of them for he made them all Dixit facta sunt saith the Psalmist he spake but the word and all things were made hee commanded and they stood all fast hee did but speake the word let the earth bring forth her increase and also the waters and presently both earth and sea they were replenished with all manner of varietie Brevis sermo sed valde vehement saith Saint Ambrose a short speech it was indeede saith hee that God spake but yet withall it was a speech that was full of power the efficacie of that speech it brought forth the greatest as well as the least creatures and in the same time too for in the same time the whole was made that hee was making of a Frogge Non laborat in maximis Deus non fastidit in minimis saith Saint Ambrose God saith hee did not labour in the making of the greatest things nor yet contemne the making of the meanest hee made all things by his power and therefore worthily is Master of all Was hee not worthy to bee Master of Man as well as of other Creatures when hee made such diuers and contrarie Elements for to meete together in one and the selfe same body and accord in one Fire and Water Aire and Earth Heate and Cold and all in one and the selfe same place and yet hath so tempered them together as that one is the defence and maintenance of the other Nay more then this saith Saint Bernard Mirabilis societas In man hee hath made a wonderfull societie for in him Heauen and Earth Maiesty and Basenesse Excellencie and Pouertie hee hath matched together What is higher then the spirit of life What is baser then the slime of the earth his soule it was infused into him the spirit of life his body it was made of the dust of the earth This was that that made Gregorie Nazianzen to break into that same exclamation of himselfe what great and wonderfull miracle was within himselfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. I am litle and yet I am great I am humbled and yet I am exalted I am mortall and yet I am immortall I am earthly and yet I am heauenly little in body but great in soule humble as being earth but yet exalted aboue the earth mortall as he that must dye immortall as he that shall rise againe earthly as whose body was taken from the earth heauenly as whose soule was breathed feom aboue And will not all this then make him well deserue the Name and Title of Master amongst vs Yes But here hee hath a double Title Master Master What of that Why hee hath a double Mastership he was their Master Iure creationis by the right of their creation but much more Master Iure redemptionis by right and title of their redemption when man had lost himselfe and defaced that glorious image that God at the first had left within him then came our Sauiour Christ Iesus in a mercifull Redeemer and reconciled his Father and Man together againe Henceforth let vs not repine at the fall of our Grand-father for Christ our Sauiour hath made satisfaction for it Was he cast away for the price of an Apple Why yet he is redeemed for a great deale lesse he was redeemed in meere loue and pitie The sixth day of the weeke as it is thought Adam fell for it is thought that he fell the same day that hee was made the sixth day of the weeke againe Adam and his posteritie were redeemed from death The same day that he fell he was redeemed And as God in the beginning rested on the seuenth day so Christ our Sauiour saith Saint Augustine sabbatizanit in monumento kept holy the Sabboth euen in the graue to teach vs to make more account of that day then the world vsually doth in these our times For for all that belonged vnto the saluation of man he finished that vpon the crosse before his departure hence when hee cried Consummatum est all is finished Ioh. 19.30 Iohn 19. Then all was performed that was requisite for vs and hauing finished his worke he rested as securely in his graue as the most secure man of vs all doth rest in his bed And in this redemption which he so kindly performed for vs there are two things especially to bee considered of vs Modus and Fructus the manner and the fruit of our redemption The Manner it was wonderfull Exinanitio Dei saith the Apostle the emptying of God the fulnesse of all things The emptying of him I say and that in three regards First into the flesh Secondly vnto the death Thirdly lastly vnto the death of the crosse O who can worthily esteeme these three as hee ought to do his worth his humilitie his loue vnto mankinde That the God of all Maiesty should be cloathed with the garment of humane flesh That hee should consent to dye and that hee should dye so miserable and cursed a death Here speech must faile vs and our safest eloquence must bee admiration Let vs sometimes in the feare of God call our selues to account for these things and thinke what great things the Lord hath done for euery one of our soules and then let vs be ashamed at our owne vnthankfulnesse againe that he being Lord of all became obedient and seruant for the very worst of vs Of being rich in all things became poore and miserable in most that were necessary That of the word he became flesh Of the sonne of God that he should become the sonne of base and mortall man Let vs remember that though at the first we were made of nothing yet that afterwards we were not redeemed of nothing In sixe dayes at the first God made heauen and earth and all things that in them were contained but in the redemption of Man our Sauiour was three and thirty yeares and vpwards a working of it vpon the earth O how much in that time did he suffer for our sakes The necessities of the flesh the contempt and scorne of the world the temptations both of the Diuell and of mankinde Can wee thinke that pouerty in all that time did not oppresse him nor shame did not touch him nor yet the wrath and anger of his Father any whit amaze him Certainly certainly beloued the least of all these did touch him neere and the greatest that was the fury of his Father did make him make that lamentable cry vpon the Crosse the like wherof was neuer heard in Ages before nor euer shall be heard againe vnto the ending of the world My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Yet thus O Lord didst thou worke the saluation of Man and wonderfully towards him hath beene thy loue Let vs thinke of these things seriously let vs thinke of them often and then I make no question but we shall thinke we haue great reason to think him a double Master vnto vs. And they came vnto him and awaked him saying Master Master But yet the
hath his particular branches there are foure in the first verse 1 The time 2 The meanes 3 His exhortation 4 Their obedience The time Now it came to passe on a certaine day The meanes That he went into a ship with his Disciples His exhortation And hee said vnto them Let vs go ouer vnto the other side of the lake Their obedience And they lunched forth In the second verse there are foure things also The manner of their trauell and the accidents that fell out in their iourney which be in number three The manner of their trauell they sailed But as they sailed The accidents they be three 1 He fell asleepe 2 And there came downe a storme of winde on the lake 3 And they were filled with water and were in ieopardy In the third verse there are two things the feare of the Disciples the power and authority of the Maister The feare of the Disciples 1 And they came to him and awaked him saying Maister maister wee perish The power authority of the Maister 2 Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the raging of the waters and they ceased and there was a calme Now it came to passe on a certaine day c. This word here Now it does not poynt vs out vnto any certaine time as in many other places of the Scripture it does as in Exod. 6. Nunc videbis quae facturus sum The Lord intending for to worke his wonders in the land of Egypt hee sayes to Moses Exod. 6.1 Now thou shalt see what I will do to Pharaoh So Balac the King of Moab desirous for to ridde himselfe of his dangerous neighbours the Israelites in Numb 22. hee sends for Balaam the Southsayer to come in all haste vnto him Nunc igitur veni maledic Num. 22.6 Come now therefore I pray thee come and curse me this people for they are too mighty and too strong for me So old Simeon desirous to be dissolued to be with the Lord he ioyfully sings his Nunc dimittis vnto the world Luk. 2.29 Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace c. So our Sauiour feeling of his death approching he cries vnto his Father Nunc ad to vento now I come vnto thee But heere this word Now it is not as in those places an Aduerbe of time but a Coniunction copulatiue and signifies as much as Et or autem and so the Latine Translation reades it Factum est autem in vna dierum Now it came to passe on a certaine day that is and it came to passe on a certaine day The time is set downe in the following words Now it came to passe on a certaine day there is the time set downe but what day that day was of the week perhappes might bee thought to bee both curious to enquire and ouer-difficult also to be found out he was sent forth into the world to doe his fathers businesse and so earnest was hee in this Calling of his that as the Tragedian speakes in another sence Finis vnius gradus est futurs the end of one busines was but the beginning of another and as the Mathematitian said of the practise of that Art Nulla dies sine linea no day should passe ouer his head without the drawing of a line more so wee may safely say of our Sauiour that no day passed ouer his head in which hee did not make profession of the Gospell vnto the people for hee professeth this of himselfe that in it he tooke his sole delight Ioh. 4. My meate sayes hee is to do the will of him that sent me Iohn 4.34 and to finish his worke And so hauing finished what businesse was conuenient amongst his owne people the next day after peraduenture set forward for this intended iourney of his without so much as mentioning of the day at all and so It came to passe on a certaine day To keepe a Diarie of euery dayes work of his it had bin a labour infinit so many so diuers were the miracles that were wrought by him daily that Saint Iohn testifies of him in his 21 chapter it had been endlesse For sayes hee there are many other things which Iesus did Ioh. 21.25 the which if they should be written euery one I suppose that euen the world it selfe could not containe the bookes that should be written and therefore no Register being kept of them they are poasted ouer vnto certaine dayes Now it came to passe on a certaine day Yet some probable coniecture might bee giuen of the day though no definitiue sentence to conclude it absolute The Latine and the Greeke translations they giue vs a little glimmering light of this same day for they both reade it the selfe same way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sayes the Greeke text and the Latine text Factum est autem in vna dierum and it came to passe in one of the dayes Now both the Greeke and the Latine tongue doe often reckon One for First as likewise many times does our English Dialect one two three that is first second third c. And the Hebrues they haue no other word to expresse their meaning in and therefore whereas we read it in our English Translation in Gen. 1. and the euening and the morning were the first day Gen. 1.5 the Hebrue Translation reades it Haggi 1.1 the euening and the morning were one day So likewise in Haggai 1. where we reade it in the first day of the moneth came the word of the Lord they say in the one day of the moneth came the word of the Lord hauing no other word to expresse their meaning And the Latine and the Greeke following of the Hebrue phrase for the First say one as in Mark 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark 16.2 Vna Sabbathorum where our Translation reades it and very earely in the morning the first day of the weeke they came vnto the Sepulchre c. So here it is set downe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one day which day may very well signifie the first day and that is this day But if it were this day how comes it then to passe it may well be demanded that our Sauiour is guilty of the breach of that commandement Remember that thou keepe holy the Sabboth day c. And in it thou shalt doe no manner of worke c. which was so strictly obserued amongst the Iewes as that in the 12. of Mathew the Disciples are reprehended by the Pharises for but plucking of the eares of Corne on the Sabboth day Math. 12.2 Behold thy Disciples they doe that which is not lawfull to doe on the Sabboth day If it were not lawfull for them to plucke a fewe eares of Corne on the Sabboth day then surely much lesse was it lawfull for them to take their iourney on the Sabboth day Yes verily euen on the Sabboth day it was lawfull for them to trauell though not to make any long iourney
on the Sabboth day and therefore in the Acts. 1 Acts. 1.12 Mount Oliuet is sayd to bee from Ierusalem a Sabboth dayes iourney which Sabboth dayes iourney contained in it as the writers do agree vpon it two miles in distance the which it was lawfull for them to walke on the Sabboth day and therefore in the place before cited in the 12. of Mathew Mat. 12.1 the Disciples were not found fault with by the Pharises for that they trauelled on the Sabboth day but for that they pluckt the eares of corne on the Sabboth day But yet it may bee demanded further for wee are fallen into a labyrinth of questions how comes this permission of a Sabboth dayes iourney seeing all iourneying in the law is expressely forbidden See Exo. 16.29 sayes Moses in Exod. 16. See sayes hee for that the Lord hath giuen you the Sabboth therefore he giueth you on the sixt day the bread of two dayes abide yee therefore euery man in his place let no no man go out of his place on the seuenth day If euery man were commanded to abide in his place on the seuenth day how then comes in this Sabboth dayes iourney Why certainly I can giue no other reason for it but what Oecumenius and Lorinus doe giue and that is that in the time of Ioshua hee commanded it to bee proclaimed that the Arke going before there should be a distance left between it the campe of two thousand cubites by measure as as it is Ios 3. Iosh 3.3 which was the iust distance of two miles whither it was lawfull for the people for to go to visite the Arke euen on the Sabboth day and so may come in our Sabboth daies iourney But yet wee are not thus quite of our question though for still it may be vrged further that this was more then a Sabboth daies iourney for it was aboue two miles that he was to trauell Mat. 4.18 Luke 5.1 Iosh 6.1 Saint Mathew calles it in his 4 chap. the sea of Galilee S. Luke in his 5. chapt the lake of Genesareth S. Iohn in his 6. chapt the sea of Tiberias a broad and large place so that howsoeuer he was still without the compasse of two thousand cubites his Sabboth dayes iourney how may this bee For this we say that our Sauiour Christ he did not iourney on the Sabboth day for the Iewes Sabboth it was our Satterday and that was the seuenth day but this was the first day afterwards changed by the Apostles in memory of our Sauiours most glorious resurrection who dyed vpon the Friday and rose againe the third day which was Sunday and therefore by Saint Iohn in his first of his Apoc. is called Dies Dominicus Apoc. 1.10 the Lords day I was saith he in the spirit on the Lords day that part then of the Commandement the Sabboth day it was but Ceremoniall not Morall for had it beene Morall it had bound vs perpetually to the obseruation of it but wee see it was altered and continues altered vnto this day and so wee haue a gesse of the time which is here set down indefinitely a certaine day though no definitue sentence to conclude it peremptory Now it came to passe on a certaine day It came to passe Heere haue our licentious Epicures and our vpstart Atheists a ground foundation as they thinke to build vp their Chance-medly doctrine in the world that things they come by chance and fortune not by the determinate and deliberate prouidence and disposing of the Almighty For what greater argument of chance can there be say they then that Christ himselfe should in his owne businesse admit of a casualty for the Text is plaine Now it came to passe or it chanced on a certaine day But their foundation it is laid but on a sandy ground for Aristotle long since though but a Heathen Phylosopher yet he could say by the twy-light of nature that ignorantia causarum the ignorance of man was that that made blind fortune a goddesse amongst men for when they saw no reason for many things that came to passe amongst them they did not conceiue that there might be a reason which they thēselues did not see but straight way they deified Fortune made her the author and bestower of thē all vpon the world her that is so brittle a goddesse quae cum spēdet frangitur which is dashed in peeces by the least accident whereas our Sauiour Christs rule is quite contrary for he teacheth vs another doctrine in the tenth of Saint Mathewes Gospell Mat. 10.29 for hee makes Prouidence reach vnto the smallest matters euen vnto the falling of a Sparrow vpon the ground Are there not saith hee two Sparrowes sold for a farthing and yet one of them shall not fall on the ground without the will of your heauenly Father Then much more the weightiest matters such as the Preaching of the Gospell is which is the saluation of the soule of man that shall not be done but by a particular prouidence indeed and that iourney resolued on with mature deliberation Fortune as the world esteemes it it is but an Idoll made for foolish man to worship and adore and he that will worship any thing euen the meanest of creatures will not neglect it wherein hee thinkes hee sees some shew but as it is indeed in it owne nature it is Ordinaria potestas Dei the ordinary prouidence and direction of Almighty God himselfe by which he brings to passe what himselfe intendeth This iourney here of our Sauiours it is vndertaken with a singular resolution to do good vnto all euen those that were most wicked and prophane So is it Gods goodnesse for to super-abound where the sinne of man seemes for to abound The heart of man for his wickednesse it is termed in Scripture Abyssus a bottomelesse pit according to that of Ezechiel in the 17. of his Prophecy Eze. 17.9 Prauum est cor hominis inscrutabile quis cognoscet The heart of man it is vnsearchable and who shall know it yet the mercy and goodnesse of God it is farre deeper then that that is so deepe as that Saint Paul in the 11. to the Romanes is faine to cry out O altitudo diuitiarum Rom. 11.33 Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisedome and knowledge of God And in regard of his mercies he is termed by the Apostle 1. Cor. 3. Pater misericor diarum 1. Cor. 3.2 the Father not of one or two but of many mercies and the God of all consolation he is called the Father of mercies to pardon all the sinnes that man shall commit against him and the Apostle in the Ephesians tels vs Ephe. 2.7 that when we shall need them he has abundantet diuitia gratia exceeding riches of his grace in store for vs if we our selues will but willingly accept what he shall kindly offer vnto vs. Hee does not take this iourney heere vpon
the vilest place that vaine man can finde out for him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saies Na◠Thus he that makes all other men rich himselfe must be borne like a beggar in some out roome and he that is full of all spirituall blessings must be as one who were voyde of all His life is proportionable vnto his birth hee is driuen into banishment so soone as he is borne and afterwards aboue the course of nature he is forced to fast forty daies and forty nights heb is scoffed at by his kindred reuiled by the Gouernours cursed by the Doctors called Coniurer by the Commons betrayed by his seruants scorned by the Courtiers mocked by the Souldiers rayled at by the Malefactors his whole life was nothing else but a map of miseries wandring vp and down he goes not hauing where to repose his wearied limbes Math. 8. The Foxes haue holes Mat. 8.20 the Birdes haue nests but the Son of man hath not whereon to rest his head The wildernesse is faine to be his Couch and a few poore Fishermen his guard to attend vpon him his prouision is fiue barley loaues and two small fishes and what are they amongst so many Ferried ouer here he is in a poore fishermans boate the vilest and most contemptible of all other Trades But his comming it was in humility and therefore hee contents himself with the basest things he Whose the sea is Psal 95.5 and whose hands prepared the dry lands Psal 95. Hee I say is mad passenger in a Ketch in a poore Fisher-boate ferried ouer to the other side He went into a ship but he went not alone hee was accompanied with his Disciples He went into a ship saies my Text with his Disciples hee went with his Disciples that so he might proue their faith vpon the sea as well as vpon the solide and dry land euery way hee would try them that so hee might harden them against the time of affliction Almighty God though he knew Abraham throughly yet he would try him in the weightiest matter to see whether hee would remaine constant vnto the end Gen. 22.2 as you may reade at large in the twenty two Chapter of Genesis Go offer vp thy sonne Isaac vpon one of the Mountaines that I shall tell thee of who holding of Gods promise vnto him certaine and sure that in his seede all the Nations of the earth should be blessed would rather trust in what hee hoped for then in what hee saw before his eyes before his eyes hee saw nothing but certaine death and yet aboue hope hee hoped for nothing but euerlasting life Non haesitabat saies Saint Augustine quod sibi reddi poterat immolatus qui dari poterat non speratus hee no more doubted that his sonne should be restored vnto him after he was sacrificed then hee doubted hee should haue him before he had him So our Sauiour here hee would thorowly try his Apostles in their constancy in the nearest matters not in the death of their children and sons but in the death of their owne selues he exposes all their liues at once to a manifest danger hee carries them to sea hee goes into a ship and his Disciples with him Wherein they shew themselues true friends indeed and faithfull seruants vnto their Maister who will not onely accompany him in his labours but euen in imminent and manifest dangers wil not forsake him so that our Sauiour might well giue that testimony of them Luk. 22.28 that he does in the 22. of Luke vos estis yee are they which haue continued with me in my temptations And to digresse a little from them and turne the dyall vnto our selues wee all know that Christ our Lord is much sooner found in affliction tribulation then he is in mirth iollity Christ he is the Lilly but as it is said of the Lilly in the Canticles Hee is growing amongst the thornes Cant. 2.2 Mat. 27.29 nay he is crowned with a crown of thornes Math. 27. sooner found in the house of mourning then in the courts of ioy and gladnesse Moses in the 3. Exod. 3.2 of Exod. found him in the bramble-bush 1. King 19.4 when all the Egyptians missed him in their court Elias in 1. King enioyed him vnder the Iuniper tree a tree full of prickes when Ahab could not intreate him in his seeled pallaces But yet the world is in a contrary veine quite from this they will follow Christ in prosperity but in aduersity they will giue him leaue to bee alone vpon the land he shall haue followers enough why hee hath whole multitudes attending on him Ecce totus mundus sayes S. Iohn Ioh. 12.19 Behold the whole world runs after him but vpon the sea his traine hath left him onely his Apostles they keepe him company He went into a ship with his Disciples Whilst God rewardes men with his gifts for the seruice they haue done him so long he shall haue followers enough but if once their profession beginne to draw blood then Demas will reuolt make shipwracke of all that before hee hath professed there are but a few that can indure this Baptismus sanguinis to dye their colours in graine that so they may be knowne to be his Disciples These kind of men I cannot more fitly resemble then vnto the vsurers of these our dayes who will willingly lend their money vnto our merchants but vpon this condition that howsoeuer the world go with the poore merchant-aduenturer the vsurer still will bee sure to be a gainer by him so these they will follow Christ in his glory where they may reape their priuate advantage but by any meanes they will not endure to heare of him in his crosse and passion otherwise farre otherwise was it with his Disciples here both in prosperity or aduersity they will be sure to be partakers with him if their Lord will to 〈◊〉 then they will alongst with him He went into a shippe with his Disciples I might heere enter into a large discourse of our humane basenesse and our degenerate nature how ready all of vs are to deny our Lord and Maister but I list not shew that in words which every one of vs do daily act in our doings we follow Christ vnto the wedding we acknowledge him our Maister in the breaking of bread and we honor him highly in the acting of miracles but in perils and in dangers in losses and in death we do detest him In every one of these wee set vp this for our Mott Vos autem non sic farre oh as farre as may bee let the least of all these be from vs let them not once approach the place where we shall dwell For we are like vnto the Israelites in the 15 of Exodus Exod. 15.1 who when they saw their cruell enemies the Egyptians drowned before their faces and they themselues maisters of the field without so much as striking of one stroke for it they burst
awaked in which regard the Prophet Dauid as weary of his long sufferings willing to be releiued in his distresse he is faine to cry aloude and earnestly as it were to wake him out of the sleepe that he is in to come vnto his succour Psal 44.23 For thy sake are wee killed all the day long we are counted at sheepe for the slaughter therefore awake why sleepest thou ô Lord Arise c. An earnest admonisher we see and one that will not be silent hee doubles and trebles his speech Awake sleeepe not arise that if he were fast indeed yet his earnestnesse at the last would cause him to awake and to speake truth God for the most part seemeth for to sleepe that so he might be awaked by our earnest intreaties for God as Saint Augustine notes amet nimium vehementes is so delighted with our prayers as that many times hee does deny vs our suites that he might heare vs continue earnest in our prayers And againe if he should vpon euery motion that we make vnto him grant vs our requests his benefites at the last would come to bee contemned of vs we know it here an ordinary practise among men cito data cito vilescunt wee accompt it scarce worth the taking that is not twise worth the asking therefore before he grant vs hee would haue vs bee earnest with him in deed to awake him with our prayers if perchance hee should seeme to bee a sleepe But when we haue awaked him what then is there any redresse to bee had at his hand Why yes furely euen the same party that we mentioned euen now hee found it at his hands he was deliuered out of his distresse Saul the persecutor fals deadly vpon his owne sword both to the destruction of soule and body and Dauid the distressed inioyes the Kingdome Daniel is made protector of the Kingdome and his accusers and enemies throwne into the Lyons den though he sleepe heere for a time amongst vs yet one day hee will awake againe and whereas all the time of his sleepe he hath plaid the Lambe bene patient in his reuenge yet when he shall awake he shall rouze himselfe like a Lion for to right himselfe of al his enemies which if it be not in this world yet in the world to come wee know it shall be to their greater condemnation Noah we know he slept a while and suffred the scoffes and abuses of his wicked sonne Cham but when he awaked what then then Maledictus Canaan then he pronounces a fearefull curse vpon him for his lewdnesse Gen. 9.25 Cursed bee Canaan seruant of seruants shal he be so I say if not in this world yet at the end of the world our Sauiour he shall curse his enemies with a terrible curse a curse of curses Ite mal dicti Mat. 25.41 Go yee cursed of my Father into euerlasting fire a terrible and a fearefull curse from which God keepe vs all But yet so he slept not here in this place his sleepe now it was a voluntary naturall sleepe But as they sayled hee fell a sleepe The reason of sleepe in naturall men it is yeelded by the Heathen Phylosophers and chiefly by Aristotle the eldest sonne of nature there are two causes saith hee of sleepe in man Fumus ascendens in cerebellum the ascending of the fumes and vapours vp out of our stomacke into our head and so surprizing of the braine or else Corporalis naturae fatigatio the ouerwearying of our body with labour and trauell both which were truely in our Sauiour and yet neither the cause of this sleepe of his he had them both truely in him because in deed hee was truely man but heere in this place as the Diuines teach he slept voluntary as being Lord and Commander of his Humane Nature As hee is then the Keeper of Israel the Creator and Preseruer of man-kind he cannot sleepe but as hee is a Man and himselfe made a creature sleepe was requisite and necessary for him But yet here I say hee slept voluntary he slept because hee would sleepe hee was Lord of his Nature and might commande it which is not in vs for many of vs oftentimes would sleepe but cannot and sometimes againe when wee would willingly watch our eies are most heauy and ouercharged with sleepe Illam noctem rex duxit in somnem saith the Text Ester 6. Ester 6.1 That night the King would faine haue slept but could not And againe the Disciples in the 26 of Matthew Mat. 26.43 they could not refraine from sleeping when they would haue watched and hee came and found them asleepe againe for their eyes were heauy But in Christ our Sauiour there was no such naturall imperfection in the Wildernesse as long as hee fasted so long it may bee credibily thought that hee watched also both which wee know to bee aboue the course of ordinary nature and in the sixt of Luke Luke 6.12 hee continued a whole night in prayer vnto his Father and yet wee do not reade that hee was ouercharged with heauinesse in the morning hee could sleepe when he list and hee could watch as long as hee list and yet no impediment vnto his body but heere hee sleepes voluntary that so he might giue way vnto a miracle But as they sayled hee fell a sleepe Mark 4.38 Saint Marke recording of this same Story tels vs that he did sleepe In puppi super ceruicale Hee was saith he in the hinder part of the Ship a sleepe vpon a pillow after his paines taking of Preaching the Gospell vpon the Land hee takes his reasonable rest in the ship vpon the water hee rested his head vpon a pillow not stretcht himselfe out at length vpon the Epicures bed of ease but onely laid himselfe downe that so he might bee vp againe vpon all occasions hee was like in this businesse vnto himselfe poore and wanting not hauing so much as a boulster of his owne to lay vnder his head but is faine to borrow the Marriners pillow so are his birth his life and death the one proportionable vnto the other and so much for this first Accident heere in the iourney Hee fell a sleepe The second followes And there came downe a storme of winde on the Lake What a storme of wind come downe on the Lake and Christ our Sauiour in the midst of it Credendumne est ea ventos fuisse audacia and is it possible that the winde should be so audicious as to disturbe either the Sea or the Ship in which the Lord both of heauen and earth was carried in that they should come violently rushing on and aske no leaue of their Lord and Maister Oh no but rather as it was in the tempest that Ionas was tossed in Iona 1.4 The Lord saith the Text there sent out a great winde into the Sea and there was a mighty tempest in the Sea so that the Ship was like to be broken So in
vs likewise from sudden and vnexpected death because that commonly sudden death and vnprepared death they goe both together we cannot liue so warily here not the best of vs all but if God should take vs vpon the present wee might haue many things obiected against vs which we would bee all willing should be concealed in that great and generall day of Iudgement God grant vs all time of repentance here hee grant vs also that wee doe not mis-spend that time that he giues vs but in it heartily repent vs of our sins that so in the last and finall day of iudgement we may all haue that blessing pronounced vpon vs that the Prophet Dauid pronounceth vpon all the righteous Psal 32. Beatiquorum remissae sunt iniquitates Psal 32.1 blessed is the man whose vnrighteousnesse is forgiuen and whose sin is couered Then blessed shall they be vnto whom the Lord will impute no sin And as for those who thinke they liue so warily as that they are alwayes prepared for death let them stand vpon their owne innocency and haue no part in this prayer of ours The heathen I say they thought it a happinesse to haue a sudden death to light vpon them and so Plinie in his seuenth Booke and 53. Cpapter wisheth that that might bee his lot and the Poet is not farre behinde him when he saith Mitius ille perit subita qui mergitur vnda Quam sua qui liquidis brachia lassat aquis He dies easier saith he who at the first dop doth lose his life then hee that in swimming doth struggle to drawe breath But wee that are Christians wee must resolue our selues on the contrary opinion their ignorance it was that caused them to wish for it but we we know besides the manner of death we know I say of a great account which euery one of vs is to make when this life shall be ended a matter that the Heathen scarce euer dreamed of where wee must make answere not onely for those sinnes of old age which the Prophet in the 38 of Esay Esa 38.15 calles annos sinnes of yeares sinnes of great standing but as the Psalmist speakes in the 25 Psal Delicta inventutis Psal 25 7. sins of wanton and recklesse youth and not onely those neither but in the 19 Psalme Psal 19.12 for secret sins that is saith S. Augustine in his Confessions for the sinnes we haue committed in our nonage before we knew either good or euill that we may haue the fewer inditements preferred against vs in that great and generall day of iudgement therefore wee desire respite for repentance here in this world which God grant vs all Amen They came vnto him but how Non passibus sed precibus saith S. Augustine not so much by their earthly paces though we must conceiue that euen in those they hasted vnto him as by their winged prayers they poasted towards him they praied vnto him for had they not humbly supplicated as well as run vnto him they might all very well haue perished in the furious tempest To pray it is naturall for Man and so much Aristotle by the purblinde eye of nature could see Natura sairh he inseruit homini vt sacrificet Man by nature saith hee is made a continuall Beades-man vnto his maker alwayes to haue recourse vnto him and this propertie of nature grace hath confirmed from time to time in the righteous man to haue recourse vnto his Maker so Dauid in his distresse in the 68 Psalme Psal 68.16 when he is in-girt and compassed in about with his many enemies he turnes himselfe vnto the Lord Exaudi me Domiue heare me O Lord saith hee for thy louing kindnesse is good turne vnto me according vnto the multitude of thy tender mercies and hide not thy face from thy seruant for I am in trouble heare me speedily and draw nye vnto my soule and redeeme it deliuer me because of mine enemies c. So good Iehosophat in 2. 2. Chron. 20.13 Chron. 20. he saith cum ignoremus quid agere debeamus when we know not O Lord saith he what to doe then our eyes they are vpon thee And so S. Peter wishes that they alwayes should be 1. Pet. 5. Cast all your care vpon him for hee careth for you and if at any time they should haue recourse vnto God then most especially in their troubles and aduersities when mens soules are brought low vnto hell then they should call vpon his name heartily indeed and then aboue other times hee expects to bee called vpon Psal 50. Psa 50.15 Call vpon mee saith God in the day of trouble and I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me whereupon Saint Augustine notes that it is Gods Memorandum vnto men to call vpon him Voce te saith hee vt inuoces me behold O man saith hee I put thee in minde of it if thou haue forgotten that then aboue all other times thou haue recourse vnto me Nay many times Almighty God doth lay afflictions and troubles here vpon men that they might bethinke themselues of their Prayers and flye vnto him in their sore distresse We may easily see the course of it By aduersitie God brings men first into a doubt and feare and then by feare into an acknowledgement of their owne necessitie and weaknesse and so consequently into a despaire of succour in themselues and by despairing in their owne meanes to thinke of meanes that may bee profitable vnto them and so at the last to the consideration of Gods vnspeakeable loue and kindnesse to them-wards And out of this againe considering that his mercie is great and his goodnesse from euerlasting hee raiseth vs vp againe to an assured trust and confidence in his mercies and out of this confidence wee are bold to make our Prayers and Petitions vnto our Father And therfore if either voluptuousnesse or anger or pride or any other sin shall be ready to attempt vs our refuge onely must bee to pray against them with Dauid in the 44 Psalme Psal 44.23 Exurge Domine awake why sleepest thou O Lord arise and cast vs not off for euer wherefore hidest thou thy face and forgettest our affliction and our trouble And in our prayers I make no question but we shall finde comfort if not deliuerance speedily If then any perish it is as God himselfe speakes in the 13 of Ose Perditio tua ex te ô Israel Ose 13.14 his destruction it is from himselfe because hee hath neglected his dutie vnto the Lord in calling vpon him to be mercifull vnto him They came vnto him and good reason too for if we would any thing with the Lord it is all the reason that may be that we come vnto him we haue need of him not he of vs then we must call nay we must cry vnto the Lord Psalm 3.4 Clamaui ad Dominum saith the Prophet Dauid I cried vnto the Lord with my whole voyce and he heard me