King Iames should bee brought to a happie ende that oftentimes in many mens hearings hee protested hee had rather die then be any way negligent herein Which as some thinke by all likelihood came indeede so to passe To wit that too earnest study and paines about the translation hastened his death and brought it on sooner Now as he liued so in his profession in his writings in his translating as though all the floods of many waters had neuer comn ' neare him euen so also he died During the short time of his sickenesse hee carried himselfe as alwaies before humbly mildly quietly constantly One of his louing friends standing by his bed and saying M. Liuely I pray God you may haue patience and hope and especially faith vnto the ende He lifting vp his hands said heartily and cheerefully Amen Little he vsed to speake and more he could not say for the paine and impediment of his squinsey Which though it made a speedie ende of him as the apoplexy did of the good Emperour Valentinian yet how could any death be sodaine to him whose whole life was nothing els but a meditation of death and whom the Lord whensoeuer he came might finde doing his dutie Wherefore no reason wee should lament his departure out of this world He liued blessedly he died blessedly in the Lord. Rather you Reuerend and learned Vniuersitie-men lament for this that you haue lost so famous a Professour and so worthy a writer Lament you translatours beeing now depriued of him who no lesse by his owne merit and desert then by the priuiledge of his place was to order and ouersee all your trauailes Lament you poore orphans 〈◊〉 poore children of you which he left 〈◊〉 him as Christ 〈◊〉 left eleuen Disciples bereâ—â—â—â— of your kinde and deare Father destitute of necessaries for your maiâ—â—enance to seeke of all helpe and 〈◊〉 but onely as poore folkes vse to speak such as God and good friends shal proâ—ide Lâ—â—ent lament all of you of the Toâ—ne as well as of the Vâ—â—â—ersitie because our Schoole hath lost sâ—ch a singular ornament of this age because our Churches haue lost such a faithfull and syncere seruant of Christ. Questionlesse as it should seeme by the taking away of this man almightie God is greatly angry with vs all for our sinnes Christ Iesus our Master as though he meant no more to care for vs seemeth to lie fast a sleepe in the ship while we most miserably in the flood of many waters are tormoiled and tossed Wherfore let vs in time crie aloud and awake him with our prayers Or rather indeede he is not a sleepe but awake alreadie We haue awaked him not with our prayers but with our sinnes Our sinnes haue cried vp to heauen And the Lord beeing awaked as a gyant comes forth against vs and as a mighty man refreshed with wine For not onely those are waters which are in the chanell or in the sea but as waters are here vnderstood euen those fires are waters those fires I say which very lately awaked vs at midnight and affrighted vs at noone day which raged on the South-side and anone after on the North-side of the Towne It was but a fewe mens losse but it was all mens warning And what shall we make nothing of this The plague the small pocks and the squinsey that one kind of disease deuoureth vp the Townesmen â—n other the schollers This is now the tenth course of Schollers which within this month hath beene brought foorth to buriall not one of them dying of the plague whereas heretofore if one or two schollers haue died in a whole year out of all Colledges it hath beene accounted a great matter This and such like grieuous iudgements beloued doe plainely declare that the Lord beeing awaked with the cry of our sinnes is greiuously displeased and offended at vs. Wherefore let vs nowe at the length in the name of God rowse vp our selues and awake out of our deadly sinnes Let this that our holy brother did so sodainly in a manner fall asleepe be a loud O yes as it were to awake vs all Let euerie one of vs amend one iudge one accuse one condemne one that we be not all condemned of the Lord. Let euery one of vs I beseech you crie vp to heauen for mercie and say â—ith Dauid I haue sinned and done wickedly Or with Ionas Take me for I know that for my sake this great tempest is vpon you Then our most mercifull father shall blesse vs all as he hath done this holy Saint both in our life and in our death by the pardoning of our offences couering all our sinnes with the bowels and blood of Christ. And though in this world we be euer subiect to a flood of many waters yet hee shall drawe vs still out of many waters as hee did Moses Surely in the floode of many waters no more then they did to Ionas they shall not come neare vs. Neither onely shall we be safe in the flood of death but also in the flood of the day of iudgement For that also is a flood and a terrible fearefull one too To wit not of water but of fire As it was in the dayes of Noah so shall it be at the comming of the son of man In the first flood they which had not an arke ranne vp to the toppes of houses to the toppes of trees to the toppes of mountaines because they desired to hold vp their heads aboue the still rising raging water In the second they which are not found in Christ shall say to the mountaines Fall vpon vs and to the Caues Cauer vs and hide vs from the wrath of the Lambe Then they shall be glad to creepe into euerie holâ— and corner that they may auoide the bâ—rning of fire But we that confesse our sinnes and forsake the same shall lift our heads to no other mountaine but to Christ from whom commeth our saluation we shall desire to be couered with no other rocke but onely with that out of which came the blood and water of life For neuer did Noahs flood so clean wash away all wicked men from the face of the earth as the blood of Christ shall purge vs from all our sinnes and present vs blamelesse before the face of our father onely if we be faithfull vnto death For then the next thing is felicity and the crowne of life Which God for his mercie sake graunt vs all that as we make no doubt but this our holy brother now triumpheth with Christ so all and euery one of vs after we haue waded through this world as a flood of many waters may inherit that kingdome of glory which our louing Lord Iesus hath purchased for vs with his deare blood to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory now and for euermore Amen FINIS A SERMON PREACHED at Whitehall before the KING on Twesday after Lâ— Sunday 1604. 2. COR. 3.18 But all we
with a garment dipt in blood can not be angry either with him or with vs but when we are dead in sinne quickneth vs together in him by whose grace we are saued and raised vs vp and maketh vs for his sake sit in the heauenly places aboue Marcus Seruilius a valiant Romane who had fought three and twenty combates of life and death in his owne person and had alwaies slaine as many of his enemies as challeng'd him man to man when as the people of Rome resisted Paulus Emilius triumph Plutarch in Paulo Aâ—melio fine stood vp and made an oration in his behalfe In the midst whereof he cast open his gowne and shewed before them the infinite skarves and cutâ— he had receiued vpon his breast The sight of which so preuailed with the people that they all agreed in one and graunted Emilius triumph After the same fashion Christ hath spoiled â—â—â—â—cipalities and powers and hath made a shew of them openly and hath triumphed ouer them in his crosse yeâ— and yet now beareth about in his bodie the markes and tokens of this triumph that a finall agreement and attonement being made betweene God and vs by his onely mediation and meanes we also may be more then conquerours in him that loueth vs and may euery one of vs say with Saint Paul Now thanks be vnto God which alwaies maketh vs to triumph in Christ. Among other ornaments of the Sanctuarie there was a golden censer full of holes by which the sweete odours fumed forth when Aaron once a yeare burnt incense therin No other high Priest doe we acknowledge but Christ the true Aaron Heb. â— 4 who hath not entred into any Sanctuarie made with hands but into heauen it selfe And his golden censer is his own body which through the wounds that are in it as through chinks or holes suâ—eth forth alwaies a pleasing and a sweete â—auour in the nosthrils of his father The signe of the couenant which God made with Noah was a rainebowe in the cloud And indeede that is a sure token vnto vs that the world shall neuer be drowned againe with a generall flood of water Gen. 9 16. as it was in Noahs time But the rainebowe which assureth vs we shall neuer be drowned in the pit of euerlasting perdition is no such thing Why may some man say what is it Mane it is the blood of Christ which maketh as it wâ—re a rainebow in his side For the other rainebow is but a transitorie signe which shall passe away with the cloudes and with the world But this rainebowe whereof the other is but a shadow shall continue for euer in the sight of God as the author to the Hebrewes sai's that Christ is entred into heauen vt appareat nunc vultui Dei pro nobis to appeare now in the fight of God for vs. Therefore S. Iohn in the Reuelation witnesseth that he sawe a doore open in heauen aud a rainebow round about the throne of God Hee sawe a doore open in heauen to teach vs that we can haue no accesse vnto the Father but by Christ neither yet by Christ simply but as he is crucified and hath set open a doore in his side for vs to enter by him He sawe a rainebowe round about the throne of God to teach vs that the throne of God would be altogether a throne of iustice a throne of wrath a throne of anger and indignation were it not that the blood of Christ spinning out as I may say still liuely and freshly in the sight of his father maketh a rainbowe round about his throne putteth him in minde of his couenant appeaseth his displeasure and so maketh his throne to all vs that loue him Gen. 30.37 a throne of grace a throne of compassion a throne of fauour and mercie in Christ. We read that Iacob pilled certaine rods which beeing laid in the watering troughes before the sheepe made them bring forth such lambes as afterward fell to his own share So likewise if we sinne wee haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sinnes The marke of the roddes in his wounds laid open in the sight of God ingendreth and breedeth in him a loue and a liking toward vs so that he conceiueth well of vs and seuereth vs as good sheepe from the goates and in the blood of the lambe is pleased and appeased and satisfied for our sinnes This blood is the blood of sprinkling Heb. 12.24 which speaketh better things then that of Abel For Abels blood vpon earth cryed out once for vengeance but Christs blood in heauen cries continually for mercie One deepe calleth another because of the noise of the water pipes Christs woundes are the watering troughs and the water-pipes by which all graces flowe vnto vs. So that one deepe calleth an other because of the noise of the water pipes because the wounds of Christ make a continuall noise in the eares of his father and the depth of the extreame misery which he was in vpon earth calleth for the depth of Gods bottomlesse and infinite mercy in heauen Thus these holy wounds of Christ pacifie and appease his father For now Moyses standing in the gappe sues for pardon the poore creeple lying at the beautifull gate begg's an almes Ezechias spreading open his letters makes his supplication Salomon stretching out his hands offers vp his prayer Epaminondas being wounded mooues Agâ—sipolis to saue Pelopidas Seruilius discouering his wounds perswades the people to grant Emilius triumph Aaron burning incense in his golden censer perfumeth the whole Sanctuarie Noah pointing to his rainebowe putteth God in mind of his promise Iacob laying forth his roddes make most of the lambes his owne Abel holding vp his blood cals and cries for mercie Christ shewing his hands and his side appeaseth his father As if our Sauiour should say thus vnto his Father O my louing father looke vpon the face of thine annointed looke vpon the hands looke vpon the side of thine annointed The hands of thine anointed how cruelly they are mangled the side of thine annointed bow wofully it is wounded Behold and see if there be any sorrowe like to my sorrow These hands can signifie what exceeding sorrow I haue suffered this side can shew that I haue humbled my selfe and haue been obedient vnto death euen vnto the death of the crosse Therefore O my deare father Put thy finger here and see my hands and put forth thy hand and put it into my side and as thou art not faithlesse but faithfull so be not mercilesse but mercifull for my sake and pitifull to thy people So much for the second cause which is to appease his Father The third cause why Christ hath his wounds yet to be seene in his bodie is to confound his enemies When Saint Paul the Apostle before his conuersion persecuted the Church of God Christ called to him from heauen and said Saul Saul why persecutest thou
such things So that the birth of Christ did cosen the diuell but the death of Christ did conquer the Diuell And that much more gloriously when the temple of his body was vpon the pinacle of the crosse then vvhen the body of his crosse vvas vpon the pinacle of the Temple For when he was vpon the temple his breath spake better things then Sathan but when he was vpon the crosse his bloud spake better things then Abel and there his breath came from his lungs out of his mouth but here his bloud came from his heart out of his side and there hee fought standing stoutly to it and withstanding Sathan hee would not in any wise throw downe himselfe but here hee skirmished yeelding and humbling himselfe to the death of the Crosse and there the Diuell ascended vp to him vnto the toppe of an high mountain and so as I may say bad him base at his own goale but here he himselfe descended down to the diuell into the neathermost hell and so spoyled principalities and powers and slew the great Leuiathan in the very bottome of his owne bottomles pit For the Diuell like a greedy rauenous fish snatching at the bait of Christs body as Damascene speaketh was peirced through and twitcht vp with the hooke of his Deitie u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore both before Christs passion Peter tooke money out of a fishes mouth to pay his tribute and also after Christs passion the Disciples broiled a fish for him to feede vpon Whereby we see that Christ who made a fish pay tribute to Caesar for him made the Diuell also pay tribute to Death for him and on the other side that the Diuel while hee went about to catch this good fish which is Iesus Christ Gods sonne the Sauiour as Methodius and Sibylla proue the letters of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seuerally signifie was himselfe caught yea also killed by Christ. So that all the while Christ was buried in the graue the diuell was broyled in hell Wherefore aâ— it was bootlesse for Goliah to brandish his speare against Dauid so it little auailed the Diuell to shake his speare likewise in the hand of the souldier against the heart of Christ. For as Dauid hauing heard Goliah prate and talke his pleasure when they came to the point at the first stroke ouerthrew him so Christ with that very selfe-same speare which gaue him a little venny in comparison or if it be lawfull for me so to speake but a phillip on the side which was soone after recured gaue the diuel a deadly wound in the forehead which with all his pawes hee shall neuer be able to claw off And againe as Dauid onely with his sling wrought this feate so Christ onely by his death and by the power of his crosse which is the sling of Dauid y Sene crux ipsa funda est qua Dauid Goliath borrenoum armis formidabile visu prostrauit humi Cyr. Ioh. l. 8.17 did conquer and subdue the diuel And so the death of Christ by reason of his righteousnes is the death of the Diuel It is on the other side the life of himselfe That which was prophesied in the Psalm is here fulfilled in Christ. z Psa. 92.12 The iust shal flourish as the Palm-tree In the Hebrew it is Tamar which signifies onely a palm-tree But in the Greeke it is Phoinix which signifies not only a palme-tree but also a Phoenix Which translation proueth two things First that Iesus the iust one did most flourish when he was most afflicted For the iust shall flourish as the palm-tree a Chattamar Now the palm-tree though it haue many weights at the top and many snakes at the roote yet still it sayes I am neither oppressed with the weights nor distressed with the snakes b Nec premor nec perimor And so Christ the true palm-tree though all the iudgements of God and all the sinnes of the world like vnsupportable weights were laid vpon him yea though the cursed Iewes stood beneath like venemous snakes hissing and biting at him yet hee was neither so oppressed with them nor so distressed with these but that euen vpon his crosse he did most flourish when he was most afflicted As peny-royal being hung vp in the larder-house yet buds his yellow flower and Noahs oliue tree being drowned vnder the water yet keepes his greene branch and Aarons rod being clung and dry yet brings forth ripe almonds and Moses bramble-bush being set on fire yet shines and is not consumed Secondly that Iesus the iust one did most liue when he seemed most to be dead For the iust shall flourish as the Phoenix 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now the Phoenix though sitting in his nest among the hot spices of Arabia he be burnt to ashes yet still he sayes I die not but old age dieth in mee c Moritur me non moriente senâ—ctus And so Christ the true Phoenix though lying in his graue among the hot spices wherewith Nichodemus emblame him hee was neuer like to rise from death to life againe yet he died not but mortality died in him and immortalitie so liued in him that euen in his sepulcher hee did most liue when hee seemed most to be dead As the Laurell is greenest in the foulest Winter and the lime is hottest in the coldest water and the glow-worme shineth brightest when the night is darkest and the swan singeth sweetest when his death is neerest d Cantator cygnus funeris ipse sui Martialis lib. 13. Epigr. Epaminondas being sore wounded in fight demanded of his souldiers standing by whether his enemies were ouerthrowne or no They answered yea Then whether his bucklet were whole or no They answrered also I. Nay then sayes hee all is well This is not the end of my life but the beginning of my glory For now your deare Epaminondas dying thus gloriously shall rather bee borne againe then buried e Nunc enim vester Epaminondas nascitur quia sic moritur Christ likewise was sore wounded but his enemies Death and the Diuell were ouerthrowne and spoyled His buckler which was his God-head was whole and vntouched therefore there was no harm done His death was no death but an exaltation vnto greater glory f Ego si exaltatus fuero Iohn 12.32 That noble Eunuch riding in his coach read in Esay that Christ was silent before his death as a lambe before his shearer He saith not before the Butcher but before the shearer Insinuating that death did not kill Christ but onely sheare him a little Neither yet had death Christs fleece when he was shorne For Christ taking to himselfe aspunge full of vineger g Ioh. 19.29 that is full of our sharpe and sowre sinnes did giue vs for it purple wooll full of bloud h Heb. 9.19 that is ful of his pure and perfect iustice And indeed the onely liuery which Christ
our Lord and Master giueth vs all that are his faithfull seruants is a coat made of this purple wooll The Psalmist saith that God giueth his snow like wooll But here wee may turne the sentence and say that Christ giueth his wooll like snow For as show couereth the ground when it is ragged and deformed so Christs wooll which is his coate without seame couereth our sinnes and though they were as crimson yet maketh them white as snow And as Gideons fleece when it was moist the earth was dry but when it was dry the earth was moist so when Christs fleece was moist as a greene tree then were all wee drye like rotten stickes but when his fleece was dry all the blood and water being wrung out of his pretious side then were we moistened with his grace Wherefore seeing death had not Christs fleece when he was shorne but we haue it which beleeue in him it followeth that neither death was the better nor Christ the worse But as a lamb is much more nimble liuely for shearing so this shearing of death was a kind of quickning to the lambe of God and onely a trimming to him before he ascended to his Father as Ioseph was trimmed and powled before he appeared to Pharaoh For looke how Adam slept so Christ died i Dormit Adam moritur Christus Prosper When Adam slept his side was opened when Christ died his side was opened Adams side being opened flesh and bone were taken out Christs side being opened water and bloud were taken out Of Adams flesh and bone the woman was built of Christs water and bloud the Church is built So that the death of Christ is nothing else but the sleepe of Adam For 〈◊〉 he said of the Damsels death The Damsell is not dead but sleepeth so hee saith of his owne death I laid me downe and slept and rose vp againe for the Lord sustained me And in another place when God the Father saith to his Son Awake my glory awake my Lute and Harpe God the Sonne answeres to his Father I will awake right early That vessel which Peter sawe in a traunce which came down from heauen to the earth and was knit at the foure corners and had all maner of beasts in it did betoken Christ Christ came downe from heauen to the earth and his story was knit vp by the foure Euangelists and hee hath made Iewes and Gentiles yea all Nations though they were as bad as beasts before yet he hath made them all I say one in himselfe Now saith Cassianus it is worth the noting that the Holy Ghost saith not this vessell was a sheet but was like a sheet k Pulchre â—it Non sintâ—um sed Quasiâ—inteum A sheet may signifie either sleepe or death Because there is both a sleeping sheete and a winding sheete But neither was Peters vessell a sleepe though it were like a sheet neither was Christs body dead though it were lapt in a sheete For wee our selues cannot so properly bee said to liue in our first birth as in our second birth and Christs life when he lay in that new wombe in which neuer any other was conceiued is nothing to his life when hee lay in that new tombe in which neuer any other was buried Wherefore as Iacob trauelling towards Haram when he had laid an heape of stones vnder his head and taken a nap by the way was much reuiued with it after his tedious iourney so Christ trauelling towards heauen when hee had slept a little in that stony sepulchre which was hewn out of a rocke liued then most princely after his painfull passion Tell me when did Ionas liue In the hatches of the ship or in the belly of the whale In the hatches of the shippe Why I am sure you will not say so That was nothing But to liue in the belly of the Whale when the mariners were in extreme ieopardy and danger vpon the water and yet Ionas most safe and secure vnder the water this indeede was somewhat who euer saw such a wonder The waters were one while hoisted vp to the highest cloudes another while hurâ—ed downe to the nethermost depth Ionas himselfe being all this vvhile in the very gulfe of destruction and yet not one haire the worse Christs case was the same As Ionas vvas in the belly of the Whale three daies three nights so so long vvas the sonne of man in the bowels of the earth Yet he had no more hurt then Ionas had but liued better vnder the earth then we can vpon the earth better in death then we can in life Tel me when did Daniel liue in the Kings court or in the Lions denne In the Kings court why there is no great reason for that Any man might haue liued there But to liue in the Lions den vvhen the mouth of the den vvas shut and the mouths of the Lions open this indeed was the life of an Angell no man What King could euer make Lions attend and wait vpon him Yet here you might haue seene vvorthy Daniel sitting in the midst of many hungry Lions when as the Lions lay downe at his feet couching and crouching before him and adored their owne prey cast vnto them vvhich otherwise they vvould haue vvorried and being beasts became men in humanity toward this Saint seeing men became beasts in cruelty against him The saâ—â—e reason was in Christ. His sepulchre was sealed as well as Daniels den And hee saith also of himselfe in the Psalmes My soule is among Lions These Lions were the terrors of death and the horrors of hell Yet hee tooke no more hurt then Daniel did But brake the chaines of death into fitters and the gates of hell into shiuers and then most gloriously triumphed And so the death of Christ by reason of his righteousnesse is the life of himselfe It is lastly the life of man When Christs speare had opened that way of life which the Cherubins sword had stopt vp Then said our sauiour to the Theefe This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Adam and Eue both in one day were expelled out of Paradise Christ the theefe both in one day were receiued into Paradise yea both in one houre of the day For about Noone when the winde blew Adam and Eue were expelled and so about the sixth houre that is about twelue of clock in the day time Christ and the Theefe were receiued Christ saying to the Theefe while he did draw him vp to Paradise l Ose. cap. 11. I doe draw thee with the cords of a man euen with bands of loue But the Septuagint translate the Hebrew words m Bechauele Adam which signifie with the cords of a man into those Greeke words n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifie with the destruction of a man As if CHRIST should say thus to the Theefe I doe so deerely loue thee that I am content my selfe to be destroyed that thou mayest bee saued
blessed brethren make you no doubt of it For it is not my opinion or my speech only They are the very words of our Sauiour I came sayes hee that men might haue life a Iohn 10.10 and that they might haue it more aboundantly More aboundantly What is that That aboundantly wee might haue more life by the Crosse of Christ then euer wee could haue by the tree of life that aboundantly we might gaine more by the obedience of Christ in his death then euer we lost or could loose by the disobedience of Adam in his life And therefore though that sinne of Adam was so heinous and so horrible that it cast the Image of God out of Paradise that it polluted all the race of mankinde that it condemned the whole world that it defaced the very frame of heauen it selfe yet considering the sequell how not onely the guilt of this sinne but euen the very memory of it is now vtterly abolished by the bloud of Christ S. Gregory is not afraid to say O happy happy happy man was Adam that euer hee so sinned and transgressed against GOD b O foelix culpa quae talem ac tantum meruit habere redemptorem Because by this meanes both hee and all we haue found such plentifull redemption such inestimable mercie such superabundant grace such felicitie such eternity such life by Christs death For as honey being found in a dead Lyon the death of the Lyon was the sustenance of Sampson so Christs gall is our hony c Christi fel nostrum mel and the bitter death of Christ by reason of his righteousnesse is the sweete life of man Thus you see that the death of Christ is the death of Death the death of the Diuell the life of Himselfe the life of Man And therfore he saies in this fourth part weepe not too much for my death For me Weepe not for me but weepe for your selues I Perceiue beloued I haue beene somewhat long in this part Therefore I will make more hast in the rest and doe what I can deuise that I may not seeme tedious vnto you Now then to the fifth part For your selues Weepe not too little for your owne life For the life of man is quite contrarie The life of man is the life of Death the life of the Diuell the death of himselfe the death of Christ. The reason of all this is his iniquitie and sinne Which euen in Gods deere children saies Bernard is cast downe but not cast out d De iectum non eiectum Therefore though sin cannot sometimes rule ouer vs because it is cast downe yet it will alwayes dwell in vs because it is not cast out For it is so bred in the bone that till our bones be with Iosephs bones carried out of Egypt that is out of the world sinne cannot be carried out of our bones The Irish history telleth vs that the Citie of Waterford giueth this poesie Intacta manet e It continueth vntouched Because since it was first conquered by King Henry the second it was neuer yet attainted no not so much as touched with treason Also that the Isle of Arren in that country hath such a pure aire that it was neuer yet infected with the plague We cannot say thus of the nature of man that it is either so cleare from treason as that Citie or else that it is so cleare from infection as that Island is Nay our very reason is treason and our best affection it is no better then an infection if it bee well sifted in the sight of God Euagrius recordeth f Li. 5. ca. 15. that the Romans got such a victorie ouer Chosroes one of the Persian Kings that this Chosroes made a law that neuer after any King of Persia should moue warre against the Romans Wee cannot possibly subdue sinne in such sort as the Romanes did this Persian King But doe we what we can doe sinne will alwaies be a Iebuzite a false borderer yea a ranke traytor rebelling against the spirit Which makes the life of man first to be sayes Chrysostome a debt as it were owne and due to death g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the diuell is the father of sin and sin is the mother of death Hereupon Saint Iames saith that sinne being finished trauelling in child-birth like a mother bringeth forth death And Dauid in the ninth Psalme calleth sin the gate of death Because as a man comes into a house by the gate so death came into the world by sinne The corruption of our flesh did not make the soule sinfull but the sinne of our soule did make the flesh corruptible Whereupon Lactantius calleth sinne the reliefe or the foode of death h Pabulian mortis As a fire goeth out when all the fuell is spent but burneth as long as that lasteth so death dieth when sin ceaseth but where sin eboundeth there death rageth The Prophet Abacucke sinning not death was so farre from him that hee was able to flie without wings But King Asa sinning death was so neere to him that hee was not able to stand vpon his feet Nay we may see this in one and the selfe-same man Moses sinning not death could not meet with him in the bottome of the red sea but sinning death did seaze vpon him in the toppe of mount Nebo So that the life of man by reason of his sinne is the life of death It is also the life of the diuell As Emisenus saith Each one hath in him as many diuels aâ— euils i Tot daemonia quot crimina euery seuerall sinne being sufficient to maintaine a seuerall Diuell The godly finding no ioy in the earth haue their conuersation in heauen But Satan finding no ioy in hell hath his conuersation in the earth So that the earth is a hell to vs but a heauen to him Here he hath his liuing as it was said at the first Thou shalt eate the dust of the earth all the dayes of thy life This dust saith Macarius is the diuels diet k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And therefore as a scald Cur waits for a bone so hee that goes about seeking whom he may deuouâ—e watches continually til the godly shake off the dust from their feete that is shake off some sinne which they haue gotten by walking in the world that then hee may licke it vp as one of those Dogs which did licke vp Iezabels bloud This is meate and drinke to him l Dulce diabola peccare not Hila. Enarra in p. 118. He loues it alife to see vs sinne euen as cursed Cham did to see Noâ—hs nakednesse And as flies are alwaies busie about a sore place so saith Theophylact m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In cap. Luc. 16. p. 320. That is a sport or pleasure to Sathan which is a sore or a paine to a man especially if he be a godly mâ—n For this Behemoth the Diuell eateth grasse as an oxe
if it will please you to heare me I will say yet more wee crucifie Christ farre more cruelly then the Iewes did Then his body was passible and mortall now it is glorified and immorall they knew not what they did we doe ill enough yet wee know what we doe well enough they pearced him with a speare we pearce him with reproches they buried him in the earth wee bury him in obliuion then hee rose againe the third day but we so bury Christ that not once in three daies no not once in three weekes he ariseth or shineth in our hearts Nay that which I am ashamed to speake though some are not ashamed to doe it there are in the world which haue no time not once in three months not once in three yeares no not once scarce in their whole life to thinke of Christ but bury him in the perpetuall forgetfulnesse of their carelesse conscience as in a barren land where all good things are forgotten Wherefore let euery one as soone as he is tempted to any sin thinke straight-waies that hee sees Christ comming towards him wrapt vp in white linnen cloathes as he was buried with a kercher bound about his head and crying after a ghastly and fearefull sort Beware Take heed what you doe Detest sinne abhorre sin Fie vpon it A shame light on it It did once most vilely and villanously murther mee but now seeing my wounds are whole againe do not I beseech you do not rubbe and reuiue them with your sinnes to make them bleed afresh now seeing the scepter of the kingdome of heauen is put into my hand doe not offer mee a reede againe to mocke mee now seeing my head is crowned with the pure gold of eternall glory doe not set a crowne of thornes vpon it againe now seeing I my selfe am enstalled in the Throne of the right hand of Maiesty doe not pull mee out of my throne and throw mee into the graue againe and with your sinnes seale a mighty great stone vpon mee to stifle mee and presse mee and hold mee down in death O beloued good beloued at his instance be perswaded by whose bloud you are redeemed Haue pitty haue pitty vpon me poore Iesus Once he voluntarily yea euen ioyfully dyed for vs and if that one death had not been sufficient he would haue been content then to haue dyed a thousand deaths more Now he protesteth that the least sinne of any one Christian doth more vex him euen at the very heart then all his dolorous paines vpon the Crosse. Our sinnes are those Soldiers which take him those tormentors which whippe him those thornes which gore his head those nailes which pierce his feete that speare which sheds his bloud that crosse which takes away his life And yet if to grieue him thus continually would doe vs any good then hee would be most glad to preferre our good though neuer so little before his owne griefe though neuer so great But it is not so That one death which he willingly suffered was for our saluation These diuers deaths which we with our sins so often put him to against his will do make for our greater damnatioÌ„ Therfore he beseecheth vs I also being prostrate at the very feet of euery one of you heartily in his name exhort you if wee will haue no pitty on him yet for the tender loue wee beare to our owne deere soules that wee would not alwaies keepe him vpon the racke and euery day vexe the iust Lot with our vnlawfull deedes that we would not any more shedde his precious bloud and treade it and trample it vnder our feet This I assure you blessed Christians will bee a most forcible meanes not onely to terrifie and fray vs from sinne which wee may commit hereafter but also to mollifie and melt our hearts for sinne which we haue committed heretofore if wee consider that the life of man by reason of his sinne is the death of Christ. Thus you see that the life of man is the life of Death the life of the Diuel the death of himselfe the death of Christ. And thâ—refore hee saith in this fifth part Weepe not too little for your owne life For your selues Weepe not for mee but weepe for your selues THE sixth part is next For mee for your selues Which noteth seeing both the excesse and the want are to bee eschewed that therefore the true meaâ—e which we must keepe betweene Christ and our selues consisteth in a certaine qualification of these two extremities For mee for your selues both together Weepe not too much saith heâ— for my death which is the death of Death Weepe not too little for your own life which is the life of Death Not too much for my death which is the death of the diuell not too little for your owne life which is the life of the Diuell Not too much for my death which is my life not too little for your owne life which is your death Not to much for my death which is the life of Man not too little for your owne life which is the death of Christ. Saint Paul willeth the Corinthians to approue themselues by honour dishonour First by honour then by dishonour Teaching thereby that dishonourable honour is better then honourable dishonour Yet to keepe a meane in this matter that we must as well count it an honour to bee sometimes dishonoured with Christ as a dishonour to be alwayes honoured without Christ. Euen so sayes our Sauiour here For mee for your selues First For mee then for your selues Teaching thereby that to reioyce for Christ is better then to weepe for our selues Yea to keepe a meane betwixt both that we must as well sometimes descend out of Christ into our selues to weepe as alwayes ascend out of our selues into Christ to reioyce For the Apostle sayes that wee must reioyce with them that reioyce and weepe with them that weepe If my friend bee alwaies sorrowfull and neuer ioyfull hee hath no pleasure by me if he be alwayes ioyfull and neuer sorrowfull I haue no proofe of him but he is my dearest friend most delighted in me best approued by me that takes such part as I doe sometimes reioycing and sometimes weeping reioycing when I reioyce and weeping when I weepe The like is to be seene in this place For mee for your selues If a Christian alwayes thinke of his owne misery and neuer of Christs mercie hee will despaire if he alwayes thinke of Christs mercy and neuer of his owne misery he will presume But hee is the best Christian so hie that hee cannot despaire so low that he cannot presume which inclines as well to the one as the other sometimes reioycing and sometimes weeping reioycing for Christ and weeping for himselfe A man cannot weepe too little for Christ if he presume not a man cannot weepe too much for himselfe if he despaire not But hee may easily despaire that weepes too much for Christ and he may easily presume that weepes too little
by Deuotion I vnderstand a certaine softnesse and tendernesse of the heart which oftentimes is resolued into teares considering the mischiefes and miseries of this world For if Christ in this place wisheth them of Ierusalem to weepe for themselues and did himselfe else-where weep for Ierusalem saying O Ierusalem Ierusalem how often would I but you would not How much more then ought wee to weepe for the wretchednesse of this world They of Ierusalem were carried captiue into Babylon That captiuitie of Babylon endured seuenty yeeres or threescore ten yeares Now iust so long lasteth our life As the Psalmist saith The dayes of our life are threescore yeeres and ten So that by this account our whole time in this world is nothing else but the captiuity of Babylon Therefore we may well say By the waters of Babylon wee sate downe and wept when we remembred thee O Sion And My teares haue been my meate day and night while they said vnto me Where is now thy God And Woe is me that I am constrained to dwell in Meshek and to haue my habitation among the tents of Kedar We reade that King Edward the third hauing the King of Scots and the French King his prisoners here in England both together at one time held royall iusts in Smithfield The iusts being ended hee feasted both the Kings most sumptuously at supper After supper perceiuing the French King to be sad and pensiue hee desired him to be merry as others were To whom the French King answered e Quomâ—do cantabim is canticain terra aliena How shall wee sing songs in a strange land If the French King after all this princely pastime and stately entertainment tooke it so heauily to heart that hee was kept prisoner out of his owne countrey how much more then ought we to mourne for our captiuity Especially seeeing neither we haue such welcome in the world as hee had in England neither yet is England so farre from France as Heauen is distant from them both Ierusalem was once finally sacked by Titus and Vespasian whereas besides an infinite number which were otherwise spoyled ten hundred thousand men ten hundred thousand men I say were slaine down-right altogether as Iosephus a Greeke Writer and Iosippus an Hebrew Author testifie But that which happened once to them happeneth euery day to vs. We die daily f 1 Cor. 15.31 Our whole life is nothing else but such a spoyle and sackage And among all the miseries of this life nothing is more miserable then this life it selfe For euen those things which might be most comfortable vnto vs as we vse them do breed vs much sorrow Learning and knowledge a great delight Yet Solomon sayth Hee that addeth knowledge addeth sorrow Wealth and riches a good complement Yet Saint Iames saith Goe to now you rich men weepe and howle for the miseries which shall come vpon you So that the onely happinesse wee can haue in this life is a deuout and a godly bewailing of our vnhappines Which made our Sauiour say Woe be to you that laugh now for you shall waile and weepe But on the other side Blessed are they that mourne now for they shall bee comforted Therefore holy Iob desireth God to spare him a little let him liue a while longer Wherfore That hee might laugh That hee might be merry No g Vi plangam dolorem meum but saith hee that I may weepe for my woe and griefe He thought a man could not haue time enough in this life though it were neuer so long to lament and rue the miseries of this life though it were neuer so short For if euery creature doe sigh and grone in it self h Rom. 8.22 if the very earth which we tread vnder our feet do mourne and pine away in sorrow for the heauy burthen of our sinnes wherewith it is almost weighed and pressed downe to hell how much more then ought wee hauing the first fruits of the spirit to haue also true deuotion in weeping for our miserable estate in this world according to this But weepe but weepe for your selues Thus much for our Deuotion Now for Compunction he sayes But you The person is implied in the Greeke word which signifies to weepe as they doe which haue a broken and a contrite heart i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 frango Which weeping at the very heart is commanded in the fourth Psalme For whereas we commonly reade it be still in your chambers the Septuagint interpret it haue compunction in your ahambers Now the hebrew word vvhich they translate haue compunction doth signifie to be prickt to the quicke till the bloud follow againe k Dommu à Damsanguis And by Chambers our Hearts are meant As when thou praiest enter into thy chamber that is into the silence and secresie of thine heart So that Haue compunction in your chambers is as much as if hee should haue said Bleed you inwardly at the heart Our teares must not be Crocodiles teares For as is praying from the teeth outward so is weeping from the eyes outward But saith Bernard wee must be let bloud and haue a veine opened vvith the launce of compunction l Sciâ—datâ—â— aperitur vena ferre compunctionis Ber. in serm p. 123. And this veine also must not be the liuer veine or any other veine but the heart veine onely m Non coâ—poris sed cordis Fulgen Whereupon Dauid saith I roared for the very griefe of my heart n Psal. 38.8 And againe My heart droppeth for heauinesse o Psal. 119.28 Not that his heart dropt indeed But because the teares which hee shed were not drops of water running from the eyes which may be soone forced with onions or such like but drops of bloud issuing from the heart such as Christ did sweats in the Garden For these no doubt are true teares which are the bloud of a woundead heart p Sanguis vulnerati cordis Aug. Epist. 199. So that the heart must first bee rent and deepely wounded before the eye can vnfainedly weepe But in case our sins fall vpon vs like theeues and wound vs at the very heart and leaue vs halfe dead and make vs powre out the bloud of true teares then by and by will Christ powre in the wine and oyle of gladnes Therefore saies a good Father q Malo sentire compunctionem â—uam â—â—ire definitionem I had rather feele the touch of Compunction then know the truth of a definition For the heart of a Christian being a while cast downe in sorrow is soone after raised vp in ioy and taketh his former compunction not as a punishment but as a preferment and is right glad to bee afflicted because he sees that as the more the waters did rise the higher the Arke was lifted vp after the same sore the more his sorrowes increase the higher his heart is lifted vp to God r Cum per fletum mens ad summa
Noah saued all by the doore in the side of the arke Christ redeemeth all by the doorâ— in the side of his bodie Noah the fortieth day after the decreasing of the flood opened the windowe Christ the fortieth day after his resurrectioÌ„ ascendeth vp and openeth heauen Lo ye how all things agree together None but Noah none but Christ Noahs rest Christs peace Noahs arke Christs crosse Noahs water Christs woe Noahs doore Christs side Noahs windowe Christs kingdome The Prophet Hose foretelleth that Ephraim shall flie away like a bird This is fulfilled not only in Ephraim but euen in all mankind All haue gone astray all haue flowen away from God as a hauâ—e which takes a check and giues ouer her pray wherefore Christ holding out his wounded and bloody hands as meat to reclaime vs calleth vs as it were and saith Returne returne O Shulamite returne returne Can. 6 12. that we may behold thee Prudentius writeth that when Asclepiades commaunded the tormentors to strike Romanus on the mouth the meeke martyr answered I thanke thee O captaine that thou hast opened vnto me many mouthes whereby I may preach my Lord and Sauiour Tot ecce laudant or a quot sunt vulnera Looke howe many wounds I haue so many mouthes I haue to praise and laud the Lord. And looke how many wounds Christ hath so many mouthes he hath to call vs to himselfe so many lures he hath to make our soule flie for comfort onely vnto him Manna was a most comfortable meate which God gaue the Israelites It was like to coriander seede and the tost of it was like vnto wafers made with honey Exod. 16.32 This our holy Sauiour applieth to himselfe For when the Capernites said Our fathers did eate Manna in the desert Iesus answered Your fathers did eate Manna in the wildernesse and are dead I am the liuing bread which came downe from heauen Therefore as then there was a golden pot of Manna kept in the Tabernacle that the posteritie might see the bread wherewith the Lord fed them so there is yet a golden pot of Manna kept in heauen Bernard de amor dei c. 2. that the faithfull in all ages may tast and see how sweete the Lord is which feedeth them with his owne body and blood the least droppe whereof though it be as small as a 〈◊〉 and or seede yet it is as sweet as a wafer made with honey Hard it is to giues reason wherefore Christ when he came to the citie of Sichar in Samari◠〈◊〉 was Iacobs well sate downe vpon the well about the sixt houre But certainly he did this not so much for himselfe as for vs. That hereby we might learne when the sunne is hotest about the 〈◊〉 houre of the day wheÌ„ we are most exercised with afflictions when we are â—â—rest grieued for our sins alwaies to haue recourse vnto Christ alwaies to see with the King into the wineselles alwaies to sit downe vpon Iacobs well Ioh. 4.6 Of which the Prophet Zacharie saiâ—s In that day there shall be a fountaine opened to the house of Dauid and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem for sinne and for vncleanenesse In omnibus aduersitatibus nâ— inueni tam essicax remedium quam vulnera Christi Manu 22. Whereupon S. Austin saith verie diuinely In all aduersities saies he I could neuer yet find any remedie so comfortable and so effectuall as the wounds of Christ. Christ is not vnlike to the poole in Ierusalem Ioh. 5.1 called Bethesda hauing fiue porches which being troubled by an angel healed any man that went first into it what soeuer disease he had Bethesda signifieth the house of effusion or powring out in which house Christ dwelt when he powred out his blood and his soule for our saluation Therefore he alone is the angel which came downe at a certaine season into the poole and troubled the water because when the fulnes of time was come he came into the world to be troubled himselfe and to be crucified that he might heale not onely that one man which had been diseased eight aâ—d thirtie yeares but euen all mankinde with the troubled water and blood which issued out of his side So that there is nothing so comfortable for sicke and sinnefull men as to fit in the seates and porches of this poole Wonderfull are the words of the Prophet concerning Christ He shall seede his flocke like a shepheard Esa. 40.11 he shall gather the lambs with his armes had 〈◊〉 theÌ„ in his bosom Which was profigur'd in the high Priest who did beare vp with his shoulders a breast plaâ—e wherin were the names of the twelue tribes written in twelue precious stones That which the shepheard doth with his armes and bosom that which the high Priest doth with his shoulders 〈◊〉 that doth Christ with his hands and side He is the good shepheard which bringeth home the lost 〈◊〉 vpon 〈◊〉 shoulders Yea he writeth the 〈◊〉 of all his sheepe in his precious wounds which are the precious stones vpon his breast-plate that both declare his loue to vs. also allure vs to loue him This makes Dauid say in great 〈◊〉 The Lord is my shepheard ther 〈◊〉 can I lacke nothing He shall feeded 〈◊〉 in a greene pasture and lead men forth beside the waters of comfort For 〈◊〉 henne gathereth her brood vnder her wings so God gathereth his children together Deut 30.11 And as an eagle stirreth vp her nest flotereth ouer her birds taken them and beareth them on her wings so Christ carrieth vs vp in his hands to the high places of the earth and causeth vs to sucke bonie out of the stone and oyle out of the hard rock Butheius an excellent painter painted an eagle carrying Ganimedes into heauen so nicely and tenderly that her talents did not 〈◊〉 him but onely beare him vp And in like sort Christ beareth vs vp in his hands that we dash noâ— our foot against a stone yea his right hand is vnder our head quis Dominus supponit ma. num suam and his leâ—t hand doth embrace vt so ther though we should fal yet we cannot be hurt because the Lord stayeth and supporteth vs with his hand Therefore S. Chrysostome giues vs good counsell not to haue iayes eyes but eagles eyes that wee may behold these hands of Christ and see his side in the Sacrament For indeede as often as we celebrate the memorie of our Lords death Christ our Sauiour deliuering the bread and the cuppe by his minister saith in a sort to euerie faithful receiuer Put thy finger here and see my hands and put forth thy hand and put it into my side and be not faithlesse but faithfull But yet we shall not alwaies drinke of this fruit of the vine The time will come when we shall drinke a new kinde of wine in Christs kingdome Wherefore he saies As often as yâ— shall eate this bread and drinke this cup you shall shâ—w the
out-cast of all people Insomuch as when we would signifie we hate a man deadly indeede we commonly vse to say we hate them worse then a Iewe. On the other side Christ is so exalted now that all power is giuen him in heauen and earth yea God hath giuen him a name aboue all names that at the most sweete and most excellent name of Iesus euerie knee and euery heart also might doe obeysâ—nce And as the Apostle prooueth out of the eight Psalme the Lord now after all his dolorous paines and torments hath crowned him with honour and glorie Neuerthelesse in a secondarie sort this promise may be applied also to Dauid who was a notable type of Christ and so consequently to euery faithfull successor of Dauid which is Christs vicegerent and lieftenant vpon earth For yee know what was the the ende of all Dauids enemies Absolon his disobedient sonne hung vp by the goldy lockes of pride Achitophel his trayterous Counsellor made away himselfe Shemei a reuiler of him and a derractor from him in his gray haires put to shamefull death The same may be said of the rest But holy Dauid himselfe could neuer be ouercome For though many enemies specially Antiochus Epiphanes bent all their force to the very vttermost to roote out Dauids posteritie and to destroy Gods people yet maugre their heads and their hearts Dauids crowne yet flourished and continued in his stocke till at the length the sonne of Dauid came into the world of whom the Angel Gabriel spake to the blessed virgin Marie in this sort d Luk. 1.32 He shall be great and shall be called the sonne of the most High and the Lord God shall giue him the throne of his Father Dauid and he shall be ruler ouer the house of Iacob and of his kingdome shall be no ende Now if this Scripture be so notably verified in Dauid bee hauing faithfully serued in his time and beeing now by the will of God dead no reason but that we may vnderstand it also generally of euery holy one of God which treadeth in Dauids steps going in and out before Gods people As for his enemies I shall cloath them with shame but vpon himselfe shall his crowne flourish Here are two parts His enemies himselfe His enemies first shall haue shame secondly shall be cloathed with shame Himselfe first shal haue a crown secondly shal haue a flourishing crown As for his enemies I shall cloath them with shame but vpon himselfe shall his crowne flourish The shame which the Lord God assureth Dauid shall light vpon his enemies is a very droadfull iudgement against them Nicetas saies plainely No punishment so greiuous as shame And Nazianzene yet more expressely Better were a man die right out then still liue in reproâ—ch and shame This diuerse valiant worthies haue shewed to be true ridding themselues voluntarily of their life that so they might be rid of their shame Aiax beeing readie to dispatch himselfe vsed these as his last words No greife doth so cut the very heart of a generous and magnanimous man as shame and reproach What should I speake of any more Grecians or Romanes as of Brutus Cassius Antonius Cato Vricensis and such others In Scripture we haue a plaine proofe Mighty Sampson beeing about to pull the whole house vpon his owne head Iudg. 16.18 saide thus O Lord God I pray thee strengthen me at this time onely that I may be at once auenged of the Philistims for my two eies Hee desired rather once to die valiantly then long to liue wretchedly For as Saint Ambrose writing of Samson saith h Viuere mori naturae functic â—udibrio esse probro ducitur Epist. yo For a man to liue or die is naturall but for a man to liue in shame and contempt and to be made a laughing stocke of his Enemies is such a matter as no well bred and noble minded man that hath any courage or stomacke in him can euer digest it Yet the Lord God promiseth Dauid his anointed that shame shall be the reward of all his enemies shame I say which is a great deale worse then death it selfe As for his enemies saies he I shall cloath them with shame Secondly they shall be clothed with shame To be cloathed is an Hebrewe phrase signifying to haue any thing vnseparably cast vpon one And it is taken both in the better and in the worser part As a little before I cloath her Priests with saluation that is I will furnish Syons Priests with such indowments and graces from aboue which they shall be as it were inuested into that both by their life and doctrine they shal still further the saluation both of themselues and of them which heare them Contrariwise in this place I will cloath them with shame That is shame shall so vnseparably accompany them that as wheresoeuer a man goeth he carrieth his cloathes with him so wheresoeuer they goe they shall carrie their shame with them And that which is strangest of all they which are ashamed vse to cloath or couer their shame and then thinke themselues well enough But Dauids enemies shall be so shamed that euen the verie couering of their shame shall be a discouering of it and the cloathing or cloaking of their ignominie shall be nothing else but a girding of it more closely and more vnseparably vnto them So the Prophet speaketh elsewhere i Psal. 35.26 Let them be put to confusion and shame together that reioyce at mine hurt Let them be cloathed with rebuke and dishonour that lift vp themselues against me O Lord God say Amen to it let it be euen so O Lord Let them be clothed with rebuke and dishonour that lift vp themselues against thine annointed And againe k Psal. 109.19 Let shame be vnto him as a cloake that he hath vpon him and as the girdle that he is alwaies girdled withall And yet againe l vers 19. Let mine aduersaries be cloathed with shame and let them couer themselues with their owne confusion as with a cloake But to leaue the word and come to the matter The enemies of Dauid shall be clothed with shame three waies In their owne conscience In the world In the day of iudgement Touching their owne conscience S. Austin saies well m Omnis in ordinatus affectus est sibimetipfi poena All vnordinate desires as none are more vnordinate then trayterous and rebellious enterprises carrie in themselues that bane which poysons and punishes them at the last Whereupon the Prophet saies n Psal. 57.2 Hide me O Lord vnder the shadow of thy wings vntill iniquitie be ouerpast as the Septuagint translate it But wee read it Vntill this tyrannie be ouerpast And others translaâ—e it Vntill this Calamitie or this Miserie be ouerpast Which indifferent acceptation of the Hebrew word sheweth that nothing doth so tyrannize ouer the conscience nothing is such a calamitie and misery to the minde as iniquity and sinne Iudas after he
had betraied his Lord and Master was so confounded in his owne conscience that he cryed out and said o Matth. 27.4 I haue sinned in betraying innocent blood Proditer Casca vile traytour if his blood be innocent then thy conscience is guilty And if thou canst confesse thou hast sinned when it is too late why diddest thou not take heede of sinning when t' was time I haue sinned saies he sinned in betraying innocent blood A thousand hells could not haue more tormented him then this desperate sorrowe and extreame shame wherewith his conscience was cloathed tearing his bowels whilst he was aliue and powring them out when he died Now as for shame in the world we reade p Gen. 4.5 that God did set a marke vpon Cain the murtherer of the iust Habel and so consequently the ring-leader of all Dauids enemies Therefore as when men see a wolfe or a foxe or any such hâ—rtfull beast in the forest they set all their dogs vpon him so the enemies of the Lords annointed beeing burnt as it were and branded with the markes of shame are howted and hunted wheresoeuer they goe One example at this time shall suffice Maxentius a wicked rebell against his own Lord the famous Emperour Constantine the great deuised to haue a bridge made with cockeboâ—tes chained together ouer a riuer neere Rome thinking to traine the Emperour that way and there to drowne them in the riuer But God so wrought for his chosen seruant that the enemie himselfe beeing compelled to flie that way was taken in that pit which he digged for others And so as Pharaoh was cloathed with shame in the open viewe and fight of all the world when he and all his host were drowned in the redde sea after the same fashion Maxentius was drest Lastly touching shame in the day of iudgement Dauids enemies at that day shall stand before the tribunall â—â—ate of Christ beeing naked in all respecâ—â—else but onely couered with their owne shame Then they shall be vexed with horrible feare r Sapien. 5.2 and cloathed with confusion whereas the righteous shall bee cloathed with incorruption 2. Cor. 15. yea though in this life with the rich glutton s Luk. 16.19 they haue beene cloathed with purple and fine linnen yet then their attire shall be dishonour and their garment shall bee shame Thus will the Lord cloath the enemies of his anointed with shame cloath them in their owne conscience cloath them in the world cloath them in the day of iudgement As for his enemies I shall cloath them with shame But vpon himselfe shal his crowne flourish The one halfe of this Sermon is now past the other shall be as soon dispacht But vpon him shal his crowne flourish First himselfe shall haue a crowne Tertullian t In libro de corona â—ilitis reporteth out of Diodorus Siculus that the first that euer ware a crowne was Iupiter The soldiers gaue him a royall crowne for a reward of his victorie and triumph ouer the Titans Hereupon Iupiters Priest u Act. 14.13 brought buls and crownes to the gates of Listra and would there haue sacrificed to Paul Afterward when Gods people the Israelites would needs haue a King as other nations had round about them then their Kings would needs haue crownes also as other Kings had round about them Hence we reade that Dauid hauing vanquished the King of Rabbath x 1. Chron. â—0 2 tooke the crowne from off his head and found it the waight of a talent of gold with precious stones in it and set it vpon his owne head Though indeede long before that the y 2. Sam. 1.10 Amalakite brought him a crowne which he tooke from Sauls head when he slew him So that the thing God promiseth is this that any crown which king Dauid should get either by conquest or by succession or by any other iust title should still flourish more and more Some there are in the world which to be sure of outward ornaments enough will needes weare a triple crowne Others haue beene vnwilling to weare that one which they might Caâ—â—tus that waâ— absolute King almost of fiâ—e kingdomes somewhat before the conquest vpon a time in his progresse riding neare the Thames lighted and sat downe before the shoare Then as it were to try a conclusion he commanded the water beeing now ready to ariâ—e againe and to flow not to come 〈◊〉 neerer him But the water keeping his naturall course came still vp higher and higher til it began to wet him Whereupon turning to his Nobles which were about him You call mee saies he your King and Master and so indeede I am and yet loe yee I cannot commaund so much as this little streame but do what I can that will do still as it list Whereupon presently he posted to Westminster and resigned his crowne to the crucifixe there neither could be euer 〈◊〉 this be perswaded to weare it any more Now as the pride of that man of sinne which sits vnder the signe of the triple crowne is too intollerable so on the contrarie part this was too much nicenesse in Canutus Seeing it followeth not because he could not command the sea and the waters as Christ did and therefore he might not weare a crown For neither doth Christ himselfe in heauen weare such a crown as Kings of the earth doe But the truth is this that royaltie and maiestie which is essentiall to God hee is content to communicate to his holy ones and to his anointed by participation and grace Therefore the Lords anointed which is as it were his fauourite may very well do all these three things at once weare the crowne which God giueth and yet detest the pride which God abhorreth and still admire the Maiestie which God inioyeth So that the Lord promising his seruant Dauid a crowne promiseth him wealth wisedome renowne dignitie prosperitie in one word all royalties belonging to a crowne But vpon himselfe shall his crowne flourish Secondly he shall haue a flourishing crowne Flourishing is metaphorically attributed to a crowne As in the next verse before There shall I make the horne of Dauid to flourish A metaphor taken from those goodly creatures as stagges and such like whose cheifest beauty and strength consisteth in their hornes especially when they budde and branch abroad So in these words But vpon himselfe shall his crowne flourish A plaine allusion to those flowres which either continually or else a very long time keepe fresh and greene Besids at the first kings crowns were not made of gold and pearles as I told you of Dauids crowne but onely of greene oken leaues as that of Iupiters or else of some other branches or flowres as others The Lord then meaning that Dauids kingdome should be established for euer and that his lasting glorie should still growe greene he maketh this louing promise vnto him But vpon himselfe shall his crown flourish How flourishing beautifull flowers are consider but the