I
$rom f0e feifirarg of
(professor ^amuef (gtiffer
in (tttemorg of
%vb%i £H<xmud (Utiffer QBrecftinrib^e
(presented fig
^amuef (UtifPer QBreciiinribge £ong
fo *0e feifirarg of
(prtncefon £#eofo$icaf ^eminarg
SCC #10,637 v. 2
Rollock, Robert, 15557-1599.
Select works of Robert
Rollock
NOTICE.
It was intended to have given along with this volume a Life of
Rollock, who was born in 1555, and died in 1599, having been a
Regent in St Andrews, the first Principal of the University of Edin-
burgh, and, for a short time before his death, one of the ministers of
that city. But the size of the work rendered this inexpedient. Hence
the reader will observe that this is styled the Second Volume — a matter
of no consequence, as his Works are detached and independent. The
First Volume will appear next year, with a Portrait of the Author, an
Account of his Life and Writings, his " Sermons on several Places of
Paul's Epistles," (Edinburgh, 1599,) Lumisden's Translation of his
Commentary on some Select Psalms, (Edinburgh, 1600,) and Henry
Holland's Translation of his Treatise on Effectual Calling, (London,
1603.)
SELECT WORKS
OF
ROBERT ROLLOCK.
THE WODROW SOCIETY,
IKSTITUTED MAY, 1*4],
FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THE WORKS OF TnE FATHERS AND EARLY
WRITERS OF THE REFORMED CTTURCIT OF SCOTLAND.
SELECT WORKS
ROBERT ROLLOCK,
PRINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH.
REPRINTED FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITIONS.
EDITED BY
WILLIAM M. GUNN, Esq.
VOLUME SECOND.
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED FOR THE WODROW SOCIETY.
M.DCCC.XLIV.
THE EDINBURGH PRINTING COMPANY,
12, South St David Street.
PREFACE.
The first of Robert Kollock's posthumous Latin works — his
Commentary on Paul's Epistle to the Colossians — appeared in 1600,
edited by Henry Charteris, and dedicated to Scot of Elie. It is
noticed here for the sake of a letter prefixed to it. The letter is
from the learned and laborious Simon Goulart, therein styling him-
self " Silvanectmus Genevensis, Ecclesias in Templo Gervasiano
Minister." As this letter corroborates the opinions expressed by
Beza and John Piscator of Herborn, of the high value in which
our Author's writings were held on the Continent, to which atten-
tion has been drawn in the Life of the Author prefixed to the
first volume, and as it is a fitting introduction to this brief notice
of the present work, I have translated and transcribed it entire.
" Grace and peace through Jesus Christ. You will not be sur-
prised, reverend brother, that I, who am unknown to you both in
name and person, though in truth associated most closely with you
by the bond of Christian faith, love, and hope, venture to address
you so far distant from Geneva, not for the purpose of extorting a
reply from one who is completely occupied with weighty employ-
ments, but to enable me to declare the great regard I bear you.
VI PREFACE.
When at various times there had reached us your works on the
Epistle to the Romans, and on that to the Ephesians, and afterwards
your Commentaries on Daniel, and some select Psalms, at my request
the printers early communicated these sacred labours of yours to
our German and French population ; a duty which they have dis-
charged, if not with great elegance, at least, if I am not mistaken,
with diligence and fidelity. Your work on The Psalms has been
lately printed, in editing which I have carefully guarded lest
typographical errors should disfigure your pious work ; and I have
added short notes to gratify the desires of our studious youth.
And I shall be delighted if this edition, such as it is, may be as
acceptable in your eyes, as I think it will be useful and gratifying
to them. Francois le Preux, your bookseller at Geneva, has
entrusted to my charge your admirable Commentary on John's
Gospel, and I am now busily engaged in hastening its prepara-
tion. With the favour of Christ, the volume will be published at
our Autumnal Fair. At present, we are in the course of pub-
lishing the " Select Psalms," of which you will, as I hope, receive
some copies. But, reverend father, we are anxious that, whatever
the Holy Spirit may hereafter enable you to write, either on the
books of the Old or the New Testament, or on theological subjects,
you will permit us to reprint, or commission us to print ; a com-
mission in which we shall so exert ourselves, that you shall find
nothing wanting which becomes right-hearted and Christian men.
Melville and Johnston, my beloved and learned masters and
brethren in the Lord, old friends of mine, to whom I now send
respectful regards, have not altogether forgotten who I am. They
will be able to attest the truth of my professions. But my earnest
PREFACE. Vll
wish, reverend brother, is, that in the same zealous and labo-
rious spirit in which you have begun, you should persevere in
promoting the interests, not of the Scotish churches only, but
likewise those of France, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, and of
other lands, by your learned and pious labours. For that end, we
pray the Lord to grant you length of days. As for myself, I am
delighted to convey to you my offers of respectful service. Beza,
who is now eighty years of age, and who to the present day con-
tinues to preach and to perform his public duties as a Professor, is
delighted with your writings, and desires the prosperity both of
yourself personally and of your churches. We are threatened by a
crafty and a powerful enemy, the Duke of Savoy ; but our depend-
ence is on the hand of Jehovah, the all-powerful and the wise.
Farewell in Christ, and in your kindness accept my offer of devoted
friendship." l
1 " Gratia et pax per Christum. — Non miraberis, Reverende frater, quod ego
tibi de nomine et facie incognitus, in Christi vero fidei, charitatis, spei vinculo
arctissime conjunctus, te tantis locorum intervallis a Geneva remotum compellare
ausim, non ut ad scribendum hominem gravissimis occupationibus distractum provo-
cem, veruni ut tibi meum erga te studium declararo possim. Quum aliquoties ad nos
pervenissent tuae in Epistolam ad Romanos et Ephesios, deinde in Danielem et Selec-
tos aliquot Psalmos lucubrationes, petii et impetravi a typographis nostris ut
mature sacros illos labores tuos Germanis et Gallis nostris communicarent : quod illi,
si non satis eleganter, profecto diligenter et fideliter (ni fallor) praestiterunt. Nuper
excusi sunt tui Psalmi, in quorum editione, curavi ne errata typographic^ pium
opus deformarent : brevesque notas (ut studiosorum juvenutn petitioni satisf'acerem)
addidi : quod utinam, qualecunque est, tarn gratum sit tuis oculis, quam illis utile
jucundumque fore arbitror. Commisit fidei meie Fr. le Preux, bibliopola tuus Geneva?,
pra?clarum tuum Commentarium in Joannis Evangelium, cujus editionem urgeo.
Si Christus annuerit, Nundinis Autumnalibus volumen prodibit in publicum. Nunc
edimus Psalmos illos Selectos, quorum exemplaria qusedam accipies ut spero. Cupimus
autem, Reverende pater, ut quidquid posthac conscribere turn in Veteris, turn in
Novi Foederis libros, turn in locos Theologicos, concedet tibi Spiritus Sanctus, illud
Vlll PREFACE.
As Rollock died in February 1599, this letter, which was written
more than a month after that event, must have been sent in igno-
rance of the loss which theological literature had sustained.
Rollock' s Commentary on John, to which allusion is here made,
was published in 1599, with the following title : " In Evangelium
Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Sanctum Ioannem, Com-
mentarius Roberti Rolloci, Scoti, Ecclesire Edinburgensis Ministri :
Nunc primum in lucem eclitus. Accessit Harmonia ex Quatuor
EvaDgelistis in Historiam Mortis, Resurrectionis, et Ascensionis
Domini : ab eodcm Rolloco concinnata et luculentcr exposita.
Index item Analyticus. Geneva?, apud Franciscum le Preux.
m.d.xcix." Prefixed is a Dedication, with the date, Edinburgi,
pridie Calend. Martij, 1599. This is a manifest error, and the date
may have been arbitrarily inserted by the printer. This work is de-
dicated to the Town-Council, Presbytery, and generally the Church
of God in Edinburgh : " Concilio Publico, Senatui Ecclesiastico, et
lidei nostra? typis, vel recudendum permittas, vel comniittas excudendum : quo in
negotio curabimus ut nihil a nobis desideres quod cordatos et Christianos viros
decet. Domini et patres in Christo dilectissimi DD. Melvinus et Johnstonus,
veteres amici, quos reverenter saluto, qui sim, non plane obliti sunt. Poterunt illi
de mea sinoeritate ferre testimonium. Utinam vero, R. F., eo quo coepisti zelo et
studio, non Scoticis tantum ecclesiis, verum etiam Gallicis, Helveticis, Belgicis, Ger-
manicis, et aliis, eruditarum et piarum lucubrationum editione inservire pergas.
In earn rem longos dies tibi precainur a Domino. Quod ad me attinet, meum tibi
lubens defero obsequium. Dominus Beza oetogenarius, in concionando et profi-
tendo publiee in schola pergens in hanc usque diem, tuis scriptis delectatur, tibique
ut et vestris ecclesiis, prospera omnia cupit. Imminet nobis astutus et potens
bostis, Dux Sabaudia; ; sed ab omnipotentis et sapientissimi Jehovae manu pendemus
Vale in Christo, et me tibi addictum benevolentia tua complectere. Ex musajo San-
gervasiano, quod est in suburbio Genevensi ad Ithodanum. xv Martii 1599. Tui
ob^ervantissimus, Simon Goulart, Silvancctinus," &c.
PKEFACE. IX
toti Ecclesite Dei quse est Edinburgh Robertus Rollocus Scotus
gratiam et pacem a Doinino." In the course of this Epistle Dedi-
catory, after alluding, as the ground of his dedication, to his
labours in Edinburgh, as a preacher of the Gospel of Christ, and
the obligation incumbent on ministers to have regard, not only to
the whole Church, but more especially to their own field of labour,
he proceeds thus : — " After I had expounded several other books of
the Sacred Scriptures in your Church, my last undertaking was
to expound the Gospel of John, chiefly in order that, on the one
hand, I myself might hear, and that, on the other hand, I might
point out, as it were with the finger, Christ who speaks in it so
often and so sweetly. I have now, thanks be to God, expounded
that whole Gospel of John, as my weakness has enabled me. In the
progress of my labours, when I had come to the history of the
Passion and Resurrection of our Lord, I deemed it advisable to
combine the accounts of the other Evangelists ; not that I did not
think John's history sufficient in itself, but partly, that in a subject,
of which the knowledge is so necessary, we might enjoy in as
high a degree as possible, the sweetness of the harmony and con-
cord that distinguishes the four Evangelists, and partly that we
might have the history in its most perfect and its richest form.
Last of all, I have added from the other Evangelists, taken in con-
nection with the Acts of the Apostles, the history of the glorious
Ascension of our Lord, and have briefly expounded it, that, in
preaching on the history of our Lord, nothing might be felt as
wanting. But I return to you, my fellow-citizens of Edinburgh.
Since, then, I preach to you, why should I not also write to you
above all others, and do every thing with an eye to your interests ;
X PREFACE.
and through you, and for you, benefit other churches by my writ-
ing ? Especially when I know that, in Edinburgh, Christ has not a
few who love him sincerely and from the heart, and who regard as
worthy of their highest acceptation every thing, whether said or
written, which can in any way serve to extend and defend the light
of the Gospel of Christ." ' He then apologizes for the rudeness
of his style, and commends his readers to the grace of God.
How must the tenderness of the conclusion of this dedication, —
" May God grant that all things may work together for your
good, through Christ Jesus our Saviour, to whom be all the glory,
and in whom may all your joy and health consist" — have affected
the minds of those that then read it, dated, as it was, so many
days after his death, — as if he had spoken from the grave !
1 '" Post aliquot alios Scriptural sacra? libros a me in Ecclesia vestra explicates,
novissime sumpsi mihi explicandum Joannis Evangelium, potissirauru ut Christum in
eo tarn ssepe tamque suaviter loquentem de persona sua, de officio suo, et ipse audirem
et aliis digito quasi demonstrarem. Evangelium illud Joannis, Deo sit gratia, jam
totum explicavi, prout tulit infirmitas mea. In progressu, cum ventum essut ad
historiam Passionis et Resurrectionis Domini visum est qua* de his ab aliis Evan-
gelistis prodita sunt, conjungere, non quod non in se putarem sufficientem esse
Joannis historiam ; sed ut in argumcnto cognitu tarn neccssario, haberemus partim
Evangelistarum quatuor harmoniam et concentum quam suavissimum ; partim vero
historiam perfcctissimam et locuplctissimam. Adjeci postremo ex aliis evangeliis
siniul et Actis Apostolorum historiam gloriosa? Ascensionis Domini, eamque paucis
explicavi, ut in historia Christi Domini nostri prsedicanda nihil esset quod desidera-
retur. Sed ad vos redeo, Edinburgenses. Cum itaque vobis pra?dicem, cur non
etiam vobis potissimum scriberem, et vestra causa omnia f'acerem, et per vos ao
propter vos aliis Ecclesiis scripto meo prodessem ? prsesertim cum sciam Christum
habere Edinburgi qui ipsum sincere et ex animo diligant non paucos, quibusque
omnia acceptissima sunt, [sint?] sive dicta sive scripta, per quae quovis modo aliquid
possit accedere ad lucem Evangelii Christi amplificandam et vindicandam."
PREFACE. XI
This work forms a thick 8vo volume of 1195 pages, closely
printed. After the Epistle Dedicatory, follows a summary of the
History of Christ, as contained in the four Gospels — a summary,
equally brief, of the Gospel of John separately — and a most elaborate
Index Analyticus of the contents of the work, drawn up, I presume,
by Simon Goulart. The Index, which occupies about twenty-three
pages, not included in the paging of the whole work, takes up
chapter by chapter, and has generally a reference to a somewhat
fuller marginal Analysis accompanying the text. Each chapter
has, besides, a copious argument prefixed. In his method of
treating the subject, Rollock first gives a number of verses from
Beza's translation, and then makes his remarks. As the work,
when in types, could not have received the Author's revisal, we
need not be surprised at such mistakes as the typographical error
noticed at the end of the fourteenth, 1 and the confusion pointed
to in the note at the end of the forty-ninth Lecture in the present
volume. It is, on the whole, however, printed with great care and
accuracy.
Of the Latinity of Rollock's Commentary on John, I have in
various notes given the learned reader some opportunity of judging.
It exhibits the same qualities as those of his other Latin works :
it has not the polish and exquisite taste displayed by Buchanan,
nor the vigour and classical fulness in which Calvin excels. Com-
pared with theirs, it is often rugged, and deficient in elegance
and nervousness ; but, as might have been expected from his
1 The original editors of the Lectures now reprinted are not so guilty of omis-
sions as I had supposed when I penned that note. See the nineteenth Lecture.
Xll PREFACE.
station and reputation, it is, considered in itselfj by no means
deficient in the qualities which raised so high the character of
the scholars of that age, as writers of Latin. Though the sen-
tences are, for the most part, inartificially constructed, there is
apparent in them a full command of the language, and the
statements are perspicuously expressed in the most appropriate
terms. He keeps his purpose distinctly in view, and, by apt
antithesis, gives force to his remarks. In his choice of words, he
does not scruple to employ the readiest terms — the technical terms
of Christian theology, Latinized ; and in this he shows that he
was willing to sacrifice style to the certainty of being more easily
understood. The accuracy and minuteness of his analysis are
worthy of all praise in themselves ; while it must be confessed that
the latter quality detracts from the full flow of argument, of elo-
quence, and of pathos. His mind was so constituted, or so trained,
or both, that he was self-compelled to take to pieces each separate
portion of his subject ; and he sometimes has failed in so re-adjusting
the parts, and bringing them before the eyes of those whom he is
instructing, as to give the most comprehensive or exalting view of
the object examined. But this accuracy in itself is a most com-
mendable quality : and how valuable an accession to the theological
literature of Scotland at that time, must have been a series of works
in which each separate clause of the portion of the AVord of God
under examination, was most minutely examined, and its bearings
considered, if not comprehensively, at least microscopically ! Not
that the author is critical, or writes for learned men. He, for
the most part, takes each passage as he finds it translated, and
weighs the apparent import of the words, without adverting to the
PREFACE. Xill
more recondite and abstruse views, which may have led to specu-
lative differences of opinion. Moreover, he brings each sentiment
to bear upon the consciences of men ; and the eminently didactic
turn of his mind, fostered by the whole habits of his life and pro-
fession, is perceived in each page of this, as of his other treatises.
It is Rollock's greatest glory that he introduced into Scotland
the expository system, which had already so much benefited reli-
gion on the Continent. To this Andrew Melville seems to allude
in his hendecasyllables, entitled " De Rolloci Scriptis :" —
Dux Rolloce, vise tenax reperta?,
Qua? fert sidercam patens in aulani ;
Fidorumque ducum conies fidelis
Ursini et Junii, Tremelliique
Calvini quoque Bezae, Oleviani :
Queis vestigia praaviis secutus
Signati ingenii notis stylique,
Tuto calle secas viam tenesque,
Certum certus iter sequente planta. 1
Writing as he does, after Calvin, on the Gospel of John, he
could not fail to be acquainted with the annotations of that great
Reformer. Yet he treats his subject in a manner of his own.
Occasionally, as might have been expected, traces of Calvin are
found. I may adduce one instance. Beza's translation (which our
Author follows) of John xii. 24 is,- — (i Amen, amen, dico vobis, nisi
granum frumenti ceciderit in terram, et mortuum merit, ipsum
solum manet : si vero mortuum fuerit, multum fructum adfert?
Calvin's translation of the same verse is, — " Amen, amen, dico
1 P. 79 of Lives of Rollock, printed for the Bannatyne Club, 1826.
XIV PREFACE.
vobis, nisi granum tritici, quum cecidit in terrain, raortuum fucrit,
ipsum solum manet : si autem mortuum fuerit, multum fructum
adfert." Calvin, when commenting on John'xix. 38, writes, —
" AfFevunt ipsi sua aromata ad condiendum Christi corpus, sed hoc
nunquam fecissent, nisi odore mortis ejus perfusi et imbuti. Unde
apparet quam vere dictum esset ab ipso Christo, Nisi granum fru-
menti mortuum merit, ipsum solum manet : postquam autem mor-
tuum est, abunde fructificat, (supra, xii. 24.) Nam mortem pra? vita
ipsa fuisse vivificam, illustre hie habemus documentum. Et tantum
valuit odoris suavitas, quern spiravit mors Christi in istorum duo-
rum hominum animos, ut omnes carnis affectus facile exstinxerit."
On the same passage our Author writes, — " Profecto opportuit ad-
mirabilem vim quandam inesse morti Christi, qualis et quanta non
fuit in vita tota ipsius anteacta. Hanc vim mortis sua; futuram
prasdixit Dominus, Granum frumenti quod in terram decidit, si non
mortuum merit, jacet solum : at si mortuum fuerit, fructificat,
(Joann. xii. 24.) Et, alibi dixit, Ubi cadaver, ibi congregantur
aquilre, (Matth. xxiv. 28.) Hoc nimirum dixit ad ostendendum,
quam efficax ad homines eliciendos ad se suavi illo odore sacrificii
sui, futurus esset in morte sua." Not to mention the general
similarity of the ideas, which is a natural enough coincidence, we
have in both the same thought of the fragrance of Christ's death
and sacrifice extinguishing worldly feelings more efficaciously than
his life, and alluring men to boldness in the discharge of duty ;
and the introduction of the word fructificat seems to me to prove
clearly that Rollock had carefully studied Calvin.
The reader has already learned, from the Dedication of the
PREFACE. XV
Commentaries, that Rollock had previously lectured on the entire
Book of John in his public preaching. We are told in the Epistle
Dedicatory prefixed to the present work, that notes of these Lec-
tures had been taken, especially by some of his students. The
Editors 1 were thus enabled — from these notes and the Commen-
taries — to favour the world with two publications, of which the
one first printed is now offered to the Society. 2 The other, an
8vo volume, of 270 pages, has for its title, " Five-and-Twentie
Lectures, vpon the last Sermon and Conference of our Lord
Jesus Christ with his Disciples, immediately before his Passion :
contained in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth chapters of the
Gospel of Sainct John. As also upon that most excellent Prayer,
contained in the seuventecnth Chap, of the same Gospel. Preached
by that Reuerend and faythfull seruant of God, M. Robert Rollok,
Minister of the Kirke (and Rector of the Colledge) of Edinburgh.
Edinburgh : Printed by Andro Hart, anno 1619."
The Editor, in executing the duty entrusted to him, has been
anxious to furnish the Society with all the means in his power, of
judging fairly of Rollock' s claim to the high reputation which he
enjoyed as a preacher.
He has already, in the first volume, attempted to estimate his
1 Of these, — Henry Charteris, Rollock's successor in the Principalship, and William
Arthur, minister of St Cuthbert's, as well as of Sir William Scot of Elio, the warm
friend and literary legatee of our author, — notice has been already taken in the Life
prefixed to vol. i.
2 This work occupies, in the original, 576 pages of small pica 8vo. A fac-simile
of the title-page is given with this reprint.
XVI PREFACE.
characteristics, so far as these can be determined in the peculiar
circumstances in which the vernacular works of the author, if they
can with propriety be so called, were given to the world. Suffice
it here to aver, that in fervour, fidelity, pathos, and a simplicity,
which has often the effect of eloquence, they will be found, with
all the disadvantages of not only a posthumous but a compiled
publication, not unworthy of the high reputation which Bollock
enjoyed in his own day, as a useful and an effective preacher of
the Gospel.
It may be proper to mention, that the texts at the head of each
Lecture, as given by the original Editors, and here retained, are
taken from the Geneva translation. To it however they seldom
adhere, when epioting, in the Lectures themselves. For one
instance of the diversity of expression produced by this irregu-
larity, the reader may refer to the end of the nineteenth and the
beginning of the twentieth Lectures, where the same passages arc
repeated in very different forms.
The spelling of the text has been modernized, slight slips in
grammar, (where no peculiarity of style is involved,) and in refer-
ences to passages of Scripture, have been rectified ; and the punc-
tuation has been attended to, so as best to bring out the Author's
meaning. No other alteration has been made on the text except
in a few instances, all of which are accounted for in the foot-notes.
The Editor has throughout compared these Lectures with the
Latin Commentary, and has noticed the passages in it which struck
PREFACE. XVU
him as deserving observation, so far as this seemed desirable, or
capable of being done within due limits.
As to the foot-notes generally, it will only be necessary further
to say, that they are intended to give such assistance to the reader
as may save him time and trouble in ascertaining references,
searching into the meaning of obsolete words, or hunting after
the events, allusions to which have been employed by our Author
for the purpose of illustrating and enforcing his statements. Lastly,
the Editor has prefixed a brief Table of Contents.
High School of Edinburgh,
November 1, 1.844.
CONTENTS
VOLUME SECOND.
Original Title-Page,
Epistle Dedicatory,
Page
1
I. OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Lecture
I. In the Garden,
John xviii. 1-6, .
II. In the Garden, continued,
John xviii. 7-12,
III. In the Hall of the High Priest,
John xviii. 13-18,
IV. In the Hall of the High Priest, continued,
John xviii. 19-27,
V. Before Pontius Pilate,
John xviii. 28-32,
VI. Before Pontius Pilate, continued,
John xviii. 33-37,
13
27
41
51
Gl
72
xx - CONTENTS.
Lectcre Pace
VII. Before Pontius Pilate, continued,
John xviii. 38-40, 83
VIII. Before Pontius Pilate, continued,
John xix. 1-6, ..... 93
IX. Before Pontius Pilate, continued,
John xix. 7-9, '..... 103
X. Before Pontius Pilate, continued,
John xix. 10, 11, 114
XI. Before Pontius Pilate, continued,
John xix. 12-15, 125
XII. Before Pontius Pilate, continued,
Matthew xxvii. 24-26,
John xix. 16, .... 134
XIII. Immediately after Sentence,
Matthew xxvii. 27-32,
Mark xv. 16-21,
Luke xxiii. 24-31, . . . . 147
XIV. The Crucifixion,
Matthew xxvii. 33, 34,
Mark xv. 22, 23,
Luke xxiii. 32,
John xix. 17, .... 159
XV. The Crucifixion, continued,
Matthew xxvii. 35-38,
. Mark xv. 24-28,
Luke xxiii. 33-38,
John xix. 18-22, ... 170
XVI. The Crucifixion, continued,
Matthew xxvii. 39-44,
Mark xv. 29-32,
Luke xxiii. 35-38,
John xix. 23,_24, ... 182
XVII. The Crucifixion, continued,
Luke xxiii. 40-42, ... . 194
XVIII. The Crucifixion, continued,
Luke xxiii. 43,
John xix. 25-27, . . . 203
CONTENTS. XXI
Lecture Page
XIX. The Crucifixion, continued,
Matthew xxvii. 45, 46,
Mark xv. 33, 34,
Luke xxiii. 44, 45, ... 216
XX. The Crucifixion, continued,
Matthew xxvii. 46, ... 228
XXI. The Crucifixion, continued,
Matthew xxvii. 47-50,
Mark xv. 35-37,
Luke xxiii. 46,
John xix. 28-30, 239
XXII. The Crucifixion, continued,
Matthew xxvii. 50-54,
Mark xv. 37-39,
Luke xxiii. 46-48,
John xix. 30, 250
XXIII. The Crucifixion, continued,
Matthew xxvii. 55, 56,
Mark xv. 40, 41,
Luke xxiii. 49,
John xix. 31, 264
XXIV. The Crucifixion, continued,
John xix. 34-37, 278
XXV. Christ's Burial,
Matthew xxvii. 57,
Mark xv. 42, 43,
Luke xxiii. 50,
John xix. 38, 292
XXVI. Christ's Burial, continued,
Mark xv. 44-46,
John xix. 38-40, . . . . . 306
XXVII. Christ's Burial, continued,
Matthew xxvii. 59,
Mark xv. 46,
Luke xxiii. 53,
John xix. 41, . . . • . 318
tOXTENTS.
II. OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Lecture Page
XXVIII. Preparations and visit of Mary Magdalene and first
company of women,
Matthew xxviii. 1-4,
Mark xvi. 1, 2,
[Luke xxiv. 1,]
John xx. 1, ...... 330
XXIX. First company of women, continued, — Mary's report
to Peter and John,
Matthew xxviii. 5,
Mark xvi. 2-5,
John xx. 1, 2, 344
XXX. First company of women, continued,
Matthew xxviii. 5-7,
Mark xvi. 6, 7, 356
XXXI. Their return, and visit of second company of women,
Matthew xxviii. 8.
Mark xvi. 8,
Luke xxiv. 1-11, 369
XXXII. Visit of Peter and John,
Luke xxiv. 12,
John xx. 3-10, 382
XXXIII. First appearance of our Lord, — to Mary,
Mark xvi. 9,
John xx. 11-15, 394
XXXIV. Appearance to Mary, continued, — Mary's report,
John xx. 16-18, 406
XXXV. Second appearance of our Lord, — to the other women,
Matthew xxviii. 9, 10,
Mark xvi. 10, 11, 417
XXXVI. Deceitful invention of the Pharisees, — third appearance
of our Lord, — to the disciples, on the way to Emmaus,
Matthew xxviii. 11-15,
Mark xv. 12,
Luke xxiv. 13-16, ... .428
XXXVII. Third appearance of our Lord, continued,
Luke xxiv. 17-2", 439
CONTENTS. XXlll
Lecture Page
XXXVIII. Third appearance of our Lord, continued,
Luke xxiv. 21-26, 452
XXXIX. Third appearance of our Lord, continued, — at Em-
rnaus,
Luke xxiv. 27-32, 464
XL. Fourth appearance of our Lord, — to Peter ; and, having
appeared to James, (1 Cor. xv. 7,) sixth appearance,
— to ten apostles,
Mark xvi. 13, 14,
Luke xxiv. 33-36,
John xx. 19, ..... 477
XLI. Sixth appearance of our Lord, continued,
Luke xxiv. 37-41,
John xx. 20, 491
XL 1 1. Sixth appearance of our Lord, continued,
Luke xxiv. 41-46, 503
XLIII. Sixth appearance of our Lord, continued,
Luke xxiv. 47, 516
XLIV. Sixth appearance of our Lord, continued,
Luke xxiv. 48, 49, 527
XLV. Sixth appearance of our Lord, continued,
John xx. 21-23, 538
XLVI. Seventh appearance of our Lord, — to the eleven, in-
cluding Thomas,
John xx. 24-26, 550
XLVII. Seventh appearance of our Lord, continued,
John xx. 27-31, 564
XLVIII, Eighth appearance of our Lord, — to seven disciples
at the sea of Tiberias,
John xxi. 1-7, . ... . . . 578
XLIX. Eighth appearance of our Lord, continued,
John xxi. 8-14, . . - . . . 593
L. Eighth appearance of our Lord, continued,
John xxi. 15-17, 605
LI. Eighth appearance of our Lord, continued,
John xxi. 18, 19, 621
LII. Eighth appearance of our Lord, continued,
John xxi. 20-25, 636
XXIV CONTENTS.
Lecture Page
LI II. Ninth appearance of our Lord, — to more than five
hundred at once, (1 Cor. xv. 6,)
Matthew xxviii. 16-19,
Mark xvi. 15, . . . . . .651
LIV. Ninth appearance of our Lord, continued,
Matthew xxviii. 20,
Mark xvi. 16-18, 664
III. OF THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST.
LV. Christ leads out his disciples from Jerusalem, and
ascends into heaven,
Mark xvi. 19,
Luke xxiv. 50-52,
Acts i. 6-10, 677
LV.I. The return of the disciples to Jerusalem,
Mark xv. 20,
Luke xxiv. 52, 53,
Acts i. 10-14, 691
LECTV^ES,
VPON THE HISTORY
OF THE PASSION,
EESVERECTION,
A NT D ASCENSION
OF OVR LORD
JESVS CHRIST.
Beginning at the eighteenth Chapter of
the Gofpell, according to S. Iohn, and from the 16. verfe
of the 19. Chapter thereof, containing a perfect Harmo-
nie of all the foure Euangelifts, for the better vnderftan-
ding of all the Circumftances of the Lords death, and
Refurreclion.
PREACHED BY THAT
reuerend and faithfull feruant of God,
M r . Robert Rollocke,
fometime Minifter of the Euangell of
Iesvs Christ, and Re&or of the
Colledge of Edinbvegh,
Edinbvrgh,
Printed by A n d 11 o Hart.
Anno 1 G 1 6.
[EPISTLE DEDICATORY.]
TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL THEIR MOST LOVING FRIEND
IN THE LORD, MASTER WILLIAM SCOT, OF ELIE, 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 ; and
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. i. 23 ; or of the Turks, who will not acknowledge him to
be their Redeemer ; even they who have been baptized in Christ,
and profess outwardly his Word and true doctrine, if they remain
in nature, and be not prevented l by the Spirit of adoption, Avhereby
they may see their own misery, their sins, and the tenors of the
wrath of God for sin, in the meantime 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 anything here beneath, and they
will seek the matter of their gloriation not in it, but either in them-
' i. e. Guided, conducted, by going before. In this sense, well-known from its
occurrence in our translation of the Scriptures, (see Ps. xxi. 3,) prevent is re-
peatedly found in this Epistle Dedicatory.
4 EFISTLE DEDICATORY.
selves, or else in 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 Pharaoh's daughter, that he may
be called the son of God, Heb. xi. 24. The sensual man cannot
think that he can find any greater pleasure than in his sinful lust,
and 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, and will say with
the Apostle, God forbid that I should rejoice but in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ, Gal. vi. 14 ; and I decreed not to know
anything, save Jesus Christ and him crucified, 1 Cor. ii. 2 ; that
man will call it the supereminent knowledge of Jesus Christ,
Phil. in. 8 ; and 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, and that in him dwells the
fulness of the Godhead bodily, Col. ii. 9. He will thirst to be
woompled 1 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 pro-
perties 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, and the engraved form of the person of the Father, and the
image of the invisible God, Heb. i. 3.) And that man will see
that there is nothing which the soul of man inlakes, 2 stands in need
1 i. e- Enwrapped, folded. Wympil is another form of the same verb.
3 i. e. Is deficient in.
EPISTLE DEDICATORY. O
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
and omnipotent, when by his word he formed all things of nothing,
and 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, i. 19 ; there is a great
power. And whereas in the creation he formed to Adam a spouse
out of his own rib. in the redemption he formed 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, and by the death even of his own Son. Albeit in the work
of creation, great, and more than Avonderful, doth his wisdom
appear, in making this glorious and beautiful fabric, and 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 admire and desire to look in it, 1 Pet. i. 12.
Albeit great anger and wrath did the Lord utter many times
against sinners, as in the old world by the flood, and on Sodom
and Gomorrah by raining from heaven brimstone and fire, he de-
stroyed man, woman, young, old, rich, and poor, without exception ;
yet more clearly Avas 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 Avrath so fearfully to pursue him, that he
cried, My soul is very heavy, even unto the death, Mark xiv. 34 ;
and, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? Matt, xxvii. 4G.
And albeit great love did the Lord show toward men, and gave
many testimonies thereof, in giving them life, and breath, and all
things, Acts xvii. 25 ; in making his sun to shine on them, his
rain to fall on them, giving them fruitful seasons, and filling their
hearts with food and gladnese, Acts xiv. 17 ; vet never such love
6 EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
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
1 John iv. 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 uncontrollable 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, and can require ? What can the
soul of man require ? Desirest thou honour ? If thou believest in
him, he shall grant thee that power and prerogative, that thou
shalt be the son of God, John i. 12. Desirest thou riches ? He
was made poor, that thou through his poverty mightest be made
rich, 2 Cor. viii. 9, not with transitory and corruptible riches, but
with riches and treasures incorruptible and 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 re-
demption? Christ is all these unto thee, 1 Cor. i. 30. De-
sirest thou light ? He is the light of the world, John viii. 12.
Desirest thou life ? He is thy life, Col. iii. 4. Whatever he
suffered, it was for thee, for by his stripes we are healed, Isaiah
liii. 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 and pertness 1 in thy prayers and supplications. He
suffered anguish and grief, that thou mightest find comfort and
joy. He drank the gall, that thou mightest drink of a sweet and
joyful cup. He was naked, that thou mightest 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
1 In the original " peartnesse," i, e. access with confidence. See Eph. iii. 12.
EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 7
every one of them shall furnish comfort unto thee ; yea, if thou be
a true penitent sinner, and 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 humility, 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, &c. Therefore, as we should take pleasure and delight in
reading the whole parts of the Scripture, (for it is all by divine in-
spiration, and is profitable to teach, to convince, to correct, and to
instruct in righteousness, 2 Tim. iii. 16,) so chiefly, that part which
contains the History of the Passion and 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 towards
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 and
abhor sin, which made the Son of God to be made so unworthily
always handled, and 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 marvellous
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 and joy to the conscience, and our sanctifica-
tion, whereby we are repaired to his own image. Nothing serves
more for the mortification, nor 1 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, and, finally, in offering ourselves to him, as he
offered himself for us, nor 1 when by faith we behold Christ on the
cross crucified for us.
Now, this History of the Death and Resurrection of Christ have
many worthy men learnedly and comfortably handled and exponed
with great painfulness, and no less commendation; amongst the
1 i. e. Than.
8 EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
rest, that reverend and faithful man of God, M. Robert Kollock,
of blessed memory, for his learned and judicious exposition thereof,
and for his manifold other graces which God vouchsafed on him,
deserves with the first to be commended ; for God in him, as in a
vive 1 ensample, gave us a show of such qualities and conditions as
are required to be in a Bishop of Jesus Christ, 1 Tim. iii. In him
learning and godliness strove together, knowledge and conscience,
art and nature, a profession and an answerable conversation ; he
was faithful and painful in his calling, and his calling did he de-
core 2 with an holy and harmless life ; for between these two there
was such a harmony and consent, that in reading his writings
any man might see the manner of his life, and in seeing his life, he
might also therein read his writings : for his life spake what his
pen wrote, and 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
travail did he refuse that he might glorify God, who sent him, en-
large the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and acquire miserable souls
from misery to felicity, from darkness to light, and from death to
life, that so at last he might finish his course with joy. That
was his meat and his drink, the delight and 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 judgment more solid — in memory more sted-
fast and sure — in delivery more pithy, in convincing more powerful ?
Who with learning had greater facility and easiness in declaring
his mind, and resolving the text of Scripture — greater clearness in
raising the grounds of doctrine, greater power in applying, greater
wisdom in furnishing consolation, and greater dexterity in loosing
of things obscure and doubtsome ? In one word, we may be bold
to say of him, that which Nazianzene spake of Athanasius, that
his life was a good definition of a true minister and preacher of
the Gospel. But we need not to insist in praising him, seeing so
1 t. e. Living. 2 i. c. Adorn.
EPISTLE DEDICATORY. VJ
many, even all that knew him by face, or heard him, do praise
him for the singular and excellent virtues and graces that God
bestowed on him ; yea, they who never knew him by face, but
by his learned and judicious writings, dwelling afar off, have highly
commended him, and the posterity, whose profit so much he re-
garded in his labours, we doubt not, shall know and praise hiin,
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 and Resurrection of Christ in itself, for
the matter so moving and alluring, would profit and edify many, if
not of the most learned, at least of the simple sort ; and that other
Sermons that were delivered by him, and set out by us of before,
were well liked of by many ; and that sundry hearing that they
were in hands, longed to see them come to light, we have taken
some pains in revising and correcting them, not only for the love
and duty that Ave owe to that faithful and reverend Author of them,
who was our master, but also that with the greater liking and pro-
fit 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 imperfect sentences ; we cleared things obscure ; we recti-
fied 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 Com-
mentary set forth by himself; yea, we doubt nothing, but the
matter shall satisfy all men who crave edification ; but as for the
phrase and 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 oAvn memory ; yea, and at the first
10 EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
time after, that upon your request, Sir, we took pains upon them, we
found such hardness and imperfections, and that his own phrase
and elegancy was not observed, that we feared to hazard the name
and credit of the learned and judicious Author, who deserved so well
of us, yea, of the whole church of God, and had left off the work as
imperfect, if the earnest request of you, and of some other of the
learned, (whose judgments are tobe reverenced,) had not encouraged
us thereto. Yet we trust that the style shall not be much blamed,
except by those who, being delicate-eared, regard language more
than matter ; for there is here an easy method, with a familiar
style, condescending to the capacity of the meanest, and answerable
to the matter entreated, to wit, the cross of Christ, which refuses
to be decored with human eloquence, that the matter be not ob-
scured by the style, but may appear above it, as oft times Mr
liollock 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, and all the four are in such sort
conferred together, that no circumstance of the History of Christ's
Death and Resurrection is omitted, he shall ever find more and more
contentment in all things. And as we have taken pains for the
profit and edification of many, so we doubt not but the success
and event shall answer to our desire. For, to speak nothing of the
history itself, which is so pleasant, sweet, plain, easy, and forcible,
to move all the affections of the soul, here ye will find how every
clause and sentence of every one of the Evangelists are linked
together, and 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 results off the doctrine laid down ;
here ye will see fit applications to these times ; and 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, and our
labours therein, to any other than to you, Sir, whose deservings
EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 11
have been so great, both towards the Author himself, and us also,
we might be justly blamed, and could have no show of reasonable
excuse ; for, first, who knew M. Robert Rollock but they also
knew what entire affection you carried towards him, and how care-
ful 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 fami-
liarly, none delighted more to confer with him privately, and to
hear his preachings publicly ; none showed greater gratitude to-
wards 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 ministry ; yea,
he himself did acknowledge, that none was to be compared with
you for gratitude and good-will towards him; but chiefly, you de-
clared your love towards him, when in his last disease you would
have him to come to your house, where you entertained him (and
for his cause many that came to visit him) liberally and 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 and inviolable, and 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 indited
by himself, " Gueielmo Scoto in perpetuum testimonium amicitice
nostrce dedico, consecroque" (that wherever his works were read,
your kindness and affection towards him might be known, and
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 and protection, that you have been the only instru-
ment to make it to see the light ; for through your great cure,
earnest endeavour, and large expenses, these Lectures were col-
lected and 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
and procurement they were written over and over again, revised,
12 EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
corrected, and 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 travails
in this work unto your patronage, as a monument that we acknow-
ledge ourselves to be more obliged unto you than we can requite ;
and of minds desirous not to be found unthankful for the unde-
served 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 and near,
which they themselves do acknowledge and profess. We offer,
therefore, these Lectures, and our labours therein, unto your patron-
age and 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, and hath made
you sensible of his love, and hath given you an honourable account
and estate in this world, so continue in the honouring of God, and
doing good unto his saints for his sake, and 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, and he crown his grace with glory.
Now, tiie God of all grace and peace, who is able to do all things ex-
ceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think, grant to you,
Sir, according to the riches of his mercy, a long, happy, and peace-
able life here, to the comfort of his Church and commonwealth,
and that you may abound in every word and work, and 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.
1. When Jesus luid spoken these things, he went forth with his disciples
over the brook Cedron, where %cas a garden, into the which he
entered, and his disciples.
2. And Judas, who betrayed him, knew also the place : for Jesus oft-
tiincs resorted thither tcith his disciples.
3. Judas then, after he had received a band of men and officers of the
high priests and of the Pharisees, came thither with lanterns, and
torches, and weapons.
4. Then Jesus, knowing all things that should come unto him, went forth,
and said unto them, Whom seek ye ?
5. They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, lam
he. Note Judas also, who betrayed him, stood with them.
6. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went aicay back-
wards, 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 la^t
chapters. Now, in the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters follow-
ing 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 re-
14 THE FIRST LECTURE.
hearsed in these two chapters, the history divideth itself very
clearly : First, we have his passion and suffering in the garden ;
next, Ave 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 Calvary, or in Hebrew Golgotha, where he was crucified ;
and, last, in the end of the nineteenth chapter, 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 dis-
ciples, were wont to resort thither ; in the third place, Ave have the
communication betAvixt the Lord and them that came Avith Judas
to take him ; and, fourthly, Ave have a fact of Peter, avIio will sIioav
his love toAvards his Master, and his manhood, by cutting off the
car of Malchus, the high priest's servant ; and, last, the taking of
Christ, offering himself Avillingly, his putting into the hands of his
enemies, and his binding. These things are set doAvn in the first part
of this history of the passion of the Lord, concerning his suffering
in the garden.
Now, to come to the Avords, 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 Avas 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 kneAA r ,
and where he kncAv that he was Avont to resort ; of very purpose
he went thither, because the hour of his death Avas at hand. The
time is avcII to be noted when he doth this, Avhen he had spoken
these things, that is, when he had sufficiently instructed and com-
forted his disciples, and made that prayer for them, and recom-
mended them to the Father, to keep them in his absence, then he
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 15
maketh himself for death, and purposely he went to that place
to be taken. Here is a plain lesson offered unto us in the person
of Christ ; when he had discharged a duty, especially to them who
were concrcdit ' 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 dis-
charged their calling faithfully towards them that were committed
unto them, and done their duty to them to whom they were ad-
dcbtcd, then in peace and 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 depart 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 forward, 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 xxii. 39; 2 Sam. xv. 23;) and it was a little streape 2 that
1 i. e. Entrusted. 2 t. e. A small rill.
16 THE FIRST LECTURE.
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 Evan-
gelists, by Matth. xxvi. 36 ; Mark xiv. 32 ; Luke xxii. 39. Only
John speaketh of his taking and binding in the garden ; the rest
speak of that agony and conflict that he had with the Avrath 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 chat battle and 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 1 of his disciples, Peter, John, and James, and 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 Elias appeared unto him, Matth.
xvii. 1, even so the same three should be witnesses of his humilia-
tion, 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, and to be ex-
ceedingly heavy ; and he crieth out with a loud voice in their
audience, My soul is heavy on all sides to the death. 2 There begin-
neth he his agony and conflict with the wrath of the Father for our
sins, wherewith he was burdened. After that, he went from these
' It is singular, that, in Iris Latin Commentary on John, our author (p. 878)
mentions only two, Peter and John ; narratur Christum assumpsisse sibi duos,
Petrum et Johannem.
* I have been unable to discover this translation in any version. Similarly in his
Latin Commentaries, he renders KigiKvirog by undique tristis, evidently giving srrf«
the furce of undique, for valde. Similarly, Beza has uiidiquaque.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 17
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 and death ; " but not my will, but thy
will, be done." Thirdly, he goeth forward in that conflict and battle
with the wrath of his Father, he feeleth the wrath of God to in-
crease, and he crieth again that they might hear, " Father, if it be
possible, remove from me this cup." Then again the battle in-
creased^ and the agony groweth ; and 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, and comforteth him. Yet the battle holdeth on,
and he is in a greater agony with his Father than ever he was in
before, and he prayeth at greater length, and more ardently and
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 befel 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 meantime, he is not forgetful of his disciples, whom
he brought with him to be witnesses of his suffering ; he is aye
going to them and from them, to hold them waking ; and do what
he could do, they are aye sleeping ; the devil is busy with them,
that in the suffering of Christ, (they being then sleeping,) they
should bear no witness of the sufferino- of Christ : the devil Avas as
busy to cast them in a sleep as the Lord was busy to hold them
waking, to bear witness of that agony and conflict. I will not
insist in this matter, read thereof in Mattli. xxvi. and in Luke xxii.
and in Mark xiv. 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 and 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
18 THE FIRST LECTURE.
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 and 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 and 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 Avas fighting with the soul. But to leave this,
and to mark i\\c purpose of John, his purpose is only 1 to let you see,
that Avhen 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 com-
pany 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. ii. 8,
obedient to the Father. So the Lord died, and he died to be obe-
dient 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 will-
1 Our author, in his Latin Commentary, is more express on this point. " Ve-
rum Evangelista noster," &c, p. 879. " But our Evangelist has purposely omitted
these circumstances, being satisfied with showing how willingly our Lord encoun-
tered death, while he tells that he entered a spot familiarly known to Judas."
OF THE PASSION OF CHPJST. 1 9
ingly ; 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 whenever 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 ser-
vants of the high priests and Pharisees, he as a captain to them,
and they as a guard, with swords and staves enter within the gar-
den 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 wont 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 be-
tray a man must be a domestic and 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 mea-
sure. Then thon that knowest Christ, take good heed to thy
knowledge, and to thy familiarity ; take good heed that that know-
ledge of Christ be in sincerity, and that thou be not a 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 apostacy 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
20 THE FIRST LECTURE.
they shall end in destruction as Judas did ; for after that he had
once made apostacy 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 and 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 1 guard
is partly of Gentiles and partly of Jews. Hov. came they ? they
came with lanterns, and weapons, and 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 enough 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 (iv. 7) calls it that peace that passes all un-
derstanding, 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 midst of an army, he
will tremble and quake, but a good conscience will rest in peace ;
as David saith, " Although I were hemmed about with ten thou-
sand 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. Pie 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 doeth evil hateth the light.
What needed all this company ? Was not the Lord Jesus daily
1 This must be a misiniut. The sense evidently i% " Consequently this guard."
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 2 L
going in and out in Jerusalem ? And was he not daily teaching
in the temple, and yet they laid not an hand upon him ? The
very season and time of his out-coming testifieth that he had an
evil conscience in doing of it, and therefore he came not in the
daylight. 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, then he despaired, and
he had hell in his soul, and got no rest till he 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 for-
ward, he fleeth not away, he hideth not himself, he is not drawn
out of a hole as men who have done an evil fact, but unrequired
he cometh forth unto them, and upon his own free motive he offer-
eth himself unto them ; then he tarrieth not till they begin to
talk, but first the Lord speaketh, and 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 wit-
tingly, 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. Pie saith, " Whom seek ye here ?*'
and when they say, "Jesus of Nazareth," then 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. Pie beginneth not to
speak in wrath ; and when they say, " Jesus of Nazareth," he
givcth not an answer scornfully ; so that, as he offereth himself
22 THE FIRST LECTUKE.
willingly, so ye see also such a mildness in him when he is
taken, (even as the Scripture spake,) 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, then, 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, and willingly ;
look not to the instrument, nor the hangman who putteth hands
on 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 fh'st is, that patient suffering of Jesus Christ; he be-
ginneth 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 with-
out 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
impudence of the traitor Judas ; how durst he face the Lord Jesus
whom he betrayed ? A traitor is aye impudent and shameless,
he hath aye a 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 indured, 1 thou
shalt not come back, whilst 2 thou comest to extreme induration,
1 i.e. Hardened. 2 i.e. Even until; in tie Latin Coxunentarj, usque duw.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 23
and at last to perdition. Judas could never come back, after that
once his heart was hardened against the Lord, hut past forward,
till he came to that final induration and hardness of heart. There-
fore, 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 Jesns
Christ ! It is to be feared that these men, who, with the betrayers
of Jesus Christ, have set their faces against Christ and his true re-
ligion, and 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 r ,
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, u 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 struck 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 tenth chapter and
eighteenth verse 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 lo
make them inexcusable ; and to let them see that he was the Lord
of glory, and that they put hands to the Lord of glory, and slew
24 THE FIRST LECTUKE.
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, Avhat 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 indigna-
tion, 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 and
majesty, and saying to the Avicked, " Away, ye cursed, to that fire
which is prepared for the devil and his angels," Matth. xxv. 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 judgments ? 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 spake, 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
Zechariah saith, chap. i. 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," (saith 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 judgment upon
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 25
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 jot of that word pass away without its own
effect. 1
But now let us see what they do after they are fallen down upon
the ground. Leave they oif? 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 a 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 judg-
ment, all sight and sense, that person is miserable ; and if thou be
once stricken 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, and
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
stricken 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
1 In the Latin Commentary, he adds, Neque putandum est, &c. (p. 882.) " Nor are
we to imagine that the efficacy of God's word is lessened, because it is stored up in
an earthen vessel. For the most precious perfume may be kept in an earthen ves-
sel. 'We have this treasure,' says Paul, 'in earthen vessels,' 2 Cor. iv. 7." The
original editors of these Lectures seem to have intended at first to have taken up
six verses at a time, and, if they had adhered to this arrangement, the first Lecture
should have ended here. But, as appears from the Epistle Dedicatory, (p. 9 of
this edition,) they compared their labours with the Latin Commentary. It takes
up the first three, and then the next four verses, and this has led them to anticipate
in the remainder of this Lecture.
20 THE FIKST LECTURE.
fly ; 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 essay
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 scarf 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 feel-
ing of mercy nor of judgment. 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, 1 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 a common man, they might see power in him to keep him-
self; 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, Ave may feel him and see him, that our conscience
may be awakened, and our hearts mollified, through Jesus Christ ;
to whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all praise and
honour for evermore. Amen.
1 " So that until," &c , is necessary to the sense.
THE SECOND LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
John, Chap, xviii.
7. Then he ashed them again, Whom seek ye ? And they said, Jesus
of Nazareth.
8. Jesus answered, I said unto you, that I am he : therefore, if ye seek
me, let these go their way.
9. This was, that the word might be fulfilled ichich he spake, Of them
which thou gavest me have I lost none.
10. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and smote the high
priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. Now the servant's
name was Malchus.
11. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath : shall
I not drink of the cup xcMch my Father hath given me ?
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, Avhich is con-
tained in these two chapters, to wit, the xviii. and xix. of this G os-
pel, 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 Calvary, other-
wise 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 tliip :
The Lord Jesus being in the garden, is taken captive, and beui.d.
28 THE SECOND LECTURE.
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 dis-
ciples, to resort thither,) accompanied with a band of men of war,
with the officers and servants of the high priest, to take and ap-
prehend 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, be-
cause 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 farther ? to let us see
how wittingly and willingly, how joyfully and gladly, and how pa-
tiently, he offereth himself unto death for our sins. Now he hath
no sooner spoken this one word, " I am he," which is a gentle
Avoid, but as soon they start backward, 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 stricken them to the
ground, they leave not off; but when they are risen, they are as
bent as they were before. It is a marvellous thing, for if it had
been his will, he might not only have stricken them to the ground,
but he might have stricken them through the earth into hell ; yet
he letteth them rise again ; but they are all senseless of that divine
power wherewith they are stricken. The Lord beginneth the
speech, and he saith, " Whom seek ye?" They answer, not know-
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 29
ing him, " Jesus of Nazareth." He replieth again, " I said unto
you, that I am he :" he denieth not himself, but in a manner pro-
voketh 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 : l it is a
marvellous thing, that a naked and a simple man, (who was baser
than the King of glory was in the earth ?) a man naked, without
armour, he 2 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 gave them power : and more, he will not let them stir him
till he make a condition with them, that they handle not his dis-
ciples : he imposeth 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 di-
vine 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 en-
terprise ? Brethren, it is a hard matter for any man or woman
once to be given over unto a reprobate sense, and to be stricken wit li
blindness and hardness of heart. And if God, in his just judgment,
give thee to blindness and hardness of soul, albeit he would make
judgment after judgment 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 l>e
once given over to thine own self, it is as sure a thing as is in the
l i. e. The inference to be drawn from this. - " He" is superfluous.
30 THE SECOND LECTURE.
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 stricken upon, and the greater the afflictions
be, except that mercy shine into thine heart, thou wilt be the more
indured. Paul saith, " When the heart is converted to the Lord,
the vail is taken away," 2 Corinth, iii. 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. 1
To go forward : Ye see how careful he is of his disciples.
Men would think that he being so hard straitened, and so near the
death, should have forgotten his disciples : for this is our fashion ;
but the Lord doeth 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 isa-dying, he will be care-
ful 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 vim image of a faithful pastor in
the Lord Jesus : he will give his life for his sheep, as he saith him-
self, " 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, through 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 meantime, he is strong and power-
1 The following striking sentence occurs in this part of the Commentary : —
Potentia euim, si sola sit, franget prius pra>fractum hominem quam flectet eum.
" Fur power of itself will crush rattier than bend the stubborn heart of man,"
(p. P83.)
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 31
ful in his disciples to their safety : for, although these that were in
the garden would never so fain, yet they could not get their
hands laid upon his disciples. The Lord Jesus, when he was hang-
ing 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 through
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. xiii. 4) through 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 hea-
ven, and who liveth now (as the Apostle saith 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
thousandth 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 ever-
lasting shame and confusion.
Well, to go forward : John, to this purpose, allegeth an old pro-
phecy, 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,
32 THE SECOND LECTURE.
because the disciples that were concredited 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 pro-
phecy to this bodily preservation ; the cause is this — At this time
the bodily safety of his disciples importeth that spiritual safety,
and 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. AVe 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
chiefly 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 Avho 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 Avill 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, then the Lord will lay on the burden. It is a wonder-
ful 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
Avondered at the martyrs of God, Avho had so great comfort in the
time of their burning in the fire, and Iioav in suffering they Avould
sing Psalms unto their latter breath. The Avorld Avondereth 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 uoa\', when he
saw that they were ripe, spared he them then? No, no ; what was
the whole lifetime of the disciples, after that Christ departed out
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 33
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 ripe-
ness, 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 name's 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 1 his action, and,
certainly, it is worth nothing, albeit it stemeth to be very zeal-
ous. What doth he ? He hath a sword about him, and he, see-
ing them rush on his Master, showeth his manhood. "And
he striketh the servant of the high priest, whose name was Mal-
chus, and he cut off his right ear." The rest of the Evan-
gelists (Matt. xxvi. 48 ; Mark xiv. 44 ; Luke xxii. 48) speak of
something 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, " Kabbi, Rabbi ! Master, Master !"
and 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, (fy on thee, trai-
tor, for of all men he is the most detestable,) but the Lord, in
mildness and meekness of spirit, (for all this whole time he takes
purpose to suffer patiently, as Isaiah saith, " He was as a lamb
before the shearer, and as a sheep led to the slaughter, and open-
eth not his mouth,") he 2 says, " Friend, betray est thou the Son
of man with a kiss?" He essayeth if the conscience will be
1 i. c. Christ reprehends. 2 " Ho" again superfluous.
C
34 TIIE SECOND LECTURE
brought to remorse : there is a wonderful patience of God to the
most vile sinner. And 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 an-
swer, he was hardy, and striketh off the ear of Malchus, the high
priest's servant. Now, brethren, albeit that this Malchus, the
high priest's servant, deserved that not only his ear should be cut
off, but also that the head and the life should be taken from him,
(for he was in a very evil action : indeed, he was clad with autho-
rity, but with an evil authority : if thou hadst the authority of all
the kings of the world, it will never excuse thee before God ; if
thou shouldst get a subscription to do evil against an innocent
man, the Lord shall not allow thee, but his judgment shall over-
take thee,) and whether Peter did this of zeal, for no doubt he
loved his Master exceeding well, and he would have had his Mas-
ter out of his nands ; yet for all this, the Lord's 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 no-
thing worth if a man go beyond the bounds of his calling. What
was Peter but a private man ? and this company being sent by the
magistrates and superior power, Peter ought not to have resisted
them, and 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 ac-
tions with the pretence of zeal, and 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, and if it go beyond the bounds of
thy calling, albeit it be in a good cause, yet thy zeal is worth no-
thing; if thy zeal be with ignorance, and if thou hast not the warrant
of this word, thy zeal is of no value, it will not warrant thine ac-
tion. If you would have surer rules of actions nor zeal is, take
heed to these two things : First, to thy calling ; look that thou go
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 35
not beyond the bounds of thy calling. Shalt thou, that art a pri-
vate 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 proceedings : 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 warrant of
the word of God ; look that the eye of thy soul be illuminate; join
these two together, and then go forward 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, and it will forethink them. 1 And, no doubt, Peter, when
he got this answer of his Master, he repented. No man hath need
to find fault with men of this age ; for there are few Peters nowa-
days ; 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 dis-
ciples, "Will ye depart also from me?" Peter answered and
saith, "Lord, whither shall we go? thou hast the words of
life;" he was very loath to depart from him. And this action
also which he hath in hand is a good action, and in the defence
of Christ. Yet for all this, in this good action, and in the
cause of God, see how he is miscarried, and the Lord findeth fault
1 i. e. They v\ill repent.
36 TIIE SECOND LECTURE.
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 ;
fur 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 w r ould 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, Ave 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 up-
right heart, and such a heart as David and good Ezekias had, a
heart loving God, and hating God's 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. lie spake not so angrily against Judas, or
any of them that pursued him, as he did to Peter, and he saith,
u 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 preordinatc before all times that I should
drink it, and seeing it is so, I will drink it. Shall any thing be en-
joined to us to do of necessity, and shall we not do it willingly ?
The Father hath propined unto me 1 a bitter cup of affliction, and I
shall drink it out, dregs and all."
Matthew, in his twenty-sixth 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 stricken with the sword. It is
a dangerous matter to slay, if the Lord put not the sword into
1 i.e. Offered me to drink.
OF TriE PASSION OF CHRIST. o7
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, saith 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 saith in his
chap. xxii. 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, and
chiefly 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 Avill 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,
and 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 a 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 recom-
pence ; thou who takest pleasure in oppression shalt be oppressed,
the Lord shall thrust down thine head and bloody hand, and shall
press thee down forever. The Lord save us from this judgment !
Woe to them that oppress their neighbour, either in word or deed.
Now to go forward : " Shall 1 not drink of the cup that my Father
hath given me ?" By the cup is understood a measure of affliction,
38 TTIE SECOND LECTURE.
that the Lord will lay on any man ; as a enp is a measure, so the
Lord hath a measure of afflietion to lay on his own ; as the master
of a family hath a cup, and drinketh to his family, and says, drink
thou this, and drink thou that ; even so the Lord is the Master of
this world, and he will fill the cup of affliction, and he will say,
drink thou this, and drink thou that ; and 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, and good reason that we do his will, cither to
live or die, as he plcaseth. If the Lord propine thee with a cup of
afiliction, 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, (and woe is to thee, that wilt make
thy heaven into this world, thou needest not to look for a heaven
in the world to come,) whatever we suffer, let us strive against our
rebellious nature, (for it is full of rebellion,) and strive to get
patience, and say, Lord, 1 have no patience in mine hand ; Lord,
give me patience and contentment ; let this be our prayer in dis-
tress, and they who will seek this, I will promise them the most
glorious issue that ever was, the bitterness of the afiliction shall not
stay that glory. In this world we ore all, as it were, on a scaffold
to try our faith, and to try our patience, that afterward all our
afflictions may be turned in joy and glory, and 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 ?) and thou shalt never again
see dolour nor displeasure.
Now remain eth one thing of the taking of the Lord ; then saith
OF THE PASSION OF CHUIST. 39
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, and the Holy Spirit re-
counteth 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, 1 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,
and with whom I come, and what I come to do, or else thy con-
science shall terrify thee, whether thou be highest or lowest in doing
an evil fact, the judgment of the Lord shall fall on thee. Now to
come to his taking ; the Lord is taken willingly, and resists not, and
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,
and 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 2 lying under sin, the
devil, and death, and this taking recountcrs 3 and meets our taking
by the devil and death. Every thing in him and his suffering be-
hoved 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 bind-
ing 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
1 i.e. A camp-follower. z " Are lying" is necessary to complete the sense.
8 i.e. Counteracts.
40 THE SECOND LECTURE.
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 1
would be the joyfullest tidings to thee that ever was. Who is he
or she that feel the bands of death and damnation, but this will be
joyful tidings to them ? and 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.
1 It is superfluous.
THE THIRD LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
John, Chap, xviii.
13. And led him away to Annas first ; (for he was father-in-law to
Caiaphas, who v;as the high priest that same year ;)
14. And Caiaphas teas he that gave counsel to the Jews, that itivas ex-
pedient that one man shoidd die for the people.
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.
16. But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out the other dis-
ciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake to her
that kept the door, and brought in Peter.
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.
1 8. 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 unarmed 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
42 THE TIIIRD LECTUItE.
was in the hall of the high priest Caiaphas. It is said, when he
is taken and bound, they " led 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 this 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, and handled him so roughly, being the justest man in
the world ; he says, " What necdetli all this, that ye should ccme
out against me as a thief and an enemy ? Might ye not have had
me daily whilst I was teaching in your temple in Hierusalcm, for
I avowed my doctrine before the world ?" Then he adviseth him-
self, and says, Whereto should I speak this ? This is your hour,
and this 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. Lut 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 meantime that they were bind-
ing the Lord, the disciples are scattered and ,'Icd. Another thing
also, (Mark xiv. 51, 52,) whilst they were leading him to Hieru-
salcm, 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 secmeth to have been one who, in the night being in
his bed, and hearing a noise and a din, comcth hastily to see what it
was. Ye sec here the insolcncy 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 Hieru-
salcm, and they bring him first to the house of Annas, because per-
chance 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, and they would
gratify him to see this miserable spectacle, for he was a wicked
man. Woe is them that delight to sec 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
OP THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 43
may mark and 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 commonweals were confused and
troubled, and the estate of the high priest being a most notable
estate among them, was corrupted. By the law of God it was ap-
pointed, that only one high priest should be at once, and he, all
his days, should brook it : yet such was the corruption then, that
they chose moe high priests together, and every one of these
served their course about in the office, and this was the 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 that he served. I might
tell you moe corruptions in the high priesthood among them ; the
high priest was wont to be chosen by the people, and by the mouth
of God ; this power was taken from them, and given to ethnic
princes and presidents that ruled the people, they chose Jiem. And
then the high priests were wont to be chosen of the tribe of Levi,
and posterity of Aaron only ; but then, any man was taken in by
bribery ; it was bought and sold, and when they would shoot in
one, they would shoot out another ; this wa.*> the confusion of the
high priest's estate immediately before Christ came. There is no-
thing 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 council, before whom Jesus was to be accused ;
and it appears here, that there he was bound more straitly than be-
fore. Annas sends him to Caiaphas, his son-in-law, straiter 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 chapter and 49 verse. This was both a prophecy and a coun-
sel. When the scribes and Pharisees 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 Balaam's tongue, for, when Balaam was purposed
44 THE THIRD LECTURE.
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 com-
mendation of that prophecy ; 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 Caia-
phas 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, and namely, a wicked man, if he gave 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 befel to Peter in
the meantime, 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 exe-
cration, the rest fled only. In this fact of Peter's we have, first,
how he tempts God ; then next, because he temj)ted 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 temp-
tation. 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 weak-
ness,) " but afar off," as Matt. xxvi. 58 ; Mark xiv. 54 ; and Luke
xxii. 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 sec what issue should follow upon that taking ; and this is
more provcablc, 1 for I think John had not such an acquaintance and
1 i.e. Probable.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 45
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
straitly 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 de-
struction. 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 to-
wards his Master, Christ Jesus, and of this zeal, and of this his
unwillingness to depart 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 inconsi-
derative 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; and 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 and mourning, but he would step forward, and would
not accept of that that the Lord said to him, thou art not able; so
he faileth 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, and that
which he will have thee to do, that do thou, and 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
band that thou suffer, enter not to suffer; if he forewarn thee
4G TIIE TIIIRD LECTURE.
that thon 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 Ave 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 wert like ;> 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 p. warning from heaven, and draw thyself away
to prayer :uid meditation, and then being furnished with strength,
come out and suffer, and then if thou hast strength, step forward
and suffer. Another fault in Peter, when he cometh to the door of
the high priest, and finding it shut, yet he standeth, whereas by
the shutting of the door he Avas 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 care-
ful and earnest trial of that deed, to see whether it be lawful or
not, for nothing is without the providence of God ; and when thou
hast considered the work, and findest it a good work, conformable
to God's will, and 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 sec, 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,
and this is the ground of his fall. It was the strength of flesh and
OF THE PASSION OF dlRIST. 47
blood that was in Peter, and a 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, fur 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 bold-
ness in thee, look whether it be through 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. lie
who is strong in Jesus Christ, he is strong in infirmity, and he who
hath greatest faith in Jesus Christ, he hath greatest sense and sight
of his own weakness ; and 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, and 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 through weakness." l 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, and
not of Christ, it shall leave thee in the end.
Now when Peter hath tempted God, God meeteth him and
tempts him again ; he cometh in, and 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 says she to him ? Not boastingly,
Art thou one of this seducer's servants ? but in simplicity and
gentleness, "Art thou one of this man's disciples?" So, whether
1 2 Corinth, xii. 9.
48 THE THIRD LECTURE.
we look to the tempter or to the temptation, it is very light, and,
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 ; and the Lord will raise up the silliest of all his
creatures to tempt that man that is proud. All this natural bold-
ness is nothing but weakness, and 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 w T ill 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 and 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 terrors 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 ; and this is the thing that will bear up the cross through
all temptations manfully to the end. In the next verse, the
1 2 Tim. i. 3.
OF THE FA8SION OF CHRIST. 49
Evangelist tcllcth where Peter is standing, and settcth down the
place, and a certain occasion of his temptation ; " He is standing
with a company of the servants and officers of the priests and
Pharisees, who had made a fire of coals, for it was cold, and 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 thy-
self 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 accom-
pany thyself with them, and take pleasure at their fireside, then a
tempter shall come unto thee, either a damsel or a boy ; and,
therefore, let every man and 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, and
yet will not tarry out of the company of the wicked ; and it is
God's just judgment, that our men make apostacy, 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. 1 Now, after sin there com-
eth commonly an induration and blindness, and in sinning, the
conscience sleepeth, yea, it sleepeth so sound, that when it get-
teth 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 rnaketh men-
tion, chap. xxii. verse 61. And Paul saith, "When the heart
shall be turned unto the Lord, the vail is taken away," 2 Cor. chap,
iii. verse 16. This is my lesson, when a man committeth sin, the
conscience will be asleep, and will not be wakened ; and this fall-
1 The Latin Commentary is more accurate as to this first denial of Peter. It
gives Mark xiv. 68, as the sole authority for the first cock- crowing, p. 894.
D
50 THE THIRD LECTURE.
eth 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 fall eth 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 waken-
ing will be. A reprobate Avill get a 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 judgments, a
sleeping conscience is the greatest ; and, therefore, let us strive
night and day to have a waking conscience, which may round 1 in
our ears, when we lay us down at even, what we have done all
the day. If thou hast done good, then 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 ; and 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.
1 i. c. Whisper.
THE FOURTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
John, Chap, xviii.
19. The high priest then ashed Jesus of his disciples, and of his doc-
trine.
20. Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world, I ever taught in
the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews resort con-
tinually, and in secret have I said nothing.
21. Why aslcest thou me? Ash them that heard me, wfoxPI said unto
them : behold, they hnow what I said.
22. When he had spohen these things, one of the officers which stood by
smote Jesus toith his rod, saying, Answerest thou the high priest
so ?
23. Jesus answered him, If I have evil spohen, bear witness of the evil ;
but if I have well spohen, why smitest thou me ?
24. {Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.)
25. And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself, and they [said unto
him, Art not thou edso one of his disciples ? lie denied it, and said,
I am not.
2G. One of the servants of the high priest, his cousin tchose ear Peter
smote off, said, Bid not I see thee in the garden with him ?
27. Peter then denied again, and immediately the cock crew.
Beloved in the Lord Jesus, Ave have heard the first part of the
passion of the Lord, -which was in the garden, besides 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 and
bound. He was taken to deliver us from that captivity and bond-
52 the fourtii lecture.
age 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 Hierusalem. The first house
that he is brought unto is the house of Annas, 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, notwith-
standing 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, think-
ing 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 uttereth she any reviling words unto him, yet nevertheless
Peter falleth ; whereby ye may see whereunto the confidence of
flesh and blood turneth, for the slightest 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 denicth
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
hio-h priest ; the second contains the second and third denial of
Peter. As for the first, it is said that Caiaphas the high priest
be^inneth to " ask of Jesus concerning his doctrine and his dis-
ciples ;" 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 1 be made before the man
1 i. c. Indictment.
OP THE PASSION OP CHRIST. 53
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 alloAvable, and that it might not
abide the light, and that he teached lies, and Avhilst 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. Caiaphas 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 noon-tide of the day, yet they will say light is darkness.
But to come to Christ's part, as the truth loves the light, and de-
sires 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 Avomen 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, then thou may-
est appeal and 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
54 THE FOURTH LECTURE.
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 1 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, and giveth his hands to be bound, yet ye
may sec 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 dai'kness,
or that the truth is a lie. It is true, that if it please the Lord, that
we surfer for the truth's sake, Ave arc 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 saith,
" Let us suffer for a good cause, and not as thieves and murder-
ers," 1 Peter iv. 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. ii. 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, and 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 tor-
ture, 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 of-
ficers which stood by smote Jesus with his rod, and said, An-
swerest 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 sniitest thou me ?" Always,- a\ hether
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
1 It omitted. l'robab] v v a misprint. - t ". c . in either case.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 55
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 or 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 stricken him till he had been judged ? and
then if he were judged, yet it was no place to punish a man in
judgment, though he were never so evil. So ye see in Iioav 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 sorts of men, have l been
handled most informally and unreasonably. A thief or a mur-
derer hath not been so evil handled as the most innocent, for they
will let a murderer, or the wickedest man in the Avorld, 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 un-
reasonably handled as they. What is the cause of this ? Even this,
the malice of the heart of man was never so bent against an evil
man, as the Avicked man is against the innocent, yea, a just judge
hates not so much unrighteousness as a wicked judge hates inno-
cency. And, therefore, it is a 2 wonder that the judgment of the
wicked proceeds unorderly against the godly. The Lord answers,
" If I have spoken evil, thou shouldst not strike me without order ;
and if well, why smitest thou me ?" The Lord binds him that he
hath done wrong, howbeit he suffered most willingly and patiently,
but he strikes not again. Yet mark, in this patient suffering, he
will have wrong appear to be wrong, and that which is unjust to
1 For " has been.'* In the Latin Commentary the plural is used, which may have
misled the Editors ; the sentence is, (p. 89G,) Sed quid dicas ? Id semper experi-
entia compertum est, innocentes in judicium vocatos, iniquius ac magis contra for-
mam judiciorum tractatos esse, quam aperte maleficos, homicidas, latrones.
2 Evidently a misprint for no.
5G TIIE FOURTH LECTURE.
be unjust. In all our patient suffering, let aye right appear to be
rii2;ht, and wrono; to be wronn\ 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, and would have had his conscience convict, that he might
repent. So let the wicked see that wrong is wrong in the most
patient suffering, that the wicked may be convict, and God glori-
fied. Now is subjoined, " that Annas had sent him bound to
Caiaphas." Pie returns to the ground of his accusation, 1 and the
ground is this, " Annas sent him bound unto Caiaphas ;" howbeit in
the house of Annas the Lord was not struck, 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, 2 and 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 con-
sent to his death thou art guilty, and if thou rejoicestin the wrack 3
of the innocent, for 4 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, and 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 warm-
ing 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
1 The Latin Commentary is more intelligible. Redit ad occasionem quandam ae
fundament urn totius hujus passionis. " He returns to what was the occasion and
foundation of the whole of this portion of our Lord's suffering," p. 897.
2 i. c. An executioner. 3 i.e. Torture, destruction.
* Is this nut a misprint for or ?
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 57
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 1 is careless. Think ye
not, that having denied his Master once, that he should have
gone aside, and mourned and wept bitterly ? but ye see he did
not so. Sin, when it is committed, bringeth on commonly a care-
less security ; when a man hath fallen into a great sin, he will
commonly lie still in a deadness and senselessness, and as a man
who falls down from an high place, for a certain space lies without
sense, and is damaged with the fall, even so, (what is sin but a fall
from God?) after that once we are fallen from God, we are sense-
less altogether, Ave lie without sense or motion, and the greater
always that the sin be whereinto we fall, the greater is the sense-
lessness ; but above all sins, the denial of the Lord Jesus, and of
his truth, brings on most fearful and deadly senselessness, especially
if that sin proceed of a maliciousness of the heart, as that sin of
Judas 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 and 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, lt 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 ?" Look what the
estate of security brings on, it never wants temptation, and 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 lulls thee asleep in security, then 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 spake
1 " It" omitted.
58 THE FOUKTH LECTURE.
slenderly,) lie denies Christ to be his Master, and in effect he de-
nies the Messias. Then, brethren, a man or a woman lying in
security, the least thing in the world will draw him away ; as a
bleeping man with a small motion will fall, so when thou art sleep-
ing, 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 over-
come. Now, to take it up in one word, sin brings on security, and
when one lies in security the devil is busy to tempt him, and 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 se-
curity is death everlasting ; when he is crying " peace, peace," then
cometh a sudden judgment, like the pains of a woman in travail.
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, and 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, and once falling, and falling again, thou contractest
the greater security. There is not a man or a woman that continues
in bin, 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, and 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, and as Luke noteth, 1 there intervenes
one hour between the second and third denial, yet he is without re-
morse, and he is not moved ; so continuing in this dead sleep of
security cometh on the third temptation, by a cousin of Malchus,
whose car he smote off. If thou slecpest in security thou shalt not
want new temptation ; when thou slecpest thy tempter is busily
waking about thee; the more thou sleepesl and liest in security,
the more busy is the devil to tempt thee, albeit thou feelest it not.
Now, when Peter hath denied him onee and twiee, and as the other
1 xxii. 59.
CF THE PASSION OF CIIEIST. 59
Evangelists do note, 1 he putteth to a curse. Mark, as continuance in
security bringeth on continuance in temptation, so continuance in
temptation bringeth on continuance in sin. Noav, I think, if the
Lord had not stayed him in the end, he had denied him a thousand
times, even so often 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 2 noteth,
even as the cock crew the Lord looked over his shoulder ; there
goes two things together, the crowing of the cock, and the looking
of the Lord. St 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 and 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 Lord's face had not struck 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 ? and so there is no crying, or remedy in heaven
or in earth to thy dead soul, except Jesus Christ look favourably
unto thee, and 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 shall be 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 may est 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
1 The Latin Commentary is more accurate; it quotes Matthew xxvi. 74 ; Slark
xiv. 71. - xxii. 01.
CO THE FOURTH LECTURE.
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 and thrice,
till the Lord did stay him. 1 I dare not say but all this time Peter
carried a good heart towards his Lord, and a spunk 2 of faith, and a
spunk of love in the heart, albeit his faith and love were choked ;
it was suppressed with infirmities of the flesh, and, namely, with
fear ; then when he is entered in, and come unto the fireside, if
that faith and love was suppressed before with his nature, then it
was far more suppressed, and this little spunk of love in the man
was smothered, and 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 ex-
cept 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 and
infirmity. And then will ye come to God, 3 Peter is one of the chief
examples of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ ; Paul to Timothy 4
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 ex-
ample to all sinners. Let no sinner that looks to him despair of
mercy, how burdened soever he may be with sin, for that same
Jesus Christ, Avho was merciful to Peter, hath store of mercy for all
them that it pleaseth him mercifully to look upon. To him, there-
fore, with the Father, and Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory. Amen.
1 Hero the Latin Commentary is more impressive, Ingrcssus aulam, &c, (p. 899.)
" Then when he is let in to the hull of the high priest, he sinned dreadfully ; and that
no longer from vain confidence, but from high-minded security, and from inherent
weakness." ' i. e. A spark.
3 i.e. If ye will consider God's dealing in this case. ' 1 Tim. i. 12- 1 G.
THE FIFTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
John, Chap, xviii.
28. Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas into the common hall. Now it
ivas morning, and they themselves went not into the common hall,
lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the passover.
29. Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring you
against this man ?
30. They answered, and said unto him, If he were not an evil-doer, we
would not have delivered him unto thee.
31. Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him after your
own laic. Then the Jews said unto him, It is not lawful for us
to put any man to death.
32. It was that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, ichich he spake,
signifying ivhat death he should die.
In the 18th and 19th chapters of this Gospel, brethren, is con-
tained 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
62 THE FIFTTI LECTURE.
wrath of his Father, for the sins of the elect, which he did bear upon
him. The Lord is taken like a thief or a vagabond, and bound and led
to Hierusalem. We heard also the suffering of the Lord in the hall
of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas. When the high
priests and 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 bound him and brought him to judgment. This was
an informal dealing ; therefore the high priest demands of him his
doctrine, and 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 1 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 begins 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, and
come in the clouds of heaven." " Then the high priest rent his
clothes," as though he had blasphemed, and said, " What have we
more need of witness ? Behold, now ye heard his blasphemy, what
think ye ?" Then he and the rest of the council concluded that the
Lord was worthy of death, and so the council departed. In the
meantime, the Lord is kept still in the hall of the high priest, and
the officers are all about him, Avorking all kind of injury against
him ; the rebukes that should have befallen to us are laid on him,
as the prophet said of him, Psa. box. 10. 2 Some spitted on him,
some put a vail on his face and smote him, saying in scorn, " Pro-
phesy, Christ, who it is that striketh thee?" Nothing in the Lord
but patience ; he spake 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 and elders begin to sit down in council,
and the high priest asked of him the same again, " Whether he was
that Christ or no ?" he answerclh, " If I should tell you, ye will
1 Matth. xxvi. 59-GO ; Mark xvi. 55-GG. - 9 in our authorised version.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 63
not believe me ;" what avails it to speak to an indured heart ? And
he testifies again, " Thou hast said it ;" and 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, conclude him to be worthy of death, and adjudge him to
die ; then the council arises, and the first thing they do, they lead
him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman deputy, to the judgment 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 Pon-
tius 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 and 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 gover-
nor sat for the time, and ministrated judgment. 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, Matth.
xxvi. 59 ; Mark xiv. 55 ; and Luke xxii. 63, 1 that they led him in
after they adjudged him to be worthy of death. They led him not
in, thinking 2 that Pilate should sit down and try whether he was
worthy of death or not, but that Pilate, upon their word, should
give out the sentence of condemnation against him. Mark, and
consider, how they abused the judge, a man better than themselves,
they make him but a torturer, and 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 Kirk 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 woi'ld, all is but usurped authority ; " he is that only
high priest, according to the order of Melchizedek, who endureth
1 Inaccurately copied from the Latin Commentary while treating of the general
transactions in concilio Pontijicum. The reference slould be Maltb. xxvi. GG ; Mark
xiv. G4; Luke xxii. 71. - i.e. They led him in, not thinking, &c.
64 TITE FIFTH LECTURE.
for ever."' ' But he who falsely takes upon him that style follows
the fact and 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 and adjudge the innocent to death, as Caia-
phas did Christ, and then he will use the power and arm of the
emperor ; for what is the emperor and 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 and his crew, in putting his own
son to death ? 2 Ye saw never two things liker to other than the
Pope and 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. 3 The manner of the delivery is noted ; when
they come to the place of judgment, the Jews will not enter in,
because they will not defile themselves, if it were with the touch-
ing of a profane ethnic, 4 or the walls of a house. O, hypocrites !
The cause is set down, they were in a preparation to eat the passover
that same night ; now Avill 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, and polluted both
hand and heart in taking him, and leading him to the judge, accus-
ing him and 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 hypo-
crites ; Paul, Ephes. v. 12, " It is a shame 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 faithfulest creature will not be so
1 Heb. vi. 20.
2 This is an allusion to the death of Don Carlos, son of Philip II. of Spain, 1568.
3 The Latin Commentary (p. *J01) notices, that it was at this time that Judas in
despair hanged hiuiaolf. 4 i.e. A heathen.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 65
holy in bodily exercise as they ; yea, I say unto you, if there be no
more but this bodily exercise and keeping of ceremonies, the Lord
counts all but abominations, as ye may see in Isaiah, chap. i.
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 exceed-
ing 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 louns' 1 religion. I pi'onounce, that in
Popedom there is but a show of godliness, and have denied the
power thereof ; follow the Papists who will, they have nothing al-
most but trifles and their own inventions.
Well, then, come to the conference between the Jews and Pilate.
Pilate, yielding to their vanity and superstition, not so much to their
religion, " he cometh out to them," and 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, and Pilate would not sit down to judge,
except he saw the accusation ; indeed, the Jews took him, bound him,
and in the high priest's hall handled him unworthily, before they had
any accusation against him, and they bring him in judgment; but Pi-
late, an ethnic and a sinner, as they called him, will not proceed that
way ; he is more formal, he will not sit down in judgment till he
hear the accusation. An ethnic who lives without God in the
world, and without the promises, as Paul speaks, 2 he is more just
and formal in judgment than all the Jews who professed the true
God. This falls out oftentimes, that a Turk or Pagan, who, 3 liv-
1 i. e. " These worthless persons."' - Eph. ii. 12. 3 " Who" is superfluous.
E
66 TTIE FIFTII LECTURE.
ing without God in the world, will deal more uprightly in judg-
ment, and especially with Christians who arc 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 as-
say it who please. "Well, brethren, there is no cruelty or wrong
comparable to the cruelty of those who take upon them the name
of the Church ; experience hath proved this. Now he requires a
verdict of the Jews, but what answer they ? " If he had not been
an evil-doer, Ave 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 particu-
lar wherein he is evil and hath failed ; if they had found any, they
would not have passed by it ; in their own judgment-seat they
could get nothing to say against him. Now, when they came to
the judgment of Pilate, and striving to accuse him, they can say
nothing, but in general, li This is an evil man." Then, this I
mark through 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 and dead
upon the cross, his very enemies themselves are constrained to tes-
tify 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 in-
nocency of the martyrs to appear clearly, and also he hath made
the cruelty and tyranny of their enemies to appear. Kcad 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
OF THE PASSION OF CIIRIST. C7
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 in-
deed, 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 seems 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 spake 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 judgment 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 wrongously, he had rather have given over his right, and
the judgment 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 im-
mediately 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 used 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
68 TIIE FIFTH LECTURE.
them up to shame and condemn them. Sodom and Gomorrah shall
rise up to the judgment 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, and 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 Pornans
had. For forty years before the destruction of the town and temple
of Jerusalem, they lost all authority to judge on capital crimes ;
they spake 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 judgment unto themselves, because that blood
of Pilate lies upon them. This is a true thing ; the moe 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, &c.,
to renounce all the right they have of judgment to the pope, when
he and his crew have condemned one 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 Huss and Jerome of La Prage, than break-
ing 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 to 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 ;
OF THE PASSION OF CIIIilST. 69
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, and woe unto
him that ever he meddled with it; and now hefindeth that he hath
his part therein. But those high priests, and 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 burnt John Huss
and Jerome of Prage but the emperor ? The pope is holy, and
his hands are clean, and these sins hurt him not that are done by
the hands of the emperor. Who executes them in the Inquisition ?
The king; 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 ful-
filled that the Lord spake, 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 judging him, that these w T ords might be fulfilled.
If the Jews had taken it upon them, they would not have cruci-
fied 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 Stephen afterwards. This death of the cross was fami-
liar and usual among the Romans. Then, brethren, we see here
the God of heaven is the disposer of the whole action of the per-
secution and passion of Christ, whatever be man's part. There is
not a word uttered, nor an action done, cither by Pilate, or any of
the Jews, which the Lord did not dispose. All that Pilate did,
and all that the Jews did, as that spitting and buffeting of Christ,
70 THE FIFTH LECTURE.
were all disposed by the Lord. And this is it that ye read in
that prayer in the Acts of the Apostles, chap. iv. verses 27, 28, "The
princes of the earth are gathered against thine anointed, Herod,
Pilate, and the Gentiles." Whereto? "That they should do that
thing that thine hand and thy counsel hath ordained." Neither
Herod, 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, and Pilate,
and 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, and he
rules thine hand so, that whatsoever thou doest, he makes all to
effectuate and produce that which he hath decerned ; the thing
that thou wilt speak or do, it w T ill serve for some purpose to him,
howbeit little for thee. In the meantime, 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 inexcusable,
because, in speaking evil, and in doing evil, thou hast not the Lord
before thine eyes. Thou doest 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 avc 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,
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 71
whether it be little or much, go ever to the heart, and see the dis-
position thereof, and look thou do it in sincerity, having regard to
God. Think it not enough, and if 1 the Lord work a good work
by thee as an instrument, but look still that he work in thee, that
thou may est find a good motion in thine heart ; for, alas ! ivhat avail-
eth the outward action, if the heart be foul, which defileth all ? In-
deed, 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 through 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 inclosed in thine heart, and dwell therein, for
then 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.
1 The and is used expletively.
THE SIXTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
John, Chap, xviii.
33. So Pilate entered into the common hall again, and called Jesus, and
said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews ?
34. Jesus answered him, Sayest thou that of thyself, or did others tell it
thee of me ?
35. Pilate answered, Am I a Jew ? Thine own nation, and the high
priests, have delivered thee unto me ; what hast thou done ?
36. Jesus ansivered, 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.
37. Pilate then said unto him, Art thou a king then ? Jesus answered,
Thou sayest that I am a king : for this cause am I born, and
for this cause came I into the world, that I shoidd bear witness
tmto 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 and civil judge in Ju-
dea 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 in-
dictment, 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 rcceiveth little answer, or at least little
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 73
to the purpose ; for they answer presumptuously, ei 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 1 indictment to say, " He
is an evil man ;" that must be qualified, and Pilate thinks this of no
valour, 2 and casts it off. At the last, after many words, he throws 3
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 toCassar, who would reave 4 the kingdom from
him," and a " traitor," and " guilty against the majesty of Cresar."
The rest of the Evangelists have this accusation more plainly, and at
greater length. The Jews say, (Luke xxiii. 2,) Ct We have found
this man perverting the people, and forbidding the people to pay
tribute to Cresar, saying, he is Christ and king." So, howbeit in
this gospel of John is 5 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 6 of Christ to
Pilate ; and Pilate knew not this of his own head, as the text fol-
lowing 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 Eoman judge, he
is delated 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 Cassar, and that he would be loath
to see Cresar's hurt ; therefore they apply well their accusation to
the honour of the man, and delate Jesus as one who had commit-
ted treason against Cresar. Ye shall then note here a piece of craft
in this their doing. Yet consider it more deeply. The thing that
they delate 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
1 i. e. Poor, insufficient. ' z i. e. Value. 3 i. e> Twists, extorts.
* i. e. Take away by force. 5 Supply it. G i. e. Informers,
74 THE SIXTH LECTURE.
to the wilderness, (John vi. 15 ;) and whereas they say that he for-
bade to pay tribute unto Crcsar, that was false also ; for he paid
tribute unto Caesar for him and Peter, 1 and gave commandment to
"give unto Caesar that which was Caesar's." 2 So this point of ac-
cusation is nothing else but a calumny and a false accusation.
Yet let us look something farther here. The Jews would seem
to be careful for Caesar's kingdom, and take delight to have Ca?sar
to reign over them ; but, indeed, Crcsar 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 a 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, ca-
lumny, or flattery, they bring their purpose to pass. If thou once
takest purpose to do an evil turn, thou wilt not care by what un-
lawful doing thou bringest" it to pass ; and to speak the truth, if
once a man take an evil action in hand, then 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 in-
nocent 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 unlaw-
ful things.
Now, to come to Pilate's part ; when he hath gotten this in-
dictment, he enters into the common hall, and calls on Jesus and
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 trea-
son 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 modest-
ly, " Art thou the King of the Jews ?" A fair example of modesty
1 .Vatth. xvii. 24-27. - Matth. xxii. 21.
OP THE PASSION OF CIIRIST. 75
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 judgment. This tells us plainly, that the mind ^of Pilate
was void of such affections as make judges to pervert judgment ;
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 doeth all his endeavour to get Jesus ab-
solved ; — look this whole discourse. So Pilate's mind is void of
these affections, of hatred, desire of revenge, and seeking of inno-
cent blood ; for, brethren, we know it is these affections that
pervert judgment. The judge who hates and envies the person
accused, he will have him slain, though he were as innocent as Je-
sus Christ himself. Therefore, let judges learn this lesson, to be
void of hatred in judgment. I suppose the man be the wicked-
est in this w T orld, yet seek not the destruction of the creature,
but hate its crime, and 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 Herod's part, Pilate's part, the Jews' part, Caiaphas' part,
all their parts distinctly known, what each man doeth ; 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, Herod had his part, and both were guilty of the blood of Jesus
Christ, but the sin of Pilate is laid upon the JeAvs, and 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
70 THE SIXTH LECTURE.
■will, and extenuate their martyring of the saints, and say that it
Mas 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, and the sins of the princes whom they have abused shall be
laid to their charge, and the blood of those who perish shall be re-
quired 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
give 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 dispo-
sition ; for if the accuser seek the man's blood, he will be a ca-
lumniator. There is not a judge Avho 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 1 that that sen-
tence 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 Avas an innocent man, and that
it was a false accusation that 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 Avho
was the author, to wit, his countrymen, and, namely, the high
priests ; for, in conscience, he was persuaded both of Christ's in-
noccncy and of their calumny ; and, therefore, cleanses himself;
but he was far entangled in this judgment, 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 judgment, he could not get
1 /• e Insinuated.
OF THE PASSION OF CHBIST. 77
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
cannot well quit himself, till he defile himself with the blood of the
innocent; albeit he would absolve the man, yet his mouth shall con-
demn him. So, for no man's appetite let not a judge enter in judg-
ment against an innocent man, whom he knows in his conscience
to be innocent. And if thou enter in judgment 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 judgment of Scotland,
how the judge will say, "I behoved to do it, I did it against my will,
1 was compelled to do it." Well, that shall be none excuse to thee,
for if thou do it, thou shalt be condemned for it ; it is no small
thing to be a judge. We have heard Pilate's cleansing of Christ;
he is so touched in his conscience with the innocence of Jesus
Christ, that he is compelled to cleanse himself, first to Jesus Christ,
before that Jesus cleanses himself to him. Now follows the an-
swer of Christ to this calumny. "My kingdom is not in this
world." Thou askest at me if I be a king. I answer, " My king-
dom 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 Avho aspires to a king-
dom, he Avill fight, and all that may do for him, 1 to the very death ;
if he had been seeking a kingdom, he would not have stayed Peter
from fighting 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, breth-
ren, this is to be marked, he telleth him, indeed, that his king-
dom is not of this world, but he telleth him not where his king-
1 t. e. And all his servants.
78 TTIE SIXTII LEUCTItE.
dom was. lie 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, and to suffer patiently :
that part of teaching was ended, but knowing that the hour of his
suffering was come, and that Pontius Pilate should be his judge, he
would not stay him. And, therefore, he would not enter in docti'ine,
because the time of teaching was past ; if Pilate Avould 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 inex-
cusable. 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, and sought his life ; so he hath
a time of silence, when he will not open his mouth. lie spcakcth
something, albeit little to Pilate, but he speaks not so much as one
Avord 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
scantily, for to speak it so. The rain of the word of God is poured
abundantly out of heaven, to water the thirsty souls of men ; and
if thou spendest thy time, and 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 mi-
nistry thereof? No ; as Christ had but one time, and 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. Where-
fore, let not the opportunity slip, " and whilst it is called the day,
let us not harden our hearts." 1 Thus far the Lord hath purged
1 Ps. xcv. 8; Ileb. iii. 13.
OP THE PASSION OF CIIPJST. 79
himself, and hath teachcd Pilate what a king he was, not an earth-
ly, but a spiritual king. I will not digress here to speak of the
kingdom of Christ, and 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, and
where his kingdom was, that he might have got a part of it. 1
Pilate should have been inquisitive of these things, and followed
out that purpose about his kingdom ; but he breaks off' the con-
ference by an accusation of Jesus. An earthly-hearted man
knoAvs not things heavenly, and 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,
have no more pleasure in them than Pilate had ; begin once to
speak of heavenly things to a profane man, then he cannot keep
purpose with thee, but he will break off purpose, and speak of
earthly things. Paul, 1 Cor. ii. 14, 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 fool-
ishness 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, and 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. [There
is the confession that Jesus gave under Pontius Pilate, as is said,
1 Tim. vi. 13. 2 ]
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, and a glorious
1 See following note.
2 This sentence, in the original edition, occurs after "part of it." — (See note 1.)
Led both by the connection and the Latin Commentary, 1 have restored it to its pro-
per place.
80 THE SIXTH LECTURE.
kingdom, that I may play the part of a servant, in bearing witness
to the truth." Jesus Christ was God, " equal with the Father, and
thought it no robbery, but he made himself of no reputation, by
taking on the form of a servant," Phil. ii. 6. As though he would
say, " I came into the world, and took on the flesh of man to be a
servant to my Father, and to be a witness to the truth." Then he
subjoins, lest that Pilate should think that office of little effect, and
that he laboured in vain, and 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. xvii.
17, preceding,) "they hear my word." He draweth near 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, and
Pilate would have put him off, he leaves not, but speaks again to
Pilate. He would have won Pilate if it had been possible. Al-
beit we be interrupted when we speak of heavenly things to pro-
fane 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 in-
excusable. Speak of Christ and of heaven, it shall never be in
vain, but as Paul says, 2 Corin. ii. 15, " 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 1 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 some-
times a delight to speak of things heavenly, and will desire that
sincere milk of the word, as Peter 2 speaks. So, if thou findest the
word of life sweet, why shouldst thou not desire it continually ?
1 «'. e. Addresses, strives to reach. " 2 Pet. ii. 2.
OF THE PASSION OP CHRIST. 81
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 sa-
tiety 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 and
tasting !
"What is the verity?" 1 says Pilate; he asks this not with plea-
sure, but loathing and disdaining, and 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 some-
thing, 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 ask 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 loath-
ing 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 re-
newed, 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 a 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 heai't,
1 It will be seen that there is here an anticipation of the first part of the 3Sth
verse. There is no such anticipation in the Latin Commentary.
82 THE SIXTH LECTURE.
-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 and speaking of things heavenly, we may have this heaven-
ly disposition in some measure, for Christ's sake. To whom, with
the Father, and Holy Spirit, be all praise, honom', and glory, both
now and evermore. Amen.
THE SEVENTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
John, Ciiap. xviii.
38. Pilate said unto him, Wliat is truth ? And when he had said that,
he went out again to the Jews, and said unto them, I find in him
no cause at all.
39. But you have a custom, that I shoidd deliver you one hose at the
passover ; ivill ye, then, that I loose unto you the King of the
Jews ?
40. Then cried they all again, saying, Not him, but Barabbas. Now
this Barabbas teas a murderer.
AYe 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 Hieru-
salem for the time. We heard the accusation that the high priests
and the Jews allege to Pilate the judge, where he sat in judgment
against Jesus Christ. The accusation was not blasphemous against
God, for when 1 the priests thought him afore in their own judg-
ment-seat worthy of death, but treason against the majesty of
Cajsar. " He calls himself," say they, " the King of the Jews," as
1 Is this a misprint for blasphemy and which ?
84 THE SEVENTH LECTURE.
though Christ had come into the world to be an earthly king, and
to take the kingdom over Csesar's head. When Pilate had posed
Christ about this, after one or two answers, he finds this accusa-
tion vain, false, and 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, and
prefer Barabbas (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. vi. 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 and fantasy ; therefore, thinking that Jesus made him-
self to be a fantastic king, and sought not Cresar'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 no-
thing 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 heaven, and rave l it from God, they
care not for it ; as Paul says, " the natural man counts heavenly
things but foolishness." 2 Speak to them of heavenly things, all
is but imagination, and heaven is as a 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,
1 i. e. Take by violence. 2 2 Cor. ii. 14.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 85
and of questions of their law ; but I find nothing in the man worthy
either of death or of bonds," (Acts xxiii. 21).) Worldly men count
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 and excellent
thing that ever was ; and they shall curse the time that ever they
esteemed any thing excellent but religion. Yet this is commend-
able in Pilate, that he gives so fair a testimony of Jesus. An 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,
and to purge the innocent, might have made the high priests and
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, and condemneth that kingdom of his, and that truth
whereof he spake, 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, and in
their heart they scorn God. Albeit thou standest up and speakest
much for the defence of Christ, and seemest to be angry at the
Jews, as Pilate did, if, in the meantime, thine heart believe not in
that Jesus, thou art but a scorner, and all thy speech serveth for
no purpose to thee, if thou believest not ; therefore, in speaking of
heaven, and of religion, and of Jesus Christ, we should take heed
to the heart, that it be sanctified ; and remember that while the
mouth speaks God sees the heart; and when thou speakest of that
name of Jesus Christ, let thine heart grip unto him, and so thy
speech shall be edifying and gracious. Now when he hath cleansed
him by word, thereafter by deed he seeks to get him loose. And
it is subjoined that Pilate says, " Ye have a custom, that I should
deliver you a prisoner loose at the passover ; will ye that I let loose
the King of the Jews ?"
The rest of the Evangelists, Matthew xxvii. 12, Mark xv.
3, Luke xxiii., setteth down another accusation that passed in
86 THE SEVENTH LECTURE.
order before this immediately, which I shall touch shortly. The
high priests, seeing that they obtained nothing by the first ac-
cusation, wherein they accuse him of treason against Caesar, yet
they will not leave off, but delate to Pilate many things, and
heap calumny upon calumny, and oppress him with accusations ;
as for Jesus, he made none answer. Pilate seeing this, he urges him
once or twice to speak ; he will not speak ; Pilate wondereth at his
great silence ; the high priests insist, and at last they accuse him
of false doctrine, which he had uttered from Galilee unto Hieru-
salem. When Pilate understood that he was a Galilean, he sends
him to Herod, who was tetrarch of Galilee, thinking to gratify
Herod, that, being at variance, friendship should have been made ;
Herod rejoiced at his coming, and hoped that he should have seen
some wonders of him ; for both Pilate and Herod thought to make a
juggler of Jesus ; but Herod gets not one word of him, much less
a sign or a wonder. Then Herod begins to mock him, and 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 prophe-
sied of him in the 53 of Isaiah. He maketh no more repining
than a sheep or a lamb that stands before the shearer. He opened
not his mouth, not for stubbornness, but he was patient. Brethren,
some would marvel of the boldness of the martyrs when they suffer-
ed ; (O ! the boldness that they had in answering, even in the fire;)
they suffered not one word to slip, but they answered for God's glory,
and well ' of them that stood by. O! but the Lord kept silence. Some
1 i.e. The welfare.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 87
would think that Jesus Christ in this point was inferior to the
martyrs; but this is the matter, 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 something.
Now, to return to our text again, Pilate uses all means to get
Jesus loose ; 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 there-
with they dishonoured God. Is that to honour God, to break his
commandment ? This custom was not from the beginning, but en-
tered in when the Roman emperor entered in, and this manner of
doing wanted not a fair pretence ; it had a pretence of clemency
and 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. xix. 11 — 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 convicted of capital crimes, their lives ?
Some will say, hath not a free prince license to give him his life,
albeit the law of God says, " 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 ab-
solute 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, and should beware
to judge rashly in capital crimes. It is no small matter to make a
88 THE SEVENTH LECTURE.
crime capital ; but if the crime be capital and deadly, the prince
hath no power to hold his hand aback from execution, and to for-
give. 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, and they will bring in the example of good kings, who
forgave capital crimes committed against the very universal and na-
tural law ; and, namely, of David. Forgave he not Joab for slay-
ing of Abner and Amasah ? and Amnon, for committing incest ?
and, again, forgave he not Absalom for slaying of Amnon, his bro-
ther? But I answer: We are bound to live by God's laws, and 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 Zeruiah are too strong for me?" 2 Sam. hi. 39. Ye
know what he left in his testament to Solomon concerning Joab, 1
Kings ii. 5, 6. 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 God's 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 God's 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 na-
ture are not capital, but by the law T s of princes are made capital ;
for upon just considerations, the prince hath power to dispense
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 89
with them : as, for example, it was not deadly of the own nature 1
to Shimei to go out of the ports of Jerusalem, but because Solo-
mon forbade it, it became deadly. Like as it is in the hands of
princes to make and 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 judgments of God which ceased 2 on such men and their poste-
rity were sufficient to show it; for if thou forgivest a thief, he
would hang thee on the same gallows. That sad example of the
judgment of God upon Saul, who, against God's express command-
ment, spared Agag, king of Amalek, might terrify other princes to
remit such persons. Some will come forth, and his 3 remission for
his abominable murder and crimes in his bosom, upon whom the
sun is not worthy to shine. God forgive them who give or pur-
chase such remissions : the King of heaven will not have any to
usurp his authority. 4
Now, let us return and consider Pilate's part : Pilate is careful
to get Jesus the innocent let loose, 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 pur-
pose 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 com-
pares him with Barabbas, and when he doth the best he can, he
doth but evil. Mark the duty of judges ; it is not enough to seek
1 i, e. In itself. 2 i. e. Fell. 3 i. c. Some one — with.
4 This is an evident allusion to the Papal indulgences. In the Latin Commentary,
our author apologises for the length of his remarks on a different ground ; quia con-
suetude ipsa pessima, &c. ; " because this infamous practice" (of remitting the punish-
ment clue to murder) " has now for a long time been too prevalent in our own coun-
try/'_P. 913.
90 THE SEVENTH LECTURE.
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 suppressest the glory of that great
judge if thou cleansest 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 doeth evil, yet they do ten
times worse. Alas ! the judgment of Pilate in that day shall be no-
thing to the judgment of the malicious Jews. In 1 doing of this, that
he compares him with Barabbas, and albeit he compares him with
him, yet he counts him an innocent; but he compares him with
Barabbas, by a policy, to pleasure the Jews. They will not only com-
pare him with Barabbas, but will prefer Barabbas 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 vice's sake, but because
the vice troubles him, because of some skaith 2 and shame that fol-
lows it, and because he would have an easy life.
But to come to the ground ; an ungodly man hates virtue be-
cause 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
vice because it is vice. The Pope will sutler Sodomites to dwell
beside him, and bordels, 3 but he cannot hear of a godly man, but
will persecute him who will profess to teach Christ truly; yea, he
1 i. e. In the act of comparing Jesus with Barabbas. And before albeit is super-
fluous. 2 »• e. Hurt, injury. 3 i. e. Brothels.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 91
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, and the greatest hatred is ever under cloak of religion. So
there is not one who hates a godly man so greatly, as they who
cloak 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 ? Barabbas is pre-
ferred 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. Whatever 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 spake
not this but by the Lord's disposition, who ruled all this action ;
they did nothing (as ye may read Acts iv. 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 igno-
minious 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 un-
justly ; 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 al-
together 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. v. 21. Look to these sins that Christ had upon him ; they
were a thousand times greater than the sins of Barabbas ; fur he
bare upon him the sins of all the world, many murders, many
92 THE SEVENTH LECTURE.
adulteries; the Lord Jesus bare them all. So there is nothing
that falls to Jesus Christ but that which we procured unto him.
Whatever Christ sustained, the reproaches, shame, and blas-
phemies, the pain, and extremity of pain in soul and body, it is
thy sin that procured all this. Brethren, mark this Avell ; when
men either hear or read this history, they turn them to the Jews,
and will defy the priests, and the Pharisees, and Pilate ; and in
the meantime they look not to themselves, but look not to others,
but to thine own self, for it is thy sin also that pierced him through ;
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, in-
dignity, 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 con-
tinually, 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, dolor, 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 EIGHTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
John, Chap. xix.
1. Then Pilate took Jesus, and scourged him.
2. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head,
and they put on him a purple garment,
3. And said, Mail, King of the Jews I and they smote him with their
rods.
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.
5. Then came Jesus forth, wearing a crown of thorns and a purple
garment. And Pilate said unto them, Behold the man I
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 Hierusalem.
We have heard of two accusations that were laid against the inno-
cent Jesus Christ ; the first was, that he called himself the King
of the Jews, and so was guilty of treason against Cresar. Ye
heard the effect of this accusation to be nothing, and therefore
he goes forth, and with his voice before them all, purgeth the in-
nocent. In the next accusation, there were many things laid to
his charge, and this chiefly, that he had corrupted the whole
94 THE EIGHTH LECTURE.
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 Barabbas
set at liberty ? We heard the answer to this proposition, to wit,
they cry they will not have him delivered, but Barabbas. Now
the other Evangelists do insist more largely in this purpose, and
Avrite 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 judgment, 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 ad-
vertisement 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 in-
nocency 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 inexcusable, 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 execu-
tion, the Lord assays to bring them to repentance. Rom. ix. 22,
" He suffers with a long suffering the vessels of wrath ;" Rom. ii. 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.
AVe come, brethren, to our text : he folloAvs out the suffering in
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 95
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, and
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 gar-
ment, 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 gar-
ment on him," to scorn the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and then
" smiteth him with rods." Ye see the Lord suffers mocking,
and pain in body ; the Lord of glory is put to ignominy : consider
well, and never let it go out of thy mind, that the Lord of glory
suffered much 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 en-
terprise any good deed, that they shall choose ungodly and unlawful
means to effectuate it ; they shall do evil that good may come of it.
Cast your eyes upon this land, and 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 loose 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 con-
trary, that man that hath respect unto the Lord, he shall not
96 THE EIGHTH LECTURE.
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 through 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, then, that he depended upon the appe-
tite of ungodly men, it could not be possible that he could bring
a good action to pass ; yea, whosoever depends upon the lust
of malicious men can never effectuate any good thing ; or if
they do any thing, they do it by evil means, and so fail greatly.
Let us therefore aye study to please God; let us, if we should
die in the meantime, do that which is pleasant unto God, set-
ting aside the pleasure of men. Mark Pilate's form of doing ; he
useth worse and worse means ; the first mean is evil, in comparing
Jesus with Barabbas, 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. Be-
gin once to do against conscience, for pleasuring of wicked men, as
Pilate doeth all this against conscience, if thou had never so good
and so fair a pretence, thou shalt be compelled by process of time to
do a oreater evil, albeit thou begannest with less evil, and thou shalt
not speed at last. It is true, Pilate would do a less evil to get a
o-reater 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 clothe him with a purple garment, and smite 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 thino- for the officers when the judge is unrighteous ; yea, all the
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 97
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
ehoweth that there was some malice in their hearts ; there is none
that lendeth the members of their body to be weapons of un-
righteousness but they will be condemned. Thou mayest not say,
it was my master's will and commandment, and therefore I be-
hoved to do it ; the commandment of thy master will not excuse
thee ; for no man's pleasure do evil ; for his commandment shall be
no 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. iv. 27 ; every man
in particular, who had part in this work, is counted, Herod first,
and next Pilate ; leaveth he the part of the men of war, he calleth
them the Gentiles, 1 and 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, there-
fore, is the opinion of silly ignorant bodies, who think that the com-
mandment 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 grief and shame, and
many unworthy things, and that by the most just dispensation of
God ; and being our surety, he bare our sins and iniquities, there-
fore the wrath of God seized 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 world,
therefore this pain and shame follows that burden. See the weight
1 i.e. The Roman soldiers are mentioned in the Acts, but they arc not callrd men
of war, but Gentiles.
98 THE EIGHTH LECTURE.
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. v. 8, says, " Although he was the only begotten Son of God,
yet he learned obedience through his suffering," that is, he learned
what and how good a thing obedience was, and what wrath and
damnation follows disobedience. And there is not one of the sons
of God but by affliction 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 ;" and 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 pour on his whole wrath on me ?" It is no children's play
to play with God, and 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, and yet punishes him as nocent,
for Jesus Christ bare 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. Conic 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 :
IT eb. vii. 20 ; " Such a priest it behoved us to have, which is holy,
harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners." Next, except I
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 99
understand that my sins are taken off my back, and laid on his
back, and that he hath taken my guiltiness on him, the considera-
tion of his innocency will never move me to account him my Re-
deemer ; 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 marvellous effects will follow in the heart of a faithful
man. When I look to his innocency I will be moved with com-
miseration towards him, I will pity him ; as the women followed
him out of Hierusalem weeping, and pitying his innocency, Luke
xxiii. 27 ; and when I see, that he being most innocent in himself,
is become guilty for me, then arises in mine heart a dolour and dis-
pleasure for that, that I should be the cause that he suffered inno-
cently ; 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 Revelations, and seventh verse, " They
shall wail before him whom they pierced through." 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 Second Epistle
to the Corinthians, v. 14, 15, "The love of Christ constrains me,"
and 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 vii. 47.)
Brethren, ye that have heard of the history of that notable
martyr, John Huss, who was burnt for the love of Christ ; now
when he was brought forth to be burnt quick, then his executors
put a paper upon his head, whereupon were pictured three devils,
with this title set over their heads, " Hreresiarcha ;' M 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
1 i. e. Chief Heretic.
100 THE EIGHTH LECTURE.
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, im-
mediately 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 un-
godly 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 eon-
science ; they will not start at a straw ; 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^ie was innocent; and
not only did he this against conscience, but even against natural
pity, and yet he went forwards to examination. 1 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
1 Condi ninatkn ?
OF THE PASSION OF CHUIST. 101
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 smothers it, and overcomes it ; only the
Spirit of God is able to fight and prevail against nature. Other-
wise, 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 me 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 essayed to set Jesus the inno-
cent at liberty, yet all in vain, for nothing will satisfy them, be-
cause 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 inexcusable, 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
fain 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, and than they that say they
are church-men, holy men, and defenders of the truth ; and I say
that the Pope makes less conscience of evil than the Turk ; and it
102 THE EIGHTH LECTURE.
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 1 would exchange the one with the other. The judg-
ment of God is lying upon these doers, on Herod, 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 then Pilate
gets a pitiful heart. But come to them, to wit, the Jews and high
priests ; the judgment 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 judgment that
lies upon the Jews. Therefore, think not that we are free from
judgment when we are sitting in ease, eating and drinking, in
wealth, honour, and glory; fori affirm, that the heaviest judgment
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 judgment,
as to be rocked up in security, and to be lying sleeping in sin.
Senselessness is a sure token of a sore judgment which shall over-
take 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 forward in sin, for Christ's sake ; to
whom be all praise, honour, and glory, for evermore. Amen.
1 I presume this refers to the helpless (silhj) prisoners of the Inquisition.
THE NINTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
John, Chap. xix.
7. The Jews ansicered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought
to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
8. When Pilate then heard that word, he icas the more afraid,
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 con-
science dited 1 to be innocent, set free and loosed ; and, therefore,
first he commands him to be taken and scourged, to be CroAvned
with a crown of thorns, and clad with a purple garmentj in deri-
sion of his kingdom, thinking thereby to have satisfied the Jews.
Then, when he had done this, he cometh forth himself and in pre-
sence of all the people, protests " the fourth time, that he was inno-
cent." Thirdly, when he brings him forth with a crown of thorns,
and with a purple raiment, he utters a pitiful voice, saying, " Be-
hold the man !" to move the Jews to be content ; but their malire
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,
1 i. e. Declared.
104- THE NINTH LECTURE.
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 commoved with the obsti-
nacy 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 defile 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 commend-
able 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 anything willingly, when the
heart is as ready to do it as the conscience charges. "When a man
doeth a thing upon constraint, he getteth little praise before God ;
when a man doeth 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 commoved on con-
science to do anything, than to do against conscience ; but let him
who would have the true praise not do anything on constraint of
conscience only, but also with a willing heart, as the conscience
required), 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 THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 105
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 is between the heaven and the earth :
ye shall see nothing in them but the conscience sleeping and locked
up in a sound sleep; and the more that Pilate testifies of the inno-
cency 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 ; and ye must know that it is know-
ledge 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 therethrough, 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 judgment of God that the light of nature is
put out ; and then all conscience is scraped out, and then he be-
cometh 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." Whatever be Pilate's part, who was a judge ;
whatever 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
106 THE NINTH LECTURE.
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 chiefly for Chi'ist, 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 vi. 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 persecute him to the death. When a malefactor suf-
fers, the Lord will not use this manner of doing, lie 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, bre-
thren, whatever 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 ;
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 107
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, and.
make 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. Write 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 and the general, 1
no man can find fault with it ; for it is set down in the law, Levit.
xxiv. 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 : and, 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 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 a 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, how-
beit he be as great a murderer as Barabbas 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
1 i.e. The general proposition, " that the blasphemer should die the death."
108 THE NINTH LECTURE.
make thee pronounce false judgment. For, what avails know-
ledge, what avails it thee to have a great light in thine head,
either through nature, or yet through 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 reformed, 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, stir it up, and
waken it the more ; indeed, they sought by all means to blot
out his conscience. And all the doing of a conscienceless 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, disappoints their pur-
pose. The Lord hath such power over the soul and 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 w T akened,
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
Avaken 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
of the passion or chiust. 109
is a God, whom thou shouldst fear and honour ; that is, thy con-
science ; and if thou honourest not that God, thy conscience shall
stand up and 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 naturally abhorreth to violate that Ma-
jesty ; it telleth thee this, honour this God ; if thou dishonourest
him, thou shalt die, albeit thou never sawest the Scripture ; and if
there come a wicked thought in thine heart, the conscience will
stand up to challenge it, and like an armed man to slay thee ; and
if thou wert but a natural man, ere ever thou get that Majesty
violate, thy conscience shall stand up to plead for God, and to
guard him from thine injuries ; and ere thou get him dishonoured,
thou shalt tread upon the belly of thy conscience. It is true, in-
deed, albeit this natural spunk of light of conscience in man be as a
precious rein 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 1 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 suc-
cumb. 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 over-
throws 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 pingle out, 2 and get
the victory against this canker in the heart.
I see something 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 ;
1 i.e. Shake, cause a commotion. * «'. e. To continue to toil slowly.
110 THE NINTH LECTURE,
not only that he was an innocent man, but that he was the
God of heaven. He gets a supernatural knowledge, that that
silly 1 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, Avould his conscience have ac-
cused 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 Avill give the wicked glances and
tastes of heaven, but all is but in vain. Yc see of Agrippa, Acts
xxvi. 28 : When Paul was speaking to him, he says, " Thou per-
suadest 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 vanishes : the Lord will furnish to wicked
men glimmerings of that life, but they evanish away. Thou wilt
dream of happiness ; but this is happiness, when the Lord gives
thee a light, and bows thine heart, and establishes grace in thee,
and grace bides with thee — there is thy happiness. This glimmer-
ing is not for nothing ; it serveth for this, to make Pilate inexcus-
able ; and, if it were no more, when Pilate shall appear before that
judge, tliis same blink shall be a testimony against him to his ever-
lasting damnation. If thou gettest a blink 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 through that baseness, and
gets a sight of that glory, that was in our nature in Christ ; they
cannot look in through that baseness ; and if there were no more,
i. e- Weak, helpless.
OF THE PASSION OF GILLUST. Ill
Pilate shall stand up like a judge to condemn all the Jews, who,
by the Word, were informed that Christ, should come in baseness
and humility, Isaiah liii. 2. I come nearer, and if there were no
more but that light that Pilate got, 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. Ho 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 light 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 con-
science, and getting little blinks, 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 blink, 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 blink
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. Fy 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
1 12 THE NINTH LECTURE.
come unto himself, when he heard that he was the Son of God ;
therefore, partly for this cause, and partly because Christ knew
that Pi'iate disdained him, and all spiritual graces in him, he gave
him none answer. But let us folloAV out the knowledge of Christ.
Once begun upon the love of the truth, then Ave 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," John xvi. 23. Thou who hast that sweet promise,
" knock, and it shall be opened," 1 shouldest thou not be instant to
make inquiry of Jesus, who offereth himself so willingly, and says,
" I am the light of the world ;" 2 and, " Come to me to get the water
of life ?" 3 Alas ! that thou shouldest perish for default of seeking of
grace !
Ye would marvel, that Jesus answered not a word ; I spake 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
haply he would have stayed, and would have proceeded no farther,
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 a 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 a 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 arc all
made to glorify him, and except he had a respect to his own glory
in the creature, lie 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 dishon-
our ?" Pom. ix. 21. I say more, " God in that, his great family, hath
1 Matth. vii. 7. * John viii. 12. 3 Juhn vii. 37.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 113
some vessels of honour, and some of dishonour," 2 Tim. ii. 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. 1 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 importunate Jew r s, and the fear he hath to offend Ca3-
sar, 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 judgment, and to keep
their hands from evil ; and that they sit not in a wicked judgment.
Be not judge against the innocent. Pilate sat in judgment doing
wickedly, pronouncing sentence against the Lord of Glory. If
thou sit in judgment, pronounce not sentence against the innocent ;
either leave that judgment, or then absolve the innocent in despite
of the world. It is no small matter to pronounce sentence of dam-
nation. The Lord grant us this conscience, that whensoever we
shall be employed, we may be employed in doing of good deeds, and
in glorifying of 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.
1 Exod. xxxii. 32.
H
THE TENTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION 1 OF CHRIST.
John, Chap. xix.
10. Then said Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knoicest
thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to
loose thee ?
11. Jesus answered, Thou couldest 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 Avhole 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, by 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, " AVe 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 begins 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 re-
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 115
ceives 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 loose thee ?" The Lord answers, No,
" thou Avould 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 be-
twixt 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 and 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 vanishes away ; and being angry against Christ, he
falls out in blasphemy against God. And this is no new thing, for
we see the same in men now-a-days. 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 evanish. This is too plentiful in great men
and small. The ground is this — the heart w 7 as never truly renewed ;
but in the meantime of the feigned repentance, the heart was full
of the gall of bitterness, as Peter speaketh to Simon Magus. 1 The
reverence or repentance was but like a scurf of honey rubbed on
venom, and then, when the venom breaks out, the scurf 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 delv-
ing 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 deceit-
1 Acts viii. 23.
116 THE TENTH LECTURE.
ful as the heart of man, Jerera. xvii. 9. It will not only beguile
another man, but it will beguile a man himself; and if that fraud
bide in thee, it will not leave thee till it bring thee to destruc-
tion.
Now, let us mark the words of Pilate, " Knowest thou not that
I have power to crucify thee, and to absolve thee ?" Brethren,
•what 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 na-
tural to magistrates and princes, to think that their power cannot
be restrained or liinitated 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 es-
teem 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 dan-
gerous 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, last-
ly, he will slay himself in the end ; and so shall he who hath power,
if he be no more but a natural man.
' In our translation, "foolish;" in the original, uviy.Tci ; in Beta's translation,
amentes,
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 1 1 7
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 born again ! In the Evangel according to John, 1 Christ
says to Nicodemus, " Except a man be born 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 sanctifica-
tion, all outward things will make thee worse. As great riches
and honours, as great temptations to make thee forget God ; all
thy pleasure 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 chiefly kings, who think
and will say, Who shall be renewed but poor silly persons ? They
think it lawful for themselves to commit all uncleanness, fornication,
blasphemy, &c. 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 marvellous 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 ga-
thered 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 stand up and say that he hath power over an inno-
cent man to slay, but only he who is a murderer ? So Pilate, in ef-
fect, professes himself to be a murderer; for it is as much as he
said, " I am a murderer, and 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
1 John iii. 3.
118 THE TENTH LECTURE.
ground of this is pride against God in the heart ; a proud man is
ever a mad man, for pride is against God, and 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 consi-
der the proud man when thou hearest him speak, and thou wilt
say, yonder man is a foolish man. And this proceeds of the Lord's
just and wise dispensation ; the proud man, in his heart, dis-
honours the majesty of God — thou who art proud hast ado with
God, and not with thy fellows — therefore, the Lord in his just
judgment will cause thy mouth to speak to thy shame, to accuse
thyself; he will cause thee who art a proud king to 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," and their damnation the more, to wit, the priests and 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 were two sorts of persons who put him in the hands of
Pilate ; the first was God, the next was the Jews, who de-
livered 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 1 thou forgettest that heavenly providence, with-
out the which nothing can come unto me. But I tell thee, Pilate,
if 1 thou shouldst have had power over me, if it were not given thee.
1 So in the original. The sense is apparent, and the reader ean easily correct the
manifest misprint.
OF THE PASSION OF CIIltlST. 119
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 a hair of
their head, but by the providence of God. Pilate was ignorant of
both these ; he believed he had his power of Ca?sar only ; but Christ
lets him know that there was one higher than Ca?sar, from whom
he had his power. He was ignorant of God'r, providence ; he uttered
him 1 to be a blasphemer of God ; and, 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 anything tending to our own reproach,
then 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 and greatest enemies to God,
by convoys, 2 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 judgment shall light upon this nation; for albeit we were created
and 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 ; and 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 beast-
liness 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 banc; not so much on the sentence and decree of the prince
1 i. e. He spoke so as to show himself. 2 i. c. Juggling artifices.
120 THE TENTH LECTURE.
as on that eternal decree and sentence of God. 1 Sam. chap. xiv.
When Saul had given out that Jonathan should die, and that for
breaking of an unlawful law, it lay not in his hands to slay him ;
and then in chap, xv., 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 Caasar ; he sends him to the heavens above
Cresar 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 infe-
rior magistrates, howbeit they should acknowledge the superior.
Know ye not how Nebuchadnezzar 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. iv. 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. Isaiah x. 15. When
Assur boasted that he had done all things by his own hands, and
his own wisdom, the Lord is more angry at him for not acknow-
ledging 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
sawcr?" It is a vain thing for a king to ascribe power to himself,
and 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 acknow-
ledged it was of God; and therefore he willingly submits himself
unto it. Wherefore, all subjects should learn this lesson ; when
thev look to their princes, or to their superiors, not to look so much
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 1 2 L
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 ; and this shonld 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 con-
science of God. Then, again, 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 au-
thority 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 suf-
fering or in torment. None can have consolation but he who seeth
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 merciful 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 rent, 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 answ r er 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 re-
spect of the high priests ; they were the instruments of God,
working by his providence, to put Christ in his hands. Pilate,
122 TilE TENTH LECTURE.
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 Pi-
late sinned, yet they sinned more, and their damnation is greater
than his : he that begins mischief, the wrath of God shall especi-
ally 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 befel to Judas ? Whilst the
Lord Jesus is so handled, the traitor, Judas, is put to the torture,
and the Lord rents the soul of him in pieces : the miserable cai-
tiff, 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 judgment, but still the wrath prosecutes
them to the 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 Pa-
pists, when they have caught a Christian who confesseth Jesus Christ,
when they have tried him, they will put him into the hands of the em-
peror, 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 in-
nocent lies upon them, because they delivered them into their hands
to be tormented by them. The judgment of that Antichrist, and of
that accursed crew, shall be heavier than the judgment 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, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who, being taken
and casten into the hot fiery furnace, at the commandment of'Nc-
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 123
buchadnezzar, the king, that the men that cast them into the fur-
nace were slain with the flame of the fire P 1 Yea, if it were but in
a thought, take heed thou consent not to the death of the inno-
cent.
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 in-
struments of this work of God, he rebukes them shamefully, and
imputes sin unto them. This is a wonder ; and yet 2 it is the work
of God, and they are instruments ruled by God, yet the Lord is
holy, and they are unholy and wicked. Acts, chap. ii. verse 23,
" They crucified him with wicked hands ;" 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 thino- as
that any of these wicked instruments looked unto God : they are
satisfying the affection of their hearts, and drinking up the inno-
cent blood maliciously. Mark this. Whatsoever thou doest 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 doest any thing agreeable in
itself to the w T ill 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 : Be never at the end of an evil thing : if thy con-
science 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 doest 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
1 Daniel iii. 22. 2 A misprint for albiit.
124 THE TENTH LECTURE.
hands clean from all evil turns ; and chiefly from the blood of the
innocent. Whatsoever thou doest, look that thou have a warrant
of that revealed will of God. And think it not enough to be an
executor of the decree of God ; but see thou be assured of this re-
vealed 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 may est 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 for ever. Amen.
THE ELEVENTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
John, Chap. xix.
12. From thenceforth Pilate sought to loose him ; hut the Jews cried,
saying, If thou deliver him, thou art not Ccesar's friend : for
ichosoever maheth himself a king speaketh against Ccesar.
13. When Pilate heard this word, he brought Jesus forth, and sat
down in the judgment-seat, in a place called the Pavement, and
in Hebrew Gabbatha.
14. And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth
hour ; and he said unto the Jews, Behold your king !
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 Cossar.
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 cruci-
fied ; 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
loose, 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
12 G THE ELEVENTH LECTURE.
earnest Pilate is to have him loosed, the high priests and the Jews
are as earnest to have him crucified. In the 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 i3 said concerning Pilate, that " from that time," —
when he had heard these last words of Jesus, accusing him for
that blasphemy against his Father, — then he took a greater fear,
and from that time he studied more and more to absolve Jesus.
Brethren, we see here through this whole history that the more
Pilate hears of Jesus, and the more that Jesus insists 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 loose. I know not if many
of our judges now-a-days will have such a conscience, and would
be so earned 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 vigi-
lant 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 bless-
ing, 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 re-
fuse to hear thy conscience, the blessing shall turn to a curse, and
that conscience, which was a counsellor, becomes a sore tormentor,
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
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 127
was fain to put hand in himself; 1 that was his end. Now, what do
Christ's accusers ? Look Iioav busy Pilate can be to get the inno-
cent 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 were 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, and accuse him
of treason against his master, Caesar : " If thou lettest this man
loose, thou art no friend to (thy master) Caesar ; thou wilt endan-
ger 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
loose, 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 accusa-
tion is this, They accuse Pilate of treason against Caesar : 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 grows 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 begin softly with alluring ; but in
end, if thou yieldest not, they will threaten thee, and say, " Thou
shalt either lose thy conscience or else thy life." Then ye shall
mark what is the sorest temptation that the devil and evil men can
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 temp-
tation ; 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 medieiner who can apply
their medicine better than they : ere they tempt, they will see the
1 An allusion to the death of Pilate, who is said to have committed suicide, after
having been banished to Gaul by Caligula.
128 THE ELEVENTH LECTURE.
quality of the person. So that, if they find a man only worldly-
hearted, without God, without hope of life, as Pilate was, then 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 ter-
rify 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 con-
science be backed with the 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, " 1 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 and little, he loses his conscience, and in-
clines to pronounce the sentence of damnation against the inno-
cent. As soon as he hears these words he is astonished, and, in all
haste, 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; Ave call it an high seat, or loft, where the
judge sat. The time is noted when he goes to that woeful judgment,
to wit, when as " the Jews were in a preparation to the pass-
over ;" the hour is noted, " the sixth hour," (which, in our account,
is the twelfth hour,) the Lord Jesus w r as 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 his-
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 129
tory. But to come to the matter ; ye see clearly, that this last
temptation had the greatest force, and astonished Pilate; and that
conscience that had stood so long, it began to fail him, and he be-
gins to decline. Then, brethren, note the force of such tempta-
tions ; what force they have in respect of natural men. It is im-
possible for a man who hath nothing but nature, without any por-
tion 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, &c 5 and so to die the death, it is impossible for
him to keep a natural conscience ; and he will think that man to be
a wise man who will redeem his life by the loss of his conscience,
and Avill 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 and conscience ? The
senses, whereby men properly live, are not so much these outward
senses, as tasting, touching, seeing, hearing, and 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 out-
ward 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 and wrong,
what thou shouldest do, and what thou shouldest not do, (it is the
faithfulest counsellor that a man can have, for it will counsel thee
night and day to do good, and 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 foreAvarn 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, rent thee, and draw in pieces thy miser-
able soul. Howbeif wicked men for a while will be busy playing,
riding, sind running, to get the tormentor at rest ; yet I tell thee,
that if the Lord have not mercy upon thee, it shall waken so, that
130 THE ELEVENTH LECTURE.
it shall never sleep again, and never let thee rest. Of all the tor-
ments in the world, the worst is the torment of the conscience,
driving thee before the terrible tribunal, to cling in 1 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, bre-
thren, besides the force of this temptation, there is an inward malice
of the heart against the conscience ; certainly, a conscience in a
natural man is good, and it is a remnant of grace after the fall; but
there is as evil a thing that dwelleth in thine heart since that fall,
and that is a bitterness and malice of thine heart ; there is such a
gall of bitterness, that if there were no more to slay them, 2 it is
enough. It is not this outward temptation 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
meantime, 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 madmen with a
fury over the belly of their conscience.
Now, brethren, this is Avell to be marked, when Pilate is
set down in his tribunal, albeit he be carried away by his con-
science, 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 scorn-
fully of his kingdom, yet he meaneth in his heart to have him
loose ; 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 temptation outward, and of the in-
' i. e. To dry up anil consume. * Thee ? •
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 131
ward 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 and say,
" Oh, 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, and will not leave him. Brethren, as the conscience is
an admonisher, so it cleaveth fast, and no man will get it extin-
guished ; albeit the loon 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 stuck to thee before, it shall stick an hundred times sorer, and
shall fasten itself in thy miserable soul ; so that if thou wouldest
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 1 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, and double
the shoutings and cryings, " 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 swervest, then he will come
with a double force, and he will cry and deafen thine head, and
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 idolators, who took their sons
and burnt them quick in a valley near Jerusalem, when the child-
ren wept, they caused timbrels to sound, that they might not
hear that pitiful voice. So it is, that when the devil hath gotten
1 i. e. Hold ; I presume.
132 THE ELEVENTH LECTURE.
thine head once down he shall make it so dumpish, 1 and so dasL
thee with double forces that he will make thy conscience to have
no place. Therefore, let every man with all his main force resist,
and let no temptation sunder thee from thy conscience, for once
down, and aye down ; when a man 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 deafen thee, and shout
so in thine ear, that thou shalt not hear again a word of thy con-
science ; there is none of us but we may find this by experience.
Now come to Pilate ; when they shout and cry, he says, " Shall I
crucifv your king ?" Yet he gives not over, he hath a doubt in
the heart, and a strange fighting, as he would say, " Call ye it a
well-favoured thing that I should crucify your king?" This he
spake somewhat scornfully, half in jest, and half in earnest. This
is a voice of the conscience, but of a weak and decaying con-
science ; he speaks doubtfully now by an interrogation, putting it in
their option ; now the conscience is drawing its last breath, and
after that speaks not a word. There are two voices in the con-
science ; 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 stroiio; 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 Oesar." 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 re-
pine against him shall confess him once to be their King. Alas !
Ca?sar is casten in the poor man's teeth, becausa he had none other
God, ;;nd nil the care he had was to pleasure Caesar. But mark
the hypocrisy of the .Tews ; they say they have no king but
Ca?sar. But loved the Jews Caesar? No, there was nothing that
1 i, e. Slupid.
OF THE PASSIOX OF CHKIST. loo
they would fainer have been quit of than of him, yet they pre-
tend the authority of Caesar to slay the poor man's conscience,
and to crucify Jesus Christ. This is hypocrisy. They loved not
the king ; for they who love not God love not the king nor the
kirk. Look the form of hypocrites. Papistry is but hypocrisy ;
the Pope is a 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 1 they would
have the king slain, and they will pretend God and religion to
murder the King of France. 2 Fy upon these loons, 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 in-
tention. The Lord give every man and woman grace to take
heed that they have no meddling with such men, who, under pre-
tence 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.
1 i. e. At the very time when. The antithesis is much better expressed in the
Latin Commentary : Hoc familiare est hypocritis in regno Antichristi ; qui cum ne-
que CcEsarem, neque Deum aut religionem ipsius sincere ament, Ccesarem tamen ip-
siusque obedientiam praetexunt ad Christum et religionem evertendam ; contraque,
Christum et religionem praetexunt ad Caesarem et supereminentem potestatem ever-
tendam P. 935.
2 Alluding to the death of Henry IV., by the hands of Ravaillac, 12th May
1608.
THE TWELFTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Matthew, Chap, xxvii.
24. When Pilate saw that he availed nothing, but that more tumult xcas
made, he took ivater, and washed his hands before the multitude,
saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just man ; look you
to it.
25. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on
our children.
2G. Thus let he Barabbas loose unto them, and scourged Jesus, and de-
livered him to be crucified,
John, 1 Chap. xix.
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, "who his conscience
told him was innocent, set loose and at liberty, but all in vain ; for
they arc as earnest to have him condemned as Pilate was to have him
absolved. At the last, when they could prevail nothing at the
1 The Latin Commentary takes up the passage from Matthew, without this verse
from .Julin.
OF THE PASSION OF CDEIST. 135
hands of Pilate, by any delation, or point of indictment against
Jesus, whether treason against Ca?sar, or blasphemy against God,
they come more roundly to the matter, and come to the accusation
of Pilate, and lay treason against him, " If thou let this man go,"
say they, " thou art not Caesar's friend." This is the greatest tempta-
tion that ever Pilate got. He had no God but Cresar, he sought for
no honour but in this world, he saw no life but this life ; therefore,
hearing treason laid to his charge, he begins to faint and fail, and
then quickly he enters into judgment, and cometh out and bring-
eth out Jesus, and cometh to his tribunal, in a place called the
Pavement, an open place, and there sitteth down to give judgment
against the innocent. Yet he hath a doubt in conscience ; yea, when
he is running to pronounce sentence of damnation, he says, " Be-
hold 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 and stir in his conscience, and says, " Shall [
crucify your king?" They answer, "We have no king but Cresar."
Woe to them that made such change ! and they find it in experience.
Now, brethren, John in his Gospel, chap. xix. verse 16, he
subjoins, that Pilate delivered Jesus in the hands of the men of
war to be crucified, and that they received him, and led him to the
place of execution. But Matthew, as ye heard read, reports of
some things that intervened, and 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
disburdens himself, so he burdens 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 bound 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 ex-
onered himself, as he thought, (a vain thought, he was never quit of
L36 THE TWELFTH LECTURE.
it, nor never shall be,) when he thinks he is exonered, then he goes
quickly to work, then he begins to serve the foul and cruel appetite
of the Jews, he lets loose Barabbas, a foul murderer :' then, as
Luke 2 marks, he gives out the sentence of condemnation against the
innocent ; then 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 execu-
tion ; but to satisfy the maliciousness of their hearts, they led him
to the common hall again, and there misuse the Lord of glory ;
when all this was done, they lead him out to the place of exe-
cution.
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 tu-
mult 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
day's work, it shall be the dearest work that ever ye wrought ;
they say, " Let his blood be on us, and on our children." First,
Ave shall mark somewhat on the part of Pilate ; secondly, on the
pari of the high priests and the rest of the Jews. The history is
very plain. This miserable man, Pilate, hath fought on a reason-
able 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 bo 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 an-
* There is uracil confu Ion in the original. Here, every word is printed as it
stands there. The punctuation is depended '"> for indicating the author's meaning.
1 lie confusion is occasioned by the nieition of Lyke, and of particulars in Matthew
afterwards noted. i Luke xxiii. 24.
OF THE PASSION OF CIIRIST. 137
other 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 necessity will disburden them ;
this is the judgment of natural men ; but this is as true, whatever
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 not 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 ne-
cessity which is without the consent, and forces and compels 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 ex-
cuseth a man ; but as for that necessity, which, for fear of incon-
veniences and great dangers to follow, makes a man consent to an
evil action, it excuseth not. Some will say, " I was sore straited,
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 ; H but I say, that kind of ne-
cessity and compulsion that draws on an evil action upon thy con-
science shall never excuse thee ; albeit all the kings of the world
should threaten thee, and terrify thee with the fear of torture, and
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, and die ten thou-
sand 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,
! THE TWELFTH LECTURE.
when tliou 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 <>f Pilate testifieth that Jesus was innocent, he confesseth
that he was fjoins; 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 dur-
ing 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 midst, 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 him-
self; then, again, look to the end of this work, Avhen Jesus is lifted
on the cross, then the Father from the heaven testifies that he was
innocent, then the centurion with the burrio and 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, and
say, " Alas!" and so they had cause; so the innocency of Jesus Christ
is declared all this whole time out of the mouth of the judge him-
self, and 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 inno-
cently ; and this was to aggreadge 1 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 sa-
tisfaction is, bceause he suffered innocently, and had no sin in
himself, Hebrews vii. 26; and as Peter says, " he bare our sins," 3
because I am persuaded he bare my sins upon him, I believe in
1 i. c. Aggravate, increase. * 1 p e t. ii. 24.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 139
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, and to summon them before that terrible tribu-
nal. " See ye to it," says he, " I tell you, ye will give an account of
this day's work ;" so this is a citation of the Jews before that ter-
rible tribunal, and they have found it, and shall find it. No,
brethren, take heed, thou shalt never want summoning ; let
kings, and them who are in authority, cease to summon 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 Avaken the conscience of a Turk
or a Pagan, and he shall charge thee to appear before that ter-
rible tribunal. Thou thinkest when thou sleepest, and thy con-
science accuses thee not, that all is well ; no ; the Lord shall raise
up the conscience of a Pagan to summon thee, and I say to thee,
albeit thou thinkest thou art at rest, when thy conscience is sleep-
ing, and wilt spend thy time, thou wilt eat and drink, be merry,
and take thy pastime, yet it is one of the most heaviest judg-
ments that ever God laid on any ; and then, when he hath raised
the conscience of another man to warn thee, it is a sore warn-
ing, 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 see 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 1 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
and innocent one?" By the contrary, it had urged out another
1 i. e. Than.
140 THE TWELFTH LECTURE.
confession and sentence, " There is nothing but damnation for me,
for the condemning of the innocent." What should have been the
cause of this ? lie was but a silly, natural man, and his conscience
was wrong informed concerning that thing ; and he thought him-
self well enough, seeing he had striven so long, and yielded
through 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 aye 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 aye to
get a clear mind, and 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, and 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 that thou doest
well, when thou doest 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 upside 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
OAvn backs, and upon their posterity. If this exoneration of him-
self, when he disburdens 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, then they
had no sight of his innocency, neither were they touched therewith
in conscience ; and, therefore, like blinded bodies, seeing nothing,
with ;in 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 and without remorse in-
to 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
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 141
wicked courses, but that men want conscience, and their own cor-
ruption 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, blind-
folded, 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 Avith knowledge, which is most likely ; then
it follows that they were marvellous 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 foul spirit within him satisfied; but if
thou felt one twitch of hell, thou wouldst recant these words, for it
Avould cause thee shout and squeal hideously. And I incline to this
judgment, 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 a 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,
and goes against it maliciously. But, brethren, to speak the truth,
it was not so much malice that pushed him fin- ward, as great in-
firmity and fear ; for, first, he fears to be accused of treason against
Csesar ; it was no marvel to such a man to fear who had no God
142 THE TWELFTH LECTURE.
but Caesar ; then 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 contra-
vention 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 contravened a
heavenly light that came down from heaven, and was wrought into
their hearts by the Spirit. Stephen says, in the 7th chapter and
51st 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 natu-
ral 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, and, therefore, no
mercy to them, the Lord strikes their souls with impenitency ; so
that soul is everlastingly hardened ; and so being stricken 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 judgment overtook them, as
never lighted on any nation? The Jews found this innocent blood
in experience laid to their charge. Josephus, that siw all these
things with his eyes, writeth what heavy vengeance and judgment
fell upon Jerusalem and the Jews ; for he testifies, that there were
slain at the siege of Jerusalem eleven hundred thousand, besides
ninety thousand that were taken captives ; thereafter the town was
lamentably destroyed and sacked. So the blood of the innocent
never left them ; and these that remain yet feel the judgment of
the blood of the innocent; for, according as they desired that Lis
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 143
blood should be upon them and their posterity, so " the wrath of
God came upon them to the uttermost," 1 Thes. ii. 16. It is a
wonder that a Jew should be safe, and 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 ter-
rify to the end of the world all souls to take on the blood of
the innocent. Take on one, and take on all ; if thou takest on
the blood of one servant of God, thou shalt take on all the in-
nocent blood from Abel to that man Avhom thou hast slain.
Fy upon foul butchers ! who are more meet to be butchers' 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 ;
fy upon the butchers of Scotland ! No, if the Lord would waken
thy conscience to torment thee, and 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, and one
day fearfully without comfort it will torment thee. When will these
bloody men leave off the shedding of innocent blood, in this bloody
and barbarous nation ? Of all nations it is the most barbarous and
bloody. Above all things, dip not thine hands in the blood of Jesus
Christ. Thou who sheddest innocent blood, and art a persecutor 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 con-
sented 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, and hadst put hands on him, thou wantest nothing but time.
I will tell you who is it that sheds the blood of Jesus Christ, and
takes his blood on them ; whatever he or she be that will resist this
known truth of Jesus Christ, and persecute the professors thereof,
1 affirm they are as guilty of the blood of Christ as the Jews and 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 He-
brews, chap. vi. 4-6, and x. 29, of them who have repined, 1 and have
1 i, e. Fallen from their faith. From re and peyne, to forge ?
144 THE TWELFTH LECTURE.
begun to cast off that heavenly power, and so go like clogs to their
vomit, and spue out the light they had received, they are as guilty
of the blood of Christ as Pilate, and tramp the blood of the Cove-
nant 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 woo shall be heaped on
them, they shall be as guilty as Judas, or Pilate, or the Jews ; hasty
and sudden shall be their judgment, except the Lord prevent them
with repentance ; they and their posterity shall be cursed, and
underly a terrible vengeance ; woe to their friends who will join
with them ! Separate thee from them, as thou wouldst see salva-
tion. 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 repented 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 ;" 1 say, and if the devil get
thee not then, and thou be not thrust into hell, but gettest re-
pentance, it is a wonder. Such is the judgment 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 spakest to have no reversion, wilt thou, or wilt thou not ;
but like as thy foul mouth spake it, so thou shalt be given to the
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 115
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 disburthened himself, he sits down
and gives out sentence, and absolves a seditious vagabond, " He
letteth Barabbas loose unto them." Woe to them who will ab-
solve a seditious loon and a murderer ! The next thing is more
woeful, he begins 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, then 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. iv. 19, " After they once lost
feeling, they ran out to all wantonness, committing all uncleanness
with greediness." There was never any creature so greedy 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, and count it more precious than all things in the
world. Nothing can guard thy soul from Satan but the approba-
tion 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. Fy on these men who lie in such a sense-
lessness ; 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, chapter xv.
15, Pilate did this to gratify an evil people— he would not dis-
please the Jews. This is the common fashion of princes to seek
K
lib* THE TWELFTH LECTURE.
to be popular, to seek the favour of the people. Look 1 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 on 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, for evermore. Amen.
1 He means, *-' The love of popularity is not of itself evil, so thou look," &c.
I gather this from the Latin Commentary, which says, while noticing this desire of
popularity, — Quod equidem non prorsus damno, niodo id sincere ; sed hoc repre-
hendo, quod nimis avide captent quidem (quidam ?) gratiam perversse plebis, et id
quidem non sine malis quibusque mediis P. 939.
THE THIRTEENTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Matthew, Chap, xxvii.
27. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall,
and gathered about him the whole band.
28. And they stripped him, and put about him a scarlet robe,
29. And platted a crown of thorns, and put it upon his head, and a
reed in his right ha)id, and boiced their knees before him, and
mocked him, saying, God save the King of the Jews !
30. And spitted upon him, and took a reed and smote him on the head.
31. Thus when they had mocked him, they took the robe from him, and
put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.
32. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, named Simon,
him they compelled to bear his cross.
Mark, Chap. xv.
16. Then the soldiers led him aicay into the hall, tchich is the common
hall, and called together the ichole band,
17. And clad him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put
it about his head,
18. And began to salute him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews !
19. And they smote him on the head with a reed, and spat upon him,
and boiced the knees, and did him reverence.
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.
21. And they compelled one that passed by, called Simon of Cyrene,
(who came out of the country, and was father of Alexander and
Bafits,) to bear his cross.
148 THE THIRTEENTH LECTURE.
Luke, Chap, xxiii.
24. So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.
25. And he let loose 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.
26. And as they led him away, they caught one Simo7i of Cyrene coming
out of the field, and on him they laid the cross, to bear it after
Jesus.
27. And there followed him a great multitude of people, and of women,
ichich women bewailed and lamented him.
28. But Jesus turned back unto them, and said, Daughters of Jerusalem,
weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
29. For, behold, the days shall come when men shall say, Blessed are
the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps ichich
never gave suck.
30. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us ; and to
the hills, Cover us.
31. For if they do these things to a. green tree, what shall he done to
the dry V
We have heard, brethren, these days past, the whole accusa-
tion of Christ before the judge, and the Roman governor Pilate.
Last, we came to that woeful sentence of damnation pronounced
against this innocent. Now, Jesus being condemned to die, and
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, Ave
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 com-
mon hall, to a secret part thereof, and misuse him at their pleasure ;
1 The Latin Commentary takes this passage from Luke separately, and in
Matthew ipiotcs here only to the end of the 30th, in Mark, to the end of the 19th
verse.
OF THE PASSION OF CIIUIST. 1 -U>
therefore, we shall come to the leading of him out with the cross out
of the ports of Hierusalem, to that vile place where he should be cru-
cified. 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 inci-
dents that fell in by the way as they were leading him out ; the
one how he met with a man named Simon of Cyrerie, whom they
compelled to help him to bear his cross ; another, the multitude
that followed him ; and as all nations resorted to Hierusalem 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 con-
demned, " 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 cru-
cify him, than he was to deliver him. The lesson, brethren, is
very easy, and many experiences teach 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 exe-
cution ; 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 Ahimelech 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. xxii. 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 Zeruiah, are too strong for me," 2
Sam. iii. 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 rife, a wicked king shall
not want, but shall get moe than he desires. The devil hath many
] 50 THE THIRTEENTH LECTURE.
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 were in preparation, and whilst all things were making
ready, in the meantime, 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 use
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
clothe him with purple, and they put a reed in his hand, and they
kneel before him, and mock the King of glory, saying, Hail, King
of the Jews ! then they take the reed and strike him with it, and
in despite spit on his face ;" when they had 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 be-
fore he die against the terrors 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 breathe, 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 child-
ren 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
OP THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 151
the truth will never be satiate, there is no satiety of the malice of
the heart 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 that because he bare 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 ai'dently. After he was once de-
livered into the hands of these hangmen, wrath begins so to be
poured forth on him from heaven, that he got no rest till he was
crucified and 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 hia
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 pas-
time 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 no 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, and to lurk under his suf-
fering. When they have used him so unworthily within the com-
mon hall, and when all is made ready, " then they lead out Jesus,"
and carry him out of the ports of Hierusalem 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 forbid but that we should think that J. mis
Christ suffered willingly. No, brethren, in this example of Jesus
152 THE THIRTEENTH LECTURE.
Christ the innocent, and that his willing going to death, we see that
it is the innocent Avho 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
know 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 cow 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 those who die in the in-
nocency 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 Avas after the manner of the Romans, that the man whom they
condemned to die this death, they commanded to bear his cross,
and therefoi*e 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 re-
turning from the country to Ilierusalem ; they meet the poor man,
and " compel 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 fore-
most 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 pass, became Christ Jesus was faint, weak, and
wearied under the burden; and no wonder — he was a man, lie
took on our nature, and all the infirmities thereof, that we might
OP THE PASSION OP CHUlS'f. 153
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 follow-
ing, from the morning to the noon-tide, 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 Hierusalem ; and as the Apostle to the Hebrews,
chap. xiii. 13, says, " Go forth of the camp 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 him, as Paul says to the
Galatians, chap. iii. 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 ; and whosoever thou be that shalt not
join with this man who is accursed, I give thee this doom, Cursed
shalt thou be everlastingly, vengeance and 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, and follow
him out of the ports of Hierusalem to bear his shame, that Ave 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 23d chapter of Luke. As he goes to
the place of execution, it is said "that the multitude followed liim."
This multitude was not only of the .lews, but also of all nations
who resorted to Hierusalem at the time of the passover. Now,
134 THE THIRTEENTH LECTURE.
this multitude followed to see what should become of him, as
men who are inclined to see wonders. See 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 mul-
titude, 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 pub-
licly before the great judge who repi-esented Cresar'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 w r ord, the Father Avould have the Son who
became surety for us to die, and not only to die, but also to be
pined, 1 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 and
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 lour 2 under his passion?
I promise thee that thou shalt never come to an open shame ; it
may 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
' i. e. Tortured.
* So in the original ; a misprint, I think, for loun, to be calm, or cour, cower, to
take shelter.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 1 55
Jesus, thou shalt be rooted 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 poured 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 judg-
ment.
Now, to come to these women. Amongst the rest there follow
him certain women out of Hierusalem ; there is a great difference
between them and the multitude. Women oftimes shame men ; the
soldiers pity 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 Hierusalem 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 ; and, as he was
giving out the sentence against him, he both by deed, in washing
of his hnnds, and 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 peni-
tent, 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 goto destruction. And when thou art going to hell, thy
father nor thy mother shall not weep nor lament for it, but shall
rejoice and approve God's judgment. 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
1")0 TlIE THIRTEENTH LECTUliE.
shoulder, and, beholding them, he stands and speaks : " Daughters
of Hierusalem, 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 and terrible judgment which should overtake
Hierusalem, 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
bare, 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 Hierusalem, he understands and
adumbrates that terrible judgment and wrath in the latter day, and
that great destruction that remains for the wicked ; and he con-
firms this judgment, which he threatens, by an argument taken
from the greatest to the smallest, " If they do so to a green 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, be-
cause 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 1 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 and sin, which brought him to
such a misery. The Lord would have the women considering
1 Pain, d'sploasure ?
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. lo7
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 1 says out of Zechariah, " 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, there-
fore, thine eye so much on Pilate, Herod, 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 through. 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 weep-
ing be 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 in-
structs 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, 2 " Blessed are they that mourn ; for they shall be comforted."
And " God dwells in a contrite heart," Isaiah lxvi. 2 ; Psalm li.
17. 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. No-
thingbecometh 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 wanton-
ness, 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, then
the Lord is mighty to raise thee up, and to comfort thee. The
i Revel, i. 7. ! Matth. v. 4.
158 THE THIRTEENTH LECTUKE.
Lord, therefore, give us grace, when we look to the death and pas-
sion 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 FOURTEENTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Matthew, Chap, xxvii.
33. And token they came unto ike place called Golgotha, (that is to say,
The place of dead mens skulls,)
34. They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall ; and when he
had tasted thereof, he tvould not drink.
Mark, Chap. xv.
22. And they brought him to a place named Golgotha, which is, by in~
terpretation, The place of dead men's skidls.
23. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh ; but he re-
ceived it not.
Luke, Chap, xxiii.
32. And there were two others, which icere evil-doers, led with him to be
slain.
John, Chap. xix.
17. And he bare his own cross, and came into a place named of dead
men's skidls, which is called, in Hebrew, Golgotha?
Now, ye have heard, brethren, of the accusation of Christ before
1 The Latin Commentary takes up the verse of Luke by itself. To the other
verses given here, it adds the 33d verse of Luke, and the 18th of John, mentioning
the actual crucifixion.
loO THE FOURTEENTH LECTURE,
the judge, Pontius Pilate, and of his condemnation out of the
mouth of the judge, Pilate, and then we heard, that after the sen-
tence 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 hiin. 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 day's 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 and 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 execu-
tion 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.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 161
he suffered extreme shame; as we say, he was shamed and schent. 1
I showed to you that shame followed always upon sin. Jesus
Christ took upon him the sins of the world, and, therefore, he be-
hoved 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 re-
spect 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 dis-
poser of this whole work. There was nothing done but that which
God the Father had decreed to be done ; and what he does concern-
ing his Son, he does it most justly ;" for Jesus became surety for
the sins of the world, and he bare 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 bare the burden of one of them, and re-
lieved him of his sins ; and the one of them that same night sup-
ped 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 its 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 Hierusalem. And no question,
Jesus, like an unworthy reprobate, was carried out of the porta of
Hierusalem 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 Avere burnt, and afterwards their blood was car-
ried into the sanctuary, to be a typical propitiation for the sins of
1 *'. e. Utterly degraded.
162 THE FOURTEENTH LECTURE.
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 pro-
pitiation, Heb. Chap. xiii. verses 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
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 and 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 w T ere executed might be a spectacle to the
people to be wondered at ; and, therefore, in respect of the shape, it
was called Calvary, 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 knoll, like a dead man's skull, where the Lord
Jesus was crucified beside Jerusalem. But, however 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 stinkcd, 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 nostrils 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
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 1G3
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. As soon so ever 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 ascen-
sion, 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 ministry 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 re-
spect 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 buren 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 a heavy burden of wrath
for thy sins ? But, brethren, the thing that appertains to us con-
cerning the place of execution is this : all this process and judg-
ment is a type of that great and terrible judgment of the world in
that great day ; and ye shall see that visible judgment to be like
this judgment that was holden on Jesus. He suffers like a repro-
bate, and is judged; and that same thing that Jesus suffered tem-
porally, 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
164 THE FOURTEENTH LECTURE.
ye will, for whosoever he be that shall not be saved in Jesus in
that day, besides 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 shalt 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 schent whosoever shalt be
cast into it. And by the contrary, in that great day of judgment,
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 pleasantest place that ever was, and
those that shall come to heaven, besides 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 ; besides the pain, he had an extreme thirst, and being
thirsty, " He desired to drink." He was a wearied man, for lie
was holden all the Avhole 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 St
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 think this Avas 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 ; lor 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
OF THE PASSION OF CIIIEIST. 165
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 1 think again that this drink was not given to hasten
his death ; and I think that this sour and 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 Psalm lxix. 22, 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 judgment is a type of the latter judgment
— 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 re-
probate 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 drought and hotness in the soul and body that
ever was. Thou shalt drink the cup of the bitter wrath of God
for ever and ever. " Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for
righteousness ; they shall be filled," says Christ. 1 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 bare 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
' Matth. v. 6.
1GG THE FOURTEENTH LECTURE.
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 ever-
more ; 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 ; u 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 nail him with nails ; and this is complained
of before, " They pierced through mine hands and my feet," Psalm
xxii. 17.* And now being nailed on the cross, it cometh to pass, as
Paul says in the Epistle to the Galatians, chap. iii. 13, "lie
is become a curse for us, that we should become the blessing of
God in him." 2 Not that Jesus began then to be accursed of the
Father, when he hung 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 Avickcd man will seem to be blessed, and to prosper, and
who Avill 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
1 Verse 16 of our version.
i Tliis passage from Calatiar.s is blended with 2 Cor, v. 21,
OF THE PASSION OF CHKIST. 1G7
miserable death, when the miserable death appears, then 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 ;
then 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, aud be not covered with his
cross, then 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 and odious kind of death, to a man to be taken
quick, and nailed quick on the cross ; and no doubt he hung 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, and 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 racks, or burnt,
they shall never die a cursed death ; their death is a sweet death,
and all the joy 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 there-
fore 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 1 everlastingly, or else thou must have thy sins cru-
cified on the cross of Jesus Christ, and be partaker of his death ;
1 A literal translation of the Commentary; Oportet enim crucifigi in inferis illo
die et in illo judicio nos ipsos, nisi jam ante cum Christo peccatum nostrum cruci-
fi >. u m f u er it — P. 95 1 .
1G8 THE FOURTEENTH LECTURE.
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 through 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 Avith Jesus
Christ ; and if thou livest in wantonness, and gettest no mortifica-
tion, thou shalt be crucified in the hell, yea, though thou were a
king. Our lords and gentlemen will pass their time ; but I de-
nounce, albeit thou be an emperor, thou shalt be tormented, and
consumed away by that eternal Avrath of God in hell. Go on thy
ways. O ! the woi'ld is sleeping ! Shall they never know what
they are adoing ? what are these oppressors doing ? these mur-
derers 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 1 to scare 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 St 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, betAvixt the sentence of condemnation and
execution there passed not an hour, for there was a malicious ear-
nestness to hasten him to the cross, neither would they give him
leisure to draAv his breath. This lets us see the fierceness of the
wrath of the Father when he judges sin. After that he A\ r as once
condemned, he got no rest, but Avas hastened to the place of exe-
cution to suffer pain and shame. Look still to the ground. This
judgment is the type of the latter judgment ; if the sentence of
' i. e. A bugbear.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 169
condemnation be passed, immediately thou shalt be pulled away
(look to it as ye Avill) 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. 1
1 The editors here omit an attempt on the part of our author, in the original
Commentary, to reconcile the statement by Mark, (xv. 25,) that the crucifixion took
place at the third hour, and that of John, that Filate took his seat previously to the
final sentence, about the sixth hour. This is not the place to discuss the harmony of
the two gospels. But I may state, that our author, following previous writers, in the
Latin Commentary, seems to mean — I do not know on what authority, though it b
assumed to be a usual thing — that Mark divides the day into four parts ; the first
from six to nine in the morning, called the first hour ; the second from nine to noon,
called by Mark, he says, the third hour, from the hour at which the part or
quarter (quadrons, he terms it) commenced, calculating from sun-rise; the third
from noon till three in the afternoon, called, from a similar i*eason, the sixth hour,
(Mark xv. 33 :) and the fourth from three to six, called similarly the ninth hour,
(Mark xv. 34.) This would make John's account of the period of sentence, viz.
about the sixth hour, or noon, agree with Mark's account of the period of cruci-
fixion, the third hour or second quarter of the day, if nearly completed, the execution
following immediately on the condemnation, fne editors have adopted this hypo-
thesis without explanation. Nor do I wonder at this. Not only might the discus-
sion he unprofitable in lectures like these, but the original, from some strange blun-
der, is, as it stands, utterly unintelligible. I shall give the faulty portion of the
original, and place within brackets the words which I conceive to be wanting to
complete the sense. Our author has defined the first and second quarters of the
day, and he goes on thus : — Tertium quadrantem ab hora sexta exclusive numera-
runt in horam [nonam inclusive, et sextam ab hora sexta vocarunt. Quartum qua-
drantem ab hora nona exclusive numerarunt in horam] duodecimam inclusive, et
nonam dixerunt. — P. 951.
THE FIFTEENTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxvii.
35. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, and did
cast lots, that it might be fulfilled vsliich was spoken by the pro-
phet, They divided my garments among them, and upon my ves-
ture did cast lots.
36. And they sat and watched him there.
37. They set up also over his head his cause written, This is Jesus,
the King of the Jews.
38. And there icere two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand,
and another on the left.
Mark, Chap. xy.
24. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, catling
lots for them, what every man shoxdd have.
25. And it was the third hour when they crucified him.
26. And the title of his cause teas written above, That King of the
Jews.
L ; 7. They crucified also with him two thieves, the one on the right hand,
and the other on his left.
28. Thus the Scripture teas fulfilled, which saith, And he teas counted
among the icicked.
Lure, Chap, xxiii.
33. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, tht re
they crucified him and the evil-doers ; one at the right hand, and
the other at the left.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 171
34. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them : for they know not what
they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
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.
3G. The soldiers also mocked him, and came and offered him vinegar,
37. And said, If thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself
38. And a superscription teas also written over him, in Greek letters,
and in Latin, and in Hebrew, Tnis is that King of the
Jews.
John, Chap. xix.
18. Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one,
and Jesus in the midst.
19. And Pilate tcrote also a title, and put it on the cross, and it teas
toritten, Jesus op Nazareth, the King of the Jews.
20. This title then read many of the Jews : for the place tchere Jesus
ivas crucified was near to the city : and it was written in He-
brew, Greek, and Latin.
21. Then said the high priest of the Jews to Pilate, Write not the King
of the Jeics, but that he said, I am King of the Jews.
22. 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 spake
something of his crucifying, and last, we spake 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 reckon-
ing, and our fashion of dividing of the day, fell about the twelfth
hour of the day, which manifests a very hasty dispatch, and a short
space betwixt the doom and the execution. Yea, all this matter was
very hastily dispatched, for he Avas taken in the night, in the
1 In the Latin Commentary, Mark xv. 25, is considered by itself, then Luke xxm.
"A. and then Matth. xxvii. 35-44, Mark xv. 26-32, Luke xxiii. 34-(Iatter pari
John xix. 1S-24, are taken up together.
172 THE FIFTEENTH LECTURE.
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 o'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 be-
fore 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 judgment we may see the swiftness of the wrath
of the Father which pursued the Son, because he bare the sins of
the world. It lets us see plainly, that the judgment that shall be
in the latter day, to the which this is proportionate, (it is a type
of the latter judgment,) that judgment also, I say, shall pass over
swiftly, and the reprobate in that judgment, when the Lord is
once entered into judgment, shall not get leave nor leisure to draw
their breath till they be cast into hell. And after that the ter-
rible Judge shall once enter into accompt with them, and give out
that sentence, " Depart from me, ye cursed of my Father, with the
devil and his angels," 1 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 repro-
bate in that great day ?
Then come to the text which we have read, and to go for-
wards 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 space 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
1 Matth. xxv. 41.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 173
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, and 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 be-
tween 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, giving out thereby
to be understood by all the world who looked on him — and there
was a huge multitude of Jews, Romans, and Gentiles, looking
on — that of all malefactors he was the greatest. Brethren, 1 see
this through all the history of the passion of Jesus Christ, ever his
dolor increases, till it come to the end and 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 Avorld — to let you see, that as the pain of the reprobate shall
be extreme, so the shame 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 these men, Pilate,
Herod, the men of war, and the high priests, they are like as many
burrios 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 bare an extreme burden 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 and pain than ever murderer did or malefactor, yet it follows
174 THE FIFTEENTH LECTURE.
not, that their sin Avas greater than the sin of them who suffer not
so great pain. Why ? The martyrs suffered not for sin, non eo
nomine. 1 Never a martyr suffered for sin, but for the testimony of
the same Lord Jesus Christ who suffered for their sin ; and, there-
fore, 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 ; 2
it is one thing to a sinner to suffer, and it is another thing to suf-
fer 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 bare an extreme burden of sin. When I look to this utter
shame, as I call to mind all the sins that Jesus suffered for, so
chiefly 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 Ave 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, renders, 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, besides that unspeakable torment of soul and body.
Now, will ye see in this extreme pain and shame that the Lord
suffers, how the wonder of our salvation is wrought ? It is so far
from that, that it isAvrought Avith a glorious pomp ; — (the JcavsavouIJ
have had this work wrought gloriously, and Avould 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 ; Ave are redeemed from death and shame by death
1 Not on that account ; i. e. The sufferings of the martyrs were not occasioned by
their misdeeds as sinners.
2 On that account : i c Christ suffered as a sinner.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 175
and shame ; such a redemption 1 cannot stand with his justice ; his
justice requires blood, Heb. ix. 22, " No remission 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 Ave
must look to Hierusalem 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,
thcu 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
may be glorified with him.
To go forward, Luke, in his 23 chapter, verse 34, marks a cir-
cumstance 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
through 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. ii. verse 23, says
of him, " When he was reviled, he reviled not again." He ren-
dered none evil words again ; when he suffered, he threatened not
again, but committed it unto him who judges righteously. When
they were nailing him on the cross, and scorning him on it, he
showed not an angry countenance ; he committed the vengeance
to God. In these words he would let you see a marvellous meek-
ness 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. 2 He lets us see that the Lord Jesus not only recompensed
evil with evil, 3 but he rewarded good for evil ; and whilst they tor-
ment 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
bare to his enemies. It is a wonderful thing to see any in torment
to be patient towards the tormentor, but it is greater in the tor-
. ' i. e. As the first, by glory and pomp.
2 i e. Luke goes somewhat further than Peter.
3 An evident mistake for, " not only did not recompense."
176 THE FIFTEENTH LECTURE.
ment, both to be patient, and to pray to God for him who torments
him : and this is the greatest of all, to suffer for the tormentor.
This love properly pertains to Jesus Christ only. The martyrs
have prayed for them who persecuted them, as Stephen did, Acts,
chapter vii. verse 60, " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge ;"
but neither Stephen, nor any other martyr in the earth, suffered ex-
treme torment for the tormentor. Never a man had such a love
to suffer for his tormentor. 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 tormentors.
These last words of that place of Peter, 1 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 pa-
tience 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 patient 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 patient, but are aye
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 ; 2 ) — it is impossible, I say, that these men cannot have God
before their eyes ; they look not to God, because, in suffering inju-
ries, 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
1 1 Pet. ii. '23, already quoted in part. In the original there is no word corre-
sponding to vengeance ; •zrcc(>iZioov Be t<sj h^Iuouti "hix.oe.lug. See the authorised ver-
sion and marginal reading.
2 A colloquial expression, meaning, " he has suffered a greater injury than he has
inflicted."
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 177
Luke says, " He prayed for them ?" How can these two stand, To
commit the vengeance to God, and to pray for thine enemies ? I an-
swer, These things are different, to commit vengeance to God, to
commit a wicked man to his own judge — and to beg a vengeance
to 1 a wicked man. Jesus gave them over to their own judge, and
gave the judgment to God : he begged not vengeance on them :
he prays for them to his Father, that he would forgive them. 2
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, Pharisees,
and priests, who did this, not so much of ignorance as of malice ;
for in the xvii. 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, Acts, chapter ii.
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 aorain, 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. ii. 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 sorts of sinners, and two sorts of sinning.
There are some malicious sinners ; woe to those ! some are igno-
rant. Some sin of knowledge ; yea, the malice of the heart draws
them to a mischief ; and some, because they know no better, be-
ing wrong informed. No doubt, many of this multitude thought
1 i. e. On.
2 The Latin Commentary is clearer. Potest enim, &c. For a man, while com-
mitting vengeance to God, as Judge, may, all the while, pray him not to exercise
avenging justice. — P- 9oo.
M
178 THE FIFTEENTH LECTURE.
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 deserve not death,") — yet it is
not so evil as malice, for whereas malice provokes the wrath and
judgment of the judge ; for it is a terrible thing to have a 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 perse-
cuted 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 we
have to do with malicious persons, patience is required ; but if we
have to do with ignorant bodies, then not only patience is required,
but also truth and love. Wouldst thou have patience ? then com-
mit vengeance unto him who judges justly ; for if thou wouldest
be patient, 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 patient, 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, Winded
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
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 179
be written on the cross, bearing the crime 1 and cause of his death.
It is said that Pilate, the judge, " Writeth a title to be fixed on
the cross ; and he writeth it in Hebrew, and in Greek, and in La-
tin," to the end that men of all languages might read it, and un-
derstand 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, and Romans.
There is no question but this was written according to the fashion
of that time ; for among the people of God both the judgments
and also the punishments, with inscriptions containing the cause
thereof, used to be published. And this was a commendable and
allowable custom, that when a man was condemned to die they al-
ways 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, and went not into a corner to judge him, but
in the presence of the whole people they led him out of the ports
of Hierusalem to execute him. Read of this custom, Joshua,
chapter vii. verse 19, of Achan, who stole the Babylonian's garment,
how he was judged of the whole people. Read of that blasphemer
in the wilderness, Levit. xxiv. 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 xiv. verse 45. As the judgment 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 on 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
1 A verbal translation of crimen in the Latin Commentary, which, doubtless, our
author meant in the classical sense of charge, ground of accusation. The Commen-
tary has — Pilatus igitur curat scribendum tituUim, continentem in se eausam ciuci-
fixionis, sive c/imen. — P. 959.
180 THE FIFTEENTH LECTUKE.
of the judge ; but if there be good justice, the judgment must be
before the people. The people have their own right and interest in
judgment-seats.
Ye know in that great judgment 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, 1 interest in earthly judgments, to see good ad-
ministration of justice and judgment, and that the judge use no
tyranny. This, then, 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 ma-
licious 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 in
special, 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 Colossians, ii. 15. More than this :
the Lord did it to this end, to foreshadow that the preaching of
the kingdom of Jesus Christ, to follow on his ascension, should be
1 i. r. The best part of the people.
OF THE PASSION OF CIIRIST. 181
to all nations, kingdoms, and languages ; for immediately alter
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. xi. 50. And this
is clone by the special providence of God, no doubt. The con-
stancy 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 Kino; f 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 pen of him so, that he had no
power to do otherwise, to testify that it was of that eternal decree.
And this is that decree whereof we read, Psalm ii. 7, " I will declare
the decree, that is, The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son,"
&c. 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 Jews 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 SIXTEENTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxvii.
39. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
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.
4 1 . Likewise also the high priests, mocking him, with the scribes, and
elders, and Pharisees, said,
42. He saved others, but he cannot save himself ; if he be the King of
Israel, let him now come doivn from the cross, and we icill believe
in him.
43. He trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he icill have him ; for
he said, I am the Son of God.
44. The selfsame thing also the thieves which xcere crucified xcith him
cast in his teeth.
Mark, Chap. xv.
29. And they that went by railed on him, wagging their heads, and
saying, Ha, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in
three days,
30. Sace thyself, and come down from the cross.
31 . Likewise also, ever, the high priests, mocking, said among themselves,
with the scribes, He saved other men, himself he cannot save.
3-J. Ijct 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.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 183
Luke, Chap, xxiii.
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.
36. The soldiers also mocked him, and came and offered him vinegar,
37. And said, If thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself.
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.
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.
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 annoyance 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 con-
demned, 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 middest, as if he had been the greatest of all. Then
there is not a rank of persons amongst them, but every one begins
to rail upon him, and shame him. And, first, to begin at Pilate,
he begins and shames him ; for he writes an inscription concern-
ing treason against the majesty of Ca3sar, and affixes it on the
cross where he hung, " This is the King of the Jews." Howbeit,
184 THE SIXTEENTH LECTURE.
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, be-
cause 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 come 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 come 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 come there the princes of the Jews, the scribes, the high
priests, and Pharisees, and they taunt him also, saying, " Thou who
savest others, save thyself." And after them come 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 Jews, save thyself, and come down from the cross." And
last, one of the thieves who was hanged with him falls out in rail-
ing, " 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 sewed, 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,
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 185
(Psalm xxii. 19, 1 ) 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 counsel of God. To examine this fact better ; first, they
do him wrong in spoiling the Lord Jesus of his own goods ; (how-
soever 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, for here I look not so much to
these executioners in parting of these garments, as to that hea-
venly Judge his Father, and to his justice in this matter; for what-
soever be their part, and how unjust soever they be, that heaven-
ly 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 clad 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 then we would not run on so wantonly 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 brat 2 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 be reaved and spoiled of his clothes, let him take it
to be of the just judgment of God, whatsoever be man's part
1 18th of our Version. 2 i. e. Coarse clothing.
18G THE SIXTEENTH LECTURE.
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 judg-
ment of Jesus Christ is the image and figure of the latter judg-
ment ; for such process as is used here shall be used in the latter
judgment. Then, I say, it tells us, that in that latter day a repro-
bate and sinner, who shall not be found in Jesus Christ, shall be
deprived and spoiled of all the creatures made for the use and or-
nament of man, and there shall never a one of them be left him,
neither shall he have so much 1 a foot-breadth of earth, or the mean-
est 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, 2 by the
contrary, they avIio 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 a new earth, to reign with
their head and Lord, Jesus Christ, for evermore. Ye see, then,
what happiness 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 througb his nakedness herein also is just ; he was clad
on the cross with our sins. It tells us this, that among all the punish-
ments of sin, this is one, to wit, nakedness ; to set the body naked
in the sight of the world. Ye read in Isaiah iii. 17, where the
sinful women arc threatened for their pride, that " the Lord Je-
hovah 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 naSh and angels with naked bodies, that their
shame may be seen, and they shall cry, to hide their shame, on
the mountains to cover them, and on the hills to fall on them.
1 A?, evidently omitted. - i. e . "Whereas.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 187
Now, last, to speak of that despite he suffered ; they part his gar-
ments before him in despite of him ; they go not to a back side 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, bare this
punishment of contempt upon the cross. Then if contempt be
done unto thee, who art a sinner, and not in Jesus Christ, not
clad with his justice, in respect of God, it is due justice if thy
goods be taken and pulled from thine eyes, if thy sons be slain in
despite of thee, or thy virgins deflowered, thyself looking on, take it
for the just judgment 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 dis-
dained, 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 hangmen, and after their de-
spite, follows the part of the people who gazed on him, they
begin and "wag their heads." David foretels of that in the
22d Psalm, verse 7, " They had me in derision, and made a
mow, 1 and nod their heads," and they said, u Is this the man
who said he would destroy the glorious temple of Hierusalem,
and build it after in three days ? Come down from the cross,
and save thyself." They mistook the Lord, for the Lord un-
derstood 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
1 i. e. A grimace in mocker}'
188 THE SIXTEENTH LECTURE.
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, Pharisees," 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, and in derision u 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, lastly,
one of the thieves railed on him, to wit, he that hung at his left
hand, saying, " So like as 1 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 ge-
neral, as the Lord shall offer.
In all this vailing out against him, ye see the extreme humilia-
tion of Jesus Christ for our sins. He is made of no reputation ; no,
he is trod 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 despair 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 xxii. Psalm. All this lets us see how dearly the Lord
hath bought our life and salvation ; and we are more than miser-
able 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 be-
come 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 shouldst have a
sad heart to have such a Redeemer made such a spectacle, and
thou shouldst groan under the burden of sin; and when thou
readest of the cross, thine heart should be sorrowful that ever thou
1 i.e. How probable it is!
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 189
shouldst 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 bur-
den of their own sins, by the which they have pierced him, and
turn to the Lord unfeignedly, and get favour. So, if thou learn-
est 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 1 him hano-inp- 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 despair, 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 bare 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 shall be con-
demned, their sin, which was the cause of their death, shall ever be
1 i. c. To hold, keep.
190 THE SIXTEENTH LECTURE.
had in memory ; but if once thou goest to hell, the remembrance of
thy sin shall never be buried, but thy verdict shall be cast in thy
teeth, and thy conscience shall taunt thee, and shall say to thee,
" Murderer, thou delightedst in murder, now go to murder, now free
thyself out of hell if thou canst ;" and to them who followed harlots,
" Thou delightedst in harlotry, and in offending of God ; thou, who
couldst not be satisfied in pleasuring thy foul lusts, now satisfy thy-
self with these extreme torments ; now go to thy harlotry — let see ;"
and to the blasphemer, " Thou delightedst in blaspheming of God,
now let see if thou dare blaspheme ; go thy way now and blas-
pheme ;" and to the idolater, " Thou delightedst in worshipping
of idols, and leftest the worshipping of the true God, now, go thy
way to idolatry," &c. Now, would to God the world could think
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 hang-
ing on. They thought, that seeing Jesus Avas crucified, it was im-
possible 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 ; and blessed are they who will
not take offence at the cross of Christ. Look how they are de-
ceived in their judgments, 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 then he was offering that sacrifice of his body
to the Father ; and was he not by the cross purchasing to him-
self 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 THE PASSION OF CIIR1ST. 191
of them ; for he had a battle with the devils on the cross, and
triumphed over them all, Col. ii. 15. This same blindness of the
world remains still in it ; for when the world sees a body under af-
fliction, in poverty, burnt or martyred for Christ's sake, then 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, through mani-
fold 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 through hell ere we come to heaven. Our
redemption is wrought by the cross ; thou shalt not come to hea-
ven but by the cross. The ground of all is sin ; but, alas ! the
world sees it not. The word Avill teach thee that there is no other
way to come to heaven but by affliction ; and it will 1 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 spe-
cial 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 sanc-
tified 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
1 Teach lias been accidentally omitted.
192 THE SIXTEENTH LECTURE.
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 merci-
ful 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 blas-
phemer of that Majesty ; and Avhen I look on it, I see in him
the image of the death of the reprobate, Avhen they are dying and
changing this life. The Lord give us grace to die well ! The re-
probate shall think, that in their doing, 1 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 imme-
diately shall cast himself into hell and damnation. We read of Sha-
drach, Meshach, and Abednego, that they were so far from this
blasphemy, chat when the tyrant falls out in blasphemy they meet,
him, and say, " Our God is almighty, and he hath power to deli-
ver us if he please." 2 Never come thou to despair, though thou
shouldst die ten thousand deaths, but sleep in his bosom, and hang
on him, and save his honour, and think not that which may dero-
gate his honour, and say, " Though thou shouldst slay me, Lord,
yet will I trust in thee," 3 and so die sweetly, resting in his arms.
Well, I see this hath been a miserable body, and hath died miser-
ably, blaspheming the God of glory ; and this is even as the re-
probate shall do at the latter judgment. And yet when I compare
him with the Pharisees 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
1 Dying- ? * Dan. iii. 17. 3 Job xiii. 15.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 193
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 blas-
phemest him so, it were well done that thy mouth were sewed 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 acknow-
ledge 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.
N
THE SEVENTEENTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Luke, Chap, xxiii.
40. But the other answered, and rebuked him, saying, Fearest thou not
God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation ?
41. We are indeed righteously here ; for we receive things vjorthy of
that we have done : but this man hath done nothing amiss.
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 blas-
phemies that the Lord Jesus suffered of all ranks and estates of
persons, whilst he hung on the cross naked, living in torment.
Pilate began, and fixed on the cross an ignominous 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 come
on the people, with their part, and rail upon him, and blaspheme him,
saying, u Now, if thou be that Christ, come down and save thy-
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 195
self." 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 thy-
self, 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 a-dying as
well as we, and art neither able to save thyself nor us, and there-
fore 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 spake 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, perceiv-
ing the other thief his companion to blaspheme God, the first ac-
tion that he does, he defends the honour of the Lord against the
other thief, and rebukes him ; and after that, gives a free confes-
sion 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, fy on thee ! See-
ing thou hangest 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, and chiefly 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, then it is time to be
humble and to fear the Lord, and that terrible judgment wherein
thou must stand immediately after this life ; and if there appear
106 THE SEVENTEENTH LECTURE.
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 crea-
ture, 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 aye 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 and 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 burned than
thou by nature. So, we being by nature like as many rotten sticks,
albeit we wore 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. Fy on nature ! If thou
wert a prince, thou shalt go to hell, if thou have no more but na-
ture, 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 gloiy 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 dis-
cerneth thee ? B1 saith Paul. Not nature ; they were alike in na-
ture, 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 fulness he pours out one drop
of his grace ; he gives none to the other.
" I Cor. ir. 7
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 197
Learn this, that all troubles and afflictions, crosses, and all the
torments in the world, shall never make thee Letter ; all the tor-
ments 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 despair, but no good sap, as faith or re-
pentance, except thou get it of the fulness of Jesus Christ. And,
therefore, my counsel is, when thou feelest the hand of the Lord
on thee, and 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 dost as the evil thief did, I say
thou hast no fear of God ; and 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 ; a heart with-
out pity shall never be pitied, nor never shall see life.
Now, to go forward, when he hath said, " Thou art in like dam-
nation," 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 and thou are justly in this common condemnation, but this man
hath done nothing amiss ; this railing and pain this man de-
merits not." Yet if ye will weigh the words narrowly, we shall see
other two 1 arguments whereby he rebukes this blasphemous com-
panion. The first is, from their merits ; the second, from the in-
nocency of Christ. The first ; " Thou mesritest this torment, and
therefore should not thy merit work a fear of God, and a fear of a
heavier judgment?" Lord, save us from the merit 2 of sin ! When a
1 Besides the argument from fear and compassion proper to their common situa-
tion. 2 From meritum, desert.
198 THE SEVENTEENTH LECTURE.
man is in torment, and chiefly 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 damna-
tion 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 con-
science of the merit of sin is not given to every man ; we are all
sinners, and merit 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 want it. It is a pity to see how many die
without sense, like dogs ; and then if it fall so that one get the con-
science 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 teiTor and a servile feai*. So thou
shalt die like a vile slave in damnation. So the conscience of this
thiePs merit makes him to fear God, and 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 flowed 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 shouldst,
either with the feeling of thy sin and misery, or vet of mercy, ex-
cept that thou sweetly turn thee to the cross of Christ, and say,
u Lord, I feel neither sense of my merit, and what my sin deserves,
nor of mercy ; Lord, therefore give me it ; then 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 witnesses the inward conversion to Jesus Christ;
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 199
for, when the heart of a sinner is turned to Jesus Christ, it will
taste 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 sweet-
ness 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 hidden
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 in-
nocently should not be railed upon ; the Lord keep our mouths
from railing on them ; if thy conscience tell thee of their inno-
cency, revile them not. And 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 suf-
fers, 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 exempt and free him from civil punishment ; — but be-
ware thou rail on him ; surely thy mouth should be stopped to
rail out on him. God forbid that an evil word be spoken out
against him as a reprobate, whom the Lord Jesus counts inno-
cent in his blood ; for this railing testifies that thou countest that
200 THE SEVENTEENTH LECTURE.
man as a reprobate, and that is too sore a judgment thou takest 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 com-
ing to suffer, the poor women follow and testify ; 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 w T ell, 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. vii. 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 arc marvellous; and ye shall see them the more marvelluus,
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 marvellous. If this man had been
trained up in the school of Christ any space of time, it had been
less marvellous ; but being trained up in a den of thieves, where
be had lost all kind of equity and naturality ; where he had lived
OF THE TASSION OF CHRIST. 201
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 a foul heart,
to get faith and seek mercy so suddenly in a moment ; such sudden
mutation is more than marvellous 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 through that body to his 1 kingdom, and to that eternal life,
then this doing had been less marvellous ; but being nailed quick
on the cross, in such extreme pain, that might have occupied all
his senses ; and when he is looking 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 leaped out of the lowest hell to the high-
est 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, w r hich, no question, was more griev-
ous 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 w T as hanging in a
worse state than himself, and to have pierced through, and seen
through 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
1 The difference between the looseness of style in these Lectures, and the accuracy
of the Commentary, may be shown by a comparison between the two in this passage.
His has an apparent reference to the thief, in reality to Christ. In the Commentary
the sentiment is expressed thus : — Quod si turn corpore liber fuisset, ita ut posset
secure aliquo modo Christum, ipsiusque regnum, vitam etiam alteram intueri, res
sese tarn admiranda non offerret. — P. 970.
202 THE SEVENTEENTH LECTURE.
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 marvel-
lous. 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 glori-
fied 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. i. 27, Paul says,
"Godwill 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 repent-
ance, 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 1 thy damna-
tion ; and he shall say, " I went, to teach the infidels, on the cross
with thee, and they heard it, and believed not, Lord, let their damna-
tion 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 ever-
more. Amen.
1 i. e. To increase.
THE EIGHTEENTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Luke, Chap, xxiii.
43. Then Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou
be with me in paradise.
Johx, Chap. xix.
25. Then stood by the woss of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister,
Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
26. And when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple standing by,
whom he loved, he said unto his mother, Woman, behold thy
son !
27. Then said he to the disciple, Behold thy mother I And from that
hour the disciple took her home unto him. 1
We heard the last day, beloved iu Jesus, of the repentance of
one of the thieves that hung on the cross with Christ. In a moment,
wonderfully he begins to be penitent for all his misdeeds and for-
mer 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
1 These verses from John are considered separately in the Latin Commentary.
204 THE EIGHTEENTH LECTURE.
says, " Fearest thou not God, seeing thou art in the same damna-
tion ? 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 middest, and he directs his prayer to him, and says,
" Lord, remember me when thou comest to thy kingdom." The
other, the blasphemer, would fain 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 into that heavenly kingdom. The last day I
spake 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, but wonder at Jesus Christ, who, in such weak-
ness, hanging so shamefully upon the cross, yet uttered such
mercy and such infinite power, yea, 1 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, Mary, unto John. The Lord answers him,
" Verily I say unto thee, This day thou shalt be with me in para-
dise." The answer contains a promise, and the thing that the Lord
promises is, " Thou shalt be with me ; thou seekest to be with me,
and thou shalt be a subject with me, and more, a follower ; and,
whereas thou wert 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 sun-
dry places of the New Testament, as namely, 2 Cor. xii. 4, (where
Paul speaks of his ravishing to paradise ;) and also Eev. ii. 7.
1 In behalf of, has dropped out. la the Latin Commentary, — Sed ut Christum
admiretur, qui, turn temporis, tain abjeotus in speciem, tantam potentiam, tantam
misericordiam erga tain miserum latronem gxercuerit. — P. 971-
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 205
But to leave the words, and to come to the meaning. This para-
dise signifies none other thing but that house of the Father, in the
which are many mansions, as Ave 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, Eph. iv. 10.
It is the place of the throne of that Majesty, of that Glory, and of
that everlasting rest of the kirk 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 Eve 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 prevents 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; Rom. viii. 26, "The
Spirit of God intercedeth 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 Lord's 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 get this
grace to beg, to sigh, to sob, &c. ; yea, where one hath it ten
want 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 1 shall show us why he
1 i. e. In due season. In the Commentary, tondem.
20G THE EIGHTEENTH LECTURE.
■will not grant it ; and so we shall have contentment to undertake
his will, and shall heartily 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 Avant. 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, surmount further above our capacity than the heaven does
above the earth. Yea, if thou speakest of earthly things, find 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, Psalm xxi. 5,) yet the Lord gave me to be a king;" 1
that is, he gave me not only a private and 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 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 the cross. The Lord is weakened ; the Jews thought
more of the dirt they trode on than of Jesus. Yet we 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."
1 So also in the Commentary, Vitam petivi, sed ngnutn villi dedisti, as a quota-
tion, contrary to its usual accuracy, as this is an explanation, not a translation. The
verse is the 4th of our version.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 207
What emperor durst say this? Yea, he utters the power of God
himself. This promise is proper to God only, to promise partici-
pation 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 hung upon the cross, was wonderfully weaken-
ed, and that glorious Godhead that dwelt in the human nature
kept itself close for a time, and held in the beams of his glory for
a time within that veil 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, ex-
alted 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 wantest that which the thief had ;
thou wantest 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 wert the vilest body that goes, a thief, a harlot, &c., 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 asking. Seeing our Lord
Jesus is so liberal, then, seek more than enough, more than a king-
dom, 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
208 THE EIGHTEENTH LECTURE.
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, and I come to the
other history, concerning that recommendation that Jesus makes
of his mother, Mary, to John, his disciple whom he loved. The
Lord Jesus, hanging on the cross in extreme torment and pain ;
he is not only a sufferer, (howbeit, indeed, he suffers 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 Avho bare him, when he is to depart out of this life, and to
be taken away hastily. He is careful how she shall live when he
is o-one 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 stand by
the cross a man and three women, whilst the Lord is hanging quick,
in extreme torment. He spies out these four persons, Mary, his mo-
ther, and Mary, his mother's sister, that is, her kinswoman, 1 accord-
ing to their Hebrew phrase, who was either the wife or the daughter
of Cleopas, and Mary 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 Marys, better Marys 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 ; and
well is he that finds that the Lord loves him. All the kingdoms
1 i. e. Her kinswoman, called by John her sister, according to their Hebrew
phrase There is a similar ambiguity in the Latin Commentary. Mariam
sororem aut Marias matris Domini, hoc est, secundum Hebraicam phrasim, cognatam
Mariae mati'is Domini; (p. 975,) where ant should be deleted, or it is a misprint for
ait Mariam fsororem, ait, Mariw matris Domini, hoc est, secundum He-
braicam phrasim,) oognatam.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST". 209
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,
and 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 quench-
ed in one of the apostles, not 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 utter 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, Mary
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
rent quick in such torments ? What mother would have done it ?
1 Thess. iv. 13, ye read what Paul writes to them, u I would not
have you ignorant, that ye mourn not for them which are asleep,
as the Gentiles, who are desperate in their displeasure." 1 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, and a desperate displeasure ; that is, if with that love thou
have no hope of a glorious resurrection, desperate shall be thy
dolor, 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 dolor that
one should have.
I desire not that a man should be senseless Avithout love ; and I
count more of a stone than of one without love ; and better were
I i. e. Grief.
O
210 THE EIGHTEENTH LECTURE.
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 wo-
men to the end of the world. Think ye not that they should have
been terrified at such a cross, and that Mary 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 shame-
ful death of Jesus Christ on the cross, are not terrified nor diverted
from following, albeit they saw his glory to come but very obscure-
ly, 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 heai'ts
were with him ; fy 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 women shall stand up and condemn thee in
that great day. Now, let us consider these words whereby he re-
commends 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 Mary, 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 has his eyes lifted 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 heaven there shall be
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 211
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, and all
that is in it, that we count not much of them, but that we behold that
heavenly life. Paul, 2 Cor. v. 16, 17, 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 some time according to the flesh, now 1
will not know him," and he gives a reason ; " Whoever is in
Christ, let him be a new creature ; the old creatures are past away,
behold, all things are made new." Fy 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 depart
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 entirely ; 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 com-
mended his mother to John to be kept. And woe be to thee, who
mayest, if thou keep none. And, namely, the Loid hath a can < f
that infirm sex, that wemen be kept by the }i\t<ctlin of lui
- - - -
the world, let her give Ctrkt gk*y fer ii : tor n k by Lk «B-
reetioa. as Mary was dae e ted to John.
Consider here farther. Tbe Lord as thk time k ia the service
of hk beaTedy Father: and there was merer a man so oeen-
■ " ■ ■
• - ■ • . -
is an easy thing so be
; ;ii i-iz- '.:■-. : -;<i. Lz :-:-.: :
=.:rr " -_ • ■ - : - ■ : -•' ■'- '- ---■ •• -^
cross: yet in snfiering, albeit he k <H*ap a vd so that he forgets
.._, - - - - :. -"::: :.t ? - L- : :. -: r_r : :_-t:- r. : if?.
I r»id afl men shoald mark thk lessen. The miWfirrina of
i>: '- - L :_1 :_ : '■->•. :"_ : :-:—: = :1: : - -: .: :": =ir ~ :!■=: :
-who glory in it, let them glory in it as they wal; oar duty to God
prejudges nothing oar duty to mther or mother: thoa mast never
so m.tapad ia the service of God as was Jesan Christ at thk
r_ii — :
aad Chrkt will let as see that oar daty to oar God stands well
with oar daty to man. W5h thou poll tbe first and tbe second
Table asander, the one man the other r W9t thoa say that the
ant prejadges the second? Thoa dost fie. Bat look the order
- . - : -.:/-_ ". - -.-> I " r; - - " - : r_ii
r_:..i: • - h 7 ■ .: - rli-
- - - - 1 - ::_:-.::. I::. "^ :---:-:■ ! -: - :•=
to the Father, he doth bk dory to hk mother. Begin at thy G-:«L
if thoa woaldst do thy duty, aad next come to man, aad if thoa
uarrrT tv God to do thy daty to man, thoa shah do aothiag of
lore nor of smrerxry. Fy on thee, aad 3 that lore, aad that daty
thoc *o man fimow not oa that love thoa bearest to God.
And wik thee say thk. ~ I see my daty to the king aad to my ia-
ther bmds me : I vO* to them, aad last I wiB serve
inv thing wffl serve him. - Wil: th-:u
- with the king, or at
OF TIIE PASSION OF CHRIST. "213
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 xrv. 26. Then, what shall become of them who prefer fa-
ther and mother to God ? He is but a knave that will take upon him
the name of a Christian, and will serve men before God. Xo, that
name shall turn to thv shame. Therefore, under the pain of thy
life, do thy duty first to God, and then for God*s cause do thy
duty to roan, 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 regardnot 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 ?'* Xow 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, kins-
folks, 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 blas-
phemies, of wrestling with death everlasting, with the wrath of the
Father, and with all the infernal powers, he is careful of his mo-
ther. Xo man was ever born 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 suffo-
cated ; that albeit thy parents and all thy kindred were about thee,
thou shalt have no care of them. Xo, 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, &c, commends his mother to John, it tells
us that the duty which we owe to parents stands not in ceremonies
214 THE EIGHTEENTH LECTURE.
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 mo-
ther." 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 straitly 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 rent 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 heartily. John takes
another man's mother, and entertains her, and he gets but this direc-
tion from the cross. Fy 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 heavenly 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 and con-
demn thee, who wouldst not entertain thine own mother. All the
speeches of the world will not learn men in this wicked genera-
tion. Further, this is not to be passed by, that John had a house,
and so had the rest of the apostles : say not ye 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, &c, are as well
sanctified to a minister, as thy lordship is to thee. Now, I beseech
thee, as ever thou wouldst that the Lord should bless thee and thy
possessions in this world, and should give thee a hope of the life
to come, let the ministers of the gospel have a part of their own, (it
OF THE PASSION OF CIIRIST. 215
is not yours,) as ever ye would give an account to the Judge, and
to be answerable to him in the great Checker. 1 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.
1 *'. e. Exchequer ; day of accounts.
THE NINETEENTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Matthew, Chap, xxvii.
45. Now from the sixth hour was there darkness over all the land unto
the ninth hour.
46. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried ivith a loud voice, saying,
Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ? that is, My God, my God, ichy hast
thou forsaken me ?
Mark, Chap. xv.
33. Now when the sixth hour was come, darkness arose over all the
land until the ninth hour.
34. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried icith a loud voice, saying, Eloi,
Eloi, lama sabachthani ? ivhich is by interpretation, My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? l
Luke, Chap, xxiii.
44. And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all
the land until the ninth hour.
45. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple rent through
the midst.
Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have heard the last day
1 V. 46 of Matthew, and v. 34 of Mark, thoughihus arranged, are not considered
in this Lecture.
OF THE TASSION" OF CHRIST. 217
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, how-
beit he hung on the cross, like a vile slave in the sight of the world.
Yea, he did like God, he pardoned 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 and kind son,
to his mother who bare him. He recommends her earnestly to
be entertained with John, his well-beloved disciple. Now, in this
day's exercise we have a rehearsal of other things that fell out when
as Jesus hung on the cross : there falls a wonder, there falls a dark-
ness at the noon-tide, 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,
a 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 a heavy complaint to his Father, saying,
" My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" Then we have
how the Jews misconstrue 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 marvellous
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 some-
thing 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 soino; 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
our parts, which they called quatuor vigilias, four watches, every
218 THE NINETEENTH LECTURE.
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 ; l
they called the first part of the day, the first morning, prima dilu-
culi, and the first hour, albeit it contained three hours, taking the
name from the hour where it began ; the second part, which con-
tained other three hours, they called the third hour, taking the
name from the hour it began at, speaking exclusive, 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 His-
tory 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 ha 1 ' 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 a little after 2 the sixth hour, (in the end of the third
hour,) as John, in his nineteenth chapter, says, the doom and sen-
tence of damnation w T as 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 and 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, 3 the darkness re-
mains from twelve hours to three in the afternoon, the space of
1 See Note at the end of the Fourteenth Lecture.
2 This should be before, the Latin Commentary has, paulo ante sextam. P.
979.
3 i. e. Our method of computing time.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 219
three hours ; for so long hung 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 afternoon ; 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 and ignominious cross ; and, as
Paul to the Philippians, ii. 7, 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 glooms, and 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, 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 judgments that fall 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 wert made a man or a woman, to have been made a stock or
220 THE NINETEENTH LECTURE.
a stone ; for if there be not a wakening 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 philo-
sopher 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 m 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, and 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, w 7 hich. 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 dark-
ness the stars were seen at the noon-tide 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 1 said, " It behoved
1 Dionysius the Areopagite, known in later ages under the designation of the
Bishop of Athens, mentioned Acts xvii. 34. Thisjstory is told in a pretended letter
of his to Polycarp. See Moreri, s>ub voce Phlegon.
OF THE PASSION OF CHKIST. 221
to be that either the God of nature suffered, or else the world
should suddenly be dissolved ;" and he 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
xvii.
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 ex-
treme agony and anguish in his soul, and also he suffered great
pain in his body : yet all this 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, lama sabach-
thani ; that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?"
These are the first words of the xxii. Psalm ; for David beino- 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 and these words minister
occasion unto us to speak of the inward conflict and 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, while he was in this world, was a continual burden of our
sins that he bare, 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 saith,
Heb. chap. ix. verse 22, " 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 suffer-
ing was the perfect abolishing and undoing of the sins of the elect,
as ye may read in the ninth chapter to the Hebrews. 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 great-
222
THE NINETEENTH LECTURE.
ness of it, it required infinite quantity of greatness ; for if it had
not been perfect in time and quantity, thou hadst never been i'e-
deemed.
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. 1 For why should we not know this ? Our life stands
in his death. He suffered all for us. And I see throughout 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 through 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 trials 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 solicited him to leave his God, even such temp-
tations 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 and inward temptations
as we are, who dare not face the sun or the moon. And wherefore
suffered he all these temptations ? Even for thy cause : the end
of all his suffering was, that he might succour all them who were
tempted either in body or soul, Heb. chap. ii. verse 18. Art
thou tempted? if thou canst have recourse to him who was tempt-
' To follow this and the subsequent Lecture, it may be of use to see the order ob-
served in the Commentary, which treats of our Lord's sufferings, with an arrange-
ment similar to that of the Lectures, but more succinctly. They are divided into,
1. Temptations ; 2. Ignominy; 3. Punishment and pain. The latter of two sorts,
1. Of the body, arising from natural infirmity, sympathy with the griefs of the soul,
and external violence; and, 2. Of the soul, arising from sorrow for human sin and
misery, and his conflict with the wrath of God. This la^t. again — the conflict — he
subdivides into agonizing grief, fear, and horror ol' present w< es, a complete pro-
stration of the soul, and overwhelming dread of the future. And, lastly, he inti-
mates his sufferings by the effects, his complaints and cries.
OF THE PASSION OF CHIUST. 223
ed for thy sake, he will pity thee. As he suffered and was tempt-
ed, 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 succour me."
Thus far for the first sort of Christ's sufferings.
The second sort was his shame and ignominy, that open igno-
miny 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 see that shame
he suffered for our sins. The apostle, Rom. chap. xv. verse 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 upon me." All these despites thou
shouldst have suffered, but the Lord he translated them upon him-
self. 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 re-
main for thee but pain everlastingly : all the kingdoms of the
world shall not save thee. Then the last sort was pain and
dolor in the body, and pain and dolor in soul, but in the soul
chiefly. Look to the time of it, from his first conception to his
last breath. Scarcely was the Lord well born, when, through the
persecution of Herod, the tyrant, his mother was compelled to flee
with him to Egypt ; from that time he was under continual af-
fliction, whilst as 1 he entered into the thirtieth 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 a half) his pain
1 i. e. Until.
224 THE NINETEENTH LECTUKE.
grew and increased in body and soul ; and aye nearer the last
hour, his displeasure and pain grew the more.
Now, brethren, we shall speak shortly of these pains and dolors
that the Lord suffered in the time of these three years and a
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 chiefly in the soul. His pain during this
time is chiefly 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 be-
hoved to suffer chiefly 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, hi a word, I proclaim, both before God and his an-
gels, 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 arise. First,
they rise of that natural infirmity. He was an infirm man with-
out sin. He hungered as we do ; he thirsted as we ; and, through
travelling, (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 lie was. We read that he did weep, but Ave never read
OF THE PASSION OF CIIUIST. 225
that he did laugh. And think not that when the soul is in heavi-
ness 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 dolors which he suffered in
his soul. First, the Lord Jesus, whilst as he travelled 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 weeps and says, " Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
fain would I have gathered you, as a hen gathereth her birds under
her wings; but thou wouldst not I" 1
The most special grief that the Lord suffered in his soul was
that which Luke, in his xxii. 2 chapter, names an agony ; that is,
an anguish in the soul, and a 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. 3
Now, this agony he utters in the garden, when he says, " My
soul is heavy on all sides, 4 even to the death." That word was ex-
pressed out of that bitter anguish that he had in his soul, whilst he
spake 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, v. 27, 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 the 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 un-
derstanding of the suffering of Jesus Christ stands in the knowing
1 Matth. xxiii. 37. * V. 44.
3 Everlasting. In the Latin, cum (Sterna morte. — P. 984.
4 Pee note on p. 16. In the Latin for undique, he here uses Beza's translation,
undcquaqi/e,
P
226 THE NINETEENTH LECTURE.
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 some-
what of it. In the words that the Spirit uses in the Scripture, ye
shall find this. The Lord suffers a torment in his soul : then 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 chap-
ter, and fifth verse, of the prophecy of Isaiah, hath 1 these words,
" It pleased the Lord Jehovah to break him." 2 The words import
not only the breaking of the body, but also of the soul.
Then, in the hundreth and sixteenth Psalm, and at the third verse,
David, who was a type of Christ, says, tl 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, {t 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, Acts
ii. 24, says, " God raised him up from death;" and " raised him, the
1 So in origin.
2 In the Latin, (p. 985,) the reference is given as here, and Laiah is quoted, At-
teritur ex (Beza has ab) iniquitatibus nostris. The editors have kept the reference,
but have inadvertently quoted the 10th verse.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 227
dolors of death being loosed, he could not be retained with them."
The word in their own language is udTvag, and signifies extreme
dolor, 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 simili-
tude of a woman who travaileth 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 Thessalonians, chap.
v. verse 3, he sets down the pain of hell by that similitude,
u When they shall say, Peace, then shall come the sudden dolor
upon them, like a woman travailing, then shall they not escape."
And Mark, chap. xiv. verse 33, comes on more particularly, and
says not only he had a pain in his soul, but also he sets down
the degrees of the pain. The native language is most proper, r^aro
Ixda/MCiTgdai ; that is, " He began to be astonished ;" and then, ddrj-
ju,oviTv, " He began to be in a grievous and extreme anguish." When
the wrath began to press down the soul, then the anguish arose,
and the extremity of pain.
But I leave the opening up of all these words until the next oc-
casion, 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 dolor, to our
joy everlasting. To this Lord be honour and praise for evermore.
Amen.
THE TWENTIETH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxvii.
46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli,
Eli, lama sabachthani ? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me f*
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 in-
ward anguish of the soul, which the Lord suffered, beside all the
outward passions of his body, especially during the time of three
years and a half, to wit, the time in the which he bare 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 ut-
tered this heavy complaint to his Father, before he yielded up the
ghost, when he says, u My God, my Cod. why hast thou forsaken
1 In the Commentary are considered together, Matth. xxvii. 46 54 ; Markxv. 34-
39 ; Luke xxiii. 45-48 ; John xix. 28-30 ; that is, to the end of our 22d Lecture.
OP THE PASSION OP CHRIST. 229
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 per-
ceive 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 his re-
surrection ?
Then to go forward in order, and to open up eveiy one of
these grounds. The last day I began to bring to you the woi'ds
of Scripture, some out of the Old Testament, and some out of
the New, by the which this inward agony that the Lord suffered
in his soul is expressed most vividly. I cited to you those words
that are in the liii. chap, of Isaiah, where there is a vive and lively
prophecy of Jesus to come into the world ; " The Lord," says the
prophet, il 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 rent with sorrow. Then 1 cited out of the
cxvi Psalm the words of David, being the type of Christ ; " The
dolor of death hath eompassed me, the sorrows of hell have over-
taken me." Then I came to the Gospel of Matthew, and I cited
these words out of the xxvi. chap., " My soul is heavy on all sides to
the death." There is the heaviness of the soul, and a heaviness
without any joy, and a heaviness to death, even to everlasting
death. Then I came to Luke, who, in his xxii. chap., hath these
words, " And he was in an agony :" there is a battle. But where ?
In the garden. With whom? None was fighting 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 ii. of the Acts I cited the
words of Peter, " Whom God raised up again, when he had loosed
the dolors of death." The word, in its own language, signifies that
230 THE TWENTIETH LECTURE.
pain that women suffer in travailing, whereby the Scripture uses
to express the pain of hell. And last of all, I came to the words of
Mark, in his xiv. 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. 1 The first word that Mark uses signifies an astonishment, a
fear, and a 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 jest ; 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 bare 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
shall 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 damaged. The suffering of Christ in his soul
is the vivid image of the suffering of the reprobate in hell. And it
is it that Paul, in the 1 Epistle to the Thessalonians, sets down,
" When they shall cry, Peace, and all things are sure, then sudden
destruction approaches :" the wrath and vengeance from heaven
light on suddenly : so that all the hairs of their head shall stand
on end; and it shall come upon them suddenly, even as the showres 2
and dolor come on a woman who is travailing in birth. I can give
no better example of it than ye have in the prophecy of Daniel, 3 in
Belshazzar; the profane man, he is sitting with his princes, ban-
quet ting and profaning the holy vessels of the House of the Lord.
1 This is bettor done, the several parts being more distinctly marked in the Com-
mentary, where he considers our Lord's agony, as described by Mark, to consist of two
parts, 1. Pavor et horror ex sensu irte Dei. 2. Facultatum aninue defectio. — P. 9S5.
2 Or showers, i. e. The throes of child-bearing. 3 v. 1-6.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 231
What falls out ? he sees come out of the wall suddenly a hand-writ-
ing ; he sees it not so soon, (look, the first stroke of hell,) but he is
stricken with a fear and horror ; his knees shiver and smite one an-
other, and 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, then the heavy
wrath of God lies still on the soul, so that he hath dolor in his soul,
that all the powers of his soul are 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, be-
ing full of displeasure.
It is a marvellous 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 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 agon} r or not, when he forgot the
work of our redemption. Now, we must not think that this for-
getfulness came of sin, (our forgetfulness comes of sin,) the Holy
One had no sin ; but rose of an infirmity of nature wherewith he
was clad for our sin. Ye see, if a man be in distress in the soul,
the senses and all the powers of the soul are so occupied about the
sorrow, that they forget their own functions and operations, to
help the part that is distressed. Even so it Avas with the Lord ;
for, when for our sins he was underlying the wrath of that Omnipo-
232 THE TWENTIETH LECTURE.
tent Judge, all the faculties of his soul, his understanding, his me-
mory, &c. 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 arc astonished at the sudden wrath, as they continue
in hell, their dolor 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 and 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 dolor, 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 v.
chapter to the Hebrews, verse 7, 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 growing ever-
lastingly, and 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 prayer, " Father, take away this cup," that
is, the cup of thy wrath, wherein he utters a forgetfulness of our
redemption ; the dolor so increases upon him, that he prays with
greater intention, with tears, and with strong cries, and with weep-
ing:— hell will cause thee to mourn, and compel thee to squeal
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 233
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 xii.27. When he is speaking of his
glorification, suddenly he breaks off and says, " My soul is troubled,
what shall I say ?" and then 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 for-
saken me ?" is the most heavy, and it proceeds from the most bit-
ter 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 division of the God-
head from the manhead ; the glorious Godhead dwelt in the Lord
Jesus whilst as he hung 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, and hath his confidence in his God; the devil and all the
world cannot separate him from his God that dwelt within him.
Confidence in God will ofttimes be in the godly without feeling
234 THE TWENTIETH LECTURE.
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 ; and 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, and 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 Philippians, chapter iii. 8-10, 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, and the virtue of his resur-
rection, and the communion of his passions, and be made conform-
able to his death." Wherein stands the knowledge of the re-
surrection of Jesus Christ ? It is not enough to know it only
The knowledge stands in a feeling 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.
A.nd, likewise, wherein stands the knowledge of his suffering ? It
stands of the feeling in thine heart of the mortification of sin. Thou
OF TOE PASSION OF CHRIST. 235
must feel a regeneration in thee, or else thou feelest nothing ; and
thy soul shall feel no life, howbeit thou knowest 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 shall be meditating upon 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 mea-
sure !) — 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,
T 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 1 man, O, how heavy must all the sins
of the elect be that Jesus bare 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 bare on his back !" And then I shall say,
if once 1 can but taste one drop of that wrath that follows my sins,
and find it 2 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 dreo-g
and all, seeing one drop of it ia so bitter in my soul !" There we
come in some measure to the feeling of that bitter wrath that Je-
sus 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, and he will tie the burden of
1 i. e. One. In the Commentary, — Grave ad;o onus mihi incumbit meorum
solius peceatorum. — P. 989, i For, and which I find [it] to be so bit-
ter. In origin, finds.
23G THE TWENTIETH LECTURE.
them on their own backs, whilst they groan and pech ;' 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
suffei'ed for our redemption. And when Ave 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 know-
ledge 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 my
heart, and that peace of conscience in my soul, I will begin and rea-
son 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 behoveth to proceed out of the malediction, and out of the wrath
that lighted on my Mediator ; it had been impossible for me to taste
of mercy if my Redeemer had not drunk 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 peace of conscience,, in this world,
nor in the world to come, if it had not been ransomed with the pre-
cious blood of Jesus Christ ; there is not one drop of grace, peace,
or joy, but that which is bought, and which the blood of 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, and put in the wine-press of hell, and trodden on,
and tramped on with the feet of the wrath of God ; for this jus-
tice 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, 1 Cor.
1 i. e. Pant.
OF THE PASSION OF CI11UST. 23?
i. 18. If thou findest the cross of Jesus but foolishness, take thee
a doom : thou shalt perish ; all the world shall not save thee : and,
again, by the contrary, says Paul, " The speech of the cross is the
wisdom of God, and the power of God, to them who are saved."
All is but foolishness in respect of the cross ; all the strength
and might of the world, and 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 and wisdom, assure thyself
thou hast an earnest-penny that thou shalt get life ; and blessed is
that soul that delights to hear of the cross of Christ, and counts it
to be the power and 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
through 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 redemp-
tion had been wrought with a glory, as the Jews and the Gentiles
imagined ; if God had yielded to their fantasy, and wrought our re-
demption by a glorious mean, that glory of God had been obscured,
and the mean had gotten all the glory. But it hath pleased thee,
Lord, to work this work of redemption and salvation by a 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.
238 THE TWENTIETH LECTURE.
So look to the cross and to the ministry 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." 1 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.
1 1 Cor. i. 31.
THE TWENTY-FIRST LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxvii.
47. And some of them that stood there, when they heard it, said, This
man calleth Elias.
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.
49. Others said, Let be : let us see if Elias will come and save him.
50. Then Jesus cried with a loud voice, and yielded up the ghost.
Mark, Chap. xv.
35. And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold,
he calleth Elias.
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.
37. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
Luke, Chap, xxiii.
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.
28. After, when Jesus knew that all things were performed, that the
Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, I thirst.
29. And there was set a vessel, full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge
icith vinegar, and put it about a hyssop stalk, and put it to his
mouth.
240 THE TWENTY-FIRST LECTURE.
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 upon the cross,
Avhich was three hours, and large more, 1 ye may read, well-be-
loved in Christ, sundry voices that he uttered. When I look
through 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 recom-
mends her to the custody of his well-beloved disciple. The third
voice we read of was a voice of sadness, proceeding from a 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 re-
demption to be wrought, and the wrath of his Father to be as-
suaged, 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 loose his soul from his body, he says, " Father,
into thine hands I commend my spirit." 2
Now, brethren, all these foresaid voices the Lord uttered dur-
1 j. e. A considerable portion of another hour. " Mortuus est," he says, in the
Latin Commentary, " inter tertiam ponieridianam it quartam." P. 979.
2 It will be seen that our author omits here, as he does also in the parallel
passage of the Latin Commentary, a seventh voice, " Father, forgive them, for they
know not what thev do," Luke xxiii. 34.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
241
ing the time that he hung quick on the cross. Of these we have
heard the first, the second, and the third, which was that heavy-
complaint that he made to his Father, " My God, my God," &c.
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 last 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 fol-
low, not only to get the body dead, but the soul and God sepa-
rated. If thou beginnest to pray and call on God, they will scorn
thy prayer, and seek to cut thee from God, and all hope of life.
But to leave them and 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 inward-
ly with a bitter wrath — even so, when as the Lord, by making a
heavy moan, seeks an outgate, and 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 and wrath, inwardly
and outwardly ; hell inward and outward ; no refuge, nor escaping,
till the ransom be paid to the last farthing. Well, brethren, if ye
242 THE TWENTY-FIRST LECTURE.
would see an image of hell, see it here. The Lord Jesus was for a
time, 1 and felt nothing but extreme bitterness ; but the repro-
bate, after they be once cast into hell, there is nothing for them
but bitterness ; let them aim here and there to escape, howl and cry,
they shall be met with bitterness. What if it were but for a time !
The Lord escaped ; his suffering was but for a time ; but no escap-
ing for thee ; if thou be thrust into hell, thou shalt never get out,
and shalt find nothing but bitterness ; aim here or there, all shall be
in vain, and everlasting bitterness shall be 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 shall be found in Christ, to get a part of that pas-
sion that he suffered. The Lord give every one of us grace now,
while we have time, to know him, and to seek to be found in him ;
for woe to the soul that shall be found out of him in the great
day!
Now I come to the voices ; and first to that fourth voice 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
prophecy 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 took our nature upon him, so he
took on all our infirmities, sin excepted. Many times was he
hungry and thirsty ; but chiefly when he hangs on the cross, in that
extreme heat of his soul and his body, the soul was burned 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 sufferedst 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
1 Something is evidently omitted here. " Quasi reprobus" is the phrase of the Com-
mentary in the parallel passage. — P. 989.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 243
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 ran-
som was paid ; he would not seek to quench that thirst till the
wrath of the Father was satisfied. The drought was insatiable ;
for the infinite wrath of God thirsted after the blood of the Me-
diator, 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, and to save thy soul from hell, it had been impossible for
him to have suffered that bodily thirst so long. Learn this lesson
at the Lord Jesus, and follow his example ; we should suffer pa-
tiently 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 pains, 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 and patience. But wilt thou know how thou
shouldst abide it patiently ? The Lord Jesus had a spiritual thirst
to obey his heavenly Father, and for thy salvation, that swallowed
up that bodily thirst. Get thee an earnest thirst to obey thy (J od ;
it will be a wondrous thing how patiently thou wilt suffer what-
soever God will lay on thee. Therefore, brethren, 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 ;" and, if thou get thy heart thus re-
solved 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,
244 THE TWENTY-FIRST LECTURE.
wilt thou lean on thy God, as he did, and abide his will patiently,
thou shalt see thejoyfulest and most glorious end that ever was.
The Lord give us grace to obey God, and to say, " Cast me here,
or there, and lay on me what thou Avilt, I shall obey thee : Though
thou shouldst slay me, I will trust in thee." 1 This is a happy re-
solution.
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 v. of Matt. 17, 18, the Lord says, " I come not to dissolve
the law and the prophets, but to fulfil the law, and to fulfil every
jot of that law; heaven and earth shall perish ere one jot of that
law shall pass away." Now, among all the prophecies that Christ
fulfilled, there is one here made mention of, in the lxix. Psalm, 21,
" In my meat they gave me bitterness, and in my drink they gave
me gall to drink." Now, this prophecy is accomplished ; David
spake this in his own person typically ; but the verity thereof was
fulfilled in Christ. David got no vinegar to drink ; but Jesus
Christ drank vinegar. When^the Lord came into the world, and
wrought the work of our redemption, there was not so much as a
tittle 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;" 2
the hanging of him betwixt two thieves was foretold ; " They
reckon me" (says the prophet) " among the unjust ;" 3 the dividing
of his garments was forespoken ; " They divided my garments
among them, and cast lots for my coat." 4 Look the xxii. and lxix.
Psalms, and the liii. chapter of Isaiah. 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 Mas ; and, consequently, it lets us see, that there was
1 Job xiii. 15. 2 Ps. xxii. hi. ' Ps. lv. 3. < Ps. xxii. 18.
OP THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 245
never such a worthy personage 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, com-
paring the issue of his death with the predictions, we might be-
lieve 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 noon-tide is
but darkness. " The gospel is hid (says Paul, 2 Cor. iv. 3) to
them who perish ;" if thou see not and 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 stanched ; there is a drink of vinegar stand-
ing 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 thanks 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 against him. When he was dead, they
persecute him ; when he was in glory, they thought to shame him ;
when the Lord looses the reins of the devil, and of wicked men, to
chastise his own, they run headlong to wrack his Church. The
Lord seeks but chastisement ; they seek wrack of body and soul ;
he that knows not this, he knows nothing, and 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
24G THE TWENTY-FIRST LECTURE.
hath pulled in their reins, he takes the scourge, and casts it in the
fire, because they run far beyond their commission. This shall be
the end of their miserable souls. O that damnation that shall over-
take them ! when the Lord hath chastened us by them, they shall
be cast into 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 be, 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 thirst of thy salvation, he had not drank 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 shouldst 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 things are
sanctified, and if thou be not in him, thou shalt be accused as a
violent possessor of all things in the great day.
Now, I go to the next voice. When he hath drank, 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." Breth-
ren, that ye may understand this ; the Lord when he was in the
garden 1 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, are conquered to the world for ever." This
1 This is clearly a mistake, and has no counterpart in the Commentary. Delete,
therefore, when he was in the garden.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 247
is the sum of the gospel ; " The work of our redemption is ended."
This is all our preaching; heaven, life, and glory, are 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 and 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 and bought by his blood ; woe, vengeance, and ever-
lasting 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
yet, 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; andall the angelsand all the saints shall cry, "All
is ended, glory to him who hath ended all !" and 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 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
248 THE TWENTY-FIRST LECTURE.
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 brake 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." 1 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," &c. ; for those words proceeded
of great sadness, mixed with confidence, but of no joy ; but these
words, " Father, into thine hands," &c, as they proceeded of confi-
dence, 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 looses it from the body
with the sense of extreme wrath ; but the Lord feels the hand of
the Father loosing his soul from the body with sweetness ; and all
they who die in Christ will feel the Father loosing the soul with
sweetness, as these last words utter. Look to the martyrs, they
' John x. 17.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 249
never utter the first voice, " My God, my God," &c. ; no, but
the second, " Father, into thine hands I commend my spirit," be-
cause they find joy in torment. Stephen, the first martyr, uttered
the second voice, Acts, chap. vii. 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 a 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 separated 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 shouldst thou
be thereof? It must live either in heaven or in hell ; if the Lord
cried so loud that the earth quaked again, and till the temple rent
asunder, wilt not thou, a sinful creature, be careful of thy soul ? A
man should have care of the soul at all times, but chiefly at the
hour of the separation, for at that time the devil is busy to devour
thee, and the gulf of hell to swallow thee up. Then look how care-
ful thou shouldst be in following the example of Jesus, to recom-
mend the soul into the hands of the Father ; and look how careful
thou art to i-ender the soul into the hands of the Father ; the Fa-
ther shall be as careful to loose 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 convoy 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 TWENTY-SECOND LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxvii.
50. Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up the
ghost.
51. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top
to the bottom ; and the earth did quake, and the stones were
cloven.
52. And the graves did open themselves, and many bodies of the saints
which slept arose,
53. And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the
holy city, and appeared unto many.
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.
37. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
38. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the
bottom.
39. Now, when the centurion, who stood over against him, seeing that
he thus crying gave up the ghost, he said, Tridy this man was
the Son of God.
Luke, Chap, xxiir.
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.
47. Now, when the centurion saic what was done, he glorified God,
saying, Of a surety this man was just.
OF THE PASSION OP CIIKIST. 251
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.
30. Noiv, 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 through 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 cru-
cified 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 ex-
treme pain, recommending her to John, his well-beloved disciple.
Other two voices were voices of sadness and heaviness of heart.
The one a heavy complaint to his Father, " My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me ?" The other proceeding from an ex-
treme 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 God's own, but be-
fore 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 work is done and ended, and now the ransom of the re-
demption of man is paid to the last farthing." Noav the last voice
was when he was immediately ready to render up his spirit into
the hands of the Father, says, 1 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
1 So in original.
252 THE TWENTY-SECOND LECTURE.
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 won-
ders.
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 oavii hand, and delivered it into the hands of the Father, desir-
ing him to keep it well to the day of his glorious resurrection ; for,
brethren, this is the difference between the godly and 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 care 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 lifetime he is careful
for the soul that is lodged in an earthly tabernacle, so, chiefly, in
the moment when it is to flit. The godly, they will not let the soul
flit out of the body until they know that the hand of the Lord
is sweetly loosing the soul, to keep it, until the day of their glo-
rious 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." 1 This is a thing not to be passed
1 The Latin Commentary adds to this remark, Joannes vero, 8a\ " But John,
who was an eve-witness of these events, has besides remarked his attitude at the
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 253
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 hirn to have suffered, and us to know,
that except the Lord had suffered the death, all the crucifying of
him inwardly and 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 need-
ful 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 through the death of the Media-
tor. If thou hast not faith of the death of the Mediator, it is
impossible that thou canst believe that thy soul shall come to
heaven.
The apostle, Heb. ix. hath a notable comparison. He says, when a
man hath made a testament, and his legacy, Avherein he leaves such
inheritance to any man, his testament can never be sure nor ra-
tified 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 can-
not be revoked. Even so, says the apostle, the heir of the world,
Jesus Christ, hath made a testament, and such a 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
intervening and closing it, then the testament is sure, and all the
world is not able to alter one jot 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 testa-
moment of death, when he says, that he bowed his head, andga\e up the ghost.
This is done to denote the certainty of his death." — P. 99G.
254 THE TWENTY-SECOND LECTURE.
ment 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 cannot 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, and the assur-
ance 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 veil of the temple rent 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 trod upon by the feet of death, death stamping on
him, he could not be further humbled. There is nothing so ignomi-
nious as death, except it be sanctified ; it is terrible and ignomi-
nious, so that if it be not sanctified in the death of the Lord Jesus,
it is but a curse to thee, and 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 ; and that Godhead never left him in that
ignominious death, nor never shall leave him, albeit it kept the
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 255
self 1 close, that 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 Avhich hung there was the Lord of glorv, 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. Fy on thee, and woe is thee, that ever thou
gottest the mouth or tongue ; the dumb creatures in their kinds do
homage to their God, and glorify him, and shame all the world,
and they shame all the disciples : for all were offended at him now.
So now the earth and the rocks shame them all ; fy on them !
The Lord, as he came riding to Jerusalem, like a glorious king, to
give them a show of his glory, Luke xix. 40, when the disciples
cry, tl Hosannah, blessed be he that comes in the name of the
Lord," the Pharisees 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 and senseless creatures
shall cry, and glorify me." There should not be a wall in Jerusa-
lem, but they should have cried, if the disciples and the multitude
had holden their tongue ; and if men hold 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
cries, " Hosannah ;" yet the earth forgets him not, she cries in her
own manner, " Hosannah ;" the rocks cry, the veil of the temple
cries, " Hosannah," whilst it rent asunder. Well, brethren, blessed
is the soul that hath a mouth to glorify God : woe to thee that
hast gotten a tongue to glorify the Lord, and dost 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,
1 i.e. Itself. In the Latin, Etsi se non exeruit slatim in homine Iibcraiulo, (ne-
que enim id expediebat,) tamen, &c. — P. 997.
256 THE TWENTY-SECOND LECTURE.
the sun, and the moon, shall glorify him ; and thou, albeit thou
wert a king, shalt be thrust in hell to thine everlasting shame.
Now, brethren, there is not one of these four wonders, but par-
ticularly they would be considered ; and, first, the rending of the
veil of the temple. 1 The veil of the temple was a fair wall, over-
gilt 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 sanc-
tuary, wherein the Lord gave his presence ; and it was the type of
that heavenly sanctuary wherein Jesus Christ entered by his blood.
It got the name from the office and use ; it was called a veil, a
covering, because it hid the sanctuary from the sight of the people
and 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 veil cleaves in twain ; and in a manner he makes an
answer to the voice of the Lord. Wilt thou, who hast life, reason,
1 To give the learned reader some notion of the method in which the Editors of
these Lectures have been guided by the Latin Commentary, I shall here transcribe
the whole of the passage concerning the rending of the veil. " Sed singula ha?c mi-
racula sigillatim sunt exponenda Ac primum quid em, quod de velo templi scriptum
est, velum templi intelligo parietem intermedium auro obductum et aulueo intectum,
in quo sanctum sanctorum, id est, interior et sanctior pars templi, divisumfuit a sanc-
to et templi parte exteriore. Nomen obtinuit ab officio; velabat enim et celabat
sacrarium, noil tantum a reliquo populo, sed etiam a sacerdotibus ipsis, solo summo
sacerdote excepto, qui quotannis semel intra velum ingressus est cum sanguine. Hoc
est illud velum quod fissum est medium a summo ad inium, eaque re testabatur quo-
dammodo se assentiri voci illi Domini, qua dixit, Comummatum est. Ac si dictum ab eo
fuisset, ' Ceremonial omneset umbras legales impletoe sunt hacmeamorte atque abolitae.'
Velum, hac quasi voce audita, respondit, Amen, cessitque Domino, abdicato jam officio
et ministerio illo suo. Videre autem hoc oportuit Judscos, quod velo templi accidit,
et admonerieos oportuit ac doceri facto illo tarn stupendo. Verum, cum velum ipsum,
hoc est, res surda et muta ad vocem Domini commotum sit, Judaei videntes et sen-
tientes, nihil tamen viderunt et senserunt, sed et ad vocem Domini et ad veli fissionem
steterunt immoti ; ut videas eos traditos fuisse in mentem reprobam, et velamen
fuisse impositum cordi ipsorum, quod quidem tolli difficilius fuit quam scindi velum
templi ; ut videas rursus quam horribile Dei judicium sit mens reproba, et majus esse
miraculum mutationem obdurati cordis, et regenerationem hominis quam mutationem
aliquam quantumvis miraculosam et extraordinariam muta> ac brute creatura?. At-
que hcec de velo fisso. Nunc de teriae motu dicondum." — P. 997.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
257
mouth, and tongue, answer him ? Pie will make the veil to answer
him. The Lord said, a little before he gave up the ghost, Consum-
matum est, " All is ended ; the ceremonies of the law of Moses are
ended ; the shadows are away ; there is no more use of that veil."
When the veil hears this, the veil says, "Amen, it is true, my Lord ;
and 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 more ; for
Jesus Christ hath opened up the veil, and pulled it down, and made
an entry to the sanctuary by his blood." Well, this is the preaching
of the veil to the Jews. But heard they this ? Take the high
priests any heed to this language of the veil ? No, they were never
busier in the ceremonies than after they heard this speech. They
saw the veil rent, but they took no lesson by it ; there is a wonderful
induration ; Paul, 2 Cor. iii. 14, tells the cause. There was another
veil laid on their hearts, so that they could neither see nor hear.
It was harder to rend that veil than a hundred veils of stone.
Lord, keep us from that reprobate sense. Alas ! that we should
not take heed to this. The earthly veil rent asunder at the voice
of the Lord ; but the veil of their hearts could not be rent ; 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
shall lather rent than thine heart. Wouldst thou see a won-
der? the Papists would bring in wonders ; but bring in a man
R
258 THE TWENTY-SECOND LFCTURE.
who is regenerate, that is a wonder. Yea, it is a great 1 wonder to
alter thine hard and stony heart, than to cleave the hardest rock
that ever was. Let me see a regenerate man, from whom that
scurf is taken away. It is a greater wonder to see a regenerate
man from whom that scurf is taken away, than that all the rock
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, while the soul of the Lord separated from the body.
! what a thing was it to draw the soul of the Saviour of the world
from the body. No, the rending 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
begins to shake his arm, all the mountains shake. 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 Almighty God ? This shaking means a threaten-
ing to his 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 swal-
low thee up, as it did Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who withstood
Moses. No, it is a wonder that the earth should bear men. No,
1 protest, I would not wonder so much if the earth opened and
swallowed some men, as I wonder that the Lord in his long-suffer-
ing patience spares them, and holds his hand and judgment 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 a heavier thing fall on the body
and souls, than a thousand mountains were tumbled on them. Thou
dost nothing but " heap up wrath," as the apostle says, " against
the day of wrath." 2 No, wrath and heavy wrath shall be heaped
on them. So the earth threatens them for the indignity they did
to their Lord. Ye see, that after the earth quake, it will swallow
1 So in origin. * Rom. ii. 5.
OF THE PASSION OF CHKIST. 259
up towns and people ; but she swallows them up not now, but the
earth vomits them out, as not worthy to bear them in her belly. 1
No, she thought them over bitter to be within her, who had dis-
honoured 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 allow that
cursed kind have a footbreadth of her. O ! what is it to have
battle with the Creator, when he begins to arm the earth or any
creature against thee. We would think that this shaking of the
earth should have moved them, yet they 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 immoveable, no, not the
earth, as thine hardened heart will be, at all the denunciations that
will come from heaven or hell. Save thyself 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 " cleaving:
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 ques-
tion 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 and
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 2d Psalm)
shall light on thee, and bruise thee to pieces. Therefore, cast away
that veil from thine heart, and strive to keep light in thy soul and
1 For qvahe, the original has quaked. Our author, as v. c learn from the Com-
mentary, p. 998, applies the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, as the acL of
the earth vomiting out the Jews.
260 THE TWENTY-SECOND LECTURE.
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 o'clock
afternoon, (for about three o'clock the Lord gave up the ghost,)
and they lay open all that day, and all that night, and all the day
following, and the next night, till the morning that the Lord rises;
and then the bodies of the saints also arose, by virtue of his resur-
rection, 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 sleAv 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 virtue of that resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This quest ion may be asked, What became of those bodies which
arose and went into the city? Did they lay them down again in
the grave, or ascended they into heaven ? I will not be curious in
this purpose. But in my judgment they were taken up to the
heavens with Jesus Christ, to be an argument of our resurrection,
and going to the heavens. This was a fair lesson. But this miser-
able people was not moved. Woe to a strong and senseless heart !
the grave may open, but nothing will open a senseless soul. There-
fore, I beseech you to 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 church-yard 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 threaten them. The quaking of the
of the PAssjo.N" or christ. 261
earth, and the renting f the rocks, threaten a damage and de-
struction 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 squeal. He is aiming ; he is shaking that terrible arm, and
threatening them. In the meantime, 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 grace for thee, if thou turnest." Breth-
ren, no man shall go to hell without advertisement to stand, to the
end, that if thou wilt not repent, when the Lord begins to put
hand on thee, and to rend thee, thy mouth may be closed, that thou
canst not say, " Lord, 1 got no warning ;" all excuses shall be put
away. Alas ! will not men learn for all this shaking of the mountains ?
Lord, shake these heaii;s of ours, and the Lord be merciful to all
sinful souls, and to senseless creatures, lest, when they shall cry
" Peace," and all things are sure enough, the sudden judgment ap-
proach, and the wrath come and overtake them.
Now, come to the last thing, and I shall end. Are there none
that are moved at all at these wonders ? Amongst so many hun-
dreds and thousands is there not one moved ? Yes, there are some
moved, and 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 ?
No, they continue blind and dumb. Are the Pharisees, 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
2G2 THE TWENTY-SECOND LECTURE.
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
Jews, 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 Jews is moved ? Not the scribes and the
Pharisees, and the rest of the order, they are nothing moved ; but
the silly multitude, who cried before him, " Crucify him," now they
go home, " smiting on their breasts," and crying, woe to them for
that day's labour ; but there was never a motion in the priests, or
in any of the princes, or Pharisees, or scribes. It is a wonderful
thing to see, that they who had judgment 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 Phari-
sees did was both against knowledge and conscience. They re-
pined 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 shall be laid to the charge of the high priests and Pharisees,
and of Pilate and Herod, 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 conspire against Christ, religion, and their
native country, for wrath and vengeance remaincth 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 moe friends in his death
than in his life. The centurion and the men of war they curse the
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 263
time that ever they were employed in that service. The multitude
who bade crucify him, through 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 often times in the martyrs, for some
people go out with them who would eat them, and yet the Lord
Jesus makes their death to cast such a sweet smell, that it is ef-
fectual 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 kirk. And they who would have swallowed them be-
fore in their death, pity them, and become their friends, through
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, 1 in despite of the enemies, far moe 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.
1 So in origin.
THE TWENTY-THIRD LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxvii.
55. And many women were there, beholding him afar off, icho had fol-
lowed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him.
56. Among ivhom teas Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James
and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.
Mark, Chap. xv.
40. There icere also women, who beheld afar off, among whom was
Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and
of Joses, and Salome ;
41. Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered
unto him, and many other women, who came up with him unto
Hierusalem.
Luke, Chap, xxiii.
49. And all his acquaintance stood afar off, and the women that followed
him from Galilee, beholding these things.
John, Chap. xix.
31. The Jews then (^because it was the preparation, that the bodies
should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath-day, for that
was an high day) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken,
and that they might be taken down. 1
1 This verse of John is not given here in the Latin Commentary. In the other
verses, both works agree.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
2S5
We have heard, these days past, beloved brethren in Christ,
what was the part of the whole multitude of the wicked, and per-
secutors of Jesus Christ, in crucifying him, in taunting and scorn-
ing him. Doubtless, there were in that company some of the
godly who loved the Lord Jesus ; but, seeing we have heard no-
thing of them as yet, therefore, this day we shall speak somewhat
in their behalf. Now, what are they doing in the meantime?
They are standing afar off,— some men and many women, who all
that time had followed him before, — standing to see that sad spec-
tacle ; 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 19 chap-
ter 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 acquaintances stood afar off." There is the ge-
neral. 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 19 of John, verse 23, of
three women chiefly, Mary the mother of Jesus, and other two
Marys, 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 and
looked to Jesus hanging on the cross on mount Calvary. They
stand first near, and then turning home again, they stand afar off.
No question, it was the love they bare to the Lord that drew them
after him when he went to be crucified ; and that same love that
they bare to him was so tender and entire, that it made them to
2C)ij THE TWENTY-TnillD LECTURE.
stand and look on him when he hung on the cross ; and that love
they bare 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 to-
gether 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 Cor. chap. xvi. 22,) " 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 are 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, Pharisees, elders, blind guides of the
people, and 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 kirk-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, thepi'iests 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 PASSION OF CnRIST. 267
of the mount Calvary ; Jew and Gentile, wicked and godly, are
all looking. But in looking, there is a great difference. There are
some delighting their eyes with the spectacle, there are some feed-
ing the malice of their hearts, and drinking the blood of Jesus
Christ, the priests, the Pharisees, 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 kirk and the false kirk ; 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 ma-
lice, as the Turks do, and the Pagans, and the Papists, enemies to
his cross, thou shalt perish ; and 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 Ave have a friend whom we
love well, if he be taken 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 ? l
So that, brethren, when I consider this matter well, I perceive that
those his familiars and acquaintances have seen further into Christ
than men and 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 in-
cense that ever was offered, passed not up with such a sweet smell
1 i. e. Maltreated.
2G8 THE TWENTY-THIRD LECTUKE.
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 thou-
sand deaths ; for, as the Lord says, " Wheresoever the carrion is,
there must the eagles resort." 1 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 nut 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. Fy on this dull-headed and dead
w r orld that hath no sense of that glory, and is not allured by that
unspeakable glory, rather to suffer a thousand deaths, albeit it were
the sword, the fire, and all torments, than to be separated from
this Jesus Christ !
But the women's partis 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
1 Matt* xxiv. -28.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 269
hand presently ; many words need not, seeing this division of the
town in competent congregations intended, 1 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,
Mary Magdalene, then Mary the mother of James the less and of
Joseph, and Salome, the mother of the two sons of Zebedee. No
question, these women mentioned here have borne a tender affec-
tion to the Lord. Forgets the Lord that love they bare 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 Ave
read not of any of all his apostles that any of them was there pre-
sent, 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 begins
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 registered to the posterity. And it is the will of Jesus
Christ that this day I promulgate the names of these women in
1 This alludes to a proposed division of Edinburgh into eight parishes. An act
of common council, to this effect, was passed 1597, but was not carried into execu-
tion at that time. See Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 274.
270 THE TWENTY THIRD LECTURE.
your audience to their honour, after so many hundred years, and
their names shall be registered perpetually to their everlasting
honour, whilst Jesus Christ come again ; yea, their names shall be
written in the heavens everlastingly. Never one repents 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 ofttimes 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
they 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 truly wise, wise in God, 1 Cor.
iii. 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 hundred men, but how many of their
names were registered 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 register them. This re-
gistrating of them came not rashly, but from an ordinance of God
and his especial providence. There is not a public convention, al-
beit it were a man hanged, where multitudes of men and women
run together to hear and see, but the all-seeing eye of the Lord is
upon every person in particular, man, woman, lad, or lass. Never
a 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
OF THF PASSION OF CHRIST. 271
affections to ripe 1 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 Calvary ;
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. Then, 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 here the first part ; now we have to speak of
the second part, the taking of his body down from the cross be-
fore 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 mi-
serable 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 magi-
strate ; they were spoiled of all power by the judgment of God,
and, therefore, they behoved to have recourse to Pilate ; they
were slaves, yet they would not acknowledge the true King of
1 i. e. To examine.
272 THE TWENTY-THIBD LECTUEE.
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 should nothing be done to a guilty person, but by the autho-
rity of the judge. God, in his judicial law, gave not only laws con-
cerning 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 advice, that the Lord with the other two should be taken down
from the cross, to put an end both to their pain and 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 Avas 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 can not only make thy friend
do thee good, but thy foe also. If thou be the Lord's, he can make
them who would wish thee woe to do thee good ; if thou be the
Lord's, the fire, the water, and the sword, which otherwise Avould
devour thee, shall benefit thee. The Lord, against all men's ex-
pectation, shall do thee good ; if thou be the Lord's, 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 passovcr 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;
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
273
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 bite, 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
love 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 com-
mandment to break them ; but is there any bone broken notwith-
standing their suit and Pilate's commandment ? No, not one. This
lets us see that if God have ordained and said anything, 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 Cassar 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
anything 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.
s
274 THE TWENTY-THIRD LECTURE.
Let us see what moved the Jews 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 a
hanged man should be cut down the same day, " Because he was
accursed ?" Deut. xxi. 22, 23. No, it was a vain superstition that
moved them; they were to celebrate the passover, and this was the
day of their preparation : they were preparing them by crucifying
the innocent, the Lord of glory. Was this a holy preparation ?
This was the Friday, and the morn was the Pascha. John says,
that was "a 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 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 tlieir Sabbath day, lest that if these feasts,
which are so near other, had been both kept, the people should have
wearied ; and if Christ and the other had not been taken down, that
the 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 pol-
luted the world, and defiled the earth that they tread on. A pol-
luted 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. A hypocrite is a foul bodv, and
defiles all that he handles. All his religion is outward, stand-
ing 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. ii. 21. There is his religion; when
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 275
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 get a command-
ment of Pilate ; and so " the men of war came forward, and brake
the legs of the one first, and then they came to the other, and
brake his also." They brake both their legs with great pain and
torment.
Now, will ye see these two thieves, they are like in their death,
both are crucified, and in the end both their thighs are broke; yet, for
all this, the one of them is a vessel of glory, and he had a promise
of o-lorv, 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 ofttimes
alike in death, and ofttimes the elect will die in the greatest tor-
ments. 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, scald 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. 2
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,
1 In the Latin, Neque vero putandum est cum adversariis, remissionem fieri pec-
cati, non etiam poenfe. — P. 1008.
* What remains of this Lecture is an anticipation, similar to those before noticed.
Z<b THE TWENTY-THIRD LECTURE.
they offer not to break his thighs. See how the word and provi-
dence of God take effect. The Lord had said, " One bone of him
should not be broken ;"' and, therefore, to prevene 2 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 per-
form the Lord's 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 meantime 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, &c.
Yet many will contemn the means, and yet brag they are assured
to come to heaven ; they will contemn the preaching, which is the in-
strument that God uses. But I say to thee, thou deceivest thyself;
for I denounce, if thou wert 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 burrios, 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
I ones." After that comes another burrio, a man of war, and fives
the last witness ; " lie 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, and 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, ex-
1 Exod. xii. 4'">: Numb. ix. 12; IV. xxxiv. 20. ! i. e. Prevent.
OF THE PA33IOX OF CHRIST.
277
cept 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
6undry 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 burrios 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, and gotten his wounds healed, thou hadst not been saved,
thy salvation had not been wrought, our sins had never been for-
given 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, and to be saved.
Now, to end in a word, look to the witnesses, the burrios ; they
were evil witnesses for themselves, but good witnesses for us ; for
their witnessing testifies to our weal, that the Lord was dead ; and
so these burrios 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 are, 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 them-
selves. 1 Woe to the man who preaches salvation to others, if in
1 Cor. ix. 27.
278 THE TWENTY-THIRD LECTURE.
the meantime he be a reprobate himself. 1 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 TWENTY. FOURTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
John, Chap. xix.
34. But one of the soldiers, with a spear, pierced Ms side, and forth-
with came thereout blood and icater.
35. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true ; and he
knoice'h that he saith true, that ye might believe it.
36. For these things icere done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled,
Not a bone of him shall be broken.
37. And again, another Scripture saith, They shall see him ichom
they have thrust through!
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,
and gave commandment to the soldiers, and to the burrio, to
1 The Latin Commentary takes up this passage with the three preceding verses.
280 THE TWENTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
execute and slay them, that afterward they might be buried. The
soldiers came first to the one thief, and broke his thighs, then they
came to the other thief, and broke his thighs also ; and last, they
came to Jesus, and finding him already dead, and to have given
up the spirit, they would not break his legs ; yet, to put the mat-
ter out of doubt, one of the soldiers came with a spear and pierced
the Lord's side, through the heart, and 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 and gushing out
of the blood and the water out of the side of the Lord : then we
shall speak of that grave testimony that John, the writer of this
gospel, gave to the history and 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, Ave 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 accom-
plished ; and he brings in two Scriptures, the one, concerning that
his bones should not be broken, and 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 and fantasies,)
I pass their dream concerning this soldier that pierced the side
of the Lord with a spear ; how they say that the Greek word My^ni,
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,
and an old captain, who was blind; and after lie had pierced the
Lord's side he washed his eyes with the blood that issued out, and
got his sight, and thereafter in an instant was converted, and became
a Christian man and a martyr ; and this is he whom they worship,
and Avhose bones are kept as a relic, and he is called Saint Longi
nus. 1 I leave the spirit of vanities, — fy on them, they fill the hearts
1 The Latin Commentary takes no notice of this Calvin mentions it in his Com-
mentary on the passage.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 281
of the people of God with such vanities, and therefore shame and
confusion shall come on 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
thereout 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 bodies of man, and know the
anatomy, they know that the heart of man is a receptacle of blood,
and in the heart is the cleanest 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, 1 which compasseth and goes about the heart, which
is called rrsgr/.dgdiov ; 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 through the side,
and in through the heart, it was no wonder that that blood in the
heart, and that water in the fleece^ should have gushed cut, especi-
ally 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 gush out in such abundance, and so dis-
tinctly, 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 na-
ture, 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 were extraordinary, and showed him to be
more and greater than any common man that e^er died, the giv-
ing up of the ghost, with a loud voice, showed that he was mor e
than a man. 2
1 i. e. A membrane. 2 The Commentary infers this from 1 1 e
gushing out of the blood end water. — P. 1010.
282 THE TWENTY FOURTH LECTLRE.
For, brethren, to leave the speaking of this matter, let us see
what this blood and this water means, and to what use the gushing
out of the blood and 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 and water testifies, that the Lord was
dead, and there was no life in him. Yet, brethren, this blood and
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 emperor's blood ransomed sinful man, or
could purge him from his sins ? What water came there ever from
an emperor's heart, which washed aAvay the corruption of thy na-
ture ? Now, to speak it in a word, this blood and this water testi-
fied of a power that flowed from the death of Christ to the remis-
sion of sins, and the washing of our foul nature ; with the blood
broke out remission of sins, and with the water burst out regenera-
tion. 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 pu-
nishment 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 the blood of Jesus Ave ob-
tain not only remission of our sins, but by this same blood the foul-
ness and uncleanness of our nature are washed away, for water
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 2 S3
serves to wash away filthiness. This same John, in his first
epistle, chap. v. verse 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 punish-
ment and wrath that were 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,
and the third, the Spirit, who testifies, that Jesus came and died
for thee ; where we may see, that this blood and this water
that came out of the side of the Lord never leave the earth,
never cease to cry, tl The Redeemer of the world is come." If thou
be in Jesus, that blood sprinkling thine heart and 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 persua-
sion 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 and the Lord's Supper, outward
signs of this water and this blood, whereby they are outwardly repre-
sented to our eyes. In the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, we
have the sign of the blood, in the Sacrament of Baptism, we have
the sign of the water ; and, therefore, the blood and the water re-
main ever in the earth as witnesses, testifying that Christ is come,
284 THE TWENTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
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 Lord's side, and this water, testify, first, that the Lord
was truly dead ; next, that his death is forceable to the remission
of our sins, and to our regeneration. Unto these two uses we
may join the third ; this gushing out of the blood and water out
of the Lord's 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, which gushed out both together
out of the Lord's side.
Now, I come to the testimony of John concerning the breaking
of the thighs of the Lord, and the piercing of his side with the
spear. John seals up this, and first, he says, ' b I testify this, I bear
witness to this." Then he aggreadges his 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 him through the 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, and am per-
suaded my testimony to be true ; my conscience persuades me
that it is true, and 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 testi-
monies of his death. The Lord in the last words, he testifies of
his own death, when he cries, " Father, into thine hands I com-
mend my spirit." All those wonders from the heaven testified
that the Lord had given up the ghost ; his heavenly Father made
the burrios 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
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST, 285
not any tiling in ali the history testified by so many testimonies.
The Spirit of God labours not to persuade us of any thing in ali
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 per-
suade the world of it, they would not believe that Jesus died
truly, — ali these testimonies let 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 1 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,
and feels not the weight thereof so long as his conscience is sleep-
ing, that he feels not the burrio, and sees not that fearful wrath that
cannot be quenched without blood, and 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, and the Lord once lets thee feel the weight of thy sins
wherewith thou artladened, — nay, 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 wouldst 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 and glory would be in that death of Christ.
Paul says, Gal. vi. 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. ii. 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 ora-
tory,) u 1 would not begin to claw your itching ears, but I decreed
to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. "
286 THE TWENTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
Now, brethren, besides this, in these words that John sets down,
and in the which he aggreadgcs his testimony, mark another lesson.
Will ye see from whence our faith comes ? From whence comes our
faitli ? from whence flows it ? John says, " And he that saw it
bare record, and his record is true, and he knoweth that hesaith 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 nearest not a record, thou shalt not believe,
and, if thou believest not, thou shalt never sec heaven ; and if
thoucondemnest the record, I give thee this doom, — thou shalt never
see heaven with thine eyes, if thou wert 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 e ays, " 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 through
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, hundreds,
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 witnesses in the world, that all should
believe. The first ground of thy faith is the very eye of the apostles,
and 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 ihc Epistles of
Paul? &e., 1 answer, because these were men who heard and saw
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 287
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 their 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 judgment, travail 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 mvself shall gloriously rise," and then he
brings in David's words, " I believed, and therefore I spake."'
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 persua-
sion 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 ; and
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 ; and indeed their record should be
believed. If thou believcst never a preaching, I say thou hast no faith,
thou shalt never see heaven. Indeed, Ave are not apostles, but sin-
ful 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
1 Ts. cx^i. 10.
288 THE TWENTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
us simply, but only so far as our record agrees with the record of the
apostles. We may not compare with the apostles ; Ave have not
seen him, we have not heard him, as they did. They had a greater
measure of persuasion, and 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 foul crew will bid.
you believe all that they affirm. No ; if he were the best minister
that ever preached, believe not 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 follows on their writings by a necessary consequence, I
pronounce a vengeance and a curse shall be on them. Woe to de-
ceivers, who poison souls daily by their vengeance 1 and poison !
Now, to come to the last head. John lays down the end where-
fore his thighs were not broken, and 2 by piercing of his side. These
things were set down, that the Scripture might be fulfilled : and
he cites 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 Zechariah, " They shall see him whom
they have pierced." Some will marvel that it is said ofttimes 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 Avould 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 spake 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
1 Probably a misprint for venom. - Some words are evidently omitted,
nch a», kin death tens rerttfrd.
OF THE TASSION OF CHRIST.
289
a jot or tittle 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 soever 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 should regard the glory
of God, in believing of his promises of mercy, and his threaten-
ings 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 will be performed, albeit all the world should say
the contrary. It is said, Numbers xxiii. 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, al-
beit it were never so impossible 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 Lord's 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 effectuated, thou doest no-
thing worthy of praise. Believe his word ; let neither death, nor
290 THE TWENTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
life, nor power in heaven or in earth, or the devils, separate thee from
that faith in his -word. Nay, 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 ; and 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 Sarah'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 opposi-
tion, 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 Lord's
promise. And if in this case thou believest, thou hast a fined faith,
fined and made more precious than gold in the furnace. And ex-
cept 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 through the world with ease
and rest ; they will believe, but how ? In peace and rest. They
cannot abide to be chai'ged 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 amongst 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 1 leave them
1 Fetlest for must feel ; teas for were, would be.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 29 I
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, through Christ. To whom, with the Father, and the Holy
Spirit, be all honour and glory, for evermore. Amen.
THE TWENTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxvii.
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.
42. And now when the night was come, (because it was the day of the
preparation, that is, before the Sabbath,)
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.
50. And behold, there was a man named Joseph, who was a counsellor,
a good man, and a just.
John, Chap. xix.
38. And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea (who was a disciple
of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jeics) besought Pilate that
he might take down the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him
license. He came then and took Jesus' body. 1
1 The Latin Commentary takes in at once, Matthew xxvii. 57-61 ; Mark xv.
42-17 Luke xxiii. 50-56; John xix. 38-42, extending, with some separate re-
mark.-;, on the closing verses of Matthew, xxvii. chapter, to the end of our 27th
Lecture. It will be observed, that several verses are omitted in the headings of
the Lectures,, probably through inadvertency, as they are all commented on.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 2 ( j3
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
bare to him, but " because it was the time of the preparation to
the passover ;" and they believed that Jesus and the other two
crucified men, who hung on the cross, should have polluted their
holy feast, and holy action ; and request Pilate that the thighs of
the crucified men might be broken, that thereafter they might be
taken down from the cross. The soldiers came first to the one
thief, and broke his thigh, then they came to the other, and broke
his thigh also ; last, they came to Jesus, and finding him to be
dead, they would not break his thigh ; but one of the soldiers
came with a spear in his hand, and to put the matter out of doubt,
he thrust him through the heart, so that out of the wound ran
blood and water in abundance. When John hath made a re-
hearsal of these things, he joins to a weighty testimony, " He who
saw these things hath testified of them, and his testimony is true,
and 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 ; then, wherefore his side was pierced. " These
things were done," (says John,) " that the Scripture might be ful-
filled ;" and for this he alleges first that which is spoken of the
type, Exod. xii. 46, u Not one bone of the paschal lamb might be
broken ;" and Zechar. xii. 10, " They shall see him whom they
have pierced through." The last day, brethren, we left oft' at
these testimonies of Scripture; therefore, this day, as Gou .-shall
give us grace, we shall speak first of these two testimonies, and
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 xii., of the pas-
294 THE TWENTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
chal lamb ; he gives a commandment, " that in the eating of the pas-
chal lamb, not one bone of it should be broken." That which
Moses speaks of the paschal lamb, John draws unto Jesus Christ, be-
cause the Lord Jesus was the true paschal lamb ; and that lamb
that the Jews ate was but a figure and shadow of that true lamb,
the Lord Jesus, " who took away the sins of the world." There-
fore, seeing the type and shadow had ceased, by the death of Jesus
Christ, (there was not a paschal lamb any more, and all the cele-
bration 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 spake of the paschal lamb were
accomplished in Christ ; there was not one jot of it but it was per-
fected and accomplished in him. Paul, 1 Cor. v. 7, 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 apply 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 read-
ing 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 un-
derstood of the type, understand thou of Christ. As for example,
in reading this Scripture, Exod. xii. 46, cast aside the type, the
paschal lamb, but east not away the Scripture, " Ye shall not break
OF THE PASSION OF CHUIST.
295
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 1 and wresting of the Old
Scripture by the own sense ; 2 because the same Scripture which
spake of the type spake 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 through 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. Zechariah xii. 10, prophesies that
the Jews that pierced through 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, and pierced him through, a promise of their re-
pentance for that woeful deed they did. This same thing came
to pass in the ii. of the Acts, 37-41. When Peter in his preaching
laid to their charge that wicked deed, that they had crucified the
Lord of glory, and had put hand into the Lord of life, at his
preaching their hearts were pricked and pierced through with bit-
terness, and they demand of Peter and the rest, " What shall they
do to be safe ?" And it is said, three thousand of them repented
and 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 chiefly that procured the
death of Christ. Next, they pierced him when they persecuted
him, when they crucified him, and blasphemed him, and railed on
him hanging on the cross. And at last they pierced him when, by
the spear in the hands of a soldier, they thrust him through, and
piei'ced 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
1 i. c. Drawing awry, twisting- * i.e. From thr> prnppr seme.
206 THE TWEXTY-FIFTIT LECTURE.
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 those for whom he came to
die. Was not this a mischievous deed ? Who will not abhor and
detest such a villany 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 con-
sider 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, and
thereafter when they executed him and crucified him, (behold his
wonderful love,) he brings them to repentance, his mercy over-
comes their malice, so that in them ye see that which is said to
be verified, " Where sin abounds, grace and mercy superabound,"
Bom. v. 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 and mercy of Christ will compass them, and
go round about them all ; so that no sinner hath occasion to de-
spair 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 hands on 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 ? then 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, Said, why persccutest 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 gainstandest his truth, persccutest him
of Tin-; passion of ciir.isT. 297
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, Herod, 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 ! John, Revel, i. 7, draws this Scrip-
ture to the second coining 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 through, 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 evermore.
Now, 1 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 Arimathea re-
quests for the burial. The Jews requested not for any love they
bare 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 humane answer that he re-
ceives 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
2 98 THE TWENTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
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 Jews which was called Sanhedrim ; yea, ap-
parently he was on Pilate's council, because he was a wise and
potent man. But all these are outward things, therefore, the Spirit
afterwards 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, and his behaviour toward men ;
he is called " a good and 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 in-
ward 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 ex-
treme persecution, he manifests himself; when they sat in the
council concerning the death of Christ, Joseph would not give his
counsel or consent thereunto. 1 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 ; li Doth
our law (says he) condemn a man before he be heard ?" (John vii.
50 ;) " where learn ye that ?"
So ye see it is a hard and dangerous matter to be a counsellor,
either in kirk 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
1 Luke xxiii. -M , onp nf tho vrr=rs omitioH, tliorrforo inndvprter.th .
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 299
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, and 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 a hard matter
to be a good counsellor, for oftentimes 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 kirk or policy, in
these dangerous days, w r herein such terrors are casten in, hath most
need to depend upon the counsel of God, revealed in his Word,
and 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, intend a process against him, and challenge him,
convict him, and torment him with anguish before the Lord's tri-
bunal.
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
heavenly honour of Christ, but also to the worldly things, to riches,
and power. The Lord chose a worldly, rich, and potent man to
bury him, to this end, that the Jews, who by all means sought to
heap shame and ignominy upon the Lord, should not oppone them-
selves, and 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 and hindered his burial. Again, an honourable man is
chosen to bury his Son honourably. The Father will have an
honourable rich tuan to bury his dear Son. Indeed, Joseph of
300 THE TWENTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
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 humi-
liation, 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 cast into a hole, and to be bound under the
earth. Woe to that body who is cast 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 begins 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 and
fair place, covered with a stone. So the heavenly Father will
have the honour of the Son and his glory to begin at the burial,
which was shameful in itself; and then he goes forward till his re-
surrection, and to his ascending to heaven, and 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. viii. 28. If thou lovest the Lord,
that shame that shall be heaped on thee in this earth, shall be the
beginning of thine honour. Ihen, much more shall the honour
that thou shalt tret in this life be the beginning of that evt riastino-
honour.
Now, when Joseph takes up the body of the Lord, lying so low
at the gallows loot, and intends to bury that body, 1 doubt not
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 30 L
but he hath an eye to that glorious resurrection, and he saw that
glory wherewith that body should be glorified, and should glorify
the bodies of the faithful, and 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. iii. 7, ye
read, " that husbands should give honour to their wives, because
they are the infirmer and weaker 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 Timothy says, " In a great house are many
vessels, some to honour, and some to dishonour." 1 Ye see, in a
nobleman's house, how honourably they will handle golden and
silver 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, oftentimes they have least part
thereof, that they may know their happiness stands not in this
earthly glory, but in that glory of heaven, and 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 Avho is a re-
probate ; 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, and steps into Pilate's hall, and makes his re-
quest. His riches, his substance, and honour, held him aback
1 2 Tim. ii. 20.
302 THE TWENTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
awhile, but now he comes out and forgets all, and intercedes for
the body of Jesus to bury it. Thy riches and honour of the world
are like as many fetters and iron chains to retain thee and hold
thee aback from Christ. Yet all the riches and 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
and 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. i. 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 noblemen 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 and Nicodemus. There might have been
moe 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 nobleman, 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 through a needle's eye." 1 To draw a great body through a
needle's eye, is no less difficulty than to draw thee to Christ who
art a nobleman, who wilt sit up and talk of thy kindred and of
thy blood. This doing of Joseph may be marvelled at. Think ye
not that Joseph should have manifested himself rather in Jesus'
lifetime, than now after his death ? "When he was going working
wonders, and speaking such sweet sentences as never man spake,
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 hang-
ing dead on the cross, than when he was living in the world ; and
' Aiatth. xix. 24.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 303
more mighty was his death than his life. The Lord give us a sense
and feeling of the force of the death of Christ ! it is able to cause a
dead body rise from death to life. John xii. 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 ; and so it does 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 ;
" Wherever the dead carcase is, thither resort the eagles ;" mean-
ing, where his dead body was, the faithful, wherever they Avere,
they should take them to their wings, from all the ends of the
earth, and leave their riches and honour, and by faith flee to him
to feed upon him ; for his dead body casts such a sweet smell
through the heavens and the earth, (a carrion casts such an evil
smell, but the body of Jesus hath a sweet smell,) that it will allure
men and 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 into Pilate's hall, and de-
sires 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 license
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 suffer-
ings of Christ, we shall find one thing worthy to be marked ; al-
beit the Lord Jesus was the most innocent man that ever was in
the world, yet, having to do with magistrates, both civil and ecclesi-
astical, as Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, and the rest, from the begin-
ning 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 reproveth him for drawing his
301 teu: twi xrv-Firrii lecture.
sword. He would not have his body taken down from the cross
without the leave of the magistrate. He leaves thee his example,
to teach thee, if thou wert never so innocent, yet if thou fallest in
the hands of the magistrate, suffer nothing to be done to thee with of-
fence, and with the disgrace of justice and judgment. 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. 1 I might let
you see a 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, and 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 Avas 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 sleight,
but the taking away comes of a special request. No question, this
matter was so dispensed, that the death of Jesus should be made not-
able, and come to the ears of Pilate, and all other men. The death was
to be made notable to the world, and 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 ; and these are the two
points that the devil and the heretics have from time to time striven
to hew and cut down, that they should not appear to the world,
because they are the chief pillars of our faith. But honour and
glory be to the Lord, who of his grace hath kept these pillars con-
1 This is obscure. The sentiment is thus expressed in the Commen'ary : — " He
taught us by his example that we should suffer nothing to be done on our behalf,
which may, in any way, become to others a cause of offence or a stumbling block,
or lead them to come into collision with just laws, and with the authority and power
of the magistrate."— P. 1020.
OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 305
stantly in his Church, in despite of the devil and 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 TWENTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST.
Mark, Chap. xv.
44. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead, and called unto
him the centurion, and asked of him, whether he had been any
while dead ?
45. And when he knew the truth of the centurion, he gave the body
to Joseph,
46. Who bought a linen cloth, and took him down, and wrapped him in
the linen cloth, dbc.
John, Chap. xix.
38. And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea (ivho 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
license. He came then and took Jesus' body.
39. And there came also Nicodemus, {who first came to Jesus by night,)
and brought of myrrh and aloes mingled together about a hun-
dred pound.
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 w r e 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
OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST.
307
described by all the four Evangelists, in all his properties. He was
a man of Arimathea, a town in Jewry. 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 Jews, 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 councillor ; 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 Lord's body. He lurked before, so
long as Jesus was in the world working such wonders as never
man wrought, and speaking with such a grace as never man spake
with. But now when he is dead, he comes out boldly and goes to
Pilate, and he manifests 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 sin-
ners 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 cer-
tainty, 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, and God shall give us grace.
(< Pilate wonders that he was so soon dead." This wondering of
3J6
THE TWENTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
Pilate, no question, imports, that the death of Jesus was extraor-
dinary. 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 and 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
and crying which the Lord uttered on the cross immediately be-
fore 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 testi-
fies, that hi b death was extraordinary, and 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 justitiar ; l (the
Roman justice was a good justice, the Roman justitiars were good ;)
he showed himself to be a good justitiar in this : a man condemned
to die, he would not give him out of his hands till he knew per-
fectly 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 ?" 2 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 shall be kept on the reprobate. Thou shalt not escape
1 i. 0. Judge in criminal matteri. * Luke xxiii. SI.
OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST. 309
one point of that justice, but thou shalt suffer in thy carcase 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 humanely. And surely this was by 1 the
fashion ; for the bodies of crucified men were not given and 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, and 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, and the
priests, and the scribes, and 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, and 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 re-
ligion ; it is the counterfeit high priests, those shavelings, those
monks and friars, who murder the innocents. There was never
bitterness nor gall of heart like their bitterness, who will call them-
selves the kirk, (they are a false and 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 shall be recent to their
perpetual shame, and they shall pay for it one day,) but they have
raised up the bones of the dead to burn them. The vessels of dis-
honour seek the dishonour of the vessels of honour; but shame and
confusion shall light upon them, when the saints of God shall get
honour. 2 The Lord save us from them, and that judgment 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
' i. e. Contrary to.
2 This is bottpr expressed in the Latin Commentary. Vasa scilicet ignomiriae
plerumque. in hac vita afficiunt ignomtnia vasa iila glorise, qiifp ipsa tandem, mm
vas;i gloi ia? gloriam suam obtinebunt, seterna afficientur ignoniinia. — P. 1021.
310 THE TWENTY-SlXm LECTURE.
him now living and glorified in the heavens ! When he hath gotten
the body of the Lord, he takes it and puts it not in a foul cloth, he
takes not an old sheet, but he buys the cleanest linen and finest 1
that could be gotten ; and 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 sup-
pose 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 and 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, and his disciples, and
other women, who came with him out of Galilee, and others, let
them bury him, and 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 race's 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
1 It will be observed, th.it in the trans'ation, at the head of this Lecture, (Mark
xv. 46,) the expression is simply, " a linen cloth." 1 Here the editors follow the
Latin, sindon, (which also occurs in the Greek original,) " &fine linen cloth,' - as in
our version — an epithet omitted, it may be observed, in our translation of the same
word, in the parallel past-ages of Matthew and Luke. The text also refers to an
ppithi t from Matthew xxvii. 59, a rerse not yet quoted, " a clean linen cloth."
OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST. oil
race, but at the end ; and he who persists to the end of the race,
he shall get the crown, and 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 bare to
man, such love as made the Lord to die for sinners,) after that the
smell comes to Joseph's soul, it wakened up his heart-love towards
the Lord ; for he must love us before we love him ; and whilst
he begins to love him, he makes request for him, and 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 allured to draw near to him,
and as we draw the nearer to him, we will ay find the sweeter sa-
vour proceeding from him. Thou shalt feel always the more that
sweet odour the more near thou meet with him ; and whoever
thou be that seekest him once, thou wilt never rest whilst thou
see him, and be w T ith him. Paul speaks this of himself, 2 Cor. v.
8, " I approve rather to be with the Lord, than to dwell in this
body ;" and to the Philippians, i. 23, " I desire to be loosed and
to be with Christ." For as well as we love this body, we will be
content to flit out of it, to let the body down, like a broken pitcher,
that we may be conjoined with Christ ; we will be content to flit,
and to obtain Jesus Christ, even with the dissolution of the body.
This for the part of Joseph in the burying of Christ ; now fol-
lows the part of one Nicodemus. Whilst as Joseph is wrapping
the body of Jesus in the winding-sheet, 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, a
hundred pound weight, a great weight, and a great price, for this
312 THE TWENTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
gift hath been a costly gift. But to speak of this Nicodemus, to
compare him with Joseph ; as Joseph was an honourable man, and
a prince among the people, so was Nicodemus an honourable man,
and a prince among the people; read the iii. 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, st a doctor and master in Israel ;"
he was a Pharisee 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, were 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 were something, and they counted much of their pre-
rogatives 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." 1
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
1 Philip, iii. 8.
OF THE BURIAL OF CIIRIST.
313
the world, the poverty shames all the riches of the world, the igno-
miny of it shames all the honour, all the crowns and sceptres in the
world; and, therefore, Paul, 1 Cor. i. 20, in Isaiah's words, he
glories, " Where are the wise men now ? where are the scribes ?
where is the disputer of the world ?" Hath not this foolish cross of
Christ made all but folly ? the vory 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 and aloes of a hundred
pounds weight. What moved the man to do this ? Now certainly
there are few folks that will cast away their goods and give them
for nothing. It behoved that some great matter should have moved
this man. If he had not seen something in that body to have moved
him to have brought this gift, he had never brought such a pre-
cious gift ; if he had not seen a wonderful preciousness in that
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 Clmst and his gospel ? the world sees not how precious
he is in his gospel. When thou seest not the preciousness of the gos-
pel and of Christ, O ! what marvel is this, that thou bestowest
nothing on Jesus and his gospel ? I doubt nut, if thou couldst see
the power of that light, and the preciousness of that gospel, thou
wouldst bestow gifts and 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. The gift is honourable, a gift
of odours ; what should have moved this man to have both 1 such
1 Either a misprint for lought, or btovghl, or (Query) from Bode, to proffer ?
314 THE TWENTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
a gift of odours more than any other ? If Nicodemus had not felt
the sweetest savour and odour that ever were, coming from the body
of Jesus, he had never brought such a gift ; he meets a sweet sa-
vour with a sweet savour. That body needed no odours of Nico-
demus, 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 Nico-
demus 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 and Nicodemus join hands in hands together, and
" they took towels and buried the body of Jesus after the manner
of the burial of the Jews." Yet I see in this Joseph a thing com-
mendable. 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 Avinding-sheet, and
now 1 will go my way, do thou the rest, anoint thou him and
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 with odours, come with a winding-sheet ;
OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST.
315
if not with the winding-sheet, come put the towel about him and
bind him ; and if thou dost no more, stand by and speak to his
honour and glorify him ; and if thou hast not a tongue to speak
reverently of him, think of him reverently and honour him in thy
heart. If thou honour him not, woe to thee if thou were a king ;
woe to thee if you glorify not the God of glory. And 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 Jews." 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, &c,
were nothing to him. So it appears that this custom in the burial
was according to their ceremonial law, and therefore these ceremo-
nies that the Jews used in these burials, their washing, their odours,
and the rest, were all figures of Jesus to come, and 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, there-
fore, they were shadows, after his death and resurrection all these
ceremonies, all this baln.ing, washing, &c, take an end, and ex-
cept thou wouldst say that Jesus is not risen, and extinguish the
sweet smell of his resurrection, thou must leave off all the ceremo-
nies. 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 resurrec-
316 THE TWENTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
tion. 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 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 ix. 37. The very word the Scripture uses, the word
of " sleeping," shows 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 again in the
morning when the day shall rise. Jesus Christ is the most glo-
rious morning that ever was, and the body that sleeps in him shall
rise again to glory, when he shall come in the clouds with millions
of his angels. Come to the custom of the nations. 1 Their burial
was honoured ; they did it of imitation following the fathers, like
apes, wanting the hope of resurrection. What helpeth thee thy
burial, or the honours of it, if thou wantest that hope of resurrec-
tion? they wanted the word of God, the life of all ceremonies.
What good do all these ceremonies without the word and pro-
mises 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 w T as 2 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 shouldst return to the earth as thou
earnest 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
wert a king thou shouldst not follow the ethnics in sumptuous-
1 i. e. Heathens, Gentiles, in imitation of tlie Latin, a Gcntibus. Fathers, bo-
fore and immediately after, denotes the Patriarchs.
2 Aot, evidently omitted. In the Latin Comment ar v, sine spe remrrertionis.
OF THE BURIAL OF CUKIST. 317
ness ; 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, es-
chew gorgeousness and superfluity. Keep a Christian honour —
albeit thou wert a king or an emperor, thou shouldst keep a medio-
crity 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 ex-
ceptions ? nay, 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
6een 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, beseech-
ing him, that ye may be like to him, both in life and death, and
in his burial and resurrection, that w T e 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 TWENTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST.
Matth. CnAP. xxvu.
59. So Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.
Mark, Chap. xv.
46. And laid him in a tomb that was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a
stone unto the door of the sepulchre.
Luke, Chap, xxiii.
53. And took it doivn, 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.
41. And in that place where Jesus was crucified was a garden, and in
the garden a new sepulchre, wherein tvas never man yet laid.
We have in hand at this present, well-beloved in Christ, this gos-
pel 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 Nico-
demus, a doctor in Israel, an honourable, a wise, and a good man,
OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST. 319
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 winded 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, and
next falls out a piece of a history, concerning certain women, namely,
Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, the mother of Joses, who
are witnesses of the burial, and saw that all things were well done. 1
Thirdly, in that part we have read, in the Gospel of Matthew espe-
cially, we have a piece of history concerning the watching and keep-
ing 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 kirk, not a 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 de-
scribed from the situation of it ; near mount Calvary, the place
where he was crucified. Joseph and Nicodemus chose 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 this place. This was their purpose. But
the Father of heaven had his purpose in this work. The place was
1 Matthew xxvii. 61 ; Mark x v. 47 ; Luke xxiii. 55, not quoted in the heading.
And immediately follows a reference to a passage from Matthew, (xxvii. 62-66,)
as quoted, which has, from inadvertency, been omitted.
320 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
notable, and 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 ; and 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, 1 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 and 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, ho-
nourable men. Look to his winding-sheet, 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 trouble ; it was a new grave wherein never man lay ; it was
ordained for an honourable man. The Lord Avill have his Son ho-
noured in all these things; and as he was a chief man, far above all
the kings in the world, separate from sinners, and made higher than
the heavens, as the apostle says, Heb. vii. 26, so his heavenly
Father would have him appearing a special man in his burial, and
namely in his grave ; for in that grave w T herein he was laid, never
sinful man came ; and 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.
1 i. e. He not only calls it a monument, (momtmentwn in the Commentary,) but
a new monument or grave.
OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST. 321
To go forward to the laying of the body in the grave. The two
men, Joseph and Nicodemus, they take the body and lay it in.
They cast it not in, but softly and 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 and roll it on the door of the grave, and when
they had done that, they go to the celebration of the passover.
As all this work was directed by the providence of God, so in laying
on of this great stone the Lord he had his providence. No ques-
tion, Joseph and Nicodemus rolled on this stone to honour the Lord ;
but the providence of the Lord in this stone was chiefly, 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 gtone. 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 dead ; and, therefore, the apostle Paul, in
the first chapter to the Ephesians, verse 19, brings it in as a singu-
lar 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 begins to honour
him. He begins at it his glory ; even so, albeit the burial of all
men and women being shameful of the own nature, 1 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 Mary Magdalene, who never left the Lord,
but followed him from Galilee, then the other Mary, the mother
1 So in original.
322 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
of Joses. As they followed him to the cross, so they followed
him to the burial, and they stand aside and see hitn buried. O
that love ! that wonderful tender love ! that could not suffer them
to be reaved 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 ques-
tion, this following of Jesus to the grave was a token of an entire
love that they bare to him ; yea, it was rather a token of that love
that came from Jesus to them ; that folknving of him uttered such
a love and smell to flow from that dead body that hung on the
cross, and was buried, that never man nor woman felt the like.
He so loved the world that be 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 impossible 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." 1 If he lay not hold on us first, our hearts
Avill 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 Ave love, we will be sad ;
nature dites 2 this. But as they were heavy hearted, in looking on
that 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, and then to the burial, so the Lord con-
tinues in honouring them, for he sends them out as preachers and
eye-witnesses of his death, which honour never one of the apostles
got but John ; so he honoured them in his burial. Therefore ho-
nour Christ; follow him to the cross, follow him to the grave;
think not shame of his cross or his grave ; love him with thine
1 John vi. 44. 2 i e. Dictates.
OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST.
)^3
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 and day now when he is in the heavens, and I promise
thee thou shalt find by experience, he shall make thee a pro-
claimer 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 afar off, and they look, no doubt, with sad
hearts, how these two men, Joseph and Nicodemus, handle the
glorious body of Jesus, and lay it in the grave. Men and women,
for curiosity and delectation, use to look upon such spectacles,
but these women looked with a careful and sorrowful heart, looking
that this body should be tenderly and honourably handled and
buried. Therefore, if thou hast 1 that ability to be a handler and
meddler with the work of the Lord, as Joseph and Nicodemus
were, look, at least, that thou be a careful onlooker, and tender it
in thy heart, and see that all things go well ; and if thou dost
that, the Lord shall count it a piece of good service for the fur-
thering 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 ; and, for this
cause, when the grave is closed, they go home with unspeakable
sadness and joy mixed together. Going home, they prepare sweet
odours for the embalming of him, the third day following. They
cease upon the morn, because it was the Sabbath, and upon the
third day he rose and 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 pen-
1 Not omitted.
324 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
ny 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 and 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 and sweetness that is in
him.
Now, I come to the last part which I have read out of the Gos-
pel 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 license of the magi-
strate, of Pilate the Roman deputy ; the judge was reverenced, with-
out 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 t! e 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, and 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 underlaid it, it had behoved thee to underlie
the fearful judgment 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 Pharisees, that
were enemies to him. Look through all this history, and 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. Bead all the Ecclesiastical his-
tories, and ye shall find these same things that fell out in Christ
OF THE liL'ltlAL OF C11K1ST. &2<>
to have fallen out in his members. When a godly man hath been
drawn out before the civil judge, or to martyrdom, there have
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 judgment, as when he gets a good man
fallen in his hands. Pilate was never in such danger as he was
into throughout this action, for it lost him his life present, and the
life to come. When the action of a thief or a murderer comes be-
fore a king, there is no such danger, but when a godly man is
brought before him for the cause of Christ, then 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 !" and 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 Pi-
late, 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 ma-
gistrates ! 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 judgment.
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 ef-
fect, 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. Marl:, therefore,
a good lesson, ever more the Lord hath snared the reprobate in
their wicked devices, and hath ever turned them from that mis-
326 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
cliievous end they aimed them, to the manifestation of his own
glory. The priests and Pharisees thought to obscure the glory of
Christ's resurrection, and, if it had lain in their hands, to hold him
by force in the grave ; but the Lord, who works light out of dark-
ness, makes their suit to serve for the clearer manifestation of his
resurrection, for they could have done no more for the manifesta-
tion 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 de-
struction ; I will say further, and it may seem marvellous, per-
verse devices of the wicked oftentimes do serve more to his glory,
than the good purposes and deeds of the godly, for is it 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." 1 All the devices of the wicked are darkness, the doings
of the godly are light ; so the Lord will sometimes be more wonder-
fully 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 meantime, they are more malicious against
the Lord than ever they were. They call him a deceiver. This is a
wonderful thing, they saw the Lord's 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, and in
so doing, not only they oppone themselves against God, but also they
do so far as in them lav as to have spitted in the face of God.
Yet these miserable creatures, I mean the scribes and Pharisees,
came not on a suddenty to this extreme maliciousness, but they show
some mean and small beginnings of it, when Christ first mani-
fested himself, and began to preach amongst them. Then they pro-
ceeded from worse to worse continually all the time he was con-
1 Rom. iv. 17
OF THE BURIAL OF CHIilST. 327
versant among them. Thereafter, in his cross and death, they
taunted and mocked him, and put him to the most shameful death
they could devise ; and now when he is buried and 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 the mouth that calls the Lord a de-
ceiver ; and, as Paul says, " He that loveth not the Lord Jesus
Christ, let him be anathema maranatha," 1 Cor. xvi. 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 execation 1 and induration to thine everlasting destruc-
tion. My lesson is this, if the Lord give us grace to learn it ;
when it pleases the Lord to shine unto thee, albeit thou wert a
king, or earl, or lord, look, as thou wouldst eschew hell and damna-
tion, 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 a hard back-coming again, and thou shalt come from execa-
tion to execation 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 the 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 marvellous, that the Spirit of God should
register this name of a deceiver, suppose 2 they called him a de-
ceiver, for this name defiles the air to call the Lord of truth a de-
ceiver. 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 tins name, thou shouldst say, " He was not a
deceiver, but it was I that was a deceiver, and he was called a de-
1 i. e. Blindness. - i. e. Granting that, although.
328 THE TWENTV-SEVENTU LECTURE.
ceiver for me who was damned for deceit, that I should be deli-
vered from the debt and 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 the Pharisees 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 the king
who hath not God and a good conscience before his eyes ; for he
will be a slave to the affections of any varlet in the country. A
beggar, a horse-rubber, 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 secu-
rity, " they scaled the stone," and signetcd 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. Could Pilate's seal hold him in the
grave? Could the men of war hold him in? No, they could not
keep him ; but ye will hear. They fell all down (had at his resur-
rection, and they had not a word to speak, suppose such was the
impudence of the priests, that although they knew that he was risen.
OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST. 32i>
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 TWENTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxviii.
1. Now, in the end of the Sabbath, when the first day of the iveek began
to dawn, Alary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the se-
pidchre.
2. And, behold, there was a great earthquake : for the angel of the Lord
descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the etone from
the door, and sat upon it.
3- And his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as
snow.
4. And for fear of him the keepers were astonished, and became as dead
men.
Mark, Chap. xvi.
1. And when the Sabbath-day was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the
mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet ointments, that they
might come and anoint him.
2. Therefore, early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came
unto the sepulchre, ichen the sun was now risen.
Luke, Chap. xxiv.
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.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 331
John, Chap. xx.
1 . Now, the first day of the week came Mary Magdalene early, when it
was yet dark, unto the sepidchre, and saw the stone taken away
from the tomb J
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 glori-
ous resurrection from the dead. In speaking of the resurrection of
Jesus Christ, we shall follow out the whole four Evangelists. 2
1 The Latin Commentary takes up the same passages, except that it reserves the
second verse of Mark.
2 In order that the reader may be the better able to judge of the harmony of the
resurrection and subsequent events propounded by our author, I subjoin an ab-
stract of that given in " Gresswell's Disputations upon the Harmony of the Gospels,"
which I have selected for its reasonableness, as well as the ingenuity and learning
with which it is supported : —
Mark xvi. Luke xxiv. John xx.
1,2. I. 1.
9.
5-8.
2-9.
12. 2-10.
11-13.
9-11 14-18.
12-13. 13-32.
34.
(and 1 Cor. xv. 5.)
36-40 : 19-20 ;
then 4 1-43: 21-23.
Matth
. xxviii.
Time when two parties
of women set out for
the sepulchre,
1.
Time of actual resurrec-
tion,
2-4.
Salome's party,
5-8.
Soldiers' return,
11-15.
Joanna's party,
Mary returns with Peter
and John,
Mary witli angels,
I. Mary with Christ, )
(First manifesta- >
tion,) )
11. Christ on the way
to, and at Emmaus,
...
III. Christ appears to
Peter,
IV. Christ appears to
the eleven, except-
ing Thomas,
332 THE TWENTY-EIGHTH LECTUKE.
Matthew, in his last chapter, Mark, in his last chapter, and Luke,
in his last chapter, set down the history of the resurrection of Je-
sus Christ ; hut 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 pWsed 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 Avas the beginning of the third day after his
burial ; for the Jews counted their day from even till even ; so the
Matth. xxviii. Mark xvi. Luke xxiv. John xx.
V. Christ appears to
the eleven, with
Thomas, 14. 26-29.
VI. Christ appears to (and 1 Cor. xv. 5.)
women with roes-
sage to go to
Galilee. (This
proceeds on the
omission of the
first clause of
the verse. — See
GresswellJ ... 9-10.
VII. Christ appears to
500 disciples in
Galilee, ... 16-20.
(and 1 Cor. xv. G.)
III. Christ appears to
seven disciples, ... ... ... ... X xi. 1-22.
IX. Christ appears to
James, (1 Cor. xv. 7.)
X. Christ's ascension,
and the subsequent
events are thus
arranged : — Acts i. 4 ; Luke xxi. 44-49; Acts'. 5-8 ; Mark. xvi. 15-
19; Luke xxiv. 50, 51 ; Acts i. 9-11 ; Luke xxi V.
52-53: Acts i. 13-26.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 665
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 resur-
rection, by many witnesses. And, first of all, the emptiness and
roominess of the grave testify of this resurrection. Mary Magda-
lene, and the other Mary, 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 witnesses 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
Hierusalem with odours to anoint the dead body of Jesus, which
they supposed to have been in the grave. Thirdly, we have the
rehearsal of some things that fell out whilst the women were com-
ing to the grave. There falls out a great earthquake, because
there was a glorious angel coining from heaven to the grave.
And last of all, Ave shall speak of the part of Mary Magdalene
particularly, because she prevented the others, and came first to
the grave ; she was a woman who loved the Lord marvellously,
and waited continually upon him. As touching the occasion, Mark
says, that " when the Sabbath-day was past, Mary Magdalene, and
Mary, the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet ointments,
that they might come and anoint him :" that is, the dead body of
the Loi'd, which, as they supposed, lay in the grave. Note the
time well. It was after the Sabbath was past ; 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 sua was gone down, their Sabbath being ended, they remember
334 TIIE TWENTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.
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
embalming his body. They rest on the Sabbath-day ; a day and a
night intervenes, yet this time stays not their purpose. I shall
cause 1 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 arc to be commended ; they buy and prepare sweet
smelling odours to anoint the body of the Lord. The Lord was risen
at this time, and 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 wo-
men, it cannot but be commended to all posterities to the end of
the world, (and would to God the like love and zeal to God
were in the hearts of men and women in these days !) but cer-
tainly the deed itself, seeing they had the Word of God in the con-
trary, is not commendable. But look again in all this doing, the
Lord takes more heed to the heart than to the deed, and 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
love the Lord, for to them all things work for the best ; out of
their sins he works their salvation, and out of darkness light. But
to come forward to the next head. The sweet odours beinir boueht,
confected, and 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 of the week began
I A colloquial expression, importing I lie probability of any event.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 335
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 word, 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, and 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, and go not out.
So in the example of these women, we may see that to be true
which Paul says, 1 Cor. i. 27, " The Lord hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the
w 7 eak things of the world to confound the mighty things, that all
glory might redound to him." Another thing we see in their ex-
ample, that which the apostle says, 1 Cor. iii. 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, and become not as a fool,
albeit thou wert 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 are on their jour-
ney, 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
ano-el to tell the resurrection of the Lord to these women. So, in
33 > THE TWENTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.
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
an honourable ambassador ; the blessed angels are very glorious ;
and no question the Lord would have his resurrection first wit-
nessed 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 and proclaim the Lord of glory was risen, and that he had
broken the bands of death, and risen up in despite of the devil
and death, and that to our well, that both we may rise to a new-
ness of life, and that we may be assured, " that they who sleep in
him," as Paul says, " and lie in the grave, shall be raised with him
at that great day in glory." 1 An angel, a glorious creature ho-
nours the message, but yet, I say, the message and commission ho-
nour 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 tes-
tifying of Jesus and his resurrection honour the angels, shall we
think that uny man in earth is too good to preach the gospel of
Christ ? No, if thou wert a king, it is a great honour to thee that
thou shouldst have grace to speak of his blessed name. Well, bre-
thren, as the ambassador was glorious, and the message was glori-
ous, so the commission was the joyfulest thing that ever thou
hcardst. All the angels in heaven are too unworthy to tell it.
Now, as the ambassador was glorious, and the message more glori-
ous, 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 pre-
sence 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 re-
ceive the gospel of Jesus Christ, let an angel come from heaven,
' 1 The*?, iv. 14.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 337
if they be not prepared by the power of God, they will not believe,
they will not hear nor receive the message with reverence. There-
fore, let no man say, " What needs all this, a glorious angel to come
down 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 rolls 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 dwelt
in him bodily breaks out, and raises the stone. Upon this differ-
ence there follows another. In his burial, the Godhead keeping it-
self 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, brake out, he uses not the ministry 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 a heavenly honour.
Indeed, Joseph and Nicodemus, who buried him, were two honour-
338 THE TWENTY- EIGHTH LECTURE.
able men, but an angel is a hundred 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 resurrec-
tion 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 ang^l 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 wherever 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 ex-
perience that the Lord shall send his angel before thee, and prepare
things before thy coming. And I doubt not but some of you who
hear me, have found this in your own experience, in such sort that
ye have wondered at that blessed providence of his Majesty, and
have been moved to 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 ano-el.
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 resui-
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. o39
reel ion, and to make us esteem of it, and 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 re-
spect 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 weak-
ness 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 sup-
plies 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-, and 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 eonfirm thee, and bring thee to perfec-
tion.
Now, brethren, follows hereafter a fair description of this angel
in Matthew. First, he is described from his look and 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 as soon as they saw him, they were
THE TWENTY-EIGHTH LECTUKE.
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 and 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 and raiment,
and the same presence made the men of war to fall down as dead.
Whereto was all this ? To glorify and honour that great commis-
sion that the angel had. Why should not the ambassador of a
glorious King be glorious ? Why should not his look, his counte-
nance, 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 were 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 visible glory. No, all the angels
in heaven had never power to get access nor apprehend that inac-
cessible 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 lire had never the glance to set forth his glory, &c, yet
il hath pleased the Lord for our capacity submitting himself to our
infirmity, by those things that are most glorious and exquisite in
nature, to set out and represent his incomprehensible glory. He
as it were a dark shadow thereby, to let us see his shining
glory; and, therefore, brethren, take up the lesson. Whenever
the Lord utters his majesty by outward signs of his creatures, hold
not altogether thine eve 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
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 341
cannot fully expx-ess the glory of the Creator ; but by the eye of
faith thou shouldst pierce into that inward light and incomprehen-
sible glory whereinto God dwells, blessed for ever, which is repre-
sented 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 shouldst say with thyself, I cannot abide
the brightness of this sun ; and therefore what brightness is in that
God that made it ! and if by the eye of faith thou lookest through
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 as soon shall the Lord, by the
beams of his infinite glory, and by a marvellous light shine in thine
heart ; for as the apostle says, 2 Cor. iv. 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 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 ter-
rible sights as any men ; yet for all their stoutness, they look not so
soon to the angel's face and raiment, but as soon 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 braggers,
who will say they will not be afraid to meet the devil ; but one
blink of the face of that majesty of God will cause them fall
312 THE TWENTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.
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 Avere they not astonished ? The women stood still,
and the angel spake 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, there-
fore, at the sight of the angel, when the light of God enters in and
wakens their consciences, they are stricken Avith exceeding terror and
fear. The children of God, Avho have their consciences purged from
the guiltiness of sin, use 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
cannot behold it in the own brightness ; yet it is joyful, sweet, and
comfortable to them who are in Jesus Christ ; but Avhen 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 sa\v r est him shine in thine heart, and 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 siirht 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 remnant corruption abides in them, they find the ma-
jesty and glorious presence of God makes them to be afraid. We
may see the example of this in these Avomen, at the sight of the
angel they were afraid ; but after that once sin be altogether abo-
lished, then 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 a\;is so terrible that shincd in one angel, Iioav ter-
rible shall it be to them that are out Avith 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
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 343
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." 1
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 Lord's presence not only comfortable
to us here, but chiefly 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.
1 Rev. vi. 16.
THE TWENTY-NINTH LECTURE.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxviii.
5. But the angel answered, and said to the women, Fear ye not, for I
know that ye seek Jesus, who teas crucified.
Mark, Ciiap. xvi.
2. Therefore, early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came
unto the sepulchre, when the sun was now risen.
3. And they said one to another, Who shall roll us away the stone from
the door of the sepulchre ?
4. And when they looked, tliey saw that the stone was rolled away, for
it was a very great one.
5. So they went into the sepulchre, and saw a young man sitting at the
right side, clothed in a long white robe, and they were sore
troubled.
John, Chai\ xx.
1. Now, the first day of the week came Mary Magdalene, early, when
it teas yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and saw the stone taken array
from the tomb.
2. Then she ran, and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciph
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.' 1
The resurrection of Jesus, beloved brethren, was without any
1 '1 he following is Iho order in which the passages treated in this and the two
following Lectures arc taken up in the Commentary j John xx. 1,2, separately;
Matth. xxviii. 5-8, along with Mark xvi. 2-8; Luke xxiv. 2-9, separately; Luke
x.xiv. 10, 1 1, separately.
Or THE RESURRECTION OF CII1UST. 345
witnesses ; no man saw him rise, therefore, the four Evangelists re-
cord 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 or woman in this world seeing him
rise. The testimony of the four Evangelists is, that after he was
risen, without any witnesses, then his resurrection was known and
made manifest to the world by many witnesses. They set down
two occasions of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The first occa-
sion was through the women, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mo-
ther 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. il Now, when the Sabbath had passed by," the
women buy the sweet odours in the night time, which preceded 1
the Lord's day, as we term it, and 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 pui-pose to anoint the Lord. There is the
first occasion how his resurrection came to light. The other occa-
sion ; as these women came, u 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 wo-
men " that the Lord Jesus was risen from the dead." After this,
the Lord Jesus himself appears to the women, and confirms the testi-
mony of the angel. The women having received these two manifes-
tations of his rising, they get this honour to be made the first
preachers of the resurrection before all men, yea, even before the
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."
1 In original, proceeded.
340 THE TWENTY-NINTH LECTURE.
Now, brethren, it is to be known first of all concerning these
women, who next, after the angels, were made witnesses of the re-
surrection of Jesus Christ, that they came not all to the grave in
one company, but as it appears well of the History, there have been
two companies of them, one company that came first to the grave,
and went out of Jerusalem before sun-rising; another company
that came out after this company, and came to the grave of the
Lord before 1 the other company. If we mark not this difference,
we will see well 2 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, Mary Magdalene and Mary
the mother of James, not excluding the rest ; but they are named,
because, among all the rest, they were the most notable, and. best
known to the apostles. Mark notes three to be in the first com-
pany, these two and one Salome. Luke notes none, but calls them
certain women, who followed Jesus out of Galilee, understanding
these same women. 3 John names none but one, Mary 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. Brethren, the last day we heard something of the
first company, and 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 de-
scended 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 witli an earnest desire to anoint the
Lord's dead body, they were not mindful of any impediments.
We know when a man or a woman would fain have a thing done,
they will not forecast for all perils ; but it is better to provide and
1 This should be after. 2 This should be, we will not see well.
3 This is a mistake. According to our author, the women mentioned by Luke
formed the second company. See 3 1st Lecture.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 347
foresee in time the impediments, ere thou begin the work. \et, 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 anything
to the glory of God, for, in performing of the Lord's work, we
must not think that he w T ill remove all impediments at the first,
as these women found all impediments to be taken away.
Now, these women came forward, and as they came they per-
ceived the stone to be rolled from the grave. Mary Magda-
lene seeing the stone away, she ran back and showed the matter
to Peter and James in Jerusalem, where they lay lurking ; she
brings, in her conceit, evil tidings to them, and says, " The body
of the Lord is stolen away out of the grave, and we know not
where they have laid him." So, brethren, in this text that we
have read, we have, first, a particular history of Mary Magdalene,
registered 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 outcoming ; next,
what she sees when she is come, to wit, the stone rolled away ;
thirdly, w T hat she does when she sees the stone removed ; she re-
turns to Peter ; and, fourthly, 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 Mary, 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, yea, even the apostles, to be made first witnesses of this resur-
rection of Christ ? I answer, so it pleased the Lord that directed
them, and 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 matter, they are made witnesses before all the
world, and their testimony is so authentic, that if John, or Peter,
or any of the apostles, had refused this testimony, they had ha-
zarded their part and portion in the resurrection of Jesus Christ ;
348 THE TWENTY-NINTH LECTURE.
and if thou reject their witnessing this clay, thou shalt never have
part of his resurrection. To come to the text. What sees she,
and the rest, when they come to the grave ? They see the stone
rolled away, and so they are relieved of that care that troubled them
by the way. Mary Magdalene and the rest came of a gi'eat zeal to
the grave to anoint the Lord's 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, and 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 come to the grave,
they find the impediment to be taken away, the stone to be re-
moved.
Mark this well. If they that came to this action without any
warrant got all impediments removed, how much more if any
man or woman, of zeal to God and to his glory, have a good pur-
pose, and 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 as soon as we know what is the Lord's
will, we should address ourselves to perform the same, and commit
the success to him who can remove all impediments, for, in so do-
ing, thou honourest God, and givest him the glory that is due to
him, " when, under hope against hope, thou believest," as Abra-
ham did, Rom iv. 18. But ye will say, albeit Mary Magdalene
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 nought, 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, and if thouseekest this
life, if thou be in the Lord, if thou lose it, what lose^t thou ?
thou shalt find a better life. Man seeing the stone rolled away,
she goes not forward, but returns Ik, me again. Now, certainly I
cannot deny but this can.e of seal, but I will not excuse her, but
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 349
she should have stayed with the rest, and have looked into the
grave to hear the angel's information ; but on a sudden she returns.
Brethren, this falls out in the best and 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 and sudden doing comes more of a blindness and ignorance
than of zeal. And, therefore, mark the lesson ; whoever would be
zealous in a good cause, and would utter their affection toward the
Lord, ere they begin, they should beware, and know well what
they are doing ; let knowledge go before, and let it be borne as a
torch to show the way, and 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 know-
ledge in the world without zeal. Knowledge without zeal serves
for nothing but for damnation. If you understood, and could
tell over the whole Bible, without zeal, that serves thee for no-
thing ; I would 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 Mary, when she hath returned
back to Peter and John, here she begins to make a sad narration,
and complains and says, " Alas ! they have stolen away the body
of the Lord, and we know not where to seek it," speaking in the
plural number ; she makes a moan. And 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 glori-
fied in the heavens, we will suffer ourself easily to sunder from
him Mithout a complaint or moan ; but if we found either the
force of his death, or yet the force of his life and 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 ;
350 THE TWENTY-NINTH LECTURE.
she spake 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. Breth-
ren, 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, and 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 judgment-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, and 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. iii. 8. Mark last
concerning this woman Mary, I see she comes to the knowledge
of the resurrection of Jesus with great pain r for she waked the
night before with care ; she comes out early in the morning to the
o-rave, and goes home with great care and 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 flory of a king at the first, and thinkest thou to come to
Christ at the first ? No, thou must come to Christ and the sight
of his glory with many tears and great pain ; but what if thou
shouldst pain thyself all thy lifetime, if thou get a sight of this re-
surrection in glory, and if thou gettest a blink of that countenance,
if it were at thy last end, it shall swallow up in a moment all thy
displeasure and pain. If thou shouldst suffer martyrdom, yet that
si«iit of his glory shall furnish such joy as shall swallow up all dis-
pleasure, " the sight of that eternal weight of glory makes us to
count all the afflictions of this present life to be but light and mo-
mentanean, when we look not to the tilings that are seen, but to
OP THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 351
the things that are unseen." 1 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 Mary Magdalene, I come to the rest of the wo-
men 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 a 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 robe, sitting in the grave.
Thirdly, we have how they are terrified. And, lastly, Ave have the
speech of the angel to the women. Then, first, coming to the
grave, they run not away, as Mary Magdalene did, but enter in
the grave seeking the Lord ; and, in this point, they go beyond
Mary, 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 Mary Magdalene in love, faith, and zeal,
yet they surpass her in this point, and as they excel her in goino-
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 robe from top to toe. I take this angel to be the
same of whom we spake 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,
' See 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18.
3:>2 THE TWENTY-NINTH LECTURE.
lest lie 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. And 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, 1 he might in-
struct them better by the emptiness and roominess 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
lo 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
judgments of the wicked, as they serve to the glory of God, so
they serve for the well of his own, for the Lorcl hath not only his
own glory before his eyes, but also of the well 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 wit-
ness, 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 cast 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 concredits his plorious Evan^eL
1 This clause should evidently be omitted^
OF TIIE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 353
He loves theni 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 and wo-
men 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 remnant corruption,
therefore, they are afraid at the presence of God. Feelest thou it
not now, thou shalt feel it ere thou go. This remnant corruption
cannot abide the sight of that glory ; a spot of uncleanness can-
not stand in the presence of that holy Majesty. Yet I see a greater
difference between the women and the guard, for the men of Avar
were terrified to the death, but so were not the women. "VVhere-
from 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, and was
full of sin, and of an evil conscience. But the women, suppose
they were sinful, and 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, and through the death of Jesus Christ they had their con-
science sprinkled with his blood ; and 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 and free of sin and corruption,
yet well is the soul that in the blood of Jesus finds their sins for-
given 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 begins to testify of
the resurrection of Christ ; and last, he gives them a command-
z
354 THE TWENTY-NINTH LECTCRE.
ment to tell the disciples. First, he says to the women, " Fear not."
He spake 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 cast 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 in-
ward nor an outward comfort, and at the latter day, the Lord shall 1
speak one joyful word to them, but he will say, u Go your way, ye
cursed company, to be tormented with the devil and his angels." 2
Woe to the estate of them that shall be found out of Jesus Christ !
Albeit that now these things sound not in thy ears, and thou now
thinkest heaven and hell to be but matters of jests, yet, one day,
though thou be a king, thou shalt find these things to be earnest,
and 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 con-
science, but also by outward means, he speaks comfortably to them ;
and he will say to them, by his ministers, " Fear not." Mark fur-
ther, he will not only hold them up, but that same thing that ter-
rified the wicked, he will make it to comfort them. He makes this
same anccel 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 and comfort them. And then, be-
sides this, he ministers joy by telling them of that glorious resur-
rection. So not only fear is put away, but the glorious resurrec-
tion of Jesus Christ is told them, whereof there arises an unspeak-
able joy.
Well, brethren, albeit we feel not this joy for the present, yet
1 Not omitted. 2 Alatth. xxv. 4!.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 355
hold still thy ear and hear on continually, howbeit with pain ; for
if thou get grace to hold still thy ear and 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 tid-
ings ; he will not have them to come with a light disposition of
heart, as we use to do, without any sight and premeditation of sin
and misery. Thou wilt come in, and 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, and, no
question, they were exceedingly afraid. As ever thou wouldst
look for joy, thine heart must be prepared with terror, and in some
measure cast down, ere ever the Lord speak one comfortable word
to thee ; and, therefoi'e, let no man take hardly with the terrors of
the word. This is the first. Then the next point of preparation
is, when thou art cast 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 cast down, through 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, and it will raise up thy dead soul.
Then when the sinner is raised up to hear gladly, then he comes
on to the glad tidings of salvation. Jesus is come into the world
for thy sins, and 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 THIRTIETH LECTURE.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxviii.
5. But the angel ansiuered, and said to the women, Fear ye not ; for I
know that ye seek Jesus, tcho was crucified.
G. lie is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where
the Lord teas laid.
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.
G. But he said unto them, Be not so troubled ; ye seek Jesus of Nazar-
eth, v:ho hath been crucified : he is risen ; he is not here : behold
the place xchere they put him.
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, brethren, 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 Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Sa-
lome, and others, who are not named. These came out of Jerusa-
lem altogether, and as they drew near to the grave, they saw the
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 357
great stone that was rolled to the door of the grave rolled away.
Mary Magdalene, as soon as she sees the stone to be rolled away,
tarries no longer, but supposing it was done by men, and that
they had stolen away the Lord's body by night, then in haste she
runs home, and tells Feter 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 advise-
ment than Mary Magdalene, for they abode still, and when she
was gone home they entered into the grave, and they saw an an-
gel standing in the grave in the likeness of a young man, u clothed
with a long white robe, sitting at the right side of the grave, at
which sight they were wonderfully astonished." And this angel,
to my judgment, 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
begins 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 exceed-
ingly," and they obey the voice of the angel, and they run home
with al) haste to tell the apostles that the Lord was risen.
Now, to return to the oration of the angel. It is short, but won-
derous pithy. As for the first part of tie oration, " Fear not,"
358 THE THIRTIETH LECTURE.
Ave spake of it the last day, and there we left off. Therefore, now
we proceed to the second part, to that grave testimony which the
anyel gives to the resurrection of Christ. Before he speaks, he con-
ciliates authority to his person. Whosoever speaks in the name of
Christ should have an authority of person. The words are these :
u 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 says, " I know ye seek Jesus of
Nazareth, that was crucified and buried," and by this know-
ledge 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 Avitnesses 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 arc not known, not to our own selves, until we go
down and pull off the veil off them,) and all to this end, that Ave
may see God in that person that speaks ; and the last end is this,
that credit be given to that gracious Avord ; and should the Avord
of life pass without credit ? Paul, 1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25, says, If a
prophet stand up to prophesy, or a preacher to preach, and if an
ignorant person come in, loadened Avith sin, and not feeling the
burden, (alas ! there are loo many of this sort,) if this person come
in, with the force of the word lie is drjrrtcd, and he falls down and
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 359
glorifies God, and he will say, " God is with that man that speaks,"
and if God were not with that man that speaks, the heart of the
man would never be dejected. No, all the kings under the sun
could never 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 tidings, 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 past by. Mark it
well ; he says not, u 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 of names that he can. He names him,
from a silly town in Jewry, " 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 con-
versant here. They knew these styles better than the styles of his
Godhead, which were from all eternity. Yet he hath a further re-
spect 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.
No, the angels to whom this death appertains not so much as to
us, (says Peter, in his First Epistle, the first chapter and the
twelfth verse,) delight to look into Christ, to look into that infirm-
ity, and to that death of the cross. Alas, pi'oud sinner ! wilt thou
be offended to look into it, when Peter says, it is the delight of the
holy angels to look into 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 mercy ? And, therefore, now
and everlastingly, their delight is to look into Christ and his suf-
fering, and as they delight to look into Christ and his suffering,
so they shall give praise unto 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 re-
3G0 THE THIRTIETH LECTURE.
epect 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 if 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 resur-
rection was the more glorious. It was, indeed, a great matter and
a wonder, to see a man, a worm trodden 1 by the devil, trodden 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
lt at the name of Jesus all knees shall bow," Philip, chap. ii. verse
10. But 1 leave this, and I go forward.
Next come 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 a heavy word to these holy women ; for ap-
parently they conceived with Mary 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, wh.cn he says, " lie is risen, he is not stolen away craf-
tily, but by his own poAver he is risen."
In this annunciation, as in a picture, ye may observe the form
which is used in proponing the evangel and glad tidings of salva-
tion. The beginning is always in dolour and 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 Pon-
tius Pilate. These are heavy tidings to us, to hear that our Lord
was so hardly and so evil entreated in the world, and that in end, he
died the vile death of the cross 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 ;
1 In original, trcade.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 361
and that through 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 are told to the
kirk 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 ;' n these are sad tidings. But it follows,
" If thou suffer with him, thou shalt reign with him ;" 2 these are
glad tidings. Now, I shall give you the words of the Scripture for
my warrant. Christ (Matth. xvi. 21) says the same to his disciples,
u I am to go up to Hierusalem, 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 32 verse of John, he says to them, " The time will
come when ye shall be scattered, and leave me alone ;" sad tid-
ings. " 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 name's sake ;" that is sad tidings to them. " But they who
continue to the end shall be saved ;" glad tidings. And, again, in
the xvi. 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 a 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." 3 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
l 2 Tim. iii. 12. » 2 Tim. ii. 12. 3 Rev. xxi. 4.
362 THE THIRTIETH LECTURE.
to suffer and to rise the third day." Look the xvi. chapter of
Matthew. So he confirms them by the Lord's 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 glorifica-
tion, 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 remember not so much as the wicked,
who hear 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 in 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 then this is a great mercy, that he will bring that word
that thou hast contemned to thy remembrance, and ere thou re-
member 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 1 many angels. Take away these men that preach the gospel, (in-
deed, I grant properly this, to call all things spoken to remembrance
pertains to the Holy Spirit, John xiv. 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 wert
1 For, like as.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 363
a king, if thou nearest not this word, that thou wert 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 art 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 fore-
told 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 also have it in our hand, and as we shall rejoiee 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 me-
mory 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 tidings, but
he will bring them before thine eyes. What mean these visible
sacraments, but to help the infirmity of the weak faith ? and 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,
3G4 THE THIRTIETH LECTURE.
in the first to the Corinthians, ii. 4. It hath an ocular demonstra-
tion, 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 Epis-
tle to the Galatians, chapter iii. 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. Tidings have ever some commandment
joined with them, and commandment requires ever obedience : so
whenever thou gettest tidings, thou gettest a commandment, " Do
this, or thou shalt never get part nor portion of the tidings." No,
brethren, a Christian life is not an idle life, but practical ; if ever thou
wouldst be partaker of these good things, look that thou strive to
do that which he bids thee. " Run," says the angel, " home,
this have I told you ; preach ye to the apostles. Go, tell his
disciples that he is risen. Go your way, hastily, to testify the
resurrection." This glorious resurrection requires a hasty preach-
ing ; and I say to you, that testimony that is given of Christ re-
quires 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 advantage of
this, that Peters name was expressed and not the rest. This spe-
cial direction that is sent to Peter imports no supremacy, but ra-
ther, if ye consider well, that he was inferior to them all. It im-
ports this plainly, that Peter had done a great fault, by the three-
fold denial of the Lord. Alas ! in this action he had an evil con-
science, 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 (-oil dare conic to him, except he be prevented?
No, Peter durst not for his life have looked to the Lord ; so this
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 3G5
s 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 the resurrection. The Lord gives them a special
direction. First from God, then from his angel; and this commis-
sion 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 Ro-
mans, tenth chapter and fifteenth verse. " None can preach except
he be sent." How can one preach Christ, and if he be not sent ?
Dare a knave stand up in the midst of a city or a 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, and if thou wert never so admitted and warranted by
the Church, and 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 Se-
cond Epistle, the second chapter, second 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 concredit to every knave ; it is too precious a jewel to
deliver to knaves ; let them deliver it to them that are able to
300 THE THIRTIETH LECTURE.
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 im-
pedes the course of the glorious gospel ; for what can there be,
where it is not teach ed, but death ? No, this gospel is a stumbling-
block to the world. " Tell them," says the angel, " he will meet them
in Galilee ; for Jewry 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 tidings that tell us of things that are not seen, have
every one of them a promise joined with them that we shall see
them come to pass. Believe thou that he hath sutfered, and thou
shalt see that he hath suffered, and believe that he is in glory, and
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 xx. 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 never 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 ! 1 fear I shall never see life."
And these are the temptations of the most godly men and wo-
men of this world. Yet, against all these temptations believe God's
promises, and hope for life ; for Paul says, in the Epistle to the Ro-
mans, 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
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 367
thee that fearest the Lord, and 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 and 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 shall find it to be true, and, 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 pro-
phet David, " I believed, and, therefore, I spake." 1 Look thou
speak nothing to the people of God but that which thou strivest
to believe. How is this assurance gotten ? And will every wan-
ton 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 pre-
sence, and not to have any joy but in his presence, thou shalt never
have this assurance. Then, how is it kept ? The Lord hath ap-
pointed reading. " Take heed to thy reading," says Paul to Ti-
mothy, in his First Epistle, the fourth chapter and 1 3 verse, " and
give thyself to meditation, and show 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 feel-
ing ; 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
1 Psalm cxvi. 6.
308 THE THIRTIETH LECTURE.
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 fulness 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 THIRTY- FIRST LECTURE.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxviii.
8. So they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great
joy ; and did run to bring his disciples word.
Mark, Chap. xvi.
8. And they went out quickly, and fed from the sepulchre ; for they
trembled, and were amazed : neither said they any thing to any
man ; for they were afraid.
#
Luke, Chap. xxiv.
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.
2. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
3. And icent in, but found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
A. And it came to pass, that as they were amazed thereat, behold, two
men suddenly stood by them in shining vestures:
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 ?
6. He is not here, but is risen : remember how he spake unto you when
he was yet in Galilee,
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.
2 A
370 THE THIRTY-FIRST LECTURE.
8. And they remembered his words,
9. And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the
eleven, and to all the remnant.
10. Now, it was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother
of James, and other women ivith them, who told these things unto
the apostles.
11. But their words seemed unto them as a feigned thing, neitherbelieved
they them.
I showed you from the beginning, well-beloved in the Lord Je-
sus, that there were two companies of women that came out of
Hierusalem to the grave of the Lord. First, one company, in the
which was " Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and
Salome, with some others." Then soon after that, there came out
another company of women, whose names we find not registrate.
We have heard already of the history of the first women ; we heard
of their outcoming, we heard what they saw, and what they heard
when they nine to the grave of the Lord. Now, this day, we
have the returning of the first company home to Hierusalem set
down in few words. Then we shall go to the history of the se-
cond company of women, wherein, first, we have their outcoming ;
secondly, what they hear and see ; and, thirdly, their tidings to the
apostles, what they had heard and seen. And this history con-
cerning the second company is written by Luke, chap. xxiv. verse
2 ; Matthew writes concerning the first company, and Mark also ;
John speaks only of Mary Magdalene. Luke sets down the whole
second company.
But now to return to the homecoming 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 ex-
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 371
pedition. 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 depart 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 hea-
ven. Let no man deceive himself. They teach us how we should
depart 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." 1 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 com-
mandment, " 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
» Matthew xviii. 20.
372 THE THIRTY-FIRST LECTURE.
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 be-
come of this kingdom? Suppose there were none other sin but
this sin of blood, O ! it cries for a vengeance. Mark this ; fy upon
thee, that in such a light, and in the sight of that great God, thou
shouldst commit such villany.
But I go forward, and I enter to the history of the second com-
pany 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 through 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 from
the sepulchre," as the first did, " and they enter into the grave,"
as the first did ; " but they found not the body of the Lord Jesus,"
and they ase 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
bid 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 ; and as the courageousness of these
1 Greswell thinks that the first company saw two angels, one outside the tomb,
mentioned by Matthew, one inside, mentioned by Mark.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 373
women is to be commended, so the apostles' cowardice merits no
commendation : and the moe women testify of his resurrection,
that same brings the greater shame to the apostles. When thou
art a man, and hast a calling, and wilt 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 through 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 resur-
rection 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 earnest-penny 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 divers perturbations of mind ; they come out with sad-
ness, 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 chap-
ter, and the third verse ; but behold the end, " When they have
cried, Peace, then a sudden destruction from the heaven shall over-
take them, and their peace shall end in disquietness for ever."
The trouble of the godly ends in endless joy. The godly begin in
sadness, go 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 re-
membrance of that trouble that thou hadst in this life shall aug-
ment thy joy, and thou shalt rejoice that ever thou hadst trouble
here, if thou hadst been even burned 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
374 THE THIRTY-FIRST LECTURE.
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. 1 " "Why
do ye seek the living amongst the dead ? ^Yhy 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 forgotten 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 ; and 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, and in his anger, he never forgets mercy and lenity. In
reproving of the women, 2 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 reproof, 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 Ave learn
this at the angel ; it may be, that God speak a word of anger,
1 " It must strike every one who compares them together, that as the address in
Matthew is characterized by a tone of encouragement, gentleness, and condescension,
so the address in Luke is distinguished by a tone of severity and reproof.*' Gres-
well, vol. iii. p. 271.
2 " Nor is their language, after all, so severe as to convey more than a grave
expostulation, and a mild rebuke." — Greswell, vol. iii. p. 2/3.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 0(0
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, then 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 doest. 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 for-
get 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 jot 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 elect's memory,
he 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 spake 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
371) THE T1IIRTY-FIKST LECTURE.
charge, and then the conscience shall stand up and accuse them
everlastingly. No, if thou be out with Christ, 1 say to thee, ter-
rible 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 for-
gotten 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 resurrec-
tion, " 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 con-
ceived 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 ; and 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
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 377
will have joy with them. Look the twelfth chapter to the Ro-
mans, 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 pre-
cious 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, Romans, chap.
i. verse 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, 1 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 infidels to-
gether, 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, " Mary Magdalene, and Mary
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 wo-
men, to have told them of the resurrection of Christ. When he
sends so, women after women, it testifies that they were in a dead
1 Latin Commentary, — Neque tamen propterea quidquam ex eo (gauclio) est im-
minutum P. 1055.
378 THE THIETY-F1BST LECTURE.
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 sleep 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 Lord's 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 wicked-
ness, take away crosses, 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
wast set in the world, except thou compt this preaching the great-
est 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; 1 and this drew them to this security.
This is the nature of the regenerate. Suppose the regenerate
in this world compt, 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 sometimes the
preaching of the cross and resurrection of Christ to be but vanity,
and a dream of wives, 2 as John, Peter, Matthew, and the rest
' Latin Commentary, — Uncle apparet eos adhuc animates fuissc magis quam spi-
rituals homines. — P. 1057. 2 I. e. Women. Sec I Tim", iv. 7.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 379
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," 1 as David calls it, then we shall say with Sarah, " The
Lord hath made me now to laugh indeed." 2 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, then 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 a hope above
hope, and then shalt thou greatly wonder at that sight, and mar-
vel for ever, 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 loaded with sin, and
feels it not that it 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 ?" 3 and if Ave speak to these
persons of the resurrection and 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 are manifest upon the sleeping
sinner, and death comes on him, that never shall have an end. But
Paul, in the third chapter to the Romans, and in the twenty and
1 Psalm xxx. 5. - Gen. xxi. 6. 8 Kom. vii. 24.
380 THE THIRTY-FIRST LECTURE.
two 1 verse, be comes on with other tidings, and says, " That the
righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, is made mani-
fest 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 from that burden of sin and wrath. And when a man hears
this, he will think it the sweetest tidings that ever he heard ; for
the sinner will find life in that death, and that blood w T ill sprinkle
his conscience, as the apostle says to the Hebrews, 2 and thou wilt
find a w T onderful joy when thy sins are remitted in Christ. Of all
joys under heaven, this is the greatest. The preaching of Christ
avails to none, but to him who finds his soul loaded 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 misbelieve, but by his providence ; whatever
was their part in it, the w r ork was good, and 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 re-
surrection of Christ, to preach his passion and resurrection ; and
Avilt thou of a light knowledge preach it ? No, beware thou speak
this or that, upon a report. Of all men that speak in this earth,
or are 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 a 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 evidence that the
1 In original, one, because the Commentary erroneously quotes that verse.
2 Heb. x. 22.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 381
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 THIRTY-SECOND LECTURE.
OF THE KESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Luke, Chap. xxiv.
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.
3. Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they came unto
the sepulchre.
4. So they ran both together ; but the other disciple did outrun Peter,
and came first to the sepulchre.
5. And he stooped down, and saw the linen clothes lying : yet xcent he
not in.
6. Then came Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre,
and saw the linen clothes lie,
7. And the handkerchief, that icas upon his head, not lying with the linen
clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
8. Then went in also the other disciple, who came first to the sepulchre,
and he saw it, and believed.
9. For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again
from the dead.
10. And the disciples xcent 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
1 The Commentary takes up the verse of Luke together with John xx. 3-13.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 383
the grave of the Lord, early in the morning ; the one company
that came first, wherein was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mo-
ther 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 eleven apostles were
lurking with some other disciples, who loved the Lord. We heard
of the preaching that the first company makes, and 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 eleven apostles, to wit, they
thought it all but folly, fables, and a feigned report, and believed it
not. It is a hard matter to believe the report of Christ, of his
passion, and 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 two disciples at
least, Peter and 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, and a
spunk of love toward their Master, Christ. Indeed, it was smo-
thered with the dross of the corruption of nature, but yet it was
not quite put out ; and, therefore, as soon as these women come
and make report of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the seed be-
gins to waken and draw spirits, 1 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 a heavy sleep,
and that seed will be so holden down, that it will not be seen to
1 i*. e. Acquire strength, colligere animus.
384 THE THIRTY-SECOND LECTURE.
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 and 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, Galatians, chap, iv., verse 19, " until Christ be formed
in you." And all this time he lies without working, the man will
seem then to be but dead ; but as soon as that word sounds, which
is the word of life, the word of the cross, and of the resurrection of
Jesus, then 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, xvii., verse 11, ye may read a vive example of this. There
were certain of the Jews 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 Jews
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 judg-
ment ; 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 a heart full of gall and bitterness,
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 385
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
and little.
Now, when they are wakened, what do they ? " They rim 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 Mary 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 be-
lieved, and fain would have had it so, and that was the thing which
they most desired. And ye know, that 1 we hear that thing which
we would fain 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 incli-
nation 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
1 When omitted.
2 B
386 THE THIRTY-SECOND LECTURE.
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 ; fy 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 a happy thing to strive in good things, who should
be readiest and 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 w r ho 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 xi.
verse 12, " The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the vio-
lent 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 xiii. chapter, and verse 24, " Strive to enter in
at the strait gate," meaning, that we should strive with our whole
kindred to be first in heaven ; suppose thou wilt let a king go in be-
fore 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 ex-
horted all men to run, he ran himself; he says, in the First Epistle
to the Corinthians, the ix. chapter, and the 23 verse, 1 he ran, and
1 In the Commentary, on the margin, is given, 1 Cor. ix. 23, &e., with this comment
in the text : Paulus qui aKos orr.ne ud cursum provooabat, ipse cpioque cum aliis certa-
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 387
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, iii. 14. If two be running here on the
earth striving to get the crown, the one will envy the other, and
he will travail to get himself forward, and put his companion back-
ward. 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 chanter, and the twenty-fourth
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, and say, " Go forward to
the end, brother, and thou shalt get the crown." And 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 for-
ward, 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 seventh and eighth 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 unfcr 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 and
lead thy neighbour by the hand that is weaker than thou, it shall
bat, ut una particeps fieret Evangelii sui ; et ne quo modo, cum aliis pisedicarit,
ipse reprobus fieret.— P. 1060. The editors have mixed up this with the following
quotation from the Eoistlo to the Philippians.
Z$$ THbu TUIRTr-SECOND LECTURE,
he 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 second
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, and John leaves Peter behind him, and
outruns him ; but when it 1 comes to the grave, he only looks in, and
sees the linen clothes lying, but he enters not in to get knoAV-
ledge, but seeing the linen clothes, he stands still. Peter, that
came behind him, enters first in into the grave, and sees the mat-
ter as it was ; the winding-sheet, 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 winding-sheet 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.
AVherefore should I speak of the vanity of the Papists ? 2 They will
say to you they have the same winding-sheet, and this same ker-
chief, 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 vive picture of Christ is in that winding-
sheet ; 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
1 So in original.
2 This is probably borrowed from Calvin, who alludes to it in his Commentary on
tin; passage. Our author takes no notice of it in his.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 389
the grave, I see this course that we have in this life is very un-
equable ; it keeps not always one constant tenor, nor we are not
aye 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 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 Avilleth, 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 draigled 1 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 draigling 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, Cs He saw, and he believed."
Mark the lesson ; albeit there be many changes by the way, yet
he or she that will persevere in draigling 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 persevere ; 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 feet in the day ; and, as ever thou Avouldst be safe, lie not
still. It stands thee upon life and death ; thou must wear away,
and night and day thou goest ever to this end ; and if this out-
ward man decay, grow in the inward man ; and as thou growest
weak in this life, strive 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
! t, e. Came on slowly.
300 THE THIRTY-SECOND LECTURE.
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, u We live by faith, and
not by sight ;"* yet, however it be, that man or women believe,
they are blessed; and blessed art thou, man or woman, that be-
lievest 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 suspendest 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 com-
fort 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 wert (lying ; and if he say to thee that he will give thee life,
depend and stick by his promise. Thou honourest thy God in be-
lieving 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
1 2 C<
OF THE RESUKRECTION OF CHRIST. 391
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 register our faults,
that any other might read them, u this man sinned this way and
that Avay ?" 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 dited 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 kins-
folk 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 igno-
rance. 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 igno-
rance. 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 and his shavelings
blasphemously allege ; but I affirm, that it is so perfect, that all
things appertaining to thy salvation are contained therein. And I
eay, in despite of the Pope, thou who sayest it is obscure, one day
3D2 T1IE THIRTY-SECOND LECTURE.
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 sewed 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 im-
pair 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 blas-
phemy. But to leave them, what are these Scriptures that preach
Christ's resurrection from the dead ? In what part is his resurrec-
tion foretold ? In the xiii. of the Acts, verse 34, Paul, preaching
of Christ, he confirms it by the Old Scriptures. The first Scrip-
ture is out of the Iv. of Isaiah, verse 3, 1 where he says, " lie 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 Second Epistle to the Corinthians, the first
chapter, and the twentieth verse, " In him are all the promises of
God yea and amen." No, thou or 1 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 flow from the life of Jesus. So, if
he had not risen, thou shouldst have had no life. He 2 hath an-
other Scripture out of the sixteenth Psalm, at the tenth verse,
" Thou wilt not leave my soul in the grave, neither wilt suffer
1 There is here an ii^tance of the manner in which typographical errors may he
perpetuated. The Commentary, after mentioning Acts xiii., quotes Ex Esaia lv. 3,
34, &c. The 34 had dropped in the printing from Acts xiii. 34. But the Lectures
improve on the blunder, and give first, " In the xiii. of the Actes," and then " lv.
of Exay, verse 3, 24.'' - i. e. Paul, Acts xiii. 85.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 303
thine Holy One to see corrinption." 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
thirty-first, uses the same testimony. Likewise in the liii. chapter
of Isaiah, and the eighth verse, where he prophesies of Christ, he
says, " And who is able to count his generation ?" — for all 1 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." 2 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, and then we would come to the New Testament
to see these things accomplished, and so would meditate in the
Scriptures night and day to confirm our faith, and to get our hearts
set and stablished on the Lord ; for it is a matter of great difficulty
to get the heart stablished 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 nim, 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.
1 i. e. In despite of. 2 I presume the reference is to John xx. 29.
THE THIRTY-THIRD LECTURE.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Make, Chap. xvi.
9. And when Jesus was risen again, early the first day of the week, he
appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he cast seven
devils.
John, Chap. xx.
1 1. But Mary stood without at the sepulchre, weeping ; and as she wept,
she bowed herself into the sepulchre,
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.
13. And they said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou ? She said unto
them, They have taken away my Lord, and I know not tchere they
have laid him.
1 4. When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saro Jesus
standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
15. Jesus saith unto Iter, 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. 1
1 The Commentary takes up Mark xvi 9-11, with John xx. 14-18.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 395
We have heard, brethren, before, first of the outcoming of the
first company of women to the grave of the Lord, and of their
returning home again. Secondly, we heard of the outcoming 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 re-
surrection, came out to the grave to see if it was so as the wo-
men had reported. They ran, and in running, they strive who
shall be first. John outruns 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 Lord's head was wrapped, to be in another part,
he wonders at it, and thereafter goes into the grave. Then came
John again, who before 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 Mary 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 wist not where it was laid.
This same Mary, 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 Mary
Magdalene ; and, first, we shall speak of her mourning ; and, se-
condly, 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, lastly, we shall speak of the effect that
followed upon these sights, as God shall give the grace, and as the
time ?ball permit.
3 ( J6 THE XHIKTV-IillRD LECTUEE.
Then, to begin at the first ; it is said in the text, " Mary
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 Avonderful love of this woman ; there is no man
that can express sufficiently this love that she hath to Christ.
No, well were Ave 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,
and almost desperately, for the body of the Lord ; she mourns in
vain, where there is no cause of mourning, but cause of joy. 1
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 miss-
ing 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 meantime, 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, and 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
Mary 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 awav,
she tells false tidings, 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 and
' In Commentary, lie sajs, rictus hie, .... non caret vitio, turn quia nimius,
turn quia superslitiosus est 1'. 1003.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 397
conceit enter into the head of any, it is not lightly removed again ;
thou mayest conceive it lightly, as Mary Magdalene did, but
thou shalt not lay it down so lightly. Beware of opinions con-
cerning God and religion, and ere ever thou suffer an opinion to
enter into thine head, consider it in the beginning. Had she con-
sidered it well, she had not been overcome with it now. There-
fore, let not opinions concerning God, religion, and that life to
come, lightly enter into your heads. Now, at last, she bows her
body, and goes in to the grave. When she hath gone forward
for a season in this vain displeasure, at last the Lord bows her
heart ; for if she had not bowed her heart, she should never have
bowed her body, to have looked into the grave. Mark the good-
ness 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
will 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 given thee the first
grace to seek, without doubt he will also give thee the second to
find him.
Now, she looks into 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 Avould 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 say to thee, if thou wilt bow thy
body to seek, thou shalt get greater things than thou seekest.
Mary sought but Christ's dead body, and she finds angels bear-
398 THE THIRTY-THIRD LECTURE.
ing witness that he was risen. So, in a word, seek, and thou
shalt find greater things than ever thou soughtest. Alas ! we
want grace for fault of seeking ; and I testify this, that the world
wants grace and salvation for fault of seeking, for their hearts
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
lving in one place of the grave, and a kerchief in another ; but
Mary 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-sheet and the kerchief also.
She sees a fairer sight than John and Peter did ; Mary, that was
a woman, sees a more glorious sight than two apostles saw ; they
see but linen clothes, Mary 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 sex 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 con-
sider 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 ; l 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 that the Lord
appointed that not only they should speak with their tongue,
1 /. e. Place in succession.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 399
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, " Here 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 in-
form 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. Mary hath seen a fair sight, but stays the
grace here ? and thinks the Lord he hath done enough, because
he hath" let her see 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 Mary ? The angels say unto her,
" Woman, why mournest thou?" for, as she looked into the
grave, she Avept bitterly ; the tears went never from her eyes, nor
the sadness from her heart, till the Lord himself said, " Mary,
why weepest thou?" Mark the words. The angel, no doubt,
rejects her, because she wept without measure and in vain, be-
cause she thought that the body of the Lord had been stolen
aAvay ; she wept for him who was living. But as the angel re-
proves 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
400 THE THIRTY-THIRD LECTURE.
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 a
heart as she had ; for her heart was so filled with sadness and
displeasure, that fear could not get place. The angel says, " Wo-
man, 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. v. 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 world ;
woe unto it, few men or women are now mourning with Mary
Magdalene ; alas ! what need have we of stilling ! No, we are
laughing, notwithstanding of all these judgments that approach
fast, and are near at hand ; they will cause us all mourn one day.
But what say the angels to her? say they in an anger, " Why
seek ye the living among 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 into 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 spake 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 bruise the broken
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 401
reed, neither will he quench the smoking flax," as it was prophe-
sied of him long before, Isaiah, chapter xlii., and the third verse;
but if thou be sad, he will raise thee up with such comfort as can-
not be told.
Now, to go forward ; when they have demanded, " Why weep-
est thou?" she 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 ter-
rible angel she is not moved ? Even because her heart was over-
come and loadened 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, and wherefore was she so careful ? She
tells what she would do with it ; she says to himself, " I would
bury it." Now, all this came of a surpassing love ; and, there-
fore, look not so much to her doing as to her love. Learn at
Mary 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.
No, except there had come a force and virtue out of that body,
she could never have loved the Lord so well. No, except he loose
our hearts with that love he bears to us, we cannot love him ; but
when once he looses thine heart, thou wilt hate thyself to love
him. So, whatever 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 w r ere 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,
" As soon as she had spoken, she turns her about again." Men
2 C
402 THE THIRTY-THIRD LECTURE.
would think this an indiscreet 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 her soul was loadened. 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, John, chapter iii.,
verse 29, " It is the bridegroom that hath the bride : and I stand,"
says he, " and hear him, and hearing him, I rejoice with a joy un-
speakable 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 asking for him ; thou shalt get such a joyful meet-
ing as Mary Magdalene did ; but woeful shall that meeting be to
thee, who dclightest not to hear nor to speak of him ; for " he
shall come upon thee like a thief in the night." 1 So, blessed art
1 1 Thess v. -J.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 403
thou who art talking with his messengei's ; for he shall call thee
by name as he did Mary, and that shall be the joyfulest 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 com-
mon to her with the other women. Here, 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 shalt see
him first, and joyful shall that sight be to thee. Yet mai'k how
she receives it ; " she knows him not." This is a marvellous
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 w r ere, 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 Mary, 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 ! Ave seek joy here, and there is but
few who seek Christ, in whom is all true joy.
10 1 THE THIRTY-THIRD LECTURE.
Well, Mary knew not the Lord, but yet he knew her. No, thou
mayest well forget him, but he will not forget thee, but he shall
cause thee to know him ere thou go. He says to Mary, " Woman,
why mournest thou ?" At the first he lies aloof, he says not, " Mary,"
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, tl 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
afar 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 sad-
ness in us till we meet with the Lord ; for the more thou mourn-
est 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. Oh, 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 they 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 away." Look if she loved him
not well when he Avas 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, v. 28, it is said, " Where-
soever a dead carcase is, thither will the eagles be gathered to-
gether." 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 mar-
vellous stupidity ; she knows him neither by sight nor voice, her
heart was so overcome with dolour and sadness. And this sense-
1 1 Cc
OF THE KESUEKECJTION OF (JURIST.
405
lessness that fell on good Mary 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." 1 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 Mary,
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 king-
dom 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.
' Isa. vi. 10.
THE THIRTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
John, Chap. xx.
16. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and said unto
him, Rabboni ; which is to say, Master.
1 7. Jesus saith 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.
18. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the
Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
We heard, these past days, beloved in Christ, how that early in
the morning, first one company of women came out of Hierusalem
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 outcoming of Mary
Magdalene to the grave of the Lord, the second time, following
after the disciples, Peter and John ; 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 low her mind, and then she bowed her body, and looked
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 407
into the grave, and saw two angels, the one at the head and the
other at the feet of the grave where our Lord had lain, sitting,
clothed in bright raiment ; and when she saw them she was no-
thing J 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, " Woman,"
speaking strangely ; and he proceeds farther, and saith, " Whom
seekest thou ?" as though he had not known whom she had been
seeking. Mary supposing him to have been the gardener of that
yerd 1 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 and vehement. In her was exceeding love to
the Lord, and exceeding vehement desire to see him, and exceed-
ing displeasure for him, and 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 xi. of Matthew, v. 12, that break 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 Avomen, and went be-
twixt them and him ; and, therefore, she meets him first, because
she seeks him before them. 2
Thus far we heard last day. Now, we follow out the rest of the
history, and that thing that folloAvs of the communing betwixt the
1 In original, yearde; i. e. Earth, burying- pi ace.
2 In Commentary, — Dtim de hac muliere diligentius crgito, \\dio in ea •uH-nen-
40S THE THIRTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
Lord and her. The Lord leaves her not so lying in ignorance and
displeasure, but as he had before somewhat strangely and uncouthly
talked with her, so now he comes on more homely, and he utters
in a more kindly word, and he names her by her name, " Mary."
He speaks nothing but one word, but a well chosen word, a homely
word, the word of a pastor, of a shepherd, naming her by her own
name, as it is said, in the x. of John, v. 3, " The good shepherd
will name his sheep by their name." 1 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 a homely
and 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
iv. 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 begins
and tells her of all that she had done, and that she was but a
harlot, lying presently in harlotry ; she hearing that, she under-
stands that he is a Prophet, and at last that he is Christ, the Mes-
sias. 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, and 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 Avords. When he will waken thee, one word
will do the deed. Yet to come to her. As soon as she hears the
word, she comes, and 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 spake to her before ; she says, " Kabboni ;" it is a Chaldaic
tia omnia, vehementem amorcm, vehementem dolorem, vehemens des-iderium, adco
ut cogar in violentis illis cam mum-rare, qui vim afferunt regno ccelorum, ac rapiunt
ip.=um : de quibue Matt. .v. 12, Eo re ipsa quidem vi Christum rap uisse videtur
eumque prseripuisse quodammodo omnibus aliis, non modo mulieribus, scd apostolis
etiam ipsis, nam Maris primum omnium se videndum obtulit Dominus. — P.
1006.
1 The Commentary inaccurately quotes John Hi. 10.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 409
word, which, in our language, signifies " Master." He speaks but
one word, and 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 obe-
dient 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 an-
swer 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 feels the effect of his calling. When the Lord speaks home-
ly, if thou answerest homely, there shall be exceeding joy ; this is
it that Ave 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 ought, except
he prevent them with grace. If he love thee not first, thou wilt
never love him, i John iv. 10, and if he know not thee first, thou
shalt never know him. No, never a man will know the Lord, ex-
cept he know them first. He 1 says, in the iv. chapter of the Ga-
latians, verse 9, " Now, seeing ye know God," then bethinking
himself, he says, " Yea, rather are known of God." And, therefore,
thou shoulust say, " Lord, love me, that I may love thee ; Lord,
know me, that I may know thee," &c.
Now, I go forward. When she hath uttered this word, " Eab-
boni," 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 r a whole company took him by the feet
and adored him, as ye may read, Matth. xxviii. 9 ; and the dieeiplcs
1 i.e. Pau'. Commentary : At nunc, inquit Faulus, &c.
410 THE THIRTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
touched him, as ye may read in the xxiv. of Luke, and the 39 verse ;
and 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 strange to Mary. I answer to this, and I take mine an-
swer, first, out of the reason, and, next, out of the commission he gives
to Mary. 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 ef-
fect : " 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 ad-
dicted to his bodily presence, and she thought that he should have
remained and dwelt 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 and 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 has done her commission.
Now, let us mark something in Mary 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 ! lie gives the reason ; " because he loved me, and died, and
gave his life for me, I will consecrate me to his service," — and it is
little enough thou shouldst 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, 1
I will look to the grace of regeneration. This is the service of
1 i. e. Men, as far as thoy are new creatures ; I will look to them as far as they
have the grace of regeneration.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 411
Christ ; and 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 Mary 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,
and, therefore, he loved him exceeding well ; she loved him be-
cause he died for her, but when it comes to the service, Mary
is not well learned. Paul touches him by faith in the heavens ;
Mary 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 chiefly 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 n piece of bread ;
and, therefore, they dream a bodily presence of him in the sacra-
ment. All their religion is earthly, no spirit, no grace in it. But
accepted the Lord of that gross service of Mary that she offered ?
I am -certain he loved Mary better than the Pope, and all his shave-
lings ; yet for as well as he liked Mary, he likes not this her ser-
vice. 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 be-
fore 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
412 THE THIRTY- FOURTH LECTURE.
be a soldier." If the embracing of a person may hinder thee, do
it not, and if the saluting of a person in the journey hinder thee,
do it not. Ye read in 2 Kings, chapter iv. verse 29, where the
prophet Elisha sends his servant Gehazi to the Shunammite, 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 haste, " and salute no man by the way," Luke, chap-
ter x. 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 Lord's work, do it not. Paul received a commission ;
as ye may read, Philippians, chapter iii. 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, there-
fore, 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. xlviii. 10.
Now, let us come to the commission. He says to her,
" Mary, go and tell my brethren." Well, gets a woman the
commission ? where are Peter, and 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 spake
of sundry preferments of women that they got before all men I
they got the revelation of his resurrection before all men in the
world, and not by men, but by glorious angels. But Mary 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 wo-
men got not, she gets 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 Mary, that was fur-
thest castcn down, possessed with seven devils. What should I
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 413
say ? The further thou be casten down, the higher shalt thou be
exalted. But, mark the words, he says, " Tell my brethren."
Notwithstanding all their sluggishness, — notwithstanding they
were offended in him, yet he says, " Tell my brethren." In the
xxii. Psalm, verse 23, 1 David says, "I will preach to my brethren."
The Lord accomplished here that prophecy ; here he preaches to
his brethren. Ye read in Hebrews ii. 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 bre-
thren ;" and, therefore, he brings in this place of the xxii. Psalm,
saying, " I will declare thy name unto my brethren." The reason 2
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 ex-
CD
alted 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 an-
gels tells that he was risen, but the commission that the Lord
himself gives to Mary is of a 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 reve-
lation 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, minister
1 V. 22 of our version. 2 i. e. Reasoning.
414 THE THIRTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
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
lio-ht 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 into the heart of man." 1
Yet let us weigh the words better : " I go up to my Father.
I <w not down, let them not seek me in the earth. I have been
i n it ;" — (as Paul says to the Ephesians, the fourth chapter, and the
ninth verse, " He descended into the lowest parts of the earth :") —
" I o-o to the heaven." The word imports, that he was to leave them,
and that word was sad to them, and to Mary, 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 im-
ports, that as he went to his Father, for his own glory and well, so
he went for their glory and well, and as soon 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 burned, 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, 2 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 staid 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, staid 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
1 1 C.»r. ii. 9. 2 Eph. i. 17.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 415
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
and 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 Mary hath
received the commission, she tarries no longer ; howbeit she was
loath to depart from him, yet, because she saw that it was his will,
she obeys. The godly would fain 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 Corinth, chap. v. 8.
Fain would the godly soul be with God ; and suppose it be pressed
down with sin, yet it breaks ay upward toward the heavens to be
with the Lord, " that this mortality may be swallowed up of life." 1
For, as long as we lie here, we live under the burden of sin ; so,
fain 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
meet with the Lord, whom we have longed for, we are contented
for a time.
Now, when Mary departs, what does she ? " She told the dis-
ciples 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 Ave 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
1 1 Cor. xv. 54.
416 THE THIRTY-FOURTH LECTURE.
as Mary was welcome unto him again, so shalt thou be also wel-
come, 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 THIRTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxviii.
9. And as they merit 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.
10. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go and tell my brethren
that they go into Galilee, and there shall ye 1 see me.
Mark, Chap. xvi.
10. And she went and told them that had been with him, who mourned
and wept.
1 1 . And when they heard that he icas alive, and had appeared to her,
they believed it not.
Beloved brethren, these days past we have heard, first, the
history of Mary 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 into the grave, of the
sight of the angels meeting with her, of Christ's words unto her.
First, he spake 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, M Mary." 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 mistake for they.
2 D
418 THE THIRTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
a reverent disciple. He calls her as a shepherd, and she an-
swers him as one of his flock, knowing him by his voice. She offers
to embrace him, but he prevents 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 have
her 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 com-
mission, " 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. Mary 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 jov. This change, of course, 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 Mary finds the apostles weeping
and mourning, she tells them that the Lord is alive. She confirms
it that he spake, and says, she saw him with her eyes. But how
take the apostles with this commission ? They remain faithless
for all that she could say ; they would not believe her. No, it is
a 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 elite 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 resur-
rection is hard to be believed of any man, but this is sure, the re-
surrection 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
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 419
he may be made wise," as the apostle Paul speaks, 1 Corinthians,
chap. iii. verse 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 mourn-
ing. What cause had they of mourning for him who 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 for-
gotten 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, Mary 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 for-
getfulness 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 Mary, that came from the Lord, and saw him, and
spake 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 and kept down afore, in
end it brake out, and burnt through all their imperfections. It
is a wonder to see how the Lord will keep in a spunk of grace
420 THE THIRTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
under a hundred imperfections. And this should make us to be
loath to judge, and to give out sentence ; for all the evil that Ave
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 spunk will break
out in its own time.
Now, I have ended the history of Mary 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 him-
self. In the next discourse, we have a piece of a 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 through, 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, u the Lord met them ;" but
Mary was returned before these women came forth ; she had met
with Christ, and returned home again. 1 This company meets with
the Lord as they returned homeward. Ye will perhaps ask, what
was the cause that he met with Mary 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 Mary. 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 Mary Magdalene. A man will thirst for earthly things,
and be disappointed of them ; but it is impossible, if thou thirst for
Christ, and to see thy Lord, but thou shalt see him. So, sl Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness; for they shall be
1 The account given by the Commentary is this, — " While these events" (con-
nected vvith Mary Magdalene) " are occurring, the other women return to the tomb,
and while they are leaving it, entirely ignorant of what had befallen Mary, Jesus
meets and sa'utes them." — P. 107o.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 421
satisfied," Matth. chap. v. ver. 5. So, if thou wouldst see Christ first,
long for him, and thou shalt never get that blessedness 1 till thou
seest him. Then, if thou canst not be the first in care and desire
to see him, with Mary 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, then
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 desire of
him, nor no languor for his presence, in the which is satiety of joy ;
and if thou have no languor, 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, lt God
save you ;" the word in our language would be well marked, — it
signifies " Rejoice." 2 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 him-
self? or who can give peace but the Lord? As soon as he draws
1 i. e. Of being satisfied.
2 Xcciqsrs. The sentence plainly means, " The [significance of the original]
word [when literally translated] in our language deserves to be remarked."
422 THE THIRTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
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. i. 1 6, " 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 fall 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, chap-
ter xx. 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 feel-
est him in thine heart, but thou must meet him again, and cleave
fast to him. The feeling of this joy, which is through the pre-
sence 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 eighth verse, " AVe not seeing him, but believing in him, re-
joice 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 through 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
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 423
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 take him
by the feet, and worship him. Mark it, brethren, a sinner will
be homely indeed with his God, with Christ. No, there Avas never
a creature so homely with another, as the sinner will be with the
Lord. But mark it ; this homeliness will not be with misnourture-
ness, 1 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," Eph.
chapter i. 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 Isaiah, and in the Revelation. 2
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 that 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 a holiness in
that majesty that we join with, there is no spot in him, and then
so long as we are here, there is such uncleanness, and such an
1 i. e. Rude familiarity. In the Commentary, Fides quidem familiaris est, scd
non cum contemptu P. 1078. * Rev. iv. 8.
124 THE THIRTY-FIFTII LECTURE.
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,
■\ve 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 sin-
ner that fain 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 iv. verse 16, " Let us go boldly to the throne
of grace, with confidence, that we may receive mercy;" and if
thou nearest this voice, thou may est go boldly, and he shall put
away all terrors and fear. But in that life to come, when all mat-
ter of fear, as sin and corruption of nature, is away, albeit we shall
see him more clearly, and be joined 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. iv. verse 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 before a commission sent unto the dis-
ciples by the angels ; first, of a company of women, and afterward
another company ; and next, Mary was sent from the Lord him-
self. Now, he sends a new commission to tell them that he was
risen, yet they never believed. Here we see a marvellous pa-
tience 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 un-
speakable. All the world cannot express the lenity and patience
of the Lord towards his own ; though they should be never so un-
believing, 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 towards him, but in his love towards us ; and if thou
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 425
find thyself rooted in his love, as the apostle speaks to the Ephe-
sians, 1 thou shalt never be separated through any occasion from
that love that is in Christ. Then, again, I see he hath a marvel-
lous study to get them instructed. He says not, " I have sent many
already, and yet they will not believe ;" no, he sends every com-
pany 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 judgment, 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 marvellous
wisdom in humbling them through 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 com-
mission bears not this in express words, yet he will have the
women to say in effect, " Fy 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 2 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 hath
1 Eph. iii. 17. ' Not, omitted.
426 THE THIRTY-FIFTH LECTURE.
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 mes-
sengers to go ! Beware of this, that the Lord say not to his mes-
sengers, " Go to the north or south, but go not to Edinburgh ;"
for then shall wrath and destruction light upon it. What con-
fusion 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 see me. They believed
not others who told them of me, but there I shall speak unto
them mine ownself." This is the great mercy of the Lord to-
wards his disciples, upon whom the Lord should never have looked,
if he had respected their infidelity ; but albeit they were unfaith-
ful, yet he remained faithful and merciful. For he could not deny
himself; but where their sins abounded, there his grace surmount-
ed above them all ; for, as the apostle says, " Where sin abound-
ed, there grace abounded much more." 1 Now, all the world was
full of sin when Christ came, yet grace supcrabounded. 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 the world. So being to send them to teach others, he
lets them find grace to superabound. Paul, Rom. v. 20, says,
" Where sin abounded, there grace superabounded." Read the
First Epistle to Timothy, chap. i. verse 13, there the apostle says,
" I was a blasphemer, and an evil liver, and a persecutor ;" 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 then ye see the Lord cares
1 Rom. v. 20.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 427
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 sin-
ners. And, if thou wilt repent thee, I assure thee, though thou
wert 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 THIRTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Matth. Chap, xxviii.
11. Note, 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.
12. And they gathered them together ivith the elders, and took counsel,
and gave large money unto the soldiers,
13. Saying, Say, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while
we slept.
14. And if this matter come before the governor to be heard, ice will
persuade him, and so use the matter, that ye shall not need to
care
15. So they took the money, and did as they were taught : and this say-
ing is noised among the Jews unto this day.
Mark, Chap. xvi.
12. After that he appeared unto two of them in another form, as they
icalked, and went into the country.
Luke, Chap. xxiv.
13. And, behold, two of them went that same day to a town which teas
from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs, called Emmaus.
14. And they talked together of all these things tliat were done.
15. And it came to pass, as they communed together, and reasoned, that
Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
1 This is not a translation, but a paraphrase. I have been unable to trace it.
The original is, ii/xAc d/^in^uvovc: tto/jjo-o^sv. Beza translates it, securos vos pra-
stabimus, and the Geneva version, with Tyndale's and Cranmer's, has, save you harm-
less, to which there are manifest allusions in the Lecture.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 429
16. But their eyes were holden, that they could not knoiv him. 1
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, Mary Magdalene was the
first that got sight of him after his resurrection ; and after her,
other women got a sight of him also, and a direction to his dis-
ciples to assure them that lie 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 dis-
ciples, but to the high priests, and they 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 Emmaus, and thereafter these two tell the rest
that the Lord was risen. Now, to go through these two pieces of
history shortly, as God shall give the grace, and as time shall per-
mit. When the women that had met with Jesus had returned,
some of the soldiers that had watched the grave return 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 provi-
dence 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
1 The Commentary treats separately, first, of the narrative mainly regarding the
soldiers, Matth. xxviii. 9-15, and then of the interview with the two disciples, ending
with Luke xxiv. 35.
430 THE THIRTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
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 1 them
to be Avitnesses 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 testi-
fied all that was done, that Jesus was risen. Yet there is a great
difference between them and the women. When the women under-
stood that he was risen, they came home with joy ; the men of
Avar came home Avith 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 Avomen did, but to
the high priests.
Mark this lesson. Look hoAv ye tell tidings ; there are some
that will make good tidings of evil tidings, and evil tidings of
good, as they please ; albeit they be never so good, if they be not
contented Avith them, they will make them evil ; but be they never
so evil, if they be contented Avith them, they Avill make them good,
and tell them with joy.
BeAvare how ye tell tidings of the Church of England, of
France, or of Germany, or of other parts. Look Avhen 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
not that Avith joy, but with sadness. Thou that art not content
with the prosperous estate of Christ's Church, thou wouldst have
1 »'. e. Given them wages.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
431
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 tidings with joy ;
if thou speakest of Jesus and his glory, speak of hira 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 1 is to bribe the men of war
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 apos-
tate 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 be-
lieved 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
1 i. e. Determine.
432 THE THIRTY-SIXTII LECTURE.
Holy Spirit, and God himself immediately, can scarcely ever re-
pent and turn back again, but rather go forward to " fulfil their
sins," as the apostle says, 1 Thess. ii. 1G, " 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 oftentimes 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 up in hell. So
Stephen, Acts vii. 51, speaks of these same Jews, " O stiffnecked
people ! ye ever resist the Holy Spirit ;" that is, " 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 judgment,
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 to 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 pro-
fane men of war, who commonly use to have little godliness or re-
ligion. 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 and their conscience ? Now, if thine
heart be profane, thou shalt soon sell thy tongue and thy con-
science 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 ma-
jesty had need to take heed to this, that there be no profane men
about him, for they will sell him and his kingdom for a little price.
It is said of Esau, Ileb. xii. 16, u He sold his birthright," he sold
OF TIIE KESUKHEOTION OF CHRIST. 433
heaven, he sold his part of paradise, " for a iness 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 I" 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 my exhort-
ation to all sorts of men. To traffickers, — be not profane, but keep
a 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 merchant ? if thou wantest a 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 a 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 same re-
mains 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. 1 Ye would marvel that the people should
1 Similarly Calvin : Cfeterum quamvis apud Judaeos praavaluerit hoc mendacium,
non tamen obstitit, quin libere volitaret Evangelii Veritas usque ad ultimos terrse
fines, sicuti contra mundi obstacula victrix semper emergit. — Cahini Comment arii
in hunc locum.
2 E
43i THE THIRTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
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 a 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 dis-
ciplec and executed them. Ye would wonder now why these
people should not have believed ? I answer, these people were ap-
pointed 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." 1 So, our les-
son 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 Avere
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 dis-
ciples went on their journey, about threescore furlongs," which is
seven miles of ours, or thereabout, " from Jerusalem." They are not
1 2 The?s. ii. 10, 11.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHEIST. 435
going to seek Christ, but they leave him, and, as it were, in a
manner, they despaired that ever they should see him ; and 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 dis-
ciples leave him, but yet the Lord casts him in their way. Well,
brethren, whoever 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 Mary sought him not as she
should have done, and therefore the angel said, u Why seekest
thou the living amongst the dead?" 1 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 par-
takers 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, and if thou be poor,
thou Avilt 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 a hundred 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
1 The Editors have forgotten that this was not said to Mary, but to the second
company of women. The Commentary has correctly, mulieres ilia, &c. p. 1083.
436 THE THIRTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
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 re-
demption of our bodies," Romans, chap. viii. verse 23. We are
now the sons of God, but it appears not what we shall be ; but
then it shall appear what thou art. Now, the godliest are in most
misery ; and, alas ! it appears that the best of us have 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 vale 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 despair ; for if they had not 2 prevented,
they would have perished with the rest of the Jews ; and as they
are thus wrestling betwixt hope and despair, the Lord takes them
1 This should be Aim. - Been omitted.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 437
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 gotten the Spirit of Christ." 1 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, and to
thy words, the Lord is nearer to thee than thou thinkest ; walk as
if thou wert 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 ;" and 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 ap-
peared to them in another form ;" and Luke sets down, in plain
words, how this was ; to wit, not that he was of a diverse form in-
deed, but because their eyes were holden and closed that they
could not know him; so the change was in them, and 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 and 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 loins girded, as a man ad-
dressed to a journey, as he appeared to Mary clad like a gardener.
1 1 Cor. xii. 3.
438 THE THIRTY-SIXTH LECTURE.
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,
and 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 Ave are acquainted, and it is na-
tural by the ear to know the voice, yet this place lets us see that
the Lord hath a commandment of these gifts ; and 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, and 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 lifetime should be a begging of his gifts, and 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, and then
when thou gettest it, thou shouldst 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 blink, certainly thou shalt see heaven,
and 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 blink 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 THIRTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Luke, Chap. xxiv.
17. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these
that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad ?
18. And the one named Cleopas answered and said unto him, Art
thou only a stranger in Hierusalem, and hast not known the
things which are come to pass therein in these days ?
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 tvord before God and all the people :
20. And hoic the high priests and our rulers delivered him to be con-
demned 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 dis-
ciples, who were convened at Hierusalem, and namely, to Peter
and John. Then Mary came forth the second time, and she meets
with the Lord. Then there are other women who came forth, and
meet with the Lord. And after these women, there come other
Avitnesses, 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
440 THE THIRTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
Jews, to make a lie, and to affirm that the Lord's 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 Hierusalem, 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 passen-
ger 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 some-
thing of them. As they walked out the way, ye see they have
been sad, and their speech and communication, by appearance,
have 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 kirk,
for that soul shall get consolation out of Christ's mouth. But if
where there is matter of mourning, thou be merry, then 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 jovful day
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 441
that ever was, and, therefore, they should especially have been
joyful that day ; yet, suppose they were sad without a cause, the
Lord comes and 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 wan-
ton. 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 desti-
tute of all consolation when thou hast need of it. I tell you this
ay, 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,
he 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 un-
known 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, and 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. xi. 28, " all ye that are weary, and I shall . refresh
you." There 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
442 TIIE THIRTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
without thee. Yea, not only by word invites and provokes he us,
but also by his doing he draws us, John, chap. vi. verse 44 ; there
he says, " No man can come to me, except the Father draw him."
It is his will that thou shouldst come unto him, but if he put not
out his hand and draw thee, thou wilt never come to him in all
thy lifetime. 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 Hierusalem, 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 w T hen such wonder-
ful works fall out in any country, it becomes no man to be igno-
rant of the wonderful works of God, and if ever there was a won-
derful work, that work of the crucifying of the Lord was most
wonderful. And if thou be ignorant of the wonderful works of
God, thou merit a rebuke. And as Cleopas marvelled, so will the
godly marvel at thee, who canst neither be seeing nor hearing, nor
considerest 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 marvellous as is the quickening of thee, who
art dead in sins and trespasses, as the apostle Paul says to the
Ephesians, chap. ii. verse 1. And as the quickening and illumina-
tion of a sinner is a wonder, so also the blinding of a sinner is a
wonder. Is it not marvellous, that though thou cry to him as thou
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 413
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 hear 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 the apostle speak-
ing in the eleventh chapter to the Romans, he wonders at it ; and
from morning till evening we should wonder at that God and his
Avorks, at that mighty God whom the prophet calls Deum admira-
bilem,}
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 mis-
knows 2 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 in-
firmities ; and now he gives another pull to the heart, and deals
again with them, that they should pour out their sadness and
grief to him. No, if thou pertainest to the Lord, he will not leave
thee for a hard meeting; and suppose thou drawest aback, he
will give thee another pull, albeit " we be unfaithful," says the
apostle, " yet the Lord abideth faithful." 3 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 4 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
1 I presume the reference is to Isaiah ix. 6, which is thus translated by Beza : —
Sed quum puer natus fuerit nobis, Alius datus nobis, cujus humero adiit principatus
ipse ; cujus nomen vocat Jehova, admirabilem, consiliarium, Deum fortem robustis-
sinium, Patrern asternitatis, Principem pacis.
2 i. e. Seems to be ignorant of. 3 2 Tim. ii. 13. 4 i. e. Himself.
44 i THE TIIIRTY-SEVEXTH LECTURE.
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 1 through the midst of hell, if it
were through 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 draught 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 ii. chapter to the Komans, 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. And, 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, judgments 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, and he says, All the
things we have spoken were " concerning Jesus of Nazareth."
Alas ! few of us take pleasure to talk of him ; therefore, when the
Lord comes and takes thee by the hand, look thou mayest say,
" Lord, I have been talking of thee in some measure," for assure 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
1 i. e. Dragged.
OF THE KESUKKECTION OF CHRIST. 4-A5
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, and I shall gfo
through this conference, as God shall give the grace, and as time
shall permit. First, in describing 1 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 born at Nazareth,
suppose 2 they had the prophecy, that he should be born at Beth-
lehem in Judah, Micah, chapter v. verse 2, and that he was born
there. The ground of this error that was amongst the Jews was,
because of Joseph and Mary dwelt at Nazareth, and Jesus was
brought up there with them, that false rumour spread that Jo-
seph was his father, and that he was born there ; but he was not
born there.
I grant, it is true, that after his resurrection, Peter, in the Acts, 3
and the apostles themselves, called him Jesus of Nazareth, as Cleo-
pas 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 spake this of
ignorance, as* if he had been born there, but because they to
whom they spake knew him best under that name, they submit-
ted themselves to their capacity. But as for Cleopas, he kneAv
no better ; for he thought, indeed, that Jesus had been born 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 make the multi-
tude 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.
1 This is a part of the general proposition, not of the description of Jesus, in the
technical division of Cleopas's discourse. - i. e. Although. " Acts iv. 10.
446 THE THIRTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
Next, consider his description, he calls him Vir Propheta} In-
deed, 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
ii. 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 2 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 spake as he did,
as his own very enemies testify of him, John, chapter vii. verse 46;
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 pro-
phets, who prophesied not by their own spirit, but by the Spirit
of Jesus, yet he was ignorant that Jesus spake and Avrought all by
his own Spirit. Why should we not know these things ? This is
the difference between Christ and all the prophets ; all these pro-
1 In the Commentary, our author, when giving the text, follows Beza's transla-
tion, quifuit Propheta ; when commenting, he either adopts Calvin's translation, qui
fuit vir Propheta, or translates himself from the original, o? eyit/iro d v q q
■7rpo<p'/im;. The next quotation from Acts, chap, ii., is inaccurate, the expression oc-
curring nowhere else in the New Testament. Probably the erroneous reference is to
Acts ii. 22.
2 There is some mistake here. 'Die context would lead us to expect some such
expression as . . . ignorant at this time. He calls, &e.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 447
phets, and Moses himself, were but servants ; they spake never a
word by their spirit, but by the Spirit of Christ, as Peter speaks
in the First Epistle. 1 Spake Moses, Isaiah, or Ezekiel, 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, verse 6. He
spake by his own Spirit, and these preachings were preached by
his own Spirit, and he spake by his own authority ; as ye may read
in the seventh chapter of Matthew, verse 29.
An herald, if he speaks in his 2 name, should be hanged, but the
king himself will speak in his own name ; the Lord spake in his
own name, but the prophets spake 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 Father's 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 spake in his own name,
and by his own authority, being equal w T ith 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 whatever he spake, the Lord approved
it ; whatever 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 ap-
proved him, and bare witness to them that he was God, so that
sometimes they were compelled to say, " Never man spake as he
did," John, chapter vii. verse 46 ; and sometimes, again, " Since
the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes
1 1 Peter i. 1 1 . » i. e. His own.
4 i3 THE THIRTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
of one that was born blind," John, chapter ix. 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 hath 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 1 prophets,) " Thou art my Son, this day have I
begotten thee ?" Then he 2 knew not that he 2 had that approba-
tion of that God who dwelt in him, — God in him approved him.
llomans, chap. i. verse 4, it is said, " He was declared mightily
to be the Son of God." And 1 Timothy, chap. iii. verse 16,
" He was justified by the Spirit." And, again, it is said, Acts,
chap. ii. verse 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." 3 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 heard 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 to him with a
good heart, — he will no more reject thee than he did Cleopas. He
is ay like to himself. For what is all our language to him, but a
1 i. e. Not to mention. 2 He, i.e. Cleopas; he, i.e. Christ.
3 This passage is here quoted inappositcly by the Editors. In the Commentary
it is employed merely to sanction the force which our author has all along given to
the word befvrc, (cviuvij as indicating approbation.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 449
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, and with our hearts, and he shall hear us,
and give us a comfortable answer. Now, I counted never so much
of knowledge, as of a heart which loveth God. Keep a 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, then we come boldly to the throne of grace. And why ?
Because we come not in our own righteousness, or in our own
perfection ; Ave 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. Oh, 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, there-
fore," says Paul, " I will glory in my infirmity, that the power of
God may be seen in me," 2 Cor. xii. 9.
Now, a word, and so I end. Cleopas begins to tell what was be-
fallen to such a personage 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 1 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 con-
demned him without a cause, and then they crucified him. And
what indignity w T as this ? for, as the apostle says, " Albeit he w r as the
Lord of glory, yet most shamefully they crucified him," 1 Cor.
chapter second, and the eighth verse. Well, take up this in his
words : whatever is done against Christ, it is an indignity, if we
knew that majesty we offend ; if we saw him, we w T ould count the
least evil thought to be indignity against him, by reason of the
1 Of?
2f
450 TtlE THIRTY-SEVENTH LECTURE.
worthiness of his person. Whatever was done against Christ, it
was indignity. No, this world was not worthy of him ; and I say
more, whatever 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 personage, espe-
cially 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 great-
est indignity was done to him that ever was done in the world.
Then the apostle says of his saints, Heb. xi. 38, " 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 wor-
thiness of Jesus Christ, and of his saints, and then see the indig-
nity that is done against Jesus Christ and his saints, it is no won-
der that they cannot comport with 1 it.
Villain, if thou wert 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, unless 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,
shouldst say, u I see the finger of God in this, for this tyranny
could do nothing without the providence of my God." Look how
1 i. e. See it without indignation, endure. In the Commentary : Adeo ut sine maxi-
ma offensione earn [illius gloriae violationem] intueri non possint P. 1088.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 451
Peter speaks in the Acts, chap. ii. verse 23, he says, " They cru-
cified him ;" but this is his comfort, that they did nothing but ac-
cording 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 THIRTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Luke, Chap. xxiv.
21. But we trusted that it had been he that shoidd have delivered Israel :
and as touching all these things, to-day is the third day that they
were done.
22. Yea, and certain women among us made us astonied, icho came
early unto the sepulchre.
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.
24. Therefore, certain of them icho were tcith us icent to the sepulchre,
and found it even so as the ivomen had said ; but him they saiv
not.
25. Then he said unto them, fools, and slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have spoken !
26. Ought not Christ 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 Hierusalcm, to a village called Emmaus, not far from
llierusalem. We have heard of their outgoing, and of their meet-
ing with Christ, llowbeit 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
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 453
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 l
of a passenger. And meeting with them, he asks, what was
their communication, and wherefore they were so sad and dis-
comforted ? One of them, named Cleopas, takes the speech in
hand, and begins to speak roughly unto Christ, that he was come
from Hierusalem, 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 spake as he spake, and no man ever wrought such mi-
racles 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
through 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
1 i. e. Garment.
454 THE THIRTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.
reasoned, Jesus is crucified, and, therefore, he is the Redeemer ; —
for, as the apostle, Heb. ix. and twenty-two verse, says, " With-
out 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 x deceived with the false opinion that
the people had concerning the Messias, 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 spake 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 hap-
pened 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. Fy, is not that rabble ashamed of
this light, fy 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 no-
thing ;" 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
Ave have not seen him ; alas ! I fear we shall never see him again ;
alas ! he will never redeem Israel." He dare not speak this rio-ht
out, but he keeps it in his mind. Is this a good conclusion, " It
1 So in oriff.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 455
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 Israel." 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, u 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 for-
get 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 kirk, — it is a wonder that
thou shouldst get any matter of hope. No, thou shalt find no-
thing 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 astonied : 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
456 THE THIRTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.
Lord." Alas ! these two disciples apparently had come out of
Hierusalem ere Mary Magdalene and some other women, who went
out that same day, had returned and 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 and 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, Heb. xi. 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 w r ere 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 spake 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 w r ouldst 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 per-
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 457
ceive these things. Ye see, then, how false a conclusion he hath
gathered. Yet I perceive, in the last part of his narration, some-
thing 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 1 above, he swatters 2 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 spake.
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 believedst not at the first, and con-
ceivedst it not, yet when thou art at the brink of desperation, that
shall hold thee above, thou 3 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 in-
formation 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
1 i. e. Floating.
2 i. e. Tosses about as in water. In Commentary : Fluctuare inter spem et me-
tum.— P. 1090.
3 Till, omitted. Commentary : Sustentat autem nos et quasi supernatare facit,
tantisperdum Christus, manu sua porrecta, nos eripiat ex aquis illis deperationis
P. 1091.
458 TIIE THIRTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.
then he says, " Slow of heart to believe" concerning Christ the
Messias. Before I come to the words, behold the clemency and
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, Isaiah, chap. xlii.
v. 3, " He never brake the bruised reed, nor yet put out the
smoking flax, but held it in, and quickened the spunks thereof,
where he found it, till it came to a perfection." No, he w T ill 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," madmen, with-
out any mind. 1 And then he calls them u dull-hearted." There
are two things in man, a mind to see, and a will to embrace that
which he sees. As for their mind, they were bereaved of mind ;
as for their will, they have not a will, nor a 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 through all the powers of the soul. It first stands in an illu-
mination and sight of those things that concern thy salvation ; it
discerns 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 thy mind ; 2 — Christ would call thee wod 3 and mad.
Look how Paul calls all the philosophers, Rom. i. 22, in a word,
he calls them fools. And then infidelity goes from the mind and
1 An allusion to the etymology of the Latin translation, amentcs.
2 In original : Albeit thou canst neuer discerne so well of policie as the
heathen could, yet in heauenly things thou art but madde, and out of their minds.
3 i. e. Fr antic.
OF THE RESURRECTION OP CHRIST. 459
fills the heart, and makes the heart astonied. 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 dulness 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 wert not dull and sense-
less 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 wert 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, " wod men and
madmen, 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 u 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 judgment. Look to it, if ye believe not a man that is called,
that calling of his shall augment thy judgment. 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, 1 and yet wilt
thou not believe ? the more heavy is thy judgment the more thou
hearest ; if thou purposest not to believe, the greater is thy judg-
ment. I give thee my counsel. If thou purposest not to believe,
hear not a preaching ; for all the preachings that thou hast heard
1 t. e. Morrow after morrow, day after day.
4 GO THE THIRTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.
shall aggravate thy judgment, and a thousand times heavier shall
thy judgment be ; and better that thou hadst heard never a preach-
ing, 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 ay would
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 were 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 a 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, then 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 he hath begun thus roughly with
them, and hath prepared their hearts to hear, then he begins to
teach. Why should I call thee a fool and a hard-hearted body,
except it be to teach thee ? So he begins and teaches them a fair
preaching, and, no doubt, he made a lai'ge 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 1 as never
creature was. The Lord putteth to a necessity of suffering, say-
1 i. e. Emptied of his glory.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 4G1
ino-, li 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 sub-
ordinate cause : I say to thee, thy sin made this necessity. The
Lord taking upon him the burden of thy sin, and becoming Media-
tor, — 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 ac-
cursed ; 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 i 1 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 de-
1 In Commentary : Peccatum enim, sive id inhasreat sive imputetur, perpetuo
intercludit aditum ad coelos, tantisperdum abolitum. — P. 1092.
4G2 THE THIRTY-EIGHTH LECTURE.
filed, canst come to heaven ? Nothing can enter there that is de-
filed. 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 pre-
pared 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 are 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 cor-
ruption. Feelest thou not a remaining corruption within thee ? all
the afflictions which are laid on thee, as sickness, want of goods,
loss of friends, &c, all is laid on thee to slay that remaining cor-
ruption. 1 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 2 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
1 This distinction between justification and sanctification is clearly expressed in
the Commentary : Respondeo affhctiones nostras non esse vel satisfactionem, vel
partem ullam satisfactionis. Verum cum non minus necesse sit ut mortificetur cor-
rupta nostra natura quam ut ipsi justificemur, mortificatio autem carnis non perfi-
ciatur sine afflictionibus, profecto usque adeo sunt eae necessarue, ut nihil magis. —
P. 1092.
2 i. e. Whatsoever.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 463
never see heaven. And well is thee that art afflicted, and made
like Christ by thine afflictions. What words can be truer than
the words of Paid and Barnabas, Acts xiv. 22, " It behoveth you
to enter into heaven by many tribulations ?" the apostle says,
" there is a necessity." And, again, he says, Heb. xii. 14, " With-
out 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 compt-book. 1 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.
1 i. e. Book of reckoning, of remembrance^ (Malachi iii. 14.)
THE THIRTY-NINTH LECTURE.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Luke, Chap. xxiv.
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.
28. And they drew near unto the town which they went to; but he made
as though he woidd have gone further.
29. But they constrained him, saying, Abide vsith us; for it is towards
night, and the day is far spent. So he went in to tarry with
them.
30. And it came to pass, as he sat at table icith them, he took the bread,
and blessed, and brake it, and gave it to them.
31. Then their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he was no
more seen of them.
32. And they said between themselves, Did not our hearts burn icilhin
us, while he talked ivith us by the w~ay, and when he opened to
tis the Scriptures ?
We insist yet, beloved in Christ, in this part of history con-
cerning the two disciples of Christ, who, in the day of his resurrec-
tion, went out from Hierusalem to a village near by, called Ermnaus.
We heard these days past what Cleopas, one of the two, spake by
the way to Christ, whom he took to be a passenger, because his
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 465
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 Re-
deemer ; but he is dead, and continues 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!"
A hard entry. Thereafter he begins to instruct them, and to
teach them. The chief point of doctrine is first laid down in these
words : " It behoved that Christ should suffer, and by suffering
enter into his glory." Of this which we heard the last day, I re-
peat 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 neces-
sity, " 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 con-
cerned his glory after his passion. The matter is set down sum-
marily. Here 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
2 G
46o THE THIRTY-NINTH LECTURE.
Moses and the prophets. Christ preaches here the gospel to them,
and yet he does nothing but interpret 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 interprets 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 pro-
phets ; and, thirdly, upon Moses. That is a ground, and 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 where-
upon 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;" 1 and in the First Epistle to the Co-
rinthians, chapter iii. verse 11, 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. x. 4, calls
him u the end of the law," — in him is all the law fulfilled, and he
1 Ejih.ii. 20.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 467
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 depart from
him. It is said, " When they drew near to Emmaus," in a tow r n
■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 spake he another? to speak one thing, and to think an-
other, 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 and 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, con-
strain 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 showed
not them, that if they were earnest with him he would abide ?
No, if thou wouldest 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 Nineveh shall be destroyed." 2
Lied the Lord ? No ; albeit he kept up a part of his purpose, ex-
cept they had repented ; for if they had not repented, he had de-
1 Numbers xiv. 12. * Jonah Hi. 4.
468 THE THIRTY-NINTH LECTURE.
stroyed them. So the Lord bids Samuel conceal his purpose in
anointing David, 1 Sam. xvi. 2.
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 war-
rant, to entreat him earnestly by prayer, and in a manner to con-
strain him to stay with thee. No, he will depart, if thou gettest
not a 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 enter-
tained 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, Scot-
land. Many in this country, of highest rank, would put him
away ; but if ever he depart, a heavy judgment 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 toward night, and the day is far
spent, and where canst thou go? stay with us all night." Then
the Lord yielded, and " tarried with them." Mark this. We use
to say, " Prayer will break hard weird ;" 1 and it is true, repentance
and supplication will hold off judgment 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? Vio-
lence is done to him ; and I say to thee, if thou enterest into
heaven, thou must do violence and take it by force ; and I say
more, if thou throngest not, and seekest it not night and day,
1 i. e. Will avert a heavy doom.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 4G9
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 see ye what it is to be humane. They would not let
him walk in the night ; but what reward got they ? Instead of man,
they receive God and man, blessed for ever. So I say, humanity to
man, hospitality to pilgrims, hath a great reward. The apostle,
Heb. xiii. 2, says, " That some received angels into their houses
unawares," when they thought they had received men. Abraham
received angels in his house, Gen. xviii. 1. Lot received angels,
Gen. xix. 1. 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 wouldest put in thine
own mouth, and that which thou Avouldest 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 repro-
bate shall say the same in that day, " We should have clad thee, if
we had seen thee naked," &c. But what answers the Lord? " When
ye did it not to one of those little ones, ye did it not to me." 1
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 humanely with men, and sought not to en-
tertain them, got ever God to lodge with him. So, in a word, as
thou wouldest now manifest thy love to God, be humane, gentle,
and merciful to man. " He who loves not his brother whom he
sees daily, how can he love God whom he never saw ?" 2 No, thou
lovest him never, say what thou wilt. Fy upon that man that hath
no humane 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 takes the bread and gives
1 Matth. xxv. 45. * 1 John iv. 20.
-±70 TUE THIRTY-NINTH LECTURE.
thanks." Take heed to this. Ye with profane hands will pull, rent,
and swallow up the Lord's 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 a holy passenger ; whilst he makes him to be a pas-
senger, he is holy. Mark this, ye that are passengers, all his com-
muning in the way is holy ; then when he sits down, he blessed
the bread ere he ate. However 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, travelling, albeit thou dis-
semblest thy rank, behave thyself as a common passenger, or as a
merchant, &c, yet with the company thou art in, behave thyself
holily ; be holy in thy journey, be holy at the table, and in thy eat-
ing 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 per-
son, they are filthier, they will speak two filthy words for one. If
one go to Germany, he will be an Ubiquiter, 1 and in Rome a Papist,
in Scotland a Christian, — in as many places as many forms. So, thou
that art a passenger, as ever you 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, and communicate these graces to them with whom he is
in company ; so, dissemble as thou wilt, be ever holy, and as ever
1 This word, which is probably here used as a general term for a Lutheran, was
properly applied to those followers of Luther, who maintained, what seems to be a
necessary result of the doctrine of consubstantiation, that Christ's body, in virtue
of the communication of his divinity to it, is everywhere, Ubique. The discussions
connected with this doctrine were, at this time, exciting the utmost commotions in
Germany : the rigid Lutherans insisting on the doctrines (of which this was one)
contained in the celebrated Form of Concord, even to the length of persecution and
death, as in the case of Crellius, 1G01 See Mosheim, Milner, Encyclopedia Bri-
tannica, Bayle, sub voce Musculus.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 47 I
thou wouldest dwell with Jesus, be ever like him in some measure
in holiness ; and well is us, if in word and deed we be holy pil-
grims 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 an-
other ; 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 homeliness as they could never think of. In the iii. 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 wouldest have thought ; I shall insinuate me in thine heart,
and 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
brake bread. Next, they understood that it was he by the distri-
buting 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 begins ; none end of grace,
after that once he hath invited them. He sups with them ; then 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. En-
472 THE THIRTY-NINTH LECTURE.
tertain him now as a passenger, and in the end thou shalt see him
to thy comfort, thine eyes shall be opened to 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 brake 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
blink ; 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 staid. Seeing how 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 first of the Acts, v. 6,
speaking to him, they say, " Lord, wilt thou at this time restore
the kingdom to Israel ?" that is, in effect, " Lord, wilt thou not re-
main with us here on 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 woman, the earth cannot keep them ; glorify a
man or a woman, the earth is too evil for them, and 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, wouldest 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 wouldest dwell with him,
flit out of the earth, make thee for flitting. Paul says, " I desire
to flit and to dwell with the Lord I" 1 Wouldest thou desire to dwell
' Philip, i. 23.
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 473
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 lan-
guor of God, and that thou shalt never dwell 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, and
dwell 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 ma-
nifesting. 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 Avant him ? For if thou sawest him, for all the world thou wouldest
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 eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, v.
39, how the eunuch, who came from the Queen of Candare, 1
when Philip came and baptized him, Philip was carried away
from him, yet the Scripture says not that he mourned when Philip
was taken away. No, it is said that " he went on his way re-
joicing." From whence comes this joy ? No doubt, it was the pre-
sence of Philip 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.
1 So in original, for Queen Candace.
474: THE THIRTY-NINTH LECTURE.
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 ma-
nifested himself unto them, and then they call to mind by their
burning, that they found that it was he that spake 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 manifests 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 spake 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 depart, 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 evanish. 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
OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 475
conclusion : " As we walked by the way, when he spake to us,
our hearts burned ; therefore it was he that spake with us ;" so,
they concluded, " that it must be his Spirit that 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 spake, he breathed his Spi-
rit 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. iii. 11. And
a fire hath ever an up-burning ; and if thou have true feeling, thine
heart shall be set on fire, and that fire is mighty, and 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 a 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 1 not
one word, except thou findest that Spirit to burn up thy corruption.
Thou tellest me that thou feelest, and yet thou remainest a harlot ;
fy 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 c