Perseuerantia Sanctorum A SERMON OF PERSEVERING IN Patience Repentance and Humiliation in time of Afflictions Preached before the Lords of the Parliament at the last Generall Fast vpon Ash-wednesday the 18. day of February 1628. At the Collegiat Church of S. Peter in Westminster By the Right Honourable and Right Reuerend Father in God IOHN Lord Bishop of Lincolne Deane of the sayd Church And now published by their Lordships order and direction LONDON Printed by Iohn Bill Printer to the Kings most Excellent Maiestie 1628. IOB 42. 12. The Lord blessed the latter end of Job more then his beginning GREGORIE obserues in his Morals that those vertues which GOD hath taught vs at the last by an vnited Example in the New hee had taught vs before by seuerall Examples in the Old Testament To shew vnto vs that as Claudian sayd of Stilicon sparguntur in omnes In te mista fluunt Those veines of Vertues distinguish't in the Patriarckes as in seuerall members are conioyned in Christ as the common head and what Christ teacheth in the New Testament by one whole vnited the Patriarckes preach vnto vs in the Old by many broken and diuided examples Hence we are taught before the Law written but one lesson for the most part from any one man As Innocencie onely from Abel Religion from Enoch Hope from Noah Obedience from Abraham Wedlocke-keeping from Isaack doing good for euill from Joseph Meekenesse from Moses Courage from Iosuah and Patience in Calamities from holy Iob. And this most Christian Vertue of Patience in great afflictions though we heare of it in all this Booke yet doe wee learne to follow it in this Chapter onely For as this holy Man Si non flagellaretur non agnosceretur as Gregory notes had neuer beene knowne if he had not beene afflicted in the body of the Booke so say I that hee had neuer beene taken vp for imitation by any man encompassed with flesh and blood if he had not been rewarded in the end of the Booke It is not the loue of Affliction a most vnwelcome guest to this Nature of of ours but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and issue of a godly mans Affliction to wit a Blessing vpon the latter end which teacheth vs to fast and pray in time of Affliction And so say the Grammarians that a Reward is called Pretium quasi Praeitium it must goe before at least in our faith and beliefe or else our Patience in Afflictions neuer comes after ANd vpon this consideration was this Booke first translated by Moses out of Syriacke into Hebrew not to teach the Children of Israel who were yet in Aegypt to suffer Afflictions but to teach them comfort and hope of deliuerance from their Afflictions And afterward this very selfe same Booke was read to the Christians in the Primitiue Church not onely in this time of Lent and publique Sorrow but withall vpon each seuerall occasion of any sudden mishap or priuate sorrow Pro consolatione spe liberationis for their praesent comfort and hope of deliuerance as Origen writes ANd this is the reason that I haue also according to the Praesidents of Antiquitie chosen a peice of the same Booke for my Text at this time It is a time of Lent or publique Sorrow ouer all or the greatest part of the Christian World wherein men doe vse to humble themselues by Fasting Prayer Repentance and all manner of Deuotion for their sinnes against God ANd surely if we consider with Saint Hierome the infinite number of those men of all sorts and callings qui saeculo magis vacant quam Deo who spend more time in the seruice of the World then in the seruice of their God and neuer dreame of Fasting and Prayer but when this Season of the yeare doth call vpon them wee shall finde that this standing Fast was most profitably instituted by the Church Commonefactionis gratiâ to call vpon the backward as Chemnitius Ad cessatores excitandos to spurre them onward that lagge behinde as Cassander writes BEing therefore to offer vp vnto God in sorrow and repentance these 36. dayes the whole time of our cleane Lent either as the Tyth of our dayes as S. Bernard or as the Tyth of the yeare as Aquinas or as the Tyth of our life as Gerson or as the Tole and Tribute of all that wee are as Cassianus thinkes Wee cannot doe it in better tuned meditations then in these Sorrowes and Comforts of the Booke of Iob. AGaine it is a time of our Priuate or Nationall Sorrow wherein this little world of ours the Church and State of this Kingdome doe cast themselues downe before their God in true Compunction and contrition of heart because of their departing from their God in life and Conuersation and of Gods departing from them in his wonted Benediction IT is true indeed that as the Lent of a Christian man should take vp non 40. tantùm sed singulos vniuer sos dies hominis as S. Bernard not 40. onely but all the daies and minutes of a Christian man So surely this Generall Fast for the sinnes of the Nation in-steed of taking vp this one short day should not leaue one day vntaken vp of the whole Lent of an English-man But the wisedome of the State finding the weakenesse of our flesh and bloud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Naz. speakes in the like case hath proportion'd our humiliation to our power and strength to endure the same making this one solemne day to be non solum partem sed sacramentum to vse the words of S. Bernard not a portion onely but a Symbole and repraesentation of a whole Lent and therefore to be solemnized with no Theme more conueniently then the Sorrowes and Comforts of this Booke of Job NOw all the Comfort of this Booke for vpon the Comfort I principally insist is put off to this Chapter and all the Comforts of this Chapter Epitomiz'd in this Verse and all the quint-essence of this Verse couched in the beginning of the Verse which I haue read vnto you Where notwithstanding the miseries which Iob endured yet when his Faith was once discerned his latter end became more blessed The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob more then his beginning I Haue heretofore some yeares sithence dealt with this Verse as God did with Iob in this verse giuen some blessing vpon the latter end thereof but none as yet on the beginning which shall be the Subiect of this praesent Discourse The beginning of this verse I may fitly terme the Reward of an afflicted Christian For that Iob was ante Euangelia Euangelicus as Iulian the Pelagian doth wittily terme him a Christian man long before Christ is acknowledged by all the Fathers And that Christian vertues are really rewarded ex promisso though not
ex commisso by way of promise though not of contract is truely taught by Peter Lombard and the Schoolemen Heere then haue you the Reward of Christian patience in Aduersity inuested with foure seuerall Circumstances FIrst the Efficient cause or the Rise of this Reward which is the Lords Blessing The Lord Blessed Secondly the Materiall cause or Subiect of this Reward double in this place The first points out the person Iob the second reflects vpon his disposition The later end of Iob The Lord blessed the later end of Iob. Fourthly and lastly the Portion and quantity of this Reward which is very ample more then the greatest man in the East is held to be worth for so Iob was in the beginning Job 1. 3. verse But now hee is more then in the beginning The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob more then the beginning So haue you the Efficient of this Reward of a Christian mans Patience in time of affliction the Lords blessing the Subiect generally Iob particularly the latter end of Iob the Portion more then his beginning The Lord blessed c. Of these parts by Gods assistance and your Lordships honourable patience I shall speake plainely briefly and orderly BEginne we therefore with the Efficient cause and let vs take our rise at the Magazin and Treasury where Christian Patience and forbearance is vsually rewarded which is the Lords blessing The Lord Blessed Dicere Dei est facere saith S. Augustine Gods saying is operation and doing For Dixit factum est hee spoke but the word and it was done as it is in the Psalm And as his saying is his doing so his Benediction or saying of some good is his doing of some good or to speake properly his augmenting superadding of some good For as the first blessing that euer fell from God was a Crescite multiplicamini a kinde of increasing and multiplying Gen. 1. 22 So euer since Cum Dominus nobis Benedicit nos crescimus Gods Blessing of vs is an encreasing of vs saith S. Augustine in his Commentary vpon the 66. Psalme And so the Rabbins define Gods Blessings to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Addition of some good And Chemnitius notes that temporall Blessings are euer expressed in the old Testament by the Verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to Adde or as our Sauiour translates it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to adde ouer and aboue Mat. 6. 33. And so in this place ouer and aboue the treasures of the spirit wherewith the mind of this holy man was highly enriched the Lord heaped vpon him and added vnto him these temporall Blessings The Lord Blessed From the nature therefore of the Lords Blessing in this place I will borrow some fiue seuerall Obseruations which I hope your Lordships shall not hold impertinent to this portion of Scripture FIrst if Gods blessing be an ouer-adding it is neither pietie nor policie for there is a kinde of policie euen in Pietie for any Nation whatsoeuer to forbeare her humbling and bowing of her selfe before her God vntill the last cast as it were of her fortunes That is vntill the vtmost period of her Calamities bee come vntill all Gods Graces be quite spent out vntill that Nation bee settled vpon the lees and dregges as it were of Desperation For that blessing which crownes this humbling is not alwaies a creating or restoring but many times a praeuenting super-adding of blessing vpon blessing as in this place The Lord blessed Be a Nation neuer so happy in many Circumstances in a Prince all made of vertues in a people full of pietie and deuotion in a Religion well established in a Gouernement politiquely founded in a Land that floweth with milke and honey yet hath it not quite drawne dry all the Treasurie of Gods blessings Hee hath still some in store For if God goe not in and out with their Armies if Cadmus teeth be sowne in their land and the Apples of Contention throwne in among them if Ephraim bee set against Manasses Manasses against Ephraim both against Iuda if the Prince be iealous of the People the People suspicious of the Prince and Achitophels practising vp and down and putting ends vpon both then surely there is great cause of humbling because there is great need of blessing that is of increasing super-adding new blessings still to those in the beginning as in this place The Lord blessed the latter end of Job more then the beginning And so much of the first Obseruation SEcondly if Gods outward blessings bee onely an ouer-adding though our heauenly Father should as sometimes he doth close vp his hands and adde none of these outward blessings yet were our Patience in time of Adversity sufficiently rewarded in its owne selfe So this holy man in my Text before this outward blessing Intus dives erat was rich enough with his inward blessings as Saint Bernard writes And had hee receiued no other wreath at all yet Patientiae munere coronabatur He was sufficiently adorned with his Crowne of Patience saith S. Gregorie And yet euery Patience will not serue our turne for to haue a carelesse and brawnie soule relying wholy vpon imaginarie suppositions as that there is no providence at all as the Epicures in Tullie or if it be that it fall no lower then the Sphaere of the Moone as Aristotle in Epiphanius or if it vouchsafe to descend to the Earth it relates vnto none but two or three Fauorites as some in Isidorus Pelusiota are of opinion would prooue but a raw and naked blessing So likewise that Paper-patience of the Philosophers begotten either by former praemeditations or by a continuall habite of suffering or some opinion of fatall necessitie or lastly by an abandoning of all naturall affections is but a thinne and bare shelter for a man to repose himselfe in the stormes of Aduersitie But that patient enduring of the child of God we now speake of when the faithfull soule staies her selfe vpon Gods prouidence and vpon an assured resolution of an happy issue in his good time passeth in the meane while in all securitie through the sharpe pikes of woes and miseries is such an admirable endowment and portion of the spirit as that it was reward and blessing enough though the Lord had no otherwise blessed the end of Iob. ANd many times when God hath beene bountifull and magnificent in the inward hee spares the super-addition of these outward Blessings So as wee finde whole Kingdomes Nations where the Gospell is planted and the true Religion generally embraced not to abound for all that as plentifully as the heathen which know not God or the people which haue not called vpon his Name in these outward and externall blessings And I would to God we were to fetch a larger compasse to finde some instances hereof and had not so many so neere vnto vs amongst our
distressed Brethren of the Reformed Churches But passages of this nature God suffereth to come to passe saith S. Augustine for two seuerall reasons First lest the wicked should thinke Ob has colendum Deum That God is worshipped by people vpon this ticket only for outward blessings only Secondly lest the Godly should bee euer expecting of these blessings by the mercenary way of compact and Salarie Quae non Patientia foret sed Auaritia which would amount not to Christian Patience but to a kinde of carnall concupiscence saith S. Augustine And this is Gods ordinary course with vs now adayes that liue vnder the Gospell For as before the comming of Christ and the manifestation of his spirituall Kingdome corporal blessings were for the most part tendred vnder the law So now sithence the incarnation of our Sauiour and the erection of his spirituall Scepter spirituall blessings are euery where proposed to vs in the Gospell So as Gods children that endure their afflictions sent by him as they ought to doe are still one way or other rewarded Sometimes spiritually sometimes corporally alwaies certainely And this spirituall reward had here sufficed though the Lord had no otherwise blessed this Holy man Iob. And so much of the second Obseruation THirdly when wee consider this blessing to bee a super-adding wee may obserue that God sometimes besides these inward Jewels of the minde Faith Hope Patience and the like which wee suruaied but euen now doth heape vpon his seruants euen in the time of the Gospell these outward fauours and blessings also and that for many reasons First Ne malae putentur lest Riches otherwise and the like outward Blessings of God may be thought to bee euill Euill in themselues saith S. Augustine in his Commentaries vpon the 66. Psalme Secondly lest the Godly compassed with flesh and blood should boggle at the Religion Worship and Seruice of God if these outward blessings were thus monopolized to the wicked onely saith the same Father in his 1. B. ad Catechumenos Thirdly because these temporall blessings are expedient and necessary to set many of the Vertues a going as Charitie Almes-giuing and the like In which consideration Aristotle is not so iustly taxed by S. Gregory Nazianzen for making riches necessary for some of the Vertues Because they are out of all quaestion Bonum vnde facias bonum a Good without which we cannot doe good saith S. Augustine in his 5. Sermon De verbis Domini Fourthly God many times addes these temporall because men are not able to take such exact notice as they should of those spirituall blessings wherewith the Elect are inwardly adorned As here what God did for Job fecit vt ostenderet hominibus hee did it onely that men might obserue it saith S. Augustine in his 1. B. ad Catechumenos For these reasons and the like Almighty God besides the riches of the Spirit rewards many times the long suffering of his Seruants with an Amalthaea's horne of these outward blessings especially those that hee knowes will vse them aright Those that with Job can neuer eate their morsels alone but must haue the Fatherlesse taste thereof Those that cannot endure the poore without couering but warme them continually with the fleece of their sheepe Those who suffer not the Strangers to lodge in the streete but open their doores to the Trauailers c. These beside these spirituall shall be crowned also with temporall blessings as the Lord here blessed the end of Iob. And so much of the third Obseruation FOurthly if these temporall blessings are blessings of the Lord those Cloister conceits of the Monckes and Fryers are meerely ridiculous that God loues none but the poore needy hath praepared the Kingdome of heauen for the beggar onely as some Maison de Dieu or great Hospital Salomon tels vs another Story that the rich and the poore meet together and the Lord is the maker of them all Prou. 22. 2. verse And S. Augustine together with S. Ambrose obserue in many passages of their writings that the Holy Ghost hath plac't of purpose Lazarus that was so poore in the bosome of Abraham that was so rich Luc. 16. 22. to teach vs that both rich and poore noble and ignoble if they be indenizon'd by faith in the Kingdome of Grace haue an aequall interest in the kingdome of Glory I will conclude this point with that passage in Cassiodorus Si pauper superbiat non est Dei pauper si locuples humilitatem diligat non est saeculi diues voluntates enim talium sunt inspiciendae non Nomina If a poore man bee sturdie and stubborne he is none of Gods poore men and if the rich man bee lowly and humble hee is no worldly rich man for in such you must not marke so much their outward styles and denominations as their inward habits and dispositions And so much for this fourth Obseruation FIfthly and lastly if these outward blessings come from the Lord Qui disponit omnia sua viter who linckes vp all his businesses in a decent and comely method it behooves vs to obserue by what Pipes and Conduits they are vsually deriued from so remote a fountaine This wee are taught by this little Particle in the front of my Text So So the Lord blessed So. These blessings are deriued from God to men so and so By such meanes and conveyances as are most beseeming the wisdome of God and most corresponding with the nature of men Deus enim sic administrat omnia quae creavit ut ea proprios quoque motus exercere sinat It is a saying of Saint Augustin quoted by all the Schoolemen God doth so moderate and reigle all his creatures as hee followeth the bent and inclination of his creatures If a people be to be blessed God doth it by the goodnesse sweetnesse and gratiousnesse of the King If a King bee to be blessed he doth it by the affection loue zeale and cheerefull supplie of the People And in this last sense the learned Interpreters expound this place This greatest man of all the East not beggar'd which Pellican fitly termes a beggarly exposition but as Shelamo Ben Iarchi prooues out of the Ancient Rabbins impaired onely in his state and fortunes comes now to be supplied per modum subuentionis as Aquinas tearmes it by way of support and subsidie And so according to the lawes and customes of those ancient times and Easterne Countries euery man as it followeth immediately before my Text gaue him a summe of money and euery man an earing of gold and so in this very sort and manner The Lord blessed his latter end more then his beginning And so much of the first part of my Text the Efficient cause or fountaine of this reward of our Patience in Afflictions and humiliation vnder the same which is the Lords blessing
with sorrow and Repentance he makes vp againe into most heauenly and Angelicall formes and images to bee look't on by vs in the Church Militant and to looke vpon him in the Church triumphant So Abraham a great rich noble and mighty Patriarcke was first tempted in his sonne and then set vp for an example of obedience Moses another Prince and Potentate was first afflicted in Aegypt and then erected in the Church for an image of meekenesse Dauid a King first persecuted by Saul and then accounted a Statue of vprightnesse Lastly this greatest man in all the East was first pull'd in pieces with a thousand miseries and in the latter end blessed vp for an aeternall praesident of the reward of Patience and true courage in Princes great ones For so the Lord blessed his latter end more then his beginning And so much of the second part of my Text the common and generall subiect of this reward in this word Iob The Lord blessed Iob. NOw I come more closely to my Text againe and fall vpon the proper and praecise subiect of this reward of Patience and Christian humiliation which is to speake truely and according to Logicque not all Iob but his latter end onely The Lord blessed the latter end of Job The latter end It is obserued by S. Ambrose that when God had created the heauen the earth the night the day the fowles of the Ayre the fish of the Sea and the beasts of the Land hee gaue his approbation that they were good and commended them euery one in the beginning But when he came to Man he paws'd vpon the matter and neuer grac't him with the least Commendations in the beginning And why thinke yee Because saith S. Ambrose prius probandus quam laudandus hee was first to bee tempted and then respectiuely to bee commended And this method wee finde obseru'd in this holy man Iob For although God spoke kindely of him vnto others Iob 1. 8. and suffered him to tast largely of his common blessings in the very beginning yet had he neuer as much as one word with Iob himselfe or afforded him any extraordinary Blessing that the Scripture takes notice of before his temptations were all past before his latter end of his Booke and the latter end of his Patience humiliation and repentance The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob. THe latter end onely For as S. Bernard wittily makes the Allusion Patientia perseuerantia Patience in Affliction Repentance and perseuerance vnto the end are fellow-partners indeed in the Lords haruest and yet though the former endure the burthen the latter onely receiues the blessing Because as S. Augustin obserues in his seauenteenth Booke De Ciuitate Dei and fifth Chapter Non in quo medio sed in quibus extremis euery man and euery Societie and state of men is cursed or blessed not as they suffer in the middle but as they speed in the end The Lord blessed the end of Job The Schoolmen make of this Perseuerance vnto the end which some late Diuines had rather fasten with a rope of sands to the libertie of our will then with a chaine of Adamant to Gods steddie immoueable Grace and goodnesse not any one particular vertue but conditionem annexam cuilibet virtuti saith Bonauenture vpon the third of the sentences a condition implied in euery vertue this being Dei Donum quo caetera seruantur dona saith S. Augustine Gods rare and speciall gift which praeserues and maintaines his other gifts For although as the Apostle tels vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the vertues that adorne a Christian soule doe euery one of them claime kindred of Almighty God et Deus est in vtroque parente and descend from him both in the one and the other line yet this perseuerance vnto the latter end is Vnica filia saith S. Bernard his onely daughter and heire which carries all away Cum enim omnes virtutes currant in stadio sola perseuerantia accipit brauium saith S. Augustine when all the vertues Patience Repentance and Humiliation haue run the race none but this Perseuerance to the latter end can get the Cuppe I meane the Cuppe of the Lords blessings The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob. Our Sauiour promised a table in heauen not to those that heard him or to those that followed him saith S. Chrysost. but to those onely Qui permanserunt who continued with him Luc. 22. 28. And he once prouided a Table on earth to those onely Qui perseuerarunt who perseuered with him Mat. 5. 32. to teach vs that both these Tables that is the blessings of the Heauen and the blessings of the Earth are prouided for them and them onely which continue and perseuere in their Repentance Deuotions to the latter end If a sacrifice be offered vnto God hee likes it not vnlesse it come entire cum cauda with his latter end saith Gregorie If his Priests be annointed with holy oyle it must be in extremis in their outmost parts and latter ends saith S. Cyrill If the Sonne of man appeare vnto Iohn he doth it vestitus podêre in a long garment downe to his latter end as Aquinas obserues And all to teach vs that if we looke for a blessing vpon any of these Graces which the holy Ghost hath stirred in vs to wit Faith Repentance sorrow for our sinnes and the like we must cherish and praeserue them to the latter end for of those the Lord blesseth onely the latter end Our great Assemblies of late haue begun very well with the Generall Deuotions of Fasting and Prayer Who so prophane as to deny it But out alas Lachrymâ nihil citiùs arescit as the famous Orator was wont to say Nothing dries vp faster then a publique teare It seldome continues moist a whole day Faction Ambition and priuate ends by separating a Good King from a Good people a good People from a good King and so both King and People for the time from the wonted benedictions of a good and gracious God haue hitherto praeuented that world of blessings which is readie to fall vpon a deuout perseuerance to the latter end For say what you will of all our humbling and Repenting the Lord blesseth but the latter end And because these Blessings euer fall vpon the latter end Sathan is euer fighting against the latter end For as the K. of Syria commanded those 32. Captaines to fight against neither small nor great saue onely against the K. of Israel 1 King 22. 31 So the Deuill commands his leading and master-Temptations not to fight against any small or great vertue not to fight against any of Gods Graces whatsoeuer saue onely against this perseuerance in true Repentance vnto the latter end quam solam virtutum nouit coronari saith S. Bernard vpon the which vertue onely hee knoweth very
well the Crowne must fall the Crowne of all Blessings temporall and aeternall as here The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob. ANd indeed if that conceit of the Fryars may passe for Gold and will endure the Touch no vertue whatsoeuer can expect those aeternall blessings saue onely a perseuerance in Repentance and pietie vnto the latter end For nothing but Aeternitie can expect to be rewarded with Aeternitie And if we looke for a blessing aeternall which shall continue as long as Gods beeing wee ought to endure not one daies Fast and sorrow for sinne but a sorrow and a suffering aeternall which is to continue as long as our being I meane our worldly and mortall being So that no vertue can lay claime to this Aeternitie of God but Perseuerance vnto the End which is the Aeternitie of man As the Lord here blessed the latter end of Iob. You therefore that would climbe vp to blessings by Jacobs Ladder beginning at the foote therof the blessings here on earth get vp to the top the blessings in heauen remember what you saw vpon that ladder There were Angels descending and Angels ascending but not any sitting or standing still And therefore if you looke to haue your Fasting your praying your sorrow for sinne and your other vertues rewarded by God you must neuer rest then but breath them in continuall motion vntill the time of their Blessing come which is onely the latter end as here The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob. And so much of the third part of my Text the proper subiect of this reward of Christian Patience Repentance and Sorrow for sinne which is the latter end thereof The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob. I Hasten now to the last part of my Text which is the Quantitie of this Reward and is drawne from a Comparison with those blessings which this great man had in common with other Princes of the East before his Affliction and from the beginning and these blessings of his latter end being duely weighed beare down the scales proue more then those of his beginning The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob more then his beginning And this in many respects which to auoid taediousnesse in this honourable Assembly I will run ouer very briefly First all the Blessings in the beginning made Iob but vnum ex multis one of Gods Children at large amongst whom the euill and vniust are also reckoned Mat. 5 45. But this Chastisement and correction toward the latter end made him Gods speciall Minion and darling as it were for he chastiseth euery sonne whom he receiueth Heb. 12. 6. whom he receiueth that is Quem approbat whom hee makes his white Boy as Theophylact interprets that place For indeed the word Prou. 3. 11. from whence the Apostle takes it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quem vnicè diligit whom he cockers aboue the rest of his Children and may bee interpreted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Sonne in whom hee is well pleased as Mercerus that great Linguist makes the Obseruation You see then what height of fauour and priuacie Job by this Correction and due humiliation vnder the same is got vnto and all this sithence his beginning and therefore The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob more then his beginning SEcondly in the beginning I doe beleeue he was a great man but I doe not reade he was a Knight your Lordships will pardon the lightnesse of the Notion which I chose of purpose that the Thing may be the better remembred But in the latter end he had this honour added to be made a Knight a Knight of the Order I meane Christs own Order a Knight of the Crosse that when he should rise againe out of the Earth in the last day and bee couered with his skinne and see God in his flesh he might accompanie his Redeemer vnto Iudgement in a fitting aequipage adorned with his Passions like a Collar of Pearle and couered with his Afflictions the Robes of the Martyrs Now to this Addition of Honour hee was aduanced in his latter end and not in his beginning and therefore The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob more then his beginning THirdly His Fame and Renowne which in honourable Persons no man without impudency can deny for one of Gods blessings is now much enlarged in his latter end For as Philostratus saith very well that one Iupiter set oâ—t by Homer the Poet was worth tenne Iupiters set out by Phidias the Caruer because the former flew abroad through all the world whereas the latter neuer budg'd from his pedistall at Athens So the Fame of Iob in his latter end which is cum sole luna as hee speakes as farre spread as the beames of the Sunne and the influence of the Moone extinguisheth the Fame of his beginning confined to Husse and a little corner of Arabia The Deuill in the beginning was faine perambulare Iob 1. 7. to compasse the world before hee could finde him but euer sithence hee cannot tempt the least of Gods children but instantly hee heares of him saith Saint Chrysostome I confesse he was from the beginning notus Deo knowne vnto God but now hee is become notus nobis knowne also vnto vs and a praesident for all men that expect deliuerance from great afflictions saith S. Gregory In the beginning the Holy Ghost could say no more but Erat vir there was such a man In the latter end he might haue said Erat Philosophus there was such a Philosopher and notable Christian saith Origen So that the Lord blessed the latter end of Iob more then his beginning LAstly his learning and knowledge in the way of Godlinesse was nothing so praegnant in his beginning as in his latter end Doctrina viri per patientiam noscitur Pro 19. 11. Patience is the best teacher of true Intelligence The Schoole-men Hales Aquinas Biel and others when they suite the Beatitudes The Gospell appointed for this solemne Fast to the fruits as they call them of the holy Ghost doe ioyne that of Sorrow and weeping for sinne to Science and knowledge Because say they this Sorrow for sinne can issue from no other Fountaine then the true faith knowledge of God nor is it euer found in any man sundred or diuided from the same Qui addit scientiam addit dolorem He that encreaseth his knowledge of the faith of Christ shall euer encrease the sorrow for his sin as S. Augustine applies that of Ecclesiastes the 1. and the 18. verse and so say I è conuerso Hee that encreaseth his sorrow for sinne shall prooue a great Clerke in the Schoole of Christ. It was the Gall of the Fish that restored Tobias to his seeing Tob. 11. 14. verse and it is onely the Gall and bitternesse of the Crosse which restores a Christian to his perfect vnderstanding Vbi multum Crucis multum lucis as Luther was wont
to say A Christian Soule is best instructed when it is most scourged and afflicted For as Ioseph entertain'd his Brethren roughly before hee was pleas'd to be discouer'd by them Gen. 45. 1 So God will haue his Children exercised with roughnesse before hee will bee perfectly knowne vnto them Iob it seemes was no young man in the beginning but sure hee was a young Scholar and neuer put to his Christs Crosse the reall Alphabet of true Christianity which wee spell out by suffering not by reading vntill his latter end And so the Lord blessed the latter end of Iob more then his beginning And so much of my Text. For the vse thus in a word both for the Generall and the particular Application GENERALLY FIrst if a Christian man lie vnder any temporall losses of Health Wealth Wife or Childe let him remember they were the blessings of the Lord and if hee hath lost these blessings vnlesse by impatience hee loose the Lord too the Lord knoweth how to blesse him again as here The Lord blessed SEcondly what wicked Cain said of his sinnes that they were greater then could be forgiuen no Childe of God must thinke of those losses that they are greater then can be giuen For be hee the greatest man in all the Country as Iob was in all the East yet if he humble his soule with Prayer and Repentance the Lord can blesse him aboue all his losses as here The Lord blessed Iob. THirdly if a Christian man hath expected some time to haue his Patience and Repentance rewarded and thinkes it now long ere this blessing fall let him suspect he is yet in his nonage and vncapable of the same Hee must therefore prolong his patience and eke out his repentance and awaite the Lords goodnesse vntill the latter end and then without all doubt the Lord will blesse him as here The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob. LAstly if the reward of his Repentance seeme to be already receiued and the outward blessings for all that appeare no more nor peraduenture so much as in the beginning yet let the Childe of God take along with him the obseruation of S. Augustine Quamuis arâ—a exinanita sit auro Cor tamen plenum est fide though he hath the lesse in his chest hee hath the more in his heart Hee hath it in the one or the other Alloye If not in the riches of the flesh yet surely in the riches of the spirit in Faith Hope Patience and Perseuerance which make him more blessed in his latter end then it was possible hee should be in his beginning as here The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob more then his beginning And so much by way of vse Generally PARTICVLARLY I Would to God my Text were impertinent to my purpose and that I could make no application at all of the Gall and wormewood that praeceded the same I would the State were nothing neare that estate that Iob is made to bee in the beginning of this Book I little doubt if our Humiliation be cordiall true and sincere but it will be in a short time in as good an estate as he is made to bee in the end of the Booke I would to God that no Sabaeans had slaine our Seruants with the edge of the sword as we read Iob 1. 15. I would to God we could call to remembrance no bands of Chaldaeans that had carried away any thing that was ours as we reade Job 1. 17. I would to God that no wind from the wildernesse had blowne down our houses those timber houses that floate on our Seas and makes vs as safe in his Island as men vse to bee in Houses as we reade was done Iob 1. 19. I would we heard of no mishaps of our Children the sacred branches of that Royall Stemme that might any way relate to that which we heare of Iob 1. 18. To say little by way of discourse of the principall obiect of our humiliation at this time the most deplorable case of our distressed Brethren in the Palatinate and other places where in regard of any free profession of the true Religion the fire of God seems to haue fallen froÌ„ heauen and to haue consumed all as it doth Iob 1. 16. Lastly to say nothing how in these last Parliaments that should haue yeelded her some comfort this State of ours by the iealousie and distraction of her best Friends had but too much cause to crie out miserrimi Consolatores miserable Comforters are ye all as it is Iob 16. 2. These are bitter things indeed and sore corrosiues I confesse to the hearts of true Englishmen And yet for all this Gods name bee praysed for it Nondum ad sterquilinium redacti sumus Our State is not yet brought vnto the dunghill Nondum versa est in cineres Troja Although wee in our particulars doe this day by the custome of the Church which cals it our Ashwednesday yet the State in generall Gods name be glorified therefore doth not lie in Dust and Ashes All her Noble parts are strong and entire We haue a King who is as Velleius said of Cato Virtuti simillimus as like Virtue it selfe as can be partern'd in flesh and blood We haue a wise religious and valiant Nobilitie We haue what euer desperate and obnoxious persons may whisper to the contrary a dutifull zealous and as I hope they will euer shew themselues a respectfull Communaltie Wee haue a knowing learned and the busie medling of some few in some matters of no substance excepted a right venerable Clergie And therefore let no man laugh at Dauids sackcloth or mistake our humiliation The exercise of this day doth not call vpon the State to despaire but onely to repent Mutatus mutatum inueniet as S. Bernard speakes let it change it selfe and God will bee praesently changed There is nothing but our sinning that keepes off the Blessing and there is nothing but a serious and continued repentance that can breake off our sâ—â—ning A Repentance of some length that will not fall short but reach out as farre as Gods blessing which falles not vpon the beginning of any spirituall Grace or Vertue but still vpon the latter end as here The Lord blessed the latter end of Iob more then his beginning TO conclude all in a word This Assembly began as this Booke began with Sorrowing Fasting and Prayer as I touch't before But this Fasting Prayer Repentance and Humiliation lasted not long enough it reach 't not to the End Foras S. Bernard speakes of Lent Vita Quadragesima that all our life by right should be a Lent so say I of this Fast for the sinnes of this Nation that all our life should bee nothing else but magnum generale ieiunium à vitijs a great solemne and continued Fast from sinne and enormities as S. Augustine speakes A Fast that hath not onely a Beginning
The Lord blessed NOw I come to the Second part of my Text the common and generall subiect of this reward which relates to a person by name Iob The Lord blessed Iob. Of him I will say as Velleius Paterculus did of another Neque nihil neque omnia dicenda sunt somewhat I must and all I may not here speake For those ordinary Quaestions concerning Iob as whether he was descended from Cain Abraham Nachor or Esau whether he liued in the time of Iacob or of Moses or of the Iudges or of the Babylonian or the Aegyptian Captiuity whether this Booke was penn'd by one of his Friends or one of the Prophets or some Rabbin of Babylon or by Salomon or by his owne selfe or by Moses or by both as Origen thinkes these doubts are no more interessed in this peice of Scripture then in any other part of the whole Booke and to passe in despight of all Logicque the whole history of Iob through one little Text like a Camell through the eye of a Needle were to driue out Myndo's once more at one of her gates as Diogenes was wont to say I will only touch the two ordinary Quaestions in all Artes and Sciences An fuit Quis fuit First whether Iob was a man and if that appeare what kinde of man hee was that was so blessed For the first as Lucian sayas in Dion Chrysostomus and our late Chronologers write of the Troians that they fought 10. yeares in defence of Helen when then they had no more but her withered Carcasse or bare picture her selfe being in Aegypt or dead long before So the Rabbins of old and many writers of latter times will haue here nothing but the picture of Iob A lesson an Idea a Patterne a Repraesentation and a perfect example of the reward of Patience and of true magnanimitie in great afflictions But this phantasie and Chymaera is easily refuted out of bookes Canonicall Ecclesiasticall prophane and reason it selfe For the first Ezech. 14. 14. Though Noah Iob and Daniel were in it c. Now Noah and Daniel were no Phantasies Repraesentations or imaginations of men and therefore no more was Iob. Againe Iames 5. 10. 11. we are turn'd ouer to the Prophets and Iob to take out lessons and patternes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Patience and long suffering in those aduersities which it shall please God to send vpon vs Now the Prophets were no Idea's conceptions or Repraesentations of men and consequently no more was Iob. Secondly for Ecclesiasticall historie we will take the booke of Tobias commended for antiquitie by S. Ierome and S. Augustine Where in the second Chapter and the fifteenth verse in the Latine though not in any Greeke Copie that euer I saw or I beleeue is extant Tobias is compared to holy Iob Now Tobias is there set out for a reall and an Indiuiduall man and consequently so was Iob. Thirdly for prophane histories we haue Aristaeus a Iew that brings Iob for a Patterne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of long suffering and patience as Eusebius cites him in his 〈◊〉 Booke de praeparatione Euangelica And Auerroes that famous Philosopher and Iobs owne Country-man that points him out for a Patterne of magnanimity in his Commentaries vpon the fourth Booke of Aristotles Ethiques Lastly for Reason I will goe no further then the first words of this Booke Erat vir saith the Holy Ghost Hee was a man and therefore I cannot beleeue that he was no man but a Morall vertue or a Lecture of the same which is likewise the Collection of Origen and S. Chrysostome NOw how great a man hee was I haue had occasion heretofore to speake at large in a whole Sermon but hold it not so pertinent for this praesent purpose vnlesse your Lordships will be pleased to heare him a little speake forth him selfe in the 29. Chapter of this Booke I washed my steps in butter and the Rockes poured out Riuers of Oyle The young men saw mee and hidde themselues and the aged arose and stood vp The Princes refrained talking and laid their hands on their mouth The Nobles held their peace and their tongues cleaued to the roofe of their mouth I broke the iawes of the wicked and pluck't the spoyles out of their teeth c. Surely Iob in these passages and the like doth Plus quà m civilia agitare as Tacitus would describe it speake in a higher phrase then the language of a Subiect I make no quaestion but hee was as great as the greatest of you all and yet humbled himselfe in repentance and deuotion vnder the hand of God and by his humbling obteined this blessing For so the Lord blessed the latter end of Iob. ANd surely the person of a meaner or of a more priuate man could neuer haue afforded so remarkable a Patterne either of such Patience and Christian magnanimitie in the Sufferer or of such bountie and vnspeakeable magnificence in the rewarder or blesser in this place For as Gregory well obserues Ad maiorem dolorem damna maiora The losses of Princes Realmes and States require the more Fortititude for so indeed it is and Patience and their recompencing againe the more magnificence God was desirous to leaue an example to all that should come after how that Pro maioribus plagis maior Corona as Chrysostome speakes wheresoeuer and whomsoeuer hee visited the more heauily there if he found Faith Patience Repentance Humiliation and the Concomitant Graces of the same he would reward againe the more bountifully Now no fortunes but the fortunes of a Prince and a whole Estate no Patience and Humiliation but the patience and humiliation of a Prince and a whole Estate was able to fetch off either the deepe Cup of Gods afflictions or that bottomlesse Sea of his outward consolations When God is dispos'd to hang vp a picture in his Church to bee well observ'd of all that shall come after that the People which shall be borne may praise the Lord hee doth it not by limming and painting but by the Art of Cutting and Embroydering For the Painter as your Lordships knowe deales but in colours ordinary colours which according to the strength of his imagination he tempers and layes out to the view of the Eye But the Embroyderer deales in more costly matter takes his cloth of Gold and Siluer which hee mangles into a thousand pieces bittes and fragments to frame and set out his curious ymagerie So Almighty God being to adorne his Church not with blockes and stones but with some rare pictures of Christian vertues workes not these in ordinary colours but in gold and siluer Princes Nobles and great Estates whom he first mangles and cuts into bits and pieces with Crosses calamities and deepe temptations but afterwards when he findes them suppled and humbled