as the Craines haue that the taste and relish of his meat might continue the longer in it's going downe Fourthly It shortens mans life Propter â—rapulam multi abierunt By surfet haue many perished Et plures gula quam gladio periere And more by sawce haue dyed than by the sword This is the maine cause of your Apoplexies and of your speedie and sudden Deaths Clemens Alexandrinus relateth That Purpurea mors was a Prouerbe of sudden death because those that were cloathed in Purple were commonly Gluttons But for violent deaths what experience more notorious Let Ammon Dauids eldest sonne speake this and Elah King of Israell slaine by the hands of Zambri Clytus Alexâ—â—ders chiefest fauourite Menadab King of Syria Assuerus Haman his Minion and one of the Herods Saint Basyll sayth That the vice of eating well is more desperate than that of liuing ill Many loose Wantons come to be reformed but Gluttons neuer Onely Death sayes hee ends that disease This rich man Saint Luke sayth That hee dyed amidst his continuall banquettings hauing no Medium betweene his eating and his dying Saint Chrysostome layes this to this rich mans charge That he did not beleeue the immortalitie of the Soule nor the eternall happinesses and miseries of that other life And a great argument for the proofe thereof is That hee was so hastie with Abraham That he would send one from the dead to preach this Doctrine to his Kinsfolke and friends And Abraham answering That they had Moses and the Prophets He replyed Non pater Abraham Not so father Abraham I my selfe heard the testimonie of Moses and the Sermons of those other Prophets but for all this I could neuer bee persuaded that Hell was prouided for mee and Heauen prepared for Lazarus My Kinsmen are like to be of the same mind as I was and the like will succeed vnto them as hath befalne mee and therefore I pray thee let one bee sent vnto them from the dead that may put them out of this their errour c. Erat autem mendicus nomine Lazarus vlceribus plenus There was a begger named Lazarus who wus full of Sores Hee painteth foorth this poore man and his wretched and miserable condition counterposing it to those worldly felicities wherewith this rich man did abound The ones pouertie to the others riches the ones sickenesse to the others health the ones hunger to the others fulnesse the ones nakednesse to the others costly clothes the ones leanenesse to the others fatnesse the ones sorrow to the others ioy the ones inioying of no pleasure in this life to the others generall content that he tooke in all the delights and pleasures of this World Transierunt in affectum cordis Another letter hath it In picturas cordium Whatsoeuer his heart did desire it was pictured as it were before him Does a rich man desire a handsome woman Money paints her foorth vnto him does hee desire reuenge Money will draw it out for him does hee desire banquets musicke and good cloaths Money does all this and limm's them out vnto him as in a faire and curious Table Looking vpon the inequality of humane chances in matter of good and bad fortune so much happines in some so ill bestowed vpon them so much miserie in other some which they did not so wel deserue there haue bin some fooles which haue not stick't blasphemously to say Does God know well what hee doth Ecce ipsi peccatores in saeculo obtinuerunt diuitias See what an vnequall course God runs The wickedst men are commonly the most wealthie But the trueth of it is That this is a mysterie of Gods prouidence though secret and hid Hee made the rich men his sonnes and heires here vpon Earth to the end that the younger brethren might haue here their secure sustenance And hee made the poore heires of Heauen that the rich might haue there their â—ecure happinesse So that the rich by releeuing the poore and the poore by praying for the rich they might both by Gods fauour haue equall portions in Heauen Saint Paul sayth That God made some rich and some poore that the aboundance of the rich might supply the wants of the poore and the aboundance of the poore supply the wants of the rich And so their lot might be alike It succeeding with them as it did in that miracle of the Manna Hee that gathered much had no more than he that gathered little For whatsoeuer he gathered ouer and aboue vnlesse he did repart the same vnto others it stunke and did rot and putrifie Vt vestra abundantia c. I will render it you in the Apostles owne words That your aboundance may supply their lacke and that also their aboundance may be for your lacke that there may be equality As it is written He that gathereth much hath nothing ouer and he that gathereth little had not the lesse Saint Mathew sayth That it is easier for a Camell to passe through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdome of Heauen Some vnderstand this Camell to bee a Dromedary some a Cable But to him that shall aske me how can a Camell or a Cable goe through the eye of a needle I shall answere him thus That a Camell beeing burnt and beaten to poulder and a Cable vntwisted and in wound may enter thread after thread into a needles eye In like maner a rich man that puts his trust in his ritches it is hard for him to goe to Heauen or to get into the eye of this needle But he may so lessen himselfe by giuing of almes to the poore that he may c. Fiducia magna eleemosina omnibus fatientibus 〈◊〉 This so Excellent an artifice seemeth to those that apprehend it not a great disorder And as hee that turnes often about thinkes that the world goes round with him so he that hath a giddie head takes Gods prouidence to be disorder But if there be any inequalitie it is on the poore mans part because God hath made them such great Lords in heauen that the rich had need to get themselues out of their hands by Almesdeeds Daniel to Nebucadnezar Breake off thy iniquities by giuing Almes Alluding to that of the Prouerbe The ransome of a mans life are his riches Saint Chrysostome saith That God did not create the Rich for to relieue the Poore but the Poore that the Rich might not be barren of good workes And Saint Austen That Mercie stands before Hell gates seeking to diuert condemnation from the Rich. Full of Sores In this Counterposition he begins first with the sickenesse of the Poore For as health next to life is the greatest good so a long a grieuous and a painefull sickenesse is the greatest ill Ecclesiasticus saith That a poore man that is sound and lustie is better than a rich man that is sicke and feeble Health is of a greater price than either gold or siluer and
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
And as a wise Phisitian feeling the sick mans pulse finds out his il disposition perceiuing that his sicknes grew from that ill ripened fruit which euen to this day is not yet fully digested did prescribe this Recipe as a medicine to cure this our maladie to the end That as man did eate to sickenesse so hee might fast to health and as Gluttonie did banish vs from Paradice so Fasting might recall vs thither againe Whence this note may bee gathered That all those euils that are now in the world are in recompence of that wrong which was done in Paradice vnto Fasting So that not onely our first Parents smarted for it but all their posteritie euen to this day so that if any thing helpe this Surfet it must be Fasting Take off the casement from your Studie window in a windie day and it will hurle all your papers abroad What 's the remedie for this you must set it vp again all will be wel Chrisologus harped vpon this conceit in a Sermon of his vpon the prodigall child where he cries out Fame pereo I die by hunger Wherevpon this presently followeth Surgā ibo ad patrem meum I will rise and goe to my father So that you see that Fasting and Hunger restor'd him presently to his former happie estate So that if our antient lost libertie could possibly be repaired it were no waies better to be recouered than by Fasting And if by Fasting the ship of this our life takes in no water and without it is ouerwhelmed and drowned let vs lay the whole lading of all our il or good vpon our Fasting Saint Ambrose prooueth That while fasting continued in the world God did still better and inrich it with new things The first day he created the Light the second Heauen the third Earth the fourth the Sunne Moone and Starres the fifth the Fishes of the sea and the Fowles of the aire and though hee gaue them his blessing hee did not say vnto them That they should eate The sixth Beasts of the field and Man and giuing them licence to eat the workes of God and the perfections of the world were ended Wherein God gaue man as it were a watch-word that eating would be his vndoing And as Saint Chrysostome hath it if in that so happie an estate Fasting was so necessarie What shall it bee in this miserable condition of ours Saint Iohns Disciples said vnto Christ Master why doe we and the Pharisees fast and thy Disciples not Hee answered While the Bridegroome is present the children are not to weepe but the time shall come wherein they shall not haue him with them and then they shall fast mourne The presence of our Sauiour and the enioying of his most sweet companie did bridle their appetites and keep their soules in subiection but in his absence he inferreth that this must be done by Fasting Saint Ciril saith That Fasting is a greater Sacrifice than that of Abraham for that Sacrifice was to be done vpon anothers bodie this vpon our owne Tertullian noteth That God calling to Adam asked him Vbi es Where art thou But to Elias Quid agis Helias What do'st thou Elias And he saith That the one was of anger and threatning the other of softnesse and mildnesse because he was emptie and had fasted fortie dayes Saint Ambrose attributeth innumerable miraculous effects to Fasting instancing in Niniuie in Moses in Elias in Daniel in Hester in the mothers of Sampson and Samuel in Iudith c. Besides it giueth great light vnto knowledge and wisedome for Gluttonie is an euill disposition for inquirie of truth Repleti sunt qui obscurati sunt terrae saith Dauid They are full fed and blind For this cause Ceres the Goddesse of Aboundance is painted with Poppy in her hand because those that are full fed quickely fall asleepe Nothing so much ouerthroweth Man as the ouercharging of his stomacke with meat In multis escis erit infirmitas Distemperature in dyet is that Nurse which giues milke vnto the Physition Dauid with fasting couered the faults of his whole life Operui in jeiunio animam meam Sola gula saith Saint Bernard peccauit sola jeiunet sufficet onely Gluttonie offended let Gluttonie onely fast and it sufficeth Our nature hath a twofold consideration one corporall another spirituall Alterum commune cum Dijs saith Cicero alterum cum Brutis One common with the Gods another with the Beasts There is a twofold thirst one false the other true there is likewise a twofold desire one of wantonnes another of necessity Our Sauiour fasted but when he was oppressed with hunger he did eat the like may euerie good Christian doe and therefore Saint Gregorie saith That a man may denie that to desire which he may grant to necessitie I will conclude this point with this short saying Carnis curam ne feceritis in desiderijs Let the cockering of your flesh be no part of your desire Be not like the hypocrites c. This little short clause doth affoord three or foure seuerall kinds of sences The first That wee must not onely doe good but shunne euill and therefore aduiseth those that fast not to be like vnto those Hypocrites whom the wind of Vaine-glorie rob'd of all the good they did It seemeth that the Church and the Gospell in this agree The Church telles vs That we are Dust the Gospell That wee should beware of wind that wee bee not carried away therewith withdraw thy selfe out of the Street and from thy doore where the wind whisketh and blowes hard and retyre thy selfe into thy house and Fast in thy priuate Chamber let not thy right hand know what thy left doth Do not like these Hypocrites publish not thy Fastings thy Prayers and thy Almes-deeds in the Streets and open Market place lest the wind scatter them away and they bee no more seene or heard of Saint Gregorie saith That Hypocrites die by the hands of those vices which they haue ouercome they fast and fasting kills them they giue Almes and their Almes-deeds are their destruction Eleazar a most valiant Souldier slew an Elephant which bore vpon his backe a Tower of wood but the Elephant thus slaine chanced also to slay Eleazar great pittie that so valiant a man should die but more that hee should die by the hands of the dead Many Christian Souldiers there are which doe braue and worthie deeds ouercome great vices yet die in the end by their hands The second That your Fastings and your Good-workes are more from God than your selues Non possumus cogitare aliquid ex nobis Of our selues wee cannot so much as thinke Mans pouertie is so great that hee cannot come to so much as a good thought and therefore may not make merchandise of that wealth which is none of his owne But God is so free in the workes of Vertue and so bountifull that being at all the charge himselfe hee giues thee all the gaine onely
fury headlong into Hell Paulo minus sayth Dauid vpon the same occasion habitasset in inferno anima mea A little more saith Dauid and my soule had dwelt in hell Againe The loue to our enemie must encrease by the hate to our selues and those iniuries that thou receiuest from his hand must be vnto thee motiues to loue him and from that wound that he giues thee growes thy cure As Saint Ambrose saith of that of our Sauiour Christ Vulnus inflictum erat fluebat vnguentum A wound was giuen and the oyntment issued out And this you will thinke a hard lesson That a man must learne to haâ—e himselfe The difficultie is plaine but as heauie weights become light when they are counterpoysed by greater so that heauinesse which Nature suffereth in louing her enemie is made light and easie by the counterpoyse of Grace First we are to confesse That this performance is not to bee measured by any naturall force or power of ours for it were great pride to presume That man could naturally deserue so great a reward as is prepared for vs our righteousnes being no better than a stained cloath God not crowning the merits of our Nature but those his gifts of Grace that he conferreth vpon vs. Saint Austen saith That God wrote the Law with his owne hand in token that our power of fulfilling it dependeth in the fauour of his hand The shaft that flies so nimbly through the ayre it is not it's owne lightnesse that causeth it's swiftnesse but the arme that drawes and deliuers it If thou shalt alledge That God hath not his fauour so readie at hand thou doost wrong God who is alwaies so readie at hand that thou canst blame no bodiebut thy selfe Secondly It is so easie and so sweete by those fauours that God affoordeth that a man may verie well say Iugum meum suaue est onus meum leue My yoke is pleasing and my burthen light Si dicebam motus est pes meus saith Dauid misericordia tua adiuuabat When I said my foot is moued thy mercie helped me He had scarce said Lord fauour me but his mercie presently followed him Nunquid adhaeret tibi sedes iniquitatis qui fingis laborem in praecepto Art thou a tyrannicall Prince that by making hard Lawes thou shouldest picke quarrells with thy Subiects and so oppresse and vndoe them No Thou art pittyfull franke and liberall for what thou commandest thou accompaniest with a thousand sweete blessings On the other side againe wee doubt how the old Law beeing so heauie a burthen and our Sauiour Christ adding thereunto a new load vpon the necke of that load it may be said Iugum meum suaue est I answer That there are two kinds of easing of a burden either by lessening the weight or by adding greater strength For a poore weake beast foure Arroba's a certaine measure in Spaine of some sixe gaâ—lons will bee too great a load but for a stronger twelue Arroba's will bee but a light weight And that to the poore beast the burthen may seeme the lighter the better way is to make him fat to put him in heart than wholly to quit him of his lading To him that had beene eight and thirtie yeres benummed our Sauiour sayd Tolle grauatum tuum Take vp thy bed a sickenesse of so long continuance could not but be a great burden vnto him that lay heauily vpon him but God giuing him strength to endure it it seemed light God euermore measures our burthens by his Spirit Diligite benefacite orate Loue do good pray Here are three Beneficia set against three Damna To wit Of our Thoughts our Words and our Workes And in the first place Loue is put Some will not perhappes like so well of it That he must submit himselfe so farre as to do good vnto his enemie and to pray for him But it ought not to seeme ouer burthensome to any for it stands not with reason that Grace should bee lesse powerfull than Sinne in those whose thoughts words and workes tend to what is good Saint Basil compares those that receiue a wrong to the eccho which returns you word for word in the verie same Language and tone as you your selfe shall speake vnto it But heerein lies the difference that in theeccho though the voyce may goe encreasing yet the wrong doth not But in those that thinke themselues wronged that still growes more or lesse as occasion is offered vpon replie of wordes Your Bookes of Duell haue their eccho the lye must be returned with a boxe on the eare a boxe on the eare will require a bastonadoing a bastonadoing the vnsheathing of the Sword and the Sword death God likewise hath his eccho for a cursing hee returnes a courtesie Maledicimur bâ—â—efacimus i. Wee are cursed and yet doe good for hate loue for an ill a good turne God doth not desire of thee That thou shouldest doe more for his sake than thou doost for the Deuills Which mee thinkes is a verie fayre and mannerly kinde of proceeding and such as thou canst not except against If thou canst finde in thy heart to goe see a Comedie meethinkes thou shouldest not refuse to goe heare a Sermon If thou canst giue Liueries to thy Pages it were not much for thee to cloath him that is naked If thou giuest twentie Crownes when thou hast good lucke at play to the standers by it is no great matter for thee God hauing blest thee with wealth to bestow foure vpon an Hospitall If thou canst be content to spend two or three houres in idle and light conuersation it is a small matter for thee to conuerse by Prayer halfe an houre with God it is a thing of nothing Petrus Chrysologus pursueth this Conceit a little further to whom I shall referre you Benefacite his qui oderunt vos orate pro persequentibus vos Doe good to them that hate you Pray for them that hurt you The offended that seekes meanes for his satisfaction shewes hee hath a mind to he made friends and God being willing to be friends with thee hath inuented the meanes of Fasting Prayer Almes but more particularly recommends here vnto thee a Benefacite and an Orate a Good turne and a Prayer Nature teacheth thee to repell violence with violence power by power and the sword by the sword with a Vim vi repellere licet But Grace teacheth vs another Lesson Benefacite his saith she qui oderunt vos orate c. Doe good to them that hate you and pray c. Ill is hardly ouercome with il hatred with malice or bad with worse dealing but with goodnesse and with loue with a Vince in bono malum Ouercome euill with good Plutarch reporteth That the Wind and the Sunne did lay a wager which of the two should first strip a man of his cloaths for this challenge the field was appointed the Wind stoutly bestirres himselfe and furiously sets vpon
Brother Veniet dies luctus patris mei i. My Father will dye ere long and then I will be reuenged of him That ye may bee the children That ye may show of what House you came and what a noble Father you had Qui omneÌ„ potentiam suam parcendo maxime miserando manifestat Deus iudex fortis patiens i. Who manifesteth his omnipotencie most of all by sparing and shewing Pitie Heare what Hugo de santo Victore tels you Nobile vindâ—ctae genus ignoscere victis i. T' is a noble reuenge to forgiue the vanquished In the genealogy of Christ onely Dauid is called King and onely for his generous mind in pardoning the wrongs that his Enemies did him When he gaue Saul his life Nunc scio verè sayd hee quod regnaturus sis i. Now know I truly that thou shalt reigne For such a greatnesse of minde could not bee repayed with lesse than a Crowne Scitote quoniam mirificauit Dominus sanctum suum i. Know that the Lord hath magnified his holy one The Hebrew letter hath it Elegit sibi dominus misericordem i. The Lord hath chosen to himselfe the mercifull man No man will offer to take my Crowne from mee because God hath giuen it mee for shewing mercie to mine Enemies Dauid composed his 56. Psal. vpon that Accident which hapned vnto Saul at the mouth of the caue And the title thereunto is Ne disperdas insignia Dauid or aureolam Dauid Doe not blot out the Armes of Dauid nor take his Crowne from off his head His souldiers importuned him to take away his life from him telling him that God had deliuered him into his hands By which noble action of his sayth Saint Chrysostome hee got himselfe more glorie than when he ouercame the Philistine For there hee got himselfe but the glorie of a valiant and venturous souldier but here â—f a most holy iust and mercifull man there hee read onely a lecture of Fortitude here of meekenesse which of all other is the chiefest vertue there the dames of Hierusalem did solemnise his victorie here the Angells of Heauen there God shewed him a great fauour in deliuering him from the sword of his Enemy here hee did God as acceptable a piece of seruice for that it was the rarer of the two And this was it that made God say of him Inueni virum secundum cor meum i. I haue found a man according to my owne heart That great Prince Moses was so hot and chollericke that in his anger hee killed an Aegiptian that misused an Hebrew Clemens Alexandrinus sayth That hee dispatcht him at one blow The day following another Aegiptian standing in feare of him sayd vnto him Nunc occidere me vis i. Wilt thou now kill me But beeing afterwards trained vp in the schoole of God neuer any man indured so many wrongs of his friends his enemies and his brethren as hee did Who hath thus changed thee Potentissimus faciem illius commutauit i. The most mâ—ghtie had altered his face And beeing thus moulded God sayd vnto him Ego te constituam Deum Pharaonis i. I will make thee as a God to Pharaoh Against such hardnesse power and tyranny it is fit thou shouldest bee a God and that to represent my person thou doost put on my condition The Deuill coniectured by many signes and tokens that Christ at his birth was God As by Angels Sheapheards Kings Prophesies But tothis his pouertie his suffering cold his shedding of teares the thatch of the house the cobwebs in the roome where he lay the hay in the cratch left him more perplexed than before Afterwards he was more amased when he saw him fast fortie dayes whereupon hee set himselfe to tempt him saying Si filius Dei es i. If thou bee the sonne of God c. Then hee had greater staggerings when hee saw his so many so strange and fearefull miracles euen to the forcing of the Deuill himselfe to acknowledge him to be the sonne of God And this did confound him more than all that went before But when hee saw hee pardoned so many iniuries that were dayly done vnto him hee then began to shake and tremble as if hee had beene toucht with quicksiluer Hee beheld Iudas his selling of him his kisse of false peace his calling of him friend and vnder that name betraying him hee saw the night of his imprisonment in Cayphas his house and the iniuries that they did him persuading himselfe that no other but God could pocket vp such wrongs The World cals the reuengfull man valiant but the bloudy minded man the Scripture stiles weake effeminate and womanish When Ioab killed those noble pâ—ire of brothers Abner and Amasa hauing dyed his belt and shooes with the bloud of Abner Dauid sayd Non defiiciet de domo Ioab fluxum seminis sustinens tenens fusum cadeâ—s gladio i. Let there not faile from the House of Ioab one that hath an issue or is a Leaper or that leaneth on a staffe or falleth by the sword God did punish this weakenesse and cowardly act of Ioab with the weakenesse and cowardise of all his posteritie Lastly Being the Sonne of God thou mayst be sure hee will be mindfull of thee take care of thee and loue thee Esay brings in the Church complaining That God had forgotten her Dominus oblitus est mei The Lord hath forgotten mee But he answereth Nunquid obliuisci potest mulier infantis operis sui i. Can a woman forget the children of her wombe But say she should Ego saith he non obliuiscar tui ecce in manibus meis descripsi te i. I will not yet forget thee behold I haue engrauen thee in my Palmes God cannot forget his children if they will but acknowledge him to be their father and they can in nothing be more like vnto him than in being mercifull as he is mercifull Estote ergo perfecti sicut Pater vester perfectus est Be yee therefore perfect euen as your Father is perfect He reduceth this perfection to the loue of our enemie for to a mans friend the verie Heathens do this Saint Austen and Saint Chrysostome say it is Omnis virtutis Corona vertex The heigth and glorie of all vertue Where he denieth not the reward to him that shal loue his friend for Gods sake but to him that shal loue like a Gentile or a Publican not for Gods loue but either out of a naturall propension in himselfe or for his owne pleasure or commoditie and profit and he that doth not loue his enemie shewes plainly that he loueth not his friend for his loue to God but for his loue to himselfe for if he should loue him for Gods loue hee would no lesse loue his enemie being that he is as wel the Image of God as his friend So that he that loues his friend and not his enemie ought not to expect a reward for louing of his
the Prophet the Seruant of God let fire come down from Heauen and burne vp thee and those that are come along with thee for thou oughtst not to speake with that little respect as thou doost to Gods Seruant What irreuerence is it then in the Deuil to doubt whither hee were the Sonne of God or no I answer That he shewed therein a great deale of irreuerence but verie little feare The more you sauour of God the more impudently will he presse you Ecce Sathanas expetiuit vt cribaret vos sicut triticum Behold Sathan hath desired to sift you euen as wheat The word Vos You carries a great emphasis with it And he compares them to wheat for the Birds abide in the fields and the Grapes are out in the Vines but your wheat is housed and laid vp safe vnder locke and key For you are they that I make my treasure and will as charily looke vnto you There are a great sort of people that walke now at this present houre vp and downe the streets some in one place and some in another of whom the Deuill makes no reckoning at all he will deale hereafter with them at better leisure but for one of Gods Saints that is guarded protected and defended by God and is fenced about as a Rose amongst Thornes for this he will turne and returne and vse a thousand shifts to get it Nunquid auis discolor hareditas mea mihi Venite properate omnes bestiae congregamini ad deuorandum As Birds doe flie about a wall that is painted with diuers colours so doe the Nations in persecuting the People that are consecrated to my seruice and those that I fauour In conclusion Saint Hilarie saith In sanctificatis maxime diaboli tentamenta grassantur i. The Deuills temptations are euer rifest among the Godly And therefore Dauid said Custodi me Domine quia sanctus sum Keepe me ô Lord because I am holy c. If thou be the Sonne of God It is no new thing with the Deuill to helpe himselfe by setting your selfe against your selfe it is one of the best weapons that he hath against you and your selfe hath no greater enemie than your selfe Keepe me ô Lord saith Dauid out of the hand of the sinner Saint Bernard giues this glosse vpon it Lord I am hee and therefore custodi me à meipso If in thy Religion thou doe not guard thy selfe from thy selfe if in the Desert thou die by thine owne hands Ad quid venisti Wherefore didst thou come If thou be the Sonne of God command that these stones If thou beest the Sonne of God it comes to thee by inheritance to worke miracles vpon stones Iacob had a stone for his pillow and there thy father shewed him Heauen and set vp a ladder by which the Angells ascended and descended To the Children of Israell he did by stones a thousand fauours extracting from them Water Oyle and Honey Eduxit mel de petra olcumque desaxo durissimo And therefore it is not much that thou shouldst of these stones make bread Wherein canst thou more manifest thy selfe to be the Sonne of God than in sauing thine owne life and in supplying thine owne wants But this is that language which the Iewes vsed to our Sauiour at the foot of the Crosse If he be King of Israell let him vnloose those nailes that haue fastned him to the Crosse and let him free himselfe from the power of Rome and then the world shall acknowledge him to bee the same himselfe professeth As also of that bad theefe Saue thy selfe and vs. These thought it should seeme That to be King of the Iewes and the Sonne of God consisted in the sauing of himselfe and them Sifilius Dei es Petrus Chrysologus is of opinion That the Deuill here played the foole egregiously Cupis ô Daemon tentare sed nescis Thou desirest to tempt but but knowest not how Foure thousand yeares and vpwards hadst thou exercised thy old trade and yet thou now seemest to know lesse euery day than other Is it possible that thou shouldst bee such an Asse as to offer stones to one that was now growne weake and readie to faint through too much fasting Saint Ierome harpt vpon this string Either hee was God sayth hee or he was not God If he were God it was rashnesse in him to tempt him if he were not God he could not make bread of stones But herein the Deuill shewed more malice than wit questionlesse he did vpon this occasion as much as either he could or knew For others as Saint Austen hath noted it hee tempteth according to the measure of their strength because God will not let out the rope to giue him any larger scope but towards our Sauiour Christ hee shewed the vtmost of his power and malice And though hee did not greatly care whether hee did eate or not eate but had only a purpose to perplex and trouble our Sauiour and to put him out of his holy Meditations he did offer only that vnto him which was precisely necessary for the preseruation of mans life and which a wise man ought to accept of if hee were not madde or foolish How much more should a man that is hunger-staru'd attempt any thing rather than famish for lacke of food Iudas will rather make money of Christ than starue The mother sell her daughter the father kill his children the wife forsake if not dishonour the bed of her husband And therefore the Deuill was not herein so verie a foole as some would make him Scriptum est non in solo pane viuit homo T' is written man liueth not by bread alone Our Sauiour Christ would not doe this miracle at the Deuils intreatie For his miracula were beneficia His miracles were benefits they did alwayes tend to good but this did not For though he should haue turned all the stones in the Wildernesse into Bread the Deuil would haue beene as very a Deuill as hee was before Saint Austen sayth That our Sauiour made Wine of Water but not Bread of Stones because from the former miracle followed the Faith of his Disciples Et crediderunt in eum Discipuli eius But no good could come of this Hee restored to Malchus the eare which Saint Peter had cut off but before Herod would not so much as open his mouth Saint Paul cured the father of Publius of a hot burning Feauer and many other that were sicke but to his beloued Disciple Timothie being very ill he said vnto him Vtere modico vino propter stomachū frequētes tuas infirmitates i. Vse a little wine for thy stomackes sake and for thy other infirmities S. Gregorie dwelling on this place sayth O blessed Apostle thou healest an Infidell with miracles as a Saint but curest thy disciple with receipts as a Physitian But hee answereth this thus That Timothy had no neede of miracles for the good of his soule When I consider with my selfe that God doth not now do so
many Bookes that are written thereof especially by a Sea of judgement where your shallow wits are vsually drowned Concerning this Article which is so notorious there is not a Prophet an Euangelist a Sybil nor any of the holy Fathers which do not make confession thereof yea the verie Angells said vnto the Disciples This Iesus who was taken from you shall So come where this particle Sic So doth not so much exprimere modum as similitudinem not the true manner of his comming but after what likenesse he shall come Now doth he sit at the right hand of his Father and shall possesse that Throne till that he shall come to iudge the world and make his enemies his footstoole According to that of Dauid Sit at my right hand Vntill I make thy enemies thy footstoole a sentence which was repeated afterwards by S. Paul to the Hebrews Not that the sitting at the right hand of his father shal euer haue any end for as Saint Chrysostome and Gregorie Nazianzen hath noted it the word Vntill doth not point at any set time but the mutation of the place which our Sauiour Christ is to make for that terme of time that the Iudgement shall last himselfe comming thither in person to set all things in order Vsque in diem restitutionis omnium so saith Saint Luke And by reason of the notoriousnesse thereof the Euangelist doth not say that hee shall come but supposeth as it were his present comming with a Cum venerit c. The Sonne of Man Iudiciarie power or this Potestas judiciaria as the Schoole-men call it is proper to all the Trinitie but is here attributed to the Sonne as Wisedome is likewise attributed vnto him which is the soule of the Iudge So that the Sonne as he is God is the eternall Iudge and the Lord vniuersall to whom the Father hath communicated this dominion by an eternall generation Generando non largiendo saith Saint Ambrose But as he is man the blessed Trinitie gaue him this power in tempore by vniting him to our nature Hee gaue him power to doe judgement And Saint Iohn giues the reason thereof Because he is the Sonne of Man it beeing held fit that Man should be saued by Man Gods mercie gaining thereby glorie and Mans meannesse authoritie And therefore it was thought fit that Man should be iudged by Man Gods justice remaining thereby iustified and Mans Cause secured For What greater securitie can man haue than that hee should bee Mans Iudge who gaue his life for Man shedding his bloud on the Crosse for Mans saluation So doth Saint Austen expound that place alledged by Saint Iohn Dedit ei judicium facere quia filius hominis est On the one side here is matter of hope comfort on the other of feare and trembling Who will not hope for pittie from a man and such a man that is my brother my aduocate my friend who to make me rich had made himselfe poore c. But who can hope for any comfort from that man that was iudged sentenced and condemned vniustly by man vnto death Who can hope for any good from that man whose loue man repaid with dis-loue and whose life with death These Yrons are too hard for the stomacke of man to digest it had need of some Ostriches helpe I will not destroy Ephraim because I am God and not Man God is woont to requite bad with good discourtesies with benefits his loue commonly encreaseth when mans diminisheth but mans brest is somewhat streighter laced In a word This his beeing Man is a matter of feare and by how much the more was Mans obligation by so much the more shall the son of mans vengeance bee For the pretious bloud of our Sauiour Iesus Christ and his cruell yet blessed wounds are the Sanctuarie of our hopes especially to those that trust in him and lay hold on him by Faith but for the vnthankefull sinner they shall be matter of cowardise and of terrour and to our Sauiour Christ minister occasion of greater punishment and a more rigorous reuenge Esay introduceth the Angels questioning our Sauior at his entrance into Heauen Quare rubrum est vestimentum tuum sicut calcantium in torculari Why are thy garments ô Lord like vnto those that tread the Wine-presse You say wel for I haue troden like the grapes my enemies vnder foot and my garments are sprinkled and stained with their bloud O Lord this bloudie spoyle would well haue beseemed thee on earth But what doost thou make with it here in Heauen Dies vltionis in corde meo The day will come when I shall bee reuenged at full of those ill requited benefits which I bestowed on my People and all that patience which I then sâ—ewed shall be turned into wrath and endlesse anger Saint Chrysostome interpreting that place of Saint Mathew Sanguis eius super nos Let his bloud be vpon vs and our children saith thus The time shall come that the bloud that might haue giuen you life shall occasion your death it shall be vnto you worse than that Fire of Babylon which the King intended for death though in the end it turned to life The bloud of Christ was intended for life but it shall end in death Hosea saith Vâ— eis cum recesserâ— ab eis Another Translation hath it Caro mea ab eis When the Sonne of mans mercie was come to that heigth as mans thought could not set it higher to wit That God in mans fauour should take mans flesh vpon him woe vnto those men who were vnmindfull of so great a blessing for this extraordinarie courtesie of his being so vnthankfully entertained and so ill requited shall be their condemnation for whose saluation it was intended Cornua eius sicut Rinocerotis saith Deutronomie The Vnicorne is the mildest the patientest beast that is and it is long ere he will be prouoked to anger but if he once grow hot and angrie there is no creature more fierce and furious than he is Ex tarditate ferocior as Pierius vseth it by way of adage Saint Austen collecteth hence another conuenience Euerie iudgement saith he requireth two especiall and important things The one That the Iudge feare not the face of the Mightie The other That he hide not his face from him that is brought before him For the first The Scripture hath it euerie where Regard not the countenance of the Mightie For the second Iob pondering the perdition of a certain Prouince saith That the Iudges thereof would not suffer themselues to be seen The earth is giuen into the hands of the Wicked he couereth the faces of the Iudges And therefore God will not be seene by the damned for by their verie seeing him they should be freed from their punishment and therefore in this respect it was fit that Christ should come to iudge the world as Man In Maiestate sua In his Maiestie The Interlinearie hath it In Diuinitate
gaines Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand That hee that will not bee brought to know God by his soft hand and those sweete fauours of his Mercie shall be made to know him by the whips and scourges of his Iustice. God prospers thy house thou doost not acknowledge it for a blessing hee sends thee to an Hospitall laden with diseases that thy miserie may teach thee to know him He giues thee health thou art not thankefull vnto him for it hee casts thee downe on thy bed and then thou giuest him thankes not ceasing night and day to call vpon him and to praise and blesse his holâ— name And therefore it is truly said The Lord shall bee knowne while hee worketh judgement Our Sauioue like a good Physition tries vs first by his mild and gentle medicines but they doe no good hee therefore turnes ouer a new leafe and applies those vnto vs that are more sharpe and tart whereby we come to know as well his wisedome as his loue The second He began to cast out the Buyers and the Sellers Because no man should presume that the glorious acclamations of a King and of a Messias should endure to permit in his Temple such a foule and vnseemely buying and selling they had no sooner proclaimed him King but he tooke the whip into his hand to scourge them for their offences In a Prince in a Iudge and in a Preacher flatteries and faire words are woont to abate the edge of the Sword of Iustice wherefore to shew That true praise ought the more to oblige a King to vnsheath his Sword he betooke him to his Whip That acclamation and applause of the little children our Sauiour accounted it as perfect and good Ex ore Infantium LactantiuÌ„ perfecisti laudeÌ„ propter Inimicos tuos Yet for that a Prince a Iudge or a Preacher should not bee carried away with the praises of men our Sauiour though applauded in the highest manner that the thought of man could immagine Coepit eijcere Ementes vendentes c. Reges eos in virga ferrea saith Dauid In the name of the eternall Father thou shalt my Sonne be their Ruler their Iudge thou shalt beare in thy hand a Rod of yron which shall not be bowed as are those other limber wands of your earthly Iudges theirs are like fishing rods which when the fish bite not continue strait right but if they nibble neuer so little at the bait presently bow and bend Esay called the Preachers of his time Dumbe Dogges not able to barke And he presently renders the reason of this their dumbenesse They knew no end of their bellie To ear and to talke none can doe these two well and handsomely together and because these Dogges haue such an hungrie appetite that they neuer giue ouer eating because nothing can fill their bellie they are dumbe and cannot barke they know not how to open their mouths The third is of Saint Chrysostome and Theophilact who say That it was a kind of prophecie or foretelling that these legall Offerings and Sacrifices were almost now at an end When Kings and Princes expresse their hatred to any great Person in Court it is a prognostication of that mans fall The wrath of a King is the messenger of death Our Sauiour Christ the Prince of the Church had twice whipt out those that had prouided Beasts for the Sacrifices of his temple which was an vndoubted token of their short continuance it beeing a great signe of death that one and such a one should come twice in this manner to visit them with the Rod. This conceit is much strengthened by the words of our Sauiour Christ â—oretold by the Prophet Esay The time shall come wherein my House shall bee called a House of Prayer and not a Denne of Theeues nor a common Market of buying and selling So that hee tooke these Whips into his hands as a means to worke amendment in his Ministers and to sweepe and make his House cleane The Iudges of the earth saith Saint Hierome doe punish a Delinquent ad ruinampunc but God adcust gationem the one to his vtter vndoing the other for his amendment And therefore he vsed no other weapons to chastise them withall but Rods and Whips which worke our smart but not our death they paine vs but they doe not kill vs. Tertullian is startled and standeth much amased at that punishment which Saint Peter inflicted vpon Ananias and Saphyra and saith That to bereaue them so suddenly of their life to strike â—hem in an instant dead at his foot was the punishâ—ent of a man of one that had not long exercised nor did well know what did belong on the office of a Bishop But our Sauiour Christ being come into the world to giue men life it would not haue suited with his goodnesse to giue them death The fourth reason which all doe touch vpon was The disrespect and irreuerence which was shewne to this his Temple a sinne which God doth hardly pardon And therefore it was said vnto Ieremie Pray not therefore for this People And hee presently giues the reason why It hath committed many outrages in my House Saint Iames aduiseth That the Sicke should call vnto the Priests to get them to pray vnto God for him but for him that should commit wickednes in his Temple God willeth the Prophet Ieremie that hee should not so much as pray for them And Saint Paul saith That those who shall violate the Temple of God God shall destroy them Great is the respect which God requireth to be had to his Temple First In regard of his especiall and particular presence there Saint Austen saith That Dauid did pray be fore the Arke Quia ibi sacratior commendatior praesentia Domini erat For euermore God manifests himselfe more in his Temple than any where else that place beeing like Moses his Bush or Iacobs ladder being therefore so much the more holy by how much the more he doth there manifest himselfe c. Secondly He shewes himselfe there more exorable and more propitious to our prayers According to that request of Salomon in the dedication of the temple That his eares may be there opened And it was fit it should be so as Saint Basil hath noted it for that Prayer is a most noble act and therefore as it requires a most noble place so likewise the greater fauour appertaineth vnto it Thirdly For that Christ is there present in his blessed Sacraments And therefore as Saint Chrysostom hath obserued it there must needs be there a great companie of coelestiall Spirits for where the King is there is the Court. Fourthly For to stirre vp our deuotion by ioyning with the congregation of the Faithfull And a learned man saith That the Temples Houses of God did put a new heart and new affections into mens brests What then shall become of those who refuse these publique places of praying and praysing of God and
Take heed of that man that hath his breath in his nosthrills Whereby it is signified That if hee should once grow angrie with vs hee would quickely make an end of vs. There was neuer yet any Prophet in the World so holy nor so soft-spirited but that somtime or other he did breake foorth into anger Esay called the Gouernours of his people The Princes of Sodome Saint Iohn Baptist stiles them Vipers Saint Chrysostome the Empresse Eudoxia Herodias And our Sauiour Christ these Scribes Generatio mala adultera A wicked and adulterous generation c. Generatio mala adultera An euill generation Ill for the ill and inueterated custom of their Vices Saint Stephen Vos semper Spiritui sancto resistitis sicut patres vestri ita vos Ye alwayes resist the high God euen as your fathers so yee Dauid Generatio praua atque exasperans Moses Generatio enim peruersa est infideles filij An vnthankefull hard-hearted and disloyall generation Vae semini nequam filijs sceleratis Woe to the wicked seed Ezechiel Generatio tua de terra Canaan pater tuus Amorrheus mater tua Cethea Thy ofspring is from the land of Canaan thy Father was an Amorite thy Mother a Hittite All these places doe blazon foorth the ill race of that people For albeit the herencie of Vice and of Vertue be not constringitiue and that there is no such necessitie in it nor alwayes followes the order of Nature for wee see a Dwarfe begot by a Gyant a Hare of a Lyon nor likewise in the state of Grace for of a holy Father sometimes issues an vngracious Son as Esau of Isaac and Absalon of Dauid yet notwithstanding if a man bee discended of a bad race it is a miracle if hee prooue good Arbor mala non potest bonos fructus facere An euill tree cannot bring foorth good fruit The Spanish Prouerbe sayth Bien aya quien a los suyos parece Gods blessing be with him hee is so like his parents hee suckt his goodnesse with his milke hee inherited his Fathers vertues Transgressorem ex vtero vocaui te sayth Esay Thou hast beene a transgressor from the Wombe Alenhornar se hazen los panes tuertos The loaues went away from their first setting into the Ouen All this is included in these words Generatio mala An euill generation Adultera Hee does not note them in this world for children that had beene begotten in adulterie for this had beene their parents fault and not theirs And Aristotle sayth Ab his quae a natura insunt nec laudamur nec vituperamur i. Whatsoeuer is naturally in vs redounds neither to our praise nor dispraise Both the ill the well born do confesse Ipse fecit nos non ipsi nos It is God that hath made vs and not we our selues For if it had beene in our choice to chuse our owne fathers wee would haue beene all gentlemen Two things did our Sauiour here pretend to notifie vnto vs. 1 The one that they had degnerated from the vertue of their forefathers and for this reason Dauid calls them strange chldren Filij alieni menti ti sunt mihi filij alieni inueter ati sunt And in another place Libera me de manu filiorum alienorum Deliuer mee out of the hands of strange children They did boast that they had Abraham to their father Nos patrem habemus Abraham But Christ giues them the lye and tells them Vos ex patre Diabolo estis For the workes the thoughts and the desires are not of Abraham but the Deuill 2 The other because they had married now the second time with Vntruth and made a match with false gods hauing diuorced from them the truth of the true and euerliuing God And for the better declaration of this Doctrine it is to be noted First That the vnderstanding and the truth haue a kind of marriage between them Quae sibi sponsam mihi assumere sapientiam I desired to marry hir such loue had I vnto hir beauty And one that Comments vpon these words sayth That from the Vnderstanding and Truth well vnstorstood there doth grow a greater vnitie than there doth arise from betweene the matter and the forme Secondly That betweene the Soule and God by the meanes of the Truth of Faith there is another kind of spirituall marriage made whereof Ose sayth Desponsabo te mihi in fide I will marrie thee vnto mee for euer yea I wil marry thee vnto me in righteousnesse and in iudgement and in mercy and in compassion I will euen marrie thee as if this were that wedding-ring that made all sure vnto mee in Faithfulnesse And this knot is knit so fast that Saint Paul could say He that cleaueth vnto God is one spirit with him And for that the people of the Iewes had fallen some while into Heresie another into Idolatrie falsely expounding the Law and forsaking the Fath of God to follow a Calfe and Idols whereof God taxes them euery foote in the Scriptures stiling them adulterers harlots children workers of fornication so here hee now sayth Generatio adultera Mala adultera Euill and adulterous First he sayes Mala and then Adultera Tearming them in the first place Ill in the second Adulterous For the ordinarie way to loose faith is an euill life But as the vomitting vp of our meate turneth sometime to our good so is it now and then in the ridding of our stomacke of Vertue And in this sence Saint Ambrose sayd Profuit mihi Domine quod peccaui It was well for me ô Lord that I sinned For repentance may restore Grace in a higher degree But if this weakenesse shall take such violent hold vpon vs that wee shall fall once to vomiting of bloud it will goe hard with vs if not cost vs our liues In like manner a sinner perseuering in his sinnes comes at last to loose his Faith And this is one of the seuerest punishments of Gods Iustice Whereof Ieremy sayd Peruenit gladius vsque ad animam Whence Saint Ierome gathereth that then the sword pierceth to the Soule when there is no signe of life left in it In your buildings the first danger doth not consist in their sudden falling to ground but they goe mouldring away by little and little and decay by degrees So likewise in this our Spiritual building the first danger is not the losse of our Faith nor our first demolishing our falling into Heresies but before we come to that wee goe by little and little first lessening then loosing our vertues and heaping sin vpon sin till at last Mole ruit sua all comes tumbling down to our vtter destruction Saint Paul doth much commend earnestly recommend vnto vs a good conscience Quam quidem repellentes naufragauerunt à fide Faith grounded vpon an euill conscience is like a house that is built vpon the sand which when the waters rise the
pascat eos so saith Ezechiel I will set vp a Sheepheard ouer them and he shall feed them Saint Peter calls him Principem pastorum and he prooues himselfe to be a Sheepheard by his going forth to seeke after this lost Sheepe And if we mean to haue our habitation in Heauen to be of the same Fold with the Saints we must first be this Sheepheards Sheepe vpon earth before wee can come to be his Saints in Heauen For albeit the Iust beare the name of Sheepe as is noted by Saint Hierome Saint Augustine Saint Gregorie and Saint Cyprian yet all that haue this name shall not come to Heauen for many of Sheepe shall become Wolfes First The proportion of our Sauior Christs giuing to his the name of Sheep and of Lambes consists first of all in their innocencie and simplicitie whereof the Sheepe and the Lambe are the true symbole and hieroglyphicke as it is prooued by Saint Gregorie and Saint Cyprian in the place before alledged Quid per Oues nisi â—nnocentia designatur What but innocencie is pointed at by Sheepe saith Saint Gregorie Oues nominat vt innocentia Christiana Ouibus aequetur He calls theâ— Sheep to shew that Christian innocencie should equall that of theirs saith Saint Cyprian When the Angel with that his naked Sword in his hand went making that fearefull slaughter amongst the Israelites Dauid humbly kneeling on his knees makes his mones vnto God and saith Isti qui Oues sunt quidfecerunt What haue these poore Sheepe done these innocent Lambes it is I that haue sinned smite mee and not them Let thy hand I pray bee against mee and my fathers House but spare these thy Sheepe who syllie harmelesse Creatures haue no way offended thee Secondly This proportion consists in that wonderfull obedience which the Sheepe carrie to the Sheepeheard who with a word or a whistle bridleth their appetites and keepes them within their bounds not offering to stray into strange Pastures This is that which Dauid said His eare was obedient to me And our Sauiour Christ My Sheepe heare my voyce Thirdly In that those that are lost and gone astray shew their discomfort by bleating and following from hill to hill from pasture to pasture path to path the steps of his Sheepheard lifting vp his head and bending his eare on the one side and listning whither he can heare the sound of his voyce and many times he will leane one eare to the ground the better to helpe his attention Saint Ambrose saith That one of the greatest pledges that a Sinner can desire of his Predestination is to be like vnto the lost Sheepe to shew himselfe sad and heauie when he misseth his Sheepheard that should protect him and looke well vnto him to make his moane send out sighes and sobs like so many bleaâ—ings to follow the tracke of his footsteps to listen to his whistle to hearken to his voyce and to giue eare vnto his call for that sinner that shal do so it is an euident token that he was borne for Heauen Fourthly There is nothing in a Sheepe whatsoeuer it be but is good profitable as the flesh the bloud the milke the wooll and the fell but nothing that is hurtfull besides it is a most fruitfull creature Oues fatosae abundantes in faetibus suis Our Sheepe bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets The just man is likewise full of goodnesse and full of profit in his words and in his workes in his thoughts in his wealth in his pouertie in his health and in his sickenesse but nothing in him that is hurtfâ—ll Saint Paul reckoning the conditions and properties of Charitie repeateth first the good that it doth Patiens est benigna est c. Loue suffereth long it is bountifull c. And anon after he enumerateth the euills which it doth not Non aemulatur c. Loue enuieth not Loue doth not boast it selfe it is not puffed vp it doth no vncomely thing it seeketh not her owne things it is not prouoked to anger it thinketh no euill it reioyceth not in iniquitie c. Fiftly It 's patience and gentlenesse when they sheere him and robbe him of his Fleece turning him this way or that way when they bind his legs or otherwise vse him hardly and put him to paine he scarce offereth to bleat or open his mouth he goes as willingly to the Butchers blocke as to his greene pastures and when the Butcher puts his knife to his throat hee beholds him with a gentle and louely looke In a word Esay endeering the infinite patience of our Sauiour Christ could not find any comparison fitter for him than that of the Sheepe and the Lambe Sicut Ouis ad occisionem ductus est sicut Agnus coram tondente se obmutuit He went like a Sheepe to the slaughter and like a Lambe before the shearer hee opened not his mouth This then is the nature and qualitie of the mysticall Sheep of the Church Caeduntur gladijs c. They are smitten with swords yet neither murmure nor complaine Sixtly Saint Basil and Saint Ambrose both affirme That the Sheepe ordinarily do eat and chew the cud but then most of all by a naturall instinct when Winter drawes on and then he feeds a great deale faster and with more eagernesse as diuining that through the inclemencie of the Heauens and the bitternesse of the cold he shall not find feeding sufficient for him And this is a lesson for vs to teach vs what we are to doe The Sheep of Christs flocke vsually are to seeke for their feeding in the pastures of Vertue either by ruminating meditating or contemplating but when they see death approching neere vpon them they must fall more speedily and more earnestly to their meat for when the Winter of death shall come vpon them they will not find whereon to feed And therefore worke righteousnesse before thou die like vnto the Ant who prouides in the Summer against the rigour of the Winter Quoniam non est apud inferos inuenire cibum In hell there is no meat to be got for any money and the hunger in Hell is so strange that the Damned feed vpon their owne tongues For these his Sheep God came into the world Quantum ad efficaciam though he came also for all the whole world in generall Quantum ad sufficientium effectually for His but sufficiently forall And it is a fearefull thing to thinke on which is noted by Saint Bernard to wit That he that shal not be a sheepe in this life shall after death be damned to Hell Sicut Oues in inferno positi sunt They lie in Hell like sheepe and death gnaweth vpon them As here we take the fleece from off our Sheepe and leaue them naked and poore so there the Wolfe shall be fleeced of his riches and of all the pleasures and comforts that hee tooke in this world and be left not only naked but full likewise of
in me This word Miramini is here taken in the worser sence so Saint Chrysostome noteth it For doing this so good a deed you take me to be a transgressour of the Law but I shall prooue vnto you that your accusation is vniust Moyses dedit vobis Circumcisionem non quia ex Moyses sed ex patribus c. Moses gaue you Circumcision not because it is of Moses but of the Fathers and yee on the Sabboth day circumcise a man Moses gaue it yee but he was not the primarie and principall authour thereof for before the Law of Moses was was Circumcision The Israelites had it ex patribus of their forefathers but because it ceased in the Desert hee did afterwards restore it to it 's former vse and vertue The precept of the Sabboth was proper to the Law of Moses he was the first that did institute it till then it was not so strictly obserued Now you your selues doe circumcise on the Sabboth day obseruing the precept of your antient Fathers and yet for all this yee breake not the Law of Moses If then a Ceremonie bee lawfull which is directed to the health of the Soule Why shall not that be lawfull amongst you which cureth both soule and bodie Yee are angrie with me and seeke to kill me because I haue made a man euerie whit whole vpon the Sabboth day Quia totum hominem feci c. Qui me sanum fecit He that made me whole said vnto me Take vp thy bed and walke The Iewes being mightily incensed against our Sauiour for that which he had done it beeing the Sabboth day and a great feast with them asked the poore man in an hot and angrie fashion Who it was that bid him take vp his bed and walke hee told them Qui me sanum fecit That it was Iesus that had made him whole A disease of thirtie eight yeares old which neither Nature Art nor my good fortune could rid away from me did yeeld and render vp it selfe in an instant to the empire of him that healed me That his long lost strength and health after so long an absence returned presently backe againe at the sound of his voice and comforting those his rotten bones causing his canker'd and withered flesh to wax young againe had banished all aches and whatsoeuer other diseases from his bodie shall not I then obey him whom Sickenesse and Health doe thus obey It seemeth this poore man had plaid the theefe and stole this reason from Dauid Nonnè Deo subiecta erit anima mea quoniam ab ipso salutare meum It is reason good that I should subiect my selfe to God because from his hand comes my saluation Qui me sanum fecit He that hath done me such a happinesse and such a blessing as none others can doe the like but God why should I not obey him as God Eccè sanus factus es Behold thou art made whole c. This man Christ afterwards met withall in the Temple and said vnto him Ecce sanus factus es Behold thou art made whole This word Ecce includes in it a thousand things The first is The greatnesse of this his fauour towards him for there are some things so transcendent and beyond the reach of our reason that they who enioy them do scarce beleeue them they are so astonished and amased at them When the Angell freed Peter out of Herods prison and had led him along by the hand till he had brought him out of the Citie the Text saith Existimabat se visum videre He thought it had beene some dreame or had seene some vision or strange apparition and it was a great while after ere he was come to himselfe so wonder-strucken was he with this his strange deliuerance Secondly This particle Ecce expresseth the greatnesse of this poore mans obligation as if it should bid him looke and behold how much hee was beholding vnto God who had freed him from so desperate a disease Cum enim augentur dona rationes etiam crescunt donorum the saying is Saint Gregories The greater kindnesses the greater obligations This therefore being so great a one thou canst not chuse but thinke vpon this benefit and continually beare it in mind Homo cum in honore esset non intellexit Man when he was in honour vnderstood it not the Hebrew hath it Non pernoctauit hee did not consider well on the matter he did not throughly weigh it by meditating night and day on so great a good Thirdly This same Ecce serues him as a warning-piece to put him in mind that he is sound but not secure for if thou doost not looke well vnto thy selfe and stand strongly vpon thy guard thou maist fall from that health wherein now thou standest and be worse than thou wert before Ne deterius tibi contingat Least a worse thing happen vnto thee What can bee worse than thirtie eight yeares of sickenesse Yes Hell is worse S. Gregorie saith That God is wooâ—t to commense the chastisement of heinous and long continued sinnes in this liâ—â— and continueth them in that other so that they are as it were an entrance into Hell as it hapned to Herod who slew those innocent Babes to Antiochus and others These seeme to lie as yet but in soke and in a preparation as I may so terme it to those perpetuall torments To others Hell comes de golpe it snatches them away on a sudden ere euer they be aware of it Ducunt in bonis dies suos in puncto ad inferos descendunt They lead a merrie life they passe away their days in pleasure and in an instant they goe downe into Hell And to these men it is so much the more grieuous and painefull by how much the lesse they haue been acquainted with the miseries of a wretched life Least a worse thing c. Nor are the euills of this life euill nor the good things good Saint Chrysostome saith That God giues vs the good things of this life to the end that in them we may see a shaddow as it were of Heauen The euill That we may by them see the tracke of the cruell rigour of those hellish torments Saint Paul treating of those euills that befall the Righteous saith Quasi morientes quasi tristes quasi c. As dying as chastned as sorrowing as poore as hauing nothing He there reckoneth vp a bead-roll of many seeming ills but not euills in deed for their dying was to them liuing their sorrowing reioycing their pouertie riches and their hauing nothing a possessing of all things c. Quasi flagellum It is said of our Sauiour Christ That he made a kind of whip as it were of those little cords wherewith the Sellers in the Temple bound vp their fardles For in respect of Hell-whips the whips of this life are not whips but quasi flagella as it were whips The Scripture christneth humane troubles with the name of Waters Emitte manum
of his life and the accursednes of his death being no way able to take hold vpon him Those verie things saith he that blind thee ought to conuince thee and to affectionate thee vnto him for none but God could doe thus much for thee And it is a lamentable case that those good things that hee did for thee that thou mightest beleeue in him and loue him should be motiues vnto thee for to offend him God hauing commanded that Ierusalem should bee re-edified after their first freedome from Babylon there were some graue men grounded in Iudaisme who misinterpreting as Saint Hierome hath noted it the prophecie of Ezechiel said Haec est lebes nos autem carnes This Citie is the caldron and we be the Flesh For God to command vs to rebuild this Citie is as if he should will vs to make a Caldron wherein to boyle our selues Of his loue they made a loathing and interpreted his fauour to be an iniurie God took this their vnthankefulnesse so ill that he quitted them the second time both of their countrie and their libertie It is you that haue made Ierusalem a Caldron of the prophets I will bring you out of the middest thereof and deliuer you into the hands of strangers yee shall fall by the sword and this Citie as yee falsly suppose shall not be your Caldron neither shall yee be the flesh in the midst thereof The same reason is repeated by the Prophet Ose I gaue yee wine wheat oyle gold and siluer but yee spent it in the seruice of the Idoll Baal therefore will I take from yee my wine my wheat c. Filius hominis tradetur The Sonne of man shall be deliuered The death of our Sauiour Christ may be considered two manner of wayes Either as a Historie Or as it is Gospell As a Historie it is so sad and so lamentable as that it cannot but cause great pittie and compassion The relation which Pilate made to the Emperor of Rome is sufficient of it selfe to melt stones into teares which was as followeth In this Kingdome there was a wonderfull strange man his behauiour beautie beyond all other in the world his discretion and wisedome coelestiall his grauitie and sobernesse of carriage beyond all comparison his words mystical the grace wherewith he deliuered them strooke his enemies with astonishment neuer any man saw him laugh weepe they haue his workes sauoured of more than man he neuer did any man harme but much good hath he done to many he healed by hundreds such as had been sicke of incurable diseases he did cast out Deuills he raised the Dead and his miracles beeing numberlesse they were done all for others good he did not worke any miracle wherein was to be seene the least vanitie or boasting in the world The Iewes out of enuie layd hold on him and with a kind of hypocrisie and outward humilitie rather seeming than being Saints trampled him vnder foot and marred his cause I whipt him for to appease their furie and the people being about to mutine I condemned him to the death of the Crosse. A little before he breathed his last hee desired of God that he would forgiue those his enemies which had nailed him to the Crosse. At his death there were many prodigious signes both in heauen and earth the Sunne was darkened and the graues were opened and the Dead arose After he was dead a foolish Iew thrust a Speare into his side shewing the hatred in his death which the Iewes bare vnto him in his life What Tragedie can bee more mournefull or what imaginarie disaster can appeare more lamentable As it is Gospel you shall see in this his death innumerabie truths First of all let not the asperousnesse and hardnesse to the way of happinesse discourage any man for hauing such a good guide as our Sauior Iesus Christ it shall though 〈◊〉 be neuer so hard to hit be made plaine and easie vnto vs Howbeit it bee elsewhere said The way to heauen is streight and inaccessable because there are few that tread in that tracke Yet now the case is altered and Saint Paul cals thus vnto vs Accedamus ad eum qui imitiauit nobis viam It will cost vs some sweat and some labour yet not so much as may dishearten vs and it shall be a wholesome sweat and a safe and sure labour Iacob saw God holding the Ladder which reached to Heauen whereunto hee set his helping hand the better to secure it to the end that euerie man as Philon hath noted it might without feare climbe vp to the top of it S. Hierome goes a little further and says That hee did not thereby onely promise safetie but helpe for God did stretch out his hand from aboue and did reach it forth vnto those that were willing to get vp According to that of Dauid Emitte manum tuam de alto i. Send out thy hand from aboue Lysias when he had gathered about fourescore thousand Foot with all the Horsemen he had he came against the Iewes thinking to make Ierusalem an habitation of the Gentiles and because of his great number of Footmen his thousands of Horsemen and his fourescore Elephants the Captains and Souldiers of Gods people were quite out of heart making prayers with weeping and teares before the Lord That hee would send a good Angell to deliuer Israell And as they were besides Ierusalem there appeared before them vpon horsebacke a man in white cloathing shaking his harnesse of gold Then they praised the mercifull God all together and tooke heart insomuch that they were readie not onely to fight with men but with the most cruell beasts and to breake downe walls of yron Marching then forward in battell array hauing an helper from heauen running vpon their enemies like Lyons they slew eleuen thousand footmen and sixteene hundred Horsemen and put all the other to flight Another Horseman was he that Saint Iohn saw vpon a white Horse bearing this for his Motto Vincens vt vinceret Which takes from vs all feares of atchieuing the victorie for Heauen Secondly it assureth vs That he that offereth vs so much can denie vs nothing he could not well giue vs more nor would hee giue vs lesse than that which he hath alreadie so liberally bestowed vpon vs. Yet this gift may receiue increase as Saint Bernard hath noted it according to the manner of it For in all things whatsoeuer are to be considered the thing What and the thing How or Why the Accident and the Substance and sometimes Gods Attributes doe shine more in the Accident than in the Substance Whence I inferre That he that gaue so much with so much loue and sees that it is all cast away and that his loue is so ill requited it is not much if he be much offended with vs. Ergo in vacuum laborani c. In vaine then haue I laboured and to no purpose haue I spent my strength Whom will it not grieue
besides the vntunable and harsh musicke of the Deuills roaring and yellowing like so many mad Bulls that with the dinne and hideousnesse of the noyse Heauen and Earth might haue seemed to come together and the whole frame and machine of the Orbes to haue crackt and fallen in sunder The smell the taste the touch the will the vnderstanding and the memorie both irrascible and concupiscible shall not be employed vpon any thing as Saint Augustine hath noted it from whence they shall not receiue most grieuous paine and torment But of all other torments that of their desperation will be the greatest because there will be no wading through this Lake that burnes with fire and brimstone nor no end at all to these their endlesse miseries That ten thousand nay a hundred thousand yeares continuance in hell shall not suffice to satisfie for their sinnes that the fountaine of mercie should be shut vp for euer not affoording them so much as one drop of cold water to coole the tongue that God will not admit for the offences of three dayes the satisfaction of seuentie times seuen thousands of yeares This is that Magnum Chaos inter vos nos This is that great Chaos that huge Gulfe which is set betweene you and vs it is Chaos impertransibile that impassable Gulfe wherein to fall it is easie but to get out impossible Many of the Saints vpon this consideration deepely weighing these things with themselues haue made great exclamations as S. Chrysostome Petrus Crysologus and others If we beleeue say they that this imprisonment is perdurable tâ—is fire is eternall and that these torments are endlesse How comes it to passe that we eat liue and sleepe as we do O the madnesse of those men who seeke fit and handsome dwellings for three dayes and omit to thinke of those eternall habitations which continue world without end O the sottishnesse of those which couet such short and transitorie contentments O the blindnesse of those who for a moment of pleasure wil aduenture an eternitie of pain Is it much that these holy Saints should exclaime Is it much that they should weepe teares of bloud who beleeue that this rich man doth frie in perpetuall flames because he was pittiles voyd of mercy seeing on the one side so many Lazaruses naked ful of sores driuen if not beaten away from our dores whose beds are the hard benches and open porches of the Rich whose meat are the scraps and offalls and oftentimes onely the bare crummes of the rich mans boord whose drinke are the waters of those Riuers and Fountaines where the Beasts doe drinke whose wardrobe are rags whose cattle vermine whose store miserie whose tables are their knees and whose cups are their hands And on the other side so many Gluttons who feeding like beasts vomit forth that they eat at their tables where they sit Mensae repletae sunt vomitu beeing as emptie of pittie as they are full of wine Optimo vino delibuti non compatiebantur super contritionem Ioseph who dying like Oxen in a stall fat and ful fed it is no meruaile if as Esay sayth they make Hells sides to stretch and cracke againe Propter hoc dilatauit infernus Os suum I would faine aske some one of those which heare me this day My friend tel me I pray thee thinkest thou or hast thou any hope that thou art the only man in this world that shall liue here for euer Doost thou beleeue that Death shall one day come to the threshold of thy doore and call for thee and that thou must hereafter giue a strict account of thy workes words and thoughts before the tribunall seat of God If thou doost tell me then againe Whither thou hadst rather desire the felicitie of Lazarus in that other life or the eternall torments of this rich man Art thou persuaded that thou canst weare out two thousand yeares in a bed of fire But if the verie thought thereof cause feare and horror in thee and makes euerie bone and ioynt in thy bodie to shake and tremble Why doost thou not seeke to flie from so great a danger Flie saith Saint Austen yet now euen to day whilest thou hast time Pater Abraham rogo vt mittas Lazarum aut vnum ex mortuis Father Abraham I pray thee send Lazarus or one from the Dead c. Origen saith That this rich man did desire That either Lazarus or some one from the Dead might bee sent to preach this point thinking with himselfe That Abraham might happely send him vnto himselfe as to one that by this time verie wel knew his owne errour and that so by this meanes he might haue some pause or breathing time from these his torments Whither this was so or no it may by some be doubted but this is a cleere case That the maine motiue that mooued him thereunto was the desire that he had that his brethren and kinsfolke might be drawne vnto repentance and thereby come to be saued and escape those intollerable torments which he indured Saint Chrysostome saith That Abraham did not yeeld to the rich mans petition because hee was not absolute Lord of that place But that our Sauiour Christ supplied that defect and carried himselfe like a most mercifull and kind louing Lord to the end that that stiffe necked Nation might not alledge in their excuse That hee had not sent them a Preacher from that other life to aduise them what passed there But our Sauiour for whom this businesse was reserued did not raise vp Lazarus the Poore but Lazarus the Rich who vpon occasion preacht great notable things vnto them concerning the life to come And he likewise raised vp the sonne of the widow of Naim that hee might also doe the like But those that will not beleeue the Prophets it is our Sauiours owne saying will lesse beleeue the Dead Quia crucior in hac flamma Because I am tormented in this flame Gods chastisements are like Lightning which kill one but fright many and the vengeance which God taketh of one sinner is an occasion giuen to the Iust to wash their hands in his bloud According to that of Dauid Cum viderit vindictam manus suas lauabit in sanguine peccatoris And Saint Gregorie expoundeth it thus That the Iust doth wash his hands in the bloud of a Sinner when by another mans punishment he learnes to amend his owne life There is nothing doth more terrifie a Theefes heart than the gallowes and rope wherewith his fellow was hanged Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt me Legem tuam non sum oblitus when I saw another strangled those cords which choked him sate likewise close to my necke but giuing thee thankes ô Lord that thou hadst kept mee from comming to so bad an end I did resolue with my selfe that I would not forget thy Law And therefore God would haue vs to lay vp in an euerlasting remembrance as it were his seuerest and sharpest
hee said Quid faciam What course shall I take with these men Secondly He intimates a strange kind of sorrow arising from this perplexity If I am Lord where is my feare If I be a father where is my honour In the end hee resolued with Gaifas Let my Sonne die He indeered as much as he could the force of his loue sending him to saue these Murderers from death but this could not appease their malice To slay his Prophets was more than a great malice but to take away the life of his onely Sonne and heire was excessiue Saint Hierome saith There was no weight no number no measure in the ones clemencie nor in the others malice This was a Consummatum est a fulnesse of his meâ—cie a fulnesse of their malice Verebuntur filium meum They will reuerence my Sonne Saint Luke addeth a Fortè thereunto And the Greeke Originall a Forsitan Howbeit it may goe for an Affirmatiue as well as Vtique Forsitan petisses ab eo ipse dedisset tibi aquam c. And so againe Si crederitis Moysi crederetis forsitan mihi If yee had beleeued Moses yee would likewise haue beleeued me And so it sorts well with that Text both of Saint Mathew and Saint Marke who absolutely say Verebuntur filium meum They will reuerence my Sonne In neither of these is a May bee or a Forsitan and onely to signifie the great reuerence which was due vnto him Where by the way Saint Chrysostome hath noted this vnto vs That God for all these their outrages did desire no furtheâ— satisfaction from them than to see them abasht and ashamed ofthis their ingratitude and crueltie Benigno Domino sufficiebat sola vindicta pudoris misit enim confundere non punire It was their blushing not their bleeding that he desired hee wisht their shame and not their confusion Parum supplicij satis est patri pro â—â—lio God is so kind and louing a Father that hee thinkes a little punishment enough for his Children Saint Bernard saith That the whole life of our Sauiour Christ from the Cratch to the Crosse was to keepe vs from sinning out of meere shame and that his maine drift euer was to leaue vs confounded and ashamed of our selues that our sinnes and wickednesse should force God against his will to punish vs For he takes no delight in the death of a Sinner Ecclesiasticuâ— makes a large memoriall of those things which ought to make a man blush and be ashamed of himselfe Be ashamed of whoredome before a father and mother be ashamed of lies before the Prince and men of authoritie of sinne before the Iudge and Ruler of offence before the Congreation and People of vnrighteousnesse before a companion and friend and of theft before the place where thou dwellest before the truth of God his Couenant to lean with thine elbows vpon the bread or to be reproued for giuing or taking of silence to them that salute thee to look vpon an harlot to turn away thy face from thy Kinseman or to take away a portion or gift or to be euill minded towards another mans wife or to solicite any mans mayd or to stand by her bed or to reproach thy friends with words or to vpbraid when thou giuest any thing or to report a matter that thou hast heard or to reueale secret words Thus mayst thou well be shamefaced shalt find fauour with all men This Erubescite must be the burthen of the Song to euerie one of these Versicles It is a foule and a shamefull thing to doe any of these things in the presence of graue persons to whom we owe a respect Much more foule in the presence of God who stands at thy elbow in all thy actions But foulest of all to commit these things in the presence of the Sonne of God whome his Father sent to bee thy Master thy Tutor and nayled him to the Crosse for thy sinnes that thou mightst bee ashamed to commit the like againe considering the great torment that he suffered for thee Some deuout picture or Image doth sometimes restraine a desperate sinner from committing some foule offence What would it worke then with him had God himselfe stood there present before him It may be they will reuerence my Sonne Say that wee take this Fortâ— or Forsitâ—â— in the same sence as the words themselues sound it is a point worthie our conâ—ideration That the innumerable summe of those infinite fauours which God did to his Vineyard should end in a Peraduenture and stand vpon hap-hazard A man may thinke it somewhat strange That God should come to any place vpon vncertainties but God is so good a God that he doth not so much proportion his blessings by the measure of his Wisedome as his Loue not that he doth not certainly know what we will be but because he would faine haue vs to be what we should be For if he should reward vs according to those our actions which he in his prescience and eternall essence foresees will come to passe Who of vs should be left aliue or who of vs should bee borne Onely the Innocent saith Theodoret should then be fauoured And therefore rather than it should bee so he was willing to put it vpon the venture how or what we might prooue heereafter He knew before hand that Lucifer should fall that Adam should sin that Saul should turn disobedient that Iudas should sel him betray him yet did he not forbeare for all this to throw his fauours vpon them S. Ambrose asketh the question Why Christ would make choice of Iudas when as he knew before hand that he would betray him And his answer thereunto is That it was to justifie his loue and to shew the great desire that he had that all should bee saued yea euen Iudas himselfe And therefore knowing his couetous disposition hee made him his Purse-bearer that he might shut the doore to his excuses and that he might not haue iust cause to say That he was in want lackt mony so was forced out of meere necessitie to betray and sel his Master which otherwise he would neuer haue done but the deliuering ouer the Purse vnto him tooke away that obiection Well then What can this Traitor say for himselfe That Christ did not countenance him as he did the rest or that hee made light reckoning of him Neither will this hold water for hee had made him an Apostle hee was listed in the rolle with the rest hee wrought miracles as well as his Fellowes receiued many other fauours from his Masters hands The same reason may serue as well for the Iewes as Iudas For our Sauior knew that they should put him to death yet for all this would not he cease to shew his loue vnto them Hic est haeres venite occidamus eum nostra erit haereditas This is the heire come let vs kill him and let
this there are many prophecies The other The stoutnesse and courage wherewith he was to reuenge the wrongs and iniuries done to the poore Saluos faciet filios pauperum humiliabit calumniatorem He shall saue the children of the poore and shall humble the slanderer Saint Austen Iustin Martyr and many others vnderstand this to be spoken litterally of Christ. For Calumniatorem the Greeke reades Sycophantam And so doe they call your Promooters and Informers Whether it were because in Athens they had a Law that none should bring figges to that Citie to sell Or whether it was forbidden in Greece that any should enter to gather figs in another mans orchard Whence he that informed thereof came to bee called a Sycophant Or vpon that wittie conceit of Aesops who when a certaine seruant had eaten some figges and layd the fault vpon one of his fellowes gaue order that both of them should drinke luke-warme water and the eater of them hauing vomited vp the figges they called him Sycophant Our Sauior then shal saue the poore and humble the slanderer Hee shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lippes shall he slay the wicked Iraeneus expoundeth this place to be spoken of Gods protecting and defending of the poore He is their tower of defence in the day of trouble their hope in distresse and their shield of comfort in their tribulation And that God doth reuenge with greater seueritie the wrongs that are done to his friends than those that are offered to himself is a fauor so vsually with him and so generally known that I need not to insist therupon One while because hee thinkes himselfe much beholding vnto them that they wil resigne vp their owne right and leaue the cause of their wrongs to him and that they will put their hope and their trust in him Sub vmbra alarum tuarum sperabo donec transeat iniquitas i. Calamitas Defend mee ô Lord whilest this storme passeth ouer my head Another while that he may shew more loue to his friends than to himselfe In the old Law hee gaue great proofes of this Truth and in the new hee gaue farre greater testimonies thereof Esay drawes a comparison from the Lyon who hauing his prey betweene his clawes a companie of Sheapeheards come crying after him making a great noyse and clamor but he makes no great reckoning of it And is all one with that saying of our Sauior Non rapiet quisquam de manu mea No man shall snatch them out of my hand Abimelech tooke Abrahams wife from him and God at midnight appearing vnto him in the midst of his mirth and lust he spake vnto him in a fearefull voice Eâ— morieris Thou art but a dead king The like befell Pharaoh Procopias saith That God did declare as much when he appeared in the firie bush They did whippe his people with the rods of briars and did burne them vp by inforcing them to find straw for to heat the ouens wherein they were to bake their brickes and God sayth It is I that am whipped it is I that am burned in the fire Moses treating of this protection of God takes his comparison from the Eagle whose care and vigilancie in breeding vp of his young ones is exceeding great but in the end shews himselfe verie cruell to that young of his whose eyes hee exposeth to the beames of the Sunne All this loue and care ran along with the written Law But in that of Grace giuing vs greater pledges of his loue he drawes his comparison from the Hen whose loue and care exceedes all other indeerings whatsoeuer Shee scorneth and contemneth her owne life for the safegard of her chicken she fasts that they may feed she is content to bee leane that they may be fat and now and then dyes that they may liue Saint Austen hath obserued that because the Deuill spake vnto Christ That hee would make those stones bread for to releeue his owne hunger he refused to doe it But if it had bin to releeue thine or mine he would haue done it As he turned the water into wine at the wedding not for himselfe but for others And at that meale in the mountaine where he multiplied the loaues and the fishes whereof himselfe did not eat a bit Why do ye also transgresse the Commandement of God He wounds them with their own weapon retorts the force of this their argument vpon themselues and sends them away ashamed He driues them to a demur and puts them to ponder vpon this Vos custodias Of the Law These sunnes that were to lighten this commonwealth these North-starres by which the people were to saile through the sea of this world Concupiscentia spadonis euagâ—nauit iâ—uencam Eunuchs were appointed for the guarding and keeping of women as the vse is now in Constantinople But that a gelded man through lust should defile a maid beeing bound to preserue her honour That he that should cloth the naked should strip them bare That hee that should keepe the Lawes of the Commonwealth should bee the first that should breake them is as strange as shamefull Phiâ—â—â—â— thrust Zambri and a daughter of the Prince of Midian through with his speare and pinning them to the ground did an acceptable sacrifice to God Zaâ—bri was of the Tribe of Simeon who in the companie of his brother Leâ—ie had taken that cruell reuenge of the Prince of Sichem for the rauishing of Dinah that they left not a man liuing nor a house standing Now his grandfather hauing vsed so great rigour in punishing of such a dishonestie he of all other should not haue committed this sinne For this reason the Angell vsed the like rigor with Moses whither it were because he had not circumcised his children or whither it were because he tooke his wife along with him in that his journy or whither it were that he had manifested the cowardise feare that he had of Pharaoh the Angell made semblance that hee would kill him for hee that is a Lawgiuer a Captaine and a Gouernor is bound to much more And why doe you also c. Here is a Why for a Why they haue as good as they bring And here two considerations offer themselues vnto vs The one That he that shall doe a wrong shall bee paid in his owne coyne that verie day that a man shall doe an iniurie by taking away the good name of his brother he puts a taxe vpon his own reputation seales the same makes it his owne Act and is bound to make repayment thereof And this is a Quare vos Why doe yee also c. This is to throw stones against Heauen or to â—pit against the wind Dauid cut off Goliah his head with his owne sword after that he had reuiled Gods people Iacob with Esau's owne cloathes stole away the blessing from him by putting on his hands and his necke the skinne of
thy Father and Mother and he that doth the contrarie let him dye But yee say Though he honour not his Father or his Mother he shall be free Thus haue ye made the commandements of God of no authoritie by your Traditions In this honouring of our Father and Mother he likewise includes their maintainance and that wee should not see them want But ye say That he that shall take from Father and Mother and giue it to the Temple doth comply with the Law Munus quodcunque ex me obtulerâ— Deâ— tibi proderit It will profit thee but it is better to giue it vnto God Origen saith That this errour did arise from another that was more antient For when men were not willing to pay a debt they did offer it to the Temple and did notifie the same to the Creditor Corban id est donum est I haue giuen it to the Temple and therefore thou art not to require it at my hands This was a rauening kind of couetousnesse God would haue bread set vpon his altar to the end that he that was in necessitie might be releeued which was Dauids case when he was hungrie and in want and God tooke it well But how can he take it well at thy hands that thou shouldst take away the bread from thy hunger-starued Father or from a poore needy soule to offer it on the Altar Athanasius reporteth another effect of couetousnes far more brutish and abhominable who when hee fled from Alexandria where he was Bishop for feare of the Manichees and the Arrians they exercised so many cruelties vpon the Catholickes that treating them in a most inhuman and cruell manner they condemned it to bee a sinne to succour the poore and the streets being full of wretched and miserable people no man durst looke vpon them nor offer to releeue them least they should be accounted sinners This people doth honour me with their lips but their heart is farre from me There are a certaine sort of Sinners that are boasting Sinners one will boast himselfe so farre to be thy friend that there is not the sinne that hee will not doe to doe thee seruice that he will slash this man slay that man sweare any thing that thou wilt haue him though neuer so false finding fault with such a one That he is notworthie to be esteemed a friend because thou canst not trust him with the murdering of such a man the taking of such a purse the robbing of such a house nor with thy whoredomes nor adulteries and the like The Gentiles in the Primitiue Church did murmure against the Christians saying That they were an vnprofitable impertinent miserable and nigardly kind of people and the reason of it was for that they would not eat with them till they vomited vp their meat as they sate at boord nor drinke with them till they were ouertaken with wine Tertullian makes an Apologie in their defence and saith That Christians should not only be Christians but also to seem to be that which they are S. Augustine confesseth in his Confessions That the World in his time was growne so shamelesse and so impudent that it was held a shame not to be shamelesse To be a Sinner is bad but to boast of sinne ten times worse Another sort of Sinners there are which seeme to be Saints Habentes speciem pietatis saith Saint Paul Hauing a shew of godlinesse Like vnto these Pharisees who seeking outwardly to make great appearances and shewes of sanctitie as rough and course cloathing pale and wan faces smokie countenances publique prayers humbling themselues on their knees in the Streets their Fastings their open giuing of Almes their Philacteries which were certaine skinnes of parchment wherin the Commandements were written at large Dilatant philacteria sua the skirts of their garments stucke inward with sharpe needles to let them bloud and the often washing of their hands vp to the verie elbowes yet notwithstanding all this their conscience was a verie Dung-mixen they were faire without but foule within Saint Chrysostome compares them to a Sword that hath a rich scabberd but a leaden blade Erue animam videbis pulchritudinem Here is a goodly faire shew a beautifull appearance of sanctitie and holynesse but vnlace these mens brests and looke into their soules and consciences and then shall you see them in their true colours Your great Merchants haue many suits of goodly hangings rich Cloathes of State faire Canopies and costly Bedsteads but they haue their Brokers to sell them besides they haue great store of daintie delicate housholdstuffe and other fine curiosities as Rings Iewels and chaines all choice ware but they are none of their owne and therefore cannot be said to be rich In like sort the Pharisees were the Merchants Brokers of this sanctitie and holinesse they carried it about with them for to sel and to make their best profit of it and for that the people were much affectioned to this outward asperousnesse and strict-seeming course of life they held them for Saints descended from Heauen In Leuiticus God commaunded That there should be no Linseywoolsey no weauing of Woollen and Linnen together because the one being so course the other so fine it might be so curiously intermixt and so cunningly carried in the workemanship that it might prooue a cosening and cheating kind of commoditie The Gibeonites deceiued Ioshuah with another inuention like vnto this they clad themselues in old cloathes put old clouted shooes vpon their feet layd old sackes vpon their Asses backes full of drie and moldie bread brought along with them old Leather bottles with here a patch and there a patch as if they had had some great long journey of it and had come from some remote region they themselues reporting that they dwelt a farre off when as indeed they were neere Neighbours with which sleight of theirs Ioshuah giuing credit vnto them was cosined This deceit is toâ— oft I feare me put in practise a bare foot a patcht frocke a wan cheek a lowly looke a wrying of the head a lifting vp of the eyes and hands a knee-submission a beating of the brest and a weake whining voice spinning out a Yes verily and euerie other word they deliuer to it 's ful length sell vs this simulated sanctitie and counterfeited holynesse for that of Heauen being meerely an earthly inuention and an hypocritical tricke of purpose to deceiue it is as Osee sayth of Ephraim as a Cake on the hearth not turned which is scortcht and burnt on the outside but raw and dough-baked within It is the inner part that God loues it is the heart and soule of man that he likes best of as for the outward carriage of the bodie a theefe or a villaine can put himselfe into his true postures and feigne and dissemble the businesse as well as the best of them all Yet withall let me tell you That God doth require of a
Reuben Simeon reputabuntur mihi Rupertus askes the question Why Iacob hauing so many sonnes would adopt these two of Ioseph rather than the rest And he answereth it thus that Iosephs forgetting of his former troubles and the prosperitie which he now enioyed was procured by the prayers and teares of Iacob He stood ouer her and rebuked the Feuer Our Sauiour vsed this ceremonie saith Saint Chrysostome the better to couer and dissemble the miracle to the end that he might not as then make his Diuinitie so manifest vnto them And as your Physitians are woont stedily to behold the colour and complexion of the Sicke looke on his tongue and feele his pulse so in a manner our Sauiour Christ vsed the like kind of ceremonies hauing a vigilant eye ouer those that are soule-sick and what course is to be taken for the curing of a penitent Sinner and to know how to distinguish betwixt leaprosie and leaprosie Many of the Saints did the better to dissemble their miracles vse ceremonies though there was no necessitie of them nor were essentiall for that businesse so the Apostles by laying their hands on the Sicke did heale them Secondly Saint Mathew saith Tetigit manum eius The touch of the hand was enough to cure the sick for the flesh of our Sauior Christ for that it was the flesh of God gaue life and health to all that toucht it Virtus de illo exibat sanabat omnes A certaine vertue went out from him and cured all men Our Flesh will infect other flesh with it's sickenesse but health and life was a priuiledge appertaining onely to our Sauiour Christs flesh which as it is noted by Saint Augustine and Saint Cyril by the vnion with the Diuinitie did quicken and giue life Spiritus est qui viuificat caro autem non prodest quidquam It is the Spirit that quickneth as for the Flesh it profiteth nothing as an yron being heated doth burne by it's vnion with the fire so the Flesh of our Sauiour Christ c. And from this diuine Flesh the vertue thereof did extend it selfe to his verie cloathes Si tetigero taÌ„tum fimbriam vestimenti eius saluaero said the woman that was troubled with the bloudie Flux If I can but come to touch the hemme of his garment I shall be whole Malachie prophecied thereof in these words Sanitas in pennis eius Health shall be vnder his wings and as feathers are to birds so to man are his cloathes Thirdly When a sicke bodie is growne so weake that he can scarce put forth his voyce the Physition leanes downe his head the better to heare him and when he is so weake that he cannot rise of himselfe the Physition lends him his hand Apprehensa manu eius saith Saint Marke curauit eam This burning Feuer had brought this good old woman so low that Christ did bow downe his head to hearken vnto her and tooke her by the hand to helpe her vp Nor was it much that our Sauiour Christ should raise those that were fallen for that hee came into the world for this end and had so great a desire thereunto that hee was willing to fall himselfe for the raising vp of vs. Nay it was a Precept of old That if a Beast should take a fall a man should not goe on vpon his way till he had holpe him vp This desire of his is much indeered by the Prophets He bowed the Heauens and came downe he got vpon the Cherubins and flew saith Dauid And in another place Stretch forth thine hand from on high and deliuer me out of manie waters The Sinner being almost drowned in the mud of his sinnes cries out vnto God to lend him his hand to get him out but hee weighed so heauie that he pulled God after him Zacharie saith Thou also through the bloud of thy Couenant hast loosed thy prisoners out of the pit c. Where wee are to weigh this same Thou also for though thou wert so great and powerfull a God yet it cost thee the best bloud in thy veines to take those out of the pit that were fallen thereinto He rebuked the Feuer and it left her He spake the word and the Feuer obeyed he commanded it to be gone and it was gone in an instant Origen saith That one of the foulest and shamefullest things that the Creatures shall lay to Mans charge at the day of Iudgement is That all other creatures from the creation of the World hauing beene obedient to Gods Empire without digressing in the least point or tittle onely Man hath beene inobedient impudent shamelesse This is the generall opinion but to reduce this to our present purpose and to shew how obedient this Feuer was we know that God vseth his Creatures as so many whips and scourges One while he makes vse of those that are without life as of waters darkenesse in those plagues of Aegypt c. Another while of those that haue life as the Serpents of the Wildernes the Lyons which in Samaria slew the Assyrians the Beares which killed the little children which mockt Elisha c. All do mooue and obey at the becke of Gods brow at the cast of his eyes as the second causes at the motion of the Primum mobile The like succeedeth in the Angells nor is it much considering the great good which they enioy But which is more it succeedeth so in the Deuills who tugge at the Oare in Hells Galley Our Sauiour Christ commanded some Deuills That they should not speake a word nor offer so much as to open their lips when their hearts were readie to burst because they might not speake their mind But it is a lamentable case that one man should serue to punish another man and be made the instrument of his hurt or become his Hangman Pilat commanded the Roman Souldiers to whip Christ and they might haue bin excused had they not exceeded their Commission It was decreed in Heauen foretold by the Prophets That he was to be whipt but the justice of God contenting it self with a few stripes these bloudy villains gaue him 5000. but that his houre was not yet come they would if it had been possâ—ible haue whipt him to death A common Hangman dare not exceed the order of the Iudge but Man when God makes him the Executioner of his wrath breakes the bounds of his Commission and runnes ryot Man beeing set on by God is like a Mastiffe that is set on by his Master who is easily put on vpon Bull or Beare but hardly taken off Esay saith That God made Zenacharib the rod of his wrath and the staffe of his indignation and that he commanded him to take the spoyle and to take the prey and to tread them vnder feet like the mire in the street but exceeding his Commission Gods purpose being onely to humble his Children and bring them to repentance he afterwards scourged him soundly for it
it plainely appeareth that hee noted them out to bee transgressours of the Law and to bee such a kind of people that had not the feare of God before their eyes beeing neither iust in their Iudgements nor mercifull in their Workes Let him that is without sinne c. He had recourse to the rigour of the Law by condemning the Adulteresse to be stoned to death which was an infamous kind of death Achan Naboth those false Iudges that wronged Susanna and good Saint Steuen suffered in this kind He had recourse likewise vnto his mercy by absoluing her of this her sinne For their condemning of her to be stoned who were faultie in the same kind themselues was a kind of absoluing her And this limitation as Saint Cyrill hath obserued it was iuridicall and according vnto Law For as she was to be stoned by the Law so she was to be stoned according to the Law But the Lawes doe not permit that the transgression of the Law should bee righted by those that are transgressours of the Law So that when our Sauiour sayd Let him that is among you without sinne cast the first stone at her hee vnderstood by sinne in that place the sinne of Adulterie for otherwise it had beene contrariam actionem intentare and the reconuention had not beene so strong and forcible When the Pharisees found fault with Christs Disciples for their not washing of their hands he retorted their owne weapon vpon them with a Quare vos And here treating with him touching this womans Adulterie hee giues them this answere Qui sine peccato est c. Saint Austen makes a question whether the Adulterer himselfe were there or no And his resolution is that the rest were there So that in the Accusers there were two foule faults to be found which are inexcusable The one to let goe a Delinquent for particular interest and priuate gaine as wee read in the Maccabees of Ptolomeus his freeing of Menelaus from his accusation notwithstanding he was the cause of all the mischiefe wherewith he was charged and a man that deserued death in the highest degree the Text there saying that he was Vniuersae malitiae reus The other That they who should haue beene preseruers of the Common-wealth and maintainers of Iustice should be the Caterpillars of the Common-wealth and the ouerthrowers of Iustice. And if any bodie shall aske me how they being faultie themselues should dare to accuse this woman of the same crime Saint Austen in his Confessions renders this answere Fortis inscriptio quam nulla deleuit iniquitas Though God hath priâ—ted with such deepe letters in the paper of our Consciences the hatefulnesse of sinne yet notwithstanding those many sinnes of our owne wee will not forbeare to condemne other mens sinnes though we be faultie of the same our selues A Merchant apprehends a poore petty Theefe brings him before a Iustice and causes him to be whipt not considering that himselfe is the greater Theefe of the two Diogenes told the Iudges and other subordinate Ministers of Iustice That the greater Theeues did hang the lesser Dauids adulterie beeing put in the third person hee told the Prophet Nathan As the Lord liueth the man that hath done this thing shall surely die Filius mortis est How doest thou condemne that in another which thou dissemblest and smootherest in thy selfe Fortis inscriptio quam nulla deleuit iniquitas Absalon had a great Councellor called Achitophel Dauid had another as wiâ—e as hee called Cushai now when Cushai saw that Achitophel tooke part with Absalon he said vnto Dauid I doe not so much feare thy sonne as this Councellour of his for he hath a shrewd pestilent pate of his owne wherefore I thinke it verie fit That by your Maiesties leaue I should get me likewise to the Campe to see if I can ouerthrow his councell Thither he hasted and kneeling downe before Absalon he said vnto him I am come vnto thee because I see that God doth fauour thee and I had rather worship the Sunne rising than setting Thy father is old c. Notwithstanding all this Absalon titted him in the teeth saying Is this thy loue to thy friend Where it is to be noted That though the Sonne had rebelled against his Father yet it seemed ill vnto him that a Seruant should bee false to his Master Fortis inscritpio quam nulla deleuit iniquitas Woman Where are those thine accusers Hath no man condemned thee Before that he would absolue her he would infrome himselfe Whither any bodie did accuse her or no For as long as any partie found himselfe agrieued his absolution was of no force If the oppressing of the Poore crie for vengeance What shall the dishonouring of a Virgine and the adulterated bed doe And therefore this Memento is giuen thee before thou offer thy Sacrifice Thou shalt call to mind whither thy brother haue any thing against thee or no First make attonement with thy brother and then present thy Offering to God Abimelech crauing pardon for his offence God said vnto him Deliuer the man his wife againe This must be done first No man Lord. And Iesus said Neither doe I condemne thee It is a great happinesse in a Sinner to fall into the hands of God Man the wickeder hee is the crueller he is and the more ill the lesse pittifull But God by how much the more good he is by so much he is the more mild and mercifull I will not destroy Ephraim in my furie because I am God and not Man There was not that man then that would haue borne with Ephraim nor excused his backeslidings But I am God and therefore patient long suffering and full of goodnesse Daniel when he was put in the Lyons den the King commanded the doore to be sealed with his owne seale Ne quid fieret contra Danielem Lest they should change their purpose concerning Daniel and plot some other villanie against him conceiuing the hands of these men to bee lesse secure than the clawes and teeth of those hungrie Lyons And this was the reason why Dauid when hee was to take his option of those three Scourges which God had set before him to make choice of vpon that vanitie of his in numbring the People either Famine War or Pestilence flying from the hands of men hee would by no meanes admit of Warre or Famine but of the Pestilence that he might wholly put himselfe into the hands of God God of his infinite goodnesse c. THE XXV SERMON VPON THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT IOHN 6. MAT. 14. LVC. 9. MARC 6. Post haec abijt Iesus trans Mare Galileae After these things Iesus went his way ouer the Sea of Galilee c. OVr Sauiour Christ in that matter of multiplying the loaues and the fishes prouiding for the necessitie of those people that did follow him wrought two miracles as famous as they were cheerefull In the one he gaue food to foure
from him Nor is there any man so rich or so happy that is not forced to be one of Gods beggars And that Kingly Prophet Dauid saith the like of the beasts of the field in diuers places The eyes of all waite vpon thee ô Lord and thou giuest them their meat in due season Thou openest thy hand and fillest all things liuing with plentiousnesse Hee giueth fodder vnto the Cattell and feedeth the young Rauens that call vpon him By Cattell hee vnderstandeth whatsoeuer beasts of the field And by the Rauen whatsoeuer fowle of the ayre And hee did purposely and more particularly put here the Rauen either because those old ones doe not acknowledge their young for that they are white when they are hatcht the damme and her mate beeing of a contrarie colour Or because it is such a rauening bird that according to Ariâ—â—otle and Pliâ—ie the old ones doe banish their young ones as soone as they are able to flie and shift for themselues into some other region further off that they may not rob them of their food and sustenance In a word great and small high and low haue their maintenance from God Who is it but God that feedeth the yong Rauens when they call vpon him Of the trees and plants that holy King Daâ—id sayth Saturabuntur ligna campi Ceâ—ri Libani c. Of the Angells Planets Starres a Phylosopher saith Greges Astrorum semper pasciâ— And as the Sheepheard numbreth his sheepe and puts a marke vpon euerie one of them so our Lord God doth number the multitude of the Starres and caâ—â—eth them by their names The glorious Saint Chrysostome tells vs in a metaphoricall language That in those immense spatious walkes in Heauen there are other more beautifull fields other Fountaines other Floures other Groues and that God doth sustaine and maintaine them all All liue vnder his protection Since then that all things liue so secure vnder his diuine prouidence Why should man distrust especially seeing that he hath an eye and a care to his wants and necessities Who is like vnto the Lord our God who dwelleth in the highest clouds and yet doth behold from aboue whatsoeuer is in heauen or in earth The sight is not qualified by seeing great things but by perceiuing the least atomes or motes that are in the Sunne In an Epistle which the glorious Apostle Saint Paul wrote to the Romans he calleth God the God of Hope for he looking downe vpon vs doth inrich vs with such assured hopes that we may hold them more firme and sure vnto vs than any present possession of those lands or goods which we enioy The second reason is That if any thing can grieue Gods heart it is our miserie and necessitie and therefore he makes such hast to helpe vs as if it were his owne case My sister my Spouse thou hast wounded my heart with one of thyne eyes and with one haire of thy necke The haires are the symbole of thoughts and cares for as the head is full of haire so is it full of care The â—ye of the Huntsman doth more harme than the Arrow which hee shoots for he that doth not throughly eye his game seldome kills and therefore the Spouses Beloued sayes vnto her Euerie one of thy cares especially when I see thee looke vpon me are so many darts sticking in my heart Abbot Guaricus discoursing of the Prodigall saith That when his father saw him so ill accoutred compassion did more strongly possesse him than the passion of sorrow for his sins did his sonne When Abraham was swallowed vp as it were with sorrow as hee vnsheathed his sword to sacrifice his son Isaac Dominus videbit saith the Text id est prouidebit which was the good old mans answer when his sonne askt him Vbi est victima pater mi My father where is the Lambe for the burnt Offering The Septuagint read Apparebit the Tigurine Videbitur For God seeing vs suffer for his sake is of it selfe a present helpe in our time of need Many of the Saints do ponder the griefe which God did discouer for that dearth which Israel indured and the care that he tooke in allaying the sharpenesse and tartnesse of Elias his austere and sowre disposition who when he had caused the windows of heauen to be shut vp for three yeares yet he appointed him a Rauen to bee his Steward to bring him in prouision that hee might not suffer in that common calaâ—â—â—tie yet giuing him this checke by the way It is not fit that thou alone shouldeâ—t eat and 〈◊〉 the rest of my people starue but since I haue past my word this Rauen shal take care of thee Saint Chrysostome saith That this was a seuere reprehension of the Prophet Elias That a Bird that hath no pittie of her owne brood should take pittie of thee that a bird that by nature is cruell and liues vpon rapines and spoyle of others should be a Minister of mercie vnto thee and thou that shouldest haue been a mediator betwixt God and his people shouldst be a prouoker of him to vengeance he cries out against him Absurdum est ô Elias Thou hast committed a great absurditie ô Elias Saint Augustine further addeth That the Rauen which heretofore shewed himselfe vnthankefull in not returning again to Noahs Arke is now so farre altred from that he was that he brings thee bread and flesh affoording thee thy dayly food it had not been much for thee to haue expected an alteration likewise in the Children of Israell Procopius tells vs That the Rauen is an vncleane creature by the Law and beeing that I who was the Law-giuer did dispense that thou shouldest take thy food from him Why mightst not thou as well haue asked a dispensation of me for this so long an interdiction And he entertained them kindly The griefe which our Sauiour had conceiued for the death of Iohn Baptist did not cause him to withdraw his sweet and comfortable countenance from others For the mourning for the Iust is not a hooding of the face to conceale our selues and our sorrow from the world The Saints of God lament the losse which the Earth sustaines by the taking away of the righteous from amongst vs but not their death For hee beholdeth not his death with the eyes of death but quickely passes it ouer It is the foole that thinkes all is ended with them in death But it is nothing so Whence shall wee buy bread that these may eat He here tooke counsell what were best to be done in this case It beeing as Plato sayth amongst all other things the most Sacred and the most Diuine And Ecclesiasticus telleth vs that counsel makes things stable durable secure As a frame of wood ioyned together in a building cannot bee loosed with shaking so the heart that is established by aduised counsel shal feare at no time Whence shall wee buy bread Here our Sauiour consults with Philip how
me vp Where it is to be noted That it is one thing to eat and feed vpon the zeale of Gods House and his seruice and another thing to be eaten of it one while there is an Ecclesiasticall another while a secular Iudge which is verie diligent in his office out of the hatred that he hath to Delinquents and hee is held to bee a verie zealous man But hee eats growes fat and waxeth rich with this his zeale and such a one eats of the zeale of the house of God but is not eaten of it But there are others that are dried vp and consumed of the zeale which they beare to the Seruice of God Tabescere me fecit zelus meus who wasting their wealth their health and their liues in this their zeale doe more resent the wrongs that are done to God than those that are offered to themselues Saint Paul saith Quis scandalizatur ego non vror Which made Saint Chrysostome to say That of six hundred thousand miracles one cannot bee found that may bee compared with this his zeale his owne tribulations and torments he calls them Glorie and the offences done vnto God he calls Fire which burnes him Lo here a miracle a strange kind of zeale Zeale is the Child of Loue but it is somewhat more inflamed and more pure than Loue. To Loue we attribute two powerfull effects The one That it is the authour of the greatest acts and noblest exployts that man can performe Esay in his ninth Chapter maketh an enumeration of Gods greatest acts To vs a Child is borne to vs a sonne is giuen the gouernment is vpon his shoulder c. And for an vpshot of these his glorious acts he addeth this Zelus Domini exercituum faciet hoc The zeale of the Lord of Hosts shall doe this Amongst Gods attributes we consider a celestiall competencie in the greatest mysteries of his life and of his death but in the end Loue gets the victorie and glory of the day The second effect of Loue is To conuert it selfe wholly to the seruice of the thing beloued He that is enamoured of God will willingly pardon the iniuries that are done to himselfe but those that are offered to God hee will neuer forgiue And Ecclesiasticus renders the reason of it Cognoui quod in multa scientia multa sit indignatio He that hath little knowledge of God finds himselfe but little offended when the Maiestie of God is wronged and abused but hee that knowes much is much offended when offence is offered to the partie he loues A little child is neuer offended at vice or vicious men Cum essem parvulus sapiebam vt parvulus but a well growne man will like Mathias kill an Idolator or like Phineas slay a fornicator and set vpon a blasphemer c. or vpon a whole citie like Simeon and Leui. Et cumfecisset quasi flagellum He made as it were a whip For the chasticements of God in this life seeme to be whips and scourges but they are not Quasi morientes ecce viuimus No like is the same that which is as it were such a thing is not the thing it selfe Our life seemeth to be death but it is not death our portion pouertie but it is not so Sicut egentes multos autem locupletantes There are three reasons of this Truth The one That these whips come short of those scourges at the day of Iudgement which will be most fearefull and most terrible Saint Mathew cals them but the beginning of sorrowes Haâ— autem initia sunt dolorum Those are not sorrowes which are so soone ended Of Antiochus his cruelties whose souldiers slew in three dayes fourescore thousand persons captiuated fortie thousand and sould as many more for slaues not pardoning either old men women or children the Text saith Propter peccata c. For the sinnes of those that inhabited the Citie God was a little angrie Of those cruell torments which the Martyrs endured being fried roasted broyled dragged quartered and sawne in sunder Wisedome saith They are punished in few things but in many things shall they be wel rewarded Another reason Because these whips are not directed to our hurt and perdition but for our amendment as Iudith said in the siege of Bethulia Haec ipsa supplicia non ad perditionem sed ad emendationem euenisse credamus They are the whips of a father that will not kill his sonne but correct and amend him And therefore Dauid calls this whip Virgam Directionis The rod of Direction The third and last Because whips and scourges are perforce for to giue one a stripe or a lash you must perforce hold the whip in your hand and straine your selfe thereunto And therefore it is said Cum fecisset quasi flagellum Christ had neuer a whip about him the Merchants themselues put it into his hands Seneca saith That the nature of the gods are so farre from anger either towards others or in themselues and of that goodnesse clemencie louingnesse and peaceablenesse that if they stretch out their arme or lift vp their hand to punish you you your selues must force and driue them thereunto by your sinnes and offences And therefore Esay saith Indignatio non est mihi Quis mihi dabit Spinam Veprem Saint Hierome My People will not beleeue that I can be angrie they take me to be so good so louing that they cannot presume that any anger can proceed from my brest Who will furnish me with a Thorne or a Bramble that I may make my People to feare me Iob treating of the Deuill said Ipse est principium viarum Dei He is the chiefe of the wayes of God Saint Thomas saith vpon this place That God hath two wayes The one of mercie The other of justice The former is mentioned by Dauid Vniuersae viae Domini misericordia veritas All the wayes of God are Mercy and Truth God was Author of the first by creating man in Paradise for to translate him from thence to heauen But the diuell running a contrary course gaue the first beginning to the way of Iustice. For if there had beene no fault there had beene no punishment Two things Eliphaz told Iob when he came to comfort him The one That God was neuer Authour of the death of the righteous The other That many sinners perished at the breath of his nostrills Quin potius inueni multos flante deo perijsse Where by the way Saint Gregorie hath noted That for to breath outward ayre is necessarie the ayre must bee without so that thou art he that makest thine owne rod and that prouidest materialls for God According to that of Solomon His owne iniquities shall take the wicked himselfe and he shall be holden with the cords of his owne sinne The gluttonie made the whip for thy gout thy vncleannesse for thy pocks thy sweates and colds for thy sciatica thy paintings for thy Megrims
when he comes home at night he presently askes what newes there is stirring And is well pleased with any tidings that are told him especially of other mens misfortunes Plutarch makes this simile That as in Cities there vse to be some vnlucky gates wherat nothing enters or goes out that is good saue dunghils that lye in the streete and persons that are condemned to death so likewise into the eares of the Curious nothing enters that is good It was the saying of a certaine Philosopher that of all kind of winds those were most troublesome which did whirle our clokes from off our shoulders In like manner of all sortes of men the Curious are most to be abhorred which vnwrap the clokes of our shame blow open our disgrace and rip vp the graues of the dead and as Xenocrates said of them They enter not into other mens houses with their feet but their eyes He saw c. This might very well assure them that he lookt vpon him with the eye of Loue. First because it is Gods nature and condition when he doth one fauour to ingage himselfe for many other courtesies And therefore hauing done him the fauour to looke vpon him he was now obliged to giue him his sight Cicero saith That it is the property of a noble brest to him that owes much to desire to make that man more his debtor Est animi ingenui cui multum debeas eidem plurimum velle debere The bestowing of one fauour vpon mee saith Ecclesiasticâ—â— makes me the bolder to beg another And since thou hast stuck vnto me in my life ô Lord doe the like in my death God did reueale vnto Dauid by the Prophet Nathan perpetuitie of his Kingdome and after this so great a fauour he further addeth Therefore is thy seruants heart readie to pray vnto thee Ezechias had receiued extraordinarie kindnesses from Gods hand and these were motiues to make him intercede for farther fauours In a word one courtesie conferred vpon vs incourageth vs to craue a second But that the conferring of one fauor â—hould lay an obligation or make one desirous to doe another on the necke of that this onely holds in God as a peculiar noblenesse belonging vnto him And for to secure vs of all those fauours which wee can expect from his greatnesse the Church saith of our Sauiour Christ that was offered vp for vs Nobis pignus datur A pledge is giuen vs. Now a pledge is alwayes pawned for lesse than it is worth Hauing therefore thus impawned the infinit treasure of his person what will he not bestow vpon vs If he haue giuen thee eyes will hee not giue thee hands And if he haue giuen thee hands will he not giue thee a heart So that Gods doing of one fauour is the assuring of many In the Wildernesse when all Agars bread and water was spent and seeing her sonne ready to dye for thirst she lifted vp her eyes to Heauen calling vpon God Et exaâ—diuit dominus vocem â—â—eri And the Lord heard the voyce of the child His giuing eare vnto her was a signe that he would giue her water suddenly a Well was discouered vnto her c. Here were two fauours done her alreadie First His hearing her Secondly His granting her her request But God did not stop here In gentem magnam faciam cum I will make him a great Nation Secondly Because mans wants and necessities being looked on by the eye of Gods loue and pittie his goodnes neuer leaues him till his remedie be wrought And therfore it is said by the Psalmist I poured out my complaint before him I shewed before him my trouble so that when I present my griefes tribulations before him if he once but looke vpon them I am sure he wil help me This kind of cunning Martha Mary vsed with him Behold he is sick whom thou louest Ezechias opening Zenacharibs letter in the Temple fraught with such a deale of pride arrogancie exercised the same trick Lord open thyne eyes and see bow downe thyne eare and heare the words of Zenacharib c. And as our sinnes doe crie vnto God for vengeance so our miseries doe crie vnto him for mercie God plagued the Princes of the Philistines with that foule and grieuous disease of the Emmerods but vpon their presenting the Images of them before the Arke he freed them of that euill Thou knowest my shame and my reproch c. And if my prayers doe not sometimes pierce Heauen it is because my persecutions and afflictions haue ascended thither and notified my miserie and when man is ashamed to speake yet that will speake for him Who did sinne this man or his parents Saint Cyril saith That the Disciples hauing whispered amongst themselues touching this mans misfortune they askt our Sauiour Quis peccauit c. Wherein they went wisely to worke in attributing punishment in the generall to sinne for by attributing them many times to naturall causes as to the Sunne aire water and other distemperatures the fruit of Gods chastisements is lost Petrus Crysologus treating of those teares which our Sauiour shed at Lazarus death saith That he did not bewaile his buriall for he knew how happie he was in being out of the world but the occasion He thought vpon Adams apple that had beene the cause of so much hurt and this was it that made him to weepe And this his weeping was as if hee should haue said What a deale of sorrow hath this one act of disobedience in him brought vpon all mankind and consequently vpon me who must beare the burthen of his and their offence O Sinne How deere will it cost both Man and me In a word There is not any one thing so often repeated in Scripture as That Sin is the cause of our miseries De humo non egreditur dolor And in this respect verie iust and lawfull was this their demand touching Quis peccauit Who sinned First Because they did desire to see it verified whether this fauour which they muttered amongst themselues were well employed or no for it is a common custome in Court when the King shall cast a fauourable eye vpon any one and gratiously looke vpon him not onely to examine his life and to question what hee is but to rip vp that of his fathers and predecessours to flea those that are aliue and to disinterre those that are dead And howbeit for prouisions of offices and for the conferring of Court dignities and other publique preferments in the Commonwealth it is fitting for Kings and Princes to take a strict view and examination concerning the honestie and abilitie of those they aduance yet in the relieuing of wants necessities al such diligences are vnnecessarie and vniust For a Prince or any other rich and powerfull person sayth Saint Chrysostome ought to be like a good port or hauen which should receiue into her protection all sort of passengers whatsoeuer but to
forme and course of his life must not seeme to be the same man that he was before It is Philons note That it must fare with him as it did with Enoch of whom the Scripture saith Transtulit eum Dominus from this earthly life he must passe to a heauenly life Esay did prophecie That vpon our Sauiour Christs comming the dens of Theeues should be turned into Gardens and that the Lyons should become as mild and gentle as Lambes In cubilibus vbi Dracones habitabant orietur viror iunei c. Si dormiatis inter medios cleros pennae columbae de argentata c. The Translation renders it Inter medios tripodes Though ye haue lien amongst the Triueâ—s and blackest Pots of Aegypt yet through repentance you shall be as the wings of a Doue couered with siluer her feathers with yellow gold Vpon Saint Pauls conuersion the People did not know him Nonne hic est said they qui expugnabat Hierusalem Is not this he that hath done much euill to thy Saints at Ierusalem So likewise they said of this blind man Nonne hic est qui sedebat mendicans Is not this he that sate and begged Of a poore begger he came to be a learned Doctor and did confute many of the best and learnedst Students of Ierusalem Secondly He was an Instrument of Gods omnipotencie and power whose blazon is to ouercome swelling pride and puffing arrogancie with the lowest basenesse and the weakest frailtie Plinie reporteth That Rats did dispeople one citie and Conies another but much more was it to ouerthrow Pharâ—â—h by Flies and poore sillie Gnats If a Lyon feare a Cocke and a Bull a Waspe out of a kind of instinct of nature Why should not a man stand in feare of such a Flie or a Waspe whom God furnishes with a sting The Babylonish fire did no hurt to the three children that were in the middest of the firie Furnace but the flames that came out from thence did burne many of those Ministers and Officers that were appointed to throw Faggots into the Furnace Viros autem qui miserant interfecit flamma ignis The Hebrew translation renders it Scintillae The poore little sparks that flew from out the flame c. Thou ô Lord that canst of a sparke make a flame increase our Faith and inflame our loue towards thee that we may with this blind man stedfastly beleeue and so come to see thy Glorie c. THE XXIX SERMON VPON THE THVRSEDAY AFTER THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT LVC. 7.11 Ibat Iesus in Ciuitatem Nain And Iesus went into a Citie called Nain c. A Most famous encounter the Euangelist doth here recite vnto vs which hapned at the gates of the Citie Nain hee tells vs of a Lyon that was deuouring swallowing down a Sheepe and of a Dauid that ranne in and tooke it out of his throat of a Theefe that had stolne a most pretious jewell and of a Iudge that taking him in the manner with the theft in his hand tooke it away from him leauing him confounded and ashamed Of two Fountaines the one of bitter waters the other so sweet and sauorie that it tooke from those bitter Fountaines all it's gall and bitternesse Of Death and of Life Death turning coward vpon this encounter and flying according to that prophecie of Abacus from before the face of our Sauiour Christ And of a young man that was carried out of the Citie vpon a beere to be buried whom his mother went to accompanie to the graue with teares in her eyes and many more besides Vpon which occasion our Sauior shewed himselfe Lord of Death and Life Iesus went into a Citie called Nain c. The Euangelist had formerly mentioned that myracle of Peters mother in Law that of the Leaper of the Centurions seruant and continuing the same straine he here goes on with a factum est deinceps And it came to passe that the day after hee went vnto a Citie called Nain where in the verie gate of the Citie he met with a sad companie that were going to a solemne Funerall full of teares and sorrow And albeit this may seeme to be a casuall thing and that hapned as wee say by hap-hazard yet was it the maine and chiefe care of our Sauiour Christ to prie into euerie corner of that holy land and not to skip ouer any one place therein which hee did not measure forth with his feet so that he did not omit that miserie whereunto hee did not giuâ— a remedie Suting with that saying Et sanabat omnes And he cured them all shewing therein what a good account he made of his office of a Sauiour since his first comming into the world There are two things which make a man very eminent in his office The one His inclination and good intentions which are the feet of our soule The other His paines taking and continuall occupation in all kind of Arts as well Mechanicall as Liberall And in verie truth in all both good and euill exercises so powerfull is mans naturall inclination That although a man may smother it for a time yet like fire vnder ashes it will at last breake forth into a flame and discouer his true disposition A theefe will neuer leaue his inclination to theeuing though he hath often escapt the gallowes Nor a Cheater to his cogging nor a Merchant to his trading nor the Marriner to his nauigation nor the Huntsman to his hunting nor the souldiour his disposition to warre though he haue discontinued it neuer so long Dauid was growne old and well stroken in yeares when his sonne Absalon rose vp in rebellion against him and yet they could not perswade him from going into the field though the whole Army were against it and cryed out Thou shalt not goe forth And they gaue him a very good reason for it in the words following For if we flye said they they will not care for vs neither if halfe of vs dye will they care for vs but thou art worth tenne thousand c. And this is a kind of voluntary violence which with a sweet kind of pleasingnesse hales the heart of man along And the like reason may be rendered of continuall occupation and imployment it is death to such a one to be idle and he is no longer well then while he is in action Saint Gregory hath well obserued That Iob vpon euery the least occasion of happines that befell him it was his fashion of phrase and a vsuall custome with him to say The Lords name be praysed So that afterwards hauing formerly vsed himselfe thereunto in the tempest of his disasters and those bitter stormes of his aduerser fortunes it was neuer out of his mouth These two things were subsisâ—â—â—g in our Sauiour Christ in a superlatiue degree First so great was his inclination and desire to saue that for others welfare he was carelesse of his owne Secondly he was so solicitous of this
world there shall also this that she hath done be spoken of for a memorial of her yee may chance to forget it but God will not Your Kings nominate Chroniclers to write downe the seruices of their Vassalls and the famous acts of the valiant and stout men of war Iosaphat the sonne of Eliud as we may read in the booke of the Kings erat à Commentarijs was the Chronicler But Kings either not read them or soone forget them In Assuerus his Annals is set downe the good seruice which Mardochee had done him by freeing his life from a treason that was plotted against him but Assuerus had quite forgot it But God is so farre from forgetting such seruices that he vseth to assume vnto himselfe a name from the seruice that they doe him he said vnto Iacob I am the God of Bethel where thou annointedst the Piller where thou vowedst a Vow vnto me Corresponding with that of Malachie Scriptus est liber monumenti coram eo And a booke of remembrance was written Anonother letter hath it Recordationis agreeing with the common Translation Our friend Lazarus sleepeth c. What a strange kind of thing is this that Lazarus being dead should find friends For it is the course of the world to hold him our friend that liues in plentie prosperitie and enioyes his health but not that a sicke man nay a dead man should find a friend c. Iob made it his complaint My friends and familiar acquaintance forsooke me and would not looke vpon me in my miserie And he drawes his comparison of their sudden departure from those downefalls of water in the Winter which glide away with all the speed that may be Salomon compares them to a rotten tooth and a wearie foot The Harlot is likewise the hierogliphycke of false friends whose embraces and kisses are like those of Iudas for money your Quicke-siluer is likewise a simbole of the same which forsaketh the gold in the Chrisoll these are all of them things that faile in the time of need The World hath not any one thing wherof it is more vnmindfull than the Dead Obliuioni datus sum tanquam mortuus à corde O that the Dead should be forgotten by that heart which gaue it life and that he should be forgotten by his friend who placed him in honour and in riches In a word by how much the more miserie increaseth in the world by so much the more friendship decreaseth Saint Chrysostome saith That the best friend that euer was ascended vp vnto Heauen Saint Augustine That a friend is like a Physition that loues the Patient and hates his disease but if Death come betwixt him and home his skill is at an end for he that can recouer health cannot recouer life this is onely reserued for our Sauiour Christ who is Medicamentum vitae immortalitatis gratia This Physition stiles Lazarus his friend in health in sickenesse and in death Manus eius tornatiles That Artificer which leuels his worke by his eye commonly goes crookedly to worke and commits many disproportions but he that workes in a wheele as Turners doe or in a Presse as your Printers keepes a continuall euenesse and equalitie in sickenesse and in health in prosperitie and aduersitie in Winter and in Sommer and such an Artisan was our Sauiour Christ in all his actions Our friend Lazarus sleepeth c. It is an ordinarie Language in Scripture to call Death Sleepe whither it be the death of the soule or the bodie To him that was dead in the soule Saint Paul saith Arise thou that sleepest c. Some sinners are so sound asleepe that neither lights loud calling nor shogging of them can awaken them Percussi eos non doluerunt I smote them and they grieued not Saint Augustine confesseth of himselfe That he lay long in this Lethargy and descending to vices in particuler he saith That God calling vpon your Theeues for to haue them to make restitution vpon your reuengefull natures that they should not seeke reuenge and vpon your Sensualists that they should leaue off this their beastly course of life some of them answer That they cannot others That they dare not Other Sinners there are that heare God in their sleepe taking their dreames to be reuelations considering with themselues That God is woont to speake in dreames and in visions For God speaketh once or twice in dreames and visions of the night when sleepe falleth vpon men and they sleepe vpon their beds then he openeth the eares of men by the corrections which he had sealed that he might cause man to turne away from his wickednesse that he might hide the pride of man and that his life should not passe by the Sword The death likewise of the bodie is and that verie fittingly termed sleepe First For the rest that they take The Phylosophers called it Tempestatis pâ—rtum the Hauen to our weather-beaten liues Perigrinationis finem the end of our pilgrimage here vpon earth Omnium malorum medicamentum A remedie against all diseases Secondly For the danger wherein it leaueth sinners Holofernes layd him downe to sleepe fully persuading himselfe that he should haue enioyed Iudith in his armes when he awaked but alas poore soule before euer hee was aware of it he found himselfe in Hell Abimilecke got him to bed with hope to haue his pleasure of Saraah but in the dead time of the night he found himselfe in the hands of an angrie God To the rich man that inuited his soule to take his fill for there was store enough for many yeares Hac nocte c. This night shall thy soule be taken from thee Saul slept verie soundly and carelessely in his Tent when Dauid might haue giuen him his passeport for another life And therefore no man ought to lay him downe to sleepe with lesse heedfulnesse than if hee were now lying on his death bed Your wretchlesse sinners feele a harder passage of it and farre greater torment than the Iust. Death vseth to bring great torments with it First In seperating the soule from the bodie Secondly In forgoing those things it loueth as gold siluer lands houses wife and children which are all of them strings whereunto the heart is tied besides the venture of our condemnation for euer and the agonie of so many feares that will in this dissolution seise vpon vs. From all which the Righteous though they threaten him neuer so much remaineth free and vntoucht He groaned in the spirit c. The Greeke word signifieth to roare to crie out aloud to waile to lament and to be much mooued According to that of Theophilact Et turbauit semetipsum And was troubled in himselfe It did awaken in the sensitiue part of him those affections or passions which as Aristotle saith are like vnto dogs who in hearing any noyse fall presently a barking till that their Master do still them make them hold their peace In
or a milde word is enough The second is The meekenesse softnesse and euennesse of their nature and condition Beati mites Bâ—essed are the Meeke in spirit your Reprobates are soure vnsauorie and vnquiet In a word they are like Goats you shall scarce meet with a Reprobate but leads a troubled life like a Theefe that lookes euery houre when he shall be hanged or in such a distraction or deiection as Cain liued in Cur concidit facies tua Why is thy countenance falne downe And as it is in Deutronomie The Lord shall giue thee a trembling heart and a sorrowfull mind and thy life shall hang before thee and thou shalt feare both day and night and shalt haue none assurance of thy life in the morning thou shalt say Would God it were euening and at euening thou shalt say Would God it were morning for the feare of thyne heart which thou shalt feare and for the sight of thyne eyes which thou shalt see The heart of the Wicked is fearefull and euerie bush represents a Dog vnto him that bites him In the middest of all his pleasures Hell represents it selfe to the Reprobate his soule is consumed with sorrow quasi pendens ante se He lookes like one that is condemned to be hanged But the Iust doth enioy an inward comfort a heauenly ioy singing cherefully with Dauid that sweet Anthem Inhabitat gloria in terra nostra c. Surely his saluation is neere to them that feare him that Glorie may dwell in our Land The third is the point of profit For in the Sheepe which signifies the Elect there is wooll milke butter cheese and flesh But it is not so in the Goat whereby are noted the Reprobate as hath beene obserued by Saint Hilary and Saint Chrysostome The fourth is The sheepe walkes in wayes that are plaine quiet and secure But the goat goes clambring on the tops of dangerous rocks browzing amongst bushes and thornes and at last waxing weary falls down headlong to hell Ambulauimus vias difficiles lassati sumus via iniquitatis Wee haue walked through craggie paths and haue tyred our selues in the way of iniquitie Many good workes haue I shewed yee for which of these workes doe yee stone mee They tooke vp stones for to stone him and whâ—n they had them in their hands ready to fling at him he forced their attention and made them whether they would or no to hearken vnto him Many good workes haue I shewed you for which of these workes doe ye stone me It is an easier thing for a man to grow vnthankfull and forgetfull of a great number of benefits than one single good turne One or two courtesies men vsually rest thankfull for them and beare them still in memorie But as the Spaniard sayes Los muchos se vienen por muchos à oluidar Many for that they are many are forgotten by many Their muchnesse lessens their remembrance There are foure faire mothers that bring forth very foule children As Truth enimies Familiaritie contempt Hope despaire and Muchnesse of benefits muchnesse of obliuion Incontinently they forgat his workes Dauid doth there treat of the adoration of the golden calfe and his meditation thereupon is That the many fauours that that people had receiued from Gods hands being so fresh as they were in their memories as the flyes which for their sakes he sent to afflict the Aegyptians frogges gnats water turned into blood darknesse the death of their first-borne the Israelites passing safe through the red sea the drowning of Pharaoh and all his charriots and horsemen and the Law giuen them on the Mountaine yet notwithstanding these great and singular fauours these wondrous signes and tokens as the like were neuer done that yet for all this they should like a broken bow so sodainely start aside and fall so quickly into so foule a sinne as none could be more derogatory from Gods honour They sodainely forgot his workes The greater were Gods benefits the more was their obliuion And the reason of it is That laying more vpon a mans shoulders than he is well able to beare it is a thousand to one that his load and he doe not fall both to the ground The lesse the benefits are the more cheerefully a man receiues them And why so Marry I shall tell you why Because then there is some hope that a man may liue to requite them and to discharge that debt for the which in thankfulnesse he stands bound But when they are so great that we are not able to make satisfaction such extraordinarie curtesies are repayd oftentimes with vnkindnes if not with hatred Thou owest thy neighbour a summe of money be it more or lesse nor does it grieue and afflict thee to see this thy Crediter or to looke him in the face but rather takest pleasure and comfort in his companie yet if all that thou art worth shouldst thou sell thy selfe to thy very shirt be not able to discharge that debt thou hadst as liefe see the diuell as him Quintus Curtius reporteth that Alexander grew to hate Antipater and for no other reason in the world but that he had obtained so many victories and reduced so many nations to his obedience that hee did tacitely demand that requitall of him which he was not able to make him and conferring many fauours on those souldiers which had done him but little seruice he neglected Antipater that had done him most The same reason is to bee rendred of Hannibal and Carthage of Lycurgus and Lacedemonia and of Saul and Dauid but there is no example to that of a woman in this kind serue her neuer so faithfully entertaine her neuer so royally court her day and night feede her humorous disposition wa st both thy purse and thy bodie and consume all that thou hast to giue her content yet in the end will she grow to hate thee and that which thou thinkest should be the meanes of winning her will be the cause of losing her she will like a Lymbeck draw whatsoeuer is good from thee first by drops then by drams afterwards by ounces lastly by pounds till she haue suckt thee drie that thou hast wholly spent vndone thy selfe in her seruice In a word that I may grow to an end the Iews in those former times were euermore wonderfully beholding vnto God for those many benefits fauors which he had throwne vpon them but now his grace and mercie like a Riuer rising from forth it 's bed extending it selfe so farre that he came himselfe in person to visit them and in such an especiall manner as none could bee more saying particularly vnto them Non sum missus nisi ad Oues Israel I am not sent but to the Sheepe of Israel Why this was so great a fauour that it ouercommeth mans imagination the weight whereof prest both it and them to the ground But God so support vs with his grace that we may thankefully beare in
amongst some of his Emblemes which hee hath made of humane beautie he paints forth in one of them a Lyon a Hare a Fowle and a Fish for there is not any creature more couragious than a Lyon nor any more cowardly than a Hare nor any creature higher than the Fowle nor lower in his mansion than the Fish all which render and yeeld themselues prisoners to beautie Balac liued in great feare of Gods People and when he could not get Balaam to curse them aduising with his Councell Balaam being the first proiector he sent as Lyra noteth it a squadron of the fairest women that his Countrie could affoord amongst the Israelites who did beare in their Banner for their Deuice the Image of Belphegor and they who before did seeme to that King to be inuincible rendred themselues captiues to the beautie of those Moabitish women Et initiati sunt Belphegor comederunt sacrificia mortuorum They married them and adored their Idoll and as Iosephus sets it downe it was not onely the common people but many of the chiefest amongst them that offended in this kind For the flesh being not onely baited but blinded with this outward beautie it hath no eyes to behold the light of the Sunne Supercecidit ignis that is The fire of Concupiscence fell downe and they saw not the Sunne The light of myne eyes is not with me thus Dauid discoursed with himselfe treating of his adulterie Osee compareth Adulterie to a heated Ouen whence comes forth the flame which burnes and the smoke which blindes Seest thou a man besotted with the loue of this or that woman and of that doting affection towards her that hauing â—uffered for her sake in his honor his estate and his health if he do not take vp himselfe in time and looke out some remedy for this sore you may boldly say he is blind Saint Iohn painting foorth the fall of Lucifer saith That the bottom lesse pit was opened with a key for Lucifer according to Rupertus had the first handsell of hell and from forth that infernall pit there went out such a thicke smoke that it darkened the Sun and the Starres And this is the stampe and figure of him that shall throw himselfe downe headlong into the bottomlesse pit of dishonestie whence commeth forth so much smoke that it blindeth the Sun of the vnderstanding and darkneth those starres of the faculties of the soule From these circumstances do I draw the difficulty of Mary Magdalens Conuersion grounding my supposition vpon these three truths The first That for God to iustifie a soule is a farre greater matter than to create heauen and earth and all that therein is This hath beene prooued elsewhere And Iob exprest as much when he said The creating of me was the least of thy mercies towards me Exaltare saith Dauid Exalt thy selfe ô God aboue the heauens and let thy glory be vpon all the earth that thy beloued may bee deliuered So that if we should put into the one hand of God the world created and into the other a soule conuerted the glory of this hand is the greater And there are two very good reasons for it The one For that in the creating of the world God had no repugnancie or resistance but in the conuerting of a soule he may meet with opposition by reason of mans peruerse will Et qui creauit te sine te non saluabit te sine te For though bee created thee without thy will he will not saue thee wâ—thout thy will God takes more pleasure in conuerting a soule than in all the rest of those wonders which he wrought with his hands Auerte oculos tuos à me quia ipsi me auolare fecerunt Turne away thine eyes from me for euen they haue made me flye away Auolare is the same in that place as Superbire inflare Rabby Salomon renders it Insolentior factus sum animo To see thy eyes heretofore so withdrawne from me and now so busie in beholding â—e So great is the contention which is betwixt the loue of God and the loue of the world betweene the desires of the flesh and of the Spirit That the one doth striue to take the sword out of the others hand Alterius vires subtrahit alter amor Plotinus calls Loue a Painter Diuine Loue that paints and humane Loue that paints This painteth forth our felicitie in riches beauty and feasting That in pouerty teares and fasting For to ingraue such an image as this in our hearts to paint such a picture we must blot out all those colours which any other loue hath drawne there The other For that in creating the world God did not shew himselfe to bee weary but made it as it were a kind of entertainment and passe-time Ludens in orbe terrarum But in redeeming mankind he was wearied out euen to the shedding of his blood and the loosing of his life The second truth is That it is the easiest thing in the world with God to inrich a sinner with his grace God sent Ieremy to the Potters house who beginning to worke vpon a peece of clay it not fadging to his mind he tore it in sunder and molding it anew fashioned it afterwards to his owne good liking and content CaÌ„not I deale by you as the potter doth with his clay Is my power lesse than his Noah kept a Lyon in the Arke but he continued still a Lyon But our Sauiour Christ in his Church turnes the Lyon into a Lambe The pots in the Lords house shall be like the bolls before the Altar Saint Ierome saith That he did prophetically decypher the time of the new Law wherein the black-souted Caldrons should bee so bright and beautifull that they should serue for flagons full of flowres and bolls of sweet and pretious odours Esay treating of the facilitie wherewith God doth worke this change and alteration draweth his comparison from a little cloud which a contrary wind taketh and makes it disappeare in a moment I shall put away thy transgressions like a cloud and thy sinnes as a myst Ecclesiasticus compares it vnto yce which the Sunne no sooner shines vpon but it is melted Thy sinnes shall melt away as the yce in the faire weather Dauid borroweth his comparison from a frozen Torrent set vpon by a furious South-west wind and letting loose those waters causeth them to leape out of their beds For your frost and yce are the waters fetters which keepe them close prisoners Hibernis vinculis soluta saith Nazianzene And Niuale compede vinctum saith Horace of the riuer Iberus But all these comparisons are too large and spatious in respect of Gods least breath which in an instant doth banish sinne from our breasts and inricheth it with grace The third That in regard of Man it is a thing of great difficulty especially if the foule fiend hath got the masterie and possession of our will When a man hath
of his loue why God did not say vnto him I now know that thou louest God The reason is That when a iust man comes to the top and heigth of his loue he may presume of himselfe that he hath then begun to loue And for that feare is the first step to loue he sayd Nunc cognoui quod timeas c. By the whole drift of this discourse that conclusion of Ecclesiasticus remaineth cleere Lift not thy selfe vp in the thought of thy soule like the Bull. Let not thy thoughts and hopes make thee doe the things that are vaine and foolish Hee instances in the bull an vntamed beast which doth not acknowledge heauen Why wilt thou leaue thy leafes and thy fruit and remaine like a dotard in the desart Iob saith If he layd folly on his Angels how much more on them that liue in houses of clay If in the purest steele he found rust and in the finest cloth the Moth c. S. Augustine saith Nullum peccatum facit homo quod non possit facere alter homo si desit rector per quem factus est homo Man doth not commit that sinne which another may not â—oe if that Ruler doe not direct man by whom man is made The second occasion on Peters part was the Pallace of Caiphas Saint Ambrose saith That Peter comming to warme himselfe at the Pallace came to denie the truth For where Truth it selfe was taken prisoner he had need of a great deale of courage that should not incline to a lye Aeneas Syluius reporteth That Fredericke Archduke of Austria would goe a nights disguised through the Tauerns and Victualing houses belonging to the Court only to heare what they sayd of himselfe and his Ministers being demanded why he did expose his person to that perill his answer was Because in Court they neuer tell truth Plutarch recounteth of King Antiochus That hauing lost himselfe a hunting hee lighted vpon a Cottage where were a companie of shepheards and asking them being at supper What the world said of the King and his Ministers The King said they hath the report of a good honest gentleman but that the State was neuer worse gouerned than now for it is serued by the greediest and the gripingest Ministers that were in the world and when he came backe againe to Court he told those that were about him Since I first tooke possession of this my Kingdome I neuer heard the truth of things till yesterday Amongst foure hundred Prophets which Ahab consulted onely hee met with one that would not lye vnto him and the King hated him for telling him the truth Saint Ambrose calls the Pallace Basilica deriuing it from the Basiliske which kills with it's looke Of this creature Aelian saith That he vomiteth forth his poyson vpon a stone And it fits well for Peter whom our Sauiour Christ termed Petram vpon whom the diuell whom the Scripture stiles a Basiliske vomited foorth his poyson Our Sauiour Christ receiued much kindnesse and courtesie in the house of Martha of Zacheus and the Pharisee but in Herods Pallace they made a foole of him In that of Pilat they whipt him and crowned him with thornes and in that of Caiphas he receiued so many affronts that God onely knowes what they were according to that which Dauid said in his name Tu scis impropirum meum confusionem meam The third occasion was That hee would enter into the Pallace by being brought in by the hands of a woman Saint Bernard saith Si infidelitas intrat quid mirum si infideliter agat Maximus Tirronensis saith That Peters sinne was much like vnto that of Adam there being imployed in both of them a man a woman and a diuell Adam had a warning not to eate Peter not to denie Eue was the occasion that Adam did eate and Cayphas maid-seruant that Peter did denie In a word a woman was the instrument of all our deaths and threw downe to the ground those two Columbs and pillars of the world but Peters fall was the fouler for Eue proceeded with inticements and flatteries and Adam suffered himselfe to be ouercome Ne contristaret delitias Lest he should grieue his Loue. But this woman saith Saint Augustine proceeded with threatnings now a woman is very powerfull in matter of allurements inticings dalliance and deceiuing through profession of loue but in matter of feare as Saint Gregorie hath obserued shee is very weake A woman triumphed ouer Sampson Dauid Salomon Sisera and Holophernes by making loue and vsing deceit but here a maid with only a bunch of keyes hanging at her girdle triumphed ouer Peter by feare The fourth occasion was Saint Peters offering to thrust into the Pallace Ioseph could not auoid the occasion because his Mistresse called him vnto her Dauid did cast his eye aside by chance but Peter did seeke occasion And he that loues anger shall perish by it He doth not say He that loues warre or victorie but he that loues danger Many of the children of Israel did cut off the thumbs from their fingers because they would excuse themselues from prophanation by singing the songs of Sion and being importuned thereunto Sing vnto vs one of the songs of Sion They answered How shall we sing one of the Lords songs in a strange land c. Osee saith Non vocabis me vltra Baalim sed vocabis me vir meus Baalim is the same as Vir meus But because there was an Idol that was called Baalim God said Doe not call me Baalim to the end that no man may presume that thou yet bearest Baalim still in thy mind or for to take all occasion from thee of thinking thereof any more On Gods part there are likewise very good reasons The first shall be of Saint Gregorie Saint Peter being to bee a Pastor it was fit that he should fall into so foule a fault least that afterwards he should be scandalized by other mens offences and carry too sharpe and hard a hand towards sinners Saint Augustine touches vpon the same reason in his bookes de Ciuitate Dei persuading the Bishops of Galilea That Clemencie should sway more with them than seueritie loue than power softnesse than sharpnesse for there is no man that liues without sinne And if our Sauiour Christ should haue censured Peter after his first deniall he would not haue reapt from thence so much fruit as now he did The second shall be of Saint August who sayes That it is a wholesomâ— medicine for a proud man to suffer him to fall into some grieuous and manifest sinne to the end that the foulenesse of that fault may abate his pride Saint Peter was so peremptorie and so presumptuous that he did presse this point with such a deale of confidence and boldnesse that he told his Master Though that all men shall be offended by thee yet will I neuer bee offended And Christ then telling him that hee should denie him thrice
he presently reply'd thereupon Though I should dye with thee yet will I not denie thee but you see how this his courage was afterwards cooled Which presumption of his when he saw his great weaknesse he humbly bewailed with many a bitter teare which turned to his exceeding great good And this reason is confirmed by Saint Chrysostome who saith That God permitted Peter to denie his Master that he might thereby learne to relie more vpon God than himselfe Saint Peter gaue lesse credit to Christs words than his owne resolution but the successe thereof did put him out of his errour Leo the Pope saith That God did suffer Peter thus to fall that the holiest might take heed not to trust too much to their owne strength Euthimius further addeth that this negation of his was as it were a Fiador or suretie against anie bosting or glorying in those so many miracles which were afterwards to bee wrought by Peter Saint Paul saith of himselfe That the pricks that he had in his flesh did serue as so many Piguelas or lines to your hawkes iesses that hee might not sore too high being puffed vp with these his many reuelations Ne magnitudo reuelationum extollat me The third shall be of Leo the Pope who saith That God did permit in Peter so great a sin Vt in Ecclesia remedium poenitentiae conderetur For the better founding and establishing in the Church the authoritie and efficacie of repentance The like reason is rendred by Saint Ierome By Peters fall saith he was manifested the vertue of repentance against the poyson of sinne which is all one with that of Saint Paul I was a blasphemer a persecuter c. And God was content to giue way thereunto for the better instruction of those that were to beleeue hereafter He that makes treacle tryes it first vpon his owne child c. God sent Ieremie to the Potters shop that he might see how the broken vessell was to be new molded againe and come out better than before And shall not I be able to do as much with you as the Potter with his clay Where it is to be noted That as the clay oftentimes receiues a better forme and fashion than at first and for more honourable vse So saith Saint Chrysostome and Euthymius Peter was made much the better by this First because it was a very good warning vnto him not to presume any more on himselfe And therefore Christ asking him whether he loued him He durst neither say I nor no. Secondly because God pardoning this his disloyaltie it was but a further inflaming of his loue and setting his heart more on fire in the zeale of his seruice according to that saying of our Sauiour Christ He little loues to whom little is forgiuen In a word it was a fulfilling of Abacucs prophesie If thou didst heretofore tread one step in the way of death thou shalt now tread ten for it in the way of life Then he began to curse himselfe and to sweare c This his negation or deniall was foretold by Dauid I looked on my right hand and beheld but there was none that would know me As also by Ieremie They haue denyed the Lord and said it is not he S. Peter had learned in the schoole of Christ Let your Communication be yea yea and nay nay The maid asked him if he were not one of Christs Disciples He answered I am not But she reply'd vnto him Thou art For thy speech doth bewray thee But he that he might auoid all spies or any further inquirie Began to fall a cursing c. How now Peter Art thou well in thy wits knowest thou what thou doest Thou that sawst thy Sauiour so glorious in Tabor Thou that confessedst him to be the Sonne of the liuing God Thou whom hee called together with thy brother Andrew to be fishers of men Thou to whom he stretcht foorth his hand in the sea to saue thee from drowning doest thou not know him I know him not O Peter lament thy ignorance for thou hast beene more cruell to thy Master than all they that conspired against him and laid their heads together to torment him for as for them some bound his hands others his necke others spat in his face these buffeted him those platted thornes on his head others pulled him by the beard and tugged him by the haire one pierced his side but thou didst runne him through the heart O Peter saith Saint Augustine What is become of your courage now What of your great brags What of this your protestation and strong resolution I will lay downe my life for thee And of that your Why should I not follow thee and die with thee There was no torment that troubled Iob so much as that his friends should forsake him My friends and familiar acquaintance stood afarre off from me Dauid was not so sensible of any of all his persecutions as that of his sonne Absalon And Iulius Caesar tooke it not halfe so tenderly at any of the other Traytors hands as of his sonne Brutus and therfore said vnto him when he stabd him Et tu quoque Brute Ha Brutus art thou in this Conspiracie Gentiles and Iewes Ecclesiasticks and Seculars Patritians and Plebeyans did all conspire against Christ but none of those iniuries that they offered him toucht his heart so neere as Peters Deniall of him That Iudas should sell him betray him and deliuer him vp into his enemies hands that the high Priests Herod and Pilat should desire his death and consent thereunto it was nothing because they hated him and were his professed enemies But that Peter should denie him to whom he had made such glorious promises and hauing so often made offer vnto him of his life that he should play the Renegado and deale thus and thus c. Then the Lord turned backe and looked vpon Peter and Peter went out and wept bitterly Saint Luke like a good Painter drawes me Peter first with a cole but now he giues him his more liuely colours The first variegation and garnishment that he giues this peece was our Sauiour Christs looking back vpon Peter How he looked on him we haue handled elsewhere The effect which this his looking on him wrought was the making of his heart to melt like waxe and the turning of Christs eye the turning of Peters eyes into two fountaines The Astrologers say That he that is borne in the aspect of Mars is sterne and cruell in that of Iupiter mercifull and courteous in that of Mercurie industrous and eloquent The beams of the sun inlighten the ayre dispellclouds fertilize the fields breeds pearles in the shels of the riuers corall in the bottome of the sea gold siluer and other mettalls in the veynes of the earth and like a well ordred clocke gouernes all the world What shall the Son of righteousnesse doe then with the beames of his Eyes Sidonius Apolinaris reports of those of Thracia That for to signifie the
vertue and power of the eyes of our Sauiour Christ they did paint a sunne whence three Raies or bright-shining beames brake forth the one raising vp one that was dead the other did breake a stonie heart and the third did melt a snowie mountaine and the Motto was this Oculi Dei ad nos The beames of Christs eyes raise vp the dead breake rocks and melt snow A facie tua saith Esay montes defluent The fire which they hid in the transmigration of Babylon the children of Israel found at their returne turned into water but exposing it to the beames of the sunne it grew againe to be fire to the great admiration of the beholders which is a figure of Saint Peter who through his coldnes became water but the beames of the Sonne of righteousnesse raised a great fire out of this water Pliny reports of certaine stones in Phrygia that being beaten vpon by the beames of the sunne send forth drops of water But the beames of the Sonne of righteousnesse did not onely from this Petra or stone Saint Peter draw teares but whole riuers of water According to that of Dauid Which turneth the rocke into water-pooles and the flint into a fountaine of water Saint Ambrose seemeth to stand somewhat vpon it why Peter did not aske forgiuenes of his sins at Gods hands Inuenio saith he quod fleuerit nō inuenio quid dixerit lachrymas lego satisfactionem non lego I find that he wept but do not find what he said I read his teares but read not his satisfaction The reasons of this his silence and that he did not craue pardon of God by word of mouth are these First because he had runne himselfe into discredit by his rash offers and afterwards by his stiffe deniall and therefore thought with himselfe That it was not possible for him to expresse more affection with his mouth than he had vttered heretofore Etiam si oportuerit me mori tecum non te negabo c. And that tongue which had deny'd him to whom it had giuen so good an assurance could neuer as he thought deserue to be beleeued And therefore our Sauiour questioning him afterwards concerning his loue he durst not answer more than this Thou knowest ô Lord whether I loue thee or no. Secondly he askes not pardon by words because the pledges of the heart are so sure that they admit no deceit And for that Lachryma sunt cordis sanguis Tears are the hearts blood S. Ambrose therfore saith Lachrymarū preces vtiliores sunt quā sermonū quia sermo in precando fortè fallit lachryma omnino non fallit The prayers of teares are more profitable than of words for words in praying may now and then deceiue vs but teares neuer S. Chrysostome saith That our sinnes are set downe in the Table-booke of Gods memorie but that teares are the sponge which blotteth them out And indeering the force of teares he saith That in Christs souldier the noblest Act that he can do is to shed his blood in his seruice Maiorem charitatem nemo habet c. For what our blood shed for Christ effecteth that doth our teares for our sinnes Mary Magdalen did not shed her blood but she shed her teares And Saint Peter did not now shed blood but hee shed teares which were so powerfull that after that hee had wept hee was trusted with a part of the gouernment of the Church who before hee had wept had not gouernment of himselfe for teares cure our wounds cheere our soules ease the conscience and please God O lachryma humilis saith Saint Ierome tuum est regnum c. O humble Teare thine is the kingdome thine is the power thou fearest not the Iudges Tribunall thou inioynest silence to thine accusers if thou enter emptie thou doest not goe out emptie thou subduest the inuincible and bindest the omnipotent Hence it is that the diuell beareth such enuie to our Teares When Holofernes had dryed vp the fountaines of Bethulia hee held the Citie his and the Diuell when he shall come to dry vp the teares in our eyes when he hath stopt vp those waters that should flow from the soule of a sinner hee hopes he is his Elian of Tryphon the Tyrant reports of this one vnheard-of crueltie Fearing his Subiects would conspire against him he made a publike Edict that they should not talke one with another and being thus debarr'd of talking one with another they did looke very pittifully one vpon another communicating their minds by their eyes And being forbid by a second Edict that they should not so much as looke one vpon another when they saw they were restrained of that libertie likewise wheresoeuer they met one another they fell a weeping This seemed to the Tyrant the damnablest and most dangerous conspiracie of all the rest and resolued to put them to death The diuell is afraid of our words afraid of our affections but much more afraid of our teares O Lord so mollifie our sinfull hearts that whensoeuer we offend thee our words our affections and our teares may in all deuotion and humilitie present themselues before thee crauing pardon for our sinnes Which we beseech thee to grant vs for thy deare Sonne Christ Iesus sake To whom with the holy Spirit be all prayse honour and glorie c. THE XL. SERMON The Conuersion of the good Theefe MAT. 27. Cum eo crucifixi sunt duo Latrones vnus a dextris alter a sinistris There were crucified with him two theeues one at his right hand an other on his left THere are three most notable Conuersions which the Church doth celebrate That of Saint Paul That of Mary Magdalen That of the good Theefe The one liuing here vpon earth The other now raigning in heauen The third dying vpon the Crosse. Of all the rest this seemeth to be the most prodigious and most strange First because Mary Magdalen saw many of our Sauiour Christs myracles heard many of his Sermons and besides her sisters good example might worke much good vpon her Secondly Saint Paul saw Christ rounded about with glorie more resplendent than the Sunne had heard that powerfull voyce which threw him downe from his horse and put him in the hands of that dust whereof hee was created But the Theefe neither saw Miracle nor Sermon nor example nor glorie nor light nor voyce saue onely Christ rent and torne vpon the Crosse as if hee had beene as notorious a theefe as those that suffered on either side of him Againe How much the quicker is the motion and the extreames more distant repugnant and contrarie by so much the more strange and wonderfull is this change and alteration This theef was a huge way off from either beleeuing or louing our Sauiour Christ and that hee should now on the sodaine and in so short a space passe from a theefe to a Martyr from the gallowes to Paradise must needs be an admirable change Mira mutatio saith S.
vnto him than the faire lookes of Rachael Ojos ay as it is in the Prouerbe que de laganÌ„as se enamâ—ran It is as a mans mind or fancie takes him In point of Enuie many more are the examples for the Enuious taking pleasure in the hurt of the Enuied that he may doe him a little ill suffers much himselfe and neglecting his owne proper good which concernes him much hee desires much another mans hurt which concernes him little And much to this purpose makes that comparison of the Cow which is bitten by a gad-bree or dume-flie specified by the Prophet Osce Ephraim is become a wanton Heifar Another Translation hath it Like a Cow that is stung A Flie makes a Cow to runne vp and downe as if she were mad and makes her either headlong to breake her necke downe the Cliffes or to bemyre her selfe in some Bog where shee is stifled It is a strange thing that so little a creature should thus trouble and disquiet so great a Beast But this and more than this doth Enuie worke vpon light occasions Iosephs Dreame and his coloured Coat wrought much vpon his Father and brethren though graue and wise persons That little short Song Saâ—â— hath slaine his thousand and Dauid his ten thousand did so disquiet Saul that it thrust a thousand jealousies into his head much troubled him for a long time after Saint Gregorie saith That the enuious man doth suffer two Hells one in this life and another in that other life and in some sort this is the greater Hell of the two for good beeing here a torment vnto him he liues lesse tormented in Hell in that other life where there is nothing but ill Hence Antonio de Padua drew a discreet conceit That Go◠〈◊〉 not doe the Enuious a fauour in affoording him Heauen for he receiuing â—o much torment from so short and transitorie goods as those of this life hee would liue much more tormented in Heauen where there is so much good without any the least shew or signe of ill Why doe thy Disciples not wash their hands Here we are to consider who it is that makes this criminall Accusation then against whom it is made painted but rotten Sepulchres whited but stinking Dunghills against him that was blamelesse in his life and in his Doctrine diuine and heauenly The Apocalyps paints out a woman rounded and circled in on euerie side with Light the Sunne being her Mantle the Starres her Crowne the Moon her Chapines and a Dragon waiting to deuoure the sonne which shee was to bring forth Nor is there any thing saith Chrysologus whereon Enuie dares not to venture Coelum tentat Terras vrit Reges vrget Populos vastat It tempts Heauen torments Earth presseth Princes and oppresseth the People In a word Enuie is growne so bold and so insolent that it dares to set vpon God not contenting her selfe that men should bee only Homicides Fratricides Patricides but also Deicides seeking to quit God of his life Why doe thy Disciples transgresse the tradition of the Elders That they wash not their hands when they eate They sayd before to the Disciples Your Master eates with Publicans and Sinners And here in this place to their Master Thy Disciples wash not their hands Such whisperers and mutterers as these are like vnto those flies which goe buzzing still about mens eares and where they light and rest themselues they vsually leaue behind them wormes and maggots And therefore whereas Dauid sayth Et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit And hath not set in the chaire of Pestilence The Hebrew hath the word Susurronis In the Tale-bearer or Informers Chaire Because your flyes of Aegypt are a kind of plague 〈◊〉 pestilence If Moses had not destroyed them they had destroyed the Aegyptians One little sparke is ynough to burne a whole house and one malicious tongue to vndoe a whole Citie Therefore shal God destroy thee and plucke thee from out thy Tabernacle and thy roote from out the land of the liuing It is the prophecie of King Dauid against Doeg the Edomite who did whisper in King Sauls eare the releefe which Abimelech the Priest had giuen him of the Shewbread and of his giuing him Goliah his sword wherewith he kindled such coales of wrath in the Kings brest that he slew seuentie Priests of them when they were in their sacred robes together with their wiues and children He likewise ouerthrew their houses And therefore the Prophet sayth So shall God destroy thee for euer he shall take thee and pluck thee out of thy Tabernacle and roote thee out of the land of the Liuing So that there shall not be any relickes of thy linage left aliue A frogge is the Hierogliphick of a whisperer or flattering sycophant and of a Court tale-carryer his eyes are readie to start out of his head to prie into other mens faults he leades his life in mire and mud and the filthy puddles of sinne hee is tailelesse like an Ape discouering still his owne shame and yet is still mocking and gybing at other mens defects The writer of the Reuelation sayth That hee saw issuing out of the Dragons mouth by which hee meanes Antichrist eight foule fiends like vnto frogs This similitude he tooke from the effects for that they are troublesome creatures importunate still balling and croaking out their malice and liuing in the mudde they no sooner stirre but they trouble the water that is cleere still and quiet And this is the picture or representation of a Whisperer who is euer troublesome importunate and a great babler and liuing in the muddâ—â—â—his vices troubles the peace and quiet of the Commonwealth The Naturalists doe much indeere the poyson of a certaine Fish called Torpedo or the Crampe-fish of whom they report That hee doth benumme the arme of the Fisher the venome where of passing from the Hooke to the Line and from the Line to the Cane makes his hand to shake and tremble that he is forced to let fall his Angle-rod They likewise say of him That he darts his poyson from the sea on those that walke by the shore side but your Whisperers and Tale-tellers diffuse their poyson a great deale further it is a wofull and wretched case that any eares should bee found to receiue such poyson Salomon saith A mouth that speaketh lewd things I doe hate reading therein a Lecture to the Princes of the earth That they should hate and abhorre such Earewigs Pliny saith That there is so great an antipathie and contrarietie betweene the Ash tree and the Serpent that the Serpent will sooner passe through hot burning coles than by the leafes or boughes of this Tree And for a token that Princes should abhorre these venimous Serpents these Court-whisperers they were woont to weare Crownes of wreathed Ashe Dauid puts it amongst those pledges of Heauen He that doth no euill to his Neighbour nor takes vp a reproch against him Why doe not
thy Disciples wash their hands c. Amongst other innumerable differences of the just man and the Sinner foure fit well for our present purpose The first is That the just hath no eyes saue to looke vpon his owne sinnes and the Sinner hath not any saue onely to prie into other mens faults The Aegyptians had an eye and that a strict one too ouer the Children of Israell but so had not the Israelites ouer the Aegyptians And the Booke of Wisedome rendring the reason thereof saith Onely vpon them there fell a heauie night but thy Saints had a verie great light Dauids eye-sight serued him to see the Sheepe that 〈◊〉 stolne from his subiect but had neuer an eye to look out to behold his owne robbing of another man both of his wife and his life Our Sauiour Christ said of the Pharisees That they could spie a moat in another mans eyes but not see the beame that was in their owne Dauid though he were in grace and fauour with God yet did his sins so trouble him that he thought no man was so great a Sinner as himselfe Which made him to crie out Peccatum meum contrame est and anon after to come vpon his knees vnto God with Haue mercie vpon mee â— God according to thy louing kindnesse and according to the multitude of thy mercies blot out my transgressions Here he embarkes all the mercies of God hee makes a stop and stay of them he arrests them that they may not goe from him hauing so great need of them as he had So must thou and I and all of vs desire beg the like at Gods hand and to thinke with our selues that no mans sinnes in the world are more or greater than ours The second is grounded vpon a certaine kind of language phrase of Scripture which saith That he that feareth God will looke wel vnto his wayes haue an eye to his actions and throughly examine his owne conscience Qui timet Deum conuertetur ad corsuum but he that doth not feare God minds none of all these And of this mind is Petrus Chrysologus treating of the Prodigall Abijâ— in Regionem longinquam He went into a farre Countrie This journey of his saith he was farther off in point of his vnderstanding than of place for there is no Region more remote than that which remooues vs from God and makes a Sinner to goe on in the wickednesse of his wayes Saint Paul doth earnestly aduise vs that we should redeeme the time Because the dayes are euill that is so short that they vanish in an instant Iacob stiled a hundred thirtie eight yeares of his life Malos annos Euill yeares for that they 〈◊〉 full of trouble and vexation A man that is much imployed and full of businesse his ordinarie phrase is No tengo bora mia I am not myne owne man no not for an houre I am so taken vp with businesse that I am made as it were a slaue and drudge vnto them Salomon called those Euill dayes which were spent in searching into other mens liues in reading Histories and other worldly actions which doe little or nothing at all concerne vs. The Apostle would haue vs to redeeme them Redeeme those thou hast sould and mis-spent for many were with me Thy Angells did guard me And amongst those many that had not an eye vnto their wayes I had alwaies a care to looke vnto my steps The third is That the Sinner lookes vpon the just as on the Attorney that accuseth him the Executioner that torments him the Crosse that grieues afflicts him The Sinner doth behold the Iust with attention and seakes to take his life from him because in looking vpon him he beholds his owne condemnation The Elephant troubles that water which represents his owne foulenesse vnto him And the Ape breaks that glasse wherein he sees his own ilfauoured face A righteous man falling downe before the Wicked is like a troubled Well and a corrupt Spring But the just man lookes vpon a Sinner as vpon a wand that beats the dust out of him as Gods Hangman or the Instrument to execute his will So King Dauid looked vpon Shimei when he cursed him so Gods People vpon Pharaoh and Nebucadnezar so the Prophet on the Lyon which took his life from him on the way Saint Augustine compares the Sinner to a Milstone and a Winepresse the one clenseth the Oyle the other purgeth the Wine But it is not so with the Wicked for they are like dust that are scattered before the face of the wind The Hebrew renders it Like a Measure that leuels out a thing to it's iust bredth and length defends it from colds and heats Saint Augustine expounding that place of Genesis Major seruiet Minori That Esau who was the elder brother should serue Iacob that was the younger askes the question Wherein Esau did serue him being that he was alwayes an enemie vnto him And his answer is That hee did serue him euen in his forsaking of him and his persecuting of him The fourth and last difference is That there being many things worthy commendation and of much vertue and goodnesse in the Iust the Sinner will neither haue an eye to see them nor a tongue to praise them but to find out the least moat or atome of ill he is Eagle-eyed And like vnto the Vulture ouer-flying the pleasant fields and passing by the sweet smelling pastures pitches vpon the blade bone of an Asse or the carkasse of some stinking Carrion or like vnto the Flie who hauing the whole bodie and that a faire one too to light vpon makes choice to fall vpon no other place but some tumour or swelling Those that did accompanie the Spouse enuying her prosperitie did murmure and gybe at her saying That for a Queene shee was somewhat of the blackest Whereunto she answered That indeed she was blacke yet faire withall Aaron and his sister Mirian murmured against Moses Because hee had taken an Aethyopian to wife Is it not a fine thing said they that a Gouernor of so many Soules a Ruler and Commander ouer Gods People should marrie with a Blackamoore The Rule which we are to obserue is matter of Vertue let vs fixe our eys vpon other folkes vertues and turne them aside from those good gifts which are in our selues Aemulamini charissimata meliora but in matter of vice we must do the contrarie c. Why doe not thy Disciples wash their hands The seeing of one doe amisse is many times the condemning of all And this Leaprosie cleaues closest to the Vulgar Saint Augustine saith Thâ—t the state Ecclesiasticall hath more particularly a great vnhappinesse in this with the Common people for though such a woman bee an Adultresse yet for all this other husbands doe not thinke a jot the worse of their owne wiues And though such a mans sonne bee a Theefe they doe not therefore hate their owne children But if a