Sion leapes like a young Hart and Syrion like an Vnicorne Hee is risen saith the Angel But who is this that is risen that the mountaines are so pleasant at the businesse Why it is the Lord and maker both of the mountaines and valleys that same great Lord who tells us that all the beasts of the forrest are his and the cattell upon ten thousand Hills Hee who in the pursuit after us leapt out of heaven into a stable indured the frailties and miseries of our Nature hee who suffered the reproaches of his enemies was scourged reviled spit upon crowned with thornes he whom but now we left in the grave guarded with Souldiers as if the fetters of death were not strong enough for him Hee is now risen The joyfullest newes that ever was heard upon earth This is the day which the Lord hath made let us rejoyce and be glad in it For if hee had risen no more but that Death had had the victory over him his miraculous conception his stupendious birth his cruell sufferings his ignominious death and all that hee hath endured for us had not a whit availed us But now wee see to our infinite comfort that the house of death was too weak a Prison for him and the gates of Hell were not able to prevaile against him Let not us therefore who have a greater interest in this blessed newes then all creatures whatsoever bee more stupid then the heavy mountaines which in an extasie of joy are found leaping and skipping Psalm 114. Not that the mountaines did really leape but by a kinde of Prosopopaea to intimate unto us that infinite joy those glad tidings which now were come unto men even the weighty mountaines themselves which are the unlikeliest part of the world for any such motion are brought in by the holy Spirit to trace it in a daunce Which figure doth first accuse us men both of ingratitude and stupiditie Secondly it doth incite us to shake off that drowsinesse It doth accuse us first For how can wee at all bee accounted worthy of that great benefit who suffer our selves to bee overcome even of senslesse creatures in expressions of joy Or goe farther and suppose that these mountaines were sensible that they were able to move out of their places yet what doth the rising of Christ concerne them Had hee never died at all or being dead had hee never risen wee may conjecture that their estate had beene all one the Sunne had sent as gentle rayes upon them as hee doth now they had had their vicissitudes of seasons and times as well as now the Starres had looked upon them with the same Aspects and the ayre which circumscribes them had beene as courteous to them as now The resurrection of Christ hath not purchased any blessednesse or immortality for them For they shall smoake when the Lord toucheth them and melt like waxe at the presence of God when he comes to judge the whole earth But let us looke into our selves and wee shall finde multitudes of arguments inducing us nay enforcing us to a thankfull acknowledgement of his mercies Hee was borne not for himselfe but for us hee endured misery not for himselfe but for us hee dyed for us not for himselfe for us he was buried for our sakes hee went downe into hell and came from thence in triumph and he rose againe for our justification Wee were before children of darknesse and of the night but now by his resurrection wee are made heires of the light and day Before we were the cursed children of Adam under the dominion of death and hell but now by his resurrection wee are adopted the blessed sonnes of God and made inheritours of life everlasting And are these small favours think yee that we take no more notice of them but sit still like Solomons sluggard with our hands in our bosomes and suffer the very hills to take our office from us Let us at least joyne our selves with them in this rejoycing for feare least hereafter for this neglect wee be glad to wooe those mountaines to fall on us and be denied and to cry unto the hills Cover us from the presence of that angry and just God whose loving kindnesse we have contemned We have our Graves too even while wee live here on earth to arise out of the graves of our sinnes There is a two-fold resurrection as well a resurrection from sinne as from death and let that man never hope to bee a partaker in the second which is from death unlesse hee have his part in the first in the rising from sinne And being risen from the graves of our sinnes let us leape upon the mountaines grow on from strength to strength from Altitude to Altitude from one degree of perfection to another untill at last wee come to leape upon those mountaines amongst which Ierusalem which is above is scituated Wee are now come to take our last farewell of Christs corporall presence till wee shall enjoy it for ever For harke what the Spouse saith in the last verse of this second Chapter of the Canticles Vntill the day breake and the shadowes flye away returne my welbeloved and be like a Roe or a young Hart upon the mountaines of Bethel Returne my welbeloved He is now returned to the place from whence he came he came from Heaven first from Bethel from the house of God and as I told yee before to prove the circle of all figures to be the fullest of perfection he doth not leave moving untill he comes into heaven againe till hee leapes upon the mountaines of Bethel Lift up your heads O yee gates and be yee lift up yee everlasting doores and the King of glory shall come in Who is the King of glory The Lord strong and mighty even the Lord mighty in battell Quae vox utique non propter divinitatis potentiam saith St. Jerom sed propter novitatem carnis ascendentis ad dextram Dei ferebatur Which words were not spoken in regard of the power of the Deity But in respect of that new thing which was about to be done the placing of flesh at the right hand of the Father And this is the sixth and last leape I told yee of which Christ did take upon his journey towards mans redemption In the five first hee traced our footsteps who had leaped the same leapes before him but in this he leaves man behind him and makes hast before to prepare his Mansions for him In my Fathers house there be many Mansions This was that leape of which hee himselfe foretold his Disciples in the 16. of S. Iohn verse 16. ModicuÌ„ non videbitis me iteâ—modicum videbitis A little while yee shal not see me again a little while and yee shall see me for I goe to my Father O modicum modicum saith St. Bernard O modicum longum pie Domine modicum dicis quod non videmus te A little while and a little while Gracious God
ire to rise up in a Contemplation unto such things as are above their owne nature For the first orders therefore to reade the greatnesse the wisedome and providence of God in any of the inferiour orders or in subjecta creatura in the Fabrick of the world hoe descendere potius quam saltus dare this is rather to goe downe then to leape To view the greatnesse and majestie of God in themselves in looking into their owne pure nature hoc illorum est per planum ire this is their plaine way they neither rise nor fall in doing thus But they are said to leape when they ascend into a simple and naked Contemplation of the Power the Wisedome the Majesty of God as he is in himselfe and so behold with admiration that Fountaine of beauty of goodnesse of order of proportion The second and third Hierarchies they are onely said to leape when they doe rise in a speculation into the orders above them and from thence are furnished with matter of admiration concerning the Divine power and wisedome For although it be granted that these inferiour orders have also their simple contemplations doe behold the face of God too enjoy the beatificall vision as well as the other yet this may be called illorum volatus potius quam tripudium rather their flight then their leaping because wee know hee that leapes doth not multum elongere se à stationis suae loco removes not himselfe farre from the place he was in before which we finde contrary in a flight when the thing that flies works it selfe many times into a vast distance Therefore because those orders of Angels which are here set out unto us by the name of rammes in their leapes doe never use but a simple Contemplation and the other inferiour orders never but a speculation most fitly hath the Psalmist laid his comparison together Montes exultaverunt ut arietes colles sicut agni ovium For the mountaines then to skip like rammes is when Contemplative men in a kinde of sacred extasie and overflowing of the soule doe climbe up into pure notions of the Deity abstracted from speculations doe behold the face of God not in the glasse of the creature but as he is in himselfe all splendor all glory all brightnesse all goodnesse And for the hills to skip like lambs is when speculative men doe climbe up into an admiration of God by beholding the works of his handâ— as St. Paul to the Romans 1.20 For the invisible things of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are seene in the creation of the world being considered in his workes Pensemus ergo c. Let us therefore conceive if we be able what a mighty prerogative and grace it is for our humane and fraile natures to be likened in the motions of our minds unto the glorious Angels And let us therfore praise the GOD of Angels and men who hath made us a little lower then the Angels to crowne us with glory and worship O blessed soule and truely happy who can take such leapes as these who leaving the dull senses asleepe can secretly steale from the body and mount up in a moment unto the familiarity of Angels bee partakers of their joyes be present at their spirituall delicates and with them leape from one degree of knowledge and illumination to another and with infinite delight and admiration still bee knowing of that immensity which can never bee fully knowen Lord let my soule ever leape after this manner and I shall not envie all the flattering courtship that the world can shew me But I make haste to the Quare the cause of this leaping What aile yee O yee mountaines c. reade but the next verse and the Question is answered A facie Domini mota est terra for so good Translations as I told yee reade it The earth was moved at the Face of the Lord. Hugo set downe foure severall faces of Christ Facâ—m 1 Viventis The face of Christ living or the face of his Poverty And this face did he shew in his Nativity and after in his whole life being made poore for our sakes so that hee had not so much as whereon to lay his head 2 Morientis The face of Christ dying or the face of his Griefe And this face did hee shew us upon the Crosse which seemed to becken to all Passengers and to say in the Prophet Ieremies words Lam. 1.12 Have yee no regard all yee that passe by this way behold and see if there bee any sorrow like unto my sorrow 3 Iudicantis The face of Christ Iudging or the face of his Anger And this face will he shew to the wicked ones in the day of judgement 4 Regnantis The face of Christ reigning or the face of his Glory and pleasure And this face will hee onely shew to the Saints in the Kingdome of Heaven But I must make bold in the midst of these foure to insert one face more of Christs which Hugo Cardinalis did not thinke of and that is Facies resurgentis The face of Christ arising from the dead subduing the grave and leading Captivity captive And this is the face of Christ meant here at the sight of which the Earth was moved The Mountaines skipped c. And what thing is there so heavy that could sit still and behold this face O let not us then be more insensible then the Mountaines and Hills to which wee are compared for we must know that the strength of the comparison doth not lie in the ponderousnesse of the Mountaines No wee ought not to imitate them in this but it doth consist in the height in their neernesse to heaven and their distance from the common roades of men Lift up your heads therefore O yee gates and be yee lift up yee everlasting doores and the King of glory will come in First then O yee mountaines of the earth who doe enjoy a vicinity and kinde of familiarity with God and heaven Yee men of contemplation who by the advantage of your height have a far clearer and neerer prospect of God and of the wonders that are in him then they who are upon the little Hills and Plaines of the earth below O lift up your heads on high in a thankfull acknowledgement and admiration of the wisedome the power the mercy of our God who sent his onely Sonne in whom he was well pleased into the world that he by his poverty his ignominie his obedience his death might make an atonement for our sins And this is the day wherein that gracious worke was perfectly finished this is the day wherein our Saviour Christ having entred into the house of that strong man Death and bound him like a Giant refreshed with wine issued out of the Grave in triumph Or once This is the day which the Lord hath made let us reioyce and be glad in it For be sure that the Lord lookes for greater higher and more frequent leapes from you for purer and
he followed him that even into the high Priests Hall Where it is true hee told them he knew not the man but this also is as true that he did tell them so The other Disciples knew not the man and were so fearefull that they durst not come neere to tell them so but Peter is so couragious that hee stands out a threefold deniall In his very deniall he was valâ—anter then all the rest Let us therefore ascribe unto St. Peters God for St. Peters faith for St. Peters love for his valour for his doctrine for his life for his repentance for his death and martyrdome all which are set up as so many Sea-markes to guide us into the Haven of eternall rest as due is all praise honour power majestie c. Amen THE FOVRTH SERMON PREACHED Upon St. John Baptists Day LVK. 1. Part of the 66. verse What manner of Childe shall this be I Cannot tell whether I should more commend the former Ages of the Church or lament our owne they in the Primitive times were so carefull to take all possible occasions to glorifie God in Himselfe in his Sonne â—e his holy Spirit in his Saints that they did dedicate set dayes on purpose for his worship as the day of the Nativity of our Saviour the day of his Passion of his Resurrection which was indeed the great day of the yeare which did quite abrogate the Jewish Sabbath the day also of the Ascension and the Feast of Pentecost wherein the Comforter was sent to the Disciples Nor did their devotion stop here but because they might let slip no occasion to praise the Lord they also did set apart certaine dayes wherein God should be glorified in the anniversarie memory of his Saints At ipsa sanctitas sanctorum simul memoria frigidis his nostris temporibus exulant But our times frozen with a certaine new upstart discipline blowne from Geneva are so farre from affording any honourable mention of Gods Saints that many of us quarrell the very name And indeed to say the truth what have they to doe with the word when the thing which the word signifies is banished from them I doe acknowledge that the Church of Rome is something too ceremonious too complementall in regard of the Saints and doth bestow too much honour upon them many times even to the prejudice of Gods glory But shall we therefore like fooles or mad men in a wilde desire of opposition erre farther on the other hand because they honour them a little too much therefore shall wee dishonour them God hath beene pleased to glorifie them in heaven like the Starres in the Firmament The just shall shine as the Sunne in the Kingdome of their Father saith our Saviour in the 13. of Saint Mathew ver 43. And therefore certainely these are not fit objects of our scorne and neglect But to give if it be possible some satisfaction to the froward and ignorant concerning these dayes dedicated to the Saints If Antiquity would satisfie them I could send them to â—ertullian St. Ierome St. Augustine and of later times to Baronius Annales to Bellarmine who are not much branded for bearing false witnesse of the ancient times For certaine it is that this dedication of dayes unto the honour of the Saints or to the honour of God in the Saints choose yee which is of great Antiquity The Romanists have indeed abused this custome and have multiplied the number of their Saints beyond the number of their dayes it may bee have put in some into the number of their Saints when there hath beene neither such Saints nor such men But it is no good argument from the abuse of a Thing to conclude against the lawfull use But I will leave Antiquity which they care not for and will deale with them by reason I was too blame to tell them so I doubt my arguments will fare the worse for comming to them in that livery Carnall reasoning as they call it they cannot abide O that such people would but heare without prejudice For what is he who hath not lost all that is man about him when hee shall heare the reasons which are alleadged for the dedication of these dayes but must needes mee thinkes retract his lunacie and folly and call the former Ages wise and our selves happy them for first instituting and us for enjoying those blessed occasions and meanes to build us up in devotion The dayes therefore dedicated to the memory of the blessed Virgin St. Mary the holy Apostles and Martyrs have many profitable and religious uses First That upon those dayes wee might joyne our rejoycing with theirs communicate together in our joy and praises of God And for this it is that we beleeve and confesse in our Creed A communion of Saints Secondly that we might shew our thankfulnesse both unto God and to them who are so solicitous for our good and doe so thirst after and rejoyce at our salvation and glory There is joy in heaven for one sinner that repents Thirdly That wee contemplating their vertues and graces might be provoked to an imitation of their godly lives Fourthly That our Faith and Hope might by the consideration of them be established that as we verely beleeve that they are now glorified in Heaven who were once mortall men here on Earth subject to the same passions to the same infirmities with our selves so wee following their steps in vertuous and religious living shall one day also be removed from this earth and enjoy with them an everlasting vision of glory Fifthly That God thereby might be honoured For if we so honour the memory of the Saints certainly this very action of ours must needs acknowledge him to be more glorious more honourable who both made them men and made them Saints Sixthly That by meditating upon their happinesse and the beauty which they are now possest of we might be perswaded unto a hate of all earthly things and onely let our thoughts bee taken up with Heaven which while they lived here was their study now is their habitation And lastly That by the celebration of these Feasts meeting at Gods house as we ought to do praising and raying unto the Lord hearing his holy Word read or preached we might be builded up to further degrees of knowledge and devotion And were there no other reason but this me thinkes it might move a good Christian But I shall make a monster of this Childe of mine this discourse in making the head too bigg for the body so that I am afraid you will get to the Text before me and say of my Sermon as the people did here of St. Iohn the Baptist What manner of Child shall this be I therefore make haste to the Text. And all they that heard these things laid them up in their hearts saying What manner c. Our whole discourse at this time shall bee nothing else but an answer to this question And to whom is this question directed I perceive
Prophet Elijah shew his thankfulnesse so to the place where hee was for a while nourished and shall Hee who is the God of all compassion bee more ungratefull more unkinde more cruell to the place of his nativity Flesh and blood would certainely interpret this to be ingratitude and cruelty For although he was not the efficient Cause of this massacre yet hee was the procuring Cause and withall had power if hee had pleased to have prevented it and therefore by that Maxime of the Civilians may in some sort stand guilty of it What shall wee thinke Is there cruelty or injustice with God God forbid that we should entertaine such a thought No the fault without all question is in our apprehension of this thing wee doe not judge rightly of it No doe we not judge rightly let us therefore joyne all the rest of the parts behind together and runne through them And indeed I durst keepe them asunder no longer for if I should have handled them all in order disioyntedly I should have beene forced to give yee to a great a potion of Wormwood in this time of Roses Let us see then whether wee doe not apprehend it aright or no. Wee have a griefe here and the subject of this griefe is Rachel that is the women of Bethleem The vbi the place of this griefe Ramah or Bethleem and the adjacent Countrey the place of Christs Nativity there the women grieve The quality of this griefe it is mourning weeping and lamentation the quantity of this griefe it is great great lamentation shee would not be comforted the object or cause is the death of their children they were not Doe we not yet apprehend it aright It seemes to me that we doe The lamentation was great and the cause was great it proceeded from the slaughter of their children and this was done in Bethleem the Citie wherein Christ was borne and it was done for his sake for Christs sake who had power to have prevented all this Doe we not yet apprehend it aright We will for a while suspend our censures Mee thinks I have a perfect Picture of that lamentable spectacle before mine eyes now and behold those women of Bethleem full of amazement mixing their lamentations with the churlish language of the Souldiers death appearing to them in as many severall shapes as there were Ministers or Instruments of death Here one whil'st her onely Sonne to innocent that yet it hath not learned so much as to feare is ravished from her breasts and dâ—â—t against the stones crying to the Executioner in St. Augustines words Quid seperas a me quem â—enâ— ex me Cruell and bloudy man why doest thou seperate him from mee who was borne of me and whilest the sterne Souldier charges her with a countenance of death shee answers him as Andromâ—cha did Vlâ—ses in the Tragedy Sâ— vis cogeâ— Andromacham metu Vitam mâ—nare nam mori votum est mihi What doest thou tell me of death if thou desirest to strike a feare into me threaten me with life for as for death I number it amongst the greatest of blessings There another with disheveld haire crying Meme quae feci What hath this poore Innocent done The crime was mine in bringing of a man-childe into the world the crime was mine I claime the punishment as my due Or if he be guilty too for being born junge mortem we are both offenders let us both dye Thus doth the poore Mother court the bloudy Cut-throat for death who shewes a new kinde of cruelty to her in being mercifull Then was the time if ever wherein a man might have said it is a happinesse to be borne a Woman for they are past by and onely the male children are slaine The Souldiers of Herod like cunning Woodmen pursue the best game and let the Herde passe by untouched I must not dwell upon this sight but these and a thousand other severall shapes of mourning weepings and lamentation were to be seene in Bethleem In Bethleem the Citie of Christs Nativity and all this was done for his sake too who had power and yet did not prevent it Shall wee call Christ ingratefull for this no Est quidem injustus dolor rerum aestimator Griefe is but a false Judge of things Certainly then we doe not apprehend this aright For Saint Augustine is of another minde accounting the slaughter of these children a blessednesse Beata es ò Bethlam terra Iuda saith hee quae Herodis regis immanitatem in puerorum extinctione perpessa quae sub uno tempore candidatam plebem impellis infantiae deo offerre meruisti Blessed art thou O Bethleem in the land of Iuda for suffering the cruelty of the King God was pleased to send a Present a Token of his love unto the Sonnes of men the Babe Iesus and thou alone of all the Cities of the world wert found worthy to send back againe to heaven as it were in exchange a Present a Troupe of immaculate and candidate Infants It was blessed also for the Mothers who now are proved fruitfull to heaven and are called the Mothers of Martyrs Most blessed of all it was for the Infants themselves for besides the courtesie the Souldiers did them in taking them from a troublesome and painfull life they had hereby the neerest Cut to heaven that it was possible for them to have Quam faeliciter nati saith St. Augustine in primo nascendi limine aeterna vita obviam venit vix dum gustaverant praesentem statim transeunt ad futuram nondum ingressi infantiae Cunas jam perveniunt ad Coronas rapiuntur quidem à complexibus matrum sed redduntur gremiis Angelorum O how blessed were these Children in their birth saith that Father who were scarcely stepd over the Threshold of this mortall life but the life eternall met them at the doore who had scarce time to tast what the Present was before they were tralated to the future who were crowned with eternity even in their Cradles who were indeed snatched from the embraces of their Mothers but in stead of that given into the bosome of Angells to be cherished Had they lived peradventure some of them for ought we know not to meddle with that media Scientia might have proved murtherers themselves some theeves others riotous persons and most of them having run a tedious and troublesome course in this life at the last have gone downe with sorrow into the Grave but Herod thinking utterly to undoe them by his cruelty conferres the greatest benefit on them that mortality was capable of sends them post unto Heaven For whom and all other thy Martyrs and Saints departed in thy feare we praise thy holy name O Lord humbly entreating thee to give vs of thy grace so to frame our lives according to their good example that when we depart this life whether it be by a naturall death or any other speedier way which thou hast appointed for us wee may rest with them in everlasting
glory Grant this O Father for Jesus Christ his sake our only Mediatour and Advocate Amen THE SIXTH SERMON PREACHED Upon Palme Sunday LVK. 19. Ver. 41. 42. And when he was come neere he beheld the Citie and wept for it Saying O if thou hadst knowne even thou at the least in this thy day those things which belong unto thy peace but now are they hid from thine eyes ANd when he I am already stopt and arrested here by wonder nor can I go any farther in repeating this verse untill I have quieted my selfe by asking our Evangelist the same question which the Eunuch did Philip in the Acts Of whom speakes he this of himselfe or of some other man What Hee is this in my Text who comes neere unto the Citie beholds it and then weepes I should conjecture by the tenour of the precedent verses that it was Christ who is here meant for we reade there at the 35. verse So they brought him to Iesus and they cast their garments on the Colt and set Iesus thereon and as he went in the next verse and in the next to that and when hee was come neere to the going downe of the mountain and so the current of the same relatives runnes on in a faire and undisturbed Channell untill it falls into this Ocean here in my Text into this Sea of teares which are wept for the Citie And when he was come neere he beheld the Citie And might I goe no farther but stay here it would prove a very easie matter to perswade mee that this hee here hath relation to that Iesus there but when I begin to sound the next word and wept I am againe at a stand For what construction what agreement me thinks is the best Grammarian in the world able to make betwixt those two words Hee and wept may easily stand together but Iesus and wept Certainly they are tearmes incompatible for can God hee who is the Creatour of all the world can he mourne if griefe and teares which are the effects of griefe be nothing else but the fruits of sinne how is it possible that he should either grieve or weepe then who is free from all sinne But I must quietly subscribe unto this holy Truth for St. Iohn who was called the Divine amongst the Apostles hath taught me not to seperate those things which God hath joyned together who in his 11. Chap. ver 35. like a holy Priest who knits the hands in Wedlock hath married those two words together without the interposition so much as of a syllable to forbid the Banes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iesus wept Wee are satisfied then now concerning this Hee in my Text so that wee may goe on unto his Progresse or the three steps his compassion takes towards the Citie And so the Text dividing it selfe to our hands We have First Christs Appropinguat or his venit He came neere Secondly His videt And beheld the City Thirdly His Lachrymatur super illam and wept for it For as for the next verse that belongs to this last part being nothing else but those singultus lachrymae those teares and abrupt sobs which Christ did sigh out over the Citie Or else if yee please thus The first of these verses doth containe in it a three-fold streame or river arising from the Mount of Olives the place whence Christ did set forth upon his journey towards the Citie The first of which is this Hee came neere Which running on calmly for a while in a smooth course looses both it selfe and its name in a greater which is the second And beheld the Citie which doth not long enjoy its rougher Channell but presently that is drowned too in a farre greater then it selfe And wept for it which third immediatly also like a narrow Sea pent betweene two Mountaines disburthens it selfe in a Cataract into this Ocean in the following verse O if thou hadst knowne even thou at the least in this thy day see what abruptions be here One high comming wave following upon the neck of another those things which belong unto thy peace I have lost my selfe againe Praeruptus aquae Mons a mountaine of Sea broke loose from the watry Continent hath made one of Neptunes Quos ego's an Aposiopesis in my Text But now are they hid from thine eyes Which is the fluctus decumanus the tenth and greatest wave which seemes to threaten nothing but shipwrack and destruction But I will leave this turbulent Shore and walke a while by the pleasant and quieter banks of the Rivers And the first in order is Christs appropinquat hee came neare What Christ doth here to this sinfull City of Jerusalem God doth daily unto the sonnes of men who remaine obstinate in their sinnes Hee drawes neare unto them in offering them mercy and forgivenesse Hee drawes neare to them in his Word read and preached hee drawes neare to them in the administration of his Sacraments whilest miserable and blinded Man neglects his visitations Now wee know that we cannot name this word appropinquat hee came neare unto the City but wee must presently imply that there was once a distance betwixt this Hee and that City So in like manner was there once a distance betwixt God and us Not on Gods part for hee is every where and with his glorious presence fills the whole world If I ascend into Heaven thou art there saith David if I lie downe in Hell thou art there also let mee take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost part of the Sea yet thither shall thy hand leade mee and thy right hand hold mee No the distance the separation is on our parts who like the Prodigall sonne having received our Portion of our Father doe goe in longinquam regionem into a farre Countrey not that any Countrey can bee farre to God qui coelum tenet palmo terram pugillo who holds the Heavens in his Palme and the Earth in his Fist but we are said Peregrè proficisci to goe a farre off as Cain was said to goe out from the presence of the Lord. Upon which saith St. Ierome Sciendum non locorum spatiis sed affectu aut esse nos cum Deo aut ab eo decedere We are said to be present with God or to depart from him not in regard of place but according to our affections And that Conjunctive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which St. Luke hath in this Parable Cap. 15. ver 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And there hee spent his goods living riotously amongst the Greekes doth sometimes carry with it the force of a reason as if hee had said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Hee went into a farre Country for there he spent his Goods living riotously making the latter nothing but a reason or interpretation of the former And indeed Sinne is nothing à posteriori but an estranging of us from God Depart from me I know you not saith Christ in the 7. of S.