Faith procure but he would signifie thereby that it was in his power to doe it and that very easily and it is an ordinarie phrase amongst vs to say It is but a word speaking Saint Chrysostome indeereth the modestie and curteous carriage of this Captaine that he bearing that great loue to his Seruant that hee was as sencible of this his sickenesse and the danger he was in as if the case had beene his owne He did not desire any indecent thing of our Sauiour nor lash out into passion transported by his affection but proceeded therein with great prudence and sobrietie not onely hauing a care to that which was fitting for his seruant but with what respect also and reuerence hee was to carrie himselfe towards our Sauiour Christ. Onely say the word c. From hence Chrysostome proueth That the Centurion did beleeue the Diuinitie of Christ For if hee had thought him to bee but a Saint and not a God hee would haue said I pray Sir speake a good word for me but he vseth not that phrase of speech but That himselfe would command him to be whole But it is to bee noted That though all the antient Saints doe grant That the Centurion beleeued that Christ was both God and man yet Gregorie Nazianzen Saint Chrysostome and Saint Austen doe note That speaking absolutely of doing a miracle with empire and command is not prenda that is a token of God onely for any man may doe the like to whom God shal giue the power If thou hadst saith our Sauior but so much faith as a graine of mustard seed thou mightst command mountaines to remooue and they shal obey thee But to worke a miracle commanding the same to be done by his own proper power vertue that is a token of Gods power onely And that the Centurion pretended this it is prooued first by the great curtesie vsed by him Lord I am not worthie that thou shouldst come vnder my roofe which was as manerly as any man could speake it Secondly because a Saint may verie well do miracles and by commandement too but so that hee must haue this power from God but withall it shall not be lawfull for any man to craue them in that kind for the power of doing miracles is neuer so tied to the will of any Saint that he may worke miracles where and when he will himselfe Thirdly the comparison vsed by the Centurion prooueth the supreme power to reside in Christ our Sauiour Nam ego homo sum sub potestate constitulus i. For I also am a man put in authoritie c. Thou Lord hast souldiers so haue I thou with absolute power I with subordinate these obey me punctually who am but an Emperors Vicegerent what shall those thee who art aboue all the Kings and Emperors of the earth Saint Hierome and Origen vnderstand by Gods souldiers the Angells whom the Scripture calls his Ministers by whom he works his miracles Saint Chrysostome vnderstands by these souldiers death life sickenesse and health Saint Luke sayes Hee rebuked the Feuer the words are short but full but it is cleere that all the creatures of God whatsoeuer are Gods Ministers For as he hath command ouer the Angells death life sickenesse health the seas and the winds Quis hic quia venti mare obediunt ei Who is this that the winds and the sea obey him So he commandeth they should be called his soldiers because they execute his will From these words Sub potestate constitutus this moralitie may bee drawne That euerie subordinate dignitie implyeth subiection and heauinesse I call it subordinate being compared with a greater Monarch vnder whose command the person subordinate liues which Doctrine is so plaine that it is prooued dayly by a thousand experiences and the power of Christ himselfe was subordinate to that of his Father so sayes Esay Cuius imperium super humerum eius i. Whose gouernment is vpon his shoulder so that there is not any honour which hath not a burthen with it which many times makes the heart of man to ake and groane vnder it Miratus est Iesus Fidem Centurionis Iesus admired the Centurions Faith Admiration as Saint Austen saith proceedeth either from the ignorance of the cause of a thing or from the singularitie of it In Christ could there neither be the one nor the other for hee did not onely know the faith of the Centurion but had also beene the author thereof Quis fecerat ipsam fidem saith Saint Austen nisi ipse qui mirabatur i. Who had caused that faith but he that did admire it So that it seemeth that this admiration is a commendation which our Sauiour gaue of the Capâ—aines faith For to admire a thing euen amongst prophane Authors is an extraordinarie kind of commending it For Christ had seene by a blessed and infused knowledge that faith which was hidden in the heart of the Centurion but because hee did manifest the same in his presence admiring it he commended it and therefore it is said Miratus est He admired Saint Austen on the other side distinguisheth Admiration from Commendation Some things saith he are commended but not admired others are both commended and admired Christ perceiuing this his faith by admiring it did commend it not for any interior admiration that was in himselfe but to confirme and establish ours For all the world might well wonder to see so great faith in a Souldier Suting with that which Saint Austen saith in another place That Christ had shewne some motions and signes of admiration without perturbation being motions and signes of a Master whereby he read a lecture vnto vs that we should doe the like Thomas puts vpon our Sauiour Scientiam experimentalem an experimentall knowledge and consequently an experimentall admiration And albeit by a blessed and infused kind of knowledge he did know all things and that his wisedome could not erre yet it is said of him That he encreased in knowledge He went onwards in wisedome and in stature So that his admiring of the Centurions faith was not so much his knowing of any wonderful and singular thing but an experimentall knowledge thereof as that of the Astrologer who knowes before hand that there shall bee such an eclipse yet notwithstanding when it comes hee admires it So that our Sauior hauing this experimental knowledge the admiration could not be so great as otherwise it would haue beene had hee not foreknowne it But some man perhaps will say I doe not see any such rare circumstances in the Faith and words of the Centurion as should cause in vs any great admiration for I doe not see him shed teares with Marie Magdalen nor adore him with the knee with Regulus nor clamour him with importunitie with the Cananite c. I answer Will yee expect this courtship from a souldier and a swordman Let Ieremie and Daniel weepe for a souldier it sufficeth that he make
that he did him and the great reward hee bestowed vpon him Amongst other Motiues the first shall be the Title of the Crosse Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iewes It was prophesied That his Kingdome should take it's beginning from the Crosse Dominus regnabit à ligno The Iewes did secretly honour the word à ligno The Saints did openly reuerence it Christ had giuen great pledges in his birth that hee was à King by Angels Shepheards and Kings In his life by the obedience of all sorts of creatures Who is this whom the winds and seas obey By the voices of the Diuells themselues by the whips of the Temple and by his last Supper Here bee some standing here which shall not taste of death vntill c. In his passion My kingdome is not of this world and ye shall see the Son of man comming in power But in his death hee gaue farre greater pledges All the creatures gaue testimonie of their Creator The diuels cried out so sayes Eusebius Caesariensis Pan magnus interijt And howbeit on Pilats and the peoples part the Title of the Crosse was placed there in scoffe and scorne of him yet the diuine prouidence made vse of these liuing instruments And as in the creation he walked on the waters so in the reparation of mankind he passed through punishments and paines of our Sauiour Christ making their iests turne to earnest The same consideration being likewise to be had concerning the Crowne the Scepter and the Robe of purple which in derision they put vpon him c. Hilarie and Bonauenture both say That our Sauiour Christs Patience was one great Motiue In heauen the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost beare witnesse In earth the Holy Ghost Water and Blood All these testimonies proue the Diuinitie of Christ. But to let passe those of heauen The Holy Ghost doth prooue that hee was a Diuine person whose voyce was so powerfull when the Spirit tooke his leaue of his body that it forced the Centurion to say Vere filius Dei erat iste Truely this man was the Son of God The Water which was miraculous prooues that he was a Diuine person for it is not possible that water should naturally flowe from a dead body The Blood that prooues it not onely in regard of it's muchnesse but that it was shed with so much patience For though his wounds were many and his torments great yet like a sheepe before the Shearer he neuer once opened his mouth or shew'd the least resistance And Euthymius and Theophylact adde That the prayer which he heard him make to his Father Father forgiue them which was the first that he vttered on the Crosse did worke that amasement in this theefe That he said with himselfe Sure this is no man And thereupon began to haue an assured hope of the forgiuenesse of his sinnes For thought he he that is so desirous to pardon those that had vsed him so cruelly not onely tormenting him in his body but also scoffing and flouting at him to vexe if it were possible his soule will surely farre more willingly pardon me who being heartily sorry for my sinnes desire to become his seruant I haue heard that the Kings of Israel are mercifull but none of them all had so generous and free a heart as our Sauiour Christ. Tertullian saith That hee came into the world for to shew himselfe a God in his suffering making Patience the badge and marke of his Diuinitie And that the power which he shewed in pardoning being so great much greater was that which hee shewed in suffering It was much that he should suffer for man much more in that he suffered for man when as man would not suffer him to be God To admit a Traytour to his boord to bid him welcome to feast him and make much of him that finding himselfe so kindly vsed he may make him surcease from his plotted treasons winning him vnto him by these and the like courtesies well may a man doe this but that God should admit a Iudas to his table that he should eate with God God witting That he would goe from the table to execute his treason to sell God and to deliuer him vp into the hands of his enemies onely God and his patience could suffer so great an iniurie which made Saint Augustine to say A potentia discimus patientiam S. Chrysostome Origen and S. Ierome are or opinion That the alteration of the sunne and the elements wrought the same effect vpon the theefe as it did vpon Dyonisius in Athens when he cryed out Either the world is at an end or this man is God Vincent Ferrariensis saith That the shadow of our Sauiour Christ did inlighten this Theefe And that the shadow of Saint Peter healing bodies it was not much that the shadow of Christ should heale soules Whereunto may be applyed that of Dauid Thou hast shadowed my head in the day of battaile Petrus Damianus saith That the blessed Virgin might bee a meanes of this Theeues Conuersion by intreating her sonne that he would be pleased to open the eyes of his soule Whether she were mooued thereunto because the good theefe did not reuile Christ or whether which Saint Augustine reports though some attribute the same to Anselmus That in her iourney to Aegypt hee being Captaine of the Theeues did the blessed Virgin many good seruices being much taken with the prettinesse of the child and the sober and modest countenance of the mother sure I am that it was a happines so sole in the world consisting of such strange circumstances That no man did or euer shall enioy the like good lucke And as we cannot expect a second death of our Sauiour Christ so such a second happy incounter as this was cannot bee hoped for This Theefe came in that good time when as heauen did shoure downe mercies when there was a plenary Indulgence and Iubilee granted when God did poure forth the balme of his Blood for to ransome man when the doores of heauen and the wounds of Christ were equally open when the fountaine of liuing water did cry out in the middest of the world If any man thirst let him come vnto mee and drinke when our Sauiour had such a longing desire to see the fruit of his labors and sweats when he had put that petition to his Father which began with Ignosce illis Forgiue them And it seeming vnto him That his Father was too slow in granting his request he did thus pittifully complaine vnto him O my God my God why hast thou forsaken me Why came I into the world Why was I borne in pouertie liued in labour and dyed in sorrow What Haue I laboured then in vaine Secondly it was his happinesse as Saint Gregory Nissen hath obserued That he inioyed our Sauiour Christs side and his shadow that he was so close vnder his wing He that sayles in a little Barke with a
shall perfectly become subiect to the will of God so that the Sonne of God shall appeare then in greater power and Maiestie than euer hee did before But for to treat of the Maiestie of the Father the greatest and deepest thoughts of Man is but as a Thimble they are not able to conceiue much lesse to containe the least part thereof Daniel saith seeking to expresse the greatnesse of his glorie and the mightinesse of his power Mille millia ministrabant ei decies centena millium assistâ—â—ant ei The Pages that attend his person must bee numbred by thousands and the Courtiers that assist in his presence by ten thousands of thousands Arithmeticke wants figures to set downe these numberlesse numbers Esay saw him in a Throne of Maiestie and of glorie Plena erat domus Maiestate eius but his feet and his head couered with the wings of Seraphins Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand That these our corporall eyes may haue a glimpse of the Maiestie of his Throne but not of his person Lastly That Maiestie of his Court which consists of so many Angelicall Hierarchies What tongue what tongue can paint out that vnto thee which is beyond the proportion of thought One Angell alone hath strucke with the feare of death the valiantest the holiest men that euer were what would they then doe when they are a joynt and vnited Bodie Saint Chrysostome saith That greater is the power of one Angell than of all the men in the world if all their force and strength were molten together and molded into one entire masse At Christs birth certaine Squadrons of Angells came round about him saluting him with that heauenly Song of Gloria in excelsis but now they shall come trouping all together and some shall more particularly bewaile with great bitternesse those miseries that shall befall the World and those that liued therein according to that of Esay The Angels of Peace shall weepe bitterly The Euangelist doth not here in this place vnderstand the euill Angels though they shall come likewise vpon this Theatre as well to bee iudged themselues Nescitis quia Angelos judicabimus as to serue as Atturneys for to open the Sinners crimes and offences and as Hangmen to execute the Iudges Sentence In this life God oftentimes makes the good Angels to bee the Executioners of his wrath as in Sodome and in the first borne of Aegypt in ouerthrowing the Chariots of Pharaoh in Zenacharib Heliodorus and Herod but his ordinarie kind of punishment is by euill Angells Immissiones per Angelos malos by which hee vnderstandeth those fearefull Plagues of Aegypt as Flies Frogges Grashoppers Waspes Homets thicke Clouds Darkenesse that might bee felt their Flockes and Heards of Cattell killed with Haile stones Visions idle Dreames and Phantasies and the like Sad shapes appeared vnto them and Monsters did affright them whereby they that were liuing lookt as if they had beene dead Animae deficiebant traductione These did the Deuill carrie away bound hand and foot to bee cast into vtter darkenesse And when God shall set these Catchpoles to arrest the Wicked What will become of them What will they doe With this Maiestie and greatnesse shall that supreame Iudge come Vpon the Seat of his Maiestie whither it be a Throne of Clouds according to that of Ecclesiasticus Thronus eius in columna Nubis and that of Exodus Veniam in caligine Nubis or whither it be a Throne of Cherubins according to that of Dauid Qui sedes super Cherubim or whither of the Iust as Origen would haue it sure I am that hee shall come with that graue and austere countenance and with that awfull and fearefull looke that Malachy might verie well say Who shall endure to looke vpon him Congregabuntur ante eum omnes Gentes All Nations shall be gathered before him It is as true as it is fearefull That all men shall meet together in one all that did enioy the light of this world for so many Kindreds nay thousands of Ages whither they perished in the element of Fire and so turned to ashes or whither they were deuoured by the Fowles of the aire or the Beasts of the field or whither they became the food of fishes in the Sea or whither that their bodies remaine in their graues or whither like rubbish they lie buried vnder ruinous buildings or howsoeuer they haue passed through diuers and sundrie transmutations yet notwithstanding in the end all shall come and present themselues vpon this publique Stage all those Nations that are so differing in their manners and behauiour in their Idiomes their Languages in their Rights and Ceremonies in their Laws and their Customes whither remaining in the maine Continent or in the Islands enuironed with the Sea And what wonder can be greater or what sight so strange as to see all the men in the world to appeare body and soule before his diuine Maiestie at the voyce of an Angell when he shall trumpet forth this short summons vnto them Surgite mortui c. But two other wonders more fearefull than this I feare me will be seene The one That all mens hearts shall be opened euerie man both inwardly and outwardly shall appeare so plaine and so cleere to our sight that there shall not be any thought though neuer so closely hid nor any fault though neuer so deepely buried that shall not bee made open and manifest According to that of Saint Paul to the Corinthians Omnes manifestari oportet ante Tribunal Christi We must all bee manifested before the Iudgement Seat of Christ. Whereupon Saint Theodoret weighing the word Manifestari which in the originall is the same with Perlucidos esse Transparent and cleere as Chrystall wherein those blacke spots and â—oule staines that are in our Soules will appeare the more vgly and loathsome ô How strange a spectacle will this be How sole and singular in the world ô what a great feare will it strike into vs not onely in regard of the innumerable number of such various and vncouth things things heretofore neuer presumed or once thought vpon but also in respect of the heart of man which being so inscrutable a thing and for so many yeares of mans life past searching out and not to bee discouered and set forth in it's true life and colours that this heart I say of Man shall in an instant bee laid so open that all maskes shall be vnpin'd all disguises taken off whose hollownesse and hypocrisie shall now appeare to God and the World Immagine that God should shew this miracle in open Court and that the hearts of all should lie open to the eyes of all as he did discouer to Ezechiel euerie forme of creeping things and abhominable Beasts and all the Idolls of the House of Israell portrayed vpon the wall of the Temple How ashamed will the verie best of Gods children bee of their actions but much more the wicked to see their sinnes laid
winds blow is suddenly throwne downe and carried away Optimum est gratia stabilire cor It is an excellent thing that the heart be established with grace that when ye shall be set vpon with diuers and sundrie strange Doctrines yee may stand immoouable and not be shaken with euerie vaine blast of wind Signum non dabitur eis nisi signum Ionae A signe shall not bee giuen them but that of Ionus Now Ionas his signe was the death and resurrection of our Sauiour which Austen calls Signum signorum miraculum miraculorum The signe of signes and miracle of miracles And hee that will not benefit himself by that What other miracle or signe can he expect shall doe him good It is much greater than any other vpon earth by how much the harder it is for one to come out of the heart of the earth and to bee restored to life after he is once dead a greater miracle by farre than that of Ionas his being spewed out of the Whales bellie And the said Saint prooueth that our Sauiour Christ is God and man man because hee entred dead into the bowells of the earth and God because hee came forth from thence aliue So that our Sauiour came to grant them much more than they desired For if they desired miracles from Heauen at our Sauiours death there appeared fearefull ones vnto them Athanasius saith That the Sunne was darkened in token that all those great and noble acts which God had done were eclipsed and darkened in this one of our Redemption Theophilact saith That our Sauiour after his Resurrection wrought no more miracles for that to die and rise againe by his own proper power was the vtmost both of his power and miracles Iudaei signum petunt c. The Iewes require a signe the Graecians seeke after wisedome but I preach vnto you the greatest Signe and the greatest Wisedome in the world to wit Christ crucified Eusebius Emisenus dwelleth much vpon Iacobs wrestling with the Angell In which conflict Iacob remaining Victor craueth a blessing of the Conquered And this is mystically meant of our Sauiour who representing himselfe in the shape of an Angell shewed himselfe vpon the Crosse tortured torne and ouercome yet grew thereby more powerfull and more free hearted for to blesse the world No signe shall be giuen them It is not without a mysterie that our Sauior saith No signe shall be giuen For that signe of his death and resurrection hee knew would profit them so little that it was needlesse to giue them any at all Christ treating of his bloud saith by Saint Luke Which for you and for many shall bee poured out And by Saint Mathew Which shall be poured out for all But many shall not take the benefit of this effusion of his bloud Some did wash their stoles in the bloud of the Lambe others said Sanguis eius super nos id est Let his bloud be vpon vs accusing themselues herein to bee guiltie of the shedding of his bloud And amongst the Faithfull there are many of whom Saint Paul saith Reus erit corporis sanguinis Domini who receiuing it vnworthily shall remaine guiltie of this so pretious a Treasure And in another place That they shall incurre great punishment which doe defile this bloud Et sanguinem testamenti pollutum duxerit Signum non dabitur ei nisi signum Ionae No signe shal be giuen them but that of Ionas For the miracle of Christs death and resurrection was not to bee denied to any Saint Thomas protested That he would not beleeue vnlesse hee might see the prints of our Sauiours wounds which being so strange a capitulation and to outward seeming so discourteous a proceeding our Sauiour Christ yeelded vnto his request and made towards him and made shewe thereof vnto him for the signes of our Sauiours death and Crosse were neuer yet denied to any Esay saith And in that day the root of Ishai which shall stand vp for a signe vnto the People the Nations shall seeke vnto it and his rest shall be glorious The Septuagint and Saint Hierome read Et qui stat The root of Iesse that is to say Ille qui stat in signum populorum congregabit profugos Israel dispersos Iuda colligit à quatuor plagi◠terra He shall set vp a signe to the Nations and assemble the dispersed of Israell and gather the scattered of Iuda from all the foure corners of the world Hee borrowes the metaphore from a militarie Ensigne and saith That Christ our Sauior that suffered on the Crosse and died for our sinnes and rose againe for our saluation shall gather together those that are dispersed through the foure corners of the earth Which is all one with that of Saint Iohn who said That he was not only to die for his People Sed vt Filios Dei qui dispersi erant congregaret in vnum But that he might gather together into one the children of God that were dispersed Into one that is into one Church by Faith Signum non dabitur nisi signum Ionae God did not graunt vnto them that which they desired for God will not be propitious in yeelding to our desires when they are to turne to our owne hurt Moses desired that he might see his face but God told him Faciem meam videre non poteris Hee will not giue what thou wilt demand one while because it may cost thee thy life another while because God shall no sooner turne his back but like the children of Israell thou wilt presently fall adoring the golden Calfe Saint Paul did desire freedom from his fetters those torments which hee indured But he was told Thou knowest not what thou askest for Virtus in infirmitate perficitur In a word God doth denie vs many things in his Mercie which he will grant vnto vs in his Anger as the imperfect Author noteth it In corde terrae tribus diebus tribus noctibus In the Heart of the Earth three days and three nights Beda and Euthimius vnderstand by the Heart of the earth the Sepulchre or Graue of our Sauiour Christ. And many of our Commentators make this exposition though others misinterpreting it inferre from thence that our Sauiour Christ did not descend to the lower-most partes of the earth contrarie to that of Saint Paul denying that Article of our Faith Descendit ad inferos Now in that he ascended what is it sayth the same Apostle but that hee had also descended first into the lowest parts of the Earth yet those two interpretations may bee verie well accorded forasmuch as that the Bodie remained in the graue and the Soule descended Vsque ad inferos And for the better proofe hereof it is to bee noted that it is not spoken of any other that dyed saue onely of our Sauiour that hee was in the Heart of the Earth Besides it is an vsuall phrase amongst the Hebrewes to call the Heart
his Iustice For albeit Charitie saith Saint Gregorie makes him sweet and louely yet his zeale to justice must make him to bee sharpe and seuere Many of these Prelats hath the Church formerly enioyed and enioyeth now at this present as well in supreame Bishops as inferiour Ministers whereby this prophecie is fulfilled Secundum opera eorum nolite facere According to their workes doe not Samuel did obey Ely the Priest but did not imitate his remissenesse and sluggishnesse Daniel did reuerence Nebucadnezar but adored not his Statua It is a miserable case that a man should bee able to teach others and not himselfe There is not any one fault threatned more in Scripture than this Qui praedicaris in Lege c. And thinkest thou this ô thou man that iudgest them that doe such things and doost the same that thou shalt escape the iudgment of God Thou shalt be like the Sieue which giueth Corne to others and keepes the Chaffe to it's selfe Like the Candle that lightens others and is itselfe in darkenesse And like vnto that Carpenter who making the Arke saued others and was himselfe drowned in the waters of the Floud Saint Augustine saith That the lips and the heart of him that liueth ill and preacheth well are at great defiance one with another for the heart belyes what the mouth persuades When the Angell threatned Moses with death and made shew as if hee meant to kill him Rupertus and Lyra are both of opinion That it was for the neglect and carelesnesse which hee had committed in circumcising one of his children in such a season when as the Law did oblige him thereunto And the fault was much more in Moses than in any other ordinarie man for that as a Law-giuer he was to haue published this verie Law But more to the matter is that reason which Saint Augustine rendreth which is That the Angells threatning of him was for that he being to persuade the Hebrewes to goe out of Aegypt and to take their wiues and childeren along with them they might haue presumed that he had one thing in his mouth and another in his heart and that his workes did not correspond with his words Experience teacheth vs That many things which humane eloquence cannot persuade example doth effect for the way by words is about and verie tedious but that of example short and quickely rid The earth will not follow the motion of the heauens though yee preach vnto it neuer so much but the Sheepe wil soone learne to follow the example of his Sheepheard The Prophets are full of the complaints and threatnings which God poureth forth against the bad example of Pastors As in Osee the fift O yee Priests heare this and hearken yee ô house of Israell and giue yee eare ◠house of the King for judgement is toward yee because yee haue beene a snare on Mizpah and a net spred vpon Taborpunc And in the ninth Chapter he repeateth the same Lesson againe Esay in his fiftie sixth Chapter calls them Blind Sentinells and dumbe Dogs Ezechiel bewailes them Vae Pastoribus Israel c. Woe bee vnto the Sheepeheards of Israell that feed themselues Should not the Sheepheards feed the flocks Yee eat the fat and yee cloath yee with the wool yee kill them that are fed but yee feed not the Sheep The weake ye haue not strengthened the sicke haue ye not healed neither haue yee bound vp the broken c. The whole Chapter runs along in this straine wherevnto I referre thee Cannot they be content to drinke of the cleere water of the Fountain but that they must make it vnwholsome for their flock foyling it with their durtie feet For What is bad life and good doctrine but a foule foot in cleere water Saint Gregorie declareth this place concerning such Prelats Who hauing drunke themselues of the pure and cleere Fountaine of Truth trouble the same by their euill workes and bad example giuing occasion thereby to these their sillie Sheepe not to follow their doctrine but to imitate their life Touching this Theame there is a whole Chapter in the second part of our Booke De Amore. Doe not as they doe This for his Disciples was a most necessarie lesson but for the Pharisees a most seuere reprehension And a late Doctor hath obserued That they beeing the most part Leuits and Priests hee silenced the Priesthood in token of the respect and reuerence that is due thereunto Whereby such are condemned who too lightly giue credit to the faults of the Clergie and entertaine themselues therewith beeing that God himselfe giues them this caueat Nolite tangere Christos meos Touch not mine Annoynted Wherein he doth not lay an Interdiction on their violent hands onely or on their blasphemous tongues either before their face or behind their backes but likewise on their jealousies and suspitions and on their rash censures and on the pleasure which some take in the slips and falls of Priests which is a great signe of Reprobation According to that of Ecclesiasticus They shall perish by the snare that reioyce in the fall of the Righteous Doe not as they doe The Couetous are here chiefely taxed they will giue you councell but Mercede Balaam effusi sunt King Balacks Embassadours bringing money in their hands shall buy their prophecies of them Our Sauiour complained of them That they deuoured widdowes houses And Saint Paul alluding hereunto saith God is my witnesse how I desire you all in the bowels of Christ. He saith not In my bowells but In the bowells of Iesus Christ. Quis ibit nobis Who shall goe for vs It was Gods question but he could find few that would follow him but if to gainethe world and to get wealth hee shall but aske the question Quis ibit he shall haue infinite numbers to troupe after him But asking Quis ibit nobis Who shall goe for vs he shall scarce haue one to goe along with him Euerie yeare a great number of Preachers offer themselues to this enterprise but they doe not vnderstand whither or to what end they goe As Saint Augustine signifieth vnto vs in his Confessions Esay complained That his lips were foule He might better to my seeming haue complained of his eyes than his lips because he had seene God with them For to murmure eyes are more necessarie than lips but to preach lips are more necessarie than eyes If he that studies would but consider with himselfe why God hath giuen him wit abilitie and learning he would then peraduenture acknowledge how vnworthie he is of so high a Calling as to sit in Moses Chaire or to goe vp into the Pulpit Cicero saith That the Orators motiue is Amoris ardor A desire to be beloued and esteemed So it goes now but not so well for the loue which a Preacher is to pretend and the credit which hee is to hunt after is the loue of God and the seeking after his glorie Dicam semper magnificetur
that blaspheming money in publique they adored it in priuate Gluttons that desiring health of God they did dayly ouerthrow their bodies by ouer-eating and ouerdrinking themselues till they fell a vomiting as they sate at boord Of those that can be content to fare well themselues and not bring good tydings to their brethren The leaprous men in the fourth of the Kings could find fault therwith when they said one to another Wee doe not well this day is a day of good tydings and we hold our peace And that was dumbe It is strange That the Deuil getting so much as he dayly doth by mans speech should labour to make him dumbe more harme growing to man by the former than the latter First It is to bee prooued That of a hundred that were possessed with Deuills you shall finde but one onely that was dumbe they are all of them exceeding great talkers flatterers and lyers And that they might prate the more they talke in diuers tongues not onely in that which is their owne naturall Language but also in Latine in Greeke c. Saint Ambrose hath noted it That the Deuills downefall tooke it's beginning from his talking Dicebat enim in corde suo ascendam in Caelum For he said in his heart I will ascend vp into Heauen And our destruction began with the conuersation that hee had with Eue. Iulian the Apostata makes a jeast of it That a Serpent should speake Which Saint Ciril chose rather to proue by the testimonies of Phylosophers Poets than by Scripture because this blasphemous wretch gaue more credit to them than to the Word of God Homer sayth That Vlisses his Horse spake vnto him forewarning him of his death Porphyrius saith that Caucasus spake that Pythagoras passing by it saluted him with a Salue Pythagora Phylostratus saith That Apollonius comming to the Gymnosophistae an Elme vnder whose shade being wearie he sate him downe spake vnto him and told him That he was verie welcome And Siginius reporteth of Iupiters Bull That he spake like a man If the Deuill then can speake by Horses by Bulls by Trees and the like hee may as well speake by a Serpent And why not by that Serpent more than any other that was to be the instrument to ouerthrow all Mankind Secondly Out of many places of holy Scripture obseruations of the Saints of God and out of the opinions of many learned Doctors Phylosophers and Poets in fauor of this point two manifest truths are proued to arise from hence and haue their first beginnings The one That an euill tongue is the leauen of all our ill The other That a good tongue is the summe of all our good The first Experience at euerie turne teacheth it vnto vs. Whose are those blasphemies against God and his holy Saints but of a sacrilegious tongue Whos 's those inconsiderate iniuries but of a rash and vnaduised tongue Whos 's those infamies and detractions but of a backbiting tongue Whose those dishonest words and lasciuious Songs but of a filthie tongue Whose those sowings of discord amongst brethren those dissoluings of marriages those blottings of mens good names those soylings of your Clergies Coat your Priests Surplices your Bishops Rotchets your Widowes decent dressing your Maidens modest attyre but of a durtie slabbering tongue Saint Hierome saith That the Deuill left Iobs lips vntoucht hoping that with them he would haue cursed God as he promised to himselfe before hand Stretch out thy hand and touch but his bones and his flesh and then see if he will not blaspheme thee to thy face Saint Ambrose saith Plagam suam silentio vicit He subdued his paine by silence And the selfe same father saith That if Eue had not spoken with the Serpent or if shee had but eaten the Apple had said nothing therof to Adam we had not come to that so great miserie and misfortune whereinto we fel. The Deuill did not desire to make Eue so much a Glutton as a Pratler her talking with Adam did vndoe vs all S. Iames qualifies both these tongues The one he termes a fire that burns and consumes all that comes in it's way and to be the onely maine cause of all mischiefe Of the other he saith That man is perfect that offends not in his tongue In our Booke De Amore we haue a whole Chapter touching this ill and this good But how is it possible that the Deuill should seeke to fauour the ill and disfauor the good Saint Augustine answeres this in one word This man hauing beene heretofore a great talker the Deuill made him dumbe lest by confessing his faults he might repaire those losses which hee had runne into by ouerlashing with his tongue Dumbe deafe blind and possessed with a Deuill This massacre which the Deuill wrought vpon the bodie of this man represents that cruell massacre which he dayly executes vpon mens soules For though he takes pleasure in the possession of a mans bodie yet his maine pretence is to preiudice the soule and like a Worme in wood to eat out the verie heart and pith thereof Imagine a Horse prepared for the Kings owne riding beautifull and richly betrapt let thy thought represent such a one vnto thee and a Rogue that hath neuer a shoo to his foot nor a rag to his tayle mounted thereupon and proudly bestriding him Imagine a bed like that of Salomons or that of the Spouse cleane neat and strewed with Flowers and an Oyle-man a Collyer or a Scullion put into it so is it with the Soule possessed by the Deuill It is a common doubt yet fit for this Storie Why God permitteth that the Deuill should doe so much mischiefe to man We know that this the Deuills rage towards man began euer since that God purposed to make his Sonne man and holding himselfe affronted that he was not an Angell hee vowed and swore the death of man And therefore it is said of him Hee was a Murtherer from the beginning And this made our Sauiour to say vnto the Pharisees Yee are of your Father the Deuill for that yee seeke to fulfill his will Who putting Christ to death did accomplish that which the Deuill had sworne And hence ariseth that hatred and emnitie which he beareth to man in generall and the harme which hee either does or seekes to doe him thinking with himselfe as Tertullian noteth it that the greater hurt hee doth vnto man the greater stones hee throwes against God But suppose That without the will of God he cannot doe vs any harme Why doth hee permit that this his liuing Temple consecrated with his holy oyle being the habitation of his delight should be made a Hogs-stie for Deuils When Heliodorus prophaning the holy Temple of Ierusalem entred thereinto there met him an armed Knight in harnesse of gold sitting vpon a fierce Horse richly barbed who smote at Heliodorus with his fore-feet throwing him downe to the ground This was no sooner done but there
Iudignatio mea in manu tua God had put this chastisement into the hands of a tyrant as his instrument who had not the wit to carrie himselfe accordingly therefore he punished him according to his desarts He rebuked the Feuer and it left her Saint Augustine deliuereth some mens opinions who affirme That things without life as Sickenesse Pestilence Famine were occasioned by euill Angells one while for our good another while for our hurt but alwayes for the seruice of God and to shew themselues obedient to his Empire And this is the true sence and meaning of Imperauit febri He rebuked the Feuer and of Vocauit famem He called a Famine Not that a Feuer or Famine haue any eares to heare or vnderstand any thing but because the Angell to whom the power is committed doth heare and obey his will In this Article there are two manifest truths The one That the Angells as well good as bad are many times ministers of our punishments by famine pestilence barrennesse tempests sicknesse death And this truth is made good by innumerable stories in Scripture as in that of Iob whose Corne the Deuill destroyed threw downe his Houses carried away his Cattell and killed his Children That of Sarah who had seuen husbands slaine by Asmodeus the Deuill Those plagues of Aegypt whereof saith Dauid the Deuills were the Instruments He cast vpon them the fiercenesse of his anger indignation and wrath and vexation by the sending out of euill Angells where God makes them his Hangmen or Executioners And in another place Fire and haile snow and vapours stormie winds which execute his Word c. Of good Angels there are likewise many stories as that of those that came to Sodom and that of the Angell that slew the souldiers of Zenacherib The other That to haue things without life to be obedient to the Empire of our Sauiour Christ there is no such necessitie that they should bee mooued and gouerned by Angels either good or bad as Saint Hierome and Saint Augustine haue both obserued For albeit towards vs and in themselues they are insencible yet towards God they are not so He calls the things that are not as if they were Nor is it any thing strange that the Heauens or the Earth should haue eares or that those things should answer and obey at Gods call whose end is Gods glorie the waters at Gods command gather themselues into heapes and when he sayes but the word they againe withdraw themselues he prescribes bounds to the Sea Hitherto shalt thou come and no further at his Word againe the Sea is made drie land he layes his command vpon the fire to giue light but not burn curbing this his actiue qualitie as it did in the â—irie Furnace when the childeren came forth vntoucht At this Word the waters gushed out of the hard Rocke the Winds are at his command death and life sicknesse and health and al things else whatsoeuer doe truly and punctually obey his will and so in this place he had no sooner said the word But her Feuer left her And rising vp she presently ministred vnto them In regard that shee was an old woman she might verie well haue excused her selfe from doing this seruice but her health was so perfect her recouerie so sound and her strength so increased that without further tarriance She presently ministred vnto them Your earthly Physicke is long a working and the Cures prooue imperfect but Gods physick workes continâ—ò presently for All Gods workes are perfect But it is not so in nature Pierius makes the Vulture the emblem of nature Auolatus tarditate being a kind of Tortoise in his flying First of all it is intimated here vnto vs What hast a Sinner ought to make to get vp S. Peter being in prison the Angell said vnto him Surge velociter Arise quickely and without any more adoe not staying vpon his gyues chaines the gates or the guards he presently riseth vp and gets him gone with all the speed he could Noah puts the Crow out of the Arke Dimisit Corvum qui egrediebatur non reuertebatur The Hebrew Text hath it Exiuit exeundo redeundo He began to make wing but seeing such a vastnesse of waters fearing to faile in his flight he returned backe againe but being entred carrying about him the sent of those dead carcasses which had perished by the Floud he went to and fro so long till at last he went his way and was neuer seene any more Many there are that will put one foot forward and pull two backeward make you beleeue that they meane to goe on well in vertue and goodnesse but beeing discouraged with the difficultie of getting vp that hill and hauing a monthes mind to follow the sent of their former stinking howsoeuer to them sweet seeming sinnes at last they are vtterly lost and neuer more heard of so apt is sinfull man to leaue the best and take the worst Secondly By this her seruice this good deuout old woman made known her bodily health and by the ioy and comfort shee tooke therein shee manifested her soules health At the verie first voyce of Ezechiel the boughes began to mooue but as yet they had not life in them Ossa arida audite Verbum Domini they were afterwards knit and ioyned together and set in verie good order but they had need of another kind of voice than Ezechiels to giue them spirit life Saint Augustine expounding that place of Saint Iohn Verba mea Spiritus vita sunt saith That this Spirit and life is in himselfe and not in thee For that Poenitent which doth not giue some signe or token of life hath not yet obtained life and that He that in his seruice and attendance doth not make shew that he is free of his former Sickenesse his health may iustly be suspected Saint Paul giues vs this Lesson He that steales let him steale no more but c. Hee must not onely content himselfe with not stealing or with working for his liuing and that it is enough for him to haue laboured hard but of that which hee hath got by the sweat of his browes hee must giue part thereof to the Poore if not for the satisfaction of his former thefts yet to shew himselfe a good Christian by obseruing the rules of charitie Zacheus did performe both these the one in making a fourefold restitution to those whom he had defrauded by forged cauillation the other by giuing to the Poore the one halfe of his goods Let all bitternesse and anger and wrath crying and euill speaking saith the Apostle bee put away from you with all maliciousnesse First of all there must not abide in your brests the least smacke of bitternesse anger wrath euill speaking nor any other maliciousnesse But because it is not enough to shun euill vnlesse wee doe also he thing that is good he addeth in the second place that which
fountaines of Loue to consider in God The one In his Creating of vs. The other In his Redeeming of vs. In creating vs hee poured forth the rich treasure of his Loue Thy hands made mee and fashioned mee c. The Beasts Birds and Fishes could not say so much All the rest of the creatures had their beeing God onely speaking the Word Ipse dixit facta sunt But when he came to the creation of Man he sayd Faciamus hominem c. Tertullian and Saint Austen are of opinion That God tooke the forme of Man vpon him because he had created him after his owne image and likenesse Wherein hee manifested most strange pledges of his loue not only because he was the workemanship of his owne hands howbeit Aristotle saies that euery man beares a loue and affection to that which his owne hand hath planted and for which he hath taken paines As God sayd vnto Ionas Thou weepest and takest on for thy Gourd for which thou hast not laboured neither madest it to grow but for the good affection that he had placed vpon man and for that he had taken Mans likenesse vpon him But much more are wee bound vnto him that he hath redeemed vs. He created vs by his power but he redeemed vs by his loue so that we owe more to his loue than his power His taking of our weakenesse vpon him was our strengthening Thy power did create me but thy frailtie did refresh me said Saint Augustine He calls our Redemption a second Creation And as we vse to sing in the Church What benefit had our birth beene vnto vs if we had not receiued the fruits of Redemption So likewise may we say What good would our creation haue done vs if wee must haue perished had we not had the profit of Redemption Secondly For to put a Sinner in some good hope assurance for why should not I relie vpon Gods loue being that he hath taken such a deale of pains forme and hath wearied out himselfe to giue me ease Zacharie represents our Sauiour Christ vnto vs with wounds in his hands and asking the question What are these wounds in thy hands How camest thou by them or Who gaue them thee This answer is returned Thus was I wounded in the house of my friends Rupertus Galatinus are both of opinion That this is a metaphor drawne from a Labrador or Husbandman who hath his hands hardned and a kind of callum or thicke skinne growne vpon them through too much labour So that seeing Man was condemned for his offence to dig and plough the earth Christ vndertooke that taske for him as one that was willing to suffer for his friends I am a Husbandman for Man taught me to be a Heardsman from my youth vp for to ease them of this burthen I was willing to beare their punishment He then that shall take such pittie and compassion of me he that shall vndergoe such a deale of trouble for my sake makes me to haue a strong hope and beleefe that he will denie mee nothing Iacob wrestled all night with God the Patriarke in that strugling got a lamenesse and God grew so wearie that he cried vnto him Let me goe But Iacob answered I will not let thee goe except thou blesse mee Was this a good time thinke you to craue a blessing Yes marry was it for I standing in need thereof and God waxing wearie for my sake What shall I aske that hee will denie mee Thirdly Christ shews himselfe wearie to the end that by this his great pains he might saue the sinner from perdition Saint Augustine saith Fatigatus Iesus quia fidelem populum inuenire non poterat That Iesus was wearie because he could not find out a faithfull People The Sheepeheard that seekes after his lost sheepe may wearie out himselfe verie much in seeking of him out but much more will hee find himselfe so if he doe not find him It is not so much Gods paines that hee takes but our sinnes and our wandring so farre out of the way from him that makes him so wearie And if a Sheepe had but the vnderstanding to know the paines that the Sheepheard takes the care and wearinesse that accompanies such a strange kind of stragling besides his being indangered of being deuoured by that Wolfe the Deuill which lies in wait for his destruction he would bee better aduised and fall a bleating after his Sheepheard Christ Iesus and hasten into the Fold Fourthly The feare of a mans own hurt and condemnation for though God now shew himselfe vnto thee wearie and as it were quite tired out in seeking after thee who refusest to be found while it is day thou shalt see him hereafter in pompe and maiestie to thy great feare and terrour Now he calls vnto thee inuites thee and intreats thee to come vnto him now thou findest him heere sitting and staying to see if thou wilt come vnto him beeing meruailous willing and readie to doe thee good and to supplie thy necessities hee is now all pittie and mercie but hereafter he will bee all rigour and justice Nothing hath put God to halfe that paines as hath thy sinnes it is they that haue wearied him they that haue wounded him and they that haue crucified him and if therefore now thou shalt not take the benefit of these his paines wounds and crucifixion they shall hereafter condemne thee For you was my side opened and yee would not enter in saith Saint Augustine my armes were spred abroad to embrace yee but yee would not come neere me and therefore these my wounds shall be the Atotrney to accuse you and the Witnesse to condemne you and all those things which heeretofore did represent vnto you reasons of confidence and assurance shall now driue you into the depth of desperation and make you call vnto the Mountaines with a Cadite super nos Fall vpon vs and couer vs. The Quaile keepes a mourning and complaining in her kind of language when shee sees the Sunne and the Condemned they will likewise howle lament when they shall see Christ in the Heauens The Angells did aske Who is this that comes from the earth so glorious and so bloudie I haue fought a bloudie battell here vpon earth triumphing like a Conqueror ouer the Deuil Death c. But then they replyed and asked him What bloud and wounds in Heauen to what end I pray you They are memorialls of the wrongs I receiued And in the day of vengeance I shall say vnto you Behold the Man whom yee haue crucified Ye shall then take notice of these wounds of this Crosse of myne So that those things that are now our strong tower our defence our protection our assurance and our loue shall be our feare our cowardise and our condemnation In Exodus God commanded That they should not seeth the Kid in the milke of it's Damme Lyra and Clemens Alexandrinus make this Glosse thereupon That
fro with it's vnruly appetites is al one Et vita inter Effoeminatos Another Letter hath it Scortatores The connexion is good for Youth runnes it selfe quickely vpon the Rockes of death through it's sensualities and lewdnesse of life There are two daughters of the Horse-leech which still crie Giue giue And the Wiseman pointing them forth vnto vs saith The one is Infernus The other Os Vuluae The Graue the one and Lust the other And the Wiseman did linke these two together with a great deale of conueniencie and fittingnesse for if Lust bee neuer satisfied the Graue lesse This truth is likewise made good forasmuch as the Scripture stileth Sinne Death If I doe this I must die the death So said Susanna to the Iudges that made vnlawfull and dishonest loue vnto her And Cain seeing himselfe charged with fratricide at that verie instant he gaue himselfe for a dead man Whosoeuer shall meet me will kill me Youth then beeing a house whereinto the raine doth drip so fast and at so many places it is no meruaile that life should cease and soone decay It is prouerbially said Loue is as strong as Death And as Loue doth vsually set vpon Youngmen so doth Death and where Loue striketh Youth Death may spare his Dart. The Antients painted a Youngman starke naked his eyes with a Vaile or Bend before them his right hand bound behind him and his left left at libertie and Time followiâ—â— him close at the heeles and euer and anon pulling a thred out of the Vaile Hee was drawne naked to shew with what little secrecie hee had vsed his delights and pleasures with his right hand bound behind him to expresse that he did not doe any thing aright his left free and at libertie signifying that he did all things aukwardly and vntowardly he was portrayed blind because he doth not see his owne follies but Time goes opening his eyes by little and little day by day brings him to the true knowledge of his errors And he that was dead sate vp and began to speake The Dead presently obeyed the voyce of the Liuing And hee sate vp God cryeth out aloud to those that are dead in their Soules yet doe they not obey his voyce Arise thou that sleepest c. Hee began to giue thankes vnto him that had done him this so great a fauour Thou hast deliuered mee ô Lord from the dooâ—es of death and therefore I will celebrate thy prayses and magnifie thy name in the Gates amiddest the Daughters of Syon It is Saint Chrysostomes note That the word Doores is put here in the plurall number because many are the dangers out of which God deliuereth a sinner That all may speake of thy praise and talke of thy wondrous workes And there came a feare vpon all It may seeme to some That the word Loue would better haue become this place and beene fitter for this present purpose and occasion All a man would thinke should rather haue expressed their loues vnto him sung forth his prayses and offered their seruice vnto him In those former punishments of a World drowned and ouerwhelmed with Water of a Sodome burned and consumed with Fire it was verie fit and meet that it should strike feare and amasement into all But in such a case as this What should cause them to feare Hereunto I answer That nothing doth strike such a feare and terrour into man as the great and wonderfull mercies of God A Roman Souldier told Iulius Caesar It much troubles me nor can I be heart-merrie as oft as I thinke on the many fauours that I haue receiued from thy liberall hand but doe rather hold them as so many wrongs and iniuries done vnto me for they are so beyond all requitall that I must of force proue vngratefull which makes me to feare that thou wilt proceed against me for a heinous offendor in this kind In like manner so many are the mercies of God towards man and so infinite that they may be held as Vigiles of his future seuerer Iustice. Iacob did in a manner vtter the same sentence against himselfe Minor sum cunctis miserationibus tuis The least of thy mercies is greater than all my merits nor can the best seruices that I can doe thee make satisfaction for the least of those fauours which I haue receiued from thy bounteous liberalitie Grant ô Lord that what is wanting in our owne worthinesse may bee made vp in the mercies and merits of our Sauiour Iesus Christ To whom with the Father c. THE XXX SERMON VPON THE FRYDAY AFTER THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT IOHN 11.1 Erat quidam languens Lazarus Now a certaine man was sicke named Lazarus of Bethanie c. PEtrus Crysologus calls this Signum signorum Mirabile mirabilium Virtutem virtutum The signe of signes the wonder of wonders and the Vertue of vertues or the power of powers Saint Augustine Miraculorum maximum The myracle of myracles which of all other did most predicate and blazon forth Christs glorie Saint Hierome preferres it before all the rest that he wrought here vpon earth By this prenda or pledge of his Diuinitie Death remained confounded the Deuills affrighted and the lockes and barres of Hell broken Genebrard That it is the voice of a Crier which goes before a Triumpher who makes Death the triumphant Chariot of his Maiestie and glorie That a valiant Warriour should make a braue and gallant shew on horsebacke hauing his Courser adorned and set forth with curious and costly Caparisons it is not much but to seeme handsome and comely in Deaths palenesse weakenesse and foulenesse beeing so ghastly a thing to looke on God onely can doe this Ante faciem eius saith Abacuc ibit mors Death â—â—all flie before his face Christ doth deliuer vs from a double death the one of the soule the other of the bodie He deliuered them from their distresses Death is swallowed vp in victorie He that drinketh takes the cup in his hand and doth therewith what it pleaseth him so did our Sauiour deale with Death therfore he called it a cup drinking the same vp at one draught wherein he dranke a health to all Beleeuers Saint Bernard vpon this occasion saith of him Mirabilis potator es tu Thou art a strange kind of drinker O Lord before thou tastedst of this cup thou saidst Transeat Let it passe and after thou hadst dranke thereof thou saidst Sitio I thirst The Flesh was afraid but the Spirit got the victorie ouer Death with that ease as a good Drinker doth of a good cup of drinke when he is verie thirstie In a word Not onely because this was a myracle wrought vpon a dead person that had lien foure dayes buried in his graue but because the sacrilegious councell of the Scribes and Pharisees had layd their heads together and plotted the death of our Sauiour Christ as also in regard of those other circumstances That the deceased
powerfull Prince as it succeeded vnto Iulius Caesar Caesarem vehis fortunam eius It is not much that he should be fauoured Saint Ambrose saith That as long as Peter stucke close to Christs side he did set vpon a whole squadron at once but when he was gone but a little further off from vnder his wing a silly maid did out-face him and made him turne coward And when hee began to sinke in the sea because he was neere Christ Christ stretcht out his hand vnto him to saue him whereas if he had beene but two strides further from him he might haue beene in danger of perishing Saint Cyprian stiles him Collega Christi Christs Colleague His fellow and companion When one goes forth into the field vpon a challenge one girts his sword vnto him another buckles his armour and others accompany him into the field and if he get the victorie all doe share in the glory of the Conquerour In that his combat in the desart the Angels did wait vpon him In that combat of his death an Angell comforted him The Theefe he goes along with him for companie and all doe partake of his glory Thirdly Saint Chrysostome saith That he met with another happinesse to wit That he dyed as Christ did vpon the Crosse God hauing proposed heauen vnto vs in Conquest onely he shall inioy it that can get it by force of Armes But the Crosse doth excuse them this labour For it being heauens key whosoeuer shall come therewith may enter without any violence but others must be forced to knocke and that hard at the gates and it is well if with a great deale of labour he can get in at last Saint Bernard saith That the leagues which are betweene earth and heauen are without number but he that hath a familiar let him bestride but a sticke and with that woodden horse he will trauell in two houres from Madrid to Rome This vertue the Crosse inioyes with much more aduantage doe but fasten your selfe to that and in an instant you shall be conueyed to heauen And expounding that word Dum veneris in regnum tuum this Saint saith Et tum vidit Then euen then did he see him taking his iourney for heauen and said vnto him Lord remember me when thou commest into thy Kingdome Fourthly it was his good hap to stand mainely then for Christs honor when in a manner all the world had forsaken him Quando Petrus saith S. Chrysost. negabat in terrae Latro confitebatur in Cruce When Peter denyed him on earth the Theefe acknowledged him on the Crosse. When Iudas saith S. Ambrose sold him as a Slaue then did the Theefe acknowledge him for his Lord. O my good Theefe saith S. Aug. What couldst thou see in a man that was blood-lesse blasphemed abhorred and despised What Scepter what Crowne couldst thou hope for from him whose Scepter was a reede whose Crowne thornes c. Dauid commanded his son Salomon that he should shew kindnesse to the sonnes of Barzillai the Gileadite and cause them to sit downe and eat with him at his owne table because they stucke close vnto him in his tribulation Fiftly That he had the good happe to bee there iust in the nicke when Christ was crowned with a Crowne of glorie and had made this his wedding day and all things were ended according to his owne hearts desire and therefore so noble a bridegroome could not but conferre answerable fauours and so great and generous a King do no lesse than bestow a Crown vpon him Shiâ—ei railed against Dauid when flying from Absalon he went halfe naked and vnshod by the skirt of a mountaine but when the war was ended he prostrated himselfe at the Kings feet and said Let not my Lord impute wickednesse vnto me nor remember the thing that thy seruant did wickedly when my Lord the King departed out of Ierusalem that the King should take it to his heart for thy seruant doth know that I haue done amisse But Abishay the sonne of Zeruiah answered and said Shall not Shimei die for this because he cursed the Lords annoynted Shall foure words of submission saue the life of this blasphemous dog But Dauid said Shall there any man die this day in Israel Dost thou not know that I am this day King ouer Israel Make account that they now crowne me anew and that it is fit that I should shew my selfe franke and generous not conferring fauours according to the merit of him that askes them but according to the liberall disposition of him that doth them This good fortune no man may expect much lesse depend vpon and therfore Eusebius Emisenus saith Periculosum est in vltimum diem promissa securitas And that the example of the Theefe doth not fauour deferred amendment till a mans death And though we are not to streighten Gods franke-heartednes and howbeit it may be presumed that in that houre many theeues are in Gods secret will saued yet did he onely leaue this one publike example vnto vs Onely this one saith S. Bernard that thou mayest not presume and only this one that thou maiest not despaire And weighing those words Verely I say vnto thee to day shalt thou be with me in Paradise he saith That he did bind it with an oath as he vsed to doe in matters of greatest moment and difficultie To thee onely not to any other shall befall the like extraordinarie good hap for thee onely was this Hodiè ordained Here then mayest thou see the rarest accident that euer hapned earth and heauen reconciled whilest riuers of Diuine blood run streaming from our Sauiours side for our saluation But some one will aske me How comes it to passe that this Theefe in so short a space knew the set time and season of this his happy chance when as Ierusalem in so many yeares could not light vpon the like encounter S. Augustine S. Chrysostome and Leo answer hereunto That he had Christ for his Master who reuealed the same vnto him complying with that deliuered by Ieremie De coelo misit ignem eru diuit me Gregorie Nissen saith Repleuit eum eruditione Spiritus Sancti Cromatius In ipso crucis candelabro sol resplenduit The Sun did shine vnto him vpon the candlesticke of the Crosse. Theophilact doth here apply that parable of Saint Mat. No man doth light a candle and set it vnder a bushell In a word this light was so powerfull that it awakened this drowsie and sleepie theefe snorting in the security of sin leauing him so well instructed that S. Augustine saith He remained as a Master in the Church First of all he vsed extraordinarie diligence in taking hold of this treasure leauing all that he might not loose this He gaue God all that was in his free power to giue him He had his hands and his feet nayled vnto the Crosse onely hee had left free vnto him his tongue and his heart imploying in Christs seruice whatsoeuer was in
the Iewes and Romans setting to their shoulders to ouerthrowe the life of our Sauiour Christ one lost his Kingdome another his Monarchy this man his goods that man his life many both their bodies and soules This is that Interficitis vniuersi vos And as that speare which Saul threw did not touch Dauid but smote the wal So the nailes wounds scourges and thornes toucht our Sauiours Humanitie but not his Diuinitie So that the speare which was flung at him missing his Godhead and hitting onely his Manhood the Deuill was thereby taken mocked ouerthrowne amazed and astonished In Exodus God beeing willing to giue an end to the plagues of Aegypt he commanded that euerie family of the children of Israell should on a certaine night kill a Lambe and that they should sprinkle the posts of the doores of their houses with the blood thereof and that when the Angell should passe by slaying the first borne of Aegypt he should skip ouer the posts that were sprinckled with the blood of the Lambe which the Israelites that night had eaten to supper S. Chrysostome saith That the Angell did feare the blood of that Lambe because it was a type and figure of that true and most innocent Lambe who was to haue his blood sprinckled on the posts of the Crosse. If then an Angell of God were affraid of the blood of a beast because it was a figure of that blood which was to be shed on the Crosse for the sauing of sinners and such as were Gods chosen people What feare and terrour shall the blood and death of our Sauior Christ God and Man strike into Hell Saint Paul sayth Triumphans illos in semetipso Triumphing ouer them in the Crosse subduing powers principalities c. It is Anselmes obseruation that the triumphers of this world make their triumph by shedding the blood of their enemies but our Sauiour Christ triumphed ouer the deuils and ouer sinne and death by shedding his owne proper blood God did antiently in those times of old take the same course with his enemies as other tâ—â—umphers in the world were woont to doe Glorificabor in Pharaone c. I will get mâ— honour vpon Pharaoh and vpon all his Hoste vpon his Chariots and his Horsemen that the Aegyptians may know that I am the Lord. God made himselfe then to bee knowne by destroying drowning and killing of them But now hee would get himselfe a name and fame by dying himselfe on the Crosse. This strange and new kind of victorie Esay paynteth foorth by introducing our Sauiour Christ who ascendeth all bloodie vp vnto Heauen and by bringing in those Angells who aske the question Who is this that comes thus stained and dy'd in his owne blood and yet is both faire and valiant Who is this as it is in the Text that commeth from Edom with red garments from Bozrah He is glorious in his apparell and walketh with great strength Wherefore is thine apparell red and thy garments like him that treadeth in the Wine-presse And the answere to this demand is Ego propugnator ad saluandum I am mightie to saue I spake in righteousnesse and past my word to saue the World and to take them out of the hard bondage of the deuill of sinne and of death and I haue performed my promise and beene as good as my word by leauing their enemies ouercome by â—reading them vnderfoot and by stayning all my rayment with blood and by bringing downe their strength to the earth But Quare ergo rubrum est vestimenium tâ—â—m Why is thy rayment redde What a Conqueror and yet so beâ—â—â—eared with blood It is answered I trode mine enemies vnder my foot as hee tâ—at crushing grapes â—readeth in the Winepresse and my garments are sprinckled and my â—ayment stayned with their blood Calcaui eos in furore meo I troad thâ—m in â—â—â—â—â—â—ger and troad them vnderfoot in my wrath for the day of vengeance was in 〈◊〉 heart and the yeere of my redeemed was come And so I was their sauiour But how could this be said of the Deuills and of Sinne beeing that they haue neither of them blood 'T is true But humane nature hath both flesh and blood Whereof they had made themselues Lords and Masters And because I had sayth Christ put on this particular nature not in regard as it was in mee for so it was impeccable and without sinne but in regard of the rest of mankind from whome it was inseparable and not to bee remooued and so must neede Sinne whilest that was about them Christ was prodigall of his owne innocent and pretious Blood that he might saue ours which was altogether tainted and corrupted He endured the Crosse that wee might receiue the Crowne he cast himselfe into the Armes of Death that hee might rayse vs vp to eternall life for which his great and vnspeakable Mercie towards vs most wretched vile and miserable Sinners to him the Father and the Holy Ghost three Persons one true and euer liuing God bee rendred all Prayse Honour and Glorie Might Maiestie Power and Dominion as most due World without end Amen Laus Deo A Table of all the principall matters contained in this Booke A Abraham HOped where hee had no reason to hope page 68 69. In sacrificing Isaac hee sacrificed the ioy and content of his life 187 His courage was againe tried by being forced to forsake his countrey 275 Adam For a foolish longing lost the greatest Empire 273 His knowledge was infused 466 If he had accused himselfe hee had freed his posteritie 288 The sight of Abel being dead was a terror to Adam euer after 489 He layd the burden of his transgression vpon God 564 Hee knewe by reuelation that his marriage did represent that of Christ and his Church but he knew not the meanes 608 If he had not excused his fault he had not bin shut out of Paradise 625 Hee was buried where Christ was crucified 642 Admiration Whence it proceedeth 35 It is commendation ibid. It waiteth not but on things that are rare 320 345 Vsually the child of Ignorance 465 Christ on the Crosse the chiefest obiect that euer it had 639 Aduantage Against an Enemie no cowardize 551 Adulterie How punished in former times 418 The foulenesse of the Sin ibid. Condemned euen by nature 419 Affliction Beneficiall 27 But not to the wicked 28 Why God afflicteth his children 63 69 179 It altereth the verie forme of Man 638 Ambition A strong temptation 90 Blind in what it pursueth 228 It knows nor reason nor religion 229 The nurce and mother of many Cruelties 230 Three sorts of Ambition 229 Anger See Wrath. It ought to be restrained 58 Sometimes necessarie 126 As hurtfull a Sinne as Enuy. 328 c. Angels The Protectors of Gods children 89 Their Power 97 They reioyce at our comming to Heauen 282 Euill Angels To what seruices deputed 97 Antechrist His wonders shall be lying and deceitfull yet many 120 Antiquitie The