is meant by this father in the parable we come now to see who are his two sons By the younger some vnderstand the Gentiles and by the elder the Iewes It is true indeede they are our elder brethren and were in the couenant before vs and shall againe returne vnto it we haue to pitie them and pray to God for them that hee would take the vaile from their eies and bring them home againe that there may be one Sheepeheard and one sheepefold But they cannot bee figured heere by this eldest sonne because they haue forsaken their fathers familie and are now strangers from the tents of Sem. Others againe by these two sonnes vnderstand elect angels and men it is true also that they triumphant in heauen are our elder brethren called therfore by the Apostle The congregation of the first borne Like as they againe call the Church militant on earth their little sister But by this elder brother they cannot bee represented for they murmur noâ— at any compassion shewed vs or louing intertainement made to vs by our heauenly father they grudge not but rather reioyce at the conuersion of a sinner There are yet the third who by this elder brother vnderstand pharisees iustitiâ—rs by the younger publicans and sinners Truth it is the Pharisees grudging at Christ for his familiaritie with Publicans gaue him occasion to vtter this parable and by it also hee conuinces them But the doctrine herein deliuered extendeth further as now we shall heare These two sonnes then represent two sortes of Gods children in the militant Church some not only chosen but effectually called by grace and these are figurate by the elder sonne some chosen but yet not called nor renewed by grace and these are figurate by the younger sonne The first sort of these will not go from their father they resolue to abide in his house and are willingly content to liue vnder their fathers gouernment correction their desire is with Dauid One thing haue I desired ofâ— the Lord and I still require it that I may dwell all my daies in his house to behold his beauty Their resolution is with Iosua Though all the world should forsake the Lord I will worship him And their protestation is with Peter whither shall we go from thee thou hast the words of eternall life I haue not said that these sort of men sinne not if they fall they fall in their Fathers floore whose mercifull hand raiseth them vp again but it is farre from them to professe a departure from him for such as these are in the Church we giuâ— thankes to God As to the other represented by the younger sonne they are Gods children in regard of election but not yet called noâ— sanctified by grace These in their ignorance care not to shake of the yoke and discipline of their Father they will not abide with him as they promised in baptisme to be ruled by him and liue vnder his commandement but they will doe their owne will walking after the lyberty of their owne lusts with the wicked in the way of reprobation their heauenly father suffering theÌ„ with long patience to prooue their owne weakenesse that his mercy may bee the more manifest towards them when by his effectuall grace he cals them out of this snare of the deuill as heere at length he did to this Prodigal child And these in the Church whom all men may see like vnto this yonger sonne in departing from God wee pray the Lord they may also be like him in returning but alas weeâ— haue many like the one few like the other For which we may complaine with Augustine In occulto est vnde gaudeam in publico vnde torquear The matter of our ioy in such as cleaue vnto the Lord for the most part is hidden in secret but the matter of our griefe in such as depart from him is publike and manifest Alwaies sure it is that they that liue most licentiously if they be the elect children of God shall once ere they die bee effectually called by grace and so renewed and made obedient children vnto their heauenly father And this should learne vs compassion towards men in their sins for thou knowest not whether if or not in Gods secret counsell he be an elect child of God thy brother and an heire of grace with thee who in regard of his present euil conuersation liues as an enemy and a stranger from grace Ananias feared Saint Paul as an aduersarie whom shortly after he fauoured and embraced as a brother and many such no doubt there are in the Church concerning whom the commandement is giuen Instruct with meekenesse them which are contrary minded waiting if at any time God will bring them out of the snare of the Deuill And the younger Wee haue first to consider this Parable according to the letter for it is certaine that our Sauiour borrowes no similitude from that which is not Parabola enim de nullo non conuenit It will let vs see that often times good and godly fathers haue wicked vngratious children Seeing God who is the Father oâ— vs all complaines oâ— it I haue nourished anâ— brought vp children buâ— they haue rebelled againsâ— me It becomes other fathers to beare this crosse the more patiently Neither is it without cause that oftentimeâ— so it fals out for if wise and godly fathers had alwaies wise and godly children iâ— might bee thought grace were heritable flowing from nature not giuen of God froÌ„ aboue but we see the contrary as circumcised parents begate vncircumcised children so regenerate fathers vnregenerate children Adam hath a Cain Noah a Cham Abram an Ismael Isaack an Esau Ezechiah a Manasse The reason heereof is that the goodnesse which is in man he hath it not by nature but by grace of regeneration and in begetting children according to nature he communicats to them that which he hath of nature not that which he hath aboue nature by grace Homo liberos gignit ex carne vetusta peccatrice non ex spiritu quocircamini me mirum si iustus iustos non gignat sicut peccator peccatoreÌ„ A man begetteth children of sinfull flesh not of the spirit No maruel therefore that a righteous man begette not righteous children as a sinneful man begetteth sinners The Graines of wheat which are sowen in the earth purged from all their superfluities hauing neither stalke nor eares nor chaffe yet grow vp againe with them all Quia purgatio illa non natura contigit granis sed hominum arte Because that purgatiof the corne is not made by nature but by the arte of man Cum autem frumenta non nascantur ab his principijs artis industria sed naturae necesse est vt nascentia sequantur non rationem humanae industriae sed naturae Therefore is it they grow vp not such
vs eat and be merry Vers. 24. For this my sonne was dead and is aliue againe and hee was lost but he is found and they beegan to be meery My helpe is in the name of the Lord. THis Parable may properlie bee called A mirrour of Mercy for in it the Lord laieth opeÌ„ vnto vs the bowels of his fatherly loue and compassion toward penitent sinners hee proclaimed once by word his name to Moses The Lord strong mercifull and gracious slow to anger aboundant in mercy and truth reseruing mercy for thousands forgiuing iniquity transgressions and sins By many proofes sensiue hath hee declared it heere most clearly he shadowes it Setting downe to vs one a most miserable sinner worthy to bee condemned yet vpon his repentance gratiously pardoned for an example of the like mercy to bee shewed vnto all who after this manner repenting of their sins shall returne vnto the Lord their God To this purpose hath our Sauior deliliuered before two Parables One of the wandring sheepe an other of the lost peece of mony and now hee adioynes the third of the Prodigall child It is not without great cause that our Sauior takes such paines to confirme vs in this point For it is a difficill thing yea a supernaturall worke to perswade a guilty sinner of Gods mercy the reason is because the law which threatens a curse against the transgressors of her commandements is naturally written in euery mans heart and the sentence of death due to sinne by capital letters is grauen in the conscience so that it is true of all sinners which the Apostle speaketh of one sort that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as haue within themselues against themselues pronounced a ditty of damnation and euery man may feele in himselfe a conscience armed not vn like that Cherubin with a sword of wrath shaking against him and telling him that his sinne hath made him vnworthy to enter in the paradise of God Whereof it comes to passe that miserable man abiding vnder the bondage of sinful nature perisheth in one of these two fearfull sickenesses of the soule atheisme or desperation The first is a most dangerous and deadly disease 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and opens a dore to all kind of impiety for what wickednesse will not that man commit who beeing blinded by the deceit of sinne is brought to thinke there is no God nor iudgement to come But against this dangerous and deuouring poison the Lord hath prouided most effectuall Antidots for besides the works and the word of God w ch cry out that there is a God hee preserueth euen in the most corrupt conscience such a light as forces the deepest contemner to feare that same God-head which he denies and so proues it true in all Atheists which Cicero spake of one Metrodorus Nec quenqnam vidi qui magis ea timeret quae timenda esse negaret I neuer saw any more feared for which he said was not to be feared at all And thus the Atheist being wakened out of the sound sleep of Atheisme and brought to some sense and feare of a Diuinitie is incontiuent sore oppressed with the other euill of desperation for the first thing that a guilty soule apprehends in God is iudgement and wrath the conscience sending out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accusing cogitatioÌ„s which conclude within theÌ„ against themselues a condemnatory sentence and in this hee that hath escaped the first shall not faile to perish if â— doore of mercy be not opened vnto him And heere againe many are deceiued by presumption who thinke the way of mercy plaine easie well enough known and that they are sure they haue it But alas they flatter themselues with a conceit of it who had neuer the certainty of it All haue no faith who speake of it Many are called few are chosen The kingdome of heauen suffers violence If Adam after one transgression ran away from the Lord afraid at his voice and preseÌ„ce in whoÌ„ he delighted before what maruel his sinful children guilty of so many transgressions like perturbed and confounded men fearing his iudgements runne from him and fall into the gulfe of despaire And if Ioseph and Mary hauing lost the coÌ„pany of Christ but for one day not regarding him as they should were three daies in seeking before they could finde him againe shal men who so long a time liued strangers from the life of God bee so foolish as to thinke it requires no paines no labour to seeke him to finde and to bee reconciled with him But if they can get onely in their ending day one word to cry for mercy they are sure to obtaine it Let vs not be so farre deceiued it is no wisdome to hazard so great a matter as is our eternall saluation vpon so small an aduenture To cure therefore these great euils specially the last two of desperation and presumption by many waies doth the Lord draw vs to an experience and sense of his mercy and then to a conscience of our dutie towards him for where before the Cherubin an Angell was set at the entry of Paradise with a shaking sword to hold out man wee haue now the Christ the Lord of Angels with the keies of Dauids house to open Paradise vnto vs and as conscience within vs cries condemnation to vs for sinne so the spirit of adoption sent into our hearts from the Father cries with a stronger voice absolution from sinne No condemnation to theÌ„ which are in Christ. And against the terrour of the Law and curses thereof wee haue the grace of the Gospell full of sweet bâ—essings both promised and practised toward penitent sinners And for this one purpose it is that our Sauiour here triples the Parable to make vp vnto vs the stronger preseruatiue against our naturall disease of distrust and desperation For so as Ioseph spake to Pbaroah of his doubled visioÌ„ The dreme is doubled to Pharao the secoÌ„d time because the thing is established by God God hastes to performe it May we also speake of this tripled parable Iesus hath done it to shew the heires of promise the stability of his Counsell for it is a decree established with God to shew mercie to the penitent and he will hasten to performe it Now as it is a great worke to make the soule guilty of sinne conceiue any sense of of mercy so the soule once hauing conceiued it is easily moued through the sense of mercy to return vnto the Lord as we may see in this example Many are the arguments whereby wee are mooued to repentance but among theÌ„ all none goes so neere the hearts of his kindly children to pricke them with a godly sorrow for their sins as the sense of Gods mercie when they consider how good the Lord was vnto them before they sinned Haue I
euer let vs weane our hearts from perishing things and make choise of that portion which endureth for euer There arose a dearth The ende of sinfull pleasures is paine the wealth of worldlings ends in feareful want As the image which Nabuchadnezer saw in his dreame had an head of gold but feet of clay so the glorious shew of this miserable life of sinneful men concludes with shame The plenty which Egypt had in seuen yeares was eaten vp by the seuen yeres of famine following it The pleasant riuer of Iorden is at length swallowed vp by the salt Sea or loach of Sodome It shal be executed vpon all the wicked which theatned against cursed Babel The apples after which thy soule lusted all the fat and excellent things are departed from thee and thou shalt finde them no more There the wine shall drie vp and the Figge tree shall decay the Pomegranate the Palme tree and the Aple tree all the trees of the field shall wither away from the sonnes of men Then shall arise a dearth fearefull famine to them when all the obiects of their sinfull delights shal be taken from them Oh that men were wise to think vpon their end how comfortlesse will their state bee who because they will not comfort themselues in God shall at length be banished from the presence of his glory and depriued of the comfort of all his cretures It is farre otherwise with the godly their murning shall end in comfort the end of their labour is rest their light and momentany afflictions shall be swallowed vp by that eternal weight of glory let vs neuer drinke with the wicked in the cup of their sinfull pleasures the dregs thereof is intollerable bitternesse Waters of a full cup are wrong vnto them for the present but want and feareful famine shall ouertake them Not so much as a droppe of water shall be giuen them to comfort them and let vs neuer refuse to beare the rebuke of Christ the end wherof is ioy vnspeakeable and glorious He began to be in necessitie This man was miserable before but he felt not his misery till now And in him we see an image of worldlings who albeit they be most miserable in regard they are strangers from the life of God yet doe they not know their misery till through the want of earthly comforts they be redacted to necessitie So long as they enioy Gods creatures they feele not what losse it is to want himselfe the vaine shew of the creaturs so bewitches them that they are not touched with the misery of their fearefull deuorcemēt from God and this is the very cause why reprobate men ordained to wrath who in hell shall mourne continually where shal be weeping and gnashing of teeth doe vpon earth spend their daies in laughing and vaine reioieing The reason I say is partly because the iudgement due to their sins is restrained from them by the patience of God the viall of his wrath is not as yet poured out vpon thē partly because the vse of his creatures which belongs not to them is of his goodnesse licentiate to them but when the obiects of these pleasures shall bee taken from them when the earth shall refuse to beare them and the Sunne shall no more shine vpon them when all the creatures shal forsake them and none of them render either comfort or seruice to them then shall they be in necessitie and then wofull misery shall be manifested to them And of this some taste wicked men may haue out of their present experience if they could obserue it For in the middest of their worldly pleasures when by eating and drinking they are filling their bellies when the harmony of musicke delights their eares and the company of solatious friendes refresheth them euen then faith Salomon In laughing their heart is sorrowfull yet doth not the terour of an euill conscicience trouble them vnlesse God intend it against them as hee did against Beltazar But when company is gone and they are solitary when lights are put out and they left in darkenes when Musicall instuments are silent then conscience beginnes to speake Nunquam enim conscientia oculatior quā in tenebris For conscience seeth best in darkenesse and speaks most lowdly in siilence then their inward feares proceeding from her iust accusations forewarnes them of a more fearefull estate abiding them if they could consider it Vers. 15. Then hee went and claue to a Citizen of that countrey He refused to serue his Father and now he is forced to serue a worse master This is it which the Lord threatned to his people Israel I will put your necke vnder the yoake of the King of Babel And yee shall know what difference there is between my seruice and the seruice of other Kings and Lords of the earth and so indeed they found it when they were caried into captiuity and sate mourning at the riuers of Babel they remembred what a sweete liberty they had lost when sitting peaceably in Sion they were wont to sing the praises of the liuing God And let it stand for a warning to vs that we cast not off the yoke of the Lord our God for if we refuse to serue the Lord we shall be compelled to serue others whose wages shall bee found vngratious at the length O quam multos dominos habet ille qui vnum non habet O how many masters hath that man who hath not God for his master But now wee haue to see who this is that here is stiled a Citizen the farre countrey as we heard is the region of sinne this Citizen represens as Ambrose expounds it The prince of darknesse with his cursed confederats reprobate angels and men they are called Citizens in the kingdome of sinne because not onely haue they sinned but they abide and continue in sinne they dwell in it and wil not come out of it These are the two fearefull sinnes of apostate Angels Presumption and Obstinacy by presumption they fel obstinacy holds them impenitent that they cannot rise yea they haue not so much as a desire of reconciliation but are obdurat in a perpetuall rebellion against God despising mercy because they know they shall neuer obtain it trembling at iudgement which they knowe they cannot eschew Therefore they are not called soiourners or pilgrimes in that countrey which is farre from God but citizens because they make perpetuall residēce in it A most cursed and vnhappy condition Peccare humanum est perseuerare in peccato diabolicum To sinne is common to all men to perseuere in sinne is a property of Deuils and reprobates To cleare this let vs compare these two Cities and there inhabitants together Ierusalem and Babel for vnder one of these two societies is comprehended the whole masse of mankinde Citizens in the one are all the elect of God Citizens in the other are the