in these good workes the doing of which is a dutie toward man but that true and sound Religion is necessarily and by consequence ioyned with these workes And so when God saith that the Fast which he requireth is to loose bands of wickednes c. and to deale bread to the hungry c. Hee meaneth not that a true Fast doth essentially and formally consist in these workes but that it is euer ioyned with them And the good workes which God requireth to accompany a religious Fast are of two sorts some are workes of iustice which are to loose the bands of wickednesse to vndoe the heauie burdens c. that is to surcease and leaue off their oppressing and wronging of their brethren And some againe are workes of mercy which are to deale ones bread to the hungry to cloathe the naked c. By all which it doth appeare that God maketh no account of fasting if it be not ioyned with charity toward the poore and iust dealing towards all men The ancient Fathers agreeably to Scriptures are eloquent and plentifull in this argument Saint Ambrose a Illi qui ieiunant à cibo non se abstinent à malo similes sunt diabolo qui non manducat tamen à malo non cessat Ambros Serm. 43. p. 61. Hee that fasteth from meat and abstaineth not from sinne is like the Deuill who doth not eat and yet ceaseth not from sinne And againe the same Father b Qui abstinemus prandia nostra pauperibus praerogemus Sie tu pro delictia tuis ieiunus Dominum roges ille pro te satiatus exoret vtrumque tibi proficiens tua fames saturitas mendicorum Serm. 41. pag. 59. Wee that fast saith he let vs giue our dinners to the poore So thou fasting shalt aske God pardon for thy sinnes and hee beeing filled shall obtaine it for thee and both of them shall be for thy good both thy fasting and the poore mans eating To the same purpose speaketh Saint Augustin c Tum gratae sunt Deo nostrae ieiunia si illi qui necessitate ieiunant reficiantur à nobis August de Temp. Ser. 64. pag. 231. G. Then are our fasts accepted with God saith hee if they which fast because they want meat be relieued by vs. And againe the same Father and in the same Sermon d Dum à licitit abstinemus magis ac magis admonemur illicita vitare Qui enim abstinemus nos à carnibus quibus alijs diebus vti licet c. imprimis peccata fugiamas quae omninò nunquā licent Itaque si volumus bene ieiunare à cibis ante omnia ieiunemus à vitijs Augustin de Temp. Serm. 64. Dominic 1. Quadrages p. 231. E. While wee abstaine from lawfull things wee are admonished more and more to eschew vnlanifull things For wee that abstaine from flesh which at other times wee may vse ought especially to auoyd sinnes which may neuer be vsed And therefore if woe will fast rightly from meat wee must aboue all fast from sinne But Saint Basil most fully and fitly to this purpose e Caue ne ieinnij vtilitatem sola escarum abstinentia metiaris Verum enim ieiunium est ab omnibus vitijs esse alienum c. Bafil de Ieiunio Homil. 1. pag. 331. Doe not place saith he the good of fasting in the abstinence of meat for true fasting consisteth in abstayning from sinne For eatest thou not flesh but thou deuourest thy brother Forbearest thou to drinke wine but thou forbearest not to offer wrong to thy brother And thou stayest till night before thou breake thy fast but thou spendest all the day in Law-suites and quarrelling And doest thou think to please God with such a godlesse fast No no Woe to them that are drunke and not with wine And who be they They are all such saith he as are ouercome and haled away with vnruly lusts of sinne as of anger and enuy and reuenge and ambition and carnall pleasures For all such vnmortified lusts are as so many kindes of drunkennesse For hee that is led and possessed with these hee is not his owne man hee cannot see and discerne the way of reason much lesse of religion no more than a drunken man can find his way in the street And if a man doe abstaine from wine and yet be drunke with these vices or if a man forbeare the flesh of beasts and feed on the bloud of his brother this is no truer a fast in Gods sight than if he should abstaine from a weaker wine and ouerwhelme himselfe with a stronger or should fast from swines flesh and glut himselfe with Partridge and Pheasant The summe of all is A true Fast cannot be separated from an holy life IIII. Fourthly it is required that the soule doe consider of and put in practice such holy duties as a Fast doth by the outward behauiour make profession of Some doe require that euery Fasting-day bee kept as an Holy-day without doing of any worldly worke and with performing of such religious workes as belong to a Sabbath day And their reason for this is because God doth command the Iewes that on their day of expiation in which they were to afflict themselues with fasting they should doe no worke but that they should keepe it for a Sabbath of rest But this I take to be an errour at least I dare not charge it as a necessary duety in any mans conscience because I know no reason to enforce it For to mine vnderstanding the onely place of Scripture which seemeth to incline this way and vpon which they onely rest doth make nothing for it at all The place is in the sixteenth of Leuiticus but especially in the three and twentieth of the same Booke where the same words are repeated and the poynt more fully declared And therefore I will set downe the words there recorded that the Christian Reader may the better consider of the meaning and the more clearely see what to iudge of the reason The words then are these (a) Leuitic 23 27 28 29 30 31 32. On the tenth day of this moneth there shall be a day of Atonement it shall be an holy conuocation vnto you and yee shall afflict your soules and offer an offering made by fire vnto the Lord. And yee shall doe no worke in that same day for it is a day of Atonement to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God c. For better conceiuing of this Text we must note first that the summe and intention of this Chapter is to set downe the Feasts and the Holy-dayes of the Iewes which are heere reckoned vp to be the weekely Sabbath the Passeouer the Offering of the first fruits Pentecost the Feast of the Trumpets the day of Expiation and the feast of Tabernacles And concerning these it is said by way of preface in the beginning (b) Vers 2. Say vnto the children of Israel Concerning the
will set downe mine opinion with submission to better iudgements in three seuerall propositions 1. The precise time and distinct houres how long a Fast must be continued is not any where that I know of peremptorily defined or commanded eyther in the holy Scriptures or in any Writings of the Ancients For as for the Scriptures wee finde examples of some that haue fasted for three dayes and many that haue fasted till night but where eyther that space or any other is commanded for my part I confesse I know not And for the ancient Church it is a cleare case that they vsed to fast somtime till euening and many times but till three a clocke in the afternoone Which sheweth that they thought no set space of time absolutely necessary 2. In euery religious Fast the abstinence must be continued so long as that the body by wanting his ordinary food may bee in some sort chastened and afflicted For so the Scriptures set out a Fast vnto vs as accompanied with chastening and humiliation Thus Dauid speaketh (a) Psal 69.10 I wept and chastened my soule with fasting And the Angell speaking of Daniels Fast (b) Dan. 10.12 When thou didst set thine heart saith hee to vnderstand and to chasten thy selfe before thy God And Ezrah (c) Ezrah 8.21 I proclaymed a Fast that wee might afflict our selues before God By all which and other moe sayings to like purpose it is apparant that in euery true Fast there is an afflicting of the body Which how it is to be vnderstood I haue declared (d) Cap. 4. pa. 49 c. elsewhere 3. The longer our abstinence is so it bee with moderation and regard to a mans strength such as heretofore I described the more perfect the Fast is and the more auaileable for the good which we intend by it My reasons are First because fasting is ordained for humiliation and chastening of our selues before God which the more sensible it is the more effectuall it proueth but the longer the abstinence is the greater is the humiliation or chastening that is wrought by it And therefore the longer the abstinence the perfiter the Fast is Secondly Vpon extraordinary occasions and when greater need required then Gods seruants haue been accustomed to enlarge the time of their fasting as I haue shewed before in Ester and the men of labesh c. And this sheweth that the longer the abstinence is the more powerfull the Fast is Thirdly The ancient Church did vse longer abstinence in Lent time than on other fasting-Fasting-dayes intending therein as in all the other religious duties to shew more piety than at other times they vsed And this sheweth that the longer the abstinence is the more perfit they thought the Fast to be Fourthly this conclusion is acknowledged by our Aduersaries of the Romish Church For though they defend the loosenesse of their Church which permitteth them on fasting-Fasting-dayes to take their dinner at the vsuall time yet they confesse a Quò quis tardiùs distulerit cò meliùs ieiunare iudicandus est Valer. Reginald prax fori poenit l. 4. c. 13. num 158. Quanto plus tardâ horâ comeditur meliùs ieiunatur Caietan v. Ieiun pag. 120. Neque ignorant Catholici ieiunium tantò esse perfectius quantò diutius refectio siue Coena differtur Bellar. de bon oper in particl l. 2. cap. 2. pag. 1072. B. that by how much later the houre of our eating is by so much our Fast is the better and that they know well enough that the Fast is so much the more perfit by how much the refection after it is the longer protracted 4. The vsuall time of abstinence mentioned in Scriptures in an vsuall and ordinary Fast is the space of one day from morning till night Thus it is said of the children of Israel (b) Iudg. 20.26 that they wept and sate before the Lord and fasted that day vntill euen and of Dauid and his men (c) 2. Sam. 1.12 that they fasted vntill euen for Saul and for Ionathan c. and of Dauid when hee mourned for Abuer that hee would not be perswaded by the people to eate meat while it was yet day but sware saying (d) 2. Sam. 3.35 So doe God to mee and more also if I taste bread or ought else till the Sunne bee downe And so elsewhere And according to this custome it is obserued of the Iewes that euer since they haue kept their Fast (e) Buxdorf Synag Iudaic. cap. 25. pag. 458. Tostat in Matth. 4. q. 11. Azor. part 1. l. 7. cap. 11. q. 1. pag. 563. col 2. till the Starres appeare in the Firmament And lesse time of abstinence then this I no where finde vsed in Scriptures 5. In the Primitiue Church I finde that in the beginning they fasted till sixe of the clocke in the afternoone or till sun setting which in common estimation is about sixe of the clocke For that is the most indifferent time to measure the euening by the most proportionable to the whole yeer and most answerable to the custome of Gods people in the old Testament For there was not such difference betweene the day and the night among the Iewes as is among vs. For in Iurie the shortest day had tenne houres and the longest night but foureteene Whence it followeth that for the greatest part of the yeere the sun did set much what about sixe either not long after or not long before it And when the greatest inequality was as in the depth of winter it did set at fiue of the clocke and in the height of summer at seuen And therefore the most equall time to measure the end of the day or the sunne setting by for all the yeer is sixe of the clocke And that I take to haue bin the vsuall time when both the Iewes and the ancient Christians did breake off their Fasts But afterward Christians began to abridge the time of the abstinence and to cease their Fasts at least many of them about three of the clocke in the afternoone Which Azorius a Tepescente sensim vetere illo feruore coeptum est solui ieiunium primò quidem antequam sol occidcret deinde verò etiā paucis heris ante solis abscessum Azo par 1. l. 7. c. 11. q. 1. pag. 563 564. imputeth to decay of zeale euen in those better times and I wil not deny but it might be so in some part albeit perhaps another reason may be conceiued thereof besides namely the multitude of their Fasts which at that time were frequent especially among the religious sort who gaue themselues to deuotion For they sauing Sundayes and festiuall times were vsed to fast euery day and it might seeme perhaps too much strictnes in such continuall sort to endure so long abstinence and therefore though in Lent time and vpon other dayes of more straite discipline they vsed to fast till night yet ordinarily they broke off their Fasts three houres sooner
But if it were decay of zeale in those former Christians that they ceased their Fasts before night then it must needs be an extinction of zeale in the Romane Church who breaketh her Fast at the vsuall time of eating or rather doth not keepe any Fast so long And now out of all this we haue in the generall this cleare and manifest conclusion That though no precise time for continuance is prescribed in Gods Word yet the continuance of a Fast without eating or drinking till euening which by common estimation is held to be about sixe of the clocke is approued of in Scriptures and was practised by the ancient Christians and commended of all and that the shortening of this time was from decay of deuotion And therefore if wee would take a safe way and that which is best approued of all we must continue our abstinence on our fasting dayes till night without eating or drinking till about euening vnlesse infirmity or some other necessary cause doe require refreshing sooner But more particularly we may from the former discourse gather and obserue these things following 1. Wee may see that the Fast of Protestants which is continued in perfect abstinence from all meate and drinke till the euening is more agreeable to the custome of Gods people in former ages and is in it selfe a better and more perfect Fast then the Fast of Papists is euen our Enemies being Iudges For they praise it for a better Fast which hath the longer abstinence and we fast till night whereas they doe not so much as forbeare eating till mid-day 2. We may see with how little God is contented at our hands in respect of that which Christ performed for our sakes For abstinence for the space of one day is accepted of God for a good dutie of humiliation but Christ our Lord fasted forty dayes and forty nights for the furthering of our saluation And yet whereas Christ performed all this for our sakes we think it too much to doe this little for his sake Nay as the Iewes were wearie of the Sabbath day and times of Gods seruice and said (a) Amos 8.5 When will the new-moone be gone and the Sabbath that we may set foorth wheat And againe (b) Mal. 1.13 Behold what a wearinesse is it say they And ye haue snuffed at it saith the Lord of Hosts So we may finde men that when they come to heare a Sermon are weary of hearing and wish that the Sermon were ended before the time and when they come to Church-Seruice are weary of praying and wish that the Seruice were ended before the time but especially if they vndertake an holy Fast are sooner wearie of the Abstinence and wish that the fasting day were ended before the time But a good Christian for discouering of his owne corruption should take notice of this inequality between Christs sufferings for our sakes and our suffering for his sake And if the flesh grow weary of hearing or reading or praying or fasting for a conuenient requisite time he should check himselfe with the example of his Sauiour and say to himselfe But my Lord and Master preached all day and prayed all night and fasted many dayes and nights together for my sake and shall I grudge to spend one houre or one day in his seruice for his Names sake The religious soule that shall thus now and then checke his owne dulnesse will by the meditation heereof gaine more feruour in Gods seruice CHAP. X. What we are to thinke of the Fast of Lent THe Church from the beginning hath been accustomed to keepe an annuall Fast euery yeere commonly called Ieiunium Quadragesimale the fortie dayes Fast because it was continued about that number of dayes and was occasioned by this forty dayes Fast of our Sauiour Concerning which Quadragesimal or forty dayes Fast known among vs by the name of Lent or Lent Fast haue bin diuers opinions of late yeeres as there were diuers customes in keeping of it in former times For some haue magnified it too superstitiously placing Religion in outward things onely wherein the power of godlinesse could not consist and others haue scrupulously condemned all vse of it thinking that it could neuer be well vsed which they had seene so much abused In respect of which difference of opinions as also and especially because it is so proper to the argument in hand and hath such reference to the words of the Euangelist which I tooke for my ground I thought it not vnfit in the last place to enquire into the nature condiof this Lent Fast that amidst different opinions we might know what to thinke For which purpose I haue proposed to my selfe these 5 things to bee more particularly considered of 1. Who was the Author of it and from whence the institution of it came 2. How and in what sort it was kept in the ancient Church 3. What good vses it then had or now may haue among vs. 4. Why choyce was made of this season of the yeere for this Fast 5. What relation and what dependance this forty dayes Fast of Lent hath on Christs Fast of forty dayes in the Wildernesse I. The first thing is Who was the Author of it c. Answ I finde three speciall opinions concerning this point 1. The first opinion is that the Fast of Lent is of Diuine institution either appointed immediately by Christ himselfe or else ordained by the Apostles with authority and by the commandement of their Lord and Master a Dominus noster sanctis suis Apost olis per Spiritū S. id etiam inspirauit vt disertis verbis huius abstinentiae praeceptum populo Christiano proponerēt Pisan de Absti cap. 9. pa. 138. v. Filesa de Quadrag ca. 1. Ant. Liturg. tom 2. Sabb. post Cineres pag. 117. c. Azor. p. 1. lib. 7. cap. 12. q. 1. Of this opinion are many Popish Writers and to this purpose some of the Fathers speeches are alledged but their meaning is not that which at first sight it may seeme to bee 2. The second opinion is that it is of Apostolicall but not Diuine institution They meane that the Apostles did ordaine Lent-Fast as beeing in their iudgements a wholesome and most conuenient order but not as being any commandement receiued from God or from Iesus Christ And of b Non fuit datū subsequentibus tēporibus sed ab ipsis Apostolis initio nascentis Ecclesiae c. Val. Reginal Prax. fori poenit l. 4. ca. 12. nu 129. p. 148. v. et Vas to 3. in 3. Disp 213. nu 4. pag. 444.2 Ioh. Medina Cod. de Ieiun quaest 2. pa. 328. Less de Iustit Iure l. 4. c. 2. Dubitat 5. num 29. seqq pa. 722.2 Filliuc Tract 27. part 2. ca. 5. nu 77 78. nu 95. Bell. de bo oper in partle l. 2. cap. 14. Stapl. prompt Cathol Domin 1. Quadrag p. 84 85. Tost Mat. 4. q. 18. Barrad to a. l. 2. c.
death passion should bee celebrated with all thankfulnes about the same season in which he endured them a Ieiunandum orandum est Et quando potiùs quando instantiùs quà m propinquante Dominicae passionis solennitate quae celebritate anniuersariâ quodāmodo nobis eiusdē noctis memoriâ resculpitur ne obliuione deleatur Aug. de Diuer Serm. 74. c. 5. pag. 499. B. And the maner in which such sufferings of his may be most liuely represented and remembred by vs is if we passe those dayes in humiliation and sorrow whereby we may bee made conformable to his passion and death and by which wee may in a good sence be said to fulfill that which Christ did foretell when he said (b) Luk. 5.35 The dayes will come when the Bridegroome shall be taken away from them then shall they fast in those dayes And sure God himselfe by so obscuring the sunne that contrary to the course of nature it was darkened all the time that Christ was on the Crosse doth teach vs with what behauiour we should passe the time of his Sonnes sufferings and death And from hence I may conclude in St. Augustines words c c In qua parte anni congruentiùs obseruatio Quadragesimae constitueretur nisi confini atque continuà Dominicae passloni Aug. epist 119. ad Ianuar. cap. 15. pa. 195. f. In what part of the yeere could Lent haue bin more fitly placed then in that which is ioyned to our Lords passion and death Secondly because the Feast of Easter was now at hand and that was the day in which our Lord rose againe from his graue in which new Conuerts were baptized in great number and in which all sorts of men did come in flockes to the receiuing of the Lords Supper And therefore as the Euangelist saith of the Iewes Easter (a) Ioh. 19.31 that that was an high day so it may much more be said of the Christians Easter that it is an high day and to bee kept with all celebrity and in the most deuoutest manner And in respect heereof the Ancients were wont to keepe this Feast not for one day onely or for three dayes space as wee now doe but for a whole weeke together Yea and some festiuity and remembrance of it they kept for sixe weekes more euen till Whitsontide or the day of Pentecost Now that the great celebrity of this high day might be performed with better deuotion and more religious reioycing the ancient Fathers thought it necessarie that men should bee prepared aforehand for the performance of so weighty a seruice And therefore as the Iews (b) 2 Chron. 35.6 Ioh. 11.55 had their dayes of preparation before the Passeouer and as Christians haue their fasting eues to goe before their festiuall dayes that by their former dayes repentance they may be prepared for an holy reioycing the next day after so the Christian Church did thinke it necessary before this great Feast of Christs Resurrection to appoint some large and solemne time for humiliation and conuersion that men being prepared by a serious practice of al good duties they might be the more fit to pray for the new Conuerts and to receiue the blessed Sacrament and to praise God for his Sons Resurrection and to passe this holy day with an holy and heauenly reioycing And these I take it were the true reasons V. The fift and last question concerning Lent is What relation this Fast of fortie dayes in the Church hath to that of our Sauiour when he fasted forty dayes in the Wildernesse Answ To this question there bee three answeres 1. That our Lord as himselfe fasted fortie dayes in the manner declared so he appointed and ordained that his Disciples the whole Church after him should follow his example and fast once in the yeere so many dayes as he had done before in the wildernesse This seemeth to bee the opinion of (a) Enchitid lo. de Ieiun pag. 563. in solutione sextae oblectionis Coster and (b) de Quadr. cap. 1. pag. 392. seqq Filesacus and the (c) To. 2. Sabbatho post Cineres pag. 117 118. Author of the Booke called Antiquitates Liturgicae Answ 2. The second answere is that though Christ did not in words giue any such Law or appoint any such order yet his bare example doth tye Christians to the like obseruation practice Of this opinion some later Diuines in the Roman Church may seeme to bee who as (d) Quidam iuniores consent esse iure Diuino sancitum id probant quia aliqui veteres Ecclesia Patres videntur decuisse illud esse iuris Diuini quoniā Christus quadraginla diebus quadra ginta noctibus iejunium seruauit Azor. Instit part 1. l. 7. cap. 12. q. 1. pa. 566. col t. Azorius saith of them did thinke that Dent-Fast was by Diuine Law because some of the Fathers seeme to say that it was of Gods appoynting for that Christ did fast forty dayes and forty nights But these two answeres haue small shew of probability and no ground of certainety at all For all the reason that they alledge is so farre as I know only the authorities of some Fathers which haue not that meaning as Doctors of their owne Chruch haue endeuoured to declare Answ 3. The third answere is that neither Christs precept nor practice doth force or require Christians to keepe a Fast of fortie dayes or this which we call our Lent-Fast but yet the Church did appoint and doth obserue this number of daies in their Lent-Fast with respect and reference to the like number of dayes that Christ fasted in the wildernesse To this purpose Tostatus seemeth to speake when he saith that a Dicendū quòd hoc non prouenit ex alique mandato Christi sed ex solo Ecclesiae statuto Habuit tamen illud causas pendentes ex hoc facto Tostat in Mat. 4. q. 18. our fortie dayes Fast doth not proceede from any precept of Christ but onely from the constitution of the Church yet it had saith he reasons drawne from this Fast of Christ And Stapleton b Ieiunat igitur Ecclesia 40. diebus ad exemplum Christi non quide simpliciter quia Christus sic fecit sed quia eius exemplo sic faciendum esse in hac parte eius vesligia sequenda esse Ecclesia ab Apostolorū tempore docuit Stap. Prompt Cathol Dominic 1. Quadr. text 1. pag. 78. The Church saith he doth fast fortie dayes after the example of Christ not simply because Christ did so but because the Church hath taught vs by his example to doe so Which words may againe seeme to carrie the like meaning But it mattereth not what they mean (c) D. Field of the Church l. 3. cap. 19. pag. 105 106. A reuerend and learned Writer in our own Church hath deliuered the poynt in much more distinct maner Hee saith three things 1. That it is very fit there
was a part of those sufferings which hee did vndergoe for our sakes Where by the way we may reflect vpon our selues and tell our owne soules that if our Lord did doe all these things for our sakes wee should not thinke much to doe a little for his sake but more especially seeing hee fasted so many dayes and nights for vs wee should not grudge to fast a little now and then for him But how for him For I suppose all men will be ready to say that if they knew they should fast for Christs sake as hee fasted for ours that then they would doe it with a good-will or else it were pitty of their liues To such men if any shall make such demand my answer is Wee may truly be said to fast for Christs sake many wayes As first if we fast that we may with more reuerence and better attention and greater feruour performe holy dueties vnto him In which kinde they fast for Christ who when they come to Church to heare and pray and prayse God and to partake of the blessed Sacrament of Christs body doe forbeare their meate that they may bee more fresh to attend to those holy dueties and because they doe preferre Gods seruice before their owne necessity and doe loue the Word and the Sacrament more than their necessary food Secondly wee may be said to fast for Christ if wee fast that wee may subdue those sinnes that nayled Christ to his Crosse and which if wee commit them doe (a) Heb. 6.6 crucifie againe the Sonne of God and make a mocke of him And in this kinde they fast for Christ who forbeare their meat that they may sorrow for their sinnes and may arme themselues against temptations and bring vnder their body that their flesh doe not wax wanton against Christ Thirdly wee may fast for Christs sake if wee forbeare to feed our selues that wee may haue wherewith to relieue others who beeing the poore members of Christ haue neede of our supply For what is done to any one of those little ones is esteemed as done to Christ himselfe And sure if Christ did fast so long that hee might supply vs it were both sinne and shame not to forbeare a meale if need require that wee may cherish Christ in his members In this manner and by these meanes wee may be said to fast for Christ Let vs make vse of them in our practice and wee shall hereby shew our loue to our Sauiour as hee by fasting forty dayes for vs shewed his great loue vnto vs. II. A second cause why our Lord fasted at this time may be that hee might by this meanes prouoke Sathan to begin his assault The declaration and proofe of this assertion dependeth vpon two things first that his fasting was a fit occasion that might prouoke the Deuill to the on-set secondly that Christ was willing to giue him such an occasion And first that this was a fit occasion appeareth by 2. things 1. Because when men are in distresse then is the Deuils opportunity to tempt them eyther to distrust God because hee leaueth them without reliefe or to vse vnlawfull meanes that they may relieue themselues 2. Because the euent sheweth that Christs hunger caused by his fasting was the occasion that Sathan tooke to assault him For when he saw him fainting for want of bread then hee thought it a fit time to say If thou be the Sonne of God command that this stone bee made bread And what the euent did make manifest afterward that our Lord knew very well before-hand Secondly That our Lord was willing to giue the Deuill such an occasion to prouoke him to the combat may appeare by two things also 1. Because it was Gods will to haue it so as is euident by this that the Spirit of God led him into the wildernesse to be tempted of the Deuill and Christs will was euer agreeable to the will of his Father 2. Because Christ did so thirst after our saluation that hee refused no paynes nor no danger to procure it Hee left heauen that he might become man for vs hee tooke our base nature that hee might beare our infirmities and he went vp to Ierusalem that hee might be crucified and hee came into the world that hee might saue the world by his sufferings And so seeing the temptations of Sathan by which hee assaulted our Sauiour might be profitable for vs and auaileable for our saluation for so Sathan might be ouercome at his owne weapon and wee armed against his assaults afterward wee neede not doubt but as the Spirit led Christ into the wildernesse to be tempted of the Deuill so our Lord himselfe would fast and hunger that the Deuill might assault him And heere againe by the way a Christian may haue a good meditatiō from his Masters practice that seeing Christ was ready to fight against the Deuill for our sakes wee should not feare to stand out against men for his sake But if Religion be a cause that wee are questioned by Enemies or disgraced by worldlings or kept from preferment by great Ones wee must beare oppositions of men for loue to Christ as hee bore these temptations of the Deuill for loue vnto vs. III. A third cause may be that by this exercise of fasting hee might prepare and fit himselfe for the great worke that hee was about For hee was now to enter vpon his Propheticall Office and to begin the publique function of his Ministery And in this and such like cases as this Gods seruants haue vsed to make preparation by fasting and prayers as may bee seene in the example of (a) Act. 13.3 Paul and Barnabas and (b) Act. 14.23 other Presbyters of diuers Churches And therefore seeing our Lord here fasted for a long space and that at such a time as he was to enter vpon the ministery of the Gospell we may well thinke that this is one reason of his fasting that hee might prepare himselfe for this great seruice Onely the doubt may be But what needed our Lord any such preparation For 1. hee was not defectiue in any grace For God (a) Ioh. 3.34 gaue not the spirit to him by measure but he was (b) Ioha 14. full of grace and truth 2. Our Lord was an innocent (c) 1 Pet. 1.19 Lambe without blemish and without spot And what needed hee such preparatiue helps that had all grace and no sinne I answere there be three reasons hereof First that he might stirre vp and inflame and as yee would say actuate the grace which he had already To this purpose it is that when hee was to pray he (d) Mat. 14.23 went into a mountaine or some other priuate place alone ardentioris orationis causâ that he might pray the more feruently say the Learned And so againe when he was to raise vp La Zarus (e) Ioh. 11.33 he groaned and was troubled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he troubled himselfe that is he stirred vp his
past and fit them for all holy duties for the yeere to come And this practice might bee of great vse for all those that should vse it accordingly and that in diuers respects 1. Because there may be some publike offences committed by the body of the Church either in the omission of some common duty or in their neglect of gouernment and discipline or in the mis-ordering of the publike State And for such sinnes as these it is very reasonable that as the whole body hath sinned so the whole body should sorrow and repent by their ioynt humiliation submission seeke reconciliation and pardon For which purpose we may reade that God did not onely appoint the Priest and the Prince the people to bring sinne-offerings for their errours but enioyned also an Oblation for the Community or body of the Church Leu. 4.13 14. c. If saith he the whole Congregation of Israel sinne through ignorance and the thing be hid from the eyes of the Assembly c. When the sinne which they haue sinned is knowne then the Congregation shall offer a young bullocke for the sinne In which passage wee may note two things 1. That besides the sinnes of particular men there might be some sinnes of the whole Community sinnes which were properly neither the sins of the Priest nor of the Prince nor of the people alone for of all these hee had spoken before and had appointed them their seuerall sacrifices and oblations for their atonement but sinnes they were of the whole Congregation As for example saith Tostatus when some Ceremonie or dutie was neglected by all and not noted or questioned by any Or 2. when the body representatiue they in whō the chief gouernment rested did commit some errour against Gods Law either in making or in executing or in neglecting of publike Lawes or in any other miscarriage about the publike state And such slips as these may easily be committed by the Congregation or Community of the Church at this day Secondly note that when such offence was committed God appointed that as the whole Congregation was guilty so the whole should ioyne in the sinne-offering And so it is requisite that for the common sins which escape the body of the Church the whole body should ioyne together in one and haue some appointed time in which by their ioynt repentance they may obtaine common forgiuenesse For which purpose the time of Lent might serue most conueniently it being the time in which the whole Christian Church in all countryes did vse publike humiliation and in which Kings and Nobles and people did ioyne in exercises of fasting and sorrow Which course of humiliation if Christian States and people did vse accordingly then I doubt not but many Churches and Common-wealths might haue stood firme and in a flourishing estate which now are ruinated or possessed by the Enemy because they did not preuent Gods Iustice by their open and publike repentance Secondly there might be good vse of this institution of Lent for the former purpose because in the compasse of a yeere there may happen many faults and distempers in our soules which are not discernable in the space of a day or a weeke or a moneth Euery man findeth by experience in his houses and dwellings that if he view them at the daies or weekes end hee shall many times perceiue but small difference but after a yeere or more he will spy some defects which at the beginning of the yeere they had not And so in his clothes and the vessell of his house after so much space of time he may see decay in the one and rust in the other though he could not obserue any such change in the euening from that which they were in the morning or at the end of the weeke from that which they were at the beginning And so euen religious minds though they fall not into some notorious sinne which sheweth it selfe at the first view yet they may decay in the feruour of their zeale a Quia dum carnis fragilitate austerior obseruantia relaxatur dumque per varias actiones vitae huius sollicitudo distenditur necesse est de mundano puluere etiam religiosa corda sordescere magnâ Diuinae institutionis salubritate prouisum est vt ad reparandam mentium puritatem quadraginta nobis dierum exercitatio mederetur c. Leo Ser. 4. de Quadrag p. 87. or gather some soyle or filth of worldlines or fleshly delights or such like distemper which is not to bee discerned till after some space of time And for amending of such insensible decay of holines this time would bee fit if it were vsed with that obseruance of discipline which in ancient time was vsuall 3. There may be vse also because in a matter of so great importance as is saluation and eternall happines besides the ordinary care for which a Christian hath opportunity liberty euery day some more speciall time to bee employed with more exact diligence may be very conuenient at the least if not altogether necessary For thus we see in trading and house-keeping men thinke it not inough to booke vp their expences and receipts euery day nor to take account of their successe at the weekes end but besides that ordinary care they vse once in the yeere to cast vp their shops and compare their bookes and take a generall view of all that hath past before in the yeere that so they may correct their errors and supply their defects and better their whole course of liuing for the time to come And the like care schoolemasters take with their schollers for besides their daily and weekely exercises and examinations once in the yeere they do lightly exact of their schollers an entire repetition of all their Grammer rules that by disuse they doe not decay in the grounds of their learning And thus in matters of the soule Leu. 16.29 34. God appointed the Iewes one speciall day or as some thinke two dayes in the yeere wherein ouer and aboue their ordinary exercises of Religion vsed at other times they should wholly intend the sifting of their soules and should in a more exact manner exercise the workes of repentance and humiliation and chastisement for their sinnes And so the Christian Church beside all their other instructions exercises for that purpose which happen euery day in one kinde or other hath moreouer appointed a set and solemne time in the yeere to celebrate the memory of Christs birth and circumcision and of his death and resurrection and ascension into heauen and such like other mysteries of saluation And so in like manner it will be a very profitable course for Christians if they haue a set and solemne time of the yeere for the more exact and perfect examination of their consciences and afflicting of their soules for sinne and the quickening of their zeale for Gods seruice And for this purpose the institution of Lent as it was vsed by the