any legall servitude imposed on man as punishment of his sins against God for this servitude tooke hold on the Individuals of humane nature not of the nature it selâ—e and since our Saviours Individuall person was one with that of God the second person of the Blessed Trinity he was not a Servant by any legall servitude falling on his person and so even his humane nature though servile as a creature was not yet servile as a sinfull man because he had not the least guilt of sinne in him and thus we see in captives humane nature is no slave though the man that is taken be made so when then we say humane nature was corrupted in Adam we doe mean every childe of Adam received a contagion or corruption from him and yet humane nature in the line of a creature to God was not corrupted so as to be a less perfect creature then it was before for that had been to corrupt the Essence not the Persons of mankinde whereas sin onely corrupted his State and not his Essence the Persons contracting Humane Nature and not the Nature of man it self for if so Christ being man made of that Humane Nature must have been corrupted in that nature at least which yet he was not By the Similitude of man in this verse we are to understand literally the external shape of man not the accidental or phantastical as the Hereticks said but the substantial and real shape though St. Augustine takes it here as for the predicament of habit which consists in Garments or Clothing and likens Christs Humanity to be as a Garment covering his Divinity or as Iron is made fiery or as Gold is made a Statue and even in that Sence the thing is as true as it is ingeniously expressed by St. Augustine By being made as man is not to say onely like man and not to be truly such but like here signifies to be so like as it is the very same as if a Statue should from a dead Stone be made move as a man moveth eat as a man eateth speak as a man speaketh why still by every one of these gradations the Statue becomes more like a man then it was before and when at last it had all the Faculties of a man it became as man indeed that is to say not onely like but really and truly man In this Sence our Saviour was said to be as man as if we said though he were truly God yet he did not appear to be so but appeared onely to be as man which truly he was as well as he was God 8. This humility was not an Act of God the Son to God the Father for so there is no commanding Power in the one over the other but of his Humanity both to his own Divine Person and to his heavenly Father too by dying on the Cross in vertue of this command Christ did humble himself as low as could be in regard no death was so vile and contemptible as that on the Cross was in the esteem of man in those days though since even for reverence no man is executed in that kinde so Christs Humility made this contempt become reverentiall 9. For the which Act of Humility and Obedience God hath exalted him his Humanity for his Deity could not be exalted and given him a name Here we are to note Calvins pervisity who took such a hatred against the Church for the Doctrine of merit that he hence denied Christ the honour of meriting this Exaltation by his Humiliation but says that for which is to be taken consecutively or consequently not causally as who should say after his Humility God rewarded him by exalting of him but not for his Humility or for the merit thereof which yet is an abominable Impiety and Heresie whereas we allow Christ by his Death not onely to have merited for mankind redemption whereof himself had no need who was from his first Conception Blessed by his Hypostatical Union but even for himself the Glory of his Body and the endowments of a glorious Body the highest place in Heaven above Saints and Angels nay the very setting at the right hand of God the Power to Judge all the world and the dominion over Heaven and Earth which were not onely due to him as united to his Deity but as merited by his Passion further he merited to have a name that is above all names and such a name it was when Christ was called God and the Son of God the name of the Messias so famous in this world lastly the name of Jesus and Redeemer of all mankinde which name though it were given him in circumcision yet it was not divulged to all the world till he was crucified so then he was truly said to have merited that name of Saviour and many times names are given to foretell what such men will merit before they dye thus was the Blessed Name of Jesus given to Christ foretelling how richly he would deserve to be called Saviour of the world 10 In the name of Jesus every knee shall bow because this name is greater then ever any other was for Jehovah which signified God creating and was the greatest that ever had before been heard of is not so great as God redeeming and that is meant by the name of Jesus whence the Church boldly says it had nothing availed us to be born unless to have been redeemed had made our birth availing to us So it is a greater abuse to blaspheme the name of Jesus then the name of God because God gave us more Grace and Benefit by our Redemption then he did by our Creation and Jesus includes both God and Saviour which God alone doth not whence the very Angels who were not redeemed bow their knees to the name of Iesus as convertible with that of God and therefore all mankinde hath much more reason so to do for the Devils they would refrain to honour it perhaps if they could but as it is they cannot since if no otherwise they must adore Man in the Person of God ever since Iesus took Humane Nature upon him 11. And every tongue not onely all Nations upon the Earth first or last shall confess that our Lord Iesus is in the Glory of his Father but every tongue of Angels and Devils as well as of Men and by saying he is in the glory of God the Father is understood more then that he sâ—tteth at his right hand namely that he is equal in Glory to God the Father since Iesus is not onely Man but joyntly God withal So that the summity or highest pitch of Iesus his praise is indeed this that the Man Iesus being God as well as Man is though as man much inferiour yet as God even equal to the Heavenly Father in Glory Power Majesty Goodness and all the other Attributes Divine which are given to Almighty God The Application 1. MOrtification Prayer and Alms-Deeds Perseverance in good Purposes The Fear of God and Holy Poverty were
this day is called White or Low â—unday because in the Primitive Church those Neophytes that on Easter Eve were Baptized and Clad in white Garments did to day put them off with this admonition that they were to keep within them a perpetuall candor of Spirit signified by the Agnus Dei hung about their necks which falling downe upon their breasts put them in minde what Innocent Lambes they must be now that of sinfull high and haughty men they were by Baptisme made Low and little children of Almighty God such as ought to retaine in their manners and lives the Paschall Feasts which they had accomplished * And thus we see an ample performance of our designe taking this Prayer in the true sence it hath The Epistle Ep. 1 Joan. cap. 5 v. 4 c. 4 Because all that is borne of God overcommeth the world And this is the victory which overcommeth the world our Faith 5 Who is he that overcommeth the world but he that beleeveth that Iesus is the Sonne of God 6 This is he that came by water and bloud Iesus Christ not in water only but in water and bloud And it is the Spirit which testifieth that Christ is the Truth 7 For there be three which give Testimony in heaven the Father the word and the Holy Ghost And these Three be One. 8 And there be Three which give Testimony in earth The Spirit Water and Bloud And these Three be one 9 If we receive the Testimony of men the Testimony of God is greater because this is the Testimony of God which is greater that he hath testified of his Son 10 He that beleeveth in the Sonne of God hath the Testimony of God in himselfe The Explication 4. THe Evangelist had in this Epistle and in the immediate verse before told us The love of God consisted in keeping his commands and that his commands are not heavy and this for divers reasons because compared to the grievous weighty precepts of the old ceremoniall Law they are nothing in a manner difficult at all For there were as Rabbi Moses did reckon them in his third Book two hundred and eighteen affirmative and three hundred sixty five negative precepts of the old Law which in the Law of Grace are reduced unto ten and those no other then even any reasonable man would exact of a creature towards God and of one man towards another for a quiet civill and honest neighbourhood and though to corrupted nature mortification may seeme hard yet to sound nature it is sweet and appetible at least as medicine is unto the sick person and as grace is the balsame that renders our corrupted nature sound againe so taking grace into the consideration as a help more powerfull then any impediment it is most true the Commandements are easie to a gratious soule to any one that hath in him the fear or love of God whence the Evangelist inferres that as by grace we are borne a new to in and of God so by this regeneration our feeble nature is made able enough to overcome all the world all the enemies and obstacles man hath betweene him and heaven which is the inheritance of Gods children whence Saint Bernard saith excellently well in his first Sermon upon this day it is an argument of our heavenly regeneration or new birth when we overcome temptations as therefore we are first borne children of God by Baptisme wherein we receive the infused vertues of Faith Hope and Charity so by contrition and confession after actuall sinne we are as it were new borne to God by his holy grace conferred on us againe and bringing back with it all those vertues and graces we had lost by reiterated sinnes But we are specially to note that this Text saith every thing that is borne of God overcommeth the world not every man because it is not by any naturall thing in man that he doth overcome sinne but by that which is supernaturall to wit Grace Faith Hope Charity and whence the Apostle saith immediately and this is the victory which overcomes the world our Faith by the victory he meanes the cause of our victory or the overcommer it selfe of the world whereupon Saint Leo Saint Cyprian and others said oftentimes a faithfull soule is farre greater then the world and one who is in heaven looks upon the earth as on a contemptible point so that it was most truly said of Saint Marke cap. 9. verse 23. All things are possible to him that beleeveth nay we see a strong and lively Faith hath in it a kinde of omnipotency when it commands as it were that to be done which none but God can do And what was it that brought the Infidell world and all the Monarchs thereof to the subjection of the yoke of Christ but Faith how then every way waâ— it true that Faith is the Victory or the Victrix rather that overcomes the whole world for by Faith we captivate our stubborne wils to reason and so quell as well the inward as the outward enemies to Christ and how doe Martyrs else by dying conquer death as Christ did on the Crosse but by dying for the Faith and in the Faith of Christ 5. None else indeed can doe it for in beleeving this we are forced to oppose all other that deny it and if in that opposition we lose our lives rather then our Faith we get the Victory of all the world that persecutes us for it and of death it selfe for he that beleeves this hopes in Iesus and hoping cals upon him and calling him to aide loves him and loving him takes courage to defie all his Enemies which are the world the flesh and the devill and in scorning them gets force to resist them and in resisting obtaines grace to overcome them 6. This is the Messias that Ezechiel cap. 36. v. 25. and Zachary cap. 13. v. 1. foretold should come in water and bloud alluding to the water of holy Baptisme and to the bloud he shed upon the Crosse and to verifie this both bloud and water issued out of his pierced side as he hung upon the Crosse as also of teares and bloud in his circumcision in his Prayer in the garden and in his whipping at the Pillory in memory of all which in the sacrifice of the Masse water is mixed with the wine that is to be consecrated By the Spirit testifying Christ to be verity is understood the holy Ghost descending and confirming the Apostles in grace and in beliefe of all that Christ had said unto them as if not onely a true man but God and man had told them and consequently verity it selfe for God is no lesse then very verity So Saint John rests not content to have given us the double Testimony of bloud and water without he had added also the sumnity or height of all Testimony the pure Spirit of Almighty God Nor are they out of the way that understand this place to be meant also of the testimony of the
Ghost is made manifest who is the Authour of all supernatural gifts The profit whereunto these gifts are given is rather to the Church then to him that receives them for gratuite graces ever avail the Church but not so him who receives them as miracles may be wrought by a sinner who doth not profit by them perhaps at all yet the Church doth 8. By the word of wisdome is understood the power to explicate deep mysteries of Faith as of the B. Trinity Incarnation praedestination or the like By the word of knowledge or science is understood the power to direct mens actions or manners that they be rational at least Thus S. Augustine lib. 12. Trinit cap. 14. 15. distinguisheth between wisdome and science or knowledge 9. By Faith here is not understood that act of Theological vertue which is common to all Christians but an act of particular confidence in God whereby it is believed he will by vertue of that our confidence work a miracle being asked so to do by such a Faith as is able to remove mountains Others understand by Faith here a deep understanding inabling to contemplate and explicate the mysteries of Faith 10. By miracles here are understood those which are extraordinary and are exercised not onely upon the body but even on the soules of men such as was that of S. Peter upon Ananias and Saphyra commanding them to dye By discretion of spirits is meant when God gives one man the grace to see into the very thoughts and intentions of others to know when an action is done by a good or evil spirit by God or the devil a gift to be begged by ghostly Fathers and conducing to their conduct of soules These gifts S. Hilarion was noted to have By interpretation of languages is understood a special gift frequent in the primitive Church whereby men illuminated for that end did give the true sense of Scripture and of those who being ignorant yet had the gift of Tongues and to spake more then themselves well understood but were by Interpretâ—rs expounded 11. Namely as that Spirit as the holy Ghost pleaseth The Application 1. St. Paul in this Epistle first puts the Corinthians and â—n them all other Christians in mind of the horrid Nothing that they were before their conversion from Gentilisme to Christianity And his aym in this is that as nothing was more abominable to the Gentiles then the name of Jesus Christ so nothing ought to be more reverential to Christians then that most sacred and most saving name insomuch as S. Paul concludes it is an Apostacy from God a relapse to Gentilisme not onely to use irreverence to the name of Jesus but to conceive we have any other life or being then what is purchac'd in that sweetest name 2. Notwithstanding true it is we have life often given us by the holy Ghost the special giver indeed of holy grace which is the â—ife and being of a Christian and hence it is S. Paul had no sooner inamoured the Corinthians on the Name of Jesus then he falls instantly upon the gifts of the holy Ghost sent from his heavenly Father and from his sacred Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to multiply on us the mercies of Almighty God as if to have been once redeemed by Christ had not satisfied his infinite goodnesse without he had also made this Redemption copious by sending his holy Spirit to re-redeem us by his graces from the relapses into sinne that render our first redemption fruitlesse unlesse it had been more copious yet by the multiplyed mercies of the holy Ghost applying the Passion of our Saviour to us by some new gift of grace bestowed upon us as often as we take religious breath into our bodies by calling on the Name of Jesus with an aweful reverence thereunto as befits all Christians to do and for this purpose it is S. Paul falls into the enumeration of the gratuite gifts of God the graces that are meerly gratis given not such as are usual and absolutely necessary for our sayntification or justification but such as rather serve to shew the multiplication of Gods holy Power and Mercies over us 3. Blessed God! how art thou perpetually out-doing thine own goodnesse by thy continual effusion of thy self upon our iniquity how art thou giving daily more and more manifestation and consequently much more admiration to the blessed Angels and Saints in heaven by multiplying thy mercies on us sinners here in earth whom all those happy spirits may give a thousand thousand times for lost when they see how we run after nothing but the sordid gain and pleasure of the world the sweets that poyson the contents that damne our soules and yet by the multiplication of thy mercies we are sweetly forc'd maugre the impulse of devil flesh and bloud to let go all our hold on the possessed shadowes of this world and to run after the promised substances of the next But how my God are we forc't to this by the manifestation of thy Power in the multiplication of thy mercies according as was said before in the Illustration Say now beloved the Prayer above and see if it be not excellently well adapted to this holy Text and to this application of the same unto our best improvement The Gospel Luke 18. v. 9. 9 And he said also to certain that trusted in themselves as just and despised others this parable 10 Two men went up into the Temple to pray the one a Pharisee and the other a Publicane 11 The Pharisee standing prayed thus with himself God I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men extortioners unjust advouterers as also this Publicane 12 I fast twice in a week I give Tythes of all that I possesse 13 And the Publicane standing afar off would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven but he knocked his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner 14 I say to you this man went down to his house justified more then he because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted The Explication 9. 10. By a Pharisee is understood a proud by a Publicane an humble man in this place 11. By the word standing the pride of the Pharisee is insinuated With himself 't is true for he prayed neither with nor to God for his prayer is rather a vaunting of his own then a seeking of Gods glory And his insolence is great whilest he sayes he is not as other men as who should say all besides himself are sinners had he said as some other men there had been lesse arrogancy yet too much and out of this arrogancy he passeth a rash Judgement upon the Publicane whom he points out for a notorious sinner and insinuates himself to be just 12. By twice a Sabbath is understood twice a week as naming the principal day for the whole week By Tythes of all he possesseth he meanes not onely
by him that resteth Honourable Sir Your hugely devoted thrice humble and most commanded servant F. P. APPROBATIO IN signe hoc opus cui Titulus Sodalitas Christiana c. Tribus partibus comprehensum diligenter perlegi in quo nihil Fidei aut Pietati Catholicae adversum invenio quinimo est opus doctissimum Authore dignum necnon varia Eruditione adeo refertum ut Verbi Dei Praecones Auditores Factores facile addiscent unde dies praesertim Dominicos cum Christiana devotione impendant Et ex foelici etiam Sacrorum Textuum precum Leiturgicarum mutua adaptatione harmoniam ad Coelestia allicientem abunde experientur Dignissimum proinde judico ut in publicum prodeat Dabam in Collegio nostro Sancto Bonaventurae Sacro Duaci hoc 16 die Decembris milessimo sexcentissimo quinquagessimo primo Fr. Fran. a S. Clara. S. Th. Professor Emeritus ac Provinciae Minister The Approbation HAving diligently read and considered all the three Parts of this First Tome of the Christian Sodality Composed by F. P. And finding it not onely to have nothing in it dissonant to Faith or Christian Piety but on the contrary all things so apposite for the increasing of each as speakes the Author a great Master of both I cannot but judge it worthy to see the publike light whereby many may be both inlightned and inflamed to know and acknowledge the Head of this Sodality and so bee incorporated which is as I suppose the Authors ambition Given the 5 th of January 1652. by Henry Metham Auncient Bachelour and Professor of Divinity The Approbation I Have diligently perused and read over all the Three Parts of the Christian Sodality composed by F. P. wherein I find nothing contrary to Fayth or Piety but all things speaking the Author learned and elegant The Method and Designe of the whole Work is excellent the Illustrations all though new and beaten out by the Authors meditations yet most accute and happy The Explications all most grave and solid The Applications all most Pious and Patheticall The Prayers for each respective Sunday all most propper and apposite Be it therefore Printed as exceeding profitable both to Priest and People Given at Paris this first of Januaary 1652. old stile Iohn Lancaster Professor of Divinity Theolegall of England And Censurer of Books The first Part Of the FIRST TOME Errata In the Epistle Dedicatorie PAge 3. line 1. For Sacrifice read Sacrilege In the Preface Pa 4. l. ult add so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here imports a contraposition without an opposition p. 6. l. 14. for we r. me ibid. l. 24. for we r. me p. 25. l. 5. for ought we r. we ought p. 28. l. 24. for adopt r. adapt In the Book Numb 19. l. 18. r. gave it to the Jewes n. 21. l. 9. r. he makes us n. 45. l. 28. r. is in n. 43. l. 16. r. personality n. 47. l. 18. r. respect n. 50. l. 9. r. premizing n. ib. l. 24. r. those n. 51. l. 4. r. Tetrarch n. 72. l. 35. r. appearing n. 86. l. 1. r modestly n. 105. l. 16. r. act n. 109. l. 4. r. our n. 112. l. 5. r. apostolate n. 114. l. 7. r. recalling ib. l. 16. r. infirmity n. 122. l. 24. r. least one n. 124. l. 8. r. pashing n. 142. l. 1. r. no obligation n. 145. l. 15. r. love is n. 153. l. 7. r. one another n. 161. l. 27. r. faylings are n. ib. l. 28. r. as such n. 162. l. 1. r. explication n. 170. l. 6. r. as if n. 174. l. 28. r. that is to say n. 176. l. 31. r. that to glory n. 189. l. 5. r. of the rock n. 192. l. 23. r. that dilate n. 194. l. 11. r. ought n. 199. l. 26. for of our r. our n. 201. l 2 r. others n. 225. l. 16. add To tempt Job in another kind for another end n. 226. l. 30. r. administer n. 235. l. 30. r. the Text. n. 245. l. 9. r. Arcana n. 248. l. 2. r. but. n. 250. l. 9. r. when n. 253. l. 29. r. creatures n. 256. l. 10. r. not the so much n. 262. l. 20. for an r. a. n. 266. l. 18. r. O that we n. 269. for Tome r. Part. In the Prayers On second Sund. after Advent r. rayse on third Sund. af Adv. r. grace of thy on forth Sund. af Epiph. r. grant In Post Communions In the third Sunday after Epiphany for adopt r. adapt THE Key of the work BY WAY OF PREFACE TO ALL CHRISTIAN READERS WHen I first thought of writing for the Press I was over-prest with a multitude of difficulties as well about the Subject as about the Method and I could never be perswaded to set Pen to Paper before I had armed my self against the common obstacle in all Writers wayes That Books have their Fates from the Capacities of their Readers For I concluded 't was a labour lost to Write and to be laid aside as either not understood or not pleasing to the Reader So I resolved either to Write what might call the Reader aside to make him understand himself as well as me or else to spare my own labour of writing And because I knew no Subject had power enough to command the Reader but that which was of Divine Authority therefore I made choice of Holy Writ and of the Churches Prayers to write upon And finding nothing so common over all the world as a little Book consisting of these two subjects called the Primmer as being the Prime the first or Principle office of a Lay-Christian whereby he makes a demonstration of his dayly bounden duty towards Almighty God in that little abstract of the Breviary which is the Priest his larger Office I conceived nothing so worthy of my paines as to render that little Book intelligible sweet and easie to the People which I perceived was rather said by rote than understood Not that I believe this Primmer was published at first by holy Churches Order without a better Gloss than I can hope to make upon it now but that I conceive devouring time hath eaten out a world of Pious Works that were in being in the Primitive Church and amongst the rest some exposition of the Primmer made or by word of mouth from the Preachers in their Sermons or in their private exhortations by way of Catechisme or else expounded in some book on purpose written to that end as I write this For I cannot think our Pious and our Prudent Mother holy Church would issue out a book of dayly Duty as far above the peoples reach as Heaven is from Earth unlesse the Antiphons Versicles Responsories Prayers Hymnes Lessons and Psalmes thereof were made some way or other intelligible to the common world thus bid to pray Since therefore now I found no exposition of the Primmer extant and yet encountered with the Book in every bodies Pocket in many mens Hands in most mens Mouths that understood not what
corporall eyes to the latter that their time is now come also of awaking from the sleep of infidelity and of their other enormious sins being the Redeemer of all mankinde was actually come though even the Jewes also after Christs Birth were fast enough asleep in their infidelity most of them and so were capable of this speech to them even in that sense too 12. By the night is here meant the time before Christs comming made dark as night with infidelity By the day the time after our Saviours Birth rendered bright as day with the light of the Gospel the works of darkness are Sin because they shut out the light of grace from our Souls the Armour of Light are acts of Vertue works of Grace and in these words Saint Paul minds us that our life is here a spiritual warfare since we know Armour is necessary for Warriours though the Greek Text imports by Armour of Light a kind of habit proper to the day and this is not inconsistent with the other sense above for Armour is a kind of habit too 13. This Verse seemes to begin with prosecuting the last sense in the former as if it were indecent to appear in the day without our Armour of Light as above but if it be taken as independent thereof it imports not for the sense is full in it self Aâ— in the day of Grace as in the day of the illuminating Gospel let us walk honestly that is modestly converse religiously and shew our selves to be children of Light by our works shining to the edification of our neighbour and glory of God Not any more in Banquettings and Drunkenness feastings and excesses of Wines These you know are works of the Flesh not of the Spirit or the Grace of God by Chamber-works the Apostle means here plainly Fornication by Impudicities more petulant and wanton actions of Lust even in publick such as indeed may be well called carnall impudencies Not in Contention not striving for vain-glory and popular applause whence followes the forbidden Emulation which is an envie at our neighbours greater good or esteem than our own See therefore here three of the capitall Sins so represented unto us as by all means to be avoided Gluttony Lechery Envy all being acts and deeds of darkness not fit to appear in the day light of the Gospel which now shines bright among us 14. By putting on Christ is here meant being dressed up in such Vertues as may make us appear Christians men clad in the Livery the Sanctity of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ and so abundant the Apostle in this phrase bids our Vertues be that they may hang as full Garments all over us for this difference there is betwixt carrying and putting on of cloathes that when carryed they are cumbersome and not adorning when put on they are light and becoming So to carry Vertue onely wrapt up in the speculation of it is no way graceful but to unfold it by the practice thereof this becomes a good Christian and this is truly to put on Christ not onely to study and speculate but to practice Vertue The Application 1. THe two first Verses of this Epistle are wholly and clearly describing the effects of the Incarnation and do exhort to a due Christian comportment at such a season That is now to prepare our selves for our Deification since therefore God became man that man might become God I have said ye are Gods and all sons of the Highest Psal 82. v. 6. 2. The third Verse tells us how unsuitable all Sin must needs be at this season though indeed it cannot be allowable at any time but especially how unseasonable these three deadly Sins now are which here the Apostle specifies and under them forbids us all the rest Gluttony Lechery Envy For nothing sooner starves a Soul to death than a gluttonous pampering of the Body nothing more odious to our God incarnate than to pollute that humane nature which Jesus could not endure to take upon him but in the sacred womb of his unpolluted Virgin Mother Nothing so unseasonable at this season of love as for a Christian to envy Christ in his neighbour just now when he coming to save us commands us to love each other as he loves us all 3. The last Verse gives us an armour of Proof against all danger of sin whatsoever for as Jesus by taking our sins upon himself did redeem us so we by putting on his Vertues may deserve to be saved that is to say we may be capable of Salvation for other desert we have not of our selves than a meer capacity of Heaven through the merits of our Saviours death and passion applyed to us cooperating towards that which we cannot operate our own Salvations since it is the onely participation of his merits that makes us fit to receive his rewards for those we call our meritorious actions such as Saint Augustine required saying He that made thee without thee will not save thee without thee Yet the same Doctor lest we should presume too much upon our selves says also When God rewards mans works he crowns his own Gifts for even our cooperation whereby we merit is the speciall Gift of God Which we Petition in the Prayer above most aptly set to the Tune of this Epistle The Gospel LUKE 21. ver 25. c. 25. ANd there shall be signes in the Sun and the Moon and the Stars and upon the Earth distresse of Nations for the confusion of the sound of the Sea and Waves 26. Men withering for fear and expectation what shall come upon the whole world for the powers of Heaven shall be moved 27. And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty 28. But when these things shall begin to come to passe look up and lift up your heads for your redemption is at hand 29. And he spake to them a similitude see the figtree and all trees 30. When they now bud forth fruit out of themselves you know that Summer is nigh 31. So you also when you shall these see things come to passe know that the Kingdom of God is nigh 32. Amen I say to you that this generation shall not pass till all be done 33. Heaven and Earth shall pass but my Words shall not pass The Explication 25. THese Signes appearing in the Sun Moon and Stars argue they shall not perish but remain set to another Series or order of being than they were before such Signes in them shall portend the dismall day of Judgement And indeed how can there be other than a sad distress on earth amongst all the Nations thereof upon the confusion of sound that will then be in the boiling Sea and Waves which by the general conflagration fire falling from Heaven shall be far more agitated than ever by any storm or tempest these commonly happening but in some part of the Sea whereas this disturbance shall arise from the very bottom of the channell
I of a slight command can doe much by vertue of this power what mayst thou O Christ by thy command who hast perfect and absolute power over Heaven and Earth and art under no command as I am who can deny but this stile was used purposely for our morall instruction that hearing this we should remember if at any time we have command ovâ—r others yet we are commanded our selves by many more above us and again to advertise us that the Soul shall then best command the Body when she her selfe moves not but as commanded by God and moved by his holy grace And if she rebell against God no marvell the body requoiles against her as in Adam and his race was and still is apparent 10. Since Admiration or Wonder is an effect of ignorance and Christ as being God was omniscient and had in perfection all the three Sciences that could render him perfectly knowing as man namely Beatificall Infused and Experimentall certain it is his Admiration here could not be a proper wondring at what he seemes to make exceeding strange of as by professing he had not found so great faith in Israel rather indeed to excite and stir up others to admiration and imitation of the like than that he was or could be seised on by the surprisall of any new notion accruing unto him which he had not before So Saint Austine sayes well These operations in Christ were rather signes of his actions upon others than of his passions from them of his teaching us not of his being taught himself by any thing that could happen unto him new or strange and what followes is to be taken strictly as spoken to those common people who were then present for else it could not be meant of all others or spoken to them that were absent For example when he said to those that followed him I have not found so great Faith in Israel meaning among such as you are that now behold the Faith of this Centurion for certainly he knew the Faith of his blessed Mother of Abraham of Moses and of John the Baptist was greater yet than this of the said Centurion so highly commended so much admired by our Saviour 11. This following Verse illustrates the latter end of the former in the sense as above for here Christ gives Abraham Isaack and Iacob as presidents for singular Faith rewarded with eternall glory in the Kingdome of Heaven and sayes Many shall come from East and West meaning from all corners of the world and share with Abraham c. in the like reward for their like Faith so here our Saviour alludes to the calling of the Gentiles unto the Faith of Christ and gives for their encouragement this encomiastick or superlative praise of the Centurion for the first fruits of the Gentiles vocation or beleeving in Christ Iesus the adoration of three Kings arguing not so much Faith as the Profession did so what he said to his followers in the Verse above may by adjoynder of this unto it be conceived as if Christ had said he never found so great Faith in any Gentile whom he had met with amongst the Israelites as he found in this Centurion for the three Kings were not Israelites admit their adoration could argue like Faith in them 12. He pursues the incitement to like Faith of this Centurion saying Those Gentiles who believe as he did shall succeed in the Kingdome of Glory to be dis-inherited Heirs thereof namely the Israelites or Jewes whom he calls the Children of the Kingdome in two regards first because as descended from the loynes of Abraham they were heires to his promised earthly kingdome of Iudea next as for the same reason they were heires to the Heavenly Kingdome of glory likewise promised to his issue in like Faith to his as who should say the forraign Gentiles shall inherit the two Crowns whereunto the Jewes were born heirs by Promise and this by reason the said Gâ—ntiles shall receive the faith of Abraham which the Jewes had deserted and apostatized from So as the Gentiles shall be saved in reward of their Faith and the Jewes damned in punishment of their incredulity which damnation or hell is here called outward darknes as often elsâ—where in holy Writ it is because hell as it is the most remote part from Heaven so is it the darkest and outmost in respect of the inhabitants in Glory whose Beatitude consisting in their beholding the inward light of the Deity by means of the outward light of Glory argues the damnation of the wicked consisteth in their being deprived of all light either of Glory or of God and consequently are out-casts from Heaven wallowing in the deep hell of outward darkness And as by this darkness is understood their pain of damnation or pain of loss consisting in an absolute privation of the sight or light of God and consequenly of all light so by weeping or gnashing of teeth is understood their pain of sense best expressed by those termes which alwayes betoken sorrow and horrour 13. Christ concludes giving the Centurion all he askes in reward of his Faith so curing his Boy at a distance in vertue of his sole Word as was observed that just when Christ spake those words Be it to thee as thou believest then the child was wel recovered hence we are to learn that according to the firmnesse of our Faith we may measure the greatness of our hope in God and mystically we may apply this passage of the Centurion to our selves who are commanders of our senses and powers which make up a spirituall Militia in this life Iob 7. if therefore any of these languish or grow otherwise diseased let us make our addresses by our Friends the Saints in Heaven and Good men on Earth to God beseeching him to cure that sick sense or faculty which is in danger to let in upon us the death of Sin and look with what Faith with what Hope with what Love we make our applications to Almighty God either by our selves or others we may rest assured our help shall be answerable thereunto The Application 1. CHrist cures the Leper to Day by a touch of his sacred Hand to shew he had cured the leprosie of sin in all humane nature by touching it with his nature Divine in the mystery of his Incarnation 2. Being intreated he cures the Centurions son by saying I will come and cure him however by the humility and faith of the Centurion he was not suffered to goe but desired by his Word to doe it at a distance This argues the power of Christ to be as operative as his Person and that by his Power given to Priests he cures all humble and believing Souls in the Sacrament of Pennance as he did the Centurion whose corporall infirmity was here but a figure of Sin-sick-souls 3. O happy Christians who have against all humane diseases a Cure Divine The touch of all the three Persons of the sacred Trinity in the Blessed Sacrament
sacred son Christ Jesus at the day of Judgement to revenge his Fathers and his own wrongs done unto them by the sins of ungratefull and mis-believing men who notwithstanding they see Christ was raised from the dead will not yet believe him to bee the Messias and Saviour of the world from which revenge or wrath those who believe in Christ Jesus are delivered that is from the damnation due to their incredulity who believe not in him or to their evill lives who though they doe rightly believe yet live not according to the rule of Faith or doe not works answerable to their belief The Application 1. AS it is huge Reason we should fly to heaven for help in humane dangers according as wee were taught last Sunday so is it very reasonable we should practise what S. Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to whilest his Lesson to them is this day read to us Namely to be mindfull of the work of our Faith c for albeit Faith elevateth Reason to believe some things that are above Reason yet it bindeth us not to doe any thing either above or against Reason and so leaves us in all our thoughts and actions to be regulated by reason 2. Hence it is great Reason that we who now profess the same Faith with the Thessalonians doe persevere with them in the works of faith such as may render us able by our exemplar lives to convert all that we converse with as wâ— hear the Thessalonians did convert all those of Macedonia and of Achaia to the faith of Jesus Christ 3 Now because our actions commonly are such as our thoughts propend and lead us to it is fitting that to bee the better able to doe reason in all our actions we should admit of notâ—ing but reason into our thoughts and meditations since we are certain whatsoever can lay claim to Reason especially such â—s is elevated by Faith must needs be pleasing to almighty God According as we are taught in the Prayer above The Gospel MATTH 13. vers 31. 31. ANother Parable he proposed unto them saying The kingdome of heaven is like to mustard seed which a man tooke and sowed in his fiâ—ld 32. Which is the least surely of all seeds but when it is grown it is greater than all hearbs and is made a Tree so that the fowls of the aire come and dwell in the branches thereof 33. Another Parable he spake to them The kingdome of heaven is like to leaven which a a woman tooke and hid in three measures of meal untill the whole was leavened 34. All these things Jesus spake in Parables to the multitudes and without parables he did not speak to them 35. That it might be fâ—lfilled which was spoken by the Prophet saying I will open my mouth in parables I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world Psal 77. v. 2. The Explication 31. OUr Saviour it seems at this time made profession to speak nothing but Parables so after he had as we heard last Sunday told them the Parable of the cockle amongst the corn here hee likens the Church to the least of grains a mustard seed sowed in a mans field that is to say scattered over the field of this world which is truly said a mans field in regard Christ who is God and man is Lord and master of this whole Universe and all over it hath planted this mustard seed his holy Church 32. And as in very truth a mustard seed is the least of all others so the Church of Christ was when first planted or sowed the least of all communities in the word But some conceive Christ himself to bee this mustard seed on whom grew as so many birds in their nests The Apostles Popes Bishops Pastours and Saints of all sorts and of both sexes Others will have the Church to be this mustard-seed little in it self at first now spread over all the world Others contend it is the Gospel of Christ his doctrine or the word of God that at first was onely sowed like mustard seed among the Jewes but now is diffused over the whole Universe In fine it avails little which of these we take the Parable is verified in them all and indeed they are all in a manner one and the same thing for all have root in Christ and are branches of him and the Analogie holds between the mustard seed and every one of these for who lesse than Christ who was the out-cast of men What Church lesse than the Primitive Church of Christ What Doctrine avowed by weaker men than his Disciples were and so consequently what word lesse than his which was exsibilated or hissed out of the world at first when it was said to be a scandall to the Jewes and a folly to the Gentiles 1 Cor. 1.23 to preach the Gospel of his resurrection And this is speciall between the word and mustard-seed that as in this seed there is a kinde of fierie quality so is the word of God as holy David sayd Psal 119. v. 140. Thy word is exceeding fierie that is servorous and hot inflaming hearts to the love of God and whereas the Text speaks of this seed growing to a tree it is indeed so in Syria where birds really build in the boughs thereof as all the members of Christ doe upon him as was abovesaid 33. This other parable of the Church or of her doctrine being like to leaven suites exceedingly therewith for as a litle leaven gives a relish to a whole batch of bread so the least Word of God hidden in mens hearts as leaven is in meal makes them rise into professions of Christian dutie and renders all their actions savourie both to God and man By the woman is here meant the Church which is the Spouse of Christ hiding the leaven of Christian doctrine in the three measures of meal that is to say in three parts of the World whereunto Christianity was then immediately designed namely Asia Africa and Europe for America hath been discovered but an hundred years agoe and whither formerly disjoyned from some one of these other three parts of the Earth by an interjected Sea as now it is we know not But this we conceive that these other three parts seemed to have been a division of the whole Earth into all the parts thereof when Noe divided the World between his three Sons assigning Asia to Sem Afirica to Cham and Europe to Japhet and this perhaps may be the literall allusion of the three measures of meal seasoned by the leaven of the Gospel Mystically Saint Ambrose applyes this leaven to the three parts of Man his spirit his life and his body or to his three appetites rationall Irascible and concupiscible So that by vertue of Gods holy Word Saint Hierome sayes in our reason we possesse prudence in our anger we lodge a holy hatred against Sin in our desires or concupiscencies we harbour a coveting of Vertue And all this in having these naturall appetites elevated to
these are in number many in regard of the blessed that are saved but in the other opinion making both first and last saved soules it is hard to solve how all that are called are not also chosen since every saved soule is elected to salvation But Malâ—onat solves it thus saying out of the precedent particular assertion that the first shall be last and the last first he now makes a generall conclusion affirming many are called but not many chosen as in such a kind of way he spake in the precedent Chapter ver 23. how hard it was for all rich men to be saved because once a wealthy young man refused the counsell of holy poverty given unto him others say by many called are included all because all are many though few onely are saved others will have it that all are called to observance of the Commandements but not all to the observance of evangelical Counsels or all to grace but few to glory The Application HOw ever S. Paul in his Epistle to day seems to set us all a running over the Race of this life each upon his uttermost speed for the gaining of his own soul onely yet S. Matthew in this Gospel gives us hope we may gaine heaven for others as well as for our selves while he sets us all on work in the Vineyard of our Lord where the fruits of our labours are common though our reward be but particular 2. Hence it is this days Gospel points directly at the Pastors of Gods Church and at the missionary Priests set on work in the Vineyard of Christ for gaining soules by converting of the whole world yet indirectly it alludes to every soules particular indeavours in cultivating of their own special land in hope of gaining heaven by the sweat of their browes 3. So still we see toyle and labour is to be the life of man upon earth who forfeited all his temporall rest by Adams sinne and though our Saviour purchas 't againe an eternall rest for us in the next world yet that future rest must be gained â—y a perpetuall present labour here most justly inflicted one us for the punishment of sinne Hence we fitly pray to day as above On SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY The Antiphon LUKE 8. ver 10. TO you it is given to know the mysterie of the Kingdome of God but to others in parables said Jesus to his disciples Vers Let my prayer c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer O God who seest we confide not in any of our own Actions grant us propitiously that against all adversities we may be armed by the protection of the Doctor of the Gentiles The Illustration I Have known hundreds even Priests themselves much admire at this prayer wherein Saint Paul with his best attribute is so unexpectedly brought in when not the least mention of any feast to him sacred is made by holy Church either in the office or service of the day and though I might in so hard a condition as I am now plunged into for making my designe good to day pretend it were sufficient for all the whole Church to be commanded to pray as now the mother Church of Rome doth this day unto Saint Paul whose Station is now kept in that holy City with great concourse of people thereunto yet this were to runne my selfe upon the rock of why not other Saints to be brought as unexpectedly into the prayers of the Church by this account as well as two onely are in all the year Saint Paul to day Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian upon Midlent-Thursday though we shall find every day in the year made sacred to some Saint or other by the frequentation of their stations in the City of Rome besides if this might satisfie others it must not be satisfaction to me because it comes not home to my designe of adjusting the Prayer to the Epistle and Gospel of the day unlesse we can find it as suitable to the latter as it is indeed to the former relating from first to last the whole story in a manner of Saint Pauls life though truely in the Gospel there is not one syllable of him wherefore if meditation had not helped us out this concordant designe had been very discordantly broken off but upon a day or two spent in prayer to find out some report between these parts of holy Churches services and upon remembring it was but last Sunday we were taught our life was a mere labour here upon earth and that we were all hired as labourers to work in the Vineyard of Christ me thought it was not strange this next Gospell should bring us in labouring indeed and like so many husband men sowing with corne the Vineyard we had lately ploughed up nor was it then so strange to heare us call upon the chiefe labourer now in eternall rest Saint Paul to help us with his intercession that our labours might be if not as great or as profitable at least as incessant as his were who by the common suffrages of all the Church will easily be granted to have been the chiefe Seeds-man thereof though Saint Peter were the chiefe pastor or governour and if so then it will be a most proper prayer on that day when the Gospell runns all upon sowing seed in severall grounds as to day it doth that the principall Seeds-man be called upon to help us the chiefe Preacher he that is stiled the Doctor of Gentiles or Nations for his eminence in preaching that is to say in sowing the word of God in the hearts of men and that this word is the seed to day made mention off we have our Saviours own authority to avouch it so we cannot be said to have strained this sense out of the prayer to day because it is as genuine to it as the Word of God in the parable is to the seed our Saviour doth compare it unto and look how many waies Expositors make Analogies between the Word and Seed so many waies at least shall we find this a proper prayer both to the Epistle and Gospel of the day and we may hope for the same answer from heaven whilest we complaining like S. Paul do look up thither and say we cannot confide in any of our own actions and therefore begge Almighty God will propitiously grant us in all our adversities that we may be armed with the protection of the Doctor of the Gentiles that is to say not onely by his prayer for our perseverance who were with Adam last Sunday sent to gaine our bread with the sweat of our browes but further by his protection namely by the same protection which was S. Pauls in all his temptations and difficulties the grace of God for this is that answer which was given to him in the height of his complaints Saul Saul My Grace sufficeth thee and truly the same Grace is more than an abundant protection for all the world nor can any man in the whole vniverse ask this protection with more
this Rapture yet Saint Thomas disputing this question purposely to declare the naturall truth determines him to remaine alive because God doth not kill men to honour them by his conversing with them so Saint Thomas concludes his soul was in his Body and consequently resolves that which the Apostle will not determine saying this Rapture was when Saint Pauls Soul was in his Body whence he was alive though he did not know so much But many doubt what this Third Heaven meanes unto which the Apostle was elevated but the common consent runs to affirm he was carryed up even to the Empyreall Heaven the highest of all that where God shews himself in his greatest glory and concludes this is called the third not as to averr there are but three heavens in all but as to include all be there never so many by the briefest way which is by saying three for all Yet the common division of the heavens into Aereall Aethereall and Empyreall will serve literally to this Text making the ayre the first heaven so birds are called the Inhabitants of Heaven The second the Aethereall which includes all the voluble Orbs above us and the Empyreall to be that of the Blessed to which last understand the rapture of S. Paul to have been The greatest doubt is whether he were rapt both bodie and soul up so high some think no and that this rapture may bee understood to be imaginary onely or Intellectuall wherein he had a revelation or vision of stranger things than were lawfull for him to speak or then were in his power to utter if it had been lawfull and this they ground out of the 1. verse of this Chapter and out of the 17. both which mention visions yet it is much more probable that he was really rapt both soul and bodie First because it was as easie for God to doe both as one Secondly because the Apostle doubts whether it were so or not as we see in this second and third Verse where he professeth not to know which in his sense is to doubt whereas those who have visions or revelations doe not doubt but know they are upon earth for all those Visions which onely make a rapture of the soul but none of the bodie so it is probable as Moses went corporally up to the mount Sinai where he was rapt out of the sight of the people by interposition of a cloud snatching him from their eyes and had delivered into his corporall ears the words of the Law in like manner Saint Paul who was to be the heavenly Doctor of all nations had corporally delivered to him such secret words as he mentions even in Paradise to have received and thence to bring back to earth such a Magazine of spirituall commands as he hath filled the whole world withall though he neither have told nor could tell all hee heard and therefore S. Paul after he had spoken of the third heaven adds the mention of Paradise to shew he was rapt not onely in his understanding but also in his will above the pitch of nature and even into that place of heaven which is therefore called Paradise because it ravisheth the wills of the Blessed with an infinite delight of loving as well as of seeing and understanding God So Divines allow in the vast Empyreall heaven a kinde of place apart called Paradise for the variety of pleasure it affords And hither they allow S. Paul to be rapt yet doe they not therefore say he did see God face to face as the blessed souls there inhabiting doe because he was not to remain there with them yet S. Thomas and other Divines thinke it probable he might have a transient sight thereof 2 secundae q. 175. a 5. but more probably it was not so since to Moses was onely granted to see the back of the Angell representing God and since 1 Tim. 6. v. 16. we read No man ever did see God that is to say with corporall eyes as here the Apostle was corporally rapt For if of the Angel it were said in Gods name to Moses No man shall see me and live how much more probable is it that Paul living after this rapture did not see God himself though no man doubts but he might see the glory of Christ and not unlikely heard from his own glorious mouth those secrets which he could not utter however to render his calling or Apostolate undoubted he had it conferred upon him personally by our Saviour in heaven as he upon earth did personally call the rest of his Apostles to his Service Of this Gal. 1. v. 12. the Apostle makes mention saying Christ revealed unto him the doctrine that he preached and then most probably was this Revelation made when he therewith revealed his glory too and those secrets he speaks of here may be partly certain Attributes of the Deitie assuredly the Ranks and Orders of Angels and their natures which S. Dennis seems to have drawn more particulars of from the Apâ—stle than himself utters in his own enumeration of their nine Orders and therefore in his celestiall Hierarchy S. Dennis this Apostles Disciple tells us of higher matters belonging to the holy Angels than ever any man else durst venture on Lastly we may piously believe S. Paul had told unto him by Christ in this rapture much of the course of divine providence in governing the world especially the holy Church much of the conversions of nations by himself and the rest of the Apostles which his modesty would not permit him to boast of 5. â—ee how he distinguisheth himself rapt from himself in the ordinary condition of man even as if he were not the same man for of him that was rapt hee proâ—esseth to glory still in the sense as above not vainly but of him that was not rapt he boasteth not at least not in this place to shew how great a difference there was between his rapt and not rapt condition and therefore as of his usuall self he boasts onely that he is infirm namely that he is lyable to affliction and miseries which are â—nconsistent with the state of rapt creatures for their rapture exempts them from the pain of sense and so from grief or pain which is meant here by infirmity as it is when our Saviour is called the man of griefes by Isaiah cap. 53 v. 3. which he explicates by adding these words Knowing infirmity that is to say lyable to all torture misery or pain 6. We read in the Acts cap 14. v. 10. that the Lycaonians held Paul and Barnabas for Gods To avoid vain-glory in this hee tells them he will not be understood above what he is above a man lyable to all misery and persecution which gods are exempted from nay lest they should thinke him an Angell though not god he speaks sparingly of those prerogatives of his rapture An excellent example for them to follow who are indeed nothing extraordinary and not boast themselves as more than ordinary men which yet
bred up and not far from Capernaum where he wrought his most Miracles high to shew heaven is hugely elevated from earth and that as in heaven the glory of God shall be so in Thabor the glory of Christ was manifested to those who were like the Elect amongst many chosen singled out for eternal happiness in the next and for testimonies here of Christ his Deity shining through the cloud of his humanity as the next verse describeth 2. His Transfiguration consisted not in the change of his humane shape nor in his giving his body all the gifts of glorified bodies in heaven impassibility agility subtility clarity but in shewing to the Apostles the last onely of these gifts and that so far forth as their weak eyes were capable of which clarity Christ was fain to suppress whilest he lived here that he might be seen and conversed with by all men for else it was at all times due to him as all the other gifts of glorified bodies were by reason of his Divinity united to his humanity Note though there be special mention made of a change in his face onely shining like the Sun and his garments become white as snow yet this clarity or glory was general over all his blessed body and as the brightness of the Sun in his face was a type of his Deity so the whiteness of his garments did represent the purity of his humanity and withal it shewed us how the grace and glory of God renders our Souls as white as snow and by that means transfigures the Saints from their Aethiopian blackness of sin into so many garments of whitest lillies as it were bedecking the body of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 3. These two were summoned as Witnesses to testifie that whatsoever the Law or Prophets said of Christ should be verified Moses standing for the first Elias for the second as also to reward them for their forty days Fast which each had undergone the one to be worthy thereby to receive the Laws the other to ascend the Mount Horeb and farther yet because he would take away the doubt which people had that he was Moses or Elias or some other Prophet and again lest Moses should appear to have been injured when Christ did abrogate the ancient Law as also lest Elias should be valued equal to Almighty God in glory which some conceived of him finâ—lly to shew he had full power of life and death to call Moses dead thither and to summon Elias alive from the place where he was kept till his second coming To both of whom Christ communicated a splendor something like indeed to that of his own garments white as snow that so they might be more worthy of the honour done them to confer and talk with him but far inferior to the whiteness of his own 4. All Expositors say this was a speech of a man half beside himself drunk as it were with the present glut of contentment and not forecasting future things besides that it was impertinent to build Tabernacles for those whom he saw in glory as also it was to fix Christ upon earth and in Thabor who came to purchase heaven for all the world by his passion which by his remaining here had been prevented and to hope for heaven before himself had laboured to deserve it or to think eternal Beatitude consisted in the glory of Christs humanity and not in the beholding of his Deity which here they did not see 5. The interposition of this Cloud upon this speech argues a check given to the speaker thereof by depriving him of that alluring sight which he knew not how to make right use of but not separating them from a due distance both to see and hear whence they fell as S. Luke sayes into a present fear yet this Cloud was clear to shew the difference betwixt the Old Law and the New That being delivered to Moses in a dark cloud This avow'd to be delivered by Christ before Moses Elias and these three Apostles in a clear resplendent Cloud out of which was heard the voyce of God the Father saying This is my beloved Son c. Some think Moses and Elias were gone before this voyce was heard lest the Apostles might doubt to which of the three it was spoken but since they were to be both eye and ear-witnesses too 't is probable they might see to whom the address was made and questionless God did make this testimony such as could not be lyable to doubt since he was pleased to have these Witnesses of the thing as he made them saying Hear him that is Hear my beloved Son for from his mouth not from the mouth of Moses and Elias shall proceed all Truth and Salvation to Mankind The reason why this command of hearing him was not added when he was stiled by the like voyce from heaven to be Son to the same Father at his Baptism was because then he was onely shewed to be the Messias whom men before conceived the Baptist to have been But here he is in presence of Moses and Elias preferred in point of Doctrine before them as if all they had said or done was but to prefigure him but that what he sayes reports to none beside himself as having vigour in it to make him known to be the Illuminator of all the former Prophets and so of himself the true Doctor of Nations and Law-maker thereunto whence he for his own sake is to be heard others for respect onely to him and there was reason to say Hear him that comes to abrogate the Old and to make a New Law to dye for the sins of his people in such excess of ignominy as he and Moses did but now talk of to rise from the dead himself and thereby to impower all men to rise again after they are dead to the Judgement Seat where those that till then believe it not shall finde there is a Hell and those who are believers shall know there is a Purgatory and a Limbus Patrum since Moses was from the latter summoned hither to this Mystery of Transfiguration which was exhibited as an undoubted testimony of the Truths that were preached by him whom we were then commanded to hear and consequently to believe 6. They feared at the shrilness of the voyce though sweet at the loss of the sight they had before of Moses and Elias whom they might suspect were sent away to fulminate vengeance from God upon the people who had abused his beloved Son and hence fearing they fell upon their faces to shew they were themselves ready to adore him 7. And Jesus pitying the fright they were in came presently to comfort them and raise them up again from the posture of their prostration thereby to shew we cannot sooner humble our selves to God then he is ready to raise a comfort in us 8. The reason why they then see none but Jesus was because now all things were given up to his cure no more rigorous Law
shield before her against all Adversity whatsoever to be firm in her belief of the most Blessed and undivided Trinity Say then the Prayer above and see how well it suits unto this doctrine thereupon The Gospel Matth. 28. v. 18. c. 18 And Jesus coming neer spake to them saying All power is given to me in heaven and earth 19 Going therefore teach ye all nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and behold I am with you all dayes even to the consummation of the world The Explication 18. THe Evangelist in this Chapter recounts the apparition of Jesus in Galilee to a great number of Disciples and friends as well as unto the Apostles amongst them who were now so far fled from Jerusalem where formerly they had seen him after he arose from his grave and so confirmed them in the truth of this mystery that though in the precedent verse St. Matthew sayes some of them doubted of this truth that Christ was risen yet the meaning is not that any of the Apostles doubted thereof but some others to whom Christ had never appeared before as now he did to confirm the truth of his resurrection And Jesus coming neer not to those doubting persons but to his Apostles saying as this dayes Gospel begins All power c. But we are to observe though S. Matthew seems in this chapter to conjoyn the power of Mission given by Christ to his Apostles unto this story of his Apparition to them and above three thousand more in Galilee since he resolved to end his Gospel in this eight and twentieth chapter and write no more yet the very truth is those words were not spoken by Christ consequently to this apparition but afterwards upon the Mount Olivet when at his Ascension he gave the Apostles Mission over all the world for his valediction or last farewell unto them and in testimony that this was an Act of high Jurisdiction he tells them at the same time All power is given unto him both in heaven and earth so they need not doubt but he that gave them this Mission to all Nations this commission to preach unto them and to Baptize them had ample authority for his so doing and would by his grace from heaven second their labours over all the earth and make them fruitful to the final salvation of all Nations which was a convincing testimony of his being plenipotentiary between God and man or having plenitude of power both in heaven and earth But we are further here to note that this plenitude of power was not now so given to Christ as if he had not had it before for the Word was no sooner Incarnate then this power was begun in him though he was not pleased to mention the accomplishment or perfection thereof untill by his death and passion he had merited the same and therefore suiting to him not onely as he was God but as he was man the Messias or Saviour of the world and to him alone for to no man else was the amplitude of this power competent nay the very participation thereof is above all merit of any pure humane creature however to Christ the fulnesse of it was but due by reason of his being one person with God who as Creatour of heaven and earth had consequently full power over them both so as he could by the Ministery of his Apostles preaching subject unto himself all the Nations of the earth as stooping to the power of his Faith and Doctrine and afterwards in heaven reward this their Faith this their subjection to Christian discipline with crowns of eternal glory to shew he was chief commandant in heaven also having purchased the same by his bitter death and passion and so being able to make eternally happy in this his glorious Kingdom whosoever he pleased 19. We are here to observe when Christ bids go it is not nay it cannot be in the power of any mortal man to forbid the Ministers of Christ from going to convert nations So this Mission is Divine not humane and gives Commission to execute Gods Lawes maugre all mens prohibitions Go saith he to shew us labour pains travel diligence are the marks of those who preach the word of God nor is this labour limited to any one time or place but extends it self to all times to all nations Go sayes our Saviour teach all nations nay he adds therefore go that is to say Go because I send you that have all power both in heaven and earth go teach ye all nations as I have taught you Whence it followes the command of learning was imposed upon the people while the precept of teaching was laid upon the Apostles and their successours for in these latter it is indeed that Christ after said he would be with them unto the end of the world that is in assisting their Successours he would be with them And very great reason it is that an obligation of hearing should fall upon the people when a command of preaching was imposed on the Priest for a Schollar is acorrelative to a Master as a Son is to a Father since no man can be an actual master unless he have an actual Schollar nor can any man be a father that hath not a child And that it was a command given with an obligation to be put in present execution see how Christ tyes himself to an actual assistance thereof even to the worlds end And as he bids them go and teach all nations the principles of Christian doctrine namely those of the Catholick Church so he bids them Baptize all those whom they instruct and teach in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost to shew them the true mark of a Christian is his belief in the Blessed Trinity which is one onely God and three Divine Persons distinct each from other called Father Son and holy Ghost Nor can there be indeed a more succinct method of this deep mystery then is here expressed when the command of Baptizing in the name and not in the names shewes the unity of God and denyes the plurality of Divine nature or essence and yet the specifying of the Father Son and Holy Ghost shewes the Blessed Trinity which is in that sacred unity Whence we see the word Trinity doth import a Triunity or an Unity of nature in a Trinity of persons whence our Saviour saying by the mouth of his Apostle 1 Epist Joh. c. 5. There are three that bear testimony in heaven the Father the Son and Holy Ghost adds immediately and these Three are all one that is to say these distinct persons are one indistinct and undivided nature essence deity so as though there be three divine persons yet is there but one onely God And no marvel if upon Trinity Sunday both the Epistle and Gospel report unto this sacred mystery for it
is indeed the highest article of our Faith the first and main principle of Christian Religion But to conclude this doctrine 20. See how the beginning of this verse tells besides this mystery what the Apostles were commanded to teach the world namely to do all whatsoever Christ commanded them to deliver as the Will of God that is to say as well to do good works as to believe aright and to professe that Faith which was preached unto them and how ever Luther and Calvin pretend the Church of Christ and the right administration of the Sacraments thereof and of the divine Services had failed for many hundred of years together before they arrogated to themselves a kind of new Apostolate forsooth yet it is from hence confidently asserted by the unanimous consent of all Catholick Doctours and Divines that there neither hath been hitherto nor ever shall be hereafter till the day of doom which is the consummation or end of the world any failure in the Church of Christ nor in Christ his perpetual assistance and presence with his ever visible Church insomuch that he is ever visibly present in his perpetual visible rulers of the Church and invisibly in his continual-assisting grace and hence it is evidently proved that albeit no successours of the Apostles had those ample prerogatives which they enjoyed yet their Ministery is so the same that the Apostles was as Christ is said even to perpetuate the Apostles in their successours and his presence with them in his presence with their followers and in his assisting them as constantly as he did assist their predecessours though perhaps not as amply nor as efficaciously at all times For how else can it be true that Christ said to his Apostles he would send them another Comforter that should assist them eternally not in their persons but in their successours to the worlds end For the same are the gifts of Christ and of the Holy Ghost as far forth as they are both one and the same God Nay more Christ is even visibly remaining with the Ministers of his Church in the holy Eucharist or B. Sacrament of the Altar his blessed body and bloud being exposed perpetually to the receiving and adoration of the people more he is visibly with us in his Priests who are his visible instruments to administer the Sacraments and offer sacrifice unto the sacred Deity for though the Priest be the instrumental yet Christ is the chief and principal Priest himself it being proper to him to be both Sacrifice and Sacrificant so as in seeing the accidents of bodies we are said consequently to see the things whose accidents we see in like manner by seeing the Sacramental species we may be said to see the Sacrament the body and bloud of Christ whose accidents they are after consecration though the same species before were the accidents of bread and wine To conclude we may as truly say Christ is visibly with his Church to the worlds end as we may say a mans soul is visibly in his body that is to say perceptibly so long as a man lives and hath motion for look what the soul is to the body the same Christ is to his Church so that as the soul is the bodies natural life Christ is the supernatural life of the soul believing in him and making her self by that belief a member of his Church for as the soul makes the body move so Christ makes his Church to do according to that of S. Paul Philipp 2. he worketh all in all according to the purpose of his own holy will and again he it is that gives a will to do good and a power to put that will in execution and to perfect by him what was undertaken for him as being to his honour and glory The Application 1. IT is no marvel that to day we hear inculcated to us an explicite act of Faith in the Front and body of this Gospel while Hope and Charity are onely recommended to us in the close thereof and that but implicitely neither notwithstanding as our design of piety is laid in this work Charity is the chief vertue to be practis'd from this day untill Advent This is I say no marvel the very name of the day requiring this preference to Faith and the nature of the Feast inforcing it besides for since the proper object of Love is Goodnesse seen or understood and since the Blessed Trinity is not here seen at all but by the light of Faith therefore all the understanding we can have of it on Earth is first to believe and next to love it according as the Gospel intimates where Jesus by the vertue of Plenipotentiality given him both in heaven and earth sends his Apostles first to Teach the whole world the mystery of the B. Trinity by Baptizing all Nations in the name of the Father Son and holy Ghost and thereby obliging them to believe explicitely these Three distinct Persons are all but one simple and single God whereas he bids the said Apostles here at least but implicitely to hope in and to love the sacred Trinity in as much as he commands their Teaching all Nations to observe all his Commandments whatsoever which yet are not observeable but for pure love of the commander and for pure hope of his recompencing our obedience unto his commands Who so reads the Gospel will soon see this to be the whole scope thereof 2. What then remaines for further application but that by an actual confessing this true Faith we actually glorifie the eternal Trinity and that in the Power of each Divine Persons sacred Majesty namely in the Power of the Father creating us in the Power of the Son redeeming us in the Power of the Holy Ghost sayntifying of us we adore the Unity of these Three Persons Deity since none but God can create none but God can redeem and none but God can sayntifie a soul 3. O Happy Christians who by firmly believing this to be their obligation to the sacred Trinity can neither want motive enough for Love of God nor ground enough for Hope that by this Act of Faith they shall be defended from all Adversity since the true victrix over all our enemies is as St. John tells us 1 Ep. c. 5. our Faith which overcomes the world and consequently all Adversity Say now the Prayer above and see how patt it is to what we here are taught On the first Sunday after Pentecost The Antiphon Luk. 6.37 JVdge not that you be not judged for in what Judgement you Judge you shall be Judged saith our Lord. Vers Let my prayer O Lord be directed Resp Even as Incense before thee The Prayer O God the strength of those that hope in thee be propitiously present to our prayers and because without thee mortal infirmity is of no ability grant the assistance of thy grace that in doing what thou dost command we may please thee both in will and work The Illustration ALbeit this Sunday is
up sitting at this feast into the great presence-chamber of the sacred Trinity the Empyreall heaven and after his Ascension his servants the Apostles went round about the world to invite more and to tell them the great supper of glory was now ready for all that would go to it such way as thâ—se inviters would lead them namely in the high rode of professing and observing the faith and law of Christ 18. By all excusing themselves is here literally understood the Jewish nation whose eye was no further bent upon religion then as they expected a Messias that should make them all rich so grosly they understood the heavenly riches promised by the Messias as they believed them to be temporall estates And therefore here the first excuse is made by plea of necessity to looke after worldly wealth represented by the purchased village which was said to be newly bought by him that was content to sell the kingdom of heaven for a patch of earth But Saint Gregory hom 36. in Evang. notes the ill manners of this civility when the excusant sayes I pray thee have me excused for he calls it pride in the action though it seems humility in the voyce because he disdained heaven and preferred earth 19. The second excuse insists upon an other notable addiction of the Jewes to worldly wealth namely their huge great stocks they gloried in upon their grounds which we read Abraham Isaack Jacob and Job abounded in and which were looked on as the greatest blessings God could give so in regard of earthly stocks of Cattle they contemned the greater stock of Glory in the next world But St. Gregory in the place last cited will have these five yoak of oxen allude to our five senses distracting us from all heavenly objects 20. St. Gregory cited as above understands this place of carnall sinne the greatest impediment between a soul and glory of all others for here the excuser askes no pardon but boldly sayes he cannot come it seems he that could not wish he were able was wholly unable as well as he was absolutely unwilling while he did not say he would come another time as the former excuses might import but absolutely professed he could not come he had sure as little will as power and therefore he might have added he neither could nor would Though others more favourably say this place alludes onely to the excessive use of the lawfull marriage-bed which then is used in excesse when it is made a pretence to hinder us from the service of Almighty God And S. Ambrose expresseth much to this sense in few words saying The love of earthly things is like a birdlime upon the spirituall wings of our souls hindring her flight up to heaven But S. Augustine applies these three excuses to the three things that include all sorts of worldly pelf concupiscence of the flesh concupiscence of the eye and pride of life The first excuse reports to the pride that man had to see himself Lord of a Mannour The second to concupiscence of the eye to see a rich stock of cattell cover his grounds The third to concupiscence of the flesh that made this his excuse from going to heaven as if he did not hope for greater pleasure there and indeed riches and pleasure are the chief impediments mortalls have between them and eternall blisse 21. This place of the Parable alludes to Christ speaking of himself as servant to his heavenly Father and telling him the Rich men of the Jewes were all so transported with the love of the world as they gave no ear to the invitation of the eternal word calling them to everlasting rest and glory and that then his Father bid him apply himself to the poorer sort of Jewes which to effect was done when S. Matthew Chap. 21. 31. sayes to the Pharisees Scribes Doctours and high Priests rejecting Christ The Publicanes and whores shall go before you in the Kingdome of God as also the last shall be first and the first the last Others think this verified in the choyce Christ made of Fisher-men for his Apostles and of other poor Mechanicks rather then of Scribes and Pharisees as 1 Cor. 1.27 God chose the infirm things of this world to confound all the strength thereof and fooles to confound wise men and this to encourage the most contemptible creatures on the earth to aym at as great riches as heaven can afford if they live according to the rule and law of Christ 22. And here our Saviour urgeth his heavenly Father since all the poor people amongst the Jewes are not able to fill up the Court of heaven that as yet there may be more invited and then he went aside from the Jewes to the Samaritans and Gentiles converting them and so inviting of them to his heavenly Glory which is the Supper here spoken of 23. But we are here to note that Christ looked upon these Gentiles in respect of his beloved people the Jewes as he would do upon men that have no poor beeings in Townes or Villages but are forced to shelter themselves under the banks on high wayes and to covet the loane of hedges for their shelter from winds and weather and therefore being himself after his resurrection to ascend to heaven he sent his Apostles over all the world to find out such poor Gentiles as these who in respect of the Jewes were not held worthy in Gods sight to be esteemed as Masters of Townes Villages or houses but were like vagabonds yet these not filling heaven neither see how he makes provision for relapsed Christians also as men equally miserable with such vagabonds and those he will have by Ecclesiastical censures nay by penal lawes to be even compelled or forced to return to their belief again which yet is not a course used to any but revolted Christians such as once were in the lap of the true Church by holy Baptisme and they indeed as having once been children and Subjects of the mother Church of Christ may upon revolt be compelled back again whereas Pagans Jewes or Infidels cannot be thus forced by penal lawes but must in a sweet way be gained to a right belief through perswasion not compulsion 24. This verse is onely the excluding those from eternal glory who being invited to it will not leave temporal riches and pleasures to purchase the Kingdome of heaven but willingly wallow in the mire of worldly wealth rather then they will leave that to enjoy eternal felicity and glory The Application 1. AS this Gospel in the sense of the Expositours alludes to the Blessed Sacrament whose Feast is now flowing so is it fit we should observe therein such lessons as we are bound to learn and put in execution for our more worthy receiving which we may for brevity sake reduce to two the one a reverential awe or holy fear of unworthinesse the other a fervent act of love and charity because in this Sacrament is not onely the body and bloud of
to exhaust the Epistles and Gospels of that day whereon they are appointed to be said but this I doe infer to be avouchable of that peculiar Prayer which here is set immediately after the Antiphon Responsory and Versicle of each respective Sunday which is ever the first Prayer in the Divine Service and which the Priest doth alwayes say with an addresse unto the People turning about to them and saying Dominus vobiscum Our Lord be with you meaning in your hearts that there you may sing forth his Praises which my lips are now going to pronounce in your names and in your behalfs True it is I have at the end of every part of this first Tome set out a Trinity of Prayers appropriated each to their respective dayes which I advise all those of this Sodality to say three times a day morning noon and night whereof this Prayer we call the Collect for the Reasons above is the first The second is that Prayer which is called the Secret being the very same the Priest then sayes when he hath turned himself unto the People saying Orate Fratres c. Brethren Pray that my Sacrifice and yours may bee acceptable to God the Father Almighty And this he doth immediatly after he hath made the Oblation or Offertory of the bread and wine which he is presently to consecrate into the body and bloud of Christ as his own and the peoples Sacrifice Not that it is therefore called the Secret because the people should not be privie to it being as they are remarkably concerned therein but that it represents the nature of our offerings to God to be rather hearty than heard of rather private then publike so far forth as they are ours though 't is most true that as the Priests they are to be made in open Churches upon open Altars yet with this respect that silence shall convey them to the heavenly Majesty rather than noise and so the Prayer that offers them is for this reason among others said softly by the Priest and thence is called the secret Whereas the Collects they are said aloud And however true it be that in the old Law the Priest went out of the Peoples sight from the sanctum or Holy into the sanctum sanctorum the holy of holiest for the Reasons alledged in the Exposition of the two first Verses on the Epistle upon Passion Sunday in the second part of this First Tome yet in the new Law which did abrogate the Ceremonies of the old Holy Church hath held it sufficient to maintain the Analogie between the sacrifices of both the Laws that the Priests of the new remaining still in the sight of the People shall go at least out of their hearing by saying some Prayers secretly though still in the Peoples behalf as if they were composing the controversies between grace and nature or mediating between God and his sinfull creatures by way of sacrifice the most powerfull of all mediations imaginable And hence it is to let the People know at least this secret Prayer is said in their names by the Priest in testimony of their offering up both by and with him the present sacrifice that I advise them joyntly with the Priest to say the self-same secret to the self-same end that prayer importing over an actuall oblation or offering to God The third Prayer which is called the Post-Communion I therefore also publish here in the end of this Book because it imports the peoples thanks-giving after the Communion thereby to shew that whereas then the Priest hath received actually in his own and their behalf so they have also received in Vote in wish or desire that they were also worthy to have actually received and this being a spirituall communion at the least I desire all the devotes of our sodality in thanks thereof to say this third prayer also with the Priest because immediatly before his saying it hee turns about and makes his application to the people as above by Dominus vobiscum Our Lord be with you And thus it is evident these Prayers are very proper for the People which are never said by the Priest but with addresse to them Now if any ask the Reason why I recommend this Trinity of Prayers to be said by our Sodality three times a day truly 't is because the sacrifice being a service to the sacred Trinity wherein God is acknowledged to have the sole command of life and death in his creatures therefore in honour of the three sacred Persons of the Blessed Trinitie I recommend this triple Repetition of this Trinity of Prayers as also further that thereby our sodality may partake of all the sacrifices which are daily made throughout the world not but that the morning is the proper time of this Homage but because 't is ever day in some part of the earth when 't is night with another and so by our saying these Prayers even at night we joyn in sacrifice to God with those who say the same prayers at the self-same time by day I could animate our Sodality farther yet to this Devotion by telling them what indulgences they may gain by this not that these are purchased by money as is objected by our adversaries but given gratis namely 15. dayes Pardon from Purgatory paines for every time they say any one of the Churches Prayers those I mean that are with publick authority avowed by our holy Mother to say nothing now of fifty dayes indulgence for every time they say their Primmer office which is not granted to their Manuall Prayers but I suffice my self with this that 't is the best of all Devotions in the world to praise the Blessed Trinity and even those that love to pray to Saints must know they do it best while with their holy Patrons they adore the Universall Patron of all the Saints The sacred and undivided Trinity To conclude in saying this Trinity of Prayers they doe not onely joyntly pray with the visible but also with the invisible Priest our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who even now in Heaven dayly says the self-same Prayers as often as the Priest officiating sayes them here on Earth because our Priests are but the Instrumentall Ministers of Sacrifice the Principall is our Saviour Jesus Christ himself who in memory of his once Bloudy Sacrifice offers up dayly an unbloudy one unto his Heavenly Father and so makes that to be with God a Renovation in a Mysticall way of his bitter Death and Passion which is with us a dayly Commemoration thereof for which purpose see the Secret on the ninth Sunday after Pentecost in the book of Prayers below See further Molina in his Golden work of Priest-hood where he cites a Torrent of Fathers to avow this verity And for avowment of Jesus Christ Vocally Praying even in Heaven for us by way at least of claiming what he hath already merited in our behalfs See Cornelius a Lapide upon Saint Paul Rom. 8. ver 34. who backs himself
Columnes that are marked with the denote the number of the Psalmes Those that are marked with the * declare the numbers of the Keys whereunto every Psalme is appropriated and in what sense it ought to be understood according to the meaning of the Royall Prophet David * 1 7 2 6 3 8 4 7 5 9 6 7 7 8 8 5 9 3 10 3 11 6 12 7 13 5 14 10 15 5 16 3 17 8 18 6 19 7 20 5 21 5 22 7 23 5 24 7 25 8 26 3 27 8 28 6 29 8 30 7 31 7 32 2 33 3 34 5 35 3 36 7 37 7 38 3 39 5 40 5 41 10 42 1 43 4 44 6 45 6 46 6 47 6 48 7 49 9 50 7 51 8 52 9 53 7 54 3 55 8 56 8 57 3 58 8 59 8 60 5 61 7 62 8 63 7 64 6 65 6 66 6 67 6 68 5 69 8 70 7 71 5 72 9 73 7 74 9 75 3 76 4 77 4 78 6 79 5 80 7 81 7 82 6 83 10 84 5 85 7 86 6 87 7 88 6 89 2 90 3 91 2 92 6 93 10 94 5 95 5 96 9 97 6 98 5 99 1 100 7 101 7 102 7 103 2 104 4 105 4 106 3 107 8 108 5 109 5 110 6 111 7 112 3 113 4 114 7 115 5 116 6 117 6 118 7 119 7 120 3 121 10 122 7 123 3 124 3 125 7 126 3 127 7 128 6 129 7 130 7 131 5 132 7 133 1 134 1 135 2 136 4 137 7 138 3 139 10 140 6 141 8 142 7 143 8 144 1 145 3 146 2 147 6 148 2 149 6 150 1 FINIS THE Christian Sodality On the first Sunday of Advent The Antiphon LUKE 1. v. 30. FEar not Mary for thou hast found grace with our Lord Behold thou shalt conceive and shalt bring forth a Son Vers Drop dew ye Heavens from above and let the clouds rain down the Just Resp Be the earth opened and let it bud forth a Saviour The Prayer ROwse up we beseech Thee O Lord thy power and come away that from the eminent dangers of our sins thou protecting we may deserve to be freed and thou delivering us we may be saved The Illustration of the Prayer SHould a Turk or Heathen ask me what report this Prayer hath to the Epistle and Gospel of the day there being scarce one word of either in it I should not wonder at him but did a Christian ask me such a question I should pitty him as either not well Catechized or at least as not reflecting on what he hath been taught for example that past Mysteries are by Holy Church presentiated unto us as now actually flowing namely that Advent represents the time when the Blessed Virgin Mary was near to her delivery of her Sacred Son the Messias our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ into this world and for respect unto this time the Antiphon of this day is taken out of the 1. of Saint Luke not out of the 21. as the Gospel is because that 1. Chapter puts us in minde of the time which this Prayer reports unto so doth the Versicle and Responsory and so doth the last Antiphon of Advent being one of the great Os as we call them importing the exclamations used by the holy Patriarchs in their Prayers calling upon our Saviours Birth as near at hand and consequently the Prayers of Advent must be adapted to the times past to the voices of the Ancient Patriarchs and Prophets looking up to Heaven with their Predecessours and their own wearied eyes for four thousand years together all crying out as if they durst not believe their own eyes but would awake as it were the sleeping God that had so long left the world under the lash of a Triple Tyranny which they did groan beneath of Death Sin and Damnation and speaking by the dictate of the holy Ghost like men to God as if there were more or lesse of power in his Omnipotency beseeching him to hasten away with all his Rowsed power and by his protecting grace to free them from the eminent dangers they were in that had slept so many years in the night and trance of sin that is to say in the guilt thereof and next to deliver them from all future punishment due unto them for that guilt by a saving sentence in the latter day of Doom and so briefly praying to be secured from all dangers they were liable unto either of Guilt or pain of Sin He I say that looks upon the present Prayer with this reflection which is but due unto it will soon perceive the connexion it hath by beseeching God to Rowse up his power and come away to the Epistle specifying the greatest roots of Sin from the guilt whereof we desire protection and freedom by the coming of Christ the source and fountain of all Grace and to the Gospel telling us we are then before all the world finally truly and most absolutely delivered from the due penalty of Sin which is eternall damnation when the Devil and all his accursed crew shall see us called at the latter day of Doom unto an everlasting Bliss and Glory by the happy sentence of Salvation passed upon us For though we are protected here and by the Grace of God set free from the guilt of Sin yet we are then most properly delivered from all danger of punishment for the same when we are declared which God grant at the latter day maugre the Devils malice to be saved Souls But that all this may more clearly appear see both the letters of the Texts in Epistle and Gospel with the Expositours senses thereupon suitable to this Illustration of the Prayer as above and then confess there is more depth of sense and spirit in the Churches Prayers being all dictates of the holy Ghost than at first sight men will imagine or without deep meditation ever find out and believe The Epistle ROM 13. 11. ANd knowing the season that it is now the hour for us to rise from slâ—ep for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed 12. The night is past and the day is at hand let us therefore cast off the works of Darknesse and put on the Armour of Light 13. As in the day let us walk honestly not in Banquettings and Drunkenesse not in Chamberings and Impudicities not in Contention and Emulation 14. But put ye on our Lord Jesus Christ The Explication 11. THe Apostle in the immediate Verse before had told them That the fulness of the Law was Love and supposing them thereby prepared to fulfill the same by loving one another he now adds the convenience of the season and happiness of the present hour to encourage them to perfection But we must note he applies his speech both to the Jewes and Gentiles in this place to the former alluding unto the time when they did onely believe the Messias was to come whom now they can see with their own
and so make the Surges much more horrid than when they are caus'd by the most boisterous winds ploughing up onely the even surface of the waters but here probably the very Sands Stones and Rocks will all boil up from the deep roaring like Thunder in the ears of all Nations whatsoever And we may guess at the confusion of this sound when it shall be heard and known distinct from that of the generall summons given by the Angels in the sound of Trumpets breaking even the deepest sleep of death awaking and raising dead men from their graves 26. It is indeed an usuall effect of fear to make men pine away and look like withering plants nor is man other than a rationall plant if well considered in all his parts and though here the cause of pining seem to be the sadness of mans expectation what shall become not onely of himself but of the whole world besides yet what followes tells us this expectation is but an effect of the powers of Heaven being moved that is removed from us by having their usuall influence into earthly creatures obstructed for so we now depend upon their influencies that we see the least or shortest ecclipse of either Sun or Moon is sensibly felt in all the creatures of the earth by some present or future disturbance to their well-being insomuch that should the Sun but miss to make his annuall or diurnall revolution all the plants upon the earth would wither immediately and cause a famine over the whole universe so absolutely necessary is the Suns heat to the cold earthy nature that is cherisht by it 27. This verse will litterally occur in the 24. Sunday after Pentecost and shall be there expounded 28. We are here told the confusion of this dismall day shall not be void of comfort to the just at least while they are all advised to hold up their heads to Heaven in hope to receive the fruit of their redemption for when the Apostle tells them their redemption is at hand he means the fruits thereof since we all know the work of our redemption was the past passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and it will be here with the just thus looking up to Heaven as with the holy Patriarchs and Prophets it formerly was when with the like action Isai c. 38. v. 14. tels us His eyes were weary with looking dayly for many years together up on high in hope to see the promised Messias come from thence Thus will it fare with the just at the time when these fore-running signes portend the second coming of our Saviour in the nature of a Judge sharing out to every Just the fruits of his Redemption Glory and salvation which then was said to be at hand because all time is but a moment or instant to eternity 29. The gloss above is made good by this verse following which likens the generall Judgement of the just unto the spring in respect of the then promised fruits of their labours unto all the husband-men upon the earth onely what Analogy St. Matthew chap. 21. makes between the fig-tree and this day of Doom St. Luke doth make between that and all other trees or plants whatsoever since as every springing plant first or last brings forth some fruit or other and therewith some seed to conserve the kind or species of the plant so every Christian soul that hath but the least vegetation of grace within her bringing forth thence some spiritual fruit may hope to reap in time the seed of her salvation by it and therefore with reason should look up to Heaven though Hell do seem to meet it when all things are in this confusion The 30 31 32 and 33 Verses following in this Gospel are in a manner verbatim the same with the close of the last Sundays gospel in this book and so being there largely expounded need here no further exposition The Application 1. THerefore holy Church to day joynes a Gospel of Judgement to an Epistle of the Incarnation to let us see we cannot at a less rate than the hazard of a most rigorous Judgement omit to celebrate the holy time of Advent by acknowledging the second coming of Christ shall be to punish those eternally in the next world who have not made him a Religious welcome into this 2. And because our holy Mother found we were not apt to do our Christian duties purely out of love to God therefore having given us at least that motive first in this dayes Epistle She addes now the other of holy Fear which the memory of the day of Judgment needs must striks into us O let us now by frequent acts of holy Fear prevent the danger of our then despair yes now while every minute of Repentance is able to purchase an eternall recompence Let us I say now do that which then in vain we shall wish to have done if we now omit to do it 3. But happy they who shall prevent the latter fear with a present love by making the whole doctrine of this day the rule of their practice by so securing Man-God to be their friend that they need not fear God-man to be their Judge and doubtless that is holy Churches aime to day whilst to prevent Christ calling us to a fearfull indeed a dreadfull Judgement She calls on him to a chearfull Incarnation Praying as above by the Protection of his grace to be freed from all dangers here and by the deliverance of a happy sentence to be finally saved there On the second Sunday of Advent The Antiphon MAT. 11. ver 3. ARt thou he that art to come or look we for another Goe and report to John what you have seen the Blind see the Dead rise again to the Poor the Gospel is preached Vers Drop c. as before pag. 1. Resp Be the Earth c. The Prayer RAise up our hearts O Lord towards preparing the wayes of thine onely begotten Son that by his coming amongst us we may deserve to serve thee with purifyed soules The Illustration IN the last Sundayes Prayer we besought Almighty God to rowse up his own power and come away to those that had four thousand years expected him now to day we beseech his Divine Majesty to raise up our hearts towards him left our but lately opened eyes from the sleep of sin do close again if our raised hearts affections do not keep them open for lumpish hearts are many times the cause of sleeping eyes and indeed what hearts so lumpish as those that are addicted unto lumps of flesh to carnall and terrene desires which as they ever draw us downward so must they of necessity make us dronish and drowsie in the service of Almighty God this day therefore finding the danger of a sinfull effect we deprecate the cause thereof we pray to be rid of the lumpishness of our hearts and that we may have them vigilant active vigorous raised and rowsed up by Almighty God to high and Heavenly thoughts
have it so but in a way clean contrary then we are not of one minde nor do we speak forth his praises with one mouth which yet we doe when out of severall mouthes we express one and the same will and way to praise Almighty God The Apostle seemes to insert the glorifying God and the Father of Jesus Christ under two severall notions to let us see that as Christ was man he was also truly the Son of God because as the second Person had in Heaven a Father without a Mother so in Earth Christ had a Mother without any Father save onely God in Heaven 7. For the which cause that is to shew you are all of one mind c. receive help and cherish one another being Christians or in order that you may be so as Christ hath received you that were Gentiles unto the honor of God to the same Church with his native and chosen People th◠Jewes and of all severall nations made up one joynt honour and glory to the Divine Majesty 8. True it is Christ was sent by his Heavenly Father with Commission as it were unto the Jewes onely and therefore he did live and die amongst them to verifie those promises which God had made them in Abraham and the Prophets for as the law was onely given unto and kept among the Jewes so the promises and predictions of that law did onely appertain to them and were necessarily to be made good amongst them as indeed most exactly they were by Christ and this in virtue of Cōmission from his Heavenly Father For which cause he is called here Minister of the Circumcision though he abrogated that law in regard he did all his life time administer to the circumcised his labours and pains by Teaching Preaching Curing and infinite other wayes serving the Jewes in order to their Redemption and this directly and principally to prove the veracity of God who had promised to send the Jewes a Messias that should do this and by doing this he was truly and properly their Minister 9. But not to the Gentiles so because he came to them for mercy onely and ultroneously to shew his goodnesse was not limited to the bounds of his Commission to the Jewes but might and did mercifully extend it self also to the Gentiles thereby to amplifie the honour and glory of God in doing more than could be expected of him and that to a people who had no promise nor any hope thereof Though it was not onely foreseen that Christ would doe this act of ultroneous grace and mercy but fore-told by the royall Prophet Psal 17. ver 50 as followes in this nineth verse of the Epistle 10. And as Deut. 32. ver 43. The Prophet sayes of the Gentiles Rejoice ye Gentiles with his People that is with the People of God with the Jewes for your Conversion also and sing forth praise to God for his mercy shewed to you therein 11. Here it is declared that not onely some few Nations of the Gentiles but even all of them shall be first or last made partakers of these mercies and thereby are bound to praise our Lord. 12. By the root of Jesse is here meant a Branch of that root namely Christ Jesus the son of David and of Jesse as Isaias saith in another place There shall spring a rod from the root of Jesse Isai 11. ver 1. which Rod is Iesus descended as above and yet with reason enough Christ is called the root of Iesse too for though as man he was but a branch of David his root yet as God he was the root of David his Creature again David was rather his Seed than his Root because he had not from David to be Redeemer of the World but was himself the Root of Davids and all Mankinds redemption and sprouting forth as from the Root of goodnesse in himself branches of Grace and Glory to David and all those whom he was graciously pleased to predestinate for Heirs to God and Coheires to himself in his Heavenly Kingdome The hope of which Kingdome he hath mercifully given as well to the Gentiles as faithfully by promise he gave to the Iewes 13. The Apostle here calls him the God of Hope as above Verse 5. he did call him the God of Peace and Comfort and prayes he will replenish them with all Ioy and peace as who should say both Jew and Gentile setting aside former distances now are to Joy in this that they are made one in Christ Iesus and therefore must live in peace together as the members of a naturall Body since they are become Members of Christ his Mysticall Body that by so living they may both abound in hope of one reward enough for both the Kingdome of Heaven and this through the Vertue that is Charity or the Grace of the holy Ghost wherein he also prayes they may both abound The Application 1. IF what is here written be to our Instruction 't is to make us be the Saints we are not yet 't is to facilitate the way by shewing us how the Jew and Gentile were both Saincted by Christianity The Roots whereof are the three Theologicall Vertues Faith Hope and Charity which indeed doe briefly summe up this whole Epistle in the last Verse thereof and are given us as the best preparatives to make way for Jesus into our Hearts Faith we see made Jew and Gentile both one Church O may it grow to such an excellence in us to abolish Heresie from Christianity and because it is a speciall gift of God let it be our daily Prayer that he will give it unto all the World Turk Heathen Pagan Jew 2. Hope keeps together those that Faith uniteth and like an Ancre in a storme secures the Ship of Christ in highest seas of Persecution May then the Hope of future mercy inable us to undergo our present Misery may the example of the Saints before us encourage us to be like patterns unto our Posterity as they have been to us that were our Predecessours 3. Charity makes operative both our Faith and Hope sends the Believer with the hazard of his life to propagate the Faith of Christ throughout the World and directs our present actions to such a rectitude of their intentions as may secure a future possession of their Hopes So without Charity in vain we Hope in vain men doe believe and are rather nominall than reall Christians such as cry out at the latter day Lord Lord and shall hear him say I know you not while you professe belief in Jesus Christ and offer dayly sacrifice to the Devill while you pretend a hope of Heaven and doe such actions as can onely merrit Hell while you call one another brethren in Christ and bear a mutuall hatred greater than the Gentile bore the Jew for want of those Heart-raising virtues this Epistle recommends and bids us Pray as above that by the frequent acts thereof we may both prepare the way of Christ and be able by his coming
still the same constant man he is not blown like a Reed out of his former beleife by the blast of Herods breath committing him to prison 8. Our Saviour prosecutes his design in the former verse of rectifying the people in their judgements about S. Iohn by asking them whether they thought Iohn a man flexible in his minde as those are who daily varie their apparrel and pamper up themselves in the most changeable of vices a Mollities or softnesse of nature yeelding and altering it self at every least impression made upon it Or went you out to see a man in Kings houses that is of Kings Houses a Courtier variable as the winde turning and winding his opinion as they doe their habits who follow the fashions of the Court No Iohn if in the desart clad in hair feeding little praying much and thence constant in his opinion what ere you thinke to the contrary by his Disciples coming from him to me with the question as abovâ— 9. And least they should thinke they stood sufficiently informed of Iohn the Baptist his merits by believing him a Prophet our Saviour asks even that question as if it were below St. Iohns titles to be a Prophet and so Christ said he is more than a Prophet Why be cause Prophets onely foretell future things but John both told the people the Messias was suddenly to come and had besides the honour to shew him to them as well as to tell them of him So he was truly a Prophet and more than a Prophet 10. And that they may see how much more he tells them John is an Angel among men and affirmes the Prophesie of Malachy cited in this verse to be verified of the Baptist to shew thereby that as God formerly spake to the People but by the mouthes of Men who did foretell them he was to come and save the world yet now that he was actually come himself he sends more than man an Angel of men at least John the Baptist both to prepare his way and to point him out to the people with his finger saying Loe here he is that hath been long expected the great Messias the Man-God Christ Jesus whose shoo-strings I am not worthy to untie though you esteem me his equall nay some of you value me above him too The Application 1. WHat our Saviour in the Baptist did commend holy Church to us now recommends His Fortitude his Austerity and his Angelicall Purity We shall professe the first by not onely standing the shock of open persecution but that also of the inward warre our senses make perpetually against our Reason if we shall rather choose to die than to commit the least sinne against Almighty God for thus we shew the fortitude of Grace while we repell the assaults of Nature 2. The second we shall then be perfect in when we perswade our selves eternall felicity cannot be bought too dear by any our temporall austerity and when we cease to flatter one another that mortification is not necessary unlesse to expiate enormious sinnes Alas fond souls why then did Jesus why his Blessed Mother why the holy Baptist use Austerity of life they had no sins to purge away by penance no they for our example were austere and to declare that temporall pleasures are commonly the causes of eternall punishments 3. The third is as the way unto our Journies end for since by Angels we are onely once removed from God either we must approach him by the purity Angelicall or be for ever separated from him with the spirits Diabolicall For prevention whereof and for obtaining the Baptistick vertues we fitly pray to day as above On the third Sunday of Advent The Antiphon LUKE 1. ver 41. BLessed art thou Mary who didst believe our Lord These things shall be perfected in Thee which were spoken to thee by our Lord. Vers Drop c. as before pag. 1. Resp Be the Earth c. The Prayer LEnd we beseech thee O Lord thine ear unto our Prayers and enlighten the darkness of our minde with the grace of thy Visitation The Illustration SEe how like himself the holy Ghost makes us pray to day when Spiritually altogether this Prayer alludes unto the other Service of the day for literally there is no connexion at all between the Epistle Gospel and this dayes Prayer but Spiritually they suite exceeding well together And first as relating to the time of Advent alluding to that immediately before the reall Birth of Christ wherein the holy Patriarchs and Prophets prayed as we have heard in the two foregoing Sundayes but with this addition that still the nearer we come to the Feast of Christmas the nearer the Prayers represent Christ unto us and now indeed so near as if upon the summons of two Prayers onely gone before Christ were come already so farre on his way from Heaven to Earth that we may now even whisper in his ear as this Prayer seemes to doe begging the Loan of his Eares unto us in his transient carreer as if each of us were forced to stop him on his way for some Emolumentall occasion particular to our selves while we say Lend we beseech thee O Lord thine ear to our Prayers or as if our guilty Consciences perswaded us he might be still as deaf to us though at hand according to the Epistle as he had been to all the world beside for four thousand years together and therefore we are now taught humbly to round him in the Ear and as it were with a fervorous zeal to run like Lacquies after him begging the favour of a private whisper as he goes and that meerly to tell him our case is worse than others that his generall Grace of Visitation to the whole world will hardly be enough for us unless he please particularly to enlighten the darknesse of our minde with the particular grace of his speciall Visitation to us though it be by an application onely of his Ear to our particular suite as he runs posting through the desart of common sinne where we more sadly each than other may piously believe we lie insnared and want a little glimmering of Grace more than ordinary to inlighten us that we may first seeing lament and then lamenting expiate our selves of all our sinnes whatsoever against the blessed time of his Nativity and indeed the best way to avail our selves of the annuall Feasts especially those which are mysteries of our redemption is to presentiate the same as now actually flowing and first being arrived to our knowledges for so shall our souls be raised unto a piety suitable to the thing as well as to the time that puts it into our minds And what Christian is there so obdurate so stony-hearted as if he could every year perswade himself which holy Church exhorts us to both by our Pastours and our Prayers that things were then in doing which he knowes are done and that himself were an actor in each Scean in each Feast or Mystery represented would not relent
because they were commanded absolutely by the Patriarchs and Prophets being themselves servants of God though masters of the people who were indeed Lords of all Gods graces and favours since no nation shared thereof beside the Jews 2. The Apostle follows his example and proves there is no difference between a Lord under the command of Tutors and Governours and a meer servant since this Lord or heir is not all the while of his Minority to rule and command but to obey his stewards and governours who are then the Fathers and shall after be their young Pupills servants too and this time in those dayes of the old Law lasted till the heir was twenty five yeers of age 3. The Apostle here applyes this argument to himself formerly of the Jewish Religon and consequently an infant or little one in the line of those that are Gods true servants namely Christians serving God onely under the Alphabet of a religious Law that is under the letter or Elements of the world which were the old Law all the rule men had to serve God by and then saith the Apostle we were like little ones young lords and masters by birth-right of our Judaism yet nothing different from servants since we had that Law but as an Usher to bring us up and deliver us over to another much better indeed a most perfect Law of Grace whereunto the old Law was a meer type or figure a meer Element or Alphabet of a true Law Note by the Elements of the world are here understood the letter of the law given to the men of the world in those at least who were the select thereof the Jewes for if the world were here taken for other than the men thereof the Elements of the naturall world were to bee understood earth aire water and fire but since by the world is meant the people thereof therefore Element here stands for the letter of the old ceremoniall and servile Law whence the Apostle here useth the word of serving very aptly for there are three servings in this word related unto The First that of heathens serving their Idols as their Gods The second that of the Jews serving God by their impure creatures ordered unto Gods service The last that of Christians serving God by pure creatures not by Idols nor by bloudie sacrifices but by such as in Sacraments are sanctifyed and so are more than Jewish Elements of sanctity as the Rhemists Annotations have at large expressed though true it is many by the elements here understand also the festivall and solemn dayes moneths and yeares which the Jews very superstitiously observed and made themselves indeed not onely servants thereof but even slaves unto them and this because in the tenth verse of this Chapter S. Paul mentions their formalities upon these dayes moneths times and yeares 4. By the fulnesse of time is here literally understood that time when Christ by the authority of his Father sending him for that purpose came to abrogate the servile law of the Jews and to deliver us a more filiall law of love liberty and grace for then was the time of the old law filled up when it was no longer to remain when we were no more to bee under the Ushers and Tutors of Religion but under Christ himself the true Lord and master of the whole and specially of the Christian world That the Son of God sent unto us is here said to be made of a woman wants not a deep sense namely to shew he was not begotten nor conceived of his fathers seed but was made and framed wholly out of the pure substance and blood of his blessed mother the Virgin Mary where we are to note the word woman in this place doth not signifie any commixture or corruption which doth accompany the losse of virginity when maids passe from their virginal purity to the impurer state of corrupted woman but woman here signifies directly the sex or female kinde of man and so in that sense is competent even to a virgin who is also of the female Sex again he was said to be made of a woman to declare the falsity of the Valentinian and Anabaptistick heresies teaching Christ to have been made of some aeriall and not of an earthly substance as if he had brought his body ready made in the heavens out of some aeriall combinations into the womb of the virgin and had not received his flesh from her whereas the true Christian doctrine teacheth he was flesh of her flesh and bone of her bones He is further said to be made under the Law not that by right he was subject thereunto even as man because his person was divine by the union of his two natures making but one onely sacred and divine person so called from his principal his divine nature but that indeed he was pleased to subject himself to the law though of right he were above it and thus he vouchsafed also to undergo voluntarily the law of circumcision rather to take it honourably away than to subject us to so dishonourable a slavery as that of the Old Law was 5. This Verse reports to the former and makes that to be the cause why Christ subjected himself to the Law of servitude namely because by his so doing he might redeem those who truly were under the servile Law and that by this Redemption we might all receive the Adoption of Sons and by a new filiation become the children of Grace nay even Heirs of God and Coheires of Christ who were formerly bastards and slaves of the Devil whence Saint Bernard sayes well upon this place Therefore God became Man that Man might become God And we must further note here that this our happy Adoption which is made by the means of Grace doth not onely give us right to the Inheritance of God but to a participation even of the Divine Nature it self according to S. Paul Rom. 8. ver 15. where it was said we became True Sons of God by the holy Ghost communicating himself unto us and so making us true Children of Christ God and Man if any doubt of this truth let him read what Cornelius à Lapide excellently proves to this purpose upon the place of Saint Paul his Epistle above cited and what will be said more to this purpose on the eighth Sunday after Pentecost in this Book We are lastly to note that not onely the just who are now under the Law of Grace but even those just who were under the Law of Moses were also the Adopted Sons of God however the Apostle calls them here Servants and not Sons First because though they were the true Sons of God yet they were not in the state of liberty competent unto such Children Secondly because they had not their right to this inheritance or fâ—liation by vertue of the Law under which they lived but by a speciall prerogative of Grace and Faith infused into them of Christ his being to come and so they were rather belonging to
at least the Blessed Virgin was not ignorant of what they now marvelled at but that the transcendency of the things they were thinking of and hearing did renew in their mindes the memory of the Miracle so often as they thought upon them yet some think even the Blessed Virgin though she did know our Saviour was to be the Redeemer of the Jewes did not perhaps know he was to be so to the Gentiles the which Simeon did here prophecy and further that he was to be a Ruine to some a Resurrection to many in Israell and a signe which should be contradicted 34. We are to note Simeons Blessing here was rather to the Parents of Jesus than to him their child because it had been too great a boldness for him to blesse whom he by Revelation knew to be his Saviour and his God The reason why Simeon addressed his speech to Mary was because shee was really and truly the naturall mother of our blessed Lord and Ioseph was but his reputed father That it is equally said Christ was set unto the ruine and unto the resurrection of many in Israel doth not argue it was equally meant for hee was the ruine of the incredulous by accident onely but he was by decree the resurrection of all that believe in him and obey his Law and their own incredulity who believed not was their direct ruine he was but indirectly the cause thereof By the sign which shall be contradicted some understand the person of Christ who was not onely the mark of their detracting tongues but even of their tormenting hands when they aimed at him by the stripes they gave him in his whipying at the Pillar and by the wounds they made in his blessed body hanging on the Crosse Others by the sign here understand the crosse of Christ whereof S. Paul sayes there were many enemies and so this crosse is the sign of their malice who by contemning it contemn the fruit of salvation that grew thereon Iâ—sus Christ himself but the best and most genuine sense seems to be that by the sign of contradiction should be here meant his prodigious generation of a mother in earth without a father and of a virgin mother which many pretend as yet to be impossible and so contradict this undoubted truth By this sign also is meant the wonderfull miracles of his life the strange effects of his doctrine converting all the world yet contradicted by those that will not be converted by them and thus as the incredulity of the Jews and Infidels is a contradiction to the Faith of Christ in like manner the wicked lives of sinfull Christians are open contradictions to his Laws and to the secret impulses of his holy graces 35 By the sword here some will understand the spirit of prophecie given to the B. Virgin whereby she knew as well the ill affections of the Jewes to her son as the good ones of Christians towards him yet this can at most be but the mysticall sense Others will have it that the B. Virgin dyed a Martyr by the sword which neverthelesse is against all History The literall therefore and genuine sense is That the sword of torment which killed Christ was to his holy mother a sword of sorrow wounding her very heart insomuch that had it not been healed with he comfort shee received by conformity to Gods will it had been her reall death and wee read often in holy Writ that the contradiction of detracting tongues is called a sword of persecution Their tongue is a sharp sword Psal 63. v. 4 They have sharpened their tongues like swords Psal 104.8 and the sword of Christ his torments was twofold One of his persecutours tongues The other of their stripes nails and spear peirciâ—â—â— his side which were so sharp a sword of sorrow to the blessed Virgin that the Doctors of the Church hold her for more than a Martyr actually dying for Christ but it is hard to know the true sense of what follows in this Verse That this sword of sorrow pierced the mothers soul That out of many hearts cogitations might be revealed in her sacred Son for so the words seem to import which yet is verified thus that while some of the Jewes did before privately machinate Christs death others among them pretended they look'd for the Messias but finding Christ come in an humble way they scorned him and so both these joyning attempted at last to be his ruine which then proved a true sword piercing his mothers soul when they revealed the persidiousnesse of their own false hearts that had the one often before wished but for fear of the Jewes durst not attempt his death the other pretended to honour him but when they found his humility suited not with their pride they plotted and actually procured his death and as in that they peirced his mothers soul so they revealed the iniquity of their own cogitations and to this sense Simeon seems here prophetically to have spoken 36. Anne was celebrated for the known guift shee also had of prophecy whereof v 38. we shall read anon so shee did foretell much of Christ She is called Anne which signifies Grace And her Father Phanuel signifying the Face of God is here named to she that her grace of prophecy as well as that of her justification came from God Her Tribe is here set downe to denotate her nature that was peaceable pleasing wealthy long-living and the like besides Aser signifies Blessed all these remarks of her are to shew the dignity of this Prophetesse who was appointed for one to give testimony of Christ her virginity is here remarked because it was three wayes very notable First her maiden next her conjugall and lastly hâ—r viduall virginitie for so her chastity is here called to shew it was in her more than ordinary by living with her husband â—â—â—en years from her virginity is understood seven years 〈◊〉 shew was marriageable which was then held at fifteen years of age for children are not properly called virgins till they arrive to the ripeness of years fitting for marriage so falling widdow at two and twenty yeers of age it was much shee lived in that Viduall virginity untill shee was as in this next Verse is said 37. Eighty four years of age as some say but of pure widdowhood as S. Ambrose will have it who makes her in all a hundred and six years old dwelling continually in the Temple that is not departing thence but spending most of her time there and seldome going home but to refresh at meales never any whither else for other diversion from her prayers yet some thinke her very abode was if not in yet at least joyning to the Temple as many Anchoresses and some Chanonesses now doe spending her time both night and day in fasting watching and prayer and perpetually serving God so we see fasting in those dayes of the Synagogue was an usuall service to God and is not as Heretikes now say held so onely in our
the will to it Thus these Baptismal vertues make of children men hence the Graces of the Holy Ghost brook no delay but make an Infant Christian as soon the Masculine sacrifice as he is able to be the Sacrificant O Happy Christianity 2. And 't is great reason that new creatures should operate according to the newnesse of their Being Since therefore we are all by Baptism newly made to be children of God who were born slaves of the Divell it is but reason we embrace the Apostles counsell here and live reformed according to the newness of our mind who have new Beings given us such as propend to a conformity unto the will of God and renounce all self-will for ever As then that Renunciation was made last Sunday so this Conformation must be made from this day forward 3. Now least we should erre in this Conformity the close of this Epistle tells us how to scape that Errour by a sweet subordination unto one another such as may make up the mysticall body of Christ which Christians are as perfect as our naturall bodies bee whose every member is subordinate unto the Head whilst they remain subservient to one another and the Head commands them Learn therefore subject Christians to be dutifull to your superiours Learn Commandants to live your selves obedient to the great Commander of us all And that we may learn these Lessons let us pray as above The Gospel Luke 2. ver 42. c. 42. ANd when he was twelve years old they going up into Hierusalem according to the custome of the Festivall day 43. And having ended the dayes when they returned the child Jesus remained in Hierusalem and his parents knew it not 44. And thinking that he was in the companie they came a daies journey and sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance 45. And not finding him they returned into Hierusalem seeking him 46. And it came to passe after three dayes they found him in the Temple sitting in the midst of the Doctors hearing them and asking them 47. And all were astonished that heard him upon his wisdome and answers 48. And seeing him they wondered and his mother said to him Son Why hast thou so done to us Behold thy Father and I sorrowing did seek Thee 49. And he said unto them what is it that you sought mee did you not know that I must be about those things which are my Fathers 50. And they understood not the word that he spake unto them 51. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them And his mother kept all these words in her heart 52. And Jesus proceeded in wisedome and age and grace with God and men The Explication 42. THe twelve years of the childs age are here specified to shew that Jesus who was not onely Doctor of the heavenly chaire but even the wisedome it self of his heavenly Father lost no time in taking hold of all opportunities offered unto him to shew how great a zeal he came withall from heaven to teach and play the Doctors part on earth so as at the twelfth year of age childhood expires and youth begins in us to spell man at least if not to write it wholly Jesus who was as wise an Infant as a youth would not before the years of discretion assume unto himself the office of a Teacher but so soon as by course of nature he was held among men capable of discourse and judgement then he mixed himself mostestly amongst the Doctors in the Temple to shew he came not thither to play the boy as children at that age doe but the man assoon as men would look upon him for such who knew no more of him than what they saw They vvho are here said to goe up into Jerusalem according to the custome of the Festivall Day which was that of the Jewish Easter or Pascha were Jesus Mary and Joseph the childs Mother and Father as also with them wee may presume there went diverse others of their allies and kindred as the custome was for friends to goe in troops together to this celebrated Feast once a year from all neighbouring Countries that being the Metropolis or head City of the Jewes where the grand Synagogue was held 43. The dayes that are here mentioned to be ended were those seven daies which they held continually solemn as now the Catholick Church doth the Octaves of the greatest Feasts in the year consisting of eight solemn dayes to shew that as by seven of those dayes we consecrate all time to God as well that of work as that of rest so by the eighth day we offer up unto him here all the eternity wherein we hope to rest with him in glory after we have ended our laborious time upon earth and by this we give testimony that the Evangelicall Law is much more perfect than the Iewish in regard we labour here in hope of eternal rest and this by the prescript of our law whereas the Law of the Jewes was onely temporary and so prescribed order for no further than the time they lived here upon earth which whole time was mystically represented by their Feast of seven day s continuance and ours hath one day more to shew that we hope for a blessed Eternity after time is gone Here then the Story tells us the Parents of Iesus returned to Nazareth after the seven dayes of this solemnity were ended which yet was more than others spent in the celebrating this festivity for none were tyed to be there all the dayes thereof it being sufficient that they appeared once upon any one of the seven Festivall dayes but as the Devotion of this humane Trinity of Saints Iesus Mary and Ioseph was greater than that of others so they spent the whole time of this Festivity in continuall Prayer and Devotion which time being ended and Iesus having asked leave of his Parents to goe visite some of his kindred whilst they were getting things ready to return home again it was through God Almighties permission that he by this slight gat loose from his Parents making a very short stay with those he went to see nor did he make a false pretence though he concealed the other truth of his further meaning partly out of humility to cover his devotion which lead him to a longer stay in the Temple partly to let his parents see that however they were holy Saints yet they were not exempt from the infirmities of humane nature and so though not sinning therein were short of that home-care they ought to have had of keeping Jesus alwayes in their own eyes as thinking him safe enough for so short a time amongst his kindred hence it was they knew not that their charge stayd behinde them in Ierusalem 44 45. So thinking he had been with his kindred where they presum'd at night to find him but missing of him they returned a dayes journey back full of trouble and yet were carryed on with the comfort of hope
thence retrive that sweet connexion we are at a seeming losse of and shall conclude the key we want to open this connexion lyes hidden in the preamble of this Prayer in the very courtship we use when we call upon God as moderating at once heavenly and earthly Things that is making the earthly obedient to his will when he pleaseth to have them suitable to those that are heavenly Things Thus water by the heavenly will of God became this day wine thus all the materiall parts of this dayes service became as it were immateriall that is to say spirituall Thus the Temporall gifts mentioned in the Epistle of Prophecy Ministery Teaching Exhorting Ruling Mercy Love Joy Hope Patience Prayer Almes Hospitality Vnanimity and Humility are made spirituall in being ordained to a spirituall end by conformity in us earthly creatures to the will of our Creator which is effected by vertue of that moderation God hath set between heaven and earth when he so moderates humane minds and actions as they become subservient to his heavenly will Thus carnall pleasure between man and wife is in them limited by Gods holy grace moderating the excesse and intemperance in that pleasure which indeed carnall men commit but spirituall men avoid God moderating fleshly appetites in them so as they shall not intrench upon spirituall duties but give way to serving God though with abridgement of their own delights and this is done when Saint Pauls counsell is followed Let those that have wives be as if they had none 1 Cor. c. 7. v. 29. when God Almighties service so requires as when attending first to prayer they afterwards return to the same corporall pleasure they forsook to pray and this is called a spirituall continence even in the bed of incontinency not as that term imports sin but as it argues lesse perfection than virginity or absolute containing from all corporall commixture but further and more prodigiously yet this miraculous moderation between heavenly and earthly Things is seen when married people have liberty allowed them for their due and seasonable mutuall pleasures with one another and yet withall at the same instant they have a limit set them beyond which they must not passe but like to flowing Seas must ebbe just at their own bounds and fall to the low-water of a non-temptation towards any other carnall pleasure than between themselves Here I say if ever more eminently than other it doth appear God moderates heavenly and earthly Things at once for here is a kind of continuall miracle betwâ—en man and wife when Saint Pauls counsell is followed as above and since the Story of this dayes Gospel runs upon a marriage and the Prayer concludes with begging peace here is the grant of that petition when man and wife thus moderated live happily together not defrauding one another here is further that peace granted to all sorts of Christians when they apply the Temporall gifts recited in the Epistle to spirituall to heavenly ends and when in the prayer we say Grant us thy peace in our dayes it is no lesse than the peace of that God who at once moderates heavenly and earthly things which we demand Now if any would dive further into that peace let them look back to the seventh verse in the Epistle on the Third Sunday of Advent and to the Explication thereof There they shall see how ravishing how plentifull a peace it is And having thus wrought out our design of connexion here where it was so seeming hard at first but now to flowing from every part like honey from the Combes of this dayes Epistle and Gospel upon the bread of the Prayer let us never despair of as good successe all the year along nor can there be a sweeter Prayer than this thus glossed and in this sense reiterated as often as we find reluctancy in us between nature and grace For then thus to call upon God as moderatour between heaven and earth is to quell all rebellion of nature against grace which God grant we may doe by praying as above The Epistle ROM 12. ver 6. c. 6. ANd having gifts according to the grace that is given us different either prophecy according to the rule of Faith 7. Or ministery in ministring or he that teacheth in doctrine 8. He that exhorteth in exhorting he that giveth in simplicity he that ruleth in carefulnesse he that sheweth mercy in cheerfulnesse 9. Love without simulation hating evill cleaving to good 10. Loving the charity of the Brotherhood one toward another with honour preventing one another 11. In carefulnesse not sloathfull in spirit fervent serving our Lord. 12. Rejoycing in hope patient in tribulation instant in prayer 13. Communicating to the necessities of the Saints pursuing hospitality 14. Blesse them that persecute you Blesse and Curse not 15. To rejoyce with them that rejoyce to weep with them that weep 16. Being of one mind one towards another not minding high things but consenting to the humble The Explication IN regard there was reference made to this place on Sunday last concerning the rule of Faith therefore we shall here take hold of the last part of this verse first and having premised what is peculiarly necessary upon this which is hugely controversiall we shall then proceed in our wonted manner for expounding the rest of the Text. We are therefore here to note That by the Rule of Faith is not understood onely the Apostles Creed branched into twelve Articles as we have received it from age to age but a set Form of life delivered by word of mouth unto the People by the Apostles who had first held Counsels about it amongst themselves and stood resolved all their teaching should be conformable thereunto And this Rule is not as Hereticks will have it the holy Scripture written by the Apostles for this Rule was made long before any Scripture was written and it was never delivered abroad but by word of mouth in their preaching and exhortations so it is properly called the Apostolicall Tradition which is yet even unto this very day the Rule of Faith to the whole Catholick Church to the Decrees of all Councels to the sense or exposition of the holy Scriptures and consequently Scripture cannot be as Hereticks pretend the sole Rule of Faith though true it is there must be nothing nor is there any thing at all in holy Writ contrary to this Rule or Apostolicall Tradition which was much larger than the written Word and therefore it ever was and still is even to the sacred Word a kind of Rule or Test to try it by since before the Apostles issued out their written books of Scripture those books were examined by this Rule of Faith which was framed by common consent of the whole number or Colledge of Apostles whereas all of them did not write nay two onely of the twelve were Evangelists or Writers of the Gospels for Saint Mark and Saint Luke the other two Evangelists were not dignified with the stile
had each of them some quantity within them wherefore Christ to take away all colour of deceit first bids all those vessels to be filled full of water up to the top that so each person in the room might see the certainty of the miracle and the liberality of God when he pleaseth to open his bounteous hand unto us 8. This done Jesus bids them draw of the vessels full of water a cup full and carry it to the cheif Steward of the feast because he could best tell whether or not he had provided that plenty and such rare Wine as those pots full of water did afford For it was the Jewish custome ever to have some modimperatour or prefect of good order at such feasts so Christ gave him the respect of first tasting this cup of grace and the presence of such a prefect makes the company of Iesus and his Mother more avowable at the feast since where a prefect of good order was there could be no suspition at all of the least excess or disorder 9. This verse shewes us the modimperatour having found Wine come in more than he had appointed and knowing none durst provide any besides himself unless by chance the Bridegroom took the priviledge so to doe which yet was not usuall presently calls to him saying to this effect 10. This is beyond the ordinary course two wayes first that you have more Wine than I was privy too next that you have reserved to the last your best Wine for this is singular good much better than what we had before And yet the bâ—st is alwayes first served in that in case of want worse may suffice at the latter end when the tast being glutted before is not so able to distinguish the difference yet this was so superlatively rare as even to those Palates formerly glutted in a manner it did tast extraordinarily well indeed to admiration nor was it strange since the works of God are ever perfect 11. Many doubt wheither or no this were the first miracle that Christ wrought willing to believe divers former which he did in his youth though in regard Gelasius the Pope hath condemned a fictitious book published by Hereticks intituled The miraculous infancy of Jesus and full of inventions of their own it is not improbable this was the first he did after his Baptisme with any purpose to be noted for the Messias By the manifestation of his Glory here is understood the shewing of his power wherein he was glorified and for which cause the Disciples are here said to believe him to be the true Messias and the true â—amb of God who as John the Baptist had told them was come to take away the sins of the world and this miracle he chose to work at a marriage as alluding thereby to the solemnity he made this day of his own wedding between his Divine and humane nature since now he was resolv'd to discover himself to be as well God as man whence this was done mystically on the Third day after he was published by the Baptist to shew now the Third state of the world was begun The first being hat under the Law of Nature The second that under the Law of Moses and this that under the Law of Grace besides the miracle was done in the Gentiles Cana to shew Christ came to call all Nations it was also done in Cana of Galilee as importing the transmigration of possession that is amongst Christian people who are the possession of Christ as bought by his bloud and therefore are to passe yet from earth to heaven their better and finall possession The Wine he so abundantly gave imports the doctrine of Christ and his holy grace inebriating the soules of the Faithfull The Application 1. LEarn Husbands hence to love your Wives as Christ doth love his Church learn Wives to obey your Husbands as the Church obeys her Head our Saviour Jesus Christ since marriage is a Sacrament representing the union between Christ and his holy Spouse 2. Learn married people hence to moderate excesses both at bed and board for neither Jesus nor his Blessed Mother can behold excesse and they to faintifie your marriage must be there 3. Learn Parents hence to breed your Children rather to supply the Angels rooms in Heaven than for to be your own Successours here on Earth thus will the waters of humane infirmitie be turned into Wine of Christian perfection by grace moderating natures exorbitances and making peace between two fatall enemies the spirit and the flesh As the Prayer to day petitions On the Third Sunday after the EPIPHANIE The Antiphon MATH 8. ver 2. O Lord if thou wilt thou canst cleanse me and Jesus said I will Be thou cleansed Vers Let my prayer c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer OMnipotent eternall God look we beseech thee propitiously on our infirmity and extend to our protection the right hand of thy Majesty The Illustration IT is remarkable to see how negatively Saint Paul in this dayes Epistle minds us of being sinners when positively he exhorts us to be Saints with the Romans for what greater signe that the Apostle found a world of infirmities in the Romans than that he stirs them up so much to Vertues contrary to the vices they abound in and thus the Epistle insisting all upon vertues is well adapted to the Gospell running all upon infirmities mystically representing vices for what else doth the corporall leprosie of the Leper or the paraliticall disease of the Centurions boy purport than the like scurvy latent diseases of sin in our Souls to those which were apparent in these two bodies Whence it was but fitting this dayes Prayer should beg to have the same right hand of God extended over us which was the cure of these temporall diseases types of our spirituall infirmities nor can we hope this will be done unless God of his infinite goodness be propitious to us and therefore we beseech him in the Prayer first to look propitiously on our infirmities and then to extend to our protection the right hand of his majesty that is to say all his power as if our vice required no less than an infinite vertue to cure it our weakness no less than all Heavens forces to protect us And since both the Leper and Paralitick saying this Prayer in effect obtained corporall cure thereby why should we doubt of Spirituall cure if we say with like Faith like Hope like Love the same Prayer to day and truly to say it with less were a confusion to Christianity that Jewes and Gentiles should exceed us in fervour of Piety besides we have yet an easier task than they in hand for their demands were no less than to have a Miracle wrought upon them by a Physicall cure without a Physicall cause unless we shall say the touch of Christs hand was a Physicall cure for all diseases whereas we onely demand a favour not a miracle a little Grace to blot out a great
indeed the custome upon such cures to offer up two Turtles or two young Pigeons at least This he bids him doe for regard to the letter of the Law but mystically sends him to the Priest to shew himself that is to teach us we must shew our Consciences our Sins to the Priest which sins are many times the causes of our corporal diseases and yet with this difference that the Mosaick Priest could onely declare the cure whereas the Evangelicall Priest effects or works it by absolving actually from â—in Goe therefore saith the Text shew thy self to the Priest and offer up thy gift that as thereby they may see thou art cured so they may testifie the same to the world the reason why he was bid Goe to the Priest in the singular number and why it was said doe this in testimony to them in the plurall was in regard there came alwayes one officiating Priest by turnes and he for that time was called the Chief Priest that is the then officiating Priest but what was done by him was to bee made known to all the rest of his company who were in their turns to officiate as well as he Now wee are here to note a Triple Testimonie meant in this place The first is that of the Leper to the Priest shewing his body sound unto him and in sign thereof giving up his offering The second was the Lustration or Lotion of the Priest applyed to the party cured testifying thereby he was capable of being admitted into the company of others as a sound man who had now been washed by the Priest with the legall Lustration or expiation of water taking off the ceremonie of his Legal irregularity by reason of the Leprosie The last and chief Testimony which Christ alludes unto here was that of the miracle done upon this Leper who was to shew the Priest by telling of him how he was cured That Christ was the Messias and by this meanes hee gave indeed testimony to the Priest of that Deity in Jesus which had wrought this cure upon him 5. This is the second Miracle which Christ wrought in confirmation of his doctrine upon the mount as abovesaid and no marvell the Leper was the first because he was a Jew but the Centurion was a Gentile a Commander or captain of an hundred men belonging to the Roman Militia yet whether he were himself a Romane or a Spaniard some doubt â—uffice it he was a Heathen converted by this miracle upon his son principally but formerly much attracted by the reports of other our Saviours Miracles so wee see here he comes strong in Faith even to Christs own admiration some say this mans son was that Oppius a Centurion also who having the command of the Military forces that attended at the crucifying of our Saviour was then and not before converted to the Faith of Christ seeing what prodigious signs were at that time in the heavens and upon the face of the earth Note this miracle was done at our Saviours entrance into Capernaum that City where hee chose to doe many signall wonders but wee are to observe that S. Luke recounts this passage otherwise as saying the Centurion sent first his servants then his friends both which consist with his after going in person upon Christs coming into the town and upon his childs neer approaching unto death though some explicate this place as if it imported onely that the Centurion went to meet him not personally but as S. Luke sayes by mediation of his friends yet lesse probably in regard the personall faith of this Centurion is that which makes the whole storie remarkable Again whether this were the Centurions son or servant is not certain S. Luke calling him servant this Evangelist son to the Centurion or boy who was though a servant dear at least as a son for so were many of the servants in those dayes esteemed of by their masters and provided for as their own children but this makes noâ— much to the purpose certain it is that both the Evangelists tell the undoubted truth of the same Miracle bee their circumstances differing or not it imports but little Hence wee may solve the seeming contradiction of S. Lukes telling us the Centurion sent for Christ to come to his house about this cure and of Saint Matthews saying here he onely required his word not his presence as holding himself not worthy of so much honour for both may stand in a divided sense that is first inviting him by the Iewes his own Countrymen to doe a Gentile that honour but after coming in person and saying O Lord I am not worthy being a Gentile that thou the most Blessed among the Jews shouldest doe me so much honour seeing wee Gentiles are held an unclean people not worthy the company of thy select and chosen Natives the Jewes 6. As to the Paralytick or sick chiâ—d ill tormented with his disease we are to know There are two sorts of Paralyticks some are such as run not danger of death but may hope for cure as those where the resolution of the nerves is but in part of the body taking away sense and motion in some part onely others desperate of all humane help and such was this boyes case whereby the miracle appeared to bee the greater and the more undoubted for here was a totall resolution of the nerves accompanied with a Convulsion leaving the whole body almost quite insensible and unmoveable of it self 7. It seems Christ was well satisfied of this Centurions Faith when immediatly upon his demand he promised to go and cure his sick child 8. Bee this saying of the Centurion Courtship or reall agnition of his unworthinesse it boots not certain it is hâ— had reason to say as much in civility being a Gentile seeing our Saviour a Jew come neer his house and offer to goe in but much more certain it is by the whole context of the following Gospel that he did believe Jesus was able to cure as well at a distance as by personal touch Note this temporall comportment of the Centurion is an excellent pattern for us of the like spirituall behaviour when we receive Jesus not onely into our house but even into our soules in the B. Sacrament each of us to cry out then O Lord I am not worthy c. 9. See here how really the Centurion argued against Christs giving himself the trouble of going to his boy in person and believed his power was abundantly sufficient without his presence when he not onely bids him spare his labour but instanceth how himself being a man under Authority so sayes the Text but means a man of power and command was able in vertue of his power to doe as much as if he applyed his person to the action Though withall the Centurion calls himself a man of power over his little troop and under power of his head Commander both at once and therefore useth an argument from the lesser to the greater as saying if
storm at sea we are minded of the many dangers sin hath brought upon us so by the check Christ gave to his Apostles wee are taught in dangers to recurr to Faith in him who never failes to succour firm believers in their greatest tribulations 2. As in stormes your Marrinâ—â—s cast veâ—-board their heaviest lading and commodities to save the ship from sinking so in affliction at the least we shall doe well to lighten the vessels of our soulâ— by casting over-board those heavie burdens of most grievous sins which many times in calmnesse of our mindes we dare to carry with us 3. We may piously presume our Saviour never sleeps but unto souls remiss and then doth wake again immediatly when they affrighted at the danger they are in by the least close of his all-seeing eyes I doe call upon him for his succour by their instant prayer Such as the Church to day doth use to teach us how to pray in time of Danger On the Fifth Sunday after the EPIPHANIE The Antiphon MAT. 13. ver 30. GAther first the darnell and bind it together in bundles to be burnt but the wheat gather into my barne saith our Lord. Vers Let my prayer c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer KEepe we beseech the O Lord thy family in continuall piety that resting on the onely hope of heavenly grace it may ever by thy protection be defended The Illustration SEe how this day we are taught to pray as in the Epistle and Gospel we are taught to doe to live all together as one family of God in continual piety resting on the onely hope of heavenly grace for our protection and defence Yes thus to day we pray and to this purpose holy Church doth this day preach for the whole Epistle is upon uniting us all in one affection towards another and exhorting us that whatsoever we doe in word or work all things be done in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ And the Gospel commanding in the Parable of Corne and Cockle that even under pretence of good and bad we make no separation amongst our selves but live and continue lovingly together leaving it to God the master of the family to sever what he likes not from that which pleaseth his divine majestie and this to shew how perfectly we must be all as one amongst our selves all in continuall piety all resting on the hope of heavenly grace all relying upon God to protect and defend us not squaring out our own courses but resting in that which is appointed us by the Master of our family And see while in this prayer Holy Church calleth us all one family we ought to live in peace with all the world and not to graspe from our neighbour as if he and we were of two houses but to esteem him as a domesticke with us as one that eares at the same table of Christ who feeds us commonly with heavenly grace and oftentimes with his own sacred body and bloud the fountaine of grace it self O could we once come to doe as in this prayer we beg we may what an united family of Christians should we be How of divers members should we grow into one perfect body each proportioned to the will and pleasure of our head Christ Jesus How ill doe we then fall into divisions as if our hands would cut off our armes about disputes of divers Interests whereas all our relation is to one master all our hope of preferment must come from him and that hope must be radicated in the proportion of such heavenly grace as he pleaseth to give us so if in him our hopes be rightly fixed they wil bring us all to one happy end he in whom wâ— hope protecting and defending us so much the better by how much the more our hope in him is the firmer and by how much the lesse we are solcitous who neither can do nor with so well unto our selves as God doth for us The Epistle COL 3. ver 12. c. 12. PVt ye on therefore as the Elect of God holy and beloved the bowells of mercy benignity humility modesty patience 13 Supporting one another and pardoning one another if any have a quarrell against any man as also our Lord hath pardoned us so you also 14. But above all these things have Charity which is the band of perfection 15 And let the peace of Christ exult in your hearts wherein also you are called in one body and be thankful 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly in all wisdome teaching and admonishing your own selves with psalmes hymnes and spiritual Canticles in grace singing in your hearts to God 17. All whatsoever you doe in word or work all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ giving thanks to God and the Father by him The Explication 12. THE Apostle began this Chapter with telling the Colossians that as they were dead in Christ whilst Christ dyed for them so if they meant to rise with Christ from the grave of their sin they must look upward and seek from hence forward such things as were to be found in heaven not what was common upon earth as before they had done and when he had bid them Cast off the old man Colos 3. vers 9. now in this verse he begins to tell them how to vest themselves anew with ornaments fit for the spiritual and inward man and that they may doe this with more alacrity the Apostle bids them doe it under the confidence that they are now the elect and chosen of God his holy and beloved people mâ—de so by the lavacrum or cleansing of his sacred bloud shed for them and least they might doubt of this he had in the immediate verses before told them they were now in Christ a new creature that though formerly the Jewes were the onely favourites and chosen people of God yet in Christ both Jewes and Gentiles Slave or Free-man all were alike if they did all equally believe in Jesus the Messias and Saviour of them all who had chosen them not onely to Grace but to Glory and this incouragement premised he bids them now put on the bowels of mercy benignity humility modesty patience Virtues not heard of among the Iewes who had hardned their hearts against God who had inhumanely butchered his sacred Sonne who proudly aymed at nothing but worldly pompe who immodestly reviled Iesus to his face who like furies would have stoned and at last tore in pieces their Lord and Saviour so far thâ—y were from patient hearing him tell them Truth not were the Gentiles or Barbarians men of any Vertue at all but either superstitious or savage people so these Colossians being people of no better extract by nature hee had need tell them what Bowels what affections of heart they were by Grace at least to have what inward Vertues what outward deportment 13. As for example supporting one another a thing unheard of by those who aimed at nothing more than
to supplant their neighbour and to reâ—r their own monuments upon anothers ruine As for pardoning it was esteemed folly by them who thought revenge the sweetest thing in nature and as for our Lord God they so little knew him that his pardoning nature was no motive to their vindicative dispositions which yet Christians that know God and beleeve that in his sacred Son he hath pardoned the offences of the whole world cannot pretend but must as taught by him or pardon others or not hope for pardon of their own sins 14. But above all that is to say it sufficeth not for a Christian to forgive an enemy but he must also love him too for Charity is the band of perfection not onely the life of every Vertue but the link that chaineth them together and binds them all up in one bundle to make a present of them to Almighty God as of so many particulars necessary to make one accomplisht Soul nay not only binding up all vertues together in one man but also uniting all men together as making so many members to integrate one Mysticall Body of Christ his holy Church so that no one Vertue can subsist alone without the help of another to support it For instance modesty is lost unless patience help to bear it self modestly against those who are injurious againe Patience cannot subsist without Humility inabling us to bear patiently the proud comportment of others and their provocations to impatience and the like is of all Vertues whatsoever for we shall find no one can stand alone without it lean upon another but this is singular in Charity that she is not necessary as a particular support to any single Vertue but is further the common Soul or life unto them all insomuch that without Charity there can be no Vertue at all in any Soul For as Saint Paul sayes 1 Cor. 13. If I have Faith to remove Mountaines if I speak with the tongues of Angels and have no Charity I am become as sounding Brass and a tinkling Cymbâ—ll making a noise but no Harmony nor Musick in the hearing of Almighty God and here the same Apostle calls Charity the band of all Vertues thereby to shew us we are but loose Christians unless tyed up together in the Band of Charity whereby we are made to love God above all things and our neighbour as our selves and in so doing are by this Band of perfection rendred perfect Christians Chosen holy and Beloved children of Christ Iesus 15. Out of this mutuall love followes an effect of peace which is here recommendeâ— to us in no less degree than it was in our Saviours own heart even that similitudinarily not identically which Christ had with the Jewes when on the Cross he besought his Father to be at peace with his enemies that peace and no less the Apost e desires should exult he would say abound in our hearts too his meaning is we should rather recede from our own rights than seek to recover them by losing the peace and quiet of our minde or then be at variance with any body whatsoever to which purpose Cardinall Bellarmine had an excellent axiome which he was known by saying often upon occasions of disputes or oddes between party and party One ounce of Peace is worth a whole pound of Victory and this Cardinall was not alone of this opinion for Saint Austine sure taught it him in his twelfth Sermon upon this verse of the Apostle where he speaks thus I will not have with whom to strive it is much more desireable to have no enemy than to overcome him But the Apostles sense in this place is yet deeper for he so recommends peace unto us as he leaves it for the commandant in our Hearts the ruler of them and of all our actions indeed the crown of them besides as who should say what ere you doe see it be peaceably done see you may after it is past say you have thereby made no breach of peace either in your own or your neighbours minde but that you goe towards God hand in hand with all the world rather following them who siâ— not than by breaking from them though upon your own perhaps better designe cause a disturbance amongst others And indeed if we be at any time necessitated to a war the Christian and reall end thereof being peace argues how much this Vertue is requisite to abound in every pious Soul And eace is here called Christ his Vertue because it was the speciall gift he brought from Heaven when the Angel told us his nativity brought Glory to God above and peace to men of good mindes upon earth Luke 2 ver 1â— and at his parting he left it himself as a legacy amongst us saying immediately before his ascension up to Heaven John 14. ver 27. My peace I leave with you my peace I give to you and for this reason the Apostle sayes We are all called by Christ in one Body that is made up peaceable members one with another of his own sacred and Mysticall Body the holy Church Bee therefore thankfull is the close of this Verse to shew it is a benefit infinitely obliging Christians to receive by Grace so admirable a gift as peace amongst us that are made up by nature of many contradictions not onely externall but internall also though there want not thâ—t instead of thankfull expound this place as to import being gracious or pleasing to each other for so are all peaceable men acceptable to everybody wheresoever they come and truly however the Rhemists translate it Thankfull yet the expositours especially Saint Heirome incline to think gracious to be the more genuine sense of the Apostle in this place 16. True it is by the Word of Christ is here meant as well the written as the preached Word of God but in regard ignorant persons are more apt to misconstrue than rightly to understand the written Word therefore holy Church is sparing to give leave to read the Bible and liberall to advise us to hear it Preached or explicated by the Priests But if it please God we have it once expounded unto us that we may understand it in a safe and sound sense then not to read it will be a fault whereas till then to read it may prove a danger to us and in very truth one reason why I have undertaken to set forth this book was to give the Lay-people a little liberty in reading at least all the Epistles and Gospels throughout the Sundayes of the year when they were laid open to them in a safe sense such as might nay must needs edisie and can no wayes offend or cause dangers to the reader so to read and possesse themselves of thus much Scripture as is here delivered in the flux of a year unto then must needs be highly commendable and hugely profitable unto every one that reads and makes it their study indeed their Prayer from one end of the year to the other for so shall they have
the intervening persecutions that may divert them from it And look what was then said to them for perseverance both in faith and good workes is also to day by holy Church applied to us in this Prayer that beggs us grace ever to think and consequently alwaies to doe well that is reasonable things because none else can be pleasing to Almighty God It remaines onely to shew how this Prayer does also exhaust the Gospel whereunto it is the better suiting if it be as some witts will have it paradoxicall since that is wholly parabolicall yet nothing lesse rationall than is the prayer petitioning reason in all we think or doe for who can deny but the little mustard-seed of Gods holy word is hugely rationall or who can say but the deeper it falls into the earthly hearts of men the faster root it takes growes the stronger up and brings the riper fruit because as well the reason of it as the grace is hugely convincing Againe who can deny but the leaven of the same word hidden in our Soules shall with reason operate upon the whole mass of our bodies and give them a taste thereof harsh perhaps to the corrupted pallats of worldly men but delitious to the relish of God and his holy Angels who delight to taste of such leavened loaves as we call sower when they esteeme them sweet and such are Converts from the Court who are by the leaven of Gods holy word become Princes to Heaven though seeming Clownes to Earth Thus mystically have we adjusted the parabolicall Gospel to the paradoxicall Prayer of this day if wits will have it to be a paradox that men should alwaies meditate on rational things which yet when they do not they cease to be men I will not say what might follow that they become beasts The Epistle 1 THES 1. v. 2. c. 2. WE give thanks to God alwaies for all you making a memory of you in our prayers without intermission 3. Mindfull of the work of your Faith and labour and of the Charity and of the enduring of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ before God and our Father 4. Knowing Brethren beloved of God your Election 5. That our Gospel hath not been to you in word onely but in power and the holy Ghost and in much fullnesse as you know what manner of men we have been among you for your sakes 6. And you became followers of us and of our Lord receiving the word in much tribulation with joy of the holy Ghost 7. So that ye were made a pattern to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia 8. For from you was bruited the word of our Lord not onely in Macedonia and in Achaia but in every place your faith which is to God-ward is proceeded so that it is not necessary for us to speak any thing 9. For they themselves report of us what manner of entering we had to you and how you turned to God from Idols to serve the living and true God 10. And to expect his Sonne from heaven whom he raised up from the dead Jesus who hath delivered us from the wrath to come The Explication 2. THe Apostle speaks not here in the plurall number of himself as Princes and great Persons but in a quite contrary way derogates from himself rather by attributing his own writings joyntly to other his associates and companions as namely here he doth in the first verse of this Epiâ—â—le specifie both Sylvanus and Timothy as if he had no more share in this than they and as if what ere he writ they did suggâ—st or dictate to him as much thereof as came from his own much deeper Spirit an excellent example for all Writers to fellow and attribute their works to their helpers in them rather than to themselves alone besides Sylvanus being Bishop of the Thessalonians there was great reason for the Apostle to consult him in all his proceedings amongst his own Diocesans In their own Bishops name therefore and in his companions who went the circuite with him Saint Timothy whom he had made Bishop of Ephesus the Apostle sayes We give thanks to God for the Conversion of you Thessalonians in our incessant Prayers for your preservation in the Faith of Christ and that by your example others may receive the like Faith and be alike converted 3. Here as in almost all other places of holy Writ we are to note the Apostle joynes good Works with Faith to make it recommendable and availing lest Hereticks should as yet wilfully thâ—y doe mistake and think Faith alone without gooâ— Wâ—â—ks werâ— saving whereas it is the active and laborious Faith that brings us to Heaven The Faith which is continually working by Charity that is to doing good deeds for lest they should mistake and think he meant their Faith was onely the Work of God which as it is a gift indeed is true see how immediately he illustrates his own other meaning to the sense above of operative Faith when he addes to the works of their Faith the labor of their Charity as who should say the sole habit of Faith is not enough to those who are able to produce acts thereof and those acts of Faith are then best when accompanyed with deeds of Charity giving life to Faith which without good Works were a dead habit nothing at all availing us But the Apostle proceeds yet further and to make his sense full of perfection adds also to their Faith and Charity which he took speciall notice of their hope in God which made them endure persecution for their Faith and indeed in this Verse he hath artificially and solidly too given the three fittest Epithetes to these three Theologicall Vertues that could be whilst he takes notice of their working Faith their laborious Charity their susteinning Hope whence Saint Chrysostome and others note the Apostle commends not Faith without Workes in the acts thereof nor Charity without Paines in Almes towards the Poor and Sickly nor Hope without Patience or suffering in persecution for Justice And not without reason doth the Apostle here take notice of these three Vertues in the Thessalonians in regard Jason a Thessalonian by name was summoned to the Tribunall of publike Justice as we read Acts 17. ver 6. for having concurred to Saint Pauls escape from his persecutours as also diverse othâ—r Thessalonians were molested both by the Jewes and Gentiles for their becoming Christians and in this the Apostle commends the work of their Faith for their paines in relieving the Apostles and cherishing all the poor Christians they met with hence he commends their laborious Charity their imprisonment patiently endured for their Religion their sustaining Hope that gave them courage to endure temporall losses in expectation of eternall rewards which he calls the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ that is to say the hope of what Jesus Christ brought us news of eternall Glory For before he came most men lived and dyed like Beasts without regard to any
supernaturall propensions by hearing the most elevating Word of God Symbolically Saint Hilary sayes This leaven of the Gospell was hid in the three measures of meal the Law the Psalmes and the Prophets and now appears in the Trinity of the three Theologicall Vertues Faith Hope and Charity or as others will have it to the three sorts of Believers Beginners Proficients and Perfect who bring forth loaves of fruit swollen to these correspondent proportions of Thirty Sixty or an Hundred fold increase of bigness Allegorically Saint Bernard makes the wombe of the Blessed Virgin Mother of Christ to be the leaven of the Hypostaticall union having a seasoning influence into the three parts of Christ his Soul his Body his Divinity uniting them all in one Person or one loaf made of these three measures of meal as above Anagogically Caesarius Dial. 4. Sayes the woman is the divine wisdome or deity of Christ the three measures oâ— meal are all humane natures death and hell and the leaven Christs humanity hid in his grave and in hell whither his humane soul went with his deity seasoning all mankind into the blessed condition of a resurrection from death and purgatory to life eternall in everlasting glory 34 35. There is no more mystery in these two verses than litterally they sound onely this we may observe that as all the whole 77 Psalme of David is a kind of parabolicall or aenigmaticall grave sententious speech because in that psalme he speakes prophetically of this manner of parabolicall speech of Christ therefore to verifie that prophesie Christ here speakes both in grave and truely parabolicall senses though David have much of litterall sence in his said psalme as where he recounts the Benefits God bestowed on the Synagogue or children of Israel in their forty years march with Moses through the red sea and the desert from Aegypt to Canaan the land of promise yet S. Hierome saies that David the type of Christ speakes there mystically as in Christs person promising to his Church infinite blessings namely to man passing through the red sea of his passion and through the desert of this world into the heavenly Canaan or promised land of Glory And for that purpose Christ here ends his parabolical discourse with this second verse of that 77 Psalme of the royall Prophet David I will open my mouth in parables I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world The Application 1. AS it was reason Christ should speak in Parables to verifie what was prophecied of him according to the last Verse in this Gospell so with those Parables he is said with great reason doubtless To utter things hidden from the foundation of the World we may suppose the hidden Mysteries of the Blessed Trinity and of the Incarnation in particular and in generall the workes of Faith whereof Saint Paul in this dayes Epistle mindes the Thessalonians and in them all after Believers For it was indeed the main business our Saviour had to doe upon Earth to plant a Faith in mens mindes whereby they might work out their salvation Hope and Charity assisting the said work of Faith as Saint Paul above cited sayes 2. As it was reason Christ should verifie the Prophets sayings of him so was it reason he should draw the Ignorant multitude to a belief of the greatest Mysteries of Faith by degrees as he did in first speaking Parables and then expounding of them by his Apostles at least in so rationall a way that they easily took all he said for good when they had heard good sense to be wrapt up in his Parabolicall speeches which at first they understood not so what seemed to be spoken to blind their understandings was indeed intended to open them and thus did Christ reasonably condescend when he seemed most unreasonably to transcend the capacities of the People 3. As the Mustard seed of Divine Faith and the leaven of Christian Doctrine have seasoned the whole world with Christianity so is it great reason they being both received into our hearts should in such sort season the little world we are within our selves that all our actions may be answerable to those hidden roots of Religion planted in our hearts as then they will bee when our thoughts are alwayes meditating upon those Christian Duties which in reason we are alwayes bound unto And that we may doe this the Church reasonably prayes to day as above On SEPTUAGESIMA Sunday The Antiphon MAT. 20. ver 6. THe housholder said unto his workmen What stand you here all the day idle but they answering said Because no man hath hired us Goe ye also into my Vineyard and what shall be just I will give you Vers Let my prayer c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer VVEe beseech thee O Lord clemently to hear the Prayers of thy People that we who for our sinnes are justly punished for the Glory of thy Name may be mercifully delivered The Illustration WEe were in the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany taught to pray much to this purpose but we must not think much of repeating the same Prayer when we dayly repeat the same Sins which are the cause of our increased punishments yet we shall finde that danger was there the punishment we deprecated here it is labour either in the race we are by the Epistle bid to run or in the paines the Gospell calls us too in the Vineyard of Christ as if we were hereby given to understand our life in this world is a continuall toil and labour to deserve an eternall rest in the next But further we are to note this Prayer is particularly proper to this day not onely as referring literally in a manner to the Epistle and Gospell but even to the whole Series of holy Churches service upon this Septuagesima Sunday when the Priest in his office is bid begin the story of Genesis thereby to minde us we should from this day begin to serve God as if we were but newly created for that purpose and yet lest we should forget that we were no sooner created than we had by sin annihilated as it were our selves and lost our right of return to that All-being the Creator of Heaven and Earth from whence we came out of our nothing See the Prayer of this Day puts us in minde of our degenerating from God by Sin But withall of our return to him by Repentance if we cooperate with his holy Grace who is ever more ready to give than we are to ask him Pardon Now in regard the Epistle of this day falls from the simile between a Christians life and those who runn a race and mindes us of the Children of Israels going out of Aegypt into the Land of promise of the Cloud and of the Red Sea wherein they were by Moses as it were Baptized as also the Rock which followed them to quench their Thirst and of the Manna from Heaven to be their Food we must observe that this Story
the meanest often doe 7. Further he proceeds to tell them he fears even himself as man lyable to the titillation of vain-glory and therefore to quell the rising of that rebellion in his own thoughts he confounds himself by declaring how rebellious he found his flesh even after he had the honour of this high rapture Note this rebellion of the flesh as given that is permitted to molest him by God intending thence to increase his merit by his humiliation not by the devill who intendeth alwayes thereby to tempt and destroy though God permitted the devill to make use by his temptation hereupon to bring Paul to carnality as he permitted him and therefore it must not be held immodesty to take this place in the right sense as explicating the Apostles affliction of body in this kinde â—o gain him the greater merit of grace and glory thereby For thus the Fathers understand S. Paul to call the buffeting of Satan that is the Devils raising in him this perpetuall rebellion of his flesh against his Spirit though his corporall labours in the vineyard of Christ were such as render'd his body little able to perform acts of lust First because the Apostle calls it here the sting of his flesh though he attributes it as a true effect to its true cause and therefore stiles it the Devils flail beating or buffering him continually Secondly because hee often complains of his carnall concupiscence molesting him especially Rom. 7.13 where he sayes it torments him as much as all his other persecutions and to quell this he tells us 1 Cor. 9. he doth chastise his bodie Thirdly because there is nothing can so truly humble a true Saintly spirit as this base temptation or rebellion of the flesh can doe which pulls men into the puddle of corruption as envying their happiness by rising up to the Paradise of immortality and glory Fourthly because these temptations doe not properly hurt pure soules but onely dminister matter of their better advantaging themselvas by shewing the power that a soule well ordered hatheto subdue all rebellion of the body lastly 8. By the Apostles professing he did three times pray to be delivered from this molestation for as by the number of three we heard before is included all number so by the trine repetition of prayer to this effect we conceive he meanes his alwaies praying to be eased of it and was answered it should not hurt him being as he was supported by the grace of God against it God dealing with Paul in this as Physitians do with patients calling to take off tormenting plaisters from them that is not reguarding their call to this purpose as knowing the paine that troubles them will be the cure of their disease against which the painful plaister was applied so was this of carnall concupiscence against the spirituall pride S. Paul might else have been transported with had not this humbling trouble kept him free from so dangerous a sinne as pride and vaine-glory 9. And that this was the true reason see what followes the more infirme man is the more power God shewes by his grace killing sinne in man by this power is understood his virtue overcoming the Apostles infirmity as importing carnall intemperance for these were the words of Christ denying Pauls request to be eased of his corporall infirmity his carnall temptation saying to him that as his Grace sufficeth for a remedy against all such temptations so his Virtue which in it selfe was alwaies perfect did appeare in us to be perfected when it had power to cure our like infirmities that is so to qualify them as though they remained in our bodies they should not hurt our soules but still the resisting soule should grow better however the suffering body seemed to grow worse by the perpetuall combate Note diverse do diversly expound this place some say it is also verified when any other heroick Acts of virtue are produced by weak men as well as those of Temperance Continence Chastity others when being conscious of our own infirmity we render the glory of all we doe to God others that the true subject whereon virtue workes is weaknesse to corrobotate what is infirme others that experience of often harme by such and such things makes weak men strong and able to refraine from what hurts them and so to make weaknesse the perfecter of their fortitude lastly S. Hierome to Ciâ—sephontes saies this is the onely perfection of the present life that thou acknowledge thy self imperfect wherefore S Paul concludes that he willingly and joyfully gloryes in his infirmities as in withdrawing roomes to the virtue of Christ which delights to be and dwell where infirmity is as the Apostle here tels us 10. And in the next verse of this Chapter he tells us he meanes by infirmity pleasing himself as he saies in his infirmities contumelies necessities persecutions and distresses for Christ concluding that when in any of these kinds he is weak then he is mighty meaning wheâ— weak in body he is strong in mind or virtue when weak in man he is mighty in Christ for whose sake he glories and pleaseth himselfe to become weake and if we will take S. Bernards opinion by the virtue which was perfected in infirmi y he will tell us it was humility and that this was the speciall virtue Christ recommended to his Apostles saying learn of me because I am meek and humble of heart Matth. 11. vers 29. So indeed the Apostle ends his boasting Chapter with his chiefest glory in his infirmity in his humility and conceives he shall best quell the pride â—f his Antagonists the false Apostles by leaving them to vaunt in flesh and bloud in their greatness while he glories in his pressures in his imprisonments in his whippings in his carnall temptations as having overcome all these by the virtue of Christ that is by humility in stooping patiently to the pressure of all these The Application 1. BLessed God! must we runne digge delve and plow all dayes of our life and that upon our masters ground nay in his own Vineyard too and must we yet lye open unto danger while we toyle is our ease damnable so last sunday told us and our labour dangerous so we are told to day 2. For what we read befell S. Paul we may be sure hangs also over us Danger here danger there and consequently danger every where If we doe ill 't is damnable to us if we doe well t is odious unto those that persecute us for so doing 3. Nay if we fly to heaven it self in heavenly contemplation yet the danger doth not cease so long as we are living here on earth S. Paul was there and after that he had the Divell at his back to pluck him down to hell nay his own flesh rebelled against him too so 't is with us what remedy But that we pray as holy Church appoints and that we hope so praying to obtain the help he had The Grace that maugre danger
to them that hearing me speak they may come after me or you to know the meaning of what I said and so to increase in them their zeals by little and little opening their eyes and understandings and this may I hope suffice for a sufficient exposition of the two Verses Now to the Parable and Explication thereof as our Saviour himself delivered it to his Disciples that thereby the Faith they had in him before might be increased when they see how much solidity of clear Doctrine and true Piety was couched under his parabolicall expressions 5. 11 12. As to the fifth or eleventh and tweltfth verses for these are in sense all one as our Saviour himself declares in the very letter of the Texts we are therefore onely to give a reason why the Word of God is compared to seed of Corn sowed in the fields and we shall finde as many reasons for it as there are Analogies between the Seed and the Word the Sowing the one and Preaching the other as first because the Word of the Preacher is cast into the ears of his Auditory out of the Pulpit as the Seed is cast over all the ground by the sowing Seeds-man Secondly as the Word links from the Ear of the hearer into the Heart so the Seed descends by degrees from the surface or superficies of the earth into the bowels thereof Thirdly as Seed is the Mother of all Fruits so the Word of God is the Parent of all good Works Fourthly as the Earth without Seed brings forth nothing but weeds bryars and brambles so Man without the Word of God brings forth nothing but futility vice and vanity Fifthly as Seed requires soft manured and tilled ground to grow in so the Word of God must finde gentle rich and mortified Souls to fructifie upon Sixthly as Seed requires moisture and sun to bring it forth so the Soul requires the tears of sorrow for our Sins and the Son of Justice his heat of Grace to make the Word of God fructifie in mans heart and bring forth Acts of love to God Seventhly as the Seed in the Earth must first dissolve and die before it spring so must the Word of God be ruminated upon by meditation and procure in us a death to the world before we can find in our selves the spring of living in Gods favour Eighthly as the Seed must first take root then sprout up branch into leaves and boughs next blossome and then knit into a fruit so the Word of God must first enter deep into our hearts then rise by holy cogitations branch it self into variety of good desires blossom into Religious resolutions at last knit it self up into the knot of good Works which are the fruits of our lives Ninethly as the force and vertue of all fruits is contracted into its Seed so the force of all our good Works is lodged in the Word of God Tenthly as diverse seeds bring diverse fruits so diverse sentences of Scripture bring forth diverse Vertues in our Souls Eleventhly as to the child of fruit are required two parents the Seed as the male and the Earth as the female so to the Children of Vertues are required the Word of God and his holy Grace Lastly as from the best Seed man preparing his ground with most industry proceeds the best Crop of Corn so from the best chosen Texts delivered by the best Preachers those that use the most diligence in preparing and making soft the hearts of their penitents towards God proceed the best fruits of Vertue and good Works here as unto the best Saints to serve as fruits for a Heavenly banquet in the next World Now we see the meaning of the seed let us examine the reasons why these severall effects follow upon the severall grounds the Seed falleth on First that falling on the high-way cannot enter to take root for growth and consequently lying open to be both trodden to pieces by passengers and pecked up by birds must needs be like to so much cast away such is the Word of God as Saint Matthew sayes Heard but not understood because the hearer doth not ask his spirituall Adviser the meaning of what is told him but pretends to be satisfied therein when indeed he carries away the onely empty sound of words but is wholly ignorant of the sense through his own lazinesse in not asking the meaning thereof and consequently what is thus ignorantly received is not understood and by that means makes no entrance into the heart of the hearer so is trodden to pieces even by our own trampling over it whilst we run from Sermons as if we had never heard a word of what the Preacher said unto us which indeed is commonly their case that come to Church for curiosity to hear Humane Eloquence not Divine Preaching to see and to be seen not to hear their faults and amend them to laugh indeed at the Preacher if he please not the pallate of their fancy or curious ears as those did to whom for that very reason Christ spake Parables not clear sense and to such as these be the Preachers words never so clear never so easie they sound as Parables in his ears whose own distracted minde robs him of the faculty of understanding what he hears and though such men seeme to come to God when they appear in Churches yet in very truth their coming is to the Devill in Gods House and no marvell then he carry them and their understandings away with him lest hearing that is intelligently hearing they believe and believing plow up the high-way their hearts with acts of Love and so render the Corn the Word of God capable to sink into their Souls and take root to their emolument indeed to their Salvation as Text the speaketh 6. 13. The first reason of the Corn failing to grow was the want of sinking into the earth now it fails though sunk because it wants moisture by incountring a stony or rocky ground which is onely covered with a shallow superficies of earth and cannot receive moisture enough to carry the Corn deeper into the ground and to root it there This place alludes to schismaticks whose petrifying hearts whose cold affections to God turn all they hear of him how ever they believe it to be true into rocks and stones into sterility and barrenness of Soul and hence rather than suffer the least temporall losse for Gods sake they hazard to loose themselves eternally A clear place to covince Hereticks by that Faith alone is not sufficient without good Works to save them and that Souls though once in the Grace of God may nevertheless loose his favour and the Kingdome of Heaven too 7. 14. The second reason of failing was for want of ground to take sufficient root and to cherish the Seed in both which may seeme to be defects of intrinsecall requisites now this third reason points at what is extrinsecally necessary and rather at defects of redundance than of want because the
intrinsical flowing from the Deity The causes of this Fast were many As that thereby he might satisfie for Adams eating the forbidden Apple That his own humane Soul might be more apt to contemplation by this means That he might sanctifie the Lenten fast of forty days which he knew his Apostles would erect and deliver over for the Church to follow until the worlds end in imitation of this example he had given them When it is said That after forty dayes he was hungry this argues not but he might sooner have felt the want of meat however his divinity supplyed the defect thereof and when he was sensible of hunger afterwards it was not that he could no longer fast but to have the merit of being tempted against his holy purpose and of resisting that Temptation for our future instructions in like occasions 3. The Tempters approaching argues he came visibly in the shape of a man which he had assumed for Christ had his internals so regulated as likewise Adam by Original Justice had that he could not be tempted by any inward Suggestion against Reason nor was Adam what-ere he might have been so tempted but by Eve and she by a Serpent outwardly appearing When the Devil said If thou be the Son of God it argues he was doubtful of it for he had heard the voyce from heaven saying This is my beloved Son when Christ was Baptized as also he had heard how John the Baptist preached him to be the Messias the Son of God and yet seeing him appear to be a man and finding he was hungry as men are he tempts him to break his fast by the subtilty of telling him it would shew him to be the Son of God if he would turn stone into bread to satisfie his hunger 4. Excellent answer giving no advantage to the aggressor but repelling him rather by his own weapons turned upon him by holy Writ saying Man doth not onely live by bread but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God Deut. c. 8. v. 3. and what need he convert the stones to bread to manifest his power who with the least word of his mouth could feed the better part of man his Soul intimating thereby Prayer and Meditation to be as fit a food for the refreshment of a Christian as his daily bread the one enabling him to live eternally the other helping out a momentary breathing onely 5 6 7. The evil Spirit finding Gluttony to be no motive able to prevail with Deity flies to the medium that had wrought upon himself the Titillation of Ambition or Vain-glory when he said he would be like the Highest fondly thinking what prevailed with him in Heaven would work upon our Lord on Earth To be forsooth attended on by holy Angels though in an act of diabolical presumption Precipitation of himself from the pinacle of the Temple Too short a cloak to hide so large a sin as the Revenge thou aymest at beneath it Thou hadst thy self a Fall from Heaven down to Hell which thou wouldst now repay by giving Christ another from off the Temple where God is adored down to the ground where thy High Altar is when men adore low Creatures of the earth before their high Creator This this fond Serpent is thine aym to make thy God lye sprawling on the earth as thou dost lye in everlasting flames and this thou wouldst have done before the doors of all the holy Priests whose houses were about the Temple so to make them scorn and trample ore the God they had adored upon their holy Altars Alas how short is thy Serpentine wisdom of his that is eternal of his that sees thy specious pretexts are all deceits and tells thee so when he replies Thou shalt not tempt thy Lord thy God Deut. 6.16 How canst thou hope to Tempt hereafter any man to evil under shew of good this thou hast got to make poor man thy Master by ayming at the Mastery upon thy God To conclude by the Hands of Angels in this Text is understood their ayd for Spirits have no hands nor any other limbs or parts at all 8 9 10. Alas how poor a thing is Avarice to tempt a God withall say who is able first to give him any thing and it shall be restored Rom. 11. v. 35. Thus creatures seeme to uncreate their God in their foolish imaginations thinking him to be imperfect as themselves needy or indigent as they who yet hath made and given to the universe a being out of nothing But for the devill to presume God should adore him too for that he could not give this is a fondnesse not to be exprest as passing all imagination and so was best returned with a scorn of bidding the fond usurper know his distance go like a Lacquey at the heeles of his creator and well he was not yet reduc't to his first principle to nothing by an immediate annihilation It was indeed high time to tame his insolence when nothing but an homage due to God an Adoration would suffice him No devil no maugre thy pride Thou must adorâ— thy Lord thy God and he alone it is that thou and we and all the world must serve His are the Heavens and the earth is his and well it is thou art the Lacquey yet of him thou wouldst have Lorded over if thou couldst It is his greater glory to force thee to thy duty maugre thy proud heart then to deprive himselfe of what is good in thee thy being how bad soever thou art thy selfe and howsover despicablely miserable in that being too 11. Some doe doubt how Christ came backe to his desert of Quarentana when the devill was gone affirming the good Angels carryed him thither as the bad Angel had brought him thence but probably himselfe gave his own Divinity leave to doe that office to his body if yet we may not say it was the effect of his glorified soule and body too for they were both as glorious then as now Sure enough as soon as he was there the Angels as to their Lord and God came offering their attendance however this is for our comfort that after the devill hath tempted us if we resist we may hope the Angels will come to comfort us that need it since they did so to Christ who stood in no necessity thereof at all The Application 1. WE had the honour to be called into the field to day by the Lieutenant Generall the Priest of holy Church but we are led up to the Battaile by the Captaine Generall himselfe our Saviour Jesus Christ who hath already vanquisht all our enemies for as he dyed to conquer death and purchase us eternall life by dying so by his being tempted he secur'd us of the victory in our Temptations if we but resist the Temptor and persisting in our holy purposes Crown the Fast with our Perseverance therein such as Jesus in his hunger gave us an example of although not bound to Fast as we 2. It is a
common practise of the devill when he cannot tempt to open sin to flatter by pretence of sanctity and so to draw us into the trap of selfe-conceit and dangerous vaine glory thus he in vaine attempted Jesus Christ thus he deludes the soules that he tempts to sin by telling them they are Predestinated to be sav'd and cannot finally be damn'd do what they will the least humility is remedy to this vaine glorious disease Thou shalt not tempt thy Lord thy God our Saviours way to kill that devill of vaine glory Saint Paul hath such another Hee that thinks he stands let him beware he fall not Religious feare and trembling is the firmest footing to hold us fast upon the highest Pinnacles of Grace 3. The latter end of all Temptation shewes the Temptors aime the ruine of the tempted soule This is designed under faire pretexts such as doe tickle natures appetite Riches pleasure honour and command but see the choaking Hooke arm'd with alluring baites behold Idolatry coucht under Gratitude It seemes a reasonable homage to adore the giver of so great a gift as all the wealth and pleasure of the world but 't is a huge injustice to receive them from the hands of an usurper who hath as little power to give as we to take the stolen gift And mark how this usurper then pretends to give when the right Owner takes away by a command of Abstinence Christ came not here to raigne but to bestow on us a Crown of glory to rob us then of heaven the devill proffers us the scum thereof the rubbige swept away from thence and cast into the common shoare the sinke of nature Earth O how sordid earth appeares when I behold the beauty of the heavens thus holy David thus we ought to say and more with Jesus bid the fiend avant so shall we by religious adoration of Almighty God accompany'd with holy Poverty this time of Lent forbear to covet riches and by them to Idolize unto the devill adde then these good workes to the Fast they will accomplish So shall we render our selves the Purified soules we pray to be by fasting On the second Sunday in Lent The Antiphon 2 Cor. 17. v. 9 c. THe vision which thou hast seene thou shalt tell to none untill the Sonne of man doe rise from death Vers To Angels God hath c. Resp That in all thy wayes c. The Prayer O God who doest behold us voyd of all strength guard us we beseech thee exteriorly and interiorly that we may be defended from all corporall adversities and purified from evill cogitations of our soules The Illustration THe last Sundayes Prayer laid our Lenten Fast for the chiefe ground of all the Prayers in Lent This fixed on that ground lookes to the end of the aforesaid Fast our purification of the whole creature which we are and so confessing here first that we are void of all strength to guard our selves we begge of Almighty God a guard both for the exterior and interior man that thus our bodies being outwardly defended from all corporall adversities particularly sicknesse to tempt us from our Fast our soules may be purified from all inward evills of filthy cogitations and this with regard to what Saint Leo told us last Sunday was required for the integrity of a Fast namely to withdraw our minds from sinne lest in vaine we did else take meat from our mouths and hence we shall finde little excuse by what casuists tell us the end of the precept is no precept to us though the meanes to that end be of absolute command for example in this present case they say t is no breach of our Lenten Fast to commit a sinne in Lent though we are commanded to use the meanes of fasting to the end we may avoid sinne and so render our selves the purified creatures which holy Church intends by this forty dayes Fast to make us for truly casuists in this may seeme to favour us but yet upon reflection it is no favour because sinne being at all times prohibited under strict command we never sinne mortally but we breake some precept of Almighty God greater then this of the Church by any other kind of mortall sinning which at all times is forbid us and then much more strictly when we are actually under a wholesome cure for sinne the holy Fast of Lent so it will not be to render soules scrupulous but religious to tell them that sinnes are aggravated at least when committed at that time we are commanded to take Physick for preventing sinne as now when holy Church injoynes a Fast expressely for that purpose But to our maine designe let us see how this dayes Prayer suits to the Epistle and Gospell of the day as well as to the season of Lent why truly very well to the former because this Lenten Fasting is one of the Apostolicall precepts mentioned here by Saint Paul to the Thessalonians and in regard Fasting is one of the best of remedies against that carnall sinne which this dayes Epistle dehorteth from as also it is the best step to that walk recommended to us from vertue to vertue that we may by abounding more and more therein please God by the fulfilling of his holy will which is as Saint Paul to day calls it our Sanctification and that particularly by the gift of chastity of purity both in body and soule which altogether comes home even to the letter and full sense of this dayes Prayer nor is the Gospell of the Transfiguration read to day for any other end then to mind us of being spiritually transfigured from Polluted to Chaste bodies from Sinful to Sainted Soules for so shall we appeare to our Saviours eye with faces shining like the Sunne and bodies pure as the whitest Snow as himselfe appeared on Mount-Tabor to his Apostles and as the expositors conceive Moses and Elias did appear so too thus to shew we cannot by our vertuous lives approach neer to God without being Transfigured to the world and made mirrours of admiration to men and Angels and such indeed ought to be our Lenten Fasters How exactly then is this dayes Prayer set to the other service of the day when by saying it in order to performe our Lenten Fasts it brings forth in us the effect of Sanctification which the Epistle aimes at and that of our Transfiguration from Sinners to Saints which the Gospell points unto The Epistle 1 ad Thes c. 4. v. 1 c. 1. For the rest therefore Brethren we desire and beseech you in our Lord Iesus that as you have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God as also you do walk that you abound more 2. For you know what precepts I have given to you by our Lord Iesus 3. For this is the will of God your Sanctification that you abstaine from Fornication 4. That every one may know to possesse his vessell in Sanctification and honour 5. Not in the Passion of lust
as also the Gentiles that know not God 6. And that no man over-goe nor circumvent his brother in businesse because our Lord is revenger of all these things as we have foretold you and have testified 7. For God hath not called us into uncleannesse but into Sanctification The Explication 1. THe Apostle fitly vseth the word walk insteed of live in this and most places since it is not a posture suitable to the present life for Christians to stand still we remember our Saviour rebuked those that did it Matth. 20. v. 6. Saying why stand ye here the whole day idle as if to stand still were to be idle and loyter so the posture of a good Christian is and ought to be walking moving going on from vertue to vertue Psal 38. untill at last he arrive to the rewarder and source of all vertues God himselfe for by bidding us to walk so as thereby we may please God and abound more and more we are bid to accumulate vertues upon vertues so long as we live in this vicious world and that we may know how to doe this the Apostle bids that we follow his rule for this purpose framed to our hands as it was to the Thessalonians since what he writ to them was with intention it should be handed over from age to age even to us and to those that should live in the very last of times 2. His meaning is that he gave them this rule of perfection by Authority Commission or inspiration from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and this rule was not to tell them onely what he had observed in our Saviour to this purpose making himselfe an example of perfection to us all but also what by inspiration of the holy Ghost himselfe as an Apostle intrusted with the care and charge of soules had upon occasion found expedient to prescribe unto them and this Authority as it was given to the Apostles so it descendeth from them unto their successors the Fathers and rulers of Soules especially the governing party of the Church the Pope and Bishops thereof 3. By the will of God is not here understood that will which is commonly called the will of his Beneplacitum or holy pleasure to doe himselfe what he pleaseth but the will of his signe mark or token what he would have us to doe and that not in generall for so his will is we should have perfect and universall Sanctity in all our actions but in particular he points out here for us the Sanctification of chastity so we may see by all the following verses as who should say God was particularly pleased to point out his Signall will unto us that the vertue which is most suitable to his infinite simplicity and purity namely chastity should be aimed at by all Christians that even those who were marryed people should by tempering their carnall passions and desires partake in some measure of this divine vertue and those who were not marryed should have an expresse prohibition from the foule impurity of Fornication since it seemes the Apostle forbids it here not onely under the generall rule the prohibition thereof in the commandements but with a specially preamble that he doth by name forbid this sinne as having it specially declared unto him that it was the signall will of God he should doe so 4. This place is commonly understood as prescribing a rule of moderation to marryed people that they so use the lawfull bed of pleasure as they forget not to Sanctifie themselves even by and in the use thereof remembring God hath elevated that corporal communication so much coveted and delighted in by Flesh and Bloud that he hath raised the wonted civill contract of marriage to be now a more holy thing even a Sacrament or conduite-pipe of his holy grace into the Soules of such people as make religious and not lustfull use thereof for of the latter we see sad examples in the seven husbands of Sara snatched from her bed because they marryed her purely for lust not for any limited or regulated love and so againe by a pious abstinence upon fasts or feasts from corporall knowledge of each other specially when marryed Christians receive the Sacrament they use their vessels in Sanctification of themselves and honour of God thereby for reverence to whose blessed Body and holy Sacraments they abstaine from their otherwise lawfull pleasures yet there is a deeper and more universall application aimed at by the Apostle in this place even to all Christians whatsoever married or single since though to marryed persons their mutually betrothed bodies to one another are their vessels properly here specified yet to single persons by their vessels are meant their single bodies which containe their soules within them as so many precious liquors in the sight and to the Palat of Almighty God who is jealous lest any of that liquour should be drawne out and given to creatures that is lest by following the impulse of sense they should poure out the affections of their soules upon their own corporall pleasures or the delight of any other body whatsoever for pure respect to the creature and not so stand upon their guard as not to part with the least drop of their soules affections either to themselves or any others which are all due to Almighty God for this is to possesse each one his owne vessell as Rom. 6 v. 19. Saint Paul adviseth and to possesse it in Sanctification of himselfe by acts of love to the divine Majesty and in honour of Almighty God by so doing and contrary to this counsell doe all those who make their bodies possesse that is to say command their Soules whereas the soul is to possesse her body in this sense of commanding it as finally she shall doe in the kingdome of heaven and as at first Adams soul did even here on earth 5. This verse prosecutes the sence of the former by representing unto us the bestiality it is in Christians to proceed like Gentiles who are called a people that is no people because they are more like beasts then men and such the Apostle accounts Christians who follow the passions of lust the full swinge of their carnall desires without any religious limit thereof even when carnall pleasure is lawfull because to doe thus is as if we knew no God for whose sake we were to refraine our inordinate appetites not onely in carnall pleasures but in those meats drinkes or companies that propend us thereunto 6. In this place the Apostles sense lyes lyable to a very easie mistake and the words sound as if he did leap from the Subject of lust to that of fraud deceipt or injury but indeed he prosecutes his former sense in this whole Epistle So he must here be understood by businesse to forbid Adultery as above he hath forbidden Fornication not to overgo is here meant literally forbidding any man to goe over his neighbours marriage bed and thereby defraud him of his due which is to have
was to terrifie the people the sweet Law of grace was to be their guide he alone their comfort so that to him they were to stand firme in all distresses of him to receive all reliefes and by him to be brought finally to the eternity of that heavenly glory which here the Apostles had but a transient glimmering of thereby to shew this is not a time or place for comforts but rather for afflictions and that lest we should be dejected by being alwayes in affliction we may hope for the intervening comfort now and then of mysticall Transfigurations by which we shall for a short time take content in the service of God but they passing away againe are to leave us unto the trials of new afflictions till by frequent conformities of our wills to the pleasure of Almighty God we be rewarded with eternall glory for our patient enduring the many Eclypses we found here of heavenly comforts in our Soules by the interposition of earthly tribulations 9. By bidding them tell this vision to no body he forbids their speaking of it not onely to the people but even to the rest of the Apostles lest it might trouble them not to have been present at it and by his resurrection all men would be easily made beleeve he was God who if they had been told it before would have doubted thereof especially when they see him dead and buried so to speak of this Testimony of his Deity before his resurrection were labour lost but by this injoyning silence of his glory and propalation of his death and passion Christ gave us an admirable example to conceale our own praises and to be content with publication of pressures and infirmities since none can have any infamy so great to him as was the ignominy of the Crosse to Christ wherein we see he gloryed whilest he suppressed the fame of his glory till he had suffered the ignominy of his most opprobrious death hence Saint Paul forbids himselfe all other glory then in that of the Crosse of Christ a good lesson for all good Christians to learne and practice to be perfect in The Application 1. SInce there is a day made specially sacred to the Mystery of the Transfiguration the sixth of August when that Feast is celebrated we cannot expect to have this mystery looked on to day so directly as that the Prayer should litterally relate to it suffice it then to find it mystically proper to the Prayer 2. And thus it will be proper enough since we are taught the Transfiguration was at least a transient vision beatificall such as Saint Peter held to be a kinde of Heaven where he was content to build a Tabernacle of aboad and look how unable we are to be chaste so are we in our selves void of all strength to goe to Heaven and have need of a world of guards both interior and exterior to preserve us from the corporall adversities or sins that keep us thence or from the spirituall sins of evill thoughts that shut up Heaven Gates against us 3. To conclude since nothing makes our way securer into Heaven then to carry a Pure Soule in a Chaste body we being taught the cleane of heart are therefore blessed because they shall see God for this cause the Gospel of the transfiguration was very fitly joyned to the Epistle of chastity because the Chaste Body is that Transient Heaven upon Earth which is most delightfull to a pure Soule And as Chastity Transfigures us into a similitude of God whom we shall then live like unto when we see him and therefore like unto him because we see him that we may by the vertue of chastity joyned to our holy Fast be Transfigured into a similitude of his Divine Majesty We pray with holy Church as above On the third Sunday in Lent The Antiphon Luke 11. v. 27. A Certaine woman of the multitude lifting up her voyce said blessed is the wombe that bare thee and the Paps that gave thee Suck But Iesus saith to her yea rather blessed are they that heare the word of God and keep it Vers To his Angells c. Resp That in all c. The Prayer WE beseech thee Almighty God looke downe on the desires of thy humble people and extend the right hand of thy Majesty in our defence The Illustration IF any be to seek here what is meant by the desires we beseech God to looke downe upon of his humble people 't is but casting back an eye to what was declared in the first Sundays Prayer of Lent to be the end of this holy fast and finding it thereto be our purification we shal soon conclude that selfe same end is still and ought ever to be our desires all the Lent long because the continuation of the Fasting Medium argues our constant desire of arriving at the end to which it drives our being Purified by that meanes So thus we see the Torrent of our holy Fast runs never the lesse slowly on because it makes not a noyse in our eares rather it growes the deeper by how much lesse we heare thereof for shallow waters are those that tell us of the stones they fall upon but deep ones silently goe by nor is the stile of humble people any common place but hugely proper to this time of Lent which drawes the whole Christian world upon their knees and not content to have them low as earth while they Fasting watch and pray did in a manner bury them below the earth when on Ashwednesday they were all Sprinkled o're with holy Ashes as if they were not worthy longer to be the upper earth that had so proudly rebelled against Almighty God but must lye lower now and hope by falling downe to rise againe and truly if we reflect upon the words of this Prayer they are exact termes of a most humble Soule who dares not say she hath a will to fast on still and to be purified but onely tels Almighty God 't is her desire and hopes this humble expression will make it be his holy will she shall obtaine her desires because his onely looking on it as she humbly prayes to day he will is able to effect it But lest we forget to shew the Prayer suits as well to the Epistle and Gospell as to the time of Lent we must remember no termes could more directly exhaust them both then what this Prayer is couched in For how can we be followers else of Almighty God as Saint Paul exhorts us to be with the Ephesians unlesse we shew our selves to have learned the lesson of the Son of God without book Learne of me that am meeke and humble of heart which lesson this dayes Prayer repeats when holy Church cals us the humble people of Almighty God and meeknesse ever goes with humility hand in hand so having set our first step right into the track of this Epistle we need not fear the missing of our way for true humility hath root in love and will not stumble
times ease them of these Plagues the Flyes caused amongst them though in the Greek Beelzebub signifies the god of Muck or Dung and yet that is not inconsistent with the sense as above because where Dung is there are alwayes Flyes and so the Devil is by this name called both God of Flyes and of Dung too since the ordure of Sin is far more nasty then that of any dung can be 16. This Verse will in effect be explicated on the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost where the Doctor of the Law tempting our Saviour asked him c. so here needs no more to be said of it then that it was an impertinent demand to ask a sign of his Deity after such a Miracle as this 17. Here he shews them he knew their mindes by confounding them in what they thought although they spake it not with the applying this Simile unto them that follows which is as clear as that Civil Wars destroy a Kingdom and Faction in particular Families ruines both parties of the Faction for that is understood by house upon house family against family 8. For if I undertake to cast out a devil in the devils name or power and so by your consequence am my self a devil do you not see it were to make a faction against the devil who had Seated himself there from whence I cast him out and so I should rather make a new then end the old strife therefore to end the matter I must use another power 19. By the former Verse he had shewed them his power was from another source then from the devil and consequently if they will yet hold that Doctrine and say that one Devil is cast out by another he leaves them as men so desperate that are past all cure of reason and so to be left unto the guide of that Devil who had so strangely blinded them Thus the close of this Verse argues he concluded of them whom he found so maliciously so perversly obstinate in an Error Or if we take it literally that he casting out devils in the devils name if their children would undertake to cast out the devil in another name since he that was God knew they did it not in Gods Name he leaves them to be guided by their children that is he calls them fools who would have children for their guides and especially children of Infidelity for such were all theirs 20. By the finger of God he in this place understands the Spirit or power of God for so S. Matthew speaks relating the same story cap. 12. v. 28. by the Kingdom of God he means the grace which doth here begin to reign and shall perfectly rule in Glory when it hath brought those to Heaven whom it governed upon Earth And certainly Grace deserves the Title of the Kingdom of God when it is manifestly made appear to be destructive to the Kingdom of the Devil as by overcoming Sin it is and as here actually it was by casting out the devil from that place where he had seated himself for though God be the principal yet Grace is the instrumental agent in all Sanctity and works that are above Nature 21 22. These two Verses argue from Similitude very strongly and yet so clearly that they need no other Exposition then their own words literally understood onely that we note the Devil was meant by the strong man his Court was this World all wholly in his possession by the sin of Adam and that as fully as a fortified Town is in that Governors hands against whom none dares lay a Siege but leave all in peace in and about the Town not that the children of Adam were in peace by being the Devils Captives but that no power was such as durst undertake to force them out of Captivity until that happened which Christ aymed at namely that God came who alone is able to lead Captivity captive to overthrow the Devil and all his works 23. By this Verse our Saviour told the Pharisees they were his enemies because they took the Devils part against him or which was all one because they did not take his part against the Devil for as in a Town besieged all that will not if call'd upon fight to keep out the Enemy scaling the Walls are held as much friends to the Enemy as if they did actually fight for them so they now that Christ came to take this City of the World these Pharisees who would not being called upon by him fight for him were esteemed as if they did actually fight against him since as God he was their lawful Commander and might command them to fight for him by believing in him as one that had power to quell the Devil 24. By the unclean Spirit is here meant the Devil so called because he is not onely defiled by the malice of his own rebellious Sin but is like a Sow ever wallowing in the mire of all sinful actions as if his whole delight were to rowl in the filthy soul sink of sin Christ here alludes to the former casting out this unclean Spirit from the Jews when God chose that stiff necked people to be his Favorites above all the Nations of the earth and in the persons of his holy Patriarchs and Prophets declared he had cast the Devil out of all the Jews who departing from them wandereth up and down among the Gentiles not unfitly called places without water first as to God affording no drop of penitential Tears to expiate their sins next as to the Devil being people he could not rest in because he had not content in the easie conquest he made of them who were not worthy to be esteemed the Favorites of God And therefore the Devil out of pride esteemed them even unworthy to be his accursed lacqueys and so could not rest in such a conquest but returned again to that earth which had at least some wholesome water to compact it into a body of people worthy to be called a Nation which the Gentiles were unworthy of while God angry with the Jews said by the mouth of David I will provoke them in a people which is no Nation meaning the Gentiles that destroyed Jerusalem The Devil therefore cast out of the Jews into the Gentiles when God made the Jews his chosen people sayes with himself he will return again into his house whence he departed for indeed he was master of all mens Souls till God snatched the Jews out of his hands 25. The besome that had swept this house was the Law of Moses which did indeed purifie the house of clay the body of the Jews but brought no Grace into their Souls So hither the Devil returns again when he set all those people a murmuring in their way from Egypt to the land of Promise 26 27. And remembring he was before cast out when he had taken but single possession he now comes armed in with many guurds brings seven devils more along with him that is to say all the devils in
this that if any durst oppose it should suffice to answer our Lord hath need of them he who is not onely Lord of those Animals but of their Masters and of all the creatures in the world and then when you shall tel them this they will let them goe see the humility of Christ he did not say this shal command them away but they will let them goe to shew Gods commands doe not force but court our wils into consent for those who he wil have doe any thing he moves their consents and doth not wrest it from them whether they will or no the like humility he shewed in choosing so comtemptible a Beast for his Triumphant Steed but yet a creature patient and able to labour thereby to declare he was to beare a great burden not of our Saviours weight but of all the sinnes of the world lay'd upon our Saviours shoulders yet lest men mistake it is here to be observed the Asses of Iudaea were large strong and stately beasts much like unto the Mules of other Countries whence we read Iud. 12. v. 14. where seventy Sonnes and Nephews of Abdon the Prince of Israel were all mounted upon such like Asses and by this it appeareth they were beasts of esteeme as well as of strength so Christ resolving to make a kinde of Triumph chose though a contemptible yet not an unapt beast for his purpose who was resolved to shew he esteemed not the pomp of this world though he was content to be once acknowledged to deserve the stile and title of King 4. 5. As by these two following verses doth appeare it was necessary that he should take this title to verifie all the predictions that were of him by the Prophets as namely this of his Triumph into Jerusalem was by the Prophet Isaias Chap. 62. v. 11. though others conceive this place is but cited as coincident with that of Zacharie Chap. 9. v. 9. to the same purpose and so Cornelius à Lapide explicates this Text upon that of Zacharie see him for more of this subject in that Tome by the Yoke is here understood the burthen laid upon the Asses back not that Asses did then use to draw with Yokes upon their necks as Oxen doe 6. This Verse onely shews the promptitude wherewith the Disciples obeyed our Lords commands as no way doubting to finde what he bad them seek or to have been bid to bring what they should not finde and by this we are instructed not to dispute God Almighties commands nor doubt of our Powers to keep them if we go about them as he bids us and confide in his assistance for the performance on our parts 7. The reason why both the Ass and her Colt were brought was that Christ rode on them both on the Ass the longer and mountainous way of Mount Olivet on the Colt into the City but principally for the mystery couched underneath namely that Christ was to command not onely the Jews who had been used to the bridle of the Law represented by the Ass made to the Saddle but also the unback't and unbridled Gentiles meant by the Colt as the ruder people before the Law of Moses who never were bridled broken nor made fit for â—he Commands of God by any Precept or Law upon them Now the Reasons why Christ was pleased to come in this Triumph were to give a Pledge of his absolute Regal Power over all the world by coming like a King into the most famous City of the Earth to let the Jews their Scribes Pharisees Doctors and Priests see he was the Messias foretold thus coming among them by the Prophecy of Zachary above cited to shew again that he was indeed the Lamb of God taking away the sins of the world while he came not onely from Bethphage as they do but in the manner they use to come in Pompe and Solemnity into the City some days before the Feast of the Pascal Lamb as the Legal Lamb was wont so to be brought in to deride the Pompe and Glory of this World by seeming to accept of it to day and resolving to renounce it as contemptible immediately when he rather chose to dye a Sacrifice for the people then to live their King Lastly to shew that his kingdom truly consisted here of Suffering however in the next world it was to be glorious and therefore even to his Suffering he went Triumphantly as giving his Holy Martyrs example to do the like in their persecutions and in going towards their Executions with Alacrity and Joy to take possession of the Crown of Sorrow before they come to their Crown of Glory 8. This was to shew they did in earnest look upon him and treat him as their King for when Kings did passe by it was usuall to strew the streets and deck them as well as could be thereby to shew their affections and loyalties to their Soveraigne by their garments we are here to understand those onely that hang loose as Coates Cloakes Scarfes and the like These boughs they had from the Mount Olivet a place full of all sorts of Flory Plants and Trees This ceremony mystically bids us cut off the luxuriant branches of our inordinate desires pluck up the flowers of our wanton sensualities and cast them at our Saviours feet as the spoiles of his grace for him to trample over and thereby to shew they shall no longer have roote in us if any soule be so happy as to have no sinnes let him cast downe then the better branches of his good works the flowers of his vertues and so bedeck the way for Christ our Lord to passe 9. Hosanna is a word compounded and signifying an apprecation of health or happinesse not much unlike to that we use to say long live the King or God blesse the King so by this word they both acknowledged him to be the Messias and the new King that had been so many thousand yeeres expected for the comfort and redemption of the people for that was imported in the words Sonne of David because the Messias was to come by promise out of Davids loynes who had raigned gloriously in Jerusalem and who came descended lineally from Abraham so the best sense of this acclamation was to wish health first to Christ their King and next to themselves as knowing the good of the people depends upon the Kings prosperity by blessing him comming in the name of the Lord they mean as the promise of our Lord God made to Abraham and in him to the people Hosanna in the highest imports thou God on high save this our Messias and in him save also us The Application 1. WHat may be added here more then was said in the Illustration of the Prayer in the Epistles Application or in the Explication of this Gospels Text is that as Jesus came to dye for all the world so he was pleased by all sorts of people to be attended on in this his Triumph into Hierusalem the whole worlds Metropolis or
victorious peace as who should say his coming hither was not upon his own account but ours So he tells them now his business is done their peace is made in Heaven and Earth 20. He shewed how they still remained perforated boared thorough as with the Nayles and Spear that had pierced them while he hung upon the Cross what more powerful Argument of the Truth of his resurrection what more convincing proof that it is a Piety for Christians to revere the memory of his Sacred wounds when the first thing he shewed to oblige us to love him after his resurrection were the Wounds he received for us in his bitter Death and Passion The joy which followed in the Disciples upon seeing these wounds was not that he had received them but that those notwithstanding and his Death to boot for the sins of mankinde they saw him propitious merciful sweet benigne unto them that they did not see him come to reproach their flight from him nor Peters denying of him but to comfort them to consolidate their Faith and in them the Faith of all Christians in this now undoubted Truth that as he became man was crucified dead and buried for satisfaction of our sins so now he arose from Death to Life to give all mankinde an assurance that the work of their redemption was finished and their salvation secured if they would themselves hence it was the Apostles were glad to see our Lord risen and alive to confirm all his former Doctrine maugre the Jews malice against him and their belief that they had put him to such a death as he was past all power of reviving 21. While he repeats peace to them again he shews the abundance of his goodness flowing still from himself and falling upon those he loves and further in testimony that these his Apostles were all in the rank of those he loved most behold he gives his own most ample commission which he had from his heavenly Father unto every one of them while he sends them in vertue of the same Commission to convert the whole world as he himself was sent first to redeem it and by vertue of his Passion to convert it also which yet he would not do to have the whole honour of it to himself but gives to his Apostles the happiness to be his instruments his cooperators thereunto as himself was the instrument of his heavenly Father to the same purpose and if we observe the force of our Saviours words in giving his commission of Apostolate to these his chosen Servants we shall finde he doth not onely give them the title and honour of being his Apostles but of being even so many Sons of God by commission not by nature while he sends them even as his Father sent him to supply what was wanting of his Passion as we have heard already explicated once or twice 22. And least being but men not God as he was they should fear to fail in the execution of this high Commission Lo by his breathing on them he seems to convert them into holy Spirits and if we may so say even to so many Hoâ—y Ghosts by Commission or Office not by Nature in giving the Holy Ghost unto them For as by Spiration of the Father and Son the Holy Ghost proceeded equal to both in Nature so by this Spiration of Christ upon his Apostles they became equal in Spirit to him sent as he was by his heavenly Father in similitude of office in-similitude of power because he was God as well as his Father in similitude of end to save the souls of men in similitude of works of miracles and lastly in similitude of Spirit of Love and of affection while their commission is given by way of his Holy and Divine Insufflation or Inspiration whence they were impowered even to dye for him as he was by the force of his own holy Spirit to dye for us and by this inspiration he shews that as God by breathing on Adam gave him natural Life so he by breathing on his Apostles gives them a supernatural one a life of Grace but we must note here the holy Ghost was not given them as they had it before in Baptism when they received justifying Grace and Grace rendring them grateful nor as it was afterward to be given them by way of plenitude containing the fulness when they were so confirmed in Grace as that probably they never sinned afterwards but as a thing here gratis given and limited to one special effect namely to that of remission of sins as is made evident by the words in the following Verse so here we may see gratuite grace may consist with the state of sin or power to absolve others sins may be in a Priest who is actually himself in sin Note also by this inspiration the same power of remitting sins was given to St. Thomas though absent as well as to those Apostles present as Numb 11. v. 26. we read the Spirit of Prophesie was given in like absence by Moses to Eldad and Medad for we do not see it repeated after when St. Thomas came in among them though some think it was then he received that power and not before Note also that by this ceremony of our Saviours breathing upon the Apostles holy Church is grounded in sufficient warrant to use such ceremonies as to her shall seem fit in Administration or Collation of Sacraments 23. How absurdly doth Calvin wrest this place to power of preaching rather then he will allow man power of remitting sins though it be given him by God himself This very corruption of so plain a place of Scripture argues how dangerous a thing it is for men to read and wrest it to their own sense since the Act of Preaching is Teaching and Exhorting the Act of forgiving sins is the Act of a judging Power besides all men may at all times be lawfully preacht unto be they in sin or out of sin but all cannot at all times be absolved from sin nor any indeed at any time but by Contrition Confession and Satisfaction either Actual or in Vote if opportunity be given It is therefore an Article of Faith that by these words our Saviour gave to the Apostles power to forgive sins however it may be disputed whether he had not before at his last Supper made them Priests when he said unto them as often as you shall do this that is as often as you shall Consecrate my Body and Blood or Eat and Drink them do it in remembrance of me Luk. 22. v. 19. because now whensoever Priests are Ordained it is done by their joynt prolation of the words of Consecration with the Bishop at Mass after he hath said unto them Receive ye power to offer Sacrifice and though here were given by Christ the Faculties of Absolving to the Apostles yet it doth not follow Priesthood was then given since to this day we see many Priests that have power to Sacrifice and yet have not leave to Administer
yet by thy mercy soon enough believe that thou art risen and that thou art indeed my Lord my God who didst upon the Cross receive these wounds for mine and all mankindes redemption and though the Apostle knew Christ dyed for all yet he calls him here Emphatically his Lord his God as who should say this grace and favour was to him alone to have so convincing a Proof made unto him of that Truth he onely among all the Apostles then doubted of 29. And lest the Apostle should Glory that by this he might seem more in favour then the rest Christ tells him plainly no That others who without the help of Sense believed were more happy then those who for Sense-sake onely gave consent unto Faith Besides formally Saint Thomas did Believe more then he did see or feel that is he believed Christ to be God by feeling him to be man and not a Phantasm So if we shall allow him to have had onely humane Faith of the resurrection by this sight yet he had thence Divine Faith of all the rest of his Doctrines and especially of his Deity whereunto he Attributed the Power of his resurrection 30. The reason why Saint John writ no more on purpose to confirm this Doctrine of the Resurrection was because he thought the other Evangelists had been large enough in that point and because this was so pregnant a Proof as it alone was sufficient so what he adds in his last Chapter is rather to shew the effect thereof by the multitude that were converted by it then for any other reason 31. Here the Evangelist tells his Reason why he writ this viz. to render Christ received and believed to be the Messias that was promised and so God as well as man and when he says we shall have life by believing in his name he means in his Person in his merits in his Passion so that first we are to believe him to be our Saviour Secondly the Messias Thirdly God and the onely Son of his eternal Father And lastly that he will give to all that thus believe and do as he hath commanded life everlasting eternal happiness The Application 1. THe whole designe of this Gospel being onely to prove the Resurrection and by the reality thereof the Truth of Jesus Christ his being God as well as Man we have hence to gather that the exercise of our Faith is here chiefly required and that so often as we reade this Gospel each one cry out with the convinc't Apostle my Lord my God confirm in me that happiest Act of Faith which believes without the help of touch or eyes that thou art my Leige Lord as thou art Man and hast all Power given thee both in Heaven and Earth That thou art my God who hast created me out of nothing and redeemed me from worse then nothing my grievous sinful state to make me more then all things under Heaven a saved soul 2. Yet lest we should pay the duty of such a Faith without our reason leading thereunto see here apparent Proofs of the same real Body risen which was dead and buried while the wounds are just the same that were received on the Cross see that this humane Person is withall Divine whilest he gives power to pardon sins and to retain them if occasion be see how he proves what the Epistle taught that by our Faith we overcame the world when himself brings to his believers the Fruit and End of Victory a happy Peace and gives it his Apostles as a Testimony that it is the same Gods gift now rising from the dead who brought it with him hither at his Birth onely the Angels then delivered it and now we have it from his mouth Divine who well may give it us now he hath vanquish't all our Enemies the World the Flesh the Devil Sin and Death and gives this Peace both as Recompence and Fruit of Faith 3. O happy Faith that brings forth such a Peace as sets us right to God our neighbors and our selves for if with any of the Three we be at odds we can have peace with neither of the other O happy Faith again that works in us by Charity and brings forth all the twelve Fruits of the Holy Ghost with all the other Vertues that accomplish Christianity and integrate the Paschal Feast in us which now we Celebrate And consequently pray as above with holy Church that we may keep these Vertues in our Lives and Manners On the second Sunday after Easter The Antiphon Joh. 10. v. 11. I Am a good Shepherd who do feed my sheep and for my sheep yield my life Alleluja Vers Tarry with us O Lord Alleluja Resp For night draweth on Alleluja The Prayer O God who by the humble abasement of thine own Son hast raised up the prostrate world grant we beseech thee unto thy Faithful people everlasting Joy that they whom thou hast taken out of the danger of Eternal Death may enjoy perpetual Felicity The Illustration AS we finde in this Prayer the streame of the resurrection run strongly down the Channell of the Church her service thus humbly praying so we are minded that the Paschall Feast which we must retaine in our manners and lives is here commemorated in one of the chiefe accomplishments thereof the death of Christ since it was by his abasement unto death that we are raised up to life and are imboldened to begge our joy may be perpetuall who by his temporall resurrection are taken out of the danger of eternall death to the end we may not onely joy therein for ever but even injoy perpetuall felicity thereby But stay beloved why doe we now eclipse the glory of this Festivall by mixing with it the memory of our Blessed Lords inglorious death because the Holy Ghost will have it so first to shew us that it was an abasement for the Son of God to remaine one minute out of the Kingdome of his eternall Father though he were never so much triumphant over death upon death as also to indeer us the more unto Almighty God who was content to give us glory by the infamy of his Sacred Sonne but was not satisfied to give us being out of the nothing we were before he shewed his omnipotency by creating us unless he had made his own Son by death as it were not to be that so he might give us a second being in grace better then our first in nature and unless our Saviours temporall death might give us life eternall free from all danger and injoying perpetuall felicity yes yes the little Prayer above imports all this and infinitely more then all we can imagine who are not able to reach the depth of sence that lies under the dictates of the holy Ghost and such we know are holy Churches Prayers nor is there want of admirable sweet connexion between this Prayer and the Epistle and Gospel of the day for what doth all the former say but that our Saviours abasement was our
exaltation when Saint Peter in his Epistle tels us we that are Christians are called to suffer with Christ who gave us example by his sufferings to follow his steps even unto death for him who did vouchsafe to dye for us And is not this the full sence of the Prayer As for the Gospell if we look with a regardfull eye upon it 't is but the same sence in other words for while it runs upon the nature of a Shepheard it never comes unto the hight of his commends untill it layes him low as death to save his sheep so still it drives to that abasement which is our exaltation and drawes us sweetly on to dye for him while it gives us an example of confidence that admits no fear because there is no security but in Trust and who can we trust more safely then him that knowes no guile our Saviour Jesus Christ who rather dyes in us then we can dye for him and if he dye it is that we may live and joy eternally with him that by his resurrection conquered death Thus do the sparkes of spirit flye from every letter of the Holy Text when they are strook against the steele of this dayes Prayer and thus the high dignity of Pastorate acquires a glory from the lowest stoop the Pastor makes even that to death so in a word our highest sanctity consists in our lowest humility as this dayes Prayer Epistle and Gospel do all avouch The Epistle 1 Pet. 2. v. 21 c. 21 For unto this are you called because Christ also suffered for us leaving you an example that you may follow his steps 32 Who did no sinne neither was guile found in his mouth 23 VVho when he was reviled did not revile when he suffered he threatned not but delivered himselfe to him that Iudged him unjustly 24 VVho himselfe bare our sinnes in his body upon the Tree that dead to sins we may live to justice by whose stripes you are healed 25 For you were as sheep straying but you are converted now to the Pastor and Bishop of your soules The Explication 21. SAint Peter had before advised to bear patiently not onely just punishments inflicted on the faithfull to whom he writ dispersed as they were some here some there of Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia but also to bear injuries with the like patience saying that to this Christians were called because Christ did suffer for us most unjustly leaving us example to doe the like if need were and as there were three causes which moved God to become man this last is one of them The first was by his death to redeeme us the second by his preaching to teach us the third by his example to draw us to imitate his sanctity of life And to this last the Apostle now chiefely exhorts in this place as we see by the following verse contrary to the Hereticks Doctrine who hold it needless Christ having dyed for our sinnes that man himselfe use any mortification or doe any penance at all 22. Nor could he do any because he was God as well as man and hence Calvins Doctrine teaching Christ was a reall sinner and that he was in regard of his sins afraid to dye and did sweat bloud for fear thereof were all most abominable blasphemies because though in Christ there were two natures humane and divine yet there was in him but one person so had that person sinned God had sinned as well as man since the actions are attributed to the suppositum or person not to the natures contracted by the person but see the Apostle mindes us that Christ was not onely free from sin of fact but also of word and consequently of thought which is by word expressed nor is this marvell since out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Matt. c. 12. v. 34. but certainly God was the most abounding in Jesus his heart and so his words were all holy he being the very word of the eternall Father to whom as nothing is more proper then veracity so nothing is more improper then falsity or dissimulation fraud or guile 23 As indeed he was reviled when they called him drunkard raiser of seditions blasphemer nay conjurer or devill as casting out devils in the devils name yet did not he revile those who used him so ill nor did he recriminate as commonly men doe that excuse their own sins by casting other mens faults in their dish though in pure charity we read in Saint Matthew cap. 23. How roundly he did rebuke the Jewes to see if by a temporall check he could preserve them from eternall paines of hell which is a far other aime then those use who excuse themselves by way of recrimination of others for their end is not charity but passion or revenge and when he might have terrified the Judges that unjustly did condemne him he did not give them the least threat but gave himselfe up to the hands of Pilate his unjust judge how farre short are we of following this example whose whole indeavors are in all our actions even in those that are unjust to justifie our selves whereas if we would follow Saint Bernards counsell we should finde a remedy for all evils and injuries done unto us in the passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 24. The Apostle here assimilates Christ to the Emissary Goat in Levit. cap. 16. v. 21. Sent out into the desert loaden with all the sinnes of the people and so Christ came into the desert of this world out of his Eternall Fathers heavenly Pallace carrying all our sinnes upon his shoulders though by sins here is not understood the fact or guilt thereof but the punishment due unto them by the tree is meant the Crosse of Christ whereon while he dies hee represents us to his heavenly Father as dead to sinne because he dyes for us and for our sins whereupon Saint Ambrose sayes divinely well c. It was not our Life but our Sinne which dyed when Christ our Saviour dyed upon the Crosse So we being dead by that meanes to sinne may live to justice that is in the sight of the just Judge may deserve Eternall life in heaven for living justly here on earth O Soveraigne Stripes which bruising Christs body do cure our Soules more ulcerated with sinne then his body was with stripes 25. Straying we were indeed from God from vertue from Salvation from heaven and running to the devill to vice to damnation to hell had not Christ our Shepheard â—â—duced us to his fold againe by converting us to an amendment of our lives and winning us to follow the Footsteps of our heavenly Pastor and Bishop of our Soules See Bishops are metaphorically called Pastors because as shepheards feed their sheep so do Bishops by Doctrine and example feed the soules of men but Christ is eminentially called both as feeding soules not onely by grace here but with glory in the next world The Application 1. HOw sweetly Holy Church
wherewith the Son again knows the Father as my Father knows me to be his natural Son so he desires the Pastours to know souls to be their spiritual children and the souls again to know the Priests for their spiritual Fathers Note the Similitude here shews Analogy but not Equality since the Father knows not us to be other then his adopted Children as Christ hath by his Grace regenerated us and made us the adopted Sons of his heavenly Father while he says he yields his Life he means he lays it freely down not that it was or could be by his persecutors taken from him as the lives of his Sub-Pastours his Holy Priests may be for though they may dye willingly when persecuted yet they cannot be said to lay down their lives as Christ did for he came purposely to dye and Priests may not seek death though they are not bound to flye it neither when there is just cause of standing to it for others good again he is truly said to lay down life as being Author of it so is not the Priest 16. This verse alludes to the calling of the Gentiles besides the Jewes to the Faith of Christ and indeed to the plenary conversion of all the Nations in the world to that Faith before the day of latter judgement when all Nations shall be of one religion and unite themselves to the one visible head of Christ * upon earth namely the Pope Saint Peters successor not so as to say every man of every Nation shall be converted then for certainely Antichrist will have corrupted many that shall dye in their errors but so that some of all Nations shall be converted And if we say this hath been already verified in the Apostles converting all the world of whom it is said Psal 18. v. 5. Into all the earth hath the sound of them gone forth and unto the ends of the whole world the words of them perhaps we shall speake more literally to the meaning of Christ in this place for indeed in the time of Constantine the great by his conversion who was Emperor in a manner of all Nations there might be truly said to be one sold and one Pastor namely the then Pope of Rome as by the whole second Chapter of Saint Pauls Epistle to the Ephesians may appeare where three or foure times he repeateth making you both one that iâ— you Jewes and Gentiles both one Church of Christ built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets viz. Christ Jesus The Application 1. LAst Sunday we heard our Saviour gave his Apostles Commission to pardon and detaine sinnes now he tels them what manner of men they must be who are thus impowred namely Pastors of soules such as must feed and defend their sheep with the same fatherly love as hee the head Pastor did even with the loss of life if need be which though it be an act of the highest charity in the world yet is it rooted in the unshaken Faith of the Pastor and hath for the primary end the preservation of the like Faith in the sheep according to that of our Lord unto Saint Peter Luc. 22. v. 32. That thou once converted do confirme thy brethren in Faith 2. It is further worthy our remarke that a good Pastors care ought to be as we see in the close of this Gospel as well to gaine other soules to believe in Jesus Christ as to confirme those who are already true beleevers for it is by his sub-pastors preaching and suffering that our Saviour sayes he must have one shepheard and one fold that is to say all the world at last converted from their infidelity and made right beleevers This still maintaines the Doctrine that the end of Martyrdome is the Propagation of the Christian Faith since by the death of Martyrs even Infidels are brought to the fold of Christ 3. And since in the Epistle of this day Priests are bid to follow the example and steps of Christ in suffering in this a Pastor is most like our Saviour that his humiliation for we cannot come so farre as to exinanition to a naturall death for the good of his sheep is the raising of soules from their death of Infidelity to a supernaturall life to that of Faith in Jesus Christ When therefore our Pastors are invited to dye for their sheep it is to minde us how by our Saviours temporall death which brought him to the lowest humiliation the whole world was raised to the greatest and highest hope of an eternall life And therefore Holy Church most fitly Prayes to day as above On the third Sunday after Easter The Antiphon John 16. v. 20. AMen I say unto you that you shall waile and weepe but the world shall rejoyce and you shall be made sorrowfull but your sorrow shall be turned into joy Alleluja Vers Tarry with us O Lord Alleluja Resp For night draweth on Alleluja The Prayer O God who unto those that goe astray to the end they may returne to the way of Justice doest shew them the light of thy verity grant unto all those who by profession are esteemed Christians that they may both eschue those things which are contrary to this name and pursue those which are agreeable to the same The Illustration IT is admirable to see how many regards the Prayers of Holy Church have at once as in this besides that of the Resurrection which transcends * all the Prayers of the Church between Easter and the Ascension and besides that which is unto the Epistle and Gospel of the day as shall appear anon we see here a speciall regard unto the faint-hearted Christians who seeing Christ was dead and buryed tottered in their Faith of his Deity and went astray into a thousand Meandrous doubts in point of Faith for whose sakes that they might returne to the way of Iustice by a right beliefe Christ was pleased for forty dayes together to dwell upon earth meerly to confirme the truth of his Resurrection not onely infinitely doubted of but even held impossible and by his dwelling here so long to shew them the light of his verity which indeed was never so brightly seen as when it was made appear by his Resurrection confirming all the Truths he had taught the world before his death now that this Prayer reflects upon those tottering Christians who lived then when Christ arose as well as upon all us that succeed them see the following words point out such when the Prayer beggs that those who by profession are esteemed Christians as many were that yet doubted of the Resurrection may both eschue those things that are contrary to this name and nothing more contrary then to doubt of Christs veracity as these men did who would not beleeve he was truly risen from death to life and pursue those which are agreeable to the same that is to say may beleeve and professe their Faith in this particular or else they must disagree from all he said and taught besides if they
did not agree to this so important a truth and article of our Christian beliefe But now to our maine designe see how this Prayer like an Invisible Soule gives life to all the body of the Churches Service on this day whilest it tels us in generall termes the duty of good Christians which more particularly is summed up in the Epistle and Gospel following For what is that which Saint Peter in the former sayes more then this Prayer containes while he bids us walk here like Strangers and Pilgrimes and refraine carnal desires then that when we remember Christ his resurrection we should follow the light of that verity to prevent our going astray after carnall desires what meanes the so much inculcated good conversation among Gentiles in rhe Epistle but that we who are Catholikes and therefore by profession esteemed the best of Christians should give example of good life to all other sorts of Christians to all Gentiles Turkes Jewes and Infidels and should by the example of Christ his obedience to his Parents and to the powers of his time learn to be subject to every humane creature 1 Pet. c. 2. v. 13. though thereby we suffer even unjust oppressions as our Saviour did this is to be the good Christians that by profession we are esteemed This is to eschue things contrary to that most honourable name and to pursue what is most agreeable thereunto according as the Epistle exhorteth us To conclude this is also to beare patiently the vicissitudes of joyes and sorrowes mentioned in the Gospel if a while we See comfort and if a while after we See it not This is to be content Christ shall depart from us so the Holy Ghost come amongst us in his roome This is to be like teeming women groaning here and in Travell with the children of persecution paine torments and death it selfe for Jesus Christ and rejoycing when we are delivered of the manly and heroick acts of vertue the babes of grace which will bring us a comfort that no man can take from us a peace of conscience here and a crowne of glory in the world to come So we see how home this Prayer comes to all the whole Service of the day besides The Epistle 1 Pet. c. 2. v. 11 c. 11 My deerest I beseech you as strangers and pilgrimes to refraine your slves from carnal desires which war against the soule 12 Having your conversation good among the Gentiles that in that wherein they misreport of you as of Malefactors by the good works considering you they may glorifie God in the day of visitation 13 Be subject therefore to every humane creature for God whether it be to King as excelling 14 Or to Rulers as sent by him to the revenge of malefactors but to the praise of the good 15 For so is the will of God that doing well you may make the ignorance of unwise men to be dumb 16 As free and not as having the freedome for a cloak of malice but as the servants of God 17 Honour all men Love the Fraternity Feare God Honour the King 18 Servants be subject in all Feare to your Masters not onely to the good and modest but also to the wayward 19 For this is thank if for conscience of God a man sustaine sorrowes suffering unjustly The Explication 11. IT seemes there were in those dayes faigned devotes of women who under a pretence of piety intruded themselves very officiously into the company of Church-men but oftentimes it appeared their pretended piety was but carnality covered under a vizard of devotion and it is with speciall regard to such singularities and dangerous conversation with women that the Apostle here speakes both to Church-men to those women and to all good Christians in generall beseeching out of his humility though he might have commanded them that they never let fall the memory of their being but strangersâ— pilgrimes meere passengers upon this earth since they are members of Christ who as a stranger came into the world when at his first birth he was stranger-like cast out of doores and not allowed a place in any house to lay his head in so he was content to be borne in a manger that by this meanes he might shew us he came to looke us out who were stragled from Paradise banished thence indeed and made like strangers wander over all the world And seriously it is a deep word if well reflected on for Christians here to call themselves strangers since they have here no dwelling place but are Citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem and all their life time being as a pilgrimage through the desert of this wicked world The Apostle strongly perswades when he bids them take heed of setting their affections upon creatures here for how absurd were it if a pilgrim or passenger whose life lay at stake to be at such a place by such a time where he was promised a preferment should yet doat upon some miserable bondslave in the road and thereby not onely lose his way home but his preferment too and binde himselfe Prentice to an eternal bondage or slavery And the Apostle speakes all this very pathetically very briefely under the notion of carnall desires which are indeed the greatest enemies the soule hath and doe clap the Irons of captivity soonest and fastest upon her no vice so surely so speedily inthralling souls as carnality doth See therefore how strongly the Apostles charms under this notion of Pilgrim since the very name shews the nature of the man one that hath no right at all to any thing he sees one that even to ease his own labour makes it his study to keep his right road that longs for nothing more but to get home that for this purpose is content to toyl and moyl continually and never to take long rest that dares offend none he meets lest as a stranger all the natives rise against him to revenge the injury he did to any one of them That looks on all he meets as strangers to him since he knows himself so to them that gets ready tacklings for his tedious journey and casts off all things else as cumbersom that finding himself laught at by most he meets with especially all youth for the Exotick habit which he wears regards not their flouts nor scorn but bears them patiently Thus thus the Apostle exhorts all Christians to walk through the wilderness of this World Note by carnal desires which above all he bids them refrain he means all the works of the flesh all vice indeed gluttony as overloading venery as over-wasting anger as retarding while others in revenge stop his journey and so of all the other fleshly works as St. Paul enumerates them Gal. 5.19 which shall be explicated on the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost 12. Since by Gentiles here are understood all the Nations of the World the Apostle tyes up Christians to a very good and a close guard when he allows him not to use the least miscomportment before
must make that to be which we beg he must gives us grace since we are all one in Faith to be all of one minde in the operations of that belief which works by charity that knows not thine and mine but gives all to God and takes onely from his Holy Hand what he pleaseth to give back again Next we pray that we may love what God commands which in this case was to the Apostles that they might love to leave our Blessed Lord for so God had commanded That they might desire what he promised which was the coming of the holy Ghost That amongst worldly varieties there they might fix their hearts where onely true joys are to be had O! what a taking off their mindes was this even from himself whose departure was one of the worldly varieties he would not have to trouble them but that they should upon the loss of the happiness they had in his society fix their hearts on a greater happiness who but the holy Ghost could make this good upon the joys of heaven which are true joys indeed and this also shews we are still sliding down the Channel of the Resurrection too in this Prayer as hath been said Blessed God! how good art thou to man who hast made him a happiness greater then the company of thy sacred Son whom yet we know is God and man too the reason was his Humanity here did shade his Divinity but in heaven his Deity shall outshine his Humanity and so make us love man in him for Gods sake whereas here the Apostles did love God but for Christs sake as he was man and therefore this Prayer as it speaks the Apostles parts bids them fix their hearts upon true joys indeed those onely that are in heaven being greater then any they could have in the society of Jesus Christ himself so long as he was upon earth not that his Glory was less here then in heaven but that man is less capable to see God on earth then he shall be to see and enjoy him too when he comes to heaven and therefore hee ought not to fix his heart upon any content whatsoever upon earth but still to keep it moving towards a greater and a truer Joy And thus having made way for the Application of this Prayer unto our selves by seeing how in the Apostles sence we ought to say it let us close with our accustomed Application of it to the Epistle and Gospel of the day or rather of them both unto it which are as it were eminentially contained therein And first there is nothing so cleer as that it is a gift of God to make us thus resigned hence the Epistle breaks out into that acknowledgement saying every good and perfect gift is from above descending from the Father of Lights with whom there is no transmutation nor shadowing of alteration and who by his own sacred word hath ingrafted in us a filiation that makes us be a beginning of his creature that is willing by our resignation to be made through his holy Grace his better creature then by nature we are And so in brief to be those Saints which St. Iames in his Epistle sets before our eyes and consequently those which the Apostles were when our Saviour had prepared them for his departure from them and told them they were not inquisitive enough after the heavenly joys whilest they doted too much upon his Humane presence after he had made them believe it was expedient even for themselves that he left them and that the holy Ghost came to them in his stead to all those purposes that are recited in the Gospel following and to all which purposes we shall finde this Prayer availing us if in this sence we say it often and thereby take as in a little Cordial the whole substance of the Epistle and Gospel of this day The Epistle Iac. 1. v. 17 c. 17 Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above descending from the Father of Lights with whom is no transmutation nor shadowing of alteration 18 Voluntarily he bath begotten us by the word of Truth that we may be some beginning of his creature 19 You know my deerest Brethren And let every man be swift to hear but slow to speak and slow to anger 20 For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God 21 For the which thing casting away all uncleanness and abundance of malice in meekness receive the engraffed Word which is able to save your Souls The Explication 17. IT is prodigiously strange to see how much the Apostle here speaks in Little under these two terms of best gift and perfect gift for though the simple and literal meaning be that all which is good amongst men is given them from God and all which is bad amongst them comes from the Devil and from their own concupiscence yet there is a far deeper sence couched also here and first under best gift is understood not onely the goodness of the thing given but the excellent good will of the giver and even that being as good as the gift adds much to the value thereof for indeed as man hath nothing of his own to give so he hath no will of his own nor desire to give any thing that is good but even that good will is Gods and comes from God inspiring man to do good unto his neighbour but the sence is yet deeper by the reduplication of perfection upon the goodness of the donation or giving and of the gift given as who should say Gods gifts are not onely goodness in themselves by being communications of his infinite goodness to us but they are also most perfect both as their intrinsecal goodness makes them so and as their extrinsecal operations and effects do make us so likewise unto whom they are given since the end for which they are given is that man by means thereof may be perfect as Christ was perfect again many men give oftentimes that which obligeth others and yet is not either perfect in it self or properly their own to give neither of which can be wanting when God is the donation the gift the perfection and all that can be imaginable to render a gift or the donation of it good and perfect best indeed and most absolutely accomplished Again by all gifts are here understood those of Nature Grace and Glory whereof each is from God so immediately as none of them can flow from any other fountain since he is Natura naturans as Divines call him and we Natura naturata he is the Fountain Origin and first Principle of all Natures he is a simple and perfect Nature in and of himself so fecund or fertil as he is able to branch himself out into an infinity of other Natures which yet shall all be as distinct from his own Divine Nature as Creatures are from their Creator and from one another too But the very truth is the Apostle here reports to the two latter sorts of gifts namely
we did firmly believe he would not forbid us any pleasure but as knowing it were hurtful to us certainly we should refrain all forbidden things and embrace all that were commanded by him 3. As when our Saviour would have a Proof of Saint Peters love he bid him prove it by keeping his commands so if Christians will make it appear they are all of one Faith they must be consequently all of one minde they must all do as that one Faith teacheth them And what that is no tongue of men or Angels can better express then is declared in the Prayer above let us say it then beloved fervently and practice it faithfully so that we be right Believers true Lovers and happy Saints On the fifth Sunday after Easter The Antiphon John 16. v. 24. ASke and you shall have that your joy may be full For my Father loveth you because you have loved me and have beleeved Alleluja Vers Tarry with us O Lord Alleluja Resp For night draweth on Alleluja The Prayer O God from whom all good things doe proceed grant unto thy humble supplyants that we may thinke on those things which are Right thou inspiring us and thou governing us we may put the same in execution The Illustration WHat a home Prayer is here that rectifies at once all our Thoughts and Actions too at least beggs a rectitude in them all and no marvel for t is now Rogation week we enter into asking week in which the Holy Church appoints this Prayer it is that week when our Saviour bid his Apostles and in them us too ask what they could wish before he left them to work out that salvation which he is going to secure them of in Heaven according to their working And 't is a Petition large enough to all purposes for if we always think and do rightly we cannot fail of being saved nor will it clog our Saviour in his ascending up to Heaven that by this Petition all the world tye themselves fast about him since we know his own words When I shall be exalted from the earth I will draw all things to my self Joh. 12.32 Again it is no marvel since here we ask of God to inspire us to think on those things which are good that we first confess all good things proceed from him for indeed from our selves we know there cannot come any one good thought as little marvel it is that we begg he will govern us in putting our good thoughts in execution in doing the good which by his Grace we think to do for so little are the good deeds we do our own that it is both from God we are inspired to think of doing good and to put our good thoughts in execution And yet so good God is that he accepts as our works what he alone inables us to do When will man do this what master is there that doth not look for the profit and honour too of all the pains his servant takes whereas God gives us not onely the honour of our own labours but the profit also of his own pains taken in our behalfs whilest Heaven is given to man in consideration of the Death of Christ But we must see how this Prayer suits with the other parts of this days service and first with the Epistle of St. Iames truly it is so suitable that it exhausts it entirely while we pray we may not onely think well but do well also as St. James in the first verse of this Epistle bids us saying Be doers of the word of God not hearers onely and the like is of all the other Counsels given in this Epistle for as they are the inspirations of the holy Ghost so we pray to day we may be governed in the execution thereof As for the Gospel which is all of asking truly the Prayer is very pat to it which asks no less then all that can be wisht to save a soul namely always to think always to do well and surely this Petition is as the Gospel bids it should be in Christ his name when we ask it as professing Christ to be the very God from whom all good proceeds 1 Cor. 11.12 and when in that profession most pleasing to his heavenly Father we secure our selves of the grant that we demand since when the Apostles understood and believed Christ was God they rested satisfied that his recess from them to his heavenly Father was for their good and that by sending God the holy Ghost unto them they should be well repayed for the absence of God the Son since God who is every where cannot be absent any where and thus ends the Feast of Resurrection when the last Prayer proper thereunto is a leave taking of Christ risen from his Grave and a preparation to his ascending up to Heaven while we ask before he goes all we can want or wish when he is gone The Epistle Iac. 1. v. 22 c. 22 But be doers of the word and not hearers onely deceiving your selves 23 For if a man be a hearer of the word and not a doer he shall be compared to a man beholding the countenance of his Nativity in a Glass 24 For he considered himself and went his way and by and by forgat what an one he was 25 But hee that hath looked in the Law of perfect liberty and hath remained in it not made aforgetfull bearer hut a doer of the worke this man shall be Blessed in his deed 26 And if any man thinke himselfe to be religious not bridling his tongue but seducing his heart this mans religion is vaine 27 Religion cleane and unspotted with God and the Father is this to visite pupils and widdowes in their tribulation and to keepe himselfe unspotted from this world The Explication 22. HE alludes here to the ingrafted word mentioned in the verse before and by doers understands workers according to the exigence of the said word as working sanctity and perfection into your soules for that is the end of hearing Gods word to make it the motive and meanes of our perfection since Christ did not know better then he did doe nor did he teach more then himselfe did practise deceiving your selves that is saying Christ hath done enough for us we need onely now to hearken unto him to beleeve in him and be baptized by him for it is written such shal be he saved yes if they performe in deeds what they beleeve in their soules but to frequent the Churches meerely to heare Sermons and not to put in practice the Doctrine there delivered that is to seduce our selves for our Saviour gave nor his blessing to those onely that heard but to those that hearing kept his holy word obeyed his commands followed the counsel given them by their good Angels their ghostly Fathers or spiritual advisers These and onely these make the hearing of Gods word a blessing to them 23. By this comparison Saint Iames makes the word of God to be as a glass to a man
however purchased once by Christ for us but we losing our right to them by sin cannot too often petition for their recovery Lastly because by Prayer we exercise the noblest Acts of Vertue Faith Hope and Charity the first believing God can do all things the next hoping he will do all we can desire the last loving him as a Father of whom we ask all supplyes both for our selves and others as to his own adopted sons 28. Here our Saviour alludes not onely to his temporal generation by his heavenly Fathers commanding him into the Womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary but to his eternal Generation also whereby he was from the beginning begotten coeternal and coequal God to his heavenly Father so that as his coming into this world was his going as we may say out of his Fathers bosom to seek lost man in the Wilderness of our Earth in like manner his leaving this world was his return with man found in his sacred Person into the same paternal bosom which he came out of 29. This argues he had answered now home to all their doubts and interrogatories by telling them he was the Son of God who came from him to them and was to return from them to him again this was cleer naked and simple Truth no Proverb no Riddle no Parable at all unto them 30. Now that thou hast by this Answer told us cleerly what thy meaning was by a while we should see thee and again a while after and we should not see thee again and this not as asked by us but as onely revolved in our thoughts whereunto thou hast now answered compleatly and while thou doest answer to the thought thou doest convince us thou art from God and comest out from him since he onely can come into and search all the corners of our hearts where thou hast been and found we would but durst not at first ask thee what thy meaning was by that Riddle of a while you shall and after a while you shall not see me because I go to my Father in this therefore we believe thou art God that thou needest not be asked to tell us what we think what we wish or would have since without asking thou canst tell us all and give us more then we can receive this alone were there no other would suffice for argument sufficient to prove thou comest so from God as thou art also God thy self The Application 1. NO marvel this Gospel insists so much upon ordering the Apostles whom to pray unto and how to pray since it is pointed out for Rogation that is to say for Praying week and since it is also appointed for concluding the Doctrine of Faith in the Resurrection and Deity of Jesus Christ by beginning the practice of our Hope which is best exercised in our Prayer For however all the forty days between the Resurrection and Ascension were dedicated by our Saviour to settle the Apostles and others in a right belief of Christian Doctrine yet we never till now did hear the Apostles declare the work was done and that they were satisfied and settled in their Faith of Christ his being truly the Son of God which yet they now profess in plain tearms saying Now thou speakest plainly this we believe that thou camest forth from God and art his eternal Son that did become man wert born hast suffered and dyed for our sins art risen from the dead art to ascend too unto thy heavenly Father and art thence to send us the holy Ghost to be our continual Comforter Teacher and Governour 2. Say then beloved since the work of Faith is finished by their own confession who were so hard of belief what remain but that we proceed to the next thing required of a Christian which is to Hope for the promises made by Jesus Christ in whom we have so much reason now fitmly to believe and since Hope as was said above is best exercised by Prayer let us now make it our whole imployment from this day forward until the coming of the holy Ghost to pray in such sort as by our best Master we are here directed that is to say to pray in his Name and how we shall do that the Expositors above have told us excellently well and that at large so t is but looking back to know it 3. To conclude since all our Prayer must be accompanied with Faith as Saint James hath taught us Cap. 1. saying If any man want for example wisdom and the like is of all other exigences let him ask it of God but let him ask in Faith not any ways faultering since I say this Gospel mentions Faith with Prayer See now beloved whether the Church to day do not most properly begg this Faith concomitant to her Hope or Prayer when calling upon God as the Fountain whence all good proceeds she prays as above That first her understanding may be rectified which is the work of Faith residing there and that next her Will may be ready to do what Faith and Reason dictate to be done and this by the gift of Hope infused for perfection of the Will by captivating it to Reason elevated by the gift of Faith as our Christian Doctrine tels us On Sunday within the Octaves of Ascension The Antiphon Joh. 16. v. 4. I Have spoken these things unto you that when the hour shall come you may remember them for that I spake them unto you Alleluja Vers Our Lord in Heaven Alleluja Resp Hath prepared his Seat Alleluja The Prayer OMnipotent Eternal God grant us ever to have our wills devoted and our hearts sincerely bent unto the service of thy Divine Majesty The Illustration NO marvel if the river of the Resurrection end in the speer of a Fountain rising upward through the Conduite pipe of our Blessed Lords Ascension and follow him to Heavens gates since we see waters how low soever they fall will mount again as high as their first Fountain is thus Jesus being the Head-spring of all Devotion carries our lumpish souls along with him as high as Heaven now he is seated there Hence Holy Church to day requires that though our Saviour hath left us we do not yet leave him but follow him how high soever he goes and how follow him with a forcible speer of Piety such as may shew his will and ours are one whilest our hearts are sincerely bent unto his service even as the Blessed Spirits are that sing perpetual Hymns of Praise to his heavenly Majesty and lest we fail of doing this see how to day we pray that we may do it beseeching God to grant our wills may be devoted and our heaâ—ts sincerely bent to the service of his Divine Majesty O! could we but reflect upon the Obligations we have indeed to serve him with sincere hearts we should never swerve from doing this under a thousand fond presumptions of our serving God whilest yet we seek nothing but our own wills and not his service nor is there any
Gods transient works about his creatures now we come to the immanent actions of the Sacred Deity within its own Essence and these are operations so hidden from created knowledge as our best comportment will be with St. Paul rather to admire then search into them suffice it Christ who hath revealed this mystery hath proved himself to be God by his works amongst men and being God must needs be essential verity and so can neither be deceived nor deceive even when we take him upon greatest trust We must therefore follow him as Schollers do their masters before they understand them and we shall find as children do our understandings bettered by giving trust unto this heavenly Master and at the latter day we shall with the Blessed in heaven see as we have heard of this prodigious mystery that is we shall with our intellectual eyes behold the Triunity thereof which yet while we behold we cannot comprehend And indeed it is admirable to see how in the dark of this profound mystery we find light to illuminate the whole world whilest the light of Faith breakes out of this blessed cloud since in believing this one thing which we know not we are taught to know almost all things else that we believe as the Apostles in vertue of this belief were bid immediately to Go and teach all nations that is they were to go in the light of this Faith and teach all the world both it and all things else belonging to their soules salvation And how to teach them by first Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost By the name we have the unity by the persons the Trinity of God taught unto us and that teacheth us all the rest which we are implicitely told in the close of this dayes prayer when we beg a firmnesse in the Faith of this mystery as the shield that must defend us against all adversity whatsoever by teaching us to bear off all the blowes of Infidelity after we see Faith to be an elevated reason which secures us Points of Religion are not therefore against reason because they are sometimes above it O what a seeing blindnesse is this when we believe of God what we do not know I can liken it to nothing more then to the means wherewith our Saviour cured the blind mans sight by putting dirt into his eyes just such is the darknesse of knowledge in this mystery to the light of Faith it brings into our souls To conclude since the report between the prayer and other parts of this dayes service is even literal we need no labour to make it appear suiting with our main design of this book shewing a harmony between them all The Epistle Rom. 11.33 c. 33 O the depth of the riches of the wisdome and of the knowledge of God! how incomprehensible are his judgements and his wayes unsearchable 34 For who hath known the mind of our Lord or who hath been his counsellour 35 Or who hath first given to him and retribution shall be made him 36 For of him and by him and in him are all things to him be glory for ever Amen The Explication 33. HEere we are first to note that height and depth how ever seeming to differ even in their natures as well as in their names are oftentimes taken both for one and the same notion as for example that which we in our climate call depth or profundity as relating to things below us to the Antipodes that same thing is height or altitude above them namely the Hemisphere or arch of the heavens under the earth to us which is over the earth to them and the arch of the heavens over our heads is as it were under the earth to them again if any of the Antipodes should from the footing he hath upon the earth fall with his head from us downward he would seem indeed to fall and yet that fall would be his rising up towards heaven and the like fall to them would our rising seem to be if from our footing we departed hence up towards heaven in like manner we call a deep Well high and a high Well deep So by depth of the riches of God is here understood the height thereof though for him that is all in all there is neither depth nor height however for want of better expression we use such terms wherefore the Apostle here under one terme expresseth both depth and height of Gods riches as who should say O deep height O high depth of the riches of Almighty God! And though St. Ambrose and S. Augustine so point this verse as they joyn the depth both to the wisdome and knowledge of God and in them make up the depth of his riches yet St. Chrysostome Origen and others following the Greek and Syriack pointings of this sentence seem to attinge the sense of this place more home distinguishing the sense and meaning it to be tripartite not single that is to say attributing the depth equally to the riches the wisdome and knowledge of God as it were three things equally high and equally deep beyond humane or Angelical understandings for first the riches here mentioned report to the infinite mercies of God insisted on by the Apostle saying in the two and twentieth verse God hath concluded all in incredulity that thence he might shew his mercy unto all by making the incredulity of the Jewes the cause of his mercy turning to the Gentiles and so converting them to the right Faith as also some Jews shall be converted by the exemplarity of the Gentiles becoming good Christians Secondly the three after questions in this Epistle shew these three are to be read distinct and so understood namely who knew the mind of God who was of his Counsel who first gave to him and it shall be restored And we are to note by riches the Apostle understands the mercies of God whereby he makes us rich in all gifts of grace and glory as appears Ephes 1. v. 7. where the Apostle sayes we receive mercy according to the riches of his grace The true and genuine meaning therefore of this place is O profound depth of the mercies wisdome and knowledge of God! of his mercy extended to all Nations of his wisdome making even the incredulity of the Infidels to be the motive to convert Nations of his knowledge penetrating all future present past and contingent things at once And indeed these three points are the scope of all the Apostle aymes at from the ninth to this eleventh Chapter to the Romans for it was a special design of God to send his Sacred Son poor and abject amongst the Jews who had he come in a splendid way would have been undoubtedly received by them but if we ask the reason why God would do this there is no better can be given then in brief O the depth of Gods riches and mercies of his wisdome and of his knowledge This is the Abysse that
the love of them both uniting them and him all in one indistinct essence distinguished into three distinct persons now the true reason why God is called charity is because he is goodnesse it self which is charity communicative and diffusive of it self 9. But this next shews clearly why St. John calls God Charity because he appeared so to be by sending his onely begotten Son into the world that we may live by him alluding to the like in his Gospel chap. 3. v. 19. who by Adam were all dead And this love he shewed us as an example for us to give our selves to him by again 10. For in this that is to say in our re-dilection or retaliation of love for love consisteth charity which can never be in us to God but reciprocal between God and us though in us to others it may be not mutual and de facto in very deed in God to us it was so when he loved us before we loved him for it was impossible we should have loved him before he loved us and therefore we are inabled to re-love him because his previous love to us inkindled our subsequent love to him Whence the Apostle sayes our charity doth not so much consist in that we love God as in that God loves us and makes us thereby able to re-love him because he sent his Son a propitiation for our sins St. Augustine sayes briefly and excellently well upon this place tract 9. God loved the impious to make them pious the unjust to make them just the sick to make them whole and why may not we adde he loved them that hated him to make them love him for sending his Son a Sacrifice for his utter enemies O how contrary is this to the course of the world which is to revenge our selves on those that love us not O how truly is it said of God Esay 55.8 9. My wayes are not like your wayes but exalted from them as high as heaven from earth yet S. Paul shews us we may follow God marching above us as high as heaven is from earth when Rom. 9. v. 2 he desired to be Anathema accursed to save the Jewes his persecutours and consequently his utter enemies 11. If is here a causal not a doubting or conditional particle as who should say because God hath thus loved us we must therefore love one another In like manner And was taken causally when Christ said to his disciples as in his Gospel Joh. 13. v. 14. I have washed your feet being your Lord and Master And you must wash one anothers feet that is to say because you must c. Hence learn to humble your selves to your fellow servants since I your Lord your God have humbled my self to you And we may note the deep art of this phrase in St. John who rather sayes admiring If God hath thus loved us then because God hath thus loved us c. to shew it doth not follow we can render equally to God we can love him as well as he can love us So it is not said therefore love him again but rather if God hath loved us and we must love one another as who should say since we cannot retaliate love for love to God let us at least love one another let us for his sake love our neighbours as our selves since he dyed equally for them as for us for as S. Matthew tells us Chap. 25. v. 40. what you did to the least of my brethren you did to me And indeed since God cannot personally want any thing that we are able to give him he hath afforded us this means to relieve him as wanting when we relieve the necessities of our neighbours So the sense of this verse is strong and even inforcing us to love one another Since God so unlike to us so much above us in perfection hath stooped so low as to love us how much more ought we that are all one like another to love each other since like naturally runs to like and naturally loves what is like unto it 12. This verse corroborates the explications of the former as saying though God be in himself Invisible yet if we love our neighbour God is by his Divine and indivisible vertue of charity united to us and made as it were one in and with us whereby our charity is rendered perfect nay even the Invisible God becomes as it were visible both in us by the visible charity we shew to others and in our neighbour whom we love as the visible image of the invisible Deity But we shall do well to see upon this occasion how these words are safely expounded God no man ever saw For which purpose turn to the exposition upon 2 Cor. 12.4 on Septuagesima Sunday declaring what S. Paul saw in his rapture but for present let us take it with the common sense of Expositours that no pure man ever in this world or in heaven can with corporal eyes see God his essence or divine nature though Cornelius à Lapide presumes to say Christ being both God and Man did see his own divinity whence neither Moyses nor St. Paul did thus see him and that sight the Blessed have of him in heaven is more by way of grace then of nature and this indeed more with the soules understanding then with the bodies eyes To conclude this verse a thing is then perfect when it consists intirely of all its parts and charity we know to be tripartite consisting of our love to God which alone is not perfect unlesse we love our neighbour also as we do our selves for these are both integral and essential parts of perfect charity And while we have charity thus perfected then though we see not God yet he both regards and abides in us by reason of this divine vertue of charity uniting God to all and all to God again Besides we perfect even the charity we love God with all when we extend it to our neighbour too since we cannot love one another for Gods sake but we must love God more then we did before Lastly when the text sayes his charity we may understand it as if truly the charity of God to us were perfected by our loving each other since while we do so God abideth in us and his charity is thereby perfected not so as to make it more in it self but to make it more in us and to appear also more to others which is a kind of perfection too and in particular charity is perfected by loving our enemies which being a love none but God hath taught us God in this hath appeared more perfect to us then in any thing else he ever did because he became a propitiation even for us that were all his enemies before his charity perfected in us made us his friends and him our Saviour and so finally gave him an opportunity who was in himself all perfection to receive in our esteems at least an addition to his innate perfection if not a new perfection by our
Simons desired him to bring it back a little from the land and sitting he taught the multitudes out of the ship 4 And as he ceased to speak he said to Simon Launch forth into the deep and let loose your nets to make a draught 5 And Simon answering said unto him Master labouring all the night we have taken nothing but in thy word I will let loose the net 6 And when they had done this they inclosed a very great multitude of fishes and their net was broken 7 And they beckened to their fellows that were in in the other ship that they should come and help them And they came and filled both ships so that they did sink 8 VVhich when Simon Peter did see he fell down at Jesus knees saying Go forth from me for I am a sinfull man O Lord. 9 For he was wholly astonished and all that were with him at the draught of fishes which they had taken 10 In like manner also James and John the Sonnes of Zebedee who were Simons fellows And Jesus said to Simon Fear not from this time now thou shalt be taking men 11 And having brought their ships to land leaving all things they followed him The Explication 1. THis Verse shewes the power of our Saviours preaching which drew after him multitudes of people it shewes also the sweetnesse of his doctrine and exhorts us Christians to flock in like manner after the preachers of his word the Priests of holy Church to presse upon them as these did upon Christ with zeal not curiosity By the lake of Genesareth is understood the world for as that lake was ever infested with huge winds and tempests so is the world continually filled with the noises of huge distractions huge troubles huge temptations huge dangers of eternal wrack against which it is a good safeguard to run after the preachers of holy Church and by their exhortations to have these tempests layd 2. By the two Ships may be understood the two sorts of Missioners those who are such by office and those who of charity are coadjutours to the former By the Fishers being gone down to wash their nets is intimated unto us that we cannot expect to catch soules to God in the muddy and foul nets of humane Invention but in the washed and clean net of the divine word as also that those who will hope to gain others to God must have themselves pure soules this is intimated by the story that tells us here when Christ came with intention to call these Fishermen to be his Apostles he took them in the best outward preparation to make them good spirituall Fishers that is when their nets were clean 3. His going into Simons ship argues that he made S. Peters chayr his Pulpit out of which himself preached when he converted S. Peter and by him and his fellow Apostles the whole world By his desiring Simon to go off a little from the shoar when he that was Lord and master of heaven and earth might have commanded it is insinuated that he did not desire his Vicar S. Peter nor his Successours should dominear over their flocks but by sweet entreaty draw them to what is fit to be done By drawing off from the land is intimated that a preacher should be in his pulpit as in another element from the world that is not so much as near the filth of it but in the clearer element of a better state of life and manners then the people and yet the preacher must not stand at too much distance neither from the people but be near that they may hear him and that he may come upon all occasions to help them Christs sitting and the peoples standing to hear him preach argues the authority of the master and the reverence the schollar ought to bear unto the word of God Many great Princes have formerly used this piety now every ordinary lay-man looks for a chayr to sit even when the preacher stands 4. As soon as he had done preaching he sets Peter a fishing to shew that after the Word of God is delivered unto us we ought to labour the putting it in execution according as we are taught By going into the deep to fish he intimates that preachers after their Sermon ought to fall into deep meditations and praises of Almighty God and beg that he will inable them to return to the like work again after that in the deep of contemplation they have prepared themselves for it But then the end of this verse tells the preachers they must cast out their nets for fish that is they must so preach and converse with the people of the world as to gain them like Fishes into the net of Gods service and it is a huge honour for the people to be thus caught or taken drawn out of the waters of confusion and sin into the net of order discipline and grace 5. S. Peters reply argues his huge Faith which overcame his diffidence after his whole nights lost labour And this nightly vain labour argues the fruitlesse preaching of those Priests who go to that office out of self conceipt or vain glory as all do that have no true vocation But then to go when Christ not onely bids us as here but accompanies too that is to obey as S. Peter did and to have like hope as he had rather in the assistance of the commander then in the own abilities of the preacher 6. See the effect of this Faith and obedience what a multitude of Fish it brings in whereof some are permanently content to be so happily brought in to Gods Church others as Hereticks Schismaticks Apostates break the net will keep within no law of God or holy Church but give law to themselves or rather take liberty to live without all law So by this net we see is understood the bounds of the Catholike Church 7. By their beckning to their fellowes in the other ship is signified their exclamation and noise of admiration to see so huge and unexpected a draught was so great that they could not hope to be heard but by signes made means to be understood to desire help And by this their desire of help we that succeed them are taught never to presume that we alone are able to comply with the great calling of Apostolical Missionaries but shall do well to require help of any devout neighbours or fellow Missioners By these that came to help them we may piously understand that not onely our fellow Fishermen of the Clergy but also the religious orders of Gods Church were prefigured who are indeed excellent fellow-Missioners or Fishers to help to catch soules to God and come when they are called as coadjutours to those who by office have care of soules which were both hinted in the second verse of this chapter see the glosse thereon as above O that we could once see this happy this brotherly concurrence in Gods service then would the ship of Christ his holy Church almost sink
mercy may be multiplied upon us more often then wâ— do multiply our sinnes because it is by the multiplication of that mercy we obtain first grace to repent and then capacity to be pardoned and pittied too as if pardon alone were not enough without God also took pitty on us and did as well by his pitty â—xcuse as by his pardon forgive our sins For certainly should not God pitty our frailty he could never so often pardon our iniquity nor multiply as he doth his mercy upon us to prevent our sinning as if yet our ill natures could be overcome by his goodnesse and made to offend so great so good a God no more whereunto there is nothing so much conducing as the multip ied mercy that we beg to day to the end we may at last leave to grasp after the shadowes of comfort we aim at by following our own dictamens and may learn to run after the substance of God Almighties promises and thereby may deserve to be made partakers of his heavenly treasures which are promised to all that will for love of them renounce the empty shadowes of riches which this world affords But it remaines this prayer must suite as well to the other seâ—vice of the day as this glosse is suitable to the Prayer In brief therefore see the Epistle all upon graces gratis given while the prayer begs that pardon and pitty which we could never hope for did not God give them gratis and multiply his mercies upon us by the gratuite gift thereof See again the Gospel making the pardon and pitty extended to the Publicane more ultroneous and free by Gods having multiplyed his mercy on him least he should with the proud Pharisee boast his virtues who was full of nothing else but vice And consequently see an excellent report between the Prayer and both the other parts of holy Churches service teaching us by these examples to detest the shadowes of worldly pelfe and to run unto the promises of Almighty God thereby to be made partakers of his heavenly treasures The Epistle 1 Cor. 12.2 c. 2 You know that when you were heathen you went to dumb Idols according as you were led 3 Therefore I do you to understand that no man speaking in the Spirit of God saith Anathema to Jesus And no man can say Our Lord Jesus but in the holy Ghost 4 And there are divisions of graces but one Spirit 5 And there are divisions of ministrations but one Lord. 6 And there are divisions of operations but one God who worketh all in all 7 And the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every one to profit 8 To one certes by the Spirit is given the word of wisdome and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit 9 To another Faith in the same Spirit to another the grace of doing cures in one Spirit 10 To another the working of miracles to another prophecy to another discerning of spirits to another kinds of Tongues to another Interpretation of languages 11 And all these worketh one and the same Spirit dividing to every one according as he will The Explication 2. THat is to say like so many slaves to sense led on by the evil custome of your Idolatrous Ancestours and of the devil or rather indeed misled by them you went on in a kind of fond zeal to serve dumb Idols that could neither hear nor see much lesse give you any requital of the service you did them but now that you are Christians serving a true a living a liberal God give that great God thanks for this conversion O Corinthians 3. This word therefore is used as a link to tye this and the following verses in sense together as who should say therefore I put you in mind of your conversion from Gentilisme to Christianity that your zeal in the service of the true God may as much transcend what you used to false gods as life transcends death as all things transcend nothing as the shadow the substance for so much a perfect Christian transcends a Gentile And therefore it is impossible that a Christian speaking according to the true spirit of such should say Anathema to Jesus should curse Jesus as the Gentiles perhapâ— did curse their Idols when they had not what they expected from them but contrariwise are to blesse praise and magnifie Jesus Christ as the authour of all grace in this life and of glory in the next But the Apostle inculcates this because even the Jewes did curse Jesus as also did the Gentiles amongst whom the Corinthians lived and their Judges to try who were Christians made them do this so least they should follow this ill example the Apostle useth this exhortation to the contrary holding it sufficient obligation not to curse Jesus that one was a Christian See how handsomely the Apostle makes these two opposite to curse Jesus and to call upon the name of Jesus as who should say since the holy Ghost gives you the grace to call upon Jesus you cannot speak in the Spirit of the holy Ghost if you curse Jesus Where note that by calling upon Jesus is not meant the meer prolation of the name or word Jesus but the religious Invocation of that holy name in order to a supernatural end and this none can do but as assisted by the holy Ghost much lesse can you from any other fountain then this vaunt your selves O Corinthians of any other gifts or graces then this I say of the holy Ghost 4. One Spirit One onely holy Ghost giving diversely his several graces to several persons as he pleaseth 5. One Lord Christ Jesus God and man to whom all orders in the Church pay the tribute of their respective services as if from Christ they had their several offices and orders appointed them 6. Note the Apostle here refers grace to the holy Ghost as the fountain thereof ministration service or duty to Christ as Lord of heaven and earth and operation or working to God the Father as the origin and fountain of all things and of their operations And we may not unfitly say the same thing is meant by grace ministration and operation with several respects unto the several persons in the sacred Trinity who as one God is the undivided fountain of all the holy divisions abovesaid and so all things that are done out of God or as Divines say ad extra are equally attributed to the whole Trinity how ever we do piously attribute them also as it were severally to the several persons thereof By God's working all in all is here understood his mutuall concourse to all natural causes and effects and his sole working whatsoever is supernatural in us by means of graces given gratis and of such onely the Apostle here speaks not of graces rendring grateful nor preventing our operation but of such as God gives meerly gratis 7. By manifestation of the Spirit is here understood the gift of the holy Ghost whereby the said holy
passion to us perpetually our humane mortality would fail in all her works of charity Whence it is holy Church to ripen her charity and to preserve it for eternity begs in the Prayer above that it may by the perpetual propitiation of Christ that is to say by the continual application of his Passion to us in the sacrifices and Sacraments of holy Church be withdrawn from hurtful things and directed to those which are saving The Gospel Matt. 6. v. 24. 24 No man can serve two Masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will sustain the one and contemn the other You cannot serve God and Mammon 25 Therefore I say unto you be not careful for your life what you shall eat neither for your body what rayment you shall put on is not the life more then the meat and the body more then the rayment 26 Behold the fowles in the ayr that they sowe not neither reap they nor gather into barns and your heavenly Father feedeth them are not you much more of price then they 27 And which of you by his caring can adde to his stature one cubit 28 And for rayment why are you careful consider the Lillies of the field how they grow they labour not neither do they spin 29 But I say unto you that neither Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these 30 And if the grasse of the field which to day is and to morrow is cast into the oven God doth so clothe how much more you O ye of very small faith 31 Be not careful therefore saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewith shall we be covered 32 For all these things the heathen doth seek after for your Father knoweth that you need all these things 33 Seek therefore first the Kingdome of Heaven and all these things shall be given you besides The Explication 24. BY serving is here understood loving and obeying out of love not serving for hire since so we may serve many masters By can is meant can easily So the text intimates onely a huge difficulty not an absolute impossibility That this is the sense the following words prove of hate and love Now the next words of sustaining at least argue a possibility though with difficulty for to sustain or bear argues a power thereof The last words of this verse you cannot serve God and Mammon are taken strictly for loving and obeying so thus the Apostle sayes God and riches are incompatible masters 25. By careful is here understood anxious or solicitous for your life is understood your soul because by that we live and we are not to be anxious for our soules sake what we eat because it doth not eat to keep it self alive but onely the body The like anxiety is forbidden even for the body too how it shall be attired The following words are Christ his argument from the lesse to the greater as who should say I who have created your souls out of nothing will not fail to give you meat to conserve them and the body in union and health which is to shew us we shall not want his lesse favour that have had his greater so if he give our bodies life and health it is not likely he will deny us clothing for our bodies unlesse we fall to be anxiously solicitous how to clothe our selves which anxiety is here forbidden and we are counselled to rely upon Gods providence herein 26. The same naturall argument flows in all the six following verses But it is here worthy observation that Christ rather instances in birds then beasts to shew us that as they live in the air off from the earth for most part so man should have his thoughts in heaven and not in earth and should expect his food rather from heavenly providence then from earthly solicitude 27. And as such solicitude were vain so is it to care what we eat or how long we protract our lives by curiosity of diet And this example of a cubit is not improperly brought in to shew us that as the due proportion of a man is to be as square or broad when his arms are stretched out as he is long from head to foot so a soul well proportioned must be solid in virtue and constant in the pursuit thereof 28 29. As the former verses argued to cast off care of meats so these two next argue in like manner against anxiety in clothing exemplyfying in the delicate attire of Lillies and of Solomon who by art the ape of nature had made his attire to be decked with Lillies of most curious needlework to shew the robes of grace or nuptiall garments of our souls should be as fragrant and as pure in Gods sight as Lillies are in ours and if they be but so it imports not how our bodies are attired 30. By adding the low similitude of the grasses beauty after that high and rich one of the Lillie and Solomons garments Christ augments the reason we have to confide in Gods providence towards the meanest of persons since he is not wanting to adorn the grasse as he doth By grasse is here understood all plants at least such as make fuell for ovens for else in vain had he spoken of putting grasse into the oven if it had not been that after these fine green plants of the field were cut down and lost the splendour of their growing state and served now for nothing but fuell to fire he had not intended to shew us that if God were so carefull for so small a thing as grasse and little green plants growing to adorn them as he doth he would be much more carefull to cloth us with attire sufficient for this life whom he intends to invest in robes of glory for all eternity By the close of this verse rebuking our very small faith is not understood our want of belief in God but our want of trust or confidence rather that he whom we believe to be so infinitely great and good can and will have care of our least necessities 31. He well subsumes to close his argument that after all these examples of his solicitude for the meanest creatures he will not be carelesse of us if we confide in him as we ought to do for our due supplies both in meat and clothing 32. This is an excellent argument against the anxiety above that it is common to heathens and therefore no way proper to Christians who since they know God sees their wants they ought to referre the supply thereof to his omniscience as God to his love as father to his power as King of heaven and earth so if he see and supply not he is pleased we shall suffer want and therefore in vain we seek to have that else where which God pleaseth to abridge us of rather in this case we must be content as the grasse to lose our lustre then covet to enjoy it when it is designed for feuell to the fire
bade her weep no more 14. See how soon the promised comforts of God arrive immediately as he said to her weep not he stopt the hearse and bade the dead corps arise Elias Eliseus and others did pray to raise the dead Christ to shew he was God raised this young man by command and not by prayer Yet observe he touched the hearse no marvel upon the touch of Christ who was life everlasting as being God that temporall life should be restored to the dead body that he touched this he did as naturally as a red hot iron burneth straw So did his flesh united to the Word give life to a carcasse by virtue of that hypostaticall union 15. His sitting up and beginning to speak were indeed true signes of his reviving yet Christ was pleased to take him by the hand and thereby lift him from the hearse and lead him to his mother to shew that he was so humble as he would not onely oblige but even serve his servants Nor is it any wonder that Christ the King of Heaven and Earth should perform the office of a Courtier by his civility to the noble person of this sad widdow whom he had graced and comforted by that act of his power 16. Note this miracle was a kind of Parable importing the spirituall death of souls by sinne and the reviving of the soul again by grace though here the widdowes tears were the motive for Christ to reward her by the restoring her son to life and withall many souls doubtlesse from the death of infidelitie to the life of Christianitie upon the sight of so celebrated a miracle That they were all struck with fear what wonder for their guiltie conscience might make them doubt he who could raise the dead could kill the living as easily if he list but seeing he did not so or rather lest he should do so they blessed God and said for magnifying here importeth glorifying of him he had pleased to visit his people by sending them a great Prophet for as yet they understood Christ to be no more and that he was such this very act made them believe and some doubtlesse concluded he was the long expected Messias whom they called by the name of the great Prophet for distinction sake Note the glosse observes three resuscitations from death to be made by Christ the first that of the daughter of the Archi-synagogue and that by private prayer in her fathers house none being by the second this of the onely sonne of the widdow whom he raised in publick by a word of command and by a touch of his hand the third was that of Lazarus whom with a perplexitie of prayer and tears he raised and with loud crying out Lazarus come forth as if he were undone if he had him not alive again The first of these signifies souls dead by mortall sinne of thought and those therefore were more easily raised by private prayer the second signifies those dead by mortall sin of words those are yet with more difficultie raised by command the third yet more hardly by importune prayer tears and cries to heaven as signifying those souls which are dead by mortall sinne of deed and that reiterated or habituall unto them The Application 1. ALl Expositours agree this miracle of raising the dead by a touch of our Saviours holy hand is a mere figure of his raising souls from the death of mortall sinne to the life of grace by the finger of the holy Ghost by the gift of his holy grace his holy Law which cannot touch a soul but it must needs enliven it See the explication of the last verse in the Gospel for more to this purpose 2. And who can now forbid us piously to thinke this onely sonne of the distressed widdow represents the soul of some one faithfull believer dead yet for want of charitie and revived by the tears and prayers of his tender mother the holy Catholick Church at whose intercession and in contemplation of her tears our Saviour Jesus Christ sends down the holy Ghost to touch the Coffin of this sinners heart with the finger of his grace with the gift the flame of Love and so reviving him first internally then gives him by the hands of the Priest who is Christs Vicar in point of absolution into the lap of his mother externally to live again that is to say admitted to the Sacraments and declared to be a living member as before his death of mortall sinne during which time he was not capable of any Sacrament at all as to the effect the grace thereof 3. To conclude as reason teaches every man to beware of his own danger by seeing another perish in going such a way before him thus holy Church knowing her Priests and people are many wayes liable to the snares of the common enemy and perceiving it is often by the prayers of those that stand they are raised again who fall and that this raising is a continuall mercy of Almighty God gratis given even when most earnestly implored and that the continuation of this gratuite gift is the onely means by which even all the children of the Church do not fall all at once into the death of deadly sinne but are many of them while others fall inabled to stand securely on their living legs of charitie and are governed thereby in every step they make to glory Therefore I say we are to day bid pray as above that this charitie this bountie of our Lord may govern us in all our wayes and that we may have the cleansing and the defending mercy of God continued over us lest that failing us we here fall out of grace and thereby faile of glory in the world to come On the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost The Antiphon Luk. 14.10 WHen thou shalt be called to a marriage sit in the lowest place that he who did invite thee may say unto thee friend ascend up higher and so it shall be a glory unto thee before them that sit there Vers Let my prayer c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer LEt thy grace we beseech thee O Lord alwaies go before and follow us and make us continually intent unto good works The Illustration WHat may seem as common in this Prayer to all persons times and places must not hinder it to be a very particular and apposite petition to this present time wherein it is by holy Church put up unto Almighty God purity cannot approach Tell me beloved now what single-souled devotion can compare with this that being common is peculiar unto each particular in such a sort as it there were no more but one man left in all the world even into his particular necessity would run the whole contents of all these common prayers which are not therefore lesse adapted unto every one because they are the prayers of all the world besides but rather we are sure our selves had need to say them when every man alive doth find himself concerned
once would let us know the dead child being a Jew represents the expiration of the Jewish Synagogue by the plantation of the Church of Christ For as this diseased Gentile fell sick when Jairus his child was born so the Gentiles fell to their brutish Idolatry figured by the Bloudy Flux when the Jewes were born to right belief in Abraham and therefore as Christ went to raise this child from death to life and by the way first healed the diseased woman so he came first to the Jewes yet the Gentiles received and believed in him before the Jewes whose conversion or being raised from the death of infidelity to the life of Faith is not to be till after all Gentiles are first reduced and then at last even the Jewes shall generally be converted This is the mystical sense of the present story prosecuted in these three verses onely we are to observe by this womans Faith that the Gentiles are of much more easie and entire belief then the Jewes besides this place gives a great ground for the Catholick doctrine of revering reliques since here the woman was cured by the onely touch of our Saviours garments hemm and Eusebius writes that she in memory of this favour shewed unto her made a coat like that of our Saviours and kept it religiously in her house and that diverse who were diseased went away from her perfectly cured upon the sole touch of this garments hemm also 23. 24. The musick our Saviour found here was onely such as usually in those dayes did accompany all burials Our Saviours saying the child is not dead did not deny but she was so for all that onely his meaning was she should live again and therefore he accounted her death but a sleep in the sight of God because her soul was not summoned to the barre of Judgement being to return and lead a longer life in this world though this saying of Christ might also import his modesty in not making difficult his works to get thereby popular applause However they knew and so did Christ the child was really dead to all humane power of recovery but that they might see death to God was but as sleep to nature since he that could out of nothing make all things could much more easily out of a dead body make a living creature and so as to God death and sleep are much alike in respect of privation of life whence it is frequent for Christ to call death obdormition or sleeping onely thus he did in Lazarus his case after he was four dayes buried Joh. 11.44 and thus you see here he doth in this present case of the dead child But as commonly men judge of all things by outward appearances and of other mens powers by comparing them to their own so here these mourners laugh at Christ for saying the dead child was onely asleep as who should say they held it impossible for him to revive her which argues they were sufficiently satisfied she was truly dead to all this world 25. 26. Note his bidding them depart when he sayes she is not dead argues that their diffidence in his power did not deserve the honour to be eye-witnesses of the miracle how it was done though afterwards they had proof enough it was most true and again it argues he was not seeking popular applause when he went in alone leaving the company without taking onely the child's parents and his disciples with him S. Mark sayes Peter James and John to shew it was not ultroneous fasting that conferred sanctity of which you heard before but a lively Faith and an ardent love to God wherewith his Apostles were endowed and so fit to be now witnesses of his and after workers of as great miracles themselves though they did not run the vain-glorious wayes of Pharisaical fasting or the like Note the Scripture phrase is here pathetical saying Christ held the childs hand in such sort probably as officers take hold of such as they arrest to carry away with them and so shew their power over them for thus our Saviour seemed to snatch the body of this child from death and to command her soul from entring into hell but to animate again the body thereby to shew he had perfect dominion over life and death And it seems the manner of this was extraordinary when the story of it ends by saying it was divulged all the countrey over for a famous miracle though St. Mark sayes Christ gave the girle to her parents bidding them say nothing Mar. 5.43 to shew his modesty and that he sought not the worlds applause but onely Gods honour and glory Yet their disobedience in this was not unseemly The Application 1. THis Gospel of the Jewes and Gentiles Infidelity is as we heard in the Explication made a whole Type of all Iniquity whatsoever and yet is most peculiarly proper to the Epistle inculcating so sincere a sayntity as above because as to that sayntity pardon of iniquity is necessary and this pardon is mystically represented in the raising Jairus his daughter from the brink of death which is the natural punishment of sinne so to the said sayntity there is also necessary a detestation of all affection to sin which detestation is also represented by the cure upon the woman sick of the Issue of bloud not unfitly likened to reiterated or accustomary sinne which argues a huge affection thereunto 2. What then more proper for Christians at the reading of this holy Text then first to procure an act of contrition for all guilt of sinne upon their soules and next to detest all affection to any sinne whatsoever especially to those which have been formerly to them accustomary for those are properly bonds which we have sealed to the devil while we hamper our selves with giving them up as our well advised acts of our yet most abominable wicked deeds 3. Say now beloved if our holy Mother have not fram'd a fitting Prayer when to this purpose she brings charity to day upon her knees preparing her self for the grand account she is next Sunday put in mind to make By petitioning as above an acquittance of her sinful debts by absolution from the guilt thereof and a cancelling of all her bonds to the devil by teating her affections to sin in pieces and planting her love from hence upon Almighty God above On the four and twentieth Sunday after Pentecost The Antiphon Matth. 24.34 AMen I say to you this Generation shall not passe untill all be done Heaven and Earth shall passe but my word shall not passe saith our Lord. Vers Let my prayer c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer STirre up we beseech thee O Lord the wills of thy Faithful that they more diligently preparing the fruit of thy divine work may receive the greater remedies of thy mercy The Illustration WE are this day closing up the Ring of our devotion which we desire all the devotes of our sodality to wear in testimony they are of
proceeded by an Act of mutuall love between the Father and the Sonne but all confesse his procession to be from both while it is from the Father by the Sonne 14. True it is by the passion of our Saviour we are redeemed but if we ask what it is to be redeemed we cannot expresse it better then here the Apostle doth by calling it remission of sinnes for as by sinne we were made slaves to the devil so by remission thereof which we obtain by Christ his passion we are made children of God and are thus redeemed from the captivity of the devil not unlike to men freed from prison by their creditours remitting unto them their debts for which they clapt them up but we are in a more liberall way redeemed from the prison of hell that was our inheritance when Christ not we payes the debt and so it is most freely remitted to us since we neither did nor could pay it our selves The Application 1. BLessed S. Paul we have thee now in half a word the Colossians were as dear to thee as the Ephesians the Romans and all thy other Converts what thou didst write to one upon the news of their conversion by thy preaching thou dost in other terms but in the same spirit write to all the rest Again we know our holy mother the Church reads thy ancient lessons every day anew to us that we her children may be Christian Catholicks like thy happy Converts And to that purpose she brings our charity to day with thy Epistle home to her annuall journeys end as the best usher to lead her to this lifes end also and to the entrance into everlasting life that of eternall happinesse and glory 2. See how to day our holy Mother sets us all a preaching to our selves to this effect while she doth make us pray to God that he will raise up our affections to our own salvations Why Blessed Jesu is it come to that must we be courted to our own felicity can we be lesse then willing to be sav'd I dare not say it but I doubt it much And therefore holy Church I see petitions it lest we should vainly think we had advanced farre when God Almighty knows the many years that passe upon our heads are like so many labours lost and therefore at the end of every year 't is piety to think we do but then begin to wish we were but willing to be sav'd yet we must wish it faithfully sincerely earnestly and we must pray withall that God will graciously please to raise our wish to the perfection of a will at last that if we value not our selves we will not undervalue God Almighty who looks upon us as the apples of his eyes as the fruits of all his labours in creating preserving and governing the world and us in redeeming and saintifying of us for no other end but to save us at the last and that at so easie a rate as can be possible our onely cooperating with him to that happy end our onely being willing be should work in us that saintity we cannot work in our selves without him 3. To conclude the many books of controversie in the point of merit may be summ'd up all in this petition of the Churches Prayer to day so deep so copious so facund and so fecund withall is the spirit of the Holy Ghost couch'd in those teaching Prayers What is it else we say defending merit but that we must cooperate to our salvation but that the more we do cooperate the greater Saints we are but that the improvement we make of one grace procures us another greater then the former but that we so take in hand the work of our salvation as we do not think it is nor can be any work of ours but must be still the work of God in us though by us too whose onely part is to be pulling down the greater remedies of his Piety towards us by improving his lesser and to be drawing from him grace upon grace so fast untill by means thereof we render our selves a fruit of the work divine as ripe as grace can make us here ready then to be transplanted into heaven where yet the sunne of glory will mature us more so farre indeed as we shall never fear to be corrupted but shall hang upon the tree of everlasting life an ornament to the celestiall Paradise Say now the Prayer above and see how home it is to this construction in it self to this instruction of us by it if we say it in the sense above The Gospel Matth. 24.15 15 Therefore when you shall see the Abomination of desolation which was spoken of by Daniel the Prophet standing in the holy place he that readeth let him understand 16 Then they that are in Jewry let them flee to the mountains 17 And he that is on the house top let him not come down to take any thing out of his house 18 And he that is in the field let him not go back to take his coat 19 And wo to them that are with child and that give suck in those dayes 20 But pray that your flight be not in winter nor on the Sabboth 21 For there shall be then great tribulation such as hath not been from the beginning of the world untill now neither shall be 22 And unlesse those dayes had been shortened no flesh should be saved but for the Elect the dayes shall be shortned 23 Then if any man shall say unto you Lo here is Christ or there do not believe him 24 For there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signes and wonders so that the Elect also if it be possible may be induced into errour 25 Lo I have foretold you 26 If therefore they shall say unto you Behold he is in the desert go ye not out behold in the closets believe it not 27 For as lightening cometh out of the East and appeareth even to the West so shall the Advent of the Son of man be 28 Wheresoever the body is thither shall the Eagles also be gathered together 29 And immediately after the tribulation of those dayes the Sun shall be darkened and the Moon shall not give her light and the Starres shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be moved 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven and then shall all tribes of the earth bewaile and they shall see the Son of man comeing in the clouds of heaven with much power and majestie 31 And he shall send his Angels with a Trumpet and a great voyce and they shall gather together his Elect from the four winds from the furthest parts of heaven even to the ends thereof 32 And of the fig-tree learn a Parable when now the bough thereof is tender and the leaves come forth you know that Summer is nigh 33 So you also when you shall see these things know ye that it is nigh even at the
doors 34 Amen I say to you that this generation shall not passe till all these things be done 35 Heaven and earth shall passe but my words shall not passe The Explication 15. BY this Abomination of desolation Christ meant a most abominable desolation and most probably he alluded to that which was to follow namely the Romans sacking of Jerusalem as a punishment upon the Jewes for having there crucified the Saviour of the world how horrid and dreadful an abomination that was Josephus his history best describeth But mystically we may well interpret this abomination to be the sacrilegious defiling of the Temple of Solomon both by the barbarous murders therein committed by the Jews and the profaning the Altars thereof by the wicked Priests much more is this abominable when Christian Priests profane their holy Altars and become wicked Isa 24.2 as the people so the Priest of holy Church And the like abomination it is to receive the body of Christ into a sinfull soul for then he is rather betrayed into the house of the devil then received into the Temple of the holy Ghost Not unaptly also this abomination may allude to Antichrist setting himself upon the Altars of the Churches to be adored as God In fine when any of these horrid iniquities are done then we may piously imagine the Judgement of God is not far of since were it not for his mercy sake these abominations deserved immediate damnation 16. By this verse is mystically meant that when good men see these enormities done commonly in the cities they should flye from such evil cohabitations lest the houses of the city fall upon their heads and run out up to the mountains thereby to shew they are desirous of getting up as near to heaven as may be when their houses become a hell unto them Though literally our Saviour alludes to the advice he after by revelation gave the Christians when Jerusalem was to be destroyed to flye from Jurie to the mountains beyond Judea for the Roman forces had possessed those hills about Judea whereas the Jewes hearing of the Romans approaching into their countrey fled all into Jerusalem God so ordaining it for their destruction who yet thought they should in that famous city be most safe 17. They were bid flye from the tops of houses if they happened to be there when the newes came of Titus with the Romans falling upon them to shew those powers were to come like a tyde or torrent upon the Jewes unavoidably and therefore since in those daies their houses were commonly built flat on the top and their use was to eat and walk there as freely as now men do in lower rooms they were advised to make no stay for getting any goods away but immediately to run and think themselves happy if they could save but their own persons insomuch that the sudden destruction of Jerusalem is by the Historian described like to Noes floud to the burning of Sodome with fire from heaven and to the drowning Pharaoh his forces in the red Sea 18. This verse followes the strain of the former by advising immediate flight without regard to any thing else 19. This expresseth their danger who by the reason of children either in their wombs or at their breasts could not make speed enough to save themselves in regard of their burdens retarding their flight Also it alludes to the severity of Gods wrath over the Jewish Nation who to punish their sins would not spare the innocent infants of that race but leave all a prey to the devouring sword of the Romans meeting them in their mothers bellies or nurses laps 20. This shewes the clogg of winter wayes and weather forbids especially to aged men a speedy flight such as was necessary to avoid this instantaneous destruction and the Jewish Law forbidding any man to walk above a mile indeed half a mile on the Sabbath shewes that slow flight was inconsistent with this speedy danger for though Christ did abrogate the rigour of the Sabbath Law yet be alludes here to the Jewes and Judaizing Christians that were hardly brought off from the superstitions of their old Traditions Again Christ here insinuates it is vain to flye on the Sabbath because Jerusalem and so all was taken on the Sabbath day 21. There is no doubt but the destruction of Jerusalem was a calamity unparallel'd for since Almighty God in revenge of his sacred Sons being butthered therein had designed this city to exemplary punishment he was resolved to make the rigour of it such as resembled rather Hell then any horrour lesse onely note that here it is meant the particular destruction of the Jewes is unparallel'd by any particular nations destruction not that the finall day of Judgement shall be lesse calamitous to all the world then this day was to the Jewes alone 22. This place literally alludes to the Jewes as the chosen people of God and so valued by him above all others that he seems to say if they be safe none else are in danger because them chiefly he desires to preserve yet seeing they will not be gained by him he then converts his love to the Gentiles and in this sense he goes on meaning unlesse the daies of the Jewes subversion by the Romans had been shortened no flesh no Jew in all the world should be saved but for the elect for some very few converted Jews before for some in this confusion of their overthrow and for others reserved for conversion in the latter daies to make one Church as also for respect to many Christians amongst them God ordained that Titus the Commander should put a limit to the fury of the sword and after a time should give quarter even to the Jews insomuch that as Josephus writes fourty thousand of them by the mercy of Titus were saved and but for this not one Jew in all the world either would or could have escaped the sword so inveterate was the hatred of the Romans to that persidious Nation Hence we see the power of even a little virtue in man how great a sway it bears with God that for never so little good he averts a huge deal of mischief 23. Many conceive Christ here passeth from his report to the destruction of Jerusalem and falls on the day of general Judgement but it is not so for by the word then he professeth to continue his former sense and this suites well for then the Jews knowing the time of the Messias to be at hand to save themselves and to flatter such as usurped the properties of the Messias they when persecuted by one party would flye to this other that adhered to such impostours as then boasted themselves to be the Messias so our Saviour to prevent danger to such as might be carried by this meanes to infidelity foretels them what arts would be used to insnare them And there were three eminent men of this wicked faction Eleazar the son of Simon Jehu the son of Leviah and Simon the
son of Goriah each of these strove to be reputed the Messias to these therefore and their flatterers this verse alludes for these would be called Christ as the true Messias was 24. See how this verse verifies the sense of the former for of these and such like men even of Arch-hereticks in future times also our Saviour speaks here and such were David George and John of Leyden King of the Anabaptists proclaiming himself to be Christ and sending about his twelve Apostles till he was taken in Westphalia and burnt alive for his abominable heresie The signes here mentioned shall be those of witchcraft and other cheats to delude the Faithful people as Simon Magus by these arts cheated Nero and other Romans till by S. Peters intercession he was brought down from the high pitch of his artificial wings and dashed his feet in pieces to shew Gods Saints are above the devils instruments since by St. Peters prayer he was made unable to go who by fraud pretended a power to flye When he sayes by these arts the Elect shall if possible erre he meanes it is not possible morally speaking that when God pleaseth to assist his chosen people any fraud of the devil himself can delude them though in a physical sense there is no impossibility thereof since even grace notwithstanding men have physical power to sin yet supposing God have predestinated any to salvation then that may stand with infallibility by supposition which absolutely speaking would not do so Note the Reformers fondly obtrude this practise to us by exposing the B. Sacrament to adoration since therein we expose onely an invisible Deity whereas here our Saviour beats down the exposing any visible God in mans shape any to be Christ but himself and that he left himself thus to be adored till the worlds end we have it avouched from the Apostles who did practise and preach this duty to be done to the B. Sacrament 25. He means his prediction to after ages as well as that to the Jewes of their impostures so this warning serves us to beware of heresies and their divulgers 26. Christ here alludes to Simon Gerasenus son of Goriah who went into the desert and mountains raising forces under a pretence he would as the Messias vindicate the injuries done to the Jewes by the Romans the like did Eleazar above menâ—ioned and John leaders of the Zelotes onely they pretended in caves and vaults and chambers to supply the open worships due unto them in Churches and this with promise to restore them as by the Messias they did hope to be restored and thought their Captaines to be indeed Messias 27. No the true Messias comes not thus couched but his coming shall be as visible as undoubted as the lightening breaking in the East and seen even to the West here indeed he alludes to his second coming in the latter day when the world shall be all on fire from East to West 28. This he likens to be as sudden upon men as the Eagle is upon her prey and though some think he onely means the noble Eagles that feed not on dead food but on living yet his words incline to the vulturine Eagle which Aristotle mentions and tells us he feeds on dead bodies and discovering them by the smell is as soon upon them as if he see them presently Christ seemeth to humble himself to this sort of Eagles both in regard of his own body which was dead to purchase mans life and in regard it suites better with our corruption which at the latter day is the prey of this Eagle Christ Jesus who comes as fiercely upon all mankind then corrupted in their graves when summoned to Judgment as the Eagle doth upon his prey that lives by carrion to shew us there is then no hope of mercy if we prove corrupted carrion but we must be delivered over as a prey to the devouring Eagle meaning the Judge converting corruptible into incorruptible flesh their unsavoury bodies into sweet incense to burn and never be consumed nor tormented before his sacred Deity 29. See how he falls from the particular devastation of the Jewes to the general destruction of the whole world telling us hence forward the signes of this as he did before the signs of the other favouring in a sort the errour of the Apostles who did believe by his speech the day of Judgement should follow immediately after the destruction of Jerusalem though indeed he speaks thus to terrifie men from sin who after it may immediately fear Judgment and to shew that what to us is long a coming to God is ever present so he falls out of the one into the other as if they were both linked together The Sun shall be darkened by which he meanes there shall be prodigious Eclipses before this dismal day and strange interpositions of vapours to shew the dark effect of the child of darknesse sin The Moon having no light but from the Sun can give none when the Suns light is not seen The Starres shall seem to fall but cannot do so for each one is bigger then the earth yet what with comets playing in the ayr what with the dazzeling of our eyes in that circumstance the starres shall seem to fall upon us Mystically understand by Sun Moon and Starres failing here the fall of greater and lesser lights in holy Church by the terrour of the persecution of Antichrist at this time by the virtues of the heavens being moved understand their usual influence into the creatures of the earth to be disturbed yet some others think the very Angels the movers of the heavens and so called their virtues shall be as it were afraid they do fail in their offices seeing the usual course of nature inverted which may seem even to discompose their constant and unmoveable natures not that indeed it shall be so with them but onely it may seeâ— so to us 30. This sign all allow to be the Crosse of Christ which for three causes shall then appear first to shew Christ came to the glory of being Judge over all the world by his former ignominy upon the Crosse secondly to shew he was truly crucified on the Crosse for all mens redemption and therefore brings it now to confound those who were ungrateful for such a benefit especially the Jewes thirdly to shew that all who were religious worshippers of him and of his holy Crosse should now march under the banner of it into the Kingdome of heaven whence it is probable the very self-same Crosse that Christ dyed upon shall be then made up and placed there a thing not harder then for the dead to rise By the bewailing of all tribes understand that some of all tribes shall be in a bewailing case for their ineviâ—able misery then laid before their eyes By the son of man is understood Christ Jesus himself coming after his sacred banner is displayed in the clouds for three reasons first to moderate the infinite splendour of his glory
next because a cloud is a type of the hidden mystery of his Deity lastly because he shall have his judiciary Throne placed in a cloud wrought out into the form of a moving chariot so that a cloud shall be both his seat and his footstool whilest in the ayr he appears to all the world below on his Throne of Judgement He shall then come in great power to shew he could have done so too when he came a weakling and alone into the world at his Nativity In great Majesty by the attendance of all the quires of Angels and blessed Saints waiting upon him 31. This verse doth not keep the order of Judgment but tells the manner True it is this shall be but not after Christ hath appeared for it shall be done before that and many other of these signs so it is put in here lest the story should come short of truth not to observe the order of the passage This gathering of the elect from all corners of the world and from heaven it self even the highest and lowest saints there argues the care God hath of them and that no distance of place can hinder them from coming to him who sends his Angels to bring them for their reward it tells us also we need not proclaim our own good deeds God sees them be they done and kept never so secret to avoid vain-glory 32. What was literally said before is now anagogically prosecuted by the example of a fig-tree which never springs but when the heat is strong that so the fruit thereof may be securely ripened and not nipt with cold and because it is a tree bearing great store of fruit so the Sun of Justice appearing the earth yields up all her fruits all the Saints thereof and presents them to the Sun that must mature them for the table of his heavenly Father when the summer of the resurrection comes 33. This example he useth to shew that however Judgement be terrible to those that are in sin yet to the just and to God himself it is as welcome as the harvest which brings in the treasure of the year and the fruit of time into the barnes of Eternity And that we may be frighted from sin we are foretold many of the calamities we see in all ages are like some of these fore-running signes to the latter day so we may religiously fear our particular Judgement at least is at hand and when all the signes are fulfilled we may be as sure the general will follow as we are sure the ripening Sun is near when the fig-tree sends out her sap from her wary root or mystically thus when in the cold winter of Antichrists persecution we see the Saints the spiritual fig-trees of holy Church put forth with confidence their leaves and buds of sanctity we may rest assured those wise figge-trees are not deceived and then it is time for sinful fools to repent themselves lest if not then it be too late for ever so to do 34. This verse onely imports that before the end of this world these signs shall be seen and this Judgement shall be unavoydable to mankind for that is it he means by this generation 35. The heavens and earth shall passe that is to say shall be changed from the present state and condition wherein they now are and whereunto they were ordained but for a time so that their after state shall be of a farre other nature liable to none of these changes which are now frequent in them according to the present exigence and series of causes Others understand by the last words of this verse our Saviour speaks here comparatively as if it were more possible for the settled course of heaven and earth to fail all at one instant then for the least tittle of Christ his word to passe unverified and this sense is not improbable being that which S. Chrysostome avows The Application 1. LOok how the Christian year begins so must it end with fear and love These were the plying virtues to the will of God that we begun the Rules of this sodality withall on Advent Sunday see the same virtues ply into the perfect circle of the year to day they bringing us to the end of our annuall devotion which began it but with this difference fear led us then unto the duty of our love now love hath brought us to the duty of our fear then we remembred our Judge that we might love our Jesus now we have loved him we need but fear him in respect of others who do not truly love him because it love bring us to the Judgement-seat we may be sure to find a loving Judge such as will never damn us It is the oracular edict of his own veracity I love those that love me and again it was the first love-lesson we were taught when charity began to march upon her own leggs on the third Sunday after Pentecost 1 Joh. 4. v. 17. Perfect charity fears not judgement meaning sure for her own particular Yet must have still a fear thereof in regard of others and she may fear too in her own behalf but that need onely be a fear she doth not love enough 2. It was no doubt with this designe our Saviour ended the frightfull story of judgement with the comfortable parable of the springing fig-tree to shew our charity that finall day is dismall onely to the damned souls to those that know not what it is to love their Jesu-Judge We see the holy Fathers make that exposition of it And we know that every creature groans for grief at the delay of that relieving day Rom. 8. v. 22. when they shall all be eas'd of their obedience to the disobeying man they are made subject to and when they shall be set to a new series and frame again to be ever consistent in their severall degrees of perfection without vicissitudes of fading to re-flourish those alterations were their punishments for mens prevarication and for working corruption in his body who by sinne had corrupted his own soul Judgement is therefore the longing of the just to see that justice done at last which is differ'd so long And indeed all present chastisement is mercy in comparison of that finall punishment which is therefore eternall because the wicked are unalterable in their malice and so force a rigorous judgement from the bowels of a mercifull Judge 3. To conclude what other sense can holy Church have of this latter day when at the preaching on that frightfull Text she makes us such a comfortable prayer as bids us beg tho greater remedies of Gods piety then his continuall graces the gifts of his glory at the day of Judgement to candy the confections of his graces to embalm the bodies of his Saints and make them uncorrupt as are their souls And all this favour she confidently bids us ask in recompence onely of our willingnesse to ripen our selves in the Sunne of his holy grace that he may make us fruits of