euery strange thing hee heares of and to haue euery costly thing which he sees how can this loue of Christ bo in him He which hateth his brother whom he daily sees how can hee loue his Sauiour whom hee neuer saw When the concupiscence of the eye is waxen dimme and the faire forbidden fruit is faded Alas how will yee wish that yee had seene lesse and lesse loued that yee saw and more loued him whom yee neuer saw Behold him in his members behold him in his poore distressed membes behold him harbourlesse and naked behold him hungry and thirsty Cloth him lodge him feed him if you loue him that when you shall see him comming in the Clouds with glory yee may heare Come yee blessed for when I was hungry you fed mee when I was naked you clothed mee Which happinesse Hee grant vs that liueth and raigneth with the Father and Holy Ghost to whom bee all praise and glory euermore Amen The end of the third Sermon THE FOVRTH SERMON Of the frailty of Man 1. PET. 1.24 All flesh is as grasse and all the glory of man as the flower of grasse THIS is the echo of a cry in the fortieth chapter of Esay the sixth verse rebounding from the solidity of Peter The voice said cry Because all flesh the whole world must heare And because the whole world is so ingurgitate in the dulnesse of flesh that without a cry they cannot heare It seemes then that God will haue this cry to bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à resonance in our eares which no melodie of pleasure should take away The Heathen man caused one to cry daily vnto him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Remember thou art a man And there are two maine cries in the Scripture The one puts vs in minde of our immortality which S. Ierom saith hee heard alwaies sounding in his eares Arise you dead and come to iudgement The second of our mortality and is of necessity precedent to the former proclaimed by this Harbinger Omnis caro foenum All flesh is grasse and all the glory of man Wherefore hee that hath eares to heare let him heare 1. the common meannesse of his nature al flesh is grasse All there is the community Flesh that is the name of his nature thirdly Grasse there is the meanenesse of his nature In the second part the meanenesse of the excellency of his nature The glory of man that is the execllency The flower of grasse there is the frailty of his excellence Lastly without exception all all the glory of man is as the flower of the grasse All flesh is grasse For God hauing made all men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of one bloud although they haue variety of distinction yet they all meete in this ground that they are grasse I am no better then my fathers saith Elias And the Apostles make themselues leuell in the same vaile of miserie with the common people of Iconium that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 subiects of the same sufferings For this cause the Holy Ghost calles the poore mans body the flesh of the rich Despise not thou thine owne flesh Now the second poynt is the name of our nature which is here called flesh The body is our worse halfe and flesh the worse of the worse for it is tender and subiect to change and losse Further the flesh lusteth against the spirit Therfore S. Gregori cals it with coÌ„tempt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this enuious little flesh By this name the Scripture calling the body or the whole man and vsing the part for the whole yet would not haue the part to bee the whole for then we should bee like the Cretians who were nothing but belly and beast or as the Israelites who seeking to fat their flesh the Psalmist saith that God sent leanesse into their soules Howsoeuer then you interpret the word flesh either of the body or of the nature and estate of man which confisteth much of things bodily or of carnalitie which is perishing of the soule in fauour of the body Of all these the Prophet cries aloud Omnis caro foenum all flesh is grasse To enter then vpon this argument which is the grassie substance of our nature did not the first man spring out of the earth and though he grew amongst the delicious fruits of paradice and had no poyson in his roote yet he continued not in honour but being transplanted into that common where we grow spred his degenerous of-spring ouer the whole earth whose seed multiplying innumerable was nourished with no other food vntill the floud came and corrupted the vertue thereof Since which time although our diet bee changed and flesh be nourished with flesh yet the chiefe of that flesh is but grasse concocted and conuerted into flesh and the flesh of men and beasts are both resolued into one dust which dust by perpetuall reuolution in the same circuit sends forth againe that aliment which sustames both them and vs. Before that iust and vniversall deluge had discoloured the earth it seemeth probable that as the dayes of man were of a greater length so the vegerable verdure of the earth was of more continuance in all habitable elymates thereof But after that calamitie immediatly in the distinction which tho Almighty established a greater portioÌ„ was allotted to the harder times the sweet seasons of the yeare were contracted and decaying Autumne the aspetitie of barren Winter prolonged Agreeably whereunto the spaces of our life were measured The yong springall soone passeth through his greene hopes and ripe manhood being straightned in the middest encroching age extends the rest in trouble and tempest vntill death There is Cruda viridisque senoctus whom the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who through the indulgence of a milde Winter besides the venorable antiquitie of their gray haires which is the uncture of wifedome and sage experience haue also fresh vigour in their bloud and actinity in their wittes and vnderstandings But for the most part the strength of these yeares is labour and sorrow for it is soone cut downe and with one blast of Gods anger they flye away So the famous Champion sighed to see his â—ere and dead armes And Helen wept when shee sawe her withered beautie in the glasse So that the Philosophy of nature doth restraine our pride comprising the progresse and persection of our life within the period of one yeare Quale gonus foliorum tale est hominum There is a time of growing and a time of fading but no part of our time passeth out of this coÌ„passe Which affordeth matter of consideration For as plants depend vpon the planots and are more beholding to the Suimne their father then the Earth their mother so that which we liue although it be supplied by an inward cause like to that power where with the earth was first indued by the creating Word yet the fauour or displeasure of heauen conferreth more to this effect then either the natiue
and was disparaged in that Thorny Wrearh that pierced the sacred temples of our Lord. Roses and Lillies are the ensignes of this happy Kingdome long may they flourish For this is the peculiar honour of our state Not Salomon in all his royalty was clothed like one of those And though the Lillie withered is of no vse yet Roses retaine their sweetnesse after death If supreme Potentates and mighty Monarches of the earth had considered how transitorie is that felicity whereon they boasted then would they haue endeuored as they were flowers of ornament so to haue bin fruites of benefite to the Country where they grew but when their chiefe end was to shine in admiration and to draw the eyes of the world vpon the colour of their present glory Hee consumed their short daies in vanity and no more was spoken of them but that they had flourished As Iob cals them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yesterdaies men who like to Solstitinlis herba suddenly sprung vp and suddenly decayed When Nabuchadonosor out-braued God he was deposed from his throne he fed on grasse and the dew of heauen wet him like grasse to make him know by sensible experience what insimilitude he would not vnderstand Lord what is man that thou regardest him saith Dauid the poore sonne of Adam or the rich Sonne of Man Man that is borne of woman hath no long time to liue he commeth forth like a flower and is cut downe Take him in his beauty what is beauty but a brag of nature an illusion of desire exhaling into vanity a selfe adoring idoll the first baite of sin which breathing vpon the concupiscentiall eye of the woman hath euer since with her and by her continued the concubine of a doting soule This felicity of body saith Tertullian what is it but vrbana vestis a trimme suit vpon the soule which inuites the Thiefe and Murderer and is often extreme dangerous to them that weare it Witnesse the examples of Sara and Ioseph whose wanton Mistresse would haue stript him also of his chastity But in the lustre of those colours if the white of simplicity and the red of modesty bee away it may take the vulgar but the wise esteeme it no other then a garish garment on the backe of fooles Come on therefore let vs enioy the good things that are present and let no flower of the spring passe by vs. Let vs crowne our selues with Rose-buds before they bee withered let vs take our part of iollitie and leaue the signes of voluptuousnesse in all places Thus talke these wantons when they inuite their fellowes to repentance which being seasonable follies are more excusable but when age reuokes these fugitiue pleasures renewing youth with artificiall deuices as if they were ashamed of that season which brings them neerer vnto God deliuers them from the vnquiet perturbations of the flesh What argues it but that they are resolued to make the vtmost farthing of the good of this life and will forgoe no delight heere for hope of recompence in the life to come A painted flower in Summer who respects when they are produced by nature and in Winter which hath other fruitions it is vnseasonable and against Nature Now well doth the Apostle heere call this and whatsoeuer is amiable the flowre of grasse or the flower of the field For after that Adam was translated out of Paradice all his glory was but wild and common as best appeareth in the barbarous vast Regions of the earth where verus cultus the true worship is wanting where euery flower of beauty is the prey of violent and vnruled lust And yet these small parcels of ciuill States which are so fenced with Lawes and Religion where beauty is manured by education nourished by speciall care and cherished by best counsell according to that Quem mulcent aurae firmat sol educat imber Yet how seldome is it preserued and kept safe that the inuasion of forraine lust do not breake in and deflowre it But let these flowers fade the glory of wealth will not leaue vs. Saint Iames answereth As the flower of the grasse the rich passe away For the Sun is no sooner risen with a burning heate but it withereth the grasse and the flower thereof falleth and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth So also shall the rich man fade away in his waies Name mee any other excellence and yee shall find it but a choice flower of short continuance Wit and eloquence are but blossomes which falling off the fruit of wisedome succeedeth and vnderstanding To conclude whatsoeuer is desireable in the world whatsoeuer fawnes vpon the fancy of men whatsoeuer makes our wils idolatrous all is but a flower of grasse a thing of small vse but no fruition Yea the Diuine Maiesty hath so abbreuiated all earthly glory that those excellencies which spring from an immortall roote and are by nature not lyable to vanity and consumption yet they will not thriue vpon earth and though they bee illustrious for a time they are suddenly snatcht from vs. Piety and goodnesse and Diuine knowledge which perfume the sinfull world and send vp a sweet sauour of pacification into heauen how thinnely do they grow and how quickly are they exhaled Saluete flores martyrum quos lucis ipso in limine Christi insecutor sustulit ceu turbo nascentes rosas flores martyrum Innocent martyrs whose names Christ hath written red in letters of bloud in earth and of gold in heauen The Flower of Iesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whether you will call him a Starre or a Flower the skill of neither languague can determine and the Holy Ghost I thinke left it ambiguous to signifie that Hee is the Off-spring of both both heauen and earth As flowers are starres on earth and starres are heauenly flowers This coelestiall Flower was no sooner sprung and declared by a Starre but the rude hand was ready to nip him off and Hee had not long adorned the earth with His glorious presence but in the latitude of his goodliest yeares Hee breathed out his sweete Soule And who can expresse the abrupt cruelty of His bitter ending he bowed downe his Head It is a circumstance which none but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Disciple of his bosome obserueth Inque humeros ceruìxcollapsa recumbit Purpureus veluti cum flos succisus aratro Languescit moriens lassoue papauera collo Demisere eaput By this gesture hee might signifie that his triumphant Soule was now descending to the lowest parts of the earth Whence according to the deepe roote of his humiliation hee rose againe and ascended aboue the highest heauens and we with him For heere 's our comfort that being complanted in the similitude of his death wee shall bee made partakers of his resurrection All flesh is grasse there is mortality and depression all flesh shall see the saluation of God there is the spring and resurrection This is the true condition of our nature Although death reape a whole field leaue no flower nothing that is greene yet the roote remaining all flesh shall bee restored all glory shall be new coloured Yea and with aduantage Lucrodamno saith Tertullian with lucre-losse with honest vsury It heere growes in weakenesse it shall there rise in strength it is cut downe in dishonor it springs in honour here naturall there spirituall It is a Plant whose flower shal bee exasperate with no thorny care not greennesse be euerwithered What hurt what hurt then can death doe vs wee shall not laugh heere Nor shall wee weepe We shall not bee admired neither shall wee bee contemned But wee shall do no more good but the good we haue done shall follow vs But we shall not liue to lament sinne but the sinnes wee haue lamented shall bee forgiuen vs. Lastly as the day springs after night and the Sunne reuiues and flowers returne and the earth is refreshed Sic nos resurgere deuota mente credimus So wee beleeue to liue againe Which that wee may do with him he grant which liueth and raigneth c. The end of the fourth Sermon
and the Diuell a creator of sinfull men which follies to name is to confute them Neither am I perswaded that euill spirits haue any part in the generation of the most vngratious natures although the worthiest Christian wits did hold that they had knowledge of the faire daughters of men and thence to haue proceeded the race of Giants as monstrous for their vices and conditions as vast and enormious in their bodies that this infectious and detestable seed being dispersed through the whole earth doth now and then spring vp and produce such abhominable monsters as Heliogabalus and Mahomet and other carnall fiendes The prodigious lewdnesse of some violent and in corrigible natures hath caused this opinion more probable then true howsocuer it is sure the Diuel hath a lineage vpon earth and Cain is the most ancient of that kindred In this paire of brothers were the two houses first diuided and as they begun with fighting so they haue continued vntill now Hence multiplied the two Cities Cinitas Dei Terrena ciuitas whose beginnings proceedings and wonderful variety of fortunes how learnedly hath S. Austin followed in those sweet bookes which begin Gloriosissimam â—iuitatem Dei Where he teacheth how euery man belongs to one of those Citties being descended either of the malignity of Cain or of the bloud of Abel which Cain spilt There are but two factions if thou beest of Abels bloud declare what house thou commest of by thy innocency patience of the Saints If thou art of Caines kindred then deny not thy name bee content to bee numbred amongst thine owne And thus much of the nature of Cain Of the stocke and discent he is ex maligno of the Diuel of the malignant faction to conclude a vessell of dishonour made of the corrupt masse for if he had not beene of the euill he should not haue beene euill hac enim Aug. epist 106 massa si ita esset media vt quemadmodum nihil bont ita nec mali aliquid mereretur non frustra videretur iniquitas vt ex ea fierent vasa in contumeliam This masseis it were of indifferent quality neither good nor euill there might be cause to thinke it iniustice in God to make out of it any vessels of dishonour Now such as the tree is such is the fruit Who was of the Dinell there is the tree who slew his brother there is the fruit bitter and deadly fruit especially in the manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word signifies to cut in peeces like a sacrifice because he had sacrificed so well Cain would sacrifice him So Pilat mixed the Galileans bloud with their sacrifice And at the time of Immolation of the Passouer the Iewes sacrificed the innocent lambe of God thus the innocent when they are murdered they are offered to God in contempt of God and his worship that they may seeme to perish by him in whom they trusted Another circumstance is of the time how soone Cain shed bloud and the Diuell slaieth in the morning in the morning of youth and in the morning of the world By him death entered and how hee longeth to see it worke and that in the first blossome of vertue It is his cunning to stop the first step to goodnesse therefore haue care of the beginning of thy wayes of thy youth and good endeuours for there the Diuell is most instant he knowes well that in euery beginning is contained more then a beginning As soone as the Temple began to be re-edified he opposed mainly hee stirred euery stone that no stone might bee stirred And immediately when the Sauiour of our soules beganne the office of Christ the Diuell tempted him in the desart so in the natiuity of the creation he slew the first innocency of Nature and in the entrance of generation the first innocencie of grace So he persecuted the tender infancie of our Lord and he made the Primitiue Church to swim with bloud Hee knew that if the world were stained when it was a new vessell that colour would continue vnto the end So Rome an Epitome of the world in token that it should be died with the bloud of Martyrs the foundations of her walles were dipt in brothers bloud Cain and Romulus both elder brothers both furious potent Cain in his name which signifieth possession shewed that he had elenen parts against one so Achab killed Naboth and tooke possession and euer the greater part ouercommeth the better Abel could not kill Cain if he would but where might and malice wealth and wrath are ioyned there breake forth iniuties and oppressions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wealth brings forth wrong Wherfore God set a marke vpon Cain that men might beware of him As the Romans vsed to bind some hay to the hornes of a madde Bull to signifie saith Plutarke that too much sodder made him mad wherevpon they applyed this prouerbe Foenum habet in cornu beware of him that is iniurious and rich Now as Cain was a patterne of all oppressours hauing power and doing wrong so Abel signifying vanity in the beginning was a type not onely of death but of the vanity of life for euery man liuing is altogether vanity How many haue their sunne-setting in the morning and they which haue the longest day liue but a day so soone doe wee appeare and vanish Vanity in apparell walking in a vaine shadow talking vainely disquietting our selues in vaine vaine hopes and vaine desires In the daies of my vanity saith Salomon I saw this and that vanity and whatsoeuer I beheld was vanity of vanities Another thing was allegorized in this History namely how our Sauiour Christ the second Adam was murthered by the Elders of the Iewes and his Bloud shed though speaking better things then that of Abel without the gates as Abels in the fields for which horrible sinne of God-slaughter the Iewes shall bee errant vagabonds vnto the worlds end signed by God that although all men hate and eschew them yet none shall kill them Destroy them not O God saith the Psalmist least my people forget it but scatter and despearse them So they are aliens in the whole earth a common prouerbe a common prey not borne but by leaue nor breathing but by good will And surely it is seldome seene but shame and beggery is the end of those which destroy the innocent either by the mouth of the sword or by the sword of the mouth and they which kill mens soules by heresy and selusme and they which slay by hatred and they which rauen and oppresse As the great fish eates the lesse and the greater cates the great and the greatest the greater so greedy Cainites deuoure and are deooured but at last the biggest saith S. Basil comes into the net and the deuill rips the prey out of his bowels thou appeares the insatiablenesse of these swallow-goods that haue more riches then they can digest when the whole estate of such and such a man shall bee found
accompany him therefore the malicious Iewes amongst all their false accusations durst not offer to staine his credite with the least suspition of any folly There is another loue rising from concupisence of the eye which is not lust but curiositie When men desire to see rare or strange things without any further benefite but to satisfie the eye Such loue no doubt had many of the Iewes who desired to see Iesus for his fame and wonders but with a naturall and humane loue Other loues there be whereof some bee lawfull some vnlawfull some sensuall some intellectuall but all naturall and humane But the loue which wee enquire after is spirituall and sacred yet much communicating with sense and affection For the vnderstanding whereof I must premise these I haue obserued a double loue of God There is a kind of loue which is holy but meerely spirituall when the soule being a spirit loueth the Father of Spirits in spirit abstracting all mediation of body and bodily accident vsing no helpe of imagination or any sense But considering him to bee an eternall Goodnesse Incorporeall Incomprehenble the Authour of all being and of all good Whereupon the will doth immediately embrace this obiect of Goodnesse resteth her selfe in the loue and delight thereof This loue will haue no communion with sense or any imagination drawne from sense or any affection accounting them to bee perturbations and staines of this sincere delight This religious loue is more contemplatiue and therefore in the Angels and in men of knowledge and vnderstanding nourished by vision and by discourse To this the Platonicks speake proportionably who were esteemed the most Theologicall Phylosophers They making the perfection of mans felicity to consist in this intellectuall loue and as I may say abstracted ideall delight spend much inke in blacking and dispraising bodily and sensible things calling them shadowes of things spirituall images and not substances obscurers of the vnderstanding And the body to bee the sepulcher of the soule and the affections to bee as the rebellious rogues and vnquiet multitude in a Common-wealth There is another kind of sacred loue which is placed in the affections being not meerely spirituall but making vse of all sensible obiects for the enslaming thereof Thus wee loue God whilst wee consider the excellent beauty of all his creatures giuing him the eminencies of them all and turning our affections from euery creature to burne towards him which is the Authour of all these And this is most properly called deuotion nourished by sense and sensible accidents without which no Religion of any Age or Nation euer flourished Wherefore the most wise God knowing man by nature to haue so much cōmerce with body and bodily things ordained so many Ceremonies and Sacraments in his worship And at the time appointed sent his Sonne in the visible forme of a man that Hee being Spirit and flesh both these our loues both spirituall and caruall might bee spent on him That our affections might haue something to feede on as well as our vnderstandings And this is the loue whereof the Apostle heere speakes which was in the Saints that see Christ in the flesh Which is seated in the affections and is called deuotion And surely if wee looke into the examples of piety and deuotion in all times you shall finde that the most holy and pious men were men of the most hottest affections as the Prophets as King Dauid as Saint Augustine who after their loues were diuerted from doting vpon vanity and worldly shadowes They out-stripped all men in the ardencie of deuotion as their Writings and Meditaons witnesse breathing nothing but spirit Psal 18.1 Ex intimis visceribus diligam te demine And S. Austens Workes to a iudicious Reader will plainely shew that though hee bee the most profound Father yet hee speakes more out of his heart then his head full of actionate deuotion euen then when the subiect of his Discourse is subtilty and vnderstanding Hence it is that woemen bee called the deuoute Sexe by reason of the feruencie of their loue According to that Thy loue to mee was wonderfull passing the loue of woemen Whereof excepting the mother of God amongst thousand others the most eminent examples be Mary Magdalene and Mary the Egyptian Which two holy women the one hauing seene Christ the other the place where hee was crucified they changed their lewd lusts for hallowed and incorruptible loue they washed their wanton eyes with teares And for the latter her whole flesh which had beene fired with lust shee sacrificed it an whole burnt-offering vnto God exhaling it with fasting and penance vntill her dying day Lastly deuout old age which after much dammage and losse of grace would gladly preserue the relique of deuotion they keepe it in the warmth of their affections as appeareth by their tendernesse to Religion often weeping fasting and Almes-deeds This being so naturall a ground that deuotion especially confisteth in affection and that affections are chiefly moued by sensible obiects and bodily exercise Therefore all Religions necessarily haue Ceremonies and inuitations of this kind Some profitable some necessary some superstitious For the eye as goodly Temples ornaments of pictures vestures and such like Musick for the eare See Caluin Instit q. 4. c. 10 Set times of fasting prayers offering and other outward actions The ruine whereof ouerthrowes deuotion See the Marginall note in the Geneua Bible Hither you may referre Allegories and Metaphors which bee the greatest part of cloquence in Sermons and bee nothing else but speaking pictuers according to that Gal. 3.1 Before whose eyes Christ Iesus was described crucified with in you Seeing then that these things cannot bee gaine-said How ill do they deserue of Christianity who delight in nothing so much as ruines of Churches Church Orders and Church Ceremonies They place no more holinesse in a Temple then a Schoole-house Counsell them to fast they answer they fast from sinne Tell them of sitting bare at Diuine Seruice they answere all things are vncouered before God They giue no honour to the Sacraments bid them kneele at the entring into a Church and when they receiue the holy Eucharist they answere they bow the knees of the heart They offer no other sacrifice but the calues of their lippes Insteed of Almes they giue poore men good counsell as if men could cate precepts and drinke good counsell They are affected with the sight of no sacred Monument Nay if our Sauiour himselfe were aliue they would not go farre to see him or not haue worshipped him for feare of superstition Hence comes it thar they haue so common a conceit of the blessed Virgine that bare him in her wombe that they giue so little priuiledge to the Apostles that eate and drunke with him Finally to any holy place where hee walked or any Saint to whom hee appeared They would hold it no happinesse to haue touched the hemme of his garment Then Nathaniel was vnwise who desired to see Iesus
commented there he indited there hee translated And for this cause many learned Diuines amongst whom S. Ierom Eusebius with diuers of late memorie haue carefully described all the sacred places and religious monuments of the Holy land that those which haue not seene them really might see them imaginarily and nourish their Diuine cogitations without supestition without any great cost or trouble I that they might see Canaan a farre off as Moses did from mount Phasga Now looke what hath been said concerning deuotion nourished by sight the same is true likewise of the other learned sense namely hearing as the hearing of musicke or eloquent discourse which being vsed without curious scrupulositie and affectation how greatly they increase the loue of God and of his true worship it appeares to any liberall and ingenious disposition vnlesse any man thinke the vse of musicke proper to stirre vp vanity to nourish pleasure to maintaine lightnesse and obscenitie And not 1 To raise vp mens minds to meditation of heauenly ioyes whereof musick may seeme a kinde of type 2 To confider the harmonie and consent of the world how all Ages all Nations all Languages praise Him 3 Out of the mouthes of Babes sucklings hee prepareth praise 4 To expiate the eares which haue beene polluted by wanton madrigals and lasciuious ditties 5 To kindle the affections with loue of God 6 Lastly to praise him with learned hymnes who is the giuer of all excellencies Vnlesse any man thinke that eloquence was giuen naturally to adorne folly and flatteries to ouerthrow right to colour falshood and deceaue simplicity and to be misvsed when it is appliyed to strengthen truth to sweeten diligence and commend pietie Quis ita desipiat vt hoc sapiat saith Saint Augustine 4. de Dectrina Chr. And if any man obiect that Saint Austin could not resolue himselfe concerning the lawfull vse of artificiall Musicke in Churches it is false For though hee speakes of his owne experience that the delight of his sense did sometimes preuaile aboue reason yet hee confesses the excellent vse of Musick for deuotion And for being too scrupulous hee checkes himselfe calling it nimia seueritas and concludes that hee approues the custome of the Church Vt per oblectamenta aurium infirmior animus in affectum pietatis assurgat That by delight of the eare the weake minde of man might rise vp into pious affections whereof hee makes himselfe an example with delightsome remembrance how hee was moued to teares at the hearing of artificiall Church Musicke Cum reminiscor lachrymas quas fudi ad cantus ecclesiae tuae magnam instituti huius vtilitatem agnosco Besides what Saint Austine saith there of artificiall musicke may bee as well an argument against plaine song and common tunes in Churches which affect some men as much and of many are sung with as great affectation Againe if for this difficulty they would wholy reiect the lawfull vse of musicke let them reade the two chapters next going before they shal find that he maketh the same difficulty in the vse of all the senses which if they will refuse therefore then must they neither see nor smell nor eate nor drinke But this holy man there expresses his carefulnesse to auoide sin as also did Saint Athanasius whom hee there citeth But how farre their spirit was from preiudicing others or from scrupling mens consciences in the vse of the approued Institutions of the Church their other speeches and actions are sufficient witnesses Wherefore to shorten this discourse let vs all endeuour to haue a zealous and deuout loue of Christ both that which riseth out of knowledge and vnderstanding and that which riseth out of sense and affection And to this purpose vse all those meanes which the practise of most holy Fathers and the law of Nature her selfe doth warrant which is not sensuall loue but affectionate and holy raised out of sense As they which saw Christ loued him the more not for the lineaments of his body but being enflamed with consideration that they should see their Creator become Flesh who is in his owne Nature inuisible That they should see the same passions as in themselues in him which was Impassible and all their owne infinrmities without deformitie of sinne That man might not now chuse but loue God vnlesse he would not loue himselfe This I say bred admiration and loue in them a spirituall loue yet raised out of sense and is chiefe part of that which wee properly call deuotion And thus much of the first part of my Text namely the loue of Christ being seene Where I haue shewed how much sight augmenteth loue And how all other sensible meanes and externall practises are incitements and inuitations to encrease deuotion Deuotion which is the onely happinesse of this life and to be preferred before wisedome subtilty or discourse being indeed the end and perfection of all The delicious taste of heauenly ioyes which God giues vnto his Saints here that they may long after the fruition of the whole Whereof Saint Austine speakes in the 40 chap. of the 10. booke of his Confessions Et aliquando intromittis me Domine in affectum multum inusitatum introrsum ad nescio quam dulcedinem quaesi perficiatur in me nescio quid erit quod vita ista non erit Now to the second part which is the loue of Christ not seene Quem cum non videritis diligitis whom yee loue though yee haue not seene This not onely S. Peter heere but S. Paul also with many other Worthies haue admired to see how soone the world without compulsion consented to follow and to loue Him whom they neuer saw How so many thousands and millions were moued with such a strange instinct to leaue their goods their wiues their children parents their deerest Country and lastly to loose their liues so willingly for loue of him whom they neuer saw This amazed the vnbeleeuing world to see her number daily minished and most furious persecutors become the hottest louers What secret influence so raigned in mens hearts what cruel loue made them so impatient that they ranne showting to their death Wherefore forsooke they all their present ioyes which they not onely saw but caryed in their eyes to loue him whom they saw not Crying Hunc amemus huno amemus Nothing could bribe them or abalienate their mindes Youth was not moued with beauty nor old age with money nor children with feare of death nor States-men with preferment No contumelies no disgraces preuailed they suffered all things they endured all things and all this for the loue of him whom they neuer saw The new married preferred the graue before the bed Honourable and beautifull maides choose rather to bee called virgins of Christ then queenes to great Princes The fraile sexe was crowned with Martyrdome and compassionate mothers ouercomming nature beheld with cheerefull countenance their swete infants killed for the loue of Christ as wee read of that happy childe which died
with the constant martyr Romanus How willingly his mother gaue him to the hands of the tormentor kissing him but once which was as little as a mother could doe Nee immorata est fletibus tantum osculum Impressit vnum vale ait dulcissime Et eum beatus regna Christi intraueris Memento matris Now if a man inquire into the inward mouing cause for which the world was so strangely carried away with affection vnto Christ hee shall find it to bee faith Which faith though the Scripture opposeth to vision yet calleth it a kinde of sight So faithfull Abraham desired to see Christs day and saw it and reioyced By faith Moses indured patiently as if he had seene the inuisible And by the eye of faith all the Saints since the Apostles beleeuing them that saw him haue loued him as firmly as if themselues had seene him They seeing the head beleeued of the body wee seeing the body beleeue concerning the head Namque habet fides oculos suos quibus quodammodo videt verum esse quod nondum videt For faith hath it eyes whereby in some manner it sees that to be true which as yet it sees not saith S. Austē Faith is opposed to the corporall view of things visible and to the demonstratiue knowledge of things intelligible Which knowledge is also called intuitiue knowledge Now the bodily sight of Christ in his humilitie was onely proper to them that liued in his time Though by imagination wee can likewise represent vnto our selues the same But the sight of his spirituall and glorified body shall be the reward of all And as for the intelligible visiun of invisible glory of the Godhead of Christ and of the eternall Trinitie they that see it here in twy-light shall then behold it as at noone day and loue it there with incomparable feruencie of spirit if they continue here in that modell of warmth which this life affoordeth The hope whereof how greatly doth it sustaine the patience of his absence and confirme the constancy of louing Christ vnseene when we haue so good assurance to see his spirituall body and that happinesse which neuer eye hath seene Where if he shew his fiue wounds and the veritie of all which hee did and suffered in this life what can be wanting to the destruction of that which is in part and conuerting faith into vision Meane while wonderfull is that grace which makes vs now to loue him For although the conuersion of the world the strange preseruation of the Catholicke Church the authoritie of the same Church the bloud of so many Martyrs the fulfilling of Prophecies the superexcellent learning of Catholicke Writers and Catholick Gouernours with many other vnanswerable arguments haue in a manner demonstrate the whole truth of Christian Religion Insomuch that hee which will not now beleeue without seeing wonders is himselfe a wonder saith S. Austen Yet in many ages when God hath permitted generall inundations of Gothes and Vandals of Turkes and Saracens ouer the Christian world which the old serpent hauing spued out of his mouth desired to make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the woman to bee carried away of the floud or when fearefull tempests of heresie doe obscure the Church that for a time neither Sunne nor moone appeare till controuersies bee determined till ancient records bee se arched and vnquiet nouelists suppressed the safest way was alwayes to cast himselfe into the bosome of the Church that faith might support where knowledge failes and the loue of Christ continue where he was not seene Faith is the subsistence of matters hoped for and the euidence of things not seene by the firme embracing whereof in the midst of all miserable temptations and inuestigable errours the faithfull louers of Christ Iesus haue loued him whom they neuer saw neither with the eye of sense nor the eye of reason Great friendship hath there beene betwixt men which neuer saw one anothers faces yet true report of wisedome and vertue hath bred strange coniunction and familiaritie of mindes as if their soules had met together in the night when their bodies rested or because that mindes being incorporeall neede not visible presence to vnite them nor are their loues separated by distance of place Which if it be true in natural loue and humane affection how much more certaine is it in spirituall and Diuine where not onely similitude of nature combines but also vnitie of spirit If thou louest none but whom thou seest saith S. Austen then shouldst thou not loue thy selfe Neque enim teipsum nisi in speculo vides Many men there be whose wisdome will not suffer them to bee credulous their hands haue eyes and their hearts haue eyes they beleeue that which they see and they will loue that which they see vnknowne vnbeleeued vnseene vnloued But vnto the most of faithfull Christians Almightie God hath left more things to bee beleeued then knowne that there might bee place for reward For hope that is seene is no hope Euery one could not liue at that time when Christ was liuing nor see the wonders which he wrought or which his Prophets did before him or his Apostles after him Yet many will say hereafter if we had liued in those times or if whe had talked with one risen from the dead we had surely repented Indeede the Tyrians Sidonians if they had seene the miracles at Corazin and Bethsaida they would haue turned their purple into sackcloth but they had sufficient helpes and so hast thou neither knowest thou whether thou mightst be so obdurate through thine owne first wilfull negligence that the sight of Christ wold haue caused no more loue in thee then it did in Herod who defired of long to see him and not beleeuing Moses and the Prophets neither wouldest thou beleeue if one should rise from the dead S. Austen sayes hee was often tempted to desire a signe from God concerning him selfe but by Gods grace he alwayes resisted that temptation So our Sauiour taxeth the Gentleman of Cana in Galilee whose sonne was sick at Capernaum Vnlesse you see signes and wonders you will in no wayes beleeue The Atheist if he might see the Diuell he would hate him And the Idolater if hee may haue a palpable visible God hee will worship him Make vs Gods to goe before vs cry the Israelites as if things that were inuifible were not They that desire to see the holy Cittie vpon distrust or curiositie which is concupiscence of the eye or dwelling farre off greatly indanger their present estate their fame their liues and neglect their necessary functions I see not how they can warrant that action Against which S. Gregorie Nissen speakes in an Epistle of his Locall motiou saith he makes thee not neerer vnto God which is in all places And it is better to goe a pilgrimage from thy body to God then from thy countrey to Iurie for whilst wee are at home with the body wee are steangers vnto God Ierusalem is not now
the necessary place of worship the word is neere thee and euery faithfull soule is Ierusalem For as goodly vineyard which cost the Husbandman much care and his servants long labour being the sweetest plot of ground which hee could chuse and hauing the indulgence of the heauens and all the elements to cherish it whilst it was tender and flourished and at the time of vintage all men resorted thither to see the beauty and temperate situation and to reape the fruit which grew not else where but after the fruite was gathered the hedges being broken and the swine hauing defaced it and other beasts haunting it though the Winter beautie thereof be louely yet the necessity of comming thither it abolished and the conuenience of seeing is much limitted So Ierusalem that pleasant Citty of God where the word of life grew so watred by Prophets so watched by Angels during the beautie and glory of her summer age thither the Tribes came vp and from all Countries there they worshipped but when the fulnesse of time was come wherein the grapes of this holy vine were pressed and the bloud thereof conueighed by Apostles and Euangelists throughout the world to cheare the hearts euen of the coldest nations Ierusalem became 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Prophet speaketh no longer necessary and though euer holy and reuerend yet often dangerous to be visited being polluted by wilde infidels and now possessed of vnchristened Turkes The orchard of Balsamon is remoued from the Hilles of Engaddi into Egypt and so saluation which was only of the Iewes is now translated to the Gentiles Et Assyrium vulgo nascitur amomum To conclude then although the most worthy and deuoute Christians haue increased their deuotion and pietie by sight of the holy monuments at Ierusalem yet many who neuer saw them haue beene more godly then some others that haue seene them and beleeue as firmely and loue Christ Iesus their redeemer as deerly as if they had seene him or seene the place where he was seene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For sayes Gregory Nissen if thy inward man be full of bad thoughts although thou standest vpon Golgotha or mount Oliuet or vnder the monument of his resurrection thou art as farre from Christ as they which neuer acknowledged him The same is true of all sensible meanes and outward actions which if they bee not ioyned with sinceritie of the spirit they are vnprofitable to vs and disstastfull to the father of spirits Many are content to performe these externall actions which they do perfunctory meerely for fashion without any tincture of spirit Especially where there is a multitude of ceremonies as in the Romane Church and in the superstition of the Easterne Churches is most apparant Wee are all by nature ready to chuse that which is of eafier performance and in actions matters of Religion which of all others are most tedious because they touch the conscience the crafty Mind would gladly rest herselfe and thinke to discharge all by light workes of the body and of the senses Is this the fast which I haue chosen saith God for a man to bow his necke being weake with abstinence to put on sackecloth and ashes Is this the fast which I haue choson Nay is not this the fast which I haue chosen to loose the bands of wickednesse and to let the oppressed go free and to deale thy bread vnto the hungry Where God hates the outward obedience if it bee without fasting from sinne And in comparison better spirituall worship without externall then externall without that which is spirituall So hee saith Rend your hearts and not your garments And I will haue mercy and not sacrifice Where the aduerbe is a Comparatiue rather then a Negatiue And therefore the Septu well translate it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sub 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God forbids neither nay hee commands both but preferres the one before the other So many saith Saint Austine they will eate no flesh in Lent but they will bite and deuoure their brethren They will drinke no wine but they will drink iniquity like water What profites it to bee pale with fasting and at the same time to bee leane with hatred and euuy What profites it if wee abstaine from flesh which is sometime lawfull and do those things which are neuer lawfull therefore I say with Scripture and with holy Fathers that as the presence and sight of Christ would little haue encreased loue in his Disciples vnlesse they had also seene him with the eyes of the inward man No more doe any sensible and externall meanes further deuotion if they bee separated from the inward and spirituall motions of the heart My sonne giue mee thy heart Why drawest thou neere mee with thy lips when thy heart is farre from mee To proceed then though euery one haue not that glorious pretogatiue giuen them to bee Martirs to die for loue of him that died for their saluation Yet ouery one may mortifie his earthly members and die to sin which is a kind of Martirdome In like manner though euery one could not see Christ and so loue him yet they may loue him whom they haue not seene by faith which is a kind of sight Nay if they which saw him and loued were such as would not loue him vnlesse they had seene him greater is their reward that loue him whom they haue not seene For what said our Lord to Saint Thomas Thomas because thou seest thou beleeuest happy are they which beleeue and see not What remaines now but to prouoke you to the loue of him whom you doe not see who first loued you vnseene Nay when you were worse then nothing Whom you hope to see and see him as he is Let mee say vnto the afflicted that liue in obscurity and misery wait till the cloud bee broken and the Sunne shine out Let mee say vnto the simple and ignorant but louing and faithfull bee constant and you shall see as you are seene Let mee say vnto the wise and learned helpe yee the weak sighted and make him louing that is blind Lastly to all men though you loue him which is vnseene yet let your loue bee seene Loue in deed and not in word By this wee know that wee loue him if wee keepe his Commandements If your loues burne vehemently vpon things temporal and visible how are you said to loue him whom yee haue not seene Siluer and gold and gay apparell ample possessions and goodly buildings faire flesh and bloud compounded of corruptible elements whatsoeuer deceiptfull time hath coloured or the world hath set a glosse on if yee bee euer gazing and admiring these things how are yee said to loue him whom you haue not seene When woemen go to see and to bee seene when men the litle good they do they do it to be seene of men When most had rather seeme then bee good how are they said to loue him whom they haue not seene He that longs to see