reason of sicknesse which is a present evill then it is under the reason and name of the privation of good which is health But which of them soever hath the preheminence in the first place of object doth not much concerne us Let it suffice us to know that neither of them both have any thing to doe with Christ For how can hee who is Goodnesse it selfe lose that which is good and can any evill bee said to happen to him who is the fountaine from whence is derived all that is good 2 The second Cause of Griefe they say is Concupiscentia concupiscence or a desire of that absent good which wee are sensible of that wee want And as the first Cause was Causa sicut finis the object to which griefe doth tend so this is Causa sicut unde A Cause as from whence the beginning of the motion is As in the naturall appetite of a stone or any other heavy body being to move downwards the cause as the end is the place whither it tends the center of gravity having a kinde of Magnetique vertue in it which drawes it thither The cause as from whence is the naturall inclination of that body arising from the forme of it which is heavinesse So the cause of griefe as the end is the evill which is present but the cause as from whence this motion is is the inward inclination of the appetite which doth encline chiefly and in the first place to that which is good and secondarily and by consequence to the shunning of evill Now this concupiscence or desire longing after good finding it absent and in the roome of it its contrary which hee hates is immediatly turned into a griefe or rather not turned into a griefe but it still remaines with the griefe to make the griefe the greater continually desiring that which cannot be had But neither is this cause able to lay any hold upon Christ for can hee desire any absent good who hath all that is good continually present with him 3. The third Cause they will have to be Appetitus unitatis A desire of unity or union And this is nothing else but the second reason cloathed in another phrase Or if there be any it is but a little Metaphysical difference which doth not consist in the thing it selfe but in the reason of maner of apprehending the thing And so after the same manner that the desire of good was said there to cause griefe so here the desire or appetite of Unity which is nothing else but good apparelled in another kinde of dresse for the good of every thing wee know doth consist in a certaine kinde of Unity And therefore the Platonicks who were altogether for Harmony and said That the whole frame of the world was nothing else but a Musicall Instrument set in tune by the hand of that primum ens and primum principium which is God doe as well make unum à Principium as bonum Both which bonity and unity by the way of Participation although comming infinitely short of that excellence which is in the fountaine of that bonity and unity is communicated to the creatures as conducing to their perfection Now when any thing is cut off from this unity of the creature or added which is superfluous although it be but in his apprehension onely and not really finding his unity infringed which is the perfection of the crearure desiring this unity which is absent and finding a present impediment immediatly this desire begets a griefe But neither can this cause come neere or once touch Christ for hee is so farre from wanting or desiring this secondary unity this unity of the creature that hee is Vnus cum unitate prima One with unity and bonity it selfe 4. The fourth cause which they render is this Potestas cui non potest resisti A stronger power which cannot be resisted For if a present or conjoyned evill be the proper object of sorrow as is already proved then that must needs be a cause of that sorrow which makes or works the presence or conjunction of this evill and that is a stronger power For although many times wee suffer damage and hurt by a power which simply and in it selfe is lesse as in our slumbers wee are often troubled and molested by a Gnat so poore a creature that one fillip of a man is able to destroy a million of them yet in that regard that it hurts it must be called a greater Siâ—nâ—nullo modo major esset nullo modo posset nocere saith Aquinas For if in some kinde it were not greater it were impossible it should hurt us in any kinde But what power in the world can be greater then he to whom all power in heaven and earth is given We are not yet got out of the Labyrinth Let us once more consult with the Text. And when he was come neere he beheld the Citie and wept for it The knot is untyed the verse interprets it selfe He wept for it Not for himselfe Hee doth agere personam alterius Hee wept for the Citie Delirant reges plectuntur Achivi was the old saying The Kings commit the offence and their Subjects suffer for it But here we may justly invert that speech and say Delirat populus plectitur eorum Rex The people the Jewes have sinned and their King the King of the Jewes hee beares the punishment of their sinne And the Citie of Ier. might very opportunely have used those words of David with a little alteration in the last Chapter of the second booke of Samuel Behold I have sinned yea I have done wickedly but this Sheepe what hath he done What hath he committed that his eyes should send forth such plenty of teares as they doe And wept for it The wonder ceases For now wee are able to finde all those foure severall causes already mentioned in this griefe of our blessed Saviour First For in the first place Ier. had lost shee had quite deprived her selfe of all her good by her sinnes and obstinacie and evill was also hard at her doore Destruction did hang over her head like the sword in the twine threed over the head of the Parasite in the Throne wayting but when the breath of the Lord would breake it in sunder And therefore he wept Secondly There was concupiscentia a desire of that absent good they were deprived of Which desire should have beene in them but because a kinde of Lethargy and Stupidity had seized them he who bore the infirmities of us all entertaines it into his owne bosome into his owne affections Hee desired the good of them which they did not themselves and therefore he wept Thirdly he desired also their vnity their perfection which doth consist in the concatenation as it is tyed to or derived from as the beames from the Sunne that primum unum bonum that first One unity it selfe God Which chaine of participation being broken and a separation made by reason of their sinnes
his secret place and his Pavilion round about him Christ was borne in the night as we understand by the Gospell Luke 2. And there were Shepheards watching their Flocks by night Yet when the Angell delivers the tydings of his birth to the Shepheards hee doth not say this night but this day is borne to you a Saviour It was naturally a night but the birth of Christ miraculously made it a day and the glory of the Lord shone about them sayes the Text. Christ dyes wee see here in the day in the mid day but even that is turn'd into a Night It was a day naturally but the death of our Saviour made it a night miraculously And the reason for it is good for it was not altogether so fitting that the earth should have worne one and the same Garment both at the Birth and Funerall of her Lord. He was borne in the night and that becomes day hee dyed in the day and that becomes night See how Christ both in his Nativity and Passion manifests himselfe to be the God of Nature who to shew her allegiance to her Lord and Master quite inverts her ordinary course and doth not wayte upon him in that livery which pleases her best but in that which he commands and is the most agreeable to his fortunes So that as the Disciples cryed out in an admiration when he quieted the Stormes and Tempests Who is this whom the winde and the Sea obeyeth So may wee say here Who is this whom the Night and the Day obeyeth It began at the sixth and lasted till the ninth so that the whole compasse or time of the darknesse was three of our ordinary houres I might here observe a mysterie in the number of 3 being the first perfect number that number which as Geometricians say doth make the first figure the number which Aquinas calls Numerus omnis rei the number of every thing and certainly hee had that hinte from Aristotle in his first booke de Caelo Omne totum sayes he in tribus ponimus To every whole perfect thing is requir'd the number of 3. And why may not wee say that as there went three dayes over his death like three witnesses to beare record of the truth of his death so there went three houres of darknesse over his Passion to beare witnesse of the Truth of his Passion The compleat number of 3 went over his sufferings to manifest to the world that now his sufferings were whole perfect and compleat and therefore no sooner are the three houres of darknesse over but presently he cryes Consummatum est it is finished gave up the ghost But we have beene too long in searching out the cause of this darknesse which was the third thing I propounded to be enquir'd for The neerest cause I told yee was the darkning of the Sunne But alas this will not satisfie us For as the Prophet David in the 114. Psalme which is appointed by the Church to be read upon Easter day doth not content himselfe with saying The Sea saw it and fled Iordan was driven back But hee addes also the question and sayes What aylest thou O Sea that thou fieddest and thou Jordan that thou was driven back So neither must wee thinke it enough to say the Sunne was darkned and goe no further but wee must Causam causae investigare Finde out the supreame cause of that subordinate cause and say What aylest thou O Sunne that thou wast darkened and thou Light that thou wast driven back The Sunne was darkned we confesse but what was it that darkned the Sunne This certainly will trouble us There are but three things supposing that wee are Sub dio et in sterili prospectu Under the open Heaven and withall have our eyes perfect which can any wayes take from us the sight of the Sun First The interposition of Vapours or Clouds Secondly The interposition of the Earth Thirdly The interposition of the Moone As for Clouds it is not likely that they should cause this darknesse For Saint Luke here after hee hath made mention of the darknesse which was in the ayre the place of Clouds and Vapours hee presently addes and the Sunne was darkned making this the reason of the other darknesse below so that wee may very safely beleeve that the Sunne was not darkned onely to us but even in it selfe too Hee who sayes unto the proud billowes of the Sea Be yee still and thus farre yee shall goe and no farther Hee is also able to say unto the Sunne Thou shalt not shine Hee who at the beginning was able to say Let there be light and there was light sayes now Let there be darknesse and it was so It could not be the interposition of the Earth for whensoever that is interposed it makes it night being nothing else but the shadowe of the Earth which is betwixt our eyes and the Sunne but this was at noone-day when the Sunne was in his height over the heads of the people of Jerusalem Nor yet was it possible it should bee the interposing of the Moone for the Sunne never suffers an Eclipse by the darke body of the Moone but onely when the Sunne and Moone are in a conjunction but now they were in opposition the Moone was at the full or but newly past it 180. degrees distant from the Sunne Which is easily proved for the Paschall Lambe was not by Gods command to be slaine nisi Luna quatuordecima but upon the foureteenth day of the Moone Exod. 12. and Levit. 23. and just the night before hee was crucified did Christ eate the Passeover with his Disciples so that this must needs be the fifteenth day of the Moone wherein he suffered quando solennitai erat Azimorum the first day of unleavened bread which was the great and chiefe day of the Passeover howsoever the Evangelist St. Matth. 26.17 may seeme to make the foureteenth day the first day of unleavened bread Mat. 26.17 Now the first day of the Feast of unleavened bread the Disciples came to Iesus saying unto him Where wilt thou that wee prepare for thee to eate the Passeover which must bee understood according to their Civill Account their naturall day according to that computation beginning at Sun-rising and ending with the rising of the next Sunne and in this regard the foureteenth day might be called the first of unleavened bread because it comprehended in it part of the first day of unleavened bread which day in their religious account began at the Sunne-setting and ended at the setting of the next Wee have not yet found out the Cause of this darknesse What should the Night make here usurping the dominion of the Day It is not such a hard question to answere I will give it ye in three words Christ the scond Person in the sacred Trinity united to our humane nature the wisedome of the Father by whom the worlds were made the Lambe without spot who was free from all sinne He hangs
more exalted notions approaching neere unto the contemplation of Angells then he doth from the Hills and Plaines For to whom much is given of him shall much be required So that as Saint Paul said of himselfe concerning preaching of the Gospell Woe is me if I preach not the Gospell so may I say of my self and of all our whole Tribe the Tribe of Levi with me of all the Priests of the Lord the Sonnes of the Prophets who are as it were a portion set apart for God himselfe and like the mountaines neerer heaven are or at the least should be farther removed from the plaines of the earth worldly cares imployments to the end that being freed from these outward destractions and disturbances wee should the more intend the honour of God and the good of his people Woe he unto us if wee above other men doe not leape for joy doe not sing songs of deliverance unto the God of our redemption In the next place O yee Hills praise yee the Lord. 'T is Davids counsell Psalme 148. Yee speculative men who are not yet growne up to the altitude of mountaines yee who are not able yet to climbe into a simple contemplation of God but doe behold his wisedome and power in the Glasse of the creature in the Creation Government of the world O doe yee leape too and although yee cannot yet fetch such Masculine leapes as the Rammes do let not this discourage yee Here is a degree of comparison for you too doe it like the Lambes or the young ones of the Flock Nor must we exempt the Fields the Plaines of the Earth from bearing a part in this joy the men of action and secular businesse they must come in for their share too and although they cannot leape or skip like the mountaines or the hills yet we will finde out an imployment for them too Whilst the mountaines and the hills dance before the presence of the Lord and trace it in comely figures together the fruitfull vallyes shall sing unto them as they passe and this I am sure they are able to doe For David in one of his Psalmes brings them in in the very same action and makes the moving cause of it to bee onely the fruitfulnesse of the Earth The vallyes saith he stand so thick with corne that they doe laugh and sing But wee have a greater cause then the fruitfulnesse of the Earth to move us the fruitfulnesse of heaven is fallen upon us and the Day-spring from on high hath visited us Hee whom the other day wee left hanging upon the Crosse the scorne and laughter of Passengers and hath lyen as imprisoned in the house of death for three dayes and three nights hath now broken from the prison of the Grave and to our endlesse comfort and eternall Salvation loosed and shaken off the bands of death not onely for himselfe over whom death shall have no more dominion but also for us too For now since his conquest Death hath lost his strength nor shall the Grave be able now to hold any of us hereafter The force of the Prison wall is decayed and through the breach which his blessed Resurrection hath made therein shall we finde a way unto eternity of living Let us therefore who are the Vallyes Plaines of the Earth though we are not able to leape and skip after the manner of the mountaines and hills who have higher and purer revelations then our selves although wee cannot sing unto the honour of our Saviour in so heavenly a straine or in so wel penn'd Anthemes as they yet let us not faile to doe our endeavours though it bee in a more homely Musick for the Lord doth not despise the Musick even of an oaten reede tuned to his Praise and he can discover a sweetnesse even in the harsh note of a sigh or a groane which is pointed to him Let us therefore for this present joyne our selves in Chorus with old Zachary Luke 1. and say Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for hee hath visited and redeemed his people Amen THE THIRD SERMON PREACHED Upon Saint Peters Day JOHN 21. VER 17. He said unto him the third time Simon the sonne of Jona lovest thou mee and Peter was sory because he said unto him the third time lovest thou me and said unto him Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee Iesus said unto him Feede my Sheepe VPon the day dedicated to the memory of St. Peter wee have made choyce of a Text wherein we finde St. Peter sorrowfull and indeede wee should doe wrong to the holy Apostle if we should at all remember him without his sorrow Never feare that sorrow for sinne will ever spoile the face of a good Christian 't is the comeliest thing about him and he doth St. Peter the most honour who pictures him weeping Alas to call to minde onely the sinnes and imperfections of this holy man onely to mention how shamefully he denied his Master and to leave out his bitter weeping and his repentance which is the best part of the story were to bring him upon the stage onely to disgrace him but that man doth St. Peter right who remembers his repentance as well as his sinne Wee have in this Scripture then these three things 1. Peters sorrow Hee was sory saith the Text Secondly The cause of his sorrow And that is we see our Saviours saying unto him the third time lovest thou me Thirdly The effect of St. Peters sorrow And this is double Neerer or farther off The effect which I call the neerer is St. Peters answer Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee The effect of his sorrow which I call the farther off is the reply of Christ unto Peters answer Iesus said unto him Feede my Sheepe 1. Peter was sory What Peter might this be That Peter who in the Gospell read for this day by reason of that cleare Confession Thou art Christ the Sonne of the living God was pronounced blessed by the mouth of Christ That Peter to whom were given the Keyes of the Kingdome of heaven so that whatsoever he bindes on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever he looses on earth shall be loosed in heaven Yes Even the very same Peter even the very same Simon the sonne of Ionas whom our Saviour himselfe in that 16. of St. Mathew proclaimed blessed He is sorrowfull First Peter the blessed is sorrowfull Certainly then it is not altogether such an accursed and hatefull thing to endure affliction and troubles here upon earth as it is supposed it is Be comforted then thou who art in misery art persecuted or afflicted for thou seest that Saint Peter here who was in the opinion of no lesse then Christ a blessed man hee was in sorrow hee was griev'd which did not a whit diminish his blessednesse but rather encrease it Secondly Peter the holy is sorrowfull O then it is in vaine to looke for true felicity here