Coasts of Tyre and Sydon He taxes this his people of their vnthankefulnes towards him For he that doth not only not acknowledge a good turn but requites it with il shuts the gates of Heauen against his owne Soule And therefore Signum non dabiter eiâ Rupertus hath obserued That the first fault that was committed in the World was Ingratitude For God hauing created Adam in a perfect age and sound in his judgement hauing for his recreation giuen him Paradise and for his authoritie the Seigniorie of the World yet did hee not giue him thankes for these his so great and many fauours towards him whereupon the Deuill beeing a slye and subtill Merchant tooke occasion to tempt him persuading himselfe That hee who had shewed himselfe ingratefull would with a little labour bee easily brought to be disobedient This Doctor doth soundly throughly ponder these words Serpens erat callidior The serpent was more subtill Like a craftie Huntsman hee waited but for a time that Adam by his vnthankefulnes should fall into the toile whence afterwards hee should not so easily get out Saint Ambrose sayth That Noah all that while that hee was building the Arke did not any thing though neuer so little without some especiall order from God but as soone as hee was gone out of the Arke without further expecting aduise from Heauen hee did prepare and make readie his sacrifice For that a Soule should shew it selfe thankefull to it's God it is not necessary that it should stay waighting looking for reuelations but rather hasten to expresse it as soone as it can and to vse all preuention of being put in mind of it And therfore in approbation of Noahs forwardnesse the Text sayth Odoratus est Dominus odorem suauitatis The Lord smelled a sauour of rest And shewed himselfe so well pleased and appeased therwith that he sayd in his heart he would thencefoorth curse the ground no more for mans cause There is another circumstance touching Ingratitude which is very considerable deserues our attention which is this That albeit God is woont sometimes to dissemble other faults and lets them runne on many yeares before he wil punish them yet the sins of vnthankefulnesse he will not suffer them to scape vnpunished no noâ so much as to graunt them the forbearance of a few houres God sayth in Leuiticus Qui maledixerit Deo suo portabât peccatum suum Whosoeuer shall curse his God or speake ill of him shall beare his sin no farther chastisement beeing there set downe for him But hee that shall blaspheme the name of the Lord Morte morietur shall bee put to death that is the Law The second questionlesse is a lesser sinne than the former And yet God dissembles the former and will by no meanes indure the second And the reason thereof rendred by Thomas is That those names and attributes of God doe shut vp as it were and comprehend in them those benefits which hee so liberally bestowes vpon vs and for that the blasphemer showes himselfe so vngratefull vnto God hee cannot hope for any pardon of his punishment Our Sauiour Christ then seeing that Iudea did draw poyson out of treacle and vnthankefulnesse and hardnesse of heart from the many fauours and mercies that hee had shewed towards them Secessit in partes Tyri Sydonis Went into the Coasts of Tyre and Sydon c. Ecce mulier Chananea Many and great matters are spoken of the force and power of Prayer Greeuous is that saying of God vnto Ieromie Noli orare pro populo isto neque assumes pro eis laudem orationem non obsistas mihi Thou shalt not pray for this people neither lift vp cry or prayer for them neither intreat mee least I should heare thee and so diuert mine anger Seest thou not what they doe c Seeke not therefore to hinder me in executing my vengeance against them None sayth Iob is able to resist the wrath of God But God aduiseth vs how powerfull a thing Prayer is for the appeasing of it by seeking to preuent the Prophet by putting in this caueat Non obsistas mihi Resist mee not Greeuous is that saying of God vnto Moses Desine vt irascatur furor meus Stand not betwixt mee and home that I may destroy this people O Lord who can hold thy hand when thou art willing to strike Who force thee against thy will to be quiet yes The Prayer of such a friend as Moses Orabat autem Moyses ad Dominum Deum suum Beeing one whom God so much respected And as the loue of a friend doth tye the hands of some angry Lord and keep him from striking so Prayers binds Gods hands when hee is angry with vs not suffering him to draw his sword This was no small comfort to Dauid which made him to sing the song of Thankesgiuing Benedictus Deus qui non amouit orationem meam misericordiam suam à me Blessed be God who hath not remooued either my prayer or his owne mercie from mee Saint Austen saith That as long as God shall not take from out our mouthes and our hearts our praying vnto him so long we may be well assured that he will not remoue his mercie from vs for he neuer denieth those that faithfully cal vpon him But a matter of great consideration is that which we haue here in hand Ecce mulier Cananea Behold a Canaanitish woman c. What a woman that is an Idolatresse can shee bee of that power that shee should ouercome God by prayer When a weake arme cuts a man off by the wast at a blow or hewes a bar of yron in sunder this act is not attributed so much to the force of his arme as the goodnesse of his sword so this dayes noble act is not to bee attributed to a Pagan woman who was descended of that accursed Cham but to the power of Prayer To those three diuine persons Prayers are not permitted for as Thomas noteth it Prayer is to be directed to a superiour power And if the Sonne of God did pray it was according to his humanitie hauing recourse as Saint Ambrose saith to those two obligations of Priest and Aduocate And if Saint Paul saith that the holy Ghost doth pray Postulat pro nobis gemitibus in enarrabilibus He maketh request for vs with grones that are vnspeakeable It was that he might teach vs how to pray as Saint Augustine expoundeth it The Deuills and those that are damned are not capable of prayer Albeit the couetous rich man did desire a drop of water of Abraham to coole his tongue the Deuills entreated Christ that he would giue them leaue to enter into the Swine For to pray vnto God is to turne vnto God and with a sorowfull soule and a contrite heart humbly and earnestly to call vpon him crauing pardon for our sinnes Prayer therefore onely belongs vnto men as well the Iust as the Sinner and that the
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 doâst 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 thââ 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 tuorâm 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
sence so sutable to the Text because Christ doth there point out the immediat cause of that their incredulitie and that this was not so much a predestination or reprobation as that their present hardnesse of heart and vnbeleefe yet notwithstanding I must giue you to vnderstand That to heare the word of God is a great Prenda and pledge of our predestination especially being accompanyed with these foure concurring circumstances The first is Audire To âeare the word· Blessed are they that heare the word of God This is the first step And he that doth not put forward a foot to this is not to be accounted a child of God The husbandman in the Gospell sow'd his seed in foure seuerall parts of the ground and if in any one of them hee forbare to sow it was because he did not take it to be his Many birds are taken and delighted with the light as your partridges and your pigeons But your wolfes beares bores and other wild beasts flye from it all that they can It is Chrysostomes note That when God went about to catch Paul the light went afore the voyce For the voyce will affright the blind but the light will make him in loue therewith Saint Paul preaching to the Iewes said The light of the Gospell was principally ordained for you But seeing ye put it from yee ye iudge your selues vnworthy of euerlasting life And treating of the Gentiles he saith That they did glorifie the Word of God and that they did beleeue it and giue credit thereunto And when the Gentiles heard it they were glad saith the Apostle and glorified the word of the Lord and as many as were ordained vnto eternall life beleeued I am the way the truth and the life And he that looseth this way looseth the truth and looseth life euerlasting The second is Aâdire cum frequentia To heare the word frequently and very often The earth that is extraordinary dry and scorched with heat the drops of water which it receiueth it turneth into toades And hee that seldome frequents sermons it is to be feared they worke little good vpon him if not turne to his hurt Many will come to heare Sermons but with a preiudicate opinion and are more carefull to picke a quarrell against the Preacher than profit themselues The franticke patient that throwes stones at the Physitian that cures him puts himselfe in great pârill In a word The Word of God is the Soules sustenance and being ministred slowly it is no meruaile if it fall into a Consumption The third is Audire cum attentione To heare diligently and with attention freeing the soule from all worldly cares and incumbrances for as the eyes cannot ioyntly and at once behold both Heauen and Earth so the Soule cannot attentiuely at one and the same time behold the things of the World and of God If any man loue the world the loue of the Father abideth not in him When a great and principall Riuer is diuided into many Riuolets or little streames so much the lesse water will euerie one of them haue The like succeedeth with that heart which is diuided into many cares and desires Foolish and noysome lusts drowne men in perdition and destruction And Salomon saith When thou sittest with a Prince obserue what is before thee and put thy knife vnto thy throat if thou bee a man giuen to thy appetite A Christians sitting at the King of Heauens Table is the hearing of his Doctrine this is that Boord whereunto Wisedome inuiteth vs. Where the Bread of wholesome Doctrine is set before thee which strengthneth the heart of man and the Wine of Grace which cheereth and comforteth the heart At which Table whosoeuer shall come to sit must consider with attention that which is set before him casting out of his mind all other worldly things Those Ministers that were imployed for the apprehending of our Sauiour Christ finding him preaching to the People they hearkened vnto him with that earnest and diligent attention that they had quite forgot to put that in execution which was giuen them in charge by the Pharisees and being demanded by them Why did yee not bring him along with you They returned this answer Neuer any man spake as he spake The glorious Doctor Saint Augustine before that he had vnwinded himselfe out of the errour of the Maniâhees hee went of purpose to heare Saint Ambrose but not with intention to giue any credit to his Doctrine but to delight himselfe with the elegancie of his phrase and being rauished with the sweetnesse of his words had his heart taken as well as his eâre his attention supplied the fault of his intention this was that putting of the knife to the throat The glorious Apostle Saint Paul goes a little further and calls Gods Word not only Cultrum but Gladium not a Knife but a Sword Take vnto thee the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God What then Marrie he giues thee a caueat in these insuing words Si tamen habes in potestate animaââ tuam That thy soule be not distracted with the troublesome businesses of this world Saint Chrysostome compares the soule of the Iust to a Poole of Water which stands all alone in some low Valley where there is all stilnesse reposednesse freshnesse cleerenesse and the Sunne-beames purest brightnesse Salomon likeneth the Soule of a sinner to a troubled and tempestuous Sea The heart of the Wicked is as a raging sea The fourth is Audire cum conseruatione To heare with a retention and to lay vp the Word of God in our hearts Blessed are they that heare the Word of God and keepe it Not they who heare the Word of God and forget it taking it in at one eare and letting it out at another but they which heare it and keepe it It is Saint Gregories obseruation That the Physition doth despaire of that Patients stomacke that cannot keepe it's meat but throwes it vp as soone as it receiueth it Saint Chrysostome aduiseth That he that heareth a Sermon should doe as he doth that comes out of a Bath presently to retyre himselfe get him to his Chamber there keepâ himselfe warme wrap good store of cloathes about him that the ill humors may the better be exhaled and drawne from him Plutarch telleth vs That many take no pleasure in Flowers or care any further for them than to looke vpon them smell to them and haue them in their hands buâ the Bee drawes from them both honie and wax and the Apothecarie makes many medicines of them against diuers and sundrie diseases Many heare Sermons onely for their pleasure for the elegancie of the stile delicacie of words grauity of sentences and the gracefulnesse in their deliuerie but this is but to make a nosegay to smell to for a while and cast it anon after into a corner Say we not well that thou art a Samaritane and hast a Deuill One of the greatest miseries than
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 Naziânzen 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 âtones by flight and now adding others anew thereunto Origân 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 Dâte lâcum 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 coÌpuncti In the garden he made those that came to take him to âeele 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 ãâã 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 foolâshnesse After this manner iâ a foole shâll 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 conâented 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
mulierem Seeest thou this Woman No Simon thou doest not see her For thou doest imagine her to be a sinner whereas indeed she is a Saint Many sinnes are forgiuen her That the sinnes of Mary Magdalen were many the reasons before alledged the seuen diuels driuen out of her deliuered by Saint Marke and Saint Luke and the name of Sinneresse in so populous a City are sufficient testimonies of this truth But a stronger proofe thereof are those words vttered by our Sauior Christ Many sinnes are forgiuen her Wherein we are to consider his franknesse and freenesse in forgiuing Shewing his power and omnipotencie in nothing more than in pittying our infirmities and pardoning our offences For that so great a forgiuer of sinnes should say Many sinnes are forgiuen thee doth argue that her sinnes were many And would to God That those many deuotos or seruants that are deuoted to Mary Magdalen be not more for those many sinnes which she had before she was conuerted than those many deseruings which she afterwards had For we haue reason to be iealous of our selues that we are more affected to sins than teares to carelesnesse than repentance For we daily see in our liues and conuersations many sinnes like vnto hers but little or no repentance like hers Many comfort themselues with the teares of this holy woman this blessed Saint of God it seeming vnto them that they haue a kind of confidence in their brests that they likewise shall bewaile their sins as she did It is no wonder to see them sinne at euery step but it were a wonder to find them euery foot weeping They will follow her in her faults but not in her amendment in her sins but not in her teares Nazianzen saith of himselfe Diutius viuendo nihil aliud assequor quam vt maiorem vitiorum aceruum colligam By liuing long I get no other good than make the heape of my sinnes the bigger The child of God weepes and it grieues him to the heart that he cannot amend as he would and that the longer his life lasteth the more sinne he treasureth vp but the sinner doth treasure vp vengeance for the day of vengeance but neuer sheds a teare to wash away his sins and to quench those flames of hell which without them his soule may eternally suffer O Lord graunt vs the grace that as we haue sinned with Mary Magdalen so with her we may returne againe vnto thee and that hauing tâe like repentance we may find the like forgiuenesse of our sinnes Grant this sweet Iesus for thy mercies sake c. THE XXXVII SERMON VPON THE FRâDAY AFTER PASSION SVNDAY IOH. II. Colligerunt Pontifices Pharisaei Concilium Then gathered the high Priests and Pharisees a Councel THe high Priests and the Pharisees called a Councell to sit vpon the weightiest cause that was euer consulted of vpon earth wherein foure things did concurre First of all A Councell for to deliberate what course were best to be taken for amongst many the truth would be the better debated and in graue businesses it is fit that persons should be called thereunto that are men of Authoritie and Learning Secondly therefore the high Priests are called to this Councell Thirdly the Pharisees who sat as Iudges vpon all matters touching doubts of Faith and causes of Religion Fourthly and lastly The cause of this Councell or Consultation which was our Sauiours raising vp of Lazarus For they saw that this Myracle had conuerted many Collegerunt ergo Concilium They called therefore a Councell Hitherto all goes well a faire course was taken but in the end they mar'd all by plotting mischiefe against our Sauiour Christ. It had beene better for them to haue receiued him to haue approoued those prophesies which were foretold of him and to haue inlightned the people by instructing them in this his doctrin but they met together for no other end but to eclipse and darken the sunne then when the beames thereof did most shine Then gathered the high Priests and the Pharisees a Councell After that the diuell had tempted our Sauiour finding him somewhat sharpe and sower towards him Saint Luke saith Reliquit eum diabolus ad tempus The diuell gaue him ouer for that bout and would haue no more to doe with him for the present but left him then of purpose waiting for a better season and opportunitie Vsque ad tempus For a time Euthymius askes for how long And his answer is Till that the Priests and the Pharisees had called a Councell This was the diuells plot though they did not then thinke so when they met in Councell And yet they were no sooner sat but that Sacrilegious decree went foorth from amongst them To put him to death Some man perhaps will aske me How the diuell could hope to get the greater victorie of our Sauiour Christ by this meanes working the same more by the high Priests and the Pharisees than by himselfe First of all I answer thereunto One that serues on horsebacke is imagined to be of greater force and power than he that serues on foot And as a certain glosse hath it which Thomas alleageth The wicked are the diuells horses and being horsed vpon the high Priests and the Pharisees it is not much that hee should presume to take away our Sauiours life If the high Priests and the Pharisees had been horsed vpon the diuells backe the danger had not beene so great But when the diuell shall ride vpon high Priests and Iudges c. it is a fearfull thing Secondly Saint Ambrose saith That albeit the diuell be the Author of all mischiefe yet hath he sent forth many learned and nimble witted schollers which haue wonderfully aduanced his cause suting with that of the Apostle who calls the wicked Inuentores malorum Inuenters of euill The diuell was the first Inuenter therof but afterwards there were some men that discouered much more malice Magellanes was the first that passed the Streights but afterwards others went so farre beyond him that he is cast behind Thirdly the diuell by himselfe alone can commonly doe little vnlesse wee serue and supply him with materials Comestor reports it to be a tradition amongst the Rabbines that in the making of the golden Calfe the diuell performed two Offices the one of a Smith the other of a Mettall-founder but that the Hebrewes furnished him with Materialls they found the stuffe for the women who commonly are most superstitious and by consequence fittest to be the diuells instruments furnished him with their eare-rings bracelets iewels of gold Here now in like maner the diuel did imploy his best industry and diligence he was the cause ofthis Consultation and the plotter of this Councell but the high Priests and the Pharisees were they that ministred the materials helping him with their voices They called a Councell Peace is the fruit of Grace The fruits of the Spirit are Loue Ioy and Peace And for that sinners liue aloofe off
Faith procure but he would signifie thereby that it was in his power to doe it and that very easily and it is an ordinarie phrase amongst vs to say It is but a word speaking Saint Chrysostome indeereth the modestie and curteous carriage of this Captaine that he bearing that great loue to his Seruant that hee was as sencible of this his sickenesse and the danger he was in as if the case had beene his owne He did not desire any indecent thing of our Sauiour nor lash out into passion transported by his affection but proceeded therein with great prudence and sobrietie not onely hauing a care to that which was fitting for his seruant but with what respect also and reuerence hee was to carrie himselfe towards our Sauiour Christ. Onely say the word c. From hence Chrysostome proueth That the Centurion did beleeue the Diuinitie of Christ For if hee had thought him to bee but a Saint and not a God hee would haue said I pray Sir speake a good word for me but he vseth not that phrase of speech but That himselfe would command him to be whole But it is to bee noted That though all the antient Saints doe grant That the Centurion beleeued that Christ was both God and man yet Gregorie Nazianzen Saint Chrysostome and Saint Austen doe note That speaking absolutely of doing a miracle with empire and command is not prenda that is a token of God onely for any man may doe the like to whom God shal giue the power If thou hadst saith our Sauior but so much faith as a graine of mustard seed thou mightst command mountaines to remooue and they shal obey thee But to worke a miracle commanding the same to be done by his own proper power vertue that is a token of Gods power onely And that the Centurion pretended this it is prooued first by the great curtesie vsed by him Lord I am not worthie that thou shouldst come vnder my roofe which was as manerly as any man could speake it Secondly because a Saint may verie well do miracles and by commandement too but so that hee must haue this power from God but withall it shall not be lawfull for any man to craue them in that kind for the power of doing miracles is neuer so tied to the will of any Saint that he may worke miracles where and when he will himselfe Thirdly the comparison vsed by the Centurion prooueth the supreme power to reside in Christ our Sauiour Nam ego homo sum sub potestate constitulus i. For I also am a man put in authoritie c. Thou Lord hast souldiers so haue I thou with absolute power I with subordinate these obey me punctually who am but an Emperors Vicegerent what shall those thee who art aboue all the Kings and Emperors of the earth Saint Hierome and Origen vnderstand by Gods souldiers the Angells whom the Scripture calls his Ministers by whom he works his miracles Saint Chrysostome vnderstands by these souldiers death life sickenesse and health Saint Luke sayes Hee rebuked the Feuer the words are short but full but it is cleere that all the creatures of God whatsoeuer are Gods Ministers For as he hath command ouer the Angells death life sickenesse health the seas and the winds Quis hic quia venti mare obediunt ei Who is this that the winds and the sea obey him So he commandeth they should be called his soldiers because they execute his will From these words Sub potestate constitutus this moralitie may bee drawne That euerie subordinate dignitie implyeth subiection and heauinesse I call it subordinate being compared with a greater Monarch vnder whose command the person subordinate liues which Doctrine is so plaine that it is prooued dayly by a thousand experiences and the power of Christ himselfe was subordinate to that of his Father so sayes Esay Cuius imperium super humerum eius i. Whose gouernment is vpon his shoulder so that there is not any honour which hath not a burthen with it which many times makes the heart of man to ake and groane vnder it Miratus est Iesus Fidem Centurionis Iesus admired the Centurions Faith Admiration as Saint Austen saith proceedeth either from the ignorance of the cause of a thing or from the singularitie of it In Christ could there neither be the one nor the other for hee did not onely know the faith of the Centurion but had also beene the author thereof Quis fecerat ipsam fidem saith Saint Austen nisi ipse qui mirabatur i. Who had caused that faith but he that did admire it So that it seemeth that this admiration is a commendation which our Sauiour gaue of the Capâaines faith For to admire a thing euen amongst prophane Authors is an extraordinarie kind of commending it For Christ had seene by a blessed and infused knowledge that faith which was hidden in the heart of the Centurion but because hee did manifest the same in his presence admiring it he commended it and therefore it is said Miratus est He admired Saint Austen on the other side distinguisheth Admiration from Commendation Some things saith he are commended but not admired others are both commended and admired Christ perceiuing this his faith by admiring it did commend it not for any interior admiration that was in himselfe but to confirme and establish ours For all the world might well wonder to see so great faith in a Souldier Suting with that which Saint Austen saith in another place That Christ had shewne some motions and signes of admiration without perturbation being motions and signes of a Master whereby he read a lecture vnto vs that we should doe the like Thomas puts vpon our Sauiour Scientiam experimentalem an experimentall knowledge and consequently an experimentall admiration And albeit by a blessed and infused kind of knowledge he did know all things and that his wisedome could not erre yet it is said of him That he encreased in knowledge He went onwards in wisedome and in stature So that his admiring of the Centurions faith was not so much his knowing of any wonderful and singular thing but an experimentall knowledge thereof as that of the Astrologer who knowes before hand that there shall bee such an eclipse yet notwithstanding when it comes hee admires it So that our Sauior hauing this experimental knowledge the admiration could not be so great as otherwise it would haue beene had hee not foreknowne it But some man perhaps will say I doe not see any such rare circumstances in the Faith and words of the Centurion as should cause in vs any great admiration for I doe not see him shed teares with Marie Magdalen nor adore him with the knee with Regulus nor clamour him with importunitie with the Cananite c. I answer Will yee expect this courtship from a souldier and a swordman Let Ieremie and Daniel weepe for a souldier it sufficeth that he make
to be reuenged of him for the death of the young man hee sayd vnto them Hearken ô yee wiues of Lamech Let it not once enter into your thoughts to take reuenge on my life for though the vengeance which God appointed for the killing of Caine had a limitation yet the reuenge of my death shall be without taxe and without measure Setuplum vltio dabitur de Cain de Lamech autem septuagies septies Cain shall be reuenged seuen times but Lamech seuentie times seuen times Wherein he sets downe a finite number for an infinite In a word Lamech in this word Septuagies septies shewes That the reuenge that should bee taken thereof should be without terme without limitation wherein he seemes to make mans crueltie to contest with Gods mercie The other is Of those that hate their enemies so to the death that though they themselues die yet they will not let their hatred die with them but leaue it in their last Will and Testament to their heires to take reuenge of their wrongs and to prosecute their enemies vnto death Being herein like vnto Dido who throwing out her curses and maledictions on Aeneas and desiring the Tygres and other wild beasts to reuenge her wrong breathed her last with this inuocation Hoc precor hanc vocem extremaÌ cum sanguine fundo i. This is my prayer I wish no other good and this I poure forth with my latest bloud Whence I would haue you to note That this hardnesse of mans heart at his death is in punishment of his hardnesse of heart in his life Hac anima aduersione saith Saint Austen punitur peccator i. This is a sinners punishment And in another place Cor durum male habebit in nouissimo It shall goe ill with a hard heart in the latter day And Ieremie treating of those that persecuted him Reddes eis Domine vicem iusti dabis eis scutum cordis Thou shalt pay them in their owne coyne thou shalt vse them as they vsed their enemies thou shalt giue them a heart like a shield of Brasse it shall be hard in their life time and hard at their death No prayers could mollifie them nor shall their entreatie mooue thee for only the merciful shall only find mercie Now for the reforming of both these excesses Saint Paul saith Sol non occidat super iracundiam vestram Let not the Sunne goe downe before your wrath goe out Let not the one set before the other be setled Saint Chrysostome renders two reasons of this saying Sol non occidat c. The one That the Sunne doth fauour and serue you with his light and with his influences cherishing your health and your life and does not return home at night brawling and complayning that he hath bestowed this his loue seruice vpon an vngrateful vnthankful person There is no creature but wil grumble repine to serue such a one Ingemescit It sighes and groanes c. saith Saint Paul but the Sunne does not grudge at his seruing of you The second That the night is of it selfe sad melancholly and in a disposition to troublesome thoughts and immaginations Now then that your fantasie may not present you with an armie of fearefull cogitations and the dismall representations of reuenge before that the night comes on quiet that raging sea within thy brest by throwing Oyle vpon it become soft gentle by clensing thy heart of all rancour and malice If the beames of the Sunne cannot pierce through a thicke cloud they will hardly make their way through the pitchie darkenesse of the night being that they are naturally then in their augmentation When the cheerefulnesse of the day employment in businesses and the companie and comfort of our friends cannot remooue the clouds of our anger the night will hardly scatter them who is the mother of painefull thoughts For as the infirmities of the bodie encrease by the absence of the Sunne so in like sort doe the diseases of the soule I know not whither Ioshuah were toucht or no with this Spirit when hee willed the Sunne to stand still when he was in the pursuit of his enemies It seemeth vnto some That it is a verie hard matter and more than flesh and bloud can beare to pardon fresh iniuries the bloud boyling then in our brest But this is answer'd by that example of our Sauior Christ who when his wounds did poure forth bloud on euerie side yet his tongue cryde out Ignosce illis quia nesciunt quid faciunt Forgiue them for they know not what they doe Where I would haue you to note that the word faciunt is of the present Tense When they were boring his feet with nailes Saint Austen to this purpose saith Is petebat veniam à quibus adhuc accipiebat iniuriam He craued pardon for those of whom euen then hee suffered wrong For he did not so much weigh that he died by them as that he died for them Cum esset in sanguine suo saith Ezechiel dixit Viue i. When he was in his owne bloud he said Liue. And Saint Bernard That hee offered vp his life Non interpellantâbus sed repellentibus non inuocantibus sed prouocantibus Not for those that inuoked him but prouoked him The replies of the Flesh are infinite and without number Some say Whilest wee liue in the world we must follow the fashions of the world and liue according to it's Lawes and that if a man put vp one iniurie he shall haue a thousand put vpon him I answer hereunto That it is a fouler fault to seeke out reasons to defend and maintaine sinne than to commit it And if thou shalt tell mee thou desirest to be reuenged because thou art weake and canst not bridle thy anger I shall the rather pittie thee and shall withall councell and aduise thee to aske pardon of God for this thy weakenesse and infirmitie But that thou shouldst defend thy offence with reasons and force of argument it is not a thing to bee immagined but more against reason it is to reason against God Let vs now leaue the Gospell and the sacred Scriptures and let vs bring this businesse within the spheare of reason I say then That it is the Language of him that knowes not what reason is as if it were possible there could be any reason against God The Clowne rests so well contented with his poore Cottage that he wil not change it for the Kings Pallace And the worldly man likes so well of the lawes and fashions of the world that he sticks not to preferre them before those of God Others stand vpon their honour alledging How can a man liue in the world without the vpholding of his honour and repution I answere It is not to bee found in the Scripture That Christ doth councell any man to suffer in his honor for him or to loose his reputation Marry hee hath promised a reward vnto him that for his sake
they may want force to ouerturne her but she will neuer want sides to make resistance For the Churches sake because it makes for her good and for her greater encrease This is expressed in that Parable Nisi granum frumenti Except a grain of Corne c. And in that other Ego sum vitis vera vos palmites I am the true Vine yee are the Branches The happinesse of Corne consisteth in this in that it is sowen and in that it dies That of the Vine in that it is pruned and hath it's boughes and branches cut off Many wilde Trees of vnsauorie Fruits by the art of graffing are reduced to a pleasant relish Of Saffron Pliny saith That the more it is trodden on the better it springeth The graine of Mustard the more it is bruised and broken the greater strength it discouereth And the Church the more it is persecuted the more it prospereth And as Mariners are woont to say that at sea the worst storme is a calme so wee may say of the Church that it 's greatest persecution is to haue no persecution at all Esay sets it downe for a threatning That God will leaue off to prune and dresse his Vine any more Dimittam eam non putabitur nec fodietur For when a Vine is pruned for one branch it putteth forth ten And the Church by one Martyr being cut off giues a plentifull encrease of two hundred conuerted Christians Pope Leo Saint Basil and Saint Chrysostome prosecute this Doctrine more at large in the vnfolding of the aforesaid Parables Lastly for their sakes that looke thereupon and behold at full the persecutions of the Church For as to the righteous the prosperitie of the sinner is a stumbling blocke of offence Hic labor est ante me So to the sinner the persecution of the just causeth great scandall Both these are vndoubted truths both hard to bee vnderstood but harder farre to bee persuaded But God afflicteth with persecutions the thing which he most loueth which is his Church and prospereth those her enemies which hate her to the end that men might thereby learne and vnderstand that neither those euils which the Church suffereth are true euils nor those blessings which the other inioy true blessings And this is prooued out of Saint Augustine in his Booke De Ciuit. Dei and out of Seneca in that his Booke Quare bonis viris So that the wicked though that hee inioy a great deale of prosperitie wee are not to esteeme it as a blessing nor for that the righteous suffer much aduersity are we to account it a curse vnto them But ought rather to apprehend that persecution is for their good in regard that our Sauiour Christ giues it vs as a reward for our great seruice Et omnis qui reliquerit patrem matrem c. centuplum accipiet cum persecutionibus i. And euerie one that shall haue left father or mother c. Shall receiue a hundreth fold with Persecutions Saint Marke and Saint Cyprian both affirme that persecution putteth vs in a kind of possession of that glorie which wee hope for hereafter at least it giues vs an assurance thereof And this is made good by this comparison The Good the Scripture stileth by the name of Wheat and the Wicked are tearmed Chaffe Now it is the Fanne of persecution that doth seuer the Wheat from the Chaffe Vidit eos laborantes in remigando Hee saw them toyled in rowing There are two things which steale away Gods eyes and filch them if I may vse that phrase from forth his head The one is an humble and prompt obedience The other the trouble and torment which we suffer for his sake Touching the first notable is that place of Abraham whose obedience did so draw Gods eyes vnto him that that place where he was resolued to performe the Sacrifice remained with this name Dominus videbit The Lord will see Touching the second There is not any hunger nor humane miserie whereon Gods mercie hath not his eye fixed nay I may boldly say fast nailed thereunto To Moses God spake out of a Bush O thou great God of heauen and earth a bush is no fitting chaire for thy glorie or thy Maiestie Who made thee thus to alter thy Throne Vidi afflictionem Populi mei in Aegypto I haue seene the affliction of my People in Aegypt Another Translation hath it Videndo vidi In seâing I haue seene and the repetition goes on in this descant Qui tangit vos tangit pupillam oculi mei He toucheth the apple of Gods eye that toucheth the Iust. And in another place Et clamorem eius audiui And I haue heard his crie For our miserie toucheth not onely Gods eye but his eare also Tertullian reporteth in his Apologetico That the Gentiles did murmure against the Christians that they would not recommend the safetie and welfare of their kings to those their Gods Iupiter and Mercurie But Nazianzen answereth thereunto That they did not allow of this their councell to recommend their safetie vnto Gods whose hands feet were of Iead but vnto that God who swiftly flies to heale them of their infirmities and carries health in his wings Et sanitas in pennis eius Vidit eos laborantes in remigando He saw them labouring at the Oare In another Tempest no lesse fearefull than the former Saint Lukeâaith âaith That our Sauiour Christ fell asleepe leaning his head on one of the boords of the Ship in stead of a pillow And here Saint Mathew saith That hee beheld how his Disciples wrestled with the waues seeking to ouercome their rage and their furie The one Tempest God permitted the other he sendeth Of Pharaoh it is said by the Prophet Ego excitaui eum I raised him vp to be the instrument for the afflicting of my People that I might afterwards grind him to pouder And by Esayas he saith That with his whistle he called the Flies from beyond the Seas In all sorts of Tempests therefore the Iust may thinke themselues safe because God is continually at hand to helpe them According to that of Dauid Cum ipso sum in tribulatione I am with thee in tribulation And of Esay When thou passest through the waters I will bee with thee and when thou walkest in the fire thou shalt not bee burnt And of Ezechiell Ero sicut Tunica prope corpus ipsorum i. I will bee as a coat about their bodie Saint Gregorie sayth That God appeared vnto Iob De turbine i. Out of the whirlewind For hauing permitted a whirle-winde of troubles to come vpon him it would not haue suted so well that hee should haue spoke vnto him from that throne of Glorie whence he spake vnto him when hee was in his perfect health and prosperitie The three children beeing in the Firie Furnace the Sonne of God appeared amidst those flames and the tyrant saw one Similem filio Dei i. Like the sonne of God Of
the Prophet the Seruant of God let fire come down from Heauen and burne vp thee and those that are come along with thee for thou oughtst not to speake with that little respect as thou doost to Gods Seruant What irreuerence is it then in the Deuil to doubt whither hee were the Sonne of God or no I answer That he shewed therein a great deale of irreuerence but verie little feare The more you sauour of God the more impudently will he presse you Ecce Sathanas expetiuit vt cribaret vos sicut triticum Behold Sathan hath desired to sift you euen as wheat The word Vos You carries a great emphasis with it And he compares them to wheat for the Birds abide in the fields and the Grapes are out in the Vines but your wheat is housed and laid vp safe vnder locke and key For you are they that I make my treasure and will as charily looke vnto you There are a great sort of people that walke now at this present houre vp and downe the streets some in one place and some in another of whom the Deuill makes no reckoning at all he will deale hereafter with them at better leisure but for one of Gods Saints that is guarded protected and defended by God and is fenced about as a Rose amongst Thornes for this he will turne and returne and vse a thousand shifts to get it Nunquid auis discolor hareditas mea mihi Venite properate omnes bestiae congregamini ad deuorandum As Birds doe flie about a wall that is painted with diuers colours so doe the Nations in persecuting the People that are consecrated to my seruice and those that I fauour In conclusion Saint Hilarie saith In sanctificatis maxime diaboli tentamenta grassantur i. The Deuills temptations are euer rifest among the Godly And therefore Dauid said Custodi me Domine quia sanctus sum Keepe me ô Lord because I am holy c. If thou be the Sonne of God It is no new thing with the Deuill to helpe himselfe by setting your selfe against your selfe it is one of the best weapons that he hath against you and your selfe hath no greater enemie than your selfe Keepe me ô Lord saith Dauid out of the hand of the sinner Saint Bernard giues this glosse vpon it Lord I am hee and therefore custodi me à meipso If in thy Religion thou doe not guard thy selfe from thy selfe if in the Desert thou die by thine owne hands Ad quid venisti Wherefore didst thou come If thou be the Sonne of God command that these stones If thou beest the Sonne of God it comes to thee by inheritance to worke miracles vpon stones Iacob had a stone for his pillow and there thy father shewed him Heauen and set vp a ladder by which the Angells ascended and descended To the Children of Israell he did by stones a thousand fauours extracting from them Water Oyle and Honey Eduxit mel de petra olcumque desaxo durissimo And therefore it is not much that thou shouldst of these stones make bread Wherein canst thou more manifest thy selfe to be the Sonne of God than in sauing thine owne life and in supplying thine owne wants But this is that language which the Iewes vsed to our Sauiour at the foot of the Crosse If he be King of Israell let him vnloose those nailes that haue fastned him to the Crosse and let him free himselfe from the power of Rome and then the world shall acknowledge him to bee the same himselfe professeth As also of that bad theefe Saue thy selfe and vs. These thought it should seeme That to be King of the Iewes and the Sonne of God consisted in the sauing of himselfe and them Sifilius Dei es Petrus Chrysologus is of opinion That the Deuill here played the foole egregiously Cupis ô Daemon tentare sed nescis Thou desirest to tempt but but knowest not how Foure thousand yeares and vpwards hadst thou exercised thy old trade and yet thou now seemest to know lesse euery day than other Is it possible that thou shouldst bee such an Asse as to offer stones to one that was now growne weake and readie to faint through too much fasting Saint Ierome harpt vpon this string Either hee was God sayth hee or he was not God If he were God it was rashnesse in him to tempt him if he were not God he could not make bread of stones But herein the Deuill shewed more malice than wit questionlesse he did vpon this occasion as much as either he could or knew For others as Saint Austen hath noted it hee tempteth according to the measure of their strength because God will not let out the rope to giue him any larger scope but towards our Sauiour Christ hee shewed the vtmost of his power and malice And though hee did not greatly care whether hee did eate or not eate but had only a purpose to perplex and trouble our Sauiour and to put him out of his holy Meditations he did offer only that vnto him which was precisely necessary for the preseruation of mans life and which a wise man ought to accept of if hee were not madde or foolish How much more should a man that is hunger-staru'd attempt any thing rather than famish for lacke of food Iudas will rather make money of Christ than starue The mother sell her daughter the father kill his children the wife forsake if not dishonour the bed of her husband And therefore the Deuill was not herein so verie a foole as some would make him Scriptum est non in solo pane viuit homo T' is written man liueth not by bread alone Our Sauiour Christ would not doe this miracle at the Deuils intreatie For his miracula were beneficia His miracles were benefits they did alwayes tend to good but this did not For though he should haue turned all the stones in the Wildernesse into Bread the Deuil would haue beene as very a Deuill as hee was before Saint Austen sayth That our Sauiour made Wine of Water but not Bread of Stones because from the former miracle followed the Faith of his Disciples Et crediderunt in eum Discipuli eius But no good could come of this Hee restored to Malchus the eare which Saint Peter had cut off but before Herod would not so much as open his mouth Saint Paul cured the father of Publius of a hot burning Feauer and many other that were sicke but to his beloued Disciple Timothie being very ill he said vnto him Vtere modico vino propter stomachuÌ frequeÌtes tuas infirmitates i. Vse a little wine for thy stomackes sake and for thy other infirmities S. Gregorie dwelling on this place sayth O blessed Apostle thou healest an Infidell with miracles as a Saint but curest thy disciple with receipts as a Physitian But hee answereth this thus That Timothy had no neede of miracles for the good of his soule When I consider with my selfe that God doth not now do so
many Bookes that are written thereof especially by a Sea of judgement where your shallow wits are vsually drowned Concerning this Article which is so notorious there is not a Prophet an Euangelist a Sybil nor any of the holy Fathers which do not make confession thereof yea the verie Angells said vnto the Disciples This Iesus who was taken from you shall So come where this particle Sic So doth not so much exprimere modum as similitudinem not the true manner of his comming but after what likenesse he shall come Now doth he sit at the right hand of his Father and shall possesse that Throne till that he shall come to iudge the world and make his enemies his footstoole According to that of Dauid Sit at my right hand Vntill I make thy enemies thy footstoole a sentence which was repeated afterwards by S. Paul to the Hebrews Not that the sitting at the right hand of his father shal euer haue any end for as Saint Chrysostome and Gregorie Nazianzen hath noted it the word Vntill doth not point at any set time but the mutation of the place which our Sauiour Christ is to make for that terme of time that the Iudgement shall last himselfe comming thither in person to set all things in order Vsque in diem restitutionis omnium so saith Saint Luke And by reason of the notoriousnesse thereof the Euangelist doth not say that hee shall come but supposeth as it were his present comming with a Cum venerit c. The Sonne of Man Iudiciarie power or this Potestas judiciaria as the Schoole-men call it is proper to all the Trinitie but is here attributed to the Sonne as Wisedome is likewise attributed vnto him which is the soule of the Iudge So that the Sonne as he is God is the eternall Iudge and the Lord vniuersall to whom the Father hath communicated this dominion by an eternall generation Generando non largiendo saith Saint Ambrose But as he is man the blessed Trinitie gaue him this power in tempore by vniting him to our nature Hee gaue him power to doe judgement And Saint Iohn giues the reason thereof Because he is the Sonne of Man it beeing held fit that Man should be saued by Man Gods mercie gaining thereby glorie and Mans meannesse authoritie And therefore it was thought fit that Man should be iudged by Man Gods justice remaining thereby iustified and Mans Cause secured For What greater securitie can man haue than that hee should bee Mans Iudge who gaue his life for Man shedding his bloud on the Crosse for Mans saluation So doth Saint Austen expound that place alledged by Saint Iohn Dedit ei judicium facere quia filius hominis est On the one side here is matter of hope comfort on the other of feare and trembling Who will not hope for pittie from a man and such a man that is my brother my aduocate my friend who to make me rich had made himselfe poore c. But who can hope for any comfort from that man that was iudged sentenced and condemned vniustly by man vnto death Who can hope for any good from that man whose loue man repaid with dis-loue and whose life with death These Yrons are too hard for the stomacke of man to digest it had need of some Ostriches helpe I will not destroy Ephraim because I am God and not Man God is woont to requite bad with good discourtesies with benefits his loue commonly encreaseth when mans diminisheth but mans brest is somewhat streighter laced In a word This his beeing Man is a matter of feare and by how much the more was Mans obligation by so much the more shall the son of mans vengeance bee For the pretious bloud of our Sauiour Iesus Christ and his cruell yet blessed wounds are the Sanctuarie of our hopes especially to those that trust in him and lay hold on him by Faith but for the vnthankefull sinner they shall be matter of cowardise and of terrour and to our Sauiour Christ minister occasion of greater punishment and a more rigorous reuenge Esay introduceth the Angels questioning our Sauior at his entrance into Heauen Quare rubrum est vestimentum tuum sicut calcantium in torculari Why are thy garments ô Lord like vnto those that tread the Wine-presse You say wel for I haue troden like the grapes my enemies vnder foot and my garments are sprinkled and stained with their bloud O Lord this bloudie spoyle would well haue beseemed thee on earth But what doost thou make with it here in Heauen Dies vltionis in corde meo The day will come when I shall bee reuenged at full of those ill requited benefits which I bestowed on my People and all that patience which I then sâewed shall be turned into wrath and endlesse anger Saint Chrysostome interpreting that place of Saint Mathew Sanguis eius super nos Let his bloud be vpon vs and our children saith thus The time shall come that the bloud that might haue giuen you life shall occasion your death it shall be vnto you worse than that Fire of Babylon which the King intended for death though in the end it turned to life The bloud of Christ was intended for life but it shall end in death Hosea saith Vâ eis cum recesserâ ab eis Another Translation hath it Caro mea ab eis When the Sonne of mans mercie was come to that heigth as mans thought could not set it higher to wit That God in mans fauour should take mans flesh vpon him woe vnto those men who were vnmindfull of so great a blessing for this extraordinarie courtesie of his being so vnthankfully entertained and so ill requited shall be their condemnation for whose saluation it was intended Cornua eius sicut Rinocerotis saith Deutronomie The Vnicorne is the mildest the patientest beast that is and it is long ere he will be prouoked to anger but if he once grow hot and angrie there is no creature more fierce and furious than he is Ex tarditate ferocior as Pierius vseth it by way of adage Saint Austen collecteth hence another conuenience Euerie iudgement saith he requireth two especiall and important things The one That the Iudge feare not the face of the Mightie The other That he hide not his face from him that is brought before him For the first The Scripture hath it euerie where Regard not the countenance of the Mightie For the second Iob pondering the perdition of a certain Prouince saith That the Iudges thereof would not suffer themselues to be seen The earth is giuen into the hands of the Wicked he couereth the faces of the Iudges And therefore God will not be seene by the damned for by their verie seeing him they should be freed from their punishment and therefore in this respect it was fit that Christ should come to iudge the world as Man In Maiestate sua In his Maiestie The Interlinearie hath it In Diuinitate
open to others view and their owne confusion Nor shall these our sinnes bee conspicuous onely to others but euerie offendor shall see and plainely perceiue his owne particular sinnes For there is no man that fully knowes his owne sinnes while hee liueâ here in this world And so doth Saint Basil interpret that place of the Psalmist Arguam te statuam contra te faciem tuam Euerie man shall then behold himselfe as in a glasse In a word This day will be the summing vp of all those oââ former dayes wherein as in a beadroll wee shall read all the loose actions of our life all our idle words all our euill workes all our lewd thoughts or whatsoeuer else of ill that our hearts haue conceiued or our hands wrought So doth a graue Author expound that place of Dauid Dies formabuntur nemo in eis In that day shall all dayes be formed and perfected for then shall they bee cleerely knowne Et nemo in eis This is a short and cutted kind of speech idest There shall not bee any thing in all the world which shall not bee knowne in that day The other wonder shall be That all this businesse shall bee dispatcht in a moment In ictu oculi saith Saint Paul In the twinckling of an eye The Greeke Text in stead of a moment renders it Atomo which is the least thing in nature Concluding this point with that saying of Theophilact Haec est res omnium mirabilissima This is the greatest wonder of all Statuet Oues à dextris eius Haedos à sinistris He shall place the Sheepe at his right hand and the Goats at the left Dayly experience teacheth vs That what is good for one is naught for another that which helpeth the Liuer hurteth the Spleene one and the selfe same Purge recouers one and casts downe another the Light refresheth the sound Eye and offendeth the sore Wisedome saith That those Rods which wrought amendment in the Children of Israell hardned the hearts of the Aegyptians the one procured life the other death darkenes to the one was light light to the other darknesse When Ioshuah pursued the Ammorites God poured downe Hailestones Lightning and Thunder to Gods enemies they were so many Arrowes to kill them to his friends so many Torches to light them In the light of thy Arrowes saith Abacuc Death to the Wicked is bitter to the Good sweete Iudgement to the Goats is sad heauie but to the Sheep glad ioyfull to the one a beginning of their torment to the other of their glorie And therefore it is here said He shall place the Sheepe at his right hand From this beginning ariseth the Iust's earnest desiring of this our Sauiours comming and the Wicked's seeking to shun it Which is made good by Saint Austen vpon that place of Haggie Hee shall come being wished for of all Nations And his reason is because our Sauiour Christ being desired it is fit that he should be knowne and for want of this knowledge it seemeth vnto him that this place doth not so much suit with his first as his latter comming Saint Paul writing to his Disciple Timothie sayes That the Iust doe long for this judgement His qui diligunt aduentum eius Agreeing with that of Saint Paul to the Romans That the Iust passe ouer this life in sighs tribulations expecting that latter day when their bodies shall bee free from corruption and from death Saint Iohn introduceth in his Apocalyps the soules of the Iust crying out Vsque quò Domine sanctus verax Non judicas vindicas sanguinem nostrum de his qui habitant in terra How long Lord holy and true c. Saint Austen and Saint Ambrose both say That they doe not here craue vengeance on their enemies but that by his comming to judgement the Kingdome of Sinne may haue an end Which is the same with that which we dayly beg in those words of our Paternoster Thy Kingdome come And Saint Iohn in his last Chapter saith The Spirit and the Spouse say Come Come Lord come quickely make no long tarrying That the Sinner should hate this his comming is so notorious a truth that many when things goe crosse with them would violently lay hands on themselues and rid themselues out of this miserable world if it were not for feare of this Iudgement And this was the reason why Saint Paul in saying It is decreed that all men shall die once presently addeth After death Iudgement Other wise there would be many as well discreet as desperate persons that would crie out Let vs die and make an end of our selues at once for a speedie death is better than a long torment This is that that keepes these fooles in awe and quells the vaine confidence of man in generall Tunc dicet Rex his qui à dextris eius erunt vsque esuriui c. Then shall the King say to them on his right hand I was hungrie c. Hee begins with the rewarding of the Good for euen in that day of justice he will that his mercie goe before as well for that it is Gods own proper worke as also for that it is the fruit of his bloud and death Venite Benedicti Patris mei Come yee blessed of my Father a most sweet word in so fearefull a season possidete Regnum Come yee and take possession of an eternall Kingdome Quia esuriui I was hungrie c. Some man may doubt Why Christ at the day of judgement being to examine all whatsoeuer actions of vertue doth here onely make mention of mercie I answer For that Charitie is that Seale and Marke which differenceth the Children of God from those of the Deuill the good Fisâes from the bad and the Wheat from the Chaffe Ecce ego judico inter Pecus Pecus so saith Ezechiel and in summe it is the summe of the Law as Saint Paul writeth to the Romans Secondly He maketh mention onely of the workes of mercie for to expell that errour wherein many liue in this life to wit That this businesse of Almes-deeds is not giuen vs as a Precept whereby to bind vs but by way of councel and aduice whereby to admonish vs. And this is a great signe token of this truth for that there is scarce any man that accuseth himselfe for the not giuing of an Almes But withall it is a foule shame for vs to thinke that God should condemne so many to eternal fire for their not shewing pittie to the Poore if it were no more but a bare councell and aduice Gregorie Nazianzen in an Oration which he makes of the care that ought to bee had of the Poore proueth out of this place That to relieue the poore and the needie is not Negotium voluntarium sed necessarium not a voluntarie but a necessarie businesse And Saint Augustine and Thomas are of opinion That we are bound to relieue the necessities of
gaines Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand That hee that will not bee brought to know God by his soft hand and those sweete fauours of his Mercie shall be made to know him by the whips and scourges of his Iustice. God prospers thy house thou doost not acknowledge it for a blessing hee sends thee to an Hospitall laden with diseases that thy miserie may teach thee to know him He giues thee health thou art not thankefull vnto him for it hee casts thee downe on thy bed and then thou giuest him thankes not ceasing night and day to call vpon him and to praise and blesse his holâ name And therefore it is truly said The Lord shall bee knowne while hee worketh judgement Our Sauioue like a good Physition tries vs first by his mild and gentle medicines but they doe no good hee therefore turnes ouer a new leafe and applies those vnto vs that are more sharpe and tart whereby we come to know as well his wisedome as his loue The second He began to cast out the Buyers and the Sellers Because no man should presume that the glorious acclamations of a King and of a Messias should endure to permit in his Temple such a foule and vnseemely buying and selling they had no sooner proclaimed him King but he tooke the whip into his hand to scourge them for their offences In a Prince in a Iudge and in a Preacher flatteries and faire words are woont to abate the edge of the Sword of Iustice wherefore to shew That true praise ought the more to oblige a King to vnsheath his Sword he betooke him to his Whip That acclamation and applause of the little children our Sauiour accounted it as perfect and good Ex ore Infantium LactantiuÌ perfecisti laudeÌ propter Inimicos tuos Yet for that a Prince a Iudge or a Preacher should not bee carried away with the praises of men our Sauiour though applauded in the highest manner that the thought of man could immagine Coepit eijcere Ementes vendentes c. Reges eos in virga ferrea saith Dauid In the name of the eternall Father thou shalt my Sonne be their Ruler their Iudge thou shalt beare in thy hand a Rod of yron which shall not be bowed as are those other limber wands of your earthly Iudges theirs are like fishing rods which when the fish bite not continue strait right but if they nibble neuer so little at the bait presently bow and bend Esay called the Preachers of his time Dumbe Dogges not able to barke And he presently renders the reason of this their dumbenesse They knew no end of their bellie To ear and to talke none can doe these two well and handsomely together and because these Dogges haue such an hungrie appetite that they neuer giue ouer eating because nothing can fill their bellie they are dumbe and cannot barke they know not how to open their mouths The third is of Saint Chrysostome and Theophilact who say That it was a kind of prophecie or foretelling that these legall Offerings and Sacrifices were almost now at an end When Kings and Princes expresse their hatred to any great Person in Court it is a prognostication of that mans fall The wrath of a King is the messenger of death Our Sauiour Christ the Prince of the Church had twice whipt out those that had prouided Beasts for the Sacrifices of his temple which was an vndoubted token of their short continuance it beeing a great signe of death that one and such a one should come twice in this manner to visit them with the Rod. This conceit is much strengthened by the words of our Sauiour Christ âoretold by the Prophet Esay The time shall come wherein my House shall bee called a House of Prayer and not a Denne of Theeues nor a common Market of buying and selling So that hee tooke these Whips into his hands as a means to worke amendment in his Ministers and to sweepe and make his House cleane The Iudges of the earth saith Saint Hierome doe punish a Delinquent ad ruinampunc but God adcust gationem the one to his vtter vndoing the other for his amendment And therefore he vsed no other weapons to chastise them withall but Rods and Whips which worke our smart but not our death they paine vs but they doe not kill vs. Tertullian is startled and standeth much amased at that punishment which Saint Peter inflicted vpon Ananias and Saphyra and saith That to bereaue them so suddenly of their life to strike âhem in an instant dead at his foot was the punishâent of a man of one that had not long exercised nor did well know what did belong on the office of a Bishop But our Sauiour Christ being come into the world to giue men life it would not haue suited with his goodnesse to giue them death The fourth reason which all doe touch vpon was The disrespect and irreuerence which was shewne to this his Temple a sinne which God doth hardly pardon And therefore it was said vnto Ieremie Pray not therefore for this People And hee presently giues the reason why It hath committed many outrages in my House Saint Iames aduiseth That the Sicke should call vnto the Priests to get them to pray vnto God for him but for him that should commit wickednes in his Temple God willeth the Prophet Ieremie that hee should not so much as pray for them And Saint Paul saith That those who shall violate the Temple of God God shall destroy them Great is the respect which God requireth to be had to his Temple First In regard of his especiall and particular presence there Saint Austen saith That Dauid did pray be fore the Arke Quia ibi sacratior commendatior praesentia Domini erat For euermore God manifests himselfe more in his Temple than any where else that place beeing like Moses his Bush or Iacobs ladder being therefore so much the more holy by how much the more he doth there manifest himselfe c. Secondly He shewes himselfe there more exorable and more propitious to our prayers According to that request of Salomon in the dedication of the temple That his eares may be there opened And it was fit it should be so as Saint Basil hath noted it for that Prayer is a most noble act and therefore as it requires a most noble place so likewise the greater fauour appertaineth vnto it Thirdly For that Christ is there present in his blessed Sacraments And therefore as Saint Chrysostom hath obserued it there must needs be there a great companie of coelestiall Spirits for where the King is there is the Court. Fourthly For to stirre vp our deuotion by ioyning with the congregation of the Faithfull And a learned man saith That the Temples Houses of God did put a new heart and new affections into mens brests What then shall become of those who refuse these publique places of praying and praysing of God and
the day of the new Law driuing from vs the darkenesse of the old Law And therefore those times of the old Testament were called by the name of Night Nox praecessit i. The Night is pâst c. The other for that all Masters whatsoeuer in the World besides doe not effectually persuade and moue the Will of man But this Master of ours doth penetrate with his words the very innermost parts of the Soule and the secret corners of the Heart He mooues it and persuades it by milde yet powerfull meanes Esay making a promise on Gods behalfe to his people this Doctor touched both these effects Dabit tibi Deus panem aâctum aquam breuem i. God will giue thee a little water and a little bread but much learning for thou shalt behold thy Master with thine eyes Erunâ oculi tui videntes praecâpâârum And with thy eares shalt thou heare his voice Et aures tuae audient post terâa monentis Who shall bee still admonishing and persuading thee Haec est via ambulate in ea This is the way walke in it A little water and a little bread but much light of learning for towards those whom God best loueth he carries a hard and straight hand in those good things which concerne the bodie but showes himself very franke and liberall in those blessings that belong to the Soule And one dramme of Wisedome is better than many quintals of Gold God did applaud Salomons petition because making slight account of riches of lordships and of reuenging himselfe vpon his enemies he did begge Wisedome at his hands and therefore possessed with this diuine Spirit hee sayd afterwards Wisâdome is better than the most precious Riches and whatsoeuer is to bee desired is not comparable to it Saint Ierome noteth that the Prophet sayth Thou shalt see this thy Master with thy eyes in regard of those just and right actions which hee shall alwayes set before thine eyes And that thou shalt heare him with thy eares in regard that as thou art a sinner hee shall be still calling thee to repentance preaching and crying out vnto thee to returne backe from thy euill wayes shewing thee that This is the way walke in it It is a metaphore borrowed from a Trauailour that hath lost his way amongst woods and rockes where hee is ready at euerie step to breake his neck and therefore like a good sheapheard greeuing to see him thus wilfully to runne on to his destruction hee calleth out aloud vnto him telling him This is the way In like manner the World beeing as it were lost and blinded in the true knowledge of God and his sonne Christ Iesus setting before vs the way of the Gospell hee cries out vnto vs that wee might not goe astray Haec est via This is the way This was a great and extraordinarie fauour and the Prophet Ioel giues the paralell thereof to the Church Filij Syon exaltate latamini in Domino Dâo vestro quia dedit vobis Doctârem iustitiae 1. Exalt yee sonnes of Sion and reioyce in the Lord your God who hath giuen you a Teacher of Righteousnesse The Greeke hath it Escas iustitiae That God hath giuen yee a Master that shall bee vnto you as the verie meate and nourishment of Righteousnesse to feed and preserue your soules and will restore vnto you the yeares that the Locusts hath eaten the canker-worme and the catterpillar and the palmer-worme c. And if in Commonwealths to haue Masters and wise and learned Teachers bee of so inestimable a price that Aristotle asking the reason why they had no set stipend or reward as many other Offices States had answeres it thus Because there could bee no reward answerable to their desert What then might this Master merit of the World beeing so singular and learned a Teacher in whome were deposited all the treaseres of the Wisedome of God In regard of this happinesse our Sauiour Christ sayd Beati oculi quâ vident quae vos videâis The Scribes therfore and the Pharisees comming vnto him and in a flattering and scorneful manner calling him Master it is no maââaile that the mildenesse of this Lambe should be turned into the furie of a Lyon and that he sayd vnto them Generatio mala c. Saint Chrysostome sayes That they went about to flatter him as they had done at other times when they spake vnto him by the same name As when they said Magister licet censum dare Caesari Magister quod est mandatum magnum in Lege Magister quid faciendo vitam aeternam possidebo Master is it lawfull to giue tribute vnto Caesar Master which is the great Commandement in the Law Master What shall I doe to inherit eternall life And that our Sauiour being offended that they should flatter him with their mouths whom they abhorred in their hearts beeing like vnto those lewd women who the lighter they are the fuller of flatterie he grew somewhat hot and angrie with them But I conceiue the fault of these Scribes and Pharisees was more foule than so For flatterie vsually carryeth with it a desire to please and is full of courtesie which these kind of People neuer expressed towards our Sauiour And this my suspition is the more augmented by that miracle of that blind man whom the Scribes as supreame Iudges so strictly examined asking him so often Who is he that hath healed thee To whom he answered My Masters I haue told yee alreadie Why are yee so importunate with me Are ye purposed peraduenture to bee his Disciples This made my Gentlemen verie angrie insomuch that they said Tu Discipulus illius sis Wee wish thee no worse plague than that thou maist be his Disciple So that holding this a kind of curse and malediction and yet to stile him with the name of Master must be a stuffe that is made of a courser thred than Flatterie Besides mocking and scorning was a proper and peculiar vice annexed to the Iewes And Saint Chrysostome doth not terme it onely flatterie but adulation and irrision Verba inquit sunt plena adulatione irrisionâ And that Text of Saint Luke fauoureth this opinion Alij tentantes eum signum de coelo quaerebant Others tempting him required a signe from heauen Where this word Tentantes implieth much more And the Author of the imperfect Worke saith That these Scribes and Pharisees vsed double dealing herein desiring nothing more than by this their soothing with him to discredit our Sauiour Christ alledging That those miracles were not so sure and certaine as to enforce beliefe or to merit their vndoubted credence And that they being as it were the Suns of that Commonwealth whom the people did credit and respect next vnder God they did labour to winne themselues credit in his presence by disgracing those miracles which our Sauiour had wrought But our Sauiour hauing recourse to the honour of his Father and his owne reputation could not hold
Some man wil doubt and say How could so grosse an ignorance sinke into the Prophets brest as to think to flie ouâ of Gods reach Confessing with Dauid that large extent of his power Whither shall I goe from thy Spirit and whither shall I flie from thy face if I climbe vp into Heauen thou art there if I goe into Hell thou art likewise there I answer That hee had no such kind of conceit in the world nor any so foule a thought once entered into his immagination But that which he presumed vpon was That in the land of the Gentiles God would not reueale himselfe nor communicate the Spirit of Prophecie to his Prophets and therefore hee was minded to alter his former condition of life and turne Merchant For Tharsis was so famous a Port in regard of the great concourse of Trading that was there that those your great huge merchants ships made onely for burden were called in the Scripture by an Antonomasia or pronomination The Ships of Tharshish whereof Ieremie maketh mention Ezechiel the third third booke of the Kings and the second of Chronicles The Spirit of Prophecie it seemed had not then captiuated his wil The Lord God hath opened myne eare and I was not rebellious neither turned I backe But might he then if he would So doth this Ego non contradico seem to inferre Saint Paul saith to those of Corinth That the Spirit of Prophecie is subiect to the Prophets And as Amasias said to the Prophet Amos Get thee to the Land of Iuda ô thou Seer goe flie thou thither and there eat thy bread and prophecie there but prophecie no more at Betheb for it is the Kings Chappell and it is the Kings Court Ionas therefore seeing that a Prophet was not accepted of in his owne Countrie would needs turne Merchant He got him into a Ship of the Phoenicians to flie into Tharshish from the presence of the Lord Et dedit illis naulum And he paid the fare thereof and went downe into it For the Deuill is not contented that a sinner should doe him seruice onely but that he should giue him money also into the bargaine which is a strange kind of tyrannie The Shippe had scarce beene a while vnder saile when as a fearefull Tempest arose which put those that were in the Shippe into extreame perill of their life And albeit your Pilots your Mariners and Shippe-boyes that are beaten and accustomed to these kind of chances vsually loose all feare both of windes and waues nay also of God himselfe yet now such was the tempestuousnesse of the weather the raging of the Sea that they called vpon those their gods which were painted in their Ship Timuerunt nautae The Mariners feare encreased iudging this Storme the strangest as euer they saw accounting it as a miracle First of all Because there was no preceding signe of it for those that are experienced Seafaring men are not onely skilled in knowing those signes of a storme that are neere at hand but those that are afarre off as by the irruptions of the aire which breaking forth from the concauities and hollow vaults of the Deepe trouble the waters the colluctation and wrestling of the winds the croking of Rauens the bellowing of Beasts the playing of Porpeecies which doe whisper in their eares the storme that is to come vpon them But this Tempest here came so violently vpon them on the sudden that there was no foregoing signe to foreshew it Secondly Because as Rabbi Salomon hath noted it an Hebrew Doctor from whom Theodoret and Theophilact had it there were many ships that had gone out of Tharshish which they might kenne not farre from them that had verie faire and cleere weather and sailed away smoothly hauing as they say a Ladies passage so calme was the Sea and so gentle and temperate their gale of wind Whereupon they did discreetly argue amongst themselues that there was some great and notorious sinner in their Ship against whom the windes and the waues by Gods especiall appointment made such cruell warre He that goes to sea goes in danger Qui nauigant mare c. Euripides was of opinion That they could not be truly said to bee either dead or aliue not dead because they liue not aliue because there was only a poore planke betwixt their death and their life And the Sinner haleth his halter after him and if God did not defend him the Sea would not endure him The Slaue that flies from his Master all the seruants of the house make hue and crie after him they follow him crying Stop him stop him and if that will not serue the turne his Master sends Horsemen after him who pursue him and apprehend him All the whole house of Heauen make hue and crie after Ionas Angells Saints Friends holy inspirations make pursuit after him as they vse to doe after other rebellious sinners But that will not serue the turn whereupon he sends these his Horsmen after him the winds the waues the ship-boyes and mariners they take him and cast him into the dungeon of the Whales bellie Miserunt vasa They cast forth their Vessels c. This word Vasa is taken for the wares the weapons the Masts the sailes and other instruments belonging to a Ship Vasa Domus Vasa Bellica Vasa Nauis and the like In that Tempest which Saint Luke mentioneth in the Acts of the Apostles wherein Saint Paul suffered so many dayes he saith That the verie cords and tacklings in the ship were cast ouer boord Armamenta Nauis proiecerunt So now whither it were to lighten the Ship or to appease the anger of their Gods whom they thought were to be appeased with gifts or that they were subiect to these passions of choller and couetousnesse c. And as now the Faithfull haue recourse in their shipwracks to prayers and promises so was it now with these Infidels and not to this alone but to the offering vp of Iewells of great price and value Ionas was got him down into the bottome of the Ship whither he had withdrawne himselfe thither out of his sorrow or to auoid the noyse of their shreeks and out-cries or for feare of the thunder lightning or not to behold the furie and rage of the waues and the winds I cannot tel you but because feare and heauinesse commonly causeth sleepe Ionas was fallen now so sound asleepe that neither his owne proper perill nor the lamentable clamours of others could âwake him Quid tu sopore deprimeris Surge inuoca Deum tuum What meanest thou ô Sleeper awake and call vpon thy God They that came down âo the Pumpe lighted vpon Ionas and awaking him said vnto him by way of admiration Is it possible that a man should sleepe in the middest of such a terrible Tempest The cries and lamentations of all seeke to appease the furie of the winds and doost thou sleepe The Sea-Gods are affraid and the Fishes retyre
pascat eos so saith Ezechiel I will set vp a Sheepheard ouer them and he shall feed them Saint Peter calls him Principem pastorum and he prooues himselfe to be a Sheepheard by his going forth to seeke after this lost Sheepe And if we mean to haue our habitation in Heauen to be of the same Fold with the Saints we must first be this Sheepheards Sheepe vpon earth before wee can come to be his Saints in Heauen For albeit the Iust beare the name of Sheepe as is noted by Saint Hierome Saint Augustine Saint Gregorie and Saint Cyprian yet all that haue this name shall not come to Heauen for many of Sheepe shall become Wolfes First The proportion of our Sauior Christs giuing to his the name of Sheep and of Lambes consists first of all in their innocencie and simplicitie whereof the Sheepe and the Lambe are the true symbole and hieroglyphicke as it is prooued by Saint Gregorie and Saint Cyprian in the place before alledged Quid per Oues nisi ânnocentia designatur What but innocencie is pointed at by Sheepe saith Saint Gregorie Oues nominat vt innocentia Christiana Ouibus aequetur He calls theâ Sheep to shew that Christian innocencie should equall that of theirs saith Saint Cyprian When the Angel with that his naked Sword in his hand went making that fearefull slaughter amongst the Israelites Dauid humbly kneeling on his knees makes his mones vnto God and saith Isti qui Oues sunt quidfecerunt What haue these poore Sheepe done these innocent Lambes it is I that haue sinned smite mee and not them Let thy hand I pray bee against mee and my fathers House but spare these thy Sheepe who syllie harmelesse Creatures haue no way offended thee Secondly This proportion consists in that wonderfull obedience which the Sheepe carrie to the Sheepeheard who with a word or a whistle bridleth their appetites and keepes them within their bounds not offering to stray into strange Pastures This is that which Dauid said His eare was obedient to me And our Sauiour Christ My Sheepe heare my voyce Thirdly In that those that are lost and gone astray shew their discomfort by bleating and following from hill to hill from pasture to pasture path to path the steps of his Sheepheard lifting vp his head and bending his eare on the one side and listning whither he can heare the sound of his voyce and many times he will leane one eare to the ground the better to helpe his attention Saint Ambrose saith That one of the greatest pledges that a Sinner can desire of his Predestination is to be like vnto the lost Sheepe to shew himselfe sad and heauie when he misseth his Sheepheard that should protect him and looke well vnto him to make his moane send out sighes and sobs like so many bleaâings to follow the tracke of his footsteps to listen to his whistle to hearken to his voyce and to giue eare vnto his call for that sinner that shal do so it is an euident token that he was borne for Heauen Fourthly There is nothing in a Sheepe whatsoeuer it be but is good profitable as the flesh the bloud the milke the wooll and the fell but nothing that is hurtfull besides it is a most fruitfull creature Oues fatosae abundantes in faetibus suis Our Sheepe bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets The just man is likewise full of goodnesse and full of profit in his words and in his workes in his thoughts in his wealth in his pouertie in his health and in his sickenesse but nothing in him that is hurtfâll Saint Paul reckoning the conditions and properties of Charitie repeateth first the good that it doth Patiens est benigna est c. Loue suffereth long it is bountifull c. And anon after he enumerateth the euills which it doth not Non aemulatur c. Loue enuieth not Loue doth not boast it selfe it is not puffed vp it doth no vncomely thing it seeketh not her owne things it is not prouoked to anger it thinketh no euill it reioyceth not in iniquitie c. Fiftly It 's patience and gentlenesse when they sheere him and robbe him of his Fleece turning him this way or that way when they bind his legs or otherwise vse him hardly and put him to paine he scarce offereth to bleat or open his mouth he goes as willingly to the Butchers blocke as to his greene pastures and when the Butcher puts his knife to his throat hee beholds him with a gentle and louely looke In a word Esay endeering the infinite patience of our Sauiour Christ could not find any comparison fitter for him than that of the Sheepe and the Lambe Sicut Ouis ad occisionem ductus est sicut Agnus coram tondente se obmutuit He went like a Sheepe to the slaughter and like a Lambe before the shearer hee opened not his mouth This then is the nature and qualitie of the mysticall Sheep of the Church Caeduntur gladijs c. They are smitten with swords yet neither murmure nor complaine Sixtly Saint Basil and Saint Ambrose both affirme That the Sheepe ordinarily do eat and chew the cud but then most of all by a naturall instinct when Winter drawes on and then he feeds a great deale faster and with more eagernesse as diuining that through the inclemencie of the Heauens and the bitternesse of the cold he shall not find feeding sufficient for him And this is a lesson for vs to teach vs what we are to doe The Sheep of Christs flocke vsually are to seeke for their feeding in the pastures of Vertue either by ruminating meditating or contemplating but when they see death approching neere vpon them they must fall more speedily and more earnestly to their meat for when the Winter of death shall come vpon them they will not find whereon to feed And therefore worke righteousnesse before thou die like vnto the Ant who prouides in the Summer against the rigour of the Winter Quoniam non est apud inferos inuenire cibum In hell there is no meat to be got for any money and the hunger in Hell is so strange that the Damned feed vpon their owne tongues For these his Sheep God came into the world Quantum ad efficaciam though he came also for all the whole world in generall Quantum ad sufficientium effectually for His but sufficiently forall And it is a fearefull thing to thinke on which is noted by Saint Bernard to wit That he that shal not be a sheepe in this life shall after death be damned to Hell Sicut Oues in inferno positi sunt They lie in Hell like sheepe and death gnaweth vpon them As here we take the fleece from off our Sheepe and leaue them naked and poore so there the Wolfe shall be fleeced of his riches and of all the pleasures and comforts that hee tooke in this world and be left not only naked but full likewise of
cheese in the seruice of God than to bee a prince of Aegypt It is a common prouerbe Que vale mas migaia de Rey âue satico de cauallero A crumme in a Kings Court is more to bee esteemed than a shiue of bread in a Gentlemans Hall The children of Israell were well enough contented with Pharaohs seruitude as long as hee allowed them straw for their bricke What little allowance would content them then in Gods house The couetous rich Mizer in the Gospell beeinâ in Hell beg'd but one drop of water Mitte Lazarum vt intingat extremum digiti sui Send Lazarus vnto mee that hee may but dip his finger c. Hee was discreet in his desire for one onely drop of water from Heauen will quench the flames of that vast burning lake of Hell Abraham being but a particular man God was willing to make him famous in the world and for this end he added to his name but one only letter Non vltra vocaberis Abram sed Abraham Thy name shall be no more called Abram but Abraham This no nada this thing as it were of nothing which God bestowed vpon him was enough to make him prosper and thriue in the world to be the stocke and root of such an illustrious Linage as the world had neuer since the like O mulier magna est Fides tua fiat tibi sicut vis O woman great is thy Faith Our Sauiour might as well haue said Thy humilitie thy perseuerance thy wisedome thy patience the acknowledgement of thine owne miserie thy confessing thy selfe to be but a Dogge But I acknowledge thee saith Saint Augustine to be so worthie a woman that I much wonder at thy worth and the more I thinke on it the more I rest astonished Thou didst knocke call and begge well therefore didst thou deserue that the doores of thy Sauiours bowells and tender compassion should bee opened vnto thee They are and he answeres to thy sute Fiat tibi sicut vis Bee it vnto thee as thââ wouldst haue it not limitting thee to a what or a how but as thou wilt thy selfe Thou desirest that I should free thy daughter from the torment of the Deuill doe thou free thy daughter I leaue it to thee to doe it I assigne ouer my power and authoritie vnto thee O my good Lord how calme art thou now growne how milde how gentle to this poore silly woman shee hath got the masterie of mee shee hath quite ouercome mee I was not able to beate her off she came within me and forced me to yeeld and what will threatnings or brauings auaile mee beeing thus vanquished The Heauen is woont to show it selfe fearefull and terrible at the beginning of some great tempest throwing out thunder and lightning hideous to behold but at last it ends in a milde shower that makes the fields fertill and inricheth the earth Fulgura in pluuiam fecit Hee turnes the lightning and thunder into raine The horror of that dismall Deluge ended in a beautifull Rainebow Saint Austen sayth That God dealeth sometimes so with sinners Mortificat viuificat deducit ad infernum reducit Hee mortifieth and he quickneth he deduceth vs to Hell and reduceth vs from Hell Ioseph was in a great rage with his brethren at the first and seemed to bee inexorale noting them to be Spies and Theeues but this was but dissembled displeasure more violent than lasting And as water beeing repressed and restrained in it's course doth more impetuously rise and swell so his great pittie that he had of them and the loue that he bare vnto them burst foorth at last into teares and being not able any longer to conceale himselfe from them hee telles them as well as his snobbing and sobbing would interruptingly giue him leaue Ego sum frater vester I am your brother c. So our Sauiour Christ did dissemble himselfe in this bâsinesse turning her off so often as he did till beeing not able to hold out any longer he sayd vnto her O mulier magnae est fides tua fiat tibi sicut vis O woâââ great is thy Faith be it vnto thee as c. Nunquid obliuiscitur misereri Deus aut contiââbit in ira misericordias suas He will sometimes withhold his mercies as if he had quite forgotten them it is an effect of his prouidence now and then to defend them but this still tendeth to our greater good Be it vnto thee as thou wouldst haue it Our Sauiour was somewhat slow in dispatching this woman but it was to better her dispatch O thou Canaanite thou maist thinke thy selfe well dispatcht with these crummes now all is remitted to thyne owne good liking Fiat tibi sicut vis there is thy discharge And though thou hast staid long for it yet that is not to bee accounted long which comes at last he negotiates not ill who endeth his negotiation before he depart from the presence of his King obtaining not onely his suit but withall a dispatch The Kings and Princes of the earth will giue thee bread when thou hast no teeth to eat it a bed when thy bones cannot rest in it they are so bruised and broken and when they haue granted thee thy desire thou shalt not haue that dispatch Saul made an open Proclamation That he that should kill Goliah that gyant-lâke Philistine should marrie his daughter the right was in Dauid but this fauour was affoorded him out of season and not in it's due time for shee was married to another that neuer drew his sword in the quarell Dauid finding himselfe herewith agrieued and complaining that he was not wel dealt withal he receiued answer That his reward was sure enough and therefore he needed not to doubt of it but that his businesse might be dispatcht he must first kill a hundred Philistines so that his promised reward cost him the killing of one and his dispatch the killing of a hundred The world is the same now as it was then the dispatch costs more than the thing wee pretend is worth I see many Images of deuotion in the Court as our Ladie of Pilgrims our Ladie of Pains and our Ladie of good Successe but I know not why or wherefore there being more need a great deale to erect and set vp a Ladie of good Dispatch Seneca saith That those that are Pretenders will more patiently endure the cutting off of the thread of their pretension than to haue their hopes drawne out from day to day Saint Ambrose vpon that place of Saint Luke Statim Gallus cantauit Presently the Cocke crew noteth three Statims or three Presently's Presently the Cocke crew Presently Peter wept and Presently God forgaue him But your Ministers of Iustice as also in Court doe now a days delay a man as a Physition doth a Cure that he may be honoured the more and payed the better Twentie yeares did Iacob serue his father in Law Laban fourteene for his wiues and
that had neither hand nor foot to help himselfe lying benum'd in his little cart bore before him the cause of his griefe by falling into those faults which he had formerly committed And this is inferred out of these our Sauiours words vnto him Iam noli amplius peccare Now see thou sinne no more But if any man aske me How can that man sinne that is bound hand and foot I answer That for all this his desires and thoughts are not fettered Iniquitatem mediâatus est in cubili suo astitit omni viae non bonae Hee that applies himselfe to euill thoughts and hath a desire vnto them there is not that wickednesse whereof he would not reap the fruits thereof From whence I cannot but note out these two things vnto thee The one That the sinnes of our thoughts and imaginations are of all other the easiest to be done How many Kniues would a Cutler make in a day if he could finish them without a Forge an Anuile or a Hammer Questionlesse âerie many The like reason is to be rendred of the errors of our thoughts The other That they are the harder to be seene or holpen To be seene for that they are so secret Ab occultis meis munda me Clense me ô Lord from my secret sinnes To be holpen for as he that is still kept hungrie and thirstie hath neither his thirst nor his hunger satisfied but encreaseth more and more vpon him so âe that neuer enioyes those humane delights neuer hath the hunger and thirst of his desires satisfied So that this poore sicke man perseuering in his sinne it is not much that God should perseuer in his punishments for our shorter sinnes Gods chastisements âre also short In momento indignationis auerte faciem meam parumper i. For a moment in myne anger I hid my face from thee for a little season But for our longer longer Vir multum jurans à domo eius non recedet plaga i. The Plague shall neuer depart ââoÌ the house of him that sweareth much whence it coÌmeth to passe that so many are âarr'd and so few amended Which is all one with that of Ieremie Dissipati neâue compuncti These are the Deuils Martyrs who suffer not onely without a reward as Saint Paul saith Si peccantes suffertis quid vobis est gratiae but treasure vp new torments vnto themselues But some one will aske How comes it to passe that this man being a sinner which waited at the Fish-poole our Sauiour should for his sake leaue other iust ând good men and make choice to come vnto him First as I haue told you alreadie because Sicknesse preserueth the soule from âinne and that it is a token of Gods mercie and goodnesse towards vs. Secondly Because this poore wretch did hope to be healed his thoughts and âis hopes laying hold vpon Gods fauour towards him with a strong and assured âââiance and this was that which this sicke man did purposely seeke after Euthimius doth much endeere his sufferance and his perseuerance neuer despairing but assuring himselfe that Heauen would yet at last bee propitious and fauourable vnto him and though yeare after yeare nay for so many yeres together he found no good many contradictions offering themselues vnto him yet his hopes did neuer faile him His sinnes were rather accessorie and accidentall than of any proposed malice or in despight as we say of God and such kind of faults as these God sooner pardoneth and farre more easily forgiueth The Scripture sometimes proposeth vnto vs Peccadores remitados Notorious sinners to whose account you cannot adde one sinne more than they haue charged themselues withall Who haue purposely departed from God Of these Iob saith Quasi de industria recesserunt à me Esay Pepigimus faedus cum mârte We haue made a couenant with Death Malachie Vanus est qui seruit Deo He is vaine that serueth God These are desperate resolutions Others there are who sinne by accident In the Historie of the Kings it is said of Dauid That he arose vp from his chaire to walke vpon the Tarrasse of his Pallace and that his eye lighted by chance vpon Bersheba who was bathing her selfe in her garden this was a businesse which fell out casually and as we say by hap-hazard though his plotting how to haue his pleasure of her was a thing premeditated but his seeing and his coueting of her was as it were accidentally and by chance Whereas the desire that Dauid had to serue God was euer purposed and determined by him Iuraui statui custodire iudicia justiciae tuae So that his offending of his God was not wilful but of weaknes by meere haphazard Saul made a Proclamation That no man should eat till hee had gotten the victorie ouer the Philistines but the souldiers were so hungrie with sighting and fasting that their minds ran on nothing else saue the stanching of their hunger Et comedit populus cum sanguine The people tooke Sheepe and Oxen and Calues and slew them on the ground and did eat them with the bloud which was contrarie to Gods commandement not considering that this their eating at this time and vpon such an occasion was peccatum per accidens an accidentall sinne In a word one of the surest pledges of our predestination is to make our seruing of God the Principall and our offending him the Accessorie Hunc cùm vidisset Dominus When the Lord had seene him This his seeing of him was not by chance nor is it so to be construed of Christ but to shew that he was man hee did many things as it were by chance And therefore when he saw this mans miserie and knew how long he had layne thus and how he was forsaken of all the world and that there was no bodie to helpe him then c. It is a great matter I can assure you for a man to cast his eyes vpon the wretched estate of the Poore for from the eyes compassion growes the hearts tendernesse the one is no sooner toucht but the other melts Noli auertere faciem tuam ab vllo paupere Turne not away thy face from the Poore Tobias told his sonne That if he should not turne his eye aside from the Poore God would neuer turn away his face from him The sores of the Poore saith Saint Chrysostome being beheld by vs teach aduise and mooue vs. When Pilate presented our Sauiour Christ to the Iewes wounded from head to foot and all his bodie on a goaââ bloud he said vnto them Ecce homo Behold the man but they shutting their eyes and turning their faces away from him cried out Away with him away with him whereas if they had earnestly beheld him and viewed him wel from top to toe their hearts had they beene of stone as they were little better they would haue growne soft and tender with it The reason why so little remedie now a dayes is giuen
but with a very poore weake purpose They did inherit this euil condition of their forefathers and grandfathers of old who did neuer seeke God but when hee scourged them soundly for their sins And when that storme was past and their peace made they fell afresh to their former rebellions There are few men so past grace which doe not sometimes sigh for Heauen But the mischiefe of it is that these our sighes are quickly ouerblowne they doe not last with vs. In the darkest night there are some lightnings which breake through the clouds and cleare the ayre but in the end the darkenesse preuaileth In your duskiest cloudiest daies the Sun is woont to rush through the foggiest thickest clouds but new cloudes arising the Sunne retires himselfe and pulls in his head Saul by spurts did dart foorth many beames of light acknowledging that Dauid had done him many reall courtesies and that he had repayed him euill for good and had a purpose with himselfe vpon fits to fauor him and to honour him But the foggy clouds and mystie vapours of Enuy increasing more and more vpon him these light flashes were turned into darkenesse Balaam when King Balack sent vnto him to curse Gods people had verie good purposes and desires for a while within him He consulted with God in that businesse and knowing that it was his wil that he should not go dispatched those his messengers And the King sending others vnto him he told them That he would not go to that end if hee would giue him his house full of gold Doubtlesse these were good intensions had he continued still in the same mind But the clouds of couetousnesse did ouercast this light of his vnderstanding with so grosse a darkenesse that neither the Angel which stood before him with a naked sword in the way nor his beast which spake vnto him and turned aside could keepe him backe In peccato vestro moriemini Yee shall dye in your sinne There are great indeerings in the holy Scripture of the grieuousnesse of sinne and the hurt that comes thereby Anselmus sayth That he had rather fry without sin in the flames of Hel than with sin inioy Heauen Hee might well say so in regard of Hel. For although Saint Austen saith That one drop of the water of Paradise shall be sufficient to quench the flames of Hell yet shall it not be able to wash away the foulnesse of sinne Helias desired of God that he might dye vnder the Iuniper tree and yet he would not be rid of his life by Iezabell in regard of the sinne that tyrannicall Queen should haue committed so that euen in his mortall enemy so great an ill seemed intollerable vnto him In Scripture sinne is a cypher of all possible infelicitie and misfortune thaâ can befall a man Saint Paul sayth That God made his Sonne sinne Him who knew no sinne hee made sinne for vs. For discharging vpon him the tempest of his wrath he made him of all other men the most miserable Nouissimum virârum Iacob would not let Beniamin goe downe with his brethren to Aegypt Ioseph desiring to haue it so though Reuben had offered two of his owne sons as pledges for his safe return to the end that the good old man should haue the best securitie he could giue him Reuben sayd If he returne not Ero peccati reus I will be content to be condemned to all possible miseries whatsoeuer The like Bersabe was willing to say when she thought the raigne of her sonne Salomon should be troubled Shall I and my sonne Salomon bee counted Offenders Shall wee bee the out-casts of the world and be layd open to the vtmost of miserie The reason of all this harme is For that all possible ill that can be imagined is reduced vnto sinne as to it's Center Make a muster of all the enemies of Man as Death the Deuill the World the Flesh not any one of them nay not all of them together haue any the least power to hurt vs without sinne And therefore in our Lords prayer silencing all other our enemies only we beg of God that he would free vs from sinne But deliuer vs from euill Which howbeit some doe vnderstand it to be spoken of the Deuill yet as Saint Austen sayth he can but barke he cannot bite Onely sinne is able to doe both To this so great a hurt may be added another that is farre greater Which is obstinacie in sinne Iob painting out this euill sayth That the sinner taketh pleasure therein and that it seemeth sweet vnto him it is as pellets of Sugar to him vnder his tongue He first delights in the companie of sinne then hee marries himselfe vnto her and at last leaues her not till death them depart Parcet illi non derelinquet The seuentie read it Non parcet illi non derelinquet hee will excuse no occasion no diligence no trouble His desire thereof is insatiable There is no kind of sinne be it of Sloath or Reuenge or Couetousnesse that is continually beating vpon our actions But our thoughts are euermore hammering of wickednesse like the Smith that giues a hundred blowes vpon his Anuill and two vpon his yron or like the Barbar that makes more snips in the ayre than on the haire The Pharisees did crucifie our Sauiour Christ but once in the verie deed and act of his death but in their desires in their thoughts they had crucified him a thousand times But that we may giue the obstinacie of this people it 's full qualification we must make a briefe recapitulation of those meanes which God vsed for to mollifie their hardnesse First of all he tooke it to his charge to cure it with his Doctrine his Miracles and the Prophecies of their Prophets Well this would doe no good with them and many dyed in this their obstinacie Next he comes amongst them in his owne person taking vpon him the name and office of a Phisition Purgationem peccatorum faciens Making a purge for sinne He was willing to haue ministred Phisicke to the Iewes and with the sweet and comfortable syrrop of his Word to haue eased them of their griefes and to haue cured all the infirmities of their bodies as the sicke of the Palsey for eight and thirtie yeares together the Blind that were borne blind and such as were possessed with Deuils and the like Being willing also to haue cleansed their soules from all kind of vncleannesse But at last hee was faine to giue them ouer their diseases were growne so desperate remitting them ad hospitalium incurabilium as men without hope of recouerie For as in the body there are some sickenesses so mortall that though the sicke bee capable of health yet the malignity of the humour maketh the Phisition to despaire therof So likewise in the soule there are some diseases so mortall that through the great malignity of them and the sharpenesse of the humour the
seeing that the malice thereof hath gone so farre as to take away the life of the God of Heauen there is not that ill which wee ought not to feare Wee are to feare the Sea euen then when it promiseth fairest weather This speech of our Sauiours might likewise seeme vnto them to be some Parable for that which the Will affecteth not the Vnderstanding doth not halfe well apprehend it He sayd vnto the Iewes Oportet exaâtari âilium hominis The sonne of man must be lifted vp And they presently tooke hold of it The Angels told Lot that Sodome should be consumed with fire and brimstone from Heauen and he aduising his sonnes in law thereof He seemed vnto them as one that mocked Precept must be vpon precept line vpon line here a little and there a little Often doe the Prophets repeat Haec mandat Dominus Expecta Dominum sustine Dominum modicum adhuc modicum ego visitabâ sanguinem c. abscondere modicum Thus sayth the Lord Waâte for the Lord yet a little while and a little while I wil visit the Bloud c. They that âeard Esay mockt at him in their feasts and banquets saying Wee know before hand what the Prophet will preach vnto vs. And this is the fashion of Worldlings to scoffe at those whom God sends vnto them for their good Tunc accessit mater filiorum Zebedâi c. Then came vnto him the mother of the sonnes of Zebedee c. Adonias tooke an vnseasonable time hauing offended Sâlâmân with those mutinies which hee had occasioned to make himselfe King and euen then when hee ought to haue stood in feare of his displeasure he vndaduisedly craues of him to giue him his fathers Shunamite to wife This seemed to Salomon so foolish and so shamelesse a petition that he caused his life to be taken from him Accessit mater The mother came Parents commonly desire to leaue their children more rich and wealthy than holy and religious A mother would wish her daughter rather beautie than vertue a good dowrie than good endowments Saint Augustine saith of himselfe That he had a father that tooke more care to make him a Courtier of the earth than of Heauen desired more that the world should celebrate him for a wise and discreet man than to be accounted one of Christs followers Saint Chrysostome saith That of our children wee make little reckoning but of the wealth that we are to leaue them exceeding much Being like vnto that sicke man who not thinking of the danger wherein he is cuts him out new cloathes and entertaineth new seruants A Gentleman will take more care of his Horse and a great Lord of his estate than of his children For his Horse the one will looke out a good rider and such a one as shal see him well fed and drest The other a very good Steward for his lands but for their children which is their best riches and greatest inheritance they are carelesse in their choice of a good Tutor or Gouernor In his Booke De Vita Monastica the said Doctour citeth the example of Iob who did not care so much that his children should be rich well esteemed and respected in the world as that they should be holy and religious He rose vp early in the morning and offered burnt Offerings according to the number of theâ all For Iob thought It may be my sons haue sinned and blasphemed God in their hearts Thus did Iob euerie day Saint Augustine reporteth of his mother That she gaue great store of almes and that she went twice a day to the Church and that kneeling downe vpon her knees shee poured forth many teares from her eyes not begging gold nor siluer of God but that he would be pleased to conuert her son and bring him to the true Faith The mother came These her sonnes thought themselues now cocke-sure for they knew that our Sauiour Christ had some obligation to their mother for those kindnesses which she had done him and for those good helpes which hee had receiued from her in his wants and necessities deeming it as a thing of nothing and as a sute already granted That he would giue them the chiefest places of gouerment in that their hoped for Kingdom Whence I infer that to a gouernor it is a shrewd pledge ofhis saluation to receiue a curtesie for that he is thereby as it were bought and bound to make requitall And as in him that buyes ãâã is not the goodnesse or badnesse of such a commoditie but the money that ãâã most stood vpon as in gaming men respect not so much the persons they play with as the mony they play for so this businesse of prouiding for our childreâ is a kind of buying to profit and a greedie gaining by play The King of Sodome said vnto Abraham Giue me the persons and take the goods to thy selfe ãâã Abraham would not take so much as a thred or shooe-latchet of all that was his and that for two verie good reasons The one That an Infidell might not hereafter boast and make his brag saying I haue made Abraham rich it was I that made him a man The other That he might not haue a tie vpon him and so buy out his liberty For guifts as Nazianzen saith are a kind of purchase of a mans freehold ãâã giue for meere loue cannot be condemned because it is a thing which God hiââselfe doth to whom the Kings and Princes of the earth should come as neere as they can But to giue to receiue againe is a clapping of gyues and fetters on the receiuer And the poorer sort of men being commonly the worthiest because they haue not wherewithall to giue they likewise come not to get any thing Theodoret pondereth the reasons why Isaac was inclined to conferre the blessing on Esau. First Because he was his first borne to whom of right it belonged Secondly For that he had euer beene louing and obedient vnto him Thirdly Because he was well behaued and had good naturall parts in him Fourthly and lastly hee addeth this as a more powerfull and forcible reason than all the rest That being as he was a great Hunter he brought home so many Regalos and daintie morcells for to please his fathers palate which wrought more vpon aged Isaac than his being his sonne And if gifts are such strong Gyants that they captiuate the Saints of God Munera crede mihi excacant homines qùe Deosque What are we to expect from sinners Saint Bernard complaineth That in his time this moth had entred not onely vpon the distribution of secular honours but also vpon Ecclesiasticall preferments He earnestly exhorteth Pope Eugenius That he place such Bishops in the Church who out of widdowes dowries the patrimonie of the crucified God should not inrich their Kindred who take more pleasure in the pampering of a young Mule spred ouer with a faire foot-cloath than to clap caparisons on
fley off the skinne from them and breake their bones and chop them in pieces as for the pot and as flesh within the Caldron They shall cry vnto me saith the Lord in the time of their trouble but I will not heare them I will euen hide my face from them at that time because they haue done wickedly in their workes O that men should be so vnnaturall as to âlay the skinne from the flesh and then presently to teare the flesh from the bone God puts a poore man into pouertie but he doth not âlay him nor kill him but the rich man does thus tormenting him anew whom God hath alreadie punished enough Because they haue smitten those whome I haue smitten and haue added new wounds to those that I haue alreadie inflicted vpon them The third circumstance is taken out of Iob where he treateth of another rich man like vnto this of whom we now speake of Non remansit de cibo eius propterea nihil permanebit de bonis eius There shall none of his meat be left and there shall bee no memoriall of his goods When he shall be filled with his aboundance he shal be in paine and the hand of all the Wicked shall assaile him he shall bee about to fill his bellie but God shall send vpon him his fierce wrath shall cause to raine vpon him euen vpon his meat He shall flie from the Yron Weapons and the Bow of Steele shall strike him through the Arrow is drawne out and commeth forth of the bodie and shineth out of his gall so feare commeth vpon him All darkenesse shall bee hid in his secret places the fire that is not blowne shall deuoure him and that which remaineth in his Tabernacle shall be destroyed The Heauen shall declare his wickednesse and the Earth shall rise vp against him the increase of his house shall goe away it shall flow away in the day of his wrath This is his portion from God the heritage that he shall haue of God For he that was so vnmercifull that he would not affoord the crummes that fell from his Table to the Poore shal be so far from enioying the least good though it be but a drop of water that God will rather cause him to vomit vp those good things which he hath eaten in this life He hath deuoured substance and he shall vomit it for God shall draw it out of his bellie Hee shall vomit it forth with a great deale of paine if he shall call for drinke the Deuills shall say vnto him Spew vp that which thou hast drunke if for meat Vomit vp that which thou hast eaten He shall sucke the gall of Aspes and the Vipers tongue shall slay him He shall not see the riuers nor the Flouds and Streames of Honey and Butter Hee shall restore the labour and deuoure no more euen according to his substance shall be his exchange and he shall enioy iâ no more For he hath vndone many hee hath forsaken the Poore and hath spoyled houses which hee builded not surely he shall find no quietnes in his bodie neither shal he reserue of that which he desired Factum est autem vt moreretur mendicus But it came to passe that the Begger died First Lazarus dies for God euermore makes more hast to drie vp the teares of the Iust than the plaints of the Sinner Ad vesperum demorabitur fletââ c. Their teares shall continue to the euening c. Amongst many reasons which the Saints doe render Why Gods Iustice comes commonly with a leaden foot that of Saint Gregorie is an excellent one which is That so great is the wretchednesse which waits vpon a Reprobate that it is not much that God should permit him to enioy some few yeares more of his miserable and vnhappie happinesse A pittifull Iudge is woont sometime to deferre the Delinquents sentence of death but when carelesse of his doome he sees him game eat and sleepe he sayes Let him alone and let him make himselfe as merrie as he can for this world will not last long with him for his destruction is at hand and the stroke of death hangs ouer his head and when it comes it will come suddenly vpon him Many great sinners liue to be verie old men before they die and the reason of it is for that God who is a God of patience suffers them to liue here the longer for that after their death a bitter portion remaineth for them Et portaretur ab Angelis And he was carried of Angells Euerie torment is so much the more cruell by how much the more it suffereth in the extreames that are opposite thereunto Iob pondering that of Hell saith That those that are there tormented passe from snow to fire Ab aquis niuium ad nimium colorem The like succeedeth in content which is so much the greater by how much we goe from a greater sorrow to a greater joy Such then was the condition of Lazarus passing from the pawes of Dogs to the hands of Angells from the Portch of a Tyrant to the bosome of Abraham from the greatest miserie to the greatest happinesse that they who were euen the most blessed did then enioy The Dogs in Scripture is the symbole or hierogliphick of a most filthie vile and base thing Abner sayd vnto Ishbosheth Am I a Dog that thou thus despisest mee The Poet giues him this beastly Epithite Obsaenoque Cane And Saint Mathew by way of scorne Non licet sanctum dare Canibus But the Angells are the noblest of all other creatures and the purest for God molded them with his owne hands So that Lazarus went from the vilest and the basest to the cleanest and the noblest hands Saint Chrysostome reports of the Roman Triumphants That some entred Rome in Chariots drawne with pyde Horses others with Elephants others with Lyons and others with Swannes but the Chariot of Apollo was drawne by swift and nimble footed Gynnets There was a Tyrant that had his Chariot drawne with those Kings that hee had conquered But Lazarus his Chariot did far exceed all these for this was drawn by the hands of Angells Sabellicus saith That when Tullyes banishment was reuersed they bore him throughout all Italy vpon their shoulders Totius Italiae humeris eâectus est Dauid saith That Gods Chariot is drawne with Cherubines Ascendit super Cherubim volauit God then lending Lazarus this his Chariot it is no meruaile if in a trice hee flew vp into the bosome of Abraham Sâlomon when he was proclaimed King rode on his Fathers Mule Mordechâi for his more honour was mounted on Assuerus his owne Horse but Lazarus to surpasse these went in triumph to heauen in Gods owne Chariot This must needs breed a great confusion and amasement in this rich man that the Angells should carrie him being dead into heauen on whom he would not vouchsafe to looke nor bestow a morcell of bread being aliue And he was carried of Angels
besides the vntunable and harsh musicke of the Deuills roaring and yellowing like so many mad Bulls that with the dinne and hideousnesse of the noyse Heauen and Earth might haue seemed to come together and the whole frame and machine of the Orbes to haue crackt and fallen in sunder The smell the taste the touch the will the vnderstanding and the memorie both irrascible and concupiscible shall not be employed vpon any thing as Saint Augustine hath noted it from whence they shall not receiue most grieuous paine and torment But of all other torments that of their desperation will be the greatest because there will be no wading through this Lake that burnes with fire and brimstone nor no end at all to these their endlesse miseries That ten thousand nay a hundred thousand yeares continuance in hell shall not suffice to satisfie for their sinnes that the fountaine of mercie should be shut vp for euer not affoording them so much as one drop of cold water to coole the tongue that God will not admit for the offences of three dayes the satisfaction of seuentie times seuen thousands of yeares This is that Magnum Chaos inter vos nos This is that great Chaos that huge Gulfe which is set betweene you and vs it is Chaos impertransibile that impassable Gulfe wherein to fall it is easie but to get out impossible Many of the Saints vpon this consideration deepely weighing these things with themselues haue made great exclamations as S. Chrysostome Petrus Crysologus and others If we beleeue say they that this imprisonment is perdurable tâis fire is eternall and that these torments are endlesse How comes it to passe that we eat liue and sleepe as we do O the madnesse of those men who seeke fit and handsome dwellings for three dayes and omit to thinke of those eternall habitations which continue world without end O the sottishnesse of those which couet such short and transitorie contentments O the blindnesse of those who for a moment of pleasure wil aduenture an eternitie of pain Is it much that these holy Saints should exclaime Is it much that they should weepe teares of bloud who beleeue that this rich man doth frie in perpetuall flames because he was pittiles voyd of mercy seeing on the one side so many Lazaruses naked ful of sores driuen if not beaten away from our dores whose beds are the hard benches and open porches of the Rich whose meat are the scraps and offalls and oftentimes onely the bare crummes of the rich mans boord whose drinke are the waters of those Riuers and Fountaines where the Beasts doe drinke whose wardrobe are rags whose cattle vermine whose store miserie whose tables are their knees and whose cups are their hands And on the other side so many Gluttons who feeding like beasts vomit forth that they eat at their tables where they sit Mensae repletae sunt vomitu beeing as emptie of pittie as they are full of wine Optimo vino delibuti non compatiebantur super contritionem Ioseph who dying like Oxen in a stall fat and ful fed it is no meruaile if as Esay sayth they make Hells sides to stretch and cracke againe Propter hoc dilatauit infernus Os suum I would faine aske some one of those which heare me this day My friend tel me I pray thee thinkest thou or hast thou any hope that thou art the only man in this world that shall liue here for euer Doost thou beleeue that Death shall one day come to the threshold of thy doore and call for thee and that thou must hereafter giue a strict account of thy workes words and thoughts before the tribunall seat of God If thou doost tell me then againe Whither thou hadst rather desire the felicitie of Lazarus in that other life or the eternall torments of this rich man Art thou persuaded that thou canst weare out two thousand yeares in a bed of fire But if the verie thought thereof cause feare and horror in thee and makes euerie bone and ioynt in thy bodie to shake and tremble Why doost thou not seeke to flie from so great a danger Flie saith Saint Austen yet now euen to day whilest thou hast time Pater Abraham rogo vt mittas Lazarum aut vnum ex mortuis Father Abraham I pray thee send Lazarus or one from the Dead c. Origen saith That this rich man did desire That either Lazarus or some one from the Dead might bee sent to preach this point thinking with himselfe That Abraham might happely send him vnto himselfe as to one that by this time verie wel knew his owne errour and that so by this meanes he might haue some pause or breathing time from these his torments Whither this was so or no it may by some be doubted but this is a cleere case That the maine motiue that mooued him thereunto was the desire that he had that his brethren and kinsfolke might be drawne vnto repentance and thereby come to be saued and escape those intollerable torments which he indured Saint Chrysostome saith That Abraham did not yeeld to the rich mans petition because hee was not absolute Lord of that place But that our Sauiour Christ supplied that defect and carried himselfe like a most mercifull and kind louing Lord to the end that that stiffe necked Nation might not alledge in their excuse That hee had not sent them a Preacher from that other life to aduise them what passed there But our Sauiour for whom this businesse was reserued did not raise vp Lazarus the Poore but Lazarus the Rich who vpon occasion preacht great notable things vnto them concerning the life to come And he likewise raised vp the sonne of the widow of Naim that hee might also doe the like But those that will not beleeue the Prophets it is our Sauiours owne saying will lesse beleeue the Dead Quia crucior in hac flamma Because I am tormented in this flame Gods chastisements are like Lightning which kill one but fright many and the vengeance which God taketh of one sinner is an occasion giuen to the Iust to wash their hands in his bloud According to that of Dauid Cum viderit vindictam manus suas lauabit in sanguine peccatoris And Saint Gregorie expoundeth it thus That the Iust doth wash his hands in the bloud of a Sinner when by another mans punishment he learnes to amend his owne life There is nothing doth more terrifie a Theefes heart than the gallowes and rope wherewith his fellow was hanged Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt me Legem tuam non sum oblitus when I saw another strangled those cords which choked him sate likewise close to my necke but giuing thee thankes ô Lord that thou hadst kept mee from comming to so bad an end I did resolue with my selfe that I would not forget thy Law And therefore God would haue vs to lay vp in an euerlasting remembrance as it were his seuerest and sharpest
vs take his Inheritance They did not say This is the sonne but the Heire discouering therein the dropsie of their couetousnesse for greedinesse of the Fruits they killed his Seruants and for greedinesse of the Inheritance they killed the Heire Couetousnesse is the root of all euill Pride is the seed of all sinnes and Couetousnesse the root which maintaines them The Seed is that beginning which giues them their beeing the Root that which sustaines and nourishes them in their verdure From the Tree you may easily lop the boughes but hardly remooue the roots First Because they are so deep that we cannot well come at them And secondly Because they are couered and buried vnder ground When Couetousnesse taketh deepe rooting in the heart of man it is couered ouer with the cloake of Sanctitie and of Vertue they are hard to bee digged out From this Vice two great huts doe arise The one That it is the Leauen of all our ill Salust saith That it destroyes the Vertues and the Arts and in their places brings in Infidelities and Treasons standing at open defiance both with God and Man Ecclesiasticus saith That there is nothing worse than a couetous man for such a one would euen sell his Soule for loue of money The Princes of Iudah saith Osee were like them that remooued the bound Saint Hierome and Lyra note That the Prophet borrowed this Metaphor from the Husbandmen who inlarge the bounds of their Inheritance growing by little and little on that which is another mans And that the Gouernours of the two Tribes did reioyce in the seruitude and captiuitie of the other ten for to inlarge their owne Lands and Territories and to augment their jurisdiction To reioyce in the inlarging of their owne was not much amisse but to take pleasure in another mans miserie is so great a sinne that God threatens seuerely to punish it I will poure forth saith he myne indignation vpon them like water In other his chastisements he vseth the word stillare now that which is distilled comes away in little drops and with a great deale of leisure but heere he saith Effundam iram meam Like a storme that comes so suddenly vpon him that he cannot escape it The Prophet Amos saith That amongst many other sinnes which the Sonnes of Ammon had committed one was a verie desperate one For three transgressions of the Children of Ammon and for foure I will not turne to it Because they haue ript vp the women with child of Giliad that they might inlarge their borders For bordering vpon those of Gilead they slew their women that were great with child that they might inherit their possessions ad dilatandum terminum suum As Queene Iesabel caused Naboth to bee put to death that she might haue his Vineyard In a word In that verie houre when Couetousnesse killed the Sonne of God What punishment were it neuer so cruell might not such an offence iustly feare The second hurt is That it is a vice of all other the hardest to bee remedied Phylon calls it Wickednesses Fort where all sinnes are protected and defended Saint Chrysostome saith That Gold turnes men into Beasts nay into beastly and abhominable Deuils Whereby he signified That it was an vnreclaimable sin Saint Ambrose That the couetous man reioyceth to see the Widow weepe and the Orphan to crie which is a foule sinne Saint Bernard paints out the Chariot of Couetousnesse to be drawne by cruell fierce and desperate both Coachman and Horses Iudas his owne heart opens this truth in regard that all the diligences all the fauours that our Sauiour Christ did him in washing his feet with water and it may be with the teares that trickled from his eyes his permitting him to dip his finger in the same dish with him and to bestow his best morcells vpon him were not of power to mollifie and soften this stonie heart of his Come let vs kill him Verie fitly is Sinne called a breake-necke or a downfall not onely in regard of that heigth from whence the Sinner falls and the deepenesse of the pit whereinto hee is to descend but because of his retchlesnesse and his carelesnesse by falling headlong from one sinne into another til he come to the bottome of all villanie and wickednesse And this is the reason why the Scripture makes so much reckoning of the first sinne we commit The first sinne that Saul committed was the pittie that he shewed to Amaleck And though in it selfe it were not so grieuous a sinne yet hee perseuered afterwards in enuying and persecuting Dauid hee committed great cruelties in Nob as a Moore could not doe more he slew fourescore and fiue Priests that wore a Linnen Ephod And because his faults were so heinous the Scripture mentioneth not any one saue that of his pittie towards Amaleck because that was the first round in the Ladder by which he fell afterwards downe into Hell Beatus vir qui non abijt Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the councell of the Vngodly ãâã stood in the way of Sinners and hath not sate in the seat of the Scornefull There are three happinesses that a man is said to enioy The one Not to fall into the pit of Sinne. The other If he doe fall not to continue long therein The third That if he doe perseuer in sinne that he bee not bewitched therewith nor make it his Seat For Sinne according to Saint Austen produceth Custome and Custome a necessitie of sinning Thus doth God punish one sinne with another a lesser sinne with a greater which is the greatest and seuerest rigour which the Tribunall of Gods Iustice inflicteth Seneca tells vs The prime and principall punishment of a Sinner is his sinning for then God falls presently a punishing sinne vpon sinne The Scripture reckoning vp all the sinnes of Herod as his tyrannies cruelties his swinish nature and his incestuous life it addeth super haec omnia as though all the rest in comparison of this were as nothing That hee had beheaded Saint Iohn Baptist because he preached Truth vnto him And this was the greatest vengeance that God could take of his former sinnes With Vria's murder God reuenged Dauids adultrie And Nathans reproouing him was the appeasing of Gods wrath against him For if God should not haue vsed this his mercy towards him what would haue become of Dauid Saint Ambrose expounding those words which Christ vttered vnto Peter Thou shalt denie me thrice saith That this placing of these three denialls was not onely a foretelling of them but of setting likewise a bound and limit vnto them to the end that hee should not denie his Master any more than three times God reuenged his first deniall by his second being forced to forsweare That he knew him not and his second by the third aggrauating the same with so many protestations and Anathema's But if Christ had not looked backe vpon him and taken pittie of
him what would haue become of poore Peter But vpon the sinnes of the Pharisees our Sauiour did not put any taxe or limitation That all the bloud of the Iust might light vpon their heads For they were a reprobate kind of people The liues of the Prophets he reuenged by the death of his Sonne and heire He reuenged the euill workes which they had done in that the Light beeing brought into the World they shut vp themselues in Darkenesse And with this suteth that of Esay Thou hast made their owne iniquities the instruments and as it were the hands to dash them in pieces Thou hast made them subiect to their sinnes they can doe no more than what sinne shall command them to doe If it bid them kill they shall kill if steale they shall steale In a word Sinne is their Lord and they are Sinnes âlaues And therefore the Scripture termeth those that are great Sinners Vendidos Men that are sould ouer vnto sinne Esay puts this name vpon Aâbab I am sould to sinne and those who denied God his Law or their Countrie did take part with those their enemies that were Infidells the first booke of the Macabees registreth them for Slaues that had sould themselues ouer vnto sinne The like saith Saint Paul of those who remaine captiues to the Deuill and that follow after his will A quo captiui tenemur ad ipsius voluntatem Out of whose snare wee must come to amendment and not suffer our selues to be taken of him at his will And the Inheritance shall be ours The Sinner summing vp his wickednesse thinkes he hath made a iust and good account So Pharaoh pursuing Gods People made this sure reckoning with himselfe Persequar I will follow them take them and spoyle them and my Soule shall haue it's desire vpon them So did it fare with these Farmers they had cast vp their reckoning and made full account that the Inheritance should be theirs They had destroyed his People his Temple his Vineyard his Syon his Prophecies his Miracles his Priesthood his Arke his Authoritie and his Glorie What could they well doe more to make themselues Lords of all But Conuertetur dolor eius in caput eius They shall bee ouertaken in their owne wickednesse and this mischiefe shall light vpon their owne heads Et ejecerunt eum extra Vineam And they cast him out of the Vineyard They cast him out of the Vineyard and slew him Saint Chrysostome saith That they cast him out of the Vineyard that his bloud might not defile it Vsing him herein like a Leaper which was no more than was prophecied by Esay Stand apart come not neere me for I am holier âhan thou The Iewes were so daintie that when Iudas repented him of what he had done and returned them their mony againe they would none of it It is not lawfull for vs to put this money into the Treasurie because it is the price of bloud And they did not onely expresse their hypocrisie in this particular but they would not likewise enter into the Praetorium or Common-Councell house That they might not be defiled with his companie And here in this place They cast him out of the Vineyard but the Diuine prouidence which did with a more especiall hand guide that action did so order the businesse that the bloud of our Sauiour Iesus Christ should be shed out of the Vineyard because it should not hinder the destruction and desolation that was to come vpon that wretched accursed City For if Ierusalem should haue beene besprinkled with the bloud of this Lambe the Angel would haue past by it and the Roman power should not haue bin able to haue ruined it and laid it leuell with the ground They cast him likewise out of the Vineyard for to inrich the Land of the Gentiles his bloud which spake better things than that of Abel being shed in their âauour and for their good The glorious Doctor Saint Ambrose saith That the âield which Caine drew out Abel into was bad and barren ground it being Gods pleasure that that place should be vnfruitfull wherein that bloud should be shed âhat was to crie for vengeance But for the bloud of our most blessed Sauiour ând Redeemer Iesus Christ howbeit it fell among stories yet because it spake âetter words than that of Abel as also for that from the Crosse he poured down âis benediction vpon it they lost their barrennesse Saint Augustine saith That as in the Garden he sweated bloud making that ground fruitfull therewith that Martyrs might bud and spring out of it so in Mount Caluarie hee also shed his bloud to the end that the Land of the Gentiles taking this diuine Balsamum into their Soules and letting it soke into their hearts they might bring forth great and plentifull Fruits euen Fruits in aboundance Quid faciet Dominus Vineae What will the Lord of this Vineyard doe Tell me yee that are learned in the Lawes What course thinke yee he will take with these Husbandmen Ezecâââl in his twentie eigth Chapter sets out the King of Tyre with all possible glorie and greatnesse adorning him with Wisedome Beautie Riches pretious stones Pearles and brooches of Gold brought from beyond the seas But if many were these his blessings and fauours which God had bestowed vpon him the greater by far were those his sins which hee committed against him in his ingratitude disloyaltie âyrannie dishonestie wantonnesse filthinesse c. And therefore when God shall come to take an account of vs What will the Lord of the Vinyard doe then And in the sixteenth Chapter he paints out vnto vs a poore little Infant that was cast out as it were into the Streets and no eye pittied her This poore soule the King as he passed by tooke her out of the extremitie of miserie bred her vp made much of her inricht her couered her with Silke gââded her about with fine Linnen cloathed her with broydered workes decked her with ornaments put bracelets vpon her hands a chaine about her necke and a beautiful Crown vpon her head c. when he had bestowed all these things vpon her and that she was come of age to be his Spouse which the King of all other things desired most she left his house ranne away from him set vp for her selfe in a by-corner of the Citie playing the Harlot multiplying her Treasons lightnesses loosnes of life purchasing her selfe Louers with her Siluer not remembring the dayes of her youth when she was naked and bare and forsaken of all the world saue this good King that tooke compassion on her Now when God shall come to take an account of her concerning those courtesies which she had receiued What will the Lord of the Vineyard do then The fauors which God affââded his People Who can recount them He sent them Prophets Miracles ãâã Victories they did sigh for his comming importuning Heauen with theââ groanes The Light shined
with those that are peruerse and disobedient Chrysologus sets them forth in the Prodigall and reduceth them all to his turning Swineheard Our Sauiour Christ stiles Sinners with the name of Swine And this name doth more particularly appertaine to those that are sensuall persons The proportions are many First of all Any other Creature whatsoeuer is made tame gentle but the swine not in any other there is taken some pleasure or affection but in the Swine not any other will acknowledge the hand that feeds him but the Swine neuer it is the stampe of an obstinate harsh vnsauorie and desperate sinner Secondly In touching a Hogs either bristles or skinne hee presently falls a grunting as Geminianus hath noted it A Horse will suffer you to curry his coat and to kembe downe his mayn there are many other beasts that will giue a man leaue to handle stroke them but the Hog is no sooner toucht but he whines and the reason is because there is nothing either of profit or pleasure in him saue his flesh so that when you offer to lay hand on him he presently conceiues that you meane to kill him This is the picture of a Sinner that hath a guiltie conscience who being scarce toucht not with the whole hand but the least and lightest finger of Gods justice presently apprehends he is but a dead man Thirdly Your Swine especially your wilde Bores are of that strange quicknesse of sent that if the Huntsman meane to shoot at him he must take the wind of him or else he will wind him out and be gone Now on the contrarie they are not sencible of the ill sauour of a Dunghill nor the stench of mud and mire but rather take delight to lie wallowing therein esteeming it as a great recreation and refreshing vnto them This is the figure of a filthie foule Sinner who will flie a thousand leagues from the perills and dangers of his bodie but take pleasure and pastime in those muckhills and durtie puddles which defile the Soule And these kind of creatures your Worldlings cal their loue their joy their comfort and delight But Gods Dictionary termes them the loathsome sweetnesses and perbreaking pleasures ofSwine Fourthly In point of stinking nastinesse and all kind of beastly filthinesse a Swine is such a filthie thing that a slouenly fellow we commonly call him Puerco a verie Swine He would faine haue filled his bellie with the husks that the Swine eat but no man gaue them him There are many Pictures and Tables in Scripture in the Saints ãâã in the Doctors of the foulenesse and miserie of a Man without God Saint Gregorie compares him to a World without a Sunne couered with thicke Clouds to a bodie without a soule which though it be neuer so faire yet is it fearefull to behold Esay to a Citie that is sackt burned and throwne downe to the ground to a Swallowes young one forsaken of her Damme Like a Swallow so did I chatter To that rotten and corrupt piece of Linnen which was profitable for nothing and by Gods owne appointment commanded to be hid in Perath in the cliffe of a Rocke The Lamentations To the Nobles of Syon that remained Captiues in Babylon who beeing before purer than Snow whiter than Milke and more ruddie in bodie than the red pretious Stones or more faire and beautifull than the polished Saphire are now become blacker than the cole Saint Augustine To a house that hath not been inhabited for many yeres which is full of Todes Snakes Spiders and other vile and venimous Vermine to Adam that was thrust out of Paradice and afterwards cloathed with the skins of dead beasts But none of them all expresse it more to the life than this slouenly filthie loathsome hunger-starued weake tawnie stinking young man whose bodie was growne ouer with haire as a tree with mosse whose face was scortâht with the Sunne and through blackenesse had lost it's beautie whose poore Ragges that he had to his backe were all totterd and torne with creeping through the bushes of the Mountaine heere hanging one piece and there another Himselfe beheld himselfe in that puddled water where the Swine dranke and did not know himselfe And no meruaile seeing his Father that created him did not know him hee was so changed and altered from that he was All these are Types and shadowes of a man without God And I call them shadowes for in truth neither these nor many other the like indeerings can expresse them to the full One of the greatest martyrdomes that a man can suffer in this world is To serue a base Moore that shall imploy him in beating of hempe in grinding in a Mill in making Broomes in rubbing Horses heeles and digging vp roots of Thistles whereof he must bee content to make his meales But none of these is so base an office as the keeping of a Hog-stie and God brought this Prodigal to this miserie to the end that the remembranâe of his former happinesse might amase and confound him According to that of Ieremie All that forsake thee shal be confounded And of Dauid Qui elongant se à te peribunt All such Prodigals as these shall remaine confounded and abashed and shall vtterly perish continuing in their sinnes Yet there is in sinne if a man may so terme it some kind of good in regard that those miseries which it bringeth with it doth awaken and rouse a man from sleepe And as the Cough of the lungs is eased with a clap on the back so is the sinners heart when Sinne hammers vpon it He came to himselfe Saint Ambrose sayth That sinne doth not onely seperate the sinner from God but also from himselfe Chrysologus daintily toucheth vpon the same string Cum recessit à patre saith hee recessit à se c. When he departed from his father he departed from himselfe Leauing to bee man he came to bee a beast And that he might come to his father hee comes first to himselfe There are some transformations that none can make but Sinne and Grace Dauid treating of the pardon of his sinnes sayth Blessed is he whose vnrighteousnesse is forgiuen and whose sinne is couered Blessed is the man vnto whom the Lord imputeth no sinne Praising God in that Psalme for hauing restored his vnderstanding vnto him So S. Ierome expounds it And albeit all sinnes doe robbe a man of his vnderstanding ãâã doth alienate and estrange a sinner from himselfe yet dishonesty doth this more than all the rest Salomon treating of the tyranny of a Whoore sayth That shee is like a Theefe which lyes in waite in the way to set vpon carelesse men and kill them ere they are aware Et quos incautos viderit interficit A theefe dares not set vpon him that goes well accompanied or that hath his pistolls at his Saddlebow and is well prouided for him The Deuill sets vpon vs with the inticements of the flesh against these allurements wee
against the Spirit of Fornication Seneca calls a woman The Sepulchre of Vice and there is no dumbe man so dumbe nor no blind man so blind as hee that lies dead in the Graue nor no lesse blind and dumbe as hee that is buried in the fond affection of a woman Melior est iniquitas viri quam benefaciens mulier Thy enemie will doe thee lesse harme than thy Mistresse The worst that he can doe is to kill thee and take away thy life but she will take from thee thy goods thy life and thy soule Dauid giuing thankes vnto God for freeing him from his former troubles sayd Dirupisti Domine vincula mea Thou hast broken ô Lord my bonds in sunder What bonds were those Ecclesiasticus answers Vincula sunt manus illis The embracements of a woman And in another place hee saith Eruisti animam meam ex inferno inferiori Thou hast brought my soule out of the lowermost Hell It seemeth that he stileth this lowermost Hel his Adulterie and that this should bee the sence of it there is great reason for it for that is the lowermost Hell from whence God speaking according to our vnderstanding can draw a man out with greatest difficultie For though God could with a great deale of ease haue taken Iudas out of the Hell of the Damned yet hee could nor but by some extraordinarie meanes feteh him from the Hell of his treason Iob jumping vpon this conceit drawes his comparison from the hard labour of a woman in trauell Obstetricante manu eius eductus est coluber tortuosus Wherein we are to consider the diligences which a Midwife vseth when that which is to be borne comes athwart crosses nature in it's common course but what a doo would there be if this birth should prooue to be a Snake or a Serpent Secondly The difficultie lies not so much in the Deuills strength as in his subtiltie Erat Serpens calidior omnibus animalibus terrae He doth not say he was stronger but subtiler For to hunt in thicke and bushie Mountaines we had need of more trickes and deuices than if we did hunt in an open and champian Countrie We must haue good store of weapons ginnes nets and Ferrets which may creepe in without any noyse Ipse liberauit me de laqueo venancium The Apocalyps paints out the Deuill in the forme of a Locust but armed hauing the face of a man the haires of a woman and the mouth of a Lyon Hee compares him to a Locust because he deuoures and destroyes all His meanes he maketh Mans deceiuing Womans inticing and the Lyons crueltie Thirdly The difficultie likewise consisteth in the Deuills pertinacie and obstinacie who neuer ceaseth to plie and importune thee And if at any time thou make thy peace with God the Deuill will not suffer it to last long and conuerting it but into a truce for a time he returnes backe againe to this cleane as thou thinkest swept house of thine but the broome through some default or other hath not swept away all the filth and the durt The Deuill will leaue thee for a time but like a fit of an Ague he will returne againe vnto thee That Feauer is not perfectly cured that comes againe the third day nor that house clean where the durt stickes in the floore He that onely ouercomes and not kills his enemy cannot rest secure especially where there is an impossibilitie of peace The Deuill being ouercome growes more fierce than before What will hee doe then if he take thee vnprouided That Soldier which whilest the warre lasts leaueth off his Armes and carelessely walkes vp and downe such occasions may offer themselues vnto him that he may too late repent him of his follie That valiant Captaine Ehud mentioned in the booke of Iudges feigned that he had something to impart to King Eglon in priuate and they withdrawing themselues into a Sommer Parlor where they sate all alone there being warres betweene them at that time putting forth his left hand and taking a dagger from his right thigh he thrust it into his bellie and the haft entring in after the blade it was buried in the fat that was about it Whereas this King had he done well hee should not considerng there was warre betweene them haue gone disarmed What saith Saint Paul vnto thee Accipite Armaturam Fidei Those weapons of Faith together with it's Armour are of more inchantment against Hell than those which the Fables feigne to be wrought by Vulcan That which imports a Christian is neuer to goe without them because he is in a continuall warfare On Christs part there is also some difficultie because this Victorie must bee performed with triumph Iob discoursing of the Deuill in that metaphor of the great Leuiathan God said vnto him Canst thou draw out Leuiathan with a hooke and with a line which thou shalt cast downe vnto his tongue Canst thou cast a hooke into his nose canst thou pierce his jawes with an Angle c. Thou wilt say thou canst but I hardly beleeue it To conquer the Deuill thou wilt thinke it no great matter and that the victorie is not so glorious as it makes shew for Bee it so but to fetter and manacle him in that manner that little children may play with him without any danger this is something to the purpose Vniuersa arma eius aufer in quibus confidebat This is a taking away of his sword and beaâing him with the scabberd than the which nothing can bee a greater scorne vnto him The Roman Emperours for the better celebration of their victories with Triumphs did much grieue in the deaths of those whome they had conquered Marcellus sorrowed for the death of Archimides Caesar for that of Cleopatra because it seemed to be an eclipse to the glorie of their triumphs But it was fitting that our Sauiour Christ should bee partaker of this glorie and enioy so glorious a Triumph Expolians Principatus potestates traduxit confidenter Palam triumphans illos in semetipso Et illud erat mutum And that was dumbe Saint Luke makes him dumbe Saint Mathew blind And from his dumbnesse those that comment thereupon inferre his deafnesse Saint Chrysostome Tertullian and Saint Hierome say That the Hebrew word Cophos signifyeth Dumbe and deafe and our Interpreter translates it in the seuenth of Marke Surdum mutum To Tytus Bostrensis Lyra and Euthimius it seemeth that hee was not deafe for that his dumbenesse not being naturall the Deuill might make him dumbe but not deafe leauing him his hearing for his greater torment And that was dumbe He being both blind and deafe Saint Luke makes mention that he was onely dumbe Which he purposely did as Saint Austen hath obserued to signe out vnto vs the greatest ill that could befall him For as long as a sinner hath a tongue he need not to despaire Iob beeing become as it were a Sieue vpon the dunghill
world and to loose his owne soule Therefore it is a lesse ill to be possessed in Bodie than in Soule For sinne onely is that true euill which depriueth vs of true good Likewise He that is spiritually possessed is in worse case than he that hath a deuill in soule and body And of this truth there are two euident reasons The one that to haue a Deuill in the bodie is no small occasion whereby the Soule is saued Saint Paul said of the incestuous person Let him be deliuered vnto Sathan for the destruction of the Flesh that the Spirit may be saued in the day of the Lord Iesus Whither it were by way of excommunication as it seemeth good vnto Thomas the Deuills tormenting him following his excommunication as Caietan will haue it or whither he did deliuer him ouer to the Deuill as to Gods Executioner without excommunicating him as Saint Hierome is of opinion or whither the Apostles had licence to doe all or any of these at their pleasure sure I am that Saint Ambrose saith That the deliuering ouer of these Sinners vnto the Deuill was a putting of them into some paine or griefe of body by the hands of the Deuill as he tormented Iob to the end that they might be drawne to repentance for their sinnes And this agrees with that of Saint Chrysostome That Saint Paul did deliuer the incestuous man ouer to the Deuill tanquam pedagogo aperiens ei poenitentiae ianuam As to a Schoolemaster opening to him the doore of Repentance Saint Hierome saith Tanquam Quaestionario as to an Informer or Baylife But they differ in this That when the Informers accuse the Baylifes attach it is commonly for others good but when the Deuill accuseth or layes hold of a man it is for hurt Saint Ambrose saith That when the Deuill had got leaue to tempt Iob hee got it for to worke his destruction Wilt thou take the Deuill with a hooke like a Fish or with a string like a Bird Yes thou shalt lay that poyson for him as a bait wherewith he thought to destroy thee Wherein is to be seene the wisedome and omnipotencie of God in that hee turnes these trickes and subtilties of the Deuill against Man to Mans benefit who being willing to swallow him vp at a bit choakes himselfe and doth rather benefit than hurt him Wherein is plainely to be seene the good hap which this dumbe man had in suffering in his bodie for if his hurt had layne onely in his soule they would neuer haue brought him to our Sauiour Christ and it might haue so fallen out that he might haue remained for euer in this his miserie so that the torment of his bodie was the occasion whereby he remained sound both in bodie and in soule as commonly those did whom our Sauiour cured The second reason is That there is no Christian can bee supposed to bee so wicked that it being put to his choice to chuse one of these two either to be dumbe deafe and blind or to be one of those blasphemous Iewes who said In Beelzebub eijcit Daemonia In Beelzebub he casteth out Deuills would not rather make choyce of this mans misfortune than of the Iewes hardnesse of heart He brings seuen Diuils worse than himselfe When this foule Fiend enters into a man he makes way for a great many more of his fellowes For the Deuil being rather the Soules Bawd than it's Bridegroome he beares no loue thereunto but God because she is his true Spouse is tender of her and will not suffer the least wind of sinne to blow vpon her but will looke louingly and carefully vnto her But of this we haue treated heretofore And it came to passe while he spake a certaine woman amidst the multitude lifting vp her voyce c. Our Sauiour Christs Sermon did not make the least gap in the hard hearts of the Scribes and Pharisees but it wrought such great admiration in the brest of a certaine woman called Marcella that lifting vp her voyce amidst the Doctours and praising our Sauiour Christ she cried out aloud Blessed is the wombe that bare thee and the paps that gaue thee sucke These Pharisees condemns thee for one that hath made a couenant with Beelzebub but I say that from the verie instant of thy conception thou wast a holy man and that therefore blessed was the wombe that bare thee c. and that the leaprosie of originall sinne did not worke vpon thee as it did vpon all the rest of Mankind And that those paps which thou suckedst being likewise blessed they could not giue milke to a Sinner And because thy conception and thy birth were both holy Gods blessing bee with that mother which conceiued and brought forth such a sonne Saint Augustine saith That it was not onely Marcella that vttered these praises of our Sauiour but that many others also beeing taken with the strangenesse of this miracle fell into an extraordinarie commendation of him But if the Gospell make mention of one only it may be vnderstood that Marcella was the first that sung in that tune and that many others followed on and bore a part therein And this sutes well with that of Saint Luke They glorified him saying A great Prophet is risen vp amongst vs One while confessing him to be God another while the Messias Of this applause and commendation of our Sauiour wee haue two forcible reasons The one That generall good which Christ did here vpon earth and more particularly that which he did to this poore miserable man For to doe good but especially to the Poore is a powerful motiue of praise Confitebor Domino nimisin ore meo in medio multoruÌ laudabo eum qui astitit a dextris pauperis I wil acknowledge God with a loud voice in the middest of many will I praise him who stood at the right hand of the Poore This doth that phrase as Saint Augustine hath noted it inferre of Nimis in ore meo not betweene the teeth nor in some by-corner but in medio Multorum in the middest of the Congregation And therefore saith Eccles. Splendidum in panibus benedicent labia multorum He that succoureth the poore he that slaketh hunger all the World shall ring of his praise and thousands of blessings shall be throwne vpon him All Nations of the earth did euermore celebrate and honour those that were publike benefactors to the Commonwealth and the Citisens thereof by erecting Statues vnto them that there might remain an eternall memorie and immortall fame of their noble actions As Pliny reporteth of Athens Plutarch of Lacedemonia and many Historiographers of Rome Leo the tenth did bring downe the price of salt for the which Rome thought themselues so much bound vnto him that they did set vp his Statue in the Capitoll with a motto that spake thus Optimi liberalissimique Pontificis memoriae But your Kings and Princes now a dayes doe make such a common practise of pilling and polling the
shee bare mee but because she heard my word And this sence is taken out of two places of Saint Augustine The one in his tenth tract vpon Saint Iohn where he saith Mater quam appellas foelicem non inde foelix quia in ea verbum caro factum est sed quia Verba Dei custodit That mother of myne whom thou callest blessed was not therefore blessed because in her the Word was made Flesh but because she layd vp the word of God in her heart The other in his thirtie eight Epistle which he writes to a Gentleman called Letus who being newly conuerted was shrewdly layd at by his mother persuading him all that she possibly could that he should not proceed in this his determination And proouing vnto him That in this cause he ought to denie and hate that mother that had brought him forth according to the flesh and to follow the Church by which he was regenerated borne anew according to the Spirit Amongst many other weightie reasons to mooue him thereunto hee vrgeth this amongst the rest Thy King and thy Emperour Christ saith he had a mother and such a mother as neuer man had the like and being one day busie in preaching which was Heauens businesse they told him That his mother and his brethren were without at the doore expecting that he should come forth vnto them But he stretching out his hand to his Disciples said Quae mater Et qui fratres mei Who is my mother and who my bretheren My mother and my brethren are they who doe the will of my Father as for any other Kindred or bloud I acknowledge none Summing vp saith Saint Augustine in this number etiam ipsam Virginem Mariam euen the Virgin Marie her selfe For the name of Mother is terrestriall temporall and transitorie but that kindred which is contracted by hearing Gods Word is celestiall and euerlasting If this doubt had had it's occasion thus or that the case stood so that this good and holy woman Marcella had not knowne and acknowledged our Sauiour Iesus Christ to be God nor the blessed Virgin to be his mother this âence had then beene verie plaine and no scruple to be made of it for the dignitie of mother should not haue come to a lesser degree of grace than that which the Virgin inioyed The second sence or meaning is That this particle Quin imo is comparatiua comparatiuely spoken or by way of comparison Thou callest my mother blessed for that she is my mother thou sayest well but more blessed is shee in that she heares my Word This sence is likewise taken out of Saint Augustine Libro de sancta Virginitatepunc Where he saith Beatior suit Maria concipiendo âente quam ventre Marie was happier in the conception of her mind than of her wombe And anon after Foelicius gestauit corde quam carâe She bore him more happily in the Spirit than the Flesh. This opinion is followed by Saint Cyprian Iustine Martyr and generally by all the moderne Doctours and this of all other is the plainest and that which doth best open oâr Sauiour Christs intention and purpose First Because the Greeke word which answereth to Quin imo is neither a Negatiue nor an Affirmatiue Secondly because this happinesse beeing granted vnto those who saw and beheld our Sauior Christ with their eyes it is not to be supposed that it should bee denyed to his Mother that had brought him foorth and bred him vp Besides the Virgine said of her selfe All nations shall call me blessed Not only for that aboundance of grace which God had bestowed vpon her but also for that he had inriched her with so many great priuiledges whereof the dignitie of a Mother was not the least Saint Austen indeering the greatnesse thereof saith That the heart could not conceiue it nor the tongue expresse it And Anselmus That next to the greatnesse of the Son there was not any greatnesse either in Heauen or in Earth which was any way comparable to that of the Mother And S. Bernard That by how much the more was her vicinitie with the word by so much the more was her excellencie in Heauen Whence some Schoolemen inferre that this dignitie doth exceed al those other treasures of grace which were to be found in the Virgine Iustine sayth of Olimpia that howbeit she might boast herselfe much of the Kingdome of Troy from whence she was descended from other kingdomes which she might claime from her father her brother and her husband who was Philip King of Macedon yet could she glorie in no one thing more than that she was Mother to Alexander the Great who was Emperor of the world How much more strongly doth this reason hold in the most blessed Virgine Yet notwithstanding all this nothing comparable is the dignitie of a Mother to that of a daughter or a wife And if it had bin left to this our most blessed Virgins choice whether she had rather haue been the Mother of God or his Spouse and best Beloued shee would questionlesse haue rather chosen to haue beene his Beloued And the same is implyed by those seueral imployments of Martha and Mary As the Virgin was a Mother she did Marthas office affoording her breââs to our Sauior Christ wrapping him vp in his swadling clouts breeding him and attending vpon him But as she was a Daughter and a Spouse she did Maries dutie hauing her eare still eyed to his mouth and diligently listening to those heauenly words that proceeded from thence And there arising a quarrell betwixâ these two sisters which of them loued our Sauior best our Sauior soon decided the controuersie when he sayd Mary hath chosen the better part And this is made cleere in the example of the Queene Mother and the Prince that is heire to his Fathers Kingdome The Queene no doubt hath a great part in the King and Kingdome But the Prince more who must one day commaund all King Sâlomon honoured his Mother much and as soone as he had taken possession of the Kingdome he offered his seruice vnto her and that he and all that he had was at her commaund but in conclusion he left that to his sonne Rehoboam Of his ãâã will saith Saint Iames begot he vs with the word of truth that we should be at the ãâã fruits of his creatures Vt Simus initium One Commentator hath it Vt principaâum habeamus that we may haue principalitie The Greeke That wee may bee the Majorasgos The elder sonnes and heires of his Kingdome In the Stockes and Linages of men there are innumerable differences of more and of lesse of higher and lower But that which doth aduance and aduantage vs most is the hearing of Gods word The glorious Doctor Saint Austen sayâh That which passeth amongst Naââons passeth likewise amongst Men. God preferred the Iewes before all other Nations Non fecit taliter ââni nationi c. He had not dealt so with any other
the weakest arme is able to mooue it but beeing brought to the shore hath need of greater strength so sin whilest it floateth on the waters of this life seemeth light vnto vs but being brought to the brinke of death it is verie weightie and it will require a great deale of leisure consideration and grace to land it well and handsomely and to rid our hands of it Of this good sudden death depriueth vs And although it is apparent in Scripture That God doth sometimes permit the Iust to die a sudden death as Origen Saint Gregorie and Athanasius Bishop of Nice affirmeth as in Iobs children on whom the house fell when they were making merrie and in those who died with the fall of the Tower of Siloah who according to our Sauiours testimonie were no such notorious sinners yet commonly this is sent by God as a punishment for their sinnes Mors peccarorum pessima i. esse debet An euill death was made for an euil man And Theodoret expounding what Dauid meant by this word Pessima saith That in the proprietie of the Greeke tongue it is a kind of death like vnto that of Zenacheribs Souldiers who died suddenly And Iob treating of him that tyranniseth ouer the world saith Auferetur Spiritââ oris sui Cajetan renders it Recedet in Spiritu oris sui He shal die before he be sicke without any paine in the middest of his mirth when he is sound and lustie Their life being a continuall pleasure at their death they scarce feele any paine because it is in puncto in an instant Sophonias requireth of them That they will thinke on that day before it come wherein God will scatter them like the dust Esay threatning his People because they had put their trust in the succors of Aegypt saith This iniquitie shall be vnto you as a breach that salleth or a swelling in an high wall whose breaking commeth suddenly in a moment and the breaking thereof shall be like the breaking of a Potters pot and in the breaking thereof there shall not bee found a sheard to take fire out of the hearth or to take water out of the pit And the word Requisita mentioned by the Prophet intimateth a strong wall that is vndermined rusheth downe on the sudden How much their securitie is the more so much the more is their danger because it takes the soldiers vnawares But if this so strong a wal should chance to fall vpon a Pitcheâ of earth it is a cleere case that it would dash it into so many fitters seuerall little pieces that there would not a sheard therof be left for to take vp so much as an handfull of water or to fetch a little fire from our next Neighbours house This effect doth sudden death worke it is a desperat destruction to a sinner And therefore Christ though without sin seeks to shun it that he might teach thee that art a Sinner to auoyd it Secondly our Sauior sought to shun this violent death because his death was reserued for the Crosse as well because it was a kind of long and lingering death as also for diuers other conueniencies which wee haue deliuered elsewhere Passing through the midst of them he went his way Our Sauiour Christ might haue strooke them with blindnesse if he would as the Angell did those of Sodome or haue throwne them downe headlong from the Cliffe but because they complained That he wrought no miracles among them as he had in other places he was willing now at his departure from them to shew them one of his greatest miracles by taking their strength from them hindring the force of their armes and leauing them much astonished and dismayed Though now and then God doth deferre his punishments for that the sinnes of the Wicked are not yet come to their full growth yet we see that he spared not his Angels nor those whom he afterwards drowned in the Floud nor those of Sodome nor of others lesse sinnefull than they nor his owne children of Israell of all that huge number being more in number than the sands of the sea not suffering aboue two to enter into the land of Promise how is it possible that hee should endure the petulancie of this peremptorie people these grumbling Nazarites who in such a rude and vnciuill fashion in such an imperious and commanding voice should presume to say vnto him taking the matter in such deepe dudgeon Fac hic in Patria tua But as when the Romane Cohorts came to take our Sauiour Christ they fell backward on the ground at his Ego sum I am hee which was a fearefull Miracle for no cannon vpon earth nor any thunderbolt from Heauen could haue wrought so powerfull an effect so now passing through the midst of them with a graue and setled pace leauing them troubled angrie amased hee prooued thereby vnto them That he was the Lord and giuer both of life and death c. THE TWENTIETH SERMON VPON THE TVESDAY AFTER THE THIRD SONDAY IN LENT MAT. 18. Si peccauerit in te frater tuus If thy brother shall trespasse against thee c. OVr Sauior Christ instructing him that had offended his brother what he ought to doe giues him this admonition Go vnto thy brother and reconcile thy selfe vnto him and if thou hast offended him aske him forgiuenesse Notifying to the partie offended that he should pardon him that offended if he did intreat it at his hands but if he shall not craue pardon he instructeth Peter in him all the Faithfull What the offended and wronged person ought to doe If thy brother trespasse against thee goe and tell him his fault betweene thee and him c. and if he heare thee thou hast woon a brother but if he will not vouchsafe to heare thee proceed to a second admonition before two or three witnesses and if he will not heare them tell it vnto the Church and if he shall shew himselfe so obstinate that he will not obey the Church let him be vnto thee as a heathen man and a Publican So that our Sauiour Christs desire is That the partie wronged should pardon the partie wronging and reprooue him for it for if it bee ill not to pardon it is as ill not to reprooue For to intreat of a matter so darke and intricate that the Vnderstanidng were to take it's birth from the ordinarie execution of the Law there were not any thing lesse to be vnderstood for there is not any Law lesse practised nor any Decree in Court lesse obserued I desire that God would doe mee that fauour that he did Salomon God giue me a tongue to speake according to my mind the pen of a readie Writer cleerenesse of the case which I am to deliuer true distinction grace knowledge or as Bonauenture stiles it resolutionem in declarando and to iudge worthily of the things that are giuen me For so many are the difficulties the questions and the
multâtude of sinnes And in Leuiticus it is set downe as a Precept belonging to the Law of Nature Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart but thou shalt plainly rebuke thy Neighbour and suffer him not to sinne God hath giuen euerie man a charge concerning hâs Neighbour âs we said before Saint Paul drawes his comparison from the members of the bodie which by the Law of Nature are bound reciprocally to succour one another in case of necessitie And Augustine takes his from the thorne which paining the foot carries after it the eyes eares and hands all the members of the bodie naturally inclining to the repairing of that hurt Another naturall reason which your holy Fathers learned Doctors and great Phylosophers render is That hee that can if he will hinder or put by a hurt that is readie to fall vpon his brother and doth it not is condemned to bee himselfe the hurter and harmer of him Thy poore neighbor is readie to starue and perish through hunger thou beeing able to relieue doost not doe it hee dies thou art his Deaths-man thou art the murtherer of this thy brother Si non panisti âccidisti saith Saint Ambrose Thy brother is sinking readie to be drowned thou mayst saue him by reaching out thy hand vnto him thou deniest him thy helpe it is thou that drownest him Thy Neighbors house is on fire it is in thy power to quench it thou wilt not doe it it is thou that hast burnt his house Tell but a Blasphemer a Drunkard or any other lewd liuer of his faults though neuer so fairely neuer so mild and gently he will begin to swagger with you and aske you Who made you sir a Iustice of Peace meddle with that which you haue to doe withall you take more paines than you haue thankes for your labour But hereunto thou or any man else that is thus charitably minded may make them this answer I haue complyed with myne obligation I am a Christian and am bound iâ charitie and brotherhood to tell you friendly my mind and I can bee but sorie that my councell cannot preuaile with you this I am tyed vnto by the Law of God and of Nature And this position wants no proofes The necessarie circumstances of this precept are many The first is That the sinne which is to be corrected and reprooued by vs bee certaine and well knowne vnto vs and this is prooued out of this word Si pââcauerit If he shall trespasse c. as it is well obserued by Thomas Wee must not find fault vpon a bare suspition or presumption but must haue a good ground for our reproofe and go vpon an assured knowledge To goe about to pull out a sound tooth and with a sharpe inâtrument to open the gummes it cannot chuse but be a great torment vnto him that without iust cause is thus cut and lanced No lesse grieuous and paineful is it to hunt after wickednesse in the house of the Iust or as Salomon saith to be a witnesse against thy Neighbor without a cause Many men are like vnto your Ferrets or your Bloud-hounds they go nosing and hunting after faults in other mens grounds and as Iob saith in another place When there is peace they are iealous of treason Of which kind of men Saint Austeâ saith That prying into other mens faults they doe not looke into their owne And therefore thou oughtest not to be so busie in reprehending what is amisse in thy brother as inquisitiue in correcting thyne owne errours And therefore Saint Bernard giues vs this Item Tam diu quisque sua peccata ignorat quam diu alââna explorat See how long a man is searching into other mens sins so long is he ignorant of his owne This is the condition of ill natured men and such as complaine of the times and of Fortune The lesse fortunate things goe with vs the more suspitious wee be saith Tacitus And this is a Fate that followes base and abiect minds and therefore the Vulgar neuer put a bridle vpon their jealousies In a word this is a hard course that they take and in all sorts of men blame-worthie but most in those that haue most power for albeit by their place and office they haue freer libertie to inquire yet when their wits are thus a wooll-gathering they shamefully vse to erre qualifying euill for good and good for euill And if mens iudgements grounded vpon good probabilities and faire apparances proue many times false and therefore haue this caueat giuen vs by Christ Nolite sâcundum faciem iudicare Iudge not according to the face suspitions will hardly fall out to be true There are some things so notoriously bad that it were foolishnes to think them to be good othersome whom the intention makes to be good or bad but are not so in themselues The Good take these in good part leauing the true iudgement thereof vnto God as Saint Augustine hath noted and the Bad in bad part Mala mens malus animus A good Soule hath good thoughts but a bad Soule bad imaginations idle suspitions and needlesse jealousies wait vpon them Saint Augustine and Saint Hierome are both of opinion That he that suspects ill of others cannot possibly liue well himselfe Dauid desired of God That he would iudge him According to the iudgement of those that loue thy Name and take all things in good part And Saint Iames whispers in thyne eare Wââ art thou that iudgest another man Hee treats there of those that iudge the secret intentions of the heart none but God hauing such iurisdiction ouer it If thy brother fall saith he his sinne is not layd to thy charge and if hee rise againe it is not put to thy reckoning he that now stands may fall and hee that is fallen may rise againe That man from whom we expect least may be a Saint and that man from whom we expect most may be a Sinner for neither is our loue certaine nor our feare secured In Leuiticus God hath commanded That none should serue in his Sanctuarie or presse to offer the bread of his God hauing either too long or too short a nose or a nose that stood awrie Where that nose is taken to be somewhat of the longest which goes nosing and senting after other mens liues and actions and that of the shortest which quickely takes snuffe and frets and fumes at the wagging of a Feather and that to bee crooked which wrests things indifferent and to the worser part And therefore God sayde by Ezechiel That he would cut off the noses and eares of his People and lay his indignation vpon them and deale cruelly with them The second circumstance is That the sinne which wee find fault withall bee grieuous for though light sinnes as Origen hath noted it deserue correction yet we haue not so precise an obligation for the reproouing of them as those that are more heinous In this circumstance sute your
and after the earth-quake came a fire and after the fire came a still and soft voice And it is added in the Text that the Lord was not in the winde nor in the earth-quake nor in the fire but in that still and soft voice Signifying thereby that he had the weapons of the windes of earth-quakes and of fire for to shake ouerthrowe and burne downe to the ground the tallest and strongest towers and walles of his enemies but withall that he was of a sweet nature and that his vengeance was milde and gentle There are some corrections that teare vp the trees by the rootes like a whirle-winde that shake and terrifie the Conscience like an earth-quake and that burne and consume our honours to dust But God is not in them Hee that will correct another sayth Saint Paul must consider what manner of Man himselfe is And that as his brother hath sinned to day so hee may sinne to morrow To day thou findest thy brother guiltie and to morrow it may so fall out that hee may come to bee thy Iudge It is fit sayth Petrus Crysologus that there should bee correction to serue as a bridle to those that are headstrong but withall That as a loose rayne does no good so too hard a hand may doe hurt Lucian sayth That our hart is a white or marke whereat shafts be shot Whereof some are deliuered with that force and strength of the arme that passing quite through they doe it much hurt others againe with so slacke a string and that weakenesse that falling short of the marke they doe no good at all Wee must draw them therefore with that cunning and with so daintie a deliuerie that wee may sticke iust in the white and hit the right marke That Arque obsecra increpa of S. Paul argues a quicke and nimble deliuerie And that of Ouid Precibusque minis regaliter addit is somewhat too Lordly and Commaunding a stile What sayth Ecclesiasticus If thou blow the sparke it shall burne if thou spit vpon it it shall bee quenched and both these come out of the mouth A kind word is as soone giuen as a curst and costs vs but one and the same labour as comming out of one the same mouth But as a hasty brawling kindleth fire and an hasty fighting sheddeth bloud so on the other side mildenesse doth quench malice and deads those coales of choller which are readie to breake foorth into flames of furie and madnesse Sermo mollis sayth Salomon frangit iram A soft answere putteth away wrath but greeuous words stirre vp anger What sayes Iob His friends had giuen him a reprehension as foolish as it was sharpe and bitter Whereunto hee answered How shall the mouth that is distasted eate that which is not seasoned with salt Or what appetite will a sicke and weake stomach haue to an egge or a chicken that is not boyled with salt Yet farre more vnsauoury than either of these is an indiscreet reproofe and words out of season The Seuentie translate it Who can eat bread without salt or suffer imprudent correction And as distast in our meats may arise from too much or too little salt so correction may haue so little salt in it that it may make the Sicke to dislike it and refuse io eat it and on the other side it may haue so much that he will not be able to swallow it What good can hee doe who in his correction doth discouer the passion and hatred of one that is offended the imperiousnesse of a proud spirit the taunting checkes of a rayling tongue and the intemperate ioy of an enuious heart In a word No creature must be toucht with a gentler hand than man saith Seneca The fifth circumstance is That he that hath a sullyed conscience of his owne ought not to be the broome to sweepe another mans so saith S. Ambrose Saint Hierome Saint Chrysostome and Thomas Therefore ô man art thou inexcusable saith Saint Paul for in that thou iudgest another thou condemnest thy selfe It is a wofull case that thou being a Iudge shouldest be found guiltie This the Deuill doth onely whom God stileth his brothers Accuser Thy lips are like Lillies distilling Myrrhe Myrrhe is bitter but preserues from corruption and the Spouse saith praising the lips of her Beloued Although thy words saith she are bitter yet I see that they make for the sauing of my life and the preseruing of mee from deâth In a word they drop from white lips that are whiter than the Lillie Saint Augustine saith That a secret Sinner may reprooue a publique offendour but the cause being principally Gods and he that reprooues him his Minister it must of force be some hindrance vnto him with a leaprous hand to cure another mans leaprousâe or fearing lest God might say vnto him Why doost thou take my Law in thy mouth c. Goe and tell him his fault betweene thee and him alone Thou must not looke that he should come vnto thee of his owne accord for no man will willingly come to bee corrected nor must thou send one to call him vnto thee for beeing not thy Subiect thou shouldest shew little ciuilitie in it nor would I haue thee to write vnto him for Paper being but a dead instrument it may persuade but little and perhaps runne the danger of losing But I would haue thee to go to him in person as the Physiâion to the Sicke and wait a fit time and oportunitie for albeit thy comming vnto him may carrie with it some inconuenience yet thou maist chance to see the gate set wide open vnto thee and to affoord thee free entrance and so giue occasion vnto thee to gaine a Brother Our Sauiour saith of himselfe That âe went to winne those whom he knew wisht not wel vnto him And therefore he likewise saith vnto thee Vade Goe for he that seekes after his enemie and speakes kindly vnto him shewes that there is no impostume of malice remaining in his heart Our Sauiour spake vnto him that gaue him the buffât on the fâce not hauing as Saint Chrysostome hath noted it opened his mouth before though he had many and sundrie occasions giuen him so to doe to the end that the standers by might vnderstand by his mild answer that hee did not beare that iniurie in his bosome to bee reuenged of him hereafter Hee that swallowes an iniurie pocketting it vp for a time putting on the face of dissimulation till he see his opportunitie as Absalon did with Ammon and as Ioab did with Amasa it is a manifest token that they meditated reuenge The mouth of the Wicked swalloweth vp iniquitie The Crocadile without a tongue is the Hierogliphycke of inexorable enmitie Quien calla piedras opanÌa saith the Spaniard Hee that sayes nothing is prouiding a stone to fling at thee Which Prouerbe sutes more properly with a particular iniurie done to a mans owne person but as for those other sinnes that are committed
sonne commit than to rise vp in rebellion against his owne father but hee considering with himselfe That his sonne had done himselfe the greater hurt called out vnto the men of Warre and said vnto them Seruate mihi puerum Absalon Spare my son Absalon and see you doe not slay him And therefore our Sauiour Christ teacheth vs this Lesson If thy brother receiue the greater hurt of the two by the wrong and iniurie that he doth thee doe not goe about to bee reuenged of him but rather take pittie and compassion of him as thou wouldst be grieued for him who thinking to giue thee a wound should put a stoccado vpon himself die in the place Reprooue therefore thy brother and if he shal hearken vnto thee Lucratus es fratrem tuum Thou hast gained thy brother God hath a great desire that thou shouldst win thy brother to thee gain his soule To this purpose he put that Parable of the Sheepeheard that went forth to seeke his lost Sheepe of the woman that swept euerie corner in her house ouer and ouer to looke her lost groat Which are but expressions of that great care which God taketh in seeking after a Sinner and the desire that he hath to reduce him to his obedience To the like end did he propose that other Parable of the prodigall Child whose argument ends in the great ioy wherewith his father welcommed him home after hee had giuen him for lost And heere in this place hee wiâls euerie one of vs by one meanes or other to win our brother first to deale with him by faire meanes if that will not serue the turne then by foule making his fault knowne to the Prelats of the Church So that it seemes that God when hee cannot worke vs for Heauen by faire and gentle persuasions by loue and intreaties then will hee vse blows stripes beats vs thither before him making vs to feele the weight of his heauie hand Hath not God commanded thee That if thou meet with an Oxe that is fallen thou shouldst not passe forward on thy way till thou hast holpe him vp And yet saith Saint Paul Nun est Deo cura de Bobus What doth God care for Oxen Yet if he will that thou relieue a sillie Oxe how much more will he that thou take pittie of a Sinner that is fallen Saint Chrysostome treating at large How that Seruant was condemned by his Master that kept his Talent wrapt vp in a Napkin not putting it out to some good vse or other sayth That there was sufficient cause enough to condemne him that hee would not venture his Talent for his Masters profit and the good of his brethren God so inrich vs with his grace that we may vse our Talent well that when our Master Christ Iesus shall come and call vs to account we may not be found vnprofitable seruants which God grant for his mercies sake THE XXI SERMON VPON THE WEDNESDAY AFTER THE THIRD SONDAY IN LENT MAT. 15. Tunc accesserunt ad eum ab Hyerosolimis Scribae Pharisaei Then came vnto him from Hierusalem the Scribes and Pharisees THis Gospell is an Embassage which the Scribes and Pharisees performed comming from Hierusalem to Gennezaret a Countrie of Galilee where at that time our Sauiour resided But so foolish an Embassage from a Nation so graue and from a commonwealâh so flourishing as that was as Saint Hierome hath noted it was neuer deliuered by any but themselues The Carthusian sayes That these Pharisees were of Zanedrin that supreame Councell which succeeded those seuentie Elders chosen by God for to assist his Seruant Moses in the gouernment of his People And Theophilact saith That the Pharisees were despised throughout all the Cities of that Kingdome but that those of Hierusalem were counted the grauest amongst them more respected than the rest and of all other the proudest and most insolent Who seeing some of our Sauiours Disciples To eat with unwasht hands they made a journey of purpose vnto him The occasion which added wings to their feet the determination which they had in their brests was not that which they here published but the many miracles which our Sauiour wrought in the Land of Galilee for there was not that sicke bodie if he could but come to touch his garmenr but that he was presently made whole And this as Saint Chrysostome hath well obserued was the cause of their comming vnto him Tunc accesserunt Then and not till then did they stirre his fame was now spread abroad and when it had reacht to Hierusalem it grew so great that it strooke the Scribes and Pharisees into such astonishment and stirred vp such enuie in them that desiring to lessen our Sauiours honour cut the wings of his fame a little shorter and disgrace and discredit him in his person they tooke hold of such a foolish and friuolous occasion as the like was neuer heard of As his Disciples washing or not washing their hands picking a quarrell with him and to colour the matter the better they pleaded Custome They came vnto Iesus It is a verie strange thing in my vnderstanding That the Scribes and Pharisees making so little reckoning of that which did import them so much they should now make such a doo about that which did import them so little The rarest and greatest accident that the World euer saw was Christs comming into the World The Iewes did earnestly desire it and beg it so instantly at Gods hands that it was the verie marke and white whereat the sighes and prayers of the Saints did aime and shoot at And when the fame of this his comming was blowne abroad trumpetted farre and neere by the Kings of the East the Sybels and Prophets the diligences of Herod and the death of those innocent Babes the supreame Councell sent some of their Leuites to Iohn Baptist To demand of him What art thou For they standing much vpon their authoritie and greatnes they would not stirre one foot out of doores themselues but heere now they come in person from Hierusalem to Galilee vpon so sleight an occasion as the washing or not washing of the hands making much adoo about a matter of nothing In ordinarie businesses we will trust our seruants sending one this way and another that way but in things that more neerely concerne vs we will take the paines to goe about it our selues But Enuie and Loue are woont sometimes to change hands making Mountaines Mole-hils and Mole-hils Mountaines little much and much little In point of Loue we haue a plaine example thereof in Iacob whom Leahs fruitfulnesse more importing him than Rachaels beautie for Christ came from Iacob by Leah and not by Rachael yet Iacob serued fourteene yeares for Rachael anâ was well contented with it whereas for Leah he would haue thought halfe a yeare too long a time And such againe might haue beene his loue that Leahs bleerenesse of the eyes might haue seemed more pleasing
thy Disciples wash their hands c. Amongst other innumerable differences of the just man and the Sinner foure fit well for our present purpose The first is That the just hath no eyes saue to looke vpon his owne sinnes and the Sinner hath not any saue onely to prie into other mens faults The Aegyptians had an eye and that a strict one too ouer the Children of Israell but so had not the Israelites ouer the Aegyptians And the Booke of Wisedome rendring the reason thereof saith Onely vpon them there fell a heauie night but thy Saints had a verie great light Dauids eye-sight serued him to see the Sheepe that ãâã stolne from his subiect but had neuer an eye to look out to behold his owne robbing of another man both of his wife and his life Our Sauiour Christ said of the Pharisees That they could spie a moat in another mans eyes but not see the beame that was in their owne Dauid though he were in grace and fauour with God yet did his sins so trouble him that he thought no man was so great a Sinner as himselfe Which made him to crie out Peccatum meum contrame est and anon after to come vpon his knees vnto God with Haue mercie vpon mee â God according to thy louing kindnesse and according to the multitude of thy mercies blot out my transgressions Here he embarkes all the mercies of God hee makes a stop and stay of them he arrests them that they may not goe from him hauing so great need of them as he had So must thou and I and all of vs desire beg the like at Gods hand and to thinke with our selues that no mans sinnes in the world are more or greater than ours The second is grounded vpon a certaine kind of language phrase of Scripture which saith That he that feareth God will looke wel vnto his wayes haue an eye to his actions and throughly examine his owne conscience Qui timet Deum conuertetur ad corsuum but he that doth not feare God minds none of all these And of this mind is Petrus Chrysologus treating of the Prodigall Abijâ in Regionem longinquam He went into a farre Countrie This journey of his saith he was farther off in point of his vnderstanding than of place for there is no Region more remote than that which remooues vs from God and makes a Sinner to goe on in the wickednesse of his wayes Saint Paul doth earnestly aduise vs that we should redeeme the time Because the dayes are euill that is so short that they vanish in an instant Iacob stiled a hundred thirtie eight yeares of his life Malos annos Euill yeares for that they ãâã full of trouble and vexation A man that is much imployed and full of businesse his ordinarie phrase is No tengo bora mia I am not myne owne man no not for an houre I am so taken vp with businesse that I am made as it were a slaue and drudge vnto them Salomon called those Euill dayes which were spent in searching into other mens liues in reading Histories and other worldly actions which doe little or nothing at all concerne vs. The Apostle would haue vs to redeeme them Redeeme those thou hast sould and mis-spent for many were with me Thy Angells did guard me And amongst those many that had not an eye vnto their wayes I had alwaies a care to looke vnto my steps The third is That the Sinner lookes vpon the just as on the Attorney that accuseth him the Executioner that torments him the Crosse that grieues afflicts him The Sinner doth behold the Iust with attention and seakes to take his life from him because in looking vpon him he beholds his owne condemnation The Elephant troubles that water which represents his owne foulenesse vnto him And the Ape breaks that glasse wherein he sees his own ilfauoured face A righteous man falling downe before the Wicked is like a troubled Well and a corrupt Spring But the just man lookes vpon a Sinner as vpon a wand that beats the dust out of him as Gods Hangman or the Instrument to execute his will So King Dauid looked vpon Shimei when he cursed him so Gods People vpon Pharaoh and Nebucadnezar so the Prophet on the Lyon which took his life from him on the way Saint Augustine compares the Sinner to a Milstone and a Winepresse the one clenseth the Oyle the other purgeth the Wine But it is not so with the Wicked for they are like dust that are scattered before the face of the wind The Hebrew renders it Like a Measure that leuels out a thing to it's iust bredth and length defends it from colds and heats Saint Augustine expounding that place of Genesis Major seruiet Minori That Esau who was the elder brother should serue Iacob that was the younger askes the question Wherein Esau did serue him being that he was alwayes an enemie vnto him And his answer is That hee did serue him euen in his forsaking of him and his persecuting of him The fourth and last difference is That there being many things worthy commendation and of much vertue and goodnesse in the Iust the Sinner will neither haue an eye to see them nor a tongue to praise them but to find out the least moat or atome of ill he is Eagle-eyed And like vnto the Vulture ouer-flying the pleasant fields and passing by the sweet smelling pastures pitches vpon the blade bone of an Asse or the carkasse of some stinking Carrion or like vnto the Flie who hauing the whole bodie and that a faire one too to light vpon makes choice to fall vpon no other place but some tumour or swelling Those that did accompanie the Spouse enuying her prosperitie did murmure and gybe at her saying That for a Queene shee was somewhat of the blackest Whereunto she answered That indeed she was blacke yet faire withall Aaron and his sister Mirian murmured against Moses Because hee had taken an Aethyopian to wife Is it not a fine thing said they that a Gouernor of so many Soules a Ruler and Commander ouer Gods People should marrie with a Blackamoore The Rule which we are to obserue is matter of Vertue let vs fixe our eys vpon other folkes vertues and turne them aside from those good gifts which are in our selues Aemulamini charissimata meliora but in matter of vice we must do the contrarie c. Why doe not thy Disciples wash their hands The seeing of one doe amisse is many times the condemning of all And this Leaprosie cleaues closest to the Vulgar Saint Augustine saith Thât the state Ecclesiasticall hath more particularly a great vnhappinesse in this with the Common people for though such a woman bee an Adultresse yet for all this other husbands doe not thinke a jot the worse of their owne wiues And though such a mans sonne bee a Theefe they doe not therefore hate their owne children But if a
Gods both bountie and goodnesse This made Esay to crie out Good newes good newes I bring you I haue ioyfull tydings to tell you Fountaines haue gushed forth in the Desart waters haue shewne themselues in the Wildernesse and riuers appeare where there was nothing before but drie land Grace doth vsually follow the steps of Nature and though ordinarily your Brookes and your Riuers keepe themselues within their owne bounds and precincts yet sometimes they leape out of those beds that were purposely made for them and ouerflow those brinkes that bind them in watering those thirstie places that stood in need of their refreshing Iust so stands the case with Grace for although it commonly keeps it's vsuall and ordinarie course yet now and then it swells aboue it's chanels and riseth out of it's bed making the wildernes a poole of waters the barrainest grounds most fruitfull and the greatest Sinners the greatest Saints And heere some one perhaps will say I will wait for the like comming of Gods mercie but let me tell him whosoeuer he be That this is not a going for water to the Fountaine but that the Fountaine should bee brought home vnto vs. It is sufficient that wee haue so franke and free a God that will now then conferre these his great fauours vpon vs without our seeking of them But what will not he doe for thee if thou shalt seeke him with thy whole heart Such a one our Sauior compares to that Merchant which sought after pretious pearles of inestimable value Wherein he notifieth vnto vs that extraordinarie diligence wherewith we are to seeke after him and this is that Via Regia or the Kings Highway in which we must walke if we mean to find him and this was the track that was troad in by all the Saints of Heauen Hi sunt qui venerunt ex magna tribulatione c. These are they which came out of great tribulation c. Others our Sauiour compareth to hidden Treasure which is found by chance and seldome hapneth and this it was this womans good lucke to light vpon which was reuealed to some few but from thousands of others hidden and concealed c. He came into a Citie of Samaria called Sycar The Saints doe render two reasons of this journey Saint Cyril saith That newes was brought vnto the Pharisees That Christ had more Disciples than Iohn Baptist though Christ himselfe did noâ baptise which raised such an inraged enuie in the hearts of them that it comming to our Sauiours knowledge he left Iudea and went for Galilee Being inforced to passe through the midst of Samaria Wherein he gaue to the Ministers of the Gospell a twofold Lecture The one That they ought sometimes to preferre sufferance before boldnesse and rather to dissemble some feare than to show themselues too forward and to flye from the sword of anger than to oppose themselues against the edge thereof And therefore it is sayd If ye bee persecuted in one Citie flye into another Many account it a great point of valour and that they prooue themselues to bee stout men in standing stiffely to their Cause and maintaining it with an vndaunted resolution but this is rather Weakenesse than Fortitude For in some occasions the greatest Victorie is to suffer himselfe to be vanquished The other and let this be the second occasion of our Sauiours iournie That the Minister of Gods word who is to loue all to desire all should bee saued and that all should haue the hearing of the Gospell not to sow all the seed of Gods word in populous Cities Clemens Alexandrinus compareth our Sauior to the Sunne which inlightneth the World expelleth Darkenesse augmenteth Plants fomenteth Flowers breeds Gold in the veines of the Earth Pearles in the shells of the Sea inricheth and beautifieth all Creatures and leaues no corner of the earth which hee doth not visite and comfort with the beames of his light and splendor The Pharisees murmuring that our Sauiour Christ cured the sicke on the Saboth he said vnto them My Father worketh hitherto and I worke It is said in Genesis He rested from all his worke which he had made True it is that God had then put an end to all the workes of his Power but not to all the workes of his Loue. For in doing good deedes the three diuine persons neuer take any rest And as his loue in it selfe is perpetuall so doth it still continue towards his Creatures Dionisius stileth Loue Mobile incessabile âeruens superferuens He might likewise haue termed it Vniuersale for there is not that worme whereunto it 's vertue doth not extend it selfe In a word As that Husbandman in the Gospell did not leaue out any part of the land but did sow the same all ouer so our Sauior Christ did plough that holy Land which had the happines to haue him set his feet thereon and did sow in it the seed of his Word and by his Apostles did afterwards spred the same abroad through all the World and here now fals himselfe a worke at Sichar And there was Iacobs well That the memorie of dead friends should be so powerfull with God as to make him affoord fauours to the liuing it is much But that the places where his friends liued should worke this effect vpon him it is more than much But the Wel of Iacob teacheth vs this truth the good fortune that this woman had to find our Sauiour sitting there where Abraham had erected an Altar vnto God where he had receiued those great promises for his posteritie where Iacob digg'd that Well which was a great reliefe to that Citie God treating of annointing Dauid King willed it to bee done in Hebron And why there more than in any other place Abulansis renders this reason That that people did not deserue so good a King as Dauid but a Tyrant like his predecessors And because in Hebron Adam Abraham Isaac and Iacob were there interred he would that it should be in Hebron that the place might supply that defect which was wanting in the peoples desert Our Sauior Christ being born in Bethlem the Angells came to tell the tidings thereof to the Sheapheards And why to the Sheapheards What aduantage haue they of Grace Nature or Fortune aboue other men Saint Ierome sayth That the antient Patriarchs had fed their flockes in those fields and that in this as likewise in Rachels beeing buried there consisted this their happinesse So that not onely the Saints of God but those places wherein they liued or dyed will be a meanes for thee to meet with God As in the place where sinners meet as in your Conuenticles of Heretickes and Witches the Deuill comes amongst them offering them imaginarie fountaines of delights So in holy places thou shalt presently meet with God who will offer thee fountaines of liuing waters c. Tertullian treating of the Amphitheaters where men went in to kill one another sayd Tot daemones quot ãâã
vnto thee All these bals of wilde fire were no more than thy hardnesse of heart had neede of But those sinnes of this Samaritan and those of this Adulteresse were sinnes of weakenesse and these must be discreetly dealt withall by the soules Phisitions There are some that we must preach nothing vnto but thunder death hell and damnation Others grace and mercie and win them to amendment of life by affectionating them to the delights of Heauen Considering thy selfe least thou be also tempted For if thou bee sharpe tart and bitter against weake consciences God may chance to suffer thee to fall into the like frailties Iudge charitably of thy neighbour and censure him by thy selfe and seeke rather to comfort than cast downe a soule c. Lord giue me of this water How powerfull a thing is priuate interest This woman found excuses not to giue but none not to aske The Antients did paint forth Interest in Mercurie the god of Wisedome with a bunch of keyes in his hand for the couetous man opens another mans brest for to receiue thence and shuts his owne that he may not giue and for both these things he is verie prudent and wise The Pharisees had many reasons and places of Scripture for to persuade themselues that Iohn Baptist was not their Messias to wit for that hee was of the Tribe of Leui that he wrought no miracles that hee liued in the wildernesse and remooued from the conuersation of men contrarie to that prophecie of Baruc Cum hominibus conuersatus est He dwelt among men The only thing that did speake for him was That he was a holy man and a Saint of God and as Saint Chrysostome hath noted it this one reason they pretended should preuaile against al the rest because it was in fauour of their owne particular interest And it is a strange case that the holynesse of Saint Iohn should bee sufficient to make them to conceiue that he was the Messias but not sufficient to make them doe that which he commanded them Voca virum tuum Call thy husband Theophilact gathers this note from hence That Christs willing her to call her husband was to aduise vs that a wife is not to craue or receiue any thing no not so much as a pot of water without the leaue of her husband and by order from him being so made one flesh and so one spirit by marriage that they are not to be seperated Malachie treating of a married wife saith Nonne residuum spiriâââ eius est Is she not the remainder of his breath Whither the allusion bee made to the formation of Adam as Saint Chrysostome hath obserued for that with the same respiration wherewith God had created the soule in Adam hee likewise created that of Eue or whither it haue relation to the husband for that the selfe same spirit which giues life vnto him is to giue the same likewise to his wife Saint Augustine in a mysticall kind of meaning vnderstands by the man the vnderstanding but the plainer truer meaning is That our Sauior in willing her to call her husband would therby giue her occasion to confesse her fault not to dismerit the mercie that was offered vnto her for to draw from a womans brest such immodest and dishonest weakenesses will require a great deale of dexteritie and cunning The seruant that ought ten thousand talents presently confessed the debt and the King forgaue it him Inconfessione debiti solutionem inuenit His confession was his solution so saith Saint Chrysostome But he was a man and his fault lesse foule but for an old woman to lie at rack and manger with her Louer in these her elder yeres will aske much labour and no lesse skill to bring her to confession Obstetricante manu eius eductus est coluber tortuosus To take the subtill winding Snake out of mans bosome we had need of Gods helping hand that 's the Midwife that must doe it For to sinne saith Saint Chrysostome the Deuill putteth great confidence into the brest of a sinner but to confesse the same he infuseth far greater shame so that dishonestie doth not onely disjoyne vs from God but remooues vs like the Prodigall sonne a great wayes off from him in regionem longinquam into a farre Countrie God hath giuen vs so noble and so gentleman-like a nature saith Saint Hierome that Sinne doth make vs melancholly and sad but Vertue cheerefull merrie And from hence saith Saint Augustine arise those remorcements of conscience those inward stings of the soule which like the flies of Aegypt disquiet a Sinner Our Sauiour Christ therefore did here make mention of her husband Como mentado la soga en casa del a horcado as if one should talk of a halter in the house of one that hath bin hang'd to the end that her sinne might trouble her conscience worke some remorce in her and make her to confesse the foulenesse thereof to the intent that by this meanes she might come to tast of the liuing water Thou hast had fiue husbands and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband S. Chrysostom saith That not any one of these was her husband some modern authors follow this his opinion And this may be grounded vpon that which Saint Hierome hath in an Epistle of his to Rusticus Post sex viros inuenit Dominum After six husbands she found the Lord. Irenaeus saith That all saue the first were Adulterers But these seuerall sences suit not with this Text. Athanasius saith That they had a Law in Samaria that they might not marrie aboue fiue times and that the incontinencie of this woman was so great that hauing buried fiue husbands she tooke a friend into her house to whom Saint Hierome adding those fiue which had beene her husbands truly and indeed said Post sex viros After six husbands And though these were not Adulterers yet is it sufficient proofe that Sensualitie is a brackish kind of water which causeth more thirst and for that Woman is an impatient creature and much subiect to long after this that other thing Ecclesiasticus stiles her Multiââla If she be thirstie and one cannot satisfie the same she will solicite sixe nay sixtie to allay this her thirst And therefore Saint Hieroâe equalls viduall continencie with virginitie in regard of those her forepassed pleasures for like the Phoenix she reuiues againe by kindling the fire with the wings of her owne proper thoughts and therefore in that respect preferres chast widdowhood before Virginitie For in euerie kind of vice one sin calls vpon another but it is most seene in these two to wit sensualitie and heresie And this peraduenture is the reason why the Scripture commonly calleth Idolatrie Fornication Saint Ambrose treating of ãâ¦ã in lawes burning fits of her Feauer saith Forâasse in typâ mulierâ illiuâ ãâ¦ã languebat varijs criminum febribus Peraduenture in the figure of that ãâ¦ã flesh languisheth vnder the Feaâers of diuers
other the conuerted were but few but in the Resurrection they were without number as it appeareth out of the Acts. Our Sauior Christs answer was somewhat of the darkest to their clouded vnderstanding And albeit they drew from thence a different sense and contrarie meaning yet might it serue as a signe vnto them that hee was able to doe that which he did And they that would deny that he could destroy the Temple and build it vp againe in three dayes which was but a materiall Temple would more stifly denie that he could dye and rise againe the third day by his owne vertue and power Saint Matthew accuseth these men to be false witnesses Hic dixit which was the Iewes accusation Possum destruere Templum Dei. First because they did wrest the sence and true meaning of our Sauiour Secondly because they did alter and change the words Thirdly because their proceeding against him was malicious Whence I may reade this lesson to your Lawyers your Registers and your Scriueners That one Tilde or Tittle may condemne them of falshood When our Sauiour Christ said of Saint Iohn Si cum volo manere donec veniam quid hoc ad te If I will that he tarry till I come when Peter was so inquisitiue of him what should become of the Disciple whom he loued and leaned in his bosome what is it to thee Doe thou follow mee Then went this word streight amongst the brethren That this Disciple should not dye But the Euangelist did correct this their mistake For Iesus said not to him He shall not dye But if I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee Iob said Ye shall not find iniquitie in my tongue But Zophar one of his friends laid it to his charge Dixisti enim Purus est sermo mâââ mundus sum in conspectu tuo For thou hast said My doctrine is pure and I am cleane in thine eyes And albeit it may seeme that he charged him herewith vpon his owne confession yet Saint Gregory giues it for a calumnie and slander because Zophar had altered and changed his words God make vs so pure both in Doctrine and life that when this Temple of our bodies shall be destroyed it may by the mercie of our Sauior Iesus Christ be raised againe THE XXVII SERMON VPON THE TVESDAY AFTER THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT IOHN 7.14 Iam die festo mediante c. Now when the Feast was halfe done Iesus went vp into the Temple and taught c. SEuen continued dayes one after another the Feast of the Tabernacles was celebrated in the chiefe citie Ierusalem which was one of the three principall Passeouers of the Iewes solemnising the same in remembrance of that benefit which God did to that People in leading them fortie yeares through the Desart not hauing any house wherein to dwell and yet not wanting tents or booths wherein to lodge themselues To this Feast came all of all sorts from all parts of the land of Promise building themselues Cabbins in the fields Iosephus saith That they vsed Tents from whence they went to the Temple and performed their Offerings for their families according to their abilitie Christ came on the Tuesday to this Solemnitie of this opinion is Saint Augustine though some others are of the mind that he came thither at the verie beginning of the Feast though he did not make himselfe knowne till he saw a more conuenient time He preached to the People and so deepe was his Doctrine that the Iewes wondring thereat said one to another Quomodo hic literas scit cum non ded scerit How knoweth this man the Scriptures seeing that he neuer learned And howbeit this their voyce of admiration was secret and whispered in the eare from one to another yet Christ made answer thereunto in publique shewing therein the pledges and tokens of his Diuinitie saying openly vnto them My Doctrine is not myne but his that sent me He that shall truly endeauour to doe his will shall know it is his but hee that preacheth his owne proper doctrine seeks after his owne honour and commendation but he that preacheth Gods Doctrine can neither lie nor offend therein The Iewes did lay a double slander vpon him The one Seducit turbas He seduceth the People The other Sabbathum non custodit He keepes not the Sabboth But this his answer giues a blur to them both Moses saith hee gaue you a Law and yet none of you keepeth the Law Why go yee then about to kill me For euer since that hee cured him that lay so long at the Fish-poole they sought after his life In a word this muttering and whispering of theirs tended onely to the apprehending of him but not any one of them durââây hands vpon him because his houre was not yet come and many of the People beeing woon by his miracles and his doctrine beleeued in him Iesus went vp into the Temple and taught c. One of the greatest benefits which the world receiued by our Sauiours comming was That hee reading in Heauens Chaire to so wise and discreet a companie who by onely reading in the booke of his Essence were instructed in all kind of truth did not for all this disdaine to become a Schoolemaster to little children here vpon earth accommodating the profoundnesse of his deep learning to our rude and weake capacity accomplishing that of Saint Iohn Erunt omnes docibiles Dei They shall be all taught of God And this may be verified of those Angells and blessed Saints that are in Heauen and of those faithfull ones that are vpon earth for the verie selfe same truths he taught them in the Temple of his glorie which he did these other in his Church only differenced in this That they see them and we beleeue them Many Doctors haue sate and read in their Chaire here vpon earth but because they dranke not of the water of his Doctrine in this Schoole but in the duâtie puddles of lies and falshoods they were as Iob saith The farmers of lies and the followers of peruerse opinions And as there are Artisans for Idols which carue them guild them and adore them so are there Artisans of lies and false opinions which frame them set them forth with painted eloquence and adore them as if they should guide them to the end of their happinesse He taught The Euangelist doth not here set downe the Theame of his Sermon but in the Chapter of Wisedome Salomon saith Shee teacheth sobernesse and prudence righteousnes strength which are the most profitable things that men can haue in this life Two things the Scripture doth euery foot repeat of this celestiall Doctor The one The profitablenesse of his Doctrine Ego Dominus doceâs vtilia so saith Esay I am the Lord thy God which teach thee to profit and lead thee by the way that thou shouldst goe And Saint Iohn saith Verba quae loquor spiritus
the Chronicles deliuereth the same vnto vs and of Adam the Schoolemen do affirme That he could hardly haue giuen all things their proper names as Saint Chrysostome hath obserued it if God had not infused that knowledge into him to call them after that fitting and conuenient manner And this knowledge was communicated to Christ euen from the verie instant of his conception by meanes whereof hee saw all things in their proper species besides that blessed knowledge whereby he saw them in God as in a glasse Of this infused knowledge Saint Iohn saith God gaue not the spirit by measure vnto him but it was without limitation for hee that is sonne and heire to his father is not to be stinted as those that are seruants And therefore it is said The Spirit of the Lord shall rest vpon him the spirit of wisedome and vnderstanding the spirit of councell and might the spirit of knowledge c. This infused knowledge was setled in others by fits not in all times all places nor so generally in all things as in our Sauiour Christ from whom it sprouted as water from a Fountaine That fountaine of the Rocke strucke by the Rod of Moses it had beene a foule sinne in the Israelites to haue searched into the veins of Nature whence these waters gushed out and not to thinke on Gods grace from whence this fauour flowed And no lesse absurde was it in the Iewes to seeke in the Schooles and Vniuersities after those veines of liuing water of that diuine learning of our Sauiour Christ which was that true rocke and not to direct their eyes towards God who is the true giuer of knowledge Lastly It was a foule fault in them to thinke that God is tied to humane meanes knowing quod Deus scientiarum Dominus est That God is the Lord of sciences and that it was the Holy-Ghost that taught and instruucted those the Prophets taking one from following the heards of Kyne Oxen and another from keeping of Sheepe Non sum Phopheta saith Amos of himselfe I am not a Prophet nor the sonne of a Prophet but a Heardsman of Tekoah And of Dauid it is said That he tooke him from the Sheepefold following the Ewes with young He indewed Daniel being a child with wisedome and Ioseph with vnderstanding to declare King Pharaohs dreame Nor was it needfull for him to draw these men out of the Schooles of Athens nor to take them from forth the Vniuersities of Greece c. As soone as euer our Lord God had discouered to the glorious Apostle Saint Paul the beames of his light he presently departed to Arabia and to Damascus to preach the Gospell hee might haue gone first to Hierusalem to take acquaintance of those other Apostles of more antient standing and to conferre with them what he should preach but this did not seeme vnto him a conuenient meanes to credit his Doctrine Nec veni Hierosolimam ad Antecessores meos to the end that the Gentiles might not presume that this his Doctrine was of the earth and not of Heauen as afterwards he told the Galathians The Gospell which was preached by me is not afterman neither did I receiue it of man neither was I taught it but by the reuelation of Iesus Christ. And the Ephesians What I receiued from the Lord I deliuered vnto you But because the Iews did surpasse all the world in passion and malice they did attribute all to the Deuill whom the Gentiles had made their god My Doctrine is not myne c. The Commentators make three expositions vpon this place My Doctrine is not myne but I haue receiued it from my father The Doctrine of the Father and of the Sonne as he is God is one and the same as is their essence nor is there any other difference more than that he hath receiued it from the Father but as he is man it is in it selfe diuers as is their nature because it is an accident and an infused habit though the truth thereof in both is one and the same Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine expound this saying of our Sauior as he is man and that this Doctrine of his was not his but of his father that sent him abroad to preach and publish it to the World And the same Saint Augustine in some other places deliuereth it of Christ as he was God but affirmeth in the end That it may be interpreted either way Saint Cyril Saint Chrysostome declare this of Christ as he is God but which way soeuer you take either sence doth signifie That Christ is the Sonne of God The second Exposition is My Doctrine is not myne that is It is not onely myne but his that sent me And this sence and meaning is founded vpon many places of Scripture wherein this Negatiue Non is the same with Non solum Not onely As for example It is not yee that speake but the spirit of the father which speaketh in you i. Not you alone but the spirit of the Father Againe Doe not thinke that I alone will accuse you to the Father there is another also that accuseth you euen Moses in whom yee trust because yee beleeue not that which he wrote of mee that is Hee doth not only beleeue in me Thirdly He that beleeueth in me doth not beleeue in me but in him that sent me In the fourth place Whosoeuer shall receiue me receiueth not me but him that sent me That is Not onely me Lastly I laboured more aboundantly than them all yet not I but the grace of Godwhich was with me The third It is not myne nor did I inuent it nor is it the Doctrine of men but of God Many Philosophers haue out of an ouerweening conceit gon a wandring and inuented new sects and strange Doctrines that they might haue the honour to be accounted authours of nouelties answerable to that which God said of certaine false Prophets They speake a vision of their owne heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord Woe vnto the foolish Prophets that follow their own spirit and haue seene nothing And it is Antichrist that shall be called Pater errorum The father of errors Our Sauiour Christ teacheth vs here two things The one That God is the Fountaine of Wisedome and that as the Earth cannot yeeld it's fruit without water from Heauen so the heart of man cannot affoord any fruit without the Doctrine of God Concrescat vt plunia doctrina mea flâat vt ros eloquium meum The Husband in the Canticles was willing to insinuate as much when he compared the brests of his Spouse to two little Kids Duo vbera tua sicut duo hinnuli Caprae Thy two brests are like two young Kids that are twins which feed among the Lillies pouring forth in due season their milke vnto vs in a plentifull manner Some Commentators vnderstand by these two brests the two Testaments which like two brests spring aboundantly communicating
them That the one flyes like an arrow out of a bow and cuts the waues with a swift wing and that the other is a slugge and sayles very slowly And therefore of the way of a Ship in the sea and of a young man running on in a wanton course whereunto may be added the vncertaintie of the day of our death Salomon saith That they were things too wonderfull for him and past his finding out Efferebatur He was carryed out The word Efferebatur is worthy our consideration it being a plot and deuise of the diuell to carry the dead out of their Cities to bee buried for to blot the memory of the dead out of the minds of the liuing In the remembrance of death the Saints of God found these two great benefits The one Amendment of life The other Happinesse in death Touching the former it is by one common consent agreed vpon by the Fathers That the perfection of our life doth consist in the continuall meditation of death Plato called Philosophie Mortis meditationem A meditation of death affirming That the whole lesson of our life was to learne to dye The like saith Gregory Nazianzene Many Saints and Doctors haue demurr'd vpon this point In that God should deferre till the day of iudgement the reward of the body this may seeme an inequalitie to some but there is none at all in it For the dust and ashes of the body doe perswade and preach vnto vs the contempt of the world Asahel beeing slaine by Abner lying dead on the ground as many as came to the place where Asahel fell and dyed stood still as men amased This is that valiant Captaine this that vndoubted Souldier There is nothing that doth so quel the courage of Man and daunt his spirits as death it is natures terrour Those Spies that were sent out to discouer the Land of Promise were strucken into a great feare and amasement at the sight of those huge and monstrous Gyants In comparison of whom said they we seemed as Grashoppers Dreading that they were able to deuoure them aliue and to swallow them downe whole And therefore made this false relation at their return The land through which we haue gone to search it is a land that eateth vp the Inhabitants thereof but the people that raised this euill reporr died by a Plague More truly may it be said of Death That hee deuoureth the Inhabitants of the earth this is he that tameth the fiercest Gyants That dreame of Nabucadonezars which might haue beene powerfull receiuing it by reuelation to make him abate his pride and lay aside his arrogancie the Deuill presently blotted these good thoughts out of his remembrance The like course doth the Deuil now take with vs. He doth not go about to persuade vs as he did our father Adam that we are immortall But in two things he goes beyond vs and is too cunning for vs. The one That our death shall be delayed God saith Mors non tardat Death lingers not The Deuill sayes Tardat It lingers Moram faciet It loyters My Lord will delay his comming said the seruant in the Gospell But this feined supposition was his certaine perdition Ezechiel did prophecie the ruine of Ierusalem and the death and destruction of her Citisens telling them their desolation was neere at hand There shall none of my wordes be prolonged but the word which I haue spoken shall be done saith the Lord God But the Deuill did otherwise persuade with them making them to say The vision that hee seeth is for many dayes to come And hee prophecieth of the times that are farre off The wanton woman in the Prouerbes which inuited the yong man to her bed and boord sought to intice him by this meanes The good man is not at home hee is gone a long journey Therefore let vs take our fill of loue c. From this vaine hope of life ariseth that our greedinesse and couetousnesse to inioy and possesse the goods of this life And a little beeing more than enough for him yet it seemeth vnto man much cannot suffice him And it is an euill thought in man and much to be pittied that a man should afflict himselfe for that which neither hee himselfe nor all his posteritie shall liue to enioy O foolish man doost thou thinke thou shalt returne to liue againe in those goodly houses that thou hast built and to reinioy those pleasant gardens and orchards that thou hast planted No But mayst rather say to thy selfe These my eyes shall neuer see them more Why then so much carke and care for three dayes or thereabouts The Romans would not build a temple to Death nor to Pouertie nor Hunger judging them to bee inexorable gods But more inexorable is Death for man neuer returnes againe from Death to Life And therefore the Antients painted Death with the Tallons of a Griffine Saint Luke painting foorth the vigiles of the day of Iudgement and the anguish and agonie of the World he saith That many shall waxe fearefull and trouble their heads to see and thinke on those things Which shall befall the whole World Pondering in that place that they shall not bee sensible of their owne proper danger nor the aduenture wherin they stand of their saluation or condemnation yet cease not to afflict themselues with the losse of the World and that the world shall be consumed and be no more But ô thou foolish man if thou must dye return thither no more what is the world to thee when thou art at an end the World is ended with thee And if thou beest not to inioy it any more what is it to thee if God doe vtterly destroy it And all these euils arise from the forgetfulnesse of Death Hee liues secure from Danger that thinkes vpon the preuenting of Danger Saint Chrysostome expounding that place of Saint Luke He that will follow me must take vp his Crosse dayly and so come after mee Signifying that what our Sauiour pretended was That we should alwayes haue our death before our eyes I dye dayly saith the blessed Apostle Saint Paul My imagination workes that dayly vpon me which when my time is come Death shall effect There is no difficultie that is runne through at the first dash and there is not any difficultie so hard to passe through as Death A Shooe-maker that he may not loose the least peece of his leather or make any wast of it casts about how he may best cut it out to profit tries it first by some paper patterne c. Plutarch reporteth of Iulius Caesar that he beeing demaunded which was the best kind of Death Answered That which is sudden and vnlooked for Iulian the Emperour dying of a mortall wound gaue thankes vnto the gods that they did not take him out of this life tormenting him with some prolix and tedious sickenesse but by a hastie and speedie death And for that they doe not
beleeue the immortalitie of the soule they hold a sudden death a kind of happinesse but a Christian who confesseth that there is a iudgement after death desireth a more lingring and leisurely kind of dying for to preuent future danger both of soule and bodie In Leuiticuâ God commanded That they should not offer any câeature vnto him which did not chew the cud or which had not a clouen hoofe And he therefore ioyned these two things together for to swallow the meat downe whole is verie dangerous for the health and the foot not cloâen verie apt to slip and slide and in a mysticall kind of sence is as much as if he should haue said That he that shall swallow down so fearefull dangerous a thing as Death without chewing meditating thereon shall doubtlesse slide if not take a fall as low as Hell The onely sonne of his mother In the order of conueniencie it seemeth fitter that the old mother should haue died than the young sonne But as there is nothing more certaine than death so is there nothing more vncertaine than the time of our death the young Bird as soone falls into the snare as the old one and your greater Fish as soone taken with the hooke as your lesser Frie. If the Wicked turne not God will whet his sword bend his Bow and prepare for him the instruments of death and ordaine his Arrowes against them For old men that stand vpon the graues brinke death hath a Sythe to cut them downe for young men that stand farther off he hath his Bow and his Arrowes Saint Augustine saith That God taketh away the Good before their time that they may not receiue hurt from the Bad and the Bad because they should not doe hurt to the Good The onely sonne of his mother Not that he was her onely sonne but her best beloued sonne Salomon stiles himselfe Vnigenitum matris suae His mothers onely begotten sonne not that he was the onely sonne of Bershabe as it appeareth in the first of Chronicles but because he was so deerely beloued of his mother as if he had beene her only sonne he was his mothers darling her best beloued the light of her eyes and her hearts comfort she cherished him made much of him would not let him want any thing yet all this care and prouidence of hers could not shield him from death There is a man in the Citie that is of a strong and able bodie and abounding in all worldly happinesse There is another saith Iob that is weake hungerstarued and his wealth wasted and consumed both these death sets vpon and layes them in the graue He exemplifies in the King and the Gyant for the rest he makes no more reckoning of them than of so manie little Birds whom the least fillip striketh dead but he sets vpon a King like a Lyon a poore man hath many meanes to hasten his death but Kings seldome die of hunger of penurie of heats or of colds c. And a Gyant seemes to be a perdurable and immortall Tower of flesh but in the end both Kings and Gyants fall by the hand of Death And since that Death did dare to set vpon the Sonne of God and his blessed mother let neither High nor Low Rich nor Poore hope to find any fauour at Deaths hands Ioshuah did stop the Sunne in his course Moses the waters of the red Sea Ioseph did prophecie of things to come and many of Gods Saints wrought great Myracles but there is no myracle to be wrought against Death Ieremie tells vs of certain Serpents that cannot be charmed charm the charmer neuer so wisely of this nature is Death Ecclesiasticus introduceth a dead man who speaketh thus by way of aduice to the Liuing Memento judicij mei sic enim erit tuum Heri mihi hodie tibi That man was neuer yet borne nor shall be hereafter that shal not see death or escape this heauie iudgement Salomon commanded the child to be diuided in the middle about whom the two mothers did contend and that sentence which he did not then execute shall bee executed vpon all liuing flesh for all men beeing in regard of the bodie sonnes of the Earth and in regard of the soule the children of Heauen euerie one receiues this sentence from the Iudge at his death Let the earth returne to the earth from whence it came and the Spirit to God who gaue it life She was a Widow woman The word Erat She was carrieth with it a kind of emphasis she was a sorrowfull and forelorne Widow A Widow ought to bee a rule and patterne of perfection to all other women shee should bee the glasse wherein they should see their faults and what is amisse in them In a word shee was a woman irreprehensible and without blame Nor according to Saint Paul hath the Virgin or the Wife that tie and obligation vpon them as shee hath The one because her small experience in the deceits and vanities of the world may excuse her in many things the other the charge and care that necessarily attends Wedlocke When Absalon entred into the wiues and Concubines of his father the King gaue command they should bee shut vp like so many Recluses because they had opened the doore vnto him as if the King had beene dead And Widowes are to liue so seperated and seuered from the world as if they liued not in it Isiodore expoundeth the Spanish word Viuda which signifies a Widow to be quaâi vidua diuided from her husband as the Vine from the Elme which was it's prop and stay which being taken away the Vine lieth leuell with the ground and without any comfort The Hebrew deriueth the name of Widow from a certain word which signifieth both bound dumbe now to be bound and dumbe are the conditions and properties of him that is dead who is neither able to mooue nor speake So that the vulgar Translation calls a Widow Sterilem barren and vnfruitfull as it is in Iob and in Esay Another letter stiles her Eradicatam pluckt vp by the Roots as a tree that is quite rooted vp that it may neuer grow nor waxe greene againe The smell of thy garments is like the smell of Frankincense They must not smell of Amber nor of Ciuet but of Frankinsense which they offer vp in Incense for a widdow ought to lead the remnant of her dayes so neere vnto her husbands Tombe that her garments should sauour of that incensorie perfume Of such Widowes as these God hath that especiall care that none shall doe them any wrong for the teares that drop downe from their cheekes ascend as high as Heauen And as the vapours that are exhaled from the earth come downe againe in lightning and thunder and terrible tempests so prooue the Widowes teares to those that shall vniustly cause them to weep and draw those watred drops from their eyes Heliodorus pretended to rob the Temple of Ierusalem
fro with it's vnruly appetites is al one Et vita inter Effoeminatos Another Letter hath it Scortatores The connexion is good for Youth runnes it selfe quickely vpon the Rockes of death through it's sensualities and lewdnesse of life There are two daughters of the Horse-leech which still crie Giue giue And the Wiseman pointing them forth vnto vs saith The one is Infernus The other Os Vuluae The Graue the one and Lust the other And the Wiseman did linke these two together with a great deale of conueniencie and fittingnesse for if Lust bee neuer satisfied the Graue lesse This truth is likewise made good forasmuch as the Scripture stileth Sinne Death If I doe this I must die the death So said Susanna to the Iudges that made vnlawfull and dishonest loue vnto her And Cain seeing himselfe charged with fratricide at that verie instant he gaue himselfe for a dead man Whosoeuer shall meet me will kill me Youth then beeing a house whereinto the raine doth drip so fast and at so many places it is no meruaile that life should cease and soone decay It is prouerbially said Loue is as strong as Death And as Loue doth vsually set vpon Youngmen so doth Death and where Loue striketh Youth Death may spare his Dart. The Antients painted a Youngman starke naked his eyes with a Vaile or Bend before them his right hand bound behind him and his left left at libertie and Time followiââ him close at the heeles and euer and anon pulling a thred out of the Vaile Hee was drawne naked to shew with what little secrecie hee had vsed his delights and pleasures with his right hand bound behind him to expresse that he did not doe any thing aright his left free and at libertie signifying that he did all things aukwardly and vntowardly he was portrayed blind because he doth not see his owne follies but Time goes opening his eyes by little and little day by day brings him to the true knowledge of his errors And he that was dead sate vp and began to speake The Dead presently obeyed the voyce of the Liuing And hee sate vp God cryeth out aloud to those that are dead in their Soules yet doe they not obey his voyce Arise thou that sleepest c. Hee began to giue thankes vnto him that had done him this so great a fauour Thou hast deliuered mee ô Lord from the dooâes of death and therefore I will celebrate thy prayses and magnifie thy name in the Gates amiddest the Daughters of Syon It is Saint Chrysostomes note That the word Doores is put here in the plurall number because many are the dangers out of which God deliuereth a sinner That all may speake of thy praise and talke of thy wondrous workes And there came a feare vpon all It may seeme to some That the word Loue would better haue become this place and beene fitter for this present purpose and occasion All a man would thinke should rather haue expressed their loues vnto him sung forth his prayses and offered their seruice vnto him In those former punishments of a World drowned and ouerwhelmed with Water of a Sodome burned and consumed with Fire it was verie fit and meet that it should strike feare and amasement into all But in such a case as this What should cause them to feare Hereunto I answer That nothing doth strike such a feare and terrour into man as the great and wonderfull mercies of God A Roman Souldier told Iulius Caesar It much troubles me nor can I be heart-merrie as oft as I thinke on the many fauours that I haue receiued from thy liberall hand but doe rather hold them as so many wrongs and iniuries done vnto me for they are so beyond all requitall that I must of force proue vngratefull which makes me to feare that thou wilt proceed against me for a heinous offendor in this kind In like manner so many are the mercies of God towards man and so infinite that they may be held as Vigiles of his future seuerer Iustice. Iacob did in a manner vtter the same sentence against himselfe Minor sum cunctis miserationibus tuis The least of thy mercies is greater than all my merits nor can the best seruices that I can doe thee make satisfaction for the least of those fauours which I haue receiued from thy bounteous liberalitie Grant ô Lord that what is wanting in our owne worthinesse may bee made vp in the mercies and merits of our Sauiour Iesus Christ To whom with the Father c. THE XXX SERMON VPON THE FRYDAY AFTER THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT IOHN 11.1 Erat quidam languens Lazarus Now a certaine man was sicke named Lazarus of Bethanie c. PEtrus Crysologus calls this Signum signorum Mirabile mirabilium Virtutem virtutum The signe of signes the wonder of wonders and the Vertue of vertues or the power of powers Saint Augustine Miraculorum maximum The myracle of myracles which of all other did most predicate and blazon forth Christs glorie Saint Hierome preferres it before all the rest that he wrought here vpon earth By this prenda or pledge of his Diuinitie Death remained confounded the Deuills affrighted and the lockes and barres of Hell broken Genebrard That it is the voice of a Crier which goes before a Triumpher who makes Death the triumphant Chariot of his Maiestie and glorie That a valiant Warriour should make a braue and gallant shew on horsebacke hauing his Courser adorned and set forth with curious and costly Caparisons it is not much but to seeme handsome and comely in Deaths palenesse weakenesse and foulenesse beeing so ghastly a thing to looke on God onely can doe this Ante faciem eius saith Abacuc ibit mors Death ââall flie before his face Christ doth deliuer vs from a double death the one of the soule the other of the bodie He deliuered them from their distresses Death is swallowed vp in victorie He that drinketh takes the cup in his hand and doth therewith what it pleaseth him so did our Sauiour deale with Death therfore he called it a cup drinking the same vp at one draught wherein he dranke a health to all Beleeuers Saint Bernard vpon this occasion saith of him Mirabilis potator es tu Thou art a strange kind of drinker O Lord before thou tastedst of this cup thou saidst Transeat Let it passe and after thou hadst dranke thereof thou saidst Sitio I thirst The Flesh was afraid but the Spirit got the victorie ouer Death with that ease as a good Drinker doth of a good cup of drinke when he is verie thirstie In a word Not onely because this was a myracle wrought vpon a dead person that had lien foure dayes buried in his graue but because the sacrilegious councell of the Scribes and Pharisees had layd their heads together and plotted the death of our Sauiour Christ as also in regard of those other circumstances That the deceased
partie was nobly borne and that many of good Qâalitie came to visit him in his sickenesse and did weepe and bewaile his death did our Sauiour performe this myracle Amongst all those myracles which our Saour Christ wrought Saint Augustine giues to this the first and prime place and indeed it seemes to be an epitome and short summe of all those other myracles that he wrought in the whole course of his life for in the resurrection of one that is dead there is giuen sight to the Blind eares to the Deafe a tongue to the Dumbe feet to the Lame motion to the Paraliticke c. And therefore Saint Iohn with this myracle doth as it were shut vp and giue a close to the proouing of his Diuinitie A certaine man was sicke named Lazarus c. Therefore his Sisters sent vnto him Here we may consider the good aduisement and discretion of this noble paire of Sisters When Marie Magdalen treated of the reparation of her own soule she went her selfe in person passing through a world of inconueniences but for the restoration of her brother to his bodily health she thought it would be sufficient and serue the turne well enough to send her Seruant with a letter to our Sauiour The Worldling for the health of his bodie will round the world but will not stirre a foot for his soules health For to esteeme of things as they are and to giue them their true weight and to put euerie thing in it's proper place is not onely the marke of a prudent but of a predestinated person Aegypt taxed Moses of ingratitude as Phylon hath noted in his life for that hee did forgoe Pharaohs Pallace refused to be called the sonne of Pharaohs daughter and chose rather to suffer aduersitie with the People of God those poore Israelites than to weare the Crowne of Aegypt and to enioy the pleasures of the Court esteeming as Saint Paul saith the rebuke of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Aegypt But first of all he was not vngratefull for concerning those good blessings which he enioyed he was more bound to God for them than to the King Secondly he shewed he was no foole in doing as he did for better is one crumme of bread in the Lords house than all the prosperitie of the world without it Than to enioy to vse Saint Pauls words the pleasures of sinne for a season I had rather be a Doore-keeper saith Dauid in the house of the Lord than to dwell in Tabernacles of sinners Nazianzen reporteth That the Emperour Valens offering Saint Basil his fauour and to be a friend vnto him if he would but bee a friend to Eâdoxius the Arian he told him That he should highly esteem of the Emperours fauour and friendship but hee was to esteeme more of Gods Saint Augustine saith That Adam did eat of the Apple Ne contristaret delitias c. least he should grieue his Loue not led along with carnall concupiscence but with a friendly affection Suting with that of Saint Paul That Adam was not deceiued but the woman was deceiued but it had beene better for Adam to haue displeasâd his wife than to grieue the spirit as Saint Paul speaketh of a sinner In a word fathers mothers chiâdren wiues friends and all our kindred and acquaintance are to be had in lesse esteeme than our soules and our God And therefore Marie Magdalen went in person for to seeke out Christ for her God and for her soule but did not so for her brother Behold he whom thou louest is sicke c. The Saints doe much ponder the discretion of this letter The first consideration is It 's briefenesse and shortnesse of stile Imagination caânot desire an elegancie more briefe nor a briefenesse more copious Apâleiusâcoffes âcoffes at the long and spatious Orations which the Priests made of their Syrian Goddesse Elias mockt at those of Baals Priests continuing from morning to high noone Clamate voce maiori said he Crie aloud for he is a god that either talketh or pursueth his enemies or is in his journey or it may be that he sleepeth and must be awaked c. Our Sauior Christ aduising vs how we ought to pray saith When yee pray vse no vaine repetitions as the Heathen for they thinke to bee heard for their much babling It is now the fashion of the World to amplifie reasons and to inlarge it's discourses with the ornaments of Eloquence the floures of Rhetoricke choice Phrases and a great deale of artifice and cunning but that of Heauen consists of few words but is full of spirit and deuotion one single Paâer noster vttred with feruour is of more force than many vosario's without it When a Vessell sounds it is a signe it is emptie Moses treating with God sayd O my Lord I am not eloquent neither at any time haue beene c. but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue Moses was herin mistaken for I would haue thee to know that a talking tongue and a dumbe heart doe not sute wel together Diuine Bernard askes the question Why God in the Lords Prayer did put this word Qui est in Coelis Which art in Heauen being that he is present euerie where and in all places And his answer is That his desire was that our prayers should proceed with that feruencie and forcible ejaculations as if God could not heare vs vnlesse by our prayers we pierced Heauen As for our harpes we hanged them vp vpon the Willoughes Ruffinus saith That your Willoughes are but barren Trees and without fruit and when Prayer proceeds from a drie heart and a barren and vnfruitfull soule it is like the Harpe there spoken of that hangs vpon the Willoughes by the waters of Babylon In a word your Laconicall kind of Language that which is short full Nazianzen saith That it is The vttering of much matter in a few words and the fewer the words are the greater are the voyces of our desires When the Deuill left Iobs lips onely free from byles and sores he did not doe it out of any pittie towards him but out of a desire that hee had to draw some word of impatience or blasphemie from them but he was both deceiued and ashamed when he saw that he imployed them in these only foure praise-worthie words Sit nomen Domini benedictum Blessed be the name of the Lord. And say the Deuill should haue bereaued him of the vse of his lips and that he should not haue beene able to haue vttered a word yet his desires would haue spoken their mind in a loud voyce Cum inuocarem exaâdiuit me Deus justiciae mea He calls him Deum justiciae meae The God of my righteousnesse not The God of my Prayer And why so The reason is Because Workes out-speake Words Saint Iohn saith That hee saw vnder the Alter the soules of the Martyrs Crying with a loud voyce How long Lord c. But if these soules
world there shall also this that she hath done be spoken of for a memorial of her yee may chance to forget it but God will not Your Kings nominate Chroniclers to write downe the seruices of their Vassalls and the famous acts of the valiant and stout men of war Iosaphat the sonne of Eliud as we may read in the booke of the Kings erat à Commentarijs was the Chronicler But Kings either not read them or soone forget them In Assuerus his Annals is set downe the good seruice which Mardochee had done him by freeing his life from a treason that was plotted against him but Assuerus had quite forgot it But God is so farre from forgetting such seruices that he vseth to assume vnto himselfe a name from the seruice that they doe him he said vnto Iacob I am the God of Bethel where thou annointedst the Piller where thou vowedst a Vow vnto me Corresponding with that of Malachie Scriptus est liber monumenti coram eo And a booke of remembrance was written Anonother letter hath it Recordationis agreeing with the common Translation Our friend Lazarus sleepeth c. What a strange kind of thing is this that Lazarus being dead should find friends For it is the course of the world to hold him our friend that liues in plentie prosperitie and enioyes his health but not that a sicke man nay a dead man should find a friend c. Iob made it his complaint My friends and familiar acquaintance forsooke me and would not looke vpon me in my miserie And he drawes his comparison of their sudden departure from those downefalls of water in the Winter which glide away with all the speed that may be Salomon compares them to a rotten tooth and a wearie foot The Harlot is likewise the hierogliphycke of false friends whose embraces and kisses are like those of Iudas for money your Quicke-siluer is likewise a simbole of the same which forsaketh the gold in the Chrisoll these are all of them things that faile in the time of need The World hath not any one thing wherof it is more vnmindfull than the Dead Obliuioni datus sum tanquam mortuus à corde O that the Dead should be forgotten by that heart which gaue it life and that he should be forgotten by his friend who placed him in honour and in riches In a word by how much the more miserie increaseth in the world by so much the more friendship decreaseth Saint Chrysostome saith That the best friend that euer was ascended vp vnto Heauen Saint Augustine That a friend is like a Physition that loues the Patient and hates his disease but if Death come betwixt him and home his skill is at an end for he that can recouer health cannot recouer life this is onely reserued for our Sauiour Christ who is Medicamentum vitae immortalitatis gratia This Physition stiles Lazarus his friend in health in sickenesse and in death Manus eius tornatiles That Artificer which leuels his worke by his eye commonly goes crookedly to worke and commits many disproportions but he that workes in a wheele as Turners doe or in a Presse as your Printers keepes a continuall euenesse and equalitie in sickenesse and in health in prosperitie and aduersitie in Winter and in Sommer and such an Artisan was our Sauiour Christ in all his actions Our friend Lazarus sleepeth c. It is an ordinarie Language in Scripture to call Death Sleepe whither it be the death of the soule or the bodie To him that was dead in the soule Saint Paul saith Arise thou that sleepest c. Some sinners are so sound asleepe that neither lights loud calling nor shogging of them can awaken them Percussi eos non doluerunt I smote them and they grieued not Saint Augustine confesseth of himselfe That he lay long in this Lethargy and descending to vices in particuler he saith That God calling vpon your Theeues for to haue them to make restitution vpon your reuengefull natures that they should not seeke reuenge and vpon your Sensualists that they should leaue off this their beastly course of life some of them answer That they cannot others That they dare not Other Sinners there are that heare God in their sleepe taking their dreames to be reuelations considering with themselues That God is woont to speake in dreames and in visions For God speaketh once or twice in dreames and visions of the night when sleepe falleth vpon men and they sleepe vpon their beds then he openeth the eares of men by the corrections which he had sealed that he might cause man to turne away from his wickednesse that he might hide the pride of man and that his life should not passe by the Sword The death likewise of the bodie is and that verie fittingly termed sleepe First For the rest that they take The Phylosophers called it Tempestatis pârtum the Hauen to our weather-beaten liues Perigrinationis finem the end of our pilgrimage here vpon earth Omnium malorum medicamentum A remedie against all diseases Secondly For the danger wherein it leaueth sinners Holofernes layd him downe to sleepe fully persuading himselfe that he should haue enioyed Iudith in his armes when he awaked but alas poore soule before euer hee was aware of it he found himselfe in Hell Abimilecke got him to bed with hope to haue his pleasure of Saraah but in the dead time of the night he found himselfe in the hands of an angrie God To the rich man that inuited his soule to take his fill for there was store enough for many yeares Hac nocte c. This night shall thy soule be taken from thee Saul slept verie soundly and carelessely in his Tent when Dauid might haue giuen him his passeport for another life And therefore no man ought to lay him downe to sleepe with lesse heedfulnesse than if hee were now lying on his death bed Your wretchlesse sinners feele a harder passage of it and farre greater torment than the Iust. Death vseth to bring great torments with it First In seperating the soule from the bodie Secondly In forgoing those things it loueth as gold siluer lands houses wife and children which are all of them strings whereunto the heart is tied besides the venture of our condemnation for euer and the agonie of so many feares that will in this dissolution seise vpon vs. From all which the Righteous though they threaten him neuer so much remaineth free and vntoucht He groaned in the spirit c. The Greeke word signifieth to roare to crie out aloud to waile to lament and to be much mooued According to that of Theophilact Et turbauit semetipsum And was troubled in himselfe It did awaken in the sensitiue part of him those affections or passions which as Aristotle saith are like vnto dogs who in hearing any noyse fall presently a barking till that their Master do still them make them hold their peace In
And therefore whilest our Sauior Christ was writing on the ground with his finger the sins of those that accused the Adulteresse they sneaked thence and shrunke away one by one Vnus post vnum It seemeth a thing impossible that the Light beeing so louely and so amiable so faire and so beautifull that any man should hate and abhorre it and curse and damne it to the pit of Hell But it should seeme me thinkes much more impossible that this Light beeing God himselfe that mans eye should find any thing in it that may draw on a dislike and hatred thereunto But Saint Iohn pondering the distasted palat of a sinner saith They loued Darkenesse more than Light And the booke of Wisedome renders the reason thereof Doe not you maruaile that we should abhorre it seeing that the Light doth discouer vnto vs the foulenesse of our liues the treasons and trecheries of our hearts and bosomes which wee seeking to couer with the nights mantle it proposeth vs to the open view of the world and to the shame of the day Oculus adulteri saith Iob obseruat caliginem The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight They digge through houses in the darke but the morning is euen to them as the shadow of Death Many are the deceits and errours of the night He that trauailes in a darke night takes Rockes to be Castles Trees to be Houses Bushes to be Men Stubble fields to be standing Pooles high bankes to bee euen ground and that which is far off to be neere at hand In the Citie a man is taken for a woman a woman for a man a widow for a maid a maid for a married wife the mistresse for the maid the knight for his foot-man and the church-man for a whoores champion All is maskes and vizards and disguises and it is onely the Light that doth banish these deceits and false dealing I am the Light of the World c. The other occasion that offered it selfe for this Reuelation was the great noise and clamor of the people Some crying out that he was a Prophet others that he was the Christ but the Pharisees that hee was a Galilean Out of Galilee ariseth no Prophet In conclusion There was dissension amongst the people for him They could not see the light without the beames of the Light And therefore he saith vnto them Ego sum lux mundi And condemning those that were most passionately bent against him calling him in disgrace Galilean and that so bad a Countrey could not afford a prophet while they were vpbraiding this vnto him he tels them Ego sum lux mundi Galilee could not giue any lustre to him that was the light of the World The countrey doth not giue an honor to the Man that was borne there but the Man to the countrey Your most populous Cities haue your most heynous Delinquents Amaziah King of Iuda sent a proud message to Ioash King of Israell Come let vs see one another in the face To whom Ioash reâurned this answere The thistle that is in Lebanon sent to the Cedar c. As if he should haue giuen him this short come-off To boast to bee borne in Lebanon and to be but a poore thistle is an infamie and reproach vnto thee But to bee borne in a barren Desart and become a Cedar is a great honour and reputation What bootes it thee to bee a King lineally descended from Dauid and that thou wast borne in Ierusalem if the coursenesse of thy actions bewray thee to bee a thistle There are many that are an honour to their house and many againe that are a disgrace vnto it Many innoble their countrey and many make it to bee accounted base and had in contempt Some are made to honour it some to dishonour it Eue was made of better earth than Adam yet wee see in her actions shee was lesse noble c. He that followeth mee shall not walke in darkenesse c. That a man may not erre in his way hee hath not onely need of a light but a guide also Thou trauailest in the night thou comest to two seuerall wayes and thou meetest with no man the day appeares the light ouercomes the darkenesse but not thy doubting of the way and therefore thou hadst need to haue a guide In this iourney of mans life there are two wayes The one the narrow way that leads vnto Heauen the other the broad way that leades vnto Hell the one to good the other to ill The light that dispelleth the darkenesse will not serue the turne but wee must likewise haue a guide to direct vs and to tell vs This is the way and those are the towers of the Citie Salomon saith That there are wayes which seeme vnto man to secure life but lead vnto death Cogitationes mortalium timidae incertae prouidentiae nostrae There is no humane thought certaine no prouidence secure And therefore wee had need of a guide Saint Austen craueth of God in his Confessions Heale mee ô Lord of my painefull greefe and ease me of my heauy load for whatsoeuer I say or doe is for me a doubtfull question Et ipse est languor meus As necessitie doth alledge for her part that it is necessarie to eat for to liue for if our naturall heat did not find something whereupon to work and spend it's force our life would quickely be at an end But as the hauing recourse to this necessitie is sweet to the sence of our Tast it alledgeth that this maintenance is the medicine of hunger and that to the Sicke we are not to giue physicke by ounces who hath a good stomacke and is continually hungry and for that what we eat must necessarily passe through the Tast our delight presseth it selfe forward importuning for the Tasts sake that something more be done than that which is due to necessitie and because necessitie will be satisfied with a little and much will not suffice our Tast Factus sum quaestio The like plea passeth with the eyes I place them vpon colours vpon the beautie of Floures and Roses vpon the curious Pieces of the famousest Painters and vpon those more liuely Pictures which God hath painted presently there growes in me a contention betwixt Curiositie and Temperance for Curiositie doth so flatter sooth vp the eyes that it makes them oft-times to slip awrie Periculosa illecebrosa dulcedine This befalling me many times before euer I doe so much as once dreame or thinke vpon it hapning as it were vnawares which is one of the greatest miseries and the most to be pittied either in myne owne or any other mans life For I know not how farre my passions may trespasse vpon me they hauing taken possession of my heart and liuing like Inne-mates within the doores of myne owne house Nay rather euen then when I thinke my selfe to be freest from them and most secure as if they had roused themselues from some heauie sleepe they
actions Of all those secret sinnes whatsoeuer which man committeth alone by himselfe as Sorcerie Periurie Murder the like no one man in all the world can giue testimonie thereof but God can for he is present at all Thou knowest my lying downe and my rising vp thou seest my wayes and vnderstandest my paths afaâre if I ascend vp into Heauen thou art there if I goe downe into Hell thou art also there From Salomon was hid the path of a Ship in the Sea of an Eagle through the aire of a Snake through the Rocke and of a young man in the floure of his youth but from Gods eye nothing can be hid The knowing of this truth will draw on the confessing of another to wit That of the things appertaining to God none can giue testimonie but God No man euer saw God so saith Saint Iohn Who then shall giue vs testimonie of God The onely begotten Sonne which was in the bosome of his Father he shall doe it Of the Father the Sonne shall giue Record and of the Sonne the Father of both the Holy-Ghost In a word euerie one of these Diuine Persons of himselfe but Man cannot doe it but by reuelation Thy Record is not true Yes it is for I am the Light of the World and of the Light none can giue Record but the Light If any man should say vnto the Sunne Prooue it vnto me that thou art the Sunne it were a meere follie if not madnesse for his beames doe prooue it and proclaime it to the World In like manner that the Pharisees should say vnto our Sauiour Christ Prooue vnto vs that thou art the Light was a meere blindnesse in them for No Man could doe that which he did vnlesse God had beene with him Vpon a Glasse the Sunne is vsually so translated that it were a foolishnesse to aske a testimonie Whether it bee the Sunne or no And vpon the humanitie of our Sauiour Christ the beames of his Diuinitie were in that sort transferred that it was hardnesse of heart and obstinate wilfulnesse to desire further testimonie from God Saint Paul saith He that drew light out of darkenesse he did inlighten our soules that they might see the beames of the light of God in the face of his Sonne Iesus Christ. And for this the naturall light was sufficient but in the Pharisees this was so blinded through the dust of their sinnes that they could not see this Sunne The Seale that is imprinted in Wax shewes it selfe as cleere as if it were grauen in Brasse or Steele but with time or with dust it comes to be blotted out in that manner that the stampe and letters are not knowne So doth it succeed with a Sinner with this naturall light when it is once darkned through sinne whence it commeth to passe that he falleth into those foule and grosse ignorances which the brute beasts would not fall into Yee iudge after the flesh He prooues by another reason that his Record is true Yee iudge according to the Flesh by that which is not but by that which seemeth so to be but I iudge according to the heart I search and trie the verie reynes Saint Ambrose called the Sunne Oculum Mundi The Worlds eye not onely because it affoords vs that light whereby our eyes haue power to see but because it sees all things and in case that it being in the other Hemispheare it doth not see that which passeth in this yet Gods eyes see all that is both in this and in that other world Orpheus called the Sunne Oculum Iustitiae The eye of Iustice whose office it is to discouer whatsoeuer is darke and secret Antiquitie painted him sitting in a Ship gouerning the same as a Pilot for beholding the Starres and the Mariners Compasse he doth not onely discerne the dangers that are aboue the water but those hidden Deepes which are vnder the waters But neither the Sunne of Heauen nor those Sunnes of the earth can reach into the withdrawing roomes of mans bosome onely the eyes of Christ can looke into them which are farre brighter than the Sunne His eyes are brighter than the Sunne I am the Lord that searcheth the heart and trieth the reynes so saith Ieremie and Saint Iohn The beames of the Sunne discouer the atomes and motes in the ayre but not the thoughts and secrets of the heart But the beames of the Sun of righteousnesse discouer our smallest thoughts It was the foole that said in his heart There is no God And though this saying came not out of his mouth yet hee found it published in the market place because God diueth into the heart The Spouse compares him to that Goate which the Greekes call Dorcas for it's quicknes of sight as Saint Gregory Nyssene hath noted it If a man hide himselfe in darkenesse shal not I see him The Kings of the Gentiles pretending to haue the world to take them for gods they gaue them to vnderstand that they did know the thoughts of men To this alludeth that which Ioseph said to his brethren An ignoratis quod non similis in augurandi scientia Cicero saith That among the Persians no man could be King who was not skilled in the Art of Diuination And for this cause innumerable Witcheries and Sorceries were multiplyed and increased amongst them But it is a foolerie to imagine That any man can enter into them but God To which God be ascribed all honour power and glory now and for euermore Amen THE XXXII SERMON VPON PASSION SVNDAY IOHN 8. Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato Which of you will reprooue me of sinne OVr Sauiour Christs innocencie by many forcible reasons and strong arguments we haue elsewhere sufficiently prooued Now shall I proue vnto you the inconuenienâes which would haue followed his peccabilitie First of all The bloud of our Sauiour Christ was that wherein the Church washed her selfe These are they that washed their Stoles in the bloud of the Lambe And hee could not make them white had he not bin whitenes himselfe The bloud of her Beloued puts colour and beauty into her cheekes Sanguis eius ornauit genâ meâs Shee speakes of the beautie of the soule and he could not make her faire had he himselfe beene foule And therefore saith Saint Paul It was fit he should be so that he might be a high Priest holy and vndefiled c. The second inconuenience that would follow thereupon would bee this That our Sauiour Christ could not be a competent Iudge had he beene a sinner as he was not He that iudgeth another himselfe being faulty condemneth himselfe And for this reason a Iudge that is notoriously knowne to be a corrupt and naughty man may iustly be refused Iudas acknowledging himselfe to be a delinquent in the Incest of his daughter in law Tamar was so farre from proceeding in iudgement against her that he said Iustior me est She is more righteous than I. When
Ioab aduised Dauid of the siege of Rabbah and what a number of men he had lost in that seruice the King might haue iustly cut off his head for his rash and vnaduised approach to the wall But Dauid durst not condemne him and put him to death because he was an Accessorie or rather the principall in the busines and therefore Ioab charged the messenger that carried the newes saying If the Kings anger arise so that he say vnto you Why went you nigh the wall c. the storie is worth your reading then say thou Thy seruant Vriah the Hittite is also dead This point did that kingly Prophet touch vpon in those words so diuersly commented on Tibi soli peccaui O Lord my sinne was against Vrias against those souldiers that died for his occasion against those which did blaspheame thy name and against the people whom the robbing of another man of his wife and the killing of her husband hath scandalized and beene an occasion of great offence vnto them But that which doth most affâict and torment me is That I haue committed this against thee and that I haue thus sinned against thee For in any other person whatsoeuer in my kingdome the rigour of Iustice might haue restrained him from so foule a sinne but this did not once enter into my thought And therefore he comes with a Tibi soli peccaui iumping with that saying of Saint Paul Qui iudicat me Dominus est He that iudgeth me is the Lord. The world hath not that man in it whom his Propria culpa The sinnes which himselfe hath committed doe not mooue or daunt him and make him turne Coward sauing Christ who was made perfect by nature Nemo mundus à sorde neque ânfans vnius diei How can he be cleane that is borne of a woman Iohn Baptist was sanctified in the wombe of his mother and was bred vp from a child in the wildernesse Saint Peter was he that loued most Saint Iohn that was most beloued Saint Paul past through the third heauen and did afterwards defie all the world Who shall separate me from the loue of Christ And Iob was so bold to say Would my sinnes were weighed in a ballance c. And in another place Shew mee my sinnes and my iniquities what they be Also Dauid I haue run without iniquitie Iudith passing through the midst of an Armie of Barbarians breakes out into these words The Lord liueth that would not suffer his handmaid to be defiled There was not that rough-hewne souldier that did so much as offer to touch her Let vs set side by side with these Saints the vnspottednesse of those Virgins the constancie of those Martyrs and the courage of those Confessors that suffered for Christs sake In a word all the worthy squadrons of those blessed Saints that are now in heauen will say thus as Saint August hath noted of themselues which Saint Iohn did confesse If we say we haue no sinne we deceiue our selues and the truth is not in vs. As also Iob If I wash my selfe with snow water and purge my hands most cleane yet shalt thou plunge me in the pit and mine owne cloathes shall make me filthie For to be without sinne is the blazon or cognisance of God alone Many did liue very well assured of their innocencie in particular cases as Iacob That the Idols of his father in Law Laban were not receiued by the seruants of his house As Beniamin and his brethren that Iosephs cup was not in their sacks Saint Peter that he should not deny his Sauiour Christ had a thousand more importunate women set vpon him The Pharisee he thought with himselfe I am not as other men c. yet all of them may say with Saint Paul I am conscious of nothing to my selfe yet am I not hereby iustified for Gods eyes see that which mans eyes see not In a word the noble Acts of the greatnesse and power of God as his creating of the world his conseruing it his redeeming of mankinde his iustifying of soules his seeing the thoughts of the heart his calling things that are not as if they were his commanding the waters the windes death and life and all those other wonderfull things which Iob specifieth of God to whose 38 chapter I referre you may make him confidently to say Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato Which of you can rebuke me of sinne Which of you can c. Saint Chrysostome saith That the greatest testimonie of our innocencie is that of our enemies Non est Deus noster sicut Deus eorum iâimici nostri sint Iudices Our God is not as their God let euen our enemies bee Iudges And fit it was that this testimonie should precede and goe before as well in regard of our Sauiours life as his death In regard of his life for publike persons that are placed in authoritie seated in high and eminent throanes that haue great gouernments offices and dignities committed vnto them are not onely bound to be vertuous and holy but also to be so esteemed which they must mainely striue and indeauour So that in a Prince be he Ecclesiasticall or Secular two obligations ought to concur in him One of Conscience The other of Fame A particular Christian which doth not giue occasion whereby to bee condemned of his neighbour may liue satisfied and well contented with the testimony of his owne conscience but not a Prince or a Prelate For if he suffer in his good name or in his fame and be ill reported of it is the destructionoftheir Subiects Saint Augustine saith That he that relyeth on his conscience and is carelesse of his good name is cruell towards himselfe We must not doe good onely in Gods sight bât also before men For fame though false doth fall heauy vpon publike persons In the Temple there was a vessell of brasse a very faire one out of which there ran a conduit pipe of water and was without adorned with those Looking glasses which women that repented them of their sinnes had offered who forsaking the world had consecrated themselues to God to the end that the Priests which did enter to offer sacrifice should wash themselues in that water and behold themselues in those glasses and it was Gods intent and purpose according to Philon That they should place no lesse care in the cleanenesse of their life for to offer sacrifice than those women did in appearing good to the world beholding in those glasses the least marke or spot in the face And in the 28 chapter of Exodus God commanded That when the Priest should enter or goe foorth in the Sanctuary he should beare bells about the border of his garment to the end that the noyse and sound thereof might make his going in and his comming forth knowne And the Text addeth Ne moriatur Least hee dye the death And the glorious Saint Gregorie saith That the
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 âonâest 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 befâll 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 sciântiam 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
to hang Mordochey this his enuie was the meanes that Gods people found fauour Mordochey was aduanced and Haman hung on the Gallous which he had made for another The like successe had Saul with Dauid and Nebucadnezars Princes with poore Daniel and the Iewes with our Sauiour Christ which is no more than was reuealed in that parable of that Stone which being reiected by that People fell vpon them and made morter of them that Stone being afterwards made the head Stone of the Corner Of the Lynx the Naturalists doe report That hee couereth his vrine as the Cat doth hir dâng and that this his couering of it is the meanes that a Stone is congealed thereof of great both vertue and beautie The High-Priests sent c. By Saint Mathew our Sauiour did poynt forth to the Pharisees a truth which doth suit well with this present purpose Wâe bee vnto yee Scribes and Pharisees because yee shut vp the Kingdome of Heauen for yee your selues goe not in nor suffer them that would enter to come in That Gardiners Dog that would neither eat Coleworts himselfe nor suffer others to eat them is of the Deuils condition that will neither do good to himselfe nor let others enioy it And in some respect the Pharisees were far worse for the people had not the Deuil for their North-Starre nor their Guide neither did they trust him with the zeale and care of their good but the Scribes and Pharisees were the Lights of Israell the Guides and North-Starres of the People who with the clouds of their passions did darken the verie beames of the Sunne it selfe Saint Luke crieth out Woe be vnto yee Scribes and Pharisees yee that are Interpreters of the Law for yee haue taken away the Key of knowledge and of the Scriptures yee entred not in your selues and them that came in yee forbad yee will not that any shal controll that which yee teach What doth any one of the Chiefe-Priests and Pharisees beleeue in him In the High-Priests and the Pharisees all the wisedome is deposited as for the Common people they are ignorant and vnlettered if therefore none of these principall men beleeue in him let him that beleeueth in him goe for a condemned man From the head comes all the ill to the bodie Naturall and mystically the same may be sayd of these and the like Heads Genââis rendring a reason of Gods sending a Floud vpon the earth saith The whole earth was nothing but filthinesse and corruption And to him that shall aske Why this hurt and calamitie was so generall it is there answered There were Gyants in the earth in those dayes The sonnes of God those that were great and powerfull Princes linked themselues with the daughters of men with those that were the basest and vilest among them begot vpon them such vicious Gyants that they corrupted the whole land Phylon reporteth That Goliah the Philistine was the first that presumed to lay hand on the Arke of God and that afterwards all the people followed his example The whole head was sicke and the whole heart was heaââe c. It was enough to know that the heads were so sicke and so weake for thereby it is to be presumed that the whole bodie of the People was full of tumors and swellings It is a most grieuous sinne and God doth punish them with a grieuous punishment who pull downe where they are bound to build The Israelites beeing much affectioned to the Midianitish the Moabitish women at their persuasion fell to the adoring of Belfegâr They iâyned themselues also vnto Baal-Peââ and did eat the Offerings of the Dead God for this being so angrie with them that hee said vnto Mâses Take all the heads of the people and hang them vp before the Lord against the Sunne And why against the Sunne To the end that the naturall sunne should condemne these the Sonnes and Princes of thy people The Spouse went forth one night to seeke her Beloued and meeting with the Watch they treated her ill and tooke away her Cloake from her It is a hard case that he that should apparell and protect the Naked should rob him of his cloathes and trample him by oppression vnder his feet They sent Officers c. Ministers for ill are neuer wanting A Tyrant shall neuer want Executioners to torment nor a Iudge Sergeants to arrest nor an Vsurer knights of the Post to lie and sweare a Lady a waiting maid to couer her sinne a Noble man Pages to bring him Loue-letters a Gamester cheaters to foist in false dice and cards Dancers Fidlers nor Princes Ministers Lucifer had no sooner propounded in hell who amongst them would aduenture to tempt Christ but innumerable numbers of the principall diâells stood forth offering him their seruice with promise of their best endeauours and diligences Saul had no sooner askt the question who would vndertake to apprehend Dauid but presently all the Courtiers belonging to the Palace profered him their liues and their persons to bring him in King Ahaziah had no sooner spoke the word Who will rid me of this same troublesome Eliah who will not let mee liue in quiet when forthwith your Quinquagenarians and Captaines ouer fifties euery one of them proffered him their seruice one saying I will serue thee and another I will serue thee c. That seruants should obey and serue their Lords the Law of God commands it Saint Paul saith Seruants obey your Lords according to the flesh as ye would obey Christ. And Saint Peter further addeth Seruants be subiect to your Masters with all feare not onely to the good and curteous but also to the froward By froward are meant those that are austere sharpe seuere rough and harsh as likewise those that are wicked men and great sinners Salomon tells vs Hee that feareth the commandement he shall be rewarded But we are not to obey them against God And this the Apostle noted forth vnto vs in that word Carnalibus in the flesh that is That they haue not one dramme of iurisdiction ouer the spirit or soule of their seruant And not contented with this he goes a little further and addeth Tanquam Christo. For as Christ will not command you any thing that is against the good of your soules so neither is a master otherwise to command his seruant And if he should command you the contrary ye are not to obey him And this was that which the Tribes said to their Generall Ioshua As we obeyed Moses in all things so will we obey thee assuring our selues that God is with thee as he was with him There are many Courtiers that thinke that their Princes doe them a great fauour when they command them this or that thing against God that they may shew what hazard they would runne to doe them seruice Whereas he that will serue him in only Licitis et honestis Those things that are lawfull and honest gets no preferment
merit it is rather an affront than an honor They giue thee an office or some dignitie because thou hast presented them with some foolish bable or other or hast carryed a shooe-clout in thy pocket to wipe such a Noble mans shooe it is an infamous Title both in the giuer and the receiuer They doe thee some fauour for kindreds sake and because thou art of their blood it is a Title of little honour to him that receiues it and of lesse Christianitie in him that giues it They preferre thee to be the Princes seruant what good does that doe thee It is so base a Title That no Noble Spirit will desire it Thou gettest thy pretension by offering thy loue and seruice to this or that Court Lady it is a dangerous pretension Thou art raised by such a Lord because thou hast serued him in his vnlawfull pleasures this is a damnable Title God conferres his fauours vpon no other Title than a mans owne proper vertue Vpon Noah But why Because thou wast vpright before me in thy generation And in the day of iudgement who are they that shall be rewarded and why shall they be rewarded Come ye blessed of my Father receiue a Kingdome For I was hungry c. Vpon this Title is grounded the reward of a good death Blessed are they that dye in the Lord for their workes follow them Not because he was an Apostle a Prophet a Doctor a Confessor a Prince a Prelat can he pretend a reward but because he was a good Christian and did all the duties belonging thereunto Their works follow them as a handmaid doth her Mistres or a Page his Master If thou wilt haue honour striue to win it Your Antients set two vessells before Iupiter The one of exceeding sweet liquor the other exceeding sower and no man could come to taste of the hony vnlesse he did first trie the gall The Romans had two Temples adioyning each to other one of Honour the other of Vertue but there was no comming to that of Honour but by that of Vertue My time is not yet come but yours is alwayes ready I expect eternall and perdurable glory but yee short and momentary in regard of mine Christ must suffer and so enter into glory But this time is not yet come for you Your time is alwayes ready That season sutes best with you that is seasoned with honours and pleasures This is the North-starre of the world All sayle by it S. Augustine in his bookes de Ciuit. Dei prooueth with great elegancie That the Romans had not any God which they so much adored as that of Honour and for the Author of this truth he alledgeth Salust Ista ergo landis auiditas cupido gloriae omnia illa miranda fecit laudabilia scilicet atque gloriosa secundum existimationem hoâânum This greedines of humane glory triumphed ouer all the rest of the things in Rome and not onely in Rome but in Greece And in most of your other Nations there was not a Captaine or Philosopher which did not eclipse all the other vertues that he inioyed with the shadow of this desire of Honour This did Seneca Plutarch Aristotle and Plato pretend And Socrates himselfe who did so much blazân his pouertie and seem'd to take a pride in it came to be an Idolater of Honor and Fame This pill they swallowed downe and conceiuing a kind of immortality to be lapt therein cram'd their conceits therewith making the discommodity of life dangers sweats troubles c. seeme sauoury vnto them Which is a kind of birdlime which clingeth so close to our hearts that Gods greatest Saints do complaine and bewaile the great difficulty in being loosed and freed therefro Saint August did intreat of God with teares and sighes that he would free him from this plague Domine sine secatione tentamur tu nosti de hac re ad te gemitum cordis mei flumina oculorum meorum And if a Saint so humbly minded as none more doth thus weepe sigh and groane what shall become of him that is as arrogant as hee is ignorant And in another place this Sacred Doctor saith The purer thou art from this vncleannesse the liker shalt thou be vnto God And in an Epistle of his hee saith That by how much the Moone is more full and faire in our eyes it participateth so much the lesse of the same which is all one with that of Ecclesiast The light thereof diminisheth vnto the end and groweth wondrously in her changing These words seeme to carry a contrarietie but it is not so for the Moone doth decrease to our seeming towards the end of it's waning and yet euen at that very time it increaseth wonderfully receiuing from the Sun by the contrary part a far greater light It seemed then to these kins folke of Iesus Christ our Redeemer That the Feast of Ierusalem was a fit time for to gaine much honour and therefore said vnto him Depart hence and manifest thy selfe to the world Whereunto hee answered ye desire to see me in great honour and estimation with the world expecting out of my reputation and credit to reape vnto your selues a temporall reward but I doe rather desire to see my selfe dis-esteemed of the world because thereupon dependeth your spirituall promotion Saint Bernard discoursing how the blessed Virgin Mary and the glorious Saint Ioseph went to seeke Iesus when he was lost when he was 12 yeare old amongst his kindred and acquaintance saith That many miscarry by their kinsfolks means And I my selfe haue known many Prelats of very good parts and extraordinarie gifts of whom I haue beene afraid that their kinsfolke haue beene the cause of their condemnation and casting downe into hell For it is a wofull case That for 200 Ducats pension which a Prelat bestowes on a Student hee should oblige him to run ouer all the Diuine Seruice and not to leaue out so much as any one prayer and that he should confer on a kinseman thirty thousand Ducats pension without obliging him to pray a Pater-noster or say an Aue-Mary Two bloody mischiefes come vnto vs by our brethren and kindred The one in point of precedencie Enuie working most vpon those that are brethren especially if one get the start of the other or chance to be preferred before him As the History of Iosephs brethren proueth it vnto vs who for those his dreames of his future prosperity put him down into a pit and sold him away So stood the case in Abimilecks busines who for Superiorities sake and that hee might raigne slew at once 70 of his brethren Holy king Dauid could not escape this mischiefe His brethren could haue eaten him as we say with salt to see that he should pop forth and enter into the field with that mettall and courage against that great Gyant Goliah himselfe being the least amongst his brethren And was it not so I pray with Abel and Cain For a brother
it's âld odour The adulterie of Bershabe and the murther of Vriah hath layne a âong time in my brest and though I haue washed and rynsed it with I know not how many âees and Sopes yet haue I no hope to make it as cleane as it was before and therefore ô Lord I beseech thee that thou wilt create a new heart in me wherewith I may loue thee for euer But if this cannot be because the soule is immortall perdurable and incorruptible Renew a right spirit within me that there may not remaine any sent or sauour of my former foulnes establish such a spirit in me that I may neuer fal from thy seruice a spirit that may repaire those wrongs I did before and if that were an occasion that many did blaspheme thy Name let this be such a one that it may conuert many vnto thee and that they may truly serue thee The glorious Doctor Saint Ambrose touched vpon this string Dauid saith he did desire of God That he would create him a new heart not that he should create it anew but that he should so renew it that it might seeme to be created anew for to clense it was all one as to create it It is the resolution of a man that is truly penitent to desire to leaue a lewd life and to auoyd all occasions thereof Anselme saith That the first renouation which God effecteth in our soules is in Babtisme This is the foundation of our Christian building so saith the glorious Apostle Saint Paul Afterwards the eyes of our Reason being cleered one layeth his foundation on Gold another on Siluer a third on pretious Stones a fourth on Wood a fift on Hay a sixt on Straw and though Hay and Straw be sometimes taken for Gold the fire will trie the finenesse of it and purifie all The second renouation is by Repentance When thou hast an old beastly tatterd garment thou makest thee a new one thy soule is all to be rent torne exceeding foule and filthie cloath it anew The first regalo or kindnesse which the father shewed to the prodigall child was his new apparelling of him Aâferte stolam primam This is the greatest kindnesse thou canst doe to thy soule and that thou maist not doe as little children vse to doe which are well clad to day and a few dayes after are nothing but ragges and totters doe not yee make your garments of paper which the least blast of aire rents asunder but put on Iesus Christ our Sauiour and Redeemer which is a Rayment that will last for euer And it was Winter Saint Gregorie saith That the Scripture sometimes setteth downe the circumstances of time and place to signifie by them that which is not expressed by word of mouth And that this circumstance of Hyems erat It was Winter though it may be referred to our Sauiour Christs walking from place to place yet doth it declare the frostinesse and ycie coldnesse of the Iews hearts By coldnesse the Scripture vnderstandeth the malice of sinne whence it is to bee noted That the Historie of the Machabees calleth this Solemnitie The Feast of Fire Whereas we are now purposed to keepe the Purification of the Temple vpon the twentie fifth day of the moneth Chasleu wee thought it necessarie to certifie you thereof that yee also might keepe the Feast of the Tabernacles and of the Fire which was giuen vs when Nehemias offered Sacrifice after that he had built the Temple and the Altar c. It appeareth by the sixth Chapter of Leuiticus That God did conserue a perpetuall fire in his presence The Fire shall euermore burne vpon the Altar and neuer goe out At their departure into Babylon they hid their fire in a deepe pit and at their returne they found it turned into a thick water like a gellie Nehemias he takes it forth and setteth it in the Sunne and presently it became fire the drops that remained they did sprinckle or bedew the Altar therewith and they forthwith tooke fire so that it was fitly called the Feast of Fire But that they who solemnise this Feast should bee all Frost and Ice is a thing verie worthie our consideration This is our ruine and perdition That the verie same day that wee treat of renewing our soules which is the feast of the Fire of our Spirit there should bee such a great coldnesse in vs c. Take heed your flight be not in the Winter nor vpon the Sabboth Our Sauior hauing reuealed vnto his Disciples whether it were the euils that should befall Ierusalem or the insuing miseries of this world or those that should threaten the Soule at each particular mans death or all of them iointly together and supposing that none would be able to abide them but that they would be forced to flie from the euill to come hee giues them this auiso Take heed your flight c. Our Sauiour would not haue them to betake themselues to flight neither on the Sabboth day nor in the Winter Not on the Sabboth day because their Law did not giue them leaue to go any more than a thousand paces a matter of a mile But say some one should haue ventured to breake this Law and to haue gone further he could not haue lighted on an Inne-keeper to bid him welcome got no meat no fire to dresse it nor haue met with any companie on the way but haue trauelled all alone in a fearefull kind of solitude Not in the Winter in regard of innumerable inconueniences as raine durt boggs yce frost snow rising of riuers and dayes short and darke Saint Gregorie expoundeth this place of those euills which threaten vs at our death but be it in our death or in our life the world hath not any creature that is more threatned and terrified than a Sinner Who can looke Sinne in the face our best course is to flie from it and to haue recourse to the Sanctuarie of Repentance but we must take heed that we doe not flie on the Sabboth or in Winter In die illa saith Zacharie non erit lux sed frigus gelu In that day there shall bee no cleere light but darke Saint Hierome saith That the Prophet speaketh of the destruction of Ierusalem by Titus and Vespasian and because the miserie and calamitie thereof would fall out to be so terrible and so fearefull that no man durst abide it they treated of their flying from it But that time shall prooue vnto them to be extreame cold and exceeding darke as if he should haue sayd If they should haue fled for Gods seruice the Pillar of fire should haue gone before them and directed them in their way but when they shall flie to his disgrace and dishonour the dayes shall be cold and the wayes darke c. Here are condemned your cold and frozen Confessions your slacke slow restitutions your luke-warme intentions being like vnto those of the Sluggard of whom Salomon
saith Vult non vult He will and he will not and these are verie hurtfull to the soule for they cause more securitie than saluation These being a generation that are pure in their owne conceits and yet are not washed from their filthinesse Caesarius Arelatensis compareth Penitence to a Storme or Tempest where the winds thunders and lightnings play their parts the wind at sea rents sailes splits Masts crackes Cables teareth vp Anchors and breaketh the Oares in pieces Penitence must rent the sailes wherewith thou sailest in this world with the wind in the poupe it must cracke asunder the strong Cables of thy wilfull affections it must teare vp the Anchors of thy ill fastned hopes and breake those Oares of false and deceitfull Court-fauours which thou falsly supposest shall row thee ashore to some safe Harbour On land the wind turneth vp the tallest Cedars and hugest Okes though they haue taken neuer such deepe rooting There are men in the World that haue taken deeper rooting in worldly riches in their honours and their pleasures than either the tall Cedar or the sturdie Oke and there is nothing that can rent them vp by the roots and make them stoupe but the stiffe wind of Penitence These men must haue the Waters of Grace to quench the flames of their couetous desires and of the fierie lusts of the flesh Euerie night saith Dauid I will wash my bed The fire of Concupiscence which is kindled in this bed must be quenched with the watrie teares of the eys and in stead of that fire take vnto thee the fire of Zeale of Charitie and of Loue that may inflame the Soule kindle the Will and inlighten the Vnderstanding Ignem veni mittere in terram c. Thou must likewise haue the thunder of Gods iudgements in thyne eares to strike a terrour into thee of Gods Maiestie to make thee fearefull to offend and keep thee in a continuall aw of keeping his commandements c. And Iesus walked in the porch of Salomon There is no Falcon that flieth so high giues so many wrenches to the Herne or makes more stoopings with desire to seise on his prey no enamoured Gallant that halfe so much rounds the dores of her he adoreth no Sheepheard so trudgeth through the Mountaines seeking after his lost Sheepe no poore Soule more seekes after the house of some rich and well deuoted Almes-giuer nor doth the Sunne fetch so many turnes through the world as the Sonne of righteousnesse doth to recouer a lost soule Saint Augustine before he had got out of his errour said Circumuolitabat â longe misericordia tua Thy mercy did flye about afarre off Sinne doth separate vs from God and remooues vs farre from him Longè à peccatoribus Salus Saluation is farre from the wicked But his mercy though it stood aloofe off yet his eye did still watch ouer me which is a great argument of Gods loue towards mee And from hence it ariseth That there is great feasts and ioy made in heauen for one soule that is conuerted like vnto those congratulations and fellow-feelings which the Shepheard desireth others should entertaine him withall when hee hath found his lost sheepe Great is the Shepheards ioy when he findes his lost sheepe But this is more especially verified in God it being his Delitiae esse cum filijs hominum Then dost thou walk with great delight and contentment through thy soules Temple when thou doest contemplate the high mysteries thereof Then doest thou walke through thy vnderstanding when thou art zealous in the loue thereof Then doest thou walke through thy will when thou doest call to mind the great blessings from Gods bountifull hand with a desire to be thankefull and seruiceable vnto him Then doest thou walke through thy memorie when thou doest occupie thy selfe in holy thinges Then doest thou walke through thy eyes when thou doest exercise thy selfe in workes of pittie Then doest thou walke through thy hands when thou doest make a bed for the poore and bind vp the wounds of the wounded Then doest thou walke through thy tongue when thou giuest wholesome counsell to thy brother In a word then doth thy soule take her ease rest sitting as it were on a Throne and on a liuing Altar farre better than that which is made of stone for one single sigh offered vp vpon this Altar is able to preuaile more than many on any other Altar Iesus walked That our Sauiour Christ should vse so many diligences for a soule that is predestinated for heauen it is well and good but for such a reprobate people as this that he should take such paines it is but lost labour God called vnto Moses saying Goe and speake vnto Pharaoh that he let my people goe But I know that hee will not let them goe What sayes Clemens Alexandrinus O Lord if thou knowest so much Why doest thou put thy selfe to so vnnecessary a trouble Why doest thou loose so much time Wherunto there is giuen a twofold answer First That he that is of a pittifull nature and kind condition doth not content himselfe with the iustifying of his cause but vseth all possible meanes to remedy what is amisse and to set all things right S. Bernard did labour as it were with might and maine as no Gally-slaue could tugge more at an Oare to reduce a Monke that had violated his Orders and gone astray and when a friend of his told him What meane you to meddle in so thanklesse and hopelesse an Office and a case so desperate where there is no good to bee done This man is flowne out so farre to checke that he will neuer be reclaimed To whom Saint Bernard mildly answered Non recipio consolationem vbi fratris video desolationem I take no consolation where I see my brothers desolation A tender hearted mother takes care of her sonne in a desperate disease vsing all kind of diligences though they prooue vnprofitable Secondly Saint Barnard saith That God doth not oblige Prelats that they cure sinners but that they procure to cure them He doth not reward a Preacher according to the good that he hath done but according to the paines that hee hath taken and he cites that place of Saint Paul I haue laboured more than ye all He doth not say I haue done more good than any of you all for the reward is not giuen according to the measure of the profit but the paines not for the sauing of Soules but for his sweating to saue them And for the better instructing vs in this truth our Sauiour Christ after so many myracles done so many Sermons preached and all to no end doth not for all this forsake this people and giue them ouer but comes here vnto this great Feast to direct them in the right way Et deambulabat c. Then came the Iewes round about him The Woolfes heere come about the Lambe as your Dogs about a poore Beggar as your bigger Vessels about a smal
our hearts the remembrance of his manifold benefits To whom with the Father the Sonne c. THE XXXVI SERMON VPON THE THVRSEDAY AFTER PASSION SVNDAY LVC. 7. Rogabat Iesum quidam Pharisaeus vt manducaret cum illo c. A certaine Pharisee requested Iesus That he would eat with him c. ROgabat Iesum c. And one of the Pharisees desired Iesus that he would eat with him The whole Historie of Marie Magdalen is reduced to these three estates Of a Sinner Of a Penitent Of a Saint For all which she was most famous In that her first estate of her âewd course of life she obtained a plenarie pardon and full remission of her sinnes Were she either Widow as Saint Hierome would haue it or one that was neuer married as common opinion cries it Petrus Chrysologus saith That she had made the Citie so infamous that she might more fitly be called Peccatum Hierosolimae quam Peccatrix The Sinne of Ierusalem than a Sinner because by reason of the bad fame and euill report that went of her the whole Citie did suffer therein and was in a manner spoyled and vndone some being taken with her beautie others with her gracefull behauiour not a few with the pleasantnesse of her wit and liberall language but most with her ill example occasioning murmuration in some obduration in othersome causing them not onely to speake ill but also to doe ill In a word shee was Pestis generalis A generall plague and Commune scandalum A common scandall to all The circumstances of her perdition were strange First In that her sinne was a sinne of dishonestie wherein wee vsually see these two effects The one That it clings like bird-lime to our soules Thomas saith That it is Peccatum maximae inhaerentiae That it is a sinne of all other that cleaueth closest vnto vs and stickes longest by vs. Saint Hierome That it much resembleth the Bird called the Phoenix which doth reuiue and renew her selfe with the fire which she kindleth with the motion of her wings Thou mournest thou bewailest and repentest thee of the dishonest sinne which thou hast committed and desirest to giue it ouer that it may dy in thee but with the wings of thy thoughts thou blowest those coles afresh and makest them flame more than before so that thinking to kill the lusts of the flesh thou doost quicken them giue them new life so that what thou bewailedst before for dead thou now embracest as liuing and huggest it in thy bosome as a man claspes his deerest friend in his armes that after some long swoune recouers againe A holy Hermit that led a deuour and solitarie life talking one day with the Deuill demanded of him Which amongst the Sinnes was the greatest He told him Dishonestie And he replying What are not Blasphemie Murther and Swearing far greater sinnes Whereunâo he answered In point of Diuinitie these are the greatest but the Rents and In-comes of the sinnes of the flesh are farre greater and this is the reason why I doe not tempt any with blasphemie or murther but some one desperate person or other but with dishonestie all sorts of men the Merchant imployes his Stocke in that kind of trading which shall turne most to his commoditie the Vsurer puts forth his moneys where he may haue most profit and best securitie There is not any other sinne that like a plague hath spred it selfe so generally ouer the world as that of the Flesh and this was the cause that God repented himself that he had made man and if at any time in the world there hath been any one that hath shewed himselfe so valiant as to resist the assaults of hell yet in the end the verie same partie hath beene shrewdly encountred with the concupiscence of the flesh as Saint Gregorie hath noted it of Salomon Et non custodiuit quae mandauit ei Dominus It made him breake Gods command The other effect is that it blinds the Vnderstanding as wee shall shew you hereafâer The second circumstance is That it is an impudent and shamelesse sinne Marie Magdalen by this meanes losing all feare of God and shame of the world When a Riuer runnes betweene two banks well planted with trees which serue as wals to hedge it in the waters thereof doe no harme but if these Riuers breake their bankes and make their way ouer those walls they ouerflow and spoyle all that is in their way Whilest our life shall bee bounded in betwixt shame and feare no great harme can come of iâ but when a Soule shall liue deuoyd of shame or feare Lord haue mercie vpon it Our Sauiour Christ taking it to be the extremitie and vtmost of all euill said of a Iudge I neither feare God nor Man He that shall cast vp his accounts with Heauen aboue and with his Honour here beneath and when he hath made this reckoning shall thinke with himselfe that hee hath nothing to lose What bridle can restâaine him One of the reasons why God commanded That a man should not defame his neighbour was That he should not make his sinne perdurable Saint Hierome saith That we should rather priuatly admonish than publiquely punish Lest if such a one should once lose shame he should dwell in his sinne for euer Amongst noble Natures Honour is the bridle of Vice and in case they should not professe Vertue yet will they haue a care to vphold their credit Saint Augustine saith That God did not augment the Monarchie of the Romans for their vertue because whilest they adored false gods they could hardly professe it but because hauing set Honour before their eyes it was a great bridle to curbe in their vices The third circumstance is That she should purchase her selfe the name of a Sinneresse in so populous a Citie This was it that made the Euangelist say Behold a woman in the Citie which was a Sinner this of Saint Luke was a great endeering of the offence De qua septem Daemonia eiecerat Out of whom hee had cast seuen Deuils Now by these seuen Deuils is to bee vnderstood the manifoldnesse of her sinnes this is Saint Gregories opinion but Saint Ambrose will haue thereby to be vnderstood seuen reall Deuils indeed He dried vp the issue of bloud in Martha and droue out the Deuils in Marie and it is no small proofe thereof that two Euangelists should expresse the same in plain and ful words for when one Euangelist sets downe a thing in darke and obscure termes another vsually explaines the same but Saint Marke and Saint Luke both herein agree and say Out of whom he had cast seuen Deuils and Saint Hierome in the life of Hâlarâon and Prosper likewise affirmeth That this was a chastisement which God did often vse in great sinnes The fourth circumstance is The great hurt which she occasioned to the souls and bodies of men a great cause whereof was her extreame beautie Sambucus
hyred a house for terme of life with the liking and consent of it's owner for to put such a one out we must necessarily haue the absolute Posse and power of the king we must haue his authority to turne him out The diuell hauing taken a long lease of the house of thy soule with thy good liking and consent thou must haue Gods absolute power to eiect him and thrust him out Not that the diuell is so powerfull as some make him howbeit the Scripture tearmeth him Vectem concludentem a strong bolt which goes athwart a doore and Serpentem tortuosum a winding serpent which clewes himselfe vp close and vpon the least aduantage takes hold like the Cuttle-fish with his clawes but because God howbeit he can doe whatsoeuer he will is now and then content to giue him leaue to worke vpon our will This difficultie is somewhat the more increased in regard that Mary Magdalen was a woman which is the Hyerogliph of weakenes There be three things saith Salomon hidden from me yea foure that I know not The Hebrew letter saith Three or foure things are too hard for me The Hebrew renders the word Admirabiles The Seuentie Impossibiles Impossible for him to know On the one side because they are wreathing and winding too and fro on the other because they leaue no signe or print behind theÌ the one is of an Eagle in the aire the other of a Serpent vpon a stone the third of a ship in the midst of the sea and the fourth of a young man in his youth being so mutable a creature and so full of foolish longings Euen such is the way of an adulterous woman Which eateth and wipeth her mouth and saith I haue not done ill When a woman is greedy in deuouring good morsells in secret behind the doore and wiping her lips tells the world she hath fasted and eaten nothing all that day when shee commits folly in a corner and boasts her selfe in publike to be honest saying There is not that woman liuing that liues more honestly than I doe the diuell hauing taken such possession of her soule it is a desperate peece of businesse All these circumstances of difficultie and many more which wee omit to set downe are to be found in this storie But in those things that to vs seeme impossible God is wont to shew his wisedome and his power Great is the Lord and great is his power And as a Physition saith Saint Augustine doth take pleasure sometimes to light vpon an incurable infirmitie not so much for his gaine as his fame Non quaerens mercedem sed commendans artem So was Christ well contented with this occasion Ad informationem eorum qui credituri sunt For the better informing of those that were to beleeue To giue knowledge saith the Apostle to all sinners That there is in God a power a wisedome and a will for to heale them of their infirmities be they neuer so foule and enormious So that this conuersion is the bayte of humane hopes and the reparation of our desperation Had we none other to cast our eyes vpon in the Church but the Virgin Mary and Iohn Baptist where were our hopes The Church therefore doth set two Maries before vs. The one free from sinne the other full of sinne The one takes away Vaine-glory from all the righteous and the other banisheth Cowardise and despaire from all sorts of sinners At the presence of the Sunne all the lights of heauen withdraw themselues and hide their heads in a cowardly kind of fashion but when the Moone once begins to shine they recouer their former boldnes and libertie The Sunne presideth ouer the sonnes of the day the Moone ouer the children of the night Hee that cannot come to be a Sunne let him liue in hope to be a Moone or a Starre What sayes Hosee I will giue her the valley of Achor for the doore of Hope The Prophet there touching vpon the Historie of Achan who in the spoyles of Ierico hid the golden wedge contrary to Ioshuas proclamation wherewithall God was so offended That the Army marching to a City called Ay was ouerthrowne and the Israelites turning their backs like so many hares it seemed the doore of Hope was shut against them for entring into the Land of Promise But the delinquent being conuinced and stoned to death in the valley of Achor and all his familie God foorthwith gaue them victorie ouer their enemies And therefore he saith I will giue them the Valley of Achor for a doore of Hope Saint Ierome renders it in another letter I will giue to my Church the valley of peruersenesse or of the peruerse for to raise vp the hopes of deiected hearts as a Paul a Mary Magdalen c. All this concerneth that her condition and state of sinne wherein she stood which Saint Luke painteth forth in those his first words Behold a woman in the City which was a sinner That we may the better treat of the second State touching her Repentance it is to be supposed that Mary Magdalen had heard some sermons of our Sauioâr Christ as heretofore hath beene prooued and that our Lord did direct his discourse to a soule that had sustained so many losses one while proposing the shortnesse of this our life another while the fearefull horrours of death together with the bitternesse of sinne the terrour of iudgement the torments of hell c. Why shouldst thou so highly prize thy beauty that thou shouldst adore it Why being the Image of God in thy soule and thy body shouldst thou be so much affected to the foulenesse of sinne What was it that made the Angels so foule c. smelling so sweet of Amber Muske and Ciuet how canst thou endure the euill sauour of hell Pro sua in odore foetor Thy soft bed is wearisome vnto thee and being not able to abide in it all night long thou shiftest thy bed and canst thou then endure the bed of eternall flames moth-eaten mattresses sheetes of snakes and bolster and pillowes of wormes gnawing continually on thy conscience Thou changest thy gownes and thy dressings twice or thrice a day and canst thou suffer the euerlasting rayment of hell fire The daintiest dishes are set before thee to feed on and canst thou endure that hunger where tongues are bitten off and fed on Fame pascentur vt canes manducauerunt linguas suas prae dolore Thou canst not abide in thy house no not one houre and canst thou liue clapt vp in the dungeon of eternall death and damnation O how many lye there in endlesse paines and torments neuer to be released for far lesser sinnes than thine What canst thou hope for what canst thou expect Is it that the earth should swallow thee vp aliue as it did Dathan and Abiram Or that fire should come downe from heauen and consume thee as it did Sodom or that God should showre downe lightning and thunder vpon thee as
therefore our Sauiour Christ when he saw Mary Magdalens modestie and that out of bashfulnesse she forbore to presse too neere vpon him he made signes vnto her imboldning her therebâ to come vnto him She brought a boxe of oyntment c. This was a certaine signe and assured token of her generall change and alteration In the old Law those women that did wholy giue ouer the world and did consecrate themselues to the Temple did offer vp those glasses wherein they before beheld themselues being a iewell of great esteeme amongst women as being a meanes to preserue their beauties and repaire those wrongs that any spot of foulenesse should doe the face And Moses made a Lauatorie of Copper for the Priests to wash themselues in adorning the same with these kind of glasses For she that shall forgo the world and strip her selfe of all euen to her very glasse wherein she was wont to looke the holiest Priests may looke that woman in the face without sinning There are certaine sinners which will not let slip any occasion that offers it selfe vnto them Petrus Chrysologus likens these vnto diuells Amongst the Gergesenes our Sauiour Christ commanding the diuells that they should come out of those men that liued in the fields in the Sepulchres and graues of the dead as if they were houses of peace and pleasure they besought him that he would suffer them to goe into the heard of Swine to wit out of one filthy place into another and so in like manner from sinne to sinne Others there are that all their life long haue tyde themselues fast to Occasions girdle haue as it were sworn and made a vow neuer to forsake her These two sorts of sinners Ieremie pointed at If the Blackemore can change his skinne or the Leopard his spots Now which will first change his skinne and condition either the tanned Negro or the spotted Tygar The sinner which lyes at racke and manger and is chained fast to the ring of the cratch or he that accustomes and vses himselfe to change and alter euery houre and like the Cameleon puts on as many colours as come neere him Which of these two Estates I say is the more dangerous I answer That amongst Reprobat people there is not a pin to chuse But amongst those sinners that hope for heauen That of the Cameleon seemeth to bee the more dangerous because it may be presumed from his ordinary reincidencie that in the confession of his sinnes he neuer truely repents himselfe of them whence great Sacriledges are wont to succeede But for the other it may so fall out That hee may be as constant in good as he hath beene before in ill And she stood at his feet behind him Retrò at his backe Whence we may consider a wonderfull and strange kind of change When Mary Magdalen did cast her sinnes behind her backe God did set them before his eyes but when Mary Magdalen did set them before her eyes and grew fearefull and timerous to looke him in the face and had not the heart to presse into his presence that was to be her soules best Physician God did cast her sinnes behind his backe Saint Augustine touches vpon this string vpon those words of Dauid Auerte faciem tuam à peccatis meis Turne aside thy eyes ô Lord from my sinnes Oh thou sinner saith the same Father I shall giue thee a good remedy for this Tu inde non auertas Doe not thou turne thine eyes from off thy sinnes and God will turne away his but if thou shalt cast them behind thy backe Gods eye will be still vpon them and punish them seuerely in thee Standing behind In that looking-glasse of Christ she saw the foulenesse of her soule and she startled at it Statuam contra te faciem tuam In a glasse that which is faire seemeth more faire and that which is foule more foule There are some glasses which makes all those appeare faire which fall within the view of them A glasse standing in a window makes the opposite wall glitter and shine the more The Raine-bow leaues that fairest which leaneth neerest to it The Sunne setting vpon a darke cloud makes him become as bright as gold In like manner our Sauiour Christ layd open to Mary Magdalen the foulenesse of her sinnes that he might leaue her more faire and more beautifull than shee was before Standing behind Petrus Chrysologus cryes out Mary Magdalen what meanest thou by this Commest thou as one that is sicke to seeke a Physition and when thou shouldst come to him doest thou flye from him Whereunto he answers That as one vnworthy to looke him in the face she made choise to stand behind him and if it possibly could haue beene she would not that he should haue seen her though such was her wretched case That she was driuen to desire his fauour and best furtherance The sick Patient cannot flye from the Physition which is willing to cure him In this perplexitie and anguish of her soule shee resolued with her selfe to shunne the sight of our Sauiour Christ though not vtterly put her selfe out from his presence Dauid did desire of God that he would not forsake him in his anger nor go away from him in his displeasure Which seemeth coÌtrary to that rule of S. Paul Giue place to wrath and contrary to Iobs desire Quis mihi det vt in Inferno protegas me abscondas me donec transeat furor tuus c. Saint Augustine saith That if it were possible for a sinner to flye from God it were not the worst remedie to hide himselfe whilest his furie be ouerpast and his anger quite gone But it being of necessitie that he must fall into Gods hands and that a sinner can no where hide himselfe from his all-seeing eye the best counsell were to aduise him That to escape Gods hands hee should put himselfe into Gods hands and prostrate himselfe at his feet Ionas flying from God told the Marriners I feare the Lord God of heauen which made the sea and the dry land If God then be the God both of sea and land Why didst thou seeke to flye from him by going to sea By or neere vnto his feet When a Huntsman woundeth a Deere with a forked arrow that is sent from a strong bow though the Deere may bound and stand vp for a while yet at last he sinkes and falls downe at the Keepers foot Our Sauiour Christ had wounded Mary Magdalen with the arrow of his word he strooke her to the very heart the barbes thereof sticking in the sides of her soule Sagittae potentis acutae cum carbonibus dissolatorijs This Deere of his was so sorely wounded That she was forced to fall downe at his feet in the house of Simon the Leaper One of the greatest glories that was prophesied of our Sauiour Christ was That he should make his enemies his foot-stoole And in another place His enemies shall bow
The old Iudges in Susanna's businesse behaued themselues so simply That a little child tooke them in a lye and bewrayed their folly Iosephs brethren brought the childlesse coate home to their father without anie hole or rent dipt in blood and told him A wicked beast hath deuoured him This beast had torne the flesh leauing the Coat whole Hee that buryed âis Talent when hee was called to account answered I knew that thou wast a haâd man looking to reape where thou hadst not sowne If I am such a one as reape wâere I doe not âowe Why should I not reape where I doe sowe The Iewes being desirous to conceale our Sauiours resurrection did multiplie an innumerarable companie of fooleries whereof Saint Augustine conuinceth them In a word in the Sacred Scripture the sinner in euerie place beares the name of a foole but not anie one follie can compare it selfe with this Let vs kill this man for he doth manie Miracles Ieremie saith Dabis eis sontum âordis laborem ââum Saint Gregorie the Pope saith That by this labour is vnderstood all that good which God did for that people by taking flesh vpon him by being borne by liuing and by dying All this was a labour vnto him and this labour serued the people in stead of a Shield against God himselfe For they did not onely make of his Miracles and benefits Shields for to defend themselues from God but swords nayles whips and thornes for to quit God of his life Saint Paul did bewayle those Heretickes which did denie the Crosse of our Sauior Christ being the efficacie of our remedie and redemption and cals them enemies of the Crosse. No better doth it fare with those being they make poyson of Treacle and matter of infirmitie the meanes of their saluation Saint Chrysostome saith That they are worse than Diuels for one Diuell doth not persecute another but these did persecute their best friend and benefactor The Diuels held their peace and did obey and at the most They went out crying and saying Thou art the Sonne of God God commanded in Exodus That they should not boyle the Kid in the milk of the Dam and Philon expounding that place saith That he held it a thing vnmeet and vniust that that should be the instrument of it's death which had been the beginning of it's life And it sutes well with that of Gregorie Nissen who saith That the Miracles which God doth are mans milke dealing with him as with a little child This man doth many Myracles c. If hee had beene a robber on the High way but being he came to make plaine the way If hee had robbed thee of thy wealth tooke away thy life or eclypsed thine honour but being hee came to giue health to thy body to inrich thy soule and to defend and maintaine thine honour as was to be seene in the case of the Adulteresse What can bee said in your excuse S. Augustine and S. Chrysostom pondering the ill carriage of this buâânes Why say they did Esay prophesie of the Miracles of your Messias but to the end that ye should receiue him and adore him I pray take the paine to read ouer that whole chapter for your better satisfaction which will bee worth your labour but in stead of receiuing and adoring him we haue said with those Farmers in the Gospell Let vs kill the Heyre And the inheritance shall be ours If we let him thus alone all men will beleeue in him This is another most foule folly of theirs contrary to all Scripture If we let him alone say they all will beleeue in him Whereas by taking his life from him his death wherein they were deceiued in their iudgements was to be Semen fidei the seede of faith and augmââtum Ecclesia The augmentation and increase of the Church Si posuerit animam suam pro peccato videbit semen longaeuum c. It is Esayes prophesie of him When he shall make his soule an offering for sinne he shall see his seede and shall prolong his dayes and the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand He shall see of the trauell of his soule and shall be satisfied By his knowledge shall my righteous seruant iustifie many c. Let them then take away his life and there is no Arithmeticke that can summe vp our happinesse and their miserie The Romans will come and take away both our place and nation Here is another blind consequence if we let him liue the Romans will come and take away our place and nation Whereas they might rather haue inferred this conclusion The Romans will come and they likewise will beleeue in him For it is not much That he that could conuert a Iew should conuert a Roman considering that the Romans amongstall their gods had not one that could worke a Miracle to win them But suppose that the Romans should not haue beleeued and should haue treated to destroy them he that raysed vp the dead was not he of power to resist the power of the Romans One Iudith triumphed ouer Nebuchadnezzar One Elisha blinded those of Syria and led them into Samaria One Elias consumed with fire Ahabs Quinquagenarian Captaines and their souldiers And none of all these had the like power to that of our Sauiour Christ. Besides these vaine discourses they had another no lesse blind and impious If we kill him the Romans will not come It being rather an assured truth that they would come onely vpon this as it was foretold by Daniel The Messias shall bee slain and the people of the Prince that shal come shall destroy the City and the Sanctuary Had they not put our Sauiour Christ to death Ierusalem had stood and continued but hauing put him to death there shall not be one stone left vpon another Simeon and Leui brethren in euill Into their secrets let not my soule come for in their wrath they slew a man and in their selfe-will they digged downe a wall It was Iacobs prophesie against his two sonnes Simeon and Leui of whom these Pharisees did descend as it is noted by Nicholas de Lyra. Let not my soule enter into their Councell for in their wrath they kill'd a man and digg'd downe a wall All which was but a signification of their killing of our Sauiour Christ and throwing the walls of Ierusalem downe to the ground Murus ante murale Christ was the bulwarke to this wall So Esay stiles him This Councell made their Country desolate For Titus and Vespasian had not otherwise beene of power to destroy it but the Priests and the Pharisees fearfull of their euill destroyed the fountaine of all goodnesse The Romans will come Great is the torment which a soule suffereth being placed betwixt two extreames Susanna betwixt the feare of God and the feare of the Iudges of Babylon a damsell betwixt pouertie and the pursuit of a rich wanton If I consent I loose God if not I perish for want of
put Lazarus to death This their rage and furie can not bee sufficiently indeered Esay saith Wee roare all like beares and mourne like doues These are both extreames The Beare is a very furious beast the Doue very mild and gentle the one doth shake the mountaines with his roarings the other scarce throbs forth her mournings from her brest the one if you rob her of her young ones is all rage and fiercenesse it selfe Like a Beare robbed of her Whelpes the other is softnesse and gentlenesse it selfe who if you take away her young vseth no other resistance but mourning and a soft murmuring and therefore Osee saith that she hath no heart It was noted of this people That they were like doues that mourned with their friends but like furious beares towards their enemies What greater furie than to seeke to kill Lazarus What madnesse more notorious Marsilius Ficinus saith That there is a twofold madnesse One of the braine The other of the heart The one long the other short The one makes men madd the other angry Aulus Gellius reporteth of the Sclauonians That when they are angrie they kill like the Basiliske with their verie lookes Ecclesiasticus saith That Enuie and Wrath shorten the life and bring age before the time Salomon saith That three things mooue the earth and that the fourth is not to be endured pointing out the fourth to bee a Slaue that is made his Masters heyre for a Slaue being seated in honour growes to be so insolent that it is a thing insufferable Better may this bee verified of the appetite which being a Slaue if it once through wrath rebell against reason it treads it vnder foot captiuates it and ill intreates it Because that for his sake many of the Iewes went away and beleeued in Iesus One of the greatest miseries that can befall a soule is To make good the occasion of ill As one of the greatest pledges of Gods loue is to take occasion from ill to doe good so one of the greatest pledges of malice is to take occasion from good to doe ill God gaue vnto the children of Israel the gold and siluer of the Egyptians whether it were in requitall and payment of their troubles or that he was Lord of all and so might dispose thereof as hee listed and of this gold and siluer they afterwards made a calfe giuing thereunto that glorie and worship which was due onely vnto God Osee saith they did the like with Baal I multiplyed their siluer and gold which they bestowed vpon Baall God gaue them a brazen Serpent to the end that by looking thereon they might be healed of the bitings of the Serpents From this fauour they tooke occasion to commit Idolatrie offering incense thereunto as vnto God till such time as Ezechias brake it in peeces God doth proceede by contrary courses From Adams sinne he tooke occasion to redeeme the world and as it seemeth to Saint Augustine if Adam had not sinned God had not come in person to redeeme him And Saint Gregory calls it Foelix peccatum A happy sinne because it brought with it so soueraigne a Redeemer And in many other occasions we may say that of a sinner which Esay saith Recepit de manu domini duplicia pro omnibus peccatis suis. And that which Dauid saith ofan vngratefull people Pro iniquitate vide tentoria Aethiopiae Hee there summes vp the many and great fauours which he had receiued and in euery one of them we shall find pro iniquitate They consulted to put Lazarus to death The blanke and marke whereat they shot was to darken and eclypse the name of our Sauiour Christ and to cast a cloud ouer that glory which could not possibly but shew it selfe in seeing Lazarus to be raised vp from death vnto life This dammage the Lord did repaire with two great honours The first That most solemne triumph wherewith they receiued him wherof we shall treat hereafter The second of certaine Gentiles which came according to the custome to the feast Leo the Pope saith That the Romans made a religion of it to adore the seuerall gods of all Nations and therefore they intreated Saint Philip that he would be a meanes that they might haue a sight of our Sauiour Christ and that they might bee admitted to speake with him Saint Philip communicated this matter with Saint Andrew and they both acquainted our Sauiour therewith And Iesus answered The houre is now come that the Sonne of man shall bee made manifest The Apostles did not vnderstand the mysterie thereof but our Sauiour Christ tooke that his comming to be the despertador de su muerte the awaker and reuiuer of his death For although he imployed both his life and his person in Israel yet his death was to draw the Gentiles to his knowledg and obedience And these Gentiles being so desirous to see him and to talke with him taking this to be the Vigile of his death and vocation of the Gentiles Hee told them Now is the houre come wherein the Son of man is to be glorified not onely amongst the Iewes but the Gentiles also Hee calls his death his glorification For albeit to dye be weakenesse yet to dye as Christ dyed was vnspeakeable valour and vertue Hee neuer shewed himselfe more strong than when hee was most weake and neuer lookt sweeter than when death was in his face Hee had hornes comming out of his hands And there was the hiding of his power Those hands which were nayled to those armes of the Crosse were those hornes wherewith hee ouerthrew the power of the world and of hell Iacob said of Simeon and Leui at the houre of his death In their selfe-will they digged downe a wall which the Seuentie translate thus Eneruauerunt taurum They weakened a Bull By this bull vnderstanding our Sauiour Christ. First for it's beautie Quasi primogeniti tauri pulchritudo eius His beauty shall be like his first borne bullocke Secondly For that as the bulls strength lyes in his hornes so did Christ discouer his strength vpon the Crosse Ibi abscondita est fortitudo eius Thirdly because according vnto Pliny the Bull looseth his fiercenesse when hee but sees the shadow of the Figge-tree And our Sauiour Christ shewed himselfe most weake when hee saw the shadow of the Crosse desiring pardon then of his Father for his enemies who like dogges against a Bull had with open mouth set themselues against him Many dogs are come about mee But hee repayd though not allayd their rage with this so louing and so sweet a prayer Father forgiue them c. The Pharisees seeing themselues thus mockt and deluded and that their plots and intentions tooke not effect they brake foorth and sayd Perceiue yee not how we preuaile nothing and how that the world goeth after him And albeit Saint Chrysostome saith That these speeches were vttered by his friends thereby to persuade the Pharisees that
of his loue why God did not say vnto him I now know that thou louest God The reason is That when a iust man comes to the top and heigth of his loue he may presume of himselfe that he hath then begun to loue And for that feare is the first step to loue he sayd Nunc cognoui quod timeas c. By the whole drift of this discourse that conclusion of Ecclesiasticus remaineth cleere Lift not thy selfe vp in the thought of thy soule like the Bull. Let not thy thoughts and hopes make thee doe the things that are vaine and foolish Hee instances in the bull an vntamed beast which doth not acknowledge heauen Why wilt thou leaue thy leafes and thy fruit and remaine like a dotard in the desart Iob saith If he layd folly on his Angels how much more on them that liue in houses of clay If in the purest steele he found rust and in the finest cloth the Moth c. S. Augustine saith Nullum peccatum facit homo quod non possit facere alter homo si desit rector per quem factus est homo Man doth not commit that sinne which another may not âoe if that Ruler doe not direct man by whom man is made The second occasion on Peters part was the Pallace of Caiphas Saint Ambrose saith That Peter comming to warme himselfe at the Pallace came to denie the truth For where Truth it selfe was taken prisoner he had need of a great deale of courage that should not incline to a lye Aeneas Syluius reporteth That Fredericke Archduke of Austria would goe a nights disguised through the Tauerns and Victualing houses belonging to the Court only to heare what they sayd of himselfe and his Ministers being demanded why he did expose his person to that perill his answer was Because in Court they neuer tell truth Plutarch recounteth of King Antiochus That hauing lost himselfe a hunting hee lighted vpon a Cottage where were a companie of shepheards and asking them being at supper What the world said of the King and his Ministers The King said they hath the report of a good honest gentleman but that the State was neuer worse gouerned than now for it is serued by the greediest and the gripingest Ministers that were in the world and when he came backe againe to Court he told those that were about him Since I first tooke possession of this my Kingdome I neuer heard the truth of things till yesterday Amongst foure hundred Prophets which Ahab consulted onely hee met with one that would not lye vnto him and the King hated him for telling him the truth Saint Ambrose calls the Pallace Basilica deriuing it from the Basiliske which kills with it's looke Of this creature Aelian saith That he vomiteth forth his poyson vpon a stone And it fits well for Peter whom our Sauiour Christ termed Petram vpon whom the diuell whom the Scripture stiles a Basiliske vomited foorth his poyson Our Sauiour Christ receiued much kindnesse and courtesie in the house of Martha of Zacheus and the Pharisee but in Herods Pallace they made a foole of him In that of Pilat they whipt him and crowned him with thornes and in that of Caiphas he receiued so many affronts that God onely knowes what they were according to that which Dauid said in his name Tu scis impropirum meum confusionem meam The third occasion was That hee would enter into the Pallace by being brought in by the hands of a woman Saint Bernard saith Si infidelitas intrat quid mirum si infideliter agat Maximus Tirronensis saith That Peters sinne was much like vnto that of Adam there being imployed in both of them a man a woman and a diuell Adam had a warning not to eate Peter not to denie Eue was the occasion that Adam did eate and Cayphas maid-seruant that Peter did denie In a word a woman was the instrument of all our deaths and threw downe to the ground those two Columbs and pillars of the world but Peters fall was the fouler for Eue proceeded with inticements and flatteries and Adam suffered himselfe to be ouercome Ne contristaret delitias Lest he should grieue his Loue. But this woman saith Saint Augustine proceeded with threatnings now a woman is very powerfull in matter of allurements inticings dalliance and deceiuing through profession of loue but in matter of feare as Saint Gregorie hath obserued shee is very weake A woman triumphed ouer Sampson Dauid Salomon Sisera and Holophernes by making loue and vsing deceit but here a maid with only a bunch of keyes hanging at her girdle triumphed ouer Peter by feare The fourth occasion was Saint Peters offering to thrust into the Pallace Ioseph could not auoid the occasion because his Mistresse called him vnto her Dauid did cast his eye aside by chance but Peter did seeke occasion And he that loues anger shall perish by it He doth not say He that loues warre or victorie but he that loues danger Many of the children of Israel did cut off the thumbs from their fingers because they would excuse themselues from prophanation by singing the songs of Sion and being importuned thereunto Sing vnto vs one of the songs of Sion They answered How shall we sing one of the Lords songs in a strange land c. Osee saith Non vocabis me vltra Baalim sed vocabis me vir meus Baalim is the same as Vir meus But because there was an Idol that was called Baalim God said Doe not call me Baalim to the end that no man may presume that thou yet bearest Baalim still in thy mind or for to take all occasion from thee of thinking thereof any more On Gods part there are likewise very good reasons The first shall be of Saint Gregorie Saint Peter being to bee a Pastor it was fit that he should fall into so foule a fault least that afterwards he should be scandalized by other mens offences and carry too sharpe and hard a hand towards sinners Saint Augustine touches vpon the same reason in his bookes de Ciuitate Dei persuading the Bishops of Galilea That Clemencie should sway more with them than seueritie loue than power softnesse than sharpnesse for there is no man that liues without sinne And if our Sauiour Christ should haue censured Peter after his first deniall he would not haue reapt from thence so much fruit as now he did The second shall be of Saint August who sayes That it is a wholesomâ medicine for a proud man to suffer him to fall into some grieuous and manifest sinne to the end that the foulenesse of that fault may abate his pride Saint Peter was so peremptorie and so presumptuous that he did presse this point with such a deale of confidence and boldnesse that he told his Master Though that all men shall be offended by thee yet will I neuer bee offended And Christ then telling him that hee should denie him thrice
that he did him and the great reward hee bestowed vpon him Amongst other Motiues the first shall be the Title of the Crosse Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iewes It was prophesied That his Kingdome should take it's beginning from the Crosse Dominus regnabit à ligno The Iewes did secretly honour the word à ligno The Saints did openly reuerence it Christ had giuen great pledges in his birth that hee was à King by Angels Shepheards and Kings In his life by the obedience of all sorts of creatures Who is this whom the winds and seas obey By the voices of the Diuells themselues by the whips of the Temple and by his last Supper Here bee some standing here which shall not taste of death vntill c. In his passion My kingdome is not of this world and ye shall see the Son of man comming in power But in his death hee gaue farre greater pledges All the creatures gaue testimonie of their Creator The diuels cried out so sayes Eusebius Caesariensis Pan magnus interijt And howbeit on Pilats and the peoples part the Title of the Crosse was placed there in scoffe and scorne of him yet the diuine prouidence made vse of these liuing instruments And as in the creation he walked on the waters so in the reparation of mankind he passed through punishments and paines of our Sauiour Christ making their iests turne to earnest The same consideration being likewise to be had concerning the Crowne the Scepter and the Robe of purple which in derision they put vpon him c. Hilarie and Bonauenture both say That our Sauiour Christs Patience was one great Motiue In heauen the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost beare witnesse In earth the Holy Ghost Water and Blood All these testimonies proue the Diuinitie of Christ. But to let passe those of heauen The Holy Ghost doth prooue that hee was a Diuine person whose voyce was so powerfull when the Spirit tooke his leaue of his body that it forced the Centurion to say Vere filius Dei erat iste Truely this man was the Son of God The Water which was miraculous prooues that he was a Diuine person for it is not possible that water should naturally flowe from a dead body The Blood that prooues it not onely in regard of it's muchnesse but that it was shed with so much patience For though his wounds were many and his torments great yet like a sheepe before the Shearer he neuer once opened his mouth or shew'd the least resistance And Euthymius and Theophylact adde That the prayer which he heard him make to his Father Father forgiue them which was the first that he vttered on the Crosse did worke that amasement in this theefe That he said with himselfe Sure this is no man And thereupon began to haue an assured hope of the forgiuenesse of his sinnes For thought he he that is so desirous to pardon those that had vsed him so cruelly not onely tormenting him in his body but also scoffing and flouting at him to vexe if it were possible his soule will surely farre more willingly pardon me who being heartily sorry for my sinnes desire to become his seruant I haue heard that the Kings of Israel are mercifull but none of them all had so generous and free a heart as our Sauiour Christ. Tertullian saith That hee came into the world for to shew himselfe a God in his suffering making Patience the badge and marke of his Diuinitie And that the power which he shewed in pardoning being so great much greater was that which hee shewed in suffering It was much that he should suffer for man much more in that he suffered for man when as man would not suffer him to be God To admit a Traytour to his boord to bid him welcome to feast him and make much of him that finding himselfe so kindly vsed he may make him surcease from his plotted treasons winning him vnto him by these and the like courtesies well may a man doe this but that God should admit a Iudas to his table that he should eate with God God witting That he would goe from the table to execute his treason to sell God and to deliuer him vp into the hands of his enemies onely God and his patience could suffer so great an iniurie which made Saint Augustine to say A potentia discimus patientiam S. Chrysostome Origen and S. Ierome are or opinion That the alteration of the sunne and the elements wrought the same effect vpon the theefe as it did vpon Dyonisius in Athens when he cryed out Either the world is at an end or this man is God Vincent Ferrariensis saith That the shadow of our Sauiour Christ did inlighten this Theefe And that the shadow of Saint Peter healing bodies it was not much that the shadow of Christ should heale soules Whereunto may be applyed that of Dauid Thou hast shadowed my head in the day of battaile Petrus Damianus saith That the blessed Virgin might bee a meanes of this Theeues Conuersion by intreating her sonne that he would be pleased to open the eyes of his soule Whether she were mooued thereunto because the good theefe did not reuile Christ or whether which Saint Augustine reports though some attribute the same to Anselmus That in her iourney to Aegypt hee being Captaine of the Theeues did the blessed Virgin many good seruices being much taken with the prettinesse of the child and the sober and modest countenance of the mother sure I am that it was a happines so sole in the world consisting of such strange circumstances That no man did or euer shall enioy the like good lucke And as we cannot expect a second death of our Sauiour Christ so such a second happy incounter as this was cannot bee hoped for This Theefe came in that good time when as heauen did shoure downe mercies when there was a plenary Indulgence and Iubilee granted when God did poure forth the balme of his Blood for to ransome man when the doores of heauen and the wounds of Christ were equally open when the fountaine of liuing water did cry out in the middest of the world If any man thirst let him come vnto mee and drinke when our Sauiour had such a longing desire to see the fruit of his labors and sweats when he had put that petition to his Father which began with Ignosce illis Forgiue them And it seeming vnto him That his Father was too slow in granting his request he did thus pittifully complaine vnto him O my God my God why hast thou forsaken me Why came I into the world Why was I borne in pouertie liued in labour and dyed in sorrow What Haue I laboured then in vaine Secondly it was his happinesse as Saint Gregory Nissen hath obserued That he inioyed our Sauiour Christs side and his shadow that he was so close vnder his wing He that sayles in a little Barke with a
necessary 148 What we are to demand in prayer ibid. Importunitie in prayer pleasing to God 151 We must pray discreetly 157 Not with the tongue onely 370 Sicke patients may pray but not prescribe 45 Heartlesse prayers like soundlesseinstruments 501 Our prayers must not be long but strong ibid. Pride Presumption What kind of sinne 7 Mans presumption 230 The bane of the Soule 257 Neuer vnpunished 609 610 Princes See Magistrates Should regard their people 216 They little respect honest seruices 541 Profit Priuat profit regarded of euerie one 418 Prosperitie Alwayes enuied 182 Finds Freinds Aduersitie none 198 Worldly prosperity can follow no man farther than the graue 243 No sure token of Gods loue 376 The Soules bane ibid. Prouidence Distrust of Gods prouidence the cause of much euill 438 It reacheth alwayes to the preseruation of his children 563 Punishments See Chastisement Gods different from those of earthly Princes 109 He proportions them to our sinnes 102 He vseth them onely for preseruation 168 249 261 486 and yet many times prolongs them ibid. 332 We are punishable euen for our thoughts 169 The lesse wee are punished here the worse our estate 179 God labors to conceale both his Rewards and Punishments 190 207 Princes haue a threefold end in punishing 247 Great punishments not bee inflicted without great consideration 267 Gods punishments of two sorts 268 R Recreations LAwfull if moderate 10 Necessarie 428 Redemption Christ tooke great paines for it was at much cost 391 The greatnesse of it may be seene by the greatnesse of Christs shame 553 Reformation Mens reformations wherein differing from those of God 271 Religion Sinne neuer more odious than when masked with Religion 40 Mans wantonnesse in matters of Religion 122 The dishonor of Christians is to differ in Religion 298 No cost more tedious to man than that which is bestowed vpon Religion 431 Religion must not be guided by policie but contrary 594 Repentance How it is to be framed 9 The Niniuites Repantance 140 It is neuer to be delayed 10 141 624 A patterne of it 177 c. What may cause it 281 Two things required of euery true penitent 293 We must hasten it 382 484 Humilitie Obedience Faith required thereunto 484 The nature of it 486 Gods goodnes towards the truly penitent 508 Of Maries Repentance 574 Reprobation Neuer discouered to any 207 Gods prescience not the cause of it ibid. Reproches Christ more sensible of them than any other iniuries 535 Reproofes Not alwayes in seison 297 Brotherly correction is to haue place euerie where 334 He that would reprooue another must correct himselfe 338 Reproofe when to be vsed 339 c. how ibid. They must be priuat 343 We must not refuse to reprooued 348 To reprooue a sinner is the best seruice we can doe to God 350 The most faulty euer most ready to reprooue 399 424 Sharpe reproofes worke weake effects 590 Resurrection Christs Resurrection the greatest Myracle 128 c. 460 That his Death two Mysteries discouering all Gods Attributes 459 Reuenge Belongs onely to God 43 46 342 In man a symptome of cowardise 538 Riches Their vanitie 21 How they may be sought 22 Not so much respected of God as pouertie 30 They may be possessed but not desired 233 Vsually accompanied with Pride and Cruelty 239 Righteous They are the strength of the land in which they soiourne 426 God allowes them not Bread for nothing 63 Sensible of Gods wrongs 74 Very rare 544 545 Secure in all Stormes because God is with them 67 They long after the day of Iudgement 99 Called Sheepe and Lambes and why 154 They reioyce in afflictions why 185 396.566 Despicable without but âich within 188 Mindfull of Gods seruice not of their owne 502 So likewise of his iniuries not their owne 503 Riuers Three in this World 405 S Sacrament See Communion Sacrifice The greatnesse of the Iewish sacrifices 105 Saluation Diuersly sought after by Christians 325 Scribes and Pharisees Their austerity and hypocrisie 112 210 Their office ibid. Scripture Neuer to be searched vnto the depth 45 Scorning A vice particular to the Iewes 116 Securitie A dangerous state 532 Sermons Ought to sauour more of salt than sugar 124 Seruants How to behaue themselues towards their Masters 25 c. Seruice If good a sure motiue to draw on a recompence 29 Little regarded of earthly Princes 541 God must be serued before Man ibid. It is bad seruice to share in other mens sinnes ibid. Sheepe Gods children why so called 154 Sinne. Not feared of Men but only for the suffering 70 All sinnes not punished alike 101 170 Sinne vndermines the Soule by degrees 128 It drawes destruction after it 135 Occasions of sinne must be auoided 147 181 515 611 The foulenesse of sinne 204 372 575 It is the cause of all miserie 205 279 478 589 Desirous to doe more than it is able ibid. God not the author of it 208 Wee must not iudge of a mans sinfulnesse by his sufferings 589 They alwayes goe by sholes 264 The lesser euer punished by the greater ibid. Sin causeth the translation of Kingdomes 270 Sinne seperates Man from God and from himselfe 280 c. 511 Hard to be remoued 285 378 Of all other things most hurtfull to man 305 It driues vs farre from God 331 A monster and why 334 The sinne of Cain greater than that of Adam 603 The leauing of sinne a sure marke of Predestination 400 It is euer attended on by shame 410 Growes loathsome through satietie ibid. Foure principles concerning the secrecie of sin 415 It will discouer it selfe ibid Nothing so terrible to man as the sight of his sinnes 422 'T is onely for sinne that God forsakes vs. 427 Sinne it selfe a scourge to the sinner 453 Old sinnes must be strongly reprooued 456 Sinne the onely securitie that God could haue from man for his glorie 480 Sinne is death it selfe 497 It should be our Slaue 502 It so alters a man that God cannot know him 511 Custome in Sinne whereunto compared 513 Old Sinnes hardly cured ibid. Sinne makes the most valiant man a coward 525 No man free from it ibid. Wee may not dally with it 575 Relapses into it dangerous 577 Let vs eye our Sinnes and God will not ibid. Why God suffers his children many times to fall into Sinne. 611 Sinner To Sinners all things worke together for the worst 131 Their societie must be auoided 181 No Sinner but is sometimes touched 204 Desperate Sinners why suffered to liue long 240 Sinners Slaues to their sinnes 265 Vsually taken in their owne snares ibid. They loue not to be checkt 273 Their miserable estate 279 Whereunto compared 279 Their posture 280 Foure differences betwixt a just man and a sinner 354 Two sorts of sinners 367 We must neuer despaire of their conuersion 399 Alwayes ready to disguise excuse their sins 595 Better to suffer with the Saints than to be dignified with Sinners 500 Dead Lazarus the embleme of a
building Circumstances of Time and Place in Holy Writ of great significancie Ierem. 6. 2. Mac. 1.18 The feast of Fire Leuit. 6.13 Zach. 14 6. God wil helpe those that flie for him but not from him PeniteÌce compared to a Storme Prou. 30. Christ omits no meanes euen to reclaim the Reprobatâ if it might be Exod. 3. 1. Cor. 15. God did his greatest works always on the Sunday God will haue his Temples honoured Lost is that Common-wealth in which Magistrates and their Ministers are both faulty Luk. 23. God will not suffer his children to fall into the hands of the vngodly Eccl. 21.9 Entry of all sin the worst and hardest to be cared Men are euer ready to vnburthen themselues of their miseries Esay 63. Gen. 3. The subteltie of the Iewes in circumuenting our Sauiour Psal. 19. The Iewes wanted nothing to make them beleeue but a willingnes to beleeue 1. Iohn 5.7 Ioâ â 39 Act. 10.43 Mat. 11. Why our Sauiour would prooue his Diuinitie by no other testimonie than his works Mat. â1 A true Christian glorieth in nothing more than in his sufferings for Christ. Hot fierie Spirits vnfit for the Ministery Gen. 4. Deut. 28.65 66 67. No torture to a guilty conscience Psal. 85. The vngratefulnesse of mans nature Foure faire mothers that euer bring forth foule children Psal. 106. The Circumstances of Maries perdition The sin of dishonestâe hath two pâoperties (1.) It sticks of all others the closest to the Soule Gen. 6. 3. Reg. 11. (2.) It bliââs the VnderstaÌding The force of Beautie âosea 7. Adultry compared to a heated Ouen Gods glorie greater in our conuersion than creation Psal. 108. To conuert a sinner is a worke of wondrous difficultie in regard of mans peruersnesse Zachar. 14. The iustification of a sinner set out by diuers apt similitudes Esay 44. Eccles. 3.16 Prou. 30. Woman the hieroglyphike of weaknes Prou. 30. Maries conuersion affordeth hope to the most desperate sinners Osee 2. Of Maries repentance The foulenes of sinne We may dally with the sicknes of the bodiâ not of the soule The fairenes of vertue Psal. 78. Good occasions must be embraced with speed Cant. 5.4 Ier. 3. Relapses into sin are dangerous God will neuer eâe our sins if we wil eye them our selues The way to flie from God is to flie vnto him The office of the Eye Teaâes worke two effeââs Teares sometimes denied vs for our punishment Teares for sin must neuer haue an end Teares the delight of a Penitent Psal. 14â What is meant by waters aboue the heauens 3. Reg. 10. Deepe sorrow wants a tongue Why Christ should not suffer his Apostles to wash his feet when he had washed theirs Gen. 22. Cont. 9.4 The Haire hurtfull vnto many Maries entertainement of our Sauiour expressed in two things The nature of a Prophet should be rather sweet than sharpâ True zeale neuer disheartneth but encourageth the weake God in a moment can make of a sinner a Saint The efficacie of penitentiall teares 2. Reg. 19. To Christ they are more sauourie than wine The reason of the demand Christ euer ready to forgiue sinners Sathan can do little without vs. Gal. 5. Esay 67. Iob 41. The wicked haue a league no loue The world consisteth of nothing but opposition Exod. 18. Good counsell a pretious Genâme Gal. 2. Ill counsell produceth ill effects Eccl. 2. Exod. 1.8 2 Mac. 4. Psal 2. Exod 17. As the iust hunger and thirst after right so doe the wicked after bloud Sap. 3. Ieremie Caât 2. Sharpe reproofes work sweet effects Wickednes is meere folishnesse Gen. 37. Philip. 3. Esay 53. Dan. 9. Gen. 49. Iud. 5. Ier. 44. Priuat interest must giue way to the generall good Exod. 33. 4. Reg. 10. 1. Reg. 18. Luk. 3. Mat. 26. The same words out of diuers mouths may be diuersly relished Rom. 8. Mat. 26. Act. 19. Iob 10. Preparation against death necessarie Iob 30. God the onely Lord of all Apoc. 19. Deut. 32. Ill Rulers sent by God to punâsh the people 3. Reg. 10. Four estates of a child and whereunto alluding The Iewes were murderers of all Gods Saints Esay 59. A twofold madnesse Eccl. 30. To take occasion from good to do ill is hellish malice Osee 2. 4. Reg. 18. Christs death his glorification Abacuc 3. Christ why called a Bull. Deut 33. Psal. 32. Act. 5. Two opinions concernâng Peters deniall Mar. 16. Luk. 22. How Peter may be said to haue lost his faith Of Peters Fall The occasions of it Maâ 23. 3. Reg. 20. Gen. 31. God not called the God of any man while he liueth Iob 4. Truths seldome heard in Princes Courts 3. Reg. 22. S. Peters sinne like that of Adam Man bya sight of his owne weaknesse is taught to pity an others Reasons why Christ suffered Peter to deny him Mât. 26. Peter more iniurious to Christ than all his enemies Psal. 142. ãâã â 12 The power of Christs eyes Psal. 114. The efficacie of Teares Eccl. 3. Cant 1. 1. Cor. 10. Mat. 3. Exod. 32. Dan. 1â Act 4. Psal. 2. Heb. Esay 43. Iob 58. Iob 38.22 Mat. 24. The nature of Hope and Feaâe Gen. 49. Iude. Num. 33. Sathans practise to depriue Iob of Hope Gen. 4. Motiues iuducing the theefe to his conuersion Ioâ 5. Mar. 15. Patience the badge of Christs Diuinitie The Crosse is heauens Key 3. Reg. 2. Repentance must not be delayed Man is nothing but as God remembers him Two definitiâons of man Gen. 15. Isay 6. Exod. 5. Mat. 17. No more was his Hope Psal. 4. The glorie of the heauenly Paradise Mar 9. Esterâ His reward exceeds our requests Christ neuer counted any thing his but our happines Esay 55. Gen. 2. No loue like to that of our Sauiour towards vs. Three kinds of friendship Iudas banished out of the world all Vertââ Loue and Feare Loue triumphed euen ouer God himselfe Gen. 41.44 No humilitie like our Sauiours God hath two houses The holy Sacrament not to be receiued but with a great deale of preparation No preparation sufficient for the Holy Supper Christs Humilitie the character of his Loue. Our Sauiours art in gaining of wretched Man Affliction alters the verie forme of Man Cant. 5. Hier. 29. Esay 43. Psal. 21. Chââst on the Crosse the only obâect of Admiâation Iob. 1â Luke 23. Pilat pronounced the sentence of death against Christ. Pilat a cowardly Iudge Cap. Testes q. 3. Leg. Vaius §. de quaest Testium vltro accusandi non est credendum Feare and Iealousie spurred vp the Iewes to crucifie Christ. Mount Caluarie why so called Christ suffered in the midst of the world Psal. 74.12 Ezech 5. Christs nayling the cruellest part of his Passion Two reasons proouing him more sensible of this torment than any other Zachar. 12. Euery part of Christ affords a sinner confidence Christs Deitie more concealed at his death than any time before Malice is euer it 's own foe Coloss. 2. The difference betwixt our Sauiourâ triumph and those of Men. Exod. 14. Esay 63.
scorner loueth not him that rebuketh him neither will he goe vnto the wise Agreeing with that of Amos They haue hated him that rebuked in the gate and they abhorred him that speaketh vprightly Another cause of this their cruell determination for to throw him downe from the rock was as wel their Enuie as their Anger Enuie she sayd Do not you see how this Carpenter boasts himselfe Nonne hic est faber filius fabri sorores eius apud nos sunt Anger shee said Cast him downe headlong from the Pulpit or plucke him out of Moses Chaire for a blaspheamer by head and eares for that he goes about to make himselfe our Messias and our King A brace of fierce beasts I assure you Enuie first opened the doore to all those euils that are in the world By the Deuils enuie death entred into the world and by death a troupe of miseries For although the Deuill were the Author thereof yet did Enuy put spurs to his heeles The Trojan Horse was not that which did so much harme to Troy as that Graecian who inuented this stratagem Onely this one good Enuie bringeth with it That it prooues it's owners Hangman And for this reason Saint Augustine compares the Enuious to the Vipers who gnaw out the bowells of those that bred them And Saint Chrysostome That it is a lesser euill to haue a Serpent in our bosome than Enuie for that was a curable hurt but that of Enuie is not so Ouid in his Metamorphosis paints forth Enuies house and the qualities belonging to her person Her house is seated in a very low bottome whereunto the beames of the Sunne neuer come no light no ayre no wind for the enuious man hath not any thing on earth wherein to take comfort being therin like vnto those that are condemned to the pit of hel The qualities appertaining to her person is sadnes of countenance heauines of the eyes bitternesse of heart venimousnesse of tongue veines without bloud she loues solitude shunnes the light knowes no law nor does no right shee weepes when others laugh In a word she is Pestis mundi porta mortis the plague of the world the doore of Death the murtherer of Vertue the pit of Ignorance and the hell of the Soule And Anger is no lesse fierce a beast than Enuie Of whom Ecclesiasticus saith That as Mildenesse resideth in the bosome of the Wise so Anger abideth in the brest of the Foole. Who but a Foole saith Plutarch can suffer a cole to lie in his bosome Let not the Sunne goe downe vpon your wrath neither giue place vnto the Deuill He that goes to bed in anger inuites the Deuill to be his bedfellow There is not any vice that giues him so free an entrance nor puts him into a more generall possession of our soules for there is not that mischiefe which is not hammered and wrought in the forge of an angrie mans brest A stone is heauie and the sand weightie but a fooles wrath is heauier than them both Seneca saith That as humane industrie doth tame the fiercest beasts as the Lyon the Tygre and the Elephant so ought it to tame Anger Now to say Which of these two furies is the fiercest is not so easie a thing to be decided For if Enuie be kindled vpon light occasions as that little short Song which the Dames of Hierusalem sung in Dauids commendation if it be so large sighted that our neighbours fields of Corne and his flockes of Sheepe seeme better and bigger than our owne Iosephs partie coloured Coate seeming better to his bretheren than those Sheepeheards mantles wherewith themselues were clad if it be the vice of little children Parvulum occidi inuidia What shall wee say then to the impetuousnesse of Anger and the violence of Wrath Or who is able to withstand it's rage Anger is cruell and wrath is raging saith Salomon but he concludes with this short come-off Who can stand before Enuie Who will oppose himselfe to the violent and swift torrent of a Riuer that sweepes all before it Such a thing is Anger for the time it lasteth but that will slacke againe of it selfe as your Spring-tydes fall backe againe into their owne beds But Enuie will not so soone shift her foot she wil abide by it and neuer giue ouer And Saint Cyprian renders the reason of it Quia non habet terminum it is not to be limitted but like a Worme or a Canker by little and little rotteth and consumeth the bones Salomon calls it Putredo ossium But Anger is a thunderbolt that strikes a man dead on the sudden so sayth Seneca And if Saint Augustine terme Enuie a plague and if another great Phylosopher call it Monstrum monstrorum the Monster of monsters and the most venimous Vipar vpon earth Saint Chrysostome here on the other side saith That the Deuill being in mans bosome is lesse hurtfull than Anger Much hath beene spoken of Enuie and much of Anger and that ill cannot be said of the one which may not be affirmed of the other So that this proposed doubt Which is the worst Beast of the two may remaine for a probleme which let others resolue for I cannot But which makes fit for our purpose beeing both such fierce Beasts as we haue deliuered vnto you they did both conspire against our Sauiour Christ leading him here to the edge of a hill whereon their Citie was built to cast him downe headlong and afterwards neuer leaft persecuting him til they had nailed him to the Crosse. And they cast him out of the Synagogue c. Aristotle saith That Man gouerning himselfe according to the Lawes and rules of Reason is of all other Creatures the most perfect or to speake more properly the King of all other liuing Creatures but if he shut his eyes and wil not see reason he is more fierce and cruell than all of them put together The reason is because other creatures neuer passe beyond the bounds of their fiercenesse and crueltie receiue they neuer so much wrong Incursus suos transire non queunt Which as Seneca saith is for want of discourse But man who hath Vnderstanding for his weapon is able to inuent such strange cruelties that may exceed the fiercenesse of the fiercest beasts Nor is this any great indeering of the busines for both Bede Ambrose say vpon this place That the Nazarites were worse than the Deuil the deuill lead our Sauiour Christ vp to the top of the pinacle of the Temple those of Nazareth to the edge of the hill on the side or skirt whereof their city was built The Deuill did onely persuade him to cast himselfe downe from thence but the Nazarites would haue done this by force These saith Ambrose were the Deuills Disciples but farre worse than their Master Saint Paul saith That there are some men that inuent new mischiefes Inuentores malorum And the deuill being the vniuersall Inuenter of all
our ill the Sinner that inuents new mischiefes doth outreach the Deuill and goes beyond him And questionlesse in not passing the bounds of Gods diuine will and Empire the Deuill is more moderate than Man For the Deuill askt leaue of God for to tempt Iob but Man will not be so respectfull as to aske his leaue but will not sticke to kill thousands of men without licence Bonauenture saith That they thrust him out of the Citie for a blasphemer for proclaiming himselfe to bee the Messias It is commanded in Leuiticus That the Blasphemer should be carried forth of the Citie and bee stoned to death And therefore our Sauiour Christ extra portam passus est suffred without the gate and Saint Stephen was stoned without the Citie And our Sauiour had no sooner said in the presence of Caiphas Amodo c. Henceforth shall yee see the Sonne of Man comming in the clouds of Heauen but the Iewes presently cried out Blasphemauit He hath blasphemed So likewise our Sauior expounding that prophecie of Esay the Nazarites might also take occasion to say Blasphemauit And this their offering to throw him downe from the edge of the hill doth no way contradict their stoning of him for they might haue done that after they had thrust him downe dealing by him as Saint Hierome reports Saint Iames whom they call our Sauiours brother was dealt withall they first threw him downe from the Rocke and afterwards cut off his head To cast him headlong downe c. Methinkes it seemeth somewhat strange vnto me That our Sauiour should come down from Heauen to Nazareth for to giue life vnto men and that Nazareth should seeke to tumble him downe thereby to worke his death That with the losse of his owne life and the price of his most pretious bloud hee should redeeme them from death and that they in this vnthankefull and vnciuile manner should goe about to take away his life O vngratefull People God was not willing to bestow any miracles on them who would not entertaine so great a miracle God vseth to requite the thankes of one fauour with conferring another greater than the former So doth Saint Bernard expound that place of the Canticles He made his left hand my pillow and I doubt not but he will hug and embrace me with his right hand For I shal shew my selfe so thankefull for the one that my Spouse will vouchsafe to affoord me the other But those courtesies which Nazareth had receiued they so ill requited that euen to the houre of his death none did our Sauior Christ greater iniurie Nay in some sort this their wrong was greater than that which Hierusalem did him for this Citie treating of the death of our Sauiour did obserue some forme of Iudgement and onely the Ministers of Iustice had their hands in it but Nazareth in a most furious manner like the common people when they are in a mutinie hasted vp to the edge of the hill to throw him downe headlong contrarie to all Law and Iustice. In Hierusalem there were some that did not consent vnto his death but in Nazareth all of them conspired against him Omnes in Synagoga repleti suntira All that were in the Synagogue were filled with anger and that on the Sabboth day when it was not lawfull for them to gather stickes and make a fire c. But he passed through the middest of them and went his way The common receiued opinion is That he made himselfe inuisible to them and so got from them leauing their will and determination deluded Saint Ambrose and Beââ say That he turned their hearts Cor Regis in manu Domini quo voluerit c. The heart of the King is in the hand of the Lord and hee turneth it c. Like vnto those Officers of the Scribes and Pharisees who went forth to apprehend him who altering their purpose returned saying NuÌquid sic loquutus c. Did euer any man speake thus He might likewise take from them their force their strength that they might not bee able to put forth a hand to hurt him and leauing them like so many blockes might passe through the middest of them as beeing the Lord both of their soules and bodies And as he once left the Iewes with their stones frozen in their hands so now leauing the Nazarits astonished Per medium illorum ibat This Ibat doth inforce a perseuerance and continuation in token that God wil leaue his best beloued countrie that citie which was most graced and fauored by him if it be so gracelesse as to prooue vngratefull When God carried Ezechiel in spirit to the Temple discouering great abhominations vnto him and said vnto him These things my People commit Vt procul recedam à Sanctuario meo They giue mee occasion thereby to forsake them and to get mee farre enough from them So hath he departed from Israell from Asia Affrica many other parts of Europ forsaking so many cities temples so much heretofore fauored by him and so much made of Nazareth signifies a Floure a Crowne or a Garland and the Nazarites were once the onely Floures in Gods Garden that is in his Church they were religious persons that were consecrated to his seruice and therefore Nazareth is by them more particularly called Christs own Countrie for that therein he had beene often spiritually conceiued But because of the Nazarits Ierem. doth lament Thatthey being more white than milke were become as blacke as a cole by reason of their vnthankfulnesse Therfore in Colledges and religious places with whom God communicates his fauours in a more large and ample manner they ought of all other to shew themselues most gratefull for the more a man receiues and the more he professeth the more he ought to doe Cum enim crescunt dona rationes etiam crescunt donorum Dei so saith Saint Gregorie But he passed through the middest of them and went his way Howbeit death to the Iust is not sudden nor can be said to take him hence vnawares Though the Righteous be preuented with death yet shall hee be in rest The Church notwithstanding doth not vse this prayer in vaine A subitanea improuisa morte libera nos Domine From sudden death good Lord deliuer vs. Saint Augustine in his last sickenesse prayed ouer the penitentiall Psalmes and shedding many teares sayd That though a man were neuer so iust and righteous yet was hee not to die without penitence Saint Chrysostome tells vs That when Feare at the houre of death doth set vpon the Soule burning as it were with fire all the goods of this life she enforceth her with a deep and profound consideration to meditate on those of that other life which is to come And although a mans sinnes bee neuer so light yet then they seeme so great and so heauie that they oppresse the heart And as a piece of timber whilest it is in the water any