them that this Tempest was miraculous Gods prouidence had before hand prouided a Whale readie to receiue Ionas and when as he thought he should haue beene swallowed vp in the Deepe and that the waters should enter into his soule crying out in his meditations Pelagus â—peruit me vestes terrâ— concluserunt me The â—â—ouds compassed mee about all thy surges and all thy waues passed ouer me c. Then did the Whale open his mouth then when in his affliction he cried vnto the Lord I am cast away out of thy sight the waters compassed me about vnto the soule the depth closed mee round about and the weeds were wrapped about my head then euen then did the Whale open his mouth and swallowing him vp whole into his bellie defended him from the jawes of death Ionas being herein like vnto a delinquent whom the Gaoler takes into his custodie to secure his person Iob saith That God hath girt in the sea on the one side with mountaines and valleys Circumdedit illud terminis suis and on the other side with sand Posuit arenam terminum Maris And as Ionas was shut vp in the Whales bellie as in a prison so was the Whale inclosed in that prison of the Sea Nunquid Mare ego sum aut Caete Am I a Sea or a Whale fish that thou keepest mee in ward Now if God had both before and behind on this side and that side pitcht so many nets for Ionas hee could verâ—e hardly escape him his flying could not saue him but in this Whales maw contrarie to all the lawes of Nature God maintaines and preserues his life If the stomacke of a Whale will digest an anchor of Yron as Tertullian tells vs it must then of force consume Ionas and if instead of aire he drawes in water he must necessarily be choaked But he that deliuered Daniel from the hungrie mouths of Lyons and those three children from the flames of the firie Furnace it is not much that hee should conserue Ionas in the deepest and darkest dungeon that euer liuing man was clapt vp in The wonder was that though himself were prisoner yet he had left vnto him so free an vnderstanding that hee was able to make so elegant an oration to God out of so foule a Pulpit The Prophet did dwell vpon this great miracle which God had vsed towards him and did recouer so much strength and confidence that he stucke not to say Rursus videbo templum sanctum tuum Yet will I looke againe toward thy holy temple I liue in good hope not onely to see my selfe freed out of this loathsome Gaole but to humble my selfe on my knee in thy holy Temple giuing thee thankes for the great mercie and fauour which thou hast shewed towards me For the present I will make this sluttish corner my Oratorie assuring my selfe that from thence my prayers shall be acceptable vnto thee who like some great Prince or Monarch of the world is respected in any place whatsoeuer of thy jurisdiction so that there is no doubt that any thy poorest vassall whatsoeuer may bee heard by thee The Children of Babylon were heard from the Furnace Daniel from the Lyons Den Iob from the Dunghill Dauid from amiddest the Thornes and Bushes And so I make no question but I shall be from the bowells of this Beast In omni loco dominationis eius benedic anima mea Domino O my soule blesse the Lord in euerie place of his power These three dayes Ionas spent in prayer at the end whereof God commanded the Whale to cast out Ionas vpon the Coast of Niniuy And the Whale obaying his Empire crost the Seas many Leagues and there threw the Prophet forth vpon drie Land though full of froathie slime and vnctuous stuffe free from the horror of that deepe and darkesome dungeon From hence did the Gentiles faigne those their fabulous tales of Hercules beeing swallowed vp by another Whale of Arion playing on his harpe riding on the backe of a Dolphine For as it is noted by Clemens Alexandrinus and Saint Basil the Heathen Philosophers did steale these truths from vs founding thereupon their falshoods And giuing credit to their lyes they did not beleeue our truths Many of the Niniuites comming downe to the shoare-side were strucken with admiration to see such a monstrous strange prodigious man and the fame thereof flying to the Citie before they were affrighted with the sad news that hee brought they stood astonished at the strangenesse of the case which questionlesse was a great cause that they did afterwards harken vnto him and giue creditto what he said In the end taking this for his Theame Adhuc quadraginta dies Niniue sâ—â—uertetur â—et forty dayes and Niniuie shall bee ouerthrowne Not threatning onely the ruine of the Citie but also of the Towers Walls Pallaces Citizens Children Women and Old men euen to the very beasts of the field so great was the feare that entred into all their breasts that without any further Miracles laying their beleefe vpon the Prophet they presently gaue beginning to that their great repentance which was the strangest that euer was yet heard of The King layd aside his purple roabes and his rich and costly clothes the throan of his Greatnesse Maiestie and couered himselfe with sacke-cloth and â—ate in ashes causing his clothes of State to bee pulled downe his walls of his pallace to be left naked of their hangings of cloth of Gold and other peeces of Arras beeing no lesse curious than glorious For Sardanapalus was one of the loosest and most licentious men that hee had not his like in all the World The like did all the great Officers of his Pallace the Princes and Wealthyest men of his Citie as also all the faire and beautifull Ladies And there was a Proclamation presently made through all Niniuie by the Councell of the King and his Nobles with expresse charge That neither man nor beast bullocke nor sheep should tast any thing neither feed nor drinke water but that man and beast should put on sack-cloth and cry mightily vnto God To the end that the bellowing of their bulls the bleating of their sheepe goats the howling of their dogs the teares of their children the sighes lamentations of their mothers might mooue Heauen to take pitie of them And aboue all they did cry out most grieuously for their sinnes For albeit they are offences towards God yet are they miseries vnto man and as quatenus peccata so farre foorth as they are sinnes they prouoke and stirre vp Gods Iustice against vs So quatenus they are miseriae as they are miseries vnto vs they incline and mooue our good God to take mercie compassion of vs. The same reason which wrought God to destroy the World the same likewise mooued him neuer to destroy it more Cogitatio hominis prona est ad malum Mans thoughts are proâ—e vnto euill One while hee considers it as an offence vnto
God another while as a miserie incident to man The word Zagar signifies Vociferatio A crying out aloude as when a Citie is set on fire and in danger to be burnt Some perhaps may conceiue that this was too strict a commaund to inioyne this punishment vpon dumbe beasts and poore little infants that had not yet offended But first of all they did therein pretend to incline Gods mercy towards them Secondly to mooue the more repentance by a common sorrow Thirdly as at the funeralls of Princes and Generals not onely the principall and meaner persons mourne in blackes but their horses weare the like liuery of sorrow their drummes beat hoarse couered with blacke Cypres their auncients are trailed along on the ground their swords and their lances with their points the contrary way in token that both the horses the drums the auncients and the armes haue lost their Master so likewise did the case stand with the Citie of Niniuie c. Ionas put Niniuie to such a strict penance and sorrow for their sinnes that it did appease the wrath of God towards them The Prophet presumed it should be destroyed and therefore Ionas went out of the Citie and sate on the East side thereof and there made him a booth and sate vnder it in the shadow till he might see what should bee done in the Citie Thinking perhaps with himselfe that God would not now make an end of the Citie all at once but that he would destroy a great part thereof as he did in the adoration of the golden Calfe when as pardoning the people hee slew a great number of them Now God had prepared a Gourd for Ionas and made it to come vp ouer him that it might bee a shadow ouer his head and deliuer him from his griefe Other Authors giue it other names But the strangenesse of it was that it grew vp all in a day The Prophet was exceeding glad to see himselfe so wel sheltred by this Gourd from the heat of the Sunne which did shrewdly scortch him Laborauerat enim It vexed him verie sore So that before it went verie ill with him and his ioy was so much the more encreased for that he saw God had such a care to cherish and make much of him Sure thought he he makes no small account of me that vseth me thus kindly But God shortly after prepared a worme which smote the Gourd that it withered Et percussit Sol super caput Iona astuabat The Sunne beat vpon the head of Ionas and he fainted Who could haue the patience to endure this Was it the Sun or was it fire that should thus prouoke him to cry out Melius est mihi mori quam viuere It is better for me to die than to liue But God reprehended Ionas for this desperate speech of his Putas ne bene irasceris Iona How nâ—w Ionas What 's the matter with thee Doost thou well to bee angrie for the Gourd Doost thou find thy selfe grieued that I haue made this Gourd to wither which came vp in a night and perished in a night and wilt thou not suffer me to be sencible of the destruction of this so great a Citie wherein there are sixescore thousand persons which cannot discerne betwixt the right hand and the left Doth it touch thee that thou art not esteemed in thine owne Countrie And wilt thou not pittie Niniuie whom thou hast drawne by thy preaching vnto them to repentance Niniuie yeelded vnto thee at the first words of thy voyce but Iuda still stands out obstinately in her malice against my calling vpon her And therefore at the day of judgement the men of Niniuie shall condemne them for a stiffe necked generation and a hard hearted People seeing they without any miracles were conuerted and turned vnto me at the preaching of one poore â—â—nas Et ecce plus quam Ionas hîc And behold a greater than Ionas here Hierusalem seeing so many miracles perseuereth in her incredulitie and therefore Niniuie shall stand and Hierusalem shall be destroyed At the day of judgement thou shalt stand confounded and ashamed that a barbarous ignorant and vnbeleeuing Nation which is a great disgrace to a man of honor that one that is so farre inferiour to thee should come to be so farre preferred before thee As those Cities where most of our Sauiours great workes were done were vpbraided by him because they repented not pronouncing a woe to Chorazin and a woe to Bethsaida For if saith he the great workes which were done in you had been done in Tyrus and Sydon they had repented long agone in Sacke-cloath and Ashes Regina Austri The Queene of the South shall rise in judgement c. Some man may say The historie of Niniuie was sole and without example in the world it 〈◊〉 not it's fellow For which cause he sets downe another example of the Queen of the South of whom there is mention made in the third of the Kings and in the second of Chronicles The Queene of the South came from Morol an Islâ—â—â— of Aethyopia as Origen Saint Hierome Saint Austen Anselmus and Iosephus saith and onely to heare the wisedome of Salomon Et ecce 〈◊〉 quam Salomon hîc And behold a greater here than Salomon It was much that the barbarous people of Niniuie should beleeue Ionas who sought after them and not they after him But much more is it that an Aethyopian Queene should seeke after â— King to hir so great trouble and cost Ecce plus quam Salomon hîc When the Preacher is of that great power and authoritie that he both sayes and does the little fruit that they reap thereby is euermore attributed to the hardnesse of the hearer And that he might teach this People this lesson he saith Ecce plus quam Salomon hîc Behold a greater than Salomon is here He was greater than Ionas for if he were obeyed by the Niniuites our Sauiour had obeysance done him by all the Elements if Ionas had a grace in his deliuerie and spake with a spirit it was our Sauiour that gaue it him if Ionas did inlighten a Citie our Sauiour did illuminate the whole world if Ionas did preach bloud threatnings and death our Sauiour did publish our saluation life and hope of Heauen He was better than Salomon for his wisedome was humane and earthly but that of our Sauiour diuine and heauenly Salomon neuer wrought any miracles but those of our Sauiour were without number In a word betweene the Queene of the South and the Pharisees betweene our Sauiour and Salomon there is a great antithesis and contrarietie The Queene was a Barbarian and ignorant they Doctours and learned in the Lawes she wonderfull desirous to heare a man they loath to heare a God she offered to Salomon great gifts they to our Sauiour vinegar and gall shee did so wonder at Salomons wisedome that she said Fame had belied him and that Report came too short of his praise but
out of it's stubbornenesse say vnto God I will not But admit it should say I will the miracle is no lesse but rather a manifest token of Gods diuine power and omnipotencie It is likewise to be noted That all the entrances which our Sauiour Christ made were with a great deale of noyse and clamour In that first which he made in the world Haggie prophecied That he should turne the Heauen and the Earth topsi-turuie And God did performe it vsing as his Instrument therein the Emperour Octauianus Augustus In that which hee made into Aegypt he did trouble all that Kingdome by throwing their Idolls downe to the ground as it was prophecied by Esayas Commouebuntur simulachra Aegypti So doth Procopius declare it Eusebius Athanasius and Saint Austen But say That in these his entrances there was a generall motion yet was there not a generall obedience But here Commota est vniuersa Ciuitas The Greeke saith Velut terrae motu concussa fuit As if it had suffered an vniuersal earthquake there was neither old man nor woman nor child c. This is a great encarecimiento or endeering of the matter First Because our Sauiour preaching about the Cities and Townes of that Kingdome the Euangelists deliuer vnto vs That all the Inhabitants that were in those parts left their houses and their villages emptie and forsaken and only for to follow him S. Marke he saith Et conueniebant ad eum vndique vt iam non posset manifeste introire in Ciuitatem sed in Desertis locis esset And Saint Luke That they troad one another vnder foot and crusht the breath out of their bodies and only to presse to heare him Ita vt se mutuò suffocarent But it is to be supposed that many likewise staid at home but in this his entrance into Hierusalem God would haue this lot to light vpon all and therefore it is said Vniuersa Ciuitas The whole Citie Seâ—ondly In regard of the infinite number of Inhabitants that were in that Citie which as Plinie reporteth was in those dayes the famousest in all the East And in a manner all those that haue writ thereof make mention of foure millions of persons Iosephus relateth That the President of Syria beeing desirous to render an account vnto Nero of the greatnesse of that Commonwealth did desire of the high Priests that they would giue him a true note of the number of those Lambs which they sacrificed one Sabboth which were afterwards eaten by seuerall companies and Housholds some consisting of ten some of 15 and some 20 soules and they found that they did sacrifice at euerie one of those their solemne Sabboths two hundred fiftie six thousand and fiue hundred Lambes which according to the rate of fifteene persons in a companie amount to foure millions and fiue hundred thousand But withall it is to be noted that neither the Sicke nor the children were present thereat But here Vniuersa Ciuitas The whole Citie came some out of passion and some out of affection Thirdly For that our Sauior Christ was alreadie condemned to death by the Chapter house of the Clergie who had called a Conuocation to send out Serjeants and Souldiers for the apprehending of him and had published Proclamations of rewards to those that should bring him bound vnto them that then and at such a time the whole Citie should receiue him with Songs and acclamations of King Messias and God being a proscribed man and doomed to death Haec mutatio dextrae excelsi This was an alteration which could not proceed but from the most High Commota est vniuersa Ciuitas The whole Citie was mooued Ierusalem had beene long settled in it's vices Visitabo super viros defixos in sordibus suis Moab requieuit in faecibus suis I will search Ierusalem with candles and punish the men that are settled on their lees c. And as the wise Phisitions stirre and trouble the humours cause loathings and gripings in the stomacke so our Sauiour Christ in the breast of euerie one causeth a squeamishnesse of the stomacke by moouing and stirring those foule dregges of sinne wherewith they were corrupted Et commota est vniuersa Ciuitas Many old diseases are woont to be cured with some sudden passion as of sorrow or feare or by some great and violent vomit for euerie one of these accidents make a pause in the humours and detaine the spirits An Ague hath been seen to be put out of his course and quite taken away by the sudden drawing of a sword vpon the Patient and a Palsey driuen away with the sight of a mans enemie And Horace telleth vs That a couetous Miser was recouered of a great Lethargie by the Physitions feigning that his heires were carrying away his bagges of money and the Chests wherein his Treasure lay In like manner in the infirmities of the Soule one turbation one disquieting one breaking vp of those Chests wherein our sinnes are massed vp may bee the recouerie of our perdition This made Dauid to say of his Soule Sana contritiones eius quia commota est O Lord my Soule is troubled within me when I consider the foulenesse of my sinnes it is sad and melancholy for the verie griefe thereof it is much disquieted And therefore ô Lord Sana contritiones eius affoord me thy helping hand for it is now high time to cure me of my sore Quis est hic Who is this This was a question of the enuious and appassionated Pharisees Howbeit it seemeth to Origen That it should proceed from some good honest people c. Howsoeuer it was a question whereunto no man could fully answer put Theologie the sacred Scripture the Doctors the Saints the Councells the Arts the Sciences and all the Hierarchies of Angells put them all I say together and put this question vnto them and after that they haue said all they can say all will be too little to satisfie this demand of Quis est hic Who is this One of Iobs friends treating of the Maiestie and greatnesse of God and how incomprehensible a thing it was saith Forsitan vestigia Dei comprehendes Et vsque ad perfectum omnipotentem reperies Canst thou by searching find out Gods footsteps Canst thou find out the Almightie vnto perfection By the tracke of his footsteps he vnderstandeth these inferior things that are guided and gouerned by his prouidence And by perfection which is the head of all the highnesse of his Wisedome In a word In all God is altogether inuestigable in regard of his heigth the Heauens come short of him Excelsior Coelo est see then if thou canst reach vnto him Which consideration made Saint Austen to say That God is not onely present in earth which is his footstoole and in Heauen which is his Throne but in those which are to be immagined elsewhere How then canst thou reach vnto him beeing more deepe than Hell longer than the Earth and broader than the
liued to bee the Yron Age. But I say That this present Age which we now inioy is the happiest that euer our Church had For in those former times those that were the learnedest and the holiest men fled into the Desarts and hid themselues in Caues that they might not bee persecuted with Honours For they had no sooner notice of a holy man albeit he liued coopt vp in a corner but that they forced him thence clapping a Miter on his head and other dignities And there are verie strange Histories of this truth But to all those that liue now in these times I can giue them these glad tydings That they may inioy their quiet and sit peaceably at home in their priuat lodgings resting safe and secure that this trouble shall not come to their doores for now a dayes onely fauour or other by-respects of the flesh haue prouided a remedie for this euill Non est meum dare vobis It lies not in me to giue you Christ would rather seeme to lessen somewhat of his power than to lessen any thing of his loue And therefore he doth not say I will not doe it for that would haue beene too foule and churlish a word in the mouth of so mild a Prince and he should thereby haue done wrong to his own will who desires that all might haue such seats as they did sue to sit in Saint Ambrose vnfoldeth our Sauiours meaning Bonus Dominus maluit dissimulare de jure quam de charitate deponere He had rather they should question his right than his loue The selfe same Doctor saith That he made choice rather of Iudas than any other though to man it might seeme that hee therein wronged his wisedome for the World might from thence take occasion to say That he did not know how to distinguish of men being that he had made choyce of such an Apostle But this was done out of his especiall prouidence saith Saint Ambrose in fauour of his loue For he being in our opinion to runne the hazard of his wisedome or his loue he had rather of the two suffer in his wisedome for no man could otherwise presume of him but that he loued Iudas The History of Ionas proues this point who refused to go to Niniuie it seeming vnto him that both God and himselfe should as Nazianzen saith be discredited in the world But he willed him the second time That he should go to Niniuie and that he should preach vnto them Yet fortie dayes and Niniuie shall be ouerthrowne At last hee was carried thither perforce whither hee would or no And the reason why God carried this businesse thus was That if afterwards hee should not destroy this Citie he might happely hazard the opinion of his power but not of his loue The like is repeated by Saint Chrysostome Ionas did likewise refuse to goe to Niniuie that he might not at last be found a Lyer esteeming more the opinion of his truth than of his loue Hence ariseth in the Prelats and the Princes this word Nolumus Wee will not haue it so which sauours of too much harshnesse and tyrannie Sic volo sic jubeo sit pro ratione voluntas Their will is a Law vnto them But he that shall make more reckoning of the opinion of his willingnesse and of his loue than of his power and his wisedome will say Non possum I cannot it is not in my power to doe it It grieues mee to the verie heart and I blush for shame that I am not able to performe your desire Which is a great comfort for him that is a suitor when hee shall vnderstand that his Petition is not denied out of disaffection but disabilitie When Naboth was to bee sentenced to death the Iudges did proclaime a Fast And Abulensis saith That it was a common custome amongst the Iudges in those dayes whensoeuer they did pronounce the sentence of death against an Offendor to the end to giue the World to vnderstand That that mans death did torment and grieue their Soule For to condemne a man to death with a merrie and cheerefull countenance is more befitting Beasts than Men. When our Sauiour Christ entred Hierusalem in Triumph the ruine of that famous Citie representing it selfe vnto him hee shed teares of sorrow Doth it grieue thee ô Lord that it must be destroyed Destroy it not then I cannot doe so for that will not stand with my Iustice. O Lord doe not weepe then I cannot choose And why good Lord Because it will not stand with my Mercie And that Iudge who euer hee be if hee haue any pittie in the world in him cannot for his heart bloud when hee sentenceth a Malefactor to some grieuous punishment or terrible torment but haue some meltingnesse in his eyes and some sorrow in his heart God so pierce our hearts with pittie and compassion towards our poore afflicted brethren that hauing a fellow-feeling of their miseries wee may finde fauour at his hands who is the Father of Pittie and onely Fountaine of all Mercie THE FIFTEENTH SERMON VPON THE THVRSEDAY AFTER THE SECOND SONDAY IN LENT LVC. 16. Homo quidam erat Diues induebatur Purpura Bysso There was a certaine rich man who was cloathed in Purple and fine Linnen AMongst those Parables which our Sauiour preacht some were full of pittie and loue others of feares and terrors some for noble brests others for base and hard hearts some had set vp for their marke the encouraging of our hopes others the increasing of our feares some seruing for comfort to the Godly and some for example to the Wicked That which wee are to treat of to day hath all these comforts for the Poore which liue in hunger and in want pined and consumed with miserie And threatnings for the Rich who say vnto their riches and their pleasures I am wholly yours There was a certaine rich man c. The first thing that he was charged withall is That he was rich Not because rich men are damned because they are rich but because he is damned who placeth his happinesse in them and makes them the onely aime of his desires And hence it commeth to passe that desired riches vsually prooue more hurtfull than those that are possessed for these sometimes doe not occupie the heart but those that are desired and coueted by vs doe wholly possesse it and lead it which way they list And therefore Dauid aduiseth vs not to set our hearts vpon them Hee that longeth and desireth to bee rich euen to imaginarie riches resigneth vp his heart Saint Paul did not condemne rich men but those that did desire to bee rich The Deuill sets a thousand ginnes and snares about those that haue set their desires vpon riches What greater snare than that pit-fall which was prepared as a punishment for Tantalus who standing vp to the chinne in water could yet neuer come to quench his thirst Non est satiatus venter eius His bellie was
me vp Where it is to be noted That it is one thing to eat and feed vpon the zeale of Gods House and his seruice and another thing to be eaten of it one while there is an Ecclesiasticall another while a secular Iudge which is verie diligent in his office out of the hatred that he hath to Delinquents and hee is held to bee a verie zealous man But hee eats growes fat and waxeth rich with this his zeale and such a one eats of the zeale of the house of God but is not eaten of it But there are others that are dried vp and consumed of the zeale which they beare to the Seruice of God Tabescere me fecit zelus meus who wasting their wealth their health and their liues in this their zeale doe more resent the wrongs that are done to God than those that are offered to themselues Saint Paul saith Quis scandalizatur ego non vror Which made Saint Chrysostome to say That of six hundred thousand miracles one cannot bee found that may bee compared with this his zeale his owne tribulations and torments he calls them Glorie and the offences done vnto God he calls Fire which burnes him Lo here a miracle a strange kind of zeale Zeale is the Child of Loue but it is somewhat more inflamed and more pure than Loue. To Loue we attribute two powerfull effects The one That it is the authour of the greatest acts and noblest exployts that man can performe Esay in his ninth Chapter maketh an enumeration of Gods greatest acts To vs a Child is borne to vs a sonne is giuen the gouernment is vpon his shoulder c. And for an vpshot of these his glorious acts he addeth this Zelus Domini exercituum faciet hoc The zeale of the Lord of Hosts shall doe this Amongst Gods attributes we consider a celestiall competencie in the greatest mysteries of his life and of his death but in the end Loue gets the victorie and glory of the day The second effect of Loue is To conuert it selfe wholly to the seruice of the thing beloued He that is enamoured of God will willingly pardon the iniuries that are done to himselfe but those that are offered to God hee will neuer forgiue And Ecclesiasticus renders the reason of it Cognoui quod in multa scientia multa sit indignatio He that hath little knowledge of God finds himselfe but little offended when the Maiestie of God is wronged and abused but hee that knowes much is much offended when offence is offered to the partie he loues A little child is neuer offended at vice or vicious men Cum essem parvulus sapiebam vt parvulus but a well growne man will like Mathias kill an Idolator or like Phineas slay a fornicator and set vpon a blasphemer c. or vpon a whole citie like Simeon and Leui. Et cumfecisset quasi flagellum He made as it were a whip For the chasticements of God in this life seeme to be whips and scourges but they are not Quasi morientes ecce viuimus No like is the same that which is as it were such a thing is not the thing it selfe Our life seemeth to be death but it is not death our portion pouertie but it is not so Sicut egentes multos autem locupletantes There are three reasons of this Truth The one That these whips come short of those scourges at the day of Iudgement which will be most fearefull and most terrible Saint Mathew cals them but the beginning of sorrowes Haâ— autem initia sunt dolorum Those are not sorrowes which are so soone ended Of Antiochus his cruelties whose souldiers slew in three dayes fourescore thousand persons captiuated fortie thousand and sould as many more for slaues not pardoning either old men women or children the Text saith Propter peccata c. For the sinnes of those that inhabited the Citie God was a little angrie Of those cruell torments which the Martyrs endured being fried roasted broyled dragged quartered and sawne in sunder Wisedome saith They are punished in few things but in many things shall they be wel rewarded Another reason Because these whips are not directed to our hurt and perdition but for our amendment as Iudith said in the siege of Bethulia Haec ipsa supplicia non ad perditionem sed ad emendationem euenisse credamus They are the whips of a father that will not kill his sonne but correct and amend him And therefore Dauid calls this whip Virgam Directionis The rod of Direction The third and last Because whips and scourges are perforce for to giue one a stripe or a lash you must perforce hold the whip in your hand and straine your selfe thereunto And therefore it is said Cum fecisset quasi flagellum Christ had neuer a whip about him the Merchants themselues put it into his hands Seneca saith That the nature of the gods are so farre from anger either towards others or in themselues and of that goodnesse clemencie louingnesse and peaceablenesse that if they stretch out their arme or lift vp their hand to punish you you your selues must force and driue them thereunto by your sinnes and offences And therefore Esay saith Indignatio non est mihi Quis mihi dabit Spinam Veprem Saint Hierome My People will not beleeue that I can be angrie they take me to be so good so louing that they cannot presume that any anger can proceed from my brest Who will furnish me with a Thorne or a Bramble that I may make my People to feare me Iob treating of the Deuill said Ipse est principium viarum Dei He is the chiefe of the wayes of God Saint Thomas saith vpon this place That God hath two wayes The one of mercie The other of justice The former is mentioned by Dauid Vniuersae viae Domini misericordia veritas All the wayes of God are Mercy and Truth God was Author of the first by creating man in Paradise for to translate him from thence to heauen But the diuell running a contrary course gaue the first beginning to the way of Iustice. For if there had beene no fault there had beene no punishment Two things Eliphaz told Iob when he came to comfort him The one That God was neuer Authour of the death of the righteous The other That many sinners perished at the breath of his nostrills Quin potius inueni multos flante deo perijsse Where by the way Saint Gregorie hath noted That for to breath outward ayre is necessarie the ayre must bee without so that thou art he that makest thine owne rod and that prouidest materialls for God According to that of Solomon His owne iniquities shall take the wicked himselfe and he shall be holden with the cords of his owne sinne The gluttonie made the whip for thy gout thy vncleannesse for thy pocks thy sweates and colds for thy sciatica thy paintings for thy Megrims
other the conuerted were but few but in the Resurrection they were without number as it appeareth out of the Acts. Our Sauior Christs answer was somewhat of the darkest to their clouded vnderstanding And albeit they drew from thence a different sense and contrarie meaning yet might it serue as a signe vnto them that hee was able to doe that which he did And they that would deny that he could destroy the Temple and build it vp againe in three dayes which was but a materiall Temple would more stifly denie that he could dye and rise againe the third day by his owne vertue and power Saint Matthew accuseth these men to be false witnesses Hic dixit which was the Iewes accusation Possum destruere Templum Dei. First because they did wrest the sence and true meaning of our Sauiour Secondly because they did alter and change the words Thirdly because their proceeding against him was malicious Whence I may reade this lesson to your Lawyers your Registers and your Scriueners That one Tilde or Tittle may condemne them of falshood When our Sauiour Christ said of Saint Iohn Si cum volo manere donec veniam quid hoc ad te If I will that he tarry till I come when Peter was so inquisitiue of him what should become of the Disciple whom he loued and leaned in his bosome what is it to thee Doe thou follow mee Then went this word streight amongst the brethren That this Disciple should not dye But the Euangelist did correct this their mistake For Iesus said not to him He shall not dye But if I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee Iob said Ye shall not find iniquitie in my tongue But Zophar one of his friends laid it to his charge Dixisti enim Purus est sermo mâ—â—â— mundus sum in conspectu tuo For thou hast said My doctrine is pure and I am cleane in thine eyes And albeit it may seeme that he charged him herewith vpon his owne confession yet Saint Gregory giues it for a calumnie and slander because Zophar had altered and changed his words God make vs so pure both in Doctrine and life that when this Temple of our bodies shall be destroyed it may by the mercie of our Sauior Iesus Christ be raised againe THE XXVII SERMON VPON THE TVESDAY AFTER THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT IOHN 7.14 Iam die festo mediante c. Now when the Feast was halfe done Iesus went vp into the Temple and taught c. SEuen continued dayes one after another the Feast of the Tabernacles was celebrated in the chiefe citie Ierusalem which was one of the three principall Passeouers of the Iewes solemnising the same in remembrance of that benefit which God did to that People in leading them fortie yeares through the Desart not hauing any house wherein to dwell and yet not wanting tents or booths wherein to lodge themselues To this Feast came all of all sorts from all parts of the land of Promise building themselues Cabbins in the fields Iosephus saith That they vsed Tents from whence they went to the Temple and performed their Offerings for their families according to their abilitie Christ came on the Tuesday to this Solemnitie of this opinion is Saint Augustine though some others are of the mind that he came thither at the verie beginning of the Feast though he did not make himselfe knowne till he saw a more conuenient time He preached to the People and so deepe was his Doctrine that the Iewes wondring thereat said one to another Quomodo hic literas scit cum non ded scerit How knoweth this man the Scriptures seeing that he neuer learned And howbeit this their voyce of admiration was secret and whispered in the eare from one to another yet Christ made answer thereunto in publique shewing therein the pledges and tokens of his Diuinitie saying openly vnto them My Doctrine is not myne but his that sent me He that shall truly endeauour to doe his will shall know it is his but hee that preacheth his owne proper doctrine seeks after his owne honour and commendation but he that preacheth Gods Doctrine can neither lie nor offend therein The Iewes did lay a double slander vpon him The one Seducit turbas He seduceth the People The other Sabbathum non custodit He keepes not the Sabboth But this his answer giues a blur to them both Moses saith hee gaue you a Law and yet none of you keepeth the Law Why go yee then about to kill me For euer since that hee cured him that lay so long at the Fish-poole they sought after his life In a word this muttering and whispering of theirs tended onely to the apprehending of him but not any one of them durâ—â—â—y hands vpon him because his houre was not yet come and many of the People beeing woon by his miracles and his doctrine beleeued in him Iesus went vp into the Temple and taught c. One of the greatest benefits which the world receiued by our Sauiours comming was That hee reading in Heauens Chaire to so wise and discreet a companie who by onely reading in the booke of his Essence were instructed in all kind of truth did not for all this disdaine to become a Schoolemaster to little children here vpon earth accommodating the profoundnesse of his deep learning to our rude and weake capacity accomplishing that of Saint Iohn Erunt omnes docibiles Dei They shall be all taught of God And this may be verified of those Angells and blessed Saints that are in Heauen and of those faithfull ones that are vpon earth for the verie selfe same truths he taught them in the Temple of his glorie which he did these other in his Church only differenced in this That they see them and we beleeue them Many Doctors haue sate and read in their Chaire here vpon earth but because they dranke not of the water of his Doctrine in this Schoole but in the duâ—tie puddles of lies and falshoods they were as Iob saith The farmers of lies and the followers of peruerse opinions And as there are Artisans for Idols which carue them guild them and adore them so are there Artisans of lies and false opinions which frame them set them forth with painted eloquence and adore them as if they should guide them to the end of their happinesse He taught The Euangelist doth not here set downe the Theame of his Sermon but in the Chapter of Wisedome Salomon saith Shee teacheth sobernesse and prudence righteousnes strength which are the most profitable things that men can haue in this life Two things the Scripture doth euery foot repeat of this celestiall Doctor The one The profitablenesse of his Doctrine Ego Dominus doceâ—s vtilia so saith Esay I am the Lord thy God which teach thee to profit and lead thee by the way that thou shouldst goe And Saint Iohn saith Verba quae loquor spiritus
forme and course of his life must not seeme to be the same man that he was before It is Philons note That it must fare with him as it did with Enoch of whom the Scripture saith Transtulit eum Dominus from this earthly life he must passe to a heauenly life Esay did prophecie That vpon our Sauiour Christs comming the dens of Theeues should be turned into Gardens and that the Lyons should become as mild and gentle as Lambes In cubilibus vbi Dracones habitabant orietur viror iunei c. Si dormiatis inter medios cleros pennae columbae de argentata c. The Translation renders it Inter medios tripodes Though ye haue lien amongst the Triueâ—s and blackest Pots of Aegypt yet through repentance you shall be as the wings of a Doue couered with siluer her feathers with yellow gold Vpon Saint Pauls conuersion the People did not know him Nonne hic est said they qui expugnabat Hierusalem Is not this he that hath done much euill to thy Saints at Ierusalem So likewise they said of this blind man Nonne hic est qui sedebat mendicans Is not this he that sate and begged Of a poore begger he came to be a learned Doctor and did confute many of the best and learnedst Students of Ierusalem Secondly He was an Instrument of Gods omnipotencie and power whose blazon is to ouercome swelling pride and puffing arrogancie with the lowest basenesse and the weakest frailtie Plinie reporteth That Rats did dispeople one citie and Conies another but much more was it to ouerthrow Pharâ—â—h by Flies and poore sillie Gnats If a Lyon feare a Cocke and a Bull a Waspe out of a kind of instinct of nature Why should not a man stand in feare of such a Flie or a Waspe whom God furnishes with a sting The Babylonish fire did no hurt to the three children that were in the middest of the firie Furnace but the flames that came out from thence did burne many of those Ministers and Officers that were appointed to throw Faggots into the Furnace Viros autem qui miserant interfecit flamma ignis The Hebrew translation renders it Scintillae The poore little sparks that flew from out the flame c. Thou ô Lord that canst of a sparke make a flame increase our Faith and inflame our loue towards thee that we may with this blind man stedfastly beleeue and so come to see thy Glorie c. THE XXIX SERMON VPON THE THVRSEDAY AFTER THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT LVC. 7.11 Ibat Iesus in Ciuitatem Nain And Iesus went into a Citie called Nain c. A Most famous encounter the Euangelist doth here recite vnto vs which hapned at the gates of the Citie Nain hee tells vs of a Lyon that was deuouring swallowing down a Sheepe and of a Dauid that ranne in and tooke it out of his throat of a Theefe that had stolne a most pretious jewell and of a Iudge that taking him in the manner with the theft in his hand tooke it away from him leauing him confounded and ashamed Of two Fountaines the one of bitter waters the other so sweet and sauorie that it tooke from those bitter Fountaines all it's gall and bitternesse Of Death and of Life Death turning coward vpon this encounter and flying according to that prophecie of Abacus from before the face of our Sauiour Christ And of a young man that was carried out of the Citie vpon a beere to be buried whom his mother went to accompanie to the graue with teares in her eyes and many more besides Vpon which occasion our Sauior shewed himselfe Lord of Death and Life Iesus went into a Citie called Nain c. The Euangelist had formerly mentioned that myracle of Peters mother in Law that of the Leaper of the Centurions seruant and continuing the same straine he here goes on with a factum est deinceps And it came to passe that the day after hee went vnto a Citie called Nain where in the verie gate of the Citie he met with a sad companie that were going to a solemne Funerall full of teares and sorrow And albeit this may seeme to be a casuall thing and that hapned as wee say by hap-hazard yet was it the maine and chiefe care of our Sauiour Christ to prie into euerie corner of that holy land and not to skip ouer any one place therein which hee did not measure forth with his feet so that he did not omit that miserie whereunto hee did not giuâ— a remedie Suting with that saying Et sanabat omnes And he cured them all shewing therein what a good account he made of his office of a Sauiour since his first comming into the world There are two things which make a man very eminent in his office The one His inclination and good intentions which are the feet of our soule The other His paines taking and continuall occupation in all kind of Arts as well Mechanicall as Liberall And in verie truth in all both good and euill exercises so powerfull is mans naturall inclination That although a man may smother it for a time yet like fire vnder ashes it will at last breake forth into a flame and discouer his true disposition A theefe will neuer leaue his inclination to theeuing though he hath often escapt the gallowes Nor a Cheater to his cogging nor a Merchant to his trading nor the Marriner to his nauigation nor the Huntsman to his hunting nor the souldiour his disposition to warre though he haue discontinued it neuer so long Dauid was growne old and well stroken in yeares when his sonne Absalon rose vp in rebellion against him and yet they could not perswade him from going into the field though the whole Army were against it and cryed out Thou shalt not goe forth And they gaue him a very good reason for it in the words following For if we flye said they they will not care for vs neither if halfe of vs dye will they care for vs but thou art worth tenne thousand c. And this is a kind of voluntary violence which with a sweet kind of pleasingnesse hales the heart of man along And the like reason may be rendered of continuall occupation and imployment it is death to such a one to be idle and he is no longer well then while he is in action Saint Gregory hath well obserued That Iob vpon euery the least occasion of happines that befell him it was his fashion of phrase and a vsuall custome with him to say The Lords name be praysed So that afterwards hauing formerly vsed himselfe thereunto in the tempest of his disasters and those bitter stormes of his aduerser fortunes it was neuer out of his mouth These two things were subsisâ—â—â—g in our Sauiour Christ in a superlatiue degree First so great was his inclination and desire to saue that for others welfare he was carelesse of his owne Secondly he was so solicitous of this
them That the one flyes like an arrow out of a bow and cuts the waues with a swift wing and that the other is a slugge and sayles very slowly And therefore of the way of a Ship in the sea and of a young man running on in a wanton course whereunto may be added the vncertaintie of the day of our death Salomon saith That they were things too wonderfull for him and past his finding out Efferebatur He was carryed out The word Efferebatur is worthy our consideration it being a plot and deuise of the diuell to carry the dead out of their Cities to bee buried for to blot the memory of the dead out of the minds of the liuing In the remembrance of death the Saints of God found these two great benefits The one Amendment of life The other Happinesse in death Touching the former it is by one common consent agreed vpon by the Fathers That the perfection of our life doth consist in the continuall meditation of death Plato called Philosophie Mortis meditationem A meditation of death affirming That the whole lesson of our life was to learne to dye The like saith Gregory Nazianzene Many Saints and Doctors haue demurr'd vpon this point In that God should deferre till the day of iudgement the reward of the body this may seeme an inequalitie to some but there is none at all in it For the dust and ashes of the body doe perswade and preach vnto vs the contempt of the world Asahel beeing slaine by Abner lying dead on the ground as many as came to the place where Asahel fell and dyed stood still as men amased This is that valiant Captaine this that vndoubted Souldier There is nothing that doth so quel the courage of Man and daunt his spirits as death it is natures terrour Those Spies that were sent out to discouer the Land of Promise were strucken into a great feare and amasement at the sight of those huge and monstrous Gyants In comparison of whom said they we seemed as Grashoppers Dreading that they were able to deuoure them aliue and to swallow them downe whole And therefore made this false relation at their return The land through which we haue gone to search it is a land that eateth vp the Inhabitants thereof but the people that raised this euill reporr died by a Plague More truly may it be said of Death That hee deuoureth the Inhabitants of the earth this is he that tameth the fiercest Gyants That dreame of Nabucadonezars which might haue beene powerfull receiuing it by reuelation to make him abate his pride and lay aside his arrogancie the Deuill presently blotted these good thoughts out of his remembrance The like course doth the Deuil now take with vs. He doth not go about to persuade vs as he did our father Adam that we are immortall But in two things he goes beyond vs and is too cunning for vs. The one That our death shall be delayed God saith Mors non tardat Death lingers not The Deuill sayes Tardat It lingers Moram faciet It loyters My Lord will delay his comming said the seruant in the Gospell But this feined supposition was his certaine perdition Ezechiel did prophecie the ruine of Ierusalem and the death and destruction of her Citisens telling them their desolation was neere at hand There shall none of my wordes be prolonged but the word which I haue spoken shall be done saith the Lord God But the Deuill did otherwise persuade with them making them to say The vision that hee seeth is for many dayes to come And hee prophecieth of the times that are farre off The wanton woman in the Prouerbes which inuited the yong man to her bed and boord sought to intice him by this meanes The good man is not at home hee is gone a long journey Therefore let vs take our fill of loue c. From this vaine hope of life ariseth that our greedinesse and couetousnesse to inioy and possesse the goods of this life And a little beeing more than enough for him yet it seemeth vnto man much cannot suffice him And it is an euill thought in man and much to be pittied that a man should afflict himselfe for that which neither hee himselfe nor all his posteritie shall liue to enioy O foolish man doost thou thinke thou shalt returne to liue againe in those goodly houses that thou hast built and to reinioy those pleasant gardens and orchards that thou hast planted No But mayst rather say to thy selfe These my eyes shall neuer see them more Why then so much carke and care for three dayes or thereabouts The Romans would not build a temple to Death nor to Pouertie nor Hunger judging them to bee inexorable gods But more inexorable is Death for man neuer returnes againe from Death to Life And therefore the Antients painted Death with the Tallons of a Griffine Saint Luke painting foorth the vigiles of the day of Iudgement and the anguish and agonie of the World he saith That many shall waxe fearefull and trouble their heads to see and thinke on those things Which shall befall the whole World Pondering in that place that they shall not bee sensible of their owne proper danger nor the aduenture wherin they stand of their saluation or condemnation yet cease not to afflict themselues with the losse of the World and that the world shall be consumed and be no more But ô thou foolish man if thou must dye return thither no more what is the world to thee when thou art at an end the World is ended with thee And if thou beest not to inioy it any more what is it to thee if God doe vtterly destroy it And all these euils arise from the forgetfulnesse of Death Hee liues secure from Danger that thinkes vpon the preuenting of Danger Saint Chrysostome expounding that place of Saint Luke He that will follow me must take vp his Crosse dayly and so come after mee Signifying that what our Sauiour pretended was That we should alwayes haue our death before our eyes I dye dayly saith the blessed Apostle Saint Paul My imagination workes that dayly vpon me which when my time is come Death shall effect There is no difficultie that is runne through at the first dash and there is not any difficultie so hard to passe through as Death A Shooe-maker that he may not loose the least peece of his leather or make any wast of it casts about how he may best cut it out to profit tries it first by some paper patterne c. Plutarch reporteth of Iulius Caesar that he beeing demaunded which was the best kind of Death Answered That which is sudden and vnlooked for Iulian the Emperour dying of a mortall wound gaue thankes vnto the gods that they did not take him out of this life tormenting him with some prolix and tedious sickenesse but by a hastie and speedie death And for that they doe not