his nest with the things of this World yet when hee comes to his hole hee leaves all behinde him Naked came wee into this World and naked shall wee goe out againe u Job 1.21 Let us not then bee like the Raynbow which though it seeme to bee in the Ayre yet the ends tend to the earth but rather like the Ceder that stretcheth forth her branches toward Heaven Interpositio terrae est causa Eclipseos lunae w Magir. Phis The Interposition of the Earth betweene the Sunne and the Moone is the cause of the Eclipse of the Moone And the interposition of earthly things betweene the Sunne of righteousnes and us doth blind our spirituall eyes that wee cannot thinke of Heaven but are like the Moone when wee are at the full oftentimes in greatest opposition to that Sunne As GOD said unto Abraham x Gen. 12.1 Exi de terra tua Get thee out of thy Countrey and from thy kindred unto a Land that I shall shew thee so doth hee speake unto the Church in generall and to every member in particular y Psal 45 10. forget thine owne people and thy fathers house This World is our Fathers house the Land wherein we are borne and bread but we must forget our fathers house forsake z Doctor Boy on the Epist for Easter day this homestall and seeke for another in the spirituall Chanaan one to come in Hierusalem that is above Wee must say to the World when it is gotten into the closet of our hearts as Amnon did a 2 Sam. 13.15 to his sister get thee hence And if it will not bee gone we must thrust it out and lock the dores of our hearts and shut the windowes of our affections after it It is written of the Squerill and Badger b Pliny that in their nests and dens they have two holes one they open towards the Sunne but shut the other to keepe out the blustering winds so let us open the dores of our hearts toward the Sunne of righteousnes but keepe them shut against the blusterings of this world Wee should bee like Aristotles vessell which being made of virgins Wax would keepe out the salt water but receive the fresh so let us refuse the bitter waters of Iericho and receive the waters of life If wee affect Ierusalem that is above let us neglect Babilon that is below Remember then O man that thou art a man looke not downward on the earth with the eyes of thy soule as beasts doe with the eyes of their bodies Goe not on thy belly with the Serpent grow not with the Bramble with both ends towards the earth but be lifted upward toward Heaven that thou mayst appeare to bee a member of the Church which doth herein resemble the Flower of the Lily of the Vallies Secondly the leaves of the Lily do extend outwards and bend downwards so the Church and the members thereof must extend their charity not onely to them that are neere either by propinquity of neighbourhood or affinity of kindred but even to them that are farr off The heart of man doth derive the heat not only to the breast and belly and the parts that are neere it but even to the toes and fingers and the parts farthest of so the members of the Church ought to extend their charity not only to them that are neere but even to them that are farr off The Henn they say will cover no Chickens under her wings but her owne or such as shee supposeth to bee her owne So many will make much of none but those that are of their owne kindred as for strangers there is no hope of any thing for them Nature c Aristotle in the generation of a Frogge being afrayd that her matter will not hold out doth bestow so much on the breast and belly and the parts neere the heart that there is little left for the legge whence it is that the belly of a Frogge is so large and swelling so many feare that their substance will not hold out they shall not have inough for their friends and kindred and therefore their donation is very small for them that are farre off I speake not this to streighten the bowells of affection and charity in men to their owne kindred for in some they are straitned too much already in these degenerate dayes of ours wherein a man may oftentimes meete with a more lively heat of affection from strangers then from their owne friends and alliyes The Apostle saith d 1 Tim. 5.8 hee that provideth not for his owne hee is worse then an infidell Cosmographers make mention of some Anthropophagi men eaters that live neere the Caspian Hills that the children use to eat their fathers when they grow old that they should not bee devoured of the Wormes This custome I feare may bee found among many when as the Prophet speaks e Ezek 5.10 the fathers eat the sonnes and the sonnes eat the fathers they oftentimes consuming and devouring the estates one of another The Apostle makes it a note of the last dayes f 2 Tim. 3.3 that men should bee without naturall affection How can they bee spiritually affected g Absal Funerall Teares that are not naturally affected Can they love Gods children that have no love to their owne bowells or they be friends to their enemies that are tirants to their friends So that it is true that charitas inicpit in seipsa charity beginns at him Yet non desinit in seipsa it must not end there but goe abroad to our neighbours Constantine the great h Euseb Ecclâ—s Hyst 〈◊〉 cap. 9. got great favour of the people and added to the Christians dayly by providing for the poore insomuch that the Gentiles noted the love of Christians one to another and by their charity were sometimes compelled to confesse the God of the Christians Stipis pauperum thesaurus divitum was the word of the good Emperour Tiberius Constantius i Reusaer Symb. The rich mans treasure is the poore mans stock It is recorded k Nazian in vita ejus of S. Bazill the great that in a famine hee did not onely give to the poore such as hee had himselfe but exhorted all others to set open their Barnes and to doe the like But now there are many churlish Naballs that say l 1 Sam. 25.10 11. Who is David and who is the sonne of Iesse there bee many servants now adayes that breake away every man from his Mayster Shall I then take my bread and my water and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers and give it unto men whom I know not whence they bee There is many an unmercifull Dives m Luke 16. that will not part with a crumme though it might make them to gayne a Crowne For Da parva ut magna recipias saith S. Bazill n In Div. pag. 16. He that gives little shall receave much And damna
comfort the heart And this physick doth hee still administer by his instruments his Embassadors by them that plant in the Pulpit and water in the presse that plant in their Doctrine and water in their conversation by them that administer such physick as he doth direct and apply such salves as the word doth prescribe for the healing of sick soules Secondly Christ heals immediately by himselfe pride was Adams bane Christ cured it by humility man surfeting fell by the forbidden Tree Christ fasting cured it by the cursed Tree Other Physitians d Stella in Luc. 5. restore health by opening of veynes by letting of bloud by giving of Potions and by prescribing of dyet but Christ this heavenly Physitian made e Staplet Prom. mor. Dom. inf oct nat Dom himselfe the Physick to heale us he tooke the bitter Potion f John 19.29 of vineger the deit of fasting g Mat. 4 2. the bloud-letting in his Hands his Feete his Side his Head his Body Mirabile plane incomparabile genus medicinae propter quam medicus voluit aegrotare aegrotos ipsos quibus salutis remedium procuravit sua decrevit infirmitate curare saith S. Aust. h De Sanctis Ser. 19. It was a wonderfull and incomparable kind of physick for which the Physitian would bee sick and determine to cure those sick persons to whō he procures health by his owne infirmity Esse hominis filius voluit ut nos Dei filios faceret humiliavit se ut populum qui prius jacebat erigeret vulneratus est ut vulnera nostra sanaret servivit ut ad libertatem servientes extraheret mori sustinuit ut immortalitatem mortalibus exhiberet saith S. Cyprian i De opere Elemos pag. 354 He would be made the son of man to make us the Sonnes of God he humbled himselfe that hee might exalt the humble he was wounded that hee might heale our wounds he became a servant that he might set us at liberty that were servants he dyed to restore immortality to mortall men And indeed Christs whole life whether you consider his Doctrine or his doings was healthfull and medicinable to us if we obey his precepts or imitate his patterne This Text hath been hitherto as a fruitfull Field wherein I have gathered some corne I shall now bind some profit of it up in sheaves that you may the better carry it away with you First therefore here we may see Christs love to us with astonishment and admiration What the Iewes said concerning Lazarus k John 11.36 when Christ raysed him from dead behold how he loved him so may we say behold how he loved us how deare and pretious our life hath been in his eyes may appeare by the greatnes of the price which hee payd for it even his owne life Quam indebita miseratio quam grata dilectio c. regem gloriae crucifigi pro despicatissimo vermiculo l Div. Bern. O how undeserved is that mercy how free is that love that the King of glory should be crucifyed for despicable Wormes It was a great love m Comper on Rom. 8. that Abraham shewed to Lot in hazarding his owne life n Gen. 14.14 and the lives of his family to rescue him out of the hands of Chedorlaomer but not comparable that love which our kinsman the Lord Iesus hath shewed unto us who hath given his life to deliver us out of the hand of our enemyes It was a wonderfull great love that God would make man like himselfe and all things for man greater love that he himselfe would be made man but greatest of all that he would dy for his salvation Secondly let us consider the odiousnes of sinne with hatred and detestation Thousands of Rams o Micah 6 7. nor ten thousands of Rivers of Oyle could not make satisfaction for sinne neither could the fruit of our body make satisfaction for the sinne of our soule but the Son of God must needs dy for the sins of man If sinne cost Christ so deare doubtles it will cost us dearer except we repent Memoria ergo crucifixi in nobis crucifigat omne peccatum p Div. Bern. is an excellent counsaile and worthy our practice therefore let the remembrance of Christ crucified cause us to crucify all sin in us he stretched out his hands on the Crosse to embrace us and let not us stretch out our hands to wickednes to disgrace him he was crucifyed for us let not us crucify him againe by our sins but crucify our sins that caused him to be crucified Thirdly Christ is a patterne for our imitation and that in three things First we must imitate him in the sweetnes of our action especially in dong good Secondly in our resurrection which is twofold the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the other is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The one is a resurrection of the dead the other is a resurrection from the dead We must rise from the death of sinne to the life of grace if wee meane to rise from the death of the grave unto the life of glory But we must not rise as the Rose-tree doth at the spring to dy againe the next winter but with Christ he being raysed from the dead q Rom. 6.9 dyeth no more death hath no more dominion over him and we must so rise from the death of sin that we never commit the same sins againe Thirdly as Christ was conceived and borne for us so must we conceive and beare him in our hearts There is a threefold nativity of Christ Divine from his Father fleshly from his Mother and spirituall in the mind Ex patre nascitur semper de matre natus est semel in mente nascitur saepe saith Innocentius r Ser. 3. apud Barrad He is borne of his father alwayes he was borne of his Mother once and is borne in the mind often and we must endevour to keepe him there alwayes Forthly here is also matter of consolation and that in a double respect first as Christ is the Rose of the common Field and lyes open to all he refuseth none but those that refuse him Secondly because he is the Physitian of our Soules that is able to cure them hiding all our sins and healing all our Sores giving us spirituall health here and eternall health and happines hereafter Lastly as Elisha said to his servant concerning the good Shunamite ſ 2 Kings 4.13 She hath been carefull for us with all this care what is to be done for her so may I say to you concerning our Saviour he hath been thus carefull for us what shall we doe againe for him As he dranke to us in the cup of salvation so let us pledge him in the cup of thanksgiving as he gave himselfe a propitiatory sacrifice for us so let us give up our selves a gratulatory sacrifice of prayse and thankesgiving to him And let us fall downe with the t
man then this that a man lay downe his life for his friends but Christ suffered for us dum inimici essemus p Rom. 5.8 10. while wee were sinners and enemies and gave himselfe to death for us while wee were q Eph. 2.1 dead in trespasses and sins Wee read of some indeed that have been ready to dy for their friends as r Cicer. Offic. Damon for his Pithyas Pylades Å¿ Idem de Amici for his Orestes of whom the Poet. t Ovid. Extitit hoc unum quod non convenerat illis Hic negat inque vicem pugnat uterque mori They never fell out about any thing but this which of them should first lay downe his life for the other And wee read of some that have dyed for others as S. Austine reports v De Civitate Dei li. 8. cap. 5. of Castor and Pollux the sons of Tyndarus that Pollux intreated to impart halfe his life on his brother And we read that Codrus did willingly w Iustin dy for his countrey And also it is reported x Iuv. â—ill Subeuntem fata mariti Alcesten that Alcestes did undergo the destinies of her husband and by her death redeemed his life These shewed great loves in laying downe their lives but it was for them that loved them as much or had deserved so much at their hands But Christ layd downe his life for us not onely Sine nostris meritis sed cum nostris demeritis saith S. Bernard y In Cant. Ser. 15 when we deserved no love but when we deserved as much hatred from him as was due unto his enemies and extended the fruits of that love and the benefits of that passion to all that will lay hold upon them It is written of the Cherubins z 1 Kings 6.27 that they stretched out their wings ad parietes usque to the wall on each side full ten cubits so Christ being stretched forth upon the Crosse extended his benefits to the ends of the World hee stood open to receive all commers and spread forth the branches of his love unto all therein resembling the leaves of the Lilies of the Valleyes Thirdly the Lily Lactei floris herba unde nuncupata quasi lidia saith Isidore a Orig. lib. 17 cap 9. cujus cum candor sit in foliis auri tamen species intus effulget The Lily is a milke white Flower from whence it takes its denomination from the whitenes of it and the whitenes of the Lily may signify Christs eternity And therefore S. Iohn the divine describing the parts of Christs Body sayes b Rev. 1.14 his Head and his Haires were white like Wooll as white as Snow for though c Perkins on the Rev. as hee is man he had a beginning yet in regard of his God-head he is eternall and is therefore called d Dan 7.22 the ancient of dayes there is nothing more ancient then he for he had a being when all other creatures were not being begotten of his Father before all time And therefore the Arrian out of his envious pride e Sidenham Ser. on John 8.50 is at once bountifull and injurious willing to invest Christ with the title 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but disrobes him of that glorious title and his owne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 granting him a like essence with the Father not the same equall to him in power not eternity for if he bee a sonne saith he he must be borne and if borne there was a time when there was on sonne Indeed it is true according to the course of nature but this is so farre above it that f Es 53.8 who can declare it Cum natum confitemur non tamen non natum praedicamus saith S. Hilary g De Trin. li. 12. When we confesse that he was borne we do not say that he was not borne For ubi author aeternus est ibi nativitatis aeternitas est Where the author of the birth is eternall there is also an eternity of the nativity and from an eternall begetter proceeds an eternall begetting Indeed the Word h John 1.14 was made flesh but non amiserat quod erat sed coeperat esse quod non erat saith the same Father hee ceased not to be what he was before but he began to be in a new manner that he was not before The name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iehovah derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Havah fuit he was in which name all time past present and to come is comprehended as the Rabbins k Becay on Ex. apul Aâ—nsworth have observed is given unto Christ who is called Ier. 23.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iehovah tsidkenu the Lord our righteousnes intimating that hee is the same GOD that is l Rev. 1.8 that was ab aeterno from all eternity and will be in aeternum to all eternity Hee being the same yesterday m Heb. 13 8. before his comming to day at his comming and for ever even at his comming againe Heare Christ testifying of himselfe n John 5.26 as the Father hath life in himselfe so hath he given to the Son to have life in himselfe Apertissime docet saith Saint Cyrill o Th saur lib. 10. cap. 1. quod sicut pater in seipso aeternaliter vitam habet sic filius aeternaliter vitam in seipso habet As the Father hath life eternally in himselfe so hath the Son life eternally in himselfe As he was man p Athanas Creed of the substance of his Mother borne in the World so was he God of the substance of his Father begotten before the Worlds for hee is eternall being the white Lily of the Valleys But whitenes more properly signifies innocency and therefore the Latines call innocency candor which signifies whitenes and innocent men candidi white men and the holy Ghost seemes to allow it for the Church is said q Rev. 19.8 to be arrayed in fine linnen cleane and white which is the righteousnes or innocency of the Saints Seeing then that folia liliorum sunt purissima tam intus quam extra candidissima the Lily is most pure and white both within and without it fitly resembles the innocency both of Christs nature and action Nigra sunt vitia virtus candida est saith S. Bern. r In Cant. Ser. 7. vices are blacke but vertue is white So that Cicero might well affirme Å¿ De legibus li. 2 that Color albus praecipuè decorus Deo est the whitest colour is most agreeable to the highest Son of GOD. Absque liliis nunquam est qui absque vitiis semper est t Div. Bern. ubi supr He is never without the whitenes of the Lily that is ever without the blacknes of sinne Hee is fayrer then u Psal 45.2 the children of men And it may more truely be sayd of him then it was of Absolom w 2 Sam. 14.25 But in
enough to receive so worthy a person and yet behold the stateliest place for his entertainment is a stable If the King of Heaven will needs come into the earth the most princely chamber were fittest for him to be lodged in and yet behold he lies in a manger If King Solomon was so ravished with admiration when hee considered that GOD would reside at the Temple in Hierusalem which was so glorious that it was p 1 Kings 6.38 seaven yeares in building that hee cries out q 1 Kings 8.27 But will GOD indeed dwell on the earth behold the Heaven and the Heaven of heavens cannot contayne thee how much lesse the house that I have made how much more would he have admired had he come into this stable and found Christ this Lord of life lying in a manger Secondly in his life-time he was poorer then the beasts of the Field and the Birds of the Ayre for they have dens and nests to roost and to rest in but hee had not a place where to lay his head as himselfe testifies r Mat. 8.20 And as for his outward estate he was so poore that when tribute was demanded of him he had nothing to pay it but he sends Peter with an angle Å¿ Mat. 17.27 to catch a fish to bring him money to pay it therein shewing great t Iansâ—n cenc cap. 69. Majesty as well as poverty his poverty in that he had nothing wherewith to pay it and his Majesty in that being Lord of Sea as well as Land he commands a Fish to do it for him So that as the Apostle S. Paul sayes of himselfe u 2 Cor. 6.10 he was as having nothing and yet possessing all things so may I say of Christ he possessed nothing and yet he was Lord of all When Priene w Cicero Paradox 1. the City where Byas dwelt was taken by the enemies and the Citizens fled carying as much of their substance with them as they could when he was admonished by some to doe the like Ego quidem inquit facio nam omnia mea mecum porto I doe it said he already for I alwayes carry all my goods about me so lightly did he esteeme of those ludibria fortunae riches that he thought them not worth a carrying so Christ carryed all his goods about him so that when he died he needed no executors to prove his will for x John 19 23. the Souldiers parted his goods among them and hee had nothing for them to part but onely his garments Mat. 27.35 I have heard a story of Richard Nevile sometime Earle of Warwick how true it is I know not that when the people would have made him King hee refused that dignity saying that he had rather make Kings then be one but this I know he that y Psal 85.7 putteth downe one and setteth up another when the people would have made him King refused it Erat Rex qui timebat fieri Rex nec talis Rex qui ab hominibus fieret sed talis qui hominibus regnum daret saith Saint Augustine z In John Tract 23. He was a King that feared to bee made a King not such a King that should be made by men but such a King as should give a Kingdome to men A King hee was indeed and acknowledged to bee so a Mat. 2.2 by the wise men at his birth Nathanel b John 1.44 and the whole multitude acknowledged him c Luke 19.38 to bee King in his Life at his death Pilate wrote him King of the Iewes d John 19 19.22 and would not alter that title and yet hee would not be made a King by the people lest e Calvin in Iohn 19. his spirituall Kingdome should have been at an end he refused to be made a King on earth for hee was already King of Heaven and earth Thirdly at his death he was so poore that he had neither Sepulchre nor winding sheet of his owne but f John 19.38.39 Ioseph and Nicodemus were faine to supply them Even the richest men and most puissant Monarchs have nothing at their deathes that they may properly call their owne but onely their Sepulchres We may say of them all as S. Austin g Ad fratr in Erâ—mo Ser. 48. speakes of Caesars Tombe Though hee were the feare of men and terror of Princes yet all his great riches his titles of Honour and Dignity his Crowne and Scepter Speare and Sword Omnia sibi pariter defecerunt quando defecit spiritus ejus reliquerunt eum captivatum in sepulchro trium brachiorum plenum faetore putredine All those things left him as they doe all men else when he was bereft of his soule and left him nothing but a Sepulchre of six cubits to conteyne him but Christ as he was without all earthly pompe in his life so at his death he had not so much as a Sepulchre or winding sheet of his owne untill they were given him In all which respects we may say of him with S. Augustine h De Catechiz rudibus Omnia bona terrena contempsit homo Christus ut nobis ea contemnenda monstraret The man Christ Iesus did contemne all earthly things to teach us also to doe the like It was a curse layd upon the Serpent in Paradise i Gen. 3.14 upon thy belly shalt thou goe and dust shalt thou eat all the dayes of thy life and therefore the seed of the woman k Ver. 15. being to break the head of the Serpent went not on his belly nor had his affections placed on the earth but was lifted sursum versus coelum upward toward Heaven therein resembling the Flower of the Lily of the Valleys Secondly folia liliorum non solum dilatantur ad latera sed etiam inferius declinant ad ima the Leaves of the Lily do not onely extend outward but bend downward so Christ extended his benefits farr off and even to his enemies The Apostle S. Paul tells the Gentiles l Eph. 2.13 that now in Christ Iesus yee who somtimes were farr off are made nigh by the bloud of Christ Christs benefits to us are like the oyntment m Psal 133.2 on Aarons head that ran downe on his beard and descended to the skirts of his garments they went downe to the lowest members of the Church When he was upon the earth hee shewed his love unto the poore in doing good to the Halt the Lame the Blind as it were so many cripples from severall Hospitalls Now love n Doctor Boys expo of the Creed is more shewed in deeds then in words but more in suffering then it is in doing so that the love of Christ was especially shewed unto us in dying for us As the Father shewed great love in giving his Sonne unto us so the son shewed like equall love in being so ready to suffer for us Greater o John 15 13. love hath no