vestures of the Priests are their good workes Sacerdotes tui induantur iustitiam Let thy Priests be cloathed with Righteousnesse And these are to sound aloud being not holy onely in their tongue but also in their actions There must be a bell and there must be a clapper preaching and doing must goe together one will not doe well without the other Our Sauiour Christ aduiseth vs That we should hide our works and not make them knowne Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth Least the wind of vaine-glory chance to blow away the fruit thereof But in a Prince and a Prelat God would haue their workes to be more publike that they should not onely be holy but also seeme so for the good example of the people God placed Ioseph in the gouernment of Egypt because his life was so notoriously good that his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand It is a thing worthy the consideration That a Slaue in the house of an Infidell should professe so much vertue so much truth so much faithfulnesse so much courtesie and so much modestie that he should make him ruler of his house and put all that he had in his hand Oh how well beseeming are these and the like good things for the gouernment of a kingdome In regard of his death and that likewise for many good and great reasons First it was fitting That the testimonie of our Sauiours innocencie should precede to the end that it might appeare to the world that the Diuell by this his death was robbed and spoiled of his Empire through his righteousnes Saint Augustine deliuereth three things vpon this point The one That God did iustly deliuer man ouer to the Empire of the diuell for that he suffered himselfe to be ouercome by his subtletie and cunning The other That so great is the signiorie and dominion that the diuell hath ouer him that he neither can with all the strength that he hath ouercome his temptations nor auoid death which he incurred through sinne Not that the diuell had any more right or power ouer him than a hangman hath for the tormenting of a delinquent who receiues his command from the Iudge The third and last which is likewise of Leo and Saint Gregory the Pope That God might very well free man from the slauery and bondage of the diuell by his vertue and power without doing the diuell any wrong Euen as a Iudge who hath deliuered ouer an offender to the hangman to torment him may change his mind and set him free yet notwithstanding was willing to treat this busines by way of Iustice as if the diuell had proper right thereunto First for that it had beene but small glorie to Gods greatnes that the Creator should â—onâ—est with his creature and an infinite power with a limited Secondly That he might not make his iustice suspected For he that hath the least Iustice on his side doth now and then flye to his force and power The diuell was to be ouercome saith Saint Augustine by iustice and not by might Miro aequitatis iure certatum est said Leo the Pope Whence the Princes of the earth may learne this lesson That sithence the Prince of heauen proceeded so fairely and so iustly with so base and bad a creature hauing no tye or obligation thereunto let not any Prince of the earth presume to say Sic volo sic iubeo sit pro ratione voluntas But rather hearken to that of Iob If I refused to be iudged with my seruant c. Besides it is to be noted That the diuell did exceede his Commission and that God hauing giuen him power for to torment sinners he fell a tormenting of our Sauiour Christ who was most innocent he pursued him to the death till he had placed him vpon the Crosse. The cause was propounded in the Tribunall of the most blessed Trinitie the diuell was condemned and depriued of that power which was giuen him And so is that place of Saint Paul to be vnderstood De peccato damnauit peccatum And that of Saint Iohn Now is the iudgement of this world now shall the Prince of it be cast out That hapned to the diuell which befâ—ll Adam God gaue him free leaue and full liberty to inioy all the trees in Paradise saue one onely and no more and he onely pitcht his palat vpon that and tasted but of that one and no more God gaue the diuell leaue to tempt all onely interdicting him That he should not touch vpon our Sauiour Christ and yet he pusht most at him And to the end that this fault and punishment of the diuell should remaine notorious to the world it was fit that the testimony of his innocencie should goe before and that he should say Quis ex vobis c. Which of you c. Guaricus saith That the death Crosse of our Sauiour Christ was more the diuells death and crosse than his For our Sauiour Christ rose again the third day but the diuell neuer since was able to lift vp his head And as two going forth vpon a challenge into the field are vsually both run through and slaine so our Sauiour Christ and the diuel were both nayled to the Crosse Christ to his greater glory the diuell to his vtter destruction If I say the truth why doe ye not beleeue me The truth is the Blanke and Marke of our vnderstanding and being that man ought naturally to loue it it is a metaphisicall case that he should come to abhorre it In satisfaction of which difficulty we haue already rendered three reasons Whereunto we may here adde that other which our Sauiour Christ gaue vnto the Pharisees by Saint Iohn Yee seeke to kill me because my word hath no place in you There are some stomackes so ouerladen with euill humours That they no sooner receiue good meate but they vomit it vp againe and by a depraued disposition turne that which is sweet into sowernes In like sort there are some soules so full of hatred enuy couetousnesse and vncleanenesse that they rise at Gods truths and are ready to spue them vp though they be sweeter then the hony or hony-combe To him that is sicke of a Quartane the brawne of a Capon is vnsauourie but a pickled pilchard a strong onyon and a piece of powdered beefe haue an excellent rellish with him To a brest surcharged with the things of this world of force the doctrine of heauen must be vnsauoury Eyes that are couered with clouds as with a curtaine hate the light and cannot endure the splendour of the Sun Bonitatem disciplinam sciâ—ntiam docemini Saint Ierome renders it bonum gustum And from hence ariseth one of the greatest abuses in all the world to wit That we are readier to beleeue an enemie that lyes vnto vs than a friend that tells vs the truth In
will but thy will â— Lord be done It was our Sauiours saying to his Father when praying in the Garden he besought him Let this Cup passe from me And in another place I descended downe from heauen not to doe myne owne will but the will of my Father that sent me Anselmus saith That a soueraigne will in man and which doth not submit it selfe vnto Gods will is the will of Worldlings and sauouring too much of the earth and this superioritie would if it knew how rob God of his priuiledges as proud Lucifer endeauoured to doe And in another place he tearmes a mans owne proper will Pestem lepram mundi The plague and leaprosie of the world and that God doth punish nothing more vpon earth and that there had neuer beene any Hell had it not beene propter propriam voluntatem for this selfe-will of ours Saint Bernard saith That it conuerteth good into ill and that it loseth the reward of Fasting whereby Heauen might be gained Alledging that of Esay Behold in the day of your fast you will seeke your will Cassianus reporteth of a holy Hermit That a friend of his at the houre of his death asking his aduise How he might be saued Answered That he was neuer wedded to his owne proper will Taulerius reporteth of a certaine Diuine That he did oftentimes desire of God That he would direct him to a Master that might teach him the way of his saluation and that at last he met with a poore man that was all ragged and torne God giue you the good day said he vnto him To whom the other replied I neuer had bad one yet What meanest thou by that quoth he He told him I did euer place my happinesse and content in submitting my wil to Gods wil and because his will diuides it selfe into good and euill contenting my selfe with his good will and pleasure I haue alwayes led a contented life But what said he wouldest thou doe if God should cast thee into Hell He answered My Soule hath two armes the one of Humilitie the other of Charitie with the one I would obey with the other I would take hold on God himselfe and would force him to descend downe with me into Hell and hauing him along with me I should enioy all happinesse and content Leo the Pope saith That the dispossession of our owne proper will Omnes fidâ—les instruxit omnes Confessores incendit omnes Martyres coronauit Instructed all the Faithfull inflamed all the Confessors and crowned all the Martyrs Ecce quem amas infirmatur Behold He whom thou louest is sicke This Ecce implies matter of admiration Behold one that is beloued of God and that is sicke The Angell said vnto Gideon The Lord is with thee thou valiant man But hee answered with a kind of admiration and wondring Ah my Lord If the Lord be with vs why then is all this euill come vpon vs This is a secret hidden from the eyes of the flesh wherein we are to acknowledge these two truths The one That Tribulation conserueth Vertue The other That God giues tribulation to his best friends as a reward of their great and good seruices Touching the former In that earthly Paradise Vertue was conserued in it's perfect rest and quiet because the goods of the bodie did concurre with the goods of the soule But this concord was broken through sinne and then vertue amidst it's ease and pleasure liued in greater danger but in it's tribulation in greater securitie Caietan saith That the certainest and most assured signe that Vertues are such strangers here vpon earth is for that they haue need of so many materialls of persecutions for their preseruation Fire being in it's own sphere is solely by it selfe conserued without any fuell to maintaine it or breath of aire to blow it the like succeedeth with Vertue Touching the second Saint Ambrose saith of Iob That before the stormes of affliction fell vpon him he was a holy man yet for all that had he not the reward of holy Virtutis praemium non habebat God had not rewarded him for this his vertue He had shewed himselfe a valiant souldier in peace but not a Conquerour in warre and that his troubles and afflictions bestowed vpon him the Palme of this his victorie He saith likewise of Ioseph That the temptation of his Mistresse clapt the Crowne of Chastitie vpon his head and the wrong he receiued by imprisonment was the Touch-stone of his valour Your earthly Crownes are made of gold but your heauenly Diadems of the thornes of tribulation Necesse fuit vt tentatio probaret te It was needfull that thou shouldst be tried by temptation But this is a Theame which hath beene beaten vpon heretofore and in many places much insisted vpon and therefore I will passe it ouer This sickenesse is not vnto death but for the glorie of God c. That great dangerous diseases honour the Physition that doth cure them that great and terrible tempests recommend the Pilots skill that can preserue the Ship amidst those cruell flawes and raging seas that great victories innoble the Captaines that obtaine them is a manifest and knowne truth but that those stormes which pricke and paine my feet should serue for flowers in Gods hands that those stones whereat I stumble should serue as Diamonds for his Crowne this is a hidden treasure and a secret mysterie of heauenly Phylosophie but so certain that in case God had not created the world for any other end than to throw tribulations vpon his friends it had beene a famous piece of worke and a most glorious Fabricke for so great is the glorie which a Saint drawes from his sufferings that he makes no reckoning of the paine that he indures And it is fitly tearmed glorie for that all our felicitie consisteth in the seeing of God Tribulation openeth the eyes of the Soule whereby wee come to see him the better Vexatio dat intellectum It is a kind of glorie to suffer affliction Heretofore sayd Iob Auditu auris audiuite nunc autem oculus meus videt te In my prosperitie ô Lord I had some knowledge of thee but now in my miserie sitting on the dunghill I haue seene thee with myne eyes I find a great difference between that which I heard and that which I now see Not that he saw God saith Saint Chrysostome but because his knowledge was by his miserie made more cleere After that man had fallen by sinne God gaue that to him for a punishment which before he had bestowed vpon him for entertainement He had placed him in Paradise to dresse keepe it afterwards he allotted it him as a chastisement In the sweat of thy browes c· and the mysterie is That Gods disfauour is Hell his fauour Heauen but trouble and affliction sent vs by God is like vnto Moses his Bush which the more it flamed the fresher it seemed for as it is obserued by Saint Gregorie
to giue a faire and gentle answere to an angrie man is more than to prophesie of that which is to come for the gift of Prophecying God giues it Gratiâ— and it costs the Receiuer nothing but to suffer an Enemie costeth much Gregorie Nazianzen expounding that place of Saint Luke Vnto him that smiteth thee on the one cheeke offer also the other addeth further If thou hadst three cheekes thou oughtst to offer them all for to keepe him quiet But some man will say When that Varlet that base Slaue smote Christ in â—aiphas his house he did not offer him his other cheeke but told him as one thâ—t was sencible of the wrong he had done him If I â—aue euill spoken beare witnesse of the euill but if I haue well spoken why smitest thou me Saint Augustine answereth hereunto that to turne the other cheeke to an angrie man is not so much to be vnderstood de parte operis as de preparatione animi Noâ— in regard of the worke by offering the cheeke as of the preparation of our mind for that were but to put a sword into a mad mans hand And in another place he saith That it is an hyperbolicall kind of speech for that Christ did pretend That hee that is offended should be so farre from reuenging a receiued iniurie that hee should rather willingly receiue a new than reuenge an old wrong And therfore if our Sauiour Christ returned this answer to that rude and rough-handed Souldier â—ur me caedis Why smitest thou me it was either because this his flattery which he was willing to expresse to the High Priest by this his crueltie should not thereby be authorised or because it might not be presumed that Christ had lost the respect due to the Priest or because that no man should suspect that there remained any rancor in his brest or desire of reuenge which they that heard him say That the Sonne of Man should come with power and Maiestie and that he had another Kingdome where legions of Angels should shew themselues for to doe him honour might well suspect or peraduenture he returned him that answer for to pacifie him itbeing so mild â—nd gentle In a word The Rocke in the Sea the Anuile in the Forge the Iust in the earth continue stil quiet the one enduring the waues and suffering the surges of the seas the other the strokes of the hammers and the third the iniuries of his enemies My enemies haue compassed me about like so many Bees so many Buls and so many Dogs grinning their teeth at me but it neither troubles me nor grieues me for I am sufficiently reuenged of them Saint Augustine doth here aske the question How ô thou Kingly Prophet art thou reuenged of them Marrie by instructing them in the truth and by dissuading them from their errours Iob hauing receiued great iniuries from his friends as taunting words and false testimonies the reuenge that he tooke of them was To pray vnto God for them and to giue them good and wholesome councell as Saint Gregorie hath noted it Flie therefore from the face of the sword Thirdly he read a Lecture vnto Princes and Prelates of that mildnesse and gentlenesse which they ought to professe towards their Subiects Saint Bernard saith That if Christ did condemne Peter for drawing his sword when they came to lay hands on his Master and for cutting off of Malchus his eare it was That Choller did not well become him who was afterwards to be a Gouernor of the Church where he should meete with many a Malchus There is not any thing that doth more conserue Scepters and Crownes than clemencie and truth Alexander Seuerus was so soft and mild an Emperour that some did murmure thereat saying he would draw his Empire into contempt and be lesse esteemed of his Subiects Whereunto he answered Though it should be of lesse esteeme I am sure it will be more secure and durable Saint Augustine Saint Gregorie and Saint Ierome make this doubt Why our Sauiour did not as well reply to their calling of him Samaritane as for telâ—â—ng him that he had a diuell And they resolue it thus That concerning these two iniuries the one was an affront done to his person the other to his Doctrine for the wrong that was done to his doctrine because it touched the honour of his father hee was bound to answer thereunto For a seruant must not bee silent much lesse a sonne in the agrauios and iniuries that are done vnto God God promised Moses to make him a Captaine and Gouernour of another more noble and more honourable Nation desiring that he might cut off and make an end at once of that rebellious people But Moses besought him saying My good Lord this were a great honour for me but I am content to forgoe it because thou shalt suffer in thine honour if thou destroy this people Least the Egyptians speake and say he hath brought them out malitiously for to slay them in the mountaines and to consume them from off the earth This were but to run the censure of euill tongues and the hazard of thine honour Our Sauiour Christ did not resent any thing so much as affronts and dishonours this made him to breake forth into this passionat speech Ye went out with swords and â—â—aues to take me as if I had beene a theefe Againe Thou knowest my reproach and none knowes it â—o fully as thou To these shall we adde that other Saturabitur opprobrijs all his other torments made him still more and more hungrie and abated not the edge of his stomacke but he was glutted with his reproches and the affronts that were offered him he had his bellie too full of them more than hee was well able to beare Amongst other causes of that his mysterious sweaâ—ing of bloud in the Garden the Saints set downe this as the most principall That the dishonour did there represent it selfe vnto him of seeing himselfe starke naked vpon the Crosse and that he was to be made a spectacle vnto the world his bloâ—d like a faithful friend hauing recourse to the bashful modestie of the whole bodie as it is woont vpon some occasions to haue recourse vnto the heart In a word hee did euermore giue approued pledges tokens of the great reckoning that he made of his honour but when his Fathers lay at stake he was forgetfull of his owne And therefore not answering to that of Samaritanus es tu Thou art a Samaritan he mildly replied Ego Daemonium non habeo I haue not a Deuill but I honour my Father c. I seeke not mine owne praise but there is one that seeketh it and iudgeth Ye seeke to blot my name out of the worlds memory and to burie my honor and authority with the infamie of a Witch a Sorcerer a Diuell and a Glutton And though I doe not seeke to repaire this wrong There is one that seeketh after it and iudgeth
a discreet short and full Prayer stuft with so much loue hope and humilitie as the Centurions was Ioshuah that great Captaine with a Ne mouearis lengthened out the Sunne with those short words From a Captaine transported with a holy zeale will you looke for Eloquence flowers of Rhetoricke Are teares so soone drawne from a souldiers eyes tendernesse from his heart and bowing from his knees let not these nicities and ceremonious curiosities preiudice our Centurions plaine language and vnhewne behauiour it was much to be commended in him that he could so much In a delicate Garden where Art hath shewed it's vtmost yee shall meet with Roses Gillyflowers and Fountaines of Alabaster and Iasper but thou wilt not so much admire this as if thou shouldst light on these dainties in a Desert or in some craggie Mountain where the hand of nature shall ouerdoe that of art and Industrie Non inueni tantam fidem in Israel I haue not found so great Faith no not in Israell Christ turned about to the companie that were desirous to see the miracle and said I haue not found so great Faith no not in Israell not onely among the Gentiles to whom the Captain belonged but to the Iewes who expected a Messias This was a great commendation of the Centurion and a seuere reprehention to the Iewes and no smal exhortation to those that were to succeed them Tantam fidem So much Faith Saint Austen renders it Tam magnam fidem So great Faith A mans Faith may bee said to bee great or little First in regard of beleeued truths and so hee that beleeues the more truths hath the more Faith Secondly in respect of the difficultie and so hee that beleeues things of a higher nature and which exceede humane capacitie ha's the greater Faith Christ told his Disciples That they were Modicae fidei Men of little faith because they thought he could better saue them waking than sleeping And those seruants of the Archisinagogue beleeuing our Sauiour could haue cured the maid while shee was yet aliue but that he could not raise her vp being dead said Trouble not thy selfe the maid is dead Regulus had the like beleefe Come downe before my sonne be dead Thirdly in consideration of the arguments and reasons for it for Faith runnes a contrarie course to Knowledge This is the greater and more perfect the more it is strengthened by force of argument and the more knowne demonstrations are made of it That the lesser weaker they are And therfore Christ taxeth the Iewes that they would not beleeue without miracles Vnlesse yee see signes and wonders yee will not beleeue Fourthly because of it's firmenesse and it's constancie for that Faith which indureth most persecutions temptations and contradictions is so much the greater To the Cananitish woman our Sauiour said O woman great is thy Faith for beeing beaten with so many put-by's disgraces like a rock she stood strongly to it could not bee remoued But for those that beleeue at certaine times but in time of temptation yeeld and giue off of them our Sauiour saith That they haue but small store of Faith In euerie one of these kinds so great was the Centurions Faith That our Sauiour said of him Non inueni tantam fidem I haue not found so much Faith c. First of all he did beleeue That he could heale his Seruant who now lay at the point of death Not like the Father who hauing his sonne possessed with a Deuill spake doubtingly to our Sauiour Christ Si quid potes adjuva me If thou canst do any thing helpe me Secondly he did beleeue That he was able to cure him onely by his worde or to speake better by his Wil onely Not like the Archisynagoguian who desired him That he would lay his hand vpon his daughter Thirdly hee did beleeue That hee could cure him though hee were absent Not like Regulus who was earnest with him to make all the hast he could vnto his house before his sonne were dead Nor like Martha who said Domine si fuisses hic frater meus non fuisset mortuus Lord if thou hadst beene here my brother had not died Fourthly he did beleeue That our Sauior was God and Man Not like those that said Homo cum sis facis teipsum Deum Thou art a man makest thy self a God Saint Hierome seemes to bee of opinion That this his Faith did not reach so farre as the mysterie of the Trinitie but it was much that such a freshwater Souldier should on the sudden attaine to the highest of that knowledge Great likewise was his Faith in regard of the difficultie What greater difficultie than to beleeue That that man on the one side so passible and subiect to paine was on the other side so powerfull and impassible This was it that was foolishnesse to the Gentiles and a scandall to the Iewes It was likewise great in regard of those slender arguments and reasons to mooue him thereunto For he had neither read the Scriptures nor the Prophecies that were of him nor did know Christ but by the fame report that went of him nor had seene many of his miracles for Christ had not then done many As it is noted by Saint Chrysostome It was also great in regard of it's firmenesse and constancie as Origen hath obserued for our Sauiour proou'd and try'd him as hee did Abraham and as he did the woman of Canaan when he said Ego veniam curabo eum I will come and heale him This was a great proofe of his Faith but hee was as firme as the Rocke so that in euerie one of these respects his Faith was great If any man shall aske How great I pray was this Faith of his I answere Greater than Christ found in the People of Israell to whom he had preached and for whose sake he had wrought so many miracles Tertullian declareth this greatnesse of Faith in that manner that the comparison cutteth not off the Patriarkes alreadie past nor the Israelites to come but extendeth it selfe onely to those that were present whose Faith he had made triall of Secondly for that it ranne greater difficultie than that of his Apostles and Disciples in regard of those lesse forcible arguments and reasons to leade him thereunto as also in respect of that small paines that had beene taken with him For Christ sought after his Apostles and Disciples and tooke them from their Trades and occupations manifesting his glorie vnto them According to that of Saint Iohn Manifestauit gloriam suam crediderunt discipuli eius He manifested his glorie and his Disciples beleeued But the Centurion was inuited onely by his Faith to acknowledge Christ and to beleeue truly in him Lastly his Faith was greater in it's proportion As our Sauiour said That the mustard-plant was greater for it's proportion than all the other trees of the field so by the way of proportion was the
belonging thereunto Saint Bernard expounding those words of the ninetie one Psalme Dicet Domino susceptor meus es tu refugium meum Deus meus sperabo in eum i. I will say vnto the Lord Thou art my c. asketh the question Why God being the God of all Dauid in that place cals him twice his God I answere That he is the God of all in regard of his Creation and Redemption and other his generall benefits towards man but in Temptation hee is the God of euery indiuiduall person as if hee did not busie himselfe nor thinke vpon any other thing than the fauouring of the Iust and the assisting of him vpon those occasions Saint Gregory declaring those wordes of Christ Not a haire of your head shall perish sayth That a haire doth not paine vs when it is cut away from vs but the cutting of the flesh doth If that then shall be kept from perishing by Gods protection and prouidence ouer vs which doth not paine vs how much more will he take heed that that shall not perish which may put vs to paine Last of all There is not any thing so notorious and so approoued as the generall good that is gotten by Temptation From thence grow those braue Spirits those valiant Souldiers and those couragious Captaines which wage warre against the Deuill and Hell keeping him out at the staffes end and putting him to the worst As on the contrary from Idlenesse come Cowards whiteliuerd Souldiers Faint-hearted Soule-lesse and Lazie people As long as there were any frontyre-townes in Spaine for the enemies to make their inrodes it had many braue and famous Souldiers as the Cides and the Bernardos But now there are none but Carpet-Knights all men of bombast made of nothing but softnesse and delicacie their Armour is turned into gay clothes and their stiffe Launces into starcht bottle bands and beards They all did then smell of Gunpoulder but now stincke of Amber Siuet and other Indian Gummes Athanasius askes the question Why the prouidence of God did ordaine this continuall warre betweene the Deuils and Men And the answere is That thereby the valour of Gods Souldiers might bee knowne Saint Ambros sayth That the Deuill workes his owne destruction by his dayly tempting of Men for by seeking to weaken their Bodies hee strengthneth their Soules And that Iob when hee sate vpon the dung-hil with his pot-sheard in his hand to scrape off his scabbes made all Hell affraid and to stand amased at his patience Ductus est Iesus a Spiritu in desertum vt tentaretur Hee was led by the Spirit into the Desart that hee might bee tempted The holy Ghost was a guide to all our Sauiours Actions Hee was Dux Comes as Saint Cyprian saith or as Esay hath it Spiritus sanctus ductor eius fuit i. The holy Spirit was his Leader But in none of our Actions makes the Scripture any mention that the holy Ghost leadeth vs vnto but onely to Temptation And this is expressed with wordes that carry a kind of force with them though voluntary and sweet Expulit agebatur ductus est Hee drew him not hee was chased hee was led And the mysterie thereof is that no man ought to presume considering his weakenesse so much vpon his owne securitie and confidence that hee should enter into Temptation vnlesse the holy Ghost take him vp as it were by the haire of the head and set him into it And the truth of this doctrine is deliuered vnto vs by Victor Antiochenus Saint Iohn Chrisostome Gregorius Nissenus Euthimius many other Saints of God In corporall warre it is greater courage to fight than to flie but in the spirituall warfare the assurance of the Victorie consists in flying And God would rather haue vs to bee cowards through feare than couragious through presumption and therefore hee first promiseth vs his Protection that is his Ayd and his Fauour Deus refugium virtus adiutor in opportunitatibus in tribulatione i. God is a helper in due season in tribulation Hee first sayes he will bee our refuge and afterwards our helper Flye therefore from danger and haue recourse vnto God and beeing sheltred vnder the shadow of his wings and vpheld by the strength of his Arme thou needst not feare any harme that Hell can doe vnto thee So that God is not bound to fauour thee in those temptations which thou doost thrust thy selfe into but in those that thou seekest to shun Saint Austen aduising I know not whom that they should not talke and conuerse with Women so familiarly as they did they excused themselues vnto him telling him that they onely did so that they might meete with some Temptations wherewith to encounter But this glorious Doctor plainely told them Herein you seeke nothing but dangers and stumbling blockes to cause you to fall And as it is fit to take from before the eyes of the franticke all those images and pictures which may moue passion in him for that they wil be an occasion to make him madder than euer he was before so ought a sinner to auoid all the vanities of this World Ecce elongaui fugiens mansi in solitudine Saint Bernard hath well obserued that for his better ease and quiet this holy King did not onely leaue his owne Citie but fled farre from it And hee that shall flie from the occasions of sinning performes no small matter But hee that shall flie a farre off from them will find it to bee most for his ease Temptation as it is the Deuils acte is ill and God doth not will it positiuely but permissiuely hee doth so sayth Saint Chrisostome Aduising vs that wee should not seeke after them but if they chance to set vpon vs then are wee to stand to it and valiantly to fight it out This our Sauiour Christ would insinuate to his Disciples in the garden when hee sayd vnto them Watch and pray that yee enter not into Temptation For a man to sleepe when hee is in daunger and not to flie vnto God for succour is to seeke after Temptation Saint Austen Saint Cyprian Saint Gregorie and Saint Chrysostome say That this is the meaning of that prayer which 〈◊〉 daily make And lead vs not into Temptation Which carries with it a double sence The one Lead vs not ô Lord into Temptation for our weakenesse and frailtie is exceeding great So doth Petrus Chrisologus expound it But because it is not a fitting language for a Souldier to desire of his Captaine that hee should not send him foorth to fight that other sence is more plaine Suffer vs not ô Lord to fall into Temptation But if thou wilt permit that wee must bee tempted yet consent not ô Lord that wee bee ouercome And this sence Saint Austen seemeth to approue in that his sermon de Monte. But in what sence soeuer you take it it is very true that no man ought rashly to run himselfe into danger
Sea God tharefore beeing on the one side so embowelled in and beneath the Earth and on the other so wholely out of the same as Saint Hilarie prooueth it Intus extra super omnia internus in omnia How can hee fully know all that is in Heauen in Hell in the bowells of the Earth or in the bottome of the Sea Many perhaps cannot giue a full answer to this but the Pharisees had they not beene blinded with enuie might haue contented themselues with that of Moses For he hath written of me or of Ezechiel who did prophecie of him That he was the King and Sheepheard of Israell or of Iohn Baptist who pointed him out vnto them as it were with the finger or of his Workes and Miracles For they beare witnesse of me of the Father who proclaimed him in Iordan to be his Sonne of the Deuils of Hell who with open voyce acknowledged him to be the Sonne of God of the little children who cried out Hosanna to the Sonne of Dauid blessed is he that commeth in the name of the Lord. Quis est hic Who is this Diuers and sundrie times Christ had entred into Hierusalem and they had neuer askt this question before but now the triumph and the Maiestie of this King awakens the tongues of these enuious People who now begin to aske Quis est hic It hath beene an antient question doubted of of old Which is the better life that of a publique or a priuate person Seneca in an Epistle of his seemeth to fauour the former Miserable saith he is that mans fortune who hath no enemie to enuie him And Persius saith That it is a great glorie to haue men point with the finger and to say There goes the Kings Fauourite But Iob hee seemeth to like better of the latter O that I had giuen vp the ghost and no eye had seene me would I had beene as though I had not beene and that I had beene carried from the wombe to the graue Wishing himselfe to haue beene of that short continuance in the world that no man might haue knowne whither he had died or liued And Horace Neque vixit malè qui natus moriensque fefellit His life let none bemone who liu'd and di'd vnknowne Both liues haue so much to be said on either side that the question remaines yet vnresolued But admit that a publike life be the more desired yet it is not the safest for alwayes the more honour the more danger Who is this Your great Persons and those that prosper in the world carrie wheresoeuer they goe such a noyse with them that they giue occasion to the People to aske Quis est hic Iohn Baptist when hee thundered out in the Desert clad in Camells haire That the Kingdome of God was at hand iudging him to be some coelestiall Monster they sent out to enquire of him with a Tu quis es Who art thou The Angells seeing our Sauiour Christ ascend vnto Heauen with such a deale of Maiestie and glorie as was neuer seene before began to aske Quis es iste qui venit de Edom Who is he that commeth from Edom And Esay speaking of a great Tyrants comming downe to Hell saith Hell was troubled at thy comming In a word it is true in nature That the loftie Cedars and the highest and tallest Pine Trees make the greatest noyse when they are shaken with the wind and the greatest Riuers the greatest roaring And therefore it is no meruaile they should aske Who is this When a Merchant shall go apparelled and attended like a Knight or some great Lord and his wife and daughters like a great Ladie and her children Who will not aske Quis est hic I knew his Grandfather c. And for that the Pharisees were enuious they did speake reprochfully of our Sauiour euerie foot vpbraiding him That he was a Carpenter and the sonne of a Carpenter and seeing him now enter Ierusalem like a King they demanded in scorne Quis est hic Hic est Iesus Propheta à Nazareth Galileae This is Iesus By name a Sauiour and by office a Prophet Alluding to that promise made in Deutronomie I will raise vp a Prophet of thine owne Nation Beeing a plaine Prophesie of our Sauiour Christ as appeareth in the third of the Acts His Countrie Nazareth where he was bred they not knowing that he was borne in Bethlem Now these wise men of this World asking with this scorne Who is this and the foolish ones answering with that discretion This is Iesus c. agrees well with those thankes which our Sauiour gaue vnto his father Because thou hast hid these things from the Wise and hast reuealed them to Babes It is Gods fashion to ouercome a Pharaoh with Flies and by a sillie woman to confound the Learned who said In Belzebub the Prince of Deuills he casts out Deuills by a blind man the Iudges of Hierusalem by a low Zacheus a tall Gyant The order of Grace is different from that of Nature God as a naturall Author Media per summa gubernat Gouernes the meane things by the highest saith Dionysius First he communicateth his vertue his power to the supream causes and by them to the meaner and the lowest The Sunne shines first vpon the Mountaines and then shewes it selfe in the Vallies c. But Grace oftentimes doth first illuminate the lowest Bottoms and shines oftner in them than on the Mountaines it called the Sheepeheards before it called the Kings it appeared vnto the Ignorant before the Wise and shewed it selfe to Balaams Asse before his Master tooke notice of it And therefore Ecclesiasticus saith That the Soule of a Iust man attaineth to more truth than those Watch-Towers that are reared on the highest Walls vnderstanding thereby your greatest Clerkes A just and vpright man will now and then affoord you better councell than many wise men howbeit in matters of difficultie and deepe points of knowledge and of Faith we must alwayes haue recourse to the Wise. Caepit eijcere omnes ementes vendentes He began to cast out all the Buyers and the Sellers Zacharie prophecying of this entrance saith Ecce Rex tuus veniet tibi mansuetus Behold thy King shall come vnto thee meeke How can these two suit together Mansuetus and Triumphator gentle and yet a Conqueror Teares in his eyes and yet so angrie that hee neuer shewed himself more I haue giuen some reasons hereof in another place those that now offer themselues are these The first That Mercie and Iustice are the two Poles of Gods gouernment By those teares in his eyes and by those words of lamentation from his mouth and by moouing the hearts of that hard hearted Citie our Sauiour gaue notable proofes of his mercie But finding this insufficient to make himselfe knowne amongst them his Iustice then did display it's power by whipping those Merchants and in them the Priests who had a share in their
Take heed of that man that hath his breath in his nosthrills Whereby it is signified That if hee should once grow angrie with vs hee would quickely make an end of vs. There was neuer yet any Prophet in the World so holy nor so soft-spirited but that somtime or other he did breake foorth into anger Esay called the Gouernours of his people The Princes of Sodome Saint Iohn Baptist stiles them Vipers Saint Chrysostome the Empresse Eudoxia Herodias And our Sauiour Christ these Scribes Generatio mala adultera A wicked and adulterous generation c. Generatio mala adultera An euill generation Ill for the ill and inueterated custom of their Vices Saint Stephen Vos semper Spiritui sancto resistitis sicut patres vestri ita vos Ye alwayes resist the high God euen as your fathers so yee Dauid Generatio praua atque exasperans Moses Generatio enim peruersa est infideles filij An vnthankefull hard-hearted and disloyall generation Vae semini nequam filijs sceleratis Woe to the wicked seed Ezechiel Generatio tua de terra Canaan pater tuus Amorrheus mater tua Cethea Thy ofspring is from the land of Canaan thy Father was an Amorite thy Mother a Hittite All these places doe blazon foorth the ill race of that people For albeit the herencie of Vice and of Vertue be not constringitiue and that there is no such necessitie in it nor alwayes followes the order of Nature for wee see a Dwarfe begot by a Gyant a Hare of a Lyon nor likewise in the state of Grace for of a holy Father sometimes issues an vngracious Son as Esau of Isaac and Absalon of Dauid yet notwithstanding if a man bee discended of a bad race it is a miracle if hee prooue good Arbor mala non potest bonos fructus facere An euill tree cannot bring foorth good fruit The Spanish Prouerbe sayth Bien aya quien a los suyos parece Gods blessing be with him hee is so like his parents hee suckt his goodnesse with his milke hee inherited his Fathers vertues Transgressorem ex vtero vocaui te sayth Esay Thou hast beene a transgressor from the Wombe Alenhornar se hazen los panes tuertos The loaues went away from their first setting into the Ouen All this is included in these words Generatio mala An euill generation Adultera Hee does not note them in this world for children that had beene begotten in adulterie for this had beene their parents fault and not theirs And Aristotle sayth Ab his quae a natura insunt nec laudamur nec vituperamur i. Whatsoeuer is naturally in vs redounds neither to our praise nor dispraise Both the ill the well born do confesse Ipse fecit nos non ipsi nos It is God that hath made vs and not we our selues For if it had beene in our choice to chuse our owne fathers wee would haue beene all gentlemen Two things did our Sauiour here pretend to notifie vnto vs. 1 The one that they had degnerated from the vertue of their forefathers and for this reason Dauid calls them strange chldren Filij alieni menti ti sunt mihi filij alieni inueter ati sunt And in another place Libera me de manu filiorum alienorum Deliuer mee out of the hands of strange children They did boast that they had Abraham to their father Nos patrem habemus Abraham But Christ giues them the lye and tells them Vos ex patre Diabolo estis For the workes the thoughts and the desires are not of Abraham but the Deuill 2 The other because they had married now the second time with Vntruth and made a match with false gods hauing diuorced from them the truth of the true and euerliuing God And for the better declaration of this Doctrine it is to be noted First That the vnderstanding and the truth haue a kind of marriage between them Quae sibi sponsam mihi assumere sapientiam I desired to marry hir such loue had I vnto hir beauty And one that Comments vpon these words sayth That from the Vnderstanding and Truth well vnstorstood there doth grow a greater vnitie than there doth arise from betweene the matter and the forme Secondly That betweene the Soule and God by the meanes of the Truth of Faith there is another kind of spirituall marriage made whereof Ose sayth Desponsabo te mihi in fide I will marrie thee vnto mee for euer yea I wil marry thee vnto me in righteousnesse and in iudgement and in mercy and in compassion I will euen marrie thee as if this were that wedding-ring that made all sure vnto mee in Faithfulnesse And this knot is knit so fast that Saint Paul could say He that cleaueth vnto God is one spirit with him And for that the people of the Iewes had fallen some while into Heresie another into Idolatrie falsely expounding the Law and forsaking the Fath of God to follow a Calfe and Idols whereof God taxes them euery foote in the Scriptures stiling them adulterers harlots children workers of fornication so here hee now sayth Generatio adultera Mala adultera Euill and adulterous First he sayes Mala and then Adultera Tearming them in the first place Ill in the second Adulterous For the ordinarie way to loose faith is an euill life But as the vomitting vp of our meate turneth sometime to our good so is it now and then in the ridding of our stomacke of Vertue And in this sence Saint Ambrose sayd Profuit mihi Domine quod peccaui It was well for me ô Lord that I sinned For repentance may restore Grace in a higher degree But if this weakenesse shall take such violent hold vpon vs that wee shall fall once to vomiting of bloud it will goe hard with vs if not cost vs our liues In like manner a sinner perseuering in his sinnes comes at last to loose his Faith And this is one of the seuerest punishments of Gods Iustice Whereof Ieremy sayd Peruenit gladius vsque ad animam Whence Saint Ierome gathereth that then the sword pierceth to the Soule when there is no signe of life left in it In your buildings the first danger doth not consist in their sudden falling to ground but they goe mouldring away by little and little and decay by degrees So likewise in this our Spiritual building the first danger is not the losse of our Faith nor our first demolishing our falling into Heresies but before we come to that wee goe by little and little first lessening then loosing our vertues and heaping sin vpon sin till at last Mole ruit sua all comes tumbling down to our vtter destruction Saint Paul doth much commend earnestly recommend vnto vs a good conscience Quam quidem repellentes naufragauerunt à fide Faith grounded vpon an euill conscience is like a house that is built vpon the sand which when the waters rise the
heauenly Physition is out of heart of helping them and quite discouraged from doing any good vpon them And therefore sayth Yee shall dye in your sinne Ieremie maketh mention that certaine Angells comming by Gods appointment to cure Babylon after that they had applyed many medicines vnto her they sayd Wee would haue healed Babylon but shee is not healed let vs therefore forsake her and euery one goe his way from her Lo the Lord of Angells himselfe and of all the Hosts of Heauen comes vnto them offers to cure them by applying the Medicines of his Word and his Miracles but they refuse to bee holpen and so he leaues them amongst the Catalogue of the Incurable Secondly The prayer which Christ made for them vpon the Crosse was a strange meanes and though he then conuerted a Theefe yet could he not conuert a Pharisee Saint Stephen made the like prayer Lay not this sinne ô Lord vnto their charge Let not the sinne ofthis people be a sinne vnto death In a word the bloud of our Sauiour Christ softneth the hardnesse of stones but mollifieth not the hearts of the Iewes Thirdly an occasion once lost as it is seldome or neuer recouered so is it ordinarily bewailed Horace saith of Vertue That hee that inioyes it esteemes it not but hauing lost it enuies it Of Herod Iosephus reporteth That he caused his wife to be put to death vpon a false accusation and she was scarce cold but that he pined away for her Alexander killed Clitus and wept ouer him when he had done Athens exiled Socrates afterwards repenting themselues thereof they erected his Statua and banished his Accusers Abimelec banished Isaac out of his Countrie and afterwards went to seeke for him c. Humane and diuine Histories are full of this truth onely in the brests of the Pharisees this remorse and pittie could find no place but hauing lost in Christ our Sauior the happiest occasion that euer the world inioyed yet such and so great was this their wilfull obstinacie that they were so farre from weeping or bewailing either his or their owne losse that if they could catch him now againe aliue they would crucifie him anew Great obstinacies great stiffenesse and stubbornenesse doth the Scripture mention as that of the Gyants which built the Tower of Babell that of Pharaoh whom so many seuerall plagues could not vnharden that of Saul Ieroboam Antiochus Herod Ascalonita that of Elah and of Zimri who went into the pallace of the Kings house and burnt the Kings house ouer him with fire and died But none was like vnto that of this people for their hardnes of heart hath now continued aboue 1600 yeares Aboue all these harmes there is one that is yet greater than the rest which is this present threatning Yee shall die in your sinne Of all disasters that may befall vs this is not only greater but the summe of all the rest How many businesses offer themselues vnto men in this life though they bee of Empires and Monarchies which will be but as it were accessorie vnto them and not much trouble them whither they succeed well or ill But this is so precise a one and so necessarie that he that loseth it loseth all and not onely all present good but the future hope of euer recouering it againe Saint Paul writing to those of Corinth comes vpon them with an Obsecro vt vestrum negotium agatis i. I beseech you mind your owne businesse your owne businesse by an Antonomasia for all the rest are aliena others Seneca in an Epistle that he writeth to Lucilius saith That a man spendeth part of his life in doing ill and the greater part in vnprofitable things and all his life in not looking well what he doth As he that prayes without attention he that reads with a diuerted mind if he would haue spoke like a Christian he might haue put them in mind of many who spend all their life or the greatest part thereof by placing their thoughts vpon their end At this marke did Dauid aime in many of his prayers Cassiodorus thus expoundeth that place of the fortie ninth Psalme The iniquitie of my heeles shall compasse mee about The head is Principium hominis the verie life and first beginning of man and the heele is taken for the end and finall dissolution of man And he saith That his greatest care was the continuall remembrance of his end He repeateth the like in many other of his Psalmes Exurge Domine ne repellas in finem Arise Lord put vs not off to the end Vsque quo Domine obliuisceris me How long wilt thou forget me to the end Lord let me know my end I euer ô Lord had an eye to the perill and danger of my end Take me not away in the middest of my dayes for that is not a fit time for a mans end In a word true happinesse or vnhappiness consists in it's arriuall at it's Hauen for it little importeth to haue escaped this or that storme vnlesse we come to land safely It is not sufficient for a man to haue spent a great deale of money in a Law suit vnlesse hee haue sentence on his side It is the euening that commendeth the day and our end that crowneth our actions c. In peccato vestro moriemini Yee shall die in your sinne We are not ignorant that God reuealed to many of his Saints their predestination as to Marie Magdalen and his Apostles but to none their reprobation lest the infallibilitie ofthis reuelation should thrust them into desperation And these words Yee shall die in your sinne seemeth to bee a plaine prophecie that this people were to die in their sinne I answer That this cannot be a reuelation for two reasons The one Because the Pharisees did not beleeue and in not giuing credit to our Sauiour Christ in the truth that hee vttered for their good it is likely they would not beleeue those that he deliuered for their hurt The other For that our Sauiour Christ repeating the verie selfe same proposition made it conditionall Vnlesse yee beleeue yee shall die in your sinne which was as it were a declaration of the former In a word Two were those things which our Sauiour Christ pretended One That they might beleeue and not die in their sinne The other That they who now treated with him should die in their sinne but so that Christ our Sauiour should not be the cause of their damnation but their owne incredulitie For that which is spoken of before it come to passe it is therfore spoken of because it shal come to passe but it shal not therfore come to passe because it is spoken of For the Diuine prescience or foreknowledge though it aduise that which shall come to passe yet it imposeth not any necessitie that it shall come to passe Saint Peter therefore did not denie Christ because our Sauiour told him that he should denie him So that diuine
do than to keepe it cleane from Thornes and to gather and enioy the Fruits thereof wherin this Master of a family shewed the great care he had of his house treating therein touching mans good the slight account that man made of this his happinesse and felicitie When God created the World he tooke not vpon him the name of an Husbandman nor did he take any paines in the creating of it for he but sayd the word and it was done Ipse dixit facta sunt But this Vineyard of the Church it cost him the paines of planting it of compassing it in with a hedge of digging a pit for the Winepresse of building a Tower in it besides the life of many of his seruants as also of him Quem acquisiuit sanguine suo This was a new Noah with whom that former old Noah was not to bee compared For that giuing an end to a yong world though grown old in sin destroyed the people but not their wickednesse but this did vtterly ouerthrow the Kingdome of sinne drowning it in the floud of his bloud and gaue the first beginning to the life of Grace Whence followeth the firmenesse and perpetuitie of the Church for being founded vpon so sure a Foundation who can ouerthrow it Supra dorsum meum fabricauerunt peccatores Another letter hath it Arauerunt aratores The Ploughers ploughed furrowes on my backe Alluding to that which was then in vse for signing out the scituation and circuit of some Citie Romulus tooke that course when he founded Rome Vrbem signauit aratro So sayes the Poet. Whom Saint Augustine also citeth But this Citie which hath on the one side Heauen for it's prop and on the other the shoulders of our Sauiour Christ What firmenesse and prosperitie must it enioy And onely because Christ doth cherish water it not only with his own most pretious bloud but with that of so many Martyrs Plutarch reporteth That those of Eliopolis dranke no wine beeing persuaded that wine was the bloud of those Gyants which made warre against Heauen of whose bodies beeing buried in the earth sprang your Vines And therefore when Alexander dranke much wine Antocides would say vnto him I pray Sir consider that yee drinke the bloud of the earth These are all lies yet may very well suit with this our truth for wee are to vnderstand That the Vines of the Faithfull sprang and grew vp from the bloud of that Gyant of whom Dauid said Exultauit vt Gygas adcurrendam viam For that Morall That the sprinkling of the bloud of those two Louers should giue colour ripenes to the Fruit is a meere fable but that the bloud of our Sauiour Christ should so season these wild Vines as to make them to bring forth aboundance of fruit is a knowne truth Whence it is to be noted that whither it be that these Vines do represent the faithful or whither or no because the wine thereof is turned into the bloud of our Sauiour Christ the Deuill beares so great a hatred to the sprigs and branches of the Vine that there is not any thing that your Witches abhorre stand more in feare of As you may read in Petrus Gregorius in his Bookes De Republica Plutarch saith That your Vinestockes being watred with wine drie and wither away But the Vines of the Faithfull being besprinkled with the wine of the bloud of Christ grow vp and fructifie the better Vinum germinans Virgines it ingendreth noble thoughts The Poet inuites Aeneas and calls vnto him in this sweet kind of language Sate sanguine Diuum But more noblenesse doth a Christian enioy in that Sate sanguine Christi Seneca saith That the noblenesse of bloud eleuateth our thoughts And God saith by the mouth of Hose That if the Israelites shall returne vnto him that they shall flourish as the Vine and the sent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon With the firmenesse of the Church sutes that fable of Atlas who vpheld heauen with his shoulders but when Hercules saw he began to groane vnder so great a burthen he came in to helpe him yet for all this was not Heauen safe vnderpropped by his shoulders But the Edifice of the Church bore vp by our Sauiour Christ shall continue for euer Erumpet radix eius vt Libani stabilietur An Interpreter vpon this place of Osee saith It shall stand as firme as the Root of Mount Lebanon which shall take such a deepe rooting that all the Deuils in hel shall not preuaile against it Locauit Agricolis He let it out to husbandmen God is the onely true Lord of this Vineyard the rest are but Farmers and Renters Philon prooueth That all of vs in this life enioy but another bodies wealth and that wee haue the vse thereof but not the proprietie Saint Chrysostome That saith he is myne which no man can take from me in this sence neither is my life nor my wealth nor my health mine owne c. Our life saith Cicero God hath onely lent it vs without appointing any set place of payment which he may demaund of vs at what time it pleaseth him And so in the rest wee dayly find the like experience Your Emperours saith Horace we call Rerum terrenarum Dominos Lords of the earth But this is but mans flatterie for they haue not the true dominion of these earthly things but onely the vse of them And hence was it that our Sauiour Christ did infer Si in alieno infideles fuistis quod vestrum est Quis credet vobis If yee were vnfaithfull in that wealth honour health and beautie which are anothers goods Who will relie vpon the loue of your good will which is your owne Saint Paul teacheth vs this Lesson Qui gaudent tanquam non gaudentes qui flent tanquam non flentes Those that reioyce let them reioyce as though they did not reioyce and those that weepe let them weepe as though they did not weepe For on strange occasions and such as belong to other men we ought not to bee ouertaken with too much either griefe or joy Thou goest to see the Kings or Queenes Almoneda or either of their Iewell-houses doe not thou joy much therein for those riches are none of thine and thou must of force presently forgoe them And therefore Philon saith That the goods of this life are anothers not ours and that wee doe but onely rent them ad voluntatem Domini At the will and pleasure of the Lord. Touching the disasters of this world Epictetus saith Doe not say I haue lost such a thing for it is an improper kind of language but rather say I haue returned it backe againe and from this ignorance growes our melanchollie Seneca tells vs That he that will not be content that God should be sole Lord of all is vniust He that thinkes himselfe wronged when a man askes him that which he hath lent him is a couetous wretch He that esteeming a
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 〈◊〉 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
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 〈◊〉 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 scortâ—ht 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 remembranâ—e 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 〈◊〉 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
hearken vnto thee when thou hast him alone tell him therof the second time before one or two This condition taken in the first sence de iniuria propria touching an iniurie done to myne own person is verie facile easie for hauing first taken him aside and priuatly acquainted him with the wrong he hath done me if this faire proceeding will not preuaile with him I may then lawfully tell him his own before one or two witnesses that they may see as Euthymius saith that I complie with my dutie and with that which God hath commanded me to doe In the second sence touching the sinning against our Neighbour and against God this seemeth to some somewhat too hard a course for the sinne beeing secret the partie reprehended before two witnesses may replie and say vnto me That I lie that there is no such matter that I defame him and call his name in question and complaining of me to the Iustice he may prooue the defamation vpon mee but I not prooue the delict vpon him Saint Hierome saith That these two witnesses ought likewise to bee his reproouers and to put to their helping hand to raise him that is fallen who cannot be Correctors of him the sinne not appearing in regard it is secret Saint Augustine likewise saith That he that correcteth a man must take one or two witnesses vnto him that the correction may be the more effectuall and the more substantiall For By the mouth of two or three euery word is confirmed so saith the Law Id est in testimonio vel sermone by the testimonie or speech vsing the figure Metonimia when the cause is put for the effect For this inconuenience sake some say That before I correct my brother the second time I should make one or two witnesses acquainted with his fault that they may ioyne with me in the correcting of him and to the end that the correction may be the grauer and the more effectuall And to him that shall replie How can I reueale that sinne which in it selfe is secret They answer That it is a lesse ill that two or three should know of it and that by them he should rather suffer losse in his fame than in his soule Against these two witnesses we haue the authoritie of Saint Augustine who willeth That if any religious person shall commit any notorious sinne or other scandalous action to his calling thou shalt first teprooue him for it in secret and if then he shall not amend his fault to reueale the same to his Bishop or Superiour And he sets it downe as a ruled Case That it were rather crueltie than charitie not to open the wound of the Soule And his reason is Ne deterius putrescat in corde Lest it grow worse and worse ranckling and festring in the heart as it is in the hiding of a wound in the bodie from the eye of the Surgeon Nor let them thinke that you doe this out of malice or ill will for you offend more in suffering your brother to perish by your silence than by reuealing his fault for his good Tâ—is opinion of Saint Augustine made Thomas to confesse That after the first admonition I may reueale to the Prelat the delict of my brother as to a father for in verie deed your Prelates haue in this kind farre greater authoritie So that sâ—ch or such a sinne being to be reuealed supposing two preceding witnesses may be reuealed to the Prelat as to a Iudge but no witnesses preceding only by admonition as to a father Against this Truth there is a great argument grounded out of the said Saint Augustine In his rebus c. In those things wherein the sacred Scripture sets downe no certaintie the custome of Gods people or the dâ—crees of our Auncestors are to bee held for Law And the custome and vse of our Ancestors is That these delicts should be reuealed to the Superiors one while by denunciation another while by accusation without any preceding admonition so is it ordered in their Edicts without exception of any kind of faulâ—s whatsoeuer I answer Your Edicts are so farre forth to bee vnderstood and approoued as that they shall not any way thwart or infringe the Law of the Gospell in that which appertaineth to admonitions witnesses that therfore your superiors haue not put these things in their Edicts for that they are to be presupposed And if he wil not vouchsafe to heare thee tell it vnto the Church or make it known to his Prelat for so doth Saint Chrysostome and Saint Hierome expound it Nor doth our Sauiour Christ here treat of the secular Iudge nor secular Lawes but those that are Ecclesiasticall And therefore he saith Dic Ecclesiae Tell it to the Church for the power of Excommunication did belong vnto the Synagogues as appeareth by Saint Marke and Saint Iohn For the casting of the blind man out of the Synagogue was the same as Excommunication is now amongst the Christians But first of all two witnesses are required to the end that shame may worke the Delinquent to amendment of his fault but if this medicine shal not cure this his maladie then sharper corrasiues are to be applied to this Sore Vt qui non potuit pudore saluetur opprobrijs That him whom shame could not recal reproch should so saith Saint Hierome If he heare not the Church let him be vnto thee as a Heathen and a Publican Such Soueraigne authoritie hath the Church by the presence of Christ and such is it's firmenesse that it being as an immoouable Piller of Truth The gates of Hell shall not preuaile against it And of such continuance Christs fauour towards it that he seales this assurance with an Eâ—ce c. Behold I am with you till the end of the world And such the especiall prouidence of the blessed Spirit towards it that hee that shall despise it his case is to bee accounted desperate These two Truths the Church by long and many experiences hath made good vnto vs. The one That hee that honours and respects the Church receiueth very great and singular fauours from Heauen He that shall glorifie me and in mee my Spouse and Ministers of my Word I will glorifie him And of these the Histories are full both Diuine and Humane Of Dauid of Iosias of Alexander Magnus Theodosius and Charlemaigne who triumphed ouer powerfull enemies for that they had respected the authoritie and dignitie of the Church preferring stil the same before the honour of their owne Crowns The other That they who haue despised and contemned it haue euer beene held base and vile They that contemne me and in mee my Spouse and my Ministers shall bee esteemed base and ignoble As amongst the Hebrewes it was to bee seene in a Saul an Ozias a Manasses Among the Romans in a Pompeius Magnus who prophaned the sacred Temple of Hierusalem yet durst not come to touch it's Treasure so Cicero affirmeth c. Thomas hath
this there are many prophecies The other The stoutnesse and courage wherewith he was to reuenge the wrongs and iniuries done to the poore Saluos faciet filios pauperum humiliabit calumniatorem He shall saue the children of the poore and shall humble the slanderer Saint Austen Iustin Martyr and many others vnderstand this to be spoken litterally of Christ. For Calumniatorem the Greeke reades Sycophantam And so doe they call your Promooters and Informers Whether it were because in Athens they had a Law that none should bring figges to that Citie to sell Or whether it was forbidden in Greece that any should enter to gather figs in another mans orchard Whence he that informed thereof came to bee called a Sycophant Or vpon that wittie conceit of Aesops who when a certaine seruant had eaten some figges and layd the fault vpon one of his fellowes gaue order that both of them should drinke luke-warme water and the eater of them hauing vomited vp the figges they called him Sycophant Our Sauior then shal saue the poore and humble the slanderer Hee shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lippes shall he slay the wicked Iraeneus expoundeth this place to be spoken of Gods protecting and defending of the poore He is their tower of defence in the day of trouble their hope in distresse and their shield of comfort in their tribulation And that God doth reuenge with greater seueritie the wrongs that are done to his friends than those that are offered to himself is a fauor so vsually with him and so generally known that I need not to insist therupon One while because hee thinkes himselfe much beholding vnto them that they wil resigne vp their owne right and leaue the cause of their wrongs to him and that they will put their hope and their trust in him Sub vmbra alarum tuarum sperabo donec transeat iniquitas i. Calamitas Defend mee ô Lord whilest this storme passeth ouer my head Another while that he may shew more loue to his friends than to himselfe In the old Law hee gaue great proofes of this Truth and in the new hee gaue farre greater testimonies thereof Esay drawes a comparison from the Lyon who hauing his prey betweene his clawes a companie of Sheapeheards come crying after him making a great noyse and clamor but he makes no great reckoning of it And is all one with that saying of our Sauior Non rapiet quisquam de manu mea No man shall snatch them out of my hand Abimelech tooke Abrahams wife from him and God at midnight appearing vnto him in the midst of his mirth and lust he spake vnto him in a fearefull voice Eâ— morieris Thou art but a dead king The like befell Pharaoh Procopias saith That God did declare as much when he appeared in the firie bush They did whippe his people with the rods of briars and did burne them vp by inforcing them to find straw for to heat the ouens wherein they were to bake their brickes and God sayth It is I that am whipped it is I that am burned in the fire Moses treating of this protection of God takes his comparison from the Eagle whose care and vigilancie in breeding vp of his young ones is exceeding great but in the end shews himselfe verie cruell to that young of his whose eyes hee exposeth to the beames of the Sunne All this loue and care ran along with the written Law But in that of Grace giuing vs greater pledges of his loue he drawes his comparison from the Hen whose loue and care exceedes all other indeerings whatsoeuer Shee scorneth and contemneth her owne life for the safegard of her chicken she fasts that they may feed she is content to bee leane that they may be fat and now and then dyes that they may liue Saint Austen hath obserued that because the Deuill spake vnto Christ That hee would make those stones bread for to releeue his owne hunger he refused to doe it But if it had bin to releeue thine or mine he would haue done it As he turned the water into wine at the wedding not for himselfe but for others And at that meale in the mountaine where he multiplied the loaues and the fishes whereof himselfe did not eat a bit Why do ye also transgresse the Commandement of God He wounds them with their own weapon retorts the force of this their argument vpon themselues and sends them away ashamed He driues them to a demur and puts them to ponder vpon this Vos custodias Of the Law These sunnes that were to lighten this commonwealth these North-starres by which the people were to saile through the sea of this world Concupiscentia spadonis euagâ—nauit iâ—uencam Eunuchs were appointed for the guarding and keeping of women as the vse is now in Constantinople But that a gelded man through lust should defile a maid beeing bound to preserue her honour That he that should cloth the naked should strip them bare That hee that should keepe the Lawes of the Commonwealth should bee the first that should breake them is as strange as shamefull Phiâ—â—â—â— thrust Zambri and a daughter of the Prince of Midian through with his speare and pinning them to the ground did an acceptable sacrifice to God Zaâ—bri was of the Tribe of Simeon who in the companie of his brother Leâ—ie had taken that cruell reuenge of the Prince of Sichem for the rauishing of Dinah that they left not a man liuing nor a house standing Now his grandfather hauing vsed so great rigour in punishing of such a dishonestie he of all other should not haue committed this sinne For this reason the Angell vsed the like rigor with Moses whither it were because he had not circumcised his children or whither it were because he tooke his wife along with him in that his journy or whither it were that he had manifested the cowardise feare that he had of Pharaoh the Angell made semblance that hee would kill him for hee that is a Lawgiuer a Captaine and a Gouernor is bound to much more And why doe you also c. Here is a Why for a Why they haue as good as they bring And here two considerations offer themselues vnto vs The one That he that shall doe a wrong shall bee paid in his owne coyne that verie day that a man shall doe an iniurie by taking away the good name of his brother he puts a taxe vpon his own reputation seales the same makes it his owne Act and is bound to make repayment thereof And this is a Quare vos Why doe yee also c. This is to throw stones against Heauen or to â—pit against the wind Dauid cut off Goliah his head with his owne sword after that he had reuiled Gods people Iacob with Esau's owne cloathes stole away the blessing from him by putting on his hands and his necke the skinne of
the Christ. In fauour of the second to wit That they did not know him wee haue on our side the temptation of our Sauiour Iesus Christ for if the Deuils had known him they would not haue tempted him Secondly They knowing him to bee the Christ and the Messias they must likewise know him to bee the naturall Sonne of God for the Deuils could not be ignorant of that in Hel which the most learned in Iudaisme had attained to here on earth Thirdly and it is the reason of that glorious Doctor Saint Hierome No man hath known the Father but the Sonne and he to whom the Sonne was willing to reueale it If the Father then did not reueale his Sonne to the Deuills nor the Sonne himselfe reueale the same why then surely they could not know him But some one will say That the Sonne did reueale himselfe to the Deuils not by infusing any light of Faith into them as hee did into those three Kings that came vnto him from the East and to the Prophets that were before them nor the light of Glorie as hee hath to the Blessed but by the light of his miracles and prophecies and by some secret and hidden signes of his presence for that is S. Austens opinion which the Deuils might better attaine vnto than men And this reason sufficiently proueth That they knew him before they tempted him yea that they knew him euen from his birth for then did they presently perceiue in Iesus Christ our Saâ—ior and Redeemer Miracles Prophecies and great signes of God And albeit the miracles were not then so many as those which he wrought afterwards when he had vnfolded and spred abroad the sailes of his Omnipotencie yet a few were enough to make the Deuill who hath so great an insight into naturall causes to conceiue and see how farre short Nature came in this great businesse Fourthly The glorious Apostle Saint Paul treating of our Sauiour Christ by the name of Wisedome saith That none of the Princes of this World knew him for had they knowne him they would neuer haue crucified him And this may likewise be vnderstood of the Deuill whom our Sauiour stiles the Prince of the world but in case it be vnderstood of men the Earth not comming to the knowledge thereof to whom God might haue reuealed it hell could hardly know it In this doubt there are me thinkes two truths that are most certaine The one That the Deuill had not a full and assured knowledge that our Sauiour Christ was the naturall Son of God for his knowledge was not the knowledge of Faith nor any cleere vision but onely opinion And as a man of verie great vnderstanding being without the light of Faith howbeit by the miracles and prophecies of our Sauiour Iesus Christ he might happely beleeue that hee was the Sonne of God yet some one doubt or other will be stil remaining that he may not be that promised Sonne So the Deuil euer since our Sauior Christ was borne had many and those strong suspitions that God was become Man These jealousies and suspitions were dayly by so much the more increased in the Deuill by how much the more our Sauiour Christ went dayly discouering the signes and tokens of his Diuinitie till at last seeing himselfe as it were conuinced by the euidence thereof that he might put himselfe out of this perplexitie he first goes about to tempt him and afterwards to solicite his death And this is the opinion of that glorious Doctor Saint Hierome vpon the eigth Chapter of Saint Mathew where he saith That all the Deuils did beat vpon this haâ—â—â— went nosing and winding of it out and were wonderfull both fearefull iealous of the same but that none of them did assuredly know so much And Saint Augustine in his bookes De Ciuitate Dei saith That our Sauiour and Redeemer Iesus Christ manifested himselfe so far forth to the deuils as himself was willing and he would no more than what was fitting thought that fitting which was sufficient to daunt and terrifie them to free those that were predestinated from his tyrannie And this was the tracke that they did treâ—d in and all that they could gather out of his miracles and former prophecies Gregorie Naziaâ—â—â—â— saith That the Deuils had a great deale of knowledge of the paines torments which they did feele when our Sauiour Christ did cast them forth of the bodies which they had possessed And of this knowledge that is to bee vnderstood which is here deliuered by Saint Luke Because they knew him to be Christ. The other That God did hold this their knowledge in suspence in doubt by taking flesh in the wombe of an espoused Virgine Which was purposely done as Ignatius saith that hee might bee concealed from the Deuill for otherwise the Deuils could hardly be ignorant that he was the Sonne of the Virgine Marie and not the Sonne of Ioseph THE XXIII SERMON VPON THE FRYDAY AFTER THE THIRD SONDAY IN LENT IOHN 4.5 Venit Iesus in Ciuitatem Samariae quae dicitur Sychar And Iesus came into a Citie of Samaria which was called Sychar IN matter of Conuersion this action of our Sauiours seemeth of all other the most famous for the manifesting of Gods mercy In matter of Faith we know verie well That hee that shall seeke him as he ought shall find him And of this Truth God hath giuen many testimonies in Scripture They that seeke meâ— early shall find me And in another place If thou seekest her aâ— silâ—er and searchest for her as for Treasures thou shalt find her And elsewhere it is said Seeke and yee shall find knocke and it shall be opened vnto you Wee know likewise that some haue found him that haue not sought him I was found of them that â—â—â—ght me not but none did light on him with so little labour and at so cheape â— rate as this Samaritane S. Paul was tumbled off from his horse on the ground and was strooken blind the Adulteresse passed through a purgatorie of 〈◊〉 and confusion Marie Magdalen for her part poured forth a sea of teares and the good Theeâ—e was faine to betake himselfe to a great deale of faith loue patience and hope but this woman I know not what labour or paines it cost her more than the letting downe of a Bucket and rope into the Well to draw a little water That such a dishonest woman as this was whom fiue husbands could not suffice and had entertained a Ruffian or Swash-buckler to be her companion and champion that so base and vile a woman as shee was consider her which way you will in her linage her fortune her life her behauiour her age oâ— whatsoeuer else that sauours of basenesse that Christ should make choice of her to publish his name to bee as it were one of his Euangelists and Preachers of his Gospell cannot but appeare to the World to be one of the greatest demonstrations of
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 â—eruens 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 〈◊〉
water hath of the dead The cheifest wherof is That he that shall drink of the water of this Wel shal soone after be athirst again For Aunque haze troguas no assienta pazes Though he make a truce for a time yet doth he not conclude a finall peace Saint Austen vnderstands this difference touching the thirst of the body but diuerse other Doctors of the the thirst of the soule But the Plainest and the surest is that it imbraceth both and to cleere this opinion Let vs first of all suppose that laying aside the thirst of the body all do generally suffer the same in the soule And he that from the clouds should behold this vale of the world shall perceiue it to be like a desart full of filthy standing pooles of stinking water and that all men goe thirsting after the same And Saint Austen saith Ipsum desiderium sitis est animâ— For as a man cannot liue without the desire of the soule so can he not liue without thirst Inquietum est cor nostrum donec â—eniamus ad te This our saturity and fulnesse is reserued till wee come vnto God who is our Center Satiabor cum apparauerit gloria tua I shall bee satisfied when thy glorie shall appeare In the interim we must of force liue tormented with hunger and thirst Secondly We are to suppose that this liuing Water whether it bee the Holy Ghost be it Grace or the Word of God or Baptisme doth not in this life quench either that thirst of the bodie or that of the soule Touching that of the bodie we know that many Saints of God rauished with some deepe contemplation haue forgotten al hunger and thirst without any torment or trouble euen to the abhorring of meate Nor is it much that the holy Ghost should worke this effect in man seeing that the vehement passions of sorrow and of ioy though in a different manner do dayly cause the like For this our not eating nor drinking occasioned by passion doth debilitate our forces and weakens our strength but beeing assisted by the helpe of the holy Spirit it doth not onely conserue but renew our strength and put as it were new mettle into vs as was to be seene in Elias who with that water and bread which the Angell gaue him went vp to Mount Horeb there fasted 40 days And diuers weake men haue holpen by Grace indured such hunger thirst as hath made the world to stand amased at it But the holy-Ghost doth not alwais worke these effects saue only when it seemeth good vnto him nor at all times nor towards all persons no not to the verie Saints themselues for those that haue beene the greatest Fasters haue come in the end to suffer hunger and thirst And if we shall treat of the thirst of the soule it is a plaine case that this liuing water doth not quench it but that the holy-Ghost doth to the Righteous adde more thirst after the goods of heauen and those coelestiall ioyes According to that of Ecclesiasticus Qui edunt me adhuc esurient so that till wee come to see God no man shall see himselfe voyd of thirst Thirdly The thirsting and hungring after these earthly goods and humane blessings many seeke to quench the same by filling themselues full and not denying to their eyes as Salomon saith any thing whatsoeuer their heart desireth vnderneath the Sunne But their thirst growes still more and more and their hunger increaseth like him that hath eaten salt meats or drunke brackish sea water All that is in the world saith Saint Iohn is either the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes or the pride of life Imagine three Riuers to thy selfe one of delights a second of riches and a third of pride and vanitie this is all the good that the world affoordeth and hee that shall drinke of the water of any of these three Riuers shall still be more and more thirstie And for this cause it is called Aqua concupiscentiae the water of concupiscence a lusting with desire and as hee that shall drinke and swallow downe these his desires cannot chuse but grow more and more thirstie so hee that shall drinke of this water shall desire to drinke more And as Salomon saith hee shall follow the birds which flie in the aire The truth whereof is well prooued by that rich man in the Gospell who hauing food sufficient for many yeares yet did toyle and labour as if he had been in great want to fill his barnes and his Granaries as full as hee could cram them making more and more store as if he should neuer haue prouision enough hee thought all the roomes that he had were too little I will pull downe my Barnes and make them bigger And if any man shall aske me If this rich man shall not be able as long as hee liues though the yeares of his life were neuer so many to eat out that which hee hath stored vp why he should take such a deale of carke and care for his diet and his drinke I answer That for the feeding of his bodie much lesse might haue sufficed him a little thing would haue serued the turne but it seemeth in the Storie that hee sought to satisfie his soule and that hee inuited his soule to feast it selfe and to make merrie whose thirst is insatiable Saint Gregory saith That man not finding in the pleasures and pastimes of this life any humane delights answerable to those which his heart desireth seeketh after change and varietie of sports Vt quia qualitate rerum non potest saltem varietate satietur That if the qualitie could not yet the varietie of them might some way giue content In a word as well doth the Couetous as the Prodigall die of hunger Salomon after that he had entred into such a full riuer of delâ—ghts and enioyed such a plentiful haruest of all kind of worldly pleasures hauing the World at will comes forth with two Horse-leeches of that insatiable appetite that they still followed him and neuer left crying Affer affer And who could not finde in his heart to curse that Creditor almost to the pit of Hell who shall still baule vpon a man be as discontented being paid as if he were vnpaid Others there are which seeke to satisfie this thirst with the goods of Heauen taking onely from the earth as much as is sufficient for them like vnto Gideons souldiers who passing along by the riuer side tooke vp water in the palmes of their hands God approouing in the warfare of this life that wee should inioy the goods of this life by snatches and not to lie at racke and manger Enioying this world as they enioyed it not Whereas those that lay down vpon their brest and like dogs lay lapping vp the water were reprooued by him Now by this time the aduantage appeareth cleere vnto vs which liuing water hath ouer that which is dead he that shal drink of this
he made vpon Iohn calls the Mount of Oliues Montem chrismatis vnguenti And Bede addeth That the top of this Mount doth typifie the heigth of our Sauiour Christs pittie and mercie And the Euangelist here aduiseth vs That hee came from the Mount of Oliues to the Temple where this Storie succeeded because a worke of so great mercie and clemencie could not conueniently come from any other place Moses descended downe from Mount Sinay but with so rigorous a Law that he brake the Tables in pieces that all the People might not thereby indanger their damnation Sinay is a Bush and from Bushes what can be expected but bruises and brushings and all sharpenesse of rigour But from the Mount of Oliues nothing could come thence but Oyle which is that common Hieroglyph of mercie and compassion First For it's softnesse and sweetnesse and therefore did the Diuine prouidence so order the businesse that Priests and Kings should bee annoynted therewith signifying thereby how louing milde and gentle they ought to be Secondly Because it strengtheneth and inableth those members which are weake and feeble Deus olâ—um permisit saith Clemens Alexandrinus ad leuandos labores Your Wrestlers did vse to annoynt themselues with Oyle not only that they might slip the easier out of their Aduersaries hands but also because it made their joynts and their limbes more strong and nimble Thirdly For that it is a soueraigne salue for all kind of wounds for there is not any thing that doth so comfort so supple so assuage and disperse any malignant humor and cure any festred sore sooner than your pretious Oyles The Samaritane cured with Oyle the wounds of that Traueller whom hee found wounded on the way to Ierico Esay complaineth That no man would sucke and draw forth the bloud from the wounds of his People nor annoynt them with Oyle Vulnus plaga tumens non est circumligata nec sota oleo Fourthly For it's stilnesse softnesse of nature and little noyse that it maketh beat it or batter it neuer so much poure it out neuer so violently it makes no noyse but shews it selfe still and quiet whence grew that adage mentioned by Plautus and Plato Oleo tranquillior More still than Oyle Fiftly For the vertue that is in it for allaying of storms at Sea and repressing of the rage of the billowes for as Plinie and Celius affirme Oleo mare tranquillatur With Oyle the sea is calmed Sixtly Because there is not any liquor that doth more spread and diffuse it selfe Oleum effusum nomen tuum Thy Name is as an oyntment poured out sayd the Spouse to her Beloued And the Saints declare the same of the person of our Sauiour Christ. Seuenthly and lastly Because amidst all other liquors it is still vpppermost and is alwayes swimming aloft and euermore keeping it selfe aboue the rest all which are proprieties of pittie and compassion of mercie and louing kindnesse which is soft supple and sweet this is that which giueth ease to our troubles and remedie to our paines this is that which refresheth and strengthneth our weake and feeble Members this is that which cures our wounds and assuages the swelling of them this is that which suffers and sayth nothing though neuer so hardly vsed this is that which composeth differences turbulent strifes the raging enmities of this Worlds sea and this is that which is a generall salue for all sores a friend at need and the greatest representation of Gods glorie for he is not seene in any attribute that he hath so much as in this Misericordia eius super omnia opera eius His mercie is aboue all his workes And to this purpose Pieriâ—s reporteth That it was concluded by a ioynt consent that the Images of the gods should be wrought of no other kind of wood saue that of the Oliue He went vnto the Mount of Oliues and came againe into the Temple c. These were our Sauiours stations from the Mount to the Temple and from the Temple to the Mount in the Mount he prayed in the Temple he preached These are those two imploiments of Martha Marie figured in Lea Rachael herein is sum'd vp the perfection of Christian religion Where it is to be noted that Marie was still rauisht as it were with the loue of our Sauior and the sweeâ—nesse of his words and Martha with the care to doe him seruice Rachael was verie faire but barren Leah foule tendereyed but fruitfull The contemplatiue life is wonderfull beautiful but not fruitfull the actiue life is foule and bleere-eyed nor is it any wonder hauing it's hands continually busied about wounds and fores but is fruitfull in children and he that inioyes the beautie of Rachael and the fruitfulnesse of Leah the contemplation of Marie and the practise of Martha hath attained to the heigth of Vertue and Holinesse Ecclesiasticus commendeth the sonne of Onias for these two qualities As a faire Oliue tree that is fruitfull and as a Cypresse tree which groweth vp to the Clouds The Oliue is the embleme of fertilenesse for it's fruit and it's multitude of branches and sprigges sprouting forth of it sicut nouellae Oliuarum The Cypresse is the Symbole of beautie for although it beareth no fruit yet it shoots vp like a Pyramis to an extraordinarie heigth and both of them make the stampe of a holy Prelate whose mercie and compassion is most fruitfull and whose prayer is most beautifull and pleasing for there is not any thing that man can imagine to bee more faire than that a creature by this meanes should come to grow so sweetly familiar with his Creator And all the People came vnto him and he taught them Some man may doubt How the effects of Gods Word beeing so powerfull and so full of life Viuus est Sermo Dei efficax poenetrabilior omni gladio and this People shewing themselues so deuout in hearing him it should come to passe that our Sauiour comming so early into the Temple and tarrying there all day long to teach and instruct them in the truth they fell into so many sinnes as they did and in the end into the greatest that euer was heard of But that may be answered of those the Faithfull that were then which Saint Bernard speaketh of those that are now That many professe themselues to be Christians and applie themselues to all those obligations that are befitting Christians and performe all other Christian actions and come out of custome to Sermons to diuine Seruice to the celebration of the Sacrament adoration in the Temple And this is no great matter for them to do considering they are borne and bred amongst Christians in farre stricter duties is the Moore tyed to his Mahomet and to the Lawes of his Alcaron and in a farre more rigorous manner is the Gentile bound to his false gods for that they sacrificed their sonnes and daughters to Idols Immolauerunt filios suos
pierceth into the bowells of the earth it discouereth the bottome of the Deepe in the one he hath certaine Shops or Worke-houses wherein gold siluer and pretious stones are wrought in the other Pearle and diuers other rich commodities as Corall Amber and the like But although the Sun reacheth to the vtmost corners of the earth and the most hidden secret places of this Vniuerse by his vertue and heat yet are there many which he cannot come neere vnto with his light and splendor but from the eyes of God there is not that veine or least crannie in the earth nor that shell though neuer so small in the sea that can hide it selfe Sicut tenebra eius ita lumen eius As the darkenesse is his so is the light also In that beginning when God created the World he diuided the night from the day and the light from darkenesse but this was done for humane eyes but to those diuiner eyes there is no night at all and innumerable are those places of Scripture which prooue the truth hereof vnto vs. The third That God many times affoords vs a greater fauour in publishing a secret sinne than in letting it lie hid and reserued against the day of Wrath for our eternall and publique confusion The Schoolemen make a question Which is the more grieuous the publique or the secret sinne and it is a plain case that the publique carries with it more grieuous circumstances of scandal harme and infection and therefore Dauid stiles it a Plague or Pestilence but the secret sin is always more dangerous because it is in some sort incurable there is no neighbour to admonish thee of it no witnesse to denunciate against thee nor no judge to punish thee for it nor no Prelat to reprehend thee therefore for sinne once reprehended in persons that haue any shame in them in the world turnes to amendment Saint Augustine reports in his Confessions That his mother had two Maid seruants one a well growne wench the other a little girle and that when they went for Wine to the Tauerne the bigger would drinke a good heartie draught the lesser did but sip a little but by sip after sip she grew by degrees to be a good proficient and falling out one day before their mistresse the bigger complained of the lesser That she did drinke vp the Wine whereof shee was so ashamed that she would neuer after so much as offer to take it Publique sins all labour to amend When a house is on fire there is not that Tyler or Carpenter or any neere dweller but will hast in and helpe all they can to quench it Secret sinnes are like a smokie fire which lies smothering not flaming forth wasts and consumes inwardly and this is the cause that it is conserued and continued like a secret Impostume which occasioneth our death because it cannot be cured Vpon Achans sinne they did cast lots by Tribes by households and by particular persons and when the Delinquent was discouered Iosâ—â—ah sayd Giue thankes vnto God that thy sin is brought to light and made knowne to the world and that thou shalt smart for it in this life for had it beene kept secret thy punishment had beene immortall Dauids Adulterie being brought forth vpon the open stage In conspâ—â—tu Solis huius and Nathans reproouing him for it was the future occasion of all his good It could not chuse to this adulterous woman that was thus taken in the manner Con el hurto en las manos with the theft as they say in her hand but be a wonderful griefe vexation that shee should be carried publiquely through the streets all the boyes of the Citie hooting at her men and women poynting at her with the finger and crying shame vpon her and that at last she must be brought into the Temple and there be set in the middest of that reuerend Auditorie and Assemblie as a spectacle of shame and infamie But the opening of this her wound was the curing of it this which shee thought was her ruine was her remedie this her marring was her making The World held her to be a most vnhappie woman for there being so many Adulteresses in the Citie Whorings had ouerspread the land and bloud had touched bloud that this flash of lightning should light vpon her alone and that this sudden thunder-clap should not onely voyce her dishonour but her death Whereas the Adulterer was by all adiudged to be a happie and a fortunate man that by good hap he had escaped out of the hands of Iustice either by flight or greasing the Officers in the fist Others stickt not to say Siempre quiebra la soga por lomas del gado the weakest still goes to the wall howsoeuer the more certaine truth is That she was happie and the Adulterer vnfortunate The fourth That euerie sinne is to bee made publique either in this present life or in the life to come and this sayth the aforesaid Letter Nihil opertum quod non reueletur and not onely publique notice to be taken thereof but to bee accompanied also with shame and confusion And this the Scripture prooueth vnto vs in many places and for the amending of these two mischiefes there is no meanes so powerfull as to haue recourse to repentance from whence proceed these two effects The one That it couers our sinnes Blessed are they whose sinnes are forgiuen and whose iniquities are couered The other That it doth blot them out of Gods rememberance according to that of Ezechiel At what houre soeuer a Sinner shall repent him I will no longer be mindfull of his sinne Haec mulier modo deprehensa est in adulterio This woman was taken in adulterie in the verie act c. All these words carrie wâ—th them a kind of emphasis which indeere the aggrauation of the Accusation Haec mulier For howbeit the sin of adulterie may be greater perhaps in the husband by giuing by his little respect and his bad example occasion to his wife to play the Whore For as Thomas saith He that treateth with another mans wife se suam discrimini exponiâ— exposeth himselfe and his own wife to a great deale of hazard because he soweth bitternesse in the marriage bed contrarie to that rule of Saint Paul Husbands loue your wiues and be not bitter vnto them For which cause they tooke out the gall from that beast which was sacrificed by married men vnto Iuno for that the Head which is the man ought to be obliged to more continency to more vertue to more wisedome more fortitude as Saint Augustine tells vs yet notwithstanding this fault is held fouler in the woman Eccleâ—iasticuâ— treating of an Adulteresse saith â—he getteth shame to her selfe and her reproch shall neuer be blotted out I know not whence it comes to passe that the remembrance thereof is so soone blotted out in man and that it should sticke by a woman all the dayes of
which he makes of Fasting puts this difference betwixt paying that which thou owest and giuing of almes to the Poore to whom thou art not indebted that the one is in profit of him that receiues it the other in profit of him that giues And therefore in Scripture Almes is called Benedictio A Blessing which is that which augments our wealth Secondly Our Sauiour was willing that they should gather vp the fragments to the end that the greatnesse of the miracle should be the more notorious and that they should see of fiue loues twelue baskets full of what remained besides that which they carried away in their bosomes their sleeues and their pockets especially your women and your children And howbeit some of them might keepe them as reliques of this so rare and strange a wonder yet the diligence therein vsed might bee verie wise and deuout Saint Chrysostome giues vs this note That albeit this miracle ought to haue left a firme and assured confidence in euerie one of them yet they were so wholly forgetfull thereof that our Sauiour was driuen afterward to put them in mind thereof and taxe them of this their obliuion There are other morall reasons giuen for it writ by diuers vpon this place which I purposely omit When the men had seene the miracle that Iesus did said This is of a truth the Prophet that should come into the world They considering the greatnesse of the miracle but not so much potentiam as qualitatem nouitatem the power as the quatie and noueltie thereof they cried out This is the Prophet whom the World expecteth Saint Augustine saith That greater is that miracle which God worketh vpon the multiplication of their wheat haruest but because it is so common they make no great wonder of it It is natural vnto vs more to admire new than great things Seneca treating in his Naturall Questions of our extraordinarie comets which do so much amase the world saith That the Heauens the Stars the Planets strike no admiration into vs though it bee a meruailous and strange worke because wee see it is so ordinarie with vs. The Sunne is the fairest Creature that euer God dispatched out of his hands Vas admirabile opus excelsi yet the beautie of it's beames doth not draw on any admiration but it's Eclipses because they are rare and seldome So likewise in the harmonie and concord of the Heauens their influences and their Starres together with their disposition and the beautie of the Orbs Knowest thou the course of Heauen c. The Greekes expound this place of the Clouds Who can declare the nature of the Clouds Who it 's musicke and harmonie Who can make the musicke of the Thunder to cease or stop the course of the Lightning c. And all these though they be such strange wonders do not mooue vs to admire them but vpon any change or alteration wee stand astonished at the noueltie thereof When Iesus therefore perceiued that they would come and take him to make him a King c. Our Sauiour Christ had gained so much good loue and opinion amongst them by this his kindnesse that he had shewed toward them that after the people were dismissed as Euthimius hath obserued it they determined to make him their King not onely offering him the Crowne but seeking perforce to set the same on his head And if the consideration of his miracles had beene the occasion thereof they could not haue taken a more discreet resolution and not onely they but all the world had a great deale of reason to put their helping hand thereunto For first of all he is painted forth to be so wise that all Ierusalem was strucken dumbe at the wisedome of his words Secondly Hee was as faire and beautifull to see to as the Sunne in all his glorie Thirdly He was of that force and power that he did driue out of his temple with whips and scourges the greatest power of the world Fourthly He was so open handed so liberall and so bountifull that with fiue Loaues and two Fishes hee did fill the bellies of fifteene or twentie thousand persons Fiftly He loued man so well that for his sake hee willingly layd downe his life and offered vp his most pretious bodie and bloud vpon the Crosse. So that there beeing so many strong and forcible reasons to draw vs to loue him Who would not willingly make choice of him to be their King But let vs that are Christians acknowledge him to be our King and shew our selues so louing and obedient vnto him that we seruing him in holinesse and truenesse of life and wholly relying vpon his loue and fauour towards vs may come at the last to be heires of that his heauenly Kingdome Which God grant for his mercies sake THE XXVI SERMON VPON THE MONDAY AFTER THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT IOHN 2. MAT. 21. MARC 11. LVC. 10. He found sitting in the Temple sellers of Sheepe Oxen and Doues c. OVr Sauiour went vp to Ierusalem to the Passeouer entring into the temple where the law was read where the Laitie did pray he met with a most base vile market where they sould Sheepe Oxen Kids and Doues Money-changers and Vsurers hauing their bankes Wherewith inraged like a Lyon he sets vpon the owners of them vpon the beasts birds and tables and making him a whip of the cords that bound their fardles or those halters wherewith they tied their beasts there was neuer any Roman Cohort that did that as hee did hee ouerthrew their tables scattered their moneys downe on the ground and falling to whipping and scourging of them he chased them out of his fathers House Saint Hierome and Saint Chrysostome reckon this of all other to be the greatest miracle that euer our Sauiour wrought preferring it before the giuing of sight to the Blind of hands and feeâ— to the Lame of life to the Dead c. And without doubt it is a thing much to be wondred at that one single man and such a one as amongst the Iews especially those of the Temple was held in such base esteeme should venture to trample them vnder his feet and to whip both great and smal and that not any one of them should dare to open his mouth against him Which was such a discoâ—ering of his Omnipotencie and Godhead that wee must imagine it to bee a most foule fault in them either not to acknowledge him to be their Messias or not to lay hold on him and bind him in bonds for a mad man as they afterwards said Sure he is mad He found them in the Temple selling Sheepe and Oxen c. The Messias was prophesied in the dayes of Iudaisme to be mild gentle louely and peaceable Quâ—rite mansuetum saith Zephaniah Ieremie Quasi Agnus mansuetus Esay Reparabitur in misercicordia solium eius And in another place Declâ—nabo quasi fluuium Pacis For his first comming was to bee in all mildenesse
dawbe vice with the colour of vertue These are the ordinary impostures of Hypocrisie But some hold them to be so hurtfull that if they should be suffered and borne withall any long time the world would be vtterly vndone by it That a woman should dissemble her euill feature and the fowlenes of her skin with rich and well made clothes and with borrowed colours and that her beauty being not her owne but a falshood and lye from the head to the foot she should make it to appeare as a truth That a Merchant should carry the name of a very rich and wealthy man though he owe a great deale more than he is worth That a Huckster should sell Barajas Oliues for those of Seuill c. Let it passe Mundus in maligno positus est It is a naughty world But that an Apothecary should put vpon a boxe of poyson a Rotulo or written Scroll of wholesome physick and say rats bane is sugar it is not a thing to be indured Lesse are we to suffer deceits in the medicins and confections for the soule He that should haue seen the beasts the birds the boords the store of money that was there and the great noyse of the sacrifices that were there to be made would haue thought it had beene the Priests zeale diuine worship a relieuing of the poore and an easing of those that came a farre off to the Temple that they might with the lesse trouble performe their deuotions but all this was nothing but couetousnesse and their greedy desire of greater gaines And perhaps for this reason Saint Iohn called it the Passeouer of the Iewes Erat proximum Pascha Iudaeorum The Iewes Passeouer was at hand Not my Passeouer but yours where you doe not treate of my honour but of your owne profit Vias vestras sabbatha vestra odiuit anima mea saith the Prophet Esay And the Prophet Malachie calls these their solemne feasts dung Behold I will cast dung vpon your faces euen the dung of your solemne feastes Not because they were so in themselues but because theirayme was their owne priuate Interest which is no better than a dunghill in the sight of God The third occasion was their disrespect to the Temple where God euer pretended that his Maiestie should be more especially respected Regnaâ—it deus super omnes gentes sedet super sedem sanctam suam The Maiestie regall vpon earth is respected throughout the whole iurisdiction of his Crowne but much more where he hath his throane and chaire of Estate God as he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords ouer all the nations of the earth ought much to be respected but more especially where he hath his throane in euery one of his Kingdomes In heauen at the right hand of his father which is the supreame throane of his greatnesse and Maiestie In the Synagogue he had the Propitiatorie and in the Temples the Sacrarium When the Angell appeared vnto Ioshua with a drawne sword and commanded him to put his shooes from off his feet diuerse graue Doctors doe concurre in this that this Angell was the Sonne of God as hee had before appeared vnto Moses in the bush commanding him the like Wherein he notified two things vnto them The one the reuerence that they ought to beare to that place where he did so especially manifest himselfe For the ground wherein thou standest is holy ground By our feete are meant our affections by our shooes our cares And many nations tooke from thence the putting off of their shooes when they entred into the Temple The other That against those who should loose this respect to that place the sword was drawne to slay them and fire prepared to burne and consume them Ezechiel painting out the abhominations of the Temple saith Behold there came sixe from the way of the vpper gate which looketh towards the North and euerie one of them had Vasa interfectionis the vessels of slaughter in his hand The 70 translate it Septem secures Seuen hatchets It is Theodorets obseruation that against all Zenacharibs Armie God sent forth but one Angell onely but against the prophaners of his Temple six according to the number of the dayes of the Week because there should not that day passe ouer their head wherin some new Executioner or other should not but rise vp to torment them In multitudine misericordiae tuae introibo in domum tuam adorabo ad Templum sanctum tuum in timore tuo Caietan reades it In multitudine gratiae tuae He that is predestinated to saluation hath that respect to Gods house that if hee did not persuade himselfe that he stood in his grace and fauour he would not dare to presume to put his foot within the doores thereof and should he presume so to do he would leane himselfe against the corner of the first pillar he came at not daring like the Publican to lift vp his eyes But your Pharasaicall Hypocrite makes as bold with gods house as with his owne He lies here and lies there sweares here and swears there murmures here and murmures there he liues there as if there were no God and liues here as if God did not see him And that which causeth the more feare and horror is That many times they meet at the Church for to treat and talke of their greatest villanies Saint Ierome against Vigilancius saith Confiteor timorem meum I confesse my feare When entring into the Temple of the Martyrs I conceiue any anger or euill thought in my mind or when sleeping I haue had any euill dreame it makes my body and soule to tremble Now then when entring into Gods house I quake and tremble when I am to receiue what can I doe withall By Ezechiell God complaines of those rich men that built their houses neere vnto his Qui fabricati sunt limen suum iuxta limen meum Ioyning wall to wall to my house they haue prophaned my name with their abhominations And I consumed them in my wrath Being then that God cannot indure such bad neighbourhood Wil he beare with those impudencies that as it were in despight ye doe before his face Saint Ierome hath noted vpon Esay that amongst other things that Salomon offended God in one was That hee had built vp such a high Turret in his pallace that it ouertopt the Temple and did ouerlooke it For Gods house ought not to be inferiour to mans What shal we say then to those that make it a den of theeues It hath beene obserued That all those great and powerfull Princes which haue presumed to presse into Gods Temples haue come to an euill end Sabellicus reports of Pompey that hauing bin formerly verie fortunat after thathe had presumed to prophane the Temple by entring into the Sancta sanctorum nothing afterwards prospered with him The fourth occasion was Christs great zeale to his House Zelus domus tuae comeâ—it me The zeale of thy House hath deuoured me or eaten
hath in a manner the very same In a looking glasse one beholds the gray hayres on his head and the wrinckles that are in his face and when he hath turned his eye off from thence the figure thereof is blotted out of his remembrance Another he lookes especially if he haue not seene himselfe a long time in a glasse and wonders at himselfe he knits the browes and cryes out I am growne old and weake and drawing neere to my graue Quod senescit propè interitum est He that is old hath one foote in the graue And therefore he had need make good prouision being so soone to goe his iourney But he that shall set before him as a glasse the Law of perfect libertie as one who with a great deale of heede viewes a deepe pit or some remote place This man shall be happie in so doing How knoweth this man the Scriptures seeing that he neuer learned The admiration of the people was increased by their considering with themselues That our Sauiour Christ had neuer beene brought vp in any Vniuersitie nor had crackt so much as an argument in the Schooles especially in matter of learning And as it is in the Prouerb Nunca mucho costo poco Much is neuer got with a little That is to say Qui addit scientiam addit laborem All things are full of labour In the multitude of wisedome is much griefe and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow That is it cannot bee come by without great paine of body and minde Or as Aquila translates it Addit tormentum Holy Iob askes the question Vbi inuenitur sapientia Where is wisedome to be found And the first conclusion is Non inuenitur in terra suauiter viuentium It is neuer to be found amongst those that are enemies to labour Salomon saith in his Prouerbs That it must be got as we get treasure digge and delue for it There was neuer in this world any famous man in learning who had not studyed very hard and taken a great deale of paines Vt thesaurus effoderis â—am tâ—nc intelliges Plutarch reports of Platâ— That he neuer excused any trouble of body or of mind And of Demosthenes That he would Scotch and notch his hayre crosse-wayes that hee might keepe in for three moneths together and follow his study All your great Philosophers did breake their braines and dyed in trauelling after the search of knowledge The solitudes of a Saint Ierome the caues of other Saints and Doctors make this truth cleere Antiquitie celebrating Saturne for an inuenter of learning put in his hands as Tertulliaâ— noteth it vnto vs a picke-axe in token of the great paines that he must take that meanes to be a good scholler Minerua Goddesse of the Sciences they painted close by Vulcan who with an axe did cleaue her head in twaine signifying thereby That to fetch out truthes and to make them appeare plaine and cleere it will cost vs eyther our life oâ— the beating of our braines Of the Lacedemonians Valerius reporteth That they had a Statue of Apollo that had foure eares and foure hands signifying thereby That wisedome is got by much hearing and much labour They looking therefore on the learning of our Sauior Iesus Christ so diuine on the one side and so without any labour or paines on the other it was not much that they should thus admire him Againe A strange effect when the cause is secret and hid it euermore causeth admiration If the Sunne should shew his face on the sudden and his beames breake out in the midst of a darke night it would cause great feare The Sunne doth still inioy an equall light though to the ignorant it seeme that it shines brightest at mid-day The light and splendour of Iesus Christ our Lord and Sauiour that Sun of righteousnesse was alwayes one and the same but because hee was a free Sunne and not tyde as that other to a set course discouering his beames when he thought best with a Lux in tenebris lucet he strooke all the standers by with amazement and confusion wondring who this should be and saying one to another Vâ—de hic literas scit cum non didicerit How knowes this man the Scriptures seeing he neuer learned And this admiration is the more augmented by that which the glorious Euangelists Saint Mathew and Saint Marke mention Scandalizabantur in â—o They were offended thereat Their indignation being greater than their admiration enuie working more vpon them than the grace that was offered them remaining onely thereat astonished as men that are surprized with some sodaine or vnexpected accident Suting well with that which Saint Chrysostome and Saint Cyril sayes of them to wit That these were those incredulous and vnbeleeuing people Whence hath he all these things Is he not the Sonne of a Carpenter and is not his mother called Mary c. Whence it followeth in all probabilitie that they had ript vp his course of life and made a strict examination of him from his childhood his youth and better growne yeares concluding all of them in the end That he had spent his time in helping Ioseph in his trade and not in applying himselfe to learning stiling Learning the wisedome of diuine mysteries The holy Apostle Saint Paul saith to his Disciple Timothie Quia ab infantia sacras literas nosti And in the 29. chapter of Deut. it appeareth That amongst the Hebrewes there were some that profest the teaching of this kind of learning which was the Grammaticall and Historicall sence of the sacred bookes which did dispose them to other things of greater moment and to mysteries of a higher and deeper nature Epiphanius saith That they were expounders of the Grammar and were therefore called Grammatis Sâ—ribae Being therefore grounded and confirmed in this their opinion That he had not learned their first rudiments and principles they said wondring with themselues Vnde hic literas scit Whence hath this man his learning But all this made the worse for them and their proceeding appeares still fouler and fouler First of all in this O ye Iewes saith Chrysologus ye doe not wonder that a Virgin shoâ—ld bring forth that God apparelled in humane flesh should treat and conuerse with you as it is prophesied by Barâ—ch nor that the blind should see the deafe heare the dumbe speake the lame walke the dead rise the Diuels tremble And do you wonder that he should shew himselfe thus learned hauing not learned you admire that which ought least to be wondred at are vndmindfull of that which ought most to be meruailed at Secondly It was a foule fault in them to see such singular learning accompanied with so vnblameable a life and such strange miracles and that they should not once thinke that this was from Heauen Especially they knowing that Adam and Salomon did enioy this blessing Of Salomons wisedome and whence he had it the Historie of the Kings and that of
There is not any thing so hid and buried that though it lie couered for a time is not in the end discouered Of Fire and of Loue Vlisses saâ—d Quis enim celauerit ignem Who can hide them but the same may be better verified of the Truth Well may falshood and passion assisted by tyranny and power hide and bury it selfe but in the end There is nothing so secret but shall be reuealed For time is a great discouerer of truths Plutarch reporteth in his Apothegmes That at the sacrifices of Saturne whom they adored for the god of Time the Priests had their heads couered till the Sacrifice was fully ended a ceremonie which was not suffered by any other of the gods And the mystery thereof was That Time doth couer things now and then for a while but discouers them at last And therefore Pindarus said That the latter dayes were the faithfullest witnesses Time sometime sleepeth but it awakes againe But in case it fall asleep and neuer wake any more Est qui quaerat iudicet God is still ready at hand who searching out the truth will iudge his owne cause Obliuion hath two bosomes wherein she burieth those things which she most desireth to blot out of the remembrance of the world The one the bottom of the Sea The other the bowels of the Earth Into the Sea many Tyrants haue throwne the bodies and ashes of the Saints to the end that being deuoured by fishes or drowned in the deepe they might not be adored on earth as we may reade in the History of Saint Clâ—â—ent and diuers others In the earth men burie the Dead Highway Robbers their spoyls Theeues their thefts they that are either subdued by conquest or banished their country their treasure as Cacus did those cowes he had stolne in his caue But God causeth those things that are the heauiest and the weightiest and cast into the bottome of the Sea to swim like corke aboue water and maketh the earth to vomit forth her most secret and hidden treasures For Nihil occultum c. There is nothing so secret which shall not be reuealed There is one that seeketh it and iudgeth it O Lord Thou remittest this cause to thy father and thy father remits all vnto thee I answer when I tooke the rod to reuenge the wrongs and iniuries of the world I was not to be like vnto sparks that are quickly kindled nor subiect to any the least passion of anger for a Iudge that is so affected cannot be a competent Iudge in his owne cause And therfore Est qui quaerat iudicet My Father is to redresse this wrong he is to looke vnto it Whence I inferre That if our Sauiour Christ in whom there could nâ—t be any kind of passion did remit to his Father the iudging of his cause hardly can a Iudge of flesh sentence his owne cause King Dauid being at the point of death willed his sonne Salomon that he should take away the liues of Ioab and Shimei He thereupon caused Ioab to be slaine but onely confined Shimei The reason that induced him to mittigate Shimei his sentence and not that of Ioâ—b was because the offences which Ioab had committed were not done directly against his father Dauid but against Abner and Amasa whom he had ill killed Whereas Shimeis fault was in affronting the Kings person and because it might happily be thought that he might be carried away with too much passion or affection in this his fathers cause hee deferred his death till hee should fall through his owne default which he afterwards did and then Salomon reckoned with him for the old and the new The woman of Tekoah receiuing her instructions from Ioab entred the Palace and hauing put on mourning apparell as a woman that had now long time mourned for the dead and falling downe on her face to the ground and doing her obeysance she spake thus vnto him I am a poore widow my husband is dead and thine handmaid had two sonnes and they two stroue together in the field and there was none to part them so the one smot the other and slew him And behold the whole family is risen against thine handmaid crying out Deliuer him that smot his brother that we may kill him for the soule of his brother whom he slew that we may destroy the heyre also So shall they quench my sparkle that is left and shall not leaue to mine husband neither name nor posteritie vpon the earth and I my selfe shall remaine a miserable mother not hauing any child left me to be a stay and comfort vnto me in my old dayes Woe is me that I must be depriued of both my sons in one day The King pittying her wretched condition said vnto her I will take order for the freeing of thy sonne And to send her away well satisfied vowed vnto her by that his vsuall asseueration as the Lord liueth there shall not one haire of thy sonne fall to the earth Whereupon she taking her leaue said vnto him Let my Lord the King shew himselfe as free from passion in his owne proper cause as he hath in another mans Wilt thou free my sonne that hath slaine his brother and wilt thou not free Absalon that slew Ammon Rupertus saith That Eâ—es hurt consisted in the misprision of the fruit and the ill iudgement that shee made in the choice of the apple For being too much wedded to her owne appearing good opinion the eyes of the body persuaded those of the soule that in so faire a fruit it was impossible to find death Then tooke they vp stoâ—es to cast at him Tyranny and persecution euermore attended the Saints of God But there was this difference betwixt them and our Sauiour Christ That your Tyrants did seeke to reduce these other to the adoring of their gods one while with promises another while by threatnings now with curtesies and kindnesses and by and by againe with sundry sorâ—s of torments There was scarce any famous Martyr which did not tread in his martyrdome in this path nor any Tyrant which did not take this course with them And perhaps they followed herein the steps of Nebuchadnezzar who as the glorious Doctor Saint Chrysostome hath obserued for those who would not adore his Statue had a hot fierie furnace whose flames ascended forty nine cubits in heigth and for those that did adore it he had all sorts of exquisite musicke and choice instruments warring against vertue with pleasure and with paine But our Sauiour Christ was alwayes ill intreated by the world In the desart the diuell once offered him stones The Pharisees many times When he was borne in Bethlem he had not wherewithall to defend him from the cold but was forced to be laid in the cratch among the beasts Whilest he liued here in the world he had not any to relieue his hunger The day that hee entred in Triumph into Ierusalem he went forth into the field to
me and I shall be whiter than snow it shall not onely lose that whitenesse which it had before but shall surpasse the snow in whitenesse In like manner a Sinner may be so washed and so clensed that hee may remaine more pure and more faire than the Innocent Againe water clenseth but as it washeth so it wasteth and weareth out that which it washeth as it is to be seene in your Linnen but the Holy-Ghost reneweth the Soule giuing new force and new strength Thy youth shall be renewed like the Eagles and though our outward man be corrupted our inward man is reuiued yet day by day The second effect is To fertilise and fructifie the earth The holy Spirit worketh this with great aduantage My soule without thee is barren but by thy fauourable influence it bringeth forth the faire fruits of Charitie Ioy Patience Long-suffering Goodnesse Gentlenesse c. All these things worketh one and the same Spirit and therefore it is called Viuificator A Quickning Spirit The third effect is To quench thirst Onely the Holy-Ghost can quench the thirst of the Soule all other humane goods increase our thirst as it is proued in many places And therefore Dauid did desire of God that he would quench this his thirst My Soule thirsteth after God the Fountain of liuing water and wo is me c. He doth sigh and grone for his God and his glorie becauâ—e onely that is able to quench his thirst Neuer man spake as this man The High-Priests and the Pharisees asked the Officers that were sent to apprehend our Sauiour Why they had not brought him with them and the Officers answered Neuer any man spake like this man Wherein two things are to be considered First The force of Gods Word Secondly The little feare great securitie which he inioyeth that preacheth as also he that heareth and obeyeth Many excellent Diuines haue harpt vpon this string and great endeerings haue beene deliuered by Ecclesiasticall and Secular Historians Saul sent to take Dauid the Officers found him playing vpon his Harpe and were so rauished with the sweetnesse of his Musicke that they forgat themselues and what the King had giuen them in charge He sent others more stout and resolute and the like hapned to them The King beeing inraged with anger and waxing wondrous cholericke went himselfe in person to apprehend him vsing high language and throwing out great menaces threatnings against him but he was scarce come thither when he fell a prophecying who according as some will haue it catching hold of a Harp began to play vpon it and to sing like vnto some Serjeant who finding him whom he goes to apprehend dancing at some Wedding in a Countrie Village layeth aside his Mace and falls a dancing with the company The Fables report That Orpheus with his musicke made the torments of Hell to cease leauing those Tormentors in astonishment and amasement And great questionlesse is the suspension which Musicke causeth in our minds Touching Eloquence rare is that endeering of Cicero whose Oratorie a Poet called Flexamina omnium rerum Regina That of Marcus Antonius that famous Roman Orator was so singular in this kind that the Senat sending a Band of souldiers to cut off his head he did earnestly intreat them that they would but giue him the hearing of three or foure words they did so but those his words were so powerful that forsaking their former fierce resolution they sheathed vp their swords and gaue him his life and which was much more they so melted into teares That hanging their heads in their bosome and casting their eyes to the ground they all fell a weeping Plutarch telleth vs how that Palemon a handsome young man of Athens but of a most loose and dishonest life came in one day to heare Xenocrates in that kind of wanton fashion and habit that any Whoâ—e or Curtezan could not tricke and set forth her selfe in a more lasciuious manner on which occasion the Phlosopher taking hold did plead in fauor of Honestie with such strength of words such excellent language and such extraordinarie eloquence that in the presence of the Auditors Palemon stript himselfe out of all his gay cloathes pluckt the Rings out of his eares and off his fingers continuing from that time forward a verie honest man and a good patterne to others No lesse wonderfull was that which befell Phyletus a Disciple of Hermogenes the Inchanter who came to dispute and maintaine argument with Saint Iames the elder relying much vpon his Sophistrie but the Apostle preached with that powerfulnesse that Phyletus returning backe againe to his Master told him Magus abieram Christianus reaco I went forth a Magician but I am returned a Christian. To this purpose the Fables report of Hercules That with chaines of gold which came forth of his mouth he haled after him all the World But neither the truths of humane Histories nor the lies of artificiall Fables can attaine vnto the force and power of Diuine Eloquence Esay foretold vs as much All Nations shall flow vnto him borrowing his Metaphore in this word Flow from some great and principall Riuer which without any violence runs along with that strange force and swiftnesse that nothing can resist it but sweepes all away that stands in it's way Being one and the same comparison with that of Saint Iohn Out of his bellie shall flow Riuers of water of Life From hence and that verie fitly we may draw a second consideration which is this If from euerie one that enioyeth this Spirit there flow forth great riuers of liuing water well may those good men liue without feare and secure from all harmes wrongs affronts and tyrannies Consider with thy selfe in a Riuer the force of the water the impetuousnesse and furie of a swift Torrent the violence of a great streame wherewith a hundred Mills are driuen Who will dare to keepe it backe Who will offer to stand in it's way Who can resist it Of the comming of our Sauiour Christ it was prophecied That hee should banish all feare and cowardise from out the hearts and brests of his friends Dauid compares the iust man to the Moone when she is at the full He shall be established for euer as the Moone and as a faithfull witnesse in the Heauen Alcyat sayth in one of his Emblemes That a Dog then barketh most when the Moone is at the fullest whether it be by some speciall influence that it then worketh in the Dog or whither it be occasioned by the macula's or spots in the Moone representing vnto him the forme and shape of another Dog but though the Dog barke neuer so much yet doth the Moone walke her Station securely through Heauen and though Tyrannie barke neuer so much at the Iust yet shall hee walke in safetie The Spouse in the Canticles complaineth That Tyrants had taken her cloake from her The Church calleth this her Cloake the Martyrs wee see some of them roasted
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
amongst some of his Emblemes which hee hath made of humane beautie he paints forth in one of them a Lyon a Hare a Fowle and a Fish for there is not any creature more couragious than a Lyon nor any more cowardly than a Hare nor any creature higher than the Fowle nor lower in his mansion than the Fish all which render and yeeld themselues prisoners to beautie Balac liued in great feare of Gods People and when he could not get Balaam to curse them aduising with his Councell Balaam being the first proiector he sent as Lyra noteth it a squadron of the fairest women that his Countrie could affoord amongst the Israelites who did beare in their Banner for their Deuice the Image of Belphegor and they who before did seeme to that King to be inuincible rendred themselues captiues to the beautie of those Moabitish women Et initiati sunt Belphegor comederunt sacrificia mortuorum They married them and adored their Idoll and as Iosephus sets it downe it was not onely the common people but many of the chiefest amongst them that offended in this kind For the flesh being not onely baited but blinded with this outward beautie it hath no eyes to behold the light of the Sunne Supercecidit ignis that is The fire of Concupiscence fell downe and they saw not the Sunne The light of myne eyes is not with me thus Dauid discoursed with himselfe treating of his adulterie Osee compareth Adulterie to a heated Ouen whence comes forth the flame which burnes and the smoke which blindes Seest thou a man besotted with the loue of this or that woman and of that doting affection towards her that hauing â—uffered for her sake in his honor his estate and his health if he do not take vp himselfe in time and looke out some remedy for this sore you may boldly say he is blind Saint Iohn painting foorth the fall of Lucifer saith That the bottom lesse pit was opened with a key for Lucifer according to Rupertus had the first handsell of hell and from forth that infernall pit there went out such a thicke smoke that it darkened the Sun and the Starres And this is the stampe and figure of him that shall throw himselfe downe headlong into the bottomlesse pit of dishonestie whence commeth forth so much smoke that it blindeth the Sun of the vnderstanding and darkneth those starres of the faculties of the soule From these circumstances do I draw the difficulty of Mary Magdalens Conuersion grounding my supposition vpon these three truths The first That for God to iustifie a soule is a farre greater matter than to create heauen and earth and all that therein is This hath beene prooued elsewhere And Iob exprest as much when he said The creating of me was the least of thy mercies towards me Exaltare saith Dauid Exalt thy selfe ô God aboue the heauens and let thy glory be vpon all the earth that thy beloued may bee deliuered So that if we should put into the one hand of God the world created and into the other a soule conuerted the glory of this hand is the greater And there are two very good reasons for it The one For that in the creating of the world God had no repugnancie or resistance but in the conuerting of a soule he may meet with opposition by reason of mans peruerse will Et qui creauit te sine te non saluabit te sine te For though bee created thee without thy will he will not saue thee wâ—thout thy will God takes more pleasure in conuerting a soule than in all the rest of those wonders which he wrought with his hands Auerte oculos tuos à me quia ipsi me auolare fecerunt Turne away thine eyes from me for euen they haue made me flye away Auolare is the same in that place as Superbire inflare Rabby Salomon renders it Insolentior factus sum animo To see thy eyes heretofore so withdrawne from me and now so busie in beholding â—e So great is the contention which is betwixt the loue of God and the loue of the world betweene the desires of the flesh and of the Spirit That the one doth striue to take the sword out of the others hand Alterius vires subtrahit alter amor Plotinus calls Loue a Painter Diuine Loue that paints and humane Loue that paints This painteth forth our felicitie in riches beauty and feasting That in pouerty teares and fasting For to ingraue such an image as this in our hearts to paint such a picture we must blot out all those colours which any other loue hath drawne there The other For that in creating the world God did not shew himselfe to bee weary but made it as it were a kind of entertainment and passe-time Ludens in orbe terrarum But in redeeming mankind he was wearied out euen to the shedding of his blood and the loosing of his life The second truth is That it is the easiest thing in the world with God to inrich a sinner with his grace God sent Ieremy to the Potters house who beginning to worke vpon a peece of clay it not fadging to his mind he tore it in sunder and molding it anew fashioned it afterwards to his owne good liking and content CaÌ„not I deale by you as the potter doth with his clay Is my power lesse than his Noah kept a Lyon in the Arke but he continued still a Lyon But our Sauiour Christ in his Church turnes the Lyon into a Lambe The pots in the Lords house shall be like the bolls before the Altar Saint Ierome saith That he did prophetically decypher the time of the new Law wherein the black-souted Caldrons should bee so bright and beautifull that they should serue for flagons full of flowres and bolls of sweet and pretious odours Esay treating of the facilitie wherewith God doth worke this change and alteration draweth his comparison from a little cloud which a contrary wind taketh and makes it disappeare in a moment I shall put away thy transgressions like a cloud and thy sinnes as a myst Ecclesiasticus compares it vnto yce which the Sunne no sooner shines vpon but it is melted Thy sinnes shall melt away as the yce in the faire weather Dauid borroweth his comparison from a frozen Torrent set vpon by a furious South-west wind and letting loose those waters causeth them to leape out of their beds For your frost and yce are the waters fetters which keepe them close prisoners Hibernis vinculis soluta saith Nazianzene And Niuale compede vinctum saith Horace of the riuer Iberus But all these comparisons are too large and spatious in respect of Gods least breath which in an instant doth banish sinne from our breasts and inricheth it with grace The third That in regard of Man it is a thing of great difficulty especially if the foule fiend hath got the masterie and possession of our will When a man hath
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 tâ—e 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 FRâ—DAY 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
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 â—oe 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
all Arts either Liâ—â—rall or Mechaniâ—all we giue 〈◊〉 â—redit to them that are therein most eminent As to the best Diuine the best Physitian the best Lawyer and to him that is our best friend because we are fully persuaded that he will not deale doubly with vs but deliuer vs the very truth and represent things as they are In the saluation of the soule we will not beleeue our Sauiour who is the best Artist and our best friend but the diuell the world and the flesh which are our three mortall enemies The first being the father of lyes the first cause and first inuenter of them that is to say Ex proprijs loquitur out of his owne Mynt he coynes them the other two haue inherited and professed lying time out of mind fiue thousand yeares agoe and vpward If it be not as I tell you tell me I pray when did the world treat truth Salomon stiles it Diuitem mendacem A rich lyar As for the flesh when did that euer leaue off to lye it was one of Sampsons fooleries That he knowing the intention of his false hearted Dalila and that her purpose was to deliuer him vp into the hands of the Philistims and hauing thrice caught her with the theft as we say in her hand yet for all this faire warning would not take better heede but melting with two drops two poore teares that trickled downe her cheekes stickt not to reueale vnto her the secret of his strength and where it lay And Dalila complaining Thou hast thrice beguiled me and told me lyes yet this good honest man neuer titted her in the teeth with her lightnes and her treason It is a strange kind of blindnes That thy flesh should commit so many treasons and poppe thee in the mouth with so many lies and yet thou shouldest still beleeue her But the Moores beleeue Mahomet who lyes vnto them The Gentiles those Idols that deceiue them and onely Christ comes to be the descreydo a man of no credit among vs and to whom we will not giue beleefe S. Bernard talking in his name with a Christian askes him the question Why doest thou more affect my enemie and thine than me I did create thee I did redeeme thee with my blood I did beare thee vp in the palmes of my hands Sure it is because thy soule is full of euill humours A foole receiues not the words of Wisedome vnlesse thou tell him that which is in his owne heart It is Salomons As is an house that is destroyed so is wisedome vnto a foole There is nothing more pleasing and peaceable than a well built house and nothing more vnpleasing and vnpeaceable than an old ruinous house that is ready to fall And so is wisedome to a foole If I say the truth c. One of the most lamentable miseries of this age is That truth doth not carry that credit and estimation as a lye doth As the true sores of a poore wretched creature doth not mooue mans heart to that pittie as your false ones doe so truth doe not generally goe so farre as doth a lye For a lye is no sooner sowne but it presently growes vp and spreads it selfe amaine ô good God how easily is it beleeued how willingly entertained Our Sauiour Christ being risen the High Priests and other the Prelates of those times persuaded the souldiers that were set to gard the graue that they should giue it out that his Disciples had stolne him away But how my Masters replyde the souldiers can we doe this without danger to our selues or be able to answer the matter For if the President should call vs to account and examine vs about it eyther we must answer that we were asleepe and testigos dormidos you know no hazen â—e Sleeping witnesses will not be admitted for proofe nor stand good in Law Or that his Disciples did set vpon vs and tooke him thence by force which likewise will hardly be beleeued and will not sound halfe handsomely First that silly fishermen should set vpon souldiers Secondly the stone not being taken away we cannot well auouch that they stole him away yet notwithstanding the Clergie were instant vpon them and told them doe you but say as we bid you and it is enough for If it come to the Presidents eare we will worke with him well enough Whereupon hauing withall well greased their fists they published the theft And the glorious Euangelist Saint Matthew tells vs This saying is noysed amongst the Iewes vnto this day The like passeth in point of Heresie What hath ruined so many Kingdomes destroyed so many Churches and tormented so many Saints but the lyes of your Arch-Heretikes who will not pardon God himselfe In a word God was to come into the world for to giue testimony of the truth Whereas for the receiuing of a lye one wicked mans asseueration is sufficient Osee saith That there is no truth in the earth no mercy no knowledge of God but that all is lies thefts murders and adulteries Mendacium furtum homicidium inundauerunt Where the word inundauerunt is worthy your weighing A riuer while it runnes betweene two bankes and keepes it sâ—lfe within it's bounds the wayes are free and open to all But when it leapes out of his bed and ouerflowes the fields and the high wayes you know not in the world how to finde sure footing nor where you or your horse may safely tread There were euermore lyes in the world but now they haue broken their bounds in that strange manner and leapt so farre from forth their bed that no man well knowes which way to take What a world of Euidences did Dauid shew vnto Saul of his loue vnto him What notable seruices did he doe him in that hiâ— single combat against Goliah In getting so many victories against the Philistims In playing vnto him vpon the harpe when the diuell tormented him Afterward Saul pursuing him in the mountaines hunting after his death as if he had beene a beare or wild bore once Dauid tooke away his speare and the pot of water that stood at his beds head another time he cut off the lappet of his garment This Saul saw with his eyes and confessed it with his mouth saying Iustior me es Thou art more righteous than I. And yet in the end he gaue more credit to those lyes which your Court whisperers buzz'd into his eares than to those truths which himselfe felâ— with his hands He that is of God heareth Gods words ye therefore heare them not because ye are not of God Saint Augustine and Saint Gregory expound this place of your Prâ—cogniti and those thaâ— are predestinâ—ted And S. Iohn doth diuide al the whole world into two sorts of persons Qui ex deo est non peccat qui peccat ex diabolo est The children of God and the children of the diuell The one heares Gods Word the other heares it not And though this be not a