Singlenesse in this kinde of Sincerity as though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One were none to doe any good A Father teacheth vs that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysâ—â—t One Man truely Zealous sufficeth to reforme a whole multitude Now if we neglect in our Severall Stations and Vocations to reforme Sinne in others it cannot bee perceived that we pitie them or truely Weepe for their Sinnes But our carelesse Consideration of the fearefull condition and wretched end of Impenitent Sinners where wee liue working in vs so little or no care to reforme them giveth but small testimony that our stony Hearts or Leaden Eyes can yeeld any Teares When as all things doe Weepe for them because these Wretches forsake the common Lord vse all meanes to betray and crucifie him againe regard Man and the deceitfull alurements of the Devil more then eiâ—her the Benefits or Threats of the Almighty And fasten their thoughts vpon the cretures contemning the power Wisedome and Goodnesse of the Creator Therefore the Heaven Weepe for them the Angels Weepe for them the Saints Weepe for them all Creatures Weepe for them and Christ Weepeth more for them then ever he did for the desolation of Hierusalem because their Sinnes defile others deforme the Creatures and depresse themselues into the deepest Gulfe of Woe §. 63. But because for mine owne part Aug Conf. l. 3. c. 2. Mâ—â—gis misercor gaudentem in flagitio quam dura perpessum detrimento perniciosae voluptatis aut amissione miseâ— ae faelicitatis I pitie more a great deale impenitent Sinners rejovcing in sinne then others howsoever grievously afflicted with Crosses or Calamities If wee consider First the publike punishments of Sin which are alwayes infallible evidences of the Lords displeasure against sinners Wee may perceiue that though the Lord hath smitten vs more then the Men of Bethshemesh yea then the Assyrians 1 Sam 16.19 2 Sam. 19.35 at one time Yet we rejoyce rather in our Sins then lament them Verely wee haue seene with our Eyes even those Iudgements which may be abundant matter of Weeping and are very neere fore-runners of the great and terrible day of the Lord. Wee haue seene prodigious Apparitions in the Ayre incredible Invndations in the Sea wee haue had incomparable Earthquakes fearefull Fires in our Houses Extraordinary Plagues in the most Populous parts of this Kingdome grievous and pining Famines vnseasonable Seasons and many more Visitations all which we haue felt in such extremity and vehemency of which these parts of the World are not naturally capable So certaine it is that the Finger of God hath beene in them Ezek. 21.9 And even now the Sword is sharpened and also fourbished It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter It is fourbished that it may glitter Should wee then make Mirth Or should we not rather Mourne and Weepe May we not com plaine Cypr. ad Demet. Ecce irrogantur divinitus plagae nullus Dei metus est Ecce verbera desuper flagella non desunt sed trepidatio nulla nulla formido est Si non intercederet rebus humanis vel ista censura Quanto ad hue Major in hominibus esset audacia facinorum impunitate secura Behold Behold We feele the Iudgements of the Lord yet we feare not the Lord What if Man were not thus punished how much more secure would his boldnesse be through the impunity of his Sinnes Death and Bloodshed Strife and Sword Calamities Famine Tribulation and the Scourge these things the Lord hath created for the Wicked to punish them For there is no Evill of Punishment but the Lord hath done it Amos 36. And every such evill is inflicted for Sinne Lam 3.37 So evident it is that whatsoever common Punishments doe befall vs they are from the Lord and likewise for sinne Esth 4.3 If Mordecai then and the Iewes had cause to Weepe at the bloody Decree of an Earthly King Isa 22.4.5 how much more cause haue we to Weepe at the Revelation of the Righteous judgements of God And with the Prophet to Weepe bitterly and not be comforted because of the spoyling of the daughter of our People For now is a day of trouble and of treading downe and of Perplexitie by the Lord God of Hosts What shall wee then thinke or say of these punishments Numb 16.46 but as Moses and Aaron of one suddaine Pestilence There is Wrath gone forth from the Lord and the Plague is begun Hos 4.1 For the Lord hath a Controversie with the Inhabitants of our Land because there is no Trueth nor Mercy nor Knowledge of God in the Land By Swearing and Lying and Killing and Stealing and committing Adultery they breake out and Blood toucheth Blood Therefore shall the land Mourne And therefore doth our Land Mourne and yet we doe not Mourne for all these Signes of our displeased God §. 69. Yet the Terrour if there were any tendernes left in our hearts the Terrour that hath taken hold of some amongst vs should vndoubtedly haue made vs Mittere legate pro doloribus nostris Lachrymas Cypr. Epist 31â— To send our Teares as Messengers of our Sorrowes Yea the Tragicall ends and events of others should haue sounded in our Eares Lachrymosa poemata Puppi And haue affrighted vs astonished vs and so mooved vs to Weeping For some of vs hedged about with increase of all outward blessings yet having abused them though they bred securitie for a while we haue seene their feare at length seize vpon them most violently and suddainely Some of vs enjoying strength of body yet having abused it to Intemperance the Lord practised Martiall-law and did present Execution vpon them turning the height and Pride of their Strength into Lamenesse Blindnesse Deafenesse Diseases innumerable Though hee deferreth most of them vntill that solemne day of Iudgement to come Others amongst vs having knowledge but thereby elevated and puffed vp in their Soules we haue seene them like Angels of Light fall from on high into the Darkene of Ignorance Errour Curiositie Inconstancie Discontentment Passions We haue heard of Theft Perjury Robbery Murther Parricide Fratricide Homicide of all sorts as perpetrated so plaged and what can bee more horrible in the very acte of Sinning And yet wee are farre from Weeping that wee continue fearelesse and carelesse of the like vntimely shamefull Ends Never blessing the Lord that in Mercy and Patience suffereth vs and giveth vs all good things Thus when the Connivence of our Heavenly Father like the Indulgence of Eli towards his Sonnes hath made so many of vs wanton and disobedient wee never feare though hee worke extraordinary and rare judgements on others in our Israel whereat our Eares should tingle and our Eyes Weepe lest when hee beginneth with them hee likewise make an end with our Selves Iob 18.19 Consuming all Wamons with a totall Destruction without any dispensation not leaving the least remembrance of them vpon Earth And Rooting out Houses as well
Aug. Epist 64. Hostis nostri vires sentit nemo nisi qui ei bellum indixerit none feele the Power of Satans Virulency and Malice of his members but they that War against him To evidence or exemplifie this Trueth were too long neither is it needfull so that now for this Sinne the Reader Quascunque aspiciet Lachryma fecere lituras What Bâ—otts or Errours soever he findeth heere may impute them justly to my Teares Resolving hereafter to content my selfe either to cast downe my heart in Pitying or to lift it vp in Praying Bernard de Considerat l. 3. c. 2. Seeing our Complaints for this Sinne are laughed out of Courts authorized to punish it with a Plus facetiae quam Iustitiae Or no more regarded then the humming of Bees Sometimes then we may deplore the extravagant Hypocrisie of the Times gaul'd and grieved at the Conscionable Conversation of the little Flock of Christ because it condemneth their outward Formality and Temporizing and maketh it plainely appeare that their present Case without Conversion is wretched Sometimes wee may implore the helpe of Heaven either to â—estraine the Hellish Virulencie of rayling Shimeis Mich. 7.9 and malicious Doegs Or to giue vs Grace and Patience To beare this Indignation of the Lord because we haue sinned against him Vntill hee pleade our Cause and execute Iudgement for vs Knowing that Hier. contr Iovinianum l. 2. Amara est veritas qui eam prae dicant replentur amaritudine The Truth is bitter and they that Preach and Professe it are filled with Bitternesse For that of Hezekiah his Song according to the Vulgar Translation may fitly be appropriated to our Age and is verified in our Nation Ecce in pace amaritudâ— mea amarissima Which according to the Hebrew our Translation readeth Behold for Peace I had great biâ—ternesse But the Vulgar Isa 38.17 Behold in Peace my bitternesse is most bitter Bern. super Cant Serm. 35. Whereupon Bernard playeth no lesse Elegantly then Morally Amara prius in nece Martyrum amarior post in conflictu Haereticorum amarissima nunc in moribus Domesticorum Bitter first in the death of Martyrs more bitter thereafter in Conflicts with Heretiques most bitter now through malice of Professours Thus it was foretold of old but now fulfilled Howsoever Quae venit indignè poena dâ—lenda venit We cannot chuse but Weepe in all our Indignities wrongs Yet our Comfort is that a Day will come in which the high and everlasting Iudge with the brightnesse of his Comming will then at furthest before Men and Angels bring foorth our Righteousnesse as the Light and our Iudgement as the Noone day In which Scelesta tanta est iniuriae Linguâ— Those Doggish Tongues and barking Dogges that now domineere over the Lambes of Christ will bee everlastingly cashired from the presence of the Lord and joyes of his Eternitie For the Reviler no more then the Drunkard Adulterer 1 Cor. 6.10 and the rest of that impure and impenitent Crue shall never inherite the Kingdome of God Cypr. de Vnit. Ecclesia Quid facit in pectore Christiane Luporum feritas Canum rabies What doth Woolfish cruelty and Dogged Fury in the mouth or heart of a Christian Wherefore as the meeke Spirit of God never abideth with their vntamed Affections So shunne thou Oh my Soule their cursed Anger for it is fierce And hate thou their Wrath for it is cruell §. 67. Lastly if we would consider our Reall and Actuall Grievances we could not but Weepe in a generall Humiliation before the Lord come vpon vs with his Wrath never more to be appeased Cypr. Epist 34. If there were any Thomae similis qui minus auribus credat nec ocuiorum fides deest vt quis quod audit videat Like Thomas the Apostle who believeth not our report What our report cannot his owne sight and senses may perswade him I am sure the Ministers and Men of God of inferiour degree the more Experience they haue in their holy worke the lesse Reward and Respect they finde in the World Which misery though Christ Paul foreseeing Luke 10.7 enacted as the Law of Heaven in more then Mede and Persian irrevocability 1 Tim. 5.18 That the Labourer is worthy of his hire Yet that briefe Statute so ample and strong in it selfe that the very Metaphoricall Phrase not only determineth the Quantitie and Qualitie but yeeldeth an imperious Reason of the strict performance thereof is of no force and counted a strange thing in our Peoples estimation If the meanest Drudges bv precepts both Leviticall and Evangelicall may not bee vnrewarded Deut. 24.14 Iam. 5.4 vnlesse Men will incurre inevitable Condemnation in their Consciences heere and in the last Iudgement hereafter Then much more barbarous is their Injustice and Iniquity hainous Est aliqua ingratin meritum exprâ—brare voluptas That feede the Ministers of the Lord with the Bread of Affliction and the water of Afflction that is That with-hold earthly Food from that mouth that feedeth them with Heauenly Food That depriveth him of his due Apparell that adorneth them with the righteousnes of Christ How fitly Cyprian his Complaint comparing Primitiue Times with Succeeding Times may bee accommodated to our Times Cypr. de Vnitate Ecclesia let all Men Iudge Domos tunc fundos venundabant Thesauros sibi in coelo reponentes distribuenda in vsus indigentiuas pretia Apostolis offerebant At nunc de Patrimonio nec decimus damus They sold their Houses and Lands and laying vp Treasure in heaven they brought the Price thereof to the Apostles to be distributed to the Poore But now out of our large Patrimonies we pay not so much as the due Tenth VVhereas then now a dayes Men by detayning sacrilegiously Gods portion from Gods Servants against all Equity both Divine and Humane doe certainely pull downe vpon their Soules Bodies Goods and Posterity which if I would runne into Particulars could plainely proue by speciall and almost insinite Instances in this Kingdome that heavie and horrible Curse Malachi 3.8.9 In robbing the Lord of Tythes and Offerings Where the Lord himself fighteth not with shadowes Cypr. Epist 75. nor is so zealous for a Ceremonie But whereas Aliquandiù erratum est non ideo semper errandum est We haue for some long time thus sinned Sacrilegiously wee must not therefore continue in that Sin It is high Time therefore to beseech our Improper Lay-Impropriatours for Gods sake who commandeth our Maintenance for their soules sake which reape the fruit of our Maintenance for the Words sake by which we are warranted to demand our Maintenance and for Christs sake in whom wee deserue our Maintenance that they would haue his Ministers in due account that the Worship of the Lord which they magnifie in word but repute indeede to bee little worth may not be so meanely and sordidly maintained That they would consider our Maintenance
to abide in Christ to live vnto God and ministreth an entrance into the everlasting kingedome of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ And therefore Et sectari salubre est aversari lethale To practise it is profitable and to despise it is damnable §. 8 Yet for more Elucidation and Explication of the Text Weeping is to bee considered 1. In the Patterne of Christ 2. In the Practise of Christians In the Patterne of Christ Weeping was an action of Christ in whom as all Graces were transcendent so the exercise of them was supereminent Seeing then Cypr. de bâ—no patien Bonum quod amat Dominus commendat The Grace which our Lord loveth hee commendeth by his practise wee cannot erre if wee follow Christ as our Patterne in this Action of Weeping That all Christs Actions are to be imitated no man doth affirme for such as were personall or of divine Operation as his miraculous works or of divine Prerogative as his seÌ„ding for the Asse and Colt without leave of the Owner or Mediatoriall as the workes of his Propheticall Regall and Sacerdotall offices none may attempt to imitate Neither alwayes his Actions Circumstantiall as his Gestures Vestures and other Circumstances which incidentally and indifferently Christ vsed vpon certaine Occasions onely and cannot bee pressed vpon our Consciences as necessary to be imitated without Superstition because not contained within compasse of divine Prescript or Institution But onely his Actions morall as the workes of Obedience Meekenesse Humilitie Patience and Weeping wherein as Saint Peter sayth He left vs an example 2 Pet. 2.21 that wee should follow his steps and to those morall Actions onely Cypr. de Lapsis Dominus in verbis doctor consummator in factis docens quid fieret faciens quodcunque docuisset our Lord who is our Teacher by his words and Accomplisher by his deedes teaching what should bee done and doeing whatsoever hee taught hath tyed vs to imitate him by his owne commandement Math. 11.29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Learne of mee In the Practice of Christians Weeping must bee considered seeing the Lord in the infinitnesse of his loue hath continually raised vnto vs many Guids to direct vs not onely in words filling our eares with Holy Persuasions but also by example representing Grace most lively to our eyes and most frequently in this symptome of all Grace Weeping In which as Christ himselfe was a glorious Sunne so were his Saints in all ages as so many Starres to light and to lead vs as well by example as by exhortation through the darke and dangerous passages of his life That seeing it is the greatest Glory whereto wee can aspire to draw as neere vnto Christ in likenes of life as he did vnto vs in likenesse of nature We might learne to weepe seing Iesus wept Of the patterne of Weeping in Christ §. 9 FIrst As for the Patterne of Weeping in Christ seeing heere Ad illius exempluÌ„ mittimur Hieron ad Celan Matr. quem omnes fatemur imitandum wee are sent to imitate him whom we all acknowledge most worthy of imitation That hee wept it needeth no proofe where the Scripture is so plaine and plentifull The onely difficulty is to assigne 1. The Cause 2. The Reason why hee wept And heere to assigne the Cause of Christs Weeping we had need for distinctnesse of Explication to distinguish the Efficient from the Finall And the rather because Philosophie teacheth That the one may be the Cause of the other mutually To shun therfore Confusion of speach as the generall Cause of every generall effect should bee shewed so the Particular Cause of this Particular Effect must bee assigned §. 10 The efficient Cause of Christs Weeping Arist Phis 2. Ca. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 froÌ„ whence immediatly proceedeth this change was his inward Griefe therefore Bonaventura concludeth In l. 3. Sent Dist 15. Art 2. qu. 2 Fletus est signum interioris moeroris Weeping is a signe of inward Griefe For as smoke a signe of fire is immediatly produced by fire so is Weeping by Griefe But for what our Saviour grieved and wept I find it not determinately defined by Interpreters Bulling in Text. Bullinger mentioneth three opinions That hee wept grieving 1. At the Malice of Satan by which death came into the world 2. At the power of Sinne by which infinite soules were destroyed 3. At the inuincible Incredulity of the Iewes And annexeth his owne for the fourth as most probable and plausible His great Love to Lazarus and his Sisters So that when hee saw them Weeping and the Iewes also weeping then Iesus wept §. 11. Griefe then being the Efficient Cause which immediatly caused this weeping it is requisite wee obserue heere 1. The Manner 2. The Matter of his Griefe The Manner was which may seeme a Monster in Nature and a Miracle to naturall men Voluntary Seing as hee assumed none of our Personall but all our Naturall Infirmities which proceeds not from Sinne nor tend vnto Sinne So he was affected with this naturall Infirmitie of Weeping not by Necessity of Generation but by the free and voluntary dispensation of his Mediator-ship It may be collected by that which Bonaventure teacheth Vbi supra Art 2. qu. 2 That a man may bee grieved three wayes 1. Besides the Dominion of reason as with the first motions of Griefe which suddenly doe surprise vs 2. Against the Dominion of Reason when Reason is not onely troubled but disturbed that is subdued by Sensuality for a while 3. According to the Dominion of Reason when Reason commandeth vs to be grieved and thus in this last sense our Saviours Griefe produced this Weeping willingly when hee considered his Fathers Glory defaced and mans Saluation indangered hee grieved willingly Although when hee considered the Griefe it selfe it was against his Will because painefull Erroneous then is that Doctrine of Stoicall Apathy Aug. de Civit l. 14. c. 9 That a wise man is not troubled with Griefe and other Passions All which Christians must have for Christ himselfe had them lest they turne Stoicks Aug in IeaeÌ„ Tract 60. Qui quemadmodum Vanitatem existimant Veritatem sic Stuporem deputant Sanitatem sayth Augustine vpon the 21. verse of this Chapter Who as they account Vanity to be Verity so they esteeme Stupidity to bee Soundnesse Not knowing that the Soule of man as well as the Body of man Aug. Ibid. is then most desperately and dangerously diseased when most insensible of Griefe sayth the Father For a man not to bee grieved when hee ought to bee grieved Est durities non sapientitia It is Hardnesse of Heart and not Wisedome §. 12 Thus seing our Saviour grieved not absolutely against his Will but onely in some respect That wee may Secondly conceiue the Matter of his Griefe more plainely here consider 1. The obiect 2. The Subiect of his Griefe The Obiect or Motive which moved him to Grieve Aquinas sayth