facis fac cito That which thou meanest to doe doe quickly And thus much for the first objection I come now to answer a second For Religion you will say and the early remembrance of those duties which we owe to our Creator they breed melancholie and fright the Soule with many sad and desperate thoughts not an idle word can be spoken not a Racha given or Thou foole not the least riot or excesse committed but presently the conscience checks us with judgment and Hell fire and gladly would we desire the freedom to live a little chearly in our youth Thus have I seene a patient sometime complaine of his Physick when as indeed he was heart sicke of his disease For pray tell me what is it which in those sad fits whereto the Soules of good men are oft-times subject and perhaps did we more often feele them the more happy might we be what is it I say which breeds this melancholy is it our Religion that wee know is the Physicke of the Soule no surely it is our sin and that is the disease Were it not madnesse in us then to desire to live freely in our sinne that we might live free from sorrow when as indeed there is nothing truly to be sorrowed for but sinne For let us reckon up a catalogue of all such delights as our owne Soule would wish to concurre to make a cheerefull life and you shall see religion hath the promise of them all Wouldst thou injoy long life and see good dayes Keepe thy tongue from vill and thy lippes that they speake no guile And this life of thine wouldst thou have as healthfull as 't is long Praise the Lord O my Soule for he it is that reneweth thy strength and maketh thee young and lusty as an Eagle And this health of thine wouldst thou have maintained with plenty Trust in the Lord and doe good and verily thou shalt be fed Delight in the Lord and hee shall give thee thy hearts desire And this plenty of thine wouldst thou have seconded with joy O be joyfull in the Lord all yee Lands serve the Lord with gladnesse and come before his presence with a song And lastly of this joy of thine wouldst thou have a patent not for thy selfe onely but for thy posterity The Righteous shall dwell at ease and his seed shall inherite the Land If then life and health plenty and joy can make a cheerefull man certainly religion cannot make him melancholly But yet I must confesse these rare effects they are perhaps but rarely to bee found and short life craz'd health small plenty unconstant joyes they are the portion oft-times even of GODS dearest Saints not that GOD hath forgotten to bee so good as his word promiseth but that men have not remembred to be so good as his word commandeth but have neglected the performance of those strict conditions whereupon the accomplishment of these so large promises depend But however do the righteous and such as daylie remember their Creator doe they onely eate sowre Grapes and are the sinners such as have not GOD in all theyr thoughts are their teeth never set on edge It is true indeed that GOD receives no man but whom hee doth chastice chastice not with crosse and affliction onely but with sorrow and anguish of Soule with feare and trembling for his sin yet here wee have a mixture of little judgement with great mercy the ioy of our receiving soone easing the smart of our chasticement But is it not true withall that the sinner hee shall receive his chasticement and yet never bee received here is iudgement without mercy With the righteous heavinesse may endure for a night but ioy commeth in the morning but with the sinner this order is inverted ioy indeed may endure for a night but sorrow returnes in the Morning When upon the sober view of of his intemperate luxuriances finding his Soule like CAINS guilty of more sinne then he knoweth how to have forgiven hee becomes subject to the fearefull expectation of more punishment then hee knowes which way to endure Indeed if we looke upon the surface of things onely the sinner may seeme to be the onely chearly man sits downe merrily to eate and drinke riseth to his play and wondereth that any man should refuse to follow the same excesse of riot with himselfe But let us now a little change his cōmons and remove him from his owne table which from the excesse and riot thereof I feare we may too justly ofttimes stile the Table of Devils and bring him to the Table of the Lord and then behold with how heavie a heart doth he reach forth his trembling hand to pertake of those sacred mysteries as justly fearing upon this Conscience of his great unworthines lest he should eate and drinke his own condemnation and rise up seavenfold more the child of Hell thē he sate downe When as the Righteous commeth with joy chearfulnesse whose innocent conscience as it keepeth a continuall feast so never then now is it more plentifully fed and thankfully saith Grace with a Nunc dimittis Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seene my Salvation For now I know that the Kingdome of Heaven true happinesse indeed it is not meate and drinke but Righteousnesse and peace and joy upon joy joy unspeakable even joy in the Holy Ghost It is a memorable speech of HAMAN who recounting the glory of his riches the multitude of his children the great honours whereunto hee had beene promoted above other Princes by the King yet in the end concludeth All this is nothing as long as MORDECAL sits in the Kings gate So surely hee that shall examine the Soules of the Hamans of this World men who for pleasure wealth and honour seeme to be the onely happy men will finde them sometime ingenuously to confesse All this is nothing for there is a MORDECAI a tormenting conscience dayly sitting in the Gate which like IONAS his Worme no sooner is the Gourd of their felicitie sprung up a little but presently it biteth and gnaweth it downe againe And therefore we see daily nothing more frequent thē for the luxurious prodigall upon the sad remembrance of the follies of his youth to breake out into a Laetare sterilis Happie are the barren and the Soules unsensible of these vaine delights the fruition whereof is but a transitorie vanity and the remembrance a perpetuall vexation of the Spirit As then GOD said once unto the Iewes Bring my tithes into my store-house and prove mee now if I will not open the windors of Heaven and powre downe a blessing without measure so let me say here to young and old Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth in the dayes of thy age even all the dayes of thy life serve him in chastity in temperance in justice in charitie in prayer in repentance make a tryall of his goodnesse and see whether he will not open the
case for thou hast now enough layd up in store when as wee know there is no evill more common under the Sun then goods thus purchased to prove the undoing of the purchaser the stone will cry out of the wall and the beame out of the timber will make answer Woe to the man that thus addes house to house and land to land For what shal it profit thee for a time to have gain'd the whole world Salvian ad Eccles Cathol l. 3 in the end to loose thine owne soule for ever Et infaelicissime omniuÌ„ cogitas quam bene alii post te vivant non cogitas quam male ipse moriaris and unhappy wretch thou art to please thy selfe to think how happily thy posterity rais'd by thy art and industry shall live and never once think'st how miserably thy selfe must dye And indeed strange and wonderful it is to see the impotent desire of the world to purchase good house good laÌ„d good drink good aire yet how slender is their care to bee good themselves Aug. Civ Dei lib. 3. c. 1. quasi hoc sit homini maximum bonum habere bona omnia praeter seipsum as if this were the chief good of man to have all things good about him but himself Deut. 3. As then wee read that when Moses made that passionate petitioÌ„ unto God O Lord thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatnes and thy mighty hand let me I pray thee go over and see that good land beyond Iordan God with a short answer stops his mouth let it suffice thee speak no more of this matter for thou shalt not goe so if sometime our earthly desires shall make the like petitions unto God may we prevent his answer by replying to our selves Let it suffice thee to have spoke once or twice and if he wil not heare thee speake no more And indeed what madnes is it for a man to be importunatly solicitous for such things which he knoweth not whether they will prove unto him good or il For notwithstanding that great licentiousnes which coÌ„monly wealth honor usurpe unto themselves so strict an imposition doe we finde layd upon all things under the Sunne that hee that shall seriously bethink himself of his account and that of him who receiveth much much shall bee requir'd shal find perhaps the ods to be but very litle not to have the world to use or as St. PAVL requires to use the world as if we us'd it not unlesse in truth the taske may prove more easie with patieÌ„ce to want the world then with moderation to injoy it Quotus enim quisque sapientum est cui non crescat cum prosperitate vitiositas Salvian de Guber Dei lib. 7. For it is a great hazard to the vertue of a wise man but that if riches increase sin wil increase too Labour not then for the meat that perisheth nor take much thought for the blessings of this life For al these things touch not trouble not the Master with an honest and faire endeavor of our own dayly to aske our dayly bread it will suffice if we wil importune him let us make choyse of blessings worth our importunity not for religion onely but for shame lest it should bee said that we are more careful of our bodies then our soules let us first seeke the Kingdome of God and his righteousnesse and then though in a low condition it will be no hard matter to attaine unto that height of happines which St. Hierom commends in one of his devout women quae unius cellula clausa angustiis latitudine paradisi frucbatur De laudiâ—â— Asellae Ep. â—5 though cloistered within the compasse of a narrow Cell by divine contemplation to expatiate throughout the whole latitude of Heaven So shall we put more gladnes in our heart then if our corne and wine were never so plentifully increast and alwaies such blessings God is best pleas'd to grant which are most profitable for us to receive Secondly wee may observe that as Christ frustrats the expectation of Mary in denying the worldly blessings she desireth so to coÌ„fort her againe he exceeds her expectation in proposing the hope of heavenly blessings more theÌ„ she now thought on No sooner did Mary rapt with a sodaine joy cry out Rabboni have I found thee O thou whom my soule loveth no sooner could she fall downe and worship him as for joy that he was risen so in hope that she should bee rais'd too rais'd to honour in in that new Kingdome which shee perswaded her selfe would now shortly be restored but presently all this conceited happines is blasted with a Noli me tangere Touch mee not Doe not therefore honour me as if I were now risen to raise you to honour here on earth for though I be risen I am not yet ascended and till I be ascended you must waite yet with the same breath wherwith shee is disheartned she is comforted again for as the Yet in my text plainly intimateth and the end of the verse expresseth it he was shortly to ascend to his Father and their Father to his God and their God then and there would hee build up the houses set up the thrones and make them all Kings and Priests Thus is it usuall with GOD to with hold lesser blessings where hee intendeth to bestow greater for the earth whereon MARY had now seated the throne of her desires shall not be worthy to bee the footstoole of that happines which he inteÌ„ded to prepare Indeed if in this life only wee had hope of all men good men were most miserable But blessed be God saith St. PAVL who hath blessed us with all spirituall blessings in coelestibus in things heavenly in places heavenly and againe Blessed be God saith St. PETER who hath begotten us unto a lively hope to an inheritance incorruptible reserved for us in the Heavens and therefore oft times withdrawes his favors from us in the depth below that wee may the more earnestly seeke after theÌ„ in the height above For as God made some creatures meerly heavenly without any dependance for their preservation upon things below others meerly earthly without any hope or expectation of any happinesse above so hee made man in a condition betweene both his body from the earth earthly but his soule a sparke froÌ„ Heaven according to the two different parts whereof he doth consist he hath provided him two different mansions first the earth and then the Heaven Now however betweene these two mansions there be no compare for the earth which we see is temporall but the Heaven which wee see not is eternall yet because as in the absence of MOSES the people come flocking unto AARON and Make thou Gods say they to goe before us for as for this MOSES we know not what is become of him so in the absence of Heaven wee are too prone to lay hold upon the earth and set our affections upon
men be miserable and poore and naked yet for the most part there is more gold more silver more precious stones more knowledge more piety more men that have given up their names to CHRIST this might be a strong motive to retaine them in a good opinion of the Church and state wherein they live to cause them to confesse with IACOB Surely the Lord was in this place and we were not aware of it Lastly that this may serve as a spurre to our Piety and devotion and cause us thus to dispute and argue with our selves Doth Religion daily grow up from strength to strength and shall I stand onely at a stay Is there every where more understanding more plentifull meanes of Salvation in the free and sincere dispensation of the Word and Sacraments and shall I bee a stranger in Israell and know little or nothing of these things Have the hyred Servants in my Fathers house now bread enough and shall I perish for hunger And indeed what stronger argument to perswade us to be proficients in Christs Schoole then to see and acknowledge the towardlines of our fellow schollers So then to draw all to a conclusion We read in the booke of Numbers when BALAK requested BALAAM Come curse me IACOB and come and defie Israell that BALAAM returnes him answer from the mouth of GOD How shall I curse whom GOD hath not cursed or how shall I defie whom the Lord hath not defied Thus in the handling of this common place of CHRISTS comming unto Iudgment if the heate of some mens zeale shall call upon mee to curse IACOB and defie Israel and in the voyce of thunder threaten the suddaine executions of Gods wrath my faire answer is How can I curse whom from my heart I am perswaded God hath not cursed or how can I defie whom the Lord hath not defied All that I will say is this that as the generall goodnesse and religion of this Land may cause us according to the wonted mercies of Almighty God to conceive a faire hope that there are no generall visitations neare at hand so I beseech you the better to vindicate the not unquestionable truth of so good a Paradox let mee crave the ayd of your Piety to make a strong party against any man that shall oppose us and let each single man in singlenesse of heart be so carefull of his owne particular that wee may all daily present our selves as a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God that wee may come behind our Fathers in no guift that we may bee confirmed unto the end and found blamelesse at the comming of our Lord IESVS CHRIST Amen Serm. III THE THIRD SERMON IOHN 1.16 And Grace for grace WHen the fulnesse of time was come so God loved the World that hee sent forth his owne Sonne and that which sets forth the rarenesse of this Love in this fulnesse of time when the fulnesse of Sinne did now cry for the full vyals of GODS wrath behold where Sinne abounded Grace did much more abound Vers 14. GOD sent forth his Sonne full of Grace and Truth And that this fulnesse of his might not serve to upbraid the empty world and to condemne it but that the world therby might be saved it was not onely Plenitudo abundantiae a filling fulnesse but plenitudo redundantia a flowing fulnesse For of his fulnesse have wee all received and Grace for grace In which words two Parts in the generall may bee observed First the Fountaine of blisse from whence all Happinesse is derived to us Of his fulnesse have wee all received and secondly in my Text the streames which flow from this Fountaine commended to us by way of excellencie in the emphasis of this little particle And Of his fulnesse have wee all received And that of no ordinary common fulnesse nay not onely Truth for truth a great happinesse to know our Masters will but that then which the goodnesse of the Father hath vouchsafed heere no greater blessing to his own Sonne Grace for grace that by the fulnesse of Truth knowing the will of our heavenly Father by the fulnesse of Grace wee may bee so happie to fulfill it Now because the words of my Text will hardly be divided for they are coincident Grace and grace it shall suffice me to make a division of the sence thereof and three expositions there are all concurring to make one compleat Commentarie which shall serve mee in stead of so many Parts in the handling whereof I hope I shall not need to crave your attention surely the very name of Grace the most acceptable blessing which next unto his Sonne GOD ever gave unto his Saints will challenge it and upon the delivery of so happie an Ambassage from Heaven solicite your thoughts with the like meditation which old ELI put into the month of SAMUEL Speake LORD for thy servant heareth Now then three Expositions there are and the first is this Of his fulnesse have wee all received and Grace for grace that is variety of Graces some one grace some another For as no man hath receiv'd the fulnesse of CHRIST but of his fulnesse onely so of his fulness every man receives not grace alike but Grace for grace Though the Spirit be the same and the same Lord sayth St. PAVL yet there are diversities of gifts and difference of administrations and GOD hath set in his Church some Prophets some Apostles some Teachers some Interpreters For the Church of CHRIST is a mysticall body and a Body sayth hee is not one member but many And as in the Naturall body all motion the Physitian will tell you comes from the Head and yet every member hath a different motion by it selfe So in our Spirituall head CHRIST IESVS wee all live and move and have our being and yet divers are the motions of the different members of this body Minut. Faelix Similâ— universi videmur tamen dissimiles inter se universi invenimur As in the Bodies so in the Soules of men also there is a kind of unlike likenesse and not onely in the graces of illumination but of Sanctification too every man almost hath a different manifestation of one and the same Spirit In my Fathers house sayth CHRIST there are many mansions as in his upper House of glory many mansions so in his lower house of Grace also many mansions Some wee see more humble others more temperate some more devout others more charitable some more mercifull others more just In ABRAHAM wee reade the singular commendations of Faith in IOB of Patience in MOSES of Meekness in PHINEES of Zeale not that those graces are infus'd alone but oft-times eminent alone For as a candle which enlightens the whole roome within shineth onely through the window to those which are without so in divers men there are different kinds of claristories wherby the graces of GOD which inlighten the whole Soule within doe yet but in part shine foorth to others Et
him present after present first Goates then Ewes then Rammes then Camels and commands every Messenger to say These are thy servant IACOBS and it is a present sent to my Lord ESAV that if the first present could do nothing the second the third or fourth might move him and thus where he feared most hee findes most love ESAV imbraceth him falles upon his neck and kisseth him so let it be all our care being how onward on our way to seeke a Countrey and bow soone wee may meet with our LORD wee cannot tell to send before us present after present grace after grace that when hee shall meet heere with our patience there with our humilitie here with our prayer there with our repentance heere with our faith there with our charity hee may embrace us in the armes of his mercy and incourage our trembling soules with a Confide fili Be of a good comfort my Sonne thy sinnes are forgiven thee And thus much for the second exposition I come now unto the last Of his fulnesse have wee all received 3 Exposition and grace for grace that is grace to us answerable to the grace of CHRIST not hee one grace wee another but grace for grace grace in some proportion of like nature like condition with his GOD is faithfull saith St. PAVL by whom wee are called into the fellowship of his Sonne who when wee were dead in trespasses and sinnes hath by the same spirit quickened us together with CHRIST hath rais'd us up together made as sit together in heavenly places And indeed it is a meditation full of comfort that all those graces and favors imparted to CHRIST the head are communicable to us his members of his flesh and of his bones Was hee saluted with that gracious voyce from Heaven This is my beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased behold the same spirit though secretly yet powerfully cryes Abba Father in our soules and assures us that wee also are the Sonnes of God nay heyres yea coheyres with his owne Son For as CHRIST was incarnate and made the Sonne of God by assuming our nature to his person so there is a kinde of incarnation in every Saint of God by uniting his nature to our persons And indeed every pious Soule is another Virgin MARY wherein wee reinwombe our SAVIOVR Qui parturit verbam Christum parturit Amb in Luc. lib. 10. cap. 5. and with whom wee travaile till hee be formed in us til he who is conceived in us is the Author of our new conception and giveth spirituall life and motion to our soules Had hee the wonderfull grace and power to worke great miracles give eyes to the blinde speech to the dumbe health to the sicke life to the dead Hee that beleeves in me saith he the workes that I doe shall he doe also nay even greater workes then these shall hee doe For if wee faile of the shadow in the practise of those great workes upon the body yet we have the substance of farre greater works upon the soule And such to this day is the powerfull efficacie of this quickning grace as that it openeth the blind eye and the deafe care with joy to behold and heare the wonderfull workes of God it looseneth the dumb tōgue and out of the mouths of babes and sucklings ordeineth strength it stretcheth forth the lame hand with cheerfulnesse to distribute to the necessities of others it softeneth the hard heart and kindleth it with zeale and forwardnesse O Lord my heart is ready my heart is ready Nay though wee bee dead in trespasses and sinnes grace is able to recover us Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and CHRIST shall give thee light Lastly is CHRIST ascended up to Heaven farre above all Principalities and Powers there for ever to sit at the right hand of the Father and will hee leave us comfortlesse alone No surely as hee hath given us grace for grace so will hee give us glory for glory too and therefore Blessed bee GOD sayth St. PETER who hath begotten us againe unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of IESVS CHRIST from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible reserved for us in the Heavens Now hitherto I perswade my selfe we all gladly give eare to this discourse and are ready to second it with the like Petition of the Disciples Lord evermore give us of this grace But yet I feare that as DAVID who went with joy to fetch the Arke out of the house of AMINADA◠on expectation thereby of a blessing to befall his owne house when hee saw VZZAH smitten with sodaine Death for presuming to touch the Arke was presently displeas'd and afraid too for how shall the Arke of the Lord saith he come to me and therefore he sent it to the house of OBED EDOM So I feare many there are well pleased with the grace of CHRIST as long as wee discourse of the joy the comfort the glory that attends it but let us once mention the sorrow and affliction which for grace and righteousnesse sake we must endure let us tell them that he that will bee CHRISTS Disciple must first in humility deny himselfe and with patience take up his Crosse and follow him this is a hard saying say they and who is able to endure it If these bee the difficulties which attend the Ark let it goe to the house of OBED EDOM we will not bring it to our City But before you send it away let mee aske you but one question shall we receive good at the hands of the Lord and shall wee not receive evill nay more Is it not enough that the Disciple bee as his Master and the Servant as his Lord Would wee receive grace and will we not have grace for grace would wee have the grace of his exaltation and will wee not have the grace of his humilitie CHRIST himselfe wee know first suffered before hee entred into glory and wee must first bee made conformable unto his death before wee can attaine the resurrection of the dead But blest men are we in that this conformitie now in a great part consists onely in a preparation and resolution to endure when as the peace and happinesse which wee enjoy have remov'd the misery of those evill dayes farre off from us which thousands and millions of the Saints of God have been inforced to endure Indeed we live by faith saith St. PAVL the best part of our life by Faith and not by sight yet what eye so dull that sees not the happinesse of this present life of ours or what tongue so tyed whose heart will not force it to breake out into termes of gratulation Praise the LORD O my Soule and all that is within me praise his holy name Let us looke into the primitive times or wee need not goe so farre but on the dayes of our Fore-fathers and how terrible then were the conditions of salvation What strength of grace what a compleat armour was then
things below the providence of God hath purposely blasted the felicitie of all things sublunarie set a Noli me tangere vanitie and vexation of spirit on them all that even this vexation here on earth may raise our spirits up to Heaven with a Domine illic tabernacula Lord let us there there make our Tabernacles For alas the earth it hath no constant forme nor comelinesse and when we look upon it there is no true beauty that we should desire it If we complaine that long and tedious is our expectation here on earth before ever we can come to injoy those felicities in heaven let us solace our selves to think that it is enough abundātly enough that the Disciple be as his Master and the servant as his Lord now let us look upon our Lord and Master and forty daies is he tempted in the Wildernes hungry and thirsty in a barren and dry land yet he is not ascended The Foxes have holes the Birds of the aire have nests the Son of man not where to lay his head and yet he is not ascended He is betrayed arreigned condemned crucified buried and yet he is not ascended And that we may know this delay of his proceeded not out of any impotency but was meritorious and exemplarie unto us he riseth againe and the same power of his which rais'd him from the grave could presently have lifted him up to Heavē yet he cōtinueth visiting cōforting instructing his Disciples yet he is not ascended The Lord himself you see hath tarried tarried our leysure tarried for us and shall not we waite patiently and tarry the leysure of the Lord. Perhaps he therfore makes us tarry that daily here adding to our grace hee may one day adde also to our glory Et libenter suscipiam dispensationis moram magnitudine favoris duplicatam Hieron ep 33. ad Castratium and who would not forbeare the principal a while to receive it hereafter with such interest perhaps therfore himself tarries because we are not yet prepared for his cōming We complaine oft times upon the sense of sicknes and sorrow How long Lord how long wilt thou absent thy selfe Whenas indeed upon the conscience of our sins we might rather turn our cōplaint to a confessiō how long Lord how lōg have we bin absent frō thee Thy word hath been oftē preacht unto us in season out of season by thy Ministers teaching reproving exhorting and yet we have not obey'd Thy grace hath bin graciously offred unto us al the day long standing at the dore of our harts and knocking and yet we have not opened Thou hast made open proclamation Come unto me all yee that are weary and heavy laden and I will ease you and yet though never so heavie laden wee will not bee weary of our sinnes wee will not seeke out for ease Can wee then wonder that God should yet delay to put an end unto our sorrowes when as our selves have yet refus'd to put an end unto our sinnes Can wee bee impatient at the forbearance of that happinesse which if God should deale with us as we with him not yet nor yet nor ever should we bee so happy to enjoy Why art thou then so troubled O my soule may every pious soule now say and why art thou so disquieted within me delight thou in the Lord and hee will give thee thy hearts desire If thou faile of thy hearts desire on earth Mary her self you see hath thus been disappointed yet thou shalt abundātly bee recompenc't in heaven For though here thou seem'st to be but dead dead in regard of the fruition of any great felicity in this life dead in the opinion of the meere natural man who beleeveth not the hope of any life to come yet thou haft a life hidden with Christ in God and when Christ who is thy life shal appeare then shalt thou also appeare with him in Glory Lastly as you have seene whether Christ is ascended where he wil be Toucht so now behold to whom he is ascended and what hopes we have to Touch him My text tels you that as he was to ascend so he ascended to his Father Now if you shall say that Christ had a Father to ascend to and a Father pitieth his owne child but how shal we ascend shew vs a Father too and it sufficeth I will shew you and indeed with joy of heart we may observe that all the honours of Christ are for the most part diffusive and communicative and even of this neare Relation of Father Sonne we also doe participate Thou art my Sonne my onely begotten Son saith the Father vnto him In whom I am well pleas'd and pleas'd so well that in him he hath recōcil'd the world vnto himselfe of enemies he hath made us his adopted Sons and given us the priviledge to pray vnto him Abba Father If then my Text will not content you read but the words following and you can wish no more Goe to my Brethren and say vnto them I ascend vnto my Father but he stayes not there To my Father saith he and your Father to my God and your God And surely as when the Father giveth the Son so when the Son giveth the Father together with him he will give us all things And indeed when I compare both Testaments together observe at sundry times those divers manners whereby God in his goodnesse hath pleas'd to make manifest not the effects only but even the language of his love me thinks as after some cloudy storme I see the Heavens looke cleare againe and smiling whereas before God spake as it were in a mighty winde Earthquake looking high and holding his people under with those Majesticke names of Lord and Lord of Hosts now with a courteous affabilitie he hath bowed the Heavens speaketh in a still a soft voice as if he had set a vaile before his Majestie calleth himselfe our Father and the God of peace And surely but this single compellation Father proceeding from a piously devoted soule attended with sighes groanes the Heares most powerfull Oratorie is able to make such requests which as our selves oftimes for feare and trembling know not how to utter so neither doth God know how to deny The Prodigall you see after hee had spent all that vngratiously too yet when hee thinkes upon the gracious name of Father I will goe to my Father saith he and going but with a resolution onely to say Father I have sinned he is anticipated w th imbracements by an indulgent wellcome hath his pardon seal'd unto him before he could have time to aske it For the armes of Gods mercy they are like the windore of Noahs Arke if the Dove our soule shal sometime fly out the overflowings of vngodlinesse shall make us afraid let us returne upon the wing with humility repentance crave a new admission and behold all the day long are these armes of his wide open to
embrace us and restore us to our rest again For doth a Father pity his owne child and will not the Lord bee mercifull to them that feare him nay call no man Father upon earth for beyond all naturall affection we have a Father in Heaven and his love is like that of Ionathan and David even greater then the love of women WheÌ„ Abraham intercedeth for Sodom you see hee puts in many doubts and feares I have taken upon me to speake who am but dust and ashes and let not my Lord be angry and once more and once more let me speake and still hee feareth and still hee speaketh and still he obtaineth what he speaketh for neither doth God in mercy cease to grant his petitions till he in modesty giveth them over Thus sometime if the conscience of our sinnes and terrour of the throne of Iustice and those terrible names of Lord and jealous God shall make us to tremble and be exceedingly afraid as indeed in this confident age it is good that we should sometime bee frighted yet upon our true humiliation and contrition we may boldly appeale from the throne of Iustice to the throne of Grace and that gracious name of Father and then â—nough the flesh have been a Sodome yet if the spirit now become an Abraham dust and ashes as we are we may speake and once more and once more may we speake til we bring our sins from fifty shall I say nay from an innumerable number for who knowes how oft he offends to forty to twenty to tenne to nothing and blot them out of the booke of Gods remembrance Let me then say once againe Why art thou so disquieted O my soule and why art thou so troubled within me put thou thy trust in the Lord and bee doing good implore the adoption of a sonne and get thy soule seal'd unto the day of redemption and then with confidence maist thou appeare before the Tribunall of God where thou shalt finde the Iudge thy Father thine Advocate thy Brother But let us beware that we doe not please and content our selves with a titular alliance for it is not a Lord Lord nor my Father Salvian ad Eccles Cathol l. 3 my Father will suffice Assumptio religiosi nominis sponâ—â—o devotionis Our challenging of God to bee our Father chalengeth from us the duty of his Sonnes For as under the Law if they were obedient unto his will and with care and conscience did performe their service to their Lord he did shew himselfe a Father to his servants so under the Gospell if like gracelesse children wee shall neglect the will of our heavenly Father he will shew himselfe a Lord unto his Sonnes and as then not every one that cryed Lord so nor now every one that prayeth Father but he that doth the will whether of Lord or Father he and he alone shal be acceptable in his sight So then to draw all to a conclusion As wee are all already filii regni children of the Kingdome and called to be Saints so because wee know such children for their disobedience may in the end bee shut out of this Kingdome let us strive to be filii regnantes to reign as children in this Kingdome and make our calling sure CHRIST is now ascended up on high unto his Father and hath given guifts to us such as will inable us to follow him let us then bee carefull so to improve these guifts to adde to our Faith vertue to vertue knowledge temperance patience godlinesse and charity that as our graces rise so may our hope of glory rise withall and when age and death shall presse downe our bodies to the grave our soules may be lifted up to Heaven and take a comfortable farewell of our friends even in the very language of our Saviour Weepe not for mee but for your selves for I am now ascending to my Father and your Father to my God and your God Amen FINIS Errata FOr Iohanni read Iohanne pag 8. necessitude read vicissitude p. 11 so r. and p. 25 last r. left p. 46 that dele p. 47 1. dele p. 53 for dele p. 63 our r. one p. 72 strong r. strange p. 77. beneficii r. beneficiis p. 111 partunebat r parturiebat p. 122 filiis r. filium p. 143 succentunate r. succenturiate p. 150 Those r. these p 153 heavie and r. and heavie p. 177 Nor r. nor ibid. vvherever r. wheÌ„ever p 183 punisheth r. pincheth p 203 this r the p 208 an r on p 212 custodivi r custodiri p. 216 that thou r that so alwayes thou p 223 hold r hold p 225 have r but have p 227 We r. we p 32 dele 2. p 256 favorâ—â— r foenoris p 258 nor r nor