fro with it's vnruly appetites is al one Et vita inter Effoeminatos Another Letter hath it Scortatores The connexion is good for Youth runnes it selfe quickely vpon the Rockes of death through it's sensualities and lewdnesse of life There are two daughters of the Horse-leech which still crie Giue giue And the Wiseman pointing them forth vnto vs saith The one is Infernus The other Os Vuluae The Graue the one and Lust the other And the Wiseman did linke these two together with a great deale of conueniencie and fittingnesse for if Lust bee neuer satisfied the Graue lesse This truth is likewise made good forasmuch as the Scripture stileth Sinne Death If I doe this I must die the death So said Susanna to the Iudges that made vnlawfull and dishonest loue vnto her And Cain seeing himselfe charged with fratricide at that verie instant he gaue himselfe for a dead man Whosoeuer shall meet me will kill me Youth then beeing a house whereinto the raine doth drip so fast and at so many places it is no meruaile that life should cease and soone decay It is prouerbially said Loue is as strong as Death And as Loue doth vsually set vpon Youngmen so doth Death and where Loue striketh Youth Death may spare his Dart. The Antients painted a Youngman starke naked his eyes with a Vaile or Bend before them his right hand bound behind him and his left left at libertie and Time followiâ—â— him close at the heeles and euer and anon pulling a thred out of the Vaile Hee was drawne naked to shew with what little secrecie hee had vsed his delights and pleasures with his right hand bound behind him to expresse that he did not doe any thing aright his left free and at libertie signifying that he did all things aukwardly and vntowardly he was portrayed blind because he doth not see his owne follies but Time goes opening his eyes by little and little day by day brings him to the true knowledge of his errors And he that was dead sate vp and began to speake The Dead presently obeyed the voyce of the Liuing And hee sate vp God cryeth out aloud to those that are dead in their Soules yet doe they not obey his voyce Arise thou that sleepest c. Hee began to giue thankes vnto him that had done him this so great a fauour Thou hast deliuered mee ô Lord from the dooâ—es of death and therefore I will celebrate thy prayses and magnifie thy name in the Gates amiddest the Daughters of Syon It is Saint Chrysostomes note That the word Doores is put here in the plurall number because many are the dangers out of which God deliuereth a sinner That all may speake of thy praise and talke of thy wondrous workes And there came a feare vpon all It may seeme to some That the word Loue would better haue become this place and beene fitter for this present purpose and occasion All a man would thinke should rather haue expressed their loues vnto him sung forth his prayses and offered their seruice vnto him In those former punishments of a World drowned and ouerwhelmed with Water of a Sodome burned and consumed with Fire it was verie fit and meet that it should strike feare and amasement into all But in such a case as this What should cause them to feare Hereunto I answer That nothing doth strike such a feare and terrour into man as the great and wonderfull mercies of God A Roman Souldier told Iulius Caesar It much troubles me nor can I be heart-merrie as oft as I thinke on the many fauours that I haue receiued from thy liberall hand but doe rather hold them as so many wrongs and iniuries done vnto me for they are so beyond all requitall that I must of force proue vngratefull which makes me to feare that thou wilt proceed against me for a heinous offendor in this kind In like manner so many are the mercies of God towards man and so infinite that they may be held as Vigiles of his future seuerer Iustice. Iacob did in a manner vtter the same sentence against himselfe Minor sum cunctis miserationibus tuis The least of thy mercies is greater than all my merits nor can the best seruices that I can doe thee make satisfaction for the least of those fauours which I haue receiued from thy bounteous liberalitie Grant ô Lord that what is wanting in our owne worthinesse may bee made vp in the mercies and merits of our Sauiour Iesus Christ To whom with the Father c. THE XXX SERMON VPON THE FRYDAY AFTER THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT IOHN 11.1 Erat quidam languens Lazarus Now a certaine man was sicke named Lazarus of Bethanie c. PEtrus Crysologus calls this Signum signorum Mirabile mirabilium Virtutem virtutum The signe of signes the wonder of wonders and the Vertue of vertues or the power of powers Saint Augustine Miraculorum maximum The myracle of myracles which of all other did most predicate and blazon forth Christs glorie Saint Hierome preferres it before all the rest that he wrought here vpon earth By this prenda or pledge of his Diuinitie Death remained confounded the Deuills affrighted and the lockes and barres of Hell broken Genebrard That it is the voice of a Crier which goes before a Triumpher who makes Death the triumphant Chariot of his Maiestie and glorie That a valiant Warriour should make a braue and gallant shew on horsebacke hauing his Courser adorned and set forth with curious and costly Caparisons it is not much but to seeme handsome and comely in Deaths palenesse weakenesse and foulenesse beeing so ghastly a thing to looke on God onely can doe this Ante faciem eius saith Abacuc ibit mors Death â—â—all flie before his face Christ doth deliuer vs from a double death the one of the soule the other of the bodie He deliuered them from their distresses Death is swallowed vp in victorie He that drinketh takes the cup in his hand and doth therewith what it pleaseth him so did our Sauiour deale with Death therfore he called it a cup drinking the same vp at one draught wherein he dranke a health to all Beleeuers Saint Bernard vpon this occasion saith of him Mirabilis potator es tu Thou art a strange kind of drinker O Lord before thou tastedst of this cup thou saidst Transeat Let it passe and after thou hadst dranke thereof thou saidst Sitio I thirst The Flesh was afraid but the Spirit got the victorie ouer Death with that ease as a good Drinker doth of a good cup of drinke when he is verie thirstie In a word Not onely because this was a myracle wrought vpon a dead person that had lien foure dayes buried in his graue but because the sacrilegious councell of the Scribes and Pharisees had layd their heads together and plotted the death of our Sauiour Christ as also in regard of those other circumstances That the deceased
world there shall also this that she hath done be spoken of for a memorial of her yee may chance to forget it but God will not Your Kings nominate Chroniclers to write downe the seruices of their Vassalls and the famous acts of the valiant and stout men of war Iosaphat the sonne of Eliud as we may read in the booke of the Kings erat à Commentarijs was the Chronicler But Kings either not read them or soone forget them In Assuerus his Annals is set downe the good seruice which Mardochee had done him by freeing his life from a treason that was plotted against him but Assuerus had quite forgot it But God is so farre from forgetting such seruices that he vseth to assume vnto himselfe a name from the seruice that they doe him he said vnto Iacob I am the God of Bethel where thou annointedst the Piller where thou vowedst a Vow vnto me Corresponding with that of Malachie Scriptus est liber monumenti coram eo And a booke of remembrance was written Anonother letter hath it Recordationis agreeing with the common Translation Our friend Lazarus sleepeth c. What a strange kind of thing is this that Lazarus being dead should find friends For it is the course of the world to hold him our friend that liues in plentie prosperitie and enioyes his health but not that a sicke man nay a dead man should find a friend c. Iob made it his complaint My friends and familiar acquaintance forsooke me and would not looke vpon me in my miserie And he drawes his comparison of their sudden departure from those downefalls of water in the Winter which glide away with all the speed that may be Salomon compares them to a rotten tooth and a wearie foot The Harlot is likewise the hierogliphycke of false friends whose embraces and kisses are like those of Iudas for money your Quicke-siluer is likewise a simbole of the same which forsaketh the gold in the Chrisoll these are all of them things that faile in the time of need The World hath not any one thing wherof it is more vnmindfull than the Dead Obliuioni datus sum tanquam mortuus à corde O that the Dead should be forgotten by that heart which gaue it life and that he should be forgotten by his friend who placed him in honour and in riches In a word by how much the more miserie increaseth in the world by so much the more friendship decreaseth Saint Chrysostome saith That the best friend that euer was ascended vp vnto Heauen Saint Augustine That a friend is like a Physition that loues the Patient and hates his disease but if Death come betwixt him and home his skill is at an end for he that can recouer health cannot recouer life this is onely reserued for our Sauiour Christ who is Medicamentum vitae immortalitatis gratia This Physition stiles Lazarus his friend in health in sickenesse and in death Manus eius tornatiles That Artificer which leuels his worke by his eye commonly goes crookedly to worke and commits many disproportions but he that workes in a wheele as Turners doe or in a Presse as your Printers keepes a continuall euenesse and equalitie in sickenesse and in health in prosperitie and aduersitie in Winter and in Sommer and such an Artisan was our Sauiour Christ in all his actions Our friend Lazarus sleepeth c. It is an ordinarie Language in Scripture to call Death Sleepe whither it be the death of the soule or the bodie To him that was dead in the soule Saint Paul saith Arise thou that sleepest c. Some sinners are so sound asleepe that neither lights loud calling nor shogging of them can awaken them Percussi eos non doluerunt I smote them and they grieued not Saint Augustine confesseth of himselfe That he lay long in this Lethargy and descending to vices in particuler he saith That God calling vpon your Theeues for to haue them to make restitution vpon your reuengefull natures that they should not seeke reuenge and vpon your Sensualists that they should leaue off this their beastly course of life some of them answer That they cannot others That they dare not Other Sinners there are that heare God in their sleepe taking their dreames to be reuelations considering with themselues That God is woont to speake in dreames and in visions For God speaketh once or twice in dreames and visions of the night when sleepe falleth vpon men and they sleepe vpon their beds then he openeth the eares of men by the corrections which he had sealed that he might cause man to turne away from his wickednesse that he might hide the pride of man and that his life should not passe by the Sword The death likewise of the bodie is and that verie fittingly termed sleepe First For the rest that they take The Phylosophers called it Tempestatis pâ—rtum the Hauen to our weather-beaten liues Perigrinationis finem the end of our pilgrimage here vpon earth Omnium malorum medicamentum A remedie against all diseases Secondly For the danger wherein it leaueth sinners Holofernes layd him downe to sleepe fully persuading himselfe that he should haue enioyed Iudith in his armes when he awaked but alas poore soule before euer hee was aware of it he found himselfe in Hell Abimilecke got him to bed with hope to haue his pleasure of Saraah but in the dead time of the night he found himselfe in the hands of an angrie God To the rich man that inuited his soule to take his fill for there was store enough for many yeares Hac nocte c. This night shall thy soule be taken from thee Saul slept verie soundly and carelessely in his Tent when Dauid might haue giuen him his passeport for another life And therefore no man ought to lay him downe to sleepe with lesse heedfulnesse than if hee were now lying on his death bed Your wretchlesse sinners feele a harder passage of it and farre greater torment than the Iust. Death vseth to bring great torments with it First In seperating the soule from the bodie Secondly In forgoing those things it loueth as gold siluer lands houses wife and children which are all of them strings whereunto the heart is tied besides the venture of our condemnation for euer and the agonie of so many feares that will in this dissolution seise vpon vs. From all which the Righteous though they threaten him neuer so much remaineth free and vntoucht He groaned in the spirit c. The Greeke word signifieth to roare to crie out aloud to waile to lament and to be much mooued According to that of Theophilact Et turbauit semetipsum And was troubled in himselfe It did awaken in the sensitiue part of him those affections or passions which as Aristotle saith are like vnto dogs who in hearing any noyse fall presently a barking till that their Master do still them make them hold their peace In
our selues 2. Cor. 2. Philip. â— Ezech. 9. Iohn 11.35 Zach. 1â— 10 Eccl. 22. Eccl. 38. Gods mercie the Spring from whence all his blessings flow Prou 31. Sin is death it selfe The character of a yong man The raising of Lazarus Christs greatest myracle Psal. 107. â—0 1. Cor. 15.54 Death is a large draught but Christ swallowed it downe 3. Reg. 1â— Mat. 6.7 God regards not the length of our praiers but their strength Exod. 4. Psal. 137. Workes out-speake Words Cant. 4. â— 3 Reg. 1â— Beloued a name of great preheminence Gods fauours seldome come single 4. Reg. 20.3 The â—ighteous euer mind full of Gods seruice forgetful of their Mat. 25. Iniuries done to God more greeuous to the righteous than if done to themselues Psal. 39. No loue where no releefe 4. Reg. 1. Osee 4.12 Ezech. 21.21 4. Reg. 19. Psal. 37.5 His will must be ours The peruersenesse of mans will Esay 58.3 The best reward that God can giue his followers Mans miserie the blason of Gods Maiesty Iob. 6.2.3 Iob. 1. Nothing more properly ours than Vertue In all humane goods the cretures haue the start of man The goodnes of Gods condition toward Penitents expressed two manner of wayes First he neuer remembers their sinnes Esay 38.17 Secondly hee neuer forgets our seruices Mat. 26. 2. Reg. 8.16 Gen. 31.13 Malach. 3.16 Death whither temporall or spirituall called a Sleep that fitly Iob. 33. Iud. 3. Gen. 20. Luk. 12. 1. Reg. 2.6 Christs passions differing from ours Sin discoasts a man froÌ„ God Psal. 1.6 Reasons why Christ wept Ier. 9.17.18 Ibid. 21. The death of the soule is a true death that of the bodie but a shadow Men carelesse of nothing more than of their soules Dead Lazarus the embleme of a Sinner Old sins like old sores hardly cured A threefold death of the Soule Amos 11. Gods loue seene by the delayes he vseth in his punishing Genes 1â— Iob. 7. Why the heathen erected Pyramides ouer their deceased Psal. 29. The difference betwixt Lazarus rising out of the graue our Sauiour Occasions to sin must bee auoyded Why God appeared to Moses in a Bush. Gods iudgement euerie way compleat 1. Reg. 16. Christ why called the Light of the world 1. Ioâ—n 1.5 1. Tim. 6.16 The benefit of this Light Gen. 3. Baruc 3.34 The reason why some hate and shunne it Iohn 6. Iob. 29. Iob. 7. In mans life theâ—e are two wayes and he had need of a Guide The glorie of the Sunne Mat. 5. Rom. 8. Luc. 17. Christ testified by many yet not embraced of the Pharisees Three conditions required in euery Testimonie Christ the â—â—ly true Sunne that seeth all things Eccl. 23. Hier. 17. Apoc. 3. Inconueniences which would haue followed the peccabilitie of Christ. Apoc. 7. 2. Reg. 11. Sinne maketh the most valiant man a Coward Iob 25. No man free from sinne Iob 9.30 Iob 38. Two things required in men of eminencie and place conscience and fame Publike persons must looke to their fame as well as to their conscience Looking-glasses why placed about the Lauer of the Temple The vse of Belâ— in the border of the Priests garment Priuat persons must conceale their workes but men of publike ranke must shew themâ—elues examples Gen. 39.3 Our Sauiours innocencie exemplified by his death Christs equal proceeding against the diuell a patterne for all Magistrates Ioh. 11. The Crosse and death of Chriâ—ttormented the diuell more than himselfe Ioh. 8. Truth lesse welcome to the â—ares of men than flatteries and lies The World the Flesh â—nd the Diuell all lyars Prou. 18. Eccl. 21. Mat 28. What mischiefes haue proceeded from lying Gods word how to be heard that the heariâ—g it may testifie our Predestiâ—ation Foure circumstances requiâ—red to the hearing of Gods Word Act. 13. 1. Tim. 6. Prou. 23. The soule of the just that of a sinner wherein differing Men are neuer worse than when they thinke all is well Passion alters all properties to it selfe Better to be mad than passionate Patience when most to be applauded Luc. 22. Marc. 11.1 To suffer iniuries a great noblenesse Iob. 18. A patient man whereunto resembled Iobâ— Clemencie a profitable vertue Exod. 32. Gods honour must euer be preferred before our own Truth can neuer be altogether supprest Mat. 10. ObliuioÌ„ hath two bosomes Iudges ought to be free from passion 2. Râ—g 14. Daniel 3. Why Christ withdrew himselfe from the Pharisees A hard heart can neuer be mollified Prou. 26. Luke 23.16 Reuenge in man a sâ—mptome of Cowardize â—erem 3. No policie preualent against the word and wisdome of God Enuie of all vices the most vnfortunate to it selfe fortunate to others Mat. 23. Luk. 11. Like Priest like People Psal. 106. Num. 25. 1. Pet. â— Prou. 1. â— Iosh. 1. Honest seruice little respected by earthly Princes No policie preualent against the wisedome of God God must be serued by vs before man Gen. 3. It is bad seruice to share in other mens sinnes Our longest life but little 2. Mac. 7.36 2. Mac. 6. Iob 9. Christ must be sought while he may be found Amos 2. Act. 2. Good neuer truly liked till lost Neuer any mâ—â— so hated of the world as Christ. Time a pretious Iewell Leuit 23. Num. 29. Why instituted Leuit. 23.43 Pride incident to Man Good men are verie rare â—sal 71. Eccl. 49. Apoc. 12. Heauen not gotten without paines No appetite so fierce as that of a sinner Ier. â— Exod. 4. Dan. 7. What ment by the water of life Esay 42 43 44. Prou. 5. Ezecâ— 35. Ioel. 2. The Holy Ghost Why compared to water 2. Cor. 4. The power of Gods word The force of Eloquence Gods power neuer more seene than in his Passion Acts 20. Why Christ desiring to die did flâ—e to auoide death Gods Counsells vnsearchable Mat. 6. Iosh 8. Aduantage against an enemy no Cowardize Men flye sometimes to come on the fiercer To flye in time of persecution how farre lawfull 1. Mac. â— 9.9 In some cases it is fortitude to flye 2. Reg. 4. Iob 40. Eccles. 22. Why Christ desiring to die would flye to auoid death Power should neuer bee showne but in extremity The greater Chrisâ—â— shame the greater our redemption 3. Reg. 15. Vaine-glory not to be affected Men couet honor though with the hazard of others God vseth no partialitie in the dispensation of his fauours We must not relye on others Vertue but our owne Honor where no merit is ads to our shame not to our shining Worship should not wait but vpon worth Honour a bait which all men bite at Eccl. 43. Kindred the ouerthrow of many Prelats Enuy neuer greater than amongst brethren Kindred will cleaue to a man in his prosperity but neuer look on him in aduersitie Three Feasts of dedication among the Iewes 3. Reg. 8. Esdr. â— 1 Mach. 1. Mans Heart Gods Temple 2. Cor. 6. Leuit 26. Mans Soule must bee renewed to make it a fit habitation for God Psal. 51. Baptisme the fouâ—datâ—on of Christian
Homo quia cinis es Remember Man that thou art but Dust. THE remembrance of death saith Climachus is amongst other remembrances as bread amongst other meats howbeit it is more necessarie for the soule than bread for the bodie For a man may liue many dayes without bread but the soule cannot doe so without the remembrance of death And it is the generall opinion of all the best and holiest Writers Perfectissimam vitam esse continuam mortis meditationem i. That the most perfect life is a continuall meditation of death Chrysostome expounding that place of Saint Luke Qui vult venire post me i. He that will follow me saith That Christ commandeth vs not to beare vpon our backes that heauie burthen of the woodden Crosse but that we should alwayes set our death before our eyes making that of Saint Paul to be our Imprese Quotidiè morior i. I die dayly In the second of the Kings it is recounted that the holy King Iosias did clense the people from their Altars their Groues and high places where innumerable Idolatries dayly increased and to amend this ill he placed there in their stead bones skulls and the ashes of dead men Whose iudgement herein was very discreete For from mans forgetting of his beginning his end arise his Idolatries and so reuiuing by those bones the rememberance of what they were hertofore what they shal be hereafter he did make them amend that mischief Verie many nay numberlesse are those men which adore the noblenesse of their Linage and out of a desire that they haue to make good their descent and beginning they multiplie Coats one vpon another hang vp Scutchions blazon forth their Armes tell you large histories of their pedigrees and genealogies and many times most of them meere lies and fables Ezechiel did represent these vnto vs in those twentie fiue yong men which were besotted and rauished in beholding the Sunne which by way of exposition signifieth the adoring of the glorie of their birth But leauing these as fooles who glorie in the gold that glisters the Church teacheth thee another lesson and sayes vnto thee Memento homo Remember man c. God created Adam of the basest matter of verie durt but this Durt being molded by Gods owne hand and inspiring it with so much wisedome councell and prudence Tertullian calls it Cura diuini ingenij i. The curiousnesse of Gods wit but man growing proud hereupon and hoping to be a God himselfe God doomed him to death and wrapped him againe in his durtie swadling clouts with this inscription Puluis es in puluerem reuerteris i. Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt returne Adam did not without some mysterie cloath himselfe with greene leaues for as Saint Ambrose hath noted it he gaue therein as it were a signe and token of his vaine and foolish hopes But as the mother when theâ—ee hath stung her childs finger runnes with all hast to get a little durt and claps it to her little one which doth assuage the swelling and giue it ease so those busie Bees of hel dayly stinging vs striking into our breasts the poyson of their pride arrogancie the Church with dust and ashes with a Cinis es incinerem reuerteris i. Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt returne abates this pride and tells vs of that swelling arrogancie of ours When God reuealed to Nebucadnezar how little a while his Empire was to last he shewed him a statue of diuers mettalls the head gold the brest siluer the bellie brasse the legges yron the feet clay and a little stone which descended from the mountaine lighting on the feet dasht the statue in pieces But in stead of taking this as a forewarning of his end and to haue it still before his eyes he made another statue of gold from top to toe which is held to be a durable and lasting mettal so that the more God sought to dis-deceiue him the more was he deceiued with his vaine hopes And this is a resemblance of that which dayly hapneth vnto vs for God aduising vs that our best building is but durt our idle thoughts vaine hopes imagine it to be of gold And mans life being so short that as Nazianzen said it is no more than to goe out of one graue to enter into another out of the wombe of our particular mother into that of the common mother of vs all which is the Earth we flatter our selues with the enioying of many long yeres of life But the Church being desirous to cut off this error saith Memento homo i. Remember man By Ezechiel God threatned his people with a great slaughter that they only should escape that were marked in the forehead with the Hebrew letter Tau which is the last in the alphabet some say that it hath the figure of a crosse and it may be that when Ezechiel did write this he had that figure before him and S. Hierome saith That in stead of Tau the Samaritanes did vse the figure of a crosse The Hebrews by this letter vnderstand the end as beeing the last in the ABC And God was willing that those that bore this marke in their forehead that is should haue their end before their eyes should liue but that those that liued forgetfull of their end that they should die And the Church beeing desirous that her children should escape this danger prints this in their minds Terra es Earth thou art c. It is well weighed by Rupertus that after God had condemned Adam to death he bestowed vpon his wife the name of Life Mater cunctarum gentium i. The mother of al the liuing Scarce had God condemned him to punishment but he by- -by shews that he had forgot it And therfore did God permit the death of innocent Abel to the end that in Abel he might see thâ— death of the body and in Caine the death of the soule for to quicken his memorie From Adam we inherit this forgetfulnes not remembring to day what we saw but yesterday the general desire of man striues all it can to perpetuate our life which if it were in our hands we would neuer see death But because the loue of life should not rob vs of our memorie and that fearing as we are mortall wee might couet those things that are eternall seeing that walles towers marble and brasse molder away to dust we may euer haue in our memorie Memento homo Remember man c. Many holy Saints haue stiled the memorie the stomach of the soule as Gregorie Bernard Theodoret Austen Nazianzen c. And God commanding Ezechiel That he should notifie vnto his people certaine tâ—â—ngs that he had reuealed vnto him and charging him that he should remember himselfe well of them he said Comede quaecunque ego do tibi i. Eat whatsoeuer I giue thee And in another placehe commanded him that he should eat a Book wherin were written Lamentationes
hee will that thou giue the glorie vnto him and take the profit to thy selfe That Workeman should doe ill who hauing built a house with another mans Purse should goe about to set vp his owne Armes vpon the Frontispeece Iustinian made a Law That no master-Workeman should set vp his name within the bodie of that building which hee made out of anothers cost Christ sets thee aworke and wills thee to Fast to Pray to giue Almes but Who is at the cost of this so good and great a worke God thou hast all thy materials from him the building is his it is his Purse that payes for all giue the gloâ—ie therefore and the honor thereof vnto him Gloriam meam alteri non dabo i. I will not giue my glorie to another Content thy selfe with Heauen which is promised vnto thee if thou doost well which is a sufficient reward for any seruice that thou canst doe The third That Fasting Praying giuing of Almes done onely for Gods sake is of that great price and estimation that it is ill employed on any other than God And for that God weighes all things in his hand as in a ballance and knowes the weight of euery good worke and the true value therefore it grieues him that thou shouldst doe these good things for so vile and base a price and is sorrie to see thee so poore and foolish a Merchant that thou wilt part wirh that which is as much worth as Heauen to thee for that which is lesse than earth to wit onely that the World may say Such a one fasteth Why doost thou thus crucifie thy flesh Why debarre thy bellie of food Why being readie to die for hunger doost thou not eat Why lift vp thy eyes to Heauen for so poore a thing as to winne applause vpon earth Sterni lutum quasi aurum saith Iob those works that are done for God are gold done for the world durt They lay vp this their treasure in the tongues and eyes of men which is a chest that hath neither locke nor key vnto it The fourth That Fasting is a Plaister for our wounds a Medicine for our griefes a Salue for our sinnes and a Defence against Gods wrath But thou must take heed that thou doe not make this Plaister poison this Medicine sicknesse this Salue a sore and this Defence our destruction For where God hath a Church there the Deuill hath a Chappell and where hee throwes in seed the other will sow tares Naboth a Subiect of King Achab had a Vineyard in Samaria neere vnto the Kings Palace the King had a mind vnto it Naboth will not part with it the King growes sad refuses his meat Iezabel comes to see him makes a jest of it takes pen in hand dispatches a Ticket to the Gouernors of that Citie sealed with the Kings Seale to proclaime a Fast subornes two witnesses to sweare That they heard Naboth blaspheme God the King the innocent Naboth is stoned to death and his goods confiscated In which action there are two things worthie our consideration The one That the circumstance of blaspheming God and the King vpon a solemne day of Fast as it is noted by Vatablus was so grieuous that of force hee must be condemned to die for it in so great veneration was Fasting in those dayes The other That it serued as a cloake for the taking away of the Vineyard for the falsifying of witnesses and injustice in the Iudges Who should haue then seene the People to fast would haue thought it had beene done out of zeale Gods honour and a desire to doe him seruice But it was meerely a tricke of the Deuils which hee had plotted with himselfe Hee threw poyson vpon vertue seeking to draw euill out of good Wee must therefore beware least these our good actions receiue hurt by euill intentions Like Hypocrites Hypocrisie runnes a quite contrarie course to these foure points before specified and crosses the same three or foure manner of waies First It feigneth the good which it hath not As the proud Man Humility the Cholericke Patience the Wanton Honestie the Miser Liberalitie This leger-demaine is that which hath more generally spred it selfe through mens brests being desirous that the bodie should serue for the soule as painting for the face which being blacke makes it seeme white The painted Image of diuers colours whereof Wisedome speaketh stirreth vp in Fooles a kind of pleasure and delight This stampe though it be there set vpon Idolaters may bee truly set vpon Hypocrites for the comparison will hold well in both Hee that shall truly and steddily looke vpon the face of an Hypocrite shall in him behold an Image flourished ouer with sundrie colours but counterfeit and feigned as the white of Chastitie the watched of Zeale the red of Loue. But this is but a dunghill couered ouer with snow the Hypocrite sheweth teares in his eys deuotion in his mouth sorrowfulnesse in his countenance and mortification in his flesh But he is not the man he seemes to be for the Painter though he giue the Varnish of the colour he cannot giue heate nor life hee may giue the likenesse but not the truth of a thing he painteth snow which is not cold fire which doth not burne birds which doe not flie beasts which doe not goe hee will paint a S. Hierome with a stone but it shall neuer hit him on the breast he will paint a Saint Francis with a discipline or whip in his hand which shall neuer giue him so much as one stripe or lash on the bodie like vnto that Statue which Michol put into Dauids bed clad with his cloathes which cosined the King and those that came with him Or like vnto a dead man which being beheld afarre off seemeth to be aliue or vnto Ezechiels Temple which was fairely painted without but within full of abhominations A Painter or a Statuarie frameth a verie perfect Image in the exterior parts but the Picture doth not enter into the substance of the wood or marble Nature beginneth with the inner parts it first fashioneth the heart then it organeth giueth life to the other parts of the bodie Whereas feigned Repentance beginneth in the outward parts of the body but true in the inward parts of the soule Our Sauiour in the Garden had first great sorrow in his soule and from thence that sweat of bloud was deriued to his bodie The Hypocrite hath the appearance of a Saint the apparell of a Saint the place of a Saint the figure of a Saint and nothing in him which is not Saint-like but like those Assisters at Christs death that had put on his cloathes Hee that shall see a common Hangman with Christs seamelesse coate vpon his backe wil take him to be a second Messias When Iacob saw Iosephs coat dipt in bloud thinking some wild beast had deuoured him he cried out Tunica filij mei est fera pessima deuorauit eum i. 'T is the garment
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
giue them present death it giues them a heart to desire it Elias found himselfe so out of heart when he sate him downe vnder the Iuniper tree in the Wildernesse flying from the furie of Iesabel who sought after his life that he desired in this his melancholly mood that hee might die What despaire then may not that sorrow driue a wretched poore soule into whose griefe is as long as great and as great as it is long Seneca tells vs Melius est semel scindi quam semper premi Better is a short than a lingering death Iob passed ouer many a sorrowfull day and many a mournfull night Dies vacuos noctes laboriosas Companilesse and comfortlesse and his wife thinking it the lesser ill to die out of hand than to liue in such perpetuall torment said vnto him pittying his grieuous paine Benedic Deo morere Play the Renegado once curse God to his face that thou maist oblige him thereby to take away thy life But say that Iobs affliction was great it was not of 38 yeares standing as this poore mans was Eight and thirtie yeares Here we are to consider That this sicke man was at least fiftie yeares old and we may make this coniecture That hee lay in a little carre with his bed vnder him together with such ragges and clouts as were for his necessarie vse Whence it followeth that God had laid this long sickenesse of thirtie eight yeares vpon him for his sinnes as Saint Chrysostome Irenaeus and many other Saints inferre vpon that command which God laid vpon him Noli amplius peccare See thou sinne no more It seemeth that hee had committed these sinnes when he was but twelue yeares old for many times Praeuenit malicia peccatum it so falls out that our wickednes outstrips our age and that wee runne into great sinnes before wee come to great yeares young Youthes beeing herein like vnto Cakes that are baked vpon coles which are burnt before they come to their baking According to that of Osee Factus es Ephraim subcineritius panis qui non reuersatur i. Ephraim is as a Cake on the hearth not turned And this ought to be a warning-piece to those that are old and antient sinners and haue not yet beene questioned for their lewd liues nor neuer felt the lash of Gods wrath They that keepe Lyons vse to whip their young whelpes that they may make the greater Lyons to feare and liue in awe of them Fewer are the faults but more the stripes which the Poore feele a bad signe for the Rich that doe runne ryot Aristotle saith That punishments were inuented for the deterring of men from euill Saint Chrysostome That the marke which God set vpon Cain was not so much for his particular defence as for a forewarning to others and therefore God granted him so long a life that his example might adde terrour to posteritie Some punishments are quickely past ouer and therefore doe not so much good and others are verie profitable by reason of their length continuance Iob saith That God had as it were nailed his shafts on his sides they stucke so close to his ribs Esay and Malachie take their comparison from the Siluer-smith who sits long at his worke Et sedebit constans c. Now God by these his long afflictions punisheth him whom he loueth to the end that the sinner may take warning thereby and learne to feare the Lord Non videbit interitum cuâ— viderit Sapientes morientes i. He shall not see destruction when he shall see that Wisemen die Eight and thirtie yeares According to the common course which God taketh of punishing sinne in this life this of thirtie eight yeares seemeth somewhat too rigorous a correction Vpon this doubt diuers reasons are rendered and one more principall than the rest is That this prolongation was not because God wished him ill or loued him the lesse but because there is not any Medicine that preserues a man more from the plague of vice and of sinne than a long sickenesse Prisons and Fetters saith Vlpianus were not so much inuented for the punishing of disorders as the restraining of them being as a great logge of wood to an vntamed and vnruly Hey far a strap to the fleet Hound or a bridle to a Horse Iob calleth the Gout a paire of Stockes Posuisti in trunco pedem meum Thou puttest my feet in the Stockes and lookest narrowly to all my paths and makest the print thereof in the heeles of my feet And he stiles his dunghill his prison Nunquid Caete ego sum aut Mare quia circumdedisti me in isto carcere Am I a Sea or a Whale-fish that thou keepest me in ward Our Sauiour Christ healing a woman that bowed her bodie so downward to the earth that shee could not looke vp to heauen said Hanc filiaÌ„ Abrahae quam c. Ought not this daughter of Abraham whom Sathan hath bound eighteene yeares be loosed from this bond Salomon compares a Physition to a Iaylor for when God commits a delinquent to his couch causing him there to remaine prisoner hauing fettered as it were his feet to his sheets the Physition lookes vnto him and hath a care that hee stirre not from thence till God releaseth him of his sickenesse Thus did hee deale with this poore man who lay thirtie eight yeres as it were by the heeles vnable to wagge either hanâ— or foot so strangely was he benumm'd in all his limmes Some man will say 〈◊〉 haue a shrewd burning Feuer but this is a more common than proper phrase oâ— speech And the Euangelist corrects it thus Socrus autem Petri tenebatur magâ—â— febribus She had not the Feuer but the Feuer had her Infrenabo te ne interâ—â— With the bridle of Sickenesse he will hold thee backe that thou maist not headlong râ—n down the Rocke that leads to vtter destruction both of bodie soule Homer feignes That the Goddesse Pallas for the loue which she bare to Achilles kept him backe when he would haue encountred with Agamemnon King of the Greekes Dauid gaue thankes to Abigal because he beeing resolued to destroy Nabal and all his house she had withheld him from it Quâ—a prohibuisti me c. So may we likewise giue thankes vnto sickenesse because it detaines vs turns vs aside from the forbidden paths of humane pleasures so that these thirtie eight yeares are so farre from the rigour of Iustice that it is rather an act of mercie and pittie But if we consider these thirtie eight yeares in reason of Iustice it will not seeme rigorous to any He is not to be accounâ—ed an austere seuere Iudge who doth keepe a Delinquent long in prison if when he is in prison hee returne to a relapse in his delicts What hope can a Iudge haue that such a one should proue good being set at liberty or of a theef that shal fal a stealing while he is in prisoÌ„ Now this man
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
One Angel was enough to ouerthrow a mountaine one onely sufficeth to mooue these coelestiall Orbes but it is Saint Chrysostomes note That Euerie one was glad to put a helping hand to so worthie a burthen â— this As many earnestly thrust themselues forward to beare a foot a leg or an arme of some great Monarch In â—inum Abrahae Into the bosome of Abraham Some vnderstand by this his bosome the neerest place about Abraham As in that of the Euangelist All the Apostles supt with our Sauiour Christ but Saint Iohn onely leaned his head in his bosome And in that other Vnigenituâ— qui est in sinu patris c. The onely begotten who is in the bosome of the Father As also that A dextris At his right hand So likewise Many shall lie downe with Abraham Isaac and Iacob And the Church singeth Martinus Abrahae sinu laetus excipitur Mortuâ—s est autem Diues sepultus est But the rich man died and was buried The Greeke makes there a full point and then presently goes on In inferno autem cum esseâ— in tormentis But when he was in hell in torment But of Lazarus it is not said That they buried him whither it were for that he had no buriall at all or for that beeing so poore and miserable a creature Earth made no mention of him as Heauen did not of the rich man But we read of the rich man Sepultus est He was buried Hitherto did reach the jurisdiction of his riches and the peculiar of his prosperitie great Ceremonies watchfull attendance about his Corps many Mourners Doles to the Poore Tombes of Alabaster Vaults paued with Marble Lamentations odoriferous Ointments pretious Embalmings Funerall Orations solemne Banquets In all this I confesse the rich man hath a great aduantage of him that is poore But in this outward pompe lies all the rich mans happinesse and when hee hath entred the doores of darkenesse and is shut vp in his graue like the Hedge-hogge hee leaues his Apples behind him and nothing remaines with him but the prickles of a wounded conscience his howlings his lamentations weeping gnashing of teeth and whatsoeuer other torments Hell can affoord Diuitiarum jactantia quid contulit nobis The ostentation and glory of riches what good doth it bring vnto vs O would to God that I had bin some poore Sheepheard O how too late haue I fallen into an account of myne owne hurt O World would to God I had neuer knowne thee He died and was buried There is no felicitie so great that can diuert the euill of Death let the rich man liue the yeares of Nestor the ages of Methusalem in the end hee must descend into the graue The cleerest Heauen must haue it's Cloud and the brightest day must haue it's night the Sunne though neuer so shining must haue it's setting the Sea though neuer so calme must haue it's storme If the good things of this life were perpetuall they that are in loue with them might pretend some excuse but beeing that worldly pleasure is a Wheele that is alwayes moouing a Riuer that is alwayes running a Mill that is alwayes going and grinding vs to dust How canst thou settle thy selfe sure thereupon The highest places are the least secure the Moon when she is at the full foretells a waine and the Sunne when it is at the heigth admits a declination the house the higher it is built the more subiect it is to falling And the Nest saith Abdias that is neerest to the Starres God doth soonest throw it downe The rich man died He tells not how he liued but how he died for death is the eccho of mans life and he hauing led so cruell and so mercilesse a life what good could he hope for at his death Quoniam non est in morte qui memor sit tui laboraui in gemitu meo c. The first part Reason prooueth vnto vs The second Weeping howling In my life time I aske God forgiuenesse for my sinnes For the man that is vnmindfull of this in his life God doth not thinke on him at his death Many call vpon God at the houre of their death and it makes a mans haire to stand an end to see a man carelesse in so dangerous a passage only because Death is the eccho of our life Others will cal vpon Iesus but as that crucified Theefe that dyed without deuotion For that heart which is hard in his life is likewise hard in his death Cum esset in tormentis When he was in torment c. Here is an indefinite tearme put for a vniuersall For albeit euery one of the damned doe suffer the full measure and weight of his sinnes and acording to Saint Austen and Saint Gregory suffer most in that particular wherein they most offended And that therefore the rich man did suffer more in his tongue than any other member of his bodie yet notwithstanding there is not any one that is dâ—mned which doth not generally suffer in all his whole bodie and in euery part of his soule For as Heauen is a happinesse that imbraceth all happinesse so Hell is a misery that includeth all miseries There was neuer yet any tyrant in the world in whose prisons and dungeons all torments were inflicted at once But in that of Hell there is not any torment which is not felt at one and the same instant The body that shall generally suffer And for this fire and cold will suffice which are generall torments The soule shall likewise generally suffer sorrow and paine not only because the fire shall burne it which though corporall yet shall it's flames haue an operatiue vertue and working vpon the soule but because all hope being lost of any kind of joy whatsoeuer there shall therein be deposited all the reasons that may be of sorrow and of miserie Likewise there shall be particular torments for the sences of the bodie for the faculties of the soule the eyes shall enioy so much light as shall serue to see fearefull Visions so sayes Cirillus Alexandrinus and on the other side they shall suffer such thicke and palpable darknesse that they shall imagine them to be the ghastly shadowes of death Saint Chrysostome saith That they shall see the huge and infinite numbers of the Damned taking notice of all those that conuersed with them in their life time as fathers grandfathers brothers and friends And if the varietie multitude that are in a deep dungeon if the ratling of their chains the clattring of their shackles their hunger their nakednesse the noyse coyle confusion which they make cause a horrour in as many as both see and heare it what a terrour then will it be to see the miserable torments and to heare the fearefull shriâ—kes and pittifull outcries of those that are damned to the bottomlesse pit of hell The eares will suffer with their howlings their lamentations their blasphemies their cursings their ragings their dispairings
punishments Desiderium Impij mâ—nimentum est pessimorum so saith Salomon To this end the Scripture recounteth that the earth swallowed vp Korah Dathan Abiram the rest of those rebellious schismaticks wrapping them in flames smoke the Censers remaining in the midst of the fire Moses commanded that they should be taken out broad plates made of them for a couering of the Alter Vt haberent postea filij Israel quibus commonerentur That they might serue as a memoriall and warning to the children of Israell As false weights doe that are nayled vp in the Market place grounds that are ploughed with salt and the heads of malefactors in the highway Because the people of God had intangled themselues with the Moabites there perished of them twentie foure thousand but God commanded that the Princes should be hanged against the Sunne Saint Augustine saith That this was done for an admonishment to the people The Seuentie read Ostende eos Domine contra Solem That God and all the world may see them and that they may remaine as a perpetuall example to posteritie The Historie of the Machabees reports vnto vs That Nicanor vttered a most beastly blasphemie saying That his power was as great as that of God but the diuine justice punishing this his insolencie his head was set vp on the highest tower in the citie his right hand which he had held vp so proudly they nayled it against the doore of the Temple and caused his tongue to be cut in little pieces and to be cast vnto the Fowles Pharaohs and his Peoples death the booke of Wisedome saith That it was conuenient that the people of Israell should see it and consider it Vt ostenderet quemadmodum inimici eorum exterminabantur That the people might trie a meruailous passage and that these might find a strange death Theodoret brings a comparison of him that makes an Anotomie or dissection vpon a dead bodie for the instruction of those that are liuing And Zacharie paints out vnto vs a Talent of lead And this was a woman that sate in the midst of the Ephah whose name or title was Impietie or Wickednesse which hee saith was carried vnto Babylon Vt poneretur super vasem suum To be established and set vp there in her owne place that beeing set vp aloft vpon a Piller shee might continue there for a perdurable example Aulus Gellius in his Noctibus Atticis saith That Princes haue three ends in their punishments The one The amendment of the fault And to this end Pilat commaunded our Sauiour Christ to be whipt Corripiam eum c. The other The authoritie of the offended for if disrespect should not bee punished it would breed contempt The third For the terror and example of others for Iusticia aliena est disciplina propria Other mens punishment is our instruction And that man is a foole whom other mens harmes cannot make to beware When the Lyon was sicke all the beasts of the field went to visit him onely the Foxe stayed behind and would not goe vnto him and being askt the reason he answered I find the tracke of many going in but of none comming out and I am not so desperate as to cast my selfe wilfully away when as I may sleepe in a whole skinne The footsteps of the Angells that fell may aduise vs of our pride the ashes of Sodome tell vs of our filthinesse the Gallowes of Iudas forewarne vs of our auarice and the hell of this rich man restraine vs from our cruelties When God punished the Iewes hee scattered them farre and neere ouer the face of the whole earth that they might strike a feare into all other Nations A corporall medicine fits not all sores but corporall punishment meets with all faults Fili recordare quia recepisti bona in vita tua Sonne remember that thou in thy life receiuedst good things This is a dangerous trucke a fearefull exchange which makes humane happinesse not onely to be suspected but also abhorred Iob calls Death a Change Expecto donec veniat immutatio mea I stay waiting for my Change And as your Sheepe which in Syria breed fine wooll passing along to Seuill suffer a change and are apparelled with a rougher and courser sort of wooll so these your pamper'd persons of this world and those that fare daintily and deliciously euerie day shall change the soft wool of tender sheep into the harsh haires of goats camels Nature in all things hath ordered a kind of alternatiue change or interchangeable mutation as is to be seene in nights and in dayes in Sommer and in Winter The like doth succeed in the order of Grace there cannot bee two Hells neither shall there be two Glories A Phylosopher asking one Which of these two hee had rather be either Craesus who was one of the richest but most vicious men in the world or Socrates who was one of the poorest but most vertuous men in the world His answer was That in his life he would be a Croesus but in his death a Socrates So if it had beene put to this rich mans choice I doe thinke he could haue wisht in his heart to haue beene in his life Diues and in his death Lazarus Balaam shewed the like desire Moriatur anima mea morte Iustorum Let my soule die the death of the Righteous But they desire an impossibilitie for Death is a kind of trucke or exchange Fili recepisti bona in vita tua Lazarus similiter mala Sonne remember that thou in thy life time receiuedst thy pleasures and likewise Lazarus paines now therefore is he comforted and thou art tormented But I wil no longer torment your patieence God of his infinite goodnes c. THE SIXTEENTH SERMON VPON THE FRYDAY AFTER THE SECOND SONDAY IN LENT MAT. 21. MARC 12. LVC. 20. Homo quidam plantauit Vineam A certaine man planted a Vineyard THis is a Law Suit or Tryall betweene God and his People wherein according to the tenor of the Processe his people are condemned as vngratefull cruell disrespectiue forgetfull of their dutie and thrust out of all that they had as vnworthie of that good which they possessed This Storie much resembles the Statua of Nebucadnezar whose head was of gold whose brest was of siluer whose bodie of brasse whose legs of yron and whose feet of clay For God hauing begun first vnto them with many great kindnesses extraordinarie fauours and vndeserued courtesies he goes descending and declining from them till they fall into the greatest disgrace disfauor that any soule can receiue from the hands of God A certaine man planted a Vineyard He planted so perfect a Vineyard that it might truly be said What could I haue done more vnto my Vineyard And this is a strange indeering on Gods part That he should make choice of this Vine-stocke from amongst all the rest of the Countries and Nations of the World When the most High had
commit euill Hazarding thereby both body and soule Mala est vita mala sed mâ—râ— peccatorum pessima An ill life is bad but a bad death worse God does Bene perdeâ—â— iustum When his il workes for his good As in Iobs case His goods were lost but his soule was saued But the perdition of this people was generall both in their goods their honours their wiues their children their Temple their liues and their soules In a word God would that this people like Lots wife should serue for a generall warning to the whole World by notifying their punishment to all nations Deus ostendit mihi super inimicos meos Now Ostendere in holy Scripture imports a Publication Quantas ostendisti mihi tribulationes multas malaâ— What great tribulations hast thou shewed me many euill He will destroy those wicked ones Dauid craues of God That hee will not correct him in his furie neither chasten him in his displeasure Ne in furore Domine God punishes all but not in his furie Ieremy craues a Corripe but it is in judicio non in furore Correct vs ô Lord and yet in thy judgement not in thy fury This Prophet sets downe two sorts of punishments The one of an Almond tree budding Quid tu vides Ieremiah What 〈◊〉 thou Ieremy Virgam vigilantem ego video sayth hee I see a rod of an Almond tree The other of a pot seething Quid tu vides c. What seest thou Ollam succâ—â—â—sam ego video saith he I see a seething pot In the rod he represented vnto vs a light kind of punishment with a rod we vse to beat out the dust if you strike therwith but two or three strong blowâ— well layd on you will presently breake it And this kind of punishment is eueâ— more directed to amendment of life and to serue as a warning vnto vs. Ionathâ—â— eyes were opened with that honie which he had on the top of his wand But in that of the pot seething he represents vnto vs a most sharpe and seuere punishment He shall destroy those wicked ones Man is so wedded to selfe-loue that when it shall incounter with the counsell of God it will goe about to condemne it Of fiue hundred offenders that lye in prison you shall scarce finde one that will not complaine that he suffers vniustly that the Iudges sentence proceeded either out of malice or iniustice And for these there is no better course to be taken with them than to halter them as they doe Mules when they begin to play iadish trickes As well conditioned as Dauid was Nathan the Prophet was faine to hamper him in this manner that he might thereby be taught to know his own error The like order doth our Sauiour Christ take with this froward people And albeit they were so crafty and so wary that when he propounded any questions vnto them they were wonderfull carefull what answere to make him suspecting this was but a trap set for them insomuch that when our Sauiour ask't them Whether the Baptisme of Iohn Baptist were from Heauen or from Earth They answered We know not But notwithstanding all this forasmuch as there is no wisedome no prudence nor no counsaile against the Lord and that the wisedome of the Earth is but foolishnesse to that of Heauen they fell into the snare pronouncing this sentence against themselues Malos male perdet He will cruelly destroy those wicked men It was not much that the children should waxe blind beeing neere the splendour of his diuine Wisedome when as their father the Deuill who was the fountaine of Malice was strucken blinde therewith Iob that patterne of Patience saith Hee that made him will make his owne sword to approach vnto him Some Bookes haue it Applicaâ—it gladium eius ei He caused the Deuill to cut his throat with his owne knife Hee tooke vp sinne as a sword against God and against Man but the Wisedome of God so guided the blow that he sheathed his sword in his owne bowels He brought in Death and Death was his death Hee bit Eue by the heele but this biting was the brusing of his head Of Golias sword Dauid said Non est similis in terra There was not the like againe to bee had Not that there was not such another to be found in the Philistimes armories but because it found out the tricke to cut off his Masters head So the Pharisees own sentence was the sword that cut their throates Nebuchadnezar asking of his Southsayers the signification of his dreame They told him None can doe that but God Now when Daniell shall interpret it he must by your owne confession be either a God or one of Gods inward friends Malos male perdâ—t Hee will destroy those wicked ones your owne mouth condemns you Saint Chrysostome and Eutimius say That they were all of this opinion But anon after finding themselues bitten they foyst in an Absit But our Sauiour citing for his purpose that saying of the Psalmist Lapidem quem reprobauerunt c. The stone which they refused c. Their mouthes were bungd vp and their Absit would not now serue their turne And therefore he sayes vnto them Auferetur à vobis Regnum Dei The Kingdome of God shall be taken from you c. Auferetur à vobis regnum Dei The Kingdome of God shall be taken from you The prophecies of the translation from the Iewes to the Gentiles as they are many so are they most manifest As in that of Esay Quia posuisti ciuitatem in tumulum Where he treateth of this alteration and of the destruction of Ierusalem Of Osee The children of Israell shall remaine many dayes without a King Of Ieremy I haue forsaken my house I haue left my heritage Of Malachy My affection is not towards you Mathew sums vp all these prophecies in one Your habitation shall be left vnto you desolate Pope Leo hath obserued that our Sauiour Christ beeing not able to beare the heauie burthen of the Crosse the Iewes fearing he would not dye till they had fastned him thereunto hired a Gentile called Simon Cirenaeus to helpe him awhile in the bearing of it Onely thereby to show that the fruit of the Crosse was to come vnto the Gentiles Or to explaine it fuller his submitting himselfe to the Crosse amidst these cruell Iewes was not a thing done by chance but a kind of prophecie That the Gentiles should take possession of the key of Heauen The Kingdome of God shall be taken from you Here first of all he aduiseth Kings Princes and Rulers that they looke well vnto their wayes and stand in feare of this change For God is woont to transferre Kingdomes States and Seigniories from one nation to another for their sinnes sake Because of vnrighteous dealing and wrongs and riches gotten by deceit the Kingdome is translated from one people to another A King suffers his subiects to be
made hast to forsake those bodies they possessed Saint Ierome saith That our Sauiour Christ speaketh here of this imprisonment How can any one enter into the strong mans c. Fourthly By our Sauiour Christs death did the Deuill seeke to shake off this his feare and cowardise by mustring vp all the rest of his forces God so permitting it that the Victorie might bee the more glorious and the more famous This is that which our Sauiour Christ sayd vnto the Pharisees as ministers of Hell This is your very houre and the power of darkenesse But after this hee remained in straighter imprisonment than before As you may read in the Apocalips I saw an Angell come downe from Heauen hauing the key of the bottomelesse-pit and a great chaine in his hand And hee tooke the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Deuill and Satan and he bound him a thousand yeares And cast him into the bottomelesse-pit and sealed the doore vpon him that he should deceiue the people no more til the thousand yeares were fulfilled for after that he must be loosed for a little season By these thousand yeares the Saints doe vnderstand that space or terme of time which is to be before the comming of Antechrist and those effects which did succeed after the death of our Sauiour Christ prooue that till then his imprisonment was to be more straight and that the Angell did not onely tye a chaine to his feete but also put a barnacle about his rongue and a ring in his nosthrils that not onely the strongest men should escape his snares but those that were little children and tender infants When the vncleane spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through drie places seeking rest and when he findeth none he sayth c. Euthimius hath obserued That our Sauiour Christs casting out of the Deuills the Euangelists call it a going or comming foorth Exibant ab eo daemonia clamantia per loca in aquosa The Deuils went out crying in watrie places S. Mathew vseth the word Arida Drie places The Greeke word signifies both these Origen by these places vnderstandeth Hell But since those Deuills which entred into the swine of Gennezaret did desire of our Sauiour Christ that he would giue them that mansion it is not to be beleeued that when they goe out of mens bodies they would for their pleasure make choyce of the bottomlesse pit Saint Ierome declares the same in the word Solitudines And your Exorcists doe coniure them to get them to the mountaines and the woods pretending to excuse the hurt which they do remaining among the concourse or presse of people The Angell which accompanied yong Tobias imprisoned the Deuil called Asmodeus who had killed Saras seuen husbands in the desarts of Aegypt And further sayth That the deuill could not there find any rest because he should not there meet with any people to deceiue them Not that the deuill can haue any rest but in doing mischiefe hee feeles the lesse torment Cheering himself like the enuious man with other mens miseries I will returne sayth hee vnto mine house whence I came out Not that he can freely returne thither when he listeth but because he striues and indeuours to doe it And for that his experience teacheth him that he there suffers least paine He taketh to him seuen other spirits worse than himselfe He lights vpon a house whence all Vertue is banished Well fitted for such a guest and seuen more such companions as himselfe There are three sorts of persons possessed with Deuills One sort of them are spiritually possessed by reason of their mortal deadly sinnes For he that commiteth sinne makes himselfe the seruant of sinne and willingly puts himselfe into the power of the deuill Others are corporally possessed as the Energumeni and such as are Lunatick· And Saint Austen reporteth that many young children beeing baptized suffer this torment And Cassianus sayth That many Saints of God haue suffered the like God so permitting it that they might bee refined and purified as gold in the crisole The third consisteth of both those kinds Now which of these three doe you take to be the worst Saint Crysostome and Gregorie Nazianzen doe affirme That the partie that is spiritually possessed is in the worst and most dangerous estate And the reasons are as strong as they are cleare Which indeed are most cleere The first is That the deuill can doe vs little harme vnlesse we fall into sinne For without the helpe of sin the deuill cannot destroy both soule bodie For though the deuill doe put it into the fire it is our owne heart that must forge the worke Saint Paul doth defie all the creatures both of Heauen Earth and Hell And why For I am persuaded saith he that neither Death nor Life nor Angells nor Principalities nor Powers nor things Present nor things to Come nor Heigth nor Depth nor any other creature shall be able to seperate vs from the Loue of God which is in Iesus Christ yet he durst not defie sinne For that alone is more powerfull to doe vs hurt than all other creatures put together Saint Chrysostome askes the question Why the deuill persuaded Iosephs brethren to put him first into a pit and then afterwards to sell him And he answeres that it was the enuie and hatred which they bare vnto him for his dreames sake And that other weapons the deuill needed none And in that Parable of the Tares where the deuill sow'd his Tares amongst the Wheat it is said That although he had not sowne them yet the good seed would haue beene lost through the carelesnesse negligence of the husbandmen For negligence in things so necessarie is a greater deuil than that of Hell In this sence Saint Gregorie Nazianzen sayd of Arrius Satius illi esset a daemonio vexari It had bin better for him to haue beene tormented by a Deuill The second is For that the goods of the bodie are not comparable to those of the soule Tange cuncta quae possidet Touch all that he hath Sayd the Deuill to God when he talked with him concerning Iob. In a word touching the goods of the soule the least thereof is of more worth than all the world And the goods not beeing able to bee compared one with another neither can their ill Nay rather to loose these goods of the bodie turnes oftentimes to our greater gaine Perieramus nisi perijssemus We had perished if we had not perished It was the saying of a Philosopher in a storme when the throwing of his goods ouerboord was the sauing of his life But that Soule that shall cast his sinnes ouerboord and drowne them in the bottome of the Sea that they may neuer be able to rise vp in iudgement against him is a happinesse beyond all happinesse and not to bee exchanged for the whole Empire of the World What booteth it a man to gaine all the
riches to the Poore thou shalt not worke that good thereby as thou shalt by sauing a soule for there is no price comparable with that of the Soule Fructus justi lignum vitae By liuing well himselfe and by gaining his brothers Soule Saint Augustine saith That euerie Christian should desire that all should be saued and he that contemneth correction doth in part denie this desire And the Apostle Saint Iames That he that shall conuert his brother and remooue him from his errour shall saue his soule from death In which words are comprised as well his owne as anothers soule Thomas saith Correction is eleemosina spiritualis a spirituall kind of almes and of so much more price than any other alms by how much the soule is of more price than the bodie by how much the goods of Grace are to be preferred before those of fortune and of Nature He that succours the Poore when hee giues most hee can but lay downe his corporall life for him but hee that raiseth vp him that is fallen bestowes a spirituall life on him and performes the office of an Apostle So that to correct and â—o be corrected brings with it so much interest and so much gaine that euery man may account it for a great happinesse The incorrigible man is so threatned in the sacred Scripture that the verie feare thereof is able to quell his spirits and to make him turne Coward A man that hardneth his necke when he is rebuked shall suddenly be destroyed so saith Salomon The Hebrew phrase is Vir correctionum he that liueth so ill that a man had need to carrie alwayes in his hand a rod of correction for him and instead of amending his faults dayly addes sinne vnto sinne whereby hee is ouertaken with sudden death which in a Sinner is of all other euils the greatest Other lesser threatnings are set downe by Salomon Pouertie and shame shall be to him that forsaketh discipline and now here he saith Sudden destruction shall come vpon him So long may hee perseuer in the hardnesse of his heart that Gods justice may ouertake him and shorten his dayes by sudden death The truth of this is apparent in Pharaoh to whom so many faire warnings and admonitions serued but to make the heape of his sinnes the higher till at last with those heapes of waters hee was ouerwhelmed suddenly in the sea It is written in the Booke of Wisedome That those cruell and many stripes which were bestowed vpon the Aegyptians could not draw so much as one teare from their eyes nor procure the libertie of Gods People of hard-hearted Pharaoh But when they saw the death of their firstborn then they howled wept and Pharaoh himselfe was mooued and made pittious mone and gaue present order for their departure But here I pray you obserue with mee a fearefull kind of obstinacie for they had scarce dryed their teares scarce had they couered the graues of their Dead when lo those that had intreated for their departure as fearing they should all die the death Omnes moriâ—mur for so saith the Text falling into a rash and vnaduised consideration followed after them as if they had beene a companie of Fugitiues forgetting the former torments which they had indured And a wise man rendring the reason of this so foolish a resolution saith This their hardnesse of heart carried them 〈◊〉 it were perforce to this so disastroâ—â— an end to the end that those whom the plagues which God had sent among them as so many admonitions so many warnings had not made an end of sudden death might destroy and supplie the defect of that punishment O that Sinners would bee so wise as to enter into discourse with themselues The Adulterer whom God hath freed from a thousand notorious dangers of his life and credit though his brethren haue not checkt him yet hath his owne conscience corrected him with greater seueritie and far more sharpely as also the sudden death of other his fellow Adulterers A sudden stab takes him out of the world Vt quae deerant tormentis suppleret punitio That punishment may supplie what is wanting to his torments Another in some bad fashion hazards his honour God miraculously preserues him more than once or twice that he may take warning thereby and reclaime him selfe he mixes a thousand bitter galls with his sweet delights hee affrights him with sudden assaults this doth no good on him hee strikes him with a Lethargie that depriues him of his sences thus through his owne wilfulnes hardheartednes he is haled violently as it were by the haire of the head to this so miserable an end Vt quae deâ—rant tormentis suppleret punitiâ— In fauour of the reward which the Corrected shall receiue Salomon proposeth many graue sentences to that purpose The eare that hearkneth to the correction of life shall lodge among the wise not onely in earth but in-heauen for Quicquiescit arguenti gloriabitur Amongst other pledges that a Soule may assure it selfe that God wisheth it well is the sending of a Legat vnto him to aduise him of his faults Si corripuerit me iustus in miserecordia hoc ipsum sentiam it is Saint Bernards I will receiue him as sent from God Labia â—ua distillantia myrrham primam Myrrh is bitter as before hath beene said but preserueth from corruption so are the words of my Beloued they are bitter but are directed to the sauing of my life and to preserue me from death Saint Augustine drawes a comparison from him that is franticke and one that is sicke of a Lethargie the one fals into follie the other into a profound sleepe he that bindes the one and wakes the other is troublesome to them both but beeing both recouered they both giue him thankes Thou hast gained thy brother This is the end and as Aristotle saith Finis est fundamentum omnium actionum nostrarum The end is the foundation of all our actions and the gaining of a lost brother is the end and scope of these our diligences Where I would haue you to note That hee that doth a wrong doth euer receiue more hurt than he that hath the wrong Qui alterum ladit plus sibi nocet Hee that hurts another doth most hurt to himselfe for the hurt that the wronged receiueth is outwardly and in bodie but the hurt of him that wrongeth is inwardly and in soule And therefore Saint Paul saith Yee that sinne against your brother sin against Christ he that despiseth these things despiseth not man but God And our Sauiour Christ He that shall call his brother Foole is worthie of Hell fire So that the wronged cannot receiue the third part of the harme of the partie wronging Plato is of opinion That hee that doth an iniurie to another doth the greatest to himselfe and cannot if he would studie to doe himselfe a worse mischiefe Dauid was much wronged by Absolon for what greater offence could a
Christian the semblance of a Christian and that as he is a Christian so he seeme to bee a Christian for albeit the Root giues life vnto the Tree yet if it haue neither leaues nor boughes it is but an vnseemely sight Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus saith Saint Paul Let your patient mind for so the Vulgar render it be knowne to all men for if it bee wholly hidden in the soule it will hardly be perceiued Saint Augustine expounding that place of Saint Mathew Beware of false Prophets which come vnto you in Sheepes cloathing but inwardly are rauening Wolues saith It were fit that because the Wolfe puts on the Sheepes skinne that the Sheepe should lay aside his owne skinne and clap on that of the Wolfe There were two Alters belonging to the Temple the one without which was of stone wheron the beasts were offred the other within which was of gold wheron Incense was offered God was serued in them both but in conclusion the inward Alter was so farre preferred before the outward that Philon saith That one poore crumme of Incense offered from a tender heart and a merciful soule was of more worth than all the sacrifices that were offered without Regard yee me not because I am blacke for the Sunne hath looked vpon me Saint Bernard saith That the Spouses despising of this outward beautie did arise from that great esteeme wherein she held the inward brightnesse and resplendour of the soule which is a fire which consumeth and burneth vp the beautie of the bodie Dauid calls the Church one while the Kings daughter another while the Kings Bride but hee paints her richliest forth vnto vs in her soule The Kings daughter is all glorious within not despising also the beautie of the bodie Cloathed in a Vesture of gold wrought all with needleworke and set forth with diuers and sundrie colours verie beautifull to behold The Bridegroome aduiseth his Spouse That shee should weare her colours in her heart and as if that were not sufficient enough he wills her to weare them on her arme Our Sauior Christ in his praying and other occasions vsed these exterior acts Saint Paul saith I will pray with the Spirit but I will pray with the vnderstanding also There is the vse of your tongue set downe If I pray with my tongue the Spirit also praieth So that God will haue the exercise of soule and bodie both together First Because God being Creator of both it is fit that hee should bee serued by both Secondly For mans satisfaction For in regard that Man cannot see mans Faith nor that pittie and compassion that he beareth in his bowells it is requisite that he should manifest the same by some outward signes for he can hardly shew himself religious towards God who is irreligeous towards Man And therfore it is said With the heart we beleeue vnto Righteousnes but with the mouth we confesse to Saluation Occasion is offered to receiue the Sacraments or a necessitie of giuing a testimonie of our Faith here euery Christian is bound to manifest the same by outward signes Thirdly The sanctitie and holynesse of the Soule doth giue force and vertue to that of the bodie and that of the bodie doth confirme and augment that of the Soule the heart giues vigour and vertue to deuout eyes to hands lifted vp and to knees humbly kneeling on the ground And these outward ceremonies doe strengthen increase and inflame the Spirit and inward deuotion Saint Augustine saith That God hath no need of these ceremonies for the better manifestation of our mind but that Man hath need thereof for to kindle stir vp more zeale and feruour in himselfe being that by them the hearts affection is the more set on fire And Saint Cyprian That by humbling our selues vpon our knees in the sight of God we are not to endeauour to please and serue him onely with the thoughts and meditation of the soule but also with the disposition of the bodie and the voyce of the tongue Dauid drawing neere to his end a little before he died did much indeere this Doctrine to his sonne Sâ—lomon Haue a care that thou keepe the commandements of thy Lord thy God and all the ceremonies belonging thereunto as it is written in the Law of Moses that thou maist prosper in all that thou doost and in euerie thing whereunto thou turnest thee But their heart is farre off from me The whole man take him all together may make sweet musicke in Gods eares like vnto an Organ which by different Keys makes different sounds but God delights most in the musicke of the heart for the lips the feet and the hands being capable of suffering violence the heart is not subiect thereunto The cleannesse of the heart ought to performe the exercise of all the vertues but Fastings Prayers and Almesdeeds comming forth of a soule heart like waters flowing from a foule conduit corrupt those wholesome waters Abhominatio est mihi saith God by Esay This is to put new patches into an old garment and new wine into old stinking Vessells Saint Augustines saith That that which God principally forbids in the Decalogue are the desires of the heart whereunto the Schoolemen ad the exteriour act though there is no wickednesse like to the inward wickednes and if the outward be more punished it is because of it's more hurt through it's ill example The workes of Vertue are not all equall yet al of them haue one ground foundation which is the loue feare of God Abraham was charitable Dauid humble Eliah zealous Moses milde Iob patient Martha solicitous Marie deuout God must be paid in al these seueral coines Let euerie man looke vnto the cleannesse of his owne soule and let him exercise himselfe in that which he is able crying out with the Psalmist To thee will I confesse in the vprightnesse of my heart It was a great goodnesse of Gods mercie towards vs to place our felicitie and our good in a thing so proper vnto vs that no man is able therein to hinder vs. If he had inioyned vs Fasting wee might haue complained of our weakenesse if Almesdeeds we might haue complained of our pouertie and so haue excused our selues but for the keeping cleane of our heart and for to loue and feare our God as none can 〈◊〉 vs thereof so none ought to outstrip vs therein For the expences of the Sanctuarie neither might the Rich offer more nor the Poore lesse and this was a type and figure of the spiritual offering of our â—oules wherein we are all equal alike and that not without the great prouidence of Heauen to the end that no man might haue cause to alledge an excuse Hast thou trauelled abroad to plant Gods Religion amongst Infidels No Hast thou kept thy bodie vnder by disciplining thy selfe No Eatest thou flesh in Lent Yes For thâ—se things euerie one may alledge many excuses but for the foulenesse of
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
beleeue the immortalitie of the soule they hold a sudden death a kind of happinesse but a Christian who confesseth that there is a iudgement after death desireth a more lingring and leisurely kind of dying for to preuent future danger both of soule and bodie In Leuiticuâ— God commanded That they should not offer any câ—eature vnto him which did not chew the cud or which had not a clouen hoofe And he therefore ioyned these two things together for to swallow the meat downe whole is verie dangerous for the health and the foot not cloâ—en verie apt to slip and slide and in a mysticall kind of sence is as much as if he should haue said That he that shall swallow down so fearefull dangerous a thing as Death without chewing meditating thereon shall doubtlesse slide if not take a fall as low as Hell The onely sonne of his mother In the order of conueniencie it seemeth fitter that the old mother should haue died than the young sonne But as there is nothing more certaine than death so is there nothing more vncertaine than the time of our death the young Bird as soone falls into the snare as the old one and your greater Fish as soone taken with the hooke as your lesser Frie. If the Wicked turne not God will whet his sword bend his Bow and prepare for him the instruments of death and ordaine his Arrowes against them For old men that stand vpon the graues brinke death hath a Sythe to cut them downe for young men that stand farther off he hath his Bow and his Arrowes Saint Augustine saith That God taketh away the Good before their time that they may not receiue hurt from the Bad and the Bad because they should not doe hurt to the Good The onely sonne of his mother Not that he was her onely sonne but her best beloued sonne Salomon stiles himselfe Vnigenitum matris suae His mothers onely begotten sonne not that he was the onely sonne of Bershabe as it appeareth in the first of Chronicles but because he was so deerely beloued of his mother as if he had beene her only sonne he was his mothers darling her best beloued the light of her eyes and her hearts comfort she cherished him made much of him would not let him want any thing yet all this care and prouidence of hers could not shield him from death There is a man in the Citie that is of a strong and able bodie and abounding in all worldly happinesse There is another saith Iob that is weake hungerstarued and his wealth wasted and consumed both these death sets vpon and layes them in the graue He exemplifies in the King and the Gyant for the rest he makes no more reckoning of them than of so manie little Birds whom the least fillip striketh dead but he sets vpon a King like a Lyon a poore man hath many meanes to hasten his death but Kings seldome die of hunger of penurie of heats or of colds c. And a Gyant seemes to be a perdurable and immortall Tower of flesh but in the end both Kings and Gyants fall by the hand of Death And since that Death did dare to set vpon the Sonne of God and his blessed mother let neither High nor Low Rich nor Poore hope to find any fauour at Deaths hands Ioshuah did stop the Sunne in his course Moses the waters of the red Sea Ioseph did prophecie of things to come and many of Gods Saints wrought great Myracles but there is no myracle to be wrought against Death Ieremie tells vs of certain Serpents that cannot be charmed charm the charmer neuer so wisely of this nature is Death Ecclesiasticus introduceth a dead man who speaketh thus by way of aduice to the Liuing Memento judicij mei sic enim erit tuum Heri mihi hodie tibi That man was neuer yet borne nor shall be hereafter that shal not see death or escape this heauie iudgement Salomon commanded the child to be diuided in the middle about whom the two mothers did contend and that sentence which he did not then execute shall bee executed vpon all liuing flesh for all men beeing in regard of the bodie sonnes of the Earth and in regard of the soule the children of Heauen euerie one receiues this sentence from the Iudge at his death Let the earth returne to the earth from whence it came and the Spirit to God who gaue it life She was a Widow woman The word Erat She was carrieth with it a kind of emphasis she was a sorrowfull and forelorne Widow A Widow ought to bee a rule and patterne of perfection to all other women shee should bee the glasse wherein they should see their faults and what is amisse in them In a word shee was a woman irreprehensible and without blame Nor according to Saint Paul hath the Virgin or the Wife that tie and obligation vpon them as shee hath The one because her small experience in the deceits and vanities of the world may excuse her in many things the other the charge and care that necessarily attends Wedlocke When Absalon entred into the wiues and Concubines of his father the King gaue command they should bee shut vp like so many Recluses because they had opened the doore vnto him as if the King had beene dead And Widowes are to liue so seperated and seuered from the world as if they liued not in it Isiodore expoundeth the Spanish word Viuda which signifies a Widow to be quaâ—i vidua diuided from her husband as the Vine from the Elme which was it's prop and stay which being taken away the Vine lieth leuell with the ground and without any comfort The Hebrew deriueth the name of Widow from a certain word which signifieth both bound dumbe now to be bound and dumbe are the conditions and properties of him that is dead who is neither able to mooue nor speake So that the vulgar Translation calls a Widow Sterilem barren and vnfruitfull as it is in Iob and in Esay Another letter stiles her Eradicatam pluckt vp by the Roots as a tree that is quite rooted vp that it may neuer grow nor waxe greene againe The smell of thy garments is like the smell of Frankincense They must not smell of Amber nor of Ciuet but of Frankinsense which they offer vp in Incense for a widdow ought to lead the remnant of her dayes so neere vnto her husbands Tombe that her garments should sauour of that incensorie perfume Of such Widowes as these God hath that especiall care that none shall doe them any wrong for the teares that drop downe from their cheekes ascend as high as Heauen And as the vapours that are exhaled from the earth come downe againe in lightning and thunder and terrible tempests so prooue the Widowes teares to those that shall vniustly cause them to weep and draw those watred drops from their eyes Heliodorus pretended to rob the Temple of Ierusalem
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
Resurrection of all those that rely vpon him by Faith He stinketh alreadie Martha here showed herselfe of somewhat a queasie stomach and too daintie a nose but so did not our Sauiour Christ. Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand That a sinner sauours ill to all the world but not to Gods nosthrils When God shewed vnto Peter the sheet full of snakes and lizards and willed him to eate it caused a verie great horrour in him But vnderstanding afterwards that the mysterie was in that which was signified thereby and not in the doing of it hee did acknowledge that there was not that sinner vpon earth that was cast out from Gods bosome You may come to be loathsome vnto your selfe but not vnto God I am a burthen vnto my selfe Iob said this of himselfe euen then when Gods eyes were gratious vnto him and looked fauourably vpon him My flesh is clothed with wormes and filthinesse of the dust my skinne is rent and become horrible I cannot indure the ill sauour that I beare about me I haue not eyes to behold mine owne wretchednesse But God hath an eye to looke vpon thee and a heart to indure thee and loues thee more than thou louest thy selfe Those fiue and twentie young men which Ezechiel painteth forth clapping nosegaies to their noses some say that it was to defend them from the euill sauour as if they should haue giuen Iob a pomander to drowne the stench of his sores beeing on the one side nothing but plaisters and noisome vnctions and onthe other amber and muske But Isidorus Cladius reads Applicant odorem malum ad nares meos They turne their eyes towards the Sunne and putting their faces from mee they seeke to auoid the euill sauour that comes from mee The translation of Ionathas doth fauour this conceit Obuertebant podicum faciebus eorum In the honour of their Idols and in their scorne of mee they did vse the greatest inciuilitie could be offered vnto any They are a stampe and embleme of those sinners before whom Vertue and Holinesse of life sauoureth ill but the myre of Vice and Sinne smelleth sweet We know that the sauour of God is a sweet smelling sauour Christi bonus odor sumus We are a sweet smelling sauour vnto Christ. His name is a precious balme His garments smell of sweetnesse But as vnto weake eyes the Sunne is hatefull so to a depraued sent this sweete odour is vnsauourie Yet God will not take a loathing at sinners though like Lazarus they lye stinking in their graues For albeit their sinnes doe offend his nosthrils yet will hee not turne away his eye from a sinner nor pull backe his hand from the dressing and curing of him And as the father is not squemish and queasie stomacht to helpe his child that is falne into the myre and is nothing all ouer but filth and dyrt but doth take him vp and comfort him and wash him and cloths him cleanlier and neater than he was before so doth God with Sinners when they haue falne ouer head and eares into most foule and loathsome sinnes c. Hee cryed with a loud voice Lazarus come foorth Hee cryed out aloud for many following the errour of Pythagoras did verily beleeue that the soules of the dead did remaine in the graue with their bodies To this purpose were erected those famous Pyramides of Memphis and of other parts of the World I say these their Pyramides were directed to this end for they persuading themselues that the soule was a fierie substance they imagined it to be in forme like a Pyâ—amis Saint Austen saith That at the sound of this voice Death was strucke with astonishment Dauid in a Psalme of his setteth forth the obedience which all creatures beare to the voyce of God as well lightning raine thunder as the rest The voyce of the Lord breaketh the Cedars 〈◊〉 the Cedars of Libanon There is not the tallest Cedar in Libanon which a flash of lightning or a cracke of thunder will not rent and teare vp by the rootes and consume it to ashes The voyce of the Lord maketh the Wildernesse to tremble it diuideth the flames of fire it maketh the Hindes to calue and discouereth the Forrests there is not that least of liuing creatures the poorest or the smallest Worme that hides it selfe in holes and in the Rockes which is not brought to light and shewes himselfe when God calls vnto him Phylon prosecuting this argument weighes with himselfe the forcible violence of the Winds in that they turn vp the sturdiest okes making the roots euen with the tops in that they ouerwhelme the tallest ships and that they leuell with the ground the goodliest and the greatest buildings Yet all these are nothing compared with the powerfulnesse of this our Sauiour Christs voyce which made Hell gates to shake strooke Death dead and made the Deuills roare for feare c. Then he that was dead came forth â—oâ—nd hand foot with hands c. This dead man came forth his feet and his hands being bound which caused Saint Baâ—il to crie out Miraculum in miraculo Here 's one myracle vpon another To raise vp one that was dead was a strange and a ghastly kind of myracle but that beeing now aliue he should goe being bound hand and foot was another as strange great a myracle Lazarus had God beene so pleased might haue left his winding sheet in the graue his Kerchiefe and the napkin that couered his face and eyes as our Sauiour Christ did in his Sepulchre but Lazarus here brings them out with him in token that he did rise to die againe but our Sauiour Christ rose neuer to die any more though Lazarus died some thirtie yeares after this his resurrection as it is left vs vpon Recoâ—d by Epiphanius And this was the reason why the Sepulchre of our Sauiour remained shut and that of Lazarus left open Loose him and let him goe Here Christ wills to be taken from him all those occasions that might cause him to stumble If therefore thou wilt not fall shun the occasions of falling flie as farre from them as thou canst Saint Bernard finds fault with Eue and reprehends her seuerely for it That shee would presume to looke vpon the tree of Life that tree of good and euill which she was so strictly enioyned to abstaine from where the Text saith The woman saw that it was good and the eye no sooner saw but the heart consented But if any man shall replie and say That the eyes or the hands doe onely incline a man to this or that let him take this also from me That the eyes are an Indicium and manifest signe of a sinne committed at least a great occasion of that which may bee committed Saint Cyril saith That God appearing vnto Moses and those twentie Elders or Antients of the People in a throne of Saphyres of the colour of Heauen was done onely to take away all occasion from that People
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
some fryed on the Gridyron some sawne some dragged at the â—ailes of horses some with their skinnes pluckt ouer their eares and some tormented with sundrie other torments the Deuill blowing the coles of crueltie in the mouthes and hearts of the Executioners But in the end those cuts and slashes passe no further than the cloake they wound the bodie but not the soule God of his mercie giue vs the grace to endure this our fireie triall when persecution shall set vpon vs that being purified in the Furnace of Tribulation we may be like Gold that is refined and shine with glorie in the sight of God To whom c. THE XXXIIII SERMON VPON THE TUESDAY AFTER PASSION SVNDAY IOHN 7. Ambulabat Iesus in Galileam non enim volebat in Iudaeam ambulare quia quaerebant Iudaei interficere AFter these things Iesus walked in Galilee and would not walke in Iudaea for the Iewes sought to kill him After these things that is after those great myracles which he had wrought in Capernaum and after that most deepe and learned Sermon of his bodie and bloud Saint Iohn saith That our Sauiour Christ retyring himselfe from Iudaea went and wrought myracles in the Cities of Galilee because the Iews sought to kill him And because the enuious Murmurer may chance to say That hee withdrew himselfe from Iudaea lest the Scribes and Pharisees should discouer his trickes and find out his false play the Euangelist addeth That there was no such matter to be feared but that waiting for the houre of his death alreadie determined in Heauen he was desirous in the interim to slinke out of the way to free and deliuer his bodie from that malice and danger which he saw it was like to be subiect vnto in Iudaea The Greeke Texts read In Iudaea Galilaea but Saint Augustine Saint Cyril and Saint Chrysostome read it in the Acusatiue In Iudaeam Galileam id est Per Galileam Saint Chrysostome saith Non poterat ambulare in Iudaeam which is all one with Nolebat He could not that is He would not which is an vsuall phrase of speech Iesus walked in Galilee c. It is made a generall doubt amongst all the Commentators Why our Sauiour Christ being able to triumph so easily ouer the power and malice of his enemies should withdraw himselfe from their presence whom he might if he would haue trampled vnder his feet To prooâ—e which point were a needlesse labour there beeing so many Prophecies and so many places of the one and the other Testament which say as much and those loud shrieking cries which the Deuills roared forth affrighted and turning cowards in his presence are sufficient proofes thereof likewise Deaths cowardlinesse confirmes the same Egredietur Diabolus ante faciem eius ibit Mors the ouerthrowing of the Roman Cohorts with one onely word his causing the stones to freeze to their fingers that had so often sought to stone him to death his leauing them lying on the ground in a swoune that came to apprehend him are testimonies without exception Why then at euery step doth Christ retyre himselfe and seeke to get from them Saint Augustine makes this difficulty seeme greater in his bookes de Ciuit. Dei For reprehending Cato Vticensis who that he might not fall into Caesars hands killed himselfe he saith That for a man to flye from tribulation and danger is a kind of Cowardize And Saint Paul saith I know that bonds and afflictions abide for me at Ierusalem but I passe not at all neither is my life deare vnto me c. Esay going about to relate in his 52 chapter that which our Sauiour was to suffer doth first set downe by way of interrogation Who will beleeue that which Gods arme is to suffer He calls his diuine power his Arme because God shewed his power in nothing more than in his passioÌ„ Tertullian in his book de Patientia saith That God did not expresse his power so much in parcendo as in patiendo in pardoning as in suffering That saying of the Church is worthy the weighing Qui omnipotentiam tuam parcendo maxime miserando manifestus Who shewest thy omnipotency in nothing more than in pittying and pardoning offenders But what hath the strength of suffering to doe with the weaknesse of flying Petrus Chrisologus in a Sermon of his De fuga Domini taxeth the Euangelists for relating our Sauiour Christs flying For a souldier saith he should publish his constancie his valour the strength of his arme and aduance the noble Acts and conquests of his Captaine but not his weakenesses and his feares Behold againe the difficultie in regard of that our Sauiours great anguish both in body and soule before he was to dye None in the world did euer more desire to dye than he did as hath already been proooued vnto you If then sweet Iesus thou doest so much desire death and that the Iewes hunt after thee for no other end Why doest thou flye Before that I resolue this doubt we are to confesse and acknowledge with all possible humilitie that mans vnderstanding comes farre short of Gods thoughts Esay saith see how much distance there is betweene heauen and earth so much is there betweene the imaginations of God and man And therefore the Spouse said That they were high and black high like the Palme tree and blacke as the Rauens quill Who saith Ecclesiasticus can count the sands of the sea the drops of the deaw or the dayes of the world Now if humane wisedome cannot attaine vnto those things which she hath as it were betweene her hands she will lesse be able to search into the secret counsells of God And therefore the Wise man doth aduise thee Seeke not into those things that are too high for thee This way being thus made let vs now proceed to the reasons of the Saints The first is of Saint Augustine and Saint Chrysostome Our Sauiour Christ was God according to his Diuine nature and man according to his humane nature and the confession of the one being as necessary as the other he had in all his actions a great respect vnto them both All his words and deeds still tended to this that he might be beleeued to be both God and man Saint Augustine saith That his withdrawing himselfe aside as a man did not withdraw from his power as hee was God and his throwing downe of his enemie flat on the ground as he was God did not take from him his weaknesse as he was man If Christ should not haue showen in the flesh the condition of flesh in vaine had he taken flesh vpon him and if he should alwayes haue done the workes and actions of a God and giuen perpetuall pledges of his Diuine nature to what vse would haue serued his cloathing himselfe with humane flesh If Christ should haue beene a continuall Miracle what roome would there haue been left for faith or what reward could that haue receiued The second is
he did vpon Sisera what can such a mad foolish woman thinke will become of her when she growes thus bold and presumptuous Oh if thou wouldest but weigh with thy selfe what thou loosest and that which thou mightest gaine as also the hurt that thou doest vnto thy selfe Oh if thou didst but see the miseries whereunto thy sinnes haue brought thee Thou hast beene so haled and pulled by that infernall Wolfe that thou hast scarce an eare left to heare thy Shepheards whistle And yet for all this I come through the bushes and bryars and those steepe and dangerous rocks of thy sins to look thee out and like a sheep that hath been long lost and found againe I desire to bring thee backe againe to the fold vpon my shoulders Oh if thou didst but see the inward loue of my bowels or if thou didst but know the great danger thou art in or if thou couldest but loath this thy lewd and euill life c. With this threatning sermon expressing so many and such terrible hellish horrours Mary Magdalen was mightily mooued her heart melted within her and Gods Iustice did beat so strongly at the doore of her brest that at last she let him in For in a word his words are that fire which warmeth soules that hammer which breakes the hardnesse of our hearts that shaft which pierceth the bones and marrow that sword which diuideth the reynes in sunder and that induction which gaue an accomplishment and final conclusion to the rarest Repentance that euer was seene And when she knew c. God gaue her knowledge First of her sinne Secondly of the danger of her soule Thirdly of the misery of her estate The Law entred in by giuing her this knowledge Wee had not knowne sinne but by the Law And Saint Paul saith Death raigned from Adam to Moses it ended in Moses For the written Law gaue vs some light but that of Grace much more Now besides this generall help God did inlighten Mary Magdalen by discouering the foulenesse of those vices which she loued and the fairenesse of that vertue which she hated Touching their foulenesse notable is that place of Dauid Illuminans mirabiliter à montibus aeternis turbati sunt omnes insipientes corde God doth inlighten the sinner that he may see the face of his sinnes from the which hee will flye the more if he shall but behold those foule fiends of hell This is a remedy wherewith God cureth the greatest infirmities Where by the way it is to bee noted that the rule for the griefes of the body is farre different from those of the soule In those the sicke patient hath a breathing time of ease and by degrees growes better till the danger be past but in these he growes worse and worse The husband is sicke his wife sayes vnto him Por mi vida que no es nada My life for yours it is a thing of nothing his daughter ManÌ„ana se poâ—ra V. M. leuantar To morrow Sir by the grace of God you shall be able to rise and be as well as euer you were the neighbors Regalo deâ—e Ser This is a Ladies fit a gentle visitation The Physitians they withdraw themselues out of the roome and consult in secret that they may not dishearten their patient And that this should be so it importeth much for the body but for the soule that which is fittest for it is to notifie vnto it that it is either at Heauens doore or Hells gate Saint Augustine confesseth that his conuersion was by these steps Tu autem retorquebas me ad meipsum vt viderem quam vlcerosus essem Thou hast notified vnto me ô Lord my danger by making mee to turne mine eyes vpon my selfe that I might see my sores aduising me of that which Ieremy vttereth Thy wound is incurable God likewise did Mary Magdalen a great fauour in discouering vnto her the faire and beautiful face of Vertue kindling in her brest those hot coles of Loue. A sinner in his vices and vaine pleasures is like vnto a horse of whom Iob saith That in hearing the noyse of the trumpet sounding to warre hee enters into the battaile with great courage scorning all kind of feare whatsoeuer Vertue me thinks should not be of worse condition And the iust knowing his own strength and how faire and beautifull he is in Gods sight it is not much that hee should couragiously enter the listes laying aside all feare Secondly she knew the season of this her happinesse That Iesus sat at Table in the house of Simon the Leper and shee would not loose so faire an opportunitie which being once lost is hardly recouered The vocations and inspirations of God are euery dayes example The waters saw thee and were afraid the depths trembled the cloudes powred out water the heauens gaue a sound thy arrowes went abroad the voyce of thy thunder was round about the lightnings lightned the world c. Saint Augustine saith That the Prophet here treateth of the effect of Gods word and compares it to those things which passe and quickly disappeare as the noyse of a rushing of waters or of some greatwhirle-wind or arrowes shot with a strong arme or of thunder and lightning These are things whilest they last which doe much amase mooue and disquiet vs The earth saw it and was mooued at it But these things doe not long continue but quickly passe away And therefore our good consisting in it's good effect it were a great lasinesse and foule slothfulnesse in vs not to take occasion by the foretop What sayes Lucan Semper nocuit differre paratis Sophonias Coruus super liminari Cras cras Saint Ierome hath obserued that the Hebrew letter signifies a knife In token that the deferring of a good occasion is the knife that cuts our soules and the sword that kills them The damned doe eternally bewaile their lost occasion Desideria occidunt pigrum For the sluggard desires and desires and holds one hand vpon another but neuer sets his hand to any thing but Mary Magdalen vt cognouit As soone as shee knew that Iesus was in Simons house c. The Euangelist saith not That she stayed to take her Mantle with her nor that she opened any coffer or tooke any Balsamum out of such or such a boxe but vt cognouit as soone as she knew where he was she bestirred her stumpes and made all the hast she could And when she knew that hee sat at Table in the house of Simon the Leaper it was a watchword vnto her that this was now a fit time for her to come vnto him For hee that would not loath the company of a Leper and pardon those faults which that Table might afford would not be queasie stomackt towards a sinner c. My welbeloued put in his hand by the hole of the doore and mine heart was affectioned towards him My welbeloued his putting in of his hand is my calling of me And
sinner 512 He sauours ill to all but God 514 Fierce in his appetites and desires 546 God would haue none despaire 574 Compared vnto swine 278 Slander See Reproach Souldier Onely honourable when religious 25 Sorrow Of two sorts 20 A sharpe Sword 167 If deepe dumbe 580 Soule Why knit and linked to a body of Earth 4 Her faculties 49 To heale the Soule we must wound the bodie 377 Two things cause a feuer in the Soule ibid. The great reckoning which God makes of a Soule 403 Noble when it serues God 507 God onely can satisfie it 508 Man carelesse of nothing more than of this 512 A threefold death of the Soule 513 The soule of the iust wherein differing from that of a sinner 531 Partialitie of iudgement in things spiritual the bane of the soule 532 The labour and loue of Christ in looking after a lost Soule 561 Spirit Gods spirit the best Schoole-master 32 Stoning An infamous kind of death 423 Sunday God did his greatest workes euer on this day 562 Sunne The glorie of it 521 Christ the onely true Sunne 523 Superiours Ought to respect their inferiours 216 Sutâ—rs Not to be repulsed but with much mildnesse 231 A faint suter shewes how to be denied 325 Swine Sinners resembled vnto them and why 278 T Teares OF diuers sorts 495 Faulty two manner of wayes 496 They work two effects 578 More sauorie to Christ than Wine 583 Their efficacie 614 Temptations Our Sauior hath sanctified them vnto vs. 71 The general good which is deriued from them 75 We may not thrust our selues into them 76 They wait vpon perfection 77 84 Christ could not bee tempted either by the World or the Flesh. 78 Hunger a great temptation 80 Ambition is the like 90 Two kinds of temptations 91 Temple Gods temple ought to be reuerenced and why 110 c. 450 562 The publike temple is to be frequented 161 Thankefulnesse See Ingratitude Reqâ—â—red for benefits receiued 382 475 The Doue of all fowle the most thankfull 468 Our thankefulnesse a motiue to Gods bountie 485 Theefe The conuersion of the Theefe in all respects miraculous 617 'T was the blazoning both of Gods mercy and omnipotency 618 as also of his diuine prouidence 619 By wat motiues he was induced to his conuersion 621 His Faith not to be paralleld 626 Nor his Hope ibid. Christs bountie towards him 627 Thirst. A greater torment than hunger 398 Spirituall thirst neuer satisfied 405 Thought The qualitie and varietie of mans thoughts 601 Thresh To thresh in Scripture is to rule with tyranny 307 Time How redeemed 354 Torments Hell torments euerlasting 171 Tongue It must goe with the Heart 60 A good and an euill tongue 290 No scourge to the euill one 296 Trading The best euer with God 146 Traditions How farre forth to be regarded 365 Theire varietie ibid. The Churches perdition 366 Tribulations More profitable for vs than Prosperitie 376 Gods Eye is allwayes vpon the Tribulations of his Children 478 The Preseruatiues of Vertues 506 The best Reward that God can giue his Followers ibid. Triumph Christs Triumph wherin differing from those of Men. 647 Trust. The surest tye 257 Truth Seldome welcombe vnto any 328 528 Can neuer be supprest 535 Hardly heard in Princes Courts 610 Tyrants Euer their owne torturers 299 Their ferae the mother of their fury· 100 V Vaine-glorie EVer to be auoided 379 553 Victorie Temporall victories gotten by fighting spirituall by flying 76 Vice Hard to be remooued 24 Euer afraid of Vertue 111 Neuer wants Agents 541 Vine The Vines of the faithfull spring out of the bloud of Christ. 251 Euery mans soule is a Vine to himselfe and he must dresse it 254 Of all plants it most resembleth man 255 The Spouse compared to the Vine and why ibid. Vineyard The cost which Christ was at with his 250 Gods Vineyard must not be turned into a garden 254 Virgin The Virgin Mary is not to bee too much honoured of any 309 Blessed not for bearing Christ but beleeuing in him 311 Her dignity 312 Vnkindnesse No cut to vnkindnesse 224 613 Vnmercifulnesse Of all sinnes most abhorred both of God and Man 240 The fearefull estate in which such are 240 Vnthankefulnesse See Ingratitude Vsurpation The first originall of Kingdomes 299 W Warre EVer betwixt Man and the Deuill and that by Gods owne appointment and why 75 Water The Embleme of happinesse 404 The waters of Paradise onely tasted rauish the Soule 407 What is meant by the water of Life 546 The Holy Ghost why compared to water ibid Waters aboue the Heauens what 579 Wearinesse Christ was wearie 389 Wealth Brings with it Woe 86 Weepe Why Christ wept 511 c. Whore See Harlot Wicked Haue no peace 586 Wickednesse meere foolishnesse 590 Widow What qualitie of life is required in a Widow 493 Will. Nothing so peruerse as mans will 118 505 It is his owne ouerthrow 119 469 Christ greatest labour was to correct it 120 It concurres not with Grace in our vprising 173 Wine Not allowed the Israelites till they came into the Land of promise and why 83 Wine-Presse What it signifieth in Holy Writ 250 Wisedome See Learning Despised of none but fooles 462 A wise man how profitable and whereunto resembled 463 True Wisedome euer accompanied with Humilitie 468 Gods Word the truest 469 Wisedome and Power not to bee seuered in a Prince 473 No policie preuailent against Gods Wisedome 539 588 Witnesse Three conditions required in euery Witnesse 522 c. Wiues Must do nothing without the consent of their husbands 408 c. Woman The Hieroglyphicke of weakenesse 573 Though deuout yet dangerous to conuerse with 62 411 Wanton women subiect to two great miseries 396 Two baites at which they vsually bite 402 Their Incontinencie 409 Mans disrespect a frequent occasion of their fall 417 Workes If good wishes were good workes the wicked would soone be saued 400 We must worke while we may 483 Workes outspeake words 501 Word Gods word mans best sustenance 87 Effectuall by whomsoeuer it be vttered 209 211 Compared to a looking-glasse 464 The truest Wisedome 469 The maiestie and efficacie of it 470 547 How to be heard 530 The same words out of diuers mouths may be diuersly relished 596 World Worldlings most condemned of the world 18 Nothing in it but disorder 39 Likened to the sea and why 64 Nothing but in shew 91 175 c. A mixture of good and euill 272 Worldly contents not attained without much toyle 404 The Worlds entertainment poore and base 444 Wrath. Gods wrath more violent than lasting 158 201 The longer deferred the fiercer 256 No flying from it 276 Y Youth THe qualities of youth 273 Too much libertie the bane of youth 274 Liable to many miseries and disasters 497 Z Zeale IF true it carries with it both Lightning and Thunder 362 Without action no marke of a Christian. 414 The nature of true zeale 450 Wherein different from Loue. 451 c. Erata For Callite read
Vae c. Being al metaphors of the Prophets hauing things in his remembrance Which is more cleerely deliuered by Iob Nunquid sapiens replebit arbore stomachuÌ„ suum i. Will a wise man fil his stomach with that heat that shal burne consume him Which is to say will he charge his memorie with matters of paine torment The proportion then holds thus as the stomach is the storehouse of our corporall food and keeping therein our present meat the bodie takes from thence it 's sustenance whereby it maintaines it's beeing and it's life so the memorie is the Magazin of the soule and setteth before our eyes the obligation wherein wee stand the good which we lose and the hurt which wee gaine And representing thereunto the species and shapes of things past they sometimes worke that effect as they would haue done had they beene present themselues whence is ingendred the loue of God which is that good bloud wherewith the soule is nourished And as from the disorder and disagreement of the stomach painfull diseases do arise and diuers infirmities to the body so from the forgetfulnesse of our memorie rise those of the soule For without obliuion saith Saint Basil our saluation cannot be lost nor our soules health indangered And as when the fuell and fire shall faile mans stomach which is the ouen which boyles seasons our life we may giue that of the bodies for lost so when our memorie shal faile vs we may giue the soule for lost Wherefore it is fit that euery man should take this into consideration Memento homo Remember man c. You haue heard before that the first attribute of man is obliuion The second is basenesse and miserie In Ezechiel the King of Tyre said Deus ego sum i. I am a God but he was answered That he was but a man that is base vile and miserable So Dauid Vt sciant gentes quoniam homines sunt Let the Nations know that they are men i. base and vile And Saint Paul Nonne homines estis i. Are yee not men When we see a man swallowed vp sometimes in the miseries of the bodie sometimes of the soule wee say in the conclusion Hee is a man now if in stead of the gold of the Angells there was found rust and that so fine cloath as that was not without it's moaths and that incorrupted wood without it's worme What will become of those that are but dust Qui habitant domos luteas i. Who dwell in houses of clay marrie they must as fearefull of their owne harme repeat this lesson Memento homo terra es c. Remember ô man that thou art earth c. Ecclesiasticus doth aduise thee to rise vp betimes not to be the last but to get thee home without delay for there thou shalt find enough to doe Praecurre in domum tuam age conceptiones tuas Ieremie councells thee to the same sending thee to this house of durt and mud So much good learning is not to be gotten in the schooles for in this house of clay God reads vnto vs but in the schooles men God did not speake vnto Moses till he had drawne his sheepe aside into the Desart putting his hand twice in his bosome the one he tooke out cleane the other leprous We haue two bosomes to take care of in this life the one of our owne things the other of other mens But the meditation of our owne misery being the more necessarie we must euer haue in our mind this Memento c. A man not knowing himselfe cannot know God now for to know himselfe the next way is to goe out of himselfe and to consider the trace and tracke of those Alexanders and Caesars c. Vbi sunt Principes gentium i. Where are the Princes of the Nations c. Gregorie Nazianzen asketh the question Why God hauing created the soule for Heauen did knit it with so streight a knot to a bodie of earth so fraile and so lumpish And his answer is That the Angells being ouerthrown by their pride he was willing to repaire and to helpe this presumption in man a creature in his superior part as it were Angelical but haâ—ing a heauie miserable body which might serue as a button or stay vnto him that if the nimblenesse of his vnderstanding should puffe him vp yet that earth which clogged his body should humble him and keepe him downe Amongst other stratagems of warre to annoy the enemie with dust and driue him thereby to yeeld is not the least Abacuc reports of a King of the Caldeans hathe made a jeast of walls Towers and Bulwarks because he could reare higher of earth He shal deride euery strong Hold and shall heap dust take it Plutarch tells vs of Sertorius That his enemies hauing fortified themselues in a caue that was inexpugnable to the mouth thereof he laid great heapes of earth and the wind fauouring him he raised so great a dust with his Troups of horse that they presently yeelded The Church finding many of their sons so rebellious that neither misfortunes will reforme them nor stripes keepe them in awe vseth this policie of Dust comming vpon them with a Memento homo Remember man c. In that mountainous Countrey of Biscay there are some antient buildings whose ruines declare them to haue beene heretofore great and goodly things here is a piece of a Tower standing here a vast Hall but gone to ruine there thicke great walls but demolished What houses are these they belong to the Mendoza's or the Velasco's And although these Families haue in other places new Palaces rich and sumptuous Halls with guilded roofes windows galleries Courts paued with Iasper Gardens and Fountaines faire and beautifull yet do they make more reckoning of those old houses because they conserue their memorie and shew the antiquitie of their descent The honours of the world the Estates Lordships Offices and dignities are things as it were of yesterday but that antient house which thou must most reckon of is that thy ruinous house of dust and clay which puts theestill â—n mind Quod terra es in terram conuerteris i. That earth thou art and to earth thou shalt returne There is no man so desperate nor of that boldnesse of spirit but doth shew a kind of feare when Death lookes him in the face And therefore death is termed pale because it makes the most valiant to change colour Iob painting forth such a kind of soule-lesse man saith Quiâ— argueâ— coram 〈…〉 eius i. Who shall bee able to controll this man that neither feares the Law nor his King nor his God The best remedie is to carrie him to the Sepultures of the dead Et in câ—ngerie mortuâ—raÌ„ euigilabit i. He shall be brought to the graues and made to awake and iâ— the looking vpon that sad spectacle will not worke him there is little hope of good to be done vpon
to prayer and so fearing God that an Angel was sent vnto him to illuminate his vnderstanding Of another S. Mathew makes mention who when the lights of Heauen were darkned yet his sight was so cleere that hee saw Christ our Sauiour was the Sonne of God Vere filius Dei erat iste Besides this Centurion we now speake of whose Faith our Sauiour did admire Saint Austen celebrates another Captaine which in the midst of Armes tooke wonderfull care to know the things of God But that we may not weary our selues with counting the good ones one by one heauen it selfe hauing great Squadrons of souldiers this may suffice to honor this kind of Calling not onely for it's Faith but for it's loue and charitie Many did petition our Sauiour for their sicke brethren children and friends but for a Seruant this Centurion onely maketh suit Puer meus jacet in domo Paraliticus My child or my seruant lyeth at home sicke of the Palsey The common saying is Quot seruos tot hostes So many seruants so many enemies Iob complaineth That his seruants would haue eaten him piecemeale Who shall giue vs of his flesh that we may be filled If they then that serue so good a Master be his enemies who shal be his friend Seneca seemeth to make the word Seruant to signifie Indifferencie and that it is in the Maisters choice to make him either his friend or foe In this matter there are some rules of prudence nobilitie and Christianitie The first on the Masters part who are to treat their seruant with much loue and kindnesse like a brother saith Ecclesiasticus and in another place indeering it more Sit tibi quasi anima tua Let him be vnto thee as thy soule or as the Greeke hath it Sicut tu As thy selfe Horace calls a mans friend The one halfe of his soule Sicut viscera mea suscipe Receiue him as my owne bowells saith Saint Paul recommending his seruant Onesimus to Philemon No man is a seruant by nature and being that God might haue made thee of a master a seruant how oughtest thou to respect thy seruant being a master This noblenesse of nature shewed it selfe apparently in this our Centurion Puer meus jacet My child lieth sicke hee cals his seruant Child a word of loue and of kindnesse and signifies in the originall a Sonne And Saint Luke doth expresse it with a great deale of tendernesse Erat illi pretiosus Hee was deere vnto him Condemning those masters which vse their seruants as they doe their shooes who when they waxe old and are worne out cast them out vpon the dunghill Saint Paul calles these Sine affectione Men without compassion who no sooner shall their seruant fal sick but they presently bid away with him to the Hospitall if at the day of iudgment God will lay to our charge That wee did not visit the sick in other mens houses What will become of vs in that day when wee be charged with casting them out of our owne The second That all seruants are not so equall and alike that they should deserue either like loue or vsage Ecclesiasticus saith That as fodder and the whip belong to the Asse so doth meat and correction vnto a sloathful seruant But euermore inclining more to lenitie than crueltie The third That a Master bee not sharpe and bitter for there are manie like vnto Spiders which turne all into poyson good and bad seruice foolish and discreete words are all alike vnto them With some masters saith Macrobius snorting and spitting are accounted discourtesies inciuilitie Saint Austen sayes That it is a pride vnworthie mans heart to looke to be serued with more respect by thy seruant than thou doost serue thy God If euerie one of thy fooleries and misdemeanors God should punish them with the rod of his wrath what would become of thee Seneca writing to Licinius tells him That it is a great deale of wisedome and discretion in a Master to vse his seruants well And Clemens Alexandrinus That a Master must not vse his seruants like beasts that he that doth not now and then conuerse with them and communicate his mind vnto them doth not deserue to be a master The fourth That hee bee franke and liberall and a cheerefull rewarder of his seruants labours For if the light of Nature teacheth vs That wee should bee good vnto our Beasts a greater Obligation lyes vpon vs towards our Seruants Plutarch taxeth Cato Censorinus amongst his many other vertues of this one inhumane action That hee sould away his Slaues when they were old and vnable to doe him seruice as Gentlemen turne those Horses that were for their owne Saddle to a Mill to grind when they grow old and stiffe and are not able to trauell as they were woont to doe In a word a Master must consider That albeit the seruants bee the foot yet the feet are as needfull to goe as the eyes to see And the aduantage that the master hath of the seruant is not of Nature but fortune not by his birth for both haue Adam for their father on earth and God in Heauen Both of them say Pater noster qui es in Coelis scientes quoniam illorum vester Dominus est in Coelis i. Our Father which art in heauen knowing that both their and your Lord is in Heauen Not in his bodie for the Pope is made of no better dust than the poore Sexton nor the King than the Hangman Not in regard of the Soule for the price of their redemption were both alike Not of the vnderstanding for many slaues haue that better than they as Aesop Epictetus and Diogenes Not of vertue for many seruants therein exceed their masters But let vs descend now from the Masters to the Seruants dutie and what rules belong to them The first rule is Faithfulnesse and Loue. Salomon saith He that keepeth the Fig-tree shall eat the fruit therof so he that waiteth vpon his master shal come to honour Instancing rather in the Fig-tree than any other for it's sweetnesse and great store of fruit in token that he that shall sow good seruices shall reap good profit The second That he do not serue principally for his own proper interest for he that serueth for profit only and meerly to make gain of his master deserueth neither cherishment nor fauour A master stands in stead of God now we must not principally serue God for the good which he doth vnto vs but as he is our God The Scripture reporteth of Ioseph That his Master hauing trusted him with the gouernment of his house all his wealth he did not deceiue him of a farthing There are some seruants like your Iuy which suckes out the sap withereth the Tree whereunto it leanes it selfe remaining fresh and greene They are those Spunges which soake vp their Masters wealth making their Masters poore and themselues rich The third That a Seruant
be solicitous carefull and painefull for the sluggard Nature abhorreth and condemneth Vidisti hominem velocem stabit coram Rege i. Seest thou a man diligent in his businesse hee shall stand before Kings Diligence is pretious in all men but most in a Seruant Who can indure a lazie Seruant or a dull Beast The Ball was antiently the Symbole of a Seruant according to Cartaneus The ball one while goes flying in the ayre ouer our heads another runnes as low as our feete but neuer lies still but is continually tossed too and fro And Aristotle sayes That a Seruant is Instrumentum viuum A liuing Instrument and as an Instrument hath not his owne will but is directed by the hand of the Artificer so a Seruant is not to bee at his owne will to doe what himselfe listeth but as he is commanded and employed by his Master If Masters and Seruants would keepe these rules it would bee a happinesse for the Master to haue such a Seruant and for the Seruant to haue such a Master It hath antiently beene doubted Why amongst men so equall by nature God hath permitted so great inequalitie as there is betweene him that serueth and him that commandeth And the reason of this doubt is the more indeered for that seruitude is a thing so distastful held so great an ill that many haue preferred death before it Theodoret answereth thereunto That Seruitude was the curse of Sinne and that the first Seruant in the world was Cham on whom his father threwt his seuere malediction That he should be a Seruant to his bretheren Because he discouered the nakednesse of his father S. Austen saith in his Books De Ciuit. Dei That this penaltie began from the malediction of Eue and that those words Thou shalt be vnder the power of thy Husband implyed subiection and seruitude Saint Ambrose in an Epistle which he writes to Simpliciarius saith That Seruing is sometimes taken for a blessing and hee prooues it out of that which Isaac did to his elder sonne Esau He blessed him that he might serue his brother hauing out of a particular prouidence and loue made Esau seruant to his brother to the end that his harshnesse might bee gouerned by his discretion So that wee see that although the fortune of a Seruant speaking generally is verie bad first because libertie is a great good secondly because to serue a Tyrant is a great euil yet he that hath the good hap to serue a good Master is verie happie for such a Master serues in stead of a Father a Councellor a Tutor And this was this seruants happinesse to haue so good a Master as this Centurion heere spoken of who saith Puer meus jacet c. In domo Paraliticus At home sicke of the Palsie It is a consideration as profitable as often repeated That troubles and afflictions brings vs home to Gods House They are like those officers that follow a fugitiue sonne or seruant who bring him backe againe to his father or his master Many meanes God vseth for to bring vs home vnto him but by no meanes more than by affliction Hunger draue the Prodigall home to his Father Ioaâ—s burning of his corne made him come to Absalon the vntamed Heyfer is brought by the Goade to the Yoke There is no Collirium that so opens the eyes of the soule as miserie and trouble The gall of the Fish recouered Tobias of his eye-sight the darknesse of the Whales bellie brought Ionas forth to the light the stroke of an Arrow made Alexander know he was mortall Wormes made great Antiochus confesse he was no God and the threatning of Elias wrought repentance in Achab In a word Vexatio dat intellectum Castigasti me Domine eruditus sum Affliction causeth vnderstanding thou didst correct me ô Lord I was instructed O! how correction opens those eyes which prosperitie kept shut O! how often doth the paining of the bodie worke the sauing of the soule O! how often doe misfortunes like the rounds in Iacobs ladder serue to bring our soules vp to Heauen God dealing with these afflicted soules as the Gardner doth with the Buckets of his Well who humbles them by emptying them that hee may afterwards bring them vp full And so is that place of Iob to bee vnderstood Hee woundeth and hee healeth i. hee healeth by wounding like your cauteries which cure by hurting It is Gods owne voyce I will smite and I will make whole according to that of Ose Percutiet curabit he strikes the bodie with sicknesse and with that wound he healeth the soule But here by the way it is to be noted That there is a great difference betwixt one sinner and another for he that is hardned in sinne is made rather worse than better by correction And this is that which Esay bewaileth where hee crieth out Woe to the sinnefull Nation a People laden with Iniquitie Why should yee be stricken any more yee will reuolt more and more All the fruit that such kind of wilfull sinners reape from their punishment is to adde sinne vnto sinne like that Slaue who being whipt for swearing falls into blaspheming I haue smitten saith Ieremie your childeren in vaine they receiued no correction And in another place he compares them to reprobate siluer which being put into the Crisol of affliction to be refined and purified remaines fouler than before Others there are that are tender hearted and are as sensible of other mens miseries as if themselues were in the same case and iust so was it with this discreet Centurion Dignus est vt illi praestes i. He is worthie for whom thou shouldst doe this The Elders of the Iewes in Capernaum which were sent by the Centurion vnto Christ to beseech him to come and heale his seruant acknowledged a power in our Sauior of working miracles by that often experience they had made thereof but they did not acknowledge his Diuinitie And therefore they here notifie vnto Christ the great merit and deseruingnesse of this Centurion which if it had beene meerely for Gods sake they might the better haue pleaded it They alledge two reasons to induce him thereunto The first Diligit gentem nostram He loueth our Nation which hee hath many wayes manifested by those his good deeds and actions towards vs and this his loue and kindnesse bindes vs to solicite his cause which good will of his ought likewise to incline you to fauour this his suit The second Synagogam aedificauit nobis He hath built vs a Synagogue whereby hee hath not onely shewed his good affection to the Iewes but his religiousnesse also vnto God Dignus est ergo vt illi praestes Hee therefore deserues this fauour at thy hands Their reasons are both powerfull as well with man as with God for Loue obligeth much Saint Ambrose saith That Nature did ingraue nothing so deepely in our hearts as to loue
out of hand I will come and heale him Hee might haue recommended this businesse to Saint Peter or Saint Iohn But that which a Prince can performe in his own person hee ought not to remit the same to his Ministers though they should bee as faithfull vnto him as Peter For the seruant many times carries not that soule along with him as his Master hath and in case the seruant should blurre and soile his for his owne priuate gaine this doth not excuse the Master A Prince may well giue power in causa propria i. in his owne cause for a thousand things to his Minister but for those particular obligations that concerne his conscience hee cannot nor ought not Quodcunque potest facere manus tua instanter operari i. Whatsoeuer thy hand findeth to doe doe it with thy might The word here to be weighed is manus tua not another mans but thine owne 2 It causeth no small admiration that a King should call twice vpon him for his sonne and yet hee excused himselfe and that a Souldier should no sooner send vnto him to come vnto his seruant but hee straight way answered Ego veniam curabo eum i. I will come and heale him Wee render two reasons of this doubt made vpon this place The one That with God sometimes more honourable is the name of the poore than of the rich Honorabile nomen eorum coram illo i. Their name is pretious in his sight And albeit this honour grew vp from the beginning of the World yet after that God made himself poore for to make vs rich pouertie is so exalted by him and in that high esteeme that men euer since haue lookt vpon it with other eyes than they did heretofore Before that God came into the world and was made flesh there was not that rich man which did not scorne and contemne the poore Diues did lesse esteeme of Lazarus than of his dogges But God making himselfe poore and wrapping vp in ragges the treasure and richnesse of Heauen the condition of the poore hath euer since beene better with God than that of the rich and therefore hee rather hasteth to relieue the Poore than the rich And therefore the Physitions of the bodie are much condemned who being the Appollo's and Aesculapij of their times disdaine to visit the poore men And so likewise are the Physitions for the soule who boast themselues to be Confessors to great kings princes the poore mans soule being no lesse pretious in Gods sight than those of the rich Those Masters are also reproued who scorne to visit their poore seruant in his sickenes alledging forsooth that the chamber or the bed is readie to turne their stomacke and makes them sicke with the loathsomenesse of the sent when they can well enough indure the stinke of a Stable or the nastinesse of a dogge-kennell Secondly we are to consider That Humilitie carries with it a kind of omnipotencie because it subdueth the Omnipotent Of the Sunne of the Earth the Poets write That wrestling with Hercules still as he toucht the ground he recouered fresh strength The humble minded man who esteemes himselfe to be but the sonne of the Earth and the off-spring of Dust and Ashes by bowing himselfe in all lowlinesse to this his mother hee shall bee able to wrestle with God himselfe Thirdly This readinesse of Christs towards the Centurion should stirre vs vp to compassion and to take pittie of our neighbour Fulgentius noteth That there is this difference betweene him that imployeth his loue vpon his Neighbour and him that bestowes it on the goods of the earth that This is the poorer That the richer Saint Chrysostome declaring that place of Saint Paul Loue seeketh not her own things saith That the Apostle spake according to the Lawes and rules of the world where euery one holds that particular wealth he possesseth to be his owne but according to the Lawes of God Loue seekes the things that are her own for shee reckons of that good that befalls another as her owne Our Sauiour treating of pardoning others said on the Crosse Father forgiue them for they c. but speaking of his owne relinquishment he said My God my God why hast thou forsaken me c. With more earnestnesse crauing pardon for those that crucified him for this cause cals him for their sakes Father as if he should haue said O my good God I desire thou wouldst shew the bowels of a father towards them as for mine owne life be thou a seuere God vnto me let me suffer so as they may liue And this is Spiritus Sanctorum The Spirit of the Saints the nature of those that are Gods children Elizeus offered to goe to the Pallace for his Hostesse Vis vt loquar Regi Wilt thou that I speak to the King when he would not goe thither for himselfe Thomas who would not haue Clergie men to ouer-busie themselues in the world yet he aduiseth them to speake vnto Princes and Councellors of State in matters of pittie when the poore are oppressed and haue no bodie to speake for them and that they should do it Not out of coueâ—ousnesse but charitie Iesus autem ibat cum illis cum jam longe esset à domo misit Centurio amicos dicens Noli vexari Trouble not thy selfe Presently after Christ had giuen the Elders so faire an answere hee went along in their companie towards the Centurions house some went before to aduise him of his comming though the Euangelists doe not mention it who found himselfe so hindered by the Maiestie and greatnesse of our Sauiour Christ whom he beleeued to be God that hee sent some friends of his that were Gentiles in all hast to our Sauiour with this message Lord trouble not thy selfe Some man may doubt Why he should say by these second Messengers Domine noli vexari hauing entreated by the former to come vnto him I answer That the same humilitie which the Centurion shewed afterwards hee would haue shewne before that he said vnto him Lord trouble not thy selfe For he that would not haue had him take the paines to come would not haue sent vnto him to will him that he should come for hee beleeuing him to bee God it had beene an vnciuile Embassage But the Elders of the Iewes setting a good face on the matter and taking the authoritie vpon them that they were of power to bring our Sauiour to the Captaines house shewed therein more vanitie than faith for that they did not beleeue that our Sauiour could cure the sicke being absent and so were the authors of this discourtesie Besides they proceeded fâ—rther with him in a commanding kind of language alledging That the Centurion deserued this fauour at his hands though hee himselfe acknowledged his owne vnworthinesse not onely by these his second messengers but by himselfe For I assure my selfe and hold it for certaine That the Centurion in the end spake
to be reuenged of him for the death of the young man hee sayd vnto them Hearken ô yee wiues of Lamech Let it not once enter into your thoughts to take reuenge on my life for though the vengeance which God appointed for the killing of Caine had a limitation yet the reuenge of my death shall be without taxe and without measure Setuplum vltio dabitur de Cain de Lamech autem septuagies septies Cain shall be reuenged seuen times but Lamech seuentie times seuen times Wherein he sets downe a finite number for an infinite In a word Lamech in this word Septuagies septies shewes That the reuenge that should bee taken thereof should be without terme without limitation wherein he seemes to make mans crueltie to contest with Gods mercie The other is Of those that hate their enemies so to the death that though they themselues die yet they will not let their hatred die with them but leaue it in their last Will and Testament to their heires to take reuenge of their wrongs and to prosecute their enemies vnto death Being herein like vnto Dido who throwing out her curses and maledictions on Aeneas and desiring the Tygres and other wild beasts to reuenge her wrong breathed her last with this inuocation Hoc precor hanc vocem extremaÌ„ cum sanguine fundo i. This is my prayer I wish no other good and this I poure forth with my latest bloud Whence I would haue you to note That this hardnesse of mans heart at his death is in punishment of his hardnesse of heart in his life Hac anima aduersione saith Saint Austen punitur peccator i. This is a sinners punishment And in another place Cor durum male habebit in nouissimo It shall goe ill with a hard heart in the latter day And Ieremie treating of those that persecuted him Reddes eis Domine vicem iusti dabis eis scutum cordis Thou shalt pay them in their owne coyne thou shalt vse them as they vsed their enemies thou shalt giue them a heart like a shield of Brasse it shall be hard in their life time and hard at their death No prayers could mollifie them nor shall their entreatie mooue thee for only the merciful shall only find mercie Now for the reforming of both these excesses Saint Paul saith Sol non occidat super iracundiam vestram Let not the Sunne goe downe before your wrath goe out Let not the one set before the other be setled Saint Chrysostome renders two reasons of this saying Sol non occidat c. The one That the Sunne doth fauour and serue you with his light and with his influences cherishing your health and your life and does not return home at night brawling and complayning that he hath bestowed this his loue seruice vpon an vngrateful vnthankful person There is no creature but wil grumble repine to serue such a one Ingemescit It sighes and groanes c. saith Saint Paul but the Sunne does not grudge at his seruing of you The second That the night is of it selfe sad melancholly and in a disposition to troublesome thoughts and immaginations Now then that your fantasie may not present you with an armie of fearefull cogitations and the dismall representations of reuenge before that the night comes on quiet that raging sea within thy brest by throwing Oyle vpon it become soft gentle by clensing thy heart of all rancour and malice If the beames of the Sunne cannot pierce through a thicke cloud they will hardly make their way through the pitchie darkenesse of the night being that they are naturally then in their augmentation When the cheerefulnesse of the day employment in businesses and the companie and comfort of our friends cannot remooue the clouds of our anger the night will hardly scatter them who is the mother of painefull thoughts For as the infirmities of the bodie encrease by the absence of the Sunne so in like sort doe the diseases of the soule I know not whither Ioshuah were toucht or no with this Spirit when hee willed the Sunne to stand still when he was in the pursuit of his enemies It seemeth vnto some That it is a verie hard matter and more than flesh and bloud can beare to pardon fresh iniuries the bloud boyling then in our brest But this is answer'd by that example of our Sauior Christ who when his wounds did poure forth bloud on euerie side yet his tongue cryde out Ignosce illis quia nesciunt quid faciunt Forgiue them for they know not what they doe Where I would haue you to note that the word faciunt is of the present Tense When they were boring his feet with nailes Saint Austen to this purpose saith Is petebat veniam à quibus adhuc accipiebat iniuriam He craued pardon for those of whom euen then hee suffered wrong For he did not so much weigh that he died by them as that he died for them Cum esset in sanguine suo saith Ezechiel dixit Viue i. When he was in his owne bloud he said Liue. And Saint Bernard That hee offered vp his life Non interpellantâ—bus sed repellentibus non inuocantibus sed prouocantibus Not for those that inuoked him but prouoked him The replies of the Flesh are infinite and without number Some say Whilest wee liue in the world we must follow the fashions of the world and liue according to it's Lawes and that if a man put vp one iniurie he shall haue a thousand put vpon him I answer hereunto That it is a fouler fault to seeke out reasons to defend and maintaine sinne than to commit it And if thou shalt tell mee thou desirest to be reuenged because thou art weake and canst not bridle thy anger I shall the rather pittie thee and shall withall councell and aduise thee to aske pardon of God for this thy weakenesse and infirmitie But that thou shouldst defend thy offence with reasons and force of argument it is not a thing to bee immagined but more against reason it is to reason against God Let vs now leaue the Gospell and the sacred Scriptures and let vs bring this businesse within the spheare of reason I say then That it is the Language of him that knowes not what reason is as if it were possible there could be any reason against God The Clowne rests so well contented with his poore Cottage that he wil not change it for the Kings Pallace And the worldly man likes so well of the lawes and fashions of the world that he sticks not to preferre them before those of God Others stand vpon their honour alledging How can a man liue in the world without the vpholding of his honour and repution I answere It is not to bee found in the Scripture That Christ doth councell any man to suffer in his honor for him or to loose his reputation Marry hee hath promised a reward vnto him that for his sake
belonging thereunto Saint Bernard expounding those words of the ninetie one Psalme Dicet Domino susceptor meus es tu refugium meum Deus meus sperabo in eum i. I will say vnto the Lord Thou art my c. asketh the question Why God being the God of all Dauid in that place cals him twice his God I answere That he is the God of all in regard of his Creation and Redemption and other his generall benefits towards man but in Temptation hee is the God of euery indiuiduall person as if hee did not busie himselfe nor thinke vpon any other thing than the fauouring of the Iust and the assisting of him vpon those occasions Saint Gregory declaring those wordes of Christ Not a haire of your head shall perish sayth That a haire doth not paine vs when it is cut away from vs but the cutting of the flesh doth If that then shall be kept from perishing by Gods protection and prouidence ouer vs which doth not paine vs how much more will he take heed that that shall not perish which may put vs to paine Last of all There is not any thing so notorious and so approoued as the generall good that is gotten by Temptation From thence grow those braue Spirits those valiant Souldiers and those couragious Captaines which wage warre against the Deuill and Hell keeping him out at the staffes end and putting him to the worst As on the contrary from Idlenesse come Cowards whiteliuerd Souldiers Faint-hearted Soule-lesse and Lazie people As long as there were any frontyre-townes in Spaine for the enemies to make their inrodes it had many braue and famous Souldiers as the Cides and the Bernardos But now there are none but Carpet-Knights all men of bombast made of nothing but softnesse and delicacie their Armour is turned into gay clothes and their stiffe Launces into starcht bottle bands and beards They all did then smell of Gunpoulder but now stincke of Amber Siuet and other Indian Gummes Athanasius askes the question Why the prouidence of God did ordaine this continuall warre betweene the Deuils and Men And the answere is That thereby the valour of Gods Souldiers might bee knowne Saint Ambros sayth That the Deuill workes his owne destruction by his dayly tempting of Men for by seeking to weaken their Bodies hee strengthneth their Soules And that Iob when hee sate vpon the dung-hil with his pot-sheard in his hand to scrape off his scabbes made all Hell affraid and to stand amased at his patience Ductus est Iesus a Spiritu in desertum vt tentaretur Hee was led by the Spirit into the Desart that hee might bee tempted The holy Ghost was a guide to all our Sauiours Actions Hee was Dux Comes as Saint Cyprian saith or as Esay hath it Spiritus sanctus ductor eius fuit i. The holy Spirit was his Leader But in none of our Actions makes the Scripture any mention that the holy Ghost leadeth vs vnto but onely to Temptation And this is expressed with wordes that carry a kind of force with them though voluntary and sweet Expulit agebatur ductus est Hee drew him not hee was chased hee was led And the mysterie thereof is that no man ought to presume considering his weakenesse so much vpon his owne securitie and confidence that hee should enter into Temptation vnlesse the holy Ghost take him vp as it were by the haire of the head and set him into it And the truth of this doctrine is deliuered vnto vs by Victor Antiochenus Saint Iohn Chrisostome Gregorius Nissenus Euthimius many other Saints of God In corporall warre it is greater courage to fight than to flie but in the spirituall warfare the assurance of the Victorie consists in flying And God would rather haue vs to bee cowards through feare than couragious through presumption and therefore hee first promiseth vs his Protection that is his Ayd and his Fauour Deus refugium virtus adiutor in opportunitatibus in tribulatione i. God is a helper in due season in tribulation Hee first sayes he will bee our refuge and afterwards our helper Flye therefore from danger and haue recourse vnto God and beeing sheltred vnder the shadow of his wings and vpheld by the strength of his Arme thou needst not feare any harme that Hell can doe vnto thee So that God is not bound to fauour thee in those temptations which thou doost thrust thy selfe into but in those that thou seekest to shun Saint Austen aduising I know not whom that they should not talke and conuerse with Women so familiarly as they did they excused themselues vnto him telling him that they onely did so that they might meete with some Temptations wherewith to encounter But this glorious Doctor plainely told them Herein you seeke nothing but dangers and stumbling blockes to cause you to fall And as it is fit to take from before the eyes of the franticke all those images and pictures which may moue passion in him for that they wil be an occasion to make him madder than euer he was before so ought a sinner to auoid all the vanities of this World Ecce elongaui fugiens mansi in solitudine Saint Bernard hath well obserued that for his better ease and quiet this holy King did not onely leaue his owne Citie but fled farre from it And hee that shall flie from the occasions of sinning performes no small matter But hee that shall flie a farre off from them will find it to bee most for his ease Temptation as it is the Deuils acte is ill and God doth not will it positiuely but permissiuely hee doth so sayth Saint Chrisostome Aduising vs that wee should not seeke after them but if they chance to set vpon vs then are wee to stand to it and valiantly to fight it out This our Sauiour Christ would insinuate to his Disciples in the garden when hee sayd vnto them Watch and pray that yee enter not into Temptation For a man to sleepe when hee is in daunger and not to flie vnto God for succour is to seeke after Temptation Saint Austen Saint Cyprian Saint Gregorie and Saint Chrysostome say That this is the meaning of that prayer which 〈◊〉 daily make And lead vs not into Temptation Which carries with it a double sence The one Lead vs not ô Lord into Temptation for our weakenesse and frailtie is exceeding great So doth Petrus Chrisologus expound it But because it is not a fitting language for a Souldier to desire of his Captaine that hee should not send him foorth to fight that other sence is more plaine Suffer vs not ô Lord to fall into Temptation But if thou wilt permit that wee must bee tempted yet consent not ô Lord that wee bee ouercome And this sence Saint Austen seemeth to approue in that his sermon de Monte. But in what sence soeuer you take it it is very true that no man ought rashly to run himselfe into danger
shall perfectly become subiect to the will of God so that the Sonne of God shall appeare then in greater power and Maiestie than euer hee did before But for to treat of the Maiestie of the Father the greatest and deepest thoughts of Man is but as a Thimble they are not able to conceiue much lesse to containe the least part thereof Daniel saith seeking to expresse the greatnesse of his glorie and the mightinesse of his power Mille millia ministrabant ei decies centena millium assistâ—â—ant ei The Pages that attend his person must bee numbred by thousands and the Courtiers that assist in his presence by ten thousands of thousands Arithmeticke wants figures to set downe these numberlesse numbers Esay saw him in a Throne of Maiestie and of glorie Plena erat domus Maiestate eius but his feet and his head couered with the wings of Seraphins Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand That these our corporall eyes may haue a glimpse of the Maiestie of his Throne but not of his person Lastly That Maiestie of his Court which consists of so many Angelicall Hierarchies What tongue what tongue can paint out that vnto thee which is beyond the proportion of thought One Angell alone hath strucke with the feare of death the valiantest the holiest men that euer were what would they then doe when they are a joynt and vnited Bodie Saint Chrysostome saith That greater is the power of one Angell than of all the men in the world if all their force and strength were molten together and molded into one entire masse At Christs birth certaine Squadrons of Angells came round about him saluting him with that heauenly Song of Gloria in excelsis but now they shall come trouping all together and some shall more particularly bewaile with great bitternesse those miseries that shall befall the World and those that liued therein according to that of Esay The Angels of Peace shall weepe bitterly The Euangelist doth not here in this place vnderstand the euill Angels though they shall come likewise vpon this Theatre as well to bee iudged themselues Nescitis quia Angelos judicabimus as to serue as Atturneys for to open the Sinners crimes and offences and as Hangmen to execute the Iudges Sentence In this life God oftentimes makes the good Angels to bee the Executioners of his wrath as in Sodome and in the first borne of Aegypt in ouerthrowing the Chariots of Pharaoh in Zenacharib Heliodorus and Herod but his ordinarie kind of punishment is by euill Angells Immissiones per Angelos malos by which hee vnderstandeth those fearefull Plagues of Aegypt as Flies Frogges Grashoppers Waspes Homets thicke Clouds Darkenesse that might bee felt their Flockes and Heards of Cattell killed with Haile stones Visions idle Dreames and Phantasies and the like Sad shapes appeared vnto them and Monsters did affright them whereby they that were liuing lookt as if they had beene dead Animae deficiebant traductione These did the Deuill carrie away bound hand and foot to bee cast into vtter darkenesse And when God shall set these Catchpoles to arrest the Wicked What will become of them What will they doe With this Maiestie and greatnesse shall that supreame Iudge come Vpon the Seat of his Maiestie whither it be a Throne of Clouds according to that of Ecclesiasticus Thronus eius in columna Nubis and that of Exodus Veniam in caligine Nubis or whither it be a Throne of Cherubins according to that of Dauid Qui sedes super Cherubim or whither of the Iust as Origen would haue it sure I am that hee shall come with that graue and austere countenance and with that awfull and fearefull looke that Malachy might verie well say Who shall endure to looke vpon him Congregabuntur ante eum omnes Gentes All Nations shall be gathered before him It is as true as it is fearefull That all men shall meet together in one all that did enioy the light of this world for so many Kindreds nay thousands of Ages whither they perished in the element of Fire and so turned to ashes or whither they were deuoured by the Fowles of the aire or the Beasts of the field or whither they became the food of fishes in the Sea or whither that their bodies remaine in their graues or whither like rubbish they lie buried vnder ruinous buildings or howsoeuer they haue passed through diuers and sundrie transmutations yet notwithstanding in the end all shall come and present themselues vpon this publique Stage all those Nations that are so differing in their manners and behauiour in their Idiomes their Languages in their Rights and Ceremonies in their Laws and their Customes whither remaining in the maine Continent or in the Islands enuironed with the Sea And what wonder can be greater or what sight so strange as to see all the men in the world to appeare body and soule before his diuine Maiestie at the voyce of an Angell when he shall trumpet forth this short summons vnto them Surgite mortui c. But two other wonders more fearefull than this I feare me will be seene The one That all mens hearts shall be opened euerie man both inwardly and outwardly shall appeare so plaine and so cleere to our sight that there shall not be any thought though neuer so closely hid nor any fault though neuer so deepely buried that shall not bee made open and manifest According to that of Saint Paul to the Corinthians Omnes manifestari oportet ante Tribunal Christi We must all bee manifested before the Iudgement Seat of Christ. Whereupon Saint Theodoret weighing the word Manifestari which in the originall is the same with Perlucidos esse Transparent and cleere as Chrystall wherein those blacke spots and â—oule staines that are in our Soules will appeare the more vgly and loathsome ô How strange a spectacle will this be How sole and singular in the world ô what a great feare will it strike into vs not onely in regard of the innumerable number of such various and vncouth things things heretofore neuer presumed or once thought vpon but also in respect of the heart of man which being so inscrutable a thing and for so many yeares of mans life past searching out and not to bee discouered and set forth in it's true life and colours that this heart I say of Man shall in an instant bee laid so open that all maskes shall be vnpin'd all disguises taken off whose hollownesse and hypocrisie shall now appeare to God and the World Immagine that God should shew this miracle in open Court and that the hearts of all should lie open to the eyes of all as he did discouer to Ezechiel euerie forme of creeping things and abhominable Beasts and all the Idolls of the House of Israell portrayed vpon the wall of the Temple How ashamed will the verie best of Gods children bee of their actions but much more the wicked to see their sinnes laid
open to others view and their owne confusion Nor shall these our sinnes bee conspicuous onely to others but euerie offendor shall see and plainely perceiue his owne particular sinnes For there is no man that fully knowes his owne sinnes while hee liueâ— here in this world And so doth Saint Basil interpret that place of the Psalmist Arguam te statuam contra te faciem tuam Euerie man shall then behold himselfe as in a glasse In a word This day will be the summing vp of all those oâ—â— former dayes wherein as in a beadroll wee shall read all the loose actions of our life all our idle words all our euill workes all our lewd thoughts or whatsoeuer else of ill that our hearts haue conceiued or our hands wrought So doth a graue Author expound that place of Dauid Dies formabuntur nemo in eis In that day shall all dayes be formed and perfected for then shall they bee cleerely knowne Et nemo in eis This is a short and cutted kind of speech idest There shall not bee any thing in all the world which shall not bee knowne in that day The other wonder shall be That all this businesse shall bee dispatcht in a moment In ictu oculi saith Saint Paul In the twinckling of an eye The Greeke Text in stead of a moment renders it Atomo which is the least thing in nature Concluding this point with that saying of Theophilact Haec est res omnium mirabilissima This is the greatest wonder of all Statuet Oues à dextris eius Haedos à sinistris He shall place the Sheepe at his right hand and the Goats at the left Dayly experience teacheth vs That what is good for one is naught for another that which helpeth the Liuer hurteth the Spleene one and the selfe same Purge recouers one and casts downe another the Light refresheth the sound Eye and offendeth the sore Wisedome saith That those Rods which wrought amendment in the Children of Israell hardned the hearts of the Aegyptians the one procured life the other death darkenes to the one was light light to the other darknesse When Ioshuah pursued the Ammorites God poured downe Hailestones Lightning and Thunder to Gods enemies they were so many Arrowes to kill them to his friends so many Torches to light them In the light of thy Arrowes saith Abacuc Death to the Wicked is bitter to the Good sweete Iudgement to the Goats is sad heauie but to the Sheep glad ioyfull to the one a beginning of their torment to the other of their glorie And therefore it is here said He shall place the Sheepe at his right hand From this beginning ariseth the Iust's earnest desiring of this our Sauiours comming and the Wicked's seeking to shun it Which is made good by Saint Austen vpon that place of Haggie Hee shall come being wished for of all Nations And his reason is because our Sauiour Christ being desired it is fit that he should be knowne and for want of this knowledge it seemeth vnto him that this place doth not so much suit with his first as his latter comming Saint Paul writing to his Disciple Timothie sayes That the Iust doe long for this judgement His qui diligunt aduentum eius Agreeing with that of Saint Paul to the Romans That the Iust passe ouer this life in sighs tribulations expecting that latter day when their bodies shall bee free from corruption and from death Saint Iohn introduceth in his Apocalyps the soules of the Iust crying out Vsque quò Domine sanctus verax Non judicas vindicas sanguinem nostrum de his qui habitant in terra How long Lord holy and true c. Saint Austen and Saint Ambrose both say That they doe not here craue vengeance on their enemies but that by his comming to judgement the Kingdome of Sinne may haue an end Which is the same with that which we dayly beg in those words of our Paternoster Thy Kingdome come And Saint Iohn in his last Chapter saith The Spirit and the Spouse say Come Come Lord come quickely make no long tarrying That the Sinner should hate this his comming is so notorious a truth that many when things goe crosse with them would violently lay hands on themselues and rid themselues out of this miserable world if it were not for feare of this Iudgement And this was the reason why Saint Paul in saying It is decreed that all men shall die once presently addeth After death Iudgement Other wise there would be many as well discreet as desperate persons that would crie out Let vs die and make an end of our selues at once for a speedie death is better than a long torment This is that that keepes these fooles in awe and quells the vaine confidence of man in generall Tunc dicet Rex his qui à dextris eius erunt vsque esuriui c. Then shall the King say to them on his right hand I was hungrie c. Hee begins with the rewarding of the Good for euen in that day of justice he will that his mercie goe before as well for that it is Gods own proper worke as also for that it is the fruit of his bloud and death Venite Benedicti Patris mei Come yee blessed of my Father a most sweet word in so fearefull a season possidete Regnum Come yee and take possession of an eternall Kingdome Quia esuriui I was hungrie c. Some man may doubt Why Christ at the day of judgement being to examine all whatsoeuer actions of vertue doth here onely make mention of mercie I answer For that Charitie is that Seale and Marke which differenceth the Children of God from those of the Deuill the good Fisâ—es from the bad and the Wheat from the Chaffe Ecce ego judico inter Pecus Pecus so saith Ezechiel and in summe it is the summe of the Law as Saint Paul writeth to the Romans Secondly He maketh mention onely of the workes of mercie for to expell that errour wherein many liue in this life to wit That this businesse of Almes-deeds is not giuen vs as a Precept whereby to bind vs but by way of councel and aduice whereby to admonish vs. And this is a great signe token of this truth for that there is scarce any man that accuseth himselfe for the not giuing of an Almes But withall it is a foule shame for vs to thinke that God should condemne so many to eternal fire for their not shewing pittie to the Poore if it were no more but a bare councell and aduice Gregorie Nazianzen in an Oration which he makes of the care that ought to bee had of the Poore proueth out of this place That to relieue the poore and the needie is not Negotium voluntarium sed necessarium not a voluntarie but a necessarie businesse And Saint Augustine and Thomas are of opinion That we are bound to relieue the necessities of
the day of the new Law driuing from vs the darkenesse of the old Law And therefore those times of the old Testament were called by the name of Night Nox praecessit i. The Night is pâ—st c. The other for that all Masters whatsoeuer in the World besides doe not effectually persuade and moue the Will of man But this Master of ours doth penetrate with his words the very innermost parts of the Soule and the secret corners of the Heart He mooues it and persuades it by milde yet powerfull meanes Esay making a promise on Gods behalfe to his people this Doctor touched both these effects Dabit tibi Deus panem aâ—ctum aquam breuem i. God will giue thee a little water and a little bread but much learning for thou shalt behold thy Master with thine eyes Erunâ— oculi tui videntes praecâ—pâ—â—rum And with thy eares shalt thou heare his voice Et aures tuae audient post terâ—a monentis Who shall bee still admonishing and persuading thee Haec est via ambulate in ea This is the way walke in it A little water and a little bread but much light of learning for towards those whom God best loueth he carries a hard and straight hand in those good things which concerne the bodie but showes himself very franke and liberall in those blessings that belong to the Soule And one dramme of Wisedome is better than many quintals of Gold God did applaud Salomons petition because making slight account of riches of lordships and of reuenging himselfe vpon his enemies he did begge Wisedome at his hands and therefore possessed with this diuine Spirit hee sayd afterwards Wisâ—dome is better than the most precious Riches and whatsoeuer is to bee desired is not comparable to it Saint Ierome noteth that the Prophet sayth Thou shalt see this thy Master with thy eyes in regard of those just and right actions which hee shall alwayes set before thine eyes And that thou shalt heare him with thy eares in regard that as thou art a sinner hee shall be still calling thee to repentance preaching and crying out vnto thee to returne backe from thy euill wayes shewing thee that This is the way walke in it It is a metaphore borrowed from a Trauailour that hath lost his way amongst woods and rockes where hee is ready at euerie step to breake his neck and therefore like a good sheapheard greeuing to see him thus wilfully to runne on to his destruction hee calleth out aloud vnto him telling him This is the way In like manner the World beeing as it were lost and blinded in the true knowledge of God and his sonne Christ Iesus setting before vs the way of the Gospell hee cries out vnto vs that wee might not goe astray Haec est via This is the way This was a great and extraordinarie fauour and the Prophet Ioel giues the paralell thereof to the Church Filij Syon exaltate latamini in Domino Dâ—o vestro quia dedit vobis Doctâ—rem iustitiae 1. Exalt yee sonnes of Sion and reioyce in the Lord your God who hath giuen you a Teacher of Righteousnesse The Greeke hath it Escas iustitiae That God hath giuen yee a Master that shall bee vnto you as the verie meate and nourishment of Righteousnesse to feed and preserue your soules and will restore vnto you the yeares that the Locusts hath eaten the canker-worme and the catterpillar and the palmer-worme c. And if in Commonwealths to haue Masters and wise and learned Teachers bee of so inestimable a price that Aristotle asking the reason why they had no set stipend or reward as many other Offices States had answeres it thus Because there could bee no reward answerable to their desert What then might this Master merit of the World beeing so singular and learned a Teacher in whome were deposited all the treaseres of the Wisedome of God In regard of this happinesse our Sauiour Christ sayd Beati oculi quâ— vident quae vos videâ—is The Scribes therfore and the Pharisees comming vnto him and in a flattering and scorneful manner calling him Master it is no maâ—â—aile that the mildenesse of this Lambe should be turned into the furie of a Lyon and that he sayd vnto them Generatio mala c. Saint Chrysostome sayes That they went about to flatter him as they had done at other times when they spake vnto him by the same name As when they said Magister licet censum dare Caesari Magister quod est mandatum magnum in Lege Magister quid faciendo vitam aeternam possidebo Master is it lawfull to giue tribute vnto Caesar Master which is the great Commandement in the Law Master What shall I doe to inherit eternall life And that our Sauiour being offended that they should flatter him with their mouths whom they abhorred in their hearts beeing like vnto those lewd women who the lighter they are the fuller of flatterie he grew somewhat hot and angrie with them But I conceiue the fault of these Scribes and Pharisees was more foule than so For flatterie vsually carryeth with it a desire to please and is full of courtesie which these kind of People neuer expressed towards our Sauiour And this my suspition is the more augmented by that miracle of that blind man whom the Scribes as supreame Iudges so strictly examined asking him so often Who is he that hath healed thee To whom he answered My Masters I haue told yee alreadie Why are yee so importunate with me Are ye purposed peraduenture to bee his Disciples This made my Gentlemen verie angrie insomuch that they said Tu Discipulus illius sis Wee wish thee no worse plague than that thou maist be his Disciple So that holding this a kind of curse and malediction and yet to stile him with the name of Master must be a stuffe that is made of a courser thred than Flatterie Besides mocking and scorning was a proper and peculiar vice annexed to the Iewes And Saint Chrysostome doth not terme it onely flatterie but adulation and irrision Verba inquit sunt plena adulatione irrisionâ— And that Text of Saint Luke fauoureth this opinion Alij tentantes eum signum de coelo quaerebant Others tempting him required a signe from heauen Where this word Tentantes implieth much more And the Author of the imperfect Worke saith That these Scribes and Pharisees vsed double dealing herein desiring nothing more than by this their soothing with him to discredit our Sauiour Christ alledging That those miracles were not so sure and certaine as to enforce beliefe or to merit their vndoubted credence And that they being as it were the Suns of that Commonwealth whom the people did credit and respect next vnder God they did labour to winne themselues credit in his presence by disgracing those miracles which our Sauiour had wrought But our Sauiour hauing recourse to the honour of his Father and his owne reputation could not hold
being so iustly incensed against them but must needs breake out into these termes with them A wicked generation c. God complained by his Prophets That the sinnes of his people had quite altered his naturall condition Let Samaria perish saith Osee because she hath prouoked her God And anon after he saith the same of Ephraim Gods heart being so mild so gentle so louing and so full of compassion the sinnes of Samaria and of Ephraim had prouoked it to bitternes Ieremie in his Lamentations complaineth Repleuit me amaritudinibus inebriauit me absynthio He hath filled me with bitternesse he hath made me drunken with Wormwood Ezechiel stiles the people Domus exasperans A House which doth exasperate Gods nature being so noble so free so pittifull Of Iudas Saint Luke saith Suspensus crepuit medius He burst asunder in the midst and all his bowells gushed out And this was not without some great mysterie That his vitall spirit should not goe out at his throat being streightned with the halter nor through his mouth for that therewith though treacherously he had kist his Sauiour but out of the verie heart and bowells of him for there it was that his hatred lay And though in other outward things there may be feigning and dissembling the heart cannot loue and hate at once And therefore beeing so many monstrous mis-shapes in the rest of the parts of mans bodie as two heads two hands two feet and the like yet did Nature neuer consent that there should be two hearts onely it is vsed as an embleme to expresse a traitor who loues with the one and hates with the other Woe to them that are of a double heart saith Salomon Simeon and Leui had double hearts when they dealt so deceitfully with the Prince of Sichem And because we might not think that their father had a hand in it and that they did it by his aduice at the houre of his death he called them Instruments of crueltie Ezechiel calls them Foxes who deuoure the grapes of the Vine and hide themselues vnder the leaues thereof Quafi Vulpes in Deserto Prophetae tui Chrysologus That they wage warre against Vertue with Vertue against Fasting with Fasting against Prayer with Prayer against Mercie with Mercie and against Miracles by crauing other Miracles And if it were abhominable before God that a man should put on womans apparell and a woman mans as it is in Deutronomie much worse will it seem in his sight that the euill man should put on the disguise of him that is good that Vice should put on Vertue 's cloathes In Ecclesiasticus God threatneth the Hypocrites That he wil pull off their maskes and disguises in the midst of all the People Attende ne reuelet Deus absconsa tua in medio Synagogae elidat te Our Sauiour had a faire occasion offered vnto him for to discredit and disgrace them and therefore plucking their maskes from off their faces he said A wicked and adulterous Generation seeketh a signe c. We would sâ—e a signe from thee The second reason is The insenciblenesse of this people that amongst so many such strange miracles they should as if all the rest were worth nothing require other newer and greater miracles Potest ne quisquam saith Saint Chrysostome adeo stolidus inueniri Can any man bee found so foolish Nor is that particle Tunc which is referred to a summe of miracles which summe can hardly be reduced to a summe of the least consideration in this place Tunc Then when they should haue kneeled downe before him to haue kissed his feet and acknowledged how much they were bound vnto him Tunc Then when they should haue seemed to be astonished and wonder-strucken at his miracles Tunc Then when they were to haue beene conuinced and like Paul to haue fallen into a trance Then do they obstinatly perseuer in their malice This holy doctor saith that Ionas was a type figure of this so profound a sleep The tempest driues the sea before it seeming for feare to runne away from the furie of those fierce and terrible winds and yet Ionas sleepeth The waues couer the Clouds and discouer the bottomlesse Gulfes striking a terrour both in the Mariners and the passengers and yet Ionas sleepeth the sayles and tackling are all to-be rent and torne the helme broken and lost and none left to gouerne the Ship and yet Ionas sleepeth the maine-mast is split in sunder a planke is sprung the Pylots and the Mariners multiplie their prayers to their false Gods which are painted in the prow of their ship Viridesque Deos quibus aequora curae and yet Ionas sleepeth nay hee routs and snoarts in securitie and is not sencible of the great danger he is in The like effect did Christs comming worke with his people There was a generall hurrie both in Heauen and Earth such an Inquietudo and turbation as was prophecied by the Prophet Haggie Behold yet again I will mooue the Heauen and the Earth And this people hauing with teares with sighes desired that they might be so happie as to see their Sauiour is now fast asleep The Dead liue the Deafe heare the Blind see the Lame goe the stones of the Temple are torne in sunder the Graues open the Sun is eclipsed and the Moone darkened and this great Ship of the World is tossed to and fro with the furie of the winds and yet this people sleepeth and would to God they were but asleepe for he that sleepeth euerie little noyse will awaken him but these men hauing the eyes of their bodie open are as blind as any Beetle in those of their soule They are in condition like vnto those Deuills of whom Iob speaketh Cor eius indurabitur quasi lapis extinguetur quasi malleatoris incus He compares their heart to a stone and thinking this too short a comparison for that the hardest stone is cut and hewne with the Cheesill and Hammer he compares it to a Smiths Anuile which the more it is beaten vpon the harder it growes And Saint Gregorie hath obserued That on the Anuile all other mettalls are made soft are wrought to bee plyable and are reduced to diuers formes and shapes but the Anuile it selfe continues still harder and harder In the said chapter Iob saith That the bodie of Leuiathan was ioyned and knit together and that the mettall of his scales was like strong Shields surely fastned together Alluding as it should seeme to that which Ieremie speaketh of his Children Dabis eis scutum cordis c. Thou shalt giue them ô Lord a heart like a shield of Brasse which shall rebound backe vpon thine own bosome those shafts that thou shalt shoot against them for those fauours and those blessings which thou bestowest vpon them make their hearts the harder and they are so blinded through their sinnes that their hearts are become as hard as a Target of yron to the
winds blow is suddenly throwne downe and carried away Optimum est gratia stabilire cor It is an excellent thing that the heart be established with grace that when ye shall be set vpon with diuers and sundrie strange Doctrines yee may stand immoouable and not be shaken with euerie vaine blast of wind Signum non dabitur eis nisi signum Ionae A signe shall not bee giuen them but that of Ionus Now Ionas his signe was the death and resurrection of our Sauiour which Austen calls Signum signorum miraculum miraculorum The signe of signes and miracle of miracles And hee that will not benefit himself by that What other miracle or signe can he expect shall doe him good It is much greater than any other vpon earth by how much the harder it is for one to come out of the heart of the earth and to bee restored to life after he is once dead a greater miracle by farre than that of Ionas his being spewed out of the Whales bellie And the said Saint prooueth that our Sauiour Christ is God and man man because hee entred dead into the bowells of the earth and God because hee came forth from thence aliue So that our Sauiour came to grant them much more than they desired For if they desired miracles from Heauen at our Sauiours death there appeared fearefull ones vnto them Athanasius saith That the Sunne was darkened in token that all those great and noble acts which God had done were eclipsed and darkened in this one of our Redemption Theophilact saith That our Sauiour after his Resurrection wrought no more miracles for that to die and rise againe by his own proper power was the vtmost both of his power and miracles Iudaei signum petunt c. The Iewes require a signe the Graecians seeke after wisedome but I preach vnto you the greatest Signe and the greatest Wisedome in the world to wit Christ crucified Eusebius Emisenus dwelleth much vpon Iacobs wrestling with the Angell In which conflict Iacob remaining Victor craueth a blessing of the Conquered And this is mystically meant of our Sauiour who representing himselfe in the shape of an Angell shewed himselfe vpon the Crosse tortured torne and ouercome yet grew thereby more powerfull and more free hearted for to blesse the world No signe shall be giuen them It is not without a mysterie that our Sauior saith No signe shall be giuen For that signe of his death and resurrection hee knew would profit them so little that it was needlesse to giue them any at all Christ treating of his bloud saith by Saint Luke Which for you and for many shall bee poured out And by Saint Mathew Which shall be poured out for all But many shall not take the benefit of this effusion of his bloud Some did wash their stoles in the bloud of the Lambe others said Sanguis eius super nos id est Let his bloud be vpon vs accusing themselues herein to bee guiltie of the shedding of his bloud And amongst the Faithfull there are many of whom Saint Paul saith Reus erit corporis sanguinis Domini who receiuing it vnworthily shall remaine guiltie of this so pretious a Treasure And in another place That they shall incurre great punishment which doe defile this bloud Et sanguinem testamenti pollutum duxerit Signum non dabitur ei nisi signum Ionae No signe shal be giuen them but that of Ionas For the miracle of Christs death and resurrection was not to bee denied to any Saint Thomas protested That he would not beleeue vnlesse hee might see the prints of our Sauiours wounds which being so strange a capitulation and to outward seeming so discourteous a proceeding our Sauiour Christ yeelded vnto his request and made towards him and made shewe thereof vnto him for the signes of our Sauiours death and Crosse were neuer yet denied to any Esay saith And in that day the root of Ishai which shall stand vp for a signe vnto the People the Nations shall seeke vnto it and his rest shall be glorious The Septuagint and Saint Hierome read Et qui stat The root of Iesse that is to say Ille qui stat in signum populorum congregabit profugos Israel dispersos Iuda colligit à quatuor plagi◠terra He shall set vp a signe to the Nations and assemble the dispersed of Israell and gather the scattered of Iuda from all the foure corners of the world Hee borrowes the metaphore from a militarie Ensigne and saith That Christ our Sauior that suffered on the Crosse and died for our sinnes and rose againe for our saluation shall gather together those that are dispersed through the foure corners of the earth Which is all one with that of Saint Iohn who said That he was not only to die for his People Sed vt Filios Dei qui dispersi erant congregaret in vnum But that he might gather together into one the children of God that were dispersed Into one that is into one Church by Faith Signum non dabitur nisi signum Ionae God did not graunt vnto them that which they desired for God will not be propitious in yeelding to our desires when they are to turne to our owne hurt Moses desired that he might see his face but God told him Faciem meam videre non poteris Hee will not giue what thou wilt demand one while because it may cost thee thy life another while because God shall no sooner turne his back but like the children of Israell thou wilt presently fall adoring the golden Calfe Saint Paul did desire freedom from his fetters those torments which hee indured But he was told Thou knowest not what thou askest for Virtus in infirmitate perficitur In a word God doth denie vs many things in his Mercie which he will grant vnto vs in his Anger as the imperfect Author noteth it In corde terrae tribus diebus tribus noctibus In the Heart of the Earth three days and three nights Beda and Euthimius vnderstand by the Heart of the earth the Sepulchre or Graue of our Sauiour Christ. And many of our Commentators make this exposition though others misinterpreting it inferre from thence that our Sauiour Christ did not descend to the lower-most partes of the earth contrarie to that of Saint Paul denying that Article of our Faith Descendit ad inferos Now in that he ascended what is it sayth the same Apostle but that hee had also descended first into the lowest parts of the Earth yet those two interpretations may bee verie well accorded forasmuch as that the Bodie remained in the graue and the Soule descended Vsque ad inferos And for the better proofe hereof it is to bee noted that it is not spoken of any other that dyed saue onely of our Sauiour that hee was in the Heart of the Earth Besides it is an vsuall phrase amongst the Hebrewes to call the Heart
them that this Tempest was miraculous Gods prouidence had before hand prouided a Whale readie to receiue Ionas and when as he thought he should haue beene swallowed vp in the Deepe and that the waters should enter into his soule crying out in his meditations Pelagus â—peruit me vestes terrâ— concluserunt me The â—â—ouds compassed mee about all thy surges and all thy waues passed ouer me c. Then did the Whale open his mouth then when in his affliction he cried vnto the Lord I am cast away out of thy sight the waters compassed me about vnto the soule the depth closed mee round about and the weeds were wrapped about my head then euen then did the Whale open his mouth and swallowing him vp whole into his bellie defended him from the jawes of death Ionas being herein like vnto a delinquent whom the Gaoler takes into his custodie to secure his person Iob saith That God hath girt in the sea on the one side with mountaines and valleys Circumdedit illud terminis suis and on the other side with sand Posuit arenam terminum Maris And as Ionas was shut vp in the Whales bellie as in a prison so was the Whale inclosed in that prison of the Sea Nunquid Mare ego sum aut Caete Am I a Sea or a Whale fish that thou keepest mee in ward Now if God had both before and behind on this side and that side pitcht so many nets for Ionas hee could verâ—e hardly escape him his flying could not saue him but in this Whales maw contrarie to all the lawes of Nature God maintaines and preserues his life If the stomacke of a Whale will digest an anchor of Yron as Tertullian tells vs it must then of force consume Ionas and if instead of aire he drawes in water he must necessarily be choaked But he that deliuered Daniel from the hungrie mouths of Lyons and those three children from the flames of the firie Furnace it is not much that hee should conserue Ionas in the deepest and darkest dungeon that euer liuing man was clapt vp in The wonder was that though himself were prisoner yet he had left vnto him so free an vnderstanding that hee was able to make so elegant an oration to God out of so foule a Pulpit The Prophet did dwell vpon this great miracle which God had vsed towards him and did recouer so much strength and confidence that he stucke not to say Rursus videbo templum sanctum tuum Yet will I looke againe toward thy holy temple I liue in good hope not onely to see my selfe freed out of this loathsome Gaole but to humble my selfe on my knee in thy holy Temple giuing thee thankes for the great mercie and fauour which thou hast shewed towards me For the present I will make this sluttish corner my Oratorie assuring my selfe that from thence my prayers shall be acceptable vnto thee who like some great Prince or Monarch of the world is respected in any place whatsoeuer of thy jurisdiction so that there is no doubt that any thy poorest vassall whatsoeuer may bee heard by thee The Children of Babylon were heard from the Furnace Daniel from the Lyons Den Iob from the Dunghill Dauid from amiddest the Thornes and Bushes And so I make no question but I shall be from the bowells of this Beast In omni loco dominationis eius benedic anima mea Domino O my soule blesse the Lord in euerie place of his power These three dayes Ionas spent in prayer at the end whereof God commanded the Whale to cast out Ionas vpon the Coast of Niniuy And the Whale obaying his Empire crost the Seas many Leagues and there threw the Prophet forth vpon drie Land though full of froathie slime and vnctuous stuffe free from the horror of that deepe and darkesome dungeon From hence did the Gentiles faigne those their fabulous tales of Hercules beeing swallowed vp by another Whale of Arion playing on his harpe riding on the backe of a Dolphine For as it is noted by Clemens Alexandrinus and Saint Basil the Heathen Philosophers did steale these truths from vs founding thereupon their falshoods And giuing credit to their lyes they did not beleeue our truths Many of the Niniuites comming downe to the shoare-side were strucken with admiration to see such a monstrous strange prodigious man and the fame thereof flying to the Citie before they were affrighted with the sad news that hee brought they stood astonished at the strangenesse of the case which questionlesse was a great cause that they did afterwards harken vnto him and giue creditto what he said In the end taking this for his Theame Adhuc quadraginta dies Niniue sâ—â—uertetur â—et forty dayes and Niniuie shall bee ouerthrowne Not threatning onely the ruine of the Citie but also of the Towers Walls Pallaces Citizens Children Women and Old men euen to the very beasts of the field so great was the feare that entred into all their breasts that without any further Miracles laying their beleefe vpon the Prophet they presently gaue beginning to that their great repentance which was the strangest that euer was yet heard of The King layd aside his purple roabes and his rich and costly clothes the throan of his Greatnesse Maiestie and couered himselfe with sacke-cloth and â—ate in ashes causing his clothes of State to bee pulled downe his walls of his pallace to be left naked of their hangings of cloth of Gold and other peeces of Arras beeing no lesse curious than glorious For Sardanapalus was one of the loosest and most licentious men that hee had not his like in all the World The like did all the great Officers of his Pallace the Princes and Wealthyest men of his Citie as also all the faire and beautifull Ladies And there was a Proclamation presently made through all Niniuie by the Councell of the King and his Nobles with expresse charge That neither man nor beast bullocke nor sheep should tast any thing neither feed nor drinke water but that man and beast should put on sack-cloth and cry mightily vnto God To the end that the bellowing of their bulls the bleating of their sheepe goats the howling of their dogs the teares of their children the sighes lamentations of their mothers might mooue Heauen to take pitie of them And aboue all they did cry out most grieuously for their sinnes For albeit they are offences towards God yet are they miseries vnto man and as quatenus peccata so farre foorth as they are sinnes they prouoke and stirre vp Gods Iustice against vs So quatenus they are miseriae as they are miseries vnto vs they incline and mooue our good God to take mercie compassion of vs. The same reason which wrought God to destroy the World the same likewise mooued him neuer to destroy it more Cogitatio hominis prona est ad malum Mans thoughts are proâ—e vnto euill One while hee considers it as an offence vnto
sixe for their dowrie and being so due a debt as it was hee went so long deferring the payment thereof that if God had not taken his part he might haue returned home for ought I know with the staffe that he brought with him Mutasti mercedem meam decem vicibuâ— Thou hast deceiued me and changed my wages ten times There is no honestie in such kind of dealing there are too many of these now a dayes but God amend them And so I commend you to God THE TENTH SERMON VPON THE FRYDAY AFTER THE FIRST SVNDAY IN LENT IOANNIS 5.1 Erat dies Festus Iudaeorum erat Hierusalem probatica piscina There was a Feast of the Iewes and there is at Ierusalem by the place of the Sheepe a Poole AMongst those many other Fish-pooles which belonged to Ierusalem besides those which Salomon had made for his own particular vse and pleasure Extruxi mihi Piscinas aquarum I made Cisternes of water c. this of all the rest was the most famous Iosephus calls it Stagnum Salomonis because it was built by this King neere vnto the Temple for the seruice of sacred things it was a Poole that was walled round about whereunto your heards and flockes of cattell could not come and some say That this was the place where the Priests hid the holy Fire which Nehemias afterwards found to bee conuerted into a thicke water It was walled round about and had fiue seuerall open porches full of diseased people some of one infirmitie and some of another This Hospitall ioyned to the backe of the Temple to shew that the poore haue no other prop in this life to vphold them saue Gods backe this must bee their strength hereunto must they leane it is our Sauiours shoulders that must not onely beare vs vp but our infirmities by taking them vpon himselfe In Saint Chrysostomes time the Hospitals were set apart from the Temples for feare of receiuing infection from those contagious diseases For the poore did lie like so many Dogges at the doores of Gods house A Theefe that he may the better enter that house where there are many doggs holds it his best course to stop their mouths with somthing or other We are all Theeues and that we may enter peaceably into Gods House there is no better meanes than to giue something to the poore which like so many Dogges lie at the gate Twice in the Old Testament hath God commanded That no man should petition him with emptie hands Non apparebis in conspectu meo vacuus And Saint Chrysostome expounding this place saith He enters emptie handed who comming to craue something of God doth not first bestow an Almes vpon the poore according to that rule of our Sauior Christ What yee shall doe to one of these little ones c. Citing likewise for confirmation of this Doctrine that place of Ecclesiasticus Ante Orationem prepara animam tuam Before thou prayest prepare thy self c. When thou hast enough remember the time of hunger and when thou art rich thinke vpon pouertie and need To shew pittie to the poore he termes it Animae preparationem A preparing of the soule And it is not much that God should take pleasure therein seeing men are so well pleased therewith I will appease him with gifts saith Iacob when he went forth to meet his brother Esau. And Ester comming before Assuerus to beg a boone at his hand it is said That one of her maids of Honour bare vp her arme and the other her traine This is a Type of Prayer accompanied with Fasting and Almes-deeds which two are able to negotiate any thing with God and where there is such an Ester there is not any Assuerus though neuer so great who will not bow the Scepter of his mercie towards her Ecclesiasticus saith Giue an almes to the poore and it shall entreat for thee and preuaile There is in Ierusalem by the place of the Sheepe a Poole God did honour his Temple with this Poole where there was a perpetuall prouision for health and it was a prouidence full of conueniencie that God should conferre his fauours where his name is praysed and that Man should receiue them there where hee praiseth him Te decet Hymnus Deus in Syon tibi reddetur votum in Hierusalem In Syon ô Lord they sing Hymnes vnto thee in Ierusalem they make their vowes Open in these places the hands of thy bountie Et replebimur in bonis domus tuae And we shall bee filled with the good things of thy house Amongst other fauours which God promised to his house this was one In loco isto dabopacem â—n that place I will grant thee peace The name of Peace intimateth all manner of good things whatsoeuer here art thou to beg and here to receiue the granting of thy petitions And for this cause God calls his house the house of Prayer which is ordained to begge those things of God which we stand in need of and to praise him for what he giues and we receiue The Court is the Worlds Epitome an abreuiation or short abridgement of this greater Vniuerse for that it hath in it whatsoeuer is dispersed throughout the face of the earth And this Poole is a figure of the Court First of all in this Poole there are a great many of sicke diseased persons those of verie foule and filthie diseases blind wasted in their bodies benumm'd withered lame and maimed Iacere To lie in Scripture is spoken of those that are dead as it appeareth in Exodus in the Booke of Tobias and so of those that lie at the point of death as likewise of Lazarus when he lay at Diues his gate So saith Saint Iohn in this place Multitudo languentium iacebaâ— i. There lay a great multitude of sicke men In the Court there are a great many that lie sicke of diuers and sundrie diseases of the Soule an Apoplexy seiseth vpon all the sences of the bodie one pretension or other possesseth the sences of the bodie and the faculties of the Soule and vpon all whatsoeuer belongs vnto man as his honour his wealth his conscience and truth c. This man came to the Poole benumm'd and at the end of thirtie eight yeares was more benumm'd than at first and if our Sauiour Christ had not helped him it is probable he would haue perished Many come to the Court to recouer themselues of an infirmitie that followes them called Pouertie and after many yeares trauell and paines taking they prooue poorer than before and oft die of that disease whereas if they had bin contented with their former meane estate they might perhaps not haue died so soone And although they get the Office they pretend yet doe they neuer come to be rich because their profits doe not equall their charges Seneca saith That if these men would haue taken councell of those who haue tryed this poole some few yeares they would alter their mind If
of this present World which will by no meanes admit of any Ministers of State but such as they themselues shall nominate or as if they were creatures of their making shall wholly depend vpon them But the Spirit of God made answer vnto Ioshuah by the mouth of Moses Quid aemularis pro me Enuiest thou for my sake and addeth anon after Would to God all the Lords people were Prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit vpon them So that men are neuer wanting for to gouern a Commonwealth but eys of charitie and discretion to distinguish of those that are fit and to make a good and iudicious choice Tolle grabatum tuum ambula Take vp thy bed and walke Our Sauiour here commands him That he should shake off his former idlenesse and sloathfulnesse Hora surgendi My son saith Ecclesiasticus hast thou slept long in sinne awake and rouse vp thy selfe and doe so no more but pray for thy foresinnes that they may be forgiuen thee The second thing to be noted is That our Sauiour said vnto him Arise take vp thy bed and walke one maine reason whereof was That it might appeare that new strength was put into him being growne able on the sudden to beare his bed vpon his backe The other That none might presume that it was the Angell that had wrought this cure vpon him Thirdly To take all cauelling from the enuious for the disauowing of this miracle and that the World might praise and publish the same Vt miraculum videretur saith Saint Augustine nemo simâ—latum opinaretur For this cause he willed those baskets of broken bread meat to be kept when hee fed so many thousands with so little prouision And him that he healed of his Leaprosie that hee should go and present himselfe to the Priests Taking the like course with diuers others holding them as necessarie diligences for the auerring of these his miracles considering what a captioâ—â— and incredulous kind of people he was to deale withall Et statim factus est sanus homo ille And presently the man was made whole It is an easie thing with God to inrich him that is poore in an instant Vpon one only Dixit in the creation presently followed a Facta sunt Creauit omnia simul He created all things at once saith Wisdome so in the reparation of this poore man it is said Statìm sanus factus est homo ille He was presently made whole He said vnto Martha Resurget frater tuus Thy brother shall rise againe Whereunto she answered I know that he shall rise againe in the resurrection at the last day Christ might take this ill as a wrong done vnto the loue which he bare to Lazarus That shee should thinke him so neglectfull of his friend as to let his fauor towards him be so long in comming Saint Chrysostome saith That your bad Physitions are the Butchers of a Commonwealth and your good the Botchers of mans life who patch and mend it making this fleshie cloathing of ours and this our rotten carkasse to hold out as long as it can But God who is his Arts-master and a wondrous nimble Workman made this sicke man so perfectly whole and so instantly strong that hee was able to take his bed vpon his backe and walke And if by this he shewed that hee did now fully enioy health of bodie in his going streightway to the Temple hee made good proofe of his Soules health Which is no more than what S. Austen doth infer vpon those words which our Sauiour afterwards said vnto him Now sinne no more c. Saint Augustine vpon this our Sauiours healing of this man alone saith That herein he seemed somewhat too sparing and too niggardly to those other that had need of his helpe Wherunto I answer first of all That for those things which our Sauior Christ did or did not the wit of man cannot be a competent Iudge Secondly That this was a meere act of his mercie and not to be questioned Besides health perhaps to the rest might haue proued hurtful vnto them though not to their bodies yet to their soules Thirdly Tertullian saith That the operation of the Fish-poole beeing now to cease and loose iâ—'s vertue That our Sauiour by curing him who was the longest the most sicke amongst them gaue thereby an induction entrance to all that were sicke to come and repaire to him for helpe As if hee should haue sayd He that desires to be made whole from hence forward let him goe no more to the Fish-poole nor stay there expecting the Angells comming for when hee comes he heals but one at once but come you all vnto me I shal heale you al. Tolle grabatum Take vp thy bed This would seeme to be too heauie a burthen for him A man would haue thought that it had beene enough for him to haue beene punished with thirtie eight yeres keeping of his bed without being put now at last to beare it on his backe But if God can giue such great strength to so weake a man that the burthen of his bedding seemes no weightier than a straw the heuier it is the lighter it is especially if God shall put but the least helpe of his little finger thereunto Da quod jubes jube quod vis Giue what thou commandest and command what thou pleasest Secondly Christ here sets before vs a modell and pattern of true repentance before with a Iacebat He lay all forlorn now with a Surge he walkes sound vpright before he was torpens stupefactuâ— benumm'd and stupefied now he was in his ambulare walke before his bed did beare him and now hee beares his bed Tolle grabatum tuum This was to signifie That he was to run a contrary course to that he did before and to tread out the prints of his forepassed sinnefull life So that according to Chrysologus that which heretofore was a witnesse of his â—nfirmitie shall henceforth be a testimonie of his health Vniuersum eius stratum â—ersasti in infirmitate eius Thou turnedst his bed topsituruie first this way then â—hat way till thou hadst made it more easie for him Thou changest saith Geneâ—rard his weakenesse into strength and his sicknesse into health it was before a â—ick bed now a sound one before a bed of sorrow now of joy before a bed of sinne now of teares This Miracle was the Fermentum Leuen of the death of our Sauior Christ for picking a quarell with him vpon this occasion they resolued to kill him and this their intention dayly encreased as oft as they called to mind this action of his And therefore he afterwards said vnto them as Saint Iohn reports it in his seuenth Chapter Vnum opus feci omnes admiramini sanè I haue done one worke and yee all meruaile I heale a poore sicke man on the Sabboth day and yee all blesse your selues as though I had a Deuill
Hierosolimitanus saith That not onely his face did shine but all his whole bodie Saint Austen Quod caro illuminata per vestimenta radiabat For it was not fit as Lyra hath it that his garment should shine and not his hands His face shined like the Sunne Who would haue thought that behind so poore a vaile there should bee found such great treasure But it passeth so likewise in this world that he that seemeth most poore is oftentimes most rich and he that seemeth most rich is most poore The greatnesse of Rome Saint Iohn painteth forth in the forme of a woman clothed in Purple bedecked with pretious stones and in her hand a sprig of Gold but that which did not appeare to the eyes was all abhomination filthinesse and beastlinesse The Altars of Aegypt were euery one of them a Treasure-house of Pearles pretious Stones Gold Iewells and Silkes but in euerie one of these their Altars they had a Toad or a Serpent The Mezquita or Turkish Temple that honoureth the bones or Reliques of Mahomet is stored with that infinite riches that you would take him to be some great God whereas indeed he is but vn çancarron de vn puerco but the withered leg of a Hog a base borne fellow and of no worth in the world The Idols of the Gentiles though neuer so much gilded ouer with Gold are no better than stockes and stones One said in the Apocalyps I am rich and stand in need of nothing But it was answered him from Heauen Thou art poore and much to be pittied These are ordinarily the stampes of your powerfull persons and great Princes of this world that seeming to be as bright as the Sunne in their bodies are as blacke as a cole in their soules But those that are the Saints of God carrying a besmeered countenance and a patcht garment beare in their soules the Sunne Sicut Tabernacula Cedar sicut pellis Salomonis Rich within though poore without Et ecce aparuerunt Moses Elias And behold Moses and Elias appeared On Moses his part there is a strong reason Amongst the Assei it was a receiued opinion which those now follow whom wee call Atheists That the Soules did die together with the bodies And it seemeth that Cicero did fauour the same when he said in his Amicitia Sicut in morte nihil est boni sic certè nihil est mali As there is no good so there is no hurt in death That couetous rich man in the Gospell was surely of this opinion in his life time but being put out of this his errour in that other life he presently desired Abraham to send one in all hast from the dead to preach vnto his kindred that they might forsake this their errour but hee receiued this short answer Habent Moysen Prophetas They haue Moses and the Prophets Where there is Scripture there is no need of miracles And Saint Peter saith That Prophecie hath more assurance in it than the euidence of miracles This is a truth hard to be vnderstood First Because a miracle as Saint Hierome saith is as it were the Apostolicall Seale and the Apostles did confirme their Faith by miracles and those miracles that were prophecied of our Sauiour Christ heretofore did declare him to be the Sonne of God Saint Augustine treating at large vpon this place saith That Prophecies and Miracles haue one and the selfe same certitude because they proceed from one and the selfe same God but that Prophecie is the stronger and more forcible of the two for a Miracle may bee found fault withall as the Pharisees did with that Miracle of him that was possessed with a Deuil telling our Sauiour In Belzebub the Prince of Deuills thou doost cast out Deuills And that same Pythonisse made the Deuill to appeare in the forme of Samuel But Abraham tells Diues They haue Moses and the Prophets And no man can taxe the Scripture or challenge it of any fault Saint Chrysostome askes the question Why he did not fetch some of the Damned out of Hell First of all he answereth thereunto That we haue many pictures of Hel in this life but of Heauen very few For although that the World be as it were the Entresuelo or middle roome of these two extreames Heauen and Hell yet more are the fumes vapours that ascend vp from beneath than those gustos contents which descend from aboue There were a sort of Heretickes that denied there was a Hell it seeming vnto them that the life of a Sinner was a Hell of it selfe and that it stood not with Gods mercie that there should be two Hels alledging that of Nahum Godiudgeth not one and the same thing twice Secondly God to many of his friends discouered the torments of Hell and many of his enemies haue beene visibly snatcht away thither And those Aetna's of fire which are in the world though happely engendred by particular causes are as it were symboles representing vnto vs that eternall fire Thirdly It is an vsuall fashion with God to discouer the reward and to conceale the chastisement for that man would bee ashamed that others should see him punished God did shut the port of Noahs Arke without and hung the key at his owne girdle because hee should not haue any desire to see that lamentable deluge and generall destruction of mankind He charged Lots wife that shee should not so much as looke towards Sodome that she might not behold those flames which did voice out Gods vengeance At the end of the world at that dreadfull day of judgement when God shall shew himselfe most angrie the Sun and the Moone shall be darkened because God will haue his chastisements inflicted in the darke Fourthly Hope doth worke more generous effects in our brests than Feare It cannot be denied but that Feare hath verie powerfull effects Herod for feare of loosing his Kingdome made that butcherly slaughter of so many innocent Babes not sparing his owne children For feare of loosing his Citie the King of Moab was his owne sonnes hangman quitting him of his life vpon the wall For feare of dying by the cruell hands of hunger many mothers haue eaten the birth of their owne bowells For feare least they should be made captiues and led in triumph by their enemies many valiant men haue made an end of themselues And for that Feare doth not onely extend it selfe to an absent good as well as Hope but likewise to a present and for that to loose the present good which a man possesseth causeth a greater sorrow than to loose the good which we doe but hope for it seemeth that Feare is more powerfull than Hope Yet notwithstanding all this Antiquitie hath giuen the Palme to Hope and the reasons on that side are verie cleere The first If Feare come to effect great things it is by the helpe and fauor of Hope for there cannot be any feare without hope of escaping the ill or the danger that
left this Balsamum for the annointing and curing of it Which was a great Excesse Dauid called him a Worme a Scoffe a Taunt and the Reproch of the People for that whilest he liued in the world he tooke vpon him all the affronts and contempts that man could cast vpon him And because there is not any loue comparable to that of our Sauiour Christ nor all the loues in the world put together can make vp such a perfect loue as also for that there was not any affront like vnto his nor all the affronts of the world could equall the affronts that were offered vnto him that on the one side hee should loue so much on the other suffer so much this was a great Excesse Nazianzen seeing vs swallowed vp in this sea of miseries vseth a kind of Alchimie by ioyning his greatnesse with our littlenesse his powerfulnesse with our weakenesse his fairenesse with our foulenesse his beautie with our deformitie his riches with our pouertie the gold of his Diuinitie with the durt of our Flesh And as the greater drawes the lesser after it so our basenesse did ascend to an heigth of honour And this was a great Excesse but farre greater to esteeme this Excesse as a Glorie whence the Saints of God haue learned to stile Tribulation and the Crosse Glorie Secondly This Excesse may be termed Glorie because it was the most glorious action that God euer did For what could be greater than to see Death subdued Life restored the Empire of sinne ouerthrowne the Prince thereof dispossessed of his Throne Iustice satisfied the World redeemed and Darknes made Light Thirdly It may be said to be Glorie because that by this his death a thousand Glories are to follow thereupon Propter qoud Deus exaltauit illum c. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him and giuen him a name aboue euerie name that at the name of Iesus should euerie knee bow both of things in heauen and things in earth and things vnder the earth And this was the reward of his obedience and of his death And the reason thereof was that the World seeing it selfe captiuated by so singular a benefit men should make little reckoning either of their goods or their liues for this his exceeding loue towards them but desire in all that they can to shew themselues thankefull And therefore Esay cries out O that thou wouldest breake the Heauens and come downe and that the Mountaines might melt at thy presence c. What a great change and alteration wouldest thou see in the world thou wouldst see Mountaines that is hearts that are puffed vp with pride humbled and laid leuell with the ground Thou wouldst see Waters that is brests that are cold and frozen boyle with the fire of Zeale and wholly employ themselues in thy seruice And in his sixtieth Chapter treating of the profits and benefits which we shall receiue by Christs comming he saith For brasse will I bring gold and for yron will I bring siluer and for wood brasse and for stones yron I will also make thy gouernment peace and thine exactours righteousnesse Violence shall no more be heard of in thy Land neither desolation nor destruction within thy Borders but thou shalt call Saluation thy Walls and praise thy Gates The Lord shal bee thine euerlasting Light and thy God thy Glorie Bonum est nos hic esse c. It is better being here than in Ierusalem let vs therefore make here three Tabernacles c. Saint Gregorie calls Honour Tempestatem intellectus i. The vnderstandings Storme or Tempest in regard of the danger it driues man into and the easinesse wherewith in that course he runnes on to his destruction Si dederit mihi Dominus panem ad vescendum c. It was Iacobs speech vnto God after that he had done that great fauour of shewing a Ladder vpon earth whose top reached vp to Heauen you know the Storie but the vow that hee vowed vnto God was this If God will be with me and will keepe me in this journey that I goe and will giue me bread to eat and cloathes to put on then shall the Lord be my God and I shall neuer forget this his kindnesse towards me More loue a man would haue thought he might haue shewn towards God if he had promised to serue though he had giuen him neither bread to eat nor cloathes to put on But Saint Chrysostome saith That he seeing in this vision of his the prosperitie that God was willing to throw vpon him did acknowledge the thankefull remembrance of this his promised hoped for happines For Prosperitie is euermore the comparison of Obliuion Saint Bernard expounding that place of Dauid Man being in honour hath no vnderstanding saith That the prosperitie wherein God placed man robbed him of his vnderstanding and made him like vnto the Beasts that perish And here now doth Saint Peter loose his memorie Nor is this a thing so much to be wondred at for if there be such riches here vpon earth that they robbe a man of his vnderstanding and alienate him from himselfe if the sonne that is borne of a mother who hath suffered great paines in the bringing of him forth Iam non meminit praessurae hath forgotten his mothers throwes and thinkes not on the wombe that bore him if the great loue of this world and the prosperitie thereof can make vs so farre to forget our selues it is no strange thing that we should be farre more transported and carried away with heauenly things Dauid following the pursuit of his pleasures amidst all the delights of this life he cries out Onely thy glorie can fill me that only can satisfie me Remigius vnfolds this verse of the glorie of the Transfiguration and it may be that this Kingly Prophet did see it by the light of Prophecie And if so fortunate a King as he was did forget all those other goods that he enioyed and saith That hee desires no other good nor no other fulnesse What meruaile is it that a poore Fisherman should bee forgetfull of good or ill And as hee that is full fed likes nothing but what is the cause of this his fulnesse reckoning all other meats soure though they be neuer so sweet so he that shall once come to tast of that good will say No maâ— bien I desire no other good but this What sayth Saint Paul Sed noâ— c. But we also which haue the first fruits of the Spirit euen wee doe sigh in our selues waiting for the adoption euen the redemption of our bodie c. Though Paul enioyed the first fruits of the Spirit and extraordinarie regalos and fauours yet hee groaned and trauelled in paine for Heauen What saith Saint Chrysostome Is thy soule become a Heauen and doost thou yet groane for Heauen Do not thou meruaile that I groan hauing seene that in Heauen which I haue seen QuoniaÌ„ raptus fuiâ—â— Paradisum I see the good which the
proclaime them as we say at the Crosse. Leaue this care to God for he will bring them to light in their due time when they shal make for thy honour and his glorie Elias was verie carefull that no man should know of his departure nay he sought to hide it from Elisha saying vnto him in Gilgall Sede hic c. Tarrie here I pray thee for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel But Elisha said As the Lord liueth and as thy soule liueth I will not leaue thee And hee was scarce come to Bethell but the childeren of the Prophets that were at Bethell came out to Elisha and said vnto him Knowest thou that the Lord will take thy master from thine head this day Noui silete Yea I know it said he hold yee your peace Elias afterwards departed for Ierico intreating Elisha that hee would tarrie behind promising him that he would presently returne vnto him but he could not persuade Elisha vnto it They were scarce come to Ierico but the sonnes of the Prophets acquainted him with the like newes to whom he answered as before Noui silete In the end going for Iordan Elisha still followed him and fifty of the sonnes of the Prophets so that the more Elias sought to conceale this businesse the more God made it knowne by reuealing it as Tostatus hath obserued to the sons of the Prophets And Elias desiring that they should not see this his Chariot of fire and his Triumph one only God made many witnesses of his glorie Neminem viderunt nisi solum Iesum Onely in Christ Iesus are our hopes secured Men will accompany you whilest the glorie of your prosperitie lasteth but that beeing ended you shall find no man that will sticke vnto you Woe vnto him that is alone for if he fall hee shall haue none to helpe him vp And this is truly verified of those who trust on the world or haue any confidence in man Weigh and consider with thy selfe what a number of friends Ierusalem had in it's prosperitie how readie to seru◠her and to court her loue but when Ierusalem began to fall and when she had most need of her friends Ieremie complaineth Shee had not so much as one friend to be her comforter The God of all comfort vphold vs with his euerlasting loue that we may not perish in this wrold nor in the world to come THE TWELFTH SERMON VPON THE MVNDAY AFTER THE SECOND SVNDAY IN LENT IOHN 8.21 Ego vado quaeretis me I goe my way and yee shall seeke me THe Scribes and Pharisees were offended at the fauour which in affront of their authoritie our Sauiour had shewne to the Adulteresse saying Let him that is among you without sinne cast the first stone at her They had made some threatning offers as men that thought themselues much wronged by him to take away his life but because his houre was not yet come no man laid hands on him Whereupon our Sauiour said vnto them Ego vado Why seeke yee thus after my life I goe my way I am he whom willingly and of myne owne accord offer my selfe vnto death your armes were not strong enough to hold me if it were in my desire to make resistance but when I am dead yee shall seeke mee For the Iewes vsed continually to cal for their Messias and did earnestly long after him expecting then his comming when as hee was alreadie come and for that this hope of theirs was hopelesse he saies vnto them Yee shall die in your sinnes your death shall differ much from mine for I shall goe one way and you another Whither I goe yee cannot come Your inferiour Ministers did presume That our Sauiour out of a desperate humour would needs liue among the Gentiles as hee that goes to Morocco to turne Moore the Pharisees they thought that he would goe destroy himselfe What meaneth this man to say Whither I goe yee cannot come Will he kill himselfe Vnto which vnmannerly speech our Sauiour replied Yee are from beneath I am from aboue yee are of this world I am not of this world I haue told yee alreadie That except ye beleeue that I am he yee shall die in your sinnes not onely in that of incredulitie but in all those other which ye shall commit for without faith in him who I am there is no remission of sinnes c. I goe my way and yee shall seeke me This phrase of speech our Sauior Christ did often vse to shew That hee died meerely out of his owne proper will and pleasure O Lord said Abraham I shall be verie willing to die without leauing any children behind me seeing that thou wilt haue it so Eusebius Emisenus to this purpose expoundeth those words which our Sauior vttered on the Crosse to his father In manus tuas Domine commendo Spiritum meum Into thy hands ô Lord I commend my Spirit Now Commendare is all one with Ponere I put not ô Lord my soule into the hands of death nor into those of my enemies for neither their whips nor their thorns nor their nayl◠nor their speare were able to take my life from me if I had not bin willing to surrender it vp into thy hands Seneca saith That a benefit consists not so much in the thing that is giuen as the good will wherewith it is giuen And therfore when the gift is small the greatnesse of it must be measured according to the goodnesse of the will The death of our Sauiour Christ was the greatest benefit that euer the world enioyed but the willingnesse wherewith he laid downe his life for vs was farre greater Maiorem Charitatem c. Greater loue hath no man than this that a man layes downe his life for his friend But heare now the wofullest the heauiest and most lamentable case that can possibly fall within the compasse of thy imagination to wit That the death of his Sonne which God promised to the world as a Sea of mercies as a Heauen of hopes as a ransome of our slauerie and as a reparation of all our miseries he should now giue it as a threatning to this wretched and vnfortunate Nation and how taking his leaue of his Disciples in that Sermon of his last Supper with tender teares trickling down his eyes and with a great many other kind demonstrations of his loue hee should make such large promises vnto them after his death one of the chiefest whereof was Let not your heart be troubled for although I go from you yet shall I still remain with you Lo I am with you till the end of the world yet he should say now to the Pharisees Ego vado quaeretis me I depart away from you neuer to see you more O what a cruell blow was this O what a sad departure is this how comfortlesse and how hard to be endured If from him that is dangerously sicke the Physition shall goe his way who is able to cure
via veritatis We haue erred in the way of truth And if a man shall then see that hee hath lost fiftie yeares of good workes of Prayers Almes Fastings wherewith he thought to gaine and merit Heauen O how lamentable will that losse appeare when hee shall find that by them hee hath treasured vp more wrath against the day of vengeance more sorrow and more torment in Hell Quaeretis me Yee shall seeke me In the former Chapter hee added Non inuâ—nietis Yee shall not find me Ieremie hath the same and the reasons thereof are two The first Because he that seeketh sloathfully carelessely sildome or neuer findeth From the time that our Sauiour Christ was borne hee condemned this their sloathfulnesse The Kings came from the East to seeke him but the Pharisees would not step a foot out of doores to looke after him not hauing the light of one single Starre but of a thousand Prophecies In lapide luteo lapidatuâ— est piger stercore bonum lapidatus est piger The Greeke letter makes the sence more plaine for in stead of Lapidatus it reads Comparatus A sloathfull man is compared to a durtie stone or to the dung of an Oxe vnderstanding by these two any kind of loathsome filthinesse whatsoeuer which the hand of man will auoyd to touch which if it doe touch it is besmeered and fouled therewith The sloathfull man is no lesse odious for he that shall giue himselfe ouer vnto sloath shall be bemired in his wealth or in his honour and shal haue cause all the days of his life to weepe and complaine Two signes the Scripture sets downe of him that seekes God truly The one That hee seekes as earnestly to serue him as others desire to offend him The Spirit that dwelleth in you lusteth to enuie The Spirit is here taken in the better sence as appeareth by the Greeke Translation as also by that which followeth But he giueth more grace He saith then That the holy Ghost doth put enuie into our brests binding euerie Soule to labour for his saluation with enuie Saint Paul saith Spiritus sanctus postulat pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabilibus That is He makes vs to desire it with groanes So likewise he makes vs to desire our saluation with enuie that wee should haue the enuie of the worldly minded man and the care of the Theefe when hee goes about his thefts and his robberies The beastly Epicure hotly pursues his filthie pleasures the reuengeful man his reuenge Demosthenes did enuie a Smith that was his neighbour for that he rose vp so early to so base and foule an Occupation The Theefe watcheth all night to take a purse vpon the highway the Wanton waits nights and dayes at his mistresses window the reuengefull man will not slumber nor sleepe with the like care art thou to seeke after God The other signe If when thou seekest God thou meetest not with rest quietnesse it is a signe that thou hast not yet found him As the Needle rests in the North so our Soule rests in God Fecisti â—os Domine ad te inquietum est cor nostrum donec veniamus ad â—e We cannot haue our perfect rest and quiet in this life but he that doth enioy the same he hath it from God it comes from him But when our heart is troubled suffering continuall perturbations like the Needle in the Compasse till it be turned towards the North it is no good signe that wee haue found God as we should The second reason of thy not finding God is because thou doost not seeke him when he is to be found Esay preaching before Manasses said Seeke yee the Lord while hee may bee found call yee vpon him while hee is neere but this peruerse King as the Hebrewes report it did calumniate this his doctrine alledging That it was a great error in him to say that God could not at any time be found being that Moses had said What Nation is there so great that hath their Gods so nigh vnto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call vpon him for But the truth is That as there is a time for all things Omnia tempus habent so is there a time likewise to find God and a time not to find him the time that wee liue heere vpon Earth is no ill time for to find him For though in the Ages of man there is one time better than another none is so desperate and hopelesse but that he may bee found therein and of all the whole life of man it may bee verified Omnis qui quaerit inuenit Euerie one finds that seekes At the point of death it is no good time to seeke him not that hee that shall then truly seeke after him shall not find him but because it is a hard matter at that verie instant to performe true repentance as wee haue elsewhere declared And therefore the Scripture so often cries out vnto vs That yet while it is day we should hearken vnto him lest the night of death should suddenly ouertake vs. What saith Eccl. Ante mortem confiteri i. Confesse before thou die S. Austen expounds this place of confession of our sinnes And because no man should hope to do it in the time of his sicknesse when paines diuers other accidents diuert the Soule Eccles. addeth Viuus sanus c. Confesse thy selfe whilest thou art healthie and sound not when thou art halfe dead and therein shalt thou doe two notable things The one Thou shalt praise God The other Thou shalt glorie in his mercies After death is a desperate time for then the doore is shut to Confession to Repentance to Intercessions and to pardon A mortuo quasi nihil perijt confessio Saint Augustine reads it Quasi non sit the Greeke letter Tanquam à non existente When a mans life ends there is an end of all remedies And therefore Salomon said That a liuing Dog was better than a dead Lyon And Ieremie Giue glorie to the Lord your God before he cause darkenesse and before your feet stumble vpon the darke mountaines and while yee looke for light yee turne it into the shadow of death and make it grosse darkenesse A third reason why we doe not find God is because wee doe not perseuer in seeking him And therefore it is said Yee shall seeke me and shall not find me S Austen sayes That the Iewes did seeke after God three manner of wayes One By hoping after another Messias Another By persecuting him both in his life and in his death For that piercing of his bodie with a Speare did plainely proue now that he was dead what hatred they bore to him while he was aliue The third when they being besieged by Titus and Vespasian calling to mind that he had foretold them there should not be one stone left vpon another in Ierusalem many of them returned to our Sauiour Christ and sought after him
but with a very poore weake purpose They did inherit this euil condition of their forefathers and grandfathers of old who did neuer seeke God but when hee scourged them soundly for their sins And when that storme was past and their peace made they fell afresh to their former rebellions There are few men so past grace which doe not sometimes sigh for Heauen But the mischiefe of it is that these our sighes are quickly ouerblowne they doe not last with vs. In the darkest night there are some lightnings which breake through the clouds and cleare the ayre but in the end the darkenesse preuaileth In your duskiest cloudiest daies the Sun is woont to rush through the foggiest thickest clouds but new cloudes arising the Sunne retires himselfe and pulls in his head Saul by spurts did dart foorth many beames of light acknowledging that Dauid had done him many reall courtesies and that he had repayed him euill for good and had a purpose with himselfe vpon fits to fauor him and to honour him But the foggy clouds and mystie vapours of Enuy increasing more and more vpon him these light flashes were turned into darkenesse Balaam when King Balack sent vnto him to curse Gods people had verie good purposes and desires for a while within him He consulted with God in that businesse and knowing that it was his wil that he should not go dispatched those his messengers And the King sending others vnto him he told them That he would not go to that end if hee would giue him his house full of gold Doubtlesse these were good intensions had he continued still in the same mind But the clouds of couetousnesse did ouercast this light of his vnderstanding with so grosse a darkenesse that neither the Angel which stood before him with a naked sword in the way nor his beast which spake vnto him and turned aside could keepe him backe In peccato vestro moriemini Yee shall dye in your sinne There are great indeerings in the holy Scripture of the grieuousnesse of sinne and the hurt that comes thereby Anselmus sayth That he had rather fry without sin in the flames of Hel than with sin inioy Heauen Hee might well say so in regard of Hel. For although Saint Austen saith That one drop of the water of Paradise shall be sufficient to quench the flames of Hell yet shall it not be able to wash away the foulnesse of sinne Helias desired of God that he might dye vnder the Iuniper tree and yet he would not be rid of his life by Iezabell in regard of the sinne that tyrannicall Queen should haue committed so that euen in his mortall enemy so great an ill seemed intollerable vnto him In Scripture sinne is a cypher of all possible infelicitie and misfortune thaâ— can befall a man Saint Paul sayth That God made his Sonne sinne Him who knew no sinne hee made sinne for vs. For discharging vpon him the tempest of his wrath he made him of all other men the most miserable Nouissimum virâ—rum Iacob would not let Beniamin goe downe with his brethren to Aegypt Ioseph desiring to haue it so though Reuben had offered two of his owne sons as pledges for his safe return to the end that the good old man should haue the best securitie he could giue him Reuben sayd If he returne not Ero peccati reus I will be content to be condemned to all possible miseries whatsoeuer The like Bersabe was willing to say when she thought the raigne of her sonne Salomon should be troubled Shall I and my sonne Salomon bee counted Offenders Shall wee bee the out-casts of the world and be layd open to the vtmost of miserie The reason of all this harme is For that all possible ill that can be imagined is reduced vnto sinne as to it's Center Make a muster of all the enemies of Man as Death the Deuill the World the Flesh not any one of them nay not all of them together haue any the least power to hurt vs without sinne And therefore in our Lords prayer silencing all other our enemies only we beg of God that he would free vs from sinne But deliuer vs from euill Which howbeit some doe vnderstand it to be spoken of the Deuill yet as Saint Austen sayth he can but barke he cannot bite Onely sinne is able to doe both To this so great a hurt may be added another that is farre greater Which is obstinacie in sinne Iob painting out this euill sayth That the sinner taketh pleasure therein and that it seemeth sweet vnto him it is as pellets of Sugar to him vnder his tongue He first delights in the companie of sinne then hee marries himselfe vnto her and at last leaues her not till death them depart Parcet illi non derelinquet The seuentie read it Non parcet illi non derelinquet hee will excuse no occasion no diligence no trouble His desire thereof is insatiable There is no kind of sinne be it of Sloath or Reuenge or Couetousnesse that is continually beating vpon our actions But our thoughts are euermore hammering of wickednesse like the Smith that giues a hundred blowes vpon his Anuill and two vpon his yron or like the Barbar that makes more snips in the ayre than on the haire The Pharisees did crucifie our Sauiour Christ but once in the verie deed and act of his death but in their desires in their thoughts they had crucified him a thousand times But that we may giue the obstinacie of this people it 's full qualification we must make a briefe recapitulation of those meanes which God vsed for to mollifie their hardnesse First of all he tooke it to his charge to cure it with his Doctrine his Miracles and the Prophecies of their Prophets Well this would doe no good with them and many dyed in this their obstinacie Next he comes amongst them in his owne person taking vpon him the name and office of a Phisition Purgationem peccatorum faciens Making a purge for sinne He was willing to haue ministred Phisicke to the Iewes and with the sweet and comfortable syrrop of his Word to haue eased them of their griefes and to haue cured all the infirmities of their bodies as the sicke of the Palsey for eight and thirtie yeares together the Blind that were borne blind and such as were possessed with Deuils and the like Being willing also to haue cleansed their soules from all kind of vncleannesse But at last hee was faine to giue them ouer their diseases were growne so desperate remitting them ad hospitalium incurabilium as men without hope of recouerie For as in the body there are some sickenesses so mortall that though the sicke bee capable of health yet the malignity of the humour maketh the Phisition to despaire therof So likewise in the soule there are some diseases so mortall that through the great malignity of them and the sharpenesse of the humour the
liued to bee the Yron Age. But I say That this present Age which we now inioy is the happiest that euer our Church had For in those former times those that were the learnedest and the holiest men fled into the Desarts and hid themselues in Caues that they might not bee persecuted with Honours For they had no sooner notice of a holy man albeit he liued coopt vp in a corner but that they forced him thence clapping a Miter on his head and other dignities And there are verie strange Histories of this truth But to all those that liue now in these times I can giue them these glad tydings That they may inioy their quiet and sit peaceably at home in their priuat lodgings resting safe and secure that this trouble shall not come to their doores for now a dayes onely fauour or other by-respects of the flesh haue prouided a remedie for this euill Non est meum dare vobis It lies not in me to giue you Christ would rather seeme to lessen somewhat of his power than to lessen any thing of his loue And therefore he doth not say I will not doe it for that would haue beene too foule and churlish a word in the mouth of so mild a Prince and he should thereby haue done wrong to his own will who desires that all might haue such seats as they did sue to sit in Saint Ambrose vnfoldeth our Sauiours meaning Bonus Dominus maluit dissimulare de jure quam de charitate deponere He had rather they should question his right than his loue The selfe same Doctor saith That he made choice rather of Iudas than any other though to man it might seeme that hee therein wronged his wisedome for the World might from thence take occasion to say That he did not know how to distinguish of men being that he had made choyce of such an Apostle But this was done out of his especiall prouidence saith Saint Ambrose in fauour of his loue For he being in our opinion to runne the hazard of his wisedome or his loue he had rather of the two suffer in his wisedome for no man could otherwise presume of him but that he loued Iudas The History of Ionas proues this point who refused to go to Niniuie it seeming vnto him that both God and himselfe should as Nazianzen saith be discredited in the world But he willed him the second time That he should go to Niniuie and that he should preach vnto them Yet fortie dayes and Niniuie shall be ouerthrowne At last hee was carried thither perforce whither hee would or no And the reason why God carried this businesse thus was That if afterwards hee should not destroy this Citie he might happely hazard the opinion of his power but not of his loue The like is repeated by Saint Chrysostome Ionas did likewise refuse to goe to Niniuie that he might not at last be found a Lyer esteeming more the opinion of his truth than of his loue Hence ariseth in the Prelats and the Princes this word Nolumus Wee will not haue it so which sauours of too much harshnesse and tyrannie Sic volo sic jubeo sit pro ratione voluntas Their will is a Law vnto them But he that shall make more reckoning of the opinion of his willingnesse and of his loue than of his power and his wisedome will say Non possum I cannot it is not in my power to doe it It grieues mee to the verie heart and I blush for shame that I am not able to performe your desire Which is a great comfort for him that is a suitor when hee shall vnderstand that his Petition is not denied out of disaffection but disabilitie When Naboth was to bee sentenced to death the Iudges did proclaime a Fast And Abulensis saith That it was a common custome amongst the Iudges in those dayes whensoeuer they did pronounce the sentence of death against an Offendor to the end to giue the World to vnderstand That that mans death did torment and grieue their Soule For to condemne a man to death with a merrie and cheerefull countenance is more befitting Beasts than Men. When our Sauiour Christ entred Hierusalem in Triumph the ruine of that famous Citie representing it selfe vnto him hee shed teares of sorrow Doth it grieue thee ô Lord that it must be destroyed Destroy it not then I cannot doe so for that will not stand with my Iustice. O Lord doe not weepe then I cannot choose And why good Lord Because it will not stand with my Mercie And that Iudge who euer hee be if hee haue any pittie in the world in him cannot for his heart bloud when hee sentenceth a Malefactor to some grieuous punishment or terrible torment but haue some meltingnesse in his eyes and some sorrow in his heart God so pierce our hearts with pittie and compassion towards our poore afflicted brethren that hauing a fellow-feeling of their miseries wee may finde fauour at his hands who is the Father of Pittie and onely Fountaine of all Mercie THE FIFTEENTH SERMON VPON THE THVRSEDAY AFTER THE SECOND SONDAY IN LENT LVC. 16. Homo quidam erat Diues induebatur Purpura Bysso There was a certaine rich man who was cloathed in Purple and fine Linnen AMongst those Parables which our Sauiour preacht some were full of pittie and loue others of feares and terrors some for noble brests others for base and hard hearts some had set vp for their marke the encouraging of our hopes others the increasing of our feares some seruing for comfort to the Godly and some for example to the Wicked That which wee are to treat of to day hath all these comforts for the Poore which liue in hunger and in want pined and consumed with miserie And threatnings for the Rich who say vnto their riches and their pleasures I am wholly yours There was a certaine rich man c. The first thing that he was charged withall is That he was rich Not because rich men are damned because they are rich but because he is damned who placeth his happinesse in them and makes them the onely aime of his desires And hence it commeth to passe that desired riches vsually prooue more hurtfull than those that are possessed for these sometimes doe not occupie the heart but those that are desired and coueted by vs doe wholly possesse it and lead it which way they list And therefore Dauid aduiseth vs not to set our hearts vpon them Hee that longeth and desireth to bee rich euen to imaginarie riches resigneth vp his heart Saint Paul did not condemne rich men but those that did desire to bee rich The Deuill sets a thousand ginnes and snares about those that haue set their desires vpon riches What greater snare than that pit-fall which was prepared as a punishment for Tantalus who standing vp to the chinne in water could yet neuer come to quench his thirst Non est satiatus venter eius His bellie was
with those that are peruerse and disobedient Chrysologus sets them forth in the Prodigall and reduceth them all to his turning Swineheard Our Sauiour Christ stiles Sinners with the name of Swine And this name doth more particularly appertaine to those that are sensuall persons The proportions are many First of all Any other Creature whatsoeuer is made tame gentle but the swine not in any other there is taken some pleasure or affection but in the Swine not any other will acknowledge the hand that feeds him but the Swine neuer it is the stampe of an obstinate harsh vnsauorie and desperate sinner Secondly In touching a Hogs either bristles or skinne hee presently falls a grunting as Geminianus hath noted it A Horse will suffer you to curry his coat and to kembe downe his mayn there are many other beasts that will giue a man leaue to handle stroke them but the Hog is no sooner toucht but he whines and the reason is because there is nothing either of profit or pleasure in him saue his flesh so that when you offer to lay hand on him he presently conceiues that you meane to kill him This is the picture of a Sinner that hath a guiltie conscience who being scarce toucht not with the whole hand but the least and lightest finger of Gods justice presently apprehends he is but a dead man Thirdly Your Swine especially your wilde Bores are of that strange quicknesse of sent that if the Huntsman meane to shoot at him he must take the wind of him or else he will wind him out and be gone Now on the contrarie they are not sencible of the ill sauour of a Dunghill nor the stench of mud and mire but rather take delight to lie wallowing therein esteeming it as a great recreation and refreshing vnto them This is the figure of a filthie foule Sinner who will flie a thousand leagues from the perills and dangers of his bodie but take pleasure and pastime in those muckhills and durtie puddles which defile the Soule And these kind of creatures your Worldlings cal their loue their joy their comfort and delight But Gods Dictionary termes them the loathsome sweetnesses and perbreaking pleasures ofSwine Fourthly In point of stinking nastinesse and all kind of beastly filthinesse a Swine is such a filthie thing that a slouenly fellow we commonly call him Puerco a verie Swine He would faine haue filled his bellie with the husks that the Swine eat but no man gaue them him There are many Pictures and Tables in Scripture in the Saints 〈◊〉 in the Doctors of the foulenesse and miserie of a Man without God Saint Gregorie compares him to a World without a Sunne couered with thicke Clouds to a bodie without a soule which though it be neuer so faire yet is it fearefull to behold Esay to a Citie that is sackt burned and throwne downe to the ground to a Swallowes young one forsaken of her Damme Like a Swallow so did I chatter To that rotten and corrupt piece of Linnen which was profitable for nothing and by Gods owne appointment commanded to be hid in Perath in the cliffe of a Rocke The Lamentations To the Nobles of Syon that remained Captiues in Babylon who beeing before purer than Snow whiter than Milke and more ruddie in bodie than the red pretious Stones or more faire and beautifull than the polished Saphire are now become blacker than the cole Saint Augustine To a house that hath not been inhabited for many yeres which is full of Todes Snakes Spiders and other vile and venimous Vermine to Adam that was thrust out of Paradice and afterwards cloathed with the skins of dead beasts But none of them all expresse it more to the life than this slouenly filthie loathsome hunger-starued weake tawnie stinking young man whose bodie was growne ouer with haire as a tree with mosse whose face was scortâ—ht with the Sunne and through blackenesse had lost it's beautie whose poore Ragges that he had to his backe were all totterd and torne with creeping through the bushes of the Mountaine heere hanging one piece and there another Himselfe beheld himselfe in that puddled water where the Swine dranke and did not know himselfe And no meruaile seeing his Father that created him did not know him hee was so changed and altered from that he was All these are Types and shadowes of a man without God And I call them shadowes for in truth neither these nor many other the like indeerings can expresse them to the full One of the greatest martyrdomes that a man can suffer in this world is To serue a base Moore that shall imploy him in beating of hempe in grinding in a Mill in making Broomes in rubbing Horses heeles and digging vp roots of Thistles whereof he must bee content to make his meales But none of these is so base an office as the keeping of a Hog-stie and God brought this Prodigal to this miserie to the end that the remembranâ—e of his former happinesse might amase and confound him According to that of Ieremie All that forsake thee shal be confounded And of Dauid Qui elongant se à te peribunt All such Prodigals as these shall remaine confounded and abashed and shall vtterly perish continuing in their sinnes Yet there is in sinne if a man may so terme it some kind of good in regard that those miseries which it bringeth with it doth awaken and rouse a man from sleepe And as the Cough of the lungs is eased with a clap on the back so is the sinners heart when Sinne hammers vpon it He came to himselfe Saint Ambrose sayth That sinne doth not onely seperate the sinner from God but also from himselfe Chrysologus daintily toucheth vpon the same string Cum recessit à patre saith hee recessit à se c. When he departed from his father he departed from himselfe Leauing to bee man he came to bee a beast And that he might come to his father hee comes first to himselfe There are some transformations that none can make but Sinne and Grace Dauid treating of the pardon of his sinnes sayth Blessed is he whose vnrighteousnesse is forgiuen and whose sinne is couered Blessed is the man vnto whom the Lord imputeth no sinne Praising God in that Psalme for hauing restored his vnderstanding vnto him So S. Ierome expounds it And albeit all sinnes doe robbe a man of his vnderstanding 〈◊〉 doth alienate and estrange a sinner from himselfe yet dishonesty doth this more than all the rest Salomon treating of the tyranny of a Whoore sayth That shee is like a Theefe which lyes in waite in the way to set vpon carelesse men and kill them ere they are aware Et quos incautos viderit interficit A theefe dares not set vpon him that goes well accompanied or that hath his pistolls at his Saddlebow and is well prouided for him The Deuill sets vpon vs with the inticements of the flesh against these allurements wee
that blaspheming money in publique they adored it in priuate Gluttons that desiring health of God they did dayly ouerthrow their bodies by ouer-eating and ouerdrinking themselues till they fell a vomiting as they sate at boord Of those that can be content to fare well themselues and not bring good tydings to their brethren The leaprous men in the fourth of the Kings could find fault therwith when they said one to another Wee doe not well this day is a day of good tydings and we hold our peace And that was dumbe It is strange That the Deuil getting so much as he dayly doth by mans speech should labour to make him dumbe more harme growing to man by the former than the latter First It is to bee prooued That of a hundred that were possessed with Deuills you shall finde but one onely that was dumbe they are all of them exceeding great talkers flatterers and lyers And that they might prate the more they talke in diuers tongues not onely in that which is their owne naturall Language but also in Latine in Greeke c. Saint Ambrose hath noted it That the Deuills downefall tooke it's beginning from his talking Dicebat enim in corde suo ascendam in Caelum For he said in his heart I will ascend vp into Heauen And our destruction began with the conuersation that hee had with Eue. Iulian the Apostata makes a jeast of it That a Serpent should speake Which Saint Ciril chose rather to proue by the testimonies of Phylosophers Poets than by Scripture because this blasphemous wretch gaue more credit to them than to the Word of God Homer sayth That Vlisses his Horse spake vnto him forewarning him of his death Porphyrius saith that Caucasus spake that Pythagoras passing by it saluted him with a Salue Pythagora Phylostratus saith That Apollonius comming to the Gymnosophistae an Elme vnder whose shade being wearie he sate him downe spake vnto him and told him That he was verie welcome And Siginius reporteth of Iupiters Bull That he spake like a man If the Deuill then can speake by Horses by Bulls by Trees and the like hee may as well speake by a Serpent And why not by that Serpent more than any other that was to be the instrument to ouerthrow all Mankind Secondly Out of many places of holy Scripture obseruations of the Saints of God and out of the opinions of many learned Doctors Phylosophers and Poets in fauor of this point two manifest truths are proued to arise from hence and haue their first beginnings The one That an euill tongue is the leauen of all our ill The other That a good tongue is the summe of all our good The first Experience at euerie turne teacheth it vnto vs. Whose are those blasphemies against God and his holy Saints but of a sacrilegious tongue Whos 's those inconsiderate iniuries but of a rash and vnaduised tongue Whos 's those infamies and detractions but of a backbiting tongue Whose those dishonest words and lasciuious Songs but of a filthie tongue Whose those sowings of discord amongst brethren those dissoluings of marriages those blottings of mens good names those soylings of your Clergies Coat your Priests Surplices your Bishops Rotchets your Widowes decent dressing your Maidens modest attyre but of a durtie slabbering tongue Saint Hierome saith That the Deuill left Iobs lips vntoucht hoping that with them he would haue cursed God as he promised to himselfe before hand Stretch out thy hand and touch but his bones and his flesh and then see if he will not blaspheme thee to thy face Saint Ambrose saith Plagam suam silentio vicit He subdued his paine by silence And the selfe same father saith That if Eue had not spoken with the Serpent or if shee had but eaten the Apple had said nothing therof to Adam we had not come to that so great miserie and misfortune whereinto we fel. The Deuill did not desire to make Eue so much a Glutton as a Pratler her talking with Adam did vndoe vs all S. Iames qualifies both these tongues The one he termes a fire that burns and consumes all that comes in it's way and to be the onely maine cause of all mischiefe Of the other he saith That man is perfect that offends not in his tongue In our Booke De Amore we haue a whole Chapter touching this ill and this good But how is it possible that the Deuill should seeke to fauour the ill and disfauor the good Saint Augustine answeres this in one word This man hauing beene heretofore a great talker the Deuill made him dumbe lest by confessing his faults he might repaire those losses which hee had runne into by ouerlashing with his tongue Dumbe deafe blind and possessed with a Deuill This massacre which the Deuill wrought vpon the bodie of this man represents that cruell massacre which he dayly executes vpon mens soules For though he takes pleasure in the possession of a mans bodie yet his maine pretence is to preiudice the soule and like a Worme in wood to eat out the verie heart and pith thereof Imagine a Horse prepared for the Kings owne riding beautifull and richly betrapt let thy thought represent such a one vnto thee and a Rogue that hath neuer a shoo to his foot nor a rag to his tayle mounted thereupon and proudly bestriding him Imagine a bed like that of Salomons or that of the Spouse cleane neat and strewed with Flowers and an Oyle-man a Collyer or a Scullion put into it so is it with the Soule possessed by the Deuill It is a common doubt yet fit for this Storie Why God permitteth that the Deuill should doe so much mischiefe to man We know that this the Deuills rage towards man began euer since that God purposed to make his Sonne man and holding himselfe affronted that he was not an Angell hee vowed and swore the death of man And therefore it is said of him Hee was a Murtherer from the beginning And this made our Sauiour to say vnto the Pharisees Yee are of your Father the Deuill for that yee seeke to fulfill his will Who putting Christ to death did accomplish that which the Deuill had sworne And hence ariseth that hatred and emnitie which he beareth to man in generall and the harme which hee either does or seekes to doe him thinking with himselfe as Tertullian noteth it that the greater hurt hee doth vnto man the greater stones hee throwes against God But suppose That without the will of God he cannot doe vs any harme Why doth hee permit that this his liuing Temple consecrated with his holy oyle being the habitation of his delight should be made a Hogs-stie for Deuils When Heliodorus prophaning the holy Temple of Ierusalem entred thereinto there met him an armed Knight in harnesse of gold sitting vpon a fierce Horse richly barbed who smote at Heliodorus with his fore-feet throwing him downe to the ground This was no sooner done but there
presently appeared two young men notable in strength excellent in beautie and comely in apparell which stood by him on either side and scourged him continually and gaue him many sore stripes till he was readie to giue vp the ghost and all the People praised the Lord that he had honoured his owne place with so great and strange a miracle But Heliodorus escaped in the end with life at the intercession of Onias the High-Priest And the King asking Heliodorus afterwards Who were meet to be sent yet once againe to Ierusalem he said If thou hast any enemie or traitor send him thither and thou shalt receiue him well scourged if he escape with his life for in that place no doubt there is an especiall power of God But a more sweet pleasing temple vnto God than Ierusalem is the bodie soule of man Templum Dei c. The Temple of God is holy which Temple yee be He made a promise to Ierusalem that no vncircumcised person should put his foot within it much lesse doe any harme vnto it How then doth God consent that the deuils should lodge so long in man and should trample and tread him vnder foot and torment him in that extreame manner as they doe Saint Chrysostome in his bookes De Prouidentia doth multiplie reasons heerevpon and in his second part he setteth downe sixe the chiefest whereof I take to be The feare and terrour which God pretendeth to put man in with the sight of one possessed with a Deuill There are many men in the world whom God must bring vnto him by ill for good will doe no good vpon them Saint Augustine expounding that verse of Dauid Descendant in infernum viuentes Let them go downe aliue into the Pit addeth Ne descendant morientes Let them not goe downe dead Old wiues say That wee must goe Saint Iames his way either in our life or our death But more truly may it be said of Hell That to the end wee may not goe into it at our death we must enter into it in our life not like Dathan and Abiram who went downe quicke into it but with the consideration and earnest thinking of him that is possessed with a Deuill For if in this life when as yet the finall sentence is not giuen the Deuill doth vse a Sinner thus hardly What will he doe vnto him when God shall seale his Warrant for Hell and pronounce condemnation againsthim Origen noteth it That there was not any kind of paine in the world wherewith the Deuill did not torment Iob afflicting him with the fires of Saint Anthonie the sores of Lazarus the Collicke the Gout the Canker c. Effudit viscera eius Galen saith It is impossible that many Infirmities should meet together in one and the selfe same part of the bodie But in Iob in euerie part of his bodie the Deuill had put paine vpon paine and sore vpon sore Now if on him such rigour was shewne who was appointed to bee the patterne of Patience What cruell torments shall be executed on him that is to be made the example of Gods diuine justice The second reason is That in the infancie of the Church it was fitting that there should be some chastisements that should carrie a sound and a noyse with them to the end that as Dionysius hath noted it the Wicked might be terrified therewith In the Old Testament God tooke this course Vae tibi cimbalo alarum Esay speakes this of Aegypt hee termes it a Bell with wings for the seuere and many strokes which the bell with wings shall beat it withall It is an excellent Symbole of Fame because as it flyes it sends foorth a shrill sound Appian the historian cals the Emperor Tiberius The Cimball of the world because his fame did ring and sound through all the nations of the Earth After many other plagues God threatned the Aegyptians with a murren or pestilence and anon after renders the reason of it That his name might be declared throughout all the world And as when the great Bell tolls in Arragon the whole Kingdome is strucken into feare and amasement for that clapper neuer wags but vpon some strange and extraordinarie occasion so the whole world was strucken into a great feare of those rods and scourges wherewith the Aegyptians were so sorely beaten Rahab said vnto the Spies which entred into Ierico Our hearts did faint and there remained no more courage in any because of you For I know that the Lord hath giuen you the Land and that the feare of you is fallen vpon vs. And the Princes of the Philistines could say vnto their People Be yee not rebellious and stiffe necked lest it happen vnto you as it did vnto Aegypt It remained for a Prouerbe to after Ages The Plagues of Aegypt light vpon thee To this end God permitted in the primitiue Church many demoniated persons some for forsaking the Faith some for abusing the Sacraments others for blasphemies and the like Himineus and Alexander were deliuered ouer vnto Sathan that they might learne not to blaspheme others for incest others for pride so according to Epiphan S. Hier. Nebucadnezar was by the Deuil turned into a beast others for their enuie Spiritus Domini mali vigebat Saul But that the Deuill should make a man deafe blind and dumbe this of all other is the seuearest punishment This is To deliuer men oâ—â—r to a reprobate sence that they may doe those things which are not fitting for them Thomas saith That God suffers this yet not beeing the Author of so great an ill by remoouing for a time his especiall fauour leauing the Vnderstanding to walke a while in darkenesse The Sunne is the vniuersall cause of the light but if a man will shut vp his doores and his windowes close it is his owne fault If hee abide in darkenesse God is the vniuersall cause of the spirituall light of our Soules but if any one shall despise this Light he vseth to leaue him in the darke And hence was it that these three inconueniences did befall this man to wit Deafenesse Blindnesse and Dumbnesse which was one of the greatest rigours of his Iustice. Esay saith I saw the Lord sitting vpon a high Throne like a Iudge that sits in state the house full of smoke and the Seraphins of fire publish his furie and the sent of their sinnes which had gone vp into his nosthrils Those two Seraphins that couered Gods face are a representation of his wrath Though when the time of punishing is come God vseth to open his eyes but now the Seraphins couer his eyes in token that he would strike this man with blindnesse And therefore it is said That the foundation of the Temple did shake Then anon after followed the punishment Excaeca cor populi huius aures eius aggraua Other Interpreters vse the Imperatiue vttering this sentence in a commanding kind of voyce Excaecetur cor populi huius c. Let
the heart of this people bee made blind and their eares dull Cum ejecisset Daemonium locutus est mutus When the Deuill was gone out the Dumbe spake The Deuill was first to be driuen out before the Dumbe could speake First The dore or the window is to be opened that the light may come in First you must turne the cocke of the Conduit or plucke out the stopple before the water can gush out The penitent man must first cast the Deuill out of his bosome before hee can make any good Confession First the Preacher must cast him out of his heart before hee can preach any sound Doctrine What confession can a Sinner make while the Deuill dwells in his soule What sorrow or feeling can hee haue of his former faults What purpose of amendment for the future What acknowledgement of the heinousnesse of his crimes What shame or what feare of offending Antiently men did confesse themselues only vnto God to whom euery secret of the heart was so open that mans thought and intention was sufficient with the penitent his condemning himselfe by his own mouth Yet notwithstanding Ezechias said I will recount all my yeares in the bitternesse of my soule And Dauid Anni mei sicut araneae meditabuntur With that care and melancholie wherewith the spiders weaue their webs drawing euery thred out of their owne bowells so will I meditate on the yeares of my life drawing out threds of sorrow and repentance for euerie fault that I shall commit from the bottome of my heart If thou canst be content to imploy all thy sences for the good of thy bodie not do the like for thy soule thou doost therein wrong thy soule heauen and God Thou weepest and wailest for the losse of these earthly goods but shedst not a teare for the losse of those rich treasures of heauen Two things are inioyned the penitent The one a full and intire Confession The other a strict examination of their owne conscience And that so strict as may befit so great and waighty a businesse as is the saluation of the Soule and then may the Dumbe speake and the Preacher preach For if the Deuill be still pulling him by the sleeue what good crop can he render vnto God of his Hearers What light can hee giue to his Auditorie who is himselfe possessed by the Prince of Darknes Open thou my lips o Lord I shal set forth thy praise do thou pardon me my sins I shal sincerely preach thy Word The Scribes Pharisees who were teachers but not doers of the Law Ieremy cals them false Scribes What they wrought with their pen they blotted out with their works The like kind of fault that partie committeth who singeth Psalms vnto God in the Quire and yet hath the Deuill in his brest And then how different must this mans thoughts be from his words He can hardly say Confitebor tibi Domine in toto corde meo I will confesse vnto the Lord with my whole heart as long as he hath giuen himselfe ouer vnto Sathan The Dumbe spake This man prostrating himselfe at our Sauiours feet might verie well say Blesse the Lord ô my Soule and all that is in mee praise his holy Name The Lord looseth them that are bound the Lord inlightneth the Blind Praise the Lord ô my Soule I will praise the Lord in my whole life A Sinner that truly repents himselfe and that sees himselfe freed from the Deuill and from Hell is neuer satisfied with giuing thankes vnto God and in praising his holy Name as oft as hee considers the great mercie which God hath shewed towards him Saint Augustine saith That although the creating of Angells and the justifying of Soules doe equally argue Gods great power yet the second is an act of farre greater mercie He casteth out Deuills through Beelzebub the chiefe of the Deuills Origen Saint Augustine and Saint Ambrose say That the Deuills haue their studies and their cares apart This is their first Tenent Some say they treat of Auarice some of Luxurie others of Ambition others of Reuenge some perturbe mens minds occasioning great sorrow others excesse of foolish joy and mirth Secondly They hold That in euerie one of these seuerall vices there is a superiour Deuill which hath command ouer many that are inferiour vnto him And he that is the Chiefetaine of one of these Legions is not obedient to any Saint whatsoeuer except him that excells in humilitie whose lowlinesse of mind may be able to incounter with his pride of heart S. Marke relateth That our Sauiour deliuering one ouer that was possessed of a Deuill to his Disciples to the end that they should make him whole howbeit they had boasted That Deuills also were subiect vnto them yet they could not doe it Afterwards asking Iesus the cause of their not curing him hee answered Such kind of Deuills as these are not cast out but with Prayer and fasting This Deuill should seeme to be a Prince of some Legion and none could doe any good vpon him saue such Saints of God as were wonderfull meeke and humble and with Fastings did beat downe the bodie of sinne and by frequent and feruent prayer prostrate their Soules Thirdly Many of these deuils do possesse diuers parts of the body which correspond with that vice which they are subiect to And as the soldier who sealing a wall or a fort stickes his dagger or his Pike in some part of the wall where hee meanes to get vp so the Deuill seekes to pitch his standard there where hee may aduance it with most ease and most to his honour and glorie Alfegor that dishonest Deuill domineeres most in the Loyns as it is noted by Saint Gregorie in his Exposition of that place vpon Iob Virtus eius in lumbis eius His strength lies in his loynes Pluto the Prince of Couetousnesse raignes most in the hands Our Sauiour Christ healed a hand that was withered signifying thereby That it was a couetous hand and yeelded not the fruit of good workes Beelzebub who is the Prince of Pride rules principally in the head This Beelzebub by interpretation is the Prince of Flies whither it were or no that they gaue him this name in regard of those many Flies which his Sacrifices did breed or whither it were because the Acharonitae did presume that he had freed them from certaine filthie and loathsome Flies or for that the Flies are alwayes buzzing about the head and face or because the Deuill and these Flies are much alike in their euil disposition According to that of Salomon Muscu morientes perdunt suauitatem â—â—guenti Dead Flies doe marre the sweetnesse of the Oyntment or for that the Flie is the Emblem of a proud Deuill Ipse est Rex super omnes filios superbiae This Deuill is a proud daring Deuill proud in his Motto Similis ero Altissimo I will bee like to the most High and proud in that his proffer To haue
world and to loose his owne soule Therefore it is a lesse ill to be possessed in Bodie than in Soule For sinne onely is that true euill which depriueth vs of true good Likewise He that is spiritually possessed is in worse case than he that hath a deuill in soule and body And of this truth there are two euident reasons The one that to haue a Deuill in the bodie is no small occasion whereby the Soule is saued Saint Paul said of the incestuous person Let him be deliuered vnto Sathan for the destruction of the Flesh that the Spirit may be saued in the day of the Lord Iesus Whither it were by way of excommunication as it seemeth good vnto Thomas the Deuills tormenting him following his excommunication as Caietan will haue it or whither he did deliuer him ouer to the Deuill as to Gods Executioner without excommunicating him as Saint Hierome is of opinion or whither the Apostles had licence to doe all or any of these at their pleasure sure I am that Saint Ambrose saith That the deliuering ouer of these Sinners vnto the Deuill was a putting of them into some paine or griefe of body by the hands of the Deuill as he tormented Iob to the end that they might be drawne to repentance for their sinnes And this agrees with that of Saint Chrysostome That Saint Paul did deliuer the incestuous man ouer to the Deuill tanquam pedagogo aperiens ei poenitentiae ianuam As to a Schoolemaster opening to him the doore of Repentance Saint Hierome saith Tanquam Quaestionario as to an Informer or Baylife But they differ in this That when the Informers accuse the Baylifes attach it is commonly for others good but when the Deuill accuseth or layes hold of a man it is for hurt Saint Ambrose saith That when the Deuill had got leaue to tempt Iob hee got it for to worke his destruction Wilt thou take the Deuill with a hooke like a Fish or with a string like a Bird Yes thou shalt lay that poyson for him as a bait wherewith he thought to destroy thee Wherein is to be seene the wisedome and omnipotencie of God in that hee turnes these trickes and subtilties of the Deuill against Man to Mans benefit who being willing to swallow him vp at a bit choakes himselfe and doth rather benefit than hurt him Wherein is plainely to be seene the good hap which this dumbe man had in suffering in his bodie for if his hurt had layne onely in his soule they would neuer haue brought him to our Sauiour Christ and it might haue so fallen out that he might haue remained for euer in this his miserie so that the torment of his bodie was the occasion whereby he remained sound both in bodie and in soule as commonly those did whom our Sauiour cured The second reason is That there is no Christian can bee supposed to bee so wicked that it being put to his choice to chuse one of these two either to be dumbe deafe and blind or to be one of those blasphemous Iewes who said In Beelzebub eijcit Daemonia In Beelzebub he casteth out Deuills would not rather make choyce of this mans misfortune than of the Iewes hardnesse of heart He brings seuen Diuils worse than himselfe When this foule Fiend enters into a man he makes way for a great many more of his fellowes For the Deuil being rather the Soules Bawd than it's Bridegroome he beares no loue thereunto but God because she is his true Spouse is tender of her and will not suffer the least wind of sinne to blow vpon her but will looke louingly and carefully vnto her But of this we haue treated heretofore And it came to passe while he spake a certaine woman amidst the multitude lifting vp her voyce c. Our Sauiour Christs Sermon did not make the least gap in the hard hearts of the Scribes and Pharisees but it wrought such great admiration in the brest of a certaine woman called Marcella that lifting vp her voyce amidst the Doctours and praising our Sauiour Christ she cried out aloud Blessed is the wombe that bare thee and the paps that gaue thee sucke These Pharisees condemns thee for one that hath made a couenant with Beelzebub but I say that from the verie instant of thy conception thou wast a holy man and that therefore blessed was the wombe that bare thee c. and that the leaprosie of originall sinne did not worke vpon thee as it did vpon all the rest of Mankind And that those paps which thou suckedst being likewise blessed they could not giue milke to a Sinner And because thy conception and thy birth were both holy Gods blessing bee with that mother which conceiued and brought forth such a sonne Saint Augustine saith That it was not onely Marcella that vttered these praises of our Sauiour but that many others also beeing taken with the strangenesse of this miracle fell into an extraordinarie commendation of him But if the Gospell make mention of one only it may be vnderstood that Marcella was the first that sung in that tune and that many others followed on and bore a part therein And this sutes well with that of Saint Luke They glorified him saying A great Prophet is risen vp amongst vs One while confessing him to be God another while the Messias Of this applause and commendation of our Sauiour wee haue two forcible reasons The one That generall good which Christ did here vpon earth and more particularly that which he did to this poore miserable man For to doe good but especially to the Poore is a powerful motiue of praise Confitebor Domino nimisin ore meo in medio multorū laudabo eum qui astitit a dextris pauperis I wil acknowledge God with a loud voice in the middest of many will I praise him who stood at the right hand of the Poore This doth that phrase as Saint Augustine hath noted it inferre of Nimis in ore meo not betweene the teeth nor in some by-corner but in medio Multorum in the middest of the Congregation And therefore saith Eccles. Splendidum in panibus benedicent labia multorum He that succoureth the poore he that slaketh hunger all the World shall ring of his praise and thousands of blessings shall be throwne vpon him All Nations of the earth did euermore celebrate and honour those that were publike benefactors to the Commonwealth and the Citisens thereof by erecting Statues vnto them that there might remain an eternall memorie and immortall fame of their noble actions As Pliny reporteth of Athens Plutarch of Lacedemonia and many Historiographers of Rome Leo the tenth did bring downe the price of salt for the which Rome thought themselues so much bound vnto him that they did set vp his Statue in the Capitoll with a motto that spake thus Optimi liberalissimique Pontificis memoriae But your Kings and Princes now a dayes doe make such a common practise of pilling and polling the
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
Nation c. Nor had they that oddes and aduantage of others in regard onely of those great and many wonders that he had wrought for them but because hee had reuealed his heart and bosome vnto them The finenesse of friendship and the pure alloy thereof doth not consist in this that my purse is open vnto thee and that thou share with me in my wealth and riches but that there is not that secret in my heart which I doe not communicate vnto thee I haue termed yee my friends for whatsouer was deliuered vnto me of my Father the same haue I made known vnto you The Apostle Saint Paul askes the question What aduantage the Iew had of the Gentiles And what Circumcision did benefit them more than others And his answer is A great deale First because God hath more particularly reuealed himselfe vnto them c. Many wore the fauours which God had done them but the greatest that euer he did them was the reuealing of his Word vnto them the imparting of his secrets vnto them and trusting them therewithall And so it passeth likewise betwixt man and man where there is true loue and friendship indeed It is said in the third of Saint Iohn He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroome but the friend of the Bridegroome reioyceâ—h greatly because of the Bridegroomes voyce The Euangelist here treateth of Saint Iohn Baptist and saith That to the Husband of the Church which is our Sauiour Iesus Christ the Spouse meerly belongeth but for the office of a friend such a one as was Saint Iohn Baptist it appertained vnto him to assist this louing Couple and to keepe the Bridegroome and the Bride companie and to hearken vnto them with a great deale of contentment and pleasure Si Verbum Dei saith Saint Augustine c. If the Word of God which is preached in the Church thou shalt receiue it with fulnesse of Faith and trunesse of deuotion that Word shall become whatsoeuer thou wilt haue it to be It shall be vnto thee like Manna which fitted it selfe to all mens taâ—tes there being not that palate and appetite which it did not please and affect according to it 's owne relish The third sence and meaning which is no lesse literall than the former presupposeth two things The one That this woman was strucken into a double amazement or astonishment First Of the strangenesse of the miracle Secondly Of the incredulitie and obstinacie of the Pharisees The other That these words are more directed to the praise and commendation of the Sonne than the Mother And therefore when as here Marcella lifted vp her voyce and said Blessed was that mother that brought thee forth and the paps that gaue thee sucke her maine and principall intent was the commendation of her sonne and inclusiuely an honouring likewise of the mother But our Sauiour Christ was willing thereupon to shew and make knowne to the World how vnequal an estimation this is which we make of these kind of goods for to cast out Deuils and the doing besides of strange and wonderfull miracles worldly men and those that looke onely on the outside of things preferre them vsually before the iustification of their soules And this woman crying out occasioned by the greatnesse and strangenesse of this miracle Blessed bee the wombe that bare thee the brests that thou didst sucke He presently addes thereupon Nay rather blessed are they which heare the Word of God and keepe it If thou doost so much admire and wonder to see Deuills throwne out of mens bodies thou wilt meruaile much more to see them cast out of their soules And being that my Word is so powerfull as to free soules from this seruitude and tyrannie more happie ought yee to hold mee for those famous and renowned miracles which by my Word I worke in your soules than for those which by my workes I doe vpon your bodies Thou therefore who preseruest both bodie and soule bring vs to euerlasting life THE NINETEENTH SERMON VPON THE MONDAY AFTER THE THIRD SONDAY IN LENT LVC. 4.23 Medice cura teipsum Quanta audiuimus in Capernaum facta Physition heale thy selfe c. THe Argument of this piece of Scripture is a Plesto or Suit in law betweene our Sauiour Christ and the Townesmen of Nazareth where our Sauiour Christ had beene bred vp A wofull case not onely because it was with an Incorporation but with an ignorant companie of Townesmen that were enuious and apt to mutine A tribus timuit cor meum saith Ecclesiasticus There bee three things that myne heart feareth Treason in a Citie the Tumultuous assembly of the People and False accusation Homer said of Pallas the Goddesse of War and Discord That she delighted much in three things The Owle The Dragon And the common People The Owle is the emblem of Ignorance The Dragon of Enuie The common People of Furie These three Beasts did conspire against our Sauiour Christ laying to his charge That he contemned his owne Countrie because hee had not wrought such miracles there as he had in Capernaum Entring one day into the Synagogue and sitting him downe in the Chaire he opened the booke of the Prophets and the Law where hee lighted vpon that place of Esay The Spirit of the Lord God is vpon me therefore hath the Lord annoynted me And expounding that place of himselfe he said Vtique dicetis c. Yee will surely say vnto me this Prouerb Physition â—eale thy selfe Whatsoeuer we haue heard done in Capernaum doe it here likewise in thyne owne Countrie That Physition doth amisse who is forgetfull of his owne house and does famous Cures in other mens houses We haue heard that thou hast done great miracles and strange wonders in Capernaum Fac hic in patria tua Let vs see if thou canst do the like in thyne owne And this is the Charge the Complaint and the Accusation which they make against him Quanta audiuimus facta in Capernaum The occasion of this Complaint were needlesse jealousies Generally the whole Nation of the Iewes were jealous of their owne profit and enuious of other mens prosperitie Esay cals them Zelantes Populos A jealous People And the Nazarites did the rather picke this quarrell with our Sauiour by reason of the neighbouring occasion that was giuen them Capernaum was a most faire beautifull Citie as well in regard of the goods of Fortune as of the nature of the Seat it was scituated neere vnto the Sea vpon the riuer of Iordan in that most fertile and pleasant soyle of the Prouince of Galilee her buildings were stately and sumptuous excellent was the commodiousnesse conueniencie of it's scituation for Hauens for Shipping for Traffique for it's number of rich and wealthie Citisens but was made much more glorious by many other particulars some whereof we shall repeat vnto you First It pleased our Sauiour Christ to make choice of this place for his habitation whence
Citie such a new and strange kind of Doctrine there was a great deale of reason that he should confirme the same by miracles For put case that this had not beene his owne natiue Country yet was it a generall debt which he had paid to other Cities Thirdly because in expounding that place of Esay The Spirit of the Lord is vpon me because he hath annointed me that I should preach the Gospell to the poore he said That that prophecie was fulfilled in himself being that annointed Messias there spoken of Which being so it was fit that hee should prooue it by those signes and miracles which were prophecied of the Messias Fourthly This difficultie is indeered by that which the Euangelist S. Marke reporteth of our Sauiour Christ to wit That hee could doe no great workes in Nazareth As if his vertue and power had beene hindered and debarred of doing them insomuch that it made our Sauiour Christ to meruaile much at it Fiftly If the sinnes of Nazareth did thus bind his hands more were those of Capernaum which he compared to Sodome For if the miracles had beene done in Tyrus and Sydon which haue beene done in you they had a great while a goe repented sitting in Sackcloth and Ashes Therefare it shall be easier for Tyrus and Sydon at the Iudgement than for you Greater were those of Bethsaida and Chorazin Vae tibi Bethsayda vae tibi Chorazin c. And greater were those of Ierusalem whereof Ezechiel said Samaria dimidium peccatorum tuorum non peccauit vicisti eas sceleribus tuis Sixtly He had done other greater honours to Nazareth there he was incarnated in the wombe of the Virgin Marie which of all other miracles was the greatest He tooke his name from Nazareth as it appeareth by that his title vpon the Crosse by that which the Deuills roared forth and by that which our Sauiour himselfe said to Saint Paul I am Iesus of Nazareth Ego sum Iesus Nazarenus c. And therefore hauing giuen the more it was not much hee should giue the lesse Seuenthly Miracles were that milke which the Iews were bred vp with and had beene antiently accustomed vnto Iudea signa petunt c. The Iewes demand a signe Esay importuned King Achab That he would aske signes from Heauen Earth or Hell Pete tibi signum à Domino c. Moses and Gideon desired signes and therefore his children should haue beene bettered thereby and more especially those of his owne Countrie After that Ioseph had furnished Aegypt with corne he set open Granaries to the neighbouring Prouinces Lastly It was prophecied of the Messias That hee should bee no accepter of persons He was Lord of al to al in al reason he should shew himselfe equall and indifferent so that it seemeth to carrie a great shew of sorrow and resentment with it which those of Nazareth obiected vnto him We haue heard what thou hast done in Capernaum doe it here likewise in thine owne Countrie But for the better vnderstanding of that which our Sauior Christ did answer to this complaint and accusation of theirs First of all we must suppose That our Sauiour Christ shewed himselfe with his most blessed Mother in foure occasions For albeit it bee a holy thing for the children to honour their parents yet this honour is to be done them when Gods cause interposeth not it selfe who is the vniuersall Father of vs all But when there shall be an incounter of our liking and loue towards two seueral fathers he that created me and he that begot mee wee are to haue recourse vnto our heauenly Father in regard of whom all the other fathers in the world are but Stepfathers In this sence Saint Gregorie doth expound that place of Saint Luke He that forsaketh not father and mother to follow me is not worthie of me Which is to be vnderstood in such things which appertaine to our spiritual saluation as it is noted by the said Doctor and Clemens Alexandrinus Secondly Saint Austen noteth That in our Sauiour Christ two kind of works may be considered The one Of a pure Man The other Of a Redeemer and heauenly Master In the first he was subiect to his mother and his father Ioseph so saith S. Luke Et erat subditus illis In the second he was to haue recourse vnto his heauenly Father And therefore he said Nesciabitis quod in his quae patris mei sunt oportet me esse He was at the Wedding by his mothers appointment but when hee came to the working of the miracle he said Quid mihi tibi Mulier Woman what haue I to doe with thee And when they aduised him whilest he was preaching That his mother and his Kinsefolkes were waiting there for him hee answered Quae est Mâ—ter mea c. Thirdly We haue two Countries Earth the one Heauen the other In that our Bodies were borne In this our Soules Now when the desires of the Earth incounter with those of Heauen our recourse must be to Heauen following therein the aduice of Dauid Audi Filiâ— vide obliuiscere populum tuum domus patris tui Heare ô Daughter and see forget thy owne people and the house of thy father Our Sauiours naturall Countrie was Heauen but here on earth Nazareth Now this Countrie did not desire miracles for to increase their beleefe but for other respects which wee will declare hereafter And therefore Christ would not worke any miracles amongst them And assuming those reasons which Christ might alledge for himselfe The first is prooued by that Prouerbe which our Sauiour cited No Prophet is accepted in his owne Countrie Or as Saint Mathew and Saint Marke haue it There is no Prophet that is honoured in his owne Countrie nay rather doth not suffer dishonour And this is made good both by diuine and humane learning and there are more instances thereof than there are sands in the sea Moses being but a child his parents put him into the riuer leauing him to his venture to sinke or swim Exposito autem illo which the Syriacke reads Cumque fuisset expositus à populo suo When he came to be a man one of his own Nation put him in danger of his life Pharaoh sending after him to haue him apprehended Afterward being Captaine and Commander of the People they did often mutinie and not onely did murmure in secret against him but with open throat did publiquely blaspheme Aaron and Marie that were so neere allyed vnto him vsed him like a Turke or a Moore because he had married an Aethyopian woman Dathan and Abiram vpbraided him to his face asking him Whither hee meant tyrannously to vsurpe the Gouernment Ioseph was so honoured by the Aegyptians that they accounted him as a second King Vno tantum regni solio te praecedam His brethren put him downe into a pit and sould him for a Slaue Dauid was beloued and honored of the people and
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
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
haue beene at a stand immagining with themselues That being there is so great a difference betweene the Old Law and the New betweene God and God a God of Vengeance and a God of Mercie betweene a Lyon and a Lambe that Christs friends should haue had a priuiledge and that scarce a house of theirs should haue knowne what sickenesse danger or death had meant In the Floud Noahs house was preserued in the flames of Sodome that of Lot and in that generall massacre of the First-borne of Aegypt the houses of the Hebrewes were vntoucht And God sending the man cloathed with Linnen which had the writers Inkehorne by his side to take notice of the people of Hierusalem hee commanded them to set a marke vpon the forehead of his friends that hee might ouerskip them and not touch them in the day of destruction But here now a friends house is not priuiledged no not the house of Peter What should be the reason of it There are many but the main reason is this With God tribulation was euermore a greater token of his loue fauor than prosperity what said Iob when he sate scraping his sores vpon the Dunghill In my prosperitie I onely heard thee but now in my affliction I see thee S. Chrysostome saith That Cain in killing Abel thought that Heauen would doe him those fauours which it did his brother but he was deceiued for God did better loue a dead Abel than a liuing Cain Non extraxisti sed incendisti Philon saith That the fire in the bush was so far from consuming or burning it that it left it fresher and greener than it was before But for all this our miseries in the Old Law were neuer seene to be so honourable as afterwards when God had clapt the thornes which were the fruit of our sinnes vpon his owne head then did they recouer so high a Being and grew to that worth that the heauier God layes his hand vpon vs the more is his loue toward vs. The marke of our happinesse is the Sonne of God not glorified but scourged spit vpon crowned with thorns torne with whips and nailed to the Crosse and therefore to bee conformed to the Image of his Sonne is fitting for vs. In the Apocalyps his feet are put into a hot firie Ouen This was a ritratto or picture of his many troubles and though this Ouen or firie Furnace speake them much yet sure they were farre greater and beyond the tongues expression The Angells did scatter the coles of Gods wrath abroad in the World sometimes lighting in one place and sometimes in another but whose coles could bee hotter than his whose feet like vnto fine Brasse lay burning as in a Furnace She was taken with a great Feuer The Euangelist heere amendeth our vsuall manner of speech for with vs it is commonly said Tengo grandes calenturas I haue a great Feuer whenas indeed the Feuer hath thee God often afflicts the soule in the sence that the soule thereby may be made sencible God like the Bridegroome to the Spouse speakes a thousand sweet words to the Soule hee courts her wooes her with an Aperi mihi soror mea c. Open to me my sister c. but this makes her the more to shut the doore against him The Soule when it is in prosperitie growes proud it is deafe and will not heare she must bee wrought vpon inter angustias she must feele the rod before she will haue any feeling Ionas in the Whales bellie the Prodigall in the pig-stie the Sicke in his Feuer thinks and calls vpon God we listen vnto the Deuill when wee are in the middest of our Feasts our Banquets our Maskings our sports and pastimes but onely hearken vnto God inter angustias when we are afflicted and in miserie God being willâ—ng to cure those that were stung with the Serpents made a Serpent of brasse and caused it to be set vp that by looking theron they might be healed Gregorie Nissen askes the question Whither it had not beene a shorter cut and a more speedie and effectuall remedie to haue made an end of all these Serpents at once But he answers thereunto If he should haue freed them from those Serpents Which of them would haue lifted vp his eyes to Heauen And therefore let those Serpents continue still and those wounds of the bodie seeing they cure those of the Soule According to that of Salomon The blewnesse of the wound serueth to purge the euill Saint Gregorie the Pope saith That the wound of the Soule is taken away by making another wound of repentance and true sorrow Euthymius citeth to this purpose that verse of Dauid Qui dat niuem sicut lanam Snow to the earth is as wooll because it keepes it warme and giues heat therevnto for to bring forth floures and fruits wherwith to glad the Spring and beautifie the Sommer AnÌ„o de nieues anÌ„o de bienes saith the Spanish Prouerbe A yere of snow a yeare of ioy The snow of sickenesse and of affliction in stead of cooling the Soule it giues it heat and fruitfulnesse that it may bring forth floures and fruits of good life She was taken with a great Feauer The Phisitions call a Calenture or burning Feuer Calorem extraordinarium An extraordinarie heat or calidam intemperiem a hot distemperature which being kindled in the heart and taking fire disperseth it selfe through all the parts of the bodie catcheth hold of them offends them and discomposeth that harmonie of the humors wherein our health consisteth Saint Isidore deriues it from Feruor or that hast and speed wherewith it runneth and disperseth it selfe through our bodies Valerius Maximus sayth That in antient time they did offer sacrifice thereunto as to a Goddesse because of all other sicknesses a Feuer is that which commonly comes to make an end of our liues For as heat well tempered giues life so beeing distempered it brings death But if we shall goe philosophising from the infirmities of the bodie by way of analogie or proportioning them to the soule Loue to the soule is as Heat to the bodie And when it doth not exceede the Laws of God which is the life of our soule it inioyes perfect health but when it growes once to an excesse it falls into a Calenture or burning Feuer And this excesse succeedeth two maner of wayes Either by louing that more which ought to be loued lesse Or by not louing that enough which ought to be loued most The Spouse sayd of her Bridgroome Ordinauit in me charitatem He showed his Loue vnto mee He made exceeding much of mee He brought me into the wine celler and Loue was his banner ouer me He stayd me with flaggons and comforted me with apples when I was sicke of Loue His left hand was vnder my head and his right hand did embrace mee Extraordinarie was this Loue of the Bridegroome to his Spouse preferring her before all other things whatsoeuer God
likewise beeing the greatest in Nature and Essence ought to bee the greatest in our Loue and Affection Next vnder God enter those goods of Heauen of Earth And Good being the marke whereat our Loue shoots our greatest Loue should direct it selfe to the greatest good And this is to obserue an order and good temper in our Loue. Now touching the disorder of our Loue our Sauiour sayd Hee that loues Father or Mother more than mee is not worthie of mee Againe In not louing God to whom wee owe so much loue this excesse in the contrarie may turne to immodestie and impudencie And make vs breake out with those Cast-awayes in Iob into these desperate termes Get thee farre from vâ— we will haue no knowledge of thy wayes Besides In imploying our loue so wholely vpon the Creatures we may chance to choake that loue which we owe to the Creator Saint Austen expounding that place of Iohn Loue not the World neither the things that are in the world saith That our heart is like vnto a vessell which if it be filled full with the World it cannot receiue God beeing like to that peece of ground where the Tares did choake the Wheate So that of force wee must emptie the vessell and weede well the ground of our hearts that the loue of God may fructifie in vs. This inordinate loue doth set the heart like a Calenture on fire From the heart come all our euill thoughts and goe festring through the faculties of the soule And â—inne when it is finished bringeth foorth death saith Saint Iames. She was taken with a great Feuer As there are diuers kinds of Feuers so haue they a correspondencie with the diuers infirmities of the soule your young men are soone rid of their Feuers especially if their fits bee not violent but an old woman that is taken with a great Feuer wil hardly recouer her health A prisoner will easily shake off slight and slender shakles but those that are double chained and double bolted he will hardly free himselfe from them One single stick is easily broken but more beeing bound together verie hardly A threefold cord is hardly broken The like reason may be giuen of old sinnes vpon which custome hath drawne a necessitie Saint Austen treating of the State of his owne sinnes sayth That he was fast fettered with three strong chaines The one of his owne Will The other of an ill Custome that he had gotten The third of a kind of necessitie which did keepe him as it were by force in this so hard and cruell slauerie Tenebat me dura seruitus They besought him for her The motiues of this intercession were First For that this good old woman was of so sweet a disposition and so louing a nature Which was much in so old a woman and no small matter considering shee was a Mother in Law It may be Mothers in lawe in those dayes were more louing and better beloued than they are now And one great argument thereof is That our Sauiour Christ should put the loue of the Mother in law and Daughter in law in one and the same degree with that of the Children Parents as it appeareth in that place of S. Mathew I came to set a man at variance against his Father the Daughter against her Mother and the Daughter in law against her Mother in law Where you see he links them together all in one chaine And so it ought to be For if the Husband and the Wife by Matrimony remaine one flesh the Daughter in law ought likwise to be so with the Mother in law though not in the selfe same degree wholly and altogether The second motiue was the intreatie of the Apostles who as Saint Marke maketh mention interceded for her And such pittifull hearts and tender bowels as theirs were beeing sought vnto by so good an Hostesse who desired so much as she did to serue them could not chuse but take pittie of her and speake a good word for her Besides the miserable paine she was in might haue moued the hardest heart to compassion much more theirs whose eyes had seene in what an ill taking she was in And kind hearts are soone sencible of those sorrowes which the eyes shall impart vnto them They bâ—sought him for her In the intercession of Holy men God attends two things The one That we persuade our selues that they are preuailent with God and that they can effect much with his diuine Maiestie The other That he is well pleased that we should make vse of them for the honour that hee receiues thereby the good that we reape by it A King is well pleased that men should haue recourse to his Fauorit the more to honor him It was a great honour to Christ saith Gregory Nazianzen that he was the Mediator betwixt God and Man Saint Cyril giues the same attribute to the Apostles and Deutronomie to Moses Medius fui inter Deum vos I stood betweene the Lord and you But here is the difference That the Saints haue need that others should intercede for them but our Sauiour hath no such need sed accedit per teipsum ad interpellandum pro nobis Al other Mediators are through our Sauior Christ that prayer which hath not this mediation Saint Augustine saith That in stead of remoouing sinne it reneweth sinne And Saint Ambrose That Christ ought to be the Mouth by which we are to speake the Eyes by which wee are to looke and the Hands by which wee are to offer In a word The Saints of God are verie powerful with God through Christ our Lord. And therefore it is said Whatsoeuer yee shall aske the Father in my name shall be granted vnto you Some make a doubt Whither this be to be vnderstood of the Saints that are liuing or those that are dead That it is meant of the liuing there are many proofes thereof in Scripture To Iobs friends God said Goe to my seruant Iob and my seruant Iob shall pray for you for I will accept him c. Abimilecke hauing taken away Sarah and God threatning him with death and the King pleading ignorance in his excuse God said vnto him Giue Abraham his wife againe and he shall pray for thee and thou shalt liue Moses by his intercession procured the pardon of sixe hundred thousand persons The People said vnto Samuel Doe not thou cease to pray for vs. Saint Stephen prayed for those that stoned him to death And by his prayer saith Saint Augustine Paul was reduced to the Church In the Ship the same Apostle by prayer preserued the liues of two hundred seuenty six persons Saint Basil cites that place of Dauid The eyes of the Lord are vpon the Righteous his eares are open vnto their crie Those two sonnes which Ioseph had in Aegypt Ephraim and Manasses the one signifying forgetfulnesse the other Prosperitie Iacob adopted them for his owne Sicut
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
great â—ase his bodie rested it selfe buâ— not his soule Philon saith That a mans sitting doth not argue case but to sit and to leane the hand on the cheeke as it seemeth our Sauiour vpon the Well-lid is the posture of a pensatiue man and one that is full of care Moses flying from Pharaohs Court the Scripture sayth That finding himselfe wearie he sate him down by a Well and that loosing the sailes to his thoughts his mind was on Aegypt casting with himselfe what they talked of him in the Princes pallace and beeing doubtfull what fortune should be fall him got him to Midian Iosephâ— Bretheren sayth the same Doctor sate them down in Aegypt vnloaded themselues of their sackes and wallets as men that were willing to rest themselues but what with the sorrow that they tooke for their father whome they left behinde them in the land of Canaan and what would betide them with Ioseph they found but little ease Esay painting foorth God in his Throane circled about with Seraphins sayth That euery one of them had six wings With twaine he couered his face and with twaine hee couered his feete and with twaine he did flye Saint Bernard askes the question how they may be sayd to flye and not to flye And his answere is That this was a Miracle of Loue that made them assist for Gods glorie and yet flye abroad for mans good It is a Type of our Sauiour Christ who resting his bodie on the couer of the Well set the cogitations of his soule vpon it's wings considering with himselfe how farre those sheepe were gone astray which he came to bring backe againe vnto the fold and what a deale of labour and paines he was to take being scattered so farre asunder as they were There came a woman of Samaria to draw water Our Sauiour Christ beeing wearie and this woman beeing likewise wearie let no man in this life be he righteous or be he a sinner looke for any ease or rest in this life If Gods elect children come brused and broken to Heauen passing through fire and water broyled roasted sawne dragged on the ground whipt and quartered Sancti per 〈◊〉 vicerunt regna c. And if the places of Scripture which indeere the torment of the just are many many likewise are the indeerements of the torments which sinners suffer So that both of them plie the oare in the Galley of this life Si impius fuero va mihi si iustus non leuabo caput c. But the just hath a double aduantage The one That their paines are sauorie vnto them because they suffer them for Gods sake Saint Gregorie sayth That in the midst of his greatest miseries the iust doth inioy a kind of secret glorie And that Iob vpon the dunghill did inioy this comfort thinking vpon the peece of pot-shard which God had put into his hands weighing considering with himselfe that as the fire doth harden the clay and makes it a purer and better kind of Earth than before so he himselfe should be much bettered by this fierie triall of his and bee purified the more by these sores and boyles that brake out vpon his bodie But the sinner doth not inioy this happinesse euen his verie pleasures are painfull vnto him and his solace turnes into sorrow The other aduantage is the end of the Iust. Saint Bernard treating of the two Theeues sayth That they came both wearie and their bones broken to that other life They had the same prison the same shackles bonds torments crosse But Quam â—imiles cruces quam dissimiles exitus habuerunt How equall their crosses how vnequall their ends Sâ—eâ— came to draw water This woman it should seeme was borne vnder some vnhappie Starre That hauing buried fiue husbands she should be so poorely left amongst them that she must be forced to fetch water her selfe at the Well be driuen to draw it vp But there are two great miseries that accompanie your women that are wanton and lasciuious The one is That they commonly come to a great deale of neede and want scarce hauing bread to put in their moâ—ths Why â—unnest thou about so much to change thy wayes Thou shalt not pâ—osper thereby The Prophet speaketh here of his people in the metaphor of an Harbor who pilling this and that other mâ—n and causing the richest wealthest Citiâ—ens in Ierusalem to wast and consume their means vpon them come themselues in the end to dye in an Hospitall She gathered it out of the hyre of a Harlot and they shall returne to the wages of an Harlot He followes the same metaphor still proouing that the wages and riches of Harlots seldome thriue and as they are wickedly gotten so are they vilely and quickely spent The price of a Whoore is scarce worth a loafe of bread So that though such a one should chance to gaine a Million yet as Salomon sayes were it a Kings patrimonie it would be all wasted and consumed For such a one shall be brought to that low estate that she shall bee readie to starue for lacke of food And albeit speaking in the generall our neuer offending of our God bee a good meanes for the purchasing of prosperitie to our selues yet to grow into wealth by this base course is but Vigilia inferni Hels Wake-day a little pleasure for a long torment For that which generally happeneth to all and in particular to women is the extremest of pouertie The other is That your Hâ—rlot is 〈◊〉 to bestow money to maintaine her Louers and to find her friends So Ezechiel complained of his people They giue gifts to all other Whoores but thou giuest gifts to all thy Louers and rewardest them that they may come vnto thee on euerie side for thy fornication There are some Whoores that sinne out of Couetousnesse I will goe after my Louers that giue me my bread and my water my wooll and my flaxe mine oyle and my drinke And because they doe not acknowledg whence this good commeth For she did not know that I gaue her corne and wine c. they come to suffer great hunger For God takes away those blessings from them for the which they giue thankes vnto their Louers Therefore will I returne and take away my corne in the time thereof and my wine in the season thereof and will recouer my wooll and my flax lent and discouer her lewdnesse in the sight of her Louers and no man shall deliuer her out of my hand I will cause all her mirth to cease her feast dayes and all her solemne feasts I will destroy her vines and her figge-trees whereof she hath said These are my rewards that my Louers haue giuen me Others sinne out of lasciuiousnesse and wantonnesse and these come to be so vile and so base that they woo men both with their person and their substance giuing money to boot And the more that time flyes from them and
workes for thou hast a little strength and hast kept my word and hast not denied my name But a little strength yet this little strength this little vertue may make the tree to waxe greene againe Those trees that haue no shew of verdure no signe of greenenes are commonly condemned to the fire Thou sufferest thy selfe to bee subdued by the world the flesh and the Deuill thou forgettest if not forsakest thy God thou runnest on in thy sinnes and makest no reckoning of them yet there are some pawnes and pledges of Heauens loue whereon thou mayest ground thy hopes and betake thy selfe one day as seriously to Gods seruice as thou hast earnestly followed thyne owne foolish pleasures Ezechiell charging his people in the metaphore of a little pretie young maiden child whom God had protected from her cradle reckoneth vp one after another the many courtesies and kindnesses that he did her the rich apparell and iewels that hee bestowed vpon her and all to this end that when she should forsake his house and run away from him she might carry with her some memorials of his loue for Gods fauors neuer are forgotten and are neuer vnwelcome come they neuer so late Take compassion ô Lord vpon me when I cry vnto thee For thou art my father and the guide of my youth And God will then reply vnto thee Bee thou still of this mind and see thou forget not to consider with thy selfe that I am thy father and thy first loue to whom thou didst make the first tender of thy good will and affection and let this be a Motiue vnto thee to make thee to leaue thy vile courses and to repent thy selfe of the wrongs thou hast done mee and to bewaile thy many slidings from me that I may run with open armes to receiue thee and hugge thee in the bosome of my loue It was an especiall prouidence of God that the Babilonians burning and destroying all the jewels spoiles of the children of Israell they suffred them to carry along with them to Babilon their instruments of Musicke which was to put them in hope that they should one day returne againe to Ierusalem their beloued Countrey For in a strange land they could not play vpon their Harps nor sing the Songs of Syon Quomodo cantabimus canticum Domini c. Saint Chrysostome sayth That this woman gaue wonderfull great tokens of her Predestination First in those scruples that she made Secondly in the desire and willingnesse that shee had to be saued Scio quia Messias veâ—it But Hell is full of good desires Gilbertus the Abbot sayth That it is an ordinarie thing with sinners to say O how I do desire to liue a godly and a holy life and yet complying with all those other desires of the bodie they neuer complie with those of the soule Saint Ambrose treating of the good desires which the Prodigall had when he kept hoggs to forgoe that base kind of life Surgam ibo ad patrem meum saith It little importeth to say I wil goe vnlesse I put the same in execution Otherwise these weake purposes of ours are rather deceits wherewith the Deuill goes entertaining deluding vs. And as it is a follie to put any hope or confidence in weake influences which neuer take effect so those our idle and dangerous determinations which possesse and hinder the will and still crie Cras Cras are but the cords that draw vs along vnto death Consider with thy selfe the great good which the desire of Heauen worketh on the Iust and that little good which it worketh on thee and thou shalt then plainly perceiue that it doth thee more hurt than good Againe Though this Samaritane discouered a great deale of ignorance in her discourse with our Sauiour yet Christ offering her the water of Life shee said Sir thou hast nothing to draw with and the Well is deepe And this was not much to meruaile at in so meane and sillie a soule as shee was Nicodemus was a Doctor of Law and yet betraid his great ignorance Art thou a Master in Israell knowest not these things It was sufficient that he shewed his care in matter of Faith Our Fathers did worship in this Mountaine It was sufficient that he discouered his affection to those things that concerned his soule Sir giue me of that water that I may not thirst nor come hither to draw Our Sauiour hauing vsed this Woman thus kindly and continued so long in conuersation with her his Disciples at last comming vnto him thinking it now time to hie her home leauing her Water-pots behind her she made all the hast that shee could to the Citie magnifying the person of our Sauiour Christ and abhorring her former lewd life shee turned ouer a new leafe and made publique profession to all that she met with for what end they were borne Your Diamond will shine euen in a Dunghill and your Mariners Needle in the darkest nights wil euer looke towards the North. Doe not alledge Peter vnto mee saying Lord whither shall we goe thou hast the words of eternall life nor his confessing of Christ to be the Sonne of the liuing God but when he was charged with the deniall of his Sauiour with maledictions and execrations then did he shew what he was Lux in teâ—ebris lâ—cet â—enebrae eum non compreheÌ„derunt Those thatare predestinated are Hâ—espeâ—es del Vitiâ— Vices Guests and oftentimes entertainers of sinne But as the Children of Israell being Captiues in Babylon did vpon euerie light occasion discouer the loue which they bare to Ierusalem Si non proposuero Ierusalem in principio lâ—titiâ— meae c. so this woman did presently discouer the embers that lay hid in her brest If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith vnto thee c. Heere begins this womans Catechisme Christ dealing with her as Schoolemasters do with little childeren when they teach them first to read or as Riders with yong Colts before they begin to breake them vsing them verie gently and smoothing and stroking them with the hand Saint Augustine vnderstandeth by this gift the water of Life and by the water of Life the holy-Ghost And he alledgeth in fauour of this sence that place of Saint Iohn If any man thirsteth let him come vnto me and drinke He that beleeueth in me as the Scripture saith out of his bellie shall flow Riuers of liuing Water And the Euangelist addeâ—h That our Sauiour vttered this sentence Concerning the Spirit which Beleeuers should receiue S. Cyril vnderstandeth thereby the Grace of the holy-Ghost Theodoret the Word of God S. Ambrose Baptisme The proportion consisteth in three things The first That as liuing Water doth enioy an inseperable vnion with the fountain from whence it flowâ—th whence it followeth that it can neuer be dried vp nor haue any euill sauour like those dead waters of your Cisternes and your standing Pooles which are dried vp
hath appointed and preordained through which you may receiue that blessing which God before all ages was determined to giue vnto you So that Prayer is that rope or cord by which we draw vp water from that deepe Well of Gods euer flowing bountie Lastly another doubt is put whether shee were willing to beg this liuing Water or no at Christs hands For the sinner will euerie foote bee crauing of the goods for the bodie but for those of the soule he often stands vpon a Forsitan being carelesse whether he haue them or no. It is our dayly petition that God would giue vs the dayly bread of this life but take not so much care for that of the other The sons of Reuben of Gâ—d in passing ouer Iordan saw certain fields that were verie fertile and fruitfull and those pastures seeming good vnto them for their flockes besought Moses and the Princes of the people that they might haue the possession of them loosing the desire of their promised Land In like manner the sinner will be well content to take for his inheritance and possession the forbidden fields of the humane delights of this world and forgoe the desire of those that are heauenly and diuine If thou knewest the gift of God When the rich denies the poore a cup of cold water a morsell of bread an old shirt or the like a man may say vnto him Si scires donum Dei If thou didst but know what thou deniest and to whom thou deniest Now thou doost not know so much neither doost thou thinke so much but the time will come when God shall say vnto thee Thou sawest mee hungry and gauest me not to eat To such as were wearie thou hast not giuen water to drinke hast withdrawn bread from the hungrie A Cauallero comes into the Church kneeling vpon one knee like a fowler when he makes a shoot at a fowle casting his eye on euery side of the Church rowling them this way and that way O! if thou didst but know whome thou adorest or if thou couldst but see the reuerence wherwith the Angels stand in Gods presence The Merchant he wil swear and forsweare for his commoditie The Souldier hee will turne Turke vpon point either of profit or of honor The Gamester vpon euery bad cast or euery little hard carding will curse and blaspheme O! if thou didst but know whose name thou takest in vaine in that foule mouth of thine or that thou wouldst but consider whom thou blasphemest c. Lord thou hast not wherewith to draw and the Well is deepe There is not any Historie that can more indeere the great reckoning that God makes of a soule than to see how our Sauiour Christ doth here suffer and indure the ignorances of this vile foolish woman Doe but weigh consider the Maiesty which God doth inioy in Heauen not as he is in himselfe for Mans imagination is but a thimble-ful in comparison of the incomprehensiblenesse thereof but as the Scripture paints him foorth vnto vs. Daniell reckons vp his pages by thousands his seruants by hundreds of thousands the Heauen of Heauens sayth Salomon are straight and narrow Pallaces for his dwelling Excelsior Coelo est The wheeles of his Caroch are the wings of the Cherubins After that Iob had spent many Chapters in expressing his power and relating his famous Acts hee addeth Omnia haec ex parte dicta sint viarum eius We heare little and wee know lesse But if God should thunder out his greatnesse who were able to abide it Quis poterit sustinere But that this God onely Good onely Holy onely Mightie onely Mercifull and onely Infinite should entertaine talke so long with a poore silly woman beeing so lewd a creature and of so euill a life showes what a wonderfull great loue he beareth to a distressed soule Thou hast not wherewith to draw and the well is deepe Let vs suppose that the waters in sacred Scripture as befâ—re hath beene sayd did signifie troubles And let vs likewise heere deliuer vnto you that they also signifie pastimes and delights And not onely humane but diuine so farre as to become the Symbolum and signe of happinesse That they signifie humane happinesse we may ground it vpon this reason that they are inconstant fugitiue transitory and slide away as water Omnes morimur quasi aqua dilabimur sayd the woman of Tekoah to King Dauid Wee must needs dye and we are as water spilt on the ground And this Truth may be verified as well in mens persons as their goods They haue forsaken me the fountaine of liuing waters to digge them pits euen broken pits that can hold no water Qui bibit c. sayth Iob Which drinketh iniquitie like water Quasi aquam super aquam refectionis educauit me c. saith the Psalmist He maketh me to rest in green pastures and leadeth me by the still waters They are likewise the symbole or signe of happinesse First Because Water is the Mother of fulnesse and aboundance For that land that is without Water voyceth out famine and hunger Sicut terra sine aqua tibi Secondly Because nothing else can satisfie quench our thirst when we are taken with the Calenture of Gold of Iewels and Pretious-stones and then will the soule crye out for Water Thirdly Because nothing in comparison of Water can sute so wel with a thirstie appetite This truth beeing supposed the Samaritan woman vttered one most certaine and approued Experience And one most grosse and foule Ignorance The Experience is this That the Water of humane content must be drawne out of so deepe a Well and with that strength of the arme that not any thing can cost vs more deere in this life Dalila placed her content in knowing where Sampsons strength lay and the Scripture sayth that she did sweat and toyle and take no rest till she could come to the bottome of this Well Ad mortem vsque lassata est It was death vnto her til she had obtained her desire Saint Ambrose compareth humane pleasures and delights to the Serpent who all his life time goes trailing his bellie vpon the earth and eateth and licketh vp the dust therof Boaetius compares them to the hony in your Bee-hyues which although it bee sweete yet it leaues a painefull sting sticking in vs. Seneca doth celebrate that saying of Virgil who cals them Mala mentis gaudia The water that came vp to Tantalus his chinne and glided away by him signifieth as much And to take such a deale of paines in the pursute of these transitorie pleasures and delights as it betraies our Ignorance so it makes vs to thinke that the sweet tast of this liuing water is tyde to the rope and bucket Whosoeuer drinketh of this water shall thirst againe But whosoeuer drinketh of the water that I shall giue him shall neuer be more athirst Our Sauiour here sets downe the aduantages which the liuing
water hath of the dead The cheifest wherof is That he that shall drink of the water of this Wel shal soone after be athirst again For Aunque haze troguas no assienta pazes Though he make a truce for a time yet doth he not conclude a finall peace Saint Austen vnderstands this difference touching the thirst of the body but diuerse other Doctors of the the thirst of the soule But the Plainest and the surest is that it imbraceth both and to cleere this opinion Let vs first of all suppose that laying aside the thirst of the body all do generally suffer the same in the soule And he that from the clouds should behold this vale of the world shall perceiue it to be like a desart full of filthy standing pooles of stinking water and that all men goe thirsting after the same And Saint Austen saith Ipsum desiderium sitis est animâ— For as a man cannot liue without the desire of the soule so can he not liue without thirst Inquietum est cor nostrum donec â—eniamus ad te This our saturity and fulnesse is reserued till wee come vnto God who is our Center Satiabor cum apparauerit gloria tua I shall bee satisfied when thy glorie shall appeare In the interim we must of force liue tormented with hunger and thirst Secondly We are to suppose that this liuing Water whether it bee the Holy Ghost be it Grace or the Word of God or Baptisme doth not in this life quench either that thirst of the bodie or that of the soule Touching that of the bodie we know that many Saints of God rauished with some deepe contemplation haue forgotten al hunger and thirst without any torment or trouble euen to the abhorring of meate Nor is it much that the holy Ghost should worke this effect in man seeing that the vehement passions of sorrow and of ioy though in a different manner do dayly cause the like For this our not eating nor drinking occasioned by passion doth debilitate our forces and weakens our strength but beeing assisted by the helpe of the holy Spirit it doth not onely conserue but renew our strength and put as it were new mettle into vs as was to be seene in Elias who with that water and bread which the Angell gaue him went vp to Mount Horeb there fasted 40 days And diuers weake men haue holpen by Grace indured such hunger thirst as hath made the world to stand amased at it But the holy-Ghost doth not alwais worke these effects saue only when it seemeth good vnto him nor at all times nor towards all persons no not to the verie Saints themselues for those that haue beene the greatest Fasters haue come in the end to suffer hunger and thirst And if we shall treat of the thirst of the soule it is a plaine case that this liuing water doth not quench it but that the holy-Ghost doth to the Righteous adde more thirst after the goods of heauen and those coelestiall ioyes According to that of Ecclesiasticus Qui edunt me adhuc esurient so that till wee come to see God no man shall see himselfe voyd of thirst Thirdly The thirsting and hungring after these earthly goods and humane blessings many seeke to quench the same by filling themselues full and not denying to their eyes as Salomon saith any thing whatsoeuer their heart desireth vnderneath the Sunne But their thirst growes still more and more and their hunger increaseth like him that hath eaten salt meats or drunke brackish sea water All that is in the world saith Saint Iohn is either the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes or the pride of life Imagine three Riuers to thy selfe one of delights a second of riches and a third of pride and vanitie this is all the good that the world affoordeth and hee that shall drinke of the water of any of these three Riuers shall still be more and more thirstie And for this cause it is called Aqua concupiscentiae the water of concupiscence a lusting with desire and as hee that shall drinke and swallow downe these his desires cannot chuse but grow more and more thirstie so hee that shall drinke of this water shall desire to drinke more And as Salomon saith hee shall follow the birds which flie in the aire The truth whereof is well prooued by that rich man in the Gospell who hauing food sufficient for many yeares yet did toyle and labour as if he had been in great want to fill his barnes and his Granaries as full as hee could cram them making more and more store as if he should neuer haue prouision enough hee thought all the roomes that he had were too little I will pull downe my Barnes and make them bigger And if any man shall aske me If this rich man shall not be able as long as hee liues though the yeares of his life were neuer so many to eat out that which hee hath stored vp why he should take such a deale of carke and care for his diet and his drinke I answer That for the feeding of his bodie much lesse might haue sufficed him a little thing would haue serued the turne but it seemeth in the Storie that hee sought to satisfie his soule and that hee inuited his soule to feast it selfe and to make merrie whose thirst is insatiable Saint Gregory saith That man not finding in the pleasures and pastimes of this life any humane delights answerable to those which his heart desireth seeketh after change and varietie of sports Vt quia qualitate rerum non potest saltem varietate satietur That if the qualitie could not yet the varietie of them might some way giue content In a word as well doth the Couetous as the Prodigall die of hunger Salomon after that he had entred into such a full riuer of delâ—ghts and enioyed such a plentiful haruest of all kind of worldly pleasures hauing the World at will comes forth with two Horse-leeches of that insatiable appetite that they still followed him and neuer left crying Affer affer And who could not finde in his heart to curse that Creditor almost to the pit of Hell who shall still baule vpon a man be as discontented being paid as if he were vnpaid Others there are which seeke to satisfie this thirst with the goods of Heauen taking onely from the earth as much as is sufficient for them like vnto Gideons souldiers who passing along by the riuer side tooke vp water in the palmes of their hands God approouing in the warfare of this life that wee should inioy the goods of this life by snatches and not to lie at racke and manger Enioying this world as they enioyed it not Whereas those that lay down vpon their brest and like dogs lay lapping vp the water were reprooued by him Now by this time the aduantage appeareth cleere vnto vs which liuing water hath ouer that which is dead he that shal drink of this
water whither it bee this naturall water or the symbolicall water of humane delights he wil quickely become thirstie againe For neither with the one water is the thirst of the bodie allayed nor with the other of humane pleasures that of the Soule but hee that shall drinke of that liuing water that I shall giue them shall thirst no more reseruing it's satisfaction and fulnesse to that other life This sence the Cardinall of Toledo followes Yet me thinkes there is a plainer explication of this place to wit That he that shall drinke of this dead water be it naturall or symbolicall shall haue thirst both here and there in this and in that other life in this because the more water he drinketh the more hee thirsteth in that other because Hell is a lake where there is no water The couetous rich man could not there get so much as one poore drop of water the thirst there is too raging and too hot to be quenched So that this verie word Iterum Againe doth implie an eternitie in their thirst but hee that shall drinke of the liuing Water shall not suffer an eternall thirst because this his thirst shall bee allayed in Heauen Shall thirst no more In part it may be verified of the fulnesse of this life First Because albeit the holy-Ghost doth augment the thirst of those diuine goods giuing the Righteous a taste thereof as he did in Tabor to the three Disciples when he gaue them a relish of his glorie yet that thirst desire which they had at first to enioy that good was not wearisome and troublesome vnto them but rather that one little droppe that one small crumme seemed so â—auorie to Peter that hee could haue rested well contented therewith for many Ages So that those drops of water which are deriued from the foâ—â—â—ain of that celestiall Paradice howbeit they augment our desire yet they giue vs withall such a pleasing taste that Christ calls those happie that enioy them And Ecclesiasticus saith That they surpasse in sweetnesse the hony and the hony combe The remembrance of me is sweeter than honey and myne Inheritance sweeter than the honey combe They that eat me shall haue the more hunger and they that drink me shall thirst the more And Saint Augustine saith That as in Heauen there is fulnesse without fastidiousnesse so on earth there is a desire a hope but no grieuous torment Whereof we haue proofe from many places of Scripture which inuite vs to drinke of these liuing Waters As in Esay All yee that thirst c. Thou sweatest and labourest and all to no purpose because thou betakest thy selfe to those false brackish waters haue recourse rather to those faithfull Waters which as Ieremie saith make that good which is promised in Ecclesiasticus Draw neere vnto me yee vnlearned and dwell in the house of Learning Wherfore are yee slow and what say you of these things seeing your soules are verie thirstie Your soules perish for verie thirst and only the water of Wisedome is able to quench it And this is the Argument of the eight chapter of Wisedome which is verie excellent to this purpose Secondly Because this liuing Water doth in the Righteous quench the thirst of humane delights and this woman heere had scarce heard the newes of this Water but she leaues her bucket and her rope behind her as if she cared not now any more for earthly water or worldly pleasures Meliorâ— sunt vbera tâ—a vino Another letter hath it Amores tui the wine of the Vine makes me sleepe but the sweetnesse that I taste from thee and thy deere loue my Beloued doe in a manner rauish me and quite alienate me from my selfe and doe assuage in my brest my disordinate appetites One drop of the water of Heauen is able to quench the flames of Hell fire And this made the rich man in Hell to beg the same of Abraham Introduxit me rex in cellam vinariam in domum vini Saint Ambrose reads it Et ordinauit in me charitatem He gaue me to drinke of the wine of this cellar and my loue was reformed Before I loued but now I abhor that which I loued and loue that which I abhorred Wine is vsually a spurre to sensuality but my Beloued did not giue me of this Wine but of that which King Lemuel gaue to those that were comfortlesse and of a sorrowfull heart Noli Regibus dare vinum c. It is not fit for Kings to drinke wine nor for Princes strong drinke lest he drinke and forget the Decree and change the iudgement of all the châ—lderen of affâ—â—ction giue yee strong drink to him that is readie to perish and wine vnto them that haue griefe of heart let him drinke that he may forget his pouertie and remember his miserie no more True it is that in this life our thirst cannot be fully quenched by reason of those manifold sinnes whereinto out of our weakenesse we cannot chuse but fall and that verie often while we beare these bodies of sinne about vs. Domine da mihi hanc aquam Lord Giue me of this water Our Sauiour Christ had so indeered this water that he set an edge vpon this womans desire to enioy it The Serpent spake so much of the forbidden Fruit that Eue contrarie to Gods commaund did eate thereof The Queene of Sheba heard so much good spoken of Salomons wisedome that she vndertook a wonderful great journey that she might both see and heare him Abigal did so highly recommend to Dauid the noblenes of pardoning of an offence that of a fierce Lyon she made him as gentle as a lamb the woman of Tecoa told Dauid so handsome a tale that he pardoned his sonne Absalon Some do seeme to wonder that the sinne of dishonestie beeing so hatefull a thing in Gods sight that permitting other sinnes in his Apostolicall Colledge as Pride Couetousnesse and Treason he did neuer winke at this kind of sinne and hauing antiently so seuerely punished them that hee should now with this woman deale so mildly and so gently The drowning of the World was for wantonnesse such like dishonesties the burning of Sodom for vnnaturall vncleannes The punishing of Dauid by the vntimely death of Bersabes son by visiting himselfe with sicknesse was for his adulterie with Vriaâ—s wife Ezechiell cals Ierusalem a pot and the Princes thereof flesh because that Citie was much giuen to sensualitie And he sayth that he will put fire thereunto vntill all the flesh be consumed and that the pot be melted How is it ô Lord that thou weâ—t then so seuere and art now become so milde I answere That it is wisdome in a Physition to apply different medicines sometimes Lenitiues and sometimes Corasiues The sinnes of Ierusalem were growne hard and brawnie saith Ieremie Why cryest thou for thine affliction Thy sorrow is incurable because thy 〈◊〉 were increased I haue done these things
vnto thee All these bals of wilde fire were no more than thy hardnesse of heart had neede of But those sinnes of this Samaritan and those of this Adulteresse were sinnes of weakenesse and these must be discreetly dealt withall by the soules Phisitions There are some that we must preach nothing vnto but thunder death hell and damnation Others grace and mercie and win them to amendment of life by affectionating them to the delights of Heauen Considering thy selfe least thou be also tempted For if thou bee sharpe tart and bitter against weake consciences God may chance to suffer thee to fall into the like frailties Iudge charitably of thy neighbour and censure him by thy selfe and seeke rather to comfort than cast downe a soule c. Lord giue me of this water How powerfull a thing is priuate interest This woman found excuses not to giue but none not to aske The Antients did paint forth Interest in Mercurie the god of Wisedome with a bunch of keyes in his hand for the couetous man opens another mans brest for to receiue thence and shuts his owne that he may not giue and for both these things he is verie prudent and wise The Pharisees had many reasons and places of Scripture for to persuade themselues that Iohn Baptist was not their Messias to wit for that hee was of the Tribe of Leui that he wrought no miracles that hee liued in the wildernesse and remooued from the conuersation of men contrarie to that prophecie of Baruc Cum hominibus conuersatus est He dwelt among men The only thing that did speake for him was That he was a holy man and a Saint of God and as Saint Chrysostome hath noted it this one reason they pretended should preuaile against al the rest because it was in fauour of their owne particular interest And it is a strange case that the holynesse of Saint Iohn should bee sufficient to make them to conceiue that he was the Messias but not sufficient to make them doe that which he commanded them Voca virum tuum Call thy husband Theophilact gathers this note from hence That Christs willing her to call her husband was to aduise vs that a wife is not to craue or receiue any thing no not so much as a pot of water without the leaue of her husband and by order from him being so made one flesh and so one spirit by marriage that they are not to be seperated Malachie treating of a married wife saith Nonne residuum spiriâ—â—â— eius est Is she not the remainder of his breath Whither the allusion bee made to the formation of Adam as Saint Chrysostome hath obserued for that with the same respiration wherewith God had created the soule in Adam hee likewise created that of Eue or whither it haue relation to the husband for that the selfe same spirit which giues life vnto him is to giue the same likewise to his wife Saint Augustine in a mysticall kind of meaning vnderstands by the man the vnderstanding but the plainer truer meaning is That our Sauior in willing her to call her husband would therby giue her occasion to confesse her fault not to dismerit the mercie that was offered vnto her for to draw from a womans brest such immodest and dishonest weakenesses will require a great deale of dexteritie and cunning The seruant that ought ten thousand talents presently confessed the debt and the King forgaue it him Inconfessione debiti solutionem inuenit His confession was his solution so saith Saint Chrysostome But he was a man and his fault lesse foule but for an old woman to lie at rack and manger with her Louer in these her elder yeres will aske much labour and no lesse skill to bring her to confession Obstetricante manu eius eductus est coluber tortuosus To take the subtill winding Snake out of mans bosome we had need of Gods helping hand that 's the Midwife that must doe it For to sinne saith Saint Chrysostome the Deuill putteth great confidence into the brest of a sinner but to confesse the same he infuseth far greater shame so that dishonestie doth not onely disjoyne vs from God but remooues vs like the Prodigall sonne a great wayes off from him in regionem longinquam into a farre Countrie God hath giuen vs so noble and so gentleman-like a nature saith Saint Hierome that Sinne doth make vs melancholly and sad but Vertue cheerefull merrie And from hence saith Saint Augustine arise those remorcements of conscience those inward stings of the soule which like the flies of Aegypt disquiet a Sinner Our Sauiour Christ therefore did here make mention of her husband Como mentado la soga en casa del a horcado as if one should talk of a halter in the house of one that hath bin hang'd to the end that her sinne might trouble her conscience worke some remorce in her and make her to confesse the foulenesse thereof to the intent that by this meanes she might come to tast of the liuing water Thou hast had fiue husbands and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband S. Chrysostom saith That not any one of these was her husband some modern authors follow this his opinion And this may be grounded vpon that which Saint Hierome hath in an Epistle of his to Rusticus Post sex viros inuenit Dominum After six husbands she found the Lord. Irenaeus saith That all saue the first were Adulterers But these seuerall sences suit not with this Text. Athanasius saith That they had a Law in Samaria that they might not marrie aboue fiue times and that the incontinencie of this woman was so great that hauing buried fiue husbands she tooke a friend into her house to whom Saint Hierome adding those fiue which had beene her husbands truly and indeed said Post sex viros After six husbands And though these were not Adulterers yet is it sufficient proofe that Sensualitie is a brackish kind of water which causeth more thirst and for that Woman is an impatient creature and much subiect to long after this that other thing Ecclesiasticus stiles her Multiâ—â—la If she be thirstie and one cannot satisfie the same she will solicite sixe nay sixtie to allay this her thirst And therefore Saint Hieroâ—e equalls viduall continencie with virginitie in regard of those her forepassed pleasures for like the Phoenix she reuiues againe by kindling the fire with the wings of her owne proper thoughts and therefore in that respect preferres chast widdowhood before Virginitie For in euerie kind of vice one sin calls vpon another but it is most seene in these two to wit sensualitie and heresie And this peraduenture is the reason why the Scripture commonly calleth Idolatrie Fornication Saint Ambrose treating of 〈…〉 in lawes burning fits of her Feauer saith Forâ—asse in typâ— mulierâ— illiu◠〈…〉 languebat varijs criminum febribus Peraduenture in the figure of that 〈…〉 flesh languisheth vnder the Feaâ—ers of diuers
thousand persons besides women and children with seuen loaues a few fishes and they beeing all satisfied there were twelue baskets full remaining This miracle is mentioned by Saint Mathew and Saint Marke In the other That which the Church doth this day solemnise which was the more famous not onely for that the guests were fiue thousand besides women and children the loaues fiue the fishes two and the leauings twelue baskets full but for that all the foure Euangelists wrote thereof and much the more for that it was an occasion as it is obserued by Saint Chrysostome because our Sauiour did preach that excellent Sermon of the Mount for whose Doctrine that miracle was most important After these things our Sauiour went c. Saint Augustine and Saint Hierome are of opinion That the occasion of our Sauiours withdrawing of himselfe was the death of Iohn Baptist the ioy for whose birth beeing so generall it was not much that the sorrow for his death should be great And this sutes well with that Text of Saint Mathew who reports it to be after the death of Saint Iohn This his departure thence shewed his sorrow for his friends death but that kingdome had greatest cause to lament and bewaile Saint Iohn Baptists death and Christs going from them for what is a Kingdome without them The Saints of God are the force and strength of Kingdomes the walles and bulwarkes of Cities the hedges about a Vineyard the foundation to a Building bones to the bodie life to the soule and the chiefe essence and being of a Commonwealth And whilest they had Christ and Saint Iohn among them there was not any Citie in the world so rich as that but the one being dead and the other hauing left them Ieremie might verie well take vp his complaint and bewaile their miserie and solitude Esay treating of the misfortunes that should befall Shebna the High-Priest sayth Auferetur paxillus qui fixus fuerat in loco fideli peribit quod pependerat ex eo The Naile that is fastned in the sure place shall depart and shall be broken and fall and the burthen that was vpon it shall bee cut off Now paxillus is that which in poore mens houses is called the Racke whereon they hang spits or a shelfe whereon they set their vessels which in rich mens houses is called Aparador a Court-cupboord whereon is placed their richest pieces of plate and such as are most glorious to the eye And hereof mention is made in the one and thirtieth Chapter of Exodus and the third of Numbers But your poorer sort of People that are not scarce worth a paire of Rackes strike in certaine pinnes into the wall and as the shelfe falling all falls with it that depends thereupon so when the High-Priest being a good man dies all good perisheth with him in the Commonwealth because the chiefe good of the State dependeth thereupon The Homicâ—de had fiue Cities to flie vnto for shelter but hee could not returne home to his owne Countrie till the death of the High-Priest And Philon rendring the reason of this interdiction saith That the High-Priest is a Pariente or Kinseman of all those that liue in his Commonwealth Qui solum habet ius in viuos in mortuoâ— as euerie Citisen hath his particular Kinsemen to whom he owes an obligation to acknowledge the benefits he receiues from him and to reuenge the wrongs that are done to him In like manner the High-Priest is the common Kinseman of the Liuing to whom hee owes an Obligation to accord their discords to cut off their suits in Law to quit their wrongs and to desire the peace and prosperitie of them all In conclusion he being as it were a common father to all in so great a losse in so sencible and generall a sorrow when a common misfortune should compound particular wrongs when all mens hearts are so heauie their eyes so full of teares their minds so discomforted it is a fit season for a Homicide to returne home to his Countrie And if the death of a High-Priest who happely was no holy man causeth in a Commonwealth so generall a griefe the death of Iohn Baptist and our Sauiours departure from this People What effect of heartie sorrow ought that to worke God threatned his People by Esay The Lord shall giue you the bread of aduersitie and the water of affliction When the King of Israell commanded Micheas to be cast into prison hee said vnto him Suâ—â—enta tecum paâ—e tribulationis aqua angustiae Feed vpon the bâ—â—ad of affliction and the water of affliction In the Hebrew both places beare the same words but Esay afterwards saith That though Gods hand shall be heauie vpon them and that he shall afflict them with many miseries yet he will not take away their Doctors and Teachers from amongst them nor the light of his Doctrine I haue threatned you with the famine of my word I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst of water but of hearing the Word of the Lord. But God recalls this threatning oftentimes Et non faciet auolare à te vltra Doctorem tuum and will not cause thy Teacher to flie from thee But Iohn Baptist being dead and our Sauiour withdrawne himselfe that Countrie could not rest in a more wretched estate Secondly The death of Iohn Baptist made him leaue the land and put forth to sea making a seperation betweene him and them for when God gets him gone from thy house or thy citie thou art beaten out of doores as they say with a cudgell euen then doth a man go turning backe his head like a Hart that is hunted and pursued by Hounds neuer letting him to be at rest but chasing him with open mouth from place to place God cannot absent himselfe from his Creatures nor can his immensitie giue way to the vtter abandoning of this goodly Fabricke and wonderfull Machina of the World yet so great is the hatred which he beares to sinne that he also commands vs to get vs out of that Citie where Sinne doth raigne signifying thereby vnto vs That if any thing can make him to absent himselfe from vs it is our sinnes God had his house and his residence in Hierusalem so sayes Esay God had his house and his hearth there as if hee had beene one of their fellow Citisens and a Towne dweller amongst them but their abhominations made him to abandon that place Ezechiel saw the glorie of God how it went by degrees out of the Temple staying one while here another while there resting it selfe now against this pillar now that till at last The glorie of God was cleane gone out of the Temple Their abhominations did as it were driue him out by head and shoulders shoov'd him forth by little and little The great abhominations that the House of Israell committeth here causeth me to depart from my Sanctuarie Iosephus in
and which way this may handsomely bee done This is a prudent proposition for a Prince when occasion is offered of some extraordinary expence to treat with his Counsell how and which way these monies are to be raised and ordered Hee that goes about to build him a stately pallace will first aske counsel of his purse how he shall bee able to compasse it A King that breakes his League and is to enter into a War with his neighbour Prince will first consult with his subiects how he shall vndergoe it For to goe out with tenne thousand against an Enemie that brings twentie thousand into the field is not wisedome And he must haue an eye vnto this Vâ—de whence and which way he shall leuie both men and money For if it must bee from the bloud of the poore that bloud which is thus wrung from them is to draw the best bloud out of his owne bodie to the indangering of his life if not of his soule Those Princes seldome or neuer thriue who misseled by euill counsellors say with Rehobaam Whereas my Father did burden you with a greeuous yoke I will yet make your yoke heauier My Father hath chastised you with rods but I will correct you with scourges And my least part shall be bigger than my fathers loynes So vnmerciful and intollerable are the greeuances oppressions which Kings Ministers exercise vpon the poore that the widdow weeps and the orphant sheds teeres the teeres thatd â—ckle from their cheekes howsoeuer Kings may conceiue they fall to the ground I must boldly tell them that they ascend vp as high as Heauen and are there turned into flashes of Lightening and their cries into Thunder against those Ministers that are the cause thereof and those Princes that suffer the same and consent thereunto They must consider vpon what ground they goe For if the cause be honest pious and necessarie as to keepe souldiers from staruing that lye in garrison to bridle the insolencies of the enemies of the Faith to supplie the necessarie prouision of the Kings house and the like it is well and good and God forbid but we should thinkâ— that to be verie well imployed which is so spent and it is fit that euery man that is of abilitie should contribute to the charge But to impouerish some to inrich others to pill the Commonwealth to make fat a fauorite to dispeople townes for to make forrests to put Naboth out of his lawfull possession nay and his life too to make thy selfe a house of pleasure and gardens to feast and banquet in c. I will leaue this to their owne consideration without pressing this point any further least contrarie to Salomons Counsaile by wringing the nose too hard I might happen to draw bloud and so offend the head Whence shall we buy bread From the beginning of the world vntil then it was neuer propounded in any Princes Councell how the Hungrie should be fed or any care taken how the Naked should be cloathed But how to raise money for the Princes expences for the more magnificent maintenance of his Maiestie and for the vpholding of his Estate this is euerie dayes example And if the royal Patrimonie shall be impawned there shall be sitting vpon sitting proiect vpon proiect how to bring him out of debt to fill his Coffers and all of them will put a helping hand to lay more and more burthens on the backes of the Poore but whence the Poore should be fed how your decayed Townes should bee repaired how your ruined Commonwealths restored to their former honour and greatnes let the great ones aduise vpon that if it stand not with the hurt of their greatnesse for I can say little vnto it Saint Bernard hath obserued That our Sauiour Christ said thrice vnto Peter Pasce Oues meas Feed my Sheepe but that hee neuer said vnto him no not so much as once That he should sheere them Signifying thereby That it is the office of a good Prelat to haue an especiall care that his Sheepe be well fed both with spirituall and corporall food and not to studie the raising of his Rents the racking of his Tenants nor his owne priuate profit Whence shall we buy bread Our Sauiour Christ consulted with all his Disciples concerning this businesse And therefore he sayd vnto them Giue yee them to eate And although the Disciples tooke care for the prouision of these things they did not lift their eyes vp any higher then to the distribution of their almes But our Sauiour being willing to tax them for this their little faith he would first make a verification of those few loafes that they had in their keeping Quot panes habetis c. How many loaues haue yee He began first with Philip eyther perhaps because he was not present at what had passed or because hee seemed to take the greatest care how these should haue wherewithall to eate or because he was lesse frugall and prouident than the rest as Saint Chrysostome noteth it or because he was not so quicke witted and of that nimble apprehension as his fellowes as it seemeth to Saint Cyrill In conclusion two necessities incountring together one of the body another of the soule one of bread and another of fayth our Sauiour Christ began first with that of the soule hauing recourse to that his office of a Sauiour who made more reckoning of the more than of the lesse Two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them Saint Marke saith in the name of the rest Let vs goe and buy two hundred penny worth of bread Wherunto Philip answered that two hundred penny worth of bread would not bee sufficient for them nay two hundred royalls would not come to a bit a man At which time he had turned his eye aside from our Sauiours omnipotency placing his eyes vpon his purse strings to see how strong they were Whereas the blessed Virgin casting her eyes off from the Master of the feast threw them on her sonnes omnipotencie So short sighted is mans wisedome that in seeing ordinary meanes faile he holds the relieuing of his wants desperate not so much as once thinking what a thing it is to put our trust in God And it is a fearefull thing to thinke that man sinning hopes that God will pardon him and that suffering hunger and nakednes God should not helpe him Thou committest a mortall sinne thou reckonest not much of it hoping that God will be good vnto thee and forgiue thee thy trespasse thou sufferest hunger and nakednesse and yet despairest of comfort fearing more to be starued to death than to be damned to hell Canst thou hope then for so great a fauour as to be saued by his mercy and pitty towards thee and shalt thou despaire in these lesser things of the infinite prouidence of God It is a great shame for thee so to doe and such a fowlenes as none in a Christian can be more Hence
is it that thou hast recourse to euill meanes for to free thee from hunger But this is a strange kind of ignorance in thee First because the diuell hath not the power to do thee good in this kind Pharaohs inchanters did adde plagues to plagues flyes to flyes frogs to frogs serpents to serpents bloud vnto blood but take them away they could not All the diuells in hell cannot slacke that hunger which God sendeth Secondly because God hath reserued this care to himselfe Thou preparest them corne for so thou appointest it The Hebrewes hath it Because it is thy preparation and thou prouidest it for vs. Thou ô Lord doest furnish vs with foode because it appertaineth to the office of thy prouidence Neuerthelesse hee left not himselfe without witnesse in that he did good and gaue vs raine from heauen and fruitfull seasons filling our hearts with foode and gladnesse So that the Euangelist Saint Luke saith That albeit the Creator of heauen and earth did not suffer himselfe to be seene by humane eyes yet he left testimonies behind him whereby they might know him as by his preseruation of the world his cheering of mans heart with food and gladnesse and for this cause hee commands That wee should beg our dayly bread of him And as he onely can giue vs the Spiritual and Sacramental bread so he onely can giue vs that materiall bread that must sustain our bodies as that other doth our soules There is a little boy here which hath fiue barley loaues and two fishes But what are they among so many Whether this were a boy belonging to the Apostolicall Colledge as it seemeth to Euthimius or some boy of one of the Towns thereabouts as Chrysostome and Theodoret would inferre I will not stand to dispute it but it seemeth somewhat strange vnto me That there was not any one man in all this Apostolical Colledge which did not seek to rid their hands of this people or despaire of their being able to giue them entertainment Some said Dimitte eos Send them away dismisse them what should they doe here Saint Philip he comes in with Ducentorum denariorum Two hundred penniworth of bread will not serue the turne Saint Andrew Quid inter tantos What 's a pound of butter amongst a kennell of hounds What 's this amongst so many Onely our Sauiour Christ vseth them with a great deale of courtesie and ciuilitie he onely fauours them and is willing to bid them welcome Saint Ambrose saith That if they had bin fiftie thousand as they were but fiue thousand they should all of them haue gone away satisfied and well contented Iob saith If I restrained the Poore of their desire c. The multitude of the Poore did neuer cause feare in me as being wel assured that God hath enough in store for them Now if man beare so braue a mind because he is made after the image of God What a noble mind must there be in God In a couetous mans house there is too much penurie for the poore but too much excesse for vanitie When Nabal denied bread to Dauid and his souldiers the Scripture saith That hee had prouided a feast for a King And the rich Glutton in the Gospell hauing his table plentifully furnished denied the crummes to poore Lazarus that fell from his Table There are three things which my soule hateth whereof one of them is A rich man a lier Saint Augustine by this rich man a lier vnderstandeth the vnmercifull man who though he abound in wealth still answers the Poore No ay I haue not for you but the mercifull minded man still saith Para todos ay I haue for you all but the couetous man No ay para nadie I haue for none of you Here is a boy that hath fiue lâ—aues It was great charitie in God to giue away the prouision of his owne Colledge Seneca treating of the liberalitie which one man ought to vse towards another saith Dabo egenti sed vt ipse non egeam succurram perituro sed vt ipse non peream I will be mindfull of the Poore but not forgetfull of my selfe I will relieue him that is readie to perish but will looke to it that I may not perish my selfe For What rich man did euer make himselfe poore to make a poore man rich Onely our Sauiour Christ did so When he was rich hee made himselfe poore that by his pouertie we might be made rich To giue of our superfluities to the Poore is a vertue to part with part of that which doth not superabound as the Widdow of Sarepta did is more than a vertue but to giue all away that is necessarie and needfull for a mans owne life onely our Sauiour Christ did this By whose example many Saints afterwards became excellent Almoners who were contented to suffer nakednesse and hunger themselues that they might fill the bellie of the Hungrie and cloath the backe of the Naked And amongst the rest of these Worthies in their time whose memorie shall neuer be forgotten verie memorable was that of Paulina Bishop of Nola who to free another from slauerie became a slaue himselfe Make the People sit downe Saint Austen saith That the circumstances made this miracle the more remarkable First it is the fashion of the World to haue the meat set on the boord before the guests sit downe At that Feast which the King made at his sonnes wedding Behold I haue prepared my dinner myne Oxen and my Fatlings are killed and all things are readie c. King Assuerus made a great banquet for the Princes of his Kingdome in the Court of the Garden and the Kings Pallace but the Vigiles were farre longer than the Feast But Gods Feasts haue no need of preuention or solemne preparation God created the earth rich in hearbes and plants before it inioyed the benefit of either Sun or Water as Saint Chrysostome hath noted it and therefore Christ had no need of Sunne or Water to furnish and set forth a full table for man He tooke all his Disciples opinions and they all agreeing that there was not bread sufficient for them nor mony wherewithall to buy it when they held it to be a desperate case then did our Sauiour say vnto them Cause the People therefore to sit downe Where the word Therefore is to be considered Saint Chrysostome saith That he went about to prooue by this Therefore that which he afterwards said to the glorious Apostle Saint Paul He calleth those things that are not as though they were In like manner that which is not heareth and obeyeth God as though it were The second circumstance is That from so poore a prouision there should be so rich an ouerplus In the feasts of this world there is much remaining because there is much prouided which doth commonly extend it selfe more to vanitie and ostentation than necessitie And that of much much should be left it is not much But of a little to make
dawbe vice with the colour of vertue These are the ordinary impostures of Hypocrisie But some hold them to be so hurtfull that if they should be suffered and borne withall any long time the world would be vtterly vndone by it That a woman should dissemble her euill feature and the fowlenes of her skin with rich and well made clothes and with borrowed colours and that her beauty being not her owne but a falshood and lye from the head to the foot she should make it to appeare as a truth That a Merchant should carry the name of a very rich and wealthy man though he owe a great deale more than he is worth That a Huckster should sell Barajas Oliues for those of Seuill c. Let it passe Mundus in maligno positus est It is a naughty world But that an Apothecary should put vpon a boxe of poyson a Rotulo or written Scroll of wholesome physick and say rats bane is sugar it is not a thing to be indured Lesse are we to suffer deceits in the medicins and confections for the soule He that should haue seen the beasts the birds the boords the store of money that was there and the great noyse of the sacrifices that were there to be made would haue thought it had beene the Priests zeale diuine worship a relieuing of the poore and an easing of those that came a farre off to the Temple that they might with the lesse trouble performe their deuotions but all this was nothing but couetousnesse and their greedy desire of greater gaines And perhaps for this reason Saint Iohn called it the Passeouer of the Iewes Erat proximum Pascha Iudaeorum The Iewes Passeouer was at hand Not my Passeouer but yours where you doe not treate of my honour but of your owne profit Vias vestras sabbatha vestra odiuit anima mea saith the Prophet Esay And the Prophet Malachie calls these their solemne feasts dung Behold I will cast dung vpon your faces euen the dung of your solemne feastes Not because they were so in themselues but because theirayme was their owne priuate Interest which is no better than a dunghill in the sight of God The third occasion was their disrespect to the Temple where God euer pretended that his Maiestie should be more especially respected Regnaâ—it deus super omnes gentes sedet super sedem sanctam suam The Maiestie regall vpon earth is respected throughout the whole iurisdiction of his Crowne but much more where he hath his throane and chaire of Estate God as he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords ouer all the nations of the earth ought much to be respected but more especially where he hath his throane in euery one of his Kingdomes In heauen at the right hand of his father which is the supreame throane of his greatnesse and Maiestie In the Synagogue he had the Propitiatorie and in the Temples the Sacrarium When the Angell appeared vnto Ioshua with a drawne sword and commanded him to put his shooes from off his feet diuerse graue Doctors doe concurre in this that this Angell was the Sonne of God as hee had before appeared vnto Moses in the bush commanding him the like Wherein he notified two things vnto them The one the reuerence that they ought to beare to that place where he did so especially manifest himselfe For the ground wherein thou standest is holy ground By our feete are meant our affections by our shooes our cares And many nations tooke from thence the putting off of their shooes when they entred into the Temple The other That against those who should loose this respect to that place the sword was drawne to slay them and fire prepared to burne and consume them Ezechiel painting out the abhominations of the Temple saith Behold there came sixe from the way of the vpper gate which looketh towards the North and euerie one of them had Vasa interfectionis the vessels of slaughter in his hand The 70 translate it Septem secures Seuen hatchets It is Theodorets obseruation that against all Zenacharibs Armie God sent forth but one Angell onely but against the prophaners of his Temple six according to the number of the dayes of the Week because there should not that day passe ouer their head wherin some new Executioner or other should not but rise vp to torment them In multitudine misericordiae tuae introibo in domum tuam adorabo ad Templum sanctum tuum in timore tuo Caietan reades it In multitudine gratiae tuae He that is predestinated to saluation hath that respect to Gods house that if hee did not persuade himselfe that he stood in his grace and fauour he would not dare to presume to put his foot within the doores thereof and should he presume so to do he would leane himselfe against the corner of the first pillar he came at not daring like the Publican to lift vp his eyes But your Pharasaicall Hypocrite makes as bold with gods house as with his owne He lies here and lies there sweares here and swears there murmures here and murmures there he liues there as if there were no God and liues here as if God did not see him And that which causeth the more feare and horror is That many times they meet at the Church for to treat and talke of their greatest villanies Saint Ierome against Vigilancius saith Confiteor timorem meum I confesse my feare When entring into the Temple of the Martyrs I conceiue any anger or euill thought in my mind or when sleeping I haue had any euill dreame it makes my body and soule to tremble Now then when entring into Gods house I quake and tremble when I am to receiue what can I doe withall By Ezechiell God complaines of those rich men that built their houses neere vnto his Qui fabricati sunt limen suum iuxta limen meum Ioyning wall to wall to my house they haue prophaned my name with their abhominations And I consumed them in my wrath Being then that God cannot indure such bad neighbourhood Wil he beare with those impudencies that as it were in despight ye doe before his face Saint Ierome hath noted vpon Esay that amongst other things that Salomon offended God in one was That hee had built vp such a high Turret in his pallace that it ouertopt the Temple and did ouerlooke it For Gods house ought not to be inferiour to mans What shal we say then to those that make it a den of theeues It hath beene obserued That all those great and powerfull Princes which haue presumed to presse into Gods Temples haue come to an euill end Sabellicus reports of Pompey that hauing bin formerly verie fortunat after thathe had presumed to prophane the Temple by entring into the Sancta sanctorum nothing afterwards prospered with him The fourth occasion was Christs great zeale to his House Zelus domus tuae comeâ—it me The zeale of thy House hath deuoured me or eaten
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
seeke to suppresse it the more it shewes it selfe Certain Pharisees aduising our Sauior Christ to get him gone out of Herods Dominions and to flie the Kingdom returned them this answer Tell King Herod for all this his heat and spleene against me that I will cure the sicke and cast out deuils to day and to morrow Et tertia die consumer Signifying thereby that hee would liue for all him as long as he listed dye when he listed S. Ambrose when the emperor Theodosius was so mightily incensed against him for his boldnes in preaching said vnto him May it please your Imperiall Maiestie it becomes not an Emperour nor is it in his power to impose silence vpon the Preacher of Gods word Nor does it befit a Preacher to hold his peace where there is iust reason to reprehend The one is an affront offered vnto God whose Legat hee is that preacheth the other cowardise in Gods Minister who carrying with him the warrant of Gods word ought not to be afraid of any thing Many doe excuse themselues of vsing reprehensions for that they suppose they will be Sin prouecho without profit and worke little good vpon their Auditorie And yet our Sauiour Christ did seuerly reprooue the Pharisees though they were neuer awhit the better for it that others might reape fruit thereby and be admonished by other mens harmes Iudgen â—t according to the appearance but judge righteous iudgement Our Sauiour Christ said formerly vnto the Pharisees Why doe yee seeke to kill mee For euer since the time of the forementioned Miracle they sought to slay him the common people charging him with a Daemonium habes c. But Christ making no replie to the vulgar passing that ouer went about to prooue the small reason that they had to plot his death because he had done this good deed vpon the Sabboth day Vnum opus feci omnes admiramini Saint Chrisostome expoundeth this admiramini to be a condemning of him to bee a transgressour of the Law On the Sabboth saith our Sauior yee Circumcise and Circumcision is no breach of the Sabboth much lesse the healing of him that is lame Circumcision healeth the soule but woundeth the bodie But I in lesse time cure both body and soule Circumcision is of the antient Fathers the Sabboth of Moses you suffer the Circumcision and so did Moses If of this worke there followeth no transgression neither ought there of mine The Iewes hereunto might answer Circumcision is of the antient Fathers and confirmed by Moses but thy worke is of a base vulgar and ordinarie person Whereunto our Sauiour answereth Nolite iudicare secundum c. Iudgement ought to be made onely of mens actions without acception of persons Ye magnifie Moses as Saint Austen saith and Abraham Isaac and Iacob and yee despise mee my workes beeing more strange and wonderfull Without doubt ye are accepters of persons The Pharisees might replie Circumcision is a diuine precept but thy worke is not so This argument is of no force for the obseruation of the Sabboth was likewise a diuine precept but because that of the Circumcision was the more antient of the two they did prefer this before that And therefore Christs worke being greater than the Circumcision wee are to suppose that it was diuine and by consequence to be preferred before it To conclude it seeming to the Pharisees an vnworthie thing that the authoritie of a common man should be parallel'd with that of the antient Patriarches they condemned him for a transgressour Wherupon our Sauiour sayes vnto them Nolite iudicare secundum faciem First of all he here condemneth in Iudges the accepting of persons contrarie to so many places of Scripture which condemne this inequalitie Ecclesiasticus saith Fortissimus non habebit in illis patientiam And though God be so merciful a God of such great sufferance yet here by an Hyperbole he will not haue patience with those Iudges which for hatred loue or profit shall bee mooued to pronounce an vniust sentence nor with those princes and potentates of the World which in matters of Iustice shall carrie an vneuen hand And hee commandeth those Kings that were to raigne ouer his people that they should beare the booke of the Law about them and should read therein all the dayes of their life That they may learne to feare the Lord thir God For If the feare of God doth not bridle them they are head-strong and cannot be ruled Iudges haue for their bridle God and the King Kings onely God And against those that shal loose their respect towards him he saith Heare therefore ô ye Kings and vnderstand learne ye that be Iudges of the ends of the Earth Giue eare ye that rule the multitudes and glorie in the multitude of people For the rule is giuen you of the Lord and power by the most high which will trie your workes search out your imaginations Because that ye beeing officers of his Kingdome haue not iudged aright nor kept the Law nor walked after the will of God horribly and suddenly will he appeare vnto you for an hard iudgement shall they haue that beare rule And the mightie shall be mightily tormented To many great sinners God giues a long life hauing an eye to the ill that waytes for them but bad Gouernours and Iudges hee cuts short and permits them not to liue out their dayes And therefore Nolite iudicare secundum faciem ita parvum aâ—dietis vt magnum And because sticking many times vpon Gods recommending vnto them the cause of the poore and the fauour that should bee showen them as well in their person as matter of Iustice and considering on the other side their miserie and want some pittifull Iudge contrary to Iustice many incline to fauour his cause our Sauiour addeth Rectum iudicium iudicate Let not your eyes nor your hearts be carried away with the miserie of the poore nor the prosperitie of the rich And as God hath commanded Regard not the Person of the mightie So likewise he saith Regard not the Person of the Poore but judge rightly And this sence is that which is pretended in the Text. Secondly he condemneth all kind of rash iudgements all doubtfull things where there are not manifest proofes or some indicia or signes of euil there to leane to the better part And so Thomas teacheth them To iudge solely vpon suspition is meer rashnesse which commonly ariseth from these three grounds The one That the Iudge is vicious himselfe Stultus omnes stultos aestimat so sayth Ecclesiasticus The theife thinkes all to be like himselfe c. The other proceeds from passion which commonly iudgeth ill vpon light occasions of him whom he either hateth or enuieth The third from long experience of things past And therefore Aristotle saith That old men are verie iealous and suspicious And this is the least blameable for suspition is apt to entertaine a sinister opinion but experience will
goe vpon certainties There is great difference betwixt doubt suspition and judgement There are indicia or signes that are sufficient for doubting which are not sufficient for suspecting and for suspecting which are not sufficient for iudging and all of them recouer more or lesse force from the qualitie of the persons whom they concerne for there are many indicia or tokens which are sufficient to condemne vicious and lewd persons which are not sufficient against persons of honester note and of good report Then they sought to take him but no man laid hands on him The end of their conference was to apprehend him but not a man of them that durst aduenture to do it for when as they sought to stone him their stones were frozen to their fingers ends so now they had the crampe in their armes their hands were benummed and their strength failed them discouering therein the greatnesse of his power At his wisedome they remained astonished and at his power they were forced to yeeld And these are the two attributes of a powerfull and absolute Prince Power without Wisedome is an vnruly beast that runs on to his owne destruction and Wisedome without Power is too weake for atchieuement nor is there that rash action which a powerfull foole will not put himselfe into Dionysius the Tyrant was woont to say That then he did enioy the sweetnesse of his Empire when he did execute his desires in an instant Power is a headstrong horse and Wisedome serues as a bridle to curbe and restraine it's furie The Wiseman alluded hereunto when he said That God had giuen him wisedome like the sand that lies on the sea shore which repells the waues though neuer so great and bounds them in Plutarch saith That to a bare absolute power not bounded in with this sand malice and mischiefe was neuer wanting The Emperour Iustinian in the entrance to his Institutions saith That in the Maiestie royall the beautie of armes is not onely necessarie but the force also of learning He attributs Force to Learning because that bridles the strongest thing that is which is Armes Our Sauiour Christ then beeing the true patterne of so great and glorious a Prince as none greater Power and Wisedome could not chuse but concurre meet equally in him To whom with the Father and the Holy-Ghost be ascribed all Power Honour and Glorie c. THE XXVIII SERMON VPON THE WEDNESDAY AFTER THE FOVRTH SVNDAY IN LENT IOHN 9.1 Praeteriens Iesus vidit Caecum And as Iesus passed by he saw a man that was blind c. OVr Sauiour Christ going out of the Temple seeking to shun those stones which they pretended to throw at him he cast his eye vpon a poore blind man that was borne blind for it is the priuiledge of pouertie and humane miserie to haue the eye of diuine pittie to looke downe vpon it and to fauour the same so that he healed him at once both in bodie and in soule the Historie whereof is no lesse large than it is pleasing Christ had said For iudgement I am come into this world that they which see not may see and that they which see might be made blind Now here he began to fulfull this prophecie by reuealing to the Pharisees Antequam Abraham fieret ego sum He left them so blind that they tooke vp stones to stone him to death in that verie instant meeting with this blind man hee made his eyes so cleere and so perfect that those did not know him who held conuersation with him And thus did the case now stand betwixt the Gentile and the Iew the one was stark blind and the other did see perfectly the Iew enioyed none the Gentile much light The people that walked in darkenesse haue seene a great light and they vpon whome the light shined dwell in the land of the shaddow of death And in another place We waited for light but behold obscuritie for brightnesse but we walke in darknesse we grope for the wall like the blind and we grope as if we had no eyes we stumble at noone day as in the night we are in desolate places as dead men The Spouse speaking of her Beloued saith En ipse stat post parietem nostrum Behind the wall of our humane nature and our Pharisees groping and stumbling in the darke brake their heads against the wall That place likewise of the 29 Chapter may be hereunto accommodated Behold I will proceed to doe a meruailous worke among this People euen a meruailous worke and a wonder by giuing sight to one that was borne blind For the wisedome of wise men shall perish and the vnderstanding of their prudent men shall be hid The Scribes and Pharisees had the light of the Scripture and did looke for the Messias For Syons sake will I not hold my peace and for Ierusalems sake I will not rest vntill the righteousnesse thereof goe forth as brightnesse and the saluation thereof as a lampe that burneth But they were vnthankeful for this light that curse of Iob lighting vpon them Let them looke for light but haue none neither let them see the dawning of the day They were so blind that this blind man taught them the light and told them who was the Messias whom they so long expected As Iesus passing by c. This businesse seemeth to be a thing done as it were by chance but there is not any thing that God doth commit more to memory than the relieuing of our miseries The Bush wherein God appeared vnto Moses which did burne and yet was not burned did represent the stubble which his people did gather to bake their bricke and those firie tribulations which did burne but not consume them And if any man shall aske me How this Bush could be on fire and not be burnt I answer That God had such present vse of the fire that it seemed to ouerslip the bush The Prophet Abacucke went to carrie food to the sheepheards that were in the field but the angel taking him vp by the haire of the head carried him away into Chaldea landed him in the Lyons Den in Babylon for Daniels hunger required that hast that the reapers in the field were forgotten which was an extraordinarie care and especiall prouidence of God But why doth the Euangelist say Praeteriens passing by as it were by chance And Ezechiel vnder the similitude of an Infant deliuering vnto vs That as soone as she was borne she was cast out into the open field to the loathing of her person in that day she was borne When I passed by thee I saw thee polluted in thyne owne bloud Hereunto I answer That God doth dissemble his care because thou being not able to pay the principall nor any desire to satisfie this his great care and loue towards thee he would draw thee if it were possible to the acknowledgement of that debt which is due vnto him for it is a common
so that in some sort God may be said to be indebted to the ill that is in vs. Tertullian saith That God then loueth this our flesh when it is fullest of miseries for by giuing remedie thereunto his attributes are knowne and acknowledged in the World and I dare be bold to say it That if it were not for the infirmities of our flesh and the in-bred ill that is in vs those good things would not bee knowne and acknowledged which come from God In the 113 Psalme Dauid makes an enumeration of those meruailes and prodigious wonders which God multiplied in the behalfe of his People at their departure out of Aegypt And after that he had related many of them he endeth with this Goe on as thou haâ—â— begun ô Lord with these Nations For although the profit will be ours the honour will be thine and whereas these Nations doe point out their gods with their fingers it is fit we should also know that wee haue a God amongst vs and not a god of wood as they haue The second reason is Saint Bernards Amongst all his other attributes none in our opinion none considering his naturall condition is to be compared with that of his being misericors a mercifull God He is called Pater misericordiae The Father of mercie which presupposeth our miserie and to multiplie his blessings and his goodnesse vpon vs we hauing no sinne nor euill in vs hee could hardly doe it If hee should haue dealt thus with Adam before his fall and with the Angells in their blessed estate it might haue been an effect of his bountie but not of his mercie which is aboue all his workes But some man perhaps will say O Lord to throw euills vpon vs that thou maist afterwards remooue them from vs is no such great fauour Yes marry is it and that an extraordinarie fauour for we doe not know health but by sickenesse the seising of that soundly vpon vs shewes what a blessing a sound bodie is Speciosa misericordia Dei quasi nubes pluuiae in tempore siccitatus As raine is welcome in a drought so is Gods mercie to the Afflicted and so to this blind man was his sight The third is Saint Chrysostomes God sometimes takes from vs what is good that he may giue vs that which is better whatsoeuer God doth repaire by myracle is better than that which is possessed by nature as it succeeded in the wine at the Wedding Saint Bernard treating of the conuersion of Saint Paul saith That it was a great happinesse that he was strucken blind for by this his blindnesse he was taken vp into the third Heauen there saw such things as man may not vtter and when he came to receiue againe the eys of this his bodie he possessed withall the eye-sight of his soule and so did it likewise fare with this blind man The fourth reason is God inflicting the euill of punishment vpon man God therein doth not doe man iniustice for as Saint Chrysostome saith there is in this life no more than one good and one ill the good consists in seruing God the ill in offending him Let no man therefore complaine of his misfortunes for there cannot be any disaster so great that can hurt thee in the least haire of thy head Capillus de capite vestro non peribit And if a man doe not runne hazard in the losse so much as of one haire there will be much more care had that the better and more materiall parts shall not perish Many in Ierusalem hauing eyes remained blind and this blind man hauing no eyes came thereby to enioy his sight both in bodie and in soule Seneca saith That the want of eyes caused in many the want of sinning was a great occasion of their innocencie of life and inculpabiâ—itie The fifth reason is That it is no iniustice in God to inflict punishment vpon vs for albeit there be no proper precedent sinne neither in our selues nor our Parents yet the original sinne that we are liable vnto may draw and that iustly most grieuous punishments vpon vs as Saint Augustine hath learnedly noted concerning little infants which suffer sickenesse and death So that Gods freeing of man from punishment is mercie his not freeing him no iniustice Thou hast many debtors thou forgiuest one and suest another it is a kindnesse to the one but no iniurie to the other One owes thee a great summe thou art contented to â—ake a little for this thy debtor owes thee a great deale of thankes God tooke away this mans eyes from him he might likewise haue bereaued him of his feet and his hands he is bound to thanke him that he spared him the vse of those Besides this cannot be said to be so much a taking away of that which is due as not a giuing of that vnto him which he might if he would The good things which we enioy are from God and hee may distribute them as it best pleaseth him Againe the arme is to defend the head though it runne the hasard of being lost a Citisen for the safeguard of his Commonwealth a Subiect to saue his Soueraignes life a Christian for the glorie of Christ a Creature for the honour of his Creator and Martyrs for the maintenance of their Religion haue not refused to lay downe their liues it is not much then that this man should be contented with the losse of his eyes that the Workes of God might be made manifest The sixt reason is That because the heart doth commonly follow after the eyes it is better to want eyes than to haue them It is the common opinion not only of the Phylosophers but of Gods Saints That the eyes are principium â—alorum nostrorum The induction to all our ill Lucian calls them Prima amoris viâ— The onely doore that opens vnto loue Plato Principium amoris nostri The entrance to loue Dionysius Adalides or Duces amoris The guides or ringleaders to loue Seneca Animae finestrae The window to the soule Saluianus The casements to mans brest Clemens Alexandrinus That the first encounters and skirmishes sallie from forth the eyes Nazianzen stiles them The prime instruments of our bewitching In a word The eyes were the ruine of Lots wife the eyes The bewitching of the children of Israell Videntes filij Dei filias hominum c. The eyes ouerthrew Eue in Paradice the Iudges that would haue wronged Susanna in Babylon Dauid Sampson and Salomon might all of them verie well say Vt vidi perij My sight vndid me Ieremie complaineth That all the Daughters of his Citie were vtterly vndone by their eyes Depredatus est oculus meus animam meam in cunctis filiabus vrbis Saint Peter That many Cast-awayes haue their eyes full of Adulteries Plutarch reporteth That a certaine Conquerour entring the Citie in triumph casting his eye aside vpon a handsome young woman had his heart taken prisoner by her and sending his lookes
still after her he gaue occasion to Diogenes to breake this jeast vpon him That this faire mayden had like a Chicken wrung his necke thus aside looking still backward as his Chariot went forward The seuenth is of Irenaeus Saint Ambrose and Saint Chrysostome It being manifested in this blind man That God is our sole Creator and that no hands but his onely can mold and fashion vs anew Man considering the Worlds great beautie was desirous to search out the author thereof and the Deuill boasting forth and assuming to himselfe the glorie of this admirable piece of worke blazoned it forth vnto them I am the Lord of all this Vniuerse I made the worâ—d and I possesse it Whereupon Man gaue vnto him the honour of God the greater part of the world adoring him in his Idolls God finding himselfe thus wronged did permit in man these maimes and defects in the eyes hands and feet and other the like monstrous mis-shapednesse Now if the Deuill had the power to repaire these imperfections he might then enioy this glorie But if all the Idols as Baruc saith being put together cannot giue sight to the Blind how can they then be God The wonderfullest worke that God euer made was Man and in Man the greatest artifice and workemanship are his eyes Our Sauior therfore had so ordred it that this man should be born blind that his eys being fashioned giuen him by his hand the world might acknowledge him to be their God and their Redeemer When hee had thus spoken hee spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle c. Saint Ambrose dwels much vpon these ceremonies And much adoe is made about the cost and cure of this poore mans eyes O Lord thou hast restored other men by a bare word onely so didst thou reuiue the widowes sonne lying on the beere and so didst thou raise vp Lazarus from the graue thy voice alone was sufficient In the creation of man thou didst onely vse the dust of the earth and therefore man is said to be made de limo terrae And albeit some doe affirme that man was made de luto of the durt or mould of the earth yet the Hebrew word expresses it to no other fulnesse than that man was made of dust And our vulgar translation saith Puluis est But how is it that these eyes must cost a little more labour than all the other eyes besides and all those other liues thaâ— God hath giuen man There are â—hree reasons rendred The first of Saint Cyprian who saith That this blind man had not onely laesaâ— potentiam the facultie disinabled where the sight did reside as many blind men who hauing the organs of their eyes whole and the apples cleare see nothing at all But this man had otherwise the organs of his eyes wanting vnto him the hollow places thereunto belonging beeing like shop windowes close shut vp and skinned ouer as the rest of the face and that our Sauiour did fill vp those emptie holes with durt which he had moulded and knedded together into a masse or lumps of clay with the helpe of his spittle And this was the reason why they afterwards said vnto him How were thine eyes opened But to giue a man an arme a hand or a foote it may sooner be imagined than made by any but by our Sauior Christ who was God Whence I infer That because God had breathed the spirit of Life into Man there were certain Hereticks that stickt not to say that the Soule of Adam was of the substance of God they might better haue sayd that it was made of the substance of the eyes of this blind man The second For that the Pharisees did attribute these our Sauiours Miracles to the Deuill he did proue in this blind man that onely the vertue of God was powerfull to worke this wonder First Because no naturall vertue can giue sight to the blind And therefore by consequence the Deuill could not doe it whose miracles are wrought by applying the naturall vertue of the Creatures as Saint Austen teacheth Secondly He made good this his miracle by curing him with this clay or dust which was verie good meanes rather to put out than doe any good to the eyes Whereas if the Deuill should haue cured him hee must haue done it by applying some helpfull vertue that had beene accommodated and fitted for the sight Onely it is God that can worke these strange effects by contrarie causes The third is of Saint Ambrose Our Sauior Christ was willing to aduantage this mans sight both in bodie and in soule And therefore it is a farre greater miracle to create the eys than to raise vp the dead to life This blind man was to be the battalion that was to withstand many great incounters and contradictions As the strict examination of his blindnesse what were his parents what his birth what his breeding And therefore it was requisit that he should be armed with a great deale of light with a great deale of courage constancie and resolution not onely to answere the arguments which the passion and hard-heartednes of the Iudges were to presse him withall but to suffer banishment extrusion from their Synagogue which sentence of excommunication they were to pronounce against him I must worke the workes of him that sent mee while it is day c. I must not let slip the short time of my life death drawes neere and it behooues mee to make hast The Husbandman when hee sees the ground is throughly soked with raine he hastens to the sowing Saint Austen cals good Workes the Seedes of blessednesse which we must sow in our life time that we may reap the fruit of them hereafter They went foorth weeping sowing in teares but they shall returne with ioy bearing sheaues in their bosome I must worke c. Good God What doth this import thee It importeth Man to looke vnto it In that correspondence which God holds with Man hee will that they bee partners and share gaines alike and therefore hee calls our good his and his glorie ours Our Sauior Christ suffers death his death is our redemption And therefore it is said It was meet that Christ should dye Saint Paul preacheth this Doctrine and giuing the World to vnderstand thereof hee discouereth Christs glorie vttering thereupon I shall shew vnto you how fit it was that he should suffer for my sake The night commeth when no man can worke c. Euerie one hath his day which is the period of his sowing season and of his labour which done he may haue the happinesse to take his quiet rest in the night He that shall goe about to make of night day shall find hee is much deceiued for The night commeth when no man can worke That which importeth is That while wee haue time we doe good for to this end Time is giuen vnto vs. And if the figge tree because it did not bring foorth
fruit in it's due time was cursed by our Sauiour what shall become of the sinner that at no time brings foorth any fruit Saint Bernard much condemneth those men which seekes after occasions for to passe away the time as to game chat read idle poems and tell tales and lyes to weare away the time least otherwise it should seeme tedious vnto them The time which God giues thee for Repentance to craue pardon for thy sinnes to sue for grace and for to purchase glorie thou letst it runne on without any fruit farre better it were for thee to redeeme this thy ill spent time for hee that redeemeth his time by Repentance redeemeth all sortes of time whatsoeuer Euen the time that is past For albeit ad praeteritum non est potentia the time that is past can not be recalled yet it is not to be vnderstood touching the time of Repentance according to that saying of Saint Paul Redimentes â—empus c. Redeeming the time c. The present with good workes the past with repentance the future with perseuerance and a full purpose of amendment of life In a word Repentance doth not loose one houre no not one minute of time The good Theefe in the very last houre did repaire all the lost yeares of his life Goe to the poole of Siloam c. First this blindman did herein shew a great deale of humilitie in that he was not scrupulous what they should say of him that should see him passe through the citie with his eyes full of durt For points of honour are oftentimes scandalls to the Soule and make the infirmitie of the disease incurable Naaman the Syrian stood vpon point of honour that Elisha should come vnto him and lay his hands vpon his leaprosie As also that hee should bid him to wash himself in Iordan wherat he was very wroth refused to come at him saying in anger to Elisha's messenger If we shall compare water with water Are not Abana and Pharphar riuers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israell May I not wash in them and be cleane Which said hee turned and went away in a rage Saint Chrysostome saith That the Pharisees did not beleeue in Christ. What said they with themselues shall we bee so respectlesse of our honour as to subiect our selues with the vulgar to so base a man as hee Saul made lesse reckoning of loosing God than the worlds honour Honora me coram populo So as Samuel would but honour him before the people come what would of the rest he did not greatly care Secondly He shewed a great deale of Obedience and Faith The waters of Siloam were not able of themselues to giue sight to this blind man but I beleeue said the blind man that they will worke this good effect vpon me Hee might haue willed me to doe that which might haue carryed with it a greater reason of hope But the sheepe saith Chrysologus must goe to his feeding and his folding whether it shall please the sheepheard to lead him forth The scholler must learne that which his master teacheth him The sicke patient must bee ruled by his Physitian He hath libertie saith Saint Chrysostome to speake vnto his Physitian that he will doe his best to cure him but not to prescribe him the Physicke that he shall minister vnto him The like course wee are to take with the heauenly Physitian of our soules For it were a strange kind of vnmannerlinesse in vs besides our diffidence to relye vpon an earthly Physitian that can only cure our bodies and not put our trust in God who can cure both body and soule The Chirurgian comes to thee with Cauteries and layes corrosiues to thy sores thou patiently indurest it and not once openest thy mouth and shalt thou not as well beare c. Thirdly he exprest a great deale of thankfulnesse Saint Bernard applies this vertue to those words of Ecclesiastes The riuers come out of the Sea and returne much bettered backe againe to the Sea as giuing thankes for the water which they receiued for the acknowledging of one kindnes is the drawing on of another And if those riuers should haue rested themselues contented with the waters they had receiued and not haue paid the Sea his due Tribute that bounty would not haue beene bestowed vpon them In like manner those good things which wee enioy flow from God that immense Sea of goodnesse and they are againe to be returned vnto God through our thankfulnesse and when that ebbeth in vs the other neuer floweth from him Cessat gratiarum decursus vbi non est recursus The raine from heauen ariseth from the vapours of the earth And when there are no vapours there is no raine Saint Augustine desired of God That he would bee pleased to reueale the secrets of Scripture vnto him promising in requitall of so great a fauour a perpetuall acknowledgement thereof Confiteor tibi quicquid invenero in libris tuis Ecclesiasticus commending the noble Acts of Dauid as his wrestling with beares tearing the iawes of Lyons killing of Gyants and ouercomming the Philistims he concludeth That all these things succeeded luckily with him because he was thankefull to the Lord and directed his heart vnto him and established the worship of God Fourthly before our Sauiour Christ had giuen this blind man the eyes of his soule he proceeded fairely maintained Christs honour against the Pharises that opposed it And this as I may so tearme it his honourable carriage prepared the way for him to attaine to the heigth of vertue The Romans had two Temples adioyning each to other as S. Augustin reports it the one of Honour the other of Vertue But no man could come vnto that of Vertue vnlesse he first passed through that of honour And Valerius Maximus relates vnto vs That M. Marcellus a Roman Senator being desirous to build one sole Temple to Honour and Vertue the Priests would not permit him to doe it Alleaging That it was not fit for if by chance any miracle should happen in that Temple they were not able to auow to which of the two it ought to be attributed Ioseph fled from the inticements of his wanton and lasciuious Mistresse for that it was an offence both to God and his owne honour Quomodo possum hoc malum facere My Lord hath trusted me with all his whole house if I should be false vnto him I should hazard my happines in heauen and my honour on earth In a word the Actes of Honour are sometimes so heroicall that they seeme to be miracles of Vertue He went his wayes therefore and washed and came seeing First He returned such a strange altred man from that hee was before from the Poole of Siloam that his neerest neighbours and oldest acquaintance did not know him some said It is the same man others It is not but doth somewhat resemble him But he that shall turne ouer a new leafe and truly change the
his busines and so wholly taken therewith that he cared not for any thing else And this is expressed in the word Ibat He went Which argues a continuation in his going on Some man may make a doubt and say though vnaduisedly Had it not beene better for our Sauiour to haue beene in the mount of Oliues or in the garden of Gethseman or on the hills of Ephrem than to goe thus from house to house from Castle to Castle and from Citie to Citie Whereunto I first of all answer That it is enough that he did not so because it was not the better course Secondly because he was the same that was personally promised to that blessed Land and that there was not a corner in all that Countrie to be left out which should not finde the fauour of his diuine influences Thirdly the exercises of the life actiue and contemplatiue are those two wings whereby the soule sores vp to heauen And because one wing will not serue the turne to reach to so high a pitch we must not onely serue God in our prayers and meditations but also in the releeuing and succouring of our neighbour And therefore our Sauiour Christ spent the nights in prayer Per noctabat in oratione and the dayes in healing bodies and curing of soules Petrus Damianus vpon the life of Elias and Elisha saith That there is no remote solitary mountaine which doth not ground it's retyrednesse vpon some one example or other of the Saints One is a friend to the world and a louer thereof and this man alleages That Elias spent many dayes in the widow of Sareptaes house And that Elisha soiourned with the Shunamite that was a great and principall woman in her country And that both of them did treat with great Princes and Potentates Another is a friend and a louer of delicacies and alleageth That Elisha and Elias did accept of them But these men doe not consider That if these Prophets did forgoe their solitude it was more for the good of others that liued abroad in the world than themselues as also for the raising vp of the dead And if they did receiue good intertainment it was no more than was necessary for the sustenance of their bodies Elisha would none of Naamans gold Nor Elias be feasted by King Ahab and Iezabell his wife It is a thing worthy the consideration That our Sauiour Christ hauing not so much as one pennie of money wherewith to pay Caesar his Tribute willed Saint Peter to open the fish that he had taken with his angling rod. Our Sauiour permitted Peter that he should catch such a multitude of fishes that the nets did breake with the fulnesse of them But now hee would not haue him catch but one onely fish For a Church-man ought to fish for all the fishes that he can possibly take and the more he takes he doth God the more seruice but for those money-fishes that haue pence in their bellies he must take but one onely and that too for to pay Tribute not for himselfe nor to satisfie his owne couetous desires or his idle pleasures Ecce defunctus efferebatur Behold there was a dead man carryed out c. This word Eccè in the Scripture requires the eyes of the body and the eyes of the soule insinuating a great deale of attention But to come here with an Eccè it being so common a thing in the world as nothing more to see the dead dayly carryed forth to their buriall it seemeth a superfluous labour and a needlesse kind of diligence especially being that this our life is no other thing but a continued Procession of the quicke and the dead When Adam saw Abel was slaine and lay dead on the ground being the first man of whom death had taken possession he was so heart-strucken and so amased thereat so fearefull so sorrowfull and so sad that for many yeares after hee was not freed from this feare and horrour nor were the teares dryed vp from his eyes For albeit that God had notified vnto him That he was to dye the death yet did he not as yet know by experience what kind of thing death was But after that death had flesht himselfe in mans blood cutting downe more liues than a Sythe doth grasse in your faire and goodly medowes this his feare and horrour began by degrees to slack and fall off An Eclypse of the sunne doth strangely intertaine the sences attention not onely for to see so faire a Planet lapt vp in mourning weedes but also for that it so seldome hapneth But the Eclypses of mens liues though they be the fairest sunnes vpon earth they so hourely nay so momentarily succeede with vs that we can scarse which way soeuer we looke turne our eyes aside from them And not to speake of those lingring deaths wherein through sicknes we lye languishing a long time besides those occasioned by famine pestilence and warre yet those other sudden and vnexpected deaths which daily succeed may euery houre find our eyes occupied For wee see them euer and anon written on the wall as was that of Balthasar hanging on the oake as that of Absalon dipt in a dish of milke as that of Sisara represented in a dreame as that of Holophernes appearing at a feast as that of Iobs children put in the porridge pot as that of Elishaes Disciples Mors in olla in the bed as that of Adulterers and in the Apoplexie as that of your Gluttons Yet notwithstanding all this and that it is euery dayes example yet such and so great is the solicitude and care which the diuell takes to blot the remembrance of the dead from out the hearts and heads of the liuing That at euery step we see the dead carried forth to their graues and are so farre from ingrauing the thought thereof in our breasts that at euery step we forget it There is not that man aliue which doth not feele and experiment death in himselfe complying with that sentence of God Morte morieris Thou shalt dye the death Man is no sooner borne into the world but deaths processe is out against him which is not long in executing As the weeke wasteth the candle the worme the wood and the moath the cloath so as the discreete woman of Tekoa said to Dauid Wee must needs die and are as water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered vp againe The riuers haue recourse to the Sea and are swallowed vp in the deepe anâ— this is the end of them so is it with our liues they bend from their very birth to the bed of death we leape from our swathling cloathes into our winding sheeâ—e This is the end of all flesh Seneca compares this our life to an houre glasse and as the sand runnes out so runnes away the houre so as time runnes on our life runs away and as it was dust so to dust it returnes When two Ships sayle each by other it seemeth to
partie was nobly borne and that many of good Qâ—alitie came to visit him in his sickenesse and did weepe and bewaile his death did our Sauiour performe this myracle Amongst all those myracles which our Saour Christ wrought Saint Augustine giues to this the first and prime place and indeed it seemes to be an epitome and short summe of all those other myracles that he wrought in the whole course of his life for in the resurrection of one that is dead there is giuen sight to the Blind eares to the Deafe a tongue to the Dumbe feet to the Lame motion to the Paraliticke c. And therefore Saint Iohn with this myracle doth as it were shut vp and giue a close to the proouing of his Diuinitie A certaine man was sicke named Lazarus c. Therefore his Sisters sent vnto him Here we may consider the good aduisement and discretion of this noble paire of Sisters When Marie Magdalen treated of the reparation of her own soule she went her selfe in person passing through a world of inconueniences but for the restoration of her brother to his bodily health she thought it would be sufficient and serue the turne well enough to send her Seruant with a letter to our Sauiour The Worldling for the health of his bodie will round the world but will not stirre a foot for his soules health For to esteeme of things as they are and to giue them their true weight and to put euerie thing in it's proper place is not onely the marke of a prudent but of a predestinated person Aegypt taxed Moses of ingratitude as Phylon hath noted in his life for that hee did forgoe Pharaohs Pallace refused to be called the sonne of Pharaohs daughter and chose rather to suffer aduersitie with the People of God those poore Israelites than to weare the Crowne of Aegypt and to enioy the pleasures of the Court esteeming as Saint Paul saith the rebuke of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Aegypt But first of all he was not vngratefull for concerning those good blessings which he enioyed he was more bound to God for them than to the King Secondly he shewed he was no foole in doing as he did for better is one crumme of bread in the Lords house than all the prosperitie of the world without it Than to enioy to vse Saint Pauls words the pleasures of sinne for a season I had rather be a Doore-keeper saith Dauid in the house of the Lord than to dwell in Tabernacles of sinners Nazianzen reporteth That the Emperour Valens offering Saint Basil his fauour and to be a friend vnto him if he would but bee a friend to Eâ—doxius the Arian he told him That he should highly esteem of the Emperours fauour and friendship but hee was to esteeme more of Gods Saint Augustine saith That Adam did eat of the Apple Ne contristaret delitias c. least he should grieue his Loue not led along with carnall concupiscence but with a friendly affection Suting with that of Saint Paul That Adam was not deceiued but the woman was deceiued but it had beene better for Adam to haue displeasâ—d his wife than to grieue the spirit as Saint Paul speaketh of a sinner In a word fathers mothers chiâ—dren wiues friends and all our kindred and acquaintance are to be had in lesse esteeme than our soules and our God And therefore Marie Magdalen went in person for to seeke out Christ for her God and for her soule but did not so for her brother Behold he whom thou louest is sicke c. The Saints doe much ponder the discretion of this letter The first consideration is It 's briefenesse and shortnesse of stile Imagination caâ—not desire an elegancie more briefe nor a briefenesse more copious Apâ—leiusâ—coffes â—coffes at the long and spatious Orations which the Priests made of their Syrian Goddesse Elias mockt at those of Baals Priests continuing from morning to high noone Clamate voce maiori said he Crie aloud for he is a god that either talketh or pursueth his enemies or is in his journey or it may be that he sleepeth and must be awaked c. Our Sauior Christ aduising vs how we ought to pray saith When yee pray vse no vaine repetitions as the Heathen for they thinke to bee heard for their much babling It is now the fashion of the World to amplifie reasons and to inlarge it's discourses with the ornaments of Eloquence the floures of Rhetoricke choice Phrases and a great deale of artifice and cunning but that of Heauen consists of few words but is full of spirit and deuotion one single Paâ—er noster vttred with feruour is of more force than many vosario's without it When a Vessell sounds it is a signe it is emptie Moses treating with God sayd O my Lord I am not eloquent neither at any time haue beene c. but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue Moses was herin mistaken for I would haue thee to know that a talking tongue and a dumbe heart doe not sute wel together Diuine Bernard askes the question Why God in the Lords Prayer did put this word Qui est in Coelis Which art in Heauen being that he is present euerie where and in all places And his answer is That his desire was that our prayers should proceed with that feruencie and forcible ejaculations as if God could not heare vs vnlesse by our prayers we pierced Heauen As for our harpes we hanged them vp vpon the Willoughes Ruffinus saith That your Willoughes are but barren Trees and without fruit and when Prayer proceeds from a drie heart and a barren and vnfruitfull soule it is like the Harpe there spoken of that hangs vpon the Willoughes by the waters of Babylon In a word your Laconicall kind of Language that which is short full Nazianzen saith That it is The vttering of much matter in a few words and the fewer the words are the greater are the voyces of our desires When the Deuill left Iobs lips onely free from byles and sores he did not doe it out of any pittie towards him but out of a desire that hee had to draw some word of impatience or blasphemie from them but he was both deceiued and ashamed when he saw that he imployed them in these only foure praise-worthie words Sit nomen Domini benedictum Blessed be the name of the Lord. And say the Deuill should haue bereaued him of the vse of his lips and that he should not haue beene able to haue vttered a word yet his desires would haue spoken their mind in a loud voyce Cum inuocarem exaâ—diuit me Deus justiciae mea He calls him Deum justiciae meae The God of my righteousnesse not The God of my Prayer And why so The reason is Because Workes out-speake Words Saint Iohn saith That hee saw vnder the Alter the soules of the Martyrs Crying with a loud voyce How long Lord c. But if these soules
will but thy will â— Lord be done It was our Sauiours saying to his Father when praying in the Garden he besought him Let this Cup passe from me And in another place I descended downe from heauen not to doe myne owne will but the will of my Father that sent me Anselmus saith That a soueraigne will in man and which doth not submit it selfe vnto Gods will is the will of Worldlings and sauouring too much of the earth and this superioritie would if it knew how rob God of his priuiledges as proud Lucifer endeauoured to doe And in another place he tearmes a mans owne proper will Pestem lepram mundi The plague and leaprosie of the world and that God doth punish nothing more vpon earth and that there had neuer beene any Hell had it not beene propter propriam voluntatem for this selfe-will of ours Saint Bernard saith That it conuerteth good into ill and that it loseth the reward of Fasting whereby Heauen might be gained Alledging that of Esay Behold in the day of your fast you will seeke your will Cassianus reporteth of a holy Hermit That a friend of his at the houre of his death asking his aduise How he might be saued Answered That he was neuer wedded to his owne proper will Taulerius reporteth of a certaine Diuine That he did oftentimes desire of God That he would direct him to a Master that might teach him the way of his saluation and that at last he met with a poore man that was all ragged and torne God giue you the good day said he vnto him To whom the other replied I neuer had bad one yet What meanest thou by that quoth he He told him I did euer place my happinesse and content in submitting my wil to Gods wil and because his will diuides it selfe into good and euill contenting my selfe with his good will and pleasure I haue alwayes led a contented life But what said he wouldest thou doe if God should cast thee into Hell He answered My Soule hath two armes the one of Humilitie the other of Charitie with the one I would obey with the other I would take hold on God himselfe and would force him to descend downe with me into Hell and hauing him along with me I should enioy all happinesse and content Leo the Pope saith That the dispossession of our owne proper will Omnes fidâ—les instruxit omnes Confessores incendit omnes Martyres coronauit Instructed all the Faithfull inflamed all the Confessors and crowned all the Martyrs Ecce quem amas infirmatur Behold He whom thou louest is sicke This Ecce implies matter of admiration Behold one that is beloued of God and that is sicke The Angell said vnto Gideon The Lord is with thee thou valiant man But hee answered with a kind of admiration and wondring Ah my Lord If the Lord be with vs why then is all this euill come vpon vs This is a secret hidden from the eyes of the flesh wherein we are to acknowledge these two truths The one That Tribulation conserueth Vertue The other That God giues tribulation to his best friends as a reward of their great and good seruices Touching the former In that earthly Paradise Vertue was conserued in it's perfect rest and quiet because the goods of the bodie did concurre with the goods of the soule But this concord was broken through sinne and then vertue amidst it's ease and pleasure liued in greater danger but in it's tribulation in greater securitie Caietan saith That the certainest and most assured signe that Vertues are such strangers here vpon earth is for that they haue need of so many materialls of persecutions for their preseruation Fire being in it's own sphere is solely by it selfe conserued without any fuell to maintaine it or breath of aire to blow it the like succeedeth with Vertue Touching the second Saint Ambrose saith of Iob That before the stormes of affliction fell vpon him he was a holy man yet for all that had he not the reward of holy Virtutis praemium non habebat God had not rewarded him for this his vertue He had shewed himselfe a valiant souldier in peace but not a Conquerour in warre and that his troubles and afflictions bestowed vpon him the Palme of this his victorie He saith likewise of Ioseph That the temptation of his Mistresse clapt the Crowne of Chastitie vpon his head and the wrong he receiued by imprisonment was the Touch-stone of his valour Your earthly Crownes are made of gold but your heauenly Diadems of the thornes of tribulation Necesse fuit vt tentatio probaret te It was needfull that thou shouldst be tried by temptation But this is a Theame which hath beene beaten vpon heretofore and in many places much insisted vpon and therefore I will passe it ouer This sickenesse is not vnto death but for the glorie of God c. That great dangerous diseases honour the Physition that doth cure them that great and terrible tempests recommend the Pilots skill that can preserue the Ship amidst those cruell flawes and raging seas that great victories innoble the Captaines that obtaine them is a manifest and knowne truth but that those stormes which pricke and paine my feet should serue for flowers in Gods hands that those stones whereat I stumble should serue as Diamonds for his Crowne this is a hidden treasure and a secret mysterie of heauenly Phylosophie but so certain that in case God had not created the world for any other end than to throw tribulations vpon his friends it had beene a famous piece of worke and a most glorious Fabricke for so great is the glorie which a Saint drawes from his sufferings that he makes no reckoning of the paine that he indures And it is fitly tearmed glorie for that all our felicitie consisteth in the seeing of God Tribulation openeth the eyes of the Soule whereby wee come to see him the better Vexatio dat intellectum It is a kind of glorie to suffer affliction Heretofore sayd Iob Auditu auris audiuite nunc autem oculus meus videt te In my prosperitie ô Lord I had some knowledge of thee but now in my miserie sitting on the dunghill I haue seene thee with myne eyes I find a great difference between that which I heard and that which I now see Not that he saw God saith Saint Chrysostome but because his knowledge was by his miserie made more cleere After that man had fallen by sinne God gaue that to him for a punishment which before he had bestowed vpon him for entertainement He had placed him in Paradise to dresse keepe it afterwards he allotted it him as a chastisement In the sweat of thy browes c· and the mysterie is That Gods disfauour is Hell his fauour Heauen but trouble and affliction sent vs by God is like vnto Moses his Bush which the more it flamed the fresher it seemed for as it is obserued by Saint Gregorie
the fire did serue there in stead of water Suting with that of Saint Paul Licet is qui foris est noster homo corrumpatur for by how much the more the bodie is dried vp and withered away by so much the more doth the soule grow greene and flourish and by how much the more the outward man waxeth weake by so much the more the inward man waxeth strong For the glorie of God c. Before your great battells are fought they first begin with skirmishes in your Tilts and Tournaments they begin with proffers and flourishes betweene Loue and Death after eithers brauado's the warre is now ended Loue skirmisheth with Death and hath gotten himselfe such great glorie in this conflict that with a generall shouting all crie out aloud That Loue will win the field There are many who not truly looking into the cause of their punishment crie out with Iob O that my griefe were well weighed and my miseries were layd together in the ballance for it would be now heauier than the sand of the sea And in another place He hath multiplied my wounds without a cause And Dauid complaineth I did not enter into the cause of those many stripes which God had laid vpon me But to al this it may be answered That the cause thereof is the glorie of God The stench vapours it selfe from forth the earth it inuirons the circumuicining aire the Wormes are knawing on Lazarus carkasse all this loathsomenesse this stench and these Wormes turne to the glorie of God That Mary which annoynted the Lord with oyntment c. The titles whereby the Spirit of God makes these Sisters and their brother knowne are those their seruices expressed to our Sauiour Christ. Mary who annoynted his feet Martha who feasted him and Lazarus his beloued friend For the greatest noblenesse that a soule can inioy is To serue and loue God Feare God and keepe his Commandements c. This is the onely true valour in man Philon expounding that place vpon Genesis These are the generations of Noah c. He saith That God willed Moses to make a Pedegree or Genealogie of Noah but hee did not make it by fetching it from his famous ancestors as your Noblemen and Gentlemen doe now a dayes but from his Vertues Those forefathers and great grandfathers which made Noah so renowned were his obedience his constancie his fortitude and his pietie This is the true nobilitie of Gods Saints The diuine Histories that blazons foorth Iob describes him thus Hee was an vpright and iust man one that feared God and eschued euill c. But why did hee not make mention of his Fathers and his Kindred and Alliance Because Gods Saints boast not their parentage but their vertue Saint Chrysostome prooueth at large that a man ought not to be commended for any thing but his vertue And hee rendereth three very good reasons for it The first is That all other our goods end with our liues but vertue indureth for euer The rest are bona aliena they are not ours but of others But vertue is bonum proprium It is our owne proper good And Saint Chrisostome treating of Nabuchadnezzars Statua much condemneth the meanes that was vsed for the increasing of his honour and authoritie For he dishonoured himselfe by hauing that to be honoured shewing thereby that he relied more vpon a Statue of mouldring mettalls than his owne bodie and soule representing those therein that are honoured more in the world for those outward goods of the body than those inward goods of the soule confessing as it were that because they haue not any thing in them that deserueth honour they erect them Statues to bee adored The second None of all these exteriour goods doth satisfie the soule but Vertue fills the Vessell of mans heart Saint Ambrose interpreting that verse of Dauid Accedite ad Deum illuminamini id est illuminabimini addeth therevnto Accedite satiamini accedite liberamini accedite dimittemini Come vnto God and yee shall be illightned for he is the Light come vnto him and yee shall be satisfied for he is the Bread of life come vnto him yee that are thirstie for he is the Fountaine of liuing waters come vnto him and be freed for he is freedome it selfe come vnto him yee that desire pardon for he is the Remission of sinnes The third These humane goods are so base and so vile that none can truly commend them Art thou bold A Lyon is more bold than thou Art thou strong A Beare is farre stronger Art thou beautiful a Peacocke goes beyond thee Art thou braue and gallant A Horse in his rich Caparisons is a more glorious sight Liuest thou in great Pallaces a Iackedaw nay a Spider liues in greater and farre more sumptuous Art thou a curious Workeman The Bee is a better Art thou nimble of bodie The Hart is more Hast thou a good eye The Eagle hath a quicker Hast thou a quicke sent euerie Dog will out-nose thee Art thou a good husband The Ant is a better It is a shame therefore that thou shouldst boast thy selfe of those things wherein the bruit beasts do surpasse thee In a word it did stead Lazarus more to be our Sauiour Christs friend than nobly borne or antiently descended Which annointed his feet with oyntment Here are two truths touching the goodnesse of Gods condition pointed forth vnto vs The first That during all the time of Marie Magdalens perdition and profanenesse there is not the least print or shew in Gods booke concerning any such matter nor any memorie thereof remaining vpon Record Marrie the World calls her Maria la Peccadora Marie the Sinner and represents nothing else vnto vs but her sinnes but God doth not so nay he doth not so much as thinke vpon them or once offer to call them to mind Projecisti post tergum tuum It was the saying of good King Ezechias omnia peccata mea Thou hast cast all my sinnes behind thy backe It is a Spanish phrase Echar al trançado of that which is no more to be seene Saint Augustine expounding that place of Ieremie Ecce ego obducam ei cicatricem saith That the Chyrurgeon cureth the wound but doth not take away the skarre but there is some marke thereof still remaining but God not onely cures the wound but therewithall quite quits the signe as if there had neuer beene any such thing at all Saint Chrysostome addeth hereunto Cum sanitate reliquit pulchritudinem Nor shall it bee an excesse of speech to affirme That Marie Magdalens repentance made her appeare more faire and beautifull than Saint Agnes the Martyr S. Agatha or S. Cicile The second is That God neuer blotteth out of his remembrance those seruices that he receiueth from vs nor will suffer his friends to bee forgotten And therefore our Sauiour saith touching this sinfull woman Verily I say vnto you wheresoeuer this Gospell shall be preached throughout the whole
There is no comfort in the end of man But Gods Saints say Thou hast couered vs with the shadow of death When the fire of Hell did threaten vs Death did shelter vs with it's shade Cada vno habla de la Feria como le va en ella Euerie one speaketh of the Market as hee makes his pennie-worths The Iust hath no cause to weepe because hee that enioyeth God enioyeth all the happinesse that can be spoken or imagined but the Sinner may crie out Ego plorans oculus meus deducens aquas quia longè factuâ— est à me consolator It being the soule of my soule and now seuered so far from me thou hast cause to bewaile a bodie without a soule It is a lamentable thing saith Saint Augustine that we should bewaile other losses and not that of our soule Quid tam malè de nobis meruit anima nostra How hath our soule so ill deserued of vs He there considers the great care we haue of a new suit of cloathes that neither the dust the moath nor the least wrinckle should hurt it but are verie curious in folding of it vp He that buyes hath an especiall eye to two things The one to looke verie well to that he buyes be it pearles apparell or horses and will first make proofe and diligent enquirie of their goodnesse c. The other To cast about with himselfe how he shall be able to pay and to driue the price as well as he can Doe thou likewise endeauour to vse the like diligences concerning thy soule consider first what kind of stuffe it is and what it is worth and then beat the price and see for what thou canst buy it Which course if thou shalt but take thou wilt looke to it the better and esteeme it the more and not set so slight by it as many doe Take yee away the stone He stinketh alreadie for he hath beene dead foure dayes Lazarus being now foure dayes dead lying stinking in his graue and with a tombe-stone vpon him doth represent a Sinner that through long custome is growne old in his sinnes That which might well haue beene cured hauing gotten strength by time is become incurable not that it is impossible to be healed but because it is a strange kind of cure and healed with a great deale of difficultie And therefore the Wiseman saith That a Young man enured to ill Age will not make him giue it ouer Chrysostome calls Custome Febrim furiosam a hot burning Feuer whose raging flame taking hold on our appetites there is no water that can quench it Phylon calls it Regem animae The King of our soule agreeing with that language of Saint Paul Let not sinne raigne in your mortall bodies Plato reprehending a certaine Scholler of his of some â—ight faults which he confessing but making light of them his Master told him Custome is no such light thing as you make it It is Saint Hieromes obseruation That Ieremie said O Lord I know not how to speake because I am but a child And Esay Woe vnto me that I haue held my peace for I am a man of polluted lips The one God cured by onely touching his mouth with his finger the other he was faine to cauterise with a hot burning cole Now the infirmitie being all one why should the remedies bee so disequall I answere That the sinne of Ieremie was but a child as it were verie young and tender and therefore any the least remedie would serue his turne but Esay was an old grown Courtier c. Saint Augustine dwells much vpon this word Quatriduanus his foure dayes lying in the graue The Euangelists make mention of three dead persons which our Sauiour raised vp to life not that he had not raised vp more but because these doe represent the deaths of our soules The daughter of the chiefe Ruler of the Synagogue which went not out of her house represent those our secret sinnes which passe in our withdrawne roomes and the closest by-corners about the house The young man of Naim those publique sinnes which proclaime themselues in the Market place and comming out of doores offer themselues to euerie mans view your widows sonnes being generally lewd and ill giuen Lazarus those that stinke and grow vnsauorie through their too long custome of sinning hauing lien long in this graue of death Saint Augustine saith That the name of three in Scripture betokeneth many sinnes but that of foure more than many And this phrase of speech is vsed by Amos For three transgressions of Moah and for foure I will not turne to it signifying thereby many more than many O terque quaterque beati implies a world of happinesse to the like sence sounds this word Quatriduanus Foure dayes since Whence it is to be noted That sins when they begin like the waters to swell so high they leaue their bed and run ouer the bankes causing a miserable inundation Gods anger growing wearie in the expectation of our amendment draws his sword at last to cut vs off The sinnes of Sodome cried out so loud that the clamor thereof came to Gods eare so shril was the noyse that it brake through those other inferiour heauens and ascended vp to the Throne of Thrones where he sate in his Imperiall Maiestie God was wondrous angrie at it yet had hee this patience with himselfe that before he would execute his wrath vpon them he said Vadam videbo I will goe downe and see whither they haue done altogether according to that crie which is come vnto me c. What greater euidence ô Lord of thy loue than these thy delayes God did beare with them yet a little while longer and hee did looke and stand waiting to see whether Sodome would amend the foulenesse of her sinne so that when hee came downe to see how things passed had he found them sorrowfull for what they had done amisse and repenting themselues of their former euill life hee would haue sheathed his sword and withdrawne his displeasure The same conceit passeth in that Parable of the Tares the Tares grew vp amongst the Wheat and the seruants asking their Master Wilt thou that we goe and plucke vp the tares He said vnto them No let them grow vp both together And why so ô Lord It may be they wil die and wither away of themselues if not the haruest will come ere long and they shall be cut downe bound vp and cast into the ouen So that Gods patience you see is great but when we perseuer in ill Gods anger comes like an inundation vpon vs. But I will conclude this point with Saint Austens owne conclusion Sub tali resuscitatore de nullo iacente desperandum est Let no man despaire of rising be he neuer so much cast downe hauing such a one to raise him vp from Death to Life as our Sauiour Christ Iesus who is all Loue and Mercie and Goodnesse and the
Ioab aduised Dauid of the siege of Rabbah and what a number of men he had lost in that seruice the King might haue iustly cut off his head for his rash and vnaduised approach to the wall But Dauid durst not condemne him and put him to death because he was an Accessorie or rather the principall in the busines and therefore Ioab charged the messenger that carried the newes saying If the Kings anger arise so that he say vnto you Why went you nigh the wall c. the storie is worth your reading then say thou Thy seruant Vriah the Hittite is also dead This point did that kingly Prophet touch vpon in those words so diuersly commented on Tibi soli peccaui O Lord my sinne was against Vrias against those souldiers that died for his occasion against those which did blaspheame thy name and against the people whom the robbing of another man of his wife and the killing of her husband hath scandalized and beene an occasion of great offence vnto them But that which doth most affâ—ict and torment me is That I haue committed this against thee and that I haue thus sinned against thee For in any other person whatsoeuer in my kingdome the rigour of Iustice might haue restrained him from so foule a sinne but this did not once enter into my thought And therefore he comes with a Tibi soli peccaui iumping with that saying of Saint Paul Qui iudicat me Dominus est He that iudgeth me is the Lord. The world hath not that man in it whom his Propria culpa The sinnes which himselfe hath committed doe not mooue or daunt him and make him turne Coward sauing Christ who was made perfect by nature Nemo mundus à sorde neque â—nfans vnius diei How can he be cleane that is borne of a woman Iohn Baptist was sanctified in the wombe of his mother and was bred vp from a child in the wildernesse Saint Peter was he that loued most Saint Iohn that was most beloued Saint Paul past through the third heauen and did afterwards defie all the world Who shall separate me from the loue of Christ And Iob was so bold to say Would my sinnes were weighed in a ballance c. And in another place Shew mee my sinnes and my iniquities what they be Also Dauid I haue run without iniquitie Iudith passing through the midst of an Armie of Barbarians breakes out into these words The Lord liueth that would not suffer his handmaid to be defiled There was not that rough-hewne souldier that did so much as offer to touch her Let vs set side by side with these Saints the vnspottednesse of those Virgins the constancie of those Martyrs and the courage of those Confessors that suffered for Christs sake In a word all the worthy squadrons of those blessed Saints that are now in heauen will say thus as Saint August hath noted of themselues which Saint Iohn did confesse If we say we haue no sinne we deceiue our selues and the truth is not in vs. As also Iob If I wash my selfe with snow water and purge my hands most cleane yet shalt thou plunge me in the pit and mine owne cloathes shall make me filthie For to be without sinne is the blazon or cognisance of God alone Many did liue very well assured of their innocencie in particular cases as Iacob That the Idols of his father in Law Laban were not receiued by the seruants of his house As Beniamin and his brethren that Iosephs cup was not in their sacks Saint Peter that he should not deny his Sauiour Christ had a thousand more importunate women set vpon him The Pharisee he thought with himselfe I am not as other men c. yet all of them may say with Saint Paul I am conscious of nothing to my selfe yet am I not hereby iustified for Gods eyes see that which mans eyes see not In a word the noble Acts of the greatnesse and power of God as his creating of the world his conseruing it his redeeming of mankinde his iustifying of soules his seeing the thoughts of the heart his calling things that are not as if they were his commanding the waters the windes death and life and all those other wonderfull things which Iob specifieth of God to whose 38 chapter I referre you may make him confidently to say Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato Which of you can rebuke me of sinne Which of you can c. Saint Chrysostome saith That the greatest testimonie of our innocencie is that of our enemies Non est Deus noster sicut Deus eorum iâ—imici nostri sint Iudices Our God is not as their God let euen our enemies bee Iudges And fit it was that this testimonie should precede and goe before as well in regard of our Sauiours life as his death In regard of his life for publike persons that are placed in authoritie seated in high and eminent throanes that haue great gouernments offices and dignities committed vnto them are not onely bound to be vertuous and holy but also to be so esteemed which they must mainely striue and indeauour So that in a Prince be he Ecclesiasticall or Secular two obligations ought to concur in him One of Conscience The other of Fame A particular Christian which doth not giue occasion whereby to bee condemned of his neighbour may liue satisfied and well contented with the testimony of his owne conscience but not a Prince or a Prelate For if he suffer in his good name or in his fame and be ill reported of it is the destructionoftheir Subiects Saint Augustine saith That he that relyeth on his conscience and is carelesse of his good name is cruell towards himselfe We must not doe good onely in Gods sight bâ—t also before men For fame though false doth fall heauy vpon publike persons In the Temple there was a vessell of brasse a very faire one out of which there ran a conduit pipe of water and was without adorned with those Looking glasses which women that repented them of their sinnes had offered who forsaking the world had consecrated themselues to God to the end that the Priests which did enter to offer sacrifice should wash themselues in that water and behold themselues in those glasses and it was Gods intent and purpose according to Philon That they should place no lesse care in the cleanenesse of their life for to offer sacrifice than those women did in appearing good to the world beholding in those glasses the least marke or spot in the face And in the 28 chapter of Exodus God commanded That when the Priest should enter or goe foorth in the Sanctuary he should beare bells about the border of his garment to the end that the noyse and sound thereof might make his going in and his comming forth knowne And the Text addeth Ne moriatur Least hee dye the death And the glorious Saint Gregorie saith That the
of Chrysologus which is this That there is not that man be he neuer so powerfull neuer so valiant but doth sometimes shew the weaknes of a man in hiding and withdrawing himselfe But here he saith Artis est non timoris Sacramenti est non Pauoris It was not out of any feare or cowardize that our Sauiour fled It is a kind of daringnesse boldnesse of spirit and great courage to draw our enemie but into the field or to toll him along into the market-place and there to vanquish him in publike and obtaine an open victorie Epiphanius saith That Christ vsed this boldnesse in the garden as well in his sweating of blood as in those his prayers that he made vnto his Father so full of agonie and anguish to the end that by shewing himselfe thus weake death might the more boldly set vpon him Ioshua vsed the like slight with those of the City of Ay We flying they will follow vs then ye shall rise vp from lying in wait and destroy the City Agesilaus one of the Lacedemonian Captaines tooke the same course when he besieged the Phocenses Alcybiades with the Vizancini And the world neuer had any famous Captaine which did not doe the like vpon occasion Iulius Frontinus in his booke of Stratagemes quotes you a world of examples Be ye wise as Serpents said our Sauiour the Serpent aduantageth himselfe more by his craft and subtletie than by his strength and force the experience whereof was to our griefe to be seene in Paradise And therefore it is obserued by Gods Saints That he was more subtill than all the rest of the beasts of the field therein aduising vs That with the diuell the world and the flesh it is now and then the wiser and safer course of the two to retyre our selues and to flye from him than either to wait for him or to resist him Philip king of Macedon turned his backe and fled before the Athenians leauing his Shield behind him wherein these letters were ingrauen Bona fortuna And some souldiers vpbraiding him with this his flight he told them He that flyes may returne againe to the battell but not he that dyes There was a Captaine belonging to the Emperour Charles the fifth who made so famous and honourable a retreat out of France that it was called La bella retyrada The faire retreat Christ said vnto his Disciples If they persecute you in one citie flye vnto another Remâ—gius saith That this was a precept Thomas That it was onely a licence and permission For when a Christian man flyeth without wrong to the faith hee professeth and without detracting from the good opinion and credit of Christian Religion it is wholesome counsell And this did the Patriarches of old follow Iacob fled from Esau Moses from Pharaoh Elias from Iezabel and those Prophets which hid themselues in the house of Abdias and many Saints in the Primitiue Church flâ—d from the cruelty of the Tyrants of those times Tertullian saith That vpon no occasion it is fit for a Christian to flye But Saint Ierome auoucheth That this opinion is contrary to the doctrine both of Christ and of his Church Athanasius defending his flight made a booke concerning this subiect wherein hee prooueth That any man may flye in time 〈◊〉 persecution so that he doe not indanger his conscience but when it comes vpon those tearmes we must rather hazard the body than perill the soule and with Sampson rather incounter with a Lyon than to come to the vineyards at Timnath Aristotle saith That Fortitude is placed in the midst between Daring and Dreading Daring without Dreading is Timeritie and Dreading without Daring is Pusillaniâ—itie Saint Ambrose ponders this in his Exameron That that very Elephant which valiantly breakes through a whole Armie is mightily afraid of a mouse The great Machabean who with his valiant Acts did innoble fame and who for not to spot his honour did at last most gloriously loose his life did sometimes giue ground and make a retreat from his enemies Saint Paul escaped being let downe in a basket by the wals of Damascus And Saint Augustine saith That it had beene a tempting of God and so a sinne in him if he had not done it Yet afterwards being prisoner in Macedonia and that all the rest of the prisoners saued themselues by flight he would not then flye though hee were thereunto intreated by the Gaoler Dauid was of that true mettall and courage that he fought with Lyons and Beares making no more reckoning of them than of so many lambes and without once breaking of his Speare he slew 800 Philistims besides that stout Gyant which outbraued Israel and strooke a terrour into them And yet did it not seeme cowardize in him to flye from Saul nor from his sonne Absalon Vpon this occasion he made that his 18 Psalme wherein he giues thankes vnto God not onely for giuing him armes of brasse for to fight and euen to breake a bowe of Steele asunder but that he had giuen him likewise the feet of a Hart to flye Wherein hee alluded according to Thomas to that Historie which he recounteth in the second of the Kings when he fled from Saul through briars and bushes rocks and mountaines In a word the world stiles rashnesse daringnesse and feare cowardlinesse but God bewaileth this with a Woe be vnto ye that call good euill and euill good The third reason is That Christ withdrew himselfe out of Iudea to giue way to his enemies rage and anger For a cholericke man is so furious that if hee haue a present occasion offered him that there is not any poulder will sooner take fire than he and therfore it is Christian wisedome to flye from him The Scripture compares him to a beare Like a Beare robbed of her Whelps of whom your Naturalists report That for very rage shee will eate and deuoure her owne pawes And Iob Tygris perijt eo quod non habuit praedam And another letter hath it Vrsus perijt eo quod non est consequutus praedam Saul being inraged that hee had not ouercome his enemies slew himselfe Such a one is like a swelling riuer that ouerflowes it's bankes It is a hot fierie furnace whence issueth out a thicke smoake and after the smoake a flame Ecclesiasticus saith As the vapour and smoake of the chimney goeth before the fire so euill words rebukes and threatnings goe before blood-shedding The smoake is not that which burnes though it blinds and causeth the eyes to water but who will abide the flame thereof Who will tarry the comming of a Beare that hunteth after her prey Who the falling of a swift Torrent The soundest counsell is to flye And in the dangers of the soule this doctrine importeth vs much more As the Hart that is wounded with an arrow that is poysoned flyes to the riuers of water so the heart that is touched with the venome of the
Diuell of the world or the flesh must flye vnto that fountaine which is God My soule thirsteth after God who is the fountaine of life The fourth That though he were able to haue trod downe all his enemies vnder his feet yet he flyeth from themâ— For a man will not alwayes shew all that he knowes nor doe all that he can Your foolish Princes make ostentation of their power but wise Princes of their Iustice. The one make their power their reason the other make their reason their power Sit pro ratione voluntas Pilat pressed our Sauiour Christ with his power Knowest thou not that I haue power to set thee free but because he was a Tyrant he forgot his iustice But our Sauiour Christ he forgot his power and reades vnto vs a Lecture of Prudence Teaching vs that we must reserue our power and our wisedome for some good occasion The fifth and last That albeit our Sauiour Christ felt the anguish and agonies of death yet were they nothing like vnto those his enemies felt for to worke his death For his death was not to be at their appointment nor how and when they would haue it The Pharisees sought to make him away secretly in a corner but he would dye in the face and sight of all the world For the greater his shame was the greater was our redemption The Pharisees would not haue it on a festiuall day Our Sauiour Christ that it should be vpon a festiuall day for it was to be the greatest feast that was euer made for man The Pharisees would haue had him rid out of the way presently Christ that it should not be till his houre was come and that he had finished all things that his Father had giuen him in charge And for this cause when they sought after him hee fled from them and when they did not seeke after him he came himselfe into the Shambles Elias fled from Iezabel that he might not dye by her hand and yet afterwards sitting vnder the Iuniper tree he desired death The Iuniper tree was a Type and figure of the Crosse for which was reserued not onely a willingnes but also a sit season to die His brethren therefore said vnto him Depart hence and goe into Iudâ—a These great and wondrous workes of thine said his brethren are not fit for these Galileans being that they are but a rude ignoraÌ„t people Get thee to Iudea for there are the High Priests and the Doctors of the Law for whom the examination and iudgement of these wonders is reserued Euthymius saith That our Sauiours brethren went hypocritically to worke and that making honour the bayt they would with that haue drawne him along to Iudaea Saint Chrysostome That they did herein taxe Christ of a kind of Dastardlinesse and fearefulnesse as if they should haue said Lord thou doest on the one side pretend honour an don the other side thou art afraid that thy Miracles should be examined and come to the touch and this makes thee flye from Iudaea So that it seemeth to this sacred Doctour That Christs kinsmen were doubtfull of the truth of his workes Whence it followeth That those whom the Euangelist here calleth Christs brethren were not of the Twelue because he sayth of them His brethren beleeued not in him But others We know and beleeue that thou art the Sonne of God But that place of Saint Matthew doth prooue it more plainely where when Christ preached one came vnto him and told him Thy mother and thy brethren stay without to speake with thee But hee stretching out his hand to his Disciples said These are my mother and my brethren In the first chapter of the Acts naming the Apostles and amongst them Iacobus Alphei Simon and Iudas he presently sayes These did perseuere in prayer with the women with the mother of our Lord and with his brethren Now his brethren were not of the number of the Apostles And of this opinion is Saint Augustine and Saint Chrysostome Saint Augustine saith That the end of this their counsell was Ambition and that it seeming vnto them that they should haue some share thereby in Christs glory said vnto him Transi hinc And to him that shall obiect that of S. Iohn His brethren beleeued not in him I answer thereunto That they did not beleeue that he was the promised Messias But withall That they did not doubt of the truth of his workes but did onely desire to see them qualified and approued by the Scribes and Pharisees who were well skild in all the prophesies My time is not yet come Two things make this opinion of Saint Augustines very probable The one That it is very common and vsuall with men to seeke to get honor and profit from the prosperitie and glory of a kinseman And albeit it is very likely that they did know that in Iudaea they would seeke to take away his life from him yet the thirst of their ambition was so great that they affected honour though it were to bee effected at the cost of their kinsmans life as the sonnes of Zebedee did their seates And he might as well haue sayd vnto them Ye know not what ye aske for it is not Gods fashion to conferre fauours for respect of country or kindred The Princes of the earth oftentimes take this course making a coward a Captaine and putting a Hare into a Lyons place But God doth not hold him worthy of reward or of the least praise who is not priuiledged as well for it by his owne proper vertue as by blood and alliance The Iewes accounted it a great honour vnto them that they were the sonnes of Abraham but because there was no shew of worth in themselues our Sauiour takes them vp very short telling them Ye are of your father the diuell And therefore there is no honour due vnto you And it is Aristotles saying in his Ethnickes Ab hu quae à natura insunt nec laudamur nec vituperamur Many Pagan Princes did follow this tracke Plutarch reporteth of King Antigonus That a young Souldier preferring a suit vnto him he returned him this answer I euermore bestow my fauours on those that deserue the same in themselues and not in others Pirrhus King of the Epyrots his sonnes vrging him to tell them which of them should be his heire and succeed him in his Kingdome answered He whose sword hath the sharpest edge The other Is our Sauiours Christ own answer My time is not yet come Which according to Saint Augustine was as if he should haue said ye would haue glory and take no paines for it And therefore he saith vnto them Your time is alwayes readie but with me my Crosse must goe before my glory I must mount by humilitie Now from these two considerations I will draw this one profitable pâ—int That when a fauour is throwne vpon a man vpon any other Title or Claime saue his owne proper vertue and
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
it's â—ld odour The adulterie of Bershabe and the murther of Vriah hath layne a â—ong time in my brest and though I haue washed and rynsed it with I know not how many â—ees and Sopes yet haue I no hope to make it as cleane as it was before and therefore ô Lord I beseech thee that thou wilt create a new heart in me wherewith I may loue thee for euer But if this cannot be because the soule is immortall perdurable and incorruptible Renew a right spirit within me that there may not remaine any sent or sauour of my former foulnes establish such a spirit in me that I may neuer fal from thy seruice a spirit that may repaire those wrongs I did before and if that were an occasion that many did blaspheme thy Name let this be such a one that it may conuert many vnto thee and that they may truly serue thee The glorious Doctor Saint Ambrose touched vpon this string Dauid saith he did desire of God That he would create him a new heart not that he should create it anew but that he should so renew it that it might seeme to be created anew for to clense it was all one as to create it It is the resolution of a man that is truly penitent to desire to leaue a lewd life and to auoyd all occasions thereof Anselme saith That the first renouation which God effecteth in our soules is in Babtisme This is the foundation of our Christian building so saith the glorious Apostle Saint Paul Afterwards the eyes of our Reason being cleered one layeth his foundation on Gold another on Siluer a third on pretious Stones a fourth on Wood a fift on Hay a sixt on Straw and though Hay and Straw be sometimes taken for Gold the fire will trie the finenesse of it and purifie all The second renouation is by Repentance When thou hast an old beastly tatterd garment thou makest thee a new one thy soule is all to be rent torne exceeding foule and filthie cloath it anew The first regalo or kindnesse which the father shewed to the prodigall child was his new apparelling of him Aâ—ferte stolam primam This is the greatest kindnesse thou canst doe to thy soule and that thou maist not doe as little children vse to doe which are well clad to day and a few dayes after are nothing but ragges and totters doe not yee make your garments of paper which the least blast of aire rents asunder but put on Iesus Christ our Sauiour and Redeemer which is a Rayment that will last for euer And it was Winter Saint Gregorie saith That the Scripture sometimes setteth downe the circumstances of time and place to signifie by them that which is not expressed by word of mouth And that this circumstance of Hyems erat It was Winter though it may be referred to our Sauiour Christs walking from place to place yet doth it declare the frostinesse and ycie coldnesse of the Iews hearts By coldnesse the Scripture vnderstandeth the malice of sinne whence it is to bee noted That the Historie of the Machabees calleth this Solemnitie The Feast of Fire Whereas we are now purposed to keepe the Purification of the Temple vpon the twentie fifth day of the moneth Chasleu wee thought it necessarie to certifie you thereof that yee also might keepe the Feast of the Tabernacles and of the Fire which was giuen vs when Nehemias offered Sacrifice after that he had built the Temple and the Altar c. It appeareth by the sixth Chapter of Leuiticus That God did conserue a perpetuall fire in his presence The Fire shall euermore burne vpon the Altar and neuer goe out At their departure into Babylon they hid their fire in a deepe pit and at their returne they found it turned into a thick water like a gellie Nehemias he takes it forth and setteth it in the Sunne and presently it became fire the drops that remained they did sprinckle or bedew the Altar therewith and they forthwith tooke fire so that it was fitly called the Feast of Fire But that they who solemnise this Feast should bee all Frost and Ice is a thing verie worthie our consideration This is our ruine and perdition That the verie same day that wee treat of renewing our soules which is the feast of the Fire of our Spirit there should bee such a great coldnesse in vs c. Take heed your flight be not in the Winter nor vpon the Sabboth Our Sauior hauing reuealed vnto his Disciples whether it were the euils that should befall Ierusalem or the insuing miseries of this world or those that should threaten the Soule at each particular mans death or all of them iointly together and supposing that none would be able to abide them but that they would be forced to flie from the euill to come hee giues them this auiso Take heed your flight c. Our Sauiour would not haue them to betake themselues to flight neither on the Sabboth day nor in the Winter Not on the Sabboth day because their Law did not giue them leaue to go any more than a thousand paces a matter of a mile But say some one should haue ventured to breake this Law and to haue gone further he could not haue lighted on an Inne-keeper to bid him welcome got no meat no fire to dresse it nor haue met with any companie on the way but haue trauelled all alone in a fearefull kind of solitude Not in the Winter in regard of innumerable inconueniences as raine durt boggs yce frost snow rising of riuers and dayes short and darke Saint Gregorie expoundeth this place of those euills which threaten vs at our death but be it in our death or in our life the world hath not any creature that is more threatned and terrified than a Sinner Who can looke Sinne in the face our best course is to flie from it and to haue recourse to the Sanctuarie of Repentance but we must take heed that we doe not flie on the Sabboth or in Winter In die illa saith Zacharie non erit lux sed frigus gelu In that day there shall bee no cleere light but darke Saint Hierome saith That the Prophet speaketh of the destruction of Ierusalem by Titus and Vespasian and because the miserie and calamitie thereof would fall out to be so terrible and so fearefull that no man durst abide it they treated of their flying from it But that time shall prooue vnto them to be extreame cold and exceeding darke as if he should haue sayd If they should haue fled for Gods seruice the Pillar of fire should haue gone before them and directed them in their way but when they shall flie to his disgrace and dishonour the dayes shall be cold and the wayes darke c. Here are condemned your cold and frozen Confessions your slacke slow restitutions your luke-warme intentions being like vnto those of the Sluggard of whom Salomon
apprehend Dauid Michal saued his life by letting him out a window Why did they not follow in pursuit of him being so much offended as they were at this tricke which Michâ—l had put vpon them Some Hebrewes make answer hereunto That God had damd vp the window or cast a myst before their eyess that they could not perceiue the manner of his escape Ecclesiasticus saith The congregation of the wicked is like tow wrapped together Their end is a flame of fire to destroy them An Armie of Reprobates can no more stand against the godly than bundles of Towe or Flaxe before a flaming fire How long c. The Iewes comming round about our Sauiour they said vnto him Quousque c. How long doest thou make vs doubt As Loue transformeth a man so doth Hate Vulnerasti cor meum soror mea said the Bridegroome to his Spouse Another letter hath it Excordasti Which alludeth vnto that which the Spouse answered Ego Dormio cor meum vigilat But how can the Spouse sleepe and her heart wake yes her husband had stolne away her heart and that waked with him when she was asleepe Now Hate no lesse transformeth than Loue. Saul did not liue in himselfe but in Dauid Haman not in himselfe but in Mardochee the Pharisees not in themselues but in Christ. And therfore they say Thou causest our soules to doubt Thou hast robd vs of our soules we are not our selues but as bodies without a soule And in token that the cause of this their suspension was Enuie they confesse these their so many distractions vexations and torments of the mind All other kind of sinnes bring paine and torment with them but it is after they haue tasted of their sinnes but Enuie torments before hand The Pharisees had scarce seen Christs Miracles and the applause which his doctrine had in the world when they began to suffer and to be grieued And this is the reason why this Vice is harder to be cured than any other Good doth ordinarily quench ill as water quencheth fire But Enuie because it makes another mans good his ill that which to other vices is death is to Enuy life It is the fire of brimstone which the more water you throw on it the more it burneth They came about mee like so many Bees who are exasperated and grow angry with those that doe them no harme but good They waxed hot like fire among thornes which no water can quench Animam nostram tollis Where I would haue thee to weigh the word Tollis Thou takest away our soule thou makest vs to doubt c. Thou art in fault that we liue in this paine and passion It is the common course of your greatest sinners to lay the blame of their sinne vpon God O Lord Why hast thou made vs to erre from thy wayes saith Esay and hardned our heart from thy feare It is a sin inherited from Adam who laid the fault of eating the apple vpon God The woman which thou gauest me to be with me c. She that thou gauest me to be my companion to be my cherisher and my comforter Who would haue thought that she would haue intreated any thing at my hands that should not haue beene very lawfull and honest The sicke man is wont to lay the fault on the Clymat wherein hee liueth and on those meates wherewith hee is nourished Seneca tells a tale of a certaine Shee-slaue who one morning when she awaked finding her selfe blind laid the fault that she could not see vpon the house desiring that she might be remooued to another The cause of your Eclypses is the earth which interposes it selfe betweene the Sunne and the Moone Whereas hee that shall impute the fault to the Sun shall but betray his ignorance Of the Eclipses of these Iewes the cause thereof was their passions their couetousnesse and their enuie If our Sauiour Christ preached vnto them they desired Miracles if he wrought Miracles they desired Doctrine from his workes they appealed to his words and from his words to his workes and laying the fault on the Sun they said Animam nostram tollis Thou makest vs to doubt If thou be the Christ tell vs plainly In three words they vttered three notorious lies The first Dic nobis palam Tell vs plainly for all that thou hast hitherto sayd vnto vs is as nothing The second Dic nobis palam and we will beleeue thee The third Dic nobis palam for that is the reason why wee haue not hitherto beleeued thee Saint Augustine and Saint Chrysostome haue both obserued that in these their lies there was a great deale of craft subtletie which was this That the Iewes did still presume that our Sauiour Christ would boast himselfe to bee King of the Iewes and that he was temporally to sit in Dauids Throne they went about to draw this from him that they might haue some ground of accusation against him and therefore they thus cried out vnto him Dic nobis palam Tel vs plainly for in all the rest that they desired of him our Sauiour Christ had giuen them full satisfaction For if Palam be to publish a thing openly and not to doe it in hugger-mugger or in some by-corner or other I haue alwayes preached publiquely in your Synagogues and in the middest of your Market-places And I sayd nothing in secret If Palam shall carrie with it a kind of boldnesse and libertie yee may call to mind my whipping of you out of the Temple the seueritie of my reprehensions and that I called yee the children of the Deuill that I might publish your euill thoughts to the world c. If Palam shall signifie Cleerely or Manifestly what more cleere or manifest truth could ye heare than that which I haue preached vnto you Wil you that I shal tel you in a word who I am I and the father am one Of the materiall Sunne a man may complaine That an earnest eying of it and a steadie fixed looking thereupon may make vs blind but on the Sunne of Righteousnesse no man can lay this fault for hee himselfe giues that light whereby our eyes are inabled to see The commandement of the Lord is pure and giueth light vnto the eyes And therefore Saint Paul calls the old Law Night and the Law of Grace Day In that Law the Sunne had not shewed it selfe all was clouds and darkenesse and albeit they did inioy some light it was but a glimpse or as the light of a candle through some little chinke but when the Sonne of God appeared in the flesh that darkenesse of the night was driuen away and the day appeared c. I told yee and yee beleeue not the workes that I doe in my fathers name they beare witnesse of me Our Sauiour Christ had prooued himselfe to be both God and Man by such conuenient meanes that it had beene follie if not meere madnesse to haue desired better
hyred a house for terme of life with the liking and consent of it's owner for to put such a one out we must necessarily haue the absolute Posse and power of the king we must haue his authority to turne him out The diuell hauing taken a long lease of the house of thy soule with thy good liking and consent thou must haue Gods absolute power to eiect him and thrust him out Not that the diuell is so powerfull as some make him howbeit the Scripture tearmeth him Vectem concludentem a strong bolt which goes athwart a doore and Serpentem tortuosum a winding serpent which clewes himselfe vp close and vpon the least aduantage takes hold like the Cuttle-fish with his clawes but because God howbeit he can doe whatsoeuer he will is now and then content to giue him leaue to worke vpon our will This difficultie is somewhat the more increased in regard that Mary Magdalen was a woman which is the Hyerogliph of weakenes There be three things saith Salomon hidden from me yea foure that I know not The Hebrew letter saith Three or foure things are too hard for me The Hebrew renders the word Admirabiles The Seuentie Impossibiles Impossible for him to know On the one side because they are wreathing and winding too and fro on the other because they leaue no signe or print behind theÌ„ the one is of an Eagle in the aire the other of a Serpent vpon a stone the third of a ship in the midst of the sea and the fourth of a young man in his youth being so mutable a creature and so full of foolish longings Euen such is the way of an adulterous woman Which eateth and wipeth her mouth and saith I haue not done ill When a woman is greedy in deuouring good morsells in secret behind the doore and wiping her lips tells the world she hath fasted and eaten nothing all that day when shee commits folly in a corner and boasts her selfe in publike to be honest saying There is not that woman liuing that liues more honestly than I doe the diuell hauing taken such possession of her soule it is a desperate peece of businesse All these circumstances of difficultie and many more which wee omit to set downe are to be found in this storie But in those things that to vs seeme impossible God is wont to shew his wisedome and his power Great is the Lord and great is his power And as a Physition saith Saint Augustine doth take pleasure sometimes to light vpon an incurable infirmitie not so much for his gaine as his fame Non quaerens mercedem sed commendans artem So was Christ well contented with this occasion Ad informationem eorum qui credituri sunt For the better informing of those that were to beleeue To giue knowledge saith the Apostle to all sinners That there is in God a power a wisedome and a will for to heale them of their infirmities be they neuer so foule and enormious So that this conuersion is the bayte of humane hopes and the reparation of our desperation Had we none other to cast our eyes vpon in the Church but the Virgin Mary and Iohn Baptist where were our hopes The Church therefore doth set two Maries before vs. The one free from sinne the other full of sinne The one takes away Vaine-glory from all the righteous and the other banisheth Cowardise and despaire from all sorts of sinners At the presence of the Sunne all the lights of heauen withdraw themselues and hide their heads in a cowardly kind of fashion but when the Moone once begins to shine they recouer their former boldnes and libertie The Sunne presideth ouer the sonnes of the day the Moone ouer the children of the night Hee that cannot come to be a Sunne let him liue in hope to be a Moone or a Starre What sayes Hosee I will giue her the valley of Achor for the doore of Hope The Prophet there touching vpon the Historie of Achan who in the spoyles of Ierico hid the golden wedge contrary to Ioshuas proclamation wherewithall God was so offended That the Army marching to a City called Ay was ouerthrowne and the Israelites turning their backs like so many hares it seemed the doore of Hope was shut against them for entring into the Land of Promise But the delinquent being conuinced and stoned to death in the valley of Achor and all his familie God foorthwith gaue them victorie ouer their enemies And therefore he saith I will giue them the Valley of Achor for a doore of Hope Saint Ierome renders it in another letter I will giue to my Church the valley of peruersenesse or of the peruerse for to raise vp the hopes of deiected hearts as a Paul a Mary Magdalen c. All this concerneth that her condition and state of sinne wherein she stood which Saint Luke painteth forth in those his first words Behold a woman in the City which was a sinner That we may the better treat of the second State touching her Repentance it is to be supposed that Mary Magdalen had heard some sermons of our Sauioâ—r Christ as heretofore hath beene prooued and that our Lord did direct his discourse to a soule that had sustained so many losses one while proposing the shortnesse of this our life another while the fearefull horrours of death together with the bitternesse of sinne the terrour of iudgement the torments of hell c. Why shouldst thou so highly prize thy beauty that thou shouldst adore it Why being the Image of God in thy soule and thy body shouldst thou be so much affected to the foulenesse of sinne What was it that made the Angels so foule c. smelling so sweet of Amber Muske and Ciuet how canst thou endure the euill sauour of hell Pro sua in odore foetor Thy soft bed is wearisome vnto thee and being not able to abide in it all night long thou shiftest thy bed and canst thou then endure the bed of eternall flames moth-eaten mattresses sheetes of snakes and bolster and pillowes of wormes gnawing continually on thy conscience Thou changest thy gownes and thy dressings twice or thrice a day and canst thou suffer the euerlasting rayment of hell fire The daintiest dishes are set before thee to feed on and canst thou endure that hunger where tongues are bitten off and fed on Fame pascentur vt canes manducauerunt linguas suas prae dolore Thou canst not abide in thy house no not one houre and canst thou liue clapt vp in the dungeon of eternall death and damnation O how many lye there in endlesse paines and torments neuer to be released for far lesser sinnes than thine What canst thou hope for what canst thou expect Is it that the earth should swallow thee vp aliue as it did Dathan and Abiram Or that fire should come downe from heauen and consume thee as it did Sodom or that God should showre downe lightning and thunder vpon thee as
and in stead of shrill and cheerefull flourishes the trumpets sound hoarse so now in this our Mary Magdalens death who was the chiefe Captaine and Ring-leader of the vices of that Citie a hollow sound of sighes was heard and a grieuous noyse of confused grones and broken throbs breathing out these wofull words ô my good Lord I haue beene like vnto the Serpent for on the one side I sustained my selfe by the earth without once offering to lift mine eyes from the earth on the other side I did prostrate my selfe laying traps and snares for thy feet soliciting the men of this City to tread thy Lawes vnder their feet Oh Lord since I haue thus playd the Serpent tread thou vpon mee crush me in the head and bruise out all the venome that is in me O sweet Iesus the Serpent vseth to enter in betweene the rocks and rub off her old skinne and leauing it there behind her to renew her selfe againe I much desire to cast off my old skinne and to leaue it in the wounds of these thy feet and on my strong rocke Christ Iesus I wot well ô Lord that so vile and lewd a woman as I am is to be made no more reckoning of than the durt that is trod vnder foot in the streetes Mulier fornicaria quasi stercus in via conculcabitur But many times the dung of the earth doth serue for the rootes of trees and other plants and because thou art that Diuine plant whose branches reach vp as high as heauen permit ô Lord that I though but durt and dung may lye at thy feet The Cananitish woman did shew a great deale of humility when she tearmed her selfe a dogge but Mary Magdalen much more â—earming her selfe dung And she wiped his feet with the haires of her head S. Ambrose asketh the question Why some of his Apostles did not wash our Sauiours feet either before or after that he had washt all theirs He renders two reasons The one for that Mary Magdalen had washt them and hee would not that this lustre which those her tears had giuen them should be lost by washing them with ordinarie and common water And the comparison is good For he that is washed with the water of Angels will refuse to be washed with any other water The other saith Saint Ambrose for that we should wash those his diuine feet with the teares of our eyes That mysticall lauing of the Apostles feet which was directed to the cleansing of their soules could not fit with our Sauiour Christ who was free from the least filth of sinne If any Lauatorie likes him it is that of our teares because in them the heart is softned Besides Those eyes and hayres which were so well imployed did expresse her good desire and thoughts And there is not any Sacrifice so acceptable vnto God as to see the desires and thoughts of our hearts to be offered vp at his feet Chrysologus saith That after God had seene the resolution and courage of Abraham in the sacrificing of his sonne he cared not a rush for all the rest and therefore cryed vnto him Lay not thine hand vpon the child neyther doe any thing vnto him for now I know thou fearest God c. For I take no pleasure in the death of the Innocent nor in the shedding of blood my delight is to see thy will submit it selfe at my feet My sister my spouse thou hast wounded mine heart Thou hast wounded my heart with one of thine eyes and with a hayre of thy necke Following the selfe-same Metaphor to wit That the hayres are the thoughts and the eyes the desires As if her beloued should haue said vnto her One desire one thought my spouse one resolute determination one firme purpose hath quite robd me of my heart And he that shall indeere the delight that he takes in one single hayre will take much more pleasure in that whole skayne of gold Bonauenture sayes That shee did behold our Sauiour by stealth and peeping through the lattice of her hayres did euer and anon snatch a sight of him But after that she had once inioyed the brightnes of his face and the sweetnes of his eyes whence he shot forth such sweet shafts of loue and that did light so right vpon her that her heart was taken therewith It seeming vnto her That the skie was now cleere and the weather very faire and prosperous she did vnruffle the sides of her haires and spred them abroad to the wind finding so good a gale And as he that hath escaped many dangerous fits of death at sea is neuer satisfied with kissing the earth when hee comes ashoare so Mary Magdalen thought shee could neuer haue her fill of kissing the blessed earth of those her Sauiours most holy feet And as the Traueller that hath passed through the deserts of Arabia his mouth being as dry as those sandie grounds or as tinder that is ready to take fire being driuen to drinke of foule and vnsauourie puddles no sooner comes to a cleere fountaine but hee rushes hastily to the water and neuer makes an end of drinking so did it fare with Mary Magdalen c. With her hayres Absalons hayre was Absalons halter Sampsons lockes serued as bands to bind him fast the Philistims by those hayres haling him to prison My hayres haue been no lesse cruell to me than theirs were to them God he is said to haue a head of gold but hayres as blacke as the Rauen. But I being a Rauen in my soule for blacknesse had my hayres of gold c. And annoynted them with oyntment Saint Gregorie saith That Mary Magdalen entertained our Sauiour Christ at this feast with two great regalos or dainties The one That it was she that made him the feast For albeit the Pharisee had inuited him he had not set before him one sauourie morsell For what could sauour well in the house of a proud scorner that is giuen to mocke and scoffe And howbeit for the body the cheere was good enough yet if it had not beene for Mary Magdalen the soule might haue fasted But she did supply that defect by affording matter to our Sauiour to taxe the Pharisee of discourtesie c. Seest thou this woman I entred into thy house and thou gauest me no water to my feete but she hath washed my feet with teares Thou gauest me no kisse But shee since the time that I came in hath not ceased to kisse my feet Mine head with oyle thou didst not annoynt but she hath annoynted my feet with oyntment c. The other That at the feet of our Sauiour she made a generall sacrifice of all those things wherewith she had before offended him as of her eyes mouth hayres hands heart and soule not leauing out so much as that her oyntment which is that which women are loathest to leaue and doe latest and hardliest part withall Saint Bernard saith That Mary Magdalen did climbe vp to heauen
The old Iudges in Susanna's businesse behaued themselues so simply That a little child tooke them in a lye and bewrayed their folly Iosephs brethren brought the childlesse coate home to their father without anie hole or rent dipt in blood and told him A wicked beast hath deuoured him This beast had torne the flesh leauing the Coat whole Hee that buryed â—is Talent when hee was called to account answered I knew that thou wast a haâ—d man looking to reape where thou hadst not sowne If I am such a one as reape wâ—ere I doe not â—owe Why should I not reape where I doe sowe The Iewes being desirous to conceale our Sauiours resurrection did multiplie an innumerarable companie of fooleries whereof Saint Augustine conuinceth them In a word in the Sacred Scripture the sinner in euerie place beares the name of a foole but not anie one follie can compare it selfe with this Let vs kill this man for he doth manie Miracles Ieremie saith Dabis eis sontum â—ordis laborem â—â—um Saint Gregorie the Pope saith That by this labour is vnderstood all that good which God did for that people by taking flesh vpon him by being borne by liuing and by dying All this was a labour vnto him and this labour serued the people in stead of a Shield against God himselfe For they did not onely make of his Miracles and benefits Shields for to defend themselues from God but swords nayles whips and thornes for to quit God of his life Saint Paul did bewayle those Heretickes which did denie the Crosse of our Sauior Christ being the efficacie of our remedie and redemption and cals them enemies of the Crosse. No better doth it fare with those being they make poyson of Treacle and matter of infirmitie the meanes of their saluation Saint Chrysostome saith That they are worse than Diuels for one Diuell doth not persecute another but these did persecute their best friend and benefactor The Diuels held their peace and did obey and at the most They went out crying and saying Thou art the Sonne of God God commanded in Exodus That they should not boyle the Kid in the milk of the Dam and Philon expounding that place saith That he held it a thing vnmeet and vniust that that should be the instrument of it's death which had been the beginning of it's life And it sutes well with that of Gregorie Nissen who saith That the Miracles which God doth are mans milke dealing with him as with a little child This man doth many Myracles c. If hee had beene a robber on the High way but being he came to make plaine the way If hee had robbed thee of thy wealth tooke away thy life or eclypsed thine honour but being hee came to giue health to thy body to inrich thy soule and to defend and maintaine thine honour as was to be seene in the case of the Adulteresse What can bee said in your excuse S. Augustine and S. Chrysostom pondering the ill carriage of this buâ—â—nes Why say they did Esay prophesie of the Miracles of your Messias but to the end that ye should receiue him and adore him I pray take the paine to read ouer that whole chapter for your better satisfaction which will bee worth your labour but in stead of receiuing and adoring him we haue said with those Farmers in the Gospell Let vs kill the Heyre And the inheritance shall be ours If we let him thus alone all men will beleeue in him This is another most foule folly of theirs contrary to all Scripture If we let him alone say they all will beleeue in him Whereas by taking his life from him his death wherein they were deceiued in their iudgements was to be Semen fidei the seede of faith and augmâ—â—tum Ecclesia The augmentation and increase of the Church Si posuerit animam suam pro peccato videbit semen longaeuum c. It is Esayes prophesie of him When he shall make his soule an offering for sinne he shall see his seede and shall prolong his dayes and the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand He shall see of the trauell of his soule and shall be satisfied By his knowledge shall my righteous seruant iustifie many c. Let them then take away his life and there is no Arithmeticke that can summe vp our happinesse and their miserie The Romans will come and take away both our place and nation Here is another blind consequence if we let him liue the Romans will come and take away our place and nation Whereas they might rather haue inferred this conclusion The Romans will come and they likewise will beleeue in him For it is not much That he that could conuert a Iew should conuert a Roman considering that the Romans amongstall their gods had not one that could worke a Miracle to win them But suppose that the Romans should not haue beleeued and should haue treated to destroy them he that raysed vp the dead was not he of power to resist the power of the Romans One Iudith triumphed ouer Nebuchadnezzar One Elisha blinded those of Syria and led them into Samaria One Elias consumed with fire Ahabs Quinquagenarian Captaines and their souldiers And none of all these had the like power to that of our Sauiour Christ. Besides these vaine discourses they had another no lesse blind and impious If we kill him the Romans will not come It being rather an assured truth that they would come onely vpon this as it was foretold by Daniel The Messias shall bee slain and the people of the Prince that shal come shall destroy the City and the Sanctuary Had they not put our Sauiour Christ to death Ierusalem had stood and continued but hauing put him to death there shall not be one stone left vpon another Simeon and Leui brethren in euill Into their secrets let not my soule come for in their wrath they slew a man and in their selfe-will they digged downe a wall It was Iacobs prophesie against his two sonnes Simeon and Leui of whom these Pharisees did descend as it is noted by Nicholas de Lyra. Let not my soule enter into their Councell for in their wrath they kill'd a man and digg'd downe a wall All which was but a signification of their killing of our Sauiour Christ and throwing the walls of Ierusalem downe to the ground Murus ante murale Christ was the bulwarke to this wall So Esay stiles him This Councell made their Country desolate For Titus and Vespasian had not otherwise beene of power to destroy it but the Priests and the Pharisees fearfull of their euill destroyed the fountaine of all goodnesse The Romans will come Great is the torment which a soule suffereth being placed betwixt two extreames Susanna betwixt the feare of God and the feare of the Iudges of Babylon a damsell betwixt pouertie and the pursuit of a rich wanton If I consent I loose God if not I perish for want of
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
man Irenaeus saith That God setteth vp some because they are worthy to beare rule others because they are vnworthy But where there is a good Gouernour that Common-wealth he fauoureth Phocas was a most cruell Emperour of Constantinople whereupon a holy Monke in a corner of his Cell thus complaineth vnto God Cur fecisti eum Imperatorem Why didst thou make him Emperour Who had no sooner made his mone but he heard a voyce from heauen saying Non inueni peiorem I could not finde a worse In Thebes there was a great Hypocrite which was euen ready to die out of the great desire he had to be a Bishop who had scarce obtained that dignitie but that he fell a spoyling the Common-wealth but an Angell told him That hee was not made Bishop because he deserued to be a Bishop but because that Common-wealth deserued not a better Bishop According to that of Iob Hee causeth the Hypocrite to reigne for the sinnes of the land Being all one with that which Ieremy said of his people Dabo eos inferuorem vniuersis regnis terrae propter Manassem filium Ezechiae Anastasius reades it Per Manassem For as a good King is a great cause why God with a gracious eye doth looke vpon his people so a bad king is the meanes that he vseth for the punishing of them Saint Gregorie the Archbishopricke of Milan being void wrot to the Clergie that they would obliege God by prayer and by fasting to giue them a good Pastor For as God is pleased with his people so he giues them Prelats accordingly The Queen of Sheba considering the wisedome of Salomon said That nothing did more manifest Gods loue towards his people of Israel and the desire of their perpetuitie than in hauing giuen them so wise a Gouernour And Iosephus reporteth That he being but twelue yeares of age when he first began to gouerne the people listening to that sentence which he gaue at his first sitting in iudgement touching the two women that contested about their child Let the infant be cut in twaine Many laughed at it deeming it to be a childish sentence but afterwards wisely weighing the discreet course that hee had taken in iustifying the truth without any further proofes or testimonies they then cryed out De coelo elapsus This King is sent vs downe from heauen And albeit the heauens planets and starres are to mans seeming farre off yet in regard of those influences which they cause in inferiour bodies they are neere at hand And albeit they are incorruptible yet doe they affoord great fauours to corruptible things If heauen behold vs with a propitious eye and the planets with prosperous aspects the earth doth enioy much fruitfulnesse and abundance But contrariwise our soules are not subiect to those materiall heauens but to those heauens of our Prelats and Gouernours Behold I create a new heauen and a new earth This may bee vnderstood of the Ecclesiasticall Estate and the Secular of Superiours and Inferiours When these heauens affoord a prosperous light the earth is beautifull pleasant plentifull and fertile And so on the contrary Ieremie saith I beheld the earth and loe it was emptie I beheld the heauens and could see no light in them What light then could there bee in Ierusalem when as Annas and Cayphas were the high Priests The high Priests consulted that they might put Lazarus to death Saint Augustine saith That this deuise and drift of theirs was deriued from the diuell and from hell There are some thoughts that are ingendred and bred in our flesh as the rust in the yron the rottennes in the wood the moth in the cloth and the worme and mytes in butter and in cheese Our flesh is a durtie puddle which sends forth such foule and thicke vapors from it that if you doe not make great hast to expell and driue them thence they will quickly cloud and darken the light of the vnderstanding It is sicke of the kitchin the gutter whitherall the dust and sluttishnesse of the sences gathers and meetes together to make such a stinke and stoppage that the water of Gods grace can hardly get through and cleanse the same it is a most grieuous and heauie burthen not onely because it is so painefull and intollerable but also because it is ineuitable All the plagues of Aegypt were remooued by Moses his prayer saue onely the flyes And these are those our thoughts and cogitations being inexcusable as importunate and troublesome which are ingendred in this our body of flesh Euery one beares about him his particular affection and the Idol which his heart adoreth This man his pleasures that man his profit one his honour another his grace and fauour with his king some their great and strong Alliance others their daintie and delicious fare And euerie one of these is like vnto the beast that is tyed to his racke and manger whereon his thoughts doe continually feede This is that same Trahit sua quemque voluptas Euery man is wedded to some one kinde of pleasure or other The Schoolemen set downe two sorts of thoughts The one which flesh and blood produceth The other which are sowne in vs. Cogitatio innata And Cogitatio ab alio lata That which is bred in vs. And that which is otherwise brought vnto vs. Some hearbes grow vp in the earth ofthemselues others are sown So some thoughts haue their breeding in mans brest others are sowne there and it must of force follow that they are sowne eyther by the diuell or by God Of those of the diuell Saint Paul saith Let no temptation take hold on you but that which is humane That the verie thought of some extraordinarie beautie should trouble and disquiet thee the thought of thy Princes fauour of Signiorie or any other temporall good this is a humane temptation but the killing of Lazarus and the selling and betraying of our Sauiour Christ is a diuellish temptation And therefore Saint Iohn saith That the diuell had put it into Iudas his heart that it was hee that had sowne this bad seed there and thrust this thought into him But whether or no this thought be of the flesh or of the diuell sure I am that it is the generall doctrine of the Saints That we should not nourish any euil thought nor let it like a bottome of yarne waxe warme in our hand Esay complaineth of his people That they conceiued mischiefe and brought foorth iniquitie that they hatched cockatrice egges and woue the spiders web that he that eateth of their egges dyeth and all that which is trod vpon breaketh out into a serpent As out of an Aspick 's egge saith Aristotle being kept warme and cherished is hatcht the Basiliske so from our thoughts taking warmth from the heat of consent is bred the Basiliske of sin This is for the sheepe to breed vp the wolfe or to giue sucke to that toad which shall venome thy brest and work thy death The Greeke Text
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
him that with teares in their eyes they desired rather their owne hinderance than his absence Many nations of the world made their gods prisoners chaining them fast with strong yrons For in seeing themselues to bee forsaken by them they presently accounted themselues but dead men Pausanias reporteth that the Lacedaemonians had tyed fast the Statue of Mars with cords of silke And Alexander ab Alexandro saith That Hercules was bound fast with fetters of gold And Plutarch in his Problemes recounteth the like of Apollos Image And the sacred Scripture deliuers vnto vs That Micas the Idolater followed with teares in his eyes those theeues which had stolne away the Idols belonging to his house or his houshold gods And Laban vpon the like occasion pursued Iacob For it is impossible that any bodie should suffer or endure the absence of his God Two powerfull Loues therefore wrestling and strugling in the breast of our Sauiour Christ The one to returne to his father from whence he came The other not to depart from his Spouse here on earth his Loue did lay a plot how he might goe away and yet stay And this was the vpshot of his Loue. When the diuell had now put in the heart of Iudas c. It is noted by Saint Iohn That at the same time as our Sauiour Christ was busied about the performing a point of that so meeke and lowly a humilitie as his washing of his Disciples feet and communicating vnto them his body and blood the very same time did the diuell enter into Iudas his breast Saint Chrysostome addeth Admirans dixit That the Euangelist spake this as it were in the way of admiration Cum diabolus misisset in cor When the diuell had put it in his heart c. Our thoughts are like grauell stones got into the shoo which Satan puts into mans heart and made such hast to thrust them into Iudas his heart that he was much perplexed and troubled therewith some few dayes but the batterie continuing he fell at last to a finall resolution and when he was resolued what he would doe himselfe made the offers of selling our Sauiour Christ. Quid vultis mihi dare What will you giue me In which sale of his two notable follies are to be noted The one His selling of his Sauiour vpon trust S. Marke and S. Luke say They promised to giue him money The other His selling of him at so low a rate standing to their curtesie what they would giue him The diuell offered our Sauior Christ all the whole world But Iudas was so base That he went away well contented with three Blanks being willing to play at small game rather than to sit out For he that is a couetous wretch euen with the diuell himselfe looseth his credit And therefore the Church stiles him a very Pedlar the basest and worst of merchants Iudas mercator pessimus Saint Gregorie saith That Iudas did banish from the world three things of great price and value The one True Loue For euer since that false and treacherous kisse of Iudas mens affections haue likewise growne to be false and loue to be counterfeit and feigned vsing strange disguises Many imbracing those in their armes whose throats they cut in their hearts The other Vertue For hypocrisie puts on a shew of Sanctitie maskes her selfe with Holinesse and dissembles good desires The third Feare For he that is nor afraid to betray God What will he stand in feare of Gregorie Nazianzen saith That in selling our Sauiour Christ hee lost all the right and claime that he had to his blood for no man can challenge any right to that which he sells so that he did vtterly renounce all kind of remedie or anie soule comfort whatsoeuer Saint Bernard saith That by committing treason against the Lord both of heauen and earth he had so highly offended therein that neither of them would giue him any reception or entertainement at his death onely hauing hanged himselfe the Element of the Ayre kept him tottering there to his further disgrace When the diuell had put it in his heart There are some sinnes so foule and so enormious that for to cease vpon them a man had need to haue Iudas his heart and the diuells hands He that is weake and fraile may sinne out of a naturall inclination or some long continued custome and euery occasion will be sufficient to make him flye after his game as the Hawke doth after hir prey c. But to doe ill to him that doth vs good we had need of the helpe of a Iudas or a diuell Ioseph being woed by his wanton Mistrisse told her Quo modo potero Being bound vnto my Master with so many chaines of his loue and kindnesses towards mee How can I doe him so great a wrong Saul was much more beholding to Dauid than Ioseph to Pataphar yet the diuell tooke strong hold of him Spiritus Domini malus vrgebat Saul But let no temptation take hold on you but that which is humane He layeth aside his vpper garments S. Ierom in his Epistle to Celancia saith Nihil est imperiosius amore There is nothing of more power and command than loue Pharaoh leauing ouer the gouernment of Aegypt vnto Ioseph said vnto him Without thee shall no man lift vp his hand or his foot in all the land of Aegypt It may seem that God said the like to Loue who drew God downe from heauen to liue here vpon earth It was Loue who led him along through the streetes to Mount Caluarie triumphing there ouer his power It was Loue and onely loue O Loue if thou be so imperious as to triumph ouer God himselfe Who shall bee able to resist thee Absque tuo imperio c. Without this Loue we can neither stirre hand nor foot no not breath or liue one houre He layeth aside his garment Well did he repay that kind loue of theirs in casting their clokes before his feet when he road in Triumph through Ierusalem carrying palmes in their hands And he in stead of washing the palmes of their hands disdained not to stoope so low as to wash their feet Saint Bernard saith That the Spouse did complaine that the Gards of the Citie had taken her cloake away Tollerunt pallium meum Do not ye therefore complaine if ye bee stripped starke naked for Gods sake since he was pleased to lay aside his garments to doe you seruice He began to wash the Disciples feet He had said before Knowing that the Father had giuen all things into his hands And Hilarie addeth Etiam proditorem So that God hauing put Christ into Iudas hands Christ puts himselfe vnder Iudas his feet O Iudas saith he though thou hast giuen thy heart vnto the diuell yet I pray thee giue me thy feet that I may bath them with the tears of mine eyes Thou hast put all things vnder his feet The birds of the ayre the beasts of the field and the fishes
fastned the right hand might breake the flesh and teare the sinewes they were faine likewise to bind his right arme with cords to the Crosse. And with this so violent a force and extreame reaching of his armes the bones of our Sauiour Christs bodie were so dislocated and disjoynted that you might plainely tell them that prophesie of that Kingly Prophet Dauid being then verified Dinumerauerunt omnia ossa mea They numbred all my bones c. Hilarie saith That our Sauiour Christ gaue here greater signes of his sorrow and griefe than in all the rest of those bitter passages of his passion And Rodulph and Saint Bridget affirme That of all other his torments this was the greatest And it is a thing worthy our consideration That our Sauiour Christ should bee more sensible of this nayling of his hands than of that Crowne of thornes which they platted on his head those cruell stripes wherewith they scourged him and that vinegre and gall which they gaue him to drinke Wherof there are two reasons rendred The one naturall which Thomas toucheth vpon Deliuering vnto vs that so intollerable is the paine and anguish of the sinewes that many that were crucified through the extreamitie of the paine did swound and were depriued of their senses And therefore our Sauiours torment must needes be so much the more by how much his wounds were greater than theirs Foderunt manus meas pedes meos Hugo Cardinalis doth ponder the Metaphor of foderunt Hee doth not say Clauarunt but effoderunt Like one that digges a pit in the earth The other morall because he held vs in his hands And therefore it is said Omnia tradidit Pater in manus suas non rapiet eas quisquam de manu sua The Father hath deliuered all things into his hands and no man shall snatch any thing out of his hand And in token that he was more sensible of our torments than his own the greatest paine he felt was in the nayling of his hands Leo the Pope saith That to those that were crucified they did vse to put a vayle or bend before their eyes when their hands were nayled and that they tooke the like course with our Sauiour Christ but his Loue had so ordered the businesse that he had eyes to see his owne hurts but not ours The Prophet Zacharie askes the question Quae sunt plagae istae in medio manuum tuarum What are those wounds in the midst of thy hands The like question he might as well haue made of the wounds in our Sauiors side and his sacred feet but that Man was abiding in those the wounds of his hands In manibus meis scripsi te I haue written thee in my hands And therefore made more reckoning of them And at the day of iudgement he saith by the mouth of Zacharie Aspicient ad me quem crucifixâ—runt They shall looke vpon mee whom they haue pierced The sinner shall open his eyes whose name being written like a posie in those hands and himselfe worne by them as a ring of remembrance shall see his saluation nayled to those hands which his sinnes had nayled so fast to the Crosse. In a word as in the garden hauing more care of his than himselfe he said in an imperious kind of manner Sinite hos abire Suffer these to depart And on the Crosse he said vnto his Father In manus tuas Domine commendo Spiritum meum Vpon which place Saint Augustine saith That he there called the faithfull his Spirit and his Soule taking no care of his owne spirit or soule for that was vnited to the Diuinitie So that in this regard for that he held vs in his hands he felt more the torment of his hands than of any other part Neuer did humane Nature receiue so great an iniurie as the death of the Crosse. Tostatus expounding that place of Deut. Maledictus a Deo qui pependit in ligno Cursed is he that hangs vpon the tree saith That it was an iniurie done to God himselfe that a creature created after Gods owne image should dye on the Crosse Nefas est saith Cicero vincire ciues Romanos scelus verberare prope parricidium necare Quid dicam in cruce agere It is a hainous act to bind a Citizen of Rome a villanie to scourge him and in a maner paricide to kill him What shall it be then to put him on the Crosse Pliny saith That the Romans did set vp certain Crosses wheron they hung those dogges which did not giue warning by barking when the Gaulus did scale the Capitol which surprisal was preuented by the gaggling of the geese Suidas saith That when any one did die a bad and vnfortunate death they did put a Crosse vpon his graue Scaliger reporteth That vpon a time there was a strange kind of headach in Rome which had spread it selfe ouer all the Citie which was so extreame painefull vnto them that many of them did hang themselues in their owne garters chusing rather to die than to endure the paine thereof and some did hang themselues for feare of that sicknesse before euer it had seised vpon them Whereupon the Senat being desirous to preuent so great a mischiefe published a Proclamation punishing therein these desperate offenders with the infamie of the Crosse that dishonour might cut off that inconuenience which life could not persuade Now so great then was the loue which our Sauiour Christ bare vnto vs that he deposited in the infamie and reproch of the Crosse all that honour which hee had gotten himselfe by his myracles his doctrine and vnblameable life leauing them all hanging on the Crosse as a Trophie of his loue Hercules erected pillars where hee thought the world had ended and extended it's vtmost bounds as a Trophie of his prowesse and valour bearing this letter or inscription Non plus vltra Our Sauiour Christ shewed his Loue vnto vs to the end in that his Trophie of the Crosse with this letter or inscription No Loue can goe beyond this Loue And therefore the Crosse is the North-starre of our comfort and hope For what can hee denie vs or what will not he grant vnto vs who on the Crosse shewed such exceeding great loue vnto vs But some man perhaps will aske me How can so bad a thing be able to afford comfort Saint Basil cleeres it with this answer That the death of our Sauiour Christ did alter the nature and qualitie of things turning ioy into sorrow and sorrow into ioy And therefore it is said Vae vobis qui ridetis Woe be vnto yee that laugh And as we see sometimes that the fire doth not burne that the water doth not drowne and that wild beasts doe not bite because the diuine Omnipotence doth truck and exchange the actiuenesse of those Elements and beasts so Christ tooke away the sorrow paine of the Crosse and placed thereon Ioy Comfort and Hope The daughters of Ierusalem went forth to
the Iewes and Romans setting to their shoulders to ouerthrowe the life of our Sauiour Christ one lost his Kingdome another his Monarchy this man his goods that man his life many both their bodies and soules This is that Interficitis vniuersi vos And as that speare which Saul threw did not touch Dauid but smote the wal So the nailes wounds scourges and thornes toucht our Sauiours Humanitie but not his Diuinitie So that the speare which was flung at him missing his Godhead and hitting onely his Manhood the Deuill was thereby taken mocked ouerthrowne amazed and astonished In Exodus God beeing willing to giue an end to the plagues of Aegypt he commanded that euerie family of the children of Israell should on a certaine night kill a Lambe and that they should sprinkle the posts of the doores of their houses with the blood thereof and that when the Angell should passe by slaying the first borne of Aegypt he should skip ouer the posts that were sprinckled with the blood of the Lambe which the Israelites that night had eaten to supper S. Chrysostome saith That the Angell did feare the blood of that Lambe because it was a type and figure of that true and most innocent Lambe who was to haue his blood sprinckled on the posts of the Crosse. If then an Angell of God were affraid of the blood of a beast because it was a figure of that blood which was to be shed on the Crosse for the sauing of sinners and such as were Gods chosen people What feare and terrour shall the blood and death of our Sauior Christ God and Man strike into Hell Saint Paul sayth Triumphans illos in semetipso Triumphing ouer them in the Crosse subduing powers principalities c. It is Anselmes obseruation that the triumphers of this world make their triumph by shedding the blood of their enemies but our Sauiour Christ triumphed ouer the deuils and ouer sinne and death by shedding his owne proper blood God did antiently in those times of old take the same course with his enemies as other tâ—â—umphers in the world were woont to doe Glorificabor in Pharaone c. I will get mâ— honour vpon Pharaoh and vpon all his Hoste vpon his Chariots and his Horsemen that the Aegyptians may know that I am the Lord. God made himselfe then to bee knowne by destroying drowning and killing of them But now hee would get himselfe a name and fame by dying himselfe on the Crosse. This strange and new kind of victorie Esay paynteth foorth by introducing our Sauiour Christ who ascendeth all bloodie vp vnto Heauen and by bringing in those Angells who aske the question Who is this that comes thus stained and dy'd in his owne blood and yet is both faire and valiant Who is this as it is in the Text that commeth from Edom with red garments from Bozrah He is glorious in his apparell and walketh with great strength Wherefore is thine apparell red and thy garments like him that treadeth in the Wine-presse And the answere to this demand is Ego propugnator ad saluandum I am mightie to saue I spake in righteousnesse and past my word to saue the World and to take them out of the hard bondage of the deuill of sinne and of death and I haue performed my promise and beene as good as my word by leauing their enemies ouercome by â—reading them vnderfoot and by stayning all my rayment with blood and by bringing downe their strength to the earth But Quare ergo rubrum est vestimenium tâ—â—m Why is thy rayment redde What a Conqueror and yet so beâ—â—â—eared with blood It is answered I trode mine enemies vnder my foot as hee tâ—at crushing grapes â—readeth in the Winepresse and my garments are sprinckled and my â—ayment stayned with their blood Calcaui eos in furore meo I troad thâ—m in â—â—â—â—â—â—ger and troad them vnderfoot in my wrath for the day of vengeance was in 〈◊〉 heart and the yeere of my redeemed was come And so I was their sauiour But how could this be said of the Deuills and of Sinne beeing that they haue neither of them blood 'T is true But humane nature hath both flesh and blood Whereof they had made themselues Lords and Masters And because I had sayth Christ put on this particular nature not in regard as it was in mee for so it was impeccable and without sinne but in regard of the rest of mankind from whome it was inseparable and not to bee remooued and so must neede Sinne whilest that was about them Christ was prodigall of his owne innocent and pretious Blood that he might saue ours which was altogether tainted and corrupted He endured the Crosse that wee might receiue the Crowne he cast himselfe into the Armes of Death that hee might rayse vs vp to eternall life for which his great and vnspeakable Mercie towards vs most wretched vile and miserable Sinners to him the Father and the Holy Ghost three Persons one true and euer liuing God bee rendred all Prayse Honour and Glorie Might Maiestie Power and Dominion as most due World without end Amen Laus Deo A Table of all the principall matters contained in this Booke A Abraham HOped where hee had no reason to hope page 68 69. In sacrificing Isaac hee sacrificed the ioy and content of his life 187 His courage was againe tried by being forced to forsake his countrey 275 Adam For a foolish longing lost the greatest Empire 273 His knowledge was infused 466 If he had accused himselfe hee had freed his posteritie 288 The sight of Abel being dead was a terror to Adam euer after 489 He layd the burden of his transgression vpon God 564 Hee knewe by reuelation that his marriage did represent that of Christ and his Church but he knew not the meanes 608 If he had not excused his fault he had not bin shut out of Paradise 625 Hee was buried where Christ was crucified 642 Admiration Whence it proceedeth 35 It is commendation ibid. It waiteth not but on things that are rare 320 345 Vsually the child of Ignorance 465 Christ on the Crosse the chiefest obiect that euer it had 639 Aduantage Against an Enemie no cowardize 551 Adulterie How punished in former times 418 The foulenesse of the Sin ibid. Condemned euen by nature 419 Affliction Beneficiall 27 But not to the wicked 28 Why God afflicteth his children 63 69 179 It altereth the verie forme of Man 638 Ambition A strong temptation 90 Blind in what it pursueth 228 It knows nor reason nor religion 229 The nurce and mother of many Cruelties 230 Three sorts of Ambition 229 Anger See Wrath. It ought to be restrained 58 Sometimes necessarie 126 As hurtfull a Sinne as Enuy. 328 c. Angels The Protectors of Gods children 89 Their Power 97 They reioyce at our comming to Heauen 282 Euill Angels To what seruices deputed 97 Antechrist His wonders shall be lying and deceitfull yet many 120 Antiquitie The
praise of it 41 Apparell How to be limitted 235 The abuse of it 236 B Baptisme THe foundation of Christian building 558 Bethesda the figure of it 165 Beloued A name of good preheminence 502 Bells The vse of them 526 Beelzebub Why resembled to a flye 295 Benefit See Courtesie Well bestowed if much desired 546 Beautie The force of it 571 Blessing Why Isaac would haue conferred the blessing on Esau. 227 God measures out his blessings to vs more by Loue than Wisedome 262 He substracts them from the vngratefull 270 C Centurion HIs behauiour iustified 36 His faith commended 34 Capernaum The glorie of it 23 315 Why Christ would worke no myracles there 318 There began the preaching of the Gospell 315 Change A change to be seene in all things 247 Charitie See Mercy and Vnmercifulnesse Much respected of God 100 praised of Men. 307 Must be practised towards all 337 How it differs from couetousnesse 439 Chaire What is meant by Moses his Chaire 212 Chastisement See Punishment Gods chastisements whereunto resembled 244 To what purpose they serue ibid. More in shew than in substance 452 Children What care Parents should haue of them 226 If vertuous their Parents glorie 310 Christ a Schoole-master euen to these 462 Foure degrees of child-hood and whereunto alluding 602 Christ. See Death His comming to Iudgement 93 With what Maiestie it shall be 96 97 His combat with the deuill 71 How called the hope of the Gentiles 142 Why called the Sonne of Dauid rather than of Abraham 149 His transfiguration and the reasons of it 184 c. The necessitie of it 187 The qualitie 188 Glorious in his Passion three manner of waies 192 His bodie two-fold Naturall and Mysticall 193 His Passion the fountaine of our glorie ibid. He suffered onely because he would 200 His willingnesse to dye 219 Why called the Sonne of Man 223 His blood why shed in the Vine-yard 265 If conceiued in the heart soone discouered 309 His Pedigree the noblest that euer was 310 His workes of two sorts 318 No Monopoly to bee made of his Worth 326 As he was meeke in reprouing so he was stout in reuenging 359 He brings Health and Holinesse wheresoeuer he commeth 374 Compared to the Sunne 388 The onely Well of liuing Water 394 A Controller of curious nicenesse ibid. The prerogatiue of his flesh 379 More mooued at our disasters than he was at his owne 494 Why without peccabilitie 524 c. His innocency exemplified both by his life death 526 Neuer any so abused by the World as he 537 543 Hee must be sought while he may be found 543 His power neuer more seene than in his Passion 549 605 He prooues his Diuinity by no other testimonie than his workes 556 Alwayes ready to forgiue Sinners 583 Why called a Bull. 605 His life was to bring the Iewes to knowledge his death the Gentiles 605 His Humility the character of his Loue. 637 His company a sure protection 622 Euery part of him affoords a Sinner confidence 645 His Dietie when most concealed ibid. His bloud ought to be much regarded 647 The difference betwixt his Triumph those of Men. 16 Christians Led more by Custome than Deuotion 414 Many now worse enemies to Christ than were the Pharisees 267 Many Christians why called sheepe 567 Church Why persecuted 65 Likened to a Rocke ibid. Her greatest persecution is to want persecution ibid. Her firmenesse 250 Gods fauour towards her 345 Why stiled a well ordered Army 440 In her infancie she needed miracles 326 She thriues because watered with the blood of Christ and his Martyrs 251 Clemencie A profitable vertue 534 Communion Two dignities to be considered in it One of the Person that receiueth Christ the other of the Preparation wherewith he doth receiue it 33 636 Confession When to be made 203 The onely way to absolution 281 Without it no true comfort 288 Sathan would keepe vs from it ibid. Contemplation Must not bee seuered from action 488 Nor preferred before it 413 Conscience If guiltie the greatest torture 567 Cooperation Necessarie in things that concern the sauing of our Soules 147 Counsaile Where good Counsell is wanting all runs to ruine 436 State Counsells more to pill the poore than to preserue them 437 No man so wise but may need good Counsell 587 Ill Counsel produceth ill effects ibid. Countrey Euery man must loue his owne Countrey 275 316 Conuersion Three conuersions celeberated by the Church 615 That of the Theefe miraculous 616 Couetousnesse Foolish and vnnecessarie 8 The roote of all euill 234 Nothing worse than a couetous man 263 No Vice more seuerely punished ibid. None so hard to be reformed ibid. The onely God that commands the World 264 Men vsually couet what is especially commended 407 Couetousnesse and Mercy how they differ 439 Neuer satisfied 441 Naught in a Magistrate ibid. Worse in a Minister 448 457 489 Courtesie The receit of a courtesie is the ingaging of our libertie 226 A good turne is a strong fetter 253 Courteous behauiour the greatest gaine 445 Court Courtier The Courts of Princes like the poole of Bethesda 162 The life of a Courtier is wholly vpon hope ibid. Crosse. Heauens key 623 The death of the Crosse an iniurie to nature 644 Crueltie See Vnmercifulnesse Curiositie Dangerous in diuine matters 125 as also in searching into other mens liues 477 Curiositie and Temperance are stil at variance within vs. 521 D Death THe Glorious change whereunto it brings the child of God 242 No greater dishonour than to dye by the hand of a base enemie 74 Naturall to shunne Death and to seeke Life 219 Christs willingnesse to dye ibid. Christs death to be considered two manner of wayes c. 222 c. As a mans life is so is his death 243 Why called a change 247 We ought to pray against suddaine death 331 492 The death of the wicked full of terror 332 The death of the Saints is the weakening of the place in which they dye 426 Little regarded or remembred 489 The remembrance of it affoords two benefits It is incident to all 490 c. The liuing more to be pitied than the dead 494 Death a large draught but Christ swallowed it downe 499 Why termed a Sleepe 509 c. Christs death how different from ours 510. The death of the Soule a true death that of the body onely a shadow 512 Why the Heathen erected Pyramids ouer their dead 514 Christs death the Deuills worst torment 528 549 Why Christ desiring to dye fled to auâ—yd death ibid. c. Christs death did alter the nature of things 645 The Deuil neuer more deluded than by Christs death 646 Preparation against death necessarie 597 Deuill He layes vpon Man three burthens 17. His description 71. His trade is wholly to doe euill 80 Why he appeared to Eue in the forme of a Serpent 81 His subtiltie 82 A great prouoker to Gluttonie and why Ibid. His malice oftentimes outrunnes his Wit 85 He is
into a garden Euery mans soule is a vineyard to him selfe and he must dresse it The hasard wherunto the Vine-yard of the soule is exposed The vine hath no bounds no more hath the will of man The spouse compared to the vine Cant. 8.5 Gods absence from vs is nothing else but his conniuing at our sinnes From Gods conniuence growes our presumâ—tion and his seuerity Gods wrath the longer deferred the fiercer Trust is euer the surest tye Luke 19. Math. â—5 1. Tim. 2.7 Deut. 2â— Euery man may claim the fruit of his owne labors God requireth nothing at our hands but what is for our owne good Iob. 35 7. Micah 7.1 Ob. God is no racking Landlord Sol. He requâ—â—es of vs but a little Ezech. 33.6 7. Ministers in this world must expect nothing but hard measure Gods mercy is euer in competition with mans malice God in his punishing of man desires more his blushing than his bleeding Ecâ—lâ— 41.17 Gods Loue ceaseth not for mans wickednesse Nothing worse than a couetous man Ose 5.10 No vice more seuerely punished than Couetousnesse Amos 1.13 3. Reg. 20. No vice so hard to be reformed as Couetousnesse 1. Kings 22. Psal. 1. Gods course in punishing of sinne is to reuenge the lesser with the greater 1. Mac. 1. 2. Tim. 2. Sinners are vsually taken in their owne Snares Why the blood of Christ was not shed in the Vineyard Esay 65.5 Math. 27.6 Ezech. 28. Ezech. 16. God labours euery way the conuersion of a sinner Ierem. 6.8 Gen. 9.15 Esay 34. God omits no meanes to bring vs to himselfe Deut. 20.10 2. Kings 20. Many Christians now worse enemies to Christ than were the Pharisees 4. Kings 17.33 Gods punishments of two sorts Psal. 6.1 Ierem. 10.24 Selfe loue the ouerthrow of man Prou. 21.30 Iob. 40. Psal. 118.21 The translatioÌ„ of Gods kingdome from the Iewes to the Gentiles Esay 5. Osee 3.4 Ieremy 12.7 Math. 23.38 Eccl. 10. Prou. 2.22 Dâ—â— 6. Dan. 4. 3. Reg. 14.15 3. King 16. 4. King 9. God substracts his Blessings wheÌ„ we proue vngratefull 1. Reg. 2. Esay 22. 1. Kings 2. The distrubution of the matter This world is nothing but a mixture of good euill Prou. â— Eccl. 2 18. The wicked loue not to bee checkt in their proceedings Psal. 123. Psal. 10.12 Iob 22.13.14 Too much liberty the bane of youth Prou. 29.15 Eccl. 30. â—0 Eccl. 33.20 Eccl. 7 1â— Psal. 137. To forget God is to goe into a far cuntry Prou. 3. Iudg. 1. â—â— Psal. 38. Malach. 2. 3. Reg. 14. Prou. 3. Esay 38. Ier. 13. Lament 4. The wicked whereunto compared No miserie so great but sin will reduce vs vnto it Ierem. 17 Psal. 32. Ose. 5.4 The posture of a sinner is to lye groueling The remembrance of fore-passed felicity a great means to bring vsto Repentance Confession in Gods Court the onely way to Absolution Sinne is an offenceto God a wound to our owne Soules Psal. 25.10 Gods bountie often causeth our neglect The Angells reioyce at our comming vnto Heauen God aloâ—e must vntie the Deuills knots Esay 49. Coloss. 2.14 Diuersreasons why Christ paused vpon the casting out of this Deuill (1.) On our part (2.) Reasons on the Deuils part Psal. 126. Psal. 86. Gen. 3. Apoc. 9. Ephes. 6. (3) Reasons on Christs part Iob 40.20 Luc. 11. Mat. 12. Without confession no true comfort Osee. 13. The Deuils craft is to shut vp our mouths from Confession Gen. 39. Wis. 10.1 Dumb ministers the Deuills best agents Ose. 4.8 4. Kings 7.9 Iob. 2.5 Why God permits him to be so mischieuous 2. Mac. 3. Iosh. 2.9.11 1. Tim. 1.20 Esay 6. Two things required in euery true Penitent The iustifying of Soules a greater act of mercie than the creating of Angells Iob. 3. Luk. 16. Ierem. 1. Esay 14. Mat. 9. Mat. 12. Esay 29. 1. Reg. 2.5 Rom. 2. Esay 65.2 Rom. 10. No scourge to that of the Tongue Mat. 9. Prou. 26.4.5 The Deuills though at discord amongst themselues do yet vnite their forces against Man Iob. 41. Iam. 4 1. The word Sathan what it implyeth Mat. 1 â— No Theefe nor Tyrant to the Deuill Tyrants are euer their own torturest Reasons by which the deuill assures himselfe of peaceably possessing his spoiles Ob. Sol. Ill must betide all neutralls betwixt God and Sathan Apoc. 3. The casting out of Deuills not alwaies a signe of the comming of Gods Kingdome Acts 19.14 Wisd. 14. Prou. 5.22 Why Sathan is stiled the Prince of the world 1. Cor. 10. Luke 22.53 Apoc. 20. Luke 8. The Deuill finds no rest but where he may doe mischiefe Three sorts of persons possessed with Deuills Rom. 8.38 No creature so hurtfull to man as sinne A lesser ill to be possessed in bodie than in soule 1. Cor. 5.5 1. Tim. â— 20 Ose. 10 11. To thâ—esh in Scripture is to rule with tyranny Isa. 25.10 Esay 45.15 God is woont by weake means to confound the Mightie Christs conception in the heart is presently discouered Eccle. 30.3 Christs pedigree the noblest of longest continuance The Virgin not blessed for bearing Christ but beleeuing in him To bee the wife or daughter of a King a greater honour than to be his Mother Iohn 3.29 Nothing more fierce than the fury of the people Eccle. 26.5 Esay 61.7 Luke 4. Esay 26. The glory of Capernaum Esay 9.12 Iohn 21. Deut. 31. Rom. 11. T is naturall in all men to loue their Country Esay 61.1 Marc. 6.5 Luc. 10. Math. 11. Luke 14. Christs works of two sorts Why our Sauiour would worke no miracles in Capernaum Act. 7. Exod. 2. Num 23. Exod. 15. Num. 14. Num. 16. 1. Kings 19. Esay 65. Hier. 20. 3. Reg. ca. vlt. Micah 2. Luke 4. The nature of 〈◊〉 Admiration waits not but on things that are rare Math. 4. Iud. 9. To chalâ—enge any thing froÌ„ God as due is the way to go without it Psal. 30. Wisd. 1. Coloss. 1. Eph. 1 Esay 4â— Iob 11.7 Math. 13. Morc 6. Incrudelity a maine stop to Christs Miracles Math. 7.29 God somtimes neuer more our friend than when he denies vs our requests Mat. 26. â— Pet. 2. Luk. 12. Miracles neuer wrought but where Good was likely to ensue Mâ—th 4. The seueral conditions of Christians in seeking their Saluation Luke 9. Mark 9. Miracles not necessarie to Saluation nor sufficient The desire of honour 〈◊〉 alwaies to condemned 2. Cor. 11. God in the disâ—ensing of his fauors respects no persons Prou. 15.12 Amos 5.10 Enuie a dangerous beast Anger a sin no lesse hurtfull than Enuie Prou. 17.3 Prou. 27.4 The Nazarits base demeanor towardâ— Christ Ieuit. 4. Act. 7 Our Sauiour neuer any where so ill treated as in Nazareth How Christ is sayd to haâ—e passed thorough them We ought to pâ—ay against sudden death Sap. 4. Esay 30. God oft defers his punishments that our sins may grow to maturity Offences how and when to be forgiuen and reproued In treating of diuine matters we ought alwaies to craue the assistanâ—e of
vnto them but they loued Darknesse their Messâ—â— came and they killed him What will the Lord of the Vineyard doe He did direct this question to the repairing of their perdition for as yet they were in the state of saluation And 〈◊〉 they would but haue beene ashamed of that which they had done and repented them of their sinnes hee would haue runne with open armes to haue receiued them into grace Plutarch saith That Loue takes any occasion bee it neuer 〈◊〉 light to doe good vnto him whom he loueth it hath no need of baits snares himselfe beares those baits about him wherewith he is taken for Gods loue neuer takes his leaue of a Sinner Our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ remained dead in Mount Caluarie yet for all that did he not forsake vs but he returnes 〈◊〉 hundred times and more intreating and calling vnto vs Be thou instructed ô Ierusalem lest my Soule depart from thee lest I make thee desolate as a land that 〈◊〉 inhabiteth In that generall inundation he repented him of what he had 〈◊〉 and promised neuer to doe so no more Nequaquam vltra There shall bee no 〈◊〉 waters of a floud to destroy all flesh What will the Lord of the Vineyard doe He askes the question What he 〈◊〉 doe and takes councell with himselfe signifying thereby vnto vs That great chastisements require great consideration The Prophet Esay threatning Edom saith He will measure it out with a Line that he may bring it to naught No man doth measure a Building to destroy it the Rule and the Square were ordained for to build I answer Amongst your Artificers here vpon earth it passeth so as thou sayest but he that was that onely Artizan of Heauen dwelt longer vpon the destroying of Niniuie than hee would haue done in building of it Cogitauit Dominus dissipare murum filiae Syon tetendit funiculum The Lord hath determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Syon he stretched out a Line he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying The Lord had a determination to destroy the citie of Ierusalem but first hee tooke a measure thereof as wee say by line and by leisure Rupertus hath noted it that he was seuentie yeres about taking this measure Lastly he askes the question What shall the Lord of the Vineyard doe because to destroy and to kill is to bee vsed where no other meanes will serue the turne After that they had ill intreated his Seruants stoned some slaine other-some and last of all his heire yet euen after all this doth he seeke to make peace with them In the twentieth of Deutronomie God hath commanded That when thou commest neere vnto a citie to fight against it before thou shalt set vpon the same thou shalt offer it peace Abishai besieging Abel a woman cryed out there within Knowst thou not that they spake in the old time saying They should first aske peace of Abel and hence it is said Qui interogant interogent in Abel Why doost thou not first demand Sheba of vs wee shall deliuer Sheba vp into thy hands Quare pracipitas hereditatem Domini Why wilt thou destroy the Lords Inheritance Chrysostome saith That Gods sending of Ionas to preach Yet forty days and Niniuie shall be destroyed was no other but a profering of peace vnto them What shall the Lord of the Vineyard doe All these and other larger proffers God vseth to make to Christendome in generall and to euery one of the Faithfull in particular He hath planted a Church hee hath watred it with his owne bloud and that of the Apostles and Martyrs he hath ploughed and tilled it and sowne it with the seed of his Doctrine he hath affoorded thee strange fauours as riches discretion beautie the dainties of the Earth of the Ayre and of the Sea and all these hast thou made as weapons to offend him Quid faciet Dominus Vinia It is no meruaile that many Christians are worse now in part than the Pharisees were then for in the brests of the Pharisees there was no faith nor no knowledge of Christ which occasioned their sinnes against Christ but the Christians beleeuing in him and adoring him doe not sticke to offend him The Pharisees would not receiue Christ our Sauior Redeemer because then they must haue laid aside their couetousnesse their ambition their hypocrisie dissimulation but they beeing so proud a People would not admit of so humble a God A poore King and rich Vassals doe not sute well together but to beleeue in him and yet not to regard him this is a foule fault among Christians Samaria being subiect to the Assyrians God sent a fearefull scourge amongst them Lyons which euerie where slew them and tore them in pieces The King desiring to repaire this losse sent Priests among them to instruct them in the Law of that Land and to persuade them to the feare of God and to teach them the manner of the God of the Countrie but the Text saith They feared the Lord but serued their Idols withall They offered their Vnderstanding to God but their Will vnto Idolls The like kind of course a great part of Christendome taketh they acknowledge a God but adore Vice and their Faith they thinke shall serue them for a safe Conduct that God may not destroy them in his wrath Beeing herein like vnto your Marshalls men who onely therefore serue the Marshall that they may liue the looser and sinne with more safetie Two mischiefes seeme to threaten such kind of Christians The one That this their Faith may turne to their greater condemnation The other That they may runne the hazard of loosing it By Balaams aduice the King of Moab sent many faire and beautifull women to Gods People to the end to draw on their loue the more but charging them withall that they should not in any hand yeeld to their longings and their lustings vnlesse they would first worship those Idolls which they themselues adored And it so fell out Affection ouer-ruling Religion that many of the Faithfull by this meanes fell away and did linke themselues in marriage with them making little or no scruple of the condition whereunto they were tyed Wee may verie well giue great thankes to our Vices and vnto God who hath so ordred the businesse for vs that though our Vices bring with them vnlawful pleasures and delights yet they doe not bring Idols with them which if they did I feare me that many would echaran la soga tras el Caldero Hurle the rope after the kettle or as we say by way of Prouerbe Fling the helme after the hatchet Aiunt illi Malos male perdet They say vnto him He shall destroy those wicked ones Him in Scripture we call ill who does ill Si ergo vos cum sitis mali nostis bona dare filijs vestris c. Wee dayly pray vnto God to deliuer vs from euill yet sticke not dayly to
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
Fastings are payable to the Soule Prayers to the Goods Almes and these debts are so many darts in the Deuills sides It did belong therefore to our Sauiour Christ as being our elder brother and the Guardian of our Soules to disanull this sale Saint Paul saith That whatsoeuer act Adam had done as the chiefe head and principall root of Mankind our Sauiour Christ had now cancelled the same vpon the Crosse Putting out the hand writing of Ordinances that was against vs which was contrarie vnto vs he euen tooke it out of the way and fastned it vpon the Crosse. And for as much as euerie man through his manifold sinnes sells himselfe ouer and ouer to the Deuill not once but many times it was fitting that our Sauiour Christ should as often blot and cancell this bill and make it to be of none effect And here saith our Euangelist Erat Iesus eijciens Daemonium Iesus was casting forth a Deuill This word Erat implying the difficultie of getting him out as also the long time of his continuance there Erat Iesus eijciens Daemonium Christ did not presently cast out this Deuil but stayed and paused a while vpon the matter shewing thereby that it was not so easie a thing to bee done as some thought it to be but rather full of difficultie What can there bee any difficultie for God to doe Is it possible that any thing should seeme hard vnto him The Saints of God and learned Doctours of the Church render some reasons thereof on our part some on the Deuills and some on our Sauiour Christs On our part God hauing free and absolute power ouer our Will Who is able to oppugne his omnipotency When Lucifer his followers playd the Rebels in Heauen it seeming to God too base an Office to punish them by his owne person he commanded Saint Michaell the Arch-Angell that hee should throw them thence like thunderbolts These Deuills beeing thus tumbled downe headlong from that so high a Tower they sought out another stronger hold wherein to defend themselues which was Man and making themselues masters of this Fort they made fast the Windowes and the Doores shutting close the Eyes Eares and Mouth of Man God himselfe in our person laboured to put them out But Man abusing that libertie which God hath left vnto him resigning it vp into the Deuills hands is the onely cause that they maintaine and defend this Fort against God Gregorie Nazianzen saith That wee play the Traytors and conspire against God against his Crosse and against his Bloud by selling our selues dayly anew vnto the Deuill Our Sauiour Christ had payd the ransome for all our sinnes vpon the Crosse tearing that our handwriting obligation in pieces which we had made ouer to the Deuil But we as if we repented our selues thereof make him a new bond and bind our selues anew vnto him Which is a great basenesse in Man Wilt thou receiue an Apostata a Traitour a Fugitiue and one that is condemned for euer to the Gallies There is no Inne halfe so vile or so bad as thy Soule For if this harbour a theefe or a murderer or a robber on the highway-side it is vpon hope of profit But thou doost not onely giue him entertainement but also spendest thy purse vpon him and doost protect and abett him against God So that God hath a great deale more to doe with poore silly Man being but as a worme of the earth than with the greatest Deuill in Hell There is also another reason on our part To wit The so often repeating of our sins ouer and ouer their antient standing and their spreading like a Cancker still farther farther vpon our soules Insomuch that it will find God worke cannot chuse but cost him much labor And the sores of our sins may be in that desperat case that he is not able to cure them by ordinary means but must vse therin some great and strange Miracle Thou puttest foorth to Sea thou saylest in the same ship with another passenger thy friend and acquaintance ye Cabbin togegether eat together and sleepe together continuing in this louing league of friendship some six moneths or more Thou boordest thy selfe with thy neighbour liuest vnder the same roofe with him some thirty yeares and vpwards and all this while ye continue verie good freinds Sure it must be a very great occasion that must part yee twaine and either coole or blot out this your so long grounded affection But if besides this tye of friendship thou take extraordinary contentment in it there is no gaine-saying of it Such a one thou art wont to say she is my Life my Soule my deere Heart deerer vnto mee than mine owne eyes Though thou hast liued thus and thus many yeares and so much to thy content and delight in conuersation and friendship with the Deuil though I must confesse it is a hard matter to come off handsomely from him yet God hath wrought thy freedom but at a great price and hath brought thee off cleere but with much paine But let me tell thee withall that when thy demoniated soule shall place all it's whole pleasure and delight in the Deuils company make him her best beloued hug him in her armes and spred out the lappet of her garment for him then shal it be in my Letanie Lord haue mercie vpon thee For when sinne growes to that height it is almost out of reach to doe any good vpon it Pope Clement saith of Simon Magus that he could not be cuâ—ed Quia voluntarie agrâ—tabat Because he was willing to be sicke And that his soule had made such an inseperable knot with the Deuill Que quien le apartara le matara That he that should pull him from him must pull away life and soule together Saint Marke tels vs That his Disciples being not able to dispossesse a young man of the Deuill they brought him to our Sauiour Christ. And hee demaunding of them that brought him vnto him how long he had beene tormented with him They answered From his childhood Our Sauiour healed him But I remember the Text sayes Factus est sicut mortuus ita vt multi dicerent quia iam mortuus est Hee was as one dead in so much that many sayd He is dead This young man was so wedded to the Deuill that many could not pull him from him and being taken from the Deuill he was as a dead man He had kept him companie so long that the Deuill was to him as his life And this is the marke of such persons as giue themselues ouer to the pleasures of this World For liuing without them but three dayes in the Holy-weeke they thinke themselues dead On the Deuils part there are likewise many forcible reasons First of all This foule Fiend leaues a Soule so blind so deafe and so dumbe that he doth not feele the hurt of so infamous a dwelling And therefore the Church vseth to pray