were seuered from their bodies how could they crie Saint Gregorie resolues it thus That their desires did crie out aloud Moses did not vnfold his lips nor once open his mouth and yet God said vnto him Why doost thou 〈◊〉 vnto me onely because his desires did set out a throat So Abels bloud was said to crie out against Cain So that with God a few words will suffice Besides your better sort of women ought to be verie sparing of their words Auaritia in verbis saith Plautâ—s in fâ—eminis semper laudabilis Of a lewd and naughtie woman Salomon reporteth That she inuiting a young man irretiuit â—um sermonibus prouoked him with her words Ecclesiasticus saith That wisedome and silence in a woman is the gift of God Nature may giue beautie bloud prosperitie and other good gifts but wisedome and silence God giues Sicut vitâ—a cocciâ—â—â— labia tuâ— Thy lips are like a thred of scarlet and thy talke iâ— comely Those your womens haires which are dis-sheâ—â—led and blowne abroad with the wind they did vse to brâ—id bind them vp with a red ribbond And therefore the Bridegroome compareth his spouses lips to a thred of Scarlet or some red coloured fillet to bind them vp the better to show that she should not be too lauish of her tongue but of few words and those too vpon fit occasion The second consideration in this their discretion was That they called him Lord Domine c. Your greatest Kings and most powerfull Princes vpon earth haue no dominion or empire ouer the soule neither are they able to adde or take away one dramme of the spirit But thou ô Lord Thou art the vniuersall Lord both of Heauen and Earth and we are thy handmaides and seruants and therefore thou canst not denie vs thy fauour Saint Ambrose expounding those wordes of Dauid Seruus tuus sum ego I am thy seruant saith That they who haue many Lords and Masters here vpon earth cannot cleaue vnto God Seruâ—â— tâ—us sum ego serui dominati sunt nostri Those creatures which God hath giuen vs to be our slaues flesh the dainties the delicacies the delights pleasant pastimes of this world shall haue dominion ouer them The third Quem amas He whom thou louest Amatus or beloued is a more honourable name than that of Angell Apostle Martyr Confessor or Virgine Lucifer was an Angell Iudas an Apostle The Heretick will not sticke to say that hee dyes for Christs cause and that he is a Martyr and a Confessor your Vestalles stiled themselues Virgines yet all these names haue beene lyable to sinne to misfortune and Hell But the name of Beloued is not compatiblâ— in that kind And Christ hath got the start of Man in his loue For hee loued vs first And where he once loues he neuer leaues off Besides Two things I would haue you to note which are vsuall with the Saints and children of God The one to set before their eyes the fauours they haue receiued to alledge them to shew themselues thankefull for them and to praise and commend them The other Not to shew themselues forgetful of their seruices towards God Knowing that it is Gods condition and qualitie when he bestoweth one fauour to ingage himselfe for a greater Ezechias alledged vnto God his holinesse and goodnesse of life O Lord remember now how I haue walked before theein truth and with a perfect heart and haue done that which is good â—n thy sight Saint Gregorie presseth hereupon Were it not better to alledge thy miserie than to represent those many good things which thou hast done all which thou hast receiued from his hand But with God to alledge them and to shew our selues thankefull for former receiued fauors is a powerfull meanes for the receiuing of far greater benefits and blessings from him After that Dauid had made a large muster of his tribulations He sayth Conuersus viuificasti me de abissis terrae iterum reduxisti me Thou hast quickned mee and hast brought mee againe from out the deepes of the Earth Where I would haue you to ponder the word iterum For God neuer does one single fauour Secondly the righteous are forgetfull of their owne seruices for that they hold them so meane and so vile that they iudge them vnworthy Gods sight And when in that generall iudgement God shall say I was naked and yee couered me c. The Saints shall answere Lord when did we see thee naked c. And it is noted by Theodoret that these are not words of courtesie or out of mannerlines but of meere forgetfulnesse For it is their fashion so to despise their owne seruices and deseruings that they doe wholy forget them The fourth consideration of their discretion was That so especiall is the fauor which God showes vnto his friends and the griefe which he conceiueth of any that shall befall them that they held it a greater point of Wisedome to alledge that hee was his friend than their brother Saint Bernard sayth That albeit the defect of my seruices doe dishearten mee yet Gods great mercies and his many fauours doe incourage mee For it is not Gods fashion to forsake his friends And therfore saith Saint Austen Non enim amas deseris The Princes of the Earth are now and then well content their friends should suffer because in them Power and Loue is not equall But those in whom these attributes goe hand in hand ought not to suffer their friends to miscarrie They would seeme here to put this vpon Christ and to make this cause his owne O Lord That wee should loose our brother it is no great losse because in thee wee haue a brother But thou ô Lord amongst so many thy professed enemies hast lost a great friend It is the condition of Gods Saints to greeue for the death of the Iust because God receiues a losse in them and to resent their own proper iniuries not for that these iniuries are done to themselues but for that they are iniuries done vnto God Tabescere me fecit zelus meus quia obliti sunt verba tua inimici mei Vpon which place Genebrard giues this exposition That mine owne iniuries doe not so much offend mee for that they are mine but because they are offences done vnto thee And Dauid in his thirtith Psalme treateth of some crosses and affliction that God by sickenesse had layd vpon him after he had built his pallaces Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled I was loath to dye not for mine owne sake for it were happinesse to me if I should dye to day or to morrow but not for thee What profit is there in my bloud when I go downe to the pit What seruice can Dauid do thee when he is layd in his sepulchre But ô Lord in his life in his honor in his crowne and in his kingdome he may do thee good seruice This ô Lord concernes thee and
hee will that thou giue the glorie vnto him and take the profit to thy selfe That Workeman should doe ill who hauing built a house with another mans Purse should goe about to set vp his owne Armes vpon the Frontispeece Iustinian made a Law That no master-Workeman should set vp his name within the bodie of that building which hee made out of anothers cost Christ sets thee aworke and wills thee to Fast to Pray to giue Almes but Who is at the cost of this so good and great a worke God thou hast all thy materials from him the building is his it is his Purse that payes for all giue the gloâ—ie therefore and the honor thereof vnto him Gloriam meam alteri non dabo i. I will not giue my glorie to another Content thy selfe with Heauen which is promised vnto thee if thou doost well which is a sufficient reward for any seruice that thou canst doe The third That Fasting Praying giuing of Almes done onely for Gods sake is of that great price and estimation that it is ill employed on any other than God And for that God weighes all things in his hand as in a ballance and knowes the weight of euery good worke and the true value therefore it grieues him that thou shouldst doe these good things for so vile and base a price and is sorrie to see thee so poore and foolish a Merchant that thou wilt part wirh that which is as much worth as Heauen to thee for that which is lesse than earth to wit onely that the World may say Such a one fasteth Why doost thou thus crucifie thy flesh Why debarre thy bellie of food Why being readie to die for hunger doost thou not eat Why lift vp thy eyes to Heauen for so poore a thing as to winne applause vpon earth Sterni lutum quasi aurum saith Iob those works that are done for God are gold done for the world durt They lay vp this their treasure in the tongues and eyes of men which is a chest that hath neither locke nor key vnto it The fourth That Fasting is a Plaister for our wounds a Medicine for our griefes a Salue for our sinnes and a Defence against Gods wrath But thou must take heed that thou doe not make this Plaister poison this Medicine sicknesse this Salue a sore and this Defence our destruction For where God hath a Church there the Deuill hath a Chappell and where hee throwes in seed the other will sow tares Naboth a Subiect of King Achab had a Vineyard in Samaria neere vnto the Kings Palace the King had a mind vnto it Naboth will not part with it the King growes sad refuses his meat Iezabel comes to see him makes a jest of it takes pen in hand dispatches a Ticket to the Gouernors of that Citie sealed with the Kings Seale to proclaime a Fast subornes two witnesses to sweare That they heard Naboth blaspheme God the King the innocent Naboth is stoned to death and his goods confiscated In which action there are two things worthie our consideration The one That the circumstance of blaspheming God and the King vpon a solemne day of Fast as it is noted by Vatablus was so grieuous that of force hee must be condemned to die for it in so great veneration was Fasting in those dayes The other That it serued as a cloake for the taking away of the Vineyard for the falsifying of witnesses and injustice in the Iudges Who should haue then seene the People to fast would haue thought it had beene done out of zeale Gods honour and a desire to doe him seruice But it was meerely a tricke of the Deuils which hee had plotted with himselfe Hee threw poyson vpon vertue seeking to draw euill out of good Wee must therefore beware least these our good actions receiue hurt by euill intentions Like Hypocrites Hypocrisie runnes a quite contrarie course to these foure points before specified and crosses the same three or foure manner of waies First It feigneth the good which it hath not As the proud Man Humility the Cholericke Patience the Wanton Honestie the Miser Liberalitie This leger-demaine is that which hath more generally spred it selfe through mens brests being desirous that the bodie should serue for the soule as painting for the face which being blacke makes it seeme white The painted Image of diuers colours whereof Wisedome speaketh stirreth vp in Fooles a kind of pleasure and delight This stampe though it be there set vpon Idolaters may bee truly set vpon Hypocrites for the comparison will hold well in both Hee that shall truly and steddily looke vpon the face of an Hypocrite shall in him behold an Image flourished ouer with sundrie colours but counterfeit and feigned as the white of Chastitie the watched of Zeale the red of Loue. But this is but a dunghill couered ouer with snow the Hypocrite sheweth teares in his eys deuotion in his mouth sorrowfulnesse in his countenance and mortification in his flesh But he is not the man he seemes to be for the Painter though he giue the Varnish of the colour he cannot giue heate nor life hee may giue the likenesse but not the truth of a thing he painteth snow which is not cold fire which doth not burne birds which doe not flie beasts which doe not goe hee will paint a S. Hierome with a stone but it shall neuer hit him on the breast he will paint a Saint Francis with a discipline or whip in his hand which shall neuer giue him so much as one stripe or lash on the bodie like vnto that Statue which Michol put into Dauids bed clad with his cloathes which cosined the King and those that came with him Or like vnto a dead man which being beheld afarre off seemeth to be aliue or vnto Ezechiels Temple which was fairely painted without but within full of abhominations A Painter or a Statuarie frameth a verie perfect Image in the exterior parts but the Picture doth not enter into the substance of the wood or marble Nature beginneth with the inner parts it first fashioneth the heart then it organeth giueth life to the other parts of the bodie Whereas feigned Repentance beginneth in the outward parts of the body but true in the inward parts of the soule Our Sauiour in the Garden had first great sorrow in his soule and from thence that sweat of bloud was deriued to his bodie The Hypocrite hath the appearance of a Saint the apparell of a Saint the place of a Saint the figure of a Saint and nothing in him which is not Saint-like but like those Assisters at Christs death that had put on his cloathes Hee that shall see a common Hangman with Christs seamelesse coate vpon his backe wil take him to be a second Messias When Iacob saw Iosephs coat dipt in bloud thinking some wild beast had deuoured him he cried out Tunica filij mei est fera pessima deuorauit eum i. 'T is the garment
God another while as a miserie incident to man The word Zagar signifies Vociferatio A crying out aloude as when a Citie is set on fire and in danger to be burnt Some perhaps may conceiue that this was too strict a commaund to inioyne this punishment vpon dumbe beasts and poore little infants that had not yet offended But first of all they did therein pretend to incline Gods mercy towards them Secondly to mooue the more repentance by a common sorrow Thirdly as at the funeralls of Princes and Generals not onely the principall and meaner persons mourne in blackes but their horses weare the like liuery of sorrow their drummes beat hoarse couered with blacke Cypres their auncients are trailed along on the ground their swords and their lances with their points the contrary way in token that both the horses the drums the auncients and the armes haue lost their Master so likewise did the case stand with the Citie of Niniuie c. Ionas put Niniuie to such a strict penance and sorrow for their sinnes that it did appease the wrath of God towards them The Prophet presumed it should be destroyed and therefore Ionas went out of the Citie and sate on the East side thereof and there made him a booth and sate vnder it in the shadow till he might see what should bee done in the Citie Thinking perhaps with himselfe that God would not now make an end of the Citie all at once but that he would destroy a great part thereof as he did in the adoration of the golden Calfe when as pardoning the people hee slew a great number of them Now God had prepared a Gourd for Ionas and made it to come vp ouer him that it might bee a shadow ouer his head and deliuer him from his griefe Other Authors giue it other names But the strangenesse of it was that it grew vp all in a day The Prophet was exceeding glad to see himselfe so wel sheltred by this Gourd from the heat of the Sunne which did shrewdly scortch him Laborauerat enim It vexed him verie sore So that before it went verie ill with him and his ioy was so much the more encreased for that he saw God had such a care to cherish and make much of him Sure thought he he makes no small account of me that vseth me thus kindly But God shortly after prepared a worme which smote the Gourd that it withered Et percussit Sol super caput Iona astuabat The Sunne beat vpon the head of Ionas and he fainted Who could haue the patience to endure this Was it the Sun or was it fire that should thus prouoke him to cry out Melius est mihi mori quam viuere It is better for me to die than to liue But God reprehended Ionas for this desperate speech of his Putas ne bene irasceris Iona How nâ—w Ionas What 's the matter with thee Doost thou well to bee angrie for the Gourd Doost thou find thy selfe grieued that I haue made this Gourd to wither which came vp in a night and perished in a night and wilt thou not suffer me to be sencible of the destruction of this so great a Citie wherein there are sixescore thousand persons which cannot discerne betwixt the right hand and the left Doth it touch thee that thou art not esteemed in thine owne Countrie And wilt thou not pittie Niniuie whom thou hast drawne by thy preaching vnto them to repentance Niniuie yeelded vnto thee at the first words of thy voyce but Iuda still stands out obstinately in her malice against my calling vpon her And therefore at the day of judgement the men of Niniuie shall condemne them for a stiffe necked generation and a hard hearted People seeing they without any miracles were conuerted and turned vnto me at the preaching of one poore â—â—nas Et ecce plus quam Ionas hîc And behold a greater than Ionas here Hierusalem seeing so many miracles perseuereth in her incredulitie and therefore Niniuie shall stand and Hierusalem shall be destroyed At the day of judgement thou shalt stand confounded and ashamed that a barbarous ignorant and vnbeleeuing Nation which is a great disgrace to a man of honor that one that is so farre inferiour to thee should come to be so farre preferred before thee As those Cities where most of our Sauiours great workes were done were vpbraided by him because they repented not pronouncing a woe to Chorazin and a woe to Bethsaida For if saith he the great workes which were done in you had been done in Tyrus and Sydon they had repented long agone in Sacke-cloath and Ashes Regina Austri The Queene of the South shall rise in judgement c. Some man may say The historie of Niniuie was sole and without example in the world it 〈◊〉 not it's fellow For which cause he sets downe another example of the Queen of the South of whom there is mention made in the third of the Kings and in the second of Chronicles The Queene of the South came from Morol an Islâ—â—â— of Aethyopia as Origen Saint Hierome Saint Austen Anselmus and Iosephus saith and onely to heare the wisedome of Salomon Et ecce 〈◊〉 quam Salomon hîc And behold a greater here than Salomon It was much that the barbarous people of Niniuie should beleeue Ionas who sought after them and not they after him But much more is it that an Aethyopian Queene should seeke after â— King to hir so great trouble and cost Ecce plus quam Salomon hîc When the Preacher is of that great power and authoritie that he both sayes and does the little fruit that they reap thereby is euermore attributed to the hardnesse of the hearer And that he might teach this People this lesson he saith Ecce plus quam Salomon hîc Behold a greater than Salomon is here He was greater than Ionas for if he were obeyed by the Niniuites our Sauiour had obeysance done him by all the Elements if Ionas had a grace in his deliuerie and spake with a spirit it was our Sauiour that gaue it him if Ionas did inlighten a Citie our Sauiour did illuminate the whole world if Ionas did preach bloud threatnings and death our Sauiour did publish our saluation life and hope of Heauen He was better than Salomon for his wisedome was humane and earthly but that of our Sauiour diuine and heauenly Salomon neuer wrought any miracles but those of our Sauiour were without number In a word betweene the Queene of the South and the Pharisees betweene our Sauiour and Salomon there is a great antithesis and contrarietie The Queene was a Barbarian and ignorant they Doctours and learned in the Lawes she wonderfull desirous to heare a man they loath to heare a God she offered to Salomon great gifts they to our Sauiour vinegar and gall shee did so wonder at Salomons wisedome that she said Fame had belied him and that Report came too short of his praise but
was fit that Heauen should put a taske and a tye vpon this our tongue least it should lash out too farre And therefore her Sonne when he was vpon the Crosse and tooke his last farewell of his mother he said vnto her Woman behold thy sonne giuing her that name rather than of Mother least some superstitious people might attribute the Diuine nature vnto her and so rob God of his honour And the brests which thou hast suckt She praiseth her wombe and her brests There are two things entertaine a sweet correspondencie a womans conception in her wombe and the manifestation thereof in her brests Iust so doth it succeed with the Soule in it's conception of God and the brest of the iust man who thereupon doth manifest the guest that lodgeth there Betweene the Vine and the Wine there is that good correspondencie that the floures of the Grape participating of it's sweetnesse sends forth a most pleasant odour So likewise when the floures of Christ beginne to bud in the Soule the brest of Man doth streightway thereupon breath forth a most sweet and redolent odour Beatus venter Blessed is the wombe This was Mans first Heauen the first place wherein God bestowed this his greatest happinesse and blessing vpon Man It is a happinesse to Man when his Vnderstanding sees God and when his Will loues him taking pleasure therein as in his chiefest good Now the first eyes that saw God and the first will that loued God and placed his ioy delight therein was that of our Sauior Christ and Maries wombe being the receptacle of this happinesse it came to bee mans first Heauen The first Adam was earthly because formed of earth the second heauenly because formed of Heauen Before this time he had no set habitation For hee dwelt not in any house from the day that he brought the Children of Israel out of Aegypt c. His glorie was represented in Tabernacles Tents poore Pallaces ywisse for God Salomon did better it with his Temple which Fabrick was the worlds wonder but not so worthie God that our eyes could see him well might our will be good But this most blessed Virgin had fitted and prepared so rich a temple for him in her womb that God himself came down to dwel there Some seeme to doubt or rather wonder why God should so long deferre his comming in the flesh He stayd so long that the Holy-Ghost might prepare and dresse vp this Temple of the Virgins Wombe Vt dignum filij tui habitaculum offici mereretur spiritu sancto cooperante praeparasti Thou didst trim vp ô Lord the bodie and soule of this blessed Virgine and didst furnish her with thy cheese Graces that shee might be made a fit and worthy pallace for thy Sonne Blessed is the Wombe This commending of the Sonne was a great honor to the Mother The common currant is That children doe battle much vpon their parents worth And therefore they doe so vsually blazon forth the noble actions of their Ancestors And by how much the more antient they are the more glorious is their coat of Armes True it is that fathers doe sometimes participate of the glorie of their sonnes according to that of Ecclesiasticus Hee that teacheth his sonne greeueth the enemy and before his friends he shall reioyce of him Of meane men they many times come to be famous and renowned throughout the World Homer relates of Hylacius that the valour of his sonnes did giue him amongst the Cretenses the name of God And when the Senate of Rome did crown any of their Citisens their fathers were innobled thereby And Ioseph hauing incurred the hatred and displeasure of his brethren because he dreamt that the Sunne the Moone and the twelue starres did adore him the sacred Text sayth That the father Rem tacitus considerabat did lay it vp in his heart as one that did imagine that from the prosperitie of the sonne there might some honour redound to the father Cornelius Tacitus relateth in his Annals that the Emperour Tiberius beeing importuned by many that amongst other his surnames he would assume some one of his Mothers for his greater honour made answere That the Mother was not to honour the Emperour but the Emperour the Mother But this their glorie is so short that looking backe whence they came they can make it scarce reach so farre as their great Grandfathers But the glorie of our Sauiour Iesus Christ our Redeemer did reach as farre as vnto King Dauid and could draw his Pedegree from the Patriarch Abraham Whome that hee might honour them the more he stiles himselfe in the Gospell to be their sonne Filij Dauid filij Abraham where it is to be noted that after so many ages so many changes and alterations both of the times and the people of Kings Iudges and Captaines in the end there being an interuention of two and fortie generations the glorie of Christ attained to the hundred Grandfather And by calling himselfe the sonne of Dauid and of Abraham hee reuiued their remembrance and made them thereby more famous And if in so large a distance of time it wrought so noble an effect treading so neer vpon the tract of these latter times that there was no wall now betweene the Mother and the Sonne her blessed Wombe and his most happie Birth what a glorie must it be vnto her what a happines vnto vs Emisenus treating in a Sermon of his touching the assumption of our Lady and with what honour shee was receiued into Heauen sayth Those great riuers of glorie which the Sonne had gained both in Heauen and in Earth returned backe againe that day imploying their best speediest course in the honoring of his Mother Saint Ambrose stiles her the forme of God Either because shee was the forme or mold through which God did thus transforme himselfe by taking our humane shape vpon him or else because the graces of God though not in so great a measure were translated or transferred ouer vnto her A mould made of earth is not bettered by the mettall which it receiueth though it be neuer so good gold But by the gold of Christs Diuinitie the Vâ—gines Wombe was much the better and the purer by it And therefore it is sayd Beata quae credidisti Blessed art thou that didst beleeue For all c. the types figures and promises of God remained more compleat and perfect in thee than in any other creature Quin imo beati qui audiunt Verbum Dei custodiunt illud But hee sayd yea rather blessed are they that heare the Word of God and keepe it These words may carrie with them a threefold sence The one That the word Quin imo may be aduersatiua implying a kind of repugnancie or contradiction and that correcting as it were what Marcella sayd he doth mend and better her speech Doost thou saith hee terme my mother blessed Thou art deceiued for shee is not blessed for that
other the conuerted were but few but in the Resurrection they were without number as it appeareth out of the Acts. Our Sauior Christs answer was somewhat of the darkest to their clouded vnderstanding And albeit they drew from thence a different sense and contrarie meaning yet might it serue as a signe vnto them that hee was able to doe that which he did And they that would deny that he could destroy the Temple and build it vp againe in three dayes which was but a materiall Temple would more stifly denie that he could dye and rise againe the third day by his owne vertue and power Saint Matthew accuseth these men to be false witnesses Hic dixit which was the Iewes accusation Possum destruere Templum Dei. First because they did wrest the sence and true meaning of our Sauiour Secondly because they did alter and change the words Thirdly because their proceeding against him was malicious Whence I may reade this lesson to your Lawyers your Registers and your Scriueners That one Tilde or Tittle may condemne them of falshood When our Sauiour Christ said of Saint Iohn Si cum volo manere donec veniam quid hoc ad te If I will that he tarry till I come when Peter was so inquisitiue of him what should become of the Disciple whom he loued and leaned in his bosome what is it to thee Doe thou follow mee Then went this word streight amongst the brethren That this Disciple should not dye But the Euangelist did correct this their mistake For Iesus said not to him He shall not dye But if I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee Iob said Ye shall not find iniquitie in my tongue But Zophar one of his friends laid it to his charge Dixisti enim Purus est sermo mâ—â—â— mundus sum in conspectu tuo For thou hast said My doctrine is pure and I am cleane in thine eyes And albeit it may seeme that he charged him herewith vpon his owne confession yet Saint Gregory giues it for a calumnie and slander because Zophar had altered and changed his words God make vs so pure both in Doctrine and life that when this Temple of our bodies shall be destroyed it may by the mercie of our Sauior Iesus Christ be raised againe THE XXVII SERMON VPON THE TVESDAY AFTER THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT IOHN 7.14 Iam die festo mediante c. Now when the Feast was halfe done Iesus went vp into the Temple and taught c. SEuen continued dayes one after another the Feast of the Tabernacles was celebrated in the chiefe citie Ierusalem which was one of the three principall Passeouers of the Iewes solemnising the same in remembrance of that benefit which God did to that People in leading them fortie yeares through the Desart not hauing any house wherein to dwell and yet not wanting tents or booths wherein to lodge themselues To this Feast came all of all sorts from all parts of the land of Promise building themselues Cabbins in the fields Iosephus saith That they vsed Tents from whence they went to the Temple and performed their Offerings for their families according to their abilitie Christ came on the Tuesday to this Solemnitie of this opinion is Saint Augustine though some others are of the mind that he came thither at the verie beginning of the Feast though he did not make himselfe knowne till he saw a more conuenient time He preached to the People and so deepe was his Doctrine that the Iewes wondring thereat said one to another Quomodo hic literas scit cum non ded scerit How knoweth this man the Scriptures seeing that he neuer learned And howbeit this their voyce of admiration was secret and whispered in the eare from one to another yet Christ made answer thereunto in publique shewing therein the pledges and tokens of his Diuinitie saying openly vnto them My Doctrine is not myne but his that sent me He that shall truly endeauour to doe his will shall know it is his but hee that preacheth his owne proper doctrine seeks after his owne honour and commendation but he that preacheth Gods Doctrine can neither lie nor offend therein The Iewes did lay a double slander vpon him The one Seducit turbas He seduceth the People The other Sabbathum non custodit He keepes not the Sabboth But this his answer giues a blur to them both Moses saith hee gaue you a Law and yet none of you keepeth the Law Why go yee then about to kill me For euer since that hee cured him that lay so long at the Fish-poole they sought after his life In a word this muttering and whispering of theirs tended onely to the apprehending of him but not any one of them durâ—â—â—y hands vpon him because his houre was not yet come and many of the People beeing woon by his miracles and his doctrine beleeued in him Iesus went vp into the Temple and taught c. One of the greatest benefits which the world receiued by our Sauiours comming was That hee reading in Heauens Chaire to so wise and discreet a companie who by onely reading in the booke of his Essence were instructed in all kind of truth did not for all this disdaine to become a Schoolemaster to little children here vpon earth accommodating the profoundnesse of his deep learning to our rude and weake capacity accomplishing that of Saint Iohn Erunt omnes docibiles Dei They shall be all taught of God And this may be verified of those Angells and blessed Saints that are in Heauen and of those faithfull ones that are vpon earth for the verie selfe same truths he taught them in the Temple of his glorie which he did these other in his Church only differenced in this That they see them and we beleeue them Many Doctors haue sate and read in their Chaire here vpon earth but because they dranke not of the water of his Doctrine in this Schoole but in the duâ—tie puddles of lies and falshoods they were as Iob saith The farmers of lies and the followers of peruerse opinions And as there are Artisans for Idols which carue them guild them and adore them so are there Artisans of lies and false opinions which frame them set them forth with painted eloquence and adore them as if they should guide them to the end of their happinesse He taught The Euangelist doth not here set downe the Theame of his Sermon but in the Chapter of Wisedome Salomon saith Shee teacheth sobernesse and prudence righteousnes strength which are the most profitable things that men can haue in this life Two things the Scripture doth euery foot repeat of this celestiall Doctor The one The profitablenesse of his Doctrine Ego Dominus doceâ—s vtilia so saith Esay I am the Lord thy God which teach thee to profit and lead thee by the way that thou shouldst goe And Saint Iohn saith Verba quae loquor spiritus
neuer be asswaged 530 562 Blind and simple in all her practises 592 c. Euer her owne foe 646 Man The name of man imports three things 3 The qualitie of his thoughts 601 His pride and vanitie 2 Two definitions of him 625 Deferres his promises 159 His attributes obliuion and basenesse 3 His best knowledge is to know himselfe 4 The benefit arising from this knowledge 6 7 His onely supporter God 160 Nothing his owne in this life 251 Nor can he doe any thing of himselfe 252 The Vine of all plants most resembleth him 255 God is able to make of him what he pleaseth 256 Good men are scarce 259 Nothing so foule as man without his God 279 He is the Deuils Cittadell 285 Why Sathan is so malicious against him 291 Of all creatures the most furious if not guided by reason 329 Christs Art in gaining him 637 The Deuill not more cruell 381 425 598 Why God suffers in him so many corporall weakenesses and defects 480 c. 506 Inferiour to the creatures in all humane goods 508 His wayes are two and he needs a guide 520 608 Masters How to vse and esteeme their seruants 25 c. They must visit and helpe them in their sickenesse 31 The benefit of hauing Christ our Master 115 Meditation Like Gun-pouder 5 Meekenesse Preuailes vpon the fiercest persons 51 Memorie The true vse of it 3 Mercy See Charitie Pitie Loue. Gods omnipotency seene most in his mercy 54 The practise of mercie brings with it the greatest glorie 55 It differenceth Gods children from those of the Deuill 100 Workes of mercie most enquired after in the day of Iudgement 105 Mercie and Iustice the two Poles of Gods gouernment 108 Mercie a sure motiue to Mercy 153 Merciful men the fittest to be about Princes ib. God defers not his Mercy but to augment it 159 Not so plentiful vnder the Law as vnder Grace 165 Gods Mercy euer in competition with mans malice 260 He that would find Mercy must seeke it 387 Iudges must incline to Mercy 421 455 c. An argument of goodnesse in whomsoeuer it is found 424 'T is Gods care to worke his children to Mercie 435 Hee delights in no attributes of his owne so much as this 481 'T is the Spring from whence all his other blessings flow 496 Sometimes so great that wee cannot thinke on it but with terrour 498 Merits Vtterly cryed down 148 321 Ministers See Preachers Magistrates Miracles When to be wrought 85 324 Why not in vse now Ibid. Hypocrites fauour them much 120 c. The nature of Christs miracles 122 c. How they differed from those of the Deuill ibid. Why miracles should be desired 123 More frequent in the time of Grace than vnder the Law ibid. Prophesies more auailable 190 Neither necessarie to saluation nor sufficient 326 Christs miracles all wrought for the reparation of our miseries 430 Mirth See Sorrow The best Phisicke 167 Money The instrument of all mischiefe 274 Moores Of all people the most fearefull and why 73 Mortification If true neuer without mirth 19 20 Moses Chaire What it meant 212 N Niniue THe greatnesse of it 132 How the Niniuites shall rise vp in Iudgement against Christians at the latter day 132 O Obliuion HAth two bosomes 535 Offence See Iniurie Offerings No honour to God when hurtfull to others 366 Offices The sale of them the ruine of a Kingdome 457 Oliue Why the Hieroglyphicke of Mercy 413 What was typified by the mount of Oliues 412 Order The want of it any where brings all into confusion 441 P Paradise See Heauen Parents MVst be loued of their children 275 They must haue a care of them 226 Partialitie In all things to be auoyded 440 Most of all in Iudgement 472 Passion See Christ. Death Christ glorious in his Passion three manner of wayes 192 Punctuall in discribing it 220 It should be seriously considered ibid. 222 'T is the fountaine of our glory 193 Passion alters all properties to it selfe 532 Patience Christs Patience more staggered the Deuill than all his Miracles 55 The excellency of it 68 Once wounded outragious 356 Patience and Hope the onely meanes to bring vs to Heauen 156 Acceptable to God and profitable to our selues 169 172 A patient Eare shall reape great profit 349 Patience when most to be applauded 533 A patient man whereunto resembled 534 Patience the badge of Christs Diuinity 622 People Nothing fiercer than their furie 314 Persecution Whether Lawfull to flye in time of persecution 551 Persuasions If false the most dangerous inuasions 202 Peter Two opinions concerning his deniall 607 How it may be sayd he lost his Faith ibid. The occasions of his fall 608 His sinne like that of Adam 610 More iniurious to Christ than all his Enemies 612 Why he asked not pardon for his deniall 614 Pittie Hath alwayes a Prayer for them that need it 378 Euer profitable to them that vse it 476 Pharisees and Scribes Their wicked behauiour towards Christ. 113 Their office 112 What they were 210 Physitians Ought to visit the poore 31 Christ the best 171 177 380 Bad Physitians the Butchers of a Common-weale 177 Place Many haue often fared the better for the place in which they were 388 Pleasures Of this life altogether vanitie 186 197 Whereunto compared 410 Power Neuer to be showne but in extremitie 552 Pouerty The whole life of our Sauiour was a patterne for it 636 The poore more respected of God than the rich 30 They haue vsually the nobler minds 189 Forsaken of all 277 As necessary for the rich as the rich for them 374 Praise All the retribution that man can make to God for all that hee receiueth from him is to praise him 401 Precedents More auaileable than Precepts 214 Predestination A speciall marke of it 155 Preachers Priests Prelats Ought to haue but one Wife one Vine one Liuing 254 Their seuerall names in holy Writ 260 How the World vseth them ibid. Hot fiery spirits vnfit for this office 567 The vnworthinesse of the Person no preiudicâ— to the Function 597 Christs preaching powerfull 100 106 The office of a preacher 133 The efficacie of Ionas his preaching 139 141 The best preachers haue not alwaies the most Auditors 141 Priests are to be both Sheep-heards and Christians 196 Three sorts of preachers 213 Those of looser life to what resembled 214 Their maine aime is the glorie of God 215 The honour of priest-hood 448 A Preacher should neuer boast of his parts 468 He must reprooue boldly 471 Preaching and Practise should neuer bee seuered 527 Like Priest like People 540 Kindred the ouerthrow of many Prelats 555 Ignorant and sluggish Prelats the destruction of Gods Vineyard 253 Prayer Prayer and Almes the wings of Faith 22 We must pray for our enemies 52 Reasons and inducements hereunto 53 The excellency of Prayer 114 efficacy 144 Why God sometimes denies vs what we pray for 130 149 Prayer must be our practise in aduersitie 138 Vocall prayer