therefore loose the interest wee have in his Crucifixion but make it appeare by the purity and sobriety of our lives how much wee resent the bitternesse of his Death Though wee are in the World yet let us shewe we are not of it though in the flesh yet freed from his Empire and power let us follow this our Triumphant Redeemer though not in Body yet in Soule in longing and affectionate Vowes and Wishes and on the wings of Contemplation flye to his Crosse There let us lay downe all our vncleane lustfull and revengefull thoughts our Pride and fond opinion of Science the vanity and ryot of our youth the Avarice and morosity of our Age together with the whole swarme of our infirmities Neyther let us only lay them downe but with Knees cleaving to the Earth with Eyes fixed on Heaven with sighs and groanes fetcht from the very center of our penitent hearts invoke him to bury them so deepe in his oblivion that they never rise up in iudgement agaynst us Amen Lord Iesus Amen Amen THE DAY OF SALVATION OR A HOMILY UPON the Bloody Sacrifice of Christ or his Death and PASSION THis Day this saddest of dayes our Sweetest Saviour who not only tooke upon him our Nature but to rescue it also out off the iawes of Death and Hel by those to whom and for whose cause hee came whom before he had saluted by his Embassadours and warned of his approach Earth being strucken with trembling and Heaven with blindnesse was brought to a most execrable end The sad remembrance whereof rather requires the teares of the faithfull then the Eloquence of Oratours wherfore I must leave mine eyes to deliver that which my Pen cannot A holy Extasie is heere more seemly then a curious Inquisition the Passion of Christ being as inexplicable as his Generation which all daring spirits hitherto haue failed to explain though not their own insolent ignorance in the bold attempt We may aswell conceive how Jesus upon the Crosse had the particuler Idâ—as in his minde of all those for whom he was to suffer as how he endured the extreamity of those torments Whosoever will rivet his soule into the languishing life of this blessed one shall finde it nought else but an extended torture Whether the Epistle of Lentulus to the Senate of Rome bee Authenticke or no I knowâ— not sure I am many things in it are consonant to truth and this particular especially that this deare Master of ours was never seene to laugh but to weep often Alas at what should hee laugh to see his owne people not owne him eyther for their lawfull King or potent Redeemer needes must hee be afflicted for the ingratitude of their hearts but more for the danger of their Soules for hardly would they be induced to undergoe the Spirituall yoake that would not put on the Temporall Should hee laugh at his Poverty or its more miserable concommitant derision Should hee laugh at Hunger his Thirst his Nakednesse and that no Roofe vouchsafed him covering save his owne heavenly Arch Should hee laugh at the persecution of his Friends and his seperation from them a divorce of all other next to that of Soule and Body the most cruell especially if you wel consider the Queene and glory of her Sexe his blessed Mother to have beene one of them or should hee laugh to have his sacred Eares scorcht with horrid blasphemy against Himselfe and his Almighty Father Well might hee be stiled the Man of Griefes who exiled from his owne heavenly inconceivâ—able ioyes could never conceive what an earthly ioy meant Scarce had this Holy Professor vented his All-saving Doctrine but destruction dog'd him at the heeles and Malice disgorg'd upon him all her base Epithets as seducing impious lunaticke blasphemous nay some of her venemous brood not onely call'd but held him a divell and a Tormentor to whom he he had demonstrated the infallible signes of a God and the tender affection of a Saviour O strange confusion caused by a stranger stupidity were ever soules but these so purblinde as to take the Creatour of Light for the Prince of darkenesse never yet was there such an obstinate ignorance heard of as to thinke that Vice and Vertue can blend They could not but discover all the never erring markes of goodnesse and truth in his lookes his words actions and could these brutes imagine that Piety and Impiety Truth and Falsehood can lodge under the same Roofe that God can out of stones raise up Children unto Abraham wee reade and gladly beleeve but here we most unwillingly finde that by his Divine permission the divell is able to turne men into stones A happy Meditation was it of the truely humiliated St. Francis who seeing a poore single Lambe amongst many Goates said to his Companion see'st thou that solitary Lambe iust so did our dearest Messias walke amongst the Pharises When Truth had bin a long time banish't this lower world shee came swimming in to it againe in a Crimson flood of this meekâ— one and his Martyrs who as hee was more pure and immaculate so was he likewise more miserable then any of his Types Never did halfe a span of life containe so many miseries during his conversation heere below he had nothing without him that could make him amiable being contemned in his owne person in his Disciples and followers Hee was of the blood Royall indeed but then when the glory of it was quite eclipsed Amongst the Israelites but at a time when they were Captived to the Romans Borne of a Virgin but so poore that she was espoused to a Câ—rpâ—â—ter At his Birth worship't by many Shepheards but by a few Wise men three onely Persecuted by Herod and living in such a retired obscurity untill the time of his Baptisme that John himselfe knew him not But let us examine more particularly his miseries and beginning with his Birth pace on dolefully with him to his Death by which wee shall finde that he came into this World and continued in it with the same misery and ignominy hee left it Where was he borne in Jerusalem no. In a stately Pallace no. Where then in Bethlem a poore Village that the World not without Amazement might behold Obscurity bring forth Glory In what place in Bethlem in a poore Inne In what part of the Inne in the Stable where the first Ayre he breathed stunke of several Ordures Hee was welcomed indeed into the World with lowd Musicke but it was a wild one made by an Oxe and an Asse His lodging promised neither Honor nor safety for hee lay with Beasts and at their mercy but heere no doubt was to be seene a most pleasing spectacle a brutish Innocency worshipping a Heavenly No sooner was He borne but Hee lost Blood in his Circumcisiâ—â— no sooner Circumâ—is'd then destin'd to slaughter Vsurping Herod trembled at the Birth of this Almighty Babe who was indeed the true KING of the Iewes He therefore vowed his Death
One Million two hundred thirtie and two Thousands sixe Hundred and Ninety TO these miseries I may adde that at this day they cannot properly be called a Naâ—â—â—â— being dispersed heere and there like Rogues and Vagabonds oveâ— the face of the Earth having in all Countries Mulcts imposed on their estates and in some themselves enioyned to weare a marke on their Clothes wherby they may bee distinguish'd from other honest men I may also truely aâ—â—werre that no people under Heaven hath so much degenerated from the primitive purity of their Religion having defiled it with introduction of innumerable new Ceremonies and alteration of the old But withall I must confesse I know not what Nation else hath strictly kept her Integrity they having never yet matched out of their owne Tribes and Race I must withall insert this caution that I speak not of Proselites but of legitimate Jewes by Father or Mother or both I professe seriously that nothing amazeth mee so much as the contemplation of the unparallel'd obstinacy and impiety of this seed of Abraham chosen by God to be the dispensers of his Oracles A lamentable proofe of this is the murther of many thousands of Christians for the abhominable Crimes of these Miscreants For though these two Religions are as farre from each other in Nature and distance as Heaven and Earth yet the Romans often confounded them which wee may perceive by this that in their persecutions they seldome or never distinguish't them Many not verst in Story raile at Tacitus and others for inveying against the Christians and the Jewes of those times But what Historian could abstaine from a severe censure of them when hee found the later dayly dragg'd to Execution for such villanies as the very imagination of them could it be detected ought to be as punishable as the Action Should any but a Christian reade their damn'd facts in any of the foure Evangelists he would throw away the Bible as a Fable not thinking it credible there could be such inhumanity in men And I am confident had Pliny beleeved as much of them as we know that they had not onely reiected but buffeted spit upon scourg'd and crucified their legitimate King and Redeemer hee would not have vouchsafed them roome amongst his foure-footed Beasts but have plac t them amongst his crawling creatures and venemous Serpents And with such they deserve to be rank'd as not worthy to retaine the name of Men having long since put off the Nature Those guiltlesse hands which so often hee had lifted up to his Father for their Conversion they binde so fast that the Cord eates into his tender flesh On that Head wherein Universall Wisedome was contained they set a Crowne of Thornes so fast that his purest Blood runnes in streames downe his sweetest Face That Body which Whitenesse and Symmetry consulted to make lovely above all other they unmercifvlly and uncessantly whippe from the top to the bottome so that from head to foot hee was but one continued Sore On his shoulders they lay his weighty Crosse and lest with a fall he should ease himselfe of his Burthen they shoulder him up on all sides If at any time hee lag these Butchers beat and kick him on as if hee were a Beast But seeing him faint and fearing hee would dye before hee had undergone all the paines provided for him they load an obvious Stranger called Simon with his Crosse And and thus they lead him to be made an Oblation for the sins of the whole World See the love and Humility of this our dearest Messias he saw they would not take up his Crosse and follow him he takes it up himselfe and followes them All this was done by the eternall decree of his Father for there was found no Sacrifice under the Law powerful enough to appease the wrath of God iustly conceived against Man Wherfore Man must for ever suffer or the Sonne of God once for him whose suffering onely was of Vertue sufficient to worke this blessed reconciliation For the Passion of Christ was suteable to his person his person of infinite excellency could not bee so abased without insinite Merit accrued by such Humiliation His dying was more the Equivalent to all the Worlds frying in Hel everlastingly Here the foolish Atheist scoffs us demanding how it was possible that God should suffer Heare thou prophane wretch the the voyce of the Church God is said to suffer by Union who could not suffer by Nature Heare againe blinde Infidel Hee who dyed on the Crosse and lives eternally hee who suffers on Earth and not in Heaven whose Body suffers and yet not hee with his body he who is overcome by Death and yet vanquisht it although hee be not one in Nature yet hee is one Redeemer and one and the same Person As the Soule and the Body are Different things yet make but one man Wee now arrive at the abridgement of his Story his Passion and at the Consummation of his Humility his Death A Man would thinke it had beene paines enough for him to beare his Crosse without bearing more upon it But their malice is insatiable and they cannot imagine how they can inflict or he indure too much His hands soft as those of Mercy his feet never swift to shed their blood they pierce with massie Nayles which they drive in with as little remorse as if hee were made of Wood. They scoffe athim and Nodding their heads and bending their knees they salute him by the name of King of the Jewes Nay they utter such blasphemies that I wonder they were not attended with a Thunderbolt They not onely darâ— him of himselfe to descend but his father to fetch him downe Who could in a moment have commanded one Angell â—o have destroyed â—hem and their Counâ—rey and have left â—t to bee demanded where Judaea was Being as thirsty in â—he heate of this cruâ—â—â—l Conflict betwixt â—he Flesh and the Spiâ—â—t as the Earth is under the reigne of the Dog-starre hee desires drinke to whom they proffer a base beverage made of Vinegar and Gall two ingredients noâ— good enough for the drench of a Horse Three of the Evangelists affirme that they who were crucified with him revileâ— him also But Sainâ— Luke saith that onely one was faulty Which Difference Saint Austine thus reconciles that at first indeed they both viâ—â—ifi'de him but that one of them by a suddaine inspiration instantly repented and rebuked the other saying Dost thou not â—â—are God seeing thou â—rt in the same condemnation and we indeed iustly for wee receive the due reward of our deeds but this man hath done nothing amisse and he said unto Jesus Lord remember me when thou comest intâ— thy Kingdome I will not heâ—â— with some concludâ— that this good Thieâ— was hee who wâ—â— on the right hanâ— of our Saviour and that it was not without the speciall providence of God neither will I deny it It shall suffice me that Christ said to him This
day shalt thou bee with mee in Paradise None of the Roman Caesars either on his Tribunall or in his Triumphant Chariot could have spoken so bravely and powerfully as our Saviour here did in the extremity of his Agony This day will I make thee a Governour of Provinces or This day will I make thee a sharer with me in all my Glories Or This day will I give thee command over Legions Or this day will I divide the habitable World into two parts and accept of that halfe thou refusest This is all Caesar could have said These Offers are scant and narrow in respect of the promise here made by our Omnipotent Redeemer This day of a Publican I will make thee a Saint This day of a Malefactor I will make thee a Martyr This day I will translate thee from Earth into the Impyriall Heaven This can be no other then the voice of an Almighty Saviour O happy O blessed Day wherein Sinne is depressed the Sinner exalted and the Gates of Heaven heretofore shut against him now opened to him by God himselfe where the Honour equalls the Benefit The entry into Paradise heretofore was guarded by a Cherubin having a flaming Sword in his hand The Fire is now extinguish'd the Sword taken from him and now there is no guard upon it Nay that no man might despaire of entrance it is first of all opened to a Thiefe in whose soule before his conversion vices were as thicke and as surely rooted as the haires in his head The Jewes who lay claime to Sanctity as onely proper to them are reiected He who at first was ableto forme Man can now forme himselfe a new people Hee that before condemned the proud Pharise in the Temple now iustifies the pensive Theefe on the Crosse It was now about the ninth houre when Christ full of anguish both in Soule and Body cryed out with a loud voice Eloi Eloi Lamasabachthani My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Here the the Atheist steps in againe and askes how hee could despaire and be a God to whom I vouchsafe this answere that heere is to be heard only the voice of the flesh which denotes not at all the seperation of God from his Humanity but the Calamity of his Humanity it selfe for hee could not bee forsaken by him from whom he could no way bee seperated But that thou maist be certaine this could bee no lesse then a God behold heere Nature her selfe suffering with her Lord. From the first borne saith the Text There was a generall darknesse over the whole face of the Earth Nor was this a common but a supernaturall Ecclipse as testifieth Saint Austine Quam solis obscurationem non ex Canonico Syderâ—â— cursu accidisse satis ostenditur quod tuâ—â— erat Pascha Judaeorum â—an plena luna solemniter agitur It is evident saith he that Ecclipse of the Sunne not to have happened by the ordinary and orderly course of the Starres it being then the Passover of the Jewes which is solemnised at the full Moone And this was it that gave occasion as is the common opinion to that memorable Exclamation of Dionisius the Arcopagite residing then in Aegipt Aut Deus Naturae patitur aut Machina mundi disolvetur Either the God of Nature suffers or the Fabrick of the World will be dissolved And hereupon too as it is thought by some was erected that Altar at Athens Ignoto Deo to the unknowne God Acts 17. 23. I am not ignorant that some think that Ecclipse was confin'de within the borders of Judaea which opinion I rather incline to because if it had beene generall quite over the World Tacitus and the Historians of that time must of necessity have mentioned it Judaea being them subiect to the Roman Empire Nay the ensuing Ages would not have buried in silence a thing so strange and miraculous Howsoever it cannot be denied but that it was certainly beside and above the course of Nature Neither ought it produce wonder That thâ— Sunne in the Firmament of Heaven should suffer when the Son of Righteousnesse suffered upon Earth You seed of Perdition what have you done your Blasphemies and Iniquities have chased the all gladding Light out of Heaven and you now are left in a Câ—â—â—riâ—n darkenesse a presage of that you shall eternally dwell in And will not this moove you to acknowledge your Potent King and Redeemer The Vaile of your Temple rents and falls with him who taught the ever living truth in it in token that all Prophesies of his death are now fulfilled and will not this perswade you to prosâ—â—ate your selves before him No no all things in Heaven and Earth resent his Death save obstinate you onely The Earth it selfe trembles but you quake not The Rocks split but your Adamantine hearts are of proofe against all his Calamities The graves open but your bosomes are shut The Dead with him arise but you lye still wallowing in your owne filthy enormities Yet this is no wonder for they were dead in Nature you in finne whose weighty burthen lies so heavy on you that you cannot possibly get up Hee is yet alive yet sue to him of whom never any begg'd in vaine You see hee is willing to remit your trespasses in that hee hath in the very height of his torments prayed to his Father for you Hee is now giving up the Ghost yet call on him for mercy that with his last gaspe hee may pronounce your pardon But it is now too late hee is dead to you and you to Grace He hath now finished this great worke and commended his hands that will keepe it as the apple of his Eye Having seene how they used him in his lefe let us now make an inquiry whether or no they behaved them selves to him more reverently being dead When the Body of their Soveraigne and Saviour had hung many Houres betweene his Foot stole and his Throne they take it downe not with a resolution to honor it with burial but to mangle and deface it They thrust a Speare into his side out of which ranne Water and Blood the representers as some thinke of his two misticall Sacraments His Coat being seamlesse and therefore not divideable they cast lots for And then they left him Naked as a prey to the Beasts of the Earth and the foules of the Ayre But he is otherwise provided for by his Heavenly Father who sendeth Joseph of A a iust man a Councellor who refused to be present at the condemnation of Iesus to beg the body of Pilate which obtained he foulded it in fine Lynnen and layd it in a new Sepulcher where never man was laid before And heere not without sighes and teares and groanes I leave him the utbounds of this discourse being his Death and Passion But I forbid no thee O my Soule to repeat revolve within thy selfe thâ— dignity of thy Saviour and the indignity of his sufferings We discern some sparkes of the brightnesse and