still after her he gaue occasion to Diogenes to breake this jeast vpon him That this faire mayden had like a Chicken wrung his necke thus aside looking still backward as his Chariot went forward The seuenth is of Irenaeus Saint Ambrose and Saint Chrysostome It being manifested in this blind man That God is our sole Creator and that no hands but his onely can mold and fashion vs anew Man considering the Worlds great beautie was desirous to search out the author thereof and the Deuill boasting forth and assuming to himselfe the glorie of this admirable piece of worke blazoned it forth vnto them I am the Lord of all this Vniuerse I made the worâ—d and I possesse it Whereupon Man gaue vnto him the honour of God the greater part of the world adoring him in his Idolls God finding himselfe thus wronged did permit in man these maimes and defects in the eyes hands and feet and other the like monstrous mis-shapednesse Now if the Deuill had the power to repaire these imperfections he might then enioy this glorie But if all the Idols as Baruc saith being put together cannot giue sight to the Blind how can they then be God The wonderfullest worke that God euer made was Man and in Man the greatest artifice and workemanship are his eyes Our Sauior therfore had so ordred it that this man should be born blind that his eys being fashioned giuen him by his hand the world might acknowledge him to be their God and their Redeemer When hee had thus spoken hee spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle c. Saint Ambrose dwels much vpon these ceremonies And much adoe is made about the cost and cure of this poore mans eyes O Lord thou hast restored other men by a bare word onely so didst thou reuiue the widowes sonne lying on the beere and so didst thou raise vp Lazarus from the graue thy voice alone was sufficient In the creation of man thou didst onely vse the dust of the earth and therefore man is said to be made de limo terrae And albeit some doe affirme that man was made de luto of the durt or mould of the earth yet the Hebrew word expresses it to no other fulnesse than that man was made of dust And our vulgar translation saith Puluis est But how is it that these eyes must cost a little more labour than all the other eyes besides and all those other liues thaâ— God hath giuen man There are â—hree reasons rendred The first of Saint Cyprian who saith That this blind man had not onely laesaâ— potentiam the facultie disinabled where the sight did reside as many blind men who hauing the organs of their eyes whole and the apples cleare see nothing at all But this man had otherwise the organs of his eyes wanting vnto him the hollow places thereunto belonging beeing like shop windowes close shut vp and skinned ouer as the rest of the face and that our Sauiour did fill vp those emptie holes with durt which he had moulded and knedded together into a masse or lumps of clay with the helpe of his spittle And this was the reason why they afterwards said vnto him How were thine eyes opened But to giue a man an arme a hand or a foote it may sooner be imagined than made by any but by our Sauior Christ who was God Whence I infer That because God had breathed the spirit of Life into Man there were certain Hereticks that stickt not to say that the Soule of Adam was of the substance of God they might better haue sayd that it was made of the substance of the eyes of this blind man The second For that the Pharisees did attribute these our Sauiours Miracles to the Deuill he did proue in this blind man that onely the vertue of God was powerfull to worke this wonder First Because no naturall vertue can giue sight to the blind And therefore by consequence the Deuill could not doe it whose miracles are wrought by applying the naturall vertue of the Creatures as Saint Austen teacheth Secondly He made good this his miracle by curing him with this clay or dust which was verie good meanes rather to put out than doe any good to the eyes Whereas if the Deuill should haue cured him hee must haue done it by applying some helpfull vertue that had beene accommodated and fitted for the sight Onely it is God that can worke these strange effects by contrarie causes The third is of Saint Ambrose Our Sauior Christ was willing to aduantage this mans sight both in bodie and in soule And therefore it is a farre greater miracle to create the eys than to raise vp the dead to life This blind man was to be the battalion that was to withstand many great incounters and contradictions As the strict examination of his blindnesse what were his parents what his birth what his breeding And therefore it was requisit that he should be armed with a great deale of light with a great deale of courage constancie and resolution not onely to answere the arguments which the passion and hard-heartednes of the Iudges were to presse him withall but to suffer banishment extrusion from their Synagogue which sentence of excommunication they were to pronounce against him I must worke the workes of him that sent mee while it is day c. I must not let slip the short time of my life death drawes neere and it behooues mee to make hast The Husbandman when hee sees the ground is throughly soked with raine he hastens to the sowing Saint Austen cals good Workes the Seedes of blessednesse which we must sow in our life time that we may reap the fruit of them hereafter They went foorth weeping sowing in teares but they shall returne with ioy bearing sheaues in their bosome I must worke c. Good God What doth this import thee It importeth Man to looke vnto it In that correspondence which God holds with Man hee will that they bee partners and share gaines alike and therefore hee calls our good his and his glorie ours Our Sauior Christ suffers death his death is our redemption And therefore it is said It was meet that Christ should dye Saint Paul preacheth this Doctrine and giuing the World to vnderstand thereof hee discouereth Christs glorie vttering thereupon I shall shew vnto you how fit it was that he should suffer for my sake The night commeth when no man can worke c. Euerie one hath his day which is the period of his sowing season and of his labour which done he may haue the happinesse to take his quiet rest in the night He that shall goe about to make of night day shall find hee is much deceiued for The night commeth when no man can worke That which importeth is That while wee haue time we doe good for to this end Time is giuen vnto vs. And if the figge tree because it did not bring foorth
he had placed Watch-towers on this mountaine Suting with that of the Prophet Osee O yee Priests heare this Iudgement is towards yee because yee haue beene a snare vpon Mizpah and a net spred vpon Tabor The Priests and Princes catching the poore people in their snares as the Fowlers doe the birds in these two high Mountaines In a word This Mountaine is famous for verie many things but for none more than that it was honoured by our Sauiour with his presence and inriched with his glorie And for this cause Saint Bernard calls it Montem Spei The Mountaine of our hopes For he that leads a godly life here vpon earth may well hope to receiue a glorified life in Heauen Et transfiguratus est ante eos And he was transfigured before them Let vs here expound foure truths which are acknowledged by the whole bodie of Diuinitie The one That our Sauiour Christ liung amongst vs was not onely seene of vs himselfe seeing and knowing all things but was happinesse it selfe The other That he was so from the verie instant of his conception The third That being happie in Soule he must likewise be so in his body The fourth That the glorie of his Soule remained after that he had left his bodie Touching the proofe of the first Truth notable is that place of Saint Iohn No man hath seene God at any time that onely begotten Sonne which is in the bosome of the Father he hath declared him The Glosse hath it Who is neerest to his father not onely in respect of his loue towards him but by the bond of nature and for the vnion or one-nesse that is betweene them whereby the Father and the Son are one God reuealed him and shewed him vnto vs whereas before hee was vnder the shadowes of the Law so that the quickenesse of the sight of our mind was not able to perceiue him for whosoeuer seeth him seeth the Father also The Euangelist pretendeth here to prooue that onely our Sauiour Christ is the author of Grace and of Truth and that neither Moses nor any of the Patriarks could see God as he was himselfe which is Truth it selfe by essence but as he is the Sonne and therefore he onely can be the author thereof Men may see God in his creatures and know many of his perfections And in this sence Iob said All men see him and behold him afarre off Saint Gregorie and Saint Paul implie as much For the inuisible things of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are seene by the creation of the world considered in his workes Men may likewise see him in some image or figure sometimes of a man sometimes of an Angell sometimes of Fire representing himselfe in those formes sometimes by the eyes of the Soule and sometimes those of the Bodie So Esay saw him I saw the Lord sitting vpon an high Throne And Iacob I saw the Lord face to face Thirdly God may be seene by Faith as the Faithfull now see him Now we see through a glasse darkely Fourthly in his humanitie Afterward he was seene vpon earth saith Buruch and dwelt among men Fiftly in himselfe and in his essence not in his creatures not in his image not in his humanitie but in himselfe Sicuti est As hee is This sight is so farre aboue all the rest that it makes men happie as also the Angels Moreouer Saint Iohn saith That with a cleere sight at least comprehensible no man euer yet saw God but by the Sonne And being that God is our happines when he is cleerely seene it followeth that our Sauiour Christ is happie The selfe same argument our Sauiour vsed to Nicodemus No man ascended to Heauen but he which descended from Heauen the Sonne of Man who is in Heauen Ye will not giue credit to these earthly things how will yee credit those then that are heauenly And condemning this their incredulitie he saith No man ascended vp into Heauen There is not any man that can make true report of the things that are there because no man hath ascended thither to see them only I who liued in Heauen and descended downe from Heauen am able to tell ye the things that are in Heauen Our being in Heauen then being all one with the seeing of God and the seeing of God beeing our happinesse it followeth that our Sauiour Christ is happie The second Truth That he was so from that verie time that hee first tooke our nature vpon him Saint Augustine collects it out of the sixtie fift Psalm Blessed is the Man whom thou chusest and receiuest vnto thee he shall dwell in thy Court and shall be satisfied with the pleasure of thy house c. The same Eusebius Caesariensis inferreth vpon the twentie second Psalme Thou art hee that tooke me out of my mothers wombe or as the Chaldee letter hath it Leuaui me in robore tuo I got vp to bee ioyned equall with God Which testimonies of Scripture are confirmed by all your Scholasticall Doctors The third Truth That our Sauior Christ must needs be happie both in soule and in bodie Iohannes Damascenus prooues it out of that strict vnion of the Diuinitie which Death it selfe cannot vndoe Saint Augustine affirmes That the glorie of the soule is naturally conueyed to the bodie as the light of a candle to a paine of glasse The fourth Truth That our Sauior Christ was transfigured by giuing licence to the glorie of his soule that it should transferre it selfe to the bodie not that glorie which he was able to giue it but that which his Disciples eyes were able to endure as it is noted by Saint Chrysostome treating on this point Et transfiguratus est And he was transfigured We haue elsewhere set downe the causes of our Sauiours transfiguration but none so often repeated by the Saints and Doctors as his discouering thereby the hidden treasures of his glorie as the reward that calls vnto vs and stayes for vs haling as it were our thoughts and hopes after it Such is the condition of man that commonly he makes interest and priuat gain the North-starre of his labours and endeauours this he thinkes on dreames of and adores But as to the Worldling the worlds wealth is his North-starre so the North-starre of the Sonne of God is the glorie of God Now our Sauiour Christ discouereth vnto vs a streake or a line as it were of that happinesse which though it doth not fully expresse vnto vs what God is yet it remooueth from vs all those difficulties which might diuert vs from his seruice And therfore Saint Ambrose saith Ne quis frangatur c. He allureth our mind with this so soueraign a good that the troubles of this life may not disquiet it nor driue it to despaire So furious are the tempests of this Sea so raging the waues and tossings too and fro of this life that if God did not temper the distasts thereof with the hope of another life
giue them present death it giues them a heart to desire it Elias found himselfe so out of heart when he sate him downe vnder the Iuniper tree in the Wildernesse flying from the furie of Iesabel who sought after his life that he desired in this his melancholly mood that hee might die What despaire then may not that sorrow driue a wretched poore soule into whose griefe is as long as great and as great as it is long Seneca tells vs Melius est semel scindi quam semper premi Better is a short than a lingering death Iob passed ouer many a sorrowfull day and many a mournfull night Dies vacuos noctes laboriosas Companilesse and comfortlesse and his wife thinking it the lesser ill to die out of hand than to liue in such perpetuall torment said vnto him pittying his grieuous paine Benedic Deo morere Play the Renegado once curse God to his face that thou maist oblige him thereby to take away thy life But say that Iobs affliction was great it was not of 38 yeares standing as this poore mans was Eight and thirtie yeares Here we are to consider That this sicke man was at least fiftie yeares old and we may make this coniecture That hee lay in a little carre with his bed vnder him together with such ragges and clouts as were for his necessarie vse Whence it followeth that God had laid this long sickenesse of thirtie eight yeares vpon him for his sinnes as Saint Chrysostome Irenaeus and many other Saints inferre vpon that command which God laid vpon him Noli amplius peccare See thou sinne no more It seemeth that hee had committed these sinnes when he was but twelue yeares old for many times Praeuenit malicia peccatum it so falls out that our wickednes outstrips our age and that wee runne into great sinnes before wee come to great yeares young Youthes beeing herein like vnto Cakes that are baked vpon coles which are burnt before they come to their baking According to that of Osee Factus es Ephraim subcineritius panis qui non reuersatur i. Ephraim is as a Cake on the hearth not turned And this ought to be a warning-piece to those that are old and antient sinners and haue not yet beene questioned for their lewd liues nor neuer felt the lash of Gods wrath They that keepe Lyons vse to whip their young whelpes that they may make the greater Lyons to feare and liue in awe of them Fewer are the faults but more the stripes which the Poore feele a bad signe for the Rich that doe runne ryot Aristotle saith That punishments were inuented for the deterring of men from euill Saint Chrysostome That the marke which God set vpon Cain was not so much for his particular defence as for a forewarning to others and therefore God granted him so long a life that his example might adde terrour to posteritie Some punishments are quickely past ouer and therefore doe not so much good and others are verie profitable by reason of their length continuance Iob saith That God had as it were nailed his shafts on his sides they stucke so close to his ribs Esay and Malachie take their comparison from the Siluer-smith who sits long at his worke Et sedebit constans c. Now God by these his long afflictions punisheth him whom he loueth to the end that the sinner may take warning thereby and learne to feare the Lord Non videbit interitum cuâ— viderit Sapientes morientes i. He shall not see destruction when he shall see that Wisemen die Eight and thirtie yeares According to the common course which God taketh of punishing sinne in this life this of thirtie eight yeares seemeth somewhat too rigorous a correction Vpon this doubt diuers reasons are rendered and one more principall than the rest is That this prolongation was not because God wished him ill or loued him the lesse but because there is not any Medicine that preserues a man more from the plague of vice and of sinne than a long sickenesse Prisons and Fetters saith Vlpianus were not so much inuented for the punishing of disorders as the restraining of them being as a great logge of wood to an vntamed and vnruly Hey far a strap to the fleet Hound or a bridle to a Horse Iob calleth the Gout a paire of Stockes Posuisti in trunco pedem meum Thou puttest my feet in the Stockes and lookest narrowly to all my paths and makest the print thereof in the heeles of my feet And he stiles his dunghill his prison Nunquid Caete ego sum aut Mare quia circumdedisti me in isto carcere Am I a Sea or a Whale-fish that thou keepest me in ward Our Sauiour Christ healing a woman that bowed her bodie so downward to the earth that shee could not looke vp to heauen said Hanc filiaÌ„ Abrahae quam c. Ought not this daughter of Abraham whom Sathan hath bound eighteene yeares be loosed from this bond Salomon compares a Physition to a Iaylor for when God commits a delinquent to his couch causing him there to remaine prisoner hauing fettered as it were his feet to his sheets the Physition lookes vnto him and hath a care that hee stirre not from thence till God releaseth him of his sickenesse Thus did hee deale with this poore man who lay thirtie eight yeres as it were by the heeles vnable to wagge either hanâ— or foot so strangely was he benumm'd in all his limmes Some man will say 〈◊〉 haue a shrewd burning Feuer but this is a more common than proper phrase oâ— speech And the Euangelist corrects it thus Socrus autem Petri tenebatur magâ—â— febribus She had not the Feuer but the Feuer had her Infrenabo te ne interâ—â— With the bridle of Sickenesse he will hold thee backe that thou maist not headlong râ—n down the Rocke that leads to vtter destruction both of bodie soule Homer feignes That the Goddesse Pallas for the loue which she bare to Achilles kept him backe when he would haue encountred with Agamemnon King of the Greekes Dauid gaue thankes to Abigal because he beeing resolued to destroy Nabal and all his house she had withheld him from it Quâ—a prohibuisti me c. So may we likewise giue thankes vnto sickenesse because it detaines vs turns vs aside from the forbidden paths of humane pleasures so that these thirtie eight yeares are so farre from the rigour of Iustice that it is rather an act of mercie and pittie But if we consider these thirtie eight yeares in reason of Iustice it will not seeme rigorous to any He is not to be accounâ—ed an austere seuere Iudge who doth keepe a Delinquent long in prison if when he is in prison hee returne to a relapse in his delicts What hope can a Iudge haue that such a one should proue good being set at liberty or of a theef that shal fal a stealing while he is in prisoÌ„ Now this man
do than to keepe it cleane from Thornes and to gather and enioy the Fruits thereof wherin this Master of a family shewed the great care he had of his house treating therein touching mans good the slight account that man made of this his happinesse and felicitie When God created the World he tooke not vpon him the name of an Husbandman nor did he take any paines in the creating of it for he but sayd the word and it was done Ipse dixit facta sunt But this Vineyard of the Church it cost him the paines of planting it of compassing it in with a hedge of digging a pit for the Winepresse of building a Tower in it besides the life of many of his seruants as also of him Quem acquisiuit sanguine suo This was a new Noah with whom that former old Noah was not to bee compared For that giuing an end to a yong world though grown old in sin destroyed the people but not their wickednesse but this did vtterly ouerthrow the Kingdome of sinne drowning it in the floud of his bloud and gaue the first beginning to the life of Grace Whence followeth the firmenesse and perpetuitie of the Church for being founded vpon so sure a Foundation who can ouerthrow it Supra dorsum meum fabricauerunt peccatores Another letter hath it Arauerunt aratores The Ploughers ploughed furrowes on my backe Alluding to that which was then in vse for signing out the scituation and circuit of some Citie Romulus tooke that course when he founded Rome Vrbem signauit aratro So sayes the Poet. Whom Saint Augustine also citeth But this Citie which hath on the one side Heauen for it's prop and on the other the shoulders of our Sauiour Christ What firmenesse and prosperitie must it enioy And onely because Christ doth cherish water it not only with his own most pretious bloud but with that of so many Martyrs Plutarch reporteth That those of Eliopolis dranke no wine beeing persuaded that wine was the bloud of those Gyants which made warre against Heauen of whose bodies beeing buried in the earth sprang your Vines And therefore when Alexander dranke much wine Antocides would say vnto him I pray Sir consider that yee drinke the bloud of the earth These are all lies yet may very well suit with this our truth for wee are to vnderstand That the Vines of the Faithfull sprang and grew vp from the bloud of that Gyant of whom Dauid said Exultauit vt Gygas adcurrendam viam For that Morall That the sprinkling of the bloud of those two Louers should giue colour ripenes to the Fruit is a meere fable but that the bloud of our Sauiour Christ should so season these wild Vines as to make them to bring forth aboundance of fruit is a knowne truth Whence it is to be noted that whither it be that these Vines do represent the faithful or whither or no because the wine thereof is turned into the bloud of our Sauiour Christ the Deuill beares so great a hatred to the sprigs and branches of the Vine that there is not any thing that your Witches abhorre stand more in feare of As you may read in Petrus Gregorius in his Bookes De Republica Plutarch saith That your Vinestockes being watred with wine drie and wither away But the Vines of the Faithfull being besprinkled with the wine of the bloud of Christ grow vp and fructifie the better Vinum germinans Virgines it ingendreth noble thoughts The Poet inuites Aeneas and calls vnto him in this sweet kind of language Sate sanguine Diuum But more noblenesse doth a Christian enioy in that Sate sanguine Christi Seneca saith That the noblenesse of bloud eleuateth our thoughts And God saith by the mouth of Hose That if the Israelites shall returne vnto him that they shall flourish as the Vine and the sent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon With the firmenesse of the Church sutes that fable of Atlas who vpheld heauen with his shoulders but when Hercules saw he began to groane vnder so great a burthen he came in to helpe him yet for all this was not Heauen safe vnderpropped by his shoulders But the Edifice of the Church bore vp by our Sauiour Christ shall continue for euer Erumpet radix eius vt Libani stabilietur An Interpreter vpon this place of Osee saith It shall stand as firme as the Root of Mount Lebanon which shall take such a deepe rooting that all the Deuils in hel shall not preuaile against it Locauit Agricolis He let it out to husbandmen God is the onely true Lord of this Vineyard the rest are but Farmers and Renters Philon prooueth That all of vs in this life enioy but another bodies wealth and that wee haue the vse thereof but not the proprietie Saint Chrysostome That saith he is myne which no man can take from me in this sence neither is my life nor my wealth nor my health mine owne c. Our life saith Cicero God hath onely lent it vs without appointing any set place of payment which he may demaund of vs at what time it pleaseth him And so in the rest wee dayly find the like experience Your Emperours saith Horace we call Rerum terrenarum Dominos Lords of the earth But this is but mans flatterie for they haue not the true dominion of these earthly things but onely the vse of them And hence was it that our Sauiour Christ did infer Si in alieno infideles fuistis quod vestrum est Quis credet vobis If yee were vnfaithfull in that wealth honour health and beautie which are anothers goods Who will relie vpon the loue of your good will which is your owne Saint Paul teacheth vs this Lesson Qui gaudent tanquam non gaudentes qui flent tanquam non flentes Those that reioyce let them reioyce as though they did not reioyce and those that weepe let them weepe as though they did not weepe For on strange occasions and such as belong to other men we ought not to bee ouertaken with too much either griefe or joy Thou goest to see the Kings or Queenes Almoneda or either of their Iewell-houses doe not thou joy much therein for those riches are none of thine and thou must of force presently forgoe them And therefore Philon saith That the goods of this life are anothers not ours and that wee doe but onely rent them ad voluntatem Domini At the will and pleasure of the Lord. Touching the disasters of this world Epictetus saith Doe not say I haue lost such a thing for it is an improper kind of language but rather say I haue returned it backe againe and from this ignorance growes our melanchollie Seneca tells vs That he that will not be content that God should be sole Lord of all is vniust He that thinkes himselfe wronged when a man askes him that which he hath lent him is a couetous wretch He that esteeming a
loueth truth saith Saint Iohn commeth to the light Our Sauiour Christ did not so much endeauour to haue vs to vnderstand as to beleeue This is the worke of God that yee beleeue on him whom he hath sent In Heauen our happinesse consists in seeing but on earth in beleeuing Tast and see how gratious the Lord is Earthly food is first seene after the sight followes the taste The woman saw that the fruit was pleasant to the eye whereupon she tooke of the Fruit and did eat Here the sight did precede the taste but in Heauen we first taste and afterwards see there the taste precedes the sight and in my opinion Saint Chrysostome and Saint Cyril doe not differ much from this sence being that they make bonam voluntatem dispositionem intellectus the goodnesse of the Will to bee the disposition to the vnderstanding but a depraued Will is like vnto an infirm eye which through it's indisposition doth not see the light The places of Scripture which confirme this Doctrine are without number Ecclesiasticus saith More truths will one holy soule sometimes declare than many vnholy Doctours and Phylosophers which wander out of the way and weare out their eye-brows in search thereof Intellectus onus omnibus facientibus eum Vnderstanding is a burthen to all that dâ—e it Gregorie Nazianzen hath noted That the Prophet did not say Praedicantibus eum To them that preach it but Facientibus To them that doe it I vnderstood thy commandement and therefore hated the way of Iniquitie The second part is a cause of the first because I did abhorre all the wayes of wickednesse I attained to so much knowledge of thy Law I am wiser than the Aged because I haue sought thy Commandements Salomon saith My sonne seeke after wisedome obserue righteousnesse and the Lord will shew it vnto thee Iob. Behold the feare of the Lord is wisedome and to turne backe from euill is vnderstanding Osee. Sow to your selues in righteousnesse c. according to the translation of the Seuentie Saint Iohn saith If yee shall abide in my Word yee shall know my will Esay To whome shall God teach his wisedome To whom shall his Doctrine be reuealed Shall it happily bee to those that are weaned from his milke To those that haue Aloes on their nipples or to those that when the Prophet shall command them something on his part shal answer Manda remanda expecta re-expecta What doth the Preacher meane to grind vs in this manner and to repeat so often vnto vs Haec mandat Dominus c. All these places prooue that conclusion of the first chapter of Wisedome In maleuolam animâ—m non introiuit sapientia Saint Augustine saith That the two sisters Leah and Rachael represented this order First fruitfull Leah was married representing the fruit of good workes next beautifull Rachael representing the fairenesse of wisedome and knowledge In the right erudition of man the labour of operating those things that are right are preferred before the will of vnderstanding those that are true And Saint Bernard persuading a friend of his to this truth speaketh thus vnto him Experto crede citiùs illum sequendo quà m legendo consequipossis aliquia magis inuenies in syluis quam in libris Beleeue me who am experienced herein that thou shalt sooner come vnto him by following than by reading him and shalt meet with something more amidst the Woods than thy bookes The shadie trees and the solitarie Rockes will throughly instruct thee in that which many learned tutors are not able to teach thee Then sayd some of them of Hierusalem Is not this hee whom they goe about to kill And behold he speaketh openly c. This place expresseth the Empire the securitie and libertie of Gods word And this is specified in that commission which God gaue vnto Ieremie when hee nominated him to bee his Preacher Behold I haue set thee ouer the nations and ouer the kingdomes to pluck vp and to root out and to dâ—stroy and throw downe to build and to plant This generall power was graunted vnto him with a non obstante no man could put him by it Notable to this purpose is that Historie of Moses with Pharaoh On the one side wee are to consider the great interest wherewith he went vnto the King about the libertie of the Hebrew people being so much inslaued inthralled and so sorely taxed beyond all right and reason On the other side so many scourges so many plagues so much feare and so much death and yet notwithstanding hee durst not cause him to be apprehended nor to be put to death nor had not the power to touch vpon that thought And questionlesse the reason thereof was that he acknowledged a superior power proceeding from Gods Word which Moses did euer and anon repeat vnto him Haec dicit Dominus Thus sayth the Lord I haue compared thee ô my Loue to the troupes of horses in the Chariots of Pharaoh Rupertus saith That all Gods Cauallerie against the power of Pharaoh was onely Moses Rod this made that great King turne coward this strucke a terrour into him made his heart to tremble within him and maugre his greatnesse to acknowledge God The Beloued sayes then to his loue As that Rod was Gods Armie wherewith like a Potters Vessell he brake that King and all his Host in pieces so thy Armie ô my Church shall be my Word which shall be as it were another Moses Rod against those that shall withstand it Virgam vigilantem ego video I see a waking Rod saith Ieremie And God answers thereunto Benè vidisti quia ego vigilabo super verbum meum Thou hast well seene for I will watch ouer my Word Saint Paul puts it to the question What will yee Shall I come vnto you with a rod or in loue and in the spirit of meekenesse And no lesse worthie the obseruation is that History of Amos There was a false Prophet called Amaziah an Idoll Priest whom Ierâ—boam had placed in Bethell who could by no meanes indure Amos whether it were because he swayed much among the people or for that by his Sermons as Saint Hierome hath noted it he had withdrawne the People from those sacrifices wherein Amaziah was interessed he laboured with him both by cruell threatnings and gentle persuasions that he would get him gone into the Land of Iudah Get thee into the land of Iudah and there eat thy bread and prophecie there But when he was most threatned then did he preach most against Ieroboam not sticking to say Ieroboam shall die by the sword his wife shall be a Harlot in the Citie and thy sonnes and thy daughters shall fall by the sword and thy hand shall bee deuided by line and thou shalt die in a polluted land c. For the Word of God the more it is threatned the freer it is and like the Cammomile Dum premitur surgit vberior The more you
so that in some sort God may be said to be indebted to the ill that is in vs. Tertullian saith That God then loueth this our flesh when it is fullest of miseries for by giuing remedie thereunto his attributes are knowne and acknowledged in the World and I dare be bold to say it That if it were not for the infirmities of our flesh and the in-bred ill that is in vs those good things would not bee knowne and acknowledged which come from God In the 113 Psalme Dauid makes an enumeration of those meruailes and prodigious wonders which God multiplied in the behalfe of his People at their departure out of Aegypt And after that he had related many of them he endeth with this Goe on as thou haâ—â— begun ô Lord with these Nations For although the profit will be ours the honour will be thine and whereas these Nations doe point out their gods with their fingers it is fit we should also know that wee haue a God amongst vs and not a god of wood as they haue The second reason is Saint Bernards Amongst all his other attributes none in our opinion none considering his naturall condition is to be compared with that of his being misericors a mercifull God He is called Pater misericordiae The Father of mercie which presupposeth our miserie and to multiplie his blessings and his goodnesse vpon vs we hauing no sinne nor euill in vs hee could hardly doe it If hee should haue dealt thus with Adam before his fall and with the Angells in their blessed estate it might haue been an effect of his bountie but not of his mercie which is aboue all his workes But some man perhaps will say O Lord to throw euills vpon vs that thou maist afterwards remooue them from vs is no such great fauour Yes marry is it and that an extraordinarie fauour for we doe not know health but by sickenesse the seising of that soundly vpon vs shewes what a blessing a sound bodie is Speciosa misericordia Dei quasi nubes pluuiae in tempore siccitatus As raine is welcome in a drought so is Gods mercie to the Afflicted and so to this blind man was his sight The third is Saint Chrysostomes God sometimes takes from vs what is good that he may giue vs that which is better whatsoeuer God doth repaire by myracle is better than that which is possessed by nature as it succeeded in the wine at the Wedding Saint Bernard treating of the conuersion of Saint Paul saith That it was a great happinesse that he was strucken blind for by this his blindnesse he was taken vp into the third Heauen there saw such things as man may not vtter and when he came to receiue againe the eys of this his bodie he possessed withall the eye-sight of his soule and so did it likewise fare with this blind man The fourth reason is God inflicting the euill of punishment vpon man God therein doth not doe man iniustice for as Saint Chrysostome saith there is in this life no more than one good and one ill the good consists in seruing God the ill in offending him Let no man therefore complaine of his misfortunes for there cannot be any disaster so great that can hurt thee in the least haire of thy head Capillus de capite vestro non peribit And if a man doe not runne hazard in the losse so much as of one haire there will be much more care had that the better and more materiall parts shall not perish Many in Ierusalem hauing eyes remained blind and this blind man hauing no eyes came thereby to enioy his sight both in bodie and in soule Seneca saith That the want of eyes caused in many the want of sinning was a great occasion of their innocencie of life and inculpabiâ—itie The fifth reason is That it is no iniustice in God to inflict punishment vpon vs for albeit there be no proper precedent sinne neither in our selues nor our Parents yet the original sinne that we are liable vnto may draw and that iustly most grieuous punishments vpon vs as Saint Augustine hath learnedly noted concerning little infants which suffer sickenesse and death So that Gods freeing of man from punishment is mercie his not freeing him no iniustice Thou hast many debtors thou forgiuest one and suest another it is a kindnesse to the one but no iniurie to the other One owes thee a great summe thou art contented to â—ake a little for this thy debtor owes thee a great deale of thankes God tooke away this mans eyes from him he might likewise haue bereaued him of his feet and his hands he is bound to thanke him that he spared him the vse of those Besides this cannot be said to be so much a taking away of that which is due as not a giuing of that vnto him which he might if he would The good things which we enioy are from God and hee may distribute them as it best pleaseth him Againe the arme is to defend the head though it runne the hasard of being lost a Citisen for the safeguard of his Commonwealth a Subiect to saue his Soueraignes life a Christian for the glorie of Christ a Creature for the honour of his Creator and Martyrs for the maintenance of their Religion haue not refused to lay downe their liues it is not much then that this man should be contented with the losse of his eyes that the Workes of God might be made manifest The sixt reason is That because the heart doth commonly follow after the eyes it is better to want eyes than to haue them It is the common opinion not only of the Phylosophers but of Gods Saints That the eyes are principium â—alorum nostrorum The induction to all our ill Lucian calls them Prima amoris viâ— The onely doore that opens vnto loue Plato Principium amoris nostri The entrance to loue Dionysius Adalides or Duces amoris The guides or ringleaders to loue Seneca Animae finestrae The window to the soule Saluianus The casements to mans brest Clemens Alexandrinus That the first encounters and skirmishes sallie from forth the eyes Nazianzen stiles them The prime instruments of our bewitching In a word The eyes were the ruine of Lots wife the eyes The bewitching of the children of Israell Videntes filij Dei filias hominum c. The eyes ouerthrew Eue in Paradice the Iudges that would haue wronged Susanna in Babylon Dauid Sampson and Salomon might all of them verie well say Vt vidi perij My sight vndid me Ieremie complaineth That all the Daughters of his Citie were vtterly vndone by their eyes Depredatus est oculus meus animam meam in cunctis filiabus vrbis Saint Peter That many Cast-awayes haue their eyes full of Adulteries Plutarch reporteth That a certaine Conquerour entring the Citie in triumph casting his eye aside vpon a handsome young woman had his heart taken prisoner by her and sending his lookes
must runne to thy account The like bold insinuation did Moses vse when he said O Lord pardon this people lest the Aegyptians should say Thou hadst plotted this of purpose to lead them out into the Desert and there to make an end of them hauing no bodie to helpe them Tibi soli peccaui malum coram te feci vt iustificeris in sermonibus tuis vincas cum iudicaris Saint Augustine giues it this interpretation Tibi soli peccaui viz. Tibi solum sum relictus O Lord this wound was only made for thee that thou alone mightst heale it all other Physitions haue quite giuen me ouer there is not any one vpon earth that knowes how to cure mee and therefore I lay the same open onely to thee Vt iustificeris Thou hast ordained a Law That at what time soeuer a Sinner shall repent him of his sinne and turne vnto thee thou wilt blot out his offences O Lord I am sorrie I haue offended thee I confesse my fault and acknowledge my sinne before thee and therefore it must be put to thy account to pardon me otherwise it wil be said of thee That thou doost not comply with thy promise Secondly These two sisters did pretend to strengthen this our Sauiours loue to their brother For it doth not stand with the rules of friendship that a man should loue and not releeue the necessities of him he loueth One telling Theophrastus That two such were very great friends that the one was very rich and the other very poore He returned him this answere It cannot bee beeing they be friends This very argument did these sisters vrge our Sauiour Christ withall Lazarus beeing thy friend and thou being life it selfe why hast thou suffered Death to lay hold vpon him Againe There is no force that is able to resist Death but Loue Loue is as strong as Death Death hath been so audacious as to enter within our doores let Loue reuenge vs of this his presumption The Athenians placed Loues Statua betwixt Mercurie and Hercules the one the god of Eloquence the other of Fortitude To shew that Loue doth not consist so much in wordes as in workes Thou hast vouchsafed ô Lord to honour our brother with the name of friend now manifest the same by thy strong arme and thy powerfull hand The fifth was their hauing recourse vnto him that had caused this wound and was onely able to cure it First for that God is highly offended that we should haue recourse to any but himselfe Secondly Because no Phisition nor earthly phisick can minister health without the will and pleasure of our heauenly Phisition He woundeth and he maketh whole The former is notified vnto vs in Ahâ—ziah who finding himselfe sore sicke of a fall through the Lattice window of his vpper chamber sent fearing he should die of that bruise to consult with Baalzebub the god of Ekron Which Messengers Elias meeting withall said vnto them What is there no God in Israel that yee goe to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Eckron deliuer therfore this message from God vnto your king Thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone vp but shalt die the death Hosea doth likewise complaine That his People had recourse in their doubts vnto Idolls My People aske councell at their stockes Lyrae renders it In simulachro ligni This my People is so foolish that they goe to aske councell of a piece of wood The seuentie Interpreters turne it thus In virgis suis Whereupon Rupertus hath obserued That this was a kind of superstition which cloue vnto them from the Chaldeans from whom they had receiued this infection for it was a fashion amongst them when they would know what should befall them to throw vp a couple of stickes as high as they could fling them or two arrows tied together and marking the one for good lucke and the other for bad they mumbled I know not what words and that which in the falling fell vppermost did prognosticate the successe Ezechiel reporteth That the King of Babylon comming with a great armie doubting with himselfe whither he should goe against Rahab or Ierusalem comming where there were two wayes to take vsed this superstition of the two Arrowes Quaerens diuinationem The King of Babell stood at the parting of the way at the head of the two wayes consulting by diuination and made his Arrowes bright c. and the lot lighted against Ierusalem This difference there is betwixt him that is a Saint of God and him that is not that he in his griefes hath recourse first vnto God and next to humane remedies wheras the other hath first recourse vnto Physitions when they notifie to the former the danger wherein he is he falls to a confession of his sins a heartie repentance and to the receiuing of the blessed Sacrament The Antients did picture Health in the forme of a handsome faire Damosell sitting in a Royall Throne for without health there is no pleasure in royall Thrones in Scepters nor in Crownes for the better conseruation whereof we are to vse temperance in our dyet The Serpent is the Symbole of Prudence without which it is impossible to preserue our health The foolish and vndiscreet man that makes no reckoning of the falling of your Sereno's or euening dewes oftentimes blasting those that are in them as in Spaine and the like hot Countries of your Sunnes heats and your Snowes colds your foule and pockie Whores loose oftentimes their healths if not their liues But aboue all we must haue recourse vnto God for God is all in all and without God little importeth temperance prudence Physitions or Physicke The sixt consideration of their discretion was That they did propose their miserie but not prescribe the remedie for it is sufficient that we propound our necessitie vnto God Saint Augustine saith Amanti sat est nunciasse It is enough for him that loues to intimate his mind And Saint Bernard Sic melius tanquam non orantes oramus tanquam diffidentes confidimus c. A modest kind of demanding and a diffident seeming confidence doth oftentimes further a suit and promote the thing we pretend Ezechias being threatned by Zenacharib did before God vnfold his menacing letter O Lord sayd hee thou maist read in these lines the pride and arrogancie of this blaspheming King Saint Peter when his soule melted into teares did not tell God what he pretended by them Which caused Saint Bernard to say Lachrimas Petri video precem non audio I see Peters teares but heare not his prayer The blessed Virgin sayd no more than this Vinum non habent They haue no wine And therefore Commit thy way vnto the Lord and trust in him and he shall bring it to passe c. The Sisters good will was well knowne to our Sauiour but they did not publish the same for the Iust neuer ties himselfe to his owne will Not my
vestures of the Priests are their good workes Sacerdotes tui induantur iustitiam Let thy Priests be cloathed with Righteousnesse And these are to sound aloud being not holy onely in their tongue but also in their actions There must be a bell and there must be a clapper preaching and doing must goe together one will not doe well without the other Our Sauiour Christ aduiseth vs That we should hide our works and not make them knowne Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth Least the wind of vaine-glory chance to blow away the fruit thereof But in a Prince and a Prelat God would haue their workes to be more publike that they should not onely be holy but also seeme so for the good example of the people God placed Ioseph in the gouernment of Egypt because his life was so notoriously good that his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand It is a thing worthy the consideration That a Slaue in the house of an Infidell should professe so much vertue so much truth so much faithfulnesse so much courtesie and so much modestie that he should make him ruler of his house and put all that he had in his hand Oh how well beseeming are these and the like good things for the gouernment of a kingdome In regard of his death and that likewise for many good and great reasons First it was fitting That the testimonie of our Sauiours innocencie should precede to the end that it might appeare to the world that the Diuell by this his death was robbed and spoiled of his Empire through his righteousnes Saint Augustine deliuereth three things vpon this point The one That God did iustly deliuer man ouer to the Empire of the diuell for that he suffered himselfe to be ouercome by his subtletie and cunning The other That so great is the signiorie and dominion that the diuell hath ouer him that he neither can with all the strength that he hath ouercome his temptations nor auoid death which he incurred through sinne Not that the diuell had any more right or power ouer him than a hangman hath for the tormenting of a delinquent who receiues his command from the Iudge The third and last which is likewise of Leo and Saint Gregory the Pope That God might very well free man from the slauery and bondage of the diuell by his vertue and power without doing the diuell any wrong Euen as a Iudge who hath deliuered ouer an offender to the hangman to torment him may change his mind and set him free yet notwithstanding was willing to treat this busines by way of Iustice as if the diuell had proper right thereunto First for that it had beene but small glorie to Gods greatnes that the Creator should â—onâ—est with his creature and an infinite power with a limited Secondly That he might not make his iustice suspected For he that hath the least Iustice on his side doth now and then flye to his force and power The diuell was to be ouercome saith Saint Augustine by iustice and not by might Miro aequitatis iure certatum est said Leo the Pope Whence the Princes of the earth may learne this lesson That sithence the Prince of heauen proceeded so fairely and so iustly with so base and bad a creature hauing no tye or obligation thereunto let not any Prince of the earth presume to say Sic volo sic iubeo sit pro ratione voluntas But rather hearken to that of Iob If I refused to be iudged with my seruant c. Besides it is to be noted That the diuell did exceede his Commission and that God hauing giuen him power for to torment sinners he fell a tormenting of our Sauiour Christ who was most innocent he pursued him to the death till he had placed him vpon the Crosse. The cause was propounded in the Tribunall of the most blessed Trinitie the diuell was condemned and depriued of that power which was giuen him And so is that place of Saint Paul to be vnderstood De peccato damnauit peccatum And that of Saint Iohn Now is the iudgement of this world now shall the Prince of it be cast out That hapned to the diuell which befâ—ll Adam God gaue him free leaue and full liberty to inioy all the trees in Paradise saue one onely and no more and he onely pitcht his palat vpon that and tasted but of that one and no more God gaue the diuell leaue to tempt all onely interdicting him That he should not touch vpon our Sauiour Christ and yet he pusht most at him And to the end that this fault and punishment of the diuell should remaine notorious to the world it was fit that the testimony of his innocencie should goe before and that he should say Quis ex vobis c. Which of you c. Guaricus saith That the death Crosse of our Sauiour Christ was more the diuells death and crosse than his For our Sauiour Christ rose again the third day but the diuell neuer since was able to lift vp his head And as two going forth vpon a challenge into the field are vsually both run through and slaine so our Sauiour Christ and the diuel were both nayled to the Crosse Christ to his greater glory the diuell to his vtter destruction If I say the truth why doe ye not beleeue me The truth is the Blanke and Marke of our vnderstanding and being that man ought naturally to loue it it is a metaphisicall case that he should come to abhorre it In satisfaction of which difficulty we haue already rendered three reasons Whereunto we may here adde that other which our Sauiour Christ gaue vnto the Pharisees by Saint Iohn Yee seeke to kill me because my word hath no place in you There are some stomackes so ouerladen with euill humours That they no sooner receiue good meate but they vomit it vp againe and by a depraued disposition turne that which is sweet into sowernes In like sort there are some soules so full of hatred enuy couetousnesse and vncleanenesse that they rise at Gods truths and are ready to spue them vp though they be sweeter then the hony or hony-combe To him that is sicke of a Quartane the brawne of a Capon is vnsauourie but a pickled pilchard a strong onyon and a piece of powdered beefe haue an excellent rellish with him To a brest surcharged with the things of this world of force the doctrine of heauen must be vnsauoury Eyes that are couered with clouds as with a curtaine hate the light and cannot endure the splendour of the Sun Bonitatem disciplinam sciâ—ntiam docemini Saint Ierome renders it bonum gustum And from hence ariseth one of the greatest abuses in all the world to wit That we are readier to beleeue an enemie that lyes vnto vs than a friend that tells vs the truth In
they should not tyre out themselues any longer in persecuting of him seeing it was to no end but all went crosse with them Saint August yet saith That they were the speeches of his enemies which bemoned their owne disgrace and misfortune There could not bee any blindnesse more foule and beastly than that of the high Priests and Pharisees who hauing had so many tryalls how little their power and their trickes could preuaile against our Sauiour Christ that all this while they could not perceiue that this was Gods businesse against which nor counsell nor wisedome can preuaile Saint Peter preaching Christs resurrection the high Priests and Pharisees called him before them notifying vnto him That he should not any more touch vpon that point but hee told them That he was bound rather to obey God than man And perceiuing his resolution Dissecabantur cordibus suis They burst for anger when they heard it and consulted to slay both him and his companions But Gamaliel a Doctour of the Law being there present and one that was honoured of all the people aduised those that sat there in Councel to put the Apostles forth for a little space out of the Councell house which done he then said vnto them Men of Israel bee well aduised what ye doe concerning these men Time will prooue whether this be a Truth or a Lye that these men vtter It is not long since that one Theâ—des boasted himselfe to be a Prophet who was followed by some foure hundred Disciples but in the end he was condemned to death and they al which obeyed him were scattered and brought to nought After this man rose vp Iudas of Galilee and drew away much people after him but he in the end also perished and all his followers And therefore I now say vnto ye forbeare a while and refraine your selues from these men and let them alone For if this their doctrine be of men it will come to nought but if it be of God ye cannot destroy it In a word Time will bring this to light but to go about to take away their liues now from them were to set your selues to fight against God The like did the Prince of the Ammonits deliuer to Nebuchadnezzars Lieutenant Generall at the Siege of Bethulia If God fauour and protect this people all Nebuchadnezzars forces are not able to subdue them And this was that which made Iob so confident Be thou on my side and let all the world be against me I care not Saul did vse all his best endeauours and employed all the force and strength he had to worke Dauids death one while in his owne person seeking to nayle him with his Speare to the wall another while by setting vpon him with his souldiers but neuer yet could the power of a King preuaile without Gods permission against a silly flye Gods protection is aboue all his workes so the Princes of the earth the high Priests the Pharisees the Clergie and the Laytie did cry out against Christ but were forced to say in the end We preuayle nothing at all They were strangely blinded that they could not perceiue Gods power herein Lord so open our eyes that we may see the light of thy glorious Gospell To whom c. THE XXXIX SERMON MAT. 26. MARC 14. LVC. 22. IOH. 18. Of St. Peters Deniall and Teares OF Peters deniall there are two opinions as opposite as false The one That Peter had lost his Faith Grounding the same vpon the testimonie of Saint Ambrose Postquam Petrus fidem se perdidisse defluit maiorem gratiam reperit quam amiâ—it After that Peter had bewailed his lost faith the grace he found was more than that he lost And in that our Sauiours reprehension to his Disciples at his departure to heauen Hee reprooued their vnbeleefe and hardnesse of heart Where he excepted not Peter This opinion is primarily contrary to those words of our Sauiour Christ I haue prayed for thee Peter that thy faith might not faile thee Secondly it is contrary to naturall reason For to passe sodainly from one extreame to another though God doth it by extraordinary wayes yet neyther Nature nor Art nor the Diuell doth it be it either from ill to good or from good to ill Nemo repentè turpissimus said the Poet. The sanctitie of Peter sure was one of the greatest and to passe sodainely from a Saint to an Infidell which is numbred amongst those sins that are the most hainous it cannot sinke into my head Besides Faith is like vnto your Ermine who had rather mori quam foedari rather dye than durtie it selfe And therefore Faith is cloathed in white a colour wherein the least spot or soyle shewes foulest Corresponding with that of Saint Paul Hauing the mysterie of faith in a pure conscience The conscience wherein Faith is to reside must be pure and cleane and as it goes soyling so it goes lessening and losing it selfe And as is the blood of the soule and the last humour which is vomited forth as it is to be seene in those that are sea-sicke so is it in the vertues of Faith Peruenit gladius saith Ieremie vsque ad animam The sword hath entred euen vnto my soule Saint Ierome That the sword is come vnto the soule Quando nihil in anima vitale reseruatur When there is not any vitall thing that is reserued in the soule when all goodnesse is gone out of it But Saint Peter was not come to that desperate passe his case was farre otherwise And if Saint Ambrose say That he lost his Faith he vnderstood thereby that loyaltie and fidelitie which Peter ought better to haue kept or that confession of his faith which vpon that occasion he was bound to haue made according to that of Saint Paul With the heart we beleeue vnto righteousnesse but with the mouth wee confesse vnto saluation And for that reprehension which our Sauiour Christ bestowed vpon his Disciples at his departure for heauen it is a cleere case that it was not directed to Peter as appeareth by the words following where it is said That the rest when they were told by the women that he was risen from the dead it seemed vnto them as a feigned thing neither beleeued they them But Peter was one of the first that ranne vnto our Sauiours Sepulchre and reuealed to the rest the glorious resurrection of his Lord and Sauiour Other Doctours excusing Peter say That in this Deniall he spake Amphibologically his words carrying a doubtfull or double meaning and yet might admit a good construction and this opinion S. Ambrose S. Hilary and S. Cyril toucht vpon but the truth is that S. Peter did grieuously sinne therein and that he had lost his loue but not his faith Some treating of the occasions that made God to turne his eye from Peter some they say were on Peters part others on our Sauiours And the first and chiefest occasion was Saint Peters confidence and