and your God raised their hearts to follow Him: suppose our bodies be here, our hearts are in the Heaven, and we are citizens there, albeit thy body were burnt, if thine heart be in the Heaven, thou art well, and if He had not gone to Heaven, neither had He gotten glory, neither had any glory been communicated unto us: but He going to that Father of glory, as the Apostle calls Him, and so, as the first begotten of GOD, being filled with glory, we are made partakers of His glory, as ye read in the first CHAPTER of this Gospel of john. The oil that was poured down upon the head of AARON, stayed not there, but ran down to his beard, his breast, his girdle, and the lowest parts of his garment: So the graces that were in jesus Christ, our head, stayed not there, but flowed from Him, even to the meanest of all His members. The Lord, who is full of grace gives every one of us a part here, and one day we shall be all filled with grace and glory for ever and ever. Mark the words well: he calls Him first, Father, and then he calls Him God, which imports two natures in one person; The Father imports His Godhead, and that he calls Him his God, it imports that He is man: so that these two words import that Christ is both God & man▪ blessed for ever. But mark the order: He says not, I go to your Father, and mine: No, but to my Father, and your Father. Ere ever He be our Father, He must be His Father. Ere ever He be our God, He must be the God of Christ, the man: for if it had not been for the blood of Christ, He had never been thy God: thou hast that bought unto thee with the blood of Christ, we come in under Christ our elder brother. Now when Marie hath received the commission, she tarries no longer, howbeit she was loath to departed from Him: yet because she saw that it was His will, she obeys. The godly would feign go and dwell with the Lord: Paul says, I have confidence in GOD, and I choose rather to remove out of this body, and to dwell with GOD, 2. Corint. Chap. 5. Feign would the godly soul be with GOD: and suppose it be pressed down with sin yet it breaks aye upward toward the Heavens, to be with the Lord that this mortality may be swallowed up of Life: for, as long as we lie here, w●e live under the burden of sin. So feign would the godly be with Him, yet seeing it is his will, that we be Pilgrims here a while, that our joy may be the greater, when we mee●e with the LORD, whom we have longed for, we are contented for a time.  
Now when Marie departs, what does she? She told the Disciples that she had seen the LORD. She is preaching, and telling, The LORD is going to heaven, to your Father and your GOD. Now Brethren, seeing we are Pilgrims, let us take heed we be well occupied, and look we discharge our commission: for there is no man nor woman but they have a commission: Thou that art a Preacher, preach both in time and out of time to His glory: and if thou discharge thy commission faithfully in thy calling, then even as Marie was welcome unto Him again, so shalt thou be also welcome, when thou shalt meet with the LORD, and He shall accept well of thee. The LORD enable us to take heed to this, that seeing we must remain absent from our LORD for a time here, we may ever cast us to be well occupied, and walk carefully in that calling that He hath placed us in: And then, when that the LORD of Glory shall appear, whom we have served in this life, our souls and bodies shall enjoy the full fruition of His presence in Heaven: To whom be glory for evermore, Amen.   

THE XXXV. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVIII. 
verse 9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus also met them, saying, God save you. And they came, and took him by the feet, and worshipped him.  
verse 10 Then said jesus unto them, Be not afraid. Go, and tell my Brethren, that they go into Galilee, and there shall ye see me.  MARK CHAP. XVI. 
verse 10 And she went, and told them that had been with him, who mourned and wept.  
verse 11 And when they heard that he was alive, and had appeared to her, they believed it not.  
BELOVED BRETHREN, these days passed we have heard first the History of Marie Magdalene, how she returned home, and how she came again to the grave of her LORD, and of her mourning and weeping at the grave, of her looking again in to the grave, of the sight of th'Angels meeting with her, of Christ's words unto her: first He spoke aloof, and afar off unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? Then He speaks homely unto her, calling her by her name, and says, Marry: She answers Him, Rabboni: as He had named her homely, so she answered Him homely: He named her like a Master, and she answered Him like a reverend Disciple: He calls her as a Shepherd, and she answers Him as one of His flock, knowing Him by His voice, she offers to embrace Him, but He preventes her, and says unto her, Touch me not, for I am not ascended to my Father: perceiving her to be over much addicted to His bodily presence: before He will permit her to touch Him, He will have her first to believe in Him, and to touch Him in glory, by the hand of faith. Then He sends her in commission, Go to my Brethren, so calling His Disciples: A loving style: Tell them of other tidings than ever they have heard yet: They heard of my Resurrection, but they believed not: but now I go to the Heavens, to my Father, and to your Father, to my GOD, and to your GOD: And this is the commission: Marie receiving it, she executes it, and runs to the Disciples to tell them: and, as john says, she preaches to them the thing that she had heard of the LORD. MARK says, that when she came to them, she found them weeping: This was a weeping time, but shortly after followed a time of joy. This change of courses ye see in the world: for though thou be wanton and laugh here never so much, yet thou wilt weep soon after: But wilt thou weep and mourn here for a while, when there is matter of mourning, thou shalt laugh and rejoice shortly afterward. Now when Marie finds the Apostles weeping and mourning, she tells them, that the LORD is alive: she confirms it that He spoke, and says, she saw Him with her eyes, But how takes the Apostles with this commission? They remain faithless for all that she could say: they would not believe her: No, it is an hard matter to believe the Article of the Resurrection, That a man that is dead can rise again, and take life: flesh and blood will never dite this unto thee, that one that is dead can live again. The women who were more simple, and not so wise in worldly wit, as the Apostles were, are more ready to credit the Resurrection than the Apostles, who were strong, according to the flesh. The Resurrection is hard to be believed of any man: but this is sure, The Resurrection is hardest to be believed of them, who are wisest in this world: No, he that hath this worldly wisdom, he counts these Heavenly and Spiritual things but folly, till he be made a fool, that he may be made wise, as the Apostle PAUL speaks, 1. CORIN. CHAP. 3. VERS. 18. That is, till he renounce this worldly wisdom, he shall never believe these Spiritual things. When I consider the words of MARK, I find many faults in the Disciples: They were lying mourning: this was a vain mourning: What cause had they of mourning for Him whom they thought was dead, but yet was alive? So they had matter of joy, and not of mourning. And from whence proceeded this mourning? First, they were ignorant of the Scriptures, which had foretold that he should rise again: Then, they had forgotten the word which the LORD had spoken unto them, That he should die, and rise again the third day: Yet there is worse in them than this: The first company of women, who told them of CHRIST'S Resurrection, they would not believe them: Then the next company comes, neither would they believe them one word. And last, MARIE came, who not only met with the Angels, but also with the LORD, and received a commission: and yet they would not believe her, notwithstanding she told them that she had seen Him. So there is not only an unbelief, but a stiffness in them. So that if ye will count these faults, their dolour is first without comfort, and secondly an ignorance of the Scriptures, and thirdly, a forgetfulness of the word of the LORD: and last, there is an infidelity, that they would neither believe the women, who came from the Angels, nor MARIE, that came from the LORD, and saw Him, and spoke with Him: So that they are as new to enter to learn, as though they had never seen nor known Christ. Yet there was some good thing in them, for certainly, howbeit the dolour came of ignorance, forgetfulness, and incredulity, yet I am sure of this, that the love which they carried towards CHRIST caused them to mourn, for if they had not loved Him, they had not mourned for Him. No, there was none of the High Priests that wet their cheeks for His death. So of necessity, love caused them to mourn for Him. And this spunk of love, that was covered & kept down afore, in end it broke out, & burnt thorough all their imperfections. It is a wonder to see how the LORD will keep in a spunk of grace under an hundredth imperfections. And this should make us to be loath to judge, and to give out sentence: for all the evil that we see in any, it may be that the LORD will let thee see, that there was some spunk of grace in that man covered; which sponk will break out in its own time.  
Now I have ended the History of MARIE MAGDALENE, who loved the LORD so well, and so entirely. In the words following, to wit, in the Gospel of MATTHEW, there are two discourses: The first is, of the two companies of women, at their turning home again: as they met with the Angels afore, now they meet with the LORD Himself: In the next discourse, we have a piece of an History of them that were set to keep the grave, who returned to the Scribes, and to the High Priests with these same tidings, He is risen again. Now I shall go thorough this day the first discourse, and piece of History, as GOD shall give us grace. Then to return to the women: It is said, that as they returned home, The LORD met them: but Marie was returned before these women came forth: she had met with CHRIST, and returned home again. This company meets with the LORD as they returned homeward. Ye will perhaps ask, what was the cause that He met with Marie Magdalene? No doubt this was the cause, She loved Him best, she loved Him above them all, and she had the greatest languor to see Him, and she rested never, till she had seen Him, and met with Him. What was the cause that these women saw Him afore the Apostles? No question their languor to see JESUS, was next to MARIE: The Apostles languor was last, and therefore they got the last sight of Him. Now the lesson is easy: Thou that longest most for the LORD JESUS, shalt see Him first, with MARRY MAGDALENE: A man will thirst for earthly things, and be disappointed of them: but it is unpossible, if thou thirst for CHRIST, and to see thy LORD, but thou shalt see Him: So, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be satisfied, Matth. Chapter 5. verse 5. So, if thou wouldst see CHRIST, first, long for Him (and thou shalt never get that blessedness, till thou seest Him) Then, if thou canst not be the first, in care and desire to see Him with Marie Magdalene, yet be next in care with the rest of the women: and if thou canst not attain to the first, nor second, look that thou be in the third room, at least, that thou long with the Apostles, and thou shalt get the third sight: for blessed are they that get any sight, yea, the last sight: Blessed are they that come either first, or last to Heaven, but think not, that this drawing near of ours, to Him, is the cause that He draws near to us: No, if He drew not near unto us first, we would never think of Him, let be to draw near unto Him.  
So, Brethren, the cause wherefore our hearts do draw near unto the LORD, is not in us, but in Him, because He thirsts for us, and draws us unto Him: and wouldst thou have an argument, that the LORD is near unto thee: look if thine heart draws near unto Him, and if thou findest thine heart longing and thirsting for Him, than the LORD is near unto thee, and He is present with thee: and if thou findest no sense nor feeling of Him in thine heart, nor no desire of Him, nor no languour for His presence, in the which is satiety of joy: and if thou have no languour, be sure, the Lord is far from thee, for if He be far from thee, albeit thou hadst all the world about thee, thou art but a miserable body.  
When He meets with these women, He is not dumb, and He speaks not to the ear only, but also to the heart, He says, God save you: the word in the own language would be well marked, it signifies rejoice: Is not this a great thing, that He that hath joy to give thee, should bid thee rejoice: and no doubt, it was an effectual word, and it made them to have joy unspeakable. A man when He bids thee, rejoice, hath no power to work joy in thee, but the LORD is joy itself: who hath joy to give? but the LORD Himself? or who can give peace, but the LORD: assoon as He draws near to any person, and gives His presence to Him, to the end that His presence may work, He gives a joyful word: the word of the Lord is of power, as Paul says, Rom. 1.16. The Gospel is the power of GOD unto salvation, unto every one that believeth: So, if thou contemnest this word, that bids thee rejoice, thou shalt get no portion of that grace that is with Him: so this word is the only minister that ministers joy to the soul: all the things in the world, shall never minister joy to the soul that is afflicted. When He hath spoken this word (and no question it was very effectual) they are so filled with joy, that they tarry not to make answer, but they fell down at His feet, And embrace Him by the feet, and adore and worship Him, as Thomas did, when he put his hand in His side: he said, Thou art my Lord, and my God, JOHN Chapter 20. verse 28. He refuses not this honour, because He was their LORD and GOD. Ye see here, how effectual the presence of the LORD is, albeit it were but one word, Rejoice: the power that is in that word, works such a joy in the heart of a sinner, that the poor sinner must meet Him: the LORD cannot meet thee, but if thou feelest that joy, but thou must meet Him again, and strive to have Him in thine arms: No, sword, nor fire, nor hunger, nor nakedness, nor nothing can separate thee from Him, if thou feelest Him in thine heart, but thou must meet Him again, and cleave fast to Him. The feeling of this joy, which is through the presence and word of GOD, moves us to desire to embrace Him, and makes our conjunction with Him, whereupon arises our joy again, far greater than before: The joy that we have now, is but by Faith, and a far meeting, as far as is between the Heaven and the Earth: yet says Peter in his first Epistle, the first Chapter, and the eight verse: We not seeing Him, but believing in Him, rejoice with a joy unspeakable and glorious. So, believing in Him, we find joy: but when thou shalt see Him face to face: (Alas, lookest thou not for this) then thorough thy conjunction with Him by sight, there shall be praise, honour, and glory for ever: No, such shall be thy joy, as eye never saw, ear never heard, nor never could enter into the heart of man: thou shalt wonder when thou seest it, that ever there could be such joy prepared for thee: and therefore measure it not by thy capacity.  
Yet this would not be passed by: They go not to His throat, to His neck, or to His middle: but they fall down, and takes Him by the feet, and worships Him. Mark it, Brethren: a sinner will be homely indeed with his God, with CHRIST: No, there was never a creature so homely with another, as the sinner will be with the LORD. But mark it: This homeliness will not be with misnourturnesse, and with an opinion of parity: albeit thou wilt be homely with Him, as with thy brother: yet thou mayest not make thyself as companion to Him, and count lightly of Him, but thou must be lowly, thine head must be reverenced: He is our Head, Ephes. Chapter. 1. verse 22. If therefore we ought to reverence Him: for He is in a wonderful sublimity, and highness, above His Church: and as this is true, that the soul which is joined with Him in this life by Faith, sees in Him such a Majesty, that it stoops before Him: so much more when we shall see Him face to face in glory, and His Majesty fully revealed, we shall reverence Him, and in humility fall at His feet, singing, Holy, Holy, Holy, as ye have in the sixth Chapter of Esay, and in the Revelation. Now to go forward: While they are sitting at His feet, the LORD speaks to them, and suffers them to feel Him: and all to this end, that they might believe He was risen, and living, Then He says to them, Fear not: this encouragement imports, that notwithstanding all their embracing of Him, and confidence, there was a piece of fear and lying back in them: I will not commend it, because the Lord hath discommended it. It is true indeed, our joining with Him by Faith, should be with such a confidence, that it should be without any fear or doubting, but with joy. This should be: but mark it again: There is such an holiness in that Majesty that we join with, there is no spot in Him, & then so long as we are here, there is such uncleanness, & such an evil conscience in us, that our Faith is joined with doubting and fear: so that, if thou hast not a recourse to Him, no peace for thee, we will fear that that Holy one consume us that are so unholy: but the Lord who knows thy fear, He comforts thee: thou knowest not thine own fear so well as the Lord does: thou feelest Him not so soon by Faith, but as soon He knows thy fear and thine heaviness, as He did the fear of the women, and He says to a sinner that feign would embrace Him: fear not, thou hast no cause of fear: My terrors have taken thy terrors away: And as the Apostle says, Heb. Chapter 4. verse 16. Let us go boldly to the throne of grace, with confidence, that we may receive mercy: & if thou hearest this voice, thou mayest go boldly, and He shall put away all terrors and fear. But in that life to come when all matter of sear, as sin and corruption of nature, is away, albeit we shall see Him more clearly, and be conjoined with Him more perfectly, yet all fear shall be taken away, for perfect love casts out fear, as john saith in his first Epistle, Chap. 4. vers. 18.  
Now to go to the commission, Go, and tell my Brethren, that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me: They would see me: bid them go before me into Galilee, and there they shall see me. There is here then a commission given unto the women to the Disciples: There was afore a commission sent unto the Disciples by the Angels: First, of a company of women, and afterward another company: and next, MARIE was sent from the Lord Himself. Now He sends a new commission, to tell them, that He was risen, yet they never believed. Hear we see a marvelous patience, in suffering their incredulity so long. What King would have had ever the tenth part of this patience. With this He joins the loving style, Tell my Brethren. He says not, Tell these sluggish and faithless bodies. His patience is joined with love unspeakable. All the world cannot express the lenity and patience of the LORD towards His own: though they should be never so unbelieving, yet He calls them His Brethren. We should study night and day to know that the LORD loves us: for our standing is not in our love toward Him, but in His love towards us: and if thou find thyself rooted in His love, as the Apostle speaks to the EPHESIANS, thou shalt never be separated thorough any occasion from that love that is in CHRIST. Then again, I see He hath a marvelous study to get them instructed. He says not, I have sent many already, and yet they will not believe: No, He sends every company after another till they believe, and till faith be wrought in their hearts. What means all this care to instruct them? The Lord was to send them forth to teach others, and therefore all His study is, (before they instruct others,) that they might believe themselves. No, if the Lord send thee to tell of His Death, His Resurrection, and Ascension to the Heavens, and of His coming again to judgement, He will have a care that thou be instructed, and that thou believe that which thou deliverest unto others. No, I will not give a penny for a Minister that hath no assurance, no feeling, nor no sight of the death and Resurrection of CHRIST, and that will stand up, and speak to the people of GOD. Besides this patience, this love, and this care that He hath to instruct them who are to be employed in His service, He shows a marvelous wisdom in humbling them thorough the teaching of the women: And therefore He will not send an Angel unto them, but infirm women, to school them, and shame them: and howbeit the commission bears not this in express words, yet He will have the women to say in effect, Fie upon you, ye are sluggish bodies, ye should have taught us, and not we you. This is it that the Apostles should have understood: They understood His wonderful wisdom, He was to send them to the world. He was careful to instruct them, He sends not Angels to school them, but women, to learn them humility, that they never forget this, that they were schooled in the school of women: for as it is required that the servants of GOD have knowledge and a persuasion, so they must have humility, or else they cannot be faithful Preachers. Now one word, and so I shall end, Bid them, says He, go to Galilee: He says not, Go to Jerusalem: No, the LORD had turned His back on Jerusalem: for these who contemned Him when He was humbled in the flesh, the LORD will despise them when He is glorified. Woe to them whom He forbids His servants to go unto: Woe to us, if He say once, Go not to EDINBURGH: Woe is them, and woe to that Town where the Lord forbids His Messengers to go. Beware of this, that the Lord say not to His Messenger, Go to the North or South, but go not to EDINBURGH, for than shall wrath and destruction light upon it. What confusion and destruction lighted upon Jerusalem, after that the Lord had once turned His back upon it? Yet says the Lord, Bid them go to Galilee, and there they shall seem: They believed not others, who told them of me, but there I shall speak unto them mine own self. This is the great mercy of the LORD towards His Disciples, upon whom the LORD should never have looked, if He had respected their infidelity: but albeit they were unfaithful, yet He remained faithful and merciful: for He could not deny Himself, but where there sins abounded, there His grace surmounted above them all: for, as the APOSTLE says, Where sin abounded, there grace abounded much more. Now all the world was full of sin when Christ came, yet grace superabounded. Now this was a meek dealing with them, that they should see mercy above their sins, to this end, that they should by experience teach others: for he that feels both misery and mercy, is the best teacher in in the world. So being to send them to teach others, He lets them find grace to superabound. PAUL, Roman. 5.20. says, Where sin abounded, there grace superabounded. Read the first Epistle to Timothy, Chap. 1. vers. 13. there the Apostle says, I was a blasphemer, and an evil liver, and a persecuter: this was his misery: and if the LORD had never looked to him, he had never been an Apostle, nor a Christian man. But what says he thereafter? The grace of the LORD JESUS superabounded: and for as high and weighty as my sin was, yet His mercy was greater, and it weighed it down. So than ye see the LORD cares for them that lie in misery, to tell them of it. I tell you this day, ye are lying in misery, and He is careful that the Preacher have a sense both of misery, and of mercy, to tell of the wrath of GOD, which is manifest from the Heaven upon all impenitent sinners: And, if thou wilt repent thee, I assure thee, though thou were the greatest sinner that ever was, thou shalt have mercy: and therefore, if thou hast gone long on in sin, yet even for GOD'S cause at last, take up thyself: and I promise thee exceeding mercy in that bloody Sacrifice of our LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, who hath died both for thee, and me, and all penitent sinners: To Him therefore, with the Father and Holy Spirit, be all Honour and Glory for evermore, AMEN.   

THE XXXVI. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVIII. 
verse 11 Now when they were gone, behold, some of the watch came into the City, and showed unto the High Priests all the things that were done.  
verse 12 And they gathered them together, with the Elders, and took counsel, and gave large money unto the Soldiers,  
verse 13 Saying, Say, His Disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.  
verse 14 And if this matter come before the Governor to be heard, we will persuade him, and so use the matter, that ye shall not need to care.  
verse 15 So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is noised among the jews unto this day.  MARK, CHAP. XVI. 
verse 12 After that, he appeared unto two of them in another form, as they walked, and went into the country.  LUKE, CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 13 And behold, two of them went that same day to a town, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs, called EMMAUS.  
verse 14 And they talked together of all these things that were done.  
verse 15 And it came to pass, as they communed together, and reasoned, that jesus himself drew near, and went with them.  
verse 16 But their eyes were holden, that they could not know him.  
WE heard hitherto in the History of the Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST, (Beloved in Him) of sundry witnesses of His Resurrection: First Angels, and next women: Namely, MARRY MAGDALENE was the first that got the sight of Him after His Resurrection: and after her, other women got a sight of Him also, and a direction to His Disciples, to assure them, that He was risen again.  
Now in this TEXT which we have read out of the Gospel of MATTHEW, we have a piece of History of another sort of witnesses, that testified of the Resurrection of JESUS; even of the men of war, who were sent out to watch the grave: they came not to the Disciples, but to the High Priests, and t●ey testify unto them of the Resurrection of JESUS. Then, in the History written by MARK and LUKE, we return to the true witnesses, to wit, two of them that were His Disciples: He meets with them as they were journeying from jerusalem to Emaus, and thereafter these two tell the rest, that the Lord was risen. Now to go thorough these two pieces of History shortly, as God shall give the grace, and as time shall permit: When the women that had met with jesus, had returned, Some of the soldiers that had watched the grave, returns home to jerusalem, to tell the things that had fallen out: but they came not to the place where the Apostles were, but to the place where the High Priests were, from whom they were sent, and they tell the Lord was risen.  
The History is plain: these witnesses are the soldiers that watched the grave: they have not such a commission as the other witnesses had: they are not sent by CHRIST, nor by His Angels, but run of their own accord: but yet they run by the special providence of GOD: No doubt, His providence directed them to the High Priests, and not so much to instruct them: for they were hardened, as to let them see, that they were disappointed of their expectation. They obtained of Pilate, to let men go out and to keep Him in the grave, and to have smothered His Resurrection, that it had never come to light and yet the LORD sends these same men to jerusalem, as witnesses of that resurrection, that they would have smothered, as if they had been sent out by the High Priests, to this end, that they should be witnesses: they could testify no better of it: the LORD turns it about so, that they could do no better, if the High Priests had hired and waged them, to be witnesses of His Resurrection. It is a vain thing to strive with GOD, and to hide that thing, that He will have brought to light: for hide it as thou wilt, in despite of thee He shall bring it to light, to thy shame, that He may be glorified.  
Now to speak what they testified: they testified the same thing that the women had testified: they testified the truth, they testified All that was done, that JESUS was risen: yet there is a great difference between them, and the women: when the women understood, that He was risen, they came home with joy, the men of war came home with sadness, and with discontentment, and they preach this to them that were sad to hear it, and ashamed of it: they preach it not to the Apostles, as the women did, but to the High Priests.  
Mark this Lesson: Look how ye tell tithings: there are some that will make good tithings of evil tithings, and evil tithings of good, as they please, albeit they be never so good, if they be not contented with them, they will make them evil: but be they never so evil, if they be contented with them, they will make them good, and tell them with joy.  
Beware how ye tell tithings of the Church of ENGLAND of FRANCE, or of GERMANY, or of other parts. Look when thou speakest of the prosperous estate of the Church, that thou speak it with joy: and when ye hear that the Church is troubled, speak that not with joy, but with sadness: Thou that art not content with the prosperous estate of CHRIST'S Church, thou wouldst have hid CHRIST'S Resurrection, as the Scribes did: and if thou hadst been living with them. So in a word: if the Church be sad, tell it with sadness, and if she be joyful, tell thy tithings with joy: if thou speakest of JESUS, and His glory, speak of Him with joy and pleasure in thine heart.  
Now to go forward: The High Priests, when they hear these news: they are nothing content therewith, but are ashamed: They call a Council of the High Priests, and the Senators of the people. The thing that they decern, is to bribe the men of ware that watched the grave, and to hire their tongues to lie: they gave them a great sum, to say, That the body of the Lord was stolen out of the grave by the disciples, in the night, whilst they slept: and lest the men of war should be affrighted for Pilate: and so refuse to lie: they prevent that: for say they, take no thought of Pilate: ye shall get no harm: If he hear of this, we will persuade him, and so keep you harmless. Well, these men were once disappointed, and yet leave they off? No, they will have His glory and Resurrection smothered: and because they could not get it by violence, now, they will smother it by craft: No, that thing that they cannot do by violence, they shall seek to bring it about with lies: No, think ye, that these Traitors and Apostate Lords do rest: No, that thing that they could not get done by violence, they seek to do it by craft.  
Well, ye would marvel at this▪ ye would ask Whether or not they were assured that the LORD JESUS was risen, and believed the report of the men of war? I answer: It could not be, but they believed that He rose by a divine power: No, it could not be but they thought it: and if they had thought that the disciples had stolen His body away, they would have pursued them, and gotten the body again. Then seeing the arm of GOD raised Him up, and they knew that the Lord was risen: Is not this a wonder, that they repent not, but will oppone them to the power of God? No, wonder not at it. Men, who have once begun to fight against the Holy Spirit, and God Himself immediately, can scarcely ever repent, and turn back again, but rather goes forward to fulfil their sins, as the Apostle says, 1. Thess. 2.16. the wrath of God is come upon them to the full. This is not the first time they fought against God immediately, but they had often times done so before, and beginning, they leave not off, but go forward. So, learn this lesson: mark how dangerous a thing it is, once to begin to oppone thyself to God: if thou beginnest once to oppone thyself against that Majesty, the wrath of God shall so seize on thee, that thou shalt not get leave to go back, till thou be shut in hell: So Steven Acts 7.31. speaks of these same jews: O stiff-necked people! ye ever resist the Holy Spirit: that is, as ye have begun to sin against that Holy Spirit, so ye continue, ye cannot go back again: So that they are set out as a spectacle of God's judgement: and it should learn us to tremble, once to think evil against that Holy Majesty: these people may be a document to all them that oppone themselves too Him. The Lord save us from all sins, but namely, from this sin against the Holy Ghost, that can have no repentance.  
Now to go forward: The soldiers against their own conscience, sell themselves miserably to lie: and it was a wonder, that the jews knew it not to be a lie: the men who made this lie, were profane men of war, who commonly use to have little godliness or religion. Indeed, I grant, the Lord hath His own of all sorts: but seldom find ye, that men of war are either good or godly. Besides this, they were ethnics, and without God in the world: in a word, they were profane hearted men: then what wonder was it, that they sell their tongue & their conscience: No, if thine heart be profane, thou shalt soon sell thy tongue, and thy conscience to any man, and thou shalt soon sell thine hand to murder, albeit it were a King, as ye have heard of sundry. Our King's Majesty had need to take heed to this, that there be no profane men about Him: for they will sell him, & his kingdom for a little price. It is said of Esau, Heb. 12 16. He sold his birthright, he sold Heaven, he sold his part of Paradise, for a mess of pottage. What was the ground of all this? The Apostle says, Let no profane man be among you, as Esau: profanity was the ground, and he brings in this, as an effect following profanity: if thou be profane, thou wilt sell thy conscience: and I say, this merchandise of buying and selling of consciences, that is so frequent in this Land, tells, that this Land is overspread with profanity. The Apostle says, It is the will of God, that ye be holy: but Scotland may say, farewell holiness: Alas, if thou kept in thine heart holiness, thou wilt keep thy conscience: but if thou be profane like Esau, thou wilt sell thy conscience for a penny: So, I direct mine exhortation to all sorts of men: to traffickers, be not profane but keep an holy heart, and thou shalt keep a good conscience, and if thou be a judge, if thou be profane, thou wilt sell thy: conscience for a crown: art thou a Marchand, if thou wantest an holy heart, thou wilt sell thy conscience: a Minister, if his heart be not holy, he will soon sell his tongue, and his conscience. So in a word, Let us strive with our conscience, to have an holy heart: Alas, the ground of all this mischief in Scotland, is profanity of hearts. When they have sold their tongue, they went, and said, He was stolen away, and the Evangelists note it, That that fame remains amongst them unto this day. I think, ye should marvel, that such a false fame should have prevailed: God disappointed them before, but now He permits them to get the victory. Woe to that victory that is gotten against God: woe to that man that goes against God, if an evil action prosper with him, it is a token, that he shall be thrust in Hell. This was but a small victory: for no doubt, all that He appointed for life and salvation believed, that He rose. Now, Brethren, when they are away, the true persuasion remains in our hearts, that the LORD rose: so that ever truth in the end gets the victory. Ye would marvel that the people should credit that His body was stolen out of the grave: for if it was stolen, by whom was it stolen? They say, by His disciples: Is it likely, that they who were a company of timorous and abashed persons, durst have come out without armour against pilate's guard: They say, whilst they were asleep, they took it away: then they slept very sound, that they could not hear such an huge stone taken away, and if they were sleeping when it was taken away, Why followed they not when they wakened: and no doubt, if it had been true, they would have followed, and have brought the disciples, and executed them. Ye would wonder now, why these people should not have believed: I answer, These people were appointed for damnation, and they hated the light: and therefore a lie gets soon place in their hearts: they that hate the truth, the Devil cannot make such a lie, but they will easily believe it. What is the cause, that the people believe the Pope, and that crew of the Antichristian kingdom. The cause is this: They hate the light: and therefore, as the Apostle says, Because they believed not the truth, the Lord makes them to believe lies. So our lesson is this in a word: love the truth, and thou shalt hate lies: they hate the truth, and their hearts drink in lies. The Lord set our hearts upon Him, and make us to believe the truth.  
This for the first: we go to the second, and we shall enter in it, and leave the rest till the next day, because the time is almost spent already. We come again to better and more holy witnesses: There are two of the disciples of Christ, the name of the one is Cleopas, and the name of the other is not expressed: these were not two of the eleven disciples, but two of the common rank of disciples that used to follow the lord The same day, says the Text, to wit, the same day that He rose, the same day that the women went out, and did meet Him, and that same day, that these women returned and preached to the Apostles: These two disciples went on their journey, about threescore furlongs, which is seven mile of ours, or thereabout from jerusalem: They are not going to seek Christ, but they leave Him, and as it were in a manner, they despaired that ever they should see Him, & they were thinking all that time that they had spent with Him, was lost: yet suppose they were leaving Him, He leaves not them: These women sought Him, and they found Him: but these two disciples leave Him: but yet the Lord casts Him in their way. Well, Brethren, who ever finds the Lord, man, or woman, it is of grace: if thou hast found the Lord, thou hast gotten mercy, thou hast found mercy: for if thou findest Him, thou hast found Him, ere ever thou hast sought Him: or else if thou hast sought Him, thou hast not sought Him as thou oughtest: for Marie sought Him not as she should have done: and therefore the Angel said, Why seekest thou the living amongst the dead? So thou that seekest Him not, and findest Him, thank GOD: and thou that seekest Him, and seekest Him not as thou oughtest to have sought Him, if thou find Him, thank Him: for it is of grace that thou findest Him: for if He looked how thou soughtest Him, thou wouldst never find Him. We fail often in seeking of Him: either we seek Him not with that measure of desire that we ought, (alas, the best of us all in this world, cannot seek Him with half a great desire) or if we seek Him, we fail, as the women did. And last of all, we seek Him not for that end we should seek Him. We should seek Him for that life and that grace that is in Him, that we might be like Him, and partakers of that life. But all men for the most part seek Him for some worldly respect, as for a deliverance out of misery: and if thou be sick, thou wilt cry for thy health: & if thou be poor, thou wilt cry for riches: and if thou be hungry, thou wilt cry for meat: So that the seeking of Him is either for the belly, or some other worldly thing: scarcely one among an hundredth will seek the Lord for himself, for Heaven and glory: and if one can come thus far to get a groan for Heaven, that will be in a sober measure, and with a great imperfection. We are by nature addicted to the things that are on the earth, and for them do we seek them: but Heavenly things, that cannot be seen, we seek them not, we think them but folly. So I say, if we get a desire, we get it with such an imperfection, that it is a wonder. The thing that thou and I should most seek for, is that second coming of CHRIST, to put an end to this misery that is within us, and without us: so that this should be our saying, Come LORD JESUS, and put an end to this misery. But who cries for this coming? Yea, rather I hear men say, God keep me from that day. Alas! knowest thou not, that thy misery shall never have an end until that day? The Apostle PAUL says, We that have gotten the first fruits of the Spirit, we sigh in ourselves, waiting for the adoption, even the redemption of our bodies, Roman. Chapt. 8. vers. 23. We are now the Sons of GOD, but it appears not what shall be: but than it shall appear what thou art. Now the godliest is in most misery: And alas, it appears, that the best of us hath that SPIRIT but soberly, and not in that measure that we should have. And if we had it, we would sigh and cry, Come LORD JESUS come: that word would never go out of our mouths, and our eyes would never be from the Heavens, to look when our Lord would come and break their clouds, and these visible Heavens, and then take thee to Himself out of this vail of misery, to that endless joy. So to come to our purpose: Whether we see Him first, or last, it is of grace, that all glory may redound to Him.  
Well, as they are journeying betwixt jerusalem and Emmaus, they are talking as two men use to talk together, and all their talk was of CHRIST, and His crucifying: for this was but the third day after He was crucified. Ye see, Brethren, for all this leaving of the LORD, and despairing ever to see Him: yet here is a piece of godliness in their hearts, and a spunk of Hope that keeps them, that they drowned not into despare: for if they had not prevented, they would have perished with the rest of the jews: and as they are thus wrestling betwixt Hope and Despare, the Lord takes them by the hand, to help them. It is a good thing, to have, if it were but one spunk of grace: yea, if it were but to speak of Him: For none can call jesus the Lord, as the Apostle says, except he have gotteen the Spirit of Christ. So, hold on, and speak of Him, if thou canst do no more.  
Yet to go forward: When they are talking, He comes in, and goes with them: Mark it, This is an argument, that the Lord heard what they were speaking, and as He hears them, He joins with them side for side. Well, take heed to thine heart, & to thy words, The Lord is nearer to thee than thou thinkest: walk, as if thou werest speaking to Him, and as if He heard thee, or saw thee: and when thou speakest, abhor not the presence of the Lord: Thou that wilt run to an hole, wilt abhor His presence: but ay say this, Lord be present at my speaking, what means all this bawdry talk and blasphemy? Even this, Thou seekest not to have thine heart sanctified by the presence of thy God: so, if thou wilt speak, say, Lord, be into mine heart, and Lord, rule my tongue, and open my mouth, & then when He openeth thy mouth, gracious words will come out. So in a word, seek that presence to sanctify your speech and actions. It is said, when He joins with them, Their eyes are so bound up, that they could not know Him: They know not His face, nor His voice: Mark says, That he appeared to them in another form, & Luke sets down in plain words how this was, to wit, not that He was of a diverse form indeed, but because their eyes were holden, & closed, that they could not know Him, so the change was in them, & not in Him, He remained in one form, and was ever like Himself: in all His appearance He never altered His presence, but He altered their eyes that beheld & looked upon Him. I think some of you would ask. In what form appeared He? Was He naked? The soldiers got His clothes, Whether was He naked or not? No, I think not that He was naked, but He appeared with His joins girded, as a man addressed to a journey, as He appeared to Marie clad like a Gardener: yet ye will ask, had He indeed clothes on Him or not: I have no warrant of that: always He appeared to them to be clothed indeed, & they thought He had clothes on Him: these men thought He had clothes on: for their eyes were bound up. It is a wonder that they could not know Him, nor His voice, He altered not His voice, and yet they could not know Him: albeit it be natural by the sight of the eye to know one with whom we are acquainted, & it is natural by the ear to know the voice: yet this place lets us see, that the Lord hath a commandment of these gifts: & when He says, look that thou see not, thou shalt not see: and if He say to thee, look that thou know not thy father, thou shalt not know him: and more, if He say, know not the voice of thy wife, thou shalt not know her voice. All this tends to this, We should beg our eyes, our ears, and all at the hands of God, & ay for that gift that thou hast, thank God heartily, and say, Lord, I thank thee for this, that I can know the voice of one creature from another: so all our life-time should be a begging of His gifts, & if we move, we should thank our God. Now, if we should beg this natural sight, that we have, much more are we bound to beg the thing we have not, to beg a spiritual eye to see heavenly things, & then when thou gettest it, thou shouldest render thanks to Him. Now of graces this is the best, that the Lord gives, an eye to see that life, for if thou gettest one blencke, certainly thou shalt see Heaven, & that joy and glory, at the which one day, thou shalt wonder. Now, glory be given to Him for all His gifts: and even for this, that He hath given us these bodily eyes, I beseech Him to give every one of us spiritual eyes, that we may get a blencke of Him here, and in the Heavens enjoy His presence for evermore, through Christ our Lord. To whom with the Father, and Holy Spirit, be all praise, and honour, for evermore.  
AMEN.   

THE XXXVII. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  LUKE CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye walk, and are sad?  
verse 18 And the one (named Cleopas) answered, and said unto him. Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass therein in these days?  
verse 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Of Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet, mighty in deed and in word before God, and all the people:  
verse 20 And how the high Priests, and our Rulers, delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.  
IN this History of the Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST (well-beloved in Him) we have heard hitherto of sundry witnesses, testifying His Resurrection from the death: The Angels began, and they testified His Resurrection to the women: The women testified it to the Disciples, who were convened at Jerusalem, and namely to Peter and john. Then MARIE came forth the second time, and she meets with the LORD. Then there are other women, who came forth, and meets with the LORD. And after these women, there comes other witnesses, to wit, enemies, who were sent to watch the grave by PILATE, and the High Priests, and they witnessed, That He was risen. But they sold their tongues to the high Priests, and the jew, to make a lie, and to affirm, that the lords DISCIPLES had come in the night, and stolen away His body while they slept: And after these witnesses, ye heard the last day, we returned to other two witnesses, who both were the Disciples of the LORD; the one is named CLEOPAS, but the name of the other is not expressed. These two even in a manner, despairing that ever they should see the LORD, they depart out of Jerusalem, where they were with the rest of the Disciples, to a Village not far off, called EMMAUS, and they were talking by the way of the things which immediately had fallen out before. The Lord, who saw them, and heard them, addresses Himself shortly to them, and goes with them, as a passenger going out the way: and He binds up their eyes, so that they could not know nor discern Him, suppose they had followed Him▪ and had been with Him long time before. Thus far we heard the last day. Now we follow out the rest of this History: and in this Text which presently we have read, we have the communication which was betwixt the Lord and them, while they went out the way, they knew Him not, and He makes Him not to know them: so each one of them is a stranger to others. The Lord begins the conference, and He demands of them first, What manner of communication it was that they had, while as they were in the way? And next, seeing their countenance sad, He demands of them, Wherefore they were so sad? These are the two things which He demanded of them. Now to note something of them. As they walked out the way, ye see they have been sad, and their speech and communication by appearance hath been a moanful complaint, which they made concerning CHRIST: Not vain and idle talk, nor rejoicing in the tidings: but all their talk and speech came from sad and heavy hearts. But whilst they are sad, the LORD comes to them, and He comes to comfort them. Well is that soul that is sad and mourns for Christ, and His Kirke: for that soul shall get consolation out of Christ's mouth. But if where there is matter of mourning, thou be merry, than the Lord will not come to comfort thee. It is true, these men were sad for Christ without a cause, for that was the most joyful day that ever was, and therefore, they should especially have been joyful that day: yet suppose they were sad without a cause, the Lord comes & comforts them. No, it is better thou be sad for Christ for a matter that is joyful, than to be glad in a sad matter: choose rather to be sad for Christ, than to be merry or over wanton: And if thou be sad, albeit there be no matter, the LORD will pity thee: but if thou laugh, rejoice, and take thy pastime, the LORD will let thee laugh on for a time, but He will leave thee destitute of all consolation when thou hast need of it. I tell you this aye, There is no matter of laughing in this miserable Land: it were better for us to mourn, and to be sad for sin, that we might get comfort from GOD.  
Now to come forward. CHRIST perceiving these men to be sad, H●e draws near unto them, and He asks the cause of their heaviness, and what moved them to be so sad? and He desires them to reveal their moan and care unto Him. Suppose He makes Himself unknown unto them, and speaks to them as though He had no care, yet no question this is His will that they should reveal the cause of their care and sadness unto Him, that they might find comfort in Him.  
Brethren, are ye sinners, are your hearts filled with care, it is the will of thy GOD and Saviour JESUS CHRIST, that thou pour out thine heart to Him, & let Him see thy sadness. Mark this. It is no small matter to know GOD'S will: we are slow and slothful to turn us: we will consume ourselves, and pine away in our sorrow and grief, ere we make our complaint and moan unto Him, who only may furnish us with consolation: and He knows us well enough: and therefore He awaits not, till we first reveal our griefs unto Him, and pour them into His bosom: but He provokes us first, and He will enter in, and seek them out, as ye will hear: He sought them out of these men with great difficulty. Come ye to me, (says Christ, Matth. 11.28.) all ye that are weary, and I shall refresh you: I here is His will: If thou be wearied, come to Him, and get rest and ease to thy soul. If thou go not to Him, thou shalt never get rest nor ease, whether thy trouble be within thee, or without thee. Yea, not only by word invites and provokes He us, but also by His doing He draws us, joh. Chap. 6. vers. 44. there He says, No man can come to me, except the Father draw him. It is His will, that thou shouldest come unto Him: but if He put not out His hand, and draw thee, thou wilt never come to Him in all thy life time. And therefore, whensoever ye hear this voice, Sinner, come unto me: then say this again unto the LORD, LORD draw me, put thine hand to mine heart, and draw me, or else I cannot come to thee. No, except the Lord put out His hand, and draw thine heart to Him, thou art not come. All the Kings in the world are not able to draw a sinner, except GOD only. Now consider their answer, and see this communing: The one named Cleopas, takes the speech in hand, (the other disciple is silent) and he answers the Lord very roughly, not knowing with whom he had to do, thinking Him to have been a passenger, and stranger, walking out of the way, he says unto Him, Art thou a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which have fallen out within these few days. In these words, (because he took the Lord to be a stranger and passenger, going out of the way) ye cannot blame him in making such an answer: And as he took him to be a stranger, he answers well: for when such wonderful works fall out in any Country, it becomes no man to be ignorant of the wonderful works of GOD: and if ever there was a wonderful work, that work of the Crucifying of the Lord was most wonderful: And if thou be ignorant of the wonderful works of GOD, thou merits a rebuke: And as Cleopas marveled, so will the godly marvel at thee, who canst neither be seeing nor hearing, nor consider the wonderful works of GOD. It is a wonder to see the illumination of a sinner, and the conversion of the heart of a man to GOD, and to see a regenerate man: yea, the raising of a dead man to life, is not so marvelous, as is the quickening of thee, who art dead in sin and trespasses, as the Apostle PAUL says, to the EPHES. Chap. 1. vers. 21. And as the quikening and illumination of a sinner is a wonder, so also the blinding of a sinner is a wonder. Is it not marvelous, that though thou cry to him as thou wilt, and albeit heaven and earth should go together, he will neither hear nor see? As the Lord is more than wonderful to his own in mercy, to cause them to here and see, (thou wonderest little at his mercy, but all the Angels wonder at it,) even so in blinding and hardening of the wicked, the LORD is wonderful. Sittest thou here now, and seest not, nor hearest not the LORD? All the world may wonder at thee. So the LORD may be wondered at, either in mercy to his own, or in justice to the wicked: as th'Apostle speaking in the eleventh Chap. to the Romans, he wonders at it, and from morning till evening we should wonder at that God and his works, at that mighty GOD, whom the Prophet calls Deum admirabilem.  
To go forward. The Lord, who knew all things, (for all things are naked to His eyes) He knew better what was done, than Cleopas did, yet He will not take upon Him that He knew, He misknowes them, and He asks: What are these things: Mark it, Brethren: He got a rough and sharp answer before, and yet He leaves not off, He will not leave them, but He bears with their infirmities, and now He gives another pull to the heart, & deals again with them, that they should power out their sadness and grief to Him: No, if thou pertainest to the Lord, He will not leave thee for an hard meeting: & suppose thou drawest aback, He will give thee another pull, Albeit we be unfaithful, says the Apostle, yet the Lord abideth faithful: Change as thou wilt, the Lord shall never change, but remain ay constant in mercy to His own till they be perfected, and crowned with glory. Then Cleopas seeing him to be troubled with a stranger, at the last he must tell the words that he and his companion were speaking, as they went on the way: Mark this lesson: Repine as thou wilt, when the Lord draws thee, at the last thou must yield▪ But what is the cause, that any sinners will yield when the Lord draws? Even the secret operation of His Holy Spirit: and if he that drew them by the word, had not a secret power and operation by His Spirit in their hearts, they would never have yielded. Albeit the LORD would prove them by speech and language, albeit He would exhort them, admonish them, threaten them: yea, and scourge them to come to Him: and well is the soul, albeit it be scourged, yea if it were harled thorough the mids of Hell, if it were thorough never so great difficulties in the world, if once it get grace to come to Him: yet none outward thing will make us to come to Him, it is the inward draft of His Spirit, that makes us to come to Him, and draws us by the eye, by the ear, and by the hand: if He take us not by the hand, we can never come to Him. It is said in the 2. Chapter to the Romans, and the 4. verse, He draws the reprobate, and calls them, but all that calling is but outward: He will scourge them, and draw them outwardly, but He never puts the feeling of His holy Spirit in their hearts, and so they can never come to Him: & therefore when the Lord is outwardly drawing and calling thee, say always this, Lord, draw thou mine heart inwardly by thine Holy Spirit, or else, it will be long ere it come to thee, if all the sicknesses, all crosses, troubles, scourges, judgements that can be, and all this preaching that I hear, will never cause me come to thee, except thou draw mine heart. Now to come to the words that Cleopas speaks: there is none of them, but they would be marked: he begins and rehearses to Him the whole sum of these things that he and his companion had been speaking, and he propones them summarily, & he says, All the things we have spoken, was Concerning jesus of Nazareth. Alas, few of us take pleasure to talk of Him: therefore when the Lord comes & takes thee by the hand: look thou mayest say, Lord, I have been talking of thee in some measure: for as sure as the Lord laid to His ear to hear, what Cleopas, and his companion talked, as sure He lays to His ear, to hear what thou speakest. Then when he hath told the general, he lets the stranger know what a man jesus was, and then he tells shortly, what had befallen him these two days, and after he speaks of the effects that it had wrought in his heart, and in the hearts of His disciples, to wit, that He was no Redeemer. This is the whole conference, & I shall go thorough this conference, as God shall give the grace, and as time shall permit: First, in describing of Him, he calls Him jesus of Nazareth, That was the style he gave Him: Mark it: The first thing that he speaks to Him, is an untruth: he calls Him jesus of Nazareth No doubt, he thought He had been borne at Nazareth, suppose they had the Prophecy, that He should be borne at Bethlehem in juda, Micah Chapters. verse 2. and that He was borne there. The ground of this error that was amongst the jews, was because of joseph and Marie dwelled at Nazareth, and jesus was brought up there with them, that false rumour spread, that joseph was His father, and that He was borne there, but He was not borne there.  
I grant, it is true, that after His resurrection, Peter in the Acts, and the Apostles themselves, called Him jesus of Nazareth, as Cleopas here calls Him jesus of Nazareth.  
Also Paul in the twenty six Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and the ninth verse, calls Him jesus of Nazareth, but neither Peter, nor Paul spoke this of ignorance, as if He had been borne there, but because they to whom they spoke, knew Him best under that name, they submitted themselves to their capacity.  
But as for Cleopas, he knew no better: for he thought indeed, that jesus had been borne at Nazareth: so the first word he speaks, is plain untruth: so ye see what it is to judge with the multitude: The Papists will send thee to believe that which the multitude believes, and makes the multitude a token of the true Church: but thou shalt be beguiled with the multitude, and if thou followest them, because they walk in the broad way, thou shalt perish with them.  
Next, consider His description, He calls Him, Vir Propheta. Indeed He failed not in this style, He was a man, and was a man indeed, blood, and bone, as we are: yet there is a defect in this word, Cleopas knew no more, but that He was a man, he knew not that He was GOD and man in one person. It is true, Peter in the 2. of the Acts, calls Him Vir Propheta: yet he knew He was the Son of GOD, blessed for ever: so as in the first words, there is an untruth, so in the next words there is a defect, I mark this, to let you see the ignorance that was in them, before the LORD ascended to the Heaven. It was a wonder, that they who walked so long with Him, should have been so ignorant: the third time he calls Him A Prophet. Indeed He was such a Prophet, as was never before, nor after Him: yet there is a fault here, he gives Him the greatest style he thought He had, but He had far greater styles: for He is not a Prophet only, but also a Mediator, King, and High Priest: Then he comes on, and he tells what a Prophet He was, saying, that He was powerful in word and deed. Now would to GOD we could speak of Him in love, with this poor man that had little knowledge: indeed in this style he would let us see, that there was never such an one in word, nor work: never one wrought such miracles as He did, and never man spoke, as He did, as His own very enemies testified of Him, john Chapter 7. yet will ye measure it with the knowledge of the man, there is a defect here also, he thought He had been like the rest of the Prophets, who prophesied not by their own spirit, but by the Spirit of JESUS, yet was he ignorant that JESUS spoke and wrought all by His own Spirit. Why should we not know these things: This is the difference between CHRIST, and all the Prophets: all these Prophets, and Moses himself were but servants: they spoke never a word by their spirit, but by the Spirit of CHRIST, as Peter speaks in the first Epistle: Spoke Moses, Esay, or Ezechiell in their own name? Dare any Minister speak in his own name: No, not under pain of his life, but JESUS is called the LORD of the house. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the third Chapter, He spoke by His own Spirit, and these preachings were preached by His own Spirit, and He spoke by His own authority, as ye may read in the seventh Chapter of Matthew.  
An Herald, if He speaks in his name, should be hanged, but the King himself will speak in his own name: the LORD spoke in His own Name, but the Prophets spoke not in their own name: read these Prophecies, They say there, Thus saith the LORD: but ye shall find thus, when Christ comes, He says, Amen, amen, dico vobis: Verily, verily I say unto you, in mine own Name and authority, and not in my Fathers only: This Cleopas knew not, but counted Him a Prophet like others, albeit more excellent than others: Cleopas thought He was potent by the Spirit of GOD, and so by another: but he knew not, that He spoke in His own Name, and by His own authority, being equal with the Father.  
Now to be short, he says, He was mighty before GOD and the whole people, That is to say, He had the approbation of the LORD from the Heaven, and what ever He spoke, the LORD approved it: what ever He did, His Father approved it. Then again, He did never an action, but with the approbation of the people: But it would be asked, How approved they Him, seeing they persecuted Him, scorned Him, and crucified Him? I answer: Albeit that neither by word nor deed the jews, nor the High Priests had approved Him: yet the conscience of the same High Priests, and jews approved Him, and bare witness to them that He was GOD, so that sometimes they were compelled to say, Never man spoke as He did, john Chapter 6. verse 46. and sometimes again, since the world began, was it not heard, that any man opened the eyes of one that was borne blind, john Chapter 9 verse 32.  
So that all that they did to Him, was against conscience. I regard not what thou dost to me, if thou be bound in conscience to testify, that that is true which I speak, and that is good which I do: for in that day, thou who speakest against thy conscience, shalt not have one word to speak: thy conscience shall bind up thy mouth: so this is well said, that He had the approbation both of GOD, and man: but he thought He had this approbation as one of the Prophets, suppose in a greater measure.  
But look the first Chapter to the Hebrews, and the fifth verse: For unto which of the Angels said he at any time, (let be Prophets) Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? Then he knew not that he had that approbation of that God who dwelled in him, God in him approved him. Roman. Chap. 1. vers. 4. it is said, He was declared mightily to be the Son of GOD. And 1. Timothy, Chap. 3. vers. 16. He was justified by the Spirit. And again it is said, Acts Chap. 2. vers. 22. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, with great works, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you. Cleopas knew little of this.  
Now, Brethren, we have examined his words, and ye see here a great ignorance: In the first words an untruth, and ye see in all the words following there is some want. And to whom is it that he preaches? He preaches Christ to Christ, and he describes the Lord to the Lord: and yet the Lord hears him patiently. Ye will not believe how He will hear thy babbling, if in thine heart thou have a love to GOD: suppose thou babble He will hear thee, and if thou speak with love, suppose thou canst not pray as other men and women can: Babble on to Him, and speak on with a good heart, He will no more reject thee, than He did Cleopas: He is aye like to Himself. For what is all our language to Him, but a babbling: yea, all our knowledge is but babbling. So suppose we have not knowledge, nor a tongue to speak, yet let us not leave off to speak in love, & with our hearts, and He shall hear us, and give us a comfortable answer. Now I counted never so much of knowledge, as of an heart which loveth God: Keep an heart to thy God: come with faith and love to thy God, and thou wilt not think how He will delight in thee: if we come with love to the Lord, than we come boldly to the Throne of grace. And why? Because we come not in our own righteousness, or in our own perfection: we appear only in the merits of JESUS CHRIST: And suppose thou babble and be ignorant, yet if thou appear in Him, thou art full of knowledge: for His knowledge the Lord counts to be thine. O, what is it to be in Christ! He who hath Christ, hath all, though he were never so weak, he is strong in Him, My power, says the Lord, is perfect in infirmity. And therefore, says Paul, I will glory in my infirmity, that the power of God may be seen in me. 2. Cor. 12. Now a word, and so I end. Cleopas begins to tell what was befallen to such a parsonage, who was mighty in word and deed: yet for all this, they handled Him most unworthily of any man, Our Priests and rulers, as PILATE first, they condemned Him to the death, without a cause, and next, they have crucified Him: if ye consider well the words, ye will find, that He speaks to them with a wonderful indignation, as if He had said,: albeit He was such a man, and so great a man in all respects, yet they condemned Him without a cause, and then they crucified Him. And what indignity was this, for as the Apostle says, Albeit He was the LORD of glory, yet most shamefully they crucified Him, 1. Cor. Chapter second, and the eight verse: Well, take up this in His words, What ever is done against Christ, it is an indignity, if we knew that Majesty we offend: if we saw▪ Him, we would count the least evil thought to be indignity against Him, by reason of the worthiness of His person. What ever was done against Christ, it was indignity: No, this world was not worthy of Him: and I say more, what ever evil is done to His members for His cause, it is an indignity, because there is a dignity in them.  
It is another kind of thing to use a Christian man, as thou wilt, than to use a Turk: thou thinkest it a small thing to stick him: yet one day thou shalt know that he is a worthy parsonage: especially, if he suffer for Christ.  
Take heed what the Apostle says, They crucified the King of glory, and the Lord of life: how agree these two together, the King of glory, and then, to be crucified: He counts that the greatest indignity was done to Him, that ever was done in the world: Then the Apostle says of His Saints, Heb. 11. They have persecuted them, and slain them with the sword, whom the world was not worthy of: And I say more, The godly, who see the worthiness of jesus Christ, and of His Saints, and then s●es the indignity that is done against JESUS CHRIST, and His Saints, it is no wonder that they cannot comport with it.  
Villain, if thou werest a King, that regardest not to offend Him, they cannot comport with thee, the offending of Him is the sorest wound that ever came to their hearts: and when they see any thing done against His Saints, they cannot comport with it: No, it could not be possible, that the godly could comport, or suffer these things vnl●sse they knew all these things were done by His providence. O villain, who boastest thou wilt do to the Saints of God, what thou pleasest, what art thou but His rod, and thou shalt be casten into the fire: and suppose thou set thyself against His glory, yet He shall make thee, in despite of thine heart, to serve to His glory. Then thou, who art the child of GOD, in such cases, shouldest say, I see the finger of GOD in this, for this tyranny could do nothing, without the providence of my GOD. Look how PETER speaks in the ACTS, Chap. 2. vers. 23. he says, They crucified him: But this is his comfort, That they did nothing, but according to the determinate counsel of GOD. And the godly know, that all comes from Him, and for His glory, and thou that wilt not glorify Him, He shall be glorified in thy destruction, and shame everlasting. Now to this glorious and blessed GOD, be glory for ever and ever: AMEN.   

THE XXXVIII. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  LUKE, CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 21 But we trusted that it had been he that should have delivered Israel: and as touching all these things, to day is the third day, that they were done.  
verse 22 Yea, and certain women among us, made us astonished, who came early unto the sepulchre.  
verse 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of Angels, who said, that he was alive.  
verse 24 Therefore, certain of them who were with us, went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said, but him they saw not.  
verse 25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken!  
verse 26 Ought not CHRJST to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?  
WE continue yet (BRETHREN) in this History concerning the two Disciples of CHRIST, who that same day of His Resurrection, (not knowing of it) went out from the rest of the Disciples, that were convened at Jerusalem, to a Village called EMMAUS, not far from Jerusalem. We have heard of their outgoing, and of their meeting with Christ: howbeit He knew them, yet He let them not know that He knew them: but He bound up their senses, their eyes, and their ears, that when they looked to Him, and heard Him speak, they knew him not: but they took him to be a passenger: and no question he appeared unto them in the habit and weed of a passenger. And meeting with them, he asks, what was their communication, and wherefore they were so sad, and discomforted? One of them, named CLEOPAS, takes the speech in hand, and begins to speak roughly unto Christ, That he was come from Jerusalem, and knew not these things which were fallen out within few days. It is half a refusal of an answer. Yet the Lord will not leave them off, but he asks, What are these things which have fallen out? He answers, OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. Of him is the whole sum of their talk. Then he comes on, and he makes it more clear, to the passenger, as he thought: and first he lets him see what a man jesus was. There was never such a man: He was a Prophet, mighty in word and deed. No man ever spoke as he spoke, and no man ever wrought such miracles as he wrought: so that he had an approbation both of God and man. Then next, he comes to these things which had befallen so worthy a person, such indignity as never was seen: he says, Our high Priests and Rulers have condemned him to die, and have dispatched him by the most vile and ignominious death that could be: They have crucified that Prophet that was mighty in word and deed, like a villain. Thus far hitherto.  
Now the rest of this narration that follows, contains three parts: the History is plain, and therefore we shall go shortly thorough it, Cleopas gathereth a sore and a comfortless conclusion upon the crucifying of Christ, a conclusion of despairing▪ that jesus should have redeemed the world: it is said, We hoped that he should have redeemed Israel from their sins: But now He is taken away, and He is dead, and therefore our hope is gone, and we can look no more for Him to be our Redeemer.  
Mark this, if he reasons well or not, jesus is crucified, and therefore He cannot be our Redeemer, we cannot hope that ever He shall redeem the world: By the contrary, he should have reasoned, JESUS is crucified, and therefore He is the Redeemer: for as the Apostle Heb. Chapter 9 and twenty two verse says, Without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins: for if He had not suffered, He could not have been the Redeemer, and have redeemed us: but Cleopas and the other, knew not what the Redeemer should have suffered, they knew not what the Redeemer meant, and therefore being deceived with the false opinion that the people had concerning the Messiah, that He should be like a King, julius Caesar, the Emperor by an earthly power, to deliver them from the tyranny of the Romans.  
This false opinion made them to gather this, that He could not be the Redeemer, seeing that He was crucified. And indeed if this ground that they laid, had been true, He could not have delivered them being crucified. I spoke of this the last day, if thou followest the multitude, and believest (as the Papists bid thee) as the multitude believe, and close thine eyes, thou shalt perish with the multitude. They will say, What ado hast thou with the Bible, thou hast no more ado, but believe as the Church believes▪ but I say unto thee, It shall happen unto thee, as it happened unto Cleopas: That thing that should be the matter of hope, it shall cut thee from hope, as it did this poor man Cleopas, yea, I say further, if thou believest with the multitude, thou shalt perish with the multitude. Fie, is not that rabble ashamed of this light, fie upon them: No, the vengeance from Heaven shall light upon them, except they repent.  
Now to come to the second part of the narration that he makes: ye have heard his conclusion: But now says Cleopas, This is the third day since he was crucified and dead: Yet we hear nothing: As he would say, once dead and ay dead: Mark what he would gather of this: It is the third day since he died, and we have not seen him, alas, I fear we shall never see him again: alas, he will never redeem Israel: He dare not speak this right out, but he keeps it in his mind. Is this a good conclusion, It is the third day since he died, therefore he cannot redeem Israel? He should have concluded, It is the third day, since he died, therefore he is risen in glory, to be the Redeemer of Jsrael. But the ignorant man knew not the Scriptures of GOD, as Christ says to him hereafter: for Christ had foretold, that he would rise the third day, and yet he had forgotten it: and so he concludes, I shall never see him: and he cannot be the Redeemer. Then ye see what it is to be ignorant of the Scriptures of GOD, and to forget them: There is nothing concerning Christ, but it is fully set down in the old and new TESTAMENTS: So that if an Angel would come down from Heaven, he can tell no more in substance. Yet if thou wilt not look to them, but close thine eyes that thou see not, and stop thine ears, that thou hear not, and so forget them again before thou be well out of the Kirke; it is a wonder, that thou shouldest get any matter of hope. No, thou shalt find nothing but matter of desperation. Whosoever therefore would have matter of joy in the heart, and have joy in their distress, let them always have the Scriptures before their eyes. What needed these men to have been troubled, if they had kept the Scriptures before their eyes? So in a word: As thou wouldst have joy in trouble, keep the Scriptures in thy memory, for there is no joy, but in these Scriptures.  
Now to go forward to the third part of this Narration of Cleopas, concerning Christ. Before he comes to it, he makes a rehearsal of these same things which had happened that same day in the morning: for on the third day in the morning, there went out some women (he himself was not so ready: it had been better for himself to have said, I went out to the grave▪ and I saw, and I heard this) and they have made us, the Disciples of Christ, all astonished: for they told us, that they found not the body of CHRIST: But they told us that they found Angels, and that the Lord was risen, and alive: but for all this we believed not. Then some of us who were men, namely Peter and john, who went out, and they found this, that the LORD was out of the grave. But mark his last words, But none of them saw the LORD. Alas, these two DISCIPLES apparently hath come out of JERUSALEM, ere MARIE MAGDALENE, and some other women, who went out that same day, had returned, & showed, that they had seen the Lord. They went away over soon to Emmaus. But look what he concluded: They saw Him not, therefore He was not risen: This is it that they would conclude, Because they could not see Him with their bodily eyes, therefore they looked never to see Him: As if we should have measured the Redeemer, & the Redemption by gross and carnal senses. Look if he concluded well? He should have concluded the contrary, We could not see Him with our eyes and senses, and therefore we believe He is the Redeemer: That is the conclusion that He should have gathered: for faith is the demonstration of things which are not seen as the Apostle speaks, Hebr. 11.1. This is a false conclusion, We cannot see Him with our bodily eyes, therefore we cannot hope to see Him. But by the contrary, We cannot see Him with our bodily eyes, therefore we believe and hope to see Him. Then we see this in CLEOPAS, and his fellow: suppose they were with CHRIST, and should have had an eye to have seen: yet they are mere carnal: for leaning only to the senses of the body, they are more natural than spiritual: and so they conclude, They should never see the Lord: for suppose they spoke not this with their mouths, yet they thought it in their hearts, and they were standing betwixt hope and despair. No, if thou be but a natural man, thou shalt believe nothing, but that which thou conceivest and feelest with thy senses: but for Heavenly things, thou canst not believe them: Heaven and Hell will be but fables to thee, and all will be but folly unto thee. There are enough of these men in this Town: and therefore, as ever thou wouldst see Heaven, as thou wouldst live hereafter, and as thou wouldst reign in glory, seek to have spiritual senses, which may pass far beyond nature: a spiritual eye to see things Heavenly, and a spiritual hand to feel things Heavenly, or else thou shalt die and perish, and thou shalt never have life hereafter. Then in time, seek to be spiritual, and to seek Heaven and Heavenly things. A bodily eye will never perceive these things. Ye see then, how false a conclusion he hath gathered. Yet I perceive in the last part of his narration, something that smells of the hope of Resurrection: an impediment in his heart, he is near to despair: almost he hath given over both faith, and hope of CHRIST, that ever they should see Him: yet he is fleeting above, he swatters and swims, he gives not clean over, he drowns not altogether: but, as ye may perceive, a spunk of faith and hope remains in him: and it bears him so above, that he says not, I despair. And where got he this? Even of the report of the women: suppose he believed not them, yet he durst not say, that they lied, or that it was untrue that they spoke. Well, it is always good to hear of CHRIST, and if it were but a woman to speak of Him: for in the day of thy trouble, yea, if thou were betwixt hope and despair, that thing which thou hast heard, will be brought to thy remembrance, and keep thee from despair: But thou who hast not heard, thou shalt perish: and thou who hast heard, suppose thou believed'st not at the first, and conceivedst it not: yet when thou art at the brink of desperation, that shall hold thee above, thou gettest further information.  
Now go to the rest. We have heard this preaching of Cleopas, to the passenger as he supposed. Ye see he was careful to teach Him: and no question, all that he knew of Christ, he told it▪ Learn this lesson at Cleopas: All that knowledge which thou hast of Christ, tell it to another: and if thou have little, tell it to him that hath nothing: and it may be, thou shalt get further information, as Cleopas did: for the stranger instructed him in all things. Now CHRIST speaks, and He says to him, (not letting him know that He was Christ) O fools! He that Christ calls a fool, is a fool indeed: And if He call thee a fool, thou art one. And then He says, Slow of heart to believe concerning Christ the Messiah. Before I come to the words, behold the clemency & mercy of the Lord: These two men were raving like fools, or as men in a fever: suppose they were His Disciples, they utter a plain distrust: and yet the Lord casts them not off: He saw a little spark in them▪ He saw a spunk of faith, and He goes not to put it out. So that it is true, that is spoken of Him, Esay, Chap. 42. He never broke the bruised reed, nor yet put out the smoking flax, but held it in, and quickened the sponkes thereof, where he found it, till it came to a perfection. No, He will never cast thee away for a little faith: but He will entertain it, and of a spunk, He will make a fire.  
Yet to come to the words: He says, Fools, mad men, without any mind. And then He calls them, dull hearted. There are two things in man, A mind to see, and a will to embrace that which he seees: As for their mind, they were bereaved of mind: as for their will, they have not a will, nor an heart to embrace it: So, mark, what misbelief is? Alas, it leaves not one part of the whole, all the powers of the soul are vitiate by misbelief, Faith goes thorough all the powers of the soul, it first stands in an illumination, and sight of those things that concerns thy salvation, it decernes of things heavenly, and then goes down to the heart, and makes it to embrace JESUS CHRIST, and His benefits: even these heavenly things, that thou canst not see with the eyes of the body: Infidelity, by the contrary, begins and blinds the mind of the infidel, that he sees not, nor cannot see nor discern of things heavenly and spiritual: Albeit thou canst never discern so well of policy, as the Heathen could, yet in heavenly things thou art but mad, and out of their minds: Christ would call thee wood and mad: Look how Paul calls all the Philosophers, 1. Rom. In a word he calls them fools, and then infidelity goes from the mind, and fills the heart, and makes the heart astonished: if thou be an Infidel▪ thou art dull, and senseless: thou mayest lay hold on the world, but if thou gettest no better, thou shalt die in thy dullness and senselessness. So, wouldst thou know, whether thou art quick or not, and of a good conceiving: Try not thyself by earthly things, and say not, I understand the writing of this man, or that man, but if thou wouldst know, whether thou werest not dull & senseless or not, look if thou seest any thing in Heaven, and heavenly things, and then thou art not dull and senseless: but if thou feelest not heavenly things, albeit thou werest a King, go thy way, thou art but a dull and senseless creature, the Ass, or the Dog is better than thou: there the style He gives them, wood men and mad men, without a mind. These men that can compass these things in the world, think themselves quick: but I say to thee, in the Name of this JESUS, if thou knowest not CHRIST, and heavenly things, thou art but a dull and senseless man, and seest not, nor understandest no more, than an Ass.  
Mark every word that He speaks, whilst He calls them slow to believe all that the Prophets had spoken: He casts the Prophets in their teeth, He calls them slow to believe, not this thing, or that thing, not this man, or that man, but that which the Prophets had spoken.  
It is evil, not to believe any that speaks the truth, but it is worse, not to believe a Prophet. Any man that is sent, or called of God, if thou believest Him not, that same calling of the man, augments thy judgement: look to it, If ye believe not a man that is called, that calling of his, shall augment thy judgement. Then He says, Believe ye not the things that they have spoken to you? hearest thou many things, and is this word oft beaten in thine ears, and hearest thou this day, the morn, and other morn, and yet, wilt thou not believe, the more heavy is thy judgement, the more thou hearest, if thou purposest not to believe, the greater is thy judgement. I give thee my counsel, if thou purposest not to believe, hear not a preaching, for all the preachings that thou hast heard, shall aggravate thy judgement, & a thousand times heavier shall thy judgement be, & better, that thou hadst heard never a preaching, except thou purpose to believe. Mark this: He uses a sharp form of rebuke, before He teach them, He tells them not what He was, He makes as though He were a stranger, and yet He calls them fools, and slow to believe.  
Take heed to this, ye that will not suffer yourselves to be called foolish, and will not suffer your heart to be lanced, but aye wouldst have good words, and that will not hear yourselves to be called fools: there is the way to grace, there is the order of teaching, and hearing: and if thou teachest, call a fool, fool, albeit he we●e a King, call him mad, or else thou wilt beguile him, call a slow hearted body, foolish, that is the only way to come to light and knowledge.  
Thou that wouldst preach, must do this, and thou that art an hearer: First, thou must get a sense of thy misery, and that thou art but foolish, as ever thou wouldst see Christ, strive to get a sight of the blindness of thy soul, and the hardness of thine heart: and if thou seest thy blindness, and misery, than thy desire will be wakened, and thou wouldst give ten thousand Kingdoms to be out of that damnable estate.  
Now, I shall be short: When H●e hath begun thus roughly with them, and hath prepared their hearts to hear, than He begins to teach. Why should I call thee a fool▪ and an hard hearted body▪ except it be to teach thee: So He begins and teaches them a fair preaching, and no doubt, He made a large discourse, but here it is summarily gathered up: He lays down His proposition, It behoved him to suffer, and to enter into his glory. There is the necessity: It behoved that the Lord jesus by many and sore sufferings should enter into His glory. Mark this, who can tell it clearer than He Himself told it? So I will tell it again, jesus by His suffering behoved to enter into His glory. JESUS CHRIST once leaving His glory, got no entry again into it, till He was so inanited as never creature was. The LORD putteth to a necessity of suffering, saying, It behoved him to suffer: and so say I, There was such a necessity laid upon Him, that He behoved to suffer, and all the world could not save Him from it, being once come down into this world. Therefore, the LORD by His Prophets had foretold this necessity, That he should suffer death: and therefore, seeing He foretells it, it behoved him to suffer: All the world shall not bring it back again. The Lord as He had foretold it, so He had ordained it from all eternity. Wilt thou call back again that that the LORD hath decreed? Thou mayest reduce the decreet of man, but all the world cannot reduce the decreet of GOD. These are the causes of His suffering: but I shall come to a lower and a subordinate cause: I say to thee, thy sin made this necessity. The LORD taking upon Him the burden of thy sin, and becoming Mediator; that immaculate Lamb, that had no sin, neither in body nor in soul, He taking once the burden of our sin upon Him, He was, in a manner, holden out of Heaven for a time, and He was made accursed: and therefore, before He suffered for sin, He could not get entry into Heaven, for wheresoever sin is, there is death, be it inherent within thee, if thou get not one to die for thee, thou must die: for this is plain talk, (but would to God it were well learned) death must ever follow sin, if thou lay it not on Him, and He die not for thee, thou shalt die for ever. Thou makest but a pastime of harlotry, and murder, and theft: but I say, There is no satisfaction of thy harlotry and murder, but death: I say to thee, harlot, thou art dead: murderer, thou art but dead: albeit thou be a lord, I tell thee, thou art but dead, if thou get no relief in the Mediator, without satisfaction for thy sins, thou shalt never see Heaven. Christ saw not Heaven, after He took on our sin, till He was dead, and offered His blood. The high Priest durst not enter into Sanctum sanctorum without a basin full of blood, under pain of death: Even so, Christ entered not into heaven, but with his own blood: And if thy sin held an innocent out of heaven, O miserable body! thinkest thou, that thou, who art altogether defiled, canst come to heaven? Nothing can enter there that is defiled. Murderer, thou shalt never see heaven, except thou go to jesus, and lay on the burden of thy sin upon him, and say, Lord, take this burden from me: and if thou canst say this from thine heart, he will take it from thee.  
Now Brethren, a question would be asked, If jesus hath died for thy sins and mine, that we might get an entry? Thou mayest say to me, What to do have I to suffer, seeing the Lord hath prepared the way? What to do have I to suffer in soul or body? or why should I be afflicted, seeing the Lord hath made the way patent? I will not answer with the Papists: for they will say, Thou must pay one part: but I say to thee, in despite of thine heart, if thou pay any part, thou must pay the whole. But I answer, All these sufferings is no satisfaction to bring thee to Heaven. Then thou wilt say, Why should I suffer, if it help not to bring me to Heaven? I answer, All the afflictions which are laid on thee, are laid on thee for the slaughter of the remaining corruption: feelest thou not a remaining corruption within thee? All th'afflictions which are laid on thee, as sickness, want of goods, loss of friends, etc. all is laid on thee to slay that remaining corruption. Brethren, I will tell you plainly. The death of jesus, and His suffering, is the only mean to enter into Heaven, in despite of all the Papists. Again I say, Look what need we have of His death, we have as much need of affliction in our own persons, to slay that sin which remains in us: Suppose there be many ways to slay sin, yet except thou be chastised and vexed with affliction outwardly and inwardly, as it pleases the Lord to lay it on thee, thou shalt never see Heaven. So cast thee not to sleep, but make thee for affliction and trouble to mortify thy sin, or else thou shalt never see Heaven. And well is thee that art afflicted, and made like Christ by thine afflictions. What words can be t●uer, than the words of Paul and Barnabas, Act. 14. It behoveth you to enter into heaven, by many tribulations. The Apostle says, there is a necessity. And again he says, Heb. 12.14. without holiness (affliction brings holiness) no man shall see the Lord. Well, thou that delightest to pollute thy body, I tell thee, if thou be not holy, thou shalt never see God. And I say more, Without affliction either in soul or body, thou shalt never be holy. Thou that sleepest securely, and hast mind of nothing, but thy dinner, and thy supper, good cheer, and good company: I tell thee once, twice, yea, thrice, thou shalt never be holy, and thou shalt never come to Heaven: and if thou sleepest on in this estate, thou art not one of His count Book. Let him, or her, who is afflicted, thank God, and take it out of His hand, and say, The Lord hath sent it to sanctify me Lord give me thy Spirit, that I may be holy, that I may see thy blessed face one day, to my everlasting joy in jesus: To whom with the Father and Holy Spirit, be glory for evermore, Amen.   

THE XXXIX. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  LUKE CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 27 And he began at Moses, and at all the Prophets, and interpreted unto them in all the Scriptures the things which were written of him.  
verse 28 And they drew near unto the town which they went to, but he made as though he would have gone further.  
verse 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for it is towards night, and the day is far spent. So he went in to tarry with them.  
verse 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at table with them, he took the bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them.  
verse 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he was no more seen of them.  
verse 32 And they said between themselves, Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and when he opened to us the Scriptures?  
WE insist yet (Beloved in Christ) in this part of History concerning the two Disciples of CHRIST, who in the day of His resurrection went out to JERUSALEM, to a Village near by, called Emmaus. We heard these days past, what Cleopas, one of the two spoke by the way, to Christ, whom he took to be a passenger, because his eyes were bound up, that he could not see Him, nor discern Him, neither by His voice, nor by His face. All his speech tends to this, Our hope is gone, we thought jesus should have been the Redeemer, but He is dead, and continueth under death. We entered in the answer which jesus makes, speaking to Him like a passenger. The first entry is rough language: O fools, says He, and dull of heart, to believe all that the Prophets had spoken of jesus! An hard entry. Thereafter He gins to instruct them and to teach them: The chief point of doctrine is first laid down in these words, It behoved that CHRJST should suffer, and by suffering, enter into his glory. Of this which we heard the last day▪ I repeat nothing. In this TEXT, as GOD shall give us grace, and as time shall suffer, we have the confirmation of this doctrine: He proves this necessity, that he behoved to suffer, by many testimonies: And then, in the second, we have how He manifested Himself, and how their eyes were opened, and how He let them see, that He was Christ. And in the third part we have the effects which it wrought in them, after that they knew Him to be their Lord and Master. Then to begin at the first, To prove that Christ suffered, and so entered into His glory. He searches the Scriptures, He begins at Moses, and from Moses he comes to the Prophets, interpreting unto them what Moses and the Prophets had spoken concerning CHRIST, interpreting that which concerned His Passion, and that which concerned His glory, after His Passion. The matter is set down summarily: Hear no Scriptures are expressed, neither such as were taken out of MOSES, or the PROPHETS: but summarily it is said, That He proved all out of MOSES and the PROPHETS: There He alleged not a bare testimony: but He declared and expounded every one of the Testimonies to these two Disciples. And then when He hath interpreted them, He gathered the conclusion, That it behoved himself to suffer.  
Now, Brethren, we see in this place, what the preaching of the Gospel is in effect: it is none other thing, but the declaration of Moses, & the Prophets: Christ preaches here the Gospel to them, and yet He does nothing, but interprete Moses and the Prophets. So the preaching of the Gospel, is nothing but the exponing of Moses and the Prophets: and this evangel is a plain commentary of the Text of Moses: Moses wrote not one thing, and the Apostles another, but Moses wrote the same thing, that the Apostles wrote: only this is the difference: Moses wrote obscurely, the Apostles more clearly: Then mark well this: They that are preachers of the Gospel separate never the interpretation of the Gospel from the Text of Moses, and the Prophets. Some fantastic brains have thought the Old Testament not needful since the Gospel was written: but all is vanity, Christ teached not that way: ye see, Christ takes His Text out of Moses, and interprete Moses and the Prophets, and the Apostles wrote nothing of Christ, but that which they grounded upon Moses: and as for us, we should speak nothing, but that which we ground upon the writings of the Apostles: and next, we ground our preachings upon the Prophets, and thirdly, upon Moses, that is a ground, & that is a sure ground, and all the world cannot cast it down, that doctrine which is grounded upon the Apostles, the Prophets, and Moses, it is good, but if it be not grounded upon these three, I will not give thee one penny for it: Secondly, ye see, all the interpretation of Moses, is concerning Christ, and what befell Him, His suffering, and His glory after His passion, there is the chief corner stone, whereupon our Faith is builded, and whereupon our Faith is grounded, and whereupon the doctrine of Moses, the Prophets and the Apostles is builded, the corner stone, Christ, and therefore says the Apostle, being grounded upon the foundation of the Prophets, and the lowest stone Christ: and in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, Chapter 3. verse 10. He says, No man can lay another ground, but that which is laid already: jesus is the foundation and ground of all true doctrine and verity, Paul Rom. 10. calls Him the end of the Law, in Him is all the Law fulfilled, and He put an end to all these types and shadows in the Law: So there is the chief ground of our doctrine, jesus Christ the lowest stone, upon Him is grounded the doctrine of Moses, the Prophets and the Apostles, and we build our doctrine upon Him.  
I go forward: This for the first head, now follows the second part of the Text, how He begins to manifest Him, for as yet, they thought Him to be but a passenger, yet a gracious man, and blessed passenger, as ye will hear: they were loath to departed from Him: it is said, When they draw near to Emmaus, in a town where they thought to lodge all night, the Lord makes, as though He would have gone further, the words are, He feigns, as though He were to go further, that village was not the end of His journey, the words give occasion of a question: Thought the LORD one thing, and spoke He another, to speak one thing, and to think another, is a plain lie: I will not insist in this matter, the purpose of the Lord at this time was to enter into the village & town with them, and sit at Table with them, upon this condition, that they should be earnest with Him, urge Him, and in a manner constrain Him, but this failing was in them, they not being earnest, He purposed to leave them, and to go further, then when it comes to the doing, and executing of His purpose, when He said, He would go further, He lied not, for He purposed so to do, if they had not been earnest with Him, and caused Him to abide: Then wherein can it be said, that He used simulation, except in this, that He show not them, that if they were earnest with Him, He would abide: No, if thou wouldst have Him to stay with thee, thou must be earnest to seek Him, and constrain Him in a manner) I might let you see examples both in God, and godly men, that have showed a part of their purpose, and kept the rest to themselves: God said to Moses, I will slay this people, and none of them shall escape: He kept up this, except thou intercede: And again He says, Yet forty days and then Ninive shall be destroyed: Lied the Lord? Not, albeit He kept up a part of His purpose, except they had repent: for if they had not repent, He had destroyed them. So the Lord bids Samuel conceal His purpose in anointing David, 1. Sam. 6.16.  
This only is our lesson, Be not curious to seek that which the Lord hath not revealed to thee, but see thou study to do that which the Lord hath revealed: thou hast no warrant to seek that which He hath not revealed: O Scotland, thou hast no warrant whether GOD will stay with thee, or not, but thou hast this warrant, to entreat Him earnestly by prayer, and in a manner to constrain Him to stay with thee: No, He will departed, if thou gettest not an heart to constrain Him, He will not stay with thee if thou be not earnest to bid Him stay, thou hast no warrant that He will stay with thee: And I say to thee, if He be not better entertained in Scotland than He is, He shall leave thee: and woe to thee, Scotland, if He leave thee, this cold entertainment, may justly make thee to fear, that the Lord shall leave thee, Scotland Many in this Country of highest rank would put Him away, but if ever He depart, a heavy judgement shall light upon them. Now when He seemed, as though He would go further, in a manner they do Him violence, and they stick to Him, taking Him to be a man, a passenger, a gracious passenger, and therefore they are loath to sunder from Him, and they use arguments to move Him, they say, It is towards night, and the day is far spent, and where canst thou go? stay with us all night, than the Lord yielded, and tarried with them: Mark this: We use to say, Prayer will break hard weard, and it is true, repentance and supplication will hold off judgement, that would light upon us. The Lord says, in the eleventh Chapter of Matthew, and the twelfth verse: The Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. What causes Him to tarry? violence is done to Him: and I say to thee, if thou interest into Heaven, thou must do violence and take it by force: and I say more, if thou throngest not, & seekest it not night & day, thou shalt never enter in it: and if these disciples had not thronged on Him, and constrained Him, He had not remained with them: thou shouldest ever pray to God, and say Lord, leave us not, tarry with us, we may not sunder, if thou stickest not to Him, He shall leave thee. Then ye see, what it is to be human, they would not let Him walk in the night: but what reward got they? in stead of man, they receive God, and man blessed for ever: so I say, humanity to man, hospitality to Pilgrims, hath a great reward. The Apost. Heb. 13.2. says: That some received Angels into their houses unawares, when they thought they had received men. Abraham received Angels in his house, Gen. 16.3. Lot received Angels, Gen. 19.8. Now, Brethren, I say this to you, as ye would receive God, have mind of the poor, and now especially, in this extreme dearth, give them some part of that thou wouldst put in thine own mouth, & that which thou wouldst put on thy back: there is none of you, but ye will say, If ye had Christ here, I should feed Him, and if I saw Him naked, I should give Him clothes, the reprobate shall say the same in that day: We should have clad thee, if we had seen thee naked, etc. But what answers the Lord? When ye did it not to one of those little ones, ye did it not to me. Knew Abraham, or Lot, that these men that they received in their houses were Angels, and thought these two, that He was Christ: No, they thought Him but a passenger. We read, they that have showed humanity to men, received God, but we never read that any that never dealt humanly with men, & sought not to entertain them, got ever God to lodge with Him. So in a word, as thou wouldst not manifest thy love to God, be human, gentle and merciful to man. He who loves not his brother, whom he sees daily, how can he love God whom he never saw? No, thou lovedst Him never, say what thou will: fie upon that man, that hath no human entertainment in lodging of strangers. Now when He is gone in with them, He sits down at supper (for it was Evening) sitting down, He taketh the bread and gives thanks. Take heed to this: ye with profane hands will pull, rend & swallow up the Lords benefits, without knowing of God, but the Lord of glory now sitting down as man, He would not break bread, until He had sanctified it by prayer: when He hath blessed the bread, He takes it, and distributes it to the disciples: so ye see, this is an Holy passenger, whilst He makes Him to be a passenger, He is Holy. Mark this, ye that are passengers, all His communing in the way, is holy: then when He sits down, He blessed the bread, ere He eat: how ever He makes Him to be a passenger, he dissembles never His holiness, but always He is holy, He is holy in the way, He is holy in the house, He is holy at the table, that holy Lord will never take on the habit of profanity, Mark this: Be what thou wilt, if thou be a Lord, traveling, albeit thou dissemblest thy rank, behave thyself as a common passenger, or as a merchant, etc. yet with the company thou art in, behave thyself holy, be holy in thy journey, be holy at the table, and in thy eating show that habit. Ye that travel, either in this Country, or to other countries see, how far men are from this: if they meet with an evil person, they will be as evil, if they meet with a filthy person, they are filthier, they will speak two filthy words for one: if one go to Germany, he will be an Vbiquiter, and in Rome a Papist, in Scotland a Christian, in as many places as many forms: so thou that is a Passenger, as ever thou would look for rest hereafter, look that thou be holy: a holy hearted man in a company, will not only have great graces in himself, but also he will be gracious to that company, & communicate these graces to them with whom He is in company: So dissemble as thou wilt, be ever holy, and as ever thou wouldst dwell with jesus, be ever like Him in some measure in holiness: and well is us, if in word and deed we be holy pilgrims in this world. This would not be passed by, He sunders not from them in the house, He goes not to one house, and they to another, but He will go to one house with them, and will sit at the same table with them: then He will not stay still, till they give bread to Him, but He begins to give bread to them, and feeds them with His own hand: So ye see, Brethren, what it is, to be earnest to entreat the Lord, to stay with thee: Now certainly, He shall be more homely with thee, than thou canst be with Him: if thou beginnest to entreat Him, He will remain with thee, and feed thee with His own hand, and they that have found the Lord, they have seen such an homeliness, as they could never think of. In the 3. of the Revelation, verse 20. The Lord jesus says, I will stand at the door, and I will knock, he that will open to me, I will come in, and sup with him. Once let me in, I shall be so homely, as thou never wouldst have thought, I shall insinuate me in thine heart & I shall not only sit at thy table, but I will sit in thine heart, and shall feed thine heart with joy, and food everlasting.  
Now to go forward: the Lord, who no question bound up their eyes, before, opens them now: if He close thine eyes, the world cannot open them, He only can open them: The mean whereby He opens them, apparently was that form of prayer He used before He broke the bread: Next, they understood, that it was He by the distributing of the bread: for He used to feed them with His own hand: and therefore by these signs they are made to know Him. I see here, grace grows: after that once grace gins: none end of grace: after that once He hath invited them, He sups with them, than He feeds them with His own hand, and then at the last, their eyes were opened: and judge ye, what joy that was to them: No doubt, that was the most joyful sight, that ever they saw. So, hold on, and entertain the Lord a while, and set Him at thy table, and never be glad to eat nor drink, except thou findest some presence of thy GOD (for it is a loathsome dinner, if thou wantest Him, and if thou entreatest Him on, thou shalt find in end, an exceeding joy: Entertain Him now, as a passenger, and in the end, thou shalt see Him to thy comfort, thine eyes shall be opened to see Him, as He is.  
Then it is said, as their eyes were opened, He was lifted from them, ye must not think, that the Lord made His body invisible, it is contrary to the order of nature, a thick body to be invisible, nor ye must not think, that He broke out at the house side, as the Papists dream: this departure was by the holding of their eyes, He was not changed in this form, or that form, but the change was in their eyes, so that, they see not how He departs, or in what manner, as before, their eyes were holden, that they could not know Him. To leave this, ye would marvel, He gives them but one blencke: in an instant He goes away from them: why stays He not? No, it was not meet for them, that He should stay, nor yet was it possible for Him to stay after that manner that they would have had Him to have stayed, seeing now sufficiently they were assured that He was risen it was not needful that He should stay with them, as of before, as ye see, the Apostles in the 1. of the Acts, speaking to Him, they say, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel: That is in effect Lord, wilt thou not remain with us here on the earth: No, He would not stay with them, but gives them a glance of Him: then secondly, He could not dwell amongst them, the earth could not be capable of a glorious body: glorify a man or a woman, the earth cannot keep them, glorify a man or a woman, this earth is too evil for them, & they cannot dwell in the earth: No, that Paradise wherein Adam was set, that pleasant Garden that He was placed in, could not keep a glorious body, and a glorified man. So the Lord being glorified, could not dwell and abide amongst men, as of before: so then, wouldst thou dwell with Christ, and dwell in that pleasant place (and thou shalt never have happiness nor joy, till thou dwellest with Him) Think not to bring Him down to the earth, but if thou wouldst dwell with Him, flit out of the earth, make thee for flitting. Paul says, I desire to flit and to dwell with the Lord: Wouldst thou desire to devil with the Lord, desire to flit out of thy body▪ for if thou hast not a desire, but art afraid to flit, it is a token that thou hast no languor of God, and that thou shalt never devil with Him, but that soul that desires to flit, to enjoy that presence, that soul that hath groaned for it (for the soul that is godly, groans, as a man that groans under a burden) shall enjoy the presence of God, & devil with Him, and that soul shall be glorified: thy body, indeed, shall not be glorified, until that time that He shall appear, and then thy body and thy soul both shall be glorified with Him: and then our eyes shall see Him, and our bodies shall dwell with Him in the Heaven, in that everlasting Paradise.  
Now Brethren, hitherto the Lord hath manifested Himself: then see what effect follows, and is wrought in their hearts of this manifesting. Ye would think that so soon as the Lord had been taken from them, they should have been sad: For who would not be sad to want Him? For if thou sawest Him, for all the world thou wouldst not be content to want His presence. Ye would marvel, why they make no moan for that short time that He abode with them. No doubt, that sight that they got, left such a comfort in their hearts, as cannot be spoken. And if the Lord give His presence to any man, his heart will have such a joy, that it will feed upon it. Ye read, in the eight Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, how the Eunuch, who came from the Queen of Candare, when Philippe came, and baptised him, Philippe was carried away from him, yet the Scripture says not that he mourned when Philippe was taken away: No, it is said, that he went on his way rejoicing. From whence comes this joy? No doubt, it was the presence of Philippe that left this joy behind it. So in a word: The presence of God leaves always joy: and if thou get a blink of Him in the morning, thou shalt be joyful of Him all the day, and that joy shall feed thee: and when thou art eating and drinking, that presence will feed thee. Woe to thee who seekest not to get a blink of Him: for if thou gettest not a blink of Him, thou shalt never have solid joy in thine heart.  
But the words would be marked: And they said between themselves, Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and when he opened to us the Scriptures? There are the words. When these two men heard Him, the word was effectual: but they think Him not to be their Lord, till he manifested Himself unto them: and then they call to mind by their burning, that they found that it was He that spoke unto them. This confirms them that it was He. The same burning of the heart that one will have is a sure token of the presence of Christ: for if the Lord were not present in thine heart, it would not burn at the preaching. No, not an Angel hath power to set thine heart on fire. So thou that hast this burning, thou mayest say, that the Lord jesus is present in thine heart.  
But mark this: We see in these men, that our eyes are so blind, that we cannot discern the Lord so long as we live here: we cannot get full sight, but we are in a strife: if the heart shall say, The Lord is here, the flesh will say, He is not here: so that we hang here betwixt hope and despair. But when He once manifestes Himself in glory, then that burning which we felt in this life, that sense which we then felt, shall be brought to our remembrance. Think not that thou shalt lose that sense: No, Thou shalt take it up with thee to the Heaven: and we shall say one to another, Remember ye not what burning we had, when we spoke and heard of CHRIST in the earth? Then it behoved this LORD to have been then with us in the earth. So the remembrance of that joy which thou felt in the world, shall be a part of thy joy which thou shalt have in the Heavens in the life to come: Therefore, get much joy here, and lay it up in store in thine heart: go on in feeling, and I promise thee, in the Name of GOD, it shall never departed, but it shall ever augment and enlarge thy joy, and glory in the life to come. No, as the word of GOD, which is the immortal seed of GOD, evanishes not: so, neither shall the effect of the word ever vanish. Then, ever strive to get a sense of the working of this word in thine heart.  
Now a word, and so I shall end. Ye would think this a sober conclusion, As we walked by the way, when he sp●●e to us, our hearts burned, therefore it was he that spoke with us: So they concluded, that it must be his Spirit only which sets the heart on fire. May we not in like manner conclude, At the preaching of Paul the Spirit sets the heart on fire, therefore Paul is Christ? This is a false conclusion. And I answer to this, That if these men had felt no more, but a common feeling, in an ordinary measure, their argument had not been good: But they had another feeling, than can be at the preaching of a man: for no doubt, with the word He sent His Spirit to work in them extraordinarily. And I put it out of question, They had such a wonderful feeling, as they could never have had at the preaching of any man whosoever. So their conclusion is sure, Seeing as He spoke, He breathed His Spirit upon us, He must be CHRIST. It is a wonder of them, who have gotten GOD'S SPIRIT, how they will discern of GOD'S SPIRIT in others: And many are beguiled for fault of this SPIRIT. There is very much spoken of our feeling at the PREACHING: And what serves all? They call it a fire: for the Spirit which raises that feeling, is like a fire, and therefore He is compared to a fire, Matth. 3.11. And a fire hath ever an up-burning: and if thou have true feeling, thine heart shall be set on fire, & that fire is mighty, & will burn up the dross of thy salvation, which is in thy foul heart. No, speak not of feeling except thou be regenerate: Thou that art an Harlot, speak not of feeling, except thou feel it burn up thine harlotry. And thou that art a murderer, say not that thou hast a feeling, and if it burn not up thy bloody heart. So I charge thee before God: hear not one word, except thou findest that Spirit to burn up thy corruption; thou tellest me, that thou feelest, and yet thou remainest an harlot, fie upon thine harlotry, let not that word come out of thy mouth. Again, as the fire of God's Spirit burns up the dross of thy corruption, so it will inflame thy love to God, it will inflame thine heart, and all the power of the soul to the love of GOD, and righteousness, so that it will bind thine heart to God, as the Apostle says, The love of God constraineth me, so that thou wouldst be content to die, to live with Him, and to pleasure Him, thou wouldst not care, to live, or to die: and what more? as a fire is nourished with some matter, that is meet for burning: so this fire once kindled in our souls is nourished, and fed by the continual presence of GOD in JESUS CHRIST, and that precious oil of the Holy Spirit. Further, a flame tends always upward, and it will lift an heavy thing that falls down upon it: ye see a train of powder will blow up an house: We are heavy by nature, and loadned with sin, yet that fire of love will raise thee up▪ and place thee with the Lord, whom thou lovest, and thine heart will be lifted up to Him. There is never one that loves JESUS in the Earth, but they are dwelling with Him in the Heaven, and shall enjoy that presence everlastingly. So ye see, what it is to have the heart set on fire, till we meet with our LORD, and then our hearts shall have the full fruition of His presence for ever. To this JESUS, with the Father, and Holy Spirit, be glory, for evermore.  
AMEN.   

THE XL. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  MARK CHAP. XVI. 
verse 13 And they went and told it to the remnant, neither believed they them.  
verse 14 Finally, he appeared unto the eleven as they sat together, and reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him, being risen up again.  LUKE CHAP. XXIII. 
verse 33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,  
verse 34 Which said, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.  
verse 35 Then they told what things were done in the way, and how He was known of them in breaking of bread.  
verse 36 And as they spoke these things, jesus Himself stood in the mids of them, and said unto them, Peace be to you.  JOHN, CHAP. XX. 
verse 19 The same day then at night, which was the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the jews, came jesus and stood in the mids, and said to them, Peace be unto you.  
WE have heard (Beloved in Christ) these days past, of the conference which was betwixt Christ, and these two Disciples, who were going to Emmaus. Christ reproved them sharply, because they thought that Christ being crucified, all hope of Redemption was passed. Next, He instructed them, affirming, that it behoved Him to suffer, and by suffering to enter into His glory. This His doctrine, which He proved by many Testimonies of Scripture; beginning at Moses, and from Moses He comes to the Prophets, interpreting unto them, what they had spoken concerning Christ, concerning His Passion, and concerning His glory after His Passion: for the preaching of the Gospel is nothing else, but an expounding of Moses, and the Prophets, and jesus Christ is the foundation whereupon the doctrine of Moses, and the Prophets, is builded: He is the end of the law all tends to Him. Thereafter, we heard how Christ manifested Himself to these Disciples: for, when as He made Himself as though He would have left them, being constrained by them, He went in to tarry with them: and as He sat at table with them, in the blessing, and breaking, and distributing of the bread, their eyes were opened, and they know Him. Last, we heard what effects were wrought in them, when they saw He was their Lord and Master: Howbeit He left them, yet they were not sad: but that sight which they got of Him, left exceeding great joy and comfort in their hearts: and so they call to mind that burning which they found in their hearts when He spoke unto them, whereby they are more confirmed, that it was the Lord that spoke to them: for the burning of the heart which a man will find in himself, is a sure token of the presence of Christ. Now in the Text which we have presently read, we have set down their returning to Jerusalem, with great expedition, & how they declare to the Apostles, & others, who were there assembled, all things that fell out unto them by the way: these things which they saw with their eyes, & which they had heard with their ears. Thereafter we have set down another appearing of Christ, which fell out this same very time that these two Disciples are talking together with th'eleven, of these things. Then to come to the words: It is said, They rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem. The circumstance of the time of their returning would be weighed: They make no delay: they stay not all night in Emmaus, albeit it was late, and they were before of intention to have remained there till the morning: but they use all possible expedition, and they rise that same hour to return to Jerusalem, that they might show the Disciples what they had heard and seen, & make them partakers of their joy. Compare this their returning to Jerusalem, with their coming out of Jerusalem to Emmaus: ye will find a great difference: When they came out of Jerusalem to Emmaus, they went slowly with sad hearts & sad conference: and when the Lord, whom they supposed to be a passenger, met them, & inquires what conference that was, that they had amongst themselves? They take leisure enough to tell Him the sorrowful news that had fallen out in Jerusalem, of the crucifying of jesus of Nazareth. But in their returning to Jerusalem they make great speed: they go quickly, they go with joyful hearts, hasting to communicate to the disciples the great joy which they themselves had conceived upon the things which both they saw and heard. The lesson is plain. When the children of God are casten down, when their hearts are grieved, when they have no joyful and comfortable news to tell, but sad and heavy tidings, concerning Christ, and His Gospel, and the estate of His Kirke; then they will go slowly, and with heavy cheer: they will speak slowly, and with sadness, they will have little pleasure in any thing that they do; for the grief of their hearts takes hand and foot from them: so that they can do nothing willingly, and with cheerfulness. But by the contrary, when their hearts are joyful, when they have joyful and comfortable tidings, to tell to others of Christ and His Kirke; then are they quick and speedy, and cheerful in all their doings, they will go with expedition and chearefulnsse, they will speak with cheerfulness, with cheerfulness they will make haste to communicate their joy to others: for the joy which they conceive in their hearts, cheers up and encourages all the members of their bodies to do their duty willingly, with cheerfulness and pleasure: Yea, such is the force of the joy in the heart, that it will swallow up & overcome all troubles, all stays, & impediments, which can be casten in to hinder a good purpose: and therefore, if thou seest a man slow to a good action, and namely, to preach the Gospel of JESUS, thou hast just occasion to suspect that he hath found little joy in his heart through the Gospel: as by the contratrie, if thou seest a man hasten with cheerfulness to preach the Gospel, it is a sure token, that he hath his heart filled with the sense of joy through the Gospel. Now when they came to Jerusalem, They found the eleven Disciples of the Lord, and beside them, they found sundry others gathered together with them. Appearinglie these men who were gathered together with the Disciples were such as had heard the Lord jesus teaching when He was conversant in the world and had found the power of His Preaching effectual to their conversion: for as evil men delight in the society of evil men, because conformity in manners makes men to entertain society together: as the harlot with the harlot, the drunkard with the drunkard, the thief with the thief, etc. Even so good men take pleasure in the company of good men, that they may be a mutual furtherance one to another of the glory of God, & their own salvation. When these two Disciples find th'eleven, & the rest that were with them in Jerusalem, look how they are exercised: They are telling one to another, that the Lord Jesus was risen indeed. These two Disciples came to tell them these news, supposing they had known nothing of them: but they found themselves prevented, they found that the Lords disciples tell them that same that they came to have informed them of, to wit, that the Lord jesus was risen indeed. And this they prove by the testimony of Simon Peter, who had affirmed to them, that he had seen the Lord: for among others to whom the Lord appeared after His Resurrection, He appeared in particular to Simon Peter, as Paul testifies, 1. Cor. 15.5. where he tells that He was seen of Cephas, before He was seen of the rest of the twelve. So these two disciples that made haste upon set purpose to further, strengthen, and comfort others, they are furthered, strengthened, & comforted by others, and so they find their coming to be profitable to themselves. The lesson shortly is this: Often times it comes to pass, that they who come of set purpose to declare to others, that joy which they have found to be wrought in their souls by the Holy Spirit, by the preaching of the Gospel, are prevented by others, & hea●e of others these same glad tidings that they came to speak themselves, before they can get time or leisure to utter them themselves, and so they find that same joy communicated to them, which they come to communicate to others: or if they be not prevented, than it falls out, that they hear these same glad tidings of others, that they themselves declare to others, and so receive mutual comfort: or if others speak nor to them, at least this fall out, that of their own message, and of that speech that they utter of JESUS CHRIST, they will find their joy to increase more and more, & to abound: so that it falls out, that their preaching is not only powerful and comfortable to the souls of others, but even to themselves: & when they preach to others, they preach to themselves. If thou hast gotten a spiritual grace or comfort to thy soul, be careful to communicate it unto others: for by so doing, thou shalt find thy grace and joy to increase: fear not, that by communicating of thy grace, it shall be impaired: for these spiritual graces, are not like worldly benefits, whereof the more thou givest to others, there is the less behind: but the more thou givest of these spiritual graces unto others, the more thou hast behind to thyself, the more shall they increase: For to him that hath, it shall be given, and he shall have abundance. Matth. Chap. 25.29. But it would be marked: Albeit these two Disciples find themselves to be prevented by the eleven, who were telling that same thing that they came to tell them: yet they are not so silent, nor conceal not the things which they had heard and seen: but it is said, that they also told what things were done in the way, and how CHRIST was known of them in breaking of bread: and so they go about to confirm the APOSTLES in that which they themselves were telling of the Resurrection of CHRIST.  
Now a question may be moved here. How is it that LUKE says, that when the two Disciples came of purpose to tell the eleven, what had befallen to them in the way, and what they had heard and seen concerning JESUS, the eleven preventes the two, and tells them, that JESUS was risen, and had appeared to Peter; seeing MARK, speaking of this same matter, says, that when these two went, and told Christ's appearing to them, to the remnant, that they believed? How agree these two together? To this I answer: First, That when LUKE says, that they told the two Disciples, that the Lord was risen indeed, and that he had appeared to Simon Peter, he means, that there was a number among them, who believed: and that which was proper to some, he ascribes it indefinitely to the whole. And on the other part, when MARK says, they believed not, it is to be understood, that there were certain of them, who believed not. And so both the EVANGELISTES according to the accustomed form of speaking in the Scripture, attribute that indefinitely to the whole, which was proper to a part. Next, I answer: When Mark says they believed not, he speaks of a full and perfect Faith, that was free of all doubting wavering, and unconstancy: but Luke speaks of a begun Faith, which in the mean time wants not the own doubting: for we may perceive in the History, that sundry times after this, they were in doubt, as ye see hereafter in the 41● verse of this Chapter, where it is said, that after He had showed them His hands, and His feet, they believed not: their hearts were not constantly settled with an assurance of His resurrection.  
Now in the next part of our Text, we have set down another appearing of Christ after His resurrection, which falls out in this same very time, when these two disciples were talking with the eleven, & this is His first apparition: we have heard of four already, His first appearing was to Marie Magdalene, the second was, to certain other women, the third was, to the two disciples, who were going to Emmaus, the fourth was to Peter, which we showed you before: Luke touched in a word, verse 34. Now in this His fift appearing He appears unto the disciples, being assembled together. The three Evangelists, Mark, Luke, & john, set down particularly the circumstances of their assembling & meeting together, which circumstances would be well considered, because they serve for the clearing of the History, the first circumstance is of the persons, that were convened, who, and how many they were: Mark says, that He appeared unto the eleven: & yet we must understand by the History that follows in john, that Thomas was not present at this meeting: but here he gives the name of the whole, to the most part, & after judas death they were commonly called the eleven. john says, generally, & indefinitely, That the disciples were assembled. Of this circumstance we mark: The disciples of the Lord for the most part ever used to meet, and assemble together: they assembled together before His Passion: they assembled together, even in the very time of His Passion, and hanging on the Cross (for it is said in the 23. Chapter of Luke, and the 49. verse: And all His acquaintance stood afar off, and the women that followed Him from Galilee, beholding these things) and now they assembled together after His Passion. So ye may see: They who are Christ's, are ever going about to meet & to hold themselves together, that they may speak, & confer of all things, that fall out concerning Christ, and the estate of His Church, whether they be joyful, and comfortable, or sad & sorrowful, that they may edify, & further one another, mutually in the course of their salvation, that they may be joined together, and make up, and compleete one body. And why not? For as there is one GOD the Father, one head the LORD jesus, one Spirit, one Faith, one Baptism, one hope of vocation: so there should be but one body, the members whereof, should endeavour, to entertain love and unity amongst themselves, Ephes. Chapter 4 verses 3 4, 5, 6. This meeting together, of the members of the body of Christ, and their mutual conference, brings with it, an exceeding great consolation and joy: for the Lord hath promised to send that Comforter the Holy Spirit, to these meetings of the Saints: and Christ says, in the 18. Chapter of Matthew, and the 20. verse: Where two or three is gathered together in my Name: there will I be in the mids of them. If thou despisest these holy meetings, and disdainest thou the holy conference, I denounce to thee in the Name of Christ, thou shalt never find a solid joy, or consolation: many there are, who contemn the meetings of the faithful, and the assemblies of the Saints, and disdain the means of grace, godly speeches and conferences: and yet will dream to themselves, that the Holy Spirit will devil in their souls, and that they will find joy, and consolation: but the end will prove, that their corrupt and false hearts have deceived them.  
Now I come to the second circumstance, which is concerning their exercise in that meeting. What were they doing? Mark says, They sat together: Luke says, They were speaking of these things that they had heard by the report of sundry persons, concerning the Lord's Resurrection: so ye see, their exercise was holy, their conference was spiritual, & this was a very good preparation going before the Lords coming, & appearing to them: yea, no question, it was wrought by the force and power of the Lord Himself, when He was approaching and drawing near to them: for when the Lord is drawing near, & approaching to us, than that Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts, begins to move and utter Himself, He wakens up joy in our hearts, He opens our mouth to speak with freedom and liberty, and to entertain purpose of spiritual and heavenly things: for that Spirit in our souls hath a forecast, and feeling before hand, of the LORDS coming, & this is it that shall move the godly in that great day, when they shall see the tokens of the coming of the LORD, to look up, and lift up their heads, knowing that their redemption draws near, Luke 21.28. for except the Lord did send before a ligt to shine in their souls, as a messenger going before Him to tell Him, that the Lord is coming, they would never lift up their heads: and therefore when the Lord commands His disciples to look up, and to lift up their heads before His coming, it is as much, as if He had said to them, that He will furnish them strength at His coming, to lift up their heads, and to be waiting for Him.  
Now follows the third circumstance, concerning the time of this meeting: john in setting it down, is more particular, than any of the rest of the Evangelists, He says. It was the same day, at night, which was the first day of the week: That is, it was the same day that He rose, which for that same cause is called the Lords day, and it was in the Evening, after sun-setting, when it began to be dark night: for it was after the returning of the disciples from Emmaus, and they returned not to jerusalem, until it was very late: for we heard before, it was towards night, when they desired the Lord to stay with them, and they returned from Emmaus to jerusalem, after the Lord had stayed some space with them, and had eaten, and manifested Himself to them in the breaking of bread, Luke 24.29.30. john tells the cause why they assembled in the night, rather than in the day: For fear of the jews, who as they were malicious against the Lord Himself, so would they have uttered their malice against His disciples, and all them that loved Him: so they make a choice of a time that was least dangerous: for, Brethren, it is the Lords will, that His children make a choice of the time, that is most convenient, & which may serve most for their safety in their assemblies and meetings: it makes not at what times meetings be kept, whether in the day, or in the night, if so be, that they who assemble and meet together, be holy: for all times are sanctified to the faithful, and them who are holy themselves: for it is true that Paul says, To the pure, all things are pure, Tit. 1.15. Likewise Christ Himself shows His presence to His own indifferently, at any time when they are met together, whether it be day, or night: it is not these outward things, that Christ chief respects, neither the time, nor the place, nor no such outward circumstance, but Christ looks chief to the persons, that meet together, & to their disposition whether they be holy or not: the outward things sanctify not the person, but the person sanctifies the outward things: many think th●t if they come to the Church on the lords day, because both time and place, is holy, that they are holy enough: but if thou hast no holiness in thine heart, all things are polluted unto thee, the time is polluted, the place is polluted, the exercise of the word is polluted: For unto them that are defiled, and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but even their minds and consciences are defiled, Tit. 1.16.  
The last circumstance is of the place: The Evangelists make no particular mention of a special place, wherein they did meet: only john marks, That the doors were shut, and therefore, that they kept themselves close, and quiet: and in this their meeting & exercise they were secret, so that the jews knew not either where they were or what they were doing: john says, it was for fear of the jews that the doors were shut: As they had holy wisdom in choosing of the time: so they had holy wisdom in choosing of the place. God will have His children to be wise in all things, and when Christ sends out His Apostles, He exhorts them To be wise as serpents, Matth. 10.16. The faithful are compassed about, with many perils, and dangers on all sides, which hardly they will eschew, except they have holy wisdom. Now, it was not only the fear of danger, from the jews, that made them shut the doors, but likewise that they might be secret: for when the Saints are exercised in godly conference, and in spiritual and heavenly exercises, and when they are handling secret and hid mysteries of salvation, than they should be separated from the world, and from the society of profane men: profane men should be debarred from such holy exercises, and from the meetings of the Saints, and one day they shall be fully debarred, and put out of their company: for when they shall be gathered unto the Lord jesus, to enjoy His glorious presence in the Heavens, the wicked shall get none entrance there, to trouble them any more with their profanity.  
Thus far, we have spoken shortly of the circumstances of the disciples meeting: Now it follows we should speak of the appearing itself. Whilst the disciples thus gathered, were speaking one to another, of the Resurrection of Christ, in the mean time, jesus himself comes, & stands up in the mids of them. He presents Himself to them, when the door were shut, after an extraordinary manner, a marvelous manner, and very suddenly: for a glorified body hath a very swift and speedy motion. john lets us see, that His appearing and coming to the house to them, was miraculous, for he says, He came when the doors were shut: but the particular ●●nner of His entering in, by what way He came into the house is not expressly set down by any of the Evangelists: and therefore sundry men have sundry opinions of the manner of His coming in, every one far different from another: First, The Papists affirm, That the body of our Saviour pierced thorough the door, the substance and body of the door remaining whole, unbroken, & unaltered in any part: so that both the body of the LORD, and the body of the door, at one time, were in one place. And this they affirm, that they may have some appearance of a ground to establish that vain and foolish dream and fantasy of the bodily and local presence of the body of our Lord in the Sacrament of the Supper. Of the which doctrine of necessity it must follow, That one, and that self same body may be in many places at one time: for if it were true, that two bodies might be in one place at one time, than it would follow, that one body at one time might be in many places. But both these assertions are directly repugnant to the nature of a body, whatsoever it be, whether it be a glorified body, or a body not glorified. It is but a vain distinction, which the Papists have invented, betwixt a body glorified, and a body not glorified: for a glorified body remains a true body, the glorifying of it takes not away the nature, nor the natural properties of a body: and therefore it cannot be at one time in many places, but only in one place: neither can it be in one and the self same place with another body.  
Next, others think, That when the body of the Lord went in at the door▪ the body of the door was rarefied, and yielded, and gave place to the Lords body, that it might enter in: & when it had gone in, it returned to its own estate, & was thickened & made solid, as of before: even as when the Lord was walking on the sea, the sea was thickened & made hard & solid under His feet, that it might bear Him above, & thereafter again incontinent it returned to its own nature. This opinion is more tolerable than the former, because it stands well enough with the Omnipotent power of God, where as the former sentence of the Papists cannot stand with His omnipotency, because it includes a manifest contradiction.  
Thirdly▪ some think, That when the Lord was entering in, the door opened to Him, and after He was come in, the door incontinent & most speedily closed again. This opinion seems to be most probable: we read in sundry places the like to have been done, as in the 5. Chapter of the Acts, the Angel of the Lord opens the doors of the Prison, where the Apostles were, and shuts them again. And in the 12. Chapter of the Acts, when the Angel brings Peter out of prison, the iron gate opened unto them of the own accord. And likewise in the 16. Chapter of the Acts: When Paul and Silas being in prison, prayed, and sung Psalms to God, all the doors of the prison opened, and every man's bands were loosed: in the which places ye see, When the Lord delivered His servants, whether by the ministery of His Angels, or without their ministery, the doors were opened: But in no place of Scripture we read of the rarefying of a body, and much less, any thing of that vain opinion of the Papists, That two bodies may be in one place at one time: and therefore this last opinion seems to be most likely: But in this point we insist not: Only one thing we mark out of this place, that the LORDS coming is very sudden, and unlooked for: how so ever it be, that the LORD comes unto men, whether it be in mercy, as He uses to come to His own: whether it be injustice to the wicked, His coming is ever sudden, and without their expectation: and therefore we should not be so careful, curiously to inquire about the particular coming of the LORD, as we should be careful to prepare ourselves, that we may be ready, waiting for His glorious appearing, that when ever He comes, He may find us with oil in our lamps, ready to enter in with Him. Watch (says the LORD) for ye know neither the day, nor the hour, when the Son of man will come.  
Now to end shortly: Having spoken already of the circumstances of the meeting of the disciples, as also of the marvelous appearing of the Lord to them: it follows last, that we speak of His saluting of them: when He comes in amongst the mids of them, He is not silent, but He salutes them, & says, Peace be unto you. This was His common salutation, which they were acquainted with: & no question, He uttered it with such a homely & familiar voice, that they might easily have known that it was He, & none other that appeared & spoke unto them: for He went about by all means possible, to remove all doubting out of their hearts, that so they might have a full assurance of His Resurrection: and yet, for all this very hardly could they be persuaded, that it was He: and therefore Mark says, He reproved them for their unbelief, & hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him being risen up again. For such is the infidelity, & dullness of our hearts, that all the means that GOD uses, is little enough to make us to believe. Now when the LORD says to His disciples, Peace be unto you, we must not think, that this was a bare and simple wishing and desiring of peace unto them, without any further effect. No, we must not think so: This word was powerful, this wishing of peace behoved to be effectual in their souls, because it proceeded from Him, who is the fountain and author of all peace, and who Himself is our peace, as the Apostle says, Ephes. 2.14.17. And when the Lord, who is peace Himself, comes to preach peace: How can it be possible, except the hearts of men be harder than the flint, or adamant: but that preaching of peace, must be effectual in their souls. The Lord in this wishing of peace is not like man, the most that a man can do, is to wish peace, and to desire peace to others, No man, albeit He were never so holy, can do more, he cannot give his peace that he wishes, he cannot make his peace effectual: But Christ, when He wishes peace, He gives and communicates that same peace: He works that same peace in their hearts: and therefore, when He is departing out of the world, comforting His disciples, He says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you, joh. 14.27. He says not only, I leave peace with you, but I give you my peace, and that, not as men in the world, who can do no more but wish, I make my peace effectual, by giving you peace. The Lord make every one of us partakers of this peace, that we may ever have matter of rejoicing in JESUS. To whom with the Father and Holy Spirit, be all praise and honour, for evermore.  
AMEN.   

THE XLI. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  LUKE CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 37 But they were abashed and afraid, supposing that they had seen a spirit.  
verse 38 Then he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and wherefore do doubts arise in your hearts?  
verse 39 Behold mine hands and my feet: for it is I myself: handle me, and see: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.  
verse 40 And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and feet.  
verse 41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, etc.  JOHN, CHAP. XX. 
verse 20 And when he had thus said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the Disciples glad when they had seen the Lord.  
BELOVED in CHRIST JESUS, we have in hand as yet the History of the appearing of Christ after His glorious Resurrection: First He appears to MARIE MAGDALENE at the grave: Next, He appears to another company of women as they returned from the grave: thirdly, He appeared to two of His Disciples that same day of His Resurrection, as they went from Jerusalem to Emmaus fourthly, He appeared to Simon Peter alone: And now last, (and this is His appearing which we have in hand) He appears to a company of His Disciples, to the eleven, (Thomas being excepted) with others of the common sort, where they were gathered together in the night, in a secret place of jerusalem. The last day, as God gave the grace, we spoke of this convention of the disciples, & of His miraculous and sudden coming, and standing up in the mids of them, the door being shut. We heard, when He stood up amongst them, what He did, He salutes them after His old fashion, and says, Peace be unto you, in such sort, that they might have understood that it was the Lord, by the voice, and that salutation, wherewith they were acquainted: but ye see, what effect His presence, His voice, and His salutation works in them.  
In the beginning of this Text, which we have read, when they see Him, and hear Him, it is said, That they are abashed, & troubled in heart, and terrified with jesus. Why? Because they thought, they had seen a spirit, or an Angel in the shape of a man: this His presence should have confirmed and strengthened their Faith, which even they pretended to have of the Resurrection of Christ, but it falls out otherwise. This is an hasty change, and little before, they are speaking confidently one to another of Him, and of His Resurrection: These that were convened at jerusalem before, were speaking of Him, and assuring the two disciples, that He was risen indeed, than the two assuring them, that He was risen: now in an instant they are astonished, so abashed, and afraid, that when they see Him, they cannot believe, that it is He, their Faith almost evanisheth. A little before, in their mind there was light, there was knowledge, now in stead of that light, comes in blindness, and dimness in the eyes of the mind: a little before, there was Faith in the heart, and joy in the Resurrection of Christ, now there is such infidelity, that they will not believe their own senses: in stead of joy there is trouble, this is a sudden change from the better to the worse: ye see, how suddenly the soul of man will be changed: now he will believe, now Faith in an instant will be turned in infidelity, now he will rejoice, and even now his joy will be turned in dolour. This is our estate, so long as we live in the world: but Brethren, it would be marked, where gins this change? There are two parts in the soul of man: there is the mind, the eye of the soul, that gives light to the soul, and to all the parts of it, and to the whole man, than there is the heart, and the affections that should be guided by the mind, which is the eye of the soul: both are changed in the disciples in an instant: but where begins the change? Not at the heart, nor the affections first, No, but it gins at the mind, the mind deceives itself, and she believes when she sees Christ, she sees a Spirit: when she sees one thing, she supposes she sees another, she blinds herself: and when she hath blinded herself, then follows terror, and all the affections of the heart are troubled, by reason of the false imagination of the mind. Brethren, there is not one of us, but we have this mind, this heart, these affections, and these mutations: Why then should we not know them: I mark this, to let you see the vanity of the reason of man: the best thing in man is his reason, but she is full of vanity: she that should have guided all the inferior powers of the soul, she is first out of order.  
It is a miserable Commonwealth, where the head is out of order: for than it being out of order, all is misordered: commonly, it is this mind, that puts all the affections out of order, and by her vain imaginations, reasonings, and toys, she will give in such terrors in the soul, as is wonderful. If there be any power of the soul, that hath need to be reform and renewed in JESUS CHRIST: I say, the wit and mind of man hath most need to be renewed, and illuminate by the Spirit of JESUS CHRIST: And therefore the Apostle exhorts the Ephesians, To be renewed in the spirit of their mind, Ephes. Chapter 4 verse 23. Plato was a fool, and Aristotle, and all the Philosophers, who were accounted wonders in the world, for their wisdom in natural things, who said, the mind of man was perfect, and placed reason, as a Queen in the soul, to guide and hold all the affections in order.  
The Papists are a little better than the Philosophers: for they ascribe too much to the mind and reason of man: they set themselves to advance man, and to extenuate grace, and their wisdom is far from the wisdom of God.  
The Spirit of God says, in the Epistle to the Romans, Chapter 8. verse 7. That the wisdom of the flesh, is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither can it be.  
But to go forward: When they see CHRIST, They supposed, that He had been a spirit. I doubt not, but He appeared in some glorious form, they may not abide the sight of Him, without great terror and fear: they are blinded with the sight of Him, this eye of the body, subject to mortality (all is mortal, the eye, and all) is so infirm and weak, that it may not abide to see a thing immortal, glorious and heavenly: All that we see, is mortal, the Earth & the Heavens are mortal: an heavenly & spiritual thing, the eyes of the body cannot behold: I say more, let be the eyes of the body, and this outward sense, the eye of the soul that should be clearer in sight than the eye of the body, may not abide any immortal and heavenly object, so long as we are in this life, it may not behold an heavenly thing: I speak by naturaull disposition: a man that hath but nature, may not look to God, and heavenly things: but so soon as these glorious objects are laid before the eye of the mind, there goes a great dimness over it, and that exceeding brightness blindfoldes it so, that it is not able to behold it. The fault of this is not so much in the glorious object, as it is in thy soul (and if it were right) heavenly things should comfort thee. The fault is in the evil disposition of the eye of thy soul, it is but a bleered eye like the eye of the body, looking to the Sun grows blind, & is worse than of before: so is it with the eye of the soul: for the eye of our soul, is but bleered: there was never such a bleered eye in the body as in the soul: the fault than is in the canker and vile disposition of the soul of man.  
This is their change: at the sight of Christ, they are blinded in mind, and troubled in heart. What does the Lord? Let's He them be? let's He them lie in that blindness and terror? No, He departs not, but travels to change them over again in mind, heart, and affection: it is the word of jesus only, that is able to alter and change the heart of man, and that evil disposition and blindness which is there, when all the affections of the heart are out of order, it is the word of Christ only, that hath power to change them, all the Angels in Heaven, and all the men in the Earth will not be able to put thine heart in order, if it be troubled. Therefore he or she that hath blind terrors, let them resort to the hearing of the word of God: I say to thee, if thou disdainest this word, and if thou seekest to this man, or seekest to that man, or seekest to Angels, thou shalt never get rest nor relief in thy trouble. So it is the word of jesus Christ, that must give light and consolation.  
But what sort of word must this be? Must it be a soft, a gentle and calm word to the ear? No, when the mind hath blinded itself, and when the affections are out of order, she must be tamed, the affections are hammered and thrown down, because the pride of the soul reaches up to Heaven, to reason against God, 2. Epistle to the Corinthians, Chapter 10. verse 4, 5. Therefore she must be subdued by sharp threatening and sad speeches, to hammer her down. So the Lord says, Why are ye troubled? Why let ye vain fantasies arise in your hearts? No doubt, these words had power to repress and hammer down the misordered vanities in their hearts: then the disordered affections must be compelled to be in order, not by fair words, but by threatening, and saying, away to your order, they must be beaten and strucken down. Let no man deceive himself: thinking, that he should always hear soft and gentle words: No, that will never make a change in the soul.  
Come to the words: Wherefore do doubts arise in your hearts? In the words the Lord lets you see, how the mind blinds herself, when a spiritual object is set before it, the word Ascending, that is used, lets us see, that first of all, a small cogitation enters in, and then it grows to a mountain: When she sees an heavenly object, God, or the word, or Christ, in the which God, or Christ is seen: assoon as this heavenly object is laid before the eye of the mind, she gins to reason, she gets not the blenck so soon, but assoon she reasons, and the discourse arises up like a mountain, so that the light of the Spirit shall be taken out of her eye, and shall make such conclusions, that shall rise up and stand like mountains, and blind her, and if she hath any sight, pull it out of her, as ye see sometimes, when the Sun will be shining bright within a short time a cloud will arise from below, and will take away the light of the Sun: Even so, from the reason of man arise doubts like a foome (all thy reason is but stinking foome) and it will stand up like a foul black smoke, betwixt thee and God, Rom. 1.21.  
Read ye not, what the Apostle says: The Gentiles and Philosophers beginning at reason, put out the blencke that they had of God, and in their wisdom they became mad fools.  
This day, the Papists, and their Doctors, have blinded themselves with vain Philosophy, and with their thorny questions they have drowned Christ, and so obscured Him, that He could not be seen to the world, and they drown themselves in their own dung.  
Let all men than take this lesson: When the word of the LORD is offered to thee, Be not too curious: Beware of thy learning, beware of thy reasoning, lean not too much to it, that it stand not up between thee, and GOD, and blind thee: let not cogitations arise: When it comes to the Scripture, reason, Why not? but with soberness, with a soul desirous to learn, with prayer, with calling on that Spirit: No light in that word, but by that Spirit of light, who dited the Scriptures: If thou gettest that Spirit, than light shall be offered and given to thee, but if thou vanishest in thy mind, and followest thy wit, except thou castest away thy reasoning, read not one word: I forbidden thee to read one word of the Scriptures, lest thou aggreadge thy damnation.  
Now, I go forward: When thus way by checking, He hath beaten down the imaginations, reasonings, and cogitations that sublimely rose out of the mind, and when by an angry word, He hath beaten down the affections which were out of order, now in gentleness He begins to teach and instruct them, and He teaches them two things: First, that He is a body: Secondly, that He is not a Spirit, and that He is that same CHRIST, that same man, that same body, and none other, that before His Passion, haunted with them, teached them, and wrought miracles in their presence, He teaches them, by a familiar argument: First, by the sight: Behold, says He, mine hands, and my feet: He holds up His hands, not His hands only, but also the marks of the wounds of His hands, He lets them see His feet, and the print of the nails.  
Next, Handle Me, says He, if ye will not see, feel: What better argument would ye have? than to feel flesh, blood, and bones. Next, He proves, that He was no Spirit, but a man, with the body of a man, A spirit, or an Angel, hath not body flesh, and bones: but so it is, I have them, Ergo, I am no spirit. This is a sensible argument: and see, how He dimittes that glorious body to their eyes, and to their hands to be seen, to be touched, that He might make them to believe: albeit Faith be a spiritual work in the soul, yet it is wrought, and confirmed in the soul by the eye, & by sight, by the hand by touching. This place lets us see how damnable is the doctrine of the Papists who would have us to believe that in the Supper of JESUS CHRIST, there is a local and bodily presence of CHRIST'S body, and that the whole body is there, and that the blood is there drunken by thee, and the body is eaten by thee, after a bodily manner with the mouth of thy body, and not sacramentally and spiritually. How dare these deceivers of the world, these vile knaves affirm, that they eat the body of JESUS CHRIST, and puts it in their vile mouths. What reasonable man, can be persuaded of it. Will they teach me, as CHRIST teached His disciples, will they let me see visibly with mine eye, and feel sensibly with mine hand, a body, then shall I believe, otherwise, no Papist, will cause me believe, that I eat CHRIST really and bodily with my mouth, no more than the disciples would believe that CHRIST was a body, till they felt Him, and saw Him, I will be of the Faith of the disciples. Believe them who will, I shall never believe them, by the grace of GOD. Let me see a body, not the roundness and whiteness of the bread, and let me feel this, that CHRIST let His disciples feel: if thou wilt not let me feel that, I will never believe thee: hold thee content, and I am not bound to believe thee: yea more, if I believed thee, I were fair in the wrong, I should sin against the LORD, and against the truth of His body. Why? If I believe thee, neither seeing, nor feeling such a thing, than I should believe, the body of Christ to be unvisible, and untractable, and to believe that, is to believe the body of CHRIST to be no body. That body that is not seen, nor handled, is not a body, these properties being taken away from a body, there remains no body, yea, sight and feeling are such unseparable accidents of the body, that the very glorified body cannot be without them.  
The Papists cast unto us a frivolous distinction betwixt the glorified body of CHRIST, and His unglorified body: No, the very glorified body is as well visible and tractable, as an unglorified body. The godly in the latter day shall see whether it be visible, or not. Go thy way with thy bodily presence, thou debarrest thyself from that presence, that the godly shall see, one day to their consolation.  
Furthermore, Brethren, There is another thing to be marked: I see JESUS CHRIST, after His glorious Resurrection, to have kept the marks of the wounds, He shows His hands and His wounded hands. He shows them His feet, and His wounded feet, & He showed His side to Thomas, when he would not believe & made him to put his hands in His side. Ye would marvel, that Christ, rising up in glory, should have kept the marks of infirmity. When the Lord rose, it became Him to shake off all infirmity: and the marks of His wounds are a part of infirmity. See ye not how it hath pleased the Lord to humble Himself for our cause, to the end, that we should believe. Not only rose He, and appeared unto them, but also after He rose, He keeps the marks of His wounds, that no ways they should doubt, but fully believe, that it was He, and none other. It is a wonderful thing to see the humility of Christ for our cause: as all His life was but an humbling of Himself: so after His Resurrection, for thine exaltation, when He should have gone to glory, He abides forty days, to cause His Disciples believe. Art not thou, who art dust and ashes, bound to humble thyself for Him, seeing that He, who is so glorious, humbled Himself so low for thee? Now whether the Lord keep these marks or no, or whether we shall see Him come with them or no in that great day, I will not be curious: but this I know, the fresh memory of the wounds, and of the Cross, shall never vanish out of the hearts of the Elect: and in the Heaven thou shalt remember a thousand times better, than in the earth, when thou shalt see Him as He is: when thou shalt behold Him whom thou hast pierced thorough, thou shalt mourn, says the Prophet Zacharie. There is the remembering of the wounds. And as that Cross shall never go out of the eye of the Father, (for it is as present now before the eye of the Father, as it was that hour that He was crucified:) So when thou shalt come to Heaven, always thou shalt have a memory of the Cross: And in this respect He is called an everlasting Sacrifice, and an everlasting Priest. And, as the sight of that Cross pacifies the wrath of GOD: (were it out of the eye of the Father, the flame of His wrath would devour and consume thee, for the pacifying of the wrath stands in the sight of the Cross:) So the joy and peace of thy conscience in Heaven, shall stand in an everlasting remembrance of the Cross and His bloody wounds. There are two grounds of our Eternal joy and peace in Heaven: First, our joy and peace stands in the sight of that present glory of Christ in Heaven. Next after the sight of that glory, they stand on a remembrance of His bygone Cross: These shall be the two pillars of the everlasting joy and happiness which the Saints shall have in Heaven. So He shall stand in as good stead to thee in the Heaven, as He did in the earth. Learn to seek Him, to embrace Him, and to be homely with Him: for in Him stands thy joy everlastingly, and ever thou be happy, thou must be with Him. Now this for Christ's part. Hitherto hath He taught them, by the senses and things sensible: But look what this works in them: It is said, That for joy they could not believe, and they fell out in a wondering. There is the effect that it wrought: There is something here wrought: to wit, a joy, and a wondering. Yet the thing that they should have, is not as yet wrought, that is, Faith: for joy and wondering by appearance stays their faith. So hard a matter is it to cause a man to believe. It is an easy thing to thee, who knowest not what Faith is, to say, I believe: but when thou art put to the proof, thou wilt find how hard a thing it is, to cause thee to believe. There is as great contrariety betwixt our nature, and faith in Christ, as is betwixt water and fire: And if thou believest, there must be as great change in thy nature, as to change water into fire, and fire into water. Nature must be turned into grace. But how comes it to pass, that joy and wondering should stay Faith? Consider it: That which one would feign have coming to pass, ye know he cannot easily believe it, when one tells him, that it is come to pass: And that which least we would have coming to pass, we most easily believe that it hath come to pass. A man that fears evil, will credit an evil report readily: but he that earnestly wishes a good thing, will not so soon credit a good report: he will think it almost impossible. But yet when a man hears tell of a thing which he would feign have coming to pass, although he believe it not, yet the heart will leap for joy. This was the disposition of the Apostles: The thing that feignest they would have coming to pass, was a sight of JESUS. And if thou were acquainted with Christ as these men were, if He were taken out of thy sight, thou wouldst get no pleasure, till that thou sawest Him, as PAUL says, I desire to be dissolved, and to be with CHRIST: He had such a thirst to see Christ, that he would not care for death, nor for the grave, to see Him. Howbeit they cannot believe, yet they have joy, and their souls are ravished with admiration. Faith is not so much in a ravished and carried heart, as in a settled soul. A faithful heart is the most settled heart in the world. If there be vanity in the heart, faith is so solid that it will press out vanity. Faith is a solid thing in a settled heart. A faithful man, is a settled man: and a man without faith, is as an empty vessel, and as a bag of wind: his joy is light, and proceeds only from the swarfe of the soul. But after once faith be settled, there will be solid joy that comes in with pleasure, and searches the least corner of the heart: a joy unspeakable and glorious begun here, which will have none end, till we see Christ. So this their joy goes not far enough down in their hearts: for they are ravished with joy, but had not solid faith. When I mark this place, I see in it what shall be the estate of the godly when they shall meet with their LORD: The first sight shall ravish them so, that they shall wonder, that ever there could have been such a glory. Wilt thou but suspend thy judgement for a while, thou shalt see that which thou never sawest, and that which thou never heardest tell of, and that which never could enter into thine heart. When thou shalt see this, thou shalt fall into an admiration: Then after once thou knowest Him, then after the admiration shall follow a solid faith, a solid joy, and a settled apprehension of things spiritual, and that not for a time, but for evermore. Now it lasts not, scarcely is it present when it evanishes: But after the full sight, shall follow the solid joy that never shall have end. As by the contrary, This shall be the estate of the reprobate: The first sight and sense of that wrath that shall cease upon them so fiercely, as never before they could have suspected, shall astonish, confound, and dammishe them. Thou knewest never what measure of wrath is hidden up in the treasure of GOD. Thou who art a reprobate, till thou feelest it, there shall come such a terror upon thee, that it shall cause all the hairs of thine head stand over end: and it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, such an astonishment as Christ suffered in the Garden, a little before He was taken. Then shall follow on them that anguish, and fearful dreadfulness, pressing them, when they have been astonished at the sight and sense of wrath which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which was the LORDS second perturbation, which is a more settled feeling of wrath, and more constant apprehension of dolour, sorrow, and anguish for evermore in the Helles: And it shall be so weighty when they are shot into Hell, that it shall press the sap out of them. The LORD save us from it, and give us grace to be found in CHRIST, that we may be saved from that wrath which is to come, in Him: To whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all Praise, Honour, and Glory, for evermore: Amen.   

THE XLII. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  LUKE CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 41 He said, unto them, Have ye here any meat?  
verse 42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honey comb,  
verse 43 And he took it, and did eat before them.  
verse 44 And he said unto them, These are the words, which I spoke unto you while I was yet with you, that all must be fulfilled which are written of me in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms.  
verse 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures,  
verse 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead the third day.  
We continue as yet (beloved Brethren) in the History of the appearing of Christ after His glorious Resurrection: His fift appearing was to the eleven (who were so called after the defection of judas) and the others: The common rank of His Disciples convened together in the night, in a secret pl●ce of Jerusalem: and while they are sitting together, having their conferences one with another, & each one persuading & certifying another of the Resurrection of the Lord: in the mean time the door being shut, the LORD on a suddenty comes in ere they witted, and He stands in the mids of them, & standing in the mids of them, He wishes His peace to them, and He says, Peace be unto you: they seeing Him, and supposing He had been a Spirit, or an Angel in the likeness of a man, they were abashed, and astonished: The Lord aftherwards settles them with a little sharp rebuke: He begins to show unto them, that He was no spirit, but a very body: and that same very man called jesus, who before His Passion was conversant with them, that same man that suffered, and therefore He holds out His hands and His feet, which were both marked with the print of His wounds on the Cross: See (says He) feel (says He) look if I be not that same man which suffered, a Spirit hath not flesh and blood, as I have, Ergo, I am no Spirit. When He had in this manner, led them by the very sense to know Him, by the eye to behold Him, by the ear to hear His familiar voice, & salutation, by the hand to handle Him. What effect followed, Yet says the Scripture, they believed not, and they could not believe, for exceeding joy wherewith they were ravished, for admiration, and wondering they could not believe for a piece of time: Faith dwells in a settled heart: and if there be any vanity, and any emptiness in the heart, Faith will press out the vanity, and will fill up that emptiness in the heart, and the faithful man is the most solid and settled thing in the world: and he who is the unfaithful man, is a vain hearted man, his heart is blown up with vanity, albeit he had all the natural wit in the world. Now the joy that Faith brings with it, is not an admiration and ravishing of the heart, but it is a solid joy, a solid apprehension of spiritual things in the heart: so the hearts of the disciples at the first sight became ravished in admiration, the vail of their hearts were not touched with joy, they had not that settled joy, that they had afterward.  
Now to come to the Text that we have read: In it, first, the Lord yet continues in assuring them that it was He: He striveth on with their infidelity: then when He hath showed them visibly the action of a body, in eating in their sight, than He comes to a sweet Sermon, wherein He instructes them in two points: first, that all things that befell to Him, as His Passion, and Resurrection behoved to have befallen to Him: secondly again, that as those things befell to Him of necessity: so of necessity those things behoved to be preached to the world. So He instructes them in these two necessities. Then He comes on in the second part of His preaching, and gives direction to them, to be preachers, and witnesses to the world of all these things, promising again to them that Spirit, which He had promised them before His Passion, and that they should have the greater security. He gives them commandment, not to departed out of jerusalem, until they were endued with virtue out of Heaven: this is the effect.  
To come to the first part: When they heard Him speak with a voice familiar, wherewith they had been acquainted, and that homely salutation, Peace be unto you: yet they would not know Him, when they had seen His hands and feet, yet they believed not that it was He, when they had handled Him, and felt Him, yet they believed Him not for all this, they were ravished with joy, yet they believed not. The Lord will not leave them in this unbelief, but He will let them understand that it was He, He teaches them by the sight of a bodily action. He asks if they had a●y me●t: They present to Him A piece of roasted fish, and that was all the delicate they gave Him, and with it A piece of honey comb, He takes and eats in their sight, He eats the piece of the roasted fish, and the honey comb: Not that the Lord after His Resurrection, had any need to eat any of their meat, He who now was immortal after His Resurrection, that was glorious, and that was full of God, and had all the powers of His soul filled with God: What needed He their piece of fish, or their honey comb to eat: So it was not for any need He had, that He eated, but that He eated in their sight, that they should believe that the Lord was a body: a Spirit eats not, neither drinks. The Lord therefore shows them that He was no Spirit. In doing this, Brethren, no question, He humbled Himself, being now immortal and glorious, and full of God: Was not this a humbling of Him, an immortal body to take that mortal bread? It is a wonderful thing, to see, how jesus Christ humbled Himself, ay whilst He was yet still in this world: Being says Paul Philip in the form of God, & thought it no robbery to be equal with God. He made Himself of no reputation, taking on Him the shape of a servant, That is, the nature of man & in the nature of man became obedient to the Father for us to the death, & to a vile death even to the death of the Cross, a foul de●th, and a sore death. Then, when after He was once ●●ade and risen again, ●nd should have entered to His glory, and have passed to Heaven immediately after His Resurrection, to sit at the right hand of that Majesty: He would not immediately do so, but did defer and delay it the space of forty days, and all this time humbling Himself, it was a small thing, that when He was mortal to humble Himself: but when He was immortal, that He should have continued so long humbling Himself for the cause of man, it is a wonder, & amongst all the parts of His humiliation, this is one part, that He ate this mortal food. And thou, when thou shalt be glorified, thou shalt not be so far humbled, as to eat any food of this world: thou shalt not be so far humbled, as JESUS CHRIST was humbled. Was this, Brethren, for the Apostles cause only, Was it for Peter's cause, john, james and the rests cause? No, Paul says, All is yours, speaking to the Church, whether it be Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, or things present, or things to come, or life, or death, all is yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is Gods, 1. Epist. to the Corinthians, the 3. Chapter, and the 21. and 22. verses. So all the Apostles themselves, were for the Church's cause, I speak to you, Paul, john, james, etc. were for your cause, and all this homeliness of Christ, with them was for your cause, as they were for your cause: so seeing the LORD hath so far and so many ways humbled Himself, consider, if we have not great cause, to meet Him, or not: If any will bow so low, as to take thee by the hand, wilt thou not put out thine hand again, and meet Him: and think ye, that this humbling of the LORD of glory hath taken an end, it ends not so long, as this ministery continues: Know ye, what this ministery, and this preaching is? It is but an humbling of GOD from Heaven, and that for thy cause: look what Paul says, in the 2. Epistle to the Corinthians, the 5. Chapter, and the 20. verse: We are Ambassadors for Christ, as though GOD did beseech you through us, we pray you in Christ's stead, that ye be reconciled to God. There ye see, that by this ministery, GOD humbles Himself, to pray thee to be reconciled with Him, is not this an humbling of God? even that He should pray thee to be reconciled with Him, He becomes a suitor, and solister for thy cause: says the Apostle, We pray you, that y● should be reconciled to Him: & what is it to God to humble Himself, if not this when He beseeches and requests us by His Messengers and Ambassadors, that we be reconciled to Him.  
This exceeding humbling of the LORD, as it lets us see His love unspeakable towards us, so it requires a meeting on our parts, as we would eschew fearful judgements. If the first humbling of GOD, when He humbled Himself in our nature, will not move thee to make Him a meeting, it shall bring on a judgement: If the second, wherein He humbled Himself after His Resurrection so many ways will not move thee, it shall double thy judgement: if the third humbling of Him, now in the ministery will not move thee: if thou contemnest the word, and the ministery, it shall triple the judgement, albeit thou werest the King of the world: O that judgement and wrath! that shall be heaped upon thee, thou shalt be thrust down, and plunged in Hell, to be tormented for evermore.  
Can GOD humble Himself for nothing? No, either shall it be for passing mercy, or else for a passing judgement to thee, for ever more.  
Then, Brethren, ye shall mark in this place, and I shall only touch it by the way: The Lord after His glorious Resurrection eated the meat they gave Him: Hereof it follows: That after His glorious Resurrection, He kept these natural powers, as eating and drinking: if He kept them not, how could He eat at this time, if there was not a power attractive in His stomach? how could the meat go over to His stomach. This I speak, to let you see, when we shall rise & be glorified, and see our Lord▪ & when this humbled body shall be translated to the likeness of His glorious body: as we shall keep the same soul and body: so we shall keep all the natural powers and faculties of them.  
Nothing shall be lost in the Resurrection: We shall keep all, but after another manner: all these powers now are infirm and weak: all are vile, without glory, than all shall be glorified, faculty of eating and drinking shall be glorified and made spiritual. Wilt thou then desire meat, wilt thou hunger, as thou dost now: will thy stomach desire meat, as it does now: No, all thy natural powers shall be filled with GOD. 1. Cor. Chapter 15. verse 28. God shall be all in all: He shall be meat and drink, and all things to thee. In the 21. Chapter of the Revelation, and the 22. verse. He shall be the Temple: Thou shalt not need to go to the Church, Thy God shall be a Temple: Thou shalt not need Sun, nor Moon, or a lantern, or a candle, Thy God shall be all in all to thee: So long as we are here, we hunger, we thirst, we have this meat, and that meat, and we must have the Sun, by day, and the Moon by night, and a candle, all this necessity imports an imperfection: Eatest thou, drinkest thou, all is an argument of imperfection, and albeit God fills thee in a part (GOD begins to fill thee in this world, and thou wilt feel His sweetness) yet He gives us here in this life, but a little taste: GOD is not all in all to us, and therefore, so long as we are here, we must eat and drink: but after that once GOD shall fully possess us, and replenish our souls, when we shall see our Lord again, we shall never hunger nor thirst, there shall never be want again, there shall be fullness, not of perishing joy, but a fullness of such glory, as no tongue can express, and all the powers of thy soul shall be replenished with an unspeakable pleasure: the world knows not what this means: and when it is spoken to them, they think it vanity. To enter here curiously about this meat, and to dispute: What became of this meat? whether it was digested, and turned to nutriture, and whether it was avoided again, I think it needless: But to speak it in a word: It was an easy matter to the LORD JESUS CHRIST, who made all of nothing, who made thee of nothing, who made thy meat and drink of nothing, who made that piece of fish of nothing, and who made that honey comb of nothing, to turn it into nothing again, without a concoction or digesting in the stomach.  
Now, to go forward to the second part of the Text, and to come to His sweet Sermon: No question, He delivered it at great length: but Luke hath summed it shortly: Hear JESUS CHRIST preaches after His glorious Resurrection: ye heard many of His preachings before His suffering, in john, hear this now after His Resurrection: The first thing He does, He informs His Disciples of a necessity: It behoved Christ to die, & it behoved Him to rise again after His burial the third day, there is a necessity: He proves this: What ever thing, says He, was written of me, in Moses' first, in the Prophet's next, and in the Psalms last: all behoved to be accomplished, every jote of it, of necessity would the LORD say, must be accomplished, Heaven and Earth must pass away, ere one jote of that which is spoken of Me, pass away, but all must be fulfilled.  
To touch this, He takes up all the whole Old Testament into three parts: First, the books of Moses: Secondly, the Prophets: Thirdly, the Psalms of David.  
Commonly, we will hear the Old Testament divided in two parts: First, the books of Moses: Next, the Prophets, now He makes the Psalms the third. In the Psalms we have continual prophecies of CHRIST, yet I think this is the principal cause of it, because the Psalms are songs, which David sung unto GOD, and thereafter put in write, and this is the chief purpose of the Psalms. It is true, that in the Psalms there are Prophecies contained concerning CHRIST: and therefore the Psalms were before reckoned with the Prophecies, and David counted amongst the Prophets, Luke Chapter 24. verse 15. Yet the chief purpose of the Psalms, is to sing unto the LORD, and then he prophecies, he stands as a vive and express type of CHRIST, wherein he differs from other Prophets, who in their prophesying were no types of CHRIST. But to return: What ever thing, says CHRIST, is written of Me, it behoved that to be accomplished: But so it is, all these things have been written and foretold of Me, my suffering and my Resurrection, Moses, the Prophets, and David have foretold them: Ergo, of necessity I behoved to suffer, and to rise again the third day. Ye see then, what He is doing, He is binding the Faith of His Disciples, to believe of Him that He was risen, urging them with such a necessity, that they could not escape.  
It is not so easy a thing, (as the world thinks it) to believe: Ask at a wanton companion, if He believes: He will answer: Why believe I not, when in the mean time His own mouth, nor His heart, hath no more smell of Faith, than the thing He touched never: and yet the blasphemous knave will say, He hath Faith: but to get Faith, of all things thou shalt find, that it is the most hard and difficile thing, and ere ever thou believest, thou shalt be straitted: The soul shall be so forced and constrained to believe, that thou canst not say otherwise.  
Well, Brethren, we have done with it, and we have made shipwreck of salvation, if we believe not this Gospel, and this History of the death and Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST.  
Believest thou not that JESUS CHRIST hath died, and hath risen again for thee, thou shalt never see jesus to to thy comfort: But ere ever thou or I believe that this is true that is written of CHRIST'S suffering, and His glorification, ere ever thou believest the History of the New Testament of the Passion and rising again of Christ done and ended: thou must be persuaded: there is a necessity that all these things that are spoken in the Old Testament behoved to be done: if then thou wouldst know the necessity of these things, cast thine eyes to the Old Testament, and cast it over, Begin at Moses, and then come to the Prophets, and lastly, to the Psalms of David. Read the Old Testament, and that writ shall show thee such a necessity of these things that more possible had it been, that the world should have vanished away, than that these things should not have come to pass: and then when ye take the New Testament, and sees these things which are foretold to be accomplished, ye will not believe with how great joy, the heart will rest upon jesus, and it will say, I will believe this, that Christ hath suffered, and is risen for me: then thy pleasure will be, to turn over the Old and New Testament, that thy Faith may be the more confirmed.  
To go forward with the proposition of the argument, when He says, It behoved all these things to come to pass: He propones it not simply, but whilst He tells it, He secretly rebukes them, Herd ye not of this before? Are not these the words, which I spoke to you while I was yet with you? Why have ye now forgot them, seeing not long since I told you them? I find in the disciples of Christ, a very great ignorance at the first: Think ye that any of them knew one word of this, notwithstanding they were foretold in Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms: No, not a word: then with this ignorance, I see a great forgetfulness, albeit they knew not, should they not have remembered, what their Lord said to them before His Passion? and yet when they see Him suffer, and see His Resurrection, this cannot waken their memory, to say, My Lord told me this: & therefore I will believe: in them thou mayest see thy nature, how ignorant, and forgetful thou art by nature: let thee lie still, albeit thou werest Peter or Paul, or the best of them, let thee sleeepe on, thou shalt die sleeping: if these disciples had not been wakened, they had died, & this is the great and special mercy of God, that He shows to His own: He will let them fall in a slumber, & lie a while in ignorance but incontinently He will come, & give them a put, with sharpness & mercy, & waken them. Thou who refusest sharpness, O that sharp wakening that shall abide thee! Therefore, assoon as the Minister of God cries unto thee, O Caitiff! sleepest thou? death and damnation abides thee, if thou wakenest not: but if thou wilt waken in time, thou shalt find mercy: pray unto the Lord, that thou mayest be wakened, for if thou wakenest not in time, heavy shall the judgement be, that shall overtake thee: woeful shall thy wakening be, and the dolour that shall come on thee, as the pain of a woman in travel: Our men for all our crying, will not be wakened, but if they continue sleeping, they shall go to Hell.  
Now to come to the assumption: These things are written of me, that I should die, and rise again: and no doubt, when He tells this to them, He falls out in a discourse of the Scriptures, alleging testimonies out of Moses, the Prophets, & the Psalms, as the words following, declare. But to proceed: Is the Lord content to allege the Scriptures simply? Does He no more? Mark it well: as He alleges and opened the Scriptures unto them: So He opens their mind and understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures. Would ye have an effectual preaching, there is an effectual preaching: when these two go together: when the Scriptures are opened, and the Lord puts in His hand, and opens the heart, and the dead soul that is sleeping, to understand that piece of Scripture, which is opened. Would ye have the difference between the preaching of Christ, and the preaching of His servants: all their preaching is nothing, in respect of His, Moses, the Prophets, and all the Apostles, are nothing to Him: when He preached, that same LORD that spoke, had power in His own hand, and made His own Spirit, to open the heart: never a preacher had that, that the Lord jesus had, He had His own Spirit to give unto His own, when He spoke His own word: the preachers have not that Spirit to give, but refers it unto the Lord, 1. Cor. 13.5.6.7. Paul says to the Corinthians, who esteemed much of Paul: O vain men, Paul is nothing, he only plants, Apollo's is nothing, he wateres, but it is God that gives the increase: if he blessed not the labour of Paul, or of any other preacher, all were lost labour: if the Lord give not His Spirit with the word, man teaches in vain. In the 16. of the Acts, verse 14. When Paul is preaching, we read not, that any are converted for all his preaching, but only one woman, Lydia, happy Lydia: When Paul preached, it is not said, that Paul opened her heart, but that the Lord opened her heart: Paul delivered the doctrine, but the Lord▪ and not Paul had the Spirit, to give with the preaching: therefore when ye hear, and come to hear, ever cry, Lord, open mine heart, No creature, no Minister, none Angel: yea, all the Angels of Heaven, will not open the heart of a sinner. Cry for that Spirit, that He would open thine heart, that thou mayest feed upon that food of life.  
Now consider at what time it is, that the minds of the disciples are opened to understand: It was even when He is exponing the Scriptures, than their minds are opened, and at none other time, to let you see, in despite of the world, that there is none opening of the heart, none illumination of the Spirit, but by this word, by the hearing, and by the reading of this word. Away with these fantastic revelations of the anabaptists, away with the Pope, and the crew of His shavelings, who affirm, that the Spirit will be effectual at the preaching of his unwritten verities, at the dreams and fantasies of men, which is not only not found in the Scripture, but also is altogether contrary and repugnant to the Scripture. I pronounce, let them hear, albeit it were a thousand year, the Spirit of jesus shall abhor that trash and peltrie. Set me up the Pope, to preach these vanities to thee: I denounce, thy mind shall not be opened, that Spirit shall never come to open the minds, neither of them, who preach, nor yet their minds who hear them. Go unto Rome, sit and hear, and lend thine ear to a flattering society of their Clergy, hear them on, thy soul shall the more be blinded, the more thou hearest: the Spirit of Christ, will only accompany His own word. Look what is our nature in the Disciples of CHRIST, knowest thou it not? their minds were blinded, & sound sleeping, while the Lord opened them. They knew not what Moses said, or what the Prophets spoke of Christ, while the Lord opened their understanding. Nothing in nature, but evil, nothing but blindness in the mind. Away with the Papist, and his free-will, fie on thee, that thinkest thyself better than thou art: fie on thee, that knowest not thy natural blindness, and deadness, thou wilt come and speak of thy freewill, and of the light of thy mind: thou wilt say, that thou hast a freewill to incline to heavenly things: be not deceived with the conceit of this engine, & natural quickness. Indeed in human things, a man will have a great quickness and sharpness, but bring him to the Scriptures of God to Moses, to the Prophets, & Apostles, he is as blind as a Moldewarpe, & as fond as a fool: the greater natural wit and quickness that thou hast, (a sore thing) the greater excecation and foolishness in spiritual things: speak to the natural man of the Scripture, of all the fools in this world, he is the greatest: the more natural wit thou hast, if it be not sanctified, the more foolish shall the Cross of Christ, and His Resurrection to glory▪ seem to thee: for the wisdom of the flesh, is enmity against God. I tell thee, thou must not bring thy natural wit to the Scriptures, Paul tells thee, If thou wouldst be wise in God, thou must be a fool, that thou mayest be wise. Art thou wise in the world, when thou comest to the Church, leave thy wisdom behind thee: art thou a Lawyer, keep it to the Session-house? art thou a Mediciner? Hast thou any great wisdom? leave all behind thee, and come like a silly child that hath no wit, or else, the more thou hearest, the greater shall be thy blindness and induration.  
Now come to the conclusion of the Argument, He concludes, That it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead the third day. There is a necessity of Christ's death and Resurrection, and so a necessity, that they should believe them: for to the end that we may believe in the Gospel: there must be a necessity laid upon us, to wit, that we be assured, that otherwise it could not be, but it behoved Christ to suffer, and rise again, as the evangel records. Now this necessity we show you before: We may know by the old Testament, Moses, the Prophets, & the Psalms: for this we must lay as an infallible ground, that whatsoever was foretold by them, of necessity it behoved to come to pass: and so we see, that the Old Testament, serves greatly to strengthen our Faith, for when we see the things that were foretold to be all fulfilled in Him, all matter of occasion of doubting is taken away. The Lord work this Faith in our hearts, for Christ's sake: To whom with the Father, and Holy Spirit, be all praise, honour, and glory, for evermore.  
AMEN.   

THE XLIII. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  LUKE, CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 47 And that Repentance and Remission of sins should be preached in His Name, among all Nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  
IN opening up of the fift appearance of the Lord after His Resurrection to His Disciples convened in Jerusalem in the night time (well beloved in CHRIST) we have heard how the LORD hath traveled by sundry means to make them to know Him, while as He appeared to them, and stood up in the mids of them suddenly, He spoke to them familiarly, and after His own accustomed manner, yet they believe not, nor understands Him not by His speaking, but thought that He had been a Spirit, or an Angel in the likeness of a man: Then He comes nearer them, and showing out His hands and His feet, and marks of the nails wherewith He was wounded on the Cross: He says to them: See, feel, and touch mine hands and my feet with your hands, see, I am even He, I am not a Spirit, as ye suppose: I am a very body, a Spirit hath no flesh, nor bones, therefore I am no Spirit: yet they believe not for joy, says the Text, but they stood wondering. Then He comes nearer them, and demands, whether if they had any meat amongst them, and they gave Him a piece of roasted fish, and of an honey comb, He eats in their presence, testifying to them by His action of eating, He was no Spirit, a Spirit cannot eat nor drink, yet He leaves them not, but He preaches to them a sweet Sermon, whereof the last day, ye heard, there was two parts. In the first, He propones to them a necessity of all these things that befell unto Him, all behoved to come to pass, He behoved to be crucified, He behoved to rise again the third day. And why? Because it was written: First, in Moses: Secondly, in the Prophets: and lastly, in the Psalms: What ever was written, all behoved to be accomplished, not so much as one syllable of it might perish, because whatsoever was written by Moses, the Prophets, and David, all was ordained and decreed, all was bound in a fast decree from all eternity. This was the first necessity.  
Now, this day, Brethren, as God will give the grace, we shall come to the other necessity, which is of the preaching, and then we shall come to the second part of His Sermon, concerning a direction unto His Disciples, to go out to the world, and testify of these things, that they heard and saw of Him. Then to come to the purpose: as it behoved that all these things that were foretold of Christ should come to pass, so there was als great a necessity, that all should be preached: That repentance and remission of sins, should be preached in His name among all Nations. Now to speak somewhat of this necessity of preaching. Men think commonly all this preaching to be for a piece of policy, and for the fashioun: a man to stand up & preach to the rest, they think it a piece of folly, veening to the Church to be but for the fashion. But I shall tell thee, except there be preaching, no salvation, no life, shall pertain unto thee, except there be preaching, Christ's coming into the world, is in vain for thee, all His suffering is for nothing, His Resurrection shall be of no value to thee, they will do thee no good.  
For to speak of the ordinance of God, and of that eternal decree: for as the Lord ordained from all eternity, Christ to come in the world, to suffer, & to rise again: so He ordained preaching to be in His Name. But to leave that, thinkest thou to come to Heaven without faith? No, thou shalt never see it, without faith, thou shalt never see the face of Christ, thinkest y● to get Faith without hearing? If thou contemnest hearing, thou shalt never get Faith in Christ, But how canst thou hear if there be no preaching: thou must hear a voice: So without the sounding of the Gospel, no life. Christ, & His suffering, & His rising is but dead to thee without preaching. That life that flowed from the Resurrection of Christ, is conveyed in the soul by hearing, and without hearing thou shalt lie dead, and die everlastingly. Therefore, Christ, when He came into the world, He was no dumb sufferer, He preached on night and day, Paul says, Ephes. 2.17. When He came, He was the peacemaker, and He preached peace. And to the Romans, Chapter 15. verse 8. He is called a Minister of Circumcision: and CHRIST knowing this necessity of preaching, when He goes His way to Heaven, leaves He the world without preaching? No, Paul to the Ephesians, Chapter 4. verse 11. says, He gave some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to be Evangelists, some to be Pastors, some to be Doctors: and all to the end, that they might preach the Gospel of peace to His coming: And Paul says of himself: Woe to me, if I preach not the Gospel, 1. Cor. Chapter 9 verse 16. He left His Spirit behind Him, as ye see, He promises in john Chapter 14. verse 26. But mark, He left His Spirit to be ministered by preaching: thou who contemnest this preaching, I denounce to thee, thou shalt never taste of that Spirit: thou who wilt stand up, and say, I have the Spirit, and then contemnest the ministery, I say, thou liest, albeit thou werest the Emperor of the world.  
Now to go forward: there is a great necessity of preaching: But take heed to this preaching: He describes this preaching by sundry circumstances: First, it must be in some name and in some authority: a man that stands up and preaches to the people: he must preach to the people in some name: an Herald will stand up at the market cross, and make his proclamation, it must be in some name: for if he stand up and proclaim in his own name, he is but a knave, & deserves to be hanged: So, whosoever stands up to preach, look that he preach never a word in his own name. CHRIST says, there must be preaching in my Name: Look that all preaching be in the Name of jesus Christ.  
Now, what is the name of CHRIST? The Name of CHRIST is His power (O that passing power!) His authority: What power? Even that power that He speaks of in the last Chapter of Matthew: All power in Heaven and Earth is Mine.  
Then in the second Chapter to the Philippians, and the ninth verse: Wherefore GOD also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name, above every name: He is exalted in a wonderful sublimeness. O that high sublimeness! that the Lord hath received: He hath gotten a Name above all names, and a power above all powers, and none shall have such a power: then he sets out this power: All knees must bow at the Name of JESUS: all powers must bow to that power, and all knees must be folded before it: bow thy knee before that power, or else, thou shalt be thrust in Hell: all knees shallbe bowed before that Tribunal: that Name will cause all the Devils in Hell, bow, and stoop.  
It is written in the 4. Chapter of the Acts: There is none other Name under Heaven able to save men, but the Name of jesus Christ: thou shalt never see life, but by this power and this Name: Mark it: No life, I will tell again: No salvation to man or woman in the world, but by the Name of jesus, and His power: and therefore how great shall the power of this His Name, as ye may well see by the word, which sets it out, even the Gospel. The evangel that speaks of the Name of jesus, Paul calls it to the Romans, Chapter 1. verse 16. The power of God, unto salvation. Speak of Caesar, and this Kingdom, or that Kingdom: will it be powerful unto life? Will all the speaking of all the creatures in the world be powerful unto life? Speak of the Cross of CHRIST, what seems to be more base, yet it is the power of God, and the wisdom of God unto salvation. So the power must be wonderful, when a word will have such a power, that it will save a soul. The LORD, when He was in the world, He preached in His own Name, and the jews marked, that He preached with authority, and He says: Amen, Amen, I say unto you, That is in mine own Name: As for all other teachers, all their preaching must be in the Name and authority of jesus, and not in a creatures name.  
When a man hath this LORD in His eye, without regard of himself, when he goes to set out that Name, ye will not believe, how the LORD will be with him, and how He will make his authority to be seen.  
But by the contrary, if a man have no sincerity, and have not the authority, and Name of JESUS before him, but seek himself in his preaching, he will have no spirit, no grace, none authority, his language will be unsavoury, his preaching will be of little value. Paul, because He preached Christ, and Him crucified, therefore, says He, that his preaching was with evidency and demonstration of the Spirit: on the other part, because the Corinthian Doctors had themselves, & not Christ before their eyes: therefore he says, that they preached with ostentation, and human eloquence, all their preaching was but wind. The Philosophers of old, spoke much of matters of virtue, but because they never spoke one word in the Name of Christ: therefore all their speaking was but babbling, neither were they changed themselves, nor yet changed they others, they might teach men to be Hypocrites, and to cover their vices: but they could not be instruments of Regeneration, because they spoke not in that powerful Name of jesus Christ. I put the Papists in this same rank, that will speak in the Pope's name: I say, all their doctrine, and their speaking of salvation, is more in the name of man, nor in the Name of jesus Christ: and therefore it may well work error, and hypocrisy in thee, but no salvation: thou mayest well think that thou hast something, but in effect thou hast nothing.  
Then we see of necessity there must be preaching: but whereof must this preaching be: The LORD says, it behoved that preaching be in my Name, Of repentance and remission of sins: There is the sum of the Gospel. Would ye know the effect of all preaching? The whole Gospel is summed up in those two Heads, Repentance, and Remission of sins. It is not my purpose, to insist largely in these points, but I shall speak of them shortly. Repentance is none other thing, but a preparation to the soul. Whereto? To receive grace, to receive remission of sins, salvation, and life everlasting. It is but a making strait the ways of the Lord, who is coming with grace and mercy to the soul. This Repentance is wrought partly by the Law, and partly by the Gospel. The Law says: Cursed be he that continueth not in all which is written in the book of the Law, to do them: and because the conscience of all flesh, accuses them as guilty of the transgression of the Law: therefore there arises in the soul, horrors and terrors unspeakable: Then the Gospel comes in to comfort the casten down soul, and it says, Whosoever believes in jesus, he shall be saved, for this is the sum of the Gospel. When the soul hears this, it conceives an unspeakable sorrow and sadness for the offending of so merciful and loving a Father: and this the Apostle calls a godly sorrow, 2. Cor. Chapter 7. verses 9 and 10. Now it is this godly sorrow properly, which works repentance, and turns the heart to God, that before was far away from Him. The other sorrow that is by the Law, properly is not the cause of repentance, but it prepares the heart thereunto. Therefore, seeing this godly sorrow turns the heart to God, of necessity it must be accompanied with faith: for without Faith there is no conversion to God.  
The preaching of john Baptist, tells us, how necessary the doctrine of the Gospel is to work repentance: for He says, Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand, Matth. Chapter 3. verse 2. The reason, why they should repent, is here taken from the approaching and presence of the Kingdom of God, that is, of the Gospel of jesus Christ.  
Now as for remission of sins, it is an applying of the wholesome medicine of repentance, and by order of nature, it follows after Repentance, when the heart is prepared with repentance, then comes in Remission of sins, then comes in that joyful sentence which the Lord makes His Spirit to proclaim to thy soul: O sinner, thy sins are forgiven thee, in the blood of jesus Christ: for Remission of sins is nothing, but the sentence of the great judge, saying, O sinner, thy sins are forgiven thee.  
Now, this Remission of sins is wrought by that same doctrine that works Repentance, the Gospel that works Repentance, minister likewise assurance of the Remission of sins: both are wrought by one mean, for Repentance and Remission of sins, are both wrought together, the one goes not in time before the other, but in that same moment that we begin to repent, we get assurances in our consciences, that our sins are forgiven us, and we hear as it were out of the mouth of God, that joyful sentence of absolution. It is true, that a Minister may pronounce Remission of sins to another, a certain space after he hath repent, Christ says, whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, joh. 20.22. But the Lord, Himself absolves a man in the same very time he repentes: yet by order of nature, repentance is first, and prepares the heart to Remission of sins: Remission of sins follows, & applies grace to the soul prepared with Repentance: Repentance & the preparation unto grace begins with a sadness: thou who never hadst a dolour in thine heart, thou never repentedst. Turning unto God, is with a very heaviness in the soul, and a sadness for sin, not so much for wrath and Hell, as that thou shouldest be so wicked, that thou shouldest have offended so merciful a Father: But the remission of sins, & the applying of grace is with an unspeakable joy: there the sadness of repentance is recompensed: thou who wast not sad first, look not to get that joy: thou who art not heavy, thou shalt never be lighted: no joy for thee: if thou goest on in sin, wanton and merrily: thou hast gotten the joy that thou shalt get, thou shalt never get joy but the joy of sin. A true Christian is joyful, and sad through Repentance, and joyful through remission of sins, thou shalt weep ere thou laughest, thou shalt lament, ere thou rejoicest: No joy to a faithful soul, but after sadness, and all the joy of a sinner is pressed out of sadness, as the wine out of the berry. So the heart of a sinner, must be first pressed, contrite and broken, and then joy must be pressed out thereof like juice, and then the greater contrition, and the greater sadness, the greater joy shall follow. So long as thou remainest in this world, all thy joy must be pressed out of sorrow: No, thou must not sorrow for one day, or a year, but as thou art a continual sinner, so there must be a continual sorrow. I give thee a faithful counsel: Be ever sad: away with vain hearted persons, that have no sadness: ever have this dolour, and that is the right way to this joy. I doubt not, but ye that have felt these things, know, them: First, there must be unspeakable sighs, Rom. 8.26. and then unspeakable and glorious joy, 1. Pet. 1.8. And when we come to Heaven, and have laid off this burden of sin, joy shall remain everlastingly with us, sadness shall go away, than our joy shall rise no more out of sadness, but thy joy shall be sincere, no sigh, no tear then, all tears shall be wiped away: Then as thou wouldst rejoice, and find joy, mourn here a while, that all mourning may be taken away: laughest thou now, hast thou never a tear, than thou shalt mourn for ever, no laughing for thee, thou shalt be thrust into Hell, where there is nothing but shouting and crying. So, as thou wouldst rejoice sincerely, without any sadness one day, now get joy out of tears. Mark these things: not one syllable of this shall fall to the ground. Well then, we have the necessity of preaching, and in whose name we should preach, and what we should preach: First, Repentance, and then remission of sins: begin with preaching sadly, but end joyfully, with that joyful remission of sins. Now, the third: to whom must this preaching be? must it be to the Jews only: No, it must be more largely extended: To all nations: and what should be preached to all Nations: First, Repentance: Next, remission of sins: if Repentance should be preached to all Nations, than all Nations are sinful: Repentance teached to all, imports, that sin hath power over all the world: that infection hath poisoned all that are come into the world, as Paul says, All have sinned, jew and Gentile, & all are closed up under sin, none excepted, Rom. 3.23. and 11.32. What more? The preaching of Repentance to all Nations, imports, the great abundance of sin, and the largeness of the dominion of sin. Again the preaching of the Remission of sins to all Nations, imports, that the grace of Christ is extended to all: As sin spread itself over all where, so grace is spread over all where. The righteousness of God by the Faith of jesus Christ, is unto all, and upon all that believe, Rom. 3.22. Again, the preaching of Remission of sins to all Nations, imports, that the superabundance of grace before Christ came, grace was closed within the bounds of jury: but after that once CHRIST came and suffered, and rose again, and went unto Heaven, than Heaven was opened, and grace was powered down in such abundance, that jury could not contain it, but it spread through the whole world. As it spread, so the preaching behoved to be spread, grace goes with the preaching: contemnest thou the preaching, thou shalt not get one drop of it, grace is dispersed by the dispersing of the preaching: take away preaching, no spark of grace: Woe be to them, who restrain the preaching of such abundant grace in this Land, within so narrow bounds, and all for greediness. Hell shall swallow up these sacrilegious persons, who withhold the goods from the preachers of grace, if they repent not, say, this narrowness of the hearts of men, who hinder preachings, is not so much, a sin done against the poor people that perish in ignorance, as against the grace of God: they will laugh at this now, but one day they shall howl: O that flood of wrath, that shall be heaped on them: this injury is done to grace, it is a restraint of grace, and an impairing to the glory of GOD, that is through grace: woe to thee, woe to thee again, that holds down the grace of God, and pinches it through thy default, thou shalt once curse the time that ever thou didst it: if thou restrainest that grace, that should bring poor souls to Heaven and salvation.  
But to go forward: We have heard the necessity of preaching, in whose name we should preach, what we should preach, and last, to whom it should be preached, to all Nations, even, to the Gentiles. O! if we Gentiles should not rejoice, that mercy and grace is preached unto us, who were aliens from the grace of GOD. Now albeit this grace be extended to all, yet there is a difference in order of preaching: for the Lord says, Beginning at Jerusalem: As He would say: this preaching must first be preached at Jerusalem, and begin there: and before grace be offered to the Gentiles, grace first of all must be offered to the jews. Grace pertains first to the jews, they were the people of God of old, and therefore they must have their own right: and then when grace is offered to the jews, grace is extended, and runs abroad over all the earth. Paul says to the jews: It was necessary, that the word of God should first have been spoken unto you, Acts 13.46. There is the order: yet the Lord loves Jerusalem, & forgets it not: Jerusalem that crucified the Lord, the Lord forgets it not, the Lord will not cast it away, but will send His Apostles to preach there first. O how loath was He to cast away that Nation that He had chosen of old, from among all Nations: a people that He hath once begun with: O how loath will He be to cast away that people: Scotland hath a proof of this, I dare say it: had not been the patience that the Lord bears unto this Land, He had not spared us so long, because of the great contempt and disdaining of the Gospel. But above all the rest, that Nation which the Lord hath chosen from among the rest, to be a peculiar people to Himself, He will offer grace to it first: & therefore the jews got this honour first, to have grace offered to them. And as grace in this life is offered to the jew, so shall the jew, get first glory in Heaven. Paul Rom. 2.10. says: Glory, and honour, and peace shall be to every man that doth good, to the jew first, and also to the Grecian. And as the glory shall belong unto the faithful jew first, so by the contrary, the unfaithful Jew, shall first be dishonoured for the Apostle says in the words immediately preceding: Tribulation and anguish shall be upon the soul of every one that doth evil, of the jew first, and next of the Grecian.  
But to end here: I beseech you to strive unto unfeigned Repentance, and to get an assurance of the remission of thy sins here, if thou wilt be honoured in this life by grace, and in the life to come, by glory in Heaven: for neither grace nor glory pertains, unto impennitent sinners who lie like swine in sin, and delight in sin: But only to all penitent sinners, where sin abounds, grace and mercy superaboundes, and that in the blood of jesus Christ. To whom with the Father, and Holy Spirit, be all honour, and glory, for evermore. AMEN.   

THE XLIV. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  LUKE CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 48 Now ye are witnesses of these things.  
verse 49 And behold, I do send the promise of the Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from high.  
AFTER that the Lord (beloved Brethren in Christ) in His fift appearing after His Resurrection, by sundry evidences hath gone about to persuade His Disciples, that it was He, He utters a sweet Sermon for their instruction, wherein first He instructes and informs them in two necessities: the first is, that all things that befell to Him, as His Passion and Resurrection behoved to befell unto Him: the second is, that as these things befell to Him of necessity, so of necessity these things behoved to be preached in the world. Next, He gives them a direction to go out, and to preach this Gospel to the world. We have heard already of the two necessities: First, that it behoved Him to suffer the death: and to rise again from death, because these things were foretold of Him, in Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms: therefore of necessity they behoved to come to pass. We heard thereafter of the necessity of the preaching of these things. Profane men think preaching is for the fashion, but they deceive themselves, for if there be a necessity, that thou shouldest believe, that thou mayst be saved: there is as great a necessity that there should be preaching of the word: for Faith is by hearing, and without hearing no Faith, no life, no salvation.  
In opening up of this necessity of preaching, we marked unto you the particular circumstances, that are set down in the Text: Namely, first, in whose name this preaching behoved to be: to wit, in the Name of JESUS CHRIST: Next, whereof it behoved this preaching to be: to wit, of Repentance, and Remission of sins: (for that is the sum of the Gospel) Thirdly, to whom this behoved to be preached, not to the jews only, but to all Nations: and last, in what order this doctrine should be preached: first, to the jews, beginning at jerusalem, and thereafter to the Gentiles. Now in the Text that we have presently read, the Lord comes to the second part of His Sermon, wherein He gives direction to the Apostles, to be Preachers, and witnesses to the world, of all these things, promising again to them that Spirit, which He had promised to them before His suffering, and that they might have the greater security, He gives them a commandment, not to departed from jerusalem, until they were endued with power and virtue out of Heaven.  
But to come to the words: after that He hath set down the necessity of preaching, He gives them a direction and charge, to be preachers of these things unto the world. Now, says He, ye are witnesses of these things: that is, These things that ye have heard and seen come to pass, according as they were foretold: ye must not keep them close and secret with yourselves, but ye must declare, preach and testify them unto the world.  
Now, it is not without great cause that the Lord directs, and sends them out to preach: for look how necessary it is, that the word be preached, as necessary it is, that some be directed, and sent out by the Lord to preach: for, How shall they preach, says Paul, except they be sent, Rom. Chapter 10. verse 15. A man must not run unsent, but before he preach: he must have a commission from God. If we will enter in a particular consideration, & mark all things set down in this Sermon, we will find there is nothing either concerning Christ Himself, His suffering and rising again, or concerning the Gospel of Christ, and preaching of it, or concerning the Ministers & Preachers of the Gospel falls out rashly, or by fortoun & chance, but that all things come to pass by the determinate providence of God, & in a manner of necessity: so that in respect of this providence they could not otherwise have been. We have heard before, that there was a necessity of Christ's death, & resurrection, & that there was a necessity of preaching, now here we see, that there is a necessity of sending of Ministers: to preach the Gospel, for there is no faithful Minister, but he must have his commission of Him: God must make choose of him, & separate him from the common sort of men, as Paul says of himself, He was called to be an Apostle, & put apart to preach the Gospel of God, Rom. 1.1. So must it be with all faithful Pastors. It is true indeed, some will preach, whom the Lord hath not sent, some will run unsent, & some will preach to get honour, vantage or preferment to themselves, but these are not faithful Pastors, but all faithful Pastors must of necessity be sent of the Lord, & receive their commission from Him. Now, if this be true, that nothing concerning Christ, or His Gospel, or the Ministers that preach, it falls out without the determinate providence & counsel of God, it is as true, that none hears the Gospel preached without the same providence. The special providence of God, is no less extended to the hearer, than to the Preacher of the Gospel: so that the hearer as well as the Preacher is bound to glorify God in His gracious providence, & in the riches of His grace. Many oftentimes think that it is by conjecture, that men come to the Church, & hears the word preached: but the faithful man that hath felt the power of this word, in quickening His soul, & raising it from death to life, is assured, that the Lord had a special providence & care in making Him to hear that word at such a time, to his great comfort. But it would be marked, that albeit all the Preachers of the Gospel be sent by God, yet all are not sent after one manner: there is a great difference amongst them, for some are sent immediately of the Lord Himself, without the ministery of men, as were the Prophets of old, and here the Apostles: None of these were sent by men's ministery, but it was only the Lord Himself, who sent them, according to the good pleasure of His will: some are sent mediately by the ministery of men, as are the ordinary Pastors and Ministers, in the Church this day, who albeit they be sent by God, yet the Lord uses the ministery of men in sending of them. Now these men whom the Lord employs in this piece of service, to call and send others, should not be rash, nor lay hands suddenly on any man, but they ought to be very careful, to take good heed unto the Lords will, and consider, and try narrowly, whether it be the Lords will, to call such and such persons to the ministery, that so they may have a good conscience, that they have sought to conform themselves to Gods will. When Christ sent His Apostles, He sent them according to the will of GOD the Father, 1 Cor. 1.1. So whomsoever men call and send, they must call and send them according to the will of God the Father and the Son. But ye will say: How shall men know these men, whom the Lord thinks meet to be sent? How shall they know, whether it be the Lords will, to choose such and such men to His ministery? I answer: The LORD hath set down sufficient marks and tokens in the Scripture, whereby we may know them, whom the Lord would have us to send, He hath stamped them with gifts beyond the common sort of men. If ye would know what these gifts and graces are, wherewith the Lord endues them: read 1. Timoth. 3, etc. & Tit. 1.6. In the which places ye will see, what properties the Spirit of God, requires to be in a faithful Pastor. Indeed, I grant, there are some of the properties reckoned out there, by the Apostle, that are common to other true Christians with the Pastor: As to be temperate, wise, holy, righteous, and such other: but there are some other, that properly belong to a Pastor: As, that he be apt to teach, that he be able to exhort with wholesome doctrine, and convince the gainsayer, that he have skill to guide and rule the Church of God. Let them who have power to call Ministers, take heed unto these properties, that they call not men to this High calling, upon a private affection (which vice and corruption hath been too common in all ages) but that they call them whom the Lord hath stamped with these graces, and pointed out as meet to undertake this charge, that they may have the better conscience in their proceeding. Yet before we leave this, it would be considered who these were whom the Lord sends: were they wise men? were they such, who constantly avouched Him, & professed His Name? Were they such men as deserved much at His hand? Were they such as were meet and sufficient for such a glorious calling? No certainly: For who is sufficient for these things, says the Apostle, 2. Cor. 2, 16. We are not sufficient of ourselves, to think any thing as of ourselves, 2. Cor. 3.5. What manner of men are they then? Even these who before His death and suffering were offended in Him, who were ashamed of Him, and fled away: even these who after His Resurrection were so hard to believe, that He was risen again from the dead: for all the pains that the Lord took upon them, men altogether unmeet, and unsufficient for such an high and glorious calling, men, who by nature were fraughted with such stuff, as was directly repugnant to such a worthy calling: and yet for all this, the Lord casts them not off, but sends them to preach salvation to the world. He made them of darkness to be light, to shine to the rest of the world: for says Paul, God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, is He that hath shined in our hearts, 2. Cor 4 6. Our hearts are dark by nature, yet the Lord by shining in them, brings light out of darkness: for as the Lord in the first creation, commanded light to come out of darkness: so daily in the new creation and regeneration: and namely, when He sets a man in His ministery, He makes light to shine out of darkness. We have a notable example of this, in the Apostle Paul, he had been before, a blasphemer, and a persecuter, an oppressor, yet such was the mercy & favour of God toward Him, that for all this, He not only beautifies him with that common grace, to be a Christian, and to get an assurance of the Remission of his own sins, but also counts him faithful to place him in His ministery, to preach Repentance and Remission of sins to others.  
The world thinks it an easy thing, to make a man a Minister, but if we consider what stuff is in man, and how far his nature is repugnant to that calling, we will think that of all things in the world, it is most hard, and most painful.  
It is an hard thing indeed, to bring a man out of nature, and make him a Christian, but it is far harder, to make a man a teacher of Christians, and a disposer of the treasures of grace, and of the secrets of God. Now, when I begin to consider what should have moved the Lord to have chosen such persons, and so unmeet for such an high calling, I think this chief hath been it, that when the Apostles went out to preach Repentance, and Remission of sins, to others, and to exhort all persons, how grievously so ever they had sinned, to come and to seek mercy in Christ, they might propone themselves, as examples of the superabundant mercy of God, and that they in their ministery might declare, and make manifest the gentleness and long suffering of God towards all men, even the greatest sinners in the world, and that by the proof and experience that they found in their own person, of the mercy of God in calling them, and placing them in that high calling, who before were so miserable wretches: and so upon their own experience, they might the more easily persuade, even the most miserable sinners, to seek for mercy and grace in Christ. When Paul preaches, Where sin abounds, there grace and mercy superaboundes: if he had not found this by experience, and had not stood for example hereof, he would not so easily have persuaded sinners of the exceeding greatness of the mercy of God.  
But to go forward: Because this direction that He gives them, and this ministery He calls them to, was very painful and troublesome, and so they might have taken hardly with it: therefore in the words following, the Lord goes about, to encourage them, to undertake it, and to discharge it cheerfully: the Argument is of great force, Behold, says He, I will send the promise of my Father upon you: that is, I will send unto you the Holy Spirit Himself, & with Him His extraordinary gifts and graces: as the gift of prophecy, of working of miracles, of tongues, and such other, that ye may be the more able to discharge this calling, and to perform the work I send you for, He calls this the promise of His Father, because the Father long before by His Prophets promised at the coming of the Messiah, to send His Spirit in great abundance upon them that believe. Ye may read this promise in sundry places of the Old Testament, but chief in the 2. Chapter of the prophecy of joel, and the 28. verse. In the last days, I will power out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons, and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions, and also upon the servants, and upon the maids will I power my Spirit, etc. And of the accomplishment of this promise, ye may read in the 2. Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. Out of this place we may mark first: That the things which the Father promised of old to His Church, the Son in the appointed time accomplished them: the Father promised of old the Spirit, and His graces, the Son in the fullness of time sends the Spirit and His graces, and gives them to His Church: and for this cause the Spirit, and His gifts that is given to every faithful man, is called the measure of the gife of Christ, Ephes. Chapter 4. verse 7. And thereafter in that same Chapter ver. 11. the Apostle says: That Christ, to the end He might fill all things, He gave some to be Apostles, some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers: that is, He gave all sorts of gifts unto His Church, that He might fulfil the promise of His Father: and all these gifts and graces, that we see are now in the Church, from whom came they, but only from the Lord jesus? This leade● us to an higher ground, that the Son hath received of the Father, all graces, and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, together with the Holy Spirit Himself: the Father hath given all first to the Son, and not to us: for the Father loves the Son, and hath given all things into His hand, joh. 3.35. And, In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom & knowledge, Coloss. Chapter 2. verse 3. Yet there is an higher cause of this, to wit, that the Son only hath merited the Holy Spirit, with the fullness of all His graces. No man ever merited any of them: for who can merit them, but he who first received them. The Lord jesus received them first: we have none, but as He gives us: He merited and purchased them to us, with no less price, than with the ransom of His own blood.  
Now wouldst thou know, how all these graces, that the Lord hath bough● with such a dear price, are communicated to thee, and made thine? I will tell thee: Not by any merit of thine own, for thou couldst merit nothing at the lords hands, but Hell and damnation: but it is of the free grace and liberality of the Father and the Son, that they are made thine: it is of this grace, that out of His fullness we receive grace for grace.  
When the Apostle, Coloss. Chapter 2. verse 9 hath said: In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily: thereafter he subjoins: And ye are compleete in Him: as if he had said, All this fullness is made yours, of free grace, whilst as by Faith ye take hold of Him.  
Consider the wonderful bountifulness and liberality of the Son, to thee, who gives thee these graces freely, that He bought so dearly, and purchased with such a worthy price: Ye know, says the Apostle, the grace of our Lord jesus Christ, that He being rich, for your sakes became poor, that ye through His poverty might be made rich. 2. Cor. 8.9.  
Now, ere I go forward, I mark another lesson, that the Spirit of God points out clearly, in these words, for our instruction: for when the Lord says, I will send you the promise of my Father upon you, that is, the Holy Spirit, with His graces, He lets us see, that without His Spirit, His presence and assistance, a Minister cannot be able to do any thing well in His calling, but that in the discharge of every part of His calling, he must be assisted by the Spirit. The Apostle Paul, when he is telling what good success his preaching had among the Gentiles, he takes not the praise thereof to himself, but he ascribes all to the presence of Christ, by His Spirit: I dare not, says he, speak of any thing, which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient in word and deed, Rom. 15.18. It is not with a Minister, as it is with a man in the civil policy: No, there is a great difference: for in the civil policy, a man by his natural gifts, by his wisdom, and quickness of his wit, may do some things without the special assistance of the Spirit of Christ, but in the Church no man can do any thing without the presence of the Spirit, the man that hath not the Spirit, and His graces in some measure is altogether unprofitable and unmeet for the lords work, for this cause, the Lord makes a special promise of this Spirit, to them whom He places in His service, because their calling and function, in all respects is spiritual. Look to experience, and ye will find the truth of this promise: There is not a faithful Minister, but in some measure he hath the Spirit of God, to be powerful with him in his calling, in such sort, that not himself only, but others also, who see and hear him, will sensibly perceive and take it up. The Apostle Paul, found sensibly the Spirit of God to be powerful with him in his labouring in the ministery, when he says, It was not I that laboured, but the grace of God, which is with me, 1 Cor. Chapter 15. verse 10. And again, when he says, That he laboured and strove, according to His working, which worketh in him mightily, Col. Chapter 1. verse 29.  
And on the other part, when he says to the Corinthians, Ye see the experience of Christ that speaks in me, which toward you is not weak, but is mighty in you, 2 Cor. Chap. 13. verse 3. he imports, that as he himself found the power of the Spirit within him, so they to whom he preached, found it by His Spirit.  
But I insist not to bring in particular places, for if we consider well the Epistles of Paul, we will find many sentences testifying to us, that not only he himself found the power of the Spirit in his ministery, and the life of jesus working mightily in him, in the mids of his infirmities: yea, even in death itself 2. Cor. Chapter 4. verse 8. but also that same power was manifest unto them that heard him. Natural men think all is but scorn that is spoken of the Spirit, and of His power in the preaching of the Gospel, they laugh at it, as if there were no such thing: but the faithful man finds, that it is not for nought, that Christ promised His Spirit to them whom He sends, as also that without that Spirit, no grace could have been wrought in their souls.  
Now in the last words of this Text, to assure them the more, that they should receive this Holy Spirit that was promised, the Lord commands them, That they go not out of jerusalem, but that they tarry there, until they be endued with power from on high: that is, Until they have received this Spirit that He promised to send unto them: So in a manner, for their further assurance, He prescribes to them a particular time, within the which they should receive the Holy Ghost. The Lord, commonly, when He makes a promise of any thing to His own, He will give them some warrant, to confirm and assure them, until He fully perform His promise: for because He knows our weakness and infirmity. He gives us as it were an earnest penny to strengthen our Faith and Hope, until He pay the whole sum to us for such is our weakness, that albeit we have no more, we cannot be able long to depend upon His naked word. It is true indeed, that the Lord sometime, for the trial of the Faith of His own, will charge them to rest upon His bare and naked word only, to believe His promise, He will give no further assurance, as likewise for a season it may be, that they depend upon His bare word: but it is as true, that this cannot continue long: for except as by Faith they depend upon the word: so also they have some feeling and foretasting of the thing promised, and some earnestpennie and security to assure them of the obtaining of the promise, their Faith will fail and decay. So weak are we in Faith, so ready are we to mistrust, that we cannot stand nor continue, except we be underpropped and upholden by some special warrant from God.  
Now to end: One thing further may be marked in these words: The Lord discharges the Apostles to go out of jerusalem, until they have gotten t●is Holy Spirit, that He promised them. The lesson is: A Minister should not covet to go to the world, to preach the Gospel, until the time he be assured that the Holy Spirit accompanies him, and his travels: for if the Apostles themselves might not go out to preach, until the Spirit were sent unto them, it is a foolish thing for any man, after them to presume to do it. But, alas, it is a thing greatly to be lamented in this age, that there are so few, that wait until they be accompanied with the Holy Spirit in their ministery, and that so many go rashly to undertake such an high calling.  
Many upon a conceit that they have of their natural gifts, their wisdom, their quickness, engine memory, eloquence, and such other gifts will start up to the pulpit, and preach confidently to the people in the Name of jesus. But the Lord in His just judgement, not only withdraws all blessing from their labours, but also heaps shame and ignominy upon them, and makes it manifest to the world, that He sent them not, but they ran unsent: But thou who wouldst have a good conscience, who wouldst have the Lord to bless thy travels in His ministery, presume not too far of thy natural gifts, how great so ever they be, but wait upon the lords leisure, until He prevent thee with His Spirit, and endue thee with power from on high, and in the mean time be crying earnestly for the presence of that Spirit, who when He comes, will open thine heart, and lose thy mouth to speak with boldness, and freedom in the Name of jesus. To whom with the Father, and that blessed Spirit, be all praise, and honour, for evermore.  
AMEN.   

THE XLV. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XX. 
verse 21 Then said jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father sent me, so send ● you.  
verse 22 And when He had said that, He breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive the Holy Ghost.  
verse 23 Whosoever sinnnes ye remit, they are remitted unto them: and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained.  
HITHERTO (beloved Brethren in Christ) we have insisted in the opening up of that Sermon, that the Lord uttered to His Apostles in His fift appearing after His Resurrection, as it is set down by the Evangelist Luke, wherein, first. He lets them see, that it behoved Him to suffer, and to rise again from the death, because it was so foretold of Him, and that it behoved Repentance & Remission of sins to be preached in His Name, to all Nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Next, He gives them a direction, to go out to the world to be witnesses and preachers of these things, albeit they were altogether unmeet and unsufficient, and had deserved no such thing at His hand, because they were ashamed of Him, and fled away at His Passion: yet He honours them with this high calling then to encourage them the more cheerfully to undertake this calling, He promises to send unto them the Holy Spirit, who was before promised to them by the Father, to accompany them, and their travels. And last, that they might have the greater security, and assurance to receive this Spirit, He gives them a commandment not to departed from jerusalem, until they find His promise performed unto them, and until they were endued with power from on high.  
Thus far we have heard out of Luke of this Sermon: Now in this Text that we have read▪ john follows out chiefly the latter part of the Lord, concerning the sending out of the Apostles, and he insistes therein more largely, and particularly than Luke does, marking especially the things that were omitted by Luke: for he written after him: First, in these words we have set down a preface, to prepare their hearts the better to receive the word which He was to speak unto them: thereafter we have the preaching, wherein first, He sends out the Apostles to preach the Gospel: Next, He confirms them partly by giving them the Holy Spirit, partly by arming them with power and authority.  
But to come to the words: john says, that before He sent them out, He said again to them, Peace be unto you. Before, at the first meeting with them, this was His salutation, Peace be unto you: Now He repeats these words again. Wherefore is this? It was to prepare their hearts to receive the more reverently and attentively, and with the greater comfort these things that He was to speak to them concerning their charge to preach in His Name to the world. The man that would receive the word of the Lord, especially, the Gospel of peace and consolation, must have His heart prepared with the assurance of peace, for the message of peace and consolation requires: First, that the soul be prepared with peace, to the end, it may receive the word with peace and joy: for except the soul have some persuasion of peace, it can find no comfort: and if we receive the message of peace, with a persuasion of peace, and with a joy in the soul, than the more we hear, the greater shall our comfort be, the more shall we drink in that joy of the Holy Spirit: The messengers of peace should follow this example of the Lord: When they are to preach the Gospel of peace, they should prepare their hearts, that by foretelling that all their message and the word that they are to speak tends to peace, and likewise they who come to hear, should have their hearts prepared with some sense of peace and joy, but such a joy as follows upon sorrow for sin, and a sense of their own misery, and which ever is accompanied with true Repentance: for there is no true joy of a Christian man in this life, but that which is conjoined with Repentance and sorrow for sin.  
Now, when the Lord hath prepared their hearts with this preface of peace, He comes to the Sermon: and first, He gives them a direction to go out to preach the Gospel: As my Father, says he, sent me, so send I you. We have spoken some thing already of this sending out of the Apostles, in opening up of the lords words, as they are set down by Luke: and therefore here I shall be the shorter in speaking of it. Ye see the Lord sets down this sending of the Apostles, by way of comparison with His own sending, I sent you, even as the Father sent me. This comparison imports first, that the Son only was sent immediately by the Father, the Son only hath gotten this honour to be sent immediately by the Father. The Apostle says, Christ took not this honour to Himself, to be High Priest, but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee, gave it Him, Heb. 5.5. And the Father by sending the Son immediately Himself, gave Him all power to send all others: so that all others are sent by the Son, albeit not all after one manner, for some are sent by Him immediately, as the Prophets, & Apostles, some mediately, as the Pastors & the Teachers. Indeed, I grant, The Prophets and Apostles were sent also by the Father, but they were sent mediately by the Father, & immediately by the Son: & therefore Paul uses to call Himself, The Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God the Father: whereby he means, that immediately he was sent by the Son, & mediately by the Father: the Son sent the Prophets, and Apostles immediately: & therefore it is said, when He ascended, up to Heaven, He gave some to be Apostles, and some to be Prophets, Eph. 4.11. Next, this comparison imports, that the office of the Apostleship is not only lawful, but also that it is furnished with authority: for Christ, who sent His Apostles, was first sent by His Father, not only had He a lawful calling, but He had it with authority: even so, all true Pastors & Teachers in the Church, have not only a lawful calling to preach the Gospel, but also authority joined with their calling, because they are sent by the Son, for it was the Son, that gave some to be Pastors & some Teachers, Eph 4.11 for albeit true Pastors in the Church be called by the ministery of men, yet they are sent by the Son & therefore men have their authority from Him, for in a manner they represent His person, as the Son represented the person of His Father, & was His ambassador to the world: so they are ambassadors of the Son, and must represent His person. Men in this Land despise the Ministers of the Gospel, and count most vilely of them, in respect of the baseness of their persons: but they should consider, it is not with men, but with God, & Christ Himself whose ambassadors they are, that they have ado: the obedience, or disobedience, and contempt of the Pastor, redounds directly to the Son: and the Father, and the Son counts it to be done to Himself, and to the Father: for He says: He that hears you, hears me, and he that despises you, despises me, and he that despises me, despises Him that sent me, Luke 10.15. Thirdly, this comparison lets us see, who they are, that have a lawful calling in the Church, not every one that hath a pretence and show of outward calling, but only they who are called by them, who were sent themselves before. And therefore these only are lawful Pastors, who have been called by the Presbytery, and fellowship of the Elders, who themselves before, had a lawful calling. The people and flock have no power to call a man to the ministery, they may indeed nominate, and present a man, and give their consent: but the calling and admission of a man to the function of the ministery, belongs only to the Eldership and Pastors, who before were called themselves.  
But to go forward. When He hath charged them to go out to preach the Gospel, because it was a very weighty and painful charge, therefore He encourages, and strengthenes them the more willingly to undertake it: First, by bestowing upon them the Holy Spirit, and His graces: Next, by arming them with power and authority. To come to the first: it is said, When He had said this, He breathed on them, and said unto them: Receive the Holy Ghost. In giving to them the Holy Spirit, He uses an outward and visible sign, He breathes upon them: for this breathing upon them, was not the sending and giving of the Holy Spirit itself, but it was an outward sign and Sacrament, to represent, to signify and assure them of the giving of the Holy Spirit, the outward breathing upon them, was a sign of the inward breathing of the Holy Spirit upon their souls, and a sign very fit and convenient to express the thing signified for the wind serves very well to represent the Holy Spirit, and is used for that same purpose by the Lord Himself, joh. 3 8. Th● wind blows where it listeth, etc. But it would be marked, that the Lord uses not only the bare and naked sign: No, that could have profited them very little, but to the sign He joins words, telling the meaning of it, He says: Receive the Holy Ghost. For the Lord in all Sacraments uses commonly to join the word to the Sacrament: As in Baptism, and the Lords Supper: to the end, that not only He may declare and open up the meaning of the sign, but also to work, and confirm Faith in men's hearts, that so the Sacrament may be powerful and effectual in them, for the outward sign alone is not able to work Faith in the soul, but it is the word chief, that works Faith, the word is the life of the Sacrament: and therefore, except the word be joined with the outward sign, it cannot be a true and effectual Sacrament: Now it is to be considered, that this breathing of the Lord upon His Apostles, was not a thing that He would have to be kept ordinarily in His Church, but it is an extraordinary sign used extraordinarily by the Lord, in the sending out of extraordinary men, the Apostles, to an extraordinary calling, whereby the Lord at that time endued them with extraordinary graces necessary for that great calling. And therefore foolish and damnable is the practice of the Pope, his Cardinals, and his Bishops, which they use in sending out their shavelings into the world: for when they admit them, with their vile and stinking mouths, they breath upon them, and say, Receive the Holy Ghost, filthily abusing this action of the Lord, as if it lay in their hands, with their breathing to give the Holy Spirit: whereas the Lord hath reserved this power to Himself alone, and communicates it not to any man: they are but counterfaiters of such things as the Lord will not have to be counterfeited, for this His action in all points was extraordinary: and therefore ought not to be used ordinarily: but I leave them to their own vanity.  
A question may be here moved: How agrees this doing of Christ, on His Disciples, and giving them the Holy Ghost, recorded here by john, with the words that we heard before out of the Gospel of Luke▪ where the Lord says: Behold I do send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high: Which words import, that at this fift appearing to His Disciples, which is one with this that John records, He gave them not the Holy Ghost▪ but only promised to send H●m to them: I answer: Both these places agree well enough together, for in Luke the Lord promised to send His Spirit with His graces in a full measure upon them, which promise indeed he performed on the day of the Pentecosts, when they being gathered together, there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like fi●e, and sat upon each one of them, and they were all miraculously filled with the Holy Ghost, Act. 2.1. But the Lord here, only gives them the Holy Ghost, and His graces in a small measure▪ to be as it were a beginning of that full accomplishment, which they were to receive in the day of the Pentecoste: for we may not think, that the Holy Spirit, and all His graces were given fully and compleetely to the Apostles at one time: No, but they were given piece and piece, & by degrees: for first, they got the fruits of the Spirit, when the Lord was conversant with them in the flesh▪ in the days of His infirmity: Next, after He rose from the death, they received them in a greater measure, as we may see in this place of john: and last, after the lords ascension, He powered down in abundance His Spirit, with all His graces, according as He had promised to them, Luke 24.49. and was long before foretold by joel, Chap. 2. verse 28. But why would He not give them the Holy Spirit, and His graces in a full measure at the first? Because there behoved to be a certain proportion and correspondence between the Head and the members: the Lord jesus was their Head, they were members of His body: so long as He was not fully glorified Himself, it was no reason, that they should have received the fullness of grace, but when He was fully glorified, He filled them abundantly with grace, Ephes. 4.10. The Lord now glorified in the Heavens, hath store and abundance of grace to give to His Church, but our hearts are not prepared to receive grace: we offend Him continually with our sins, and grieve His Holy Spirit, for this is the last age of the world, wherein sin abounds, and therefore, that we are not so scant of grace, the fault is not in the Lord▪ there is no scarcity nor want of grace with Him, but the fault is in ourselves, who entertain sin in our hearts, whereby we banish grace out of them, and makes the Spirit, who should be our Comforter, to be a witness against us in that great day of the Lord. Now after that the Lord hath encouraged His Apostles, by giving them His Holy Spirit, and His graces, in the words following, to make them the more willing, He arms them with power, and au●ho●itie, before He send them out, He says: Whosoever sinnes ye remit, th●y are remitted unto them, and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained: As if He had said to them, I will not send you out powerless, with a fectlesse word in your mouth, but to the end ye may the better discharge your commission, I enarme you with power, I will give you power to bind and lose, to forgive sins, and retain sins. The Lord sends none out to his warfare, till first He furnish them with weapons and armour. But what weapons are they? Even spiritual weapons. Paul says, The weapons of our warfare, are not carnal, but mighty through GOD, to cast down holds, etc. 2. Cor. Chapter 10. verse 4. He hath given them power, to discharge their calling. Ye may read of this power at great length, Matth. Chapter 16. verse 19 When the Lord speaking to Peter, in his person says to all the Apostles: I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt lose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven. And Matth. Chapter 18. verse 18. the Lord says to all his Apostles, Whatsoever ye bind on earth, shall be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever ye lose on earth, shall be loosed in Heaven. So ye see, the Lord gives them this power, before His suffering, and now after His Resurrection, He renews it again. Now, we must not think, that this power was given only to the Apostles, and their ministery, which was then extraordinary: No, but it is given also to the ordinary Pastors, and their ordinary ministery, to continue with them to the end of the world.  
Now, Brethren, because this power which the Lord gives to His ministery, is a matter of great importance, and serves much for our instruction. We shall insist somewhat more largely in speaking of it: First, What are the means, whereby this power is practised and put in execution. The means are two: the first is, the preaching of the word, the preaching of the Law, and the preaching of the Gospel. The second is, Ecclesiastical discipline, which ought to be conjoined with the preaching of the word, & should follow after it. But wherein is this power placed? Stands it in this, that the Pastor himself should retain or forgive men's sins? Is this the proper effect of the ministery? No, the Pastor himself hath no power, to forgive or retain sins, because that belongs only to God Himself, and cannot be communicated to any creature. The Pharises themselves acknowledged this: for when CHRIST said to the sick of the Palsy: Son, thy sins are forgiven thee, they counted Him a blasphemer: for say they: Who can forgive sins, but GOD oly, Marc. Chapter 2. verse 5. etc. And the Lord says himself, Esay 43.25. I, even I am He that puts away thine iniquities for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. This is so proper to the Lord, that He will not give this power to any flesh, because it is a part of His glory: and He says, I will not give my glory to another, Esay 48.11. And good reason it is, that this power of forgiving and retaining of sins belong only to Him: for all sin, properly is against the Majesty of GOD Himself: for john says, Sin is a transgression of the Law of God: Therefore David, when He had slain Vriah, & had committed adultery with Bathsheba his wife, he says to the Lord: Against thee, against thee only have I sinned, & done evil in thy sight, Psal. 51.4. So this stands sure, that properly it is a thing belonging to GOD only to forgive and retain sins, to bind and to lose: that is, to pronounce the sentence of remitting and retaining of sins. Then wherein stands this power that Christ hath given to His Pastors and ministery? I answer: It stands in the promulgation and proclaiming in the earth of that sentence that is already past, & given out in the Heavens: for this is manner of the Lords dealing with men, He will not lift them up to Heaven immediately, & make them to hear the sentence of remitting or retaining of sins pronounced there by Himself: No, but He abases & demits Himself to us, & by His Ministry, He comes down, as it were out of Heaven to us, & by His ministery He intimates & proclaims to us, in the earth that sentence, which already He hath pronounced in the Heavens, and that either to our comfort and consolation, if it be the sentence of remission of sins, or else to our grief and downecasting, if it be the sentence of retaining of sins. And if we despite and contemn this ministery, wherein God abases and demits Himself unto us, and by the which, as the Apostle says, 2. Cor. 5.20. He prays us to be reconciled unto Him, we can have no warrant, nor assurance of the remission of sins, not of salvation. Then ye see, that this power that the Lord gives to this ministery, stands in the proclaiming & declaring of that sentence which is already past, and pronounced in the Heavens, and the words that the Lord uses here, if we mark them w●ll, import this same meaning: for He says, Whosoever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven speaking in the time bypassed, as if He had said, this is a thing already done, the sentence is already pronounced in the Heaven: as for you who are my Ministers, ye only intimate & proclaim in earth that sentence, which is already past in Heaven: & He says on the other part: Whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained, using the time bypassed, as if He had said, the sentence of retaining of their sins is already pronounced in Heaven, & ye only intimate & declare on earth the sentence which already is passed in Heaven. Now having considered wherein this power consists, we shall let you see, what sort of power it is: This power that the Lord hath given to His ministery, either extraordinary, as the Apostles had, or ordinary, which the Pastors have, is not a Kingly power, not such a power as is given to Kings & Rulers in the world: No, it is only a ministerial power. Let a man, says Paul, so think of us, as of the Ministers of Christ, 1. Cor. 4.1. And again, He says: We have not dominion over your Faith, but we are helpers of your joy, 2. Cor. 1.24. yet it is a power, & so the Apostle calls it, 2. Cor. 13.10. According to the power which God hath given me, to edification, and not to destruction. And, a glorious ministery, 2. Cor. 3.9. And as the word of God calls it a power, so also the consciences of men find it to be a power, Therefore, the Apostle says, 2 Cor. 13.3 Ye seek experience of Christ, that speaketh in me▪ which toward you is not weak, but is mighty in you. And if we will compare it with the civil and kingly power, we will find it in this respect to be preferred to the civil power: that whereas the civil power is extended only over the body, the life, and goods temporal, this power of the ministery, is extended to the soul, to the spiritual graces of the soul, and life everlasting: and therefore it is called by the Apostle, the ministery of the Spirit, and of righteousness, 2 Cor. 3.8, 9  
Now, to end shortly: There may be a question moved: When the Minister either remittes sins, or retains sins, upon earth, how shall he be assured, that the Lord hath not remitted or retained them in Heaven: for it becomes the Herald or Messenger, to make intimation of nothing, but of that whereof he hath a special warrant from the judge: otherwise he cannot have a good conscience in his intimation: then how shall the Pastor know God's sentence pronounced in Heaven, that he may have a good conscience in his proceeding? To this I answer: It is true indeed, the Pastor hath none extraordinary revelation of that sentence, which is passed in Heaven, but all the warrant that the Pastor hath, is ordinary, wrought by the Spirit, accompanying His own word, which He left in write unto us, and the Pastor gets this warrant out of the word, by the applying of the general sentences of the word, to particular persons, according as they find their disposition and behaviour, and by this means, gets such a sufficient warrant out of the word, as his conscience may rest upon. As for example: to speak first, of the sentence of the Remission of sins: Before the Pastor absolve a man, and remit his sins, he looks first to the general sentences set down in the word, that may be his warrant, as namely, that sentence which the LORD Himself utters, joh. 3.13. Whosoever believes in the Son of God, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.  
Now, to Faith in Christ, join Repentance, for the Gospel joins Repentance and Remission of sins together, Luke 24.47. and says, Whosoever believes and reputes▪ shall be safe. To this general proposition, the Pastor will assume particularly: This sinner reputes and believes, whereupon he concludes, (declaring the sentence that is already past of Him in the Heaven:) therefore this sinner hath his sins forgiven him, and he shall be saved. Again, before the Pastor bind a man, and retain his sins, he looks to this general sentence of the word, He that believes not, and reputes not, is already condemned, joh. 3.18. Then he assumes particularly: But this sinner believes not, neither reputes: whereupon he concludes, the declaration of the sentence which is already past in Heaven. Therefore this sinner is condemned, and is bound in Heaven. The Lord work in our hearts true repentance, and Faith in the Lord jesus, that not only we may hear the voice of the Pastor, absolving us, but likewise our own consciences may assure us of the Remission of our sins, through the mercy of God in jesus Christ. To whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all praise, and honour, for evermore.  
AMEN.   

THE XLVI. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XX. 
verse 24 But Thomas one of the twelve, called Didimus, was not with them when jesus came.  
verse 25 The other Disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord: but he said unto them, Except I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put mine hand into His side, I will not believe it.  
verse 26 And eight days after, again His Disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came jesus, when the doors were shut, and stood in the mids, and said, Peace be unto you.  
WE have heard hitherto (Well-beloved in Christ) of five sundry appearings of our Lord, after His Resurrection: The first was, to Marie Magdalene: The second was, to other women: The third was, to two Disciples, as they were going from Jerusalem, to Emmaus: The fourth was, to Simon Peter: The fift was, to the eleven, assembled together in one place: In this fift appearance, the Lord hath a Sermon to His Disciples, wherein first, He lets them see the necessity that He should suffer, and rise again, and that these things behoved to be preached to the world, and thereafter gives them a direction to go out to preach Repentance and Remission of sins to the world, in His Name: and to the end He may encourage them the more willingly, to undertake this charge▪ He promises to give them the Holy Spirit, with His graces, that was promised before, & for their further assurance He enters them presently in some measure in possession of the Spirit: for john says, He breathed upon them, and said unto them▪ Receive the Holy Ghost, and then He enarmes them with authority and power to forgive and retain sins. And He says, Whosoever sin●es ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosoever sins ye retain, th●y are retained. Now in the words that we have presently read out of the Gospel of john, we have set down a particular history concerning Thomas and his incredulity: this Thomas is he who is also called Didymus: we read of him, first that he was called and received to be one of the twelve Apostles, Matth. 10 3. Next, we ●ead, that he was offended, that the Lord purposed to return again to judea, being requested by Martha and Marie, to come to Laz●rus their brother, and that he burst out in words full of anger, a●d indignation, saying, Let us go also, that we may die with Lazarus, joh 11.16. And last, we have in this place set down the History, not only of his great incredulity, but also of his stubborness and wilfulness therein: for neither did he believe, neither had he a will or purpose to believe. Of this doing of Thomas we may learn, that by nature there was no difference between the Apostles of the Lord jesus, & other men, albeit most vile & most unworthy: but grace made the difference they were as incredulous, as stubborn, as hard hearted as any other by nature, while it pleased God of His mercy, to open their hearts, to make them to believe: And therefore, the Lord jesus, when He calls them to be Apostles, and ordains them to preach the exceeding greatness of His mercy to others, He makes them to stand for e●samples of that same mercy that they preach to others, that they might the more easily persuade others, & make them to come to seek mercy in jesus. This was the end why the Apostle Paul says. The Lord showed mercy on him who was a miserable wretch, and had called him to be an Apost. jesus Christ, says he showed on me all long suffering, unto the ensample of them which shall in time to come, believe in Him unto eternal life, 1 Tim. 1.16. Thus much concerning the person of Thomas, we come next, to the History of his incredulity, & first, to the occasion of it: the rest of the Apostles & Disciples who were assembled together in one, to whom the Lord jesus had manifested Himself, declares & preaches to Thomas the Resurrection of Christ, the cause of their preaching thereof to him was, because Thomas was absent, when the Lord appeared to the rest. What was the cause of his absence it is uncertain, neither will we curiously inquire, what it was. It may be, that after Christ His Master was apprehended, he kept himself close, & lurked secretly for fear of danger through the malice of the jews, and durst not manifest himself so soon, as the rest: or it may be, that he was entangled with his own private affairs, at that time when the rest met together, and were speaking of Christ, & His Resurrection from the dead. Always, what ever hath been the cause of his absence, we may perceive, that he was deprived of that grace and presence of the LORD, which the rest who were met together, found: Whereof we learn this lesson: That whosoever do absent themselves from the assembly of the LORDS Saints, from these holy meetings, whereinto the LORD hath promised His own blessed presence, they procure no small scathe and damage to themselves, they deprive themselves of some grace and comfort that the LORD ministers to them that meet together. What ever be the cause of thine absence, it cannot be but hurtful to thee, albeit all causes of absence be not alike hurtful: for if thou be absent by negligence, the less is thy danger and loss but if wilfully, and upon contempt thou absentest thyself▪ then not only deprivest thou thy s●lfe of grace and comfort, but also thou procurest the wrath of GOD upon thee, for the contempt of His blessed ordinance. Therefore if we would be partakers of the grace and blessing that the LORD hath promised to these holy assemblies, we should postpone our private adoes and the cares of the world, unto these Holy exercises, and we should embrace that counsel of our Saviour▪ Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, and His righteousness, and all other things shall be ministered unto you, Matth. Chapter 6. verse 33. The man that makes this his first and his chief care, to seek the Kingdom of God, when he hath gotten it, he will find by experience, that there is nothing necessary for the sustaining of this present life, that shall be inlaking to him. It is a foolish thing to be too careful for these worldly things: for if thou seekest first the Kingdom of Heaven, all these things will be caste● to thee.  
Now to come to the preaching of the rest of the Disciples to Thomas it is said, The other Disciples said unto him, We have seen the Lord: They preach to Thomas, the lords Resurrection: for the benefit they had received themselves in Thomas absence, they willingly communicate to him, they knew and they saw, that the Lord was risen, they tell this to Thomas: as they believed, so they wished and desired, that he should believe also. This Example of the Apostles we ought all to follow: When the Lord communicates any spiritual benefit to us, we should not keep it close to ourselves, but we should be careful to communicate it to the well of others. And thus doing we need not to fear that the grace shall be impaired and grow less: No, by the contrary, this communicating of the grace, and using of the talon, that the LORD hath given us, is the high, and ready way, to augment the grace, and to reap profit of the talon, that we have received. Albeit thou hast taken great pains, and spent much time with the loss of some worldly goods to attain to grace: yet that should not make thee the more sparing, in communicating it to others: It is the Lords will, that thou give it to others freely, cheerfully and liberally. Therefore try and examine, whether thou wilt be willing and careful to communicate to others the grace that God hath given thee: and if thou findest this, than thou hast a good conscience: and if thou findest it not, thou hast no matter of rejoicing, because thou dost not that which the LORD requires at thine hands.  
When the Disciples have informed Thomas, of the lords Resurrection, look how Thomas takes with it: What is his part? In a word, he believes not their report. His incredulity was very wonderful: for albeit he was compassed with such a cloud of witnesses, of faithful witnesses, of eye-seeing witnesses, yet he believes not. Apparently, every one of them who had seen the LORD, course by course, had told him of the lords Resurrection: and first, Marry Magdalene, who got this honour first, to see the LORD after His Resurrection, hath witnessed to Thomas, that she saw the LORD, and spoke with Him: Next, the other women, who did meet with Him, as they were returning from the grave, testifies the same: Thirdly, the two disciples who were going from jerusalem to Emmaus, informed him, that they did meet with Him in the way, & of the conference they had with Him: Fourthly, Peter, to whom also the Lord had appeared, strove to persuade him: and last, the whole number of the Apostles, and the faithful there assembled, testified with one voice, that they had seen Him, and spoken with Him: yet Thomas is nothing moved with all these speeches, their witnessing, makes not him to believe, he remains still in incredulity. This example of Thomas, tells us, that all the outward means that can be used, all the testimonies of the world, the testimonies of the most faithful, most godly, most wise, of the eye-witnesses, will not move the heart of a man to believe, will not persuade him of any point of doctrine necessary to Salvation, if there be no more. What then will make a man to believe? Nothing but the Spirit of JESUS CHRIST: it must be He, that must witness unto our hearts, what is the will of GOD, concerning us: it must be He, that must take away the vale, and illuminate our dark souls: it must be He, that must open our hearts, as He opened the heart of Lydia, and make us to believe. If this Holy Spirit of CHRIST, be not present, a man will not believe his own eyes, his own senses will not persuade him. We saw the truth of this before, in the rest of the Disciples, when the LORD stood in the mids of them, when they saw Him with their eyes, when they heard Him speak face to face, they believed not: While, as Luke says, the LORD opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, Luke Chapter 24. verse 45.  
This doctrine would be well marked, because it serves to decide a controversy, that this day is betwixt us and the Papists: The controversy and question, which is betwixt us and them, concerning the chief and principal witness and judge: First, of authentic Scripture: Next, of true interpretation of particular places of Scripture: that is, How shall a man know, that this Scripture that we have, and we read, and use daily, is the very word of GOD, and not the word of any creature: And again, How shall a man know, what is the true meaning of any particular place of Scripture, and whether this or that sense of the word, is to be received. The Papists affirm, that the chief and principal witness & judge both of the one or the other, is the Church: they say, that we could not be assured, that the Scripture is authentic, & that it is the very word of God, except the church affirm it so to be, & likewise they say, that we cannot be assured of the right meaning of any place of the Scripture, except it be by the testimony of the same Church: they teach, that we ought to believe, that the Scripture is the word of God, and that this or that is the true interpretation thereof, because the Church says so, & so they make the testimony of the Church, to be the chief, and almost the only Argument, that should move men, to believe, that the Scripture is authentic, and the word of God, and that this or that is the true and proper interpretation of any place of Scripture: for these are their common speeches, The Church is above the Scripture, the Church is of greater authority than the Scripture: without the authority of the Church, no man is obliged to believe, that the Scripture is th● word of God: the Church is the supreme judge of the right interpretation of the Scripture, & many such others. But by the contrary: We affirm, that the chief and principal judge, and witness, both of the Scripture, that is, the word of God, and also of the true interpretation of the Scripture, is the Holy Spirit, because He only is able to persuade men's hearts, He only is able so to testify, that: He can move them to believe, He only is able to open the understanding of men, to make them to understand and take up the right meaning of the Scripture. Then will the Papist object, Ye make the Spirit that is given to a private man, to be the judge, and witness of the authentic Scripture, and the interpretation thereof, and it is an absurd thing, to prefer the Spirit, speaking by the authority of any private man, to the authority of the Church: I answer, It follows not, that we make the Spirit of a private man, to be judge either of the one, or of the other, because we affirm that the Spirit, who is judge speaks in the Scripture, and by the Scripture: and by the Scripture, as by the most powerful and effectual mean, moves men to believe: and therefore, that this Spirit, who is judge, is not the Spirit of a private man, but the Spirit of the Scripture itself: for this Spirit by the Scripture, teaches us, that the Scripture is authentic, and that it is the word of God: and again, this same Spirit by the Scripture, teaches us, that this or that is the proper meaning of the Scripture, for the principal voice of the Holy Spirit, whereby He speaks to us, is the Scripture, which this day is to us in stead of the vine voice of God Himself, and aught to be esteemed, and embraced of us, as if God Himself spoke to us out of Heaven. As for the voice of the Church (when I speak of the Church, I mean not the Roman Church: for she is but an adulterous Church, and falsely claims to herself, the name of a Church, but I speak of the true Church militant) it is not the chief mean, whereby the Holy Spirit uses to persuade men, but it is an inferior mean, & of less importance than the Scripture, neither hath it that force, to make men to believe, that the Scripture hath. But to leave this, and to return to the incredulity of Thomas: not only, he believes not, but he utters great stubborness in refusing to believe, not only was he incredulous, but also malicious, neither did he believe, neither was he willing to believe: for he says, Except I see in His hands, the print of the nails, and put my finger in the print of the nails, and put mine hand into His side, I will not believe it: he would not believe, except he saw Him, except he saw His hands, and His feet, except he saw the print of the nails, where with His hands and His feet were pierced, and except he had put his hand in the wound of His side, which one of the soldiers had pierced with a spear. We may here see his stubborness and obstinacy, that was joined with his incredulity: incredulity is commonly accompanied with obstinacy, and stubborness, in such sort, that when the way is laid before us, and the door opened, whereby w●e may escape out of this bondage of sin, and thraldom of darkness, wherein we are kept captives, yet we refuse to go out of that bondage, and rather strives more and more to thrall ourselves to sin, and to hold ourselves in the bands of darkness. This contumacy and stubborness in sin, is that poison, and that gall of bitterness, that Satan hath spewed into the hearts of all the children of Adam, and this is that band of iniquity, whereby, as by a strong chain we are led bo●nd, as miserable caitiffs, unto eternal condemnation, except we be relieved from it, by the mercy of God in jesus Christ. Peter perceiving the impiety and devilish practices of Simon Magus▪ he takes up this to be the ground and fountain of all, when he says, I see, that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bands of iniquity. The Lord save us, and free us from this miserable bondage, wherein we are by nature, yet if we consider more narrowly the words of Thomas, we shall find, that not only was he incredulous, not only was he stubborn, but also proud and arrogant, and contemned and despised all the rest, in respect of himself, esteeming himself only to be wise, and the rest to be fools, scorning their witnessing, and report, as a fable, not worthy of credit, and a vain dream. An incredulous man, that believeth not the truth, is not only stubborn and obstinate in his incredulity, but also he swells in pride, and seems in his own conceit to be only wise, contemning others as fools: he will count the preaching of the Cross of Christ, and of His Resurrection, to be but plain folly: he will count them that believe the doctrine of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, to be fantastic, and doted fools: and yet in very deed, of all the fools of the world, they themselves are the greatest, although they be counted wonders in the world, for their natural wisdom.  
Therefore the Apostle says, in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, the third Chapter, and the eighteenth verse: If any man amongst you seem to be wise in this world, let him be a fool, that he may be wise: he says not: if any man among you be wise (for he that hath not the wisdom of God, and is not wise in Christ, he hath no wisdom, he is but a very fool) but he says, If any man seem to be wise, in this world, let him be a fool, that he may be wise: that is, let him renounce, and forsake all carnal and worldly wisdom, which is enmity against God, Rom. Chapter 8. verse 7. and can no more stand with the wisdom of GOD, than darkness with light, yet it would be marked, that Thomas says not simply and absolutely, that in no c●ce he would believe, that Christ was risen again, but he says, Except I see in His hands the print of the nails, etc. The words are conditional, importing, that in some case, and upon some conditions he would believe. There are two sorts of contumacy and stubborness in sin and unbelief: the one is conditional, and such was the unbelief of Thomas: the other sort is absolute, without any condition, when in no case, upon no cause nor warrant will believe: and of this sort was the sin and unbelief of the Priests and the Pharises: for when the soldiers that were appointed to keep and guard the sepulchre came in to the town, and told them, that JESUS CHRIST was risen out of the grave: not only did they not believe, but also they strove to keep themselves in such unbelief and hardness of heart, that in no case nor condition, they would suffer themselves to be reform, & so they detained the word of GOD, into unrighteousness. There is a great difference between these two sorts of unbelief: The first sort may obtain mercy, Thomas obtained mercy, the LORD pardoned his unbelief: The other sort, very hardly can obtain mercy, the Priests and the Pharises found no mercy, their unbelief was laid to their charge, the LORD forgave them not, but as they remained in unbelief, so they perished in their infidelity. The LORD save us from this cursed sin of unbelief and infidelity, and namely, from this absolute unbelief, that in no case will suffer reformation: for through process of time, it brings on this sin against the Holy Ghost, which never will be forgiven neither in this world, nor in the world to come. Now last, ere I leave these words of Thomas, we may see, what is the ground & fountain of this unbelief, obstinacy and pride of Thomas: the ground of all was, he leaned too much to his gross & bodily senses, to his seeing, feeling & handling, he makes his eyes & his hand to be the ground of his faith. Thomas, indeed, failed not in this, that he desired to see the Lord with his eyes, & to handle him with his hands: for ye heard before, how the Lord, by the sight of the eyes, & the feeling of Him with their hands, persuaded the Apostles of the certainty of His Resurrection, Luke 24.39. & likewise we see, that the Lord having regard to the infirmity of His own, pitying the weakness of their faith, daily in the Sacrament teaches them by the outward senses, as by the seeing & tasting & handling of the Elements. But herein Thomas sailed, that he addicted & tied himself so to his senses, to his sight, & to his handling, that he affirmed & professed plainly, except he saw him with his eyes, & handled him with his hands, he would never believe, that the Lord was risen again from the death, notwithstanding of the witnessing of so many, so godly, & so faithful persons, who every one after another, testified of the Lords Resurrection. Then mark it, Brothers: It is not unlawful for a man, to desire to see the Lord, even with his bodily eyes: No, that desire is lawful and acceptable to God: for all the Saints that ever have been since the beginning of the world, desired to see our LORD face to face: Many Kings and Prophets have desired to see Him, and yet saw Him not, Luke Chapter 10. verses 23.24. Abraham, the father of the faithful desired to see Him: and old Simeon, who got a revelation, that he should not departed, while he saw the LORD, earnestly waited and thirsted for to see Him, Luke 2 25. So that it is a lawful and acceptable thing, to desire to see the Lord.  
But in desiring to see Him, we must beware, that our faith be not so tied to the outward senses, that we refuse altogether, to believe, except we see the Lord with our eyes, and handle Him with our hands: No, I say more, thou must be so far from tying thy Faith to the outward senses, that thou must not tie it to the very inward feeling of the soul: thou must not say, except I ay feel, I will no wise believe: for albeit, that at all times thou have not a feeling, & findest not grace into thy soul, albeit thou findest not the Holy Spirit, who is the earnest penny of thy salvation, to be presently working within thee, and sealing up thine adoption: yet, thou art obliged to rely and depend upon the bare word, and naked promise of God, and so to seal in thy soul, that the Lord is true: for he hath made a very small progress in Faith, that will not trust in GOD, and depend upon His naked word, except ay he have some feeling of grace, of joy, of comfort, and of the Holy Ghost. The Saints of God many times, when they had no feeling, depended upon the word of promise, and waited upon the accomplishment of it. Job, when he felt not the Lords favour, but conceived that the Lord was angry with him, he says▪ Although thou slayest me, yet will I trust in thee, job 13.15. And Abraham, when he saw none appearance, that the Lords promise concerning his seed could be performed: yet it is said of him, That above Hope, he believed under Hope, Rom. 4.18 Likewise, David, when he was in great danger of his enemies, and saw little appearance of delivery, still trusted in God, and depended upon His promise: for he says, I will rejoice in God, because of His word, I trust in God, and will not fear what flesh can do unto me, Psal. 56.4. It may be, that the Lord exercise thee with the conscience of sin, and with the terrors of His wrath, in such sort, that thou findest no sense of grace, nor of His favour: yet in this case, despare not, but by the example of the Saints, learn to depend upon the word and promise of God, till thou findest the performance of it, to the comfort of thy soul.  
Now to go forward, and to end shortly: After that the Evangelist hath set down after this manner, as ye have heard, the history of the incredulity of Thomas▪ he comes to another appearing of the Lord, after His Resurrection, which is the sixth in number: for of five we have heard already, and this appearing, seems chief to be for Thomas cause. The time of this appearing is noted: It was eight days after: that is, from that day, in the which Thomas had plainly professed, that he would never believe, that the Lord was risen, except that both he saw Him, and felt Him, and His wounds: and it was the eight day likewise after the Lord's Resurrection: for the former five appearings of the Lord, whereof we have already spoken, were all upon the first day, in the which the Lord rose from the dead. So, ye see, that Thomas (the space of whole eight days interueening) remained in incredulity & unbelief. This example of Thomas, let's us see, what is the disposition of the soul of a man, after he hath committed a sin against the Majesty of God, after he hath once sinned, he is wrapped up in a senseless security, he sleeps sound in his sin, there is a vale casten over the eyes of his soul, that he cannot see sin in its own colour, he cannot consider the way wherein he is walking, nor the judgement which he is drawing on his own head. Whereupon it falls out, that he proceeds from sin to sin, and either he falls over again in that same sin, which before he hath committed, or in some other sin. We have a proof of this, in the person of Peter: for after that once he had denied his Master, he slept in a senseless security, he made little account of the great sin he had committed: whereupon it came to pass, that soon after he falls over again in the same sin of denying of the Lord: and alitle after being demanded, he denies Him the third time, and if he had been oftener demanded, no doubt, but he would have denied Him oftener, if the Lord had not looked upon him favourably. The like also we see in David, albeit otherwise a man after Gods own heart, after that he had committed that foul adultery, with Bathsheba, the wife of Vriah, he is twitched with a grief or remorse, but lies still sleeping securely in sin, and so from adultery with Bathsheba, he falls in abominable murder of Vriah, her husband, and after this, he continued for a long season, as it were benumbed, and without a sense of his sin, or fear of judgement: and as all sorts of sin leave some senselessness and induration in the heart, so chief, stubborness and contumacy, in not believing the known truth of God, brings greatest senselessness and induration. An example of this: Paul lets us see in the Gentiles, who followed not that light, that the Lord had left in nature, and which the Lord show to them in the works of His creation, that they might glorify God, but repined against it: and therefore says the Apostle, As they regarded not to acknowledge God, even so God delivered them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which were not convenient, Rom. 1.28. Because they would not glorify God, as became them to do, there was such a dimness in their eyes, such senselessness and blindness overtook them, that they regarded not to do the things that were most unnatural▪ They passed all feeling, and gave themselves over unto wantonness, to work all uncleanness even with greediness, Eph. 4.19. And they had their consciences burned as it were, with an hot iron, 1. Timoth. 4.2. It is a dangerous thing, once to fall in sin: for if the Lord leave thee to thyself, thou shalt never stay, while thou r●nne headlong to destruction. Therefore pray continually, that the Lord would look favourably upon thee, and that He would lay hold on thee, that thou fall not away from Him: and if thou have fallen, that He would put out His hand, and draw thee to Him again, that thou mayest return, and be saved.  
Thus for the time of the sixth appearing of the Lord: now He appears after the same manner, that He had appeared to the Disciples before: For the Disciples being within, and Thomas with them, jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the mids. Of this manner of appearing, we have spoken at length before: & therefore we will speak no more of it: When He is come in among them, He uses that same form of salutation, which He used before: for He said, Peace be unto you. We pass by this salutation also, because we have spoken of it already: No question, it was a very effectual & powerful salutation: because He that wished peace unto them, was the author of peace. Only one thing I shall mark, and so I shall end: I see, there is nothing that is able to waken the soul of a sinner, that is lying sleeping in sin, and wrapped up in a senseless security, but only the gracious presence of the Lord jesus. What was it that wakened Peter, when he had thrice denied his Master? It is said, The Lord turned back, and looked upon Peter, whereupon, immediately his heart smote him, and he went out, and wept bitterly, Luke 22.61▪ 62. How was David wakened, when he had long lain in his sin, without any remorse? How, but by the favour of jesus Christ, the Son of God, who pitied Him, and sent His Prophet Nathan unto him,: for this ye must understand, that all the Prophets, which spoke of old to the Fathers, were sent immediately by jesus Christ, and spoke by His Spirit, 1. Pet. 1.11. and 3.19. And what was it that wakened Thomas out of his security? What moved him that was so obstinate in his incredulity to believe? What, but the gracious presence of Christ? for except that mercy of God in jesus Christ, waken us out of security, all the judgements of God, that ever He hath powered out upon any from the beginning, will not move us, the most fearful and terrible examples of His wrath upon others, will not waken us. judas lets us see the proof of this in his Epistle, when he tells that they who turned the grace of God into wantonness, were not moved to abstain from sin, by the example of that fearful and terrible judgement of God, which overtook Sodom and Gomorrhe, and the cities about them, but that they likewise, notwithstanding of these great judgements, continued in the like sins, and defiled the flesh, Jude 7, 8. Then, seeing, we are naturally sleeping in sin, and none outward thing in the world, no judgement, neither temporal nor spiritual seizing on us, in never so high a measure, can be able to waken us. Let us pray earnestly, that the LORD would prevent us with His own gracious presence, that we sleep not, while death oppress us. The Lord make every one of us, to find this presence of the LORD jesus. To whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all praise, and honour, for evermore. AMEN.   

THE XLVII. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  LUKE CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 27 After said He to Thomas, Put thy finger here, and see Mine hands, and put forth thine hand, and put it into my side, and be not faithless, but faithful.  
verse 28 Then Thomas said unto Him, Thou art my Lord and my God.  
verse 29 jesus said unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou believest: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.  
verse 30 And many other signs also did jesus in the presence of His Disciples, which are not written in this book.  
verse 31 But these things are written, that ye might believe, that jesus is that Christ, that Son of God, and that in believing ye might have life through His Name.  
AFTER that we had spoken at length (Well beloved in Christ) of the first five appearings of the Lord after His Resurrection: we began the last day, to speak of this sixth appearing, the occasion whereof was premitted by the Evangelist John, to wit, the absence of Thomas from the rest of the Apostles, when the Lord appeared unto them, and his great incredulity when they told him, for notwithstanding that many faithful witnesses testified unto him, that the Lord was risen, and had appeared unto them, that they saw Him with their eyes, heard Him with their ears, and handled Him with their hands: yet such was the incredulity of Thomas, that he professed plainly, that in no case he would believe, except he saw in His hands the print of the nails, and put his finger in the print of the nails, and put his hand into His side. To remedy this incredulity of Thomas, the Lord appears now the sixth time, eight days after His former appearings, when His disciples were met together, and Thomas with them, jesus came the doors being shut, and stood in the mids of them, and saluted them after the accustomed manner, saying unto them, Peace be unto you.  
Now in these words which we have presently read, we have the lords conference with Thomas, first: Next, in the last words of the Chapter, the Evangelist meets men's curiosity, affirming, albeit all things that jesus did, were not written in this Gospel, yet it was not unperfect: because all things were written that were necessary to life and salvation. In the conference that the Lord hath with Thomas, He meets him not roughly, and rigorously, as his incredulity had justly deserved, but with lenity and meekness, He endeavoureth to make him to believe, by granting him his desire. Thomas had plainly professed, that except he saw the print of the nails, and put his hand into His side, he would not believe: therefore the Lord says, now, Thomas, Put thy finger here, and see Mine hands, and put forth thine hand, and put it in My side, and be no more faithless, but faithful. See the gentleness of the LORD, and how lovingly He speaks to him: Thomas was not only incredulous, but also he was stubborn, obstinate, proud and arrogant, he counted others fools, that believed, he professed, that in no case he would believe, without seeing and feeling of the lords wounds.  
Now the LORD grants this to Thomas which he desired, albeit he was unworthy of it: yea, the LORD invites him, and lovingly bids him put his hand in the print of the nails, and in His side: for the LORD speaks not this in bitterness and tauntingly to Thomas: for the words that He subjoins, Be not faithless, but faithful, testify, that He spoke of love, and in lenity to Thomas, to make him to believe.  
It is true, indeed, the words contain a sort of reproof and rebuking of Thomas for his incredulity, but this reproof is so tempered, and seasoned with such lenity, and meekness, that scarcely can it be perceived and taken up. This dealing of the LORD with Thomas, let's us see, how great is the mercy, gentleness and long suffering of the LORD JESUS towards sinners, whose sins deserve nothing but wrath & judgement: such is His mercy and meekness towards sinners, that to the end He might please us: Paul says, Rom. 15.3. He would not please Himself: He suffered shame & ignominy for us, He suffered dolour & pains for us, He died for us, and after He rose, He spared no travel to make the Apostles believe: sundry times did He appear to them, & now He appears for Thomas cause, albeit he had run very far in the course of infidelity, & stubborness, yet He strives by granting him his desi●e, to persuade him, and make him to believe. The Lord's gentleness and long suffering is very great towards all men▪ even the very reprobate themselves, who refuse the riches of His bountifulness, and patience, and long suffering▪ not knowing that the bountifulness of GOD, leadeth them to repentance▪ Rom Chapter 2 verse 4. For as Paul says, He suffereth with long patience, the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, Rom. Chapter 9 verse 22.  
But it is greater towards his own, in whom He sees some spunk of grace to be: for albeit He find it to be very small, and heavily oppressed, and smothered down by the corruption of our flesh, and of our cankered nature, yet He endeavours to cherish and entertain it: for He breaks not the bruised reed, my quench the smooking flax, Esay 42.3. Matth. 12.20 But, Brethren, it serves for no purpose, to speak of this gentleness and bountifulness of the Lord, except we have a sense and feeling of it in our own souls, and except we taste how sweet and bountiful the Lord is: for no words can express it, no words can persuade a man of it, except he find the proof and sense of it in his own soul. The Lord work a feeling of it in every one of our hearts, that we may speak of it with the greater assurance & persuasion. But there may be a question moved here: The desire of Thomas seems to be unlawful and unreasonable, why then should the Lord have granted it to him? How stands this with His justice? How agrees this with that unchangeable Nature of GOD in Christ? To this I answer: That Thomas failed not in this, that he desired to see the Lord: for that is the desire of all the Saints, but in this he failed, as we heard before, that he tied his faith so precisely to his outward senses, to seeing, and handling, that he professed that no wise he would believe, except he saw the Lord, and felt Him: yet no question, he had in the mean time some spiritual desire to see the Lord, and he had a true and sincere love towards the Lord. This loving dealing of the Lord with Thomas teaches us this comfortable lesson: The Lord marks not narrowly the infirmities and wants that are in His own, He looks not narrowly to the weakness of their Faith, to the imperfections & wants of their prayers and requests (for their prayers are full of wants and imperfections) but He passes by their imperfections, He oversees their infirmities, and misknowes the corruption wherein their Faith, their prayers and desires are involved and overclad, and He hath a regard to their Faith, albeit they have it in never so small a measure: for the Lord knows the meaning of His own Spirit, even then when He is wrestling into us against an innumerable number of our infirmities, sins and corruptions. Happy is that soul that hath a spunk of true Faith: for the Lord will regard it, and oversee many infirmities and imperfections in him.  
Thus far of the Lords speech to Thomas: Now follows the answer of Thomas unto the Lord: Thomas meets Him with a notable confession: Thou art my Lord, and my God. The Text makes no particular mention, whether or not Thomas put his finger in the print of His wounds, and his hand in His side, when the Lord bade him. If so he did, and would none otherwise believe, then surely he hath been very hard of heart, impudent and obstinate, who would not believe when he saw the Lord with his eyes, and heard Him speaking to him. But it is more probable, and I am of that judgement, that so soon as Thomas saw the Lord, and heard Him speaking, that he was ashamed of his incredulity, & he came to himself, & bethought himself, for it is a wonder to see, how soon the soul of the most obstinate and endured man will be turned, when it pleases the Lord to be effectual in it by His presence. The rest of the Apostles believed not so soon as they saw the Lord, & heard His voice, albeit their incredulity was not so great as was the incredulity of Thomas: yet when it pleased the Lord to open their eyes, and to illuminate their understanding, they believed. And Thomas who by many degrees surpassed all the rest in incredulity, after that once he saw the Lord, and heard Him, incontinently he believed, and gave a notable confession of Him. Then mark it, Brethren, Faith depends not on ourselves, on the strength of our nature, on the free will of man, or upon such & such disposition of the soul, but it depends upon the free mercy and good pleasure of God: It is not in him that willeth, nor in him that runneth, but in GOD that showeth mercy, Rom. Chapter 9 verse 16. Therefore▪ when we see any belief in CHRIST, let us ever give the praise thereof to GOD, and not to the man, as if it were of his natural strength power, and inclination.  
But let us consider this confession of Thomas, and the grounds whereupon it arises, he says, Thou art my LORD and my GOD. This confession that he gives of the LORD, proceeds from a clear light, whereby his mind was suddenly illuminated, and that by the powerful and effectual presence of the LORD, his mind was first illuminated to see CHRIST to be the LORD, as He is man: for CHRIST, as He is man, is LORD over all, thereafter to see Christ as He is GOD, for by the vail of the flesh, and of the nature of man He is led in, and gets access to see the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in Him bodily: Next this confession proceeds from the apprehension of the heart, whereby it felt the Lord, and took hold of Him: for as that clear light shined in his mind, so also the heart of Thomas was opened to embrace the Lord, and to draw Him in to himself: and therefore he calls Him not simply Lord, but my Lord, he styles Him not simply God, but my God. For no question this plain and clear confession testifies, that there was a clear illumination in the mind, and a full persuasion in the heart of Thomas of that which he confessed.  
If we compare Thomas with the rest of the Apostles, we will find, that as he surpassed them far in unbelief, so he surpasses them far in believing and confessing of the LORD: for such a confession hath not been hitherto uttered by any of the Disciples: so that in this example we may see verified that common saying, The last shall be first, and the first shall be last. The rest of the Apostles were before Thomas in Faith, they believed before him, but now Thomas by a sudden change, runs out before them, he hath a clearer sight, and a greater measure of Faith than they had.  
The rest of the Apostles had the Holy Spirit given them, and that strengthened their Faith, but Thomas who then was absent, after that once he see, and hear the Lord, he finds such a clear and marvelous light in his soul, that he utters a more glorious and notable confession than any of the rest had done before: And this likewise teaches us to ascribe the praise of all the benefits and graces that is in man, to the grace and mercy of GOD, who distributes to every man, according to the good pleasure of His will, that which He thinks meet: for as was said before, It is not in him that runneth, nor in him that willeth, but in God that showeth mercy.  
This sudden change and notable confession which Thomas gives of the LORD, teaches us yet further, that there was some sponkes of grace, and of spiritual desire left into the soul of Thomas to see the LORD, and to enjoy His presence: for except there had been some piece of desire to have seen Him, how could he upon a suddenty have embraced Him so willingly, and joyfully, as one long desired and looked for. For the words of Thomas import, first, that he had great sorrow and sadness in His soul, because as he thought he had lost the LORD: Next, that he had a desire to find Him, and to see Him again: And thirdly, that he had an exceeding great joy when he found Him, and by his expectation saw Him, and enjoyed His presence. This serves for thy comfort, who hast gotten a measure of grace, albeit the corruptions and infirmities of the flesh strive to drown, and smother and suffocate it, yet never shall it altogether be abolished and extinguished, but at last, it shall wrestle out, and prevail, and overcome the corruption.  
Now, to come forward to the lords reply, to Thomas: He answers him, Thomas, because thou hast seen, thou believest, blessed are they which have not seen, and have believed. He says not, because thou hast touched Me, but because thou hast seen Me. So in my judgement Thomas touched not the Lord, but contented himself with the seeing of the LORD, and hearing of His voice. He acknowledges the Faith of Thomas, but He extetenuates it in comparison of others, He praises not Thomas for His Faith, because he tied his faith to his senses, He believed because he saw Him, but He praises and commends the Faith of others, who no counting of the outward sense, should believe in Him, albeit they saw Him not. Albeit He acknowledges the Faith of Thomas, He calls him not blessed for it, but He pronounces them to be blessed, who have not seen Him, and yet do believe.  
These words of the LORD to Thomas, let's us see, that the case and condition of them who believe without seeing, is nothing worse, nor inferior to the case and condition of them who have not seen the LORD, and upon sight have believed. We this day who have not seen the LORD face to face, but only have heard His word, and believe, are nothing inferior to them who saw Him, and believed, and namely to Thomas who would not believe, except he saw the LORD: and if there were no more, to assure thee who hast not seen the LORD JESUS, and yet believest, that thou art blessed this joy that thou shalt find in the mids of thy greatest sorrow and affliction, might be a sufficient argument, to persuade thee: for Peter says, The Godly in the mids of their affliction, believing in Christ whom they have not seen, rejoice with a joy unspeakable and glorious, 1. Pet. Chapter 1. verse 8. Indeed in this life, the blessed estate of them, who believe in Christ, is neither clearly seen by others, neither is it thoroughly felt by themselves, for it is not seen what we shall be, and here only have we the first fruits of the Spirit, and a foretasting of these things that shall be revealed, but in that great day, when our LORD shall appear, then shall it be seen, how blessed the estate of them shall be, who believed: for then when we see Him as He is, we shall be like to Him in glory. The world counts them who believe in Christ jesus, to be vile and contemptible bodies, but one day they shall see their happiness, & their glory, to their shame and confusion. But here it may be asked: What moves the Lord so highly to commend the Faith of them, who believe, and yet see not? What can be the cause of this? I answer: The reason is, because Faith without sight is more hardly obtained than Faith by sight. The man that believes without sight, he must overcome many more impediments and temptations than the other, who believes that which he sees, and this is commonly true, that which is obtained most hardly, and acquired with greatest difficulty, is most precious, most excellent, and most worthy of praise: and so this Faith that wants sight, is far to be preferred & more praise worthy than the other: for it is sundry ways tried and fined, before it appear, 1. Pet. 1.7.  
Now to go forward: The Evangelist in the end of the Chapter, by the way meets some things which curious men might have objected: First they might have asked: Whether if all the miracles which the Lord jesus wrought, while He was in the world were set down in write, and extant in the Gospel written by him. john answers: No, they are not all written: for he says: Many other signs also did jesus in the presence of His Disciples, which are not written in this Book. They might have said again to john: then by appearance this evangel that thou hast written is not perfect, but unperfect? To this he answers? My Gospel is perfect enough, because all things are written that are necessary to Faith and Salvation. These words are casten in only by the way in this History of the Resurrection: for albeit he seems to break off the History of the Resurrection of CHRIST, and to conclude in a manner the whole Gospel, yet he returns again to the same History of the Resurrection in the Chapter following, and in the end thereof he concludes the whole Gospel almost in these same words that are set down here. But to return and to speak of the miracles, whereof john speaks here: he says, Many other signs and Miracles wrought the LORD, which are not written in this book. Then it may be asked? Wherefore are they not written? Were they unprofitable? Serves the knowledge of them to no use? To this I answer: That these miracles were profitable and steadable to confirm and strengthen the faith of them, who lived in that age, and saw them done: yea further, they are also steadable to the faith of them, who lived in the ages following: for when we read and hear, that there was such a great multitude of miracles wrought by the Lord, albeit we know not distinctly and particularly what they were, that serves very much to strengthen and confirm our Faith, so that we see these miracles which are not written, are not left out of write, as though they were unprofitable, and as though they served for no use, or were unworthy to be remembered? No, they were profitable and worthy, but they are left out, because the miracles set down in write by john, and the rest of the Evangelists, which indeed are very many, are sufficient to Faith and Salvation. But because the Evangelist sets down in this place, the end of the miracles that the Lord wrought: therefore we shall speak more largely of them.  
CHRIST, when He came into the world, was many ways marvelous: and therefore amongst many other glorious styles, He gets this also, to be called wonderful, Isaiah Chapter 9 verse 6. For first, if we look to His person, He was wonderful: for He was GOD and man in one person, the like whereof, never was, nor never shall be. Next, if we look to the doctrine which He brought out of Heaven, and to the word which He preached to the world, He was wonderful: for wonderful was the light of His doctrine: whereby He brought a marvelous light to the dark world, and this made the officers to say to the High Priests: Never man spoke like this man, joh. Chapter 7. verse 46. and in the 7. Chapter of the evangel of Matth. verse 29. He teached them as one having authority, and not as the Scribes: Last, if we consider the things that He did, and the wonders that He wrought in the world: He was wonderful, for they declared plainly, that He was not only a man, a creature, but that He was God, the great Creator, and that Eternal JEHOVAH. And these miracles served to confirm His doctrine: for the doctrine and the word of the Gospel preached by CHRIST, served to work and beget Faith in the heart, but the miracles served to confirm the doctrine, & the word which He preached: for they were steadable either to prepare the hearts of men to receive the word and doctrine of the Lord, or else to confirm them in that word which they had reeceived already. Now both the word and doctrine of Christ, and also His Miracles are set down and left in register to us, by the special will & direction of Christ, to the well of them that were to live in the ages to come, that they might believe, & get life and salvation: and therefore this written word & doctrine should be received by us, as the vive voice of Christ Himself, and we should count no less of it, than if we heard Christ Himself speaking to us, with His own mouth, and likewise we should count of the miracles written in the Gospel, as if we had seen the Lord jesus working them before our eyes: and therefore now in our age, we need not any new miracles, to confirm of new again, the doctrine of Christ, and His Apostles. Indeed miracles were very necessary to them that lived in the Primitive Church, when the Gospel was first preached, and when it appeared unto the world to be a new doctrine, & when the Church was in her infancy, than miracles were very needful: but now, seeing the doctrine of Christ, and His Apostles is sufficiently confirmed already by all these miracles, that were wrought in these days by Christ, & His Apostles, we need no miracles. Why should we desire them, except we thought, that the doctrine is not yet sufficiently confirmed, and as yet is but a new doctrine. If we think, that it is the same doctrine, which Christ and His Apostles taught, it needs no new confirmation. Many vain and fantastic men, but especially the Papists this day are not content with the Miracles that have been wrought by the Lord jesus, & His Apostles, to confirm the doctrine of the Gospel, but they crave new miracles to confirm the doctrine of the Gospel, as if it were not sufficiently confirmed already. But, I say unto thee, Vain man, go seek miracles as thou wilt, and as long as thou wilt, never shalt thou get any other true miracle from God, except only this miraculous and wonderful effect that the Gospel works, in bringing forth in our hearts this true and justifying Faith in renewing us, and in beginning that life eternal in our souls: for the faithful find by experience, that this Gospel of Christ, is the power of God unto salvation to them that believe. If thou be not content with this marvelous, effect, but wilt go on to seek outward signs and miracles, thou declarest plainly to the world, that thou never didst find this powerful effect of the Gospel into thy soul, and if thou findest not this powerful effect to be wrought into thy soul by the preaching of the word, and by the miracles that were wrought by the Lord jesus, and His Apostles, thou wilt never believe, albeit thou sawest ten thousand new miracles wrought before thine eyes. Now, we told you before, that both the word and doctrine, and likewise the miracles were written by the special will, & direction of Christ, but there is a difference between their writing: for all the doctrine of Christ that is necessary to life and salvation in substance, not so much as a sentence excepted, is set down in write, the Holy Spirit He omitted nothing. But all the miracles that the Lord wrought are not set down in write: for it was necessary for our Faith, that the substance of the whole doctrine should be set down in write, but it was not necessary for our Faith, that all the miracles which He wrought, should be written. Our Faith required the one, but our Faith required not the other: for the Lord in writing and registrating of His word, and miracles had not respect unto the curiosity of vain man, which is unsatiable, and can never be satisfied, but He had regard to the Faith and Salvation of man: and therefore He set down these things in write, which were sufficient and necessary for Faith and Salvation. Our Faith and Salvation was the rule and measure of the Lords revelation, and not the curiosity of vain man: Now, if all things are written that are necessary to life and Salvation, than thou who is not content with these things, but seekest other things, and claims unto unwritten verities, which are the fantasies of men's brain, and cry for new miracles, What can any man think that that thou art doing, but seeking something above and beyond eternal Life and Salvation, thou seekest but fantasies, that thine own head conceiteth▪ Indeed, vain Papist, if thine understanding were capable, and if thy faith were able to comprehend all these things, all the doctrine and miracles that are written in the Old and New Testament, thou wouldst have some show of reason to require more, to claim to unwritten verities, and to desire more miracles, and I would the more willingly give thee leave to require them. But, seeing such is the weakness and infirmity of thy Faith, and understanding, that thou art not able to comprehend these same things that are written, which far surpasses the capacity and understanding of man, why shouldest thou, miserable wretch, devise other things to thyself? Why goest thou about to clout and clamp to the word of God (which so long as we live in this world, we are not able fully to attain to) the dreams and fantasies which thou hast forged in thine own brain.  
Now to end shortly: The Evangelist in setting down the end wherefore these miracles were left in write which is, that we might believe in Christ, and get life through Him, lets us see, what are the things that chief we ought to believe of Christ, These things, says he, are written, that ye might believe that Christ is that Son of God. These words comprehend summarily the substance of all these things, that are necessary to be believed of jesus: we must believe in jesus, even that jesus, who was borne of the Virgin Marie, who walked in judea, and was conversant among the Jews. And what must we believe of Him? These words tell us, we must believe two things of Him: First, that He is, That Christ: Next, that He is, That Son of God. The first respecteth His office, the next respecteth His person: By reason of His office, He is called That Christ, because He is anointed of God the Father, to be our King, Priest and Prophet: for these three sorts of persons, Kings, Priests and Prophets, used to be anointed in the Old Testament: In respect of His person, we must believe that He is That Son of God: for as Christ is GOD, and the Son of GOD, properly He is a person, even the second person of the Trinity. The nature of man that He assumed, makes not up a part of His person, but was only assumed to the divine person, and was so straightly conjoined and united to the person of the Son, that whole Christ, GOD and man is called but one person.  
Now, look what benefit we receive by believing these things of jesus: He says, In believing we have life through His Name: How comes this, that Faith in jesus we get life? First, we fly as it were, & mount above, while we come unto CHRIST and take hold of Him: For where the Carioun is, thither will the eagle's resort: Next, when we have honoured Him so, that we count nothing of ourselves, while we rest in Him by Faith, then through our Faith as a conduit He convoys life into our souls, and that not an evanishing life, but Eternal life, and this life is the life of God. So this life th●t we live here by Faith, flows first from the Son of God, and from jesus, as He is God, than it comes to us from the Son of God, as He is Christ, and anointed our King, Priest and Prophet, for first, as He was anointed to be our Priest by His death and sacrifice upon the Cross, He merited life unto us: thereafter, as He was anointed to be our King, and Prophet, He applies powerfully and effectually unto us the benefits, which as our Priest He merited unto us by His death: for as He is our Prophet, He applies them to us by His teaching, & as He is our King, He appliets them to us by working powerfully and effectually into us by His Spirit. Now we see, what we ought to believe of jesus, & what gain we receive by this Faith: the gain is very great, but the means to come by it, lies not in our hands, we are not able by our own free will, or by the strength of Nature to believe, flesh and blood cannot teach us this Faith: for as it is true which Paul says, No man can say, that jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost, 1. Cor. Chapter 12. verse 3. So none can believe, that jesus is that Christ and that Son of GOD, but by the same Holy Ghost, as the LORD Himself told Peter, after that He had confessed that He was the CHRIST, the Son of the living GOD: for He says unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon the son of jona▪ for neither flesh nor blood hath revealed that unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven, Matth. Chapter 16. verse 17. And therefore we must crave continually of the LORD, that He would vouchsafe His Spirit on us, to work Faith in our souls, that believing in JESUS CHRIST, we may get life and Salvation through Him: To whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and praise, for evermore.  
AMEN.   

THE XLVIII. LECTURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XXI. 
AFter these things, Jesus showed Himself again to His Disciples at the sea of Tiberias: and thus showed He Himself:  
verse 2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, which is called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedeus, and two other of His disciples.  
verse 3 Simon Peter said unto Him, I go a fishing. They said unto him, We also will go with thee. They went their way, and entered into a ship straightway, and that night caught they nothing.  
verse 4 But when the morning was now come, jesus stood on the shore: nevertheless the Disciples knew not that it was Jesus.  
verse 5 jesus than said unto them, Sirs, have ye any meat? They answered Him, No.  
verse 6 Then He said unto them, Cast out the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. So they cast out, and they were not able at all to draw it, for the multitude of fishes.  
verse 7 Therefore said the Disciple whom jesus loved, unto Peter, It is the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girded his coat to him (for he was naked) and cast himself into the sea.  
WE continue as yet, Brethren, Beloved in Christ, in the History of Christ's appearings, after His Resurrection, whereof, this which we have set down in the beginning of the 21. Chapter of john, is the seventh, if we reckon precisely all the particular appearings, whereof any mention is made in the Gospel: But if we count only the appearings unto His Apostles assembled together, this is the third in number, as the Evangelist himself hereafter tells. In the first two appearings He manifested Himself unto the eleven being assembled together in an house, the doors being closed, only Thomas was absent in the first appearing, now here He appears only unto seven, being together, not in an house, but without at the fishing. As concerning the particular time of this appearing, what day it was from the first day of His Resurrection, or how many days it was from His last appearing unto them, it is not particularly set down: and therefore we will pass by it, but the Evangelist marks particularly the place of this appearing: for he says, jesus showed Himself again at the sea of Tiberias, which sea is otherwise called the sea of Gennesareth, for according to the accustomable form of speaking among the jews, a lake is called the Sea. Before we come to the rest of the circumstances of this appearing, it is expedient, that we answer to a question that may be moved: It may be asked, What is the cause that the Lord appeared so oft times unto His Disciples, and so many ways? Had it not been enough that He had appeared to them once or twice? What needed there any more appearings? To this answer: There are many great and weighty causes, wherefore the Lord so oft times appeared, and first: because Faith in the Resurrection from the dead, is a thing very hardly and with great difficulty is obtained: for among all the Articles of Faith there is none more contrary to Nature, none appears to be more uncredible: therefore the Lord, that He might assure them that He was risen, and that they who are in Him, one day shall rise again, He appeared so oft times after His Resurrection. Next, He appeared so of● to His Disciples, because they were to be the first witnesses of His Resurrection to the world: and therefore, they needed oft times to see the Lord, to have heard, to have handled Him, and been conversant with Him, they needed all sorts of helps to their Faith, that they might have full assurance themselves, that the Lord was risen, to the end, that with the greater assurance, and with a full persuasion, as the Apostle speaks of himself, 1. Thess. 1.5 They might testify of that Resurrection both by vive voice, and by writing unto others, even to the coming of the Lord Himself, & indeed so it came to pass: for because He appeared and revealed Himself so oft times to them: therefore they had exceeding great liberty and boldness, both in their speaking, and writing: for the frequent seeing of Him, hearing of Him, speaking and conversing with Him, made them to have a full persuasion, and this full persuasion made them to have great liberty & freedom: for he that hath not a full persuasion in his own heart, should not take upon him to be a witness and preacher of the graces and benefits of God to others, neither will he ever be able to speak of them with freedom, to move others to believe. Thirdly, He appeared so oft unto His Apostles, not for their caus● only, but for our cause also, who should live in the ages to come: He had respect unto the weakness of our Faith: for every particular appearing of Christ, serves to help and further something our Faith, our Faith degree by degree is helped by every one of them, and all His appearings being joined together, are a sure and steadfast ground to our Faith to repose upon, they serve to consummate our Faith, and to bring it to a full perfection: for when we hear or read, that our Lord appeared at any time to His Disciples, we should think, and settle this in our mind, that when He appeared unto them, He appeared unto us, when they saw Him, we saw Him: when we read, that the Lord appeared unto Peter, I should think that He appeared unto me: when john and the rest of the Apostles saw Him with their eyes. I should so esteem, that I saw Him with mine eyes, and whensoever they saw Him, I should lay my count, that I saw Him: for when that Peter says, That with his eyes he saw His Majesty, 2. Pet. 1.16. he points out Christ as it were with his finger, to be seen with mine eyes. When Paul says, That the Lord was seen of him after His Resurrection, 1. Cor. 15.8. he points out the Lord to be seen by me. When john says, We declare unto you that which we have heard, which we have seen with these our eyes, which we have looked upon, & these hands of ours have handled of that word of life, 1. joh. 1.1. he sets the Lord as it were, before my face, that I may see Him with mine eyes▪ I may hear Him with mine ears, and may handle Him with mine hands, To the end that my joy may be full, as he speaks there, verse 4. And therefore, thou who art a faithful Christian, hast cause to rejoice, that the LORD so oft times appeared to His Disciples: for it was for thy cause, for the helping and confirming of thy weak Faith, that He appeared so oft, that so thy joy may be the more full. Now I go forward unto the circumstance of the persons to whom the Lord appeared: There were seven of the Disciples gathered together, for he says, There were together, Simon Peter, and Thomas, who was called Didimus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the two sons of Zebedeus, and two other Disciples. No question it was not by fortune, or chance, or rashly, that so many of the Disciples met together at this time: but it was by the determinate counsel and providence of GOD that they were assembled together, to the end that he might manifest and exhibit himself unto them, being assembled together.  
When the Lord hath a purpose to communicate his graces and benefits in a great measure, he uses commonly to call together a number of his own in one place, that he may communicate his graces the more liberally unto them, being assembled together: for he gives not his great graces, nor vouchsafeth not his glorious presence so much to private persons alone, as he does to a company of the Saints assembled together, it is to them chiefly that he manifestes himself. When the Lord was purposed to bestow the holy Spirit, what does he? he gathers the whole number of the Apostles together in one place, upon the day of the Pentecoste, and then he sends upon them all, the holy Spirit, in the form of fiery and cloven tongues (as we read in the second Chapter of the Acts, and the third verse.) Our own experience may be a sufficient proof unto us of this, for when find we the Spirit of God to work most powerfully, and the graces of God most abundantly to be bestowed upon us? not when we are ourself alone, but when we are assembled together with the Saints to exercise the means of grace, to hear the word, to offer up our prayers together unto God, and to be partakers of the Sacraments: And therefore, if thou wouldst have the Spirit of GOD present with thee, and look for any grace, despise not the fellowship, contemn not the assembly of the lords Saints. Now amongst the rest that are here counted out, we see Thomas is reckoned to be one: The first time that the Lord appeared to his Disciples, assembled together, the door being shut, THOMAS was not present: but the second time that the LORD appeared unto them, he was present with them. Now in this third appearing of the Lord to his Disciples, he is also present with them. This example of THOMAS letteth us see that a man, who is gone astray, and hath wandered out of the way, after that once the Lord mercifully takes him by the hand, and sets him in the way of grace, that he will be careful constantly to walk into that way with the rest of the faithful, who are walking in that way, he will be loath to separate himself from their society, after that once the Lord begins freely to give grace, He ceases never to heap grace upon grace, while grace be crowned with glory: for it is true, that the Apostle says, That He who hath begun the good work in us, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ, Phil. 1.6. And our Saviour says, To every man that hath, it shall be given, and he shall have abundance. So happy is the man in whom the Lord hath once begun to work, for He will never leave him, while He perform His work in him.  
Now, when they are met together, what is their exercise: They go to the fishing, the occasion of this exercise comes of Peter, he purposed to separate himself from the rest: and therefore he says unto them, I go a fishing: The rest cannot be content to sunder from him, but they offer their company to him, and they say: We also will go with thee. What made Thomas, and the rest of the Disciples so unwillingly to sunder from Peter, and what made every one of them so desirous to enjoy the company of another? Was this by chance or fortoun? No, but it was by the special providence of GOD, that same providence that before gathered them together, now keeps and retains them together, in such sort, that albeit some of them were of purpose to have sundered themselves from the rest, yet the rest will not sunder from them. The Lord will keep them together, that He may communicate unto them such grace as He would not bestow upon them being sundered one from another. He shows Himself, & He vouchsafes His presence in them to their exceeding joy and comfort, being now together, whereas if they had been separated, if Peter had gone one way, & Thomas another, and the rest the third, it is not likely, that the Lord would have manifested Himself unto them. But how is this, that the Disciples of the Lord, who were ordained and appointed by the Lord Himself to an higher calling, to the Apostleship, to be witnesses and preachers to the world of these things which they saw and heard of Him, go to the fishing. Might they leave that high calling, and take themselves to so base and contemptible an exercise: I answer, that herein they do nothing amiss: for albeit they were appointed and designed by the Lord to be Apostles, yet in effect they were not as yet Apostles, they had not entered to that calling, neither were they meet for it, until the time that they were endued with power from on high, and before they had received the Holy Spirit in the form of fiery and cloven tongues in the day of the Pentecoste. And further, what fault was it, albeit they had entered to their office of the Apostleship, that they should be exercised in an honest and lawful occupation, and should work with their hands, as we read of the Apostle Paul, who in sundry places professes, that he laboured with his own hands for his living. Read 1. Cor. 4.12. 1. Thess. 2.9. 2 Thess. 3.8.  
Now, when they agree to remain together, They went their way, and entered into a ship straightway, and they go to take fish, and to seek bodily food for themselves, but the Lord in the mean time, is calling them to a better thing, even to see the Lord, and to enjoy His gracious presence, which was a great deal better, than all their fishing, and all that they could have gained by that exercise: and Peter, after that once he knew that it was the LORD which spoke to them, counted more of His presence, than of all the huge and great number of fishes, that were enclosed within the net: for he leaves them all, after that once he knew that it was the Lord that spoke, and showed Himself present unto them, yea, he casts himself into the Sea, and hazards his life, to the end he may come speedily and soon unto the Lord. The Lord, who ever hath a regard of His own, makes all their actions, and their sufferings, to tend to their well and comfort, yea, to serve and further them to eternal life. When thou goest to perform any thing, when thou addressest thyself to any work what ever it be, whether it be husbandry, fishing, merchandise, or any other exercise, I give thee my counsel, endeavour ever to entertain in thy soul a sense and persuasion of the love of God, and if thou so dost, thou shalt find, that when the members of thy body are exercised in their labour, that thy soul likewise shall make a progress straightway to Heaven. Well, they go to the fishing, but what success have they at the first? Not very great, their success was very slender: for it is said, That night they caught nothing. How came this to pass? Was it through their unskilfulness? No, it was by the secret providence and direction of God, who often times delays the success of the labours of His own, and will not answer their expectation at the first, to the end, that in His own appointed time He may give it more abundantly to their greater comfort: for this is the Lords accustomed dealing with His own children, Of set purpose He will disappoint them for a time, to their greater benefit and comfort thereafter. When Paul writes to Philemon concerning his servant Onesimus, who had fled away from him, he says, It may be that he hath departed for a season, that thou mightest receive him for ever. Next, the Lord uses to disappoint the hope of His own for a season, because that serves more to the glory of God, than if they got it at the first time: for when men find a prosperous success in all their ways, and all things answering to their desire, scarcely do they consider and discern God's blessing: yea, many times it comes to pass, that in such cases men ascribe the praise of all to themselves, to their own wisdom, their travels and labours; they flatter themselves, & sacrifice to their own net: But when they see themselves, notwithstanding of all their travels, disappointed of their hope, and thereafter find a blessing and good success; then they plainly discern, that all things proceed from the blessing and favourable providence of God, and therefore gives to the Lord the praise and glory of all. Last, when He delays the success which His own hope for in their labours, He gives them a fair recompense for the want of the temporal benefit for a season, and He gives them a spiritual benefit to their soul: for when thereafter He gives them a success, He makes them to see His blessing, and opens their hearts, and loses their mouths, to sound His praise, which is better than any earthly benefit that can be bestowed upon man. When the Disciples had long laboured without success, at last the Lord comes, for th'evangelist says, When the morning was now come, jesus stood on the Sea shore. Howbeit the Lord will long absent Himself from His own, and give them no sensible blessing in their travels, yet at the last he will come in his own due time to their great comfort.  
Now the time is marked when the Lord comes, to wit, in the morning: he tarries away all the night, and comes in the morning. The Scripture compares the time in the which we live without Christ, unto the dark night: for as in the night no man can walk, nor be exercised in the work of his calling, no more can any man without Christ walk in the way of salvation, nor do any thing acceptable to God. Again, his presence and coming is compared to the morning; for as in the morning, when the Sun rises, men may see the way, and walk in the way, and be exercised in the works of their calling. So when CHRIST, that Daye-starre begins to arise, that Sun of Righteousness begins to shine v●to the souls of His own, than they see the way of salvation, and they have courage and pleasure to walk therein, and to do the works of light, which are acceptable unto GOD: when He is absent, there is nothing but night and darkness, when He returns again, there is light. DAVID seems to allude unto this presence of Christ, by His Spirit in the soul, when he says in the thirty. PSALM, vers. v. Weep may abide at evening, but ●oye cometh in the morning.  
Now howbeit the Lord stood before them on the shore, Nevertheless the Disciples knew not that it was JESUS. How this comes to pass, that they gnaw Him not, it is uncertain, for the cause is not set down, neither will we curiously inquire for it: it may be, and it is likely, that their eyes were closed that they could not discern and know Him, whom otherwise they saw present before them. The example of these Disciples lets us see what is the natural disposition of the children of God: They sought not the Lord fi●st, yea, when H●e offers Himself unto them, they know Him not. So it is with us all by nature, neither can we seek God, neither can we so much as once think of the seeking of Him, neither when He offers Himself unto us unsought, can we d●scerne Him and know Him by nature: Except God by His Spirit prevent us, and illuminate the eyes of our minds, & open our hearts, and make us to know Him, we will never seek Him, nor know Him, but we shall ever remain in darkness.  
Yet albeit they know not the Lord, He begins to show Himself unto them, and He breaks off conference unto them, Sirs, have ye any meat? And by this speech He p●epares them to that good success and blessing which He was to give to their travels: And this He does, by bringing them to a confession of their want and needfulness: for when he inquires at them, if they had any meat, they answered him, No. They confess their want: for mark, Brethren, how the Lord will have thy soul to be prepared before He communicate His blessing. Thy scant, thy need, and thy poverty, though it were never so great, will not do the turn; it will not move the Lord to bless thy travels, if there be no more: No, He requires further of thee, He will have thee to acknowledge, to feel, and to confess thy poverty. The Lord pities not, but abhors proud and sturdy beggars. He does to His own as a loving father does to his son: Albeit the father see his son in great poverty and need, lacking food and raiment; yet if he come proudly and stubbornly by the door & presence of his father, he will not know him, nor help him, howbeit he have substance & wealth enough; unto such time as he is humbled and come to himself. Even so the Lord, when we are in misery, in great want and need, and will not acknowledge nor confess it unto Him: He will not know us, nor bestow His blessings upon us till we be humbled. Now when the Lord has prepared them with the confession of their own want, thereafter He gives them the blessing, Cast out the net on the right side of the sh●p: and then He promises them a good success, for He says, Ye shall find. But what needed y● Lord to bid them cast out the nets, that they might get fishes? Might not the Lord have given them fish enough without their travel & labour? Might He not by His omnipotent power have commanded the fish to have enclosed themselves within the nets? Yes no doubt, without their travel & labour He might have filled the ship abundantly with fish: yet it was His pleasure & good will that they should work & labour, & take pains upon them, first before He g●ue them any blessing: He would not bless than with a good success, except they laboured. Further ye may see here, how great pleasure and liking the Lord has to see men painful in their calling: for albeit they had been molested & troubled all the night with labouring, yet the Lord will have them to cast out their net again in the morning, to the end that He might give a blessing to their travels. Indeed it is true that He desires not our labour, as if it could stand Him in any stead: He gives not a success to it as if it merited any thing at His hands: for He gives success & increase only for His own names sake, and for His Christ's sake, without any merit of ours: for if He had not respect to Himself & His Christ, if we took never so great pains, we would find but a sober success. Many find by experience, that without Him, if they would pain themselves from morning till evening, they can find no success. Yea, when the Lord withdraws His blessing, the children of God themselves find the proof of this Peter and the rest of the Disciples who were with him, toiled and pained themselves all the night without any success or profit. Then the cause chiefly why the Lord requires our travel and labour, is because it is an ordinary mean appointed by Him, whereby we should find and receive His blessing, and it is a part of our service and duty that the Lord has appointed to us. For when with a simple and upright heart, we are labouring in our calling, we are serving the Lord. Therefore Paul charges the servants, to be obedient to their masters with singleness of heart, as unto Christ: meaning that in their service done to their masters, they serve not so much men, as Christ, Ephes. 6.5. Now the Disciples obeyed this commandment of the Lord, for they cast out the net, and they were not able to draw it for the multitude of ●ishes. This their obedience is very commendable: albeit they had been troubled and wearied all the night, and had caught nothing: yet at the request of a stranger, a man whom they knew not, whom they supposed to be no more but a common man, readily they yield obedience, & cast out the net. And this their readiness testifies, that they had exceeding great patience & constancy in enduring of travel, notwithstanding of all their labour & pains preceding. What was the cause of this their patience? Even partly because their long labouring and pains that they had taken without any success, had humbled and tamed them: if they got no fish, they got a better benefit, they were somewhat mortified, and learned patience, partly because they had an hope of a good success, & that the Lord should bless them at the last, therefore patiently they endure in labouring: for we see commonly, that hope of vantage will sustain a man, and cause him to endure much trouble & labour. And this hope, if it be in the Lord, who never leaves His own, makes the patience and enduring of labour to get a good success. So long as thou livest, cast hope never off, if it were no more, but because by it thou glo●ifiest God: for by faith and hope to obtain all good things which are necessary either to soul or body from the hands of the Father of lights, from whom all good things descend, we glorify Him in the multitude of His mercy. By the example of the Disciples let us learn, that when we have troubled and pained ourselves very long and find but sober success of our travels, at least to be humbled and mortified, and to continue constantly in labouring waiting patiently for the Lords blessing: for as the disciples in the end found a better success than they could have looked for: (They found the net to be filled with such a multitude of fishes, that they were not able to draw it) so shall we find in th'end, that our patiented waiting for the Lords blessing shall not be fruitless and without success.  
Now to go forward. They knew not the Lord when at His command they cast the net into the Sea: but now, when they see such a marvelous draft of fishes enclosed within their nets, they begin to conceive that it was the Lord that spoke to them. The first man who discerns Him, is JOHN, who describes himself here to be the Disciple whom the Lord loved: and commonly he describes himself in the Gospel by this style, and that because he found the love of God spread abroad in his heart by His Holy Spirit in an exceeding great measure. JOHN said unto PETER, It is the LORD. The thing that makes JOHN to know that it was the Lord that spoke, was the extraordinary and marvelous success that they found in their travels: for in that success he saw and considered not only an exceeding great power, but also a wonderful bountifulness and liberality, whereupon he gathers, that it was the Lord that spoke unto them, and commanded them to cast out the net, and directed them in their labour, and made them to get such success. Learn then here by JOHN'S example, when the Lord bestows His benefits and graces on thee, and when thou seest His works, by His works and benefits to ascend to God the giver of them, and in them to acknowledge Him and His essential properties, His power, His bountifulness, His mercy, His providence, etc. For if we weigh rightly, and deeply consider the benefits and works of God in them, we will find as it were a seal of the majesty of God, of His power, of His mercy, of His liberality and bountifulness, which should move us to lift up our eyes to Heaven, to behold the Lord, who is the worker and giver of all, that so with cheerfulness and pleasure we may glorify Him: for this is our greatest happiness and felicity to glorify the majesty of our God in all things. There are many, who when as they see the wondrous works of God, and daily receive benefits of Him, they so rest upon the outward works and benefits, that they never ascend to God, the author and giver of them, to see Him, and to glorify Him. But miserable are they who so does, what ever they be: for by so doing, they not only deprive themselves of happiness, but also they turn the blessings of God into a curse to them.  
When JOHN hath informed PETER that it was the Lord, what does PETER? It is said, When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girded his coat to him (for he was naked) and cast himself into the Sea. He shows a great zeal and forwardness: for in my judgement this doing of PETER proceeded not from foolish hardiness, and inconsiderate rashness, but from a true zeal and fervent desire to meet with the Lord. Now, will ye compare JOHN and PETER together, ye will find great diversity of gifts: JOHN knew the Lord first, and that by sight: PETER knew the Lord next, but by hearing, for JOHN informed him. JOHN was before PETER in faith & knowledge: but PETER, who comes behind, passes JOHN, who was his teacher, & had instructed him, for he is more zealous than JOHN was: JOHN exceeded in knowledge, but PETER exceeded in zeal. This lets us see the truth of that sentence of PAUL, One and the self same Spirit worketh all gifts, distributing to every man severally as he willeth, 1. Corinth. 12.11. Even in the Apostles themselves: for even among them some excelled in one gift, and some in another: JOHN excelled in knowledge, and had knowledge of the glorious person of jesus Christ, and namely, of His divinity, as his evangel declares (for it is full of high mysteries & sublime doctrine of Christ) above the rest of the Apostles. PETER excelled in zeal and forwardness, and was more ardent in zeal than the rest, as we may read in the Gospel: PAUL excelled in labouring, and painfulness in preaching of the Gospel: for he says himself, I laboured more abundantly than all the Apostles, 1. Corinth. Chap. 15. vers. 10. The LORD gave not all graces to any one of them, but to every one such a measure of grace as He pleased: neither had it been expedient to themselves, nor so profitable to others: It had not been expedient to themselves, because it might have been that they would have comtemned and despised others in respect of themselves. It had not been so profitable to others, because others would have envied them for their great perfection of graces. And so by this means, the body of JESUS (even His Church, which should be compact and straitly joined together) would have been miserably rend asunder.  
On the other part, this inequality and diversity of gifts that the Lord gives to men, is a special mean to join and knit together the members of the mystical body of CHRIST: for as in the body of man the inequality and diversity of functions & gifts that are given to several members, joins and holds together the members of the body: even so that inequality & diversity of spiritual graces given to every member of the body of Christ, every one having need of the help of another, joins and holds together the members, to make up one compact body. Rea●e of this in the first Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, Chap. 12. vers. 24.25.  
Now I shall only mark one thing, and so I shall end: All the night preceding, when the Lord jesus was absent, John's faith and Peter's zeal were languishing and dwining: but in the morning when Christ returns, both Johns faith and Peter's zeal begin to revive, and to get new strength and vigour. Whereof we may learn, that this grace of faith, knowledge, and zeal, is wakened and raised up by Christ, who is the only matter and object of them: for our faith and knowledge proceeds of His gracious light, which shines in our dark souls: Our zeal proceeds from the Spirit of Christ, who by His coming kindleth a burning fire in our hearts, and makes us to burn with zeal, who before were cold in the service of God. PAUL says, God that commanded light to shine out of darkness, is He, who hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of jesus Christ. 2. Cor. Chap. 4. vers. 6. The words import, that all faith and knowledge of God that we have, is by looking unto the face of jesus: For when we look unto His face, the beams of that glory which shines in it, is conveyed into our souls, and lighteneth them, and so works faith and knowledge in them. And when we shall get a full sight, and see Him as He is clearly face to face, than we shall be like to Him in glory: for His glory shall transform us into this same image from glory to glory, 2. Cor. cap. 3. vers. 18.  
Then seeing that no grace can either be wrought or entertained in the soul, without the presence of the Lord jesus, and the beholding of His countenance, we should be careful constantly to look to His face, and behold His glory in the mirror of the word, so long as we are in this pilgrimage, that so hereafter we may see Him face to face, and so be made partakers of His glory, which He hath purchased to all them that love Him by the shedding of His own blood. To Him, therefore, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be all praise and glory:  
AMEN.   

THE XLIX. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XXI. 
verse 8 But the other Disciples came by ship, (for they were not far from land, but about two hundredth cubits) and they dr●we the net with fishes.  
verse 9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw hot coals, and fish laid thereon, and bread.  
verse 10 jesus said unto them, Bring of the fishes, which ye have now caught.  
verse 11 Simon Peter stepped forth, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, an hundredth, fifty and three: and albeit there were so many, yet was not the net broken.  
verse 12 jesus said unto them, Come, and dine. And none of the Disciples durst ask him, Who art thou, seeing they knew that he was the Lord.  
verse 13 jesus than came, and took bread, and gave them, and fish likewise.  
verse 14 This is now the third time that jesus showed himself to his Disciples▪ after that he was risen again from the dead.  
IN this seventh appearing of Christ (Beloved Brethren in the Lord) we have spoken already of the place of His appearing, to wit, at the Sea of Tiberias: and we have spoken of the persons to whom He appeared, who we●e seven in number: the Lord by His secret providence gathered them together, and kept them together, (albeit some w●uld have sundered from the r●st) to the end the Lord might show Himself v●to them being assembled together in one place. W●e hau● spoken of their exercise, how they were fishing but got little success howbeit they had laboured all the night. We told you also of the Lords appearing to them, He shows Himself to them in the morning, and finding that they had caught nothing, He bids them cast out the net on the right side of the ship: we show you their obedience, albeit they knew Him not, & thought that He had been a stranger, yet upon hope of a good success, they cast out the net. We have heard what success the Lord gave to this their obedience, the net was so filled with fishes, that they were not able to draw it: And last, we have heard, how john knew Him first, and told Peter, and how Peter upon a fervent zeal to meet with the Lord, casts Himself into the Sea, and hazards his life. Now this day, by God's grace, we shall follow out the rest of the History of this appearing of Christ, as namely, how the Disciples did meet with the Lord, and how when they came to the land, miraculously they saw fishes laid on hot coals, and what was the Lord's conference and dealing with them, and what was the behaviour of Peter, and the rest of the Disciples. But to come to the words: when Peter had cast himself into the Sea, and came to the Lord, what do the rest of the Disciples? Are they altogether careless? Have they not also a desire to meet with the Lord? Yes, they have a desire, and they came to the Lord, albeit not so soon as Peter, For they came by ship, for they were not far from land, but about two hundredth cubits. Albeit they came not all so soon as Peter, yet at the last, they all come to the Lord as well as Peter, for they were not destitute of grace no more than Peter: as zeal carried Peter to the Lord, so Faith & knowledge brings and leads the rest to the Lord: Peter's zeal moved him to come more speedily, suddenly & hastily to the Lord, but their Faith and knowledge, brought john & the rest also to the Lord, for such is the force of Faith, that albeit it have not ay such fervent zeal accompanying it, as was the zeal of Peter, yet at last it will lead & convey a man unto Christ. Strive above all things to have Faith, and seek it daily of the Lord: for if thou have Faith in Christ, not only shalt thou get a comfortable sight of Him, here in thy soul, but also thou shalt see Him hereafter face to face: & by the contrary, if thou want Faith▪ if thou have it not in some measure, thou shalt never get a sight of God to thy comfort: for as the Apostle says, Without holiness' no man shall see the Lord, Heb. 12.14 (If thou be not holy, thou sh●lt never see Heaven) so say I, Without Faith, thou shalt never s●e God, if thou have not Faith, thou shal● never come to Heaven, Mock Faith and holiness', as ye please the Lord sh● 〈◊〉 ●sie this one day, without Faith & holiness the gates of Heaven shallbe closed upon thee, thou shalt never get no portion of life nor glory.  
Now while the Disciples are coming to the Lord, They are drawing the net with the fishes: Compare this doing of theirs with the doing of Peter, & ye will see, both do well, albeit the manner be diverse: Peter left the net, & all the fishes behind, & swimmed out hastily & speedily to meet the Lord, john & the rest drawing after them the net full of fishes, come to the Lord, both do well, both their doings are commendable: for zeal so carried Peter that not only he cared not for the net & the fishes, but also he hazarded his life, that he might come to the Lord: john & the rest of the Disciples, as they knew the Lord Himself, so they esteem highly of that benefit which the Lord powerfully & lovingly had bestowed upon them, as a pledge of His favour: & therefore they were not careless of the benefit, they misregarded it not, but they thought it meet, to carry it with them▪ for His cause who had vouchsafed it on them, & so both the one & the other are worthy of praise: & hereof we may learn this lesson: The actions of the Children of God, wherein they are exercised according to the gift that the Lord hath distributed to every one, albeit they be very far different one from another, yet they are all in some sort good & worthy of their own praise, because every one of them helps another: for as it is with the gifts & faculties, so it is with the actions & operations proceeding from them. Now the gifts & faculties are diverse, & yet all are for the well of the body, & every one of them supplies the want of another yea even the meanest gifts help the greatest, the gift of the foot helps the gift of the hand▪ and of the eye: Even so, the actions and operations slowing from the gifts, serve for the well and commodity of the whole body, & every one of them supplies the want and inlake that is in another, the least may help the greatest in some thing that it wants. Ye see a proof of this here, in the actions & doings of the Apostles. Peter left the net, the fishes, and all behind him▪ that he might cor●e hastily unto the Lord, the thing that in●a●ed in him, the rest supplied, they bring the benefit with them, the fishes that the Lord had sent them. Again, albeit that john & the rest brought y● fishes with them that the Lo●d gave th●m as a pledge of ●is love, yet they were somewhat slo●e▪ they ●a●e● not, as Peter did to come to the ●ord: now Pet●r helpe● them in this wa●●, for by hi● zeal and forwardness, he stirred them v●●● & provoked them to a godly e●ulat on.  
We must not incontinently despise and reject the particular actions of every one of the children of God, because they are not perfect in all respects: for the Lord will not bestow all gifts at once to every faithful man, but we should consider all the actions of all the children of GOD gathered together, as it were in a mass, and one heap, and so, because every one helps and supplies the want of another, to the well of the whole, we shall find a perfection.  
Now, when by ship drawing the net with the fishes after them, they come to land: What falls out? What find they? They find a miraculous work: for it is said, As soon then as they were come to land, they saw hot coals, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Where ever they came, they saw miracles: when they were on the Sea, they found a miraculous multitude of fishes enclosed in the net: when they come to the land, they found another miracle, a fire, and all furniture for their dinner, extraordinarily prepared without the hand of man. No question, these things were done by the extraordinary working and dispensation of GOD, to the end, that not only they might assuredly know, that the Lord was risen again, but likewise, that when they considered His marvelous and extraordinary power, they might be persuaded, that He who rose from the dead, was not only man, but also God: for these His wondrous works bare witness, that the Godhead dwelled in Him bodily, john says, We saw His glory, as the glory of the only begotten Son of God, joh. 1.14. How saw we this glory? How discerned he it: Even by these & many other such wondrous works: & indeed, it had done them little good to have known, that Christ was risen again, except they had been assured, that He who rose was God, the Son of God, if they had not known this, the knowledge of His Resurrection had not been steadable to Salvation.  
Now it would be marked, that he says, when they come to land, They saw fish laid on the coals, and bread. This was for their sustentation: So the Lord manifested not only His power in the miracle, but likewise His love in feeding of them, to the end, that they should not rest & content themselves with marveling at His power, but that upon th● consideration of His great love▪ they should be moved to love Him again intierely, & to put their trust in Him. Indeed, we ought to wonder at the gloriousness of the person the Lord, and at His extraordinary and marvelous power, for He is, as the Prophet Esay 9.6 calls Him Wonderful, but we should so marvel at His power, that in the mean time we endeavour to have a sense of His love, that we may love Him again, & put our trust in Him: for without the sense of His love, our marveling & wondering at Him, will do us little good.  
Now, let us come to the Lords conference with the Disciples, jesus said unto them, Bring of the fishes, which ye have now caught. The Lord breaks off first the conference: for they carried such a reverence to the Lord, that they would not presume once to speak: for as the presence of the Lord worketh Faith, and love in the soul, so it works fear and reverence of His Majesty, if thou wantest fear and reverence to His Majesty, thou never foundest His presence in thy soul. Now when He bids them, Bring of the fishes which they had caught, He demands an account of the benefit which He had bestowed on them, and so He shows, that it was not His will that rashly & unadvisedly they should have cast away the benefit wherewith He had blessed them, albeit it was but an earthly blessing: and hereby we may see, that the fact of john, and the other Disciples was worthy of praise, who left not the fishes behind them, but drew the net full of fishes to the land.  
Again, it is worthy to be marked, that he ascribeth the taking of the fishes which He had enclosed in the net, and freely given them to their travels & labours: for He says, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. This form of speaking, lets us see, how well the Lord likes, & how highly He counts of the labours which His own Children undertake at His commandment: for albeit we be altogether unprofitable servants, when we have done all that we can do, Luke 17.10. and all our labours be not steadable to Him, nor profitable in themselves, yet such is His love & favour towards His own, that both He commends them as profitable servants, & allows of their works as steadable, and this He does, to the end He may encourage us as His children, not to weary, but to go forward in well doing: for it is necessary that we be exercised in well doing, & go forward in good works: for God hath ordained that we should walk in them, Ephes. 2.10 that without them it is unpossible to attain unto eternal life In like manner, when freely He crowns His grace into us, He calls that crown, a reward, as if we had deserved it by our labours: for the Lord uses to deal with us, as a loving father deals with His Children, the father will make much of his son, & allure him, & promise him an hire, to move him to do that thing that he is obliged to do of duty: so the Lord dates and allures us, and calls the thing which He gives us freely, an hire and reward, to the end, that He may encourage us to go forwards in welldoing. Likewise, in that perfect form of prayer which the Lord hath taught us, He calls that bread which He bids us crave from GOD, our bread: as though GOD were indebted to give it unto us, and as if we had a right unto it: which nevertheless we crave from God as appertaining to Him & not to us: yet He teaches us to call it our bread, albeit we have no right to it, to testify His fatherly love & favour towards us. When the Papists hear any thing ascribed to our labours, & when they hear a reward named in the Scriptures; then incontinent they conclude, That we merit it at GOD'S hand. But they deceive themselves: for as the Lord ascribes here the taking of the fish, which was His benefit, and blessing unto their labours, which they undertook at His commandment. So after this same manner, and no otherwise, He uses to call that a reward which He gives us freely, to the end He may encourage us with the greater pleasure to do His will.  
Now let us come to the obedience to this commandment of the Lord. As soon as Peter hears the Lord bidding them bring of the fishes which they had caught, incontinent he stepped forth, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, an hundredth, fift●e and three. He is very ready to obey. Before, when first he understood that it was the LORD, he was carried with such a fervent zeal to meet with the LORD, that he left the net, fishes, and all behind him. Now when he hears the LORD commanding to bring the fishes, there is none of them so bend and ready to obey. Which lets us see, that when PETER left all, and cast himself into the Sea, to meet the LORD, he despised not, neither misregarded the benefit of the fishes, which the LORD gave the DISCIPLES. So learn in this example of PETER what is the disposition and behaviour of a sanctified and holy person: for a season he will be ravished and (as it were) transported, above all the pleasures and outward comforts of the world: and he will be so set upon the meditation and thinking of those things which are spiritual, and to enjoy the presence of the LORD, that scarcely will he once so much as have any thought of them, because he counts himself to be a Citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Again, when he knows that it is the Lords will, that he should be exercised the time of his pilgrimage here in some earthly calling, he is content to return back again, and to put his hand to work, exercising him in his own calling, yet in the mean time, when his hand is working, his heart is in Heaven where his treasure is, when he is exercised in his calling, his conversation is above: and as Paul speaks of him: He uses the world, as though he used it not, 1. Cor. 7.31. That is, When he is exercised in worldly things, he hath not his heart fixed on the world: for that is the right using of the world: for that man that hath his heart fixed on the world, when he is occupied in a worldly calling, he abuses the world. If ever in all thine actions thine heart be glued to the world, and thine affections teddered to the earth, if thou have no pleasure to think of Heaven and heavenly things, thou mayest take that for a sure token, that as yet thou art not called to the participation of grace.  
Now, when Peter draws the net with an hundredth, fifty and three great fishes in it, the Evangelist marks, that Albeit they were so many, yet was not the net broken. No question, as the taking of so many fishes, the hot coals, & fish laid thereon, with bread, was effectuate, as ye heard by the secret, extraordinary & miraculous providence of God, so was this also: and all was to this end, that the Disciples might see, that the Godhead dwelled in Him bodily, and that the Godhead, which before the Passion, was obscured, and kept the self close, did now utter the self gloriously. When Peter hath drawn the net with the fish, to the land, The Lord said unto them, Come and dine. In the former doings, ye have heard, He uttered His Godhead, now here by His familiar and accustomed form of doing, He makes it manifest, that He was man also. Ye have heard before, that by the actions of eating and drinking, He proved, that He was not a Spirit, but a man, Luke 24.39. And as He is careful to inform their minds, and by these actions to persuade them, that He is both God and man: so likewise He hath a care of their bodies, and of the sustentation of this temporal life. He knew that by their long & painful travel, they were both wearied and hungry, and had great need of refreshment, the Lord had a care of this, and He feeds them as it were with His own hand: so that at one time, both their souls and their bodies are fed by Him: and this should be thy care, that when thou findest that the Lord feeds thy body, and hath a care of this temporal life, that thou also strive to find, that the Lord feeds thy soul, & hath a care to bring thee unto eternal life. And, indeed, if thou receivest these temporal benefits which serve for the sustentation of thy body with thanksgiving and prayer, thou wilt find, that when the Lord feeds thy body, He feeds also thy soul.  
Now, the Evangelist marks by the way, interrupting the History, That none of the Disciples durst ask Him, Who art thou, seeing they knew that H●e was the Lord. No question, the Evangelists sets down these words, partly to let us see, what great reverence they carried to the Lord, while they sat at table with Him, and partly, to let us see, how full and sure persuasion they had, that it was the Lord, for he tells the cause, why they durst not ask Him, who He was, because They knew that He was the Lord, and it had been too great boldness and impudency in them, to have asked that at the Lord which they knew well enough, and the Lord had revealed Himself to them sufficiently before, and now also. By this behaviour of the Disciples, we may mark what is the nature of Faith, and the force and effect of it in the regenerate man: it is not unreverent, but thinks reverently of the Lord, whom it apprehends: it is not impudent and shameless, but humble and shamefast: it is not immoderate, it passes not measure, but it is moderate, and contains the self within bounds and measure: that is, it is not evermore curiously seeking many and new revelations, but it is content with that measure, that the Lord hath revealed: By the contrary, look to the nature of infidelity: it is ever unreverent toward GOD, impudent and immoderate: it is never content with that measure of revelations, which the Lord hath given, but it is ever curiously out of measure, seeking new revelations: and what if it were for any good end, what if it were, to learn and grow better, than it were somewhat more excusable, but it is all to this end, that either it may tempt the Majesty of God, or else to satisfy the immoderate and unsatiable curiosity: we may see the example of these fruits of infidelity in sundry persons: as in the jews, who as David says, oft times tempted the Lord in the Wilderness by their infidelity, but chief in the Scribes and Pharises, they ever tempted the LORD: for albeit both by His Word and doctrine, and also by His divine works and miracles, He had sufficiently revealed Himself unto them, and albeit also, they had been convicted in their conscience, that He was the Messiah, yet notwithstanding of all this, they continue still in tempting of Him, and they say, Master, we desire to see a sign of thee, Matth. Chapter 12. verse 38. But the LORD answered them, An evil and adulierous generation seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it, but the sign of the Prophet jonah. The Papists this day, are very like the Scribes and Pharises, they cannot be content with that measure of revelation which the LORD hath given us in the Scriptures, and namely, in the New Testament, wherein the Mystery of CHRIST, and the doctrine of Salvation is fully and clearly set down (a clearer revelation than is there set down shall we never find, until the LORD come in the clouds, to judge the world) they cannot be content with all the Miracles, which we read wrought in the Old and New Testaments, by the Prophets, by the Lord Himself and the Apostles, but they are ever seeking for new and extraordinary revelations, they are seeking unwritten verities (which may be called vanities, they are ever seeking new miracles and such other toys and dreams, they can never be content: But we may answer them, as the LORD answered the Pharises: They shall get no more signs nor revelations than they have gotten, already: they are too bold and impudent, after that the LORD hath sufficiently revealed Himself, to seek for new revelations. This their doing testifies sufficiently, that they have no Faith: for faith is reverent▪ shamefast and moderate, keeping the self within the bounds of Gods revealed will: but by the contrary, it bears witness of their infidelity: for this impudency and immoderate seeking of new miracles and revelations are fruits of infidelity.  
But a question may be moved upon these words: When he says: And none of the Disciples durst ask Him, Who art thou, seeing they knew that He was the LORD. Is it unlawful for us to seek increase and growth of knowledge? Yea, are we not commanded to seek it daily? Says not the LORD, Seek, and ye shall find: ask, and it shall be given you: knock, and it shall be opened unto you? Luke Chapter 11. verse 9 Yea, is it not said, The violent take the Kingdom of Heaven by force, Matth. Chap. 11. vers. 12. And doth not the Lord recommend importunity and earnestness in craving, by the Parable of the widow, who importunated the unrighteous judge? To this I answer: It is lawful, indeed, to seek continually the increase and growth of knowledge, as well as of all other spiritual graces: yea, it is a thing that the Lord recommends unto us & commands. But of what knowledge should we seek the increase? Only the knowledge of these things that are revealed and set down in the Old and New Testament: it is the Lords will, that we ever grow in knowledge of these things, and that we go from knowledge to knowledge. But this increase of knowledge is far different from curiosity in seeking new revelations, besides the things that are revealed in the writes of the Prophets and the Apostles. The Lord likes well growth of knowledge, but He mislikes curiosity: yea, I say to thee, if thou seekest a clearer and more ample revelation, than that which is already set down in the Old and New Testament, thou offendest highly the Majesty of God: for by so doing thou deniest that Christ when He came into the world, brought with Him a full and perfect revelation of all things necessary. Read what the Apostle Paul says, Rom. 10.6.  
Now, to end shortly: In the last words of our Text, we have set down the Conclusion of this appearing of Christ, whereof we have spoken, wherein he tells, that it was the third in number: for he says, This now is the third time, that jesus showed Himself unto His Disciples, after He was raised again from the dead. I think he calls it the third in number, not absolutely, but in respect of the Disciples, and so the words import: for it is said, This is the third time that He showed Himself unto His Disciples: for if we number precisely the particular appearing of Christ after His Resurrection unto this time, whereof we have any mention made in the Scripture, we will find that this is the eight in number, He showed Himself first to Marie Magdalene: Next, to other certain women: Thirdly, to the two Apostles, who were going to Emmaus: Fourthly, to Simon Peter: Fifthly, to Iames, as we may read, 1. Cor. 15.6. Sixtly, to the Disciples assembled together in jerusalem, Thomas only being absent: seventhly, to the same Disciples assembled together, Thomas being present with them: Eightly, He appeared unto these s●uen, at this time when they were fishing. Now it was not without cause, that the Lord revealed Himself so oft after He rose again. No question He did it not only to confirm the Disciples of the truth of His Resurrection, but also for our cause, that we might have steadfast faith, and full assurance, that He is risen again for our comfort, And it is the Lords will, that when we read, that there were so many that saw Him with their eyes, heard Him, spoke with Him, handled Him, and haunted with Him, we should be fully persuaded and assured of His Resurrection. But I will not insist in this matter, because I have spoken of it already. Now seeing the Lord has had such a great care of our faith, that by believing we might have comfort, seeing so oft times, and to so many He appeared, the LORD make these means effectual, to work and to increase faith in us, that both in our life, and especially in the hour of death, we may have matter of rejoicing in Him: To whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all praise and honour, AMEN.   

THE L. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XXI. 
verse 15 So when they had dined, jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon the son of jona, lovest thou me more than these? He said unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, Feed my lambs.  
verse 16 He said to him again the second time, Simon the son of jona, lovest thou me? He said unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, Feed my sheep.  
verse 17 He said unto him the third time, Simon the son of jona, lovest thou me? Peter was sorry because he said to him the third time, Lovest thou me? and said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee. jesus said to him, Feed my sheep.  
WE have heard these days past (Beloved in the Lord jesus) of the third general appearance of the Lord jesus after His glorious Resurrection. The place we heard was by the Sea of Tiberias. The persons to whom He appeared we heard were seven in number. The manner how He appeared, was by miracle by wonderful working. He shows a miracle in the Sea, by taking of many great fishes there: Then by land, by the extraordinary preparation of meat & fire to His disciples, coming off the sea to the land. To this He joined the third miracle, in keeping whole the net, so that there was not a thread broken, notwithstanding of the great number of fishes taken therein. Thereafter as He manifested Himself in His Godhead & divine power in working of miracles; so He comes on more familiarly, & manifestes Himself in His human nature, & lets them see, that He was a man, & ate & drunk with them, as other men: therefore He sits down, & dines with them, He eats Himself, & gives them to eat also: Then having dined, He enters in conference with Peter: which conference we have to entreat of this day, as God will give us grace. The end of His conference with Peter was not to make him an Universal Bishop, His Vicar here on the earth, as the Papists speak: that is to say, To make up a Popedom: for the Papists make these words relative to that promise, which they say He made to Peter before. Matth. 16.18. I say unto thee, Thou art Peter, & upon this Rock I will build my Kirke. That was not the end: but the end of it was to restore him again to his own room of th'apostleship, from the which he fell: for Peter had made a foul defection from his Lord, he denied Him thrice, & so by this defection & threefold denial, he deprived himself of his room of th'apostleship, whereunto he was called. Look how verily Judas fell by his traitory, as verily did Peter fall: for he that denies the Lord jesus, unto the time he be restored again, he cannot be a Christian man (let be an Apostle or Minister.) So in a word, the end of this conference was to restore Peter again, by taking out of his own mouth a threefold confession of his love to the Lord & of the hatred of that foul sin which he committed, by denying of the Lord. Indeed it is true, at Christ's first meeting with His disciples at Jerusalem in a manner he was restored, because he got a direction with the rest, to go forth & preach the Gospel, where Christ says, As my Father sends me, so send I you, Joh. 20.31. Yet because this was general, therefore now to take all grudges and doubts out of the heart of Peter, & the rest of th'Apostles, he has a particular dealing with him here in this place: & this he does in presence of so many disciples, for the greater confirmation of his restoring: and herein the Lord urges him thrice, that He might draw out of him a threefold confession, answerable to his threefold denial. It may be likewise, that in this conference the Lord had a great respect to recommend the ca●e of His Kirke, which He was to leave behind Him, to Peter, & to the rest of th'Apostles: for in the person of Peter, He speaks to all the rest. Upon this conference mark this generally: First, that the Lord will not refuse repentance and pardon to him who has denied Him, if his denial come of infirmity: Next, That it is the Lord only, who provokes and allures a man to repentance, and who prevents him if he be careless of his sin. We saw before, that the Lord looked upon Peter, after he had denied Him in the Hall of Caiaphas & made him to weep. Now He accomplishes & brings to perfection that work which He began, & He urges a threefold confession. But to come to the matter: The Lord gins to commune with him, & these are the words, Simon, the son of jona, lovest thou me better than these? (pointing out the rest of th'apostles) that is, more than the rest loves me? This the Lord demands of Peter, not that He was ignorant of the love of Peter toward Him: for Peter testifies this in his answer, when he says to the Lord, Thou knowest that I love thee. The Lord knew th'inward affection of Peter, as well as himself did: So as for Himself He ned not this confession, nor to speak one word, for He knew his heart: yet He urges the confession of the mouth, that that love which he ba●e in his heart, he should profess with his mouth: wherefore, in demanding, He calls first of all, Peter to remembrance of his bragging, that he used a little before His Passion, when Pe●er stood up & said, Though all should be offended by thee, yet will I never be offended. Matth. 26.33. As though he should say, Though all should leave thee, I shall not leave thee, I shall be ready to go to prison, and to death, with thee. Therefore the Lord says, Lovest thou me more than these? Then with this he calls to remembrance that foul defection, for all his craking: as if He would say, For all thy boasting, PETER, remember thee of thy denial. So in one word, He pricks his conscience, He rebuk●s him both for his arrogant vaunting & also for his foul defection. This He does in effect: but if ye mark the words, ye shall see the pricking of him to be joined with such sweetness in speaking, as is wondered, to be so seasoned with love as is marvelous: for He says in effect as much as this, Howbeit Peter thou hast fallen in thy bragging & vaunting, and also hast made foul defection from me: yet if thou repent thee, and turn to me, and if thou love me, there is place of pardon & forgiveness. So ye see two contrary things joined together, asperity and lenity, sourness and sweetness, rebuke and consolation, casting down and raising up, wounding and healing in one sentence. The Lord in one sentence, in one demand, at one time, yea, at a point of time, He could wound a man, and heal him. Some might think, seeing that this was the first conference that Christ had with Peter after his denial, and that there should have been another kind of meeting, and more sharp beginning with a run-a-gate, who had denied his Master thrice: ye may think He should have upbraided him, and said, Run-a-gate, why deniedst thou me so mischievously? Why against thy conscience sinnedst thou so heinously? But He says not so: but these are all the words, Simon the son of Jona, lovest thou me. The Lord was not a flyter, a chyder, an upbraider, a crier, etc. Therefore it was prophesied of him, My servant shall not cry, nor make his voice to be heard in the street, nor quench the smoking flax, nor break the bruised reed, Esay. 42.2. Matth. 12.19.20. The ground was, That exceeding love to Simon Peter, the passing love to sinners, especially, to the secret ones, whom He had chosen: that love hid all their sins, as Peter speaks, in his first Epist. and 4. chap. So that if He spoke an angry word to any, His anger was so tempered with love, that scarcely did it appear. So learn this lesson: Rebukers should be lovers: if thou rebuke a man, love him, otherwise speak not to him, but close thy mouth: for if thou season not thy rebuke with love, then that which should have been a medicine, will be turned into poison. They that should be instructors and admonishers, should be lovers. Wherefore, whatsoever thou dost, do it in lenity & meekness, and not in bitterness. A bitter teacher is not worth a penny. And this is it that Paul requires, 2. Timoth. 2.24. where he says, The servant of the Lord must not strive, but must be gentle towards all men. All should be in lenity, teaching in lenity, admonition in lenity. Wherefore? Because if lenity be lacking, there will be no edification, no comforting, no instruction If that which thou speakest be smoothed over, and mixed with a gall of bitterness, it will poison the man: Therefore, whatsoever thou be, whether Minister or other, look that thou hast love, and it will make thee to discharge all the points of thy duty with lenity. Now the Lord is not contented to demand this once only, Simon, the son of jona, lovest thou me: but once, twice, thrice. What needed this, ye will ask? was it not sufficient to ask this once? What behoved this doubling & trepling? Brethren, this was not only that he might make a threefold confession answerable to his threefold denial, that so he might be restored: but also because his threefold denial procured that he should not be so soon and easily credited: They that have made a foul defection, as Peter did, certainly they would be tried, ere they be trusted. And Christ this day would learn us, that Apostates would be well tried, and their hearts would be sounded, and ripped up from the ground. A slender answer should not content us: we may not settle upon the swarfe of the heart, but the heart must be pricked with many interrogations, it must be lanced deeply, that if there be a spunk of sincerity & love, it may be raised up, & appear: for ye will not think what deepness of deceitfulness lies in the heart of man, as jerem. 17.9. says, The heart is deceitful & wicked above all things, who can know it? It is hard to thee to get thine own heart sounded & tried: go thy way, & assay it, & thou shalt find it to be true, thou shalt be beguiled with it, as well as another. And as for the sincerity of the heart, it is not in the utmost swarfe, but it is down low in the ground. Therefore thine heart must be touched, pricked, and lanced: partly by thyself, and partly by others, till that pure fountain of sincerity and love break forth and appear. There is the special cause of this doubling. All this serves for the weal of PETER, howbeit he took evil with it for every demand was a confirmation of PETER, in that grace of Apostleship. Now to come to PETER'S answer: Peter said unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. Behold the meeting, Christ says, Lovest thou me? He answers, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. There is a sweet meeting. When the Lord requires love of thee, then meet thou Him with love. This answer imports, that His demand has been very loving, uttered with a sweet voice and behaviour, and that He said as much as this, I love thee Peter, lovest thou me? So in this demand He has touched the heart of PETER with the sense of that love which He bore to PETER. Now this sense opened the heart of PETER to love the Lord again. 1. joh. 4.4. There will never man love the Lord first. It will pass thy power to love Him first: therefore of need force the love of Christ behoved to be shed abroad in the heart of PETER, and he behoved to be touched with the love of the Lord, before he could answer, Lord, I love thee. Therefore, if the Lord say unto thee Lovest thou me? Say, Lord, love me, that I may love thee. And if ever thou wouldst discharge a duty in this l●fe, strive ever to find that jesus loves thee, for else all His commandments will be for nothing. But mark the words: P●t●r swould seem not to answer the Lord as He propones: the Lord propones by way of comparison, Lovest thou me bett●r than th●se? Peter answers simply, Lord, I love thee: He says not, better than these. I see here a piece of modesty, more than he had before: for before he fell, he was over lofty and jolly, and thought little of the ●est: But now I see after his fall, he will not compare with the rest, but simply he says, Lord, I love thee.  
Brethren, I see, that although his fall was evil, yet it has done him good: it has tamed him: he was over arrogant before. The defection of the godly is very evil: yet this is a sure thing, that the fall and the sins, yea, the foulest defections of the godly do ever better them, and work always to their good. A wonderful thing: The Lord, who brings light out of darkness, makes the defection of His own to turn to their weal. Has he been a proud man, an ignorant man, etc. the Lord will give him a fall, He will cast him down upon his back, and with that He will tame him, & make him to stink in his own nostrils, as He did to Peter: for now when he is fallen, & sees his own weakness, he speaks soberly, & makes no matching with the rest▪ Lord, if th'Elect be much beholden to God, for He makes all things to further them for their salvation. So in a word, No evil can come to the godly man. Yet the words would be considered: he says not simply, I love thee: but, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee: he takes the Lord to be witness to his confession: as if he would say, It stands not in my words, but Lord, thou knowest, that I love thee. And so here he both acknowledges jesus to be God, (for He is only judge to the heart) & also approves the sincerity of his love to Him: for God is said to be witness not so much to the confession of the mouth, as to the sincerity of the heart. If thou lovest the Lord, call Him to be witness of thy love: and therefore beware of your confession of faith and love to the Lord: look that it be with sincerity of the heart & not from the teeth forward & neb of the tongue only: but look that it rise from the love which is rooted in the heart, for the Lord is witness and judge of the heart, He will pass from thy words, and will look in with a piercing eye into thine heart, & rip it open, to see if there be any sincerity of love there. So look ever to the heart, when thou takest the Lord to be witness to thee. Men commonly take no heed to this, they say, The Lord knows, when they will speak falsely. Ye shall find this commonly, that he who is the greatest swearer & falsest man, is ever readiest to take God to be his witness: but when he speaks so, what is he doing? even craving that God would send a vengeance & judgement on him. Yet to weigh the words more narrowly: he says not simply, Thou knowest: but when he professes his love to Him, he gives Him a reverend style again, & calls Him, Lord. No, th'Apostles carried to their Lord a wonderful reverence. This learns thee, when thou makest a confession, a profession, a protestation, wherein thou namest the Lord as it should be in modesty & sincerity of heart; so should it be in fear & reverence. That God who is full of glory & majesty, should never be named, but with honour & reverence, when thou speakest to Him, speak in reverence: yea, think never of Him, but with reverence. Well, these speeches & protestations of men, wherein they name the majesty of God, that are so unreverend, rash, & insolent, testifies & says plainly, That in their hearts there is no reverence to God: yea, they utter, that in their hearts they have said, There is not a God in heaven. But, O miserable caitiff, thou shalt find that there is a God one day to thy everlasting damnation, I give thee no less doom. Consider further: when Peter answers the Lord the third time, it is said by John, that Peter was sad in heart, & gives a sad & sorrowful confession, because he thought the Lord, by so many interrogations, credited him not, but disinherited him. Then learn hereby what should be the properties of a true confession: as confession should be in modesty, sincerity & reverence; so it should be in sadness: the confession of a sinner must be in grief & sadness: there is no question, but in his confession he saw matter of sadness, & saw the Lord by His urging of him so many times would have him to be sad. This he perceives, & therefore he is sad, when he confesses. So the confession of a sinner must be with sadness of heart. Wilt thou come to the Lord with a wanton confession, after thine accustomed mirrinesse? No, no, for the Lord by pricking of Peter so oft, declares that He has no pleasure in a confession, except it be in sadness. Therefore, when thou confessest, say, Alas Lord, th●t I cannot love thee so well as I should do, & would do. Well▪ if the Lord seek a confession of thee, He will prick thee, till He get a sad confession of thee. Now it may be asked, What n this confession once, twice, thrice to be repeated? What needed Peter thrice to say, I love thee? I answer: what needed P●ter to deny Him thrice? Now certainly, that threefold denial requires this threefold confession: if he had denied Him but once, it might have been, He would have asked but once: if thou goest down to Hell by degrees, wilt thou leap up to Heaven without any degrees at an instant? No, no, look by how many degrees thou hast gone down from God, toward Hell, by as many degrees must thou approach to Him again: for when thou hast committed a great sin, thou canst not repent enough for it: albeit thou shouldest weep and mourn many days and years, all is too little. Many a time must thou confess thy sin, which if thou dost, thou shalt both thereby glorify God▪ and also obtain a fuller assurance of the remission of thy sins: for the more thou repentest, & the more thou confessest thy sins, thou wilt get the fuller persuasion & greater assurance that thy sins are forgiven thee.  
Now I go forward: The Lord meets Peter again, when he hath professed that he loved Him, He says, F●ede my Lambs: & again, Feed my sheep & the third time, Feed my sheep. Peter, seeing thou hast confessed, that thou lovest me, here I absolute thee: the Lord says in effect, I restore thee to thine office again, be thou an Apostle, be thou a feeder of my sheep, be a Pastor to me, this is the principal purpose: so that the love of jesus restores a sinner: it is this love that restores thee to the room thou hast been in. But I insist not here: in this answer to Peter, ye see, how the Lord will have thy faith & thy love to be manifested: No, the confession of faith & of love must be manifested in action, according to the calling the Lord hath placed every one into: hath the Lord called thee to be a king, He will say unto thee, feed my people, as thou wouldst love me, & the Lord grant, the Kings may take heed to this, & especially, our King, that as he professes a love to Christ, so he would feed His people: the Lord give him this consideration: art thou a Minister, & sayest, thou lovest the Lord: well, the Lord will say to thee again, feed my lambs, I need none of thy feeding, thy love and well doing cannot extend the self to me, but do good to others who carry my Image for my cause. A profane man or woman with a shameless face will say▪ I love God: the greatest knave of them all will say so: but if it manifest not in an action, thou art but a liar, thou lovest Him not: faith & love must ever utter themselves in good actions: hast thou gotten a heart, hands & feet do some good, otherwise if thou dost never a good deed, thy profession of faith & love is but vain. Look 1. joh. 2.4. He that says, I know God, & keeps not His commandments, he is a liar, & the truth is not in him. If a man says, I love God, & hates his neighbour, he is a liar, so that he shall be punished, not only because he did no good, but because he was a liar: there are many lying Protestants in this Land: they will protest they love God: but when it comes to the trial, the world sees, that they have only a show of religion, & not the power thereof: there is another thing here yet to be marked: until Peter had professed he loved Christ, He bids him not feed His lambs: but look how the one follows the other: therefore it must follow, that feeding of the lambs of the Lord, must come of the love of the Lord. If Peter had said, I love thee not, Christ could not then have said to him, feed my lambs: them the lesson is clear: a man cannot be a Pastor, a feeder of the sheep of Christ, except he love Christ: No, there is none in any calling, that can do any good deed, except the wellspring of love be in his heart, if that be not, he shall never do any good deed, all shallbe sin: thou mayest well flatter thy s●lfe, & others may flatter thee, & say all is well: but if love be not, how fair & glancing so ever thy work be, God counnts not of it. No King in his calling shall ever do a good deed, except he do it for love he bears to the Lord: therefore, seeing a Pastor should learn all other folk to do their duty: yea, the King himself, how much more is that love required to be in him, if he would do rightly, sincerely, & earnestly: as for his feeding, it is more poisoning than feeding, if he have not love to Christ: the Pastor is not worth a penny, that strives not to get a sense of that love of Christ in his heart. The●e are so many difficulties & impediments cast in to a Pastor when he is about to discharge his duty, which he can never be able to overcome, except he both love the Lord, & be sensible of the Lords love towards him: the life of a Pastor is a thorny l●fe, and the more faithful the man be▪ the more vexations & troubles will he underlie: what is his life, but a continual trouble? with whom hath he to do? with a flock: for a Pastor & a flock are relative: & what a flock? some are so dull, that teach he never so much & carefully, they remain rude and uncapable (many of this town are guilty of this) and if there be any capable, they are so vain, so wanton, & light headed▪ that they vanish away in their own cogitations: & again, some are so infirm, that every thing almost is a stumbling block, suppose that men give no offence, yet will they take offence: some so malicious & endured, that the more the Pastor cry, the more endure they their hearts, and rejects all wholesome admonition: some will be sitting up before the Pastor, and mocking him when he is preaching, and when the Pastor hath done all the points of his calling faithfully, he needs not to look for any thing, but unthankful meeting in the end: No, the more faithful a man be in his calling, the more temptations shall he be subject to, to make him the more weak and feeble. If ye would have the proof of this: look 1. Cor. 4.9. What are we, says Paul, God hath set us up to be a mocking stock, a ●azing to the world, to the Angels, and to men: what are we? the offscouring of the world, that is sweeped out, to be cast to the backside. Then what held him up? and what held up Peter? and the rest of the Apostles and Martyrs? What? but the love of jesus: if they had not loved jesus, and that exceedingly, they would soon have fainted (we want the tenth part of that love to jesus that they had, alas, all is vanished away.) Would Peter or Paul, or any of them have borne out these things, if they had wanted the love of Christ, if it had not constrained them No, 2 Cor. 5 14. he says, We are fools, but for Christ's sake: for that love of Christ constraineth me: that is, the love of jesus occcupies so all my senses, that it bears me out: thereafter he resolves that love which he carried to Christ, into the own cause, where he subjoins: B●cause we know, that if ●ne be dead for all, then were we all dead: the ground of His love was: because Christ loved him: and this love is the cause, that makes His own to do all, to suffer all for Christ's sake, to live to Him, to die to Him: look if thou findest, that Christ loves thee, & then thou wilt love Him: so that thou wilt not refuse, if it were a thousand deaths for His cause. O the love of Christ is a great gulf! No, it will drown greater persecutions, than the Sea will: Pray therefore that the love of the Lord jesus may be in thine heart, that thou mayest love Him again. Now again, if the faithful discharge of the duty of a Pastor must proceed of necessity from the love of Christ, as the effect from the cause. Then mark, how ye shall know, whether a man love Christ or not: a King▪ a Minister, every Professor whosoever. Would ye have a token? look if he be faithful in his calling: if this be a necessary effect, then mark their works: by their works thou shalt know them: the love cannot be seen with the eye, it is uttered by a mark by the life, when thou seest a man well occupied in his own calling: the King ministering justice, the Pastor feeding his people, certainly, thou mayest say, Yone man loves Christ, but if the action be inlacking▪ what warrant have I, that a man loves God, I have none. The Apostle Paul, by the confusions and perturbations which he saw to be in the Church of Corinthus, gathers, that the false teachers, these deceivers love not the Lord jesus: & therefore he denounces a judgement against them, saying, If any man love not the Lord jesus Christ, let him be had in execration yea, excommunicated to death, 1. Cor. 16.22. I say, an unfaithful Pastor, who feeds his own b●lly, & not Christ's sheep, is accursed, not only because he spoils the Church of Christ, but also▪ because he loves not the Lord jesus Woe shall be to him one day: & by the contrary: a faithful Pastor, o what honour & glory shall he be exalted unto! Yet again, these words would be considered: the word of feeding would be looked to: it is a borrowed word: to speak properly, a Minister feeds not: it is an Herd, that feeds neat and sheep: the Scripture applies not this word only to Ministers, but to Kings: for look how busy as an Herd is going about feeding his flock, as busy should a King be in his calling: a King is but an Herd set over to feed the people of God: but the Scripture commonly in the New Testament applies it to Ministers, because in a Minister there should be as great diligence, painfulness & carefulness toward the people, as in the Herd toward the flock: & if there were no more to teach this, this threefold & so earnest commendation to Peter & the rest were sufficient. It is true, that the Lord jesus Himself is the Prince of the Pastors: yea, properly He is only Pastor, He is the Herd: & therefore He claims this style to Him, Job. 10 1. For why? the flock is His, & not the Ministers: therefore He says, Feed my lambs, than ye are his flock, & He is your Pastor properly. Again, it is His food, that the flock is fed with: all the store of the fodder of grace is out of His barn. If a Minister minister to you the smallest portion of food which is not taken out of the barneyard of jesus, it is poison he gives you. Knaves have deceived the world long: the Pope & his shavelings have propined poison to the people, & have made many thousands go to Hell: give Christ's flock Christ's food. But notwithstanding that Christ properly is the only true Pastor, yet lovingly he communinicates this His style to them whom He employs in His service of the ministery. Thou that art a Minister, He calls thee a Pastor: but thou art but as a servant laid under the chief shepherd: they are not Lords of the flock: No, not the best of them: No, not Lords, but dispensators: so they are not properly Pastors. Seeing then, such is the mercy of the Lord, that He so honours them, that He communicates His style to the Ministers: therefore they should strive to show themselves worthy of that style, by the faithful discharge of their calling, in feeding of the flock. But who are they that should be fed? Christ says first, Feed my lambs: & then He says twice, Feed my sheep: all is one, for the Kirke is compared to a fold full of sheep. He says not, Go feed tigers, lions, wolves, but lambs, sheep. Who are these then? By these lambs & sheep, the Lord understands His Chosen, (Blessed is he that is chosen in Christ, for great is the number of them that perishes, a very handful shall be saved) they must be more tame ones, silly simple ones, like sheep. Ye see the sheep ever receiving hurt, & never noisome nor hurtful to any other. Any beast will overcome a sheep, but it will overcome none: so it is silly simple ones that are Christ's sheep. Now I mean not, that all th'Elect are at the first hand as silly as sheep: no, but that they who were before like wolves, lions, tigers; by the Spirit, through the preaching of the word, by process of time, are tamed, and made like sheep. No, no, when Peter went out to feed them, they were like tigers, raging in their lusts. No, the chosen by nature, before they be tamed & called, they are nothing different from the reprobate: they ramp and roar like lions, albeit in the secret counsel of God, & His decree of predestination, & by His grace, there be a great difference betwixt the one & the other: for God only makes a difference betwixt His Elect, & the reprobate. What was Paul himself, or any other, before they were called, but wolves & tigers? Then the Pastor, albeit he find men as wolves & tigers, yet he should not stay from feeding of them: no, he must preach the Gospel, that thereby he may make of wolves & tigers, lambs and sheep: for many of them that were like tigers, after they had once heard the voice of the Apostles, became simple as sheep. Now it may be asked here, Seeing the Lord recommends unto Peter only His chosen to be fed & instructed by him, should th'Apostles have care of any other, to feed and instruct, except of th'Elect only? Let it be that these Elect at the first hand be like wolves and tigers; yet the care of them only in this place is recommended unto Peter, and the rest, by the Lord. I answer, Albeit the Lord recommend chiefly the care of th'Elect, yet He excludes not the reprobate: for it is the Lords will, that food should be offered to them also: for the Pastor cannot know who are Elect or Reprobate: & therefore, it is his duty to count all to be elected, & to feed all: he must not be rash in judgement. No man should be so bold, as to presume to give out sentence, who are chosen, or who are reprobate: for the LORD knoweth who are His, 2. Timoth. 2.19. Therefore, let him stay, until the Lord discern who are elect: let the Pastor count all to be Lambs, and endeavoure to feed all, yet his labours shall only be fruitful in the Elect: for there is never one that is not chosen, that shall be tamed by the word: all the preachings in the world will not tame a reprobate, but he shall ever be a Wolf: indeed, a reprobate may for a season take on a sheep skin: that is, he may play the hyprocrite, and may seem outwardly to some to be godly, but truly and in effect, he will never have true Faith nor godliness. Now last, this would not be passed by, that the Lord bids Peter feed His, not another man's sheep, but His own sheep: that is, them whom He hath redeemed and ransomed with His own blood. This word contains an argument, wherefore the sheep should be fed: to wit, because they are the Lords, ransomed with His own blood. And more than that, this word admonishes the Pastor, that he count not the flock to be his own, but the Lords, and that he feed it not to himself, to use the flock for his own gain and advantage. john Baptist says, He that hath the bride, is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom rejoices greatly, because of the bridegrooms voice, joh. 3.29. By these words john signifies, that he wooed not the Church to himself, but to the Lord, who is the bridegroom: And Paul says to the Corinthians, I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have prepared you for one husband, to present you, as a pure virgin to Christ, 2. Cor. 11.2. For it is the most abominable and detestable sacrilege that can be, to spoil Christ the bridegroom of the Church His bride, & to take from Him His flock, which He hath redeemed with such a precious and glorious ransom, even the blood of God, Acts 20.28. Seeing then, that the Lord hath committed to Pastors the Church, which is His own Spouse, and His Flock, which He hath redeemed with no less price, than His own blood, the LORD give pastors grace to be careful in feeding of them, with that food of life, furnished unto them by the LORD Ies●s: To whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all praise, and honour, for ever.  
AMEN.   

THE LI. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XXI. 
verse 18 Verily, verily I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldst: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch out thine hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.  
verse 19 And this spoke He, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when He had said thus, He said to him, Fellow Me.  
THE last day (beloved Brethren) we heard, how the Lord in this third appearing, unto His Disciples after His Resurrection, when He dined with them, fed them, and giving them meat out of His own hand, he entered in conference with Peter: especially, the end of the conference He had with Peter, was to restore Peter to that dignity of the Apostleship, from which h●e had fallen, and whereof he had made himself unworthy through his apostasy and threefold denial of his Lord and Master, He asks him one thing thrice: Simon, the son of jona, lovest thou Me? Peter answers and gives a threefold confession: Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. The LORD answers again, and gives a threefold absolution, and pronounces the sentence of his restoring again three times: F●●de, then says the Lord, My Lambs, feed My sheep. This He does, to confirm him the better in his restoring: for when a man hath made a foul defection from God, his heart is not easily persuaded of grace again, it will not be at one or two sentences, it will not be a promise at one time, that will give him an assurance of the favour of God again: therefore, to give Peter the greater assurance of grace, He triples over the sentence, and gives him three times that commission, to feed His lambs and sheep. The last day, Brethren, as the Lord gave the grace, we opened the meaning of these words, and last, of these words, My Lambs, my sheep: now only thus far I add for your consolation: ye see all this love that Peter confesses toward the Lord Himself, He turns it over upon His Lambs, His Sheep, and flock, in a word, upon His Church. Mark it: The Pastor or Minister will no sooner profess love to his Lord that placed him in that room, but as soon the Lord will send him to the flock & people: if thou love me, the Lord will say, love my people, the Lord will place His people in His own room: look what love any will bear to Him, He will have it declared and uttered to His Saints, & more, He does it three times: so oft as Peter professes love, so oft He sends him to the people: look how oft the Pastor professes love to Christ, as oft He will send him to the people: if he say, I love thee, than He will answer, feed my Lambs: if He will say a thousand times, He will answer, feed my flock, manifest it upon them that carry mine Image. This shows the wonderful love that God bears to His Elect: He will have all that duty that is due to Him, to be translated upon His Church: so that whosoever do not their duty to the Church, I affirm & I say, profess as they will, they have no love to Christ, thou mayest stand up, and babble, & vaunt of thy love to Christ: but I say, there is no such love in thine heart, as thou professest with thy mouth. If thou sayest, thou lovest God & dost not thy duty to man, thou art a liar, 1. Joh. 4.18.  
To go forward to this Text: When He hath restored him to the office of Apostleship, which by his denial justly he had lost, He gives him the office with a knot, as we speak, & He forewarns him in the entry, that he shall get no rest in it and when he hath done all, what shall be his reward in the world: He tells him, Thou shalt be girded with cords, in stead of a girdle, and then thou shalt be led away, whither thou wouldst not: that is, to a violent death, whereby thou shalt seal up the Gospel that thou hast preached: then the Lord gives him, and he receives the office of Apostleship with this premonition▪ that in the end of it he shall die the death. The Lord forewarns him to this end, that he should be on his preparation, to mak● him ready to d●e, & to enarme him against the death: for death coming unawares is terrible, & will testify the proudest flesh that lives: 〈◊〉 this forewarning s●rues for the enarming of him, forewarned, half armed, as the Proverb is: Preparation for death, meditation of that death, and of the life to come, is better and more steadable armour against death, than a jack, or all the strengths and castles in the earth. It is a terrible thing when death lights upon a creature suddenly, it dammishes the creature.  
But to the purpose: In the person of Peter, I perceive, That there is no man the Lord receives to be a Pastor, a feeder of His flock, or a Minister, but He takes him with this premonition: Make thee for death: that is a hard beginning: Prepare thee to shed thy blood for my sheep, and to seal that Gospel, which thou hast preached with thy blood: for why? a man that enters to feed the flock of the Lord, hath not ado with lambs only, silly and simple sheep, but he must fight with Wolves: as he must feed the lambs, so he must fight with Wolves, Tigers, Bears, etc. that would devour the Lambs? Yea, sometimes, it will fall out, that these whom they think to be Lambs, will manifest themselves to be Wolves: yea, beside this, it may be, that one of His own flock, shall stand up and devour him in the end: and beside this, what is the Devil ever doing with him? Is he not ever going about the Fold, like a roaring Lion, with the mouth of him ever wide open, seeking to swallow and devour not only the flock, but also the Pastor? so that he should make him for death. It is true, Brethren, every Pastor in the end dies not a violent death, all are not hanged? beheaded or burnt: Some, yea, many die their own natural death, and in peace: the Lord honours not every man with the gift of suffering for the Name of Christ? (it is an honour, get it who will) as He honoured Peter, and He requires not, that every man seal this doctrine with his blood in the end: but yet it is the Lords will, that never a man enter so soon to the ministery, but as soon he make him for suffering, and that he preach so, that he be ready to seal up every preaching with his blood. Away with the man, who when he enters, thinks with himself, that he shall have ease, and a quiet and a pleasant life. It is true, again: the Lord will not speak now to every man face to face, forewarning him, and giving to him a revelation from Heaven now, as than He did to Peter, yet there is nothing more certain than this: it is His will, that every man be re●●ie every hour to seal up the Gospel with his blood, if it ple●se the Lord to call him. Paul (Acts 21.) when he was going ●p to jerusalem, he got a forewarning, That he should be bound hand and foot, and so it fell out: but it was not foretold him that he should die: yet he says, when the godly are standing, weeping & lamenting, seeking to dissuade him to go up, What do ye weeping & grieving mine heart? Why trouble ye me? I am ready, says he, not only to be bound, but I am prepared to die for the Name of the Lord jesus. So howbeit he got not the warning, yet he had this resolution settled, to suffer. Now appertains this nothing to you, who are the people? I say to thee, Thou who will't call thyself a Christian man, & who hast given up thy name to jesus Christ, thou art as far indebted to seal up thy profession with thy blood, if thou be charged, as the Pastor is; otherways I will not give thee a penny for thy profession: It had b●ene better thou had never taken that name, if thou be not ready to seal it up with thy blood. It is true, every one is not in very deed marty●ed: but I say to thee, There is a necessity laid upon thee, that in some measure thou prepare thee to suffer the cross and death itself for Christ's sake, and so that thou be a Martyr in thine own mind and resolution: And albeit thou eschew death, yet of this be assured, That thou shalt bear the burden of affliction, either inwardly or outwardly: for whosoever would live godly in Christ jesus, must suffer affliction. 2. Timoth. chap. 3. vers. 11. and Act. chap. 14. vers. 22. it is said, Thorough many afflictions, we must enter into the kingdom of God. This necessity is laid upon us. It is the duty (as we use to speak) of every Christian man & woman, to suffer. Therefore Brethren, seeing this necessity is laid on us, That we must suffer some affliction, we should be prepared for it, yea, if it were to die the death for the name of jesus. Let every one be preparing themselves, both Pastor and people: for it may be, that all estates be sooner put to try all than ye look for, and that the Lord say to the Pastor, Thou hast been preaching these many years, now seal it up w●th thy blonde: And to the people, Ye have been prosissing long, now suffer for it. There is my counsel, Suppose thou shed not thy blood, yet look that in the resolution of thine heart thou be a Martyr, thou be headed, hanged, and that suffer all sort of torment that ever any suffered, and strive to get contentment to die at the pleasure of the Lord. He knows not what a Christian man means, who has not this resolution. A fool thinks that this high calling is to get pleasure ease, & delicacy: No, no, as CHRIST went out of the ports of Jerusalem, bearing His own cross to the place of execution, so He calls thee to go forth with Him, out of this world, bearing His reproach, Hebr. 13.13. Otherwise look not to have participation of His glory. Yet let us mark the words more narrowly. Now certainly will ye look in to them, ye will see that Peter's calling to th'Apostleship was wondrous strait. Peter might have thought, and said with himself, Seeing I am entering to be an apostle, I am entering to a glorious calling, I will get honour enough, I was before a poor Fisher, now I will get honour, ease, peace and rest. The Lord answers, No Peter, it shall not be so. And this He declares by comparing his condition to come in his age, with his bypassed condition in his youth: As if He had said, The order of nature shall be inverted in thee, for when thou waste young, ere thou sawest me, thou gottest leave to gird thy girdle about thee, to dress thyself, and to walk where thou wouldst: That is, When thou wast most able and strong to bear the Cross, thou wast spared, and thou didst all things pleasantly, & according to thy desire; & when thou addressed thyself to the journey, thou girded thyself as thou pleasedst. Here He alludes to the oriental people, who used to wear long side clothes: & therefore when they went to any journey, behoved to truss them up, & to gird them to them. But after this it shall not be so: but when thou shalt be old, & thorough age more unable to suffer affliction, and to bear the cross, than thou shalt be afflicted another shall gird thee: That is, Bind thee with cords: & as thou went before where thou would, so now thou shalt be led whither thou wouldst not. Now Peter might have said, Suppose I sustain trouble in my age, yet thou wilt give me a peaceable death in the end. (There is no man almost, when he has spent his time in the common weal, but in his age he will get leave to be at rest, & to die peaceably) No, says the Lord, when thou art an old man, thou shalt be hurried out, & die a violent death. And it would seem, that Christ dissuaded Peter to be an Apostle, & to enter into such a hard calling, where in his old age, which requires to be freed from travel, & trouble, should be most afflicted, whereas in his youth he was freed from affliction. There is an hard meeting, & calling of Peter to be an Apostle. I think many now would run aback from the ministry, if they witted of so hard a meeting. Well, the day of trial is coming. Mark the lesson. When the Lord calls a Pastor, He will tell him the worst of it: He uses no flattery in His calling: In the first entry He will lay before thee great crosses & terrors: It may be thou get ease, rest & commodity: but I assure thee, that this will be the conference the Lord will have with thee when thou interest. When thou hast served me, look for the cross for thy stipend, when thou hast done all, make thee for death. Therefore say not, I will enter, because I will get a good fat Benefice, & fair living, I will get peace & ease. It may be that the Lord cast these things to thee, & that thou find them, but propone not that to thyself, as a cause of thine entry: but say, I am entering to labour, to trouble, ●o pain, & it may be, in the end, when I have done all, I shall lay down my life: let the be thy resolution. In this there is great difference betwixt God & the Devil: When the Devil calls one, in the beginning he promises then riches, wealth, honour, & preferment: the villain will promise felicity & happiness in this life: but in the end, miserably he deceives them, who trusted his flattery. Th'experience of the wretched caitiffs proves this: for never got they such things as were promised, but misery, terror and horror in the end. But Christ calls men otherways, and says, Aim not at me, but by the cross, so long as ye are in this world, ye shall have opposition, oppression, and sorrow: they shall bruise you, they shall tread you under foot. But in the mean time He promises, That in the midst of all their griefs, yea, in death itself, they shall find comfort: for when He has said to His Apostles, In the world ye shall have sorrow. He subjoins incontenent, But be of good comfort, for I have overcome the world, joh. chap. 16. verse. 33. The world shall not be victorious over thee, thou shalt get a fair advantage and outgate at the last, thou shalt get the victory. And in the midst of their troubles, not only promises He, but also He will give them a sweeter taste & sense of inward joy, than all the worldlings can have. When they are sitting in the midst of all their glory, riches, and outward pleasures, yea, in the very death, He furnishes life, as Paul says, 2. Cor 6 9 As dying but behold, we live: yea, such a sweet life, as the natural man never could think of. In thy death, the life of jesus Christ shall be most lively. Thou needest not then to fear to suffer any extremity for jesus, seeing ever He has promised thee such a vantage. Yet further I see here this, not only out of this place, but also thorough the whole Scripture, & experience teaches it, That the prerogatives & vantages of this life, liberty & preferment, stands not well with jesus Christ: at the least a Pastor should not lay his count to brook them both together. Peter, when he was a free man, and a Fisher, going out and in at his pleasure, he knew not what Christ meaned. As soon as he comes to Christ, farewell with his freedom: he put his girdle about him ere he knew Christ, but knowing Christ, he must be bound with a cord, & hurled in bands: if any take this calling upon him, to enjoy the outward comforts & prerogatives of this world, he deceives himself. Likewise Paul, Philip. 3.7. Ere he knew Christ, a Gentleman (folk think, a Minister cannot be a Gentleman) a citizen of Rome, an Hebrew, a Pharise according to his sect, & in his zeal going beyond all men, and in his righteousness he was unrebukable, according to the justice of the Law: but when he comes to Christ, what became of all these? he leaves all, renounces & quites them, he counts them for Christ's sake to be damage & dung. So, I say again: I see not, how the advantages, liberties, & these outward prerogatives, can stand well with the Lord jesus. Indeed the Lord some times casts these things in great abundance & affluence to His own: and then if it please God▪ why mayest thou not brook them: for the Minister hath as good right to these earthly things, as another: for the Lord sanctifies them to their use: but in the mean time take the counsel of the Apostle, 1 Cor. 7.31. Use them, as though thou used them not: Settle never thine heart on them, let them never be thy chief respect, in pain of thy life, & if they come in comparison with Christ, take Paul's counsel and experience also: count them all damage and loss, and count them hurtful to thee: yet a degree further, count them but dung, loathe them, spit at them, as at dirt: if they seem to separate thee from Christ, shake them off thee, denude thine hand of them: I say, albeit it were thy life, if it hinder thee from Christ, away with thy life, give it to any Tyrant, Persecuter, if it hinder thee, that thou canst not brook Christ with it: for if thou givest thy life for Christ indeed, He shall be advantage to thee, not only in the time of thy life, but chief, in the hour of death, as Paul says of himself, Philip. 1.21. Now, Brethren, take heed, all these earthly things, as liberties, riches, nobility, kindred, glory, honour of the world, and favour of men, these things can stand thee in stead only, so long as thou leavest thy riches, thy nobility, albeit thou wert come of Kings, can be steadable no longer: but if thou be laid on thy back, on thy death bed, at the hour of thy death, what will they help thee then? Nothing, but thou wilt disdain them all: No, they shall not hold thy life one hour: them all these advantages in earth cannot be advantage in the hour of death: in heaven or earth no advantage to any in the hour of death, but jesus, who has overcome death: if thou have jesus, o that joy thou shalt find in death: & by the contrary, How terrible a departure will they find, that have not Christ jesus. This miserable generation will not know this, until they feel it by sad experience. There were two thieves hanged with Christ, but both got Him not to be advantage in death: therefore let men, when they are living, & wholest, have Christ before their eyes, & seek to be acquainted with Him in their life, that they may have Him to be advantage in their death. Yet one thing further, ere I leave these things, I think all young men that have health, ability & strength of body, to run & ride, rash here & there, that have liberty to pass & repass at their pleasure, may learn a lesson at Peter. Peter, when he was young, he might have done what he pleased: he thought he was a happy man: for the word imports, when he makes mention of his former condition which he had before he knew Christ: for when he was young, and had liberty, he was free from Christ: for he knew not Christ, before Christ knew him: so Peter in his youth a free man, a young strong man, he was also free from Christ: foolish, vain young men, esteem themselves to be happy, if they have health, strength, ability & freedom to live as they please, albeit they be without God and free of jesus Christ: alas, that is a miserable freedom, when thou art free here in earth, if thou be free from Christ also, that is miserable: for if thou be not a bondservant to Christ, albeit thou wert a King, a Cesar, thou art but a servant to sin, & a slave to the devil. Paul Rom. 6.20. says, When ye were the servants of sin, ye were freed from righteousness: if thou be not the servant of Christ, thou art a slave to the Devil, and sin: for of need force, thou shalt either be the servant of Christ, or else, thou shalt be a greater slave than a horserubber. Let never a man glory in a liberty, that he may run, or ride, do this or that, except that, with that freedom he find himself bound as a servant to Christ, & except he can say in his heart: albeit I be free, yet, Lord jesus, I am thy bondservant: for Peter's condition, when he was in the chains and bands, led out to die the death for Christ, was better than when he was a young man, following his own lust & pleasure: there is no happiness but in jesus Christ, all these earthly liberties will not make thee happy, if thou be not bound to Christ in his service: they only are truly free, whom the Son makes free, joh. 8.36. And the Apostle says: Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, 2. Cor. 3.17. But I go forward: He says, Thou shalt be led whither thou wouldst not. This is a marvelous thing. These words would import, that he died not willingly for the Lord; but he was drawn contrary his will to the torment. How can this be? The words may import a comparison, to wit, That one shall lead thee, not so much where thou wilt, as where he will, for thy will shallbe subject to the will of the persecuter & tormenter. I answer. Indeed it is true, when Peter suffered for his Lord's sake, he suffered not so willingly, but in the mean time for there was a battle within him, & he found something that made resistance to that obedience: first there was nature, which naturally abhors death: there is nothing more terrible to nature, than this dissolution & parting & severing of the soul & body: & therefore Christ Himself, who set Himself in all respects to be obedient to the Father, having our nature, abhorred death, & prayed, saying, Take this cup from me. So I say, it was no marvel that nature in Peter abhorred from death & would have declined that death in some measure. There was another cause more in Peter than was in Christ: Christ had nature, but it was holy: Peter beside this common nature, had some remaining corruption: And whosoever has it (as all men saving Christ jesus has it) they will find, that when they are bend to give obedience to God in any thing, it will rebel▪ and make some resistance: & when thou feignest would obey Him, & lay down thy neck to die for Christ, it will draw thee aback. Again, the best that lives, will utter the words of th'apostle, I do not the good thing which I would: but the evil, which I would not, that I do. Rom. 7.19. Therefore, Brethren, learn this lesson at Peter, All the godly from the beginning, & all the Holy Martyrs, what ever they have been, that have died for the Name of the Lord jesus, their obedience has not been altogether perfect: No, it is a vanity to think, that the Martyrs died without all fear: I say, The best of them in their death found some horror and infirmity: And I say, The victory that they got was by an inward battle in their soul: and as they were victorious, by yielding themselves outwardly to the death; so they were victorious in their souls. This is comfortable. When thou seest that the Saints feared & abhorred death, if thou findest the like fear in thee, yet be not over much casten down: Thou wilt say, Shall I suffer death in the fire? shall I be burnt quick, and be dammed, as the Martyrs have been with sundry sorts of tortures? Alas, I am not able to abide it. And no question, there will be an horror in thine heart, when thou thinkest of this, but especially when thou comest to the act of suffering, than all such infirmity, such fear & dread shall rise, and get up in thy soul: But let this be thy comfort in the Lord, when thou findest this, that this fear shall not hinder thine obedience, and say, There is nothing that befalls to me, but that which befalls to the best servants of God, I am not alone, such infirmity, such dread and fear as I have, Peter had, and the best Saints of God had: and howbeit they had them, yet their obedience was not hindered thereby. And so as Peter and the rest got the victory, notwithstanding of fear and dread, thou wilt give me the victory with Peter. This advertises us thus far. Never man suffered martyrdom by his own strength. And if Peter had been given over to his own strength, he would not have suffered more than Judas: And if Steven had not been sustained with the sight of Heaven, to have holden up his heart▪ he would not have suffered the death. Paul teaches us, Philip. chap. 1. vers. 29. As faith is the gift of God, so it is the gift of God to suffer affliction. It is given to you, says he, to suffer. And therefore he says to Timothy, (2. Epist. chap. 1. vers. 8.) Be partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel. But how? By your own strength? No: but by the power of God. And therefore, whosoever would have this strength, let him beg it of the Lord. Whensoever it shall please God to say, Go to the stake: then ever say, Lord give me strength, & I shall suffer. Therefore, as night & day we should be upon this resolution, to suffer for Christ; so should we night & day be earnest in prayer: and if thou findest the power of God by prayer to be conveyed to thine heart, thou needest not to fear: for that power will prop it up, & uphold it in th'extremity of death & martyrdom. So ever be in prayer, saying, Lord give me strength: and if thou get once a piece of this power, thou shalt wonder at it.  
Now john in the next verse he joins the meaning of these words of the Lords to Peter, lest any man reading or hearing, should doubt of the meaning, This spoke he, says john, signifying by what death he should glorify God. He means, that he should die a violent death, he should not get leave to die his own natural death in peace: but that he should die violently upon the scaffold. The Papists upon these words, gather, That Peter was crucified, & that the Lord meant, that he should be hanged: but the words bear no such thing. Thou shalt stretch out thine hands. What necessity is there here to import crucifying, or hanging, more than heading? or any one death more than another? What death it was, it is not certain: it is far better not to meddle with it, than to believe men's fables. Only the words of the Lord import, that he died violently. But what death soever it was, it is not much to edification. Yet this is not to be passed by, but well to be marked, That when He is speaking of his death, He says not after this manner, He signified what death he should die: no, but by what death he should glorify God: a thing more worthy of marking, He styles & defines the death & martyrdom of Peter to be a glorifying of his God. Brethren, the death of all the godly and Saints, whatsoever kind of death it be, whether it be in peace, their own natural death, or a violent death, whatsoever kind of death it be, it may be defined after this manner, to be a glorifying of God. And blessed are they that die in the LORD, Blessed are they that die in faith in the LORD JESUS: that is, as PAUL says, sleeps in Him, 1. Thessaly. chap. 4. vers. 14. So I say, The death of every godly man and woman, glorifies their God. Yet we must understand, That the death of these who suffer martyrdom, and seals up the truth of Christ with their blood, that death especially gets this praise, and this style, That it glorifies GOD after a special manner. Mark it well▪ martyrdom properly is called, The glorifying of God, because in it especially is the matter of the glory of God. Above all other deaths of men in the world, in the death of the Son of God jesus Christ, was greatest matter of the glorifying of His Father: and therefore, above all other deaths, the death and cross of Christ gets this style of the glorifying of GOD, Joh. Chap. 12. vers. 28. When the LORD has striven with the fear of death, look how He considers with Himself, Lord glorify thine own Name: that is, Be thou glorified in my death. Next, after Christ's death, the death of the Martyrs serves most for the glory of God: and therefore, next after Christ's death, the death of the Martyrs brooks this style. Therefore ye see in this place, john speaking of the martyrdom of Peter, calls it, The glorifying of GOD. And Paul to the Philippians, speaking of his death, says, that the Lord should be magnified in his death, Philip. chap. 1. vers. 20. And all to this end, To encourage us cheerfully to go to death for Christ's sake What knows any of us, but we may be charged with martyrdom, whether it be Minister, or any of the flock? And I affirm to you, that if the Lord call any of you to die for the Gospel, if ye deny Him, He will deny you. These are His own words, Matth. 10.33. Therefore, seeing every one of us, if we be Christians, are bound to suffer: No, not a Minister only, but the soberest of you all, lad and lass. We have this encouragement to suffer martyrdom, that our death shall glorify God after a singular manner. It is no matter what become of thee, if thou gettest that honour to glorify God: for be assured, if thou do so, thou shalt be partaker of His glory. When the conference is done, the Lord apparently rises up, for the time of this conference they were sitting together, And the Lord says to Peter, Follow thou me. The meaning is this, as though He would say, Well Peter, I have forewarned and enarmed thee against this death: in token of this, follow thou me: for he gives him this as an undoubted sign of his cross & death that was to come. No, Brethrens, they that will follow the Lord, must take up his cross, and follow Him. And therefore bids He Peter follow Him. Well, these words are hard to flesh and blood. But here is the great comfort, We have Christ to follow, He goes before us, When we go to the cross to martyrdom, He goes before us. To go to death, without Christ going before us, of all things it is most terrible and fearful: But to go to death, following Christ, there is great matter of consolation: for when He is before us, and if we follow with His cross upon our backs, we shall find, that the death of Christ has taken away the bitterness of death. Whosoever shall follow Christ, shall never taste the bitterness of death. But if thou bearest thine own cross, thou diest for thine own sin, as a Malefactor, a Thief, a Murderer, etc. Woe is thee, for the end of that death is th'extremity of Hell. It stands not only in a shameful, ignominious, and comfortless departure, and in the sundering of the soul from the body, it ends not there, but thereafter the soul must be thrust into Hell, to be tormented for ever. But when we have Christ going before us, bearing our cross, suffering for our sins, & then we following Him, bearing His cross, He dying first, taketh away the bitterness of death, and makes our death an entry to life everlasting. There is a comfort that Peter gets in death: so that death is made sweet to him, and a port to life everlasting. Brethren, ye must understand, That Christ goes before us, not only in His death, but in His Resurrection and life: for at this time He was risen. So PETER follows Him in His Resurrection. There is a double comfort, We follow JESUS CHRIST not only in His death, but also in His Resurrection, to raise us to life again: for it is by virtue of that life of JESUS CHRIST, that we rise to life, after our death. Whereto intends all this? Even to encourage us to suffer martyrdom, and seal the Gospel with our blood, if it shall please the Lord to call us: and happy art thou if the Lord shall honour thee, so that He will have thee to bear His Cross, & to suffer as an innocent, who for a thousand of thine own sins art worthy of an ignominious death, & desperate departure: for if He go before thee, if He bear thy Cross, the bitterness of death is taken from thee, because the guiltiness of thy sin is forgiven. Now, the Lord furnish us strength & courage, that we shame not His cause, if it shall please Him to call us to suffer for the Name of jesus, To whom with the Father, and Holy Spirit, be all praise and glory, for ever. AMEN.   

THE LII. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  JOHN, CHAP. XXI. 
verse 20 Then Peter turned about, and saw the Disciple whom jesus loved, following, which had also leaned on His breast at supper, and had said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?  
verse 21 When Peter therefore saw him, he said to jesus, Lord, what shall this man do?  
verse 22 jesus said unto Him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is it to thee? follow thou Me.  
verse 23 Then went this word abroad among the brethren, that this disciple should not die: Yet jesus said to him, he shall not die: but if I will that he tarry till I come, what is it to thee?  
verse 24 This is that disciple, which testifieth of these things, and wrote those things, and we know that his testimony is true.  
verse 25 Now there are also many other things, which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose the world could not contain the books that should be written, Amen.  
WE have heard, Brethren, that after the Lord had restored Peter to the dignity of the Apostle ship, from the which he had fallen by his threefold denial of his Master, in the Hall of the High Priest, he adds to his absolution & restitution, a premonition, and forewarning, forewarning him, that in the end of his Apostleship, when he should become an old man, he should close up and seal his Apostleship with his blood When thou wast young, says the Lord to Peter, thou girdedst thyself: thou knittedst, thy clothes, when thou wast wont to go any way, and wentedst, whither thou pleasedst: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt not get credence to gird thyself, to put thy girdle about thee: but thou shalt stretch out thine hands, and another shall gi●d thee with cords and chains, and shall lead thee away, not where it shall please thee, but where it shall please him, he shall lead thee to the death. We heard, john opened up the meaning of these words and told us, that Christ thereby signified, that Peter should glorify God by a violent death: and thereafter, to encourage him, the Lord goes before him, & bids Peter follow Him, signifying thereby, that His death had taken away the bitterness of death, and that by virtue of His Resurrection, he should live again.  
Now in the words that we have read, in the first place we have set down a new conference between the Lord and Peter: for while they are in the way, the Lord going before, and Peter, following, there they fall again in a new conference, and Peter, as he was ay too rash, albeit very zealous: so here rashly he demands a curious question, and it is about john the writer of this Gospel: the question is, What should john do? What shall this man do? Shall he not follow the Lord? The Lord had not bidden him follow Him: it might have contented Peter well enough, that the Lord had kept silence of john, and he to have done the thing that the Lord bade him. Now, Brethren, ere I come to the question, ye must mark the occasions of this curiosity of Peter: I perceive, the first occasion that brings Peter to this question, is this: When they are going together, Peter looks over his shoulder, and turns him about, and turns his eye from the Lord, and looked to john, that apparently followed a far●e off: upon which follows this curiosity, and this learns us this lesson: If the Lord bid thee, follow Him in any calling what ever it be, as He bade Peter follow Him to the death (that was his calling, for a man follows God in his calling, all lawful callings are but a following of the LORD) learn here to be wiser than Peter: hold thine eye constantly upon Him, thine heart upon Him: in thy calling follow Him foot for foot: tread thou in the same footsteps, so far as He shall give the grace, decline not, neither to the right hand, nor to the left: & as to thine eye, look that it be never drawn from Him, look not over thy shoulder to see what is behind thee, but look constantly on the Lord: for if thou do this, thou loses the sight of Him, & that of need force shall make thee to settle back in thy calling: Peter but once turning, goes one foot backward, & falls back from that course wherein he should have walked, Paul Philip. 3.14. considered this well, & in that race he ran to be partaker of Resurrection, & life everlasting, he says, I never look behind me, I never look over my shoulder, to see what is behind, but mine eye is ever upon the mark, to get the price of the high calling of God. Seeing then we have taken up a course to walk in to that life, jesus Christ being the forerunner, and breaking up the Heaven: hold thine eye continually upon the forerunner: follow Him in thine own calling▪ and see that thine eye go never off Him▪ It is the felicity of the creature to follow Him, and thou must follow the Lord in thine own calling: there is the first occasion. Upon this follows another: for piece & piece he comes to his curiosity, turning himself about, & looking to John, Whom the Lord loved, who was very familiar with the Lord, & apparently hath used the Lord more homely, than any of the rest▪ for he was the man which leaned on jesus breast at supper: for when the Lord forewarned them, that one of them should betray Him, Peter winks upon john, & beckenes unto him, as he leaned on the Lords breast, to ask who it was: John said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Now Peter remembering this love of the Lord towards John, & this great familiarity, he marvels why that Disciple should have been left behind, & should not have been required to follow Him, as well as he, and so he falls out in this curious question, & forgets in a manner his own calling: there is the ground: Peter looking to john, he sees him not so soon, but he finds in him the matter of his curiosity: wilt thou leave off thine own calling, & take leisure to look about thee here or there, to this man or that man, when the Lord hath bidden thee strictly follow Him, & forbidden that thou shouldst look about thee: thou shalt not so soon do this, but as soon thou shalt find matter of curiosity: No, if thou take thee that leisure to look to another, thou shalt get a stumbling block to stay thee from thy calling: therefore, if thou be called by God to any calling, look that thine eye be never off the Lord, as thou wilt be answerable to Him, hold thine eye upon Him, take thee not so much leisure from thine own calling, as to look once to another man: o that strict life that is required of a Christian: men think that they may live loosely as they please: No, but thou must walk circumspectly, & precisely in thy calling, holding thy eye upon the Lord: Another thing I mark: Peter, when he sees john following after, wonders that the Lord bids not him also follow, he thinks that the Lords homeliness with john is failed. It will be at times, that these men that have found in greatest experience the love of Christ, & familiarity with Him (& blessed are they that have found His love, & is homely with Him: if thy acquaintance begin not here, thou shalt never be acquainted with Him hereafter, let no man be guile himself) it will be that men will think the Lord has forgot them, has left them, & cast them off, & they themselves will begin to doubt of the Lords favour, the smallest thing that can be, will make us to doubt: but there is no cause why either thou shouldst doubt, or other men should think so: for whom He loves, He loves to the end. The answer which the Lord gives here to Peter, testifies His love was as great now as ever it was before: if thou gettest once His love, it shall not fail thee, it will appear, indeed, to thy sense, that it fails, but measure thou not the favour of God by these things that are outward thou must not judge rashly, either of thyself, or of others by these outward things. Now come to the question: upon these occasions follows this question, What shall this man do? Shall not john thy beloved disciple follow thee? Wilt thou leave him behind thee? If thou givest me this honour to die for thee, wilt thou not give him the like. Ye see here, an example of curiosity, not only superfluous, but hurtful: he hurt himself, and did no good to john? What was the ground of it? he took him leisure from his vocation, which was to look to jesus, and to follow Him, to scanse upon John. Upon this, he falls in this inconvenient, Paul 2. Thess. 3.11. speaking of them who lived inordinately, he joins these together, They work nothing themselves: again, They are curious about other men's affairs: Meaning, that all this curiosity about other men's affairs comes from idleness in their own calling. Upon this it comes to pass, that thou sets thy mind on other folk: if thou wert busy in thy own calling thou wouldst not be curious in other folk's affairs, & this ye shall find, that these men that busy their heads about other men's adoes, finding fault with this man, and that man, they are most idle, and careless of their own adoes: fie upon this curiosity, fleeting and flowing hither and thither. Then set thy mind on thine own calling, & so thou shalt not get time to trouble and vex thy mind with other men's adoes. This is the curious question: folk would think that this is but a light word which Peter speaks, but it is not so: for beside this curiosity, there is another fault in him, he hath a sinistrous judgement of the Lords doing, he thinks all men should be called to one calling: he is called to die for Him, and so he thinks should john also: but the LORD lets him see, that he is beguiled. There are many in this warfare, but all this hath not one station & calling, he hath one, & he hath another, he hath this, he hath that, The Lord will say to one, Do thou this: to another, Do thou that: to Peter, Fellow me: to John, tarry thou still there: for example: There will be ten men in this warfare, & he will take one of the ten, and say, Come thou out, and go, & be burnt for my Names sake, and he will let the rest stand still, and will exercise them with croces: some more gently, some more sharply, as pleases Him: so diversly He will cross them: no Christian without some cross: be patiented in it, & thou shalt get a fair outgate: He will exercise one in the mind, and another in the body, the third in his goods and gear: He hath many ways to exercise His own: if there were a thousand of them, He will get as many crosses, so that none shall escape his cross. It is a vain thing, to think, that all men should be called to that, whereunto thou are called: No, leave others to the Lord, to do with them as He pleases: go thou to the scaffold, if the Lord command thee, and leave thy neighbour.  
Thus far, for the curious question: Now come to the rebuke: He meets Peter in anger, and with sharp words, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is it to thee? Do that which thou art commanded to do: Fellow thou me: As He would say, Let John be: thou art too curious, look to thyself: turn thine eye from john, and follow me in thy calling, which I have placed thee into. Ye shall perceive in this reproof three things that He finds fault with: First, that he should have left off his calling: the second that he was curious about John's calling: the third the greatest of all, he enters into the calling of the Lord: a great usurpation: it pertained to the Lord, to call john, and every man, as pleases Him. O! but he would be the caller of John: this is no small thing: No, no, thou must not scoff with the Lord, as though He had no discretion to call others: so in this doing, he does injury to the Lord. Brethren, behold in Peter, how many evils falls on curiosity: First, he forgets his own calling: Secondly, he is too curious in his brother's calling: Lastly, he does an injury to Christ, makes an eruption upon Christ's office, to spoil Him of His authority and power, to call all: and think ye not, albeit the Lord now adays, as He did Peter then, but He looks with an angry eye upon curious men. This rebuke is registrated, to rebuke thee, if thou be given to curiosity: But it would be marked, that albeit the Lord be angry with Peter, yet nevertheless He forgets not His mercy. When He found him to linger in his course, the Lord leaves him not, but He puts out His hand, and takes hold of him: therefore He says, Fellow thou me. This is the mercy of the Lord towards His own, that when He rebukes them, He leaves them not there, but He will put out His hand, and pull them in again to Him: No, never one of us would go forward, except by a new grace pulled us forward except the Lord led us by the hand, there could not be such a thing, as a man could be saved. There is such a stumbling and wavering in our nature: therefore Paul said, I strive by all means to attain to the Resurrection of the dead: Yea rather, says he, I am comprehended of Christ Jesus, Phil. 3.11, 12. Therefore, ay cry for grace after grace, otherwise, thou canst not go one foot right forward, much less persevere to the end. Ye will ask a question: Should never one of us be careful of our brother in his calling? Humanity required, that Peter should be careful of John: is this the thing the Lord reproves and forbids? I answer: there is a great difference between carefulness and curiosity: it is not carefulness He finds fault with: Woe to him that cares for himself only: for why should not every one of us be helping one another, & be careful to bring forward the straggling body? But it is curiosity that the Lord reproves. Then the lesson is this shortly: Take heed, that by thy doing (men should be very wise) thou hinderest not thyself more by thy curiosity, when thou interest into the affairs of thy brother, than thou profitest him by thy care: when thou beginnest to care for him: beware thou fall not in curiosity: pass never the bounds of thy calling: for there is none that hath a calling, but it is joined with care of his brother, & the higher calling the greater care. The King's calling requires a great care of others in the Policy: Such like, the Ministers calling is joined with a care for the people, not to feed himself, but to feed the people. It is joined with a special and wonderful care, so that night and day his eye should not be off his flock: Yet men should beware, that their care turn not to curiosity. Curiosity is very dangerous. A curious man has no love to thee, for he takes pleasure in the hurt & evil that falls to thee, and it is his meat & drink, he feeds upon the evil report of others. john subjoins, that when the Disciples heard of these words of Christ, they give them a strange gloss. They say, john should not die. A fair gloss, a fair commentary. john says, This was not the meaning of the Lord, He spoke not such a thing, He said not to him, he should not die, and that was not His mind, He told not whether he should live or die. But He said, If I will, he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Ye see how ready men are to misconstrue and pervert the one-folde meaning of the LORD. If the Disciples, who heard His own lively voice, were so ready to give a false and a lying gloss to His word, which they heard Him speak; I pray you, what marvel is it, albeit men daily misconstrue the written word of GOD, and never leave off to father lies upon the Scriptures? Ye wonder at the Papists: I wonder not. Look the whole Scriptures: these Traitors conclude ever a lie upon the truth. Look the Rhemish new Testament, and the rest of their writs, I wonder not at them, but I wonder at this, Considering this grossness of ignorance, and the propension of men naturally to misconstrue GOD'S word, and Will, that there is so much as one to open the truth, and to understand the right meaning of the word. The cause of this misconstruing is not of the Scripture, as if it were doubtsome, hard, obscure, or as a nose of wax, as they blaspheme: but the fault is partly in the blindness of the mind of man, and partly in the perversity and frowardness of the will, and malice of the heart: for it falls out, that either (such is the blindness of man by nature,) they know not the mind of the LORD, or else, if they know His mind, yet willingly they desire not to know it, but to remain ignorant: for it is true that the Apostle PETER says, They that are unlearned and unstable wrest the SCRIPTURES to their own destruction, 2 Pet. Chap. 3. vers. 16. And PAUL says, If our GOSPEL be hidden, it is hidden to them who perishes, whose eyes the god of this world hath blinded, 2. Cor. 4.34. Again we may perceive, that a lie ran speedily abroad, and was easily received, & got soon place in the hearts of th'Apostles, whereof we may learn, that the multitude commonly drinks in lies, vanities, fables, and Heresies very suddenly, because naturally they are very bend thereunto. Yet this error remained not long with th'Apostles: for after that, according to the lords promise, extraordinarily in the day of the PENTECOSTE, they were illuminated, and after the Holy Spirit was given them, who called all things to remembrance which the Lord had spoken unto them, when He was present with them, and gave them the true meaning and understanding of all these things (as CHRIST says, Joh. chap. 14. vers. 26.) This lie concerning JOHN evanished, than all the Disciples knew the lords meaning, when He spoke these words to Peter, of john, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? But the Papishe Kirke, and that Antichristian Kingdom this day, makes it plain enough unto us, how bend men are by nature to receive, maintain, and entertain lies, and vanities: for in that Kingdom not only is this fable of JOHN retained, but also an huge multitude of lies, and of the vanities and fantasies of the brain of man, which were devised by the GENTILES, are allowed and received: for almost all the Religion of the Papists, like a beggars cloak, is clouted and patched together, partly of the fables and superstitions of the GENTILES, and partly of the Rites and Ceremonies of the jews, which were abolished by the coming of CHRIST. If any would know what fables they maintain, and give out, concerning john, let them read their golden legend.  
Now in the last two verses of this evangel, the Apostle concludes his GOSPEL, and in the conclusion he tells us who this was of whom Christ and PETER were speaking of in the words preceding, Even that same Disciple which testifies of these things and wrote these things. And so telling that it w●s he, that witnessed, and wrote these things, he closes up his evangel, and puts his seal to it. But the words are to be marked: JOHN says, he testifies these things, meaning by word: and then again, he wrote the same things: So he bore witness of the Gospel of Christ, both by word and writing. Whereof we have to learn. That we should strive all manner of ways to bear witness unto the truth of the GOSPEL of CHRIST, by word, by writ, by confession of our mouths, & if need require, by the shedding of our blood also: for the more testimonies be given to the truth, the greater glory redounds to God: Again, we see, john, when he hath ended the History of the Gospel, he affixes and puts to his seal to it. We should follow this example: for after we have preached Christ, we should be ready to seal it, if it were with our blood Look to Paul, after he had preached Christ to the Philippians, and had laboured to make them to believe, he says to them, he would rejoice and be glad with them, although he were offered up upon the sacrifice and service of their Faith: that is, he would be content to seal up the Gospel which he had preached to them, by his death, that their Faith might be the more confirmed.  
Now, in the words following he sets down the cause which moved him to put to his seal to his Gospel: for says he, We know that his testimony is true: So the cause of his sealing of his Gospel, is the full persuasion and assurance which he had of the truth: And, indeed, he only who hath full assurance in his heart of the truth of these things, that he teaches, can confidently put his seal to his preaching: and therefore a Minister should endeavour to have full persuasion in his heart, that he may speak with liberty and great assurance, as Paul speaks of himself, 1. Thess. 1.5. and that if need require, he may seal the Gospel with his own blood.  
Now to come to the last verse, and to end shortly: The Apostle meets a question, that some curious men might have demanded: they might have asked: Are all the things which Christ did, and the wonders which He wrought, set down in write by thee? To this he answers: That all things which jesus did, are not written: for says he: There are many other things which jesus did, the which if they were written every one, I suppose the world could not contain the books that should be written: And so he wrote not all things, which Christ did, neither was he of purpose to write them, neither was he able to write them all: for if he had written them all, the whole world could not have contained the books that should have been written. Upon this question we may perceive, how curious the brain of man is, and how immoderate his engine and appetite is: there is nothing can content it: it cannot be contented with all things which are written in the Old and New Testament, with all things which are written by the Prophets, the Evangelists and Apostles, but it is ever seeking for more, seeking for new revelations, new miracles, and such other things. The Devil knows well enough this to be our nature: and therefore he propines to the world an huge multitude of lies, vanities & fables, & especially, to the Kingdom of the Antichrist, to the Pope and his shavelings, who cannot content themselves with the written word of God, the Old & New Testament, but gripes greedily to unwritten verities, as they call them, to traditions, which falsely they call, divine Apostolic, Ecclesiastic: so that, all men may perceive, that the Popish religion serves not so much to work Faith, and bring Salvation to men, as to satisfy their curiosity and immoderate appetite. Let men take pleasure in that religion, as they will, they may well get their foolish appetit pleased & satisfied, but they will never get true Faith nor Salvation by it. Then mark of John's answer to this question: That men should keep a measure in speaking and writing these things which appertain to religion and the worship of God: this did they, whom the Lord of old employed to be penne-men of the Old and New Testament: this did the Prophets, this did the Apostles, this did the Evangelists,: for in their writing they respected two things: First, the infinite and incomprehensible Majesty of God, and the unmeasurable and unspeakable greatness and multitude of those things that might have been written of that infinite and most glorious Majesty of God, and of jesus Christ his Son: Next, they respected the mean measure of man's understanding, and likewise of his Faith, which is not capable of all these things which may be written: therefore, by the Lord's direction in their writing, they applied themselves to our capacity, & endeavoured to set down these things which the Spirit of God thought might sufficiently serve for our Faith & Salvation: for if all things had been written concerning that infinite & incomprehensible Majesty, our memories had been overwhelmed, our understandings confounded, & our Faith overthrown. Lamentable experience lets us see this day, that the Papist by their unwritten verities, & infinite traditions overwhelm the world, & subvert the Faith of men. Now last, the form of speech which the Evangelist uses, would be considered, when he says, If all things were written, the world could not contain the books that should be written. Men would think, that this speech were hyperbolicke, & that the speech far exceeds the matter itself, but indeed, it is not so, but rather in this form of speech the Holy Spirit submits Himself to our infirmity, & applies Himself to our weak capacity, & sets down an infinite & incomprehensible matter, in a form of speaking, which we may easily understand: for when John spoke this, he considered & beheld that incomprehensible & infinite deepness of that glorious Majesty which dwelled in Christ bodily, and which manifested itself in His works & miracles, which was able not only to swallow up all the senses and cogitations of all men, but also the Heaven & the earth and when He endeavoureth in some measure to express that incomprehensible Highness, after such a speech, & in such terms as we might understand, he says, The world could not contain the books that should be written of Christ & His works, if they were all written: which speech imports, that no living creature is able sufficiently to set out & by words to express that glorious Majesty, and His glorious wotks, and miracles that He wrought, according as their dignity and excellency required: for the whole world is not able to comprehend that infinite Majesty: for this we should not be ignorant of, that this whole Scripture of the Old and New Testament written by the Prophets & Apostles, which sets out unto us the glorious Majesty of God, and His properties, His power, His mercy, His justice, His wisdom, etc. is by infinite degrees inferior to the Majesty which it describes unto us, & that the Spirit of God paints Him not thoroughly & fully in His essence & nature, and in His own perfection, as He is: No, but in painting Him out, He attempters His style to our infirmity & weakness, that we may understand & believe: for there can be no words so high, so sublime, so glorious invented or devised by any, that can be sufficient to express that Majesty which is incomprehensible & infinite. Always, seeing the Holy Spirit hath set down so much in the Scripture concerning that glorious & incomprehensible Majesty of God, & His worship, as is sufficient for our Salvation: let us therewith be content, and not curiously seek for any more, and while we read, or hear the Scriptures, let us earnestly crave at God, that He would work faith in our souls, that we may believe, that jesus is that Christ the Son of God, & that in believing we may have life & Salvation through Him. To whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all praise, honour and glory for evermore. AMEN.   

THE LIII. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVIII. 
verse 16 Then the eleven disciples went into Galilee, into a mountain, where Jesus had appointed them.  
verse 17 And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him, but some doubted.  
verse 18 And Jesus came, and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me, in heaven and in earth.  
verse 19 Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the holy Ghost,  MARK, CHAP. XVI. 
verse 15 And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.  
WELL-BELOVED Brethren, these days bypassed, we followed out the History of the Resurrection of the Lord, and of His manifold appearings unto sundry, but especially, unto His Disciples, as they are set down by the Evangelist John, who insists more largely in describing His appearings to His Disciples, than any of the rest, & as God gave the grace the last day we ended his Gospel, & spoke last of the conclusion thereof: now it rests, that we follow out so much as remains of the History of the resurrection, as it is set down by the rest of the Evangelists: for john wrote his evangel after all the rest, & omitted purposely such things as were written by the rest, willing us to address ourselves to the rest of the Evangelists, that there we might read & follow out the rest of the History of CHRIST, which he left off: And so we are this day to enter into the description of another appearing of CHRIST, after His Resurrection, as it is set down by Matthew & Mark. This appearing of the Lord seems to be the ninth in number: for the first was to Marie Magdalene, The second to other women, The third to two disciples, as they went to Emmaus, The fourth was to Simon Peter, The fift to james: Then three several times He appeared to His disciples, being gathered together, as ye heard out of john. So this is the ninth appearing, wherein it is likely, that He shows Himself not only to the eleven disciples, being met together, but also to a great number of brethren, being together with them: For this seems to be that appearing whereof th'Apostle Paul makes mention, 1. Cor. 15 6. where he says, He was seen of more than five hundredth brethren at once. In this appearing there are sundry things to be considered, As the circumstances of time and place, the disciples worshipping of Him, when they saw Him, the doubting of some of them, His communication with the disciples, & sending them out, with a commission, to preach to all Nations. Appearantly this is that meeting which the Lord in His appearing to the women, enjoined to the Apostles: for by the women He gave th'Apostles a direction, to meet Him in Galilee, Matth. chap. 28. vers. 10. According to this direction, it is said, The eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto a Mountain, where jesus had appointed them. So the place was in that Mountain of Galilee, wherein the Lord had appointed them to meet. The time is not particularly mentioned: yet it is likely, that as the Lord gave a direction concerning the place; so did He also concerning the time of their meeting. Then this whole meeting, the time, the place, and all, is according to the direction and appointment of the Lord. Now as they keep this meeting upon hope to see the Lord, according to His promise; so they are not disappointed of their hope: The Lord is as good as His promise, He shows Himself present unto them. Mark the lesson: The Lord who has appointed & ordained the meetings & assemblies of His own, & has promised to be amongst them when they are gathered together: He disappoints them not of His promise, but shows Himself to be present with them. This the disciples found by experience, when they met together by His appointment, the Lord shows Himself present unto them. This same have all the godly found in all ages & the faithful find it this day in their meetings: for albeit He show not Himself present after a bodily manner, as here He did to His disciples; yet He is present, yea, no less present with His own now, than He was then; but He is now present after a spiritual manner: and the faithful find His presence to be no less powerful, & effectual now, than it was then: for from whence comes this unspeakable joy, comfort, and peace of conscience, which the faithful find in their meetings, but from the presence of jesus? for except the Lord jesus were present in our souls by His Spirit, it were not possible that we could find such a powerful working, and such sweet motions, and alterations in them. Vain and foolish men, who are touched with no sense of sin, disdains & scorns the meetings of the Saints, they think them all to be but fectlesse & for the feshion, they think they feed upon fantasies: But the faithful find by experience, that the presence of Christ in their meetings is so powerful, & comfortable, as no tongue can utter, nor the heart of man is able to conceive. And thou that contemnest and scornest these meetings, thou shalt find one day, by sorrowful experience, of how great comforts thou hast deprived thyself: And if thy conscience were once wakened with the sense of sin, thou wouldst find, that there were no joy, nor comfort to thy soul, but by these meetings: Then thou wouldst have greater pleasure to frequent these meetings, than ever thou hadst to eat or drink when thou werest hungry and dry. Now when the Lord appears to them, what do they? what is their behaviour? It is said, When they saw Him, they worshipped Him. What made them to fall down, and worship Him? What saw they into Him? No question they saw in Him a glorious Majesty. By all appearance at this time He has showed himself in greater glory than He did of before. So beholding His glory on the one part, and their own unworthiness on the other, as He approaches unto them, they humbly fall downne, and worship Him. This their behaviour teaches us, that wheresoever the Lord of Glory is present, there He should be worshipped and adored: His presence requires adoration. Seest thou the Lord present with thee? Then in humility fall down, and worship Him. But thou wilt say, I cannot see Him, how then can I adore Him? Th'Apostles saw His glorious presence with their eyes, therefore they ought to have worshipped Him: but as for us, who live in these days, after His ascension to Heaven, we see Him not, and therefore how can we worship Him? But I answer thee, It is true, thou seest Him not now with the eyes of thy body, but thou seest Him with the eyes of thy soul, thou seest Him with the eyes of faith, thou seest Him in the word and Sacraments; first crucified, and then glorified. And if thou wilt not worship Him when thou seest Him here present in the word and Sacraments, thou wouldst not have worshipped Him if thou hadst seen Him with the eyes of thy body face to face. These profane bodies, who will not worship Him now when they see Him present in the mirror of the Gospel, they will never get leave to worship Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. Thinkest thou not that the Lord is seen present in His word? What means Paul then, when he says, that an unlearned man coming into the meetings of the faithful, where many are prophesying, finding himself rebuked and judged of all, and the secrets of his heart made manifest, that he will fall down on his face, and worship GOD, and say plainly, That GOD is among them indeed. 1. Corinth. Chap. 14. vers. 24. and 25. What sees the unlearned man among them, that makes him to fall down and give such a confession? No question, but the glorious light of the GOSPEL shines into his soul, and Christ offers Himself present to be seen by the eye of faith. The faithful this day by experience find in their meetings, this same presence of the Lord: And therefore it becomes us, in all our meetings, ever to worship the Lord, and to sit with fear and reverence, to hear the word, and to prepare our hearts to receive the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord promises, and offers, with the preaching of the word to all His Chosen. Again, this their behaviour teaches us, what force and power there is in the glorious presence of Christ jesus. His presence is powerful to humble and bow both the body and soul of the creature. This made Paul to say, that at the Name of JESUS every knee should bow, both of things in Heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth, Philipp. chap. 2. vers. 20. For that sublimity and highness whereunto the Father hath exalted Him, is so effectual and powerful in all creatures, and of all sorts, that either sweetly & willingly it moves them to worship Him in all humility; or else it breaks & bruises them with fierceness and violence, and compels out perforce obedience of them. The sight and sense of this sublimity and highness▪ makes the blessed Angels in Heaven, in all reverence to worship Him. The sense of this sublimity, makes the Saints on earth, when either they speak or hear of Him, reverently and in humility to bow both their bodies and their souls unto Him. And by the contrary, The sight and sense of this same sublimity, raises up in the Devil and his angels, such horroures and dread, as cannot be expressed. The sense of this sublimity, makes the wicked, how proud and jolly soever they be in their own conceit, oft times, when they hear of Him, to quake and tremble.  
The Evangelist Matthew notes, That notwithstanding of their worshipping of Him, yet some of them doubted. But who were these that doubted? Even some of these who before worshipped Him. And what moved them to doubt? Apparently that same that before moved them to worship Him, moves them also now to doubt: to wit, that extraordinary & unaccustomed majesty and glory wherein jesus appeared to them, which scarcely they could have deemed to be so great & wonderful. And certainly, the glory of the Lord, sitting this day in the Heavens, at the right hand of the Father, is so exceeding great & wonderful, that if it were permitted to us to behold it, as it is with our bodily eyes (such is the corruption of our nature) we could not but doubt whether He were the Christ, who was so far humbled & abased in the earth, & of whom we heard before in the Gospel. Beside this cause, the difficulty to believe this article of the Resurrection of the dead seems likewise to have furthered their doubting: for indeed among all the articles of our belief, there is none more contrary to nature, nor harder to believe, than this article of the Resurrection of our bodies from the dead. Nature can never be persuaded, that a dead body, that has been a prey to worms, & is resolved in dust & ashes, can rise up again to life. But, as of all articles there is none harder to be believed, so there is none more necessary to salvation, nor none that brings greater consolation. And therefore the Lord (that we might have the more full assurance and persuasion thereof) took great pains upon Himself, and for the space of forty days He remained upon the earth, after His Resurrection▪ and sundry times showed Himself to His Disciples, and many other of the Faithful, that all occasion of doubting might be removed, and so their joy and comfort might be the greater.  
Now this doubting of the Disciples lets us see what is the disposition of the hearts of the Godly, even in their best exercises. For even their best exercises are ever accompanied with a piece of doubting, of want, of infirmity, etc. their worshipping of GOD is with doubting, their prayer is with infirmity, and wavering of the mind, their meditation falls from GOD, and spiritual things to carnal and earthly things, their hearing of the word, is ever with some piece of loathing, their Faith is mixed with infidelity: so that, before they can come to any great measure of grace, they must strive and wrestle through many infirmities, and overcome many difficulties and temptations: so that the best man, even in his best works, hath no matter of rejoicing, if the Lord would enter in judgement with him. Ye have heard the disciples behaviour, now look how the Lord meets them: First, He draws nearer to them, and then He enters in communing with them: for it is said, jesus came and spoke unto them: He approached to them, partly, that He might take away all occasion of doubting from them, partly, that with the greater profit and commodity He might instruct them, and that His teaching might be the more powerful and fruitful: for no question, while He draws nearer to them with His body, & offers Himself to be seen more clearly with the bodily eyes, in the mean time He draws nearer to them inwardly, & joins Himself by His Spirit more powerfully and familiarly to their souls: for this is the accustomed dealing of the Lord, when by the word He is purposed to be effectual and powerful in the soul of any man, He draws near them by His Spirit: whereas by the contrary, when He is not of purpose to be effectual by his word, in the heart, He approaches not inwardly to the soul, but He holds Himself a far off, and gives them only a show of His power and glory outwardly a far off.  
Now follows the Lords communing with His Disciples: wherein He gives them a commission, to go out and preach to the world, baptizing them that believe. But before He gives them this commission, by way of preface, He sets down the ground of this commission: to wit, that power and authority which He had: for says He, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth: for it was necessary that the Apostles should be informed of this His power and authority, which He had given Him, to the end, that knowing that infinite power, whereupon their commission and Apostleship was grounded, they might the more cheerfully and willingly with free hearts, and open mouths discharge their commission & message, being assured, that they had Him, who was Lord of Heaven and Earth, to be their protector & maintainer. Mark this, Brethren, This ministery of the Gospel, albeit it be but a sort of service in the Church of God (it is no Lordship) and albeit men count very basely of it, and esteem it of all callings in the world, to be the most vile and contemptible: yet it is grounded upon such a power as far surpasses all the power of all the Kings and monarchs of the earth: and it is the Lords will, that both the Ministers themselves, and likewise the people that hears them, have their eyes fixed, and be exercised continually in the contemplation and consideration of that incomprehensible and infinite power, whereupon this Ministry is grounded: to the end, that both the Ministers may the more cheerfully and courageously discharge their calling, and also the people that hear them be not offended, nor stumble at the baseness of this outward form of the ministery, not measuring the Majesty and glory of the Gospel, preached unto them by the outward show and form which they see, but by the infinite and incomprehensible power of the Lord, whereupon it is grounded. Next, it is to be marked that He says, All power is given me, not in heaven only, but also in earth: He joins them both together, and that for the comfort of His Apostles, whom He was to send out, and of the Ministers who were to follow them to the end of the world: for when He says, that all power was given to Him in the earth, it serves to encourage the Apostles, and all Ministers in the Church faithfully and cheerfully to discharge their calling, so long as they remain here in the earth, and grounding and anchoring themselves upon that infinite power which the Lord jesus hath upon the earth, to strive and fight courageously and boldly against the assaults of Satan, against the allurements of sin, against the fear and terror of trouble and persecution, & against the manners and behaviour of this unthankful world, as assured, that His almighty power in the earth, shall guard & defend them in their calling, so long as the Lord hath a work ado with them. Again, when He says, that all power was given to Him in Heaven, it serves to comfort the Apostles & Ministers upon the hope of a reward, that after they have discharged their duty in their calling, & after they have striven against all difficulties, & hath overcome all temptations, at last they should wait for the Kingdom of Heaven, where they shall rest from their labours, & enjoy the presence of their Lord & King for ever, 1 Cor. 15.19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, of all men we are the most miserable: By the which words, He means, if the power of jesus Christ, whereupon we repose & anchor ourselves, extended no further, than within the bounds of this present life, than our estate & condition of all men were most miserable: yet ere we leave these words, it is to be considered, what manner of power this is, whereof he speaks, & whereupon their Apostleship is grounded: that ye may understand this the better, ye must consider, that there is a twofold power in the Lord jesus the Son of God: the first is heritably, the other purchased: The first He hath as the Son of God, equal with the Father, before the foundations of the world were laid, & of this He speaks in His Prayer to His Father before His Passion: Father, glorify me with thine own self, with that glory which I had with thee, before the world was, joh. 17.5. The other, the Son of God, jesus Christ purchased to Himself for our cause, when He made Himself of no reputation, and took on Him the form of a servant, humbled Himself, and became obedient to the death, even to the death of the Cross: for the Lord then exalted Him highly, and gave Him a Name above every Name, that at the Name of jesus every knee should bow, both of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, Philip. 2.6. Hear the Apostle speaks of that power, which He as a Mediator, acquired by His perfect obedience in all things, and of this acquired power it is which the Lord speaks in this place: for from this power which He purchased to Himself, by His obedience in our flesh, proceeds the Gospel: from this power proceeds the ministery in the Church: from this power proceeds Salvation to the world: for that heritamble power which the Son of God, had with the Father from all eternity, without the manhood of Christ, and His acquired power by His obedience, would never serve to bring life & Salvation to sinners.  
Now to come to the sending out of the Apostles: He says, Go therefore and teach all Nations, baptizing them: In these words He gives them their commission, and commits unto them the ministery, and office of the Apostleship, commanding them to go forth to all Nations, to teach and baptise them: for the Lord sets down here distinctly three points of their calling: First, that they should go forth to all Nations of the world not holding themselves within the narrow bounds of the land of judea, as they did before: Next that they should preach the Gospel: thirdly, that they should baptise, that is, that by baptism they should seal up that Gospel which they had teached before, But to whom should they go out? to whom should they preach? Whom should they baptise? Not the Jews only, but all Nations: & Mark says, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature: As if He had said, My power is extended to all Nations, to every creature: and therefore this my Gospel, & your ministery, whereby my power is manifested and declared to all, must likewise be extended to all creatures in the world. These words of the Lord furnishes us sundry lessons for our instruction: First, we may learn here, that this office of the Apostleship, which the Lord commits to His Disciples, is not a bare style of honour, No, but it is a laborious and painful charge and calling: they are commanded to go out into the world, to preach diligently the Gospel to every creature. The Pope, his Cardinals and Bishops, vaunt & brag, that they are the successors of the Apostles: they claim this as a style of honour to themselves: but in the mean time they refuse to undertake any pains and travel for man's salvation, as the Apostles did: these idle bellies live in carnal security and sensuality, taking their pleasure and pastime, and deceitfully gather in to themselves the substance of the world, and commit the charge of Preaching to Vicars and Curates, as if the Gospel were too base an exercise for them, and a thing whereof they had just occasion to be ashamed: and therefore let them claim what styles they list to themselves, they are nothing less than successors to the Apostles: Next, these words lets us see, that there are two points of the ministery: for the Lord gives His Apostles commission to preach the Gospel, & to baptise: so the Ministers have these two things enjoined unto them: to preach the word, & to minister the Sacraments: we hear nothing spoken here of offering of a Sacrifice, either bloody, or unbloody, or of a Priesthood: and no question, if there had been such a thing, or at least, if it had been a matter of such importance, & so necessary, as the Pope & his shavelings say, the Lord would altogether have misknowne it, & passed it over with silence, but He would have spoken something of it to His Apostles: so it is but a folly & vanity, to think, that since Christ hath once offered Himself a propitiatory Sacrifice for the Redemption of the world, that now there remains any propitiatory Sacrifice in the Church. The Lord hath put an end to them all by His death & Sacrifice: there is no Priesthood committed either to the Apostles before, or to the Ministers now, but that, whereby the preaching of the word they offer the souls of men & women in a Sacrifice to the Lord: Away with that devilish sacrifice of the Mass, whereby the Pope and his Clergy deceives the world, making men believe, that daily they offer up Christ again, as a propitiatory sacrifice to the Father, for the sins of the quick and the dead. No, there is no propitiatory sacrifice now left to the Kirke. That sacrifice which the Lord once offered upon the cross, is sufficient & perfect enough, to take away the sins of the world. Thirdly, these words teach us, the these two points of the calling of the Ministry, Teaching & Baptizing, were not committed to diverse & sundry persons; but both were committed to one & the self same person. So that he who is ordained to preach, is ordained to baptise: and he who cannot preach, has no power nor liberty granted him of the Lord, to baptise: and if he baptise, he does it without the Lords commandment, he has no warrant of Him: and therefore his doing is but a profanation of that Holy Sacrament of Baptism. This baptizing of infants, which is ministered by private men, has no warrant nor allowance of God, much less that which is done by women. Fourthly, out of these words we may learn, what order ought to be kept in the ministering of Baptism to wit, the word must be first preached, the covenant of grace and the glad tidings of salvation must be first opened up unto us: and then Baptism should be ministered, to seal up that same word and covenant, which before was preached. Wherefore serves Baptism, except first the word be preached? Baptism is a seal. And what serves the seal for, if there be nothing to be sealed? Wherefore can it serve, if the charter of the word preceded not. Therefore, except the preaching of the covenant of grace precede, Baptism is nothing, but an unprofitable ceremony, and a dead element. Now in whose name should this Sacrament of Baptism be ministered? The Lord says, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST: That is, Ye shall baptise, by the authority & power of the Father, the Son, & of the Holy Ghost. Whereof we have to learn, That the power & efficacy of Baptism depends neither upon the power of the Minister, who baptizes, nor upon the force nor power of the words pronounced by the Minister in Baptism, as if there were any such power or operation in the words, as the Papists falsely attribute unto them: but all the force & efficacy of Baptism depends upon the power of God only. And therefore, it is the duty of him who is baptised, to lift up his eyes & his heart to Heaven, and to crave the blessing & efficacy thereof from God only. Next, it would be noeed, that He says not in a general term, Baptizm in the name of God: but He says distinctly, Baptizm in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Therefore it is the duty of him who is baptised, not to content himself with a confused knowledge and consideration of God, but he ought to behold that glorious Majesty, & that incomprehensible essence distinctly in the Trinity of the persons: that is, three distinct persons in one Godhead: for faith is a distinct & a clear knowledge & apprehension of the Majesty of God: for whosoever truly and sincerely believes, & puts his confidence in God, he finds sensibly by experience, that all good things flow first from the Father, as the fountain of all grace and goodness, through the Son, as Mediator, by whom all grace is conveyed and communicated unto men: and by the Holy Ghost, who powerfully & effectually works all grace in the heart. Last, we see here a clear and a plain naming of the three distinct persons of the Godhead, the Lord names distinctly, The Father, the Son, & the holy Ghost. In all the Old Testament, we will not read so plain & clear a distinction of the three persons of the Godhead. Then learn here, that jesus Christ the Son of God brought first of all into the world a distinct knowledge of God: and that He first of all distinctly named, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Indeed it is true, that God was known in the Trinity of persons in some sort by the Fathers, who lived under the Old Testament, before Christ's manifestation in the flesh: but the knowledge which they had was obscure and confused, in respect of that knowledge which JESUS brought into the world at His coming: but chiefly this distinct knowledge of the three persons of the Godhead, was manifested after Christ's Resurrection from the dead, and His Glorification: for Christ glorified, is chiefly the image of the unvisible God, and the brightness of His glory, and the engraven form of His person. And from Christ glorified, especially proceeds th'effectual operation of the Holy Spirit, in the souls of His Elect. All tends to this, To let you see, that the clear and distinct knowledge of the Godhead, in the Trinity of the persons, proceeded chiefly from the Kingdom of Christ, and from His glory. Now to this God, one in essence, in three persons, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be all praise, honour and glory for evermore, Amen.   

THE LIV. LECTURE, OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  MATTH. CHAP. XXVIII. 
verse 20 Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, until the end of the world, Amen.  MARK, CHAP. XVI. 
verse 16 He that shall believe, and be baptised, shall be saved: but he that will not believe, shall be damned.  
verse 17 And these tokens shall follow them that believe: In my Name they shall cast out devils, and shall speak with new tongues,  
verse 18 And shall take away serpents: and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover.  
THE last day (Well-beloved Brethren in Christ) we began to speak of the nine appearings of the Lord to the Disciples, as it is set down by Matthew and Mark. He appeared to them in a Mountain of Galilee, where He had appointed them to meet Him. We heard what was the Disciples behaviour: The sight of that glorious Majesty made them to fall down and worship Him: yet in the mean time some of them doubted: and therefore the LORD, to confirm them, draws near unto them, and enters into communication with them: and in His communing, first He tells what power and authority was given Him, both in Heaven and earth: to the end He might move them the more willingly and cheerfully to undertake the office of the Apostleship. Then when He has laid down this power, as a ground of their office and ministery, He sends them out in the world, charging them first to go to all Nations: Next, to preach to every creature: And thirdly, To baptise, in the Name and authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now in these words, first He tells them what doctrine they should teach to the world, than he makes them a threefold promise: The first is of life and salvation to then that believe and are baptized: The second is a promise of th'extraordinary and miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit: The third is a promise of His own glorious and powerful presence with them in discharging of their calling, & that not for a season, but to continue to th'end of the world. Then in the first words which we have read, He tells them what they should teach: not all things, not every thing that they pleased themselves: but He says, Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. So He restrains the doctrine that they should teach unto the world, unto that doctrine which He Himself first had taught them. In the 14. Chapter of John, vers. 26. after He has first promised the Holy Spirit, to teach His Apostles all things, than He tells what He means by All these things, which His Spirit should teach: and He bounds them, and restrains them, to that doctrine, which He Himself had taught them before: For, says He, he shall bring all things to your remembrance, which I have told you. Even so here He restrains the preaching of th'Apostles, to these things which He Himself had taught them. So mark this lesson: The doctrine of jesus Christ, which He delivered the time that He lived in the world, and had His conversation among men, is the ground, the rule, and the measure of all true doctrine. The Spirit of the Lord jesus, whom He left behind Him, to be His vicegerent in th'earth, kept precisely this rule: He taught not so much as one sentence in substance, but that which CHRIST had taught before. Th'Apostles, whom He sent out into the world, declined not one jote from this rule: for they taught the world nothing but that which the Holy Spirit had furnished and suggested unto them before: and that Spirit taught them nothing, but that which JESUS had taught them before. So that the doctrine of the H. Spirit, & th'Apostles, come all wholly from jesus, as th'only doctor & teacher of His Kirke, of whom the Father said in His baptism & transfiguration, Hear him. So it should be with ministers and Teachers of the Church to the end of the world, they should make Christ's doctrine to be the rule of all their doctrine, they should teach nothing but that which Christ teached before them: the faithful Ministers of Christ in all ages have striven to do so: they confirmed all their doctrine, so far as they could, to the doctrine of Christ. Indeed it is true, through process of time, corrupt men entered in the Church, who respected not God, nor His glory, nor the well and salvation of men, but their own honour, their own lusts, and their belly, who taught the world, not the doctrine of Christ, the way of life, but their own fantasies, dreams, and traditions. We may see this lamentable experience this day in the kingdom of the Antichrist: What teaches the Pope and his Clergy to the world? Not the word of God: Not the doctrine of Christ: Not that doctrine which the Holy Spirit furnished to the Apostles: not that which the Apostles have left in register this day: they make not that to be the rule of their preaching, but they teach their own vanities, devised by themselves: they teach men's traditions: they teach unwritten verities, as they call them, which are for the most part altogether repugnant to the doctrine of Christ. The Lord save us from their doctrine, wherewith they poison the world, and bring men to perdition. Now, as the Pastors are obliged to teach nothing but the doctrine of Christ, so are the people bound to hear, and receive none other doctrine, but the doctrine of Christ: and for this cause, they should pray earnestly, for the Holy Spirit, who is promised to His own, to illuminate their minds, and to give them the gift of discretion, to discern spirits, as also, they should be diligently exercised in reading, and considering the Old and New Testament, the writings of the Prophets and Apostles, which contain exactly the doctrine of Christ necessary to salvation.  
Now, let us consider in order, the promises which the Lord joins with this commission that He gives to His Apostles: the first two are set down in Mark, the third in Matthew: the first promise is of everlasting life and salvation, to all that believe by their ministery, and are baptised by them: He that shall believe, and be baptised, shall be saved. This promise of life and salvation that He subjoins to the preaching and baptizing of the Apostles, was, no doubt, to move and allure men upon the consideration of so fair and great benefices, that they should receive them the more willingly, to believe in the Lord jesus: With this promise to them that believe, He joins a denunciation of judgement against all those who would not believe by their ministery, He denounces eternal death, and damnation against them: He that will not believe, says He, shall be condemned. So that, as on the one part, He promises a fair reward, to move men to believe: so on the other part, He threatens a fearful judgement against them that believe not, but despises the Apostles doctrine, to make men to abhor and detest that abominable sin of infidelity. Upon this promise of reward, and threatening of judgement: first, we learn this lesson: The ministery of the Gospel is ever effectual and powerful in men, either one way or other: for seeing, this ministery of the Gospel, which from the Apostles days continues, and shall continue to the end of the world, is grounded upon that incomprehensible power that fills both heaven and earth, how is it possible, but it must be mighty and powerful? It must be powerful, either to life and salvation: or else, to death and damnation: to life to them that believe: to death to them that believe not. Therefore Paul says, that always they triumphed, and were victorious in Christ, and that they were a favour to God, both in them that are saved, and in them who perish: In them who are saved, they were the savour of life unto life: but in them who perish, they were the savour of death unto death, 2. Cor. 2.14. The Apostle in these words, let's us see, that the preaching of the Gospel is ever powerful and effectual in all sorts of men. Alas, men count too lightly: yea, despise, contemn and scorn this preaching, as if it were a matter of none effect, and the word of man and not of God: but take heed, how thou hearest the Gospel: for thou shalt find it to be the most powerful thing that ever was, and if it be not powerful to work life and salvation, it shall work death and damnation in thee: Next, we learn out of these words, that Faith, Righteousness, Salvation, and all spiritual graces, are so tied and bound to this ministery of the Gospel, that whosoever submits himself to this ministery, and conforms himself to the Gospel, he shall attain to Faith, Righteousness, Life and Salvation: and by the contrary: whosoever contemns this ministery, he shall never get any spiritual grace: no Faith, no Righteousness, no Life, no Salvation but by this Gospel. But ye will say, We should not tie nor bind the grace of God to those external things? We should not restrain Gods working to the outward ministery. Indeed, I grant, the grace of GOD, is not so tied to these ordinary means, and outward helps, which are daily used in the Church, but that ye may work without them, and that ye may work immediately by His own Spirit, in whom, and when He pleases: but it is as true, that whosoever contemns those outward ordinary means, which the LORD hath ordained to be used: he shall be deprived of all spiritual grace, of Faith, of Righteousness, of Salvation: For Faith, says Paul, is by hearing, and hearing by the word of God preached, Rom. Chapter 10. verse 17. Many foolish men withdraw themselves from the outward ministery, from the means of grace, and are exercised in pastime, in drinking, in harlotry, and yet they will say: they will come to Heaven as soon as the best of them, but they deceive themselves: for if thou contemnest these outward means, which the LORD hath ordained, thou shalt never get no grace, the gates of Heaven shall be closed on thee, thy portion shall be with the Devil and His Angels: Thirdly, we may mark out of this promise, an excellent and worthy effect of Faith: to wit, Salvation and eternal life: for He says, He that believeth, shall be saved. But we may not think, that this effect proceeds from the force, power, worthiness and merits of Faith: No, but this effect of life and Salvation proceeds only from the virtue, power and merit of Christ, which the soul apprehends: for this Life and Salvation stays and abides so plenteously, and in such abundance in Christ, that as soon as we put out the hand of Faith, and takes hold of Him, so soon will we find that life of CHRIST conveyed into our souls. His life is made ours by Faith: In Christ there dwells such a marvelous and glorious light, that when we approach to Him by Faith, by the beams of His brightness, He shines in our hearts, that we may get the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of jesus, 2. Cor. Chapter 4. verse 6. By Faith His light is made ours: in Christ there is such a wonderful and incomprehensible glory, that as soon as with open face with the eye of Faith we behold Him in the mirror of the Gospel, as soon are we transformed in the same Image from glory to glory, 2 Cor. 3.18. by Faith His glory is made ours, & when we shall see Him face to face, & when Faith shall be turned into sight, He shall perfect our glory, He shall change our vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself. Philip. chap. 3. vers. 21. Seeing then so excellent and worthy are th'effects of faith, we ought both carefully to use th'ordinary means whereby faith is wrought: and also pray earnestly, that the Lord would give a blessing to them, and by them work faith in our hearts: that so we may enjoy all these graces and benefits. fourthly, we see in this promise of life and salvation, that the Lord joins Baptism with faith in Christ: For, says He, he that shall believe, and be baptised, shall be saved. We may not understand this so, as if Baptism were either simply a cause, or an half cause of salvation: No, it has no respect of a cause in the salvation of man: but it is joined to Faith, as a sign, and an outward mark, to testify and bear witness of the cause, to wit, Faith in jesus Christ: and in such sort it must follow upon Faith, and be conjoined with it, that he who believes would wish to be baptised, it is not possible that he can contemn Baptism: And, if a man contemn Baptism, let him boast of his faith as he pleases, that contempt is a sure token, that he had never faith, neither shall he get eternal life. So Baptism in some respect is necessary to salvation: that is, it must not be contemned, or neglected: for if a man contemn or neglect it, he cannot get salvation: but it is not simply and absolutely necessary to salvation: that is, incase a man contemn it not, nor neglect it, he may be saved without it. It is the contempt, and not the want of it that hurts man, for a man may be engraffed in Christ by Faith, and may be saved by Christ, without the seal of Baptism: for the grace of God is not so bound and tied to th'ordinary means and outward helps, but that the Lord may work without them when and where He pleases. And the Lord jesus as apparently imports no less in these words, than that Baptism is not absolutely necessary to salvation: for when after the promise He sets down the cause of damnation, He speaks not a word of Baptism, for He says only, He that believes not shall be damned: of set purpose He leaves out Baptism. And if it had been absolutely necessary to salvation, no question He would not have misknowne it, and passed it by. Now last, mark the meaning of these words, He that believes not. This negation and want of faith comprehends first, all sin whatsoever against the moral Law, whether it be original sin, wherein we are conceived and borne, or actual sin, proceeding from original sin: for if we have not Faith in the Lord jesus, all these sins whatsoever will be laid to our charge, & will bring us to damnation. Next, this negation and want of Faith, comprehends that infidelity, rebellion, & stubborness, whereby men disdainfully refuse & reject that grace which the Lord offers freely in jesus Christ to sinners, & this sin of infidelity, of all sins is the greatest, & most detestable: and therefore procures most speedy, fearful & heavy judgement, and therefore Christ says, He that believes not, is condemned already, Joh. 3 18. These words importr that there is no delay of judgement to him, who disdainfully rejects grace, but the judgement is present and already past against him: and he gives a reason, taken from that rebellion and repining against the Majesty of the only begotten Son of God, he is condemned already, says he, Because he hath not believed in the Name of that only begotten Son of God. The Lord save us from this cursed sin of infidelity: for where it is, all other sins are laid to men's charge, it & draws out most speedily most fearful judgements.  
Now, it follows, that we speak of the second promise to them that believe: These tokens shall follow them that believe in my Name, they shall cast out devils, and shall speak with new tongues, and shall take away serpents, and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them, they shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover. The former promise, was, of life eternal to them who believe, this promise is of the gift of working miracles, He promises that the Holy Spirit should give to them that believe, a power & gift to work miracles. We may not think, that this power is common to all, & that every particular Christian who believes, should have this gift, neither must we think, that it should be extended to all times, and ages. But this promise is to be restrained to a certain number of particular persons, on whom it shall please the Lord, to bestow this gift of working of miracles, and it is to be restrained & bounded within a certain time: it must be restrained to that first age and infancy of the Church, to the first time that the Gospel began to be preached, for than it was expedient and necessary that the Gospel which was unknown, and not heard of before to the world, should be confirmed by miracles: and therefore we ought not to look for new miracles in this age wherein we live, because the Gospel is already sufficiently confirmed by the miracles wrought in that first age of the Church, by Christ and His Apostles, and them that immediately succeeded. The Papists, indeed, brag much of miracles that are daily wrought in their Church, but their miracles are such as Christ foretold: that false Christ's, and false Apostles should work, and that the Antichrist should work at his coming, Matth. 24.24. And they are these, which Paul calls lying signs and wonders, which notwithstanding he says, are effectual in them who perish, because they received not the love of the truth. Now, ye see here, there is a promise of sundry great and excellent things to be wrought by some of the faithful in the first age of the Church: as namely, casting out of Devils, of speaking with new tongues, taking away serpents, the drinking of deadly and poisonable things, without harm, the healing of sick folks, by laying on of their hands, wherein, I purpose not particularly, to insist, but only to mark some things generally for our edification. Consider first, the order of these promises which the Lord makes to them which believe: First, He promises life & Salvation: thereafter, He promises working of miracles: the promise of life, is a promise of the greatest miracle, that ever was wrought in the world: as for other miracles, they are but works, signs and tokens of that life & Salvation that was to be wrought, which far surpasses all other miracles. The Lord Himself testifies unto us, that all the miracles which were wrought in the first age of the Church, were counted but like as many fignes and tokens of life and Salvation to be wrought by Him. When He says, Matth. 9.6. That ye may know, that the Son of man, hath authority on earth to forgive sins, I will restore to health this man that is sick of the Palsy: then He says to the sick man, Arise, take up thy bed, and go to thine house. Where He lets us see, that the miracle of bodily health, was a sign & token of a greater grace & miracle, even, of Remission of sins, & life everlasting. Whereupon we mark this lesson: That Faith is never without some miracle: it hath ever one miracle or other following upon it. Indeed, it hath not always with it such miracles as were wrought in the first age of the Church: as casting out of devils, healing of diseases: yet it never wants that greatest miracle of all, the miracle of Regeneration, of life and Salvation, which Christ Himself lets us see, is more to be marveled at, than all the miracles here promised: for when the seventy disciples, who were sent out with power to work miracles, returned rejoicing that they had wrought such great things, that they had cast out devils, and healed diseases, He said unto them: Albeit I have given you power to cast out devils, to tread on serpents, and scorpions, and that nothing shall hurt you, Nevertheless, in this rejoice not, but rather rejoice that your names are written in Heaven, Luke 10.17. There He wills them, to count life and Salvation to be a greater miracle than all others. Peter testifies likewise, that when the Gentiles in that first age of the Church, saw them that were converted to the Lord jesus, not walking after their old manner, in wantonness, lusts, drunkenness, etc. it seemed strange to them, they marveled much, that they ran not with them unto the same excess of riot, as they were wont to do, 1. Epist. 4.4. Where he tells us, that the conversion of sinners was a wonder to the Gentiles: and indeed, it was no marvel, that they counted so of it: for a man truly renewed by the Spirit of grace, and converted unto Christ, is a wonder of the world: and thou who art renewed by the Spirit of jesus, and have gotten an assurance of the Remission of thy sins, of life and salvation, thou wilt never seek any new outward miracles, to confirm to thee the truth of the Gospel: for thine own salvation will confirm thee more, than all the miracles in the world can do. Again, consider here, that this gift of working of miracles, follows not ever, nor absolutely that justifying Faith, but this gift of working of miracles requires further, another sort of Faith, which we call the Faith of miracles, which is nothing else, but a special and extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghost, whereby some of the faithful in that first age of the Church, were able to work miracles and wonders: and this Faith of miracles is grounded upon some particular promises and sensible persuasions in their hearts, who get that extraordinary gift, that God by them at such times, and upon such persons, and such occasions would work miracles. This would be marked against the Papists, who confound this Faith of miracles with justifying Faith: for they say: to work miracles, none other Faith is required, but this true Faith, which we call justifying Faith, whereas, indeed, they are two different Faiths, of divers kinds & natures.  
Thus shortly of the second promise: Now it rests, that we speak of the third promise, which we have set down by Matthew in the last words of his Gospel: there he says, Lo, I am with always unto the end of the world. This promise the Lord makes unto His Apostles, to whom He had given commission to go into the world, to preach the Gospel, and to baptise, & with this sweet & comfortable promise He ends His communing, that at this time He had with them: as in the beginning of His communing, to the end He might encourage them the more cheerfully, and courageously to undertake and discharge that high and painful calling of the Apostleship, He showed and declared unto them His great and incomprehensible power which He had given Him, both in Heaven and in earth: so here He closes up His communing with them with a promise of the presence of that same incomprehensible power: for, says He, I am with you always unto the end of the world: A promise most excellent, and full of heavenly consolation, as if He had said, I, even I, who have all power given me, both in Heaven & & in earth, I shallbe with you, not to remain with you for a season, but for ever, unto the end of the world, & not at certain diets, and with any intermission, but always, every day, & at all times.  
Mark well the degrees of this promise: First, there is a promise of an infinite and incomprehensible power: Next, there is a promise of the presence of this His power with them: Thirdly, He promises that this power shall not be present with them for a certain time only, but even to the end of the world: Fourthly, He promises it shall be present unto the end of the world, not by set diets and days, but without any intermission.  
But is this promise made unto the Disciples absolutely, without any condition? No, it is not absolute, but conditional: and what is the condition? Even that same which He set down in the words immediately preceding: if the Apostles teached men to observe all things whatsoever He commanded them: that is, That they teached these things which He had taught them before, all these things, and no other thing.  
This promise which here He makes to His Apostles, is extended unto the ministery in all ages: yea, even to the ministery, at this present time: for the LORD says, I shall be with you unto the end of the world: But so it is, that the Apostles are now dead, they are no more in the world: therefore this promise is made unto the Ministers of the CHURCH, to the successors of the Apostles, who should remain in the Church until CHRIST'S coming to judgement. Then all Ministers who faithfully discharges their duty in their calling, and sincerely teaches all these things, and only these things which CHRIST taught, and commanded them to preach, have in this promise great matter of comfort and rejoicing. The Lord requires faithfulness and painfulness in the Pastor, in discharging of his calling: and if he labour faithfully and painfully in his ministery, let him commit the issue and success unto Him, who has promised, never to leave His own, but continually to bless their travels with His presence.  
Now as it is required of the Pastor, that he should be painful and careful in his calling, to the end that he may enjoy this presence: So it is the duty of the people, to have a care, that the Pastor be not abstracted and withdrawn from his charge by worldly affairs: For, says PAUL, no man that warreth, entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, 2. Timoth. 2. 4. And if so they do, they shall be partakers of this same presence which the LORD promises here to His Disciples: for the presence which the Lord has promised and gives to the Pastor, is not for himself only, but it redounds to the weal and commodity of the people also: The Pastor's blessing, is the people's blessing: And by the contrary, the curse that the Lord lays upon the Pastor, is for a curse to the people, upon whom the Lord will be avenged for the contempt of the ministery.  
The Papists brag much of this promise, and they gather upon it, That the Kirke cannot err: for, say they, seeing the LORD hath promised to be with His own unto the end of the world, how can it be possible, that He can leave His Kirke, that it can err? But if they weigh aright the condition whereupon the promise is grounded, they may see, that they have no matter of bragging: For, as we showed you before, this promise, That the Lord will be with them, is not made absolutely, and in all cases, howsoever they behave themselves: but upon this condition. He promises His presence, That they teach men these things, which He hath taught them before, that they teach all these things, only these things, and none other things. So that if they teach not these things, but their own dreams and fantasies, they have nothing ado with this promise: for if they keep not the condition, what warrant can they have to look for the promise.  
Now how far the Papists are from keeping this condition, from teaching the doctrine of Christ only, it is more than manifest, and they are blind that sees it not: for in stead of the doctrine of the Gospel, they teach their own traditions, dreams, and fantasies: They have banished the Spirit of Truth, and have bewitched the world with their lies and vanities. Therefore, seeing the felicity and happiness both of Pastor and people stands in this, To find the lords presence with them in this pilgrimage, the Lord grant, that both Pastor and people may strive carefully to hold fast the doctrine of the Gospel: and that they may conform their lives thereunto, that so with confidence they may claim to this promise of the presence of Christ: To whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all praise and honour, for evermore: AMEN.   

THE LV. LECTURE, OF THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST.  MARK, CHAP. XXVI. 
verse 19 So after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God.  LUKE, CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 50 Afterward he led them out into Bethania, and lift up his hands, and blessed them.  
verse 51 And it came to pass, that as he blessed them, he departed from them, and was carried up into heaven.  
verse 52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  ACTS, CHAP. I. 
verse 6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?  
verse 7 And he said unto them, It is for you to know the times, or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.  
verse 8 Bu ye shall receive power of the holy Ghost, when he shall come on you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.  
verse 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up: for a cloud took him up out of their sight.  
verse 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,  
BELOVED BRETHREN IN CHRIST, we have already insisted at length in the History of the lords Resurrection: wherein we showed you, how often He appeared to His own, and especially to His Apostles: to the end, that not only they themselves might be more fully persuaded of His Resurrection: but also with the greater confidence and liberty they might speak thereof to others. In His last appearing to His Apostles, we saw He gave them a commission and charge, To go out to the world, to preach the Gospel, and to baptise, In the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: but He wills them to teach nothing else, but only these things, & all these things which He had taught them before. And to th'end He might the more easily move them willingly and cheerfully to undertake & discharge this calling; first He sets down His unspeakable & incomprehensible power whereupon is is grounded, showing them, that all power in heaven & in earth was given unto him: Next, He subjoins a threefold promise of blessing to them in the discharging of their Ministry. The first is a promise of life & salvation to them who believe, & are baptised. The second is a promise of th'extraordinary & miraculous gifts of the H. Spirit. The third is a promise of His own powerful presence to continue with them unto th'end of the world: upon condition, That they faithfully discharge their calling, & teach these things, all these things, & only these things, which the Lord had taught, & no other. Now it rests, that we speak of the History of His Ascension to Heaven, which we have briefly, and in few words, in th'Evangelists: for Matthew and john makes no mention of it: Mark touches it shortly in his Gospel. Luke also speaks something of it in his Gospel, but he insistes in it more largely, in setting down the Circumstances of it in the first Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles: In the words which we have presently read, we will see, how the LORD leads His Disciples out to Bethania, we will see what conference & communication is betwixt the Lord and them, we will show how He blessed them, we will see the manner of His Ascension, & what was the behaviour of the Apostles, while He was ascending to Heaven, and looked steadfastly to the Heaven, as He went up.  
Then to come to the words, Luke says, He led them out into Bethania. This was the place from the which the Lord ascended up to the Heaven: and therefore of set purpose He leads them out of jerusalem to this place. They come not to this place by fortune or chance, they come not there of their own accord, or upon any foresight that they themselves had: No, but they were led out of Jerusalem, to see that glorious Ascension of Christ, and to be partakers of His grace. But who led them out? It is said, The Lord led them out: none comes to grace by aim, none comes to the place where grace is in dealing by fortune or chance: No, it is the Lord which leads them, as then the Lord led His Apostles, as it were by the hand, to Bethania, to see His glory, and to be made partakers of grace: so it is always by the LORDS secret and powerful providence, that any man comes to the place where the LORD distributes His grace: for says CHRIST, No man can come to me, except that Father who hath sent me, draw him, joh. Chapter 6. verse 44. Therefore, if thou findest at any time by this ministery, grace to be communicated into thy soul in His Church, ascribe never the praise of it to thyself, or to thy travel, but give the praise and honour of all to the LORD JESUS, who had a care of thee, and by His gracious providence b●ought thee there. But who are these whom the Lord leads out? Not all they who heard Him, who knew Him, who had conversed with Him, but it is only His Disciples whom the Lord led out, these only whom He used most familiarly, whom He loved most tenderly, and who in a manner were His domestics. The number of them whom the LORD chooses and leads out to grace at any time is not great, they are but few in respect of the multitude whom the Lord passes by, but especially at this time it was the lords pleasure to choose but a few to be eye-witnesses of His glorious Ascension: for it was the Lords will, that His Ascension should rather be manifested & made known to the world by hearing, than by seeing: for the Lord prefers, & likes better of that faith that comes by hearing, thou of that faith that proceeds of seeing: for He says to Thomas, Because thou hast seen me, thou believest: but blessed are these that have not seen, and have believed. Joh. 20.29. Mark a manifest difference betwixt the suffering & crucifying of the Lord, & His Resurrection & Ascension: When the Lord was crucified all sort of people beheld Him: there were gathered a great multitude not of the jews only, but also of the Gentiles, out of many nations (for it was a solemn time, the time of the Pass●ouer,) but there were not so many that beheld His Resurrection, nor Ascension: for it was His pleasure to manifest Himself after His Resurrection to a small number of His own familiars, namely, His disciples & Apostles: & likewise it was His pleasure, to make choice but of a few of that same sort to be eye-witnesses of His glorious Ascension: for He would have His glory to be made manifest to the world rather by the preaching of the Gospel, than by the sight of the eyes. Of this difference we learn this lesson for our instruction, That the shame & ignominy of Christ is offered to be seen of all sorts of men: but His glory is manifested only to a small number, even to those who are saved by His blood. The shame & ignominy of Christ in His members, is laid to th'eyes of all sorts of men: there are none who sees not how vile & contemptible the faithful are under the cross: but the glory of the faithful is seen but of a few, even only of those who are ordained to be partakers of that same glory: For albeit, says john, that now we are the sons of God, yet it is not made manifest what we shall be. 1. Epist. 3.2. And as th'Apostle Paul says of y● Jews, If they had known the Lord of glory, they would not have crucified him. 1. Cor. 2.8. So say we of the wicked of the world, If they knew that glory of the children of God, they would not so contemn them, despise, & persecute them The place that He leads them to, is said to be Bethania: and Act. 1.12. it is said, They returned to Jerusalem, from the mount that is called the mount of Olives, near unto which mount was Bethania: both were near to jerusalem, about 15. furlongs, or a Sabbath days journey, about 2. miles, joh. 11.18. The Lord of set purpose chose this place to manifest His glory, wherein before He suffered ignominy. It was in this place that He wrestled with the fear of death, finding the terrors of the wrath of God seizing on His soul, when He said his soul was heavy unto the death. It was in this place that the band of men of war came and took him. It was in this place that they bond him, and led him away to that shameful death of the cross. Therefore in this place the Lord makes a show of His glory: in this same place He addresses Himself to triumph: from this same place ascends He to His Heavenly Throne. Mark the lesson in a word. The Lord of necessity must be glorified in that same place, where before He was dishonoured: He must be honoured either in mercy by the conversion of a sinner, who has despised Him, or else by the executing of judgement, & pouring forth of vengeance upon th'obstinate & stubborn contemners. But to go forward to the conference & communication that was betwixt the Lord & His Apostles alittle before He ascended to Heaven. This conference is set down, Act. 1.6. For after the disciples were come together to the mount of Olives, they asked him, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? Th'occasion of this their question is not set down here: but it is likely, that the Lord at this time has been speaking something of that Heavenly Kingdom: & that upon His speech they have taken occasion to ask this question of th'earthly kingdom. In demanding of this question they fail many ways: First they fail in curiosity, being too curious, as the lords answer imports: Next, they fail in this, that as yet they think that He should have been an earthly king & that His kingdom should be of this world. Thirdly they fail in this, that they desired to reign & triumph before they had fought sufficiently, & ended their warfare. This might seem strange, that they profited so little in so long time, having such fair occasion. Their ignorance cannot be excused for by the space of 3. years & more they were conversant with the Lord, hearing Him preach, & saw Him work miracles: & after His resurrection sundry times He appeared to them, & spoke to them: & in this same time they saw in Him a majesty, they saw Him clad & invested with heavenvly glory: & yet for all this they are earthly minded, and think of nothing but of an earthly kingdom. In this example of the disciples, we may perceive how dull we are by nature & uncapable of spiritual & heavenvly things. All th'outward means of the world will not profit us, if there be no more; albeit we heard all heavenvly & spiritual things never so long, albeit we saw all things never so long, we will never be a hair the better, except that we be taught of God, & except our minds be illuminate, & our hearts be opened by the H. Spirit. Therefore when we use th'outward means, we should pray continually, that the Lord would send His H. Spirit to instruct us inwardly, and to join His blessing with them. Now to come to the Lords answer: first He reproves them for their curiosity, he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times & the seasons: & He gives them a good reason, because the Father has put them in his own power. Men in all ages have been too curious to inquire the things which belong not unto them. Th'Apostles here began curiously to inquire of the time of the restoring of the kingdom to Israel, & ever since men have continued curiously to inquire the times & seasons, & namely, the particular time of the Lords coming to judgement. But the Lord here snibs & represses this curiosity in th'apostles: for what had they ado to search out the things that the Lord kept secret to Himself? It is not the Lords will, that men at any time should be curious to inquire the particular times, which He keeps close to Himself, & namely, the particular diet & period of Christ's coming to judgement, for of that day & hour knows no man, no not th'Angels which are in heaven, Mark 13.32. Next in the answer, He calls them to remembrance of that promise which He made to them before of the sending of the H. Spirit, & enduing them with power from an high. But, says He, ye shall receive power of the holy Ghost, when he shall come on you. This putting them in remembrance of the sending of the H. Ghost, imports, that although it was not long time before made unto them yet they thought not of it, nor remembered it not as it became them. So that in them we may see what is our natural disposition concerning spiritual things: we are very careless to think of them, yea, for the most part, we are altogether forgetful of them. If a promise were made to us of great earthly benefits (so carnal & earthly are our hearts) we would think on it day & night: but albeit the promises of heavenvly things be often renewed to us, hardly can we think of them, or remember them. Thirdly, in this answer He puts then in mind of their office & calling to the Apostleship, Ye shallbe witnesses, says He, to me both in jerusalem, & in all judea, & in Samaria, & unto the uttermost parts of the earth: as if He had said unto them, Inquire not curiously of the things which belong not to you, but look to your calling, & the office which I have chosen you to. And He sets down what is their calling, Ye must be witnesses. And to whom? Both to jew & Gentile. And in what order? First begin at jerusalem, & judea, & then go to Samaria, & to the rest of the world. It is the Lords will, that men so carefully attend first upon the calling that the Lord has set them into this life, to be faithful & painful in it, that in it they may honour their Lord, & next upon the promise of grace & salvation that is promised in the life to come, that they take no leisure, nor spare no time upon th'inquiring of curious questions. Of this answer of the Lords we may learn this lesson: the Lord deals very meekly & gently with his own: their curiosity & wilful ignorance deserved a more sharp & rough meeting, but the Lord meets then not as they deserved; for albeit that even now he was to leave the world & ascend to his Father, & to enter into glory; yet he stays a while with them, & with the Spirit of meekness & wonderful patience he teaches & instructs them, who were so gross & carnal minded. That which the Lord did at this time to his Apostles, that same thing does he daily to his own, in whom he has once begun to work, he will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, he will not put out grace, if it were never in so small a measure, but he will cherish & nourish it, that it may come to perfection & that the little spark may grow to a fire & flame. Albeit we be rude & earthly minded, and take no pleasure in spiritual things, yet the Lord continues with great lenity and wonderful patience by his Ministry, to teach & instruct us. Now to go forward to His Ascension: Before He ascends, He blesses His disciples: Luke says, He lifted up his hands, & blessed them. What means this, that the Lord lifted up His hands to Heaven? Even this, that he conveyed & drew grace powerfully out of heaven to his disciples: Before He ascended to Heaven, He drew down grace out of Heaven, to remain with His Apostles, whom He left behind Him in the earth, when He ascended, according to that which before His Passion He said to them, Peace I leave you, my peace I give you. joh. Chap. 14. vers. 27. Now when He lifts up His hands, what sort of blessing gives He them? Was it a common sort of blessing? Was it such a blessing as one gives to another? No, but He gives them the blessing of God He gives them an effectual blessing. And if we consider who this was that blessed them, we may see, that of necessity it behoved this blessing to be effectual: for He was not only a Priest, but a King also: Indeed as a Priest He blessed them, for it was the priests office publicly to bless the people: as a Priest likewise lifted He up His hands in ●lessing of them: (for this was a Rite and Ceremony which the Priests were accustomed to use in their blessing) but as a King He gives them effectually that blessing which as a Priest He wished unto them: for He was now to sit down in the Throne of His Kingdom: and therefore that blessing which as a Priest He wished unto them, He works it effectually in them by His infinite power, as He is a king. Men may wish well one to another: men may wish peace and blessing sincerely, and from their hearts to others: but it lies not in their hands to effectuate & to bring to pass that thing which they wish, but it is proper to God only, & to jesus His Son, to make the blessing effectual. One thing here would be marked well for our comfort: to wit, that Christ hath left a singular blessing to the Ministry of the Gospel: for as before we heard, that the Lord made a sweet and comfortable promise to this Ministry, even, that He would be always with them unto the end of the world, Mat. 28.20. Even so, now we see here, that the Lord at His departure out of the world, leaves a special blessing to the same Ministry: yea, such a blessing as is not left to any other calling in the world, no, not to the calling of a King: for the calling of a King, & all other callings whatsoever, receives their blessing only in this blessing, which Christ gives to His ministery: for except men in all callings by this ministery be brought to th'obedience of Christ, & to sanctification, they are accursed: & if we look to th'experience which the faithful find in their souls, we will find, that that blessing which the Lord left to His Ministry at that time is effectual this day: for they find it to be effectual to work faith, repentance, joy & tranquility of conscience, & they find it to be, as th'apostle. calls it, The ministery of the Spirit, & the ministery of righteousness, 2. Cor. 3.8, 9: & if there were no more to testify unto us the effectualness of this blessing, this were sufficient, that we see it hath continued so long in the world, notwithstanding of all adversary power, & opposition made thereto: for seeing this Ministry is so weak, base, & contemptible in itself, how had it been possible, that it could have continued & endured so long in the world, against the fury, craft, & assaults of Satan, against the malice, hatred & persecution of men, against the opposition & practices of the mighty, great & wise men of the world, except that this blessing, which at His departure He left with it, had been effectual; if it had not been effectual, it had soon evanished, & had been rooted out. Now come to the Ascension itself it is set down partly by Mark, & partly by Luke in his evangel, & in the History of th' Acts of th'Apostles in these circumstances: first, Luke says, As He blessed them, He departed from them, He went alitle from them: Next, He was taken up: Tdirdly, He was received in a cloud: Fourthly, being received in that cloud, His Apostles beholding Him, the cloud to●ke Him out of their sight: Fiftly, being taken out of their sight by the cloud, He was carried up into heaven. If we weigh & consider well all these circumstances, we will see, that th'Ascension of our Lord, was not only exceeding glorious, but also very sensible & visible: for while He stood in the mids of them, He departed & separated Himself a space from them, to the end, that they all might the better see Him ascending: thereafter He was taken up piece & piece, degree by degree, so that sensibly, piece & piece they might have followed Him with their eyes: then as they are thus beholding, a cloud interueenes, & takes Him out of their sight. After this, they see His person no more, but they see that cloud wherein He was received to be carried up into heaven: all these circumstances, were very sensiible: for now He goes not from them on a suddainty, He conveys not Himself out of their sight in a moment, as He did with the two Disciples which whom He sat at table in Emmaus▪ & no question, the Lord of set purpose would have His Ascension to be so sensible, to the end that the disciples who saw it, & the whole form of it so clearly, might have a settled assurance & full persuasion in their hearts, to the end. that with the greater evidency, liberty & freedom they might preach & proclaim it to the world (for the full persuasion of the heart made them bold & confident in preaching, as Paul says Seeing we have such trust, we use great boldness of speech: that so the world hearing them speak with such evidency, freedom & boldness of the Lords Ascension, & seeing them paint out so vinely & sensibly the whole form & process that therein was used, might without any doubt fully believe, that the Lord was ascended to heaven▪ so the Lord had a regard & respect unto His Kirk, & in all the faithful that should live in th'ages to come, yea, even of us, who live this day, when so sensibly & visibly in the presence of His Apostles, He ascended into heaven. The Lord made not His Apostles eye witnesses of His Ascension so much for their own cause, as for the Kirkes' cause, which by their Ministry was to be gathered together, & to be brought to th'obedience of jesus: so when thou cōsider●st that sensible form & progress that the Lord used in His Ascension for thy cause, it is thy duty to praise & glorify His Majesty for it. Now after the Lord is carried up to heaven, what follows? was there no higher degree of glory? Yes, for Mark says, After He was received into heaven, He sat at the right hand of God. After He had passed through all the visible Heavens, He was set at the right hand of His Father in the highest Heavens, far above all principality and power, and might, and domination, and every name that is named, not in this world only, but also in that which is to come: so that all things were made subject under His feet, Ephes. 1.20, 21. & this the Father had spoken of Him before, when He said, Sat thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psal. 110.1. To sit at the right hand of God, is to obtain that highest degree of glory in the heavens: as Mediator, to have equal power & glory with the Father, to have power over all creatures, to do which them as He pleases, to have all things under His feet, to be declared to be the head of the Kirk, & that person by whom the Father immediately guides & governs all things: for as He is the Son of God, equal with the Father, He was glorified with that glory, which He had with the Father, before the foundations of the world were laid, according as He prayed before His Passion, Joh. 17.5. & as He is man, He is exalted above every creature, in such sort, that by the hand of Christ the man, God governs all things in heaven & in earth: so we see, that the Lord by degrees passed from glory to glory, & now He is in such incomprehensibl● glory, as this mortal eye of man cannot be able to pierce into. Indeed, the disciples saw His glorious Ascension, but they could not be able to see that highness & sublimity of glory, whereunto He was exalted, when He sat at the right hand of the Father. Steven saw the heaven, opened, & the Son of man standing at the right hand of God, Acts 7.55. but how sober & mean a portion of His glory was that which He saw, in respect of the fullness of glory, that He had them in the heavens? but albeit we be not able with our bodily eyes to pierce & behold the greatness of that glory, whereinto He is exalted: yet this is our comfort, that we find sensibly by experience in our own soul's that jesus is sitting in his Kingdom which exceeding glory & power, by these comfortable effects & motions that He works within us. Th'apostles, albeit they saw Him not sitting at the right hand of God in glory: yet in that same moment that He sat down in His throne of glory, they found in their own hearts, his kingly power & that dominion that He hath over all creatures: for what meaned that exceeding joy that they had, after that He was taken out of their sight, when they were returning to Jerusalem? even this, that Christ was entered in His kingdom, & that His kingdom & power was effectual into their souls: & what means these spiritual motions, which are raised up in the hearts of the godly? this sadness for sin? this unspeakable joy, this peace & tranquillity of conscience, this love to God, & desire to see Him? even this, that the Lord jesus is come into His Kingdom, & is now reigning in the heavens & that He hath established this Kingdom in our souls: For the Kingdom of God, says Paul, is righteousness, & peace, and joy in the holy Ghost, Rom. 14.17. therefore when thou findest any spiritual motion in thy soul, take it for a sure argument of Christ's sitting at the right hand of God in His kingdom. Now having spoken of Christ's Ascension, let us see what was the Apostles behaviour: when they saw the Lord thus ascend, wh●t did they? It is said, that they worshipped Him: next, that they looked steadfastly toward heaven: what moved them to worship Him? no question, the sight of a wonderful glory & Majesty in jesus: & because at this time they saw Him in an higher glory & majesty, than ever they did before: therefore of necessity their worshipping of Him at this time behoved to be in a greater humility, with greater reverence, & which greater fervency than ever it was before. Indeed they worshipped Him before, knowing Him to be the Messiah, but their knowledge was but very mean & sober: but now they see & know perfectly that He is the Lord of glory, & the glorious judge of the world: & therefore the worshipping of Him at this time behoved to be in greater reverence, with greater persuasion & boldness than ever it was before. The sight of that glorious majesty makes ever the creature in reverence to worship God, & the greater sight, the greater reverence. The faithful while they live here in th'earth, because by th'eye of faith, in the mirror of the Gospel, they see the glory of the Lord, therefore in humility they worship His majesty: but because they see Him not clearly as He is, but darkly and obscurely, therefore their worshipping here is not like that worshipping that shallbe when they shall see Him face to face: for when we shall see him as he is, we shall worship Him with greater reverence, confidence, boldness & liberty, than ever we did before: for than we shall be made like unto Him: that is, we shall be made conformable to the image of His glory, and we shall shake off all this mortality & corruption, wherewith th'Apostles were clad at this time when they worshipped Him ascending to Heaven: So that that worshipping & adoring of the Lord, which the faithful shall give Him in that great day when He descends from the Heavens to judge the world shall surpass exceedingly & by many degrees that worship which the Apostles gave Him, when they saw Him ascend into Heaven: for them there shallbe nothing to hinder them. Now in the mean time while the Lord is ascending to Heaven, as they worship Him, so likewise they follow Him with their eyes, and looked steadfastly toward heaven, where they saw Him ascending▪ which testifies plainly, that their hearts were lifted up to the Heavens, together with Christ: & as Christ ascended, so their hearts ascended, & were lifted up to Heaven, by the power & virtue of that same Ascension & glory of Christ, in whom they believed: for they that believe in Christ, and are conjoined to Him by faith, of necessity must by that b●nd of faith be lifted up, together with Him to the Heavens: for that soul that is linked to Him by faith, cannot be severed from Him, but it must follow Him wheresoever He goes Mark this lesson: when the heart is lifted up to Heaven, it will lift the eye of the body to Heaven also, & the sight & sense of the Ascension of Christ lifts up the heart to Heaven: for where there is in the heart a sense & feeling of the power of Christ's Ascension, of necessity both the soul & th'eyes of the body must be lifted up to Heaven. And this lifting up of th'eyes of the body, proceeding from the lifting up of the heart to Heaven: & this lifting up of the heart proceeding from the feeling of the power of th'Ascension of jesus, which now the faithful find, is a sure argument & undoubted warrā● to the faithful, that one day th'eye, the heart the soul, the body, yea, the whole man shallbe lifted up to heaven: both soul & body in that great day, when the Lord appears to judgement, & shall enjoy His glorious presence: & therefore the godly have great cause continually to be waiting & looking for that glorious apppearing of Christ (& happy art thou, who art ever waiting for it) for at that glorious appearing thou sh●lt be partaker of glory which him: to whom with the Father, & H. Spirit, be all praise, honour, & glory, Amen.   

THE LVI. LECTURE, OF THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST.  MARK, CHAP. XVI. 
verse 20 And they went forth, and preached every where. And the Lord wrought with them, and confirmed the word with signs that followed, Amen.  LUKE, CHAP. XXIIII. 
verse 52 And they Worshipped him, & returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  
verse 53 And were continually in the Temple, praising and lauding GOD, Amen.  ACTS, CHAP. I. 
verse 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,  
verse 11 Which also said Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven? This jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as ye have seen him go into heaven.  
verse 12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem, from the mount that is called, the mount of Olives, which is near to Jerusalem, being from it a Sabbath days journey.  
verse 13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper chamber, where abode both Peter, and james, and john, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon zealots, and judas james brother.  
verse 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplications with the women, and Marie the mother of jesus, and with his brethren.  
THE last day, well-beloved Brethrens in Christ, we entered into the history of Christ's ascension to heaven. We heard of the circumstances of it. The Lord led them out to Bethania, to the mount of Olives, from the which place He ascended unto heaven: we heard of the communing that was betwixt Christ & his disciples, who asked of him, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Jsrael? The Lord reproves this their curiosity, It is not for you to know the times & the seasons, which the Father has put in his own power. And then he tells what they ought to do: First they should be mindful of the promise of the H. Spirit: Next, they should look to their own calling, to bear witness of him to the world. We heard how before his Ascension he blessed them: we heard of the manner of his Ascension, it was very sensible and visible, He went a little space from them, and was taken up, and received in a cloud, he was taken out of their sight, and carried up to heaven: This was done, the ●oth th'Apostle themselves might be persuaded, and also with greater boldness & assurance persuade others of His Ascension. We heard, that when He was taken out of their sight, He was placed at the right hand of God, and exalted to that sublimity of glory, that all the creatures in heaven and earth are subdued to him. And last we heard what was the behaviour of th'Apostles, In the mean time they worshipped him, and looked steadfastly to ●he heavens. This day by God's grace we shall follow out & put an end to this history. In the words which we have read, we will s●e what falls out, While the disciples are looking up to the heavens, two Angels are sent to them by Christ, who partly reproves them, and partly comforts them We will see likewise what the disciples do after this, They return to Jerusalem with great joy: when they come there, they go up to an upper chamber: but they stay not there, but they go to the Temple, & remain there continually praising & lauding God: and last they went out & preached the Gospel every where, and the Lord gave them a good success, for He wrought with them, and confirmed the word with signs that followed. Luke, in th' Acts, tells us, that while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel. As they were worshipping Him, the Lord sent incontinent from His Heavenly Throne Legates & Ambassadors: And who were they? even Angels: two in number, and in form & outward shape like to men, & therefore they are said to be two men, and were clothed in white and glorious apparel. Mark the lesson in a word. Christ sits no soone● down at the right hand of the Father, but He makes His disciples (whom He left in the earth behind Him) not only to know that He had a kingly power, whereby He commands the very Angels themselves; but also to know, that singular care & affection that He carried to them, which He testifies, by sending these Angels from heaven, for their cause & for their consolation. This kingly power of Christ, & this care that He hath of His own, continueth even this day in the Kirk, & every of the faithful find the proof & experience of it to their great joy & comfort. Now, let us see, what these Angels say to the Apostles: in their speech to them: First, they reprove: then they comfort them: first, they said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing unto Heaven: they reprove them, because they stood idly gazing & looking to the heaven, whereas the Lord had commanded them to return to Jerusalem, that there they might wait for the Spirit, that was promised them, that having gotten the Spirit, they might go out to the world▪ & preach the Gospel to every creature, as the Lord had commanded them. This reproof of th'Angels imports, that they contented themselves too much with idle looking & g●●ing, & that they were too unmindful of that great & high calling whereunto the Lord had ordained them. Of this reproof we learn this lesson: it is not the Lords will, that any man should be idle in the world, nor that he content himself with a bare & idle contemplation of the creatures of God: No, not of the best of them: it is not the Lords will, that we stand idly gazing upon the very heavens whereunto the Lord hath ascended, & now is in glory: No, it is His will, that all men all their days be painfully exercised in some calling, wherein they may both glorify God, & do good unto men. Indeed, it is true: it is the Lords will, that men should always have their affections set above, & their hearts lifted up to heaven, & that they have their eyes set upon God, upon Christ, upon that glory which is to be revealed: but in the mean time, while men are thus exercised, they should be exercised likewise in some honest & lawful calling. Th'Apostle Paul by his practice lets us see, what should be the behaviour of a Christian: While he looked not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are not seen, 2. Cor. 4.18. While he choosed to remove out of the body, & to go & dwell with Christ, 2. Cor. 5.8. While he minded not earthly things, but had his conversation in heaven, from whence he looked for his Saviour, even the Lord jesus, Philip. 3.20. contented he himself, think ye, with this speculation? Was he in the mean time idle? had he not another calling? Yes, he was very diligently exercised in the Ministry: For, says he, we covet, that both dwelling at home, & removing from home, we may be acceptable to Him: for we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that every man may receive the things which are done in his body, according to that he hath done whether it be good or evil: & therefore knowing that terror of the Lord, we persuade men, & bring them unto the faith, 2. Cor. 5.9, 10, 11. So Paul, when he was looking to heavenly things, he was in the mean time diligently exercised in his Apostleship, in bringing men to Christ: even so it becomes every faithful man, so to have his heart & his affections set upon heaven, & heavenly things, that in the same mean time, in some honest & lawful calling, he may be doing some good in y● earth: & on the other part, when he is busy labouring & exercised in his calling, he should have his eyes lifted up to God, & should have his heart, his affections & conversation in the heavens: for except that in all things which we do, we have the Lord & His glory before our eyes, it is not possible, that we can do any thing well & uprightly. Then in a word, ye see here the Lord by these Angels, condemns idle speculation & contemplation, without any exercise in any lawful calling. This serves to condemn these idle bellies, the Monks of the Roman Kirk, who content themselves with bare & idle speculation, having no regard in the mean time, that they may be exercised in any lawful calling, wherein they may either glorify God, or do good to men: yea, they are so far from doing good, that by the contrary they hurt the Kirk of God exceedingly by bringing in their dreams & fantasies that they have devised in their idle brains, to corrupt & pervert men's minds: the Lord never allowed nor blessed such a life: the Lord abhors such idleness: & if the Angels reprove the Apostles for gazing to heaven, where they saw with their eyes the Lord jesus to ascend, which by appearance to man's judgement, was a very good exercise, to have their hearts fixed on Christ, & their eyes upon the place whither He ascended; what would the Angels say to these idle belly gods, who withdraw themselves from all honest callings, & live upon the sweat of other men's brows, under the pretence of spiritual exercise? now after the Angels have reproved the Apostles: next, in the 2. part of their speech, they raise them up, & comforts them, while they say, This jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as ye have seen Him go into heaven. They comfort them, by putting them in hope, that He shall return: yea, return in glory: and such a glory, as they saw Him ascend with: and so upon hope of His glorious returning in that great day: they will th'Apostles to comfort themselves against all trouble & distresses, that they might be subject unto the time of their remaining in the earth: Whereupon we may perceive what is the ground whereupon the solid consolation of a Christian soul arises. It arises even from the hope of the glorious returning of the Lord jesus again to judge the world. There is nothing that furnishes such joy to the faithful soul, as this hope does. Indeed, it is true, the Lord gives us other grounds of consolation while we are here: & namely, He gives us His Spirit, to counsel & guide us through all the difficulties of our pilgrimage: & the joy that the faithful find in His presence is very great: He gives us Faith also to comfort us, whereby in some measure presently we feel the presence of Christ, & His spiritual graces in our souls: but except with the Spirit & Faith, we had a hope, that the Lord jesus should return again in His own time in glory, we could not have solid joy & consolation: for if in this life only we hoped in Christ, & had no hope that He would return again in glory, & raise our mortal bodies from the dead: them, as the Apostle says, of all men we were most miserable, 1. Cor. 15.19. & why should not the hope of this returning comfort our souls, & make them to rejoice? for at His returning, we look & hope for the glorifying of these our bodies, & for eternal life. Paul says, That from the heavens we look for the Saviour, even, the Lord jesus, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, Philip. 3.20.21. And when it shallbe made manifest, we shallbe made like Him, for we shall see Him as He is, 1 Joh. 3.2 Yea, we have greater cause of joy & comfort of the hope of His returning again, than all the Apostles had of the sight of His ascending to heaven in their presence: for the ascension of the Lord, albeit it was very glorious & comfortable to them, yet it changed not their bodies, nor made them like His glorious body, but His glorious returning again from the heavens, shall change both their bodies, & our vile & corruptible bodies, and make them conformable to His glorious body. Now happy is the man, who earnestly looks & waits for the blessed & glorious coming again of the Lord to judgement: for that hope shall comfort & uphold him in all his troubles & distresses. Now, come to that disciples part: we have sundry things expressed what they do: & the first is, after the Angels reproved them for their standing & gazing to the heavens, it is said, They returned to Jerusalem with great joy. They take well with the reproof they stay no longer gazing there, but according to the Lords direction they go to Jerusalem, to wait for that Spirit which He promised to them: they obey the Lords commandment, & they obey with great joy. But what made them so to rejoice? This joy proceeded partly from the sight of His glorious ascension into heaven, which they saw with their eyes: partly, from that which they heard by the Angels of His glorious returning, & descending again out of the heavens, yet all this which both they saw & heard, would not have wrought so great a joy in them, except the Lord jesus who was sitting in the heavens, at the right hand of the Father, had been effectual in them, & had powerfully wrought this joy in their souls: for this joy that the holy Spirit works in the hearts of the Lords Elect, is a sure argument, & infallible demonstration, that the Lord jesus is reigning in the heavens: for the Kingdom of God is righteousness, & joy, & peace in the holy Gh●st, Rom. 14.17. Now, if ye will compare this joy, which at this time they had, with all the joy that ever they had before: yea, even when the Lord jesus was walking with them in the flesh, & they enjoyed His bodily presence, ye shall find that this joy surpassed, by many degrees all their preceding joy: whereby we may learn this lesson, that neither the bodily presence of the Lord jesus augments or perfectes the joy of the soul, neither His bodily absence stays or hinders any wise that joy, but that all this joy which the faithful find, proceeds from the effectual presence & powerful operation of the holy Spirit in the soul. The gross & carnal Papists think, they cannot have matter of rejoicing, except in the Lords Supper they have the body of Christ bodily, & locally present: that is, except that with the mouth of the body they eat, devour & swallow up the very body & flesh of jesus Christ, & except that after that same manner they drink His blood: but vain Papist, thou deceivest thyself: for neither does the bodily presence furnish joy, neither does the bodily absence hinder joy, but all true joy that the soul finds, proceeds from the effectual presence & operation of the Spirit. Yet to speak something further of this purpose. It would be narrowly considered, what could be the cause & ground of this joy of the Disciples: for if we look to it by the outward appearance, they had little matter or cause of rejoicing at this time when the Lord is gone from them. Indeed, when the Lord jesus was with them, when He led them out into Bethania, any man might think they had matter of rejoicing, to follow such a gracious guide: but now, when He hath left the earth, & ascended to heaven, & left them behind Him, what matter could they have of so great joy in their returning to Jerusalem? I answer: notwithstanding they wanted now the bodily presence of Christ, yet they wanted not matter of great joy: for in stead of His bodily presence, the Lord gave them Faith & Hope, Faith apprehending & taking hold of the Lord jesus, sitting in the heavens, in glory at the right hand of the Father: Hope waiting constantly for His blessed & glorious returning again in the appointed time to judgement. This Faith & Hope that the Lord gives us in this pilgrimage, recompenses sufficiently the bodily absence of the Lord jesus from us: if we have Faith & Hope, we have evermore matter of rejoicing: where Faith & Hope is, they bring ever with them patience & joy, even in the mids of all afflictions. The Apostle Paul declares this by his own experience, For the Gospel's sake, says he, I suffer these things, but I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded, that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day. 2. Tim. 1.12. There he lets us see what made him to be so patiented under afflictions, to wit, the sense of the power of Christ, which he found in his soul by faith, by the which power he was persuaded, that Christ was able to keep in the heavens that life which he had committed unto him, and the hope that he had of His glorious returning in that great day, wherein the Lord should render him that which before he had committed unto him to be kept. The soul that has this faith & hope, has no cause to complain of His bodily absence, for they recompense it abundantly: but if thou wantest this faith, apprehending thy Saviour with all His graces, & this hope waiting patiently for His returning, thou canst have no true matter of rejoicing, albeit thou hadst all y● outward benefits of the world heaped abundantly upon thee. Now come to the next thing that the disciples do when they are returned to Jerusalem: it it said, that they went up into an upper chamber (than is reckoned out particularly who they were) where abode both Peter, & james, & john, & Andrew, Philip, & Thomas, Bartholomew, & Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, & Simon zealots, & judas james brother: & after he subjoins in a general word, The women, & particularly, Marry the mother of jesus, & his brethren. These were they who most familiarly conversed with jesus, & whom he kept together while he was in the world: & now when he is gone out of the world, & ascended to heaven, they abide together. And what was their exercise? They all continued with one accord in prayer & supplication. This was an holy exercise: they severed themselves from the rest of the world, & withdrew themselves from worldly impediments, & kept themselves alone together, to th'end they might entertain & nourish that joy which they found of the beholding of that glorious Ascension of Christ, & through the hope that they had of his glorious returning again to judgement, whereof th'Angels had instructed them. Then mark the lesson, they that rejoice together in jesus, desire to be severed from the common society of men, & from outward distractions & impediments, & desire to remain & live together. The children of God delight & take pleasure in the society one of another: and good reason they so do, for when this life is ended, they shall remain & live together in heaven without any severing. Yea, further, all spiritual graces are acquired & entertained only in the society of the Saints▪ & without this society no faith, hope, joy, nor grace of Christ can be gotten or entertained (all grace that is given a man, is given to him as a member of that body, as to one of the Saints. Therefore when Paul speaks of any grace or benefit that the Lord is to bestow on any faithful man, commonly he uses to say, th●t that grace is withal the Saints: as when he wishes to th' Ephesians, the sense of the breadth, the length, the depth, & the height of that love of God in Christ, he wishes they might be able to comprehend it with all the Saints, Eph. 3.18. Likewise when he prays that the Thessalonians, might have their hearts established in holiness before God, he craves that this establishment might be with all the Saints, 1 Thess. 3.13. & speaking of the riches of the glory of the inheritance, he says, thou shalt never get it but among the Saints, Eph. 1.18. for as one member being cut off from the body, can receive no sap nor life from it: even so if thou be cut off from the society of the Saints, from the Kirk of God, thou shalt never get any grace of Christ: & to conclude, our joy & blessedness will be perfected in the kingdom of heaven in the society & fellowship of the Saints. Many men despise & disdain the society of the Lords Saints here on earth, they count them vile, contemptible & the offscouring of the world: they scarcely will give them a countenance: yet in the mean time they flatter themselves foolishly, that they shallbe in heaven, as soon as they: but if thou have no pleasure in their society here in earth, thou shalt find, thou shalt never get that privilege, to enjoy any grace or blessing with them in the heaven: I give thee this doom, & the Lord shall ratify it one day. Now when the disciples are met together in the upper chamber, they stay not there, but Luke, in the last words of his gospel says, that They were continually in the Temple praising, and lauding God. And this is the third thing that the disciples do, after they have stayed for a space in the upper chamber, occupied in holy exercises, in prayer and supplication: they begin to be more bold, and they take greater courage unto them, and they go out into a public place, to the Temple, to use these same spiritual exercises, which they used in the upper chamber: for the Apostles, with the lords brethren, with Marry his mother, and other holy women assembled publicly in the Temple, and there praised and glorified God. We see here, what are these means whereby spiritual graces are entertained & increased in the society of the Saints: to wit, the preaching of the Gospel, prayers & supplications, praising & blessing of God in Psalms, Hymns & spiritual songs, & holy communication: without these holy exercises, no faith, no hope, no joy, no grace of Christ, can either be obtained or entertained & increased: if thou contemnest & despisest these exercises, thou needest never to look for grace. Again, we see here, that they assemble as frequently, in as great number as they may or can in the most public & solemn place they could find: for they came together with one accord in the Temple: & this they do, to the intent, that both greater glory might redound to the Lord, & greater joy & comfort to themselves: the more frequent that the assemblies of the Saints be, the more public & solemn the place of their meeting be, the greater & the more effectual is the Lords presence among them, the greater is their joy, the greater glory redounds to God: for if the Lord has promised, That where two or three are gathered together in his name, there he will be in the mids of them▪ Mat. 18.20. Much more where the Saints are frequently & in great number gathered together in a public & solemn place for spiritual exercises, will the Lord manifest His powerful presence among them. The fourth and last thing that th'Apostles do is set down by Mark in the last verse of his Gospel, where we have two things expressly mentioned: First, the going out of the disciples to preach to the world: Next, the success that the Lord gave to their preaching: These two points comprehend the sum and substance of all the history of th'Acts of th'Apostles. Then first he says, They went forth and preached every where. That grace that they got themselves, they are careful to communicate it to others. But when was this that they went out into the world? Was it immediately after the Lord's Ascension? Was it before they received the holy Spirit, & were sufficiently furnished with grace themselves? No, but they stayed still in Jerusalem, according to the Lords commandment, till they got that promised Spirit, with His graces: Then assoon a● they have received the H. Spirit with His graces, and were sufficiently furnished themselves, they go out to communicate that gr●ce to the world, wherewith they themselves were replenished, beginning at Hierusa●em then going throughout all Judea, then to Samaria, & last, to the utmost parts of th'earth. This doing of the disciples serves to teach these who intend to ent●r into that holy calling of the ministry, how they ought to behave themselves. They must not suddenly & rashly go out to preach the Gospel, before they be well furnished themselves: but they should keep themselves close using holy means and exercises, till they find themselves to be furnished with grace in some measure: but being once furnished with grace, it is the Lords will that they keep themselves no more close, but that they go out and communicate that same grace unto others: for the Lord gives them no spiritual graces to keep to themselves: but to th'end that they may employ them to the weal & edification of others. Men should beware of these two extremities: first, that they presume not to go out to preach to others, till they be first well furnished themselves: next, when they are furnished with grace, that they let not Gods graces rest within themselves, but that they use them cheerfully for the benefit of the Kirke. But if we consider more narrowly this going out of the disciples, we will find it to be extraordinary and miraculous: it fell out altogether unexpected of the jews no, the jews never thought that things should have fallen out so, either concerning Christ Himself, or His disciples: for as concerning Christ, they thought they should never have heard any more of Him except cursed and detestable speeches of Him: for they had now handled Him shamefully, they had railed on Him, and crucified Him, putting Him to an ignominious death: and after He was buried and risen, they persuaded the guard, that watched the sepulchre, to noise abroad, that his disciple● had come by night, & stolen him away: so they thought there should have been no more of Him: But behold, upon a sudden, the Lord (unexpected of them) by His powerful providence, makes His glory to be sounded throughout the whole world: and whereas they thought He should have been buried for ever in shame, He is exalted to a wonderful glory. And as concerning the disciples, The jews thought they durst never have presumed to have opened their mouths again to speak of the Name of Christ: for they thought they were all but silly based bodies, who fled away when their Master was taken, and were offended at His ignominious death, and terrified and astonished with that sorrowful spectacle that they saw, when He hung upon the cross, neither durst they presume to meet together again openly for fear of their lives. But while the jews are thus thinking, and believe that there shall never be any mo●e word of Christ, behold, upon a sudden, when they think nothing less, His disciples come out publicly in their presence, and before the whole world, holding out, & bearing before them that crucifi●d man, boldly charging the world to believe in Him. From whence comes this, that they who before were so d●shed and based, that fled away before, durst now meet together so openly, and preach with such boldness and liberty Him of whom before they were ashamed? Even from that incomprehensible & wonderful power of Christ their King, who was now sitting in the Heavens in glory, & who according to His promise sent upon them His holy Spirit, and endued them with power from an height. Now the last thing is the success that the Lord gives unto their preaching: He says, The Lord wrought with them, and confirmed the word with signs that followed. If ye read th'Acts of th'Apostles, ye will see the success has been marvelous: for within a short space, by their Ministry, they brought great multitudes, not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, to th'obedience of Christ, and by them suddenly the face of the world was changed. The cause of this great success th'evangelist marks to be the Lords working with them, & confirming the word that they preached with signs and wonders. When it is said, that the Lord wrought with them, we may not think, that they were the chief workers, and the Lord but an helper to them: No, the Lord is ever the chief worker, and His faithful servants but work together with Him, in the building of that spiritual house unto the Lord, He being the chief builder, and His servants but work with Him: So Paul calls them, workers together with God, 2. Cor. 6.1. All the success of the Gospel is His, His servants are only instruments, using the means: Paul plants, Apollo waters, but God gives th'increase, 1. Cor. 3.6.9. Now as we saw in their going out to the world, & in their preaching with boldness, that Christ's power was wonderfully manifested: even so in this great and glorious success that they have in their preaching, that same power of Christ is as wondefully manifested. If we compare this success which the Gospel had in that first age of the Kirke of Christ, with that success which it hath now adays, we will find a great difference: Many more were called then, than there are now, for then at one preaching thousands were converted: but now, at many preachings scarcely will one be converted. And what means this, seeing the Gospel is taught now in that same sincerity that it was then? Even this, that by all appearance the Lord hath gathered in already the most part of them who are to be saved, and the number of these that rest to be called and saved, is few in these days, in respect of that great multitude of them who were called and saved in the days of th'Apostles: The great harvest is gathered in already, only glaininges now remain. And on the other part, it imports, that there is a great number ordained to wrath and destruction, and therefore they are not converted by the preaching of the Gospel. If our Gospel, saith Paul, be hidden, it is hidden to them that perish, 2. Cor. 4.3. Now to end here: Seeing all the success of the Gospel proceeds from the powerful presence of Christ by His Spirit, the Lord grant, that so long as He gives us liberty to use these outward means, He would make us find the powerful working of the Spirit, concurring with the means; that we may turn to Christ, and so be assured, that we shall be saved from that wrath which is to come in that great day of the appearing of the LORD JESUS: To whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be all praise, Honour, and Glory for ever and ever: AMEN.  
FINIS.