the Iewes and Romans setting to their shoulders to ouerthrowe the life of our Sauiour Christ one lost his Kingdome another his Monarchy this man his goods that man his life many both their bodies and soules This is that Interficitis vniuersi vos And as that speare which Saul threw did not touch Dauid but smote the wal So the nailes wounds scourges and thornes toucht our Sauiours Humanitie but not his Diuinitie So that the speare which was flung at him missing his Godhead and hitting onely his Manhood the Deuill was thereby taken mocked ouerthrowne amazed and astonished In Exodus God beeing willing to giue an end to the plagues of Aegypt he commanded that euerie family of the children of Israell should on a certaine night kill a Lambe and that they should sprinkle the posts of the doores of their houses with the blood thereof and that when the Angell should passe by slaying the first borne of Aegypt he should skip ouer the posts that were sprinckled with the blood of the Lambe which the Israelites that night had eaten to supper S. Chrysostome saith That the Angell did feare the blood of that Lambe because it was a type and figure of that true and most innocent Lambe who was to haue his blood sprinckled on the posts of the Crosse. If then an Angell of God were affraid of the blood of a beast because it was a figure of that blood which was to be shed on the Crosse for the sauing of sinners and such as were Gods chosen people What feare and terrour shall the blood and death of our Sauior Christ God and Man strike into Hell Saint Paul sayth Triumphans illos in semetipso Triumphing ouer them in the Crosse subduing powers principalities c. It is Anselmes obseruation that the triumphers of this world make their triumph by shedding the blood of their enemies but our Sauiour Christ triumphed ouer the deuils and ouer sinne and death by shedding his owne proper blood God did antiently in those times of old take the same course with his enemies as other tâ—â—umphers in the world were woont to doe Glorificabor in Pharaone c. I will get mâ— honour vpon Pharaoh and vpon all his Hoste vpon his Chariots and his Horsemen that the Aegyptians may know that I am the Lord. God made himselfe then to bee knowne by destroying drowning and killing of them But now hee would get himselfe a name and fame by dying himselfe on the Crosse. This strange and new kind of victorie Esay paynteth foorth by introducing our Sauiour Christ who ascendeth all bloodie vp vnto Heauen and by bringing in those Angells who aske the question Who is this that comes thus stained and dy'd in his owne blood and yet is both faire and valiant Who is this as it is in the Text that commeth from Edom with red garments from Bozrah He is glorious in his apparell and walketh with great strength Wherefore is thine apparell red and thy garments like him that treadeth in the Wine-presse And the answere to this demand is Ego propugnator ad saluandum I am mightie to saue I spake in righteousnesse and past my word to saue the World and to take them out of the hard bondage of the deuill of sinne and of death and I haue performed my promise and beene as good as my word by leauing their enemies ouercome by â—reading them vnderfoot and by stayning all my rayment with blood and by bringing downe their strength to the earth But Quare ergo rubrum est vestimenium tâ—â—m Why is thy rayment redde What a Conqueror and yet so beâ—â—â—eared with blood It is answered I trode mine enemies vnder my foot as hee tâ—at crushing grapes â—readeth in the Winepresse and my garments are sprinckled and my â—ayment stayned with their blood Calcaui eos in furore meo I troad thâ—m in â—â—â—â—â—â—ger and troad them vnderfoot in my wrath for the day of vengeance was in 〈◊〉 heart and the yeere of my redeemed was come And so I was their sauiour But how could this be said of the Deuills and of Sinne beeing that they haue neither of them blood 'T is true But humane nature hath both flesh and blood Whereof they had made themselues Lords and Masters And because I had sayth Christ put on this particular nature not in regard as it was in mee for so it was impeccable and without sinne but in regard of the rest of mankind from whome it was inseparable and not to bee remooued and so must neede Sinne whilest that was about them Christ was prodigall of his owne innocent and pretious Blood that he might saue ours which was altogether tainted and corrupted He endured the Crosse that wee might receiue the Crowne he cast himselfe into the Armes of Death that hee might rayse vs vp to eternall life for which his great and vnspeakable Mercie towards vs most wretched vile and miserable Sinners to him the Father and the Holy Ghost three Persons one true and euer liuing God bee rendred all Prayse Honour and Glorie Might Maiestie Power and Dominion as most due World without end Amen Laus Deo A Table of all the principall matters contained in this Booke A Abraham HOped where hee had no reason to hope page 68 69. In sacrificing Isaac hee sacrificed the ioy and content of his life 187 His courage was againe tried by being forced to forsake his countrey 275 Adam For a foolish longing lost the greatest Empire 273 His knowledge was infused 466 If he had accused himselfe hee had freed his posteritie 288 The sight of Abel being dead was a terror to Adam euer after 489 He layd the burden of his transgression vpon God 564 Hee knewe by reuelation that his marriage did represent that of Christ and his Church but he knew not the meanes 608 If he had not excused his fault he had not bin shut out of Paradise 625 Hee was buried where Christ was crucified 642 Admiration Whence it proceedeth 35 It is commendation ibid. It waiteth not but on things that are rare 320 345 Vsually the child of Ignorance 465 Christ on the Crosse the chiefest obiect that euer it had 639 Aduantage Against an Enemie no cowardize 551 Adulterie How punished in former times 418 The foulenesse of the Sin ibid. Condemned euen by nature 419 Affliction Beneficiall 27 But not to the wicked 28 Why God afflicteth his children 63 69 179 It altereth the verie forme of Man 638 Ambition A strong temptation 90 Blind in what it pursueth 228 It knows nor reason nor religion 229 The nurce and mother of many Cruelties 230 Three sorts of Ambition 229 Anger See Wrath. It ought to be restrained 58 Sometimes necessarie 126 As hurtfull a Sinne as Enuy. 328 c. Angels The Protectors of Gods children 89 Their Power 97 They reioyce at our comming to Heauen 282 Euill Angels To what seruices deputed 97 Antechrist His wonders shall be lying and deceitfull yet many 120 Antiquitie The
ouerladen with Taxes when they are not able to beare them Giue that Kingdome for lost The wicked shall be cut-off from the Earth and the transgressors shall bee rooted out of it Daniel pronounceth as much God changeth times and ages he translateth kingdomes and establisheth them The most high beareth rule ouer the kingdome of men and giueth it to whomsoeuer he will And those that walke in pride hee is able to abase And in the fourth chapter He setteth vp a meane man in their steed The examples of this in Gods people are more in number than the starres of Heauen We see the house of Ieroboam destroyed and vtterly rooted out by the hands of Baasha That of Baasha by Zambri and that of Ahab by Iehu In the land of promise God tooke away one and thirtie Kingdomes from those Kings and bestowed them on his owne people Alios laborauerunt vos in laborem eorum introistis Others tooke the paines and yee reap't the profit But he did deferre the possession of these for some few yeares because the sinnes of the Amorites were not yet come vnto their heigth Salmanazer carried away tenne of the Tribes captiue to the land of the Medes Nebuchadnezzar destroyd the City and Temple of Ierusalem and leading the people away captiue vnto Babilon he left the land wast and desolate as it appeareth in the Lamentations of Ieremie Haereditas nostra versa est ad alienos Our inheritance is turned ouer vnto strangers The Monarchy of the Assirians and Babilonians was transferred to the Medes and Persians that of the Persians to the Grecians and Macedonians and that of the Macedonians to the Romans as was prophecied by Daniel in that prodigious Statua which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dreame The Empire of Constantinople was translated to the Ottoman Family In a word numberlesse are those Kingdomes which haue suffered their alterations and translations Their sinnes beeing the onely cause of this their change Secondly He aduiseth those of the middle sort on whome God hath bestowed wealth houses honours and health wherewithall conueniently to passe this life of theirs That they proue not vngratefull vnto God For he knowes as well how to take away from them as to giue to them all these his good blessings and to bring them by meanes neuer dreamt of to the Hospitall and to shamefull pouertie and dishonour According to that saying vttered by God himselfe They that despise me shall be despised As also by the mouth of Osee. This People doth not acknowledge that I giue them Wine Wheate and Oyle and therefore I shall make them to acknowledge it by taking these things from them leauing them poore hungrie and miserable Thirdly Hee aduiseth the Faithfull to procure to preserue the goods of Grace and the right and hope which they haue in the Kingdome of Heauen lest God should translate the same to a Nation that should bring forth better fruit leauing them in the darkenesse of errours heresies without Priests without Sacraments without Scriptures without God and passing these his good graces ouer to a People that haue not knowne his Law For though God chops and changes Kingdomes yet hee neuer takes away his Riches and his blessings Tene quod habes â—e alius accipiat Coronam tuam Hold fast that thou hast lest another come and take thy Crowne from thee It is Saint Iohns in his Apocalyps God remooued Adam out of Paradice God will raise seed out of stones and make barren places to bring forth fruit Et dabitur Genti facienti fructum And it shall be giuen to a Nation that shall bring forth fruit The Princes of the earth takes away the wealth of one of his Ministers giues it to another puts away a bad seruant takes in a worse remooues a full fed Flie and claps a leane Carrion in his roome Ioshuah tooke ten stones out of Iordan and put other ten in the places of them This is a figure of the Worlds Reformation Offices are euerie day chopt and changed twelue pibble Stones are rowled out of the Court and twelue others are tumbled in in their stead But God is of another kind of temper he makes choice of a people that shall bring forth Fruit Hee takes the Kingdome from Saul giues it vnto Dauid I will giue it to one that is better than thy selfe Hee toke away the Priesthood from Shebna who grew fat therein like a Capon in a Coope and gaue it to Eliakim Who was as it were a father of the Inhabitants of Ierusalem The sons of Ely died and Samuel succeeded in the Priesthood Suscitabo mihi Sacerdotem fidelem I will raise vnto me a faithfull Priest God raise vs vp all to newnesse of life and let not our vnthankfulnesse cause him to thrust vs out of this vineyard which he hath planted for vs but that we may return him some fruits thereof that he may be glorified here by vs on Earth and we receiue from him a Crowne of eternall glory in Heauen THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON VPON THE SATVRDAY AFTER THE SECOND SONDAY IN LENT LVC. 15. Homo quidam habuit duos filios A certaine man had two Sonnes c. AMongst the rest of the Parables this Parable is treated of and is diuided into foure parts The first relates the resolution of an idle young fellow desirous to see the world and to haue his fathers leaue to trauell The second His vnaduised actions lewd courses lauish expences and the miseries that befell him thereupon The third The consideration of his own wretched estate his returning home to his fathers house all totter'd and torne weake and hungerstarued The fourth His fathers kind reception of him and the joy that he took in this his lost sonne This followes verie fitly that former Parable of the Vineyard That being full of feare this of hope That of the rigour of justice this of the regalos of mercie That checkes a sinner in his sinnes this spurs him on to repentance And these are those two Poles whereon the whole gouernement of God dependeth A certaine man had two sonnes In these two sons are represented vnto vs the just and the sinnefull man For this life is a Net which holds all sorts of fishes it is an heape of Corne where the Chaffe is mixed with the Wheat it is a flock of Sheep and Goats a bodie consisting of contrarie humors a ground of good seed and of tares All are the sonnes of God by creation but not by adoption Fathers may haue sonnes alike in fauour but not in conditions Adam to his Abel had a Caine Noah to his Shem had a Cham Abraham to his Isaac had an Ismael Isaac to his Iacob had an Esau Dauid to his Salomon had an Absalon and Salomon himselfe had a Rehoboam So haue most men that haue many children and God himselfe hath some crosse froward and peruerse children Adolescentior ex illis The younger of them The
Brother Veniet dies luctus patris mei i. My Father will dye ere long and then I will be reuenged of him That ye may bee the children That ye may show of what House you came and what a noble Father you had Qui omneÌ„ potentiam suam parcendo maxime miserando manifestat Deus iudex fortis patiens i. Who manifesteth his omnipotencie most of all by sparing and shewing Pitie Heare what Hugo de santo Victore tels you Nobile vindâ—ctae genus ignoscere victis i. T' is a noble reuenge to forgiue the vanquished In the genealogy of Christ onely Dauid is called King and onely for his generous mind in pardoning the wrongs that his Enemies did him When he gaue Saul his life Nunc scio verè sayd hee quod regnaturus sis i. Now know I truly that thou shalt reigne For such a greatnesse of minde could not bee repayed with lesse than a Crowne Scitote quoniam mirificauit Dominus sanctum suum i. Know that the Lord hath magnified his holy one The Hebrew letter hath it Elegit sibi dominus misericordem i. The Lord hath chosen to himselfe the mercifull man No man will offer to take my Crowne from mee because God hath giuen it mee for shewing mercie to mine Enemies Dauid composed his 56. Psal. vpon that Accident which hapned vnto Saul at the mouth of the caue And the title thereunto is Ne disperdas insignia Dauid or aureolam Dauid Doe not blot out the Armes of Dauid nor take his Crowne from off his head His souldiers importuned him to take away his life from him telling him that God had deliuered him into his hands By which noble action of his sayth Saint Chrysostome hee got himselfe more glorie than when he ouercame the Philistine For there hee got himselfe but the glorie of a valiant and venturous souldier but here â—f a most holy iust and mercifull man there hee read onely a lecture of Fortitude here of meekenesse which of all other is the chiefest vertue there the dames of Hierusalem did solemnise his victorie here the Angells of Heauen there God shewed him a great fauour in deliuering him from the sword of his Enemy here hee did God as acceptable a piece of seruice for that it was the rarer of the two And this was it that made God say of him Inueni virum secundum cor meum i. I haue found a man according to my owne heart That great Prince Moses was so hot and chollericke that in his anger hee killed an Aegiptian that misused an Hebrew Clemens Alexandrinus sayth That hee dispatcht him at one blow The day following another Aegiptian standing in feare of him sayd vnto him Nunc occidere me vis i. Wilt thou now kill me But beeing afterwards trained vp in the schoole of God neuer any man indured so many wrongs of his friends his enemies and his brethren as hee did Who hath thus changed thee Potentissimus faciem illius commutauit i. The most mâ—ghtie had altered his face And beeing thus moulded God sayd vnto him Ego te constituam Deum Pharaonis i. I will make thee as a God to Pharaoh Against such hardnesse power and tyranny it is fit thou shouldest bee a God and that to represent my person thou doost put on my condition The Deuill coniectured by many signes and tokens that Christ at his birth was God As by Angels Sheapheards Kings Prophesies But tothis his pouertie his suffering cold his shedding of teares the thatch of the house the cobwebs in the roome where he lay the hay in the cratch left him more perplexed than before Afterwards he was more amased when he saw him fast fortie dayes whereupon hee set himselfe to tempt him saying Si filius Dei es i. If thou bee the sonne of God c. Then hee had greater staggerings when hee saw his so many so strange and fearefull miracles euen to the forcing of the Deuill himselfe to acknowledge him to be the sonne of God And this did confound him more than all that went before But when hee saw hee pardoned so many iniuries that were dayly done vnto him hee then began to shake and tremble as if hee had beene toucht with quicksiluer Hee beheld Iudas his selling of him his kisse of false peace his calling of him friend and vnder that name betraying him hee saw the night of his imprisonment in Cayphas his house and the iniuries that they did him persuading himselfe that no other but God could pocket vp such wrongs The World cals the reuengfull man valiant but the bloudy minded man the Scripture stiles weake effeminate and womanish When Ioab killed those noble pâ—ire of brothers Abner and Amasa hauing dyed his belt and shooes with the bloud of Abner Dauid sayd Non defiiciet de domo Ioab fluxum seminis sustinens tenens fusum cadeâ—s gladio i. Let there not faile from the House of Ioab one that hath an issue or is a Leaper or that leaneth on a staffe or falleth by the sword God did punish this weakenesse and cowardly act of Ioab with the weakenesse and cowardise of all his posteritie Lastly Being the Sonne of God thou mayst be sure hee will be mindfull of thee take care of thee and loue thee Esay brings in the Church complaining That God had forgotten her Dominus oblitus est mei The Lord hath forgotten mee But he answereth Nunquid obliuisci potest mulier infantis operis sui i. Can a woman forget the children of her wombe But say she should Ego saith he non obliuiscar tui ecce in manibus meis descripsi te i. I will not yet forget thee behold I haue engrauen thee in my Palmes God cannot forget his children if they will but acknowledge him to be their father and they can in nothing be more like vnto him than in being mercifull as he is mercifull Estote ergo perfecti sicut Pater vester perfectus est Be yee therefore perfect euen as your Father is perfect He reduceth this perfection to the loue of our enemie for to a mans friend the verie Heathens do this Saint Austen and Saint Chrysostome say it is Omnis virtutis Corona vertex The heigth and glorie of all vertue Where he denieth not the reward to him that shal loue his friend for Gods sake but to him that shal loue like a Gentile or a Publican not for Gods loue but either out of a naturall propension in himselfe or for his owne pleasure or commoditie and profit and he that doth not loue his enemie shewes plainly that he loueth not his friend for his loue to God but for his loue to himselfe for if he should loue him for Gods loue hee would no lesse loue his enemie being that he is as wel the Image of God as his friend So that he that loues his friend and not his enemie ought not to expect a reward for louing of his
it is not vnknowne vnto you how scornefull I shewed my selfe vnto her how many disgraces I put vpon her yet all would not doe but she is more importunate vpon me than before so that her Faith did enforce me to yeeld He that is truly in loue auoyds the occasions that may bee offensiue to his Loue Nor can that loue be too much indeered which our Sauiour bare vnto the Iewes which made him so loath to offend them but neuer was there any woman so jealous of her husband as the Iewes were of the Gentiles as also of our Sauiours conuersing with them The sixt That one of the noblest and most heroicall acts of our Faith is That a man should loue his Maker cal to God for mercie and forgiuenesse of his sinnes desire victorie ouer his temptations and sue and beg and that earnestly not a yeare or two but ten yeares together and God all this while not returning him any answer that he should for all this still perseuer in these his constant courses of Prayer is a thing I know not whither more to be commended than admired Clamo non exaudis me sto non respicis me saith Iob I crie vnto thee and thou doâ—st not heare me neither regardest me when I stand vp I crie by Prayer I stand vp by perseuerance Vatablus translates it Sto nihil me curas I stand vp and thâ—â— takest no notice of it Moses did desire of God That he would doe him the fauour to let him see his face that he should talke with God and God speake again to him this would not content him he must see him forsooth else all the rest was as nothing In what case would hee then haue beene had hee neither seene nor heard of him Of Baal the diuine Historian deliuereth There was neither voice to be heard nor one to answer nor any that regarded He was a false god but that our God should be deafe at our cries c. The seuenth That a mother should breed vp her daughter so ill that shee should fall into the Deuills hands Male à Daemonio vexatur the Greeke Daemonizatur it is not much that Christ should not make her any answer for although no man can liue free from the batterie of Hell yet a mother that shall thrust her daughter into it must hold her selfe an vnfortunate woman For it is necessarie that scandalls should come yet Christ did mourn for those through whose meanes they were occasioned The last God doth deferre the fauours thou beggest of him to the end thou maist esteeme the better of them when they come for wee lightly esteeme of those things that cost vs but little labour Elisha could haue healed Naaman the King of Syria's Fauourite either by his word onely or by laying his hands vpon his leprosie or by willing him to wash himselfe but once in Iordan but hee would haue him to wash himselfe therein seuen times because hee should not disesteeme of it Speciosa mesericordia Dei quasi nubes in tempore siccitatis O! how faire a thing is mercie in the time of anguish and trouble It is like a Cloud of raine in the time of a drought For these and other the aforesaid reasons our Sauiour Christ would not giue eare to this humble petition of this poore Canaanitish woman Dimitte cam quia clamat post nos Dispatch her for she crieth after vs. These were good Fauourites worthie to be about the person of Christ their King your Courtyers haue not commonly such tender bowells but these had compassion of other mens miseries and necessities they take part in the petitions of the poore they plead the cause of the afflicted they solicite their suit and entreat hard for them The Propitiatorie stood vpon the Arke of the Law and on either side it had two Cherubimes couering the Mercie seat with their wings and their faces one towards another beholding one another in that manner that their eyes were neuer off each other Saint Augustine will haue it That God doth hereby aduise the Transgressours of his Law that they should appeale from his rigour to his mercie which was the neerest cut a sinner could make and that the best means to come to this his Mercie seat was to looke vpon our neighbor neuer to haue our eyes from off his wants and necessities The Spouse did boast her selfe of those fauours which her Beloued did vnto her Introduxit me Rex in cellam vinariam c. Hee brought me into the Wine sellar and Loue was his banner ouer me his left hand is vnder my head and his right hand doth embrace me c. And her companions that kept her companie made answer Exultabimuâ— latabimur in te memores vberum tuorâ—m Wee haue reioyced and will be glad c. We take much ioy in this thy priuacie and inwardnesse with him because wee know that it will make much for our good Thou alone saith Saint Bernard shalt enter into the Wine sellar but thou alone shalt not be rich and happie therein thou must share these thy blessings with thy neighbours friends and allyes and all must tast of the milke of thy brests for the brests were not made so much for those that haue them as for those harmlesse creatures that must sucke and draw from them This loue and charitie shewed the Apostles when they did solicite this womans dispatch and said to our Sauiour Dimitte illam Send her away Non sum missus nisi ad Oues quae perierunt domus Israel I am not sent but to the lost Sheepe of the House of Israell Principally personally and by especiall precept was our Sauiour sent to the People of Israell which was testified by Saint Paul The Word of God was to be spoken first to you And this was the reason why he called them Children and the Gentiles Dogges But by his Apostles he came to preach and do miracles for the whole world so doth Saint Ambrose Cyril Alexandrinus Saint Hierome and learned Bede declare it Saint Augustine saith That he employed his presence onely vpon the Iewes in regard of Abrahamâ— Faith and for the promise sake which God had made of the Messias so that though hee came to the borders of Tyrus and Sydon it was more for to hide himselfe out of the way than any thing else and that though he wrought this miracle there it was not much materiall beeing wrested from him by importunitie as one who to still a bauling Curre throwes him a morcell of bread to stop his mouth or to speake it in better termes as one from whom by chance a crumme had fallen from forth his fingers Non sum missus nisi ad Oues c. Amongst many other offices which our Sauiour Christ had one was that of a Sheepheard who was to gather together his scattered Sheepe and to bring them all into one Fold Et suscitabo super eos Pastorem meum qui
liued to bee the Yron Age. But I say That this present Age which we now inioy is the happiest that euer our Church had For in those former times those that were the learnedest and the holiest men fled into the Desarts and hid themselues in Caues that they might not bee persecuted with Honours For they had no sooner notice of a holy man albeit he liued coopt vp in a corner but that they forced him thence clapping a Miter on his head and other dignities And there are verie strange Histories of this truth But to all those that liue now in these times I can giue them these glad tydings That they may inioy their quiet and sit peaceably at home in their priuat lodgings resting safe and secure that this trouble shall not come to their doores for now a dayes onely fauour or other by-respects of the flesh haue prouided a remedie for this euill Non est meum dare vobis It lies not in me to giue you Christ would rather seeme to lessen somewhat of his power than to lessen any thing of his loue And therefore he doth not say I will not doe it for that would haue beene too foule and churlish a word in the mouth of so mild a Prince and he should thereby haue done wrong to his own will who desires that all might haue such seats as they did sue to sit in Saint Ambrose vnfoldeth our Sauiours meaning Bonus Dominus maluit dissimulare de jure quam de charitate deponere He had rather they should question his right than his loue The selfe same Doctor saith That he made choice rather of Iudas than any other though to man it might seeme that hee therein wronged his wisedome for the World might from thence take occasion to say That he did not know how to distinguish of men being that he had made choyce of such an Apostle But this was done out of his especiall prouidence saith Saint Ambrose in fauour of his loue For he being in our opinion to runne the hazard of his wisedome or his loue he had rather of the two suffer in his wisedome for no man could otherwise presume of him but that he loued Iudas The History of Ionas proues this point who refused to go to Niniuie it seeming vnto him that both God and himselfe should as Nazianzen saith be discredited in the world But he willed him the second time That he should go to Niniuie and that he should preach vnto them Yet fortie dayes and Niniuie shall be ouerthrowne At last hee was carried thither perforce whither hee would or no And the reason why God carried this businesse thus was That if afterwards hee should not destroy this Citie he might happely hazard the opinion of his power but not of his loue The like is repeated by Saint Chrysostome Ionas did likewise refuse to goe to Niniuie that he might not at last be found a Lyer esteeming more the opinion of his truth than of his loue Hence ariseth in the Prelats and the Princes this word Nolumus Wee will not haue it so which sauours of too much harshnesse and tyrannie Sic volo sic jubeo sit pro ratione voluntas Their will is a Law vnto them But he that shall make more reckoning of the opinion of his willingnesse and of his loue than of his power and his wisedome will say Non possum I cannot it is not in my power to doe it It grieues mee to the verie heart and I blush for shame that I am not able to performe your desire Which is a great comfort for him that is a suitor when hee shall vnderstand that his Petition is not denied out of disaffection but disabilitie When Naboth was to bee sentenced to death the Iudges did proclaime a Fast And Abulensis saith That it was a common custome amongst the Iudges in those dayes whensoeuer they did pronounce the sentence of death against an Offendor to the end to giue the World to vnderstand That that mans death did torment and grieue their Soule For to condemne a man to death with a merrie and cheerefull countenance is more befitting Beasts than Men. When our Sauiour Christ entred Hierusalem in Triumph the ruine of that famous Citie representing it selfe vnto him hee shed teares of sorrow Doth it grieue thee ô Lord that it must be destroyed Destroy it not then I cannot doe so for that will not stand with my Iustice. O Lord doe not weepe then I cannot choose And why good Lord Because it will not stand with my Mercie And that Iudge who euer hee be if hee haue any pittie in the world in him cannot for his heart bloud when hee sentenceth a Malefactor to some grieuous punishment or terrible torment but haue some meltingnesse in his eyes and some sorrow in his heart God so pierce our hearts with pittie and compassion towards our poore afflicted brethren that hauing a fellow-feeling of their miseries wee may finde fauour at his hands who is the Father of Pittie and onely Fountaine of all Mercie THE FIFTEENTH SERMON VPON THE THVRSEDAY AFTER THE SECOND SONDAY IN LENT LVC. 16. Homo quidam erat Diues induebatur Purpura Bysso There was a certaine rich man who was cloathed in Purple and fine Linnen AMongst those Parables which our Sauiour preacht some were full of pittie and loue others of feares and terrors some for noble brests others for base and hard hearts some had set vp for their marke the encouraging of our hopes others the increasing of our feares some seruing for comfort to the Godly and some for example to the Wicked That which wee are to treat of to day hath all these comforts for the Poore which liue in hunger and in want pined and consumed with miserie And threatnings for the Rich who say vnto their riches and their pleasures I am wholly yours There was a certaine rich man c. The first thing that he was charged withall is That he was rich Not because rich men are damned because they are rich but because he is damned who placeth his happinesse in them and makes them the onely aime of his desires And hence it commeth to passe that desired riches vsually prooue more hurtfull than those that are possessed for these sometimes doe not occupie the heart but those that are desired and coueted by vs doe wholly possesse it and lead it which way they list And therefore Dauid aduiseth vs not to set our hearts vpon them Hee that longeth and desireth to bee rich euen to imaginarie riches resigneth vp his heart Saint Paul did not condemne rich men but those that did desire to bee rich The Deuill sets a thousand ginnes and snares about those that haue set their desires vpon riches What greater snare than that pit-fall which was prepared as a punishment for Tantalus who standing vp to the chinne in water could yet neuer come to quench his thirst Non est satiatus venter eius His bellie was
ashamed it is Salomons And Ecclesiasticus saith Laugh not with thy son leâ—t thou be sorie with him and lest thou gnash thy teeth in the end Giue him no libertie in his youth and winke not at his follie Bow downe his necke while he is young beat him on the sides whilest he is a child lest he wax stubborne and be disobedient vnto thee and so bring sorow to thine heart c. Men ought to be verie circumspect in giuing too much licence and libertie to young Gentlemen whilest they are in the heat and furie of their youth and that their wanton bloud boyleth in their veines It is no wisdome in parents to giue away their wealth from themselues and to stand afterwards to their childrens courtesie Giue not away thy substance to another lest it repent thee no not to thine owne children For better it is that thy children should pray vnto thee than that thou shouldest looke vp to the hands of thy children To this doubt satisfaction hath formerly beene giuen by vs in a Discourse of ours vpon this same Parable but that which now offers it selfe a fresh vnto vs is That albeit the Father saw that his libertie his monys his absence would be his Sonnes vndoing yet hee likewise saw his amendment his repentance and what a future warning this would be vnto him And so hee chose rather to see him recouered after he was lost than violently to detaine him and to force him to keepe home against his will which would bring forth no better fruits than lowring and grumbling Saint Augustine saith That it seemed a lesser euill to God to redresse some euills than not to permit any euill at all Melius judicauit de malis benefacere quam mala nulla esse permittere God would not haue thee to sinne neither can he be the Author of thy sinnes but if men should not commit sinnes Gods Attributes would lose much of their splendor Saint Paul speaking of himselfe saith That God had forgiuen him though he had beene a persecuter and blasphemer of his holy Name c. And why did hee doe this Vt ostenderet omnem patientiam gratiam My sinnes saith he were the occasion that God pardoned me and his pardoning of mee was the cause of the Worlds taking notice of his long suffering and his great goodnesse This may serue for a verie good instruction to those that are great Princes and Gouernours of Commonwealths and may teach them how to punish and how to beare with their subiects and it belongeth no lesse to the name of a good Gouernour to tollerate with prudence than to punish with courage And Salomon giues thee this caueat Noli esse multum justus Et not thou iust ouermuch Congregatis omnibus When he had gathered all together What a strange course was this that this young man ranne First of all hee leuelled all accounts with his father shutting the doore after him to all hope of receiuing so much as one farthing more than his portion If he had left some stocke behind him that might haue holpe him at a pinch if he should chance to miscarrie in this his journey for he was not sure that he should still hold Fortune fast by the wing he had done well and wisely but he made a cleane riddance of all as well mooueables as immooueables Et congregatis omnibus c. Secondly What a foolish part was it in him to leaue so good a Father and so sweet and pleasant a Countrie being both such naturall tyes of loue to Mans brest The loue of a Father is so much indeered in Scripture that great curses and maledictions are thundred out against vnlouing and vnkind childeren And the loue of a mans Countrie is such a thing saith Saint Augustine that God made choice to trie of what mettal Abraham was made by such a new strange kind of torment as to turne him out of his Countrie Egredere de Terra tua de Cognatione tua Goe from thy Land and from thy Kindred Saint Chrysostome saith That euen those Monkes which left the world for their loue to God and to doe him seruice did notwithstanding shew themselues verie sencible of their absence from their natiue soyle and their fathers house But those sorrowes and lamentations which the Children of Israell made when they were on their way to Babylon indeere it beyond measure If I forget thee ô Ierusalem let my right hand forget her cunning If I doe not remember thee let my tongue cleaue to the roofe of my mouth yea if I prefer not Ierusalem in my mirth c. But much more fearefull is the resolution of this young man in the thing that is signified thereby To wit That a Sinner shall so exactly summe vp all his reckonings with God that he shall not haue any hope at all left him neither in his life nor his death of one onely dramme of mercie There are some Sinners that giue their wealth to the World but not all some giue God their lips but not their hearts some their memorie but not their will some their will but not their vnderstanding some are dishonest and yet Almesgiuers some couetous and yet deuout like those Assyrians which liued in Samaria who acknowledged God his Law yet worshipped Idolls But to giue all away as the Prodigall did is a desperate course Besides It is a miserable case that this Prodigall should not bee sencible of leauing so good a Father as God of renouncing so rich an Inheritance as Heauen and of being banished for euer from so sweet and pleasant an habitation But he is so blind that he loueth darkenesse and abhorres the light which is a case so lamentable that it made Ieremie to crie out Obstupescite Coeli Be amazed 〈◊〉 Heauens Profectus est in Regionem longinquam He tooke his journey into a farre Countrie No man can flie from God per distantiam loci be the place neuer so farre off no distance can bring vs out of his reach If I ascend vp vnto Heauen thou art there if descend into Hell thou art there also And certainly if there were any one place free from his presence all the Prodigals of the world would make that their Rendezuous and liue there Ionas flying from God left the earth and entred into the sea where there were so many Serjeants waiting to arrest him who tooke hold of him and threw him into prison that darke dungeon of the Whales bellie So that there is not any thing saith Anselmus in the Concaue of Heauen which can escape the eye of Heauen no though a man should flie from East to West and from the South vnto the North. So this Prodigall flying from his Fathers house fell vpon a poore Farme flying from Fulnesse lighted vpon Hunger and these were Gods executioners appointed to punish his follie Into a farre Countrie He came to the Citie of Obliuion whose Inhabitants are without
must arme our selues with prayer fasting mortification But the carelesse man which lyes open and offers himselfe euery moment to al occasions of sinning that man he either robs or kils if not both and leaues him so wholly besides himselfe that hee shall see the losse of his substance of his honour and of his health with loathsome diseases that he shall see himselfe despised murmured at pried into and made the common byword of the Citie wherein he dwels and shall not bee sencible of the harme that hangeth ouer his head And therefore Saint Paul preacheth vnto vs Mortifie your members which are vpon the Earth fornication vncleanenesse c. For which the wrath of God commeth vpon the children of vnbeliefe Another letter reads of Disobedience For Dishonestie as Thomas hath obserued doth in such sort harden and obdurate the soule that it will neither heare admonitions nor obey any counsell And therefore sayth Osee They will not giue their mindes to turne vnto their God for the spirit of fornication is in the midst of them Surgam ibo ad Patrem meum I will rise and goe to my father He resolued with himselfe to rise For the posture of a sinner is jacere To lye downe The iust shall rise but the sinner shall lye groueling on the ground Non resurgent impij in iudicio The wicked shall not rise in iudgement It is true that all men shall rise but the wicked non stabunt in iudicio they shall not be able to stand to it when they come to their triall but shal hang the head Petrus Chrysologus paraphrasing those words of the Centurion Puer meus iacet sayth that our Sauiour did controlle this his speech and that he sayd not well in saying Puer meus My boy lyes sicke Whereunto he shapeth this answer for him Meus est quia iacet si tuus esset non iaceret Hee is mine because he lyes were he thine he should not lye as he doth There are many places of Scripture that proue and make good these two phrases of speech And this very place confirmeth vnto vs that sinne is called a lying or a falling and righteousnesse a rising or a standing I will rise and goe to my Father Two Motiues might put him vpon this determination The one His hunger and the extreame want wherein he was For albeit it be a common saying Que la pobreza no es vileza That it is no shame to be poore Yet hunger is so sharpe set and of that strength and force that it will breake through stone-walls it not onely shakes off sloathfulnesse but aduentures vpon all difficulties be they neuer so desperate Valerius Maximus sayd That her Lawes were cruell Lawes because they prohibit nothing And if hunger put spurs to her heeles for to commit such great cruelties as to force Mothers to 〈◊〉 their owne children she will vse sharper rowells to atchiue things that are lawfull and honest As to spurre on this Prodigall to returne home to his fathers house And necessitie doth not onely open mans eyes but also mooues Gods bowells to compassion of his wretched case Da nobis auxilium de tribulatione Affoord vs ô Lord that fauour which riseth from tribulation And I say which riseth because his eye is euer waighting on those that are in affliction The other His calling to mind of his former felicitie Saint Austen weigheth with himselfe how much it importeth a man to haue beene bred vp in Vertue in the tender yeares of his youth for liuing afterwards amidst the thornes and bryers of sinne it pricks him vp to a remembrance of that quietnesse of conscience which hee inioyed before hee became sinn's slaue And when God preserues a sinner in his sinne and forbeares to punish him according to his ill deseruings it ought to bee a great motiue vnto him to make him to leaue it It is a case worthy great admiration that in that so generall a destruction which the Babilonians made in Ierusalem burning their houses pillaging their goods and taking their liues from them yet they should leaue those captiuated Cittisens those instruments wherewith they were woont to serue their God in his Temple Saint Ierome and Saint Basil are of opinion That this was an especiall prouidence and dispensation of God that in this their banishment they should conserue the memorie of their fore-passed mirth and melody that being prouoked therby to greater sorrow they might bewaile their sins recouer some hope of their restoration And the recordation of our lost good is not only a great helpe to make man to returne againe vnto himselfe but also to moue God to take compassion of him Thou findest thy selfe so ouerburthened with the weight of thy sins that thou art in a manner quite deiected with them but for al this be not put out of heart but call to mind that God was thy Father and the Captaine and Leader of thee foorth in thy youth and thy first Loue and delight And therefore Amodo voca me Hencefoorth call vpon him And no doubt but in doing so Gods bowels of compassion will show themselues tender vnto thee I will goe to my Father and say I haue sinned against Heauen c. Hee resolues to craue helpe of him whome hee had offended like vnto your Magot-a-pyes who being pursued by the Hawke flye for succor to the Faukener seeking shelter from him So Samuel aduised the people when they had offended God Vos fecistis malum grande Ye haue committed a great euill yet neuerthelesse depart not from the Lord. If God be angry with thee make him propitious to thee not by flying from him but by flying to him Peccaui in Caelum He sayes That he had sinned against Heauen More for that it was a witnesse against him than for any harme that he had receiued from thence For in your earthly Tribunals with indearing our faults we oftentimes increase our punishments but in that of heauen the more the delinquent condemnes himselfe the more he doth lessen his punishment The reason is for that sinne may be considered two manner of wayes Either as it is an offence against an infinite Goodnesse Or as it is a wound and miserie to our Soule As it is an offence it calls for justice and incenseth Gods wrath against vs. As it is a wound it mooueth him to mercie and to clemencie And as the greatest misery causeth the greatest compassion the more a Sinner doth aggrauat his sinne the more he doth extenuate Gods anger and worketh the more pittie in him Dauid harpt vpon this string For thy Names sake ô Lord be mercifull vnto my sin for it is great Lord thy Mercie is aboue all thy Works that the world should know thee by this name is the greatest Attribute that thou takest delight in for thy Names sake therefore let me beseech thee that thou wilt haue mercie on my miserie for it is exceeding great Make me one of
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
seeke after figs. Dying he had not any one that would giue him so much as a iarre of water when he cryed out Sitio I thirst they gaue him vinegre and gall to drinke Pope Leo saith of him The dayes that were appointed for him he began them in persecution and ended them in persecution In his infancie he began with the Crosse and at his end he dyed on the Crosse. Which was as Gregorie Naziâ—nzen saith a Prognostication That that Disciple that will seeke to follow his master shall neuer want a crosse to carry nor matter wherein to suffer But Iesus hid himselfe and went out of the Temple Vpon this place we haue formerly rendered foure reasons why our Sauiour Christ auoyded these â—tones by flight and now adding others anew thereunto Origâ—n saith That hee withdrew himselfe out of compassion considering that his counsells made the Pharisees more rebellious and more hard than before Rebellem non vult perdere Hee shund the occasion that they might not be vtterly lost accommodating himselfe to that of Saint Paul Dâ—te lâ—cum ira Giue way to anger One of Gods great mercies is to flye from a sinner that hee may not bee bound sodainly to destroy him In Exodus he gaue his people an Angell to be their guide saying I will neyther be your Captaine nor your Guide for through your stiffe-neckednesse and rebellion ye will runne great hazard vnder my command In some Parables the holy Euangelists put the word Peregrè profectus est He is gone afarre off For albeit God be alwayes present yet it is his exceeding great mercy now and then not to bee present For there is no compatibilitie with his diuine presence and our shamelesnes and loosenes of life And so putting on as it were a kind of dissimulation he makes as if he went away from vs and did not see what we doe Euthymius saith That our Sauiour Christ would rather exercise his patience in flying than his power in punishing Fugiendo magis quam puniendo For although he should haue destroyed theÌ„ yet would they neuer the sooner haue repented Complying with that of the Prophet Esay Dissipati neque coÌ„puncti In the garden he made those that came to take him to â—eele and fall on their backs with an Ego sum I am he But they not acknowledging this his diuine power proceeded on in their apprehending of him God deliuer vs from the resolution of a Reprobate for there is not that miracle either in heauen or on earth that will bridle and restraine him Of those which began to build the Towet of Babel the Scripture saith Nor will they yet leaue off But such is the goodnes of Gods nature and is so kind and louing vnto vs That hee doth to the ill good though they turne this good to 〈◊〉 But he does not doe any ill vnto them for his patience is such That he doth not thinke it much that euen those that were most ill should inioy some good Hugo de sancto victore declareth that place of the Prouerbs Answer a foole according to his foolishnes And Answer not a foole according to his foolâ—shnesse After this manner iâ— a foole shâ—ll amend by reprehension giue it him but if there be no hope of amendment giue it him not God doth commonly treat of the most good and the least ill but the wicked man of the least good and the most ill Wherein he prooues worse than Pilat For he laboured to set our Sauiour Christ at liberty vsing the meanes for the effecting of it to haue him well whipt I will chastise him and let him loose But the Iewes would not rest conâ—ented with that but went on in accomplishing the greatest sinne that was euer committed in the world Pope Gregory saith That our Sauiour Christ hid himselfe and went out of the Temple flying from the stones which they were about to fling at him for to shew That the world was all this while in an errour in holding it a point of honour and a braue and manly action to answer affronts with affronts iniuries with iniuries and to reuenge them to the full holding it basenes and cowardize either to suffer a wrong or shunne the occasion thereof Wherein he hath shewed his great loue vnto vs. For hee applying himselfe to the estimation which man maketh of his honour permitteth vs to defend our reputation though it be with the hurt of the Aggressor or Assaylant and that we should not flye that we might not loose it So that Christ flying from the Pharisees and hiding himself casting their sinnes behind his backe whilest he shewed them his backe and seeking to hide their faults by hiding himselfe from them he did more for them than they did for themselues It is likewise a point of Honour That a husband should not receiue the wife which hath bin false and treacherous vnto him But God saith As a woman rebelleth against her husband so haue ye rebelled against me Thou hast played the harlot with many louers yet turne againe to me saith the Lord and I will heale your rebellions Then shalt thou call me saying my Father and shalt not turne from mee To whom with the Sonne and the Holy Ghost be all honour power c. THE XXXIII SERMON VPON THE MVNDAY AFTER PASSION SVNDAY IOHN 7. Miserunt Principes Sacerdotum Ministros vt apprehenderent Iesum The Chiefe Priests sent their Officers to apprehend Iesus HEre the chiefe of the Priests waiting on the voyce and crie of the people watching which way they were inclined beholding how they were ready to mutine that many dayly were conuerted conuinced by those myracles which were so great both in quality number that they could not be wrought by any but the Messias whom they had so long looked for fearing some alteration both in their State and Religion and deuising with themselues how they might cut off this Good as if it had beene some Canker or Plague of the Common-wealth They sent Officers to take him In which Discourse is discouered the force and efficacie of Gods Word and how little the industrie and policie of man is able to preuaile against this Diuine Wisedome The High-Priests sent to take him The motiue hereunto was their enuie a vice so vnfortunate and so vnluckie that accounting for it's felicitie and for it's good anothers ill commonly the ill raineth downe vpon the head of the Enuious and the good vpon that of the Enuied Iosephs brethren threw him into a pit and then sould him and all but out of enuie and this their selling of him was the meanes of his excelling of them and their casting of him downe the raising of him vp thus purposed aduersitie turned to future prosperitie Haman that was King Assuerus his Fauorite had listed Gods people in seuerall rolles with a ful resolution to haue them massacred all in one day he had set vp a high gallowes whereon
the Father and the Sonne did this out of their mercy and loue to the world but Iudas and Pilat out of hatred treason and iniustice Saint Ambrose saith That that murmuring about the oyntment Vt quid perditio ista vnguenti facta est What needed this waste was vttered by Iudas and the Disciples in one and the same words But in them they proceeded out of a good mind but in Iudas out of auarice for the Disciples had therein a respect to the poore For this oyntment muttered they might haue beene sold for much and beene giuen to the poore But Iudas out of the profit that he might haue made thereby vnto himselfe by filching some of it away if he had come to the fingring of it Saint Hilary expounding that saying of our Sauiour Christ Pater maior me est My Father is greater than I saith That it being heard from Arrius his mouth it sauoured like gall but from our Sauiours mouth like hony In Corinth certaine Exorcists sonnes of the Prince of the Priests would take vpon them to cast out an euill spirit Pessimum the Text stiles him Who did demand of them Who gaue you licence to execute this Office Vos autem qui estis What are ye Iesus I acknowledge and Paul I know but who are ye And the man in whom the euill spirit was ranne on them and preuailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded Saint Paul did cast out diuels in the name of the Lord Iesus Christ and these men likewise did vse the name of the Lord Iesus Christ How comes it then to passe that the successe was so contrary I answer The intention was different Their words were the same but not their intent It is expedient for vs that one man dye The naturall consideration of this place is the conueniencie of Christs death It was expedient for heauen earth angels men as wel the liuing as the dead Wherof I haue treated at large elswhere This spake he not of himselfe Saint Augustine Hoc in eo egit propheticum Chrisma c. The gift of prophesie made him to prophesie his owne euill life and that hee did prophesie ignorantly and foolishly Saint Chrysostome Vide quanta siâ— c. The grace of prophesie toucht the high Priests mouth but not his heart Whence Saint Chrysostome doth inferre how impertinently the Heretikes doe impugne the liues of the Priests with an intent and purpose to ouerthrow the force and power of Ecclesiasticall dignities and their sacred command and authoritie Moses his doubting did not hinder the gushing of the water out of the rocke nor the malice of Caiphas Gods good purpose Of Treacle the Physitians say That it hath a little touch of poyson in it and it being it's naturall condition and propertie to flye to the heart though it be hurtfull one way yet it carryes it's remedy with it So in like maner the holy Ghost made vse of Caiphas his tongue as the instrument of letting forth that diuine blood whose shedding was our saluation Of a leaud wicked fellow Plutarch reporteth That he vttered a very graue sentence and that Lacedamonia gaue order that it should be ascribed to another Answering to our à semetipso non dixit This was not a bird of his hatching Iob seemeth to bee somewhat mooued and offended That God should ayde the wicked in their distresse Thinkest thou it good to oppresse me and to cast off the labour of thine hands and to fauour the Councell of the wicked But the diuine prouidence is wont to make vse of the Councels of Tyrants and such as are enemies thereunto but does neuer assist and helpe them forward Saint Paul telleth vs That some did preach our Sauiour Christ through enuie others for opposition sake and by way of contention and saith withall In hoc gaudeo gaudebo In this I doe and shall reioyce And Christs Disciples aduising him that some did cast forth diuells in his name made them this answer Nolite prohibere Forbid them not For the indignitie and vnworthinesse in the person of the Minister doth not destroy the grace of his function and dignitie This spake he not of himselfe From so bad a man could not come so deepe a Mysterie onely God could put this so rare a conceit into his head as the deliuering vp of a Sonne for the redeeming of a Slaue Iesus therefore walked no more openly among the Iewes Seeing death now neere at hand he withdrew himselfe reading a Lecture therein vnto vs That when we are about to die and drawing on to our last home we should abandon the world and retyre our selues Remitte mihi saith Dauid vt refrigerer priusquam abeam amplius non ero Giue me leaue ô Lord to dispose of my selfe and to render thee an account of my life before I goe hence and be seen no more For to propound your cause before a Iudge you prepare and addresse your selfe vnto him before hand and shall you be negligent and carelesse when you are to appeare before God Amongst the Iudges of the earth you haue a Vista and a Reuista Hearing vpon hearing a primera segunda instancia a first and a second instance But with God you cannot enioy the like benefit his Court allowes no such course The Motto that is written there ouer his Tribunall is an Amplius non ero I shall bee no more We may not die twice for to amend in our second death the errors of our former life There is no reuersing of iudgement no appealing from this Iudge to that or from one Court to another That which wil concerne and import thee most is That thou condemne thy selfe before God condemne thee and that thou kill sinne in thee before God kill thee in thy sin This is the onely way to secure danger and to kill death Many sit vp so long at play that at last they are faine to goe to bed darkling This our liuing in the world is a kind of playing or gaming whose bed is Aeternitie Walke while ye haue light least the night come vpon you and darknesse ouertake you Study to giue ouer thâ—â—â—lay in some good time do not continue your sports in this world to the very 〈…〉 â—â—oppling out of the candle least ye runne the danger of going to bed darkeling He went thence into a country neere vnto the wildernesse c. If it goe ill with thee and that thou canst not liue well and quietly amongst some men flye from the societie of them Our Sauiour Christ hyes him to the wildernes amongst the beasts and carries his Disciples thither with him holding their fellowship to be lesse hurtfull and dangerous Frater fui Draconum saith Iob I am a brother to the Dragons and a companion to the Ostriches Inter Scorpiones habitaui saith Ezechiel I dwelt among Scorpions Albeit by their habit and shape they seeme to be men they are indeed no better than
There is no comfort in the end of man But Gods Saints say Thou hast couered vs with the shadow of death When the fire of Hell did threaten vs Death did shelter vs with it's shade Cada vno habla de la Feria como le va en ella Euerie one speaketh of the Market as hee makes his pennie-worths The Iust hath no cause to weepe because hee that enioyeth God enioyeth all the happinesse that can be spoken or imagined but the Sinner may crie out Ego plorans oculus meus deducens aquas quia longè factuâ— est à me consolator It being the soule of my soule and now seuered so far from me thou hast cause to bewaile a bodie without a soule It is a lamentable thing saith Saint Augustine that we should bewaile other losses and not that of our soule Quid tam malè de nobis meruit anima nostra How hath our soule so ill deserued of vs He there considers the great care we haue of a new suit of cloathes that neither the dust the moath nor the least wrinckle should hurt it but are verie curious in folding of it vp He that buyes hath an especiall eye to two things The one to looke verie well to that he buyes be it pearles apparell or horses and will first make proofe and diligent enquirie of their goodnesse c. The other To cast about with himselfe how he shall be able to pay and to driue the price as well as he can Doe thou likewise endeauour to vse the like diligences concerning thy soule consider first what kind of stuffe it is and what it is worth and then beat the price and see for what thou canst buy it Which course if thou shalt but take thou wilt looke to it the better and esteeme it the more and not set so slight by it as many doe Take yee away the stone He stinketh alreadie for he hath beene dead foure dayes Lazarus being now foure dayes dead lying stinking in his graue and with a tombe-stone vpon him doth represent a Sinner that through long custome is growne old in his sinnes That which might well haue beene cured hauing gotten strength by time is become incurable not that it is impossible to be healed but because it is a strange kind of cure and healed with a great deale of difficultie And therefore the Wiseman saith That a Young man enured to ill Age will not make him giue it ouer Chrysostome calls Custome Febrim furiosam a hot burning Feuer whose raging flame taking hold on our appetites there is no water that can quench it Phylon calls it Regem animae The King of our soule agreeing with that language of Saint Paul Let not sinne raigne in your mortall bodies Plato reprehending a certaine Scholler of his of some â—ight faults which he confessing but making light of them his Master told him Custome is no such light thing as you make it It is Saint Hieromes obseruation That Ieremie said O Lord I know not how to speake because I am but a child And Esay Woe vnto me that I haue held my peace for I am a man of polluted lips The one God cured by onely touching his mouth with his finger the other he was faine to cauterise with a hot burning cole Now the infirmitie being all one why should the remedies bee so disequall I answere That the sinne of Ieremie was but a child as it were verie young and tender and therefore any the least remedie would serue his turne but Esay was an old grown Courtier c. Saint Augustine dwells much vpon this word Quatriduanus his foure dayes lying in the graue The Euangelists make mention of three dead persons which our Sauiour raised vp to life not that he had not raised vp more but because these doe represent the deaths of our soules The daughter of the chiefe Ruler of the Synagogue which went not out of her house represent those our secret sinnes which passe in our withdrawne roomes and the closest by-corners about the house The young man of Naim those publique sinnes which proclaime themselues in the Market place and comming out of doores offer themselues to euerie mans view your widows sonnes being generally lewd and ill giuen Lazarus those that stinke and grow vnsauorie through their too long custome of sinning hauing lien long in this graue of death Saint Augustine saith That the name of three in Scripture betokeneth many sinnes but that of foure more than many And this phrase of speech is vsed by Amos For three transgressions of Moah and for foure I will not turne to it signifying thereby many more than many O terque quaterque beati implies a world of happinesse to the like sence sounds this word Quatriduanus Foure dayes since Whence it is to be noted That sins when they begin like the waters to swell so high they leaue their bed and run ouer the bankes causing a miserable inundation Gods anger growing wearie in the expectation of our amendment draws his sword at last to cut vs off The sinnes of Sodome cried out so loud that the clamor thereof came to Gods eare so shril was the noyse that it brake through those other inferiour heauens and ascended vp to the Throne of Thrones where he sate in his Imperiall Maiestie God was wondrous angrie at it yet had hee this patience with himselfe that before he would execute his wrath vpon them he said Vadam videbo I will goe downe and see whither they haue done altogether according to that crie which is come vnto me c. What greater euidence ô Lord of thy loue than these thy delayes God did beare with them yet a little while longer and hee did looke and stand waiting to see whether Sodome would amend the foulenesse of her sinne so that when hee came downe to see how things passed had he found them sorrowfull for what they had done amisse and repenting themselues of their former euill life hee would haue sheathed his sword and withdrawne his displeasure The same conceit passeth in that Parable of the Tares the Tares grew vp amongst the Wheat and the seruants asking their Master Wilt thou that we goe and plucke vp the tares He said vnto them No let them grow vp both together And why so ô Lord It may be they wil die and wither away of themselues if not the haruest will come ere long and they shall be cut downe bound vp and cast into the ouen So that Gods patience you see is great but when we perseuer in ill Gods anger comes like an inundation vpon vs. But I will conclude this point with Saint Austens owne conclusion Sub tali resuscitatore de nullo iacente desperandum est Let no man despaire of rising be he neuer so much cast downe hauing such a one to raise him vp from Death to Life as our Sauiour Christ Iesus who is all Loue and Mercie and Goodnesse and the
Resurrection of all those that rely vpon him by Faith He stinketh alreadie Martha here showed herselfe of somewhat a queasie stomach and too daintie a nose but so did not our Sauiour Christ. Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand That a sinner sauours ill to all the world but not to Gods nosthrils When God shewed vnto Peter the sheet full of snakes and lizards and willed him to eate it caused a verie great horrour in him But vnderstanding afterwards that the mysterie was in that which was signified thereby and not in the doing of it hee did acknowledge that there was not that sinner vpon earth that was cast out from Gods bosome You may come to be loathsome vnto your selfe but not vnto God I am a burthen vnto my selfe Iob said this of himselfe euen then when Gods eyes were gratious vnto him and looked fauourably vpon him My flesh is clothed with wormes and filthinesse of the dust my skinne is rent and become horrible I cannot indure the ill sauour that I beare about me I haue not eyes to behold mine owne wretchednesse But God hath an eye to looke vpon thee and a heart to indure thee and loues thee more than thou louest thy selfe Those fiue and twentie young men which Ezechiel painteth forth clapping nosegaies to their noses some say that it was to defend them from the euill sauour as if they should haue giuen Iob a pomander to drowne the stench of his sores beeing on the one side nothing but plaisters and noisome vnctions and onthe other amber and muske But Isidorus Cladius reads Applicant odorem malum ad nares meos They turne their eyes towards the Sunne and putting their faces from mee they seeke to auoid the euill sauour that comes from mee The translation of Ionathas doth fauour this conceit Obuertebant podicum faciebus eorum In the honour of their Idols and in their scorne of mee they did vse the greatest inciuilitie could be offered vnto any They are a stampe and embleme of those sinners before whom Vertue and Holinesse of life sauoureth ill but the myre of Vice and Sinne smelleth sweet We know that the sauour of God is a sweet smelling sauour Christi bonus odor sumus We are a sweet smelling sauour vnto Christ. His name is a precious balme His garments smell of sweetnesse But as vnto weake eyes the Sunne is hatefull so to a depraued sent this sweete odour is vnsauourie Yet God will not take a loathing at sinners though like Lazarus they lye stinking in their graues For albeit their sinnes doe offend his nosthrils yet will hee not turne away his eye from a sinner nor pull backe his hand from the dressing and curing of him And as the father is not squemish and queasie stomacht to helpe his child that is falne into the myre and is nothing all ouer but filth and dyrt but doth take him vp and comfort him and wash him and cloths him cleanlier and neater than he was before so doth God with Sinners when they haue falne ouer head and eares into most foule and loathsome sinnes c. Hee cryed with a loud voice Lazarus come foorth Hee cryed out aloud for many following the errour of Pythagoras did verily beleeue that the soules of the dead did remaine in the graue with their bodies To this purpose were erected those famous Pyramides of Memphis and of other parts of the World I say these their Pyramides were directed to this end for they persuading themselues that the soule was a fierie substance they imagined it to be in forme like a Pyâ—amis Saint Austen saith That at the sound of this voice Death was strucke with astonishment Dauid in a Psalme of his setteth forth the obedience which all creatures beare to the voyce of God as well lightning raine thunder as the rest The voyce of the Lord breaketh the Cedars 〈◊〉 the Cedars of Libanon There is not the tallest Cedar in Libanon which a flash of lightning or a cracke of thunder will not rent and teare vp by the rootes and consume it to ashes The voyce of the Lord maketh the Wildernesse to tremble it diuideth the flames of fire it maketh the Hindes to calue and discouereth the Forrests there is not that least of liuing creatures the poorest or the smallest Worme that hides it selfe in holes and in the Rockes which is not brought to light and shewes himselfe when God calls vnto him Phylon prosecuting this argument weighes with himselfe the forcible violence of the Winds in that they turn vp the sturdiest okes making the roots euen with the tops in that they ouerwhelme the tallest ships and that they leuell with the ground the goodliest and the greatest buildings Yet all these are nothing compared with the powerfulnesse of this our Sauiour Christs voyce which made Hell gates to shake strooke Death dead and made the Deuills roare for feare c. Then he that was dead came forth â—oâ—nd hand foot with hands c. This dead man came forth his feet and his hands being bound which caused Saint Baâ—il to crie out Miraculum in miraculo Here 's one myracle vpon another To raise vp one that was dead was a strange and a ghastly kind of myracle but that beeing now aliue he should goe being bound hand and foot was another as strange great a myracle Lazarus had God beene so pleased might haue left his winding sheet in the graue his Kerchiefe and the napkin that couered his face and eyes as our Sauiour Christ did in his Sepulchre but Lazarus here brings them out with him in token that he did rise to die againe but our Sauiour Christ rose neuer to die any more though Lazarus died some thirtie yeares after this his resurrection as it is left vs vpon Recoâ—d by Epiphanius And this was the reason why the Sepulchre of our Sauiour remained shut and that of Lazarus left open Loose him and let him goe Here Christ wills to be taken from him all those occasions that might cause him to stumble If therefore thou wilt not fall shun the occasions of falling flie as farre from them as thou canst Saint Bernard finds fault with Eue and reprehends her seuerely for it That shee would presume to looke vpon the tree of Life that tree of good and euill which she was so strictly enioyned to abstaine from where the Text saith The woman saw that it was good and the eye no sooner saw but the heart consented But if any man shall replie and say That the eyes or the hands doe onely incline a man to this or that let him take this also from me That the eyes are an Indicium and manifest signe of a sinne committed at least a great occasion of that which may bee committed Saint Cyril saith That God appearing vnto Moses and those twentie Elders or Antients of the People in a throne of Saphyres of the colour of Heauen was done onely to take away all occasion from that People