lighteth torches that are put out i De ciuitate Dei lib 25. c. 3. Fulgosus likewise reporteth k Mirum sontem dicere debemus apud Gratianopolin Gallicam vrâ—ens Nam quamuis caleÌ„tes aquas non habâ—at tamen simul cum ipsis aquis flammas persaepe emittit Fulgosus lib. 1. non longe à fine that there is an other fountaine neere Grenoble a citie in France which although it haue not hotte 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 sorow was stirred sayes he my hart was hot within mee and while I was musing the fire kindled l Psal 30. v. 3. When my sorrow was stirred There is the first fountaine My hart was hot within me 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 saies fitly Our eies must neither bee drowned nor drie m Nec fluant oculi nec sicci sint Seneca If they waÌ„t fire they will bee drowned If they want water they wil be drie Wherfore both VVEEPE NOT and BVT VVEEPE both fire and water must goe together that our eyes be neither drowned nor drie And this is the right moderatioÌ„ we must keep in weeping as appeareth in this third part VVEEPE NOT BVT VVEEPE both together VVEEPE NOT FOR ME BVT VVEEPE FOR YOVR SELVES THe fourth part followeth FOR ME. 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 innocency and righteousnes 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 trueth 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 Caelestis vitae ianna clausa foret Therefore both before his death he threatneth and chalengeth death saying (b) Ose 13.14 O death I will bee thy death and also after his death he derideth and scorneth death saying (c) 1. Cor. 15.55 O death thou art but a drone where is now thy sting (d) sic Iohannes Pistorius Erasms Roterodami affinis igni cremandus dixit O mors vbiest tua victoria Aske death any of you I pray and say death how hast thou lost thy sting how hast thou lost thy streÌ„gth What is the matter that virgins and very children do now contemne thee wheras kinges and euen tyrants did before feare thee Death I warrant wil answere 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 loseth both sting life together in like maner death so long as it stung mortal men only which were dead in sin was neuer a whit the worse but when it stunge Christ once who is life it selfe by and by it lost both stinge and strength Therefore as the brasen serpent was so farre from hurting the Israelites that contratiwise it healed them after the same sort death is now so far froÌ„ hutting any true Israelite that on the other side if affliction as a fiery serpent sting vs or if any thing els hurt vs presently it is helped redressed by death Those which will needs play the hobgoblins or the nightewalkinge spirites as we call them al the while they speak vnder a hollow vault or leape forth with an vgly vizard vpoÌ„ their faces they are so terrible that he which thinkes himselfe nosmall man may perhaps be affrighted with them But if some lusty fellowe chaunce to steppe into one of these and cudgle him well fauoredly and pull the vizarde from his face then euery boye laughes him to scorne So is it in this matter Death was a terrible bulbegger and made euery man afraide of him a great while but Christ dying buckled with this bulbegger and coniured him as I may say out of his hollowe vault when as the dead comminge out of the graues were seene in lerusalem and puld the vizard from his face when as he himselfe risinge left the linneÌ„ clothes which were the vizard of death behinde him Therefore as that asse called Cumanus asinus ietting vp and downe in a lyons skinne did for a time terrifie his maister but afterwards being discried did benefit him very much semblably death stands nowe like a silly asse hauing his lyons skinne puld ouer his eares and is so farre from terrifying any that it benefits all true christians because by it they rest from their laboures and if they bee oppressed with troubles or cares when they come to death they are discharged death as an asse doth beare these burdens for them Oblessed blessed be our lord which hath so disarmed death that it can not doe 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 can not make vs afraid no more then a scarbug can which hath novizard nay rather as an asse beareth his masters burdens 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 can not hurt the sunne He that poweeth water vpon yron which is red botte may well quench the heate but he cannot hurt the yron And so Christ the sunne of righteousnes did driue away the shadowe of death and as glowinge yon was too hot and too hard a morsell for death to digest 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 only excepted but when it went about to destroy Christ then it was destroyed it selfe Those barbarous people called Cannibals which feed only vpon rawe flesh especially of men if they happen to eate a peece of rosted meate commonly they surset of it and die Euen so the right Canniball the only deuourer of all mankinde death I meane tasting of Christes fleshe and finding it not to bee rawe such as it was vsed to eate but wholsome and heauenly meat indeede presently tooke a surfet of it within three dayes dyed For euen as wheÌ„ Iudas had receiued a sop at Christs hand anon after his bowels gushed out in like sort death beinge so saucie as to snatch a sop as it were of Christes flesh and a little bit of his body was by
say vnto him what are these wounds in thy hands Then he shall answere Thus was I woūded in the house of my frends That is in the house of thē which ought to haue bin my friends So that our sins did wound Christes bandes at the first And now also not the wicked which are no part of his bodie but wee which are mystical members of his bodie therefore shuld by good reason be his frends we I say do yet oftentimes by our sinnes deny Christ with Peter nay wee persecute Christ with Paul nay wee crucifie Christ with the Iews Yea if it wil please you to heare me I will say yet more we crucifie Christ farre more cruelly then the Iews did Then his body was passible and mortall now it is glorified and immortall they knew not what they did we doe ill enough yet wee knowe what we doe well enough they pearced him with a speare we pearce him with reproches they buried him in the earth wee burie him in obliuion then he rose again the third day but we so burie Christ that not once in three dayes no not once in three weekes he ariseth or shineth in our hearts Nay that which I am ashamed to speake though some are not ashamed to doe it there are in the world which haue no time not once in three moneths not once in three yeeres no not once search in their whole life to thinke of Christ but burie him in the perpetuall forgerfulnes of their careles conscience as in a barren land where all good things are forgotten Wherefore let euery one as soone as hee is tempted to any sinne thinke straightwaies that he sees Christ comming towards him wrapt vp in white linnen cloathes as he was buried with a kercher bound about his head and crying after a gastly and fearefull sort Beware Take heede what you doe Detest sinne abhorre sin Fie vpon it A shame light on it It once did most vilely and vilanouslie murther mee but now seeing my woundes are whole againe do not I beseech you do not rubbe and reuiue them with your sinnes to make them bleed afresh now seeing the scepter of the kingdome of heauen is put into my hand doe not offer mee a reede againe to mocke mee now seeing my head is crowned with the pure golde of eternall glorie doe not set a crowne of thornes vpon it againe now seeing I my selfe am enstalled in the throne of the right hand of maiestie doe not pull me out of my throne and throw mee into the graue againe and with your sinnes seale a mightie great stone vpon mee to stiffle me and presse me and holde mee down in death O beloued good beloued at his instance be perswaded by whose bloud you are redeemed Haue pittie haue pitie vpon poore Iesus Once he voluntarily yea euen ioyfully dyed for vs and if that one death had not bin sufficient he would haue bin content then to haue dyed a thousande deaths more Now he protesteth that the least sinne of any one Christian doth more vex him euen at the very heart then all his dolorous paynes vpon the crosse Our sinnes are those souldiers which take him those tormentors which whippe him those thorns which gore his head those nayles which pearce his feete that speare which sheds his bloud that crosse which takes away his life And yet if to greeue him thus continually would do vs any good then hee would bee most glad to prefer our good though neuer so little before his owne griefe though neuer so great But it is not so That one death which he willingly suffered was for our saluation These diuers deaths which wee without sinnes so often put him to against his wil do make for our greater dānatiō Therefore he beseecheth vs I also being prostrate at the very feet of euery one of you heartely in his name exhorte you if wee will haue no pity of him yet for the tender loue wee beare to our owne deare soules that we would not alwaies keepe him vppon the racke and euery daye vex this iust Lot with our vnlawfull deedes that we would not any more shead his precious bloud and tread it and trample it vnder our feete This I assure you blessed Christians will be a most forcible meanes not only to terrifie and fraye vs from sin which we may commit hereafter but also to mollifie and melt our harts for sin which we haue committed heretofore if we consider that the life of man by reason of his sin is the death of Christ Thus you see that the life of man is the life of death the life of the diuill the death of himselfe the death of Christ And therefore he saith in this fift part weepe not too little for your owne life FOR YOVR SELVES WEEPE NOT FOR ME BVT VVEEP FOR YOVR SELVES THe sixt part is next FOR ME FOR YOVR SELVES Which noteth seeing both the excesse and the want are to bee eschewed that therefore the true meane which wee must keepe betweene Christ and our selues consisteth in a certayne qualification of these two extremities FOR ME FOR YOVR SELVES both together Weepe not too much saith he for my death which is the death of death weep not too little for your own life which is the life of death Not too to much for my death which is the death of the diuell not too little for your owne life which is the life of the diuell Not too much for my death which is my life not too little for your owne life which is your death Not too much for my death which is the life of man not too little for your owne life which is the death of Christ. Saint Paul willeth the Corinthians to approue themselues by honor and dishonor First by honour then by dishonour Teaching thereby that dishonorable honor is better then honorable dishonour Yet to keepe a meane in this matter that we must as well count it an honor to bee sometimes dishonored with Christ as a dishonor to bee alwaies honored without Christ Euen so sayes our Sauiour here FOR ME FOR YOVR SELVES First FOR ME then FOR YOVR SELVES Teaching thereby that to reioyce for Christ is better then to weepe for our selues Yet to keepe a meane betwixt both that we must aswel sometimes descend out of Christ into our selues to weepe as alwaies ascend out of our selues into Christ to reioyce For the Apostle sayes that we must reioyce with them that reioyce and weepe with them that weepe If my friend bee alwaies sorowfull and neuer ioyfull hee hath no pleasure by me if he be alwayes ioyful neuer sorowful I haue no proofe of him but he is my dearest friend most delighted in mee best approued by me that takes such part as I doe sometimes reioysing and sometymes weepinge reioysing when I reioyce and weeping when I weepe The like is to bee seene in this place FOR ME FOR YOVR SELVES If a Christian alwaies thinke of his owne miserie and neuer
of Christs mercie hee will despayre if hee alwayes thinke of Christs mercy and neuer of his owne misery hee will presume But hee is the best Christian so hye that he cannot despayre so low that he cannot presume which inclines aswell to the one as to the other sometimes reioysing and sometimes weeping reioysing for Christ and weeping for himselfe A man cannot weepe too little for Christ if he presume not a man cannot weepe too much for himselfe if he despayre not But he may easily despayre that weeps too much for Christ and he may easely presume that weeps too little for himselfe Wherefore as in a ballance if there be any ods in the scales we take out of that which is the heauier put into that which is the lighter til there be no difference betwixt thē So here we must waye these matters well that wee our selues may be iust waight neither too heauie for our owne miserie nor too light for Christs mercy Thus did Dauid when he sayd to God Hyde mee vnder the shadowe of thy winges What are Gods wings His mercy his iustice What is the shadowe of his winges Our loue and our feare Our loue is the shadow of his mercie which is his right winge Our feare is the shadowe of his iustice which is his left wing Now seeing he that is hid vnder the right winge only maye presume because hee hath no feare and hee that is hid vnder the left winge only may despayre because hee hath no loue therefore saieth Dauid Hide me O Lord vnder the shadowe not of one winge but of both thy winges That I maye neuer despayre while I alwaies loue thy mercy and reioyce for Christ that I may neuer presume while I alwaies feare thy iustice and weepe for my selfe A Quaile the very same bird which was the Israelites meate in the wildernes as he flyes ouer the sea feeling himselfe begin to be wearie lightes by the way into the sea Then lying at one side hee layes downe one wing vpon the water and holdes vp the other wing towards heauen Least hee should presume to take too long a flight at the first he wets one wing Least hee should despayre of taking a new flight afterwardes hee keepes the other wing drye Thus must a christian man doe When he layes downe the wing of feare vpon the water to weepe for himselfe then he must holde vp the wing of loue towards heauen to reioyce for Christ That his two wings may be answerable to Gods two wings That as God hath two wings the one of mercy the other of iustice so hee may haue two wings the one of ioy for Christ the other of sorrow for himselfe Shem and Iapheth Noah godly and dewtifull children when they sawe their father otherwise then hee should be went backeward and couered him They went backeward that they might not see him themselues they couered him that others might not see him Christ hanging naked vpon the crosse was the shame of men the outcast of the people Therefore we that are the children of God must goe backeward by abhorring them that crucified Christ and yet we must couer him and hide him euen in our very hearts by remembring and honoring his death and resurrection Least we should presume wee must goe backeward for feare and yet least wee should despayre wee must couer him for loue That as God hideth vs vnder the shadow of his wings which are loue and feare loue the shadow of his mercie and feare the shadowe of his iustice so wee may hide God vnder the shadowe of our wings which are ioye and sorrow ioy the shadow of our loue and sorrow the shadowe of our feare ioy for Christ and sorrow for our selues To this strange kinde of going backward the Psalmist alludeth when hee saith to God Thou hast made my feete like hines feete A hine goeth not still forward in one way but as an auncient father speaketh hee iumpes crosse out of one way into another z Saltum habet transuer sum Right so a christians feete must be like hines feete He must iumpe crosse from himselfe to Christ and then backe againe from Christ to himselfe Would you see such a hine Then marke how Iob footes it That he might not despayre he iumpes crosse from himselfe to Christ and sayes a Chap. 33.9 I am cleare without sinne I am innocent and there is none iniquitie in mee Here is the mercie of Christ But that hee might not presume bee iumpes backe againe from Christ to himselfe and sayes b Chap. 6.2 O that my griefe were well wayed and that my miseries were laide together in the ballance Here is the misery of man Thus must we way the mercy of Christ and the miserie of man together in the ballance and be sure as I sayde before wee make the scales euen and when wee waie the reasons why wee should not weepe for Christ then wee must way the reasons also why we should weepe for our selues So wee shal finde for great cause of ioy in Christ great cause of sorrow in our selues for greater cause of ioye in Christ greater cause of sorrow in our selues for greatest cause of ioye in Christ greatest cause of sorrow in our selues for that which is more then all to make vs ioyfull in Christ that which is more then all to make vs sorrowfull in our selues The righteousnes of Christ is the death of death Great cause of ioye in Christ If Debora reioyced when Barack put Sisera to flight haue not we as great cause to reioyce seeing Christ hath put death to flight The sinne of man is the life of death Great cause of sorrowe in our selues If Anna wept for her barrennes haue not we as great cause to weepe seeing wee can conceiue nothing but sorrowe bring forth iniquity vnto death The righteousnes of Christ is the death of the diuell Greater cause of ioy in Christ If Iudith reioyced when shee did cut off the head of Holofernes haue not wee greater cause to reioyce seeing Christ hath cut off the head of the diuell The sinne of man is the life of the diuell Greater cause of sorrowe in our selues If Thamar wept being defloured by her brother haue not wee greater cause to weepe seeing wee commit spirituall incest and adulterie daylie with the diuell The righteousnes of Christ is the life of himselfe Greatest cause of ioye in Christ If Sara laught when shee hearde shee should haue a quicke childe in her dead wombe is not this the greatest cause of laughter which can bee vnto vs that Christ liued in death and was most free among the dead and could not see corruption in the graue The sinne of man is the death of himselfe Greatest cause of sorrowe in our selues If Agar wept being turnde out of Abrahams house is not this the greatest cause of weeping which can be vnto vs that our life is no life because wee neuer cease from sinning while
reproch Diuerse auncient fathers note the virgin Mary was maried that the diuell might be deceiued For he knewe well enough Christ should be borne of a virgin But he neuer suspected blessed Mary was a virgin considering she was wedded to Ioseph Therfore he did not lye in wait to destroy the seed of the woman so circumspectly as otherwise hee would if he had bin aware or wist any such thing So that the birth of Christ did cosen the diuel But the death of Christ did conquer the diuell And that much more gloriously when the temple of his body was vpō the pinnacle of the crosse then when the body of his crosse was vpon the pinnacle of the temple For when he was vpon the temple his breath spake better thinges then Sathan but when he was vpon the crosse his bloud spake better things then Abell and there his breath came from his lunges out of his mouth but here his bloud came from his heart out of his side and there hee fought standing stoutly to it and withstanding Sathan hee would not in any wise throwe down himselfe but here he skirmished yeelding and humbling himselfe to the death of the crosse and there the diuill ascended vp to him vnto the toppe of an high mountaine and so as I may say bad him base at his own goale but here he himselfe descended down to the diuell into the neathermost hell and so spoiled principalities and powers and slewe the great Leuiathan in the very bottome of his own bottomles pit For the diuell like a greedy rauenous fishe snatching at the baite of Christs body as Damascene speaketh was pearced through and twicht vp with the hooke of his Deity u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore both before Christes passion Peter tooke mony out of a fishes mouth to pay his tribute and also after Christes passion the disciples broyled a fishe for him to feede vpon Whereby we see that Christ who made a fishe pay tribute to Caesar for him made the diuell also pay tribute to death for him and on the other side that the diuell while he went about to catch this good fishe which is Iesus Christ Gods sonne the sauiour as Methodius and Sybilla proue the letters of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (x) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seuerally signifie was himselfe caught yea also killed by Christ So that all the while Christ was buried in the graue the diuel was broyled in hell Wherefore as it was booteles for Golias to brandishe his speare against Dauid so it little auailed the diuell to shake his speare likewise in the hand of the souldier against the heart of Christ For as Dauid hauinge heard Golias prate talke his pleasure when they came to the poynt at the first stroke ouerthrew him so Christ with that very selfe same speare which gaue him a little venny in cōparison or if it be lawful for me so to speake but a phillip on the side which was soone after recured gaue the diuell a deadly wound in the forehead which with all his pawes hee shall neuer be able to claw off And again as Dauid onely with his sling wrought this feate so Christ onely by his death and by the power of his crosse which is the sling of Dauid (y) Sanè crux ipsa funda est qua Dauid Goliath horrendum armis formidabilem visu prostrauit hunet Cyr. Ioh. l. 8.17 did conquer subdue the deuil And so the death of Christ by reasō of his righteousnes is the death of the deuil It is on the other side the life of himselfe That which was prophecied in the Psalme is here fulfilled in christ z Psal 92.12 The iust shal flourish as the palme tree In the hebrew it is Tamar which signifies only a palme tree But in the greek it is Phoinix which signifies not only a palme tree but also a Phenix Which translation proueth two thinges First that Iesus the iust one did most florish when he was most afflicted For the iust shall flourish as the palme tree a Chattamar Now the palme tree though it haue many waights at the top and many snakes at the roote yet still it saies I am neither oppressed with the waights nor distressed with the snakes b Nec premor nec perimor And so Christ the true palme tree though all the iudgements of God and all the sinnes of the worlde like vnsupportable waightes were laide vpon him yea though the cursed Iewes stoode beneath like venemous snakes hissing and byting at him yet he was neither so oppressed with them nor so distressed with these but that euen vpon his crosse he did most florish when he was most afflicted As peny royall being hung vp in the larder house yet buds his yellow flower and Noahs oliue tree being drownde vnder the water yet keepes his greene braunch and Aarons rod being clunge and drie yet brings forth ripe almonds and Moses bramble bush being set on fire yet shines and is not consumed Secondly that Iesus the iust one did most liue when hee seem'de most to be dead For the iust shall flourish as the phenix * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now the phenix though sitting in his nest among the holy spices of Arabia he be burnt to ashes yet still he sayes I die not but olde age dieth in me c Moritur me non moriente senectus And so Christ the true phenix though lying in his graue among the hot spices wherwith with Nichodemus embalmde him hee was neuer like to rise from death to life againe yet he dyed not but mortalitie died in him and immortalitie so liued in him that euen in his sepulchre hee did most liue when hee seemde most to bee dead As the Laurell is greenest in the foulest winter and the lime is hottest in the coldest water and the glow-worme shineth brightest when the night is darkest and the swan singeth sweetest whē his death is neerest (d) Cantator cygnus funeris ipse sui Mart◠alis lib. 13. Epigr Epaminondas being sore wounded in fight demaunded of his souldiers standing by whether his enemies were ouerthrowne or no They answered yea Then whether his buckler were whole or no They answered also I. Nay then sayes he all is well This is not the ende of my life but the beginning of my glory For now your deere Epaminondas dying thus gloriously shal rather be borne agayne then buried (e) Nunc enim vester Epaminondas nascitur quia sic moritur Christ likewise was sore wounded But his enemies death and the deuill were ouerthrowne and spoyled His buckler which was his Godhead was whole and vntouched Therfore there was no harme done His death was no death but an exaltation vnto greater glory (f) Ego si exaltatus suero Ioh. 12.32 That noble Eunuch riding in his cooch read in Esay that Christ was silent before his death as a lambe before the shearer He sayes not before the butcher
in respect of vs which are aliue it is a very charitable custome yea it is a very honorable custome to giue mourning cloakes or gownes But in respect of them that are dead it is altogether needles For what neede wee weare black mourning cloakes in signe of forrowe seeing as it is in the Reuelation they weare white long roabes in token of tryumph Therfore Chrysostome saith q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It becommeth vs that are christians at the death of christians rather to reioyce as at a triumph then to weep as at a tragedy For saies Ierom r Desiderandi sunt vt absentes non deplorandi vt mortui We may indeed wish for them because they are not with vs but we must not weepe for them because they are with God Loue I graunt cōmaunds vs. Well Be it so What then But yet faith forbids vs to weepe for the dead ſ Pietas plorare iubet sides pro defunctis lugere vetat Isidorus And therfore Paulinus saith t Salua fide pietatis officia pendamus salua pietate fidei gaudia praeferamus Though wee may notwithstanding our faith performe to the dead the dueties of loue yet wee must first notwithstanding our loue affoord to our selues the comforts of faith So if we shead some fewe teares which run softly like the waters of Sylo no force saies Ambrose u Erunt non doloris illices sed indices pietatis They will not bewray in vs any want of faith but only testifie an abundance of loue Thus and no otherwise did Abraham weep for Sara his wife Eleazar for Aarō his father Rebecca for Debora her nurse Ioseph for Iacob his father Bershaba for Vrias her husband Christ for Lazarus his friend And here in wonderfull wisdome he teacheh vs howe sparing we ought to be in weeping for the death of our godly friendes considering our good hope that are aliue and their good happe that are dead As if the very dead body whom some of you perhaps euen at this present so seriously thinke of so much lament for should nowe sodainly arise out of the graue and step into the pulpit and preach and say vnto you VVEEP NOT FOR ME BVT VVEEP FOR YOVR SELVES You indeed as yet remaine in this vale of misery where you sin daily and howerly against God where continually you feele afflictions punishmēts dew to your sins where lastly you are depriued of the glory of God of the society of the saintes of the ioyes of heauen Therefore if you will VVEEP FOR YOVR SELVES BVT VVEEPE NOT FOR MEE I am in that state of perfection where I neuer sin but alwaies prayse and laud the Lord. I am out of the compas of all calamities not to be touched with any trouble Ieuermore behold the amiable and the louing countenance of Christ and though I come not very neere him yet so farre forth I see him as this sight alone is sufficient to make mee euery way a happy man Thus would the very dead if they should rise againe speake vnto vs. But wee will not any longer disquiet the dead or disturbe them which so sweetly sleep in Christ Certainly either this that hath bin spoken will perswade vs or els as our sauiour saith though one should rise stom the dead wee would not beleeue For if these aunciēt holy fathers Fulgentius Ignatius Cyprian Chrysostome Ierom Isidore Paulinus Ambrosius should now all arise they would I assure you say no other thing but euen as you haue heard them speake already in those sentences and allegations which I haue quoted cited out of them The sum of all which is this That it is great folly and childishnes to weep immoderatly for the dead and that it is on the other side a hie point of wisdome to bee moderate in this matter Cōsidering our Lord going here to his death teacheth his friends not to weepe for him in that hee saies VVEEP NOT VVEEP NOT FOR MEE Thus much for his wisdome Nowe for benignity hee saies NOT YOV For though the person bee not expressed in the englishe yet in the greek verbe it is implyed Weepe not as if it were weepe NOT YOV Which benignity appeared in that among all his vntollerable troubles nothing troubled him so much as that his friends were troubled for his troubles And yet as it should seeme they of all other had greatest cause thus to bee grieued All the people wept for Moyses death all Aegypt for Iosephs death all Israel for Iosias his death all the Church for Stephens death But a million of Moysesses of Iosephs of Iosiasses of Stephens are not comparable to Christ The women of Troy wept for the death of worthy Hector their valiant captaine making this the foot of their doleful ditty we weep for Hector x Hectora flemus Seneca in Troade actu primo Howe much more then ought these women of Ierusalem to weepe for the death of their captaine Christ Al the widowes lamēted the death of Dorcas because in her life time shee made them coates and garments And had not these women then far greater reason to lamēt the death of Christ who made euery one of them a wedding garment wherin hee did marry them to himselfe Ye daughters of Israel saith Dauid weep for Saul who clothed you with Scarlet Howe much more then ought these daughters of Ierusalem to weepe for Christ who cloathed euery one of them with scarlet and with the royall robe of his righteousnes yea and gaue his owne deare selfe vnto them that they might put on the Lord Iesus When Christ was borne the night was turned into day as it was prophesied y Psalm 139.12 Then shall the night shine as the day But when Christ was crucified the day was turned into night as it was prophesied z Amos cap. 8. ver 9. Then shall the sun go downe at noone day The sunne therfore wept for Christ As Hammons face was couered when he was condemned to die so the suns face was couered whē Christ was condemned to die The temple also wept for Christ As Dauid rent his garment when he heard of Ionathans death so the temple rent his vaile when it heard of Christs death The graues likewise wept for Christ As the king of Niniue threw vp dust vpon his head whē hee and his subiects were appointed to die so the graues opened and threwe vp dust vpon their heads when Christ was appoynted to die The stones lastly wept for Christ As Iob cut his haire when hee heard of his childrens death so the stones were cut in peeces and clouen asunder when they heard of Christes death An asse carying Christ into Ierusalem the children sung most merely Christ carying his crosse out of Ierusalem the women wept most mournfully If those children had held their peace and not sung as our sauiour there protesteth the very stones would haue sunge out the praise of Christ If these women had held their
peace not cried the very stones would haue cried for the death of Christ Or rather indeed as soone as euer these women left weepinge because Christ bad them straightwaies the stones fell a weeping before Christ bad them And what heart of man then could here haue refrayned from weeping though it had bin harder then any stone seeing the hard stones before his eies thus dissolued and distilled into teares Yet behold the benignity and louing kindnes of Christ Christ died not for the sunne not for the temple not for the graues not for the stones but for vs men and for our saluation he dyed Yet he suffereth these senceles creatures to weep and to haue a liuely feeling of his death though they had no benefit by his death But beeing 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 saies he I will beare all the sorrow you shall haue only ioy and though I dye and shed my very heart bloud for you yet you shall not so much as weepe or shed the least teare for mee NOT YOV VVEEPE NOT FOR ME. Thus much for his benignity Lastly for magnanimity he saies NOT FOR MEE Straunge stoutnes and courage Especially in him that was otherwise so mild and so meeke a lambe But here the cause quarell beeing ours he fighting for the saluation of our souls there is no rule with him hee plaies the lyon whersoeuer hee goes For holding nowe in his hand the cup of trembling and beeing ready to drinke vp the very dregs of it yet neither his hand nor his heart trembleth Ennius the poet as Tully testifieth could say thus much Let no man weep for my death a Nemo me lacrymis decoret And S. Laurence the martyr as Prudentius witnesseth Doe not weep for my departure b Desiste discessu meo fletum dolenter fundere But as Ennius or any other pagan could neuer come neere christians in true magnanimity so S. Laurence or any other christiaÌ„ could neuer come neere Christ The blessed Apostle S. Paul of any that euer I heard of commeth neerest to him Going toward Ierusalem what do you saies hee 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 do you saies hee weeping and breakinge my heart for I am ready not only to bee bound but euen to dye also for the saluation of man He knewe well enough his passion would be a new kind of transfiguration vnto him For at his transfiguration he was accompanied with his deare disciples Peter Iames and Iohn but at his passioÌ„ Peter denied him Iames Iohn forsooke him And there he was vpon mount Tabor which smelled sweetly of hearbs and flowers but here he was vpon mount Caluary 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 embrued in bloud and hee himselfe stript starke naked And there he was between two famous prophets Moises Elias but here when they thought hee called for Elias to help him Elias would not come nay he was between 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 hee screeched most lamentably to his father from the crosse My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Yet behold behold the magnanimity of Christ Christ knewe well enough before hand of all this fearefull horrible passion prepared for him wherin he was not transfigured as before but disfigured so as neuer was any man Yet nothing could moue him This cowardlynes of his disciples this noysomnes of the place these diuelishe buffets vpon his bare face these bloudy wounds vpon his naked body these vile theeues these hydeous 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 cryes saue the man saue the man yet puts out himselfe and standing vpon one legge and strikinge with one arme fights still as stoutly as if he had neuer bin hurt at all so Christ hauinge bin scorned and scourged already when the whole theater of heauen and earth wept for him yea when the powers aboue the heauen came down and the dead vnder the earth rose vp to moue and pitty him only he himselfe would neither aske any fauour of others nor yet shewe any fauour to himselfe but was very angry called him Sathan that gaue him such counsell Yea though all the saincts in heauen and earth did bleed at the very heart (c) Caelum terra compatiuntur ei Anselmus in speculo Euangel sermonis cap. 13. in a manner as much as he himselfe did vpon the crosse to see so good 〈◊〉 man so shamefully despited yet nothing could stay him but still he went on forward as pleasantly and as cheerefully is to any banket or feast to this most ruâ—â—ull and dreadfull death O sweet Iesus O my deare Lord forgiue me I humbly beseech thee for thy mercy sake forgiue me 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 doe not see thee at this present led as a lambe to the slaughter yet only meditating of thy death so many hundred yeeres after I can not possibly refraine from weepinge Yea by so much the more do I lameÌ„nt and mourn by how much the more I see thee ioyfull glad Come forth ye daughters of SioÌ„ saies he d Canticae 3.11 and behold king SalomoÌ„ with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his mariage in the day of the gladnes of his heart As if hee should haue sayd come forth yee daughters of Ierusalem and behold Iesus Christ with the crowne of thornes wherwith the sinagogue 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 mariage and the day of his death vpon the crosse the day of the gladnes of his heart Thus you see in this seauenth part the wisdome the benignity the magnanimity of Christ in that hee sayth Not weep not you not for mee VVEEP NOT FOR ME. VVEEP NOT FOR ME BVT VVEEP FOR YOVR SELVES THe eyght part which is the last now only remaineth BVT VVEEPE FOR YOVR SELVES wherein