rise vp with greater force and eagerly set vpon me so that I am at perpetual question and at continuall oddes with my selfe from top to toe from the crowne of my head to the sole of my foot And therefore in so dangerous a doubting it is fit ô Lord that thy Light should bee a guide vnto my feet that I may know what and how much I ought to minister to my necessities and to my sences Plutarch reporteth of the Whale That hee hath a verie little Fish that serues as his Gentleman-Vsher and as a guide to lead him through the perills and dangers of the Deepe and he sheweth himselfe so thankefull that when this little Fish enters with others into his maw hee acknowledgeth his kindnesse and becomes his Guard or Sentinell whilest he sleepes The Wiseman sends the Sluggard to learn of the Pissemire so may we send the blind man to learne of the Whale for farre greater are the dangers of the sea of this life the way is more darke and therfore walke not without a Guide c. But shall haue the light of life The fauourable influence of Light is a prosperous Prognostication of life When Alexander was borne the Historians report That he had the Sunne for his Ascendent Pierius sets downe for a symbole of Life a Sunne with a Starre in the midst of it which ariseth from out the sayd Sunne Ezechias made choice of the Sunne for a pledge and token of his life and as the benigne aspect of the Sunne doth fauour and further our life so the rigorous aspect thereof doth threaten death and destruction Cyrus did dreame That he had the Sunne betweene his hands Whence the Astrologers did diuine That he should be short liued Sambucus did put for an Embleme of the Pestilence many dead persons and ouer them a Sun which did burne and consume them But more fauourable is the influence of the Sunne of Righteousnesse who is the Light of life Saint Iohn painting forth in his Apocalyps that superexcellent Citie of the celestiall Ierusalem saith That there is no need of Sun nor Moone Quia lucerna eius est Agnus The light which illuminateth it is the Lambe that Light of Life The candle when it burnes we say it is Vela viuâ— but this is an improprietie for the flame is not it's Soule Your Glow-wormes may bee termed in some sort Luzes viuas liuing Lights because as Plinie reporteth they shine in our mouthes our hands and our cloathes but these are but short Lights the Carbuncle out-shineth all these yet all is too little for the immensitie and vastnesse of Heauen nay for the least corner therein the Sunne in it's greatest glorie shall seeme there but as a Candle But shall haue the light of Life c. By this Light the Saints and Doctors vnderstand Faith for in regard that it is Principium Iustificationis The first beginning of our Iustification Life is attributed thereunto It hath beene a thing often repeated by our Sauiour Thy Faith hath made thee whole And Saint Paul The â—â—st liues by Faith He begins with Faith for He that will approch neere vnto God must first beleeue It was the Apostles suit to our Sauiour O Lord increase our Faith and so we shall goe on from Faith to Faith and from Vertue to Vertue If thou bearest Record of thy selfe thy Record is not true Saint Augustine saith That there preceded so many testimonies of our Sauiour Christ as the Patriarkes Prophets Prophesies Sybils Kings Sheepheards Simeon Anna the Prophetesse and lastly Iohn Baptist whom they held to be some Diuine power sent downe from Heauen that our Sauiour asking them Whether the Baptisme of Iohn were from Men or from God They durst not denie that it was from God least the People should stone them And adding to these testimonies the workes that himselfe wrought If yee will not beleeue me yet beleeue my workes for if I had not done those things which no man else hath done they had not sinned but now they haue no excuse for their sinne And for the testimonie of his Doctrine Nunquam sic locutus est homo Neuer man spake as he spake God may speake so but Man cannot What shall we say to that testimonie of his father in Iordan This is my beloued Sonne in whom I am wel pleased And that of the holy-Holy-Ghost in the forme of a Doue which as it is obserued by Saint Hierome sate vpon our Sauiours head because none should presume that the voyce proceeded from Saint Iohn And that of the Sonne of God himselfe Though I beare Record of my selfe yet my Record is true Complying with that which was spoken by the Euangelist There are three which beare Record in heaueÌ„ the Father the Word the Holy-ghost any one of these Testimonies might haue giuen satisfaction to a heart free from passion but all of them put together were not able to mooue such rebellious brests and such obstinate hearts as theirs were Great was the hardnesse of Pharaohs heart since after so many strange prodigies he sayd I know not the Lord. Moses did not see our Sauiour Christ nor had any more witnesses than his Rod neither were his wonders so great as those myracles which our Sauiour wrought so that the Pharisees being more hard than Pharaoh sayd If thou beare Record of thy selfe c. If I beare Record of my selfe yet my Record is true for I know whence I came and whether I goe but you cannot tell c. The circumstances of my Testimonie admit no exception and those that are required are commonly three Natura Conditio Via Nature Whether it be a man or a woman It 's Qualitie and Condition Whether he be a Freeman or a Slaue an old man or a young a Clergie man or a Lay man The Way whether it be of Vertue or of Vice Our Sauiour Christ doth not alledge any one of these circumstances but onely tells them My testimonie is true for I know whence I come and whether I goe Which was as much in plaine language as to tell them that he was God I am God and the Sonne of God in whom there cannot be the least signe or shew of a lie and his proofe is I know whence I come and whither I goe Man is not able to know from whence he came nor whether he is to goe for this is a priuiledge proper onely vnto God Saint Augustine interprets this of our Sauiour Christ The Sunne knowes his setting for the materiall Sunne knowes it not and none amongst men doe know their setting and their end Your Astrologers do erect Figures prognosticating other mens successes and casting their natiuities but neither truly know their owne nor other mens fortunes for it is a thing reserued onely for God The Wind bloweth where it listeth and thou knowest not whence it commeth nor whither it goeth No man can attaine vnto the inspirations of the Holy-Ghost nor to the designes of his
seeke after figs. Dying he had not any one that would giue him so much as a iarre of water when he cryed out Sitio I thirst they gaue him vinegre and gall to drinke Pope Leo saith of him The dayes that were appointed for him he began them in persecution and ended them in persecution In his infancie he began with the Crosse and at his end he dyed on the Crosse. Which was as Gregorie Naziâ—nzen saith a Prognostication That that Disciple that will seeke to follow his master shall neuer want a crosse to carry nor matter wherein to suffer But Iesus hid himselfe and went out of the Temple Vpon this place we haue formerly rendered foure reasons why our Sauiour Christ auoyded these â—tones by flight and now adding others anew thereunto Origâ—n saith That hee withdrew himselfe out of compassion considering that his counsells made the Pharisees more rebellious and more hard than before Rebellem non vult perdere Hee shund the occasion that they might not be vtterly lost accommodating himselfe to that of Saint Paul Dâ—te lâ—cum ira Giue way to anger One of Gods great mercies is to flye from a sinner that hee may not bee bound sodainly to destroy him In Exodus he gaue his people an Angell to be their guide saying I will neyther be your Captaine nor your Guide for through your stiffe-neckednesse and rebellion ye will runne great hazard vnder my command In some Parables the holy Euangelists put the word Peregrè profectus est He is gone afarre off For albeit God be alwayes present yet it is his exceeding great mercy now and then not to bee present For there is no compatibilitie with his diuine presence and our shamelesnes and loosenes of life And so putting on as it were a kind of dissimulation he makes as if he went away from vs and did not see what we doe Euthymius saith That our Sauiour Christ would rather exercise his patience in flying than his power in punishing Fugiendo magis quam puniendo For although he should haue destroyed theÌ„ yet would they neuer the sooner haue repented Complying with that of the Prophet Esay Dissipati neque coÌ„puncti In the garden he made those that came to take him to â—eele and fall on their backs with an Ego sum I am he But they not acknowledging this his diuine power proceeded on in their apprehending of him God deliuer vs from the resolution of a Reprobate for there is not that miracle either in heauen or on earth that will bridle and restraine him Of those which began to build the Towet of Babel the Scripture saith Nor will they yet leaue off But such is the goodnes of Gods nature and is so kind and louing vnto vs That hee doth to the ill good though they turne this good to 〈◊〉 But he does not doe any ill vnto them for his patience is such That he doth not thinke it much that euen those that were most ill should inioy some good Hugo de sancto victore declareth that place of the Prouerbs Answer a foole according to his foolishnes And Answer not a foole according to his foolâ—shnesse After this manner iâ— a foole shâ—ll amend by reprehension giue it him but if there be no hope of amendment giue it him not God doth commonly treat of the most good and the least ill but the wicked man of the least good and the most ill Wherein he prooues worse than Pilat For he laboured to set our Sauiour Christ at liberty vsing the meanes for the effecting of it to haue him well whipt I will chastise him and let him loose But the Iewes would not rest conâ—ented with that but went on in accomplishing the greatest sinne that was euer committed in the world Pope Gregory saith That our Sauiour Christ hid himselfe and went out of the Temple flying from the stones which they were about to fling at him for to shew That the world was all this while in an errour in holding it a point of honour and a braue and manly action to answer affronts with affronts iniuries with iniuries and to reuenge them to the full holding it basenes and cowardize either to suffer a wrong or shunne the occasion thereof Wherein he hath shewed his great loue vnto vs. For hee applying himselfe to the estimation which man maketh of his honour permitteth vs to defend our reputation though it be with the hurt of the Aggressor or Assaylant and that we should not flye that we might not loose it So that Christ flying from the Pharisees and hiding himself casting their sinnes behind his backe whilest he shewed them his backe and seeking to hide their faults by hiding himselfe from them he did more for them than they did for themselues It is likewise a point of Honour That a husband should not receiue the wife which hath bin false and treacherous vnto him But God saith As a woman rebelleth against her husband so haue ye rebelled against me Thou hast played the harlot with many louers yet turne againe to me saith the Lord and I will heale your rebellions Then shalt thou call me saying my Father and shalt not turne from mee To whom with the Sonne and the Holy Ghost be all honour power c. THE XXXIII SERMON VPON THE MVNDAY AFTER PASSION SVNDAY IOHN 7. Miserunt Principes Sacerdotum Ministros vt apprehenderent Iesum The Chiefe Priests sent their Officers to apprehend Iesus HEre the chiefe of the Priests waiting on the voyce and crie of the people watching which way they were inclined beholding how they were ready to mutine that many dayly were conuerted conuinced by those myracles which were so great both in quality number that they could not be wrought by any but the Messias whom they had so long looked for fearing some alteration both in their State and Religion and deuising with themselues how they might cut off this Good as if it had beene some Canker or Plague of the Common-wealth They sent Officers to take him In which Discourse is discouered the force and efficacie of Gods Word and how little the industrie and policie of man is able to preuaile against this Diuine Wisedome The High-Priests sent to take him The motiue hereunto was their enuie a vice so vnfortunate and so vnluckie that accounting for it's felicitie and for it's good anothers ill commonly the ill raineth downe vpon the head of the Enuious and the good vpon that of the Enuied Iosephs brethren threw him into a pit and then sould him and all but out of enuie and this their selling of him was the meanes of his excelling of them and their casting of him downe the raising of him vp thus purposed aduersitie turned to future prosperitie Haman that was King Assuerus his Fauorite had listed Gods people in seuerall rolles with a ful resolution to haue them massacred all in one day he had set vp a high gallowes whereon
of all other can least endure that a brother should outstrip him though it be Gods owne handy-work to aduance and prefer him And the sonnes of Thamar are a type and figure thereof who stroue and strugled in their mothers wombe The other in regard of the desire that they haue to see a brother or a kinsman prosper onely that they may sucke from him and wholly disfruit him as if hee were a tree of their owne orchard which of these two mischiefes is the greater For in the first the enuious brother looses and the enuyed gaines In the second all rob that tree which affoords them fruit and that brother or kinsman that is owner of it I remember a memorable saying that was vttered by a holy Prelat relieuing being importuned therunto two of his brethren with 200 Crownes for to buy them Oxen to till their ground I shall said he desire of God That this poore pittance which I now giue you doe not consume the rest of that which ye now enioy My brethren to facilitate their request told me that I was a single man had no body to care for that I was a Guarda de Vinas a Vine-keeper a Church-man and an ouerseer of soules Sed vineam meaÌ„ non custodiui But I did not keep this my Vinyard so wel as I should haue done for I could not defend it from my brethreÌ„ and my kinsfolk one plucking this from me and another that til they had left me nothing to pleasure either my selfe or the poore whom I ought most to haue respected If thou be rich all thy kindred will bee like so many horse-leeches to draw thy blood from thee but if thou be poore not a kinsman that will looke vpon thee That mirrour of patience that holy man Iob saith in his 31 chapter Despectio propinquorum terruit me There was not that kinsman that would looke vpon me in my misery but beheld me with disdaine and scorne and would not affoord me any the least comfort Vaine is the confidence in friends and kinsfolks vaine is the confidence in Princes And therefore ô Lord let vs relye vpon thee who neuer faylest those that put their trust in thee To God the Father God the Sonne and God the Holy Ghost c. THE XXXV SERMON VPON THE WEDNESDAY AFTER PASSION SVNDAY IOHN 10. Facta sunt enzenia Hierosolymis The Feast of the Dedication was celebrated at Ierusalem THe Feast de las Enzenias or of the Dedication was celebrated in Ierusalem The Greeke word signifieth Renouation The Iews had three Feasts of this name The first in remembrance of the great solemnitie made by Salomon when he had finished the Fabrick of the Temple which was one of the Myracles of the world The second in memoriall of the re-edification thereof done by Zorobabel and the Princes of Iuda hauing Cyrus his Warrant for it who restored the gold and siluer which Nebuchadnezzar robbed the Temple of The third in remembrance of that Altar which Iudas Machabeus built anew which Antiochus had prophaned by placing thereon the Statue of Iupiter Olympus and offering thereon costly and sumptuous Sacrifices And this is that Feast whereof the Gospell makes mention it was celebrated on the twentie fifth of Nouember which in the Iewish account was the ninth moneth about the beginning of Winter and therefore it is sayd It was Winter Now our Sauiour Christ passing along through the porch of the Temple the Iewes flocked about him both Nobles and Plebeians and sayd vnto him How long doost thou make vs doubt How long wilt thou hold vs in suspence if thou be the Christ tell vs so plainly without any more adoo But Iesus gaue them so vnsauorie an answer to this their vnmannerly demand that they tooke vp stones to stone him The feast of the Dedication was at Ierusalem It is the language of the Scripture and especially of the Apostle Saint Paul to call our Brest Heart or Bosome Gods Temple as in that to the Corinthians Yee are the Temples of the liuing God And he citeth that place of Leuiticus As God hath said I will dwell among them and walke there And Saint Ambrose further addeth That as in a materiall temple made with hands there are Porches Floores and Altars c. so within vs we haue all these things Phylon saith That an honest a holy and deuout Soule is the Altar whereon God is adored But here we are to consider That our heart or the soule of a Christian man is a higher rooft Temple and farre more spacious After that Salomon had made an end of building his Temple he sayd O Lord I haue built thee an House to dwell in but it is too little for thy greatnesse for if the Heauens and the Heauens of Heauens are not able to containe thee how much more vnable is this House that I haue built it being but a Thimble as it were in comparison of thee for that thou art higher than the highest Heauens and deeper than the profoundest Depth What House is that saith Esay in a sleighting kind of manner which yee haue built for me and what is that place of my rest Were not all things made by my hand If then a Temple made by such powerfull hands be so small a House for God to dwell in for which cause Saint Paul sayd He dwelleth not in Temples made with hands How great a one will that be which man shall make for him So that tâ—e least vnworthie and the least narrow house is our brest Greater yet is God than our heart and yet God saith If any shall open I wâ—ll come in vnto him and wil sup with him This is that Temple which God desires should bee renewed After that the Temple was prophaned by Antâ—ochus the Text saith They did wisely consider with themselues That that Altar should be destroyed and a new one built for they thought it not fit to offer Sacrifice vnto God vpon that Altar whereâ—n Antiochus whom the Scripture stileth The Root of all wickednesse had performed so many abhominations They therefore built a new Altar and did instiâ—ute a Feast in memoriall of it's re-edification wherein they gaue thankes vnto God That he had giuen them a time wherein they might truly serue him as they had done heretofore Now as the councell was good in the Machabees To build a new Alter for had they made the old one neuer so cleane yet the forepassed abhominations would haue caused a continuall horrour so will it be verie good councell vtterly to destroy a foule Soule which hath been an Inne for Vice and an habitation for Deuils and to create it anew that there might not remaine any relish of it's former ill And Dauid seemeth to desire as much of God in those words of his Create in me ô Lord a new heart When Liquor hath layne a long time in a Vesâ—ell though you wash and rynse it neuer so much it retaineth somewhat of
diligerent detrahebant mihi They repaid my loue with hate my good actions with iniuries Ego autem orabam But I quitted their wrongs with my prayers Saint Chrysostome saith That God commanding me to pray for my enemie attends therein more mine than his good for the prayer that I make for my enemie that hath done me wrongs heapes coles vpon his head but is a plenarie indulgence for all those that I haue done against my God nor shall any thing at the day of judgement plead harder for vs. Now in another place hee saith That the pleasure that God doth take in the good that we do vnto our enemies is not because they deserue it but because we should not fal into so great a sinne as is hatred and malice Two prayers saith the same Father wee must neuer be vnprouided of one for our enemie another for our owne soule For if thou shalt pray for thy enemie though thou beggest nothing for thy selfe yet shalt thou obtaine of God what thine owne heart desireth Saint Ambrose saith That Dauid in taking care for the sauing of Absalons life Seruate mihi puerum Absalon Preserue me the young man Absalon did assure himselfe of the victorie and that Ioab and his souldiers would crie out Kill the Traitor runne him through c. O what a rich though secret and hidden Mine is the pardoning of our enemie And hereupon hang two things The one how vnpleasing a Petition it would be in Gods eares and how harsh it would sound that we call vnto him for vengeance vpon our enemie desiring that Ioabs dart may strike him through the heart The other is Saint Austens who saith That he that of God shall entreat euill against euill does himselfe that which is euill and it comes by this meanes to be a double euill two euills I say spring from thence The one that he does ill the other That he prayes ill So that when hee that is wronged shall pray vnto God to destroy this ill man God may verie well make him this answer Which of the two doost thou meane for in seeking to kill another thou first killest thy selfe Quando dicis Deus occide malum respondebit Quem vestrum When thou shalt say Lord kill the wicked one he shall answer Which of you Vt scitis filij Patris vestri That yee may bee the children of your Father By louing by doing good by praying and pardoning thy enemies yee shal shew your selues to be the sons of God But the reuengefull the cruell and the mercilesseman is rather a monster than any child of Gods God is Loue and as Thomas prooues it out of Dyonisius it is Gods essentiall name Therefore he that would be the sonne of Loue and yet is a hater of his brother he is a monster and no sonne To those children that are like vnto their parents wee vse to say Gods blessing be with ye and make ye like vnto your parents in goodnesse as in fauour Our Sauiour called the Pharisees Filios Diaboli The childeren of the Deuill because they followed his humours and desire Ille autem homicida erat ab initio And he was a murtherer from the beginning If you will therefore be Gods children yee must be like vnto God Seneca tells That hee did good to him that did him ill and cries out withall What shall I doe What Why that which God did and does for thee who began to doe good to thee when thou didst not know what good was nor how to esteeme it and now thou doost know it and that he still continues good vnto thee yet thou continuest vnthankefull vnto him by not acknowledging his goodnesse That ye may be the children of your Father Saint Iohn sayth That God gaue vs power to bee sonnes of God This filiation wee first receiue in Baptisme and is afterwards confirmed in vs when God shall find this inscription ingrauen in our hearts Diligite benefacite orate vt sitis filij patris vestri i. Loue Doe good and Pray that ye may be the children of your Father I tell thee it is one thing to bee filius a sonne another exercere filiationem i. to performe the office of a sonne A child hath vnderstanding before hee is ten yeares old but he doth not put it in practise But by pardoning thou shalt show by thy workes that thou art of those children of God whom at thy baptisme hee endowed with Grace All men desire to bee like vnto their King Diodorus Siculus reporteth of the Aethiopians that if the King were lame disfigured or blinck-ey'd they would all striue to bee as like him as they could Our Sauiour Christ prayed for his enemies on the Crosse why should yee not imitate him Vt sitis filij i. that yee may bee his children c. The Crosse sayth Nazianzene is that bright pillar of fire in the wildernesse which lights vs along in the night of this life that it may teach vs the way Pro inuidijs meis orationes fundere i. to poure out a prayer against my owne Enuie That ye may bee the children c. Saint Paul hath it Quod si filij haeredes per Deum i. If children then also heires What heires to so great a blessing and will yee loose it for an enemie It will ioy him much to see you suffer so much harme There is nothing grieues a man more than to see his labours lost especially hauing endured great and long toyle Wee dayly see the truth of this in the souldier on the one side his body broken and his cloths torne and ragged on the other readie to famish for want of food In Virgils hall some women are feigned to draw water in siues a fruitlesse labour In the parable of the Sower our Sauiour was verie sory to see three of the foure parts of seed to bee lost and cast away Ezechiel paints out his people in the embleme of a pot which was so fouly furred within that it was impossible to make it cleane Multo labore sudatum est non exibit de ea nimia rubigo neque per ignem i. Much labour hath beene bestowed and yet the scum of it is not gone out no not by the fire Ieremy pictures Babilon sicke and that many Phisitions going about to cure her though they did apply vnto her many costly medicines all their labour was in vaine Curauimus Babilonem non est sanata Multiply thy seruices toward God treasure vp spirituall riches vse all diligence for to keepe a cleane Conscience apply as medicines for to cure thy Soule Teares Fastings Prayers Almes yet if thou doost not forgiue and pardon thy enemie thou doost nothing The Scripture speaketh of Esau that hee could find no place for repentance no though he did seeke it with Teares purposely citing Teares that wee might consider how powerfull they are and the reason was for that he had a purpose to be reuenged on his
is feared Him whom the feare of some great hurt apprehendeth maketh choice to kill himselfe that he may escape that harme The second Thomas and Aristotle both affirme That Delight is the authour of noble deeds and difficult enterprises Whence the Phylosopher inferreth That that thing cannot long continue which wee doe not take delight in Delight then being the child of Hope and Sorrow the sonne of Feare Feare is lesse noble than Hope The third Loue and Hope carrie vs along as Prisoners in their triumph yet as free vsing vs like noble persons And as they lead vs along so are we willing to goe with them But Feare carrieth vs away Captiues haling vs by the haire of the head tugging and pulling vs as a Sergeant doth a poore Rogue who goes with an ill will along with him making all the resistance that he can And for that Heauen consists wholly of noble persons and that the condition of God is so noble and the reward which he proposeth so honourable we should do him great wrong to suffer our selues to be drawne by force to so superexcellent a good howbeit with those that haue hung backe our Sauiour Christ hath vsed the threatnings and feares of Death of Iudgement and of Hell And his Prophets Preachers are therin to follow his example Those that are his children he still desireth to lead them in the triumph of Hope And for this cause Zacharie cals them the prisoners of Hope Turne yee to the strong Hold ye prisoners of Hope Saint Ambrose saith That hee made choice of Elias and Moses to shew That in Gods House the Poore is as much respected as the Rich. Moses in his yonger yeares was a Prince of Aegypt afterwards the chiefe Commander and Leader of Gods People Elias was alwayes poore and halfe hunger-starued cloathed with Goats haire yet both these did enioy the glorie of Tabor The like judgement may be made of Elizeus and Dauid of Lazarus and of Abraham and of diuers others Saint Luke addeth Visi sunt in Maiestate They were seene in State For great was the Maiestie wherewith Elias and Moses appeared And Tertullian saith That they appeared glorious In claritatis praerogatiâ—a So that those new Disciples Peter Iames and Iohn might by seeing these his antient followers so happie bee thereby the better encouraged and hope to enioy the like happinesse Origen and Epiphanius are of the same opinion Saint Hierome against Iouinianus and Tertullian in his booke De Iejunio say That Elias and Moses did fast fortie dayes as well as our Sauiour Christ in the Wildernesse and that therefore they seemed as glorious as himselfe Whence they inferre That hee that will bee transfigured with Christ must fast with Christ. Loquebantur de excessu They spake of his departure Touching that death which our Sauiour Christ was to suffer in Hierusalem there could not bee any conuersation more conformable to that estate and condition of his For beeing that our Sauiour was to merit the glorie of the body by his death he could not so much reioyce in any thing as in the brauenesse of that noble and renowned Action and the worthinesse thereof In Gods house good seruices are much more esteemed than recompence or reward And more reckoning is made of deseruing honour than inioying it When those his Disciples desired such and such seates of honour our Sauiour sayd vnto them Potestis bibere calicem c. In my Kingdome more honourable is the Cuppe that I drinke of than the chaire that ye would sit in In our Sauiours Ascension when hee came to Heauen-gates the Angells beganne to wonder at his bloudie garments Quis est iste qui venit de Edom tinctis vestibus de Bosra In a place so free from sorrow and torment such a deale of bloud and woundes But that which made their admiration the more was that hee should make this his Gala the only gallant clothes that he could put on Formosus in stola sua And for that this his bloud had beene the meanes of his taking possession of this glorie both for himselfe and for vs he could not cloth himselfe richer nor doe himselfe more honour than to weare this bloudy roabe that had beene dyed in the winepresse of his Passion Saint Austen sayth That the Prouidence of God had so disposed it that the markes of the Martyres torments should not bee blotted out in Heauen For albeit that happy estate doth repaire all manner of maimes take away all deformities and cleare all the spots and blemishes of our body and though they shall appeare much more glorious than the Sun yet notwithstanding those stigmata and markes of their martyrdome shall adde an accidentall glorie vnto them as those colours that are gained in warre beautifies his Coat who weares them in his scutchion The Greekes read Loquebantur de gloria quam completurus erat They spake of the glorie which hee was to fulfill Our Sauiour Christ being vpon the Crosse the Sunne was darkened Tenebrae factae sunt super vniuersam terram in token that when Iesus Christ was crucified for our sinnes there was no need of seeing the Sunne any more nor any more Heauen or glorie to be desired In mount Tabor Christ did not discouer all his glorie to the eyes of Faith and therefore it was necessarie that the Heauens should be opened that a cloud should come downe and a voice be heard from his Father saying Hic est filius meus dilectus This is my beloued sonne Saint Chrysostome expounding that place of Saint Iohn sayth Vidimus gloriam eius quasi vnigeniti à patre Signifying That this is to bee vnderstood of that glorie which our Sauiour Christ discouered on the Crosse that there hee shewed whose sonne he was c. Saint Paul seemeth somewhat to allude thereunto when hee sayd God forbid sayth hee that I should be so foolish as to glorie in any thing saue the glorie of the Crosse. And the Spouse His Crosse and his Ensignes are to me as a bundle of Myrrh I will beare it betweene my brests as my delight and my treasure Three manner of wayes may it bee taken that this Excesse of our Sauiour Christ is Glorie The first That his passion and death and the rest of those Excesses which he did for our saluation for all these may bee termed Excesses Christ did take them to be a glorie vnto him Adam sinning hee seemed to make little account of God and his creatures which in him was a great Excesse But God did remedie this Excesse with other infinite Excesses Saint Bernard obserueth That our Sauiour Christ would not enioy the Balme which the three Maries brought to annoint him after he was dead but did reserue it for his liuing bodie For in Christ wee are to consider two bodies the one Naturall the other Mystical which is the Church And as hee left the first nayled and fastned to the Crosse for the second so he
Commonwealth that to see any good come from them may be held as great a miracle as that we haue now in hand Ephraim is an Heifar vsed to delight in threshing Now to thresh is taken oftentimes in Scripture to rule with tyrannie and oppression Arise ô thou daughter of Syon and fall a threshing For in this mountaine shall the hand of the Lord rest and Moab shall be threshed vnder him euen as straw is threshed in Madmenah The proportion of the comparison holds in this That as your heifers do tread the corne vnderneath their feet till it be troad all out of the eare so your Princes trample vpon their Subiects till they haue drawne from them the greater part of their goods and if here and there an eare escape him and goe away whole hee may crie Godamercie good lucke Princeps postulat Iudex in reddendo est The Prince hee will haue some strange taxe or new imposition layd vpon the Subiect your reuerend Iudges they will inuent a way to do it and say There is good law for it and euer after it shall be a President or a ruled Case And whence doth this arise Marry from this That the one is a thorne in the Subiects sides and the other are brambles And for this cause in that Fable of the Trees none did desire to be King saue the Bramble And this is the reason why Princes are soothed vp by their Flatterers and Cushion-sowing Courtiers vnder Kings elbows but these Earewigs howsoeuer their Prince may affect them I am sure they are neither esteemed nor applauded by the People And if these Flatterers grow fat and full the Commons haue poore commons and are poore and hungerstarued But because this King of Heauen did good vnto his People hee was praised and commended by them So saith Saint Mathew The Multitudes wondred and seeing the Dumbe to speake the Blind to see the Lame to walke they magnified the God of Israell The other The force of our Sauiour Christs words Ecclesiasticus saith That the words of a wise man are like so many nayles that strike the soule through and wedge it fast If a wise mans words haue that force what efficacie shall Gods words carrie with them A certaine woman lifting vp her voice c. Esay called our Sauiour Christ The hidden God Verè tu es Deus absconditus Hidden in the Heauens And for this cause some do deriue the name of Coelum à Coelando Iob he saith Nubes latibulum eius He was likewise hidden in his mothers womb QueÌ„ coeli capere non poterant tuo gremio contulisti Who would thinke that this immensitie which the Heauens could not containe should bee shut vp in so streight a roome Hee hid himselfe also vnder his humanitie insomuch that the Deuills eyes beeing so sharpe sighted and able to discerne things afarre off could not know him when his Diuinitie was hidden vnder those paines and torments which hee endured Esay saith Quasi absconditus vultus eius It was hidden from the Worlds knowledge Quis cognouit sensum Domini Who knew the meaning of the Lord The greatest Clerkes in Ierusalem said In Beelzebub eijcit Daemonia Through Belzebub hee casts out Deuills And if any man shall presse mee with that place of Saint Paul That hee was manifested and made knowne to the World I answer That he did hide himselfe but the Father did manifest him in the Cratch hee hid himselfe in the manger but his swathing cloathes driueled on by the Oxe and the Asse and the reares that trickled downe his cheekes did discouer him to be Man the Kings sought to conceale him but the Sheepheards did reueale him in the Temple his mother bearing him as a Sinner in her bellie who was to redeeme the World did hide and couer him but Simeon and Anna the Prophetesse did proclaime him to the world his kneeling downe in Iordan before he was baptised did hide his worth but the opening of Heauen and the voyce of the Father did declare him to be his Sonne and the holy-Holy-Ghost descending downe vpon his head in the forme of a Doue did manifest his Maiestie Vpon the Crosse the Nayles the Gall the Vinegar his wounds his stripes his shame and his being forsaken of his Father did hide his glorie but the Centurion the Theefe his Executioners the Sunne Moone Stones and Sepulchres rendring vp their Dead did manifest his power And here the Scribes and Pharisees calling him the Minister of Beelzebub seeke to hide him but Marcella and her companions with a loud voyce make him to be knowne what he was A certaine woman c. In the weakenesse of this woman God did discouer the greatnesse of his power Of Iudith it is said That a woman of the Iewes did confound the pride of Nebucadnezar And here it is said That a Iewish woman gaue the lie to all the power and wisedome of Ierusalem striking the Scribes and Pharisees dumbe confounding their vnderstanding and making them ashamed For Marcellaâ—eeing â—eeing them thus conuinced by the reasons of our Sauiour Christ she lifted vp her voyce aloud in token of victorie and to shew that our Sauiour had the better of them King Balthazar in the middest of all his mirth and jollitie was with a hand that he espied vpon the wall strucken as dead as a doore nayle Pharaoh with a blast of Gods mouth was drowned in the Deepe Flauit Spiritus eius c. These were strange things but much more strange was it That a poore sillie old woman should with two or three words confute the wisedome of Ierusalem and put them to such a nonplus that they had not a word to say Blessed is the wombe that bare thee Shee reckons it heere as a great blessing to the Virgin Marie that she was the mother of such a Son which is an epitome of all her praises and excellencies The Euangelist say no more because all that may be said of her is contained in this one word Mother And because some blasphemous persons had taken this name from her in the generall Ephesine Councell celebrated in the time of Pope Celestine and Theodosius the Emperor whereat were present two hundered Bishops it was concluded That the most blessed Virgin should be called Theotocos that is The mother of God for that our Sauiour was both Gods Sonne and hers hauing his filiation from them both The same was likewise defined in the Calcedonian Councell vnder Leo the twelfth So that the same Holy-Ghost which assisted these Councells had prompted also this womans tongue Saint Bernard saith That this great name Theotocos is the greatest this diuine ladie hath or can haue And because the name of Mother of God may seem to detract somthing from the sole omnipotencie of God from his goodnesse from his wisedome all other his excellent and singular attributes left men might sinne in ouerpraising her giuing too much vnto her in that kind Epiphanius saith It
ouer-comest thy enemy and triumphest ouer him Et nemo maestus triumphat i. No man is sad when he triumpheth Fourthly because the ioy of the Spirit is great and maketh vs to continue in the seruice of God For he that once tasteth the sweetnesse of louing him hardly can forget him Vt in eo crescatis in salutem si tamen gustatis quoniam suauis est Dominus i. That yee may grow vp in him vnto saluation if so bee yee tast how sweet the Lord is And this cheerefulnesse God will not haue in the Soule onely but in the body also for it is meant of both Hilarem datorem diligit Deus And the glory of the kings daughter although Daui◠saith that it ought to be principally within Gloria filiae regis ab intus The glorie of the Kings daughter is within yet is it likewise to bee manifested outwardly In fimbrijs aureis circumamicta varietate i. Her clothing is of wrought gold and her rayment of needle worke For God hauing created all he will be serued with all For this God respected Abell and his offering and not Caine. And he was not pleased with him onely for that hee had offered vp the best of his flocke but for the willingnesse wherewith he did it and cheerefulnesse of heart and countenance And this put Cain quite out of countenance and made him to hang the head Who can offer the chaffe of his corne to God with a good face Annoint thy head God wil that we shew our selues glad cheerfull when we serue him Aaron was sad for the death of his daughters Moses reprehending him because he had not eaten that day of the Sacrifice hee told him Quomodo potui comedere aut placere Deo in Ceremonijs mente lucubri i. How could I eat or please God in the Ceremonies with a mournefull mind And the Text saith That Moses rested satisfied Baruc saith That the Starres beeing called by their Creator answered Adsumus We are here and they did giue their light Cum jucunditate With delight God had no need of their light in Heauen Lucerna eius est Agnus His light is the Lambe but because God commanded them to affoord man light they did it cheerefully If they without hope of reward serue thee with that alacritie thou whose hope is from God Vnge caput tuum Annoint thy head Annoint thy head The Gospell aduertiseth thee to be merrie the Church to mourne How are these two to be reconciled I answer That all thy felicitie consisting in thy sorrow thou mai'st verie well be merrie to see thy self sad Greene wood being put vpon the fire weepes and burnes A deepe valley is cleere on the one side and cloudie on the other Mans brest is sad in one part and ioyfull in the other Saint Paul specifies two sorts of sorrow one which growes from God the other from the world that giues life this death Saint Iohn sets down two sorts of death one verie bad the other verie good so there are two sorts of sorrow c. Baruc saith That the soule that sorroweth for his sinnes giues glorie vnto God Leuiticus commandeth That they should celebrate with great solemnitie the day of expiation Et affligetis animas vestras And yee shall afflict your soules It seemes not to sound well That men should make a great Feast with afflicting their soules but for Gods friend no Feast ought to be accounted so great as to offer vnto him a sorrowfull and contrite heart For as there is nothing more sad than sinne so is there nothing so cheereful as to bewaile it Ne vidiaris hominibus jeiunans i. That thou seeme not to men to fast For herein is a great deale of danger A Monke told the Abbot Macharius I fast quoth he in the City in that sort that it is not possible for a man to fast more in a Wildernesse Whereunto he replied For all that I think there is lesse eaten in the wildernesse though there be no eyes as baits to feed this thy vanitie Our Sauior did marke out three sorts of Eunuchs some by nature some made so by the world and some by God so likewise are there three sorts of Fasters some to preserue their Complexion some for to please the World others for Gods sake Abulensis doubting Why God permitted not vnto his People those triumphs which other nations did so much glorie in answereth That he would not suffer them because they should not fauour of them for the People said in their heart though they did not professe it with their mouth Manus nostra excelsa non Dominus fecit haec omnia i. Our own high hand and not the Lord hath done all these things Whereas they should say Non nobis Domine non nobis sed nomini tuo da gloriam i. Not vnto vs ô Lord not vnto vs but to thine owne name giue the glorie Pater tuus qui videt in abscondito i. Your Father who sees in secret On the one side the Church humbles thee by calling thee Dust on the other it raiseth thee vp by confessing thy selfe to be the sonne of such a father Pater tuus qui videt in abscondito who is of that Maiestie that mortal Man durst not presume to say he were the sonne of such a Father vnlesse he himselfe had obliged vs to acknowledge him for our Father Rupertus saith That all the Patriarkes of the old Testament had vsually in their mouth this humble confession Tu Pater noster es nos Lutum Thou art our Father we are Clay as they that on their part had much whereof to be ashamed but on Gods much to glorie in that he would giue the name of Sonne to Durt And who by his grace of Durt makes vs Gold And so much concerning the word Father Who seeth in secret He liues hid from thee but not thou from him for hee beholdeth with his eyes thy good seruices and hath such an especial care of thy wants as if his prouidence were only ouer thee and he that tooke pitty of the beasts of Niniuie and of Achabs humiliation will not easily forget a son whome he so much loueth c. Reddet tibi i. Shall recompence thee This word Reddet indeareth the worthines of Fasting Fast for Gods sake and he wil pay thee What greater worthinesse than to make God thy debtor Shall he see thee fast for him and shall not he reward thee others runne ouer their debts as if they did not mind them and perhaps neuer meane to pay them but God Reddet And therefore reade in Esay That certain that had fasted charged him with this debt Ieiunauimus non aspexisti humiliauimus animas nostras nescisti We haue fasted and thou hast not regarded vs wee haue humbled our soules and thou did'st not know it But he disingaged himselfe of this debt saying I did not tie my selfe to these Fasts you
a discreet short and full Prayer stuft with so much loue hope and humilitie as the Centurions was Ioshuah that great Captaine with a Ne mouearis lengthened out the Sunne with those short words From a Captaine transported with a holy zeale will you looke for Eloquence flowers of Rhetoricke Are teares so soone drawne from a souldiers eyes tendernesse from his heart and bowing from his knees let not these nicities and ceremonious curiosities preiudice our Centurions plaine language and vnhewne behauiour it was much to be commended in him that he could so much In a delicate Garden where Art hath shewed it's vtmost yee shall meet with Roses Gillyflowers and Fountaines of Alabaster and Iasper but thou wilt not so much admire this as if thou shouldst light on these dainties in a Desert or in some craggie Mountain where the hand of nature shall ouerdoe that of art and Industrie Non inueni tantam fidem in Israel I haue not found so great Faith no not in Israell Christ turned about to the companie that were desirous to see the miracle and said I haue not found so great Faith no not in Israell not onely among the Gentiles to whom the Captain belonged but to the Iewes who expected a Messias This was a great commendation of the Centurion and a seuere reprehention to the Iewes and no smal exhortation to those that were to succeed them Tantam fidem So much Faith Saint Austen renders it Tam magnam fidem So great Faith A mans Faith may bee said to bee great or little First in regard of beleeued truths and so hee that beleeues the more truths hath the more Faith Secondly in respect of the difficultie and so hee that beleeues things of a higher nature and which exceede humane capacitie ha's the greater Faith Christ told his Disciples That they were Modicae fidei Men of little faith because they thought he could better saue them waking than sleeping And those seruants of the Archisinagogue beleeuing our Sauiour could haue cured the maid while shee was yet aliue but that he could not raise her vp being dead said Trouble not thy selfe the maid is dead Regulus had the like beleefe Come downe before my sonne be dead Thirdly in consideration of the arguments and reasons for it for Faith runnes a contrarie course to Knowledge This is the greater and more perfect the more it is strengthened by force of argument and the more knowne demonstrations are made of it That the lesser weaker they are And therfore Christ taxeth the Iewes that they would not beleeue without miracles Vnlesse yee see signes and wonders yee will not beleeue Fourthly because of it's firmenesse and it's constancie for that Faith which indureth most persecutions temptations and contradictions is so much the greater To the Cananitish woman our Sauiour said O woman great is thy Faith for beeing beaten with so many put-by's disgraces like a rock she stood strongly to it could not bee remoued But for those that beleeue at certaine times but in time of temptation yeeld and giue off of them our Sauiour saith That they haue but small store of Faith In euerie one of these kinds so great was the Centurions Faith That our Sauiour said of him Non inueni tantam fidem I haue not found so much Faith c. First of all he did beleeue That he could heale his Seruant who now lay at the point of death Not like the Father who hauing his sonne possessed with a Deuill spake doubtingly to our Sauiour Christ Si quid potes adjuva me If thou canst do any thing helpe me Secondly he did beleeue That he was able to cure him onely by his worde or to speake better by his Wil onely Not like the Archisynagoguian who desired him That he would lay his hand vpon his daughter Thirdly hee did beleeue That hee could cure him though hee were absent Not like Regulus who was earnest with him to make all the hast he could vnto his house before his sonne were dead Nor like Martha who said Domine si fuisses hic frater meus non fuisset mortuus Lord if thou hadst beene here my brother had not died Fourthly he did beleeue That our Sauior was God and Man Not like those that said Homo cum sis facis teipsum Deum Thou art a man makest thy self a God Saint Hierome seemes to bee of opinion That this his Faith did not reach so farre as the mysterie of the Trinitie but it was much that such a freshwater Souldier should on the sudden attaine to the highest of that knowledge Great likewise was his Faith in regard of the difficultie What greater difficultie than to beleeue That that man on the one side so passible and subiect to paine was on the other side so powerfull and impassible This was it that was foolishnesse to the Gentiles and a scandall to the Iewes It was likewise great in regard of those slender arguments and reasons to mooue him thereunto For he had neither read the Scriptures nor the Prophecies that were of him nor did know Christ but by the fame report that went of him nor had seene many of his miracles for Christ had not then done many As it is noted by Saint Chrysostome It was also great in regard of it's firmenesse and constancie as Origen hath obserued for our Sauiour proou'd and try'd him as hee did Abraham and as he did the woman of Canaan when he said Ego veniam curabo eum I will come and heale him This was a great proofe of his Faith but hee was as firme as the Rocke so that in euerie one of these respects his Faith was great If any man shall aske How great I pray was this Faith of his I answere Greater than Christ found in the People of Israell to whom he had preached and for whose sake he had wrought so many miracles Tertullian declareth this greatnesse of Faith in that manner that the comparison cutteth not off the Patriarkes alreadie past nor the Israelites to come but extendeth it selfe onely to those that were present whose Faith he had made triall of Secondly for that it ranne greater difficultie than that of his Apostles and Disciples in regard of those lesse forcible arguments and reasons to leade him thereunto as also in respect of that small paines that had beene taken with him For Christ sought after his Apostles and Disciples and tooke them from their Trades and occupations manifesting his glorie vnto them According to that of Saint Iohn Manifestauit gloriam suam crediderunt discipuli eius He manifested his glorie and his Disciples beleeued But the Centurion was inuited onely by his Faith to acknowledge Christ and to beleeue truly in him Lastly his Faith was greater in it's proportion As our Sauiour said That the mustard-plant was greater for it's proportion than all the other trees of the field so by the way of proportion was the
Temple made the case more foule for this was to make God the cloake of their abhominations and to baptize their Idolatrie with the name of his seruice When Pilat was to pronounce Sentence of death against our Sauiour he said I find nothing in him that deserueth it c. But then the Iewes cried out We haue a Law and according to that Law hee ought to dy though ther could be no law to take away the life of one that was innocent Exceeding great was their wickednes in taking away of his life but much more in making this their wickednesse a Law It was a great sinne in Saul to preserue out of couetousnesse the Heards and Flocks of Amalec but a greater fault to make of his couetousnes Obedience Sacrifice The Hereticke foundeth his Heresie vpon the Scripture the Lawyer his vniust sentence vpon the Law And as a greene glasse the beames of the Sunne passing through it makes all to seem greene so the Flesh turneth to it 's own color the Laws of God preacheth as a Law from God That we should hate our enemie Whence Irenaus inferreth That such Doctors as these are worse than the Deuill for when the Deuill tempted our Sauiour Christ he did not alledge a false Text but a true though ill interpreted but these Doctors doe quote lies Prophetae tui prophetabant mendacium populus applaudebat manibus Thy Prophets preached lies and the people applauded them for it It was said to them of old Antiquitie hath beene held the Fountaine of all good things but more partcularly of Wisedome And therefore God commanded his People to take this for their guide and Master viz. Thou shalt not passe the antient bounds inquire of the dayes of old Remember the times that were long agone And the most antient were euer held as the treasuries of euidences and the Rolles of Records The famousest men of the world haue sought out the antientest for their Instructors for In antiquis est sapientia multo tempore prudentia And for this cause could Salomon say Doe not yee aske why the former times were better for this is a foolish question First because in respect of wisdome that is not said in our times which was not said before Nothing can be said which hath not beene said alreadie The Comicke could say There is no new thing vnder the Sunne and Salomon Nor is any man able to say This is but now come forth Secondly In regard of all other good things for it is manifest that the former times were the better for there is no wise man that doth not bewaile the present Deuteronomie complaineth That the times were ill and peruerse and the People foolish and ill giuen Saint Iohn That wickednesse was grown to it's heigth In maligno est omne c. In a word there is not any Ecclesiasticall Historian nor Ciuile which doth not lament the wickednesse of his Times Plautus commending Wit compares it to Wine which the older it is the better it is Many Authors are not now reckoned of which shall grow famous two hundred yeres hence many Painters get not that commendation they deserue only because they are modern Michael Angelo hid an Image in certaine antient buildings for he knew if it were presently discouered they would haue praised it for an excellent old piece of times past till they had seene his name which he had set thereunto This Doctrine is verie plaine making the comparison from the time of euerie one of those Lawes Naturall Written and that of Grace wherein they were best in their beginnings But if the comparison be generall for all times whatsoeuer howbeit in the order naturall the former were the better because all things grow old and waxe worse and worse as is to be seene in Plants Beasts Men yet in the order supernaturall those times are the better which Saint Paul calleth the latter For although God did many great fauours in those former Ages yet all of them put together did not come neere to the Incarnation and death of Christ and those his blessed Sacraments And therefore Esay said Ne memineritis priorum antiqua ne intuamini i. Doe not so much admire those things that were done in former times for they are all as it were clouded and obscured by these that we now presently enioy And this is prooued now at this day by the perfection of the Law for antiquitie did admit the Law of a mans righting of himselfe when he was wronged of louing his friend and hating his enemie but this is now controlled and reformed Diliges amicum tuum Thou shalt loue thy friend This is a part of that commandement That wee should loue our neighbor and may seeme to be taken out of the nineteenth of Leuiticus where it is said Thou shalt loue thy friend Whence Lyra presumeth they drew that contrarie argument of hating their enemie This former part seemeth to be superfluous First because Nature left not any thing so deepely ingrauen in mans heart as to loue him that loueth vs And therefore a needlesse commandement to impose those things vpon vs whereunto we haue a natural appetite What need we will a man to loue himselfe or a father to affect his children And it being a naturall inclination in vs to loue those that loue vs why should this bee giuen vs in charge Diliges amicum tuum Secondly euery man naturally loues himselfe Nemo vnquam carnem suam odio habuit And therefore God doth not command that I should loue my selfe And my friend is my second selfe or as Saint Austen hath it Dimidium animae meae i. The halfe of my Soule And therefor it was no necessary commaund Diliges amicum tuum Thirdly those things that are most pretious and most rare which haue most reasons for amabilitie as Profit Honour Delight and Honesty it is not needfull that we should bee willed to loue them And as Laertius relates it from Socrates The World hath not any thing more pretious and more louely than a Friend Besides our Sauiour sayth Where our Treasure is there is our Heart And our Friend beeing so rich and pretious a Treasure hee must of force steale away our Heart from vs and therefore superfluous is that speech Diliges amicum tuum Fourthly the essence of friendship consisteth in reciprocal loue as it is determined by Thomas and Damascene And therefore loue is painted with two keys in token that it did open and shut to two hearts And therfore superfluous Diliges amicum tuum Heereunto I answere That mans heart beeing left to it's owne naturall inclination it will doubtlesse render loue for loue But since that the Deuill did roote out that good Seed and sowed Tares therein wee see that in the most naturall and strictest obligations sometimes there growes dis-loue As in brother against brother father against sonne sonne against father and in the wife against her husband
downe the same rule by Saint Mathew and by Saint Luke Innumerable Phylosophers haue repeated the like Lesson Laertius reporteth of Aristotle That giuing an almes to one that had done him many iniuries told him Nature not thy naughtinesse makes me to pittie thee There was amongst the Romans a Marcus Marcellus that pleaded in the Senate for his Accusers A Tiberius Gracchus a mortall enemie of the Scipio's who during that their emnitie defended them in the publique Theatre A Marcus Bibulus who hauing two of his sonnes slaine by the Gabiani and Cleopatra sending the murtherers vnto him returned them backe again without doing them any harm In Athens a Plato whom his scholler Xenocrates accusing of diuers scandalous things said It is not possible That him whom I loue should not loue mee againe A Phocion who dying vniustly by poyson and beeing asked when hee had the cup iâ— his hand What seruice he would command them to his son answered That hee should neuer thinke more of this cup but studie to forget it Many the like are related by Plutarch Seneca Saint Basil and Saint Chrysostome Lastly This being no Law of God neither as he is the Author of Grace nor as the Author of Nature it must needs bee of the Deuill as Origen inferreth For he seeing that God had engrauen in mans heart the law of loue standing out of his pride in competition with God he engraued dis-loue and left it so imprinted in the hearts of many that albeit for these many Ages God hath hammered both Angells and Saints vpon this Anuile he could neuer bring them to softnesse The occasion that might mooue those antient Doctors to this Law was either for that God had commanded Saul that he should destroy Amalec or the vengeance that he tooke of Pharaoh and his People or that of Leuiticus Pursue your enemies and they shall fall before you as if to enter into a iust warre by order from God might allow a man to doe the like to his brother out of his owne will and pleasure Or for that it is commanded in Leuiticus Thou shalt loue thy friend as thy selfe Or as Nicholaus de Lyra hath notedit That they draw this consequence from Aristotle Si amicis bene faciendum est consequens est vt inimicis sit malefaciendum If we must doe good to our friends then consequently we must doe ill to our enemies Thou shalt hate thy enemie Whence it is to be noted That that Law which gaue them licence to hate their enemie does not giue them leaue to kill him though the Deuill many times likes better of a mortall hatred and a desire of reuenge than the death of a man For Hatred is that Loadstone which drawes other sinnes along with it but the killing of a man doth vsually bring repentance with it for the many disasters that attend it Iudas till he had driuen his bargaine for the betraying of his Master had deliuered vp his heart to the Deuill but that was no sooner performed but hee repented himselfe of what he had done Saint Chrysostome calls hatred Homicidium voluntarium Some seeme to sinne meerely out of nature for custome is another nature and these that thus sinne sinne without a will or desire of sinning but he that hates must of force sinne with all his heart Ego autem dico vobÃs Diligite inimicos vestros But I say vnto you Loue your enemies Petrus Chrysologus treating of the profoundnesse of the Scripture saith That though a volume should be written vpon euerie word it were not able to containe all the mysteries belonging thereunto What shall wee say then to this word Ego whose extent and birth is so great that none can qualifie it but God None knows the Father but the Son nor the Sonne but the Father he alone can tel what it is The son for to repaire the affront and infamie of his death said to his Father Clarifica me Pater Father glorifie me And Saint Ambrose hath noted it That the originall word there saith Opinion Credit rather than Glorie as if he should haue said I haue gotten thee ô Father among men an opinion of being the true God requite me therfore in gracing me to be thy Sonne for onely thou canst doe me this honour The mouthes of men and Angells shall talke of his praise but are notable to expresse the greatnesse of this attribute Ego The immensiue greatnesse of the sea is to bee seene in this that so many Riuers and Fountaines issuing out of it they doe not onely not emptie it and draw it drie but doe not so much as lessen it or diminish it one jot Ego euer since the beginning of the world hath been the Theame of the Angels Prophets Euangelists the Saints but could neuer come to the depth of it Damasus did shut vp in seuen verses fortie foure names belonging to this word Ego From hence we will first of all draw the authoritie of the Law-giuer If the authoritie of Kings and Emperours be so great that their subiects at their command aduenture vpon many foolish and desperate actions How much greater is that of God Fulgosus in his Booke de Rebus memorabilibus reporteth That a Prince of Syria indeering to Henrie Count of Campania who was come thither vpon an Embassage the obedience of his souldiers calling to one who was Sentinel to a Tower that he should speedily come vnto him presently leapt downe from off the battlements If a Scipio's Si ego iussero If I shall command you could preuaile so much with his men What shall Gods Ego doe who melteth the Mountaines like waxe The Mountaines did melt away like waxe before the face of the Lord taketh away the breath of Princes and commandeth the sea and the winds and they obey Quis est hic quia venti mare obediunt ei Who is ihis that the winds and the sea obey him who with an Ego sum draweth honie out of stones and oyle out of the hard rocke But I say vnto you I that am the Master of the world who came to reforme the Law and to vnfold the darke places of Scripture I that am Via Veritatis Vitae The way of Truth and Life I that desire more your good than your selues For I know how much it importeth you to loue your enemies and that he that blotteth this loue out of your hearts robbeth you of a wonderful rich treasure I am the Lord that teacheth profitable things and gouerns thee in the way it is I I say that say vnto you Loue your enemies Abraham did forget the bowells of a Father Quia Maiestatem praecipientis considerauit Because he considered the Maiestie of him that commanded Christ our Sauiour doth counterpone his authoritie to that of the Law-giuers of this Law Dictum est antiquis Is was said to them of Old You haue beleeued lying Law-giuers who prescribe it vnto you
as a Law Thou shalt hate thy enemie But giue you credit vnto me for I am a true Law giuer It is a hard case that truth should be in lesse esteeme than lying Heauen than Earth the true God than false Gods But though they lie neuer so much at thee to hate thyne enemie I shall neuer leaue beating it into your brests That you loue your enemie Laban when he pursued Iacob came verie eagerly vpon him at the first with a Valet manus mea reddere malum pro malo I am able to returne euill for euil but his courage was quickely cooled with a Caue ne quidquam durius loquaris contra Iacob â—eware thou speake not hardly against Iacob For the God of Iacobs father had charged him to the contrarie Where it is to be noted out of the Text That Laban did not say My God but The God of his father Whence I make this conclusion That if he that doth not take me for his God for Laban was you know an Idolater shall obey my command and not be his owne caruer in his reuenge What ought a Christian to do S Chrysostom seemeth to be much grieued that in matter of iniuries and reuenging of wrongs the World the Flesh and the Deuill should doe more with vs than God to whom onely vengeance belongeth What will not the Purse doe with some with other-some the intreatie of a great Person Dauids souldiers fingers itcht would faine haue set vpon Saul when they had him cub'd vp in the caue but Confregit illos sermonibus He detained them and wan them with good words to let him alone which they did not so much for Gods sake as for Dauids But I say vnto you Many presume so much on themselues that they wil not sticke to suffer martyrdome if occasion should be offered and haue sometime euen sought after it But that poore little valour which they experiment in themselues in matter of suffering and pardoning of iniuries may bewray this their errour vnto them For as Saint Gregorie saith He that shall faint in suffering an iniurie Quid faceret in dolore poenarum What will he doe in the midst of torment can he suffer the straining of the Racke or the rage of fire that cannot indure a hard word or brooke a slight iniurie Symon Metaphrastes reporteth of Sapricius That he would not pardon Nicephorus his enemie no though hee had oftentimes askt him forgiuenesse on his knees He was not long after apprehended in Antiochia for a Christian hee was condemned and carried forth to be martyred and in the way Nicephorus returnes againe to entreat his pardon but could not obtaine it Being brought to the place of martyrdome hee fainted and flew backe causing therewith so great a sorrow in Nicephorus that hee cried out aloud I am a Christian and will die in his place But I say vnto you S. Ambr. expounding that place of S. Paul Datus est mihi c. A Goad was giuen me in the flesh vnderstandeth by this pricke the persecutions of his enemies Carnis meae that is of mine owne Kindred and Countrie And Caietane addeth That this pricke was so necessarie for the Apostles saluation that without it he had beene damned When Saul vnderstood that Dauid had giuen him his life said I know now assuredly that thou shalt raigne ouer Israel And verie well doth that man deserue a Crowne not only here on earth but in heauen who spareth his enemies life But I say vnto you Antiently Lex Talionis was in vse with the Iewes and the Gentiles Oculum pro oculo dentem pro dente An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth And this to many seemed a naturall and iust Law as you may read in Aristotle Aulus Gellius Alexander and others Iulius reporteth That the first of the House of the Cornelij that was burned after his death was Scilla fearing the punishment of this same Lex Talionis for that hee had before pul'd his enemie Marius out of his graue But our Sauiour Christ crossing this Law saith This was the Law of Old An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth but I say vnto you That he that shall strike you on the one cheeke to him shall you turne the other Saint Austen expounding this place obserueth these two things the one That we are to answer an iniurie with two suffrings or a double kind of sufferance and that is to turne the other cheeke The other That to him that shall strike vs on the one cheeke we are to shew him a good countenance not giuing him halfe a face or ill face and this is to turne the other cheeke And Nazianzen addeth That if a man had ten cheekes he should turne them all vnto him But I say vnto you Nothing doth more greeue a Father than to see discord amongst his children Inimicitiae fratrum parentibus graâ—issimae Dauid when news was brought him That Absalon had killed all the Kings sonnes he grieued exceedingly Now if earthly fathers who are but fathers in Law haue so great a feeling thereof What shall God then Ego autem I who feele your hurtes I who loue euerie one of you as if you were all but one I who preferre your wrongs before mine owne and will sooner reuenge them if you loue me I say vnto you Dâ—ligite inimicos vestros Loue your enemies And that this senciblenesse may be the better perceiued two differences are to be noted The one That earthly fathers doe ordinarily loue their children disequally one better than another I know not why nor wherefore but God loueth all alike and maketh as much of one as another Philon asketh the question Why the precepts of the Decalogue speake to euerie one in particular as if they spake only to him alone Thou shalt not sweare Thou shalt not steale c. his answer is That euerie particular person by himselfe is as deere vnto God as all mankind put together And he prooueth it by this That he faith vnto euerie one I am thy God being the God of all The second That earthly fathers loue themselues better than their children but God loues his children better than himself his punishmeÌ„ts are likewise lesse seuere as we may see in Adam and in Caine. Againe in the Law of Matrimonie to marrie with an vnbeleeuing wife doth not dissolue that bond if shee consent not thereunto Non dimittat illam Let him not put her away it is S. Pauls but if she afterwards become an Adulteresse he might be diuorced from her and shee be condemned to be stoned to death Item in that precept Thou shalt not sweare a lawfull oath is not prohibited for composing of differences betwixt neighbour and neighbour and if in matter of profit one man shall exact vpon another and will not forgiue a mite let him assure himselfe that God will loose nothing of his right For three transgressions I will turne saith Amos
his hat cloake jerken and breeches but he wrapping them close about him with the helpe of his hands and teeth he kept himselfe vnstripped by the Wind who could doe no good vpon him so he giues off Then comes me forth the Sunne who came so hot vpon him that the man within a verie litttle while was faine to fling off all and to strippe himselfe naked The verie selfe same heat and courage did the Sunne of Righteousnesse vse in that last eclipse of his life when from the Crosse he did so heat inflame the hearts of them that were present that they did teare and rent their cloathes Et Velum Templum scissum est And as the barrennest ground is made fruitfull by the Husbandmans industrie so goodnesse ouercommeth euill Fortis vt mors dilectio i. Loue is strong as Death The stoutest the valiantest and the desperatest man aliue cannot resist Death no more can he Loue. Omnis natura bestiarum domita est à natura The nature of beasts is tamed by Nature Against that harme which the Philistines receiued by Mice the Princes made Mice of Gold let thy enemie bee as troublesome to thee as they mold him into Gold and hee wil neuer hurt thee more S. Chrysostome considereth the truth of this in Saul who bearing a deuelish hatred against Dauid yet by Dauids twice pardoning him his life made him as tractable as wax and he captiuated by this his kindnesse brake out into this acknowledgement Iustior me est He is iuster than I for I returned thee il for good and thou me good for ill S. Chrysostome concludes this Historie with a strange endeering That Dauids drawing teares out of Sauls hard heart did cause him more to wonder than did Moses and Aaron when he strucke the Rocke and the waters gushed forth We want not examples of this Doctrine euen in those things that are inuisible The toughest Impostumes are made tender by Vnctions Plinie saith That the roughest sea is made calme with oyle In the Prouince of Namurca they burne stone in stead of wood and that fire will bee quenched with Oyle Against the Impostume of hatred the raging sea of an angrie brest and the flames of a furious enemie there is no better remedie than Mildnesse Sermo mollis frangit iram A soft answer mitigates wrath Orate pro persequentibus vos Pray for them that persecute you This Prayer may be grounded vpon two reasons The one That the hurt is so great to him that doth the wrong that he that is wronged ought to take pittie and compassion of him and beeing it is Damnum animae The hurt of the soule which the offended cannot repaire of himselfe hee must pray vnto God for him That he would be pleased to repaire it Philon treating of the death of Abel saith that Cain killed himself non alterum not another and that Abel was not dead but aliue because he kild but the bodie which was none of his and left him his soule which was his And of Caine That his bodie remained aliue which was none of his and his soule slaine which was his and therefore Clamat sanguis Abel The bloud of Abel cries c. The other That there are some such desperate enemies that are made rather worse than better by benefits being like therein vnto Paper which the more you supple it with Oyle the stiffer it growes or like vnto sand which the more it is wet the harder it waxeth or like vnto an anuile which is not stirred with the stroke of the hammer or like vnto Iudas who comming from the washing of our Sauiors feet went forth afterwards with a greater desire for to sel and betray him whereas being in this desperate case hee should rather haue had recourse vnto God Prayer therefore is proposed vnto vs as the greatest charme and powerfullest exorcisme against the obstinacie rebellion of an enemie For vpon such occasions as these Prayer is woont to worke miracles Saint Stephen prayd for those that stoned him to death which wrought so powerfull an effect that Saint Austen saith That the Church is beholding in some sort to this his Prayer for the conuersion of Saint Paul And Saint Luke That the Heauens were opened hereupon vnto him he saw Christ standing in glorie at the right hand of his Father And it is worth the noting That the ordinarie Language of the Scripture is That our Sauiour Christ is said to sit at the right hand of God the Father but now here in this place the word Stantem Standing is vsed as if Christ had stood vp of purpose to see so rare and strange an accident and claue the Heauens in sunder offering him all the good they did containe or that he did seeme to offer him his Seate as it were as to a child of God vt sitis filij patris vestri That yee may be the children of your Father And this grace and fauor which God shewes vnto those that pray for their enemies was peraduenture a motiue to our Sauiour Christ to make that pittifull moane vpon the Crosse bewayling the Iewes cruell pâ—oceeding against him and praying that his death might not be layd to their charge Pater ignosce illis Father forgiue them Hee might haue hoped that these his charitable prayers would haue opened the Gates of Heauen for the Sonne of Glorie to enter in But in stead thereof the Sunne was darkened and a blacke mantle as it were in mourning spred ouer all the earth whilest he himselfe vttered these words of discomfort My God my God why hast thou forsaken me The doores of Heauen are shut against me my God hath forsaken me But the mysterie is That Heauen was shut against him that it might be opened vnto you and euen then was it opened to the Theefe and to many that returned from Mount Caluarie percutientes pectora sua i. Smiting their brests as also to that Centurion that said Verè filius Dei erat iste This was truly the Sonne of God There may be rendred another reason of this our Sauiours praying vpon the Crosse Which is this That for to obtaine fauors from Gods hand there is no meanes comparable to that of praying for our enemies In me loquebantur qui sedebant in Porta in me psallebant qui bibebant vinum ego autem orationem meam ad te Domine tempus beneplaciti Deus Dauid speaking there as a figure of Christ saith That his enemies sate like judges in the Gates of the Citie entertaining themselues with stories of his life and that they went from Tauerne to Tauern and from one house to another singing Songs in dirision of him descanting and playing vpon him but I turning towards God prayed heartily for them as knowing there was not any time fitter than that for the obtaining of my request Tempus beneplaciti An acceptable time c. The like he saith in the 180 Psalm Pro eo vt me
preach in the habit of a religious Frier verie deuoutly appearing as an Angell of Light persuading the People to repentance and communicating great comfort vnto them but in the end all his Sermons haue ended in melancholly passions For the Deuills Reuelations runne a contrarie course to Gods for these although they somewhat trouble vs at the beginning yet they end euermore in peace and comfort but those of the Deuill though they begin in joy yet they end in sorrow Si filius Dei es dic vt lapides isti panes fiant If thou be the Sonne of God command that these stones be made bread The first passage of this temptation was the Deuills seeming-pittie and compassion of the great hunger that our Sauiour suffered I was present at thy Baptisme and at that applause which Heauen did then giue thee but now I see how weake and wanne thou art growne through thy too much fasting which makes mee to doubt that thou art not the Sonne of God The Deuill is a great prouoker to Gluttonie he doth solicite the pampering of the flesh hee proposeth the gripings of the stomacke and the aking of the head through too much fasting but all at the soules cost Inimico non credas in aternum i. Beleeue not thy enemie at all Which phrase of speech is principally to be vnderstood of the Deuill for hee neuer offers thee his seruice but to thy hurt Saint Gregorie makes this note That the Deuill taking from Iob his children his houses his heards of cattell and his flockes of Sheepe and in a word all the good things that hee had yet hee left him his wife but onely that she might doe the Deuill seruice Calidè cuncta diripuit calidius adjutricem reserâ—auit It was his cunning to take away all but it was a greater pâ—â—ce of cunning to leaue him his Helpe The Deuill did not doe this out of forgetfulnesse nor carelesnesse nor out of any desire that hee had to leaue Iob any comfort at all for he did not wish him so much good but that hee hoped shee would be a meanes to mooue him to impatiencie and to driue him to despaire True it is that all his fauours tend to make the way easie but at your cost to bring vs to Hell Hee offered our Sauiour bread of stones but on condition that he himselfe must take the paines to mold it Attende tibi à pestifero fabricâ—â— enim malum Beware of a wicked man for c. Si filius es Dei dic c. If thou be the Sonne of God If thou art the Sonne of God command as a God Thy Dicere is Facere Dic vt sedeant c. Some graue Doctors are of opinion that this was the sinne of Moses when hee drew water from out the Rocke and not his want of Faith as some other would enforce For Infide â—enitate sanctum fecit illum but his attributing of this miracle to himselfe which was only Gods doing Aâ—dite rebelles Nunquid pâ—terimus de petra educere vâ—bis aquam Heare yee rebellious Can we drâ—w water for you out of the Rocke Can Aaron and I c. This incredulous people said Nunquid poterit Dâ—us parare mensam in deserto i. Can God prepare a Table in the Desert But Moses speaketh in his owne and his brothers name Nunquid poterimus Can we c. Command that these stones Thy Father calls thee Sonne and yet reduceth thee to that miserie that to keepe thy selfe from staruing hee driues thee to that necessitie that thou must of force he compelled to make these stones bread This difference is there betwixt the Sinner and the Righteous That the Deuill persuades the Sinner that hee may make bread of stones â—nd Iudas that hee may make money of Christ But the Righteous will rather die for hunger beeing well assured that God euen in this his hunger is able to sustaine him Command that these stones The Deuill tempts him with stones with such things wherein are scarce to be found any signe of danger For hee alwaies holdeth the victorie to bee so much the more glorious by how much the lesser is the occasion whereby he winnes it Lot flies out of Sodome in the companie of his daughters and hauing escaped that fearefull fire the Deuil tempts the father by his daughters whose raging lust neither the fearefull example of their mother whom their eyes had so lately seene turned into a Piller of Salt nor the Lawes of Reason nor of Nature could once bridle or restraine But you will say they were women and what will not a woman doe to satisfie her longing but that Lot should consent to so vnlawfull an act beeing a man nay and so just a man as the Scripture commends him to be it seemeth somewhat strange Alas good old man his daughters had made him drunke and being so wearie and heauie hearted as hee was to see the lamentable destruction of Sodome it was not much that he should drinke being importuned thereunto they that could not find any water when hee called for it could make a shift to fetch him wine In all that fortie yeares peregrination of the children of Israell we do not read that euer God gaue them wine Twice did he giue them water out of the rocke and twelue Fountaines in Helim hee gaue them likewise Manna and Quailes but not a drop of wine that they saw till they came to the Land of Promise And surely this was thus ordered by the Councell of Heauen for if hauing but water they mutined so often what would they haue done had they had wine When Abraham did thrust the bondwoman out of doores he furnished her with bread and water and Procopius saith That he would not giue her any wine for Agar signifies SuenÌ„a-fiestas A Feast-dreamer And this holy Father would not by giuing her wine encrease the occasion seeing shee dreamed thereon when shee dranke but water But to returne to our purpose Lots daughters tempted their father there beeing in the caue wherin he was no other either possible or imaginable occasion To him that is desperatly minded though ye put away from him and remooue out of his reach all manneâ— of halters and cords for feare hee should hang himselfe therewith yet if he be set vpon it he wil make shift with a garter a hat-band a girdle or some one thing or other to worke his owne destruction If thou be the Sonne of God It was a bold dis-respect of Satans and a presumptuous part in him that hee should make any the least doubt that Christ was the Sonne of God but farre greater impudencie that hee should dare in tempting him to tel him All the world shal be thine if thou wilt but fall down worship me King Ahabs Captaine came to the foot of the Mountaine where Elias then remained and said vnto him Come downe thou Seruant of God for the King hath sent me for thee If I am said
Saint Chrysostome In Gloria Saint Luke In Maiestate sua in Patris sanctorum Angelorum Where it is noted by Saint Ambrose That his Maiestie was greater than that of his father Quia Patri inferior videri non poterat For in what place soeuer the Father should be it could not bee presumed that hee should be lesse than his Son but of his Son it might perhaps haue bin presumed otherwise into which errour Arrius did afterwards fall In Maiestate sua c. Our words here want weight and our weake apprehension matter and forme worthie so great a Maiestie In a Prince a Lord and in a Iudge is necessarily required a kind of presence and authoritie beyond other ordinarie men Esay reporteth of his People That seeing a man of a goodly presence and well clad they said vnto him Thou hast rayment be our Prince Nor is this onely necessarie but that his greatnesse and his Maiestie bee euerie way answerable to the largenesse of his Commission and Iurisdiction And therefore our Sauiour Christ being then to shew himselfe a King of Kings and a Lord of Lords and an vniuersall Iudge ouer all persons and ouer all causes since the first beginning of the world to the end thereof his Maiestie must needs be incomparable First In respect of his person whose splendor and brightnesse shall eclipse and darken all the lights of the World At this his comming his glorie at the first I mean of his soule was reserued and hid so that therein they might not see the fearefulnesse of their punishment but in his comming to Iudgement the light of his bodie shall be so shining and so extreamely bright that the Sunne in comparison of it shall seeme as a candle Saint Ambrose calleth the Sunne the Grace of Nature the Ioy of the World the Prince of the Planets the bright Lanterne of the World the Fountaine of Life the Image of God whom for it's beautie so many Nations adored as a God But in that day the Sunne and the Moon it 's Vicegerent whom they call the Queene of Heauen shall be like vnto those lights of the Sheepheards which are hardly to be discerned afarre off Saint Iohn made in his Apocalyps a description of this Maiestie and beautie hee saw the Heauen opened and that a Horseman came forth riding on a white Horse from his eyes flamed forth two Torches of fire from his mouth issued a two edged Sword in his hand he had a Rod of Yron on his head many Crowns and on his thigh a Letter which beeing read spake thus The King of Kings and Lord of Lords Great Armies of Horsemen did attend him all on white Horses This is a figure and Type of our Sauiour Christs comming to Iudgement The white horse is his most holy and vnspotted Humanitie Those flaming Torches of his eyes betoken That all things both great and small shal be laid open to his sight there shall not be any sinne so secret nor any fault so buried vnder ground which shall not appeare at that generall Triall that beeing then to be verified of euery Sinner which God said to Dauid touching his murder and adulterie Thou hast done it secretly but I will doe it in the sight of the Sunne The two edged Sword signifies the finenesse and sharpenesse of the Iudges proceeding and that he is able to cut in sunder the marrow and bones of a Sinner and like a Razor meet with the least haire of euill that shall shew it selfe His Rod of Yron shewes the firmenesse and constancie of his Iudgment which shall not like those white Wands which the Iudges bare before be wrested this way and that way at pleasure Those many Diadems on his head intimate those Crownes that he shall clap on the heads of the Righteous and those that haue done well That glorious Letter of Rex Regum because he shal there shew himselfe to be King of Kings Lord of Lords many Kings of the earth shall haue their knees smitten like Balthazar 's and their hearts throb within them when they stand before his presence expecting their fearefull doome Lastly hee shall come accompanied with many Horsemen on white Horses to shew vnto vs that hee shall bee waited on by all the Court of Heauen Salomon saith Tria sunt quae bene gradiuntur quartum quod foelicitèr incedit Three creatures haue a goodly kind of gate the Sheepe the Lyon and the Cocke but a King whom none can resist carries more state with him than them all Saint Gregorie typifieth this prouerbe to our Sauiour Christ who did gallantly beare himselfe in foure of his most famous mysteries First In that of his Redemption represented in the sheep which is made readie for the Sacrifice Secondly In his Resurrection figured in the Lyon Vicit Leo de Tribu Iuda Whereunto Saint Paul doth attribute our justification Resurrexit propter justificationem nostram Thirdly In his preaching of the Gospell fitly expressed in the Cocke who with his crowing and clapping of his wings awakeneth those that are asleepe in sinne But his comming to judgement which is deciphered vnto vs in his beeing a King doth farre exceed all the rest For many were not bettered by his Death nor his Resurrection nor his Doctrine though these were most pretious Treasures proffered to Mankind because that Age wherein Christ came was an Age of contradiction but in this his comming to judgement that prophecie of Zacharie shall be fulfilled And there shall bee one Lord ouer all the earth and his name shall be one Till then this King shall goe by little and little ouercomming and subduing his enemies but when he shall come in his glorie then shall wee see a most stately triumph and a quiet and peaceable possession and that Stone which Daniel saw loosed and vnfastned from the Mountaine shall then cease to pound and beat into pouder all the Empires and Seigniories of the earth Thou shalâ— breake them like a Potters Vessell In a word in this world while wee liue heere God is not absolutely obâ—yed nor serued by vs as he should bee no not of the Iust themselues and those that are the Elect children of God So doth Saint Austen declare that place of the Canticles Exui me tunica mea quomodo induâ— illa Laui pedes meos quomodo inquinabo illos I haue put off my coat How shall I put it on I haue washed my feet How shall I defile them How is this to be borne withall how is this to be suffered saith this sacred Doctor that the Spouse should vse this libertie with her best Beloued Whereunto he answereth That the Iust do not denie vnto God his entrance into the house of their Soules but the Spouse doth there discouer the resistance which the Soule makes in the behalfe of the Sences at that time when as God calls her vnto him But in the day of Iudgement the Soule shall be no more mis-led by the Sences but
Sea God tharefore beeing on the one side so embowelled in and beneath the Earth and on the other so wholely out of the same as Saint Hilarie prooueth it Intus extra super omnia internus in omnia How can hee fully know all that is in Heauen in Hell in the bowells of the Earth or in the bottome of the Sea Many perhaps cannot giue a full answer to this but the Pharisees had they not beene blinded with enuie might haue contented themselues with that of Moses For he hath written of me or of Ezechiel who did prophecie of him That he was the King and Sheepheard of Israell or of Iohn Baptist who pointed him out vnto them as it were with the finger or of his Workes and Miracles For they beare witnesse of me of the Father who proclaimed him in Iordan to be his Sonne of the Deuils of Hell who with open voyce acknowledged him to be the Sonne of God of the little children who cried out Hosanna to the Sonne of Dauid blessed is he that commeth in the name of the Lord. Quis est hic Who is this Diuers and sundrie times Christ had entred into Hierusalem and they had neuer askt this question before but now the triumph and the Maiestie of this King awakens the tongues of these enuious People who now begin to aske Quis est hic It hath beene an antient question doubted of of old Which is the better life that of a publique or a priuate person Seneca in an Epistle of his seemeth to fauour the former Miserable saith he is that mans fortune who hath no enemie to enuie him And Persius saith That it is a great glorie to haue men point with the finger and to say There goes the Kings Fauourite But Iob hee seemeth to like better of the latter O that I had giuen vp the ghost and no eye had seene me would I had beene as though I had not beene and that I had beene carried from the wombe to the graue Wishing himselfe to haue beene of that short continuance in the world that no man might haue knowne whither he had died or liued And Horace Neque vixit malè qui natus moriensque fefellit His life let none bemone who liu'd and di'd vnknowne Both liues haue so much to be said on either side that the question remaines yet vnresolued But admit that a publike life be the more desired yet it is not the safest for alwayes the more honour the more danger Who is this Your great Persons and those that prosper in the world carrie wheresoeuer they goe such a noyse with them that they giue occasion to the People to aske Quis est hic Iohn Baptist when hee thundered out in the Desert clad in Camells haire That the Kingdome of God was at hand iudging him to be some coelestiall Monster they sent out to enquire of him with a Tu quis es Who art thou The Angells seeing our Sauiour Christ ascend vnto Heauen with such a deale of Maiestie and glorie as was neuer seene before began to aske Quis es iste qui venit de Edom Who is he that commeth from Edom And Esay speaking of a great Tyrants comming downe to Hell saith Hell was troubled at thy comming In a word it is true in nature That the loftie Cedars and the highest and tallest Pine Trees make the greatest noyse when they are shaken with the wind and the greatest Riuers the greatest roaring And therefore it is no meruaile they should aske Who is this When a Merchant shall go apparelled and attended like a Knight or some great Lord and his wife and daughters like a great Ladie and her children Who will not aske Quis est hic I knew his Grandfather c. And for that the Pharisees were enuious they did speake reprochfully of our Sauiour euerie foot vpbraiding him That he was a Carpenter and the sonne of a Carpenter and seeing him now enter Ierusalem like a King they demanded in scorne Quis est hic Hic est Iesus Propheta à Nazareth Galileae This is Iesus By name a Sauiour and by office a Prophet Alluding to that promise made in Deutronomie I will raise vp a Prophet of thine owne Nation Beeing a plaine Prophesie of our Sauiour Christ as appeareth in the third of the Acts His Countrie Nazareth where he was bred they not knowing that he was borne in Bethlem Now these wise men of this World asking with this scorne Who is this and the foolish ones answering with that discretion This is Iesus c. agrees well with those thankes which our Sauiour gaue vnto his father Because thou hast hid these things from the Wise and hast reuealed them to Babes It is Gods fashion to ouercome a Pharaoh with Flies and by a sillie woman to confound the Learned who said In Belzebub the Prince of Deuills he casts out Deuills by a blind man the Iudges of Hierusalem by a low Zacheus a tall Gyant The order of Grace is different from that of Nature God as a naturall Author Media per summa gubernat Gouernes the meane things by the highest saith Dionysius First he communicateth his vertue his power to the supream causes and by them to the meaner and the lowest The Sunne shines first vpon the Mountaines and then shewes it selfe in the Vallies c. But Grace oftentimes doth first illuminate the lowest Bottoms and shines oftner in them than on the Mountaines it called the Sheepeheards before it called the Kings it appeared vnto the Ignorant before the Wise and shewed it selfe to Balaams Asse before his Master tooke notice of it And therefore Ecclesiasticus saith That the Soule of a Iust man attaineth to more truth than those Watch-Towers that are reared on the highest Walls vnderstanding thereby your greatest Clerkes A just and vpright man will now and then affoord you better councell than many wise men howbeit in matters of difficultie and deepe points of knowledge and of Faith we must alwayes haue recourse to the Wise. Caepit eijcere omnes ementes vendentes He began to cast out all the Buyers and the Sellers Zacharie prophecying of this entrance saith Ecce Rex tuus veniet tibi mansuetus Behold thy King shall come vnto thee meeke How can these two suit together Mansuetus and Triumphator gentle and yet a Conqueror Teares in his eyes and yet so angrie that hee neuer shewed himself more I haue giuen some reasons hereof in another place those that now offer themselues are these The first That Mercie and Iustice are the two Poles of Gods gouernment By those teares in his eyes and by those words of lamentation from his mouth and by moouing the hearts of that hard hearted Citie our Sauiour gaue notable proofes of his mercie But finding this insufficient to make himselfe knowne amongst them his Iustice then did display it's power by whipping those Merchants and in them the Priests who had a share in their
gaines Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand That hee that will not bee brought to know God by his soft hand and those sweete fauours of his Mercie shall be made to know him by the whips and scourges of his Iustice. God prospers thy house thou doost not acknowledge it for a blessing hee sends thee to an Hospitall laden with diseases that thy miserie may teach thee to know him He giues thee health thou art not thankefull vnto him for it hee casts thee downe on thy bed and then thou giuest him thankes not ceasing night and day to call vpon him and to praise and blesse his holâ— name And therefore it is truly said The Lord shall bee knowne while hee worketh judgement Our Sauioue like a good Physition tries vs first by his mild and gentle medicines but they doe no good hee therefore turnes ouer a new leafe and applies those vnto vs that are more sharpe and tart whereby we come to know as well his wisedome as his loue The second He began to cast out the Buyers and the Sellers Because no man should presume that the glorious acclamations of a King and of a Messias should endure to permit in his Temple such a foule and vnseemely buying and selling they had no sooner proclaimed him King but he tooke the whip into his hand to scourge them for their offences In a Prince in a Iudge and in a Preacher flatteries and faire words are woont to abate the edge of the Sword of Iustice wherefore to shew That true praise ought the more to oblige a King to vnsheath his Sword he betooke him to his Whip That acclamation and applause of the little children our Sauiour accounted it as perfect and good Ex ore Infantium LactantiuÌ„ perfecisti laudeÌ„ propter Inimicos tuos Yet for that a Prince a Iudge or a Preacher should not bee carried away with the praises of men our Sauiour though applauded in the highest manner that the thought of man could immagine Coepit eijcere Ementes vendentes c. Reges eos in virga ferrea saith Dauid In the name of the eternall Father thou shalt my Sonne be their Ruler their Iudge thou shalt beare in thy hand a Rod of yron which shall not be bowed as are those other limber wands of your earthly Iudges theirs are like fishing rods which when the fish bite not continue strait right but if they nibble neuer so little at the bait presently bow and bend Esay called the Preachers of his time Dumbe Dogges not able to barke And he presently renders the reason of this their dumbenesse They knew no end of their bellie To ear and to talke none can doe these two well and handsomely together and because these Dogges haue such an hungrie appetite that they neuer giue ouer eating because nothing can fill their bellie they are dumbe and cannot barke they know not how to open their mouths The third is of Saint Chrysostome and Theophilact who say That it was a kind of prophecie or foretelling that these legall Offerings and Sacrifices were almost now at an end When Kings and Princes expresse their hatred to any great Person in Court it is a prognostication of that mans fall The wrath of a King is the messenger of death Our Sauiour Christ the Prince of the Church had twice whipt out those that had prouided Beasts for the Sacrifices of his temple which was an vndoubted token of their short continuance it beeing a great signe of death that one and such a one should come twice in this manner to visit them with the Rod. This conceit is much strengthened by the words of our Sauiour Christ â—oretold by the Prophet Esay The time shall come wherein my House shall bee called a House of Prayer and not a Denne of Theeues nor a common Market of buying and selling So that hee tooke these Whips into his hands as a means to worke amendment in his Ministers and to sweepe and make his House cleane The Iudges of the earth saith Saint Hierome doe punish a Delinquent ad ruinampunc but God adcust gationem the one to his vtter vndoing the other for his amendment And therefore he vsed no other weapons to chastise them withall but Rods and Whips which worke our smart but not our death they paine vs but they doe not kill vs. Tertullian is startled and standeth much amased at that punishment which Saint Peter inflicted vpon Ananias and Saphyra and saith That to bereaue them so suddenly of their life to strike â—hem in an instant dead at his foot was the punishâ—ent of a man of one that had not long exercised nor did well know what did belong on the office of a Bishop But our Sauiour Christ being come into the world to giue men life it would not haue suited with his goodnesse to giue them death The fourth reason which all doe touch vpon was The disrespect and irreuerence which was shewne to this his Temple a sinne which God doth hardly pardon And therefore it was said vnto Ieremie Pray not therefore for this People And hee presently giues the reason why It hath committed many outrages in my House Saint Iames aduiseth That the Sicke should call vnto the Priests to get them to pray vnto God for him but for him that should commit wickednes in his Temple God willeth the Prophet Ieremie that hee should not so much as pray for them And Saint Paul saith That those who shall violate the Temple of God God shall destroy them Great is the respect which God requireth to be had to his Temple First In regard of his especiall and particular presence there Saint Austen saith That Dauid did pray be fore the Arke Quia ibi sacratior commendatior praesentia Domini erat For euermore God manifests himselfe more in his Temple than any where else that place beeing like Moses his Bush or Iacobs ladder being therefore so much the more holy by how much the more he doth there manifest himselfe c. Secondly He shewes himselfe there more exorable and more propitious to our prayers According to that request of Salomon in the dedication of the temple That his eares may be there opened And it was fit it should be so as Saint Basil hath noted it for that Prayer is a most noble act and therefore as it requires a most noble place so likewise the greater fauour appertaineth vnto it Thirdly For that Christ is there present in his blessed Sacraments And therefore as Saint Chrysostom hath obserued it there must needs be there a great companie of coelestiall Spirits for where the King is there is the Court. Fourthly For to stirre vp our deuotion by ioyning with the congregation of the Faithfull And a learned man saith That the Temples Houses of God did put a new heart and new affections into mens brests What then shall become of those who refuse these publique places of praying and praysing of God and
Take heed of that man that hath his breath in his nosthrills Whereby it is signified That if hee should once grow angrie with vs hee would quickely make an end of vs. There was neuer yet any Prophet in the World so holy nor so soft-spirited but that somtime or other he did breake foorth into anger Esay called the Gouernours of his people The Princes of Sodome Saint Iohn Baptist stiles them Vipers Saint Chrysostome the Empresse Eudoxia Herodias And our Sauiour Christ these Scribes Generatio mala adultera A wicked and adulterous generation c. Generatio mala adultera An euill generation Ill for the ill and inueterated custom of their Vices Saint Stephen Vos semper Spiritui sancto resistitis sicut patres vestri ita vos Ye alwayes resist the high God euen as your fathers so yee Dauid Generatio praua atque exasperans Moses Generatio enim peruersa est infideles filij An vnthankefull hard-hearted and disloyall generation Vae semini nequam filijs sceleratis Woe to the wicked seed Ezechiel Generatio tua de terra Canaan pater tuus Amorrheus mater tua Cethea Thy ofspring is from the land of Canaan thy Father was an Amorite thy Mother a Hittite All these places doe blazon foorth the ill race of that people For albeit the herencie of Vice and of Vertue be not constringitiue and that there is no such necessitie in it nor alwayes followes the order of Nature for wee see a Dwarfe begot by a Gyant a Hare of a Lyon nor likewise in the state of Grace for of a holy Father sometimes issues an vngracious Son as Esau of Isaac and Absalon of Dauid yet notwithstanding if a man bee discended of a bad race it is a miracle if hee prooue good Arbor mala non potest bonos fructus facere An euill tree cannot bring foorth good fruit The Spanish Prouerbe sayth Bien aya quien a los suyos parece Gods blessing be with him hee is so like his parents hee suckt his goodnesse with his milke hee inherited his Fathers vertues Transgressorem ex vtero vocaui te sayth Esay Thou hast beene a transgressor from the Wombe Alenhornar se hazen los panes tuertos The loaues went away from their first setting into the Ouen All this is included in these words Generatio mala An euill generation Adultera Hee does not note them in this world for children that had beene begotten in adulterie for this had beene their parents fault and not theirs And Aristotle sayth Ab his quae a natura insunt nec laudamur nec vituperamur i. Whatsoeuer is naturally in vs redounds neither to our praise nor dispraise Both the ill the well born do confesse Ipse fecit nos non ipsi nos It is God that hath made vs and not we our selues For if it had beene in our choice to chuse our owne fathers wee would haue beene all gentlemen Two things did our Sauiour here pretend to notifie vnto vs. 1 The one that they had degnerated from the vertue of their forefathers and for this reason Dauid calls them strange chldren Filij alieni menti ti sunt mihi filij alieni inueter ati sunt And in another place Libera me de manu filiorum alienorum Deliuer mee out of the hands of strange children They did boast that they had Abraham to their father Nos patrem habemus Abraham But Christ giues them the lye and tells them Vos ex patre Diabolo estis For the workes the thoughts and the desires are not of Abraham but the Deuill 2 The other because they had married now the second time with Vntruth and made a match with false gods hauing diuorced from them the truth of the true and euerliuing God And for the better declaration of this Doctrine it is to be noted First That the vnderstanding and the truth haue a kind of marriage between them Quae sibi sponsam mihi assumere sapientiam I desired to marry hir such loue had I vnto hir beauty And one that Comments vpon these words sayth That from the Vnderstanding and Truth well vnstorstood there doth grow a greater vnitie than there doth arise from betweene the matter and the forme Secondly That betweene the Soule and God by the meanes of the Truth of Faith there is another kind of spirituall marriage made whereof Ose sayth Desponsabo te mihi in fide I will marrie thee vnto mee for euer yea I wil marry thee vnto me in righteousnesse and in iudgement and in mercy and in compassion I will euen marrie thee as if this were that wedding-ring that made all sure vnto mee in Faithfulnesse And this knot is knit so fast that Saint Paul could say He that cleaueth vnto God is one spirit with him And for that the people of the Iewes had fallen some while into Heresie another into Idolatrie falsely expounding the Law and forsaking the Fath of God to follow a Calfe and Idols whereof God taxes them euery foote in the Scriptures stiling them adulterers harlots children workers of fornication so here hee now sayth Generatio adultera Mala adultera Euill and adulterous First he sayes Mala and then Adultera Tearming them in the first place Ill in the second Adulterous For the ordinarie way to loose faith is an euill life But as the vomitting vp of our meate turneth sometime to our good so is it now and then in the ridding of our stomacke of Vertue And in this sence Saint Ambrose sayd Profuit mihi Domine quod peccaui It was well for me ô Lord that I sinned For repentance may restore Grace in a higher degree But if this weakenesse shall take such violent hold vpon vs that wee shall fall once to vomiting of bloud it will goe hard with vs if not cost vs our liues In like manner a sinner perseuering in his sinnes comes at last to loose his Faith And this is one of the seuerest punishments of Gods Iustice Whereof Ieremy sayd Peruenit gladius vsque ad animam Whence Saint Ierome gathereth that then the sword pierceth to the Soule when there is no signe of life left in it In your buildings the first danger doth not consist in their sudden falling to ground but they goe mouldring away by little and little and decay by degrees So likewise in this our Spiritual building the first danger is not the losse of our Faith nor our first demolishing our falling into Heresies but before we come to that wee goe by little and little first lessening then loosing our vertues and heaping sin vpon sin till at last Mole ruit sua all comes tumbling down to our vtter destruction Saint Paul doth much commend earnestly recommend vnto vs a good conscience Quam quidem repellentes naufragauerunt à fide Faith grounded vpon an euill conscience is like a house that is built vpon the sand which when the waters rise the
he had placed Watch-towers on this mountaine Suting with that of the Prophet Osee O yee Priests heare this Iudgement is towards yee because yee haue beene a snare vpon Mizpah and a net spred vpon Tabor The Priests and Princes catching the poore people in their snares as the Fowlers doe the birds in these two high Mountaines In a word This Mountaine is famous for verie many things but for none more than that it was honoured by our Sauiour with his presence and inriched with his glorie And for this cause Saint Bernard calls it Montem Spei The Mountaine of our hopes For he that leads a godly life here vpon earth may well hope to receiue a glorified life in Heauen Et transfiguratus est ante eos And he was transfigured before them Let vs here expound foure truths which are acknowledged by the whole bodie of Diuinitie The one That our Sauiour Christ liung amongst vs was not onely seene of vs himselfe seeing and knowing all things but was happinesse it selfe The other That he was so from the verie instant of his conception The third That being happie in Soule he must likewise be so in his body The fourth That the glorie of his Soule remained after that he had left his bodie Touching the proofe of the first Truth notable is that place of Saint Iohn No man hath seene God at any time that onely begotten Sonne which is in the bosome of the Father he hath declared him The Glosse hath it Who is neerest to his father not onely in respect of his loue towards him but by the bond of nature and for the vnion or one-nesse that is betweene them whereby the Father and the Son are one God reuealed him and shewed him vnto vs whereas before hee was vnder the shadowes of the Law so that the quickenesse of the sight of our mind was not able to perceiue him for whosoeuer seeth him seeth the Father also The Euangelist pretendeth here to prooue that onely our Sauiour Christ is the author of Grace and of Truth and that neither Moses nor any of the Patriarks could see God as he was himselfe which is Truth it selfe by essence but as he is the Sonne and therefore he onely can be the author thereof Men may see God in his creatures and know many of his perfections And in this sence Iob said All men see him and behold him afarre off Saint Gregorie and Saint Paul implie as much For the inuisible things of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are seene by the creation of the world considered in his workes Men may likewise see him in some image or figure sometimes of a man sometimes of an Angell sometimes of Fire representing himselfe in those formes sometimes by the eyes of the Soule and sometimes those of the Bodie So Esay saw him I saw the Lord sitting vpon an high Throne And Iacob I saw the Lord face to face Thirdly God may be seene by Faith as the Faithfull now see him Now we see through a glasse darkely Fourthly in his humanitie Afterward he was seene vpon earth saith Buruch and dwelt among men Fiftly in himselfe and in his essence not in his creatures not in his image not in his humanitie but in himselfe Sicuti est As hee is This sight is so farre aboue all the rest that it makes men happie as also the Angels Moreouer Saint Iohn saith That with a cleere sight at least comprehensible no man euer yet saw God but by the Sonne And being that God is our happines when he is cleerely seene it followeth that our Sauiour Christ is happie The selfe same argument our Sauiour vsed to Nicodemus No man ascended to Heauen but he which descended from Heauen the Sonne of Man who is in Heauen Ye will not giue credit to these earthly things how will yee credit those then that are heauenly And condemning this their incredulitie he saith No man ascended vp into Heauen There is not any man that can make true report of the things that are there because no man hath ascended thither to see them only I who liued in Heauen and descended downe from Heauen am able to tell ye the things that are in Heauen Our being in Heauen then being all one with the seeing of God and the seeing of God beeing our happinesse it followeth that our Sauiour Christ is happie The second Truth That he was so from that verie time that hee first tooke our nature vpon him Saint Augustine collects it out of the sixtie fift Psalm Blessed is the Man whom thou chusest and receiuest vnto thee he shall dwell in thy Court and shall be satisfied with the pleasure of thy house c. The same Eusebius Caesariensis inferreth vpon the twentie second Psalme Thou art hee that tooke me out of my mothers wombe or as the Chaldee letter hath it Leuaui me in robore tuo I got vp to bee ioyned equall with God Which testimonies of Scripture are confirmed by all your Scholasticall Doctors The third Truth That our Sauior Christ must needs be happie both in soule and in bodie Iohannes Damascenus prooues it out of that strict vnion of the Diuinitie which Death it selfe cannot vndoe Saint Augustine affirmes That the glorie of the soule is naturally conueyed to the bodie as the light of a candle to a paine of glasse The fourth Truth That our Sauior Christ was transfigured by giuing licence to the glorie of his soule that it should transferre it selfe to the bodie not that glorie which he was able to giue it but that which his Disciples eyes were able to endure as it is noted by Saint Chrysostome treating on this point Et transfiguratus est And he was transfigured We haue elsewhere set downe the causes of our Sauiours transfiguration but none so often repeated by the Saints and Doctors as his discouering thereby the hidden treasures of his glorie as the reward that calls vnto vs and stayes for vs haling as it were our thoughts and hopes after it Such is the condition of man that commonly he makes interest and priuat gain the North-starre of his labours and endeauours this he thinkes on dreames of and adores But as to the Worldling the worlds wealth is his North-starre so the North-starre of the Sonne of God is the glorie of God Now our Sauiour Christ discouereth vnto vs a streake or a line as it were of that happinesse which though it doth not fully expresse vnto vs what God is yet it remooueth from vs all those difficulties which might diuert vs from his seruice And therfore Saint Ambrose saith Ne quis frangatur c. He allureth our mind with this so soueraign a good that the troubles of this life may not disquiet it nor driue it to despaire So furious are the tempests of this Sea so raging the waues and tossings too and fro of this life that if God did not temper the distasts thereof with the hope of another life
should bee a Lord and Ruler there is a necessitie in it And that there should be a greater Lord there is a greater necessitie in it For Man had neede of the creatures and God made him Lord ouer them If a man could runne as fast as a horse hee were not Lord ouer the horse if he had the clawes and strength of a lyon hee were not Lord ouer the lyon But in Heauen there is not any the least signe of necessitie for there both the Sunne the Moone the Creatures Fountaines Plants Fruits Flowers and Houses are all superfluous So that Peter when hee talkt of building Tabernacles he knew not what he sayd Adhuc eo loquente eccè nubes lucida And as he yet spake behold a bright Cloud Scarce had Peter ended his speech when a bright shining cloud like a glorious Curtaine ouerspred them all Thomas sayth That in this cloud the holy Ghost descended downe as hee did in that Baptisme in the forme of a Doue Theophilact That in the old Testament God appeared in darke clouds which strooke terrour and amasement but now he comes in a bright cloud because he came to teach and to giue light The holy Ghost is the Author of the light of our soules Wisedome cals him Spiritum intelligentiae The spirit of vnderstanding And the Church dayly begges of him that hee will lighten our darkenesse and illuminate our sences Accendâ— lumen sensibus From the cloud there went out a voice like vnto thunder which sayd This is my beloued Sonne heare him And Saint Chrysostome hath noted it That Moses and Elias disappeared and were not to bee seene to the end that the Disciples might vnderstand that this voice was onely directed to our Sauiour Christ. Howbeit hauing seene beefore in his face that treasure of glorie and Peter hauing acknowledged him to bee the Sonne of the euerliuing God in the name of the whole Colledge and Societie of the Apostles it could not bee presumed otherwise The voice beeing past the cloud vanished and the Disciples remained as dead men Our Sauiour Christ quit them of their feare and comming againe to themselues like those that are awakened from a heauie sleepe they saw none but onely Iesus in the garden They were falne all asleepe and they slept so soundly that our Sauiour Christ could hardly wake them Heere likewise they failed for they awaked with an earnest desire to enioy that glorie which they had seene but they did not see it any more First because those eyes that shut themselues to labour do not deserue to see such glorie Secondly because vpon earth though it be from Heauen no good can continue long Thomas saith That the body of our Sauiour Christ did inioy this glorie as it were by transition or a passing by And that those glories which are enioyed here on earth are short momentarie they are no better than grasse and hay which are soone cut down withered they are Winter Sun-shinesand Summer-Floods soone gone Mans dayes are like the grasse and as the flowre of the field so shall hee flourish But that the glorie of God should stand vpon these ticklish tearmes I cannot wel tell what to say to it nor doe I know which is the greater miracle of the two either that the glorie of the Earth should continue or that of Heauen haue an end But the truth is those goods do not last long with vs which Heauen it selfe communicateth vnto vs. Saint Bernard sayth That those pensions which God bestows on his friends are verie good but verie short Saint Austen That it is a sweete but a short good that God giues vs in this World Hugo de Sancto Victore That Gods Regalos or Regales delitiae haue two discountings or diminutions of debt in this life The one that they are not full the other that they are not long for a cloud presently comes and ouershadowes them Saint Bernard treating of the cherishments and comforts of the Spouse vnder the name of kisses saith Heu rara hora parua mora One while he saith that he suffered his thoughts to be carried away with the sweetnes of these daintie delights conceiuing it to bee a great happinesse but then hee sayth againe O si durasset Those that trauell abroad reserue all their content they take therin for their Countrie so that their ioy shal not only be ful but permanent They shal be drunke with the plentifulnes c. Of Nebridius a friend of his Saint Augustine saith And he applieth his mouth to that Fountaine from whence he drew all his happinesse Pro jucunditate sua sine fine foelix Happie for the pleasure of it without end Ipsum audite Heare him Here the World did receiue so great a good that the Father did giue vs his Sonne to be our Master and Law-giuer So that it lyes vpon him to teach vs and vpon vs to obey him Tertullian sayth That the presence of Moses and Elias made much for that present purpose but more now their absence for that it gaue vs thereby to vnderstand That this supreame Master and Lawgiuer did far outstrip the office of Moses and the zeale which Elias had of the Law Quasi jam offâ—cio honore perfunctis For in this best beloued sonne of God Iesus Christ two things are to be seene the one as he was a Lawgiuer the aduantage that he had of the Law the other That Moses was now put to silence and that we were onely to hearken to our Sauiour Christ. At his Baptisme that verie selfe same voice was heard This is my beloued sonne but we find not there an Ipsum audite Heare him Not notifying him then to the World for a Master so that it seemeth that this was reserued for our Sauiour Christ against he had past ouer the rigour of Fasting and Pennance signifying That God placeth not him in the office of a Preacher who hath not run through these strict courses Bene patientes erunt vt annuntient Christ had no need to doe pennance but thou hast great need to doe so Locus est communis Descendentibus illis c. And when they came down from the Mount he charged them to say nothing to any man He inioyned them silence First saith Saint Hierome Ne incredibile videretur lest the greatnesse and strangenesse thereof should make men to thinke it to be an old wiues tale And if Christ said to Nicodemus If when I tell yee earthly things yee beleeue not how will yee be brought to beleeue those high and heauenly mysteries of the Kingdome of God Here occasion may bee taken to taxe those who comming from beyond the seas are all in their Hyperboles abusing others eares with their loud lyes but giuing the lye most to their owne soules Secondly He inioyned them silence for that the fauours and regalos which thou shalt receiue from God in priuate thou art not to bring them vpon the stage in publique or to
to the heart when he hath taken a great deale of paines and been at a great deale of charge to see them both lost Who euer tooke halfe that paines for vs as did our Sauiour Christ who was euer at that great cost with vs as hee hath beene Multo sudore sudatum est non exiuit de eo rubigo The sonne of man shall be deliuered It is a vsuall phrase in Scripture to call Man the sonne of Man Adam was neither the sonne of Man nor Woman yet is he listed in the number of the children of Men. Tertullian sayth That our Sauiour tooke his appellatiue vpon him to show that hee was now true Man Saint Austen That by this name he was willing to distinguish the humane nature from the diuine and to reuiue the remembrance of that surpassing benefit of his becomming Man Epiphanius and Theodoret That Daniel when he stiled him the sonne of Man by this his so calling of him prooued thereby that he was the person prophecied of in that prophecie Gregory Nazianzen That hee was called the sonne of Man for that hee was descended of Adam And if hee may bee most of all called sonne who doth most of all honour his Father none was more Adams sonne than hee Last of all our Sauiour treating heere of his torments and of his Crosse which were to come vpon him as Man it well suteth with this his present condition to take this name vpon him of the sonne of Man The sonne of Man shall be deliuered When Christ our Sauiour treateth of his torments he vseth the third Person Tradetur tradent He shall be deliuered and they shall deliuer him c. But when the Prophets did prophecie of him they spake in the first Person Foderunt manus meas pedes meos They haue digged my hands and my feet Fui flagellatus tota die I was scourged all the day long Faciem meam non auerti ab increpantibus conspuentibus in me I turned not away my face from those that rebuked me and spat vpon mee His plagatus sum in domâ— eorum qui diligebant me With these was I wounded in the house of my friends So that if you shall but aske Christ who it is that suffereth these things hee will answer That it is the sonne of Man And if yee aske the Prophets they will say That it is the sonne of God And peraduenture this is the mysterie of it That albeit our Sauiour Christ is the party that suffered as the Prophets prophecie of him yet he suffered as a Fiador or Surety But so great was the loue which hee bare to Man who was the Debtor that putting these torments which wee were lyable vnto to his owne account yet the discharge of this debt goes in the name of the Debtor And as the treasure of his merits is for the good of Man so his torments and his sufferings are to bee attributed wholly to Man who was the person that by the ordinary course of Law did owe this debt and was in all reason bound to pay it The sonne of Man shall bee deliuered It is here to bee considered how often our Sauiour makes repetition of this word Tradetur Peraduenture because it was one of his greatest griefes that his friend should betray him The man of Peace in whome I hoped sayth Dauid Thomas sayth That it is one of the noblest actions in the world for a man to loue his friend because to abhorre him is one of the foulest things that man can commit Magnificauit super me supplantationem He gloried in his supplanting me What greater griefe can befall a friend than to bee supplanted by a friend The metaphor is taken from those that run when as the one trips vp the others heeles Saint Ierome reads it Leuauit contra me caltaneum Hee lifted vp the heele against me Our Sauiour Christ flying to death with the wings of Loue Iudas setting his legge of Treason before him to throw him downe his Loue found it selfe thereby offended and beeing thus wronged by a friend his Loue had no need of such spurres to driue him on to his death But say it should it was not fit for a friend to put them on He of all other should not haue led him along therunto falsifying his loue by a feigned kisse kindly saluting him with an Aue Rabbi Haile Master To whom our Sauiour mildely againe replyd Amice ad quid venisti Friend wherefore camest thou What needst thou to haue taken so much paines thou mightest haue saued thy selfe this labour being it was myne own desire to make my selfe a prisoner yet it doth much trouble me that my friend should deale so vnkindly with me Tradetur principibus sacerdotum Hee shall bee deliuered to the chiefe Priests A little before the Apostles were at difference amongst themselues who should bee the greatest in that their hoped for Kingdome there beeing two commings of the Messias foretold by the Prophets 1 The one prosperous full ofMaiestie and Greatnesse 2 The other poore humble and despised Now because the Vnderstanding doth commonly follow the affection of the Will they did verily beleeue that this his comming should bee in state and Maiestie crowning himselfe King in Israell taking all dominion and rule from the Emperour of Rome from Herod Pilat and other inferiour Ministers and the Priesthood from the Pharisees who held it so vnworthily This conceit and hope of theirs is prooued and confirmed by that which the Disciples said on their way to Emaus But we trusted that it had beene hee that should haue deliuered Israell Not vnderstanding as then what was the deliuerance that Iesus Christ had purchased for them but looking after some worldly prosperitie But much more plainely out of that place of the Acts Lord wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdome of Israell In a word They did fully persuade themselues that all the world should be subiect to his Crowne comforting their hopes with that prophecie of King Dauids His Dominion shall bee also from one Sea to the other and from the Floud vnto the worlds end And for that hee might turne the wheele of this their vaine hope another way hee sayth To the chiefe Priests whose seates you thinke to inioy shall I be deliuered vp and beeing presently put ouer to the Roman power I shall by them be whipt mockt buffeâ—ed crucified c. Ipsi vero nihil horum intellexerunt But they vnderstood none of these things This seemed vnto them to bee so foule a fact and so heinous a wickednesse that it could not sinke into their thoughts that to such great Innocencie such great Iniustice Crueltie should be offered But malice was growne now to that height that mans imagination must come short of it Seneca sayth That it is a verie poore excuse to say Who would haue thought it For there is not that wickednesse which is not now in the World And
seeing that the malice thereof hath gone so farre as to take away the life of the God of Heauen there is not that ill which wee ought not to feare Wee are to feare the Sea euen then when it promiseth fairest weather This speech of our Sauiours might likewise seeme vnto them to be some Parable for that which the Will affecteth not the Vnderstanding doth not halfe well apprehend it He sayd vnto the Iewes Oportet exaâ—tari â—ilium hominis The sonne of man must be lifted vp And they presently tooke hold of it The Angels told Lot that Sodome should be consumed with fire and brimstone from Heauen and he aduising his sonnes in law thereof He seemed vnto them as one that mocked Precept must be vpon precept line vpon line here a little and there a little Often doe the Prophets repeat Haec mandat Dominus Expecta Dominum sustine Dominum modicum adhuc modicum ego visitabâ— sanguinem c. abscondere modicum Thus sayth the Lord Waâ—te for the Lord yet a little while and a little while I wil visit the Bloud c. They that â—eard Esay mockt at him in their feasts and banquets saying Wee know before hand what the Prophet will preach vnto vs. And this is the fashion of Worldlings to scoffe at those whom God sends vnto them for their good Tunc accessit mater filiorum Zebedâ—i c. Then came vnto him the mother of the sonnes of Zebedee c. Adonias tooke an vnseasonable time hauing offended Sâ—lâ—mâ—n with those mutinies which hee had occasioned to make himselfe King and euen then when hee ought to haue stood in feare of his displeasure he vndaduisedly craues of him to giue him his fathers Shunamite to wife This seemed to Salomon so foolish and so shamelesse a petition that he caused his life to be taken from him Accessit mater The mother came Parents commonly desire to leaue their children more rich and wealthy than holy and religious A mother would wish her daughter rather beautie than vertue a good dowrie than good endowments Saint Augustine saith of himselfe That he had a father that tooke more care to make him a Courtier of the earth than of Heauen desired more that the world should celebrate him for a wise and discreet man than to be accounted one of Christs followers Saint Chrysostome saith That of our children wee make little reckoning but of the wealth that we are to leaue them exceeding much Being like vnto that sicke man who not thinking of the danger wherein he is cuts him out new cloathes and entertaineth new seruants A Gentleman will take more care of his Horse and a great Lord of his estate than of his children For his Horse the one will looke out a good rider and such a one as shal see him well fed and drest The other a very good Steward for his lands but for their children which is their best riches and greatest inheritance they are carelesse in their choice of a good Tutor or Gouernor In his Booke De Vita Monastica the said Doctour citeth the example of Iob who did not care so much that his children should be rich well esteemed and respected in the world as that they should be holy and religious He rose vp early in the morning and offered burnt Offerings according to the number of theâ— all For Iob thought It may be my sons haue sinned and blasphemed God in their hearts Thus did Iob euerie day Saint Augustine reporteth of his mother That she gaue great store of almes and that she went twice a day to the Church and that kneeling downe vpon her knees shee poured forth many teares from her eyes not begging gold nor siluer of God but that he would be pleased to conuert her son and bring him to the true Faith The mother came These her sonnes thought themselues now cocke-sure for they knew that our Sauiour Christ had some obligation to their mother for those kindnesses which she had done him and for those good helpes which hee had receiued from her in his wants and necessities deeming it as a thing of nothing and as a sute already granted That he would giue them the chiefest places of gouerment in that their hoped for Kingdom Whence I infer that to a gouernor it is a shrewd pledge ofhis saluation to receiue a curtesie for that he is thereby as it were bought and bound to make requitall And as in him that buyes 〈◊〉 is not the goodnesse or badnesse of such a commoditie but the money that 〈◊〉 most stood vpon as in gaming men respect not so much the persons they play with as the mony they play for so this businesse of prouiding for our childreâ— is a kind of buying to profit and a greedie gaining by play The King of Sodome said vnto Abraham Giue me the persons and take the goods to thy selfe 〈◊〉 Abraham would not take so much as a thred or shooe-latchet of all that was his and that for two verie good reasons The one That an Infidell might not hereafter boast and make his brag saying I haue made Abraham rich it was I that made him a man The other That he might not haue a tie vpon him and so buy out his liberty For guifts as Nazianzen saith are a kind of purchase of a mans freehold 〈◊〉 giue for meere loue cannot be condemned because it is a thing which God hiâ—â—selfe doth to whom the Kings and Princes of the earth should come as neere as they can But to giue to receiue againe is a clapping of gyues and fetters on the receiuer And the poorer sort of men being commonly the worthiest because they haue not wherewithall to giue they likewise come not to get any thing Theodoret pondereth the reasons why Isaac was inclined to conferre the blessing on Esau. First Because he was his first borne to whom of right it belonged Secondly For that he had euer beene louing and obedient vnto him Thirdly Because he was well behaued and had good naturall parts in him Fourthly and lastly hee addeth this as a more powerfull and forcible reason than all the rest That being as he was a great Hunter he brought home so many Regalos and daintie morcells for to please his fathers palate which wrought more vpon aged Isaac than his being his sonne And if gifts are such strong Gyants that they captiuate the Saints of God Munera crede mihi excacant homines qùe Deosque What are we to expect from sinners Saint Bernard complaineth That in his time this moth had entred not onely vpon the distribution of secular honours but also vpon Ecclesiasticall preferments He earnestly exhorteth Pope Eugenius That he place such Bishops in the Church who out of widdowes dowries the patrimonie of the crucified God should not inrich their Kindred who take more pleasure in the pampering of a young Mule spred ouer with a faire foot-cloath than to clap caparisons on
present good is forgetful of a former receiued curtesie is an vngrateful wretch And he that returning backe those goods into his masters hands which he had committed to his keeping shal not think himself rid of a great care more secure than before is a foolish wretch In the creation of all the rest of the things Genesis vseth the name of God alone by it selfe but when man comes to be made it puts this adiunct of Dominus Deus the Lord God because man should not imagine that there was any other Lord that should be able to bring them into the Land of Promise saue the Lord God And therefore God saith I will goe before yee and I will leade yee the way That they might not attribute this enterprise to their owne valour Locauit Agricolis God rented out this his Vineyard looking to receiue some fruit thereof As in Paradice there was not that Tree that was barren· Ex omni ligno quod est in Paradiso comede Thou shalt freely eat of euery tree of the Garden So in the Paradice of the Church no Tree ought to be without it's Fruit. Dauid compareth the Iust to a Tree that is planted by the Riuer side Quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo That will bring forth it's fruit in due season that is alwaies Like vnto that of the Apocalyps which gaue fruit euerie moneth In Deutronomie God commanded That they should plant no woods nor groues not that the Spirit of God meant thereby that all Forrests Parkes should be condemned wherein Kings and Princes were to take their pleasure but that in the Church there should not be any vnprofitable Trees and without fruit He let it out to Husbandmen The Lord knowing that these Renters would prooue vnthankfull why did he let out his Vineyard vnto them Why did hee likewise cast three parts of his seed into those grounds which were not to affoord him any Fruit And why did that Father giue that his prodigal Sonne his portion to spend and consume it in riotousnesse and wantonnesse Why saith Phylon should God suffer his raine to fall into the sea for to bring forth Fountaines in those Desarts whereas yet the foot of man did neuer tread Why coâ—ferre riches on those who were to maintaine quarrells and brawles therewith And why let out his Vineyard to him who should shut him out of his owne Inheritance keepe possession against him and take his life from him First of all Because Seneca saith That for a Prince to conferre a fauour which to his seeming is well bestowed and to lose it afterwards through the ingratitude of the receiuer is a token of a generous mind For to this perill are they put and all whosoeuer runne this hazard who doe any courtesies in this life For a forgetfull and vnthankfull man doth commonly shew himselfe vnmindfull of the good which he receiueth But for a Prince to doe a fauor where he knowes it shall be lost and that his kindnesse is but cast away this is Kingly magnificence and a generous kind of noblenesse And of this kind are commonly Gods fauours who although we shew our selues vnthankefull and do not acknowledge these his fauours yet he dayly throwes them vpon vs that hee may thereby manifest both his greatnesse and his goodnesse Secondly Phylon saith That he doth prosper the Vnthankefull to draw them thereby to his seruice First Because there are no gyues nor fetters that tye a man so fast as benefits or make him more a prisoner Qui beneficia inuenit compedes inuenit This is that which Ose saith In funiculis Adam traham eos The Hebrew hath it In funiculis hominum I led them with cords of a man euen with bonds of loue Bulls are made tame and yeeld themselues to a fiue twisted cord Horses are made gentle with bridles and with chaines and mens hearts are woon with benefits Qui coronat te in misericordia in miserationibus God hath compassed thee in with so many mercies and hath bound thee so fast vnto him in the bonds of his louing kindnesse that thou knowest not which way to get from him Ioseph beeing obliged to his master by the many fauors that he had receiued from him said Quomodo possum How can I then doe this great wickednesse How is it possible that I should shew my selfe such a Villaine to him who knoweth not what hee hath in the house with me but hath committed all that he hath to me neither hath hee kept any thing from me but onely thee because thou art his wife Secondly Because there is no other meanes comparable vnto this That a Prince should deliuer vp all the world to such a mans seruice and that he should extend his liberalitie to an vnknowne and vnthankefull people And to this end he affoords his enemies water and the fruits of the earth and other temporall blessings that therby they might take occasion to serue him And if he bestow so many fauours vpon an vngratefull people and if he haue care of the beasts of the forrest what kindnesses will he shew vnto them that shall truly serue him Locauit Agricolis Hee let it out to Husbandmen To husbandmen that know what belong to this businesse For of no people in the world doth Gods vineyard suffer so much harme as of ignorant Prelats that doe not know how to prune and to dresse it And sloathfulnesse of all other is most hurtfull in this kind For thereupon it growes presently full of Briers Thistles and Thornes and the hedges goe to decay the mounds are broken downe and the wilde Bores the Foxes and the Dogges enter into it carelesnesse likewise is very hurtfull thereunto for by that means all that go by as Dauid sayth plucke of her Grapes Thou broughtest a vine out of Aegypt thou didst cast out the Heathen and planted it Thou madest roome for it and when it had taken roote it filled the land The hills were couered with the shadow of it and the boughes thereof were like the goodly Cedar trees She stretcheth out her branches vnto the Sea her boughes vnto the Riuer Why hast thou then broken downe her hedge that all they which goe by plucke off her Grapes the wilde Boare out of the wood doth root it vp and the wilde Beasts of the field deuour it Behold and visite this vine ô Lord and the place of the vineyard that thine owne right hand hath planted and the branches that thou madest strong for thy selfe It is burnt with fire and cut downe c. But these such other faults may be mended but ignorance can neuer be repaired If the Renter know not how when he ought to prune the vine to loosen the earth about the rootes and to plant it c. it will quickly go to ruine It is a great vnhappinesse that for to make thy shooes thou wilt inquire out the best shooe-maker And for to
able to affoord their Lord any Fruits thereof for that they were rented too high the ground was out of heart and that they had beene too much grated vpon Many Princes I confesse doe so wring their Subiects with such intollerable Taxes payments and such strange and vnwoonted Impositions that they destroy and make wast the Lands of their Kingdomes The like may be said of many landlords towards their Tenants But hereunto I answer That God is quite contrarie to these for making ouer the possession of Paradice vnto Adam so rich and plentifull of all sorts of Fruits and Trees hee reserued no more than one onely Tree to himselfe Hee will giue vnto thee the whole sheafes of Corne contenting himselfe onely with those few Eares which are shattered and left behind in the Stubble He will suffer thee to gather all the grapes and to make a full Vintage so that thou wilt but let him gleane the refuse bunches which will but spoyle thy Wine Of him that hath two Coats the Euangelist requires one but Christ will bee content to take one of ten Quod superest date Paâ—peribus he craues no more but the ouerplus and that which thou maist verie well spare In the old Law for an acknowledgement of those his innumerable fauours towards his people he demanded onely two Turtles of the Poore and one lambe of the Rich. In his house he will not that Incense be offered vnto him for nothing Amongst other of Gods complaints against vs this is one if not the greatest That he contenting himselfe with so little and giuing thee the inioying of so much thou doost neuer thinke of reseruing this little for God Thou wilt giue large allowance to thy Dogs and thy Hawkes but wilt grutch thy Seruant his meat Thou wilt pamper thy Horses with prouender but it goes to thy heart to part with a piece of bread to the Poore Out of which hard heartednesse of thine those sicknesses hunger-staruings beggeries and barrennesse which thou sufferest are iustified vpon thee and deseruedly inflicted Miâ—it Seruos suos vt acciperent Fructus He sent his Seruants These Seruants were the Prophets who were alwayes busied in requiring this Fruit and did die in this their demaund In their places succeeded the Apostles After them the Prelates and Preachers of his Church And though he had giuen them the name of Huntsmen of Fishers Mittam Piscatores multos here hee calls them Secatores Cutters or Reapers Misit Seruos suos vt acciperent Fructus By Ezechiel he cals them watchmen or Sentinells Animam de manu speculatoris requiram I haue made thee a Watchman to the House of Israell therefore thou shalt heare the Word from my mouth and admonish them from me But if the Watchman see the Sword come and blow not the Trumpet and the People bee not warned if the Sword come and take any man from among them he is taken away for his iniquitie but his bloud wil I require at the Watchmans hands This is a hard office for if thou doost not seeke to saue him God will require him of thee And if thou doost take pains and goest about to gather in his rents the Renters will kill thee Alios ceciderunt alios lapidauerunt alios occiderunt They beat one stoned another and killed a third This is the recompence of our Sauiour Christs Ministers for as his Kingdome is not of this world so neither are his Ministers nor his rewards He said vnto Pilat If I were of this world Ministri mei vtique decertarent My Ministers would contend for me From the difference of this his Kingdome he inferred that of his Ministers The Ministers of this world may plead an excuse for the non-payment of their Masters Rent for the Vineyard which they inioy is not Christs neither did he rent it out vnto them nor are the Fruits Christs which they reape thereof It is a Vineyard that they got by their owne proper industrie so that they fall to eating of it vp and to take away the Fruit of it without paying any rent or pension out of it For albeit all kind of goods vpon earth belong vnto God and are due vnto him yet it seemeth vnto them that they are onely due to their owne diligence and stick not to say in their heart It is our owne handâ—e worke God had no finger in it Some they beat By Saint Mathew Christ charged the Pharisees with the bloud of the Righteous from Abel to Zacharies time those who were slaine betwixt the Temple and the Alter ioyning their bloud with that of the Prophets to the end that their condemnation should grow vp to it's fulnesse He sent againe and againe the second and the third time and besides that herein he shewed vs his singular clemencie and goodnesse he aduiseth vs withall That when one medicine will worke no good vpon the Sicke he will applie many others Seneca tells vs That if the earth will not yeeld vs any fruit the first yeare we must fall a ploughing the second and the third and so many yeares together In one yeare the defaults of many yeares are repaired and amended but here Gods mercie goes a little further as Saint Chrysostome hath noted it for not hauing any hope to stop their malice yet he stops not his mercie being thâ—â— the disease was incurable yet would hee trie and make experiment whither his Medicine could worke vpon it and ouercome it here ioyned together as it were in competition Mans malice with Gods meecie And although great was the obstinacie of their malice yet in the end Mercie was master of the field Saint Hilarie brings in the example of a Father that had a franticke Sonne who although he would throw the Trenchers and Candlestickes at his head yet for all that did he not leaue to doe his best to cure him Worthie are those words of Saint Augustine Tibi laus tibi gloria Fons misericordiarum ego fiebam miserior tu propinquior To thee be praise to thee be glorie thou Fountaine of Mercies the worser I was the neerer wast thou vnto me Nouissimè misit filium suum Last of all he sent his sonne He thought it no wisedome in him to send any more of his Seruants for that had beene echar la soga tras el caldero to throw the helme after the hatchet And aduising with himselfe what hee were best to doe after that he had thought vpon a Quid faciam he presently followes with a Nouissimè misit filium suum Last of all he sent his sonne First of all This Quid faciam What shall I doe argues a kind of perplexitie like vnto that before the Floud the World being not more wicked than he was sorrie that he had created it Being touched inwardly with a heartie sorrow hee sayd What shall I doe So now beeing more grieued at the perdition of the husbandmen than the ill vsage and slaughter of his Seruants
hee said Quid faciam What course shall I take with these men Secondly He intimates a strange kind of sorrow arising from this perplexity If I am Lord where is my feare If I be a father where is my honour In the end hee resolued with Gaifas Let my Sonne die He indeered as much as he could the force of his loue sending him to saue these Murderers from death but this could not appease their malice To slay his Prophets was more than a great malice but to take away the life of his onely Sonne and heire was excessiue Saint Hierome saith There was no weight no number no measure in the ones clemencie nor in the others malice This was a Consummatum est a fulnesse of his meâ—cie a fulnesse of their malice Verebuntur filium meum They will reuerence my Sonne Saint Luke addeth a Fortè thereunto And the Greeke Originall a Forsitan Howbeit it may goe for an Affirmatiue as well as Vtique Forsitan petisses ab eo ipse dedisset tibi aquam c. And so againe Si crederitis Moysi crederetis forsitan mihi If yee had beleeued Moses yee would likewise haue beleeued me And so it sorts well with that Text both of Saint Mathew and Saint Marke who absolutely say Verebuntur filium meum They will reuerence my Sonne In neither of these is a May bee or a Forsitan and onely to signifie the great reuerence which was due vnto him Where by the way Saint Chrysostome hath noted this vnto vs That God for all these their outrages did desire no furtheâ— satisfaction from them than to see them abasht and ashamed ofthis their ingratitude and crueltie Benigno Domino sufficiebat sola vindicta pudoris misit enim confundere non punire It was their blushing not their bleeding that he desired hee wisht their shame and not their confusion Parum supplicij satis est patri pro â—â—lio God is so kind and louing a Father that hee thinkes a little punishment enough for his Children Saint Bernard saith That the whole life of our Sauiour Christ from the Cratch to the Crosse was to keepe vs from sinning out of meere shame and that his maine drift euer was to leaue vs confounded and ashamed of our selues that our sinnes and wickednesse should force God against his will to punish vs For he takes no delight in the death of a Sinner Ecclesiasticuâ— makes a large memoriall of those things which ought to make a man blush and be ashamed of himselfe Be ashamed of whoredome before a father and mother be ashamed of lies before the Prince and men of authoritie of sinne before the Iudge and Ruler of offence before the Congreation and People of vnrighteousnesse before a companion and friend and of theft before the place where thou dwellest before the truth of God his Couenant to lean with thine elbows vpon the bread or to be reproued for giuing or taking of silence to them that salute thee to look vpon an harlot to turn away thy face from thy Kinseman or to take away a portion or gift or to be euill minded towards another mans wife or to solicite any mans mayd or to stand by her bed or to reproach thy friends with words or to vpbraid when thou giuest any thing or to report a matter that thou hast heard or to reueale secret words Thus mayst thou well be shamefaced shalt find fauour with all men This Erubescite must be the burthen of the Song to euerie one of these Versicles It is a foule and a shamefull thing to doe any of these things in the presence of graue persons to whom we owe a respect Much more foule in the presence of God who stands at thy elbow in all thy actions But foulest of all to commit these things in the presence of the Sonne of God whome his Father sent to bee thy Master thy Tutor and nayled him to the Crosse for thy sinnes that thou mightst bee ashamed to commit the like againe considering the great torment that he suffered for thee Some deuout picture or Image doth sometimes restraine a desperate sinner from committing some foule offence What would it worke then with him had God himselfe stood there present before him It may be they will reuerence my Sonne Say that wee take this Fortâ— or Forsitâ—â— in the same sence as the words themselues sound it is a point worthie our conâ—ideration That the innumerable summe of those infinite fauours which God did to his Vineyard should end in a Peraduenture and stand vpon hap-hazard A man may thinke it somewhat strange That God should come to any place vpon vncertainties but God is so good a God that he doth not so much proportion his blessings by the measure of his Wisedome as his Loue not that he doth not certainly know what we will be but because he would faine haue vs to be what we should be For if he should reward vs according to those our actions which he in his prescience and eternall essence foresees will come to passe Who of vs should be left aliue or who of vs should bee borne Onely the Innocent saith Theodoret should then be fauoured And therefore rather than it should bee so he was willing to put it vpon the venture how or what we might prooue heereafter He knew before hand that Lucifer should fall that Adam should sin that Saul should turn disobedient that Iudas should sel him betray him yet did he not forbeare for all this to throw his fauours vpon them S. Ambrose asketh the question Why Christ would make choice of Iudas when as he knew before hand that he would betray him And his answer thereunto is That it was to justifie his loue and to shew the great desire that he had that all should bee saued yea euen Iudas himselfe And therefore knowing his couetous disposition hee made him his Purse-bearer that he might shut the doore to his excuses and that he might not haue iust cause to say That he was in want lackt mony so was forced out of meere necessitie to betray and sel his Master which otherwise he would neuer haue done but the deliuering ouer the Purse vnto him tooke away that obiection Well then What can this Traitor say for himselfe That Christ did not countenance him as he did the rest or that hee made light reckoning of him Neither will this hold water for hee had made him an Apostle hee was listed in the rolle with the rest hee wrought miracles as well as his Fellowes receiued many other fauours from his Masters hands The same reason may serue as well for the Iewes as Iudas For our Sauior knew that they should put him to death yet for all this would not he cease to shew his loue vnto them Hic est haeres venite occidamus eum nostra erit haereditas This is the heire come let vs kill him and let
ouerladen with Taxes when they are not able to beare them Giue that Kingdome for lost The wicked shall be cut-off from the Earth and the transgressors shall bee rooted out of it Daniel pronounceth as much God changeth times and ages he translateth kingdomes and establisheth them The most high beareth rule ouer the kingdome of men and giueth it to whomsoeuer he will And those that walke in pride hee is able to abase And in the fourth chapter He setteth vp a meane man in their steed The examples of this in Gods people are more in number than the starres of Heauen We see the house of Ieroboam destroyed and vtterly rooted out by the hands of Baasha That of Baasha by Zambri and that of Ahab by Iehu In the land of promise God tooke away one and thirtie Kingdomes from those Kings and bestowed them on his owne people Alios laborauerunt vos in laborem eorum introistis Others tooke the paines and yee reap't the profit But he did deferre the possession of these for some few yeares because the sinnes of the Amorites were not yet come vnto their heigth Salmanazer carried away tenne of the Tribes captiue to the land of the Medes Nebuchadnezzar destroyd the City and Temple of Ierusalem and leading the people away captiue vnto Babilon he left the land wast and desolate as it appeareth in the Lamentations of Ieremie Haereditas nostra versa est ad alienos Our inheritance is turned ouer vnto strangers The Monarchy of the Assirians and Babilonians was transferred to the Medes and Persians that of the Persians to the Grecians and Macedonians and that of the Macedonians to the Romans as was prophecied by Daniel in that prodigious Statua which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dreame The Empire of Constantinople was translated to the Ottoman Family In a word numberlesse are those Kingdomes which haue suffered their alterations and translations Their sinnes beeing the onely cause of this their change Secondly He aduiseth those of the middle sort on whome God hath bestowed wealth houses honours and health wherewithall conueniently to passe this life of theirs That they proue not vngratefull vnto God For he knowes as well how to take away from them as to giue to them all these his good blessings and to bring them by meanes neuer dreamt of to the Hospitall and to shamefull pouertie and dishonour According to that saying vttered by God himselfe They that despise me shall be despised As also by the mouth of Osee. This People doth not acknowledge that I giue them Wine Wheate and Oyle and therefore I shall make them to acknowledge it by taking these things from them leauing them poore hungrie and miserable Thirdly Hee aduiseth the Faithfull to procure to preserue the goods of Grace and the right and hope which they haue in the Kingdome of Heauen lest God should translate the same to a Nation that should bring forth better fruit leauing them in the darkenesse of errours heresies without Priests without Sacraments without Scriptures without God and passing these his good graces ouer to a People that haue not knowne his Law For though God chops and changes Kingdomes yet hee neuer takes away his Riches and his blessings Tene quod habes â—e alius accipiat Coronam tuam Hold fast that thou hast lest another come and take thy Crowne from thee It is Saint Iohns in his Apocalyps God remooued Adam out of Paradice God will raise seed out of stones and make barren places to bring forth fruit Et dabitur Genti facienti fructum And it shall be giuen to a Nation that shall bring forth fruit The Princes of the earth takes away the wealth of one of his Ministers giues it to another puts away a bad seruant takes in a worse remooues a full fed Flie and claps a leane Carrion in his roome Ioshuah tooke ten stones out of Iordan and put other ten in the places of them This is a figure of the Worlds Reformation Offices are euerie day chopt and changed twelue pibble Stones are rowled out of the Court and twelue others are tumbled in in their stead But God is of another kind of temper he makes choice of a people that shall bring forth Fruit Hee takes the Kingdome from Saul giues it vnto Dauid I will giue it to one that is better than thy selfe Hee toke away the Priesthood from Shebna who grew fat therein like a Capon in a Coope and gaue it to Eliakim Who was as it were a father of the Inhabitants of Ierusalem The sons of Ely died and Samuel succeeded in the Priesthood Suscitabo mihi Sacerdotem fidelem I will raise vnto me a faithfull Priest God raise vs vp all to newnesse of life and let not our vnthankfulnesse cause him to thrust vs out of this vineyard which he hath planted for vs but that we may return him some fruits thereof that he may be glorified here by vs on Earth and we receiue from him a Crowne of eternall glory in Heauen THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON VPON THE SATVRDAY AFTER THE SECOND SONDAY IN LENT LVC. 15. Homo quidam habuit duos filios A certaine man had two Sonnes c. AMongst the rest of the Parables this Parable is treated of and is diuided into foure parts The first relates the resolution of an idle young fellow desirous to see the world and to haue his fathers leaue to trauell The second His vnaduised actions lewd courses lauish expences and the miseries that befell him thereupon The third The consideration of his own wretched estate his returning home to his fathers house all totter'd and torne weake and hungerstarued The fourth His fathers kind reception of him and the joy that he took in this his lost sonne This followes verie fitly that former Parable of the Vineyard That being full of feare this of hope That of the rigour of justice this of the regalos of mercie That checkes a sinner in his sinnes this spurs him on to repentance And these are those two Poles whereon the whole gouernement of God dependeth A certaine man had two sonnes In these two sons are represented vnto vs the just and the sinnefull man For this life is a Net which holds all sorts of fishes it is an heape of Corne where the Chaffe is mixed with the Wheat it is a flock of Sheep and Goats a bodie consisting of contrarie humors a ground of good seed and of tares All are the sonnes of God by creation but not by adoption Fathers may haue sonnes alike in fauour but not in conditions Adam to his Abel had a Caine Noah to his Shem had a Cham Abraham to his Isaac had an Ismael Isaac to his Iacob had an Esau Dauid to his Salomon had an Absalon and Salomon himselfe had a Rehoboam So haue most men that haue many children and God himselfe hath some crosse froward and peruerse children Adolescentior ex illis The younger of them The
ashamed it is Salomons And Ecclesiasticus saith Laugh not with thy son leâ—t thou be sorie with him and lest thou gnash thy teeth in the end Giue him no libertie in his youth and winke not at his follie Bow downe his necke while he is young beat him on the sides whilest he is a child lest he wax stubborne and be disobedient vnto thee and so bring sorow to thine heart c. Men ought to be verie circumspect in giuing too much licence and libertie to young Gentlemen whilest they are in the heat and furie of their youth and that their wanton bloud boyleth in their veines It is no wisdome in parents to giue away their wealth from themselues and to stand afterwards to their childrens courtesie Giue not away thy substance to another lest it repent thee no not to thine owne children For better it is that thy children should pray vnto thee than that thou shouldest looke vp to the hands of thy children To this doubt satisfaction hath formerly beene giuen by vs in a Discourse of ours vpon this same Parable but that which now offers it selfe a fresh vnto vs is That albeit the Father saw that his libertie his monys his absence would be his Sonnes vndoing yet hee likewise saw his amendment his repentance and what a future warning this would be vnto him And so hee chose rather to see him recouered after he was lost than violently to detaine him and to force him to keepe home against his will which would bring forth no better fruits than lowring and grumbling Saint Augustine saith That it seemed a lesser euill to God to redresse some euills than not to permit any euill at all Melius judicauit de malis benefacere quam mala nulla esse permittere God would not haue thee to sinne neither can he be the Author of thy sinnes but if men should not commit sinnes Gods Attributes would lose much of their splendor Saint Paul speaking of himselfe saith That God had forgiuen him though he had beene a persecuter and blasphemer of his holy Name c. And why did hee doe this Vt ostenderet omnem patientiam gratiam My sinnes saith he were the occasion that God pardoned me and his pardoning of mee was the cause of the Worlds taking notice of his long suffering and his great goodnesse This may serue for a verie good instruction to those that are great Princes and Gouernours of Commonwealths and may teach them how to punish and how to beare with their subiects and it belongeth no lesse to the name of a good Gouernour to tollerate with prudence than to punish with courage And Salomon giues thee this caueat Noli esse multum justus Et not thou iust ouermuch Congregatis omnibus When he had gathered all together What a strange course was this that this young man ranne First of all hee leuelled all accounts with his father shutting the doore after him to all hope of receiuing so much as one farthing more than his portion If he had left some stocke behind him that might haue holpe him at a pinch if he should chance to miscarrie in this his journey for he was not sure that he should still hold Fortune fast by the wing he had done well and wisely but he made a cleane riddance of all as well mooueables as immooueables Et congregatis omnibus c. Secondly What a foolish part was it in him to leaue so good a Father and so sweet and pleasant a Countrie being both such naturall tyes of loue to Mans brest The loue of a Father is so much indeered in Scripture that great curses and maledictions are thundred out against vnlouing and vnkind childeren And the loue of a mans Countrie is such a thing saith Saint Augustine that God made choice to trie of what mettal Abraham was made by such a new strange kind of torment as to turne him out of his Countrie Egredere de Terra tua de Cognatione tua Goe from thy Land and from thy Kindred Saint Chrysostome saith That euen those Monkes which left the world for their loue to God and to doe him seruice did notwithstanding shew themselues verie sencible of their absence from their natiue soyle and their fathers house But those sorrowes and lamentations which the Children of Israell made when they were on their way to Babylon indeere it beyond measure If I forget thee ô Ierusalem let my right hand forget her cunning If I doe not remember thee let my tongue cleaue to the roofe of my mouth yea if I prefer not Ierusalem in my mirth c. But much more fearefull is the resolution of this young man in the thing that is signified thereby To wit That a Sinner shall so exactly summe vp all his reckonings with God that he shall not haue any hope at all left him neither in his life nor his death of one onely dramme of mercie There are some Sinners that giue their wealth to the World but not all some giue God their lips but not their hearts some their memorie but not their will some their will but not their vnderstanding some are dishonest and yet Almesgiuers some couetous and yet deuout like those Assyrians which liued in Samaria who acknowledged God his Law yet worshipped Idolls But to giue all away as the Prodigall did is a desperate course Besides It is a miserable case that this Prodigall should not bee sencible of leauing so good a Father as God of renouncing so rich an Inheritance as Heauen and of being banished for euer from so sweet and pleasant an habitation But he is so blind that he loueth darkenesse and abhorres the light which is a case so lamentable that it made Ieremie to crie out Obstupescite Coeli Be amazed 〈◊〉 Heauens Profectus est in Regionem longinquam He tooke his journey into a farre Countrie No man can flie from God per distantiam loci be the place neuer so farre off no distance can bring vs out of his reach If I ascend vp vnto Heauen thou art there if descend into Hell thou art there also And certainly if there were any one place free from his presence all the Prodigals of the world would make that their Rendezuous and liue there Ionas flying from God left the earth and entred into the sea where there were so many Serjeants waiting to arrest him who tooke hold of him and threw him into prison that darke dungeon of the Whales bellie So that there is not any thing saith Anselmus in the Concaue of Heauen which can escape the eye of Heauen no though a man should flie from East to West and from the South vnto the North. So this Prodigall flying from his Fathers house fell vpon a poore Farme flying from Fulnesse lighted vpon Hunger and these were Gods executioners appointed to punish his follie Into a farre Countrie He came to the Citie of Obliuion whose Inhabitants are without
number Saint Augustine saith Regio longinqua obliuio Dei est This far Countrie is the forgetting of God and he that in this kind is farre from him is in no kind at all Fame had presently blowne it ouer all the Countrie that a young Gallant was newly come to towne liberall rich and generous Presently as it is the custome of those that are in great Cities as if some wonder had beene to be seene they come as thicke vnto him as Bees come to honey The third day after his comming thither hee walkes the streetes attended on by a companie of braue Poets Musitions Iesters Gamesters and Vnthrifts they carrie him to a Dicing house anon after to a Whore house for these two are neuer far asunder where hee enters into conuersation with women whom the Holy-Ghost stiles Multiuolas for the multitude of their longings or for their many and diuers minds in desiring many things wishing one while this another that Who beeing as Saint Bernard saith more insatiable than Hell are euermore a crying like the daughters of the Horse-leech Affer affer Bring bring He was willing on the one side to shew himselfe franke and free but on the other the thirst of these Horse-leeches was greater than his Purse was able to satisfie At last his money was all spent and gone and impawning his apparell piece after piece hee was in the end left bare and naked Eratfames valida in Terra ipse caepit egere Now when he had spent all there arose a great Dearth throughout that Laâ—d and hee began to be in necessitie It so fell out that it was a hard yeare whereupon he began to suffer hunger pouertie and extreame want There was no such necessity that this should haue prooued so hard a yeare vnto him for a prouident man would haue prouided for a deere yeare well for want of that he sees himselfe now in want Whilest Sampson had his strength about him hee was courted by Dalida and shee made much loue vnto him but when shee found that his force failed him she began to vexe him and to mocke at him and when shee had her purpose she cared not a pin for him Whilest Dauid was quiet in his Kingdome Shimei durst neuer reuile him but he no sooner saw him flie from Ierusalem halfe naked and with one shooe off as they say and another on but that this his rancor brake forth which durst neuer shew it selfe before And making post hast he hies him out of the Citie after him and there before all the people venting the gall of his long conceiued malice hee falls a rayling most bitterly against him I am poore and wretched Marke I pray what followes My Louers and my Neighbours did stand looking vpon my trouble and my Kinsemen stood afarre off Many stood looking on him but none would come in to helpe him Those friends which before made great reckoning of Iob when they saw him sitting on the Dunghil they began to scorne and despise him Those Princes that were confederate with Ierusalem forsooke her in her affliction and left her all alone Philon reporteth That the Samaritans whilest the Iewes were in prosperitie stucke verie close vnto them and esteemed of them as of their friends and Kinsemen Art thou greater than our Father Iacob said the Samaritane woman calling Iacob Father as long as the Iewes power and prosperitie lasted but no sooner downe the wind but they wind their neckes out of the coller acknowledging neither friendship nor kindred Of those Fishes which they call Vigiliales your Naturalists doe report That when the Starres are cleere and shine bright they come and skip and play aboue water seeming therein to applaud their beautie and to sooth and flatter them but when they are dimme and darke they likewise hide their heads and get them gone Of your Batts or Reare-mice as some cal them Fables report That when the Birds came to demaund tribute of them shewing them their brests they sayd they were Beasts And when the Beasts came to them craued the like shewing their wings they pleaded they were Birds In a word Quicke-siluer which is such a profest friend vnto Gold flies from it in the Crysole All flie from the Crysole of pouertie they will not indure to come to the melting pot that is too hot a triall for them Martial said of Homer That if he brought nothing along with him but the Muses hee should haue Tom Drummes entertainement and be shut out of doores Your Whore if you haue no money in your purse wil bid you be gone No penie sayth the Prouerbe no Pater-noster The Prodigall now sees himselfe naked and hungrie and what shift to make he knowes not for after a fulnesse comes a Famine and after brauerie beggerie especially when men will wilfully cast themselues into it when they need not For he God be thanked was well had he had the grace to know when he was wel And therefore saith Malachie If ye will not heare nor consider it in your heart to giue glorie to my name I will corrupt your Seede and cast dung vpon your faces I will make yee also to be despised and vile before all the people Adhaesit vni Ciuium He went and â—laue to a Citisen of that Countrie c. He was now driuen to seeke out a Master and forced to serue out of pure hunger It was his hap to light vpon a cruell Snudge a hard hearted Tyrant who sent him to a Farme house that he had in the Countrie to keepe Swine where hee faine would but could not fill his bellie with that feeding which was flung out to the Pigges This was a verie miserable change But God many times deales thus with his vntoward Children that they may see the difference that is betwixt Master and Master House and House Fare and Fare God did deliuer Rehoboam King of Ierusalem from the hands of Shiâ—hacke King of Aegypt but suffered him to bee his Tributarie that he might make triall of the difference that was from subiection to subiection God said to his People I will that ye go downe into Aegypt that ye may see what it is to serue me what Pharaoh Petrus Chrys. tels thee That in thy Fathers house thou inioiest a sweet kind of life a free seruitude a ioyful feare a rich pouertie a safe possession a quiet conscience and a holy fulnesse As for labour and paines taking if there bee any that is put to thy Fathers account But this thy felicitie goes further than so Salomon throughout all the third Chapter of his Prouerbs goes promising blessings to a wise and obedient Sonne threatning many euills to come vpon that child that shall be crosse and vntoward to his Parents As a long and prosperous life hath fauor both with God and Men health fulnesse Barnes filled with aboundance Presses that shal burst with new Wine summing there vp all possible and imaginable felicitie But otherwise goes it
thy hired Seruants Gilbertus the Abbot saith That these were verie humble and submissiue thoughts as he was a Sonne but somewhat too affronting for so free and liberal a Father say his deseruings were neuer so poore neuer so meane such weake hopes and such a base opinion could not but bee a great iniurie to so good and gratious a Father Gregorie Nazianzen saith of him Others cannot receiue more willingly than he giues cheerefully To the Couetous and to the Needy there is not any content comparable to that of receiuing yet greater is the contentment which God taketh in giuing He reuealed to Abraham his purposed punishment vpon Sodome and onely because he should beg and intreat for their pardon and this Patriarke was sooner wearie in suing than God in granting And if God did demand his Sonne of him it was not with an intent to haue him sacrifice him for hee diuerted that Sacrifice but to take occasion thereby to giue him a type of the offering vp of his owne Sonne giuing a shadow of desert to that which came not within the compasse of desert What says the Abbot Guaricus He that gaue his sonne for the redeeming of Prodigalls What can he denie vnto them God is so liberall saith Tertullian that hee loseth thereby much of his credit with vs for the World gaines a great opinion when with a great deale of leisure and a great deale of difficultie it slowly proceeds in doing good but God he loseth this respect through his too much facilitie and frankenesse in his doing of his courtesies The Gentiles saith this learned Doctor judging of Faith by outward appearances could not be persuaded that such facile and mean things in outward shew could inwardly cause such supernaturall effects and such diuine Graces as in that blessed Sacrament of Baptisme When he was yet a great way off c. The Prodigall desired that his Father would intertaine him into his seruice as an hired seruant and hee had no sooner sight of him but he ran with open armes to receiue him and was so ouerioyed to see him and made him that cheere that the Prodigall knew not how now to vnfold his former conceiued words Saint Iohn in forme of a Citie saw that coelestiall Ierusalem and saith That it had twelue gates and in each of them an Angell which did typifie two things vnto vs The one That the gates were open The other That the Angells shewed the content they tooke in expecting our comming to Heauen When thou doost not like of a guest thou wilt get thee from the doore but if thou loue him thou wilt hast thither to receiue him But this his father did more for he no sooner spied his sonne afarre off but he hasted out of his house to imbrace him presently puts him into a new suit of cloaths that others might not see how totterd and torne he was returned home But God went a step further than all this for hee repaires to him to the Pigges-stie to put good thoughts into his head Loue vseth to make extraordinarie haste in relieuing the wants of those persons whom wee loue And forasmuch as God loueth more than all the Fathers besides in the world hee made greater hast than any other Father could Inclinauit Câ—elos descendit Hee bowed the Heauens and came downe That he might not detaine himselfe in descending he made the heauens to stoope Salomon saith of Wisedome That none shall preuent her diligence and care Though he rise neuer so early to seeke her a man shall alwayes find her sitting at his doore Assidentem enim illam foribus tuis inuenies So it is with God he is still readie at hand to helpe vs wee no sooner seeke him but he is found Lord for thy mercie sake preuent vs still with thy louing kindnesse and by bringing vs to a true acknowledgement of our sins lead vs the way to life euerlasting THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON VPON THE THIRD SVNDAY IN LENT LVC. II. Erat Iesus eijciens Daemonium And Iesus was casting out a Deuill c. IN this Gospell is contained that famous Miracle of one that was possessed with a Deuill beeing deafe blind and dumbe As also the applause of the People the calumnie and slander of those Pharisees who did attribute it to the power of Belzebub Our Sauiours defending himselfe with strong forcible reasons The good old woman who blessed the wombe that bore our Sauiour and the Paps that gaue him sucke Whose name was Marcella With whom the fruit of this Miracle endeth Erat Iesus eijciens Daemonium To vnweaue the Deuills Webs and vndoe his Nets is a worke so sole and proper to Gods omnipotencie that if the Deuills malice had not intangled the World therewith Gods goodnesse had not come to vnknit it And this I hold to be sound Diuinitie First Because it is the opinion of the most antient and grauest Doctors Secondly For those places of Scripture it hath in it's fauour As that of Esay Is it a small thing that thou shouldest be my Seruant to raise vp the Tribes of Iacob and to restore the desolations of Israel But Saint Iohn doth expresse this more plainly Christ came into the world to this end that he might destroy the workes of the Deuil Now Dissoluere is properly to vndo a deceit that is wrought Dissolue colligationes impietatis Cancell those Obligations Bonds Schedules Acknowledgments which thou hast vniustly drawne thy Creditours to set their hands thereunto Omnem Cautionem falsâ—m saith Symmachus disrumpe The Septuagint read it Omnem Scripturam iniquam Saint Hierome Chirographa And to the end that the drift of this Language may be the better vnderstood it is to be noted That a man when he sinnes sells himselfe to the Deuill making this sale good vnder his owne hand writing The Deuill hee buyes and the Man he sells and the Damned confesse as much in Hell Wee haue driuen a bargaine with Death and haue made a couenant with Hell And if the Deuill had proceeded herein fairely honestly and according to Law and Iustice this knot would hardly haue beene vnknit but for that he is a Father of falsehood of deceit and of cosinage there are three great annullities to be found in this his Contract First An enormious excessiue losse buying that Soule for little or nothing which cost an infintte price Gratis venundati estis Secondly A notorious cosinage in that he promised that which hee was not able to performe Sicut Dij Thirdly Mans being vnder yeares it beeing a ruled Case That any such sale without the consent of the Guardian is of no validitie in Law And that too must be for the benefit of the Ward Fourthly That he that inhabits another mans house if he vse the same amisse the Law takes order that he bee turned out of it Now the Deuill inhabiting this house of man makes a dunghill thereof and besides payes no rent for it to the Bodie
reason for it If the master of the family were called by the name of Belzeebu◠what name will they giue to those of his house Gregorie Nazianzen treating of certaine Heretickes who made the diuine persons disequall sayth In bona◠partem hoc accipe Sancta Trinitas nec tu stultorum linguas prorsus effugisti O blessed Trinitie receiue my words with that good intention which I deliuer them thou hast not escaped cleere from the tongues of fooles It ought therefore to bee a great comfort vnto thee that those fooles should mutter against thee that spake ill of God The Athenians sentenced one Iupido a base fellow to bee put to death in Phocions company who was a famous man and Iupido weeping as he went along to execution Phocion sayd vnto him Why doost thou weepe Thinkst thou it a small happinesse that thou must dye in my company The like words doth Nazianzen vse to those that are iniured by the tongues of fooles Thinkest thou it a small happines that thou shouldst suffer therein with God Saint Chrysostome sayth That an euill tongue is worse than a dogge for hee onely teares a mans cloaths and his flesh but an ill tongue mens honours liues and soules Saint Bernard sayth That it is worse than that piercing of our Sauiours side with the speare For that speare did but wound the dead bodie of our Sauiour Christ but this sting of the tongue our Sauiour beeing aliue the one therein beeing lesse cruell than the other Dauid sayth That an ill tongue differs but little from Hell From the depth of Hels wombe and from a foule tongue good Lord deliuer vs. Where you see he makes it a peece of his Letanie Many doe murmure by intimating a secret This is onely committed to thy brest whence it neuer ought to goe out They doe not consider who commit a secret to a man that therein they inioyne him not to keepe it It is a great foolerie to thinke that another will keepe that secret which thou thy selfe couldst not conceale And as great a folly is it that thou shouldst hold him vnfaithful who reuealeth thy secret and take thy selfe to be loyall when as thou wast vnfaithfull to thy selfe Thou doost not keepe that secret which God and his Law commands thee and thou holdst him disloyall that breakes but the Lawes of the World Thou defamest thy neighbour by reuealing his defects to thy friend and yet wouldst faine make show that thou art very tender of his honour But Iesus knew their thoughts and sayd Euery Kingdome deuided against it selfe shal be desolate Mathew recounting another Miracle of a dumbe Deuill the Scribes the Pharisees sayd In principe daemoniorū c. Our Sauior at that time did dissemble their blasphemie hoping as S. Chrysostome sayth that the splendor of that Miracle should by little and little ouercome them But perceiuing in this Miracle that they perseuered in their malice and that his silence gaue occasion vnto them to increase their suspition hee made a short and cutted Sermon vnto them For there are occasions wherein a man ought to bee silent and wherein he ought to speake And so those two places in the Prouerbs which seeme quite contrarie are well reconciled Answere not a foole according to his foolishnesse least thou also be like him And againe Answere a foole according to his foolishnesse least he be wise in his owne conceit To reply sometimes to the fooleries of a foole is to be a foole And not to reply vnto him is to giue him occasion to take himselfe to be wiser than he is These two places Saint Cyprian quoteth in that his Tract which he made against Demerianus Who grew so shamelesse and so impudent in commending Paganisme and condemning Christianitie that after a long silence he brake out and sayd Vltra tacere non oportet I may no longer hold my peace The like course did our Sauiour here take with the Scribes and Pharisees And for the better conuincing of them he made answer to their inward thoughts which is a propertie onely belonging to God Not because they did not blaspheme him with their mouths for the word Dixerunt proues that sufficiently but because they did either blaspheme him between their teeth as Saint Chrysostom will haue it or because some did vtter this blasphemie with their mouth and other some with their heart Euery Kingdome diuided in it selfe Although the Deuils are at a continuall discord amongst themselues yet against Man they euermore ioyne their forces together according to that of Esay Et discurrent daemonia Onocentaurus Bilosus clamauit alter ad alterum Make a squadron of Deuills and of your Birds of rapine and you shall find that they will combine themselues together for our hurt Aristotle hath obserued that your tamer sorts of fowles as Pigeons Geese Cranes and Thrushes goe together in flockes and keepe companie and friendship one with another But your Birds of Rapine as your Eagles Kytes Vultures and the like go still alone by themselues So the Deuils neuer keepe companie amongst themselues but against Man they lincke and combine themselues Iob compares them to strong shields that are sure scaled being set so close one to another that no winde can come betweene them nor any the least ayre pierce through them One is ioyned to another They sticke so together that they cannot be sundred This is a stampe of that strict vnion which is betwixt the Deuill and his Members For the reprobate according to Saint Gregorie set themselues against Man Saint Luke sayth of the Faithfull of the Primitiue Church They were all of one mind and of one heart For though euery one in particular was the Sonne of his Father and the sonne of his Mother yet Charitie made them all sonnes of one Soule and one Heart And as the children of God linke themselues together in loue so the Deuils and the wicked ones ioyne together in malice And here by the way we may in the Church take one case into our consideration which is a great dishonour to Christianitie and a great glorie vnto Hell to wit That the Deuills beeing such enemies amongst themselues should yet confederate themselues for our hurt And that Christians tied by so many great and glorious titles to bee louing friends each to other should euerie foot disagree not onely in point of their owne priuat profit but in causes appertaining to God That King with King and Prince with Prince should wage war about the partition of their Kingdomes it is not much But that Prelate with Prelate Diuine with Diuine and Preacher with Preacher should bee at difference this is somewhat strange Vnde bella lites in vobis Saith Saint Iames Form whence are warres and contentions amongst you is it not onely from your owne lusts that fight in your members But Sathan that sower of discord doth also sollicite and incite thereunto euen the holiest and best sort of people
was fit that Heauen should put a taske and a tye vpon this our tongue least it should lash out too farre And therefore her Sonne when he was vpon the Crosse and tooke his last farewell of his mother he said vnto her Woman behold thy sonne giuing her that name rather than of Mother least some superstitious people might attribute the Diuine nature vnto her and so rob God of his honour And the brests which thou hast suckt She praiseth her wombe and her brests There are two things entertaine a sweet correspondencie a womans conception in her wombe and the manifestation thereof in her brests Iust so doth it succeed with the Soule in it's conception of God and the brest of the iust man who thereupon doth manifest the guest that lodgeth there Betweene the Vine and the Wine there is that good correspondencie that the floures of the Grape participating of it's sweetnesse sends forth a most pleasant odour So likewise when the floures of Christ beginne to bud in the Soule the brest of Man doth streightway thereupon breath forth a most sweet and redolent odour Beatus venter Blessed is the wombe This was Mans first Heauen the first place wherein God bestowed this his greatest happinesse and blessing vpon Man It is a happinesse to Man when his Vnderstanding sees God and when his Will loues him taking pleasure therein as in his chiefest good Now the first eyes that saw God and the first will that loued God and placed his ioy delight therein was that of our Sauior Christ and Maries wombe being the receptacle of this happinesse it came to bee mans first Heauen The first Adam was earthly because formed of earth the second heauenly because formed of Heauen Before this time he had no set habitation For hee dwelt not in any house from the day that he brought the Children of Israel out of Aegypt c. His glorie was represented in Tabernacles Tents poore Pallaces ywisse for God Salomon did better it with his Temple which Fabrick was the worlds wonder but not so worthie God that our eyes could see him well might our will be good But this most blessed Virgin had fitted and prepared so rich a temple for him in her womb that God himself came down to dwel there Some seeme to doubt or rather wonder why God should so long deferre his comming in the flesh He stayd so long that the Holy-Ghost might prepare and dresse vp this Temple of the Virgins Wombe Vt dignum filij tui habitaculum offici mereretur spiritu sancto cooperante praeparasti Thou didst trim vp ô Lord the bodie and soule of this blessed Virgine and didst furnish her with thy cheese Graces that shee might be made a fit and worthy pallace for thy Sonne Blessed is the Wombe This commending of the Sonne was a great honor to the Mother The common currant is That children doe battle much vpon their parents worth And therefore they doe so vsually blazon forth the noble actions of their Ancestors And by how much the more antient they are the more glorious is their coat of Armes True it is that fathers doe sometimes participate of the glorie of their sonnes according to that of Ecclesiasticus Hee that teacheth his sonne greeueth the enemy and before his friends he shall reioyce of him Of meane men they many times come to be famous and renowned throughout the World Homer relates of Hylacius that the valour of his sonnes did giue him amongst the Cretenses the name of God And when the Senate of Rome did crown any of their Citisens their fathers were innobled thereby And Ioseph hauing incurred the hatred and displeasure of his brethren because he dreamt that the Sunne the Moone and the twelue starres did adore him the sacred Text sayth That the father Rem tacitus considerabat did lay it vp in his heart as one that did imagine that from the prosperitie of the sonne there might some honour redound to the father Cornelius Tacitus relateth in his Annals that the Emperour Tiberius beeing importuned by many that amongst other his surnames he would assume some one of his Mothers for his greater honour made answere That the Mother was not to honour the Emperour but the Emperour the Mother But this their glorie is so short that looking backe whence they came they can make it scarce reach so farre as their great Grandfathers But the glorie of our Sauiour Iesus Christ our Redeemer did reach as farre as vnto King Dauid and could draw his Pedegree from the Patriarch Abraham Whome that hee might honour them the more he stiles himselfe in the Gospell to be their sonne Filij Dauid filij Abraham where it is to be noted that after so many ages so many changes and alterations both of the times and the people of Kings Iudges and Captaines in the end there being an interuention of two and fortie generations the glorie of Christ attained to the hundred Grandfather And by calling himselfe the sonne of Dauid and of Abraham hee reuiued their remembrance and made them thereby more famous And if in so large a distance of time it wrought so noble an effect treading so neer vpon the tract of these latter times that there was no wall now betweene the Mother and the Sonne her blessed Wombe and his most happie Birth what a glorie must it be vnto her what a happines vnto vs Emisenus treating in a Sermon of his touching the assumption of our Lady and with what honour shee was receiued into Heauen sayth Those great riuers of glorie which the Sonne had gained both in Heauen and in Earth returned backe againe that day imploying their best speediest course in the honoring of his Mother Saint Ambrose stiles her the forme of God Either because shee was the forme or mold through which God did thus transforme himselfe by taking our humane shape vpon him or else because the graces of God though not in so great a measure were translated or transferred ouer vnto her A mould made of earth is not bettered by the mettall which it receiueth though it be neuer so good gold But by the gold of Christs Diuinitie the Vâ—gines Wombe was much the better and the purer by it And therefore it is sayd Beata quae credidisti Blessed art thou that didst beleeue For all c. the types figures and promises of God remained more compleat and perfect in thee than in any other creature Quin imo beati qui audiunt Verbum Dei custodiunt illud But hee sayd yea rather blessed are they that heare the Word of God and keepe it These words may carrie with them a threefold sence The one That the word Quin imo may be aduersatiua implying a kind of repugnancie or contradiction and that correcting as it were what Marcella sayd he doth mend and better her speech Doost thou saith hee terme my mother blessed Thou art deceiued for shee is not blessed for that
it came to passe that they called it his Countrie and his Citie Secondly Because he there first began to preach the Gospel fulfilling therein saith Saint Mathew that Prophecie of Esay The darkenesse shall not be according to the affliction that it had when at the first he touched lightly the land of Zebulon and the land of Nepthalie nor afterwards when he was more grieuous by the way of the sea beyond Iordan in Galilee of the Gentiles The people that walked in darkenesse haue seen a great light they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death vpon them hath the light shined Thirdly For those many miracles which he wrought therein as that of him that was sicke of the Palsey and let downe from the house top that of the dumbe man that was possessed with a Deuill that of the Centurions Seruant that of the woman who touching the hemme of his garment was cured of her bloudie Fluxe which shee had beene sicke of so many yeares before Heere did he raise vp the daughter of the Archisynagoguian and heere did hee giue sight vnto the Blinde besides many other vnmentioned by the Euangelists Fourthly After his Resurrection hee threw a thousand fauours vpon that Countrie A few paces from that Citie he appeared to Peter Thomas and Nathaniel who had fisht all night and caught nothing willing them to cast the Net out vpon the right side of the Ship And as Brocardus reporteth it vpon a stone of that riuer he left the print of the soles of his feet three seuerall times With these his fauours he had stirred vp such enuies and jealousies in those of his own Countrie that they said vnto him Physition heale thy selfe But our Sauior Christ directed all these to the Nazarites good to the end that these their jealousies might master their incredulitie and rebellion and put spurres to their desires A father hath two sonnes one much made of the other neglected and disgraced this kind vsage makes the better beloued of the two obstinate churlish and vnquiet And because that jealousies and enuie may breake this his hardnesse of nature and mollifie this his stubborne condition he calls this slouenly tatter'd and despised child of his and sayes vnto him Thou art my sonne and my beloued This faire kind of course did God first take with the Iewes For his loue to them did he plague Aegypt diuide the sea drowne Pharaoh rob the Aegyptians of their Iewells suffered not their garments to grow old nor their shooes on their feet to weare out fed them with bread from Heauen gaue them water out of the rocke a Piller seruing them by night for a Torch by day for a Tent In conclusion these his ouer great fauours and courtesies toward them made them so hard hearted and so vnthankfull that they prouoked God by a Calfe giuing thereunto the glorie of their deliuerance out of Aegypt This their adoring of a Beast was a strange kind of beastlinesse God hereupon called this ragged child vnto him and threw his loue vpon the Gentiles who liued before in disfauour and disgrace and said vnto the Gentile Thou art my sonne You see him now cast off that was yesterday a Fauourite and carries that thom in his bosome which doth continually pricke him And therefore it is sayd I will giue them a Spirit that shall sting them a worme that shall still lie gnawing at the verie heart of them Yesterday God had his house his habitation among the Iewes his name was called vpon by them but now you see them cast off trodden vnder foot trampled on hated abhorred infamous without honour without a Citie without a Temple without Prophets The calling of the Gentiles the miracles that are wrought amongst them the many fauours that are affoorded them are so many nayls driuen through their soules with tears guttring downe their cheekes they now crie out with Ieremie Our Inheritance is turned vnto strangers Saint Ambrose saith That God did doe this of purpose that through an emulation of zeale the Iewes might bee conuerted vnto Christ. Which is all one with that of Saint Paul Through their fall saluation commeth vnto the Gentiles to prouoke them to follow them In a word To be thrust out of fauour and to haue another come in grace in his roome cannot but be a great torment and affliction to the partie disgraced Quanta audiuimus What great things haue wee heard The reasons which they may alledge for themselues are these First of all Amongst those good seeds which God hath sowne in our brest one is The loue of our Countrie Many haue preferred it before the loue of friends kindred parents nay before themselues their estates and liues Thomas saith That next vnto God we ought not to beare so much loue to anything as to our Countrie he prooues it to be an heroicall vertue to enioy that name for the which we respect God to wit Pittie And they that denie this loue vnto their Countrie we hold them to be men deuoyd of pittie barbarous and cruell Saint Augustine in his Bookes De Ciuitate Dei Thomas and Valerius Maximus quote many examples of men most famous in their loue to their Country As of one Codrus whose enemies hauing receiued answer from the Oracle That if Codrus should be slaine in the battell they should lose the victorie entred in disguise of purpose to be killed Of Curtius who for Romes safetie desperatly leaped into that deepe pit Of Sylla's Host in Praeneste who taking that city by force of Armes and making Proclamation That all the Citisens should be put to the sword saue his host said I wil not receiue my life from him that is the destroyer of my Countrie Of one Thrasibulus whom the Athenians went forth to receiue with so many Crownes as they were Citisens Numberlesse are those examples which wee find in prophane stories And in those that are sacred we meet with that one of Dauid and that other of Iudith who aduentured their liues for their Countrie In a word Nature as Saint Hierome saith planted this loue with that deepe rooting in our brests that Lucian said That the smoke of our owne Chimnies was farre better than the fire of other mens And Plutarch affirmeth That euerie man commends the ayre of his owne Country Hierocles stiles this loue a new God and our first and greatest father Silius Italicus introduceth a father notifying to his sonne That not any fouler sinne did descend vnto Hell than a mans opposing himselfe against his owne Countrie This loue being so due a debt and so deseruing our pittie it causeth no small admiration that Christ our Sauior should grow so cold toward his owne Countrie and multiplie such a companie of miracles vpon other the Cities of Iudea and Israell and performe so few in Nazareth where he was bred Secondly This difficultie is increased by the Nazarites iust request alledging That since he had preached in his owne
of all the whole land besides but his father in law and his owne sonne sought to take away his life and kingdome from him Esay was spit at by the people and ill intreated by them Ieremie was mockt scoffed at and diâ—esteemed and at last they set him in a paire of Stockes Pashur the High-Priest smote Ieremiah the Prophet and put him in the Stockes which were in the high gate of Beniamin that was by the house of the Lord And as Tertullian reporteth it was lastly stoned to death At the Prophet Elisha the boyes did hoot in the streets crying out Bald-pate bald pate Elias was persecuted by King Ahab and his Queene Michah was continually clapt vp in prison Et alij ludibria verbera experti c. In humane Stories we read that Hannibal was banished from Carthage after he had triumphed ouer so many Romane Emperours Lycurgus was pelted out of Lacedemonia with stones the Oracles hauing as it were celebrated him for a god Solon was thrust out of Athens after he had giuen them such wholsome Lawes Themistocles after hee had innobled his Commonwealth with sundrie honourable seruices was forced to flye to the Persians where King Xerxes receiued him with a great deale of honour Bookes are so full of these examples that it were an endlesse labour to relate them That glorious Doctor Saint Ierome giues it as an aduice That he who desires to bee famous must forsake his owne Countrie He that goes to Flanders or to the Indies after hee comes home is the better respected Clement the Pope reporteth That in the Primitiue Church the people would flock to the Sermon of a stranger The fourth Carthaginian Councell made a Decree that it the Bishops did passe through any Townes that were not within their own Iurisdiction that the Gouernors of those places should inuite them to bestow a Sermon on them In a word The first in whose nose Lazarus stunke was Martha For there is no Prophet that is esteemed in his owne Countrey Some man may chance to aske me vpon what this monstrousnesse in nature is grounded Saint Ambrose Saint Ierome and Saint Chrysostome are all of opinion That Enuie is the leauen of this ill as it was of all other euills in the World Saint Chrysostome askes the question what hurt a Prophet doth that Enuie should thus bite him with her venimous teeth And I answer Because she doth not enuie the bad but the good Caine sayth Saint Iude did therefore kill his brother because his workes were good Thomas sayth That Enuy is a sorrowing or repining at another mans good for that it is presumed that it doth lessen and diminish their own honor For the hurt which a man may do to himself and others our wishes against that man proceeds not so much of Enuy as of Zeale And so is it noted by S. Gregorie A Tyrant goes foorth with the Vare of an Alcalde de corte it greeues me and I am heartily sorry for the harme that hee doth to the Commonwealth and his owne conscience Saint Augustine prooues That it is charitie to desire the hurt of a mans bodie for the good of his soule According to that of Dauid Imple facies eorum ignominia confundentur Fill their faces with shame and they will bee confounded Neither is that sorrow which I receiue for myne enemies good fortune to bee termed so much enuie as enmitie Saint Augustine saith That euerie equal enuies his equall because he hath got the start of him and is crept before him And this is the most vsuall and ordinarie kind of enuie as it is deliuered by Aristotle in his Rhethorickes The Inferiour enuieth the Superior because he is not equal vnto him the Superiour the Inferiour lest he should come to equall him The principall harmes of this vice are three The first It pâ—ts great incredultie into the brest of him that enuies the felâ—citie of the Enuied And this it easily effecteth for whatsoeuer is first soured by the Will is euer ill receiued by the Vnderstanding The second If the prosperitie be verie notorious indeed it torments the verie heart of the Enuious for that it is an eclipsing and obscuring of his reputation and honour The third When the Enuious can no other way doe him hurt he endeauors to take away the life of him that is enuied as Caine did Abels and as Saul would haue done the like by Dauid And for that those of Nazareth did behold our Sauiour Christ when at most to be their equall and seeing that hee dispeopled Townes and peopled dispeopled Deserts they did so much enuie this his glorie that first of all they did not beleeue in him secondly they sought to discredit him and not being able otherwise to hurt him they went about to breake his necke Some one perhaps will aske me What aduantage the Naturall hath of the Stranger for to set such an edge on our enuie I answer That too much familiaritie causeth contempt and this our Sauiours conuersing with them was the cause of their neglecting of him To be Towne-borne children to be bred vp from the cradle to the Schoole and from the Schoole to boyes sports and pastimes is a great enemie to the future coÌ„ceiuing of a worthie opinion of that Prophet Iudge or Gouernour And therefore it is well obserued by Saint Ierome They doe not weigh his present worth but haue an eye to his former infancie They that are neerest Neighbours to a good Corrector or Inquisitor are farthest off from conceiuing a good opinion of him Plutarch saith That the spots in the Moone arise from the vapours of the earth for that the earth is neerer to this than any other of the Planets And as it is in the Prouerbes Laruin vezinzad siempre mancha None soyle and spot our name worse than those that are our neerest neighbours especially being ill conditioned Besides Common things neuer cause admiration according to that of Saint Augustine touching the iustification of our soules For though this bee a greater miracle than the casting of Deuills out of our bodies yet we make no such wonder of it And in another place he saith That the motion of the Heauens the influences of the Planets the course of the Starres the Waters Winds and Tempests are meruailous miracles for albeit that they keep on in their course by the order of nature yet that nature should conserue this order for so many Ages it is a verie great miracle yet wee make no such wonder of it And because our Countrie and al that good which it containeth es pan casero de cada dis is euerie day bred with vs wee make no such wonder of it it is not dainty vnto vs and because it is common we account not of it Againe there is this difference betwixt secular and Ecclesiasticall Princes That in them we loue the succession of bloud much esteem of this line all discent in nature and for
c. Many more besides were conuerted in Capernaum And he that promised Abraham to pardon Sodome if hee could find but ten iust men therein and he that left the ninetie nine sheep to follow that one that was lost and when he had found it tooke it vp and kist it and layd it on his necke and he that swept his house cleane to looke his lost groat and he that suffred the tares to grow till reaping time was come that hee might not hurt the wheat it was not much that he should doe miracles in Capernaum where the Centurion and his Seruant were conuerted as also hee that was sicke of the Palsey besides the chiefe Ruler of the Synagogue and his whole house Whence it is to be noted That what the Deuill could not effect with our Sauiour Christ to wit That he should do miracles to a needlesse and vnprofitable end the Nazarites went about to bring to passe shewing themselues therein his true children So that our Sauiour might verie well say that vnto them which he said to the Pharisees It is the nature of the Deuills sonnes to fulfill the desires of such a Father God commanded Abraham That he should sacrifice his sonne and the Deuill being desirous to equall God commanded the Gentiles to sacrifice their sonnes They did sacrifice their sonnes and daughters to Deuils 〈◊〉 that wicked King of Israel applying himselfe to the desires of the Deuill the Scripture giues this touch That he did sacrifice his sonne to Moloch Insuper filium suum consecrauit transferens per ignem secundum Idola gentium The eighth reason is That faintnesse and weakenesse that lukewarmenesse or rather coldnesse wherewith the Nazarites did desire these miracles from Christ. And these their poore diligences may sufficiently bee prooued by this That they neuer went out of their own Citie nor left their houses for to heare our Sauior or to see his miracles as those of Iudea and Ierusalem did by troups and others that flockt vnto him from the vtmost borders of Tyrus and Sydon Neither did they send any embassage or message vnto him entreating him to come vnto them nor so much as bring any sicke bodie vnto him to bee cured Whereas Capernaum did dispeople it selfe to goe forth to heare his Word The Centurion came forth likewise to seeke him beseeching him humbly on his knee That he would be pleased to make his Seruant whole Others did vntile their house to let downe him vnto him that was sicke of the Palsey c. The comparison of one that followes a suit in Law of his owne which imports him much and of him that followes another mans cause which concernes him little the diligences of the one and the carelesnesse of the other are true emblems of the different conditions of Christians Some follow the businesse of their saluation earnestly and industriously other-some negligently making a meere jeasting matter of it and a thing of nothing Herod desired to see our Sauiour Christ but he would not step a foot out of doores to looke after him Whereas the Queen of Sheba came from the vtmost parts of the earth to seeke after the wisedome of Salomon onely vpon a bare report But the Nazarits would not wagge a jot to goe see our Sauiour Christ hauing so short a journey as they had to make And behold a greater than Salomon heere Quid de nocte saith the Prophet What by night The morning commeth and the night if yee seeke seeke Hee borroweth this Metaphor from one that stands Sentinell who heares the word that is giuen afarre off Ha de la vella Que hora es Ho you of the Watch What houre is it And he presently makes answer Quien da vozes sin para que Who is be that calls without a cause I say That the morning comes and the night or rather That the night succeeds the day and the day the night Who knowes not this If thou wilt farther informe thy selfe come where I am Those that dwelt in the mountaine of Seir beeing persecuted by the Chaldaeans sent to know of Esay When that persecution should cease This is that Custos Quid de nocte Sentinell What seest thou by night It vexed the Prophet and made him grow wearie of them that sitting lazing on their tayles at home in their houses they should send to know his mind Onus dâ—ma ad me clamat de Seir To Hierusalem did the Idumaeans crie out vnto me Si quaeritis quaerite Being in that great danger as thou art doost thou stand off doost thou hang taile and wilt not make a little more hast to come vnto thy Sauiour If there were nothing more this were enough to condemne Nazareth The ninth It might happely bee That Nazareth did desire miracles for the honour and glorie that might thereby redound vnto her as that it might be noysed abroad in the world That a Citisen of theirs a Towne-borne child of their owne had done these and these famous miracles such and such singular wonders and that she was to bee esteemed as Ladie and Mistresse of this so rare and rich a Treasure and that our Sauiour being borne there he was bound as they thought to keepe house there and to make Nazareth the onely seat of his ordinarie residence The loue of honour amongst Citisens is so sauorie and so sweet a thing that Cicero in many places stickes not to say That there is not any thing that Nature doth more couet that men are not so much to esteem theâ—â— liues for the present as that fame which is to liue in their posteritie Celebremus nomen nostrum said those of the Tower of Babell That wee may get vs a namâ— And to this end are directed your Scutchions your Armes your Coats your Tombes your Sepulchres and stately monuments And if such a poore City as Peleas remained so famous by the birth of Alexander if Ithaca by Vlysses beeing born there it was not much That Nazareth should boast her selfe and think it a great glorie and honour vnto her to haue the Sonne of God to bee heâ— Citisen The Nazarites likewise might verie well desire miracles for temporall ends as well for the Citie in generall as themselues in particular As those of Iâ—â—escas desire That the Virgin de la Charidad should do famous miracles to the end that some might grow rich by entertaining of guests others by selling of fruits others by their seruice and attendance c. And so was it with these of Nazareth but they tooke their mark amisse in seeking to shut vp such great glorie in so narrow and little a corner of the world as that was confining him to a Fac hic in patria tua When Peter would in Mount Tabor haue had Christs glorie coopt vp in so streight and small a compasse comming vpon him with a Si vis faciamus hic tria Tabernacula and If thou wilt let vs make three Tabernacles Two Euangelists say That he
knew not what he said And Origen addeth That it was impulsu Diaboli by the Deuils persuasion The like may be said of Nazareths request Fac hic in patria tua Christs glorie was to shew it selfe abroad to all the whole world and to shine to al Nations and wilt thou Nazareth make a Monopolie of it and take it all into thyne owne hands The tenth and last Because Miracles are neither necessarie nor of themselues alone sufficient for our saluation Not necessarie because many haue beene and dayly are conuerted without them as S. Mathew the good Theefe and they of Niniuie Not sufficient considering that so many and such strange miracles could not conuert a Pharaoh a Iudas or a Symon Magus c. Many do repeat in the church that Lesson of the Iewes Signa nostra non vidimus God doth not now work miracles in his owne Countrie nor in our Church his owne Spouse and best beloued Those former times were much more happie and farre more inriched not onely with his miracles but also with those of his Seruants Peter did heale with his shadow Stephen saw the Heauens opened Philip in Samaria did cure by hundreds There is no Arithmeticke that can summe vp the full number of those wonders that they wrought And now it seemeth that the fountaine of his grace is drawne drie But the truth is That forasmuch as the Church then was in her infancie and as it were but new crept out of the shell there was a necessitie of the working of them but after that the Church was well growne vp began to grow stronger stronger in the Faith there was no such great need of them Saint Bernard saith That the widdow of Sarepta had now no such great need to be relieued with Oyle and Meale O sayth one if I could but once see a miracle if an Angell should but speake to me if a dead man should arise and speake vnto me c. What should I not then doe But the truth of it is That he that will not beleeue the Scriptures will not beleeue an Angell that comes from Heauen nor one that shall arise from the dead Though God neuer yet was noâ— euer will be wanting to those that put their trust in him by affoording them sufficient meanes for their saluation Nemo Propheta acceptus in patria sua It is an antient complaint That Prophets liue vnhonoured in their own Countrey Now sweet Iesus because thy Countrey does not honour thee wilt not thou accomplish their desire In all that whole discourse of thy life thou didst flye from honour When they sought to make thee King thou didst shunne and auoyd it From that Inscription on the Crosse thou didst wry the necke and turne thy head aside from that glorious Title of Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iewes Thou didst euer declare Humilitie to be thy Daughter and Heire Discite a me quia mitis sum humilis corde Learne of mee for I am meeke and humble Thou wast that Butte gainst which the dishonours of the World did shoote their shaftes Opprobrium hominum abiectio plebis the reproach of men and the outcast of the people Hereunto I answere That our Sauior Christ did direct all his miracles to this end that thereby they might be brought to beleeue that he was the Son of God and the promised Messias as it appeareth out of the tenth of Saint Iohn Vt cognoscatis credatis quia pater in me est c. That ye may know and beleeue that the Father is in me c. And in the eleuenth Vt credant quia tu me misisti That they may beleeue because thou hast sent me And being thus receiued by vs to bee the Sonne of God it turned to our saluation and the Fathers glorie And as that famous Phisition who desires to bee knowne for the recouerie of those that are sicke and for the conseruation of the Commonwealth and as that wise and learned Doctor who desires that his graue and good Instructions might be harkned vnto not for his owne glorie but for the benefit of those that heare him is not to be held an ambitious or vaineglorious fellow but a verie honest man and worthy much commendation Euen so stood the Case with our Sauiour Christ. And Saint Gregorie doth prooue this Doctrine by Saint Pauls owne act Who writing to the Corinthians speakes much in his owne commendation not so much out of an hope-glorious humour to broach his owne praise but to bring others therereby to beleeue the Truth For it is an ordinarie thing with the World not to esteeme of the Doctrine where the person is disesteemed But I tell yee of a very truth many widdowes were in Israell in the dayes of Elias c. He alledgeth these two examples of the Widdow and of Naaman for to take away all suspition of partialitie If thou shalt obiect that God was partiall towards women wee answere That hee did likewise fauour Naaman If towards great and noble persons he did also sustaine the poore widow of Sarepta If towards the common and baser sort of people Hee likewise cured Naaman that was a great Courtier If the richer he prouided also for the poore If towards the poore hee likewise cured Naaman that was rich If towards young folkes such as was Naaman he had also a care of the widow who was an old woman If towards old folkes Naaman was young c. In veritate Comperi quia non est acceptor personarum Deus c. Of a truth I haue found that God is no accepter of persons c. Then al that were in the Synagogue were filled with wrath Whether it were our Sauiours zeale in declaring himselfe to be the Messias out of the authoritie of the Prophet Or whether it were for his comparing them to those of Tyre and Sydon Or for that hee had equalled himselfe with Elias and Elisha which were the two bright Suns of that commonwealth Or that by the examples of Naman the Syrian and the widow of Sarepta hee did signifie vnto them that the grace of the Iews was to be passed ouer to the Gentiles Or for that he had taxed them of their incredulitie and vnthankefulnesse Or whether their hearts through Enuie did swell and rise against him Whether any one or all of these together wrought vpon them Sure I am Repleti sunt ira The men of Nazareth are grown wondrous angrie This place pointeth out two things vnto vs. The one The good requitall Truth findes vpon Earth When they should haue held themselues happie in inioying so soueraigne a good and when they should haue beene prowd of hauing so heauenly a Cittisen and haue humbled themselues on their knees before him adored him then euen then they grew hot and angrie with him and transported with this rage they would haue broken his necke by throwing him downe from a steepe rocke fulfilling thâ—â— saying of Salomon A
precept But leauing this to the Schooles the precept of brotherly correction concurreth with any whatsoeuer heinous â—in or grieuous trespasse whither it be Against thy selfe Against thy neighbour or Against God For to prooue this truth diuers Authors follow these two paths The one That although our Sauior Christ in this his first instance speake of that sinne or trespasse which is committed against my selfe yet by a necessarie kind of consequence he inferreth likewise any sinne that is committed against my Neighbour and against God Against my neighbour because I ought to loue him as my selfe and to bee as sensible of his hurt as of myne owne Against God Because I am bound to prâ—ferre his glorie before myne owne good And if I being wronged God will 〈◊〉 I not onely pardon him but that I also complie with the precept of brotherly correction how much more will he tie me that I should deale â—indly in â—his kind with my brother hee hauing not sinned against me The second part is That this sinning or trespassing whither it be against my Neighbour or against God Thomas saith That I knowing it it is done against me because by scandalizing and proooking of me it doth hurt and offend me And Hadrianus the Lawyer saith That he that sinnes against God sinnes against any whatsoeuer faithfull beleeuer and leaues him iniured and offended For he that wrongs the Father in the Sonnes presence wrongeth also the Sonne and he that wrongeth the Master in the presence of the Seruant wrongeth likewise the Seruant besides Loue which makes things common makes others iniuries ours And if God take those iniuries which are done to thee to be done to himselfe as he said to Saint Paul Why doost thou persecute me And by Zachariâ— He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of myne eye it is not much that thou shouldest reckon those wrongs that are done to God to be done vnto thy selfe The zeale of thy house of thy honor authoritie seeing how the enemies of thy word slight coÌ„temne it consumes my flesh drieth my bones The like loue must make vs sencible of the sins of our neighbor for that they are members of this mysticall bodie of the Church Who is sicke saith Saint Paul and I am 〈◊〉 grieued Either forgiue them this offence or blot me out of the Booke of Life said Moses hauing a fellow feeling of his brethrens faults as had they beene his owne and therefore begs of God that he would either forgiue them or blot him our of the booke of Life Againe Another mans sinne prooues to be my hurt for Gods Iustice punisheth the Righteous with the Sinnefull For the the sinne of Achan there died in Ay three thousand souldiers for the sinnes of the sonnes of Ely Gods people were ouerthrowne by the Philistines and the Arke of the Testament taken captiue for Dauids sinne in numbring the People seuentie thousand of his subiâ—cts perished by the Pestilence By Ionas his disobedience they that went iâ— the same bottome with him were shrewdly indangered the Apostles ranne the like hazard by Iudas Moreouer Sinne is sometimes woont to make the earth barren and to shut vp the windowes of Heauen that they may not send downe any raine to water the drie and thirstie places of the Land and so Sin being a generall hurt to all it is generally done against all If thybrother shall trespasse against thee c. The verie name of a brother is a reason for this Precept for it was condemned in the Leuite and the Priest That they passed by saying their prayers to themselues but tooke no pittie of that poore man that lay almost for dead vpon the way wounded by Theeues Contrarie to that lesson of Ecclesiasticus He gaue euerie man a commandement concerning his Neighbour and a Turke or a Moore may as well bee our neighbour as another And if that housekeeper bee condemned that hath not a care of the Cat or Dog that liues within his doores for al this did S. Paul vnderstand when he said He that prouides not for those of his familie is worse than an Infidell How much more then will God that thou bee carefull of thy brothers health whâ— hath one and the same Father with thee in Heauen and to whom yee both daâ—â—â— say Our Father c. And who hath one and the same mother with thee to wâ—â— the Earth in whose wombe yee were both ingendred and borne anew by Baptisme For three transgressions of Edom saith the Lord and for foure I will 〈◊〉 turne to it because hee did pursue his brother with the sword and did cast off all 〈◊〉 c. Edom was the Metropolis of Idumea and her sinnes beeing come to the number of seuen which in Scripture expresseth a kind of infidelitie God faith I will not turne to it But suppose they were fewer yet some of them it should seem were verie foule ones amongst the rest this of their vnsheathing of their sword against their brother The Idumaeans were descended of Esau as the Iewes were of Iacob And in the conquest of the Land of Promise God commanded his People That they should not doe that hurt to the Idumaean as they had done to the rest of the Nations Quia Frater tuus est Hee is thy brother and thou ougtest to procure his good as thou wouldst thyne owne This benefit by the Idumaeans was repayed to Gods People with a thousand iniuries when the Philistines and those of Tyre ouercame the Israelites as you may read in the second of the Chronicles and the second For the Idumaeans did buy many Iews with intent to make them their slaues Likewise when Gods People had necessarie occasion asking leaue of the Edomites to passe through their Countrie in peace they withstood them with their swords in their hands In a word the enmitie which Esay bare to Iacob for his messe of pottage the blessing that he had stolne from him neither hee nor his posteritie could euer yet digest it though hee and his House had receiued many and those verie good courtesies at the others hands And therefore it is not much that God should condemne an enmitie so antient and so inueterated a hatred especially of one brother against anotheâ— Tell him his fault betweene thee and him alone c. And this is the diuine Law as it appeareth by the Epistle oâ— Saint Paul to the Galathians If a man be fallen by occasion into any fault yee whâ—ch are spirituall restore such a one with the spirit of meekenesse considering thy selfe least thou also be tempted Beare yee one anothers burthen and so fulfill the Law of Christ. And in that of his to Timothie and in that of S. Iames If any of you haue erred fâ—om the truth and some maâ— hath conuerted him Let him know That he which hath conuerted the Sinner from going astray out of his way shall saue a soule from death and shall hide a
graue doctors your summists and Saint Augustine prooues the same out of the words of the Text Lucratus es fratrem tuum Thou hast woon thy brother Now that is not said to be woon againe which hath not beene lost before wee doe not giue a brother for lost for light sinnes and such as ordinarily accompanie our humane frailtie but when his sins are so notorious that the Church doth proceed against them with Excommunications and grieuous censures And if men will hardly beare with small faults in their brethren God forbid but that they should haue an eye to those that are of a higher nature Likewise hee that will correct another man must be free himselfe from that sinne which he reprooueth in another Who can say saith Salomon I haue made my heart clean I am free from my sin Who saith Saint Augustine can so farre forth commend himselfe in this life which is a continuall temptation that he carries a cleane heart Saint Paul aduiseth thee when thou takest thy brother to task goest about to correct him That thou consult and consider with thy selfe least thou thy selfe stand on the like termes and art liable to the same reproofe The third circumstance is When wee see our brother doth still perseuer and continue in this his sinne For for a sinne alreadie past and for the which there hath beene a precedent sorrow and amendment correction is no further needefull for it being dismist Gods Court and being blotted out of the book of his remembrance man ought not to enter a new Action against it If hee will not vouchsafe to heare thee that is obey thee for Audire and Obedire is all one In auditu auris obediuit mihi you may doe as in Christian charitie you see cause alwayes carrying a discreet hand in the businesse But if he shall forthwith hearken vnto thee and obey thy instructions thou must then forbeare to inflict any further punishment or correction vpon him than his owne contrition and submissiue obedience Saint Augustine tells vs That the end of correction is to put a bridle to our sinnes In hamo fraeno maxillas eorum constringe Put a bridle in their mouth and a hooke in their nosthrils and as to the Horse that carrieth himselfe well and handsomely with one bridle it is needlesse to clap two so that Sinner that will be ruled and gouerned with the bridle of the feare of God it is superfluous and more than needs to check him with the curb of correction The fourth circumstance is When wee haue some probable hope of doing good vpon our brother The Physition is not bound to cure that Patient of whom there is no hope of recouerie much lesse if hee feare greater hurt will follow thereupon And this feare or jealousie may bee occasioned two manner of wayes Either in regard of the hardnesse of heart or obstinate condition of the partie that is to be corrected Or in regard of the foolisâ—nesse of the partie correcting For that it is a businesse that will require a great deale of discretion and that amongst all other difficulties belonging to gouernment there is not any poynâ— that is halfe so hard as this First of all For a stubborne heart and an obstinate brest correction is no conuenient meanes the meanes must be regular and make some good end the aime they shoot at Now those meanes from which I can hope for nothing but hurt ought not to oblige me to vndergoe so thanklesse an office Contest not with that man on whom thou shalt but cast away thy labour A Father takes paines and liues poorely and onely to make his sonne a Gentlemen Hee gathers together a greaâ— deale of wealth but knowes not for whom Did he but know that his sonne would prooue a Deuill hee would sooner fire all he had than leaue it to such a sonne If the Goldsmith did but know before hand that his refining of siluer would turne all to drosse he would rather breake his bellows crisols in 1000 pieces than once offer to set himselfe about such an vnprofitable piece of busines Now there are many men which are made worse by correction Acetum in nitro qâ—i cantat carmina corde pessimo There are some kind of persons on whom to bestow reprehension is to poure Vinegre vpon Nitre to bee like vnto him that singeth Songs to an heauie heart It is lost labour to correct a Scorner and such a one as makes but a sport Maygame of sin Among many other of Pythagorâ—â— his Emblemes one saith Ignem gladiâ— ne laeseris Doe not reprehend a cholericke Foole. When Dauid sent those his ten soldiers to Nabal to entreat him to send him some prouision though hee returned a harsh and churlish answer Abigâ—l being a discreet woman said not one word to him till his anger was ouerpast Ieremie brings in the comparison of a wild Asse which is so wilfull a beast and so violent and headstrong in the time of her lust that if any shall seeke to stop or hinder her in this her course shee will kicke and fling at him and breake his bones in pieces Thou art like a swift Dromedarie that runneth by hiâ— wayes and as a wild Asse vsed to the Wildernesse that snuffeth vp the wind by occasion at her pleasure Who can turne her backe All they that seeke her will not wearie themselues but will find her in her moneth There are some Sinners of that knotty disposition and so wedded to their owne will that if you shall but crosse their humour you will hardly escape without a stab Si contuderis stultum in pila non aâ—feretur ab eo stultitia â—ius Though thou shouldest bray a Foole in a Mortâ—r among wheat brayed with a pestle yet will not his foolishnesse depart from him Secondly The little discretion of his that correcteth doth disoblige him from that dutie Ye that are spirituall saith Saint Paul restore such a one with the spirit of meekenesse This is not a businesse befitting carnall men For albeit one weake man is most affected with another mans weakenesse and one that is sicke more sencible of another mans sickenesse yet I am sure That the good bewailes the miserie of the bad and that the euill man is alwayes cruell Correct him in the spirit of meekenesse With that tendernesse as a man would put a tent into a wound or make cleane a Venice-glasse for our nature is more apt for a soft than a rough hand Eliah standing in the mouth of the caue where hee hid himselfe flying from Iezabelâ—â—urie â—urie grew somewhat chollericke and angrie that God should suffer his Ministers to be so much wronged And God appearing vnto him though his zeale for the Lord God of Hosts was great yet because it had not its drammes of discretion to qualifie the eagrenesse thereof a mightie strong winde rent the mountaines and brake the rockes before the Lord after the winde came an earth-quake
sonne commit than to rise vp in rebellion against his owne father but hee considering with himselfe That his sonne had done himselfe the greater hurt called out vnto the men of Warre and said vnto them Seruate mihi puerum Absalon Spare my son Absalon and see you doe not slay him And therefore our Sauiour Christ teacheth vs this Lesson If thy brother receiue the greater hurt of the two by the wrong and iniurie that he doth thee doe not goe about to bee reuenged of him but rather take pittie and compassion of him as thou wouldst be grieued for him who thinking to giue thee a wound should put a stoccado vpon himself die in the place Reprooue therefore thy brother and if he shal hearken vnto thee Lucratus es fratrem tuum Thou hast gained thy brother God hath a great desire that thou shouldst win thy brother to thee gain his soule To this purpose he put that Parable of the Sheepeheard that went forth to seeke his lost Sheepe of the woman that swept euerie corner in her house ouer and ouer to looke her lost groat Which are but expressions of that great care which God taketh in seeking after a Sinner and the desire that he hath to reduce him to his obedience To the like end did he propose that other Parable of the prodigall Child whose argument ends in the great ioy wherewith his father welcommed him home after hee had giuen him for lost And heere in this place hee wiâ—ls euerie one of vs by one meanes or other to win our brother first to deale with him by faire meanes if that will not serue the turne then by foule making his fault knowne to the Prelats of the Church So that it seemes that God when hee cannot worke vs for Heauen by faire and gentle persuasions by loue and intreaties then will hee vse blows stripes beats vs thither before him making vs to feele the weight of his heauie hand Hath not God commanded thee That if thou meet with an Oxe that is fallen thou shouldst not passe forward on thy way till thou hast holpe him vp And yet saith Saint Paul Nun est Deo cura de Bobus What doth God care for Oxen Yet if he will that thou relieue a sillie Oxe how much more will he that thou take pittie of a Sinner that is fallen Saint Chrysostome treating at large How that Seruant was condemned by his Master that kept his Talent wrapt vp in a Napkin not putting it out to some good vse or other sayth That there was sufficient cause enough to condemne him that hee would not venture his Talent for his Masters profit and the good of his brethren God so inrich vs with his grace that we may vse our Talent well that when our Master Christ Iesus shall come and call vs to account we may not be found vnprofitable seruants which God grant for his mercies sake THE XXI SERMON VPON THE WEDNESDAY AFTER THE THIRD SONDAY IN LENT MAT. 15. Tunc accesserunt ad eum ab Hyerosolimis Scribae Pharisaei Then came vnto him from Hierusalem the Scribes and Pharisees THis Gospell is an Embassage which the Scribes and Pharisees performed comming from Hierusalem to Gennezaret a Countrie of Galilee where at that time our Sauiour resided But so foolish an Embassage from a Nation so graue and from a commonwealâ—h so flourishing as that was as Saint Hierome hath noted it was neuer deliuered by any but themselues The Carthusian sayes That these Pharisees were of Zanedrin that supreame Councell which succeeded those seuentie Elders chosen by God for to assist his Seruant Moses in the gouernment of his People And Theophilact saith That the Pharisees were despised throughout all the Cities of that Kingdome but that those of Hierusalem were counted the grauest amongst them more respected than the rest and of all other the proudest and most insolent Who seeing some of our Sauiours Disciples To eat with unwasht hands they made a journey of purpose vnto him The occasion which added wings to their feet the determination which they had in their brests was not that which they here published but the many miracles which our Sauiour wrought in the Land of Galilee for there was not that sicke bodie if he could but come to touch his garmenr but that he was presently made whole And this as Saint Chrysostome hath well obserued was the cause of their comming vnto him Tunc accesserunt Then and not till then did they stirre his fame was now spread abroad and when it had reacht to Hierusalem it grew so great that it strooke the Scribes and Pharisees into such astonishment and stirred vp such enuie in them that desiring to lessen our Sauiours honour cut the wings of his fame a little shorter and disgrace and discredit him in his person they tooke hold of such a foolish and friuolous occasion as the like was neuer heard of As his Disciples washing or not washing their hands picking a quarrell with him and to colour the matter the better they pleaded Custome They came vnto Iesus It is a verie strange thing in my vnderstanding That the Scribes and Pharisees making so little reckoning of that which did import them so much they should now make such a doo about that which did import them so little The rarest and greatest accident that the World euer saw was Christs comming into the World The Iewes did earnestly desire it and beg it so instantly at Gods hands that it was the verie marke and white whereat the sighes and prayers of the Saints did aime and shoot at And when the fame of this his comming was blowne abroad trumpetted farre and neere by the Kings of the East the Sybels and Prophets the diligences of Herod and the death of those innocent Babes the supreame Councell sent some of their Leuites to Iohn Baptist To demand of him What art thou For they standing much vpon their authoritie and greatnes they would not stirre one foot out of doores themselues but heere now they come in person from Hierusalem to Galilee vpon so sleight an occasion as the washing or not washing of the hands making much adoo about a matter of nothing In ordinarie businesses we will trust our seruants sending one this way and another that way but in things that more neerely concerne vs we will take the paines to goe about it our selues But Enuie and Loue are woont sometimes to change hands making Mountaines Mole-hils and Mole-hils Mountaines little much and much little In point of Loue we haue a plaine example thereof in Iacob whom Leahs fruitfulnesse more importing him than Rachaels beautie for Christ came from Iacob by Leah and not by Rachael yet Iacob serued fourteene yeares for Rachael anâ— was well contented with it whereas for Leah he would haue thought halfe a yeare too long a time And such againe might haue beene his loue that Leahs bleerenesse of the eyes might haue seemed more pleasing
so many vultures so many harpies so many fowles of rapine and still the more the more hard the prey is to bee got What then shall that heart doe which hath not wherewithall to defend it selfe And the greater is our feare saith Origen for that all this Armie of our enemies stands armed against vs euen within our owne doores For sinne is so farre foorth sinne as it is voluntarie For if our Will would but stand sentinell without it were impossible for sinne to enter So that the greatest enemie that wee haue is our owne proper Will And therefore our Sauiour sayth That From the Heart come murders c. These are those spots wherewith mans soule is sullied These the staines wherewith he is defiled For those things which man eateth Non coinquinant hominem do not defile man By the Prophet Esay God prophecied of the wretched ruine and miserable desolation of Babilon and paints it forth so to the full that there shall remaine no more reliques thereof than of Hierusalem It shall be made saith he a dwelling for Hedge-hoggs and a standing Poole of filthie stinking waters and as a Citie that is vtterly ouerthrowne and destroyed all shall be as heapes of earth and hollow bankes wherein shall be bread all kind of creeping wormes and vermine and venimous creatures all shall bee pits wherein shall be puddles of water for to make an habitation for Toads Snakes Adders and Serpents This shall bee the wretched condition and miserable estate of this great Babylon He farther addeth That he will sweepe it with a broome a place so foule and so sluttish as well in respect of those heapes of earth and rubbish as also those filthie pooles and stinking puddles of water How is it possible that he should come to sweepe it and make it cleane I will sweepe it cleane from it's sinnes For all other kind of filthinesse whatsoeuer in respect of the foulenesse of sinne are nothing filthie The Hedge-hog the Adder and the Serpent in the holes of the earth nor the poysonfull Toads in the puddles of water are not able to debarre vs of entrance into Heauen but he that is sullied in sin and is not washt cleane with the bloud of our Sauiour Christ let him neuer looke to come there The Hedge-hog with all his prickles shall not hurt thee nor the Adder wiâ—h his teeth nor the Serpent with his sting nor all the venimous Vermine in the World The standing pooles and stinking puddles shall not soile thee but the heaping vp of money and thy keeping of it close in thy Chest when the Poore are readie to starue for hunger haue not a peny to buy them a loafe of bread that is it shall soyle thee and make thy soule all mud and filth That foulenesse which shuts vs out from Heauen is that of sinne and nothing else but that And therefore it is said in the Apocalyps Nihil coinquinatum intrauit in regnum Coelorum Nothing that is filthie shall enter into the Kingdome of Heauen And therefore Saint Chrysostome aduiseth vs That we should haue an eye vnto that which defileth vs seeke to auoyd it Which that we may so do God giue vs the grace for his mercies sake c. THE XXII SERMON VPON THE THVRSEDAY AFTER THE THIRD SONDAY IN LENT LVC. 4. When he was come into Symons House his mother in Law was held with a great Feuer OVr Sauiour Christ hauing throwne out that talking Deuill in Capernaum and inioyned him silence Saint Luke here recounteth his entring into Peters house not into that which Peter and Andrew had in Bethsaida being Naturalls of that Countrie for neither that protinùs of the Euangelist nor the Sabboth wherein they were to walke but a mile will giue way thereunto And though Peter had not a house in Capernaum yet his mother in Law might haue had one there or hee might haue bestowed one on her daughter in dower And albeit Peter had made a renunciation of the proprietie yet might he haue a reseruation of the vse therof as he had of the Nets fishing Rods. S. Marke saith That he went into the house of Symon and Andrew whither it were because it belonged to them both or whither or no because it might haue been Peters fathers house and the fathers house we vse commonly to call it likewise the sonnes house And though the house was poore and meane yet was it no such great wonder that he who had left the Pallaces of Heauen and made choice to bee borne in so poore a thing as Bethlem should for one day make so mean a house his Inne especially the wil of the partie that entertained him being so rich as it was to doe him seruice And Symons wiues mother Saint Ambrose in his booke De Viduis reckons this mother in law of Peters amongst many other that were most famoused and renowned in the world And from this name of Socrus which signifies our wiues mother or a mother in Law Tertullian and Saint Hierome doth inferre that Peter was married for Mother in Law signifieth an affinitie deriued from marriage And howbeit it seemeth vnto Saint Hierome That the wife of Saint Peter was alreadie dead yet Clemens Alexandrinus affirmeth that she was aliue and that she afterwards suffered martyrdome for maintaining the Faith of our Sauiour Christ. But in fine it is a plaine case that he had a wife Iesus rose vp and came out of the Synagogue c. Our Sauiour Christ diuided his whole life into these two stations From the Synagogue to the Sicke And from the Sicke to the Synagogue Where as Saint Luke reporteth it he preached the Law In Hierusalem saith Genebrard there was a principall Temple which had in it foure hundred and eighty Synagogues some more honourable than the other and some lesse and in all the Cities of that Kingdome there was great store of them which occasioned our Sauiour to say They affect the chiefe places in the Synagogues There with a strange kind of silence did the people hearken vnto them and it was counted a great punishment to depriue any Citisen of this so great a good In these Synagogues our Sauiour Christ spent the greatest part of his life and when he went out of them it was to cure the Sicke or to relieue others necessiâ—ies And though now a dayes a Preacher comes sweating out of the Pulpit and goes to a friends house where hee hath warme Napkins clapt about his necke and is much made of yet our Sauiour Christ goes here from Maries businesse to that of Martha's and from that againe of Martha to that of Maries from the Synagogue to the house of Peter because Peters wiues mother was sick Chrysologus saith That it was easie to bee seene what was the motion that carried him along to Peters house Vtique non discumbendi voluptas sed iacentis infirmitas Not so much for his owne ease as to case the Sicke He entred into
the Christ. In fauour of the second to wit That they did not know him wee haue on our side the temptation of our Sauiour Iesus Christ for if the Deuils had known him they would not haue tempted him Secondly They knowing him to bee the Christ and the Messias they must likewise know him to bee the naturall Sonne of God for the Deuils could not be ignorant of that in Hel which the most learned in Iudaisme had attained to here on earth Thirdly and it is the reason of that glorious Doctor Saint Hierome No man hath known the Father but the Sonne and he to whom the Sonne was willing to reueale it If the Father then did not reueale his Sonne to the Deuills nor the Sonne himselfe reueale the same why then surely they could not know him But some one will say That the Sonne did reueale himselfe to the Deuils not by infusing any light of Faith into them as hee did into those three Kings that came vnto him from the East and to the Prophets that were before them nor the light of Glorie as hee hath to the Blessed but by the light of his miracles and prophecies and by some secret and hidden signes of his presence for that is S. Austens opinion which the Deuils might better attaine vnto than men And this reason sufficiently proueth That they knew him before they tempted him yea that they knew him euen from his birth for then did they presently perceiue in Iesus Christ our Saâ—ior and Redeemer Miracles Prophecies and great signes of God And albeit the miracles were not then so many as those which he wrought afterwards when he had vnfolded and spred abroad the sailes of his Omnipotencie yet a few were enough to make the Deuill who hath so great an insight into naturall causes to conceiue and see how farre short Nature came in this great businesse Fourthly The glorious Apostle Saint Paul treating of our Sauiour Christ by the name of Wisedome saith That none of the Princes of this World knew him for had they knowne him they would neuer haue crucified him And this may likewise be vnderstood of the Deuill whom our Sauiour stiles the Prince of the world but in case it be vnderstood of men the Earth not comming to the knowledge thereof to whom God might haue reuealed it hell could hardly know it In this doubt there are me thinkes two truths that are most certaine The one That the Deuill had not a full and assured knowledge that our Sauiour Christ was the naturall Son of God for his knowledge was not the knowledge of Faith nor any cleere vision but onely opinion And as a man of verie great vnderstanding being without the light of Faith howbeit by the miracles and prophecies of our Sauiour Iesus Christ he might happely beleeue that hee was the Sonne of God yet some one doubt or other will be stil remaining that he may not be that promised Sonne So the Deuil euer since our Sauior Christ was borne had many and those strong suspitions that God was become Man These jealousies and suspitions were dayly by so much the more increased in the Deuill by how much the more our Sauiour Christ went dayly discouering the signes and tokens of his Diuinitie till at last seeing himselfe as it were conuinced by the euidence thereof that he might put himselfe out of this perplexitie he first goes about to tempt him and afterwards to solicite his death And this is the opinion of that glorious Doctor Saint Hierome vpon the eigth Chapter of Saint Mathew where he saith That all the Deuils did beat vpon this haâ—â—â— went nosing and winding of it out and were wonderfull both fearefull iealous of the same but that none of them did assuredly know so much And Saint Augustine in his bookes De Ciuitate Dei saith That our Sauiour and Redeemer Iesus Christ manifested himselfe so far forth to the deuils as himself was willing and he would no more than what was fitting thought that fitting which was sufficient to daunt and terrifie them to free those that were predestinated from his tyrannie And this was the tracke that they did treâ—d in and all that they could gather out of his miracles and former prophecies Gregorie Naziaâ—â—â—â— saith That the Deuils had a great deale of knowledge of the paines torments which they did feele when our Sauiour Christ did cast them forth of the bodies which they had possessed And of this knowledge that is to bee vnderstood which is here deliuered by Saint Luke Because they knew him to be Christ. The other That God did hold this their knowledge in suspence in doubt by taking flesh in the wombe of an espoused Virgine Which was purposely done as Ignatius saith that hee might bee concealed from the Deuill for otherwise the Deuils could hardly be ignorant that he was the Sonne of the Virgine Marie and not the Sonne of Ioseph THE XXIII SERMON VPON THE FRYDAY AFTER THE THIRD SONDAY IN LENT IOHN 4.5 Venit Iesus in Ciuitatem Samariae quae dicitur Sychar And Iesus came into a Citie of Samaria which was called Sychar IN matter of Conuersion this action of our Sauiours seemeth of all other the most famous for the manifesting of Gods mercy In matter of Faith we know verie well That hee that shall seeke him as he ought shall find him And of this Truth God hath giuen many testimonies in Scripture They that seeke meâ— early shall find me And in another place If thou seekest her aâ— silâ—er and searchest for her as for Treasures thou shalt find her And elsewhere it is said Seeke and yee shall find knocke and it shall be opened vnto you Wee know likewise that some haue found him that haue not sought him I was found of them that â—â—â—ght me not but none did light on him with so little labour and at so cheape â— rate as this Samaritane S. Paul was tumbled off from his horse on the ground and was strooken blind the Adulteresse passed through a purgatorie of 〈◊〉 and confusion Marie Magdalen for her part poured forth a sea of teares and the good Theeâ—e was faine to betake himselfe to a great deale of faith loue patience and hope but this woman I know not what labour or paines it cost her more than the letting downe of a Bucket and rope into the Well to draw a little water That such a dishonest woman as this was whom fiue husbands could not suffice and had entertained a Ruffian or Swash-buckler to be her companion and champion that so base and vile a woman as shee was consider her which way you will in her linage her fortune her life her behauiour her age oâ— whatsoeuer else that sauours of basenesse that Christ should make choice of her to publish his name to bee as it were one of his Euangelists and Preachers of his Gospell cannot but appeare to the World to be one of the greatest demonstrations of
ballance weigheth so is the World before thee and as a drop of the morning dew that falleth downe vpon the earth S. Ambrose questions God Why ô Lord so much for so little And his answer is That this doth indeere thy ingratitude and his loue This is a thing to stunne a man and to make him stand astonished that the Sea should goe after a drop of water as if therewith it should augment it's immensitie and vastnesse that Totum should seeke after Nihil he that is all in all after a thing of nothing as if thereby he should better his Being that God should seeke after a wench that was a water carrier and being so wearie as he was he should sit him downe vpon Iacobs Well and there entertaine himselfe in talke with her How can she euer be able to requite so great and vndeserued a kindnesse This reason is also the more indeered considering how little it concernes God and how much it imports man What is it to God Nothing What caâ—st thou giue vnto him If thou shouldst vndoe thy selfe in his seruice thou shalt not adde one dramme of glorie vnto him What is it to Man The greatest happinesse that can befall him in that God should tyre out himselfe for him who is not worthie the looking after Much saith Saint Bernard ought man to meditate on this his wearinesse considering how deere man did cost God It were meere idlenesse in man to thinke that God made him for nothing or to sit still be idle In the sweat of thy browes shalt thou eat thy bread This was poena culpae a punishment appointed him for the fault he had coÌ„mitted that euery bit of bread should cost him a drop of sweat and this lighted vpon our Sauiour himselfe as being our Suretie the debt was ours but he standing bound for vs was forced to pay it we failing therein Meus cibus est vt faciam voluntatem patris And here the meat that he was to feed vpon was a hard crust to gnaw vpon The conuersion of this woman he was to tug for it and sweat for it Hee shall see of the trauell of his soule and shall be satisfied His bodie trauelled with wearinesse his soule with thoughts and cares but he shall see that which he desired and bee satisfied Saint Ambrose discoursing of these our Sauiours paines saith That for that he did esteeme so highly of them they are not to be considered as pains but as the price of our Redemption And if the price of thy ransome cost God a great deale of labour and sweat it is not much that the price of finding God should be thy labour and thy sweat Laurentius Iustinianus saith That God had contriued it so that the Ninâ—uites should see Ionas gaping for breath al-to-berayed with the filthie slime and oyle of the Whale to the end that this so sad and sorrowful a spectacle should be of equiualencie to those miracles which he wrought amongst them and should persuade them to Fastings Sackecloath and Ashes c. Philon declaring that place of Deutronomie That hee that had planted a Vineyard and not eaten of the fruit thereof and that he that had built him an house and not dwelt therein and that he that had married a wife and had not enioyed her companie should returne backe from the Warre this learned Doctor saith That the reason of this Proclamation was for that it was not held fit that another should for a song as they say and doing little or nothing for it come to inioy the fruit of another mans labours Will God That thou shalt not enioy another mans house or his Vineyard for nothing and shall hee giue thee Heauen for nothing Zenon inferreth the selfe same consequence from that place of Genesis He will not but thou shalt get thy bread with the sweat of thy browes And doest thou thinke thou shalt purchase Heauen without taking of paines This is a strange and harsh kind of doctrine to our daintier sort of people and nice Worldlings who cannot be without their coaches their warming-pannes their perfumes their muffes their banquets their musicke their Comedies their Gardens of pleasure c. as if this were the way to goe to Heauen But I would haue thee to know saith Greg. Nizen that Heauen may be here fitted and prepared for vs but not enioyed Doe not thou wearie out thy selfe in seeking after that which our Sauiour Christ could not find When I see a man fare daintily and delicately choise and nice in his dyet and his cloathes and as greedie after his profit as his pleasure I would faine know of him being so great a Louer as he is of a merrie and pleasant kind of life being wholly giuen to iollitie How he dares to goe treading and counting these his steps towards Hell Doth he thinke to lead the same life there Iesus then wearied in the iourney sat downe on the Well A Trauailer comes all dust and sweat and exceeding wearie to a fountaine hee washes himselfe makes himselfe cleane drinkes sits downe and so seekes to shake off his wearinesse But our Sauiour comming extreame wearie to this fountaine neiâ—her washes himselfe makes himselfe cleane nor drinkes but onely sate thus as beeing wearied that this woman might take notice of his wearisomenesse and this his troublesome iourney and so Caietane and the Cardinall of Toledo doe expound the word sic that he sate euen thus vpon the Well The ends why God exprest himselfe to be thus wearie are no lesse deepe and profound than the former First Because out of this his wearinesse the sinner might apprehend his loue Theodoret deriueth the name of God from a Greeke word which signifieth To runne And they gaue this name vnto God who tooke the starres to bee Gods Damascene that hee was therefore called God because he succours our miseries and releeues our necessities with that hast and speede that thereby we may perceiue how much he loues vs. Leo the Pope expounding that place of Saint Luke My God my God why hast thou forsaken me sayth That these words which our Sauiour vsed to his father were not words of complaint but a Lecture which he read vnto Man making vpon the Crosse a muster or beade-rolle of all those troubles that he had both in his life and death suffered for him And therefore cryeth out I beseech thee deere Father that thou wilt giue Man eyes to see The end why thou hast forsaken mee For that thy naturall sonne should come to this so miserable and wretched an estate it was neither disaster nor disgrace nor force nor any thing else that could cause it but the great loue which I bore vnto Man seeing his disease was so desperate that it was requisite that I should tast of this so bitter a potion and that if I had been so necessitated and so sick as Man was I could not haue done more for my selfe We haue two principall
stinke and putrifie breed filâ—hie vermine So in like manner the grace of the holy-Ghost the Word of God and the blessed Sacraments inioy the selfe same vnion with that first beginning from whence they proceed The second That as your liuing water doth enioy a kind of life vncessable motion for which cause the Scripture attributeth thereunto the actions of life The Flouds are risen the Flouds haue lift vp their voice the flouds lift vp their waues c. So the grace of the holy Ghost the Word of God and the blessed Sacraments cause in the Soule the effects of life The third That as your liuing Water doth ascend to the height of it's birth and Beeing so the Grace of the holy-Ghost the Word of God and the blessed Sacraments ascend vp euen as high as to God himselfe because they had their birth Being from God he being the Spring or Wel-head from whence they had their rising Fiet in eo sons aquae salientis in vitam eternam If thou knewest the gift of God First hee setteth downe the originall of all our ill which is our not knowing or our want of knowledge According to that of Pope Clement in an Epistle of his to the Councell of Toledo And it is a most assured truth That the first step to il is the ignorance of good Salomon saith Without knowledge the mind is not good Hee calls it the knowledge of the soule which is the onely thing that importeth vs for Heauen As for the knowledge of the World and the wisedome thereof it is but foolishnesse with God Secondly he doth not say If thou didst but know who it is that talketh with thee thou wouldst haue giuen him water without asking thee for it wouldst haue offered him to drinke of thine owne accord though comparing Man with God Man cannot be said to bestow any thing on God by way of gift or donation all that good correspondencie which can be held on mans part is to shew himselfe thankeful for the fauours which he receiueth from Gods hand If God shall giue me wealth he doth it to the end that I should serue him if he giue me honour he doth it to the end that I should maintain his cause c.. Anna Samuels mother said O Lord if thou wilt looke on the trouble of thy handmaid and remember and not forget thyne handmaid but giue vnto thyne handmaid a man child then will I giue him vnto the Lord all the dayes of his life Nor doth this earths pouertie owe ought more for those fauours which we haue from Heauen This made Saint Augustine to say Da quod iubes iube quod vis And the truth of this is grounded vpon that which is deliuered in the last Chapter of the first of the Chronicles when as Dauid and the Princes of the people made a plentifull rich Offering of three thousand talents of gold seuen thousand of siluer and as many of other mettals c. This holy King said Who am I and what is my people that wee should be able to offer willingly after this sort for all things come of thee and of thyne owne hand we haue giuen thee None can offer vnto God saue what they haue receiued from God Quis prior reddit illi retribuitur ei Thirdly Christ did lay a double bait before this woman The one Curiositie of knowledge The other Desire of receiuing Two things wherewith that sex of theirs is soonest taken and as the holy-Ghost hath said That in another third thing womans appetite is insatiable so likewise is it in these two and for this cause they compare her to a Lampe which goes still sucking in the oyle with which it must continually be maintained Fourthly Gregorie Nazianzen hath obserued That our Sauiour Christ did put a doubt in the Samaritans desire forsitan petisses he put a doubt in her asking but not in his giuing To shew vnto vs That albeit woman bee couetous in receiuing yet God is more bountifull in giuing To receiue is proper vnto Creatures that are in need and in want all Creatures haue their mouths stil open crauing their fulnesse from God and God he is alwayes readie at hand to satisfie their hunger Open thy mouth wide saith the Psalmist and I shall fill it The soule desireth but one onely thing which is thy selfe ô God this will suffice her Nam vnum est necessarium for one thing is necessarie But the Flesh through it's many longings desireth many things yet let it desire neuer so many it shall be sooner wearied with asking than God with giuing if it bee for it's good Abraham did entreat for Sodome till hee waxed wearie of his suit and had he beene earnest therein and not haue giuen it ouer it may be God would haue spared that Citie What shall I returne to the Lord for all that he hath rendred vnto me I will take the Cup of saluation and will call vpon the name of the Lord. Man is disingaged by paying and is impawned by receiuing but God holds himselfe fully satisfied for those former fauours hee hath done thee to the end that thou maist craue new courtesies from him hee lookes not to haue old scores paid and desires nothing of thee but a thankefull acknowledgement And this is the reason why Christ became a suiter to this woman for a little water he was willing to beg of her a draught of dead water that shee might beg of him a cup of liuing water dealing with her as a father doth with his prettie little sonne begging an apple of his child that he may thereby take occasion to throw vpon him a thousand fauours The Philippians made much of the Apostle who thanking them for this their kindnesse saith I reioyce in your care for me I speake not because of want for I haue learned in whatsoeuer state I am therewith to be content Notwithstanding yee haue well done that yee did communâ—cate to my affliction not that I desire a gift but I desire the fruit that may further your reckoning The rendering of thankes for one courtesie is a requiring of another but I doe not thanke you to this end but that yee may reape the fruits of your charitie extended toward me But some one will say If God be so free handed and so bountifull in giuing knowing our necessities why doth he driue vs to beg these his fauours Saint Augustine answers it thus That God will haue vs to exercise our selues in the petitioning of our desires Vt possimus capere quae praeparat dare That wee may bee made capable of those kindnesses which God is willing to conferre vpon vs. Thomas hee puts the question thus Either God will giue me this or that or he will not giue it me For his will is immutable and begging be it in what kind so euer seemeth to be Quiddam accessorium But his answere is That begging is the meanes which God
Church And for this cause God calls them both but one flesh They are 〈◊〉 more twaine but one flesh let not man therefore put â—sunder that which God hath coupled together Where if you note it hee speakes in the singular for oâ—herwise they would not conueniently represent so strict a vnion Secondly Because God is the authour of marriage God created man and woman and being wedded each to other he said For this cause shall man leaâ—e father and mother and cleaue vnto his wife And for Dauid his adulterie the Lord said vnto him The Sword shall neuer depart from thy house because thou hast despised me and taken the wife of Vriah the Hittite to be thy wife it was not Vriah but I thâ—â— was despised Where I would haue thee to weigh well the word Me who in the beginning of the world did authorise marriage Me who in the Law of Grace was personally present at my friends marriage and there vnfolded the sailes of my Omnipotencie working there and at that wedding my first miracle S. Paul saith If the husband be of the houshold of the Faithfull and the wife of the Vnfaithfull non dimittat illam let him not forsake her but if she shall be vnfaithfull to her husband he may lawfully then leaue her So that God seemeth to be more offended that she should not keep her faith toher husband than that she should not professe the Faith of Christ. But this they said to tempt him They put on a shew of zeale and feigned a dissembled desire of knowledge and to be satisfied concerning this point but the truth was that they went a fishing to see if they could catch our Sauiour in some answer that he should giue them contrarie to the Law to the end that they might accuse him as a Transgressour The Scribes they were jealous of their Law the Pharisees of their Religion the one sought to picke a hole in his coat vpon some quirke and quiller of the Law the other for the wronging of their Religion and therefore they said vnto him Seeing thou art a Master to whom it belongeth to expound our Lawes and that thou takest vpon thee at euerie bout to vnfold Moses his meaning Moses law commandeth That such should bee stoned What sayst thou therefore Euthimius saith That they tooke our Sauiour Christ to be so mercifull a minded man that they did well hope that hee would wrest and wind the Law which way he listed if not vtterly ouerthrow it And they did ground these their suspitions vpon some Sermons of his which he had preached wherein he had deliuered to the People That it was lawfull to cure the Sicke on the Sabboth day which was a new kind of doctrine in their Law Saint Gregorie and Saint Ambrose doe both affirme That they did verily persuade themselues That our Sauiour Christ could not chuse but â—e caught in the trap and necessarily fall into an errour one while by pardoning contrarie to the Law another while by condemning contrarie to Grace Iesus autem inclinans se deorsum But Iesus stooped downe inclining his head towards the ground Saint Chrysostome saith That for the Pharisees it was a most seuere act of Iustice but for the Adultresse a most noble act of mercie These Hypocriâ—â— hee depriued of â—is sight and would not cast his countenance towards them which is one of Gods seuerest chastisements Thou turnedst away thy face from me saith the Psalmist and I was troubled For a King to turne away his face from a Fauorite it wil shrewdly trouble him What perturbation must that then cause When God shall not cast his eye towards vs but turne his fauourable countenance from vs Hide not thy face ô Lord from me lest I be like vnto those that descend into the pit O Lord to denie the light of thy countenance is to condemne me vnto Hell and the greatest torment of the Damned is that they are debarr'd thy sight Cur faciem 〈◊〉 abscondâ—â— arbitrarâ—◠〈◊〉 inimicum tuum All my happinesse consists in those thy eyes and to denie them vnto me is to vse me like an enemie Towards the Adulteresse our Sauior carried himselfe as became a soueraigne Prince for it is a common thing with Kings and Princes to turne their eyes aside from a woman that is shamelesse and of a lewd and infamous life the sight of a husband is a fearefull thing to a wanton wife so is the eye of a seuere father to a gracelesse sonne so the austere looke of a King to his seruant that hath played the Traitor how then shall Gods countenance skare vs when hee shall looke askew vpon vs and knit the brow of his heauie displeasure When the Adultresse did behold her selfe in that Crystall Glasse Christ Iesus in whome there was no spot nor least specke of blemish in the world and did see what a freckled soule she had of her owne how foulely bespeckled with a loathsome morphew of this ouerspreading sinne In what a confusion must she needs bee and how dasht out of countenance Dauid was as valiant a King and as braue a soldier as euer drew sword one that fought the Lords battels yet he considering the foulnesse of this his adulterous sin weeping sorrowing for the same when he saw Gods eye was fixed on his fault and that hee had withdrawne his woonted fauor from his person he felt such torment in himselfe that in the bitternesse of his soule he was forced to crie out Turne away thy face ô Lord from my sinnes What then should this weake this poore and wretched woman do in this case Iesus stooped downe Saint Cyril saith That our Sauiour herein did aduise your Iudges that before they proceed to sentence they should well and truly consider of the cause alone by themselues and proceed with a great deale of leisure deliberation Before that God did condemne the pride of those that built the Tower of Babell he said Descendam videbo I will goe downe and see what they doe And the crie of the sinnes of Sodome comming to his eares hee sayd the same againe for there is no wisdome nor discretion in it as Nicodemus said to condemne a man Vnlesse he first heare him speake for himselfe and know what hee hath done This is that which Dauid said Doe righteous iudgement ô ye sons of men Suting with that of our Sauior Iudge not according to the face or outward appearance Daniel summarily shuts it vp all in this The Iudgement was set and the Bookes opened He stooped downe For albeit a Iudge ought to beare himselfe vpright yet he ought still to stoope and incline himselfe to mercie Christ looked downe vpon the earth and considered with himselfe that he had made this woman of earth If a Iudge may euen in justice saue a Delinquent if hee shall find a way open for mercie he may comfort himselfe that it is Gods fashion so to doe and this may be
it plainely appeareth that hee noted them out to bee transgressours of the Law and to bee such a kind of people that had not the feare of God before their eyes beeing neither iust in their Iudgements nor mercifull in their Workes Let him that is without sinne c. He had recourse to the rigour of the Law by condemning the Adulteresse to be stoned to death which was an infamous kind of death Achan Naboth those false Iudges that wronged Susanna and good Saint Steuen suffered in this kind He had recourse likewise vnto his mercy by absoluing her of this her sinne For their condemning of her to be stoned who were faultie in the same kind themselues was a kind of absoluing her And this limitation as Saint Cyrill hath obserued it was iuridicall and according vnto Law For as she was to be stoned by the Law so she was to be stoned according to the Law But the Lawes doe not permit that the transgression of the Law should bee righted by those that are transgressours of the Law So that when our Sauiour sayd Let him that is among you without sinne cast the first stone at her hee vnderstood by sinne in that place the sinne of Adulterie for otherwise it had beene contrariam actionem intentare and the reconuention had not beene so strong and forcible When the Pharisees found fault with Christs Disciples for their not washing of their hands he retorted their owne weapon vpon them with a Quare vos And here treating with him touching this womans Adulterie hee giues them this answere Qui sine peccato est c. Saint Austen makes a question whether the Adulterer himselfe were there or no And his resolution is that the rest were there So that in the Accusers there were two foule faults to be found which are inexcusable The one to let goe a Delinquent for particular interest and priuate gaine as wee read in the Maccabees of Ptolomeus his freeing of Menelaus from his accusation notwithstanding he was the cause of all the mischiefe wherewith he was charged and a man that deserued death in the highest degree the Text there saying that he was Vniuersae malitiae reus The other That they who should haue beene preseruers of the Common-wealth and maintainers of Iustice should be the Caterpillars of the Common-wealth and the ouerthrowers of Iustice. And if any bodie shall aske me how they being faultie themselues should dare to accuse this woman of the same crime Saint Austen in his Confessions renders this answere Fortis inscriptio quam nulla deleuit iniquitas Though God hath priâ—ted with such deepe letters in the paper of our Consciences the hatefulnesse of sinne yet notwithstanding those many sinnes of our owne wee will not forbeare to condemne other mens sinnes though we be faultie of the same our selues A Merchant apprehends a poore petty Theefe brings him before a Iustice and causes him to be whipt not considering that himselfe is the greater Theefe of the two Diogenes told the Iudges and other subordinate Ministers of Iustice That the greater Theeues did hang the lesser Dauids adulterie beeing put in the third person hee told the Prophet Nathan As the Lord liueth the man that hath done this thing shall surely die Filius mortis est How doest thou condemne that in another which thou dissemblest and smootherest in thy selfe Fortis inscriptio quam nulla deleuit iniquitas Absalon had a great Councellor called Achitophel Dauid had another as wiâ—e as hee called Cushai now when Cushai saw that Achitophel tooke part with Absalon he said vnto Dauid I doe not so much feare thy sonne as this Councellour of his for he hath a shrewd pestilent pate of his owne wherefore I thinke it verie fit That by your Maiesties leaue I should get me likewise to the Campe to see if I can ouerthrow his councell Thither he hasted and kneeling downe before Absalon he said vnto him I am come vnto thee because I see that God doth fauour thee and I had rather worship the Sunne rising than setting Thy father is old c. Notwithstanding all this Absalon titted him in the teeth saying Is this thy loue to thy friend Where it is to be noted That though the Sonne had rebelled against his Father yet it seemed ill vnto him that a Seruant should bee false to his Master Fortis inscritpio quam nulla deleuit iniquitas Woman Where are those thine accusers Hath no man condemned thee Before that he would absolue her he would infrome himselfe Whither any bodie did accuse her or no For as long as any partie found himselfe agrieued his absolution was of no force If the oppressing of the Poore crie for vengeance What shall the dishonouring of a Virgine and the adulterated bed doe And therefore this Memento is giuen thee before thou offer thy Sacrifice Thou shalt call to mind whither thy brother haue any thing against thee or no First make attonement with thy brother and then present thy Offering to God Abimelech crauing pardon for his offence God said vnto him Deliuer the man his wife againe This must be done first No man Lord. And Iesus said Neither doe I condemne thee It is a great happinesse in a Sinner to fall into the hands of God Man the wickeder hee is the crueller he is and the more ill the lesse pittifull But God by how much the more good he is by so much he is the more mild and mercifull I will not destroy Ephraim in my furie because I am God and not Man There was not that man then that would haue borne with Ephraim nor excused his backeslidings But I am God and therefore patient long suffering and full of goodnesse Daniel when he was put in the Lyons den the King commanded the doore to be sealed with his owne seale Ne quid fieret contra Danielem Lest they should change their purpose concerning Daniel and plot some other villanie against him conceiuing the hands of these men to bee lesse secure than the clawes and teeth of those hungrie Lyons And this was the reason why Dauid when hee was to take his option of those three Scourges which God had set before him to make choice of vpon that vanitie of his in numbring the People either Famine War or Pestilence flying from the hands of men hee would by no meanes admit of Warre or Famine but of the Pestilence that he might wholly put himselfe into the hands of God God of his infinite goodnesse c. THE XXV SERMON VPON THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT IOHN 6. MAT. 14. LVC. 9. MARC 6. Post haec abijt Iesus trans Mare Galileae After these things Iesus went his way ouer the Sea of Galilee c. OVr Sauiour Christ in that matter of multiplying the loaues and the fishes prouiding for the necessitie of those people that did follow him wrought two miracles as famous as they were cheerefull In the one he gaue food to foure
from him Nor is there any man so rich or so happy that is not forced to be one of Gods beggars And that Kingly Prophet Dauid saith the like of the beasts of the field in diuers places The eyes of all waite vpon thee ô Lord and thou giuest them their meat in due season Thou openest thy hand and fillest all things liuing with plentiousnesse Hee giueth fodder vnto the Cattell and feedeth the young Rauens that call vpon him By Cattell hee vnderstandeth whatsoeuer beasts of the field And by the Rauen whatsoeuer fowle of the ayre And hee did purposely and more particularly put here the Rauen either because those old ones doe not acknowledge their young for that they are white when they are hatcht the damme and her mate beeing of a contrarie colour Or because it is such a rauening bird that according to Ariâ—â—otle and Pliâ—ie the old ones doe banish their young ones as soone as they are able to flie and shift for themselues into some other region further off that they may not rob them of their food and sustenance In a word great and small high and low haue their maintenance from God Who is it but God that feedeth the yong Rauens when they call vpon him Of the trees and plants that holy King Daâ—id sayth Saturabuntur ligna campi Ceâ—ri Libani c. Of the Angells Planets Starres a Phylosopher saith Greges Astrorum semper pasciâ— And as the Sheepheard numbreth his sheepe and puts a marke vpon euerie one of them so our Lord God doth number the multitude of the Starres and caâ—â—eth them by their names The glorious Saint Chrysostome tells vs in a metaphoricall language That in those immense spatious walkes in Heauen there are other more beautifull fields other Fountaines other Floures other Groues and that God doth sustaine and maintaine them all All liue vnder his protection Since then that all things liue so secure vnder his diuine prouidence Why should man distrust especially seeing that he hath an eye and a care to his wants and necessities Who is like vnto the Lord our God who dwelleth in the highest clouds and yet doth behold from aboue whatsoeuer is in heauen or in earth The sight is not qualified by seeing great things but by perceiuing the least atomes or motes that are in the Sunne In an Epistle which the glorious Apostle Saint Paul wrote to the Romans he calleth God the God of Hope for he looking downe vpon vs doth inrich vs with such assured hopes that we may hold them more firme and sure vnto vs than any present possession of those lands or goods which we enioy The second reason is That if any thing can grieue Gods heart it is our miserie and necessitie and therefore he makes such hast to helpe vs as if it were his owne case My sister my Spouse thou hast wounded my heart with one of thyne eyes and with one haire of thy necke The haires are the symbole of thoughts and cares for as the head is full of haire so is it full of care The â—ye of the Huntsman doth more harme than the Arrow which hee shoots for he that doth not throughly eye his game seldome kills and therefore the Spouses Beloued sayes vnto her Euerie one of thy cares especially when I see thee looke vpon me are so many darts sticking in my heart Abbot Guaricus discoursing of the Prodigall saith That when his father saw him so ill accoutred compassion did more strongly possesse him than the passion of sorrow for his sins did his sonne When Abraham was swallowed vp as it were with sorrow as hee vnsheathed his sword to sacrifice his son Isaac Dominus videbit saith the Text id est prouidebit which was the good old mans answer when his sonne askt him Vbi est victima pater mi My father where is the Lambe for the burnt Offering The Septuagint read Apparebit the Tigurine Videbitur For God seeing vs suffer for his sake is of it selfe a present helpe in our time of need Many of the Saints do ponder the griefe which God did discouer for that dearth which Israel indured and the care that he tooke in allaying the sharpenesse and tartnesse of Elias his austere and sowre disposition who when he had caused the windows of heauen to be shut vp for three yeares yet he appointed him a Rauen to bee his Steward to bring him in prouision that hee might not suffer in that common calaâ—â—â—tie yet giuing him this checke by the way It is not fit that thou alone shouldeâ—t eat and 〈◊〉 the rest of my people starue but since I haue past my word this Rauen shal take care of thee Saint Chrysostome saith That this was a seuere reprehension of the Prophet Elias That a Bird that hath no pittie of her owne brood should take pittie of thee that a bird that by nature is cruell and liues vpon rapines and spoyle of others should be a Minister of mercie vnto thee and thou that shouldest haue been a mediator betwixt God and his people shouldst be a prouoker of him to vengeance he cries out against him Absurdum est ô Elias Thou hast committed a great absurditie ô Elias Saint Augustine further addeth That the Rauen which heretofore shewed himselfe vnthankefull in not returning again to Noahs Arke is now so farre altred from that he was that he brings thee bread and flesh affoording thee thy dayly food it had not been much for thee to haue expected an alteration likewise in the Children of Israell Procopius tells vs That the Rauen is an vncleane creature by the Law and beeing that I who was the Law-giuer did dispense that thou shouldest take thy food from him Why mightst not thou as well haue asked a dispensation of me for this so long an interdiction And he entertained them kindly The griefe which our Sauiour had conceiued for the death of Iohn Baptist did not cause him to withdraw his sweet and comfortable countenance from others For the mourning for the Iust is not a hooding of the face to conceale our selues and our sorrow from the world The Saints of God lament the losse which the Earth sustaines by the taking away of the righteous from amongst vs but not their death For hee beholdeth not his death with the eyes of death but quickely passes it ouer It is the foole that thinkes all is ended with them in death But it is nothing so Whence shall wee buy bread that these may eat He here tooke counsell what were best to be done in this case It beeing as Plato sayth amongst all other things the most Sacred and the most Diuine And Ecclesiasticus telleth vs that counsel makes things stable durable secure As a frame of wood ioyned together in a building cannot bee loosed with shaking so the heart that is established by aduised counsel shal feare at no time Whence shall wee buy bread Here our Sauiour consults with Philip how
me vp Where it is to be noted That it is one thing to eat and feed vpon the zeale of Gods House and his seruice and another thing to be eaten of it one while there is an Ecclesiasticall another while a secular Iudge which is verie diligent in his office out of the hatred that he hath to Delinquents and hee is held to bee a verie zealous man But hee eats growes fat and waxeth rich with this his zeale and such a one eats of the zeale of the house of God but is not eaten of it But there are others that are dried vp and consumed of the zeale which they beare to the Seruice of God Tabescere me fecit zelus meus who wasting their wealth their health and their liues in this their zeale doe more resent the wrongs that are done to God than those that are offered to themselues Saint Paul saith Quis scandalizatur ego non vror Which made Saint Chrysostome to say That of six hundred thousand miracles one cannot bee found that may bee compared with this his zeale his owne tribulations and torments he calls them Glorie and the offences done vnto God he calls Fire which burnes him Lo here a miracle a strange kind of zeale Zeale is the Child of Loue but it is somewhat more inflamed and more pure than Loue. To Loue we attribute two powerfull effects The one That it is the authour of the greatest acts and noblest exployts that man can performe Esay in his ninth Chapter maketh an enumeration of Gods greatest acts To vs a Child is borne to vs a sonne is giuen the gouernment is vpon his shoulder c. And for an vpshot of these his glorious acts he addeth this Zelus Domini exercituum faciet hoc The zeale of the Lord of Hosts shall doe this Amongst Gods attributes we consider a celestiall competencie in the greatest mysteries of his life and of his death but in the end Loue gets the victorie and glory of the day The second effect of Loue is To conuert it selfe wholly to the seruice of the thing beloued He that is enamoured of God will willingly pardon the iniuries that are done to himselfe but those that are offered to God hee will neuer forgiue And Ecclesiasticus renders the reason of it Cognoui quod in multa scientia multa sit indignatio He that hath little knowledge of God finds himselfe but little offended when the Maiestie of God is wronged and abused but hee that knowes much is much offended when offence is offered to the partie he loues A little child is neuer offended at vice or vicious men Cum essem parvulus sapiebam vt parvulus but a well growne man will like Mathias kill an Idolator or like Phineas slay a fornicator and set vpon a blasphemer c. or vpon a whole citie like Simeon and Leui. Et cumfecisset quasi flagellum He made as it were a whip For the chasticements of God in this life seeme to be whips and scourges but they are not Quasi morientes ecce viuimus No like is the same that which is as it were such a thing is not the thing it selfe Our life seemeth to be death but it is not death our portion pouertie but it is not so Sicut egentes multos autem locupletantes There are three reasons of this Truth The one That these whips come short of those scourges at the day of Iudgement which will be most fearefull and most terrible Saint Mathew cals them but the beginning of sorrowes Haâ— autem initia sunt dolorum Those are not sorrowes which are so soone ended Of Antiochus his cruelties whose souldiers slew in three dayes fourescore thousand persons captiuated fortie thousand and sould as many more for slaues not pardoning either old men women or children the Text saith Propter peccata c. For the sinnes of those that inhabited the Citie God was a little angrie Of those cruell torments which the Martyrs endured being fried roasted broyled dragged quartered and sawne in sunder Wisedome saith They are punished in few things but in many things shall they be wel rewarded Another reason Because these whips are not directed to our hurt and perdition but for our amendment as Iudith said in the siege of Bethulia Haec ipsa supplicia non ad perditionem sed ad emendationem euenisse credamus They are the whips of a father that will not kill his sonne but correct and amend him And therefore Dauid calls this whip Virgam Directionis The rod of Direction The third and last Because whips and scourges are perforce for to giue one a stripe or a lash you must perforce hold the whip in your hand and straine your selfe thereunto And therefore it is said Cum fecisset quasi flagellum Christ had neuer a whip about him the Merchants themselues put it into his hands Seneca saith That the nature of the gods are so farre from anger either towards others or in themselues and of that goodnesse clemencie louingnesse and peaceablenesse that if they stretch out their arme or lift vp their hand to punish you you your selues must force and driue them thereunto by your sinnes and offences And therefore Esay saith Indignatio non est mihi Quis mihi dabit Spinam Veprem Saint Hierome My People will not beleeue that I can be angrie they take me to be so good so louing that they cannot presume that any anger can proceed from my brest Who will furnish me with a Thorne or a Bramble that I may make my People to feare me Iob treating of the Deuill said Ipse est principium viarum Dei He is the chiefe of the wayes of God Saint Thomas saith vpon this place That God hath two wayes The one of mercie The other of justice The former is mentioned by Dauid Vniuersae viae Domini misericordia veritas All the wayes of God are Mercy and Truth God was Author of the first by creating man in Paradise for to translate him from thence to heauen But the diuell running a contrary course gaue the first beginning to the way of Iustice. For if there had beene no fault there had beene no punishment Two things Eliphaz told Iob when he came to comfort him The one That God was neuer Authour of the death of the righteous The other That many sinners perished at the breath of his nostrills Quin potius inueni multos flante deo perijsse Where by the way Saint Gregorie hath noted That for to breath outward ayre is necessarie the ayre must bee without so that thou art he that makest thine owne rod and that prouidest materialls for God According to that of Solomon His owne iniquities shall take the wicked himselfe and he shall be holden with the cords of his owne sinne The gluttonie made the whip for thy gout thy vncleannesse for thy pocks thy sweates and colds for thy sciatica thy paintings for thy Megrims
selling of birds and beasts in the Temple bee so offensiue in the sight of our Lord God What shall the selling in the Church bee of benefices and Ecclesiasticall dignities Who although they make no publike sale of them or open profession of it yet do these men sell Doues in the Temple Qui de impositione manus pretium accipiunt Hinc enim est quod sacri Canones symoâ—iacam haeresim damnant The second If God so punish this slight respect which is showne to his Temple where there was neither the Arke of the Testament Aarons rod the pot of Manna nor the booke of the Law How will he punish the prophaning of that Temple where himselfe is consecrated in the Sacraments of his blessed body and bloud and where his holy word is preached The third If he be so highly offended with the prophaning of a dead Temple what will he say to the prophaning of that liuing Temple of thy soule which he made choice of for his delight recreation Delitia meae esse cum filijs hominuÌ„ Origen expounding that place of Exod. Dominus Zelotes nomen eiâ—â— saith That there is not any thing that puts more iealousie into Gods bosome than that soule which after it hath receiued Baptisme confessed the Faith and made a marriage with God by receiuing his blessed Sacraments should afterwards become a whoore to the Deuill the World and the Flesh. The last If hee did driue out of this earthly Temple the Merchants and Priests in this sharpe and seuere manner and with such a deale of disgrace What will hee doe when hee shall come to cast them out of that glorious Temple of Heauen Foris canes impudici Out with these dogges And till they come thither the good and bad fishes shall bee both together the chaffe and the corne the tares and the wheate the ministers of Christ and the priests of Beliall But then that powerfull voyce of the Iudge pronouncing this heauie sentence Ite maledicti in ignem aeternum shall seperate the one from the other with an eternall banishment Destroy this Temple and in three dayes I will build it vp againe The turbation of this scourging being ouerpast the Iewes came vnto our Sauiour and asked him Quod signum ostendis nobiâ— quod haec facis What signe showest thou vnto vs that thou doost these things The rest of the Euangelists renders it thus In qua potestate haec faciâ— By what power or authoritie doost thou doe these things Seeming tacitely to grant that it was ill done and worse permitted that any market should bee kept there But because it did not appertaine vnto al to amend those things that are amisse but to him that hath power authoritie so to do they said to him Wherby wilt thou make it appeare vnto vs that thou doost not vsurpe another mans office and meddle with that which belongs not vnto thee Whereunto our Sauiour answered Soluite Templum hoc in tribus diebus excitabo illud In which words he did prefigure forth vnto them his Death and Resurrection Which were two such Mysteries as did most discouer all Gods Attributes Touching his death our Sauiour had said already Si exaltaueritis filium Hominis cognoscetis quia ego sum But they were like blind men groping against a wall in this knowledge of his person And therefore hee said vnto them When yee shall haue lifted mee vp vpon the Crosse ye shall then know Quis ego sum Who I am Which ego sum is a blazon onely belonging vnto God and this the Crosse did discouer Zacheus clambered vp vpon a tree that he might see our Sauior Christ as well in regard that hee could not come neere vnto him for the prease of the people the throng was so great as also by reason that hee was but a little man and of a low stature Whereupon Origen giues this note That there are not any Gyants in the world no not the tallest of them all but are Pigmies and dwarfes when they come to looke God in the face and must bee faine to clamber vp to those faire goodly trees of the vertues to the top bough of perfection which will cost vs a great deale of trouble and labor before we can get vp so high And therefore our Sauiour Christ to saue vs so much paines and that wee maywith greater ease come vnto him he saith Exaltate c. Put me vp vpon the Crosse and not onely you that boast your selues of Learning and Religion but the ruder rable those souldiers that whipt mee and those that did execution vpon my bodie shall come to know me And this shall be your Cognoscetis quia ego sum These wordes Vidimus gloriam eius gloriam quasi vnigeniti à patre We haue seene his glorie as the glorie of the onely begotten of the Father Saint Chrysostome declares them of his death for then he shewed himselfe of what house hee came and whose son he was Saint Paul saith If they had knowne what they had done they would neuer haue crucified the Lord of Glorie Where Chrysostome obserueth That in a gallant season they called him the Lord of Glorie hauing neuer before shewed himselfe such a glorious Lord as then His armes stretched out vpon the Crosse were those two spreading wings wherewith hee flew vp to Heauen and vnder which he did clocke and defend vs here vpon Earth from the rapine of the Deuill as the Hen doth her Chickins from the Kyte S. Ierome and Hugo Cardinalis alledge vpon this occasion that verse of Dauid Et sub pennis eius sperabis As also that place of Malachie Orietur vobis sol Iustitiae sanitas in pennis eius And the Sunne pulled in his head as well for shame as sorrow when hee saw another Sunne to appeare that was greater than himselfe whose beames spred abroad saluation to the whole World The Title of the fourth Psalme is Pro sanguinolento For the bloudie man Another letter hath it Danti aternitatem To the giâ—er of eternitie The one agreeing well with the other for that Sanguinolentus to wit our Sauiour that suffered for vs vpon the Crosse and there shed his bloud for the Remission of our sinnes was that which did dare nobis aeterâ—itatem giâ—e vs eternitie His Resurrection Saint Chrysostome declares in these words Qui praedestinatus est filius Dei ex resurrectione mortuorum Another letter hath it Qui declaratus est this following afterwards vpon the necke of it Soluite templum hoc c. Where it is noted by Saint Cyril That our Sauiour did not commaund them to destroy his bodie but did thereby aduise them what they would doe vnto him Ye shall destroy the Temple of my bodie and I will build it vp againe the third day and this shall be a manifest a certaine and a sure signe vnto you Other his Miracles though they were signes sufficient enough yet were they not so effectuall because by those
the Chronicles deliuereth the same vnto vs and of Adam the Schoolemen do affirme That he could hardly haue giuen all things their proper names as Saint Chrysostome hath obserued it if God had not infused that knowledge into him to call them after that fitting and conuenient manner And this knowledge was communicated to Christ euen from the verie instant of his conception by meanes whereof hee saw all things in their proper species besides that blessed knowledge whereby he saw them in God as in a glasse Of this infused knowledge Saint Iohn saith God gaue not the spirit by measure vnto him but it was without limitation for hee that is sonne and heire to his father is not to be stinted as those that are seruants And therefore it is said The Spirit of the Lord shall rest vpon him the spirit of wisedome and vnderstanding the spirit of councell and might the spirit of knowledge c. This infused knowledge was setled in others by fits not in all times all places nor so generally in all things as in our Sauiour Christ from whom it sprouted as water from a Fountaine That fountaine of the Rocke strucke by the Rod of Moses it had beene a foule sinne in the Israelites to haue searched into the veins of Nature whence these waters gushed out and not to thinke on Gods grace from whence this fauour flowed And no lesse absurde was it in the Iewes to seeke in the Schooles and Vniuersities after those veines of liuing water of that diuine learning of our Sauiour Christ which was that true rocke and not to direct their eyes towards God who is the true giuer of knowledge Lastly It was a foule fault in them to thinke that God is tied to humane meanes knowing quod Deus scientiarum Dominus est That God is the Lord of sciences and that it was the Holy-Ghost that taught and instruucted those the Prophets taking one from following the heards of Kyne Oxen and another from keeping of Sheepe Non sum Phopheta saith Amos of himselfe I am not a Prophet nor the sonne of a Prophet but a Heardsman of Tekoah And of Dauid it is said That he tooke him from the Sheepefold following the Ewes with young He indewed Daniel being a child with wisedome and Ioseph with vnderstanding to declare King Pharaohs dreame Nor was it needfull for him to draw these men out of the Schooles of Athens nor to take them from forth the Vniuersities of Greece c. As soone as euer our Lord God had discouered to the glorious Apostle Saint Paul the beames of his light he presently departed to Arabia and to Damascus to preach the Gospell hee might haue gone first to Hierusalem to take acquaintance of those other Apostles of more antient standing and to conferre with them what he should preach but this did not seeme vnto him a conuenient meanes to credit his Doctrine Nec veni Hierosolimam ad Antecessores meos to the end that the Gentiles might not presume that this his Doctrine was of the earth and not of Heauen as afterwards he told the Galathians The Gospell which was preached by me is not afterman neither did I receiue it of man neither was I taught it but by the reuelation of Iesus Christ. And the Ephesians What I receiued from the Lord I deliuered vnto you But because the Iews did surpasse all the world in passion and malice they did attribute all to the Deuill whom the Gentiles had made their god My Doctrine is not myne c. The Commentators make three expositions vpon this place My Doctrine is not myne but I haue receiued it from my father The Doctrine of the Father and of the Sonne as he is God is one and the same as is their essence nor is there any other difference more than that he hath receiued it from the Father but as he is man it is in it selfe diuers as is their nature because it is an accident and an infused habit though the truth thereof in both is one and the same Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine expound this saying of our Sauior as he is man and that this Doctrine of his was not his but of his father that sent him abroad to preach and publish it to the World And the same Saint Augustine in some other places deliuereth it of Christ as he was God but affirmeth in the end That it may be interpreted either way Saint Cyril Saint Chrysostome declare this of Christ as he is God but which way soeuer you take either sence doth signifie That Christ is the Sonne of God The second Exposition is My Doctrine is not myne that is It is not onely myne but his that sent me And this sence and meaning is founded vpon many places of Scripture wherein this Negatiue Non is the same with Non solum Not onely As for example It is not yee that speake but the spirit of the father which speaketh in you i. Not you alone but the spirit of the Father Againe Doe not thinke that I alone will accuse you to the Father there is another also that accuseth you euen Moses in whom yee trust because yee beleeue not that which he wrote of mee that is Hee doth not only beleeue in me Thirdly He that beleeueth in me doth not beleeue in me but in him that sent me In the fourth place Whosoeuer shall receiue me receiueth not me but him that sent me That is Not onely me Lastly I laboured more aboundantly than them all yet not I but the grace of Godwhich was with me The third It is not myne nor did I inuent it nor is it the Doctrine of men but of God Many Philosophers haue out of an ouerweening conceit gon a wandring and inuented new sects and strange Doctrines that they might haue the honour to be accounted authours of nouelties answerable to that which God said of certaine false Prophets They speake a vision of their owne heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord Woe vnto the foolish Prophets that follow their own spirit and haue seene nothing And it is Antichrist that shall be called Pater errorum The father of errors Our Sauiour Christ teacheth vs here two things The one That God is the Fountaine of Wisedome and that as the Earth cannot yeeld it's fruit without water from Heauen so the heart of man cannot affoord any fruit without the Doctrine of God Concrescat vt plunia doctrina mea flâ—at vt ros eloquium meum The Husband in the Canticles was willing to insinuate as much when he compared the brests of his Spouse to two little Kids Duo vbera tua sicut duo hinnuli Caprae Thy two brests are like two young Kids that are twins which feed among the Lillies pouring forth in due season their milke vnto vs in a plentifull manner Some Commentators vnderstand by these two brests the two Testaments which like two brests spring aboundantly communicating
those that haue suffered shipwracke and are without present reliefe and helpe vpon casting away should more especially stretch out her armes and take them in before they sinke Secondly For that they attributed the blindnesse of Celidonius to the sinnes of his parents for albeit God doth punish the sinnes of the fathers in the children euen to the fourth generation yet this punishment is neuer in the soule but in the bodie for the soules are not by race and descent neither hath the soule of the sonne any kindred or alliance with that of the father as the bodie hath onely the sinne of Adam hath somewhat thereof as being the head and root from whom we all come Thirdly They would haue reduced this punishment to his owne proper sins for that he was borne blind for though God doth vse anticipation in doing fauours for some seruices that are to be done yet doth he neuer punish sinnes not yet committed but it is rather the blazon of his justice to punish with a slow hand as it is of his mercie to pardon speedily Fourthly to attribute punishments to faults committed is a good iudgement and an approoued censure for our owne sinnes but not for other mens When our Sauiour Christ said to his Apostles One of you shall betray me euery one lookt first into himselfe demanding of him Rabbi Master Am I the man or no And though he shewed them a faire euidence Hee that dips his hand with mee in the dish c. yet none of them fixt their eyes vpon Iudas nor tooke notice of the signe then giuen them The Pharisee is not so much condemned for his own proper sinnes as for the scorne and pride wherewith he despiseth others I thanke thee ô God that I am not like other men Emisenus saith That there can be no greater misfortune than to make those sinnes myne which another man doth commit for his pleasure or his profit both which I make to be myne by iudging rashly of them Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents but that the workes of God should bee made manifest in him Some man may aske me the question Why God should make choice of these his eyes to make them to be an instrument of manifesting his workes rather than the hands of the benummed the feet of the lame the tongue of the dumbe the raising of the dead or the torment of those that are possessed with Deuills I answer hereunto That all these miracles might serue verie well for Gods glorie And of Lazarus his death our Sauiour said That it was pro gloria Dei for Gods glorie But in the Eyes there is a more especial conueniencie as S. Chrysostome hath noted it than in other the parts of the bodie For as man is the summe and Epilogue of all the naturalities of the World for which reason they call him Microcosmos A little World so the eyes are the summe and Epilogue of man And as Aristotle saith That the Soule is all things 〈◊〉 a certaine kind of manner because all things are come vnder the compasse of iâ—'s apprehension and vnderstanding so the eyes in a manner are all things because they comprehend all things in them the heauens the planets the starres the elements birds fishes beasts plants and stones nor doe they onely see in the eyes corporall creatures and visible substances but likewise the inuisible passions of our soule as loue hate pride humilitie the like so saith Plinie And therefore Saint Augustine stiles the eyes the heralds of the heart Saint Peter tells vs That there are eyes full of adulteries In a word The eyes â—as Salomon saith are the open market place of our bosome And in another place All the wayes of man are in his eyes And Ecclesiasticus Ex visu cognoscitur vir Our Sauiour Christ did restore this man to his sight and made his eyes become cleere to the end that in them might bee cleerely manifested the most famous workes of God Irenaeus Saint Chrysostome and Saint Ambrose say That he made him without eyes that by bestowing them afterwards vpon him he might manifest to the world That God his Redeemer had created him anew Saint Austine harpt vpon the same string treating of Malchus his eare Saint Augustine saith That God making these eyes of so base a matter as câ—ay or durt intermingled with spettle representeth the mysterie of the Incarnation wherein God did raise and lift vp our nature to the admirable vnion of his heauenly condition from whence the Word became flesh which gaue light to this blind man and those that sate in the shadow of death hauing the eyes of their soules darkened with sinne Saint Ambrose affirmeth That Christ taught vs by this myracle that for to recouer our soules sight we must put durt vpon our eyes that is we must thinke vpon our owne basenesse and frailtie For the principium or beginning of Christian perfection is for a man to know himselfe Nor were his workes onely manifested in these his eyes but all his other perfections and attributes as his omnipotencie in restoring his eye-sight or rather making him new eyes molded out of durt his justice in letting the Pharisees liue in their blindnesse and his goodnesse and bountie in giuing light to this blind man Neither hee nor his parents c. Saint Chrysostome askes the question Why God would manifest his workes in this blind man so much to his cost being that he might haue taken for this purpose means of good and not of hurt Saint Ambrose saith That our Sauiour Christ was willing to take our sinnes as a pledge or gage of his glorie that he might make it thereby the surer For those that impose Tributes or settle their Rents are alwayes careful to haue good securitie and of all other assurances the best is that the State thus ingaged or impawned be properly belonging to the debtor And if God should ground his glorie on our goodnesse we cannot giue him any good securitie for it because this is others goods and not our owne but our sinnes are our owne and whatsoeuer is ill in vs properly belongeth to vs and are so perpetuated to our persons that they can neuer faile vs. Christ did redeeme vs from the captiuitie of our crimes but in this his redeeming and ransomming vs from sinne this holy Saint sayth That he had a kind of interest of his owne for although God did not remaine thereby more powerfull more mercifull more iust c. Habuit tamen quod ad cultum suae Maiestatis adiungeret He had something by the bargaine that gaue an addition to the worship of his diuine Maiestie And as it is in another place by giuing vs libertie Sibi etiam aliquid acquisiuit He got somewhat also to himselfe What did he get by it He got in a manner all his glorie by it he got to be reuerenced serued praised acknowledged and adored to bee as well a Sauiour as a God
vs it is a kind of imperfection because these affections or passions fall a balling without any reason in the world and no iust occasion being giuen But in our Sauior Christ these passions were not without cause as Saint Augustine hath noted it Saint Gregorie and Saint Hierome neither can they presse him further than hee is pleased to command them If here our anger take hold vpon vs it is like a fierce mastiffe which being set on by his Master takes hold on the Bul and will not let him go though he be rated off againe and againe In conclusion two things doth here recommend themselues vnto vs. The one That our Sauiour Christ was angrie The other That he was mooued to much compassion His anger was occasioned through the Iewes incredulitie as it is noted by Cardinall Tolet and Caietane whose hardnesse and vnbeleefe was such that hee was forced to take Lazarus his life from him to disconsolate those two kind Sisters to draw teares from their eyes and sobs from their brest and afterwards to returne himagaine vnto the world and onely that some might be drawne to beleâ—ue Saint Cyril saith That this his anger was against Death and the Deuill as if he had threatned their ouerthrow and vowed their destruction as it is prophecied by Osee O mors ero mors tua O death I will be thy death c. Vbi posuistis eum Where haue yee laid him c. O Lord Why shouldst thou aske this question I answer That he did it for two reasons The one The countenance of a Sinner is so strangely changed and is so strangely altered from what he was before he fell sicke of sinne that it is a phrase of Scripture to say God doth not know him Thou lendest thy friend thy Horse or thy Cloake the one is returned to thee so lame and so leane the other so ill vsed and so vtterly spoyled that not knowing thyne owne thou sayest This is not that which I lent Of an vntowardly and vngratious sonne the father will vsually say He is none of my sonne so said God to the foolish Virgins and to those that had wrought myracles in his name Nescio vos I know yee not Your Robbers on the Highway disfigure the faces of those whom they rob and murder to the end they may not be knowne And there is nothing that makes the Soule fouler than Sin Denigrata est facies eorum super carbones and it beeing so faire beautifull before it is no great meruaile that God should not know it So that now our Sauiour seemes not to know the place there being so great a difference betweene the one place and the other that of the life of Grace and that of the death of Sinne that he here askes Vbi posuistis eum Where haue yee layd him Saint Chrysostome alledgeth That hee vsed the like question when hee called vnto Adam saying Adam Adam vbi es Adam where are thou I find thee in a different place from that wherein I put thee I placed thee in prosperity and content and I find thee now in wretchednesse and in miserie Who caused this so great an alteration in thee Saint Cyprian saith That this question was made more to the Sinne than to the Sisters and that Lazarus representing Mankind he said speaking of our sinnes Vbi posuistis eum Where haue yee layd him I placed him in Paradice and yee haue put him in the graue The like is reported by Petrus Crysologus and he calleth the Graue the Caue wherein the Deuill hides his thefts and because the beginning of all this harme proceeded from woman he asketh the Sisters Vbi posuistis eum Where haue yee layd him For there are many women God hauing placed man in honour happinesse and health which bring man to his graue The other A Sinner through sinne is remooued so farre from God in Regionem longinqâ—am that God askes where he is For if it were possible for man to hide himselfe from the all-seeing eye of God doubtlesse he would hide himselfe in the land of Darkenesse that is of Sinne. And therefore it is said The Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous and the way of the Wicked shall perish And Iesus wept Of this sheding of teares wee haue rendred many reasons elsewhere Those which now offer themselues are these The first is of Saint Ambrose and Saint Chrysostome who say That Christ was mooued to weepe by seeing Marie and Martha weepe Christ seeing the Widow of Naim weepe said vnto her Noli flere Weepe not and in the house of the chiefe Ruler of the Synagogue he sought to diuert their teares and yet heere these of Marie seeme to extort by force the falling of these teares from his tender eyes Marie had accustomed her selfe to talke with our Sauior in this â—ind of Language it being a Cypher which onely our Sauiour vnderstood and because she talked to him in teares he answers her in teares The exhalations of Maries heart ascend vp to the heauen of Christs eyes and these humane teares draw downe diuine teares obtaining that by grace which was impossible for nature to compasse The second is of Saint Hilarie and Epiphanius who affirme That he thinking on the obstinacie of the Iewes and their finall perdition brake forth thus into teares For no man can comprehend what an offence to God is saue God himselfe and therefore none ô Lord can so truly bewaile sinne as thy selfe And it seeming to our Sauiour Christ that two eyes were too little to lament their miserie he added fiue wounds which serued as so many weeping eyes not shedding water but bloud Saint Bernard saith That in the Garden our Sauior did sweat bloud that he might weepe with all his whole bodie treating therin touching the remedie of the mysticall bodie of the Church Eusebius Emisâ—nus saith That he did groane and weepe in token that wee ought grieuously to lament and bewaile our sinnes And to this purpose saith Ieremie Call for the mourning women that they may come let them make hast and let them take vp a lamentation for vs that our eyes may cast out teares and our eye lids gush out of water And why I pray you so much weeping and lamentation Quia ascendit mors per fenestras as it followeth anon after Because death is come vp into our windowes and is entred into our Pallaces to destroy the children without and the young men in the streets The Soule is gone forth and Death hath entred in weepe therefore c. The death of the bodie is a type of that of the soule And therefore Saint Gregorie saith If I shall walke in the midst of the shadow of death He saith That the departing of the bodie from the soule is but a shadow but the departing of the soule from God is a truth and as a shadow is a refreshing in Sommer so is death to the Righteous The Wicked sticke not to say
of Idolatrie The Aegyptians did adore the Creatures and did pull other things though neuer so great vnder their feet in token that onely that Maiestie ought to bee worshipped and adored Athanasius saith That Gods appearing vnto Moses in the Bush and not in any other tree that was either bigger or better was because that the Iewes being inclined to Idolatrie would haue made them gods of Cedar Pine or Oke to the diminution and lessening of the authoritie of the true and liuing God And therefore to remooue this occasion from them hee appeared in the firie Bush whereof they could not so well make any Image or figure God of his infinite goodnesse loosen vs with Lazarus from the bonds of our sins c. THE XXXI SERMON VPON THE SATVRDAY AFTER THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT IOHN 8. Ego sum lux Mundi I am the Light of the World c. OVr Sauior Christ preaching to the People had inuited those that were thirstie to drinke If any be athirst let him come to me and drinke There was a great stirre amongst them some said That he was a Prophet others That he was Christ but the Pharisees perseuering in their hardnesse said It is not possible that so much good should come out of Galilee But this dust was layd with that plea of the Adulteresse putting the matter into their owne hands leauing it to themselues to iudge her whom they had so maliciously accused This businesse beeing ended Christ went on with his Sermon and spake againe vnto them saying Ego sum lux Mundi c. I am the light of the world Theophilact noteth That hee went about to ouerthrow that which the Scribes and Pharisees had alledged Out of Galilee ariseth no Prophet Yee hold me base and meane for that I am of Galilee I am so farre from taking any lustre or brightnesse from thence that I giue light vnto all the World He would likewise prooue that he was the Light by that act of his touching the Adultresse If he could discouer such secret and hidden sinnes from the eye of the world if he could banish and driue away before him such thicke and darke clouds he might verie well say Ego sum Lux mundi I am the Light of the world and whosoeuer shall follow me shall not walke in darkenesse but shall haue the light of life But the Pharisees looking for another would not giue credit thereunto but in a rebuking kind of fashion said vnto him Thou bearest record of thy selfe and therefore thy Record is not true thou maist boast thy selfe to be this and this but we shall hardly beleeue thee Whereunto Iesus answered and said Though I beare record of my selfe yet my record is true for I know whence I came and whither I go for I came into the world to lighten those that sit in darknesse and therefore I say vnto you that I am the Light but you doe not know neither my beginning nor my end And it is a needlesse scrupulositie in you to doubt of this myne owne testimonie First In regard of it's truth being so true as nothing more Secondly In regard of it's qualitie being so faith-worthie Now that this our Sauiours testimonie is firme secure quoad veritatem he prooues it vnto vs in that he saith If I iudge my iudgement is true for I am not alone but I and the father c. That it is likewise good quoad qualitatem it cannot otherwise chuse in regard that he is the sonne of God who is worthie of all faith and credit But if the Scribes and Pharisees wil needs find fault let them find fault with their owne ignorance because they iudge according to the outward sence not according as things are but as they seeme Secundum carnem iudicatis Yee iudge according to the flesh and therefore your iudgment is verie vncertaine I see not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord beholdeth the heart According to that of Esay Non secundum vâ—sionem oculorum iudicauit What doe yee thinke that I onely giue yee this testimonie and that I goe about to deceiue you No you are in an errour For I am not alone but I and the father that sent me and your owne Law alloweth the testimonie of two to be true and authenticall But then did they say vnto him Where is thy father Iesus answered Yee neither know me nor my father for if you know not me who teach dayly in your Temple how can you know my Father c. His pretension was to proue That his light was powerful to scatter those clouds of darkenesse that had shadowed the eyes of their vnderstanding if the thicke dust of their sinnes had not hindred their sight I am the Light of the world c. Amongst other innumerable names which the Diuine Maiestie doth enioy as Eusebius Caesariensis reporteth one is The Light This is the message which we haue heard of him and declare vnto you That God is Light Of this Light the Scripture telleth strange things The first That it is inaccessible according to that of Saint Paul Hee dwelleth in the light that none can attaine vnto Aristotle saith That the cleerest eyes are in order and disposition to this Light as the eyes of the Owle in respect of the Sun the chiefest and the highest of Angells hath need of more abilitie for the light of this glorie that his eyes may not be dazeled with the beams of this Light The second That whatsoeuer light or beautie is to bee found in the World is wholly deriued from this Light the Moone the Starres the Planets and the coelestiall Orbes Dionysius saith That they receiue their light and splendour from the Sunne and that the Sunne and all that is aboue the Sunne Angells Arch-Angells Thrones Powers Principalities Dominations c. And whatsoeuer is contained in Heauen and Earth receiue their motion and light from this Light The third That if the Light should faile the World were nothing worth for then the life and being of the World could not subsist the creatures the fruits the Elements the actions of men the birds and beasts without this light were not able to last and continue Whence I inferre That the world remaining in such palpable daâ—kenesse better newes could not betide vs than this glad tydings of our Sauiour Ego sum Lux I am the Light A man looseth himselfe in a stormie and tempestuous night he findeth himsâ—lfe in a darke and mountainous Wildernesse compassed about with pitchie Tents of darkenesse with horrours feares lightning thunder with the howling of Wolues the shreeking of Owles the rushing of Riuers the roaring of torrents the blustring of winds the croaking of Frogs and Toads the scratching of bushes and bryars with wearinesse cold raine snow and all this in an Aegyptian Darkenesse able to quell the stoutest heart and make Courage turne coward what a world of sighes would he send forth if those
actions Of all those secret sinnes whatsoeuer which man committeth alone by himselfe as Sorcerie Periurie Murder the like no one man in all the world can giue testimonie thereof but God can for he is present at all Thou knowest my lying downe and my rising vp thou seest my wayes and vnderstandest my paths afaâ—re if I ascend vp into Heauen thou art there if I goe downe into Hell thou art also there From Salomon was hid the path of a Ship in the Sea of an Eagle through the aire of a Snake through the Rocke and of a young man in the floure of his youth but from Gods eye nothing can be hid The knowing of this truth will draw on the confessing of another to wit That of the things appertaining to God none can giue testimonie but God No man euer saw God so saith Saint Iohn Who then shall giue vs testimonie of God The onely begotten Sonne which was in the bosome of his Father he shall doe it Of the Father the Sonne shall giue Record and of the Sonne the Father of both the Holy-Ghost In a word euerie one of these Diuine Persons of himselfe but Man cannot doe it but by reuelation Thy Record is not true Yes it is for I am the Light of the World and of the Light none can giue Record but the Light If any man should say vnto the Sunne Prooue it vnto me that thou art the Sunne it were a meere follie if not madnesse for his beames doe prooue it and proclaime it to the World In like manner that the Pharisees should say vnto our Sauiour Christ Prooue vnto vs that thou art the Light was a meere blindnesse in them for No Man could doe that which he did vnlesse God had beene with him Vpon a Glasse the Sunne is vsually so translated that it were a foolishnesse to aske a testimonie Whether it bee the Sunne or no And vpon the humanitie of our Sauiour Christ the beames of his Diuinitie were in that sort transferred that it was hardnesse of heart and obstinate wilfulnesse to desire further testimonie from God Saint Paul saith He that drew light out of darkenesse he did inlighten our soules that they might see the beames of the light of God in the face of his Sonne Iesus Christ. And for this the naturall light was sufficient but in the Pharisees this was so blinded through the dust of their sinnes that they could not see this Sunne The Seale that is imprinted in Wax shewes it selfe as cleere as if it were grauen in Brasse or Steele but with time or with dust it comes to be blotted out in that manner that the stampe and letters are not knowne So doth it succeed with a Sinner with this naturall light when it is once darkned through sinne whence it commeth to passe that he falleth into those foule and grosse ignorances which the brute beasts would not fall into Yee iudge after the flesh He prooues by another reason that his Record is true Yee iudge according to the Flesh by that which is not but by that which seemeth so to be but I iudge according to the heart I search and trie the verie reynes Saint Ambrose called the Sunne Oculum Mundi The Worlds eye not onely because it affoords vs that light whereby our eyes haue power to see but because it sees all things and in case that it being in the other Hemispheare it doth not see that which passeth in this yet Gods eyes see all that is both in this and in that other world Orpheus called the Sunne Oculum Iustitiae The eye of Iustice whose office it is to discouer whatsoeuer is darke and secret Antiquitie painted him sitting in a Ship gouerning the same as a Pilot for beholding the Starres and the Mariners Compasse he doth not onely discerne the dangers that are aboue the water but those hidden Deepes which are vnder the waters But neither the Sunne of Heauen nor those Sunnes of the earth can reach into the withdrawing roomes of mans bosome onely the eyes of Christ can looke into them which are farre brighter than the Sunne His eyes are brighter than the Sunne I am the Lord that searcheth the heart and trieth the reynes so saith Ieremie and Saint Iohn The beames of the Sunne discouer the atomes and motes in the ayre but not the thoughts and secrets of the heart But the beames of the Sun of righteousnesse discouer our smallest thoughts It was the foole that said in his heart There is no God And though this saying came not out of his mouth yet hee found it published in the market place because God diueth into the heart The Spouse compares him to that Goate which the Greekes call Dorcas for it's quicknes of sight as Saint Gregory Nyssene hath noted it If a man hide himselfe in darkenesse shal not I see him The Kings of the Gentiles pretending to haue the world to take them for gods they gaue them to vnderstand that they did know the thoughts of men To this alludeth that which Ioseph said to his brethren An ignoratis quod non similis in augurandi scientia Cicero saith That among the Persians no man could be King who was not skilled in the Art of Diuination And for this cause innumerable Witcheries and Sorceries were multiplyed and increased amongst them But it is a foolerie to imagine That any man can enter into them but God To which God be ascribed all honour power and glory now and for euermore Amen THE XXXII SERMON VPON PASSION SVNDAY IOHN 8. Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato Which of you will reprooue me of sinne OVr Sauiour Christs innocencie by many forcible reasons and strong arguments we haue elsewhere sufficiently prooued Now shall I proue vnto you the inconuenienâ—es which would haue followed his peccabilitie First of all The bloud of our Sauiour Christ was that wherein the Church washed her selfe These are they that washed their Stoles in the bloud of the Lambe And hee could not make them white had he not bin whitenes himselfe The bloud of her Beloued puts colour and beauty into her cheekes Sanguis eius ornauit genâ— meâ—s Shee speakes of the beautie of the soule and he could not make her faire had he himselfe beene foule And therefore saith Saint Paul It was fit he should be so that he might be a high Priest holy and vndefiled c. The second inconuenience that would follow thereupon would bee this That our Sauiour Christ could not be a competent Iudge had he beene a sinner as he was not He that iudgeth another himselfe being faulty condemneth himselfe And for this reason a Iudge that is notoriously knowne to be a corrupt and naughty man may iustly be refused Iudas acknowledging himselfe to be a delinquent in the Incest of his daughter in law Tamar was so farre from proceeding in iudgement against her that he said Iustior me est She is more righteous than I. When
to giue a faire and gentle answere to an angrie man is more than to prophesie of that which is to come for the gift of Prophecying God giues it Gratiâ— and it costs the Receiuer nothing but to suffer an Enemie costeth much Gregorie Nazianzen expounding that place of Saint Luke Vnto him that smiteth thee on the one cheeke offer also the other addeth further If thou hadst three cheekes thou oughtst to offer them all for to keepe him quiet But some man will say When that Varlet that base Slaue smote Christ in â—aiphas his house he did not offer him his other cheeke but told him as one thâ—t was sencible of the wrong he had done him If I â—aue euill spoken beare witnesse of the euill but if I haue well spoken why smitest thou me Saint Augustine answereth hereunto that to turne the other cheeke to an angrie man is not so much to be vnderstood de parte operis as de preparatione animi Noâ— in regard of the worke by offering the cheeke as of the preparation of our mind for that were but to put a sword into a mad mans hand And in another place he saith That it is an hyperbolicall kind of speech for that Christ did pretend That hee that is offended should be so farre from reuenging a receiued iniurie that hee should rather willingly receiue a new than reuenge an old wrong And therfore if our Sauiour Christ returned this answer to that rude and rough-handed Souldier â—ur me caedis Why smitest thou me it was either because this his flattery which he was willing to expresse to the High Priest by this his crueltie should not thereby be authorised or because it might not be presumed that Christ had lost the respect due to the Priest or because that no man should suspect that there remained any rancor in his brest or desire of reuenge which they that heard him say That the Sonne of Man should come with power and Maiestie and that he had another Kingdome where legions of Angels should shew themselues for to doe him honour might well suspect or peraduenture he returned him that answer for to pacifie him itbeing so mild â—nd gentle In a word The Rocke in the Sea the Anuile in the Forge the Iust in the earth continue stil quiet the one enduring the waues and suffering the surges of the seas the other the strokes of the hammers and the third the iniuries of his enemies My enemies haue compassed me about like so many Bees so many Buls and so many Dogs grinning their teeth at me but it neither troubles me nor grieues me for I am sufficiently reuenged of them Saint Augustine doth here aske the question How ô thou Kingly Prophet art thou reuenged of them Marrie by instructing them in the truth and by dissuading them from their errours Iob hauing receiued great iniuries from his friends as taunting words and false testimonies the reuenge that he tooke of them was To pray vnto God for them and to giue them good and wholesome councell as Saint Gregorie hath noted it Flie therefore from the face of the sword Thirdly he read a Lecture vnto Princes and Prelates of that mildnesse and gentlenesse which they ought to professe towards their Subiects Saint Bernard saith That if Christ did condemne Peter for drawing his sword when they came to lay hands on his Master and for cutting off of Malchus his eare it was That Choller did not well become him who was afterwards to be a Gouernor of the Church where he should meete with many a Malchus There is not any thing that doth more conserue Scepters and Crownes than clemencie and truth Alexander Seuerus was so soft and mild an Emperour that some did murmure thereat saying he would draw his Empire into contempt and be lesse esteemed of his Subiects Whereunto he answered Though it should be of lesse esteeme I am sure it will be more secure and durable Saint Augustine Saint Gregorie and Saint Ierome make this doubt Why our Sauiour did not as well reply to their calling of him Samaritane as for telâ—â—ng him that he had a diuell And they resolue it thus That concerning these two iniuries the one was an affront done to his person the other to his Doctrine for the wrong that was done to his doctrine because it touched the honour of his father hee was bound to answer thereunto For a seruant must not bee silent much lesse a sonne in the agrauios and iniuries that are done vnto God God promised Moses to make him a Captaine and Gouernour of another more noble and more honourable Nation desiring that he might cut off and make an end at once of that rebellious people But Moses besought him saying My good Lord this were a great honour for me but I am content to forgoe it because thou shalt suffer in thine honour if thou destroy this people Least the Egyptians speake and say he hath brought them out malitiously for to slay them in the mountaines and to consume them from off the earth This were but to run the censure of euill tongues and the hazard of thine honour Our Sauiour Christ did not resent any thing so much as affronts and dishonours this made him to breake forth into this passionat speech Ye went out with swords and â—â—aues to take me as if I had beene a theefe Againe Thou knowest my reproach and none knowes it â—o fully as thou To these shall we adde that other Saturabitur opprobrijs all his other torments made him still more and more hungrie and abated not the edge of his stomacke but he was glutted with his reproches and the affronts that were offered him he had his bellie too full of them more than hee was well able to beare Amongst other causes of that his mysterious sweaâ—ing of bloud in the Garden the Saints set downe this as the most principall That the dishonour did there represent it selfe vnto him of seeing himselfe starke naked vpon the Crosse and that he was to be made a spectacle vnto the world his bloâ—d like a faithful friend hauing recourse to the bashful modestie of the whole bodie as it is woont vpon some occasions to haue recourse vnto the heart In a word hee did euermore giue approued pledges tokens of the great reckoning that he made of his honour but when his Fathers lay at stake he was forgetfull of his owne And therefore not answering to that of Samaritanus es tu Thou art a Samaritan he mildly replied Ego Daemonium non habeo I haue not a Deuill but I honour my Father c. I seeke not mine owne praise but there is one that seeketh it and iudgeth Ye seeke to blot my name out of the worlds memory and to burie my honor and authority with the infamie of a Witch a Sorcerer a Diuell and a Glutton And though I doe not seeke to repaire this wrong There is one that seeketh after it and iudgeth
There is not any thing so hid and buried that though it lie couered for a time is not in the end discouered Of Fire and of Loue Vlisses saâ—d Quis enim celauerit ignem Who can hide them but the same may be better verified of the Truth Well may falshood and passion assisted by tyranny and power hide and bury it selfe but in the end There is nothing so secret but shall be reuealed For time is a great discouerer of truths Plutarch reporteth in his Apothegmes That at the sacrifices of Saturne whom they adored for the god of Time the Priests had their heads couered till the Sacrifice was fully ended a ceremonie which was not suffered by any other of the gods And the mystery thereof was That Time doth couer things now and then for a while but discouers them at last And therefore Pindarus said That the latter dayes were the faithfullest witnesses Time sometime sleepeth but it awakes againe But in case it fall asleep and neuer wake any more Est qui quaerat iudicet God is still ready at hand who searching out the truth will iudge his owne cause Obliuion hath two bosomes wherein she burieth those things which she most desireth to blot out of the remembrance of the world The one the bottom of the Sea The other the bowels of the Earth Into the Sea many Tyrants haue throwne the bodies and ashes of the Saints to the end that being deuoured by fishes or drowned in the deepe they might not be adored on earth as we may reade in the History of Saint Clâ—â—ent and diuers others In the earth men burie the Dead Highway Robbers their spoyls Theeues their thefts they that are either subdued by conquest or banished their country their treasure as Cacus did those cowes he had stolne in his caue But God causeth those things that are the heauiest and the weightiest and cast into the bottome of the Sea to swim like corke aboue water and maketh the earth to vomit forth her most secret and hidden treasures For Nihil occultum c. There is nothing so secret which shall not be reuealed There is one that seeketh it and iudgeth it O Lord Thou remittest this cause to thy father and thy father remits all vnto thee I answer when I tooke the rod to reuenge the wrongs and iniuries of the world I was not to be like vnto sparks that are quickly kindled nor subiect to any the least passion of anger for a Iudge that is so affected cannot be a competent Iudge in his owne cause And therfore Est qui quaerat iudicet My Father is to redresse this wrong he is to looke vnto it Whence I inferre That if our Sauiour Christ in whom there could nâ—t be any kind of passion did remit to his Father the iudging of his cause hardly can a Iudge of flesh sentence his owne cause King Dauid being at the point of death willed his sonne Salomon that he should take away the liues of Ioab and Shimei He thereupon caused Ioab to be slaine but onely confined Shimei The reason that induced him to mittigate Shimei his sentence and not that of Ioâ—b was because the offences which Ioab had committed were not done directly against his father Dauid but against Abner and Amasa whom he had ill killed Whereas Shimeis fault was in affronting the Kings person and because it might happily be thought that he might be carried away with too much passion or affection in this his fathers cause hee deferred his death till hee should fall through his owne default which he afterwards did and then Salomon reckoned with him for the old and the new The woman of Tekoah receiuing her instructions from Ioab entred the Palace and hauing put on mourning apparell as a woman that had now long time mourned for the dead and falling downe on her face to the ground and doing her obeysance she spake thus vnto him I am a poore widow my husband is dead and thine handmaid had two sonnes and they two stroue together in the field and there was none to part them so the one smot the other and slew him And behold the whole family is risen against thine handmaid crying out Deliuer him that smot his brother that we may kill him for the soule of his brother whom he slew that we may destroy the heyre also So shall they quench my sparkle that is left and shall not leaue to mine husband neither name nor posteritie vpon the earth and I my selfe shall remaine a miserable mother not hauing any child left me to be a stay and comfort vnto me in my old dayes Woe is me that I must be depriued of both my sons in one day The King pittying her wretched condition said vnto her I will take order for the freeing of thy sonne And to send her away well satisfied vowed vnto her by that his vsuall asseueration as the Lord liueth there shall not one haire of thy sonne fall to the earth Whereupon she taking her leaue said vnto him Let my Lord the King shew himselfe as free from passion in his owne proper cause as he hath in another mans Wilt thou free my sonne that hath slaine his brother and wilt thou not free Absalon that slew Ammon Rupertus saith That Eâ—es hurt consisted in the misprision of the fruit and the ill iudgement that shee made in the choice of the apple For being too much wedded to her owne appearing good opinion the eyes of the body persuaded those of the soule that in so faire a fruit it was impossible to find death Then tooke they vp stoâ—es to cast at him Tyranny and persecution euermore attended the Saints of God But there was this difference betwixt them and our Sauiour Christ That your Tyrants did seeke to reduce these other to the adoring of their gods one while with promises another while by threatnings now with curtesies and kindnesses and by and by againe with sundry sorâ—s of torments There was scarce any famous Martyr which did not tread in his martyrdome in this path nor any Tyrant which did not take this course with them And perhaps they followed herein the steps of Nebuchadnezzar who as the glorious Doctor Saint Chrysostome hath obserued for those who would not adore his Statue had a hot fierie furnace whose flames ascended forty nine cubits in heigth and for those that did adore it he had all sorts of exquisite musicke and choice instruments warring against vertue with pleasure and with paine But our Sauiour Christ was alwayes ill intreated by the world In the desart the diuell once offered him stones The Pharisees many times When he was borne in Bethlem he had not wherewithall to defend him from the cold but was forced to be laid in the cratch among the beasts Whilest he liued here in the world he had not any to relieue his hunger The day that hee entred in Triumph into Ierusalem he went forth into the field to
our hearts the remembrance of his manifold benefits To whom with the Father the Sonne c. THE XXXVI SERMON VPON THE THVRSEDAY AFTER PASSION SVNDAY LVC. 7. Rogabat Iesum quidam Pharisaeus vt manducaret cum illo c. A certaine Pharisee requested Iesus That he would eat with him c. ROgabat Iesum c. And one of the Pharisees desired Iesus that he would eat with him The whole Historie of Marie Magdalen is reduced to these three estates Of a Sinner Of a Penitent Of a Saint For all which she was most famous In that her first estate of her â—ewd course of life she obtained a plenarie pardon and full remission of her sinnes Were she either Widow as Saint Hierome would haue it or one that was neuer married as common opinion cries it Petrus Chrysologus saith That she had made the Citie so infamous that she might more fitly be called Peccatum Hierosolimae quam Peccatrix The Sinne of Ierusalem than a Sinner because by reason of the bad fame and euill report that went of her the whole Citie did suffer therein and was in a manner spoyled and vndone some being taken with her beautie others with her gracefull behauiour not a few with the pleasantnesse of her wit and liberall language but most with her ill example occasioning murmuration in some obduration in othersome causing them not onely to speake ill but also to doe ill In a word shee was Pestis generalis A generall plague and Commune scandalum A common scandall to all The circumstances of her perdition were strange First In that her sinne was a sinne of dishonestie wherein wee vsually see these two effects The one That it clings like bird-lime to our soules Thomas saith That it is Peccatum maximae inhaerentiae That it is a sinne of all other that cleaueth closest vnto vs and stickes longest by vs. Saint Hierome That it much resembleth the Bird called the Phoenix which doth reuiue and renew her selfe with the fire which she kindleth with the motion of her wings Thou mournest thou bewailest and repentest thee of the dishonest sinne which thou hast committed and desirest to giue it ouer that it may dy in thee but with the wings of thy thoughts thou blowest those coles afresh and makest them flame more than before so that thinking to kill the lusts of the flesh thou doost quicken them giue them new life so that what thou bewailedst before for dead thou now embracest as liuing and huggest it in thy bosome as a man claspes his deerest friend in his armes that after some long swoune recouers againe A holy Hermit that led a deuour and solitarie life talking one day with the Deuill demanded of him Which amongst the Sinnes was the greatest He told him Dishonestie And he replying What are not Blasphemie Murther and Swearing far greater sinnes Whereunâ—o he answered In point of Diuinitie these are the greatest but the Rents and In-comes of the sinnes of the flesh are farre greater and this is the reason why I doe not tempt any with blasphemie or murther but some one desperate person or other but with dishonestie all sorts of men the Merchant imployes his Stocke in that kind of trading which shall turne most to his commoditie the Vsurer puts forth his moneys where he may haue most profit and best securitie There is not any other sinne that like a plague hath spred it selfe so generally ouer the world as that of the Flesh and this was the cause that God repented himself that he had made man and if at any time in the world there hath been any one that hath shewed himselfe so valiant as to resist the assaults of hell yet in the end the verie same partie hath beene shrewdly encountred with the concupiscence of the flesh as Saint Gregorie hath noted it of Salomon Et non custodiuit quae mandauit ei Dominus It made him breake Gods command The other effect is that it blinds the Vnderstanding as wee shall shew you hereafâ—er The second circumstance is That it is an impudent and shamelesse sinne Marie Magdalen by this meanes losing all feare of God and shame of the world When a Riuer runnes betweene two banks well planted with trees which serue as wals to hedge it in the waters thereof doe no harme but if these Riuers breake their bankes and make their way ouer those walls they ouerflow and spoyle all that is in their way Whilest our life shall bee bounded in betwixt shame and feare no great harme can come of iâ— but when a Soule shall liue deuoyd of shame or feare Lord haue mercie vpon it Our Sauiour Christ taking it to be the extremitie and vtmost of all euill said of a Iudge I neither feare God nor Man He that shall cast vp his accounts with Heauen aboue and with his Honour here beneath and when he hath made this reckoning shall thinke with himselfe that hee hath nothing to lose What bridle can restâ—aine him One of the reasons why God commanded That a man should not defame his neighbour was That he should not make his sinne perdurable Saint Hierome saith That we should rather priuatly admonish than publiquely punish Lest if such a one should once lose shame he should dwell in his sinne for euer Amongst noble Natures Honour is the bridle of Vice and in case they should not professe Vertue yet will they haue a care to vphold their credit Saint Augustine saith That God did not augment the Monarchie of the Romans for their vertue because whilest they adored false gods they could hardly professe it but because hauing set Honour before their eyes it was a great bridle to curbe in their vices The third circumstance is That she should purchase her selfe the name of a Sinneresse in so populous a Citie This was it that made the Euangelist say Behold a woman in the Citie which was a Sinner this of Saint Luke was a great endeering of the offence De qua septem Daemonia eiecerat Out of whom hee had cast seuen Deuils Now by these seuen Deuils is to bee vnderstood the manifoldnesse of her sinnes this is Saint Gregories opinion but Saint Ambrose will haue thereby to be vnderstood seuen reall Deuils indeed He dried vp the issue of bloud in Martha and droue out the Deuils in Marie and it is no small proofe thereof that two Euangelists should expresse the same in plain and ful words for when one Euangelist sets downe a thing in darke and obscure termes another vsually explaines the same but Saint Marke and Saint Luke both herein agree and say Out of whom he had cast seuen Deuils and Saint Hierome in the life of Hâ—larâ—on and Prosper likewise affirmeth That this was a chastisement which God did often vse in great sinnes The fourth circumstance is The great hurt which she occasioned to the souls and bodies of men a great cause whereof was her extreame beautie Sambucus
food A Physitian betwixt a great weaknesse of body and a double Pluriâ—ie if I let this sicke man blood he dyes through weaknesse if not let him blood of his griefe The rich man that enioyeth another mans goods if I restore saith he I must stand without doores and begge If not restore hells doore stands ready open forme Coelum vndique vndique pontus on the one side is Scylla on the other Charibdis So in this case say the Pharisees If we let this man alone it is ill with vs if wee take away his life worse But he that shall finde himselfe perplexed suffering out of his fearfulnesse betwixt two euils let him not once thinke of thwarting God for then both those euills will fall vpon him as it is well obserued by Saint Augustine Saint Gregorie and Saint Basil. So stood the case now with these men eyther they did beleeue that Christ was the Messias or they did not beleeue it if beleeue it it was a notorious wickednesse in them to preferre a Temporall kingdome before the open profession of their faith And if they did not beleeue it they had no cause giuen them to feare any temporall harme from the Romans but the Spirituall dammage of Religion The Prince that sayes Cut off this Heresie for the conseruation of my Crowne doth not make any great reckoning of his faith What saith Saint Augustine Quia temporale regnum spirituali praetulerunt vtrumque amiserunt Because they preferred a temporall kingdome before a spirituall they lost both Experience teacheth vs That Faith and Religion conserue Kingdomes Which Saint Chrysostome prooueth vnto vs in his 64. Homily and Achior the Ammonite notified as much to Holofernes at the siege of Bethulia And here we may take vp a iust complaint against your counterfeit Christians your dissembling Polititians and their damnable Positions who loosing in part the name of Christians and of Catholikes beare themselues high vpon the name of Polititians and Statesmen liuing wondrous well contented therewith who are a kind of cattle that doe so highly prize their Courtly carriage their curteous behauiour and faire demeanor that they seeke to reduce the cause of Religion and Faith to ciuilitie and curtesie iudging all the rest meere rusticitie and clownishnesse alledging in their defence That many things must yeeld and giue way to the times as also to dissemble with the times And that for the publike peace which ought aboue all things to be esteemed they affirme That war ought not to bee waged for matter of difference in Religion as well because it cannot be rooted out ofmens brests as also because the obligation of Religion is not so precise a thing that we should for the same aduenture and hazard eyther our goods our persons or the peace of a State They say That that which doth most of all concerne a Statesman is aboue all things to haue an eye to the good of his Country and the profit and benefit of the people therein but by no meanes to enter into a Warre nor to draw too much enuie vpon them for cause of Religion leauing that care to Clergie-men or to Preachers or to God himselfe Who if the Church shall receiue any iniurie by the new broached opinions is able of himselfe to reuenge his owne quaâ—rell In a word There is not that meere Polititian or Statesman that is not desirous to sleepe in a whole skin and to looke well enough to himselfe for one without thrusting himselfe into quarrels and contentions for points of Religion Whence it comes to passe that they forsake the Patrocinium and protection of the Church and vpon foule termes put the Catholike faith into their enemies fingers He that doth not preferre the cause of Religion before all things else whatsoeuer doth not deserue the name of a Christian for Faith Diuine Worship and Religion difference a Christian from a Gentile Hee then that shall sleight the same and make light account of it how shall he enioy this name If vnto great sinners our Sauiour saith Nescio vos I know yee not though they confesse and esteeme of faith What will he say vnto Polititians and Statesmen The generall voice of this Sect is Let vs first regard our temporall meanes be it priuat or publike for religion and truth so no hurt thereby come vnto vs let it shift for it selfe what is it to vs what hazzard it runnes Summa peruersio saith Saint Augustine frui vtendis vti fruendis Your Polititians set vp their rest and delight in enioying temporall goods and in making vse of spirituall goods Pilat was a Polititian for the Iewes alledging vnto him If thou let this man loose thou art not Caesars friend he condemned our Sauiour Christ to death preferring Caesars friendship before Christs life Ieroboam was a Polititian who made two calâ—es for the subiects of his kingdome that they might not go vp to Ierusalem Those were Polititians which in Saint Augustines time inforced him to write those his bookes de Ciuit. Dei alledging That they had many bad yeares misfortunes and disasters for professing the Law of Christ. Those were Polititians That kâ—owing Christ would not confesse him openly before men Least they should be thrust out of the Synagogue Ioseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were Polititians for that they sought after our Sauiour Christ by night for feare of the Iewes Polititians are those of whom Ieremias said Since we haue left off to burne â—â—â—ense to the Queene of heauen and to poure out drinke offerings vnto her wee haue had scarcenes of all things and haue beene consumed by the sword and by famine Against all which our Sauiour Christ said What exchange can be made for a mans soule The temporall Monarchie of the whole world cannot be an equall Counterpoize to Râ—ligion This Sect had it's first beginning from Cain God had reuealed vnto father Adam the comming of Christ Adam vnto his sonnes and Cain supposing that he should lineally descend from Abel and that hee should be thrust out and disgraced resolued to remooue that blocke that stood in his way preferring the temporall good of the bodie before the spirituall good of the soule The Romans will come The harme was not hatched in Rome but in the enuie of your brests the generall losse did not so neerely touch you as your own priuat interest There are some Gouernors in a Commonwealth which applie themselues wholly to their priuat profit King Don Alonso of Arragon was woont to say That if he had beene Emperour when Rome flourished he would haue built a Temple before the Capitoll where the Senators should haue layd downe their owne particular benefit A conceit worthie such a King who knew verie well what Interest will worke in a Gouernor Moses did desire to see Gods face Shew me thy face But Gods answer to him was Thou canst not see my face for there shall no man see me and liue The Prophet hereupon strooke saile
and let his desire fall What Moses art thou now turned coward What had it been to thee to haue lost thy life for to behold God face to face We find afterwards that desiring pardon for his People he said vnto God O Lord pardon this People though thou blot my name out of the booke of Life Wouldest thou not forgoe thy life to see Gods face and wilt thou part with this and that other life for thy people That was a particular good this a common and a Gouernor ought mainly and especially to haue an eye vnto that Those Cowes which carried the Arke to Bethshemish neuer turned their heads at the lowing of their Calfes because being guided led along with the loue zeale of the common good they forgat their particular longings and desires He that gouernes must fix his eâ—e vpon this White without turning it aside through the importunitie of wife childrâ—n or kinsfolke c. The Romans will come This was but to giue a colour to the violence of their enuie and malice All the world is a Maske or disguise Dionysius the Tyrant entring into a Temple of Idols tooke away from the chiefest amongst them a cloake of gold and being demanded Why hee did it his answere was This cloake is too heauie for the Sommer and too cold for Winter Taking likewise a golden beard from Aesculapius he said That his father Apollo hauing no beard there was no reason his sonne should weare any all which was but a maske for his couetousnesse Simâ—lata sanctitas duplex iniquitas Hence come our contrarie nick-naming of things tearming good euill and euill good sweet sowre and sowre sweet The tyrannie and crueltie wherewith Pharaoh afflicted Gods people he stiled it wisedome Come let vs deale wisely Iehu called that passion and spleene which he bare against Ahab Zeale Behold my zeale for the Lord. Those perills of life whereinto Saul put Dauid he proclaimed to be Gods quarell Goe and fight the Lords battells And here the Pharisees call this their conspiracie a Councell and their priuat profit Zeale c. Yee perceiue nothing at all neither doe yee consider c. This was Caiphas speech as for Ioseph of Arimathea of whom Saint Luke saith That he did not consent to the councell and â—eed of them And for Nicodemus and Gamaliel it is verie probable that they had no finger in the businesse but as it is in the prouerbe The head draweth the rest of the bodie after it as the Primum mobile doth the rest of the Heauens and therefore he sayd Yee know nothing for that when in a Commonwealth a Citisen differs in his opinion from a companie of impudent and wicked persons and liues therein with God and a good conscience presently they say Que sabe poco That he is a man of no vnderstanding and knoweth not what hee speakes The reason that Caiphas renders is this It is expedient for vs that one man die for the people rather than that the whole Nation should perish At that verie instant when the High-Priest was to pronounce this decree the Holy-Ghost and the Deuil mooued him therunto both at once the one directed his heart the other his tongue but in Caiphas his purpose and intention it was the wickedest Decree and the most sacrilegious determination that was euer deliuered in the World God could not bee well pleased with Caiphas for desiring the death of the Innocent nor yet displeased with his death for that it was decreed in the sacred Councel of the blessed Trinitie That one should die for the sinnes of the people But in God and Caiphas the ends were diuerse this out of malice to our Sauiour that out of loue to Mankind Nor is it inconuenient that one and the selfesame proposition should haue a different sence and meaning Destroy this Temple and I will build it vp againe in three dayes The Pharisees vnderstood this of the materiall Temple but our Sauiour Christ of the Temple of his bodie That which thou doost due quickely Our Sauiour Christ spake this of Iudas his treating to sell him but his Disciples vnderstood him as concerning the preparation of the Passeouer And so in this place It is fit that this man should die saith Caiphas that we may not become captiues to Rome and Heauen saith It is fit that hee should die because the whole World should not perish The persecution and death of a Martyr turnes to the Martyrs good but to the Tyrants hurt Surely the Sonne of man goeth his way as it is written of him but woe be to that man by whom the Sonne of man is betrayed it had beene good for that man if he had neuer beene borne Heauen could not inuent a more conuenient meanes than the death of Christ for our good but the world could not light on a worse meanes than the death of our Sauiour Christ for it 's owne ill Caiphas treated of temporall libertie the Holy Ghost of spirituall libertie Caiphas of the safetie of his owne Nation the Holâ—-Ghost of the sauing of the whole world And therefore Saint Iohn addeth Non solum pro Gente or as the Greeke Text hath it Pro ea Gente sed vt filiâ—s Deâ— qui erant disperâ—i congregaret in vnum Not onely for that Nation but that hee might gather the children of God together that were dispersed throughout the world Origen hath obserued That Caiphas prophesied but that he was no Prophet First Because one action of a Prophet doth not make the habit or denomination of a Prophet Secondly because he did not attaine vnto the sence and meaning of the Holy-Ghost the knowledge whereof in point of prophesie is necessarie S. Ambrose saith That Caiphas pretended one thing vttered another therefore that he sin'd in the sentence which he pronounced because hisintent was bad vniust as it was with Balaam who as he was a Prophet could not curse the people of Israell but as they were particular persons they did sinne and erre so that the Holy-Ghost seruing himselfe with the tongue of Caiphas as the instrument the High-Priest did but determine that which the Holy-Ghost had before decreed Whence we may take occasion to weigh and consider the good and the ill of an intention since that one and the selfe same words are so good and so ill Saint Augustine pondereth vpon those words of Saint Paul Qui filio proprio suo non pepercit sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum Who spared not his owne sonne but gaue him for vs all to death This word Tradidit is verified both of the Father and of the Sonne Tradidit semetipsum pro me He deliuered vp himselfe for me As also of Iudas Qui autem tradidit cum dedit signum He gaue them a signe that was to betray him And of Pilat Tradidit voluntati eorum He deliuered him vp to their will The deliuering of him vp was all one and the same but
the Father and the Sonne did this out of their mercy and loue to the world but Iudas and Pilat out of hatred treason and iniustice Saint Ambrose saith That that murmuring about the oyntment Vt quid perditio ista vnguenti facta est What needed this waste was vttered by Iudas and the Disciples in one and the same words But in them they proceeded out of a good mind but in Iudas out of auarice for the Disciples had therein a respect to the poore For this oyntment muttered they might haue beene sold for much and beene giuen to the poore But Iudas out of the profit that he might haue made thereby vnto himselfe by filching some of it away if he had come to the fingring of it Saint Hilary expounding that saying of our Sauiour Christ Pater maior me est My Father is greater than I saith That it being heard from Arrius his mouth it sauoured like gall but from our Sauiours mouth like hony In Corinth certaine Exorcists sonnes of the Prince of the Priests would take vpon them to cast out an euill spirit Pessimum the Text stiles him Who did demand of them Who gaue you licence to execute this Office Vos autem qui estis What are ye Iesus I acknowledge and Paul I know but who are ye And the man in whom the euill spirit was ranne on them and preuailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded Saint Paul did cast out diuels in the name of the Lord Iesus Christ and these men likewise did vse the name of the Lord Iesus Christ How comes it then to passe that the successe was so contrary I answer The intention was different Their words were the same but not their intent It is expedient for vs that one man dye The naturall consideration of this place is the conueniencie of Christs death It was expedient for heauen earth angels men as wel the liuing as the dead Wherof I haue treated at large elswhere This spake he not of himselfe Saint Augustine Hoc in eo egit propheticum Chrisma c. The gift of prophesie made him to prophesie his owne euill life and that hee did prophesie ignorantly and foolishly Saint Chrysostome Vide quanta siâ— c. The grace of prophesie toucht the high Priests mouth but not his heart Whence Saint Chrysostome doth inferre how impertinently the Heretikes doe impugne the liues of the Priests with an intent and purpose to ouerthrow the force and power of Ecclesiasticall dignities and their sacred command and authoritie Moses his doubting did not hinder the gushing of the water out of the rocke nor the malice of Caiphas Gods good purpose Of Treacle the Physitians say That it hath a little touch of poyson in it and it being it's naturall condition and propertie to flye to the heart though it be hurtfull one way yet it carryes it's remedy with it So in like maner the holy Ghost made vse of Caiphas his tongue as the instrument of letting forth that diuine blood whose shedding was our saluation Of a leaud wicked fellow Plutarch reporteth That he vttered a very graue sentence and that Lacedamonia gaue order that it should be ascribed to another Answering to our à semetipso non dixit This was not a bird of his hatching Iob seemeth to bee somewhat mooued and offended That God should ayde the wicked in their distresse Thinkest thou it good to oppresse me and to cast off the labour of thine hands and to fauour the Councell of the wicked But the diuine prouidence is wont to make vse of the Councels of Tyrants and such as are enemies thereunto but does neuer assist and helpe them forward Saint Paul telleth vs That some did preach our Sauiour Christ through enuie others for opposition sake and by way of contention and saith withall In hoc gaudeo gaudebo In this I doe and shall reioyce And Christs Disciples aduising him that some did cast forth diuells in his name made them this answer Nolite prohibere Forbid them not For the indignitie and vnworthinesse in the person of the Minister doth not destroy the grace of his function and dignitie This spake he not of himselfe From so bad a man could not come so deepe a Mysterie onely God could put this so rare a conceit into his head as the deliuering vp of a Sonne for the redeeming of a Slaue Iesus therefore walked no more openly among the Iewes Seeing death now neere at hand he withdrew himselfe reading a Lecture therein vnto vs That when we are about to die and drawing on to our last home we should abandon the world and retyre our selues Remitte mihi saith Dauid vt refrigerer priusquam abeam amplius non ero Giue me leaue ô Lord to dispose of my selfe and to render thee an account of my life before I goe hence and be seen no more For to propound your cause before a Iudge you prepare and addresse your selfe vnto him before hand and shall you be negligent and carelesse when you are to appeare before God Amongst the Iudges of the earth you haue a Vista and a Reuista Hearing vpon hearing a primera segunda instancia a first and a second instance But with God you cannot enioy the like benefit his Court allowes no such course The Motto that is written there ouer his Tribunall is an Amplius non ero I shall bee no more We may not die twice for to amend in our second death the errors of our former life There is no reuersing of iudgement no appealing from this Iudge to that or from one Court to another That which wil concerne and import thee most is That thou condemne thy selfe before God condemne thee and that thou kill sinne in thee before God kill thee in thy sin This is the onely way to secure danger and to kill death Many sit vp so long at play that at last they are faine to goe to bed darkling This our liuing in the world is a kind of playing or gaming whose bed is Aeternitie Walke while ye haue light least the night come vpon you and darknesse ouertake you Study to giue ouer thâ—â—â—lay in some good time do not continue your sports in this world to the very 〈…〉 â—â—oppling out of the candle least ye runne the danger of going to bed darkeling He went thence into a country neere vnto the wildernesse c. If it goe ill with thee and that thou canst not liue well and quietly amongst some men flye from the societie of them Our Sauiour Christ hyes him to the wildernes amongst the beasts and carries his Disciples thither with him holding their fellowship to be lesse hurtfull and dangerous Frater fui Draconum saith Iob I am a brother to the Dragons and a companion to the Ostriches Inter Scorpiones habitaui saith Ezechiel I dwelt among Scorpions Albeit by their habit and shape they seeme to be men they are indeed no better than
saith Consultauerunt consilio They did lay their heads together they sat in Councell they did not onely thinke vpon but consent to the greatest malice and wickednesse which euer the diuell or hell could imagine Vt Lazarum interficerent To kill Lazarus This is the end of our thoughts when they are not cut off in time Sinne is so great an Vsurer that it goes dayly gayning more and more ground vpon mans brest till it hath brought it to a desperate estate They were growne to that desperation that they said vnto filthinesse I am thy seruant Saint Ierome saith That as the couetous thirst after money so doe these after dishonestie They are like those that goe downe into a deepe well they knit rope to rope and one sinne to another Why dyed I not in the birth Or why dyed I not when I came out of the wombe Why did the knees preuent me And why did I sucke the brests Wherein the Prophet painteth foorth vnto vs the foure estates of a child The first in the wombe The second when it is borne The third when it is swadled vp The fourth when they giue it the teat S. Gregorie doth applie these foure to the foure estates of sinne The first in the thought which conceiues it The second in the ill which bringeth it forth The third when we put it on like a garment The fourth when we nourish and maintaine it Saint Augustine painteth foorth these foure estates in these foure dead folkes In the daughter of the Archisinagoguian who stirred not from home In the sonne of the widow of Naim who was accompanied to his graue In Lazarus who lay foure dayes dead And in him whom our Sauiour Christ did not raise vp at al saying Let the dead bury the dead They consulted to put Lazarus to death Our Sauiours death was already concluded on and now this cruel people treated of making away Lazarus Of whom our Sauiour Christ said Vt descendat super vos omnis sanguis iustus à sanguine Abel ad sanguinem Zachariae c. It is no maruell that they sought to kill Lazarus for in him was sum'd vp all the blood of the iust that had beene shed in the world And the reason that makes this to seeme so is because all the iust that dyed in the world since Abel were a Type and figure of Christ And if they did die it was to giue testimonie of his death and had it not beene for our Sauiour Christs death his had not preceedd And for that the life of the iust was a shadow of that of our Sauiour Christ in taking away his life in whom all the liues of the world were contained they were guiltie of all the rest and as much as lay in them were the Homicides of the whole world And if he that carryes but one mans death about him findes no place of safetie vpon earth What rest shall he find that hath so many deaths crying vpon his conscience Saint Chrysostome treating of the sinne of Cain saith That it was greater than that of Adam For besides his loosing in the turning of a hand the greatest Empire that euer the world had we cannot imagine any sinne to be greater than the barring of all mankind from heauen the depriuing him of grace and of the friendship of God yet notwithstanding this seemeth to be the greater and hee proueth it by the sentence that was giuen vpon the one sin the other God sentencing Adam said Cursed is the earth for thy sake c. The blow of the curse was to fall vpon Adam and as the father which makes shew to throw the candlestick at his sons head but flings it against the next wall so God sayes Cursed is the earth for thy sake But with the Serpent and with Cain he proceeded otherwise To the Serpent he said Thou art cursed aboue all cattle and aboue euery beast of the field vpon thy belly shalt thou goe and dust shalt thou eate all the dayes of thy life To Cain Thou art cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receiue thy brothers blood from thine hand it shall not henceforth yeeld vnto thee her strength c. He did not forbid him to tread vpon the earth but he forbad him to enioy the fruits thereof c. Secondly The voyce of thy brothers blood cryeth vnto me from the earth Saint Ambrose saith That he heard the voyce of Abel for with God the dead speake as well as the liuing The Hebrew hath it The voyce of bloods putting it in the plurall number as Lyra hath noted it For hee had shed so many bloods as Abel might haue had children For albeit they had neither being nor life in themselues yet they might in their cause and beginning It cryes to mee from the earth Not from his body for though thy brother should haue forgiuen thee yet the earth would not pardon thee to see it selfe violated by a Traytor And if God would haue but giuen way thereunto a thousand mouths would haue opened to swallow thee vp aliue but being he would not consent thereunto it goes choking those seedes which might haue serued thee for thy sustenance and delight and shaking thee off from thence like a banished man this Writ is gone out against thee A vagabond and runnagate shalt thou be vpon the earth Thirdly All the superiour and inferiour creatures were to be his persecutors and his tormentors the heauens with thunder and lightning the Angels with fearfull apparitions the beasts of the woods and men shunning his company and God himselfe chastising him with a continuall trembling But some wil say How could God persecute him since he published a Proclamation That whosoeuer should kill Cain should be punished seuen-fold Sextuplum punietur The Seuentie Interpreters render it Septem vindictas exoluet Seuen seuerall reuenges shall bee taken of him Procopius answers hereunto That this Proclamation was made against Cain For a man cursed by God persecuted by heauen by earth by Angells by men by beasts and by himselfe would haue held it a happinesse to dye but God would not that he should inioy so great a blessing But that he should liue seuen generations and that in euery one of them God would take seuere vengeance of him Septem vindictas exoluet till that Lamech should come who gaue him a sodaine and violent death And this is a notable place against all kind of murderers and man slayers Dauid would not drinke of the water though he were thirsty which his souldiers brought him because it had cost them the hazard of their liues and therfore offered it vp in sacrifice to God They did poure forth innocent blood like water in the siege of Ierusalem Dauid did shed the water because it seemed to him to be blood and others shed blood as if it were but water some take blood for water and others water for blood Cogitauerunt vt Lazarum interficerent They consulted to
that he did him and the great reward hee bestowed vpon him Amongst other Motiues the first shall be the Title of the Crosse Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iewes It was prophesied That his Kingdome should take it's beginning from the Crosse Dominus regnabit à ligno The Iewes did secretly honour the word à ligno The Saints did openly reuerence it Christ had giuen great pledges in his birth that hee was à King by Angels Shepheards and Kings In his life by the obedience of all sorts of creatures Who is this whom the winds and seas obey By the voices of the Diuells themselues by the whips of the Temple and by his last Supper Here bee some standing here which shall not taste of death vntill c. In his passion My kingdome is not of this world and ye shall see the Son of man comming in power But in his death hee gaue farre greater pledges All the creatures gaue testimonie of their Creator The diuels cried out so sayes Eusebius Caesariensis Pan magnus interijt And howbeit on Pilats and the peoples part the Title of the Crosse was placed there in scoffe and scorne of him yet the diuine prouidence made vse of these liuing instruments And as in the creation he walked on the waters so in the reparation of mankind he passed through punishments and paines of our Sauiour Christ making their iests turne to earnest The same consideration being likewise to be had concerning the Crowne the Scepter and the Robe of purple which in derision they put vpon him c. Hilarie and Bonauenture both say That our Sauiour Christs Patience was one great Motiue In heauen the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost beare witnesse In earth the Holy Ghost Water and Blood All these testimonies proue the Diuinitie of Christ. But to let passe those of heauen The Holy Ghost doth prooue that hee was a Diuine person whose voyce was so powerfull when the Spirit tooke his leaue of his body that it forced the Centurion to say Vere filius Dei erat iste Truely this man was the Son of God The Water which was miraculous prooues that he was a Diuine person for it is not possible that water should naturally flowe from a dead body The Blood that prooues it not onely in regard of it's muchnesse but that it was shed with so much patience For though his wounds were many and his torments great yet like a sheepe before the Shearer he neuer once opened his mouth or shew'd the least resistance And Euthymius and Theophylact adde That the prayer which he heard him make to his Father Father forgiue them which was the first that he vttered on the Crosse did worke that amasement in this theefe That he said with himselfe Sure this is no man And thereupon began to haue an assured hope of the forgiuenesse of his sinnes For thought he he that is so desirous to pardon those that had vsed him so cruelly not onely tormenting him in his body but also scoffing and flouting at him to vexe if it were possible his soule will surely farre more willingly pardon me who being heartily sorry for my sinnes desire to become his seruant I haue heard that the Kings of Israel are mercifull but none of them all had so generous and free a heart as our Sauiour Christ. Tertullian saith That hee came into the world for to shew himselfe a God in his suffering making Patience the badge and marke of his Diuinitie And that the power which he shewed in pardoning being so great much greater was that which hee shewed in suffering It was much that he should suffer for man much more in that he suffered for man when as man would not suffer him to be God To admit a Traytour to his boord to bid him welcome to feast him and make much of him that finding himselfe so kindly vsed he may make him surcease from his plotted treasons winning him vnto him by these and the like courtesies well may a man doe this but that God should admit a Iudas to his table that he should eate with God God witting That he would goe from the table to execute his treason to sell God and to deliuer him vp into the hands of his enemies onely God and his patience could suffer so great an iniurie which made Saint Augustine to say A potentia discimus patientiam S. Chrysostome Origen and S. Ierome are or opinion That the alteration of the sunne and the elements wrought the same effect vpon the theefe as it did vpon Dyonisius in Athens when he cryed out Either the world is at an end or this man is God Vincent Ferrariensis saith That the shadow of our Sauiour Christ did inlighten this Theefe And that the shadow of Saint Peter healing bodies it was not much that the shadow of Christ should heale soules Whereunto may be applyed that of Dauid Thou hast shadowed my head in the day of battaile Petrus Damianus saith That the blessed Virgin might bee a meanes of this Theeues Conuersion by intreating her sonne that he would be pleased to open the eyes of his soule Whether she were mooued thereunto because the good theefe did not reuile Christ or whether which Saint Augustine reports though some attribute the same to Anselmus That in her iourney to Aegypt hee being Captaine of the Theeues did the blessed Virgin many good seruices being much taken with the prettinesse of the child and the sober and modest countenance of the mother sure I am that it was a happines so sole in the world consisting of such strange circumstances That no man did or euer shall enioy the like good lucke And as we cannot expect a second death of our Sauiour Christ so such a second happy incounter as this was cannot bee hoped for This Theefe came in that good time when as heauen did shoure downe mercies when there was a plenary Indulgence and Iubilee granted when God did poure forth the balme of his Blood for to ransome man when the doores of heauen and the wounds of Christ were equally open when the fountaine of liuing water did cry out in the middest of the world If any man thirst let him come vnto mee and drinke when our Sauiour had such a longing desire to see the fruit of his labors and sweats when he had put that petition to his Father which began with Ignosce illis Forgiue them And it seeming vnto him That his Father was too slow in granting his request he did thus pittifully complaine vnto him O my God my God why hast thou forsaken me Why came I into the world Why was I borne in pouertie liued in labour and dyed in sorrow What Haue I laboured then in vaine Secondly it was his happinesse as Saint Gregory Nissen hath obserued That he inioyed our Sauiour Christs side and his shadow that he was so close vnder his wing He that sayles in a little Barke with a
of the sea This is much But if God should haue reuealed vnto thee that thou shouldst see his sonne washing Iudas his feet c. And there appeared a great wonder in heauen a woman cloathed with the Sunne and the Moone was vnder her feet Heauen being to cloth her what could it cloth her better withall than with the Sun and the Moone But a greater wonder is it to see the Son of heauen vnder Iudas his feet O heauens are ye not ashamed to see those hands which created you which did border you about with light as with a rich imbroyderie to be soiled with the foulenesse of such feet For to looke her lost groat the good wife swept her house ouer and ouer turning and sifting this and that other heape of dust leauing no corner vnsearcht till she had found it God hath two houses The Church Triumphant The Church Militant He did turne the first vpside downe when he kneeled on his knees to wash Iudas feet Saint Ierome saith Quantumcunque te humilies humilior Christo non eris Be thou neuer so humble Christ will be more humble then thou canst be For hee will put himselfe vnder thy feet As he did here stoupe to Iudas O Lord for so forlorne a soule which must be lost at last so much paines for so little profit so much lost labour for one that is lost First of all a Fathers care ouer his sicke sonne to whom hee beareth loue is farre different from that which the Physition takes who onely cures him for his owne priuat profit and particular interest Secondly Because Loue can neuer bee subdued where it findes one lost it thinkes all lost At the Wedding there was but one found vnfitted for his garment Yet this inference was made vpon it Many are called but few are chosen Saint Augustine saith That one is a great losse where there is great Loue and with the losse of Iudas Loue was so much agrieued that Saint Ambrose saith That the freeing of the Theefe out of the Deuills hands was done in reuenge of the losse of Iudas The Deuill was much ioyed that he had robbed our Sauiour of such a friend as one of the Twelue but he had beene as good let him alone for he lost a Theefe when he was vpon the Gallowes and thought he was sure then his owne Plus amisisti quam rapuisti Thou lost more than thou gotst thou robst God of a Theefe that had beene thine but a few days and he robbed thee of another theefe which had beene thine for many yeares He began to wash c. Being to bestow vpon them his bodie and bloud hee thought fit first of all to begin with the making cleane of their feet by which the Scripture vnderstands our defects and foulenesse of our affections in token of that disposition and preparation wherewith we are to come to the receiuing of so diuine a Sacrament All the whole life of our Sauiour Christ was a patterne of pouertie and that in the highest degree The portall wherein hee was borne was hung with Cobwebs in stead of Tapistrie the Cratch and a locke of Hay were the sheet and pillow to his cradle al the whole space of his life he had not a place where to leane and rest his head his death was vpon Mount Caluarie a place full of dead mens sculls and bones whose bodies had suffered by the sword of Iustice. But for the institution of this diuine Sacrament he had made choice of a goodly large Hall well furnished and handsomely set forth and for the consecration of the Wine a Cup made as some thinke of a costly Agat which is offered to be seene in the Asseo of Valencia First to signifie vnto vs That gold siluer and pretious stones are on nothing so well bestowed as on the seruice of God Secondly That he that sits downe at this sacred Table must come accompanied with great riches of vertue and great purenesse of conscience To your great and solemne banquets those that are inuited come thither in a sumptuous and gallant kind of manner your Romans did cloath themselues all in white for they held such an inuitation â—o sacred a thing that it was held a great shame and infamie to any that should fully the same with any kind of deceit or treason The Gospell condemned him that came vnto the marriage without his wedding garment Saint Cyprian saith That we ought to please those Diuine eyes euen with our outward habit Saint Hierome tells vs That when he had dreamed in the night any dishonest dream he did tremble quake for feare when he entred into Gods House Abulensis reporteth That the cause of Oza's death was for that hauing laien that night with his wife he presumed to touch the Arke The Libertine Councell doth admonish vs That they who are to communicate ought to abstaine eight dayes from conuersation with women The same aduice is giuen vs by Saint Augustine and Saint Hierome and it is a strange Doctrine to my seeming That he that is to say Masse euerie morning should spend the nights with his she-friend Let euerie man first trie and examine himselfe and then let him so eat of this bread and drinke of this Cup c. so that a man either must examine himselfe or must not If he must let him weigh his worthines and vnworthines if he shall find himselfe vnworthie he must rather excommunicate remoue himselfe from the Altar Saint Augustine saith That one of the mainest reasons why our Sauiour Christ at his last supper possessed with such perturbation the brests of his Disciples telling them That he that dipt his finger with him in the dish should sell the Sonne of Man and betray him was That euery one might be affraid of himselfe and might say not without some suspition and iealousie What Master is it I For there is no man so Holy no man so Pure and free from sinne but it will well beseeme him to come wiâ—h a great deale of respect and reuerence and a due examination of himselfe to this coelestiall Table Iob when he sat downe at the table vsed to fetch a sigh Antequam comedam suspiro Dauid did moysten with his teares the bread which he did eat Did these good men hold themselues vnworthy of that materiall bread What ought we to doe when wee come to the receiuing of this diuine Bread Dionisius de Ecclesiastica Hierarchia Clemens Romanus in his Apostolicall Constitutions Hilary Theodoret Datianus Alexandrinus hold contrary to the opinion of the Saints that Iudas did not then and there communicate with the rest He came then to Simon Peter Saint Austen sayth That Saint Peter first brake the yce saying Washest thou my feet O Lord in thy transfiguration the resplendor of thy Glory did throw mee downe at thy feet and shall I then suffer thee to throw thy selfe downe at my feet Heauen did reueale vnto mee that noble confession which I made