and after the earth-quake came a fire and after the fire came a still and soft voice And it is added in the Text that the Lord was not in the winde nor in the earth-quake nor in the fire but in that still and soft voice Signifying thereby that he had the weapons of the windes of earth-quakes and of fire for to shake ouerthrowe and burne downe to the ground the tallest and strongest towers and walles of his enemies but withall that he was of a sweet nature and that his vengeance was milde and gentle There are some corrections that teare vp the trees by the rootes like a whirle-winde that shake and terrifie the Conscience like an earth-quake and that burne and consume our honours to dust But God is not in them Hee that will correct another sayth Saint Paul must consider what manner of Man himselfe is And that as his brother hath sinned to day so hee may sinne to morrow To day thou findest thy brother guiltie and to morrow it may so fall out that hee may come to bee thy Iudge It is fit sayth Petrus Crysologus that there should bee correction to serue as a bridle to those that are headstrong but withall That as a loose rayne does no good so too hard a hand may doe hurt Lucian sayth That our hart is a white or marke whereat shafts be shot Whereof some are deliuered with that force and strength of the arme that passing quite through they doe it much hurt others againe with so slacke a string and that weakenesse that falling short of the marke they doe no good at all Wee must draw them therefore with that cunning and with so daintie a deliuerie that wee may sticke iust in the white and hit the right marke That Arque obsecra increpa of S. Paul argues a quicke and nimble deliuerie And that of Ouid Precibusque minis regaliter addit is somewhat too Lordly and Commaunding a stile What sayth Ecclesiasticus If thou blow the sparke it shall burne if thou spit vpon it it shall bee quenched and both these come out of the mouth A kind word is as soone giuen as a curst and costs vs but one and the same labour as comming out of one the same mouth But as a hasty brawling kindleth fire and an hasty fighting sheddeth bloud so on the other side mildenesse doth quench malice and deads those coales of choller which are readie to breake foorth into flames of furie and madnesse Sermo mollis sayth Salomon frangit iram A soft answere putteth away wrath but greeuous words stirre vp anger What sayes Iob His friends had giuen him a reprehension as foolish as it was sharpe and bitter Whereunto hee answered How shall the mouth that is distasted eate that which is not seasoned with salt Or what appetite will a sicke and weake stomach haue to an egge or a chicken that is not boyled with salt Yet farre more vnsauoury than either of these is an indiscreet reproofe and words out of season The Seuentie translate it Who can eat bread without salt or suffer imprudent correction And as distast in our meats may arise from too much or too little salt so correction may haue so little salt in it that it may make the Sicke to dislike it and refuse io eat it and on the other side it may haue so much that he will not be able to swallow it What good can hee doe who in his correction doth discouer the passion and hatred of one that is offended the imperiousnesse of a proud spirit the taunting checkes of a rayling tongue and the intemperate ioy of an enuious heart In a word No creature must be toucht with a gentler hand than man saith Seneca The fifth circumstance is That he that hath a sullyed conscience of his owne ought not to be the broome to sweepe another mans so saith S. Ambrose Saint Hierome Saint Chrysostome and Thomas Therefore ô man art thou inexcusable saith Saint Paul for in that thou iudgest another thou condemnest thy selfe It is a wofull case that thou being a Iudge shouldest be found guiltie This the Deuill doth onely whom God stileth his brothers Accuser Thy lips are like Lillies distilling Myrrhe Myrrhe is bitter but preserues from corruption and the Spouse saith praising the lips of her Beloued Although thy words saith she are bitter yet I see that they make for the sauing of my life and the preseruing of mee from deâ—th In a word they drop from white lips that are whiter than the Lillie Saint Augustine saith That a secret Sinner may reprooue a publique offendour but the cause being principally Gods and he that reprooues him his Minister it must of force be some hindrance vnto him with a leaprous hand to cure another mans leaprousâ—e or fearing lest God might say vnto him Why doost thou take my Law in thy mouth c. Goe and tell him his fault betweene thee and him alone Thou must not looke that he should come vnto thee of his owne accord for no man will willingly come to bee corrected nor must thou send one to call him vnto thee for beeing not thy Subiect thou shouldest shew little ciuilitie in it nor would I haue thee to write vnto him for Paper being but a dead instrument it may persuade but little and perhaps runne the danger of losing But I would haue thee to go to him in person as the Physiâ—ion to the Sicke and wait a fit time and oportunitie for albeit thy comming vnto him may carrie with it some inconuenience yet thou maist chance to see the gate set wide open vnto thee and to affoord thee free entrance and so giue occasion vnto thee to gaine a Brother Our Sauiour saith of himselfe That â—e went to winne those whom he knew wisht not wel vnto him And therefore he likewise saith vnto thee Vade Goe for he that seekes after his enemie and speakes kindly vnto him shewes that there is no impostume of malice remaining in his heart Our Sauiour spake vnto him that gaue him the buffâ—t on the fâ—ce not hauing as Saint Chrysostome hath noted it opened his mouth before though he had many and sundrie occasions giuen him so to doe to the end that the standers by might vnderstand by his mild answer that hee did not beare that iniurie in his bosome to bee reuenged of him hereafter Hee that swallowes an iniurie pocketting it vp for a time putting on the face of dissimulation till he see his opportunitie as Absalon did with Ammon and as Ioab did with Amasa it is a manifest token that they meditated reuenge The mouth of the Wicked swalloweth vp iniquitie The Crocadile without a tongue is the Hierogliphycke of inexorable enmitie Quien calla piedras opanÌ„a saith the Spaniard Hee that sayes nothing is prouiding a stone to fling at thee Which Prouerbe sutes more properly with a particular iniurie done to a mans owne person but as for those other sinnes that are committed
graue doctors your summists and Saint Augustine prooues the same out of the words of the Text Lucratus es fratrem tuum Thou hast woon thy brother Now that is not said to be woon againe which hath not beene lost before wee doe not giue a brother for lost for light sinnes and such as ordinarily accompanie our humane frailtie but when his sins are so notorious that the Church doth proceed against them with Excommunications and grieuous censures And if men will hardly beare with small faults in their brethren God forbid but that they should haue an eye to those that are of a higher nature Likewise hee that will correct another man must be free himselfe from that sinne which he reprooueth in another Who can say saith Salomon I haue made my heart clean I am free from my sin Who saith Saint Augustine can so farre forth commend himselfe in this life which is a continuall temptation that he carries a cleane heart Saint Paul aduiseth thee when thou takest thy brother to task goest about to correct him That thou consult and consider with thy selfe least thou thy selfe stand on the like termes and art liable to the same reproofe The third circumstance is When wee see our brother doth still perseuer and continue in this his sinne For for a sinne alreadie past and for the which there hath beene a precedent sorrow and amendment correction is no further needefull for it being dismist Gods Court and being blotted out of the book of his remembrance man ought not to enter a new Action against it If hee will not vouchsafe to heare thee that is obey thee for Audire and Obedire is all one In auditu auris obediuit mihi you may doe as in Christian charitie you see cause alwayes carrying a discreet hand in the businesse But if he shall forthwith hearken vnto thee and obey thy instructions thou must then forbeare to inflict any further punishment or correction vpon him than his owne contrition and submissiue obedience Saint Augustine tells vs That the end of correction is to put a bridle to our sinnes In hamo fraeno maxillas eorum constringe Put a bridle in their mouth and a hooke in their nosthrils and as to the Horse that carrieth himselfe well and handsomely with one bridle it is needlesse to clap two so that Sinner that will be ruled and gouerned with the bridle of the feare of God it is superfluous and more than needs to check him with the curb of correction The fourth circumstance is When wee haue some probable hope of doing good vpon our brother The Physition is not bound to cure that Patient of whom there is no hope of recouerie much lesse if hee feare greater hurt will follow thereupon And this feare or jealousie may bee occasioned two manner of wayes Either in regard of the hardnesse of heart or obstinate condition of the partie that is to be corrected Or in regard of the foolisâ—nesse of the partie correcting For that it is a businesse that will require a great deale of discretion and that amongst all other difficulties belonging to gouernment there is not any poynâ— that is halfe so hard as this First of all For a stubborne heart and an obstinate brest correction is no conuenient meanes the meanes must be regular and make some good end the aime they shoot at Now those meanes from which I can hope for nothing but hurt ought not to oblige me to vndergoe so thanklesse an office Contest not with that man on whom thou shalt but cast away thy labour A Father takes paines and liues poorely and onely to make his sonne a Gentlemen Hee gathers together a greaâ— deale of wealth but knowes not for whom Did he but know that his sonne would prooue a Deuill hee would sooner fire all he had than leaue it to such a sonne If the Goldsmith did but know before hand that his refining of siluer would turne all to drosse he would rather breake his bellows crisols in 1000 pieces than once offer to set himselfe about such an vnprofitable piece of busines Now there are many men which are made worse by correction Acetum in nitro qâ—i cantat carmina corde pessimo There are some kind of persons on whom to bestow reprehension is to poure Vinegre vpon Nitre to bee like vnto him that singeth Songs to an heauie heart It is lost labour to correct a Scorner and such a one as makes but a sport Maygame of sin Among many other of Pythagorâ—â— his Emblemes one saith Ignem gladiâ— ne laeseris Doe not reprehend a cholericke Foole. When Dauid sent those his ten soldiers to Nabal to entreat him to send him some prouision though hee returned a harsh and churlish answer Abigâ—l being a discreet woman said not one word to him till his anger was ouerpast Ieremie brings in the comparison of a wild Asse which is so wilfull a beast and so violent and headstrong in the time of her lust that if any shall seeke to stop or hinder her in this her course shee will kicke and fling at him and breake his bones in pieces Thou art like a swift Dromedarie that runneth by hiâ— wayes and as a wild Asse vsed to the Wildernesse that snuffeth vp the wind by occasion at her pleasure Who can turne her backe All they that seeke her will not wearie themselues but will find her in her moneth There are some Sinners of that knotty disposition and so wedded to their owne will that if you shall but crosse their humour you will hardly escape without a stab Si contuderis stultum in pila non aâ—feretur ab eo stultitia â—ius Though thou shouldest bray a Foole in a Mortâ—r among wheat brayed with a pestle yet will not his foolishnesse depart from him Secondly The little discretion of his that correcteth doth disoblige him from that dutie Ye that are spirituall saith Saint Paul restore such a one with the spirit of meekenesse This is not a businesse befitting carnall men For albeit one weake man is most affected with another mans weakenesse and one that is sicke more sencible of another mans sickenesse yet I am sure That the good bewailes the miserie of the bad and that the euill man is alwayes cruell Correct him in the spirit of meekenesse With that tendernesse as a man would put a tent into a wound or make cleane a Venice-glasse for our nature is more apt for a soft than a rough hand Eliah standing in the mouth of the caue where hee hid himselfe flying from Iezabelâ—â—urie â—urie grew somewhat chollericke and angrie that God should suffer his Ministers to be so much wronged And God appearing vnto him though his zeale for the Lord God of Hosts was great yet because it had not its drammes of discretion to qualifie the eagrenesse thereof a mightie strong winde rent the mountaines and brake the rockes before the Lord after the winde came an earth-quake
him Now the Church seeing that true death kills a man and that that which represents it giueth life like vnto the brazen Serpent which being beholden and lookt vpon gaue life to those which had beene wounded by those true Serpents it cannot be too often inculcated Memento c. Those that entred triumphantly into Rome had a thousand occasions giuen them to incite them to pride arrogancie and vanitie as their great number of Captiues their Troupes of Horse their Chariots drawne with Elephants or Lyons and Ladies looking vpon them from their windowes and the like But the Senat considring the great danger of the Triumpher ordred one to sit by his side to whisper this stil in his eare Hominem memento te i. Remember thy self to be a man The Princes of the earth haue many motiues to make them forget themselues not regarding the complaints of the poore and needie yet Nullus ex regibus aliud habuit natiuitatis initium i. No King had euer any other beginning of birth They are as other men Terrigenae filij hominum i. The off-spring of the earth and the children of men And to them also it is said Terra es Earth thou art c. The third attribute giuen to the name of man is Excellencie and Dignitie Faciamus hominem ad imaginem similitudinem nostram i. Let vs make man after our owne similitude and likenesse Vpon this point see Gregor Nissenum de Opific Hom. cap. 16. Tho. 1. p. q. 97. art 2. ad 4. But man did fall from this heigth of happinesse and being lost through sinne God seeks to restore him by putting him in mind Puluis es Dust thou art c. Lastly I would haue you to note that the word Memento doth implie a continuall remembrance and a deepe meditation that it may stirre vp fire in vs according to that of Dauid In meditatione mea exardescet ignis i. A fire waxed hot in my heart while I was musing Meditation is like gunpouder which in a mans hand is dust and earth but if you put fire thereunto it will ouerthrow Towers walls and whole Cities a light remembrance and a short meditation of what thou art is like that dust which the wind scattereth away but a quicke liuely memorie and inflamed considerations of our own wretched estates will blow vp the towers of our pride cast downe the walls of our rebellious natures and ruine these Cities of clay wherein we dwell As the Phoenix fannowing a fire with her wings is renewed againe by her owne ashes so shalt thou become a new kind of man by remembring what thou art Moses casting ashes into the aire made the Inchanrers and their Inchantments vanish the ashes scattered by Daniel put the King out of doubt made it appeare vnto him that that was no God which he adored Iob came forth from his ashes in better estate than hee was before and as Ioseph came out of prison from his taâ—tâ—â—'d ragges had richer robes put vpon him so you from out these your ashes shall be stript of the old man put on the new Memento homâ— Remember man c. Forgetfulnesse of other things may bee good sometimes but of thy selfe and what thou art neuer this will require a continuall Memento This Memento is the father of two good effects first it mooueth man to repentance by putting him in mind of his frailtie for beeing dust and ashes how dare he contest with his Creator Vae qui contradicit factori suo testa c. Wo to him that gainsaith this the pot against the Potter c. Thou glasse of Venice thou dish of China why contendest thou with him who as hee made thee can in an instant dash thee in pieces Secondly it inclines God to mercie Memento quaso quod sicut lutum feceris me Consider ô Lord that thou madest me of earth as a cheese that is prest thou didst mold vp in me a masse of bones sinewes and flesh if thou shalt lay thy heauie hand vpon me what strength is mine that it should be able to indure it if thou shalt not take pitty of this poore piece of earth this crazie vessel of clay what will become of thy mercie of old and of all thy woonted kindnesse if that steele and stronger mettall of the Angells was broken by thee it is no great matter if earth split and breake in sunder This Memento is so powerfull with God that it workes two great effects with him the one that it inclines him to clemencie the other that it makes him to bridle his power First no father so pitties his children when hee sees them miserable Quomodo miseretur paterfiliorum i. As a father pittieth his children saith Dauid of an infant that falleth into the dirte and is bemoyled and bebloodyed and all because he is weake and ignorant the like pittie doth God take of those that feare him and presently giues a reason of this his pittie Recordatus est quoniam puluis sumus i. He remembreth that wee are but Dust. The like is elsewhere rendred where it is said Non accendit iram suam recordatus est quia carâ— sumus i. He kindleth not his wrath because he calls to mind wee are but flesh God in Deutr. speaking of the iudging of his people fayth he will take pittie of them in regard of their miserie and frailtie Vidit quod infirmata sit manus i. Hee saw the weaknesse of their strength and considered their poore abilities and this did often occasion him to alter the purpose of his vengeance That the wind should struggle with the Oake that resists his rage and that he should teare his limbes from him and rent him himselfe vp by the roots it is not much that he should take that course with him for his proud resistance but with the Reede or the Rush that submits and humbles itselfe obeying his Empire and acknowledging his power his furie falls not vpon them c. Secondly The acknowledgement of our miserie and weakenesse it bridles the omnipotencie of God Iob debating this businesse cries out Et dignum due is super huiusmodi I am a Flower that is withered within the compasse of a few houres I am a shaddow that at euery step changeth it selfe and vanisheth away Et dignuÌ„ ducis super huiusmodi Canst thou think it an honor vnto thee to reuenge thy self vpon so sillie miserable a worme as man Contra felium quod vento rapitur ostendis potentiam tuam stipulam siccam persequeris I am but as the leafe of a Tree one while the East wind of pride tosses me this way anotherwhile the West wind ofdespaire driues me that way one while the South wind of luxury another the North of rage anger Memorare qua mea substantia Remember what my substance is The Lyon preyes not vpon children and women nor the Eagle vpon the lesser birds nor your Irish Greyhounds vpon shepheards
children of Israell dwelt there was light not onely because God can free those places where his people were from that thicke darknes that oppressed the Aegyptians but also for that he can make when he listeth that very darknesse serue as a light vnto them Forsitan tenebrae conculcabunt me non illuminatio mea in dilicijs meis It were madnesse in me ô Lord to thinke that in the following of my pleasures I can hide my selfe out of thy sight for though I should hide my selfe in the thickest and most palpable darkenesse that can be immagined thou wilt make of them bright beames of light which shall discouer me vnto thee Nox illuminatio mea in dilicijs meis The Hebrew hath it Circum me I shall bee seene as easily in the night as at noone day In Genesis Iacob saith Lauabit in vino stolam suam He shall wash my garment in wine It was his Prophecie on Iudas his fourth sonne who was a Type and figure of our Sauiour Christ. But passing from the Type to the truth hee saith That comming into the world he shall wash the Church and those that are the Faithfull with his bloud Lauabit in vino stolam suam And if any one shall aske me How the Stole can remaine white being washed in bloud or in wine Diodorus and Genadius in Catena Lypomani answer That Gods power can doe this working contrarie effects to common reason As from death to draw life from tribulation comfort and from shame glorie In tribulatione dilatasti mihi saith Dauid gloriamur in tribulatione So may a garment or linnen robe bee white that is washed in the wine of his bloud Qui dat niuem sicuâ— lanam nebulam sicut cinerem spargit God can warme a man with snow as with wooll and make cold be vnto vs as a cloathing From that fire of the Babilonian furnace whereinto Nebucadnezar commanded the three children to be cast Sidrac Misac Abednego there issued forth a fresh winde and a cooling breath Quasi ventum rorâ— flantem God saith Chrysostome can take from fire it 's burning which is his proper effect and make it to giue light and to refresh his children as with a dew Mitte te deorsum scriptum est enim Angelis suis c. Cast thy selfe downe For it is written He will giue his Angells charge ouer thee The Deuill hauing now brought our Sauiour to the top of the Pinacle of the Temple beeing confident to get the conquest of him making vse of that place of Scripture first wishing him to throw himselfe downe and to relie vpon Gods preseruing of him for it is written Angelis suis Deus c. Saint Hierome Saint Ambrose Saint Bernard and Saint Gregorie say That the Deuill neuer desires to see any man climbe on high vnlesse it bee for his greater destruction For as he fell down like a thunder-bolt so doth he desire to haue all men else to fall as he did and that their sinnes may throw them headlong downe to Hell Which is one especiall effect of his pride according to that of Dauid Dejecisti eos dum eleuarentur or extollerentur as Saint Austen readeth it Thou didst cast them downe while they were lifted vp Est aliquid humilitatis c. There is somewhat in humilitie which in a wonderfull manner lifteth vp the heart and there is somewhat in pride which casteth it downe It is a miracle that Pride and Humilitie should euer meet Saint Bernard saith That at the foot of the Crosse the Deuill did repeat the same lesson againe Si Rex Israel est descendat de Cruce If thou be King of Israell come downe from the Crosse As though he had forgot the shame that Christ had put him to before Cast thy selfe Thou canst do nothing without thy selfe against thy selfe thou must put to thy helping hand Non sâ—luabit te sine te nec perdet te sine te Whence it is to bee noted That hee not onely pretendeth the holiest that is should cast himselfe headlong from the Tower of Good-workes but he that is seated on the Pinacle of the Temple and in the highest dignitie in the Church It is a lamentable case that the Prelate the Priest and the Preacher should be put to this perill Quis medebitur Incantatori à Serpente percusso Who shall heale the Inchanter that is wounded by the Serpent He hath giuen his Angels charge ouer thee The main drift of the deuil is to flatter and sooth vs vp that he may facilitate our fall to sing sweetly vnto vs to inchant vs like the Syren Ossa eius sicut fistula aeris Iob saith That his bones by which he vnderstands his strength are Flutes not of Reede like those of Mida's but of Brasse which sound more sweetly With these he vpholds his Empire and sowes the World with Heresies Moorismes and Paganismes and Hell with damned Soules They are Pipes that make strange consonancies with our inclinations and worke more powerfull effects than those tongues that are tipt with the eloquencies of all the Tullies Demostheneses and Quintilians in the world Which is but an argument of the weaknes of their hands when all their strength lies in their Tongues Your weakest influences say your Astrologers insist vpon the Tongue Woman who is the embleme of weakenesse hath her greatest force and strength in her tongue Your Ruffians and such as are swaggering fellows haue more tongue than hands but they that are truly valiant haue more hand than tongue they know not what the tongue meanes The Roman Souldiers drew a Hand for their Deuice In the Scripture the Hand signifieth Fortitude Manus eius adhuc extenta est so sayes Esay of God The Deuill therefore beeing all Tongue it followeth that he must necessarily be a verie weake creature Saint Peter calls him a Lyon not because he deuoureth but because he roares So that all our victorie consists in freeing our selues from his tongue And it may be Iob alluded hereunto when he speaketh of the Deuill in the metaphor of a Whale Wilt thou bind his tongue with a cord For the Deuill hauing all his strength in his tongue see how that fish when the harping Irons hath caught hold on him struggles on the sand and beats himselfe vpon the beach but all in vaine to get loose and at last swels bursts with anger so is it with the Deuill when we haue tied a knot vpon his tongue His Angells To those whom God loueth and such as are his children Saint Cyprian saith That God hath giuen order to his Angells to gard and protect them if a tyle should fal towards them to strike it aside if stumble to take hold on them that they should not fall How then could a person so holy so beloued of God be affraid God did his People a great fauour in giuing them an Angel to be their Guide Precedet te Angelus meus sending an Angell to Daniel to feed him to
Dominus I will alwayes say The Lord be magnified That shall be my continuall Motto all the rest is little loialty and manifest treason Affigant onera grauia importabilia They fasten heauie burthens and impossible to be borne Those Traditions and Glosses which the Scribes and Pharisees introduced Origen and Theophilact are of opinion that they did multiplie them in fauour of their couetousnesse strengthening the same with an opinion of their simulated sanctitie Saint Chrysostome saith That the Ceremonies and Precepts of the old Law were too heauie a load to beare Agreeing with that of the Acts Nec patres nostri nec nos ferre potuimus The Pharisees did notifie them with great indeerings but did not touch them with the finger being like vnto the Viole which makes that sound which it selfe is not sencible of They did beare the Precepts of the Law about them in certaine scroles of parchment fastning them to their heads and their armes Materially vnderstanding that place of Deutronomie Thou shalt bind them for a signe vpon thy hand and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes so much signifies the word Philacterie which is all one with Conseruatoria In the borders of their garments they had their fringes and vpon the fringes of the borders they did put a ribond of blew silke as may be collected out of the fifteenth Chap. of Numbers as also out of Deut. That they might the better remember all the commandements of the Lord and doe them and be holy vnto their God not seeking after their owne hearts nor after their owne eyes after the which they went a whoring And Saint Hierome addeth further That they did put sharpe thornes to these their fringes that they might pricke them and draw bloud from them that thereby they might expresse their greater penitencie being in secret exceeding vicious and wanton In a word Princes and Prelats ought not to lay such burthens on their subiects shoulders as should breake their backes like those Taske-Masters and Ouerseers of the children of Israell in the labour and tale of their brickes For it is a vice and grieuous sinne in your Princes and their publike Ministers not to be compassionate of the poore nor to pitty their paines thinking all too little they doe pressing and oppressing them dayly more and more with intollerable Taxes and insupportable payments The Booke of Iudith recounting the death of Manasses husband to Iudith saith That he died in the Barley haruest for as hee was diligent ouer them that bound sheaues in the field the heat came vpon his head and he fell vpon his bed and died in the Citie of Bethulia It is a thing worthy the noting that there is a memorial of such an indisposition as this as if it had bin some great and extraordinarie matter But I conceiue that he made this so particular mention of it that he might giue vs therby to vnderstand Que la codiçia rompe el saâ—o That too much cramming of the bag makes it to breake and that if Manasses had taken pittie of his Reapers in a time of such extremitie of heat he had not died For the carelesnesse of your great Princes in not duly considering and not measuring according vnto prudence the strength and abilitie of their subiects is no small occasion of those many mischiefes which haue followed therevpon Iacob said to his brother Esau I will driue softly according to the pace of the Cattell which is before me and as the children bee able to endure for they are not able to goe such great journies as my Lord who seeth that the childeren are tender and the 〈◊〉 and kine with young vnder myne hand and if they should ouerdriue them one day all the Flocke would die Hercules shewed a noble spirit when seeing Atlas groane vnder the heauie weight of Heauen in pittie of him put to his owne shoulder to ease him of his load Neuer doe those Princes long enioy their Crowne who impose heauie Taxes on their Subiects not onely because they make their Vassals to pay more than they are able to pay but for that their Ministers extortions and vexations wring the bloud out of their verie hearts and the teares out of their eyes which ascending Heauen turne to lightnings and thunderbolts Super deducentem eas vpon him that causeth them Qui se exaltat humiliabitur qui se humiliat exaltabitur He that exalteth himselfe shall be humbled and he that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted Our Sauiour here treateth how much humilitie importeth a Christian and that this is the onely doore whereby wee are to enter into Heauen Saint Augustine tells thee That thou must tread the same tread that our Sauior troad and that there is no way to walke to Paradise but that wherein he himselfe walked And the first step that leads to this path is Humilitie the second stride is likewise Humilitie and the third and last must also be Humilitie And if thou shalt aske me a thousand times ouer and ouer Which is the way that leadeth to Blisse my answer must bee Humilitie Heare what Pope Leo saith Tota disciplina Christiana c. The whole course of Christian discipline consisteth in true humilitie which our Sauiour Iesus Christ made choyce of in his mothers wombe and afterwards taught the same to others From the verie bowells of his mother of all other vertues he made choice of this And in the discourse of his life he declared this to be his onely daughter and heire One reason amongst many other which hee might haue alledged is That in this life where all is storme and tempest torment warre and temptation in a word where nothing is secure and certaine Humilitie amongst these so many perills and dangers which are like so many rockes and shelfes will bring thee safe through the sea of this world to the Hauen of happinesse In a cruell storme at sea the lowest place in the ship is the safest Elias in that furious whirlewind in that terrible earthquake and that fearefull fire wrapt himselfe vp like a bottome of yarne and lay close to the earth Dauid in that his persecution by Saul saith I was humbled and he deliuered me Iob in that generall destruction of all his goods when those bad tidings were brought vnto him hee arose and rent his garments and shaued his head and fell downe vpon the ground and worshipped and said Naked came I out of my mothers wombe and naked shall I return thither the Lord hath giuen the Lord hath taken it away blessed be the name of the Lord. The tempest afterwards encreasing vpon him as byles botches leaprosie wormes and a wife he got him to a dunghil with a piece of a potsheard in his hand making choice of the humblest but safest place Giue vs grace ô Lord to imitate this his humilitie that thou mayst blesse vs in this world and in the world to come c. THE FOVRTEENTH SERMON VPON THE
Iudignatio mea in manu tua God had put this chastisement into the hands of a tyrant as his instrument who had not the wit to carrie himselfe accordingly therefore he punished him according to his desarts He rebuked the Feuer and it left her Saint Augustine deliuereth some mens opinions who affirme That things without life as Sickenesse Pestilence Famine were occasioned by euill Angells one while for our good another while for our hurt but alwayes for the seruice of God and to shew themselues obedient to his Empire And this is the true sence and meaning of Imperauit febri He rebuked the Feuer and of Vocauit famem He called a Famine Not that a Feuer or Famine haue any eares to heare or vnderstand any thing but because the Angell to whom the power is committed doth heare and obey his will In this Article there are two manifest truths The one That the Angells as well good as bad are many times ministers of our punishments by famine pestilence barrennesse tempests sicknesse death And this truth is made good by innumerable stories in Scripture as in that of Iob whose Corne the Deuill destroyed threw downe his Houses carried away his Cattell and killed his Children That of Sarah who had seuen husbands slaine by Asmodeus the Deuill Those plagues of Aegypt whereof saith Dauid the Deuills were the Instruments He cast vpon them the fiercenesse of his anger indignation and wrath and vexation by the sending out of euill Angells where God makes them his Hangmen or Executioners And in another place Fire and haile snow and vapours stormie winds which execute his Word c. Of good Angels there are likewise many stories as that of those that came to Sodom and that of the Angell that slew the souldiers of Zenacherib The other That to haue things without life to be obedient to the Empire of our Sauiour Christ there is no such necessitie that they should bee mooued and gouerned by Angels either good or bad as Saint Hierome and Saint Augustine haue both obserued For albeit towards vs and in themselues they are insencible yet towards God they are not so He calls the things that are not as if they were Nor is it any thing strange that the Heauens or the Earth should haue eares or that those things should answer and obey at Gods call whose end is Gods glorie the waters at Gods command gather themselues into heapes and when he sayes but the word they againe withdraw themselues he prescribes bounds to the Sea Hitherto shalt thou come and no further at his Word againe the Sea is made drie land he layes his command vpon the fire to giue light but not burn curbing this his actiue qualitie as it did in the â—irie Furnace when the childeren came forth vntoucht At this Word the waters gushed out of the hard Rocke the Winds are at his command death and life sicknesse and health and al things else whatsoeuer doe truly and punctually obey his will and so in this place he had no sooner said the word But her Feuer left her And rising vp she presently ministred vnto them In regard that shee was an old woman she might verie well haue excused her selfe from doing this seruice but her health was so perfect her recouerie so sound and her strength so increased that without further tarriance She presently ministred vnto them Your earthly Physicke is long a working and the Cures prooue imperfect but Gods physick workes continâ—ò presently for All Gods workes are perfect But it is not so in nature Pierius makes the Vulture the emblem of nature Auolatus tarditate being a kind of Tortoise in his flying First of all it is intimated here vnto vs What hast a Sinner ought to make to get vp S. Peter being in prison the Angell said vnto him Surge velociter Arise quickely and without any more adoe not staying vpon his gyues chaines the gates or the guards he presently riseth vp and gets him gone with all the speed he could Noah puts the Crow out of the Arke Dimisit Corvum qui egrediebatur non reuertebatur The Hebrew Text hath it Exiuit exeundo redeundo He began to make wing but seeing such a vastnesse of waters fearing to faile in his flight he returned backe againe but being entred carrying about him the sent of those dead carcasses which had perished by the Floud he went to and fro so long till at last he went his way and was neuer seene any more Many there are that will put one foot forward and pull two backeward make you beleeue that they meane to goe on well in vertue and goodnesse but beeing discouraged with the difficultie of getting vp that hill and hauing a monthes mind to follow the sent of their former stinking howsoeuer to them sweet seeming sinnes at last they are vtterly lost and neuer more heard of so apt is sinfull man to leaue the best and take the worst Secondly By this her seruice this good deuout old woman made known her bodily health and by the ioy and comfort shee tooke therein shee manifested her soules health At the verie first voyce of Ezechiel the boughes began to mooue but as yet they had not life in them Ossa arida audite Verbum Domini they were afterwards knit and ioyned together and set in verie good order but they had need of another kind of voice than Ezechiels to giue them spirit life Saint Augustine expounding that place of Saint Iohn Verba mea Spiritus vita sunt saith That this Spirit and life is in himselfe and not in thee For that Poenitent which doth not giue some signe or token of life hath not yet obtained life and that He that in his seruice and attendance doth not make shew that he is free of his former Sickenesse his health may iustly be suspected Saint Paul giues vs this Lesson He that steales let him steale no more but c. Hee must not onely content himselfe with not stealing or with working for his liuing and that it is enough for him to haue laboured hard but of that which hee hath got by the sweat of his browes hee must giue part thereof to the Poore if not for the satisfaction of his former thefts yet to shew himselfe a good Christian by obseruing the rules of charitie Zacheus did performe both these the one in making a fourefold restitution to those whom he had defrauded by forged cauillation the other by giuing to the Poore the one halfe of his goods Let all bitternesse and anger and wrath crying and euill speaking saith the Apostle bee put away from you with all maliciousnesse First of all there must not abide in your brests the least smacke of bitternesse anger wrath euill speaking nor any other maliciousnesse But because it is not enough to shun euill vnlesse wee doe also he thing that is good he addeth in the second place that which
proofs thereof strong were his reasons strange his myracles profound his discourse In a word his words workes were such that they made Admiration stand amased and Wonder it selfe to wonder Your not beleeuing me saith our Sauiour cannot arise from my not speaking vnto you but from your wilfulnesse but if yee will not beleeue in my words giue credit to my workes Where by the way it is to be noted That our Sauiour Christ hauing innumerable testimonies to alledge in his behalfe those shall first be represented vnto you which are set downe by Saint Iohn Tres. sunt qui testimonium dant in Coelo c. There are three which beare Record in Heauen the Father the Word and the Holy-Ghost and there are three which beare record in the earth the Spirit the Water and the Bloud Which we haue treated of at large elsewhere The second is That of the Prophets and Prophecies Search the Scriptures and they saith our Sauiour Christ are they that testifie of mee And Saint Peter hee auerreth as much Omnes Prophetae testimonium perhibent To him also giue all the Prophets witnesse c. And here we may more especially consider with our selues one great and singular wonder That these the Prophets liuing in diuers times and places prophecying different things that should befal our Sauior Christ as one his stripes another his buffetings a third his patience a fourth his silence c. All of them did compose an excellent peece did set forth a most absolute and perfect picture of the Messias for it was the hand of the Holy-Ghost that directed the pensill and that the seuentie Interpreters without seeing one another without conuersing or communicating their minds should all of them jumpe and agree so well together and extract one and the same originall was a great wonder That the Statuaries of Greece liuing asunder in different Cities should frame a figure in seuerall pieces one making the leg another the arme a third the head and all of them meet in handsomenesse shape feature and proportion as heart could wish this likewise if it be true was a great wonder But in the Prophets the circumstances were farre greater as that of time for that they were in different ages and of different estates conditions and qualities c. The third is The testimonie of his owne myracles for as Athanasius and Iustine Martyr haue noted by an especiall Diuine prouidence it was so ordered that none of the Saints that were either before or after could doe any of those same myracles which were prophecyed of our Sauiour Christ. And this did he himselfe deliuer to the Disciples of Iohn Baptist Tell him saith he from me The Blind receiue sight the Hault goe the Leapers are clensed the Deafe heare and the Dead are raised vp c. The Common people also did testifie of him Testimonium perhibebat turba In conclusion hauing so many and sundrie testimonies he would not here make vse of any other than the testimonie of his workes First because such of vs as remaine here as his Agents vpon earth may by this testimonie prooue his Diuinitie Secondly To the end that no man should pretend to hold himselfe to bee the Sonne of God by Grace vnlesse hee giue testimonie thereof by his workes There is no great heed to be giuen to words Quid verba audiam cum facta non videam Our Sauiour Christ would take no notice of those Virgins who in good words proffered their seruice to the Spouse but performed nothing lesse in their deeds because they had not their Lampes lighted and readie at hand Shew me thy faith by thy workes Clemens Alexandrinus expounding that place of Saint Mathew Regnum Coelorum vim patitur The Kingdome of Heauen suffers violence saith That this force or violence is not to be done Contentiosis orationibus sed rectae vitae assiduitate And hence was it that many of Gods Saints did not rest contented with the doing onely of good workes but by shewing also some open euidence of them Nemo mihi molestus â—it saith Saint Paul ego enim stigmata Domini Iesu in corpore meo porto Let no man trouble himselfe in enquiring after me or to aske Who I am the print of the yrons wherewith I am branded in the face doth plainly speake my name and publish to the world my profession and condition Hee borrowed this metaphore from your branded slaues or as Anselmus will haue it from some deuice born by the soldiers of the Roman Empire Saint Chrysostome ponders the word Porto a Slaue may beare a marke in his face but makes no great braggs of it nor indeed hath any great reason so to do but Saint Paul he boasts thereof as an Ensigne doth of the Colours which hee carries suting with that of the Bridegroome Weare me in thy heart as a Spouse doth her ring on her finger or as a Louer doth his Mistresse fauour on his arme But yee beleeue not for yee are not of my Sheepe Saint Augustine vnderstands by these Sheepe the Preachers of Gods Word because they heare the voyce of their Sheepheard but this his opinion may not stand as a generall sentence First of all Because many not predestinated doe beleeue heare and obey as Iudas and others that were not of Christs Sheepe And many againe of the Predestinated did not as then beleeue as S. August hath noted it which afterwards came to beleeue Now the Sheepe is a fitting figure or symbole of him that is predestinated to saluation and touching those in particular to whom our Sauiour sayd That they were not of his Sheep who notwithstanding had enioyed such powerfull and plentifull meanes to beleeue if they had beene in the number of Christs Sheepe doubtlesse they would haue beleeued and therefore we are diligently to weigh these words Yee beleeue not c. Next we are to consider the conueniences which are betwixt the Sheep and the Predestinated The first is They heare my voyce There is no liuing creature more obedient to what he heares or more apt to heare the least whistle of the Sheepheard is the Sheepes North Starre When God reprehended Elias at the mouth of the Caue there came first a great wind And God was not in the wind then anon after came an earthquake And God was not in the earthquake after that a flaming fire And God was not in the fire at last there came a soft whistling sound and then God passed by But why should he make his appearance in a whistle or a soft noyse Marrie therein he plainly told the Prophet You out of the aboundance of your zeale and hot fierie spirit would haue all to be winds earthquakes and lightnings thundering out nothing but damnation and vengeance and howbeit I hold this to be a fitting course to be taken with an idolatrous People and such as are Rebells to my House yet for those that are my Sheep a whistle