dogmaticall conclusions appertaining to beliefe The residue containe morall instructions of honest conuersation and loue wherein our Apostle teacheth how wee should behaue our selues to God and man and that by precept and paterne By precept in the 12 13 14 15. Chapters by paterne in the 16. Chapter This scripture shewes how we must demeane our selues to God in Body vers 1. Make your bodies a quicke sacrifice c. Soule vers 2. Fashion not your selues like vnto this world but be yee changed by the renewing of your mind I beseech you brethren Two things induce men especially to suffer the words of exhortation opportunity and importunity The worth of the matter and zealous affection of the speaker Saint Paul makes his louing affection manifest in these sweet termes I beseech you brethren by the mercifulnesse of God He might haue commanded as he told Philemon but for loues sake he doth rather intreat God the Father appeared in a still and soft voice God the Sonne was not a tiger but a lambe God the holy Ghost came downe not in the forme of a vulture but in the shape of a doue signifying hereby that Preachers ought to vse gentle meanes in winning men vnto God herein resembling the good mother which hath vbera and verbera a teat so well as a rod a dug to restore such as feele their sinne with the spirit of meeknesse Gal. 6.1 but a rod to whip the carelesse and senslesse lest they grow too wanton And therefore Saint Paul who doth heere beseech the Romans out of his loue doth adiure them also by the mercifulnesse of God that is as some construe it I beseech you by mine Apostolical authority committed vnto me by Gods especialll mercy 1. Cor. 7.25 as himselfe expounds himselfe in the third verse of this Chapter I say through the grace that is giuen to me where the Greeke verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be translated I command or By the mercifulnesse of God shewed vnto you for as God is more bountifull so you must bee more dutifull We may not sinne that grace may abound but on the contrary because the grace of God that bringeth saluation vnto all men hath appeared it teacheth vs to denie vngodlinesse and worldly lusts and that wee should liue soberly and righteously and godly in this present world The mercies of God to me the mercies of God to you be many and manifest I beseech you therefore by the riches of his abundant mercy make your bodies a quicke sacrifice c. Thus you see the zealous earnestnesse of the speaker I come now to the worthinesse of the matter concerning the Romans and in them our selues as much as the saluation of our soules I beseech you therefore marke what the Spirit writeth and first obserue Pauls order After iustification hee speakes of sanctification herein intimating that good workes as Augustine said Non praecedunt iustificandum sed sequuntur iustificatum Not goe before but after iustification As the wheele turneth round not to the end that it may be made round but because it is first made round therefore it turneth round so men are sanctified because first iustified not iustified because first sanctified As Aulus Fuluius when he tooke his sonne in the conspiracie with Catiline said Ego te non Catilinae genui sed patriae So God hath not begotten vs in Christ that wee should follow that archtraitor Satan but serue him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the daies of our life making our selues a quicke sacrifice c. There are two kinds of sacrifices Expiatory for sinne which we cannot offer See epist. Dom. 3. Quadragesimae Gratulatory of thanks and praise which wee can and must offer and hereof there are three kinds according to the three sorts of goods of the World hereof there are three kinds according to the three sorts of goods of the Mind hereof there are three kinds according to the three sorts of goods of the Body 1. We must offer our goods of the world Heb. 13.16 To doe good and distribute forget not for with such sacrifices is God pleased He that hath mercy vpon the poore lendeth vnto the Lord. 2. Wee must offer to the Lord the goods of our mind by deuotion and contrition Psal. 51.17 The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit a broken and contrite heart O God shalt thou not despise When by diuine meditation and deuote praier we beat downe the proud conceits of our rebellious hearts we kill and offer vp as it were our sonne Isaac that which is most neere most deere to vs. 3. We must offer to the Lord the goods of our body which are done Patiendo by dying for the Lord. Faciendo by doing that which is acceptable to the Lord. Martyrdome is such a pleasing sacrifice that as Ambrose said of his sister Appellabo martyrem praedicabo satis I will call her Martyr and then I shall bee sure to commend her enough See Epist. on Saint Steuens day S. Paul here meanes a sacrifice by doing Giue your members as weapons of righteousnesse to God For as Christ offered vp himselfe for vs so wee made conformable should offer vp our selues vnto him Interpreters obserue a great Emphasis in the word hostia deriued as Ouid noteth ab hostibus Victima quae dextra cecidit victrice vocatur Hostibus à domitis hostia nomen habet And therefore seeing Christ hath deliuered vs from the hands of all our enemies it is our dutie to sacrifice perpetually to him our selues and our soules and so liue to him who died for vs. Lest we should erre in our offering Saint Paul shewes all the causes Efficient our selues Materiall our bodies Formall quicke and holie Finall acceptable to God Or as other obserue S. Paul sets downe foure properties of a sacrifice 1. Sound and quicke 2. Sanctified and holie 3. Pleasing 4. Reasonable First our sacrifice must be sound and quick not blind not lame not seeble Malach. 1.8 Wee must not offer to the diuell our youthfull yeares and lay our old bones vpon Gods altar his sacrifice must bee the fattest and the fairest he must haue both head and hinderparts hereby signifying that we must remember our Creator in the daies of our nonage so well as in the daies of our dotage for if wee deferre our offering till the last houre when sicknes the bailiffe of death hath arrested vs and paine sicknes attendant dulled our senses it cannot be called a quicke but a sicke not a liuing but a dead offering That our sacrifice therefore may bee quicke let vs I beseech you begin quickly to dedicate our selues vnto God Or quicke That is willing for those things are said to be quicke which moue of themselues and those dead which doe not moue but by some outward violence we may not then be stockes and blockes in Gods holie seruice doing no good
and vpon such as excell in vertue So likewise wee may reioice with the wife of our youth and disport our selues in good companie we may make Christmas pies and Haruest dinners in a word reioice in euery thing which may further our spirituall reioycing in the Lord. But whether wee eate or drinke or whatsoeuer we doe else all must be done to the honor and glorie of God Reioyce in the Lord alwaies and againe I say reioyce Yea but Christ Mat. 5.4 Blessed are they that mourne Luk. 6.21 Blessed are they that weep This reioycing is not contrarie to that mourning for such as mourne are blessed in being comforted and comforted by reioycing in the Lord. Reioyce saith Christ in that day and bee glad when any shall hate you for my sake the which his Apostles accordingly fulfilled Act. 5.41 They departed from the Councell reioycing that they were counted worthie to suffer rebuke for his Name that Christ would vse them as his buckler and Rom. 5.3 Wee reioyce in tribulations The Father of mercies and God of all consolation comforteth vs in al our afflictions As the sufferings of Christ abound in vs so our consolation aboundeth through Christ. He doth appoint comfort to such as mourne in Sion hee doth giue beautie for ashes oyle of ioy for sorrow the garment of gladnesse for the spirit of heauinesse so that a martyr when he is most mournefull is mirthfull he speakes of his tormentor as Socrates of Anitus and Petus of Nero the Tyrant Occidere me potest laedere verò non potest He may well kill me but he shall neuer ill me Nihil crus sentit in neruo cùm manus est in coelo saith Tertullian Euery cut is a wide mouth to praise Christ as the Martyr Romanus sweetly Tot ecce laudant ora quot sunt vulnera Grates tibi ô praefecte magnas debeo Quòd multa pandens ora iam Christum loquor Blessed are they that die for the Lord because they reioyce in the Lord. No losse no crosse can interrupt our spirituall ioy for as it followeth in the text to be considered it must be continuall alway reioyce The Christian must keepe Christmas all his life though not in his hall yet in his heart alwaies in his minde albeit not alway with his mouth It is a true rule deliuered in the schoole that Gods affirmatiue lawes obligant semper sed non ad semper ad semper velle but not ad semper agere requiring disposition perpetuall and practise so often as occasion is offered Holy iust valiant men are they who can whensoeuer they will and will whensoeuer they ought execute what their seuerall perfections import There is a time for all things and therefore seuerall duties ought to be discharged in seuerall seasons He that saith heere reioyce alway saith in another place pray continually and in all things giue thankes and therefore we need not alwaiâ—s actually pray nor actually giue thankes not actually reioyce in word and outward gesture but as opportunitie shall require If then as time neuer a better time then this holy time neuer greater cause to shout out for ioy then now for that our King comes vnto vs it is our bounden dutie alwaies intentionally bâ—t at this time with Psalms and songs actually No sinne no sorrow must hinder our spirituall reioycing For in all our aduersitie God is euen at hand not onely nigh in his Maiestie though doubtlesse he be not farre from euery one of vs but also nigh in his mercie Psal. 145.18 The Lord is nigh vnto all them that call vpon him A very present helpe in trouble Yea the Lords second comming is at hand when as hee shall iudge and reuenge our cause rewarding vs with eternall happinesse and punishing our aduersaries with euerlasting fire and therefore reioyce alwaies in all things I say reioyce in the Lord for wee cannot alway reioyce in the things of this life The world passeth away and the lust thereof but Christ is euermore the same the beginning and end of all other things himselfe without either beginning or end If then our ioyes obiect be God it may be continuall but if fixed on earthly things exposed to manifold changes and chances it must necessarily be mutable Gaudium in materia conuertibili mutari necesse sit re mutaâ—â So that as the Poet truly Gaudia principium nostrisunt saepâ— doloris Euen in laughing the heart is sorrowfull and the end of mirth is heauines The world is a sea of glasse Apocal 4.6 brittle as glasse tumultuous as the sea but hee that reioyceth in the Lord is like mount Sion which standeth fast for euer If then any desire to reioyce alway let him reioyce in the Lord. And againe I say reioycâ— The troublâ—s of this life aâ—e so great and our patience so little that Paul doubleth his exhortation to presse the duty and expresse our dulnesse and indeed our reioicing cannot be continued except it be multiplied againe and againe reioice therefore for mercies already receiued and againe reioice for mercies hereafter promised For receiued grace first for thy creation Almighty God might haue made thee a dull asse a venemous serpent an vgly tâ—ade whereas he created thee according to his own image and similitude as it were diuinitatis epitome For the world is Gods book and man is Index of that booke or a commentary vpon that text reioice therefore in the Lord say with Dauid What is man that thou art so mindfull of him or the Son of man that thou shouldest visit him Thou hast crowned him with worship and glory thou makest him to haue dominion of the works of thy hands and thou hast put all things in subiection vnder his feete as a ladder whereby men might ascend to the consideration of thy greatnes and goodnes For thy preseruation he might haue denied thee sight as he did to Bartimeus or made thee deafe or dumbe or a cripple as we reade of many in the Gospell and daily see many crying and dying in our streets If the Lord of hosts had not bin thy guard all other creatures his souldiers would haue banded themselues against thee fire would haue deuoured thee water would haue drowned thee mother earth would open and swallow thee quick the stone out of the wall the beame out of the timber would fight against thee but he hath giuen his Angels charge ouer thee to keepe thee in all thy waies he doth defend thee vnder his wings blesse thy going forth and thy comming home blesse the fruit of thy body the fruit of thy ground the fruit of thy cattell euery way so blesse thee that thou maiest alway reioice in the Lord. For thy redemption at this festiuall especially consider with Bernard Quis est qui venit vnde quò ad quid quando quâ meditate on
lust thereof being onely certaine in being vncertaine Secondly things of this world are not satisfactory they doe not fill and content the mind of man The eye cannot be satisfied with seeing nor the eare filled with hearing all things haue an emptinesse and extreme vanity purchasing vnto the possessors nothing but anguish and vexation of spirit and the reason hereof as Viâ—aldus obserues is because the heart of man is made like a triangle and the world round as a circle Now a circle cannot fill a triangle but there will be some corner empty There is nothing can fill the mind of man but the blessed Trinitie when God the Father the most ancient of daies shall fill our memory God the Sonne who is wisdome it selfe shall fill our vnderstanding God the holy Ghost who is contentation and loue shall sit in our will then all the powers of our mind will be at rest when as they shall inioy him who made them But the things of this world afford no perfect and absolute contentment and therefore ne vos configurate seculo isto fit not your selues according to the worlds figure which is a circle but be ye renewed in your mind which is a triangle representing the sacred Trinitie Take a view with the Wise man of all worldly things in briefe doth any pleasure satisfie No pleasure is like lightning Simul oritur moritur it is sweet but short like hawking much cost and care for a little sport The prodigall child wasted both goods and body yet could not haue enough at the lest not enough hogs meat Virgo formosa supernè Desinit in turpem piscem malesuada voluptas Doth learning that incomparable treasure of the mind satisfie No The more a man knoweth the more hee knoweth that hee doth not know so that as Salomon said Hee that increaseth knowledge doth increase sorrow Doth honour content a man No The poore labourer would be written Yeoman the Yeoman after a few deare yeeres is a Gentleman the Gentleman must bee Knight the Knight a Lord the Baron an Earle the Count a Duke the Duke a King the King would Caesar bee and what then is the worlds Emperour content No. Vnus Pellaeo iuueni non sufficit orbis Aestuat infoelix angusto limine munde One world is not enough for Alexander and therefore he weepes and is discontent as if hee wanted elbow roome In the state Ecclesiasticall the begging Frier would be Prior the Prior an Abbat the Lord Abbat a Bishop the Bishop an Archbishop the Metropolitane a Cardinall the Cardinall Pope the Pope a God nay that is not enough aboue all that is called God 2. Thes. 2.4 This made Bernard wonder O ambitio ambientium crux how dost thou paine yet pleasure all men Doe riches content No the more men haue the more men craue and that which is worst of all they are the greatest beggers when they haue most of all He that loueth siluer shall not bee satisfied with siluer As the poore man crieth out Quid faciam quia non habeo so the couetous wretch as fast complaineth Quid faciam quia habeo Luke 12.17 Those drinks are best that soonest extinguish thirst and those meates which in least quantity doe longest resist hunger but here the more a man doth drinke the more thirstie so strange in some is this thirst that it maketh them dig the pits and painfully draw the water and after wil not suffer them to drinke This saith Salomon is an euill sicknesse and a great vanity when a man shall haue riches and treasure and honour â—nd want power and grace to ioy in them Thus you see the world is like a butterflie with painted wings vel sequendâ— labâ—mur vel assequendo laedimur either we faile in pursuing it or else wheÌ„ we haue caught it it is so vaine that it giueth no contentment Herein is the true difference betweene earthly things heauenly things the one are desired much but being obtained they content little the other are desired little but once gained satisfie much and therefore Lay not vp treasure vpon earth where the moth and canker corrupt and where theeues dig thorow steale for these things are neitheâ— vera nor vestra but lay vp treasure for your selues in heauen If ye will not heare the words of Scripture behold the works of nature mans heart is broad aboue narrow beneath open at the top close below to signifie that we should inlarge and spread our affections toward heauen and heauenly things and draw them to as narrow a point as possibly we can concerning earth and earthly things and so by the fashion of our heart we may learne not to follow the fashion of the world Be ye changed by the renewing of your mind We are formed by God deformed by Satan transformed by grace 1. Sacramentally by baptisme 2. Morally by newnesse of life which our Apostle meanes in this place That which followes in the text is expounded Epist. for the next Sunday The Gospel LVKE 2.42 The father and mother of Iesus went to Hierusalem after the custome of the feast day c. THis Gospell is a direction how parents ought to carrie themselues toward their children and how children also should demeane thâ—mselues toward their parents the one by the practise of Ioseph and Mary the other by the paterne of our Sauiour Christ. Parents care touching their children concernes their Soule Bodie Their soule that they bee brought vp in instruction and information of the Lord that is in godlinesse and ciuilitie by the one they shall keepe a good conscience before God by the other they shall obtaine a good report among men the which two conscience and credit must chiefly be sought after in this life For the bodie Parents ought to prouide competent sustenance and maintenance guarding their persons and regarding their estates all which is performed here by Ioseph and Mary toward Christ. First for the soules institution they did instruct him by precept and example precept bringing him to the Temple that he might be taught and that not only this once but often as often as law did require So Iuuencus expressely Ad Templum laetis puerum perducere festis Omnibus annorum vicibus de more solebant This should teach al parents how to teach their children especially that they send them vnto the publike Catechising in the Church and that according to Canon and custome for the common Catechisme which Authoritie commands is fit and full as containing all the vertues necessarie to saluation and the meanes whereby those vertues are receiued and conserued The principal vertues of a Christian are Faith Hope Charitie The Creede is necessarie for faith as teaching vs what wee haue to beleeue The Pater noster is necessarie for hope teaching vs what we are to desire The ten Commandements are necessary for charitie teaching vs what we
which is good to heare y â— which is good well Aures audiendi sunt aures meÌ„tis scilicet intelligeÌ„di facieÌ„di quae iussa sunt A good eare saith the Wiseman will gladly hearken vnto wisedome where note two lessons as concerning hearing first that wee hearken vnto nothing but that which is good vnto wisedome Secondly that we hearken vnto it gladly with a great desire to learne for in Scripture phrase obaudire is obedire so Christ in the Gospell Hee that heareth you heareth mee that is he that obeyeth you obeyeth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me If thy brother heare thee thou hast wonne thy brother that is if thy brother follow thy counsell and will be content to be ruled by thee We reade in the law that if a bond seruant will not be made free but stay still with his master hee shall bee brought before the Iudges and set to the doore or the post and his master shall boare his eare thorow with an aule and so he shall serue him for euer Euery sinner is the diuels vassall and therefore if hee refuse to be free when libertie and free grace of the Gospell is offered ere it be long the diuell will so boare his eares as that they shall be made vnfit to heare and then hee shall serue his old master for euer Hee may peraduenture come to Church and heare the sermon but hee shall be like the man that beholds his face in a glasse for when he hath considered himselfe he goeth his way and forgets immediatly what manner of one he was Wherefore when yee come to Christ bring your eares with you eares to heare so to heare that ye may vnderstand so vnderstand that ye may remember so remember that ye may practise so practise that ye continue so Gods seede shall be sowen in good ground and bring foorth fruite in some thirtie in some sixtie in some an hundred fold c. The parables exposition is occasioned by the Disciples question vers 9. What manner of similitude is this Where note their carefulnesse in asking Christs readinesse in answering For the first the Sabbath is aptly termed a schole day wherein all Gods people must come to the Temple which is the schoole to learne his word their lesson In this seminarie Christ is the chiefe seedman stiled in the beginning of this parable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The sower In this Vniuersitie Christ is the prime Doctor Vnus est doctor vester e cuius schola in terris cathedra in coelis His Apostles sowed as vnder-bailiffes in his field and his Preachers in our time teach as vnder-vshers in his schoole As then in the schooles of humane knowledge so soone as the lecture is read it is the schollers dutie to question among themselues how to parse construc it and when they doubt to haue recourse to their Grammar rules by which all construction is examined and when they doe not vnderstand an hard rule to come for a resolution vnto their master who is as it were a liuing Grammar and a walking booke So likewise in Gods Academy in the Diuinitie schoole when either the lecture of the Law is read or sermon on the Gospell ended it is your part to reason among your selues as you walke abroad in the fields or talke at home in your house how this and that may be construed and when you cannot resolue one another with the men of Beroea to search the Scripture daily whether those things are so to trie the spirits of men by the spirit of God for the Bible is our Diuinitie Grammar according to which all our lessons ought to bee parsed and construed And if yee meete with a difficult place repaire to Gods Vsher the Priest whose lippes should presâ—rue knowledge Demand of your pastor as the Disciples of Christ here What manner of parable is this It is apparent in the Gospell that the Disciples euer tooke this course when Christ had deliuered any deepe point first they disputed among themselues and then after came to him and asked his resolution Why say the Scribes that Elias must first come How can these things be Declare vnto vs the parable of the tares In our daies if the pastor be learned in the lawes of the land and well acquainted with businesse of the world his house shall be reputed oraculum totius ciuitatis as Tully speakes all his neighbours will haste vnto him for aduice in law but few for counsell in religion Indeed they come to schoole but like truants onely for feare of punishment and when they come they care nâ—â— how little learning they haue for their money Bâ—t let me tell them of another schoole tricke at the worlds end there is a black friday a generall examination at which time Conscience the monitor 〈…〉 her bookes and bils of all our faults and our 〈◊〉 Schoolmaster in his owne person shall reward euery 〈◊〉 according to his worke It behoueth euery one therefore to be diligent in comming to schoole to be carefull in hearing painfull in examining fruitfull in practising And he said Christs readinesse in answering teacheth all Preachers his Vshers and Curates not only to preach in publike but also to catechise their auditors as occasion is offered in priuate especially such as hunger and thirst after righteousnesse for vnto them it is giuen to know the secrets of Gods kingdome The which words containe Gods donation vnto his elect and it is cum priuilegiô gratiâ with priuiledge to you but vnto other in parables cum gratiâ it is giuen Consulas Augustin de praedestinat Sanctorum cap. 8. lib. de bono perseuerantiae cap. 8.9 11. lib. de correp gratiâ cap. 4.6.7.8 Sauing knowledge of God is a gift and grace for the naturall man vnderstands not the things of God hee beleeues oculô magis quà m oraculo trusting his fiue senses more then the foure Gospels It is a mysterie reuealed vnto you but hidden vnto many whose eyes the god of this world hath darkened that seeing they should not discerne and hearing they should not vnderstand O father saith Christ thou hast hid these things from the wise and hast opened them vnto babes It is so because thy good pleasure was such As it is our fathers will alone to giue vs a kingdome so likewise his good will alone to make vs know the secrets of his kingdome There are mysteria regis which may not be knowne and there are mysteria regâ—i which must be knowne many mysteries of our heauenly king are knowne onely to himselfe Canst thou saith Iob finde out God canst thou finde out the Almightie to his perfection The heauens are high what canst thou doe it is deeper then the hell how canst thou know it The measure thereof is longer then the earth and it is broader then the sea God therefore requires rather we should remember what hee
like Dauids vine doth couâ—r the mountaines with her boughes and stretcheth her branches vnto the sea extending it selfe to God Angels men in men to our selues and other in other vpward to supeâ—iours downward to inferiours on the right hand to friends on the left to foes Loue theÌ„ in respect of other is of greater vse but if we consider a man in himselfe priuâ—tly faith is more needfull then loue as wherein originally stands our communion and fellowship with God by which Christ dwels in our hearts into which as an hand Almightie God powreth all the riches of his grace for our saluation and by which only whatsoeuer else is in vs is accepted of God as Saluâ—anus excellently Omnibus semper ornatibus ornamento est quiae sine hac nihil tam ornatum quod ornare possit See Epist. Dom. 17. post Trinit Againe charitie is greater in latitude of continuance faith apprehends the Lords gratious promise concerning eternall saluation and hope doth expect it with patience When God then shall haue fulfilled his word and filled vs with vnspeakable ioy when in that other life we shall see God face to face faith is at an end hope is at an end their vse cease but loue shall continue betweene God and vs an euerlasting bond So the fathers expound it only loue saith Chrysostome is eternall in this respect the greatest is charitie because they passe away but charitie continueth alway So Saint Augustine Loue is the greatest of the three because the other two departing it shall continue more increased and better assured auctior certior permanebit In this pâ—esent life there are three but in the life to come loue remaineth onely therefore that is greater which is euer needfull then that which once shal haue an end And so Gorran and other popish writers heretofore construed this text I conclude to saue a man faith is greater in a man saued charitie is the greater vntill faith haue finished our saluation loue must yeeld to faith but when faith hath fully saued vs it shall haue an end and so must yeeld to loue which is without end The Gospel LVKE 18.31 Iesus tooke vnto him the twelue and said vnto them Behold we goe vp to Ierusalem and all shall be fulfilled c. IN this Gospell our Sauiour Christ the true light of the world doth illuminate two sorts of blinde the disciples who were spiritually blind and a poore beggar who was corporally blind The disciples vnderstood not as yet the mysteries of our redemption wrought by Christs humiliation and exaltation by the one taking from vs all euill and by the other giuing all that is good Hee died for our sinnes and rose againe for our iustification Christ therefore doth open their eies and instruct them in these two points exactly First generally vers 31. Behold we goe vp to Ierusalem and all things c. Secondly more particularly declaring the maner of his death and resurrection in the 32.33 verses Concerning his passion fiue things are deliuered traditio that hee shall be betraied illusio that hee shall be mocked conspuitio that hee shall be spitted on flâ—gellatio that hee shall be scourged occisio that hee shall be put to death For truth it selfe was betraied wisdome it selfe mocked glory it selfe spitted on innocencie it selfe scourged and life it selfe killed Concerning his resurrection hee sets downe two points especially 1. that he shal rise 2. that hee shall rise the third day Iesus tooke vnto him the twelue Reuealing to them the secrets of his kingdome foretelling his passion for two causes especially 1. that they might beare it more patiently praemoniti praemuniti 2. to signifie that hee suffered willingly Ioh. 10.18 See Gosp. dom 10. post Trin. Behold This word of attention is like the sounding of a trumpet before some waighty proclamation or like the ringing of a great bell before the sermon of a famous Preacher And therefore let vs heare this doctrine with an especiall care which Christ hath commended vnto vs here by such a remarkable note We goe vp Christs passion is called an exaltation or ascending For albeit he could not ascend higher as God yet he was exalted by his humiliation as man and had a name giuen him aboue euery name Phil. 2.8.9 Lucifer and Adam by climbing vp were cast downe but Christ by casting himselfe downe went vp Or We goe vp insinuating that his iourney was not easie Facilis descensus Auerni Men go sooner downe hil then vp hill yet he that hath a good horse can ride faster vp hill then downe hill So the charets and horsemen of Israel assisted by Gods especiall grace lifting them vp aboue the base vallies of the world runne faster and are more delighted in heauens vp hill then the wicked iâ— hels downe hill To Ierusalem Interpreters haue rendred sundry reasons why Christ was crucified at Ierusalem especially two First because there was not enough malice in any other Citie to kill the Lord of life none but the holy could enuie the most holy The prophane Gentiles ignorant Iewes elsewhere did not maligne Christ in his words and wonders Ierusalem onely the Prophet-killer could not indure the Prophet His holinesse and wisdome was the fittest obiect for the Scribes and Pharises enuie That vpon them might come all the righteous blood shed vpon earth euen from Abel the shadow to Christ the substance whose bloud speakes better things vnto vs and cries â—owder against them then that of Abel Here note by the â—ay that as the Sonne of God was crucified in the Citie of God so by good correspondence the members of Christ are persecuted most by the vicar of Christ. Secondly Christ suffered in that eminent place that his passion and patience might be renowned in the whole world There was not another stage fit for his tragedie which is our comedie In a mysticall sense Christ and his Apostles ascend to Ierusalem euen to Ierusalem aboue the new Ierusalem prepared as a bride trimmed for her husband but the god of this world with his company descend to Iericho to the lowest hell Hee that followes not Christ in his course goes from Ierusalem to Iericho from heauenly paths vnto the by-waies of destruction and so he falles among theeues that is as the fathers expound it among many diuels and euils who rob him and wound him and in fine will leaue him dead except Christ the true Samaritan relieue him and set him in his right way againe And all shall be fulfilled that are written by the Prophets of the Sonne of man As the Painter at the first drawes his picture with a coale roughly then with an accurate pensill and orâ—ent colours exactly so the holy Ghost in the Prophets and old Testament shadowed Christs passion obscurely but in the new paints it as it were to life perspicuously