31.13 so that nothing is created more wicked then an eye therefore it weepeth vpon euery occasion The Heathens dedicated the eares to Minerua the tongue to Mercury the armes to Neptune and the eye to Cupid but now lust draweth all other sinnes by the eyes To all such who tremble not to behold with the same eyes with which they looke vpon their adulterous beds lying idols and such like the sacred Table where the Sacrament is performed who enter into the Church not looking to their affections who labour not for good eyes I must say as Christ doth If their eye be euill their whole body shall bee full of darknesse Matt 6.23 as is their sense of sinne so and much more heere after shall bee their sense of sorrow Their eyes shall faile and they shall not escape Iob 11.20 and their hope shall bee as the giuing vp of the ghost The light is sweet but they must goe to darknesse Eccl. 11 8. for euer to houle there when the elect shall haue all teares wiped away from their eyes Vse 2. A Medicine then hence may bee applied to all sicknesses a salue to euery sore and a plaister for euery wound 1. Cor. 15.53 that wee shall bee thus changed that this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortall must put on immortalitie that our vile shall bee a glorious body that there shall bee no more singing of Lachrymae but of Hosanna and Halcluiah It was the encouragement of God vnto Iacob in his going downe into Aegypt Gen. 46 4. Ioseph shall put his hand vpon thine eyes it is to bee vnderstood of Iosephs closing his eyes when hee had giuen vp the ghost Muse Men commonly in dying open and lift vp their eyes to heauen and this duty is performed by those who are dearest and best beloued of the dead as Ioseph was of Iacob but behold Gods owne hand is heere promised to bee vpon our eyes to wipe from them all teares and then wee shall see the glory prouided Hee giueth a taste of it to some in this life neuer suffering them to depart comfortlesse Num. 27.12.20.28 Moses saw the land of promise before he died Aaron his sonne Eleazer in his roome before hee died Dauid Salomon his successour before hee died Ezekias his house in order Christ his transfiguration on the mount Stephen saw the heauens opened Act 7 56. and the sonne of man standing on the right hand of God Thus had M. Deering a taste a little before his death being raised vp in his bed seeing the Sunne shine and being desired to speake said There is but one Sunne that giueth light to the world but one righteousnesse one communion of Saints As concerning death I feele such ioy of spirit that if I should haue the sentence of life on the one side and the sentence of death on the other side I had rather chuse a thousand times seeing God hath appointed the separation the sentence of death then the sentence of life Thus had another holy Saint a taste of it a little before death M. Iohn Holland What brightnesse doe I see and being told it was the Sunne shine Nay saith hee my Sauiour shines Now farewell world welcome heauen The day starre from on high hath visited my heart Preach it at my funerall God dealeth familiarly with man I feele his mercy I see his maiestie whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell God hee knoweth but I see things that are vnutterable How much more happy then are they that are dissolued from the flesh that depart hence in the Lord that bee in ioy and felicitie that rest from their labours that haue all teares wiped away from their eyes O then let mourning and teares bee our marke and badge whether wee looke vpward to God whom wee haue offended or downeward vpon hell which wee haue deserued or backward vpon our sinnes committed or forward vpon iudgements to bee feared or without vs vpon the deceitfull world which wee haue loued or within vs vpon our conscience polluted The Spirit helpeth our infirmities Rom 8.26 and if wee shed teares heere of contrition till wee know that our sinnes are forgiuen vs teares of deuotion for that sudden ioy we receiue from God teares of compassion for the wants of others wee shall eat when the wicked shall be hungry drinke when they bee thirstie reioyce when they shall be ashamed sing for ioy of heart when they shall cry for sorrow of heart and shall houle for vexation of spirit If. 65.13.14 Thus shall God euen our owne God blesse vs. To him and his Sonne and Spirit be glory for euer AMEN FINIS
is death Ignat so their death with and in Christ is life that loue commandeth our teares Isid but faith should rule our passions and prescribe a moderation that as Ierome spake to Eustochium concerning her mother Paula Ier. ad Eustoch Epitaph Paula we should not so much mourne because we haue lost such as giue thanks that wee haue had such yea rather that wee still haue such for all liue vnto God and whosoeuer returneth vnto the Lord is reckoned in the number of the familie that we shall all meet at the last and there shall bee no more occasion of sorrowing sighing sobbing for as the spirit here telleth Saint Iohn when wee appeare before the Lambe God shall wipe away all teares and there shall bee no more occasion of mourning which directeth to this doctrinall proposition That after the end of this life God will free all the elect from all miseries It is prophecied of by Esay c. 57.2 Doct. He shall enter into peace they shall rest in their beds each one walking in his vprightnesse so in Psal 126.5.6 They that sow in teares shall reape in ioy He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing pretious seede shall doubtlesse come againe with reioycing bearing his sheaues with him a truth repeated c. 21. of this prophecie v. 4. And God shall wipe away all teares from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more paine for the former things are passed away Here teares often are helpfull to expell griefe as the Poet desired to be wept for it would doe him a pleasure Fle que meos casus On l. 4. Trist est quaedam slere voluptas Expletur lachrymis egeriturque dolor But hereafter there shall be no occasion of teares as was to Iosiah weeping at the denouncing of a curse 2 King 22.19 2. King 20.3 Neh. 1.3 to Hezekiah weeping sore at a message of death to Nehemiah weeping because the wall of Ierusalem was broken downe and the gates thereof burnt with fire Iob 30.25 Is 22.4 Ier 9.1 to Iob for him that was in trouble and the poore to Isai for the spoiling of the daughter of his people to Ieremie for the slaine of the daughter of his people to Elisha the man of God weeping for Israel whose strong holds were to be set on fire their young men to be slaine with the sword their children to bee dashed and their women with childe ript 2 King 8.12 to Phaltiel weeping because his wife Michol was sent for away from him by Ishbosheth 2 Sam. 3.16 Gen. 21.16 to Hagar when all the water was spent in the bottle and shee cast her childe vnder the shrubs and sate downe a good way off as it were a bow shoot that shee might not see the death of her child Mat. 26.75 or to Peter weeping bitterly for denying his Master The way of all holy Kings Prophets Apostles Martyrs Confessors and Saints hath beene by the weeping crosse Their colours haue bin persecutions Christ hath beene persecuted Iohn 25.20 so must they be Their combatings are their many afflictions but the Lord deliuereth them out of all Psal 34.19 They performe no deuotion more pleasing to God then their hearty teares which they poure out so plentiful that they cause their beds to swimme in teares to be their meate day and night Psam 6.6 and to be botled vp by God himselfe Psal 42 3. who shall wipe them all away Vse 1. How terrible is this message to the obdurate sinners that neuer shed teares for sinne Bar. For Deus non infundit oleum misericordiae nisi in vas contritum God poures not the oyle of his mercy but into a broken vessell The obstinate sinner hath no teares and therefore can hereafter haue no comfort Ier. 19 10. They are not humbled vnto this day Christ wept for the sinnes of others but these will not weepe for their owne Christ shed his bloud for the least sins but they shedde not one drop of water for the greatest sinne Eccl 12 5. they are worse then those hired mourners going about the streetes which would lament and cut themseleus and make themselues bald for a little reward making this their whole trade Vt flerent oculos crudiêre suos But Heauen cannot drawe these worse then the Hart for if he be compassed with dogges Pliny he will weepe and mourne but these will not though set about by many sinnes and as many Diuels No sacrifice can be accepted without an humble heart vnlesse a man hath a poore Isa 66.3 a contrite a trembling spirit if he kill an Oxe he is as if he slew a man if he sacrifice a Lambe it is as if he cut off a dogges necke if he offer an oblation it is as if hee offered swines bloud if he burne incense it is as if hee blessed an idoll Amb. de paeniâ— â—câ— 4. our prayers must haue teares God expecteth them that he may send reliefe This is our violence that we must offer to the Lord. Prayer doth mollifie but teares doe compell Aug. Ser. Exhortations to others must haue teares If we would haue them to weep we must shed teares our selues therefore Origen after his fall taking that text and reading it in the Church Psal 50.16 But vnto the wicked God saith what hast thou to doe to declare my statutes or that thou shouldest take my couenant in thy mouth seeing thou hatest instruction and castest my words behind thee being not able to speake for teares set all the congregation a crying so effectuall is the silence of a touched weeping heart the Saints haue grace in their words and in their very faces Chrys Heare the word neuer so zealously yet vnlesse thy heart be melted it is but like the strokes of an hammer vpon an anuile But if with Dauid we make a Bath of our teares a Cauldron of our bed an Altar of our heart a Sacrifice not of vnreasonable beasts but of our owne bodies a liuing and reasonable sacrifice we shall haue comfort hereafter Hast thou beene omnium notarum peccator a sinner soyled with euery sinne be now then omnium horarum paenitens a penitentiary euery houte for sinne weepe for thy selfe and after for the sinnes of others else thou must immediately after this life is ended bee cast into that place where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Woe be vnto thee if thou doest nothing but laugh it shall be turned into mourning Mourning for friends cannot raise them againe though men should weepe their eyes out of the holes of their heads Chrys ad pop Antioch hem 15. but godly sorrow for sinne will helpe and purchase vs that which Achsah got of her Father Caleb the vpper and the nether springs Ios 15 19. a spring of comfort heere and heereafter a spring of the water of life all teares
shall be wiped away Vse 2. Here then may the thirsty soule come and drinke freely of this comfort God helpeth the mourners with his owne hand Neuer did Augustus Caesar so much honor vnto groaning Virgil and bleare-eyed Horace as God to the poorest of his mourners wiping away all their teares He breaketh not a bruised reede he quencheth not smoking flaxe Mat. 12.20 The more humble sorrowfull we are before him the neerer wee come vnto him worldly sorrow bringeth gray haires on the head and wrinckles in the face but a godly weeping turneth old age into youth sicknesse into health Behold how they wrought a miracle for Mary Magdalene shee is called a woman shee is not named eyther for her honour Luk. 7.37.38 because as Christ couered her sins so the Scripture concealeth her name or for her dishonor as if she were not worth the naming somtimes the name of sinners is vsed with an abbreuiation Dumah for Idumaea Isa 21.11 Ram for Aram Pasdammim for Ephesdammim Ruth 4.19 sometimes their name is concealed as in that reall parable of the condemned churle 1. Ch. 11.13 1. Sam. 17.1 his title is but homo quidam diues Herod hath no other name allowed then a Fox Luk. 16.19 Luk 13.32 Amos 4.1 the Princes which oppressed the poore Kine of Bashan in the mountains of Samaria or shee is namelesse to teach men that howsoeuer they heere striue to make their houses continue for euer and their dwelling places to all generations calling their lands after their own names Psal 49.11 yet God remembreth them not Shee was a cittie sinner which had added wound to wound corruption to corruption stench to stench In that citty where Christ had raised the widdowes son doth she expect saluation shee came with an Alablaster boxe of oyntment wherewith shee vsed before to perfume her selfe or least by the stench of her sinnes shee should offend her Sauiour or to prepare him with a gift shee stood at his feete behind him weeping washing his feete with teares shee feared punishment and therefore stood behind she washed with teares By diuine grace shee opened the conduits and sluces of her eyes shee bewailed all her sinnes she wiped his feete with the haire of her head Her sinnes which were many were forgiuen for she loued much Vers 47. Bar. Annal. Baronius saith hee found in an old manuscript that she came with Lazarus and her sister Martha into Britaine If it be so her example is more proper for vs of great Britaine Happy are they that follow the smell of this oyntment and the teares of that little vine For as Pharaoh and his chariots were drowned the red sea there remained not so much as one of them so the spirituall Pharaoh and all his stratagems shall be drowned in the Sea of our teares Exod 14.28 Illi in fluctibus isti infletibus marini illi amari isti The Aegyptian Pharaoh and his Chariots were drowned in the salt waues of the red Sea so all our crosses shall bee drowned in the salt teares of our eyes Ber. ser 39 in Cant. which are made red with weeping Let then some hold weeping to be childish wee can neuer enter into the kingdome of heauen except wee become in this like little children Let others thinke that the custome of shedding teares dasheth all ioy as they in the Poet Parcite lachrimis vrbis festo laetoque die Seâ— in Octauia Wee can neuer be truly cheerefull vnlesse wee accustome our selues to these Let other thinke that it is their greatest dishonour to be buried priuately as it is storied of Clodius that hee was cast out sine imaginibus sine cantu sine ludis â—ic pro Milonâ— sine exequijs sine lamentis without any solemnization of his memory by picture song play funerall or mourning but this is the heauiest of all plagues to haue drie hearts that cannot melt that are sensible of no true sorrow The watry eye is the surest of continuance vpon earth and shall bee surely glorified in heauen as these last words manifest that God shall wipe away all teares from their eyes Pars 3. IN that prophecie of Iacob when hee told his Sons what should befall them in the last daies God had this blessing A troope shall ouercome him Gen 49.19 but he shall ouercome at the last Gen. 49.19 which is not to bee vnderstood of Iephte his good successe against the Ammonites as Caietan would haue it neyther of the Gadites marching with the rest of the tribes against the Canaanites and there returning back to Iordan as Ierom and the Chaldee Paraphrast defend but of the diuers conflicts which the Gadites had with the Hagarens Iâ—r Mecar with Iehur and Nephish and Nodah when they carried away of their Camels 50. thousand and of Sheepe 250. thousand and of Asses two thousand 1. Chr. 5.21 and of men an hundred thousand It is true of all the elect who seeme heere to bee deiected and ouercome by crosses sorrowes teares for the world holdeth that vita non est viuere sed valere It is more comfortable to dye quickly then to liue sickly Search we the Scriptures wee shall find some Lepers who were to liue alone and marked out by torne garments bare heads couered mouthes and an outcry of vncleannesse Leu. 13.45 Mephibosheth was lame of his feete by falling from his nurse as she made hast to flye 1. Sam. 4.4 In the time of Christ you shal finde one deafe and hauing an impediment in his speech Mark 7.32 another Lazar lying at Diues gate another at the poole of Bethesda another at the beautifull gate of the Temple you shall find heere a woman whose yong daughter had an vnclean spirit there a women with a bloudy issue here the house vntiled by the sicke of the Palsie his porters there the graues haunted by men possessed of Diuels Nescias vltrum appelles vitam mortalem an mortalem vitam We cannot saith S. Austin tell what to call our life whether a dying life or a liuing death but amongst all infirmities the want of sight maketh many to cry as Tobit in his blindnesse when hee could not goe without stumbling Tob. 11.10 hauing white filmes vpon his eyes which the Physitians could not cure command my spirit to be taken from me that I may be dissolued and become earth for it is profitable for me to die rather then to liue But saith August Tob. 3.6 Aug. conf 10.34 O the light which Tobias saw when his carnal eies being shut he set his son notwithstanding into the right way of life and trod out a direct path before him as a guide Blinde men may bee and often are necessary to the Church and Common-wealth Izhak Ge. 27.1 and therefore God hath made way for them and forbidden a stumbling blocke to bee put before them Leu. 19.4 Plut in vita