Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A36543
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The Christians zodiake, or, Twelve signes of predestination unto life everlasting written in Lattin by Ieremie Drexelius.; Zodiacus Christianus locupletatus. English
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Drexel, Jeremias, 1581-1638.
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1647
(1647)
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Wing D2168; ESTC R38850
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91,238
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264
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his desire and thou shalt rule ouer him Gen. 4. V. 7. The twelfth signe Of Predestination IS the moderation of our passions or the victory of temptations The Device is a Strung Lute the Motto sub te erit appetitus tuus tu dominaberis illius Gen 3. Thy desire shall bee subject unto thee and thou shalt master it Those who are of Christ as the Apostle confidently avers have mortified their flesh with its vices and concupiscences and St Bernard elegantly represents our Saviour inviting uâ— Serm. de S. And. qui vult venire post me abneget semet ipsum ac si dicat qui me desiderat se despiciat qui vult facere voluntatem meam discat frangere suam those that will follow me let them deny themselves as much as to say let those who would love me despise themselveâ— those who would fulfill my will learne to break their own That which most fatigates us in the fight is that which most crownes us being Conquerors and we have no way to become absolute Masters of our lives but by dayly killing our affections in us For whilst they live our reason is either dead or obscured quite For which cause the Royall Prophet besought Almighty God to unvaile his eyes that he might behold the wonders of the Law revela occulos meos considerabo mirabilia de lege tua I know O Lord that there are great and sublime â—ecrets ontained in this holy law but alas for as much as I am a man burthâ—ned with the load of my flesh and subject to varietie of passions and affections and am not ignor nt withall what a powerfull faction there is of them who dâ—squiet and blind my heart it is thy piety alone which must open mine eyes and disperse those thick mists of passions which encompasse them Seneca treating of these passions of ours Facilius est initia eorum prohibere Ep. 85. â—16 quà m impetum regere nam sicut in preceps dato corpori nullum sui arbitrium est nec resistere dejectum potest sed omne consilium irrevocabilis praecipitatio abscidit ita animus si in iram amorem aliosue affectus se projecerit non facilè reprimet impetum c. It is easier to prevent them in the beginning than afterwards to moderate their violence for as a body rouling downe some steep discent is utterly unable to contâ—ine it selfe by reason his irrevocable fall hath deprived him of all use of force or delibâ—ration even so a minde once precipitating it selfe into anger love or any other passion can with great difficulty resist their violent motions since it is the nature of vice never to rest till it hath tumbled us into the very depth of all calamity Wherefore it is best to begin even with the first seed of these passions to root them out We are to make head against our enemies on the frontiers of our dominion lest if they makâ— impression unto the heart thereof they accept of no conditions from those they have vanquished How much bâ—tter is it to bee a patient than a mighty man an overcommer of himselfe than a vanquisher of Cities Malior est patiens viro forti qui dominatur animo suo expugnatore urbium The first Paragraph BLessed are those sayes St. Augustine who make peace within themselves who so governe all the motions of their mind as to render them obsequious unto reason and blessed are those who in subduing the concupiscences of their flesh become the Kingdome of Almighty God where the mind enjoyes an absolute dominion the corporall senses bring all in due subordination and as inferiour servâ—nts no wayes resisting to that superiour power This is that peace which the Angels proclaimed at Christs Nativity to which neverthelesse none can attaine but by warre and violence Hence it is that God delivered the Commandements to Moses at the sound of warlike Trumpets when we should imagine that soft and harmonious musick should have better sympathized with those religious Rites to which the lawes had peculiar reference that trumpets had more proportion with warres than with the Church But so it is deare Christians we are drawne forth into the field we are prest unto the wars by this our heavenly Law-giver neither can any truely observe his Lawes who refuses to fight against those who impugne them None can overcome their flesh by cherishing it none without a battaile conquer he tempting enemy or the frowns or smiles of the inconstant world We are to hold every affectioâ— for an enemy which the adversaries of the divine Law shall oppose against us and as such resist it with our uttermost power He that is offended at his crimes and yet favours his passions doth but lop the branches from an evill tree whilst hee permits the root to furnish the stock with mosse St. Chrysostome in pondering these words of our blessed Saviour qui viderit mulierem ad concupiscendam illam c. He who shall behold a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart sayes non modo morbum sed morbi radicem evellit Christus c. Christ doth not onely take away the disease but even the root thereof The root of adultery is this evill of concupiscence and so together with adultery he condemnes the mother of it concupiscence In like manner he doth not onely prohibite murther but likewise anger which provokes us to it and the firebrands of anger opprobrious speech Of all passions two of the most vehement are love anger without extream rigor never to be restrain'd Gentlenes mild perswasion can doe no good with them and as for anger it doth not importune the mind like other vices but carries it away headlong with it Who would desire to wound his enemy on that condition to leave his hand incorporate in the wound and not be able to withdraw it backe and yet such is the nâ—ture of anger to engage us so farre as we can never come clearely off againe It will not stick at any wickednesse and whosoever it hath designed to strike at with its thunder it is never appeased till it have discharged upon him a deadly wound He whom it rules is like the stone called Pyrites which is set on fire wheresoever you strike it with the flint Prov. 29. An angrie man provokes quarrells and he who is apt to take exceptions will be the readier to sinne Wrath and anger are execrable things and there is scarsely any plague hath cost mankinde so deare for Vtrum stultum interficit iracundia parvulum occidit in vidia Anger killeth the foole and envie murdereth the little one Wherefore deare brethren sayes St. Augustine ne obsecro tantum malum nobis inducamus Lib. 4. de Civit Dei c. 6. c. I beseech you let us not call such a plague upon our selves the soules sicknes the night of reason an alienation from God oblivion of
est foenerantis he who borrows becomes a servant of him who lends but our most rich God borrowes of us in the persons of the poore whence the conclusion may easily be deduced As for the minor of this Syllogisme Colos 3. it is Solomons in effect Foeneratur Domino qui miseretur pauperis He takes usury of the Lord which is the same a God borrowes of him who hath pitty of the poor Christ by the mouth of St. Augustine in this manner begs an Almes of us Bestow somewhat upon me of that which I have given thee I aske but part of that which is all mine owne in giving you make but restitution and oblige me your debtor for what you give whom you had a benefactor of all you have Give me but temporall things and I will repay you with eternall ones Orat. de amore Paup teipsum tibi reddam quando te mihi reddidero and Saint Gregory Nazianzen sayes look that thou beest a God to the calamitous in imitating the mercy of God in their behalfe for man hath nothing in him more divine than the power to oblige other men unto him by his benefits The poore is committed to thy charge as to another God and such a God on earth was holy Iob Pater eram pauperum Iob 29. causam quam nesciebam diligentissimè investigabam oculus fuic aecâ— pes claudo I was sayes he a Father of the poore and I diligently informed my self when I did not througly understand their case I was an eye unto the blind and feet unto the lame And Toby that man so deare unto Almighty God eleemosyna ab omni peccato a morte liberat c. Almes-deeds Iob. 4. sayes he he delivers us both from sin and death and suffers not a soule to descend into darknesse Ibid. fiducia magna erit coram summo Deo eleemosyna omnibus facientibus eam Almes-deeds will be a great cause of confidence to all those who have exercisâ—d it when they shal stand before Almighty God The first Paragraph MElius est hanc artem dandi eleemosynamscire quam esse regem Hom. 55. 36. ad pop sayes St Chrysostome it is better to be conversant in this art of bestowing Almes than to be a King as that which builds us everlasting mansions in heaven and teaches us the way to become like to God It is a great thing to be a man â—ut to be a mercifull man is a pretious thing qui pronus est ad miseriâ—ordiam Prov 22. benedicetur de panibus enim suis dedit pauperi he who is prone to mercy shall be blessed for he hath bestowed his bread upon the poore Wherefore â—hiâ— benificence to speak still with the same golden mouth'd St. Chrysostome is that which resembleth us to God this is the Mother oâ— Charity Chry. hom 6. in caâ— 3. ep ad Tritem and the proper badge of Christian perfection which distinguishes Christâ— Disciples from other men This iâ— that which cures our infirmities which washes away the staines of our soule this that ladder whi h was reared up to Heaven Thesâ— rizate vobis thesauros in caelo Matth. 6. hoard up treasures for your selves in heaven sayes our Saviour Christ Hearken O ye rich and learn a new art which heaven it selfe doth teach a new way of gathering riches together spargere be liberall of it you were mistaâ—en hitherto the way to become rich is to give your wealth away and not to hoard it up he who in this world distributes his treasure among the poore doth but lay it up so his owne use in the next Nei is it necessary that we discharge our money by whole handfulls on the poore give but halfe-pence give but farthings or a crust of bread so you do it freely and willlingly and in interchange thereof you shal receive whole worlds of treasure and possessions The Censours in ancient time were wont now and then to visit the Citizens houses and survey their garments to see whether they were not moath-eaten their bread mouldy meat tainted or the like neither without reason and I feare me that if any such visit should bee made now a dayes there would be some found who feed vermine with that they have rather than they will bestow it on the poore But now we know how to dispose so of our substance as neither rust moath nor any other vermine can annoy it Matth. 6. Thesurizate vobis thesauros in caelo ubi neque erugo neque tinea demolitur c. Lay up tresure for your selves in heaven where neither rust nor moath can do it any harme where neither any thief can break in and steal it thence Manna did not corrupt unlesse it was layd up for the next day neither doth any stock so much diminish as theirs who are too carefull to preserve it still entire you can secure it no better way than by â—rusting it in the hands of the poore and their stomacks as the best Granaries to stacke up our corne since there it is secure from fire and ye are sure to receive it with increase againe Had Absalom but cut his bright tresses off his haire had beene an ornament to his head and not the occasion of its confusion and so if the wealthier sort would but contribute part of their substance towards the maintenance of the poore they should have as many friends at command as now they have crownes whereas now they affect nothing by their covetousnesse but that the more money they have in the more dangerous estate they live in The sonne of Sirach perswades us Perdere pecuniâ—m propter fratrem Eccl. 29. amicum tuum non abscondas illam sub lapide in perditionem To cast away our money for the behalfe of your friend and brother and not to hide it under a stone to our own perdition and our Saviour Christ bids us dare Eccl. 29. dabitur vobis To give that we may receive againe Wells become fowle if they be not often used and the more water you draw from them the more pure you render them The Predestinate if it were possible when they bestow an almes would give their hearts withall so willingly they impart their substance to the poore and in this sence our blessed Saviour pronounces the mercifull to be blessed to wit not onely such as have ability to afford much but also those who have a desire so be beneficiall unto all It was Pythagoras opinion similia non nisi a similibuâ— comprehendi That like was not attained but by its like and so it happens in this kinde of Merchandise where one commodity is not purchased but by exchange of the same commodity againe Oleum emitur oleo wilt thou obtaine mercy by works of mercy it is to be purchased But you will say perhaps by giving unto others you may happen to impoverish your selfe what a vaine caution is this rather to trust to