head and his left hand doth embrace vs so that though we should fall yet we can not be hurt because the Lord stayeth and supporteth vs with his hand Therefore S. Chrysostome giues vs good counsell not to haue iayes eyes but eagles eyes that we may behold these hands of Christ and see his side in the sacrament For indeede as o◅ten as we celebrate the memorie of our Lords death Christ our Sauiour deliuering the bread and the cuppe by his minister saith in a sort to euery faithfull receiuer Put thy finger here and see my hands and put forth thy hand and put it into my side and be not faithlesse but faithfull But yet we shall not alwaies drinke of this fruit of the vine The time will come when we shall drinke a new kinde of wine in Christs kingdome Wherefore he saies As often as ye shal eate this bread and drinke this cup you shall shew the Lords death til he come Till he come Declaring hereby that when he is come his death shall be shewed an other way Namely by his wounds which alwaies he sheweth to his Saints Euen as vve sing in that heauenly Hymne or Psalme The humble suit of a sinner Whose bloody wounds are yet to see though not with mortall eye yet doe thy Saints behold them all and so I trust shall I. O how vnspeakeably doe the Saints reioyce how glori◅ also shall we triumph when we shall see Christ in his kingdome and behold those blessed wounds of his whereby he hath purchased so many and so great good things for vs This is the new wine which we shall drinke This is the Eucharist of the Angels the food of the Elect the spirituall banket of the Saints For wheresoeuer the dead bodie is thither fhall the eagles resort And we that with eagles wings flie vp by faith into heauen shall euer resort to this dead bodie and we shall vnsatiably desite to feede our eyes and our soules with the sight of Christ who was once dead and euen now hath in his bodie those skarres which continue the memorie of his death that in all eternitie it may neuer be forgotten Thus these heauenly wounds of Christ delight and comfort his friends As the cities of refuge which saue the sinner as the holes of the rock which defend the doue as the shadow of the iuniper tree which reuiueth the wearied as the doore of the Arke which preserueth the world as the lure of the soule which calleth home the Shulamite as the pot of Manna which nourisheth the Israelite as the well of Iacob which refresheth the ◅hirstie as the poole of Bethesda which ◅ealeth the sicke as the armes of the shepheard which gather his lambs as the wings of the eagle which beare vp her birds So doe the hands and side of Christ comfort his friends As if our Sauiour should say thus to euery one of his friends Can a woman forget her child and not haue compassion on the son of her wombe though they should forget yet would not I forget thee Behold I haue grauen thee vpon the palmes of my hands Here I haue still in my hands that price of thy redemption which I paid for thee so that no man can take thee out of my hands Yea I haue written and sealed thy saluation in my side A speare is the penne my blood is the inke my bodie is the paper Here thou maist see the bowels of my compassion thorough the wounds of my passion Assure thy selfe therfore assure thy selse of my loue of my good will of my fauour for euer Make no doubt of it If thou doubt any thing Put thy finger here and see my hands and put forth thy hand and put it into my side and be not faithlesse but faithful So much for the fourth cause which is to comfort his friends You see then blessed Christians you see how these causes of Christs wounds differ one from an other The first cause to approoue his resurrection was but neither is nor shall be The second cause to appease his father was and is but shall not be The third cause to confound his enemies neither was nor is but shall be The fourth cause to comfort his friends both was and is and shall be So that Christs wounds did serue to approoue his resurrection onely between his resurrection and his ascension doe serue to appease his father onely between his ascension his second comming shal serue to confoūd his enemies onely at the day of iudgement did doe and shall serue to comfort his friends for euer Wherefore though we be neuer so great sinners yet let vs neuer despaire of the grace and mercie of Christ. His hands are still stretched out to embrace vs his side is alwaies open to receiue vs. Therefore let vs creepe low and come humbly to him that we may with the woman in the Gospel touch but the hemme of his garment nay that we may with S. Iohn leane vpon his blessed bosome yea that we may with S. Thomas in this place put our fingers into his hands and our hands into his side And euen as Constantine the great vsed to kisse that eye of Paphnutius which was boared out in Maximinus time and the Iayler in the Acts washed S. Pauls stripes wounds so let vs kisse the Sonne least he be angrie honour his holy wounds which are the pretious balme wherewith he hath healed vs and restored vs to euerlasting life To the which we beseech thee O good Lord to bring vs not for our owne deserts or merits but for the tender bowels of Christ Iesus loue and mercie toward vs to whome with the Father and the holy Ghost be all honour and praise both now and for euermore Amen FINIS Matth. 5. v. 19. He that both doeth and teacheth the same shall be called great in the kingdome of heauen BEloued in our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ It is a verie monstrous thing that any man should haue more tongues then hands For God hath giuen vs two hands and but one tongue that we might doe much and say but little Yet many say so much and doe so little as though they had two tongues and but one hand nay three tongues and neuer a hand In so much as that may be aptly applied to them which Pandulphus said to some in his time You say much but you do litle you say well but you doe ill againe you doe little but you say much you doe ill but you say well Such as these which do either worse thē they teach or else lesse then they teach teaching others to doe well and to doe much but doing no whit themselues may be resembled to diuerse things To a whet stone which being blunt it selfe makes a knife sharpe To a painter which beeing deformed himselfe makes a picture faire To a signe which beeing weather-beaten and hanging without it selfe directs passengers into the Inne To a bell which beeing deafe and
grace rebell against God Whereas Iohn Bapâ—…ist hauing a garment of Camels haire and a girdle of leather aboâ—…t â—…is loynes wâ—…s 〈◊〉 â—…nough This leather serued him to as good vse as flaxe and the Camels haire kept him as warme as wooll Maâ—… therfore is not warme by clothing onelâ—… but by vertue of God annexed to tâ—…e clothing Man liâ—…eth not by bread onely but by euerie word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Lastly saith the Prophet He that earneth wages putteth the wages into a broken bagge We see in the world many meÌ„ haue great fees great offices great reuenues and yet can scarse keepe themselues out of debt Oâ—…her some haue but verie sâ—…all wages and yet maintaine themselues well inough and helpe their poore friends also Onely the word that proceedeth out of Gods moâ—…th makes this difference As we may see in Iudas Who indeede earned wages bâ—…t seeing it was the wages of vnrighteousnesse therefore it run out of the bagge as fâ—…st as it was put in Foâ—… first when he â—…ad it he could not â—…old it in his hands but brought it bâ—…cke againe saying I 〈◊〉 sinned in 〈◊〉 innocent blood Then himselfe went and made away himselfe and that which is fearefull but once to name or mention all his bowels gushed out There is a broken bagge But the Patriarch Iacob earning wages verie hardly to wit seruing fourteene yeares for his vâ—…cles daughters and sixe years for his lambs in all twentie yeares in the ende filled his bagge full And though Laban changed his wages ten tims yet he could not one time change that blessing of God which was alwaies vpon him And though he allotted his nephew onely the spotted lambs which commonly were verie fewe to his wages yet the word proceeding so out of Gods mouth this prooued an infinite gaine vnto him Whereupon the blessed Patriarke humbleth himselfe in true humilitie and thankfulnesse to God and saith O Lord I am not worthie of the least of al thy mercies for with my staffe came I ouer this Iordan but now doe I retâ—…e with two troups O that we had such good soules such thankefull hearts in vs as that euerie one of vs would in like sort confesse and acknowledge his owne vnworthinesse and the wonderfull worth and wealth of Gods mercie O Lord sai's he I am not worthie of the least or I am lesser then the least of all thy mercies He makes no mention of his owne paines and trauailes though they had beene verie great in that long seruice but onely of the mercies of God These were the only cause that his bagge was so full Wherefore man filleth not his bagge by earning wages onely but by the mercies of God Man liueth not by bread onely but by euery word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God This teacheth vs that whether we sow or eate or drinke or cloath vs or earne wages we must do all to the glorie of God And all we doe to the glorie of God when we referre the glorie of all we doe to God Not sacrificing to our owne yarne as the Prophet speaketh or kissing our owne hand but kissing the sonne and offring vp to him onely the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiuing at whose hand we receiue all good things For it is not our painefull sowing that giues vs a plentifull crop not our eating that fâ—…edeth vs not our drinking that satisfieth vs not our clothes that warme vs not out earning wages that filleth our bagge but the good word that procedeth out of Gods mouth which blessed all these things vnto vs. Therefore as we must not beginne any of these without grace-saying so we must not ende any of them without thanksgiuing And thus much for the second place of Scripture which is a commentarie vpon this text Man liueth not by brâ—…ad onâ—…ly but by euerie word which procâ—…edeth out of the mouth of God To make good vse then of all that hath beene spoken I shall desire you to obserue foure points First that God can worke great matters with small meanes Thus saith our Lord When I brake the fiue loaues among fiue thousand how many baskets full of broken meate tooke ye vp they said vâ—…to him Twelue And when I brake seauen among fowre thousand how many baskets of the leauings of broken meate tooke ye vp and they said Sâ—…auen Certainely there is no reason in the world that seauen loaâ—…s shoâ—…ld satisfie fowre thousand and much lesse that fiue loaues fiue thousand But Christ hauing giuen thanks and blessed the bread did that by the might of the word proceeding out of his mouth which by the naturall power and condition of the bread could neuer haue beene done Therefore also he repeateth it and questioneth with his disciples about it That by their confession and report all the Church afterwards might beleeue that God can worke great matters with small meanes and that Man liueth not by breade onely but by euerie word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God Secondly that God can work strong matters with weake meanes What a strong violent matter is it to pull the soule of any one sinner out of the bottome of hell and out of the iawes of destruction yet this God doth But how doth he iâ—… This strong matter howe doth he worke it By the weakest means that may be We haue this treasure saith the Apostle in earthen vessels that the excellency of that power might be of God and not of vs. O marueilous words That the excellencie of that power might be of God and not of vs. For if Angels were sent to preach vnto vs it might be thought that the conuersion of sinners consisted in the excellencie of the Angels ministrie not in the power of Gods word Now simple and sinneful men such as our selues are no better then earthen vessels bringing such a â—…reasure vnto vs the excellencie of this worke must needs be wholly ascribed to God And as it is in spirituall foode so it is in corporall It is not the teacher but the doctrine taught or rather not the doctrine barely taught neiâ—…her but the diuine operation of Gods spirit working with the word which coÌ„uerteth the soule And so it is not the bread onely but the blessing of Gods grace vpon the bread which sustaineth our liâ—…e Thus God can worke strong matters with weake meanes and Man liueth noâ—… by breade onely but by euerie word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Thirdly that God can worke some matters with no meanes When King Asa sawe himselfe ouerpressed with the multitude of his enemies he praied thus to God O Lord it is all one with thee to saue with many or with no power If he had said with many or with a small power it would haue beene plaine But with many or with no power is verie wonderfull Or rather it is no wonder aâ—… all seeing it is spoken of God with whome it is a verie ordinarie
matter to saue not onely as well with a small or a weak power as with a great or a strong power but also as well with no power as with some power It is a good carpenter who haâ—…ing crooked and rougâ—… timber put into his hands can hâ—…w it and make it fit for the building Onely the creator of all it is which can worke hauing no matter at all to worke vpon The ordinarie meanes for plants and hearbs to growe by is raiâ—…e Yet God prouided for Adam plants and herbes 〈◊〉 eâ—…er it had rainâ—…d The vsuall â—…eanes for light is the sunne Howbeit â—…od 〈◊〉 light before he made the 〈◊〉 Light the first day the sunne the 〈◊〉 day We see then that God is tiâ—… to no meanes God can saue with no 〈◊〉 as wel as with some power God can giâ—…e vs hearbs with no raine as wel 〈◊〉 with some raine God can giue vs light without any suâ—…ne as well as with â—…he sunâ—…e God can feede vs if it please him as well with no bread as with bread Therefore God can worke some matâ—…rs with no meanes and so Man liâ—…eth not by bread onely but by euerie word that proceedeth out of the mouâ—…h of God Fourtâ—…ly that God can worke othersâ—…me 〈◊〉 wiâ—…h contrariâ—… meanes â—…e câ—…n noâ—… onely shewe vs light withâ—… any sâ—…nne but also bring light out of darkenesse So our Sauiour when â—…e went about to cure him that was 〈◊〉 blind tempred spittle and clay 〈◊〉 put it vpon his â—…yes This plaister 〈◊〉 more likely to put out his eyes 〈◊〉 sees then to cure his eyes who is blind Yet this is the power of the word proceeding out of Gods mouâ—…h So the Prophet Elizeus when colloquintida was put into the pot by casting in a little mealâ—… into it made of ranke poison a wholesome brotâ—… So when the Israelits wanted bread in the desert God sent them Manna from heauen and Moses said vnto them This is the bread which the Lord hath giuen you to eat Many things here were contrarie to nature One thing especially that the dew which made the manna fell in the morning whereas other dewe vseth to fall in the euening and ascend in the morning Therefore Moses putteâ—…h Israel in minde of this strange miracle afterward God made thee hungrie and fed thee with Manna saith he which â—…hou knewest not neither did thy fathers knowe it that he might teach them that man liueth not by bread only but by euerie word that proceedeth ouâ—… of the moâ—…th of the Lord doth a man liue Christs answer then to the tempter is as if he should haue said I vvant novve bread in the desert as long ago the Israelites wanted it But God by his word prouided for them Thereâ—…ore I neede not incroach vpon vnlawfull meanes but depeÌ„ding stil vpon his prouidence I shall â—…euer want For God can worke great matters with small meanes strong matters with weake meanes many matters with no meanes and some matters with contrarie meanes So that Man liueth not by bread onely but by euerie word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God And yet this is no doctrine of idlenesse and securitie neither As we must not by diffidence or distrust in God vse vnlawfull meanes so we must not by presuming vpon God neglect lavvfull meanes That vve be not too distrustful vve are sent to the lilly and yet that vve be not too negligent vve are sent to the ant S. Paul knevve right vvell neither he nor any of his companie should be cast avvay in that shipvvracke yet for all that he did not lay him dovvne vpon a pillovve and sleepe but he vsed all good meanes for the safetie of the compaâ—…ie He cast out the vvheat and the tackling of the ship he loosed the rudder bands and hoysed vp the main saile And vvhen the ship vvas splitted he persvvaded some by bords and other by other peices of the ship to svvim safe to land The more to blame vvere they yesternight vvhich vvhen they might haue done good stood by still and looâ—…ed on As though it vvere a disparagement or rather it vvere not a verie honourable part for any to help in a common danger Or as though the fire vvhich vvas kindled by negligence should haue beene extinguished vvith negligence also Yea rather the Lord did by this fire chastice the negligence of some that he might stirre vp the diligence of all No lesse blame vvorthie vvas the vvhole tovvne vvhich standing so neere the royall presence of the kings maiestie and the Qâ—…eenes maiestie yet vvas vtterly vnprouided of all helpe in this case No buckets no hookes no ladders no axes could be gotten no carpenters could be heard of vvhich might haue done most good at such a time So that if the mightie and mercifull vvord proceeding out of the mouth of God had not helped in necessity and time of neede suddainly caulming and stilling the vvind euen at that very instant vvhich had beene busie all the day before no question it had grovven to a farre greater dammage and danger But I am ill aduised to meddle vvith these things I make no doubt but order vvill be taken though I hold my peace that hereafter the â—…ovvne for all such casualties be better prouided Therefore here I ende God for his mercie sake grant that neither by too much presuming confidence vve may neglect the lavvfull meanes nor yet by too much distrusting diffidence vve may vse vnlavvfull meanes but that depending vpon thy prouidence O Lord vve may diligently follovve the vvorks of our calling and so continually receiue a blessing from thee thorough Iesus Christ to vvhom vvith the Father and the holy Ghost be all praise and glorie novve and euermore Amen FINIS A SERMON PREACHED AT HAMPTON Court before the Kings Maiestie the 23. day of September 1604. 2. Cor. 4. 17. The momentarie lightnes of our affliction worketh vs a surpassing exceeding eternall weight of glorie SAint Peter foretelleth that some should peruert S. Pauls epistles to their ovvne damnation Such are they of the church of Rome Among other places of S. Pauls epistles they doe notably pâ—…ruert this For out of that the Apostle saith Affliction vvorketh glory they endeauour to conclude that the patience of the Saints and other their vertues merit euerlasting life But first the word To worke is verie generall and signifieth not onely causes properly so named but also any antecedent though it be but an adiunct or an accident Againe the Apostles words elsewhere are these I suppose that the afflictions of this life are not worthie os the glorie which shal be reuealed Wherefore they might haue done well to chuse some indifferet construction which would haue reconciled both these places together rather then to imbrace such an exposition of the one as doth iustle nay quite thrust out the other S. Bernard doth thus saying that good worâ—…es are not any cause meriting a