he suffereth these senseles creatures to weep and to haue a liuely feeling of his death though they had no benefit by his death But being content himselfe to shed his dearest and his best bloud for vs yet will not suffer vs in recompence to shed so much as one little teare for him No no sayes he I will beare all the sorrow you shall haue only ioy and though I die and shed my very heart bloud for you yet you shall not so much as weepe or shed the least teare for me Not you weepe not for me Thus much for his Benignitie Lastly for Magnanimitie he sayes Not for mee Strange stoutnesse and courage Especially in him that was otherwise so milde and so meeke a lambe But here the cause quarrell being ours and he fighting for the saluatioÌ„ for our soules there is no rule with him hee plaies he Lion wheresoeuer he goes For holding now in his hand the cup of trembling and being ready to drinke vp the very dregs of it yet neither his hand nor his heart trembleth Ennius the Poet as Tullie testifieth could say thus much Let no man weepe for my death a Nemome lachrymis decoret And Saint Laurence the Martyr as Prudentius witnesseth Doe not weepe for my departure b Desiâ—â—e discessu meo stetum dolentur sundere But as Ennius or any other Pagan could neuer come neere Christians in true magnanimitie So S. Laurence or any other Christian could neuer come neere Christ. The blessed Apostle S. Paul of any that euer I heard of commeth neerest to him going toward IerusaleÌ„ what do you saies he weeping breaking my heart for I am ready not only to be bound but euen to die also for the name of the Lord Iesus Euen so saith Christ here or rather indeed not so but a thousand times more couragiously going out of Ierusalem What doe you saies he weeping and breaking my heart for I am ready not onely to bee bound but euen to die also for the saluation of man He knew well enough his passion would be a new kind of transfiguration vnto him For at his transfiguration he was accompanied with his deere Disciples Peter Iames and Iohn but at his passion Peter denied him Iames and Iohn forsooke him And there he was vpon mount Tabor which smelled sweetly of hearbs and flowers but here he was vpon mount Caluery which smelled loathsomly of bones and dead mens sculs And there his face did shine as the Sun but here his face was couered nay it was buffeted and spit vpon And there his garments were white as the light but here his garments were parted nay they were like Iosephs coate all embrewed in bloud and he himselfe stript stark naked And there he was betweene two famous Prophets Moses and Elias but here when they thought hee called for Elias to helpe him Elias would not come nay he was betweene two theeues the one at his right hand the other at his left And there his Father spake most ioyfully to him from heauen This is my beloued Sonne in whom only I am pleased but here he screeched most lamentably to his Father from the Crosse My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Yet behold behold the Magnanimitie of Christ. Christ knew well enough before hand of all this fearefull and horrible passion prepared for him wherein he was not transfigured as before but disfigured so as neuer was any man Yet nothing could moue him This cowardlinesse of his Disciples this noisomnesse of the place these diuelish buffets vpon his bare face these bloudy wounds vpon his naked body these vile theeues these hideous screeches could not one whit daunt his heroicall heart But euen as a noble Champion hauing already had a legge and an arme slasht off when all the stage in admiration of his valour and manhood cries Saue the Man saue the man yet puts out himselfe and standing vpon one legge and striking with one arme fights stil as stoutly as if he had neuer been hurt at all so Christ hauing bin scorned and scourged already when the whole theater of heauen and earth wept for him yea when the powers aboue the heauen came downe and the dead vnder the earth rose vp to mone and pitty him only he himselfe would neither aske any fauour of others nor yet shew any fauour to himselfe but was very angry called him Sathan that gaue him such counsell Yea though all the Saints in heauen and earth did bleed at the very heart c Coelum terra compatiuntur ci Anselmus inspeculo Euangel serm cap. 13. in a manner as much as hee himselfe did vpon the crosse to see so good a man so shamefully despighted yet nothing could stay him but still he went on forward as pleasantly and as cheerefully as to any banket or feast to this most rufull and dreadfull death O sweet Iesus O my deare Lord forgiue me I humbly beseech thee for thy mercy sake forgiue mee this one fault Thou wilt neither weep thy selfe nor yet suffer me to weep for thy death But I am contrariwise affected Though I do not see thee at this present led as a Lambe to the slaughter yet onely meditating of thy death so many hundred yeares after I cannot possibly refraine from weeping Yea by so much the more do I lament and mourn by how much the more I see thâ—e ioyfull glad Come forth yee daughters of Sion saith hee d Cant. 3.11 and behold King Salomon with the crowne wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his marriage and in the day of the gladnes of his heart As if he should haue said Come forth yee daughters of Ierusalem and behold Iesus Christ with the crowne of thorns wherewith the Synagogue of the Iewes crowned him in the day of his passion and in the day of his death vpon the Crosse. He calleth the day of his passion the day of his marriage and the day of his death vpon the crosse the day of the gladnesse of his heart Thus you see in this seuenth part the Wisedome the Benignitie the Magnanimitie of Christ in that he saith Not weepe Not you Not for me Weepe not for me Weepe not for me but weepe for your selues THE eighth part which is the last now onely remaineth But weepe for your selues Wherein wee must consider likewise three vertues that ought to be in vs Deuotion Compunction Compassion For Deuotion hee sayth But weepe For Compunction But you For compassion But for your selues But weepe But you But for your selues But weepe for your selues First for Deuotion hee saith But weepe Deuotion generally is a supernaturall dexteritie wrought by the Holy Ghost in the heart of a deuout man whereby hee is made prompt and ready to performe all those duties which appertaine to the seruice of God As a man may bee said to bee deuout in Preaching deuout in hearing deuout in making prayers deuout in giuing Almes But here especially
Noah saued all by the doore in the side of the arke Christ redeemeth all by the doorâ— in the side of his bodie Noah the fortieth day after the decreasing of the flood opened the windowe Christ the fortieth day after his resurrectioÌ„ ascendeth vp and openeth heauen Lo ye how all things agree together None but Noah none but Christ Noahs rest Christs peace Noahs arke Christs crosse Noahs water Christs woe Noahs doore Christs side Noahs windowe Christs kingdome The Prophet Hose foretelleth that Ephraim shall flie away like a bird This is fulfilled not only in Ephraim but euen in all mankind All haue gone astray all haue flowen away from God as a hauâ—e which takes a check and giues ouer her pray wherefore Christ holding out his wounded and bloody hands as meat to reclaime vs calleth vs as it were and saith Returne returne O Shulamite returne returne Can. 6 12. that we may behold thee Prudentius writeth that when Asclepiades commaunded the tormentors to strike Romanus on the mouth the meeke martyr answered I thanke thee O captaine that thou hast opened vnto me many mouthes whereby I may preach my Lord and Sauiour Tot ecce laudant or a quot sunt vulnera Looke howe many wounds I haue so many mouthes I haue to praise and laud the Lord. And looke how many wounds Christ hath so many mouthes he hath to call vs to himselfe so many lures he hath to make our soule flie for comfort onely vnto him Manna was a most comfortable meate which God gaue the Israelites It was like to coriander seede and the tost of it was like vnto wafers made with honey Exod. 16.32 This our holy Sauiour applieth to himselfe For when the Capernites said Our fathers did eate Manna in the desert Iesus answered Your fathers did eate Manna in the wildernesse and are dead I am the liuing bread which came downe from heauen Therefore as then there was a golden pot of Manna kept in the Tabernacle that the posteritie might see the bread wherewith the Lord fed them so there is yet a golden pot of Manna kept in heauen Bernard de amor dei c. 2. that the faithfull in all ages may tast and see how sweete the Lord is which feedeth them with his owne body and blood the least droppe whereof though it be as small as a 〈◊〉 and or seede yet it is as sweet as a wafer made with honey Hard it is to giues reason wherefore Christ when he came to the citie of Sichar in Samari◠〈◊〉 was Iacobs well sate downe vpon the well about the sixt houre But certainly he did this not so much for himselfe as for vs. That hereby we might learne when the sunne is hotest about the 〈◊〉 houre of the day wheÌ„ we are most exercised with afflictions when we are â—â—rest grieued for our sins alwaies to haue recourse vnto Christ alwaies to see with the King into the wineselles alwaies to sit downe vpon Iacobs well Ioh. 4.6 Of which the Prophet Zacharie saiâ—s In that day there shall be a fountaine opened to the house of Dauid and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem for sinne and for vncleanenesse In omnibus aduersitatibus nâ— inueni tam essicax remedium quam vulnera Christi Manu 22. Whereupon S. Austin saith verie diuinely In all aduersities saies he I could neuer yet find any remedie so comfortable and so effectuall as the wounds of Christ. Christ is not vnlike to the poole in Ierusalem Ioh. 5.1 called Bethesda hauing fiue porches which being troubled by an angel healed any man that went first into it what soeuer disease he had Bethesda signifieth the house of effusion or powring out in which house Christ dwelt when he powred out his blood and his soule for our saluation Therefore he alone is the angel which came downe at a certaine season into the poole and troubled the water because when the fulnes of time was come he came into the world to be troubled himselfe and to be crucified that he might heale not onely that one man which had been diseased eight aâ—d thirtie yeares but euen all mankinde with the troubled water and blood which issued out of his side So that there is nothing so comfortable for sicke and sinnefull men as to fit in the seates and porches of this poole Wonderfull are the words of the Prophet concerning Christ He shall seede his flocke like a shepheard Esa. 40.11 he shall gather the lambs with his armes had 〈◊〉 theÌ„ in his bosom Which was profigur'd in the high Priest who did beare vp with his shoulders a breast plaâ—e wherin were the names of the twelue tribes written in twelue precious stones That which the shepheard doth with his armes and bosom that which the high Priest doth with his shoulders 〈◊〉 that doth Christ with his hands and side He is the good shepheard which bringeth home the lost 〈◊〉 vpon 〈◊〉 shoulders Yea he writeth the 〈◊〉 of all his sheepe in his precious wounds which are the precious stones vpon his breast-plate that both declare his loue to vs. also allure vs to loue him This makes Dauid say in great 〈◊〉 The Lord is my shepheard ther 〈◊〉 can I lacke nothing He shall feeded 〈◊〉 in a greene pasture and lead men forth beside the waters of comfort For 〈◊〉 henne gathereth her brood vnder her wings so God gathereth his children together Deut 30.11 And as an eagle stirreth vp her nest flotereth ouer her birds taken them and beareth them on her wings so Christ carrieth vs vp in his hands to the high places of the earth and causeth vs to sucke bonie out of the stone and oyle out of the hard rock Butheius an excellent painter painted an eagle carrying Ganimedes into heauen so nicely and tenderly that her talents did not 〈◊〉 him but onely beare him vp And in like sort Christ beareth vs vp in his hands that we dash noâ— our foot against a stone yea his right hand is vnder our head quis Dominus supponit ma. num suam and his leâ—t hand doth embrace vt so ther though we should fal yet we cannot be hurt because the Lord stayeth and supporteth vs with his hand Therefore S. Chrysostome giues vs good counsell not to haue iayes eyes but eagles eyes that wee may behold these hands of Christ and see his side in the Sacrament For indeede as often as we celebrate the memorie of our Lords death Christ our Sauiour deliuering the bread and the cuppe by his minister saith in a sort to euerie faithful receiuer Put thy finger here and see my hands and put forth thy hand and put it into my side and be not faithlesse but faithfull But yet we shall not alwaies drinke of this fruit of the vine The time will come when we shall drinke a new kinde of wine in Christs kingdome Wherefore he saies As often as yâ— shall eate this bread and drinke this cup you shall shâ—w the
à fine that there is another fountaine neere Grenoble a Citie in France which although it haue not hot waters as a Bath yet oftentimes together with bubbles of water it casteth vp flames of fire The fountaine of teares that is in our eies must be like these two fountaines As the Psalmist witnesseth When my sorrow was stirred sayes he my heart was hot within mee and while I was musing the fire kindled l Psal. 30.3 When my sorrow was stirred There is the first fountaine My heart was hot within mee There is the Torch lighted And while I was musing There is the other fountaine The fire kindled There is the flame burning Whereupon one sayes fitly Our eies must neither be drowned nor dry m Nec fluant oculi nec â—icci sint Seneca If they want fire they will be drowned If they want water they will be dry Wherefore both weepe not and but weepe both fire and water must goe together that our eyes bee neither drowned nor drye And this is the right moderation wee must keepe in weeping as appeareth in this third part WEEPE NOT BVT WEEPE both together Weepe not for mee but weepe for your selues THe fourth part followeth For Mee Weepe not too much for my death For the death of Christ is the death of Death the death of the Diuell the life of Himselfe the life of Man The reason of all this is his innocencie and righteousnesse which makes first that as the life of Christ is the life of Life so the death of Christ is the death of Death Put the case how you please this is a most certaine truth that the gate of life had neuer bin opened vnto vs if Christ who is the death of Death had not by his death ouercome death a Mors mortis morti mortem nisi morte dedisset coelestis vitae iâ—nus â—lausa foret Therefore both before his death he threatneth and challengeth death saying b Osee 13.14 O death I will bee thy death and also after his death hee derideth and scorneth death saying c 1 Cor. 15.15 O death thou art but a drone where is now thy sting d Sic Iohannes Pistorius Erasmi Roterodami affinis igni cremandus dixit O mors vbi est tua victoria Aske death any of you I pray and say Death how hast thou lost thy sting how hast thou lost thy strength What is the matter that virgins and very children doe now contemne thee wheras Kings and euen tyrants did before feare thee Death I warrant will answer you that the only cause of this is the death of Christ. Euen as a Bee stinging a dead body takes no hurt but stinging a liue body many times looseth both sting and life together in like manner death so long as it stung mortall men only which were dead in sin was neuer a whit the worse but when it stung Christ once who is life it selfe by and by it lost both sting and strength Therefore as the brasen serpent was so farre from hurting the Israelites that contrariwise it healed them after the same sort death is now so far from hurting any true Israelite that on the other side if affliction as a fiery serpent sting vs or if any thing else hurt vs presently it is helped and redressed by death Those which will needes play the hob-goblins or the night-walking spirits as we call them all the while they speak vnder a hollow vault or leape forth with an vgly vizard vpon their faces they are so terrible that he which thinks himselfe no small man may perhaps bee affrighted with them But if some lusty fellow chance to steppe into one of these and cudgell him wel-fauouredly and pull the vizard from his face then euery boy laughes him to scorne So is it in this matter Death was a terrible bulbeggar and made euery man afraide of him a great while but Christ dying buckled with this bulbeggar and coniured him as I may say out of his hollow vault when as the dead comming out of the graues were seene in Ierusalem and puld the vizard from his face when as he himselfe rising left the linnen clothes which were the vizard of death behinde him Therefore as that Asse called Cumanus Asinâ—s ietting vp and downe in a Lyons skinne did for a time terrifie his master but afterwards being descried did benefit him very much Semblably death stands now like a silly Asse hauing his Lyons skin pulled ouer his eares and is so farre from terrifying any that it benefits all true Christians because by it they rest from their labour and if they be oppressed with troubles or cares when they come to death they are discharged death as an Asse doth beare these burthens for them O blessed blessed bee our Lord which hath so disarmed death that it cannot do vs any hurt no more then a Bee can which hath no sting nay rather it doth vs much good as the brasen serpent did the Israelites which hath so dismasked death that it cannot make vs afraid no more than a scar-bug can which hath no vizard nay rather as an Asse beareth his masters burthens so death easeth and refresheth vs. This hath Christ done by his death Hee that felleth a tree vpon which the Sun shineth may well cut the tree but cannot hurt the Sunne He that poureth water vpon Iron which is red hot may well quench the heate but hee cannot hurt the Iron And so Christ the Sun of righteousnesse did driue away the shadow of death and as glowing Iron was too hot and too hard a morsell for death to disgest All the while Adam did eate any other fruit which God gaue him leaue to eate he was nourished by it but when he had tasted of the forbidden tree he perished Right so death had free leaue to deuoure any other man Christ onely excepted but when it went about to destroy Christ then it was destroyed it selfe Those barbarous people called Cannibals which feed only vpon raw flesh especially of men if they happen to eate a peece of roasted meat commonly they surfeâ— of it and die Euen so the right Canniball the onely deuourer of all mankinde Death I meane tasting of Christs flesh and finding it not to be raw such as it was vsed to eate but wholsome and heauenly meate indeede presently tooke a surfet of it and within three dayes died For euen as when Iudas had receiued a sop at Christs hand anon after his bowels gushed out In like sort death being so saucie as to snatch a sop as it were of Christs flesh and a little bit of his body was by and by like Iudas choaked and strangled with it and faine to yeeld it vp againe when Christ on Easter day reuiued Death I wisse had not beene brought vp so daintily before nor vsed to such manner of meate but alwayes had rauined either with Mithridates daughters vpon the poyson of sin or else with Noahs Crow vpon the
n Iob 40.10 Whereupon Gregory noteth that a sheepe or any such other beast will eate any manner of grasse though it be trampled and stained neuer so much but an oxe will eate no kind of grasse but that which is greene and fresh And so the Diuell will be sure to haue his feede of the very finest and best o Esca eius electa Abacuc 1.16 For the Angell of the Lord reioyceth most when one that is a sinner conuerteth He eateth grasse as a sheepe But the Angell of Sathan reioiceth most when one that is a conuert sinneth Hee eateth grasse as an Oxe If the Diuell cannot keepe a man from liuing long then hee will hinder him from liuing well p Aut Imperat mortes aut impetit mores Leo. If hee cannot kill him then hee will corrupt him And indeede hee takes greater pleasure in corrupting one godly man that in killing a hundred wicked He was more delighted when Dauid slew but Vrias then when Saul slew himselfe when Peter did but denie Christ then when Iudas betraied him So that the life of man by reason of his sinne is the delight yea it is the very life of the Diuell It is on the other side the death of himselfe O miserable wretch that I am saith one who shall deliuer me from this body of death The life of the godly is a very body of death But their death is onely a shadow of death Thales a Philosopher being demaunded what difference there is betweene life and death answered They are all one Then being asked againe if he had not rather liue then die No saith he as before for they are al one But Ierome saith farre more excellently They are not all one That is not true For it is one thing to liue in continuall danger of death another thing to die in continuall assurance of life q Aliud viuere moriturum aliud mori victurum Therefore Ecclesiastes saith That the day of our death is better then the day of our birth For when we are borne we are mortall but when we are dead we are immortall And we are aliue in the wombe to die in the world but wee are dead in the graue to liue in heauen Hence it is that the wicked are merry at their birth-day as Pharaoh made a feast at his birth-day when his chiefe Baker was hanged r Gen. 40.20 and Herod likewise made a feast at his birth-day when Iohn Baptist was beheaded but they are sorry at their dying day as Iudas was sorry when hee went about to hang himselfe and Caine was afraid euery one would kill him that met him Contrariwise the godly are sorry at their birth-day as Iob Let the day perish wherein I was borne and Ieremie Let not the day wherein my mother bare mee be blessed s Ier. 20.14 But they are merry at their dying day as Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace and Paul I desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ. Therefore we also keepe holy dayes and celebrate the memory of the Saints not vpon their birth-daies but vpon their death-dayes to shew that these two are not all one but that the day of our death is better then the day of our birth For whereas there are 2. waies the one hauing in it first a transitory life and then an eternall death the other hauing in it first a transitory death and then an eternall life the wicked chuse to liue here for a time though they die for it hereafter eternally but the godly chuse to haue their life hid with Christ here that they may liue with Christ eternally hereafter Therefore the wicked neuer thinke of death but the godly thinke of nothing else As Alexander the Monarch of the world had all other things saue only a sepulchre to bury him in wheÌ„ he was dead he neuer thought of that But Abraham the heire of the world had no other possession of his own but only a field which he bought to bury his dead in he thought of nothing els We read that Daniel strowed ashes in the teÌ„ple to descry the footsteps of Bels Priests which did eat vp the meat So did Abraham strow ashes in his memory saying I will speake vnto my Lord though I be but dust and ashes So doe all the faithfull remembring they shall one day be turned to dust and ashes That so seeing and marking the foot-steps of death how it continually commeth and steales away their strength as Bels priests did the meat how it daily eateth vp and wasteth and consumeth their life they may be alwayes prepared for it Our first parents made them garments of figge-leaues But God misliking that gaue them garments of skins Therefore Christ in the Gospell cursed the fig-tree which did beare onely figge leaues to couer our sinne but commended the Baptist which did weare skins to discouer our mortalitie For not onely as Austin saith Our whole life is a disease t Vita morbus but also as Bernard saith our whole life is a death u Vita mors The life of man by reason of his sin is a continuall disease yea it is the very death of himselfe It is lastly the death of Christ. The Prophet Esay calleth Christ a sinne or a sacrifice for sinne x Asham Esay 53.10 prefigured by all those sin-offerings of the old law Because indeed when Christ was crucified at the first he was broken for our sins According to that of Tertâ—llian y Propter pecâ—atum mori â—ecesse habuit Filius Dei. Vâ—de etiam Aug. Medita ca. 7. vbi doceâ— hâ—minem esse causam passionis Sinne it was which brought the sonne of God to his death The Iewes were onely instruments and accessaries to it sinne was the setter and the principall They cried Crucifie him in the court of Pilate but our sinnes cried Crucifie him in the court of heauen Now as the death of Christ was not efficient to saue the wicked so the sinne of the wicked was not sufficient to condemne Christ. But the Scripture saith of them which either are or at leastwise seeme to be godly They say they know God but by their workes they deny him and Saul Saul why dost thou persecute me And They crucifie again vnto themselues the sonne of God Zachary prophesieth of Christ * Zacha. 13.6 That when one shall say vnto him What are these wounds in thy hands Then he shall answere Thus was I wounded in the house of my friends that is in the house of them which ought to haue bin my friends So that our sins did wound Christs handâ— at the first And now also not the wicked which are no part of his body but wee which are misticall members of his body and therefore should by good reason be his friends we I say doe yet oftentimes by our sinnes deny Christ with Peter nay we persecute Christ with Paul nay we crucifie Christ with the Iewes Yea
p Quam immensa est latitia de recordatione transactae virtutis c. Ber. in festo omnium Sanc. ser. 2. O what heauenly comfort doe they inwardly feele which are delighted vvith the remembrance of vertue past with the fruition of ioy present with the expectation of felicitie to come This threefold cord of comfort as it can neuer be broken so it must alwaies bee drawne forth at length that q Reu. 22.11 he which is iust may be still more iust that he which is strong may be still more strong Thus did Dauid r 1 Sam. 17.36 remembring he had once slain a Beare he did not repent him of it but gathered strength and courage by it and vvas afterward more bold to combat with a mightie Gyant then before he had beene to deale with an eluish Beare Therefore as they which leap the further they go backward to fetch their runne they further the leap forward when they haue runne so here we may looke back a little and remember both vvhat we haue done il to amend it and also vvhat we haue done vvell to continue it Otherwise the remembrance either of vices or vertues is so farre from putting vs any white forward that it casteth vs quite backeward For as Marke the Eremite vvitnesseth s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The remembrance of former sinnes is enough to cast him downe altogether who otherwise might haue had some good hope Our sins and Elies sonnes are alike Elie hearing his sonnes vvere slaine vvhom he himselfe had not chastised and corrected as he ought fell downe backvvard and brake his neck (t) 1 Sam. 4.17 And so all they that remember and hearken after their former sinnes vvhich they should haue mortified and killed fall downe backward and turne away from God For this is the difference betweene the godly and the vvicked Both fall But the godly fall forward vpon their faces as Abraham did when hee talked vvith God the vvicked fall backward vpon the ground as the Iewes did vvhen they apprehended Christ. Hee that remembers his sinnes to be sorry for them as Abraham did fals forward vpon his face but he that remembers his sinnes to reioyce in them as the Iewes did falls backward vpon the ground Wherefore if thou bee vpon a mountaine looke not backward againe vnto Sodome as Lots vvife did (x) Gen. 19.27 if thou be within the Arke flie not out againe into the world as Noahs Crow did (y) Gen. 8.7 If thou be well vvashed returne not againe to the mire as the Hogge doth (z) 2 Pet. 2.22 if thou bee cleane purged runne not againe to thy filth as the Dogge doth (a) Pro. 26.11 If thou be going towards the land of Canaan thinke not of the Flesh-pots of Egypt (b) Exod. 16.3 If thou bee marching against the hoast of Midian drinke not of the waters of Harod (c) Iud. 7.6 If thou be vpon the house top come not downe (d) Mar. 13.11 If thou haue set thy hand to the plough looke not behinde thee (e) Luke 9.62 remember not those vices which are behinde thee No nor those vertues neither For as Gregorie vvriteth (f) Memoria virtutis fouea mentis De cura pastorali par 4. c. 1. The remembrance of former vertues doth many times so besot and inueigle a man that it makes him like a blinde Asse fall downe into a ditch When Orpheus went to fetch his wife Eurydice out of hell hee had her granted to him vpon condition that hee should not turne back his eyes to looke vpon her till hee had brought her into heauen Yet hauing brought her forward a great way at length his loue was so excessiue that hee could not containe any longer but would needeâ— hâ—ue a sight of her Whereupon forth wiâ—h be lost both her sight and her selfe she suddenly againe vanishing away from him g Flexit amans oculos protinus illa relapsa est Ouid. Met. l. 10. Fab. 1. Meminiâ— Virgilius Geor. l. 4. in fine This is a Poeticall fiction neuerthelesse it serueth very fitly to this purpose to admonish vs that if we haue any vertue which is to be loued as a man is to loue his wife yet we must not bee so blinde in affection as to dote too much vpon it or to fal in admiration of our selues for it or to be alwayes gazing and wondring at it lest by too much looking vpon it and by too well liking of it and by too often remembring it we loose it because indeed hee that remembers his vertues hath no vertues to remember Seeing hee wants humilitie which is the mother-vertue of all vertues For this is the difference between the godly the wicked Both remember vertues But the godly remember other mens vertues the wicked remember their owne vertues The remeÌ„bring their owne vertues make them ensamples to imitate these remembring their owne vertues make them miracles to wonder at therfore the godly remembring they haue some one or other little vice in them are humbled though they haue very many great vertues But the wicked remembring they haue some one or other little vertue in them are proud though they haue very many great vices Wherefore though thou haue conquered Kingdomes yet crake not of it as Senacharib did g Esay 37.13 though thou hast built Babel yet brag not of it as Nebuchodonozer did h Dan. 4.27 though thou haue a great people yet number them not as Dauid did i 2 Sam 14.2 though thou haue rich treasure yet shew them not as Ezechias did k 2 Reg. 20.13 though thou haue slaine a thousand Philistins yet glory not in it as Sampson did l Iudg. 15.16 though thou haue built seuen altars yet vaunt not of it as Balack did m Num. 23.1 though thou giue almes yet blow not a trumpet n Math. 6.1 though thou fast twice a weeke yet make no wordes of it o Luke 18.12 remember it not but Forget that which is behind If thou wilt bee Perfect p Mat. 1â— 22 sell all that thou hast and follow me saith our Sauiour Sell all that thou hast Or if no man will buy it giue it Or if no man will take it Forget it Themistocles said hee had rather learne the Art of forgetfulnesse then of memory That is as I vnderstand it rather Diuinity then Philosophy For Philosophy is an Art of memory but Diuinity is an Art of forgetfulnes Therfore the first lesson that Socrates taught his Scholler was Remember q Reminiscere For hee thought that knowledge is nothing else but a calling of those things to remembrance which the minde knew before it knew the body But the first lesson that Christ teacheth his Scholler is Forget r Obliuiscere Hearken O daughter saith hee and see Forget thine owne country and thy fathers house So that faith is that faire Helena which drinkes to vs in a cup of
Neponthes and faith s Reu. 21.4 Bee of good cheere there shall bee no more sorrow neither crying neither death neither paine for the first things are past And the water of the word of God is that fountain Lethe which when wee come to drinke of it speakes to vs as it were in this sort t Esay 43.18 Remember not the former things neither regard the things of old For as they which die cloth doe not immediately change one contrary into another but first turne a white into an azure and then make a puke of it So we can neuer hold coulour as a good puke except first our white be turned into an azure that is as Lyrinensis saith u Donec dediscimus bene quod didicimus non bene c. 15. except first we do well to Forget that which wee did ill to get except first we do happily vnlearne that which wee did vnhappily learne And like as they which worke in wax cannot frame any new impression in it till the old be defaced x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bas. E. 1. p. 208. so the image of Caesar the Prince of this world the diuell must first bee defaced before the image of Christ can bee formed in vs. For this image of Christ as Clemens testifieth y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prot. p. 5. is seene onely in them which Forget the hill of Helicon and dwell in mount Syon Wherefore though thou haue had a bloudy issue twelue yeares yet thine issue being now stopt Forget all bloudinesse z Marke 5.25 though thou haue had a crooked body eighteene yeares yet thy body being now straightned forget all crookednesse a Luk. 13.11 though thou haue had blind eyes yet thine eyes being now cleered forget all blindnesse in seeing the truth b Marke 10.5 though thou haue had deafe eares yet thine cares being now opened forget all deafenesse in hearing the word c Mark 7.34 though thou haue had a dry hand yet thy hand being now restored forget all drinesse and niggardlinesse with men d Mat. 12.10 though thou haue had a lame foote yet thy foote being now recured forget all limping and haulting with GOD e Act. 14.8 though thou haue beene dead and buried in the graue foure daies as Lazarus was yet being now receiued forget all deadnesse in sin f Iohn 11.39 though thou haue been possessed and tormented with seuen diuels as Mary Magdalen was yet being now deliuered renounce the deuill and all his workes g Luke 8.2 and forget all thy wicked workes which are behind thee h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vide Nas. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yea and all thy good workes also For if thee forget them then will God remember them The Patriark Abraham was content for Gods pleasure to sacrifice his sonne Isaac i Gen. 22.16 But as soone as hee had done hee forgets it Therefore God remembers it and sets downe euery seuerall circumstance of it By mine owne selfe haue I sworn saith the Lord because thou hast don this thing There is the general But what thing The particular followes And hast not spared yea not thy seruant but thy sonne nay not onely thy sonne but thine onely sonne and hast not spared thine onely sonne therefore I will surely blesse thee That good woman k Luk. 7.42 gaue Christ louing and friendly entertainement But as soone as she had done she forgets it Therefore Christ remembers it and amplifies it from point to point He turned to the woman and said to Simon Seest thou this woman when I came to thy house thou gauest mee no water for my feet but shee hath washed my feet with the teares of her eies and wiped them with the haires of her head Thou gauest mee no kisse but she since the time I came in hath not ceased to kisse my feete My head with oile thou didst not annoint but shee hath annointed my feet with ointment Lo yee how true it is which I said before that if wee remember our good workes then God will forget them but if we forget them then God will remember them yea and he will reward them when we haue forgotten them If wee wage warre with God l Luke 14.31 and thinke to ouercome him with ten thousand of our good deeds then wil he like a puissant Prince bring forth into the field a huge Army of our sinnes twenty thousand of our sins against vs with twenty thousand of our sins will easily ouerthrow ten thousand of our good deeds and so finally confound vs. But if on the other side wee can bee content to forget all our good workes and to strow our best garments and our most flourishing branches at Christs feete m Math. 21.8 and to cast downe our very crownes before the throne of the Lambe n Reu. 4.10 then he will be a right Lambe indeed he will not fight with vs but he wil crowne vs with honour glory Almighty God appointed his people not to sheare the first borne of the sheep o Deut. 15.19 The first born of the sheep are the best of our good workes These we must not sheare nor lay naked and open to the view and knowledge of all men but forget them and hide them vnder the fleece of silence and keepe them secret to our selues So Ioseph whom God did leade as a sheepe p Psal. 80.2 hauing a first borne did not sheare this first borne of the sheepe but called him Manasses that is forgetfulnesse of those things which were behinde when God had now answered the desires of his heart q Eccles. 5.19 The faithfull speaking to Christ say thus wee will make for thee borders of gold guilt with siluer r Musenulas aureas vermiculatas argento Can. 1.10 This is quite contrary to the fashion of the world The fashion of the world is to guild siluer with gold and to put the best side outward But the faithfull guild gold with siluer and put the best side inward So Moses hauing a glorious countenance did not set it out to the shew but did forget it and couered it with a vaile s Exod. 34.33 Now a glorious countenance couered with a vaile what is it else but a border of gold guilt with siluer but we we alas for the most part haue such base minds that we are scarce worth the ground wee goe vpon Wee doe not guild our borders of gold with siluer but wee sheare the first borne of our sheepe We do not cast downe our garments and our branches and our crownes before the throne of the Lambe but wee warre against God with ten thousand of our good workes Or rather indeed which of vs all can muster together so many good workes to fight for him Nay if we haue done one thing well or one time well we think all is well we 〈◊〉 do no more wee haue done good enough and
Lords death til he 〈◊〉 Till he come Declaring hereby that when he is come his death shall bee shewed an other way Namely by his wounds which alwaies he sheweth to his 〈◊〉 Euen as we sing in that heauenly Hymne or Psalme The humble suit of a sinner Whose bloâ—dy wouâ—dâ— are yet to see though not with mortall eye yet doe thy Saints behold them all and so I trust shall I. O how vnspeakeably doe â—he Saints 〈◊〉 how gloriously also shall we triumph when we shall see Christ in his kingdome and behold those blessed wounds of his whereby he hath purchased so many and so great good things for vs This is the new wine which we shall drinke This is the Eucharist of the Angels the food of the Elect the spirit 〈…〉 of the Saints For wheresoeuer the dead bodie is thither shall the eagles refer And we that with eagles wings flie vp by faith into heauen shall euer resort to this dead bodie and we shal vnsatiably desire to feede our eyes and our soules with the sight of Christ who was once dead and euen now hath in his bodie those skarres which continue the memorie of his death that in all eternitie it may neuer be forgotten Thus these heauenly wounds of Christ delight and comfort his friends As the cities of refuge which saue the sinner as the holes of the rock which defend the doue as the shadow of the iuniper tree which reuiueth the wearied as the doore of the Arke which preserueth the world as the lure of the â—oule which calleth home the Shulamite as the pot of Manna which nourisheth the Israelite as the well of Iacob which refresheth the thirstie as the poole of Bethesda which healeth the sicke as the armes of the shepheard which gather his lambs as the wings of the eagle which beare vp her birds So doe the hands and side of Christ comfort his friends As if our Sauiour should say thus to euery one of his friends Can a mother forget her child and not haue compassion on the son of her wombe though they should forget yet would not I forget thee Behold I haue grauen thee vpon the palmes of my hands Here I haue still in my hands that price of thy redemption which I paid for thee so that no man can take thee out of my hands Yea I haue written and sealed thy saluation in my side A speare is the penne my blood is the inke my body is the pâ—per Here thou maist see the bowels of my compassion thorough the wounds of my passion Assure thy selfe therfore assure thy selfe of my loue of my good will of my fauour for euer Make no doubt of it If thou doubt any thing Put thy finger here and see my hands and put forth thy hand and put it into my side and be not faithlesse but faithful So much for the fourth cause which is to comfort his friends You see then blessed Christians you see how these causes of Christs wounds differ one from an other The first cause to approoue his resurrection was but neither is nor shall bee The second cause to appease his Father was and is but shall not be The third cause to confound his enemies neither was nor is but shall be The fourth cause to comfort his friends both was and is and shall be So that Christs wounds did serue to approoue his resurrection onely between his resurrection and his ascension doe serue to appease his Father onely between his ascension and his second comming shall serue to confound his enemies onely at the day of iudgement did doe and shall serue to comfort his friends for euer Wherfore though wee be neuer so great sinners yet let vs neuer despaire of the grace and mercie of Christ. His hands are still stretched out to embrace vs his side is alwaies open to receiue vs. Therefore let vs creepe low and come humbly to him that wee may with the woman in the Gospel touch but the hemme of his garment nay that we may with S. Iohn leane vpon his blessed bosome yea that we may with S. Thomas in this place put our fingers into his hands and our hands into his side And euen as Constantine the great vsed to kisse that eye of Paphnutius which was boared out in Maximinus time and the Iayler in the Acts washed S. Pauls stripes and vvoundâ— so let vs kisse the Sonne least he bee angry and honour his holy vvounds vvich are the precious 〈◊〉 vvherevvith he hath healed vs and restored vs to euerlasting life To the vvhich vve beseech thee O good Lord to bring vs not for our ovvne deferrs or merits but for the tender bovvels of Christ Iesus loue and mercie tovvard vs to vvhom vvith the Father and the holy Ghost bee all honour and praise both novv and for euermore Amen FINIS MATTH 5. V. 19. He that both doeth and teacheth the same shall be called great in the kingdome of heauen BEloued in our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ It is a verie monstrous thing that any man should haue more tongues then handâ— For God hath giuen vs two hands and but one tongue that we might doe much and say but little Yet many say so much and do so little as though they had two tongues and but one hand nay three tongues and neuer a hand Insomuch as that may be aptly applied to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Pandulphus said to some in his time You say much but you doe little you say well but you doe ill againe you doe little but you say much you doe ill but you say well Such as these which do either worse then they teach or else lesse then they teach teaching others to doe well and to do much but doing no whit themselues may be resembled to diuerse things To a wherstone which being blunt it selfe makes a knife sharpe To a painter which being deformed himselfe makes a picture faire To a signe which beeing weather-beaten and hanging without it selfe directs passengers into the Inne To a bell which beeing deafe and hearing not it selfe calls the people into the Church to heare To a nightingale which beeing restles and sitting vpon a thorne her selfe brings others by her singing into a sweete sleâ—pe To a goldsmith which beeing beggerly and hauing not one peice of plate to vse himselfe hath store for others which he shewes and sells in his shoppe Lastly to a ridiculous actor in the citie of Smyrna which pronouncing ô coelum O heauen pointed with his finger toward the ground which when Polemo the cheifest man in the place sawe he could abide to stay no longer but went from the company in a chase saying This â—oole hath made a solecisme with his haâ—â—â— hee hath spoken false Latine wâ—â—â— his hand Such are all they which teach one thing and do another which teach well and doe ill They are like a blunt wheâ—stone a deformed painter a weather-beaten signe a deafe bell a restles nightingale a beggerly