were in prison at one time with â—oseph Pharoahs baker and cupbearer who hauing dreamed each of them sundry dreames and not knowing what they meaned Ioseph did interprete them vnto them telling them that after three daies they would hang the baker and return the cup bearer vnto the pallace al which came to passe as Ioseph had told them After that chast Ioseph had ben two years in prison because he would not sinne with his masters wife he entreated the kings cupbearer very earnestly that he would speake vnto the king for him but hee was so vngratefull that he neuer thought of him any more of whome hee had receiued such good newes God doth not well like of such persons which are not thankfull for the benefites bestowed vpon theÌ„ Which is easily perceiued for although Pharaohs cupbearer had forgotten to doe that which good Ioseph requested him to doe yet the scripture dooth not forget to accuse him for a thanklesse and an vngratefull man Rich Laban was vngratefull vnto his sonne in law Iacob who although he had serued him forty yeares continually for his shepheard yet hee paied him very vnthankfully for all that seruice for ouer and besides that he gaue him one daughter for another at the time of his mariage he deceiued him also in parting of his goods Saule was also vngratefull vnto his good sonne in law Dauid who hauing slaine in his seruice that great Philistian and oftentimes deliuered all the people of Israel from the enemies yet Saule lanched a dart at him at dinner time where Dauid had ended his life if hee had not defended himselfe speedily from him The yong Prince Amon was vngratefull vnto the good king Dauid who hauing sent to comfort him for the death of his father the young youth cut off a peece of king Dauids Embassadours coats and shaued halfe their beards saying that they went not to comfort him but to bee a spie ouer him King Ioas was vngratefull vnto the High Priest Ioiada who hauing brought him vp from his childhood and done him great seruices yet Ioas commanded his sonne to be slame not because he had been a Traitor but because he had rebuked the king to bee a sinner and a trangressor of the law King Demetrius was vngrateful vnto the good captaine Ionathas who after he had sent to succour king Demetrius being in great distresse and to leuie the siege being besieged yet good Ionathas had no greater aduersary afterward than the king Demetrius Cognouit bes possessorem suum asinus praesepe domini suit Israel autem non cognouit me said God by the Prophet Isay in the first chapter as if hee would say What meaneth this people of Israel what meaneth this The oxe knoweth the labouring man which doth yoke him and the asse knoweth him which giueth him meat in the stable and thou Israel doest neither know me for thy Lord and master neither remember thy selfe of the good turns which I haue made vnto thee Isidorus vpoÌ„ these words saith That God compareth a thank lesse and an vngratefull man as it were in an anger vnto an oxe which is a heauy beast and vnto to an asse which is a foolish beast because that to say the troth no man omitteth to bee thankfull for the benefites receaued vnlesse he be a waiward and sluggish man in conuersation or a foole in condition Is not thinke you an vngrateful man a foole and a very foole seeing hee maketh himselfe vnworthy of an other benefite by not being thankfull for that which hee hath receaued There is no vice in the world which hath not his seat rather in one kingdome than in another as pride among the Babilonians enuy among the Iewes anger among the Thebanes couetousnesse among the Thirians gluttony among the Sidonians and the magicall art among the Egyptians But there is no man which will receaue ingratitude in his house no man willingly giue him a seat to sit in For although I bee vngrateful to thee yet I would not haue thee bee vngratefull vnto mee Seneca in his booke of Anger sayth That it is not onely a griefe but also a perillous thing to haue to doe with an vngratefull man for when hee purposeth not to pay that which hee oweth hee hateth him whome hee ought not and by that meanes for hauing beene his friend â—â—eâ— turneth to bee thy enemy Cicero in his Bookes De Legibus reporteth that Bisias the Grecian Osiges the Lacedemonian Bracaras the Thebane and Scipio the Romane counted it a lesser hurt to be banished into strange countries than to liue in their owne countries with those which were vngratefull for their seruiuices Plautus saith very well in a Comedy That it is the property of a base mind of an impudent man to giue euery man leaue to serue him be vngrateful vnto all men for their seruice and therevpon it is that he which serueth an vngratefull man serueth no body he which doth any thing for an vngrateful maÌ„ doth for no man Eschines the Philosopher saith that although the cities of Thebes Athens be ful of naughty men yet there are not so many of any sort as of vngrateful men the reason of this great mischiefe is because we take those to bee our friends which are not expedient for vs to take and giue our gifts vnto those which know not how to bee thankfull for them Whereof thinkest thou doth it proceed that no men be thankful for that which thou doest bestow vpon them nor acknowledge the fauors thou doest theÌ„ but because thou doest admit those to be thy familiars which ought not to bee taken for thy neighbours If thou doest any good sayth Ciprian vnto those which deserue it I assure thee that he will be gratefull for it but if thou giue vnto him who is strait vnto himselfe how wouldest thou haue him liberall vnto thee To come then vnto the purpose although King Pharaohs cup-bearer was vngrateful vnto holy Ioseph yet certainly Christ was not so vnto the good theefe seeing that vpon the crosse he did more for him than he deserued and also gaue him more there than he asked And therefore seeing we haue told you what the theefe demanded of Christ it is coÌ„uenient now that wee tell you what Christ gaue the theefe and thereby wee shall plainly perceiue that our Lord is more liberall in giuing than we are in asking Amen dico tibi hodie mecum eris in Paradiso said Christ vnto the theefe as if hee would say O thou theefe my friend and companion doest thou thinke that I haue forgotten the seruice that thou hast done me in honouring me keeping me company vntill this my last houre I promise thee as I am God and sweare vnto thee as I am man that this day thou shalt bee with me in Paradise O this was a glorious answere and a happy legacy which the diuine wisedome gaue vnto this good theefe because that in old time God recoÌ„penced all the
crucifie him saying crucifige crucifige was to persuade him that hee would crucifie him with his hands and that they would crucifie him with their hearts They crucified him with their hearts when with their hearts they hated and detested him then they hated him with their hearts when they diffamed his person and discredited his doctrine in so much that it was not without cause that they cried twise crucifie crucifie him seeing that at one time they tooke away his life and blemished his credit And although Pilate should haue been determined to put him to death either by cutting his throat or casting him into a well or by hanging him which are easier deaths to suffer and lesse infamous to endure yet the doggish Iews would not leaue it vnto Pilates arbitrement and free will for feare least he wold haue beene too pitifull in the maner of his death When certaine words are doubled in holy scripture it is a great signe of loue or hatred in those which vse them as when Christ said Desiderio desideraui I haue desired with desire and when he said Martha Martha in which words he shewed the loue and affection which hee bare vnto his disciples and what tender loue he bare to Martha who guested him in her house The Iews also by iterating of those words shewed the great hatred which they bare vnto Christ and let vs vnderstand with what heart good wil they crucified him Behold thē their deeds towards Christ behold also the deserts which were found to be in them Yet notwithstanding all this in recompence of the cruel death which they gaue him the great shame and infamy they put him to he saith with a loud voice Father forgiue them for they know not what they doe CHAP. IX How that Christs mercy was far greater towards the Synagogue then their naughtinesse towards him seeing hee pardoned her though she desired no pardon FRons meretricis facta est tibi noluisti erubescere tamen reuertere ad me dic pater meus es tu God spake these words by the mouth of the Prophet Ieremy complaining vnto him of the enormious and great sinnes the Iewish nation had committed against him And they are as if he should say O wicked and infortunate people of the Iews which art come vnto that boldnesse of sinning that like vnto a publick whore thou hast no shame in doing naught Turne therefore vnto me O sinfull Hierusalem turn thy selfe vnto me thou vnfortunate Synagogue for I can doe no lesse when thou doest aske any thing of me like as of a father but I must graunt it vnto thee like a sonne S. Ierome vpon these words saith O what an infinit goodnesse and mercy is this O my God and Lord that seeing thou hast tanted condemned Ierusalem as one which was full of sinne and without shame yea and hast compared her vnto a publicke strumpet yet thou doest entreat her to amend giuest her license to call thee Father Whome wilt thou cast from thee and denie to be thy son seeing thou doest vouchsafe to be a father vnto a strumpet If thou dost admit publick lewd womē into thy company is it like that thou wilt cast frō thee the honest and vertuous ones of thy house If thou loue those which are sinfull and shamelesse who is a greater sinner or lesse bashful or more lewd then this my wicked soule If the remedy of my soule consist in nothing else but in calling thee Father from this time forward I do cal thee Father and if thou dost require nothing else of me but that I should turne vnto thee O good Iesus I turne vnto thee and aske thee forgiuenesse of all my sinnes and seeing I doe turne vnto thee as vnto my Lord and confesse my selfe before thee to bee a great sinner I beseech thee most humbly that thou wouldst not cast me from before thy face that thou wouldest not take thy holy spirit from me for if thy holy grace forsake me my soule is turned vnto that that she was before that is vnto a shamelesse and lewd woman It is much to be noted here that God doth not cōplaine of the Iews that they were enuious angry or gluttennous but that they were bold and without shame which wanteth not a high mystery because there is no greater signe in all the world that a mans conscience is very corrupt then when to sin he hath no shame at al. I haue a great hope saith S. Augustine that that sinner will amend his life which sinneth secretly and is ashamed of it which hope I haue not of him who is resolute in his speech and dissolute in sinne because that that man doth either very late or neuer amend his manners who by long vse hath hardened his conscience To come then vnto our purpose with very great reason and for iust occasion God called the synagogue a shamelesse and dissolute strumpet seeing that in the death of his sonne shee shewed not onely her malice but also her impudency in killing him in the open day not being sorrowfull for it at all Christ knew very well that which his father had promised vnto the Iewes that is that if they would call him Father hee would forgiue them as his children By reason whereof Christ our God began his praier with Father forgiue them giuing thereby to vnderstand that seeing hee called him Father hee should bee heard like a sonne If it seeme vnto you my louing brethrē saith S. Ambrose that the Iews had no occasiō to put Christ their Lord to death neither did he see in thē any condition whereby he should pardon thē and touching this mercifull pardon I can tell you that I doe not so much maruell of the pardon which hee giueth on the crosse as I doe of the circumstances with the which hee dooth giue it The Iewes shewed their naughtinesse towards Christ in many thinges but the son of God shewed his mercy clemency towards thē in many more things for there is no mā in this life able to cōmit so great an offence but Gods mercy can go beyond it The first thing wherin he shewed his mercy towards thē was in the petitiō which he made vpō the crosse for them that is pardō remission of their sins being his enemies preferring them before his blessed mother which brought him into the world his welbeloued disciple which followed him before Mary Magdalen whom he so much loued What charity saith Remigius shold haue burned in his diuine bowels who at the very instāt of his own death remēbreth first to releeue his enemies thē cōfort his friends what meaneth this O good Iesus what meaneth this doest thou first remēber those who opēly blaspheme thee thē those which stand at the foot of the crosse weeping for thee O infinit charity O inspeakable goodnes what hart could do that which thou dost S. Barnard saith that it was in maner of a cōtention whether were
Nathan the Prophet vnto Dauid the great Prophet Esaias vnto Manasses his holy Prophet Ieremy vnto King Ozias the Prophet Daniel vnto Balthasar and the Satiricall Prophet Helias vnto king Achab. The sonne of God sent a greater imbasie and greater Embassadours vnto the theefe than God the father did vnto the Kings seeing that vnto the theefe which was crucified on the crosse with him he sent no other embassador than himselfe so by this meanes the embasie and the Embassador were all one thing Was it not think you the selfesame thing seeing that it was Christ which sent the message the selfesame Christ which carried it Origen in an Homilie sayth thus The greatest message that euer came from heauen into the world was that of the incarnation and the next vnto it was that which Christ did vnto the good theefe insomuch that by the comming of the sonne of God the gate of glory was opened and in the promise made vnto the good theefe the possession of it was taken The embasie which Iohn Baptist brought vs was that the kingdome of heaueÌ„ was at hand but the good theef saith not that he is neer vnto heauen but that he is within heauen S. Iohns was a great embasie when he said Behold the lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world but that of the theeues was better wheÌ„ he said Behold him here who hath already redeemed the world The embasie that Samuel brought vnto Dauid was good wheÌ„ as of a shepheard he annointed him king but the embasie which Christ did vnto the good theef was farre better because that there passed almost fourty years betwixt the time that the kingdome was promised vnto Dauid and the time that it was deliuered vnto him but the theef had his kingdome promised him at two of the clock in the afternoone and was giuen him presently toward night The reward for bringing thee news of such a great embasie as that of Christs was that is the promise of glory he would let no man haue but he would win it himself insomuch he who promised glory gaue glory was the glory it self O good Iesus redeemer of my soule dost thou well see that in promising glory Paradise that thou doest promise nothing but thy self what meaneth this O good Iesus what meaneth this Dost thou trust malefactors coÌ„meÌ„d thy self vntorouers offer thyself vnto sinners coÌ„mit thy self vnto theeues If thou thinkest thy selfe ouercharged with this theefe giue him the Prouince of Achaia giue him part of Assyria giue him the kingdome of Palestine giue him the monarchy of Asia for in giuing him as thou doest giue him thy selfe if thou were not God as thou art it would seeme that thou shouldest preiudice many Is there any other Paradise but to enioy thee is there any other glory than to see thy face is there any greater contentment than to be in thy company is there any goodnesse but that which commeth from thy hands This day thou shalt bee with me in Paradise where thou shalt see me face to face enioy my essence dwell with my person haue the fruition of my glory thy death shall die and thy life shall rise againe This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise where thou shalt be alwaies mine and I will be thine where thou shalt serue mee and where I will loue thee without end where thou shalt leaue sinning and I neuer cease to doe thee good This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise where thou shalt see ioy without sorrow health withour griefe life vvithout death light vvithout darkenesse company vvithout suspition plenty vvithout want and glory without end This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise where youth doth neuer waxe old old age doth neuer appeare beauty neuer fadeth health neuer decaieth ioy neuer waxeth lesse griefe is neuer felt no vvailing euer heard nosorrow euerseene and death feareth nor This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise where thou shalt go from the goulfe to the â—â—auen from the battaile to the triumph from the streame to the spring from darkenesse vnto light from vvaâ—â— to vvealth from a dreame vnto the truth from faith to hope from cold loue to perfect and seruent Charitie This day thou shalt bee vvith mee in Paradise vvhere thou shalt not know how to vveepe but laugh not complain but bee â—oifull nor aske but gâ—â—e not blaspheme but blesse not sigh but sing not hate but loue not mislike but praise not die but liue This day thou shalt bee â—â—th mee in Paradise vvhere thy handes shall touch that which they desiced thy eies see that thâ—â— they looked for thy eares heare that which they loued and thy heart possesse that which hee groned for This day thou shalt bee vvith mee in Parachse vvhere thou shalt nor feare the deceits of the Diuell the cockering of the flesh the vanitie of the world the ambushes of thy enemies the suddaine passions vvhich fall out euery day the necessity of euery hour nor yet the anxiety and griefe of mind This day thou shalt bee vvith mee in Paradise vvhere there is no night which is darke nor day which decreaseth no rough Winter nor troublesome Summer no cold to freeze thee no heat to distemper thee no famine to weaken thee no thirst to make thee drie no death to make thee afraid nor life which shall haue any end O my soule O my heart wilt thou not tell mee vvhat thou doest thinke vpon or what thou doest contemplate on seeing thou hearest not this which is spoken doest thou not marke vvho speaketh it nor vnto vvhom hee speaketh it nor doest thou regard vvhere it is spoken Hee vvho speaketh is the sonne of God hee vvith vvhom hee speaketh is a theefe that which he sayth is that he promiseth Paradise the place vvhere hee speaketh is the Mount of Caluary the houre vvhen hee speaketh is at the point of death and those before whome hee speaketh is the vvhole Synagogue Is it possible that an imbasie accompanied vvith these many circumstances should not bee new and heard For in Scripture there is nothing necessary that is not full 〈◊〉 mystery Certainly this was a very new thing seeing that Christ neuer had this word Paradise in his mouth not from the time of his incarnation vntill the last houre that hee departed out of this world and then hauing no other there but the theefe which bare him company at that time he promised him Paradise O my soule if thou wilt haue part in Paradise behold vvhat a one the sonne of God is vvho giueth it and behold vvhat hee doth vnto the theefe vnto vvhom hee gaue it and as thou diddest see vvhat they doe so doe thou force thy selfe to doe the like O my soule O my heart doest thou not see that our Lord who giueth Paradise is vpon the crosse and that the theefe vnto whom heauen 〈◊〉 giuen is also vpon the crosse therefore that the crucified doth nor giue
not take away the sheet of the letter to see the holy and diuine water which is contained vnder it To speake more particularly what were the wels which Isaacs predecessors did open but all the holy books which the Prophets and all other holy men did writâ— What meaneth the opening of a new vvell in the catholick church of God but to giue an high and a true sence and meaning vnto the text The learned man doth open so many wels of water as he doth waies expound the holy scripture and the more obscure the scripture is the more deeper vve will say he fetcheth his water I will not deny but he taketh paines who draweth water out of a deepe wel but the learned man doth take greater pains in expounding a text of holy Scripture because the one is done by force of drawing and the other by paines in studieng If any man doe striue and contend with thee my brother that the labour of the body is greater than the trauell of the spirit thou maiest answere him that he is Tanquam asinâ—â— ad lyram And that hee is Saul among the Prophets and Sathan among the children of God Now that wee haue proued that these wels are the holy bookes of the Prophets wee will adde further and say that these are the wels which the blind Iewes did fil and stop vp and when did they stop them vp but when they did depraue and corrupt the holy Scriptures The Palestines did demme vp Isaacs welswith earth and the selfe same doe the Iewes to the Scriptures which they expound of the Synagogue and not of the church according vnto the letter and not the fence not according vnto the spirit but according vnto their owne will What other thing is it to demme the water with earth but to blinde the sence with the letter Christ left vs which are Christians the vvels of his church open pure and cleare and not stopped at all but alas the Iewes through their obstinacy and Heretikes through their malice labour to denie them and trouble them going about to discredit our faith by interpreting the Scriptures after their owne fantasie The sonne of God doth complaine vnto his Father vpon the crosse of all these things saying Why hast thou forsaken mee to wit why doest thou suffer them to stop vp the wels of my doctrine on one side and opeÌ„ my side with a speare on the other CHAP. VIII How the sonne of God complaineth of his Father because they did load his body with stripes and his heart with care and anguish IN flagella ego paratus sum dolor meus in conspectu meo semper sayth the Prophet Dauid speaking in the name of the son of God and it is as if hee would say Doe by me O good Father doe by me what thou thinkest good for I am ready to suffer all the stripes that thou wilt lay vpon mee because I can neuer forget nor put out of my mind the griefe which I haue conceiued in knowing that I must suffer Such dolefull words as these are doe well seeme to proceed from a man which is in great anguish and from one who seeth himselfe condemned to die confessing and protesting that he dieth for obedience sake and that he taketh his death with patience doth not he die for obedience who offereth himselfe vnto death and doth not hee take his death in patience who knoweth not how to coÌ„plain There are some persons vvhich feele no labour and paine but of the mind as great lords and there are others which feele no paine but of the body as labourers and some which neither feele them in mind nor bodie as fooles and some there be which feele them both in the mind and the body as vertuous men doe Seneca in his booke of Clemency sayth That the labour of the mind doth weary a man by night and is at rest in the day because then he is also occupied and the labour of the body doth weary a man by day and is at ease in the night because hee is at rest but he who doth labour spiritually and corporally doth passe the day time in sweating and all the night in sighing Cicero sayth vnto his friend Attiâ—us That of all the infelicities of this world the greatest is to haue his body ouerlaid with labour and his heart loaden with care Reason is wont to moderate the anxiety of the mind and good cherishing the labour of the body but what comfort can the body giue vnto the mind or the mind vnto the body when the one sweateth and the other sigheth According vnto the litterall sence good king Dauid did complaine of both these trauails that is the trauell of the body when hee sayth Et ego in flagella paratus sum and the trauell of the mind when he saith Et dolor meus in conspectu meo semper the which vexations hee suffered at the hands of king Saul when hee wandered like a banished man and hid himselfe in mountaines and rockes Dauid endured great labour of the body as well for the iournies which he tooke as for the hunger which he suffered hee had great griefe of mind to see himselfe a stranger in his owne land a sugitiue from his house banished out of the kingdome and in disgrace with his king Although this be all true yet who can better say Et in flag ella paratus sum I am ready to be whipped than Christs tender body or who can say with him Et dolor meus in conspecta meo semper and my griefe is alwaies before my eies as his afflicted mind was We cannot deny but that Dauid was persecuted yet we doe not read that he was whipped the which we may affirme of Christ our redeemer who was not only whipped at Pilates pillar but was also showne vnto the people with Bcce home Behold the man If Dauid cannot say of himselfe Ego in flagella paratus sum neither can hee say Et dolor meus in conspectu meo semper But only the son of God can so say because there was no houre nor moment of the day in which his body was not trauelled and his heart grieued It is long agoe since I commended vnto my memory that saying of Plato Quòd in humanis plura sunt quaeterrent quam nocent as if he would say In dangers which happen vnto man and in humane chances there bee many more things which put vs in feare than that happen vnto vs in deed for so many times the hart is martyred as he thinketh vpon danger to come When any malefactor hath receaued sentence of death from the time that the sentence is read vntill his head be cut off he doth swallow death so many times as hee thinketh that he must die in so much that if the sword doth kill him but once in the end yet his imagination doth kill him a thousand times before Then to apply this vnto our purpose what Prophet was there at any time in the
a new married spouse to bed but the fire of thy diuine loue which shined in her What made those stones seeme vnto S. Steuen hony comoes but that holy loue which burned in his soule Iguis erat calefaciebat se O vvhat a difference there is betwixt the fire which Christ brought downe from heauen and the fire which Cayphas hath in his pallace For S. Peter warming himselfe at it of a Christian became a Pagan S. Paule warming himself at Christs fire of a Pagan became a Christian God send me of Christs fire seeing it doth make me know him and God keep Cayphas fire from me seeing it doth make me denie him For if S. Peter had not warmed himselfe at Cayphas fire the wench would not haue importuned him nor he denied Christ not haue lost the confession of the catholicke faith The Euangelist sayth that Petrus calefaciebat se that is That Peter did warm himselfe at the fire but he sayth not that the fire was able to take his cold from him and therefore the fire which the world hath for her worldlings is such that they are but few vvhich warme themselues at it but many which waxe cold by it S. Peter being from the fire said vnto Christ Tecum paraui iam in mortem me and by the fire he said Non noui heminem in so much that being at supper with Christ he did burne and being at Cayphas fire he was a cold The sonne of God then seeing that there was not below in the world heat which could recreate nor fire which could burne nor light vvhich could comfort nor flame which could giue light nor any thing which might content he brought from heauen with him the fire of his holy loue with the which wee should all be enflamed all lightened and all contented The son of God would neuer haue said I came to put fire on earth if hee had seene that there had been the true fire of his loue vpon the earth but seeing that the fire of the world doth burn and not heat hurt and giue no light wast and not burne grieue and not cheere burn and not purifie smoke and not shine he remembred to bring a fire which should heat all the world Woe be vnto him which will not warme himselfe at this fire and woe be to him who will not receiue light at the flames of his loue because that the only perfection of our saluation dooth consist in offering our selues to God and in louing him with all our heart It is much to be noted that Christ brought at one time fire to burn a sword to cut mēs throats seeing he saith Ignem veni mittere in terram and also Non veni pacem mittere sed gladium to let vs vnderstand that hee brought fire with him with the which his elect should serue him with loue a sword of the which the imperfect should haue feare Hee burneth with liuely flames who serueth God with loue and his throat is cut who serueth God with feare and not vvith loue Whereupon it is that in the arke of Noe there were many little roomes and in the house of God many dwelling places so also in the Catholicke church there are diuers maners of seruing of God he doth serue God much better who serueth him with loue than he who followeth him for feare but in fine so as we doe not offend our Lord be it with loue or be it with feare let vs alwaies serue him He is happy who suffereth his throat to be cut with the knife of feare but he is very happy who goeth to warme himselfe at the fire of his loue for the feare may be so great that he may erre in that which he taketh in hand but he who loueth him much cannot erre in that which he doth According vnto Ouid he cannot erre who loueth a good thing nor there can bee no errour where there is perfect loue Cyrillus sayth If the Synagogue did highly esteeme of the sword with the which Dauid did cut the Giant Golias throat wee which bee Christians ought much more to esteeme of the fire of loue with the which Christ did redeeme vs because it was his loue onely which gaue vs the hope of his glory and ouer our death the victory Leo sayth in a Sermon If they aske the sonne of God what he brought from heauen hee will say loue if they aske him what Art he knoweth he will say loue if they aske him what he is he will say diuine loue if they aske him what hee would haue vs to doe for him hee will say nothing but loue him Basil sayth O what great difference there is betwixt the seruing of God and seruing of the world for the world would haue vs serue him with our person flatter him with our tong giue him of our wealth and also venter for him our soules but the sonne of God is farre from asking any of these things of vs for he seeketh no more of vs but that wee answere the loue which he dooth beare vs and be gratefull for the benefites which he doth bestow vpon vs. Si obtuleris primitias frugum tuarum domino de spicis adhuc virentibus torrebis eas igui God spake these vvorder vnto Moises and then commanded Moyses to proclaime them before all the people as if he vvould say When the Summer shall come and the haruest draw neere if the eares of the first fruits vvhich they offer vnto God should be greene and not drie see thou drie them first in the fire before that thou offer them in the temple Isidorus sayth The giuer of the law to commaund that they should offer the first fruits of all their harnestes and to command them that they should not offer them vp greene but drie and to command that they should not bee dried in the sunne but at the fire and that they should be throughly dried but not burned the Scripture would neuer haue set downe this so particularly vnlesse there had been some my stery contained vnder it Origen vpon Exod. saith That because in holy writ there is no blot to scrapeout nor no letter to be added we must so interpret that which God speaketh that which the law ordaineth that without wresting of the letter vvee may apply it vnto our learning What other thing is it to offer vnto God the first fruits of our corn but to present before him al our desires who dare begin any heroical work vvho doth not first cōsult vvith God cōmend it vnto him vnles they had first craued the fauour of the God Iupiter the Gentiles durst not so much as vvrite a letter darest thou which art a Christian not asking for Gods grace enterprise any thing he stealeth his first fruits frō God vvho taketh any thing in hand not recōmend himselfe vnto God he paieth his first fruits vnto our Lord vvho vvithout his holy grace beginneth nothing for it is hee only vvho vvill