like a great sheete a sheete may signifie either sleepe or death but neither was Peters vessell a sleepe though it were like a sheete neither was Christs bodie dead though it were lapt in a sheete For wee our selues cannot so properly bee sayd to liue in our first birth as in our second birth and Christ his life when hee lay in the new wombe in which neuer any other was conceiued is nothing to his life when hee slept in a new tombe in whihc neuer any other was buried Therefore as Iacob trauailing towards Haran when hee had layde stones vnder his head and taken a nap by the way after his tedious iourney so Christ trauailing towardes heauen when hee had slept a little in a stonie sepulchre which was hewen out of a rocke liued yet most princely after his painful passion Tell me where did Ionas liue in the hatches of the ship or in the bellie of the whale in the hatches of the shippe why that was nothing but to liue in the bellie of the whale when the marriners were in danger vpon the water Ionas was most safe vnder the water this indeede was somewhat who euer sawe such a wonder The waues whereof one while hoysted vp to the highest clowdes an other while hurled downe to the neathermost depth Ionas himselfe being all this while in the very gulfe of destruction and yet not a haire the worse Christs case was the same as Ionas was in the bellie of the whale three dayes and three nightes so and so long was the sonne of man in the bowels of the earth yet hee had no more hurt then Ionas had But he liued better vnder the earth then wee can vpon the earth and he liued better in death then we doe in life Tell mee where did Daniel liue in the kings court or in the lyons den in the Kinges court why any man might haue liued there but to liue in the lyons den when the mouth of the den was shut and the mouthes of the lyons open this indeede was the life of an Angell and no man What king could euer haue made lyons attende and waite vpon him yet here you might haue seene Daniel sitting in the middest of many hungry lyons when as the lyons lay downe at his feete couching and crouching before him and adored their owne pray cast vnto thē which otherwise they would haue wooried and being beastes became men in humanitie towards this Saint seeing men became beastes in crueltie against him The same reason was in Christ Christs sepulchre was sealed vp as well as Daniels den and hee sayth also of himselfe in a Psal. My soule is amongst lyons these lyons were the terrours of death and horror of hell yet he tooke no more hurt then Daniel did but brake the chaynes into fitters and the gates of hell into shiuers and then most gloriouslie triumphed and so the death of Christ by reason of righteousnesse is the life of himselfe It is lastly the life of man when Christs speare had opened the way of life which the cherubins sword stopped vp then sayth he This day shalt thou bee with me in paradise Adam and Eue both in one day were expelled out of paradise Christ and the theese both in one day were receiued into paradise yea both in one houre for about noone when the wind blew Gen. 3. 8. Adam and Eue were expelled and so about the sixt houre that is about twelue of the clocke in the day time Gen. 3. 44. vers Christ and the theese were receiued Christ saying vnto the theefe while hee did draw him vp into paradise Osea 11. 4. I draw thee with the cordes of man euen with bands of loue but the Septuagints translate the hebrue word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is with the destruction of a man as if he shuld say I do so deerely loue thee that I am contēt my selfe to bee destroyed that thou maist bee saued my selfe to die that thou maist liue I doe draw thee with the destruction of a man euen with bāds of loue so that the theefe which saw his own wounds death in Christs bodie did see also Christs sauing health and life in his owne bodie as Alcuinus noteth vpō the sixt of Iohn Assumpsit vit a mortem vt mors acciperet vitam when the liuing Lord dyed then the dying theefe liued Notably sayth the Prophet Dauid in one of his Psalmes The breath of our nostrilles Christ the Lorde is taken in our sinnes to whom we sayd Wee shall liue in his shadowe if Christ bee the breath of our nostrilles then hee is our life and againe If wee liue in his shadow then we liue in his death for where there is breath in a shadow there is life in death Now as the ouershadowing of the Holie ghost was the life of Christ so the ouershadowing of Christ is the life of man And as Peters shadowe gaue health to the sicke so Christs shadowe giueth life to the dead yea a thousand times rather Christs thē Peters Elias his spirit was doubled vpō Elizeus because Elias being aliue restored some to life but Elizeus as Ierome sayth being dead raised vp one from the dead Peters spirit was doubled vpon Christ because Peter being aliue was a Phisition vnto the liuing but Christ as Chryso stome sayth being dead was a Phisition to the dead or rather indeede in this cōparison there is no comparison but as Peters spirit was a shadowe to Christ his spirit so Peters shadowe was nothing to Christs death Arnobius vpō these words Despise not the worke of thine owne hands writeth thus We are the worke of thy hands seeing we are thy workmanship Now because the work of thy hands was destroyed by the worke of our hands therefore were thy hands nayled to the crosse for our sins that those hands of thine might repaire the workes of thy hāds by the tree of the crosse which was destroyed by the tree of concupiscēce thus farre he Whereby we may gather that the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and euill is euill that is death but the fruite of the tree of the crosse of Christ is life euerlasting And therefore as honey being found in a dead lyon the death of the lyon was the sustenance of Sampson so Christi fel nostrum mel Christs gall is our honey and the bitter death of Christ by reason of righteousnes is the sweete life of mankinde When Ezechias was sicke the Sunne went backwards but that going backwards of the Sun was no hurt to Ezechias for thereby he had 15. yeares added to his life So the sunne of righteousnes his going backwards was the better for vs though he was debased for vs. Thou madest him lower then the angels as Dauid saith there the sunne of righteousnes is lower ten degrees then the angels for our sakes And in another place What is man that thou art so mindfull of him or the sonne of man that thou so regardest him There he is
might be deceiued for hee knew well enought that Christ should bee borne of a Virgin but he neuer suspected that blessed Mary was a Virgin considering she was bettothed to Ioseph Therefore hee did not lye in waite to destroy the seede of the woman so as other wise he would if he had by a whoore or wife any such thing so that the birth of Christ did cosen the diuell but the death of Chrsit did conquer the diuel and that much more gloriouslie when the temple of his bodie was vpon the pinacle of the crosse then when he himselfe was vpon the pinacle of the temple for when he was vpon the temple his words spake better things then Salomon but when he was vpon the crosse his bloud spake better things thē the bloud of Abel there his words came frō his lungs out of his mouth but here his bloud came from his hart out of his side and there hee fought standing lustily to it and withstanding so then he would not throwe down himself but here he skirmished the diuel yeelding humbling himself to the death of Christ there the diuell went vp vnto him vnto the top of an high mountaine so as I may saye bad him lose at his owne gole but here Christ himselfe descended into hell and so spoyled principalities and powers and slew the great Leuiathan in the very bottome of his owne bottomlesse pit For the diuell like a greedie rauenous fish nibbing at the baite of Christs bodie as Damascen speaketh was pearced through and twitched vp with the hooke of his deitie Hence it is that before Christs passion Peter tooke money out of a fishes mouth to pay his tribute and also after Christ his passion the Disciples boyled a fish for him to feede vpon whereby we see that as Christ made a fish paye tribute to Caesar so hee made the diuell also paye tribute to death for him and that the diuell while he wēt about to catch the good fish Iesus Christ Gods sonne the Sauiour as the letters of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seuerally signifie was himselfe caught yea also killed by Christ so that all the while our Sauiour was buried in the graue the diuell was boyled in hell Wherfore as it was bootlesse for Goliah to brandish his speare against Dauid so it little auailed the diuell to shake the speare likewise in the hand of the soldier against the heart of Christ For as Dauid hauing heard Goliah prating and talke his pleasure yet when they came to the poynt at the first stroke ouerthrewe him so Christ with the very same speare which gaue him a little venue in comparison or but a fillip on the side which was soone after recured gaue the diuell soone after a deadly wound in his forehead which he shall neuer bee able to claw off againe And again as Dauid hackt off the Giants head with his owne sword so Christ wrested that shaking sword out of the Cherubines hands and therewith chopt off the serpents head and so the death of Christ by reason of righteousnes is the death of the diuell It is on the other side the life of himselfe That noble Eunuch riding in his coach read in Esay that Christ was silent before his death as the lambe before the shearer He saith not as a lambe before the butcher but before the shearer insinuating that death did not kill Christ but sheare him a little Neither yet had death Christs fleece when he was shorne for Christ taking to him a sponge full of vineger Ioh. 19. 29. that was full of our sharpe and sower sinnes did giue vs for it purple wooll full of bloud Hebr. 9. 19. that is full of his pure and perfect iustice and indeede the onely liuerie which Christ our Lord and master giueth to his seruants is a coate made of purple wooll The iust saith Dauid shall florish like a palme tree Christ is that true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that true palme tree who although he bare al the burdens of sinne in the world vpon his backe yet then he doth most flourish of all euen as Camamile the more it is trod vpon the more it groweth and florisheth And as the palme tree hath many weights aboue many snakes beneath and yet may truely say of it selfe Nec premor nec perimor I am neither by the weights of the bowes ouermuch laden and pressed downe nor by the snakes below eaten vp or consumed So Christ neither by the weight of Gods wrath aboue is ouercharged nor by the heauines of our sinnes pressed downe but like the Swanne singeth sweetest when his death is neerest The Prophet Dauid sayth that God giueth his snowe like wooll but we may turne the sentence and say that Christ giueth his wooll like snowe For as snow couereth the ground when it is rugged and deformed so Christs coate without seame couereth our sinnes and though they were as crimson yet maketh he them white as snow And as Gedeons fleece when it was moyste the earth was drie but when it was drie the earth was moyste so when Christes fleece was moyste as a greene tree then were all wee drie like rotten stickes but when Christ his fleece was drie all the blood and water being wringed out of his pretious side then were we moystened with his grace therefore seeing Christs fleece fell not to deaths lotte when he was shorne but we haue it who beleeue in him it followeth that neither death was the better nor Christ the worse but as a lambe is much more nimble and liuelie for shearing so this shearing of Christ was a kinde of quickning to him and only a trimming to him before hee ascended to his father as Ioseph was trimmed and powled before he went to Pharaoh When Adam slept his side was opened when Christ died his side was opened Adams side being opened flesh and bone was taken out Christs side being opened water and blood was taken out Of Adams flesh and bone the woman was built of Christs water blood the church is built so the death of Christ is nothing els but the sleepe of Adam for as hee himselfe sayth of the damsels death The damsell is not dead but sleepeth so he sayth of his own death I layd me downe to sleepe and rose up againe for the Lorde susteined mee And in another place when the father saide to his sonne Awake my glorie awake my lute and harpe God the Sonne answers to his Father I will awake right early That vessell which Peter saw in a traunce which was let downe from heauen vnto the earth and knit to the foure corners and had all kind of beasts in it did betoken Christ Christ came downe from heauen vnto the earth and his glory is knit vp by the foure Euangelists and hee hath made Iewes and Gentiles yea all nations one in himselfe Now saith Cassianus it is worth the marking which the spirit of God sayth Not that the vessell was a great sheete but
graues but for vs men and for our sinnes he dyed yet he suffereth those dead and senceles creatures to weepe and to haue a liuely feeling of his death though they had no benefit of his death But being content himselfe to shed his own heart bloud for vs yet will not suffer vs in recompence to shed so much as one little teare for him in that he sayth Weepe not for me Thirdly and lastly his magnanimitie in that he sayth Not for me appeared in that holding now in his hand the cup of trembling and being readie to drinke of the verie dregges of it yet neither his hand nor his heart trembled Ennius the poet could say Nemo me lachrymis decoret nec funera fletu Let no man weep for my death and Saint Laurence the Martyr as Prudentius testifieth sayth Desinite discessu meo fletus dolenter fundere Do not weepe for my departure but as Ennius or any other Pagan could neuer come neere Christians in true magnanimitie so Saint Laurence or any christian could neuer come neere Christ. Paul of any I heard of commeth neerest him going towardes Ierusalem what doe ye sayth he weeping and breaking my heart for I am readie not onely to bee bound but to dye for the name of the Lorde Iesus Christ. Euen so sayth Christ here or rather indeede not so but a thousand times more couragiously going out of Ierusalem what doe you sayth he weeping and breaking my heart for I am readie not to bee bound but to dye for the saluation of man Hee knewe well enough that his passion would be a new kind of transfiguration vnto him for at his transfiguration hee was accompanied with his Disciples Peter Iames and Iohn but at his passion Peter denied him Iames and Iohn forsooke him there he was vpon mount Tabor which smelled sweetly of hearbes and flowers but here hee was vpon mount Caluarie which smelled lothsomely of bones and dead mens sculles and there his face did shine as the sunne but here his face was buffeted and spit vpon then his garments were white as the light but here his garments were parted and hee himselfe whipped starke naked and there he was between two famous Prophets Moses and Elias but here hee was betweene two theeues the one on his right hand the other vpon his left and there his Father spake ioyfully to him from heauen This is my beloued sonne but here hee schriched lamentably vnto his Father from the crosse My God my GOD why hast thou forsaken mee Yet beholde the magnanimitie of Christ Christ knew well enough before hande of this whole passion prepared for him whē as hee was not transfigured as before bt disgraced so as neuer was any man yet nothing could moue him Oh worthy resolution the like whereof was neuer hearde of before This fearefulnes of his Disciples this noysomenes of the place the buffets the nakednes those theeues those schriches could not a whit daunt his heroycal hart but euen as a noble chāpion hauing alreadie had a legge and an arme slasht off when all the stage in admiration of his valoure and manhoode cries saue the man saue the man yet puts out himselfe and standing vpon one leg and striking with one arme fighteth still as stoutly as if he had not beene hurt at all so Christ hauing beene scourged and scorned alreadie when the whole centre of heauen and earth wept for him yea when the powers aboue the heauens came downe and the dead vnder the the earth rose vp to moane and pittie him onely hee himselfe would aske no fauour of others nor shew fauour to himselfe but was very angrie with them that gaue him such counsell And though all the Saintes in heauen and earth did bleede at the very heart in a manner euen as much as hee himselfe did being vpon the crosse to see so good a man to be despised yet nothing would stay him but still he went on forwarde as pleasantly and cheerefully as to any banquet or feast to that most ruthfull and dreadfull death Thus you see in this seuenth part the wisedome the benignitie magnanimitie of Christ in that he sayth VVeepe not for me The eight parte which is the last now onely remaineth But weepe for your selues wherein we must consider likewise three vertues that ought to be in vs First deuotion secondly compunction thirdly compassion First deuotion in weeping for this life secondly compunction in weeping at the heart thirdly compassion in weeping for our owne life First for deuotion A man may be sayd to be deuout in prayer to be deuout in speaking to be deuout in meditating deuout in thanksgiuing but we vnderstād that deuotiō which causeth vs to breake forth into teares and in weeping for our selues we must be deuout wee must perswade our selues that we are out of our own coūtry that the heauēs which we possesse not yet is the coūtrie which we shuld desire If Christ wish thē of Ierusalē here to weep for themselues and did himselfe elsewhere weepe for Ierusalem saying Oh Ierusalē Ierusalē how oft would I c. but you would not how much more thē ought we to weep for this life They of Ierusalē which were caried captiue into Babylon endured threescore and tenne yeares nowe iust so long lasteth our life as the Psalmist sayth And so by this account our whole life is nothing else but the captiuitie of Babylon therefore wee may well say By the waters of Babylon we sate downe and wept when we remembred thee Oh Sion and Psalm 42. My teares haue been my meate day and night while they sayd to me where is nowe thy GOD And in another place VVoe is me that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech to haue my habitation among the tents of Kedar Ierusalem was once finally sackt by Titus and Vespasian whereas besides an infinite number that were otherwise spoyled ten hundred thousand men tenne hundred thousande men I say were slaine downe altogether as Iosephus a Greeke writer Egesipphus an Hebrue writer testifieth But that which happened once to thē happeneth dayly to vs wee dye dayly our whole life is nothing else but such a fooyle and sackage among all the miseries of this life nothing is more miserable then this life it selfe So that the onely happines wee can haue in this life is a true and a godly bewayling of our vnhappines which made our Sauiour say VVoe be vnto you which laugh now for you shal weep but on the other side Blessed are they that mourne for they shall bee comforted Therefore Iob desired God to spare him a little and let him liue a while longer Wherefore that hee might laugh and that hee might bee merrie No sayth he but Vt plangam delorem meū that I might weepe for my wo grief he thought that a mā could not haue time enough in this life though it were neuer so long to lament rue the miseries of this life though
and singing that new song to the Lambe with the 24. Elders Thou art worthie to take the book and to open the seales thereof because thou wast killed and hast redeemed vs by thy bloud There is a time to weepe and a time to laugh a time to mourne and a time to dance Why art thou then so heauie oh my soule and why art thou so disquieted within me still put thy trust in GOD and hee will deliuer thee Wherefore let vs looke vp into heauen and there shall we see the Angels singing this song Glorie bee to God on high peace on earth and good will toâ—ards men And if I acob that true I acb I meane Christ when he went to Ierusalem hauing nothing with hiâ— but a staffe a I acobs staffe if then I say we had good cause to reioyce how far greater cause haue wee now to reioyce seeing he is returned back againe and ascended vp into heauen to his Father and there sitteth in glorie though thou wert neuer so much afflicted yet euen in affliction reioice with ioy vnspeakable yet not as Herodias did but as Dauid did leape vp in affliction and caper as high as heauen it selfe where thou shalt see one rapt vp into a third heauen saying to himselfe God forbid that I should reioyce in any thing but in the crosse of Christ and to vs Reioyce in the Lorde alwaies and againe I say Reioyce and againe and againe I say reioyce reioyce in Christ alwaies But weepe for yourselues not because Christ dyed but because your sinne were the cause of his death for this I will weepe day and night yea if I had as many eyes in my head as thre are starres in the skie yet I woâ—ld weepe them all out for this tha I should be such an vnworthy wreâ—ch as by my sinnes to crucifie Chris to put him to so many deathes and to kill so deere and so louing a Lord. Oh that I could possibly deuise what to say or what to doe to obtaine thus much of you or rather of God for you that you would weepe though it were neuer so little for your sinnes But I can doe no more but commend and commit that which hath beene spoken to the effectuall working of the holy Ghost in you to the faithfull obedience of your good hearts to God Many excellent things are spoken of thee renowned citie oh thou glorious citie of London and yet there are many foule blemishes in thee which nowe I will not and by reason of the time I cannot rip vp vnto you but must leaue them vnto euery one of your priuat consciences onely remember I pray you this one lesson that you sinne not for he that sinneth once killeth Christ once and hee that repeateth one sinne twentie times killeth Christ twentie times Oh that God would giue force to my words and tell me what I should say I would to God that I could moue a-any remorse in bitinge and gnawing of your consciences for your sinnes Beloued oh beloued kil not the comforter of your hearts grieue not the holy Ghost for when wee sinne the holy Ghost is grieued hee is grieued when we are not grieued but if we be grieued for our sinnes then is the holy Ghost delighted as sayth Saint Basill such griefe and weeping will be the verie seede or the interest and loane of euerlasting life For as a Father pittieth his childe and if he seeeth him crie he stilleth him takes out his hand-kercher and wipes the childes eyes himselfe so GOD our heauenly Father will with his owne holy finger wipe away all teares from our eyes take vs by the hande and leade vs out of the house of mourning into the house of mirth then hauing sowen in teares we shall reape in ioy yea hauing sowen but a few teares which may be put in a bottle we shall reape al those manifold ioyes which are in heauen For sayth one Heauines may endure for a night but ioy commeth the next morning then shall Christ turne all our miserie into musicke all our wormewood into wine all our sighing into singing then shall Abraham that good mower binde vs vp into sheaues as good corne and fill his bosome full of vs and carrie vs into the Lords barne to make a ioyfull haruest in heauen then shall we with the wise Virgins hauing store of oyle in our lampes that is teares in our eyes goe out of this vale of teares which floweth with weeping and enter into that celestiall Canaan which floweth with milke and honie Then shall we surmounting all earthly things so reare aloft and flye vp as with the Eagles winges into the heauenly paradise and there settle in the tree of eternall life then shall all teares of weeping and mourning bee wiped from our eyes and then shall wee see cleerely the bright sonne of God sitting at the right hand of his Father in heauen saving vnto vs Come vnto me all ye that are heauie laden and I will refresh you not saying VVeep not for me but weepe for your selues but Reioyce for me and reioyce for your selues through the tender mercies of Iesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Sonne and the holy Ghost be all honour and glory power and praise dignitie and dominion both now and euermore Amen Deus est gloria FINIS Psalm 65. 12. Esay 23. 1. Gen. 7. 12. 2. Psal. 74. 13. Coloss. 2. 14 Cant. 7. 5.