therfore he coÌ„mitted the pardoÌ„ vnto him which was most iniuried protesting that himself was not offended with theÌ„ O sweet Iesus how canst thou say that thou wast not offended nor iniured by theÌ„ being as thou wast iniuried crucified by their hands and although thou do not coÌ„plaine vpon theÌ„ nor reuenge thee on them nor yet accuse theÌ„ yet O my redeemer why dost thou excuse them Barnard saith That the son of God was replenished with such great charity and such inspeakable pity towards those which crucified him that he could not obtaine leaue of himselfe to impute any fault vnto them seeing he had charged himselfe with the pain due for it Cyprian saith That seeing Christ was the true mediator pacifier stikler betwixt his father the world it would haue beene euilly thought of to say that any one of them were his enemies and therevpon it is that seeing hee had no enemie there amongst them hee had no necessitie to say on the crosse I pardon them If the sonne of God saith S. Chrysostome hanging vpon the crosse should haue said I also pardon them it would haue beene thought that hee receiued greater griefe for the torment which hee himselfe suffered than of the iniuries which were done vnto his father which for a certentie was not so for if it were possible Christ would more willingly returne againe into the world to die than endure to see one iniury done vnto his father Who dare now O good Iesus saith S. Barnard who dare aske a reuenge of the iniuries done vnto him seeing thou diddest make such small account of those which were done vnto thy selfe Doest not thou recken of the cruell thornes which pierced thy holy head and shall I make account of an angry word which my brother speaketh against me How shall I dare to say that I haue enemies seeing thou doest handle those which nailed thee vnto the crosse like brothers It ought to be a strange speech in the mouth of a Christian to say This is my enemy for in making thy brother thy enemie thou doest loose Christ and causest him to be no more thy friend It is much to be noted that Christ entreated not his father to pardon them after they were dead but asked that he would pardon them quickly yea that very quickly because he would let vs vnderstand that the value of his precious blood was of such great price that at that instant that it began to be shedde at the same time it began to doe good The redeemer of the world would not leaue vs out of the fauor of his father nor an enemy vnto any in token wherof hee came into the world saying Et in terra pax hominibus Peace vnto men vpon earth and went out of the world saying Pater ignosce illis Father forgiue them The son of God saith Cassiodorus vpon the Psalms is not like vnto the children of this world who leaue vnto their children a little wealth with much strife seeing that by that speech of Father forgiue them hee redeemed vs with his blood baptized vs with his teares annointed vs with his sweat instructed vs with his doctrine loosed vs from the deuill and reconciled vs vnto his father O how much are wee bound vnto thee sweet Iesus for praying vnto thy father that he would forgiue his enemies before and not after thy death that is before the teares of thy eies were dried vp and whilst the wounds of thy body were yet fresh What would haue become of mankind if Christ at his death had bin angry with vs When he said in his last Sermon Pacem meam do vobis I giue you my peace What else meant he but that he left vs reconciled vnto his father and vnited vnto himselfe How could the eternall father saith Anselmus deny his blessed sonne the pardon which hee demaunded seeing he asked it with such milde wordes with such sorrowfull teares with such fresh wounds with such louing bowels with such continual sighes and with such great and passing griefe Wee may then conclude that when Christ praied his father to pardon quickely and without delay he teacheth vs that before we die and go out of this life it is conuenient for vs to pardon all iniuries for otherwise those in the other world shall haue great occasion to weepe which would not in this world speedily forgiue CHAP. VIII How our Lord reckoneth with the Synagogue and of fiue cruelties which the Iewes vsed in the death of Christ SIt Dominus iudex inter te inter me said the most renowmed king Dauid vnto his Lord and king king Saul Reg. chap. 24. as if hee would say I will haue no other iudge betwixt me and thee O great king of Israel but onely the mighty God of heauen vnto whom it is well known how faithfully I doe serue thee and how cruelly thou doest handle me Origen saith that king Dauid ought to haue great priuitie with God seeing hâ—e chose him for the iudge of all the words he spake of all the thoughts he conceiued of all the workes which he did of all the enmities he suffered yea and of all the friendships he followed Dauid could not iustifie his cause better than to referre the iustice of it vnto the hands of God who is so iust in his person so vpright in his iudgement that neither praiers bow him neither threatnings feare him nor gifts mooue him nor words deceiue him When good king Dauid cited Saul to appeare before the iudgement of God Dauid could haue cut off his head if hee would as hee did the gard of his garment but yet hee would not doe it because hee did set more by Gods fauour than by Sauls euill will Saul was a capitall enemie vnto king Dauid hee caused him to flee his countrey forsake his kindred depriued him of his riches banished him his court separated him from his wife and proclaimed him to be his publike enemie And yet notwithstanding all this Dauid if hee had listed could haue beene reuenged of Saul as especially when hee stole the bottle from vnder his beds head and cut away a piece of his garment yet the pitifull king Dauid would not onely not do it but shewed himselfe angry with those which durst counsell him vnto it Origen saith that onely because Saul was annointed king by the God of Israel it seemed vnto good king Dauid that hee deserued pardon and that that was a sufficient cause to make him reuerenced of all and offended by none Wee are annointed with a better ointment than king Saul was for hee was annointed with the oyle of the Oliue tree but wee are annointed with the blood of Christ and therfore he who doth persecute a Christian doth persecute one who is annointed by Christ Good king Dauid respected it not that Saul did abuse his regall vnction and annointing but onely because that hee was annointed by a good Spirit in so much that Dauid regarded it not that Saul
that that is very ill bestowed which is giuen vnto one which is vnworthy of it Was not the one as great a theefe as the other seeing that when the one went robbing by the high way the other being with Christ stole away the almes But wee answere vnto this and say that neither in this nor in any other God is to be called in question nor yet holy Iesus to bee reprehended considering that iustly he sent the Traitor Iudas into hell and iustly likewise he carried the theefe with him to Paradise because the one did deserue it because hee was a confessor and the other lost it because hee was a Traitor Let vs not bee proud or stout sayth Cyrillus for any thing that God dooth nor bee moued at any thing that God prouideth for we iudge a man only by the apparrell which he weareth but he iudgeth him not but by the merites which he doth Damascen sayth That before the high Tribunall seat of Christ they doe iniury vnto no man they deny no man iustice they are moued with no man neither do they any thing there without reason because there the rod of iustice is neuer bowed nor the measure of mercy euer falsified For the wise man saith Thou hast done all thinges good Lord by weight and measure speaking of Gods gouernment as if he would say O great God of Israel O mighty God of the house of Iacob how iust thou art in thy deeds and how rightful in thy iustice because that thou dost make al things euen by the line plummet which thou dost and doest heape vp all things which thou doest giue because they shall bee of full weight When dooth our Lord saith Saint Ambrose not doe all things by measure and weight but when he measureth our merits with his rod of iustice with the poise of his great mercy giue vs that which we deserue Gregory vpon Ezechiel sayth That when our Lord doth pardon some not othersome chastise these not those exalt this man and pull downe that man he doth all this in weight and measure and not by hap without iustice and if at any time his worke breed any admiration in vs it is not because God hath erred in doing it but because wee are not able with our vnderstanding to attaine vnto it Abraham would willingly that God would haue giuen him presently the land of promise which hee had promised him but hee gaue it him not vntill three hundred yeares after expecting vntill the Cananeans should fully be vnworthy of it and the Iewes deserue â—t After that king Saule fell from the fauour of God good king Dauid was chosen king of Israell yet there passed fortie years before they tooke the crowne from the one and placed the other in the throne of the king all which time God looked that Saul would grow worse and worse that the good king Dauid should become better and better I maruell at nothing that thou doest O my Lord saith Anselmus for although it be hidden from me yet it wanteth not reason with thee If our Lord bee determined to accept of the sacrifice which Abel offered him and mocke at that which his brother Cain offered if his will bee to conuert Nabugodonoser and suffer king Pharao to persist in his obstinacy and if hee let Iudas cast away himselfe and yet saue the theefe what are we to aske him an account of this yea and although he wold giue it vs who is able to vnderstand it Wee read in the Prophet Daniell that when God tooke away the kingdome from king Baltaser that first hee reckoned and compared his demerites with the merites of the Chaldeans by measuring those of the one and weighing those of the other and in the end hee found by iustice that the Chaldeans deserued to raigne and Baltaser worthie to lose his life and estate Seeing there is alwaies sayth Chrisostome in the house of God weight and measure Quia omnia fecisti in pondere mensura how is it possible that it should be euilly gouerned If our Lord giue vs troubles and vexations it is to exercise vs if hee giue vs rest it is because wee should praise him if he giue vs pouerty it is because we should merit if he giue vs abundance it is because wee should serue him and if he chastise vs it is because we should amend our selues in so much that hee giueth vs all thinges measured by his iustice and ruled with his mercy If our Lord sent Iudas to hell certainly hee did it not at a venture and if hee gaue the theefe Paradise hee did it not without right because Iudas his demerites were very great and the theeues merites were not small And because wee may not seeme to speak at randome and that God doth nothing but by his iustice wee will declare how iustly Iudas was condemned and how rightly the good theefe was pardoned CHAP. II. How Iudas Iscarioth was a great theefe and of the thefts which he committed and how he fel from the apostleship FVrerat locules habebat non erat ei cura de egenis saith S. Iohn chap. 12 speaking of wicked Iudas In the holy Colledge of Christ there was a Disciple called Iudas Iscarioth who was a wicked theefe he carried the purse he had litle purses within it and hee made no reckoning of the poore which were in necessity Vnder a few briefe wordes the Scripture accuseth Iudas of very enormious and greeuous faultes considering that it calleth him an open theefe and saith that he had little purses where he kept that which hee had stolne and that he had no compassion or pity vpon any It is a carelesnesse for a man to be naught alone to bee naught in the company of naughty men is weakenesse but to be naught in the company of good men is malice and wickednesse because it is better reason that one follow many then that many follow one The vnhappy Iudas had no occasion nor any reason to giue himselfe as hee did to sinne nor yet to dare to steale as hee did for if we well consider all circumstances we shall find that in the house where hee remained there was pouertie in the company he went with there was patience in the mother which hee serued there was humilitie and in the maister which hee had there raigned charitie O how well the Apostle said Qui se existimat stare videatâ—ne cadat He that thinketh to stand let him take heed least he fall seeing that poore Iudas got such great wickednesse in the house of holinesse How should it bee possible for him to bee good in the company of the deuill which was naught in the company of Christ If the infamous Iudas was a theefe and a Traitor couetous and ambitious liuing in the company of so many good what doest thou then hope for brother sayth Cyprian vvhich art compassed on euery side with so many naughty men Irenaus sayth That Iudas began to
the Babilonians Egyptians Chaldeans Persians and Medes Greekes and those of Palestine because the law of the Gospell hath been preached and receiued in those places Chrysostom saith That the son of God came to take flesh for the fall of the Temple of Salomon the city of Ierusalem the sacrifices of Iuda the ceremonies of Israell and of the old Mosaicall law and of the pride of all the Synagogue which was all ended and gaue vp the ghost with this word Consummatum est The sonne of God came into the world for the ouerthrow of all sinnes for if hee was as hee vvas the truth it selfe hee was a great enemy of lies and because he highly loued charitie he hated cruelty and because hee highly commended humilitie hee persecuted enuy vvhich vvas the cause that no man did euer reprehend vice more sharplier than hee nor no man did euer extoll vertue like vnto him The sonne of God came into the vvorld to the vtter ruine of the famous city of Hierusalem seeing there vvas not one tower in the citie vvhich vvas not throwne downe no vvall which was not broken no house vvhich vvas not barnt no Temple vvhich vvas not beaten to the ground no treasurie vvhich vvas not robbed nor orchard vvhich vvas not spoiled no Virgine vvhich was not violated no woman which was not forced no man which was not either slaine or taken captiue The sonne of God came into the world for the ouerthrow of the Synagogue seeing he left them no kingdome whither to goe vnto no citie where to dwel no king to rule them no Patriarke to honour no Prophet to giue them counsell no army to defend them no captain to fight for them The soune of God came into the world in ruinam the ouerthrow of the Pharisies and Sadduces cōsidering that he took away their hypocrisie from thē by which they preuailed their authority by which they commanded their doctrine with which they deceaued their couetousnesse with the which they robbed and their Symony with the which they made themselues rich CHAP. IIII. Of the third word which old Simeon spake vnto the Virgine in the Temple and of three authorities touching this purpose IN resurrectionem multorum in Israel in signum cui contradicetur said holy Simeon vnto the blessed Virgine that day when she presented the child Iesus in the Temple as if hee would say I haue told thee my daughter Mary how this thy son and my Lord shall bee a stumbling blocke to many and an occasion that many which are fallen shall rise againe and many which goe astray conuerted and he shal be a marke and a signe which shall bee spoken against by many Origen saith That it doth wel appear that holy Simeon spake by the mouth of the holy Ghost when hee said that the son of God was come into the world not only for all naughty wicked men to stumble at but also because that al goodnesse and good men should bee raised vp by him because it is the dutie of a good Phisitian not only to purge the humor which offendeth but also to strengthen it What fruit should we receiue by his comming into the world if he should only throw downe the wicked and not raise vp the good Whē our Lord saith by Ieremy Consolabor me de inimicis meis he would vvith a farre better will forgiue vs rather thā punish vs but because all that is in God is God himselfe hee cannot doe lesse than vse his iustice giuing notwithstanding alwaies place vnto his mercy When he sayth Woe bee vnto mee vvoe be vnto me I must reuenge mee of my enemies what can bee spoken with a more tender heart or vvhat iustice can bee done vvith greater mercy seeing that hee first weepeth for the sinner before he punish the sinne and first shed many tears before he shew discipline vpō the malefactors In the iudgemēt seat of vvorldly iudges they punish sinnes without iustice then mocke at the sinners but in the house of God they first vveepe for the sinners and then they punish the sinne because there is nothing more strange to God than reuenge nor nothing more gratefull vnto him than mercy Perditio tua ex te Israel ex me autem saluatio said God by the Prophet osee as if hee vvould say O vvhat paines I take with thee O Israel for if thou lose thy way I put thee into it againe if thou stumble I hold thee vp if thou see not I direct thee if thou fall I lift thee vp if thou defile thy selfe I make thee cleane if thou bee blind I giue thee light if thou doubt I counsell thee This speech of the Prophet is vvorthy to bee noted and also vvept and to bee bewailed vvith many teares seeing that hee telleth vs and admonisheth vs by it how little vvee are able to doe of our selues how little wee are worth how little wee possesse how little vvee know seeing that it is in our owne power to fall but vvee are not able to rise vvithout the helpe of God Thou saiest very vvell O great Simeon that the soune of God is come In resurrectionem multorum for after wee are fallen and defiled if hee doe not giue vs his hand who is able to lift vs from the ground What had become of the people of Israell when they were captiue in Egypt if our Lord had not deliuered them from thence vvith his mighty hand What would haue become of good King Dauid when he slue innocent Vrias and committed adultery with his wife Bersabee if God had not giuen him counsell by the mouth of the Prophet Nathan and lightened his heart What had become of king Ezechias when our Lord cōdemned him to death and that vnto a suddain death if our Lord had not visited him by the hands of the Prophet Esay and accepted his tears What had become of the Apostle Saint Peter when hee denied Christ three times if our Lord when he was tied to a pillar had not looked vpon him and prouoked him to teares What had become of S. Paul when hee went to the city of Damasco to apprehend all such which called vpon the name of Christ if our Lord had not spoken vnto him by the way and of Saul would not haue made him Paul and of a persecutor of Christ had not made him a preacher of the Gospell What would become of thee and me and of all the sinners of the world if good Iesus should not giue vs light because wee should not stumble and giue vs his hand to rise againe S. Barnard to this purpose saith It may be said better of me than of any O my good Iesus That thy perdition is of thy selfe Israel and thy saluation of mee For if I hit aright in any thing it is onely through thy grace and if I erre it is through my owne malice and therefore my owne sinne is able to make me fall but to rise againe I haue need of thy mercy
them and not pardon him was because our good Lord is so liberall in giuing and so noble in pardoning that he cannot forgiue any one sinne alone if there remaine any other hidden offence in the sinner Factious and enuious men are wont to pardon some of their enemies not other some but the sonne of God for a certainty dooth not so but he would forgiue all men togâ—ther and redeeme all men togither S. Iohn said not of Christ behold him who taketh away the sinne of the world but said behold him who taketh away the sinnes of the world He said not vnto Mary Magdalen thy sinne is released but thy sinnes are forgiuen thee In so much that in matter of sinnes God cannot but either wholly winck at them or wholly pardon them For as S. Ierome sayth No man euer heard the sonne of God say I pardon thee such a sinne or this sinne or that sinne but hee alwaies said I pardon thee all thy sinnes and therevpon praying vpon the crosse vnto his father hee did not say Pardon him but said Father pardon them For it seemed vnto him that the value of the bloud which hee shed was of such price that those for whome hee died were but few although hee died for those which were absent as well as for those which were present for the quicke and for the dead for those which were already past and for those which were to come for the iust and for the sinners that one drop of his bloud which he should shed would bee sufficient to redeeme a thousand of worlds and if this were so what reason had hee to bestow it vpon one alone seeing there did abound for all the world The sonne of God debated not the matter nor plaied not the huckster with his father in contending how much bloud shall I giue thee for their pardon because he would let vs vnderstand in this that he paied very well yea and repaied for al the sinnes which were forgiuen For to conclude all the sinnes in the world might haue ben numbred but the price of the bloud of Christ could not bee valued O good Iesus O my soules hope if in fauour of great sinners thou diddest say Father forgiue them why doest thou not say in my behalfe who am a great sinner Pater ignosce illi Forgiue him If the Iewes haue beene vngratefull towards thee for the miracles which thou diddest amongst them haue not I been much more ingratefull for the benefites receiued of thee If thou diddest pray for the Israelites which did kill thee once why doest thou not pray for me which kill thee euery day Doe not I put thee to death euery day and euery houre seeing I doe crucifie thee as oft as I sinne against thee Seeing the sinnes which are seuerally in other meÌ„ are together in me why dost thou not say Father forgiue him as thou didst say Father forgiue theÌ„ Say then O my good Iesus say vnto thy Father Father pardoÌ„ this sinner seeing that by how much the more my sins offences are greater then other mens by so much the more thy mercy will shine by forgiuing me CHAP. VII How God is more mercifull now then hee was in time past and why Christ did not say that he did pardon his enemies when he asked pardon for them of his father POnam contra te omnes abommationes tuas non parcet oculus meus super te These are the woordes of the great God of Israell spoken with much anger and verie great furie to the people of Israel by the mouth and preaching of the holy Prophet Ezechiel chapter 7. as if he would say I am so angry with thee O Synagogue and haue pardoned thee so often that I am now determined to lay open all thy wickednes and not forgiue thee any one of them because that as mercy doth follow thy amendment so iustice rigor may follow thy hardnesse of heart Before the sonne of God came into the world to take mans flesh vpon him God was much more accustomed to vse his iustice then his mercie seeing that in all the story of the old Law those which hee chastised were very many in number and those whome hee forgaue very few And that we may proue it to haue ben so from the beginning of the world how did he punish Adam and Eue his wife for no other cause but for eating the apple which was forbidden them Did hee not condemne the wicked Cain to wander throughout all the world and haue a shaking in his head for the murder which hee vsed against his brother Who is ignorant how God did drowne many in the vniuersall floud for the sinne of the flesh and sunke those of Sodome for the sinne against nature and let the ground open and swallow vp Dathan and Abiron for the rancor of enuie And did not God command Moyses and Iosua to take out of the campe and stone to death the Iew for hiding a barrell of gold at the sacke of Ierricho and another Israelitie for gathering stickes vpon the Sabboth day Hieremie neuer endeth to bewaile the captiuitiy of Babilon whereof hee sayth Destruxit non pepercit hee destroied and spared not But God commaunded that all that kingdome should bee made desolate and destroied not pardoning nor forgiuing any one When the Lord commanded king Saule to go take Amelech his kingdome hee aduised him and instructed him that from the king himselfe which sate in his throne vnto the beast which fed in the meadow hee should not pardon any one but sley and kill them euery one In the ninth chapter of Ezechiell God said these wordes vnto the striking Angel Senem iuuenem virginem paruulum interfice sanctuario meâ— incipe c. as if he would say Go throughout all the city of Ierusalem put to the sword all the old men and all the young men all the virgins and all the children and because no man shall thinke that any place may saue him thou shalt begin this my punishment with the Priests of the Temple Cadent à latere tuo mille decem millia à dextris tuis sayth the Psalmist as if he would say Thou doest so seuerely reuenge thy iniuries O great God of Saboth and so punish our offences that as oft as I looke vpon thee I see both thy armes armed and both thy hands couered with bloud insomuch that if a thousand men are fallen at thy left hand there are other ten thousand slairie at thy right hand When the eternall God had seene that they had put to death his welbeloued sonne being accustomed to punish presently and not to pardon he darkened the light of the sunne made the earth to quake rent the vaile of the Temple and opened the sepulchres of the dead because those which were dead should rise againe and take reuengemeÌ„t of those which were aliue WheÌ„ the son of God perceiued that al this was done for his sake
euerlasting damnatioÌ„ obtained with his mother that she shold not challeÌ„ge hisdeath before any iustice But what iustice could she ask of those malefactors seeing they had been already pardoned of her sonne Anselmus saith That wheÌ„ Iesus gaue vp the ghost vpon the crosse he left no death for his mother to reueÌ„ge nor iniury to forgiue but only a bitter passion to weep and bewaile which shold be great inough to rend her bowels in sunder dry vp the tears of hir eies The 4. goodnes which Christ shewed the Iews was in that he gaue pardoÌ„ to his enemies which did not demaÌ„d it yeelded that vnto his crucifiers which they wold not haue For how is it possible for those men to seek for pardon which will not acknowledge themselues culpable And how should they acknowledge theÌ„selues culpable which cast al the fault vpoÌ„ him which deserued it not The Iews were so fleshed in the bloud of Christ so far out of their wits that they did not not only procure ask pardoÌ„ for their offeÌ„ce but rather hindered it put it froÌ„ theÌ„ when it was offered theÌ„ taking delight in the hurt which they did vnto Christ griefe that they were not able to do him more When they led the innocent lambe to be crucified for very ioy they said O thou which doest destroy the Temple of God And when Pilat would haue deferred his crucifying with great enuy they said If thou let this man goe thou art not a friend vnto Caesar in so much that if they did shew themselues grieued and sorrie it was not for that they thought themselues culpable of any crime but because they had deferred and prolonged Christs life so long time The wickednesse of the Iewes was not content in not hauing pardon of God for their offences but they demaunded openly vengeance for them when they said vnto Pilat Let his blood fall vpon vs and vpon our children and therefore by these dreadfull words they desire to be punished of God and at no time pardoned at his hands O wicked Synagogue O impious saying Let his blood be vpon vs. Tell me I pray thee why doest thou desire that the blood of Christ which hee shed for to redeeme thee be â—urned to condemne thee The sonne of God appealeth from these words which they speake and he will not stand vnto that agreement which the Iewes made with Pilat hee will not agree that his blood should be shed against them but for them and therefore as they said Let his blood fall vpon vs so contrariwise he said Father forgiue them O wicked Synagogue O vnfortunate Iewish nation saith Remigius who hath led you vnto such great folly and madnesse that you should more esteeme of the blood of kine which your priests shed in the Temple than of the blood which Christ shed in the mount of Caluarie Saint Ierome saith On the altar of the crosse the Prophecie of Simeon was fulfilled who said that Christs comming into the world was to some mens good and to others hurt seeing that wee doe pray that the blood which hee sheddeth should be in the remission of our sinnes and the Iewes doe intreat that it turne vnto their condemnation and vpon their children It is much to be noted that wee see it often times fall out that one enemy hurteth not another and that a good Christian doth pardon another of his offence when hee repenteth wee see it also by experience likewise we see it fulfilled that a perfit man doth loue his enemy but yet wee neuer saw that euer any but Christ pardoned him which would not be pardoned And how would they be pardoned who pardoned Barrabas and condemned the sonne of God What contrition of their sinnes haue they who desired of Pilat that the curse of God should light vpon them and vpon their children O infinite goodnesse O vnspeakable charity did they say pardy with king Dauid Tibi soli peccaui To thee alone haue I sinned or with the thiefe Domine memento mei Lord remember me to the end that he should say God be mercifull vnto you Misereatur vestri What wit is able to conceiue or what heart able to acknowledge such great mercy when thou saidst Forgiue them in stead of their sanguis eius His blood light vpon vs O my good Iesus O my soules health who is hee who dare say that hee hath enemies now seeing that thou doest make cleane the vncleane settest those at libertie which will not be free loosest those which wil be bound vnburdenest those which will bee burdened and aboue all giuest pardon vnto those which will not be pardoned If thou doest pardon that people which would not be pardoned wilt thou not with a better will pardon him who hath repented him of his sinnes and whome it grieueth with all his heart to haue offended thee Saint Augustine vpon S. Iohn saith Will not he who meant to meete them who came to apprehend him in the garden of Gethsemani come out to receiue and embrace those who goe to serue him Will not he who defended the adulterous woman from outrage and pardoned the wicked people not beeing thereunto asked pardon and defend that sinner whome hee seeth amended and hath beene of him with many teares thereunto entreated CHAP. X. How it is meet for vs to conforme our wills vnto Christs will to the end that we may know how to loue him and serue him COr tuum numquid est rectum cum corde meo sicut cor meum est rectum cum corde tuo Wee reade in the fourth booke of the Kings that a certaine king of Israel called Iehu going from Samaria to kill the children of Achab and the priestes of Baal met on the way with Ionadab vnto whome he spake these words Tell me I pray thee Ionadab is thy heart and mind so faithfull and vpright with mine as my heart is with thine Ionadab answered him vnto these words Know thou O king Iehu that my heart is conformable vnto thine Iehu replied and said Seeing it is true that thy heart is agreeing vnto mine giue me thy hand and come to me into this charriot where we will talke and communicate of things profitable for vs both This is a wonderfull figure worthy of great attention and consideration seeing that our Lord doeth teach vs by it the great good turnes which hee doth vnto vs and that which in recompence thereof wee are to doe vnto him againe Who is that king Iehu who taketh his iourney from Iudea vnto Samaria to kill and to take vengeance vpon the wicked men which were there but onely the sonne of God who came downe from heauen aboue to destroy our sinnes Assure mee saith Saint Augustine that there be no sinners in the world and I will assure thee that there be no naughty men in the world for as in heauen there is no sinne remitted nor any wicked man there suffered and as contrariwise there is nothing but
bee much nor that which hee detained from the almes which was giuen him If it be so then that Christ had but little and that that which Iudas stole was not much why doth the scripture with open mouth call him a theefe wicked â—udas was a thiefe and that a great thiefe because that that which he stole was a holy thing and a holy almes and in a holy house and did belong vnto a holy person and therfore according vnto the law of God that cannot be a small theft which is done in a holy and sacred place Saint August saith that as the two mites which the poore old woman offered in the Temple were more acceptable vnto God than all the treasures of the people so our Lord is more offended with a little which is taken out of the Temple than with a great deale stollen in the world Benauenture saith that Iudas did not condemne himselfe for the great quantitie which he stole but because it was a holy place from whence hee stole it and therevpon it is my religious brother that thou maiest offend more in taking a small thing out of thy monastery then a secular man in taking a greater out of the market Why should any man meruell that the Scripture calleth vnhappie Iudas a theefe seeing hee stole away the life and goods from the king of glory Iudas sold Christs life for many he put Christs fame and credit to pledge with the wicked and hee put Christs wealth into his purses in so much that if Christ more had had more this theefe would haue robbed O good Iesus O redeemer of my soule if I were Iudas or Iudas were as I am I would neuer haue pledged thy honour and credit nor haue sold thy life that which I would haue stolne should haue beene the humilitie the which thou diddest liue with the patience which thou diddest speake with and the charitie which thou didst forgiue with and the zeale which thou diddest preach with O what a happy theefe should I be if I could rob all these vertues from thee seeing that in stead of these thefts heauen gates would be open vnto me The third accusation is that wicked Iudas Habebat loculos that is had a purse with litle purses in it to hide the pence which he had stolne Rich couetous men are wont to put their double duckats in one purse the single in another shillings in another and their small money in another because they may find them quickly and count them easily Wherein saith Seneca doth the felicity of couetous men consist but in seeing euery houre their purse counting their money alwaies hoording vp somewhat and in studieng how they may lessen their ordinary charges Aymon noteth That the Scripture sayth not that Iudas had purses but little purses whereby is gathered Christs and his colledges great pouertie seeing that all which that theefe stole was but small base money which might well bee contained in small purses Saint Cyprian noteth That there was so little money in Christs family that there was not enough to stuffe a little purse much lesse many purses and when the Scripture sayth that Iudas had many purses it was because hee had one common purse to spend of and another secretly to steale with O happy time O golden age of the primitiue Church in the which there was but one purse among them all but now alasse that not among worldlings but also among them which professe a monasticall life there is scarse any one which hath not with Iudas his small purses to keepe his own money in And hee saith further tell me traiterous Monke tell mee thou Monke which hast propertie in thinges what difference is betwixt thee which stealest the reuenues of thy Monastery and the Traitor Iudas which stole the almes from Christ Anselmus sayth That as all perfect men are more bound vnto straight vses than all other worldlings I dare affirme that hee hath secret purses hidden with Iudas which in his cell fostereth disordinate and superfluous appetites Saint Basil in his Rule sayth As it is a greater perfection in a religious person to want his owne will than to want any kind of money yet wee may say of such a one that it is more daungerous for him to bee mutinous against his superiour then to haue his purse full of money Now thou art to vnderstand my religious brother that Iudas did not so much damne himselfe for the money which he carried as he did because he did what he lusted It is an euill thing to beare the purse but it is farre worse to bee wedded vnto a mans owne will it is a bad thing to carry purses with money but far worse to fulfill a mans owne appetites because there is no sin which burneth so much in hell as the sin of a mans owne proper will CHAP. III. Here are reckoned many other great offences which Iudas committed and diuers treasons which he did against Christ IVstificationes tuas custodiam non mederelinquas vsquequaque said the Prophet Dauid in his 118 Psalme as if hee would say O great God of Israel O great God of the house of Iacob I beseech thee with all humility that seeing I bind my selfe to keepe thy commaundements all the daies of my life that thou wouldest not forsake me vntill my death This is a high praier which the Prophet maketh considering that hee doeth capitulate and agree with God and God with him that he will serue our Lord that our Lord will haue charge ouer him It is much to bee noted with Cassiodorus vpon the Psalmes that the Prophet doth not only say Doe not forsake mee but he addeth also Vsquequaque that is that hee would not forsake him all his life and also that he would giue him his helping hand in all that hee shall goe about O good Iesus O the loue of my soule I beseech thee that if thou doe suffer me to fall into any sin yet that thou wouldest not forsake me Vsquequaque Alwaies or continually and let me commit all sinne for if thou doe not hold mee with thy mercifull hand where shall I stop but in the pains of hel Our Lord hath held many with his hands as Cain Heli Saule and Manasses but hee did not hold them Vsquequaque that is still and all in all vntill the end considering that the one slew his brother the other lost his Priesthood the other was depriued of his kingdome and the other died a Pagan Hee did also forsake Dauid in his adultery S. Peter when hee denied him Paul when hee persecuted him but he did not forsake them Vsquequaque that is vntil death for of great sinners they became very holy and chosen men O what a singular fauour sayth S. Basil vpon the Psalmes our Lord doth vnto those whome he doth not vtterly forsake as he neuer doth his best friends the which although they bee euilly handled and suffer much yet hee doth it rather to exercise them then to
put mee to death on the Mount of Caluary and on the Mount of Caluary they kill thee at high noone daies they execute mee and at the same houre they execute thee thou art as neere the end of thy life as I am neere to death and therfore Lord remember me thus as wee depart both together out of this world so also we may both together goe into heauen What reason doth permit it or what iustice doth suffer O my good Lord that thou shouldest take me for thy companion to suffer on the crosse with thee and when thou doest go into heauen to leaue mee here behind thee Seeing thou wilt depart out of this world to death and that through such a narrow passage and long way whom canst thou take with thee better than the theefe which was thy fellow vpon the tree It is necessary that thy poore mother liue thou hast left thy Iohn thy cousin to his owne custodie Peter thy Disciple hath denied thee Iudas thy steward hath sold thee all the Iewes haue beene vngratefull vnto thee and therfore seeing that thou doest see no body neere thee who doth confesse and acknowledge thee but my selfe alone who am here alone with thee Lord remember mee and either giue mee somewhat in thy Testament or take mee with thee to Paradise O holy Nazarean and blessed Prophet seeing that thou diddest heare Ionas out of the Whales belly Daniel out of the lake of Babilonia Ioseph out of the dungeon of Egypt Ieremy out of the darke well and diddest heare Dauid when he said Tibi soli peccaui I haue sinned vnto thee only why doest thou not heare-mee when I crie Lord remember mee Domine memento mei Behold O my good Lord behold O my good companion now my eies doe breake now my last houre is come now my sight faileth mee and my speech is troubled and my soule is pulled out of my body and therefore in this narrow passing and doubtfull way vnto whome should I say better than vnto thee Lord remember me yea and all the whole Psalme of Miserere Iosue was a theefe seeing he stole grapes fron Chanaan Dauid was a theefe seeing hee stole the bottle of water from Saul Rachael was a theefe seeing she stole the idols from her father Ionathas was a theefe seeing hee stole hony from the hiue Iosaba was a theefe seeing he stole the infant Ionas and yet thou diddest not command any one of all these to bee hanged nor send them from thy houseuf this be so and if thou diddest forgiue those which stole thy goods wilt thou not forgiue mee poore theefe who turne for thy honours sake and keepe thee company in this place Seeing that of old time thou art accustomed to forgiue very famous theeues and dissemble very notorious thefts why doest thou not forgiue me among them and absolue me of my sinnes If thou wilt haue tears for the thefts which I haue done thou seest that they run downe my cheekes if thou doest content thy selfe to see bloud thou seest that there is no drop left in mee if thou wilt haue mee whip my selfe I am already bowelled if thou wilt haue mee repent I say vnto thee Soli peccaui if thou wilt haue mee make entire satisfaction how canst thou haue me to do it not hauing halfe an houre to liue Lord Iesus remember mee and bee my surety vnto thy father in the other world and put mee with thy chosen flocke write mee in thy booke and place mee in thy glory seeing that the faith of which thou art doth flourish onely in thy mother and remaineth in my heart Remember mee O good Iesus and if thou wilt depart out of this sorrowfull life into the other before mee I beseech thee leaue mee the step of thy foor to tread in and a path-way to follow thee for if I acknowledge thee for my God and receaue thee for my God and beleeue in thee for my God being as thou art dismembred and crucified shall not I serue thee and praise thee farre better when I shall see thee glorified Darest thou trust me with thy crosse because I should worship it and with thy body because I should accompany thee and with thy mother to comfort her and with thy honour to defend it and with thy church to augment it and with thy faith to maintaine it and wilt thou not put thy glory into my hands that I may alwaies praise thee in it When they condemned thee to bee crucified and brought mee to bee executed I heard thee say there before Pilate That thy kingdome was not of this world and then seeing thou art a king and hast a kingdome remember mee and take me with thee and I will tell thy father what thou hast suffered to serue him and all the fauours which thou hast done for me Now that the good theefe hath made his praier vnto God and recommended himselfe vnto him it is reason now that the naughty theefe haue license to speake which is my naughty and peruerse heart because the theefe which hanged on the left hand of God did blaspheme Christ but once but thou my soule doest blaspheme him euery day Remember mee O sweet Iesus and haue mercy on mee O my soules glory to the end that the shedding of thy pretious bloud be not euilly bestowed in mee for at the time when thou diddest shed it thou diddest not feeele so grieuously the vvant of it in thy bodie as thou diddest feele the vngratefulnesse of the whole world And when is thy precious bloud vnthankfully shed for mee but when I yeeld vnto that which my Sensuality demâ—ndeth of mee and not vnto that which thy Gospell counselleth mee What is all that worth which I would if thou wilt not If thou goest to seeke out theeues and if thou doest hunt after sinners why doest thou seeke for any more than for mee because there is no theefe who hath committed greater robberies than I nor any sinners who hath done more greeuous sins than I O patient and benigue Lord if the wickednesse of my heart and the offences which I haue committed in secret were knowne notoriously vnto the iudges of the world as they are knowne vnto thee I should many yeares agoe haue beene hanged and in the other world condemned I will not say with the Prophet Dauid Where be thy old mercies seeing that I see them enter euery day into my gates because I doe not make more hast to sinne than thou to pardon mee The pardon which thou diddest giue vnto the good theefe doth giue vs also great hope to obtaine pardon at thy hands for he being come to the gibbet condemned for his offence went away sanctified with thy Grace If thou do giue theeues and robbers kingdomes what wilt thou do and giue vnto theÌ„ whom thou doest loue and are chosen of thy father If thou diddest giue the kingdome of heauen to a rouer and a theese for speaking one onely word vnto thee and seruing thee one
whence all truths doe spring Benedictio honor gloria potestas in secula seculorum quatuor animalia dicebant Amen Apocalips 5. said the Angels in praise of our Lord as if they would say Let honour glory power and blessing be giuen vnto our God and vnto the lambe his son for euer and euer and the foure beasts answered Amen Also S. Iohn said in the 7. chapter That he saw a company of Saints before God which were so many in number that they could not bee numbred and so many Angels also that they could not be numbred clothed with stoles palmes in their hands and prostrate vpon the ground which said no other thing in the praise of God but Amen Amen Amen O what great mysteries and deepe secrets are contained vnder this holy word Amen seeing we find it in the old Testament and that Christ vsed it and the Angels in heauen praise Christ with it and the church also doth euery vvhere profite her selfe vvith it Doth shee not profite her selfe vvith it seeing that in the end of euery praier shee doth confirme it with Amen Vnto World without end we answere Amen vnto Who liueth and raigneth vve answer Amen vvith this holy vvord the sonne of God began to pardon and vvith the same vvord the church endeth her praier Rupert vpon the Apocalips saith That this vvord Amē is neither Greek nor Latine nor Chaldey but Hebrew and although this word might haue beene turned as other vvordes vvere yet the church did not thinke it conuenient but as Christ said Amen so doth the church say likewise Amen Why did the son of God saith Chrisost begin the pardō which he gaue the good theefe with this word Amen dico tibi but only to assure him that he would fulfill all which he promised him Seeing that it is a custome first to promise that which wee will giue or do and then to sweare and affirme it why did the sonne of God do the contrary swear before he promised the theefe Paradise For when Christ said vnto the theefe Amen dico tibi it was as much as to say I sweare in truth and why would God swear that which he promised and would not be beleeued at his word Cyprian vpon the Passion saith That because that which Christ promised was such a great matter to wit Paradise and he vnto whom he promised such a grieuous sinner who was a theefe he who promised of such small credite who was a man crucified and the place where he promised so infamous which was the crosse and the people before whom he promised so vile who were the Iewes the sonne of God would swear first before he promised If Christ did swear it was not because there was any want in his word but because the synagogue should the better beleeue him August vpon S. Iohn saith That if the son of God would not haue sworn the performance of so great a gift it would haue seemed vnto the Iewes that he had promised it him in a mockage so much the rather because that vntil that very instāt in which Christ said on the crosse Hodie mecum eris in Paradise he neuer gaue it vnto Saint nor promised it in scripture If Christ had not sworn that which he promised who would not haue thought that he had iested in promising credit honor vnto him who had lost his credit to promise life vnto him who was dead liberty vnto him who was bound riches vnto him who was poore and glory vnto him who was infamous Because the Iewes obstinacy was so great and the good theeues faith but yong and weake good Iesus would sweare before hee promised that which he meant to promise because al men might be certain that he who at the point of death confirmed any thing by oth ought neuer to deceiue CHAP XIII How the sonne of God neuer vsed this word Paradise vntill he promised it vnto the good theefe and of many learned expositions of this saying Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso This day thou shalt be with mee in Paradise NOn frustra dixi semini Iacob quaerite me quia ego sum dominus loquens iustitias annunciansrecte said God by Esay chap. 48 as if hee would say I said not in vain vnto old honourable Iacob that he should speak with me alone beleeue in no other because I am the Lord who can say nothing but that which is iust nor demand nothing but that which is holy As God is iust saith Ierome hee sayth nothing but that which is iust and as he is holy he speaketh nothing but holy things because other men besides him neither tell vs aright what wee haue to doe nor aduise vs in time of that which we are to auoid All out friends and counsellors when they doe aduertise vs of any thing doe seeme rather to goe by guesse than bee sure of that which they say and by that means they giue vs counsell after we haue receiued hurt and teach vs the way after that wee haue gone astray God sayth very well that Iacob heard him not in vaine neither did Israel that in vaine which he commanded him seeing that he gaue him the right of the first birth due to Esau and made him sonne in law vnto Laban and gaue him Lia and Rachel for his wiues and made him father of twelue children and Prince ouer twelue tribes O how true it is saith Origen when our Lord saith that hee speaketh nothing but that which is iust and teacheth nothing but that which is right seeing hee maketh those iust who deale with him and maketh those holy who doe conuerse with him And if he say that the obstinate men and naughty be his yet he will not say that hee is one of their number What can the children of vanity tell vs but vain things and what can the children of lies tell vs but lies Who is loiall and faithfull vnto him whome hee hareth or whom commodity draweth awry It is our Lord onely who giueth vs our sight to see with and teacheth vs which way we should goe and taketh away the stones least wee stumble at them and giueth vs counsell in all that wee haue to doe Our Lord saith very well that hee is the Lord who speaketh iustice and righteousnesse for there hath been no man saued vntill this day whom he hath not counselled nor no man lost whome hee hath not deceiued King Roboam who was nephew vnto Dauid and sonne vnto Salomon of twelue kingdomes which hee inherited from his predecessors lost ten of them for no other reason but because hee beleeved not our Lord in that which hee counselled him and by following other young mens humors which pleased his fancy Ieroboam and Assa and Iozias and Achab and Benedab and Manasses which were famous kings of Israel what could they do to get credit what could they doe against their enemies or wherein could they helpe their friends or how could
the reward of Paradise but vnto another crucified Saint Barnard vpon the Passion sayth for mine owne part I thinke not my selfe deceiued but I know that the naked giueth not his kingdome but vnto another naked he whose ioints are vnloosed vnto another whose ioints are also loosed one from an other hee that is couered with bloud vnto another couered with bloud also and the crucified vnto another crucified Thou that sittest sporting thy selfe what doest thou aske of him who suffereth on the crosse Thou that art clothed and reclothed what doest thou craue of him who is bowelled vpon the crosse Thou that art faire and fat what doest thou aske of him who is on the crosse one member rent from one another Thou that art at freedome and liberty what doest thou aske of him who is nailed and fastened vpon the crosse If thou wilt heare sayth Anselmus O my soule Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso Lift vp thy affections from the earth let thy heart bee free from all passions let thy flesh keepe watch and vvard ouer her inclinations crucifie thy liberty on the crosse let bloud thy fancie of all presumptions and bury thy affections that they may not appeare If thou wilt ascend as high as heauen it is necessary that with the theefe thou take the crosse for thy ladder to steale it for otherwise although thou bee a companion with him in sinning yet for all that thou shalt not so be in raigning CHAP. XIIII Why the sonne of God did not say vpon the crosse vnto all men Amen dico vobis as hee did say vnto the theefe Amen dico tibi aad how he was the first martyr which died with Christ and the first Saint which he canonized LOquetur ad eos in ira sua in furore suo conturbabit eos said king Dauid in the second Psalme as if hee would say when the great God of Israell shall bee angry and troubled hee will speake vnto the wicked men with anger and when hee shall trouble their iudgements it shall bee with great anger Our Lord doth threaten the wicked whome hee meaneth to punish with two grieuous scourges that is that hee will speake in anger to feare them and trouble their iudgement that they shall not bee able to guesse at any thing aright If our Lord speake vnto vs with anger it may bee borne with but if he trouble our iudgement it is a thing much to be lamented for in this wicked world if he doe not lighten our steps to see where wee goe wee shall fall downe vpon our face Barnard crieth out and saith What shall become of thee O my soule if he who should lead me put mee out of the way if hee who should succour me forsake mee if hee who should pardon me accuse me and he who should quit mee condemne me and he who should giue mee sight make mee blind Saint Augustine De verbis Apostoli sayth When it is said in Scripture that God speaketh vnto vs with anger it is meant that he doth not speake with mercy and when it is said that hee doth trouble vs with fury it is to say that hee doth not lighten vs with his diuine grace because there cannot happen vnto vs greater hurt in this world than for God to withdraw his hand from doing vs good There is no anger in God as there is in man with the which hee doth trouble himselfe nor furie to moue him withall and when wee say that he is angry it is because he vseth that punishment which in others is done with anger and if we say that he is in fury it is because hee vseth rigorous punishment towards vs or else because hee doth not punish at all in this world for wherin can our Lord shew greater anger than by not vsing his accustomed clemency Our Lords wrath is appeased when hee punisheth presently after the offence committed and he is very angry when hee deferreth the punishment vnto hell S. Ambrose sayth That in the house of God not to punish is to punish to dissemble is to bee angry with not to speake is to chide to pardon is to threaten to suffer is to let it putrifie to defer is to reuenge the more Is there thinke you any greater punishment than not to bee punished in this world When doth our Lord speake vnto vs with anger but when wee fall from his grace into sinne by our fault God spake with anger vnto our first father when hee said vnto him thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face as if hee would say Because thou hast fallen from my grace and eaten of the apple which I did forbid thee to eat of for a perpetuall punishment thou shalt eat and drinke alwaies with care in thy mind sweat on thy face and trauaile of thy body insomuch that at the best morsell thou shalt giue ouer eating and fall to sighing God spake also with anger vnto the murderer Cain when hee said vnto him behold the bloud of thy brother Abel doth crie from the earth vnto mee as if he would say Because thou hast flaine thy brother Abel through malice and enuy I cannot but doe iustice vpon thee because his bloud crieth aloud for it of me and thy punishmēt shall be that thou shalt wander to and fro all the daies of thy life and thy head shal neuer cease shaking God spake with anger vnto the great king Nabugodonoser whē he said Eijciam te ab hominibus as if he would say Because thou hast robbed my tēples of their treasures and led away my people of the Iews captiue thou shalt be throwne out frō the conuersation of men shalt liue with beasts on the mountaines thou shalt eat hay like oxen and bee clothed like wild sauages with haire vntill thou doest acknowledge mee for to bee thy Lord and thy selfe to bee a sinner God spake with anger vnto the great Priest Heli when hee said Ego praecidam brachium tuum c as if hee would say Because thou diddest not punish thy children when they stole away the sacrifices and behaued themselues dishonestly vvith women in the Tabernacle I will take thy Priesthood from thee I will kill thy steward and will make that no old man come into thy house in so much that thou shalt haue no children in thy stocke to inherite after thee nor ancient men to counsell thee To come then vnto our purpose God vsed this kind of speech vnto the Synagogue but now speaketh otherwise vnto the church as is easily seene in the death of Christ when hee said vnto the theefe Hodie mecum eris in Paradise Wee doe not read that Christ did euer vse this woord of anger so oft as hee hath done the woord of mercy the which hee hath vsed often as Per viscera misericordiae dei nostra said holy Zachary in his song as if he would say The sonne of God came downe from the highest of heauen into the earth moued thereunto by
Anselmus in his Meditations saith What greater weakenesse of maine can there bee or what greater mishap than that if I defile my selfe I cannot make my selfe clean againe if I be sicke I cannot make my selfe whole againe if I ray my selfe I cannot wash my selfe againe yea and if I sinne I cannot repent of my selfe if our Lord doe not first giue mee his light as hee did the good theefe on the crosse and if hee doe not first looke vpon mee as hee did looke vpon S. Peter from the piller Heale mee good Lord and I shall bee made whole Saue me and I shall be saued saith king Dauid as if he would say No man is able to heale mee O my good Lord if thou doe it not nor no man is able to saue me if thou dost not saue me O my redeemer because no mā knoweth my wound but thou nor my felicity consisteth in none but in thee Cassiodorus vpon the Psalme saith That we should note how that the Prophet doth first aske of our Lord that he would make him whole before hee saue him for if our Lord doe not first wash the fault from vs it is in vaine to thinke that hee should giue vs his glory S. Basil vpon this place Sana me domine sayth That if thou doe not goe vvith me nor I with thee the more I goe about to heale my selfe the sicker I grow when I think to goe forward I turne backward vvhen I imagine that I goe streight then I find my selfe most out of the way when I labour to goe most cleane and neat I find my selfe then most of all vncleane and that vvhich is the worst of all is that I know not vvherein I doe best nor cannot guesse vvhen I doe amisse Anselmus vpon the same place Heale mee good Lord and I shall bee vvhole saith Who but thou O my sweet Iesus can cure mee and giue mee any temedy to such hidden wounds and such manifest offences to faults of such quality as mine are to such carelesse care such vncleane thoughts such wicked crimes such damnable bowels and such inconsiderate speeches Heale mee good Lord and I shall bee made vvhole for it auaileth me very little to vse helpe and not bee made vvhole to fight and kill my selfe to swimme drowne my selfe 〈◊〉 to studie and not profit to take a iourney and neuer come to the end to aske and neuer haue any thing giuen mee to serue and neuer deserue any thing Heale me good Lord I shall be made vvhole of the pride which ouerthroweth mee of the enuy vvhich rotteth in me of the anger vvhich vvasteth mee of the gluttony vvhich disquieteth me of sloth vvhich dulleth me of couetousnesse vvhich maketh me cruell and of all sensuality vvhich neuer leaueth me Heale me Lord I shall bee free from the world vvhich deceiueth me from the deuill which tempteth me from the flesh which pampereth mee from my enemies which persecute me from my friends which importune me from my euill thoughts which torment me and from malicious men vvhich diffame me Heale me good Lord and I shall bee healed not of a scab but of a sin not of blindnes but of filthines not of the members of my body but of my thoughts not of my body but wickednes not of swollen feet but of disordinate appetites Heale me Lord and I shall be healed of my vnruly desires of the wantonnesse of my eies of my ouermuch speaking of the coldnes of my workes of the stealth of my hands of the malice of my thoughts and of the worme of my couetousnes O good Iesus my only trust heale my soule because I haue offended thee in thought I haue offēded thee in delight I haue offended thee in omission I haue offended thee in consent I haue offended thee in deed therefore vnto thee my fault I confesse and therfore good Iesus take pity vpon me Sprinckle me with isope I shal be made clean Lauabis me super niuē dealbabor saith the Psalmist as if hee would say When it shal please thee whē thy son shal come into the world thou shalt sprinckle me with holy Isope wash me with thy precious hād by which sprinckling and washing I shall not only bee clean and without fault but I shal remain whiter than all the snow of the highest mountains Who is he saith Aymon who cōmandeth vs to wash our selues but only the eternal father who is he who washeth vs but only his precious son with what doth he wash vs but with his holy bloud and who bee those which he doth wash but such as are of his holy church O glorious Isope and happy washing place in the which the Angels if they had license to come down and the heauenly powers if they durst would wash themselues in There were many riuers in Samaria but Naaman was healed in none but in the riuer of Iordan there were many cesterns pooles in Ierusalem but the diseased were helped only in the Probatica There were many fountaines in Palestine but Dauid could neuer slackē his thirst but in the fountain of Bethelem Wee will inferre of all this that there hath been very much bloud shed in the world but none could euer make vs cleane but only the bloud of Christ All water washeth not euery fish poole maketh not cleane euery fountaine filleth not neither doth all bloud make whole a beasts bloud hurteth mans bloud defileth but the bloud of Christ doth make whole doth wash doth fill and content If wee looke curiously into the Scripture and especially into the Apocalips thou shalt find it to bee true that S. Iohn did not see any Saint of heauen wash himselfe in the water which did run in the riuer but onely in the bloud which did run from the lambe O of what great vertue this holy bloud is of seeing that for to wash vs and bath vs in it we need no great quantity but a very smal deale which is easily seene in that the Prophet doth not ask that he would make him a pole of bloud to wash him in but that it would please him to sprinckle him with a little Isope dipped in it A very little is sufficient O my good Iesus and it sufficeth to be sprinckled with it and not washed seeing that one drop of thy precious bloud sufficeth to fil thy glory with many and to people thy church with many good men It is much to be noted that he vseth this word Sprinckle me with Isope and I shall be made cleane for by casting water with Isope one drop falleth here and another there this man is wet with it and that man is drie euen so it falleth out in the bestowing of Christs holy bloud for although it were shed for all the world yet notwithstanding it was not emploied vpon all men The bloud of the sonne of God is sprinkled with Isope seeing that the Christian is saued with it and the Pagan condemned the inst
him nor his heart desired nothing which he did not obtaine in so much that he did not liue according vnto that which reason did prescribe him but according vnto that the flesh did lead him vnto Hee vvasted his fathers treasures which hee did inherite in building stately houses to dwell in and strong castels to retire himselfe vnto large orchards to recreate himselfe in great pooles to fish in cunning musitians to sing to him sweet instruments to play vpon and nimble young maids to daunce in his hall King Salomon did inherite great peace and concord from his father Dauid considering that in fifty years vvhich hee raigned hee vvas neuer challenged by any king hee neuer saw enemie in his kingdome hee neuer placed army in field there neuer vvent banner out of his pallace neuer captaine had pay of him no drum euer brake his sleepe Salomon did inherite great riches from his father seeing that he couered the Temples with gold he inherited great power seeing that all the kings of the earth did serue him he inherited great wisedome seeing he neuer erred in matter of iustice hee inherited eÌ„xceeding great knowledge seeing that men came to see him as a miracle Salomon did inherite from his father more delights and dainties than kingdomes seeing it is not read that euer he was sick that euer he endured any necessitie that any enmity did disquiet him that any persecution did afflict him that any grief did trouble him that any king durst offend him that any kingdome rebelled against him or subiect disobeied him To conclude wee say that Dauids successor in his kingdomes was his sonne Salomon vvhome by excellency they called the rich the wise and quiet because that in all his life time he neuer put hand to sword nor neuer shed mans bloud Now that wee haue told you who succeeded Dauid in his delights and kingdomes it is also needful that we proue vnto you who was his sonne which succeeded him in his iniuries and greifes for seeing wee haue reioiced with the prosperous it is reason that we suffer somewhat with the afflicted Dauid was twise made a Prince once in the city of Ebron where hee was annointed king of the twelue Tribes secondly in the denne of Obdollam where hee was made chiefe of those which were in tribulation and from hence it groweth that when the time came when hee should deuide these two kingdomes betwixt his two sonnes he gaue Salomon his rich and flourishing kingdome and Iesus Christ his poore afflicted one Our Lord will giue him his father Dauids seat said the Angel vnto the Virgine as if he would say Thou art to vnderstand O high Virgine that the pledge and dowrie which the eternall father will giue his eternall sonne shall bee the seat of his old father Dauid the seat I say not of iudgemeÌ„t but to be iudged nor the seat of commanding but of obeying not of weale but of woe not of honour but of pouerty not of pleasure but of paine O how the Iudaical natioÌ„ was deceiued in thinking that Christs kingdome should bee a temporall kingdome and that hee should deliuer them out of their captiuity For seeing that he inherited but one seat of his father Dauid how was it possible that he should deliuer the synagogue by force of armes If the Messias promised in the old law should bee Dauids sonne and rich and mighty why did they not receaue king Salomon for their Messias seeing that hee inherited from his father armes to deliuer them power to defend them treasure to enrich them and great wisdome to gouerne them How is it possible that the sonne of God who inherited nothing of Dauid but a poore seat should make warre vnto any and deliuer them from seruitude The sonne of God succeeded his father Dauid in the seat of obedience which hee had with those who obeied him in the seat of charity which hee had with the diseased in the seat of mercy which he had with the afflicted the seat of humilitie which he had with the prowd and the seat of patience which hee had among the ouertrauelled Christ did onely inherite the principality of the afflicted and comfortlesse and was content withall with it seeing that he was banished by Herod sold by Iudaâ— denied by Saint Peter accused of the Iewes and sentence giuen on him by Pilate and mocked of his seruants If all the troubles vexations of the world should bee put on one heape and those which Christ alone suffered on another all men would giue him the prime and to none of the rest because that of all other men bee they neuer so holy there is no man that feeleth more than his owne griefe and paine but the sonne of God did feele his owne and those of his elect When the Apostle saith that the sonne of God Factus est omnia nobis is made all things for vs what else doth hee say but that hee doth suffer with him who suffereth weepeth with him who weepeth dieth with him who dieth Because he is the father of vs al he feeleth all our griefes and because we cost him much he is grieued that wee suffer much and therefore being a Prince and a captaine of the afflicted he doth helpe vs to weep our greifâ— and remedy the excesse For he saith in his Sermon Veâ—ite and mâ— omnes qui laboratis â—nerati estis ego reficiam vas as if he would say Come vnto me al you which are laden and I will vnlade you and come vnto â—ee all you which labour and I will comfort you O glorious captaine and happy proclamation which Christ maketh throughout the world seeing that hee bindeth himselfe to vnload those which are burdened comfort those wich are afflicted turne to those which are persecuted refresh those which are hungry lift vp those which are troden downe and bâ—e a father of all which be father lesse If such as were in tribulation and necessity and fled vnto king Dauid were sad and sorrowfull sad and sorrowfull they returned again if they were banished banished they returned againe if they were in debt indebted they returned againe and if they were discontent discontented they returned in so much that good king Dauid could neither coÌ„fort them nor releeue them He vvho is persecuted with Iesus cannot for a certaine say so nor hee who is banished vvith our banished Lord because none coÌ„meth vnto him comfortlesse who returneth not comforted nor no man commeth vnto him indebted whose debt he paieth nor O this this is a happy calling Come you vnto me al you which are laden seeing that the son of God doth let vs vnderstand thereby that he hath a schoole for the ignorant an exchange for the needy an hospitall for the diseased a tower for such as are fled a pantry for the hungry and a safe conduct for the banished S. Barnard sayth The God of all creatures and the Lord of the heauenly gouernements is the true Phisitian of my
with O that this is a diuine sentence which the Prophet doth vtter vnto vs in this place whereby wee are plainly taught that the thirst of the soule is farre different from the thirst of the body and that the thirst of the spirit is one and that of the flesh another that of the iust man one and that of the sinner another and the heauenly thirst one and the humane another Whereby is the thirst of the body quenched but by drinking And with what is the thirst of the soule slackened but by contemplation And with what is the thirst of the spirit killed but by seruing God And with what is the thirst of the world eased but by following the world And what doth the iust thirst after but grace in this world and glory in the other And what thirst hath the wicked but to procure all meanes hee can the cockering of himselfe The humane thirst is of humane thinges and the heauenly thirst is of heauenly things and therevpon it is that what our intention is which we haue in our hearts such is the thirst which wee suffer in this world If our principall intent be to be greater in the world all our thirst is to climbe higher if to bee richer then our thirst is in gathering goods together insomuch that such as our thoughts are such are the liues we lead Tell me I pray thee what doth the prowd man hunt after but to bee of great authority what doth the enuious man shoot at but to throw downe another what doth the furious man intend but how to reuenge vpon his enemy what dooth the glutton follow but dainties for the belly This is the thirst which the wicked doe suffer and that which cannot bee spoken without teares is that their life is sooner at an end than the thirst of their wickednesse is quenched S. Augustine vpon the Psalms sayth In great sinners and obstinate hearts although the prowd man doe die yet pride dieth not although the enuious man die yet enuy dieth not although the couetous man die yet couetousnesse dieth not although the carnall man doe die yet his carnality dieth not insomuch that the vicious man is dead before that his vice is at an end Why thinkest thou doe wee say that the vicious man is dead before his vice is at an end but because that if the time in the which he sinned bee ended and past yet his desire of further sinning is not ended S. Ierom saith In damned vnfortunate persons their torments are therefore infinit because their desires of sinning were also infinit because our Lord doth make greater reckoning of that which the hart doth desire thā of that vvhich the hands doe worke S. Basil vpon the Psalmes sayth O how much more dangerous is the thirst which a naughtie mans heart dooth suffer than that vvhich the body doth endure because this is assuaged vvith a cup of cold water but the thirst of the heart is mittigated by adding sinne vnto sinne and therevpon it is that if the thirsty man take pleasure in drinking the great sinner taketh farre more in offending Let mee bee no more credited if I vvere not told of one vvhich had not left onely one vice vntried nor let passe one day wherein hee had not sinned What shall vvee thinke of him but that if hee had alwaies liued hee vvould alwaies haue sinned What a remediles thirst should he haue after sinne and vvhat a friend should he be of vvicked persons vvho left no sinne vvhich he proued not nor no day vvherin he offended not The rich couetous man which vvas in hell did not complaine of the fire vvhich did burne him nor of the cold vvhich pinched him nor of the hunger vvhich hee endured but of the great thirst which tormented him and therefore asked no other fauour of Abraham but that hee would coole and refresh his tongue with a drop of vvater it was the iust iudgement of God that seeing hee had no other thirst in this world but of wealth authority and power and treasure that hee should haue an excessiue thirst in the other not of wealth and authoritie but of a bare cup of water Loe thus you haue seene it proued how the punishment followeth the offence and how one thirst succeedeth another But alas alas the thirst of this world hath an end but the thirst of the other world shall dure alwaies without end CHAP. VIII God complaineth that we forsake him for vile base things and doth compare vs vnto old pooles ME dereliquerunt fontem aquae viuae foderunt sibi eisternas dissipatas quae continere aquas non valent These words God spake by the Prophet Ieremy in the second chapter as if hee would say My people of Israel haue run into two great incōueniences that is they haue forsaken me who am the fountaine of the liuely water and haue made for themselues to drinke in cesternes and pooles which cannot hold water in them Although the Apostle doe say that our Lord is profound in his iudgements yet in those thinges which touch the profite of his creatures he is plaine and easie for if hee bee well pleased he doth presently shew it and if he be angry he doth immediately complaine When Abraham had ended the sacrifice of his sonne Isaac our Lord did immediately thanke him for it and when king Dauid had ended his adultery with Bersabee he complained out of hand for our Lord is so farre without dissimulation and malice that he doth nether faine himselfe to bee content nor denie himselfe to bee angry What more would wee haue God to doe for vs than like a good Lord bee thankfull for that which wee doe in his seruice and like a good friend admonish vs of that which we should doe for him and like a pittifull Father correct vs when we doe any thing against him Our Lord then doth here complaine not only for that we doe forsake and leaue him but also for what vile and base things we doe it whereby we shew how little we doe account of him and how greatly wee doe iniury him seeing that no man doth vse to change his master vnlesse it be for his further profite If it were so that as we do leaue one man for another so wee should leaue one God to dwell vvith a better it were a thing to be borne vvithall but seeing that there is but one true God how is it possible to meet vvith a better God or yet any so good What other thing is it to forsake God for the creature but to leaue the kernell for the shell the fruit for the rinde the rose for the thorne the floure for the bran and the fountaine for the streame Therefore like an angry Lord and a man greatly iniuried God complaineth and sayth Me dereliquerunt fontem aquae viuae for there can be no greater madnesse in the world than to leaue the Creator for the creature the Lord for the seruant the iust
was a most wicked and naughtie king but onely that God had made him a king Thereupon Saint Ambrose saith and that very well that according vnto the example of Dauid thou oughtest not to looke vnto the malice with the which thy enemy entreateth thee but vnto the vnction wherewith he is made a Christian and whether he be a christian or not thou art not the iudge of this busines but he who is thy God and his who is to punish the iniury which thou hast done vnto him in him the reuengement which thou hast taken on thee Comming then vnto our purpose The words which Dauid spake vnto Saul that is Let our Lord be a iudge betwixt me and thee the Sonne of God may say vnto the Synagogue and vnto all her children and that hee alone shall bee the iudge betwixt them as well of all the good which Christ did vnto the Synagogue as of the hurt he hath receiued by her Which of all the Angels if he would come downe vnto vs which of the dead if hee could rise againe what man were hee neuer so wise were able to number the multitude of benefits which were ceiued by him and the incredible torments which they gaue him Let our Lord bee a iudge betwixt me and thee O Synagogue for no other can be how much more greater my loue was with the which I redeemed thee than the torments which in my passion thou gauest me and that how thy hatred was far greater than all the cruelties thou vsedst towards me Therefore I call thee into iudgement O Synagogue before God not to the end that he should chastise thee but onely to iudge betwixt mee thee how that there is no worke of pity and mercy which I left vndone for thee and how there was no cruelty of torment which thou didst not assay against mee Speaking then more particularly of the pardō which the sonne of God gaue the Hebrewes it were reason to shew what they did to deserue it and what mooued Christ to giue it for by so much the more excellent bountifull is the pardon by how much the lesser the occasions were to giue it The Iewes did Christ fiue notorious iniuries at the time of his death the least of all which if it had bene throughly punished had deserued not onely not to be pardoned but also condemned into eternall fire For saith Hilarius what punishment worthy of their desert can be giuen vnto them who take away life from him which is the giuer of life The first wrong which they did vnto Christ was that they crucified him through malice not finding any fault in him at al which appeareth plainly by that that they did let goe Barrabas the manslaier and condemned the sonne of God iudging him to bee an honester man who killed those which liued thē that great Prophet which raised vp those which were dead Christ was a giuer of alms and Barrabas was a theefe Christ was quiet and a peacemaker and Barrabas a sower of sedition Christ a great preacher and Barrabas a great robber and assailer of men by the high way Christ a maister of all good men and Barrabas a captain of all scandalous men and yet notwithstanding all this they condemned Christ to be put immediately to death and sent Barrabas home vnto his house O how wicked a demād made you O yee Iews and peruerse petition in asking that he may liue which killeth those which are aliue and that hee should die who raiseth to life those which were dead Who is there in your citie who can heale the sicke and diseased or raise the dead vnto life if this Prophet die So great was the hatred which they bare vnto the son of God that to heare him once named they were much troubled in Barrabas name they much reioiced which they shewed manifestly when they cried al with one voice that Pilate should deliuer them Barrabas and crucifie Christ O what a happy man should I bee if my loue towards thee were so great as their hatred was towards thee for by that meanes as they tooke a wrong course in chusing Barrabas for themselues so I should doe aright in making choise of thee for my selfe It had not ben to haue beene maruelled at if they had erred in their choise if Pilat had giuen thē their choise betwixt two theeues or two mankillers or other two strangers vnto them but giuing thē the choise betwixt an assailing theefe and a most holy Prophet and they presently to chuse the wicked one vse iniustice against the good one it could not bee but they did it through great want of wisedome and greater abundance of malice The second iniury was that if they had put the sonne of God to death in some mean village it would not haue ben so great an infamy and reproch vnto him but the excommunicated Iewes the better to reuenge themselues vpon Christ and to put him to the greater shame put him to death in the great city of Ierusalem where he was very well known by his preaching allied vnto many honorable Persons by consanguinity What wrong like vnto this was euer done vnto any man or what reproch comparable vnto this that is to lead him to bee crucified at the Mount of Caluary through the same streets which he was wont to passe through to the Tēple to preach Seneca sayth That it is a greater griefe then death it selfe to a man that is shamefast and of a valiant courage to see himselfe troden downe where he hath ben honored and contumeliously handled where he hath been highly esteemed for he feeleth the present torment and griefe he greeueth and perceiueth that which his enemies speake Because the son of God was mighty in doing miracles faire and amiable in his countenance profitable in his doctrine and a friend vnto the weale publicke hee was beloued of all and enuied of many by reason whereof he greeued much at the open dishonour they did him and that publickly they tooke his life from him What griefe could hee be free from seeing himselfe carried openly and condemned vnto the death of the crosse that his friends accompanied him weeping and his enemies scorning mocking him The third was that although they could haue put him to death secretly in his chāber or in some darke night yet they neuer ment once to do it but they brought him forth at one of the clocke they condemned him at three they crucified him at six they murdered him at nine It was not for want of diligēce but through abundance of malice that they chose that houre because thē the sunne sheweth his beames most brightest most people passe through the streets Chrisostome vpon S. Matthew sayth That the Iews would not put Christ to death in the morning because all men were not vp nor in the night because all were at their rest nor yet late in the euening because many had withdrawn thēselues to their
sinne and wickednesse in hell so also there is nothing but naughty and wicked men Wee are much more bound vnto our Christ than Samaria vnto their king Iehu because that that king did only rid Samaria of naughty men but the sonne of God made cleane purged all the earth from sinne Who are the children of Achab whose heads king Iehu cut off and who are the priests of Baal which the also slew but Idolatry which hee tooke away from the Gentiles and the Mosaicall law which hee tooke from the Iewes What is the charriot which the son of God went vp into to accomplish such high and strange things but onely the crosse vpon the which our holy Lord attained such and so many great victories It is to be noted that the king Iehu did not aske Ionadab whether their apparell were alike or neat of one fashion but if they loued one another alike to let vs vnderstand that without comparison our Lord doeth much more regard the loue which wee beare him than the seruices which wee doe him Saint Basil vpon the Prophet which saith Bonorum meorum non eges Thou wantest not of my goods saith I see wel my God I see well that how much the more need I haue of thee the lesse thou hast of me and if thou hast need of mee it is not in respect of the goods of fortune but the loue of my mind Note also that the king of Israel and no other tooke Ionadab by the hand to lift him vp into the charriot whereby we are to vnderstand that onely the sonne of God no other Saint of heauen is able to giue vs grace to loue him giue vs strength to follow him Who is able to follow thee or hath power to imitate thee O redeemer of the vvorld if thou doe not first stretch out thy hand vnto him who is able to lift himselfe vp vnto the charriot where thou doest triumph or vnto the crosse whither thou goest to die if thou doe not take vs by the arme to lift vs vp and if thou doe not hold vs by the hand least wee fall How had it beene possible for Mary Magdalen to haue forsaken her prophane life or Matthew his renting of custome or Paul his persecution or the thiefe his assailing of men by the high vvay if the sonne of God had not taken them by the hand and lifted them vp vnto the crosse with him When in the holy scripture by the feet are vnderstood good purposes and desires and by the hands good works what meaneth he by giuing Ionadab his handes and not his feet for to mount into the chariot but that our good Lord doth rather take hold of the good works which wee doe then of the good purposes which wee haue Gregory in his Register saith If thou wilt get vp vpon the chariot of the crosse with thy captaine Ionadab thou must not get vp with thy tongue which are good words nor with thy feet which are good wishes and purposes but with thy hand which are good deeds because S. Iohn dooth not say Veebaâ—ecoruÌ„ Their words nor Desideria coruÌ„ Their desires but Opera corum sequuntur illes Their works follow theÌ„ It is also to be noted that the king of Israell would not suffer the captaine Ionudab to goe vp into the chariot to him vntill hee had certified and assured him that hee was his true friend in so much that they vnited their hearts before they ioined their hands After the â—â—itation of these two friends we must haue amity and loue with Christ if we wil haue him to helpe vs vp into the chariot and the amity and friendship which wee ought to haue with him is to loue him as hee loueth vs for Christ our Lord will first bee loued of vs then serued by vs. S. Basil saith That if any maÌ„ did labor in the church of God and take pains and forgetteth to loue wee may well say of such a one that he shall not only not bee accepted but that God will thinke him also importunate and troublesome because God will not be serued by men of greatstrength such as are forcible but of such as are free of heart And further the king of Israel was not content to ask Ionadabs heart but that hee should giue it him vpright sincere and entire which Christ also demandeth of vs because the son of God will neuer take him for his friend who hath his heart crooked sinister and not vpright And who hath his heart vpright and sincere but the seruant of our Lord and hee which hath no other thing in this world nor seeketh after any thing but onely Iesus Christ Who is hee who hath his heart crooked and awry but hee who is without life who hath care neither of Christ neither of himselfe but goeth euery houre more and more sinking and as it were drowned in the world Dauid knew this very wel when he said Cor mundum crea in me deus spiritum rectum innoua in visceribus meis as if he would say O great God of Israel O great Lord of the house of Iacob I beseech thee that thou wouldest create a new heart in mee and fauor me with the gift of a new spirit which may be both right and true for the heart which I brought from the womb of my mother is such a one as I dare not offer it vnto thee nor he dareth not appear in thy presence because it is vnclean with sinne and loaden with thoughts and care O good Iesus O my soules hope what better praier can I make vnto thee or what iuster petition can I make vnto thee then that thou wouldest create a new heart in mee That is that you wouldest giue mee a cleane heart with the which I may praise thee and a new spirit with the which I may loue thee Giue me O good Lord giue me a new spirit because mine is old vnpleasant vnto thee giue me a cleane and a chast heart because mine is foule and stinking before thy face for if thou do not no praier of mine can bee acceptable vnto thee nor no worke that I doe can bee meritorious vnto thee Cassiodorus noteth That king Dauid was not content that hee was noble in bloud a Prophet by office a king in degree and in surname and calling of a roiall tribe but he asketh of God aboue all things that hee would giue him a cleane heart and poure the holy ghost into him to let vs vnderstand that it doth little auaile vs to bee gratefull vnto the world if withall wee bee hatefull vnto God Then wee are hatefull vnto God and out of his sauour vvhen our hearts bee vncleane and loaden with many spirits and then wee haue many spirits when vvee please others better then wee please God Which the Prophet liketh not but praieth vnto God that it would please him to giue him a cleane heart to beleeue in him and an vpright to serue him Why
vvouldest thou O my soule haue more then one heart seeing thou art to loue but one Christ onely And vvhy also vvouldest thou haue more then one holy spirit considering that it is the Deuill vvhich poureth many spirits into one body and our God for all bodies hath but one onely spirit S. Barnard vpon the passion of our Lord sayth If wee vvill ascend with Christ to the crosse it is necessary for vs to doe that with our hearts that hee did with his that is with the heart of God hee tooke the heart of a man and with the heart of a spirit hee tooke a heart of flesh and with a high heart hee tooke a low heart and vvith a heart of reuenge hee tooke a heart of pitie and mercy Take good Lord a new heart to come downe from heauen into the world and doe not renue thy heart to ascend from the world to heauen The end of the first word which Christ our redeemer spake on the crosse Here beginneth the second word which Christ our redeemer spake vpon the Crosse when he forgaue the good theefe vz. Amen dico tibi hodie mecum eris in Paradiso Truly I say vnto thee that this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise CHAP. I. ⧠Of the conuersion of the good theefe and of the great wonders which our Lord did vnto him in this case DOmine memento mei dum veneris in regnum tuum said the good theefe which vvas crucified on the right hand of Christ and speaking vnto Christ himselfe and it is as if hee had said O maker of all things and redeemer of all mankind I beseech thee that â—s thou vvouldest take mee for a companion vnto thee vpon this tree so also thou vvouldest vouchsafe to remeber me aboue in thy kingdome If vve marke curiously this speech vve shall find that there vvas neuer praier made vvith like circumstances as this vvas For he vvho made it vvas a theefe the place vvhere he made it vvas on the crosse he vnto vvhom he made it a man crucified that vvhich hee asketh is a kingdome and the time when hee asketh it is when hee was almost dead in so much that at the very time when he should die hee desired that Christ would let him raigne I haue of a long time commended vnto my memory and singularly well liked of that speech of Boetius which saith Quòd nihil ex omniparte beatum as if he would say There is nothing so perfect in this life which doth neither want nor abound in somewhat insomuch that either we haue need of scissers to clip off that which is superfluous or a needle and a thimble to ad that which wanteth Seneca in his booke of Clemency saith It is an hundred and twelue years agoe since I was borne in Cordua a town in Spaine and it is threescore and eight years agoe since I came to dwell in the court of Rome and yet in all this time I neuer saw any thing so perfect which was euen when it came to bee measured or of iust waight in the ballance when it came to be peised or satisfied the eie when it came to bee seene or contented mens minds when it came to be enioied And it is easily perceiued that there is nothing Ex omni parte beatum because there hath neuer been any Prince in the world so famous and renowned no Philosopher so wise no captaine so valorous no personage so worthy who wanted not somewhat worthy of commendation and in whom there was not found somwhat worthy of reprehension Who doubteth that there is nothing euery way perfect seeing there is no maÌ„ aliue who hath not wept who hath not erred who hath not sinned who hath not sighed and who hath not ben persecuted How can wee say that there is any man happy on earth seeing he doth a thousand things whereof hee hath cause to repent scarse one thing worthy of praise Only our Lord and no other is ex omni parte beatuis in all respects happy seeing that of him and of no other the Prophet saith lustus es domine rectum iudicium tuum as if he should say Our Lord is very iust in himselfe and vpright in all which hee dooth It had beene but a small honour vnto God to say that hee was iust vnlesse it had beene also said that hee did iustice and it is a small matter to say that hee did iustice vnlesse wee say also that hee is very iust because there are many which are iust and yet doe no iustice and very many which doe iustice and yet are not iust S. Augustine saith That it is so high and heroical a vertue to hit aright in all things and not to be able to misse in any that God reserued this point onely vnto himselfe and participated it with none but vnto his sonne and vnto his mother Irenaeus vpon the Psalmes sayth That it is a small matter to say of our Lord that he is iust seeing hee is iustice it selfe and to say that he is vpright seeing that he is righteousnesse it selfe and to say that hee is holy seeing that he is holinesse it selfe because there is no other righteousnesse but that which hee hath no holinesse but that which hee giueth nor iustice but that which he doth Who is so blind who seeth not plainely that our Lord is iust and his iudgement right seeing there is no other goodnesse but that which is himselfe nor other iustice but that which hee dooth in his owne house Who is so iust as thou sayth Hierome in that which thou doest and so vpright in that which he iudgeth as thou art O great God of Israell seeing that in thy iudgements and sentences neither ignorance deceiueth thee nor entreaty boweth thee nor rewards corrupt thee nor threatnings feare thee To come then vnto our purpose seeing that thou art iust O good Lord and that thy iudgement is rightfull how fell it out that thou diddest send Iudas from the crosse into hel and tookest the theefe from thence with thee to Paradise Theefe for theefe naught for naught sinner for sinner vngratefull for vngratefull and both alike it seemeth vnto mans iudgement that he should as well haue bestowed his kingdome vpon Iudas which followed him three years as vpoÌ„ the theefe which accompanied him three houres When our Lord tooke from Cain the right of his first birth or inheritance and gaue it vnto Abel tooke it from Ismaell and gaue it vnto Isaac tooke it from Esau and gaue it to Iacob from Ruben and gaue it to Iudah from Saul and gaue it to Dauid the reason was for that hee found in those great demerite whereby they lost it and in the others great merit with the which they deserued it If Christ should take a kingdome from a naughty man and bestow it vpon a good man it would bee but iust but yet it would scome a hard point to take it from one theefe giue it to another because
loue when he doth impart his grace amongst vs insomuch that with the first loue hee deliuered vs from being slaues and with the second loue he receiued vs to be his sonnes In figure of all this the altar of the Synagogue was all hollow but the altar of the church is massie and sound by reason of the feruent loue which God beareth vs and great charitie and mercy which hee doth vs. It is much to bee noted that God doth not commend vnto vs Faith Hope Patience and Chastitie but only Charitie in which words hee giueth vs to vnderstand that if we doe set much by that which our Lord giueth vs we ought to esteeme much more of the loue with the which hee doth giue it vs. Isidorus sayth That all the courtesies which our Lord doth promise vs and all the persuasions vvhich hee vseth vnto vs are to no other end but because vve should bee thankfull vnto him and because vve should be mercifull vnto our neighbours What vvanteth hee vvhich vvanteth not Charity and what hath he who hath no Charity The mercifull and pitifull man hath God alwaies at his hand that he fall not from his faith that hee lose not his hope that he defile not his chastity nor despise humility for in the high tribunall seat of God no man need to feare that they will deale cruelly with him if hee hath had any charity in this world Wherein doest thou thinke saith S. Ierome that all Christian charity doth consist and al the health of thy soule but only in seruing of Christ with all our heart and in labouring to profit and benefit our neighbour What greater good can I doe vnto my brother than put him in the right way if hee be out and correct him if hee bee naught Bede sayth vpon this matter That true and chast loue may bee deuided betwixt God and our neighbour so as our neighbor be not prowd and naught for if he be so we are to wish his saluation and flie his conuersation Wee haue spoken all this to declare the great charity which this good theefe had and also vsed towards the naughty theefe seeing that vpon the crosse hee taught him that which was conuenient for him reprehended him in that which he spake Neque tu times deum qui in eadem damnatione es said the good theefe vnto the bad as if he would say O my friend and companion I wonder much at thee that hauing beene of such a naughty life and conuersation and being vpon the very point to die I say I maruel that thou darest to crucifie this holy Prophet more with thy tongue than the hang men doe with their nailes because the nailes doe open his vains but thy euill tongue doth rend his entralls The good theefe vsed but few wordes but they contained many mysteries and therefore it is needfull that they be read with attention and written with grauity It is to bee noted that although our Lord God be present in all things with his power yet hee is much more in mans heart and tongue by grace because those are the two parts with the which we doe most of all please or offend God with S. Aug. saith That the eies doe loth oft to see the ears to hear the hands are loth to work the feet to go yea the body to sinne but the heart is neuer weary of thinking nor the tongue with speaking Cor mundum crea in me deus pone custodiam ori meo said the Prophet Dauid as if he would say I beseech thee O good Lord that thou wouldest renue this heart within me put a watch vnto this mytongue because that al the other parts of my body can but trouble offend me but the heart tongue can trouble me damne me S. Ambrose saith That it is a certein token that we are in Gods fauor when he doth giue vs grace to keep our hearts clean our tongues brideled because the foundation of all Christian goodnes is to beleeue our Lord God with all our hearts praise him with our tongue Ego dabo eis cer nouuÌ„ said God vnto Israel I will open thy mouth said God vnto Ezechiel as if he would say I will lighten thy heart O Israel to the end that thou maist beleeue in me and I will open thy mouth O Ezechiel to the end that thou maist preach my name for thou hast obtained no small gift if thou come to know me learn wel to set forth my name To come theÌ„ vnto our purpose the grace of a new heart which God gaue vnto Israel and the gift of praising his name which he gaue Ezechiel Christ also gaue vnto the good theef which was neer vnto him seeing he touched his heart with the which he beleeued in him opened his mouth with the which he preached his name Vbertinus saith That this good theefe was an excellent preacher in the church of God who in a sort seemed to goe before the Apostles in faithfully beleeuing and preaching Christs might and power What greater maruell wouldst thou haue the bloud of Christ worke saith Rabanus thaÌ„ to make preachers of theeues robbers the pulpit in the which hee preached was the crosse the preacher was the theâ—f the holy one of whoÌ„ he preached was Christ the church where he preached was Caluary the audience before whom he preached were the Iews the Theame vpoÌ„ which he preached was Neque tu deum times Neither doest thou fear God and that which there hee preached was the setting forth of Christ and the reprehending of that which his fellow spake The office of a preacher is saith Saint Gregory Secreta reserarae vitia extirpare virtutes inserere The duty of a preacher is to open the secrets of the scripture extirpate vice out of the Commonwealth and teach how our soules are to be saued What greater secret can there bee than to confesse and preach a man crucified to bee God Who reprehended vices like vnto this theefe seeing that hee confessed himselfe to be a sinner and accused the other theefe to bee a blasphemer who did teach the way to heauen better thaÌ„ this theef seeing hee was almost the first that went thither The good theefe deuided his sermon into foure parts the first was when hee rebuked the other theefe when hee said Neque tu deum times the second when hee accused himselfe to bee naught saying Nos quidem iustè patimur The third when he excused Christ saying Hic autem quid mali fecit The fourth when hee craued pardon for his sinnes Domine memento mei Lord remember mee Seeing then that the preacher is but a new preacher the pulpit new and the thing that he preacheth new it is reason that wee should heare that which hee preacheth with attention and do that which he counselleth with great deuotion Auferetur zelus meus ate quiescam ne irascar amplius said God by Ezechiel chap.
haue to serue our Lord is rather baslard will than a lawfull will for to tell the troth my brother wee haue more skill in sinning than in louing The good theefe would not so plainely teach the euill theefe the art of loue as hee did the duty of feare partly because the time was too short to learne so high a matter as then being in great torment and neer vnto death and partly because the quality of mans mind is easily induced to feare and very slowly to loue O vnto how many may wee say now adaies that which the good theefe said vnto the other that is neither thou doest feare God letting them to vnderstand by these words that they neither feare God nor loue God nor serue God nor yet remember whether there bee a God considering they let no sinne vndone vnlesse it bee because they dare not or because they cannot What friend is there in this world which giueth his brother such brotherly correction What friend dare tell his friend take heed brother for thou art prowd or ill-tongued or a babbler badly beloued and euery man marketh thy doings S. Barnard vpon those words of Ieremy Omnes amici eius spreuerunt eum c sayth Woe be vnto me O my good Iesus woe be vnto me because that all the holy maisters which brought me vp are now dead all my faithful friends which were wont to giue me counsell are now gone and if I haue any left they rather couer my faults than correct them There are few good theeues left to correct mee and many naughty friends to hide my faults and which cannot be said without teares which art not content only to hide my sinnes but also are ready to entise mee to sinne A certaine man of Athens asking Plato wherein he should shew his friendship vnto him answered him Thou shalt aduise me of all that I shall speak amisse and helpe mee in all that I shall doe amisse because the duty which I require of my friend is that he would helpe mee to be vertuous and hinder me from being vicious There are but few friends which doe this and very few which aske this of their friends for there are few which will haue those for their friends which may and will correct them for the enormities they doe but defend them in the vices they commit What doth it auaile me if my friend deliuer mee from my enemies which lay wait for me if he deliuer me vnto vices which kill me We see that one theefe doth correct another from the crosse and yet one Christian will not correct another but will rather be vicious betwixt themselues than breake the friendship which is betwixt them Nonne qui oderunt te domine oderam inimici facti sunt mihi said Dauid in the 138 Psalme as if hee would say O great God of Israel and mighty Lord of the house of Iacob one of the duties which I haue done for thy seruice is that all the daies of my life I haue hated those which loue not thee I haue vtterly disliked those which followed not thee I went from them which loued not thee yea I did flie from him which serued thee not Cassio dorus vpon these words sayth Thou hast great reason in that which thou saiest and greater in that which thou doest O renowmed and gracious king Dauide for if naughty men had no cōpanions to helpe them and wanted friends to bandy for them in short time wee should see them ended or amended That one friend doe not helpe another in matters touching his wealth it may be born but not to counsell him in things concerning his conscience may not be endured for if the matter doe offend God and endanger our conscience we should neither suffer our father who engendred vs nor yet consent with friend or brother who loueth vs. Nathan did rebuke Dauid Samuel Saul Micheas Achab Helias Iezabel S. Iohn Herod and S. Paul S. Peter not for any thing that they had done against themselues but for that which they had committed against God because we should know that we ought to hold him for an enemy who is not beloued of God How wilt thou haue God for thy Lord and friend if thou bee a friend vnto that that he detesteth We haue great need to say with the Prophet Did I not hate those which did hate thee and they are become my enemies For to tell thee the truth my brother thou canst neues rightly Ioue vertue and vertuous men vnlesse thou doe first detest vice and vicious men For as Seneca sayth Hee shall neuer or very late bee good who will haue a naughty man for his friend S. Augustine vpon S. Iohn sayth What greater maruails wouldest thou see or heare thā those which the sonne of God did at his death where preachers became theeues theeues turned to be preachers Wicked Iudas was a preacher and he became a theefe and hee who suffered with Christ was a theefe and he became a preacher and as they tooke new offices so they ended in diuers effects for the one sold Christ in the temple and the other excused Christ vpon the crosse Who was the last theefe of the Synagogue and the first preacher in the church but that holy theefe which suffered by Christ Who made a Sermon of greater weight than this theefe did considering that in the presence of all men and against them all he accused himselfe and excused Christ Hic autem quid malifecit These are the words not of a Pagan but of a Christian as if he would haue said Who euer being God made himselfe a man eternall made himselfe temporall being infinite limited his power and being a iudge suffered himselfe to bee iudged What hurt did he Who taught those which knew little who set those aright which went astray who did comfort those which wept who did pardon those which did offend What hurt did he He who did restore the deafe vnto their hearing fed the hungry gaue sight vnto the blind and raised the dead to life What hurt did he He who preached vnto the Samaritane woman defended the woman taken in adultery and hee who helped the Cananean and forgaue Mary Magdalen What hurt did he Hee who preached the faith taught the law opened the Prophets and hee who put vp a schoole throughout all the world Quid mali fecit what harme had he done He who made vs a path-way to walk in a truth to hold by a life to liue by and glory for vs to enioy What hurt did he He who endured hunger because I might eat took great iournies because I should take rest and who suffered because I should not bee endangered and hee who died because I should liue What hurt did he O cursed Israelites O forsaken Iewes what hurt hath hee done vnto your Synagogue who neuer ceaseth to doe good vnto all the world If hee could haue beene accused to haue done any hurt it was because he had done so
liberty and in freedome why doest thou call him Lord which is fastened to the crosse and crucified like thy selfe Seeing that he who should be a Lord ought to bee mighty and rich why doest thou call him Lord who was poor in his life time and naked in his death But this Prophet whō I call vpon and vnto whome I commend and commit my selfe is a mighty Lord and a king of great power seeing the son lost his light for compassion the stones broke with griefe the vaile rent in sunder for a mystery the graues opened with feare and the Centurion confessed him to be Christ O great God of Israel O great Lord of the house of Iacob◠for this cause thy name is admirable and worshipped in all the circuit of the earth because thy power and dominion is doubled and redoubled more than any mans in the world Cassiodorus noteth vpon this matter That the holy scripture doth neuer call any twise Lord Lord but Christ alone because he alone and none with him is Lord of heauen and earth of life and death body and soule and of peace and warre Wee cannot call Hector the Troian Anchises the Grecian Alexander the Macedonian and Caesar the Romane Lord more than once because they were kings onely of their owne kingdomes but vnto the sonne of God wee say twise Domine domine noster Lord our Lord because his siegnory is so great that no man is able to limit it nor set any bonds vnto it Euery other Prince hath his kingdome limited and set with bonds either to the top of a steeple or couering of a house and if it bee not so let him send a post from thence vpward and hee shall perceiue that his kingdome reacheth no higher which cannot be said to be true of the sonne of Gods Empire seeing it goeth from one end of the world vntill the other and reacheth vp vnto the highest heauen Considering that Dauid calleth Christ Lord Lord twise why doth he call him only once Lord. The mystery of this mystery is that Dauid called him Lord Lord twise because hee should keepe his body from his enemies and cary his soule vnto those which are blessed but the good theefe did call him but once Lord because his intention was not that Christ should keepe his life but only that hee would vouchsafe to saue his soule Why doest thou thinke sayth S. Basil vpon the Psalme that Dauid said vnto our Lord Lord calling him twife Lord but because he was Lord of the truth and of the figure of the church and of the synagogue of the Prophets and of the Apostles and of the old Testament and of the new The good theefe would not call Christ Lord twise because hee would let vs vnderstand that the figure is fulfilled and the truth come that the church is come and the synagogue ended that the Prophets are dead and the Apostles succeeded in their place that the old law is buried and the Gospel proclaimed Why think you doth the good theef call Christ Lord but once but because we haue but one Lord to beleeue one redeemer to worship To say once Christ remember me was to say that hee would haue him and no other for a master to serue for God in whō he would beleeue for his Lord whom hee would obey for a friend whome hee would trust vnto for an aduocate in whose hands he would put himselfe into The second word which the theefe said vnto Christ was Remēber me as if he would say Seeing that I doe confesse thee here before all men to bee my Lord and vpon this crosse acknowledge thee to be my redeemer haue mee in remembrance my good Lord seeing I haue remēbred thee and turned vnto thee Remember me O sweet Iesus seeing thou hast created me remember me seeing thou hast redeemed mee remember mee and seeing thou hast lightened me remember mee and seeing thou hast chosen me remember me for it would auaile me very little that thou shouldest giue me light to know thee if withall thou shouldest not giue me grace to serue thee Remēber me O good Iesus because I am hard by thy side remember me because I beleeue in thee remember me because I trust in thee remember me because I hope in none but in thee and seeing I haue offered my selfe for to be thy perpetuall seruant remember I beseech thee to accept me for thine Remember mee because thou hast raised me from the dust remember me because thou hast made me a Christian remember me to make mee good and remember mee to giue mee heauen and aboue all things I beseech thee that seeing thou hast giuen thy life for me remember me that I lose not my soule O good Iesus giuer of life with my tongue I beseech thee and with my heart I aske it of thee that seeing thou doest shed thy precious bloud vpon the crosse for me remember me that it be not euilly bestowed on mee and when shall thy bloud be euilly bestowed on mee but when it is not by thee accepted for me Seeing thou hast sweat oft for me suffered most grieuous pains for me endured inspeakable persecutions for mee and hast dissembled my abominable offences what doest thou gaine O good Iesus what doest thou gaine if I lose my soule and thou the fruit of thy precious bloud Remember me O Lord seeing that in pardoning my fault and by sauing my soul thou shalt make a Christian people heauen the more enrich thy church spread abroad thy fame and exalt thy mercy Remember the sabboth day said God in the law remember the daies past said Moyses vnto God remember because my life is a wind said holy Iob remēber how I haue walked before theesaid king Ezechias when he was sick and remember me said good Ioseph when he was in prison and remember mee when thou commest into thy kingdome I say vnto thee here now crucified vpō the crosse What should I say O the light of my life What doest thou aske me that I haue not giuen thee and what doe I possesse that is not thine I haue already giuen my money to the iailor my coats to the hang man I haue salne out with my companion who iniuried thee I haue made the best answere that I could for thy honour and therefore I can do nothing more but say Lord remember me Domine memento mei and seeing I offer thee the confession of Miserere that vpō my knees and my eies washed with tears why shouldest thou shut the gates of thy mercy against me my confession being thus iust being condemned for a naughty person as thou art my members disiointed the one from the other like thine crucified vpon the crosse like thy selfe I beleeue faithfully in thee and commend my selfe wholly vnto thee saying Lord remember mee Lord-remember mee and I beseech thee haue pitie on me seeing that in suffering I am like vnto thee I dy for being a theefe and thou for the same cause they
is made cleane the naughty man continueth vncleane the vertuous man is bedewed with it and the vicious man remaineth dry and that which is more to be lamented some doe there wash away their offences some haue not one drop of it The Priest in the Leuiticall law did clense such as were infected with a leprosie if they came vnto him and if they brought those things which the law prescribed and if they were sprinckled seuen times with the bloud of the bird but if they refused to doe any of these things the Priest was in no fault and their vncleannesse vvas imputed vnto themselues The High priest the sonne of God did die for all men and shed his bloud for all men but if thou Infidell or Heretike wilt not enter into the Catholicke church if thou sinner or naughty man wilt at the time when it is destributed turne thy face from it what fault is in Christ if his precious bloud worke no vertue in thee O how happy that soule is vpon whom there falleth one drop not of the bloud which the priest sprinckled but this precious bloud which the son of God sheddeth for being washed in so deep a poolshe wil go beyond the snow in whitenes exceed the son in clearnes It is time now for vs to come vnto our first purpose apply all this vnto that which holy Simeon spake of Christ When Simeon sayth of Christ that he is put to helpe vp many and when the Prophet saith O Israell thy perdition commeth of thy selfe and thy saluation of mee and when Dauid saith Heale me Lord and I shal be made whole and on the other side Sprinckle me Lord with Isope and I shal bee made cleane hee letteth vs vnderstand plainly that if wee bee not made cleane by the mighty hand of the son of God no man else hath the power to doe it Wherefore sayth Irenaeus did the redeemer of the world come into the world but because wickednesse and wicked men should fall downe and because vertue and vertuous men should rise By his comming into the world idolatry fell downe and the true faith was set vp Hypocrisie was beaten downe and truth lifted vp tyranny fel downe and iustice lifted vp malice fell downe and innocency lifted vp reuengement fell downe and mercy lifted vp If thou dost come into the world saith Vbertinus because that all naughtinesse and naughty men should fall who in all the world is so wicked as my selfe or who fallen so low What greater fal than to be fallen from thy grace Come thē sweet Iesus come to the lifting vp of my vertues and come to the fall of my vices for if thou doe not make my vices first to fal my vertues can neuer rise Note saith Remigius that Simeon first said of Christ that hee was come in ruinam before hee said that he was in resurrectionem because it is impossible that humility should rise in mee before that my pride bee ouerthrowne neither can patience rise in me if my anger first fall not neither my abstinence rise in me before my gluttony fall and therefore I must first suffer my selfe to die and thē I shall rise againe with Christ Chrysostome saith That in the house of God there is neuer no rising of vertues if there be not first in her a fall of vices wherof it followeth that if thou wilt haue wholesome vertues to grow in thee thou must first of necessity pull all superfluous passions out of thee S. Barnard sayth That the sonne of God came into the world for the fall rising of many seeing that pride fell with his humility couetousnesse with his pouerty anger with his patience the flesh with his chastity gluttony with his abstinence and also ignorance fell with his doctrine Chrysost saith That the sonne of God came into the world in ruinam resurrectionē whē the prowd mā becōmeth humble the couetous mā pitiful the furious man meeke the carnall man chast the gluttonous abstinent and the cold man deuout in so much that there is in the same man a fall of vices and a rising of vertues CHAP. V. How Salomon did inherite the kingdome of his father Dauids pleasures and how Christ did inherite the kingdome of trauails IN tuam ipsius animam doloris gladius pertransibit Luke 2. These be the wordes which Simeon vsed to the holy Virgin as if hee would say I haue told thee Mary what shal happen vnto this thy sonne I will tell thee now what shall fall vnto thy selfe that is that the same sword shall end his life and pierce thy soule What thing more strange or what more grieuous newes can be told a holy and vertuous womā than to tell her from God that her sonnes sword shal part her heart in two Abraham tooke a knife for his sonne Isaac but hee killed him not Balaam met with an Angell which had a knife but he stroke him not Iosue saw another Angell with a drawne sword but he did not set vpon him and Salamon tooke a knife to cut a child in two but in the end he did not part him in two What meaneth this mother of God what meaneth this Abrahams knife did not hurt his sonne and thy sonnes sword woundeth thy hart Balaam did not hurt his Asse with his sword and doth not thy sonnes sword fauour thy heart Iosue his sword doth offer and threaten but hurteth not and doth thy sonnes sword wound but not threaten Had Salamons knife pitie on the strumpets child and had not thy sons knife pitie on his owne mother Hee placed a Cherubin before Paradise and a firie sword to keepe the way of the tree saith the holy Scripture in the fourth chapter of Genesis After that our first Parents had transgressed the commaundement of God our Lord put there presently a firie sword to keepe Paradise because no man should enter in to eat of the tree which was forbidden S. Augustine vpon this place saith That there was neither sword nor knife in the house of God before that man knew what sinne was but at the same houre that he fell from grace to sinne our Lord put both sword and gibbet in his house Before that man sinned there was no dore to shut in the house of god nor Cherubin to watchit nor sword to defend it but immediately after man sinned the gate was shut and the key was lost What is the sword which we speak of here but onely the sonne of God in whom wee beleeue The sonne of God is called a sword in the Apocalips and a sword vvhich cutteth on both sides because hee alone and no other punisheth the bad and defendeth the good killeth those which are aliue and raiseth those vvhich are dead It vvas in the hands of the Cherubine to let vs enter in or not into the terrestriall Paradise and it is in the hands of the sonne of God vvhether wee shal enter into the celestiall Paradise or not Wee haue a
that Christ had vpon the crosse was not so much for drinke as to desire to suffer more for vs. EXpergefactus lassus adhuc sitit anima eius vacua est Esay chap. 29. The Prophet Esay vttereth these words speaking in generall of the great trauails and most greiuous thirst which the sonne of God suffered in particular and it is as if he would say The great Messias waked out of his sleepe like vnto a man who had escaped out of a lithargy or some drousie disease whē he beheld the state of his soule he found that she was empty For the Prophet to say that the sonne of God slept vpon the crosse and that after he waked and was weary and found his heart empty seemeth a strange and a doubtfull thing vnto pittifull eares For if it be true that hee suffered how was it possible that he slept and if he slept how could it be that he suffered What is more strange vnto torment than sleepe and what a greater enemy to sleepe than torment Considering that the sonne of God hanged vpon the altar of the crosse his feet bare his hands torne his side pierced his sinews wrested and his bones put out of ioint how could it bee that he should sleepe or take any rest at all He who should hang vpon the crosse as Christ did that is weary wasted bloudy nailed and one ioint drawn from another would he not haue greater ability and inclination to complaine than desire of sleepe The Prophet vttereth foure things in this prophecie the first that Christ did awake out of a sleepe and dreame which he slept the second that he awaked aweary the third that hee awaked thirsty the fourth that hee found his heart empty Of all these foure things the one doth make vs most of all to maruell for to say that Christ was aweary I beleeue it to say that he was a thirst I agree vnto it and that he wanted all comfort I do also admit But to say that he slept there is that which maketh me to wonder because his eternall Father did not send him thither to sleepe but to redeem all the world It is much to bee noted in this place that the famous Augustine sayth against Manichaeus Saepè imo saepissimè in sacris literis circumstantiae scripturarum declarant Scripturam as if he would say It happeneth oftentimes that when the Scripture is darke and obscure that the circumstances before going and comming after doe declare and explain the same Scripture and one Prophet doth declare another and one text another This then being so it is conuenient for vs to find out in Scripture some kind of sleepe and by that we may coniecture and gesse at the manner of sleeping which the son of God slept vpon the crosse and also wee shall know when how and wherefore Christ did awake out of his sleepe Excitatus est tanquam dormiens dominus tanquam potens crapulatus vino sayth the Prophet Dauid Psalm 77. as if he would say Our Lord did awake out of his dreame like a man that is sleeping and hee rose out of that dreame like a man full of power and like vnto one who had drunke wine It is a verefied truth in our Christian faith that God is a pure spirit and a substance not compounded but simple which hath no flesh which may putrifie nor bones which may be brokē nor hunger which may cause him to eat nor stomack to disgest with nor vapours to ascend and prouoke him to sleepe nor yeares to make him old If it bee true that there is no time which can make God old nor meat which can force him to sleepe is it not also true that his sleepe is otherwise to be vnderstood than ours and that he awaketh in another manner than we doe When the Philosopher sayth That sleep is the image of death what else doth he mean but that a man which sleepeth is nothing else but an image of a dead man Mark well the conditions of a dead man and thou shalt find the same in one which sleepeth for he who is in his bed asleepe and hee who is in his graue can neither speake nor heare nor vnderstand those which call vpō them nor feele those which touch them nor offend those which abuse them nor complaine on those which blaspheme them nor reuenge on those which hurt them Who will not say that our Lord dooth not sleepe this kind of sleep seeing we see that in naughty men he doth dissemble their ambition the blasphemies which they speak the adulteries which they commit the incests they go about and the malice which they thinke What is sleepe in a man but to haue all his members at rest And what else is sleeping in our Lord but the suspending of his vengeance and punishment The wicked men thinke that because our Lord doth suffer them to liue in the world and not punish thē that therefore he is asleep that he hath no care ouer the things of this world which is an errour without all doubt for they must know if they know it not that that which wee call in a man sleeping is called in God dissembling Vpon those words of the Prophet Dormitauerunt omnes S. Ambrose sayth Our Lord doth winke at the naughtinesse of wicked men not because he hath a desire that they should sinne but because he hopeth that they should amend which if they doe not the Lord awaketh for their wickednes and laieth his heauy hand ouer thē Whē is our Lord seen to awake out of his sleep but whē he laieth his hand ouer the naughty mā doth chastise him for his errour Euen as whē one will giue another a great blow the higher he doth lift his hand the greater stroke hee doth giue him in the self same sort the longer time our Lord doth stay and wait for the wicked the more rigorously and with lesser pity he doth punish him Whereof thinkest thou doth it proceed that God doth awake to punish thy sinne but because he doth see thee sleepe so long time in sinne Isidorus saith Wilt thou see curious reader that our Lords casting himselfe to sleepe is nothing else but to dissemble at our faults and that to awake is nothing else in him but to begin to punish thy sinne thou maiest perceiue it by that that as the Prophet had said Excitatus est tanquam dormiens hee added immediately Etpercussit eos in pectora eorum What other thing doth the Prophet say vnto vs by these words but that at the selfe same time houre and moment that the Lord did awake out of his sleepe he did put his rigorous hand ouer the Princes of the Gentiles Looke well vnto it my brother looke well vnto it and be not deceiued and if thou think that our Lord is asleepe hath no regard of thy doings take thou heed for it is the temptation of the diuell and that none of the least with the
reuerence of the arke whereby so much the more euery thing was more precious by how much the neerer it was vnto it For the seruice of this Temple there were appointed twenty and foure thousand Priests of the great tribe of Leui whose charge was to panch the beasts offer sacrifice light the lampes and kindle the fire For to keepe the gates of the Temple there were appointed foure thousand porters and for to sing the Psalmes which Dauid made and those which Salomon made there were chosen other foure thousand whose office was also to play on instruments of musicke If the building which Salomon made was prowd and stately so was also the first sacrifice which he offered for he killed and offered vnto our Lord on one day twenty and two thousand beefes and a hundred and twenty thousand sheepe Now that wee haue spoken of the pompe glory and riches of that famous temple wee will tell you in what all this great treasure did end and thereby it may be perceiued how vaine and brittle all worldly glory is and especially that which is founded vpon riches It is a thing much to be wondred at and worthely to be noted that wheÌ„ the Sancta was not rich and when the great citie of Ierusalem was poore with their pouerty they did ouercome all their enemies and afterward with their wealth they were ouercome by them Dauid was poorer than Salomon and Saul was poorer than Dauid and yet for all their pouerty they had more victories ouer their enemies then Salomon and Roboam his sonne in their times whose riches treasures did exceed the treasures of their predecessors Men thinke that the remedy against misery pouerty doth consist in getting much wealth and riches and in hauing abundance of all things the which thing to thinke is a great vanity and a dangerous thing to get for we see many who thinking to bring wealth and riches to their house bring death war and dissention to it and because we may not seeke far for examples let vs looke vpon the Iewes with their treasures and if wee weigh the matter well we shall find for a truth that misery pouerty is not remedied with riches and that the captain of misery is peace and the companion of riches is misery No longer after the death of Salomon but fiue yeares Sesach king of Aegypt did send to Ierusalem seuenty thousand horsemen and twise as many footmen and a thousand two hundred Wagons for cariages and took Ierusalem and robbed the Temple and spoiled king Roboams pallace insomuch that the Temple was not so long a sacking as it was a building The king of Babilon did send his army to Iudea who vsed the matter so well that hee tooke the city and robbed the Temple and led the king of Iudea prisoner to Babilonia and no man was able to resist him or hurt him After this great mischiefe came the king of the Chaldeans who killed the yong men tooke the women captiue set fire on their towres burnt the sanctuary tooke the people prisoners and robbed the treasure The warres which the Aegyptians Chaldeans and Babilonians had with the Hebrews were not because they did hold them for their enemies but only to rob their treasures nsomuch that against the poore Israelites made greater warres their owne riches than all other barbarous nations Let the litterall conclusion be that wee may say truly of the Temple of Salomon Quod Consummatum est seeing that the Temple is at an end Salomon which made it the people where it was made the riches with the which it was made and the sacrifices for the which it was made Of all this we may gather that God dooth not giue vs riches because we should loue them but because wee should benefite our selues by them serue him with them but alasse that which God doth giue vs to serue him withal we doe turne to our owne pleasures and delights Dominus in templo sancto suo dominus in caelo sedes eius sayth the Psal 10. as if he would say The places where our Lord doth most of all abide are in the heauens vvhere he hath his seat and in the holy Temple where he hath his dwelling place Because we should not thinke that the Temple vvhich he here speaketh of is the Temple of Salomon in Ierusalem or of Dian. in Antiochia or of Pantheus in Rome God said not that hee dwelled in euery Temple but he added holy and also his For in the Temple where God must dwell there must be no sinne nor any else with him The Temple which Salomon made vvas very rich and although it vvas a Temple it followeth not that it vvas holy for if it had been and those also which made it they would not haue killed within it the great Prophet Zachary hard by the altar nor they would not haue placed the Idoll Asâ—aroth in it vpon the altar nor they vvould not haue consented that Pompeius should haue made a stable for his horses hard by the altar which vvas dedicated vnto diuine sacrifices Neither was that Temple holy in respect of the Priests and ministers which were in it for if it had beene holy they would not haue had birds at the gate to sell nor bankes for Vsurers nor Christ would not haue rebuked them nor they put Christ to death Neither was that Temple holy in respect of the sacrifices seeing that they were not sufficient to take away sinnes and if there was any profit in them it was not by reason of the sacrifice which was there offered but in respect of the merits of those which did offer them Neither vvill vve say that Salomons Temple vvas holy by reason of the matter whereof it was made because that true and sincere holinesse is not in gold siluer timber stone whereof it was made but in the Christian and glorious Temple which is there assembled and gathered together It followeth then of that which is spoken that God doth not abide euery where where euery man lusteth but where our Lord wil make his dwelling place must be a Temple and that a holy Temple and his owne Temple or els hee will dwell vvith none Where or vvho is the true Temple vvhere God dwelleth but the most sacred humanity of the son of God Wee shall call his deified body a Temple and a holy Temple and his owne Temple because of him and of no other God said at the riuer of Iordan This is my welbeloued son This holy Temple was builded not by the hands of Salomon the peaceable but by the hands and industry of the Holy-ghost in whose framing and fashioning as Salomon spent seuen yeares so the Holy-ghost did endue his with his seuen gifts This our Temple is farre more richer than Salomons was for if his was couered with gold so ours is couered with diuine loue and the difference betwixt those two may easily bee knowne by the difference that is betwixt a simple gilter
difference that is betwixt Dauids testament and Christs testament seeing the one commandeth to reuenge other mens iniuries and the other pardoneth his owne death NOn deduces canicies eius pacifice ad inferos 3. Reg. chap. 2. King Dauid being in the last point of his life commanded his sonne and heire apparent Salomon to be called vnto him vnto whome hee spake these words Thou rememberest my sonne Salomon when my seruant and capraine Ioab did slay captaine Abner and Amasias who were scruants vnto king Saul the which offence because I cannot reuēge in my life the charge shll be laid vpon thee to see that hee goe not quietly to his graue and Dauid said further vnto him Thou shalt also remember that when I fled from thy brother and my son Absolon my enemy Simei came against me and followed mee all the field ouer cursing me and casting stones at me Look vnto it like a wise and a discreet man and that hee depart not in peace out of this world That which Dauid commanded his sonne Salomon to doe was not commanded to one who was deaffe for if hee did command him to kill two hee did kill three or foure that is the infant Abdonias the captaine Ioab Simei and the Priest Abiathar In al his kingdome Dauid had no captaine which had done him so great seruice nor no seruant which had loued him better than old Ioab yet neuerthelesse he had more respect to reuenge the iniuries done to others than vnto their seruices past If Dauid had not been welbeloued and by Scripture commended his Testament should much haue scandalized vs seeing that at the time of his death when men forbid iniuries hee commandeth by his Testament to take away mens liues It is to be beleeued that he being so acceptable to God as he was that he had consulted with God for otherwise being in so narrow a straight as he was in it was more than time for him to prepare himselfe to confesse his sins than to command the death of his enemies O how vnlike Dauids Testament is vnto Christs for Dauid commaunded in his to reuenge other mens deaths but Iesus Christ our Redeemer commanded his owne proper death to be pardoned How happy we be which be the inheritours of Christ and how vnhappy they be which bee the successours of Dauid which is easily seene by their Testaments for Dauids soule goeth out of his body saying Filine ignoscas illis and Christ yeeldeth his last breath saying Pater ignosce illis What similitude is in this when the one commaundeth to slay Ioab who neuer once touched so much as his garment and the sonne of God willeth to forgiue those which tooke away his life How would Dauid forgiue his owne death seeing he commandeth to reuenge another mans wilt thou see the difference betwixt the charity of the one and the goodnesse of the other Thou maiest see it in that that king Dauid would not pardon Ioab and Simei whose sinnes were so old that they were forgotten and meeke Iesus did pardon the Iewes whose wickednes was new and fresh How wouldest thou haue the wounds of him vvho pardoneth more fresher and the wickednesse of those which are pardoned more newer but to haue them at the same time crucifieng as he is pardoning Aymon sayth Much good may Dauids Testament doe him which hee made being annointed for I will hold with that which Christ made when he was crucified for the one seeketh out those which are culpable to kill and the other seeketh out faults to pardon Saint Augustine vpon our Lords wordes saith O how much better it is to fall into the hands of God then into the hands of men which is easily seene in the death of king Dauid and in the death of the sonne of God where the one commandeth to slay his owne seruants and the other willeth pardon to his cruel enemies Hugo de sancte victore sayth I do not enuy king Salomon for the kingdome which king Dauid his father left him nor for his will which he commāded him to accomplish because he left him the heire of his kingdome with such a condition that whē he should giue the last gaspe the other should presently begin to murder and kill In the same day and in the same houre that good king Dauid died as the captaine Ioab was in the Temple a praying kind Salomon sent immediately to sley him insomuch that before they could put Dauid in his graue they tooke away poor Ioabs life O my good Iesus the conditions of thy Testament be not like vnto these seeing that in the last farwell on the altar of the crosse thou diddest not command thy successors to reuenge but to forgiue nor to take away mens liues but to pardon iniuries so that as the Synagogue was a house of buying and selling so thou madest thy church a house of pardon Christ himselfe did whip those who bought and sold in the Temple and the selfesame son of God did pardon those whom he found in his house of pardon whereof wee may inferre that he is no inhabitant of his house who dareth reuenge an iniury Christ did shew himselfe to be the sonne of Dauid in being meeke as hee was but he shewed it not in being vindicatiue as he was for when he died vpon the crosse he did not leaue in al the world any one sinne to forgiue nor any iniury for his heires to reuenge If as Dauid did command to reuēge the misdemeanour which his seruants did him Christ should haue commanded to reuenge the sinnes which the Iewes committed against him it had not been possible to haue been done because the sinners had too many sinnes and the tormentors wanted torments CHAP. III. Of the difference betwixt the bloud of Abel and the bloud of Christ and how vnlike their cries vnto God are ACcessistis ad sanguinis aspersionem melius loquentem quam Abel sayth the Apostle writing vnto the Hebrewes chap. 9 as if hee should say We are very happy which beleeue in Christ and receiue his gospel seeing wee bee redeemed by his death and bought with his precious bloud And because thou maiest the better esteeme of the price of this bloud know thou that it crieth before the eternal father better than the bloud of Abel because that cried Iustice Iustice and the bloud of the sonne of God crieth Mercy Mercy S. Ierome sayth The Apostle dooth highly set forth the bloud of Christ whose soueraine price and high merit hee would not compare with the other blouds of the old Testament but with the bloud of the first iust man that euer was in the world the bloud of the holiest saint that is in heauen Origen saith The Apostle should haue done Christ great iniury if hee should haue compared his bloud with the bloud of calues and goats of the old Testament because the bloud of those beastes did serue to no other purpose but to defile the staires and to take away their liues but the