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A09753 A most excellent and heauenly sermon vpon the 23. chapter of the Gospell by Saint Luke. The text. Luke 23.28. Weepe not for me, but weepe for your selues.; Meane in mourning. Playfere, Thomas, 1561?-1609. 1595 (1595) STC 20014; ESTC S103557 34,265 112

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and singing that new song to the Lambe with the 24. Elders Thou art worthie to take the book and to open the seales thereof because thou wast killed and hast redeemed vs by thy bloud There is a time to weepe and a time to laugh a time to mourne and a time to dance Why art thou then so heauie oh my soule and why art thou so disquieted within me still put thy trust in GOD and hee will deliuer thee Wherefore let vs looke vp into heauen and there shall we see the Angels singing this song Glorie bee to God on high peace on earth and good will to●ards men And if I acob that true I acb I meane Christ when he went to Ierusalem hauing nothing with hi● but a staffe a I acobs staffe if then I say we had good cause to reioyce how far greater cause haue wee now to reioyce seeing he is returned back againe and ascended vp into heauen to his Father and there sitteth in glorie though thou wert neuer so much afflicted yet euen in affliction reioice with ioy vnspeakable yet not as Herodias did but as Dauid did leape vp in affliction and caper as high as heauen it selfe where thou shalt see one rapt vp into a third heauen saying to himselfe God forbid that I should reioyce in any thing but in the crosse of Christ and to vs Reioyce in the Lorde alwaies and againe I say Reioyce and againe and againe I say reioyce reioyce in Christ alwaies But weepe for yourselues not because Christ dyed but because your sinne were the cause of his death for this I will weepe day and night yea if I had as many eyes in my head as thre are starres in the skie yet I wo●ld weepe them all out for this tha I should be such an vnworthy wre●ch as by my sinnes to crucifie Chris to put him to so many deathes and to kill so deere and so louing a Lord. Oh that I could possibly deuise what to say or what to doe to obtaine thus much of you or rather of God for you that you would weepe though it were neuer so little for your sinnes But I can doe no more but commend and commit that which hath beene spoken to the effectuall working of the holy Ghost in you to the faithfull obedience of your good hearts to God Many excellent things are spoken of thee renowned citie oh thou glorious citie of London and yet there are many foule blemishes in thee which nowe I will not and by reason of the time I cannot rip vp vnto you but must leaue them vnto euery one of your priuat consciences onely remember I pray you this one lesson that you sinne not for he that sinneth once killeth Christ once and hee that repeateth one sinne twentie times killeth Christ twentie times Oh that God would giue force to my words and tell me what I should say I would to God that I could moue a-any remorse in bitinge and gnawing of your consciences for your sinnes Beloued oh beloued kil not the comforter of your hearts grieue not the holy Ghost for when wee sinne the holy Ghost is grieued hee is grieued when we are not grieued but if we be grieued for our sinnes then is the holy Ghost delighted as sayth Saint Basill such griefe and weeping will be the verie seede or the interest and loane of euerlasting life For as a Father pittieth his childe and if he seeeth him crie he stilleth him takes out his hand-kercher and wipes the childes eyes himselfe so GOD our heauenly Father will with his owne holy finger wipe away all teares from our eyes take vs by the hande and leade vs out of the house of mourning into the house of mirth then hauing sowen in teares we shall reape in ioy yea hauing sowen but a few teares which may be put in a bottle we shall reape al those manifold ioyes which are in heauen For sayth one Heauines may endure for a night but ioy commeth the next morning then shall Christ turne all our miserie into musicke all our wormewood into wine all our sighing into singing then shall Abraham that good mower binde vs vp into sheaues as good corne and fill his bosome full of vs and carrie vs into the Lords barne to make a ioyfull haruest in heauen then shall we with the wise Virgins hauing store of oyle in our lampes that is teares in our eyes goe out of this vale of teares which floweth with weeping and enter into that celestiall Canaan which floweth with milke and honie Then shall we surmounting all earthly things so reare aloft and flye vp as with the Eagles winges into the heauenly paradise and there settle in the tree of eternall life then shall all teares of weeping and mourning bee wiped from our eyes and then shall wee see cleerely the bright sonne of God sitting at the right hand of his Father in heauen saving vnto vs Come vnto me all ye that are heauie laden and I will refresh you not saying VVeep not for me but weepe for your selues but Reioyce for me and reioyce for your selues through the tender mercies of Iesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Sonne and the holy Ghost be all honour and glory power and praise dignitie and dominion both now and euermore Amen Deus est gloria FINIS Psalm 65. 12. Esay 23. 1. Gen. 7. 12. 2. Psal. 74. 13. Coloss. 2. 14 Cant. 7. 5.
yet a step further For when God had placed man in the garden of Eden which is the garden of pleasure he did indeed prouide all things therein which might pleasure him his wife who was equal to him to accompanie him all other creatures farre inferiour vnto him the earth to tread on and to yeeld him encrease the trees that did stand about him the riuers that did runne besides him golde to trample on pearles to looke on the beasts to name them the hearbes which he did feede on and the flowers which he did smell to all these serued for his delight and ioy but afterward whē sentence was proceeded against the man that he should liue in sorrow about the fruits of the earth and against the woman that she should haue sorrowe about the fruite of her wombe yet it pleased God to asswage and sweeten our sorrowes with diuers singular comforts As first we haue the Holie ghost who is our onely comforrer next a good conscience which is a cōtinuall feast next the holie scriptures which are as it were another paradise lastly an vnfained faith by which wee haue peace with God Therefore Athanagoras sayth well I account that many haue no spirit no cōscience no scripture no faith in God that yeelde too much to griefe And Ierome yet more plainly I doe in mine heart abhorre all excesiue sorrowe seeing it is a very hell vpon earth and an entrance euen in this life into that wofull place where there is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth So that immoderate weeping is condemned in nature which teacheth al things in reason which teacheth all men in religion which teacheth all Christians that wee must not weepe too much Thus much of weeping too much which is the first part Weepe not Now a little of weeping too little which is the second part but weepe They to whome Christ spake at first offended in the excesse therefore he beginneth thus weepe not but I might well shift the words and begin thus but weepe for wee offend altogether in the want of weeping seldome in the excesse The reason is because we lacke charity which being three fold the greatest worke of true charitie towards our selues is repentance towards our neighbours is preaching towards God is prayer and all these require teares so that if wee weepe so little as that wee weepe not at all we weepe too little which we must not doe For the first touching repentance one sayth plainly Lauandum est cor interdum in lachrymis poenit entiae The lesser our sorrowes are the greater are our sinnes but on the other side The heads of dragons are broken in the waters that is verie stronge and vile sinnes are weakned and washed away with teares That obligation that was against vs before it was fastned to the crosse of Christ it was written in parchment now it is written in paper so that if we blur it with dayly weeping vpon it our teares will be like aqua fortis to take out the handwriting quite that God shall neither reade nor see our sinnes Therefore sayth one wee must wash our heartes in the troubled poole of Bethesda in the troubled teares of repentance for as in a well except there be some water in it wee cannot easily see the baggish that lieth in the bottome so in the depth of our heart wee cannot see our sinnes without teares Teares make our sinnes seene and not seene not seene to God and seene to vs God not seeing them forgiues them wee seeing them amend them Austine in the beginning of his 25. booke writeth that the teares of the vine branch doe cure the leprosie and so the teares of these vine branches which are grafted into the true vine doe cure the leprosie of sinne That sinfull woman because she loued much shee washed Christ his feete with her teares a strange sight I haue oftentimes seene the heauens wash the earth I vnderstande that well enough but I neuer sawe the earth wash the heauen yet here I see it an earthly and a sinfull woman washed the heauenly feete of Christ. But because shee washed Christ his feete with her teares therefore Christ crowned her head with his mercies The prodigall sonne had no sooner turned home by weeping crosse and cryed peccaui but straight way hee was receiued Ambrose saith see what force there is in three sillables Chrysoftome saith God hearing a sinner in true contritiō vtter but this one word peccaui I haue sinned is in a manner so charmed and inchaunted with it that he hath no power ouer himselfe he cannot but graunt remission Saint Peter likewise saith Chrysostome did recouer that place by bemoning his offence which hee had lost by denying his master For sayth Nazianzen God is more mercifull then man can be sinfull if man will bee sorrowfull Wherefore wee may see by this example of Saint Peter that weeping is the best salt-peter to relish our repentance that wee may get our pardon Touching preaching the voice of a Preacher should bee the voice of a crier which should not pipe to make the people daunce but mourne to make the people weepe Hence it is that in the old lawe none which were blind or had any blemish in his eye might serue at the Altar And when they offered their first borne who was ordinarily in euery familie their Priest or their Preacher they offered with him a paire of turtle doues or two yong pigeons which doues did signifie a paire of mournfull eyes and these two young pigeons did signifie likewise two weeping eies and at their offering they prayed for their first borne that afterwardes hee may haue such eyes himselfe For as pigeons flie to their windowes Esay 60 8. So the godly preacher hath no other refuge to flie vnto but onely to his windowes that is to his eies that are glased with teares when he weepeth for the sins of the people Christ is much delighted in these kinde of eies saying so often to his spouse Thy eyes are like pigeons eyes The holy Ghost also descending himselfe in for me of a doue and the Prophets vsually receiued their prophesies by riuers sides as Ezechiel had his prophesie deliuered him by the riuer Cobar Daniel beside the riuer Tigris Iohn the Baptist besides the riuer Iordan yea also many preached their prophesies not so much in wordes as in riuers of teares Mine eyes gushed with riuers of waters sayth Dauid because men keep not thy law Oh that my head were full of water sayth Ieremie and mine eies a fountaine of teares I protest sayth Paul that for these three yeares I haue not ceased to warne euery one of you with teares day and night For indeede as Austine sayth There is more good to bee done with sighing then with speaking with weeping then with words Prosper sayth that a Preacher must seeke non plausum sed planctum not his owne praise but the peoples profite in mourning for their finnes and Hierome sayth that