glorie thereof one of the Word another of the Flesh. The glorie of the Word standeth in two things first that hee is the eternall Sonne of the eternall Father begotten after an vnspeakable manner of his owne substance and therefore the brightnesse of his glory and the expresse image of his Person A name too excellent for the Angells themselues For neuer did the Father say to any of them Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thee Secondly that being so begotten hee is consubstantiall and coequall with his Father neither counteth he it robbery to bee equall with him For though he be the Sonne and not the Father yet being of the same Substance hee is one and the same God with him and may iustly challenge vnto himselfe the fulnesse of the Deitie as farre forth as the Father A glory infinitely transcending that of any creature The glorie of his Flesh is likewise double of Assumption and Communication Of Assumption by which it was taken into the divine nature For as soone as it began to haue being in the wombe of the blessed virgin it was prevented from subsisting in it selfe and was drawne into the vnitie of the Person of the Sonne of God eternally to subsist therein The highest dignitie that a creature can aspire vnto That of Communication is whereby glorious things are communicated vnto his humane nature And it is either Personall or Habitual Personall is that whereby as the nature of man is truely giuen to the Person of the Sonne so the Person of the Sonne is truely communicated vnto the nature of man Wherevpon because in the Person of the Sonne is the fulnesse of all perfection and all the essentiall attributes of the Deitie as namely Omniscience omnipotence omnipresence and the rest therefore doe wee say that all these attributes and that fulnesse of perfection are communicated also vnto the Manhood Howbeit not Physically and by effusion as if the same properties which are in God should formally and subiectiuely be in man as heat transfused from the fire is inherent in the water For that which is infinite cannot bee comprehended of that which is finite How then Personally in the sonne of God So that by reason of the hypostaticall vnion there is such a reall communion betweene them that the sonne of man is truly the Sonne of God and consequently also Omniscient omnipotent omnipresent and the rest The want of due consideration hereof was it that bred that monster of Vbiquitie and that great quarrell betwixt vs and the Saxon Churches Communication habituall is that whereby the fulnesse of grace was bestowed vpon him to be subiectiuely and inherently in his Flesh. And this is the glory of his Vnction For the spirit of the Lord rested vpon him the spirit of wisdome and vnderstanding the spirit of counsell and might the spirit of knowledge and of the feare of the Lord. By this Spirit was he annointed with the oile of gladnesse aboue his fellowes yea he receiued the spirit without measure or limit both for the essence vertue thereof intensiuely and extensiuely to all effects and purposes both for himselfe and others So that in his Will there was perfect iustice without taint or staine in his Minde perfect wisdome and knowledge both Beatificall whereby he saw God farre more clearly then any other as being more neerely vnited vnto him and Infused whereby he knew all heauenly and supernaturall verities which without the revelation of grace cannot bee knowne yea Acquisite and Experimentall also whereby hee knew all whatsoeuer by the light of reason and nature might bee knowne So that he was ignorant of nothing which hee ought to know or might make to his full happinesse And this was his Habituall glory Now the Glory of his Office breefely was to be the Mediator betweene God and Man An office of so high a nature that it could bee performed by none but only him who was both God and Man For herevnto it was necessary that he should be a Prophet a Priest and a King A Prophet as an Arbiter to take knowledge of the cause quarrell depending betweene them and as an Internuntius or legate to propound expound the conditions of peace that are to be concluded vpon A Priest to be an Intercessor and to make interpellation for the party offending and then to be a Fideiussor or Surety making satisfaction to the party for him A King hauing all power both in heauen and earth to keepe and preserue the Church so reconciled in the state of grace to tread downe vnder his feete all the enimies thereof Wondrous Glory and farre aboue that of any creature And this is the Glory he was already possessed of Wanted he yet any further Glory yes verily and that in regard both of his Divine and Humane nature Of his Divine for the Word had now emptied himselfe of his glory Emptied himselfe I say not simply and absolutely for he could no more in such sort abdicate his glory then cease to be himselfe it being essentiall vnto him and his very selfe but oeconomically and dispensatiuely vailing couering it vnder the cloud of his flesh For if as St Leo saith the exinanition of the divine Maiesty was the advancement of the servile forme vnto the highest pitch of honour then by like proportion the advancement of the servile forme was the exinanition of the divine Maiesty This Exinanition or Emptying of himselfe was in his Incarnation conception nativity obedience actiue to the law of nature as being the sonne of Adam and to the law of Moses as being the sonne of Abraham Passiue in suffering hunger and cold and wearinesse a thousand sorrowes wherevnto the infirmity of his flesh was subiect In this state Christ now stood neither had he as yet recovered the Glory whereof he had emptied himselfe nay he was not as yet come to the lowest degree of his humiliation For though they were instant and nere at hand yet his agonie his sweating of bloud his arraignment his crosse his death his emprisonment in the graue were not yet come All which did more more eclipse the glory of his Deity so that this Glory of the word as yet he wanted In regard of his Humane nature hee had not yet deposed humane infirmities as hunger thirst feare sorrow anguish and the like Neither had hee obtained incorruption impassibility immortality nor that glorious purity strength agility clarity of the body which he expected together with the fulnesse of inward ioyes and comforts in the Soule Adde herevnto that the actions of his mediation namely of his Prophecy Priesthood and Kingdome had not nor could not bee hitherto performe gloriously but only in such an humble manner as suted with the state of humiliation in which presently he stood To make all plaine though as the Schoole speaketh he were Comprehensor in termino affectione iustitiae yet he was viator extraterminum
thing which is to teach commanded also the manners of teaching which are to preach with liuely voice and to set forth the doctrine in writing both of them being fit for teaching and this latter most fit for to continue and to transferre doctrines and instructions vnto posterity Daniel Chamier in his Panstratia Tomo 1. Lib. 1. c. 21. num 6. To teach comprehendeth as well the liuely voice as writing So Paul preached the Gospell vnto the Romanes no lesse by writing an epistle vnto thē then teaching them by liuely voice out of the prison And it is the solemne custome of the Fathers when they cite any thing out of the Apostles writings to expresse it in these words The Apostle teacheth yea St Paul ascribeth vnto the Scriptures that they make a man wise Ibid num 7. All men know that a thing may be related two waies both by liuely voice and by writing For as those things which are in the voice are signes of those things which are in the minde so those things which are in the writing are signes of those which are in the voice And therefore the same is both waies equally signified or related Ibid. cap. 22. num 2. Because the liuely voice is vsed to no other end saue to expresse the meaning of the speaker and Scripture doth evidently expresse the meaning of God speaking vnto vs therefore in this respect it is false that the Scriptures are dumb For we no lesse vnderstand that a man is justified by Faith when wee read it in Paul then when Paul himselfe pronounced it with his liuely voice Lib. 6. cap. 5. num 7. The written word is distinguished from the word preached by no substantiall difference For they differ neither in specie nor in genere nor in number but only in accident So for example that Sermon which first S. Peter made vnto the Iewes after the gift of the holy Ghost differeth not from that which we read Act. 2. related by S. Luke saue only as writing is not a liuely voice yet because writing is no other then the image of a liuely voice so little difference letteth not but that I may affirme the Sermon which I there read to bee the same which S. Peter then made Wherefore if it be the same Sermon in number why may not the same bee affirmed of the same and I truely avouch it to bee read in S. Luke Hauing heard these things they were pricked in heart These things I say which both Peter then deliuered by liuely voice and now S. Luke representeth vnto vs. Ibid. cap. 18. num 8. Vergerius an Italian Bishop who had negotiated many businesses for the Pope against Luther vndertaking to write a booke against the Apostates of Germanie for so he tearmed them and diligently seeking out their arguments to confute them was himselfe so overcome by the strength of them that rejecting his Bishopricke and the hope of a Cardinalship hee vtterly renounced all Popish tyranny Ibid. lib. 7. cap. 9. num 17. The meditation of the Scriptures is doubtlesse an Ordinary meanes ordained by God to procure Faith For these things are written that yee might beleeue Ioh. 20. Ibid. lib. 10. cap. 6. num 11. To preach comprehends not only the liuely voice but also writing so that those words Preach the Gospell are thus to be vnderstood intimate the Gospell vnto all nations by what meanes soever it may be rightly intimated whether it bee by liuely voice or by writing D. Davenant B. of Sarumon Coloss. 1.9 pag. 64. They are not carried by an Apostolicall but Antichristian spirit who deny vnto Laicks the Ordinary meanes of begetting wisdome spirituall vnderstanding namely Reading and vnderstanding of Gods word For the law of the Lord is immaculate converting soules the testimonie of the Lord is faithfull giuing wisdome to the simple Psal. 19-7 Psal. 119.130 in English meeter When men first enter into the word They finde a light most cleare And very Idiots vnderstand When they it read or heare Phil Melancthon Enarrat Symboli Niceni In conversion these causes concurre the holy Ghost mouing the heart by the Gospell the voice of the Gospell weighed and considered either when it is heard or when it is read or in godly meditation and the will of man not resisting the voice of God but assenting although with some trepidation Ainsworth Counterpoison p. 116. The Gospell noted to bee the meanes of our calling 2. Thes. 2.14 hee maketh knowne vnto his people outwardly by his word 2. Cor. 5.19 spoken Act. 5.20 and written Ioh. 20.31 and inwardly by his holy spirit Neh. 9.20 1 Cor. 2 10.12 FINIS IOH. 17.1 c. These things spake IESVS and lift vp his eyes to Heaven and said c. ALL holy writ simply and in it selfe considered is of equall worth and dignity the Author the Matter and the Manner being in every part alike Divine Howbeit considered respectiuely and in relation vnto vs one Scripture without impeachment or derogation may iustly be preferred to another For as touching the Matter some Scriptures are more importing vs as containing doctrines of Absolute necessitie to bee beleeued whereas others are so only in the Disposition and Preparation of the Minde And as for the Manner whereas others are darkly and obscurely deliuered some are so attempered and proportioned vnto the weaknesse of our capacity that they are more easie and available for our instruction and edification In both these Respects this seventeenth Chapter of the Gospell after S. Iohn seemeth to me among all other to be the most eminent For if you regard the Matter it containes Doctrines of highest nature and consequence as being the very foundation of the Churches happinesse and the anchor of all her hope If the For me it is so heavenly and divine so powerfull and perswasiue that he must needs be destitute of all spirituall sense and tast whosoeuer with the naked and bare reading thereof is not extraordinarily ravished and affected The serious and due consideration of all which together with the vnspeakable benefit that might grow to the people of God by the right dividing and handling thereof hath at length ouercome and perswaded me to vndertake at times the interpretation of this whole Chapter in this place That so if it please God before I sing my nunc dimittis I may with these treasures satisfie some part of the debt I owe therevnto both for my birth breeding And because these first words now read seeme vnto mee not vnfitting the present occasion or to succeed what I haue already deliuered vpon the like occasions I haue thought good at this time to make entrance therevpon so as it is in the proverb Vnâ fideliâ duos dealbare parietes to dispatch two businesses at once For hauing heretofore vindicated the Dignitie of the Ministrie from the Contempt whereto it is subject by prescribing a soueraign Remedie Defensatiue against it as also hauing demonstrated the power and efficacie of Preaching
with their territories and sundry other things of great value The Ministrie of the Gospell is more excellent then that of the Law lesse therefore cannot be allowed vs. Tithe is too little saith S. Augustin else how doe wee exceed the Pharisees who tithed all If we minister spirituall things reason will that we receaue of your temporalls The law of the Gospell requireth him that is taught to impart to him that teacheth of all his good And reason For as S. Paul saith to Philemon you owe your selues vnto vs. And vnlesse you vnder value too much the eternall saluatioÌ„ of your soules yee can never sufficiently recompence the benefit yee receaue of vs. It is manifest then that an honourable salarie is due vnto vs. But how I beseech you are wee paid our due Poorely God wot witnesse the multitude of impropriations the selling of benefices the detention of tithes or the false and repining paiment of them with the like It was once said What shall wee giue the man of God but now every one saith Come let vs take the houses of God in possession When Moses built the tabernacle he was faine to stay the people from giuing they were so forward but now would God wee could stay their hands from robbing the tabernacle Many there are who call for a learned Ministry in every parish yet keepe to themselues that which should maintaine the Minister A strange perversenesse to desire no benefice may be without a cure and yet to require a cure without a benefice Yea but they are content to allow a Competencie True But if they may be our â—arvers I presume it will bee after the rate of Cratis in his Ephemeris ten pound to the Cooke a groat to the Physitian ten talents to the Parasite one to the Curtizan and to the Philosopher three halfepence For every little is too much for vs but enough is superfluity Et quorsum perditio haec what need all this wasts The poverty of the Apostles they often remember but the bounty of Christians then they vtterly forget If they will haue vs follow the one why refuse they to imitate the other Let them sell all they haue and lay downe the prizes at our feet and then haue with them whensoeuer they please But I presse these points of Honor no farther for me thinkes I heare some say these words would haue sounded better in some advocates mouth in ours they may seeme to proceede of ambition or covetousnesse Wherevnto I answere first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if wee speake not for our selues who will and if wee doe alas what are wee All other sorts of men are allowed to defend themselues and must wee alone suffer wrong and say nought Secondly so to censure is a spice of the contempt wee speake of for indeede wee seeke herein not so much our owne honour and advantage as Gods glory and benefit Gods glory whose ordinance nay who himselfe by contemning vs is contemnâ—d They haue not reiected thee but mee saith God to Samuell Yee haue robbed me in tithes and offerings saith hee by Malachie He that despiseth you despiseth me saith Christ. And lastly He that despiseth despiseth not man but God Your benefit For to deny submission to those who rule over you and watch for your soules is vnprofitable for you saith the Apostle For first as Barnard saith Cuius vita despicitur restat vt praedicatio contemnatur if once our persons grow despicable little will our preaching availe If our preaching availe not neither can you beleeue nor be saued Secondly to contemne a Minister is a fearfull sinne otherwise Hoseas would never haue vsed this aggravation the people were as they that contended with the Priest Lastly God punisheth it accordingly with temporall punishment as vpon the Iewe with seaventy years captiuity with spirituall that hearing they shall heare seeing see yet neither perceiue nor vnderstand and vnlesse they repent with eternall also both in body and soule But of the contempt of the Ministry enough let vs now inquire the redresse thereof See that no man despise thee saith my text A strange speech For doe we steere at the helme of other mens affections Or haue we the command of their actions Why then doth he charge vs to looke to it that we be not despised Surely because wee our selues are mostly the causes thereof and for that it lies much in our owne hands both to prevent and redresse it To make this appeare obserue with me the words immediatly going before my text These things speake and exhort and rebuke with all authority see that no man despise thee Obserue with me againe what Saint Paul saith to Timothie These things command and teach let no man despise thy youth but be an example vnto beleeuers in word in conversation in charity in spirit in faith in purity Which two places being duly pondered and considered it is manifest that the Apostles meaning here is no other then this if we will not be contemned wee must not carry our selues contemptibly and that to avoide this contempt two things are necessary first that we be Good ministers secondly that we be Good men for if wee faile in eyther it cannot possibly bee avoided but wee must bee despised To avoide Contempt then first wee must be Good Ministers and to this end two things are requisite first a talent secondly due employment of the talent By talent I vnderstand fitnesse and ability And that this is necessary appeareth first by the act of God for hee never designeth any to a calling but hee furnisheth him before hand with sufficient gifts If Moses must be the chiefe governour and lawgiuer of Israell he shall be learned yea even in all the wisdome of the Aegyptians aend mighty both in words and deeds If Bezaleel and Aholiab must build the Tabernacle hee will fill them with his spirit in wisdome in vnderstanding in knowledge in all manner of workemanship in gold silver brasse stone timber and what ever else was needfull Esay being to doe an errand for the Lord hath his lipps first touched with a cole froÌ„ the altar Iesus the sonne of Mary being ordained to bee the Messias of the world is annointed with the oile of gladnesse aboue all his fellowes and receiueth the spirit without measure Finally the twelue Apostles being to carry the name of Christ through the world were first baptized with fiery tongues and replenished with the holy Ghost at Ierusalem The same appeareth also by the ordinance of God in his Church For the Priests lips saith Malachie should preserve knowledge and they should seeke the law at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts Saint Paul also saith that a Bishop must bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apt to teach and able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince gainesaiers
so pleased haue vsed some other meanes for the appeasing of his wrath Yes doubtlesse for he had abundance of spirit wisdome But he chose this as the best course for the declaration of his iustice and mercy justice in the rigorous exacting of satisfaction for sinne yea even from his owne sonne mercy in the free pardon of sinne by the death and passion of his sonne Excellently to this purpose Cameracensis God in the beginning gaue vnto man truth to instruct him iustice to direct him mercy to preserue him and peace to delight him But he rebelling against his creator they all fled from him returned vnto God Where iustice called vpon him for satisfaction and truth required performance of his word but Peace sought mitigation of wrath and mercy sued for pardon In this difficulty wisdome interposed her selfe and found out a meanes to content all namely by the incarnation and suffering of the sonne of God Wherevnto the Father yeelding all were soone accorded and so mercy and truth met together and justice and peace kissed each other For further ratification whereof it pleased the Father solemnely and vnalterably to decree that his sonne should suffer in the flesh Wherevpon our Saviour saith it was so determined and the Scriptures as they foretell it so they affirme that thus it must be and that Christ ought to suffer And according to this determinate counsell and fore-knowledge of God when the houre appointed was come he was delivered and taken and by wicked hands crucified and slaine Of which great worke being now to speake and to enquire into the Punishment fore appointed vnto him by his Father because some extenuate it too much as if he seemed only to suffer or suffered not what indeed hee did others againe too much aggravate it as if he suffered the very paines of the damned in hell wee will as warily and as carefully as we can steere betweene that Scylla and this Charybdis And to this end wee will diligently enquire foure things the species or kinde of punishment he suffered the extention the intention and the duration thereof And of each of these briefely in a word The kind of punishment was that which was due to sin and every way equivalent for the expiation thereof howbeit so farre forth and no further then was convenient for such a person First therefore he suffered not that Punishment of sinne which is sinne for God many times and that iustly punisheth one sinne by another The reason for that then he should haue beene a sinner either by inherent or actuall sinne and so could never haue made sufficient satisfaction for the sinnes of others Neither secondly did he suffer the personall punishment of this or that man as the gout the stone the dropsie and the like For he tooke not the person but the nature of man into him and so made himselfe subiect not to Personall but to Naturall infirmities only To say nothing that those paines are many of them so contrary and repugnant one vnto another as they are incompatible in the same person Nor yet thirdly did he suffer those punishments which proceede either from the conscience of inherent sinne or the eternall continuance of sinne such as are Remorse and despaire For in him was never any sinne whether Originall or Actuall Only it was imputed vnto him inasmuch as he vndertooke to satisfy for it These foreprised and excepted all other sorts of Punishment were laid vpon him And because in Sinne there is a double act an Aversion or turning away from God the chiefest good and a Conversion or turning vnto that which is only a seeming good and consequently the desert of a double Punishment the one of losse to be depriued of the true good in regard of the Aversion the other of sence to feele smart both in body and soule in regard of the Conversion our blessed Lord and Sauiour suffered both The Punishment of Losse being in regard of present comfort and ioy left vnto himselfe and in a sort forsaken of his Father of which againe anon in the due place The punishment of Sence for he felt during the while extreame both torment and paine outwardly in the body and horror and anguish inwardly in the Soule The Extension whereof was also exceeding generall for he suffered from all that any way could afflict him and in all whatsoever belonged vnto him From his Father therefore he suffered who for a time abandoned him and delivered him into the hand of sinners from the powers of darknesse who laid vpon him whatsoever their malice could devise from the Iewes who stumbled at him and despised him from the Gentiles who made a game and laughing-stocke of him from Magistrates who convented and condemned him from the people who arrested and accused him from the Clergie who charged him with cozinage and blasphemy from the Laity who cryed out crucifie him crucifie him from his enimies who cruelly persecuted him from his friends who in his greatest need started aside from him from forrainers who disdainfully shooke the head at him from those of his owne houshold who most treacherously betraied him and in a word from all sorts both of men and women yea from the Heaven which denied to giue him light from the aire which refused to vouchsafe him breath from the earth which would not so much as beare him frō what not And as from all so hee suffered also in all In his goods being stript even of his raiment and lots cast thereon in his good name being esteemed a deceiuer a blasphemer a drunkard a glutton a magitian a traitor to Caesar in his friends who were scattered as soone as the shepheard was smitten in his mother through whose heart a sword was driuen in his soule by strong feare before his passion and extreame sorrow in his passion in all the parts of his body his head being crowned with thornes his face spit vpon his cheekes buffited his hands feet nailed his sides peirced his backe armes scourged and the whole vpon the crosse barbarously stretched and racked in all his sences the touch by wounds the tast with myrre and vineger the smell with the loathsome savour of Golgotha the hearing with shamefull taunts and revilings and the sight with mowes and disdainefull behaviour finally in the whole person by death the separation of the soule from the body The Intension of all which was likewise exceeding vehement even proportionable vnto the desert of sinne wherefore he sticketh not to say Behold and see if there be any sorrow like vnto my sorrow And againe the sorrowes of hell compassed me round about Not that he felt the flames of hell fire or the same kind of torment which the damned suffer in hell farre bee such impiety from our thoughts but that which is equivalent therevnto Had he suffered only the death of the crosse and no more his martyrs might seeme to haue endured more bitter paines
the naturall light of humane reason can afford which what a glow-worme it is and how subiect to mistaking who sees not Aristotle whose eyes were as sharpe sighted and peircing into these matters as ever any mans yet confesseth we are but owly-eyed in them and the Pyrrhonian Philosophers saw so much vncertainty in most things that they grew to maintaine an impossibility of knowing any thing So vaine is man in his imaginations and so full of darkenesse is his foolish heart that when they professe themselues to be most wise they become the starkest fooles But the truths of this divine science being supernaturall haue their certainty from a supernaturall light even the revelation of Gods spirit which can neither deceiue nor bee deceiued according to that of our Sauiour Flesh and blood hath not revealed this vnto thee but my Father which is in Heauen This is the light shining in the darke vntill the day dawne the day-starre rising in our hearts the Certitude of Faith which is simply and absolutely so because no falsehood can possibly be vnder it and being as Chrysostome saith more firme then all Demonstration as standing not in the enticeing speech of mans wisdome but in plaine evidence of the spirit and of Power True it is that this our Science sometime receiueth from humane wisdome yet not because shee needs it but because wee neede it nor for any defect or vncertainty in it but for the weaknesse of our vnderstanding which by those things that are knowne to naturall reason is more easily brought to vnderstand those things which are aboue reason For otherwise she is so farre from receiuing her Principles from any other Science that shee either allowes or controls all their rules and maxims as being their soveraigne Queene and Mistresse And thus much of the excellency of the Science of Divinity now of the Efficacy of the Ministry As is the man so is his strength saith the Proverbe in like manner as is our science so is our Ministry that the most noble therefore this the most powerfull That is most powerfull which worketh most effectually to atchieue ' its end and the more difficult the end is to bee attained the greater is the power that attaineth it Now what is the end of the Ministry It is as Saint Paul saith to build vp the body of Christ to open mens eyes and to turne them from darkenesse to light and from the power of Satan vnto God that they may receiue forgiuenesse of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in Christ that is in a word to make men partakers both of the state of grace in this life and of eternall glory in the life to come An employment as of highest consequence so of greatest difficulty that Saint Paul wondreth who might be sufficient for it Chrysostome saith that the Angels themselues would tremble to vndergoe the burthen Yet hath it pleased the wisdome of God in earthly vessels to convey vnto vs these heavenly treasures and to make the Ministry of weake mortall men mighty in operation able to pull downe strong holds and to cast downe imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it selfe against the knowledge of God and to captiue every thought to the obedience of Christ. Hence is it that Esay calleth the word of God the arme of the Lord and Saint Paul the preaching of the Gospell the power of God vnto salvation Hence that God himselfe affirmeth that his word shall never returne vnto him void but shall accomplish that which he will and prosper in the thing whereto he sends it Is it is not strange that the wolfe should dwell with the lambe and the leopard with the kid and calfe and the lion and the fat beast lye together and a little child lead them That the cow and the beare should feede together and their young ones lye downe together and the Lyon eate straw like the Oxe That the sucking child should play on the hole of the aspe and the weaned child put his hand on the Cockatrices den and all without either hurt or danger Yet all this is done through the knowledge of the Lord and by the power of our Ministry This is it that filleth vp every vally and levelleth every mountaine and hill that maketh the crooked straight and the rough waies smooth that all flesh may see the salvation of God The meaning of which allegoricall speech I cannot better expresse then in the words of Lactantius giue mee the man that is cholericke a railer vnruly and with a few words of God I will make him as meeke as a lambe Giue mee him that is greedy covetous gripple and I will make him liberall and giue bountifully with his owne hands giue me him that is fearefull of paine and death eftsoones shall he contemne his gibbets fires and Phalaris bull Giue me the lecher the adulterer the taverne haunter and by and by shalt thou see him sober chast and continent Giue me the cruell and bloud thirsty man and his fury shall soone be turned into clemency Finally giue me the vniust man the foole the sinner and forthwith hee shall be iust and wise and innocent Such and so great is the power of this divine wisdome that it quickly changeth a man and transformes him into another shape so as ye can hardly know him to be the same Neither let any man thinke that these are but words no they haue ordinarily beene and are daily done Did not Ionas with one sermon humble the pride of the King of Niniveh and all that mighty citty into sackcloth and ashes Did not Peter at his first preaching to the Iewes pricke them to the heart and at once adde about three thousand soules vnto the Church Did not Paul discoursing of iustice and temperance and iudgement to come make Felix the governour although a heathen yet to tremble But what speake I of particulars which are infinite Never did Alexander or Cesar with their huge hosts of armed men win so great victories or erect such troopes of honour to themselues as did the holy Apostles vnto the name of Christ. They were in number but twelue for the most part poore fishermen and vnlettered and despised in the eye of the world and yet within a few yeares armed only with the sword of the mouth and the power of this Ministry they conquered the whole world and subdued it to the obedience of Christ. And whom they subdued they so setled in the Faith that rather then they would renounce it they were content to endure most exquisite torments and to loose a thousand liues In like manner hath the Ministry hitherto prevailed and shall successiuely vnto the worlds end How many families of Philosophers haue heretofore failed without successor How many sects of Hereticks are vanished and melted away as dew before the sunne But the Church
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Proposition and Reddition In this similitude the Proposition is this As serpents are wise the Reddition so ought yee also to be wise So that first I am to speake of the one and then in the second place of the other That Serpents are naturally wise and subtill Moses witnesseth saying that the Serpent was the subtilest beast of the field and the act of the Divell also argues as much in that he made speciall choice of the Serpent as the fittest instrument to beguile the Woman Wherevpon in some languages they vse to say by way of proverbe He is wiser then a Serpent Now the wisedome of the Serpent is double either Offensiue or Defensiue Offensiue whereby he is cunning to hurt man For there being a naturall Antipathy betwixt the Serpent and Man and the Serpent knowing well that Man beares him a deadly hatred hee seeketh all opportunities and lyeth in ambush as it were to take his advantage to sting him by the heele This appeareth by the sentence of God passed vpon them both Hee shall breake thy head and thou shalt bruise his heele as also by that of old Iacob Dan shall be a serpent by the way an adder by the path biting the horse heeles so that the rider shall fall backward and finally that of Salomon If the serpent bite when he is not charmed no better is a babler His Defensiue wisdome is whereby he is cunning to defend preserue himselfe For first if hee sees a Man whom hee knoweth to be his enimy forthwith hee hastneth away into his hole to safegard himselfe Secondly if he cannot so escape he foldeth all his traine about his head to preserue it as wherein his life principally consisteth Lastly if enchanters goe about to charme him hee layeth one of his eares close to the ground and stoppeth the other with his taile to the end he may not heare their charmes and callings in regard whereof saith David they are like the deafe adder that stoppeth his eare which heareth not the voice of the inchanter though hee be most expert in charming These and other such things shew his Defensiue wisdome so that the Serpent both offensiuely and defensiuely is very wise which is the Protasis or Proposition The Reddition is Be yee also as wise What Offensiuely as wise I know many that are of vindictiue revengefull spirits would be glad to bee warranted in their humor by Christs counsell But such wisdome cannot bee here meant inasmuch as it cannot stand with that which our Saviour presently adds Be innocent as Doues What is it then Saint Augustine elegantly thus expresseth it Estoâ—e astuti non studio nocendi fed nocâ—nâ—â—s cavendâ— be yee wise not to doe hurt but to avoide those that would doe hurt So that the maine doctrine and rule is this That it is lawfull yea expedient and requisite in dangers and troubles prudently and warily to decline and avoide them Need I to spend time in prouing of this doth not the very instinct of nature command it vnto all creatures We see how the hound flies before the hound and vseth many naturall sleights and stratagems to escape the danger so doth the Partridge also to avoide the talons of the Falcon. Yea even in sencelesse creatures may wee obserue the same The fire fleeth from the aire vpward to preserue it selfe in its element and heavy things fall downeward as knowing they are not well till they are in their proper place But in man it is much more seene for even in suddaine perils when a man hath no leasure to thinke of avoiding them if a blow bee reached at him the hand naturally and of it selfe will put it selfe forth or lift it selfe vp to guard him And indeede to this end hath nature instilled into man a loue towards his owne selfe for as the Philosopher saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every man naturally is a friend to himselfe Wherevpon the schoolemen say Charitas incipit a seipso charity ever begins at a mans owne selfe and where this selfe-loue is it must needs breed a naturall desire to preserue himselfe Besides this loue nature hath put into him feare also feare of whatsoeuer evill would either hurt or destroy him Now feare as the same Philosopher teacheth is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a preseruer wherevpon the woman because she is ordained to keepe preserue things at home is made more fearfull then the man And for this cause also hath God put his feare into the heart of all his Saints to preserue them from that horrible and dangerous sin of Apostasie and falling away from him as the Prophet saith So that Feare is as it were the sentinell of the heart because danger maketh it vigilant and the nature thereof is contrary to security Lastly besides this loue and feare there is in man an vnderstanding also and a memory out of which is bred Experience and from experience proceeds the morall habit of Prudence by which man is enabled against dangers both to foresee them and to prevent them For Prudence as Cicero saith is ars vivendi vt medicina valetudinis the art of liuing as physick is of health And what doth all this argue but that it is mans duty to preserue himselfe For as men haue beene most provident and circumspect this way so haue they ever beene counted and esteemed most Prudent Vnto this instinct of nature may we adde the warrant of the Gospell For Grace takes not away nature but subordinates nature unto it selfe and according to the rule of Logicians subordinata non pugnant things subordinate one vnto another doe not destroy one the other Now that the Gospell of grace allowes it as well as the law of nature is manifest for doth not Christ himselfe allow it nere when he saith be wise as serpents Doth hee not say when they persecute you in one citty fly into another Doth not Saint Paul also giue vs this caveat beware of dogs beware of concision And advize vs elsewhere to walke wisely to walke warily to walke circumspectly and againe Alexander the Coppersmith hath done me much evill of whom also doe thou beware Many counsells to this effect haue were in the Proverbs of Salomon among the rest let this one serue for all A prudent man seeth the plague and hideth himselfe but the foolish man goeth on still and is punished Conformable vnto these rules hath the practise of the Saints of God ever beene Noah to avoide the danger of the flood builds an arke and puts himselfe into it Ioseph in Egypt laies vp store of corne against the deare yeares to avoide famishing Ioseph and Mary with their young babe retire into Egypt to avoid the fury of Herod David wisely provideth for himselfe to escape all the snares and plots of Saul Christ himselfe carefully seeketh to deliuer himselfe from the treacherous designes of his malitious enemies And memorable is