COMFORT TO THE AFFLICTED DELIVERED IN A SERMON preached at PAVLS-Crosse the xxi day of May M.DC.XXVI Being the last Sunday in Easter Terme By ANTONY FAWKENER Mast of Arts of Iesus Colledge in OXFORD LONDON Printed for ROBERT MILBOVRNE 1626. ET VSQUE AD NVBES VERITAS TVA P. S. To the right Worshipfull Master EVERARD FAWKENER my beneficent good Vncle Grace mercy and peace in Christ IESUS SIR IT is the providence of Nature to necessitate a retribution of her gifts unto her self Her matter shee lends neuer fayles her it may indeed be in some sort corrupted but no way annihilated Though man be corrupted nature looseth no substance but what was lately hers in a humane body will still be hers though but in dust and ashes If nature can be so frugall to saue her owne t is pity that piety should be a looser The riuers restore unto the Ocean what they have received from her themselves And by an imitating gratitude wee are bound to devote our selves to the sources of our fortunes As of the passed you are next God the patron of my succeeding happinesse Wherefore in stead of my selfe I am bold to present unto you this off-spring and indeed in respect of so generall an audience my first borne which according to the Law I have already dedicated unto the Lord. A worke of purpose proportioned to the hearers benefite not a Criticks censure So plaine that the simple may understand and yet I hope not altogether so unpolished that the friendly and iudiciously curious may scorne it Briefly what I have consecrated to God I may boldly present to man Therefore in confidence of your imitation of him in accepting a good will I rest Your Nephew in all Christian dutie to be commanded ANTONY FAWKENER A SERMON PREACHED AT Pauls-Crosse IOB 19.21 Haue pitie vpon me haue pitie vpon me O yee my friends for the hand of God hath touched mee AS the great Vniuerse so the small World Man is composed of and diuided into two parts Spirit and Body The soule expresseth creatures immateriall Angells The body is the character of things materiall and corporall The world was pure till man fell the sinne of the little world cursed the greate one No sooner was Adam found guilty but the earth was cursed and that receiued punishment before the delinquent yet not for its owne but his sake Man sinned not the earth the earth was cursed not for its owne but mans punishment The ground must be cursed ere man can be punished the earth must be barren ere Adam can sweat As of sinne so is man the chiefe subiect of calamitie each creature else for his sake he for his owne Their punishment is not theirs but his and their vnhappinesse onely in order to his misery The earth indeed was curst man more barrennesse seised on it death on him Rarò antecedentem scelestum Deseruit pede poena claude Punishment is light-footed and will as soone reuenge God as man can iniure him Transgression is sometimes punished with the obiect it desires Adam indeede by eating the forbidden fruit knew good and euill but 't was a lamentable knowledge He knew euill but first in himselfe the first science he had was of his owne infirmity for He saw that he was naked Gen. 3.7 Sometimes 't is punish't by the contrary Adam would no sooner haue beene as God but he was as man ambitious to be equall with the Almightie he became inferiour to himselfe By his owne power he would haue liued for euer and therefore died presently for By sinne death entred into the world Loe then he was no sooner sinfull than miserable no sooner the subiect of transgression than of affliction As then we deriue sinne from our parents so it 's punishment and misery is as much ex traduce as guilt What man then liues and oft-times sinnes not what man oft-times sinnes and is not sometimes scourged As then our affliction may be common so our compunction should be mutuall Our brother is corrected to day to morrow may be our course Iob was afflicted in this Chapter he knew his friends might be ere long as indeed they were in the last Chapter where he was faine to sacrifice for them and therefore exhorts them to bestow that vpon him in his calamitie which they would be glad to beg of him in theirs at least that weake mercy of commiseration and that small solace Pitie Haue pitie vpon me haue pitie vpon me c. Man and wife are one by a matrimoniall vnion Body and Soule make one by a naturall constitution Each man hath in himselfe a state Oeconomicall Eue was married to Adam the Body to the Soule Adam then is both Adam and Eue Soule and Body The Serpent first beguiled Eue then shee Adam Vanity first cheats sense then shee deceiues the soule As both haue sinned so both are punished in the same order First Eue was chidden then Adam First the body is punished in this world then the soule in the life to come The whole world of man transgressed in its parts Adam and Eue who were it and by a law of paritie each of them is punished in their parts soule and body which make vp them The whole man then is afflicted in his parts looke but vpon this verse and behold this afflicted man My Text is the Embleme of a wretched wight where by a method Syntheticall the sacred limmer proceeds from the parts to the whole First there are two petitions correspondent to two parts Haue pitie vpon me and againe Haue pitie vpon me Pitie my body pitie my soule Both grounded vpon foure implicite reasons two taken à Posse for you may doe it because 't is Easie and Lawfull and two à Debito for you most doe it because 't is commanded by Nature and by God Secondly the parties petitioned O yee my friends Thirdly the reasons expressed on the petitioners part moouing and perswading to the grant of his request which in generall are three 1. taken from the causes of his affliction which here are two Instrumentall s The hand prime Efficient s Of God 2. taken from the action concrete with its manner s Hath touched 3. from the patient the whole man and but a fraile man s Mee First then of the double petition Haue pitie vpon me haue pitie vpon me Such was the loue of God to vs that he would not make vs according to any image but his owne he would haue had vs no sooner men than sonnes and the Creator vouchsafed to be the prototype of his creature Yet the madnesse of our ambition fluttered to soare aboue the wisdome of his mercie Coelum ipsum petimus stultitiâ To be dust and ashes was as much as by our owne nature we could be yet to be but a little inferiour to God was to be lesse than wee would be How faine we would haue beene as God himselfe and nothing could satisfie the stupide pride of our finite nature saue to be absolutely
equall with an insinite essence So foolish was our first rebellion that nothing could be the obiect of its aime saue the vanitie of a contradiction Thus in defacing his image we vncreated his worke and by the defect of a new creation made our selues what he made vs not Now if he that is not with him be against him he that is not like him is so dislike him that hee is contrarie As then we walked stubbornely against him so hath he walked stubbornely against vs reuenging our dislike of his likenesse and by his iustice punishing the contempt of his mercy So that now our miserie is squared to our happinesse and our sense as naturally admits the obiect that it hates as that it likes The eye can as easily see a ghastly pale as a pleasing white our flesh may be as soone scorched with heate as recreated by a refreshing luke-warmth The eare can as properly heare the Toade as the Nighingale and all our senses receiue as naturally their punishments as their blessings Nor is the soule exempted from this affliction but must haue as great a share with the body in miserie as it had in sinne which though it haue not sense it may haue a compassion and a fellow-feeling by the vertue of its vnion It willes the wel-fare of its nearest neighbour the body which being tortur'd its desire is crossed and the contradiction of the will is the tartest punishment of the soule Aquin. de anima q. vlt. My Text is compassed with the complaint of this double affliction as the man of the Text Iob is with the miserie it selfe He cries out in the 20. verse My bone cleaueth to my skin and I haue escaped with the skin of my teeth Loe the distresse of his bodie Againe he expostulates in the 22. verse Why doe you persecute me as God and are not satisfied with my flesh Loe here the anguish of his soule This double affliction then may well require a two-fold petition for a two-fold commiseration Haue pitie vpon me haue c. Thus farre the petition hath respected the two-fold subiect of calamitie Now because that request is neuer peremptorie which intercedes by the mediation of reason 't is best we should a-while haue respect vnto the foure implicite reasons two taken à Posse for 't is easie and lawfull and two á Debito for 't is commanded by Nature and God And first of the first Easie T is easie To be bad when there is a possibility for vs to be good argues a neglect to be bad when it is easie to be good inferres a voluntarie rebellion It would be an unnaturall contumacie to struggle against an offred vertue and a studdied sinne to be vicious with difficulty Teares are as easie as affection and compassion as common as loue If our friend be well we must needes ioy and if he be ill by the same necessitie we must weepe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Xenoph hist graec lib. 7. If we can ioy we can grieue teares are common to both and each of them equally challenge a compassion As easily as we can embrace we can pitie and be with as little difficultie compassionate as passionate It is a trouble to be hard hearted and it was more paine for Ioseph to refraine himselfe than to weepe Gen. 45.1 'T is no labour to be pitifull for they that are weakest are mostinclined to it Women Pharaoh that could ride in a Chariot was hard hearted but his daughter a Virgin not capable of labour had compassion vpon Moses Exod 2.6 The men were dogged that could striue against commiseration and those children of Israel which wept at Christs death S. Luk. 23.28 were the Daughters of Ierusalem So easie it is for that sex to pitie Athanas q. act Antioch 88. which by its nature is not of force to rebell against its nature Pitie then is our owne for it is ingraffed t is harder to be stonie than relenting and a prodigie to be cruel none to be mercifull 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanasius tells vs that signes and miracles are the onely effects of Gods power but loue and compassion are the naturall fruits of mans will So that we need not take paines to entertaine lenitie sith 't is in our owne power to be mercifull Thus condolencie is so properly so genuinely ours that we can hardly be vnmercifull and therefore in the fable of Lycaon the Poet iudiciously makes it the miraculous worke of a strange metamorphosis for a man to become a Wolfe We are so our selues when we are compassionate that when we are vnmercifull we are not our selues Athanas ad Antioe q. 118. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hardnesse of heart is not the worke of the creation but of the Deuill and crueltie alwaies followes either a base or a domineering distemperature Aqui. 22 ae q. 30. Art 2. The proud cannot brooke pitie supposing all saue themselues who are worst worthy of punishment He that is iniured is an enemie to it for he imagines reuenge and he that is iniurious for he is only intent on malice Briefly it is a stranger to the fearlesse desperate and the cowardly fearefull the one is so carelesse of himselfe that he forgets to pitie another the other is so carefull of himselfe that he hath no leisure to pitie another Loe here the quintaine the troupe of the Deuill Pride Reuenge Malice Despaire and Feare the lame and crooked nurses of vnmercifulnesse The defects of nature are the sources of crueltie and the distemperatures of the soule the sole enemies of compassion Yet good God how well we could be ought but what we are we could performe any thing saue our taske and be easily compassionate if it were not easie Thus doe we warre against pietie chusing rather to be vicious with difficultie than vertuous with ease Rather than we will be good we will sweate to be bad and by a mis-guided election rather seeke a Viper which we know will sting vs than receiue any refection which we know will nourish vs. Thus when God offers vs bread we choose a stone he giues vs a fish and we aske a serpent But stay our nature is so bad that it will be good though but by its owne iustification Rather than our iudgements shall faile our inuentions shall preuadicate Malignant mindes must be constant though against reason and will striue to prooue that bad which they cannot indure should be stiled good T is no argument they 'l say to prooue compassion good because t is easie for so most sins should be iustified The answer to which drawes vs to the consideration of the second reason for t is not barely easie but withall iustifiable 't is Lawfull 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lawfull Zenoph memor lib. 4. T is Xenophons iudgement what is iust is lawfull and what is reasonable is iust Vertue is measured by reason and hath principally its nature from election Reason is a diuine gift though
Amos. 9.5 He comforteth by the touch of his mercie when he will forgiue for so Iesus touched the Leper and he was healed S. Math. 8.3 He toucheth by the touch of his mercie and iustice together when he will trie and so the hand of God hath touched Iob. In whose tryall respect the affliction and view Gods Iustice looke vpon the end and behold his mercie He was sinfull therefore might lawfully be punished yet God afflicts him more to proue him than to punish him The Lord will rebuke him yet not in his anger he will chastise him but not in his wrath Because he hath sinned he may I and shall be afflicted and yet by that scourge not so much punished as proued Thus all things proue to the good of the elect If they sinne they shall be punished yet their punishment shall be the witnesse of their triall and that he path-way to their glorie God will not cocker his children but correct them and strike hardest where he loues most The man after his owne heart shall roare for paine and iust Iob complaines The hand of God hath touched Mee Vox clamantis in deserto Mee The voyce of one crying in the Wildernesse That was S. Iohn Baptist Here is another vox clamantis the voyce of a crier 't is in the wildernesse too His soule was desolate and affected vncouth places as much as Dauid who was like a Pellican of the wildernesse and like an Owle of the Deserts He was the Baptist too Psal 102.6 but meerely passiue Baptismosanguinis he was baptized with the baptisme of affliction and that he is a Crier as well as S. Iohn is intimated by his name Iob which signifies a fearefull howling We know the storie of him and the scope of it s the manifestation of Gods triall of mans patience in miserie Each one knowes the afflictions of the man of the East Iob but who takes notice of the woman of the North our Metropolis Here is a third vox clamantis the voyce of one crying I and in the Desert For loe Satan the Dragon hath persecuted her as the woman in the wildernes Nay her whole selfe not long agone was but a wildernesse if you will take a Desert for a place desolate Rev. 12.14 S. Gregories complaint was renewed and the ruines by him deplored truly patterned in that example Habitatores non exparte subtrahuntur sed pariter corruunt Domus vacuae relinquuntur Filiorum funera parētes aspiciunt et sui eos adinteritum haeredes praecedunt The stately towers of Sion were become the habitation of Satyres her people not by degrees plucked vp but mowed downe together in full swathes Lo a lamentable spectacle The Grand-sire by a preposterous priuiledge of suruiuing heire to his intestate Nephew You might haue beheld youth the first borne of death and the gray haires descending latest to the graue The great Temple of Ierusalem that liuing house of God the company of Christians was so vnioyted that there was scarce a stone left vpon a stone a man to conuerse in safetie with his neighbour A pestilent disease disordered nature The graue snatched what nature denied the strongest Net hoc parentes heu sibi superstites effugerit spectaculum Parents were mourners for their children and closed those eyes which should haue wept at their funerals The graues were as full of carkasses as the houses of inhabitants and the poore remnant that were left and reserued from this fatall captiuitie were not so much the parts as the ruines of a City Troynouant was indeed new Troy the wretched daughter of an vnhappie mother Beth-rapha was turned into Bochim The house of health not to an edifice but a bare place of weeping You should not haue mis-called a matron Naomie but called her Mara not a beautifull spouse but a distressed widow Lo gasping Rachel would haue the name for in those fearefull plagues the fathers son of his right hand his darling babe was but Ben-oni the son of sorrow God Almightie had withdrawne the light of his countenance from vs The Arke of our saluation was wel-neare taken and the lamenting mothers bowing themselues for trauell haue brought forth their first-borne abortiues an vntimely fruit of a name distractedly inquisitiue Ichabod where is the glorie Quam penè furnaeregna Proserpinae indicantem vidimus Aeacum one foote was in the graue and O Lord how almost did our soules goe downe into the pit There was no Isaiah to saue the liuing from death no Elias to raise the dead to life The wise perished as the foolish the Priests as the peasants both promiscuously interred together so that each sepulchre was a charnel-house each graue a Golgotha Belshazzar trembled for a light threat The hand of God appeared to vs not writing on a wall but a whole Kingdome grauing the name of desolation in the black characters of the pestilence and each doors fatall common motto Lord haue mercy vpon vs. Graues were scarcer than houses and the earth more streightned to receiue the dead than the habitations the liuing So that necessitie made one pit a common sepulchre and the whole Citie Ezekiels field Yet loe Mal. 3.8 9 10 11 12. those afflictions which should haue corrected haue hardned vs. Will a man spoyle his gods saith the Lord yet yee haue spoyled me but yee say Wherein haue we spoyled thee In tythes and offerings The Priest-hood is become a derision the Ministerie a contempt and the Church robbed by contentious flocks and sacrilegious Patrons Wherefore ye are cursed with a curse for yee haue spoiled me saith the Lord euen this whole nation But bring yee all the tythes into the store-house that there may be meate in mine house and proue me now herewith saith the Lord If I will not open the windowes of heauen vnto you and powre you out a blessing without measure And I will rebuke the deuourer for your sakes And all nations shall call you blessed for yee shall be a pleasant land saith the Lord of hosts Pride fulnesse of bread and deceit in the citie Oppression and barbarous malice in the countrie these are the weapons which we haue whetted against our owne soules and the broken reedes that pierced the hands of those that leaned on them How many townes may we see turned into open fields religion decayed with nature the Church with the parishioners land-lords metamorphosed to wolues seruants into doggs villages into sheep-coates and families into shepheards Curres Because the blessing of God was troublesome and the multitude of men seemed a burthen vnto vs loe the iust Lord hath eased vs in his indignation and in a moment sweptaway by warre and pestilence aboue an hundred thousand He hath recompenced our ingratitude with vengeance and which of vs all haue not lost a kinsman O then Haue pitie vpon vs haue pitie vpon vs O yee our friends for the hand of God hath touched vs. Yet the Lord is mercifull and gracious and in the middest of iudgement hath remembred mercie Our great Citie Nineueh and her King hath repented in sackcloth and ashes sorrow and humilitie and behold the Lord hath beene more mercifull than man Though Ionah hath prophesied iudgements he hath turned them into consolations Behold Syon is againe inhabited and who can number her towers The voice of gladnesse is heard in her Palaces and songs of thanks-giuing in stead of the mourning of Hadad-rimmon Moses is heard and the request of pious gouernours now fully granted The Lord is returned vnto the many thousands of Israel Reioyce therfore O my soule againe I say reioyce O let vs remooue the Leprosie of sinne from our soules as God hath remooued the black spots of the Pestilence from our bodies O be ioyfull in the Lord all ye lands all sorts all persons young men and maidens olde men and children praise yee the Lord. So shall God render vnto Iob seuen fold the wombes of our young women shall be fruitfull and your children shall play by thousands in the streets the strength of our young men shall breake a bowe of steele and the gray hayres of our auncients shall descend with ioy reuerence into the graue O then beloued quickly to day if you will heare cast off the menstruous cloathes of Hypocrisie and wickednesse and present your soules your naked soules as a sacrifice without blemish vnto the God of your saluation Come taste and see how good and gracious the Lord is Take the Cup of saluation and sing with Angels and Arch-angels Glorie to God on high in earth peace and good will towards men Wee praise thee wee blesse thee we glorifie thee c. FINIS