A Golden Chain

Secondly, the burial of Christ serves to be a sweet perfume of all our graves and burials: for the grave in it self is the house of perdition; but Christ by his burial hath as it were consecrated and perfumed all our graves: and in stead of houses of perdition,¹ hath made them chambers of rest and sleep, yea beds of down, and therefore howsoever to the eye of man the beholding of a funeral is terrible, yet if we could then remember the burial of Christ, and consider how he thereby hath changed the nature of the grave, even then it would make us to rejoice. Lastly, we must imitate Christs burial in being continually occupied in the spiritual burial of our sins.

Secondly, the buriall of Christ serues to be a sweete perfume of all our graues and burials: for the graue in it selfe is the house of perdition; but Christ by his buriall hath as it were consecrated and perfumed all our graues: and in stead of houses of perdition,¹ hath made them chambers of rest and sleepe, yea beds of downe, and therefore howesoeuer to the eie of man the beholding of a funerall is terrible, yet if wee could then remember the buriall of Christ, and consider howe he thereby hath changed the nature of the graue, euen then it would make vs to reioice. Lastly, wee must imitate Christs buriall in beeing continually occupied in the spirituall buriall of our sinnes.

1. 1Isa. 57.2.

Thus much of the burial. Now followeth the third and last degree of Christs humiliation:¹ He descended into hell. It seems very likely that these words were not placed in the Creed at the first, (or as some think) that they crept in by negligence, because above threescore Creeds of the most ancient counsels and fathers want this clause: and among the rest the Nicene Creed. But if the ancient and learned fathers assembled in that Council had been persuaded, or at the least had imagined that these words had bin set down at the first by the Apostles, no doubt they would not in any wise have left them out.