DEVOUT CONTEMPLATIONS Expressed In two and Forty Sermons Upon all the quadragesimal Gospels Written in Spanish by Fr. Ch. de Fonseca Englished by. I. M. of Magdalen College in Oxford. LONDON Printed by Adam Islip Anno Domini. 1629. HUMILITY REPENTANCE Matt. 4.1. Matt. 26.69. Luke 7.11. john 11.1. Matt. 28.6. Matt. 17.1. Mark 6.47. john 4.5. Matt. 27.38 TO THE TWO NOBLE KNIGHTS, SIR JOHN STRANGWAYES, AND SIR LEWIS DIVE; AND THEIR VIRTUOUS LADIES, THE LADY GRACE STRANGWAYES, AND LADY HOWARD DIVE. IN Acknowledgement of his own true Love and Respect, DON DIEGO PUEDE-SER Dedicateth these his ENDEAVOURS. To the Reader. COurteous Reader, to seek thy approbation of this Book by any fair & plausible inductions, were to distrust, if not impair the worth of it. 'Tis folly to light a Candle to the Sun, as likewise to praise that, which in itself is all praise worthy. True Virtue needs no Orator to set her forth; her own native beauty is so moving, that outward trappings can afford her small advantage. If the divine conceits and meditations of Antiquity can work upon thy Affections, I make no doubt but here's enough to win thee. The whole Book is nothing but a bunch of flowers collected from out those pleasant Gardens, which were long since planted by the art and industry of those reverend Fathers, whom God raised up for Guardians to his Church, during her nonage and minority. If the sent of these shall please thee, the Translator will hereafter furnish thee with the Labours of the same Author upon all the Parables. Some peradventure may dislike it, because it was first composed by a Spaniard; as if Eliah should have refused his meat, because it was brought him by a Raven; or that in a curious Fountain, where there are some spouts form like the heads of Serpents, others, like those of Doves, the water that issued out of either were notall one. The ancient Gauls had no sooner tasted the delicious wines of Italy, but a desire took them to go and conquer the Country: the like had been wrought upon the Israelites, when some of those, whom Moses by the appointment of God himself, Num. 13.23 had sent to view the fruitfulness of the land of Canaan, brought them of the Grapes, Figs, and Pomegranates, which the soil afforded; if others had not marred this real demonstration with a vain suspicion of the sons of Anak. But what, shall not the corn be reaped because there's cockle in the field? Shall not the rose be plucked because it grows on a Brier? And yet let me tell thee, to hearten thy adventure against all needless & imaginary fears, The captive here hath her head shorn, and may well be admitted for a true Israelite. Thou shalt not cry out, Mors in olla, Death is in the pot; that little leaf of Coloquintida which was in it, is taken out, and the children of the Prophets may taste of the broth without danger. Others it may be, will condemn it as defective, because such proofs & passages as are alleged out of the fathers are not quoted in the margin; & indeed they should not have been wanting, but that in the Spanish copy, they were found upon good perusal (whether through the negligence of the Printer, or some other default) to be so mistaken, that to have set them down, would have occasioned trouble rather than content: but if ever the Book come to a second impression, all things shall be added, for the satisfying of thy desires to the full. Mean while accept of this, and let it be thy Christian joy, That the lisping Ephramite is heard here to speak as plain as the smooth-tongued Canaanite; and that there is not so great a distance betwixt Jerusalem and Samaria, as some imagine. And so I leave thee to the blessing of the Highest. Farewell. A Table of the several Texts. 1WHen ye fast, etc. Mat. 6.16. The Proëme to which Sermon is Memento Homo, quia ●inis es, Remember Man▪ etc. pag. 1 2 When jesus was entered into Capernaum, etc. Mat. 8.5. pag. 23 3 Ye have heard how it was said to them of old, etc. Mat. 5.27. 39 4 When it grew late the ship, etc. Mark. 6.47. 61 5 Then was jesus led aside of the Spirit, etc. Mat. 4.1. 70 6 When the Sun of Man shall come, etc. Mat. 25.31. 93 7 When jesus entered into Jerusalem, etc. Mat. 21.10. 104 8 The Scribes and Pharisees came unto him, saying, etc. Mat. 12 38. 113 9 jesus withdrew himself into the Coasts of, etc. Mat. 15.21. 142 10 There was a Feast of the jews, etc. joh. 5.1. 160 11 jesus took unto him Peter, and james, and john, etc. Math. 17.1. 180 12 I go my way and ye shall seek me, john. 8.21. 199 13 The Scribes sat upon Moses Chair, Mat. 23.2. 209 14 Behold we go up to Jerusalem, etc. Mat. 20.18 218 15 There was a certain rich man, who was clothed, etc. Luk. 16.19. 233 16 A certain man planted a Vine-yard. etc. Mat. 21.33. 248 17 A certain man had two Sons, etc. Luk. 15.11. 272 18 And jesus was casting out a Devil, etc. Luk. 11.14. 283 19 Physician heal thyself, etc. Luk. 4.23. 314 20 If thy Brother shall trespass against thee, etc. Mat. 18.15. 333 21 Then came unto him from Jerusalem, etc. Mat. 15.1. 351 22 When he was come into Symons house, etc. Luk. 4.38. 373 23 And jesus came into a city of Samaria, etc. john. 4.5. 386 24 He went into the Mount of Olives, etc. john. 8.1. 412 25 After these things jesus went his way, etc. john. 6.1. 425 26 He found sitting in the Temple, sellers of sheep, etc. john. 2.14. 447 27 Now when the Feast was half done, etc. john. 7.14. 461 28 And as jesus passed by, he saw a man, etc. john. 9.1. 474 29 And jesus went into a City called Nain, etc. Luk. 7.11. 487 30 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, etc. john. 11.1. 499 31 I am the Light of the World, etc. john. 8.12. 516 32 Which of you will reprove me of sin, etc. joh. 8.46. 524 33 The chief Priests sent their Officers to, etc. joh. 7.32. 539 34 And I●sus walked into Galilee, for he, etc. joh. 7.1. 549 35 The Feast of the Dedication was celebrated, etc. joh. 10.22. 557 36 A certain Pharisee requested jesus, etc. Luk. 7.36. 569 37 Then gathered the High Priests and Pharisees a Council, etc. john. 11.47. 584 38 The high Priests consulted that they might kill, etc. john. 12.10. 597 39 Peter sat without in the Hall, etc. Mat. 26.69. 607 40 There were crucified with him two thieves, etc. Mat. 27.38. 615 41 When jesus knew that his hour was come, etc. john. 13.1. 636 42 And jesus bearing his cross, went forth, etc. joh. 19.17. 638 SERMONS UPON ALL THE QVADRAGESSIMAL GOSPELS. THE FIRST SERMON, ON ASH-WEDNESDAY. Memento Homo, quia cinis es. Remember Man, that thou art but Dust. THE remembrance of death (saith Climachus) is, amongst other remembrances, True life is to meditate on death. as bread amongst other meats; howbeit it is more necessary for the soul, than bread for the body: For a man may live many days without bread, but the soul cannot do so without the remembrance of death. And it is the general opinion of all the best and holiest Writers, Perfectissimam vitam esse continuam mortis meditationem, i. That the most perfect life is a continual 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 us not to bear upon our backs that heavy burden of the wooden Cross, but that we should always set our death before our eyes: making that of Saint Paul to be our Impreze, Quotidiè morior, i. I die daily. In the second of the Kings it is recounted, that the holy King josias did cleanse the people from their Altars, their Groves, and high places, where innumerable Idolatries daily increased: and to amend this ill, he placed there in their stead, bones, skulls, and the ashes of dead men. Whose judgement herein was very discreet; For from man's forgetting of his beginning & his end, arise his Idolatries; and so reviving by those bones the remembrance of what they were heretofore, & what they shall be hereafter, he did make them amend that mischief. 1 In boasting himself to be what he is not. Very many, nay numberless are those men which adore the nobleness of their Lineage; and out of a desire that they have to make good their descent and beginning, they multiply Coats one upon another, hang up Scutcheons, blazon forth their Arms, tell you large histories of their pedigrees and genealogies, and many times most of them mere lies and fables. Ezechiel did represent these unto us in those twenty five young men which were besotted and ravished in beholding the Sun; which by way of exposition signifieth the adoring of the glory of their birth. But leaving these as fools, who glory in the gold that glisters, the Church teacheth thee another lesson, and says unto thee, Memento homo▪ Remember man, etc. God created Adam of the basest matter, of very dirt: but this Dirt being moulded by Gods own hand, and inspiring it with so much wisdom, council, and prudence, Lib. de Resur. Carn. cap. 9 Tertullian calls it Cura divini ingenij, i. The curiousness of God's wit: but man growing proud hereupon, and hoping to be a God himself, God doomed him to death, and wrapped him again in his dirty swaddling clouts, with this inscription, Puluis es, & in puluerem reverteris, i. Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return. Adam did not without some mystery clothe himself with green leaves; for (as Saint Ambrose hath noted it) he gave therein, 2 In promising himself to be what he cannot. as it were, a sign and token of his vain and foolish hopes. But as the mother, when the●ee hath stung her child's finger, runs with all haste to get a little dirt, and claps it to her little one, which doth assuage the swelling, and give it ease; so those busy Bees of hell daily stinging us, & striking into our breasts the poison of their pride & arrogancy; the Church with dust and ashes, with a Cinis es, incinerem reverteris, i. Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return, abates this pride, and tells us of that swelling arrogancy of ours. When God revealed to Nebucadnezar, how little a while his Empire was to last, he showed him a statue of diverse metals, the head gold, the breast silver, the belly brass, the legs iron, the feet clay, and a little stone which descended from the mountain, lighting on the feet, dashed the statue in pieces. But in stead of taking this as a forewarning of his end, and to have it still before his eyes, he made another statue of gold from top to toe, which is held to be a durable and lasting metal: so that the more God sought to dis-deceive him, the more was he deceived with his vain hopes. And this is a resemblance of that which daily happeneth unto us: for God advising us, that our best building is but dirt, our idle thoughts & vain hopes imagine it to be of gold. And man's life being so short, that, as Nazianzen said, it is no more than to go out of one grave to enter into another, out of the womb of our particular mother, into that of the common mother of us all, which is the Earth; we flatter ourselves with the enjoying of many long years of life. But the Church being desirous to cut off this error, saith, Memento homo, i. Remember man. By Ezechiel God threatened 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 cross; 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 Samaritans did use the figure of a cross. The Hebrews by this letter understand the end, as being the last in the ABC. And God was willing that those that bore this mark in their forehead (that is, should have their end before their eyes) should live; but that those that lived forgetful of their end, that they should die. And the Church being desirous that her children should escape this danger, prints this in their minds, Terra es, Earth thou art, etc. It is well weighed by Rupertus, that after God had condemned Adam to death, he bestowed upon his wife the name of Life, Mater cunctarum gentium, i. The mother of all the living. Scarce had God condemned him to punishment, but he by-&-by shows that he had forgot it. And therefore did God permit the death of innocent Abel, to the end that in Abel he might see th● death of the body, and in Cain the death of the soul, for to quicken his memory. From Adam we inherit this forgetfulness, not remembering to day what we saw but yesterday; & the general desire of man strives all it can to perpetuate our life, which if it were in our hands we would never see death. But because the love of life should not rob us of our memory, and that fearing, as we are mortal, we might covet those things that are eternal, seeing that walls, towers, marble, and brass molder away to dust, we may ever have in our memory, Memento homo, Remember man, etc. Many holy Saints have styled the memory, the stomach of the soul, as Gregory, Bernard, Theodoret, Austen, Nazianzen, etc. And God commanding Ezechiel, That he should notify unto his people certain t●●ngs that he had revealed unto him; and charging him that he should remember himself well of them, he said, Comede quaecunque ego do tibi, i. Eat whatsoever I give thee. And in another placehe commanded him that he should eat a Book, wherein were written Lamentationes & Vae. etc. Being all metaphors of the Prophets having things in his remembrance. Which is more clearly delivered by job, job. 15. Nunquid sapiens replebit arbore stomachum suum? i. Will a wise man fill his stomach with that heat that shall burn & consume him? Which is to say, will he charge his memory with matters of pain & torment? The proportion than holds thus; as the stomach is the storehouse of our corporal food, and keeping therein our present meat, the body takes from thence it's sustenance, whereby it maintains its being and its life: so the memory is the Magazine of the soul, and setteth before our eyes the obligation wherein we stand, the good which we lose, and the hurt which we gain. And representing thereunto the species and shapes of things past, they sometimes work that effect, as they would have done had they been present themselves; whence is engendered the love of God, which is that good blood wherewith the soul is nourished. And as from the disorder and disagreement of the stomach painful diseases do arise, and diverse infirmities to the body; so from the forgetfulness of our memory rise those of the soul. Basil. Biblioth●●ca Sanct. Pat● Tom. 1. Serm. ● For without oblivion (saith Saint Basil) our salvation cannot be lost, nor our soul's health endangered. And as when the fuel and fire shall fail man's stomach, which is the oven which boyles & seasons our life, we may give that of the bodies for lost: so when our memory shall fail us, we may give the soul for lost. Wherefore it is fit that every man should take this into consideration, Memento homo, Remember man, etc. You have heard before that the first attribute of man is oblivion: The second is baseness and misery. In Ezechiel the King of Tyre said, Deus ego sum, i. I am a God: Ezech. 28. but he was answered, That he was but a man; that is, base, vile, and miserable. So David, Vt sciant gentes quoniam homines sunt, Let the Nations know that they are men, i base, Psal. 9 and vile. And Saint Paul, Nun homines estis? i. Are ye not men? 1. Cor. 3. When we see a man swallowed up, sometimes in the miseries of the body, sometimes of the soul, we say in the conclusion, He is a man: now if in stead of the gold of the Angels there was found rust, and that so fine cloth as that, was not without its moths, and that incorrupted wood without its worm, What will become of those that are but dust, Qui habitant domos luteas, i. Who dwell in houses of clay: marry they must, as fearful of their own harm, repeat this lesson, Memento homo, terra es, etc. Remember o man that thou art earth, etc. Eccl. 32.11. Ecclesiasticus doth advise thee to rise up betimes, & not to be the last, but to get thee home without delay, for there thou shalt find enough to do; Praecurre in domum tuam, & age conceptiones tuas. jeremy counsels thee to the same, sending thee to this house of dirt and mud. So much good learning is not to be gotten in the schools; for in this house of clay, God reads unto us; but in the schools, men. God did not speak unto Moses till he had drawn his sheep aside into the Desert; putting his hand twice in his bosom, the one he took out clean, the other leprous. We have two bosoms to take care of in this life; the one of our own things, the other of other men's. But the meditation of our own misery being the more necessary, we must ever have in our mind this Memento, etc. A man not knowing himself, cannot know God: now for to know himself, the next way is to go out of himself, and to consider the trace and track of those Alexanders and Caesars, etc. Vbi sunt Principes gentium, i. Where are the Princes of the Nations? etc. Gregory Nazianzen asketh the question, Why God having created the soul for Heaven, did knit it with so straight a knot, to a body of earth, so frail and so lumpish? And his answer is, That the Angels being overthrown by their pride, he was willing to repair and to help this presumption, in man, a creature in his superior part, as it were, Angelical, but ha●ing a heavy & miserable body, which might serve as a button or stay unto him, that if the nimbleness of his understanding should puff him up, yet that earth which clogged his body should humble him and keep him down. Amongst other stratagems of war, to annoy the enemy with dust, and drive him thereby to yield, is not the least. Abacuc reports of a King of the Chaldeans, hath made a jest of walls, Towers, and Bulwarks, because he could rear higher of earth, Habacuc. i v. 10 He shall deride every strong Hold, and shall heap dust & take it. Plutarch tells us of Sertorius, That his enemies having fortified themselves in a cave that was inexpugnable; to the mouth thereof he laid great heaps of earth, and the wind favouring him, he raised so great a dust with his Troops of horse that they presently yielded. The Church finding many of their sons so rebellious, that neither misfortunes will reform them, nor stripes keep them in awe, useth this policy of Dust, coming upon them with a Memento homo, Remember man, etc. In that mountainous Country of Biscay, there are some ancient buildings whose ruins declare them to have been heretofore great and goodly things: here is a piece of a Tower standing, here a vast Hall, but gone to ruin, there thick great walls, but demolished; What houses are these? they belong to the Mendoza's, or the Velasco's. And although these Families have in other places new Palaces, rich and sumptuous Halls with guilded roofs, windows, galleries, Courts paved with jasper, Gardens and Fountains fair and beautiful; yet do they make more reckoning of those old houses, because they conserve their memory, and show the antiquity of their descent. The honours of the world, the Estates, Lordships, Offices, and dignities, are things as it were of yesterday; but that ancient house which thou must most reckon of, is that thy ruinous house of dust and clay, which puts theestill ●n mind, Quod terra es, & in terram converteris, i. That earth thou art, and to earth thou shalt return. There is no man so desperate, nor of that boldness of spirit, but doth show a kind of fear when Death looks him in the face. And therefore death is termed pale, because it makes the most valiant to change colour. job. 21. v. 32. job painting forth such a kind of soulless man, saith, Qui● argue● coram 〈…〉 eius, i. Who shall be able to control this man, that neither fears the Law, nor his King, nor his God? The best remedy is, to carry him to the Sepultures of the dead; Et in c●ngerie mortu●rā evigilabit, i. He shall be brought to the graves, and made to awake; and i● the looking upon that sad spectacle will not work him, there is little hope of good to be done upon him. Now, the Church seeing that true death kills a man, and that that which represents it giveth life, like unto the brazen Serpent, which being beholden and looked upon, gave life to those which had been wounded by those true Serpents: it cannot be too often inculcated, Memento, etc. Those that entered triumphantly into Rome had a thousand occasions given them to incite them to pride, arrogancy, and vanity; as their great number of Captives, their Troops of Horse, their Chariots drawn with Elephants or Lions, and Ladies looking upon them from their windows, and the like. But the Senate considering the great danger of the Triumpher, ordered one to sit by his side to whisper this still in his ear, Hominem memento te, i. Remember thyself to be a man. The Princes of the earth have many motives to make them forget themselves, not regarding the complaints of the poor and needy; yet, Sapient. 7. v. 5. Nullus ex regibus aliud habuit nativitatis initium, i. No King had ever any other beginning of birth: They are as other men, Terrigenae & filij hominum, i. The offspring of the earth, and the children of men. And to them also it is said, Terra es, Earth thou art, etc. The third attribute given to the name of man is Excellency and Dignity, Faciamus hominem ad imaginem & similitudinem nostram, i. Let us make man after our own similitude and likeness. Upon this point see Gregor. Nissenum de Opific. Hom. cap. 16. Tho. 1. p. q. 97. art. 2. ad. 4. But man did fall from this height of happiness, and being lost through sin, God seeks to restore him, by putting him in mind, Puluis es, Dust thou art, etc. Lastly, I would have you to note, that the word Memento doth imply a continual remembrance, and a deep meditation, that it may stir up fire in us: according to that of David, In meditatione mea exardescet ignis, Psal. 39 v. 3. Meditation like gunpowder. i. A fire waxed hot in my heart while I was musing. Meditation is like gunpowder, which in a man's hand is dust and earth, but if you put fire thereunto it will overthrow Towers, walls, and whole Cities: a light remembrance, and a short meditation of what thou art, is like that dust which the wind scattereth away; but a quick lively memory, and inflamed considerations of our own wretched estates, will blow up the towers of our pride, cast down the walls of our rebellious natures, and ruin these Cities of clay wherein we dwell. As the Phoenix fannowing a fire with her wings, is renewed again by her own ashes; so shalt thou become a new kind of man by remembering what thou art. Moses casting ashes into the air, made the Inchanrers and their Enchantments vanish: the ashes scattered by Daniel put the King out of doubt, & made it appear unto him, that that was no God which he adored: job came forth from his ashes in better estate than he was before▪ and as joseph came out of prison from his ta●t●●'d rags, & had richer robes put upon him; so you from out these your ashes shall be stripped of the old man, & put on the new. Memento hom●, Remember man, etc. Forgetfulness of other things may be good sometimes, but of thyself, and what thou art, never: this will require a continual Memento. This Memento is the father of two good effects: first, it moveth man to repentance, by putting him in mind of his frailty: for being dust and ashes, how dare he contest with his Creator? Esay 45.9. Vae qui contradicit factori suo, testa, etc. Woe to him that gainsaith this, the pot against the Potter, etc. Thou glass of Venice, thou dish of China, why contendest thou with him, who as he made thee, can in an instant dash thee in pieces? Secondly, it inclines God to mercy, Memento (quaso) quod sicut lutum feceris me, job. 10 9 Consider (o Lord) that thou madest me of earth, & as a cheese that is pressed thou didst mould up in me a mass of bones, sinews, and flesh: if thou shalt lay thy heavy hand upon me, what strength is mine, that it should be able to endure it? if thou shalt not take pity of this poor piece of earth, this crazy vessel of clay, what will become of thy mercy of old, and of all thy wonted kindness? if that steel and stronger mettle of the Angels was broken by thee, it is no great matter if earth split and break in sunder. This Memento is so powerful with God, that it works two great effects with him; the one, that it inclines him to clemency; the other, that it makes him to bridle his power. First, no father so pities his children, when he sees them miserable. Quomodo miseretur paterfiliorum, i. As a father pitieth his children, saith David of an infant that falleth into the dirt, and is bemoyled and bebloodyed, and all because he is weak and ignorant; the like pity doth God take of those that fear him: and presently gives a reason of this his pity, Recordatus est, quoniam puluis sumus, i. He remembreth that we are but Dust. The like is elsewhere rendered, where it is said, Non accendit iram suam, recordatus est, quia car● sumus, Psal. 78. 3●. i. He kindleth not his wrath, because he calls to mind we are but flesh. God in Deutr. speaking of the judging of his people, faith, he will take pity of them in regard of their misery and frailty, Vidit quod infirmata sit manus, i. He saw the weakness of their strength, and considered their poor abilities: and this did often occasion him to alter the purpose of his vengeance. That the wind should struggle with the Oak, that resists his rage, and that he should tear his limbs from him, and rend him himself up by the roots, it is not much that he should take that course with him for his proud resistance: but with the Reed or the Rush that submits and humbles itself, obeying his Empire, and acknowledging his power, his fury falls not upon them, etc. Secondly, The acknowledgement of our misery and weakness, it bridles the omnipotency of God. job. 14 3. job debating this business, cries out, Et dignum due is super huiusmodi? I am a Flower that is withered within the compass of a few hours; I am a shadow that at every step changeth itself and vanisheth away; Et dignum ducis super huiusmodi? Canst thou think it an honour unto thee to revenge thyself upon so silly & miserable a worm as man? Contra felium quod vento rapitur, ostendis potentiam tuam; & stipulam siccam persequeris? I am but as the leaf of a Tree, one while the East wind of pride tosses me this way; anotherwhile the West wind ofdespaire drives me that way; one while the South wind of luxury▪ another, the North of rage & anger: Memorare qua mea substantia, Remember what my substance is. The Lion preys not upon children and women, nor the Eagle upon the lesser birds, nor your Irish Greyhounds upon shepherd's curs nor fo●sting hounds: he that wrestles, and he that runs a race, will not stand in competition with him that is notoriously inferior unto them, because they shall get no glory by such a victory. That Emperor was much condemned that warred with Flies, and took great pleasure in the kill of them. Being then that I am a shadow, a flower of the field, a reed, or rather a thing of nothing, What honour canst thou reap by my ruin? etc. Puluis es, & in Puluerem reverteris. Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return. The end ever holds a correspondency with its beginning, Nudus egressus sum, & nudus revertar illuc, so saith job. The rivers come from the sea, and thither again they return; so doth the Sun from the East, and thither it retires again. That Image of gold, silver, brass, & iron, that had its feet of earth, must in the end turn to dust. Baruc asks, Baruc. 3. Vbi sunt Principes gentium? His answer is, Ad inferos descenderunt; the earth hath swallowed them up all. S. Basil commenting upon this place, makes the like question, and gives the same answer, Nun omnia puluis? Nun fabula? Nun in paucis ossibus memoria eorum conseruatur? The greatest and famousest of us all have been and are but dust; and there is no memorial left of them, but a few rotten and stinking bones. Upon this point see Nazianzen Orat. de Humana natura: Epictetus in Sententijs; & in Euchiridion. cap. 22. etc. Dust thou art, etc. The meditation of what we are, subdues in us, From this Principle I will infer three or four conclusions of great fruit and consequence: The first, If thou art ashes, Quid superbis terra & cinis, i. Whereof art thou proud o thou dust and ashes? Of thy beginning? No: Of thy end? No: Of what then? 1 Our Pride. August. de Verb. Dom. Serm. 10. Pride what manner of sin. Psal. 19.13. If thou shouldest see thyself seated between the horns of the Moon, De fundamento cogità humilitatis, Think on the baseness of thy beginning, and thou shalt then see, that pride was not borne for man, nor anger and pettishness appointed for woman's condition; pride cannot suit with dirt, nor curstness with woman's softness. Ab occultis meis munda me Domine, & ab alienis parce seruo tuo, i. Lord cleanse me from my secret sins, and spare thy servant for those that are strange. By alienis S. Hierome understands those of pride, for it is a stranger, as it were, & another kind of thing, differing much from man's base and vile condition: and the Hebrew letter saith, A superbijs, parce seruo tuo. Whereupon Saint Chrysostome noteth, S. Chrysost. Homils'▪ in cap. primum joannis. That there is not any sin more alien to man's condition, than pride, or that carries with it less excuse. Those fools that Genesis painteth forth, going about to build a Tower that should overtoppe the Clouds, did in their very first word, Venite, faciamus lateres, i. Come, let us make us Bricks, bewray their foolishness: What, go about upon earth to rear a foundation that should emulate Heaven? God said unto Ezechiel, Take thou a tile, & portray upon it the City of Jerusalem, the walls, the ditches, the Towers, the Temple, Ezech. 4.1. and a great army of men: Strange, yet true we see it is, that the strength of cities, the power of Armies, is contained in a poor brittle tile-stone. Esay 16. Pride what kind of sin. Esay threatened those of Moab with whips & scourges, because they insulted and proudly triumphed upon the walls and towers of his City; Loquimini plagas iis, qui latantur super mun●s cocti lateris, i. Speak punishment to those that rejoice in walls that are made of brick. What, can earthen walls raise up such pride in men? Samuel being to anoint Saul, God gave him for a sign that he would have him Prince over his People, That he should find two men as soon as he was gone from him, near unto Rachel's Sepulchre. God might have given him some other sign, but he chose rather to give him this, to quell the pride and haughtiness of this his new honour; as if he should admonish and put thee in mind, That the ashes of so fair a creature as Rachel should read a lecture unto thee, what thou must be. And this is the reason why the Church, though she might use other metaphors to express the misery and shortness of man's life, as is often mentioned in Scripture as by a leaf, a flower, a shadow; yet it makes more particular choice of Dust & Ashes: beside, those be metaphorical, and these literal; Earth the basest element. for nothing more properly appertaineth unto man than Dust, and therefore the Scripture termeth death a man's returning again to the earth, from whence he came. Conuertetur in terram suam, proiectus est in terram suam. The flower, the leaf, have some good in them, though of short continuance, as colour, odor, beauty, virtue, and shade; and albeit not good in themselves, yet they are the image & representation of good; but Dust & Ashes speak no other good. Amongst the elements, the Earth is the least noble, and the most weak: the fire, the water, and the air have spirit and actitude; but the Earth is as it were a prisoner laden with weightiness, as with gyves. A certain Poet styles the Earth Bruta, not only for that it hath an unpleasant countenance, as Deserts, Quicksands, Dens, and Caves; but also for that it is the Inn of Serpents, Tigers, Panthers, and the like. So that it is neither good to the taste nor the smell, nor the feeling, nor the hearing, nor the seeing; thou being therefore Earth, Quid superbis terra & cinis, i. Why art thou proud o Dust and Ashes? 2 Our Voluptuousness. The second conclusion is, If thou art Ashes, Quid utilitatem saginando corpore? Why such a deal of care in pampering thy body, which the worms are to devour tomorrow? Look upon that flesh which thy fathermade so much of, that (now) rotten & stinking carcase; and this consideration will moderate thy desire of being over dainty and curious in cherishing thine own. Isaac on the night of his nuptials, placed his wife's bed in the chamber where his mother died: Tobias spent all the night with his Spouse in prayer, being mindful of the harm which the Devil had done to her former husbands; as being advised from Heaven that he should temper with the remembrance of death, the delights & pleasures of this short life of ours. The Cammomile, the worse you treat it, and the more you tread on it the better it thrives, other Plants require pruning and tending to make them fruitful: but this herb hath a quite contrary condition, that with ill usage it grows the better. It is the pampered flesh that brings forth thistles and thorns, but the flesh that is trodden down and humbled, that yields store of fruit. 3 Our Covetousness. The third, If thou art Dust, and must tomorrow become Dust, Why such a deal of coveting of honours and riches? Why such great and stately houses, & so richly furnished? Our forefathers lived eight hundred years and upwards, and those seeming but few, they passed over this life in poor Cabins: now we live but three days, (as it were) and we build houses as if we meant to live for ever, they are so strong and durable. Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, but he excused his so doing, for that he saw his death was so near at hand, En, morior, quid proderunt mihi primogenita? i. Behold, I am ready to die, what will birthright profit me? Aug. q. super Exod. Cap. 5. Saint Austen puts a doubt, why the Egyptians did so freely bestow their jewels, and their gold and silver on the Hebrews? and the resolution is, That seeing their first begotten were all dead, they made light reckoning of those things which before they so much esteemed. Abulensis moves a doubt, Why the Giants of the promised land did not devour the Israelites, being but as grasshoppers in comparison of their greatness? Whereunto is a twofold answer; The first, That they came in as strangers, from whom they presumed they could receive no hurt: The second, That God sent a consuming plague amongst them, Terra devorat habitatores suon, i. The Earth devoureth her Inhabitants. And there is no man of what strength or mettle soever, that hath not Death's dart sticking in his sides. There is a great deal of difference made of honour and wealth, between the living and the dying man: the rich Miser, that would not give Lazarus a crumb, would undoubtedly when he was a dying, have been contented he should have had all the meat on his Table. And as Death doth mortify andmake the flesh of Birds and Beasts more tender; so doth it soften in men their hard bowels, and causes pity in their Souls, and is the Key that openeth their close-fistednesse. We read of certain Fools that said, Tomorrow we shall die; let us therefore laugh and be merry, and enjoy the pleasures of this world: for these thought there was no other life but this. But Paul, who was sorry to see this, made no such consequence, but the contrary; Death is near at hand, let us use this world therefore as we used it not, etc. Two things, saith Seneca, are the sum of our life, Nasci, & Mori, To be borne, and to die. Gregory Nissen treating of that place of Solomon, Omnia tempus habent, There is a time for all things, notes, That this wise man joins our Nasci with a Mori, as being near neighbours: and many times the time of death prevents that of our birth, etc. Age paenetentiam, Repent. There are two things to be considered in Repentance: 1 That it is always good. 2 That it must be decent and discreet. For the first, It subdues the flesh, & makes it willing to submit itself, & to become obedient to the spirit: Read Leo. Pap. Ser. 4, de jeiun. Vide Cyp. Orat. de jeiun. & de Tent. Christi. and Tho. 2.2. q. 15. Peccasti? (saith Saint Chrysostome) poenitere. Millies peccasti? millies poenitere, i. Hast thou sinned a thousand times? repent a thousand times. Saint Austen saith, That the Devil being desirous that Man should not repent himself of his sins, is still whispering him in the ear, Why dost thou torment and afflict thyself? How Repentance is to be● form. It is strange that God should take pleasure to see thy destruction. Bread suffers martyrdom till it be brought to the board; Silver the same, till it be wrought into a vessel of Plate; Stone till it be placed in the house for which it was hewn; the Sacrifice, till it be laid on the Altar; it is no marvel then that Christians should suffer much, who so much desire to be the Bread, the Vessels, the Stones, and the Sacrifice for God's House and his own Table. The second point is, That our Repentance should be decent and discreet. This may serve for a few, for there are but few that will exceed. Rom. 12.1. To whom we prescribe Saint Paul's rule, Rationabile obsequium vestrum, Your service must be weighed in the Balance of reason. A Slave when he is stubborn and rebellious deserveth the whip, but the correction must not be so cruel as to occasion his death. Ecclesiasticus treating, That it is good to correct a servant, Eccl. 33. ●●. doth put this in for a counterpoise, Verumtamen sine judicio nihil facias grave, i. Do nothing without discretion: Nay, even towards our Beast, malicious cruelty is condemned: Novit justus jumentorum suorum animas, i. A righteous man regardeth the life of his Beast; He will not lay more upon them than they can bear: Prou. 12.10. Viscera autem impiorum crudelia, i. But the bowels of the wicked are cruel. Two things are to be considered in our Repentance: the one, The grievousness of the fault; for to make light repentance for great sins, is a great inequality, as Saint Ambrose noteth it: And Saint Hierome saith, That the Repentance ought to exceed the fault, or at least equal it. Amb. lib. 2. d● Penitent. Not that humane weakness can make full satisfaction for its heinous sins; but that it be performed in some proportion. The council of Agatha declareth the custom that was used in this kind in the Primitive Church: to wit, That they that were public & scandalous Sinners did present themselves in a kind of soutage or course Sackecloath before the Bishop, accompanied with all the Clergy, who enjoined him penance according to his offence, banishing him from the Church for some such time as they thought fit. But in a word, As the Flower is spoilt for want of water, so is it marred by too much. Our life is a tender Flower, and stands upon a feeble stalk, Qui quasi flos egreditur & conteritur; and as it is spoilt with the overmuch verdure of delights and humane pleasures; so likewise it is quite marred through the sterility of moderate recreation and honest pastimes, Moderate Recreations lawful. and with the too much drought of torment. Columella in his book of Husbandry saith, That Hay must not be made when the grass is too green, nor too dry. Our flesh is like grass, & to have it cut in a good season, it must neither have too much greenness of jollity, nor too much dryness of trouble; for the one doth rot and taint it, and the other doth waste and consume it. Likewise there must be a care had to the season, for the cure: As often therefore as a man shall find himself wounded by sin, so often must he apply the plaster of Repentance. And as to defer the cure in a dangerous sickness breeds great peril; so stands it with the putting off Repentance from day to day. There are three differences of Time, Time past, present, and to come; that which is passed is no more; that which is to come is in God's hands, and that he should bestow it upon us is his liberality and goodness; the present is but short, and for aught I know I may presently die. And herein is man's madness seen: for there is scarce that man to be found, that thinks it now to day a good time to repent him of his sins, but with the Crow cries Cras, Cras. Solomon saith of a bad paymaster, Tempore redditionis, postulavit tempus, i. He requireth time, when it is time to pay. Pharaoh having given his word to let God's people go to day, he did still put it offtill tomorrow: S. Austen before he was converted, to those inspirations that daily called upon him, his answer still was tomorrow; till at last tired out with so many delays, he cried out, How long shall I say tomorrow? God complaineth of his People by Esay, That they did defer from day to day to come unto him. The Church teacheth, that we should not procrastinate our Repentance: & the Lord saith unto us, Nunc convertimini ad me, i. Now turn you unto me. Wilt thou know which is the best season? It is to day: for although this day may be verified of all the days of the year, and of all the years of a man's life, none is comparable to that of today, as well in respect of God as thyself. Saint Chrysostome saith, That the Lent is the Spring of the Church: wherein are to be found three fitting similitudes. Chrys. Hom. 1. in Genes. Homil. 5. ad Popul. Bern. Serm. in Cap. Iei●nij. The first, As Kings use in the Spring to raise an Army against their enemies, and to make grave and severe exhortations unto them to encourage them to victory; so the Church at this time strikes up her Drums, spreads her colours, and exhorteth her faithful soldiers to take Arms against the Devil, the World, and the Flesh. The second, As in the Spring those Trees that in the Winter have been as it were dead, putting on green apparel, give testimony of that life which was hid and concealed; so a Christian which hath been dead all the year long; striving now to clothe himself anew with the leaves, Aug. Ser. 55. & 69. de Tempore. flowers, and fruits of good works, discovers that life which lay wrapped up in the roots of Faith. The third, (which is Saint Austin's) As the Sun doth always communicate his heat and influences (but they are more temperate and fruitful in the Spring) so the Son of Righteousness, though he evermore communicateth those favours unto us which are necessary for our salvation; yet at his holy time, appointed by the Church for the preparing of our souls against the day of Easter, they may be thought more prosperous and more abundant, etc. Lent is likewise called the August and Harvest of a Christian. He that in August provides himself of Corn, comes not to suffer hunger: but he that overpasseth the Harvest, it is no marvel if he starve for want of bread; Transit mess●s (saith jeremy) finita est aestas, & nos saluati non sumus, i. The Harvest passeth, the Summer is at an end, and we are not saved. Necessity likewise driveth us thereunto, He that is fallen strives to rise again; the sick to be whole; the blind to see; he that hath lost his way to return into it again, though it be through bushes and briers; he that suffereth shipwreck to escape, if he can, upon a plank: & last of all, he that loseth a thing of value will endeavour to find it out again, though it cost him a great deal of pain and trouble: yet all these losses are far less than those of a sinner. He is fallen into the mire of sin, and finds no help in the earth to lift him up; he is sick, but no physic of Hypocrates nor Galen can recover him; he is blind, but yet cannot get his sight; he hath suffered shipwreck, and can take hold of nothing in this sea of the world to save him; he hath lost a jewel of that inestimable value, whose loss is a loss of losses, & the sum of all misery. Now if to day at this time we may repair these our grievous losses, it is our fault if we grow careless and drowsy therein, etc. Cum jeiunatis, nolite fieri, etc. When ye fast, be not, etc. Here the Commentators make a stand. The Gospel's endearing the poorness of spirit, and other virtues of Fasting, speaks no word thereof, though it presuppose it, and prescribeth rules how it ought to be done. And the answer is, The greatness of the privilege of Fasting, whose nobleness is so ancient, that Christ supposeth the same, though he speaketh not thereof. There are some Gentlemen in our State, of that antiquity, that without showing their Titles or their Privileges, no man will offer to question them. Others there are, howbeit noble, either through emulation, or that they are not so ancient, are driven to prove their Gentility. Against some virtues, some Emulators have not stuck to speak; but against Fasting no man ever opened his mouth. Mahomet himself never denied the nobleness of Fasting, but rather so much recommended it, that our fastings should be ashamed to stand in competition with theirs. And therefore it is said, Cum jeiunatis, When ye fast, etc. And anon after, Tu autem cum jeiunas, But thou when thou fastest. There are such forcible and precise arguments upon this point, that it were a superfluous labour to advise whither it be to be done or no, when as it is advised how it ought to be done. Hear S. Paul, 1. Cor. 10.31. Sive comedatis, sive bibatis▪ sive quid aliud facitis, omnia in gloriam Dei facite; i. Whither ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, let all be done to the glory of God. He doth not advise you unto it, for that were a kind of force and constraint; but tells you how it ought to be done. As that it were a superfluous thing to advise a man that is sore sick, to observe a diet; or one whose house is on fire, to cast water thereon; or him that payeth money, to take an Acquittance; or him that enters the Church, to kneel when he comes in: so it were a needless thing to command a man to fast, who from the beginning of the world took a furfet of eating. Niniveh was saved by fasting. joel proposeth the like means, when he crieth unto the people, Conuertimini ad me in ieiunio, Turn unto me in fasting. When the Law of Grace was first published through the world, The antiquit of Fasting. Fasting was proclaimed, Venit Iohannes non manducans nec bibens, i. john came neither eating nor drinking. He is said not to come eating, for that he did eat but little: as we say of him that is sick, That he eats nothing, when he takes no more sustenance than will hold life and soul together. And the first step of our Saviour's penance for our sins, was fasting, in token that our first hurt came by eating. The first Law that God gave man after that he had created him, was, That he should not eat of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil: wherein, tended the one, that man in this so great a happiness should not forget that he had a Lord and Master; the other had an eye to the repairing of that his future fault, and that man might understand, that he should in fasting find a remedy for that hurt which came unto him by eating. And as a wise Physician, feeling the sick man's pulse, finds out his i'll disposition, & perceiving that his sickness grew from that ill ripened fruit, which even to this day is not yet fully digested; did prescribe this Recipe as a medicine to cure this our malady: to the end, That as man did eat to sickness, so he might fast to health; and as Gluttony did banish us from Paradise, so Fasting might recall us thither again. Not Fasting the cause of all evilly. Whence this note may be gathered, That all those evils that are now in the world, are in recompense of that wrong which was done in Paradise unto Fasting. So that not only our first Parents smarted for it, but all their posterity even to this day; so that if any thing help this Surfeit, it must be Fasting. Take off the casement from your Study window in a windy day, and it will hurl all your papers abroad: What's the remedy for this? you must set it up again, & all will be well. Chrisologus harped upon this conceit in a Sermon of his upon the prodigal child; where he cries out, Fame pereo, I die by hunger: Whereupon this presently followeth, Surgan ibo ad patrem meum, I will rise and go to my father: So that you see that Fasting and Hunger restored him presently to his former happy estate. So that if our ancient lost liberty could possibly be repaired, it were no ways better to be recovered than by Fasting. And if by Fasting, the ship of this our life takes in no water, and without it is overwhelmed and drowned; let us lay the whole lading of all our i'll or good upon our Fasting. Amb. li. de Hel. & de jeiunio, cap. 4. Saint Ambrose proveth, That while fasting continued in the world, God did still better and enrich it with new things: The first day he created the Light; the second, Heaven; the third, Earth; the fourth, the Sun, Moon, and Stars; the fifth, the Fishes of the sea, and the Fowls of the air: and though he gave them his blessing, he did not say unto them, That they should eat. The sixth, Beasts of the field and Man: and giving them licence to eat, the works of God and the perfections of the world, were ended. Wherein God gave man as it were a watchword, that eating would be his undoing. And (as Saint Chrysostome hath it) if in that so happy an estate Fasting was so necessary, What shall it be in this miserable condition of ours. Saint john's Disciples said unto Christ, Master, why do we and the Pharisees fast, and thy Disciples not? He answered, While the Bridegroom is present the children are not to weep, but the time shall come wherein they shall not have him with them, and then they shall fast & mourn. The presence of our Saviour, and the enjoying of his most sweet company, did bridle their appetites, and keep their souls in subjection; but in his absence he inferreth, that this must be done by Fasting. Saint Ciril saith, That Fasting is a greater Sacrifice than that of Abraham; for that Sacrifice was to be done upon another's body, this upon our own. Tertullian noteth, That God calling to Adam, asked him, Vbi es? Where art thou? But to Elias, Tertul. Tract. de jeiunio. Quid agis, Helias? What dost thou, Elias? And he saith, That the one was of anger and threatening, the other of softness and mildness, because he was empty, and had fasted forty days. Saint Ambrose attributeth innumerable miraculous effects to Fasting; instancing in Niniveh, in Moses, in Elias, in Daniel, in Hester, in the mothers of Samson and Samuel, in judith, etc. Besides, it giveth great light unto knowledge and wisdom: for Gluttony is an evil disposition for inquiry of truth; Repleti sunt, qui obscurati sunt terrae, saith David, They are full fed, and blind. For this cause Ceres the Goddess of Abundance, is painted with Poppy in her hand, because those that are full fed quickly fall asleep. Nothing so much overthroweth Man, as the overcharging of his stomach with meat; In multis escis erit infirmitas: Distemperature in diet is that Nurse which gives milk unto the Physician. David with fasting covered the faults of his whole life, Operui in jeiunio animam meam: Sola gula (saith Saint Bernard) peccavit, sola jeiunet, & sufficet, only Gluttony offended, let Gluttony only fast, and it sufficeth. Our nature hath a twofold consideration, one corporal, another spiritual; Alterum commune cum Dijs, (saith Cicero) alterum cum Brutis, One common with the Gods, another with the Beasts. There is a twofold thirst, one false, the other true: there is likewise a twofold desire, one of wantonness, another of necessity. Our Saviour fasted, but when he was oppressed with hunger he did eat; the like may every good Christian do: and therefore Saint Gregory saith, That a man may deny that to desire, which he may grant to necessity. I will conclude this point with this short saying, Carnis curam ne feceritis in desiderijs, Let the cockering of your flesh be no part of your desire. Be not like the hypocrites, etc. This little short clause doth afford three or four several kinds of senses: What to be observed in Fasting. The first, That we must not only do good, but shun evil; and therefore adviseth those that fast, not to be like unto those Hypocrites, whom the wind of Vainglory robbed of all the good they did. It seemeth that the Church and the Gospel in this agree: The Church tells us, That we are Dust; the Gospel, That we should beware of wind, that we be not carried away therewith; withdraw thyself out of the Street, and from thy door, where the wind whisketh and blows hard, and retire thyself into thy house, and Fast in thy private Chamber; let not thy right hand know what thy left doth: Do not like these Hypocrites, publish not thy Fast, thy Prayers and thy Almsdeeds in the Streets and open Market place, lest the wind scatter them away, and they be no more seen or heard of. Saint Gregory saith, Greg. Mor. lib. 19 ca 13. That Hypocrites die by the hands of those vices which they have overcome: they fast, and fasting kills them; they give Alms, and their Almsdeeds are their destruction. Eleazar a most valiant Soldier slew an Elephant which bore upon his back a Tower of wood, but the Elephant thus slain chanced also to slay Eleazar: great pity that so valiant a man should die, but more, that he should die by the hands of the dead. Many Christian Soldiers there are, which do brave and worthy deeds, overcome great vices, yet die in the end by their hands. The second, That your Fast, and your Good-workes are more from God than yourselves; Non possumus cogitare aliquid ex nobis, Of ourselves we cannot so much as think. Man's poverty is so great, that he cannot come to so much as a good thought, and therefore may not make merchandise of that wealth which is none of his own. But God is so free in the works of Virtue, and so bountiful, that being at all the charge himself, he gives thee all the gain; only he will that thou give the glory unto him, and take the profit to thyself. That Workman should do ill, who having built a house with another man's Purse, should go about to set up his own Arms upon the Frontispiece. justinian made a Law, That no master-Workeman should set up his name within the body of that building which he made out of another's cost. Christ sets thee a-work, and wills thee to Fast, to Pray, to give Alms; but, Who is at the cost of this so good and great a work? God; thou hast all thy materials from him, the building is his, it is his Purse that pays for all: give the glo●ie therefore, and the honour thereof unto him; Gloriam meam alteri non dabo, i. I will not give my glory to another. Content thyself with Heaven, which is promised unto thee if thou dost well, which is a sufficient reward for any service that thou canst do. Hypocrisy in Fasting. The third, That Fasting, Praying, giving of Alms, done only for God's sake, is of that great price and estimation, that it is ill employed on any other than God. And for that God weighs all things in his hand as in a balance, and knows the weight of every good work, and the true value therefore; it grieves him that thou shouldst do these good things for so vile and base a price, and is sorry to see thee so poor and foolish a Merchant, that thou wilt part with that which is as much worth as Heaven to thee, for that which is less than earth; to wit, only that the World may say, Such a one fasteth; Why dost thou thus crucify thy flesh? Why debar thy belly of food? Why being ready to die for hunger, dost thou not eat? Why lift up thy eyes to Heaven for so poor a thing as to win applause upon earth. Sterni lutum quasi aurum, saith job: those works that are done for God, are gold; done for the world, dirt. job. 41.30. They lay up this their treasure in the tongues and eyes of men, which is a chest that hath neither lock nor key unto it. The fourth, That Fasting is a Plaster for our wounds, a Medicine for our griefs, a Salve for our sins, and a Defence against God's wrath. But thou must take heed that thou do not make this Plaster poison; this Medicine sickness; this Salve a sore; and this Defence, our destruction. For where God hath a Church, there the Devil hath a Chapel; and where he throws in seed, the other will sow tares. Naboth a Subject of King Achab had a Vineyard in Samaria near unto the King's Palace; the King had a mind unto it; Naboth will not part with it: the King grows sad, refuses his meat; jezabel comes to see him, makes a jest of it; takes pen in hand, dispatches a Ticket to the Governors of that City, sealed with the King's Seal, to proclaim a Fast; suborns two witnesses to swear, 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 worthy our consideration: The one, That the circumstance of blaspheming God and the King upon a solemn day of Fast, (as it is noted by Vatablus) was so grievous, that of force he must be condemned to die for it, in so great veneration was Fasting in those days. The other, That it served as a cloak for the taking away of the Vineyard, for the falsifying of witnesses, and injustice in the judges. Who should have then seen the People to fast, would have thought it had been done out of zeal, God's honour, and a desire to do him service. But it was merely a trick of the Devils, which he had plotted with himself. He threw poison upon virtue, seeking to draw evil out of good. We must therefore beware, lest these our good actions receive hurt, by evil intentions. Like Hypocrites. Hypocrisy runs a quite contrary course to these four points before specified, and crosses the same three or four manner of ways. First, It feigneth the good which it hath not. As the proud Man, Humility; the Choleric, Patience; the Wanton, Honesty; the Miser, Liberality. This legerdemain is that which hath more generally spread itself through men's breasts, being desirous that the body should serve for the soul, as painting for the face, which being black, makes it seem white. The painted Image of diverse colours (whereof Wisdom speaketh) stirreth up in Fools a kind of pleasure and delight. This stamp, though it be there set upon Idolaters, may be truly set upon Hypocrites, for the comparison will hold well in both. He that shall truly and steadily look upon the face of an Hypocrite, shall in him behold an Image flourished over with sundry colours, but counterfeit and feigned; as the white of Chastity, the watched of Zeal, the red of Love.. But this is but a dunghill covered over with snow: the Hypocrite showeth tears in his eyes, devotion in his mouth, sorrowfulness in his countenance, and mortification in his flesh. But he is not the man he seems to be: for the Painter, though he give the Varnish of the colour, he cannot give heat, nor life; he may give the likeness, but not the truth of a thing: he painteth snow which is not cold, fire which doth not burn, birds which do not fly, beasts which do not go: he will paint a S. Hierome with a stone, but it shall never hit him on the breast; he will paint a Saint Francis with a discipline or whip in his hand, which shall never give him so much as one stripe or lash on the body: like unto that Statue which Michol put into David's bed, clad with his clothes, which cozened the King and those that came with him: Or like unto a dead man, which being beheld afar off, seemeth to be alive; or unto Ezechiels' Temple, which was fairly painted without, but within full of abominations. A Painter, or a Statuary frameth a very 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, Wherein differing from Faith. it first fashioneth the heart, than it organeth & giveth life to the other parts of the body. Whereas feigned Repentance beginneth in the outward parts of the body; but true, in the inward parts of the soul. Our Saviour in the Garden had first great sorrow in his soul, and from thence that sweat of blood was derived to his body. The Hypocrite hath the appearance of a Saint, the apparel of a Saint, the place of a Saint, the figure of a Saint, and nothing in him which is not Saintlike: but like those Assisters at Christ's death, that had put on his clothes: He that shall see a common Hangman with Christ's seamelesse coat upon his back, will take him to be a second Messias. When jacob saw Joseph's coat dipped in blood, thinking some wild beast had devoured him, he cried out, Tunica filij mei est, fera pessima devoravit eum, i. 'Tis the garment of my son, some cruel beasts hath devoured him. Excellent words befitting a Garment like to our Saviors' Robes: it is the Robe of a Saint, but there is no more but the Robe, the rest that Beast Hypocrisy hath devoured. jeremy treating of the Governors of his people, saith, That they laboured to seem Saints, but their wings were full of the blood of the Poor; In alis suis inventus est sanguis Pauperum, i. The blood of the Poor was found in his wings. Hier. 2.34. Now he understandeth by those wings, the spreading of those venerable vales or cowls which the Pharisees used. Again, he alludes unto those wings of the Eagle, a Bird of a beautiful wing, but when you come near thereunto, you shall see it bespotted with the blood of those birds which she hath preyed upon. In an Hypocrite, you shall behold a venerable bonnet, a Saintlike look, a frequenting of Prayer and Sermons with a great deal of seeming devotion; but their bowels are merciless, festered within them, and besmeered with blood; Nolumus spoliari, sed superuestiri, We will not be stripped, but overcloathed. Saint Paul there treateth of that unwillingness wherewith the soul is stripped of the body. But as to put on a new shirt or doublet you must take off the old one; so, to apparel ourselves for Heaven, we must put off these our earthly robes. We naturally desire to cast upon our clothes to our back a cloak of glory; this is the desire of the Hypocrite, upon those outward raiments of ambition, of covetousness, of wantonness (which he will not strip himself of) he would have the cloak of his love to God, of hearing Sermons, of frequenting the Communion, of contemplation, of Prayer, & Mortification. This is to sell a box of Ratsbane with a little anis-seed strowed on the the top of it. In a word, As the Devil doth transfigure himself into an Angel of light, being but darkness itself; so the Hypocrite being vice itself, would transform himself into virtue and holiness. But God hath sworn, that he will pluck their masks and visards from off their faces, and leave them as naked as the Crow of other birds feathers, and that this disguise shall be laid open, and that the beams of his Sun of justice shall melt away this painting, as wax melteth before the fire, and that every one shall appear at last in his own likeness. The second, and that which is most hurtful, Is to make public holiness the stalking horse to effect the better their secret villainies. This Imposture is proper unto Heretics, imitating therein the Pharisees, professing great zeal, and outward sanctimony in their words and behaviour, that they may the better bring to pass their evil purposes. These men (saith Chrysologus) make war against the Church Mucrone Virtutis, With the sword of Virtue: being like unto Pirates, who set up the Flags of their enemies, that they may the more safely set upon them, and come aboard them unsuspected. The third is, To take away from good works the good intention of them. They give alms, but not with intent to relieve the Poor; they hear divine Service, but not to comply with the Church; they fast, but not to mortify their flesh, etc. Nolite fieri sicut hypocritae tristes. Sad, like Hypocrites, etc. The Author of the imperfect Work hath this note upon this word Fieri, That it forbids thee not to be sad, but to make thyself so. Thomas upon the word Nolite, that we should not seem sad. The widow that entreated for Absalon's life sought to shed feigned tears, and to look with a sad and heavy countenance: so do your Hypocrites, they are like your Stage-players; but as the Sceptre and the Crown is not the Actors that represents King David; so that meagrenesse and leanness appertains not to the Hypocrite that represents the penitent. Genua mea infirmata sunt à jeiunio, His legs grew weak with fasting, not with feigning to fast: but the Hypocrite desires to be fat, though he would make a show of fasting. Exterminant enim facies suas. They wryth their faces. Saint Hierome translates it Demoliuntur; Saint Chrysostome, Corrumpunt: and as a woman useth to martirise & soak her face for to seem fair; so the Hypocrite to seem penitent doth lay great burdens on his back, only for vain glory. Saint Bernard calleth these the Churches Porters, S. Ber. Ser. S. Bon. Ventura. by reason of the great burdens that they bear; Vae, qui trahitis iniquitatem in funiculis vanitatis, Esay 5. v. 18. & quasi vinculum plaustri peccatum; There are those that draw the Chariot of Iniquity with the cords of Vanity: The weight of sin lies heavy, & the vanity of Hypocrites seek to make it light and easy. Ric. lib. ●. 12. Patri, cap. 50. Richardot compares them to Prince Emors vassals, who did all of them circumcise themselves to please a vain young man, who were so exceeding sorely pained, that a whole city could not defend itself against a brace of brothers. Thomas figures forth the Devil unto us by Senacherib, who lays upon us three burdens. The first, The grievous yoke which he layeth upon his servant's necks. The second, The Rod wherewith he scourgeth them. The third, That Sceptre and command wherewith he increaseth his tributes and intolerable taxes. All these our Saviour Christ overthrew by his coming, ●eauing him more tormented than ever heretofore; for to him there is no torment comparable to that, aswhen a man is freed from his torment. And therefore when Christ commanded him to go out of a man whom he tormented, he told him, Quid mihi & tibi jesu Nazarene? Venisti ante tempus torquere nos? Mat. 8. v. 29. i. What hast thou to do with us jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to torment us before our time. The thrusting of the Devil out tormented not the man, but him: it is God's providence over us, to seek to draw us to serve him truly without dissimulation; but Hypocrites, Popular applause not to be affected. Exterminant facies suas, ut appareant hominibus jeiunantes, i. They put their faces out of fashion, that they may appear unto men to fast; it is a kind of Enchantment which worketh upon them, to gain the good opinion of men. Saul made light esteem of it, that Samuel should honour him before the People, balancing this against God's reprobation of him. Honour is a good thing, which though God be desirous to have wholly to himself, yet is it not to be condemned in man, but it hath its restraint and its bridle; the danger is in making the bridle the spur, and so to jerk out beyond our bounds. To use it moderately and modestly, and to God's glory, it is good, and much good may it do thee; but that thou shouldest live upon the dependency of man, & become the captive of common opinion, & only to esteem of popular applause, etc. this is utterly unlawful, & merely pharasaical. Saint Austen showeth That Hypocrites fish with a golden hook, where ordinarily the profit doth not quit the cost. Verily I say unto you, they have received their reward. Petrus Chrisologus noteth, That Christ calls that a receiving of a reward, Chrys. Serm. 7. which was the losing of it. That Fasting which is rent forth to the eyes of man, is not to expectany payment from the hands of God. Thou dost either sell or hire out thy house, thou settest up a bill, thou either mak'st sale of it, or rent'st it out for a thousand ducats to john, it were madness in thee to pretend to recover the same of Peter, who did neither hire nor buy it of thee. A woman desires to seem fair, she seemeth so, and is so esteemed; her ambition is to please, she hath her wish: she hath already received the recompense of her desire, what can she expect more? God calls upon thee to serve him, thou wilt not, but wilt serve the world, What canst thou then demand at his hands? Mat. 20. v. 13. Nun ex denario convenisti mecum? tolle quod tuum est, i. Didst thou not agree with me for a penny? take what is thy own. You know whose saying it was, and upon what occasion. The pay which the Hypocrite requireth, is, the applause of the world, he hath received that already, and therefore can ask no more. Where by the way I would have you to note, That if we make God the aim of all our Works, we thereby bind him so much unto us, that even those which he hath not commanded us, he will receive in good part and reward them. Marry Magdalen poured forth a precious box of ointment upon our Saviour's head. Now, if we should have asked of our Saviour, whether he took much pleasure in this service that she did him, he would have answered, No. But now that she had done it, favouring her good intention, he defended her against those that murmured thereat, and commending this piece of service, he said, Ad sepeliendum me fecit, i. She did it to bury me; & caused this her liberality to be published to the whole World. David had a purpose to have built a temple unto God, and God accepted of his good will; 1. King. 8.19. but yet for some reasons, willed him not to do it, Tu non aedificabis mihi domum, i. Thou shalt not build me an House, etc. They have received their Reward, i. Nothing, because the World itself must also come to nothing. The World is like a subtle beast, which makes little reckoning of him that fears him: Or like your Innkeeper, who is more mindful of those guests that pay him not, than those that have truly paid him. The World esteems more of one poor devout Soul, that tramples all the honours thereof under his feet, Worldling's condemned of the World. and seems to scorn the World; than of those Roman Emperors which did serve and honour it with the vanity of their triumphs. Their Reward. divers holy Saints, and grave Philosophers, have uttered such Hyperboles of the shortness of our life, that without an Hyperbole, That which is to come, may in a manner be counted as past. Seneca calls it a Point, and less than a Point. And a Point hath scarce any more being or duration, than what imagination or a thought will give it. A smoke, a shadow, a vapour, and the like, lasts but a little while; all which, are accommodated to our life: But a Point endureth much less. And therefore job saith, That the joy of an Hypocrite is but a Point. And if this be their recompense, Receperunt mercedem suam. Many infirmities in women, seem greatness with child, and promise children, but they prove to be lies and falsehood; Like that birth of the Mountains which the Poets feigned, were delivered in the end, of a Mouse. He that shall see an Hypocrite clothed with apparences, with outsides of holiness and virtue, will think that he carries Heaven in his breast: But it appeareth in the end, that it was not a conception, but an infirmity. Hereunto job alludeth, when he saith, Congregatio Hypocritae, sterilis, The posterity and succession of an Hypocrite shall be barren; It shall conceive in sorrow and bring forth wickedness. And as a woman after much pain in her travail, brings forth a Monster; so the Hypocrite, after he hath martyred himself, shall find no other birth but Hell. Their Reward. The Hypocrite hath no hope of Heaven. It is noted, that men much resent the loss of their great and tedious labours. As he, that having spent thirty years in the Indies in businesses as painful, as base and vile, and with a great-deale of toil having heaped together a hundred thousand Ducats, when he is come even to the haven and ready to land, escapes only with his life upon a poor plank; The Soldier, which after so many years having wearied out his shoulders with carrying his musket, when he comes home poor, hungry, and unrewarded, etc. Whence I do note that even these men have some hope of Heaven; but the Hypocrite, who after threescore years of martyrdom hath tired himself, hath no hope of Heaven, but dies desperate, breathing 〈◊〉 at his last gasp, Capiat omnia daemon. Christ cursed the figtree, because he found it without fruit, what would he have done if he had found it without leaves? That divine Historiographer treating of the Locusts of Egypt, saith, That they left neither fruit nor leaves on the trees, Nihil omnino virens relictum est in lignis, & in herbis terrae. jeremy complains, that the sins of his people had made the Earth so barren, that there remained neither grape in their vineyards, fig on their figtrees, nor leaves upon their other plants; it is the badge of a bad Christian when his sins leave neither fruit, bough, nor leaf to show there is hope of life in him. And therefore the Scripture in proof of this point, doth in many places call an Hypocrite a Sinner. Tu vero unge caput tuum, & faciem tuam lava. But do thou anoint thy head and wash thy face. It was the fashion not only with the Hebrews, but all the eastern people, to anoint themselves on festival days, & when any prosperous chance befell them: But it is both Saint Chrisostomes', and Saint Hieroms note, That Christ doth not so much pretend, that we should anoint the Head, or wash the Face, as that we should shun the ostentation of our fasting. This Tu vero, But thou, hath an emphasis with it. Thou, that desirest to please God with thy fasting; thou, that weighest what thy works are, being favoured and accepted of God; thou, that dost not esteem the applause of the World, put away that sorrow which fasting bringeth with it with tokens of joy. Anoint thy Head. There cannot any day be more festival and joyful unto thee, than that wherein thou shalt offer unto God the sacrifice of thy flesh. First, because the weaker and feebler it is, by so much thy Spirit is the stronger. According to that of Saint Paul, When I am weak, then am I strong. Secondly, because if at thy repentance, Heaven and the Angels rejoice, it is not much that thou also shouldest be glad. Thirdly, because thereby thou overcomest thy enemy, and triumphest over him. Et nemo maestus triumphant. i. No man is sad when he triumpheth. Fourthly, because the joy of the Spirit is great, and maketh us to continue in the service of God. For he that once tasteth the sweetness of loving him, hardly can forget him. Vt in eo crescatis in salutem, si tamen gustatis, quoniam suavis est Dominus. i. That ye may grow up in him unto salvation, Psal. 34.9. if so be ye taste how sweet the Lord is. And this cheerfulness God will not have in the Soul only, but in the body also; for it is meant of both. Hilarem datorem diligit Deus. And the glory of the king's daughter, although Daui● saith, that it ought to be principally within, Gloria filiae regis ab intus, The glory of the King's daughter is within; yet is it likewise to be manifested outwardly: In fimbrijs aureis circumamicta varietate, i. Psal. 45.13. Her clothing is of wrought gold, and her raiment of needle work. For God having created all, he will be served with all. For this God respected Abel and his offering, and not Caine. And he was not pleased with him only, for that he had offered up the best of his flock, but for the willingness wherewith he did it, and cheerfulness of heart and countenance. And this put Cain quite out of countenance, and made him to hang the head. Who can offer the chaff of his corn to God with a good face. Anoint thy head. God will that we show ourselves glad & cheerful when we serve him. Levit. 10.19. Aaron was sad for the death of his daughters; & Moses reprehending him because he had not eaten that day of the Sacrifice, he told him, Quomodo potui comedere aut placere Deo in Ceremonijs ment lucubri? i. How could I eat or please God in the Ceremonies, with a mournful mind? And the Text saith, That Moses rested satisfied. Baruc. 3.34. Baruc saith, That the Stars being called by their Creator, answered, Adsumus, We are here; and they did give their light Cum jucunditate, With delight: God had no need of their light in Heaven, Lucerna eius est Agnus, His light is the Lamb; but because God commanded them to afford man light, they did it cheerfully. If they without hope of reward serve thee with that alacrity, thou whose hope is from God, Vnge caput tuum, Anoint thy head. Anoint thy head. The Gospel advertiseth thee to be merry, the Church, to mourn; How are these two to be reconciled? I answer, That all thy felicity consisting in thy sorrow, thou may'st very well be merry to see thyself sad. Green wood being put upon the fire, weeps and burns; A deep valley is clear on the one side, and cloudy on the other. Man's breast is sad in one part, and joyful in the other: Saint Paul specifies two sorts of sorrow, one which grows from God, 2. Cor. 7. the other from the world; that gives life, this, death. Saint john sets down two sorts of death, one very bad, the other very good: so there are two sorts of sorrow, Baruc. 2. Levit. 22. etc. Baruc saith, That the soul that sorroweth for his sins gives glory unto God. Leviticus commandeth, That they should celebrate with great solemnity the day of expiation; Et affligetis animas vestras, And ye shall afflict your souls. It seems not to sound well, That men should make a great Feast with afflicting their souls: but for God's friend no Feast ought to be accounted so great, as to offer unto him a sorrowful and contrite heart. For as there is nothing more sad than sin, so is there nothing so cheerful as to bewail it. Ne vidiaris hominibus jeiunans, i. That thou seem not to men to fast. For herein is a great deal of danger. A Monk told the Abbot Macharius, I fast (quoth he) in the City in that sort, that it is not possible for a man to fast more in a Wilderness: Whereunto he replied, For all that, I think there is less eaten in the wilderness, though there be no eyes, as baits, to feed this thy vanity. Our Saviour did mark out three sorts of Eunuches; some by nature, some made so by the world, and some by God: so likewise are there three sorts of Fasters, some to preserve their Complexion, some for to please the World, others for God's sake. Abulensis doubting, Why God permitted not unto his People those triumphs which other nations did so much glory in? answereth, That he would not suffer them, because they should not favour of them: for the People said in their heart, though they did not profess it with their mouth, Deut. 32.27. Psal. 1●5. v. 1. Manus nostra excelsa, & non Dominus, fecit haec omnia, i. Our own high hand, and not the Lord, hath done all these things: Whereas they should say, Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam, i. Not unto us, o Lord, not unto us, but to thine own name give the glory. Pater tuus qui videt in abscondito, i. Your Father who sees in secret. On the one side the Church humbles thee by calling thee Dust; on the other, it raiseth thee up, by confessing thyself to be the son of such a father; Pater tuus qui videt in abscondito: who is of that Majesty, that mortal Man durst not presume to say he were the son of such a Father, unless he himself had obliged us to acknowledge him for our Father. Rupert. in Gen. c. 2. & 20. Rupertus saith, That all the patriarchs of the old Testament had usually in their mouth this humble confession, Tu Pater noster es, & nos Lutum, Thou art our Father, & we are Clay; as they that on their part had much whereof to be ashamed, but on Gods, much to glory in, that he would give the name of Son, to Dirt; And who by his grace, of Dirt, makes us Gold. And so much concerning the word Father. Who seeth in secret. He lives hid from thee, but not thou from him: for he beholdeth with his eyes thy good services, and hath such an especial care of thy wants, as if his providence were only over thee: and he that took pity of the beasts of Niniveh, and of Achabs' humiliation, will not easily forget a son whom he so much loveth, etc. Reddet tibi, i. Shall recompense thee. This word Reddet indeareth the worthiness of Fasting; Fast for God's sake, and he will pay thee. What greater worthiness, than to make God thy debtor? Shall he see thee fast for him, and shall not he reward thee? others run over their debts as if they did not mind them, and perhaps never mean to pay them; but God, Reddet. And therefore read in Esay, Esay 38. That certain that had fasted charged him with this debt, jeiunavimus, & non aspexisti, humiliavimus animas nostras, & nescisti, We have fasted, and thou hast not regarded us, we have humbled our souls, and thou didst not know it. True fasting. But he disengaged himself of this debt, saying, I did not tie myself to these Fasts; you continue in your wickedness as before, and do ye desire then a reward for your fasting? Sanctificate jeiunium, Sanctify a Fast; accompany your fasting with Prayer, Almsdeeds, and godliness, etc. Greg. in Euan. Chrys Hom. 1. de jeiu nio. For in vain (saith Saint Gregory) doth the flesh forsake meat, when the soul doth not forgo sin. Saint Chrysostome noteth, That Gods pardoning of the Ninivites, was not only for their fasting, but their newness of life: and the Text proveth as much, Vidit Dominus opera eorum, quia conversi sunt à vita sua mala, i. The Lord saw their works, that they turned from their evil life. And in another place he saith, Chrys. Hom. 3. ad Popul. That the honour of Fasting consisteth more in flying sin, than food; and that he that fasts, and sins, offers an affront to Fasting. Bernard saith, That if the Palate had only sinned, Ber. Ser. 4. Bas. 1. inter Varias Hier. in c. 58. Esay. & Epist. ad Celan. Amb. Ser. 33. tempore. The vanity of worldly Treasure●. Hilar. Cant. 5. in Math. Chris. sup. Epist. ad Rom. ca 10. the Palate should have only fasted; but being that all the Senses sinned, it is reason they should all fast. Saint Basil, Hierome, and Ambrose treat at large of this argument. Nolite thesauriz are vobis thesauros in terra. Treasure not up treasures to yourselves on earth. Because some men may doubt, why men may not treasure up Treasures upon earth; Saint Hilary by these treasures vnderstandeth humane glory, which he styled before by the name of Reward, Receperunt mercedem suam, they received their Reward. And it agreeth well with that of Saint Chrysostome, who saith, That the desire to treasure up & grow rich, ariseth not so much from the daintiness, the delight, commodity, & other blessings which treasures represent unto us, as vainglory. Why should a man make him beds of gold, mighty huge cupboards of massy plate, unnecessary rich wardrobes, and Armies (as it were) of servants, seeing these neither augment his health, nor enlarge his life, nor give him much the more content? It is a foppery of pomp (saith Seneca) whose joy only consisteth in showing it to the world. In a word, this idle foolish pomp, Senec. Ep. 110. is a sin which leadeth many a noble prisoner away with him in triumph; Angels, Men, Kings, Prelates, High, and Low: and, as Thomas hath noted it, other vices carry away along with them the Devil's servants; but this, Gods. S. Chrysostome calls it, The piracy of noble Persons, & the Mother of Hell, which she peopleth and inricheth with her children. Likewise, this treasuring up, may be understood of all manner of humane goods: For all men do generally agree in a kind of Hypocrisy; to wit, to seem that which they are not, & to promise that which they do not perform: great Teasure promiseth to our imagination great felicity; but the enjoying thereof discovereth more deceits than content. And therefore Christ adviseth, Mat. 13. That the hypocrisy of Riches should not steal away our hearts: he calls it Fallacia, Deceits, because all Riches are but lies and cozenage. Thomas expounding that place of Ecclesiasticus, Th. 1.2. Art. 1. ad 2. Pecuniae obediunt omnia, All things are obedient to Money; says, Omnia corporalia, All corporal things; for spiritual goods are not taken with earthly riches. Again, that it is the Idol of Fools, who know no other good, nor God. Treasure not up to yourselves, etc. In the first place, A man is not here forbidden to increase his wealth by lawful means: for besides that this is that general occupation of the men of this world, Christ our Saviour condemned the slothful servant that buried his Talon; and albeit all excess in this kind is condemned, yet an honest means is not reprehended. Divitias & paupertatem ne dederis mihi, i. Give me neither Riches nor poverty, said Solomon; & peradventure the Lord said Thesauros in the plural number, to intimate, What should a man do with such great Treasures for so short a life? In the second, He doth not forbid fathers to treasure up for their children; for Saint Paul licenceth them so to do, Filij non debent thesaurizare parentibus, sed parentes filijs, i Children are not to lay up for the parents, but parents for the children. And God that ingraued in the breast of married men a desire of their Posterity, ingraued likewise a desire of their thriving, and augmentation of wealth. For it were a woeful case that a man should leave his children to beg their bread at other men's doors: that which is forbidden, is a Thesaurizate vobis, a heaping up of Treasure for thyself only. For that good which God so freely communicateth unto thee, Only Covetousness forbidden. he doth not bestow it on thee for thyself only: as God creating creatures in the earth, did not create them for the earth's sake; so he will not that thou shouldest treasure up for thyself. The covetous man would have all to himself, in punishment whereof he enjoyeth it least; Thesaurisat, & ignorat cui congregabit ea, i. He storeth up, and knows not for whom he gathereth. The rich man hugged himself when he said, Habes multa bona reposita▪ in annos plurimos, i. Thou hast much goods laid up for many years; but he lived not to eat a bit of that abundance. Sic est qui sibi thesaurisat, & non est diues in Deum, i. So it is with him that layeth up for himself, and is not rich in God. Which agrees well with that of Seneca, Sen. de Remedfort. That a covetous man is not a man, but the chest and bag that keeps money in it for other men. Of giving Alms. But treasure up to yourselves treasure in Heaven, Thesaurizate vobis thesaurum in Coelo, etc. This language of treasuring in Heaven, though it be common to all the virtues, yet the Scripture doth especially attribute it to Alms. Our Saviour said to the young man, Mat. 29. Give all that thou hast to the Poor, and thou shalt find treasure in Heaven. And in another place, Facite vobis sacculos, qui non veterascunt, thesaurum non deficientem in coelis, Luc. 12.33. Make ye Bags which wax not old. And Tobias councelling his son, That he should give Alms, either much or little, according to his means, addeth withal, Praemium enim bonum thesaurizas tibi in die necessitatis, He layeth up a good reward for himself against the time of need. And it is noted by Saint Bernard, Faith hath two wings, Pra●e● and Alms, to lift he● up to Heaue●. Tob. 12. That Fasting flies up to Heaven, with the help of these two wings, Prayer and Alms; Bona est eleemosina cum jeiunio & oratione, i Alms ●s good with Fasting and with Prayer, saith Tobias. And Saint Gregory, That it is not Fasting, to put that into thy purse which thou sparest, from thy mouth; but that, while thou fastest, the Poor may not starve. And this must be done with Prayer and thanksgiving to God. Vbi thesaurus, ibi cor, i. Where our Treasure is, there is our heart. A wise man not thinking it safe to keep money in his house, for those many perils it may run, of thieves, fire, borrowing, & spending, puts it into some sure Bank: to hazard it by sea or land is as bad, if not worse, it is the prey of Pirates, & a dangerous port; Statio male fida carinis, No trusty harbour for a ship, said the Poet, A mountain of thiefs, a City without defence. That Farmer is a fool (saith Saint Austen) who putteth his corn into moist Granaries, where it may rot, or be devoured and consumed by the Weasel. That which most importeth thee, is, To place thy Treasure upon the Poor, for they are Christ's own Bank; for whatsoever they receive, our Saviour accepts of it, and he secures it, and returns it with use. What says Chrysologus? If thou wert to be Civis perdurabilis, A durable Citizen upon earth, it were wisely done in thee ro treasure up upon earth; but being that thou art to make a speedy journey for Heaven, Why wilt thou have abundance of that here, which shall occasion thy want there? THE SECOND SERMON, ON THE THURSDAY AFTER ASH-WEDNESDAY. MAT. 8. LUC. 7. When he entered into Capernaum. Cum introisset Capernaum, etc. IN Capernaum, the Metropolis of Galilee, a city in buildings glorious, in provision abundant, in revenues rich, in people populous; in a word, Capernaum implies all that which may express a place of comfort. This City was then in great glory, but never received more honour than by the presence of Christ, & the miracles that he wrought there: Mat. 9 insomuch that Saint Matthew out of this respect calls it his City: and Nazareth (which was the place where our Saviour had been bred up) took it in such dudgeon, that she sent him that message related by Saint Luke, Quanta audivimus facta in Capernaum, fac & haec in Patria tua, i. The great things which we have heard thou hast done in Capernaum, Luc. 4. do them also in thine own Country. Lord, art thou so liberal towards strangers, and so short handed towards thine own Countrymen? In Capernaum thou hast healed Peter's mother in law; many that were tormented with Devils, especially one woman of a talking Devil; him that was sick of a dead Palsy, whom they let down through the roof of the house; the son of Regulus, & diverse others; Let us see thee now exercise these thy favours in thine own country. Rome had a hundred soldiers there in garrison, as it had in other places of the Empire; the Captain whereof in regard of his office was called Centurion. This Commander had a servant that was sick, whom he loved very well. He solicited our Saviour for the curing of this his servant, by a third person, yet discovering therein so much devotion, and faith, that he remained a chief Master of the faithful in God's Church. Saint Chrysostome, & Euthimius seem to differ about this miracle: For the one saith, That the Centurion came and besought him himself. The other, That he only sent unto Christ to entreat him to do this courtesy for him. But it being so difficult to believe two miracles, both in Capernaum, both at one and the same time, in one Master, and in one Servant, let us run along with all the rest of the Doctors, who are of opinion, It was only one miracle. Aug. Ser. 6. de verb. domini. & d● con●ens. Euang. lib. 2. cap. 20. 3. King. 20. Saint Austen cleareth this controversy. For the Scripture (saith he) is wont to attribute that unto thee, which thou dost by a third person. As when King Achab went to take possession of Naboths' Vineyard, Elias meeting with him, told him Occidisti in super, & possidisti, i. Thou hast killed him, and art possessed of his Vineyard. The King had not killed him, but the Queen and the Council. But because he was well contented therewith and consented unto it, he said unto him; 2. Reg. c. 8. Occidisti & possidisti. Nathan spoke to David in the same language, Vriam Etheum occidisti gladio filiorum Amon, i. Thou hast slain Urias the Hittit, with the sword of the children of Ammon. Not that he himself slew him, but because he willed his Captain joab to do it. The jews took away our Saviour's life by the hands of the soldiers, and though they would have washed their hands of it, with a Nobis non licet interficere quenquam, i. 'tis not lawful for us to put any man to death. Yet Saint Peter chargeth them therewith. Authorem vero vitae interfecistis, i. Ye have killed the Lord of Life. And because God was the mediate cause of his death, David tells him; Tu vero repulisti eum destruxisti & despexisti, i. Thou hast broken him off, destroyed him, etc. In a word; As he that is married by a third person, is married by himself: And as he that speaks by another, speaks by himself, as Kings do by their Ambassadors; and as he that despiseth an Ambassador, despiseth him that sent him: and as our Saviour saith, Qui vos audit, me audit, & qui vos spernit, me spernit, i. He that heareth you, heareth me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth me. So the Centurion procuring the Ancients of Capernaum to speak to Christ for him; the Evangelist sets it down, that he spoke himself. Vice hard to be removed. Accessit Centurio, i. There came a Centurion. There are some kind of people, that have had so ancient possession of ill, that they will hardly be brought to any good. Tradesmen and Merchants plead prescription for their buying. How many years since (saith Solomon) hath it been the custom, that the seller commends his ware, and the buyer dispraises it, Bonum est, bonum est, dicit omnis emptor. In Receivers and Proctors, it hath been an ancient fashion with them, to pill and to poll; in Servants, to flatter; in Soldiers, to boast, rob, and ravish. Assueti latrocinijs, as Egesippus saith of them. And as a Merchant can scarce live in the world without lying, Eges●p. lib. 4. cap. 4. no more can a Soldier without sinning. In matter of gluttony, they are Bacchusses: Effundunt se in luxum & epulas, saith Tacitus; In matter of filthy lust Priapusses; In matter of bragging and swaggering, men that would make a show to outface Hector and Achilles, or Mars himself; such as will break glass windows, and threaten at every word to kill their poor Host; but when the enemy comes upon them, more fearful than hares, and betake them to their heels. The greatest cruelty that ever was committed, was the scourging and crucifying of Christ, And this the soldiers did; so saith S. john. In a word, that young man that lists himself for a soldier, shakes hands almost with all kind of virtue. But to leave this Theme, that my discourse may not seem tedious in the enumeration of their vices; though among soldiers there are a refuse kind of sort, which Quintus Curtius calls Purgamenta urbium suarum, The Off-scum of Commonwealths; yet there are many of them that are valiant, discreet, Christian, and religious. The Scripture maketh mention of three Centurions; one joseph, Decurion, a noble gentleman, who was captain of a Roman company when our Saviour suffered: who scorning the power and ill will of all jerusalem, went boldly to beg his body of Pilate, Mark 15. for to give it burial. There was another Centurion called Cornelius, who not knowing Christ, was so religious, so full of good works, so given to prayer, and so fearing God, that an Angel was sent unto him to illuminate his understanding. Of another, S. Matthew makes mention; who when the lights of Heaven were darkened, yet his sight was so clear, that he saw Christ our Saviour was the Son of God, Mat. 26. Vere filius Dei erat iste: Besides this Centurion we now speak of, whose Faith our Saviour did admire. Saint Austen celebrates another Captain, which in the midst of Arms took wonderful care to know the things of God. But that we may not weary ourselves with counting the good ones one by one, heaven itself having great Squadrons of soldiers; this may suffice to honour this kind of Calling, not only for its Faith, but for its love and charity. Many did petition our Saviour for their sick brethren, children, and friends; but for a Servant this Centurion only maketh suit. Puer meus jacet in domo Paraliticus. [My child, or] my servant lieth at home sick of the Palsy. The common saying is, Quot seruos, tot hosts, So many servants, so many enemies. job complaineth, Of Servants. job. 31. v. 31. That his servants would have eaten him piecemeal, Who shall give us of his flesh, that we may be filled. If they then that serve so good a Master be his enemies, who shall be his friend? Seneca seemeth to make the word Servant to signify Indifferency, and that it is in the Master's choice to make him either his friend or foe. In this matter there are some rules of prudence, nobility, and Christianity. The first on the Master's part; who are to treat their servant with much love and kindness, like a brother, saith Ecclesiasticus: Eccl. 33. Eccl. 7. and in another place endearing it more, Sit tibi quasi anima tua, Let him be unto thee as thy soul; or as the Greek hath it, Sicut tu, As thyself. Horace calls a man's friend, The one half of his soul: Sicut viscera mea suscipe, Receive him as my own bowels, saith Saint Paul, recommending his servant Onesimus to Philemon. No man is a servant by nature, and being that God might have made thee of a master a servant, how oughtest thou to respect thy servant being a master? This nobleness of nature showed itself apparently in this our Centurion; Puer meus jacet, My child lieth sick: he calls his servant Child, a word of love and of kindness, and signifies in the original, a Son. And Saint Luke doth express it with a great deal of tenderness, Erat illi pretiosus, He was dear unto him. Condemning those masters which use their servants as they do their shoes, who when they wax old, and are worn out, cast them out upon the dunghill. Saint Paul calls these, Sine affectione, Men without compassion, who no sooner shall their servant fall sick, but they presently bid away with him to the Hospital: & if at the day of judgement God will lay to our charge, That we did not visit the sick in other men's houses, What will become of us in that day, when we be charged with casting them out of our own. The second, That all servants are not so equal and alike, that they should deserve either like love or usage. Ecclesiasticus saith, That as fodder and the whip belong to the Ass; so doth meat and correction unto a slothful servant: But evermore inclining more to lenity than cruelty. The third, That a Master be not sharp and bitter: for there are many like unto Spiders, which turn all into poison, good, and bad service; foolish, and discreet words, are all alike unto them. With some masters (saith Macrobius) snorting and spitting are accounted discourtesies & incivility. M●cr. li. 1. c. 11. Austen. lib. 1. de decem cord. Saint Austen says, That it is a pride unworthy man's heart, to look to be served with more respect by thy servant, than thou dost serve thy God. If every one of thy fooleries and misdemeanours God should punish them with the rod of his wrath, Senec. Epist. 47. what would become of thee? Seneca writing to Licinius, tells him, That it is a great deal of wisdom and discretion in a Master, to use his servants well. Alex. 3. Ped. 11. And Clemens Alexandrinus, That a Master must not use his servants like beasts: & that he that doth not now and then converse with them, and communicate his mind unto them, doth not deserve to be a master. The fourth, That he be frank and liberal, and a cheerful rewarder of his servant's labours. For if the light of Nature teacheth us, That we should be good unto our Beasts, a greater Obligation lies upon us towards our Servants. Plutarch taxeth Cato Censorinus (amongst his many other virtues) of this one inhuman action, That he sold away his Slaves when they were old and unable to do him service, as Gentlemen turn those Horses that were for their own Saddle, to a Mill to grind, when they grow old and stiff, and are not able to travel as they were wont to do. In a word, a Master must consider, That albeit the servants be the foot, yet the feet are as needful to go, as the eyes to see. And the advantage that the master hath of the servant, is not of Nature, but fortune; not by his birth, for both have Adam for their father on earth, and God in Heaven: Both of them say, Pater noster qui es in Coelis; scientes quoniam illorum & vester Dominus est in Coelis, i. Our Father which art in heaven; knowing that both their and your Lord is in Heaven. Not in his body, for the Pope is made of no better dust than the poor Sexton; nor the King, than the Hangman. Not in regard of the Soul, for the price of their redemption were both alike: Not of the understanding, for many slaves have that better than they; as Aesop, Epictetus, and Diogenes: Not of virtue, for many servants therein exceed their masters. Duties of Servants. But let us descend now from the Masters, to the Servant's duty, and what rules belong to them. The first rule is, Faithfulness, and Love.. Solomon saith, He that keepeth the Figtree shall eat the fruit thereof; Prou. 27.18. so, he that waiteth upon his master shall come to honour, Instancing rather in the Figtree, than any other, for its sweetness and great store of fruit; in token, that he that shall sow good services, shall reap good profit. The second, That he do not serve principally for his own proper interest; for he that serveth for profit only, and merely to make gain of his master, deserveth neither cherishment nor favour. A master stands in stead of God; now we must not principally serve God for the good which he doth unto us, but as he is our God. The Scripture reporteth of joseph, That his Master having trusted him with the government of his house, & all his wealth, he did not deceive him of a farthing. There are some servants like your Iuy, which sucks out the sap, & withereth the Tree whereunto it leans, itself remaining fresh and green. They are those Sponges which soak up their Master's wealth, making their Master's poor, and themselves rich. The third, That a Servant be solicitous, careful, and painful; for the sluggard, Nature abhorreth and condemneth: Vidisti hominem velocem? stabit coram Rege, (i) Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before Kings. Prou. 22. v. ult. Diligence is precious in all men, but most in a Servant; Who can endure a lazy Servant, or a dull Beast? The Ball was anciently the Symbol of a Servant, according to Cartaneus, Cart. lib. de Deorum imaginibus. The ball one while goes flying in the air over our heads, another, runs as low as our feet, but never lies still, but is continually tossed too and fro. And Aristotle says, That a Servant is Instrumentum viwm, A living Instrument: and as an Instrument hath not his own will, but is directed by the hand of the Artificer; so a Servant is not to be at his own will to do what himself listeth, but as he is commanded and employed by his Master. If Masters and Servants would keep these rules, it would be a happiness for the Master to have such a Servant, and for the Servant to have such a Master. It hath anciently been doubted, Why amongst men so equal by nature, God hath permitted so great inequality as there is between him that serveth, and him that commandeth? And the reason of this doubt is the more endeared, for that servitude is a thing so distasteful, & held so great an ill, that many have preferred death before it. Theodoret answereth thereunto, Theod. lib. 2. de Prou. That Servitude was the curse of Sin, and that the first Servant in the world was Cham, on whom his father threwt his severe malediction, That he should be a Servant to his brethren, Because he discovered the nakedness of his father. Aug. lib. 19 de Civit. cap. 15. S. Austen saith in his Books De Civit. Dei, That this penalty began from the malediction of Eve; and that those words, Thou shalt be under the power of thy Husband, employed subjection and servitude. Saint Ambrose in an Epistle which he writes to Simpliciarius, saith, That Serving is sometimes taken for a blessing: and he proves it out of that which Isaac did to his elder son Esau, He blessed him, that he might serve his brother; having out of a particular providence and love made Esau servant to his brother, to the end that his harshness might be governed by his discretion. So that we see, that although the fortune of a Servant (speaking generally) is very bad; first, because liberty is a great good: secondly, because to serve a Tyrant is a great evil; yet he that hath the good hap to serve a good Master, is very happy; for such a Master serves in stead of a Father, a Councillor, a Tutor. And this was this servant's happiness, to have so good a Master as this Centurion, here spoken of, who saith, Puer meus jacet, etc. In domo Paraliticus, At home sick of the Palsy. Benefit of Affliction. It is a consideration as profitable, as often repeated, That troubles and afflictions brings us home to God's House: They are like those officers that follow a fugitive son or servant, who bring him back again to his father or his master. Many means God useth for to bring us home unto him, but by no means more than by affliction. Hunger drove the Prodigal home to his Father; Ioa●s burning of his corn made him come to Absalon; 1. Reg. 14▪ the untamed Heifer is brought by the Goad to the Yoke. There is no Collirium that so opens the eyes of the soul, as misery and trouble. The gall of the Fish recovered Tobias of his eyesight; the darkness of the Whale's belly, brought jonas forth to the light; the stroke of an Arrow made Alexander know he was mortal; Worms made great Antiochus confess he was no God; and the threatening of Elias wrought repentance in Achab: In a word, Hier. 31. Vexatio dat intellectum, Castigasti me Domine & eruditus sum, Affliction causeth understanding, thou didst correct me o Lord, & I was instructed. O! how correction opens those eyes which prosperity kept shut? O! how often doth the paining of the body work the saving of the soul? O! how often do misfortunes, like the rounds in Jacob's ladder, serve to bring our souls up to Heaven? God dealing with these afflicted souls, as the Gardener doth with the Buckets of his Well, who humbles them by emptying them, that he may afterwards bring them up full. job. ●. v. 18. And so is that place of job to be understood, He woundeth, and he healeth, (i) he healeth by wounding; like your cauteries, which cure by hurting. It is Gods own voice, Ose 6. v. 2. I will smite, and I will make whole: according to that of Ose, Percutiet, & curabit, he strikes the body with sickness, and with that wound he healeth the soul. 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 hardened in sin, is made rather worse than better by correction. And this is that which Esay bewaileth, where he crieth out, Esay 1.4.5. Woe to the sinful Nation, a People laden with Iniquity; Why should ye be stricken any more, ye will revolt more and more: All the fruit that such kind of wilful sinners reap from their punishment, is, to add sin unto sin; like that Slave, who being whipped for swearing, falls into blaspheming. I have smitten (saith jeremy) your children in vain, jerem. 2. jer. 6. they received no correction. And in another place he compares them to reprobate silver, which being put into the Crisol of affliction to be refined and purified, remains fouler than before. Others there are that are tender hearted, and are as sensible of other men's miseries, as if themselves were in the same case; and just so was it with this discreet Centurion. Dignus est, ut illi praestes, (i) He is worthy, for whom thou shouldst do this. The Elders of the jews in Capernaum, which were sent by the Centurion unto Christ, to beseech him to come and heal his servant, acknowledged a power in our Saviour of working miracles, by that often experience they had made thereof, but they did not acknowledge his Divinity. And therefore they here notify unto Christ the great merit and deservingness of this Centurion; which if it had been merely for God's sake, they might the better have pleaded it. They allege two reasons to induce him thereunto. The first, Diligit gentem nostram, He loveth our Nation; which he hath many ways manifested by those his good deeds and actions towards us; and this his love and kindness binds us to solicit his cause, which good will of his ought likewise to incline you to favour this his suit. The second, Synagogam aedificavit nobis, He hath built us a Synagogue; whereby he hath not only showed his good affection to the jews, but his religiousness also unto God; Dignus est ergo, ut illi praestes, He therefore deserves this favour at thy hands. Their reasons are both powerful as well with man, as with God; Amb. lib. 2. de Off●●. for Love obligeth much. Saint Ambrose saith, That Nature did engrave nothing so deeply in our hearts, as to love him that loveth us. Saint Austen saith, Aug. li de Cath. rudinus. c. 4. Marsil. in Com. Pl. c. 8. That it is a hard heart that repays not love with love: agreeing with that of Marcilius Ficinus, That Love is Tanti pretij, a thing so unualuable, that nothing can recompense it but Love.. First, From this ground we may gather the foulness of our dis-love towards God: Ipse prior dilexit, saith Saint john, He loved us first, & if he had not vouchsafed to love us, man's breast had never had a stock whereon to graft his love towards him. Having therefore loved us first, and out of his love done us such great and special favours, it were extraordinary baseness and impiety in us, not to love him again, he being so willing to accept of our love. Many there are which stand upon it, as a point of honour, not to bestow their love upon every one that seeks their love, but only upon those that have given them some pledges of their love. Now if thou dost esteem thy love at that rate, that thou wilt not confer it upon him to whom thou dost not owe it, yet oughtest thou have the honesty to repay thy love to him to whom thou dost owe it; especially being Nature abhorreth, that they that love should not be beloved. Moreover, many times thou lovest those that never loved thee, nay, even those that have hated thee. Is it much than that thou shouldst love him that hath loved thee, never will leave off to love thee, and cannot but love, though thou shouldst grow cold? S. Bernard saith, That we are wonderfully beholding unto Christ for the treasures of his love, because thereby he gave us matter to work upon, to repay this incomparable good of Love, with Love.. No other of God's favours towards us can we make repayment of in the same coin, only his love is left unto us to be repaid with love. 2 The second reason is no less powerful, He hath built us a Synagogue. For where some service hath preceded, it is as it were a pledge with God of favours to be received. Howbeit, in matter of giving, we can gain nothing by the hand. For, Quis prior dedid illi? Chrysost. Com▪ ●. Serm. de Mart. s. Acts, 3. Saint Chrysostome treating of the miracle which Saint Peter and Saint john did at the door of the Temple called Beautiful, upon that poor Cripple which begged an alms for God's sake; pondereth, how boldly and securely they entered to ask a favour in God's House, who had first exercised their charity upon the Poor, strengthening and preventing those prayers of the poor, with those that they were to make themselves unto God. To this end is it still in use, that the poor lies at the door of the Temple, as the same Doctor observeth, that the Faithful entering to ask Mercy of God, for to secure their petition, that they should first show Mercy. Subuenite oppresso (saith Esay.) Before thou interest into my House, Good service never unrewarded with God. bestow thine alms upon some poor beggar or other; For my stamp is engraven upon him, he is mine own picture, and therefore see you relieve him. And then Venite, & arguite me, i. Come, and reason with me: If I shall not then help thee, challenge me for it. Saint Luke, recounting the resurrection of Dorcas (otherwise called Tabytha) saith, That the poor and the widows came unto Peter showing him those clothes and shirts which she had given them. Circumdederunt eum viduae flentes, & ostendentes tunicas, i Widows compassed him about, and showed him their coats, etc. One said, she gave me this coat, another this smock; and God having received so many services towards the poor, from the hands of this holy Woman, it is fit that she should find this favour, and that you should not stick much upon it to restore her her life; and the Text saith, That he presently raised her up alive. No less to this purpose serves that raising again to life of the Widow's son, which nourished the Prophet Elias. Behold, o Lord, Acts. 9 thou hast afflicted a poor Widow, that lodged me and sustained me for thy sake, and therefore thou art bound to repay her this service. It is one of the abuses of these times, that in the day of prosperity, thou never thinkest upon the poor, be he thy neighbour▪ or a stranger; or if thou dost, it is but to quarrel with him, & to murmur against him: thou never givest him any thing but sharp words, but if thy house shall be visited with any misfortune of fire or otherwise, or with sickness, thou lookest that he should come upon his knees to thee and offer thee his service. The surer motive, his own Love.. These reasons did the Elders of Capernaum allege to our Saviour, & might have alleged greater than these, as his Faith, and his Devotion. But it is noted by Saint Chrysostome, That they showed themselves fools in alleging the dignity and worth of this Soldier, and forgetting the pity and humanity of the Lord of Hosts. Martha and Mary were much more discreet, in pressing him with his Love.. For all other things whatsoever that we can allege on our part, are to weak to bind him unto us. God's bounty towards his Suppliants. Ego veniam & curabo eum, i. I will come and cure him. 1. They could not have desired a sweeter or a speedier answer. If a Captain that hath been maimed in the wars, come to one of our Princes here of this World, to demand his pay, or some recompense for his service; he shall dye a hundred deaths before they will give him so much as one poor sixpence. But the Prince of Heaven, we have scarce represented our necessities unto him, but he presently answereth; Ego veniam & curabo eum, i. I will come and cure him. And even then when he said I will go and heal him, even than was his health restored unto him: Cantic. 1.2. so hand in hand goes God's Power with his Will. Meliora sunt ubera tua vino, i. Thy breasts are better than wine, said the Spouse to her Beloved. Wherein, we are to weigh the facility and the easiness wherewith the breast affords it milk, and the pains and difficulty wherewith the grapes yield forth their wine. For we must first gather them, then tread them, then squiese them in the Press, then pour them from one vessel into another, etc. And therefore is it said, Thy milk is of more worth, than all the wine in the World; not only for its pleasantness and sweetness, but for its readiness at hand. Esay pointing at this readiness in God, saith, Ad vocem clamoris, statim respondebit tibi, i. He will answer out of hand the voice of thy cry. Assure thyself he is so pitiful, that he will not suffer thee to weep and mourn. But thou shalt scarce have called unto him, when strait thou shalt have an answer. Whereas, to the Princes of this World, thou shalt put up a thousand memorial, and shalt have so many more references, order upon order, and yet no order taken for thee. But the Prince of Heaven, Statim respondebit tibi, i. He will answer out of hand. I will come and heal him. He might have recommended this business to Saint Peter, or Saint john: But that which a Prince can perform in his own person, he ought not to remit the same to his Ministers, though they should be as faithful unto him as Peter. For the servant many times carries not that soul along with him as his Master hath: and in case the servant should blur and soil his for his own private gain, this doth not excuse the Master. A Prince may well give power in causa propria, i. in his own cause, for a thousand things to his Minister; but for those particular obligations that concern his conscience, he cannot, nor ought not. Quodcunque potest facere manus tua instanter operari, i. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, Eccl. 9.10. do it with thy might. The word here to be weighed, is manus tua, not another man's, but thine own. 2 It causeth no small admiration, that a King should call twice upon him for his son, The poor more respected of God many times than the rich. and yet he excused himself; and that a Soldier should no sooner send unto him to come unto his servant, but he strait way answered, Ego veniam & curabo eum, i. I will come and heal him. We render two reasons of this doubt made upon this place: The one, That with God, sometimes more honourable is the name of the poor than of the rich. Psal. 72.14. Honorabile nomen eorum coram illo, i. Their name is precious in his sight. And albeit this honour grew up from the beginning of the World: yet after that, God made himself poor for to make us rich; poverty is so exalted by him, and in that high esteem, that men ever since have looked upon 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 scorn and contemn the poor. Dives did less esteem of Lazarus than of his dogs; But God making himself poor, and wrapping up in rags the treasure and richness of Heaven, the condition of the poor hath ever since been better with God, than that of the rich; and therefore he rather hasteth to relieve the Poor than the rich. And therefore the Physicians of the body are much condemned, Physicians taxed, that will not visit the poor. who being the Apollo's and Aesculapijs of their times, disdain to visit the poor men. And so likewise are the Physicians for the soul, who boast themselves to be Confessors to great kings & princes, the poor man's soul being no less precious in God's sight than those of the rich. Those Masters are also reproved, Master's likewise, who neglect their Servants, being sick. who scorn to visit their poor servant in his sickness, alleging (forsooth) that the chamber or the bed is ready to turn their stomach, and makes them sick with the loathsomeness of the sent, when they can well enough endure the stink of a Stable, or the nastiness of a dogge-kennell. Secondly, we are to consider, That Humility carries with it a kind of omnipotency, because it subdueth the Omnipotent. Of the Sun of the Earth the Poets write, That wrestling with Hercules, still as he touched the ground he recovered fresh strength. The humble minded man, who esteems himself to be but the son of the Earth, and the offspring of Dust and Ashes, by bowing himself in all lowliness to this his mother, he shall be able to wrestle with God himself. Thirdly, This readiness of Christ's towards the Centurion, should stir us up to compassion, and to take pity of our neighbour. Fulgentius noteth, Fulgent. Epis. ad Eugippium. That there is this difference between him that employeth his love upon his Neighbour, and him that bestows it on the goods of the earth, that This is the poorer, That the richer. Saint Chrysostome declaring that place of Saint Paul, Love seeketh not her own things, saith, That the Apostle spoke according to the Laws and rules of the world, where every one holds that particular wealth he possesseth to be his own; but according to the Laws of God, Love seeks the things that are her own; for she reckons of that good that befalls another, as her own. Our Saviour treating of pardoning others, said on the Cross, Luc. 23. v. 34. Mat. 27. v. 46▪ Father forgive them, for they, etc. but speaking of his own relinquishment, he said, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, etc. With more earnestness craving pardon for those that crucified him; & for this cause calls him for their sakes Father, as if he should have said, O my good God, I desire thou wouldst show the bowels of a father towards them; as for mine own life, be thou a severe God unto me, let me suffer, so as they may live. And this is Spiritus Sanctorum, The Spirit of the Saints, the nature of those that are Gods children. Elizeus offered to go to the Palace, for his Hostess, Vis ut loquar Regi? Wilt thou that I speak to the King? when he would not go thither for himself. Thomas, who would not have Clergy men to overbusy themselves in the world; yet he adviseth them to speak unto Princes and Councillors of State, in matters of pity, when the poor are oppressed, and have no body to speak for them, and that they should do it, Not out of covetousness, but charity. jesus autem ibat cum illis; & cum jam longe esset à domo, misit Centurio amicos, dicens, Noli vexari. Trouble not thyself. Presently after Christ had given the Elders so fair an answer, he went along in their company towards the Centurion's house; some went before to advise him of his coming, though the Evangelists do not mention it; who found himself so hindered by the Majesty and greatness of our Saviour Christ (whom he believed to be God) that he sent some friends of his that were Gentiles, in all haste to our Saviour, with this message, Lord trouble not thyself. Some man may doubt, Why he should say by these second Messengers, Domine noli vexari, having entreated by the former to come unto him? I answer, That the same humility which the Centurion showed afterwards, he would have shown before that he said unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: For he that would not have had him take the pains to come, would not have sent unto him, to will him that he should come; for he believing him to be God, it had been an uncivil Embassage. But the Elders of the jews setting a good face on the matter, and taking the authority upon them, that they were of power to bring our Saviour to the Captain's house, showed therein more vanity than faith, for that they did not believe that our Saviour could cure the sick being absent; and so were the authors of this discourtesy. Besides, they proceeded f●rther with him in a commanding kind of language; alleging, That the Centurion deserved this favour at his hands, though he himself acknowledged his own unworthiness, not only by these his second messengers, but by himself: For I assure myself, and hold it for certain, That the Centurion in the end spoke unto Christ our Saviour, repeating that lesson himself, which he had instructed his Ambassadors in, when they said unto him, Domine, noli vexari, i. Lord trouble not thyself. Saint Ambrose saith, That the name of (Lord) sometimes signifies honour, sometimes power; and that in men these two go divided, but in God they go jointly together. Here we call him a Lord, that is so indeed, for that power and command that he hath over others; and sometimes we call him Lord that is no Lord, but do it out of courtesy, only to honour him the more. Nor is this in the Scripture any strange kind of language. Rebecka called her Servant, Sir, or Lord; and Marie Magdalen used the same style to our Saviour, john. 20. taking him at that time for a Gardener. And although this name be due unto our Saviour both manner of ways, and may well challenge this double title, though some call him only by the first, being desirous to honour and respect him, john. 4. john 5. as Regulus; Lord, come down before my son die: and as he that lay at the Fish-poole, and could not help himself, Lord I have no man, etc. Others, john. 10. by both; as Saint Thomas, Domine mî, & Deus mî. And the Centurion believing through Faith, that he was God and Man, on the one part passable and fatigable, and on the other, impassable, and indefatigable: the one way he styles him Lord; the other, he entreats him, That he would spare himself that trouble, Noli vexari, or as the Greek hath it, Ne vexeris; which is all one with Ne fatigeris, Weary not thyself. God's Spirit the best Schoolmaster. Non enim sum dignus ut intres subtectum meum. I am not worthy thou shouldst come under my roof. Some will ask, Who taught this Captain so much Divinity in so short a time? 〈…〉. Ser. 1. 〈◊〉. Pope Leo answers hereunto, That where God is the Master, the Scholar quickly apprehendeth what is taught him, Cito dicitur, quod docetur. Saint Gregory telleth us, Greg. Hom. 30. in Emang. That the holy Ghost is such an excellent Artisan, that he hath no need of terms, and such and such times of standing, to create Doctors & Masters; as was to be seen in Saint Paul, and the good Thief. Petrus Chrysologus saith, Chrys. Ser. 15. That the like did succeed with this Soldier; and that of being a Centurion of the Roman Souldiarie, he became on the sudden a Captain of the Christian warfare, and began to teach before he knew well how to believe: And that the greatest Lights of the Church, repeat still that Lesson which he read the first day of his Faith. In a word, How easy a thing is it with God, to enrich the poor in an instant with his grace? Facile est in oculis Dei, subitò honestare pauperem, It is an easy thing in the sight of the Lord, suddenly to make a poor man rich. E●cles. 11.21. I am not worthy, etc. Before he said, Noli vexari, and now he gives the reason of it; telling our Saviour, That his house is not worthy the entertaining of so great a Guest. Words of as great faith, as humility: Of great Faith, by acknowledging this his divine Majesty, under this veil of his humane nature; Of great Humility, by confessing himself unworthy to receive into his house so much Virtue and Holiness. But here is to be noted, That there is a twofold humility; one of the understanding, another of the will: that of the understanding, whereby a man is brought to the true knowledge of his own unworthiness; that of the will, whereunto we readily yield of our own accords. To express this a little more plainly, There are some men that are humble, who are humbled by their own will; othersome become humble, being humbled by their fortune. That the humbled should be humble it is no great virtue; the greater wonder were, that he should grow proud upon it. But that Honour and Greatness should willingly humble itself, and of its own accord, Hoc regium est, This is an heroical virtue, and beseeming Kings. What a glory was it unto King David, that being so powerful and so rich a Prince as he was, that he should be more meek and humble than a child? Si non humiliter sentiebam, etc. What a commendation in john Baptist, so highly honoured both of Heaven and Earth, that he should confess himself unworthy to unlose the latchet of our Saviors' shoe? What shall we say of the Son of God, who being equal with his Father, willingly humbled himself to become his Servant; teaching others this lesson, Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart. What says the Preacher, The greater thou art, the lowlier be thy carriage. And for this is our Centurion here commended, being so great a Commander as he was; For I also am a man under authority, and I say to one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh. Saint Austen saith of him, That by confessing himself unworthy, Aug. Ser. 6. de Verb. Dom. he made himself more worthy: for there is no disposition so fit for the receiving of God, as that which acknowledgeth and confesseth it's own unworthiness. Amb. Ser. 89. And Saint Ambrose beating upon the same point, saith, That those houses which seemed too straight and too narrow to receive our Saviour Christ, were made large enough by confessing their unworthiness to receive him. But here doth that place of Saint Paul offer itself, He that shall eat of this Bread, and drink this Cup unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ. 1. Cor. 11. Now if he that receives Christ unworthily shall be held guilty of his body and blood; Shall not he much more be condemned, in confessing himself unworthy to receive him? I answer, That in the Communion there are two manner of dignities to be considered; one of the person which receiveth Christ our Saviour; the other of the disposition and preparation wherewith he receiveth him. Touching the first dignity, No man can receive Christ worthily; for the holiest, be he never so holy, is but a creature, and there is an infinite distance betwixt him and his Creator. But touching that other dignity, of preparation and disposition, a man may receive him worthily, by doing that which God commandeth us to do for the better receiving of him. A Husbandman can hardly receive his King worthily, in respect of his house, and his person, by reason of the great disequality between them; but in respect of his preparation, doing that which he is commanded to do on his part, as to see the house be clean, and every thing in good order; so may he receive him worthily. Sed tantum dic verbo, & sanabitur Puer meus. Only say the word, and my Servant shall be whole. Sir, trouble not yourself, in coming to a House unworthy so great a favour, But half a word from your mouth will be sufficient to cure my Servant. Yet doth he not hereby signify that his word was necessary, since that without his word, and without his coming, his will was sufficient: and all this did the Centurion's Faith procure; but he would signify thereby, that it was in his power to do it, and that very easily; and it is an ordinary phrase amongst us to say, It is but a word speaking. Saint Chrysostome indeereth the modesty, and courteous carriage of this Captain, that he bearing that great love to his Servant, that he was as sensible of this his sickness, and the danger he was in, as if the case had been his own: He did not desire any indecent thing of our Saviour, nor lash out into passion, transported by his affection; but proceeded therein with great prudence and sobriety, not only having a care to that which was fitting for his servant, but with what respect also, and reverence, he was to carry himself towards our Saviour Christ. The Centurions Faith. Only say the word, etc. From hence Chrysostome proveth, That the Centurion did believe the Divinity of Christ: For if he had thought him to be but a Saint, and not a God, he would have said, I pray Sir speak a good word for me; but he useth not that phrase of speech, but, That himself would command him to be whole. But it is to be noted, That though all the ancient Saints do grant, That the Centurion believed that Christ was both God and man; yet Gregory Nazianzen, Saint Chrysostome, and Saint Austen, do note, That speaking absolutely of doing a miracle, with empire and command, is not prenda, that is, a token of God only; for any man may do the like, to whom God shall give the power. If thou hadst (saith our Saviour) but so much faith as a grain of mustard seed, thou mightst command mountains to remove, and they shall obey thee: But to work a miracle, commanding the same to be done by his own proper power & virtue, that is a token of God's power only. And that the Centurion pretended this, it is proved, first, by the great courtesy used by him, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof; which was as mannerly as any man could speak it. Secondly, because a Saint may very well do miracles, and by commandment too, but so, that he must have this power from God: but withal, it shall not be lawful for any man to crave them in that kind; for the power of doing miracles is never so tied to the will of any Saint, that he may work miracles where and when he will himself. Thirdly, the comparison used by the Centurion, proveth the supreme power to reside in Christ our Saviour. Name & ego homo sum, sub potestate constitulus, i. For I also am a man put in authority, etc. Thou Lord hast soldiers, so have I; thou with absolute power, I with subordinate; these obey me punctually, who am but an Emperor's Vicegerent; what shall those thee, Hier. Mat. 8. Orig. Hom. 15. in diverse. Chrys. Hom. 27. who art above all the Kings and Emperors of the earth? Saint Hierome and Origen understand by God's soldiers, the Angels, (whom the Scripture calls his Ministers) by whom he works his miracles. Saint Chrysostome understands by these soldiers, death, life, sickness, and health. Saint Luke says, He rebuked the Fever: the words are short, but full; but it is clear, that all the creatures of God whatsoever, are God's Ministers. For as he hath command over the Angels, death, life, sickness, health, the seas, and the winds; Quis hic, quia venti & mare obediunt ei? Who is this, that the winds and the sea obey him? So he commandeth they should be called his soldiers, because they execute his will. From these words, Sub potestate constitutus, this morality may be drawn, No honour but hath it burden. That every subordinate dignity implieth subjection and heaviness: I call it subordinate, being compared with a greater Monarch, under whose command the person subordinate lives; which Doctrine is so plain, that it is proved daily by a thousand experiences: and the power of Christ himself was subordinate to that of his Father; so says Esay, Cuius imperium super humerum eius, Esay. ●. i. Whose government is upon his shoulder: so that there is not any honour which hath not a burden with it, which many times makes the heart of man to ache and groan under it. Miratus est Iesus Fidem Centurionis. jesus admired the Centurions Faith. Aug. Epis. 101. add Exod. Admiration (as Saint Austen saith) proceedeth either from the ignorance of the cause of a thing, or from the singularity of it. In Christ could there neither be the one nor the other; for he did not only know the faith of the Centurion, but had also been the author thereof; Quis fecerat ipsam fidem, (saith Saint Austen) nisi ipse qui mirabatur? i. Who had caused that faith, but he that did admire it? So that it seemeth, Aug. li. 1. de gen. Cont. Manich. c. 8. that this admiration is a commendation which our Saviour gave of the Captains' faith. For to admire a thing even amongst profane Authors, is an extraordinary kind of commending it. For Christ had seen by a blessed and infused knowledge, that faith which was hidden in the heart of the Centurion; but because he did manifest the same in his presence, admiring it, he commended it; and therefore it is said, Miratus est, He admired. Saint Austen on the other side distinguisheth Admiration from Commendation. Some things (saith he) are commended, but not admired; others are both commended and admired. Christ perceiving this his faith, by admiring it did commend it; not for any interior admiration that was in himself; but to confirm and establish ours: For all the world might well wonder, to see so great faith in a Soldier. Suiting with that which Saint Austen saith in another place, Aust. li. de gen. cont. Manich. cap. 8. That Christ had shown some motions and signs of admiration, without perturbation: being motions and signs of a Master, whereby he read a lecture unto us, that we should do the like. Thomas puts upon our Saviour, Scientiam experimentalem, Th. 3. p. q. 1●. an experimental knowledge, and consequently, an experimental admiration. And albeit by a blessed and infused kind of knowledge he did know all things, and that his wisdom could not err; yet it is said of him, That he increased in knowledge, He went onwards in wisdom and in stature. So that his admiring of the Centurion's faith, was not so much his knowing of any wonderful and singular thing, but an experimental knowledge thereof; as that of the ginger, who knows before hand that there shall be such an eclipse; yet notwithstanding when it comes he admires it. So that our Saviour having this experimental knowledge, the admiration could not be so great as otherwise it would have been, had he not foreknown it. But some man perhaps will say, I do not see any such rare circumstances in the Faith and words of the Centurion, as should cause in us any great admiration; for I do not see him shed tears with Marie Magdalen, nor adore him with the knee, with Regulus, nor clamour him with importunity, with the Cananite, etc. I answer, Will ye expect this courtship from a soldier and a swordman? Let jeremy and Daniel weep; for a soldier, it sufficeth that he make a discreet, short, and full Prayer, stuffed with so much love, hope, and humility, as the Centurions was. joshuah that great Captain, with a Ne movearis lengthened out the Sun, with those short words. From a Captain transported with a holy zeal, will you look for Eloquence? flowers of Rhetoric? Are tears so soon drawn from a soldier's eyes? tenderness from his heart? and bowing from his knees? let not these niceties and ceremonious curiosities prejudice our Centurions plain language, and unhewn behaviour; it was much to be commended in him, that he could so much. In a delicate Garden, where Art hath showed its utmost, ye shall meet with Roses, Gillyflowers, and Fountains of Alabaster and jasper; but thou wilt not so much admire this, as if thou shouldst light on these dainties in a Desert, or in some craggy Mountain, where the hand of nature shall overdo that of art and Industry. Non inveni tantam fidem in Israel. I have not found so great Faith, no not in Israel. Christ turned about to the company that were desirous to see the miracle, and said, I have not found so great Faith, no not in Israel; not only among the Gentiles, to whom the Captain belonged, but to the jews, who expected a Messias. This was a great commendation of the Centurion, Aust. Ser. 74. de Temp. and a severe reprehension to the jews, and no small exhortation to those that were to succeed them. Tantam fidem, So much Faith; Saint Austen renders it, Tam magnam fidem, So great Faith. Faith how said to be great. A man's Faith may be said to be great, or little; First in regard of believed truths, and so he that believes the more truths, hath the more Faith. Secondly in respect of the difficulty: and so he that believes things of a higher nature, and which exceed humane capacity, has the greater Faith. Christ told his Disciples, That they were Modicae fidei, Men of little faith, because they thought he could better save them waking, Mat. 8. than sleeping. And those servants of the Archisinagogue, believing our Saviour could have cured the maid while she was yet alive, but that he could not raise her up being dead, said, Trouble not thyself, the maid is dead. Regulus had the like belief, Come down before my son be dead. Thirdly, in consideration of the arguments and reasons for it: for Faith runs a contrary course to Knowledge: This is the greater and more perfect, the more it is strengthened by force of argument, and the more known demonstrations are made of it: That, the lesser & weaker they are. And therefore Christ taxeth the jews, that they would not believe without miracles, Unless ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe. Fourthly, because of its firmness, and its constancy; for that Faith which endureth most persecutions, temptations, and contradictions, is so much the greater. To the Cananitish woman our Saviour said, O woman, great is thy Faith: for being beaten with so many put-by's, & disgraces, like a rock she stood strongly to it, & could not be removed. But for those that believe at certain times, but in time of temptation yield and give off, of them our Saviour saith, That they have but small store of Faith. In every one of these kinds so great was the Centurion's Faith, That our Saviour said of him, Non inveni tantam fidem, I have not found so much Faith, etc. First of all, he did believe, That he could heal his Servant, who now lay at the point of death. Not like the Father, who having his son possessed with a Devil, spoke doubtingly to our Saviour Christ, Si quid potes, adjuva me, Mark. 9 If thou canst do any thing, help me. Secondly, he did believe, That he was able to cure him only by his word, or to speak better, by his Will only. Not like the Archisynagoguian, who desired him, That he would lay his hand upon his daughter. Thirdly, he did believe, That he could cure him though he were absent. Math. 9 Not like Regulus, who was earnest with him, to make all the hast he could unto his house, before his son were dead. Nor like Martha, who said, Domine, si fuisses hic frater meus non fuisset mortuus, Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died. Fourthly, he did believe, That our Saviour was God and Man. john. 5. Not like those that said, Homo cum sis, facis teipsum Deum, Thou art a man, & makest thyself a God. Saint Hierome seems to be of opinion, That this his Faith did not reach so far as the mystery of the Trinity: but it was much, Hiero. lib. adder's. Lusif. that such a freshwater Soldier should on the sudden attain to the highest of that knowledge. Great likewise was his Faith in regard of the difficulty. What greater difficulty, than to believe, That that man, on the one side so passable and subject to pain, was on the other side so powerful and impassable? This was it that was foolishness to the Gentiles, and a scandal to the jews. It was likewise great, in regard of those slender arguments and reasons to move him thereunto: For he had neither read the Scriptures, nor the Prophecies that were of him, nor did know Christ, but by the fame & report that went of him, nor had seen many of his miracles, for Christ had not then done many. As it is noted by Saint Chrysostome. Chrisost. Hom. 22. Imper●. It was also great, in regard of its firmness and constancy, as Origen hath observed; for our Saviour proved and tried him, as he did Abraham, and as he did the woman of Canaan, when he said Ego veniam & curabo eum, I will come and heal him. This was a great proof of his Faith, but he was as firm as the Rock; so that in every one of these respects his Faith was great. If any man shall ask, How great (I pray) was this Faith of his? I answer, Greater than Christ found in the People of Israel, to whom he had preached, and for whose sake he had wrought so many miracles. Tertullian declareth this greatness of Faith in that manner, that the comparison cutteth not off the patriarchs already past, nor the Israelites to come; but extendeth itself only to those that were present, whose Faith he had made trial of. Secondly, for that it ran greater difficulty than that of his Apostles and Disciples; in regard of those less forcible arguments and reasons to lead him thereunto; as also in respect of that small pains that had been taken with him: For Christ sought after his Apostles and Disciples, and took them from their Trades and occupations, manifesting his glory unto them. According to that of Saint john, Manifestavit gloriam suam, & crediderunt discipuli eius, He manifested his glory, and his Disciples believed. But the Centurion was invited only by his Faith, to acknowledge Christ, and to believe truly in him. Lastly, his Faith was greater in its proportion; As our Saviour said, That the mustard-plant was greater for its proportion, than all the other trees of the field: so by the way of proportion was the Centurion's faith, in regard that he was a soldier, an unlettered man, as also in respect of those few miracles which he had seen, in comparison of the jews. Amen dieo vobis, quod multi ab Oriente venient. The calling of the Gentiles. Verily I say unto you, many shall come from the East. Here he foretelleth the conversion of the Gentiles, and the reprobation of the jews; many times forespecified by the Prophets, by fitting metaphors; as going out of dry Deserts, into Pools & Rivers of water; from amidst bushes and thorns, into green fields & pleasing meadows. When the waters of jordan were driven back, twelve stones were taken out of the bed of that River, for a memorial of that so famous a miracle; and twelve other put there in their plae: so that the wet stones became dry, and the dry wet; which was a type and a figure, that many sons should be cast down into the dungeon prepared for slaves, and many Slaves should enjoy the liberty and freedom of children and sons: According to that of Deuteronomie, The Stranger shall come to be Lord, and the Lord become his servant, Deut. 28. v. 43. Aduena erit sublimior, The Stranger shall be the nobler. Sicut credidisti fiat tibi, & sanatus est puer ex illa hora. Be it unto thee as thou hast believed. To him that hath but so much Faith as a grain of mustardseed, our Saviour hath promised so much power, that he shall be able to remove mountains: Mat. 1●. Si habueritis tantam fidem sicut granum synapis, etc. instancing in mountains, for that to change & remove them from place to place, is amongst the number of those things that are held to be impossible; Qui confidunt in Domino, sicut Mons Sion non commovebitur, He that trusteth in the Lord shall be like Mount Zion, which cannot be removed. When one man will to another represent an impossibility, he will say, Thou wilt as soon be able to remove yonder Mountain. Now then, if to so small a Faith such great things are promised, to that the Centurion's Faith, which was so great, it was not much, that our Saviour Christ should grant him so small a courtesy, as the recovery of his sick Servant. THE THIRD SERMON, ON THE FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY. MAT. 5. Audistis, quia dictum est Antiquis. Ye have heard, how it was said to them of Old. Our Saviour Christ treating of the reforming of the Law, Nothing but disorder in this world. spoilt and defaced by the false Glosses and lying Comments of the Pharisees, for so those words seem to infer, Non veni soluere Legem, sed adimplere, (i) I came not to dissolve the Law, but to fulfil it: And (as Saint Chrysostome noteth it) promising greater, and more excellent rewards in the Law of Grace, than the Written Law; it was fit that those Laws should be so much the more perfect, to the end that the means might be answerable to the end; and the greater the work, the greater the reward. In this vast Commonwealth of the world, all is disorder; the Palm is not given to the activest, nor the Victory to the valiantest, nor Honour to the wisest; Vidi seruos in equis, I have seen slaves on horseback, etc. but in God's Kingdom, he bears away the Garland that fighteth best. But to come a little nearer to the point, After that he had reform six important points of the Law, (as it is treated elsewhere more at large) he comes to the Love of our Enemies, which is such a seeming monster to man, and carries such a fiery look with it, that it hath much affrighted the world. Dictum est Antiquis, It was said to them of Old. The Law was ever to the Delinquent, as painful as strict; and as they that find themselves kerbed by some penalty, seek by all means either to break it, or ●o comment thereupon, as may make best for their purpose, (a course too common with Heretics:) So again is this course of theirs crossed by those names which the Scripture gives unto the Law. Ecclesiasticus calls it Alligaturam salutis, The Ribond or bend of Salvation, wherewith the blood is staunched, and the orifice closed and shut up. But he that is thus let blood, the more foolish he is, is ever the more impatient, complaining, That it wrings him too hard, & desires to slacken, if not undo it. Solomon in his Prou. styles it thus, A chain for thy neck. But the impatient man when the collar fits closer to his neck than he would have it, thrusts in his fingers between, to stretch it wider and make it more easy; the Felon to get himself fre●, falls to the filing off his Irons▪ and the Slave, the ring of Iron that he bears about his neck. Moses calls it Testimonium, a Testimony. Deut. saith, That the Book of the Law was appointed to be put in one of the corners of the Ark of the Testament, Deut. 32. That it might remain there as a Court●rol or evidence against thee, & as a Lieger-booke of Laws and Statutes, whereby to pronounce Sentence against thee. And as Moses, for the love that he bore unto the People broke those tables, as he came down the Mountain, wherein was the written Law, by the virtue and tenure whereof, there should not a man of them have been left alive that had committed Idolatry. So the ancient Doctors, straightened by the rigour and strictness of the Law, did go stretching and enlarging it at their pleasure. And there fore it is said, They have scattered the Law; or (as another Translation hath it) They have enlarged it. Deut. 33. The Law was of fire, In his right hand is a fiery Law; and being burnt with the flames thereof, they went about to quench it with the water of their Glosses. The wine of the Law was strong, and therefore they would mix it with the water of their Comments and their Lies; Thy Wine is mingled with water. Saint Paul speaketh a little plainer, and says, Adulterantes Verbum Dei, Esay 1. Adulterating the Word of God; the Greek word is Cauponantes, Giving it a dash▪ a kind of Vintners, who by watering the Wine of God's Word, take away it's strength and life. And if Vzza, but for touching the Ark wherein the Law was, were suddenly death-strucken, What may they then expect, who deface & destroy the Law itself? Christ in defence of his Doctrine, said, I spoke openly to the World; for the which he was buffeted & smitten on the face by a base rascal: our Saviour signifying thereby, That he puts into one & the self same balance, the buffetting of his face, and the abusing of his Doctrine. Where by the way I would have you consider, That the worst of this fault consists not in the defacing only of the Law, but in making the Gloss the Text; and of mere naughtiness, a Law. God complains by jeremy, That they did offer their sons and daughters to Moloch, Hier. 7. in imitation of Abraham's Sacrifice; the circumstance of committing of so great a cruelty in his House, & in his Temple, made the case more foul: for this was to make God the cloak of their abominations, and to baptise their Idolatry with the name of his service. Sin ever most odious when masked with Religion When Pilate was to pronounce Sentence of death against our Saviour, he said, I find nothing in him that deserveth it, etc. But then the jews cried out, We have a Law, and according to that Law he ought to die; though there could be no law to take away the life of one that was innocent. Exceeding great was their wickedness in taking away of his life, but much more in making this their wickedness a Law. It was a great sin in Saul, to preserve out of covetousness the Herds and Flocks of Amalec; but a greater fault, to make of his covetousness, Obedience & Sacrifice. The Heretic foundeth his Heresy upon the Scripture; the Lawyer his unjust sentence upon the Law. And as a green glass, the beams of the Sun passing through it, makes all to seem green; so the Flesh turneth to it's own colour the Laws of God, & preacheth as a Law from God, That we should hate our enemy. Whence Irenaus inferreth, That such Doctors as these are worse than the Devil: for when the Devil tempted our Saviour Christ, he did not allege a false Text, but a true, though ill interpreted; but these Doctors do quote lies: Prophetae tui prophetabant mendacium, & populus applaudebat manibus, Thy Prophets preached lies, and the people applauded them for it. It was said to them of old. Antiquity hath been held the Fountain of all good things, but more partcularly of Wisdom. And therefore God commanded his People to take this for their guide and Master, viz. Thou shalt not pass the ancient bounds; inquire of the days of old; Remember the times that were long agone. And the most ancient were ever held as the treasuries of evidences, Deut. 32.33. and the Rolls of Records. The famousest men of the world have sought out the ancientest for their Instructors; for, In antiquis est sapientia, & multo tempore, prudentia. And for this cause could Solomon say, Do not ye ask, why the former times were better; for this is a foolish question: First, because in respect of wisdom, Eccl. 7. that is not said in our times, which was not said before; Nothing can be said, which hath not been said already. The Comic could say, Eccl. 1. There is no new thing under the Sun: and Solomon, Nor is any man able to say, This is but now come forth. Secondly, In regard of all other good things: for it is manifest, that the former times were the better; for there is no wise man that doth not bewail the present. Deuteronomie complaineth, That the times were ill and perverse, and the People foolish, and ill given. Saint john, That wickedness was grown to its height, In maligno est omne, etc. In a word, there is not any Ecclesiastical Historian, nor Civil, which doth not lament the wickedness of his Times. 1. Ep. joh. ca 2. Plautus' commending Wit, compares it to Wine, which the older it is, the better it is. Many Authors are not now reckoned of, which shall grow famous two hundred years hence: & many Painters get not that commendation they deserve, & only because they are modern. Michael Angelo hid an Image in certain ancient buildings; for he knew if it were presently discovered, they would have praised it for an excellent old piece of times past, till they had seen his name, which he had set thereunto. This Doctrine is very plain, making the comparison from the time of every one of those Laws, Natural, Written, and that of Grace; wherein they were best in their beginnings. But if the comparison be general for all times whatsoever; howbeit in the order natural the former were the better, because all things grow old, and wax worse and worse, as is to be seen in Plants, Beasts, & Men: yet in the order supernatural, those times are the better, which Saint Paul calleth the latter: For although God did many great favours in those former Ages, yet all of them put together did not come near to the Incarnation and death of Christ, and those his blessed Sacraments. And therefore Esay said, Ne memineritis priorum, & antiqua, ne intuamini, (i) Do not so much admire those things that were done in former times; for they are all as it were clouded and obscured by these that we now presently enjoy. And this is proved now at this day by the perfection of the Law; for antiquity did admit the Law of a man's righting of himself, when he was wronged; of loving his friend, and hating his enemy: but this is now controlled and reform. Diliges amicum tuum. Thou shalt love thy friend. This is a part of that commandment, That we should love our neighbour; and may seem to be taken out of the nineteenth of Leviticus, where it is said, Thou shalt love thy friend: Whence Lyra presumeth they drew that contrary argument of hating their enemy. This former part seemeth to be superfluous; First, because Nature left not any thing so deeply engraven in man's heart, as to love him that loveth us: And therefore a needless commandment to impose those things upon us, whereunto we have a natural appetite. What need we will a man to love himself, or a father to affect his children? And it being a natural inclination in us, to love those that love us, why should this be given us in charge? Diliges amicum tuum. Secondly, every man naturally loves himself. Nemo unquam carnem suam odio habuit. And therefore God doth not command that I should love myself. And my friend is my second self; Aug. Epist. 14.4. Cons. c. 6. or (as Saint Austen hath it) Dimidium animae meae, i. The half of my Soul. And therefore it was no necessary command, Diliges amicum tuum. Thirdly, those things that are most precious, and most rare, which have most reasons for amability, as Profit, Honour, Delight, and Honesty, it is not needful that we should be willed to love them. And as Laertius relates it from Socrates, The World hath not any thing more precious and more lovely than a Friend. Besides, our Saviour saith, Where our Treasure is, there is our Heart. And our Friend being so rich and precious a Treasure, he must of force steal away our Heart from us, and therefore superfluous is that speech, Diliges amicum tuum. Fourthly, the essence of friendship consisteth in reciprocal love, as it is determined by Thomas, Th. 1.2. q. 6. Art. 5. Dam. li. 2.3. paral. c. 105. and Damascene. And therefore love is painted with two keys, in token that it did open and shut to two hearts. And therefore superfluous, Diliges amicum tuum. Hereunto I answer, That man's heart being left to its own natural inclination, it will doubtless render love for love. But since that the Devil did root out that good Seed and sowed Tares therein, we see, that in the most natural and strictest obligations, sometimes there grows dis-love. As in brother against brother, father against son, son against father, and in the wife against her husband, etc. What thing more natural, than to give our heart unto God, for those general benefits of Creator, Redeemer, and Conserver; and for many other particulars, which cannot be summed up? And yet the Devil doth blot them out of our hearts, and sows in stead thereof so many ingratitudes, as Heaven stands astonished thereat. Though therefore it be a natural thing to love our friend, Nam & Ethnici hoc faciunt, i. For even the Heathens do this, Yet the Devil soweth a kind of hatred in our hearts, so abhorrible to nature, that feigned friendship, comes to be doubled malice. And the world is so far gone in this case, that it is now held as strange, as happy, that one friend should truly love another. Hence is it, that the Scripture makes so many invectives against false friends. Eccl. 6.8. Prou. 16.29. Ecclesiasticus saith, There is a friend for his own occasion, & will not abide in the day of thy trouble. Solomon saith, Vir iniquus tentat amicum suum, i. A violent man enticeth his neighbour. In that chapter of false and true friendship, so many things are there spoken touching false friends, as very well prove, that commandment was not superfluous, Diliges amicum tuum. And that which Chrysostome says, doth much favour this doctrine; for that one of the reasons why God commanded man to love his enemy, was to afford matter of love to the Will, for friends are so rare and so few, that it would remain idle and vain, if we should not love our enemies. Odio habebis inimicum tuum. Thou shalt hate thy enemy. Irenaeus, Saint Basil, Saint Ambrose, Saint Chrysostome, Ire●. li. 4. c. 27. Bas. Hom. in Psal. 14. Amb. Ser. 5. in Psal. 118. Chrys. Hom. 16 Hier. epist. ad H●●●t. Epiphanius, and Hilary, hold, That this Law was permissive, like the libel of Divorce, Ad duritiam cordis vestri, i. For the hardness of your heart. So that a less evil is permitted for the avoiding of a greater. And therefore Saint Austen saith, That God never permitted that we should hate our enemy, but his sin; As thou dost hate the shadow of a figtree, or the walnut, and yet regardest an image that is made of the wood thereof: Tertul. li. de Patient. Epiph. Her. 33. Hil. Can. 4. in Mat. Aug. li. 19 Contr. Fa●s. c. 24. Aug. S●r. 59 de Temp. to. 10. or as thou takest the ring of a fire-pan by that part which is cold, and fliest from that which is hot and will burn thy hands. In like sort thou must love thy enemy, as he is the image of God, and hate him as he is a sinner. And in another place the same Doctor saith, That God put it in the singular number, Odio habebis inimicum tuum, i. Thou shalt hate thy enemy; signifying thereby, that we should hate the Devil, but not our brother. And that we err in this our hate: for it is no wisdom in us, to hate our enemy who doth us so much good, but the Devil who doth us so much harm. First then, I say, That this Law is not of God; for God is Love, 1. john· 1. as Saint john saith; and Love cannot make a Law of dis-love. Secondly, it is not pleasing unto God; for the Scripture being so full of those good things, that he did for his enemies, only to stir up man's heart, to divine Love; he would not command us to hate them. Saint Paul saith, Heb. 12. That the blood of Christ speaks better things, than that of Abel. For this cryeth for vengeance, that for pardon and forgiveness. The blood of a dead man is wont to discover the murderer, his wounds bleeding afresh; one while it naturally calleth for revenge; another, it boyles and breaks forth into flames at the very presence of the murderer; another, while the vital spirits which the murderer left in the wounds, return to their natural place, and with great force gush forth afresh. But be it as it may be, I am sure the blood of Christ speaketh better things than that of Abel; for this discovereth the murderer; and that, in the presence of those that crucified him, prayed unto God to forgive them, as not knowing what they did. Thirdly, that it was contrary to God's intention. In Exodus, he commanded, that he that should meet with an Ox of his enemies that was like to perish, or an Ass that was haltered & entangled, he should help both the one, & the other. Now he that wills us to be thus friendly to a beast, what would he we should do to the owner thereof? Nunquid Deo est cura de bobus, Hath God care of Oxen? In Deut. God commanded, Deut. 2.3. Cle. Alex. lib. 2. Strom. that they should not hate the Idumean nor the Egyptian; who (according to Clemens Alexandrinus) were their notorious enemies. In the Prou. it is said, When thy enemy falleth, rejoice not at his overthrow: For God may exchange fortunes, and his tears may come to thy eyes, and thy joy to his heart. And Eccl. tells us, He that seeketh vengeance shall find vengeance. Prou. 24. Eccl. 28. Psal. 7. Tob. 4. And those that have been possessed with the Spirit of God, have much endeared this Theme, as David, job, Tobias, and diverse others. Fourthly, it is against the law of Nature: I ask thee, if thine enemy should be appointed to be thy judge, thou having offended the Law, wouldst thou not hold it an unreasonable thing? and wilt thou then be judge of thine own wrongs? God is only a competent judge In causis proprijs, i. In his own matters. The rest, is force and violence. 2. Reg. 21.5. The Gibeonites held themselves wronged by Saul, complained grievously thereof unto David: David demanded of them, Quid faciam vobis, i. What shall I do unto you? They replied, Non est nobis super argento & auro quaestio, i. Our question is not about Silver and Gold. What is it then (said he) that you would have? Virum qui attrivit nos, & oppressit inique, ita deleredebemus, ut neque unus quidem residuus ●it de stirpe eius in cunctis finibus Israel, i. The man that consumed us, him would we so destroy, that not one should be left of his stock in all the borders of Israel. Revenge beelongs only to God. That there might not so much as a cat or a dog be left alive of the house of Saul. But where revenge is so full of rage, and runs mad as it were, it is good to take the sword out of their hand, and that no man may have authority to revenge his own wrongs, be the cause never so just and holy. 3. Reg. 18. Elias slew four hundred Prophets, it was God's cause: but God did not give him leave to kill jesabel, who had done himself such wrong. Saint Peter sentenced Ananias and Saphira, but not Herod, who imprisoned him, and condemned him to death. David did not take vengeance of Shimei, for fear he should have exceeded therein, as also for that it was causa propria, his own cause. The Law of Nature tells us, Quod tibi nonuis, alteri ne feceris, Do not that to another, which thou wouldst not have done to thyself. Tobias notified the same to his son, Quod ab alio oderis, fieri tibi vide ne tu aliquando facias. Eccl. ●1. And Ecclesiasticus, Learn from thyself what is fit for thy neighbour. Our Saviour Christ hath set us down the same rule by Saint Matthew, and by Saint Luke: Innumerable Philosophers have repeated the like Lesson. Ma●▪ 7. Laertius reporteth of Aristotle, That giving an alms to one that had done him many injuries, told him, Nature, not thy naughtiness, makes me to pity thee. There was amongst the Romans a Marcus Marcellus, that pleaded in the Senate for his Accusers; A Tiberius Gracchus, a mortal enemy of the Scipio's, who during that their enmity, defended them in the public Theatre: A Marcus Bibulus, who having two of his sons slain by the Gabiani, and Cleopatra sending the murderers unto him, returned them back again without doing them any harm; In Athens a Plato, Plut. li. de Vtilab inimi. capienda. Senec. lib. 1. de Clem Basil. Hom. ad Adolesc. Chrys. Hom. 80. in Mat. whom his scholar Xenocrates accusing of diverse scandalous things, said, It is not possible, That him whom I love should not love me again. A Photion, who dying unjustly by poison, and being asked when he had the cup i● his hand, What service he would command them to his son? answered, That he should never think more of this cup, but study to forget it. Many the like are related by Plutarch, Seneca, Saint Basil, and Saint Chrysostome. Lastly, This being no Law of God, neither as he is the Author of Grace, nor as the Author of Nature, it must needs be of the Devil, as Origen inferreth. For he seeing that God had engraven in man's heart the law of love, standing (out of his pride) in competition with God, he engraved dis-love, and left it so imprinted in the hearts of many, that albeit for these many Ages, God hath hammered both Angels and Saints upon this Anuile, he could never bring them to softness. The occasion that might move those ancient Doctors to this Law, was, either for that God had commanded Saul, that he should destroy Amalec; or the vengeance that he took of Pharaoh and his People; or that of Leviticus, Pursue your enemies, and they shall fall before you: as if to enter into a just war, by order from God, might allow a man to do the like to his brother out of his own will and pleasure: Or, for that it is commanded in Leviticus, Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself: Or, as Nicholaus de Lyra hath notedit, That they draw this consequence from Aristotle, Arist. 1. Top. cap. 8. Si amicis bene faciendum est; consequens est, ut inimicis sit malefaciendum: If we must do good to our friends, then consequently we must do ill to our enemies. Thou shalt hate thy enemy. Whence it is to be noted, That that Law which gave them licence to hate their enemy, does not give them leave to kill him: though the Devil many times likes better of a mortal hatred, and a desire of revenge, than the death of a man. For Hatred is that Loadstone which draws other sins along with it; but the kill of a man doth usually bring repentance with it, for the many disasters that attend it. judas till he had driven his bargain for the betraying of his Master, had delivered up his heart to the Devil; but that was no sooner performed, but he repented himself of what he had done. Saint Chrysostome calls hatred Homicidium voluntarium. Some seem to sin merely out of nature, (for custom is another nature) and these that thus sin, sin without a will or desire of sinning; but he that hates, must of force sin with all his heart. Ego autem dico vobís, Diligite inimicos vestros. But I say unto you, Love your enemies. Cries. Serm. 65 Petrus Chrysologus treating of the profoundness of the Scripture, saith, That though a volume should be written upon every word, it were not able to contain all the mysteries belonging thereunto. What shall we say then to this word Ego, whose extent and birth is so great, that none can qualify it but God▪ None knows the Father but the Son, nor the Son, but the Father; he alone can tell what it is. The son for to repair the affront and infamy of his death, said to his Father, Clarifica me Pater, Father glorify me: And Saint Ambrose hath noted it; Ambr. 4. the fid. cap. 6. That the original word there saith, Opinion & Credit, rather than Glory; as if he should have said, I have gotten thee (o Father) among men an opinion of being the true God, requite me therefore in gracing me to be thy Son, for only thou canst do me this honour. The mouths of men and Angels shall talk of his praise, but are notable to express the greatness of this attribute, Ego. The immensive greatness of the sea is to be seen in this, that so many Rivers and Fountains issuing out of it, they do not only not empty it, and draw it dry, but do not so much as lessen it or diminish it one jot. Ego, ever since the beginning of the world, hath been the Theme of the Angels, Prophets, Evangelists, & the Saints, but could never come to the depth of it. Damasus did shut up in seven verses forty four names belonging to this word, Ego. From hence we will first of all draw the authority of the Lawgiver. If the authority of Kings and Emperors be so great, that their subjects at their command adventure upon many foolish and desperate actions; How much greater is that of God? Fulgosus in his Book de Rebus memorabilibus, reporteth, Fulg. li. 1. cap. 1. That a Prince of Syria endearing to Henry Count of Campania (who was come thither upon an Embassage) the obedience of his soldiers; calling to one who was Sentinel to a Tower, that he should speedily come unto him, presently leapt down from off the battlements. If a Scipio's, Si ego iussero (If I shall command you) could prevail so much with his men, What shall God's Ego do? who melteth the Mountains like wax, (The Mountains did melt away like wax, Psal. 58. before the face of the Lord) taketh away the breath of Princes, and commandeth the sea and the winds, and they obey: Quis est hic, quia venti & mare obediunt ei? Who is ihis, Mat. 8. that the winds and the sea obey him? who with an Ego sum draweth honey out of stones, and oil out of the hard rock. But I say unto you. ay, that am the Master of the world, who came to reform the Law, and to unfold the dark places of Scripture; I, that am Via Veritatis & Vitae, The way of Truth and Life; I, that desire more your good than yourselves: For I know how much it importeth you to love your enemies; and that he that blotteth this love out of your hearts, robbeth you of a wonderful rich treasure. I am the Lord that teacheth profitable things, and governs thee in the way: Esay 48. it is I (I say) that say unto you, Love your enemies. Abraham did forget the bowels of a Father, Gen. 1●. Quia Maiestatem praecipientis consideravit, Because he considered the Majesty of him that commanded. Christ our Saviour doth counterpone his authority to that of the Lawgivers' of this Law, Dictum est antiquis, Is was said to them of Old. You have believed lying Lawgivers', who prescribe it unto you as a Law, Thou shalt hate thy enemy. But give you credit unto me, for I am a true Law giver? It is a hard case, that truth should be in less esteem than lying▪ Heaven, than Earth; the true God, than false Gods. But though they lie never so much at thee to hate thine enemy, I shall never leave beating it into your breasts, That you love your enemy. Laban when he pursued jacob came very eagerly upon him at the first, with a Valet manus mea reddere malum pro malo, Gen. 31. & ibi. Pet. Comest●r. I am able to return evil for evil; but his courage was quickly cooled, with a Cave, ne quidquam durius loquaris contra jacob▪ beware thou speak not hardly against jacob; For the God of Jacob's father had charged him to the contrary. Where it is to be noted out of the Text, That Laban did not say, My God, but, The God of his father. Whence I make this conclusion, That if he that doth not take me for his God (for Laban was, you know, an Idolater) shall obey my command, and not be his own carver in his revenge, What ought a Christian to do? S, Chrysostom seemeth to be much grieved, that in matter of injuries and revenging of wrongs, the World, the Flesh, and the Devil should do more with us than God, to whom only vengeance belongeth. What will not the Purse do with some? with othersome, the entreaty of a great Person? David's soldiers fingers itched, & would fain have set upon Saul, when they had him cubed up in the cave: but Confregit illos sermonibus, He detained them, and won them with good words, to let him alone; which they did not so much for God's sake, as for David's. But I say unto you. Many presume so much on themselves, that they will not stick to suffer martyrdom, if occasion should be offered, and have sometime even sought after it: But that poor little valour which they experiment in themselves in matter of suffering and pardoning of injuries, may bewray this their error unto them. For, as Saint Gregory saith, He that shall faint in suffering an injury, Quid faceret in dolore poenarum? What will he do in the midst of torment? can he suffer the straining of the Rack, or the rage of fire, that cannot endure a hard word, Simon. Met. Tom. 1. de S. Niceph. or brook a slight injury? Simon Metaphrastes reporteth of Sapricius, That he would not pardon Nicephorus his enemy, no, though he had oftentimes asked him forgiveness on his knees. He was not long after apprehended in Antiochia for a Christian, he was condemned, and carried forth to be martyred; and in the way Nicephorus returns again to entreat his pardon, but could not obtain it. Being brought to the place of martyrdom, he fainted and flew back, causing therewith so great a sorrow in Nicephorus, that he cried out aloud, I am a Christian▪ and will die in his place. But I say unto you. S. Ambr. expounding that place of S. Paul, Datus est mihi etc. A Goad was given me in the flesh, understandeth by this prick, the persecutions of his enemies; Carnis meae, that is, of mine own Kindred and Country. And Cajetan addeth, That this prick was so necessary for the Apostles salvation, that without it he had been damned. When Saul understood that David had given him his life, said, I know now assuredly, that thou shalt reign over Israel. And very well doth that man deserve a Crown, not only here on earth, but in heaven, who spareth his enemy's life. But I say unto you. Anciently Lex Talionis was in use with the jews and the Gentiles; Oculum pro oculo, dentem pro dente, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: Arist. Ethic. Aulus ca 1. Alex. li. 6. c. 10. And this to many seemed a natural and just Law; as you may read in Aristotle, Aulus Gellius, Alexander, and others. julius reporteth, That the first of the House of the Cornelijs that was burned after his death, was Scylla, fearing the punishment of this same Lex Talionis, for that he had before pulled his enemy Marius out of his grave. But our Saviour Christ crossing this Law, saith, This was the Law of Old, An Eye for an Eye, and a Tooth for a Tooth; but I say unto you, That he that shall strike you on the one cheek, to him shall you turn the other. Saint Austen expounding this place, observeth these two things: Aust. li. de Ser. in mon. ca 34. the one, That we are to answer an injury with two sufferings, or a double kind of sufferance; and that is, to turn the other cheek. The other, That to him that shall strike us on the one cheek, we are to show him a good countenance, not giving him half a face, or ill face; and this is to turn the other cheek. And Nazianzen addeth, That if a man had ten cheeks, he should turn them all unto him. But I say unto you. Nothing doth more grieve a Father, than to see discord amongst his children, Inimicitiae fratrum parentibus gra●issimae. Plut. de pietat. great fra. David when news was brought him, That Absalon had killed all the King's sons, he grieved exceedingly. Now if earthly fathers, who are but fathers in Law, have so great a feeling thereof, What shall God then? Ego autem, ay, who feel your hurts; I, who love every one of you, as if you were all but one; I, who prefer your wrongs before mine own, and will sooner revenge them, if you love me; I say unto you, D●ligite inimicos vestros, Love your enemies. And that this senciblenesse may be the better perceived, two differences are to be noted. The one, That earthly fathers do ordinarily love their children disequally, Reason's why there should be no difference among Christians. one better than another, I know not why nor wherefore; but God loveth all alike, and maketh as much of one as another. Philon asketh the question, Why the precepts of the Decalogue speak to every one in particular, as if they spoke only to him alone Thou shalt not swear, Thou shalt not steal, etc. & his answer is, That every particular person by himself is as dear unto God, as all mankind put together: And he proveth it by this, That he faith unto every one, I am thy God; being the God of all. The second, That earthly father's love themselves better than their children; but God loves his children better than himself; his punishments are likewise less severe, as we may see in Adam, and in Caine. Again, in the Law of Matrimony, to marry with an unbelieving wife doth not dissolve that bond, if she consent not thereunto; Non dimittat illam, Let him not put her away, it is S. Paul's; but if she afterwards become an Adulteress, he might be divorced from her, and she be condemned to be stoned to death. Item, in that precept, Thou shalt not swear; a lawful oath is not prohibited, for composing of differences betwixt neighbour and neighbour: and if in matter of profit one man shall exact upon another, and will not forgive a mite, let him assure himself that God will lose nothing of his right; For three transgressions I will turn, Amos 2. v. ●. (saith Amos) & for four I will not turn. Those three, were Idolatry, Fornication, and Matrimony; in degrees forbidden, offences belonging unto God: The fourth were, the wrongs and injuries done unto our neighbour; and he saith, That he will pardon the one, but not the other. And therefore our Saviour Christ being desirous to cut off all sedition and discord betwixt his beloved children, he saith, Ego autem dico vobis, diligite inimicos vestros, etc. But I say unto you, Love your Enemies. But I say unto you. Many light occasions end great enmities. First, Time, which wears them out, and makes them to be quite forgotten. Secondly, New alliances, by marrying the one with the other. Thirdly, The great hurt that comes thereby. Two enemies at last perceive, that thereby they diminish both their estates and honours; and in the end fall into this consideration, That if they bite one another, they shall be devoured one of another: and as it is in the Proverb, El vencido, y el vencidor perdido, The conquered i● crushed, and the conqueror undone. In those differences betwixt Esau and jacob, their mother said, Cur utroque orbab●r filio in una die, Why should I be deprived of both my sons in one day. Ge●. 27. Fourthly the profit that follows thereupon. Plutarch hath a whole Tract De utilitate ab inimicis capienda: and there is not any man, from the beginning of the world to this day, that hath received any hurt from his enemy, but from himself, as Saint Chrysostome proveth at large. Fifthly, umpires, to whom for their honesties and authorities such businesses are often referred. And if these humane respects shall sway with thee, Why not God much more? whose authority, whose power, whose love, whose benefits have bound thee fast unto him in so many links and chains of duty. And if God be not powerful with thee, How darest thou presume to ask him daily forgiveness of thy sins, when thou wilt not pardon thy enemy? Say thou wert without sin, but alas, they are more than the hairs of thy head; say thou wert exempted from punishment, or from God's favour; but in the one thou art miserable, and without the other thou canst not breathe: And therefore seeing of necessity thou must hourly fly unto him for succour, and for his favour, How canst thou look him in the face? how speak thyself unto him, or any one for thee? Eccle. 28. Quis exoravit pro delictis eius? Who entreateth for his offences? Thou wilt not have God for thy second, how canst thou then hope to have a second with God? For that servant which owed his king ten thousand Talents, many of his servants in mere pity interceded for him at the first; but after the debt was forgiven him, and that he was ready to tear out his fellow's throat for a Piece of three pence, or the like trifling sum; those very men that entreated for him, complained of his cruel dealing, Quis exoravit pro delictis eius, Who entreated for his offences? Besides, give me leave to ask thee this question, For all the i'll that thou wishest to thine enemy, thou never prayest unto God, that he should wish him ill. But I say unto you. This word Vobis, Unto you, carries also an emphasis with it, opposite to that emphasis of Ego. Thou that art nothing, against him that is every thing: thou that vanishest like a shadow, against him that is, was, and shall be: thou that art weak, against him that is all power and Majesty: thou that art ignorant, against him that is infinitely wise. Diligite inimicos vestros. Love's your enemies. To love our Enemies is against nature This is the greatest temptation, and the strongest encounter that our flesh is put unto. Saint Augustine, making a repetition of all the Commandments, none is harder to be kept, than that of loving our Enemy, and bridling in the appetite of revenge, against him that shall persecute, defame us, and stain our good name, Quis enim cum invenerit inimicum, dimittet eum in via bona, Who, when he finds his Enemy, will let him go away in safety? So said Saul: What a matter will it be then, to love him, to cherish him, and to do him courtesies? Redime me a calumnijs hominum, ut custodiam mendata tua, (i) Keep me from the slanders of men that I may keep thy Commandments. Whereby it seemeth, that David having set before him all the commandments of God, the slanders of his enemies did so cow his resolution, that he said; O Lord if thou dost not redeem me from this rod, I shall hardly be able to serve thee as I would. job, being in all his afflictions a rock of constancy and patience, when slanders were thrown upon him, he was driven quite beside his bias. Quae est fortitude mea, ut sustineam? Nunquid bonum tibi videtur, si calumnieris, & opprimas me, job 6.11. & concilium impiorum adiuves? What is my strength, that I should hope, etc. Ananias was a holy man, and known so to be throughout all judea; yet when Christ our Saviour willed him to receive Saul into his house, he made a stop, Acts 9 and blessing himself, said, Lord, dost not thou know that he is a Devil, and an enemy to all that call upon thy name? Hast thou forgot the ill he hath done in Jerusalem? jeremy 6.53. jeremy saith, That the sword of the enemy striketh a terror in us, Gladius inimici pavor in circuitu. Wisdom, That the voice of an enemy is unpleasing and harsh, Sap. 18. Inconueniens inimicorum vox. The eyes are light and quick in their looking, but when they come to look upon their enemy, every lid weighs an hundred weight. And if in Nature we see such great enmity amongst things of a contrary disposition, as well with, as without life, as in cold and heat, moist and dry, heavy and light, white and black, the Sheep and the Wolf, the Hare and the Greyhound, the Cock and the Elephant, and the like; why should we make it so strange, that our flesh and blood should not rise at an enemy that hateth us. Saint Basil discovering the reason of this difficulty, saith, Basil. Serm. de ira. That there are in our Soul two Potentiae, or Faculties. The one Concupissibilis, and that desireth all that is good. The other, Irascibilis, and that seeketh to shun all that is ill. This he compareth to a Shepherd's Cur, The causes why we cannot love our enemies. that barketh at those he abhorreth, thinking thereby to fray them away. The said Doctor saith further, That it seemeth somewhat hard, that God having created man Creaturam irascibilem, A Creature subject to anger, he should enjoin him not to be angry; nay, which is more, to love him that shall offend him. But as the Shepherd must keep in his Dog, that he set not upon all that he abhorreth; so Reason must bridle this irascible part in man, that it break not out against his enemy. But so violent are the motions of the flesh, that the very Saints of God, if his hand had not forcibly held them back, had run in this their fury headlong into Hell. Psalm 92. Paulo minus (saith David, upon the same occasion) habitasset in inferno anima mea, A little more (saith David) and my soul had dwelled in hell. Again, The love to our enemy must increase by the hate to ourselves; and those injuries that thou receivest from his hand, must be unto thee motives to love him; and from that wound that he gives thee, grows thy cure: As Saint Ambrose saith of that of our Saviour Christ, Amb. Ser. 3. in Psal. 118. Vulnus inflictum erat, & fluebat unguentum, A wound was given, and the ointment issued out. And this you will think a hard lesson, That a man must learn to ha●e himself: The difficulty is plain; but as heavy weights become light, when they are counterpoised by greater; so that heaviness which Nature suffereth in loving her enemy, is made light and easy by the counterpoise of Grace. First, we are to confess, That this performance is not to be measured by any natural force or power of ours; for it were great pride to presume, That man could naturally deserve so great a reward as is prepared for us, our righteousness being no better than a stained cloth, God not crowning the merits of our Nature, Exodus 31. but those his gifts of Grace that he conferreth upon us. Saint Austen saith, That God wrote the Law with his own hand, in token, that our power of fulfilling it dependeth in the favour of his hand. The shaft that flies so nimbly through the air, it is not its own lightness that causeth its swiftness, but the arm that draws and delivers it. If thou shalt allege, That God hath not his favour so ready at hand, thou dost wrong God, who is always so ready at hand, that thou canst blame no bodiebut thyself. Secondly, It is so easy and so sweet, by those favours that God affordeth, that a man may very well say, jugum meum suaue est, & onus meum leave, My yoke is pleasing, and my burden light. Si dicebam motus est pes meus, (saith David) misericordia tua adiwabat, When I said my foot is moved, thy mercy helped me: He had scarce said, Lord favour me, but his mercy presently followed him. Nunquid adhaeret tibi sedes iniquitatis, qui fingis laborem in praecepto? Art thou a tyrannical Prince, that by making hard Laws thou shouldest pick quarrels with thy Subjects, and so oppress and undo them? No, Thou art pitiful, frank, and liberal; for what thou commandest, thou accompaniest with a thousand sweet blessings. On the other side again, we doubt, how the old Law, being so heavy a burden, and our Saviour Christ adding thereunto a new load upon the neck of that load, it may be said jugum meum suaue est? I answer, That there are two kinds of easing of a burden, either by lessening the weight, or by adding greater strength: For a poor weak beast, four Arroba's [a certain measure in Spain, of some six ga●lons] will be too great a load; but for a stronger, twelve Arroba's will be but a light weight: And that to the poor beast the burden may seem the lighter, the better way is to make him fat, & to put him in heart, than wholly to quit him of his lading. To him that had been eight and thirty years benumbed, our Saviour said, Tolle gravatum tuum, Take up thy bed; a sickness of so long continuance could not but be a great burden unto him, & that lay heavily upon him; but God giving him strength to endure it, it seemed light: God evermore measures our burdens by his Spirit. Diligite, benefacite, orate, Love, do good, pray. Here are three Beneficia set against three Damna: To wit, Of our Thoughts, our Words, and our Works: And in the first place Love is put. Some will not perhaps like so well of it, That he must submit himself so far, as to do good unto his enemy, and to pray for him. But it ought not to seem over burdensome to any: for it stands not with reason, that Grace should be less powerful than Sin, in those, whose thoughts, words, and works tend to what is good. Saint Basil compares those that receive a wrong, to the echo, which returns you word for word, in the very same Language and tone as you yourself shall speak unto it. But herein lies the difference; that in theeccho, though the voice may go increasing, yet the wrong doth not: But in those that think themselves wronged, that still grows more or less, as occasion is offered upon reply of words. Your Books of Duel have their echo; the lie must be returned with a box on the ear; a box on the ear will require a bastonadoing; a bastonadoing the vnsheathing of the Sword; and the Sword death. God likewise hath his echo; for a cursing, he returns a courtesy: Maledicimur, & b●●efacimus, (i) We are cursed, and yet do good: for hate, love; for an ill, a good turn. God doth not desire of thee, That thou shouldest do more for his sake, than thou dost for the Devils: Which me thinks is a very fair and mannerly kind of proceeding, and such as thou canst not except against. If thou canst find in thy heart to go see a Comedy, methinks thou shouldest not refuse to go hear a Sermon: If thou canst give Liveries to thy Pages, it were not much for thee to clothe him that is naked: If thou givest twenty Crowns when thou hast good luck at play, to the standers by, it is no great matter for thee (God having blest thee with wealth) to bestow four upon an Hospital: If thou canst be content to spend two or three hours in idle and light conversation, it is a small matter for thee to converse by Prayer half an hour with God; it is a thing of nothing. Chrys. ser. 12. Petrus Chrysologus pursueth this Conceit a little further, to whom I shall refer you. Benefacite his qui oderunt vos, orate pro persequentibus vos. Do good to them that hate you, Pray for them that hurt you. The offended that seeks means for his satisfaction, shows he hath a mind to he made friends; and God being willing to be friends with thee, hath invented the means of Fasting, Prayer, & Alms; but more particularly recommends here unto thee a Benefacite, and an Orate, a Good turn, and a Prayer. Nature teacheth thee to repel violence with violence, power by power, and the sword by the sword, with a Vim vi repellere licet: But Grace teacheth us another Lesson, Benefacite his (saith she) qui oderunt vos, orate, etc. Do good to them that hate you, and pray, etc. Ill is hardly overcome with i'll; hatred, with malice; or bad, with worse dealing; but with goodness, and with love, with a Vince in bono malum, Overcome evil with good. Plutarch reporteth, That the Wind and the Sun did lay a wager, which of the two should first strip a man of his clothes; for this challenge the field was appointed: the Wind stoutly bestirs himself, and furiously sets upon his hat, cloak, jerken, and breeches, but he wrapping them close about him, with the help of his hands and teeth he kept himself unstripped by the Wind, who could do no good upon him; so he gives off. Then comes me forth the Sun, who came so hot upon him, that the man within a very little while was fain to fling off all, and to strip himself naked. The very self same heat and courage did the Sun of Righteousness use, in that last eclipse of his life, when from the Cross he did so heat & inflame the hearts of them that were present, that they did tear and rend their clothes, Et Velum Templum scissum est. And as the barrenest ground is made fruitful by the Husbandman's industry; so goodness overcometh evil. Fortis ut mors dilectio, i. Love is strong as Death: The stoutest, the valiantest, and the desperatest man alive, Seneca lib. 3. the belef. cannot resist Death, no more can he Love. Omnis natura bestiarum, domita est à natura, The nature of beasts is tamed by Nature. Against that harm which the Philistines received by Mice, the Princes made Mice of Gold; let thy enemy be as troublesome to thee as they, mould him into Gold, and he will never hurt thee more. S. Chrysostome considereth the truth of this in Saul, C●rys. hom. 3. de Saul & David. who bearing a devilish hatred against David; yet by David's twice pardoning him his life, made him as tractable as wax; and he captivated by this his kindness, broke out into this acknowledgement, justior me est, He is juster than I; for I returned thee i'll for good, A mild proceeding prevaileth upon the fiercest Persons. and thou me good for ill. S. Chrysostome concludes this History with a strange endearing; That David's drawing tears out of Saul's hard heart, did cause him more to wonder, than did Moses and Aaron, when he struck the Rock, and the waters gushed forth. We want not examples of this Doctrine, even in those things that are invisible: The toughest Impostumes are made tender by Unctions. Pliny saith, That the roughest sea is made calm with oil. In the Province of Namurca they burn stone in stead of wood, and that fire will be quenched with Oil. Against the Impostume of hatred, the raging sea of an angry breast, and the flames of a furious enemy, there is no better remedy than Mildness; Sermo mollis frangit iram, A soft answer mitigates wrath. Orate pro persequentibus vos. Pray for them that persecute you. This Prayer may be grounded upon two reasons The one, That the hurt is so great to him that doth the wrong, that he that is wronged aught to take pity and compassion of him: and being it is Damnum animae, The hurt of the soul, which the offended cannot repair of himself, he must pray unto God for him, That he would be pleased to repair it. Philon treating of the death of Abel saith, that Cain killed himself, & non alterum, & not another; and that Abel was not dead, but alive, because he killed but the body, which was none of his, and left him his soul, which was his. And of Cain, That his body remained alive, which was none of his, and his soul slain, which was his▪ and therefore Clamat sanguis Abel, The blood of Abel cries, etc. The other, That there are some such desperate enemies, that are made rather worse than better by benefits; being like therein unto Paper, which the more you supple it with Oil, the stiffer it grows; or like unto sand, which the more it is wet, the harder it waxeth; or like unto an anvil, which is not stirred with the stroke of the hammer; or like unto judas, who coming from the washing of our Saviors' feet, went forth afterwards with a greater desire for to sell and betray him: whereas being in this desperate case, he should rather have had recourse unto God. Prayer therefore is proposed unto us, as the greatest charm and powerfullest exorcism against the obstinacy & rebellion of an enemy. For upon such occasions as these, Prayer is wont to work miracles. Saint Stephen prayed for those that stoned him to death; which wrought so powerful an effect, that Saint Austen saith, That the Church is beholding in some sort, to this his Prayer, for the conversion of Saint Paul. And Saint Luke, That the Heavens were opened hereupon unto him, & he saw Christ standing in glory at the right hand of his Father. And it is worth the noting, That the ordinary Language of the Scripture is, That our Saviour Christ is said to sit at the right hand of God the Father: but now here in this place the word Stantem, Standing, is used, as if Christ had stood up of purpose to see so rare and strange an accident, and clave the Heavens in sunder, offering him all the good they did contain; or that he did seem to offer him his Seat (as it were) as to a child of God; ut sitis filij patris vestri, That ye may be the children of your Father. And this grace and favour which God shows unto those that pray for their enemies, was peradventure a motive to our Saviour Christ, to make that pitiful moan upon the Cross, bewailing the jews cruel p●oceeding against him, The example of our saviour to move us unto it. and praying that his death might not be laid to their charge; Pater ignosce illis, Father forgive them. He might have hoped, that these his charitable prayers would have opened the Gates of Heaven, for the Son of Glory to enter in: But in stead thereof the Sun was darkened, and a black mantle (as it were, in mourning) spread over all the earth, whilst he himself uttered these words of discomfort, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The doors of Heaven are shut against me, & my God hath forsaken me. But the mystery is, That Heaven was shut against him, that it might be opened unto you; and even then was it opened to the Thief, and to many that returned from Mount Caluarie, percutientes pectora sua, i. Smiting their breasts; as also to that Centurion that said, Verè filius Dei erat iste, This was truly the Son of God. There may be rendered another reason of this our Saviour's praying upon the Cross: Which is this, That for to obtain favours from God's hand, there is no means comparable to that of praying for our enemies. In me loquebantur, qui sedebant in Porta, Psal. 69.12 13. in me psallebant, qui bibebant vinum: ego autem orationem meam ad te Domine tempus beneplaciti Deus. David speaking there as a figure of Christ, saith, That his enemies sat like judges in the Gates of the City, entertaining themselves with stories of his life, and that they went from Tavern to Tavern, and from one house to another, singing Songs in derision of him, descanting and playing upon 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, etc. The like he saith in the 180 Psalms, Pro eo, ut me diligerent, detrahebant mihi; They repaid my love with hate, my good actions with injuries: Ego autem orabam; But I quitted their wrongs with my prayers. Saint Chrysostome saith, Serm. de Proditor. juda. That God commanding me to pray for my enemy, attends therein more mine, than his good; for the prayer that I make for my enemy that hath done me wrongs, heaps coals upon his head, but is a plenary indulgence for all those that I have done against my God: nor shall any thing at the day of judgement plead harder for us. Now in another place he saith, Chris. Hom. li. 4. in Gen. That the pleasure that God doth take in the good that we do unto our enemies, is not because they deserve it, but because we should not fall into so great a sin as is hatred and malice. Imperf Hom. 4. in Mat. Hom. 27. ad populum. Two prayers (saith the same Father) we must never be unprovided of; one for our enemy, another for our own soul: For if thou shalt pray for thy enemy, though thou beggest nothing for thyself, yet shalt thou obtain of God what thine own heart desireth▪ Saint Ambrose saith, That David in taking care for the saving of Absalon's life, Ambr. in Apo●. David. Seruate mihi puerum Absalon, Preserve me the young man Absalon, did assure himself of the victory, and that joab and his soldiers would cry out, Kill the Traitor, run him through, etc. O what a rich, though secret and hidden Mine, is the pardoning of our enemy. And hereupon hang two things: The one, how unpleasing a Petition it would be in God's ears, and how harsh it would sound, that we call unto him for vengeance upon our enemy; desiring, that joabs' dart may strike him through the heart. The other is Saint Austin's, who saith, That he that of God shall entreat evil against evil, does himself that which is evil: and it comes by this means to be a double evil; two evils (I say) spring from thence, The one, that he does ill; the other, That he prays ill. So that when he that is wronged shall pray unto God to destroy this ill man; God may very well make him this answer, Which of the two dost thou mean? for in seeking to kill another, thou first killest thyself: Quando dicis, Deus, occide malum; respondebit, Quem vestrum? When thou shalt say, Lord, kill the wicked one; he shall answer, Which of you? Vt scitis filij Patris vestri. That ye may be the children of your Father. By loving, by doing good, by praying and pardoning thy enemies, ye shall show yourselves to be the sons of God. But the revengeful, the cruel, and the mercilesseman, is rather a monster than any child of Gods. God is Love, and as Thomas proves it out of Dyonisius, it is Gods essential name. Therefore he that would be the son of Love, and yet is a hater of his brother, he is a monster, and no son. To those children that are like unto their parents, we use to say, God's blessing be with ye, and make ye like unto your parents in goodness, as in favour. Our Saviour called the Pharisees Filios Diaboli, The children of the Devil, because they followed his humours and desire; Ille autem homicida erat ab initio, And he was a murderer from the beginning. If you will therefore be God's children, ye must be like unto God. Seneca tells, That he did good to him that did him ill; and cries out withal, What shall I do? What? Why that which God did and does for thee, who began to do good to thee, when thou didst not know what good was, nor how to esteem it; and now thou dost know it, and that he still continues good unto thee, yet thou continuest unthankful unto him by not acknowledging his goodness. That ye may be the children of your Father. Saint john saith, That God gave us power to be sons of God. This filiation we first receive in Baptism, and is afterwards confirmed in us, when God shall find this inscription engraven in our hearts, To be a child, and to exercise the duties of a child, not all one. Diligite, benefacite, orate, ut sitis filij patris vestri, i. Love, Do good, and Pray, that ye may be the children of your Father. I tell thee it is one thing to be filius, a son; another, exercere filiationem, i. to perform the office of a son. A child hath understanding before he is ten years old, but he doth not put it in practice. But by pardoning, thou shalt show by thy works, that thou art of those children of God, whom at thy baptism he endowed with Grace. All men desire to be like unto their King; Diodorus Siculus, reporteth of the Aethiopians, that if the King were lame, Diodor. de Fabulis, Antiquis. c. 4. disfigured, or blinck-eyed, they would all strive to be as like him as they could. Our Saviour Christ prayed for his enemies on the Cross; why should ye not imitate him, Vt sitis filij, i. that ye may be his children, etc. The Cross (saith Nazianzen) is that bright pillar of fire in the wilderness, which lights us along in the night of this life, that it may teach us the way, Pro invidijs meis orationes fundere, i. to pour out a prayer against my own Envy. That ye may be the children, etc. Saint Paul hath it, Quod si filij, & haeredes per Deum, i. If children, than also heirs. What? heirs to so great a blessing, and will ye lose it for an enemy? It will joy him much to see you suffer so much harm. There is nothing grieves a man more, than to see his labours lost, especially having endured great and long toil. We daily see the truth of this in the soldier, on the one side his body broken, and his clothes torn and ragged; on the other ready to famish for want of food. In Virgil's hall, some women are feigned to draw water in sives; a fruitless labour. In the parable of the Sour our Saviour was very sorry to see three of the four parts of seed to be lost and cast away. Ezech. 24.12. Ezechiel paints out his people in the emblem of a pot, which was so foully furred within that it was impossible to make it clean. Multo labore sudatum est, & non exibit de ea nimia rubigo, neque per ignem, i. Much labour hath been bestowed, and yet the scum of it is not gone out, no, not by the fire. jeremy pictures Babylon sick, and that many Physicians going about to cure her, though they did apply unto her many costly medicines, all their labour was in vain, Curavimus Babilonem, & non est sanata. Multiply thy services toward God, treasure up spiritual riches, use all diligence for to keep a clean Conscience; apply as medicines for to cure thy Soul, Tears, Fast, Prayers, Alms, yet if thou dost not forgive and pardon thy enemy, thou dost nothing. The Scripture speaketh of Esau, that he could find no place for repentance, no though he did seek it with Tears, (purposely citing Tears, that we might consider how powerful they are) and the reason was, for that he had a purpose to be revenged on his Brother: Veniet dies luctus patris mei, i. My Father will dye ere long, and then I will be revenged of him. That ye may be the children. That ye may show of what House you came, and what a noble Father you had. God's omnipotency seen most in his Mercy. Qui omnem potentiam suam parcendo maxim & miserando manifestat Deus iudex, fortis, & patience, i. Who manifesteth his omnipotency most of all by sparing, and showing Pity. Hear what Hugo de santo Victore tells you, Nobile vind●ctae genus, ignoscere victis, i. 'tis a noble revenge to forgive the vanquished. In the genealogy of Christ, Hugo Vict. l. 6 de anima. only David is called King; and only for his generous mind in pardoning the wrongs that his Enemies did him. When he gave Saul his life, 3. Reg. 24. Nunc scio verè (said he) quod regnaturus sis, i. Now know I truly, that thou shalt reign. For such a greatness of mind could not be repaid with less than a Crown. Scitote quoniam mirificavit Dominus sanctum suum, i. Know that the Lord hath magnified his holy one. The Hebrew letter hath it, Elegit sibi dominus misericordem, i. The Lord hath chosen to himself the merciful man. The practice of Mercy brings with it the greatest glory. No man will offer to take my Crown from me, because God hath given it me, for showing mercy to mine Enemies. David composed his 56. Psal. upon that Accident which happened unto Saul at the mouth of the cave. And the title thereunto is, Ne disperdas insignia David; or, aureolam David, Do not blot out the Arms of David, nor take his Crown from off his head. His soldiers importuned him to take away his life from him; telling him, that God had delivered him into his hands. By which noble action of his (saith Saint Chrysostome) he got himself more glory than when he overcame the Philistine: For there he got himself but the glory of a valiant and venturous soldier; but here, ●f a most holy, just, and merciful man; there, he read only a lecture of Fortitude; here, of meekness, which of all other is the chiefest virtue; there, the dames of Jerusalem did solemnise his victory; here, the Angels of Heaven; there, God showed him a great favour in delivering him from the sword of his Enemy; here, he did God as acceptable a piece of service, for that it was the rarer of the two. And this was it, that made God say of him; Inueni virum secundum cor meum, i. I have found a man according to my own heart. That great Prince Moses, 1. Reg. 11. was so hot and choleric, that in his anger he killed an Egyptian that misused an Hebrew. Clemens Alexandrinus saith, That he dispatched him at one blow. The day following, another Egyptian standing in fear of him, said unto him, Nunc occidere me vis, i. Wilt thou now kill me? But being afterwards trained up in the school of God, never any man endured so many wrongs, of his friends, his enemies, and his brethren, as he did. Who hath thus changed thee? Potentissimus faciem illius commutavit, i. The most mighty had altered his face. And being thus moulded, God said unto him, Ego te constituam Deum Pharaonis, i. I will make thee as a God to Pharaoh. Against such hardness, power, and tyranny, it is fit thou shouldest be a God, and that to represent my person, thou dost put on my condition. The Devil conjectured by many signs and tokens, that Christ at his birth was God: As by Angels, Shepherds, Kings, & Prophecies: But tothiss, his poverty, his suffering cold, his shedding of tears, the thatch of the house, the cobwebs in the room where he lay, & the hay in the cratch, left him more perplexed than before. Afterwards he was more amazed, when he saw him fast forty days, whereupon he set himself to tempt him, saying Si filius Dei es, i. Christ patience more staggered the Devil than all his miracles. If thou be the son of God, etc. Then he had greater staggerings, when he saw his so many, so strange, and fearful miracles, even to the forcing of the Devil himself to acknowledge him to be the son of God. And this did confound him more than all that went before. But when he saw, he pardoned so many injuries that were daily done unto him, he then began to shake and tremble, as if he had been touched with quicksilver. He beheld judas his selling of him, his kiss of false peace, his calling of him friend, and under that name betraying him; he saw the night of his imprisonment in Cayphas his house, and the injuries that they did him; persuading himself that no other but God, could pocket up such wrongs. The World calls the revengeful man valiant; but the bloody minded man, the Scripture styles weak, effeminate, and womanish. When joab killed those noble p●ire of brothers Abner and Amasa, having died his belt and shoes with the blood of Abner; David said, Non defiiciet de domo Ioab fluxum seminis sustinens, 2. Reg. 3.29. & tenens fusum, & cade●s gladio, i. Let there not fail from the House of joab one that hath an issue, or is a Leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or falleth by the sword. God did punish this weakness and cowardly act of joab, with the weakness and cowardice of all his posterity. Lastly, Being the Son of God, thou mayst be sure he will be mindful of thee, take care of thee, and love thee. Esay brings in the Church, complaining, That God had forgotten her, Dominus oblitus est mei, The Lord hath forgotten me. But he answereth, Nunquid oblivisci potest mulier▪ infantis operis sui? i. Can a woman forget the children of her womb? But say she should, Ego (saith he) non obliviscar tui, ecce in manibus meis descripsi te, (i) I will not yet forget thee; behold, I have engraven thee in my Palms. God cannot forget his children, if they will but acknowledge him to be their father; and they can in nothing be more like unto him, than in being merciful, as he is merciful. Estote ergo perfecti, sicut Pater vester perfectus est Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father is perfect. He reduceth this perfection to the love of our enemy; for to a man's friend, the very Heathens do this. Saint Austen and Saint Chrysostome say, it is Omnis virtutis Corona & vertex, The height and glory of all virtue. Where he denieth not the reward to him that shall love his friend for God's sake; but to him that shall love like a Gentile, or a Publican, not for God's love, but either out of a natural propension in himself, or for his own pleasure, or commodity and profit; and he that doth not love his enemy, shows plainly, that he loveth not his friend for his love to God, but for his love to himself: for if he should love him for God's love, he would no less love his enemy, being that he is as well the Image of God, as his friend. So that he that loves his friend, and not his enemy, ought not to expect a reward for loving of his friend: but he that doth not only love his friend, but his enemy also, he shall be sure of a double reward, Introduxit me Rex in cellam vinariam, ordinavit in me charitatem, (i) The King brought me into the Banqueting house, Cant. 2. v. 4. and his banner over me, was Love.. Origen notes, That that which the Soul desires of her Husband, is not to love, or to hate; for this being a natural perfection, it is not possible it should fail: the will is neither idle, nor in vain, for it must of force wish either well or ill. Our love how it is to be ordered and disposed. All the kindness that she desires of her husband, is, his ordering of his love; for in disorder intolerable errors arise. Of all the Predicaments, God is the highest, and he ought to be the principal mark of our well ordered affection: Dilexi, quoniam audivit Deus vocem orationis meae, (i) I loved, because the Lord heard the voice of my prayer: Loved? Whom hast thou loved? A prudent will, which placeth its felicity in the observance of the Law; we must not ask of it, Whom it loveth? This is a question to be asked of a Reprobate, or Castaway. In a word, He that man ought chiefly to love, is God; and next, man, for the love of God, be he friend, or be he foe. And because when it doth not reach & extend itself to our enemy, it cannot be said to be perfect love; it is said, Estote perfecti sicut Pater vester, Be ye perfect as your Father. The reason is, Because in the rest of the actions of virtue, humane respects may come athwart us; one may fast, because abstinence importeth his health; another give Alms, because he affecteth vainglory; a third, not seek to be revenged, for fear of those inconveniences that follow after it; a fourth be chaste, for the avoiding of shame, etc. But to love a man's enemy, that must only proceed from our love to God, it must needs be done only for God's sake, and God only can requite it. Secondly, he reduceth this perfection to the love of our enemy, because it is a sure pledge for Heaven. When Elias and Baal's Priests were both of them to offer Sacrifice in trial of the true God, it was conditioned, That that God that should send down fire from Heaven upon the Altar, should be held to be the true God. Baal's Priests balled upon him, but all would not do: but Elias, when he had set up his Altar with the wood upon it, the beasts about it, and had poured water thereupon, to the filling up of the Trench, he had no sooner poured forrh his Prayer, but such great store of fire descended from Heaven, that it burned the flesh, the wood, the stones, and likewise wasted and consumed the water. That it should burn the beasts, the wood, and the stones, it was no such wonder; but that it should take hold on its contrary, which is water, it was a manifest sign, that it was the fire of Heaven. That your love should cleave to your own flesh & blood, it is not much; The perfection of our love how to be discovered. that it should take hold of the wood and stone, that likewise is no great wonder; but that it should work on its contrary, on one that desires to make an end of thee, & to consume thee, this is love indeed, this is charity, this is the fire of Heaven. Thirdly, The love to our enemy doth more discover the perfection of our love; because it is without any hope of temporal reward. Elisaeus filled the widow's empty cruses with Oil; and thou must replenish with thy love and good works, those empty breasts that have nothing in them to deserve it. For where there is some deservingness, and reason of merit, the Gentile & the Publican do the like. Fourthly, It argueth more perfection; for that the love of our enemy is that gloss which sets before our eyes our own faults and offences. When Shimei reproached David to his face, and gave him such opprobrious language, that his Captains and Commanders that were then about him were impatient of it, and would have killed him; David withstood it, and would not suffer them to take away his life; and the reason was, because it put him in mind of his own sins; and he that looks well upon his own, takes no great notice of another man's. And this made him to say, Peccatum meum contra me est semper, Our Enemies are but God's Instruments, who by them doth punish us for our sins. My sin wars more against me than mine enemy. Again, though thy enemy do persecute thee without a cause, it is not without cause, that thou dost thus suffer; for (as Tertullian hath it) Nullus iniustè patitur, No man suffers wrongfully: So that thou must not look so much upon him that injures thee, as upon thine own sins, for the which God permits them to injure thee. It is Ieremies; Who ever said, Let it be done, though the Lord command it not? Let us search our own ways: Take but thy life into examination, and thou wilt find, that thy sins deserve a thousand times more. David would by no means consent, that his People should revenge those disgraceful words which Shimei spoke unto him; and What was the reason? Only for that he was God's Instrument. S. Austen, upon the 31 Psalm, pondering those words of job, Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit, The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken; noteth, That he did not say, Dominus dedit, Diabolus abstulit, The Lord gave, and the Devil took away: For those whips and scourges which God sendeth, though they be inflicted upon us by the hands of the Devil, yet are we to account them to come from God. Out of the whole drift of this Chapter, I will infer one clear and manifest consequence, which is this, If to hate our enemy be so much condemned both of Heaven and Earth, those excesses and exorbitances which fall out upon this occasion (be it in respect of the time and place, or of the person, or the act itself, or our deep disaffection) they are all of them here condemned. Two kind of faults God doth extremely hate and abhor: The one, Of those who have no measure or moderation in their revenge; saying with the Idumaeans, Exinanite, exinanite usque ad fundamentum in ea, Raze, raze them to the very foundation: They would not have one stone left upon another in Jerusalem; wishing that they might say, Etiam periere ruinae, The very ruins are also perished. Whereby it seemeth, that man's cruelty would stand in competition with God's clemency. And that as God is not willing that any man should set a tax and size upon his mercy; so these men will have no man to put a rate upon their revenge. Saint Peter asked our Saviour Christ, How many times he should forgive his brother? Will seven serve? (saith he.) Our Saviour answered, I say not seven times, but seventy times seven times. Whence Tertullian hath noted, That he had an eye therein to man's excess in revenge. Lamech slew Cain and the young man that waited upon him; and the women going about to be revenged of him for the death of the young man, he said unto them, Harken o ye wives of Lamech, Let it not once enter into your thoughts to take revenge on my life: for though the vengeance which God appointed for the kill of Cain had a limitation; yet the revenge of my death shall be without tax, and without measure; Setuplum ultio dabitur de Cain, de Lamech autem septuagies septies, Cain shall be revenged seven times, but Lamech seventy times seven times. Wherein he sets down a finite number for an infinite. In a word, Lamech in this word Septuagies septies, shows, That the revenge that should be taken thereof should be without term, without limitation; wherein he seems to make man's cruelty to contest with God's mercy. Hatred should not be immortal. The other is, Of those that hate their enemies so to the death, that though they themselves die, yet they will not let their hatred die with them, but leave it in their last Will and Testament to their heirs, to take revenge of their wrongs, and to prosecute their enemies unto death: Being herein like unto Dido, who throwing out her curses and maledictions on Aeneas, and desiring the Tigers and other wild beasts to revenge her wrong, breathed her last with this invocation, They that live in hardness of hart are justly suffered to dye in it. Hoc precor, hanc vocem extremam cum sanguine fundo, i. This is my prayer, I wish no other good, and this I pour forth with my latest blood. Whence I would have you to note, That this hardness of man's heart at his death, is in punishment of his hardness of heart in his life. Hac anima adversione (saith Saint Austen) punitur peccator, i. This is a sinner's punishment. And in another place, Cor durum male habebit in novissimo, It shall go ill with a hard heart in the latter day. And jeremy treating of those that persecuted him, Reddes eis Domine vicem iusti, & dabis eis scutum cordis, Thou shalt pay them in their own coin, thou shalt use them as they used their enemies; thou shalt give them a heart like a shield of Brass, it shall be hard in their life time, and hard at their death. No prayers could mollify them, nor shall their entreaty move thee: for only the merciful shall only find mercy. Now for the reforming of both these excesses, Saint Paul saith, Sol non occidat super iracundiam vestram, Ephes. 4. Let not the Sun go down before your wrath go out, Let not the one set before the other be settled. Saint Chrysostome renders two reasons of this saying, Sol non occidat, etc. The one, That the Sun doth favour and serve you with his light, and with his influences, cherishing your health and your life, and does not return home at night brawling and complaining, that he hath bestowed this his love & service upon an ungrateful & unthankful person. There is no creature but will grumble & repine to serve such a one; Ingemescit, It sighs and groans, etc. (saith Saint Paul) but the Sun does not grudge at his serving of you. The second, That the night is of itself sad, melancholy, and in a disposition to troublesome thoughts and imaginations. Now then, that your fantasy may not present you with an army of fearful cogitations, and the dismal representations of revenge, before that the night comes on, quiet that raging sea within thy breast, by throwing Oil upon it; become soft & gentle by cleansing thy heart of all rancour and malice. If the beams of the Sun cannot pierce through a thick cloud, they will hardly make their way through the pitchy darkness of the night, being that they are naturally then in their augmentation. When the cheerfulness of the day, employment in businesses, and the company and comfort of our friends cannot remove the clouds of our anger, the night will hardly scatter them, who is the mother of painful thoughts. For, as the infirmities of the body increase by the absence of the Sun; so in like sort do the diseases of the soul. I know not whither joshuah were touched or no with this Spirit, when he willed the Sun to stand still, when he was in the pursuit of his enemies. It seemeth unto some, That it is a very hard matter, and more than flesh and blood can bear, to pardon fresh injuries, the blood boiling then in our breast: But this is answered by that example of our Saviour Christ, who when his wounds did pour forth blood on every side, yet his tongue cried out, Ignosce illis, quia nesciunt quid faciunt, Forgive them, for they know not what they do. Where I would have you to note, that the word faciunt is of the present Tense. When they were boring his feet with nails, Saint Austen to this purpose saith, Is petebat veniam, Aug. Tractat. 31. in joan. à quibus adhuc accipiebat iniuriam, He craved pardon for those of whom even then he 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, Vive, i. When he was in his own blood, he said, Live. And Saint Bernard, That he offered up his life, Non interpellant●bus, sed repellentibus, non invocantibus, sed provocantibus, Not for those that invoked him, but provoked him. The replies of the Flesh are infinite, and without number. Some say, The excuses of the flesh against this loving of our enemies, and their confutation. Whilst we live in the world we must follow the fashions of the world, and live according to its Laws: and that if a man put up one injury, he shall have a thousand put upon him. I answer hereunto, That it is a fouler fault to seek out reasons to defend and maintain sin, than to commit it. And if thou shalt tell me, thou desirest to be revenged because thou art weak, and canst not bridle thy anger; I shall the rather pity thee, and shall withal council and advise thee to ask pardon of God, for this thy weakness and infirmity. But that thou shouldst defend thy offence with reasons and force of argument, it is not a thing to be imagined: but more against reason it is, to reason against God. Let us now leave the Gospel and the sacred Scriptures, and let us bring this business within the sphere of reason: I say then, That it is the Language of him that knows not what reason is, as if it were possible there could be any reason against God. The Clown rests so well contented with his poor Cottage, that he will not change it for the King's Palace: And the worldly man likes so well of the laws and fashions of the world, that he sticks not to prefer them before those of God. Others stand upon their honour, alleging, How can a man live in the world, without the upholding of his honour and reputation? I answer, It is not to be found in the Scripture, That Christ doth council any man to suffer in his honour for him, or to lose his reputation; Marry, Matthew 16. he hath promised a reward unto him that for his sake should lay down his life, or leave his goods, forsaking all to follow him: but to him that should lose his honour, or his reputation, he never made the like promise. For, to obey and serve him, is all the honour that man ought to stand upon; Matthew 19 Hoc est, omnis, etc. God's service the greatest sovereignty. S. Ambrose saith, Amb. lib. 2 in Luc. That God would be borne of a married Virgin, out of a care that he had to the Virgin's credit; yet therefore is it not meet, that a man should procure his own honour by doing dishonour to another. Luke 6. Cum maledixerint vobis homines, & dixerint omne malum adversum vos mentientes propter me, When men shall curse you, and speak all evil against you. The World will say, Thou art a base fellow if thou put up a wrong, and do not revenge it to the full: But the World lies; for a man cannot do himself a greater honour, than to pardon an injury. The World will say, Thou hast no worth in thee, and that thou dost degenerate from thy noble Ancestors. But therein the world likewise lies; for there is nothing more noble, than to forgive and forget a wrong. Others will say, I forgive my enemy with all my heart, but I will never speak to him. I answer, This is a metaphysical case, that thou wilt give him thy heart, and deny him thy tongue. Methinks that Fountain that is fair within, should not be foul without: Shall God give thee a heart to wish well, and wilt not thou find a tongue to speak well? And words too, without a heart, are not worth Godamercy: Si salutaveritis fratres vestros tantùm, If ye shall only salute your brethren, it is neither any great thing, nor yet thankes-worthie; but to say thou wilt give him thy heart, and not so much as a word, thou dost give him neither the one nor the other. To be first in forgiving is the greatest honour. Others say, Let him come and speak to me first; for as I am the more wronged, so I take myself to be the better man; and therefore I will not offer myself unto him, but let him come to me, if he will, else I will never be friends with him. I answer, That by thy yielding first unto him, thou wilt win by the elder hand, and get thyself the more credit. Abraham (thou knowest) gave Lot leave to choose first, and being his Kinsman and his inferior both in years and otherwise, did not reckon of his right, nor his reputation, that he might not make a rent & breach of love and amity between them, Ne quaeso sit jurgium inter me & te, Let there be no strife betwixt thee and me, etc. Others say, Methinks it is a hard case, that God should wish me to love and do well unto him that loves not me, and would rejoice in any i'll that should happen unto me. I answer, That I am not bound to desire of God, that he would fulfil the desires of my enemy: for if he direct them to my hurt, and to my ruin, I am not bound to ask of God any ill to myself. When a Bell is drawn up to the top of some Tower, or a Stone to some high Steeple, it is the natural and common course of those that see it carried up, to desire no mischance may befall it: But if any should be so maliciously foolish, as to say in his heart, O that I might now see it fall: the Stone might very well reply, Let not thy desires prosper. The like may he say, who goes mounting up to some height of goodness, to his envious enemy, Let not thy ill wishes thrive against me. Last of all, To him that shall think that this is too hard a Precept, I answer, That there is this difference between those that are the Saints of God, The true child of God thinks it no hard precept to love hi● enemies. & those that are not; that these strive to get Heaven at too cheap a rate, and stand a hucking, to see if they can get thither with a little cost: But those that are Gods children seek all occasions for to buy it at any price, be it never so high, nay, though it should cost them their life. Quotidiam morior propter vestram gloriam, I die daily for your glory, 1. Cor. 18. saith Saint Paul. Whereupon Saint Chrisostome gives this note, That the Apostle was even sorry, that he had no more but one life to lay down for his God, and for the welfare of his brethren in the Lord: And that therefore he had scarce escaped one danger, but that he was desirous to enter into another. THE FOURTH SERMON, ON THE SATURDAY AFTER ASH-WEDNESDAY. MARC. 6. MAT. 14. Cum sero esset factum, erat Navis in medio Maris. When it grew late, the Ship was in the midst of the Sea. THe Evangelist recounteth here unto us a fearful Tempest, The disciples weakness of Faith. which the Disciples endured one night in the midst of the sea; the winds being stiff and terrible, the waves furiously raging, the clouds thick and dark, the ship small & shrewdly beaten, and hardly able to withstand the swelling of this proud sea, this storm continuing in its strength and vigour till the fourth watch in the morning. And though these were many and very forcible reasons to make them to be afraid; yet unto these was added a new cause of fear, to wit, That our Saviour appearing unto them walking upon the waters, they thought it was a Phantasma, some Spirit in a seeming assumed shape, whither Angel, or Devil, they could not devose with themselves. And the common received opinion is, That the●e Visions had their several apparitions, as it appeareth in Saint Luke, and the Acts of the Apostles. They pitifully cried out, for fear of being drowned in the Deep, not considering, that he who had filled their bellies in the wilderness, could trample the waves under his feet, and preserve their bodies from sinking. Our Saviour made show at the first, of walking a far off from them, as he did afterwards with those that he went along with to Emaus; but in the end he spoke unto them, and made himself known unto them. Then Peter thereupon rushed presently into the Sea, and beginning to sink, he stretched out his hand unto him, and reprehended him for having so little Faith. At last they entered into the ship, and they were no sooner come in, but the winds went away, the sea grew calm, and the tempest ceased. The Mariners, and the rest that were aboard this Bark, acknowledged our Saviour to be the Son of God. They disembarked in Genezareth, the fame of whose coming was soon spread abroad; they brought forth their sick unto him, and our Saviour Christ restored them to their health. cum serò esset factum. When it grew late, etc. Saint john saith, That the Feast being ended, our Saviour went up to the Mount to pray, Ascendit solus orare, He went up alone. Saint Mark, and Saint Matthew, That he forced his Disciples to go on shippe-boord. Nor doth this admit any contradiction; for before that he withdrew himself to pray, he might very well will them to make them ready to go to sea: And happily they might stay waiting for him till it were towards the evening, and seeing he did not come, yet (according as he had commanded them) embarked themselves. Of this his forcing them to go aboard, the Doctors give diverse reasons. The first is taken out of Saint john. Our Saviour knew that the People had a purpose to make him King; which danger he seeking to avoid, he withdrew himself aside to pray, being all alone; notifying to his Disciples, That they should in the mean while provide to go to sea. The second, That our Saviour thereby might take occasion to work this wonderful miracle: for if the Disciples had not embarked themselves, neither had our Saviour walked upon the sea, nor Peter adventured himself upon the waves, nor his Disciples endured such a terrible storm, nor had there been such clear notice taken of his soveraignepower. The third is Saint Chrysostom's; who saith, That when they were to go to sea, our Saviour would that they should carry along with them the remainder of such broken pieces of bread, and of the fishes that were left, to the end that they might think upon the forepast miracle. Wherein they were so dull sighted, that Saint Mark saith, Non enim intellexerunt de panibus, They understood nothing about the Loaves. And therefore those whom Fullness and Prosperity had thus blinded, God through troubles and afflictions cleareth their eyesight. The Society of Women, though devout, is dangerous. The fourth is Theophilacts; insinuating this for an especial reason, That our Saviour Christ seeing his Disciples in conversation with some devout women which were present at the Feast, he willed them presently to embark; conceiving, that they would be far more safe in the sea amidst the waves, than in the company of women, though never so devout, never so holy. And the ground of this truth may be gathered from the Disciples unwillingness to put forth to sea: but our Saviour like a good Horseman, that claps his spurs close to the sides of his Ginnet, when he refuses to make his career, Coegit illos, He compelled them. The fifth, For that the Ship is a Type and figure of government, of honour, and of dignity: And God will have his friends to be forced to ascend to those high places. And therefore it is said, Coegit illos ut ascenderent, He compelled them to ascend. The last is Saint Hieromes; who allegeth, That the content being so great which the Disciples took in the presence of their Master, it was a clear case, that it would very much grieve them to depart from him, and to be forced to forgo his company. For he that hath once a truetast of God, will hardly be withdrawn from him. A Dog, be he beaten never so much, he will not leave his Master's house, and all for the love that he beareth him, and the pleasure and delight that he taketh in his presence. And this was it that made job, when he was most beaten with his afflictions, to utter with a great deal of patience this humble language, Etiam, si occiderit, in illum sperabo, i. Though he kill me, yet will I trust in him. What shall they then do, that have sat at the same board with their God, and eat of his meat? Shall not they the fuller they are fed, be still the more hungry? yes doubtless. For as Ecclesiasticus saith; Qui edunt me, Eccl. 24. adhuc esurient, i. They which eat me, shall yet hunger. Et erat nauís in medio Maris. And the Ship was in the midst of the Sea. It seemeth somewhat strange, that our Saviour Christ, enforcing his Disciples to enter into the Sea, and they having punctually obeyed his command, that he should punish them with such a dangerous and fearful tempest. That God's justice shoul overtake jonas in the ship, that the Mariners should be as it were the Sergeants, the Whale the prison, the Sea the executioner, it was not much, for that he sought to fly from God's obedience, and showed himself unwilling to perform the service that was enjoined him: But that the Disciples, who left the Land, entered into the Sea, and consecrated their desires to their Saviour's Will; that these men should see themselves in danger of drowning and ready to perish, is more than much. And this difficulty is endeared the more, because it is said, That no ill shall happen unto him, who shall keep his commandments. Eccl. 1. Qui custodit praeceptum, non experietur quidquam mali. But o Lord, if thou afflictest with torments, those that love and obey thee; What wilt thou do unto those that are renegates, and blasphemers, & c? This doubt requireth those reasons, which our Saviour had for the miraculous allaying of this tempest. The first is Saint Chrysostom's, The Disciples (saith he) might have dwelled upon that former miracle of the loaves of bread, and the fishes, and on that fullness and saturity wherewith such a multitude of guests were satisfied and contented, carrying great store thereof away with them in their bosoms, and their pockets. They might likewise have argued from thence, the Omnipotency and Divinity of our Saviour Christ, Et non intellexerunt de panibus: But they remained blind: God therefore doth so order the business, That those eyes, whom Good could not open, Ill should: And that the danger of the tempest should advise those, whom feasting and fullness of bread could not persuade. The second, Let no man look in God's house to eat of his bread for nothing. God perhaps will bid thee sit down and eat, and say unto thee, In die bonorum fruere bonis, i. In the day of wrath, be of good comfort: But withal, Eccl. 7.16. thou must look to pay thy shot, For God will presently make trial in the furnace of tribulation, whether his bread be well bestowed or no. There is no Saint in Heaven which hath not been put to this proof. And Ecclesiastical persons of all other, have a preciser obligation lying upon them, who are the honour of God's house, who eat more especially at his Table, who gather up the remainders of the feast, enjoying the fruits of the earth in great abundance, and in more plentiful measure than other men. And it is no great marvel that they that possess much, should be possessed with much fear. The third, It is the ordinary language of the Saints of God, to call this world a Sea, and this our life a sailing therein. This Origen proveth, and Hylarius, and Clemens Alexandrinus: and the proportions are many. Saint Austen citeth two, the one, That as the water of the Sea is generally bitter, and it is a wonder if ever it become fresh and sweet: So our life is so full of gall and wormwood, that there is scarce to be found in it any the least smack of content or sweetness: Suiting well with that other saying of this sacred Doctor, That the greatest joy which we enjoy in this life, is not joy, but a kind of lightning and easing of sorrow. The other (which is likewise noted by Saint Basil, and Clemens Alexandrinus) That as in the Sea, Basil. Hom. 7. in ●●am. Clem. lib. 1. 〈◊〉. A●a● 14. the greater Fishes devour the lesser Fry, by a kind of tyrannical violence; so the powerful men of this world oppress the poorer sort, and swallow them up. According to that of Habacuc: Fancies homines, sicut pisces maris, i. Thou makest men as the fishes of the Sea. Gregory Nazianzen putteth two other proportions. The one, That as he who saileth in the Sea, Nazianz. tract de vita 〈◊〉 ne●●bus & O●at. Sap. 14. leads a life very near unto death, having but a poor plank betwixt him and it, Exiguo enim ligno, credunt homines animas suas, i. For men trust a small piece of wood with their lives; So he that walks in the dangerous ways of this world, may say with David, Vno tantum gradu ego, & mors dividimur, i. 1. Reg. 20. there's but one degree betwixt me and death. The other, that those, who take pleasure in going to Sea, come to make the waves thereof their winding sheet: So those, that are wedded to the world, receive their death at the world's hands. The deceits of the world, are like those of the Sea. And for this cause perhaps the Scripture gives the S●a the name of Heart; Psal. 46.2. Transferentur montes in cor maris, i. The mountains shall be translated into the Heart of the Sea: And sometimes, Psal. 104.25. of Hands, Mare magnum, & spatiosum manibus, i. The Sea hath wide and spacious Hands; Sometimes of Eyes and Feet, Mare vidit & fugit, i. the sea saw it and fled; Psal. 114.3. Sometimes of Tongue, Desolabit Dominus linguam maris, i. the Lord shall destroy the tongue of the sea. Esay. 11..15. job. 7.12. And last of all, job paints it forth like a most fierce beast shut up in an iron grate, or strong prison; Num quid mare ego sum quia circumdedisti me in isto carcere? i. Am I a sea that thou shouldest keep me continually in hold? From hence followeth another proportion or conveniency, which is a very clear one. For as the way of the Sea is full of dangers, of Pirates, of Shelves, and of Rocks; and as it is not possible, that man's wisdom and experience can prevail against them; even so is it with the world. The way by Land is of less difficulty: Every man knows how to make his necessary provision; as a horse, a man, a cloak-bag, and a good purse. And suppose some of these should fail us, we may furnish ourselves afresh at the first good place we come at. And if we pass over mountains, where there is suspicion of thieves, we may perceive the peril and prevent it; but for those that go by Sea, the like provision and prevention cannot be made, especially if fortune do not favour us. Est via, qui videter homini recta novissima autem eius ducunt ad mortem, i. There is a way which seemeth right to a man, Prou. 16. but the end of it leadeth to death. A ship shall go sailing with the wind in the Poop of it, with a great deal of content and delight, and on the sudden it shall be split in pieces, and no memorial remain thereof. The like success befalleth men in this world, every step that they tread. And therefore Saint Austen saith, That it is as great a miracle for a man to walk upon the waves of the World without sinking, as it was for Saint Peter to walk upon the waves of the Sea. Many other conveniencies there are, which I omit to mention; this World being in conclusion a Sea, our life a sailing therein, and every particular man a ship. Sicut naues poma portantes, etc. and therefore subject to storms. job. 1●▪ Et navis erat in medio maris. And the Ship was in the midst of the Sea. This Ship was a figure of the Church, which God permitteth to be persecuted, For his own sake; For the Churches; and For those that look thereupon. For his own sake; For should it have no enemies to persecute it, & hotly to assail her, God's omnipotency would not show it's glorious splendour to the world. The force of fire is seen when the water cannot quench it; of light, when darkness cannot obscure it; of sweet odours, when the filthiest scents cannot overcome their fragrancy; of power, when the whole strength of the world, nay the Devil and Hell itself cannot prevail against it. And this succeedeth unto God in the persecution of his Church: for the enemies thereof have been maimed and put to flight, Gods Arm remaining still strong & sound. Pharaoh came bravely on with his Chariots and Horsemen; boasting as he went, Persequor, & comprehendam illos, evaginabo gladium meum, interficiet eos manus mea, I will pursue them, and overtake them, I will unsheathe my Sword, and my hand shall slay them: But God beckoned upon the waves, and they swallowed up alive both him and all his Host. And the Text saith, That the Hebrews saw the powerful hand of God charging upon them, having planted there in that sea the ensign of his power. Tertullian saith of job, That God made him a triumphant Chariot of the spoils of Hell, and that he dragged thereat along in the dirt, his enemy's ensigns, to the greater dishonour of the Devil. The like doth God do in the Church, with jews, Moors, and Heretics, himself remaining still firm against all their furious violences, like a rock in the midst of the sea. Some rocks are to be seen even where the Seas are deepest; which it seemeth God placed there of purpose, The Church why likened to a Rock. in scorn and contempt of that overswelling pride and furious raging of the sea: For though they have been lashed and beaten by them from the beginning of the world to this present day, they could never move, much less remove them, because they have sure rooting in the bottom of the Sea. And this is a Type of the Church, which God hath placed in the midst of this Sea of the World, for to make a mock of as many as are her enemies. But some one will say, How can the Church be called a Rock, being figured here by this little Ship, which the waves thus toss up and down in the air? I answer, That Ezechiel in his twenty seventh Chapter, speaketh of Tyrus in the metaphor of an Isle, My beauty is perfect, and my abode is in the midst of the Sea. And presently changing that metaphor, he terms it a Galley; which is all one, as if he should have said, That with Gods help a Galley may be an Isle, and without God an Isle may be a Galley. So likewise the Church, albeit it be a Ship in the midst of the tempestuous waves of the Sea, yet by the assistance of his holy Spirit it may be a perdurable Rock. And (as Saint Austen hath noted it) the Executioners have often wanted strength and inventions to torment, but there never wanted courage in the Martyrs for to suffer, by the divine power and favour of God. Howsoever therefore the waves shall beat against this Bark, they may want force to overturn her, but she will never want sides to make resistance. For the Church's sake; because it makes for her good, The greatest persecution of the Church, is to want persecution. and for her greater increase. This is expressed in that Parable, Nisi granum frumenti, Except a grain of Corn, etc. And in that other, Ego sum vitis vera, & vos palmites, I am the true Vine, ye are the Branches. The happiness of Corn consisteth in this, in that it is sown, and in that it dies; That of the Vine, in that it is pruned, and hath its boughs and branches cut off: Many wild Trees of unsavoury Fruits, by the art of graffing are reduced to a pleasant relish. Of Saffron Pliny saith, That the more it is trodden on, the better it springeth: The grain of Mustard, the more it is bruised and broken, the greater strength it discovereth: And the Church, the more it is persecuted, the more it prospereth. And as Mariners are wont to say, that at sea the worst storm is a calm; so we may say of the Church, that it's greatest persecution is to have no persecution at all. Esay sets it down for a threatening, That God will leave off to prune and dress his Vine any more, Dimittam eam, Leo. papa. ser. 1. de pet. & Paul. Basil. Esay. 5. Cries. Psal. 71. & non putabitur, nec fodietur. For when a Vine is pruned, for one branch it putteth forth ten: And the Church, by one Martyr being cut off, gives a plentiful increase of two hundred converted Christians. Pope Leo, Saint Basil, and Saint Chrysostome prosecute this Doctrine more at large, in the unfolding of the aforesaid Parables. Lastly, for their sakes that look thereupon, and behold at full the persecutions of the Church. For as to the righteous, the prosperity of the sinner is a stumbling block of offence; Hic labor est ante me: So to the sinner, the persecution of the just causeth great scandal. Both these are undoubted truths, both hard to be understood, but harder far to be persuaded. But God afflicteth with persecutions the thing which he most loveth, which is his Church; and prospereth those her enemies, which hate her, to the end, that men might thereby learn and understand, that neither those evils which the Church suffereth, are true evils; nor those blessings which the other enjoy, true blessings. And this is proved out of Saint Augustine in his Book De Civit. Dei; Aug. lib. 1. de Civit. cap. 8. Seneca lib. quare bonis viris. cap. 5. and out of Seneca in that his Book, Quare bonis viris. So that the wicked, though that he enjoy a great deal of prosperity, we are not to esteem it as a blessing; nor for that the righteous suffer much adversity, are we to account it a curse unto them: But ought rather to apprehend, that persecution is for their good, in regard that our Saviour Christ gives it us as a reward for our great service. Et omnis qui reliquerit patrem, matrem, etc. centuplum accipiet cum persecutionibus, i And every one that shall have left father or mother etc. Shall receive a hundreth fold, with Persecutions. Saint Mark, and Saint Cyprian, both affirm, that persecution putteth us in a kind of possession of that glory which we hope for hereafter, at least it gives us an assurance thereof. And this is made good by this comparison. The Good, the Scripture styleth by the name of Wheat; and the Wicked are termed Chaff. Now, it is the Fan of persecution, that doth sever the Wheat from the Chaff. Vidit eos laborantes in remigando. He saw them toiled in rowing. There are two things which steal away God's eyes, God's Eyes how to be drawn unto us. and filch them (if I may use that phrase) from forth his head. The one is, an humble and prompt obedience: The other, the trouble and torment which we suffer for his sake. Touching the first, notable is that place of Abraham, whose obedience did so draw God's eyes unto him, that that place where he was resolved to perform the Sacrifice, remained with this name, Dominus videbit, The Lord will see. Touching the second, There is not any hunger nor humane misery, whereon God's mercy hath not his eye fixed, nay, I may boldly say, fast nailed thereunto. To Moses God spoke out of a Bush; O thou great God of heaven and earth, a bush is no fitting chair for thy glory, or thy Majesty; Who made thee thus to alter thy Throne? Vidi afflictionem Populi mei in Aegypto, I have seen the affliction of my People in Egypt. Another Translation hath it, Videndo vidi, In se●ing I have seen; and the repetition goes on in this descant, Qui tangit vos, tangit pupillam oculi mei, He toucheth the apple of God's eye, that toucheth the Iust. And in another place, Et clamorem eius audivi, And I have heard his cry: For our misery toucheth not only God's eye, but his ear also. Tertullian reporteth in his Apologetico, That the Gentiles did murmur against the Christians, that they would not recommend the safety and welfare of their kings to those their Gods, jupiter and Mercury. But Nazianzen answereth thereunto, That they did not allow of this their council, to recommend their safety unto Gods whose hands & feet were of jead; but unto that God who swiftly flies to heal them of their infirmities, and carries health in his wings, Et sanitas in pennis eius. Vidit eos laborantes in remigando, He saw them labouring at the Oar. In another Tempest, no less fearful than the former, Saint Luke●aith ●aith, That our Saviour Christ fell asleep, leaning his head on one of the boards of the Ship, in stead of a pillow. And here Saint Matthew saith, That he beheld how his Disciples wrestled with the waves, seeking to overcome their rage and their fury. The one Tempest God permitted, the other he sendeth. Of Pharaoh it is said by the Prophet, Ego excitavi eum, I raised him up to be the instrument for the afflicting of my People, that I might afterwards grind him to powder. And by Esayas he saith, That with his whistle he called the Flies from beyond the Seas. In all sorts of Tempests therefore the Justice may think themselves safe, because God is continually at hand to help them: According to that of David, Cum ipso sum in tribulatione, I am with thee in tribulation; And of Esay, Esay. 43. When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and when thou walkest in the fire thou shalt not be burnt. And of Ezechiell; Ero sicut Tunica prope corpus ipsorum, i. I will be as a coat about their body. Saint Gregory saith, That God appeared unto job, De turbine, i. Out of the whirlwind. For having permitted a whirlwind of troubles to come upon him, it would not have suited so well that he should have spoke unto him from that throne of Glory, whence he spoke unto him when he was in his perfect health and prosperity. The three children being in the Fiery Furnace, the Son of God appeared amidst those flames, and the tyrant saw one, Sap. 10. Similem filio Dei, i. Like the son of God. Of joseph it is said, Descenditque cum illo in foveam, & in vinculis non derelinquit eum, i. He want down with him into the pit, and left him not in his bonds. God accompanied him in his irons and his gives. Psal. 28. Dominus dilwium inhabitare facit. Saint Jerome translates it, Dominus dilwium inhabitans. When God sent the Flood, he put himself also in the midst of the waters. 1. Reg. 27. Redemisti tibi ex Aegipto gentem, & Deum eius, i. Thou hast redeemed a nation to thyself, even out of Egypt, and withal, their God. Upon which place Vatablus hath noted, That God did redeem himself, being captivated as well as his people. And he could not like of his own liberty, as long as he saw that they were kept in slavery. In Aegiptum descendit populus meu●, Esay 52. & Asur ●ine causa calumniatus est eum; & nunc quid mihi est hic? My people is gone down into Egypt; Assur hath afflicted them without a cause; and now what do I here? My people captive, and I at liberty? Quid mihi est hic? My people trodden under feet, and I enjoy the smoke of incense and sacrifice? Quid mihi est hic, i. What do I here? Erat enim ventus contrarius. For the Wind was against them. All the misfortunes of navigation, the Evangelist reduceth to the Wind. And following the Metaphor, That this World is a Sea, and our life a sailing therein; all that doth hinder the prosperity and happiness thereof, is Wind. Whilst the use of reason stood fair and clear with man, he put the prow of his desires into the Haven of Salvation: for all do naturally desire an estate that is full of happiness, and free from evil; and that which makes their voyage unhappy & unfortunate, is Wind. Saint john saith, That all things in this world, are either pleasures, covetousness, or honours: And if we shall sum up all the pleasures, riches, and honours, that have been enjoyed in the world even to this very hour, we shall find that they are all but Wind. Solomon made an Annatomie of all humane felicity, and in conclusion shows it is all but vanity, Vanitas vanitatum, & omnia vanitas. Zacharie saw a figure of four Empires, the famousest that ever were in the world; the Assyrians, Persians, Medes, and Grecians; and ask of the Angel, Qui sunt isti, Domine mi? He told him, isti sunt quatuor Venti, Those are the four Winds. The most prosperous Sceptres, and the most dreadful Crowns are no better than air: And it were well if they were no worse, and did not cross that good fortune which we desire in the navigation of this our life; Hoc opus, hic labour. Circa quartam vigiliam noctis. Abac●●. 2. About the fourth watch. What, so late? Gods help come it when it will come, comes never too late; Veniens, veniet, & non tardabit. And God would that this truth should remain so notorious and manifest to the world, that he doth not only call it a Vision, ex plana visum, which carrieth its evidence along with it; but he commandeth the Prophet to write it down with strange circumstances. The first is very clear, and hath not the least shadow of darkness in it. The second circumstance, that this saying should be graven Upon Box, for so the Septuagint read it; which kind of wood (according unto Esay) conserveth what is written therein to the world's end. The third, That it should be written in capital letters which may be read afar off. The fourth, The assurance & certainty thereof, implied in the repetition, Veniens, veniet, & non tardabit, Coming, he will come, vide cap. de reser●cum sero esset. and will not tarry. Saint Bernard argueth hereupon, Quomodo non tardabit, si moram fecerit? How can he but linger, if he use delay? I answer, God's help may happily come too late, in regard of our desire, but can never come too late in regard of our necessity. And this his slowness in succouring us, may seem painful, if we shall measure it according to the impatiency of our desire; but profitable unto us, if we will but think upon the reward which is laid up for those that suffer hoping. Rom. 5. Saint Paul in the chain which he recommendeth to the Romans, whose links are Tribulation, Patience, Trial, Hope, Charity (which Saint Austen doth so much celebrate in his book De Doct. Christiana) saith, Gloriamur in tribulationibus, scientes quoniam tribulatio patientiam operatur; patientia, probationem; probatio, vero spem, We rejoice in tribulation; knowing that tribulation bringeth forth patience; patience, experience; and experience, hope. We draw glory out of our tribulations; for he that is in tribulation, doth not only suffer, but in suffering worketh; which working causeth in us an eternal weight of glory. Cor. 17. The excellency of Patience From Patience ariseth another link, which is Probation, or Trial; whither it be for that the Patient doth prove how much he is able to suffer, being favoured by Heaven, and holpen from above; or whither it be, that he should be proved as was job, to see whither he would stick surely to his tackling. For Patience is a more assured testimony of our trial, than Fasting, Prayer, Alms, or the like: for these are often subject unto falsehood. Again, from this Trial, ariseth Hope; for he that is wonderful patient, cannot but have a wonderful good Hope. This was it that made God say to Abraham, Nunc cognovi quod timeas Deum, Now I know that thou fearest God. And S. Paul saith of himself, That he did hope beyond hope; that is, that he did even then still hope, when all reason of hope did fail him. Besides, God is wont to permit that our tribulation should be great, to the end that our Patience might be made great, our Trial great, and our Hope great: and then doth he come in and help us, when he hath made sufficient proof of our faith: to the trial whereof God puts us a thousand manner of ways. The People of Israel passed through the bed of jordan, those waters sliding gently along towards the dead sea, and those other droven back, so that they passed through it as through the dry land. And yet this might perhaps seem unto God but a slender trial of their Faith; First, Because a great number joining in company together, they take more courage unto them in the undergoing of any danger; for common calamities are evermore the less felt. Secondly, In regard of the Arkes being there, whereof those waters might seem to be afraid, and so fly back for fear, jordanis conversus est retrorsum. Thirdly, For that there were so many innocent little children amongst them, whom God (they might suppose) would not suffer to be drowned, considering they had not yet offended him, as not knowing good from evil. And therefore he commanded that twelve of them, upon whom the lots should fall, should go back & take out twelve great stones out of the bed of jordan, to make a Pyramid or Altar to remain as a memorial of that miracle: whereunto they all of them readily offered themselves with a great deal of alacrity; and this was a great trial of their Faith: But it would have been greater, if God had commanded them to set their backs and shoulders against the waves, keeping them there, and deferring his succour till the thread of their hope were broken in twain, and they ready to perish. This deferring is usually the vigil of God's greater mercies. Greg. hom. ●0. in Euang. Saint Gregory declareth to this purpose that place of Esay, Ad punctum in modico dereliquisse, & in miserationibus magnis congregavi te, He deferred his help to the last push, but the greater the delay was, the greater was his mercy; As we see, Gods deferring of his justice is oftentimes the occasion of the severer punishment. Chryst. hom. 55. in Math. Saint Chrysostome saith, That Christ's so long deferring to allay this storm, was to teach us, that we are not at the first flaw of a Tempest, to call for present fair weather; but rather to cry out with David, Non me derelinquas usquequaque, Let not thy not relieving of me be eternal, Forsake me not o Lord for ever; but let thy succour come when it shall seem best unto thee: not my, but thy will be done. God likewise refuseth sometimes to afford his help, He delights to see his children wrestling with affliction. Seneca lib. quare viris cap. 2. out of the pleasure that he taketh to see the Righteous row against the stream, and to tug and wrestle with all the might they can, against the troubles and afflictions of this world. Seneca touching (though as a Heathen) upon this strain, saith, That there is not in all the earth a spectacle more worthy Gods beholding, than to see a stout man wrestling against adverse fortune. Saint Chrysostome dwells much upon the great care which God took in notifying to the Devil, that he should not touch job in his life; Veruntamen animam illius serua, But yet preserve his life. Not that job should have received any hurt by the loss of his life, but because God would not lose the pleasure of seeing this stout combat fought out betwixt him and his enemy. Si de medio tuleris Theatrum non plaudet amplius. And as your Heathen Emperors took great delight in seeing a Christian enter the Lists with a wild Beast; so the King of Heaven takes much pleasure in seeing one of his Saints maintain fight against those fierce Beasts of Hell. Et putaverunt Phantasma esse. And they took him for an apparition. Here is one fear upon another, & therefore it was not much they should cry out. The wind and the waves had sorely affrighted them, and that which was to be the remedy of their danger, made them to apphrehend a new danger, fearing now more their succour than their hurt: being herein like unto many, who fear their good, but not their evil; the Glutton doth not fear drunkenness, Men fear not the sin, but the suffering for sin. and that fullness which lessens his health, and puts his life in danger; but fears those syrups and purgations which he is to take for his recovery. The bad Christian feareth not the fault he hath committed, which is the greatest evil; but feareth to do penance for the same, which is for his greatest good. The Atheist feareth not death, nor the grave, but saith, We have made a covenant with Death and Hell; yet he feareth poverty & hunger, and the enemy that threatens him; but not God, who can swallow him up quick in the flames of Hell fire: He fears an earthly judge that may put him to torment; but not that judge of Heaven, that can condemn to endless pains which are never to have end. THE FIFTH SERMON, UPON THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT; TOUCHING OUR SAVIOUR'S TEMPTATION. MAT. 4. LUC. 4. MARC. 1. Ductus est Iesus ab Spiritu in Desertum. And jesus was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness. The description of Christ's Combat with the Devil. THis famous Combat betwixt two of the stoutest and valiantest Captains that ever tried their valour in a single Duel, will very well deserve the looking on, and require our diligent attention, taking up as well our eyes as our ears. This battle then that is here described by the Evangelist, is the notablest and the strangest that ever was in former, or ever shall be seen in future Ages. The Combatants are two great Princes, whose power all the world acknowledgeth, and whose wisdom admits no comparison; the one, the Prince of Light; the other, the Prince of Darkness: The field wherein they fought, was a Wilderness, where they had nothing to sustain themselves withal but stones: Their Weapons, Wit, and Words; the faculties of the Understanding, and the use of the Tongue. The Devil's end was, to repair a double loss, or twofold overthrow at our Saviour Christ's hands: The one, That he could never catch him in any the least fault, nor find him tripping in any one action that ever he did. And this was it that did mad him to the heart, and mightily incense his rage, that amongst all mankind, there never yet being any, though never so famous, never so just, that had escaped his clutches without receiving some foil or other; as Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, & the like good and holy men: that now a man, in the eye of the World of no better than a mean and ordinary rank, (for such a one was our Saviour held to be) should escape his fingers, and should show himself to be the only Phoenix of the world. The other, that he did not yet perfectly know by that evidence of his humane nature, & by those great suspicions which he might have of his divine essence, by calling to mind those menaces that were threatened against him in Paradise, I will put enmity betwixt the woman and thee, betwixt thy seed and her seed; he shall bruise thy head, etc. And he began to think with himself, What will become of me if this be the Bugbear foretold by the Prophets? Questionless if this be the man, I shall hardly escape a broken pate. Our Saviour's end was not any desire of his own proper worth and merit, nor any vainglory to show his valour; for it could be no great glory to boast of, (1.) Our Saviors' main end in fight with the Devil, was to sanctify our temptations. nor no such wonderful conquest, that the Son and Heir apparent of Heaven should subdue the Devil. But his end was thereby to sanctify our temptations, as he had done all the rest of our miseries, by taking them upon himself, because they should recover a new being, and a new honour: And that those temptations which heretofore did serve as steep Rocks to throw us down into Hell, should serve as Ladders to bring us to Heaven. Theodores saith, That as Physicians make Treacle out of Serpents▪ so our Saviour Christ drew an Antidote and wholesome Medicine from the Devil and his deceits and subtleties: so that now, Temptation hath lost his name and strength, and of Galleyslaves we are made Freemen by jesus Christ. Secondly, Our Saviour Christ did pretend by this fight, (2.) To free the world from fear. A description of the Devil. to rid the world of that great fear wherein it lived. Whereby we may suppose the fearful power of the Devil throughout the face of the whole earth. job in his 41. Chap. maketh a dreadful description of the Devil, in the metaphor of a Whale, or (as some would have it) of a Sea Dragon; a Fish of that exceeding greatness, that when he discovers himself in the waters, he seemeth to be some little Island, or some pretty big Hill; Corpus eius, scuta fusilia; his body is covered over with such strong scales, as if they were bars of Brass, and ribs of Steel, and so close locked & jointed together, that the subtlest air cannot get in between the knitting of the joints; Stornutatio eius, splendour ignis, The breath of his nostrils is like unto lightning; his eyes as flashes of fire; from his mouth come forth flames, as out of a Furnace; from his nose issueth a thick smoke; his breath kindleth coals, and sets them on fire; there are no weapons either offensive or defensive, that can withstand his force; Reputa●it quasi palus, ferrum & as quasi lignum putridum, Iron to him is as straws, and swords of steel as rotten sticks. A man of arms may threaten him with a Mace of Iron; a Gunner shoot his Bullets at him; an Archer, his Arrows; a Slinger, his Stones; & the Pikeman, his Lance; all which he so little cares for, that he makes but a jest of it. In a word, when he comes to make an end of this large description which he makes of the Devil, he concludes that chapter with this Epiphonema, Non est potest●s quae comparetur ei, The power of the world is not able to compare with him. Saint Gregory upon the fourth Chapter of job noteth, That the Scripture gives the Devil three kind of names or attributes; Behemoth, or Elephant; Leviathan, which some will have to be the Whale; and Auis Rapinae, a Bird of Rapine, that lives only upon prey; Nunquid illudes ei, quasi avi? In which three names he did comprehend the power of all the Beasts of the field, of all the Fishes of the sea, and of all the Birds of the air. The power of these three sorts of creatures extends itself to these three elements, the Water, the Earth, and the Air: and they being all deposited in the Devil, whose habitation is the Fire, he comes to have dominion over all the elements. In other places of the Scripture he is called a Dragon, a Leopard, a Bear, a Lion: but these comparisons come short of the other. And therefore some Doctors expounding this word Behemoth, say, That it signifies Multitudinem Bestiarum, a multitude of Beasts; because it includeth in it the force and poison of all other sorts of Beasts whatsoever. Saint Paul calls him a Prince of power, the Ruler and Governor of this world: For as the state and power of a Prince is far beyond that of his Subjects and Vassals; so is the Devil in all other things Aduersus Principes & Potestates, & Mundi rectores, Against the Princes and Powers, and Governors of the earth. The Greek word is Cosmocratoras, a word of that fullness, that diverse Fathers have diversely interpreted it: Tertullian, The possessions of the world; Hilary and Saint Hierome, The Mighty of the world, The Lords of the world. Esay calls him a Bar or a Bol●, because the strength of a Prison consists in good Bars and Bolts, and strong Locks: Visitavit Dominus super serpentem vectem, The Lord will visit that creeping Bar. Theodotion translates it Robustum, The strong Bar: Simmachus, Vectem concludentem, sive claudentem, The enclosing Bar, or the Bar that shutteth up; For he doth shut up many in his prison, and keeps them in miserable servitude. Saint john in his Apocalyps bewaileth the Earth and the Sea, because the Devil comes forth enraged fiercely against them; showing great sorrow, that God had given them such small means to be revenged of him, being a Beast so powerful, so cruel, so tyrannous, and so bend against them, that man was turned coward, and become fearful. But since our Saviour Christ overcame him, & hath bound him fast in fetters and chains of iron, he bids us be of good courage, and that we should stand no more in fear of him; Fear not (saith our Saviour) I have overcome the World. Many of God's People when they entered first into the sea showed themselves fearful & cowardly; but after that the powerful hand of God had overwhelmed the Egyptians, & had thrown them up dead on the other side of the sea, the weakest women among them, and those men that were most faint hearted, with songs of joy, and with Timbrels, did set forth the glory of this victory, and did make a mock of the power of Pharaoh; They praised the hand of the Vanquisher, who opened the mouths of the dumb, and made the tongues of Infants eloquent. So likewise did the world live cowed before, by the power of Satan; but after that the powerful hand of Christ our Saviour, left in the Wilderness the print of that wound which he had given him on the head, the meanest and most cowardly Christian may now make a jest both of him and Hell. One of the Sages of Greece said, That better was an Army of Sheep that had a Lion to their captain, than an Army of Lions that had a Sheep to their Commander. And therefore albeit we are but weak and silly Sheep, yet have we a Lion to our Captain, who hath overcome our enemies, The Lion of the Tribe of juda hath overcome. When Ioshua● overcame th●se five Kings of the Ammorites near unto Gibeon, he would have the Princes of the People to put their feet upon their necks; that seeming unto him to be a powerful means to put them in heart, and to serve to encourage the rest of his soldiers not to fear them, for that God should bring down their enemies, and put them under their feet. This valiant Captain did also subdue Zeba and Salmana, and commanded his son, that he should unsheathe his sword and run them through; The main thing in a General, is to f●ee his soldiers from fear. which he did of purpose to make him gather courage unto him, and to cast off all fear. Nor can there greater worth be desired in a Captain, than to know how to free his soldiers from fear. When David had smote off Goliath his head, those of Israel were as bold as Lions, and the Philistines were as fearful as Hares. In the time ●f Solomon, the Scripture saith, That Israel did live in that peace, and so devoid of fear, as no men more, Every one under his own Vine, and under his own Fig tree; 3. Reg. 4. not that all of them had their Vines and Figge-trees, but because they might sleep quietly and securely (as the Poets feign of Tytirus and Melibaeus) under the shade of the broad spreading Beech, singing this Song of joy, Deus nobis haec otia fecit. All which was a figure of the peace and security which the Church was to enjoy by the conquest of this our Captain: (for by war we come to the enjoying of peace) and as by his death he did conquer our death; so likewise (saith Saint Gregory) it was fit, that the conquering of his temptation should be the subduing of ours. The Prophet treating how cowardly the Devil would remain after this victory, saith, Thou hast made him food for the People of Aethiopia. The Negroes of Zapa and Mandinga have piecemeal devoured him, and eaten him up, as it were by morsels. For the world hath not a more fearful and cowardly Nation than that of the Negroes, The Negroes of all nations the most cowardly, & why. either by reason of their small store of blood, or for that, that little they have is very cold, and therefore hath the less activeness in it. The Romans would never consent that any Negro should be listed for a soldier. The unknown Author understandeth by the Aethyopians, those Crows, which of all other Fowls that feed upon flesh, are the most fearful: which is to be seen in this, that delighting so much as they do, to pick out the eyes of other creatures, they dare not adventure to pluck them out until they be dead. Of a coward the Spanish Proverb saith, A Moro muerto gran Lançada, Give a dead Moor a great blow with a Lance: Which is spoken by way of reproach of notorious cowards, when they will offer to run a man through when he is dead already. In Rome there was great opposition betwixt two famous Orators, Tully and Metellus; the one was stout and full of courage, and the other cowardly and timorous: Now when Metellus Master died, he set over his Tombstone a Crow; Whereat Tully jesting, said, That he now had paid his Master at his death, for that which he had taught him in his life. And therefore the Prophet saying, That the Devil should be the food of the Negroes, or of Crows; was to signify thereby, that he was not able to put fear into the fearfullest and most cowardly persons. Thirdly, Our Saviour Christ did pretend in this action of his, to give us a great testimony of his love. All his actions proclaim love; (3) To exemplify his own love. but this of his being tempted, hath one circumstance of love, that I know not well what can be more: For having given us both Heaven and earth, and all that therein is, and which is more, his only begotten Son, with whom he gave us all that good which we could wish or have; Quomodo cum illo omnia non nobis donavit? yet did he always reserve his honour unto himself; I am the Lord, and I will not give my glory to another. And as Pharaoh conferred on joseph all his authority and power, but not his Crown and Sceptre, In this thing only I will be before thee: So God being most liberal unto us, in bestowing all his riches and graces upon us; yet was he ever covetous of his honour. But by yielding that the Devil should tempt him, it seemeth that he did put it in hazard, at least to its trial: For, to be tempted, is to be incited and provoked to sin, whose malice and wickedness hath that opposition and enmity with God, which if our Saviour (as it was impossible) should have consented unto, he should have lost the name of the eternal Son of God, and have caused him to become his enemy for ever. Besides, there is no stroke that strikes so home to a Noble breast, as to be overcome by his enemy. Saul, that he might not die by the hands of a Philistine, spoke to his Sword-bearer to kill him: And his Sword-bearer not daring to kill him, he killed himself. Cato Vticensis did the like, that he might not become a Slave to Caesar, as Plutarch reporteth it. The like did Cleopatra, being but a woman. What presumption then is it, that a Creature which had been cast out of Heaven, for a base, in famous, and disloyal Traitor, should pretend to conquer the Son of Heaven? Again, To the Just (saith Saint Chrysostome) there is but one Good, and one Evil necessary: The Good, is God; the Evil, the offending of God. job did not show so much sorrow for the loss of his children, his houses, his flocks, and his substance, as he did when his wife said unto him, Curse God and die; but that was as a dagger to his heart. Shall I be angry and offended with my God? No, though he should kill me, yet will I love him: For I have no other Good but my God, he is all my hope, and all my comfort. What then might our Saviour think of the Devil? How much should it grieve him to hear him say, Fall down and worship me. Lastly, He was willing to be tempted, for that temptation being a thing that we must all of us necessarily endure, (4.) That we may have an example to follow. no, none of the best of us all can avoid, we may know how to behave ourselves therein, by following the example of this our noble Captain; Vt cuius munimur auxilio, erudiamur exemplo, as Pope Leo hath it. Vt mediator esset, non solum per auditorium, verum etiam per exemplum, as Saint Austen hath it. Our life is a daily warfare, and a continual temptation, (not only profitable, but necessary:) & to those worldlings that live (to their seeming) in peace, Wisdom saith, Not knowing War, they call so many evils, Peace: These are they that suffer a more bloody and desperate war than any other. job saith, Man's life is but a Warrefare upon earth. Saint Gregory calls it the Guard of our virtues; For then are we inwardly best preserved, when outwardly we are by God's dispensation tolerably tempted. And amongst many other reasons which are brought for the proof hereof, there is one very powerful; to wit, That we shall have therein the especial favour and protection of our good God; so that he giving us strength to endure, we may account it a great happiness unto us. Custodit Domin● animas Sanctorum svorum, God hath an exceeding great care of the souls of his Saints; Psal. 96. And having God on our side, who can hurt us? Nun tu vallasti eum per circuitum? job 1. Et universam substantiam eius? The Devil said unto God, talking with him about job, Lord, thou dost not only guard his soul, but his life, h●● honour, and his goods, as if thou hadst put him into a strong place of defence, under lock and key. God's protection a safeguard. Saint Gregory saith, That God so guardeth the house of the Righteous, that he will not leave so much as a chink open for the Devil to enter thereinto: And therefore Solomon styles it an inexpugnable Tower. When the Sodomites assaulted Lot's house, the Angels were not contented with shutting of the door, but did strike the assailants with blindness. When Noah entered into the Ark, God shut the port, and carried away the key with him. Clausit eum Dominus de foris. The seventy Interpreters make this construction of it, that he did so, that neither the waters nor the winds might annoy it. In dilun●o aquarum multarum, ad eum non approximabunt. For God had kalked up the ports, and every little chink or crevice belonging thereunto. Saint Bernard, expounding those words of the ninety one Psalm (Dicet Domino, susceptor meus es tu, & refugium meum, Deus meus, sperabo in eum., i I will say unto the Lord, Thou art my &c.) asketh the question, Why God, being the God of all, David in that place calls him twice his God? I answer, That he is the God of all, in regard of his Creation and Redemption, and other his general benefits towards man; God in a particular manner the God of the faithful. but in Temptation, he is the God of every individual person, as if he did not busy himself, nor think upon any other thing, than the favouring of the Just, and the assisting of him upon those occasions. Saint Gregory, declaring those words of Christ, Not a hair of your head shall perish, saith, That a hair doth not pain us when it is cut away from us, but the cutting of the flesh doth: If that then shall be kept from perishing, by God's protection and providence over us, which doth not pain us; how much more will he take heed, that that shall not perish, which may put us to pain? Last of all, There is not any thing so notorious, and so approved, as the general good that is gotten by Temptation. From thence grow those brave Spirits, those valiant Soldiers, and those courageous Captains, which wage war against the Devil and Hell, keeping him out at the staffs end, and putting him to the worst. As on the contrary, from Idleness come Cowards, whiteliverd Soldiers, Faint-hearted, Soulless, and Lazy people. As long as there were any frontyre-townes in Spain, for the enemies to make their inroads, it had many brave and famous Soldiers, as the Cides, and the Bernardoes. But now there are none but Carpet-Knights, all men of bombast, Why God in his providence ordained a continual war betwixt Man and the Devil. made of nothing but softness and delicacy, their Armour is turned into gay clothes; and their stiff Lances, into starched bottle bands and beards. They all did then smell of gunpowder, but now stink of Amber, Sivet, and other Indian Gums. Athanasius asks the question, Why the providence of God did ordain this continual war between the Devils and Men? And the answer is, That thereby, the valour of God's Soldiers might be known. Saint Ambros saith, That the Devil works his own destruction by his daily tempting of Men, for by seeking to weaken their Bodies, he strengtheneth their Souls. And that job, when he sat upon the dunghill with his potsherd in his hand to scrape off his scabs, made all Hell afraid, and to stand amazed at his patience. Ductus est jesus a Spiritu in desertum ut tentaretur. He was led by the Spirit into the Desert, that he might be tempted. The holy Ghost was a guide to all our Saviour's Actions: He 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 us unto, but only to Temptation. And this is expressed with words that carry a kind of force with them, though voluntary and sweet. Expulit, agebatur, ductus est, He drew him not, he was chased, he was led. And the mystery thereof is, that no man ought to presume, considering his weakness, so much upon his own security and confidence, that he should enter into Temptation, unless the holy Ghost take him up as it were by the hair of the head, and set him into it. And the truth of this doctrine is delivered unto us by Victor Antiochenus, Temporal victories gotten by fight, Spiritual by flying. Saint john, Chrisostome, Gregorius Nissenus, Euthimius, & many other Saints of God. In corporal war, it is greater courage to fight, than to fly; but in the spiritual warfare, the assurance of the Victory consists in flying. And God would rather have us to be cowards through fear, than courageous through presumption; and therefore he first promiseth us his Protection, that is, his Aid, and his Favour. Deus refugium & virtus, adiutor in opportunitatibus, & in tribulatione, i. God is a helper in due season, & in tribulation. He first says, he will be our refuge, and afterwards our helper. Fly therefore from danger, and have recourse unto God, and being sheltered under the shadow of his wings, and upheld by the strength of his Arm, thou needst not fear any harm that Hell can do unto thee. So that God is not bound to favour thee in those temptations which thou dost thrust thyself into, but in those that thou seekest to shun. Saint Austen, advising I know not whom, that they should not talk and converse with Women so familiarly as they did; they excused themselves unto him, telling him, that they only did so, that they might meet with some Temptations wherewith to encounter. But this glorious Doctor plainly told them; Herein, you seek nothing but dangers, and stumbling blocks to cause you to fall. And as it is fit to take from before the eyes of the frantic, all those images and pictures which may move passion in him, for that they will be an occasion to make him madder than ever he was before; so, ought a sinner to avoid all the vanities of this World. Psal. 54. Ecce elongavi fugiens, & mansi in solitudine. Saint Bernard hath well observed, that for his better ease and quiet, this holy King, did not only leave his own City, but fled far from it. And he that shall fly from the occasions of sinning, performs no small matter. But he that shall fly a far off from them, will find it to be most for his ease. Temptation, as it is the Devil's act, is ill; and God doth not will it positively, but permissively he doth; so saith Saint Chrisostome: Advising us, that we should not seek after them, but if they chance to set upon us, then are we to stand to it, and valiantly to fight it out. This our Saviour Christ would insinuate to his Disciples, in the garden, when he said unto them; Watch and pray that ye enter not into Temptation. Mat. 28. For a man to sleep, when he is in danger, and not to fly unto God for succour, is to seek after Temptation. Saint Austen, Saint Cyprian, Saint Gregory, and Saint Chrysostome, say, That this is the meaning of that prayer which 〈◊〉 daily make, And lead us not into Temptation. Which carries with it a double sense. The one, Led us not (o Lord) into Temptation, for our weakness and frailty is exceeding great. So doth Petrus Chrisologus expound it. But because it is not a fitting language for a Soldier to desire of his Captain, that he should not send him forth to fight; that other sense is more plain, Suffer us not (o Lord) to fall into Temptation. Though we ought to suffer for Christ's sake, we should not yet seek it. But if thou wilt permit that we must be tempted, yet consent not (o Lord) that we be overcome. And this sense, Saint Austen seemeth to approve in that his sermon, de Monte. But in what sense soever you take it, it is very true, that no man ought rashly to run himself into danger; And Saint Cyprian saith, That no man should presume to offer his throat to be cut by a tyrant's knife, out of a desire that he hath to suffer for our Saviour's sake, but that he weight his time and tarry till they take him and put him upon the rack. Lactantius Firmianus saith, That he that unnecessarily ventures upon danger, ought not to be styled valiant, nor indeed is, but ought rather to be accounted rash and inconsiderate: For he that is truly valiant, is neither rash in daring, nor imprudent in fearing, nor weak in suffering; as Saint Austen hath well noted. When the waves and winds of Temptation, blow, and beat hard against man's breast, and seeming to overwhelm him, he remaineth firm as a Rock, this is true fortitude indeed. In David's Tower (which is a Type of the Church) all the weapons of war were defensive, as Shields, and Targets, and Morrions; Mille clypei pendent ex ea. And it is further added, That these were the Arms and weapons of the strong and valiant men. Some will say, That there is no work of virtue which is not subject to temptation. Who did ever begin to walk in the way of perfection, who did not meet with a thousand fantasies? Diabolus enim semper per primordia boni pulsat, & tentat rudimenta virtutum, saith Chrysologus; it being therefore needful that we should fly from temptation, shall it not be likewise necessary, that we fly from perfection. Hereunto Thomas answereth, That to follow perfection is a work of the holy Ghost, who is the Author thereof; and having him for our second, to bring us into the Field, we need not to fear. They that in the Primitive Church did people the Deserts and solitary places, did no doubt perceive that they should be set upon and tempted: But because their end was not to play bopeep with the Devil, and to go about to mock him, but to serve their God, and to enjoy his favour, they did not care a fig for all his temptations. In a word, The temptations that we are to fly from, are those which of their own nature dispose us unto sin; as unlawful games, offensive conversations, ill company, dancing, masking, and idle Interludes: for he that toucheth Pitch shall be defiled therewith. Saint Paul writing to the Hebrews, Heb. 12. gives us this good advice, Deponentes omne pondus, & circumstans nos peccatum, Laying every weight aside, and the sin that stands about us. Where the word Circumstans is much to be weighed: for there are many things, which albeit they be not sin, yet are they very near unto sin. And (as Saint Austen saith) as God's mercy doth round and guard the gates about the house of the Righteous, Circumuolitabat à longè misericordia tua: So likewise the malice of the Devil doth round our souls, and spreadeth his nets round about us to entrap us: and therefore we must continually fix our eye upon Christ jesus our only Saviour; Aspicientes in authorem fidei: that when the Devil shall come to tempt us, he shall find himself so stripped of all occasions to cause us to sin, that he shall be forced to betake himself to stones, as he did against our Saviour. Vt tentaretur à Diabolo. That he might be tempted of the Devil. It hath been treated of already, Our Saviour could not be tempted either by the World or the Flesh. That the temptation of the World and the Flesh could not take hold on Christ, in regard of that inward repugnance, and intrinsical opposition which he had with weakness and ignorance. And therefore it is commonly said, that the one is incident to the weak; the other proper unto fools. Of Thales Milesius they asked many questions, and to all he gave convenient & fitting answers; as, What is the most ancient? God: What the fairest thing that he created? The world: What the lightest? Thought: What the strongest? Necessity: What the easiest, and yet the hardest? The knowledge of a man's self: What the foolishest? The heart of a man that is given to the world. There being therefore deposited in our Saviour's breast all the treasures of God's wisdom, he could not be tempted by the World, and less by the Flesh. And I verily believe, that though it was impossible for him to be tempted; yet if it had been possible, he would not have consented to these temptations, to the end that he might advise us, that when the Devil should set upon us with these weapons, we may give ourselves almost for lost. Funiculus triplex difficile rumpitur, A threefold cord is not easily broken. That a twine thread, or a single slender wand is soon broken; but a threefold cord, or a bundle of sticks, had need of a strong arm to crack them in twain. The ordinary use of fight is, one against one: And the Proverb saith, Neque Hercules contra duos, Not Hercules against two. But when this Squadron of the world, the flesh, & the Devil shall come against you, it shall be extreme rashness to stay wiating for him. When Sodom was set on fire, the Angel said to Lot, Save thyself in the Mountain: he replied, Not so my Lord, There is a city here near to fly unto; Nunquid non modica est? Is it not a little one? o let me escape thither, and my soul shall live: As if he should have said, I know that in great Cities there is no hope of life and safety; for if we could in them be safe, the Scripture would not so often inculcate in our ears, Fugite de medio Babilonis. Cum jeiunasset quadraginta diebus, & quadraginta noctibus, postea esurijt. When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterwards hungry. Saint Luke saith, That all this while our Saviour had eaten nothing, Et nihil manducavit in diebus illis; Cannonizing by this act the sanctitiy of Fasting. S. Austen goes about to parallel this our Saviour's fasting with that of Moses, Our Saviour's Fast how differing from that of Moses and Elias. who fasted twice forty days; and with that of Elias, who fasted once in the same manner; signifying thereby, that the Gospel was not contrary to the Law, nor the Prophecies foretold by those holy Prophets. But there was this difference betwixt theirs, and that of our Saviors' fasting; that Moses and Elias were not a hungered neither in, nor after their fasting; but Christ postea esurijt, he had no sooner ended his fasting, but hunger seized on his bowels: And the reason thereof was (as Maximu● renders it) that God to show his greatness and his power, did inwardly sustain and feed them; but our Saviour Christ having in him on the one side the power of God, and on the other side the nature of man, When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterwards an hungry. From those forty days that Desert took his name, being called Quarentana. It is a rough and rugged Mountain, some four miles from jordan, where our Saviour was baptised, and two from jerico. And because it was such a wild and solitary place, Saint Mark addeth, Eratque cum bestijs, in token there was no better company there. And they that make description of the Holy Land, report, That there are bred therein many black and fearful Vipers. When he had fasted forty days. That voice from jordan, This is my beloved Son, made the Devil the eagerer to set upon him, Why our Saviour would be hungry. and to challenge him the Field. But Saint Chrysostome saith, that this our Saviour's fasting kept him still aloof off from him, and made him so cowardly, that he was afraid to venture upon him: and therefore did our Saviour of purpose submit himself unto hunger, that the Devil might thereby be encouraged to come on the more boldly. Thomas noteth it, That Fasting is such a weapon, that the Devil dares not to come within the reach of it; for it makes Men to be like unto Angels: And ever since that Lucifer fell from Heaven, he hath lived still in fear of his own shadow. Leo the Pope saith, That there are a certain sort of terrible Devils, against whom no conjurations nor exorcisms can prevail, or do any good; only they cannot withstand the force of Fasting. And of these our Saviour Christ saith, This kind of Devil is not cast out, but by Prayer and Fasting. Saint Basil saith, That our Saviour Christ would not consent, that the Flesh which he had taken of our nature upon him, should be tempted, till he had armed it with fasting: Not that he could incur any danger, but only to teach us how to stand upon our guard. Athanasius saith, That the Devil hath suborned many in this life, to make show of being zealous of your welfare, and that they should go about to persuade you, that you do yourself wrong in fasting, and that it makes you look lean, and yellow, and spoils your complexion. And as in Paradise, he persuaded our Mother, by the Serpent's insinuation, to eat of the forbidden Fruit; so now by his factors doth he persuade many to feasting, but none to fasting. Notable to this purpose, is that History of the Prophet whom God sent to Bethel against King jeroboam, giving him in charge, that he should neither eat nor drink in that place. He boldly delivered his message, but durst not receive of the King, that entertainment which he offered him; but as he returned homeward, a false Prorphet came forth, & meeting him on the way, said unto him, I pray ye depart not hence without seeing of your friends, & receiving such poor cheer as we can make you. He told him that he had order from God not to do it. Then said the false Prophet, I have had a revelation to thecontrarie. Inconclusion the true Prophet being deceived by the false Prophet, did eat. But in his journey home a Lion met him, and killed him. God advising him that had deceived him, of this sad Accident. Whence I infer, That if it were a fault in the true Prophet to eat, by giving too light credit to the false Prophet; the offence will be no less in you, Motives to induce us to Fasting. by giving too easy belief to Satan's Agent, who adviseth thee, that thou shouldst not fast. Secondly, if he that being deceived, did eat, doth deserve the punishment of death, what shall he deserve, that did deceive him? And therefore God did notify to the false Prophet the death of the true Prophet, to the end that the inequality of the sin, might persuade him, what kind of punishment he did deserve. Thirdly, the true Prophet paid the price of his sin, with the loss of his life; but by repentance he saved his Soul. And one assured token thereof was, that the Lion stood by him and guarded his Body, till they had given it burial. But the false Prophet, had much more to answer for, and a greater reckoning to make. For if a light sin, were so severely punished; how much more a greater? This Doctrine doth much concern your cheu'rel-conscience Physicians, who upon every light occasion give licences for not fasting; & those cockering Mothers, who will not suffer their daughters to fast, fearing it would spoil their colour, and mar their complexion; whereas in very deed, nothing doth make the countenance so freshand so clear as fasting doth; as those Histories of judith, and those Babylonian children sufficiently prove, whose fasting made their faces as fair, as if they had been so many Angels. Forty days and forty nights. To what end (will some say) serveth so much fasting? We are not able to imitate this act of our Saviour's. I answer, we are to fast for two respects. The one, That many of our Saviour's miracles ought rather to be admired, than imitated. The other, that by this his fasting, he laid thereby a greater obligation upon us to serve him; and that we may by those poor fasts that we keep, show thereby, that we much both approve and esteem that long fast of his. He was afterward hungry. Theodoret saith, That when the Devil came to know that Christ began to grow hungry, he did then certainly assure himself of victory. Philon discoursing on the life of Moses, That for a man to suffer hunger and thirst, it is very great torment, and not to be endured, Grave est Domine, sitis & fames. In the Desert God withheld the giving of Manna for some few days from his People; and the Text saith, That he did it for to prove them. And it is a great trial of our virtue, to suffer hunger for God's cause; it is such a storm as is able to put a man besides his wits. When joseph dreamt of those seven years of dearth, specified by those seven lean Cows, Theodoret hath noted, That he than foresaw, that the hunger of his brethren would force them to fall down and worship him whom before they so much scorned and abhorred. The Devil now thought himself cocksure, and thought to make his entry at this little hole, and to get within him. Ecclesiasticus saith, That sin is like the dropping of rain, which by little and little soaks through the wall, till at last both it, and the house whereon it stands, fall suddenly to the ground. God commanded Ezechiel, That he should take a tyle-stone, and paint thereon the holy City of jerusalem, Ezech. 4. v. 1. drawing round about it a great Army, Sume tibi laterem, etc. The like doth the Devil; he desires no more of thee but a Tyle-stone, or the like toy, and out of that he will make Towers and walls, and bulwarks, and armies of soldiers to besiege thee. Accessit Tentator, The Tempter drew near. This word Tempter (as Rupertus hath noted it) containeth in it these two things: The one, The Devil's malice. The other, His craft and subtlety. Touching the first, he hath no other occupation save doing of ill, & working of mischief. The Devil's trade only to do Evil. The unknown Author expounding those words of David, They meditated deceit all the day long, saith, That these are those Devils which spend all the whole day in plotting of mischief, and in working deceit, as if this were given them to task, and were hired so to do. There is no day-labourer, be he never so hard a Workman, but towards high noon doth rest himself a little: but the Devil, His diligence in following it. Dolos, tota die meditabatur. It is said in the Revelation, That certain Locusts came out of a bottomless Pit, and that they had a King over them, which is the Angel of the bottomless Pit, whose name in the Hebrew Tongue is Abaddon; in the Greek, Apollyon, and in the Latin, Exterminans. Here is like to like, such soldiers, such a Captain. Your Locusts never do good, but hurt, and this is the Devil's office; and therefore is he termed Exterminans. David calls him by the name of Dragon, who with his very breath doth taint the air, and kills therewith the Birds that fly to and fro therein: Exterminavit eum aper de silua, The Boar of the Mountain destroyeth the Lord's Vineyard; he overthroweth Monasteries; through sloth and idleness soliciting Religious men to be negligent in coming to Church, careless in preaching, and lose in their life. In the marriage bed he soweth tares, treacheries, and lightness. With worldly men he persuadeth, That he is no body that is not rich; and therefore, be it by hook or by crook, by right, or by wrong, he would have thee get to be wealthy. In a word, he is generally set upon mischief; and therefore hath he the name of Tempter. But it is to be noted, that he doth then most hurt, when he is most provoked. Petrus Chrysologus saith, Est quidem Diabolus per se nequam, fit tamen nequior, provocatus. Like unto your Dog, who barks out of custom, but if you throw stones at him he will bark the more: or like unto the Bull in the Place, who being houted at, and galled, grows thereby more mad, and more fierce: or like unto the Boar when he is wounded with the Spear; or the Bear, who enraged, sets more furiously upon the Hunter that pursues him, and throws his Darts at him. There was a voice already thundered out against him from Heaven, in the river of jordan. Our Saviour's fasting was as stones thrown against a barking Cur; his being in the Desert was no fit place for him to work his will, considering those good meditations wherein our Saviour was then occupied: And therefore seeing himself thus crossed, he would labour to make his advantage, and try what he could do by the help of these other stones, as he had then a purpose to employ them. Touching the second, to wit, His craft and his subtlety, notable is that place of Saint Paul, We are not to wrestle with flesh and blood, but with the snare of the Deill: The Apostle doth not say, against his force and his power, Ephes. 6.12. though that be great; but against his craft & his subtlety, against his tricks & devices, & against his plots and stratagems. Tertullian renders it, Machinationes; Saint Hierome, Adinuentiones; and the Revelation, Altitudines Sathanae, The depth and profundity of his policies and deep reaches. Saint Chrysostome expounding that phrase of Principes tenebrarum, The Princes of darkness, saith, That they are not Noctis tenebrae, sed maliciae; the darkness of malice being greater than that of the night. Spiritualia nequitiae, cui nomina mille, mille nocendi arts, (i) Spiritual wickednesses, Virgil. E●e. which have a thousand names, and a thousand ways to hurt, as the Poet hath it. A certain Monk asked the Devil, How he was called? He told him, Mille modis artifex vocor, I am called a cunning Workman. And therefore the Scripture styles him Serpent, and a winding Snake, that rolls up himself as it were in a circle. Visitabit Dominus super Serpentem tortuosum, saith Esay. Eductus est coluber tortuosus, (saith job:) There is no Labyrinth so intricate, and so full of doublings & turnings, as is he. It is much doubt which of the two is most requisite in a Captain, Virtus, an Dolus? Courage, or Craft? In the Devil, if his power be incomparable, his subtlety is much more. Some of the ancient Saints have put it to question, Why the Devil did appear unto our Mother Eve in the form of a Serpent? Saint Chrysostom saith, Why the Devil appeared to Eve in the form of a Serpent. That God did give him the liberty to make free choice of any one of the beasts of the Field, which soever he had most mind unto; and, that he made choice of the Serpent, as of the wisest and subtlest, as the sacred Text delivereth unto us. Saint Augustine, That it was not in his election to choose any other; to the end that the deceit and subtlety of the Serpent might stir up a kind of jealousy and wariness in our Mother: For craft and cunning have ever done more hurt than open force. The Wolf is then most to be feared when he puts himself into Sheep's clothing, or a Lion in a Fox's skin; (which is the condition of your Heretics.) David speaking of those which follow the Devil's party, saith, Parts Vulpium erunt. The Spouse calls them little Foxes, Vulpes paruulas, qui demoliuntur Vineas, Alluding in them, to the Devils. Upon this craft and subtlety of the Devil, Saint Gregory and S. Ciril ground this conceit, That the Devil is not like your foolish Physicians, who with one receipt cure diverse diseases; but against every virtue, good inclination, and motions of the Spirit, he hath such sundry temptations, and so fit for every man's humour, that if the tempted will but cast his eyes towards them, it is a thousand to one that he is not taken with them. God asked of job, Answer me, By what way the heat is parted upon earth? Gregory unfoldeth this question, job 38.24. He hath a Hook for every humour. By those coals which the Devil scat●ereth abroad amongst the People of this world; as those of covetousness, revenge, and wantonness. Every one carries a coal in his bosom that burns and consumes him; In via hac qua amb●labam absconderunt laqueum mihi, When I thought myself safest, walked securely, and followed my pleasures and delights without suspicion of danger, than was the net laid for me, etc. But for all the Devil's cunning shifts, and for all his sleights and subtleties, he can never so wholly disguise himself, but that he will always leave one cloven foot uncovered, whereby (which is no small comfort unto us) we may come to know him. job speaking of the Devil, in that metaphor of the Leviathan; amongst many other properties above specified, he mentioneth this one, Lucebit post cum semita; He leaves behind him a white path in the sea, like unto that froth which a great Ship causeth, when she hath a stiff gale of wind in the poop of her. Whereby he signifieth unto us, That the Devil which way soever he goes, leaves some sign behind him. At the feet of Saint Michael they paint the Devil, with the fair body of an Angel, but with the foul tail of a Dragon. For albeit at the first sight he transfigure himself into an Angel of Light, yet in the end he will discover himself to be the Prince of Darkness. The Devil hath been seen to preach in the habit of a religious Friar, very devoutly, appearing as an Angel of Light, persuading the People to repentance, and communicating great comfort unto them; but in the end, all his Sermons have ended in melancholy passions. For the Devil's Revelations run a contrary course to Gods▪ for these, although they somewhat trouble us at the beginning, yet they end evermore in peace and comfort: but those of the Devil, though they begin in joy, yet they end in sorrow. Si filius Dei es, dic ut lapides isti panes fiant. If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. The first passage of this temptation, was the Devil's seeming-pittie and compassion of the great hunger that our Saviour suffered. I was present at thy Baptism, and at that applause which Heaven did then give thee; but now I see how weak and won thou art grown through thy too much fasting, which makes me to doubt that thou art not the Son of God. The Devil is a great provoker to Gluttony; The Devil a great provoker to Gluttony, and why. he doth solicit the pampering of the flesh, he proposeth the gripings of the stomach, and the aching of the head, through too much fasting: but all at the soul's cost. Inimico non credas in aternum, (i) Believe not thy enemy at all: Which phrase of speech is principally to be understood of the Devil; for he never offers thee his service but to thy hurt. Saint Gregory makes this note, That the Devil taking from job his children, his houses, his herds of cattle, and his flocks of Sheep, and in a word, all the good things that he had; yet he left him his wife, but only that she might do the Devil service, Calidè cuncta diripuit, Eccle. 11.33. calidius adjutricem reser●auit, It was his cunning to take away all; but it was a greater p●●ce of cunning to leave him his Help. The Devil did not do this out of forgetfulness, nor carelessness, nor out of any desire that he had to leave job any comfort at all, for he did not wish him so much good, but that he hoped she would be a means to move him to impatiency, and to drive him to despair. True it is, that all his favours tend to make the way easy (but at your cost) to bring us to Hell. He offered our Saviour bread of stones; but on condition, that he himself must take the pains to mould it. Attend tibi à pestifero, fabric●● enim malum, Beware of a wicked man, for, etc. Si filius es Dei, dic, etc. If thou be the Son of God. If thou art the Son of God, command as a God. Thy Dicere is Facere; Dic ut sedeant, etc. Some grave Doctors are of opinion that this was the sin of Moses, when he drew water from out the Rock, and not his want of Faith, as some other would enforce: For, Infide & ●enitate sanctum fecit illum: but his attributing of this miracle to himself, which was only Gods doing. A●dite rebels, Nunquid p●terimus de petra educere v●bis aquam? Hear ye rebellious, Can we dr●w water for you out of the Rock? Can Aaron and I, etc. This incredulous people said, Nunquid poterit D●us parare mensam in deserto▪ i. Can God prepare a Table in the Desert? But Moses speaketh in his own and his brother's name, Nunquid poterimus, Can we, etc. Command that these stones. Thy Father calls thee Son, and yet reduceth thee to that misery, that to keep thyself from starving, he drives thee to that necessity, that thou must of force he compelled to make these stone's bread. This difference is there betwixt the Sinner and the Righteous, That the Devil persuades the Sinner, that he may make bread of stones▪ ●nd judas, that he may make money of Christ: But the Righteous will rather die for hunger, being well assured, that God even in this his hunger is able to sustain him. Command that these stones. The Devil tempts him with stones, with such things wherein are scarce to be found any sign of danger: For he always holdeth the victory to be so much the more glorious, by how much the lesser is the occasion whereby he wins it. Lot flies out of Sodom in the company of his daughters, and having escaped that fearful fire, the Devil tempts the father by his daughters; whose raging lust, neither the fearful example of their mother, whom their eyes had so lately seen turned into a Pillar of Salt, nor the Laws of Reason, nor of Nature, could once bridle or restrain. But you will say they were women; and what will not a woman do to satisfy her longing? but that Lot should consent to so unlawful an act, being a man, nay; and so just a man as the Scripture commends him to be, it seemeth somewhat strange. Alas, (good old man) his daughters had made him drunk; and being so weary and heavy hearted as he was, to see the lamentable destruction of Sodom, it was not much that he should drink, being importuned thereunto; & they that could not find any water when he called for it, could make a shift to fetch him wine. In all that forty years' peregrination of the children of Israel, Why God allowed the Israelites no Wine, till they came into the land of Promise. we do not read that ever God gave them wine: Twice did he give them water out of the rock, and twelve Fountains in Helim; he gave them likewise Manna and Quails: but not a drop of wine that they saw till they came to the Land of Promise. And surely this was thus ordered by the Council of Heaven; for if having but water they mutined so often, what would they have done, had they had wine? When Abraham did thrust the bondwoman out of doors, he furnished her with bread and water: and Procopius saith, That he would not give her any wine; for Agar signifies Suena-fiestas, A Feast-dreamer: And this holy Father would not by giving her wine, increase the occasion, seeing she dreamt thereon when she drank but water. But to return to our purpose; Lot's daughters tempted their father, there being in the cave wherein he was, no other either possible or imaginable occasion. To him that is desperately minded, though ye put away from him and remove out of his reach all manne● of halters and cords, for fear he should hang himself therewith; yet if he be set upon it, he will make shift with a garter, a hatband, a girdle, or some one thing or other, to work his own destruction. If thou be the Son of God. It was a bold disrespect of Satan's, and a presumptuous part in him, that he should make any the least doubt, that Christ was the Son of God; but far greater impudency, that he should dare in tempting him, to tell him, All the world shall be thine, if thou wilt but fall down & worship me. King ahab's Captain came to the foot of the Mountain where Elias then remained, and said unto him, Come down thou Servant of God, for the King hath sent me for thee. If I am (said the Prophet) the Servant of God, let fire come down from Heaven, and burn up thee, and those that are come along with thee; for thou oughtest not to speak with that little respect as thou dost, to God's Servant. What irreverence is it then in the Devil, to doubt whither he were the Son of God, or no? I answer, That he showed therein a great deal of irreverence, but very little fear. The more you savour of God, the more impudently will he press you: Ecce Sathanas expetivit ut cribaret vos, sicut triticum, Behold, Satan hath desired to sift you even as wheat. The word Vos, You, carries a great emphasis with it; And he compares them to wheat, for the Birds abide in the fields, and the Grapes are out in the Vines; but your wheat is housed and laid up safe under lock and key: For you are they that I make my treasure, and will as charily look unto you. There are a great sort of people that walk now at this present hour up and down the streets, some in one place, and some in another, of whom the Devil makes no reckoning at all, he will deal hereafter with them at better leisure: but for one of God's Saints, that is guarded, protected, and defended by God, and is fenced about as a Rose amongst Thorns; for this, he will turn and return, and use a thousand shifts to get it. Nunquid avis discolor hareditas mea mihi? Venite properate omnes bestiae, congregamini ad devorandum, As Birds do fly about a wall that is painted with diverse colours; so do the Nations in persecuting the People that are consecrated to my service, and those that I favour. In conclusion, Saint Hilary saith, In sanctificatis maxime diaboli tentamenta grassantur, (i) The Devil's temptations are ever rifest among the Godly. And therefore David said, Custodi me Domine, quia sanctus sum, Keep me o Lord, because I am holy, etc. If thou be the Son of God. It is no new thing with the Devil, to help himself by setting yourself against yourself; it is one of the best weapons, that he hath against you, and yourself hath no greater enemy than yourself. Keep me o Lord (saith David) out of the hand of the sinner. Saint Bernard gives this gloss upon it, Lord, I am he, and therefore custodi me à meipso. If in thy Religion thou do not guard thyself from thyself; if in the Desert thou die by thine own hands, Ad quid venisti? Wherefore didst thou come? If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones. If thou be'st the Son of God, it comes to thee by inheritance to work miracles upon stones. jacob had a stone for his pillow, and there thy father showed him Heaven; and set up a ladder, by which the Angels ascended and descended. To the Children of Israel he did by stones a thousand favours, extracting from them Water, Oil, and Honey, Eduxit mel de petra, olcumque desaxo durissimo. And therefore it is not much that thou shouldst of these stones make bread. Wherein canst thou more manifest thyself to be the Son of God, than in saving thine own life, and in supplying thine own wants? But this is that language which the jews used to our Saviour at the foot of the Cross; If he be King of Israel, let him unloose those nails that have fastened him to the Cross, and let him free himself from the power of Rome, and then the world shall acknowledge him to be the same himself professeth. As also of that bad thief, Save thyself and us. These thought (it should seem) That to be King of the jews, and the Son of God, consisted in the saving of himself and them. Sifilius Dei es. Petrus Chrysologus is of opinion, That the Devil here played the fool egregiously; Cupis, o Daemon tentare, sed nescis, Thou desirest to tempt, but but knowest not how. Four thousand years and upwards hadst thou exercised thy old trade, and yet thou now seemest to know less every day than other. Is it possible, that thou shouldst be such an Ass, as to offer stones to one that was now grown weak and ready to faint through too much fasting? Saint Jerome harped upon this string: Either he was God, (saith he) or he was not God. If he were God, it was rashness in him to tempt him; if he were not God, he could not make bread of stones. But herein the Devil showed more malice than wit; His malice oftentimes outruns his wit. questionless he did upon this occasion, as much as either he could, or knew. For others (as Saint Austen hath noted it) he tempteth according to the measure of their strength, because God will not let out the rope to give him any larger scope; but towards our Saviour Christ, he showed the utmost of his power and malice. And though he did not greatly care, whether he did eat or not eat, but had only a purpose to perplex and trouble our Saviour, and to put him out of his holy Meditations, he did offer only that unto him, which was precisely necessary for the preservation of man's life; and which a wise man ought to accept of, if he were not mad or foolish. How much more should a man that is hunger-starved, attempt any thing rather than famish for lack of food. judas will rather make money of Christ than starve. The mother sell her daughter, the father kill his children, the wife forsake, if not dishonour the bed of her husband. And therefore the Devil was not herein so very a fool as some would make him. Scriptum est, non in solo pane vivit homo. 'tis written, man liveth not by bread alone. Our Saviour Christ would not do this miracle at the Devil's entreaty; For his miracula, were beneficia, His miracles were benefits, they did always tend to good, but this did not. For though he should have turned all the stones in the Wilderness into Bread, the Devil would have been as very a Devil as he was before. Saint Austen saith, That our Saviour made Wine of Water, but not Bread of Stones; because from the former miracle followed the Faith of his Disciples, Et crediderunt in eum, Discipuli eius: But no good could come of this. He restored to Malchus, the ear which Saint Peter had cut off; but before Herod, would not so much as open his mouth. Saint Paul cured the father of Publius of a hot burning Fever, and many other that were sick; but to his beloved Disciple Timothy, being very ill, he said unto him, Vtere modico vino propter stomachum & frequentes tuas infirmitates, i. Use a little wine for thy stomaches sake, and for thy other infirmities. S. Gregory dwelling on this place saith, O blessed Apostle, thou healest an Infidel with miracles, as a Saint, but curest thy disciple with receipts, as a Physician. But he answereth this, thus, That Timothy had no need of miracles for the good of his soul. When I consider with myself, that God doth not now do so many miracles in his Church as he was wont, it maketh me much to rejoice. Miracles why ordained and not now in use. For miracles being ordained for the confirmation of our Faith, since God doth no longer work by them, it seemeth that our Faith hath now taken too deep rooting to be removed. And though sin do much abound, and men are much subject unto vice, yet ought it to be a great comfort to the faithful, that God doth not use miracles any more for the strengthening of the Gospel. Man liveth not by Bread alone. Irenaeus hath noted, that the Devil in stead of sifting into our Saviour to know truly what he was, remained more blind, and more astonished than before. For he, demanding of our Saviour Christ, whether he were God, or no? Our Saviour acknowledged himself to be a man, saying, Non in solo pane, vivit homo, Man shall not live by bread alone. God's friendship to be preferred before the greatest plenty. Not by Bread alone, etc. S. Chrysostom treating touching the care & provision that ought to be had of things necessary for this life, saith, That it is not so convenient a means to seek after the abundance of things, as to have God to our friend; wherein he recommendeth unto us the wonderful care of God's divine providence for our good, howbeit by the world, ill understood, & worse executed. Whereas indeed we should consider with ourselves, That the end of our sweats and our labours, being to enjoy some sweetness and content in this life, they enjoy it most, and most safely, who enjoy least of the pleasures of this life. For they that abound in Riches, The more wealth the more woe. abound in Cares, and Wealth is the mother of Woe. The Princes of this world, and your great powerful men, have more gold than gylding in their beds, but yet they have no golden sleeps; their brains have too much Quicksilver in them to settle to any rest. They have their fat Capons and their dainty Pheasants set before them in vessels of silver, but they have leaden stomaches, and have no appetite to eat. Whereas your husbandman sleeps between furrow and furrow, and that sound, having a clod of earth for his pillow, and falls as hungerly to a Pilchard, and a clove of Garlic, as if he had all the choice dishes in the world: For, Non in solo pane vivit homo. The Childerens of Israel being thirty years in the Wilderness, God drew water for them out of the Rock, and it seemed sweeter unto them than Honey, that is, De petra melle saturavit eos. It is a great comfort to a man, to have a God that is able to make us to be better contented with hunger, than with all the dainties and curious fare that the world or sea can afford. Esay pondering with himself, How richly & how happily a man doth live under the shadow of God's wing, and his divine protection, saith, It is above all Glory. The Prophet there treateth of those great favours which God showed to his People; As that Pillar which served them in the night as a Torch, and was as a Tent pitched about them in the day time; that privilege which he gave them, that neither the gravel nor the sand should wear out their shoes, nor time, nor the bushes in the Deserts wast their clothes: making this in the end (as it were) a burden of his Song, Super omnem gloriam protectio. Great were all those glories which that People did enjoy; but above all, was God's blessed protection towards them. The rich and mighty men of this world enjoy much in this life; but I had rather o Lord, be poor Sub tegmine alarum tuarum, Under the covering of thy wings; For Non in solo pane vivit homo, Man liveth not by, etc. Sed in omni verbo quod procedit de ore Dei. But by every word which proceedeth from out the mouth of God. Our Saviour Christ took this authority out of the vl Chapter of deuteronomy. Those dainties wherewith God enriched the air, the sea, and the earth, maintain and sustain man, and for this end God hath created them; but more especially is he maintained and sustained by the Word of God; Verbo Domini Coeli firmati sunt, & spiritu oris eius omnis virtus eorum. From the beginning of the world the Heavens were moved with a most swift motion, & their influences & virtues are so effectual & so fresh, as if they had come but to day (as it were) out of God's hands: nor is it to be feared, that Heaven shall wax old, or fall to decay, because God's word doth uphold it. Is it much then, or seemeth it so strange a thing, that the same word should sustain man without bread? For to put life into man, no more was required than God's breath, Spiravit in faciem eius spiraculum vitae: Therefore this, and less than this, will preserve his life. Yet do I not pretend by this, to persuade any man that we should still have recourse to miracles; though in cases of necessity, where there is no other help or hope to be looked for, it is lawful to expect and desire them, and a kind of glorifying of God: Demand a sign of the Lord thy God, whither in the deep below, or in the height above; It was the saying of Esay to King Ahab. But in ordinary necessities we are to have recourse to our labours, and the sweat of our own brows, not expecting Manna to descend from Heaven, and to have Quails put into our mouths: The Scripture every where condemning the slothful man, which folds one hand within another; Manus in manu, saith Solomon, advising the Sluggard to go and learn of the Ant, Vade piger ad formicam: setting this Lesson always before our eyes, That God is never offended with us for providing clothes to our back, and meat for our bellies. But by every word. With hunger thou mayst fill thyself, with nakedness thou mayst clothe thyself, and even with poverty thou mayst grow rich, That is, In omni verbo, By putting thy necessities into God's hands: Lay it to his account, to relieve thee; for by every word of his mouth thou shalt remain satisfied, and have more than enough; howbeit to the world and to nature, the means seem disagreeable and contrary to that succour which thou desirest. God makes the Devil's practices the preservatives of his Servants. The blind man that was borne blind he enlightened by dirt, being a fitter means in man's judgement, to mar, than mend the sight. Those afflictions which the Devil used as means for to destroy and undo job, God used as means to enrich him, & make him more happy than before. The selling of joseph, the envy of his brethren, were those rounds that made him mount to that height whereunto he came, Sicut tenebrae eius, ita & lumen eius: With thee, o Lord, the darkness is as noon day; thou canst as well illuminate with darkness as with light. All the Land of Egypt was covered over with darkness, as with a mantle, Factae sunt tenebrae horribiles in universa terra Aegypti: but where the children of Israel dwelled, there was light, not only because God can free those places where his people were, from that thick darkness that oppressed the Egyptians; but also for that he can make when he listeth, that very darkness serve as a light unto them; Forsitan tenebrae conculcabunt me, & non illuminatio mea in dilicijs meis, It were madness in me o Lord, to think that in the following of my pleasures I can hide myself out of thy sight; for though I should hide myself in the thickest and most palpable darkness that can be imagined, thou wilt make of them bright beams of light, which shall discover me unto thee; Nox illuminatio mea, in dilicijs meis: The Hebrew hath it, Circum me; I shall be seen as easily in the night, as at noon day. In Genesis, jacob saith, Lavabit in vino stolam suam, He shall wash my garment in wine: It was his Prophecy on judas his fourth son, who was a Type and figure of our Saviour Christ. But passing from the Type to the truth, he saith, That coming into the world, he shall wash the Church, and those that are the Faithful, with his blood, Lavabit in vino stolam suam. And if any one shall ask me, How the Stole can remain white, being washed in blood, or in wine? Diodorus and Genadius, in Catena Lypomani, answer, That God's power can do this, working contrary effects to common reason: As from death to draw life; from tribulation, comfort; and from shame, glory. In tribulatione dilatasti mihi (saith David) & gloriamur in tribulatione: So may a garment or linen robe be white, that is washed in the wine of his blood. Qui dat nivem, sicu● lanam, & nebulam, sicut cinerem spargit; God can warm a man with snow, as with wool, and make cold be unto us as a clothing. From that fire of the Babylonian furnace, whereinto Nebucadnezar commanded the three children to be cast, Sidrac, Misac, & Abednego, there issued forth a fresh wind, and a cooling breath, Quasi ventum, ror● flantem. God (saith Chrysostome) can take from fire it's burning, which is his proper effect, and make it to give light, and to refresh his children, as with a dew. Mitte te deorsum, scriptum est enim Angelis suis, etc. Cast thyself down, For it is written, He will give his Angels charge over thee. The Devil having now brought our Saviour to the top of the Pinnacle of the Temple, being confident to get the conquest of him, making use of that place of Scripture: first, wishing him to throw himself down, and to rely upon Gods preserving of him; for it is written, Angelis suis Deus, etc. Saint Hierome, Saint Ambrose, Saint Bernard, and Saint Gregory say, That the Devil never desires to see any man climb on high, unless it be for his greater destruction: For as he fell down like a thunderbolt, so doth he desire to have all men else to fall as he did, and that their sins may throw them headlong down to Hell. Which is one especial effect of his pride; according to that of David, Dejecisti eos, dum elevarentur; (or extollerentur, as Saint Austen readeth it.) Thou didst cast them down, while they were lifted up. Est aliquid humilitatis, etc. There is somewhat in humility, which in a wonderful manner lifteth up the heart; and there is somewhat in pride, which casteth it down. It is a miracle, that Pride and Humility should ever meet. Saint Bernard saith, That at the foot of the Cross the Devil did repeat the same lesson again, Si Rex Israel est, descendat de Cruse, If thou be King of Israel, come down from the Cross; As though he had forgot the shame that Christ had put him to before. Cast thyself. Thou canst do nothing without thyself, against thyself: thou must put to thy helping hand; Non s●luabit te, sine te, nec perdet te, sine te. Whence it is to be noted, That he not only pretendeth the holiest that is, should cast himself headlong from the Tower of Good-workes, but he that is seated on the Pinnacle of the Temple, and in the highest dignity in the Church. It is a lamentable case, that the Prelate, the Priest, and the Preacher, should be put to this peril. Quis medebitur Incantatori, à Serpente percusso? Who shall heal the Enchanter that is wounded by the Serpent? He hath given his Angels charge over thee. The main drift of the devil, is, to flatter and soothe us up, that he may facilitate our fall; to sing sweetly unto us, to inchant us like the Siren: Ossa eius sicut fistula aeris. job saith, That his bones (by which he understands his strength) are Flutes, not of Reed, like those of Mida's, but of Brass, which sound more sweetly. With these he upholds his Empire, and sows the World with Heresies, Moorismes, and Paganismes; and Hell, with damned Souls. They are Pipes that make strange consonancies with our inclinations, and work more powerful effects, than those tongues that are tipped with the eloquencies of all the Tully's, Demostheneses, and Quintilians in the world▪ Which is but an argument of the weakness of their hands, when all their strength lies in their Tongues. Your weakest influences (say your Astrologers) insist upon the Tongue. Woman (who is the emblem of weakness) hath her greatest force and strength in her tongue: Your Ruffians, and such as are swaggering fellows, have more tongue than hands; but they that are truly valiant, have more hand than tongue, they know not what the tongue means. The Roman Soldiers drew a Hand for their Device. In the Scripture the Hand signifieth Fortitude, Manus eius adhuc extenta est, so says Esay of God. The Devil therefore being all Tongue, it followeth, that he must necessarily be a very weak creature. Saint Peter calls him a Lion, not because he devoureth, but because he roars: So that all our victory consists in freeing ourselves from his tongue. job 40. And it may be job alluded hereunto, when he speaketh of the Devil in the metaphor of a Whale, Wilt thou bind his tongue with a cord? For the Devil having all his strength in his tongue, see how that fish when the harping Irons hath caught hold on him, struggles on the sand, and beats himself upon the beach, but all in vain, to get loose, and at last swells & bursts with anger; so is it with the Devil, when we have tied a knot upon his tongue. His Angels. To those whom God loveth, and such as are his children, Saint Cyprian saith, That God hath given order to his Angels, to guard and protect them; if a tile should fall towards them, to strike it aside; if stumble, to take hold on them that they should not fall: How then could a person so holy, so beloved of God, be afraid? God did his People a great favour in giving them an Angel to be their Guide. Precedet te Angelus meus, sending an Angel to Daniel to feed him; to Tobias, to accompany him in his journey; to Samaria, when Zenacharib so straight besieged it, one Angel slaying so many thousands of brave valiant Soldiers. But greater is that favour which he promiseth here to the Just, Angelis suis Deus mandavit de te. The Lions guarded Daniel in Babylon; the Whale, jonas; the Ark of Bulrushes, Moses: In omnibus vijs tuis, In all thy ways, be it in the air, in the earth, or in the sea, God's Angels will so guard thee, that thou shalt not dash thy foot against a stone. Many Emperors and Kings have scattered Gold on the ground, through which they have gone; many have been drawn in their Chariots by Lions and Elephants; but far more precious are the hands of Angels; and he that hath them to help him, need not to touch theground with his feet. Scriptum est enim, Angelis suis. The Devil was ever a false interpreter of the Scripture▪ The first victory that the Devil got in the world, was by interpreting in a sinister sense, those words of God which he had delivered to our first Parents: and this course doth he continue here with our Saviour; and the same doth his followers the Heretics observe to this day. Saint Peter calls them, unlearned, and wavering, and saith of them, That they deprave and pervert the Scripture, to their own ruin and destruction. Saint Cyril handleth this point very elegantly, in one of his Epistles: And Origen saith, That as the children of Corah did put strange fire upon the Altar; so your Heretics by altering the Scripture, put strange fire to the Altar of Truth. Saint Chrysostome, That they imitate the Devil, by citing Scripture falsely, as the Devil did in this temptation, seeking (as it were) by a clear and manifest truth, to persuade our Saviour to entertain a notorious lie, and to admit of a monstrous folly; securing him, that his person should be protected by Angels, from any ensuing harm, if he would but throw himself down from the Pinnacle of the Temple. I term it folly; for, as Man, he had no reason to do any such rash and inconsiderate action; and, as God, he had no need to play the Tumbler, and to fly in the air. Haec omnia tibi dabo. All these things will I give thee. Saint Ambrose saith, That in these three temptations the Devil had laid three gins, wherewith he useth to entrap man in those three Ages of his, to wit, his childhood, his manhood, and his elder age. The disorder of children consists in eating; they are ordinarily craving, The Devil hath 3. 'Gins to entrap man, sutableto his three Ages. still crying out for more meat, little young Gluttons, and such silly fools, as to have an Apple, they will part with a piece of Gold. That of our youthfuller years, when we begin to write man, is to run headlong into all desperate and undiscreet actions. For the livelihood of youth, hath ever hitherto been impatient, humorous, and brainsick. That of old age, is all covetousness, storing up for a dear year, and filling his Wallets then fullest, when his journey is shortest; resembling herein those rivers, which the nearer they come to the Sea, which is their end, so much the more water they suck and draw unto them. Some may think that the Devil played the fool, in offering all to him that despised all. For Christ contemned the wealth and glory of this World. Ambition such a temptation as few are able to withstand. For to offer bread to the hungry, honour to the Ambitious, and riches to the Covetous, the Devil might have had some good ground to work upon; But that he should offer all to him that scorned all he could offer, this was great weakness in him: yet (dearly beloved) do not you reckon this so slight a temptation, and so poor an onset, as you would make it. For all Hell hath not a more powerful piece of Ordnance to batter our breasts withal, than this, it is the only murdering piece that he hath, and what man is able to resist it? Quis est hic, & la●danimus eum, Show me the man, that I may commend him. Thou shalt not find one amongst the Princes of the people, nor amongst the Ministers of Kings, nor amongst the seats of justice, nor amidst the honesty of Married-folkes, nor the modesty of Maidens, no, nor in the Monasteries of your Nuns, nor the Cells of your Hermits in the Wilderness. In old time, all the States of the the world, were in competition about the electing of an Emperor among the Gods. The Priests, chose Apollo for his Wisdom; the Soldiers, Mars for his Valour; the Merchants, Mercury, for his negociating; the Physicians, Aesculapius, for the eminency of his Cures. But when it was brought to that pass that they must settle upon some one to be Emperor, by a joint consent they all made choice of jupiter, because he was the God that came down into the World in a shower of Gold. All these things will I give thee. The Devil, doth not here offer that which he is able to give: But is rather so poor, That of all those Kingdoms, whereof he makes so large a proffer, he hath not so much as one poor spike-hole in a wall. The richness of a Prince is to be seen in his Wardrobe and Richness of his provision: There comes in before him a hundred Mules, Sumpter-Clothes on their backs, embroidered with silk, silver, and gold, with their goriets of massie-plate, etc. job painting forth the Devil's Wardrobe, saith, Ante faciem 〈◊〉 praecedat egestas, (i) Want shall go before his face. All his Wardrobe, is covered over with poverty and want; all his treasures, are dissembled wares, counterfeit stuff. Lift up his Sumpter-clothes, open his Trunks, and you shall find nothing but stones, and apples, making show of the one to our Saviour, of the other to Eue. So that he is so poor, that he hath not so much as one farthing of all those immense treasures which he offers; But he offereth that which he would give, if he were (as he is not) Lord of all the World. Such was the perplexity and anxiety of mind, that he had, to know who was Christ our Saviour, that if all the Kingdoms of the earth had been his, he would give them all to see him humbled at his feet. He offers thee but little, because he makes little reckoning of thee; for thou art so base minded, that thou wilt sell thyself unto him at an easy rate. But how could the Devil hope, with these only seeming and apparent goods to work so great a Conquest on so valiant a Breast? I answer, That it is the Devil's policy, to bait our Wills and Affections with the apprehension of imaginary goods, rather than with the enjoying of true and real goods indeed. Nay, the glories of the World, once enjoyed, causeth a kind of surfeit and loathing, which is often an occasion of our growing out of love with them. 〈◊〉, vanitatum, & omnia vanitas. Where the wise man did not term all things vain, Imaginary things work more upon man than real. Why. as that the trees should not yield us their fruits, the earth her food and riches, or that the Sun should not shine. But because we setting our whole delight upon them, we make them prove vain unto us. A clock is accounted a vain thing when it strikes not true, but miscounts its hours. The harmony of this World is like a clock, if a man employ it wholly in his pleasures, it makes him become vain. But Solomon spoke not a word of these things, till he had made trial of them. When the Prodigal went out of his Father's house, Paradises of delights were presented unto him, but when he was gone far from him, all was hunger, nakedness, & misery. This punishment inflicted upon him, made him open his eyes and see his error. Amnon, enamoured of Th●m●r, was ready to dye for her love, it seeming unto him, that his life did consist in the enjoying of her; nay he counted it his heaven: But he had no sooner had his pleasure of her, but he kicked her out of doors, and could not endure the sight of her. The possessing of riches, is not of itself either good or bad; only the good use of them, makes them good, the bad, bad. And therefore being desired by us, Saint Paul styleth them, temptation, and Satan's snare, Qui volunt divites fieri, in●idunt in tentationem, & in laqueum Diaboli, (i) They that will be rich fall into Temptation: and into the snare of the Devil. So that your imaginary goods, work more upon us, and with more advantage, than those which we enjoy and possess. And the reason is, for that the Devil doth represent more glory to the imagination, in such an office, such a dignity, such riches, such beauty, and such delights, than is true, Facinatio enim nugacitatis obscurat bona, & inconstantia concupiscentiae, transuertit sensum. His cunning witchcraft doth pervert the understanding, and makes us take Ill, for Good. This is that which our Saviour Christ called, Crapulam & ebrietatem saeculi, A kind of drunkenness, wherewith the men of this World are overtaken, Et inconstantiam concupiscentiae. And the Greek text useth the word Funda; For as that goes always round, so doth concupiscence, every moment altering our desires. There are some kind of pictures, which if you look one way upon them seem fair and beautiful, if another way, foul and ugly, and full of horror. Such doth the Devil set before thee; Thou must have therefore an eye to the one as to the other, look as well what is to come, as what is present before thee, lest the Devil chance to deceive thee. Si cadens adoraveris me. If thou wilt fall down and worship me. How earnest, Two kinds of temptation. and how importunate is the Devil? Saint Gregory saith, That there are two kinds of temptation; one sudden, as that of Lucifer, who as soon as he saw the Sun of Grace begin to rise, presently opposed himself against him, sweeping away with him a third part of the Stars, as you may read in the Revelation. And as that of David in the case of Bershabe: and as that of Peter, when he was suddenly set upon by the Maid in Caiphas house. The other taking more leisure, as that of judas, whom the Devil went by little and little importuning by his suggestions; as an enemy that overcomes by lengthening out the war; or as a Physician cures a disease, by prescribing a long and tedious diet; or as a Moth imperceptibly mars the cloth; The Devil always as busy as a fly in harvest. and the Worm destroys the wood. The Hebrews call the Devil Belzebub, which is as much to say as Deus Muscarum, The God of Flies. Now the World hath not a more busy or troublesome creature than your Flies and Gnats in Autumn, and in the time of Harvest: nor Man a more busy enemy than the Devil, in the Autumn and Harvest of our Souls, when we should labour most for Heaven, and provide for a dear year. Your Fly amongst the Egyptians was a symbol of importuning; and therefore it is said by way of a●age, The wickedness of the Flie. There are sins, which like the Cow we chew the cud upon, we ruminate upon them, and our thoughts are never off from them. job did point out unto us these two kinds of temptations; the one, in the stone, that being rend from the top of an high hill, falls suddenly down, carrying away before it all that stands in its way, it being impossible to prevent conveniently the danger thereof; Lapis transfertur de loco suo. The other, in the water, which being so soft as it is, yet by little and little hollows the hardest stone; Homine● ergo similiter perdes, tota die impugnans tribulavit me. Only Importunity is the shrewdest temptation. Samson yielded unto Dalila, tired out with her reiterated importunings: And there are a thousand Sampsons' in these days, which do not yield themselves so much to sin by the battery of temptation, as by importunate treaties. Si cadens adoraveris me. If falling down thou worship me. This was a strange kind of impudency in the Devil: but he no sooner saw his mask taken away, and that our Saviour had discovered him and his tricks, but he hid his head for shame. Vade retro, Sathana. Go behind me, Satan. Saint Hierome saith, That with this very word, our Saviour Christ tumbled him headlong down to the bottomless pit of Hell; whereinto he entered howling, and making such a hideous noise and lamentable outcry, that he struck a great fear into all those infernal Spirits; The strong one was bound, and trodden in pieces with the foot of the Lord. Beda hath almost the very same words. This imprisonment of his was enlarged afterwards by Christ's death: according to that of the Apocalyps, He bound him for a thousand years. In a word, He was so ashamed, and so out of countenance with this answer of our Saviour's, that for many days he did not so much as once offer to peep out of Hel. Where Pride is, Prou. 11. there will be Reproach, so saith Solomon. That place of deuteronomy, whence our Saviour took this authority, doth not say, Adorabis, Thou shalt adore, but Time●is, Thou shalt fear; as if the truest way to worship God, were to fear him. The Scripture attributes two names unto Christ; the one of Spouse; the other of Lord: True Love never without fear. in the one he shows his love; in the other, the fear which is due unto him: in the one, the security wherewith we may come unto him, and offer him our Petitions; in the other, the respect and reverence which we owe to so great a Majesty. They are things that are so cemented and jointed together, that he affectionately loves, who humbly fears. But I fear I have bn too long, and therefore I will here make an end. THE six SERMON, UPON THE MONDAY AFTER THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. MAT. 25. Cum venerit Filius Hominis. When the Son of Man shall come. I Have treated of this Theme at large, in five several Chapters upon the Parables: The coming of Christ to judgement. But the Sea is never emptied by those waters which the Rivers take from it; nor those divine Mysteries lessened by those many Books that are written thereof; especially by a Sea of judgement, where your shallow wits are usually drowned. Concerning this Article, which is so notorious, there is not a Prophet, an Evangelist, a Sibyl, nor any of the holy Fathers, which do not make confession thereof; yea, the very Angels said unto the Disciples, This jesus who was taken from you, shall So come; where this particle [Sic] So, doth not so much exprimere modum, as similitudinem, not the true manner of his coming, but after what likeness he shall come. Now doth he sit at the right hand of his Father, and shall possess that Throne till that he shall come to judge the world, and make his enemies his footstool. According to that of David, Sat at my right hand Until I make thy enemies thy footstool; a sentence which was repeated afterwards by S. Paul, to the Hebrews. Not that the sitting at the right hand of his father shall ever have any end, (for as Saint Chrysostome and Gregory Nazianzen hath noted it, the word Until doth not point at any set time) but the mutation of the place which our Saviour Christ is to make for that term of time that the judgement shall last, himself coming thither in person to set all things in order; Act. ●. Vsque in diem restitutionis omnium, so saith Saint Luke: And by reason of the notoriousness thereof, the Evangelist doth not say, that he shall come, but supposeth (as it were) his present coming, with a Cum venerit, etc. The Son of Man. judiciary power, or this Potestas judiciaria (as the Schoolmen call it) is proper to all the Trinity, but is here attributed to the Son, as Wisdom is likewise attributed unto him, which is the soul of the judge. So that the Son (as he is God) is the eternal judge, and the Lord universal, to whom the Father hath communicated this dominion by an eternal generation. Generando non largiendo, saith Saint Ambrose. But as he is man, the blessed Trinity gave him this power in tempore, by uniting him to our nature; He gave him power to do judgement: And Saint john gives the reason thereof, Because he is the Son of Man; it being held fit that Man should be saved by Man; God's mercy gaining thereby glory; and Man's meanness, authority. And therefore it was thought fit, that Man should be judged by Man; God's justice remaining thereby justified; and Man's Cause secured: For, What greater security can man have, than that he should be Man's judge, who gave his life for Man, shedding his blood on the Cross for Man's salvation? So doth Saint Austen expound that place alleged by Saint john, Dedit ei judicium facere, quia filius hominis est. On the one side here is matter of hope & comfort; on the other, of fear and trembling: No small comfort that Christ shall be our judge. Who will not hope for pity from a man, and such a man that is my brother, my advocate, my friend, who to make me rich, had made himself poor? etc. But who can hope for any comfort from that man that was judged, sentenced, and condemned unjustly by man unto death? Who can hope for any good from that man whose love man repaid with dis-love, and whose life, with death? These Irons are too hard for the stomach of man to digest, it had need of some Ostriches help. I will not destroy Ephraim, because I am God, and not Man: God is wont to requite bad with good, discourtesies with benefits; & his love commonly increaseth when man's diminisheth, but man's breast is somewhat straighter laced. Again, no small terror. In a word, This his being Man is a matter of fear, and by how much the more was Man's obligation, by so much the more shall the son of man's vengeance be: For the precious blood of our Saviour jesus Christ, and his cruel, yet blessed wounds, are the Sanctuary of our hopes, especially to those that trust in him, and lay hold on him by Faith: but for the unthankful sinner, they shall be matter of cowardice, and of terror; and to our Saviour Christ minister occasion of greater punishment, and a more rigorous revenge. Esay introduceth the Angels questioning our Saviour at his entrance into Heaven, Quare rubrum est vestimentum tuum sicut calcantium in torculari? Why are thy garments, o Lord, like unto those that tread the Winepress? You say well; for I have trodden, like the grapes, my enemies under foot, and my garments are sprinkled and stained with their blood. O Lord, this bloody spoil would well have beseemed thee on earth; But what dost thou make with it here in Heaven? Dies ultionis in cord meo; The day will come when I shall be revenged at full of those ill requited benefits which I bestowed on my People; and all that patience which I then s●ewed, shall be turned into wrath and endless anger. Saint Chrysostome interpreting that place of Saint Matthew, Sanguis eius super nos, Let his blood be upon us and our children; saith thus, The time shall come, that the blood that might have given you life, shall occasion your death; it shall be unto you worse than that Fire of Babylon, which the King intended for death, though in the end it turned to life: The blood of Christ was intended for life, but it shall end in death. Hosea saith, V● eye, cum recesser● ab eyes: Another Translation hath it, Caro mea ab eyes. When the Son of man's mercy was come to that height, as man's thought could not set it higher; to wit, That God in man's favour should take man's flesh upon him; woe unto those men who were unmindful of so great a blessing: for this extraordinary courtesy of his being so unthankfully entertained, and so ill requited, shall be their condemnation, for whose salvation it was intended. Cornua eius sicut Rinocerotis, saith deuteronomy: The Unicorn is the mildest & the patientest beast that is, and it is long ere he will be provoked to anger; but if he once grow hot and angry, there is no creature more fierce and furious than he is: Ex tarditate, ferocior, as Pierius useth it, by way of adage. Saint Austen collecteth hence another convenience: Every judgement (saith he) requireth two especial and important things: The one, That the judge fear not the face of the Mighty. The other, That he hide not his face from him that is brought before him. Two properties of a judge. For the first, The Scripture hath it every where, Regard not the countenance of the Mighty. For the second, job pondering the perdition of a certain Province, saith, That the judges thereof would not suffer themselves to be seen; job. 9 v. 24. The earth is given into the hands of the Wicked; he covereth the faces of the judges. And therefore God will not be seen by the damned; for by their very seeing him, they should be freed from their punishment: and therefore in this respect it was fit that Christ should come to judge the world as Man. In Maiestate sua, In his Majesty. The interlineary hath it, In Divinitate; Saint Chrysostome, In Gloria; Saint Luke, In Maiestate sua, in Patris, & sanctorum Angelorum. Luke 9 v. 26. Where it is noted by Saint Ambrose, That his Majesty was greater than that of his father; Quia Patri inferior, videri non poterat: For in what place soever the Father should be, it could not be presumed that he should be less than his Son; but of his Son it might perhaps have been presumed otherwise: into which error Arrius did afterwards fall. In Maiestate sua, etc. Our words here want weight, and our weak apprehension, matter and form worthy so great a Majesty. In a Prince, a Lord, and in a judge, is necessarily required a kind of presence and authority beyond other ordinary men. Esay reporteth of his People, That seeing a man of a goodly presence, and well clad, they said unto him, Thou hast raiment, be our Prince. Nor is this only necessary, but that his greatness and his Majesty be every way answerable to the largeness of his Commission and jurisdiction. And therefore our Saviour Christ being then to show himself a King of Kings, and a Lord of Lords, and an universal judge over all persons, and over all causes since the first beginning of the world, to the end thereof, his Majesty must needs be incomparable. First, In respect of his person, The majesty of Christ at his coming to judgement. whose splendour and brightness shall eclipse and darken all the lights of the World. At this his coming, his glory at the first (I mean of his soul) was reserved and hid, so that therein they might not see the fearfulness of their punishment: but in his coming to judgement the light of his body shall be so shining, and so extremely bright, that the Sun in comparison of it shall seem as a candle. Saint Ambrose calleth the Sun, the Grace of Nature, the joy of the World, the Prince of the Planets, the bright Lantern of the World, the Fountain of Life, the Image of God, whom for its beauty so many Nations adored as a God: But in that day, the Sun, and the Moon it's Vicegerent, whom they call the Queen of Heaven, shall be like unto those lights of the Shepherds, which are hardly to be discerned afar off. Saint john made in his Apocalyps a description of this Majesty and beauty; he saw the Heaven opened, and that a Horseman came forth, riding on a white Horse; from his eyes flamed forth two Torches of fire; from his mouth issued a two edged Sword; in his hand he had a Rod of Iron; on his head many Crowns; and on his thigh a Letter, which being read spoke thus, The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords: Great Armies of Horsemen did attend him, all on white Horses. This is a figure and Type of our Saviour Christ's coming to judgement. The white horse is his most holy and unspotted Humanity. Those flaming Torches of his eyes betoken, That all things both great and small shall be laid open to his sight, there shall not be any sin so secret, nor any fault so buried under ground, which shall not appear at that general Trial; that being then to be verified of every Sinner, which God said to David touching his murder and adultery; Thou hast done it secretly, but I will do it in the sight of the Sun. The two edged Sword signifies the fineness and sharpness of the judges proceeding, and that he is able to cut in sunder the marrow and bones of a Sinner; and like a Razor meet with the least hair of evil that shall show itself. His Rod of Iron shows the firmness and constancy of his judgement, which shall not, like those white Wands which the judges bore before, be wrested this way and that way at pleasure. Those many Diadems on his head, intimate those Crowns that he shall clap on the heads of the Righteous, and those that have done well. That glorious Letter of Rex Regum, because he shall there show himself to be King of Kings, & Lord of Lords, many Kings of the earth shall have their knees smitten like Balthazars, and their hearts throb within them, when they stand before his presence expecting their fearful doom. Lastly, he shall come accompanied with many Horsemen on white Horses, to show unto us, that he shall be waited on by all the Court of Heaven. Solomon saith, Tria sunt quae bene gradiuntur, quartum quod foelicitèr incedit; Three creatures have a goodly kind of gate, the Sheep, the Lion, and the Cock; but a King, whom none can resist, carries more state with him than them all. Saint Gregory typifieth this proverb to our Saviour Christ, who did gallantly bear himself in four of his most famous mysteries. First, In that of his Redemption, represented in the sheep which is made ready for the Sacrifice. Secondly, In his Resurrection, figured in the Lion, Vicit Leo de Tribu juda. Whereunto Saint Paul doth attribute our justification, Resurrexit propter justificationem nostram. Thirdly, In his preaching of the Gospel, fitly expressed in the Cock, who with his crowing and clapping of his wings, awakeneth those that are asleep in sin. But his coming to judgement, which is deciphered unto us in his being a King, doth far exceed all the rest: For many were not bettered by his Death, nor his Resurrection, nor his Doctrine, (though these were most precious Treasures proffered to Mankind) because that Age wherein Christ came was an Age of contradiction; but in this his coming to judgement that prophecy of Zacharie shall be fulfilled, Zach. 14. And there shall be one Lord over all the earth, and his name shall be one. Till then, this King shall go by little and little, overcoming and subduing his enemies; but when he shall come in his glory, then shall we see a most stately triumph, and a quiet and peaceable possession: and that Stone which Daniel saw loosed and unfastned from the Mountain, shall then cease to pound and beat into powder all the Empires and Signories of the earth; Thou shal● break them like a Potter's Vessel. In a word, in this world, while we live here, God is not absolutely obeyed, nor served by us as he should be, no, not of the Justice themselves, and those that are the Elect children of God. So doth Saint Austen declare that place of the Canticles, Exui me tunica mea, quomodo indu● illa? Lavi pedes meos, quomodo inquinabo illos? I have put off my coat, How shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, How shall I defile them? How is this to be borne withal, how is this to be suffered (saith this sacred Doctor) that the Spouse should use this liberty with her best Beloved? Whereunto he answereth, That the Just do not deny unto God his entrance into the house of their Souls; but the Spouse doth there discover the resistance which the Soul makes in the behalf of the Senses, at that time when as God calls her unto him. But in the day of judgement the Soul shall be no more misled by the Senses, but shall perfectly become subject to the will of God; so that the Son of God shall appear then in greater power and Majesty than ever he did before. But for to treat of the Majesty of the Father, the greatest and deepest thoughts of Man is but as a Thimble, they are not able to conceive, much less to contain the least part thereof. Daniel saith, seeking to express the greatness of his glory, and the mightiness of his power, Mille millia ministrabant ei, & decies centena millium assist●●ant ei; The Pages that attend his person must be numbered by thousands, and the Courtiers that assist in his presence, by ten thousands of thousands: Arithmetic wants figures to set down these numberless numbers. Esay saw him in a Throne of Majesty and of glory, Plena erat domus Maiestate eius; but his feet and his head covered with the wings of Seraphins: Giving us thereby to understand, That these our corporal eyes may have a glimpse of the Majesty of his Throne, but not of his person. Lastly, That Majesty of his Court, which consists of so many Angelical Hierarchies, What tongue! what tongue can paint out that unto thee, which is beyond the proportion of thought? One Angel alone hath struck with the fear of death the valiantest & the holiest men that ever were; what would they then do when they are a joint and united Body? Saint Chrysostome saith, That greater is the power of one Angel, than of all the men in the world, if all their force and strength were molten together, and moulded into one entire mass. At Christ's birth, certain Squadrons of Angels came round about him, saluting him with that heavenly Song of, Gloria in excelsis: but now they shall come trouping all together, and some shall more particularly bewail with great bitterness, those miseries that shall befall the World, and those that lived therein; according to that of Esay, The Angels of Peace shall weep bitterly. Esay 33. The Evangelist doth not here in this place understand the evil Angels, though they shall come likewise upon this Theatre, as well to be judged themselves, [Nescitis quia Angelos judicabimus] as to serve as Attorneys for to open the Sinners crimes and offences, and as Hangmen, to execute the judge's Sentence. In this life God oftentimes makes the good Angels to be the Executioners of his wrath, as in Sodom, and in the first borne of Egypt, in overthrowing the Chariots of Pharaoh, in Zenacharib, Heliodorus, and Herod; but his ordinary kind of punishment is by evil Angels, Immissiones per Angelos malos; by which he understandeth those fearful Plagues of Egypt, as Flies, Frogs, Grasshoppers, Wasps, Homets', thick Clouds, Darkness that might be felt, their Flocks and Herds of cattle killed with Hail stones, Visions, idle Dreams, and Fantasies, and the like, [Sad shapes appeared unto them, and Monsters did affright them;] whereby they that were living looked as if they had been dead, Animae deficiebant traductione; These did the Devil carry away bound hand and foot, to be cast into utter darkness: And when God shall set these Catchpoles to arrest the Wicked, What will become of them? What will they do? With this Majesty and greatness shall that supreme judge come, Upon the Seat of his Majesty; whither it be a Throne of Clouds, Eccle. 24. Exod. 1●. Psal. 70. Psal. 98. 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 David, Qui sedes super Cherubin; or whither of the Just, (as Origen would have it;) sure I am, that he shall come with that grave and austere countenance, and with that awful and fearful look, that Malachy might very well say, Who shall endure to look upon him? Congregabuntur ante eum omnes Gentes. All Nations shall be gathered before him. It is as true, as it is fearful, That all men shall meet together in one, All shall appear in judgement. all that did enjoy the light of this world; for so many Kindred's, nay, thousands of Ages, whither they perished in the element of Fire, and so turned to ashes; or whither they were devoured by the Fowls of the air, or the Beasts of the field; or whither they became the food of fishes in the Sea; or whither that their bodies remain in their graves; or whither like rubbish they lie buried under ruinous buildings; or howsoever they have passed through diverse and sundry transmutations; yet notwithstanding in the end all shall come and present themselves upon this public Stage; all those Nations that are so differing in their manners and behaviour, in their Idioms & their Languages, in their Rights and Ceremonies, in their Laws and their Customs, whither remaining in the main Continent, or in the Islands environed with the Sea: And what wonder can be greater, or what sight so strange, as to see all the men in the world to appear body and soul, before his divine Majesty, at the voice of an Angel, when he shall trumpet forth this short summons unto them, Surgite mortui, etc. But two other wonders more fearful than this (I fear me) will be seen: The one, That all men's hearts shall be opened, & every man both inwardly and outwardly shall appear so plain and so clear to our sight, that there shall not be any thought, though never so closely hid, nor any fault, though never so deeply buried, that shall not be made open and manifest: According to that of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, Omnes manifestari oportet ante Tribunal Christi, 2. Cor. 5.10. We must all be manifested before the judgement Seat of Christ. Whereupon Saint Theodoret weighing the word Manifestari, which in the original is the same with Perlucidos esse, Transparent, and clear as Crystal; wherein those black spots and ●oule stains that are in our Souls, will appear the more ugly and loathsome, o! How strange a spectacle will this be? How sole and singular in the world? o! what a great fear will it strike into us, not only in regard of the innumerable number of such various and uncouth things, things heretofore never presumed, or once thought upon; but also in respect of the heart of man, which being so inscrutable a thing, and for so many years of man's life, past searching out, and not to be discovered and set forth in its true life and colours; that this heart, I say, of Man shall in an instant be laid so open, that all masks shall be vnpined, all disguises taken off, whose hollowness and hypocrisy shall now appear to God and the World. Imagine that God should show this miracle in open Court, and that the hearts of all should lie open to the eyes of all, (as he did discover to Ezechiel every form of creeping things, Ezech. ●. and abominable Beasts, and all the Idols of the House of Israel portrayed upon the wall of the Temple) How ashamed will the very best of God's children be of their actions, but much more the wicked, to see their sins laid open to others view, and their own confusion? Nor shall these our sins be conspicuous only to others, but every offendor shall see and plainly perceive his own particular sins: For there is no man that fully knows his own sins while he liue● here in this world. And so doth Saint Basil interpret that place of the Psalmist, Arguam te, & statuam contra te faciem tuam; Every man shall then behold himself as in a glass. In a word, This day will be the summing up of all those o●● former days, wherein, as in a beadroll, we shall read all the loose actions of our life, all our idle words, all our evil works, all our lewd thoughts, or whatsoever else of ill that our hearts have conceived, or our hands wrought. So doth a grave Author expound that place of David, Dies formabuntur, & nemo in eyes, In that day shall all days be form and perfected, for than shall they be clearly known. Et nemo in eyes; This is a short and cutted kind of speech, (idest) There shall not be any thing in all the world which shall not be known in that day. The other wonder shall be, That all this business shall be dispatched in a moment; In ictu oculi, saith Saint Paul, In the twinkling of an eye. The Greek 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 Sheep at his right hand, and the Goats at the left. Daily experience teacheth us, That what is good for one, is naught for another; that which helpeth the Liver, hurteth the Spleen; one and the self same Purge recovers one, and casts down another; the Light refresheth the sound Eye, and offendeth the sore; Wisdom saith, That those Rods which wrought amendment in the Children of Israel, hardened the hearts of the Egyptians; the one procured life, the other, death; darkness to the one was light, & light to the other, darkness. When joshuah pursued the Ammorites, God poured down Hailstones, Lightning, and Thunder; to God's enemies they were so many Arrows to kill them; to his friends, so many Torches to light them. In the light of thy Arrows, Abac. 3. saith Abacuc. Death to the Wicked is bitter, to the Good, sweet; judgement to the Goats is sad & heavy, but to the Sheep, glad & joyful; to the one a beginning of their torment, to the other, of their glory. And therefore it is here said, He shall place the Sheep at his right hand. From this beginning, ariseth the Iust's earnest desiring of this our Saviour's coming, and the Wicked's seeking to shun it. Which is made good by Saint Austen, upon that place of Haggie, He shall come, being wished for of all Nations: And his reason is, because our Saviour Christ being desired, it is fit that he should be known; and for want of this knowledge, it seemeth unto him, that this place doth not so much suit with his first, as his latter coming. Saint Paul writing to his Disciple Timothy, says, That the Just do long for this judgement; 2. Tim. 4. Rom. 2. His qui diligunt adventum eius; Agreeing with that of Saint Paul to the Romans, That the Just pass over this life in sighs & tribulations, expecting that latter day, when their bodies shall be free from corruption, and from death. Saint john introduceth in his Apocalyps the souls of the Just, crying out, Vsque quò Domine, sanctus, & verax? Non judicas, & vindicas sanguinem nostrum, de his qui habitant in terra? Apoc. 6. How long, Lord, holy and true, etc. Saint Austen and Saint Ambrose both say, That they do not here crave vengeance on their enemies, but that by his coming to judgement, the Kingdom of Sin may have an end. Which is the same with that which we daily beg in those words of our Paternoster, Thy Kingdom come. And Saint john in his last Chapter saith, The Spirit and the Spouse, say Come, Come Lord, come quickly, make no long tarrying. That the Sinner should hate this his coming, is so notorious a truth, that many when things go cross with them, would violently lay hands on themselves, and rid themselves out of this miserable world, if it were not for fear of this judgement. And this was the reason why Saint Paul in saying, It is decreed, that all men shall die once; presently addeth, After death, judgement: Other wise there would be many, as well discreet, as desperate persons, that would cry out, Let us die, and make an end of ourselves at once; for a speedy death is better than a long torment. This is that that keeps these fools in awe, and quells the vain confidence of man in general. Tunc dicet Rex his, qui à dextris eius erunt, usque esurivi, etc. Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, I was hungry, etc. He begins with the rewarding of the Good; for even in that day of justice, he will that his mercy go before, as well for that it is Gods own proper work, as also for that it is the fruit of his blood and death. Venite Benedicti Patris mei, [Come ye blessed of my Father,] (a most sweet word in so fearful a season) possidete Regnum, Come ye, and take possession of an eternal Kingdom. Quia esurivi, I was hungry, etc. Some man may doubt, Why Christ at the day of judgement, being to examine all whatsoever actions of virtue, doth here only make mention of mercy? I answer, For that Charity is that Seal and Mark which differenceth the Children of God from those of the Devil, the good Fish from the bad, and the Wheat from the Chaff; Ecce, ego judico inter Pecus & Pecus, Ezech. 36. Rom. 13. so saith Ezechiel: and in sum, it is the sum of the Law, as Saint Paul writeth to the Romans. Secondly, He maketh mention only of the works of mercy, for to expel that error wherein many live in this life; to wit, That this business of Almsdeeds is not given us as a Precept whereby to bind us, but by way of council and advice, whereby to admonish us. And this is a great sign & token of this truth, for that there is scarce any man that accuseth himself for the not giving of an Alms: But withal, it is a foul shame for us to think that God should condemn so many to eternal fire, for their not showing pity to the Poor, if it were no more but a bare council and advice. Gregory Nazianzen, in an Oration which he makes of the care that ought to be had of the Poor; proveth out of this place, That to relieve the poor and the needy, is not Negotium voluntarium, sed necessarium, not a voluntary, but a necessary business. And Saint Augustine and Thomas are of opinion, That we are bound to relieve the necessities of our neighbour, be it with food, or apparel, or council, or our assistance, according to the measure of their necessity, and our ability, governing ourselves therein according to the rules of wisdom. Hence it followeth, that the sin of cruelty carries with it a kind of desperation. For (as Saint Augustine saith) he must be condemned to eternal fire, who hath not clothed the naked, who hath not fed the hungry; he that strips another man of his clothes, and he that snatches a morsel of meat from the mouth of the hungry: and what shall become of him in the end, judicium sine misericordi● his, qui non faciunt misericordiam, Let not him (saith Saint james) look for mercy in the world to come, james. 2. that shows not mercy in this life. One of the reasons, why Hamon, King Assuerus his great Favourite, found no pity in Queen ester's, nor the King's breast, though he besought it on his knees, and with tears in his eyes, was, for that he had plotted such a merciless tyranny, as to destroy all the jews both men, women, and children, at one blow; and therefore deserved no favour. Nathan propounding to David that Parable of him, That having many Sheep of his own, had robbed his Neighbour of his only Sheep, having no more besides in all the world; was so incensed against this so great an injury, that he held him for the present unworthy of pardon; As the Lord liveth, he is the child of death. In a word, the Word of God cannot fail. And Amos in his fourth and sixth Chapter, threateneth those powerful cruel ones with most severe punishments. And Solomon saith, That the hard heart shall have many a shrewd pang when he lies on his death bed. This Doctrine hath in its favour three powerful reasons. The first, In the secular state; for the elder brother is bound to maintain his younger brothers, and upon this condition is he made the heir of his house; otherwise he should be condemned for unkind and cruel. God (saith Saint Basil) made the rich man the elder brother, that he might relieve his younger brother, the Poor. And Malachi saith, That the hungry, the naked, and the maimed man, on whom the rich man bends his brow, is his brother; that they have one and the same God to their Father, & one and the same Church to their Mother. The second, Our Saviour Christ is not contented that thou shouldst make account that thou givest thy brother an alms, but thyself: And he doth reveal this truth, and notify it unto thee, to the end that thou shouldst not despise the Poor; Haec requies mea, reficite lassum, hoc est meum refrigerium. How is it possible (o Lord) that the succouring of the Poor should be thy ease and thy refreshing? Because I (saith our Saviour) am that poor Man; and happy is he, who under the rags of the Poor, divideth the riches of God. The third, That this charity towards the Poor gives us an assurance of Heaven: Charity affords great confidence to all that practise it, Tob. 4. and will not suffer their soul to go into darkness. Besides, David calls that man happy, whose sins are covered; Beatus vir, cuius tecta sunt peccata. And Solomon, and Saint Peter affirm, That Charity covers a multitude of sins, Vniversa peccata operit Charitas. Discedite in ignem eternum. Go into everlasting fire. This is a most cruel punishment, A difference of punishment according to the difference of Sins. in regard of the despair of any future comfort. Micheas treating of a punishment that God was to inflict upon his People, saith, I will make a wailing like the Dragons, & mourning as the daughters of the Owl; Quia desperata est plaga eius, For her wound is incurable. O, with what tears, o, with what hideous shrieks ought man to bewail the desperate torments of judgement, and of Hell? This punishment all the damned shall equally suffer; nor there is not the imagination of any thing that can so much affright and dismay us. But in those other punishments, some shall suffer more than othersome, their shame, confusion, and their hellish torments, being answerable to the nature of their offences. The first sort that shall suffer the severest punishment, shall be the jews; who in crucifying our Saviour Christ, committed the greatest sin, and the heinousest offence that ever was committed in the World▪ Who, when at the day of judgement they shall see and perceive whom they so impudently abused, shamefully mocked, cruelly scourged, scornfully crowned, rigorously handled, spit upon, buffeted, and crucified, and all undeservedly; being one that wished them all good, hugged them under his wing, as the hen clocketh her chickens, wept over them, and mourned for them; they shall remain so thunder-stricken, so astonished, so daunted, and so dead with fear, and the horror of their punishment, that they shall cry unto the mountains, and call unto the hills, with a Cadite super nos, Fall upon us. This lamentable and wretched condition of theirs, Zachar. 12. Zachary pointeth at, in these words, Et aspicient ad me, quem confixerunt, They shall look upon me whom they have pierced. And Saint john; Videbunt, in quem crucifixerunt, They shall see whom they have crucified. And in the Apocalips, Videbit eum omnis oculus, Every eye shall see him; But especially they, Qui eum pup●gerunt, That gored him. O what a cruel taking must they be in, who are guilty to themselves in that day, how cruelly they used the Saviour of the World? The second sort, are those castaways, that have made a covenant with Hell, whilst they lived here on Earth: Of whom Esay saith, Percussimus foedus cum morte, Esay. 28. & cum inferno fecimus pactum (i) Those desperate thieves that have made a league with the Gallows. And those unworthy Communicants, of whom Saint Paul, That they eat and drink their own condemnation; judicium sibi manducat & bibit. Of these, the said Esay asketh, Which of you can dwell with the devouring Fire? Aut quis habitabit cum ardoribus sempiternis? Are ye of that mettle, that ye can suffer eternal fire, who are not able to endure temporal heat? Let the most desperate amongst you, he that imagines he is able to endure any torment, put but his finger awhile into the flame but of a candle, and he will soon tell me another tale. The third sort, are those that profess a perpetual and everlasting hatred to Virtue and Goodness, follow tyranny with delight, and take a pleasure in sinning, thinking there is no life to that which is vicious: According to that of Esay, He that departeth from evil, maketh himself a prey; It is death to them, to do otherwise. And as Hosea hath it, Sanguis, sanguinem tetigit, Against these, God shall come armed with a corslet of justice, and with robes of Vengeance, and with a cloak of Zeal, and like a swift torrent, he shall sweep away these reeds and bulrushes, etc. The fourth sort, are those who deny God eyes to see the infinite sum and mass of those things that pass amongst men. First, because in themselves they are material; and God is a pure Spirit, and incorporeal, and therefore they dream he hath no eyes to see our actions. Secondly, because humane actions are oftentimes so nasty and so loathsome, that God will not vouchsafe to stoop so low, Psal. 93. as to look upon them. Et dixerunt, non videbit Dominus nec intelligit Deus jacob. Against these men, saith David, Intelligite insipientes in populo. The Hebrew styles them, Bestiales: Hear o ye brute beasts, hearken o you beasts, and be wise. Et stulti aliquando sapite, O ye fools when will ye understand? Qui plantavit aurem, non audiet? aut qui finxit oculum, non considerate? God gave man ears, eyes, understanding, and reason, and shall all these faculties be wanting to him? All the perfection of these effects are most eminent in the primary cause. And therefore, if God gave man his hearing, his sight, & his understanding, much more must he enjoy them, who was the Author and only giver of them. Qui corripit gentes, non arguet? Qui docet hominem scientiam, (i) He that correcteth the Nations shall he not reprove? He that teacheth man knowledge, etc. The fifth sort, are those, who acknowledging in God his Providence, and his justice; yet will not be persuaded, that it can be so severe in that day. So saith the Psalmist; Secundum multitudinem irae suae non quaeret: And the cause is presently rendered, Divisi sunt ab ira, vultus eius. Sophonia, painting out certain men unto us drowned in their vices, saith, Defixos in faecibus eius, They are drowned in the dregges of their sins. And by and by giveth a reason for it; Dicunt enim in cordibus suis, non faciet Dominus bene, non faciet Dominus male. On the one side, they make this reckoning with themselves, That God is good, liberal, merciful, and that he will not do us much harm: and that on the other side, as he is just, he will not do us much good. In this sin live they, who hearing from the Prophets and the Preachers of God's Word, the horrors and terrors of that day, say in their heart; In multos dies, & in longa tempora hic Prophetat; as Ezechiel relates it unto us; Manda, remanda, expecta, reexpecta, As Esay complains. What need these Prophets beat their brains & keep such a stir about the day of judgement? etc. And this fault, is by so much the greater, Ezech. 12. by how much God doth so often inculcate & reiterate in holy Scripture, the terrible●es of that day. For there is not that Prophet which doth not multiply his meditations, & doth not endear the horror of that day; using many fearful comparisons, for to strike a dread & terror unto us, in the woeful expression of them. All which, Esay shuts up in these few words, In novissimis diebus, intelligetis ea. Peradventure you that now hear me tell you this, do not persuade yourselves that this is true, nor believe what I speak unto you; but in the end (unless God give you the grace to be of another mind) ye will too late, and yet too soon to your own grief, acknowledge and confess your error. The last sort are those, who being puffed up with their prosperity, do disesteem and despise those that wrestle with adversity, and groan under the burden of their miseries; thinking with themselves, That those blessings which God hath bestowed upon them in this world, shall continue with them in that other. The Wicked live, and are comforted with Riches, saith job; but in Hell (the Poor being in Paradise, and they in torment) they shall be forced to cry out and say of the Poor and Hungry, and the Naked, These are they whom we sometimes scorned. To whom Solomon makes this reply, Parata sunt derisoribus, judicia eius: Prou. 19 They shall be brought upon that perdurable and eternal Stage of laughter and scorn, set up by the Devils of Hell, never to be pulled down; who shall represent themselves unto these mocke-games now, that were once mockers and deriders of their poor brethren, in that formidable and ghastly manner, as shall make their hair stand an end, whilst they shall hear (to aggravate their griefs) that severe Sentence, and that irrevocable Doom, pronounced from the infinite Majesty of an austere and angry judge, Go ye into everlasting fire, etc. From which the Lord, etc. THE SEVENTH SERMON, UPON THE TVESDAY AFTER THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. MAT. 21. Cum introisset Iesus Hierosolymam, commota est universa Civitas. When jesus entered into jerusalem, the whole City was troubled. THe Story of this Gospel is set down at large in those two Chapters, justification a greater work than Creation. In Tomo miraculorum, which was a fit place to treat thereof. For Origen saith, That this was a greater miracle than Christ's turning of Water into Wine, at the Wedding in Canaan. And Saint Hierome, That it was greater than any other of our Saviour's miracles; Inter Signa omnia, quae fecit, hoc videtur mirabilius: And the reason is, For that in Lazarus that was dead, and in the Man that was blind, he met with no contradiction or repugnancy: but for to move so many, nay, so innumerable wills as those of jerusalem, and that they should be drawn to receive him as their King and Messias, whom the Clergy and Nobility did so much hate & abhor, carries with it a plain and manifest resistance. And, as Saint Augustine saith, That to justify a Soul, is more than to create Heaven and Earth, in regard of the opposition which the will of Man may make thereunto; so, for our Saviour to move those that were alive in that most populous City, was more than to raise the dead. And for confirmation of this Doctrine, let us suppose that the earth is of that stability and firmness, that to move it is a Blazon or Cognisance only belonging unto God. Ecclesiasticus saith, Terra autem in eternum stat. And Athanasi●s giving the reason thereof, saith, That God did knit and fasten it in the midst of the world with such strong chains, that it remained altogether immoovable, as being the Centre to all the rest which God had created. Qui fundasti terram super stabilitatem suam: The Greek reads it Securitatem, or Infallibilitatem. And therefore many Philosophers were of opinion, That all the power of the Gods were not able to move it from its place. But because nothing is impossible unto God and his omnipotent power, the Scripture almost in every place saith, That the Heaven, the earth, and that which is under the earth, and all the firmness and strong foundation thereof, are moved, and shake and tremble at the twinkling of his eyes. If then to move the Earth (which is a dead thing, and which cannot make resistance, nor contradiction) be only the Blazon and Cognisance of God; What a thing than is it, to move this living Earth, which enjoys its own liberty, and may out of its stubbornness say unto God, I will not. But admit it should say, I will, the miracle is no less, but rather a manifest token of God's divine power and omnipotency. It is likewise to be noted, That all the entrances which our Saviour Christ made, were with a great deal of noise and clamour. In that first which he made in the world, Haggie prophesied, Hag. 1. That he should turn the Heaven and the Earth topsyturvy. And God did perform it, using as his Instrument therein, the Emperor Octavianus Augustus. In that which he made into Egypt, he did trouble all that Kingdom, by throwing their Idols down to the ground, as it was prophesied by Esayas, Commovebuntur simulachra Aegypti: So doth Procopius declare it, Eusebius, Athanasius, and Saint Austen: But say, That in these his entrances there was a general motion, yet was there not a general obedience. But here Commota est universa Civitas: The Greek saith, Velut terrae motu concussa fuit. As if it had suffered an universal earthquake; there was neither old man, nor woman, nor child, etc. This is a great encarecimiento, or endearing of the matter. First, Because our Saviour preaching about the Cities and Towns of that Kingdom, the Evangelists deliver unto us, That all the Inhabitants that were in those parts, left their houses and their villages empty and forsaken, and only for to follow him. S. Mark, he saith, Et conveniebant ad eum undique, ut iam non posset manifest introire in Civitatem, sed in Desertis locis esset. And Saint Luke, That they trod one another under foot, and crushed the breath out of their bodies, and only to press to hear him; Ita ut se mutuò suffocarent. But it is to be supposed, that many likewise stayed at home; but in this his entrance into Jerusalem, God would have this lot to light upon all, and therefore it is said, Vniversa Civitas, The whole City. Se●ondly, In regard of the infinite number of Inhabitants that were in that City; which (as Pliny reporteth) was in those days the famousest in all the East: And, in a manner, all those that have writ thereof make mention of four millions of persons. josephus relateth, That the Precedent of Syria being desirous to render an account unto Nero, of the greatness of that Commonwealth, did desire of the high Priests, that they would give him a true note of the number of those Lambs which they sacrificed one Sabbath, which were afterwards eaten by several companies and Households, some consisting of ten, some of 15, and some, 20 souls; and they found, The greatness of the jewish Sacrifices. that they did sacrifice at every one of those their solemn sabboth's, two hundred fifty six thousand and five hundred Lambs; which, according to the rate of fifteen persons in a company, amount to four millions and five hundred thousand. But withal, it is to be noted, that neither the Sick nor the children were present thereat. But here, Vniversa Civitas, The whole City came, some out of passion, and some out of affection. Thirdly, For that our Saviour Christ was already condemned to death by the Chapter house of the Clergy, who had called a Convocation, to send out Sergeants and Soldiers for the apprehending of him, and had published Proclamations of rewards to those that should bring him bound unto them: that then, and at such a time the whole City should receive him with Songs and acclamations of King, Messias, and God (being a proscribed man, and doomed to death) Haec mutatio dextrae excelsi, This was an alteration which could not proceed but from the most High. Commota est universa Civitas. The whole City was moved. jerusalem had been long settled in its vices, Visitabo super viros defixos in sordibus suis, Moab requievit in faecibus suis, I will search jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees, etc. And as the wise Physicians stir and trouble the humours, cause loathe and gripings in the stomach; so our Saviour Christ in the breast of every one causeth a squeamishness of the stomach by moving and stirring those foul dregges of sin wherewith they were corrupted. Et commota est universa Civitas. Hierem. 4. Many old diseases are wont to be cured with some sudden passion, as of sorrow, or fear, or by some great and violent vomit; for every one of these accidents make a pause in the humours, and detain the spirits: An Ague hath been seen to be put out of his course, and quite taken away by the sudden drawing of a sword upon the Patient: and a Palsy driven away with the sight of a man's enemy. And Horace telleth us, That a covetous Miser was recovered of a great Lethargy, by the Physicians feigning that his heirs were carrying away his bags of money, and the Chests wherein his Treasure lay. In like manner, in the infirmities of the Soul, one turbation, one disquieting, one breaking up of those Chests wherein our sins are massed up, may be the recovery of our perdition. This made David to say of his Soul, Sana contritiones eius, quia commota est, O Lord, my Soul is troubled within me, when I consider the foulness of my sins; it is sad and melancholy for the very grief thereof; it is much disquieted: And therefore (o Lord) Sana contritiones eius, afford me thy helping hand, for it is now high time to cure me of my sore. Quis est hic? Who is this? God's majesty not to be described. This was a question of the envious and appassionated Pharisees: Howbeit it seemeth to Origen, That it should proceed from some good honest people, etc. Howsoever, it was a question, whereunto no man could fully answer: put Theologie, the sacred Scripture, the Doctors, the Saints, the Counsels, the Arts, the Sciences, and all the Hierarchies of Angels, put them all (I say) together, and put this question unto them, and after that they have said all they can say, all will be too little to satisfy this demand of Quis est hic? Who is this? One of jobs friends treating of the Majesty and greatness of God, and how incomprehensible a thing it was, saith, Forsitan vestigia Dei comprehendes? Et usque ad perfectum omnipotentem reperies? job. 11. Canst thou by searching find out God's footsteps? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? By the track of his footsteps, he understandeth these inferior things that are guided and governed by his providence; And by perfection, which is the head of all, the highness of his Wisdom. In a word, In all, God is altogether investigable; in regard of his height, the Heavens come short of him, Excelsior Coelo est; see then if thou canst reach unto him. Which consideration made Saint Austen to say, That God is not only present in earth, which is his footstool, and in Heaven, which is his Throne; but in those which are to be imagined elsewhere. How then canst thou reach unto him, being more deep than Hell, longer than the Earth, and broader than the Sea? God tharefore being on the one side so emboweled in and beneath the Earth; and on the other, so wholly out of the same, (as Saint Hilary proveth it, Intus & extra super omnia, & internus in omnia;) How can he fully know all, that is in Heaven, in Hell, in the bowels of the Earth, or in the bottom of the Sea? Many perhaps cannot give a full answer to this; but the Pharisees, had they not been blinded with envy, might have contented themselves with that of Moses, For he hath written of me; or of Ezechiel, who did prophecy of him, That he was the King and Shepherd of Israel; or of john Baptist, who pointed him out unto them as it were with the finger; or of his Works and Miracles, For they bear witness of me; of the Father, john. 5. who proclaimed him in jordan to be his Son; of the Devils of Hell, who with open voice acknowledged him to be the Son of God; of the little children, who cried out, Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Quis est hic? Who is this? Whether better a public life or a private. divers and sundry times Christ had entered into Jerusalem, and they had never asked this question before: but now the triumph and the Majesty of this King awakens the tongues of these envious People, who now begin to ask, Quis est hic? It hath been an ancient question doubted of, of old, Which is the better life, that of a public, or a private person▪ Seneca in an Epistle of his, seemeth to favour the former; Miserable (saith he) is that man's fortune who hath no enemy to envy him. And Persius saith, That it is a great glory to have men point with the finger, and to say, There goes the King's Favourite. But job, he seemeth to like better of the latter, O, job 10.18.19. that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me: would I had been as though I had not been: and that I had been carried from the womb to the grave. Wishing himself to have been of that short continuance in the world, that no man might have known whither he had died or lived. And Horace, Neque vixit malè, qui natus moriensque fefellit, His life let none bemoan, who lived and died unknown. Both lives have so much to be said on either side, that the question remains yet unresolued. But admit that a public life be the more desired, yet it is not the safest; for always the more honour, the more danger. Who is this? Your great Persons, and those that prosper in the world, carry wheresoever they go, such a noise with them, that they give occasion to the People to ask, Quis est hic? john Baptist when he thundered out in the Desert, (clad in Camels hair) That the Kingdom of God was at hand; judging him to be some celestial Monster, they sent out to inquire of him, with a Tu quis es? Who art thou? The Angels seeing our Saviour Christ ascend unto Heaven with such a deal of Majesty and glory as was never seen before; began to ask, Quis es iste qui venit de Edom? Who is he that cometh from Edom? And Esay speaking of a great Tyrants coming down to Hell, saith, Hell was troubled at thy coming. In a word, it is true in nature, That the lofty Cedars, and the highest and tallest Pine Trees make the greatest noise when they are shaken with the wind; and the greatest Rivers the greatest roaring: And therefore it is no marvel they should ask, Who is this? When a Merchant shall go apparelled and attended like a Knight, or some great Lord, and his wife and daughters like a great Lady and her children; Who will not ask, Quis est hic? I knew his Grandfather, etc. And for that the Pharisees were envious, they did speak reproachfully of our Saviour, every foot upbraiding him, That he was a Carpenter, and the son of a Carpenter; and seeing him now enter jerusalem like a King, they demanded in scorn, Quis est hic? Hic est Iesus Propheta à Nazareth Galileae. Deut. 18. This is jesus. By name a Saviour, and by office a Prophet; Alluding to that promise made in deuteronomy, I will raise up a Prophet of thine own Nation: Being a plain Prophecy of our Saviour Christ, as appeareth in the third of the Acts; His Country, Nazareth, where he was bred, they not knowing that he was borne in Bethlem. Now these wise men of this World ask with this scorn, Who is this? and the foolish ones answering with that discretion, This is jesus, etc. agrees well with those thanks which our Saviour gave unto his father, Because thou hast hid these things from the Wise, and hast revealed them to Babes. It is God's fashion, to overcome a Pharaoh with Flies; and by a silly woman, to confound the Learned, who said, In Belzebub the Prince of Devils he casts out Devils: by a blind man, the judges of Jerusalem; by a low Zacheus, a tall Giant. The order of Grace is different from that of Nature: God, as a natural Author, Media per summa gubernat, Governs the mean things by the highest, saith Dionysius. First, he communicateth his virtue & his power to the supreme causes; and by them, to the meaner and the lowest. The Sun shines first upon the Mountains, and then shows itself in the Valleys, etc. But Grace oftentimes doth first illuminate the lowest Bottoms, and shines oftener in them, than on the Mountains: it called the Shepherds before it called the Kings; it appeared unto the Ignorant before the Wise; and showed itself to Balaams' Ass, before his Master took notice of it. And therefore Ecclesiasticus saith, That the Soul of a Just man attaineth to more truth, than those Watch-Towers that are reared on the highest Walls; understanding thereby your greatest Clerks. A just and upright man will now and then afford you better council than many wise men; howbeit in matters of difficulty, and deep points of knowledge, and of Faith, we must always have recourse to the Wise. Caepit eijcere omnes ementes & vendentes. He began to cast out all the Buyers and the Sellers. Zacharie prophesying of this entrance, saith, Ecce, Rex tuus veniet tibi mansuetus, Behold, thy King shall come unto thee, meek. How can these two suit together, Mansuetus, and Triumphator, gentle, and yet a Conqueror? Tears in his eyes, and yet so angry, that he never showed himself more? I have given some reasons hereof in another place; those that now offer themselves are these: The first, That Mercy and justice are the two Poles of God's government: By those tears in his eyes, Mer●●e and justice the two Poles of God's government. and by those words of lamentation from his mouth, and by moving the hearts of that hard hearted City, our Saviour gave notable proofs of his mercy. But finding this insufficient to make himself known amongst them, his justice then did display its power, by whipping those Merchants, and in them, the Priests who had a share in their gains: Giving us thereby to understand, That he that will not be brought to know God by his soft hand, and those sweet favours of his Mercy, shall be made to know him by the whips and scourges of his justice.. God prospers thy house, thou dost not acknowledge it for a blessing; he sends thee to an Hospital laden with diseases, that thy misery may teach thee to know him: He gives thee health, thou art not thankful unto him for it; he casts thee down on thy bed, and then thou givest him thanks, not ceasing night and day to call upon him, and to praise and bless his hol● name. Ps●al. 32. And therefore it is truly said, The Lord shall be known while he worketh judgement. Our Saviove (like a good Physician) tries us first by his mild and gentle medicines, but they do no good; he therefore turns over a new leaf, and applies those unto us that are more sharp and tart, whereby we come to know as well his wisdom as his love. The second, He began to cast out the Buyers and the Sellers; Because no man should presume, that the glorious acclamations of a King, and of a Messias, should endure to permit in his Temple such a foul and unseemly buying and selling: they had no sooner proclaimed him King, but he took the whip into his hand, to scourge them for their offences. In a Prince, in a judge, and in a Preacher, flatteries and fair words are wont to abate the edge of the Sword of justice; wherefore to show, That true praise ought the more to oblige a King to unsheathe his Sword, he betook him to his Whip. That acclamation and applause of the little children, our Saviour accounted it as perfect and good; [Ex ore Infantium & Lactantium perfecisti laudem propter Inimicos tuos.] Yet, for that a Prince, a judge, or a Preacher, should not be carried away with the praises of men; our Saviour, though applauded in the highest manner that the thought of man could imagine, Coepit eijcere Ementes & vendentes, etc. Reges eos in virga ferrea, saith David: In the name of the eternal Father, thou shalt (my Son) be their Ruler & their judge, thou shalt bear in thy hand a Rod of iron, which shall not be bowed as are those other limber wands of your earthly judges: theirs are like fishing rods, which when the fish bite not, continue straight & right, but if they nibble never so little at the bait, presently bow and bend. Esay called the Preachers of his time, Dumb Dogs, not able to bark: And he presently renders the reason of this their dumbness, They knew no end of their belly. To ear, and to talk, none can do these two well and handsomely together; and because these Dogs have such an hungry appetite, that they never give over eating, because nothing can fill their belly, they are dumb, and cannot bark, they know not how to open their mouths. The third is of Saint Chrysostome and Theophilact; who say, God's punishment different from those of Earthly Princes. That it was a kind of prophecy or foretelling, that these legal Offerings and Sacrifices were almost now at an end. When Kings and Princes express their hatred to any great Person in Court, it is a prognostication of that man's fall; The wrath of a King is the messenger of death. Our Saviour Christ, the Prince of the Church, had twice whipped out those that had provided Beasts for the Sacrifices of his temple; which was an undoubted token of their short continuance, it being a great sign of death, that one, and such a one, should come twice in this manner to visit them with the Rod. This conceit is much strengthened by the words of our Saviour Christ, Esay 56. (foretold by the Prophet Esay) The time shall come wherein my House shall be called a House of Prayer, and not a Den of thieves, nor a common Market of buying and selling. So that he took these Whips into his hands as a means to work amendment in his Ministers, and to sweep and make his House clean. The judges of the earth (saith Saint Hierome) do punish a Delinquent, ad ruinampunc; but God, adcust gationem; the one, to his utter undoing; the other, for his amendment: And therefore he used no other weapons to chastise them withal, but Rods and Whips, which work our smart, but not our death; they pain us▪ but they do not kill us. Tertullian is startled, and standeth much amazed at that punishment which Saint Peter inflicted upon Ananias and Saphyra, and saith, That to bereave them so suddenly of their life, & to strike ●hem in an instant dead at his foot, was the punishment of a man, & of one that had not long exercised, nor did well know what did belong on the office of a Bishop. But our Saviour Christ being come into the world to give men life, it would not have suited with his goodness to give them death. The fourth reason (which all do touch upon) was, The disrespect and irreverence which was shown to this his Temple; a sin which God doth hardly pardon: And therefore it was said unto jeremy, Pray not therefore for this People. And he presently gives the reason why, It hath committed many outrages in my House. Saint james adviseth, That the Sick should call unto the Priests, to get them to pray unto God for him; but for him that should commit wickedness in his Temple, God willeth the Prophet jeremy, that he should not so much as pray for them. And Saint Paul saith, That those who shall violate the Temple of God, God shall destroy them. Great is the respect which God requireth to be had to his Temple. First, In regard of his especial and particular presence there. Saint Austen saith, That David did pray be fore the Ark, Quia ibi sacratior & commendatior praesentia Domini erat. For evermore God manifests himself more in his Temple than any where else; that place being like Moses his Bush, or Jacob's ladder; being therefore so much the more holy, by how much the more he doth there manifest himself, etc. Secondly, He shows himself there more exorable, and more propitious to our prayers: According to that request of Solomon in the dedication of the temple, That his ears may be there opened. And it was fit it should be so, as Saint Basil hath noted it; for that, Prayer is a most noble act, and therefore as it requires a most noble place, so likewise the greater favour appertaineth unto it. Thirdly, For that Christ is there present in his blessed Sacraments. And therefore (as Saint Chrysostom hath observed it) there must needs be there a great company of celestial Spirits; for where the King is, there is the Court. Fourthly, For to stir up our devotion, by joining with the congregation of the Faithful. And a learned man saith, That the Temples & Houses of God did put a new heart and new affections into men's breasts. What then shall become of those who refuse these public places of praying and praising of God, and make it a Den of thieves, working all impiety and wickedness in these sacred Assemblies? The last reason of our Saviour's being so angry, was, To see the covetousness that was in his Ministers. Nothing moves God's patience more than the covetousness of Priests, especially when they shall make a benefit to their purse from the blood of the Altar. Notable is that place of Balaam, when he went to curse the People of Israel, the Ass which carried him thither was willing to show him his error, God opening his mouth, and making his tongue to speak. And Saint Austen strucken into amazement at the rareness thereof, confesseth, Tha● he knows not what greater wonder than this could possibly be imagined, tha● that the Prophet should not be affrighted, hearing an Ass to open his mouth and reprove him. And he renders two reasons for it: The one, That Sorceries and Witcheries were so common in those days; for there was not any nation that had not its Magicians and Sorcerers, as Trismegistus in Egypt; Z●r●astes in Persia; Orpheus in Greece; besides many Sibyls in diverse other countries. The other, That he was blinded with that good round sum of money which he was to receive out of hand▪ [Habentes pretium divinationis in manibus] king Balack's Messengers had so greased his fists with good gold, that he minded not that so great a miracle as the talking of his Beast. And this is a thing worthy the noting, That Saint Hierome and Saint Austen do not only make him a Prophet, but a holy Prophet, and that his covetousness had thus misled him. And as Saint Peter saith, Through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose judgement lingreth not, and whose damnation slumbreth not; which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bozor, who loved the ways of unrighteousness, but was rebuked for his iniquity, the dumb Ass forbidding him his madness, by speaking unto him in a man's voice. He began to cast out all the Buyers. That one man should be able to do more than a whole Squadron, seemeth somewhat strange: but that none of those whom he whipped should dare to give him so much as a word, is much more strange. The first reason, saith Saint Hierome, (which is also repeated by Thomas) was, That the Majesty of the Deity shined in his face. Whither or no, that in our Saviour Christ that Majesty were ordinary, or whither he had then put it on, for that it is a common custom with God, in those disrespects done to his temple, to discover his greatness the more. And so when he punished Heltodorus, who would have robbed the Treasury of the Temple, (wherein were deposited those moneys which belonged unto Widows and Orphans) the Text saith, Spiritus omnipotentis Dei magnam fecit suae ostentionis evidentiam, The Lord of Spirits, and the Prince of all power caused a great apparition, so that all that presumed to come in with him were astonished at the power of God, and fainted, and were sore afraid. A Lion when he waxeth angry sparkeleth fire forth of his eyes, and with his roaring makes all the beasts of the Forest afraid, & to fly from his anger. The Lion of the Tribe of juda was angry, his eyes flamed forth fire; O culi eius tanquam flamma ignis, saith the Apocalyps. And Saint Hierome, That the beams of his wrath broke forth, & that he roared out with a loud voice, What make these thieves here in my House, etc. Who is able to withstand him? Who can resist his rage? Seneca in the Tragedy of Hercules, represents him there in that mad and furious manner, that making towards his son, the very sight of him struck him dead. Whereunto suiteth that which the Prophet Abacuc saith of God, Aspexit & dissoluit Gentes, He beheld and clove asunder the Nations. Abac. 3. job. 25. This force and power of God's eye forced job to say, Potestas & terror apud Deum est, Dominion and fear are with him. The second is, Vice ever afraid of Virtue. That great cowardice which the face of Virtue casts on that of Vice; the Armies of Enemies, the sight of Devils are not more fearful to behold. There shall not in that final day of judgement be any torment equal to that which the Damned shall feel when they shall see the face of our Saviour Christ, whom they scorned, scoffed, and reviled. Joseph's brethren were astonished when they heard hi● say, Ego sum joseph, I am your brother joseph, Gen. 45. whom ye persecuted and sold into Egypt, etc. To those eyes which have always lived in darkness, the light is most painful unto them. And of the damned in Hell job saith, Si subito aparuerit aurora, arbitrantur umbram mortis, job 24. The morning is to them even as the shadow of death. For this cause some Doctors for their greater punishment will have the Damned that are in Hell's Dungeon, lie with their faces upward, looking towards Heaven. And Seneca in the Tragedy of Hercules saith, That when he dragged Cerberus out of that dark place, as soon as he saw the light he drew himself back with that force, that he had almost thrown that Conqueror to the ground. And in that rape of Proserpina by Pluto, it is feigned, That when his Coach Horses came to see the light, they strived with all their might and main to return back again to Hell. In like manner, those glittering beams of light which broke forth from the eyes of our Saviour Christ, did dazzle those of these Money-changers, and made them to rest as men amazed. josephus reporteth, That there were three Sects amongst the jews, the Essei, the jebusei, and the Saducei; and besides these, they had certain Scribes which were their Sages, or the wisest men amongst them: The Greeks called them Philosophers; the Chaldaeans, Magis; the Latins, Doctors. And of these there were some in every Tribe, and in every Sect, & in every State, as it passeth now amongst us. Epiphanius saith, That they had two Offices. The one, To expound the Law, and to preach it to the People, who came every Sabbath to their Synagogues, as appeareth in the Acts. And as josephus and Philon hath it, Acts. 9 They were called Lectores, Readers, because they read unto them; and Scribes, because they expounded the Scriptures. And Esdras terms them Scribes and Readers: And Saint Luke relateth, That Paul & Barnabas coming to Antiochia, and entering into the Synagogue, a Scribe read the Law, and Saint Paul preached unto the People. Acts 13. The second Office was, To be judges, He shall be delivered to the Princes, and to the Scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, so saith Saint Matthew. And those that presented the Adulteress to our Saviour Christ, were the ancientest of all the rest of the Sects; for it appeareth in Leviticus, That they began with that Law that commanded them not to drink wine, nor any thing that might distemper them; That ye may have knowledge to discern betwixt that which is holy and profane, and may teach the Children of Israel. They did use likewise Philacteries, and other Hypocrisies: The Austerity and Hypocrisy of the Scribes. And therefore our Saviour did no less reprehend them, than he did the Pharisees for their fringes, they would prick themselves with thorns, and their feet were commonly besmeered with blood; they had the Law written in their forehead, and in other parts of their apparel: Alluding to that commanded by God in deuteronomy, Deut. 6. Thou shalt bind my Precept in thy hand. josephus recounteth, That Alexandra mother to Hircanus the High Priest, and to Aristob●lus, did greatly favour them: & because after his mother's death he denied them this favour, he was hated of the People. In a word, In divine worship, and in public prayer, they were most respected; not because they were more holy, but because they did strive to seem so: wherewith they did cloak their avarice and their cruelty; and joining with the Merchants in their gains, they had equal part with them also in their punishment: wherewith being offended, they afterwards said, By what power dost thou these things? But they may be well enough answered with that of Saint Chrysostome, Ye will not hear; but though ye be silent, the little children shall speak forth his praise; and should they hold their peace, the very Stones in the Street should voice him to be the King, and Messias. THE EIGHTH SERMON, UPON THE WEDNESDAY AFTER THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. MAT. 12.38. Accesserunt ad jesum Scribae & Pharisaei, dicentes, Magister, volumus a te signum videre. The Scribes and Pharisees came unto him, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. A After that famous miracle of him that was possessed with a Devil, as also of the Deaf, Blind, and Dumb, The wicked behaviour of the pharisees towards Christ. and that our Saviour Christ had with powerful reasons proved, That for such a work as that, was necessarily required a supernatural virtue; the Scribes and pharisees came unto him, who were the gravest persons of that Commonwealth, saying, Master, your person with those of our Religion is in great esteem; and the wonders and miracles that thou hast wrought amongst us, hath won thee a great deal of credit and reputation: but looking well into them, we have found this one fault in them, that all of them are wrought upon ordinary and common things; as in giving eyes to the Blind, a tongue to the Dumb, dispossessing a Devil; miracles done as well by others as thyself, as our own Prophets bear witness: and seeing thou hast got thee a greater name than they, we would fain see thee do greater miracles than they; as to stop the Sun in his course, like joshuah; to rain down Manna from Heaven, like Moses; to raise whirlwinds, cloth the air with clouds, rattle forth thunder, and dart rays of lightning, as God did when he came to give the Law: In a word, Master, we would have thee to show us a miracle from Heaven. Our Saviour Christ, who to a syllable knew how to spell this their damnable and devilish intention, said unto them, O ye accursed and adulterous generation, Seek ye after signs in Heaven for to discredit those that are done on earth? Account ye these as nothing? Are they illusions and impostures with ye? I tell you, ye shall have no sign given ye but that of jonas; the men of Niniveh shall rise up in judgement against ye, and condemn ye for a stiff necked generation, because they repented at the preaching of jonas, & behold, a greater than jonas is here, and ye hear him not, nor are your stony hearts made malleable with the hammer of his words and works. The Queen of the South came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here, and ye hear him not. Our Saviour Christ with this answer bunged up the mouths of the Scribes and Pharisees; whilst one of them that was subtler than the rest, seeking to accuse him of arrogancy, pulling him by the sleeve, told him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee▪ As if he would have said, What a deal of pride is this for a Carpenter, and the Kinsman of a company of poor Fishermen? But our Saviour Christ proving, That true Kindred was contracted rather by the Spirit, than the Flesh, told them, My mother and my brethren are those that do the will of my Father. Generatio prava & adultera signum quaerit, etc. A wicked and adulterous Generation seeks a sign. Though patience in our Saviour Christ were a thing so natural unto him, yet may it well be wondered at, that to so many injurious both works and words, he made so mild an answer. That Fire should burn, that Snow should cool, that what is heavy should tend downward, and what is light ascend upward; that the Sun should give light, that Heaven should glad the heart of man, that a Fountain should flow, it is not much: But that the Sun, rising for and to all, should deny his light to him that desires it; the Heaven, it's cheerfulness and influences; the Fountain, water to the thirsty; and that our Saviour Christ, the chiefest of Jerusalem coming unto him, and with a great deal of respect craving a sign and miracle of him, that he should make fools of them, and rid them away for such, it is somewhat strange, and will require a Quaere, why and wherefore he did it. And this difficulty is made the greater, for that it is an incomparable piece of service, to crave and beg any thing of God. The Scripture styleth Prayer, A sweet perfume: And the Church calls it, Scalam petitionum, The Ladder whereby our Prayers ascend unto God: And he that petitions God as he ought, the more he asks, the more God holds him his friend. And King Ahaz, who would not require any miracle, the Prophet Esay offering him Heaven, Earth, and Hell, condemned him of ill manners, accusing him to have dealt therein very discourteously with God. How comes it then to pass, that the most religious and gravest kind of People that were in Jerusalem, coming to crave a miracle, our Saviour should give them this strange answer, A wicked and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and no sign shall be given it, etc. Reason's why our Saviour thus answered the pharisees. The benefits in having Christ our master. The first reason is, for that they scornfully called him Master, when as they held him to be an Imposter, and one that was possessed with a Devil. One of the greatest favours that ever God showed to his Church, was in giving our Saviour Christ to be its Master; and the greatness of this good, he particularly (amongst many other) discovered unto us in two effects: The one, in dispelling the darkness of our ignorance; For as the light of this material Sun, doth enrich and beautify the day, bannishing from us the pitchy darkness of the night, to the end, that these our corporal eyes may behold the beauty of the World; so the light of that spiritual Sun, doth enrich and beautify the day of the new Law, driving from us the darkness 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 p●st, etc. The other, for that all Masters whatsoever in the World beside, do not effectually persuade and move the Will of man; But this Master of ours, doth penetrate with his words, the very innermost parts of the Soul, and the secret corners of the Heart; He moves it, and persuades it by mild, yet powerful means. Esay, making a promise on God's behalf to his people, this Doctor touched both these effects, Dabit tibi Deus panem a●ctum, & aquam brevem, (i) God will give thee a little water and a little bread, but much learning, Esay 30. for thou shalt behold thy Master with thine eyes, Erun● oculi tui videntes praec●p●●rum. And with thy ears shalt thou hear his voice, Et aures tuae audient post ter●a monentis. Who shall be still admonishing and persuading thee, Haec est via, ambulate in ea, This is the way, walk in it. A little water and a little bread, but much light of learning; for towards those whom God best loveth, he carries a hard and strait hand, in those good things which concern the body, but shows himself very frank and liberal in those blessings that belong to the Soul. And one dram of Wisdom, is better than many quintals of Gold. God did applaud Salomon's petition, because making slight account of riches, of lordships, and of revenging himself upon his enemies, he did beg Wisdom at his hands: and therefore possessed with this divine Spirit, he said afterwards; Sap. 8. Wisdom is better than the most precious Riches, and whatsoever is to be desired, is not comparable to it. Saint Jerome noteth, that the Prophet saith, Thou shalt see this thy Master with thy eyes, in regard of those just and right actions, which he shall always set before thine eyes: And, that thou shalt hear him with thy ears, in regard, that as thou art a sinner, he shall be still calling thee to repentance, preaching and crying out unto thee to return back from thy evil ways, showing thee, that This is the way, walk in it. It is a metaphor borrowed from a Travailour that hath lost his way amongst woods and rocks, where he is ready at every step to break his neck; and therefore like a good shepherd, grieving to see him thus wilfully to run on to his destruction, he calleth out aloud unto him, telling him, This is the way. In like manner, the World being as it were lost, and blinded in the true knowledge of God and his son Christ jesus, setting before us the way of the Gospel, he cries out unto us, that we might not go astray; Haec est via, This is the way. This was a great, and extraordinary favour, and the Prophet joel gives the parallel thereof to the Church; joel 2. Filij Syon exaltate, & latamini in Domino D●o vestro, quia dedit vobis Doct●rem iustitiae, (1.) Exalt ye sons of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, who hath given you a Teacher of Righteousness. The Greek hath it Escas iustitiae, That God hath given ye a Master that shall be unto you, as the very meat and nourishment of Righteousness, to feed and preserve your souls; and will restore unto you the years that the Locusts hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the catterpillar, and the palmerworm, etc. And if in Commonwealths, to have Masters, and wise and learned Teachers, be of so inestimable a price, that Aristotle ask the reason, why they had no set stipend or reward, as many other Offices & States had? answers it thus, Because there could be no reward answerable to their desert. What then might this Master merit of the World, being so singular and learned a Teacher, in whom were deposited all the treaseres of the Wisdom of God? In regard of this happiness, our Saviour Christ said, Beati oculi qu● vident quae vos vide●is. The Scribes therefore and the Pharisees, coming unto him, and in a flattering and scornful manner calling him Master, it is no ma●●aile that the mildness of this Lamb, should be turned into the fury of a Lion, and that he said unto them, Generatio mala, etc. Saint Chrysostome says, That they went about to flatter him, as they had done at other times, when they spoke unto him by the same name; As when they said, Magister, Mat. 22. Luke 18. Luke 20. licet censum dare Caesari? Magister, quod est mandatum magnum in Lege? Magister, quid faciendo, vitam aeternam possidebo? Master, is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar? Master, which is the great Commandment in the Law? Master, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? And that our Saviour being offended, that they should flatter him with their mouths, whom they abhorred in their hearts (being like unto those lewd women, who the lighter they are, the fuller of flattery) he grew somewhat hot and angry with them. But I conceive the fault of these Scribes and Pharisees was more foul than so: For flattery usually carrieth with it a desire to please, and is full of courtesy, which these kind of People never expressed towards our Saviour. And this my suspicion is the more augmented by that miracle of that blind man, whom the Scribes (as supreme judges) so strictly examined; ask him so often, Who is he that hath healed thee? To whom he answered, My Masters, I have told ye already, Why are ye so importunate with me? Are ye purposed peradventure to be his Disciples? This made my Gentlemen very angry; insomuch that they said, Tu Discipulus illius sis, We wish thee no worse plague, than that thou mayst be his Disciple. So that holding this a kind of curse and malediction, and yet to style him with the name of Master, must be a stuff that is made of a courser thread than Flattery. Scorning, a Vice peculiar to the jews. Besides, mocking and scorning was a proper and peculiar vice annexed to the jews. And Saint Chrysostome doth not term it only flattery, but adulation, and irrision; Verba (inquit) sunt plena adulatione & irrision●. And that Text of Saint Luke favoureth this opinion, Alij tentantes eum, signum de coelo quaerebant, Others tempting him, required a sign from heaven. Where this word Tentantes implieth much more. And the Author of the imperfect Work saith, That these Scribes and Pharisees used double dealing herein, desiring nothing more, than by this their soothing with him, to discredit our Saviour Christ; alleging, That those miracles were not so sure and certain, as to enforce belief, or to merit their undoubted credence: And that they being (as it were) the Suns of that Commonwealth, whom the people did credit and respect next under God, they did labour to win themselves credit in his presence, by disgracing those miracles which our Saviour had wrought. But our Saviour having recourse to the honour of his Father, and his own reputation, could not hold▪ being so justly incensed against them, but must needs break out into these terms with them, A wicked generation, etc. God complained by his Prophets, That the sins of his people had quite altered his natural condition, Let Samaria perish (saith Osee) because she hath provoked her God. Ose 14. And anon after he saith the same, of Ephraim; God's heart being so mild, so gentle, so loving, and so full of compassion, Lament. 3. the sins of Samaria and of Ephraim had provoked it to bitterness. jeremy in his Lamentations complaineth, Replevit me amaritudinibus, & inebriavit me absynthio, He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with Wormwood. Ezechiel styles the people, Domus exasperans, A House which doth exasperate God's nature, Acts 1. being so noble, so free, so pitiful. Of judas Saint Luke saith, Suspensus crepuit medius, He burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And this was not without some great mystery, That his vital spirit should not go out at his throat, being straightened with the halter, nor through his mouth, for that therewith (though treacherously) he had kissed his Saviour; but out of the very heart and bowels 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 love and hate at once. And therefore being so many monstrous mis-shapes in the rest of the parts of man's body, as two heads, two hands, two feet, and the like; yet did Nature never consent that there should be two hearts; only it is used as an emblem to express a traitor, who loves with the one, Eccle. 2. and hates with the other. Woe to them that are of a double heart, saith Solomon. Simeon and Levi 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 advice; at the hour of his death he called them Instruments of cruelty. Ezechiel calls them Foxes, who devour the grapes of the Vine, and hide themselves under the leaves thereof; [Quafi Vulpes in Deserto, Prophetae tui.] Chrysologus, That they wage war against Virtue, with Virtue; against Fasting, with Fasting; against Prayer, with Prayer; against Mercy, with Mercy; and against Miracles, by craving other Miracles. And if it were abominable before God, that a man should put on woman's apparel, and a woman, man's, (as it is in deuteronomy) much worse will it seem in his sight, that the evil man should put on the disguise of him that is good, & that Vice should put on virtue's clothes. In Ecclesiasticus God threateneth the Hypocrites, Eccle. 2. That he will pull off their masks and disguises in the midst of all the People; Attend ne revelet Deus absconsa tua, & in medio Synagogae elidat te. Our Saviour had a fair occasion offered unto him for to discredit and disgrace them, and therefore plucking their masks from off their faces, he said, A wicked and adulterous Generation seeketh a sign, etc. We would s●e a sign 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 inveniri? The hardness of a sinful Heart. Can any man be found so foolish? Nor is that particle Tunc (which is referred to a sum of miracles, which sum can hardly be reduced to a sum) of the least consideration in this place: Tunc, Then, when they should have kneeled down before him to have kissed his feet, and acknowledged how much they were bound unto him; Tunc, Then, when they should have seemed to be astonished and wonder-strucken at his miracles; Tunc, Then, when they were to have been convinced, and like Paul to have fallen into a trance; Then do they obstinately persever in their malice. This holy doctor saith, that jonas was a type & figure of this so profound a sleep. The tempest drives the sea before it, seeming for fear to run away from the fury of those fierce and terrible winds; and yet jonas sleepeth: The waves cover the Clouds, and discover the bottomless Gulfs, striking a terror both in the Mariners and the passengers, and yet jonas sleepeth: the sails and tackling are all to-be rent and torn, the helm broken and lost, and none left to govern the Ship, and yet jonas sleepeth; the mainmast is split in sunder, a plank is sprung, the Pilots and the Mariners multiply their prayers to their false Gods, which are painted in the prow of their ship, Viridesque Deos, quibus aequora curae; and yet jonas sleepeth; nay, he routs and snoarts in security, and is not sensible of the great danger he is in. The like effect did Christ's coming work with his people: There was a general hurry both in Heaven and Earth, such an Inquietudo and turbation as was prophesied by the Prophet Haggie, Behold, Hagi. ●. yet again I will move the Heaven and the Earth. And this people having with tears & with sighs desired, that they might be so happy as to see their Saviour, is now fast asleep. The Dead live, the Deaf hear, the Blind see, the Lame go, the stones of the Temple are torn in sunder, the Graves' open, the Sun is eclipsed, and the Moon darkened, and this great Ship of the World is tossed to and fro, with the fury of the winds, and yet this people sleepeth; and would to God they were but asleep: for he that sleepeth, every little noise will awaken him; but these men having the eyes of their body open, are as blind as any Beetle in those of their soul. They are in condition like unto those Devils of whom job 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 hewed with the Cheesill and Hammer) he compares it to a Smith's Anuile, which the more it is beaten upon, the harder it grows. And Saint Gregory hath observed, That on the Anuile all other metals are made soft, are wrought to be pliable, and are reduced to diverse forms and shapes; but the Anuile itself continues still harder and harder. In the said chapter job saith, That the body of Leviathan was joined and knit together, and that the mettle of his scales was like strong Shields, surely fastened together: Alluding (as it should seem) to that which jeremy speaketh of his Children, Dabis eis scutum cordis, etc. Thou shalt give them, o Lord, a heart like a shield of Brass, which shall rebound back upon thine own bosom, those shafts that thou shalt shoot against them: for those favours and those blessings which thou bestowest upon them, make their hearts the harder; and they are so blinded through their sins, that their hearts are become as hard as a Target of iron, to the end that the inspirations of thy holy Spirit may not pierce them through. And if they that are hard deserve to be hardly dealt withal, it is not amiss, that our Saviour should say unto them, Generatio mala & adultera signum quaerit, A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign▪ etc. The third reason discovers itself in this word Volumus. What, Will they prefer their own proper will in the presence of God; being, the sum of his Doctrine is, Qui vult venire post me, abneget semetipsum, He that will follow me, must deny himself? Saint Augustine treateth at large, in his books De Civitate Dei, That the materials of Babylon were, their own proper will. And if these men had not been too much wedded to their own will, jerusalem had flourished more than all the Cities of the world beside. The greatest affront that former or future Ages have seen, or shall see, was that which the jews offered to our Saviour jesus Christ, judging him more worthy the Gallows, than Barabas: All which, proceeded from their own proper will. Whom will ye that I should let loose unto you? It was Pilat's proposition unto them: and when it was left to their own proper will, (saith Saint Bernard) and that it was left to their choice, and that the power was now in their hands, In proprium desaevit authorem, They rage against him that made them. Once when our Saviour Christ made petition to his Father in the name of that inferior portion, Father, if it be possible, let this Cup depart; Mat. 26. (as being jealous of his own proper will, he presently had recourse to his Father's will) Yet not as I will, john 6. but as thou wilt. And in another place, I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. O sweet jesus! Thy will conforming itself to the will of thy Father, Why shouldest thou be afraid? It was to teach thee, That if our Saviour Christ stood in fear of his own will, Not more pernicious to himself. (it being impossible for him to will more than what stood with his Father's will) thou, that dost not conform thyself according to the will of God, it is not much, that thou shouldst be afraid thereof. Seneca saith in one of his Epistles, That the severest Rod that we can desire, is, to desire of God, that he will fulfil our will, & our seeking after that good, from which we ought to fly. Hence it cometh to pass, That our own will is the Leven of our own hurt; as also of God's wrath and displeasure towards us. And Thomas renders the reason thereof; for, Voluntas in homine est Regina potentiarum h●manarum, Man's Will is the Queen of humane faculties: To whose charge is committed the treating and obtaining of our desired ends; and is so absolute a Sovereign, that although the Understanding be in itself so noble, as nothing more; it speaketh unto it by memorials, and representing thereunto the reason of that which she propoundeth unto it, in the end she comes to follow her own liking. And forasmuch as Divine Will is that universal Empress, against whom none ought to display their Banner; she finds herself especially offended, and counts it a kind of high treason, that humane Will should rebel against her, there being no other Will neither in heaven, nor in earth, more than the Will of God: And this Lesson we are taught in our Pater noster, Thy Kingdom come; thy Will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. The earth is thy Kingdom, as well as the heaven; and therefore, thy Will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Now the Scribes and Pharisees growing into competition with the Will of God, saying Volumus; it is no marvel, that our Saviour should say unto them, Generatio mala & adultera, etc. Gregory Nissen saith, That as we are all wounded in Paradise, by our Father Adam▪ by that sore poison of Disobedience, and by the sword of our own Self-will; so are we all healed by our obedience to the Will of God, which is the grave & sepulchre (as Climachus hath it) of our proper Will; and this we daily crave in these words, Thy Will be done. And Petrus Chrysologus doth bewail the wretched estate of this World, for its fullness of Self-love. We would see a sign from thee. What? Were not those miracles sufficient which our Saviour had done already? They might have satisfied the Understanding, but they could not satisfy the Will. S. john was the Light, john 5. and many were cheered with it, [Exultaverunt in luce eius;] but the Will stood not affected thereunto. And deuteronomy saith, Deut. 21. Nothing more profitable to Man, than the obeying of Gods Will. That God wrought great signs and wonders in Egypt, but the Children of Israel had not a heart to understand them, Et non dedit vobis cor intelligens. Which is all one with that which David delivereth in somewhat darker words, V●x Domini intercidentis flammam ignis. For God is wont in the fire, to divide the light from the flame, giving light to the Understanding, but not fire to the Will. That therefore now a days in the Church there should be so many Sermons, so many Preachers, so much Light, and so little Fruit thereof; the reason of it is, That the Understanding is informed, but the Will is not conformed; the former being contented, but the latter not convinced. The Devil did endeavour, that our Saviour Christ should do a miracle sine fructu, to no good in the World, when he lay at him to turn the stones into bread; which might have amazed his Understanding, but not have abated his Will. And the Scribes and Pharisees, like the Sons of such a Father, taking this their Selfe-will from their Sire, place therein their chiefest felicity. Gregory Nissen saith, That when that lascivious Lady took hold of Joseph's cloak, and kept it still in her hands, and would not let it go▪ a man would have thought, that he might have escaped from her to his less cost: But the Devil, who had put that Will into her, had likewise put to his helping hand, in making her take hold on his cloak: And against two Devils, one incarnate, and another spiritual, What can a holy young man do less, than leave his cloak behind him? From whence I infer a conclusion of no small consequence, That one of the greatest things that God had to do in the World, was to affectionate our Will. All the actions of our Saviour's life and death had two intents: The one, To redeem us from the servitude and slavery of the Devil: The other, To infuse love into our hearts; I came to set fire on the earth, and what remains but that it burn? With this double charge of his, which cost him no less than his life, and the shedding of his most precious blood, he left a free entrance for us to get into Heaven. And if any man shall ask me, Which was the greater cost of the two? I answer, That our Saviour found greater difficulty in affectionating us for Heaven, than in purchasing Heaven for us, or in conquering the Devil and Hell: For one only drop of his blood was sufficient to do this; but for to affectionate our will, all his blood in his body would scarce suffice. And therefore Saint Cyprian saith, That he was willing to suffer so much, though he might, and that in rigour, have satisfied with so little. For, though a little might have served the turn, for to work our redemption; yet a little was not enough for to inflame our hearts with the fire of his love. This sense may suit with that saying of Saint Paul, so diversely commented, Gaudeo in passionibus meis, & adimpleo quae desunt passionum Christi in carne mea. Coloss. 1. I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fulfil the rest of the afflictions of Christ, in my Flesh. Why should the Apostle say so? For what can be wanting to those passions of Christ, which were so abundant and all sufficient? Marry, That we might make true benefit thereof, and that he might infuse this affection into our hearts, the Apostle saith, I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. Volumus a te signum videre, (i) We would have a sign from thee, Saint Luke addeth, Hypocrites great favourers of Miracles. De coelo, from Heaven; alij tentantes, signum de coelo quaerebant. It is the condition and nature of Hypocrites to be friends and favourers of Miracles, which make a great noise in the world, but do little or no good at all. They are Admirationis magis, quam pietatis; things rather of admiration than piety. An Hypocrite, will outwardly clothe himself with the Camel's hair of a john Baptist, with the mortification of a Saint Jerome, and with Penitence itself; but because in the inward man, Charity is wanting unto him, his bowels have no compassion▪ but are full of extortion and cruelty. And therefore Saint Paul giveth this caveat unto us, and it is a good one, Nemo vos seducat, volens in humilitate, & religione Angelorum, Let no man deceive you with feigned humility, nor a dissembled devotion, revealing unto ye, that they have had the vision of Angels, and that they appeared thus and thus unto them; for, if to remove mountains from one place to another without Charity, be but a beating of the Air, quasi aerem verberans, or like the sound of bells, which suddenly vanisheth; so likewise these their visions (without charity) shall be but vain and idle. Of Antechrist, the Apocalips saith, That he shall cause fire to come down from Heaven; and Saint Efrem, that he shall remove Islands and mountains, and that he shall walk upon the waves of the Sea, as on dry Land, and that he shall fly in the Air and take no harm; And Rabanus, That he shall make the fields to brin● forth flowers in the heart of Winter as if it were in the midst of May; That he shall discover the bottomless beds of the Sea; that he shall raise up the dead, and put Nature quite out of her course. But all these shall be false and lying Prodigies▪ which shall be directed to a kind of vain and deceitful admiration. In prodigus, & signis mendacibus (as Saint Paul hath it.) So in like manner, the Hypocrite lieth, with his countenance, his eyes, his feet, his hands, his mouth, and his apparel. Vendi● fumum (saith Chrysologus) & emit applausum, He selleth smoke, and bu●es the applause and acclamation of men. Our Saviour Christ was those waters of Shiloa, which did run silently along, and did quench the thirst of those that were ready to die through drought. Which was meant of our Saviour, as Epiphanius hath it in his exposition upon that place of Esay, Esay 8. Pro eo quod abiecit populus iste aquas Siloe, quae currunt cum silentio, Because this people hath refused the waters of Shiloh, that run softly; now therefore, etc. He was that tree of Life, whose very leaves did afford health to all those that were under the shadow thereof. And peradventure these Pharisees did require signs from Heaven, because by that benefit which the people did receive by his miracles here on earth, he carried all the world after him. We would have a sign from heaven. What, after so many miracles? These Pharisees are the stamp and figure of certain Consciences, which have a continual conflict within themselves; or, to speak more properly, they are a Chancery consisting of judges, guilty persons, and Pleaders, Inuicem se accusantium, & defendentium, (as Saint Paul tells us) Accusing and excusing one another: Rom. 2 Reason is the judge, Self-will is the guilty person, and the Pleader is that Worm which accuseth and gnaweth their conscience. And when the guilty person seeth that the Pleader accuseth him, and that the judge condemns him, though miracles do abound, yet he appealeth to some other miracle; like unto a bad debtor, who when his time of payment is come, craves a longer day. One finds himself at Death's door, and sees that he is like to die, and that in all likelihood he is to go to Hell, for that his ill gotten wealth condemns him; he weeps, cries out, makes grievous lamentation, purposeth, promiseth, and resolveth to amend his life, and to make restitution: God hears him, gives him life and health; and when he sees that he is sound & well, and that his Pleader presseth him to make restitution, he appeals to another miracle. Another finds, that he hath slipped a thousand times, upon this or that occasion; he knows his own weakness, and that he cannot look, but he must lust; and purposing without any ill intention in the world, to entertain honest conversation with this and that woman, returns too day like the Swine, again to his mire; and too morrow appeals to another miracle. Saint Austen reports in his Confessions, That he had a great conflict within himself; his Will had a purpose to leave these human delights and pastimes; and when the day of his purpose and promise was come, this Pleader puts him in mind of it, but he appeals to another day. This than was a great part of this people's fault, that they did complain, That God did not deal so kindly with them as he was wont, We have not seen our signs, there is now no Prophet. The greatest of all the Prophets that ever were, or shall be, came amongst them, and did more miracles than all of them put together; and when they should have confessed themselves to have been convicted with so many miracles, they appeal to another miracle. The Pharisee which invited our Saviour, took him to be no Prophet, because he did not dive into the depth of that loathsome and sinful breast of Marie Magdalen: If (thought he) he were a Prophet, he could not choose but know what kind of woman this was. But finding afterwards, that he knew magdalen's heart, and that his own did not believe he was a Prophet, he appealed to another miracle. We would see a sign, etc. To what end serve miracles from Heaven, if thou hast not eyes to behold those that are done on earth? It were better for thee, to crave eyes of God, than miracles. Agar being ready to die for thirst in the Desert, she had water just before her; but she was so blinded with passion, and her stomach did so swell against her mistress, that she did not see it: And God opened her eyes. Saint Chrysostome compareth the Pharisees to a sandy ground, which though it suck in never so much water, yet it still remains hard and dry. And albeit God had showered down such store of miracles upon them, yet all was as nothing, because they were not disposed to take notice of them, nor to make that good use of them as they ought to have done. He that goes on his way, musing on this or t'other thing; though many pass along by him, yet in this his melancholy humour, his thoughts being otherwise taken up, he neither minds nor sees any thing. Philon compares them to statuas, because they see things as though they saw them not. The nature of Christ's Miracles. Two qualities or especial properties had those miracles of our Saviour Christ, by which every man might have known them. The first, That they all tended to the profit and benefit of man; Tunc apperientur oculi caecorum, Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, said Esay. Caeci vident, Claudi ambulant, Leprosi mundantur, The Blind see, the Lame walk, and the Lepers are cleansed, saith Saint Matthew. Virtus de illo exibat, & sanabat omnes, Virtue went out of him, and healed all, saith Saint Luke. And in our Creed we confess, Propter nos, & propter nostram salutem, descendit de Coelis, For us, and for our salvation, he descended from Heaven. So that those miracles which he was to show here upon earth, is a condition and quality so notorious of those which were prophesied and foretold of the Messias, that to have them to come from Heaven, was a thing unknown to the learned Doctors of those times. Thou sendest thy servant on an errand, and sayest unto him, In such a walk thou shalt meet with a man clad in green, wearing a hat with a feather in it of such and such colours, etc. Now if he should so far mistake himself, as to go to one that were clothed all in black, and deliver thy message unto him, wouldst thou not hold him to be a fool? Saint Austen in his Exposition upon those words of the seventieseventh Psalm, The difference betwixt Christ's miracles, and the Devils. Immissiones per Angelos malos, saith, That commonly those signs which direct themselves to ill, are of the Devil, as those which he did in destroying jobs Substance, [Ignis de Coelo cecidit;] as also those which shall be wrought by Antechrist. But God always directs his miracles to our good. (1.) Those of Christ aim at our Good. But here by the way it is to be noted, That with the Ill, Ill can do much, and Good, little. Theodoret in those his Questions upon Genesis, saith, That when Pharaoh perceived, that God began his Plagues with such poor things as Flies, he lost a great part of that fear which he had before: but that if he had begun where he left, (which was the death of all the first born) his heart would have trembled in his breast. The Philistines took Arms against the Israelites, thinking with themselves, That God had spent the greatest part of his power in Egypt. In a word, with the Ill, ill is most powerful. And, for all the miracles of our Saviour Christ were directed unto good, Man's wantonness in matter of Religion. Saint Ambrose saith, Luuriabantur i● Christo; Nothing would please their palate, but dainty morsels, like little children who are cockered up under their mother's wing: or like Gluttons, who when their bellies are full, and cloyed with ordinary dishes, seek after nicer and choicer fare, to provoke their appetite. The Scribes and Pharisees in like manner having taken a surfeit of those miracles which our Saviour wrought vpo● earth, would needs out of daintiness desire miracles from Heaven: which, if they would have been bettered by them, he would not have stuck with them, to have let them had them either from Heaven or Hell; but he knew it was to no purpose. And therefore God, one while as the Author of Nature, another while as the Author of Grace, doth evermore abhor all excess, except in cases of necessity. And he that created all things, In pondere, numero, & mensura, In weigh●, number, and measure, cannot but abhor all superfluous and unprofitable things. And this may serve for an instruction to us, to part with the superfluities of our House: Quod superest date pauperibus, Give the remainder of that which is left to the poor. King Achaz●id ●id ill, for that he would not ask a sign; and the Pharisees did worse, in demanding one from Heaven; the one offended in the less, the other, in the more; the one was too backward, the other, too forward. For God having descended down from Heaven in his own person, they could not, than this, desire a greater miracle. But they were the sons of those fathers, who enjoying the bread of Angels, were quickly weary of it, and longed for Quails; insomuch that God was forced to take away their lives from them, because he knew not how to satisfy their longings. The second quality and property of our Saviour's miracles was, (2.) They are done imparitively and with a kind of empire and command. That he did them with Empire and command; & joining this his Empire with his doctrine, they did clearly prove, that he was God, as it is noted by Thomas. Saint Chrysostome brings in here a comparison which makes much to the purpose that we have in hand: Thou interest (saith he) into a Palace, thou knowest not the Prince or Lord thereof; thou espiest one, before whom all the rest stand bare, and rising up from their seats, obey whatsoever he commandeth: Now when thou seest this, thou canst not be so simple, but thou must needs know that this is their king and chief commander. In the jews it was not much, that they should doubt whither our Saviour Christ were Lord of heaven & earth, or no; but when they saw that the Winds did obey him, the Waves, the Dead, the Living, Heaven, and Earth, and that he did command all creatures with that supreme power and Empire, they might then very well have fallen into this reckoning, as to say, This is the Lord of all. The Centurions, though they had no learning, yet did they light upon this truth, Verè Filius Dei erat iste, This was truly the Son of God. The one of them led thereunto, when he saw in what a strange manner the whole world was troubled: The other, when in good manners, with a Domine, Noli vexari, Lord, Trouble not thyself, he seemed loath to give our Saviour that trouble; saying unto him, I am but a poor Captain, an ordinary Commander, and yet when I lay my commandment upon my servants, they obey me; much more reason than is it, that sickness should be subject to thy Empire, etc. And if the invisible things of God are manifested by the visible, [Sempiterna quoque virtus & divinitas] and that they which may know him by them, will not glorify him in them, they shall remain inexcusable. This was the Scribes and Pharisees case, who saw so many miracles with their own eyes, etc. Volumus à te signum de Coelo videre, We woul● see a sign from Heaven. Why miracles should be desired. Here likewise is their vain curiosity to be condemned: Some would have miracles, ut credant; some, ut videant; one, to strengthen his belief; another, to please his eye. In both Laws, the Old, and the New, we find that God did evermore with his friends show those his signs and tokens, In rebus naturalibus, In things that were natural; as in his sending down fire from Heaven upon Abel's Sacrifice, showing thereby how well he accepted of it; in his promise to Noah, That there should not be a second Flood; Arcum meum ponam in Nubibus, I will put my Bow in the Clouds: To Abraham, when he passed his word unto him, That his posterity should possess the promised Land. In the old Testament we read of many signs and tokens: King Ahaz might have made his choice of miracles, More frequent in the time of Grace than under the Law. Mark 8. either from Heaven, Earth, or Hell. But in the Law of Grace they were more in number, and greater in quality. But hese Pharisees coming unto him, Saint Mark tells us, That our Saviour Christ sighed deeply in his Spirit, and said, Why doth this ge●neration seek a sign etc. They do● not deserve it, neither shall it be given unto them; for they do not desire it for any love to our Saviour, or thereby to be brought to serve him, but for to entertain themselves. A royal Merchant will unpacke all his wares, & open whatsoever he hath in his shop, to him that comes to buy; but to him that shall come only out of curiosity, he will send him away packing, Luke 23. and not trouble himself with him. Herod did expect Videre signum aliquod ab eo fieri, To see some sign wrought by him. And though our Saviour might have freed himself by any one miracle whatsoever, from a thousand calumnies and affronts; yet would he not bestow so much as a few words upon him, for he knew it would have been but a casting of Pearls amongst Swine. 1. Kings 6. The Philistines did much desire to know, whither or no the God of Israel were the Author of their miseries; and by the advice and council of their Soothsayers, they made a new Cart, and taking two milch Cows, on whom there had never come any yoke, tying the Cows to the Cart, and setting the Ark of the Testament thereupon, they said, If they go foreright, up by the way of it's own coast, to Bethshemish, it is he that did us this great evil; but if not, and that they shall turn back their heads at the lowing of their Calves, we shall know then that it was not his hand that smote us, but it was a chance that happened unto us. The Governors of the Philistines followed after them, they beheld with their own eyes all the signs and tokens that they could desire; they were astonished thereat, yet for all this did they not forsake their Dagon; for they desired those signs more to see, than to believe. Saint Paul preaching in Athens, of our Saviors' Death and Resurrection; those that were the best Disputants in their Schools, and the curiousest Scholars amongst them, came unto him and told him, We much desire to hear and know this new Doctrine which thou preachest: Acts 17. And it is noted in the Text, That Ad nihil aliud vacabant, nisi aut dicere, aut audire aliquid novi, That they gave themselves to nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some news; desiring (as it should seem) to hear and know them, but not to believe them. Of this stamp are those who only come to Sermons for curiosity; Curious hearers reproved. some gaping for sharp and witty conceits; others, for elegancy of words; others, for the flower and cream (as it were) of the Scripture phrase, and it's pretty allusions and allegories; this is that which their ears itch after; nothing will down with them but quelques-choses, made dishes, and pleasing sauces for the Palate, refusing that wholesome food of God's Word, and those substantial morsels of sound Doctrine, which should feed their souls to everlasting life. A veritate quidem auditum avertent. Saint Austen makes a comparison of a golden Key which opens ill, and of one of wood which opens well: Now to him that hath no other pretention but to open, it were mere folly in him, to seek after the golden one, when that of wood will do it better. And in another place, saith this sacred Doctor, That as Pharaoh commanded the male children of God's People to be killed, but spared the females, that he might thereby weaken them, and bring them under; so those Preachers which bestow all their pains in the neat dressing of words, Sermons should be seasoned more with Salt, than Sugar. ornaments of wit, and fluentness of style, (not regarding strong arguments, and sound reasons) do weaken the force of the truth, and bring their Doctrine at last into contempt. Salt in a Preacher is more necessary than Sugar; that which shall season our Souls, rather than that which shall sweeten our Palates; that which shall strike home to our hearts, than that which shall only tickle our ears. And in another place, where he that treateth only ofcuriositie in Doctrine, he avows him to be in danger of losing the Faith; because Curiosity is the Mother of Heresy. And likewise in another place he saith, That that the curious man is like the scrupulous man; and that the Accessory is the Principal, and the Principal the Accessory; Curiosus ea requiret, quae nihil ad se pertinet, They afflict themselves with that which importeth them least. And if those that are scrupulous & full of doubts are condemned for fools, of force it must follow, that those that are curious inquirers must wear the same Livery. Auerte oculos tuos à me, qui ipsi me auolar● fecerunt; Cant. 6. If thou shalt go about to behold God with a curious eye, God will fly away from thee, and thou shalt lose the sight of him. Another Translation hath it, Superuire fecerunt. When men stand staring on the Sun, the Sun than grows proud, and shows his power, blinding those eyes that press too near upon him: And the most of the greatest heresies and errors that have grown and sprung up in the Church, have proceeded from man's too subtle search into God's secrets. This prying of ours dazzleth the eyes of our understanding, as it had here blinded the judgement of the Scribes and Pharisees. Volumus signum de Coelo videre, We would see a sign from heaven. These Scribes and Pharisees are like unto those, who condemning God's providence, think with themselves, That God hath not ordained convenient means to bring them to Heaven; and therefore go about to ordain new Laws. justificata est Sapientia à fi●ijs suis, Wisdom is justified by her children: Our Saviour Christ renders it Condemnata, Condemned; The ignorance of the children condemneth the wisdom of the father. There are some people in the world so querulous and complaining, that they will not stick to tax God, for having given them such an inclination, such an estate, such a wife, such parents; and say in their thoughts, o, if God had given me another nature, other nobleness of birth, other more prosperous fortune, How sure should I have made my salvation? O, if God would have been but pleased to have showed me some one miracle, or other; This is but a requiring of new signs, and a condemning of those which they have received from the wisdom of God. Now the wisdom of God supposeth Faith; and Faith, Belief; [Oportet discentem credere, He that learneth must believe.] So that a heavenly wisdom supposeth a Faith from heaven. This is that light, wherewith in the beginning of the world God did dispel the darkness of the Deep; this is that North-star, which discovereth unto those that sail in the sea of this world, the Haven of their happiness; this is that Pillar, which to the children of Light, appeared light; to those of Darkness, dark: it is that light which must show you that clear Sun, the Son of God, which is light itself; in comparison of whose glorious light, the light of miracles is but like the glimpse of a candle. Volumus à te signum videre, We would have a sign from thee. This word à te, From thee, doth manifest their intention; which was, To revive the blasphemy which they had vented before; [In Belzebub Principe Daemoniorum, The Nature of Envy. eijcit Daemonia, In Bulzebub the Prince of Devils, he casts out Devils.] We desire to see a miracle done by thine own proper power, performed without the help of another, whereof we have been jealous, in those thy miracles shown upon the Blind, the Deaf, and the Dumb. We presume, that of thyself thou canst do little; but by the Prince of Devils, much. This was a diminishing of our Saviors' power, which is the nature of Envy, flying, like the Eel, from the clear water, and seeking after that which is troubled, and muddy. It was the fault of their forefathers, to lessen God's power, Quoniam percussit petram, & fluxerunt aquae, nunquid poterit Deus parare mensam in Deserto? Is it not all one for him, to take water out of the Rock, and to give us bread? In this, his power shall be seen. We are like Martha's Chickens, we desire meat, & they give us water. But o ye fools, do not ye know, that the stone being strucken, sendeth forth fire, and not water? And he that can give you water out of a stone, is able to afford you bread out of the Air: But Envy will draw Bran from the finest Flower. In a word, They were fully resolved not to believe in Christ, and yet they went seeking occasions to excuse their hardness of heart. They sought signs from heaven, which (as Saint Hierome hath well observed) were more subject to calumny, and easier to be cauelled at; and yet on the other side they did seek to diminish his power, and therefore they say, We would have from thee, etc. Of all that hath been formerly said, I shall infer this conclusion, and refer it to your Christian consideration; which is, That you would seek after God with simplicity and singleness of heart; In simplicitate cordis quaerite illum, (saith Wisdom) and then shalt thou always find him propitious and favourable unto thee. P●al. 33. Et facies vestrae non confundentur; but a false heart shall evermore remain confounded and ashamed. Bersheba coming to crave a favour of her son Solomon, she sought to prevent him, with a Non confundas faciem meam, Put me not to the blush. 3. K●ngs 2. In the Scribes and Pharisees God speaks unto those sinful Christians who imitate them in their works; and as the thunders and lightnings of a great Tempest, smiting and wounding the tops of Mountains, of Palaces, and of the tallest Cedars; Chrysologus saith, That they abate and correct the courages of the most desperate and profanest persons: so, when our Saviour Christ did thunder out these his threatenings against the Pharisees, he sought thereby to reclaim his own Flock, to bring them within the Fold, and to save those Sheep which are ready to run astray, that they may not be utterly lost. Generatio mala & adultera ●ignum quaerit. A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh a sign. Christ never showed himself more fierce and angry, than now; never behaved himself more stoutly, or showed more courage, than at this present. Presenting thereby unto us, that upon just occasions, the mildness of a Prince, and the meekness of a Prelate, may lawfully let the bed of his Patience (like that of the River) rise and swell, even to the overflowing of the banks. He that knows not sometimes how to reprehend, and that sharply too, shall not only neglect his own duty, but shall wrong others in suffering them to run on in their wickedness without reproof. That father knows ill how to govern, who, when his children shall commit any gross faults, shall, like old Ely, show himself too mild, and out of a foolish pirtie, scarce control them for it. That Preacher, knows not what belongs to his calling, who when sin grows once to an height, and men wax shameless in committing evil, that doth not raise his hands and voice as high as Heaven, and lay Gods fearful judgements before them. That Prince, who suffers his subjects to be overbold and saucy with him, gives them a tacit kind of liberty, to lose all respect and fear towards him. Quiescite ab homine, cuim Spiritus, Esay 2. in naribus est, Cease you from the man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be esteemed? This is as it were the Epiphonema of all that Chapter of Esay; Where, having Prophesied many greatnesses of the Messias, he adviseth the jews, That they deceive not themselves with the frailty of his person; for, though he shall come in the form of a servant, yet he shall be the true God. And therefore he concludes that Chapter with this saying: Quiescite ergo ab homine, cuius Spiritus in naribus est. Consider therefore (dearly beloved) that I admonish you, and require you, that when these prophecies shall be fulfilled, and go on in their accomplishment, you take heed how you be offended with that man, whose life consisteth in the breath of his nostrils; it being in that respect with our Saviour, as with all other living creatures, howbeit in regard of his Divinity, He is high and mighty. In this sense, we may also add, that the nostrils are the symbol of anger. And in the Spanish tongue, it is a usual phrase to say, Subirse el humo a las narizes, That the smoke went out at his nostrils. And therefore it is said, Take heed of that man that hath his breath in his nostrils. Whereby it is signified, That if he should once grow angry with us, he would quickly make an end of us. There was never yet any Prophet in the World so holy, nor so soft-spirited, but that sometime or other he did break forth into anger. Esay, called the Governors of his people, The Princes of Sodom; Saint john Baptist, styles them Vipers; Saint Chrysostome, Esay 1. the Empress Eudoxia, Herodias. And our Saviour Christ, these Scribes, Mat 3. Generatio mala & adultera, A wicked and adulterous generation, etc. Generatio mala & adultera. An evil generation. Ill, Acts 7. for the ill and inveterated custom of their Vices. Saint Stephen, Vos semper Spiritui sancto, resistitis; sicut patres vestri, ita & vos, Ye always resist the high God, even as your fathers, so ye. David, Psal. 78. Generatio prava, atque exasperans. Moses, Generatio enim perversa est, & infideles filij, An unthankful, hard-hearted, and disloyal generation. Vae semini nequam filijs sceleratis, Woe to the wicked seed. Ezechiel, Generatio tua de terra Canaan, Esay 1. Ezech. 16. pater tuus Amorrheus, & matter tua Cethea, Thy offspring is from the land of Canaan, thy Father was an Amorite, thy Mother a Hittite. All these places do blazon forth the ill race of that people. For, albeit the herencie of Vice and of Virtue, be not constringitive, and that there is no such necessity in it, Virtue is not Hereditary. nor always follows the order of Nature; (for we see a Dwarf, begot by a Giant; a Hare of a Lion:) nor likewise in the state of Grace; for of a holy Father, sometimes issues an ungracious Son, as Esau, of Isaac; and Absalon of David; yet notwithstanding, if a man be descended of a bad race, it is a miracle if he prove good. Arbour mala, non potest bonos fructus facere, An evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit. The Spanish Proverb saith, Bien aya, quien a los suyos parece, God's blessing be with him, he is so like his parents; he sucked his goodness with his milk, he inherited his Father's virtues. Transgressorem ex utero vocavi te, (saith Esay) Thou hast been a transgressor from the Womb. Alenhornar, see hazen los panes tuertos, The loaves went away from their first setting into the Oven. All this is included in these words, Generatio mala, An evil generation. Adultera. He does not note them in this world for children that had been begotten in adultery (for this had been their parent's fault and not theirs.) And Aristotle saith, Ab his, quae a natura insunt, nec laudamur, nec vituperamur, (i) Whatsoever is naturally in us, redounds neither to our praise nor dispraise. Both the ill, & the well born do confess, Ipse fecit nos, & non ipsi nos, It is God that hath made us, and not we ourselves. For if it had been in our choice to choose our own fathers, Psal. 99 we would have been all gentlemen. Two things, did our Saviour here pretend to notify unto us. 1 The one, that they had degnerated from the virtue of their forefathers; and for this reason, David calls them strange chldrens; Psal. 49. Psal. 143. Filij alieni menti ti sunt mihi, filij alieni inveter ati sunt. And in another place, Libera me de manu filiorum alienorum, Deliver me out of the hands of strange children. Mat. 3. They did boast that they had Abraham to their father, Nos patrem habemus Abraham. But Christ gives them the lie, and tells them, Vos ex patre Diabolo estis; For the works, the thoughts, and the desires, are not of Abraham, but the Devil. 2 The other, because they had married now the second time with Untruth, and made a match with false gods, having divorced from them the truth of the true and everliving God. And for the better declaration of this Doctrine, it is to be noted, First, That the understanding and the truth, have a kind of marriage between them; Quae sibi sponsam mihi assumere sapientiam, I desired to marry her, such love had I unto her beauty. And one that Comments upon these words, saith, That from the Understanding, and Truth, well unstorstood, there doth grow a greater unity, than there doth arise from between the matter and the form. Secondly, That between the Soul, and God, by the means of the Truth of Faith, Os●. 2. there is another kind of spiritual marriage made, whereof Ose saith, Desponsabo te mihi in fide, I will marry thee unto me for ever, yea I will marry thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgement, and in mercy, and in compassion. I will even marry thee (as if this were that wedding-ring, that made all sure) unto me in Faithfulness. Ezech. 16. jer. 3. Esay. ●7. And this knot is knit so fast, that Saint Paul could say, He that cleaveth unto God, is one spirit with him. And for that the people of the jews, had fallen some while into Heresy, another, into Idolatry, falsely expounding the Law, and forsaking the Father of God, to follow a Calf, and Idols: whereof God taxes them every foot in the Scriptures, styling them adulterers, harlots children, workers of fornication; so here he now saith, Generatio adultera. Mala & adultera. Evil and adulterous. First, he says Mala, and then Adultera, Terming them in the first place Ill, in the second, Adulterous. For the ordinary way to loose faith, is an evil life. But as the vomiting up of our meat, turneth sometime to our good: so is it now and then in the ridding of our stomach of Virtue. And in this sense, Saint Ambrose said, Profuit mihi Domine quod peccavi, It was well for me o Lord, that I sinned. For repentance may restore Grace, in a higher degree. But if this weakness, shall take such violent hold upon us, that we shall fall once to vomiting of blood, it will go hard with us, if not cost us our lives. In like manner a sinner persevering in his sins, comes at last to lose his Faith. And this is one of the severest punishments of God's justice; Whereof jeremy said, Peruenit gladius usque ad animam. Sin undermineth the Soul by degrees. Whence Saint Jerome gathereth, that then the sword pierceth to the Soul, when there is no sign of life left in it. In your buildings, the first danger doth not consist in their sudden falling to ground, but they go mouldering away by little and little, and decay by degrees: So likewise in this our Spiritual building, the first danger is not the loss of our Faith; nor our first demolishing, our falling into Heresies: but before we come to that, we go by little and little, first lessening, then losing our virtues, and heaping sin upon sin, till at last, Mole ruit sua, all comes tumbling down to our utter destruction. Saint Paul doth much commend & earnestly recommend unto us a good conscience; 1. Tim. 1. Quam quidem repellentes, naufragaverunt à fide, Faith grounded upon an evil conscience, is like a house that is built upon the sand, which when the waters rise, & the winds blow, Heb. 13. is suddenly thrown down 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 upon with diverse and sundry strange Doctrines, ye may stand immoovable, and not be shaken with every vain blast of wind. Signum non dabitur eyes, nisi signum jonae. Christ's resurrection the greatest Miracle. A sign shall not be given them, but that of jonus. Now jonas his sign was the death and resurrection of our Saviour: which Austen calls, Signum signorum, & miraculum miraculorum, The sign of signs, and miracle of miracles. And he that will not benefit himself by that, What other miracle or sign can he expect shall do him good? It is much greater than any other upon earth, by how much the harder it is for one to come out of the heart of the earth, and to be restored to life after he is once dead; a greater miracle by far, than that of jonas his being spewed out of the Whale's belly. And the said Saint proveth, that our Saviour Christ is God and man; man, because he entered dead into the bowels of the earth; and God, because he came forth from thence alive. So that our Saviour came to grant them much more than they desired: For if they desired miracles from Heaven, at our Saviour's death there appeared fearful ones unto them. Athanasius saith, That the Sun 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 Saviour after his Resurrection wrought no more miracles; for that to die and rise again by his own proper power, was the utmost both of his power and miracles. judaei signum petunt, 1. Cor. 1. etc. The jews require a sign, the Grecians seek after wisdom; but I preach unto you the greatest Sign, and the greatest Wisdom in the world, to wit, Christ crucified. Eusebius Emisenus dwelleth much upon Jacob's wrestling with the Angel, In which conflict jacob remaining Victor, craveth a blessing of the Conquered. And this is mystically meant of our Saviour, who representing himself in the shape of an Angel, showed himself upon the Cross, tortured, torn, and overcome; yet grew thereby more powerful and more free hearted for to bless the world. No sign shall be given them. It is not without a mystery, that our Saviour saith, No sign shall be given. For that sign of his death and resurrection, he knew would profit them so little, that it was needless to give them any at all. Christ treating of his blood, saith by Saint Luke, Which for you, Luke 22. Math. 26. and for many shall be poured out. And by Saint Matthew, Which shall be poured out for all. But many shall not take the benefit of this effusion of his blood: Some did wash their stoles in the blood of the Lamb: others said, Sanguis eius super nos, (id est) Let his blood be upon us; accusing themselves herein, to be guilty of the shedding of his blood. And amongst the Faithful there are many, of whom Saint Paul saith, Reus erit corporis & sanguinis Domini; who receiving it unworthily, 1. Cor. 1●. shall remain guilty of this so precious a Treasure. And in another place, That they shall incur great punishment, which do defile this blood, Et sanguinem testamenti pollutum duxerit. Signum non dabitur ei, nisi signum jonae, No sign shall be given them but that of jonas. For the miracle of Christ's death and resurrection was not to be denied to any. Saint Thomas protested, That he would not believe, unless he might see the prints of our Saviour's wounds; which being so strange a capitulation, and to outward seeming, so discourteous a proceeding, our Saviour Christ yielded unto his request, and made towards him, and made show thereof unto him; for the signs of our Saviour's death and Cross were never yet denied to any. Esay. 13. Esay saith, And in that day, the root of Ishai, which shall stand up for a sign unto the People, the Nations shall seek unto it, and his rest shall be glorious. The Septuagint, and Saint Hierome, read, Et qui stat, The root of jesse; that is to say, Ille qui stat in signum populorum, congregabit profugos Israel & dispersos juda, colligit à quatuor plagi● terra, He shall set up a sign to the Nations, and assemble the dispersed of Israel, and gather the scattered of juda from all the four corners of the world. He borrows the metaphor from a military Ensign, and saith, That Christ our Saviour that suffered on the Cross, and died for our sins, and rose again for our salvation, shall gather together those that are dispersed through the four corners of the earth. Which is all one with that of Saint john, who said, That he was not only to die for his People, Sed ut Filios Dei qui dispersi erant, congregaret in unum, 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 jonae. God did not grant unto them that which they desired; God doth not always grant our desires, and why. for God will not be propitious in yielding to our desires, when they are to turn to our own hurt. Moses desired, that he might see his face, but God told him, Faciem meam, videre non poteris. He will not give, what thou wilt demand, one while because it may cost thee thy life; another while, because God shall no sooner turn his back, but like the children of Israel, thou wilt presently fall adoring the golden Calf. Saint Paul, did desire freedom from his fetters & those torments which he endured: But he was told, Thou knowest not what thou askest; for, Virtus, in infirmitate perficitur. In a word, God doth deny us many things in his Mercy, which he will grant unto us in his Anger, as the imperfect Author noteth it. In cord terrae, tribus diebus, & tribus noctibus. In the Heart of the Earth, three days and three nights. Beda, and Euthimius, understand by the Heart of the earth, the Sepulchre, or Grave of our Saviour Christ. And many of our Commentators, make this exposition; though others misinterpreting it, infer from thence, that our Saviour Christ did not descend to the lower-most parts of the earth (contrary to that of Saint Paul) denying that Article of our Faith, Descendit ad inferos. Now, in that he ascended, what is it (saith the same Apostle) but that he had also descended first into the lowest parts of the Earth? Ephes. 4.9. yet those two interpretations may be very well accorded, forasmuch, as that the Body remained in the grave, and the Soul descended Vsque ad inferos. And for the better proof hereof, it is to be noted, that it is not spoken of any other that died, save only of our Saviour, that he was in the Heart of the Earth. Besides, it is an usual phrase amongst the Hebrews, to call the Heart the middle part, borrowing that metaphor from all other living creatures, who have their heart placed in the midst of the body. Tribus ditbus, & tribus noctibus, Three days, and three nights. Our Saviour Christ was buried about the sixth watch, in the Evening; and rose again upon Sunday morning. According to which account he remaineed only two nights in the grave. Saint Austen, S. Jerome, Beda, and Theophilact, say, That by the figure Synecdoche they are to be taken for three nights and three days, taking the part for the whole. But peradventure the plainer exposition will be this, that we should understand by three days and three nights, three natural days, consisting of twenty fou●e hours apiece: it being an ordinary phrase amongst the jews, to confound the day and the night, making them all one; as it appeareth in Genesis, Gen. 7. Exod. 24. Deut. 9 1. Reg. 30. ●. Reg. 19 Exodus, deuteronomy, and in the book of the Kings. For in very deed, our Saviour Christ did not continue in the grave three nights, but abode there some part of three natural days. Viri Ninivitae surgent in judicio. The Men of Niniveh shall rise up in judgement. Some interpret this threatening to be an effect of justice; others, of mercy: of justice, by charging this people with the repentance of Niniveh. No man will spare his enemy, if he can catch him upon the hip: The Groom of the Stable that shall play the Rogue and the Thief with thee, thou wilt call him to a reckoning even for his Currycomb and his Apron, and afterwards turn him out of doors: But of a good Servant, and one that hath been faithful unto thee, thou wilt take no account at all, his honesty shall excuse him. O ye false Hypocrites, ye Scribes and Pharisees, Why would ye call vengeance upon yourselves, by saying, Let all the blood of the Righteous come upon us; This will make ye pay at last, that which perhaps ye did not think ye did owe. To a Sinner, Omnia cooperantur in malum, All things turn to the worst; And therefore all creatures shall rise up against these wicked and stiff necked jews. The Heavens shall he call from above, and the earth, to judge his People. The Scripture itself shall bring in evidence against them, for their ingratitude. The Ox knoweth his Owner; To him that shall not acknowledge Christ and his Church, the Ass shall bear witness against him: [Et Asinus pr●sepe domini sui.] To him that shall despise the inspirations of Heaven, the Kite shall accuse him; C●gnouit miluus tempus suum. To him that shall be careless of his eternal good, he shall be tit in the teeth with the Ant, Vade piger ad formicam. To him that is disobedient, the History of jonas shall be alleged against him: but as the Whale swallowed jonas, but sent him forth again without any harm done unto him; so our Saviour Christ was swallowed up by the Earth, but not to his hurt: and both it and all the Elements acknowledged him to be their Lord and Master; which was more than the Pharisees would do. To Saint Chrysostome, this threatening seemeth to be an effect of mercy. For, by proposing unto them the example of Niniveh, he desires to draw them to repentance. It was another kind of threatening that God used towards his people, for worshipping the golden Calf; Let me go, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name. Theodoret is of opinion, That this was Gods great mercy towards them: For by that threatening, he set before Moses the wickedness of the people; and did thereby advise him, that he should make intercession for them, that he might not punish them in his wrath. After that general deluge and inundation of waters which drowned the whole world, God did set a bow in heaven, and it may be he might have taken it in his hand, for to threaten the Earth; But Saint Ambrose hath noted, That to the end that the World should take it as a token of God's mercy towards them, he made the points or ends of it to touch the earth, that the World might thereby be assured, Gen. 9 That God's justice would not shoot any more Arrows down from heaven. Tertullian treating upon that place of the Apocalips, Repent, or else I will come against thee shortly, Apoc. 2. and will remove thy Candlestick out of his place, except thou amend; he saith, That so great is the goodness of God, that though he might with a great deal of reason deny us his mercy, he doth not only not deny it us, but he threateneth us, and also intreateth for us, to the end that we may accept of this his mercy: for no father can be imagined to be half so pitiful as he is. Saint Austen crieth out, O Lord, what am I, that thou shouldst command me to love thee? What am I, that thou shouldest be offended with me? And, Why dost thou threaten me with great miseries, if I do not love thee? I am much bound unto thee for the one, but more for the other: In loving thee, I see how much I get by it; in threatening me, I see how much reckoning thou makest of me. S. Ephrem discoursing of those of Niniveh, saith, That God had mercy of them, and that he forgave them their sins, Et mendax potius haberi, quam crudelis t●dit, He would rather be held a liar, than accounted ●ruell. How the Ninivites shall rise up in judgement against us. The men of Niniveh shall rise up in judgement. Some Divines grant, That the Ninivites in that general judgement shall be judges over many that shall be condemned by a judgement of comparison; so, a Ninivite shall condemn a Pharisee. He did credit a stranger, one that was spewed out of a whales mouth; one that had never wrought any miracles, nor had any prophecies in his favour: but thou (proud Pharisee) didst not believe thy natural Lord, whom his Doctrine, his miracles, heaven, and earth, had declared to be thy Messias, and thy God. This Ninivite fasted, put on sack cloth and ashes; but thou didst not lay aside thy delicacies and thy dainties. He made the Beasts of his house to fast; but thou didst not so much as will thy Servants to abstain. A Moor shall condemn (in a comparative kind of judgement) a bad Christian: This Moor entered into his Mesquitae with a great deal of respect & reverence, humbling himself on his knee to a thing of nothing; but thou profanest my Temples, and blasphemest me to my face. In a word, If the fruits of repentance weigh down the balance of eternal punishment, Why should we prefer temporal pleasures before eternal happiness? but because those judges are in that day to sit, Sedebitis super Sedes duodecim; and the Accusers to stand face to face to the Accused, the sense thereof in this place shall not be ill understood, if we shall say, That they shall condemn them by accusing them: for we likewise commonly say, That the Accuser condemneth him that is guilty, when by his testimony he doth convince him. The greatness of Ninive. Viri Ninivitae. This City of Niniveh, Eusebius calls it, Eusebim; Herodotus, Ninus, for that it was bult by Ninus husband to Simiramis, styled by another name, Assur. It was a City, not only the greatest in all the Kingdom of the Assyrians, but in the whole world. Moses gives it the name of great City, De terra inquit illa exivit Assur, & aedificavit Ninivem, haec est Civitas magna: Its greatness appeareth no less by that relation which the Prophet maketh of it, Gen. 10. Itinere trium dierum; for the circuit of this City was a three days journey; and that there were in it only of babes and sucklings, above a hundred and twenty thousand souls. The Histories make mention, That the walls thereof were a hundred foot broad, and were fenced with a hundred and twenty strong Towers: Sardanapalus was the last, & thirty vl King of that Monarchy, it having continued a thousand three hundred and seventy seven years. jonas from whence descended. jonas (according to some Hebrews) was the son of the woman of Sarepta, whom the Prophet Elias raised up to life: his father's name was Amithay, of the Tribe of Asser. But more probable is that of Saint Hierome and Saint Austen, That he was of the Tribe of Zabulon, his Country Geth, or Pher, the court of one of those Kings whom joshuah subdued and slew. josh. 11. God commanded him to go and preach at Niniveh; for out of his especial providence he had always a care to provide a Light not only for the jews, but also for the Gentiles. And therefore Athanasius saith, That the Law of Moses was a general School for all the world; and that the Prophets wrought their Revelations for all the Nations under the cope of Heaven; and that to this end, they went themselves abroad in person, and likewise sent their Books into diverse Kingdoms and Monarchies, as it appeareth by Esay, jeremy, Ezechiel, Daniel, Amos, Sidrac, Misac, and Abednego: out of whose Prophecies, those Philosophers that were Gentiles stole many sentences: namely those complainers on God's providence are condemned, who cry out in hell, The Sun of understanding rose not unto us. Theophilact saith, That God, being the Master of the Gentiles, after that he had by the light of the Gospel enlightened the world by his Son and his Apostles, and Disciples; he proved thereby, that he was one and the self same God both of the Old and the New Testament. Quia ascendit malitia eius coram me. For the malice thereof is come up before me. That which thou art to preach unto them, is, That their sins have mightily moved my patience. This is the office of a Prophet. To Esay God said, Declare unto my People their iniquities. Esay 1. Hier. 1. To jeremy, Behold, I have put my words into thy mouth, that thou mayst pluck up, destroy, etc. To Ezechiel, They whom I send thee to, are stiff necked, and hard hearted. In a word, God did notify this Obligation to all the Prophets; whereby all they are condemned, who place their end altogether in curiosities: This is to go about to seek out for those that are thirsty, precious waters, & wines cooled with snow, and put into copper flagons; Cold water for a thirsty Soul (as Solomon saith. Prou. 25. ) This is, to quench a fire that consumes a whole City, with bottles of Rosewater; it is a going about to open the door of our breasts with a Key of Gold, when one of Iron (according to that of Saint Austen) is more necessary: It is as if a Soldier should go forth to war with his head curiously combed and curled, with his jerken perfumed, and other effeminate gallantries. Like unto these is that Prophet or Preacher, who with glorious words, flaunting phrases, idle curiosities, and smooth-filed eloquences, shall go to fight the Lords quarrel, against the world's sinful Monsters. That those of Niniveh were great and mighty sinners, it is proved out of this word Malitia, which doth embrace all kind of sins; and much more enforced by that word Ascendit; for in the Scripture it is still taken for a great excess. De cadaveribus ascendit faetor, The stink shall come up out of their bodies, Esay 34. 2. Kings 19 Esay saith it. Superbia tua (saith the book of Kings) ascendit in aures meas, Come up into my ears. And here he mentioneth all kind of wickedness and abomination; and this word Coram me, Before me, confirmeth as much: For when a sin doth increase to that height, that it ouertops the heavens, and that it comes to the sight of God, it is then so intolerable, that it is not to be endured. Surrexit jomas, ut fugeret. jonas rose up, that he might fly away. Rabbi Rinchi (an Hebrew Doctor) saith, That Fugere doth here infer, an acceleration, or making of haste; intimating, that jonas made haste in going to the Haven at Tharsis, to take his journey towards Niniveh: as also, that the Prophet to whom God speaketh, Reason's moving jonas to fly. is so great with child, as it were, and so full of that which God commands him, that if he should withhold the revelation which God hath put into him, he would burst with keeping it in. That may be said of him, which job speaketh of himself, My belly is like the wine which worketh and hath no vent; and like the new bottles that burst; Therefore will I speak, that I may take breath, etc. Ose complaineth, and did sorrow exceedingly, that he had held his peace; Woe is me, that having seen the King and Lord of Hosts, I should hold my peace, because I was a man of polluted lips. jonas rose up that he might fly. More plain is that opinion of Saint Hierome, Nazianzen, Theodoret, Theophilact, and Methodius the Martyr, That jonas was not so hasty as here before we have made him; but that he pretended nothing less, but sought by all means possible, how he might avoid this journey, and closely conveis his body (as it were) from this command of God, by shaping his course another way. Whither it were of dislike, that God should pass over his favours to the Gentiles, and that his own Country should remain disgraced and ruined; and albeit he happily knew this was to come to pass hereafter: yet he would not willingly have seen it so to succeed in his time: or whither it were in point of honour in his own person, thinking (if not foreknowing) that God being so merciful, that he would pardon the Ninivites upon their first tears, he should then suffer in his reputation, and should be taken for a brainsick fool, and that he had exceeded his Commission, and so be mocked and laughed at for his labour. So that in the end he was fully resolved not to undergo the Embassage that was enjoined him; and therefore embarking himself, he thought he might then go whither he wolud through the world. This is Saint Hieromes opinion, which the Chaldees Paraphrase do likewise favour. Surrexit ut fugeret ad Mare, antequam prophetaret in nomine Domini, He rose up that he might fly unto the sea, before he should prophesy in the name of the Lord. Some man will doubt and say, How could so gross an ignorance sink into the Prophet's breast, as to think to fly ou● of God's reach? Confessing with David that large extent of his power, Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? and whither shall I fly from thy face? if I climb up into Heaven, thou art there; if I go into Hell, thou art likewise there. I answer, That he had no such kind of conceit in the world, nor any so foul a thought once entered into his imagination: But that which he presumed upon, was, That in the land of the Gentiles, God would not reveal himself, nor communicate the Spirit of Prophecy to his Prophets; and therefore he was minded to alter his former condition of life, and turn Merchant: For Tharsis was so famous a Port, in regard of the great concourse of Trading that was there, that those your great & huge merchants ships, made only for burden, were called in the Scripture, by an Antonomasia, or pronomination, jer. 10. Ezech. 27. ●. Kings 11. 2. Chron. 9 Esay 50. The Ships of Tharshish; whereof jeremy maketh mention, Ezechiel, the third third book of the Kings, and the second of Chronicles. The Spirit of Prophecy (it seemed) had not then captivated his will: The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned I back: But might he then if he would? So doth this Ego non contradico seem to infer. Saint Paul saith to those of Corinth, That the Spirit of Prophecy is subject to the Prophets. And as Amasias said to the Prophet Amos, Amos 7.12. Get thee to the Land of juda, o thou Seer, go, fly thou thither, and there eat thy bread, and prophesy there: but prophesy no more at Betheb, for it is the King's Chapel, and it is the Kings Court. jonas therefore seeing, The Devil's tyranny over his followers. that a Prophet was not accepted of in his own Country, would needs turn Merchant. He got him into a Ship of the Phoenicians, to fly into Tharshish from the presence of the Lord; Et dedit illis naulum, And he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it. For the Devil is not contented that a sinner should do him service only, but that he should give him money also into the bargain; which is a strange kind of tyranny. The Ship had scarce been a while under sail, when as a fearful Tempest arose, which put those that were in the Ship into extreme peril of their life. And albeit your Pilots, your Mariners, and Shippe-boyes, that are beaten and accustomed to these kind of chances, usually lose all fear both of winds and waves, nay also of God himself; yet now, such was the tempestuousness of the weather, & the raging of the Sea, that they called upon those their gods which were painted in their Ship; Timuerunt nautae, The Mariners fear increased, judging this Storm the strangest as ever they saw, accounting it as a miracle. First of all, Because there was no preceding sign of it; for those that are experienced Seafaring men, are not only skilled in knowing those signs of a storm that are near at hand, but those that are afar off; as by the eruptions of the air, which breaking forth from the concavities and hollow vaults of the Deep, trouble the waters; the colluctation and wrestling of the winds, the croaking of Ravens, the bellowing of Beasts, the playing of Porpeecies, which do whisper in their ears the storm that is to come upon them. But this Tempest here came so violently upon them on the sudden, that there was no foregoing sign to foreshow it. Secondly, Because (as Rabbi Solomon hath noted it, an Hebrew Doctor, from whom Theodoret and Theophilact had it) there were many ships that had gone out of Tharshish, which they might ken not far from them, that had very fair and clear weather, and sailed away smoothly, having (as they say) a Lady's passage, so calm was the Sea, and so gentle and temperate their gale of wind. Whereupon they did discreetly argue amongst themselves, that there was some great and notorious sinner in their Ship, against whom the winds and the waves (by God's especial appointment) made such cruel war. He that goes to sea, goes in danger, Qui navigant mare, etc. Euripides was of opinion, That they could not be truly said to be either dead or alive; not dead, because they live; not alive, because there was only a poor plank betwixt their death and their life. And the Sinner haileth his halter after him, and if God did not defend him, the Sea would not endure him. The Slave that flies from his Master, all the servants of the house make hue and cry after him; they follow him, crying, Stop him, stop him: and if that will not serve the turn, his Master sends Horsemen after him, who pursue him, and apprehend him. All the whole house of Heaven make hue and cry after jonas, Angels, Saints, Friends, holy inspirations, make pursuit after him, as they use to do after other rebellious sinners: But that will not serve the turn; whereupon he sends these his Horsemen after him, the winds, the waves, the ship-boy's, and mariners; they take him and cast him into the dungeon of the Whale's belly. Miserunt vasa, They cast forth their Vessels, etc. This word Vasa is taken for the wares, the weapons, the Masts, the sails, and other instruments belonging to a Ship; Vasa Domus, Vasa Bellica, Vasa Navis, and the like. In that Tempest which Saint Luke mentioneth in the Acts of the Apostles, wherein Saint Paul suffered so many days, he saith, Acts 17. That the very cords and tackle in the ship were cast over board, Armamenta Navis proiecerunt: So now, whither it were to lighten the Ship, or to appease the anger of their Gods, whom they thought were to be appeased with gifts, or that they were subject to these passions of choler and covetousness, etc. And as now the Faithful have recourse in their shipwrecks to prayers and promises; so was it now with these Infidels, and not to this alone, but to the offering up of jewels of great price and value. jonas was got him down into the bottom of the Ship; whither he had withdrawn himself thither out of his sorrow, or to avoid the noise of their shrieks and out-cries, or for fear of the thunder & lightning, or not to behold the fury and rage of the waves and the winds, I cannot tell you: but because fear and heaviness commonly causeth sleep, jonas was fallen now so sound asleep, that neither his own proper peril, nor the lamentable clamours of others, could awake him. Quid tu sopore deprimeris; Surge & invoca Deum tuum. What meanest thou, o Sleeper, awake and call upon thy God. They that came down ●o the Pump, lighted upon jonas, and awaking him, said unto him by way of admiration, Is it possible that a man should sleep in the midst of such a terrible Tempest? The cries and lamentations of all seek to appease the fury of the winds, and dost thou sleep? The Sea-Gods are afraid, and the Fishes retire themselves into their holes in the deep, and dost thou sleep? Arise for shame, and call upon thy God, since others call upon theirs. Whither it were that they did presume that jonas was some Saint, (which they might gather from his modesty, and his Prophet-like attire) or whither they had heard of the great wonders done by his God; (for many were the things that were spoken of him among the Gentiles, which were marvellous in their eyes) I leave it to the construction of the Discreet. Mittamu● sorts, Let us cast lots. They whispered amongst themselves, That sure there was some notable villain, some wicked person, among the passengers, for whose sake the gods had showed themselves so angry against this their ship, and those that went in her; for one evil man that is upheld and maintained in his lewd courses, and is favoured and protected by those with whom he lives and converses, is able to destroy a City, and to corrupt a whole Commonalty, if he be not corrected and punished in time. Ezech. ●0. According to that of Ezechiel, Corrue●● fulcientes Aegyptum, They also that maintain Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her power shall come down. Every one than said to his companion, Let us cast Lots, Et sciamus quare hoc malum sit nobis, That we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us; or (as the Hebrew hath it) In cuius nam hoc malum nobis, Let us know who is in the fault why we do all thus suffer. They therefore cast lots, not once alone, but again and again; for the Lot falling still upon one, it was an especial effect of God's providence, and a great token, that he would discover him tha● was faulty. It therefore falling still upon jonas, the Mariners and the rest that were in the ship, laid hands on him, and (as Saint Hierome hath noted it) made him this short, but discreet interrogation, What is thy occupation, and whence comest tho●▪ Which is thy Country, and of what People art thou? Touching his Office, his voyage, and his Country, the Prophet of his own accord, without being 〈◊〉 to the torment, confessed all unto them: he told them he was an Hebrew, and that he sought to fly from the God of Israel, who had made the Sea and the 〈◊〉 Land; and that this was the cause of this their furious tempest, and fierce storm. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? (for the sea wrought, and was troublous.) Mittite me in mare, Take me and cast me into the sea, so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know, Why jonas would be cast into the Sea. that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. This was no desperation in jonas, nor any desire to hasten his own death; but that he might not pers●●● any longer in offending his God, whereof he was now sorry, and earnestly repe●●ted him of the error he had committed. If I live (thought he with himselfe● shall fall tomorrow into the like folly again. And therefore let no man pre●sume that it shall be better with him tomorrow, Long life an enlargement of Sinne. than it was yesterday, or the other day before: and though a man may purpose amendment to himself, 〈◊〉 desire it, yet is it no wisdom to presume thereupon. Hence it ariseth, that 〈◊〉 multiplication of years doth but multiply our greater condemnation. Remigabant viri, etc. The men rowed to bring the Ship to land. They sought 〈◊〉 save the life of jonas with the danger of their own lives; and despising 〈◊〉 own proper peril, they took care of another man's good; which is the 〈◊〉 most that a godly man can do. The seventy Interpreters endear it 〈◊〉 thing more, saying, Vi●● facieba●t, They did (as it were) offer violence to the 〈◊〉 and so, rowing and praying, remigando & ●rando, they said, O Lord, if this man be so odious in thine eyes, thou mayst strike him dead with a sudden plague, or with a blast of thy breath: and if thou art not willing that he should not now die, do not punish us for him, save not him, to kill us. Ne pereamus in anima viri istius, Let not us perish for this man's life. But the more they strove in rowing and in praying, the waves began to swell the more, and the winds grew stiffer and stiffer; Mare intumescebat super eos, The sea wrought exceeding high, and was troublous against them. Thereupon, they made a devout prayer unto God, entreating him that he would not impute unto them the death of that Prophet: O Lord, (said they) thou hast made our arms the instruments of thy justice; and whereas it is thy pleasure, that we should throw him into the Sea, thou mightest, if thou wouldst, have given him some other kind of death: This judgement which we execute upon him, we have done it out of his own confession, & by the casting of Lots; but if perchance we have herein erred, In casting a man away, no delay too long. by taking away the life of the Innocent, permit not his blood to be upon our heads, since thou mayst so easily (if thou wilt) manifest his innocence. Well might our Saviour Christ condemn the Pharisees, by these poor Mariners and Shipboys, since they did demur so much, and cast so many doubts with themselves, concerning the offence of a Fugitive, that had already confessed himself faulty: Whereas these Scribes and Pharisees did rashly and inconsiderately sentence him to death, whom the Heaven and the Earth had pronounced and published to be innocent; crying out with a full mouth, Sanguis eius super nos. Tulerunt jonam, So they took up jonas, etc. Saint Hierome doth much weigh the courtesy and respect wherewith they took up jonas, Quasi cum obsequio & honore portantes, Bearing him as it were with a great deal of obsequiousness and honour, upon their shoulders, because he had made so humble a confession, by acknowledgement of his fault, and for that, that he had thus voluntarily offered himself up unto death: They did reverence him as a Saint, and lifting up that weight in their arms, which the sea could not bear, they had scarce thrown him overboard, but the sea ceased from her raging, resting satisfied with this Sacrifice, and giving it as a sure sign and token unto them, that it did not pretend this its fury, to any but jonas. The Mariners after they had cast him into the Sea, sought (as an ancient Doctor saith) to take him up again, and to save his life; but then the waves began to rise and rage afresh, insomuch that they were forced to let him alone: it being a wonder, to see Seafaring men, who are generally pitiless, to take such pity and compassion of him. Stetit Mare, The sea grew calm on the sudden, and the weather grew ●aire and clear: & as the tempest came suddenly upon them, without any prevening dispositions; so did this calm and fair weather at sea come upon them in an instant, before ever they were aware of it; which was a notable proof and argument unto them, that this Tempest was miraculous. God's providence had before hand provided a Whale ready to receive jonas; and when as he thought he should have been swallowed up in the Deep, and that the waters should enter into his soul, crying out in his meditations, Pelagus ●peruit me, vestes terr● concluserunt me, The ●●ouds compassed me about, all thy surges and all thy waves passed over me, etc. Then did the Whale open his mouth, then when in his affliction he cried unto the Lord: I am cast away out of thy sight, the waters compassed me about unto the soul, the depth closed me round about, and the weeds were wrapped about my head; then, even than did the Whale open his mouth, and swallowing him up whole into his belly, defended him from the jaws of death. jonas being herein like unto a delinquent whom the Gaoler takes into his custody, job. 7. to secure his person. job saith, That God hath girt in the sea on the one side with mountains and valleys, Circumdedit illud terminis suis; and on the other side with sand, Posuit arenam terminum Maris. And as jonas was shut up in the Whale's belly, as in a prison; so was the Whale enclosed in that prison of the Sea. Nunquid Mare ego sum, aut Caete? Am I a Sea, or a Whale fish, that thou keepest me in ward? Now if God had both before and behind, on this side, and that side, pitched so many nets for jonas, he could ver●e hardly escape him, his flying could not save him; but in this Whale's maw, contrary to all the laws of Nature, God maintains and preserves his life. If the stomach of a Whale will digest an anchor of Iron, (as Tertullian tells us) it must then of force consume jonas; and if instead of air, he draws in water, he must necessarily be choked. But he that delivered Daniel from the hungry mouths of Lions, and those three children from the flames of the fiery Furnace; it is not much, that he should conserve jonas in the deepest and darkest dungeon that ever living man was clapped up in. The wonder was, that though himself were prisoner, yet he had left unto him so free an understanding, that he was able to make so elegant an oration to God, out of so foul a Pulpit. The Prophet did dwell upon this great miracle which God had used towards him, and did recover so much strength and confidence, that he stuck not to say, Rursus videbo templum sanctum tuum, Yet will I look again toward thy holy temple, I live in good hope, not only to see myself freed out of this loathsome Gaol, but to humble myself on my knee in thy holy Temple, giving thee thanks for the great mercy and favour which thou hast showed towards me: For the present I will make this sluttish corner my Oratory, assuring myself, that from thence my prayers shall be acceptable unto thee; who, like some great Prince or Monarch of the world, is respected in any place whatsoever of thy jurisdiction: so that there is no doubt, that any thy poorest vassal whatsoever, may be heard by thee. The Children of Babylon were heard from the Furnace; Daniel from the Lion's Den; job from the Dunghill; David from amidst the Thorns and Bushes: And so I make no question but I shall be, from the bowels of this Beast, In omni loco dominationis eius, benedic anima mea Domino, O my soul, bless the Lord in every place of his power. These three days jonas spent in prayer, at the end whereof, God commanded the Whale to cast out jonas upon the Coast of Ninivy. In all adversities our practice must be Prayer. And the Whale obeying his Empire, crossed the Seas many Leagues, and there threw the Prophet forth upon dry Land, though full of frothy slime, and unctuous stuff, free from the horror of that deep and darksome dungeon. From hence did the Gentiles feign those their fabulous tales of Hercules being swallowed up by another Whale; of Arion, playing on his harp, riding on the back of a Dolphin. For, (as it is noted by Clemens Alexandrinus, and Saint Basil) the Heathen Philosophers did steal these truths from us; founding thereupon their falsehoods: And giving credit to their lies, they did not believe our truths. Many of the Ninivites, coming down to the shoare-side, were strucken with admiration, to see such a monstrous, strange, prodigious man; and the fame thereof flying to the City, before they were affrighted with the sad news that he brought, they stood astonished at the strangeness of the case; which questionless was a great cause; that they did afterwards hearken unto him, and give creditto what he said. In the end, taking this for his Theme; Adhuc quadraginta dies, & Ninive s●●uertetur; ●et forty days, and Niniveh shall be overthrown. Not threatening only the ruin of the City, but also of the Towers, Walls, Palaces, Citizens, Children, Women, and Old men, even to the very beasts of the field; so great was the fear that entered into all their breasts, that without any further Miracles, laying their belief upon the Prophet, they presently gave beginning to that their great repentance, which was the strangest that ever was yet heard of. The King laid aside his purple robes, and his rich and costly clothes, the throan of his Greatness & Majesty, and covered himself with sackcloth, and ●ate in ashes, causing his clothes of State to be pulled down, his walls of his palace to be left naked of their hangings of cloth of Gold, and other pieces of Arras, being no less curious than glorious. For Sardanapalus, was one of the losest, and most licentious men, that he had not his like in all the World. The like did all the great Officers of his Palace, the Princes, and Wealthyest men of his City, as also all the fair and beautiful Ladies. And there was a Proclamation presently made through all Niniveh, (by the Council of the King, and his Nobles) with express charge, That neither man, nor beast, bullock, nor sheep, should taste any thing, neither feed, nor drink water; but that man and beast should put on sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God. To the end, that the bellowing of their bulls, the bleating of their sheep & goats, the howling of their dogs, the tears of their children, the sighs & lamentations of their mothers, might move Heaven to take pity of them. And above all, they did cry out most grievously for their sins. For albeit, they are offences towards God, yet are they miseries unto man; and as, quatenus peccata, so far forth as they are sins, they provoke and stir up God's justice against us; So, quatenus, they are miseriae, as they are miseries unto us, they incline and move our good God to take mercy & compassion of us. The same reason which wrought God to destroy the World, the same likewise moved him never to destroy it more. Cogitatio hominis prona est ad malum, Man's thoughts are pro●e unto evil. One while he considers it, as an offence unto God; another while, as a misery incident to man. The word Zagar, signifies Vociferatio, A crying out aloud, The Ninivites repentance. as when a City is set on fire, and in danger to be burnt. Some perhaps may conceive that this was too strict a command, to enjoin this punishment upon dumb beasts, and poor little infants, that had not yet offended. But first of all, they did therein pretend to incline God's mercy towards them. Secondly, to move the more repentance, by a common sorrow. Thirdly, as at the funerals of Princes, and Generals, not only the principal and meaner persons mourn in blacks, but their horses wear the like livery of sorrow, their drums beat hoarse, covered with black Cypress, their ancients are trailed along on the ground, their swords and their lances with their points the contrary way; Gen. 6. Gen. 8. in token that both the horses, the drums, the ancients, and the arms, have lost their Master: so likewise did the case stand with the City of Niniveh, etc. jonas put Niniveh to such a strict penance, and sorrow for their sins, that it did appease the wrath of God towards them. The Prophet presumed it should be destroyed; and therefore jonas went out of the City, and sat on the East side thereof, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what should be done in the City. Thinking perhaps with himself, that God would not now make an end of the City all at once, but that he would destroy a great part thereof; as he did in the adoration of the golden Calf, when as pardoning the people, he slew a great number of them. Now God had prepared a Gourd for jonas, and made it to come up over him, that it might be a shadow over his head, and deliver him from his grief. Other Authors, give it other names. But the strangeness of it was, that it grew up all in a day. The Prophet was exceeding glad to see himself so well sheltered by this Gourd, from the heat of the Sun, which did shrewdly scorch him; Laboraverat enim, It vexed him very sore: So that before it went very ill with him; and his joy was so much the more increased, for that he saw God had such a care to cherish and make much of him; Sure (thought he) he makes no small account of me, that useth me thus kindly. But God shortly after prepared a worm, which smote the Gourd that it withered; Et percussit Sol super caput jona, & astuabat, The Sun beat upon the head of jonas, and he fainted. Who could have the patience to endure this? Was it the Sun, or was it fire, that should thus provoke him to cry out, Melius est mihi mori, quam vivere, It is better for me to die than to live. But God reprehended jonas for this desperate speech of his; Putas ne bene irasceris jona? How n●w jonas, What's the matter with thee? Dost thou well to be angry for the Gourd? Dost thou find thyself grieved, that I have made this Gourd to wither, which came up in a night, and perished in a night; and wilt thou not suffer me to be sensible of the destruction of this so great a City, wherein there are sixscore thousand persons which cannot discern betwixt the right hand and the left? Doth it touch thee, that thou art not esteemed in thine own Country? And wilt thou not pity Niniveh, whom thou hast drawn by thy preaching unto them, to repentance? Niniveh yielded unto thee at the first words of thy voice; but juda still stands out obstinately in her malice against my calling upon her. And therefore at the day of judgement, the men of Niniveh shall condemn them for a stiff necked generation, and a hard hearted People; seeing they without any miracles were converted, and turned unto me at the preaching of one poor ●●nas, Et ecce plus quam jonas hîc, And behold a greater than jonas here. Jerusalem seeing so many miracles, persevereth in her incredulity; and therefore Niniveh shall stand, and Jerusalem shall be destroyed. At the day of judgement thou shalt stand confounded and ashamed, that a barbarous, ignorant, and unbelieving Nation (which is a great disgrace to a man of honour) that one that is so far inferior to thee, should come to be so far preferred before thee: As those Cities where most of our Saviour's great works were done, were upbraided by him, because they repented not; pronouncing a woe to Chorazin, and a woe to Bethsaida: Math. 11. For if (saith he) the great works which were done in you, had been done in Tyrus and Sydon, they had repent long agone in Sackecloath and Ashes. Regina Austri. The Queen of the South shall rise in judgement, etc. Some man may say, The history of Niniveh was sole, and without example in the world; it 〈◊〉 not its fellow. For which cause, he sets down another example of the Queen of the South, of whom there is mention made in the third of the Kings, and in the second of Chronicles. 1. Kings 10. 2. Chron. 9 The Queen of the South came from Morol, (an Isl●●● of Aethyopia, as Origen, Saint Hierome, Saint Austen, Anselmus, and josephus, saith) and only to hear the wisdom of Solomon; Et ecce, 〈◊〉 quam Solomon hîc, And behold a greater here than Solomon. It was much, that the barbarous people of Niniveh should believe jonas, who sought after them, and not they after him: But much more is it, that an Aethyopian Queen should seek after ● King, to her so great trouble and cost. Ecce plus quam Salomon hîc. When the Preacher is of that great power and authority, that he both says and does; the little fruit that they reap thereby, is evermore attributed to the hardness of the hearer. And that he might teach this People this lesson, he saith, Ecce, plus quam Solomon hîc, Behold, a greater than Solomon is here. He was greater than jonas; for if he were obeyed by the Ninivites, our Saviour had obeisance done him by all the Elements: if jonas had a grace in his delivery, and spoke with a spirit, it was our Saviour that gave it him: if jonas did enlighten a City, our Saviour did illuminate the whole world: if jonas did preach blood; threatenings, and death, our Saviour did publish our salvation, life, and hope of Heaven. He was better than Solomon; for his wisdom was humane and earthly; but that of our Saviour, divine and heavenly: Solomon never wrought any miracles; but those of our Saviour were without number. In a word, between the Queen of the South and the Pharisees, between our Saviour and Solomon, there is a great antithesis and contrariety: The Queen was a Barbarian, and ignorant; they, Doctors, and learned in the Laws; she, wonderful desirous to hear a man; they, loath to hear a God; she offered to Solomon great gifts; they to our Saviour vinegar and gall; she did so wonder at Salomon's wisdom, that she said, Fame had belied him, and that Report came too short of his praise; but they made so slight account of our Saviour's words and works, that they require new miracles at his hands: but this their cavilling with him, shall occasion their condemnation. To conclude, The principal things that Niniveh shall charge them with, are two. The first, The speediness of their repentance, and the haste that they made to turn unto God: For (as Saint Chrysostome hath noted it) in three days jonas effected that in Niniveh, jonas effected more in three days then our Saviour did in thirty years. Repentance, not to be deferred. which our Saviour could not bring to pass in thirty years and upward. Saint Ambrose, That they who defer their repentance till the hour of their death, ought not to be denied the Sacraments, if they desire them; but I dare not be so bold (saith the said Father) to warrant them their salvation. Rahab had scarce put the Spies out of her window, but that she presently hung out that coloured string, the token that was given her for the safeguard of her life. Philon takes into consideration, that exceeding great haste which the Egyptians made to rid their Country of the children of Israel; they held it no wisdom, to defer their departure one minute of an hour longer, (if they could so soon have freed themselves from them) considering in what great danger they were of losing their lives. Much less discretion is it, to defer the repentance of our sins from day to day, considering how daily we are in peril of perishing in Hell. The second, The greatness, sharpness, and rigour of their Repentance, not only in the men, but in the women, children, and cattle: They thought with themselves, That forty days of sorrow were too little, and too few for so many years of sinning; and therefore they did strive all that they could, that the extremity of their punishment might make amends for that long time wherein they had offended. Lanabo per singulas noctes lectum meum, i. I will every night wash my Couch with my tears. Chrys. saith, Culpan fuisse unius noctis, lachrimas multorum, That it was but one night's sin, but many night's tears. Amplius lava me, O Lord, wash me yet a little more, that I may be clean. Now was he cleansed; but ill assured of this his cleanness, etc. For the washing out of the stains and spots of our sins, one la●●r, one rinsing, one bucking is not sufficient, no, though we have never so much soap and ashes to scour them clean, and bear out our hearts upon the block of our senseless souls: it must (o Lord) be the water of that immense and mighty sea of thy Mercy; that, and nothing but that, can do it. And therefore, Have mercy upon me, o God, according to thy great mercy. THE NINTH SERMON, UPON THE THURSDAY AFTER THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. MAT. 5. MARC. 7. Secessit jesus in parts Tyri & Sydonis. jesus withdrew himself into the coasts of Tyre and Sydon. THis History hath been handled by me heretofore: The sum whereof is, That our Saviour Christ withdrawing himself to the parts of Tyrus and Sydon, The woman of Canaan's Faith. he did a work of mercy, that was full of strange circumstances. A woman came forth to meet him, descended of that accursed Cha●, desiring his help for a daughter of hers that was possessed with a Devil: And howbeit our Saviour had taken the pains to come five and twenty leagues for to heal that soul, (as one that well knew the price and worth thereof) yet he gave her so many shrewd disgraces and put-by's, that would have dismayed the stoutest spirit alive, and have cooled the courage of him that had been most confident of his strength. But this woman did not flag a whit for all this, nor would be so beaten off; but one while making use of the intercession of the Apostles; another while confessing herself to be no better than a Dog, and begging like a Dog, not the bread itself, which was for the children, but the crumbs that fell from the 〈◊〉, which never yet was denied unto Dogs: she persevered in her petition, laying such a strong and forcible battery to the pity and mercy of Christ, that it being in itself invincible, yet it yielded to a woman's importunity. Encouraging us thereby, and putting us in good hope, that nothing shall be denied unto us, How Christ called, the hope of the Gentiles. if we shall earnestly call upon God, & persever in the pursuit of our humble petitions: And there is good cause of comfort for us, Quoniam confirmata est super nos misericordia eius, His mercy is confirmed unto us, as well as his grace; whose effect is infallible, and most certain. And as a continual fever that is once confirmed and settled upon us, is an assured messenger of death; so the mercy of God being once confirmed unto us, it is not possible that it should ever fail us. Egressus jesus, secessit. Some do apply this word to the Son of Gods coming forth into the World; Some, to the strength and virtue which our humane nature recovered by this his coming. Which is all one with that of Saint Austen; if God had not been Man, Man had not been free. The Scripture calleth Christ our Saviour, The desire & hope of the Gentiles. And to him that shall doubt, How the Gentiles, not having knowledge of the Son of God, nor of his coming, Ob. could be called their hope, and their desire? First of all, I answer; That amongst the Gentiles God had some friends, Sol. as the Sibyls, and many which believed in him; In the land of Hus, he had job. And if it shall be objected, That so small a number of the Gentiles, Ob. were not sufficient to give a name and being of this their hope and desire? I must answer secondly, That all creatures did naturally desire, Sol. and long for him, as the dry ground doth gape for water; Psal. 142. or as the captive doth desire his liberty, Sicut terra sine aqua tibi. Thirdly, Saint Austen answers, That the desired, ought first to be known. But it is the fashion of the Prophets, to take Futurun, pro praeterito, The future, for the preterperfect Tense. And here it is to be noted, That with Tyrus and Sydon, that happened unto him in particular, which succeeded unto him in the world in general. He was long before offended with this Country as it appeareth in joel; Quid mihi, joel. 3. & vobis Tyrus & Sydon? What have I to do with you, o Tyre and Sydon. In Ezechiel, Ezech. 27. Tu ergo fili hominis assume lamentum super Tyrum, Now therefore o son of Man, take up a lamentation for Tyre. In Esay Onus Tyri, ululate naves maris, The burden of Tyre, Esay. 23. ●owle ye ships of the Sea. How then did God make peace with the World by his Son? Gratificavit nos in dilecto filio suo. And he offered the like kindness unto Tyrus and Sydon. Memor ero Rahab Babilonis: Ecce alienigeni, & Tyrus hic fuerunt illic, etc. I will think upon Rahab, and Babylon, the Morions, Psal. 87. and them of Tyre, etc. Secessit in parts Tyri, & Sydonis, He went into the Coasts of Tyre and Sydon. He taxes this his people of their unthankfulness towards him; For he, that doth not only not acknowledge a good turn, but requites it with i'll, shuts the gates of Heaven against his own Soul. And therefore, Signum non dabiter ei●. Rupertus hath observed, That the first fault that was committed in the World, was Ingratitude; For God having created Adam in a perfect age, and sound in his judgement, having, for his recreation given him Paradise, and for his authority, the Signiory of the World; yet did he not give him thanks for these his so great and many favours towards him; whereupon the Devil, (being a sly and subtle Merchant) took occasion to tempt him, persuading himself, That he who had showed himself ingrateful, would with a little labour be easily brought to be disobedient. This Doctor doth sound & throughly ponder these words, Serpens erat callidior, The serpent was more subtle. Like a crafty Huntsman, he waited but for a time, that Adam by his unthankfulness should fall into the toil, whence afterwards he should not so easily get out. Saint Ambrose saith, That Noah, all that while that he was building the Ark, did not any thing, though never so little, without some especial order from God; but as soon as he was gone out of the Ark, without further expecting advice from Heaven, he did prepare and make ready his sacrifice. For, that a Soul should show itself thankful to its God, it is not necessary, that it should stay weighting & looking for revelations; but rather hasten to express it as soon as it can, and to use all prevention of being put in mind of it. And therefore in approbation of Noah's forwardness, the Text saith, Odoratus est Dominus odorem suavitatis, The Lord smelled a savour of rest. Gen. 8. And showed himself so well pleased and appeased therewith that he said in his heart, he would thencefoorth curse the ground no more for man's cause. There is another circumstance, touching Ingratitude, which is very considerable, & deserves our attention, which is this, That albeit God is wont sometimes to dissemble other faults, and lets them run on many years before he will punish them, yet the sins of unthankfulness, he will not suffer them to scape unpunished, no no● so much as to grant them the forbearance of a few hours. God saith in Leviticus; Qui maledixerit Deo suo, portab●t peccatum suum, Whosoever shall curse his God, Levit. 24▪ or speak ill of him, shall bear his sin; no farther chastisement being there set down for him. But he that shall blaspheme the name of the Lord, Morte morietur, shall be put to death: that is the Law. The second (questionless) is a lesser sin than the former; And yet God dissembles the former, and will by no means endure the second. And the reason thereof (rendered by Thomas) is, That those names, and attributes of God, do shut up as it were, and comprehend in them those benefits which he so liberally bestows upon us; and for that the blasphemer shows himself so ungrateful unto God, he cannot hope for any pardon of his punishment. Our Saviour Christ then seeing, that judea did draw poison out of treacle, and unthankfulness and hardness of heart, from the many favours and mercies that he had showed towards them, Secessit in parts Tyri & Sydonis, Went into the Coasts of Tyre and Sydon etc. Ecce mulier Chananea. The force of Prayer. Many, and great matters are spoken of the force and power of Prayer. Grievous is that saying of God unto jeromie; Noli orare pro populo isto, neque assumes pro eis laudem & orationem, Hier. 7. & non obsistas mihi, Thou shalt not pray for this people, neither lift up cry or prayer for them, neither entreat me, lest I should hear thee, and so divert mine anger. Seest thou not what they do, & c? Seek not therefore to hinder me in executing my vengeance against them. None (saith job) is able to resist the wrath of God. But God adviseth us, how powerful a thing Prayer is for the appeasing of it, Io● 9 by seeking to prevent the Prophet, by putting in this caveat, Non obsistas mihi, Resist me not. Grievous is that saying of God, unto Moses, Desine, ut irascatur furor meus, Stand not betwixt me and home, that I may destroy this people. O Lord, who can hold thy hand, when thou art willing to strike? Who, force thee against thy will, to be quiet? yes, The Prayer of such a friend as Moses, Orabat autem Moyses ad Dominum Deum suum. Being one, whom God so much respected. And as the love of a friend doth tie the hands of some angry Lord, and keep him from striking; so Prayers binds Gods hands when he is angry with us, not suffering him to draw his sword. This was no small comfort to David, which made him to sing the song of Thanksgiving, Benedictus Deus, qui non amovit orationem meam, & misericordiam suam à me, Blessed be God, who hath not removed either my prayer, or his own mercy from me. Saint Austen saith, That as long as God shall not take from out our mouths and our hearts our praying unto him, so long we may be well assured that he will not remove his mercy from us, for he never denieth those that faithfully call upon him But a matter of great consideration is that which we have here in hand, Ecce mulier Cananea, Behold a Canaanitish woman, etc. What? a woman that is an Idolatress, can she be of that power that she should overcome God by prayer? When a weak arm cuts a man off by the waist at a blow, or hews a bar of iron in sunder, this act is not attributed so much to the force of his arm, as the goodness of his sword; so, this days noble act is not to be attributed to a Pagan woman, (who was descended of that accursed Cham) but to the power of Prayer. To those three divine persons, Prayers are not permitted: for, as Thomas noteth it, Prayer is to be directed to a superior power: And if the Son of God did pray, it was according to his humanity, having recourse (as Saint Ambrose saith) to those two obligations of Priest and Advocate: And if (Saint Paul saith) that the holy Ghost doth pray, Postulat pro nobis gemitibus in enarrabilibus, He maketh request for us with groans that are unspeakable: It was, that he might teach us how to pray, as Saint Augustine expoundeth it. The Devils, and those that are damned, are not capable of prayer: Albeit the covetous rich man did desire a drop of water of Abraham to cool his tongue, & the Devils entreated Christ, Luke 16. that he would give them leave to enter into the Swine. For to pray unto God, is to turn unto God, and with a sorrowful soul, and a contrite heart, humbly and earnestly to call upon him, craving pardon for our sins. Prayer therefore only belongs unto men, as well the Just, as the Sinner; and that the Prayer of the Justice should prevail with God, which begs and entreats of his divine Majesty, That he will bear with us this year, and the next, and so from time to time (as is proved by that Parable of the Fig tree, which the Lord of the Soil caused to be hewed down, because it bore no fruit) it is not much: But that the prayer of a Canaanitish woman should make God to yield unto her, is more than much. The name of woman, in its true and natural element, notifieth a thousand imperfections: O pessima, & Mulier, saith Euripides, signifying thereby, That there is no mischief which she is not a Midwife unto; the very name of a Canaanitish woman doth blab out sin in her, hatred towards God, and a measure full of misery. Now if a subject so weak and so imperfect, grew by Prayer to be so powerful; What will not Prayer be able to do? Solomon asks the question, Mulierem fortem quis inveniet? Who shall meet with a valiant woman, that is full of mettle and courage? I answer, That naturally such a one is Rara avis in terris, a very Phoenix, a white Crow, and a black Swan; but by the force of Prayer you shall thrice meet with such a one: in Tyrus and Sydon God says no; and yet in the end, the Canaanitish woman's Yea goes further than our Saviour's Nay; making God, as it were, to lay down the Bucklers, and to yield unto her. And to him that shall say, That this was a spiritual wrestling, never giving over our Saviour, but still pressing and importuning him more and more; and that a woman will be sometimes so earnest and so violent, that she may as well weary out God, as she doth Man, to make him yield ere she have done with him: To this, a Doctor of our times very well answers, by proposing another question; to wit, Whither Jacob's wrestling with God were with the force of his arms, or with the arms of Prayer? Origen tells us, That it was a spiritual struggling of tears and prayers; and jacob having got the better, God said unto him, Thou shalt no more be called jacob, but Israel, because thou hast had power with God. The like may be said by our Saviour to this Canaanitish woman. Ecce mulier Cananea, Behold a woman, etc. Ecce, in holy Scripture commonly signifieth some great matter of admiration. And this case of the Canaanitish woman is admirable, for two rare circumstances contained in it. The one, For that strange change and alteration in her; in regard, that of a Canaanite in Occupatione, she became a Canaanite in Oratione, that is, a Negotiator in Heaven: for Cananea (according to Saint Hierome) is the same with Negotiatrix. Of a good huswife, that girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms, Solomon saith, Cingulum tradidit Cananeo; the Vulgar hath it, Negotiatori, Prou. 31. Luke 19 To the Merchant, or one that negotiates businesses; and Heaven is stored with such kind of People: Negociamini dum venio, Occupie till I come. And so great was the haste which this Canaanite made for the increasing of her Talon, and in managing of her business, that the Church sets her before us for an example, and for an excellent and happy Negotiant with God himself. As Abraham was put for a pattern of Faith; Isaac, of Obedience; joseph, of Chastity; job, of Patience; Marry Magdalen, of Repentance; so this Canaanitish woman is proposed unto us as an example of well negotiating with God, showing us the ready way for a quick dispatch. The other, That a woman that was a Gentile should come out of Tyrus and Sydon, Virtue never more eminent, than when it shines among the Vicious. to be a School to the Faithful; as if a Moor should come from his Moorisme, to be a Christian, which is a rare thing, and seldom seen: that such a one should have issued out of jerusalem, that was well grounded in the Scripture and Religion, it was not much; but from Tyrus and Sydon it was not a thing to be expected. To be of the household of Faith among the Gentiles, a Catholic among Heretics, a Christian among Moors, a Saint amongst the Wicked, was eue● yet accounted strange and wonderful. Saint Gregory observes this of job, living in the Land of Hus among the Barbarians; Socius fuit Draconum, Frater Stru●hionum, He was a companion of Dragons, and a brother to Ostriches, that is, he lived amongst the ungodly. And Saint Peter saith of Lot, That he being righteous, 2. Pet. ●. and dwelling among the Sodomites, in seeing the uncleanly conversation of the Wicked, and hearing of their abominable sins, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds; which is a great cross and affliction to the Godly. Saint john saith of the Bishop of Pergamus, Scio ubi habitas, ubi se●es est Sathanae, & tenes nomen meum, All thy actions are not praiseworthy; but this is greatly to be commended in thee, that amongst Devils, where Satan hath his Throne, thou keepest the faith, and confessest my name. Saint Paul, of the Philippians, That In medio nationis pravae. The Spouse, of his Beloved, That, Sicut Lilium inter spinas, without receiving any harm. In a word, to enjoy perfect health in the midst of a great plague, is a great matter; but much greater is it, that out of a Pest-house one should come forth to give help unto others; that from amidst Heretics a Master should be brought to teach Catholics; and that out of Tyrus and Sydon should step forth a Canaanitish woman to instruct the Church. And this is that which this word Ecce aims at. A finibus illis egressa, Come from out those Borders. First, Christ; and then she: and though Christ had the longer and harder journey of it, and she the shorter and easier; yet you see she was willing to put the best foot forward, and to take some pains herself in the business: she did not as many do now adays, sit still and do nothing, laying the whole burden of the justification upon our Saviour Christ. Supra dorsum meum (saith he, complaining by the Prophet) fabricaverunt peccatores, prolongaverunt iniquitatem suay, They threw all the whole burden of their sins upon my shoulders, taking no care themselves to work out their salvation. Beloved, this is not the way; it is not enough, that ye have your calling and vocation from God, but you must make sure this your vocation unto you by good works, Satagite per bona opera certam facere vocationem vestram; It is not enough, that Christ hath redeemed you, but you must seek on your part to secure your redemption. In this sense said Paul, Adimpleo quae desunt passionum Christi in carne mea: Not that any thing can be wanting to the passion of Christ, on his part, but on thine. Feign wouldst thou go to Heaven, but thou art loath to take any pains to get thither; thou wouldst be carried up in a soft and easy chair, but art loath to stretch thy legs. And for this cause the Scripture styles the life of man, a Warfare, a Wrestling, a Race, a Combat, a Reward, a Crown; things that are not achieved without labour, trouble, service, sweats, and some deserving in ourselves. Vbi non sunt Boves, praesepe vacuum est, Where there are no Oxen, the Cratch is empty; where no pains, no profit. Herculei auri celebrant labores, saith Boëtius, The Chronicles of Hercules were his Labours. And Plautus, Pars est fortuna laborum. Come out of those Borders. We are not only to leave sin, but also to remove from us all occasion of sinning. God said unto Abraham, Eijce ancillam; Agar 〈◊〉 his Slave o● Bondwoman, Gen. 25. she was that Leven which had soured the sweet ●●ace of his house: God might as well have commanded him to correct and punish her for her insolent behaviour; but because he would have the occasion of any farther falling out taken away, he lays this command upon him, Eijce ancillam, & filium eius. Ishmael, o Lord, (might Abraham have said) is but a child, All occasions of sin must be avoided. and in regard of his tender age disciplinable and corrigible, he can as yet do but little harm. But this would not serve his turn, there was no remedy but he must be sent packing too, that all occasion may be taken away of his mother's returning back to see him. Salua te in Monte, ne stes, etc. Get thee out of the City, Gen. 19 and escape into the Mountain, lest thou be destroyed. It was the Angel's advice unto Lot, lest so circumuicinant and near neighbouring occasion might prove dangerous unto him: Quantum distat Ortus ab Occidente, long fecit à nobis iniquitates nostras, Look how wide the East is from the West, so far hath he set our sins from us. Psal. 103. In the Captivity of Babylon, the Children of Israel hid in a very deep pit, the holy Fire, as a man would hide Treasure, hoping hereafter they might come again to the fetching of it out: but when this their Captivity was ended, when they came to seek for it, they found in stead thereof, a coagulated and crudded kind of water, as when it is frozen; but when the beams of the Sun began to touch upon it, it turned again to fire. So they that cover the fire of their affection with the ashes of absence, with a hope to return to revive that heat; howbeit it be more cold and more frozen than water, yet with the Sun of their presence, and the heat of occasion, those coals of love begin to kindle anew, and to break forth into their wonted flames. Saint Augustine reports of Alipius, That having resolved with himself, never to look upon your Fencer's Prizes, upon a time, through the earnest importunity of his friends he was drawn along to the Theatre where those bloody sports were performed; protesting that he would keep his eyes all the while shut, and not so much as once open them: yet it so fell out, that upon a sudden great shout of the People, he looked abroad to see what the matter was; Whereupon he became another man, and altered his former purpose; so that his hatred to this sport, was turned into a love and liking of it. Ecclesiasticus saith, That as a clear Fountain is to the thirsty, and as the shade to him that is scorched with heat, such is occasion, to a man that is accustomed to ill. In filia non avertente se, firma custodiam, Give her for lost, if thou quit not the occasion. Clamabat, Miserere mei, She cried, Have mercy upon me. Vocal Prayer is sometimes profitable, and sometimes necessary; profitable, because it stirreth up our inward devotion, And is (as Saint Augustine hath observed) that blast which bloweth and kindleth the fire that is within us. Those that are more perfect than others, spend much time in meditation and contemplation of the Spirit: but those that are less perfect, because their inward heat quickly fails them, they must have recourse to the breath of vocal Prayer, and call out aloud, with this Canaanitish woman; for the Heart and the Lips are an acceptable Sacrifice unto God. Ex voluntate mea confitebor ei; Saint Paul calls it, The fruit of the Lips; Heb. 13. Ose. 14. Osee, A Sacrifice, Vituli Labiorum, The calves of our Lips. Miserere mei, Fili David. Have mercy upon me, thou Son of David. Saint Augustine saith, That whatsoever may be lawfully desired, What we are to demand in prayer, & how may be lawfully required of God: And being there be three sorts of things; some so good, that it is impossible the use of them should be bad, as Grace, Virtue, Glory, and the necessary sustenance of the body, which we daily beg of God: others so ill, that they can never be good, as Sin and Wickedness: and others indifferent, which of themselves are neither good nor evil, as Riches, and other the like temporal Goods. The first, we may always, and at all times beg of God without any condition or limitation: the second never: the third must evermore have this reservation; If it be, o Lord, for thy service, or thy honour and glory, etc. Now this Canaanitish woman craving mercy for herself and her daughter, it being so holy and pious a petition, she might absolutely prefer the same to our Saviour. Merits utterly cried down. Have mercy upon me, thou Son of David. Saint Basil pondereth the elegancy of this prayer, so wholly stripped from any proper presumption in itself, and so clothed throughout from top to toe, with the mercy of God. There is not any greater poverty (saith Saint Bernard) than that of our own merits; nor any falser riches than that of our own presumption. And he prevails most with God, who presumes least of himself; for the mercies of God are not occasioned from our deservings, but from his own infinite goodness, as Leo the Pope sets it down unto you more at large. God's mercy is so infinite and so immense, that there is no comparison betwixt our merits and it; so short is our righteousness of his goodness. Saint Chrysostome says, That mercy must be like a free Port that opens unto the sea, and affords frank passage upon all occasions, or whither soever we are bound, without paying so much for importation, or so much for exportation, etc. O Son of David. Although our Saviour were of the Seed of Abraham, as well as of the House of David; yet with this People, more prevailed this appellative of David; for that the promise which God had made to this King was fresher in remembrance, more especial, and more honourable, as Saint Chrysostome and Euthimius upon this very place have noted it unto us: So that both the nobler, and the learneder sort among them, besides the People in general, did not only hold it as an Article of their Faith, but for a great glory unto them, that their Messias was to descend from the loins of David, john 7. Mat. 2. Scriptum est; Quia de semine Dauid venit Christus. And our Saviour ask of the Pharisees, Whose son their Messias should be? they did all agree in this, That he should come from the Stock of David. Now whither it were, that this Cananitish woman by giving him this attribute, thought with herself, That he had some obligation to favour the Gentiles, (for the first Troops that David had, were of fugitive Slaves and Foreigners, which came to his aid, [Et factus est eorum Princeps] or whither the power that she saw he had in casting out Devils, wrought thus upon her; or whither the much honour that he had always shown to women; or all of these together, were motives of her pretention, I cannot tell you; but sure I am, that she did believe, That our Saviour Christ came into the world for to save sinners, and for the general good of all Mankind, for the jew, and for the Gentile, and that the Devils were subject unto him; (differing therein from the Pharisees, who made him Belzebubs Factor) and that there was no disease so incurable which this heavenly Physician was not able to cure; and that he had past his word to the greatest Sinners, That if they should call upon God for mercy, and believe in his son Christ jesus, whom he had sent into the world, he would free them from forth the depth of their miseries. Non respondit ei verbum. He answered not a word. Origen, and almost all the rest of the Saints, Why God many times shows himself deaf and dumb to our requests. judge this silence of our Sruiour to be very strange, in regard of the strangeness of the circumstances. First of all, Because that Fountain (saith Origen) which was always wont to invite and call us to drink, doth now deny water to the Thirsty; the Physician that came to cure the Sick, refuse to help his Patient; that Wisdom which cried out in the Market place with a loud voice, Venite ad me, that it should now remain dumb, Who may not stand amazed at it? O Lord, thou dost not only accept of Prayer, but dost like of the bare desire to do it; not only of the lips, but of our willingness to move them. Et voluntate labiorum illius, non fraudasti eum, saith David. And Wisdom, Optavi, & datus est mihi sensus, When I prayed, understanding was given me; and when I called, Wisd. 7. the Spirit of Wisdom came unto me. Secondly, That those prayers & cries which come not from the heart, should notbe heard, it is not much. Aufer à me tumultum carminum tuorum, saith Amos, Amos. 5. Take thou away from me the multitude of thy Songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy Viols; And all because they were not from the heart. And in another place, Populus hic labijs me honorat, cord autem longe est, They honour me (saith Esay) with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But this Cananitish woman did by her voice express her heart's grief: and most true it is, That parents many times loving their children better than themselves, are more sensible of their sorrows than of their own. Thirdly, it being so pious a business, as the freeing of her daughter from the torment of the Devil; and being sent beside, of God into the world, Vt dissoluat opera Diaboli; the Apostles as well pitying the daughter's misery, as the mother's sorrow, besought our Saviour in her behalf, saying, Dimitte illam. Fourthly, There must be some great matter in it, some extraordinary reason, why Christ should be now more dumb, than at other times: But of that we have spoken elsewhere. Clamavi per diem, & non exaudies, & nocte, & non etc. (they are the words of the son of God to his eternal Father) What, o Lord, (saith he) shall I call upon thee night and day, and wilt thou not hear me? Thy silence can be no scandal unto me, because I know the secrets of thy heart; and thy love towards me; Marry unto others, it may give great offence. In the former Chapter of this Story, we have given some reasons of this silence. Of those which have since offered themselves, let the first be that of S. Chrisostome: If our Saviour Christ (saith he) should have made present answer to the Canaanitish woman, her patience, her perseverance, her prudence, her courage, and her faith, would not have been so much seen, nor manifested to the World. So that our Saviour was not dumb out of any scorn or contempt towards her, but because in the crysoll of these his put-byes, and disdains, he might discover the treasure of her Virtues. And for this cause did Christ heap so many disgraces upon her, one on the neck of another: one while, not seeming to take any notice of her griefs; another while styling the jews, children, and herself a dog. Wherewith this poor woman, was so far from being offended or taking any exception at it, that humbly casting herself down at his feet, she did worship and adore him, allowing all that he said to be true, & that these disgraces were worthily thrown upon her, confessing herself to be no better than a dog, yet notwithstanding she comes upon him again with an Etiam Domine, Yet the crumbs o Lord, etc. That with kind words and fair promises, and other gracious favours, God should encourage his soldiers, put strength and boldness into them, and win their love and affection, it is not much; but that with disdains and disgraces, they should receive augmentation, and increase, (like Anteus, who the oftener he was by Hercules thrown to the ground, the abler and stronger he grew) it is more than much. He that is in Love, hath his affection rather inflamed than abated by disdains: And this Canaanitish woman was fall'n so far in love with our Saviour, that his neglecting of her could not quench the heat of her affection. In a word, because to fight against the disfavours of God, is one of the greatest proofs that a Soul can make of her prowess; that this woman's valour might be the more seen, Non respondit ei verbum, He answered not a word, etc. The second is of Saint Gregory: Many times (saith he) God doth defer this or that favour which we beg at his hands, Psal. 7. and for no other cause, but that he would have us to persever in Prayer. God is so well pleased, that we should pray and sue unto him, that with him, he is Magis importunus, qui importunat minus, Most troublesome, that is least troublesome. Saint Austen saith, that out of the pleasure and delight that he taketh therein, God will have us to entreat him even for those things, which are already decreed upon in his divine Council. And as his providence gives us the fruits of the Earth, by the means of travel and tillage; so he gives us many good things, & many rich blessings, by the means of prayer. Abraham's posterity rested very secure, in regard of the promise which God had made unto them; Gen. 22. Gen. 28. And yet for all this, would he have Isaac's prayers to be the means, that Rebecca of barren, should become fruitful. There was great certainty, 3. Kings●8 ●8. that God would send rain after that great drought, for to comfort the children of Israel, yet would he have the prayer of Elias to be the means to procure it. The health of Tobias and Sarah his wife stood upon sure terms of safety, Tob. 3. yet was he advised by Raphaell to pray, that the Devil might not have the power to take his life from him, as he had done from the rest of her husbands. This made Thomas to be of opinion, that our predestination is propped up and strengthened with the prayers of the Saints. And Saint Chrysostome affirmeth; That as the hands of a man are naturally, not only instruments of all things else, but of the very instruments themselves; so is Prayer in that which is spiritual. Saint Jerome and Saint Basil, make mention of a certain Heretic, who said, Seeing God knows what I stand in need of, why should I seek to trouble and importune him? Whereunto their answer is, That with God we are not to make ourselves, Relatores necessitatis nostrae, sed reos, Not reporters, but petitioners. And as there is a great inequality betwixt Relatorem, Importunity in prayer pleasing to God. and Reum; so is there likewise in their importunity. Saint Augustine is of opinion, That he who is not importunate, shows he hath no great mind to that thing he sues for; and that God will not grant him his request, because he seems to set so light by it. The third is this, God doth not only from thy prayers receive pleasure, Difference betwixt the maker of the image & the worshipper. but honour. Martial treating of Idolaters, saith, That there is this difference betwixt the Artificer that makes the Idol, and him that prays unto it and adores it; that the Artificer only makes the Image; but that he that prays unto it, and adores it, makes (as much as in him lies) a God of it; for by praying thereto, and adoring it, he doth openly protest and manifestly declare its Divinity, and for his part, doth willingly acknowledge all reverence and worship due to the same. Qui fingit sacros, auro, vel marmore vultus, Non facit ille Deos, qui rogat, ille facit. To Gold, or Stone, a sacred look who feigns, Makes them not Gods; who prays, that praise obtains. Which kind of language is likewise used in Scripture. The Children of Israel cried out, Fac nobis Deos qui nos precedant, Make us Gods to go before us▪ but of Aaron it is said, That he made them a Calf; it was Aaron that made the Calf, Exod. 32. but they, that made the Calf a God. Thou interest into a Silversmiths Shop, thou seest him at work, thou askest him, What he is a doing? he tells thee, He is making the God Cupid; He speaks amiss, and does not say well in it; for it is he that bows before him, prays unto him, and adores him, that makes him a God: for thou for thy part makest him neither worse nor better than an Idol; it is he that sues unto him, he that falls down and worships him, equalling him in his service with God, that makes him a God. Of such Gods, God saith by David, They that make them are like unto them, and so are all such as put their trust in them. So that to beg or ask any thing of God, is to honour and praise him, Psal. 115. making public protestation, and open acknowledgement of his divine power. Dignus est Agnus accipere dignitat●m, Apoc. 5. Worthy is the Lamb that was killed (Saint john pointing at our Saviour) to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and glory, and praise; To whom all the creatures that are in Heaven, and on the Earth, and in the Sea, and all that is in them, shall sing praise, and honour, and glory, and power, to him that sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for evermore. God, (and so our Saviour Christ) wheresoever he is, hath still his divinity with him: Thou dost not deny it; but God is not contented with this, but he will have thee on thy part to give it him, by calling upon him, craving his helping hand, and by acknowledging him to be thy God. According to that prophecy of Esay, Ipsum Gentes deprecabunt●r, The Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, and the N●●ions shall seek unto him. Esay 11. Dan. ●. Daniel chose rather to be cast into the Lion's Den, than to leave off his praying unto God. Darius would needs make himself a God for thirty days, and gave command, That none should dare to make any supplication to any other but himself: It was a rash and unadvised action in him to seek to make himself a God; but it was no ill course in him, that he made this trouble of hearing their petitions, the means to remedy what he found was amiss; for by hearing his People's complaints, he knew the better how to help them. And therefore God complaining of his People, That they did not come and sue unto him, nor make their moan unto him, he brands them in the forehead to their foul shame, with a Non me invocasti, Thou hast not called upon me. The fourth is S. Austin's; who saith, That God sometime denies, sometimes grants our requests; one while more slow, another, more speedy, in yielding to our petitions. The Devil craved his leave to tempt job, and he presently gave way to it. Saint Paul did beg of him, that he might be freed from that evil Angel which tormented him, and his suit was denied; yet the Devil's dispatch was nothing so good as Saint Paul's: to the one it was quick, but to his farther shame and confusion: to the other more slow, but to his greater grace and glory. The Spouse treating of her Beloved, saith, I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, Cant. 5.6. but he answered me not. Richardus de Sancto Victore saith, That God doth not presently reply to our Prayers, nor on the sudden grant our requests, to the end that he might make us the better answer, and send us away with the better dispatch. It is a note of Saint Basils', That Salomon's wisdom stayed so little a while with him, because God had so soon granted his request. And therefore it is commonly said, Que prestò se alcança se pierde, Soon got, soon lost. The fifth is of Victor Antiochenus. Our Saviour Christ (saith he) threw so many disgraces upon this woman of Tyrus and Sydon, and yet gave her strength withal to continue so courageous and constant all the while, to the end that if the jews should either grow envious or jealous of the favour that our Saviour showed unto her, by taking exception at his Fiat tibi sicut vis, Be it unto thee as thou wouldst have it; and at that his extraordinary commending of her, when he tells her, I have not found such great Faith, no not in Israel: he might very well excuse himself unto them, by showing unto them, that this was violentiae magis, quam voluntatis, rather a violent, than a voluntary action, and that whither he would or no, he was in a manner forced and compelled to do as he did: For it is not unknown unto you, how scornful I showed myself unto her, how many disgraces I put upon her; yet all would not do, but she is more importunate upon me than before, so that her Faith did enforce me to yield. He that is truly in love, avoids the occasions that may be offensive to his Love: Nor can that love be too much endeared, which our Saviour bare unto the jews, which made him so loath to offend them: but never was there any woman so jealous of her husband, as the jews were of the Gentiles, as also of our Saviour's conversing with them. The sixth, That one of the noblest and most heroical acts of our Faith, is, That a man should love his Maker, call to God for mercy and forgiveness of his sins, desire victory over his temptations, and sue and beg, and that earnestly, not a year or two, but ten years together; and God all this while not returning him any answer, that he should for all this still persever in these his constant courses of Prayer, is a thing, I know not whither more to be commended, than admired. job. 30.20. Clamo, & non exaudis me; sto, & non respicis me, saith job, I cry unto thee, and thou do●st not hear me, neither regardest me when I stand up; I cry by Prayer, I stand up by perseverance. Vatablus translates it, Sto, & nihil me curas, I stand up, and th●● takest no notice of it. Moses did desire of God, That he would do him the favour to let him see his face: that he should talk with God, and God speak again to him; this would not content him, he must see him, forsooth, else all the rest was as nothing: In what case would he then have been, had he neither seen nor heard of him? Of Baal the divine Historian delivereth, 3. Kings 18. There was neither voice to be heard, nor one to answer, nor any that regarded. He was a false god; but that our God should be deaf at our cries, etc. The seventh, That a mother should breed up her daughter so ill, that she should fall into the Devil's hands, Male à Daemonio vexatur [the Greek, Daemonizatur] it is not much, that Christ should not make her any answer; for although no man can live free from the battery of Hell, yet a mother that shall thrust her daughter into it, must hold herself an unfortunate woman: For it is necessary that scandals should come; yet Christ did mourn for those through whose means they were occasioned. The last, God doth defer the favours thou beggest of him, to the end thou mayst esteem the better of them when they come; for we lightly esteem of those things that cost us but little labour. Elisha could have healed Naaman the King of Syria's Favourite, either by his word only, or by laying his hands upon his leprosy, or by willing him to wash himself but once in jordan; but he would have him to wash himself therein seven times, because he should not disesteem of it. Speciosa mesericordia Dei quasi nubes in tempore siccitatis, O! how fair a thing is mercy in the time of anguish and trouble? Eccle. 35. It is like a Cloud of rain in the time of a drought. For these, and other the aforesaid reasons, our Saviour Christ would not give ear to this humble petition of this poor Canaanitish woman. Dimitte came, quia clamat post nos. Dispatch her, for she crieth after us. These were good Favourites, Soft persons the fittest about Princes. worthy to be about the person of Christ their King: your Courtiers have not commonly such tender bowels; but these had compassion of other men's miseries and necessities, they take part in the petitions of the poor, they plead the cause of the afflicted, they solicit their suit, and entreat hard for them. The Propitiatory stood upon the Ark of the Law, and on either side, it had two Cherubimes covering the Mercy seat with their wings, and their faces one towards another, Exod. 2●. beholding one another in that manner, that their eyes were never off each other. Saint Augustine will have it, That God doth hereby advise the Transgressors of his Law, that they should appeal from his rigour to his mercy, which was the nearest cut a sinner could make; Mercy, a sure motive for mercy. Cant. 2.4. and that the best means to come to this his Mercy seat, was, to look upon our neighbour, & never to have our eyes from off his wants and necessities. The Spouse did boast herself of those favours which her Beloved did unto her, Introduxit me Rex in cellam vinariam, etc. He brought me into the Wine cellar, and Love was his banner over me; his left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me, etc. And her companions that kept her company made answer, Exultabimu● & latabimur in te memores uberum tuor●m, We have rejoiced, and will be glad, etc. We take much joy in this thy privacy and inwardness with him, because we know that it will make much for our good. Thou alone (saith Saint Bernard) shalt enter into the Wine cellar; but thou alone shalt not be rich and happy therein, thou must share these thy blessings with thy neighbours, friends, and allies, and all must taste of the milk of thy breasts: for the breasts were not made so much for those that have them, as for those harmless creatures that must suck and draw from them. This love and charity showed the Apostles, when they did solicit this woman's dispatch, and said to our Saviour, Dimitte illam, Send her away. Non sum missus nisi ad Oues, quae perierunt domus Israel. I am not sent but to the lost Sheep of the House of Israel. Principally, personally, and by especial precept, was our Saviour sent to the People of Israel; which was testified by Saint Paul, The Word of God was to be spoken first to you: And this was the reason why he called them Children; and the Gentiles, Dogs. But by his Apostles he came to preach and do miracles for the whole world: so doth Saint Ambrose, Cyril Alexandrinus, Saint Hierome, and learned Bede declare it. Saint Augustine saith, That he employed his presence only upon the jews, in regard of Abraham● Faith, and for the promise sake which God had made of the Messias; so that though he came to the borders of Tyrus and Sydon, it was more for to hide himself out of the way, than any thing else; and that though he wrought this miracle there, it was not much material, being wrested from him by importunity; as one, who to still a bawling Cur, throws him a morsel of bread to stop his mouth; or, to speak it in better terms, as one, from whom by chance a crumb had fallen from forth his fingers. Non sum missus nisi ad Oues, etc. Amongst many other offices which our Saviour Christ had, one was that of a Shepherd, who was to gather together his scattered Sheep, and to bring them all into one Fold. Et suscitabo super eos Pastorem meum, Ezech. 34. qui pascat eos, so saith Ezechiel, I will set up a Shepherd over them, and he shall feed them. 2. Pet. Saint Peter calls him Principem pastorum; and he proves himself to be a Shepherd, by his going forth to seek after this lost Sheep. And if we mean to have our habitation in Heaven, & to be of the same Fold with the Saints, we must first be this Shepherd's Sheep upon earth, before we can come to be his Saints in Heaven. For albeit the Just bear the name of Sheep, as is noted by Saint Hierome, Saint Augustine, Saint Gregory, and Saint Cyprian; yet all that have this name shall not come to Heaven; for many, of Sheep shall become Wolves. First, The proportion of our Saviour Christ's giving to his, the name of Sheep and of Lambs, consists first of all in their innocence and simplicity; whereof the Sheep and the Lamb are the true symbol and hieroglyphic; as it is proved by Saint Gregory and Saint Cyprian in the place before alleged. Quid per Oues nisi ●nnocentia designatur? What but innocence is pointed at by Sheep? saith Saint Gregory. Oues nominat, ut innocentia Christiana Ouibus aequetur, He calls the● Sheep, to show, that Christian innocence should equal that of theirs, saith Saint Cyprian. When the Angel with that his naked Sword in his hand went making that fearful slaughter amongst the Israelites, David humbly kneeling on his knees makes his moans unto God, and saith, Isti qui Oues sunt, quidfecerunt? What have these poor Sheep done, 2. Kings 24. these innocent Lambs? it is I that have sinned, smite me, and not them: Let thy hand, I pray, be against me and my father's House; but spare these thy Sheep, who silly harmless Creatures have no way offended thee. Secondly, This proportion consists in that wonderful obedience which the Sheep carry to the Shepherd, who with a word or a whistle bridleth their appetites, and keeps them within their bounds, not offering to stray into strange Pastures. This is that which David said, His ear was obedient to me: And our Saviour Christ, My Sheep hear my voice. Thirdly, In that, those that are lost and gone astray, show their discomfort, by bleating and following from hill to hill, from pasture to pasture, path to path, the steps of his Shepherd, lifting up his head, and bending his ear on the one side, and listening whither he can hear the sound of his voice, and many times he will lean one ear to the ground, the better to help his attention. Saint Ambrose saith, That one of the greatest pledges that a Sinner can desire of his Predestination, is, to be like unto the lost Sheep, to show himself sad and heavy, when he misseth his Shepherd that should protect him, and look well unto him; to make his moan, send out sighs and sobs like so many blea●ings, to follow the track of his footsteps, to listen to his whistle, to hearken to his voice, and to give ear unto his call: for that sinner that shall do so, it is an evident token that he was borne for Heaven. Fourthly, There is nothing in a Sheep, whatsoever it be, but is good & profitable; (as the flesh, the blood, the milk, the wool, and the fell) but nothing that is hurtful: beside, it is a most fruitful creature, Oues fatosae abundantes in faetibus suis, Our Sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets. The just man is likewise full of goodness, and full of profit, in his words, and in his works, in his thoughts, in his wealth, in his poverty, in his health, and in his sickness: but nothing in him that is hurtful. Saint Paul reckoning the conditions and properties of Charity, repeateth first the good that it doth, Patiens est, benigna est, etc. Love suffereth long, it is bountiful, etc. And anon after, he enumerateth the evils which it doth not, Non aemulatur, etc. Love envieth not, 1. Cor. 2●. Love doth not boast itself, it is not puffed up, it doth no uncomely thing, it seeketh not her own things, it is not provoked to anger, it thinketh no evil, it rejoiceth not in iniquity, etc. Fiftly, It's patience and gentleness when they shear him and rob him of his Fleece, turning him this way or that way, when they bind his legs, or otherwise use him hardly, and put him to pain, he scarce offereth to bleat or open his mouth; he goes as willingly to the Butcher's block, as to his green pastures; and when the Butcher puts his knife to his throat, he beholds him with a gentle and lovely look. In a word, Esay endearing the infinite patience of our Saviour Christ, could not find any comparison fitter for him, than that of the Sheep and the Lamb, Sicut Ouis ad occisionem ductus est, sicut Agnus coram tondente, se obmutuit, He went like a Sheep to the slaughter, and like a Lamb before the shearer, he opened not his mouth. This then is the nature and quality of the mystical Sheep of the Church, Caeduntur gladijs, etc. They are smitten with swords, yet neither murmur nor complain. Sixtly, Saint Basil and Saint Ambrose both affirm, That the Sheep ordinarily do eat and chew the cud, but then most of all (by a natural instinct) when Winter draws on, and then he feeds a great deal faster, and with more eagerness, as divining, that through the inclemency of the Heavens, and the bitterness of the cold, he shall not find feeding sufficient for him. And this is a lesson for us, to teach us what we are to do: The Sheep of Christ's flock usually are to seek for their feeding in the pastures of Virtue, either by ruminating, meditating, or contemplating; but when they see death approaching near upon them, they must fall more speedily and more earnestly to their meat; for when the Winter of death shall come upon them, they will not find whereon to feed. And therefore work righteousness before thou die; like unto the Ant, who provides in the Summer against the rigour of the Winter: Quoniam non est apud inferos, invenire cibum, In hell there is no meat to be got for any money: and the hunger in Hell is so strange, that the Damned feed upon their own tongues. For these his Sheep God came into the world, Quantum ad efficaciam, though he came also for all the whole world in general: Quantum ad sufficientium, effectually for His; but sufficiently forall. And it is a fearful thing to think on, which is noted by Saint Bernard; to wit, That he that shall not be a sheep in this life, Psal. 49. shall after death be damned to Hell; Sicut Oues in inferno positi sunt, They lie in Hell like sheep, and death gnaweth upon them. As here we take the fleece from off our Sheep, and leave them naked and poor; so there the Wolf shall be fleeced of his riches, and of all the pleasures and comforts that he took in this world, and be left not only naked, but full likewise of pain and torment; Mors depascet eos, Death shall gnaw upon them, and dying to life, they shall live to death. Venit & adoravit eum; dicens, Domine adiwa me. Came and worshipped him; saying, Lord help me. As there are some kind of fires which recover more force by throwing water upon them; so the heart of this woman did recover more courage by this our Saviors' disgrace, in not vouchsafing her an answer, thinking thereby to quench the heat of her zeal: And falling down prostrate before him, and adoring him as God, said unto him, Lord, am I thy Sheep, or not thy Sheep? camest thou for me, or not for me? I dare not be so bold to dispute that with thee; yet give me leave, considering the wretchedness of my case, to call unto thee for help, and to beat at the doors of thine ears, with a Domine adjuva me; with a Help me good Lord. Here are those hot, impatient, violent, and fiery dispositions condemned, for whom those two lovely Twins, Hope and Patience, were never borne: with whom, every little delaying of their desires, and deferring of their hopes, drives them to the depth of desperation, and is as a thousand deaths unto them. They are like unto your hired Horses, who come so hungry to their Inn, that they will not stay the plucking off of their bridle, though thereby they should the better come at their meat. Osee compares them to a young Heifer that hath been used to tread out corn, who is no sooner taken from the cart, or the Plough, before her yoke is taken off would fain run to the threshing floor, Ephraim vitula est, doctan diligere trituram; So affected to her feeding, that she hath not the patience to put a mean between her treading and her eating. Non est bonum sumere panem Filiorum, & mittere Canibus. It is not good to take the children's Bread, and give it to Dogs. This was so cruel a blow, that any body else would hardly have endured it; But God always proportions his favours and disfavours, according to the measure of our capacity: To thee, he gives riches, because he distrusts thy weakness; to another, poverty, because he knows his strength. Fidelis Deus, qui non patietur vos tentare, 1. Cor. 11. ultra id quod potestis. God is so good a God, that he will not suffer ye to be tempted above your power. And this reason alone ought to make men rest contented with that state and condition of life, whereinto God hath put them. Christ you see, carries himself scornfully to this woman, yet (poor soul) she patiently suffers and endures all: Whether or no, for that it is an ordinary thing with God, to be then most kind, when he seems to be most cursed. How did he deal with Abraham touching his son Isaac? He makes him draw his sword, set an edge upon it, and lift up his arm to strike, but when he was ready to give the blow, he holds his hand, and bestows a blessing upon him, for this his great faith and obedience. Non est bonum, sumere panem filiorum. It is not good to take the children's bread. What? shall I give the children's bread unto dogs? It is not fitting. My Miracles and my Doctrine were meant to the children (for so was Israel called) Filius meus primogenitus Israel. It was provided, & principally promised unto them, Exod. 4. upon a pact or covenant which God had made with Abraham. In a well ordered house, the dogs are not allowed to eat the children's bread, worse scraps will serve their turn; it is enough that they have that which is necessary to nourish their body. Oculi omnium, in te sperant Domine, The eyes of all things wait upon thee, o Lord; Psal. 145. and thou givest them their meat in due season, such as is fitting for them. But the choice bread of his Law, and of his presence, this is reserved for his own house and family, those that are his children, and his own people. Of whom Saint Paul saith, Credita sunt illis eloquia Dei. And David; Non fecit taliter omni nationi; Psal. 147. He hath not dealt so with any nation beside. Your Turks, the Moors, and the Negroes, in a scorn and contempt of them, we call them dogs. And we inherit this name from the Moors, who when they were Lords of Spain, bestowed that nickname on us. The Scripture gives this name of base minded men. 2. Kings 3. 2. Kings 16. Nunquid caput canis ego sum? Am I a dog's head? It was Abuers saying to Ishbosheth. As if he should have said, shall I be so base as to pocket such a wrong. Again, 4. Kings 8. Shall I take off this dog's head that curseth my King? It was Abishays speech of Shimei; as making no more reckoning of him than of a dog. Again, Is thy servant a dog, that I should be so devoid of all pity and humanity? It was Hazaells' answer to Elisha, when he told him of the evil that he should do unto the children of Israel. Philip. 3. And Saint Paul adviseth the Philippians to beware of dogs; alluding to Heretics. And the jews gave this attribute of dog to the Gentiles. Etiam Domine, nam & callite. Yes Lord, for even the Whelps. Here this Canaanitish woman, taking her Cum, The least of God's favours no way to be valued. caught him at his word. She had him now, and (as Saint Chrisostome noteth) held herself now as good as already dispatched, and that her suit was at an end. Inferring hereupon; o Lord, I account myself a most happy woman, that I may be admitted into thy house, though it be but in the nature of a dog. First, because that dogs being faithful and loving, affectionate thereby their Masters unto them. And none shall be more loving and loyal unto you than I, who shall still wait upon you, be never from your heels, and follow you unto death. And secondly; for that to dogs, were never yet denied the crumbs that fell from their Master's table. I would not (poor unworthy creature, Discretion a main motive in our petitions to God. as Theophilact makes her speak) desire any of those thy greater miracles, which thou keepest for thine own children, the least that thou hast will content me, be it but as a crumb in comparison of the whole loaf. O how humbly and discreetly did this Canaanitish woman go to work. How mean, and yet how great a courtesy did she beg of our Saviour? For in God's house, the least crumb of his bread, is sufficient to make us happy for ever, and never more to suffer hunger; as the least drop of his blood, is able to cleanse thousands of souls from their sins. Elegi abiectus esse in d●mo Dei mei, I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, etc. Another letter hath it, Ad limen Dei mei, At the threshold of my God. Psal. 84. I had rather be a beggar, and crave an Alms at the grouncell, or lowest greefe in God's house, than to triumph, and live in pomp in the palaces of Princes. Moses would rather have his scrip, with a morsel of bread and cheese in the service of God, than to be a prince of Egypt. It is a common proverb; Que vale mas migaia de Rey, ●ue satico de cavallero; A crumb in a King's Court, is more to be esteemed than a shive of bread in a Gentleman's Hall. The children of Israel were well enough contented with Pharaohs servitude, as long as he allowed them straw for their brick. What little allowance would content them then in God's house? The covetous rich Miser in the Gospel being in Hell, begged but one drop of water, Mitte Lazarum ut intingat extremum digiti sui, Send Lazarus unto me, that he may but dip his finger, etc. He was discreet in his desire, for one only drop of water from Heaven will quench the flames of that vast burning lake of Hell. Abraham being but a particular man, God was willing to make him famous in the world; and for this end he added to his name but one only letter, Gen. 17. Non ultra vocaberis Abram, sed Abraham, Thy name shall be no more called Abram, but Abraham. This no nada, this thing as it were of nothing, which God bestowed upon him, was enough to make him prosper and thrive in the world, & to be the stock and root of such an illustrious Lineage, as the world had never since the like. O mulier, magna est Fides tua; fiat tibi sicut vis. O woman, great is thy Faith. Our Saviour might as well have said, Thy humility, thy perseverance, thy wisdom, thy patience, the acknowledgement of thine own misery, & thy confessing thyself to be but a Dog. But I acknowledge thee (saith Saint Augustine) to be so worthy a woman, that I much wonder at thy worth; and the more I think on it, the more I rest astonished: Thou didst knock, call, and beg; well therefore didst thou deserve, that the doors of thy Saviour's bowels and tender compassion should be opened unto thee. They are, and he answers to thy suit, Fiat tibi sicut vis, Be it unto thee as th●● wouldst have it, not limiting thee to a what, or a how, but as thou wilt thyself. Thou desirest, that I should free thy daughter from the torment of the Devil, do thou free thy daughter, I leave it to thee to do it, I assign over my power and authority unto thee. O my good Lord; how calm art thou now grown, how mild, how gentle to this poor silly woman? she hath got the mastery of me, she hath quite overcome me, I was not able to beat her off, she came within me and forced me to yield, and what will threatenings or brave avail me, God's wrath many times more violent than lasting. being thus vanquished? The Heaven is wont to show itself fearful and terrible at the beginning of some great tempest, throwing out thunder and lightning, hideous to behold, but at last it ends in a mild shower, that makes the fields fertile, and inricheth the earth. Fulgura, in plwiam fecit, He turns the lightning and thunder into rain. Psal. 135. The horror of that dismal Deluge, ended in a beautiful Rainbow. Saint Austen saith, That God dealeth sometimes so with sinners. Mortificat, & vivificat, deducit ad infernum, & reducit, He mortifieth, and he quickeneth, he deduceth us to Hell, and reduceth us from Hell. joseph was in a great rage with his brethren at the first, and seemed to be inexorale, noting them to be Spies and thieves, but this was but dissembled displeasure, & more violent than lasting: And as water being repressed and restrained in its course doth more impetuously rise and swell; so his great pity that he had of them, and the love that he bore unto them, burst forth at last into tears, and being not able any longer to conceal himself from them, he tells them as well as his snobbing and sobbing would interruptingly give him leave, Ego sum frater vester, I am your brother, etc. So our Saviour Christ, did dissemble himself in this business, turning her off so often as he did, till being not able to hold out any longer, he said unto her, O mulier, magnae est fides tua, fiat tibi sicut vis? O wo●●● great is thy Faith, be it unto thee as etc. Nunquid obliviscitur misereri Deus, aut conti●●bit in ira misericordias suas? He will sometimes withhold his mercies, as if he had quite forgotten them: it is an effect of his providence, now and then to defend them; but this still tendeth to our greater good. Be it unto thee as thou wouldst have it. Our Saviour was somewhat slow in dispatching this woman, but it was to better her dispatch. O thou Canaanite, thou mayst think thyself well dispatched with these crumbs, now all is remitted to thine own good liking; Fiat tibi sicut vis, there is thy discharge: And though thou hast stayed long for it, yet that is not to be accounted long, which comes at last: he negotiates not ill, who endeth his negotiation before he depart from the presence of his King, obtaining not only his suit, but withal, a dispatch. Earthly Princes forward to grant, but slow to give. The Kings and Princes of the earth will give thee bread when thou hast no teeth to eat it; a bed, when thy bones cannot rest in it, they are so bruised and broken; and when they have granted thee thy desire, thou shalt not have that dispatch. Saul made an open Proclamation, That he that should kill Goliath, that giantlike Philistine, should marry his daughter; the right was in David, but this favour was afforded him out of season, and not in its due time; for she was married to another that never drew his sword in the quarrel. David finding himself herewith aggrieved, and complaining, that he was not well dealt withal, he received answer, That his reward was sure enough, and therefore he needed not to doubt of it; but that his business might be dispatched, he must first kill a hundred Philistines: so that his promised reward cost him the kill of one, and his dispatch, the kill of a hundred. The world is the same now as it was then; the dispatch costs more than the thing we pretend is worth. I see many Images of devotion in the Court, as our Lady of Pilgrims, our Lady of Pains, and our Lady of good Success; but I know not why, or wherefore, there being more need a great deal, to erect and set up a Lady of good Dispatch. Seneca saith, That those that are Pretenders, Delays much practised by Man. will more patiently endure the cutting off of the thread of their pretention, than to have their hopes drawn out from day to day. Saint Ambrose upon that place of Saint Luke, Statim Gallus cantavit, Presently the Cock crew; noteth three Statims, or three Presently's; Presently the Cock crew; Presently Peter wept; and, Presently God forgave him. But your Ministers of justice, as also in Court, do now a days delay a man, as a Physician doth a Cure, that he may be honoured the more, and paid the better. Twenty years did jacob serve his father in Law Laban, fourteen for his wives, and six for their dowry; and being so due a debt as it was, he went so long deferring the payment thereof, that if God had not taken his part, he might have returned home (for aught I know) with the staff that he brought with him. Mutasti mercedem meam decem vicibu●, Thou hast deceived me, and changed my wages ten times: There is no honesty in such kind of dealing; there are too many of these now a days; but God amend them: And so I commend you to God. THE TENTH SERMON, UPON THE FRIDAY AFTER THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. JOANNIS. 5.1. Erat dies Festus judaeorum, & erat Hierusalem probatica piscina. There was a Feast of the jews, and there is at jerusalem by the place of the Sheep, a Pool. God the only supporter of weaker Man. Eccle. 2. AMongst those many other Fishpools which belonged to jerusalem, (besides those which Solomon had made for his own particular use and pleasure, Extruxi mihi Piscinas aquarum, I made Cisterns of water, etc.) this of all the rest was the most famous. josephus calls it, Stagnum Salomonis, because it was built by this King, near unto the Temple, for the service of sacred things: it was a Pool that was walled round about, whereunto your herds and flocks of cattle could not come; and some say, That this was the place where the Priests hid the holy Fire which Nehemias afterwards found to be converted into a thick water. It was walled round about, and had five several open porches full of diseased people, some of one infirmity, and some of another. This Hospital joined to the back of the Temple, to show, that the poor have no other prop in this life to uphold them, save God's back; this must be their strength, hereunto must they lean: it is our Saviour's shoulders that must not only bear us up, but our infirmities, by taking them upon himself. In Saint Chrysostom's time, the Hospitals were set apart from the Temples, for fear of receiving infection from those contagious diseases: For the poor did lie like so many Dogs, at the doors of God's house. A Thief, that he may the better enter that house where there are many dogs, holds it his best course, to stop their mouths with something or other: We are all thieves, and that we may enter peaceably into God's House, there is no better means, than to give something to the poor, which like so many Dogs lie at the gate. Twice in the Old Testament hath God commanded, That no man should petition him with empty hands; [Non apparebis in conspectu meo vacuus. Exod. 23, & 34 ] And Saint Chrysostome expounding this place, saith, He enters empty handed, who coming to crave something of God, doth not first bestow an Alms upon the poor; according to that rule of our Saviour Christ, What ye shall do to one of these little ones, etc. Citing likewise for confirmation of this Doctrine, that place of Ecclesiasticus, Ante Orationem, prepara animam tuam, Before thou prayest, prepare thyself, etc. Eccle. 18. When thou hast enough, remember the time of hunger; and when thou art rich, think upon poverty and need. To show pity to the poor, Alms, the preparation of the soul to Prayer. Gen. 32. he terms it Animae preparationem, A preparing of the soul: 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 jacob, when he went forth to meet his brother Esau. And Ester coming before Assuerus to beg a boon at his hand, it is said, That one of her maids of Honour bore up her arm, and the other, her train. This is a Type of Prayer, accompanied with Fasting and Almsdeeds; which two, are able to negotiate any thing with God: and where there is such an Ester, there is not any Assuerus (though never so great) who will not bow the Sceptre of his mercy towards her. Ecclesiasticus saith, Give an alms to the poor, and it shall entreat for thee, and prevail. There is in jerusalem by the place of the Sheep, a Pool. Public temples to be frequented. God did honour his Temple with this Pool, where there was a perpetual provision for health; and it was a providence full of conveniency, that God should confer his favours where his name is praised, and that Man should receive them there where he praiseth him. Te decet Hymnus Deus in Zion, tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem, In Zion, o Lord, they sing Hymns unto thee; in jerusalem they make their vows; Open in these places the hands of thy bounty, Et replebimur in bonis domus tuae, And we shall be filled with the good things of thy house. Amongst other favours which God promised to his house, this was one, In loco isto dabopacem, ●n that place I will grant thee peace. The name of Peace intimateth all manner of good things whatsoever; here art thou to beg, and here to receive the granting of thy petitions. And for this cause God calls his house the house of Prayer, which is ordained to beg those things of God which we stand in need of, and to praise him for what he gives, and we receive. The Court is the World's Epitome, an abreviation, or short abridgement of this greater Universe; for that it hath in it whatsoever is dispersed throughout the face of the earth. And this Pool is a figure of the Court: First of all, in this Pool there are a great many of sick & diseased persons, & those of very foul and filthy diseases, blind, wasted in their bodies, benumbed, withered, lame, and maimed. jacere▪ To lie, in Scripture is spoken of those that are dead, (as it appeareth in Exodus, in the Book of Tobias, Exod. 12. Tob. 2. and so of those that lie at the point of death) as likewise of Lazarus, when he lay at Dives his gate. So saith Saint john in this place, Multitudo languentium iaceba●, i. There lay a great multitude of sick men. In the Court there are a great many that lie sick of diverse and sundry diseases of the Soul; an Apoplexy seizeth upon all the senses of the body; one pretention or other possesseth the senses of the body, and the faculties of the Soul, and upon all whatsoever belongs unto man; as his honour, his wealth, his conscience, and truth, etc. This man came to the Pool benumbed, and at the end of thirty eight years was more benumbed than at first; and if our Saviour Christ had not helped him, it is probable he would have perished. Many come to the Court, to recover themselves of an infirmity that follows them, called Poverty; and after many years travel, and pains taking, they prove poorer than before, and oft die of that disease: whereas if they had been contented with their former mean estate, they might perhaps not have died so soon. And although they get the Office they pretend, yet do they never come to be rich, because their profits do not equal their charges. Seneca saith, That if these men would have taken council of those who have tried this pool some few years, they would alter their mind. If he that applies himself to the service of Venus in his youth, would but follow the advice of him who lies in his bed laden with the Pox, & hath not a bone in all his body that wishes him well, Vota mutasset, He would have changed his vows. If he that desires to become a Courtier, will but hearken to him, who being chapfallen and toothless, and having spent all his life time in the service of the Court, goes away at last unrewarded, if not ill requited; Vota mutasset, He would have altered his course. Besides, the diseases in Court are so foul and so uncurable, that it is a miracle, to see one of a thousand of them to be made whole: who, when the wind of Ambition and Pretention fit fair and prosperous upon him, will change his Councillor's robe, retire himself from businesses of the world, put on an Hermit's Weed, and in some solitary Cell betake himself wholly to his devotion? Who, being the Favourite of a King, will not rather lose his life, than leave the Court? Who that is sick (like him of the Dropsy) of that insatiable infirmity of Covetousness, will, in his treasuring up of Riches, say at length, Now I have enough▪ Secondly, In this Fish-poole all did live in hope, Expectantium aquae motum, Weighting for the moving of the water; Led along with this hope, they suffered much misery, but other good had they none. By Osee God said to Israel, Dies multos expectabis me, I will cause thee, ut sperando, desperes, That thy hopes end in despair. The greatest torment that the jews suffer in this life, is, That all the types and figures of their hopes being past, (let them look as long as they will for a Messias) in revenge of their unbelief, their understandings are so blinded, that they still remain condemned to wait upon this idle hope. By God Esay bewaileth & lamenteth that country which had placed her hopes in the multitude of her ships that she put forth to sea, The life of a Courtier, is wholly upon hopes. [In vasis papyri super ●quas] persuading themselves, that their oars, their sails, and their Vessels (which were no better than boats of paper, in God's hands, which sinks as soon as the water soaks through them) should bring them news of comfort. And uttering forth this his sorrow for them, he addeth, Ite Angeli veloces ad gentem dilacerated, He would have his Angels to betake them to their wings, to go comfort this people; he sends them ad Gentem expectantem, a people that lived all upon hope. Run over the houses of all your Courtiers, and ask every particular man o● them, How he lives▪ and he will tell you, That he lives upon hopes. The Pretender hopes, that he may see the water of the Fish-poole, that thereby some good fortune may befall him: The Thief, he likewise would have the waters move, that he might make a purchase to relieve his poverty; your young women, some happy encounter, etc. Those that have some to help them, make ● quick dispatch of it; but he that hath no body to stand his friend, must stay weighting some thirty eight years, and then too in the end must have the help of some miracle to heal him of his sickness. Thirdly, In this Fish-poole they all weighted diligently, and were wonderful careful and vigilant, when the water should move, and then did they rush in speedily, lest some other should prevent them and step in before them. In the Court your Pretenders stand attending with a great deal of care, when Offices are to be bestowed, and other provisions granted forth, shouldering and shooving one another, that others may not get the start of them, and clap in betwixt them and home. Seneca compares the Courtiers to Butcher's Curs, who in the shambles stand looking with a watchful eye for some offals of the entrails that shall be thrown down amongst them, for the which they fall together by the ears; but one having the mor●ell, and the other going whining away, etc. Fourthly, He that was sped first in the Fish-poole, and had his pretention, left the rest sad and envying his good fortune. So likewise in Court, he that obtains his pretention, causes such a sadness in the rest, that for many months after, all is cries and complaints, lamenting and finding fault with the inequality of the times, and how strangely things are carried, Hand (as they say) over head. He that pretends a Captain's place, the government of a Garrison Town, or the keeping of a Fort, frets and fumes, when he knows he hath done the State good service in the Wars, to see a Carpet Knight, that can better use a Viol than a Sword, lead a measure with a Lady than a Band of men, be preferred, and himself put by. So is it with your good Scholars, when they see Dunces carry away their preferments from them: And so with the like, etc. Fiftly, One Angel only moved the waters of the Fish-poole; but those waters of the Court, many Angels, or, to speak more properly, many Devils must move them; and when one favours, four disfavour them: one moves here, but many there trouble the waters; & to make so many men's wills to tremble, is a grievous torment. Abimileck the bastard son of Gideon, judges 9 desirous to tyrannize the government of Israel, alleged this reason to those of Sichem, Which seemeth better unto you, That the seventy sons of Gideon should rule over you, or one only? And, which is the easier of the two, to submit a man's will to seventy wills, or to one will only? King Achish out of this respect thrusts David out of his Court; For mine own part (said he) I like thee well enough, Sed Satrapis non placis, (i) But thou art not pleasing to the Princes. In Court, a man must crouch and creep to many: Happy is that man that negotiates with God, there is but one care to be taken, one only good will to be got. According to that of Tertullian, Vnum negotium mihi est, neque aliud curo. Gregory N●zianzen addeth, That God being Vnus & solus, One, and only one, to show his sole command over us; so did he also assume many names to himself, to give us thereby to understand, that he was willing to afford us many favours. Whereas the Devil takes a contrary course; for he invented many gods to command in the world, but not any to do them good. Sixtly, In the Fish-poole men had their healths given them for nothing, so that it cost not the sick one farthing: dealing with the Patient, as Heaven doth with the Penitent; who when he desires to embark himself for that place, gives him his passage in the Ship of Repentance, free, and gratis, Gratis venundati estis, & sine argento redimemin●, Ye were sold freely, and ye shall be redeemed without money. He is a kind Master of a Ship, who shall give a man his fare for nothing: Our Saviour Christ would ask no more of this sick man, than his desire and willingness to be whole; [Vis sanus ●iers?] but in the Court, before thou comest to the Fiat of thy pretention, thou hast eaten out thy cloak, and it is wonder, if the courtesy quit the cost. Seventhly, The Angel that came to the Fi●h-poole (as all the Commentators upon this place have it) was one and the same, no accepter of persons, but left every one to his own diligence and industry; and he that could soon get into the water, he was the man that was cured. Had he been an Angel of court, (as he was of Heaven) he must have been advised some hours before his coming, of the business, and peradventure he would have taken gifts and rewards not only of those that were to have their estate bettered by him, but of all other the Pretenders. And it were no ill council, that there should be but one only in Court, that should heal us in this case, and not to have them so often changed; for those which are put out remain fat and full, and those that newly come in, weak and hunger-starved. And as those Flies that are already full do less afflict the wounds of the Poor; so, etc. Baruch tells us, That the jews that were in Babylon sent great store of money to those that were in jerusalem, that they should pray unto God for the life of Nabucadonazzar & Balthasar his son: And though this may seem rather a trick of Court, than otherwise, and to savour of flattery; yet that which makes for our purpose, is, That they did desire the life of those Tyrants, for fear lest God should send them worse in their stead. The like was spoken by a woman, to Dyonisius the Tyrant, whose death was generally desired of all. Angelus autem Domini descendebat de Caelo. But the Angel of the Lord came down from Heaven. The Angel did descend at certain times, and with only touching the Water, he did enrich it with so powerful a virtue, that no infirmity was incurable for it. This water doth much express that health which the Saints enjoy in Heaven: that drop of water which the rich man desired, doth much express its comfort and happiness, for that the tip of the least finger dipped therein, was powerful enough to quench those everlasting flames. It was much, that the water touched by the Angel should free all infirmities, and take away all the tormenting pains upon earth; but how much (I pray) if this Angel were God? For the common received opinion is, (which is followed by Saint Austen) That God representing himself in the Old Testament in the form of an Angel, or an Angel appearing in the person of God, Gen. 12. Gen. 15. Gen. 18. saith, Ego Deus, nomen meum jehovah, I am God, my name is jehovah. And he said unto jacob, Curio quaeris nomen meum, quod est mirabile? Why inquirest thou aft●● my name, which is is Wonderful? And in very deed, hardly could an Angel by his own proper virtue and power, leave the waters of the Fish-poole so rich, not being able to do or undo any thing in nature, nor suddenly either to take away or add accidents to any thing. And Saint Ambrose saith, That this Angel did represent the Holy Ghost, to whom are attributed the effects of Sanctification. But suppose that it were not God himsel●e, nor any Minister representing his person, God's respect in comforting the distressed. but one of those Angels which serve as Messengers to his Majesty; this case is worth our consideration, if we will but look upon that which Go● doth, and the love which he showeth to a poor sick man, without help, neglected, and forgotten: he sends a Prince of his Palace to heal him, and to set hi● free from any disease whatsoever. God styleth the Angel, his Face, and his Countenance, [Praecedet te facies me●, My Face shall go before him;] the rest of the creatures he calleth Vestigi● Pedum suorum, The prints of his feet: And amongst these Vestigia, those that are benumbed in their limbs, those that are sick of the Palsy, and those that are jame, seem, sitting in their chairs, and unable to go, to be the very dregs and offscum of the earth; now that God should command his Angels, that they should take upon them the care of the Poor, & such silly worms and poor snakes as they be, is a great endearing of his love towards them: which made Saint Paul to say, Omnes sunt administratorij Spiritus, They are all ministering Spirits. To those of the Spirit it might very well be; Heb. 2. but that God should minister help to filthy, loathsome, and miserable flesh, God could not endure to do such kindnesses, unless he had an especial love unto them. The Scripture scarce any where makes mention of the righteous man that is afflicted here upon earth, but, that an Angel comes from Heaven to comfort him: And for this, may suffice that general Proclamation, Quod uni ex minimis meis fecistis, etc. What ye have done to the least of mine, etc. This truth is made good unto us by many Histories; as that of Agar, Daniel, Tobias, Elias, and joseph: Nay, to God himself an Angel came to comfort him, when he was so full of sorrow and heaviness in the Garden. And this was it that moved the Apostle to say, Gloriamur in tribulationibus, We glory in tribulations: For there is no Loadstone that draws the iron more unto it, than Tribulation doth the Regalos and comforts of Heaven: And as the flame●worketh most upon that wood which is trodden down with the feet; so the glory of God worketh most upon that heart which is most oppressed, etc. Movebatur aqua, The water was moved. Saint Ambrose observeth, That the moving of the water did serve to advise the coming of the Angel: for little would his coming have imported them, if the noise thereof had not given them notice of it; for hidden treasure, and concealed wisdom, are neither useful nor profitable. And of this miraculous motion there may be rendered some natural reason; for that we see that your Lakes and your Pools are more unquiet, and naturally make more noise, when there is much rain towards. Other literal and moral reasons are set down elsewhere upon this place. Sanabatur unus, One was healed. A Fish-poole, Porches, Angels, Water, Motion; What a do is here? Some men may think, that this is too large a circuit for so small a building. I answer, Ob. Sol. That with God it is as hard to heal one, as many; and he that can cure one man, God's mercy not so plentiful in the time of the Law, as since. who is a little world of himself, can with as much ease give remedy to the greater. But those were barren years, and God's mercy was yet in Heaven; [Misericordia Domini in Coelo, saith David] and as before a great rain some few drops begin first to fall; so now at the stooping of the Heavens, at the breaking forth and showering upon the earth the great mercies of God, it is no marvel, that some small drops should precede. In barren years bread is given us by ounces; but if the harvest be fruitful, whole loaves lie in every corner of the house. Before that God had enriched the earth with his presence, all those former years were barren, Grace and Health were given us by dams; but that year came at last which crowned all the rest, that blessed year of his Majesty's divine bounty, Benedices coronae anni benignitatis tuae; then was Grace to the soul, and health to the body given us, by Arrob's and by quintals; Quia virtus de illo exibat & sanabat omnes. Whilst the night lasteth, though it be clear, and the Moon shine bright, yet the light is short; but when the day is come, and the beams of the Sun appear, they beautify the whole world with their light. All that time was night, Nox praecessit, etc. Secondly, The shadow still comes short of the substance. The Pool a figure of Baptism. The Fish-poole was a figure of Baptism; it cured one to day, and another tomorrow; but Baptism healed one, two, nay three thousand sometimes in one day, etc. Qui prior descendebat. He that first went down. God would hereby teach us what a thing Diligence was for the obtaining of the gifts of Grace; for albeit God doth of his own goodness and free gift confer his Graces upon us, without any merits or deservings of our own (for else were it not Grace) yet doth he not bestow his blessings on those who are not willing to embrace them, which will not seek after them, and strive for to win the Garland, as those do that run in a race: and as he that makes most speed gains the Crown; so in the Fish-poole, he that made most hast got his health. He that first went down. Vidisti hominem velocem stavit coram Reges, Kings never reward lazy servants. The like course God taketh; his greatest favours he throws upon those his servants who set not their feet on the ground; for those that serve him in Heaven, he will have them to be Spirits, and Flames of ●ire [Qui faci● Angelos suos Spiritus, Psal. 10.24. Esay 60. & Ministros suos Flammam ignis:] but those that serve him here upon earth, he calls them Clouds, Qui sunt isti, qui sicut nubes volant? He that first went down, etc. This seemeth an unequal Law, for that the disposition of the Sick was not equal: God dispenceth his favours as he pleaseth. for how could he that was benumbed and lame of his feet, prevent the diligence of that man that had the use of his legs? and he that was consumed & wasted with weakness, him that was sick of a slighter disease? And those thirty eight years of this poor sick man, argue the great odds that others had of him. Nor do I know how this inequality may be salved, unless that the diligence of other folks towards those that are thus grievously afflicted, put to their helping hand, and seek to balance them (by their diligence) with those that have less impediment: and therefore wanting those good means, this poor man told our Saviour, Hominem non habeo, I have not a man. Some men will say, That God is the giver of temporal blessings, of health, wealth, honour, and what not; and that he doth no wrong in giving or taking them away as he shall think fit: Suiting with that which he said to the Labourer in the Vineyard, Amice, non facio tibi iniuriam; An non licet mihi facere quod volo? Friend, I offer thee no wrong; May I not do with mine own what I will? So that he might, you see, give this man a disposition to regain his health, and he might likewise not give it him. Saint Paul saith, Vnus accipit bravium, One received the prize. In those your Races which were used amongst your Grecians and your Romans, many hoped to bear away the Garland; but this hope did belie all of them save one: But in that Race which we run for Heaven, Omnes qui rectè currunt comprehendunt, All that run well, do gain; it is Saint Augustine's. And Saint Chrysostome declaring that place of Esay (Omnes sitientes, venite ad Aquas, All ye● that thirst, come unto the Waters) says, That he animates all the world to come and drink their fill, never fearing that that Fountain of Grace can ever be drawn dry. Et erat homo triginta & octo annos habens in infirmitate. The man had been diseased thirty eight years. He declares the long continuance of his disease, to make the greatness of the miracle to appear the more: as he said of Lazarus, Luke 8. when he had now been four days dead, jam faetet, He doth already stink: and of the woman that had an Issue of blood twelve years long, which had spent all her substance upon Physicians, and could not be healed of any: and that other, which had a Spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could not lift up herself in any wise: Luke 13. Whom some interpret to be the Devil, by those words of our Saviour, This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound. Eight and thirty years of sickness would require eight and thirty years of meditation: And first of all, let us consider, what a sad and miserable life this poor man led. Animus gaudens floridam vitam facit, spiritus tristis exsiccat ossa, A merry life makes a cheerful countenance▪ but that which is sad and mournful withereth the flesh; and not only consumes the outward beauty, but also rotteth the bones. Another Letter hath it, Animus gaudens benefacit medicina, Prou. 17. A joyful heart causeth good health; but a sorrowful mind drieth the bones: A jocund mind disposeth the body as physic; nor is there any physic for man comparable to that of joy.. According to that which the Wise man saith in another place, Nihil aliud sub Coelo, quam laetari & benefacere, To make a cheerful countenance, there is nothing under Heaven like to a joyful heart; Prou. 15. but by the sorrow of the heart the mind is heavy, In moerore animi deijcitur spiritus; another Letter gives it, Frangitur: a man is broken thereby, and ground in pieces as corn under a millstone. Ecclesiasticus renders the reason of it, painting forth the condition of a heavy and sorrowful soul; Sicut in percursura tritici permanebit stercus, etc. As when one sifteth, the filthiness remaineth in the sieve; so the filth of a man remaineth in his thought: Eccl. 27. For as the woman that winnoweth the corn, leaves nothing in the sieve but the chaff; (which is as it were farinae stercus, The dung of the meal) so, if you will but sift the thought of a sorrowful man, (which is as it were the sieve) and throughly winnow his good and evil dispositions, the good ones quickly run from him, and the bad remain behind. But what joy can a man take that lieth bedridden eight and thirty years? Sorrow, a sharp sword. 3. Kings 19 A great grief (though but short) will kill the strongest man alive, [Multos enim occidit tristitia, Sorrow hath killed many] and though it doth not give them present death, it gives them a heart to desire it. Elias found himself so out of heart when he sat him down under the juniper tree in the Wilderness, (flying from the fury of jesabel, who sought after his life) that he desired in this his melancholy mood, that he might die. What despair then may not that sorrow drive a wretched poor soul into, whose grief is as long, as great, and as great as it is long? Seneca tells us, Melius est semel scindi, quam semper premi, Better is a short, than a linger death. job passed over many a sorrowful day, and many a mournful night, Dies vacuos, & noctes laboriosas, Companilesse, and comfortless; and his wife thinking it the lesser ill, to die out of hand, than to live in such perpetual torment; said unto him, pitying his grievous pain, Benedic Deo, & morere; Play the Renegado once, curse God to his face, that thou mayst oblige him thereby to take away thy life. But say that jobs affliction was great, it was not of 38 years standing, as this poor man's was. Eight and thirty years. Here we are to consider, That this sick man was at least fifty years old: and we may make this conjecture, That he lay in a little car, with his bed under him, together with such rags and clouts as were for his necessary use. Whence it followeth, that God had laid this long sickness of thirty eight years upon him for his sins, as Saint Chrysostome, Irenaeus, and many other Saints infer, upon that command which God laid upon him, Noli amplius peccare, See thou sin no more. It seemeth, that he had committed these sins when he was but twelve years old; for many times [Praevenit malicia peccatum] it so falls out, that our wickedness outstrips our age, and that we run into great sins, before we come to great years; young Youths being herein like unto Cakes that are baked upon coals, which are burnt before they come to their baking. Ose. 7. According to that of Osee, Factus es Ephraim, subcineritius panis qui non reversatur, (i) Ephraim is as a Cake on the hearth, not turned. And this aught to be a warning-piece to those that are old and ancient sinners, and have not yet been questioned for their lewd lives, nor never felt the lash of God's wrath. They that keep Lions, use to whip their young whelps, that they may make the greater Lions to fear, and live in awe of them: Fewer are the faults, but more the stripes which the Poor feel; a bad sign for the Rich, that do run riot. Aristotle saith, That punishments were invented for the deterring of men from evil. Saint Chrysostome, That the mark which God set upon 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 add terror to posterity. Some punishments are quickly passed over, and therefore do not so much good; and others are very profitable, by reason of their length & continuance. job saith, That God had as it were nailed his shafts on his sides, they stuck so close to his ribs. Esay and Malachi take their comparison from the Siluer-smith, who sits long at his work, Et sedebit constans, etc. Now God by these his long afflictions punisheth him whom he loveth, to the end that the sinner may take warning thereby, and learn to fear the Lord; Non videbit interitum, cu● viderit Sapientes morientes, (i) He shall not see destruction, when he shall see that Wisemen die. Eight and thirty years. According to the common course which God taketh of punishing sin in this life, Why God sometimes prolongs our pains here in this life. this of thirty eight years seemeth somewhat too rigorous a correction. Upon this doubt diverse reasons are rendered, and one more principal than the rest, is, That this prolongation was not because God wished him ill, or loved him the less; but because there is not any Medicine that preserves a man more from the plague of vice and of sin, than a long sickness. Prisons and Fetters (saith Vlpianus) were not so much invented for the punishing of disorders, as the restraining of them: being as a great log of wood to an untamed and unruly Hey far, a strap to the fleet Hound, or a bridle to a Horse. job calleth the Gout, a pair of Stocks, Posuisti in trunco pedem meum, Thou puttest my feet in the Stocks, and lookest narrowly to all my paths, and makest the print thereof in the heels of my feet. And he styles 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 Saviour Christ healing a woman that bowed her body so downward to the earth, that she could not look up to heaven; said, Hanc filiam Abrahae quam, etc. Ought not this daughter of Abraham whom Satan hath bound eighteen years, be loosed from this bond? Solomon compares a Physician to a jailor; for when God commits a delinquent to his couch, causing him there to remain prisoner, having fettered, as it were, his feet to his sheets; the Physician looks unto him, and hath a care that he stir not from thence till God releaseth him of his sickness. Thus did he deal with this poor man▪ who lay thirty eight years, as it were, by the heels, unable to wag either han● or foot, so strangely was he benumbed in all his limbs. Some man will say, 〈◊〉 have a shrewd burning Fever; but this is a more common, than proper phrase o● speech. And the Evangelist corrects it thus, Socrus autem Petri tenebatur mag●● febribus. She had not the Fever, but the Fever had her. Infrenabo te, ne inter●●▪ With the bridle of Sickness he will hold thee back, that thou mayst not headlong r●n down the Rock that leads to utter destruction both of body & soul. Homer feigns, That the Goddess Pallas, for the love which she bore to Achilles, kept him back, when he would have encountered with Agamemnon King of the greeks. David gave thanks to Abigal, because he being resolved to destroy Nabal and all his house, she had withheld him from it; Qu●a prohibuisti me, etc. So may we likewise give thanks unto sickness, because it detains us & turns us aside from the forbidden paths of humane pleasures: so that these thirty eight years are so far from the rigour of justice, that it is rather an act of mercy and pity. But if we consider these thirty eight years in reason of justice, it will not seem rigorous to any: He is not to be accounted an austere & severe judge, who doth keep a Delinquent long in prison; if when he is in prison he return to a relapse in his delicts: What hope can a judge have, that such a one should prove good being set at liberty? or of a thief that shall fall a stealing while he is in prison? Now this man that had neither hand nor foot to help himself, lying benumbed in his little cart, bore before him the cause of his grief, by falling into those faults which he had formerly committed. And this is inferred out of these our Saviour's words unto him, jam noli amplius peccare, Now see thou sin no more. Ob. But if any man ask me, How can that man sin that is bound hand and foot? I answer, Sol. That for all this, his desires and thoughts are not fettered. Iniquitatem medi●atus est in cubili suo, astitit omni viae non bonae, He that applies himself to evil thoughts, and hath a desire unto them, there is not that wickedness whereof he would not reap the fruits thereof. From whence I cannot but note out these two things unto thee: The one, That the sins of our thoughts and imaginations are of all other the easiest to be done. How many Knives would a Cutler make in a day, if he could finish them without a Forge, an Anuile, or a Hammer? Questionless, ●erie many. The like reason is to be rendered of the errors of our thoughts. The other, That they are the harder to be seen or holpen: To be seen, for that they are so secret, Ab occultis meis munda me, Cleanse me, o Lord, from my secret sins. To be holpen; for as he that is still kept hungry and thirsty, hath neither his thirst nor his hunger satisfied, but increaseth more and more upon him; so ●e that never enjoys those humane delights, never hath the hunger and thirst of his desires satisfied. So that this poor sick man persevering in his sin, it is not much that God should persever in his punishments: for our shorter sins, Gods chastisements ●re also short, In momento indignationis auerte faciem meam parumper, Esay 54. Eccle. 23. (i) For a moment, in mine anger, I hid my face from thee for a little season. But for our longer, longer; Vir multum jurans, à domo eius non recedet plaga, (i) The Plague shall never depart ●●om the house of him that sweareth much: whence it cometh to pass, that so many are ●arr'd, and so few amended: Which is all one with that of jeremy, Dissipati, ne●ue compuncti. These are the Devil's Martyrs, who suffer not only without a reward, (as Saint Paul saith, Si peccantes suffertis, quid vobis est gratiae?) but treasure up new torments unto themselves. But some one will ask, How comes it to pass, that this man being a sinner, Ob. which waited at the Fish-poole, our Saviour should for his sake leave other just ●nd good men, and make choice to come unto him? First, (as I have told you already) because Sickness preserveth the soul from ●inne, and that it is a token of God's mercy and goodness towards us. Sol. A patient suffering acceptable unto God, & profitable to ourselves. Secondly, Because this poor wretch did hope to be healed, his thoughts and ●is hopes laying hold upon God's favour towards him, with a strong and assured ●●●iance: and this was that which this sick man did purposely seek after. Euthimius doth much endear his sufferance and his perseverance, never despairing, but assuring himself, that Heaven would yet at last be propitious and favourable unto him: and though year after year, nay, for so many years together, he found no good, (many contradictions offering themselves unto him) yet his hopes did never fail him. His sins were rather accessory and accidental, than of any proposed malice, or in despite (as we say) of God; and such kind of faults as these, God sooner pardoneth and far more easily forgiveth. The Scripture sometimes proposeth unto us Peccadores remitadoes, Notorious sinners, to whose account you cannot add one sin more than they have charged themselves withal: Who have purposely departed from God: Of these job saith, Quasi de industria recesserunt à me. Esay, Pepigimus faedus cum mart, We have made a covenant with Death. Malachi, Vanus est qui seruit Deo, He is vain that serveth God. These are desperate resolutions. 2. Kings 6. Others there are who sin by accident. In the History of the Kings it is said of David, That he arose up from his chair, to walk upon the Terrace of his Palace, and that his eye lighted by chance upon Bersheba, who was bathing herself in her garden: this was a business which fell out casually, and (as we say) by haphazard, though his plotting how to have his pleasure of her was a thing premeditated; but his seeing and his coveting of her was, as it were, accidentally, and by chance. Whereas the desire that David had to serve God, was ever purposed and determined by him [juravi & statui custodire iudicia justiciae tuae. 1. Kings 14. ] So that his offending of his God was not wilful, but of weakness & by mere haphazard. Saul made a Proclamation, That no man should eat till he had gotten the victory over the Philistines; but the soldiers were so hungry with sighting and fasting, that their minds ran on nothing else save the staunching of their hunger; Et comedit populus cum sanguine, The people took Sheep, and Oxen, and Calves, and slew them on the ground, and did eat them, with the blood, (which was contrary to God's commandment) not considering, that this their eating at this time, and upon such an occasion, was peccatum per accidens, an accidental sin. In a word, one of the surest pledges of our predestination, is, to make our serving of God the Principal, and our offending him, the Accessory. Hunc cum vidisset Dominus. God pitieth when none else will. When the Lord had seen him. This his seeing of him was not by chance, nor is it so to be construed of Christ; but to show that he was man, he did many things as it were by chance: And therefore when he saw this man's misery, and knew how long he had laid thus, and how he was forsaken of all the world, and that there was no body to help him, then, etc. A weeping Eye causeth a bleeding heart. It is a great matter (I can assure you) for a man to cast his eyes upon the wretched estate of the Poor; for from the eyes compassion, grows the heart's tenderness; the one is no sooner touched, but the other melts. Noli avertere faciem tuam ab ullo paupere, Turn not away thy face from the Poor. Tobias told his son, That if he should not turn his eye aside from the Poor, God would never turn away his face from him. The sores of the Poor (saith Saint Chrysostome) being beheld by us, teach, advice, and move us. When Pilate presented our Saviour Christ to the jews, wounded from head to foot, and all his body on a goa●● blood, he said unto them, Ecce homo, Behold the man; but they shutting their eyes▪ and turning their faces away from him, cried out, Away with him, away with him: whereas if they had earnestly beheld him, and viewed him well from top to toe, their hearts, had they been of stone, (as they were little better) they would have grown soft and tender with it. The reason why so little remedy now a days is given to humane misery, is, because the Princes and Potentates of the earth do not see them. Though God had sent down one of his Angels, yet this diseased man continued uncured thirty eight years, and if God had not come himself to help him, he might have died of that sickness. When our necessities show themselves, they speak, though we be silent: What need Lazarus to beg, as long as his sores had so many tongues and mouths to sue for him? Domine vidisti, ne sileas, respond pro me, Why shouldst thou look, o Lord, that I should speak unto thee? dost thou not see in what a woeful case I am? In matter of provisions or conferring of pensions, albeit that the persons that pretend say not a word for themselves, yet their merits and good deservings will sufficiently recommend their cause, and plead hard for them: which if it were otherwise, it were better to be a cogging lying knave, than a religious and modest Courtier; for he shall speed the better of the two. Two pretend one and the self same place; the one sues, extols his services, and lies; the other says nothing, but looks that his merits and good services should speak for him: In Babylon, which is a confusion of Tongues, it shall be given to the loudest talker; but in a wise and well governed Commonwealth, to him that shall hold his peace. When the Lord had seen him. It is usual with Physicians and Surgeons, when they go about to cure loathsome sores, Leaprosies, Scurfes, Cankers, and the like, to put their Patients to a great deal of pain: Eusebius and Gregory Nazianzen affirm, That our Saviour Christ did far exceed all other Physicians. First, Because he cured an infinite sort of sick folks of all manner of diseases. Secondly, Because our Saviour's bowels of compassion were tenderness, mercy, and pity itself. Cum iam multum tempus haberet. When he had been there a long time. It is a great happiness for a man, when he shall suffer so long, that God himself shall come unto him and say, It is enough. The pains here upon earth are happy pains unto us, for that they end ●n this, that God makes an end of them at last, and says unto thee, No more, it ●s enough. But that of Hell is a heavy torment, for that he that is condemned must abide in prison, donec reddat novissimum quadrantem, Till he pay the uttermost ●arthing: and because he hath not wherewithal to pay one only Mite, he must ●e forced to lie there for ever, and to endure eternal torment, without any hope of redemption. There are likewise punishments in this life, which are but introductions, as it were, to those of Hell: there are some likewise that are Martyrs Diaboli, The Devil's Martyrs, who suffer for his sake; and because they did destinate themselves rather to him than unto God, God hath predestinated them to Hell. But here in this place, thirty eight years seeming a great many unto God, moved with pity, he says to this sick man, Vis sanus fieri? etc. Wilt thou be made whole? etc. Vis sanus fieri? Wilt thou be made whole? Saint Cyril saith, That one of the greatest pledges of God's mercy, is, To pre●ent the prayers of the Afflicted, giving them ease of their griefs before they ●ske his help: resembling that Fountain which calls and invites the thirsty to ●rinke [Erit Fons patens domui jacob;] like unto the Pepin tree, which bowing down his boughs, offers its fruit unto us when it is ripe; Sicut malum inter ligna syluarum, sic amicus meus, etc. So that on Heaven's part, our desires shall not be frustrated, nor our hopes deluded. Saint Augustine saith, That there is a great deal of difference between V●●le, & velle fortitèr & integrè, Willing a thing, and willing it stoutly and entirely. The Sluggard (saith Solomon) will, and will not, turning himself too and fro upon his bed, as a door upon his hinge: now the door, though it move a little, yet i● still keeps its place. And in another place, the same Saint Austen saith, That he had made trial in himself of two contrary wills; one which led him on to Vice; another, to Virtue: as one that is forced to rise, and yet would fain lie a bed; Virtue crying out to him on the one side, Surge, qui dormis, Arise thou that sleepest; & vice on the other, Ne surgas sed dormias, Arise not but sleep; for it is a sweet & a pleasing thing, to sleep. Illud placebat & vincebat, hoc libebat & vinciebat: faring with such as with those that are in love, whose torments bid them leave off, bu● the content they take therein, makes them fast fettered in Love's prison. Certain men asked of Thomas of Aquine, How we might go to Heaven? His answer unto them was, Patience the best Physic in all extremities. By desiring to go thither: but advising withal, That this our desire must be a true and fervent desire. That Physician who knows thy diseases grievousness, and thy impatiency, will not stick to say unto thee, Sir, if you have a mind to be well, you must have a mind to be patient, you must not by your fretting fret your sore, and make it worse. Quis est homo qui vult vitam? Diligit dies habere bonos? Who is he that would not live long? Who, that would not see good days? Many, rather than they will be tied to those conditions which David in the next words following sets before them, Prohibe linguam tuam à malo, & labi● tu● ne l●quantur dolum; diverte à malo, & fac bonum; inquire pacem, & persequere eam, etc. Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile; turn from Iniquity, and do that which is good; inquire after Peace, and follow it: Many, that they may not pass through these balls of fire, had rather continue still sick, than endure any the least pain, to be cured. Old Sicknesses, and ancient Customs, are a second kind of nature: & therefore our Saviour Christ, Cum cognovisset quod multum tempus haberet, When he kn●● that he had been long sick, would now linger the time no longer. Your Moorish Slave, after he hath endured many years of servitude, is so far from desiring his liberty, that he scarce thinks upon it; the Ox used to the yoke, willingly submits himself unto it; an old Soldier will never go without his Arms; and therefore Tully calls them, Militum Membra, A Soldiers Limbs; for through use, they are no more troublesome to him than a leg or an arm, for continual travel hardeneth the hoof: Et superatur omnis fortuna ferendo; so said the Poet▪ In a word, Custom makes things little less familiar unto us, than Nature. 〈◊〉 treating of those which have been accustomed to sin from their youth, saith▪ That they leave not their vices till they leave to live, [Ossa eius replebuntur vicijs adolescentiae suae. job 20. & cum eo in pul●ere dormient, His bones are full of the sins of 〈◊〉 Youth, and it shall lie down with him in the dust:] And presently rendering the reason thereof, he further saith, That Custom made wickedness seem sweet 〈◊〉 his mouth, and that he hid it under his tongue, like a Pastilla de boca; that he favoured it, and would not forsake it, but kept it close in his mouth. So that h●● that hath once enured himself to taste much ill, it is not much that he should n●● desire his health. Balaams' Ass complained of his masters ill usage; and (according to Saint Augustine) it was a severe reprehension for the Prophet: but Bala●● was not any whit amazed to hear his beast speak, because his thoughts were carried away with covetousness; this is Saint Augustine's opinion: but Lyra, he saith, That it was through his accustomation to Witcheries and Sorceries, Monstrosis assuefactus ad vocem Asinae non expavit: For Custom makes things that are monstrous, familiar unto us. Every where we endear jobs sufferings, because they came upon him on such a sudden an and unequal fashion: I was in wealth (saith the Text) but he brought me to naught; he hath taken me by the cheek and beaten me; he cutteth my reynes, job 16. & 17. and poureth my gall on the ground, he hath broken me with one breaking upon another, and runneth upon me like a Giant: mine eye is dim for grief, and my strength like a shadow; my days are past, mine enterprises broken, and the thoughts of my heart have changed the night for the day, and the light hath approached for darkness; the grave must be my house, & I must make my bed in the dark; I must say to Corruption, Thou art my father, and to the Worm, Thou art my mother and my sister, etc. These afflictions were as harsh to job, being not used and beaten to them, as Vice, through Custom, is pleasing to the Wicked. Voluptabar (saith Austen) in caeno Babilonis, tanquam in cinamonijs & unguentis pretiosis, Babylon's dirt was as Amber, and the stench of her streets as precious Ointments unto me. And after that he had in his Meditations endeared the evils of this present life, he bewails the wretched condition of those that are bewitched with the love of this life; who thereby following their pleasures, come to lose a thousand lives. Homer in his Odysseys paints forth the deceits of Circe's, and that Ulysses escaped them by being advised thereof by Mercury. The herb Moly, whose root is black, and the Flower white (the symbol of the knowledge of ourselves) and those Sirens (of whom Esay maketh mention) under the names of Zim & Ohim, of Ostriches and Satyrs that shall dance there; Esay 13. both which are figures of the delights of this world, whereunto many are so wedded, that the Prophet could term them, Men settled on their Lees. Wilt thou be made whole. Man's will● concurs not with Grace in our vprising from sin. He first asks him (being as yet unspoken unto) whither he were willing to be healed, or no? O, what a noble proceeding was this in our Saviour, that he would first ask our good will! All other humane goods God gives and takes away as he sees fit, without ask our consent; but he is willing to ask here of this sick man, his good will, for that there is nothing so much ours, as that. Fili praebe mihi cor tuum, My son give me thy heart: always considering this with himself, that for our condemnation, our own will is Causa positiva, the positive cause thereof; [Perditio tua ex te Israel] but for our justification, it is causa sine qua non, we cannot be saved without it. And to this purpose tend those remarkable words of Saint Augustine, Qui creavit te sine te, non saluabit te sine te, He that made thee without thee, will not save thee without thee: So that our will, though it be not the principal cause of our good, yet is it the chiefest cause of our ill. Two Moors that are Slaves, the one desires his liberty, the other, his captivity; the will of the latter is the positive cause of his hurt, and the will of the former doth him no good, unless his Redeemer ransom him. Hominem non habeo, I have not a man. This (as Caietan hath noted) was a fair and mannerly answer. For so natural ●s the desire of life, that it is a wonder to see any man wax weary thereof, though ●e find himself never so unhealthy. We read of those our ancient fathers, that ●ome of them lived nine hundred years; but we read not of any of them that thought them too many or too much. Pharaoh ask jacob, how old he was, he told him, That the whole time of his pilgrimage was an hundred and thirty years; that few and evil had the days of his life been; and that he had not attained to the years of the life of his fathers, in the days of their pilgrimages. Elias fled from death, when he saw how near jezabels' hand was to take his life from him, howsoever under the juniper tree he seemed much to desire it. Upon Paradise God had put a strange guard, not only a blade of a sword, shaken, to keep the way of the Tree of Life; but many Cherubins also, that were like so many flames of fire. What, o Lord, dost thou mean by this so powerful a guard for so cowardly and fearful a creature as man? O sir, in Paradise there is a Tree that bears the fruit of Life, and out of the desire that man hath to live, he will press upon the sword's point, and rush through fire and water to get in: And though a less guard might happily serve turn in regard of man; yet will it not suffice to keep the Devil out; and if he should chance to rob this tree of her fruit, he would carry the whole world after him, out of the great love and affection that they have unto Life. Saint Augustine greatly endearing this love, saith, That it were a great happiness for man, if he bore but that love to life eternal, as he doth to this that is temporal; and that he would but labour as much to obtain that, as he seeketh to conserve this. But this poor wretched man endears it much more, who at the end of thirty eight years, having led a life that was worse than death, should yet desire to live longer. God favoureth whom the world forsaketh. I have not a man. This is the reason why God sets his eye upon thee, & begins to look towards thee; for the only means to make God to favour us, is, when he sees the World hath forgot us. The cause why so many suitors thrive no better, is, because they seek more after the favour of men, than of God: Where Nature casts us off, there Grace takes us up; when the World abandoneth us, than God embraceth us. The Raven's young ones are forsaken by her, and God feedeth them. In the Indies there are no Physicians, yet are there wholesome Herbs wherewith they cure their diseases. In like manner, where the World affordeth few favours, there God's providence supplies us with many. Chrysostome saith, Non habes hominem, sed Deum, Thou hast not man, but thou hast Go● to thy friend. The Egyptian whom the Amalekites left behind them, because he was sick of a Fever, and could not follow them; David finding him as he followed the chase, took him up and cherished him. Saint Gregory noteth, That it is the fashion of the World, to forsake those that will not follow after it: whereas God runs a contrary course; for he cherisheth and favoureth those whom the World forsaketh. Saint Austen ponders much upon Joseph's two years being in prison, expecting the favour of Pharaohs servant, to whom he had recommended his suit; so that as long as he depended upon man, he was suspended by God: but when his hopes were that way utterly lost, and was now able to say▪ Hominem non habeo, I have not a man, God did work his enlargement. joseph sai●● to the Cupbearer, Memento mei, Remember me; and he did not so much as once think of him in two years after: The Thief said to Christ upon the Cross Memento mei, Remember me, and he was admitted into Paradise the very sam● day. Domine, ante te omne desiderium meum, O Lord, my desires, my groans and my sighs are for and to thee, Psal. 34. Dan. 3. and my trust is in thee only, that thou wilt no● see me unrewarded. Daniel being shut up in the Lion's Den, and the door sea●led with the Kings own Seal; when he could find no favour amongst men, Go● presently extended his favour towards him. The like favour did he show to tho●● Children that were in the fiery Furnace; Exod. 2. and to Moses in that Ark of Rush●● floating upon the waters. Seneca comforting Marcia concerning her son's death, amongst other reasons he allegeth this, Comfort yourself in this, that you live in a Commonwealth, wherein you are thus far happy, that you have no sons to pretend for. Here we may well bring in Pilat's, Ecce homo. Though thou (sweet jesus) hadst not a man to favour thee, yet thou foundst a man that gave his blood, and his life for them. Ecce homo; Lo, thou wast the man, that show'dst such great kindness, to those that used thee so unkindly. Thou (poor Soul) hast not an Angel to move the Fish-poole for thee; Ecce homo, behold the man, who makes more haste to help thee than an Angel. Hominem non habeo. Why dost thou complain, that thou hast not a man to help thee? Why dost thou not rather complain that thou dost rely and trust upon man? He does like himself in deceiving thee; but thou dost not like thyself in presuming upon him. Many complain of the world, and the deceits thereof; but do not complain of the foolish confidence which themselves put in this false world. I complain of Fortune, that she is mine enemy, but not of myself, who sue to so fickle a Dame, and so earnestly importune her. Night, is the emblem of the world, and of a false friend. In the day, all communicate and converse together, but at night, they take their leave and get them gone. In prosperity, all the whole world will fawn upon thee, and keep thee company; but in adversity no man will look upon thee, but will shun thee, and turn his face from thee. If thou wilt experiment, what power thou hast with the world, and how much thou canst prevail with it, necessity will instruct thee. That friend which shall always lie unto thee, in whom thou never findest truth, it is thine own folly that deceives thee, if thou trust him, it is not he. And therefore he that now and then treateth truth, is the more dangerous of the two. In deuteronomy, God commandeth, Deut. 13. That if there arise amongst his people a Prophet, or a Dreamer of dreams, and give thee a sign or wonder, and the sign & the wonder which he hath told thee come to pass, that Prophet, or Dreamer of dreams shall be slain. But he doth not command, that he shall be slain if it do not come to pass. For he that always lies, doth no hurt at all; The world hath been a notorious liar these five thousand years, and more; and therefore I do not see, what reason thou hast to think, that it will now keep its word better with thee than it hath with others heretofore. Hominem non habeo, I have not a man. This is not only a complaint of the poor, but of powerful persons, and those that are rich, who because they have not the happiness to have a man to stick close unto them, that may direct and counsel them, pass over this their life in distraction, and perdition, & in the end lose both life and soul. Homo, homini Deus, homo homini lupus, Man is a God to man, Man is a wolf to man. Expressing in the one, a prudent and virtuous man, one that is stayed and well settled: In the other, one that is light, inconstant, and false-hearted. Commonwealths use likewise to complain; as also those that are jealous of their goods, that they cannot meet with a man whom they may trust. Theodoret saith, That he offers a great, and a mighty wrong unto God's providence, who complaineth hereof. For that Commonwealth that provides itself of feet, should not leave itself without a head: and stooping so low as man's breast, for those more painful and base occupations, as the Scavinger, the Cobbler, and the hangman; they should likewise have a care of placing fit men in places of a higher nature, that are to order businesses of State, and to cleanse a Kingdom of those filthy dunghills and sinks of sin which annoy a Commonwealth. This hurt (I mean when base and unworthy persons govern a State) ariseth from those two grounds; The one, The making choice of such men who by good and evil means (making no great difference of either) seek for preferment, and out of their ambition, would rather die than lose it. And when he is thus preposterously preferred and put in place of authority, he plays Rex, putting in one, and putting out another, & so as he may raise himself to honour, cares not whom he disgraces and treads under foot, though they be ten times better men, and worthier than himself. Moses by God's appointment made choice of seventy Elders of Israel to assist him in the government of the People; and they being one day to meet at a certain hour before the Tabernacle, to the end that God in the presence of all the people might put his Spirit of prophecy upon them, there remained two behind among the Host, to wit, Eldad and Medad; & because God is not confined to any set place, the Spirit likewise rested upon them, and they prophesied in the Host. joshuah thought this was a disreputation to Moses, that these two should prophesy without especial order from him, insomuch that he persuaded him that he should forbid them to prophesy any more. This is a true picture of the course & fashion of this present World, which will by no means admit of any Ministers of State, but such as they themselves shall nominate, or (as if they were creatures of their making) shall wholly depend upon them. But the Spirit of God made answer unto joshuah by the mouth of Moses, Quid aemularis pro me? Enviest 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 upon them. So that men are never wanting for to govern a Commonwealth, but eyes of charity and discretion, to distinguish of those that are fit, and to make a good and judicious choice. Tolle grabatum tuum & ambula. Take up thy bed and walk. Our Saviour here commands him, That he should shake off his former idleness and slothfulness. Hora surgendi: My son (saith Ecclesiasticus) hast thou slept long in sin, Eccle. 21. awake and rouse up thyself, and do so no more, but pray for thy foresinnes, that they may be forgiven thee. The second thing to be noted, is, That our Saviour said unto him, Arise, take up thy bed and walk: one main reason whereof was, That it might appear that new strength was put into him, being grown able on the sudden to bear his bed upon his back. The other, That none might presume that it was the Angel that had wrought this cure upon him. Thirdly, To take all cavilling from the envious, for the disavowing of this miracle; and that the World might praise and publish the same: Vt miraculum videretur (saith Saint Augustine) & nemo sim●latum opinaretur. For this cause he willed those baskets of broken bread & meat to be kept, when he fed so many thousands with so little provision. And him that he healed of his Leprosy, that he should go and present himself to the Priests: Taking the like course with diverse others, holding them as necessary diligences for the averring of these his miracles, considering what a captious and incredulous kind of people he was to deal withal. Et statim factus est sanus homo ille. And presently the man was made whole. It is an easy thing with God, to enrich him that is poor in an instant. Upon one only Dixit in the creation, presently followed a Facta sunt. Creavit omnia simul, He created all things at once (saith Wisdom;) so in the reparation of this poor man▪ it is said, Statìm sanus factus est homo ille, He was presently made whole. He said unto Martha, Resurget frater tuus, Thy brother shall rise again; Whereunto she answered, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Christ might take this ill, as a wrong done unto the love which he bore to Lazarus, That she should think him so neglectful of his friend, as to let his favour towards him be so long in coming. Saint Chrysostome saith, That your bad Physicians are the Butchers of a Commonwealth; and your good, the Butchers of man's life, who patch and mend it, making this fleshy clothing of ours, and this our rotten carcase, to hold out as long as it can. But God, who is his Arts-master, and a wondrous nimble Workman, made this sick man so perfectly whole, and so instantly strong, that he was able to take his bed upon his back and walk. And if by this he showed, that he did now fully enjoy health of body; in his going straightway to the Temple, he made good proof of his Souls health. Which is no more than what S. Austen doth infer upon those words which our Saviour afterwards said unto him, Now sin no more, etc. Saint Augustine upon this our Saviour's healing of this man alone, saith, Ob. That herein he seemed somewhat too sparing and too niggardly to those other that had need of his help. Whereunto I answer first of all, That for those things which our Saviour Christ did, or did not, the wit of man cannot be a competent judge. Sol. Secondly, That this was a mere act of his mercy, and not to be questioned. Besides, health perhaps to the rest might have proved hurtful unto them, though not to their bodies, yet to their souls. Thirdly, Tertullian saith, That the operation of the Fish-poole being now to cease and lose i●'s virtue, That our Saviour by curing him who was the longest & the most sick amongst them, gave thereby an induction & entrance to all that were sick, to come and repair to him for help: As if he should have said, He that desires to be made whole, from hence forward let him go no more to the Fish-poole, nor stay there expecting the Angels coming; for when he comes he heals but one at once; but come you all unto me, & I shall heal you al. Tolle grabatum, Take up thy bed. This would seem to be too heavy a burden for him: A man would have thought that it had been enough for him to have been punished with thirty eight years keeping of his bed, without being put now at last to bear it on his back. But if God can give such great strength to so weak a man, that the burden of his bedding seems no weightier than a straw; the heavier it is, the lighter it is, especially if God shall put but the least help of his little finger thereunto, Da quod jubes, & jube quod vis, Give what thou commandest, and command what thou pleasest. Secondly, Christ here sets before us a model and pattern of true repentance; A pattern for Repentance. before, with a jacebat, He lay all forlorn; now, with a Surge, he walks sound & upright: before, he was torpens & stupefactu●, benumbed and stupefied; now he was in his ambulare, walk: before, his bed did bear him; and now he bears his bed, Tolle grabatum tuum. This was to signify, That he was to run a contrary course to that he did before, and to tread out the prints of his forepast sinful life: So that (according to Chrysologus) that which heretofore was a witness of his infirmity, shall henceforth be a testimony of his health. Vniversum eius stratum ●ersasti in infirmitate eius, Thou turnedst his bed topsy-turvy, first this way, than ●hat way, till thou hadst made it more easy for him. Thou changest (saith Gene●rard) his weakness into strength, and his sickness into health; it was before, a ●ick bed, now a sound one; before, a bed of sorrow, now of joy; before, a bed of sin, now of tears. This Miracle was the Fermentum & Leven of the death of our Saviour Christ; for, picking a quarrel with him upon this occasion, they resolved to kill him, and this their intention daily increased, as oft as they called to mind this action of his. And therefore he afterwards said unto them (as Saint john reports it in his seventh Chapter) Vnum opus feci, john 7. & omnes admiramini sanè, I have done one work, and ye all marvel; I heal a poor sick man on the Sabbath day, and ye all bless yourselves, as though I had a Devil in me. This word Miramini is here taken in the worse sense; so Saint Chrysostome noteth it: For doing this so good a deed you take me to be a transgressor of the Law; but I shall prove unto you, that your accusation is unjust: Moses dedit vobis Circumcisionem, non quia ex Moses, sed ex patribus, etc. Moses gave you Circumcision, not because it is of Moses, but of the Fathers; john 7. and ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man: Moses gave it ye, but he was not the primary and principal author thereof; for before the Law of Moses was, was Circumcision. The Israelites had it ex patribus, of their forefathers; but because it ceased in the Desert, he did afterwards restore it to it's former use and virtue. The precept of the Sabbath was proper to the Law of Moses, he was the first that did institute it, till than it was not so strictly observed. Now you yourselves do circumcise on the Sabbath day, (observing the precept of your ancient Fathers) and yet for all this ye break not the Law of Moses. If then a Ceremony be lawful which is directed to the health of the Soul; Why shall not that be lawful amongst you which cureth both soul and body? Ye are angry with me, and seek to kill me, because I have made a man every whit whole upon the Sabbath day, Quia totum hominem feci, etc. Qui me sanum fecit. He that made me whole, said unto me, Take up thy bed and walk. The jews being mightily incensed against our Saviour for that which he had done, it being the Sabbath day, and a great feast with them; asked the poor man in an hot and angry fashion, Who it was that bid him take up his bed and walk? he told them, Qui me sanum fecit, That it was jesus, that had made him whole: A disease of thirty eight years old, which neither Nature, Art, nor my good fortune could rid away from me, did yield and render up itself in an instant to the empire of him that healed me; That his long lost strength and health, after so long an absence, returned presently back again at the sound of his voice, and comforting those his rotten bones, & causing his cankered and withered flesh to wax young again, had banished all aches and whatsoever other diseases from his body; shall not I then obey him whom Sickness and Health do thus obey? It seemeth this poor man had played the thief, and stole this reason from David, Nonnè Deo subiecta erit anima mea, quoniam ab ipso salutare meum▪ It is reason good, that I should subject myself to God, because from his hand comes my salvation. Qui me sanum fecit, He that hath done me such a happiness and such a blessing as none others can do the like, but God, why should I not obey him as God? Eccè, sanus factus es. Behold, thou art made whole, etc. This man Christ afterwards met withal in the Temple, Things above the reach of reason ha●d to be believed. and said unto him, Ecce, sanus factus es, Behold, thou art made whole. This word Ecce includes in it a thousand things: The first is, The greatness of this his favour towards him; for there are some things so transcendent and beyond the reach of our reason, that they who enjoy them do scarce believe them, they are so astonished and amazed at them. When the Angel freed Peter out of Herod's prison, and had led him along by the hand, till he had brought him out of the City, the Text saith, Existimabat se visum videre, He thought it had been some dream, or had seen some vision or strange apparition; and it was a great while after ere he was come to himself, so wonder-strucken was he with this his strange deliverance. Secondly, This particle Ecce, expresseth the greatness of this poor man's obligation; as if it should bid him look and behold how much he was beholding unto God, who had freed him from so desperate a disease. Cum enim augentur dona, rationes etiam crescunt donorum, (the saying is Saint Gregory's) The greater kindnesses, the greater obligations. This therefore being so great a one, thou canst not choose but think upon this benefit, and continually bear it in mind. Homo cum in honore esset, non intellexit, Man when he was in honour understood it not, [the Hebrew hath it, Non pernoctavit] he did not consider well on the matter, he did not throughly weigh it, by meditating night and day on so great a good. Thirdly, This same Ecce serves him as a warning-piece, to put him in mind, that he is sound, but not secure; for if thou dost not look well unto thyself, and stand strongly upon thy guard, thou mayst fall from that health wherein now thou standest, and be worse than thou wert before. Ne deterius tibi contingat. Lest a worse thing happen unto thee. What can be worse than thirty eight years of sickness? Yes, Hell is worse. S. Gregory saith, That God is woost to commense the chastisement of heinous and long continued sins, in this li●●, and continueth them in that other; so that they are, as it were, an entrance into Hell, as it happened to Herod, who slew those innocent Babes; to Antiochus, and others: These seem to lie as yet but in soak, and in a preparation (as I may so term it) to those perpetual torments. To others, Hell comes the golpe, it snatches them away on a sudden ere ever they be aware of it. Ducunt in bonis dies suos, & in puncto ad inferos descendunt, They lead a merry life, they pass away their days in pleasure, and in an instant they go down into Hell. And to these men it is so much the more grievous and painful, by how much the less they have been acquainted with the miseries of a wretched life. Lest a worse thing, etc. Nor are the evils of this life evil, The Evils of this life are but seeming evils. nor the good things good. Saint Chrysostome saith, That God gives us the good things of this life, to the end that in them we may see a shadow, as it were of Heaven: The evil, That we may by them see the track of the cruel rigour of those hellish torments. Saint Paul treating of those evils that befall the Righteous, saith, Quasi morientes, quasi tristes, quasi, etc. As dying, as chastened, as sorrowing, 2. Cor. 6. as poor, as having nothing: He there reckoneth up a bead-roll of many seeming ills, but not evils in deed; for their dying was to them living, their sorrowing, rejoicing; their poverty, riches; and their having nothing, a possessing of all things, etc. Quasi flagellum. It is said of our Saviour Christ, That he made a kind of whip, as it were, of those little cords wherewith the Sellers in the Temple bound up their farthels. For in respect of Hell-whips, the whips of this life are not whips, but quasi flagella, as it were whips. The Scripture christneth humane troubles with the name of Waters, Emitte manum tuam, & libera me de aquis multis: Aquae multae non potuerunt extinguere charitatem. The proportions of this word Aqua, are two: The one, That the troubles of the Godly do pass away like waters. That though the waters be now and then troubled, they afterwards grow clear again. But Hell is styled with the name of Stagnum, a standing Pool, [Missi sunt in Stagnum ignis] because it is a punishment that always stands at one stay, and is still the same, etc. The heart of the Godly finds this ease, that it lives in hope of recovery; and the evils of the Righteous are never so many, but that they have some shadow of good. Adam did supply his nakedness with Fig leaves. Death, which is the greatest ill to man's life, dulleth the sense, which is a kind of good; but Hell gives no hope of ease, no show of comfort. From which God of his mercy keep us, etc. THE ELEVENTH SERMON, UPON THE SATURDAY AFTER THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT: AND UPON THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. MAT. 17. MARC. 9 LUC. 9 Assumpsit jesus, Petrum, & jacobum, & johannem. jesus took unto him Peter, and james, and john. Our Mother Church solemnising once a year the Mysteries of our Saviour Christ; This life's happiness a Rose environed with Thornes. this, it solemniseth twice, one day after another; giving us thereby a savour of that glory which is represented in this Mystery, on these two accustomed festival days. Here in this world they are ended the very self same day they are celebrated; and the ending of that day's pleasure, is the beginning of our next day's labour. But in that other world (saith Esay) Erit mensis, ex mense; & Sabathum, ex Sabatho, Esay 66. From month to month, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, shall all Flesh come to worship before me. Amongst your jews, the first day of your months and your sabboth's were very solemn things. And Esay taking the month for the first day, saith, In that glory which we look for, one month shall overtake another, and there shall be Sabbath upon Sabbath. He might have said (without using any kind of figure) a perpetual Feast, a perpetual Sabbath, and a perpetual Rest. Man's happiness in this life, is like to a Rose that is beset round about with Thorns, which to day costs us dear to get, and tomorrow is withered away: But that supreme happiness shall not only be eternal and perdurable, but without any the least prickle of sin to offend our tender Souls. He took unto him Peter, etc. First of all, Damascene saith, That our Saviour did not carry all his Apostles with him up to the Mount; for it was not fit that judas should enjoy so great a blessing, in whom that prophecy of Esay was fulfilled, In terra sanctorum iniquè gessit, & non videbit gloriam Dei. He who in so holy a company committed such a vile treacherous act, as to betray and sell his Master, for the love of a little money, did not deserve to enjoy the glory of Tabor. So that to the end judas might not complain, That Christ had discarded him, and quite shut him out from this blessing; this holy Saint saith, That those other good & holy men were for his sake debarred of that good: whence we may gather, what hurt many an honest man receives by keeping a lewd knave company. But because it might have seemed a scandalous piece of business, to have left judas all alone by himself, the rest remained with him; judas his company being no less dangerous to the College of jesus his Disciples, than it was tedious and wearisome to our Saviour himself. Insomuch that when judas was gone out of the house where Christ supped with his Disciples, (which he did presently upon the receiving of the sop) he said, Nunc glorificatus est Filius hominis, Now is the Son of man glorified. When Christ multiplied his miracles, john 1●. john 7. Saint john saith, Non erat Spiritus datus, quia Christus nondum erat glorificatus, The holy Ghost was not yet given, because that jesus was not yet glorified. Why Christ, being near unto his death, should hold himself to be glorified, and in the working of miracles not to be glorified? For the decision of that point, I shall refer you unto Saint Augustine. You see here how the wind was come about, judas was no sooner gone out, but he saith, he is glorified; but before, knowing who should betray him, he told Peter, Vos mundi estis, sed non omnes, (i) Ye are clean, but not all. The Cockle was taken away, and the Wheat now pure and clean; and our Saviour took it for a great glory unto him, to see himself thus wholly rid of his company. Secondly, Gregory Nazianzen saith, That he took those three along with him, because he always loved them best. Showing thereby, The public to be preferred before the private. that Princes may lawfully have their Privadoes, and Favourites, to whom they may give more grace and countenance, than to others; but withal, that they ought to be such, as should be disinterressed, and not desire any more for themselves than their Prince's grace, leaving the rest of his favours to be communicated to others, as well as themselves. Saint jude once asked of our Saviour Christ, How comes it to pass, that thou shouldst manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the World? He thought, that the Sun should enlighten all. But because he did first bestow his light on the mountain tops, it was fit, that the grace, which they received, they should gratis confer upon others, Like good Stewards. The Evangelist calls Saint Peter fool, because he would have all for himself, and those that were there with him. And if Elias, and Moses, were admitted to mount Tabor, it was, because they were lovers of the common good. Moses once disired of God, that he would let him see his face; but God told him, he could not see his face and live. It seemeth, that here Moses showed himself to be but a coward; What, to enjoy a poor life for the present, wouldst thou forgo so great a happiness? But it was not the love of his own life; but the love that he bore to his people, who would have had a great miss of him. Whereof there was afterwards very good proof, when God said unto him, Let me make an end of this people at once, and I will make thee a mightier and a better Nation. Whereunto he answered, I am so far from giving way to this, That I shall beseech thee either to pardon them, or to blot me out of the Book of life; for I had rather not live, than live without them. Dost thou offer to lay down thy life for thy people? And wilt thou not lose it to see God face to face? The one, was a particular, the other a common good. Thirdly, He took only three along with him; manifesting thereby, that he was as sparing of his Glory in this life, as he was liberal of his Crosse. Tertullian saith, That he took those three with him, not so much to make them partakers of this his Glory, as to bear witness thereof. And therefore carried three, because they are a full and sufficient testimony. And this was a great comfort to those that were left behind; not that they did dismerit the like favour; but that there was a necessity in it, that some should abide with judas. For, if he should have been left alone, he would have taken it for a great disgrace. But those other, did not therefore merit less, by being left behind; For if the favour, towards those that went up, seemed to be the greater, yet the deserts of those that were left, were not inferrior to those that were admitted. For afterwards some of those suffered for the Glory, which they had seen, and most of these for the Glory they had not seen. To this purpose there are two Stories in the Scripture, one of Eldad and Medad; Num. 11. which (according to the Scholastical History) were halfe-brothers to Moses; and being nominated amongst the seventy for the government of the people, came not at all to the Tabernacle where God did communicate part of Moses his spirit to the rest: But though they stayed behind in their Tents, yet did they not lose this blessing, but did prophesy as well as the rest. The other is of David, who pursuing those that had burned Ziklag, two hundred soldiers were left behind with the baggage; but when they had got the victory, the spoils were equally divided, as well between those that had ventured their lives in the battle, as those that guarded the stuff. As his part is that goeth down to the battle, 1. Kings 30. so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff. Fourthly, Only three; Because amongst few, all kind of observance and virtue is better conserved. Howbeit the Church doth daily pray, that the number of the Justice may be increased. Which the greater it is, the more gracious it is, and more comely in God's sight. But as it is commonly taken, the greater the number, the greater the harm. In the beginning of the world, when there were few people, the harm was not much. But then the number of men increasing, Prosperity always envied. sin so increased in the world, that God repented himself that he● had made it. He was sorry in his heart, that he had made both it, and man. That being verified of them, Gen. 6. which Esay said unto God; Thou hast multiplied the Nations, but not their joy.. The Church beginning to flourish, What followed? there were many Foxes, that did it much mischief. As the wheat increaseth, so increaseth the tares. So, that much prosperity (in Senecas opinion) sometimes produceth much poverty. Augustine in his book De Civit. Dei, proveth this truth, out of the Roman Histories; Rome's own greatness, being its own ruin. Suis Roma viribus ruit. No sword could cut her throat, but her own. Lastly, Only three; A number (Aristotle following the opinion of Pythagoras) which containeth in it a university of things. And for that it is so full of mystery, sufficeth, That it is consecrated to the most sacred and blessed Trinity. To him that shall ask me, Ob. why Christ carried not his mother with him to mount Tabor, as well as he did to mount calvary? I answer, That all that, Sol. which he suffered in mount calvary, was in respect of his mother, in so much that this her son complained, that God had forsaken him. But that Glory, which he enjoyed in mount Tabor, he had that from his father; So that the seeing thereof, did nothing at all belong to his mother. Some man may doubt, why these three descending from the Mount, Ob. should advise the rest, of the favour which they enjoyed, Sol. being they had an interdiction to the contrary from our Saviour, Nemini dixeritis visionem, Tell no man, what you have seen. I answer, That the interdiction was not for the disciples, but for the people only. But some one may reply; Ob. Why Envy did not possess their hearts that stayed behind; and Pride puff up theirs that went up to the Mount? Earthly things more envied than Spiritual. Especially such a bloody quarrel being like to have grown amongst them, who should be greatest in that their hoped for Kingdom? They being all incensed against james and john, for desiring to be in nearest place to our Saviour. I answer; Sol. That this their striving who should be greatest, and this their chairs of Ambition, suppose a most base opinion of the Kingdom of our Saviour Christ: for that they imagined it (as before hath been proved) to be terrestrial and temporal. And touching these goods of the earth, not only secular Kings and Princes, are ready to go together by the ears for them; but also your Ecclesiastical persons, those that are the holiest and honestest Churchmen, labour to defend them with all their might and main. For they fall so short of those other, that are heavenly, that they being divided amongst so many, they all think, they have too little. Pallium breve est, utrumque operire non potest, The cloak is short, and cannot cover twain. And for that the glory of Tabor, was meant of that other life, and for that it did discover those that had been dead for so many years before, and for that it left every one so well satisfied, and made them to acknowledge it as an immense and infinite blessing; it could not be unto them a matter of Pride, or Envy: Whence it cometh to pass, that in spiritual goods, these vices are not found. Thou thyself observest, that such a neighbour of thine preys devoutly, bestows his alms liberally, fasts often, reputes heartily, and performs all other Christian duties willingly, and thou bearest him no envy at all: but if thou seest he is richer than thyself, thrives better in the world, or is more esteemed amongst men than thyself, his prosperity is thy torment. Those that were the Spouses companions did never envy her happiness, Viderunt eum filiae Zion, etc. The Daughters of Zion saw her, and proclaimed her blessed. These were goods of the Soul, wherein if there were any envy at all, it was in regard of that estimation which follows the body. Thou wilt happily envy the virtuous, in seeing him rewarded for his virtue, but not envy virtue. Et duxit illos in Montem excelsum. And he brought them into a high Mountain. The dignity of Mount Tabor. Tabor was a very famous Mountain, as well for those riches which God had placed in it, of sports for hunting, Trees, Fountains, and pleasant Walks, as also for those rare accidents which had been seen and known to have happened there: There was that encounter of Melchisadec with Abraham, when he returned so glad and cheerful, upon that victory which he had gotten against those five Kings. And being there was no other way to pass from Galilee to jerusalem, but by the skirts of this mountain, jeroboam having set up two Idols, one in Dan, and another in Bethel, for to divert those Tribes from going up to the Temple to adore God, fearing lest they might pass over to Rehoboam, he had placed Watchtowers on this mountain. Ose 5. Suiting with that of the Prophet Osee, O ye Priests, hear this, judgement is towards ye, because ye have been a snare upon Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor: The Priests and Princes catching the poor people in their snares, as the Fowlers do the birds, in these two high Mountains. In a word, This Mountain is famous for very many things, but for none more than that it was honoured by our Saviour with his presence, and enriched with his glory. And for this cause Saint Bernard calls it Montem Spei, The Mountain of our hopes: For he that leads a godly life here upon earth, may well hope to receive a glorified life in Heaven. Et transfiguratus est ante eos. And he was transfigured before them. Let us here expound four truths which are acknowledged by the whole body of Divinity. The one, That our Saviour Christ liung amongst us, was not only seen of us, himself seeing and knowing all things, but was happiness itself. The other, That he was so from the very instant of his conception. The third, That being happy in Soul, he must likewise be so in his body. The fourth, That the glory of his Soul remained after that he had left his body. Touching the proof of the first Truth, notable is that place of Saint john, No man hath seen God at any time; john 1. that only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him: The Gloss hath it, Who is nearest to his father, not only in respect of his love towards him, but by the bond of nature, and for the union or oneness that is between them, whereby the Father and the Son are one. God revealed him and showed him unto us; whereas before, he was under the shadows of the Law, so that the quickness of the sight of our mind was not able to perceive him: for whosoever seeth him, seeth the Father also. The Evangelist pretendeth here to prove, that only our Saviour Christ is the author of Grace and of Truth, and that neither Moses, nor any of the Patriarches could see God as he was himself, which is Truth itself by essence; but as he is the Son: and therefore he only can be the author thereof. Men may see God in his creatures, job 36. Romans 1. and know many of his perfections: And in this sense job said, All men see him and behold him afar off. Saint Gregory and Saint Paul imply as much, For the invisible things of him, that is, his eternal power and Godhead, are seen by the creation of the world, considered in his works. Men may likewise see him in some image or figure, sometimes of a man, sometimes of an Angel, sometimes of Fire, representing himself in those forms; sometimes by the eyes of the Soul, and sometimes those of the Body. So Esay saw him, I saw the Lord sitting upon an high Throne. And jacob, I saw the Lord face to face. Thirdly, God may be seen by Faith, Esay 6. Gen. 29. 1. Cor. 13. as the Faithful now see him, Now, we see through a glass darkly. Fourthly, in his humanity, Afterward he was seen upon earth, (saith Buruch) and dwelled among men. Fiftly, in himself, and in his essence, not in his creatures, not in his image, not in his humanity, but in himself, Sicuti est, As he is. This sight is so far above all the rest, that it makes men happy, as also the Angels. Moreover, john 3. Saint john saith, That with a clear sight (at least comprehensible) no man ever yet saw God, but by the Son. And being, that God is our happiness, when he is clearly seen, it followeth, that our Saviour Christ is happy. The self same argument our Saviour used to Nicodemus, No man ascended to Heaven, but he which descended from Heaven, the Son of Man, who is in Heaven. Ye will not give credit to these earthly things, how will ye credit those then that are heavenly: And condemning this their incredulity, he saith, No man ascended up into Heaven. 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 lived in Heaven, and descended down from Heaven, am able to tell ye the things that are in Heaven. Our being in Heaven then being all one with the seeing of God, and the seeing of God being our happiness, it followeth that our Saviour Christ is happy. The second Truth, That he was so from that very time that he first took our nature upon him; Saint Augustine collects it out of the sixty fifth Psalms, Blessed is the Man whom thou choosest and receivest unto thee, he shall dwell in thy Court, and shall be satisfied with the pleasure of thy house, etc. The same Eusebius Caesariensis inferreth upon the twenty second Psalm, Thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb; or (as the Chaldee letter hath it) Levaui me in robore tuo, I got up to be joined equal with God. Which testimonies of Scripture are confirmed by all your Scholastical Doctors. The third Truth, That our Saviour Christ must needs be happy both in soul and in body. johannes Damascenus proves it out of that strict union of the Divinity, which Death itself cannot undo. Saint Augustine affirms, That the glory of the soul is naturally conveyed to the body, as the light of a candle to a pain of glass. The fourth Truth, That our Saviour Christ was transfigured by giving licence to the glory of his soul, that it should transfer itself to the body: not that glory which he was able to give 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 have elsewhere set down the causes of our Saviour's transfiguration; but none so often repeated by the Saints and Doctors, as his discovering thereby the hidden treasures of his glory, as the reward that calls unto us, and stays for us, haling as it were our thoughts and hopes after it. Such is the condition of man, that commonly he makes interest and private gain, the North-star of his labours and endeavours; this he thinks on, dreams of, and adores. But as to the Worldling the world's wealth is his North-star; so the North-star of the Son of God, is the glory of God. Now our Saviour Christ discovereth unto us a streak or a line, as it were, of that happiness, which though it doth not fully express unto us what God is, yet it removeth from us all those difficulties which might divert us from his service. And therefore Saint Ambrose saith, Ne quis frangatur, etc. He allureth our mind with this so sovereign a good, that the troubles of this life may not disquiet it, nor drive it to despair. So furious are the tempests of this Sea, so raging the waves and toss too and fro of this life, that if God did not temper the distastes thereof with the hope of another life, our life were but a Hell. Saint Bernard saith, That the end which our Saviour had in transfiguring himself, was, that we might settle our thoughts and our hopes on that glory whereunto he inviteth us; for that, man's happiness wholly consisteth in enjoying the presence of God. Saint Basil expounding that place of Saint Matthew, Estote perfecti, etc. Be ye perfect even as your Father is perfect; saith, That the plainest way to enjoy God, is, to think so continually on him, that our Souls should be translated, as it were, into himself; we playing therein the Painters, who for to take a picture perfectly, never have their eye from off the original. Saint Cyprian saith, That there is not any thing that doth so much glad the eyes of God, as our thinking on the reward which is set before us. Many Saints turmoiled with a thousand miseries, did evermore live merrily, by being only cheered up with these good thoughts and hopes. Solomon tells us, A reward is as a stone pleasant in the eyes of them that have it: Nor is there any precious stone that so gladdeth his possessor, Prou. 17. as hope cheereth the Righteous. Gregory Nissen calleth Affliction, the Flower of Glory; Fructuum, qui sperantur flos, As he that is to eat of the fruit, takes pleasure in the flower, for that neighbouring hope which is near at hand; so, the Righteous through hope rejoice in Affliction. Our Saviour therefore being desirous that we should live in hope, unfolded part of that Glory which he retained in his Soul, that placing our eyes and hearts thereupon, all troubles whatsoever, though never so great, might seem little in regard of our hoped-for reward. Hence it followeth, how ill they proceed, and what a desperate and indirect course they take, to whom God having deputed the Earth for their hopes, and Heaven for their bliss, pervert this his order, by making the Earth their Heaven. It is an ordinary phrase of speech in Scripture, to call our life, a Warrefare; now soldiers that are wise and valiant, reverse their pleasures till the battle is ended and the victory obtained. De torrente in via bibit, propterea exaltavit caput, He drank of the torrent by the way, therefore hath he lift up his head. Saint Chrysostome expoundeth this verse of our Saviour, Qui non acquievit in diebus carnis sua, Who rested not in the days of his flesh, until he had overcome Death and Hel. Saint Ambrose declaring that place of the Apostle, Non est nobis colluctatio, etc. We fight (saith he) with the Princes of Darkness, for celestial goods, for they losing them by our occasion, they are unwilling that we should enjoy them. And because Reward is that which gives the Soldier both heart and hands, the last Sunday, we proposed the War; this; the Reward. The Devil offered our Saviour the glory of the World; but our Saviour offers us the glory of God: the hopes of this are better than the enjoying of that. Saint Bernard saith, That the time of this life is the vigil of that feast which we hope for in glory: whence he inferreth these two things: The one; That it were folly in us, to make the vigil, the Feast. Which is all one with that of S. Austen; Summa perversitas est, uti fruendis, & frui utendis. It is no good chop, considering the unequalness of the terms. God gave us the Earth, that we might use it; Heaven, that we might enjoy it. And it is a beastly kind of ignorance, to make the Earth Heaven. The other; That the Feast being so great, the fast of the vigil, ought not to seem so long unto us. Saint Paul, making a counter position ofthat, which may be suffered here; and that which may be hoped for there: after that he had said, that the one was light and momentary; the other weighty, & perdurable, he added, Supra modum in sublimitate. It is a highness above all highness; the altitude thereof alone cannot be taken: Nor can the tongue of man endear it so much, but it must fall short thereof. This made Saint Gregory to say, Qua lingua, etc. What tongue, or what understanding is able to utter the great and wonderful joys of that celestial City? The pleasures of this life are altogether Vanity. Saint Gregory, opening that place of jeremy, Patres nostri etc. Our father's eat● sour grapes, and our teeth were set on edge; He st●les the pleasures of this life to be sour grapes, and fruits that are not yet come to their true ripeness, which are good for nothing else but to set our teeth on edge. Philon calls them, F●ri● Coeli. For pleasures, are not for the earth; he that enjoys them, steals them from Heaven. And as he that steals, enjoys what he hath so got, with a great deal of fear and jealousy; so may we be said to enjoy these humane feasts and pastimes. That sacrifice of Abraham's, was held the most acceptable, that ever any man in the old Testament offered unto God. For, in sacrificing his son Isaac, he did sacrifice all the joy and content of this his life. For Isaac by interpretation signifies laughter. Risum fecit mihi Dominus. The like may be considered in his casting Agar out of his house, which signifies a stranger. Resolving with himself (being but as a stranger in this world) not to joy in the contents of this life. jeremy, whose ordinary occupation, was weeping, said, jer. 17. Diem hominis non desideravi, That is, the day of prosperity, and of pleasure have I not desired. And Saint Bernard hath this note upon it; That he might have said, That he did neither desire it, nor enjoy it. David grew weary of his pass-times and pleasures. Renuit consolari anima mea. If any thing can afford me comfort, it is the meditation of everlasting joy. Base is that mind, that lives merry and contented with the enjoying of the goods of this life. Base are the thoughts of that Prince, who keeping himself close in a Shepherds' cottage, shall deem himself happy in that poor estate, not so much as once thinking on that crown, which he ought to hope for. Saint Austen declaring that place of Saint james, Fratres sufferentiam Iob audistis, & finem Domini vidistis, Ye have heard Brethren of Iob's suffering, and ye have seen the end of the Lord. God sets before us, as patterns of patience, the life of job, and the death of Christ; where it is to be observed, that he doth not set before us the end of job; because God giving him a larger increase of wealth, of children, and other contents in this life, his end was not by him to be desired. But that of our Saviour was most painful unto him. And therefore it is said, Learn of job to suffer in this life, and of our Saviour in his death. Leaving our hopes to rely upon that other life. Et transfiguratus est. And he was transfigured. It was likewise fit, that our Saviour should be transfigured for the confirmation of our Faith. For, if these our humane eyes did see in Christ our Saviour, only the course cassock of our baseness, and the scorn and contempt of his own person, as Esay paints it forth, Who will believe the gold of his Divinity? Saint Augustine in his books De Civitate Deipunc; saith, Esay 53.2. That all the transformations of those gods which the Gentiles did celebrate in Birds, Bulls, Stones, Trees, Fountains, Fires, and grains of Gold, were directed to this end, that the World should believe, that under the form of mortal men, & this our own proper matter, lay hid some power supernatural. Who would believe that Christ was God, if he had not given some glimpse of his Riches? Who would have relied upon his protection? Without some particular revelation, who would have dreamt of his omnipotency? In a subject so weak, who would surmise it? Imagine an Angel in the shape and figure of an Ant; none will believe that this was an Angel, unless he should at some time or other discover some part of his brightness. It was also fitting that Christ should discover unto us some of those his hidden treasures, to the end that those that were his, might be persuaded that they might safely sleep under the shadow of his wings. Moses being employed in that business of Egypt, O Lord (saith he) whom shall I say hath sent me? Exod. 3. Exod. 9 Ego sum qu● sum, I am that I am: And anon after, Ego sum Deus Abraham, & Deus Isaac, & Deus jacob, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of jacob; Tell Pharaoh, that I am that I am; He that cannot, not be; That I am he that have prospered & protected Abraham, Isaac, & jacob. Which was not only a making of himself known what he was, but were likewise pledges to his people, that they should lay their confidence, liberty, lives, & their persons upon him: I am that I am by my essence; I am he that always was, and ever shall be; it is I that have power over every thing, and beg nothing of any man. The Princes of the earth, because they are to day, tomorrow, and are no more, they cannot give us any assurance of our hopes; and because they have no pledges of their own, but what they borrow from others, their favours cannot be secured unto us: For (as Saint Augustine saith) Remota jactantia, quid sunt homines, nisi homines? When Princes will show themselves in their pomp and state, they borrow here, and they borrow there; they are no body, unless they be accompanied with the great Lords of the Kingdom, unless they be attended on by a Guard of Halberdiers, unless they be rich and gloriously apparelled, and bravely mounted. In a word, these are external transfigurations, and of such things as are more others than our own; but that of our Saviour Christ was of his own proper goods, without being beholding to any. Et resplenduit facies eius sicut Sol. A twofold Light, the one temperal, the other spiritual. And his face did shine like the Sun. In the beginning of the world God did handsel his Word with the Light; for before, darkness had overspread the face of this confused Chaos, Tenebrae erant super faciem, etc. And as he that diveth into the bottom of the sea for Pearl, as he goes spurtling the oil out of his mouth, goes, as it were, thereby engendering light; so God by venting this word out of his mouth, fiat Lux, created the Light, discovering thereby the essence and nature of things. Some have not sticked to say, that the Light gave the red colour to the Ruby, the Green to the Emerald, and the Sky colour to the jacinth, etc. And though this be not so, yet so it is, that without this Light these colours could not have been distinguished, nor could we have enjoyed that humane beauty and beautiful splendour which now we do. In the Sphere of the Spirit God made another Light, which was Christ our Saviour, [Ego sum Lux mundi] this Light doth as far exceed the former, as the Spirit doth the Body. David makes mention of these two Lights, in that Psalm of his, Coeli enarrant, etc. The Heavens declare thy, etc. Of that of the Sun he saith, Tanquam Sponsus procedens de thalamo suo, This is the Bridegroom of Nature, and comes forth of his Chamber clothed all in Gold; By'r that Spiritual Light is more fair, and more beautiful by far: Lex Domini immaculata, id est, immaculatior, etc. The Law of the Lord is pure, that is, purer, etc. The beams of the Sun never yet had the power to pierce so far as to enlighten the Soul; but those of the Sun of Righteousness doth both enlighten it & convert it. He that took the day from the night, and the light from darkness, made light to break forth from out the darkness of our hearts, to the end that God's favourable countenance shining upon us through his Son, we may come to the fuller knowledge of him. For this Light did on't only eclipse and darken that of the Sun, as that of many Torches doth a poor sorry Candle; nor only enrich the air with the beams of his brightness, nor only made a Heaven of this Mountain, by gilding the stems, the bark, the boughs, and leaves of the trees, as also the stones thereof, with its glorious rays; but it did likewise illumine the souls of the Disciples, who from that very instant, by the evidence of such divine demonstrations, remained convinced, and ever after acknowledged him to be both God & Man: For albeit God cannot be seen by the eyes of the Flesh, yet such signs and tokens may be seen of God, that we may very well say, that God himself is seen. Physiognomy is a Science, which by the signs and marks of the face, doth prognosticate the inclination and propension of the Soul. One that was skilled in that Art, looking steadily on the face of Socrates, told his Scholars, That he had the marks of a man that was ill given. Whereunto he answered, That he said true in regard of the Stars; but withal, that Sapiens dominabitur Astris. Look upon Christ our Saviour, and you shall see first of all, that he hath a great inclination to our good, and that he made especial manifestation thereof in Mount Tabor; for as the angry look of a King is the Messenger of Death, so the cheerfulness of his countenance declareth clemency and life. The roaring of a Lion makes the Beasts of the Forest afraid; Prou. 16. Prou. 19 and the indignation of a King maketh his Vassals to quake and tremble: but his favour is like the dew upon the grass. Saint Ambrose saith, That our Saviour Christ's appearing here like Sun and Snow, were true pledges of the great desire that he hath of our good: for there is not any thing that doth make the earth so fruitful, as the Sun with his heat, and the Snow with its moisture. Saint Hierome in that Epistle of his to Palmachius, against the errors of johannes Hierosolimitanus, saith, That not only his face did shine, but all his whole body. 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 Sun. Who would have thought, The richest minds are usually where the poorest means. that behind so poor a veil there should be found such great treasure? But it passeth so likewise in this world, that he that seemeth most poor, is oftentimes most rich; and he that seemeth most rich, is most poor. The greatness of Rome Saint john painteth forth in the form of a woman clothed in Purple, bedecked with precious stones, and in her hand a sprig of Gold; but that which did not appear to the eyes, was all abomination, filthiness, and beastliness. The Altars of Egypt were every one of them a Treasure-house of Pearls, precious Stones, Gold, jewels, and Silks; but in every one of these their Altars they had a Toad or a Serpent. The Mezquita or Turkish Temple that honoureth the bones or Relics of Mahomet, is stored with that infinite riches, that you would take him to be some great God, whereas indeed he is but un çancarron de un 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 never so much gilded over with Gold, are no better than stocks and stones. One said in the Apocalyps, I am rich, and stand in need of nothing: But it was answered him from Heaven, Thou art poor, and much to be pitied. These are ordinarily the stamps of your powerful persons and great Princes of this world, that seeming to be as bright as the Sun in their bodies, are as black as a coal in their souls. But those that are the Saints of God, carrying a besmeered countenance, and a patched garment, bear in their souls the Sun, Sicut Tabernacula Cedar, sicut pellis Salomonis, Rich within, though poor 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 received opinion, (which those now follow, whom we call Atheists) That the Souls did die together with the bodies: And it seemeth that Cicero did favour 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 covetous rich man in the Gospel was surely of this opinion in his life time; but being put out of this his error, in that other life, he presently desired Abraham to send one in all haste from the dead, to preach unto his kindred, that they might forsake this their error: but he received this short answer, Habent Moysen & Prophetas, They have Moses and the Prophets. Where there is Scripture, there is no need of miracles: And Saint Peter saith, That Prophecy hath more assurance in it than the evidence of miracles. This is a truth hard to be understood. First, Because a miracle (as Saint Hierome saith) is, as it were, the Apostolical Seal; and the Apostles did confirm their Faith by miracles: and those miracles that were prophesied of our Saviour Christ heretofore, did declare him to be the Son of God. Saint Augustine treating at large upon this place, saith, That Prophecies and Miracles have one and the self same certitude, because they proceed from one and the self same God: but that Prophecy is the stronger and more forcible of the two; for a Miracle may be found fault withal, as the Pharisees did with that Miracle of him that was possessed with a Devil, telling our Saviour, In Belzebub the Prince of Devils thou dost cast out Devils. And that same Pythonisse, made the Devil to appear in the form of Samuel: But Abraham tells Dives, They have Moses and the Prophets. And no man can tax the Scripture, or challenge it of any fault. Saint Chrysostome asks the question, Why he did not fetch some of the Damned out of Hell? First of all, he answereth thereunto, That we have many pictures of Hell in this life; but of Heaven, very few: For although that the World be, as it were, the Entresuelo, or middle room of these two extremes, Heaven, and Hell; yet more are the fumes & vapours that ascend up from beneath, than those gustos, & contents which descend from above. There were a sort of Heretics that denied there was a Hell; it seeming unto them, that the life of a Sinner was a Hell of itself, and that it stood not with God's mercy, that there should be two Hells; alleging that of Nahum, Godiudgeth not one and the same thing twice. Secondly, God to many of his friends discovered the torments of Hell, and many of his enemies have been visibly snatched away thither. And those Aetna's of fire which are in the world, though happily engendered by particular causes, are, as it were, symbols, representing unto us that eternal fire. God labours to conceal, both his rewards and punishments. Thirdly, It is an usual fashion with God, to discover the reward, and to conceal the chastisement, for that man would be ashamed that others should see him punished. God did shut the port of Noah's Ark without, and hung the key at his own girdle, because he should not have any desire to see that lamentable deluge, and general destruction of mankind. He charged Lot's wife, that she should not so much as look towards Sodom, that she might not behold those flames which did voice out God's vengeance. At the end of the world, at that dreadful day of judgement, when God shall show himself most angry, the Sun and the Moon shall be darkened, because God will have his chastisements inflicted in the dark. Hope more Prevailent with man than Fear. Fourthly, Hope doth work more generous effects in our breasts, than Fear. It cannot be denied, but that Fear hath very powerful effects: Herod for fear of losing his Kingdom, made that butcherly slaughter of so many innocent Babes, not sparing his own children. For fear of losing his City, the King of Moab was his own son's hangman, quitting him of his life upon the wall. For fear of dying by the cruel hands of hunger, many mothers have eaten the birth of their own bowels. For fear lest they should be made captives, and led in triumph by their enemies, many valiant men have made an end of themselves. And for that Fear doth not only extend itself to an absent good, as well as Hope, but likewise to a present; and for that to lose the present good which a man possesseth, causeth a greater sorrow, than to lose the good which we do but hope for; it seemeth, that Fear is more powerful than Hope. Yet notwithstanding all this, Antiquity hath given the Palm to Hope; and the reasons on that side are very clear. The first, If Fear come to effect great things, it is by the help and favour of Hope; for there cannot be any fear, without hope of escaping the ill or the danger that is feared. Him whom the fear of some great hurt apprehendeth, maketh choice to kill himself, that he may escape that harm. The second, Thomas and Aristotle both affirm, That Delight is the author of noble deeds and difficult enterprises. Whence the Philosopher inferreth, That that thing cannot long continue, which we do not take delight in. Delight then being the child of Hope; and Sorrow, the son of Fear, Fear is less noble than Hope. The third, Love and Hope carry us along as Prisoners, in their triumph, yet as free, using us like noble persons. And as they lead us along, so are we willing to go with them: But Fear carrieth us away Captives, haling us by the hair of the head, tugging and pulling us as a Sergeant doth a poor Rogue, who goes with an ill will along with him, making all the resistance that he can. And for that Heaven consists wholly of noble persons, and that the condition of God is so noble, and the reward which he proposeth, so honourable, we should do him great wrong, to suffer ourselves to be drawn by force to so superexcellent a good; howbeit, with those that have hung back, our Saviour Christ hath used the threatenings and fears of Death, of judgement, and of Hell: And his Prophets & Preachers are therein to follow his example. Those that are his children he still desireth to lead them in the triumph of Hope: And for this cause Zacharie calls them the prisoners of Hope, Turn ye to the strong Hold, ye prisoners of Hope. Saint Ambrose saith, That he made choice of Elias and Moses, to show, Zach. 9 That in God's House the Poor is as much respected as the Rich. Moses in his younger years was a Prince of Egypt; afterwards, the chief Commander and Leader of God's People: Elias was always poor, and half hunger-starved, clothed with Goat's hair; yet both these did enjoy the glory of Tabor. The like judgement may be made of Elizeus and David, of Lazarus, and of Abraham, and of diverse others. Saint Luke addeth, Visi sunt in Maiestate, They were seen in State: For great was the Majesty wherewith Elias and Moses appeared. And Tertullian saith, That they appeared glorious [In claritatis praerogati●a;] So that those new Disciples, Peter, james, and john, might, by seeing these his ancient followers so happy, be thereby the better encouraged, and hope to enjoy the like happiness. Origen and Epiphanius are of the same opinion. Saint Hierome, against jovinianus; and Tertullian, in his book De jejunio, say, That Elias and Moses did fast forty days, as well as our Saviour Christ in the Wilderness; and that therefore they seemed as glorious as himself. Whence they infer, That he that will be transfigured with Christ, must fast with Christ. Loquebantur de excessu. They spoke of his departure. Touching that death which our Saviour Christ was to suffer in Jerusalem, there could not be any conversation more conformable to that estate and condition of his. For, being that our Saviour was to merit the glory of the body by his death, he could not so much rejoice in any thing, as in the braveness of that noble and renowned Action, and the worthiness thereof. In God's house, good services are much more esteemed, than recompense or reward: And more reckoning is made of deserving honour, than enjoying it. When those his Disciples desired such and such seats of honour, our Saviour said unto them; Potestis bibere calicem, etc. In my Kingdom, more honourable is the Cup that I drink of, than the chair that ye would sit in. In our Saviour's Ascension, when he came to Heaven-gates, the Angels began to wonder at his bloody garments. Esay 63. Quis est iste, qui venit de Edom, tinctis vestibus de Bosra? In a place so free from sorrow and torment, such a deal of blood, and wounds? But that which made their admiration the more, was, that he should make this his Gala, the only gallant clothes, that he could put on. Formosus, in stola sua. And for that this his blood, had been the means of his taking possession of this glory, both for himself, and for us; he could not clothe himself richer, nor do himself more honour, than to wear this bloody robe, that had been died in the winepress of his Passion. Saint Austen saith, That the Providence of God had so disposed it, that the marks of the Martyrs' torments should not be blotted out in Heaven. For albeit that happy estate doth repair all manner of maims, take away all deformities, and clear all the spots, and blemishes of our body; and though they shall appear much more glorious than the Sun; yet notwithstanding, those stigmata, and marks of their martyrdom, shall add an accidental glory unto them, as those colours that are gained in war, beautifies his Coat who wears them in his scutcheon. The greeks read, Loquebantur de gloria, quam completurus erat, They spoke of the glory which he was to fulfil. Our Saviour Christ being upon the Cross, the Sun was darkened (Tenebrae factae sunt super universam terram) in token, that when jesus Christ was crucified for our sins, there was no need of seeing the Sun any more, nor any more Heaven, or glory to be desired. In mount Tabor, Christ did not discover all his glory to the eyes of Faith, and therefore it was necessary, that the Heavens should be opened, that a cloud should come down, and a voice be heard from his Father, saying, Hic est filius meus dilectus, This is my beloved son. Saint Chrysostome expounding that place of Saint john, saith, Vidimus gloriam eius, quasi unigeniti à patre. Signifying, That this is to be understood of that glory, which our Saviour Christ discovered on the Cross; & that there he showed, whose son he was etc. Saint Paul seemeth somewhat to allude thereunto, when he said, God forbid (saith he) that I should be so foolish as to glory in any thing, save the glory of the Crosse. And the Spouse, His Cross, and his Ensigns, are to me as a bundle of Myrrh, I will bear it between my breasts, as my delight, and my treasure. Christ glorrious in his passion three manner of ways. Three manner of ways may it be taken, that this Excess of our Saviour Christ, is Glory. The first, That his passion, and death, and the rest of those Excesses, which he did for our salvation, (for all these may be termed Excesses) Christ did take them to be a glory unto him. Adam sinning, he seemed to make little account of God, and his creatures, which in him was a great Excess. But God did remedy this Excess with other infinite Excesses. Saint Bernard observeth, That our Saviour Christ would not enjoy the Balm which the three Maries brought to anoint him after he was dead, but did reserve it for his living body: For in Christ, we are to consider two bodies: the one Natural; the other Mystical▪ which is the Church: And as he left the first nailed and fastened to the Cross for the second; so he left this Balsamum, for the anointing and curing of it: Which was a great Excess. David called him a Worm, a Scoff, a Taunt, and the Reproach of the People; for that whilst he lived in the world, he took upon him all the affronts and contempts that man could cast upon him. And because there is not any love comparable to that of our Saviour Christ, nor all the loves in the world put together, can make up such a perfect love; as also for that there was not any affront like unto his, nor all the affronts of the world could equal the affronts that were offered unto him; that on the one side he should love so much; on the other, suffer so much, this was a great Excess. Nazianzen seeing us swallowed up in this sea of miseries, useth a kind of Alchemy, by joining his greatness with our littleness; his powerfulness, with our weakness; his fairness, with our foulness; his beauty, with our deformity; his riches, with our poverty; the gold of his Divinity, with the dirt of our Flesh: And as the greater draws the lesser after it; so our baseness did ascend to an height of honour. And this was a great Excess; but far greater, to esteem this Excess as a Glory: whence the Saints of God have learned to style Tribulation, and the Cross, Glory. Secondly, This Excess may be termed Glory, because it was the most glorious action that God ever did: For what could be greater, than to see Death subdued, Life restored, the Empire of sin overthrown, the Prince thereof dispossessed of his Throne, justice satisfied, the World redeemed, and Darkness made Light? Thirdly, It may be said to be Glory, because that by this his death a thousand Glories are to follow thereupon: Propter qoud & Deus exaltavit illum, etc. Phil. 2. Christ● passion the fountain of our Glory. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name; that at the name of jesus should every knee bow, both of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth: And this was the reward of his obedience and of his death. And the reason thereof was, that the World seeing itself captivated by so singular a benefit, men should make little reckoning either of their goods or their lives, for this his exceeding love towards them, but desire in all that they can, to show themselves thankful. And therefore Esay cries out, O, Esay 64. that thou wouldst break the Heavens and come down, and that the Mountains might melt at thy presence, etc. What a great change and alteration wouldst thou see in the world? thou wouldst see Mountains (that is, hearts that are puffed up with pride) humbled and laid level with the ground: Thou wouldst see Waters, that is, breasts that are cold and frozen, boil with the fire of Zeal, and wholly employ themselves in thy service. And in his sixtieth Chapter, Esay 60. treating of the profits and benefits which we shall receive by Christ's coming, he saith, For brass will I bring gold, and for iron will I bring silver, and for wood, brass, and for stones, iron; I will also make thy government, peace, and thine exactours, righteousness; Violence shall no more be heard of in thy Land, neither desolation nor destruction within thy Borders; but thou shalt call Salvation, thy Walls; and praise, thy Gates. The Lord shall be thine everlasting Light, and thy God, thy Glory. Bonum est nos hic esse, etc. It is better being here, than in jerusalem; let us therefore make here three Tabernacles, etc. Saint Gregory calls Honour, Tempestatem intellectus, (i) The understandings Storm, or Tempest, in regard of the danger it drives man into, and the easiness wherewith in that course he runs on to his destruction. Gen. 2●. Si dederit mihi Dominus panem ad vescendum, etc. It was Jacob's speech unto God, after that he had done that great favour of showing a Ladder upon earth, whose top reached up to Heaven; you know the Story: but the vow that he vowed unto God was this, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this journey that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothes to put on, then shall the Lord be my God, and I shall never forget this his kindness towards me. More love (a man would have thought) he might have shown towards God, if he had promised to serve, though he had given him neither bread to eat, nor clothes to put on. But Saint Chrysostome saith, That he seeing in this vision of his, the prosperity that God was willing to throw upon him, did acknowledge the thankful remembrance of this his promised & hoped for happiness: For Prosperity is evermore the comparison of Oblivion. Saint Bernard expounding that place of David, Man being in honour, Psal. 49. hath no understanding, saith, That the prosperity wherein God placed man, rob him of his understanding, and made him like unto the Beasts, that perish. And here now doth Saint Peter lose his memory. Nor is this a thing so much to be wondered at; for if there be such riches here upon earth, that they rob a man of his understanding, and alienate him from himself; if the son that is borne of a mother who hath suffered great pains in the bringing of him forth, jam non meminit praessurae, hath forgotten his mother's throws, and thinks not on the womb that bore him; if the great love of this world, and the prosperity thereof, can make us so far to forget ourselves; it is no strange thing, that we should be far more transported and carried away with heavenly things. David following the pursuit of his pleasures, amidst all the delights of this life, he cries out, Only thy glory can fill me, that only can satisfy me. Remigius unfolds this verse, of the glory of the Transfiguration; and it may be that this Kingly Prophet did see it by the light of Prophecy. And if so fortunate a King as he was, did forget all those other goods that he enjoyed, and saith, That he desires no other good, nor no other fullness; What marvel is it, that a poor Fisherman should be forgetful of good or ill? And as he that is full fed likes nothing but what is the cause of this his fullness, reckoning all other meats sour, though they be never so sweet; so he that shall once come to taste of that good, will say, No ma● bien, Rom. 8. I desire no other good but this. What saith Saint Paul, Sed & no●, etc. But we also which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we do sigh in ourselves, waiting for the adoption, even the redemption of our body, etc. Though Paul enjoyed the first fruits of the Spirit, and extraordinary regaloes and favours; yet he groaned and traveled in pain for Heaven. What, saith Saint Chrysostome, Is thy soul become a Heaven, and dost thou yet groan for Heaven? Do not thou marvel that I groan, 2. Cor. 12. having seen that in Heaven which I have seen; Quonian raptus fui●● Paradisum: I see the good which the world wanteth; and the ill which the Prodigal endured; he did groan and sigh in the Pigsty, when he called to mind his father's goodly houses. Saint Hierome treating of the raptures of his Spirit, saith, That he found himself many times among Quires of Angels; he saith, That he lived a whole week without any sense of bodily necessity: nor was it much, he enjoying the conversation of Angels, and the fellowship of God, Divinae visionis intuitu: but when I came again to myself, I did bewail the good that I had lost. But that Peter may not groan with Saint Paul, nor weep with Saint Hierome; knowing how the world went here beneath, said, Let us not leave that place which we may have cause to weep for, when we are once gone from it: For, what good is there upon earth, be it never so good, which hath not some ill with its good? Obtain (if thou canst) of God, that he will but once give thee leave to taste of the goods of Heaven, and thou wilt soon forget whatsoever is on earth. The reason why these frail & transitory goods are so much desired, and sought after with so great thirst and covetousness, is, because those eternal goods which call continually unto us, stand in so far a distance from our hearts and our thoughts: for if thou shouldst but taste one drop of the water of that celestial Fountain, or but one crumb of that divine Table, thou wouldst say with a full and resolute purpose, No mass mundo, Let the world go, I will no more of it. The Hound when he neither sees nor scents his Game, goes slow and soft, diverting himself here and there, as if he had no life in him; but he no sooner spies the Hare, but he flies with the wind. Rob of the content of Heaven, I said, All, whatsoever is in the earth is a Lye. Psal. 106. Peter was robbed of himself, and therefore he desired to stay still there. The first that tasted Wine, though he were so grave a man as Noah, it made him commit a great excess, insomuch that it gave occasion to his own son to mock him. And how should not the first that tasted of the glory which our Saviour Christ had manifested in Tabor, (though so grave a one as Peter) be so drunken therewith, that he should utter so great an excess? But whatsoever was taken from himself, he did add it all (whatsoever it were, more or less) to the glory of Christ. Non enim sciebat, quid diceret. For he knew not what he said. Erras Petre, (saith Saint Hierome) Peter, Saint Pe●ers error in his admiration of Mount Tabor thou art in a mighty error: First, In judging that for a happiness that was so short and transitory; there being no felicity but in things that are permanent. Imagine all possible happiness, measure it with the duration of Ages, and with that time which in the end must end; and when it is ended, thou wilt hold it an unhappiness and infelicity. Peter, thou desirest to enjoy glory here in this world, which is to end toomorrow: And for that the glory which thou desirest, is not to last so long as the world, nay scarce an hour in this world, thou art in a mighty error, Peter. Saint Luke saith, That to the hungry belly the remembrance of his forepast fullness shall be a torment unto him; and to the sorrowful, his former laughters and contentments shall but the more augment his grief, etc. Secondly; Peter did err, in preferring a particular, before a public good; Public Good, ever to be preferred before the private. especially, being a Prelate and Pastor of the Church. The hand and the foot, renouncing their proper right, offer themselves to encounter with any danger, for to defend the head, and save the life. Amongst the Elements, the Water, the Earth, and the Air, forsake their Centre for to assist common necessity. A good Citisen must be wanting to his own house and person, for to further the common good. Saint Austen saith, That Prelates must make profession of a double obligation: One, of Shepherds, for their sheep; another, of Christians, for themselves. For the first, they must have recourse to the necessity of their subjects, with a great deal of care and vigilancy. For the second, they are to exercise themselves in all kind of virtue, and holiness. But many of them, practise the contrary. They are Christians for others, willing them to exercise themselves in virtue and holiness; and Pastors for themselves, caring too much for their own pleasures, and profit. The King of Sodom said unto Abraham, Give me the persons, take the goods to thyself. He regarded more the freedom and liberty of his subjects, than the ransoming of his treasures. And howbeit he was a bad man, yet he showed himself a good shepherd. David cried out unto God, Lord keep my soul, and deliver Israel out of all his troubles. He joined his own, and the common cau●e together, that God might be the better pleased therewith, and the sooner grant his request. Thirdly, Peter erred in his too too cold commendation of this Glory, for the which a greater praise had been insufficient. To commend coldly that which is excellent, shows a weak judgement. Thou desirest a Painter to show thee a picture; He takes out one; thou desirest a better, he takes out another, that contents thee not: At last he shows thee the best that he hath; Thou coldly commendest it, and sayst, it is a pretty good piece, so, so: He grows weary of thee, and takes it away from thee. God made in the world diverse pictures, every one of them being good apart; and all of them put together, exceeding good. Thou sayst, o Lord, these do not satisfy my desire; I would see the best piece that ever past through thy hands. He carries thee up to mount Tabor, he there shows thee his masterpiece, his Glory? Peter gives it only this cold commendation, Master it is good. Peter thou errest, saith the Evangelist; For he knew not what he said. Fourthly, Peter did err, in debasing so much that glory, which had no need at all of any Tabernacles, or houses to defend them from the Sun, etc. For, as he did not think then upon eating, so he might have had as little mind of sleeping. Saint Ambrose defines Happiness, to be, Omnia bona, in omni bono. He need not desire a Sun to give him light, because he enjoyeth another Sun, that never setteth; and another Moon, which never is in its wane, or increase. Thou shalt have no more Sun, to shine by day (saith Esay) neither shall the lightness of the Moon shine unto thee. Esay 60. Thy Sun shall never go down, neither shall thy Moon be hid. For the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy sorrow shall be ended. But here, our felicity, is in the wane, and our happiness suffers an eclipse. Neither is our light clear, saith Saint Bernard, nor our ref●ction full, nor our mansion safe: Clouds, obscure its light; hunger, mars its fullness; and alterations, it's firmness, and security. Gregory Nissen saith, That, Necessity brought in Rule and Dominion. For that there should be a Lord and Ruler, there is a necessity in it; And that there should be a greater Lord, there is a greater necessity in it. For Man, had need of the creatures, and God made him Lord over them. If a man could run as fast as a horse, he were not Lord over the horse; if he had the claws, and strength of a lion, he were not Lord over the lion; But in Heaven, there is not any the least sign of necessity: for there both the Sun, the Moon, the Creatures, Fountains, Plants, Fruits, Flowers, and Houses are all superfluous. So that Peter when he talked of building Tabernacles, he knew not what he said. Adhuc eo loquente, eccè nubes lucida. Blind Clouds were for the Law, bright for the Gospel. And as he yet spoke, behold a bright Cloud. Scarce had Peter ended his speech, when a bright shining cloud, like a glorious Curtain, endeavoured them all. Thomas saith, That in this cloud the holy Ghost descended down, as he did in that Baptism, in the form of a Dove. Theophilact, That in the old Testament God appeared in dark clouds, which struck terror, and amazement; but now he comes in a bright cloud, because he came to teach, and to give light. The holy Ghost, is the Author of the light of our souls. Wisdom calls him, Spiritum intelligentiae, The spirit of understanding; And the Church daily begs of him, that he will lighten our darkness, and illuminate our senses. Accend● lumen sensibus. From the cloud, there went out a voice, like unto thunder, which said, This is my beloved Son, hear him. And Saint Chrysostome hath noted it, That Moses, and Elias disappeared, and were not to be seen; to the end that the Disciples might understand, that this voice was only directed to our Saviour Christ. Howbeit, having seen before in his face that treasure of glory, and Peter having acknowledged him to be the Son of the everliving God, in the name of the whole College and Society of the Apostles; it could not be presumed otherwise. The voice being passed, the cloud vanished, and the Disciples remained as dead men. Our Saviour Christ quit them of their fear, and coming again to themselves, like those that are awakened from a heavy sleep, they saw none but only jesus in the garden. They were fall'n all asleep, and they slept so sound, that our Saviour Christ could hardly wake them. here likewise they failed; for they awaked with an earnest desire to enjoy that glory which they had seen, but they did not see it any more. First, because those eyes that shut themselves to labour, do not deserve to see such glory; Secondly, because upon earth, (though it be from Heaven) no good can continue long. Thomas saith, That the body of our Saviour Christ did enjoy this glory, as it were by transition, or a passing by; And that those glories, which are enjoyed here on earth, are short & momentary, they are no better than grass and hay, which are soon cut down & withered, they are Winter Sun-shinesand Summer-Floods, soon gone. Man's days are like the grass, and as the flower of the field, so shall he flourish. But that the glory of God should stand upon these ticklish terms, I cannot well tell what to say to it; nor do I know which is the greater miracle of the two, either that the glory of the Earth should continue, or that of Heaven have an end. But the truth is, those goods do not last long with us, which Heaven itself communicateth unto us. Saint Bernard saith, That those pensions which God bestows on his friends, are very good, but very short. Saint Austen; That it is a sweet, but a short good, that God gives us in this World. Hugo de Sancto Victore, That God's Regalos, or Regales delitiae, have two discountings, or diminutions of debt in this life: The one, that they are not full; the other, that they are not long, for a cloud presently comes and overshadowes them. Saint Bernard treating of the cherishments and comforts of the Spouse, under the name of kisses, saith, Heu rara hora, & parua mora; One while he saith, that he suffered his thoughts to be carried away with the sweetness of these dainty delights, conceiving it to be a great happiness; but then he saith again, O, si durasset. Those that travel abroad, reserve all their content they take therein, for their Country; so that their joy shall not only be full, but permanent, They shall be drunk with the plentifulness, etc. Of Nebridius, a friend of his, Saint Augustine saith (And he applieth his mouth to that Fountain from whence he drew all his happiness;) Pro jucunditate sua sine fine, foelix; Happy, for the pleasure of it without end. Ipsum audite, Hear him. Here the World did receive so great a good, Christ appointed to be our Teacher but when. that the Father did give us his Son, to be our Master and Lawgiver. So that it lies upon him to teach us, and upon us to obey him. Tertullian saith, That the presence of Moses and Elias, made much for that present purpose, but more now their absence; for that it gave us thereby to understand, That this supreme Master and Lawgiver did far outstrip the office of Moses, and the zeal which Elias had of the Law [Quasi jam off●cio, & honore perfunctis.] For in this best beloved son of God, jesus Christ, two things are to be seen; the one, as he was a Lawgiver, the advantage that he had of the Law; the other, That Moses was now put to silence, and that we were only to hearken to our Saviour Christ. At his Baptism that very self same voice was heard, This is my beloved son; but we find not there an Ipsum audite, Hear him. Not notifying him then to the World for a Master; so that it seemeth that this was reserved for our Saviour Christ, against he had passed over the rigour of Fasting and Penance: signifying, That God placeth not him in the office of a Preacher, who hath not run through these strict courses. Psal 91. Bene patientes erunt, ut annuntient, Christ had no need to do penance, but thou hast great need to do so, Locus est communis. Descendentibus illis, etc. And when they came down from the Mount, he charged them to say nothing to any man. He enjoined them silence: First, (saith Saint Hierome) Ne incredibile videretur, lest the greatness and strangeness thereof should make men to think it to be an old wife's tale. And if Christ said to Nicodemus, If when I tell ye earthly things ye believe not, how will ye be brought to believe those high and heavenly mysteries of the Kingdom of God? Here occasion may be taken to tax those, who coming from beyond the seas, are all in their Hyperboles, abusing others ears with their loud lies, but giving the lie most to their own souls. Secondly, He enjoined them silence, for that the favours and regaloes which thou shalt receive from God in private, thou art not to bring them upon the stage in public, or to proclaim them (as we say) at the Crosse. Leave this care to God, for he will bring them to light in their due time, when they shall make for thy honour, and his glory. Elias was very careful, that no man should know of his departure; nay, he sought to hide it from Elisha, saying unto him in Gilgall, Sede hic, etc. Tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel: But Elisha said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he was scarce come to bethel, 4. Kings 2. but the children of the Prophets that were at bethel came out to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take thy master from thine head this day? Novi, silete, Yea, I know it, (said he) hold ye your peace. Elias afterwards departed for jerico, entreating Elisha that he would tarry behind, promising him, that he would presently return unto him, but he could not persuade Elisha unto it. They were scarce come to jerico, but the sons of the Prophets acquainted him with the like news; to whom he answered as before, Novi, silete. In the end, going for jordan, Elisha still followed him, and fifty of the sons of the Prophets: so that the more Elias sought to conceal this business, the more God made it known, by revealing it (as Tostatus hath observed) 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 glory. Neminem viderunt, nisi solum jesum. Only in Christ jesus are our hopes secured. Men will accompany you whilst the glory of your prosperity lasteth; but that being ended, you shall find no man that will stick unto you; Woe unto him that is alone, for if he fall, he shall have none to help him up: Prosperity finds always Friends, adversity none. And this is truly verified of those who trust on the world, or have any confidence in man. Weigh and consider with thyself, what a number of friends jerusalem had in its prosperity, how ready to seru● her, and to court her love; but when jerusalem began to fall, and when she had most need of her friends, jeremy complaineth, She had not so much as one friend to be her comforter. The God of all comfort uphold us with his everlasting love, that we may not perish in this wrold, nor in the world to come. THE TWELFTH SERMON, UPON THE MONDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. JOHN 8.21. Ego vado, & quaeretis me. I go my way, and ye shall seek me. THe Scribes and Pharisees were offended at the favour which, Without Faith in Christ, no remission of sin. john 8.7. in affront of their authority, our Saviour had shown to the Adulteress, saying, Let him that is among you without sin, cast the first stone at her. They had made some threatening offers (as men that thought themselves much wronged by him) to take away his life; but because his hour was not yet come, no man laid hands on him. Whereupon our Saviour said unto them, Ego vado, Why seek ye thus after my life, I go my way, I am he, whom willingly, and of mine own accord offer myself unto death; your arms were not strong enough to hold me, if it were in my desire to make resistance: but when I am dead ye shall seek me. For the jews used continually to call for their Messias, and did earnestly long after him, expecting then his coming, when as he was already come: and for that this hope of theirs was hopeless, he says unto them, Ye shall die in your sins, your death shall differ much from mine, for I shall go one way, and you another; Whither I go, ye cannot come. Your inferior Ministers did presume, That our Saviour out of a desperate humour would needs live among the Gentiles, as he that goes to Morocco to turn Moor; the Pharisees, they thought that he would go destroy himself; What meaneth this man to say, Whither I go, ye cannot come? Will he kill himself? Unto which unmannerly speech our Saviour replied, Ye are from beneath, I am from above; ye are of this world, I am not of this world; I have told ye already, That except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins, not only in that of incredulity, but in all those other which ye shall commit: for without faith in him, who I am, there is no remission of sins▪ etc. john 16. Mat. 2. I go my way, and ye shall seek me. This phrase of speech our Saviour Christ did often use, to show, That he died merely out of his own proper will and pleasure. O Lord (said Abraham) I shall be very willing to die without leaving any children behind me, seeing that thou wilt have it so. Eusebius Emisenus to this purpose expoundeth those words which our Saviour uttered on the Cross to his father, In manus tuas, Domine, commendo Spiritum meum, Into thy hands, o Lord, I commend my Spirit: Now Commendare is all one with Ponere; I put not, o Lord, my soul into the hands of death, nor into those of my enemies; for neither their whips, nor their thorns, nor their nayl●, nor their spear, were able to take my life from me, if I had not been willing to surrender it up into thy hands. Seneca saith, That a benefit consists not so much in the thing that is given, as the good will wherewith it is given. And therefore when the gift is small, the greatness of it must be measured according to the goodness of the will. The death of our Saviour Christ was the greatest benefit that ever the world enjoyed, but the willingness wherewith he laid down his life for us was far greater, Maiorem Charitatem, etc. Greater love hath no man, than this, that a man lays down his life for his friend. But hear now the woefullest, the heaviest, and most lamentable case that can possibly fall within the compass of thy imagination; to wit, That the death of his Son, which God promised to the world as a Sea of mercies, as a Heaven of hopes, as a ransom of our slavery, and as a reparation of all our miseries, he should now give it as a threatening to this wretched and unfortunate Nation: and how taking his leave of his Disciples, in that Sermon of his last Supper, with tender tears trickling down his eyes, and with a great many other kind demonstrations of his love, he should make such large promises unto them after his death; one of the chiefest whereof was, Let not your heart be troubled; for although I go from you, Christ's going from us, the greatest Curse. 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, never to see you more. O, what a cruel blow was this! O, what a sad departure is this! how comfortless, and how hard to be endured? If from him that is dangerously sick the Physician shall go his way, who is able to cure him; if from the Thirsty the Fountain shall fly from his lips, what is able to quench his thirst; if from the Blind, the light; from the child, his father; from the wife, her husband; from the soldier, his captain; and from the scholar, his master shall be taken away; of whom shall they seek help? Turn not away thy face, job 14.13. neither decline from thy servant. job held Hell less fearful than God's displeasure; O, that thou wouldst hide me (saith he) in the grave, that thou wouldst keep me secret until thy wrath be past. But David held it the greater harm of the two, that God should hide his face from him, Though thou be'st angry with me, yet turn not thy face from me. The same job saith, Why dost thou hide thy face, this is to use me as an enemy. jacob wrestling with God, although he saw he was displeased, Gen. 32. yet he would not let him go till he had blest him. O Lord, I will endure thine anger, but not thine absence. By way of Hyperbole S. Paul said to those of Ephesus, Ye were without Christ, and without God in this world: Weighing therein very well with himself, what the world is, and what God is. What then, shall this his departure be eternal? It goes hard with us, when God shall threaten his going away, and we shall not have the heart to entreat him to stay. jeremy lamenting his misfortunes, one while in the name of his people, that were carried away captives into Babylon; another while in his own proper person, as one that lay fast fettered in irons, making a relation of his sorrows goes adding grief unto grief; He did put me in a dark Dungeon, he did shut me up as in a grave amongst the Dead, He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone; he hath shut his windows against me, he hath not left me a loop-hole to look out; he hath clapped gyves and shackles on my feet; I put up a Petition unto him, And he would not hearken unto my prayer. Yet notwithstanding all this, do you but ask the Prophet, Whither God had then a purpose to destroy him? and he will tell you, That it was the least of his thought: No, these were the stripes of a father, that loves his child better than he loves himself; who beats him, but with tears in his own eyes. If God then be so good and loving a father unto us, that he falls a weeping when he gives us but a few jerkes, & those with a gentle hand; How can he desire our eternal punishment? The Lord will not utterly cast us off. That God should for ever take his leave of thee, the fault must be in thee, not in God; Can God take away his kindness for ever? How can he shut the gates of his house against thee, who is still knocking at the doors of thy house? Non in perpetuum triturabis triturans, saith Esay, If God do thresh thee as with a flail, it is not because he takes delight to bruise thee with his threshing of thee, but that he may sever the corn from the chaff, etc. This our Saviour's threatening is full of mercy, full of love; for he would never have said so often to the jews, Ego vado, if he had not desired that they should have said again unto him, Do not thou go from us. If it be our Saviour's delight, to be amongst the children of men, how can he take pleasure in departing eternally from us. Et quaeretis me, (i) And ye shall seek me. This second threatening is more fearful than the former; Ye shall seek me, but ye shall not find me. In the pursuit of any kind of good whatsoever, hard is that man's hap, who seeks and finds not; who calls, and receives no answer; who sues & obtains not; who lives in hope, but sees no end of his hopes. Our Saviour Christ looked for a Fig on the Fig tree, and because he found none there, Math. 21. his displeasure was such, that he laid a severe curse upon it. Amongst those many fears of the general judgement, Saint john in his Apocalyps saith, Man shall seek after death, Kindness neglected, turns to hatred. and shall not find it, though those find it too, that never seek after it. This is a great unhappiness; but when the business is betwixt God and us, it is a far more miserable misfortune, to seek him, and not to find him: not only because they sometimes find him, who seek not after him, [Inuentus sum à non quaerentibus me, I am found of those that seek me not;] but also because any other good whatsotuer, a man may hate & abhor as a thing that is ill; Vae, qui dicitis bonum, m●lum, Woe be to you that call good, evil; he that despairs of life, desires death, and counts it as a good. But who can hate God, who doth naturally desire our happiness? But this misery ye draw upon yourselves, who by abhorring me, and persecuting me (saith Saint Augustine) as an enemy of God, are driven to seek unto God, calling hourly upon him for your Messias, with great anguish of heart, and with tears in your eyes: but because ye have refused that happiness which offered itself unto you, and entered within your gates, but was rejected; groping the walls like blind men at noon day, ye look after a new occasion of happiness: but by how much the more ye shall desire a new Messias, by so much the more shall ye persecute me, and those which shall preach my Name throughout the world. And by how much the more ye shall persecute me, so much the longer shall your error remain with ye, and ye shall continue in this your wilful stubbornness, till ye die in your sins. Hence I infer, how dangerous a thing an error is, especially in point of our salvation; how dangerous, an ill performed Confession, yet by us reputed for good; how dangerous, a secure, but unsound conscience; how dangerous for a man to err in his account in the beginning; how dangerous, highly to offend God, and yet think that therein we do him good service. A Moor killeth a Christian, and he thinks that he hath pleased God very well in so doing: A Schismatic throws down Images, breaks glass windows, and defaces all carved faces, and thinks that he shows therein a great deal of zealous respect and reverence unto God: The jew hates the name of Christ, and persecuteth him that takes it in his mouth; And he thinks that he doth an acceptable thing in God's sight. O, what a fearful affronting of his error will it be to the Moor, how shamefully will he see himself cozened, when he shall behold his Mahomet burning in Hell flames? To the jew, to see Christ our Saviour come with the Majesty and glory of God, to judge the taunts and scoffs, and other cruelties which they used towards him? To the Heretics, to see the Saints whom they have burned, to sit as Assistants at their condemnation? Then will they cry out when it will be too late, Erau●mus in via veritatis, We have erred in the way of truth. And if a man shall then see, that he hath lost fifty years of good works, of Prayers, Alms, Fast, wherewith he thought to gain and merit Heaven; O, how lamentable will that loss appear, when he shall find that by them he hath treasured up more wrath against the day of vengeance, more sorrow and more torment in Hell? Quaeretis me, Ye shall seek me. In the former Chapter he added, Non inu●nietis, Ye shall not find me. jeremy hath the same; and the reasons thereof are two: The first, Because he that seeketh sloathfully & carelessly, seldom or never findeth. From the time that our Saviour Christ was borne, he condemned this their slothfulness. The Kings came from the East to seek him; but the Pharisees would not step a foot out of doors to look after him, not having the light of one single Star, but of a thousand Prophecies. In lapide luteo lapidatu● est piger, stercore bonum lapidatus est piger: The Greek letter makes the sense more plain; for in stead of Lapidatus, it reads Comparatus. A slothful man is compared to a dirty stone, or to the dung of an Ox; understanding by these two, any kind of loathsome filthiness whatsoever, which the hand of man will avoid to touch, which if it do touch, it is besmeered and fouled therewith. The slothful man is no less odious; for he that shall give himself over unto sloth, shall be bemired in his wealth or in his honour, and shall have cause all the days of his life to weep and complain. Signs whereby to know whether we seek God truly. james 4.5. Two signs the Scripture sets down of him that seeks God truly: The one, That he seeks as earnestly to serve him, as others desire to offend him. The Spirit that dwelleth in you, lusteth to envy. The Spirit is here taken in the better sense, as appeareth by the Greek Translation, as also by that which followeth, But he giveth more grace. He saith then, That the holy Ghost doth put envy into our breasts, binding every Soul to labour for his salvation with envy. Saint Paul saith, Spiritus sanctus postulat pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabilibus; That is, He makes us to desire it with groans. A godly kind of Envy. So likewise, he makes us to desire our salvation with envy; that we should have the envy of the worldly minded man, and the care of the Thief, when he goes about his thefts and his robberies. The beastly Epicure hotly pursues his filthy pleasures; the revengeful man, his revenge. Demosthenes did envy a Smith that was his neighbour, for that he rose up so early to so base and foul an Occupation. The Thief watcheth all night to take a purse upon the highway; the Wanton waits nights and days at his mistress' window; the revengeful man will not slumber nor sleep: with the like care art thou to seek after God. The other sign, If when thou seekest God thou meetest not with rest & quietness, it is a sign that thou hast not yet found him. As the Needle rests in the North, so our Soul rests in God; Fecisti ●os Domine ad te, & inquietum est cor nostrum, donec veniamus ad ●e, We cannot have our perfect rest and quiet in this life; but he that doth enjoy the same, he hath it from God, it comes from him. But when our heart is troubled, suffering continual perturbations, like the Needle in the Compass, till it be turned towards the North; it is no good sign, that we have found God as we should. The second reason of thy not finding God, is, because thou dost not seek him when he is to be found. Esay preaching before Manasses, said, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Esay 55. but this perverse King, as the Hebrews report it, did calumniate this his doctrine; alleging, 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, Deut. 4.7. that hath their Gods so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon 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 we live here upon 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 hopeless but that he may be found therein; and of all the whole life of man it may be verified, Omnis qui quaerit, invenit, Every one finds that seeks. At the point of death it is no good time to seek him; not that he that shall then truly seek after him shall not find him; but because it is a hard matter at that very instant to perform true repentance, as we have elsewhere declared. And therefore the Scripture so often cries out unto us, That yet while it is day we should hearken unto him, lest the night of death should suddenly overtake us. What saith Eccl. Ante mortem confiteri, i. Confess before thou die. S. Austen expounds this place of confession of our sins. And because no man should hope to do it in the time of his sickness, when pains & diverse other accidents divert the Soul; Eccles. addeth, Viws & sanus, etc. Confession of sin when to be made. Confess thyself whilst thou art healthy and sound, not when thou art half dead; and therein shalt thou do two notable things: The one, Thou shalt praise God. The other, Thou shalt glory in his mercies. After death, is a desperate time; for then the door 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 Greek letter, Tanquam à non existente. When a man's life ends, there is an end of all remedies: And therefore Solomon said, That a living Dog was better than a dead Lion: And jeremy, Eccle. 9 jer. 13. Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains; and while ye look for light, ye turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. A third reason why we do not find God, is, because we do not persever in seeking him: And therefore it is said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me. S Austen says, That the jews did seek after God three manner of ways: One, By hoping after another Messias. Another, By persecuting him both in his life and in his death: For that piercing of his body with a Spear, did plainly prove now that he was dead, what hatred they bore to him while he was alive. 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 upon another in jerusalem, many of them returned to our Saviour Christ, and sought after him; but with a very poor & weak purpose: They did inherit this evil condition of their forefathers, and grandfathers of old, who did never seek God, but when he scourged them sound for their sins: And when that storm was past, and their peace made, they fell afresh to their former rebellions. There are few men so past grace, which do not sometimes sigh for Heaven. But the mischief of it is, that these our sighs are quickly overblown, they do not last with us. In the darkest night, there are some lightnings which break through the clouds and clear the air; but in the end the darkness prevaileth. In your duskiest & cloudiest days, the Sun is wont to rush through the foggiest & thickest clouds; but new clouds arising, the Sun retires himself and pulls in his head. Saul by spurts did dart forth many beams of light, acknowledging that David had done him many real courtesies, and that he had repaid him evil for good, and had a purpose with himself upon fits to favour him, and to honour him; But the foggy clouds and misty vapours of Envy increasing more and more upon him, these light flashes were turned into darkness. Balaam, when King Balack sent unto him to curse God's people, had very good purposes and desires for a while within him; He consulted with God in that business, and knowing that it was his will, that he should not go, dispatched those his messengers. And the King sending others unto him, he told them, That he would not go to that end, if he would give him his house full of gold. Doubtless, these were good intentions, had he continued still in the same mind. But the clouds of covetousness did overcast this light of his understanding with so gross a darkness, that neither the Angel which stood before him with a naked sword in the way, nor his beast which spoke unto him, and turned aside, could keep him back. In peccato vestro moriemini. Ye shall dye in your sin. There are great indeering in the holy Scripture, of the grievousness of sin, and the hurt that comes thereby. Anselmus saith, That he had rather fry without sin in the flames of Hell, than with sin, enjoy Heaven. He 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, The foulness of Sinne. yet shall it not be able to wash away the foulness of sin. Helias desired of God, that he might dye under the juniper tree; and yet he would not be rid of his life by jezabel, in regard of the sin that tyrannical Queen should have committed: so that even in his mortal enemy, so great an ill seemed intolerable unto him. In Scripture, sin is a cipher of all possible infelicity and misfortune tha● can befall a man. Saint Paul saith, That God made his Son sin. Him who knew no sin, he made sin for us. For discharging upon him the tempest of his wrath, he made him of all other men the most miserable. Novissimum vir●rum. jacob would not let Benjamin go down with his brethren to Egypt (joseph desiring to have it so) though Reuben had offered two of his own sons as pledges for his safe return, Gen. 43. & to the end that the good old man should have the best security he could give him; Reuben said, If he return not, Ero peccati reus; I will be content to be condemned to all possible miseries whatsoever. The like Bersabe was willing to say, when she thought the reign of her son Solomon should be troubled. Shall I and my son Solomon be counted Offenders? Shall we be the outcasts of the world, and be laid open to the utmost of misery? The reason of all this harm, is, For that all possible ill, that can be imagined, is reduced unto sin, as to its Centre. Make a muster of all the enemies of Man, as Death, the Devil, the World, & the Flesh; & not any one of them, nay not all of them together have any the least power to hurt us without sin. And therefore in our Lord's prayer, silencing all other our enemies, only we beg of God, that he would free us from sin. But deliver us from evil. Which, howbeit some do understand it to be spoken of the Devil, yet (as Saint Austen saith) he can but bark, he cannot bite. Only sin is able to do both. To this so great a hurt, may be added another that is far greater. Obstinacy in sin, never to be cured. Which is obstinacy in sin. job painting out this evil, saith, That the sinner taketh pleasure therein, and that it seemeth sweet unto him, it is as pellets of Sugar to him under his tongue; He first delights in the company of sin, than he marries himself unto her, and at last, leaves her not till death them depart. Parcet illi, & non derelinquet. The seventy read it, Non parcet illi, & non derelinquet, he will excuse no occasion, no diligence, no trouble. His desire thereof is insatiable. There is no kind of sin (be it of Sloth, or Revenge, or Covetousness) that is continually beating upon our actions. But our thoughts are evermore hammering of wickedness, like the Smith, that gives a hundred blows upon his Anvil, and two upon his iron; or like the Barber, that makes more snips in the air, than on the hair. The Pharisees did crucify our Saviour Christ but once, Sin, desirous to do more than it is able. in the very deed and act of his death; but in their desires, & in their thoughts, they had crucified him a thousand times. But that we may give the obstinacy of this people, it's full qualification, we must make a brief recapitulation of those means, which God used for to mollify their hardness. First of all; he took it to his charge to cure it with his Doctrine, his Miracles, and the Prophecies of their Prophets. Well, this would do no good with them, and many died in this their obstinacy. Next, he comes amongst them in his own person, taking upon him the name and office of a Physician, Purgationem peccatorum faciens, Making a purge for sin. He was willing to have ministered Physic to the jews, and with the sweet and comfortable syrup of his Word, to have eased them of their griefs, and to have cured all the infirmities of their bodies; as the sick of the Palsy for eight and thirty years together, the Blind that were borne blind, and such as were possessed with Devils, and the like; Being willing also to have cleansed their souls from all kind of uncleanness: But at last he was fain to give them over, their diseases were grown so desperate, remitting them add hospitalium incurabilium, as men without hope of recovery. For, as in the body, there are some sicknesses so mortal, that though the sick be capable of health, yet the malignity of the humour, maketh the Physician to despair thereof: So likewise in the soul, there are some diseases so mortal, that through the great malignity of them, and the sharpness of the humour, the heavenly Physician is out of heart of helping them, and quite discouraged from doing any good upon them. And therefore saith, Ye shall dye in your sin. jeremy maketh mention, that certain Angels coming by God's appointment to cure Babylon, after that they had applied many medicines unto her, they said, We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed, Esay 51. let us therefore forsake her, and every one go his way from her. Lo, the Lord of Angels himself, and of all the Hosts of Heaven, comes unto them, offers to cure them, by applying the Medicines of his Word and his Miracles; but they refuse to be holpen, and so he leaves them amongst the Catalogue of the Incurable. Secondly, The prayer which Christ made for them upon the Cross, was a strange means; and though he then converted a Thief, yet could he not convert a Pharisee. Saint Stephen made the like prayer, Lay not this sin, o Lord, unto their charge, Let not the sin ofthiss people be a sin unto death. In a word, the blood of our Saviour Christ softeneth the hardness of stones, but mollifieth not the hearts of the jews. Thirdly, an occasion once lost, as it is seldom or never recovered, so is it ordinarily bewailed. Horace saith of Virtue, That he that enjoys it, esteems it not; but having lost it, envies it. Of Herod, josephus reporteth, That he caused his wife to be put to death upon a false accusation, and she was scarce cold, but that he pined away for her. Alexander killed Clitus, and wept over him when he had done. Athens exiled Socrates, & afterwards repenting themselves thereof, they erected his Statue, and banished his Accusers. Abimelec banished Isaac out of his Country, and afterwards went to seek for him, etc. Humane and divine Histories are full of this truth: only in the breasts of the Pharisees this remorse and pity could find no place: but having lost in Christ our Saviour, the happiest occasion that ever the world enjoyed; yet such and so great was this their wilful obstinacy, that they were so far from weeping or bewailing either his or their own loss, that if they could catch him now again alive, they would crucify him anew. Great obstinacies, great stiffness and stubbornness doth the Scripture mention; The hardheartedness of the jews without a parallel. 3. Kings. 16 as that of the Giants, which built the Tower of Babel; that of Pharaoh, whom so many several plagues could not unharden; that of Saul, jeroboam, Antiochus, & Herod Ascalonita; that of Elah and of Zimri, who went into the palace of the King's house, and burned the King's house over him with fire, and died. But none was like unto that of this people, for their hardness of heart hath now continued above 1600 years. Above all these harms, there is one that is yet greater than the rest, which is this present threatening, Ye shall die in your sin. Of all disasters that may befall us, this is not only greater, but the sum of all the rest. How many businesses offer themselves unto men in this life, though they be of Empires and Monarchies, which will be but as it were accessory unto them, and not much trouble them, whither they succeed well or ill? But this is so precise a one, and so necessary, that he that loseth it, loseth all; and not only all present good, but the future hope of ever recovering it again. Saint Paul writing to those of Corinth, comes upon them with an Obsecro, ut vestrum negotium agatis, i. I beseech you mind your own business; your own business, by an Antonomasia; for all the rest are aliena, others. Seneca in an Epistle that he writeth to Lucilius, saith, That a man spendeth part of his life in doing ill, and the greater part in unprofitable things; and all his life, in not looking well what he doth: As, he that prays without attention; he that reads with a diverted mind: if he would have spoke like a Christian, he might have put them in mind of many, who spend all their life, or the greatest part thereof, by placing their thoughts upon their end. At this mark did David aim in many of his prayers. Psal. 49.5. Cassiodorus thus expoundeth that place of the forty ninth Psalm, The iniquity of my heels shall compass me about. The head is Principium hominis, the very life and first beginning of man; and the heel is taken for the end and final dissolution of man: And he saith, That his greatest care was the continual remembrance of his end. He repeateth the like in many other of his Psalms, Exurge Domine, ne repellas in finem, Arise Lord, put us not off to the end. Vsque quo Domine oblivisceris me? How long wilt thou forget me, to the end? Lord let me know my end: I ever, o Lord, had an eye to the peril and danger of my end. Take me not away in the midst of my days; for that is not a fit time for a man's end. In a word, true happiness or unhappiness consists in its arrival at its Haven; for it little importeth, to have escaped this or that storm, unless we come to land safely. It is not sufficient for a man to have spent a great deal of money in a Law suit, unless he have sentence on his side. It is the evening that commendeth the day, and our end that crowneth our actions, etc. In peccato vestro moriemini. Ye shall die in your sin. We are not ignorant, that God revealed to many of his Saints their predestination, as to Marie Magdalen, and his Apostles; but to none their reprobation, lest the infallibility ofthiss revelation should thrust them into desperation. And these words, Ye shall die in your sin, Ob. seemeth to be a plain prophecy, that this people were to die in their sin. I answer, Sol. That this cannot be a revelation, for two reasons: The one, Because the Pharisees did not believe; and in not giving credit to our Saviour Christ in the truth that he uttered for their good, it is likely they would not believe those that he delivered for their hurt. The other, For that our Saviour Christ repeating the very self same proposition, made it conditional, Unless ye believe, ye shall die in your sin; which was as it were a declaration of the former. In a word, Two were those things which our Saviour Christ pretended: One, That they might believe, and not die in their sin. The other, That they who now treated with him should die in their sin: God's prescience not the cause of man's Reprobation. but so, that Christ our Saviour should not be the cause of their damnation, but their own incredulity. For that which is spoken of before it come to pass, it is therefore spoken of, because it shall come to pass; but it shall not therefore come to pass, because it is spoken of: For the Divine prescience or foreknowledge, though it advice that which shall come to pass, yet it imposeth not any necessity that it shall come to pass. Saint Peter therefore did not deny Christ, because our Saviour told him, that he should deny him. So that divine knowledge not deceiving itself in that which it prophesieth, imposeth no such necessity that it should succeed, nor is it to be said to be the cause thereof. Eccl. 15.11.12. Say not thou it is through the Lord that I fell away; for thou oughtest not to do the things that he hateth. Say not thou, He hath caused me to err; for he hath no need of the sinful man: so that he there proveth, that God is not the author of our sins, nor are our ignorances to be attributed unto him. The Greek instead of Abest, there reads Defeci; as inferring, That God is not the cause that I have failed in that which I ought to have done; for God abhorring sin, I ought not to commit it. Saint Augustine reads, Ne dicas propter Deum recessi, etc. Say not, I went back because of the Lord, he supplanted me; for God hath no need of wicked men. Suiting with that of Saint james, Let no man when he is tempted, say he is tempted of God, etc. And yet it is said by Ezechiel, Ego decepi Prophetam, I have deceived the Prophet. And by Saint Paul, Tradidit Deus illos in reprobum sensum, Romans 1. God hath delivered them up to a reprobate sense. It is not to be said, That God doth it, but permits it: As a captain, who absenting himself from his Army, depriving them of his favour, permitteth them to be overcome. Saint Augustine telleth us, That when the Scripture saith, That man is deceived by God, or his heart hardened; God is the cause of the poena, but not of the culpa: of the punishment, but not of the sin. Insipientia enim hominis violat vias eius, (i) The folly of a man is that which perverts his ways. In one place the Scripture saith, Deus Mortem non fecit, God made not Death; In another, Wis. 1. That Death and Life come from God: implying, That God is not the Author of Death, but that he permits it in him that deserves it. That judge that condemns a thief unto death, this death is not to be imputed to the judge, but to the thefts of the Thief. God desires not any man's fall, or his death; for as God is happy without the just, so is he also without the wicked. The book of Wisdom treating, That God did not make death, nor delighteth in the destruction of the living; renders two reasons thereof: The one, That he having created all things that they might have their being, he takes no pleasure that they should not be: For what Artificer takes pleasure to see the works of his hands perish? The other, Sanabiles fecit Nationes orbis Terrarum; The Greek reads Sal●tares fecit Generationes orbis Terrarum, All things that God created, he created with health and soundness, and in a good and perfect state. Et non est in illis medicamentum exterminij; The Greek word which answers to Medicamentum, may be taken in a good or an evil sense, either for Physic, or for Poison: And here it is taken in the worse sense, and implieth thus much, That God did not create the Poison of perdition for the generations of Mankind, (inferred in this word Exterminij) nor did God create perdition in the rest of the creatures. The interlineary here understands Sin, which banisheth and excludeth man from God, whereby he is undone, and reduced to nothing. From which final destruction God deliver us, etc. THE THIRTEENTH SERMON, UPON THE TVESDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. MAT. 23. Super Cathedram Moysi sederunt Scribae. The Scribes sat upon Moses Chair. THe chair of Moses was descredited by the evil life of the Scribes and Pharisees, who occupied the same. Christ's Doctrine effectual, by whomsoever it be uttered. Our Saviour Christ here treateth of giving such and so great authority to his Doctrine, that though it should be delivered by the coldest mouth in the world, yet should not that hinder its bringing forth of fruit. And to this purpose he proposes three opinions, which are no less certain, than important: The one, That a Doctor, though unholy in his own person, may sit & bear rule in Cathedra sanctitatis, in Moses chair, and seat of holiness. The other, That the vicious life of the Teacher doth not derogate from the dignity and authority of his Doctrine, nor rob the Hearer of his profit. The third, That though a man's Doctrine be never so divine, yet if his life be not good, it is the Teacher, and not the Hearer that takes hurt thereby. Super Cathedram Moysi sederunt Principes, etc. Euthimius saith, That this Cathedra or Chair, was the Pulpit where the Scribes and Pharisees did preach the Law; as it is related by Esdras, in his second Book, and vl Chapter. Saint Hierome and Bede understand thereby the doctrine of Moses; for that it was usual with him that did teach, to sit in a Chair. And albeit it appeareth both in Saint Luke, and the Acts of the Apostles, That they did preach unto the people standing on their feet; Luke 4. Acts. 13. yet in your Schools your Doctors do always read sitting. It is called Moses his Chair, not only because the Law did descend from the Mount, but because (as some Hebrews have it) he was the first legal Priest, and exercised that office before his brother Aaron. Abenezra styles him, Sacerdos Sacerdotum, a Priest of Priests, for that he consecrated his brother Aaron, and received the offerings of the twelve Princes in the Tabernacle. David likewise gives him the same name; Moses and Aaron among his Priests. Philon saith, That he was a King, a Lawgiver, a Prophet, & a Priest. Gregory Nazianzen, Saint Augustine, and Saint Hierome jump together in that point. From Moses, God had preserved the Catholic doctrine in the Prophets and other his Saints, till Simeons' time, in whose days the Synagogue had its end. The Scribes and Pharisees were a kind of people that had the command of that Kingdom. The Scribes did flourish in knowledge, so is it reported by Epiphanius. Their obligation was two fold: The one, To propose the Law unto the people, and to expound the hard places of Scripture; and for this reason they were called Lectores, Readers. The other, To be judges and Deciders of causes (as it appeareth by the Chronicles) betwixt Citisen and Citisen. The Pharisees did flourish in Religion, and were called Pharisees, of Phares, which signifies, a separation; for that they lived apart from the ordinary and common course of life, & did sever themselves from other people, in a more especial kind of observance. Saint Hierome doth set down the first rising of these manner of men, Christ's doctrine effectual by whomsoever it be uttered. in whom the appearances of sanctity, and outward demonstrations of holiness of life, were very great and shew-glorious above the rest, and whose penitences (as josephus and Epiphanius report them) were very sharp, and very public; but far greater was their hypocrisy, their ambition, their avarice, and vainglory. And therefore our Saviour Christ doth here deal so curstly with them, and useth them with that sourness and bitterness of words, that all this Chapter is nothing else but a severe reprehension of the Scribes and Pharisees. And for that it is an ordinary thing with the common people, to set his doctrine at naught, who leads a naughty life, [Cuius enim vita despicitur, necesse est ut predicatio contemnatur, Whose life is despised, his preaching must of necessity be contemned] our Saviour Christ in defence of the Catholic Doctrine, said, Super, etc. Upon the Chair of Moses, etc. It was the error of some, That a mortal and deadly sin depriveth the Pope of his Popedom: but this was condemned by the Constantine, Florentine, and Tridentine Counsels; for neither doth the Doctrine thereby receive any harm, nor the See lose its jurisdiction and authority. Which is no more than is delivered by Saint Augustine, in expounding that place of the forty fourth Psalm, In stead of thy Fathers thou shalt have Children. Beda, and Anacletus the Pope, both say, That to our Faith, is not only hypothecated and engaged the authority of Priest and Bishop; but that of our Saviour Christ, that of the Apostles, and that of the seventy two Disciples. But suppose that all these Ministers should have sinned, yet the authority of our Saviour Christ remains safe and sure. What matters it whither the Minister be bad, where the Lord is so good? How much more than in the Church ought we not (as Tertullian saith) to qualify Faith by the persons, but the persons by Faith. This Doctrine judas made good, by doing miracles, by preaching the Gospel, and by condemning him that did not receive it, as if he had rejected Christ himself. Cayphas doth likewise prove this point, who, as he was Highpriest, did determine that Decree which had already been ordained in Heaven. The like precedent we have in the Prophet Balaam, who though he went of purpose to curse God's people, yet was forced whither he would or no, to bless them. And the Scribes & Pharisees being asked, Where our Saviour should be borne; answered, In Bethlem of judaea. Those Bishops whom Saint john reprehendeth and threateneth in the Revelation, Apoc. 3. yet for all this doth he not remove from them the name of Angels; Dignitas enim Officij non amiti●tur per indignitatem personae, The office ought not to be thought the worse of, for the unworthiness of him that supplies that place. Per me Reges regnant; They representing God's person, as their Ministers do their persons. There is nothing so surely grounded in holy Scripture, as the perpetuity of the Church. And this is one reason, amongst many other, why the Church is called Heaven. And as no strange impressions approach Heaven, and as those waters of the Flood, which did rise so many cubits above the tops of the highest Mountains, could never come to touch Heaven; so, Math. 16. Luke 21. joh. 14.16, 17. 1. Tim. 3. 1. john 2. neither the persecutions of strangers, nor the sins of his Ministers, shall ever overthrow the firm foundation of the Church, or the truth thereof. Si dereliquerint filij eius legem meam, If the children of the Church shall forsake my Law, my hand shall be heavy upon them, and I shall bring many miseries upon them: Miserecordiam autem meam non dispergam, But my mercy and my truth shall still remain safe and sound; that shall I establish for ever: The Lord hath made a faithful Oath unto David, Psal. 132.11. and he shall not shrink from it. From whence I infer two things: The one, That Moses his Chair lost nothing of its respect, through the Scribes and Pharisees vices, as Saint Cyprian hath observed; nor likewise Saint Peter's Chair, by the less laudable life of those Bishops which succeeded him, (which is the main drift and principal intent of this Gospel:) For (as Saint Augustine hath noted it) our Saviour did not seem to look so much towards the Sun setting, as toward the Sun rising; to wit, towards the Cathedra or Chair of the jews, as towards the Pontificium of the Christians; wherein there was to be Bishops, whose lives, although they should not always happen to be holy, nor their works and actions so good as they ought to be, yet their Doctrine and their Preaching should still be warrantable. Some, seeing some Bishops less holy than they should be, have multiplied Inuectives, Satyrs, and impudent and unseemly Pasquil's upon them; not considering, that works that want their weight & goodness, do not condemn the Doctrine of Faith, nor weigh down the balance against the Chair of the Church. And that our Saviour himself did prevent this inconvenience, by saying, Super Cathedram Moysi, Upon the Chair of Moses. Of such great force and virtue is the Doctrine of this Chair, that it did not much stand upon settling the same upon base and mean subjects: for the same was placed in the mouths of rude and ignorant Fishermen, to the end that none should attribute the victory to their own natural gifts, though never so good. So sometimes he puts this Chair into the hands of sinful men, because thereby men may see, that the virtue is in the Sword, which is the Word of God, and not in the arm, that is but flesh. Quaecunque dixerint vobis, facite. Whatsoever they shall say unto you, do. Saint Peter treating of the respect and obedience which we owe to our Superiors, saith, 1. Peter 2. Servants be subject to your Masters with all fear, not only to the good and courteous, but also to the froward. If then to such cross carnal masters we do owe so much respect and obedience, What shall we bear to those that are our Spiritual Lords? Saint Paul saith, Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers: For whosoever resisteth the Power, Rom. 13. resisteth the Ordinance of God; for there is no power but of God: And therefore to contradict our Superior, is to contradict God himself. And it was high time for the Apostle to broach this opinion; for the world sent forth Nero's, Claudia's, and Caligula's, and other Tyrants, which did deserve the name of fierce and cruel Beasts: But the wickedness and perdition of Princes must not make those to lose their respect towards them, which are borne to obey; which point Saint Cyprian presseth home to the purpose. Whatsoever they shall say unto you, do. Some man may doubt, How is it possible for him that lives ill, to do otherwise than teach ill; nay, rather it may seem a kind of miracle, that his life being bad, his preaching should be good; especially having our Saviour's warrant for the same, Math. 16. How can ye being evil, speak good things? And this difficulty is increased by that which our Saviour said before, Take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees: Understanding by the Leaven, the doctrine which they taught. We find in the Gospel, That they raised up many false witnesses against the Law. Saint Matthew reporteth, That they taught, It was lawful to swear by the Temple, but not by the Gold of the Temple; and by the Altar, but not by the Offering, etc. I answer, That the name of Cathedra, or of Moses Chair, comprehendeth and includeth in it two things: The one, jurisdiction, for to command and chastise. The other, Authority, for to teach and instruct. In a Prelate likewise two other things are to be considered: First, H●s Life. Secondly, His Doctrine. As it was an especial effect of his divine providence, That the virtue of the Sacraments should not be annexed and wedged to the goodness of the Minister, for that many might thereby lose the fruit of receiving them aright; so likewise the goodness of the Doctrine is not tied to the Prelate's goodness; Esay 59.21. I will make this my Covenant with them, (saith the Lord) My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy Seed (saith the Lord) from henceforth even for ever. S. Augustine in his book De Doctrina Christiana, and in that which he wrote against Faustum Manicheum, saith, Cathedra Moysi, etc. The Chair of Moses, wherein they sat and bare rule, did enforce them to teach well though they lived ill; beside, Moses in his Chair did not allow of any strange Doctrine. And in case such a one shall read himself, and vent in the Chair the froth of his own wit, God is so far from commanding this man to be obeyed, that he coniureth both the Old and New Testament against him. jerem. 23.9. jeremy speaketh thus to the Prophets, Mine heart breaketh within me because of the Prophets, (those false Prophets which deceive the People) all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom Wine hath overcome, for the presence of the Lord, and for his holy words. The Priest and the Prophet shake hands, and join both together in the perdition of my sheep, and applaud themselves in these their errors; but they shall have no great cause to brag and boast thereof, for I will give them Hemlock to eat, and Gall to drink. The Prophets of jerusalem have defiled the Land, and have been the only Authors of all those mischiefs that are now afoot in the World. The Priest and the Prophet are defiled, and have strengthened the hands of the Wicked. jerem. 13. These Prophets then, o Lord, being that we may not imitate their works, Shall we give credit to their words? They do not teach us that which God revealeth unto them, but the inventions of their own brain, and the foolish imaginations of their own hearts. Ezech. 13. All the whole thirteenth Chapter of Ezechiel is full of these complaints and threatenings. And in the twenty third Chapter he repeateth that which was spoken by jeremias, Hear not the words of those that see vanity, and divine lies. And in the thirteenth Chapter of De●tronomie, Deut. 13. If thine own brother shall persuade thee to serve strange gods, harken not unto him, etc. In the New Testament there are many clear and plain places to this purpose: As in Math. 7. Rom. 16. Tim. 1. & 3. Titus 3. and Thessalonians 3. And Saint john in his Canonical Epistle, If any man shall declare any other Gospel, 〈◊〉 him be accursed. In a word, The Doctrine which appertaineth to the Truth, God commands us to serve & obey the same; & all the rest, to shun and avoid it. Chrysostome expounding those words, All things whatsoever they shall say unto you, do; saith, All those things that are not repugnant to the Law of God. And the phrase of Scripture is, Children obey your Parents in all things; and Servants obey your carnal Masters in all things: which is to be understood, in all those things wherein they ought to obey them. There is sometimes in your Prelates a kind of sickness like unto that of job, who when all the rest of his body was full of sores and botches, yet his lips remained whole and sound; Only my lips are left about my teeth. job 19 And because the lips of the Priest are the depositorie of the wisdom of God, [according to that of Malachi, The Priest's lips preserve knowledge: and Ezechiel, Malach. 2. Ezech. 44.23. That God hath charged his Priests, That they shall teach his people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean; and that he will give them light to decide such controversies as shall come before them] we may very well give credit to that which they shall say. Quaecunque dixerint vobis, facite; shun therefore their works, but obey their words. Saint Augustine draws in the example of the Vine environed with Bushes and Thorns; willing thee to gather the Grapes, and let the Briars alone. Saint Chrysostome introduceth diverse other examples: Out of the Mines take the gold, and throw away the dross; From your Standards, the Roses that smell sweet, and put by the prickles that may offend thee; From your sour Herbs, your sweet Honey; from your dirty Shells, your oriental Pearl; and from your fruits take away the husks and the parings. Upon one & the same Tree there may be two sorts of Fruits; the one wholesome, the other mortal; eat the good, & hate the bad. Samson sucked Honey out of the jaw of a Beast, and let the bone alone. Saint Chrysostome, Si male vixerint, etc. If they live ill, that's theirs; if they teach well, that's ours: Take therefore that which is thine, and leave that which is another's alone to himself. In every Teacher there is a life, and a doctrine; the life is his, the doctrine thine: choose thou that which is thine, and cease thou to examine what is his. Si separaberis pretiosum à vili, quasi Os meum eris, If thou separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my Mouth. Precious meat in a foul plate, is the Doctrine of Heaven in an ill life. Saint Augustine points out unto us three kind of Ministers Pastor, mercenarius, latro, fove, tolera, fuge. The Shepherd, the Hireling, and the Thief; all enter into the Sheepfold; but the Shepherd and the Hireling teach good Doctrine; the Thief, bad: Fly from the Thief; bear with the Hireling; but love the true Shepherd. Whatsoever they shall say unto you, do. Three sorts of Ministers. If God command that we respect and obey the Shepherds for their good words, though their actions be naught; he that shall contemn his Pastor who is holy both in his life and doctrine, What favour can he hope for? One of those favours which God promised to his people, was, To give them Governors that should be Peace itself, and justice itself. Ponam visitationem tuam pacem, & pr●●positos tuos justiciam. He styles judges, Masters, and Governors, with the name of Visitation; and saith, That they shall be his peace, and his justice; speaking it in abstracto, which carrieth more force with it, than if it had been uttered in concreto. For admit that a Prelate be a Lion, and that (as Ecclesiasticus saith) Euertit domesticos eius, and that he begin to room and rage about the house, there is not any whip comparable to his justice. For albeit Charity (saith Saint Gregory) makes him sweet and lovely; yet his zeal to justice must make him to be sharp and severe. Many of these Prelates hath the Church formerly enjoyed, and enjoyeth now at this present; as well in supreme Bishops, as inferior Ministers, whereby this prophecy is fulfilled. Secundum opera eorum, nolite facere. 1. Kings. 2. According to their works do not. Samuel did obey Ely the Priest, but did not imitate his remissness and sluggishness: Daniel did reverence Nebucadnezar, but adored not his Statue. It is a miserable case, that a man should be able to teach others, and not himself. There is not any one fault threatened more in Scripture, Rom. 2. than this, Qui praedicaris in Lege, etc. And thinkest thou this, o thou man that judgest them that do such things, and dost the same, that thou shalt escape the judgement of God? Thou shalt be like the Sieve, which giveth Corn to others, and keeps the Chaff to its self: Like the Candle, that lightens others, and is itself in darkness: And like unto that Carpenter, who making the Ark, saved others, and was himself drowned in the waters of the Flood. Saint Augustine saith, That the lips and the heart of him that liveth ill, and preacheth well, are at great defiance one with another; for the heart belies what the mouth persuades. When the Angel threatened Moses with death, and made show as if he meant to kill him; Rupertus and Lyra are both of opinion, That it was for the neglect and carelessness which he had committed in circumcising one of his children, in such a season, when as the Law did oblige him thereunto: And the fault was much more in Moses, than in any other ordinary man, for that as a Lawgiver, he was to have published this very Law. But more to the matter is that reason which Saint Augustine rendereth; which is, That the Angels threatening of him was, for that he being to persuade the Hebrews to go out of Egypt, and to take their wives and children along with them, they might have presumed, that he had one thing in his mouth, and another in his heart, and that his works did not correspond with his words. Experience teacheth us, That many things which humane eloquence cannot persuade, example doth effect: for the way by words is about, and very tedious; but that of example, short, and quickly rid. The earth will not follow the motion of the heavens, though ye preach unto it never so much; but the Sheep will soon learn to follow the example of his Shepherd. The Prophets are full of the complaints and threatenings which God poureth forth against the bad example of Pastors: As in Osee the fifth, Ose. 5. Men are sooner led by precedents, than precepts. Esay 56. Ezech. 34.1. O ye Priests, hear this, and hearken ye, o house of Israel, and give ye ear, ● house of the King; for judgement is toward ye, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Taborpunc; And in the ninth Chapter he repeateth the same Lesson again. Esay in his fifty sixth Chapter, calls them, Blind Sentinels, and dumb Dogs. Ezechiel bewails them, Vae Pastoribus Israel, etc. Woe be unto the Shepherds of Israel, that feed themselves; Should not the Shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe ye with the wool; ye kill them that are fed, but ye feed not the Sheep: The weak ye have not strengthened, the sick have ye not healed, neither have ye bound up the broken, etc. The whole Chapter runs along in this strain, whereunto I refer thee. Cannot they be content to drink of the clear water of the Fountain, but that they must make it unwholesome for their flock, foiling it with their dirty feet: For, What is bad life, and good doctrine, but a foul foot in clear water? Saint Gregory declareth this place concerning such Prelates; Who having drunk themselves of the pure and clear Fountain of Truth, trouble the same by their evil works and bad example, giving occasion thereby to these their silly Sheep, not to follow their doctrine, but to imitate their life. Touching this Theme, there is a whole Chapter in the second part of our Book De Amore. Do not as they do. This, for his Disciples was a most necessary lesson, but for the Pharisees, a most severe reprehension. And a late Doctor hath observed, That they being the most part Levits and Priests, he silenced the Priesthood, in token of the respect and reverence that is due thereunto. Whereby such are condemned, who too lightly give credit to the faults of the Clergy, and entertain themselves therewith; being that God himself gives them this caveat, Nolite tangere Christos meos, Touch not mine Anointed. Wherein he doth not lay an Interdiction on their violent hands only, or on their blasphemous tongues, either before their face, or behind their backs; but likewise on their jealousies and suspicions, and on their rash censures, and on the pleasure which some take in the slips and falls of Priests: which is a great sign of Reprobation. According to that of Ecclesiasticus, They shall perish by the snare, that rejoice in the fall of the Righteous. Do not as they do. The Covetous are here chiefly taxed; they will give you council, but Mercede Balaam effusi sunt, King Balacks' Ambassadors bringing money in their hands, shall buy their prophecies of them. Our Saviour complained of them, That they devoured widows houses. And Saint Paul alluding hereunto, saith, God is my witness, how I desire you all in the bowels of Christ. He saith not, In my bowels, but, In the bowels of jesus Christ. Quis ibit nobis? Who shall go for us? It was God's question, but he could find few that would follow him: but if to gainethe world, and to get wealth, he shall but ask the question, Quis ibit? he shall have infinite numbers to troop after him. But ask, Quis ibit nobis? Who shall go for us? he shall scarce have one to go along with him. Every year a great number of Preachers offer themselves to this enterprise, but they do not understand whither, or to what end they go: As Saint Augustine signifieth unto us in his Confessions. Esay complained, That his lips were foul. He might better (to my seeming) have complained of his eyes, than his lips, because he had seen God with them: For to murmur, eyes are more necessary than lips; but to preach, lips are more necessary than eyes. If he that studies would but consider with himself, why God hath given him wit, ability, and learning; he would then peradventure acknowledge, how unworthy he is of so high a Calling, as to sit in Moses Chair, or to go up into the Pulpit. Cicero saith, That the Orator's motive is, Amoris ardour, A desire to be beloved and esteemed. So it goes now, but not so well; for the love which a Preacher is to pretend, and the credit which he is to hunt after, is the love of God, and the seeking after his glory. Dicam semper magnificetur Dominus, I will always say, The Lord be magnified; That shall be my continual Motto, all the rest is little loialty, and manifest treason. Affigant onera gravia, & importabilia. They fasten heavy burdens, and impossible to be borne. Those Traditions and Glosses which the Scribes and Pharisees introduced, Origen and Theophilact are of opinion, that they did multiply them in favour of their covetousness; strengthening the same with an opinion of their simulated sanctity. Saint Chrysostome saith, That the Ceremonies and Precepts of the old Law were too heavy a load to bear. Agreeing with that of the Acts, Nec patres nostri, nec nos ferre potuimus. The Pharisees did notify them with great indeering, but did not touch them with the finger; being like unto the Viol, which makes that sound which itself is not sensible of. They did bear the Precepts of the Law about them in certain scrolls of parchment, fastening them to their heads and their arms. Deut. 6. Materially understanding that place of deuteronomy, Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, [so much signifies the word Philacterie, which is all one with Conseruatoria.] In the borders of their garments they had their fringes, and upon the fringes of the borders they did put a ribond of blue silk, as may be collected out of the fifteenth Chap. of Numbers, Num. 15.38. as also out of Deut. That they might the better remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them, and be holy unto their God, not seeking after their own hearts, nor after their own eyes, after the which they went a whoring. And Saint Hierome addeth further, That they did put sharp thorns to these their fringes, that they might prick them and draw blood from them, that thereby they might express their greater penitency, being in secret exceeding vicious and wanton. In a word; Princes and Prelates, ought not to lay such burdens on their subjects shoulders, as should break their backs (like those Taskmasters and Overseers of the children of Israel in the labour and tale of their bricks.) For it is a vice, and grievous sin in your Princes, and their public Ministers, not to be compassionate of the poor, nor to pity their pains, thinking all too little they do, pressing and oppressing them daily more and more, with intolerable Taxes, and insupportable payments. The Book of judith, recounting the death of Manasses, husband to judith, saith, That he died in the Barley harvest; for as he was diligent over them that bound sheaves in the field, judith. 8.2. the heat came upon his head, and he fell upon his bed, and died in the City of Bethulia. It is a thing worthy the noting, that there is a memorial of such an indisposition as this, as if it had been some great and extraordinary matter: But I conceive, that he made this so particular mention of it, that he might give us thereby to understand, Que la codiçia rompe el sa●o, That too much cramming of the bag makes it to break; and that if Manasses had taken pity of his Reapers in a time of such extremity of heat, he had not died. For the carelessness of your great Princes, in not duly considering, and not measuring according unto prudence, the strength and ability of their subjects, is no small occasion of those many mischiefs which have followed thereupon. Gen. 33.13. jacob said to his brother Esau, I will drive softly, according to the pace of the cattle which is before me, and as the children be able to endure; for they are not able to go such great journeys as my Lord; who seeth that the children are tender, and the 〈◊〉 and kine with young under mine hand, and if they should overdrive them one day, all the Flock would die. Hercules showed a noble spirit, when seeing Atlas' groan under the heavy weight of Heaven, in pity of him, put to his own shoulder to ease him of his load. Never do those Princes long enjoy their Crown, who impose heavy Taxes on their Subjects; not only because they make their Vassals to pay more than they are able to pay, but for that their Ministers extortions and vexations, wring the blood out of their very hearts, and the tears out of their eyes, which ascending Heaven, turn to lightnings and thunderbolts Super deducentem eas, upon him that causeth them. Qui se exaltat, humiliabitur, & qui se humiliate, exaltabitur. He that exalteth himself, shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Our Saviour here treateth, how much humility importeth a Christian▪ and that this is the only door whereby we are to enter into Heaven. Saint Augustine tells thee, That thou must tread the same tread that our Saviour troad, and that there is no way to walk to Paradise, but that wherein he himself walked: And the first step that leads to this path, is Humility; the second stride is likewise Humility; and the third and last must also be Humility. And if thou shalt ask me a thousand times over and over, Which is the way that leadeth to Bliss? my answer must be, Humility. Hear what Pope Leo saith, Tota disciplina Christiana, etc. The whole course of Christian discipline consisteth in true humility, which our Saviour jesus Christ made choice of in his mother's womb, and afterwards taught the same to others: From the very bowels of his mother, of all other virtues he made choice of this. And in the discourse of his life, he declared this to be his only daughter and heir. One reason, amongst many other, which he might have alleged, is, That in this life, where all is storm and tempest, torment, war, and temptation, in a word, where nothing is secure and certain, Humility (amongst these so many perils and dangers, which are like so many rocks and shelves) will bring thee safe through the sea of this world, to the Haven of happiness. In a cruel storm at sea, the lowest place in the ship is the safest. Elias, in that furious whirlwind, in that terrible earthquake, and that fearful fire, wrapped himself up like a bottom of yarn, and lay close to the earth. David in that his persecution by Saul, saith, I was humbled, and he delivered me. job in that general destruction of all his goods, when those bad tidings were brought unto him, he arose and rend his garments, job. 1. and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshipped; and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord hath given, & the Lord hath taken it away, blessed be the name of the Lord. The tempest afterwards increasing upon him, as biles, botches, leprosy, worms, and a wife; he got him to a dunghill, with a piece of a potsherd in his hand, making choice of the humblest, but safest place. Give us grace, o Lord, to imitate this his humility, that thou mayst bless us in this world, and in the world to come, etc. THE FOURTEENTH SERMON, UPON THE WEDNESDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. MAT. 20.18. Ecce, ascendimus Jerusalem. Behold, we go up to jerusalem. With what discourses we ought to beguile the weariness of our pilgrimage. Our Saviour Christ walking to jerusalem, where he was to give us life, and to lose his own, he went discoursing of his death, of the persons that should occasion it, and of those circumstances which were to accompany it. For a traveller doth busy his thoughts in nothing more, than in that which he is to do when he comes to his journey's end. Pharaoh persecuting the children of Israel, did eagerly pursue them, and casting with himself, what course he should take with them when he once overtook them; I will take away (saith he) the riches that they have robbed us of, and divide the spoil, so shall my soul be revenged of them, and my anger rest satisfied. Those holy women which went to the Sepulchre to anoint our Saviour Christ, said amongst themselves as they walked along, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the Sepulchre. This is not only a business well beseeming us upon the way, but discovereth likewise the pleasure and content that the Traveller takes therein. Commonly, travelling is tedious and wearisome unto us, which that it may the better be passed over, he that undertaketh a journey, employeth his thoughts upon such things as may delight him most, and by that means beguiles the wearisomeness of the way. Besides, they that love a thing well, and have their minds set vpo● it, usually take pleasure in talking thereof, (saith Plutarch) refreshing thereby the remembrance of those things that are best beloved by them. Epipha 〈…〉 saith, That our Saviour's so much talking of his death, was thereby to engage himself therein the more: for by making all those that were there present with him, witnesses of his words, That he should now die; it stood upon his honour, his credit, and his truth; there was now no stepping back, but with extream● loss of his reputation. But he being throughly resolved to die, makes here unto us a more especial and particular description of his death, Behold, we go vp●● jerusalem; this shall be the last time that ever I shall go up to jerusalem: no● many go along with me, but ere long I shall be left all alone. The Son o● man shall be delivered unto the chief Priests, and unto the Scribes, and the● shall deliver him to the Gentiles, to mock, and to scourge him, to beat and buffet him about the cheeks, to revile him to his teeth, and to spit in his face, being relinquished and forsaken of all men; For it is written, I will smite their Sheapeheard, and the sheep shall be scattered. The persons that shall take my life from me, shall be the Princes of the Priests, and the Roman power: the circumstances; scoffs, scorns, scourges, etc. But after this so foul a storm, I shall recover a very cheerful Haven, and rest in safety. Mark. 14.27. The third day will I rise again. Behold we go up to Jerusalem. Saint Mark saith, jesus went before, Mark 10.32. and they were amazed, and as they followed they feared. Where we are to consider, That he, that goes to receive Death, shows great content, great courage, and great valour. But those, that go to receive Life, great cowardice, great sorrow, and great fear. Whence it came to pass, that our Saviour Christ went apace before, and that his Disciples followed slowly after. He went before them. The pleasures he took therein, clapped wings to his feet. Some may ask; How can this his joy, Ob. suit with the sorrow which he suffered in the garden? But this joy, was very fitting and convenient for him; to the end, Sol. that they who hereafter should see him sad, might think, that the wind of this his sorrow, blew itself out of another corner; the contentment of his death continuing still on foot. Epiphanius saith, That this our Saviour's sorrow, grew from the desire that he had to dye. For, if he should always have expressed this his willingness that he had to dye; the Devil, fearful of his own hurt, would have sought to have diverted it. And as Pilat's wife was drawn to solicit his life, so would he likewise have solicited all Jerusalem to save him, had he so well known then as he did afterwards, that Christ's death would have been so advantageous to mankind. He was willing likewise to provoke thereby, his and our adversary, & to put him more eagerly upon the business: persuading himself, that this his sorrow proceeded out of fear. Most men (saith Epiphanius) fear to dye; only our Saviors' fear was, not to dye. Christ, by his fear of life, sought to secure his death. Howbeit, we must withal acknowledge, that he did truly both grieve, and fear. And as they followed they feared. Natural in all to seek life, & shun death. That our nature should suffer cowardice and fear, seeing death near at hand, as we have seen the experiment of it in the greatest Saints that are in Heaven, as in Elias, job, and Saint Paul; so not to fear death, is the privilege and favour of Grace. To fear it, is the condition of nature, which doth naturally desire the conservation of its being, and the preservation of its life. Nor is it much, that Nature should discover in man this weakness and cowardice; when as being united to the Godhead in our Saviour Christ, he did beg and entreat, according to this his inferior part, to wit his humanity, If it be possible let this cup pass from me. Whereupon Leo the Pope saith, Ipsa vox non exa●diti, magna est expositio sacramenti. The mystery, that Christ should beg, and not be heard, is, That our Nature would not willingly purchase any good thing, at so dear a rate, as the price of its life and being. Nolumus spoliari, sed superuestiri, We would not be stripped, but overclothed. And albeit the Disciples had so many lectures of death read unto them, yet could they not remove the fear of death from them. And if humane nature wrought upon our Saviour Christ, according to that inferior portion of his, though so well encountered with his content and readiness to dye; it is not much, that his Disciples should lagger behind, and sh●w themselves so lazy and cowardly as they did. Filius hominis tradetur principibus sacerdotum, etc. The son of Man shall be delivered to the chief Priests, etc. The reasons, why our Saviour made such a particular piece, and exact draught, of his death, of his torments, and his crucifixion, are very many, whereof some have been formerly related, and those that now offer themselves, are as followeth. 1 It ought not to be considered, but with all seriousness. The first, Our Saviour proceeded therein very leisurely, & with a great deal of deliberation; for this so sad a story, that it may be of profit unto us, is not to be posted over in haste, nor to be looked on all at once, but by piecemeal, and a leisurely gazing thereupon. For there is not a wheal nor a stripe in that divine Body, but may very well take up our thoughts in the contemplation of them, for many hours together; especially in such an age as this, wherein nothing is blotted more out of our remembrance, than Christ crucified. The Devil sought to work this wickedness in the hearts of the jews, Eradamus e●m de terra viventium, Let us raze him out of the Land of the living; Let there be no memorial of him in the World, let him be blotted out of our hearts by our vices. And he hath got so much ground upon us, that even we that are Preachers of his word, dare scarce treat upon the occasions of this his passion; For one fool or other will not stick in one corner or other to murmur out this his malicious censure, That we show more passion in our preaching, than in preaching his passion. But the truth is, that when in a battle the Standard goes to the ground, the Soldiers likewise fall with it; And that there is no matter, no subject, so sovereign, nor so divine, where good wits have flourished and displayed the Ancient of their powerful Eloquence, than in the passion of our Saviour. Saint Paul never took any other Theme, than Praed●camus Chrstum crucifixum, We preach Christ crucified. But we must chew it, and digest▪ it well, it is not to be swallowed down whole, for than it will do us no good. Lactantius Firmianus treating of the Lamb which God commanded to be eaten, in Exodus, which was a figure of that Lamb which was crucified on the Cross, saith, That albeit he commanded, that they should eat it in haste, in regard of the haste which the jews and the Gentiles should make in his judgement, and in his death; yet notwithstanding, he willed them to have a care, that they should not break so much as a bone of his body; And being it was to be divided amongst many, they must of force be driven to cut it in pieces, and to eat it very leisurely, beholding and charily considering the joints and ligaments of the least bones. We must therefore leisurely and considerately meditate on that History, which being well and truly weighed, is the general remedy to all our sores and diseases. It is that true Fishpoole which healeth all our infirmities: It maketh the Covetous man, liberal, in seeing the God of love stripped naked for our sakes, of all that he hath. The Glutton, Christ's gall and vinigar, makes temperate, and teaches him to fast. The Choleric man, our Saviour's patience, makes mild and gentle. The Revengeful man, his sufferings, makes him to pray for his enemies. The Pro●● man, his humility, makes him to be as lowly as the worm that lies under our feet. Humiliavit semetipsum usque ad mortem crucis, He humbled himself to 〈◊〉 death of the Crosse. If thy Crown puff thee up with pride; behold, in rebu●● thereof, the Prince of Heaven, with a Crown of thorns upon his head. If thy great troops, and trains of followers, which like so many Bees swarm ab●●● thee; behold, the King of Heaven and Earth, between two thieves. If thy beauty; behold the greatest that God ever created, slabbered and bespalled with the loathsome spittle and filthy drivel of the jews. If the authority of a judge, behold the universal judge, who in a few hours is posted over to so many Tribunals, and without any lawful trial, and nothing justly to be laid against him, dies notwithstanding by the sentence of Pilate. If the praise and applause of men, behold his scorns and his reproaches, Opprobrium hominum, & abiectio plebis. If disasters, infirmities, or any other pain or torment whatsoever do grieve and afflict thee; What torment can be grievous in comparison of that torment of his? Cantabiles mihi erant iustificationes tuae in loco peregrinationis meae. Saint Ambrose understands by justificationes, those torments of our Saviour Christ, and saith, That when David was banished and persecuted, he sung of them as he went up and down in this his exile, to comfort himself, and to bear his banishment and persecution the better, call that to mind which he was to suffer for him. Fasciculus Myrrhae dilectus meus, inter ubera mea commorabitur, My Beloved is a bundle of Myrrh, he shall lodge betwixt my breasts. That thy bitter Cup (o Lord) which thou didst drink of, hath driven out all bitterness and sourness from forth my breast: I made me a bundle of Myrrh of thy torments, which serve as a sweet and fragrant Nosegay to refresh and comfort my heart. The Passion of Christ (as it is in the Apocalyps) is the book of Life. All the books of all the Libraries in the world; all the Schools and Universities put together, never taught that which this book teacheth. Saint Augustine saith, Lignum morientis, Cathedra fuit Magistri docentis. There was never any School in the world like to that of the Cross, nor any Master like unto Christ, that hung thereupon. Saint Paul cries out, O foolish Galathians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, to whom jesus Christ before was described, in your sight, Galat. 3. and among you crucified? He had set before the Galathians Christ upon the Cross, presenting himself unto them so naturally, and so to the life, as if they had seen the very original itself, as it stood all begoared with blood in Mount Caluarie: And that unless they were mad men, bewitched, or stark fools, they could not but be taken and captivated therewith, nor for their lives refuse to love him and believe in him. If Saint Paul made him so rich and so glorious by his eloquence, What a precious piece must it needs be, when Christ himself, by suffering in those his delicate limbs, did limne it forth unto us at his death; his thorns, his nails, his wan visage, his bored hands and feet, and his wounded side, uttering more Rhetoric in that last Act and Scene of his life, than all the eloquence of Paul, or the pens of the whole World since, were ever able to express. The second, Saint Chrysostome saith, That our Saviour sought to oblige them unto him, by giving them such a particular account, that he was to suffer and to die out of his especial love towards them, as also all Mankind; and that this therefore ought not to give them occasion to withdraw their respect from him, or that he should thereby lose any one jot of his reputation among them. Mori, hominis est▪ sed velle mori, Dei, i. To die, is of man; but to be willing to die, of God: And because herein I pretend your good, I ought to lose nothing with you, by losing my life. One of the greatest endearments of his love was, That he did esteem it as a reward of all his endured troubles and torments, that he should not lose his worth with us. This made him to say, Happy is that man who shall not think less worthy of me than I deserve. Tertullian controlled an Heretic that denied the divinity of our Saviour Christ; the cobwebs of the cratch, the poverty of his life, and the accursednes of his death, being no way able to take hold upon him. Those very things (saith he) that blind thee, aught to convince thee, and to affectionate thee unto him; for none but God could do thus much for thee. And it is a lamentable case, that those good things that he did for thee, that thou mightest believe in him and love him, should be motives unto thee for to offend him. God having commanded that jerusalem should be re-edified after their first freedom from Babylon, there were some grave men grounded in judaism, who misinterpreting (as Saint Hierome hath noted it) the prophecy of Ezechiel; Ezech. 11.3. said, Haec est lebes, nos autem carnes, This City is the caldron, and we be the Flesh: For God to command us to rebuild this City, is as if he should will us to make a Cauldron wherein to boil ourselves. Of his love they made a loathing, and interpreted his favour to be an injury. God took this their unthankfulness so ill, that he quitted them the second time both of their country and their liberty. It is you that have made jerusalem a Cauldron of the prophets; I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, ye shall fall by the sword; and this City (as ye falsely suppose) shall not be your Cauldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof. The same reason is repeated by the Prophet Ose, I gave ye wine, wheat, oil, gold, and silver; but ye spent it in the service of the Idol Baal, therefore will I take from ye my wine, my wheat, etc. Filius hominis tradetur, The Son of man shall be delivered. The death of our Saviour Christ may be considered two manner of ways: Either as a History. Or, as it is Gospel. As a History, it is so sad and so lamentable, as that it cannot but cause great pity and compassion. The relation which Pilate made to the Emperor of Rome, is sufficient of itself to melt stones into tears; which was as followeth: In this Kingdom there was a wonderful strange man, his behaviour & beauty beyond all other in the world; his discretion and wisdom celestial; his gravity and soberness of carriage, beyond all comparison; his words mystical, the grace wherewith he delivered them struck his enemies with astonishment; never any man saw him laugh; weep, they have; his works savoured of more than man; he never did any man harm, but much good hath he done to many▪ he healed by hundreds such as had been sick of incurable diseases; he did cast out Devils; he raised the Dead; and his miracles being numberless, they were done all for others good; he did not work any miracle wherein was to be seen the least vanity or boasting in the world. The jews out of envy laid hold on him, and with a kind of hypocrisy and outward humility, rather seeming, than being Saints, trampled him under foot, and marred his cause. I whipped him for to appease their fury, and the people being about to mutiny, I condemned him to the death of the Crosse. A little before he breathed his last, he desired of God, that he would forgive those his enemies which had nailed him to the Crosse. At his death there were many prodigious signs both in heaven and earth; the Sun was darkened, and the graves were opened, and the Dead arose▪ After he was dead, a foolish jew thrust a Spear into his side, showing the hatred in his death which the jews bore unto him in his life. What Tragedy can be more mournful, or what imaginary disaster can appear more lamentable? As it is Gospel, you shall see in this his death innumerabie truths: First of all, let not the asperousnesse and hardness to the way of happiness discourage any man; for having such a good guide as our Saviour jesus Christ, it shall (though 〈◊〉 be never so hard to hit) be made plain and easy unto us: Howbeit it be elsewhere said, The way to heaven is straight and inaccessible, Heb. 12. because there are few that tread in that track. Yet now the case is altered, and Saint Paul calls thus unto us, Accedamus ad eum, qui imitiavit nobis viam; It will cost us some sweat and some labour, yet not so much as may dishearten us, and it shall be a wholesome sweat, and a safe and sure labour. jacob saw God holding the Ladder which reached to Heaven, whereunto he set his helping hand, the better to secure it, to the end that every man (as Philon hath noted it) might without fear climb up to the top of it. S. Hierome goes a little further, and says, That he did not thereby only promise safety, but help; for God did stretch out his hand from above, and did reach it forth unto those that were willing to get up: According to that of David, Emitte manum tuam de alto, (i) Send out thy hand from above. 2. Mac. 11. Lysias when he had gathered about fourscore thousand Foot, with all the Horsemen he had, he came against the jews, thinking to make jerusalem an habitation of the Gentiles: and because of his great number of Footmen, his thousands of Horsemen, and his fourscore Elephants, the Captains and Soldiers of God's people were quite out of heart, making prayers with weeping and tears before the Lord, That he would send a good Angel to deliver Israel. And as they were besides jerusalem, there appeared before them upon horseback, a man in white clothing, shaking his harness of gold. Then they praised the merciful God all together, and took heart, insomuch that they were ready not only to fight with men, but with the most cruel beasts, and to break down walls of iron. Marching then forward in battle array, having an helper from heaven▪ running upon their enemies like Lions, they slew eleven thousand footmen, and sixteen hundred Horsemen, and put all the other to flight. Another Horseman was he that Saint john saw upon a white Horse, bearing this for his Motto, Vincens ut vinceret. Which takes from us all fears of achieving the victory for Heaven. Secondly, it assureth us, That he that offereth us so much, can deny us nothing; he could not well give us more, nor would he give us less than that which he hath already so liberally bestowed upon us. Yet this gift may receive increase (as Saint Bernard hath noted it) according to the manner of it. For in all things whatsoever, are to be considered, the thing What, and the thing How, or Why; the Accident, and the Substance; and sometimes God's Attributes do shine more in the Accident, than in the Substance. Whence I infer, That he that gave so much with so much love, and sees that it is all cast away, and that his love is so ill requited, it is not much if he be much offended with us. Ergo in vacuum laborani, etc. In vain then have I laboured, and to no purpose have I spent my strength. Whom will it not grieve to the heart, when he hath taken a great deal of pains, and been at a great deal of charge, to see them both lost? Who ever took half that pains for us, as did our Saviour Christ? who was ever at that great cost with us as he hath been? Multo sudore sudatum est, & non exivit de eo rubigo. The son of man shall be delivered. It is a usual phrase in Scripture, to call Man, Our Saviour why called the son of man. the son of Man. Adam, was neither the son of Man nor Woman, yet is he listed in the number of the children of Men. Tertullian saith, That our Saviour took his appellative upon him, to show, that he was now true Man. Saint Austen, That by this name, he was willing to distinguish the humane nature, from the divine; and to revive the remembrance of that surpassing benefit of his becoming Man. Epiphanius and Theodoret, That Daniel, when he styled him the son of Man, by this his so calling of him, proved thereby, Dan. 7. that he was the person prophesied of in that prophecy. Gregory Nazianzen, That he was called the son of Man, for that he was descended of Adam. And if he, may be most of all called son, who doth most of all honour his Father; none, was more Adam's son than he. Last of all, our Saviour treating here of his torments, and of his Cross, which were to come upon him, as Man, it well suiteth with this his present condition to take this name upon him of the son of Man. The son of Man shall be delivered. When Christ our Saviour treateth of his torments, Psal. 22.16. he useth the third Person; Tradetur, & tradent, He shall be delivered, and they shall deliver him▪ etc. But when the Prophets did prophesy of him, they spoke in the first Person: Psal. 73.74. Zac. 13.6. Foderunt manus meas, & pedes meos, They have digged my hands, and my feet. Fui flagellatus tota die, I was scourged all the day long. Faciem meam non averti ab increpantibus & conspuentibus in me, I turned not away my face from those that rebuked me, and spat upon me. His plagatus sum in dom● eorum, qui diligebant me, With these was I wounded in the house of my friends. So that if you shall but ask Christ, who it is that suffereth these things? he will answer, That it is the son of Man. And if ye ask the Prophets, they will say, That it is the son of God. And peradventure this is the mystery of it, That albeit our Saviour Christ is the party that suffered (as the Prophet's prophecy of him;) yet he suffered as a Fiador, or Surety. But so great was the love which he bore to Man, who was the Debtor, that putting these torments, which we were liable unto, to his own account, yet the discharge of this debt goes in the name of the Debtor. And as the treasure of his merits, is for the good of Man; so his torments, and his sufferings, are to be attributed wholly to Man, who was the person, that by the ordinary course of Law did owe this debt, and was in all reason bound to pay it. The son of Man shall be delivered. It is here to be considered how often our Saviour makes repetition of this word Tradetur. Peradventure, because it was one of his greatest griefs, that his friend should betray him; The man of Peace in whom I hoped, saith David. Thomas saith, That it is one of the noblest actions in the world for a man to love his friend; because to abhor him, is one of the foulest things that man can commit. Magnificavit super me supplantationem, Psal. 49.1. He gloried in his supplanting me. What greater grief can befall a friend, than to be supplanted by a friend? The metaphor is taken from those that run, when as the one trips up the others heels. Saint Jerome reads it, Levauit contra me caltaneum, He lifted up the heel against me. Our Saviour Christ flying to death with the wings of Love, judas setting his leg of Treason before him to throw him down, his Love found itself thereby offended, and being thus wronged by a friend, his Love had no need of such spurs to drive him on to his death. But say it should, it was not fit for a friend to put them on. He of all other, should not have led him along thereunto, falsifying his love by a feigned kiss, & kindly saluting him, with an Aue Rabbi, Hail Master. To whom our Saviour mildly again replied, Amice, ad quid venisti? Friend, wherefore camest thou? What needst thou to have taken so much pains, thou mightest have saved thyself this labour, being it was mine own desire to make myself a prisoner? yet it doth much trouble me, that my friend should deal so unkindly with me. Tradetur principibus sacerdotum. He shall be delivered to the chief Priests. A little before, the Apostles were at difference amongst themselves who should be the greatest in that their hoped for Kingdom, there being two comings of the Messias foretold by the Prophets. 1 The one, prosperous, full ofMaiestie and Greatness. 2 The other, poor, humble, and despised. Now, because the Understanding doth commonly follow the affection of the Will, they did verily believe, that this his coming should be in state and Majesty, crowning himself King in Israel, taking all dominion and rule from the Emperor of Rome, from Herod, Pilate, and other inferior Ministers; and the Priesthood from the Pharisees, who held it so unworthily. This conceit and hope of theirs is proved and confirmed by that which the Disciples said on their way to Emaus; Luke 24. But we trusted that it had been he that should have delivered Israel: Not understanding as then, what was the deliverance that jesus Christ had purchased for them, but looking after some worldly prosperity. But much more plainly out of that place of the Acts, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom of Israel? In a word, They did fully persuade themselves, Act. 1.6. that all the world should be subject to his Crown; comforting their hopes with that prophecy of King David's, His Dominion shall be also from one Sea to the other, and from the Flood, unto the world's end. Psal. 7●. 8. And for that he might turn the wheel of this their vain hope another way, he saith, To the chief Priests, whose seats you think to enjoy, shall I be delivered up, and being presently put over to the Roman power, I shall by them be whipped, mocked, buffetted, crucified, etc. Ipsi vero nihil horum intellexerunt. But they understood none of these things. This seemed unto them to be so foul a fact, and so heinous a wickedness, that it could not sink into their thoughts, that to such great Innocence, such great Injustice & Cruelty should be offered. But malice was grown now to that height, that man's imagination must come short of it. Seneca saith, That it is a very poor excuse, to say, Who would have thought it? For there is not that wickedness, which is not now in the World. And seeing that the malice thereof, hath gone so far, as to take away the life of the God of Heaven, there is not that ill, which we ought not to fear. We are to fear the Sea, even then, when it promiseth fairest weather. This speech of our Saviour's might likewise seem unto them to be some Parable; for that which the Will affecteth not, the Understanding doth not half well apprehend it. He said unto the jews, Oportet exa●tari ●ilium hominis, The son of man must be lifted up. And they presently took hold of it. The Angels told Lot, that Sodom should be consumed with fire and brimstone from Heaven; and he advising his sons in law thereof, He seemed unto them as one that mocked. Precept must be upon precept, line upon line; here a little, and there a little. Gen. 19.14. Esa. 28.10. Often do the Prophets repeat, Haec mandat Dominus, Expecta Dominum, sustine Dominum, modicum adhuc modicum, & ego visitab● sanguinem etc. abscondere modicum, Thus saith the Lord, Wa●te for the Lord yet a little while, and a little while, & I will visit the Blood, etc. They that ●eard Esay, mocked at him in their feasts and banquets, saying, We know before hand what the Prophet will preach unto us. And this is the fashion of Worldlings, to scoff at those, whom God sends unto them for their good. Tunc accessit matter filiorum Zebed●i, etc. Then came unto him the mother of the sons of Zebedee, etc. 3. Reg. 6. Adonias took an unseasonable time, having offended S●l●m●n with those mutinies which he had occasioned to make himself King; and even then when he ought to have stood in fear of his displeasure, he undaduisedly craves of him, to give him his father's Shunamite to wife: This seemed to Solomon so foolish and so shameless a petition, that he caused his life to be taken from him. Accessit matter, The mother came. Parents commonly desire to leave their children more rich and wealthy, than holy and religious: A mother would wish her daughter, rather beauty than virtue; a good dowry, than good endowments. Saint Augustine saith of himself, That he had a father that took more care to make him a Courtier of the earth, than of Heaven; & desired more, that the world should celebrate him for a wise and discreet man, than to be accounted one of Christ's followers. Saint Chrysostome saith, That of our children we make little reckoning, but of the wealth that we are to leave them, exceeding much: Being like unto that sick man, who not thinking of the danger wherein he is, cuts him out new clothes, and entertaineth new servants. A Gentleman will take more care of his Horse, and a great Lord of his estate, than of his children: For his Horse, the one will look out a good rider, and such a one as shall see him well fed and dressed; The other, a very good Steward for his lands: but for their children, which is their best riches, and greatest inheritance, they are careless in their choice of a good Tutor or Governor. In his Book De Vita Monastica, the said Doctor citeth the example of job, who did not care so much that his children should be rich, well esteemed, and respected in the world, as that they should be holy and religious; He rose up early in the morning, job 1.5. and offered burnt Offerings according to the number of the● all; For job thought, It may be my sons have sinned and blasphemed God in their hearts: Thus did job every day. Saint Augustine reporteth of his mother, That she gave great store of alms, and that she went twice a day to the Church, and that kneeling down upon her knees, she poured forth many tears from her eyes; not begging gold nor silver of God, but that he would be pleased to convert her son, and bring him to the true Faith. The receipt of a courtesy is the engaging of our liberty. The mother came. These her sons thought themselves now cocksure; for they knew that our Saviour Christ had some obligation to their mother, for those kindnesses which she had done him, and for those good helps which he had received from her in his wants and necessities; deeming it as a thing of nothing, and as a suit already granted, That he would give them the chiefest places of government in that their hoped for Kingdom. Whence I infer, that to a governor it is a shrewd pledge ofhi salvation, to receive a courtesy; for that he is thereby, as it were, bought and bound to make requital. And as in him that buys, 〈◊〉 is not the goodness or badness of such a commodity, but the money, that 〈◊〉 most stood upon: & as in gaming, men respect not so much the persons they play with, as the money they play for; so this business of providing for our childre●▪ is a kind of buying to profit, and a greedy gaining by play. The King of Sodom said unto Abraham, Gen. 14.23. Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself: 〈◊〉 Abraham would not take so much as a thread or shooe-latchet of all that was his, and that for two very good reasons: The one, That an Infidel might not hereafter boast and make his brag, saying▪ I have made Abraham rich, it was I that made him a man. The other, That he might not have a tie upon him, and so buy out his liberty▪ For gifts (as Nazianzen saith) are a kind of purchase of a man's freehold. 〈◊〉 give for mere love cannot be condemned, because it is a thing which God hi●●selfe doth; to whom the Kings and Princes of the earth should come as near as they can: But to give to receive again, is a clapping of gyves and fetters on the receiver. And the poorer sort of men being commonly the worthiest, because they have not wherewithal to give, they likewise come not to get any thing. Theodoret pondereth the reasons why Isaac was inclined to confer the blessing on Esau. First, Because he was his first borne, to whom of right it belonged. Secondly, For that he had ever been loving and obedient unto him. Thirdly, Because he was well behaved, and had good natural parts in him. Fourthly and lastly he addeth this, as a more powerful and forcible reason than all the rest; That being (as he was) a great Hunter, he brought home so many Regalos and dainty morsels for to please his father's palate, which wrought more upon aged Isaac, than his being his son. And if gifts are such strong Giants, that they captivate the Saints of God, Munera (crede mihi) excacant homines qùe Deosque. What are we to expect from sinners? Saint Bernard complaineth, That in his time this moth had entered not only upon the distribution of secular honours, but also upon Ecclesiastical preferments. He earnestly exhorteth Pope Eugenius, That he place such Bishops in the Church, who out of widow's dowries, & the patrimony of the crucified God, should not enrich their Kindred, who take more pleasure in the pampering of a young Mule, spread over with a fair foot-cloth, than to clap comparisons on an old Horse, whose mouth is presumed to be shut; preferring their loose Kindred, and such as have jadish tricks, before devout and irreprehensible persons. A Prelate shall bestow a hundred Ducats pension upon a poor Student, and he will be bound à re●ar el divino officio, to pray over all the good prayers that be, for him; but he shall bestow a twenty or thirty thousand Ducats on his Kinsman, and he shall scarce rezar el rosario, turn over his beads for him. Dic ut sedeant bi duo filij mei. Grant that these my two sons may sit, etc. Now the mother entreats with the love and affection of a mother, so it seemeth to Saint Ambrose and Saint Hilary; and as it is to be collected out of Saint Mark; and from that, You know not what you ask: As also by that, Can you drink of my Cup? Whither they were thrones in Heaven, (as Saint Chrysostome would have it) or on earth, which though never so prosperous, they could imagine at most to be but temporal; I will not stand to dispute it: if of heaven, few understand it; if of earth; they would make this their pilgrimage a permanent habitation. And if they held Peter to be a fool, because he would have had Tabernacles built on Mount Tabor▪ What shall we say to these that would have perpetual seats of honour? All the Courts of the earth are but portches and gatehouses to those Palaces ofheaven, where the lackey and the scullion, as well, etc. Nescitis quid petatis, Ye know not what ye ask. They did first of all imagine, That from the death of Christ, his Crown and Empire was to take its beginning. Now to desire seats of honour of one that was scourged, spit upon, strip● naked, and crucified, and to seek that his blood should be the price of the●● honour, was mere foolishness. When the people would have made a King of our Saviour Christ, he ●●ed from them to the mountain, taking it as an affront, th●● they should offer to clap an earthly Crown up-his h●ad. So doth Thomas expound that place of Saint Paul, Who for the joy that was set before him, endured the Cross, and despised the shame. When a King's Crown was proposed unto him by the World, he made choice of the Cross, holding that affront the less of the two. What then might he think, when treating of his death, they should crave chairs of honour, making less reckoning of his blood, than of their own advancement? For three transgressions of Israel, (saith Amos) and for four, Amos. 2.6. I will not turn to it, because they sold the Righteous for silver, and the Poor for shoes: That is, made more reckoning of the muck of the world, than men's lives. Galatinus, Adrianus Finus, and Rabbi Samuel, transfer this fault upon those Pharisees which sold our Saviour, to secure their wealth and their honours; The Romans will come and take both our Kingdom and our Nation from us. Wherein these his Disciples seemed to suit with them; for the Pharisees treated of our Saviour's death, that they might not lose their Chairs; and his Disciples, that they might get them. Ye know not, etc. Why would they not have Peter share with them in their favour and their honour? In Mount Tabor he was mindful of james and john; but james and john did not once think upon Peter. The reason whereof is, for that the glory of heaven is easily parted and divided with others: And because God will that all should be saved, man is likewise willing to yield thereunto. But for the glory of the earth, there is scarce that man that will admit a copartner. And if Christ our Saviour had granted them their request, they would presently have contested, which should have sat on his right hand. For in these worldly advancements and honours, brother will be against brother, and seek to cut each others throat. jacob and Esau strove who should be borne first, & get away the blessing from the other. Potestis bibere calicem? Can ye drink of the Cup, etc. Ambition always blind in that which it pursueth. Ambition (like the Elephant) out of a desire to command, will not stick to bear Castles & Towers on his back, till it be ready to break with the weight of its burden. Why should Peter covet honour, if like a Tower it must lie heavily upon him? King Antiochus had three hundred Elephants in his Army, and every one bare a Tower of wood upon his back, and in them thirty persons ● piece. The ambitious man (like Atlas) will make no bones to bear up heaven with his shoulders, though it make him to groan never so hard, and that in the end he must come tumbling down with it to the ground. Many pretend that which makes much for their hurt, presuming that they deserve what they desire. In matter of presumption, there is not that man that will know or acknowledge any advantage. Many men complain of the badness of the Times, of the hardness of their fortune, of the small favour that they find, as also of their want of health; but few or none, of their want of sufficiency, or their lack 〈◊〉 understanding. Seneca saith, That Understanding is no● a thing that can 〈◊〉 bought or borrowed: Nay more, That if it were to be sold at an open outcry▪ and in the public market place, there would not a Chapman be found 〈◊〉 deal for it: For the poorest Understanding that is, will presume to be able 〈◊〉 give council to Seneca; and to Pl●to. Absalon wooing the people's affection breaks out in Court into this insinuating, 2. Sam. 15.4. but traitorous phrase of speech, 〈◊〉 that I were made judge in the L●●d, that every man tha● hath any matter 〈…〉 might come to 〈◊〉, that I might do him justice.. Traitor as thou art, thou goest abo●● to take away thy father's Kingdom & his life from him, and yet the plea 〈◊〉 thou pretendest, is, forsooth, to do every man right and justice. Possumus. Saint Bernard sets down three sorts of Ambition: The one, Modest and bashful; which useth its diligences, but withal, such as are lawful and honest: For it is a lawful thing to pretend honour, though not to pretend it, be the greater virtue. The other, Arrogant and insolent, looking for kneeling and adoration. The third, Mad and furious, that will down with all that stands in its way; and hale Honour by the locks, and with his poniard in his hand seek to force her. Saint Cyprian in an Epistle of his, preacheth the self same doctrine. Of these three sorts of Ambition, the first is the most tolerable, and the least scandalous: The third is cruel: The second, which in Court is the most common, is most base and vile; howbeit (according to Saint Bernard) it is Vicium magnatum, A vice that follows your greatest and gravest Counsellors, and your principal Prelates, not your meaner and ordinary persons. It is a secret Poison which pierceth to the heart of this mystical body of the Church: For this name Esay gives to the Clergy, The whole Head is sick, and the whole Heart is faint. Esay●. 5. And since ●hat the Devil took that state upon him, as to say to our Saviour, Kneel down and worship me; he hath taken such courage to himself, that there is not any enterprise, be it never so difficult, which he dareth not to undertake. Saint cyprian tells us, In sinu Sacerdotum Ambitio dormit, sub●vmbra recubat, in secreto alami seize fraudulenter occultat, Ambition sleeps in the bosom of the Priests, it lies ●●rking even amongst the holiest of them. And those (as Saint Ambrose saith) ●hom Covetousness could not make to yield, nor the Flesh overcome; the ●astest, the freest handed, the bountifullest in their almsdeeds, Ambition hath ●ade to lie flat at her foot. In a word, Rarus est, quem non prosternat ambitio. Whence it is to be noted, Ambition▪ knows neither reason, nor religion. That they being honourable and grave persons whom Ambition leads along in triumph, she makes them base and vile: For she bings these men to shame, and through their too much esteem of honour, come t● be the less esteemed. Adeo mundus hominibus charus est, ut sibi viluerint, The ●●●ld is so dear to men, that they are base in their own eyes. Saint Augustine saith, T●at the Devil offered our Saviour all the Kingdoms of the world, if he would bu● fall down and worship him. The ambitious man will sow himself, as it we, to the ground, & suffer himself to be trampled & trod on, & that not for a wield, but for the basest things that the world affordeth. This mother & her ●w sons did adore our Saviour Christ for imaginary honours, and not for any respect to the person adored, (for much more was due unto him) but for circumsta●es so shameful and so vile, that they well deserved a Nescitis. When Nebuc●dnezar gave command, That all should fall flat to the ground, and worship his ●mage, Saint Chrysostome saith, That their prostrating of themselves upon the ●eart was excused, for that the adoration of their bodies, was the falling of their ●ouls; not only because they did adore a piece of wood, which was not God; ●ut ●●cause they did adore their private interest and favour. So in this case that we hsue now in hand, the mother and her sons adored not Christ as he was Chri●●, but for the good they hoped from Christ: and this adoration of the bo●ie, d●d discover the baseness of their soul's thoughts. Besides all these mischiefs which accompany Ambition, it turns it to be ●s owners torment: It is the Cross (as Saint Bernard saith) that martyrs him, ●●bit●● ambitiosorum Crux. Saint Ambrose, Omnes t●r ques, omnibus places▪ Absalon was hanged by the hairs of his head, in token that his own ambitious humour was his own hangman. Saint Augustine saith, Ventus honoris, ruina universi, The wind of honour is the world's ruin. This puff of wind blue Lucifer out of heaven; it destroyed Paradise; ●ore up our innocence by the roots; it pretended to build Towers above the Clouds. In the Scripture it wrought strange cruelties; Abimileck puffed up with this wind, beheaded the seventy brethren of Gede●; joram, the six sons of that good and holy King jehosophat, to settle the Crown the surer on his head. The Chronicles make mention, That to this King there came Letters from Elias, [Allatae sunt autem ei litera ab Elia Propheta, There came a writing to him from Elia the Prophet] who in his father's time was taken up in a Chariot of fire; which were left written behind him by a prophetical Spirit, before that he departed hence, as Caietan doth enforce it. Howsoever, I am sure that they did notify unto him a most grievous and severe chastisement. jason brother to the Highpriest Onias, took away his Priesthood from him by offering King Antiochus a great sum of money. In the ninth Chapter of the first Book of Macabees, strange things are reported of the impostures of Alcimus, till that he died suddenly, and was smitten cum tormento magno. The twelfth Chapter recounteth the cruelties which Triphon multiplied one in the neck of another, to set the Crown of Asia on his own head, by killing jonathan and his sons. Calicem quidem meum bibetis. Ye shall indeed drink of my Cup. He did mark them out the way to Heaven and the price which it was to cost them. Heaven not purchased without violence. Saint Bernard; Haec est via vitae, via ci● tatis, via regni, via gloriae. And upon the Canticles he pondereth two places. In the one, the Spouse invites her Beloved to a dainty soft bed; Lectus 〈◊〉 floridus, domus nostra Cedrina, Our Bed is green, and our house of Cedar. In the other, He invites his Spouse to the field. Ego flos Campi. Correcting thereby the longings of his Spouse. As if he should have said unto her, Th● life, is not to be spent in pleasures and delights, but in sweats and labours. An● expounding that place of Saint Luke, Have me o Lord, in mind, when thou comest 〈◊〉 to thy Kingdom; Euntem vidit, & sui memorem esse rogavit. He was tied to 〈◊〉 Cross, and yet you see how soon he got to Heaven. And no marvel, for, 〈◊〉 carriage to Heaven, was the Crosse. He that hath a familiar in his pocket, 〈◊〉 fly in two hours from henceto Rome. And so in a short time did this go● Thief fly unto Heaven, by being himself fastened to the Cross, and his 〈◊〉 to Christ. Saint Chrysostome saith, That Grace followeth the footsteps of 〈◊〉; If there be no Day, there is no Night; if no Winter, no Summer; 〈◊〉 Battle, no Victory; if no Service, no Reward; if no Cup, no Chair; i● Trouble, no Glory. Non est meum dare vobis. It is not in me to give you. The World makes these provisions, but I ca●● Saint Ambrose saith, Dominus Coeli etc. The Lord of Heaven and Earth was 〈◊〉 Blush, and was ashamed to deny the fellowship of his Throne, to a mother, that 〈◊〉 it for her children. Man's presumption. Christ, who is able to do all, says, he cannot do it, 〈◊〉 Man, who is able to do nothing at all, presumes he can do all. God canno co●●mit sin; nor can God be an Accepter of persons. God makes himself 〈◊〉 who can do nothing; and thou makest thyself God, and thinkst thou 〈◊〉 any thing: Whereas indeed, thou art more weakness, than power; disability than ability. It is proper to God (saith Aristotle) to do what he will; to Man, to do what he can: But now the World is turned topsy-turvy; God does what he can; and Man, what he will. Saint Bernard in an Epist. of his, complaineth of the Ecclesiastical provisions which were made in his time; They leapt (satih he) from the Ferula to the Crosyers' staff; being gladder to see themselves freed from the Rod, than of the Honours that were thrown upon them. Seneca called that, The golden Age, wherein Dignities were conferred on those that deserved them; condemning the Age wherein he lived, to be the Iron Age. But I say, That this present Age which we now enjoy, is the happiest that ever our Church had: For, in those former times, those that were the learnedest and the holiest men, fled into the Deserts, and hid themselves in Caves, that they might not be persecuted with Honours: For they had no sooner notice of a holy man; (albeit he lived cooped up in a corner) but that they forced him thence, clapping a Mitre on his head, and other dignities: And there are very strange Histories of this truth. But to all those that live now in these times, I can give them these glad tidings, That they may enjoy their quiet, and sit peaceably at home in their private lodgings, resting safe and secure, that this trouble shall not come to their doors; for now a days, only favour, or other by-respects of the flesh, have provided a remedy for this evil. Non est meum dare vobis. It lies not in me to give you. Christ would rather seem to lessen somewhat of his power, than to lessen any thing of his love. And therefore he doth not say, I will not do it; for that would have been too foul and churlish a word in the mouth of so mild a Prince▪ and he should thereby have done wrong to his own will, who desires that all might have such seats as they did sue to sit in. Saint Ambrose unfoldeth our Saviour's meaning, Bonus Dominus maluit dissimulare de jure, quam de charitate deponere, He had rather they should question his right, than his love. The self same Doctor saith, That he made choice rather of judas than any other, though to man it might seem, that he therein wronged his wisdom; 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 choice of such an Apostle. But this was done out of his especial providence, (saith Saint Ambrose) in favour of his love: For he being in our opinion, to run the hazard of his wisdom or his love, he had rather of the two suffer in his wisdom; for no man could otherwise presume of him, but that he loved judas. The History of jonas proves this point, who refused to go to Niniveh; it seeming unto him, that both God and himself should (as Nazianzen saith) be discredited in the world. But he willed him the second time, That he should go to Niniveh, and that he should preach unto them, Yet forty days, and Niniveh shall be overthrown. jonah. 3.4. At last he was carried thither perforce, whither he would or no: And the reason why God carried this business thus, was, That if afterwards he should not destroy this City, he might happily hazard the opinion of his power, but not of his love. The like is repeated by Saint Chrysostome. jonas did likewise refuse to go to Niniveh, that he might not at last be found a Liar; esteeming more the opinion of his truth, than of his love. Hence ariseth in the Prelates and the Princes, this word Nolumus, We will not have it so; which savours of too much harshness and tyranny. Sic volo, sic jubeo, sit pro ratione voluntas, Their will is a Law unto them. But he that shall make more reckoning of the opinion of his willingness, and of his love, than of his power, and his wisdom, will say, Non possum, I cannot, it is not in my power to do it: It grieves me to the very heart, and I blush for shame, that I am not able to perform your desire. Which is a great comfort for him that is a suitor, when he shall understand, that his Petition is not denied out of disaffection, but disability. When Naboth was to be sentenced to death, the judges did proclaim a Fast: And Abulensis saith, That it was a common custom amongst the judges in those days, whensoever they did pronounce the sentence of death against an Offender; to the end, to give the World to understand, That that man's death did torment and grieve their Soul. For, to condemn a man to death with a merry and cheerful countenance, is more befitting Beasts, than Men. When our Saviour Christ entered Jerusalem in Triumph, the ruin of that famous City representing itself unto him, he shed tears of sorrow. Doth it grieve thee, o Lord, that it must be destroyed? Destroy it not then. I cannot do so; for that will not stand with my justice.. O Lord, do not weep then. I cannot choose. And why, good Lord? Because it will not stand with my Mercy. And that judge, who ever he be, if he have any pity in the world in him, cannot for his heart blood, when he sentenceth a Malefactor to some grievous punishment, or terrible torment, but have some meltingnesse in his eyes, and some sorrow in his heart. God so pierce our hearts with pity and compassion towards our poor afflicted brethren, that having a fellow-feeling of their miseries, we may find favour at his hands, who is the Father of Pity, and only Fountain of all Mercy. THE FIFTEENTH SERMON, UPON THE THURSDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. LUC. 16. Homo quidam erat Dives, & induebatur Purpura & Bysso. There was a certain rich man who was clothed in Purple and fine Linen. AMongst those Parables which our Saviour preached, The scope of the Parable. some were full of pity and love; others of fears and terrors: some for noble breasts; others for base and hard hearts: some had set up for their mark, the encouraging of our hopes; others, the increasing of our fears: some serving for comfort to the Godly; and some for example to the Wicked. That which we are to treat of to day, hath all these comforts for the Poor which live in hunger and in want, pined and consumed with misery: And threatenings for the Rich, who say unto their riches and their pleasures, I am wholly yours. There was a certain rich man, etc. The first thing that he was charged withal, Riches may be possessed, but not desired. is, That he was rich: Not because rich men are damned because they are rich; but because he is damned who placeth his happiness in them, and makes them the only aim of his desires. And hence it cometh to pass, that desired riches usually prove more hurtful than those that are possessed: for these sometimes do not occupy the heart; but those that are desired and coveted by us, do wholly possess it, and lead it which way they list. And therefore David adviseth us not to set our hearts upon them. He that longeth and desireth to be rich, even to imaginary riches, resigneth up his heart. Saint Paul did not condemn rich men, but those that did desire to be rich. The Devil sets a thousand gins and snares about those that have set their desires upon riches. What greater snare than that pitfall which was prepared as a punishment for Tantalus, who standing up to the chin in water, could yet never come to quench his thirst. Non est satiatus venter eius, His belly was not satisfied, saith job; job 20. The Hebrew. Non novit pacem, he knew not peace. He that says, Peace, says a quiet and peaceable possession of that which he possesseth, and yet cannot enjoy it. He that suffers perpetual hunger, when he hath the world at will, what greater snare, than in this his great plenty to be extreme poor? Magnas inter opes in●ps; (it is Horace's) and, An ordinary thirst [extrema pauperiate deterior est] is worse than extreme poverty, so says ●yon: And the reason of it is clear. The poor man (saith Solomon) eateth to the contentation of his mind, and remaineth satisfied therewith; but the belly of the Rich is still empty, and can never be filled. What greater snare, than to deny a morsel of bread to the hungry, pity being so proper and natural to the breast and bowels of man? But this he too usually doth, that desires to be rich; for he that goes always in chase, in propriam satietatem, to glut his own belly, will hardly relieve another man's hunger. What greater snare, than for a rich man to walk overlading and bruising his body with the weight of gold, of all other metals the most massy, and to no profit in the world, Esay. 30.6. unless it be to bring him the sooner to his grave. Esay saith, That he saw a Lion, a Lioness, a Viper, and a fiery flying Serpent coming against those that shall bear their riches upon the shoulders of the Colts, and their treasures upon the bunches of the Camels, to a strange Country, where it shall do them no good. By the Lion and Lioness, the Viper, and the fiery flying Serpent, the Prophet understandeth those Devils whom David styles Asps and Basilisks, Lions, and Dragons, and by those Colts and Camels, rich men laden with treasures, whose Carriers are the Devils, who drive them along till they bring them to Hell, with their backs galled, and their bodies bruised, bearing this Motto in their forehead, Lassati sumus via iniquitatis, We are wearied in the way of Iniquity. Origen hath observed, That those rich men whom God wished well to in the Old Testament, he bestowed living riches upon them, as flocks of Sheep, herds of cattle, Bread, Wine, and Oil, which are the principal flowers and best fruits of the earth. And the patriarchs did desire these prosperities and blessings for their children. jacob pouring out his blessings upon joseph, said, Gen. 49.25. God bless thee with blessings of the breast and of the womb; let thy Ewes eane, and bring forth Lambs by pairs, etc. But gold and silver, which are dead riches, were not God's blessing. Vestiebatur purpura & bysso, He was clothed in Purple & fine Linen. Three principles do condemn the excess of apparel. The one, For a man to place too much pleasure and happiness therein; as if he had been borne for no other end, but to wear rich and gay clothes. The other, To ordain them to a bad end. Saint Augustine saith, That we should not so much intend the use of pompous and glorious apparel, as the end for which we use them, Non usus, sed libido in culpa est. The loose Wanton adorns himself with Silks, with Diamonds, and brooches of gold; the Priest he adorns himself with a rich Stole, with a Cope curiously embroidered; the one, to enamour poor silly Souls; the other, to offer Sacrifice decently before his God: The one offendeth; the other pleaseth; because, Non usus, sed libido in culpa est. He that hath traveled abroad, and been long from home in foreign Countries, claps good clothes on his back, thinking that those will add more credit to his person, than is answerable to his fortunes; Non usus, sed libido i● culpa est, It is not our lack, but our lust which must be blamed. A married wife tricks up herself, and dresses herself neat, the better to please her husband and her family; for a wife is the beauty, the joy, and life of a house. The Whore she pranks up herself too, but only to allure loose beholders. Solomon commending a manly mettled woman, says, That she clothed herself with Purple and with Silk. The Apocalyps condemning that Whore of Babylon who held a cup of poison in her hand, saith, That it was covered with gold: In the one was Virtue; in the other, Vice; and therefore not our need, but our niceness is in fault. Many for to comply with the authority of their dignities and places of honour, have outwardly worn rich and costly clothes, but inward next to their skins, shirts of hair; as Theodosius, Nepotianus, and others. For, as that which enters in at the mouth doth not defile the soul; so, outward clothes do not hurt the inward man; Sed libido in causa est. The third Principle is out of Saint Augustine, Homo circumferens mortalitatem, circumfert testimonium peccati sui, Man, that bears mortality about him, doth likewise bear about him a testimony of his sin. God clothing man with the skins of dead beasts, gave us thereby to understand, That these our clothes serve as so many witnesses of man's sin and mortality; as the casting of the black cloak upon the shoulders of some great Bashaw, shows, that he hath offended the grand Signior, and that his death is at hand. The Spanish Nation hears ill abroad, for the often change of fashions in their clothes, running daily out of one into another; it is a vice that they are much taxed for. And therefore, If the Spanish, God help the English. one painting forth the particular fashions of apparel belonging to all Nations whatsoever, when he cometh to portray forth a Spaniard, he sets him upon a shopboard, with a piece of stuff before him, and a pair of shears in his hand, to the end that he might cut out his clothes into what kind of fashion his fancy should best affect: Expressing therein, that he was so fantastical, so various, and so mutable, that every day he would have a new invention. And to this purpose suits that Hierogliphycke of Augustinus Celius; It being brought to the gods knowledge, That the Moon wandered up and down naked over hills & dales; they sent Mercury unto her, to cut her out a garment, and to make it up for her: But he could never come to take any true measure of her, by reason of her ordinary creasings and wanings, not knowing what course in the world to take, unless he should every day make her a new gown. In a word, this rich man's robe was Pride's ensign, Luxuries nest, and Death's Mantle. Heretofore, Purple and fine Linen, Silks, and Velvets, were only clothing for Kings, and such as were eminent persons in Court, and were daily in his Majesty's eye, waiting and attending his person. But now, every one will in his wear and fashion, seem to be that which he is not: The Clerk will go as the Squire; the Squire as the Knight; the Knight as the Lord; the Lord as a Grandee; a Grandee as a King; and a King as God. The Proverb, That it is not the Cowle that makes the Monk, is verified of all Estates: But as the richness of the garnishing adds not any fineness to the Sword; (the comparison is Seneca's) so, a man's clothes do not better his being, nor add any worth to him that wears them; but though he be not bettered in his being, yet he is so much bettered in his seeming, that a man had need of some particular revelation, to know which is which, and to whom we owe a respect and reverence. To a Coward (who like Hercules, had leapt himself in a Lion's skin) Diogenes said, If thou didst but see how ill this wear doth become thee, thou wouldst blush for shame. You shall have a finical Tailor fling away his money (and peradventure is worth half so much more) upon a Silken suit, (as if honour did consist in Silk) and if you find fault with him for this his vanity, his answer will be unto you, My neighbour Fulano goes thus and thus, and I scorn but to go as well clad as he; my purse and my credit is as good as his; when, God knows, he comes far short of him in both: and this vanity hath undone many a man. Pharaoh and his People marched through the bottom of the sea, and the occasion of this his so bold adventure, was, That he had seen the Israelites go that way before him. O ye foolish Egyptians, Had ye God for your Captain? Had ye the Rod of Moses to divide the waters, and to make them stand like walls on either side? The like may I say to this Tailor, Hast thou as good means as thy neighbour? Esa● going forth to meet jacob, Gen. 33. who came from Mesopotamia, after a few brotherly embracements, and other kind compliments of their love each to other; Esau entreated his brother, that he would go along with him and bear him company: But jacob made this discreet answer unto him; Sir, I beseech you to excuse me, I must needs wait upon my children and my flocks; and if to do you service, I should bring them out of the way they are in, they would all perish. When the vanity of one that is more powerful and wealthier than thyself, shall invite thee to follow his humour, and call unto thee, to go side by side with him; thou wilt, if thou be'st wise, make use of Jacob's excuse; telling him, If I shall run this course, I shall ruin both my children and my estate. Seneca writing to L●cilius, tells him, If thou conform thyself to what Nature will be well contented withal, thou shalt be rich; but if what Vanity will egg thee unto, thou shalt be poor. Clemens Alexandrinus hath a particular Discourse upon this Argument, and that so large and so full, that it seemeth he had been in all the houses of the City where he dwelled, and had diligently observed what had passed in every one of them. To what end (saith he) serveth a Bed with pillars of silver, and pommels of gold, if thou sleepest as well (if not better) in one of Wood? To what end serve Curtains of silk interwoven with gold, and Quilts curiously embroidered, if those of woollen keep thee warmer? To what end a Cup of Crystal, if one of Glass will as well serve the turn? For to dig into the earth, thou wilt not make thee a Spade or Mattocke of silver, because that were a superfluous and needless thing: As needless and superfluous a thing is it, to have a Bed of Ivory, Ebony, etc. But, which is worse than all the rest, Saint Chrysostome saith, That for to feed our vanities, we never want means nor moneys; but to pay our debts, or to bestow an Alms, or to relieve a friend in necessity, there is no money to be found. One of the greatest charges, and most without excuse, which God will charge your rich and powerful men withal, is, God hath given thee all this thy present prosperity which thou enjoyest, thy Lands, thy Rents, thy Lordships, thy Tenants, thy Gold, thy Silver, etc. And that God (who hath thus blest and prospered thee in the World) standing poor, naked, and hunger-starved at thy door, thou hast fair Liveries for servants, rich furniture for thy horses, silver Garrotes or Wrists to pack up and fasten thy Sumpter upon thy strong backed Mules, costly Banquets for thy friends; but not so much as a rag or a crumb to bestow upon him who hath thus enriched thee with all these: Inexcusabilis es, o Homo, Neither thou nor all the World knows how to make answer to this objection. Saint Hierome makes the like complaint, discoursing of those Ladies whose Coaches may rather be said to be of gold, than guilded; whose necks are laden with chains of Pearl, & their fingers with Diamonds; and that they should live thus in their jollity & plenty, and Christ die at their doors for hunger, it is such a charge, that when it comes to be laid home unto them, it will admit no excuse. Epulabatur quotidiè splendidè. He fared diliciously every day. Many of God's Saints have made Feasts and Banquets for their Kinsfolks and friends, as Abraham, Toby, job, and others; but these their Feasts were modest and moderate, they were great, but not often. And neither can or will any man make daily Feasts, unless it be such a one as makes his belly his God, and thinks that he was borne for no other end, but to pamper up the flesh, and to make much of himself. Every vice whatsoever, is as a link to a chain, which draws many other after it: but that of Gluttony, of all other is the most tyrannous and the most violent. First of all, It draws dishonesty after it, as heretofore hath been proved. Saint Paul doth so wedge and glue these two vices together, as if they were but one and the self same thing; Non in convivijs & impudicit●●s. And in another place he saith, That eating provoketh the body, and that the body desireth and lusteth after eating. Secondly, It spoils and mars the tongue, as Saint Gregory proveth it. There are two things (saith Solomon) that are able to, nay, do overthrow the World; a Slave sitting in the King's Throne, that is one of them; the other, a Fool, whose belly is glutted with meat, and whose head is full of wine. And if too much eating and drinking make the most discreet and best advised man to lose the reyns of reason; what will it work upon a fool? Thirdly, It doth darken the Understanding, as Saint Chrysostome hath noted it, alleging the example of Esau, who after he had eaten and drunken his fill, made light reckoning of the selling of his birthrigh. The fogs and vapours of the earth, cloud Heaven; those of the stomach, Reason. What greater blindness (saith Lucian) than that of the Taste, extending itself no further than four finger's breadth in the palate; Earth, Sea, and Air, are not sufficient to satisfy the same? Aristotle reports of Philogonus, That he desired of the gods, That they would give him such a neck as the Craines have, that the taste and relish of his meat might continue the longer in its going down. Fourthly, It shortens man's life; Propter ●rapulam, multi abierunt, Eccles. 37.30. By surfeit have many perished. Et plures gula, quam gladio periere, And more by sauce have died than by the sword. This is the main cause of your Apoplexies, and of your speedy and sudden Deaths. Clemens Alexandrinus relateth, That, Purpurea mors, was a Proverb of sudden death, because those that were clothed in Purple, were commonly Gluttons. But for violent deaths, what experience more notorious? Let Ammon, David's eldest son speak this; and Elah King of Israel, slain by the hands of Zambri; Clitus, Alex●●ders chiefest favourite; Menadab, King of Syria; Assuerus; Haman, his Minion; and one of the Herod's. Saint Basyll saith, That the vice of eating well, is more desperate, than that of living ill. Many loose Wantoness come to be reform, but Gluttons never. Only Death (says he) ends that disease. This rich man, Saint Luke saith, That he died amidst his continual banquet; having no Medium between his eating, and his dying. Saint Chrysostome, lays this to this rich man's charge, That he did not believe the immortality of the Soul; nor the eternal happinesses, and miseries of that other life. And a great argument for the proof thereof, is, That he was so hasty with Abraham, That he would send one from the dead, to preach this Doctrine to his Kinsfolk, and friends. And Abraham answering, That they had Moses, and the Prophets; He replied, Non pater Abraham, Not so father Abraham; I myself heard the testimony of Moses, and the Sermons of those other Prophets, but for all this I could never be persuaded, that Hell was provided for me, and Heaven prepared for Lazarus. My Kinsmen, are like to be of the same mind, as I was; and the like will succeed unto them, as hath befallen me, and therefore I pray thee let one be sent unto them from the dead, that may put them out of this their error, etc. Erat autem mendicus, nomine Lazarus, ulceribus plenus. There was a beggar, named Lazarus, who wus full of Sores. He painteth forth this poor man, and his wretched and miserable condition, counterposing it to those worldly felicities, wherewith this rich man did abound. The one's poverty, Riches unequally dispensed; Why? to the others riches; the ones sickness, to the others health; the ones hunger, to the others fullness; the ones nakedness, to the others costly clothes; the ones leanness, to the others fatness; the ones sorrow, to the others joy; the one's enjoying of no pleasure in this life, to the others general content that he took in all the delights and pleasures of this World. Transierunt in affectum cordis. Another letter hath it, In picturas cordium. Whatsoever his heart did desire, it was pictured as it were before him. Does a rich man desire a handsome woman? Money paints her forth unto him; does he desire revenge? Money will draw it out for him; does he desire banquets, music, and good clothes? Money does all this, and limbs them out unto him, as in a fair and curious Table. Looking upon the inequality of humane chances, in matter of good, and bad fortune; so much happiness in some, so ill bestowed upon them; & so much misery in other some, which they did not so well deserve; there have been some fools which have not sticked blasphemously to say, Does God know well what he doth? Ecce, ipsi peccatores, in saeculo, obtinuerunt divitias; See, what an unequal course God runs; The wickedest men, are commonly the most wealthy. But the truth of it is, That this is a mystery of God's providence, though secret, and hid. He made the rich men his sons and heirs here upon Earth, to the end that the younger brethren might have here their secure sustenance: And he made the poor, heirs of Heaven, that the rich might have there, their ●ecure happiness. So that the rich by relieving the poor, and the poor by praying for the rich, they might both, by God's favour, have equal portions in Heaven. Saint Paul saith, That God made some rich, and some poor, that the abundance of the rich, might supply the wants of the poor; and the abundance of the poor, supply the wants of the rich. And so their lot might be alike. It succeeding with them, as it did in that miracle of the Manna; He that gathered much, had no more than he that gathered little; For whatsoever he gathered over and above, unless he did repart the same unto others, it stunk, and did rot and putrify. 2. Cor. 8.14. Vt vestra abundantia, etc. I will render it you in the Apostles own words, That your abundance may supply their lack, and that also their abundance may be for your lack, that there may be equality. As it is written, He that gathereth much, hath nothing over, and he that gathereth little, had not the less. Saint Matthew saith, That it is easier for a Camel to pass through the eye of a needle; than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Some understand this Camel, to be a Dromedary, some a Cable. But to him that shall ask me; how can a Camel, or a Cable, go through the eye of a needle? I shall answer him thus, That a Camel being burnt, and beaten to powder; and a Cable untwisted and in wound, may enter thread after thread, into a needle's eye. In like manner▪ a rich man, that puts his trust in his riches, it is hard for him to go to Heaven, or to get into the eye of this needle. Tob. 4. But he may so lessen himself, by giving of alms to the poor, that he may etc. Fiducia magna eleemosina omnibus fatientibus 〈◊〉. This so Excellent an artifice, seemeth to those that apprehend it not, a great disorder. And as he that turns often about, thinks that the world goes round with him: so he that hath a giddy head, takes God's providence to be disorder. But, if there be any inequality, it is on the poor man's part, because God hath made them such great Lords in heaven, that the rich had need to get themselves out of their hands by Almesdeeds. Daniel, to Nebucadnezar, Break off thy iniquities by giving Alms: Alluding to that of the Proverb, The ransom of a man's life are his riches. Saint Chrysostome saith, Dan. 4.27. Prou. 13.8. That God did not create the Rich for to relieve the Poor; but the Poor, that the Rich might not be barren of good works. And Saint Austen, That Mercy stands before Hell gates, seeking to divert condemnation from the Rich. Full of Sores. Life without health, no life▪ In this Counterposition he begins first with the sickness of the Poor: For as health next to life is the greatest good; so, a long, a grievous, and a painful sickness is the greatest ill. Ecclesiasticus saith, That a poor man that is sound and lusty, is better than a rich man that is sick and feeble. Health is of a greater price than either gold or silver, and there is no treasure to be compared to a body that is strong and healthy. And endearing this truth, he saith, That death is a less evil than a bitter life; and the grave, than a long and grievous sickness. So that in conclusion, he preferreth health before life. But if to these sores of Lazarus, we shall add hunger, nakedness, and weakness, and all these in so high a degree, that he was not able to lift up his Crutches to drive away the Dogs which did lick away, together with the matter and filth of his Sores, his very life from him; a man can hardly comprehend a greater misery. Insuper, & Canes lingebant. And the Dogs licked, etc. The greatest misery that Lazarus endured, was the cruelty of this rich man, and of all his whole house; for even the yerie Dogs in the house of a cruel man, are also cruel. This doth this word Insuper infer: Here are so many miseries heaped one upon another, that they can hardly be reduced to a sum. And the Dogs licked, etc. The very Dogs did suck & lick out the life of him▪ And this cruelty may be considered two manner of ways: The one, That this rich man affronted poor Lazarus, speaking unto his servants in a commanding manner, What doth this poor Rogue make here, send him packing, that I may see him no more; and I charge you, that you give him not so much as a Cup of cold water, lest, like a Fowler's Whistle, Riches usually accompanied with pride & cruelty. he may serve as a Call, to invite all the Beggars in the country to come tomorrow to my house, hoping that they shall speed no worse than he hath done. They perform their master's command, and when they had so done, they come in and tell him, Sir, we have dismissed him, and willed him to be gone; but the poor man is very importunate, and loath to stir. Is he so, (quoth he) marry then will I tell you what you shall do; turn out these Dogs upon him, and they will set him hence with a vengeance. This construction Saint Augustine makes in a Sermon of his; and withal, leaves us this note for our better learning; Quod in lingua majorem se●tit ardorem, quia per eam contempsit Pauperem, That he felt therefore the greater heat in his tongue, because with it he had the Poor in derision, and made it the Whip to lash them. The other, That this rich man made as though he were deaf and would not hear on that ear, when the Poor cried o●t unto him, though his miserable condition & hunger-starved carcase (though he poor soul had held his peace) spoke in a loud voice unto him, to bestow something upon him, Those crumbs (good Master) that are come from your table; those scraps (for God's sake) that are left, etc. Of these two interpretations you may take which you please; but I am sure, neither of both but is a sin, and that a great one too. In which sin of this uncharitable Chuff, we are to consider three very woeful circumstances. The first, That it is a sin that is generally hated and abhorred. For all other sins have some Patrons to protect them, some abettors to defend them, or some favourers to excuse them, if not in heaven, yet at least here on earth; but against this unmerciful and hard hearted sin, God, Heaven, Earth, Angels, and Men, have so open and wide an ear, and conceive so ill of it, that they think none deserves Hell better. And therefore it is said, judicium sine misericordia, his qui non faciunt misericordiam, judgement without mercy, to those that show no mercy. When he falls, job 20.27. no man will take pity of him: Revelabunt Coeli iniquitatem ei●●, & Terra consurget adversius eum, The Heaven shall declare his wickedness, and the Earth shall rise up against him. All the World will cry out against an unmerciful minded man; as on the contrary, they will praise and applaud him that is of a pitiful and tender disposition: Enarrabit Eleemosynas suas omnis Ecclesia Sanctorum, The whole Congregation shall talk of his praise, and the Generations that are to come shall speak good things of him. Whereas the other, his name shall perish from off the earth, but his torments in hell shall endure for ever. Saint Austen is of opinion, That there is not any sin more injurious to Nature, than this. You shall have a rich man keep in his house a Lion, a Bear, five or six cast of Falcons, to all which, he allotteth daily a liberal allowance: the poor man comes unto him, makes his moan, and in a pitiful and humble fashion says unto him, Sir, I beseech you (for God's sake) bestow one single penny, or a piece of bread on a poor weak creature, that is not able to work for his living: Yet will not the rich man give him that which he gives unto his Beasts; o, what an inhuman thing is this, and how harsh to every good man's nature. The second circumstance is this, That God doth with such difficulty remit this sin, that if any be irremissable, it is this: not only for its cruelty, so contrary to the bowels of God's compassion; but also, for that taxing his providence, he makes such light reckoning of the miseries of the Poor, that he weighs them by ounces, and measures them out by inches: nay, he proceeds further, by adding grief unto grief, and affliction to affliction; and judging those jerks of Gods divine justice to be too gentle, he lays a heavier hand & greater load upon him. Zach. 1.15. This is that, that made Zacharie to cry out, Magna ira irascor, etc. I am greatly incensed against your richer sort of men; for I was angry but a little, and they helped forward the affliction. I send the Poor a sore for the chastisement of his sins, that thereby I may bring him to heaven; & these would slay him alive. Amos 4.1. The Prophet Amos thunders out a terrible threatening against them, in the metaphor of fat Cows; Audite haec vaccae pingues, qui confringitis, etc. Hear this Word ye Cows of Bashan, that are in the Mountains of Samaria, which oppress the Poor, and destroy the Needy, thou hast not left one bone of them unbroken; but I swear by my Holiness, That I will be revenged of thee. Lo, the days shall come upon you, that I will take you away with Thorns, and your Posterity with Fishhooks, and y●● shall go out at the breaches, every Cow forward, and ye shall cast yourselves out of the Palace. Thus he calleth the Princes and Governors, which being overwhelmed with the great abundance of God's benefits, forgot God & his poor Members; and therefore he calleth them by the name of beasts, and not of men. No less fearful is that menacing of Micah, Mich. 3.1. Hear, o ye Heads of jacob, and ye Princes of the house of Israel, who pluck off the skin of the Poor, and the flesh from off their bones; who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay off the skin from them, and break their bones and chop them in pieces as for the pot, and as flesh within the Cauldron. They shall cry unto me (saith the Lord) in the time of their trouble, but I will not hear them; I will even hide my face from them at that time, because they have done wickedly in their works. O, that men should be so unnatural as to ●lay the skin from the flesh, and then presently to tear the flesh from the bone. God puts a poor man into poverty, but he doth not ●lay him nor kill him; but the rich man▪ does thus, tormenting him anew, whom God hath already punished enough; Because they have smitten those whom I have smitten, and have added new wounds to those that I have already inflicted upon them. The third circumstance is taken out of job; where he treateth of another rich man like unto this of whom we now speak of. Non remansit de cibo eius, job. 20. propterea nihil permanebit de bonis eius, There shall none of his meat be left, and there shall be no memorial of his goods. When he shall be filled with his abundance he shall be in pain, and the hand of all the Wicked shall assail him; he shall be about to fill his belly, but God shall send upon him his fierce wrath, & shall cause to rain upon him, even upon his meat: He shall fly from the Iron Weapons, and the Bow of Steel shall strike him through; the Arrow is drawn out, and cometh forth of the body, and shineth out of his gall, so fear cometh upon him. All darkness shall be hid in his secret places, the fire that is not blown shall devour him, and that which remaineth in his Tabernacle shall be destroyed. The Heaven shall declare his wickedness, and the Earth shall rise up against him; the increase of his house shall go away, it shall flow away in the day of his wrath. This is his portion from God, & the heritage that he shall have of God: For he that was so unmerciful, that he would not afford the crumbs that fell from his Table to the Poor, shall be so far from enjoying the least good (though it be but a drop of water) that God will rather cause him to vomit up those good things which he hath eaten in this life. He hath devoured substance, job. 20. 1●. and he shall vomit it; for God shall draw it out of his belly. He shall vomit it forth with a great deal of pain; if he shall call for drink, the Devils shall say unto him, Spew up that which thou hast drunk; if for meat, Vomit up that which thou hast eaten: He shall suck the gall of Asps, and the Viper's tongue shall slay him: He shall not see the rivers, nor the Floods and Streams of Honey and Butter: He shall restore the labour, and devour no more, even according to his substance shall be his exchange, and he shall enjoy i● no more: For he hath undone many, he hath forsaken the Poor, and hath spoilt houses which he builded not; surely he shall find no quietness in his body, neither shall he reserve of that which he desired. Factum est autem ut moreretur mendicus. But it came to pass that the Beggar died. First, Lazarus dies; Why desperate Sinners are often suffered▪ to live long. for God evermore makes more haste to dry up the tears of the Just, than the plaints of the Sinner: Ad vesperum demorabitur flet●●, etc. Their tears shall continue to the evening, etc. Amongst many reasons which the Saints do render, Why God's justice comes commonly with a leaden foot; that of Saint Gregory is an excellent one, which is, That so great is the wretchedness which waits upon a Reprobate, that it is not much, that God should permit him to enjoy some few years more of his miserable and unhappy happiness. A pitiful judge is wont sometime to defer the Delinquents sentence of death; but when careless of his doom, he sees him game, eat, and sleep; he says, Let him alone, and let him make himself as merry as he can, for this world will not last long with him; for his destruction is at hand, and the stroke of death hangs over his head, and when it comes it will come suddenly upon him. Many great sinners live to be very old men before they die; and the reason of it is, for that God (who is a God of patience) suffers them to live here the longer, for that after their death a bitter portion remaineth for them. Et portaretur ab Angelis, And he was carried of Angels. Every torment is so much the more cruel, by how much the more it suffereth in the extremes that are opposite thereunto. job pondering that of Hell, saith, That those that are there tormented, pass from snow to fire, Ab aquis nivium, ad nimium colorem. The like succeedeth in content, which is so much the greater, by how much we go from a greater sorrow to a greater joy. Such than was the condition of Lazarus, passing from the paws of Dogs, to the hands of Angels; from the Portch of a Tyrant, to the bosom of Abraham; from the greatest misery, to the greatest happiness that they who were even the most blessed did then enjoy. The Dogs (in Scripture) is the symbol or hieroglyphic of a most filthy, 3. Kings. 8. vile, and base thing. Abner said unto Ishbosheth, Am I a Dog, that thou thus despisest me? The Poet gives him this beastly Epithet, Obsaenoque Cane. Math. 7. And Saint Matthew, by way of scorn, Non licet sanctum dare Canibus. But the Angels are the noblest of all other creatures, and the purest; for God moulded them with his own hands. So that Lazarus went from the vilest and the basest, to the cleanest and the noblest hands. Saint Chrysostome reports of the Roman Triumphants, That some entered Rome in Chariots drawn with pied Horses; others with Elephants; others with Lions; and others with Swans: but the Chariot of Apollo was drawn by swift and nimble footed Gynnets'. There was a Tyrant that had his Chariot drawn with those Kings that he had conquered. But Lazarus his Chariot did far exceed all these, for this was drawn by the hands of Angels. Sabellicus saith, That when Tullyes' banishment was reversed, they bore him throughout all Italy upon their shoulders, Totius Italiae humeris e●ectus est. David saith, That God's Chariot is drawn with Cherubins, [Ascendit super Cherubin, & volavit:] God then lending Lazarus this his Chariot, it is no marvel if in a trice he flew up into the bosom of Abraham. S●lomon when he was proclaimed King, rode on his Father's Mule; Mordech●i for his more honour was mounted on Assuerus his own Horse: but Lazarus (to surpass these) went in triumph to heaven in Gods own Chariot. This must needs breed a great confusion and amazement in this rich man; that the Angels should carry him being dead, into heaven; on whom he would not vouchsafe to look, nor bestow a morsel of bread being alive. And he was carried of Angels. One Angel was enough to overthrow a mountain; one only sufficeth to move these celestial Orbs; but it is Saint Chrysostom's note, That, Every one was glad to put a helping hand to so worthy a burden ● this; As many earnestly thrust themselves forward, to bear a foot, a leg, or an arm of some great Monarch. In ●inum Abrahae, Into the bosom of Abraham. Some understand by this his bosom, the nearest place about Abraham. As in that of the Evangelist, All the Apostles supped with our Saviour Christ; but Saint john only, leaned his head in his bosom. And in that other, Vnigenitu●, qui est in sinu patris, etc. The only begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father. As also that, A dextris, At his right hand. So likewise, Many shall lie down with Abraham, Isaac, and jacob. And the Church singeth, Martinus, Abrahae sinu, laetus excipitur. Mortu●s est autem Dives, & sepultus est. But the rich man died, and was buried. The Greek makes there a full point; and then presently goes on, In inferno autem cum esse● 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 burial at all, or for that being so poor and miserable a creature, Earth made no mention of him, as Heaven 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 prosperity; great Ceremonies, watchful attendance about his Corpse, many Mourners, Doles to the Poor, Tombs of Alabaster, Vaults paved with Marble, Lamentations, odoriferous Ointments, precious Embalming, Funeral Orations, & solemn Banquets: In all this, I confess, the rich man hath a great advantage of him that is poor. But in this outward pomp lies all the rich man's happiness; and when he hath entered the doors of darkness, and is shut up in his grave, like the Hedgehog, he leaves his Apples behind him, and nothing remains with him but the prickles of a wounded conscience, his howl, his lamentations, weeping, gnashing of teeth, and whatsoever other torments Hell can afford. Divitiarum jactantia, quid contulit nobis? The ostentation and glory of riches, what good doth it bring unto us? O, would to God that I had been some poor Shepherd! O, how too late have I fallen into an account of mine own hurt! O World, would to God I had never known thee. He died, and was buried. There is no felicity so great, Nothing permanent in this life. that can divert the evil of Death: let the rich man live the years of Nestor, the ages of Methusalem; in the end he must descend into the grave. The clearest Heaven must have its Cloud, and the brightest day must have its night; the Sun, though never so shining, must have its setting; the Sea, though never so calm, must have its storm. If the good things of this life were perpetual, they that are in love with them might pretend some excuse; but being that worldly pleasure is a Wheel that is always moving, a River that is always running, a Mill that is always going, and grinding us to dust; How canst thou settle thyself sure thereupon? The highest places are the least secure; the Moon when she is at the full, foretells a wain; and the Sun when it is at the height, admits a declination; the house, the higher it is built, the more subject it is to falling: And the Nest (saith Abdias) that is nearest to the Stars, God doth soon throw it down. The rich man died. He tells not how he lived, but how he died; for death is the echo of man's life, and he having led so cruel and so merciless a life, As a man's life is, so is his death. what good could he hope for at his death? Quoniam non est in morte, qui memor sit tui, laboravi in gemitu meo, etc. The first part, Reason proveth unto us: The second, Weeping & howling. In my life time I ask God forgiveness for my sins: For the man that is unmindful of this in his life, God doth not think on him at his death. Many call upon God at the hour of their death, and it makes a man's hair to stand an end, to see a man careless in so dangerous a passage, & only because Death is the echo of our life. Others will call upon jesus, but as that crucified Thief, that died without devotion: For that heart which is hard in his life, is likewise hard in his death. Cum esset in tormentis. When he was in torment, etc. Here is an indefinite term, put for a universal. For albeit every one of the damned do suffer the full measure and weight of his sins; and (according 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 body: yet notwithstanding, there is not any one that is damned, which doth not generally suffer in all his whole body, and in every part of his soul. For, as Heaven is a happiness, that embraceth all happiness; so Hell, is a misery that includeth all miseries. There was never 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 general torments. The soul shall likewise generally suffer sorrow and pain, not only because the fire shall burn it, which though corporal, yet shall its flames have an operative virtue and working upon the soul; but because all hope being lost of any kind of joy whatsoever, there shall therein be deposited all the reasons that may be, of sorrow and of misery. Likewise there shall be particular torments for the senses of the body, & for the faculties of the soul; the eyes shall enjoy so much light as shall serve to see fearful Visions, (so says Cirillus Alexandrinus) and on the other side, they shall suffer such thick and palpable darkness, that they shall imagine them to be the ghastly shadows of death. Saint Chrysostome saith, That they shall see the huge and infinite numbers of the Damned, taking notice of all those that conversed with them in their life time, as fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and friends. And if the variety & multitude that are in a deep dungeon, if the rattling of their chains, the clattering of their shackles, their hunger, their nakedness, the noise, coil, & confusion which they make, cause a horror in as many as both see and hear it; what a terror than will it be, to see the miserable torments, and to hear the fearful shri●kes and pitiful outcries of those that are damned to the bottomless pit of hell? The ears will suffer with their howl, their lamentations, their blasphemies, their cursings, their ragings, their dispairing; besides the untunable and harsh music of the Devils, roaring and yellowing like so many mad Bulls, that with the din and hideousness of the noise, Heaven and Earth might have seemed to come together, and the whole frame and machine of the Orbs to have cracked and fallen in sunder. The smell, the taste, the touch, the will, the understanding, and the memory, both irascible and concupiscible, shall not be employed upon any thing (as Saint Augustine hath noted it) from whence they shall not receive most grievous pain and torment. But of all other torments, that of their desperation will be the greatest, because there will be no wading through this Lake that burns with fire and brimstone, nor no end at all to these their endless miseries. That ten thousand, nay, a hundred thousand years' continuance in hell shall not suffice to satisfy for their sins, that the fountain of mercy should be shut up for ever, not affording them so much as one drop of cold water to cool the tongue; that God will not admit for the offences of three days, the satisfaction of seventy times seven thousands of years. This is that Magnum Chaos inter vos & nos; This is that great Chaos, that huge Gulf which is set between you and us; it is Chaos impertransibile, that impassable Gulf, wherein to fall it is easy, but to get out impossible. Many of the Saints upon this consideration deeply weighing these things with themselves, have made great exclamations; as S. Chrysostome, Petrus Crysologus, and others. If we believe (say they) that this imprisonment is perdurable, t●is fire is eternal, and that these torments are endless; How comes it to pass that we eat, live, and sleep as we do? O, the madness of those men who seek fit and handsome dwellings for three days, and omit to think of those eternal habitations which continue world without end! O, the sottishness of those which covet such short and transitory contentments! O, the blindness of those, who for a moment of pleasure will adventure an eternity of pain! Is it much that these holy Saints should exclaim? Is it much that they should weep tears of blood, who believe that this rich man doth fry in perpetual flames, because he was pitiless & void of mercy? seeing on the one side so many Lazaruses, naked, full of sores, & driven, if not beaten away from our doors; whose beds are the hard benches and open porches of the Rich; whose meat are the scraps and offals, and oftentimes only the bare crumbs of the rich man's board; whose drink are the waters of those Rivers and Fountains where the Beasts do drink; whose wardrobe are rags; whose cattle, vermin; whose store, misery; whose tables are their knees; and whose cups are their hands: And on the other side, so many Gluttons, who feeding like beasts, vomit forth that they eat, at their tables where they sit; [Mensae repletae sunt vomitu] being as empty of pity, as they are full of wine: [Optimo vino delibuti non compatiebantur super contritionem joseph] who dying (like Oxen in a stall) fat and full fed, it is no marvel if (as Esay saith) they make Hell's sides to stretch and crack again, Propter hoc dilatavit infernus Os suum. I would fain ask some one of those which hear me this day, My friend, tell me, I pray thee, thinkest thou, or hast thou any hope, that thou art the only man in this world that shall live here for ever? Dost thou believe that Death shall one day come to the threshold of thy door, and call for thee, and that thou must hereafter give a strict account of thy works, words, and thoughts, before the tribunal seat of God? If thou dost, tell me then again, Whither thou hadst rather desire the felicity of Lazarus in that other life, or the eternal torments of this rich man? Art thou persuaded, that thou canst wear out two thousand years in a bed of fire? But if the very thought thereof cause fear and horror in thee, and makes every bone and joint in thy body to shake and tremble, Why dost thou not seek to fly from so great a danger? Fly (saith Saint Austen) yet now even to day, whilst thou hast time. Pater Abraham, rogo ut mittas Lazarum, aut unum ex mortuis. Father Abraham, I pray thee send Lazarus, or one from the Dead, etc. Why the rich man's petition was repelled. Origen saith, That this rich man did desire, That either Lazarus, or some one from the Dead, might be sent to preach this point: thinking with himself, That Abraham might happily send him unto himself, as to one that by this time very well knew his own error; and that so by this means he might have some pause or breathing time from these his torments. Whither this was so, or no, it may by some be doubted; but this is a clear case, That the main motive that moved him thereunto, was, the desire that he had that his brethren and kinsfolk might be drawn unto repentance, and thereby come to be saved, and escape those intolerable torments which he endured. Saint Chrysostome saith, That Abraham did not yield to the rich man's petition, because he was not absolute Lord of that place: But that our Saviour Christ supplied that defect, and carried himself like a most merciful and kind loving Lord, to the end that that stiff necked Nation might not allege in their excuse, That he had not sent them a Preacher from that other life, to advise them what passed there. But our Saviour (for whom this business was reserved) did not raise up Lazarus the Poor, but Lazarus the Rich, who upon occasion preached great & notable things unto them, concerning the life to come. And he likewise raised up the son of the widow of Naim, that he might also do the like. But those that will not believe the Prophets (it is our Saviour's own saying) will less believe the Dead. Quia crucior in hac flamma, Because I am tormented in this flame. God's chastisements are like Lightning, which kill one, but fright many; and the vengeance which God taketh of one sinner, is an occasion given to the Just, to wash their hands in his blood. According to that of David, Cum viderit vindictam, manus suas lavabit in sanguine peccatoris. And Saint Gregory expoundeth it thus, That the Just doth wash his hands in the blood of a Sinner, when by another man's punishment he learns to amend his own life. There is nothing doth more terrify a Thiefs heart, than the gallows and rope wherewith his fellow was hanged: Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt me, & Legem tuam non sum oblitus; when I saw another strangled, To what purpose they serve those cords which choked him sat likewise close to my neck; but giving thee thanks, o Lord, that thou hadst kept me from coming to so bad an end, I did resolve with myself, that I would not forget thy Law. And therefore God would have us to lay up in an everlasting remembrance, as it were, his severest and sharpest punishments. Desiderium Impij m●nimentum est pessimorum; so saith Solomon. To this end the Scripture recounteth, that the earth swallowed up Korah, Dathan, & Abiram, & the rest of those rebellious schismatics, 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 covering of the Altar, Vt haberent postea filij Israel, quibus commonerentur, Num. 16. That they might serve as a memorial and warning to the children of Israel: As false weights do, that are nailed up in the Market place; grounds that are ploughed with salt, and the heads of malefactors in the highway. Because the people of God had entangled themselves with the Moabites, there perished of them twenty four thousand; but God commanded that the Princes should be hanged against the Sun. Saint Augustine saith, That this was done for an admonishment to the people; The Seventie read, ostend eos Domine, contra solemn; That God and all the world may see them, and that they may remain as a perpetual example to posterity. The History of the Maccabees reports unto us, 2. Mac. 15.30. That Nicanor uttered a most beastly blasphemy, saying, That his power was as great as that of God; but the divine justice punishing this his insolency, his head was set up on the highest tower in the city, & his right hand, which he had held up so proudly, they nailed it against the door of the Temple, and caused his tongue to be cut in little pieces, and to be cast unto the Fowls. Pharaohs and his People's death, Wis. 19.5. the book of Wisdom saith, That it was convenient that the people of Israel should see it and consider it; Vt ostenderet quemadmodum inimici eorum exterminabantur, That the people might try a marvellous passage, and that these might find a strange death. Theodoret brings a comparison of him that makes an Anatomy, or dissection upon a dead body, for the instruction of those that are living. And Zacharie paints out unto us a Talon of lead: And this was a woman that sat in the midst of the Ephah, whose name or title was, Impiety, or Wickedness; which (he saith) was carried unto Babylon, Vt poneretur super vasem suum, To be established and set up there in her own place; that being set up aloft upon a Pillar, she might continue there for a perdurable example. Aulus Gellius in his Noctibus Atticis, saith, That Princes have three ends in their punishments: The one, The amendment of the fault: And to this end Pilate commanded our Saviour Christ to be whipped; Corripiam eum, etc. The other, The authority of the offended; for if disrespect should not be punished, it would breed contempt. The third, For the terror and example of others; for, justicia aliena est disciplina propria, Other men's punishment is our instruction; And that man is a fool, whom other men's harms cannot make to beware. When the Lion was sick, all the beasts of the field went to visit him, only the Fox stayed behind, and would not go unto him: and being asked the reason, he answered, I find the track of many going in, but of none coming out; and I am not so desperate as to cast myself wilfully away, when as I may sleep in a whole skin. The footsteps of the Angels that fell, may advise us of our pride; the ashes of Sodom tell us of our filthiness; the Gallows of judas forewarn us of our avarice; and the hell of this rich man restrain us from our cruelties. When God punished the jews, he scattered them far and near over the face of the whole earth, that they might strike a fear into all other Nations. A corporal medicine fits not all sores; but corporal punishment meets with all faults. Fili, recordare quia recepisti bona in vita tua. Son, remember that thou in thy life receivedst good things. There is a vicissitude and change to be seen in all things. Death called a change. This is a dangerous truck, a fearful exchange, which makes humane happiness not only to be suspected, but also abhorred. job calls Death, a Change; [Expecto donec veniat immutatio mea, I stay waiting for my Change.] And as your Sheep which in Syria breed fine wool, passing along to Seville, suffer a change, and are apparelled with a rougher and courser sort of wool; so these your pampered persons of this world, and those that fare daintily and deliciously every day, shall change the soft wool of tender sheep, into the harsh hairs of goats & camels. Nature in all things hath ordered a kind of alternative change, or interchangeable mutation; as is to be seen in nights and in days, in Summer and in Winter. The like doth succeed in the order of Grace; there cannot be two Hells, neither shall there be two Glories. A Philosopher ask one, Which of these two he had rather be, either Croesus, (who was one of the richest, but most vicious men in the world) or Socrates? (who was one of the poorest, but most virtuous 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 been put to this rich man's choice, I do think he could have wished in his heart, to have been in his life Dives, and in his death Lazarus. Balaam showed the like desire, Moriatur anima mea morte justorum, Let my soul die the death of the Righteous. But they desire an impossibility; for Death is a kind of truck or exchange: Fili, recepisti bona in vita tua, Lazarus similiter mala; Son, remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy pleasures, and likewise Lazarus pains; now therefore is he comforted, and thou art tormented. But I will no longer torment your patieence. God of his infinite goodness, etc. THE SIXTEENTH SERMON, UPON THE FRIDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. MAT. 21. MARC. 12. LUC. 20. Homo quidam plantavit Vineam. A certain man planted a Vineyard. THis is a Law Suit or Trial between God and his People; wherein, The drift of the story. according to the tenor of the Process, his people are condemned as ungrateful, cruel, disrespective, forgetful of their duty, and thrust out of all that they had, as unworthy of that good which they possessed. This Story much resembles the Statue of Nebucadnezar, Dan. 2. whose head was of gold, whose breast was of silver, whose body of brass, whose legs of iron, and whose feet of clay. For God having begun first unto them with many great kindnesses, extraordinary favours, and undeserved courtesies, he goes descending and declining from them, till they fall into the greatest disgrace & disfavor that any soul can receive from the hands of God. Fear, the only thing to keep safe the Vineyard. Esay. 5.4. A certain man planted a Vineyard. He planted so perfect a Vineyard, that it might truly be said, What could I have done more unto my Vineyard? And this is a strange endearing on God's 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 divided the Nations, and when he had separated the sons of Adam. Esay calls it, Esay. 5.7. jer. 22. Germane dilectabile, His pleasant Plant. jeremy, Vineam electam, his elect and choice Vine. Saint Hierome, Vineam Sorec, which is a Vine-plant, whose grapes (according to some) had no stones in them. And he compassed it with an hedge: whereby some Commentators understand, the Angels protecting of it; others, Gods guarding of it himself; others, the fear of punishment; For, Fear keeps the Vineyard safe. And this Gods own Inheritance may run a twofold danger: First, In regard of the Devil's malice; and against this, God opposeth himself, by making a hedge about it, and by drawing a line, beyond which the Devil cannot pass. Secondly, In regard of our liberty; against which he hath placed the Fear of the Law, and the severity of God's chastisements: For, it is Fear that keepe● the Vineyard safe. If there be any thing that puts a bridle to these our unlawful longings, it is this Fear; as hath been already proved in that our former discourse, treating of the rich man's being in Hell. God hath so severely punished some sins, that in man's seeming he might be thought to have gone a little too far, and to have exceeded therein; as in that of Ananias and Saphira, and many others, which (as Tertullian hath very well observed) were as so many Proclamations pasted up on the principal posts of the City, to advise the people what his divine justice meant to do hereafter in the like kind of delicts. And to this end God would that those his primary executions of his justice should remain as a perpetual memorial to posterity: As that of the Angels, against our pride; that of Sodom, against our lawless lusts; that of Cain, against our envy; that of Zenacharib, against our arrogancy; that fire of God's wrath which consumed those that called for Quails, against our Gluttony; that of the Israelites early rising up to gather Manna, against our slothfulness; that punishment occasioned by the golden Calf, against our Idolatry: So that It is Fear that keeps the Vineyard safe. This is that hedge wherewith it is compassed; this, that strong wall of defence; and this, the surest observance of the Law. It is said in deuteronomy, Si custodieris Praecepta mea, ipsa custodient te, If thou shalt keep my Commandments, they shall keep thee. And in Ecclesiasticus, Si seruaveris, seruabunt te. judith 5.21. Achior chief Captain to the sons of Ammon, notified this truth to Holofernes; If this people have kept the Laws & commandments of their God, let my Lord pass by, lest their Lord defend them, and their God be for them, and we become a reproach to all the World: For assure yourself, as long as they shall serve him, he will serve as a Wall unto them. Where it is to be noted, That as in a Wall there must not be any breach, God accepteth not a piecemeal obedience. because thereby Cities commonly come to be lost; so likewise must there not be any breach in the observance of the Law: for the transgression of one Commandment will serve to condemn thee, as well as of the whole Decalogue; and the failing in one virtue is the failing in all. Cant. 7.2. Thy belly is as an heap of Wheat compassed about with Lilies: The dangers are numberless that threaten this heap of wheat in the threshing floor; Creditors, thieves, Beasts, Birds, and Pismires: But far more in number are those dangers that threaten our Soul; those virtues which are to stand round about her, must guard and defend her; Circundate Zion, & complectimini eam. Et Sepe circumdedit eam. And he compassed it about with a hedge. The fear of the Lord a strong defence. He had no sooner planted his Vineyard, but he compassed it about with an Hedge: To show unto us, That when a man hath once settled himself, his house, his wife, his children, and his family, he ought presently to compass it in with a Wal; which Wal must be, the Fear of God, and the keeping of his Laws. It must be like Salomon's bed, Cant. 3.7. which had threescore strong men round about it, of the valiant men of Israel, such as could handle the Sword, and were expert in war; every one having his sword upon his thigh, for the Fear by night, Propter timores nocturnos. Admonishing us to keep good watch and ward; so many, and so secret are those perils that attend us, that without the protection of God and his Angels, we shall hardly be able to defend ourselves. Saint Paul says of himself, Gratia Dei, sum id quod sum, By the grace of God I am that I am. Whereunto Saint Augustine hath added, Gratia Dei, non sum id quod non sum, By the grace of God I am not that which I am not. By the grace of God, thy house and thy lands may continue to thee and thy posterity to the world's end; & by the grace of God, thy eyes may abstain from that which is evil. Totus mundus in maligno positus est, All the world is set upon mischief; The world is a continual war, a long enlarged temptation. And Saint Ambrose calls it Piraterium, A Sea fraught with Pirates: For (as Saint Augustine saith) therein there is nothing safe. In Paradise, the forbidden Fruit, nor the Tree of Life were not secure; and therefore God placed a Cherubin before the gate, to guard it the surer. Solomon had not his bedchamber safe, though it were guarded with so many strong men: How shall it be with that house then that is without walls or any defence at all? Vbi non est saepes, diripietur possessio, (saith Ecclesiasticus) A Vineyard that is without a Mount, give it for lost. Edificavit Turrim. He built a Tower in it. This Tower Origen and Saint Hierome understand to be the Temple of jerusalem, which was built in a high place. Irenaeus would have it to be the same City whereof Esay said, Venite, ascendamus ad montem Domini. Saint Ambrose and Saint Hilary, The height of the Law. Others, that place where the fruits of the Vineyard were to be kept, Abundantia in Turribus tuis. Other Schoolmen and Doctors take it to be the Church's Beacon or Watch-Tower: Others, to be our Faith, whose sight extends itself to earth, heaven, and hell. There is nothing that imports the World more, than the eyes of this Tower. Some seeking out the principal cause of the World's perdition, say, Covetousness is the root thereof; Radix omnium malorum cupiditas. Others, Ignorance; alleging that of the Philosopher, Omnis peccans, est Ignorans. But the truth is, it is the want of Faith. Et fodit in ea Torcular. What is understood by the winepress He digged a Pit for the Winepress. By this pit of the Winepress, Origen and Saint Hierome understand, the Sacrifice of our Saviour's body and blood: Saint Hilary, The Cross of Christ: Saint Gregory, The chastisement of Jerusalem. The Owner of this Vineyard had made it so perfect and so absolute, that the Renters thereof lived in a manner idle, and had little or nothing more to do, than to keep it clean from Thorns, and to gather and enjoy the Fruits thereof: wherein this Master of a family showed the great care he had of his house, treating therein touching man's good, & the slight account that man made of this his happiness and felicity. The cost which Christ was at with his Vineyard. When God created the World, he took not upon him the name of an Husbandman; nor did he take any pains in the creating of it, for he but said the word, and it was done, Ipse dixit, & facta sunt. But this Vineyard of the Church, it cost him the pains of planting it, of compassing it in with a hedge, of digging a pit for the Winepress, of building a Tower in it, besides the life of many of his servants, as also of him, Quem acquisivit sanguine suo. This was a new Noah, with whom that former old Noah was not to be compared: For that, giving an end to a young world, though grown old in sin, destroyed the people, but not their wickedness; but this did utterly overthrow the Kingdom of sin, drowning it in the flood of his blood, and gave the first beginning to the life of Grace. The firmness of the Church Whence followeth the firmness and perpetuity of the Church; for, being founded upon so sure a Foundation, who can overthrow it? Supra dorsum meum fabricaverunt peccatores, [Another letter hath it, Araverunt aratores] The Ploughers ploughed furrows on my back. Alluding to that which was then in use for signing out the situation and circuit of some City. Romulus took that course when he founded Rome. — Vrbem signavit aratro:— So says the Poet. Whom Saint Augustine also citeth. But this City, which hath on the one side Heaven for its prop, and on the other, the shoulders of our Saviour Christ; What firmness and prosperity must it enjoy? And only because Christ doth cherish & water it, not only with his own most precious blood, but with that of so many Martyrs. Plutarch reporteth, That those of Eliopolis drank no wine, being persuaded, that wine was the blood of those Giants which made war against Heaven, of whose bodies being buried in the earth, sprang your Vines. And therefore when Alexander drank much wine, Antocides would say unto him, I pray Sir consider that ye drink the blood of the earth. These are all lies, yet may very well suit with this our truth; for we are to understand, That the Vines of the Faithful sprang and grew up from the blood of that Giant, of whom David said, Exultavit ut Gygas adcurrendam viam. For that Moral, That the sprinkling of the blood of those two Lovers should give colour & ripeness to the Fruit, is a mere fable; but that the blood of our Saviour Christ should so season these wild Vines, as to make them to bring forth abundance of fruit, is a known truth. Whence it is to be noted, that whither it be that these Vines do represent the faithful; or whither or no, because the wine thereof is turned into the blood of our Saviour Christ, the Devil bears so great a hatred to the sprigs and branches of the Vine, that there is not any thing that your Witches abhor & stand more in fear of. As you may read in Petrus Gregorius, in his Books De Republica. Plutarch saith, That your Vinestockes being watered with wine, dry and wither away: But the Vines of the Faithful being besprinkled with the wine of the blood of Christ, grow up and fructify the better. Vinum germinans Virgins; it engendereth noble thoughts. The Poet invites Aeneas, and calls unto him in this sweet kind of language, Sat sanguine Diwm: But more nobleness doth a Christian enjoy in that Sat sanguine Christi. Seneca saith, That the nobleness of blood elevateth our thoughts. And God saith by the mouth of Hose, That if the Israelites shall return unto him, that they shall flourish as the Vine, Ose 14.8. and the sent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. With the firmness of the Church suits that fable of Atlas, who upheld heaven with his shoulders; but when Hercules saw he began to groan under so great a burden, he came in to help him: yet for all this was not Heaven safe, underpropped by his shoulders. But the Edifice of the Church, bore up by our Saviour Christ, shall continue for ever. Erumpet radix eius, ut Libani stabilietur. An Interpreter upon this place of Osee, saith, It shall stand as firm as the Root of Mount Lebanon, which shall take such a deep rooting, that all the Devils in hell shall not prevail against it. Locavit Agricolis. He let it out to husbandmen. God is the only true Lord of this Vineyard, All that we enjoy in this Life is an others wealth, and we have but the use of it. the rest are but Farmers and Renters. Philon proveth, That all of us in this life enjoy but another body's wealth; and that we have the use thereof, but not the propriety. Saint Chrysostome, That (saith he) is mine, which no man can take from me; & in this sense, neither is my life, nor my wealth, nor my health, mine own, etc. Our life (saith Cicero) God hath only lent it us, without appointing any set place of payment, which he may demand of us at what time it pleaseth him. And so in the rest, we daily find the like experience. Your Emperors (saith Horace) we call, Rerum terrenarum Dominos, Lords of the earth. But this is but man's flattery; for they have not the true dominion of these earthly things, but only the use of them. And hence was it that our Saviour Christ did infer, Si in alieno infideles fuistis, quod vestrum est, Quis credet vobis? If ye were unfaithful in that wealth, honour, health, and beauty, which are another's goods, Who will rely upon the love of your good will, which is your own? Saint Paul teacheth us this Lesson, Qui gaudent, tanquam non gaudentes; qui flent, tanquam non flentes; Those that rejoice, let them rejoice as though they did not rejoice; and those that weep, let them weep as though they did not weep. For, on strange occasions, and such as belong to other men, we ought not to be overtaken with too much either grief or joy. Thou goest to see the Kings or Queens Almoneda, or either of their jewell-houses: do not thou joy much therein, for those riches are none of thine, and thou must of force presently forgo them: And therefore Philon saith, That the goods of this life are another's, not ours, and that we do but only rend them ad voluntatem Domini, At the will and pleasure of the Lord. Touching the disasters of this world, Epictetus saith, Do not say, I have lost such a thing; for it is an improper kind of language; but rather say, I have returned it back again: and from this ignorance grows our melancholy. Seneca tells us, That he that will not be content that God should be sole Lord of all, is unjust. He that thinks himself wronged, when a man asks him that which he hath lent him, is a covetous wretch. He that esteeming a present good, is forgetful of a former received courtesy, is an ungrateful wretch. And he that returning back those goods into his master's hands, which he had committed to his keeping, shall not think himself rid of a great care, & more secure than before, is a foolish wretch. In the creation of all the rest of the things, Genesis useth the name of God alone by itself; but when man comes to be made, it puts this adjunct of Dominus Deus, the Lord God; because man should not imagine that there was any other Lord that should be able to bring them into the Land of Promise, save the Lord God. And therefore God saith, I will go before ye, and I will lead ye the way; That they might not attribute this enterprise to their own valour. Locavit Agricolis. God rent out this his Vineyard, looking to receive some fruit thereof. As in Paradise there was not that Tree that was barren·s [Ex omni ligno quod est in Paradiso comede, Gen. 2.16. Thou shalt freely eat of every tree of the Garden.] So, in the Paradise of the Church no Tree ought to be without its Fruit. David compareth the Just, Psal. 1. to a Tree that is planted by the River side, Quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo, That will bring forth its fruit in due season; that is, always: Like unto that of the Apocalyps, Apoc. 22. which gave fruit every month. In deuteronomy God commanded, That they should plant no woods nor groves: not that the Spirit of God meant thereby, that all Forests & Parks should be condemned, wherein Kings and Princes were to take their pleasure; but that in the Church there should not be any unprofitable Trees, and without fruit. Why God rent ●ut his Vineyard to the ungrateful He let it out to Husbandmen. The Lord knowing that these Renters would prove unthankful, why did he let out his Vineyard unto them? Why did he likewise cast three parts of his seed into those grounds which were not to afford him any Fruit? And why did that Father give that his prodigal Son his portion, to spend and consume it in riotousness and wantonness? Why (saith Phylon) should God suffer his rain to fall into the sea, for to bring forth Fountains in those Deserts whereas yet the foot of man did never tread? Why, co●ferre riches on those who were to maintain quarrels and brawls therewith? And why let out his Vineyard to him who should shut him out of his own Inheritance, keep possession against him, and take his life from him? First of all, Because Seneca saith, That for a Prince to confer a favour, which to his seeming is well bestowed, and to lose it afterwards through the ingratitude of the receiver, is a token of a generous mind: For to this peril are they put, and all whosoever run this hazard, who do any courtesies in this life. For a forgetful and unthankful man doth commonly show himself unmindful of the good which he receiveth: But for a Prince to do a favour where he knows it shall be lost, and that his kindness is but cast away, this is Kingly magnificence, and a generous kind of nobleness. And of this kind are commonly Gods favours, who although we show ourselves unthankful, and do not acknowledge these his favours, yet he daily throws them upon us, that he may thereby manifest both his greatness and his goodness. Secondly, Phylon saith, That he doth prosper the Unthankful, to draw them thereby to his service. First, Because there are no gyves nor fetters that tie a man so fast, as benefits, or make him more a prisoner; Qui beneficia invenit, compedes invenit. This is that which Ose saith, In funiculis Adam traham eos: The Hebrew hath it, Ose. 11.4. In funiculis hominum, I led them with cords of a man, even with bonds of love. Bulls are made tame, and yield themselves to a five twisted cord; Horses are made gentle with bridles and with chains; and men's hearts are won with benefits; Qui coronat te in misericordia, & in miserationibus. God hath compassed thee in with so many mercies, and hath bound thee so fast unto him, in the bonds of his loving kindness, that thou knowest not which way to get from him. joseph being obliged to his master by the many favours that he had received from him, said, Gen. 39.9. Quomodo possum? How can I then do this great wickedness? How is it possible that I should show myself such a Villain to him, who knoweth not what he hath in the house with me, but hath committed all that he hath to me; neither hath he kept any thing from me but only thee, because thou art his wife. Secondly, Because there is no other means comparable unto this, That a Prince should deliver up all the world to such a man's service, and that he should extend his liberality to an unknown and unthankful people: And to this end he affords his enemy's water, and the fruits of the earth, and other temporal blessings, that thereby they might take occasion to serve him. And if he bestow so many favours upon an ungrateful people, and if he have care of the beasts of the forest, what kindnesses will he show unto them that shall truly serve him. Locavit Agricolis. He let it out to Husbandmen. To husbandmen, that know what belong to this business; For, Ignorant & sluggish Prelates the destruction of God's Vineyard. of no people in the world, doth God's vineyard suffer so much harm, as of ignorant Prelates, that do not know how to prune, and to dress it. And slothfulness of all other, is most hurtful in this kind. For thereupon, it grows presently full of Briers, Thistles, and Thorns; and the hedges go to decay, the mounds are broken down, and the wild Boars, the Foxes, and the Dogs enter into it. carelessness likewise is very hurtful thereunto; for by that means, all that go by (as David saith) pluck of her Grapes. Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt, Psal. 80. thou didst cast out the Heathen, and planted it. Thou madest room for it; and when it had taken root, it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly Cedar trees. She stretcheth out her branches unto the Sea, & her boughs unto the River. Why hast thou then broken down her hedge, that all they which go by pluck off her Grapes? The ignorance of the Priest, the ruin of the People. the wild Boar out of the wood doth root it up, and the wild Beasts of the field devour it. Behold, and visit this vine, o Lord, and the place of the vineyard, that thine own right hand hath planted; and the branches that thou madest strong for thyself. It is burnt with fire, and cut down, etc. But these, & such other faults, may be mended; but ignorance, can never be repaired. If the Renter know not how & when he ought to prune the vine, to loosen the earth about the roots, and to plant it, etc. it will quickly go to ruin. It is a great unhappiness, that for to make thy shoes, thou wilt inquire out the best shoemaker; And for to govern a Commonwealth, which is Ars artium, The Art of Arts; thou shalt think a Cobbler fit enough to do it. God's Vineyard must not be turned into a garden. There are many reasons, why a Prince should make Noblemen, and Gentlemen, Precedents, and Prelates. But to weigh down this, there is another great counter-poise. For being bred up daintily from their cradle, some of them make gardens of this Vineyard; others houses of pleasure. Naboth made choice rather to dye, than to part with his Vineyard to the King; because he would not see it turned to a garden; for to that end only did he desire it. Shall my inheritance (said he) with the fruit whereof my house is maintained, be turned into a garden, for a tyrant to sport himself therein? God would take it very heavily, to see the Vineyard, which he bought with his blood, to be, by some gentlemanlike Prelate, turned into a green Court: especially, having laid such a grievous curse on those Husbandmen, that shall not look well unto it, as Regiones vestras alieni devorant, etc. He let it out to Husbandmen. Locare, is a word of Espousal, or Marriage; and it suits well with that Love and Zeal, which a Prelate ought to have to the Vine, his Spouse. To this marriage, the interest of Wealth, the respect of Honour, nor the pleasures of this Life, must not move him; but the good only of the Vine, and the desire he hath to take pains therein, till, like salt in water himself shall waste away and consume. He that enters upon God's patrimony, must enter thereupon with a far different end to that, which he doth, who enters upon that of the King; for this (commonly) makes his own private benefit the mark whereat he aims: But the Prelate, must make another man's profit, the pin which he must hit. The Minister of a King, takes a lesser charge first upon him, that it may serve as a step to greater preferment: But a Prelate must not marry himself to the Church upon hope to meet with a better benefice the next day after. Spospon● enim vos uni viro, Virginem castam exhibere Christo. Many Prelates seem unto me to be like unto those seven husbands, which were espoused to one woman, who in that other life was wife to none of them all. So (putting the case the other way) let me ask you, (as those other did our Saviour) when seven Churches shall be married to one Prelate, which of those shall be said to be his wife in that other Life. He planted a Vineyard, and let it out to Husbandmen. Saint Bernard saith, Vi●● sapienti, Every man's soul is a vineyard to himself, and he must dress it sua vita vinea est, & sua Conscientia. To a wise man, his own life, and conscience, is a Vineyard. So that, not only the Church is called a Vine, but every man's particular Soul, may also be imagined to be a stock of this Vine. And that for three principal conveniences. The hazard whereunto the Vine-yard of the soul is exposed. First, In regard of the great ha●arads which the Vine runneth, as frosts, hail, worms, want of water, carelessness of him that keeps the Vineyard, thieves, dogs, boars, foxes, and enemies, such as H●lofernes commanded to take away the waters from those of Bethulia. But far greater perils than these doth ma●s Soul pass through; as those frosts, that nip it through default of Charity; those hailstones of our sins, which beat it down to the Earth, that it can hardly rise again; those Devils, which like the children of Esau, and governors of the people of Moab, cry, Exinanite, exinanite, persequimini, & comprehendite eam. And the carelessness that is had in pruning it. Saint Bernard saith, That the natural Vine will ask but once pruning; but the metaphorical Vine, a thousand prune; because every foot, new buds, and new sprigs of vices begin to sprout up in it; being subject (as Saint Paul saith) periculis in mari, periculis in terra, to perils by sea, and perils by land, etc. Secondly, There is not any Plant, whose Fruit doth more lively represent the essence of our nature. The Flower of the Vine represents unto us our childhood; the beauty thereof, it's peaceableness, it's prettiness, it's wittiness, it's pleasingness, it's innocence: The sharpness and sourness thereof being green, our youth's hardness, harshness, tartness, and unseasonableness. The Grape itself grown to perfection, the sweet, savoury, discreet, and ripe years of our life, whereof that wine is made which glads the heart of man, and washes away care. In the Raisins, which by the heat of the Sun proving both savoury and wholesome, serve for physic, is our old age represented unto us; which ought to be the Antidote of youth. It is that discourse which doth advice us, that we ought not to despair of our tart and distasteful youthfulness; for the green and sour Grape comes not only to be a ripe one, but turns also to be a reason; and your young wild Lads come not only to be stayed and well governed men, but prove likewise grave, wise, & ancient old Senators in the commonwealth. Themistocles was such a young lewd fellow, that his father did disinherit him, and his mother for very grief hung herself; yet it was his fortune afterwards to come to be a most valiant Captain, and to prove a most prudent Governor. The like happened to Alcibiades, and to Apolemon, (so saith Valerius Maximus) and to julius Caesar (as Fulgosius reporteth it unto us.) Aristotle (according unto Aelian) in his younger years played away all his Patrimony; he followed the wars; he found that that course did not fit well with him, he turns Apothecary, frequents the Schools, and proves in the end the Prince of Philosophers. Thirdly, All sorts of Trees, be they barren or fruitful, The vine hath no bounds, no more hath the will of man. they have their natural height and breadth, either more or less, according to their several kinds; your Pines and your Cedars are the tallest of all others; your walnuts round like a Cup, and more spreading at the top: In a word, every one hath his convenient stature and proportion. But the Vine hath no determinate either height or breadth; if you let it alone, it will trail upon the ground, & so the fruit thereof rot upon the earth; if you let it lean unto a pole, it will run up to the top thereof; if to an Elm, it will creep up to the highest boughs; if to a wall, it will run and shoot itself along, till it hath clasped it in its arms, and quite endeavoured it. And this is the very Image and true stamp of man; for, all living beasts and other creatures whatsoever, having their terms and bounds of augmentation, which they may not pass and exceed; Man, through his free will, favoured and assisted by Grace, doth enjoy so great an excellency, that he can by the help thereof leave behind him the highest Mountains, reaching by participation, to Gods own Being and abiding. And though he cannot shoot up thus high of himself, (being no better than a silly Worm of the earth) yet being raised up by Grace, he may climb up to this happiness, The spouse compared to the vine. Cant. 8.5. and flourish for ever in that eternal and glorious Paradise of Heaven. The Holy-Ghost hath compared the Spouse to a Wall, & her breasts, to the branches of the Vine, which go clasping and compassing the same about. And in another place the Angels ask, Who is this that cometh up out of the Wilderness, leaning upon her Well-beloved? Ye need not wonder so much at it, for it is the Vine, which defereth to be joined in perpetual love with Christ; and having so good a prop, it cannot but reach to the highest part of Heaven. In a word, Thou mayst, o Lord, mould man like a piece of wax; if thou wilt, thou canst make a Devil of him, as thou didst of judas; and if thou wilt, thou canst make an Angel of him, as thou didst of john Baptist: Thou canst make a just man mount above the Clouds, and to sore up to the highest part of Heaven; And on the contrary, thou canst maxe a sinner to sink down as low as the deepest dungeon in Hell. Peregrè profectus est. God's absence from us, is nothing else but his conniving at our sins. And he went into a strange Country. When the Scripture saith, That God sleepeth, or is afar off, it is (according to Saint Basil) a reciprocal kind of Language. Nor are we thereby to understand, that God either sleepeth, or is far off, For he is never far from any of us; but it is thou that art far off, and it is thou that sleepest, when thou dost depart from such a City, or when going to sea, thou leavest the land; it being thou that leavest the land, and not the land thee; for that remains still immovable. Just so stands the case between God and thee; but is befitting his authority, to behold things as if they were afar off; for in the notifying of his presence, the World in one day would be turned quite topsyturvy. This made him say unto Moses, It is not fit that I should lead forth this People, and be their Captain & Commander; for their impudencies would oblige me to make an end of them at once. For such is the wickedness of this World, that it is as unable, as unfitting to abide his presence: And therefore absenting himself, he saith, Peregrè profectus est. He doth bear with our iniquities, he doth patiently expect our amendment, he doth dissemble his displeasure, and doth make as if he did not see what we did. From whence grow these two inconveniences: From God's connivance grows our presumption, and his severity. God's wrath the longer deferred, the fiercer. The one, Our boldness and presumption; It will be long ere my Lord will come. And this false presumption makes a naughty servant careless and negligent; Because I held my peace and said nothing, and for that I seemed not to see them, the wicked have forgot that there is a God. The other, The rigour and severity of the punishment wherewith God doth recompense this his slackness and long tarrying. Saint Gregory compares the wrath of God to a Bow, which the more it is bend, the stronger it shoots its Shaft. He may unbend it for a time, butthat is but to make the draught the stronger, when he takes it again into his hand. Excitatus est tanquam dormiens Dominus, tanquam potens crapulatus à Vino, & percussit inimicos in posteriora. He compares him here to a sleeping man, and one that hath drank hard; who if he be valiant, and a stout man in deed, if his enemies make a May-game of him in his sleep, and offer to abuse him, they were as good awake a sleeping Lion; for he no sooner opens his eyes, but he presently takes notice of their ill dealing towards him; and when he hath once roused up himself, vents his choler, and executes his vengeance. He went to travel. Hence grew the mischief of these Renters; for they thought with themselves, That their Lord being gone into a far Country, ● would be long before he would return to require these his Fruits. So that all ou● hurt proceeds from our presuming, that we shall live so long, that we may laugh and be merry as long as our youth lasteth, & afterwards have time enough to repent at leisure. The Sinner he complains of the shortness of his life, Nos nati fere statim desivimus esse, We are no sooner borne, but we are cut down and gone. The righteous man complains, That his pilgrimage here upon Earth is too long; He● mihi, quia incolatus meus prolongatus est. But the truth is, That thou makest thy life short, by being forgetful of the end for which it was given thee. God gave it thee to gain Heaven, and thou mispendest it in worldly businesses; so that though life be little, the loss is much. If thou be'st borne to be rich, honourable, and much made of, thou wouldst think the years of thy life to be but a few, in regard of the great desire that thou hast to enjoy those thy earthly blessings: But if thou be'st borne for Heaven, Who will say that he wants time (though he live but a few years) to prepare himself for that journey. From the Cradle many young innocent Babes have been borne up to Heaven, and yet their years are never a whit the less, but the more. And some, the more years they have, the more is their hurt: For, that day (saith S. Gregory) thou must reckon amongst those of thy life, which thou foundest did make for thy Souleshealth. He went to travel. Not to forget his Vine, for that was always before his eyes; Trust is ever the surest tye. but for to show the great trust & confidence that he had in these his Farmers and Renters, and to oblige them thereby the more unto him: For that lord that trusts little, ties a man the less. When God had delivered over Paradise unto Adam, and quietly seated him in the peaceable possession of it, it is said, That he forthwith vanished and went his way. He that is Master of an estate, hath not his eye continually upon his servants, for that would favour more of a tyrant than a master. That husband that always stays at home, and never goes out of his house, is extreme wearisome to his wife; but if he begin once to mistrust her, peradventure she will not stick to give him just cause so to do. That Prelate which is always gagging and pricking the sides of his subjects, is an intolerable burden: And David himself complains thereof, saying, Imposuisti hominem super Capita nostra. Luke. 19 Math. ●5. Saint Luke and Saint Matthew cite two Parables, of Masters that did recommend to their servants the charge of their house and of their wealth; and say, That presently thereupon they absented themselves, and went into far and remote Countries. El que fia mucho, obliga mucho; He that trusteth much, obligeth much. joseph held himself so much bound unto his master, in that he trusted him with all that he had; that he said, being tempted by his Mistress, Quomodo possum peccare contra Dominum meum, How can I prove such a villain to my Master, as to wrong him in his Love, who hath loved me so well? Saint Paul writes to Timothy, 1. Tim. 2.7. That he thought himself exceedingly bound to the service of our Saviour jesus Christ, that he had ordained him a Preacher, and an Apostle, and a Teacher of the Gentiles, in Faith and verity; and that he had trusted him with the ministry and defence of his Church, being that he had persecuted and blasphemed him heretofore. Young Tobias said unto the Angel Raphael, Albeit I should spend all my life in thy service, yet should I not satisfy that obligation which I have to serve thee. These are the respects of noble breasts; and he that shall think upon these things truly, may consider with himself, how much greater benefits & favours he hath received from God's hands. He went into a far Country. He got him away to Heaven, where (for the love which he bears to his Vine) he thinks himself a stranger. The Disciples which went to Emaus said unto him, Tusolus peregrinus in jerusalem? Art thou only a stranger in jerusalem? Wherein they spoke truer than they were aware of▪ calling him by the name of Stranger, when as he was now glorified: For, as long as he lived here upon earth, he was contented for our sakes to be a stranger in heaven. And though he himself were in heaven, yet his Spouse was on earth. O Lord, where then art thou? Where I would be; there where my Spouse is. Vbi thesaurus, ibi cor, Where a man's treasure is, there also is his heart. Nazianzen calls us, The Riches of God▪ And this (saith he) we are to esteem as a singular favour, Quia nos pro divitijs suis habet, That he will vouchsafe us so much honour as to account us his Riches. And we are not only his Riches, but his Delight and Recreation: Et delitiae meae esse cum filijs hominum, I made it my pleasure, to remain among the children of men: Though my head were rounded with Stars, and circled about with a Crown of infinite Glory; yet did I humble my thoughts as low as Man. And here are we to ponder on the particle Et: And if Kings have a care of their Parks, and make great reckoning of their Gardens and houses of pleasure, for that they are their entertainment and recreation; How much more ought God to esteem of his Vine, holding it to be his Riches, his Pleasure, and Delight? Cum autem tempus Fructum appropinquaret, misit Seruos ut acciperent Fructus. When the time of the Vintage was at hand, he sent his Servants to the husbandmen, to receive the fruits thereof. Here you see, how he did wait till the season that this his Vineyard was fit to yield him Fruit, and that the time of the Vintage drew near: Not before; for it were mere tyranny, to demand that which is not yet due unto thee. Nor after; for so a Lord may run the hazard of losing his Fruits, unless his Farmer be the honester man. Every Plant hath its due time and season to yield its Fruit; and albeit our season be the whole term of our life, yet there are some seasons so precise, that not to give Fruit therein, is held to be a wonderful bad sign. Deut. 2●. God commanded his People, That when they came to enjoy the Land of Promise, they should offer unto him of the first of all the fruit of the earth. This was a strict and precise occasion in them, and in us, as oft as we begin to enjoy God's favours and blessings towards us. And this conceit is comprehended in this very Parable which is here delivered unto us. Every man may claim the fruit of his own labours. To receive the Fruits thereof. And here first of all it is to be noted, That in this he did not do them any wrong in the World. What wrong doth that man do to a Vineyard, that hath planted and pruned it, if he at the time of its Fr●●t require Grapes? What wrong doth the Pope to the Cardinal, the Bishop, and the Cannon; or the King, to his Minister; or the General, to his Friar, to crave of them, That they shall comply with their Obligations; especially if the Superior comply as he ought with his? Who planted this Vineyard? Who hedged it about? Who made a Winepress therein? Who built a Tower to it? The husbandmen? No, it was God: Is it much then, that he should look for the Fruits thereof? Secondly, God herein did them a great and singular favour: For Saint Paul saith, God requireth nothing at our hands, but what is for our own good. That these Fruits are Love, joy, Peace, Long suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, and Temperance. And being these are the Fruits that we should bring forth, yet he is pleased to call them his Fruits; for in all our actions he principally desireth our good and our profit: God being equally honoured in punishing the Bad, job. 35 7. as in rewarding the Good. If thou be righteous, what givest thou unto him, or what receiveth he at thine hand? What addest thou to his glory? (saith job and Thomas) for if he desires our praises, our thanksgiuings, and our services, he doth not so much pretend therein his own glory, as our good; for he is fullness of Glory itself. But by praising and serving of him, we acknowledge him to be our God, and therein submit ourselves to his divine will, whereby we come to receive a great reward. Saint Augustine saith, That when we make vows and promises unto God, he commands us strictly to perform them, not because that he hath any need that we should fulfil them, but because in fulfilling of them, we shall reap the fruit of them; and the more we give unto God, the more still we have. Benignus exactor est, & non ●genus; non v● crescat ex redditis, sed ut crescere faciat redditores: Nam quod eis redditur, reddente additur; He is a loving, not a needy exactor▪ not to increase his own rent●, but to increase ours; not to raise them, but us▪ For what we render unto him, he renders it back to us with advantage. To receive the Fruits thereof. The grief of it was, That he sonding his Servants at the time of its Fruit, they could scarce find a bunch in all the Vineyard, they were not able to glean any thing out of it. Non est botrus ad commedendum, saith Micheas, My Soul desired the first ripe Fruits; but, Micah. 7.1. there is no cluster to eat; Perijt sanctus de terra, The good man is perished out of the earth, and there is none righteous among men. In a place that is generally infected, you shall scarce find a sound man; so likewise in this Vine, be it in the Law Natural, in the Law Written, or in the Law of Grace, you shall hardly meet with good Fruit. For to meet with a good and righteous man, you must look and look again: first, search this, and then that other Stock; and when you have done all ye can do, in stead of sweet grapes, you shall gather those that are sour; and in stead of wine, have the gall of Dragons, and the poison of Asps. But some perhaps will say, Ob. That the husbandmen were not able to afford their Lord any Fruits thereof, for that they were rent too high, God is no racking Landlord. the ground was out of heart, and that they had been too much grated upon. Many Princes, I confess, do so wring their Subjects with such intolerable Taxes & payments, and such strange and unwonted Impositions, that they destroy and make waste the Lands of their Kingdoms: The like may be said of many landlords towards their Tenants. But hereunto I answer, Sol. That God is quite contrary to these; for making over the possession of Paradise unto Adam, so rich and plentiful of all sorts of Fruits and Trees, he reserved no more than one only Tree to himself: He will give unto thee the whole sheaves of Corn, contenting himself only with those few Ears which are shattered and left behind in the Stubble: He will suffer thee to gather all the grapes, and to make a full Vintage, so that thou wilt but let him glean the refuse bunches, which will but spoil thy Wine. Of him that hath two Coats, the Evangelist requires one; but Christ will be content to take one of ten; [Quod superest, He requ●●es of us but a little. date Pa●peribus] he craves no more but the overplus, and that which thou mayst very well spare. In the old Law, for an acknowledgement of those his innumerable favours towards his people, he demanded only two Turtles of the Poor, and one lamb of the Rich. In his house, he will not that Incense be offered unto him for nothing. Amongst other of God's complaints against us, this is one, if not the greatest, That he contenting himself with so little, and giving thee the enjoying of so much, thou dost never think of reserving this little for God. Thou wilt give large allowance to thy Dogs and thy Hawks, but wilt grudge thy Servant his meat: Thou wilt pamper thy Horses with provender; but it goes to thy heart to part with a piece of bread to the Poor. Out of which hard heartedness of thine, those sicknesses, hunger-staruings, beggary's, and barrenness which thou sufferest, are justified upon thee, and deservedly inflicted. Mi●it Seruos suos, ut acciperent Fructus. He sent his Servants. These Servants were the Prophets, who were always busied in requiring this Fruit, and did die in this their demand. In their places succeeded the Apostles: After them, the Prelates and Preachers of his Church. And though he had given them the name of Huntsmen & of Fishers, [Mittam Piscatores multos] here he calls them Secatores, Cutters or Reapers; Misit Seruos suos ut acciperent Fructus. By Ezechiel he calls them watchmen or Sentinels, Ezech. 33.6, 7. Animam de manu speculatoris requiram, I have made thee a Watchman to the House of Israel, therefore thou shalt hear the Word from my mouth, and admonish them from me. But if the Watchman see the Sword come, and blow not the Trumpet, and the People be not warned; if the Sword come and take any man from among them, he is taken away for his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the Watchman's hands. This is a hard office; for if thou dost not seek to save him, God will require him of thee: And if thou dost take pains, and goest about to gather in his rents, the Renters will kill thee. Alios ceciderunt, alios lapidaverunt, alios occiderunt. Ministers in this world must expect nothing but hard measure. They beat one, stoned another, and killed a third. This is the recompense of our Saviour Christ's Ministers; for as his Kingdom is not of this world, so neither are his Ministers, nor his rewards. He said unto Pilate, If I were of this world, Ministri mei utique decertarent, My Ministers would contend for me. From the difference of this his Kingdom, he inferred that of his Ministers. The Ministers of this world may plead an excuse for the nonpayment of their Master's Rent; for the Vineyard which they enjoy is not Christ's, neither did he rend it out unto them, nor are the Fruits Christ's which they reap thereof: It is a Vineyard that they got by their own proper industry, so that they fall to eating of it up, and to take away the Fruit of it, without paying any rent or pension out of it. For albeit all kind of goods upon earth belong unto God, and are due unto him; yet it seemeth unto them, that they are only due to their own diligence; and stick not to say in their heart, It is our own hand●e work, God had no finger in it. Some they beat. By Saint Matthew, Christ charged the Pharisees with the blood of the Righteous; from Abel, to Zacharies' time, those who were slain betwixt the Temple and the Altar, joining their blood with that of the Prophets: to the end that their condemnation should grow up to its fullness. God's mercy is ever in competition with man's malice. He sent again and again, the second and the third time; and beside, that herein he showed us his singular clemency and goodness, he adviseth us withal, That when one medicine will work no good upon the Sick, he will apply many others. Seneca tells us, That if the earth will not yield us any fruit the first year, we must fall a ploughing the second and the third, and so many years together. In one year the defaults of many years are repaired and amended; but here God's mercy goes a little further, as Saint Chrysostome hath noted it; for not having any hope to stop their malice, yet he stops not his mercy: & being th●● the disease was incurable, yet would he try and make experiment, whither his Medicine could work upon it and overcome it; here joined together as it were in competition, Man's malice, with God's meecie. And although great was the obstinacy of their malice, yet in the end Mercie was master of the field. Saint Hilary brings in the example of a Father that had a frantic Son; who although he would throw the Trenchers and Candlesticks at his head, yet for all that did he not leave to do his best to cure him. Worthy are those words of Saint Augustine, Tibi laus, tibi gloria, Fons misericordiarum; ego fiebam miserior, tu propinquior, To thee be praise, to thee be glory, thou Fountain of Mercies; the worse I was, the nearer waist thou unto me. Novissimè, misit filium suum. Last of all, he sent his son. He thought it no wisdom in him, to send any more of his Servants, for that had been echar la soga tras el caldero, to throw the helm after the hatchet. And advising with himself what he were best to do, after that he had thought upon a Quid faciam? he presently follows with a Novissimè misit filium suum, Last of all he sent his son. First of all, This Quid faciam? What shall I do? argues a kind of perplexity, like unto that before the Flood, the World being not more wicked, than he was sorry that he had created it; Being touched inwardly with a hearty sorrow, he said, What shall I do? So now, being more grieved at the perdition of the husbandmen, than the ill usage and slaughter of his Servants, he said, Quid faciam? What course shall I take with these men? Secondly, He intimates a strange kind of sorrow arising from this perplexity, If I am Lord, where is my fear? If I be a father, where is my honour? In the end, he resolved with Gaifas, Let my Son die. He endeared as much as he could, the force of his love, sending him to save these Murderers from death; but this could not appease their malice. To slay his Prophets, was more than a great malice; but to take away the life of his only Son and heir, was excessive. Saint Hierome saith, There was no weight, no number, no measure, in the one's clemency, nor in the others malice. This was a Consummatum est, a fullness of his mercy, & a fullness of their malice. Verebuntur filium meum. They will reverence my Son. Saint Luke addeth a Fortè thereunto: God in his punishing of man, desires more his blushing than his bleeding. And the Greek Original, a Forsitan: Howbeit it may go for an Affirmative, as well as Vtique. Forsitan petisses ab eo, & ipse dedisset tibi aquam, etc. And so again, Si crederitis Moysi, crederetis forsitan & mihi, If ye had believed Moses, ye would likewise have believed me. And so it sorts well with that Text both of Saint Matthew and Saint Mark, who absolutely say, Verebuntur filium meum, They will reverence my Son. In neither of these is a May be, or a Forsitan; and only to signify the great reverence which was due unto him. Where by the way Saint Chrysostome hath noted this unto us, That God (for all these their outrages) did desire no further satisfaction from them, than to see them abashed and ashamed ofthiss their ingratitude and cruelty. Benigno Domino sufficiebat sola vindicta pudoris; misit enim confundere, non punire: It was their blushing, not their bleeding, that he desired; he wished their shame, and not their confusion. Parum supplicij satis est patri, pro ●●lio; God is so kind and loving a Father, that he thinks a little punishment enough for his Children. Saint Bernard saith, That the whole life of our Saviour Christ, from the Cratch to the Cross, was to keep us from sinning, out of mere shame; and that his main drift ever was, to leave us confounded and ashamed of ourselves, that our sins and wickedness should force God against his will to punish us: For he takes no delight in the death of a Sinner. Ec●l●. 41.17. Ecclesiasticu● makes a large memorial of those things which ought to make a man blush and be ashamed of himself. Be ashamed of whoredom before a father and mother; be ashamed of lies before the Prince and men of authority; of sin, before the judge and Ruler; of offence, before the Congreation and People; of unrighteousness, before a companion and friend; and of theft, before the place where thou dwellest, & before the truth of God & his Covenant; & to lean with thine elbows upon the bread; or to be reproved for giving or taking; & of silence to them that salute thee; & to look upon an harlot, & to turn away thy face from thy Kinsman; or to take away a portion or gift; or to be evil minded towards another man's wife; or to solicit any man's maid; or to stand by her bed; or to reproach thy friends with words; or to upbraid when thou givest any thing; or to report a matter that thou hast heard; or to reveal secret words: Thus mayst thou well be shamefaced, & shalt find favour with all men. This Erubescite must be the burden of the Song, to every one of these Versicles. It is a foul and a shameful thing, to do any of these things in the presence of grave persons, to whom we owe a respect. Much more foul in the presence of God, who stands at thy elbow in all thy actions. But foulest of all, to commit these things in the presence of the Son of God, whom his Father sent to be thy Master, thy Tutor, and nailed him to the Cross for thy sins, that thou mightst be ashamed to commit the like again, considering the great torment that he suffered for thee. Some devout picture or Image doth sometimes restrain a desperate sinner from committing some foul offence; What would it work then with him, had God himself stood there present before him? It may be they will reverence my Son. Say that we take this Fort● or Forsit●● in the same sense as the words themselves sound; it is a point worthy our consideration, That the innumerable sum of those infinite favours which God did to his Vineyard, should end in a Peradventure, and stand upon haphazard. A man may think it somewhat strange, That God should come to any place upon uncertainties: but God is so good a God, that he doth not so much proportion his blessings by the measure of his Wisdom, as his Love; not that he doth not certainly know what we will be, but because he would fain have us to be what we should be. God's Love ceaseth not for man's wickedness. For if he should reward us according to those our actions, which he in his prescience and eternal essence foresees will come to pass; Who of us should be left alive, or who of us should be borne? Only the Innocent (saith Theodoret) should then be favoured. And therefore rather than it should be so, he was willing to put it upon the venture, how or what we might prove hereafter. He knew before hand, that Lucifer should fall; that Adam should sin; that Saul should turn disobedient; & that judas should sell him & betray him: yet did he not forbear for all this to throw his favours upon them. S. Ambrose asketh the question, Why Christ would make choice of judas, when as he knew before hand that he would betray him? And his answer thereunto is, That it was to justify his love, and to show the great desire that he had that all should be saved, yea, even judas himself: And therefore (knowing his covetous disposition) he made him his Purse-bearer, that he might shut the door to his excuses, and that he might not have just cause to say, That he was in want, & lacked money, & so was forced out of mere necessity, to betray and sell his Master, which otherwise he would never have done: but the delivering over the Purse unto him, took away that objection. Well then, What can this Traitor say for himself? That Christ did not countenance him as he did the rest, or that he made light reckoning of him? Neither will this hold water; for he had made him an Apostle, he was listed in the roll with the rest, he wrought miracles as well as his Fellows, & received many other favours from his Master's hands. The same reason may serve as well for the jews, as judas: For our Saviour knew that they should put him to death; yet for all this would not he cease to show his love unto them. Hic est haeres; venite, occidamus eum, & nostra erit haereditas. This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us take his Inheritance. They did not say, This is the son; but the Heir: discovering therein the dropsy of their covetousness; for greediness of the Fruits they killed his Servants, and for greediness of the Inheritance, they killed the Heir. Covetousness is the root of all evil; Pride is the seed of all sins, and Covetousness the root which maintains them: The Seed is that beginning which gives them their being; the Root, that which sustains and nourishes them in their verdure. From the Tree you may easily lop the boughs, but hardly remove the roots: First, Because they are so deep that we cannot well come at them: And secondly, Because they are covered and buried under ground. When Covetousness taketh deep rooting in the heart of man, it is covered over with the cloak of Sanctity and of Virtue, they are hard to be digged out. From this Vice two great huts do arise: The one, That it is the Leaven of all our ill. Sallust saith, Nothing worse than a covetous man That it destroys the Virtues and the Arts, and in their places brings in Infidelities and Treasons, standing at open defiance both with God and Man. Ecclesiasticus saith, That there is nothing worse than a covetous man; for such a one would even sell his Soul for love of money. The Princes of judah (saith Osee) were like them that removed the bound. Saint Hierome and Lyra note, That the Prophet borrowed this Metaphor from the Husbandmen, who enlarge the bounds of their Inheritance, growing by little and little on that which is another man's. Ose 5.10. No vice more severely punished than Covetousness. And that the Governors of the two Tribes did rejoice in the servitude and captivity of the other ten, for to enlarge their own Lands and Territories, and to augment their jurisdiction. To rejoice in the enlarging of their own, was not much amiss; but to take pleasure in another man's misery, is so great a sin, that God threatens severely to punish it. I will pour forth (saith he) mine indignation upon them like water. In other his chastisements, he useth the word stillare: now that which is distilled comes away in little drops, and with a great deal of leisure; but here he saith, Effundam iram meam, Like a storm, that comes so suddenly upon him that he cannot escape it. The Prophet Amos saith, That amongst many other sins which the Sons of Ammon had committed, one was a very desperate one, Amos 1.13. For three transgressions of the Children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn to it; Because they have ripped up the women with child, of Giliad, that they might enlarge their borders. For bordering upon those of Gilead, they slew their women that were great with child, that they might inherit their possessions; ad dilatandum terminum suum: As Queen jesabel caused Naboth to be put to death, 3. Reg. 20. that she might have his Vineyard. In a word, In that very hour when Covetousness killed the Son of God, What punishment, were it never so cruel, might not such an offence justly fear? The second hurt is, That it is a vice of all other the hardest to be remedied. No vice so hard to be reform as Covetousness Phylon calls it, Wickednesses Fort, where all sins are protected and defended. Saint Chrysostome saith, That Gold turns men into Beasts, nay, into beastly and abominable Devils. Whereby he signified, That it was an unreclaimable sin. Saint Ambrose, That the covetous man rejoiceth to see the Widow weep, and the Orphan to cry, which is a foul sin. Saint Bernard paints out the Chariot of Covetousness to be drawn by cruel, fierce, and desperate both Coachman and Horses. judas his own heart opens this truth; in regard that all the diligences, all the favours that our Saviour Christ did him, (in washing his feet with water, and it may be with the tears that trickled from his eyes; his permitting him to dip his finger in the same dish with him, and to bestow his best morsels upon him) were not of power to mollify and soften this stony heart of his. Come, let us kill him. Very fitly is Sin called a breake-necke, or a downfall; not only in regard of that height from whence the Sinner falls, and the deepness of the pit whereinto he is to descend; but because of his retchlessness and his carelessness, by falling headlong from one sin into another, till he come to the bottom of all villainy and wickedness. And this is the reason why the Scripture makes so much reckoning of the first sin we commit. The first sin that Saul committed, was the pity that he showed to Amaleck: And though in itself it were not so grievous a sin, yet he persevered afterwards in envying and persecuting David; 1. Kings. 22. he committed great cruelties in Nob, as a Moor could not do more; he slew fourscore and five Priests that wore a Linen Ephod: And because his faults were so heinous, the Scripture mentioneth not any one save that of his pity towards Amaleck; because that was the first round in the Ladder, Psal. 1. by which he fell afterwards down into Hell. Beatus vir qui non abijt, Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the council of the ungodly, 〈◊〉 stood in the way of Sinners, and hath not sat in the seat of the Scornful. There are three happinesses that a man is said to enjoy: The one, Not to fall into the pit of Sinne. The other, If he do fall, not to continue long therein. The third, That if he do persever in sin, that he be not bewitched therewith, nor make it his Seat. For Sin (according to Saint Austen) produceth Custom, and Custom, a necessity of sinning. Thus doth God punish one sin with another, a lesser sin with a greater; which is the greatest and severest rigour which the Tribunal of God's justice inflicteth. God's course in punishing of sin, is to revenge the lesser with the greater. Seneca tells us, The prime and principal punishment of a Sinner, is his sinning; for then, God falls presently a punishing sin upon sin. The Scripture reckoning up all the sins of Herod, as his tyrannies, cruelties, his swinish nature, and his incestuous life; it addeth, super haec omnia, (as though all the rest in comparison of this were as nothing) That he had beheaded Saint john Baptist, because he preached Truth unto him. And this was the greatest vengeance that God could take of his former sins. With Vria's murder, God revenged David's adultery: And nathan's reprooving him was the appeasing of God's wrath against him. For if God should not have used this his mercy towards him, what would have become of David? Saint Ambrose expounding those words which Christ uttered unto Peter, Thou shalt deny me thrice; saith, That this placing of these three denials, was not only a foretelling of them, but of setting likewise a bound and limit unto them, to the end that he should not deny his Master any more than three times. God revenged his first denial, by his second, being forced to forswear, That he knew him not; and his second, by the third, aggravating the same with so many protestations and anathemas. But if Christ had not looked back upon him, and taken pity of him, what would have become of poor Peter? But upon the sins of the Pharisees our Saviour did not put any tax or limitation, That all the blood of the Justice might light upon their heads; For they were a reprobate kind of people. The lives of the Prophets he revenged by the death of his Son and heir: He revenged the evil works which they had done, in that the Light being brought into the World, they shut up themselves in Darkness. And with this suiteth that of Esay, Thou hast made their own iniquities the instruments, and as it were the hands to dash them in pieces. Thou hast made them subject to their sins, they can do no more than what sin shall command them to do: If it bid them kill, they shall kill▪ if steal▪ they shall steal. In a word, Sin is their Lord, and they are Sins ●laues. And therefore the Scripture termeth those that are great Sinners, Vendidos', Men that are sold over unto sin. Esay puts this name upon A●bab, I am sold to sin: and those who denied God, his Law, or their Country, & did take part with those their enemies that were Infidels; 1. Mac. 1. the first book of the Macabees registereth them for Slaves that had sold themselves over unto sin. The like saith Saint Paul of those who remain captives to the Devil, and that follow after his will; 2. Tim. 2. A quo captivi tenemur ad ipsius voluntatem. Out of whose snare we must come to amendment, and not suffer ourselves to be taken of him at his will. And the Inheritance shall be ours. The Sinner summing up his wickedness, Sinners are usually taken in their own Snares. thinks he hath made a just and good account: So, Pharaoh pursuing God's People, made this sure reckoning with himself; Persequar, I will follow them, take them, and spoil them, and my Soul shall have its desire upon them. So did it far with these Farmers, they had cast up their reckoning, and made full account that the Inheritance should be theirs: They had destroyed his People, his Temple, his Vineyard, his Zion, his Prophecies, his Miracles, his Priesthood, his Ark, his Authority, and his Glory; What could they well do more, to make themselves Lords of all? But, Conuertetur dolor eius in caput eius; They shall be overtaken in their own wickedness, and this mischief shall light upon their own heads. Et ejecerunt eum extra Vineam. And they cast him out of the Vineyard. Why the blood of Christ was not shed in the Vineyard. Esay 65.5 They cast him out of the Vineyard and slew him. Saint Chrysostome saith, That they cast him out of the Vineyard, that his blood might not defile it: Using him herein like a Leper; which was no more than was prophesied by Esay, Stand apart, come not near me, for I am holier ●han thou. The jews were so dainty, that when judas repented him of what he had done, and returned them their money again, they would none of it; Math. 27.6. It is not lawful for us to put this money into the Treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they did not only express their hypocrisy in this particular; but they would not likewise enter into the Praetorium, or Common-council house, That they might not be defiled with his company. And here in this place, They cast him out of the Vineyard; but the Divine providence, which did with a more especial hand guide that action, did so order the business, that the blood of our Saviour jesus Christ should be shed out of the Vineyard, because it should not hinder the destruction and desolation that was to come upon that wretched & accursed City. For, if jerusalem should have been besprinkled with the blood of this Lamb, the Angel would have passed by it, and the Roman power should not have been able to have ruined it and laid it level with the ground. They cast him likewise out of the Vineyard, for to enrich the Land of the Gentiles; his blood, which spoke better things than that of Abel, being shed in their ●auour, and for their good. The glorious Doctor Saint Ambrose saith, That the ●ield which Cain drew out Abel into, was bad and barren ground; it being God's pleasure that that place should be unfruitful, wherein that blood should be shed ●hat was to cry for vengeance. But for the blood of our most blessed Saviour ●nd Redeemer, jesus Christ; howbeit it fell among stories, yet because it spoke ●etter words than that of Abel, as also for that from the Cross he poured down ●is benediction upon it, they lost their barrenness. Saint Augustine saith, That as in the Garden he sweated blood, making that ground fruitful therewith, that Martyrs might bud and spring out of it; so in Mount Caluarie he also shed his blood, to the end that the Land of the Gentiles taking this divine Balsamum into their Souls, and letting it soak into their hearts, they might bring forth great and plentiful Fruits, even Fruits in abundance. Quid faciet Dominus Vineae. What will the Lord of this Vineyard do? Tell me, ye that are learned in the Laws, Ezech. 28. What course think ye he will take with these Husbandmen? Ezec●●●l in his twenty vl Chapter sets out the King of Tyre with all possible glory▪ and greatness; adorning him with Wisdom, Beauty, Riches, precious stones, Pearls, and brooches of Gold, brought from beyond the seas. But if many were these his blessings and favours which God had bestowed upon him; the greater by far were those his sins which he committed against him in his ingratitude, disloyalty, tyranny, dishonesty, wantonness, filthiness, etc. And therefore when God shall come to take an account of us, What will the Lord of the Vinyard do then? Ezech. 16. And in the sixteenth Chapter he paints out unto us a poor little Infant, that was cast out, as it were, into the Streets, and no eye pitied her: This poor soul the King as he passed by, took her out of the extremity of misery, bred her up, made much of her, enriched her, covered her with Silk, g●●ded her about with fine Linen, clothed her with broidered works, decked her with ornaments, put bracelets upon her hands, a chain about her neck, and a beautiful Crown upon her head, etc. & when he had bestowed all these things upon her, and that she was come of age to be his Spouse, (which the King of all other things desired most) she left his house, ran away from him, set up for herself in a by-corner of the City, playing the Harlot, multiplying her Treasons, lightnesses, & looseness of life; purchasing herself Lovers with her Silver, not remembering the days of her youth, when she was naked and bare, and forsaken of all the world, save this good King that took compassion on her. Now when God shall come to take an account of her concerning those courtesies which she had received, What will the Lord of the Vineyard do then? The favours which God afforded his People, Who can recount them? He sent them Prophets, Miracles, 〈◊〉 Victories; they did sigh for his coming, importuning Heaven with the●● groans; The Light shined unto them, but they loved Darkness; their Mess●● came, and they killed him. God labours every way the conversion of a sinner. What will the Lord of the Vineyard do? He did direct this question to the repairing of their perdition, for as yet they were in the state of salvation: And 〈◊〉 they would but have been ashamed of that which they had done, and repented them of their sins, he would have run with open arms to have received them into grace. Plutarch saith, That Love takes any occasion, be it never 〈◊〉 light, to do good unto him whom he loveth; it hath no need of baits & snares, himself bears those baits about him, wherewith he is taken; for Gods love never takes his leave of a Sinner. Our Lord and Saviour jesus Christ remained dead in Mount Caluarie, yet for all that did he not forsake us, but he returns 〈◊〉 hundred times and more, jerem. 6.8. entreating and calling unto us; Be thou instructed, o jerusalem, lest my Soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, as a land that 〈◊〉 inhabiteth. In that general inundation, he repented him of what he had 〈◊〉 and promised never to do so no more; Gen. 9.15. Nequaquam ultra, There shall be no 〈◊〉 waters of a flood to destroy all flesh. What will the Lord of the Vineyard do? He asks the question, What he 〈◊〉 do? and takes council with himself; signifying thereby unto us, That great chastisements require great consideration. The Prophet Esay threatening Edom, saith, He will measure it out with a Line, that he may bring it to naught. Esay 34. 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 upon earth, it passeth so as thou sayest; but he that was that only Artisan of Heaven, dwelled longer upon the destroying of Niniveh, than he would have done in building of it. Cogitavit Dominus dissipare murum filiae Zion, tetendit funiculum; The Lord hath determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion, he stretched out a Line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying. The Lord had a determination to destroy the city of jerusalem; but first he took a measure thereof (as we say) by line and by leisure. Rupertus hath noted it, that he was seventy years about taking this measure. Lastly he asks the question, What shall the Lord of the Vineyard do? because to destroy and to kill, is to be used where no other means will serve the turn. God omits no means to bring us to himself. Deut. 20.10. After that they had ill entreated his Servants, stoned some, & slain othersome, and last of all his heir; yet (even after all this) doth he seek to make peace with them. In the twentieth of deuteronomy God hath commanded, That when thou comest near unto a city to fight against it, before thou shalt set upon the same, thou shalt offer it peace. Abishai besieging Abel, 2. Kings. 20. a woman cried out there within, Know'st thou not that they spoke in the old time, saying, They should first ask peace of Abel? and hence it is said, Qui interogant, interogent in Abel. Why dost thou not first demand Sheba of us, & we shall deliver Sheba up into thy hands? Quare pracipitas hereditatem Domini? Why wilt thou destroy the Lords Inheritance? Chrysostome saith, That Gods sending of jonas to preach, Yet forty days, and Niniveh shall be destroyed; was no other but a proffering of peace unto them. What shall the Lord of the Vineyard do? All these, and other larger proffers, God useth to make to Christendom in general, and to every one of the Faithful in particular. He hath planted a Church, he hath watered it with his own blood, and that of the Apostles and Martyrs; he hath ploughed and tilled it, and sown it with the seed of his Doctrine; he hath afforded thee strange favours, as riches, discretion, beauty, the dainties of the Earth, of the Air, and of the Sea; and all these hast thou made as weapons to offend him, Quid faciet Dominus Vinia? It is no marvel, that many Christians are worse now in part, Many Christians now worse enemies to Christ, than were the Pharisees. than the Pharisees were then; for in the breasts of the Pharisees there was no faith nor no knowledge of Christ, which occasioned their sins against Christ: but the Christians believing in him, and adoring him, do not stick to offend him. The Pharisees would not receive Christ our Saviour & Redeemer, because than they must have laid aside their covetousness, their ambition, their hypocrisy, & dissimulation; but they being so proud a People, would not admit of so humble a God. A poor King, and rich Vassals, do not suit well together; but to believe in him, and yet not to regard him, this is a foul fault among Christians. Samaria being subject to the Assyrians, God sent a fearful scourge amongst them, Lions, which every where slew them and tore them in pieces. The King desiring to repair this loss, sent Priests among them, to instruct them in the Law of that Land, and to persuade them to the fear of God, and to teach them the manner of the God of the Country; but the Text saith, They feared the Lord, 4. Kings. 17.33 but served their Idols withal; They offered their Understanding to God, but their Will unto Idols. The like kind of course a great part of Christendom taketh; they acknowledge a God, but adore Vice, and their Faith they think shall serve them for a safe Conduct, that God may not destroy them in his wrath. Being herein like unto your Marshals men, who only therefore serve the Marshal, that they may live the loser, and sin with more safety. Two mischiefs seem to threaten such kind of Christians: The one, That this their Faith may turn to their greater condemnation. The other, That they may run the hazard of losing it. By Balaams' advice, the King of Moab sent many fair and beautiful women to God's People, to the end to draw on their love the more; but charging them withal, that they should not in any hand yield to their longings and their lustings, unless they would first worship those Idols which they themselves adored. And it so fell out (Affection overruling Religion) that many of the Faithful by this means fell away, and did link themselves in marriage with them, making little or no scruple of the condition whereunto they were tied. We may very well give great thanks to our Vices, and unto God, who hath so ordered the business for us, that though our Vices bring with them unlawful pleasures and delights, yet they do not bring Idols with them; which if they did, I fear me that many would echaran lafoy soga, tras el Caldero, Hurl the rope after the kettle, or (as we say by way of Proverb) Fling the helm after the hatchet. Aiunt illi, Malos male perdet. They say unto 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, etc. We daily pray unto God to deliver us from evil, yet stick not daily to commit evil; Hazarding thereby both body and soul. Mala est, vita mala; sed m●r● peccatorum, pessima, An ill life, is bad; but a bad death, worse. God, does Been perde●● iustum; When his i'll, works for his good. As in jobs case, His goods were lost, but his soul was saved. But the perdition of this people was general, both in their goods, their honours, their wives, their children, their Temple, their lives, and their souls. In a word, God would, that this people (like Lot's wife) should serve for a general 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, & mala●, What great tribulations hast thou showed me, many & evil. God's punishments of two sorts. Psal. 6.1. jerem. 10.24. He will destroy those wicked ones. David craves of God, That he will not correct him in his fury, neither chasten him in his displeasure. Ne in furore Domine. God punishes all, but not in his fury. jeremy craves a Corripe, but it is in judicio, non in furore, Correct us (o Lord) and yet in thy judgement, not in thy fury. This Prophet sets down two sorts of punishments. The one, of an Almond tree budding. Quid tu vides jeremiah? What 〈◊〉 thou jeremy? Virgam vigilantem ego video, (saith he) I see a rod of an Almond tree. The other, of a pot seething, Quid tu vides, etc. What seest thou? Ollam succ●●●sam ego video, saith he, I see a seething pot. In the rod, he represented unto us a light kind of punishment; with a rod, we use to beat out the dust, & if you strike therewith but two or three strong blow● well laid on, you will presently break it. And this kind of punishment, is eue● more directed to amendment of life, and to serve as a warning unto us. Ionath●● eyes, were opened with that honey which he had on the top of his wand. But in that of the pot seething, he represents unto us a most sharp and severe punishment. He shall destroy those wicked ones. Man is so wedded to self-love, Self love the overthrow of man. that when it shall encounter with the counsel of God, it will go about to condemn it. Of five hundred offenders that lie in prison, you shall scarce find one that will not complain, that he suffers unjustly; & that the judges sentence proceeded either out of malice or injustice: And for these, there is no better course to be taken with them, than to halter them, as they do Mules, when they begin to play jadish tricks. As well conditioned as David was, Nathan the Prophet was fain to hamper him in this manner, that he might thereby be taught to know his own error. The like order doth our Saviour Christ take with this froward people; And albeit, they were so crafty and so wary, that when he propounded any questions unto them, they were wonderful careful what answer to make him, suspecting this was but a trap set for them; insomuch, that when our Saviour asked them, Whether the Baptism of john Baptist, were from Heaven, or from Earth? They answered, We know not. But notwithstanding all this, Prou. 21.30. forasmuch as there is no wisdom, no prudence, nor no counsel against the Lord; and that the wisdom of the Earth, is but foolishness to that of Heaven: they fell into the snare, pronouncing this sentence against themselves, Malos, male perdet, He will cruelly destroy those wicked men. It was not much, that the children should wax blind, being near the splendour of his divine Wisdom; when as their father the Devil, who was the fountain of Malice, was strucken blind therewith. job, that pattern of Patience, saith, He that made him, will make his own sword to approach unto him. job. 40. Some Books have it, Applica●it gladium eius ei. He caused the Devil to cut his throat, with his own knife. He took up sin, as a sword, against God, and against Man: but the Wisdom of God so guided the blow, that he sheathed his sword in his own bowels. He brought in Death, and Death was his death. He bit Eve by the heel; but this biting, was the bruising of his head. Of Goliath sword, David said, Non est similis in terra, There was not the like again to be had. Not that there was not such another to be found in the Philistimes armouries, but because it found out the trick to cut off his Master's head. So the Pharisees own sentence was the sword, that cut their throats. Nebuchadnezar, ask of his Soothsayers the signification of his dream, They told him, None can do that, but God. Now when Daniel shall interpret it, he must (by your own confession) be either a God, or one of God's inward friends. Malos, male perdit, He will destroy those wicked ones, your own mouth condemns you. Saint Chrysostome, and Eutimius say, That they were all of this opinion. But anon after finding themselves bitten, they foist in an Absit. But our Saviour citing for his purpose that saying of the Psalmist, Lapidem quem reprobaverunt, etc. The stone which they refused, etc. Psal. 118.21. Their mouths were bungd up, and their Absit would not now serve their turn. And therefore he says unto them, Auferetur à vobis Regnum Dei, The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, etc. Auferetur à vobis regnum Dei. The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you. The translation of God's kingdom from the jews to the Gentiles. The prophecies of the translation from the jews, to the Gentiles, as they are many, so are they most manifest. As in that of Esay, Quia posuisti civitatem in tumulum. Where he treateth of this alteration, and of the destruction of jerusalem. Of Osee, The children of Israel shall remain many days without a King. Of jeremy, I have forsaken my house, Esay. 5. Osee, 3.4. jeremy. 12.7. Math. 23.38. I have left my heritage. Of Malachy, My affection is not towards you. Matthew sums up all these prophecies in one. Your habitation shall be left unto you desolate. Pope Leo hath observed, that our Saviour Christ being not able to bear the heavy burden of the Cross, the jews fearing he would not dye till they had fastened him thereunto, hired a Gentile, called Simon Cirenaeus, to help him awhile in the bearing of it. Only thereby to show, that the fruit of the Cross, was to come unto the Gentiles. Or to explain it fuller, his submitting himself to the Cross amidst these cruel jews, was not a thing done by chance, but a kind of prophecy, That the Gentiles should take possession of the key of Heaven. The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you. Here first of all, he adviseth Kings, Princes, and Rulers, that they look well unto their ways, and stand in fear of this change. For God is wont to transfer Kingdoms, States, and Signories from one nation to another, Eccl. 10. for their sin's sake. Because of unrighteous dealing, and wrongs, and riches gotten by deceit, the Kingdom is translated from one people to another. A King suffers his subjects to be overladen with Taxes, when they are not able to bear them: Give that Kingdom for lost. The wicked shall be cut-off from the Earth, Prou. 2.22. D●●. 6. and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it. Daniel pronounceth as much, God changeth times and ages, he translateth kingdoms, and establisheth them. The most high beareth rule over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And those that walk in pride, he is able to abase. And in the fourth chapter, Dan. 4. He setteth up a mean man in their steed. The examples of this in God's people are more in number than the stars of Heaven. We see the house of jeroboam destroyed and utterly rooted out by the hands of Baasha; That of Baasha, by Zambri; and that of Ahab, by jehu. In the land of promise, God took away one and thirty Kingdoms, 3. Reg. 14.15. 3. King. 16. 4. King. 9 from those Kings, and bestowed them on his own people. Alios laboraverunt, & vos in laborem eorum introistis, Others took the pains, and ye reaped the profit. But he did defer the possession of these for some few years, because the sins of the Amorites were not yet come unto their height. Salmanazer, carried away ten of the Tribes captive to the land of the Medes; Nabuchadnezzar destroyed the City and Temple of jerusalem; and leading the people away captive unto Babylon, he left the land waist and desolate: as it appeareth in the Lamentations of jeremy, Haereditas nostra, versa est ad alienos, Our inheritance, is turned over unto strangers. The Monarchy of the Assyrians and Babylonians, was transferred to the Medes and Persians; that of the Persians, to the Grecians and Macedonians; and that of the Macedonians, to the Romans; as was prophesied by Daniel, in that prodigious Statue which Nabuchadnezzar saw in his dream. The Empire of Constantinople, was translated to the Ottoman Family. In a word, numberless are those Kingdoms, which have suffered their alterations, and translations. Their sins, being the only cause of this their change. Secondly, He adviseth those of the middle sort, on whom God hath bestowed wealth, God substracts his Blessings, when we prove ungrateful. houses, honours, and health, wherewithal conveniently to pass this life of theirs, That they prove not ungrateful unto God: For he knows as well how to take away from them, as to give to them, all these his good blessings, and to bring them by means never dreamt of, to the Hospital, and to shameful poverty and dishonour. According to that saying uttered by God himself, 1. Reg. 2. They that despise me, shall be despised. As also by the mouth of Osee. This People doth not acknowledge that I give them Wine, Wheat, and Oil; and therefore I shall make them to acknowledge it, by taking these things from them, leaving them poor, hungry, and miserable. Thirdly, He adviseth the Faithful, to procure to preserve the goods of Grace, and the right and hope which they have in the Kingdom of Heaven; lest God should translate the same to a Nation that should bring forth better fruit, leaving them in the darkness of errors & heresies, without Priests, without Sacraments, without Scriptures, without God; and passing these his good graces over to a People that have not known his Law. For though God chaps and changes Kingdoms, yet he never takes away his Riches and his blessings. Tene quod habes, ●e alius accipiat Coronam tuam, Hold fast that thou hast, lest another come and take thy Crown from thee; It is Saint john's, in his Apocalyps. God removed Adam out of Paradise, God will raise seed out of stones, and make barren places to bring forth fruit. Et dabitur Genti facienti fructum. And it shall be given to a Nation that shall bring forth fruit. The Princes of the earth takes away the wealth of one of his Ministers, & gives it to another; puts away a bad servant, & takes in a worse; removes a full fed Fly, and claps a lean Carrion in his room. joshuah took ten stones out of jordan, and put other ten in the places of them: This is a figure of the World's Reformation. Offices are every day chopped and changed; twelve pebble Stones are rolled out of the Court, and twelve others are tumbled in, in their stead. But God is of another kind of temper, he makes choice of a people that shall bring forth Fruit: He takes the Kingdom from Saul, & gives it unto David, I will give it to one that is better than thyself. He took away the Priesthood from Shebna, (who grew fat therein, Esay. 22. like a Capon in a Coop) and gave it to Eliakim, Who was as it were a father of the Inhabitants of jerusalem. The sons of Ely died, and Samuel succeeded in the Priesthood. Suscitabo mihi Sacerdotem fidelem, I will raise unto me a faithful Priest. God raise us up all to newness of life, 1. Kings. 2. and let not our unthankfulness cause him to thrust us out of this vineyard which he hath planted for us; but that we may return him some fruits thereof, that he may be glorified here by us on Earth; and we receive from him a Crown of eternal glory in Heaven. THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON, UPON THE SATURDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. LUC. 15. Homo quidam habuit duos filios. A certain man had two Sons, etc. The distrubution of the matter. AMongst the rest of the Parables, this Parable is treated of; and is divided into four parts: The first relates the resolution of an idle young fellow desirous to see the world, and to have his father's leave to travel. The second, His unadvised actions, lewd courses, lavish expenses, and the miseries that befell him thereupon. The third, The consideration of his own wretched estate, his returning home to his father's house all tottered and torn, weak, and hunger-starved. The fourth, His father's kind reception of him, and the joy that he took in this his lost son. This follows very fitly that former Parable of the Vineyard: That being full of fear; this, of hope: That, of the rigour of justice; this, of the regaloes of mercy. That checks a sinner in his sins; this spurs him on to repentance. And these are those two Poles whereon the whole government of God dependeth. This world is nothing but a mixture of good & evil A certain man had two sons. In these two sons are represented unto us the just, and the sinful man. For, this life is a Net which holds all sorts of fishes; it is an heap of Corn, where the Chaff is mixed with the Wheat; it is a flock of Sheep and Goats; a body consisting of contrary humours; a ground of good seed, and of tares: All are the sons of God by creation, but not by adoption. Father's may have sons alike in favour, but not in conditions: Adam, to his Abel had a Cain; Noah, to his Shem had a Cham; Abraham, to his Isaac had an Ishmael; Isaac, to his jacob had an Esau; David, to his Solomon had an Absalon; and Solomon himself had a Rehoboam: So have most men that have many children; and God himself hath some cross, froward, and perverse children. Adolescentior ex illis. The younger of them. The Saints and Doctors do multiply the motives of this his longing to be gadding abroad. But the malne Motive was, that he was young, and desirous of liberty. He that names the word, Youth, names ignorance, small experience, infinite longings, a sudden quickness in entertaining them, and a foolish rashness in enjoying them. Through a foolish longing, Adam and Eve lost the greatest Empire that ever was acknowledged by the World, in less than six hours; being presently turned out of God's blessing (as they say) into the warm Sun; and out of a Paradise, into a place of misery. They were young, and there is not that Vice (as Saint Austen saith) which will not seek to lodge itself in youth's bosom. They were young men, which Ezechiell saw with their backs turned to the Sancta sanctorum, entertaining themselves with the fragrant sweet sent of flowers. They were youngmen, which in the Book of Wisdom, plant in all hast a Vineyard of Vices. Vtamur Creatura, tanquam in inventute, celeritur. They were youngmen, which lost Rehoboam his kingdom. He was a youngman (saith Salomo●) whom the married wife in her husband's absence invited to her house, and to her bed, being led along by her, Prou. ●. as an Ox that goeth to the slaughter, or as a Fool to the stocks for correction. He was a youngman, that would take upon him to guide the horses and chariot of the Sun. Youngmen are those, whom misfortunes daily make an end off in the prime and ●lower of their youthful years. In regard of whose manifold dangers, David did desire of God, That he would not take him away in the days of his youth. His son Solomon, was many days together much vexed with the rawness and ignorance of his heir, that was to succeed him; as divining of the disasters, which were to ensue so prosperous a reign, Eccl. 2 18. I hated all my labour wherein I had travailed under the Sun, which I shall leave to the man that shall be after me; And who knoweth, whether he shall be wise or foolish? The second motive was, The wicked love not to be checked in their proceedings. That he might be far out of sight from his father's presence, which he thought too great an eyesore, having a desire to be free from the respect and reverence which was due unto him, from his instructions, admonitions, inquiries, and chide. This was the end, why he was willing to travel, and the beginning of his ruin. The just man, hath ever God before his eyes. As the eyes of a maiden unto the hands of her Mistress, Psal. 123. even so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God. The sinner would not, that God's eyes should see him, nor his eyes see God, that he might sin the more freely: and therefore he saith to himself, Tush God hath forgotten; he hideth away his face, and he will never see it. Psal. 10.12. job 22.13.14. How should God know, can he judge through the darkness? The Clouds hide him that ●e cannot see, and he walketh through the circle of Heaven. In a word, this young man did seek to shake off from his shoulders all those obligations, which the presence of his father might lay upon him. But it seemeth to Saint Austen, that the cause of his perdition, was Pride, his not acknowledging of subjection, nor superiority. This was the sin of Lucifer in Heaven, and of Adam in Paradise. Initium superbiae hominis apostatare a Deo. This doctrine of Saint Austin's, hath a great deal of reason on its side, as is observed by Thomas: For all other vices make a man go departing from God by degrees, wheeling about as it were, and fetching a compass; but Pride standing out stiff against God, and seeking as it were to out face him, falls presently to an absolute neglect of his divine Majesty. But it fareth with him as with the Sun in those parts when it sets, it sinks on the sudden, and it is instantly night: So when the Proud man falls, he falls suddenly, and a present darkness ouerspreds his soul, being thrown headlong down into the bottomless pit of Hell, where the black mantle of eternal darkness shall be cast over him. The third motive (according to Petrus Crysologus) was covetousness of money: This (saith he) drove him out of his father's doors, banished him from his Country, blotted his fame, and blemished his honour, left him naked & poor, and made him submit himself to the basest service in the world. And this conceit hath in its favour a very forcible reason; for the liberty of Youth, though it would run on to its own destruction, yet without money it is lame, it wants both its hands and its feet; and this defect doth detain him, as a wooden clog doth a mad Bullock. But when Youth shall be left to its own swinge, and be still supplied and fed with moneys, which are the instruments of mischief in i'll governed years; Who can restrain it, or what hand (though never so strong) hold it in? But to omit these and many other motives elsewhere delivered by us; Clemens Alexandrinus saith, That one of the greatest affronts that Man can do unto God, is, for to forgo the comfort and liberty of his own house, to follow the World, the Flesh, and the Devil. Saint Augustine saith, That it is a woeful thing, that all that should seem honey to a man, which is offered him by the Devil; and all that gall, which is proffered him by God. It is a more natural thing in the Creature, to obey their Creator, than to follow their own proper inclination. The natural place of the water was to cover the earth, [Et aqua erant super faciem abissi] but God commanding them to retire themselves, they did instantly obey his voice. The liberty which the Angels enjoy, is more perfect than that of man; yet cannot they divert their will from the will of God. What saith Solomon? My son, receive my council, and hearken to the instruction that I shall give thee; Put thy feet in God's Stocks, clap his collar of iron about thy neck, let his links bind thy legs; for the more he shall lad thee with irons, with gyves, and with fetters, the more free shalt thou live, and more at liberty. Divisit illis substantiam, He divided unto them his substance. Too much liberty the bane of youth. Here the Doctors and other learned Divines make a doubt, How so wise and discreet a father could be brought to favour such an unadvised longing, such a rash and inconsiderate course? A man would have thought, that he should rather have crossed, controlled, and hindered this his idle and giddy resolution. But to impart his substance to a young man that had no government of himself, and was so apt to undo himself, it seemeth somewhat strange. Plat● saith, That a young man ought to be harder tied, and faster bound than a Beast; because for the most part he is more wild, more unruly, and untamable. And the Laws, where Parents are wanting, tie Tutors and Guardians to have a great care in preventing those perils that are incident to Youth. A child set at liberty maketh his mother ashamed; Prou. 29.15. Eccl. 30. ●0. it is Salomon's. And Ecclesiasticus saith, Laugh not with thy son, le●t thou be sorry with him, and lest thou gnash thy teeth in the end. Give him no liberty in his youth, and wink not at his folly: Bow down his neck while he is young, & beat him on the sides whilst he is a child, lest he wax stubborn, and be disobedient unto thee, and so bring sorrow to thine heart, etc. Men ought to be very circumspect in giving too much licence and liberty to young Gentlemen whilst they are in the heat and fury of their youth, and that their wanton blood boileth in their veins. It is no wisdom in parents, to give away their wealth from themselves, Eccl. 33.20. and to stand afterwards to their children's courtesy. Give not away thy substance to another, lest it repent thee; no, not to thine own children: For better it is that thy children should pray unto thee, than that thou shouldest look up to the hands of thy children. To this doubt, satisfaction hath formerly been given by us in a Discourse of ours upon this same Parable: but that which now offers itself a fresh unto us, is That albeit the Father saw, that his liberty, his moneys, & his absence, would be his Son's undoing; yet he likewise saw his amendment, his repentance, and what a future warning this would be unto him. And so he chose rather to see him recovered after he was lost, than violently to detain him, and to force him to keep home against his will; which would bring forth no better fruits than lowering and grumbling. Saint Augustine saith, That it seemed a lesser evil to God, to redress some evils, than not to permit any evil at all; Melius judicavit de malis benefacere, quam mala nulla esse permittere. God would not have thee to sin, neither can he be the Author of thy sins: but if men should not commit sins, Gods Attributes would lose much of their splendour. Saint Paul speaking of himself, saith, That God had forgiven him, though he had been a persecuter and blasphemer of his holy Name, etc. And why did he do this? Vt ostenderet omnem patientiam & gratiam; My sins (saith he) were the occasion that God pardoned me, and his pardoning of me was the cause of the World's taking notice of his long suffering, and his great goodness. This may serve for a very good instruction to those that are great Princes, and Governors of Commonwealths, and may teach them how to punish, and how to bear with their subjects; and it belongeth no less to the name of a good Governor, to tolerate with prudence, than to punish with courage. And Solomon gives thee this caveat, Eccl. 7. 1●. Noli esse multum justus, Et not thou just, overmuch. Congregatis omnibus. When he had gathered all together. What a strange course was this that this young man ran? First of all, he leveled all accounts with his father, shutting the door after him to all hope of receiving so much as one farthing more than his portion: If he had left some stock behind him, that might have holp him at a pinch, if he should chance to miscarry in this his journey, (for he was not sure that he should still hold Fortune fast by the wing) he had done well and wisely; but he made a clean riddance of all, as well movables, as immooveables: Et congregatis omnibus, etc. Secondly, What a foolish part was it in him, to leave so good a Father, and so sweet and pleasant a Country, being both such natural ties of love to Man's breast. The love of a Father is so much endeared in Scripture, that great curses and maledictions are thundered out against unloving and unkind children. And the love of a man's Country is such a thing, (saith Saint Augustine) that God made choice to try of what metal Abraham was made, by such a new & strange kind of torment, as to turn him out of his Country; Egredere de Terra tua, & de Cognatione tua, Go from thy Land, and from thy Kindred. Saint Chrysostome saith, That even those Monks which left the world for their love to God, and to do him service, did notwithstanding show themselves very sensible of their absence from their native soil, and their father's house. But those sorrows and lamentations which the Children of Israel made when they were on their way to Babylon, endear it beyond measure; If I forget thee, o jerusalem, Psal. 137. let my right hand forget her cunning; If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; yea, if I prefer not jerusalem in my mirth, etc. But much more fearful is the resolution of this young man, in the thing that is signified thereby: To wit, That a Sinner shall so exactly sum up all his reckonings with God, that he shall not have any hope at all left him, neither in his life nor his death, of one only dram of mercy. There are some Sinners that give their wealth to the World, but not all; some give God their lips, but not their hearts; some, their memory, but not their will; some, their will, but not their understanding; some are dishonest, and yet Almesgivers; some covetous, and yet devout, like those Assyrians which lived in Samaria, who acknowledged God & his Law, yet worshipped Idols. But to give all away, as the Prodigal did, is a desperate course. Besides, It is a miserable case, that this Prodigal should not be sensible of leaving so good a Father as God, of renouncing so rich an Inheritance as Heaven, and of being banished for ever from so sweet and pleasant an habitation. But he is so blind, that he loveth darkness, and abhors the light; which is a case so lamentable, that it made jeremy to cry out, Obstupescite Coeli, Be amazed 〈◊〉 Heavens. Profectus est in Regionem longinquam He took his journey into a far Country. No man can fly from God, per distantiam loci, be the place never so far off; no distance can bring us out of his reach. If I ascend up unto Heaven, thou art there; if descend into Hell, thou art there also. And certainly if there were any one place free from his presence, all the Prodigals of the world would make that their Rendezvous, and live there. jonas flying from God, left the earth, and entered into the sea, where there were so many Sergeants waiting to arrest him, who took hold of him, and threw him into prison, that dark dungeon of the Whale's belly. So that there is not any thing (saith Anselmus) in the Concave of Heaven, which can escape the eye of Heaven; no, though a man should fly from East to West, and from the South unto the North. So this Prodigal, flying from his Father's house, fell upon a poor Farm, & flying from Fullness, lighted upon Hunger; and these were God's executioners appointed to punish his folly. To forget God, is to go into a far country. Into a far Country. He came to the City of Oblivion, whose Inhabitants are without number. Saint Augustine saith, Regio longinqua oblivio Dei est, This far Country is the forgetting of God, and he that in this kind is far from him, is in no kind at all. Fame had presently blown it over all the Country, that a young Gallant was newly come to town, liberal, rich, and generous: Presently (as it is the custom of those that are in great Cities, as if some wonder had been to be seen) they come as thick unto him as Bees come to honey. The third day after his coming thither, he walks the streets, attended on by a company of brave Poets, Musicians, jesters, Gamesters, and Unthrifts; they carry him to a Dicing house, anon after to a Whore house, (for these two are never far asunder) where he enters into conversation with women, whom the Holy-Ghost styles Multivolas, for the multitude of their longings, or for their many and diverse minds in desiring many things, wishing one while this; another, that: Who being (as Saint Bernard saith) more insatiable than Hell, are evermore a crying, (like the daughters of the Horseleech) Affer, Prou. 3. affer, Bring, bring. He was willing on the one side to show himself frank and free; but on the other, the thirst of these Horseleeches was greater than his Purse was able to satisfy. At last his money was all spent and gone, and impawning his apparel piece after piece, he was in the end left bare and naked. Eratfames valida in Terra, & ipse caepit egere. Now, when he had spent all, there arose a great Dearth throughout that La●d, and he began to be in necessity. It so fell out, that it was a hard year, whereupon he began to suffer hunger, poverty, and extreme want. There was no such necessity that this should have proved so hard a year unto him▪ for, a provident man would have provided for a dear year; well, for want of that, he sees himself now in want. Whilst Samson had his strength about him, he was courted by Dalida, and she made much love unto him; but when she found that his force failed him, she began to vex him and to mock at him: judg. 1. ●● and when she had her purpose she cared not a pin for him. Whilst David was quiet in his Kingdom, Shimei durst never revile him; but he no sooner saw him fly from jerusalem half naked, and with one shoe off (as they say) and another on, but that this his rancour broke forth, which durst never show itself before: And making post hast, he hies him out of the City after him, and there before all the people, venting the gall of his long conceived malice, he falls a railing most bitterly against him. I am poor and wretched: (Mark I pray, Psal. 38. what follows) My Lovers and my Neighbours did stand looking upon my trouble, and my Kinsmen stood afar off. Many stood looking on him, but none would come in to help him. Those friends which before made great reckoning of job, when they saw him sitting on the Dunghill, they began to scorn and despise him. Those Princes that were confederate with jerusalem, forsook her in her affliction, and left her all alone. Philon reporteth, That the Samaritans whilst the jews were in prosperity stuck very close unto them, and esteemed of them as of their friends and Kinsmen. Art thou greater than our Father jacob? said the Samaritan woman; calling jacob Father, as long as the jews power and prosperity lasted; but no sooner down the wind, but they wind their necks out of the collar, acknowledging neither friendship nor kindred. Of those Fishes which they call Vigiliales, your Naturalists do report, That when the Stars are clear, and shine bright, they come and skip and play above water, seeming therein to applaud their beauty, and to sooth and flatter them; but when they are dim and dark, they likewise hide their heads and get them gone. Of your Bats or Reare-mices (as some call them) Fables report, That when the Birds came to demand tribute of them, showing them their breasts, they said they were Beasts; And when the Beasts came to them, & craved the like, showing their wings▪ they pleaded they were Birds. In a word, Quicksilver, which is such a professed friend unto Gold, flies from it in the Crysole. All fly from the Crysole of poverty, they will not endure to come to the melting pot, that is too hot a trial for them. Martial said of Homer, That if he brought nothing along with him but the Muses, he should have Tom Drums entertainment, and be shut out of doors. Your Whore, if you have no money in your purse will bid you be gone; No penny (saith the Proverb) no Paternoster. The Prodigal now sees himself naked and hungry, and what shift to make he knows not; for, after a fullness comes a Famine, and after bravery, beggary, especially when men will wilfully cast themselves into it when they need not. For he (God be thanked) was well, had he had the grace to know when he was well. And therefore saith Malachi, Malach. 2. If ye will not hear nor consider it in your heart, to give glory to my name, I will corrupt your Seed, and cast dung upon your faces; I will make ye also to be despised and vile before all the people. Adhaesit uni Civium. He went and ●laue to a Citisen of that Country, etc. He was now driven to seek out a Master, and forced to serve, out of pure hunger: It was his hap to light upon a cruel Snudge, a hard hearted Tyrant, who sent him to a Farm house that he had in the Country, to keep Swine; where he fain would, but could not fill his belly with that feeding which was flung out to the Pigs. This was a very miserable change: But God many times deals thus with his untoward Children, that they may see the difference that is betwixt Master and Master, House and House, Fare and Fare. God did deliver Rehoboam King of jerusalem, from the hands of Shi●hacke King of Egypt; 3. Reg. 14. but suffered him to be his Tributary, that he might make trial of the difference, that was from subjection to subjection. God said to his People, I will that ye go down into Egypt, that ye may see what it is to serve me, & what Pharaoh▪ Petrus Chrys. tells thee, That in thy Father's house thou injoyest a sweet kind of life, a free servitude, a joyful fear, a rich poverty, a safe possession, a quiet conscience, and a holy fullness; As for labour and pains taking (if there be any) that is put to thy Father's account. But this thy felicity goes further than so: Solomon throughout all the third Chapter of his Proverbs, Prou. 3. goes promising blessings to a wise and obedient Son; threatening many evils to come upon that child that shall be cross and untoward to his Parents. As a long and prosperous life hath favour both with God and Men, health, fullness, Barnes filled with abundance, Presses that shall burst with new Wine; summing there up all possible and imaginable felicity. But otherwise goes it with those that are perverse and disobedient: Chrysologus sets them forth in the Prodigal, and reduceth them all to his turning Swineherd. Our Saviour Christ styles Sinners with the name of Swine: And this name doth more particularly appertain to those that are sensual persons. The proportions are many. First of all, Any other Creature whatsoever 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 never; it is the stamp of an obstinate, harsh, unsavoury, and desperate sinner. Secondly, In touching a Hogs either bristles or skin, he presently falls a grunting, as Geminianus hath noted it. A Horse will suffer you to curry his coat, and to comb down his main; there are many other beasts that will give a man leave to handle & struck them; but the Hog is no sooner touched but he whines, and the reason is, because there is nothing either of profit or pleasure in him, save his flesh: so that when you offer to lay hand on him, he presently conceives that you mean to kill him. This is the picture of a Sinner that hath a guilty conscience, who being scarce touched, not with the whole hand, but the least and lightest finger of God's justice, presently apprehends he is but a dead man. Thirdly, Your Swine, especially your wild Boars, are of that strange quickness of scent, that if the Huntsman mean to shoot at him, he must take the wind of him, or else he will wind him out and be gone. Now on the contrary, they are not sensible of the ill savour 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 unto them. This is the figure of a filthy foul Sinner, who will fly a thousand leagues from the perils and dangers of his body, but take pleasure and pastime in those muckhills and dirty puddles which defile the Soul. And these kind of creatures your Worldlings call their love, their joy, their comfort and delight. But God's Dictionary terms them, the loathsome sweetnesses and parbreaking pleasures ofSwine. Fourthly, In point of stinking nastiness, and all kind of beastly filthiness, a Swine is such a filthy thing, that a slovenly fellow we commonly call him Puerco, a very Swine. He would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the Swine eat, but no man gave them him. There are many Pictures and Tables in Scripture, in the Saints, 〈◊〉 in the Doctors, of the foulness and misery of a Man without God. Saint Gregory compares him to a World without a Sun, covered with thick Clouds; to a body without a soul, which though it be never so fair, yet is it fearful to behold. Esay, to a City that is sacked, burned, and thrown down to the ground; Esay. 38. to a Swallows young one forsaken of her Dam [Like a Swallow so did I chatter;] To that rotten and corrupt piece of Linen which was profitable for nothing, jer. 13. Lament. 4. The wicked whereunto compared. and by Gods own appointment commanded to be hid in Perath in the cliff of a Rock. The Lamentations, To the Nobles of Zion that remained Captives in Babylon; who being before purer than Snow, whiter than Milk, and more ruddy in body than the red precious Stones, or more fair and beautiful than the polished Saphire, are now become blacker than the coal. Saint Augustine, To a house that hath not been inhabited for many years, which is full of Toads, Snakes, Spiders, and other vile and venomous Vermin; to Adam, that was thrust out of Paradise, and afterwards clothed with the skins of dead beasts. But none of them all express it more to the life, than this slovenly, filthy, loathsome, hunger-starved, weak, tawny, stinking young man, whose body was grown over with hair, as a tree with moss; whose face was scorched with the Sun, and through blackness had lost its beauty; whose poor Rags that he had to his back, were all tottered and torn with creeping through the bushes of the Mountain, here hanging one piece, and there another. Himself beheld himself in that puddled water where the Swine drank, and did not know himself: And no marvel, seeing his Father that created him did not know him, he was so changed and altered from that he was. All these are Types and shadows of a man without God: And I call them shadows, for in truth neither these, nor many other the like indeering can express them to the full. One of the greatest martyrdoms that a man can suffer in this world, is, No misery so great, but sin will reduce us unto it. To serve a base Moor, that shall employ him in beating of hemp, in grinding in a Mill, in making Brooms, in rubbing Horses heels, and digging up roots of Thistles, whereof he must be content to make his meals. But none of these is so base an office as the keeping of a Hogsty; and God brought this Prodigal to this misery, to the end that the remembrance of his former happiness might amaze and confound him. According to that of jeremy, jerem. 17 All that forsake thee shall be confounded. And of David, Qui elongant se à te, peribunt. All such Prodigals as these shall remain confounded and abashed, and shall utterly perish, continuing in their sins. Yet there is in sin (if a man may so term it) some kind of good, in regard that those miseries which it bringeth with it, doth awaken and rouse a man from sleep. And as the Cough of the lungs is eased with a clap on the back, so is the sinner's heart, when Sin hammers upon it. He came to himself. Saint Ambrose saith, That sin doth not only separate the sinner from God, but also from himself. Chrysologus, daintily toucheth upon the same string, Cum recessit à patre (saith he) recessit à se, etc. When he departed from his father, he departed from himself; Leaving to be man, he came to be a beast; And that he might come to his father, he comes first to himself. There are some transformations, Psal. 32. that none can make, but Sin, and Grace. David, treating of the pardon of his sins, saith. Blessed is he, whose unrighteousness is forgiven, and whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man, unto whom the Lord imputeth no sin. Praising God in that Psalm, for having restored his understanding unto him. So S. Jerome expounds it. And albeit all sins do rob a man of his understanding, 〈◊〉 doth alienate and estrange a sinner from himself; yet dishonesty doth this more than all the rest. Solomon, treating of the tyranny of a Whore, saith, That she is like a Thief, which lies in wait in the way, to set upon careless men, and kill them ere they are aware. Et quos incautos viderit, interficit. A thief dares not set upon him that goes well accompanied, or that hath his pistols at his Saddlebow, and is well provided for him. The Devil sets upon us with the enticements of the flesh; against these allurements, we must arm ourselves with prayer, fasting, & mortification. But the careless man which lies open, and offers himself every moment to all occasions of sinning, that man he either robs, or kills, if not both; and leaves him so wholly besides himself, that he shall see the loss of his substance, of his honour, and of his health, with loathsome diseases; that he shall see himself despised, murmured at, pried into, and made the common byword of the City wherein he dwells, and shall not be sensible of the harm that hangeth over his head. And therefore Saint Paul preacheth unto us, Mortify your members which are upon the Earth, fornication, uncleanness, etc. For which the wrath of God cometh upon the children of unbelief. Another letter reads of Disobedience, For Dishonesty (as Thomas hath observed) doth in such sort harden and obdurate the soul, that it will neither hear admonitions, nor obey any counsel. And therefore (saith Osee) They will not give their minds to turn unto their God; Ose. 5.4. for the spirit of fornication is in the midst of them. Surgam, & ibo ad Patrem meum. I will rise, and go to my father. He resolved with himself to rise, For the posture of a sinner, The posture of a sinner is to lie grovelling. is jacere, To lie down. The just shall rise, but the sinner shall lie grovelling on the ground. Non resurgent impij in iudicio, The wicked shall not rise in judgement. It is true that all men shall rise, but the wicked non stabunt in iudicio, they shall not be able to stand to it, when they come to their trial, but shall hang the head. Petrus Chrysologus, paraphrasing those words of the Centurion, Puer meus iacet; saith that our Saviour did control this his speech, and that he said not well in saying, Puer meus, My boy lies sick. Whereunto he shapeth this answer for him, Meus est, quia iacet, si tuus esset, non iaceret, He is mine, because he lies; were he thine, he should not lie as he doth. There are many places of Scripture that prove and make good these two phrases of speech. And this very place confirmeth unto us, that sin is called a lying, or a falling; and righteousness a rising, or a standing. I will rise and go to my Father. Two Motives, might put him upon this determination. The one, His hunger, and the extreme want wherein he was. For albeit, it be a common saying, Que la pobreza, no es vileza; That it is no shame to be poor. Yet hunger is so sharp set, and of that strength and force, that it will break through stonewalls; it not only shakes off slothfulness, but adventures upon all difficulties, be they never so desperate. Valerius Maximus said, That her Laws, were cruel Laws: because they prohibit nothing. And if hunger put spurs to her heels, for to commit such great cruelties, as to force Mothers to 〈◊〉 their own children, she will use sharper rowels to achieve things that are lawful and honest. As to spur on this Prodigal, to return home to his father's house. And necessity doth not only open man's eyes, but also moves God's bowels to compassion of his wretched case. Da nobis auxilium de tribulatione, Afford us o Lord, that favour, which riseth from tribulation. And I say, which riseth, because his eye is ever weighting on those that are in affliction. The other, His calling to mind of his former felicity. The remembrance of forepassed felicity, a great means to bring usto Repentance. Saint Austen weigheth with himself, how much it importeth a man, to have been bred up in Virtue in the tender years of his youth: for living afterwards amidst the thorns and briers of sin, it pricks him up to a remembrance of that quietness of conscience, which he enjoyed before he became sin's slave. And when God preserves a sinner in his sin, and forbears to punish him according to his ill deservings, it ought to be a great motive unto him, to make him to leave it. It is a case worthy great admiration, that in that so general a destruction which the Babylonians made in jerusalem, burning their houses, pillaging their goods, and taking their lives from them, yet they should leave those captivated Citizen's, those instruments, wherewith they were wont to serve their God in his Temple. Saint Jerome, and Saint Basil are of opinion, That this was an especial providence, and dispensation of God, that in this their banishment, they should conserve the memory of their forepassed mirth and melody; that being provoked thereby to greater sorrow, they might bewail their sins, & recover some hope of their restoration. And the recordation of our lost good, is not only a great help to make man to return again unto himself, but also to move God to take compassion of him. Thou findest thyself so ouerburthened with the weight of thy sins, that thou art in a manner quite dejected with them; but for all this, be not put out of heart, but call to mind, that God was thy Father, and the Captain and Leader of thee forth in thy youth, and thy first Love and delight. And therefore, Amodo voca me, Henceforth call upon him. And no doubt but in doing so, God's bowels of compassion will show themselves tender unto thee. I will go to my Father, and say, I have sinned against Heaven, etc. He resolves to crave help of him whom he had offended; like unto your Magot-a-pyes, Confession in God's Court, the only way to Absolution. who being pursued by the Hawk, fly for succour to the Falconer, seeking shelter from him. So Samuel advised the people, when they had offended God, Vos fecistis malum grande, Ye have committed a great evil, yet nevertheless depart not from the Lord. If God be angry with thee, make him propitious to thee, not by flying from him, but by flying to him. Peccavi in Caelum. He says, That he had sinned against Heaven. More for that it was a witness against him, than for any harm that he had received from thence. For in your earthly Tribunals, with endearing our faults, we oftentimes increase our punishments; but in that of heaven, the more the delinquent condemns himself, the more he doth lessen his punishment. The reason is, for that sin may be considered two manner of ways. Either, as it is an offence against an infinite Goodness. Sin is an offenceto God & a wound to our own Souls. Or, as it is a wound, and misery to our Soul. As it is an offence, it calls for justice, and incenseth God's wrath against us. As it is a wound, it moveth him to mercy and to clemency. And as the greatest misery causeth the greatest compassion; the more a Sinner doth aggravat his sin, the more he doth extenuate God's anger, and worketh the more pity in him. Psal. 25.10. David harped upon this string; For thy Names sake, o Lord, be merciful unto my sin, for it is great; Lord, thy Mercy is above all thy Works; that the world should know thee by this name, is the greatest Attribute that thou takest delight in: for thy Names sake therefore let me beseech thee, that thou wilt have mercy on my misery, for it is exceeding great. Make me one of thy hired Servants. Gilbertus the Abbot saith, That these were very humble and submissive thoughts, as he was a Son, but somewhat too affronting for so free and liberal a Father: say his deservings were never so poor, never so mean, such weak hopes, and such a base opinion could not but be a great injury to so good and gracious a Father. Gregory Nazianzen saith of him, Others cannot receive more willingly, than he gives cheerfully. To the Covetous and to the Needy, there is not any content comparable to that of receiving; yet greater is the contentment which God taketh in giving. He revealed to Abraham his purposed punishment upon Sodom, and only because he should beg and entreat for their pardon: and this Patriarch was sooner weary in suing, than God in granting. And if God did demand his Son of him, it was not with an intent to have him sacrifice him, (for he diverted that Sacrifice) but to take occasion thereby to give him a type of the offering up of his own Son: giving a shadow of desert to that which came not within the compass of desert. What says the Abbot Guaricus? He that gave his son for the redeeming of Prodigals, What can he deny unto them. God's bounty often causeth our neglect. God is so liberal (saith Tertullian) that he loseth thereby much of his credit with us: for, the World gains a great opinion, when with a great deal of leisure, and a great deal of difficulty, it slowly proceeds in doing good; but God, he loseth this respect through his too much facility and frankness 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 show, could inwardly cause such supernatural effects, and such divine Graces, as in that blessed Sacrament of Baptism. When he was yet a great way off, etc. The Prodigal desired that his Father would entertain him into his service as an hired servant; and he had no sooner sight of him, but he ran with open arms to receive him, and was so ouerioyed to see him, and made him that cheer, that the Prodigal knew not how now to unfold his former conceived words. Saint john in form of a City saw that celestial jerusalem; and saith, That it had twelve gates, and in each of them an Angel; which did typify two things unto us: The one, That the gates were open. The Angels rejoice at our coming unto Heaven. The other, That the Angels showed the content they took in expecting our coming to Heaven. When thou dost not like of a guest, thou wilt get thee from the door; but if thou love him, thou wilt hast thither to receive him. But this his father did more; for he no sooner spied his son afar off, but he hasted out of his house to embrace him, & presently puts him into a new suit of clothes, that others might not see how tottered and torn he was returned home. But God went a step further than all this, for he repairs to him to the Pigges-stie to put good thoughts into his head. Love useth to make extraordinary haste in relieving the wants of those persons whom we love. And forasmuch as God loveth more than all the Fathers beside in the world, he made greater haste than any other Father could. Inclinavit C●elos & descendit, He bowed the Heavens and came down; That he might not detain himself in descending, he made the heavens to stoop. Solomon saith of Wisdom, That none shall prevent her diligence and care; Though he rise never so early to seek her, a man shall always find her sitting at his door. Assidentem enim illam foribus tuis invenies. So it is with God, he is still ready at hand to help us, we no sooner seek him, but he is found. Lord, for thy mercy sake, prevent us still with thy loving kindness, and by bringing us to a true acknowledgement of our sins, lead us the way to life everlasting. THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON, UPON THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. LUC. II. Erat Iesus eijciens Daemonium. And jesus was casting out a Devil, etc. IN this Gospel is contained that famous Miracle of one that was possessed with a Devil, being deaf, blind, and dumb. As also the applause of the People, the calumny and slander of those Pharisees, who did attribute it to the power of Belzebub. Our Saviour's defending himself with strong & forcible reasons. The good old woman who blessed the womb that bore our Saviour, and the Paps that gave him suck. Whose name was Marcelia: With whom the fruit of this Miracle endeth. Erat Iesus eijciens Daemonium. To unweave the Devil's Webs, and undo his Nets, God alo●e must untie the Devil's knots▪ is a work so sole and proper to God's omnipotency, that if the Devil's malice had not entangled the World therewith, God's goodness had not come to unknit it. And this I hold to be sound Divinity. First, Because it is the opinion of the most ancient and gravest Doctors. Secondly, For those places of Scripture it hath in its favour. As that of Esay, Is it a small thing, that thou shouldest be my Servant to raise up the Tribes of jacob, Esay 49. and to restore the desolations of Israel? But Saint john doth express this more plainly; Christ came into the world to this end, that he might destroy the works of the Devil, Now Dissoluere is properly, to undo a deceit that is wrought; Dissolve colligationes impietatis, Cancel those Obligations, Bonds, Schedules, & Acknowledgements, which thou hast unjustly drawn thy Creditors to set their hands thereunto. Omnem Cautionem fals●m (saith Symmachus) disrump: The Septuagint read it, Omnem Scripturam iniquam: Saint Hierome, Chirographa. And to the end that the drift of this Language may be the better understood; it is to be noted, That a man when he sins, sells himself to the Devil; making this sale good under his own hand writing. The Devil, he buys; and the Man, he sells; and the Damned confess as much in Hell; We have driven a bargain with Death, and have made a covenant with Hell. And if the Devil had proceeded herein fairly & honestly, and according to Law and justice, this knot would hardly have been unknit: but for that he is a Father of falsehood, of deceit, and of cozenage, there are three great annullities to be found in this his Contract. First, An enormous & excessive loss; buying that Soul for little or nothing, which cost an infintte price; Gratis venundati estis. Secondly, A notorious cozenage; in that he promised that which he was not able to perform; Sicut Dij. Thirdly, Man's being under years; it being a ruled Case, That any such sale, without the consent of the Guardian, is of no validity in Law: And that too, must be for the benefit of the Ward. Fourthly, That he that inhabits another man's house, if he use the same amiss, the Law takes order that he be turned out of it. Now, the Devil inhabiting this house of man, makes a dunghill thereof, and beside, pays no rent for it: to the Body, Fast are payable; to the Soul, Prayers; to the Goods, Alms: and these debts, are so many darts in the Devil's sides. It did belong therefore to our Saviour Christ, as being our elder brother, and the Guardian of our Souls, to disannul this sale. Saint Paul saith, That whatsoever act Adam had done, as the chief head and principal root of Mankind, our Saviour Christ had now canceled the same upon the Cross, Coloss. 2.14. Putting out the hand writing of Ordinances that was against us; which was contrary unto us, he even took it out of the way, and fastened it upon the Crosse. And for as much as every man through his manifold sins sells himself over and over to the Devil, not once, but many times; it was fitting that our Saviour Christ should as often blot and cancel this bill, and make it to be of none effect. And here saith our Evangelist, Erat Iesus eijciens Daemonium, jesus was casting forth a Devil. This word Erat implying the difficulty of getting him out, as also the long time of his continuance there. Erat Iesus eijciens Daemonium. Diversreasons, why Christ paused upon the casting out of this Devil. Christ did not presently cast out this Devil, but stayed and paused a while upon the matter; showing thereby, that it was not so easy a thing to be done as some thought it to be, but rather full of difficulty. What, can there be any difficulty for God to do? Is it possible that any thing should seem hard unto him? The Saints of God, and learned Doctors of the Church, render some reasons thereof on our part, some on the Devils, and some on our Saviour Christ's. On our part, God having free and absolute power over our Will, Who is able to oppugn his omnipotency? (1.) On our part. When Lucifer, & his followers played the Rebels in Heaven, it seeming to God too base an Office to punish them by his own person, he commanded Saint Michael the Archangel, that he should throw them thence like thunderbolts. These Devils, being thus tumbled down headlong from that so high a Tower, they sought out another stronger hold wherein to defend themselves, which was Man; and making themselves masters of this Fort, they made fast the Windows, and the Doors, shutting close the Eyes, Ears, and Mouth of Man. God himself in our person, laboured to put them out. But Man, abusing that liberty which God hath left unto him, & resigning it up into the Devil's hands, is the only cause that they maintain and defend this Fort against God. Gregory Nazianzen saith, That we play the Traitors, and conspire against God, against his Cross, and against his Blood, by selling ourselves daily anew unto the Devil. Our Saviour Christ had paid the ransom for all our sins upon the Cross, tearing that our handwriting & obligation in pieces, which we had made over to the Devil. But we, as if we repented ourselves thereof, make him a new bond, and bind ourselves anew unto him; Which is a great baseness in Man. Wilt thou receive an Apostata, a Traitor, a Fugitive, and one that is condemned for ever to the Galleys? There is no Inn half so vile, or so bad as thy Soul. For, if this harbour a thief, or a murderer, or a robber on the highway-side, it is upon hope of profit: But thou dost not only give him entertainment, but also spendest thy purse upon him, and dost protect and abett him against God. So that God hath a great deal more to do with poor silly Man, being but as a worm of the earth, than with the greatest Devil in Hell. There is also another reason on our part; To wit, The so often repeating of our sins over and over, their ancient standing, and their spreading (like a Cancer) still farther & farther upon our souls; Insomuch, that it will find God work, & cannot choose but cost him much labour. And the sores of our sins may be in that desperate case, that he is not able to cure them by ordinary means, but must use therein some great and strange Miracle. Thou puttest forth to Sea, thou sailest in the same ship with another passenger, thy friend and acquaintance, ye cabin togegether, eat together, and sleep together, continuing in this loving league of friendship, some six months or more. Thou boordest thyself with thy neighbour, livest under the same roof with him some thirty years and upwards, and all this while ye continue very good friends. Sure it must be a very great occasion that must part ye twain, and either cool, 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 gainsaying of it. Such a one, thou art wont to say; she is my Life, my Soul, my dear Heart, dearer unto me than mine own eyes. Though thou hast lived thus and thus many years, and so much to thy content and delight in conversation and friendship with the Devil, & though I must confess, 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 clear but with much pain. But let me tell thee withal, that when thy demoniated soul, shall place all its whole pleasure and delight in the Devil's company, make him her best beloved, & hug him in her arms, and spread out the lappet of her garment for him; then shall it be in my Litany, Lord have mercy upon thee. For when sin grows to that height, it is almost out of reach, to do any good upon it. Pope Clement saith of Simon Magus, that he could not be cu●ed, Quia voluntarie agr●tabat, Because he was willing to be sick. And that his soul had made such an inseparable knot with the Devil, Que quien le apartara, le matara, That he that should pull him from him, must pull away life and soul together. Saint Mark tells us, That his Disciples being not able to dispossess a young man of the Devil, they brought him to our Saviour Christ. And he demanding of them that brought him unto him, how long he had been tormented with him; They answered, From his childhood. Our Saviour healed him; But I remember the Text says, Factus est sicut mortuus, ita ut multi dicerent, quia iam mortuus est, He was as one dead, in so much that many said, He is dead. This young man was so wedded to the Devil, that many could not pull him from him; and being taken from the Devil, he was as a dead man. He had kept him company so long, that the Devil was to him, as his life. And this is the mark of such persons as give themselves over to the pleasures of this World: For living without them but three days in the Holy-weeke, they think themselves dead. (2.) Reasons on the Devil's part. On the Devil's part, there are likewise many forcible reasons. First of all, This foul Fiend leaves a Soul so blind, so deaf, and so dumb, that he doth not feel the hurt of so infamous a dwelling. And therefore the Church useth to pray against the Spirit of Fornication. Seneca calls a woman, The Sepulchre of Vice; and there is no dumb man so dumb, nor no blind man so blind, as he that lies dead in the Grave; nor no less blind and dumb, as he that is buried in the fond affection of a woman: Melior est iniquitas viri, quam benefaciens mulier. Thy enemy will do thee less harm than thy Mistress: The worst that he can do, is to kill thee and take away thy life; but she will take from thee thy goods, thy life, and thy soul. David giving thanks unto God for freeing him from his former troubles, Psal. 126. said, Dirupisti Domine vincula mea, Thou hast broken, o Lord, my bonds in sunder. What bonds were those? Ecclesiasticus answers, Vincula sunt manus illis, The embracements of a woman. And in another place he saith, Eruisti animam meam ex inferno inferiori, Thou hast brought my soul out of the lowermost Hell. Psal. 86. It seemeth that he styleth this lowermost Hell, his Adultery: and that this should be the sense of it, there is great reason for it; for that is the lowermost Hell from whence God (speaking according to our understanding) can draw a man out with greatest difficulty. For though God could with a great deal of ease have taken judas out of the Hell of the Damned, yet he could nor but by some extraordinary means, feteh him from the Hell of his treason. job jumping upon this conceit, draws his comparison from the hard labour of a woman in travel; Obstetricante manu eius, eductus est coluber tortuosus. Wherein we are to consider the diligences which a Midwife useth, when that which is to be borne, comes athwart, & crosses nature in its common course: but what a do would there be, if this birth should prove to be a Snake or a Serpent? Secondly, The difficulty lies not so much in the Devil's strength, as in his subtlety. Gen. 3. Erat Serpens calidior omnibus animalibus terrae. He doth not say he was stronger, but subtler: For, to hunt in thick and bushy Mountains, we had need of more tricks and devices, than if we did hunt in an open and champain Country: We must have good store of weapons, gins, nets, and Ferrets, which may creep in without any noise. Ipse liberavit me de laqueo venancium. The Apocalyps paints out the Devil in the form of a Locust, Apoc. 9 but armed, having the face of a man, the hairs of a woman, and the mouth of a Lyon. He compares him to a Locust, because he devours and destroys all: His means, he maketh, Man's deceiving, Woman's enticing, and the Lion's cruelty. Thirdly, The difficulty likewise consisteth in the Devil's pertinacy and obstinacy, who never ceaseth to ply and importune thee: And if at any time thou make thy peace with God, the Devil will not suffer it to last long; and converting it but into a truce for a time, he returns back again to this clean (as thou thinkest) swept house of thine: but the broom, through some default or other, hath not swept away all the filth and the dirt. The Devil will leave thee for a time, but like a fit of an Ague he will return again unto thee. That Fever is not perfectly cured that comes again the third day; nor that house clean, where the dirt sticks in the floor. He that only overcomes, and not kills his enemy, cannot rest secure, especially where there is an impossibility of peace. The Devil being overcome, grows more fierce than before; What will he do then if he take thee unprovided? That Soldier which whilst the war lasts leaveth off his Arms, and carelessly walks up and down; such occasions may offer themselves unto him, that he may too late repent him of his folly. That valiant Captain Ehud, mentioned in the book of judges, feigned that he had something to impart to King Eglon in private; and they withdrawing themselves into a Summer Parlour where they sat all alone, (there being wars between them at that time) putting forth his left hand, and taking a dagger from his right thigh, he thrust it into his belly, and the haft entering in after the blade, it was buried in the fat that was about it. Whereas this King, had he done well, he should not (considerng there was war between them) have gone disarmed. What saith Saint Paul unto thee, Accipite Armaturam Fidei. Those weapons of Faith, Ephes. 6. together with its Armour, are of more enchantment against Hell, than those which the Fables feign to be wrought by Vulcan. That which imports a Christian, is never to go without them, because he is in a continual warfare. On Christ's part there is also some difficulty, (3) Reasons on Christ's part. job 40.20. because this Victory must be performed with triumph. job discoursing of the Devil, in that metaphor of the great Leviathan; God said unto him, Canst thou draw out Leviathan with a hook, and with a line which thou shalt cast down unto his tongue? Canst thou cast a hook into his nose, canst thou pierce his jaws with an Angle? etc. Thou wilt say, thou canst, but I hardly believe it. To conquer the Devil thou wilt think it no great matter, and that the victory is not so glorious as it makes show for. Be it so: but to fetter and manacle him in that manner that little children may play with him without any danger, this is something to the purpose. Vniversa arma eius aufer in quibus confidebat: This is a taking away of his sword, and bea●ing him with the scabbard; than the which, nothing can be a greater scorn unto him. The Roman Emperors, for the better celebration of their victories with Triumphs, did much grieve in the deaths of those whom they had conquered. Marcellus sorrowed for the death of Archimedes'; Caesar, for that of Cleopatra, because it seemed to be an eclipse to the glory of their triumphs. But it was fitting that our Saviour Christ should be partaker of this glory, and enjoy so glorious a Triumph; Expolians Principatus & potestates traduxit confidenter; Palam triumphans illos in semetipso. Et illud erat mutum, And that was dumb. Saint Luke makes him dumb; Saint Matthew, blind: Luc. 11. Mat. 12. And from his dumbness those that comment thereupon infer his deafness. Saint Chrysostome, Tertullian, and Saint Hierome say, That the Hebrew word Cophos signifieth Dumb and deaf; and our Interpreter translates it in the seventh of Mark, Surdum & mutum. To Tytus Bostrensis, Lyra, and Euthimius, it seemeth that he was not deaf, for that his dumbness not being natural, the Devil might make him dumb, but not deaf, leaving him his hearing for his greater torment. And that was dumb. He being both blind, and deaf, Saint Luke makes mention, that he was only dumb. Which he purposely did (as Saint Austen hath observed) to sign out unto us the greatest ill that could befall him. For, as long as a sinner hath a tongue, he need not to despair. job being become as it were a Sieve upon the dunghill, could yet make this boast, Derelicta sunt tantummodo labia circa dentes meos, Only my lips are left about my teeth. This only was enough to bring the Prodigal again to prosperity: When he had spent all, yet his tongue was left free unto him, to say, I will go unto my Father. And this is sufficient, for to repair thy losses. Your dumb men being desirous to speak, multiply signs and gestures, esteeming their dumbness their greatest unhappiness. A Christian being asked, Hearest thou Sermons, givest thou alms, losest thou those that are in bonds, clothest thou the naked, etc. He answered, Yes. But dost thou confess thy sins? To that he said, No. This, of all other miseries is the greatest. O Lord (saith he) it were a great shame unto me, that I should reveal that to Man, which I would (if I could) conceal from God. But Ecclesiastic●● answereth hereunto, That there is a shame, that bringeth sin with it; And there is a shame, which bringeth Grace and Glory. The Thief, he confesses his offence, he is ashamed thereat, and curses the father that begot him. The repentant sinner, he likewise confesses his faults, and is ashamed that he should so offend his Creator; but withal, remains comforted with the hope of his Grace and of his Glory. Without confession no true comfort. And no doubt, where there is a true confession of our sins, experience teacheth us, that God there dwelleth and abideth in us. For otherwise it were not possible that a sinner should be at quiet in his conscience. And therefore the Counsel of Trent saith, that shame of our sins were a great confounding unto us, if it were not quickened and heartened up with the comfort of Grace. Osee makes a comparison of an untoward daughter, yet somewhat shamefaced withal, who covers her being with child, with the name of oppilations and obstructions; but being put hard unto it, and throughly examined by her Mother, she confesseth the truth, that there may be some course taken to salve her credit; swearing and forswearing before, that there was no such matter, and cursing herself to the pit of Hell: but the day comes at last, wherein the treading of her shoe awry, is discovered to those of the house, and without doors, Osee. 13. The Devil's craft is to shut up our mouths from Confession. so her credit is cracked ever after as long as she lives. The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, his sin is hid. The sorrows of a travelling woman shall come upon him. What a deal of confusion and shame shall he be free from, that shall confess his fault? Saint Chrysostome saith, That God placeth shame, in sin; and comfort, in confession. Whereas the Devil, in sin, placeth presumption; and and in confession, shame. Plutarch saith, That as a moderate shame, is a guard to innocence, a wall to honesty, and a general ornament to all the Virtues; so too much shame on the other side, is a spoil and ruin to them all. Saint Austen saith, That it is a foulness and weakness of our understanding, that thou shouldst be ashamed to confess that to one particular man in private, which peradventure thou hast committed in the company of many, and in the presence of a multitude. Amongst other imprecations which job hath against himself, this is one, Si abscondi peccatum, etc. If I have concealed, or kept secret my sin. When the Devil opened Adam's mouth to eat the Apple, he did likewise shut it up from the confessing of his fault. Pope Gregory saith, That when God did ask Adam, Vbi es, Where art thou? he then pretended, had he willingly and readily confessed his fault, not only to have pardoned him his offence, but to have restored likewise all that good which he had lost, both to himself, and his posterity. Saint Austen is of the same opinion. And Saint Bernard saith, That he did not hurt himself more by his disobedience, than by seeking to excuse his sin. For this his transgression, had he dealt fairly and plainly with God, might perhaps have been repaired. And Tostatus sticketh not to affirm, Gen. 39 That if he had forthwith accused himself, he had freed all his succession: For albeit he afterwards repented him of what he had done, Wis. 10.1. and that God had forgiven him his sin (Eduxit illum à delicto suo, For he brought him out of his offence, as we read in the first of Wisdom) yet did he neither restore unto him his original innocence, nor that Paradise wherein he had placed him. Your School Divines bring many strong Arguments against this opinion; but the authority of such grave and holy fathers as we have here alleged, may serve to make it probable. And that was dumb. God gave Man a tongue, that therewith he might praise his Creator; Lingua mea meditatur justiciam tota die, laudem tuam, My tongue doth meditate on thy righteousness and praise all the day long. Now the Devil he is so great an enemy to those praises & thanksgivings which we offer unto God, that he studies to make that tongue dumb which therein shall employ itself. David touching but his Harp, forced that Devil to take his heels, that tormented Saul. And albeit Caietan saith, That this evil Spirit was but an excess of melancholy, and that David's music did diminish it for the time, and gave him ease; yet experience teacheth us, that the sweetness of music doth as well increase sorrow, as stir up joy. And therefore we may take this for a most certain and undoubted truth, That David's Harp did serve as an Instrument wherewith to praise God, by singing Hymns and Psalms unto him; Confitebor tibi in cythera Deus, I will praise thee upon the Harp, o Lord. This Harp of David's is to the Devil as unpleasing to his ear, as Christ's Cross is to his eye; he cannot endure the sound of the one, nor the sight of the other. And that was dumb. Man's Tongue is not only bound to praise God, Dumb ministers the Devil's best agents. Ose. 4.8. but likewise to benefit our Neighbour; one while by preaching in public; another while by advising in secret. In this kind of sin your Confessors are faulty, who (as Osee saith of them) eat up the sins of my people, and lift up their minds in their iniquity: making good those words that immediately follow; Like People, like Priest. So likewise are your Preachers who sow Cushions under Prince's elbows, and for fear of offending, refuse to reprehend sin: And these Esay calls Dumb Dogs. The Dog barks at some, bites at other some, and heals others with his tongue, being in itself very medicinable. Diogenes reproved all his citizen's, laying before them their particular faults; he reprehended the Poets, for that they railed in their Verses against other men's i'll manners, and yet never amended their own misdemeanours: Musicians, that being able to tune so well their Instruments, they could never as yet tune their Souls aright: judiciary Astrologers, that divining of other men's misfortunes, they could never divine of their own: Lewd livers, that having so many good words in their mouths, they should do such bad deeds: Covetous Misers, that blaspheming money in public, they adored it in private: Gluttons, that desiring health of God, they did daily overthrow their bodies by over-eating and overdrinking themselves till they fell a vomiting as they sat at board: Of those that can be content to far well themselves, and not bring good tidings to their brethren: The leprous men in the fourth of the Kings could find fault therewith, 4. Kings 7.9. when they said one to another, We do not well; this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace. And that was dumb. It is strange, That the Devil getting so much as he daily doth by man's speech, should labour to make him dumb; more harm growing to man by the former than the latter. First, It is to be proved, That of a hundred that were possessed with Devils, you shall find but one only that was dumb; they are all of them exceeding great talkers, flatterers, and liars: And that they might prate the more, they talk in diverse tongues, not only in that which is their own natural Language, but also in Latin, in Greek, etc. Saint Ambrose hath noted it, That the Devil's downfall took its beginning from his talking; Dicebat enim in cord suo, ascendam in Caelum, For he said in his heart, I will ascend up into Heaven: And our destruction began with the conversation that he had with Eue. julian the Apostata makes a jest of it, That a Serpent should speak: Which Saint Ciril chose rather to prove by the testimonies of Philosophers & Poets, than by Scripture, because this blasphemous wretch gave more credit to them, than to the Word of God. Homer saith, That Ulysses his Horse spoke unto him, forewarning him of his death. Porphyrius saith, that Caucasus spoke; & that Pythagoras passing by, it saluted him with a Salve Pythagora. Phylostratus saith, That Apollonius coming to the Gymnosophistae, an Elm (under whose shade being weary he sat him down) spoke unto him, and told him, That he was very welcome. And Siginius reporteth of jupiters' Bull, That he spoke like a man. If the Devil then can speak by Horses, by Bulls, by Trees, and the like, he may as well speak by a Serpent; And why not by that Serpent more than any other, that was to be the instrument to overthrow all Mankind? Secondly, Out of many places of holy Scripture, observations of the Saints of God, and out of the opinions of many learned Doctors, Philosophers, and Poets, in favour of this point, two manifest truths are proved to arise from hence, and have their first beginnings. The one, That an evil tongue is the leaven of all our ill. The other, That a good tongue is the sum of all our good. The first, Experience at every turn teacheth it unto us. Whose are those blasphemies against God and his holy Saints, but of a sacrilegious tongue? Whose those inconsiderate injuries, but of a rash and unadvised tongue? Whose those infamies and detractions, but of a backbiting tongue? Whose, those dishonest words and lascivious Songs, but of a filthy tongue? Whose, those sowings of discord amongst brethren, those dissoluing of marriages, those blottings of men's good names, those soyling of your Clergies Coat, your Priests Surplices, your Bishop's Rotchets, your Widow's decent dressing, your Maidens modest attire, but of a dirty slabbering tongue? Saint Hierome saith, That the Devil left jobs lips untouched, hoping that with them he would have cursed God, as he promised to himself before hand; Stretch out thy hand and touch but his bones and his flesh, job. 2.5. and then see if he will not blaspheme thee to thy face. Saint Ambrose saith, Plagam suam silentio vicit, He subdued his pain by silence. And the self same father saith, That if Eve had not spoken with the Serpent, or if she had but eaten the Apple, & had said nothing thereof to Adam▪ we had not come to that so great misery and misfortune whereinto we fel. The Devil did not desire to make Eve so much a Glutton, as a Prattler: her talking with Adam did undo us all. S. james qualifies both these tongues. The one he terms a fire, that burns and consumes all that comes in its way; and to be the only main cause of all mischief. Of the other he saith, That man is perfect that offends not in his tongue. In our Book De Amore, we have a whole Chapter touching this ill, and this good. But how is it possible, that the Devil should seek to favour the ill, and disfavor the good? Saint Augustine answers this in one word; This man having been heretofore a great talker, the Devil made him dumb, lest by confessing his faults, he might repair those losses which he had run into by overlashing with his tongue. Dumb, deaf, blind, and possessed with a Devil. This massacre which the Devil wrought upon the body of this man, represents that cruel massacre which he daily executes upon men's souls: For though he takes pleasure in the possession of a man's body, yet his main pretence is to prejudice the soul, and like a Worm in wood, to eat out the very heart and pith thereof. Imagine a Horse prepared for the Kings own riding, beautiful, and richly betrapped; let thy thought represent such a one unto thee, and a Rogue that hath never a shoe to his foot, nor a rag to his tail, mounted thereupon, and proudly bestriding him; Imagine a bed like that of Salomon's, or that of the Spouse, clean, neat, and strewed with Flowers, and an Oyleman, a Collier, or a Scullion put into it; so is it with the Soul possessed by the Devil. It is a common doubt, yet fit for this Story, Why God permitteth that the Devil should do so much mischief to man? We know that this the Devil's rage towards man, began ever since that God purposed to make his Son, man; and holding himself affronted, that he was not an Angel, he vowed and swore the death of man. And therefore it is said of him, He was a Murderer from the beginning: And this made our Saviour to say unto the Pharisees, Ye are of your Father the Devil, for that ye seek to fulfil his will, Who putting Christ to death, did accomplish that which the Devil had sworn. And hence ariseth that hatred and enmity which he beareth to man in general, and the harm which he either does or seeks to do him; thinking with himself (as Tertullian noteth it) that the greater hurt he doth unto man, the greater stones he throws against God. But suppose, That without the will of God he cannot do us any harm, Why God permits him to be so mischievous. 2. Mac. 3. Why doth he permit, that this his living Temple, consecrated with his holy oil, being the habitation of his delight, should be made a Hogs-stie for Devils? When Heliodorus profaning the holy Temple of jerusalem, entered thereinto, there met him an armed Knight in harness of gold, sitting upon a fierce Horse richly barbed, who smote at Heliodorus with his fore-feets throwing him down to the ground. This was no sooner done, but there presently appeared two young men, notable in strength, excellent in beauty, and comely in apparel, which stood by him on either side and scourged him continually, and gave him many sore stripes till he was ready to give up the ghost: and all the People praised the Lord, that he had honoured his own place with so great and strange a miracle. But Heliodorus escaped in the end with life, at the intercession of Onias the Highpriest: And the King ask Heliodorus afterwards, Who were meet to be sent yet once again to jerusalem? he said, If thou hast any enemy or traitor, send him thither, and thou shalt receive him well scourged, if he escape with his life: for in that place, no doubt there is an especial power of God. But a more sweet & pleasing temple unto God than jerusalem, is the body & soul of man; Templum Dei, etc. The Temple of God is holy, which Temple ye be. He made a promise to jerusalem, that no uncircumcised person should put his foot within it, much less do any harm unto it. How then doth God consent, that the devils should lodge so long in man, and should trample and tread him under foot, and torment him in that extreme manner as they do? Saint Chrysostome in his books De Providentia, doth multiply reasons hereupon: and in his second part he setteth down six; the chiefest whereof I take to be, The fear and terror which God pretendeth to put man in with the sight of one possessed with a Devil. There are many men in the world, whom God must bring unto him by ill; for good will do no good upon them. Saint Augustine expounding that verse of David, Descendant in infernum viventes, Let them go down alive into the Pit; addeth, Ne descendant morientes, Let them not go down dead. Old wives say, That we must go Saint james his way, either in our life or our death. But more truly may it be said of Hell, That to the end we may not go into it at our death, we must enter into it in our life: not like Dathan and Abiram, who went down quick into it, but with the consideration and earnest thinking of him that is possessed with a Devil. For if in this life, when as yet the final sentence is not given, the Devil doth use a Sinner thus hardly; What will he do unto him when God shall seal his Warrant for Hell, and pronounce condemnation againsthim? Origen noteth it, That there was not any kind of pain in the world, wherewith the Devil did not torment job; afflicting him with the fires of Saint Anthony, the sores of Lazarus, the Colic, the Gout, the Canker, etc. Effudit viscera eius. Galen saith, It is impossible that many Infirmities should meet together in one and the self same part of the body: But in job, in every part of his body the Devil had put pain upon pain, and sore upon sore. Now if on him such rigour was shown, who was appointed to be the pattern of Patience; What cruel torments shall be executed on him that is to be made the example of God's divine justice. The second reason is, That in the infancy of the Church, it was fitting that there should be some chastisements that should carry a sound and a noise with them; to the end that (as Dionysius hath noted it) the Wicked might be terrified therewith. In the Old Testament God took this course, Vae tibi cimbalo alarm. Esay speaks this of Egypt, he terms it a Bell with wings; for the severe and many strokes which the bell with wings shall beat it withal. It is an excellent Symbol of Fame, because as it flies, it sends forth a shrill sound. Appian the historian calls the Emperor Tiberius, The Cymbal of the world, because his fame did ring and sound through all the nations of the Earth. After many other plagues, God threatened the Egyptians with a murrain 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 Kingdom is strucken into fear and amazement, (for that clapper never wags but upon some strange and extraordinary occasion) so the whole world was strucken into a great fear of those rods and scourges wherewith the Egyptians were so sorely beaten. josh. 2.9.11. Rahab said unto the Spies which entered into jerico, Our hearts did faint, and there remained no more courage in any, because of you; For I know that the Lord hath given you the Land, and that the fear of you is fallen upon us. And the Princes of the Philistines could say unto their People, Be ye not rebellious and stiff necked, lest it happen unto you as it did unto Egypt. It remained for a Proverb to after Ages, The Plagues of Egypt light upon thee. To this end God permitted in the primitive Church many demoniated persons; some, for forsaking the Faith; some, for abusing the Sacraments; others, for blasphemies, and the like: Himineus and Alexander were delivered over unto Satan, 1. Tim. 1.20. that they might learn, not to blaspheme; others, for incest; others, for pride: so (according to Epiphan. & S. Hier.) Nebucadnezar was by the Devil turned into a beast: others, for their envy, [Spiritus Domini mali vigebat Saul.] But that the Devil should make a man deaf, blind, and dumb, this of all other is the sevearest punishment: This is, To deliver men o●●r to a reprobate sense, that they may do those things which are not fitting for them. Thomas saith, That God suffers this (yet not being the Author of so great an ill) by removing for a time his especial favour, & leaving the Understanding to walk a while in darkness. The Sun is the universal cause of the light; but if a man will shut up his doors and his windows close, it is his own fault If he abide in darkness. God is the universal cause of the spiritual light of our Souls; but if any one shall despise this Light, he useth to leave him in the dark. And hence was it, that these three inconveniences did befall this man, to wit, Deafness, Blindness, and Dumbness, which was one of the greatest rigours of his justice.. Esay saith, I saw the Lord sitting upon a high Throne; Esay 6. like a judge that sits in state, the house full of smoke, and the Seraphins of fire, publish his fury, and the sent of their sins which had gone up into his nostrils. Those two Seraphins that covered God's face, are a representation of his wrath; Though when the time of punishing is come, God useth to open his eyes: but now the Seraphins cover his eyes, in token that he would strike this man with blindness. 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 aggrava. Other Interpreters use the Imperative, uttering this sentence in a commanding kind of voice; Excaecetur cor populi huius, etc. Let the heart of this people be made blind, and their ears dull. Cum ejecisset Daemonium, locutus est mutus. When the Devil was gone out, the Dumb spoke. The Devil was first to be driven out, before the Dumb could speak. First, The door or the window is to be opened, that the light may come in: First, you must turn the cock of the Conduit, or pluck out the stopple, before the water can gush out. The penitent man must first cast the Devil out of his bosom, before he can make any good Confession: First, the Preacher must cast him out of his heart, before he can preach any sound Doctrine. What confession can a Sinner make, while the Devil dwells in his soul? What sorrow or feeling can he have of his former faults? What purpose of amendment for the future? What acknowledgement of the heinousness of his crimes? What shame, or what fear of offending? Anciently men did confess themselves only unto God, to whom every secret of the heart was so open, that man's thought and intention was sufficient; with the penitent, his condemning himself by his own mouth. Yet notwithstanding, Ezechias said, I will recount all my years in the bitterness of my soul. And David, Anni mei sicut araneae meditabuntur; With that care and melancholy wherewith the spiders wove their webs, drawing every thread out of their own bowels, so will I meditate on the years of my life, drawing out threads of sorrow and repentance for every fault that I shall commit, from the bottom of my heart. If thou canst be content to employ all thy senses for the good of thy body, & not do the like for thy soul, thou dost therein wrong thy soul, heaven, and God. Thou weepest and wailest for the loss of these earthly goods, but sheddest not a tear for the loss of those rich treasures of heaven. Two things are enjoined the penitent: Two things required in every true Penitent. The one, a full and entire Confession. The other, a strict examination of their own conscience. And that so strict as may befit so great and weighty a business as is the salvation of the Soul; and then may the Dumb speak, and the Preacher preach. For if the Devil be still pulling him by the sleeve, what good crop can he render unto God, of his Hearers? What light can he give to his Auditory, who is himself possessed by the Prince of Darkness▪ Open thou my lips, o Lord, & I shall set forth thy praise; do thou pardon me my sins, & I shall sincerely preach thy Word. The Scribes & Pharisees, who were teachers, but not doers of the Law, jeremy calls them false Scribes, What they wrought with their pen, they blotted out with their works. The like kind of fault that party committeth, who singeth Psalms unto God in the Choir, and yet hath the Devil in his breast: And then, how different must this man's thoughts be from his words? He can hardly say, Confitebor tibi Domine in toto corde meo, I will confess unto the Lord with my whole heart, as long as he hath given himself over unto Satan. The Dumb spoke. This man prostrating himself at our Saviour's feet, might very well say, Bless the Lord, o my Soul, and all that is in me praise his holy Name: The Lord looseth them that are bound; the Lord inlightneth the Blind: Praise the Lord, o my Soul, I will praise the Lord in my whole life. A Sinner that truly reputes himself, The justifying of Souls a greater act of mercy, than the creating of Angels. and that sees himself freed from the Devil, and from Hell, is never satisfied with giving thanks unto God, and in praising his holy Name, as oft as he considers the great mercy which God hath showed towards him. Saint Augustine saith, That although the creating of Angels, and the justifying of Souls, do equally argue Gods great power; yet the second is an act of far greater mercy. He casteth out Devils through Beelzebub the chief of the Devils. Origen, Saint Augustine, and Saint Ambrose say, That the Devils have their studies and their cares apart: This is their first Tenent; Some (say they) treat of Avarice; some, of Luxury; others, of Ambition; others, of Revenge; some perturb men's minds, occasioning great sorrow; others, excess of foolish joy and mirth. Secondly, They hold, That in every one of these several vices there is a superior Devil, which hath command over many that are inferior unto him; And he that is the Chieftain of one of these Legions, is not obedient to any Saint whatsoever, except him that excels in humility, whose lowliness of mind may be able to encounter with his pride of heart. S. Mark relateth, That our Saviour delivering one over that was possessed of a Devil, to his Disciples, to the end that they should make him whole; howbeit they had boasted, That Devils also were subject unto them; yet they could not do it. Afterwards ask jesus the cause of their not curing him, he answered, Such kind of Devils as these, are not cast out but with Prayer and fasting. This Devil should seem to be a Prince of some Legion, and none could do any good upon him, save such Saints of God as were wonderful meek and humble, and with Fast did beat down the body of sin, and by frequent and fervent prayer, prostrate their Souls. Thirdly, Many of these devils do possess diverse parts of the body which correspond with that vice which they are subject to: And as the soldier, who sealing a wall or a fort, sticks his dagger or his Pike in some part of the wall where he means to get up; so the Devil seeks to pitch his standard there where he may advance it with most ease, and most to his honour and glory. Alfegor that dishonest Devil, domineers most in the Loins, (as it is noted by Saint Gregory in his Exposition of that place upon job, job. 3. Virtus eius in lumbis eius, His strength lies in his loins.) Pluto the Prince of Covetousness reigns most in the hands: Our Saviour Christ healed a hand that was withered; Luk. 16. signifying thereby, That it was a covetous hand, and yielded not the fruit of good works. 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 gave 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 certain filthy and loathsome Flies; or for that the Flies are always buzzing about the head and face; or because the Devil and these Flies are much alike in their evil disposition, [According to that of Solomon, Muscu morientes, perdunt suavitatem ●●guenti, Dead Flies do mar the sweetness of the Ointment;] or for that the Fly is the Emblem of a proud Devil; Ipse est Rex super omnes filios superbiae. This Devil is a proud daring Devil: proud in his Motto, Similis ero Altissimo, I will be like to the most High: and proud in that his proffer, To have the King of Kings our Saviour Christ to do him homage; H●c omnia tibi dabo, si cadens adoraveris me, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Or whither he were so called for that other attribute of his, to wit, his daringness and his audaciousness; Nihil audacius musca, Nothing bolder than a Fly: And for this cause (saith Homer) did the Lacedæmonians bear Flies for their Device in their Shields; which is confirmed by Pierius. The Devil occupieth the North, I will set in the sides of the North. From the North cometh all evil; jerem. 1. Esay 14. Your Flies they do the like. Pliny saith, That your Bees are forced to forsake their hives, and to fly out of your Northern parts, for the trouble that the Flies there give them. The Devil is importunate, impudent, never ceaseth, never grows weary with tempting us: And no less vexative and troublesome are your Flies. Saint Gregory calls these our sensual imaginations, Flies. Pierius reporteth, That to the importunate man they gave the name of Fly; And there is no such busy body as the Devil. Lastly, Your Flies do abound most in the Dog days; and the greater is the heat of our sensualities, the greater store of Devils it hatcheth. Of Marie Magdalen Saint Luke saith, That our Saviour Christ cast out of her seven Devils. And howbeit there were other great Gods amongst the Gentiles, (according to Vatablus his report) as one Balberid; that is, Dominus Fideus, that presideth in all kind of dealing and contractations in Inns and Victualling houses; and was so rich an Idol, by reason of the great Alms and devotions which your Traders and dealers in the world did offer unto him, that by the help thereof, Abimelech killing seventy of his brethren, carried away the Kingdom of Israel. There was likewise one Belfegor, who did command in Chief in Gluttony; and was a very poor Idol, in regard that they who were devoted unto him, spent all that they could rape and wring, in bellie-cheere and gourmandizing. Notwithstanding all these, Beelzebub, whom they likewise called the God of Acheron, was more famous than all the rest of that rabble. And the Prophets for to divert the People from the adoration of these Idols, did impose infamous names upon them, as Beelzebub God of the Flies. And the People wondered. Acknowledging, That they had never seen so prodigious a miracle in Israel [Nunquam apparuit sic in Israel;] Insomuch that some of them whispered amongst themselves, That he was the Son of God; Mat. 9 Mat. 12. Nunquid ●ic est Filius Dei? others did desire signs from Heaven; others said, In Beelzebub, etc. Saint Hierome saith, That this was that Devil which deceived Eve; as also he that tempted our Saviour jesus Christ. But here is to be seen a greater miracle than this, That Christ giving sight to this one blind man, should leave so many others more blind than he: Which made Esay cry out, Obstupescite, Esay 29. & admira●ini, Stay yourselves, and wonder, they are blind, and make you blind. It were able to strike a man into amazement, to see that a poor silly old woman should see the light of Heaven, and the blind likewise that is borne blind; and that the Scribes and Pharisees should continue so blind as they do. The heart that is hardened is like unto the Anuile, which the more you beat upon it, the harder it waxeth: Or like unto sand, which the more the waters wash it, the closer it settles, and grows the tougher. 1. Reg. 2.5. Of Nabals' heart, the Scripture saith, Mortuum est cor eius, & factum est quasi lapis, That his heart died within him, and that he was like a stone. Saint Bernard gives us five marks, by which we may know the hardness of a man's heart. The first, Neque compunctione scinditur, It is not touched with compunction, It hath no feeling of its hurt, and perdition. Our Saviour healing one that was possessed with a Devil, Suspiciens Caelum, ingemuit, Casting his eyes up to Heaven, he wept and lamented; mourning for him, that mourned not for himself. Alexander would have killed himself, for having killed his friend Clitus▪ L●●cretia stabbed herself, when she saw she had lost her honesty. But the sinner, is not sensible of far greater losses than these. The second, Nec pietate mollitur. It is not mollified with God's Pity and Mercy towards it. The clemency which he showeth towards it, aught to reduce it to repentance; Rom. 2. But it despiseth (as Saint Paul saith) the riches of his goodness, and longanimity. And these are riches, that are treasured up to their owner's condemnation. God treasures up Mercy for thee, and thou treasurest up Wrath against the day of Vengeance. All which shall turn to thine own hurt. The third, Nec movetur precibus. It is not moved with prayers and entreaties. Tota die (saith Esay) etc. Esay. 65.2. Rom. 10. I have spread out mine hand all the day long to a rebellious people. The self same words, are repeated again by Saint Paul. To beg with hands lifted up, is a ceremony which men use with God; & God saith, that he useth the like with men, as if he were Man, and Man God. The fourth, Flagellis induratur. Like that of Pharaoh; The more he is punished, the more his heart is hardened. According to that of job, Cor eius indurabitur quasi lapis, & stringetur quasi malleatoris incus. His heart shall be hardened as a stone, or as the anvil, that is hammered on by the Smith. Whereunto, suiteth that of jeremy, Induraverunt facies suas super Petram, They have made their faces harder than a stone. The fifth, Inhumanum, propter res humanas. Inhuman to itself for humane commodities, Who like Narcissus, being in love with their own beauty, will rather dye, than forsake so vain a shadow. Of these men, it may be said, We have made a league with Death, and a covenant with Hell. The appointed time shall overtake these men, or some disperat sickness shall cease upon them. Thou shalt preach to one of these obstinate sinners, That he confess himself, & make his peace with God, by acknowledging his sins, by being heartily sorry for the same, and by craving pardon and forgiveness of God: But his answer will be, What, Shall men think that I do it out of fear? No, I am no such coward, etc. All these conditions are summed up in those which our Saviour uttered of the evil judge. Nec Deum timeo, nec homines Vereor, I fear neither God nor Man. Others tempted him, seeking a sign from Heaven. From this variety of opinions, Saint Austen inferreth the little reckoning that we are to make as well of men's judgements, No scourge to that of the Tongue. as their injuries. For mine own part, leaving Saint Austen herein to your good like, Let not mine own conscience condemn me before God; all the rest I account as nothing. What saith Esay? Nolite timere opprobrium hominum, Fear not the affronts and calumnies of men. And Christ gives you a very good reason for it; If the master of the family were called by the name of Belzeebu●, what name will they give to those of his house? Gregory Nazianzen, treating of certain Heretics, who made the divine persons disequall; saith, In bona● partem hoc accipe Sancta Trinitas, nec tu stultorum linguas prorsus effugisti, O blessed Trinity, receive my words with that good intention which I deliver them, thou hast not escaped clear from the tongues of fools. It ought therefore to be a great comfort unto thee, that those fools should mutter against thee, that spoke ill of God. The Athenians, sentenced one jupido, a base fellow, to be put to death in Photions' company, who was a famous man: and jupido, weeping, as he went along to execution; Photion said unto him, Why dost thou weep? Thinkst thou it a small happiness, that thou must dye in my company? The like words doth Nazianzen use to those that are injured by the tongues of fools; Thinkest thou it a small happiness, that thou shouldst suffer therein with God? Saint Chrysostome saith, That an evil tongue, is worse than a dog: for he only tears a man's clothes and his flesh; but an ill tongue, men's honours, lives, and souls. Saint Bernard saith, That it is worse than that piercing of our Saviour's side with the spear, For that spear did but wound the dead body of our Saviour Christ; but this sting of the tongue, our Saviour being alive; the one therein, being less cruel than the other. David saith; That an ill tongue differs but little from Hell. From the depth of Hell's womb, and from a foul tongue, good Lord deliver us. Where you see he makes it a piece of his Litany. Many do murmur by intimating a secret; This is only committed to thy breast, whence it never ought to go out. They do not consider who commit a secret to a man, that therein they enjoin him, not to keep it: It is a great foolery to think, that another will keep that secret, which thou thyself couldst not conceal. And as great a folly is it that thou shouldst hold him unfaithful, who revealeth thy secret, and take thyself to be loyal, when as thou wast unfaithful to thyself. Thou dost not keep that secret, which God and his Law commands thee; and thou hold'st him disloyal, that breaks but the Laws of the World. Thou defamest thy neighbour by revealing his defects to thy friend, and yet wouldst fain make show that thou art very tender of his honour. But jesus knew their thoughts, and said, Every Kingdom divided against itself, shall be desolate. Matthew, recounting another Miracle of a dumb Devil; Mat. 9 the Scribes & the Pharisees said, In principe daemoniorum, etc. Our Saviour at that time did dissemble their blasphemy, hoping (as S. Chrysostome saith) that the splendour of that Miracle, should by little and little overcome them. But perceiving in this Miracle, that they persevered in their malice, and that his silence gave occasion unto them, to increase their suspicion, he made a short and cutted Sermon unto them. For, there are occasions wherein a man ought to be silent, and wherein he ought to speak. And so those two places in the Proverbs, which seem quite contrary, are well reconciled. Answer not a fool, according to his foolishness, lest thou also be like him; And again, Prou. 26.4.5. Answer a fool according to his foolishness, lest he be wise in his own conceit. To reply sometimes to the fooleries of a fool, is to be a fool. And not to reply unto him, is to give him occasion to take himself to be wiser than he is. These two places Saint Cyprian quoteth in that his Tract which he made against Demerianus, Who grew so shameless and so impudent, in commending Paganism, and condemning Christianity, that after a long silence, he broke out and said, Vltra tacere non oportet, I may no longer hold my peace. The like course did our Saviour here take with the Scribes and Pharisees. And for the better convincing of them, he made answer to their inward thoughts, which is a property only belonging to God. Not, because they did not blaspheme him with their mouths; for the word, Dixerunt, proves that sufficiently; but because, they did either blaspheme him between their teeth, (as Saint Chrysostom will have it) or because some did utter this blasphemy with their mouth, and other some with their heart. The Devils though at discord amongst themselves do yet unite their forces against Man. Every Kingdom divided in itself. Although the Devils are at a continual discord amongst themselves, yet against Man they evermore join their forces together; according to that of Esay, Et discurrent daemonia Onocentaurus, & Bilosus, & clamavit alter ad alterum. Make a squadron of Devils, and of your Birds of rapine, and you shall find that they will combine themselves together for our hurt. Aristotle hath observed, that your tamer sorts of fowls, as Pigeons, Geese, Cranes, and Thrushes, go together in flocks, and keep company and friendship one with another; But your Birds of Rapine, as your Eagles, Kites, Vultures, and the like, go still alone by themselves: So the Devils, never keep company amongst themselves, but against Man they link and combine themselves. job compares them, job. 41. to strong shields that are sure scaled, being set so close one to another that no wind can come between them, nor any the least air pierce through them. One is joined to another. They stick so together, that they cannot be sundered. This is a stamp of that strict union which is betwixt the Devil and his Members. For the reprobate (according to Saint Gregory) set themselves against Man. Saint Luke saith of the Faithful of the Primitive Church, They were all of one mind, and of one heart: For though every one in particular was the Son of his Father, and the son of his Mother, yet Charity made them all sons of one Soul, and one Heart. And as the children of God link themselves together in love; so the Devils, and the wicked ones, join together in malice. And here by the way, we may in the Church, take one case into our consideration, which is a great dishonour to Christianity, and a great glory unto Hell, to wit, That the Devils being such enemies amongst themselves, should yet confederate themselves for our hurt; And that Christians, tied by so many great and glorious titles to be loving friends each to other, should every foot disagree, not only in point of their own private profit, but in causes appertaining to God. That King with King, and Prince with Prince, should wage war about the partition of their Kingdoms, it is not much; But that Prelate with Prelate, Divine with Divine, and Preacher with Preacher, should be at difference, this is somewhat strange. Vnde bella, & lights in vobis? (Saith Saint james) Form whence are wars, jam. 4 1. and contentions amongst you? is it not only from your own lusts, that fight in your members? But Satan that sour of discord, doth also solicit and incite thereunto even the holiest and best sort of people. Ecce Satanas expeti●it vos, ut cribraret sicut triticum, Lo Satan seeks to sift ye, as one would sift and winnow Wheat. The grains of Wheat continue close together as long as they are in the garner, but when they come to be sifted, they are sundered and separated one from another. According to that of job, Feruescere faciet quasi ollam profundum maris. He will divide the Sea in sunder with dissensions, with the same rage & fury, as oil boileth under a great fire. The word Satan, what it implieth. If Satan be divided against himself, how shall his Kingdom stand? Satan, is a common name, which signifieth many Devils. For, if it were a proper name, as that of Belzeebub, it could not have so conveniently been said, In se divisus est. This word implieth any adversary whatsoever; As it appeareth by many places of Scripture. Non est Satan, neque occursus mal●s, said David. And our Saviour Christ, Vade post me Satan, Satan get thee behind me. But by a kind of excellency, Mat. 1 ●. it is more particularly appropriated unto the Devil, because he is the greatest adversary we have. But if Satan be divided in himself, how shall his Kingdom stand? This seemeth to be no good consequence; being that a superior Devil, may cast out an inferior. I answer, That our Saviour Christ doth not deny this: nay, many of the Synagogue, by conjurations, and unlawful exorcisms, being the Devil's ministers, did cast forth other Devils. But if this were every foot put in practice, and that many superior Devil, or their ministers, should infest and hinder one another; of force there must grow dissension among them, division must needs follow upon it; and upon this division, the dissolution of their Kingdom, as Athanasius, hath noted it. But our Saviour Christ did cast out innumerable Devils, to their great grief and torment, Crying and saying, Why art thou come to torment us before our time? Where Saint Luke saith, In digito Dei eijcio daemonia, In the finger of God I cast out Devils. Saint Austen reads it, Si in Belzeebub, etc. If I cast out Devils by the power of Belzeebub, then is his Empire divided, and cannot stand. But his Kingdom not being to be at an end, till that God cometh into the World, as is made apparent by many prophecies, Peruenit in vos regnum Dei, The Kingdom of God doth come unto you. When a strong man armed, keepeth his palace, the things that he possesseth are in peace. Seneca extends this name of Tyrant to a King that lawfully possesseth a Kingdom, but is now in his hands, who by force, or subtlety, usurpeth that which is none of his own; or in his, who governs that which is his own, but with tyranny and cruelty. Saint Austen looking narrowly into those the primary beginnings of the Kingdoms and Empires of the World, calls them, Magna latrocinia, Great and famous robberies. When Rome was Queen of the World, Titus Livius saith, That all the spoils of other nations, were there deposited. Alexander reprehending a Pirate, for robbing at Sea with two poor ships; He told him, Thou robbest the whole world; and dost thou find fault with me for those petty thefts that I commit? And even thus do things pass at this day, in your great commonwealths. They whip a young thief for stealing but ten Royals, and let a greater scape scot-free. What think you (if they were well examined) of a Treasurer, of a judge, of an Admiral, and the like great officers of a State, are not these great thieves? And yet for greatness sake, we adore them. Your mice are pretty little thieves, who in a Larder lie nibbling at a Pastry; Thou puttest in a Cat to kill them, or to fear them away; the cat falls upon the Pie, and at times eats it all up. Which I pray you is the greater Thief of the two? The greatest Tyrant and Thief that ever was in the World, is the Devil. No Thief nor Tyrant to the Devil. Not only for having made himself so much Lord and Master of the World, whereunto he had no right, by styling himself Prince and Lord thereof; but also for his exercising therein such strange and tyrannous cruelties, as he daily doth. Our Saviour Christ called him Thief. He that comes not in at the right door, is a Thief and a Robber. Esay terms him a Tyrant. But I cannot let it pass without admiration, that our Saviour should say, That he should possess all these things peaceably; being that no Thief, nor Tyrant, can long enjoy that which he holdeth by violence. First of all, Great is the fear which he must live in, Tyrant's are ever their own torturest. whether it be out of his own guilty conscience (that continual tormenter of the Soul) or in regard of those perils and dangers wherein his life stands. Helyes in wait for other men's lives, & there are thousands that lie in wait to take away his. It is an ancient Proverb amongst us, Que los tyranos, nunca ●legauam a viejos, That Tyrants never lived to be old men. Phalaris was one of the greatest that ever the World had, who said, That Man would never have been borne, If he had but known beforehand those miseries whereunto he is borne; Nor a Tyrant desire to bear rule, knew he but the troubles and misfortunes, that attend commands; whereof, one is Fear: For, though he be feared of all men, yet greater is his, than their fear. Cain was the first Tyrant that ever was in the World, and did live in that terrible fear, that the wagging of a leaf would startle him, and make him turn coward. This his fear, made him to say, Whosoever findeth me, will slay me. Macrobius, painting forth the pains & torments of Hell, saith, That your Tyrants have a great rock hanging over their heads, which is evermore threatening to fall upon them. This picture in that other life, doth well answer to that which they suffer in this. Aelian compares them to hogs, who are no sooner touched, but they grunt, fearing their lives shall be taken from them. Nor is the devil himself less afraid than they, ever since that God said, Ipse conteret caput ●●um, He shall bruise thy head. There was never yet that man borne into the world, that was a Saint, or whom the prophecies did prefigure for a Saint, but that the Devil was still afraid that he would crack his skull, or (to use the Scripture phrase) would bruise his head. Secondly, For the better avoiding of fear, a Tyrant out of fear commits many cruelties. Herod out of this fear, slew so many innocent Babes. Pharaoh out of this fear, would have all the male children of the Hebrews put to death. Athalia, out of this fear, destroyed all the stock Royal that she could come by. For all (saith Seneca) that are either powerful, or popular, or next of blood to the Crown, whether they be friends or enemies, are alike suspected of him that is a Tyrant. And job remembers the reason of this jealousy, He takes away the lives of the valiant because he is afraid they will cut his throat. There was never yet any Saint of God, to whom the Devil, out of this fear, was not cruel. He incensed Cain▪ against Abel; Ishmael, against Isaac; Esau against jacob; and his own natural Brethren, against joseph. But when our Saviour Christ came into the World, what a roaring, and what a hideous bellowing did the Devil make? And as the Hieronshaw (when the fawlkoner lets his hawk fly from fist, which must get up above him and take away his life) falls a shrieking, and makes a most pitiful and fearful noise; so the Devil made most lamentable moan when our Saviour Christ appeared to the World, Crying out, Why art thou come to trouble us before the time. The Devil then, suffering so many affrights and fears, and multiplying so many cruelties as he daily doth; what peace or quietness can he enjoy, that our Saviour should say of him, In pace sunt omnia, quae possidet? All that he possessech is in peace. Three reasons may be rendered for it. Reasons by which the devil assures himself of peaceably possessing his spoils. The one, in regard of his pride; who was so presumptuous as to say, I will ascend etc. He that did hope to enjoy a seat in Heaven; it is not much that he should look to enjoy peace on earth. For though fear disquiet him, yet pride assureth him, flattering himself, that he shall ascend the throne of the Highest without any disturbance. The other, in regard of the misery of those whom he tyrannizeth over. Reducing them to that fear, that they dare notonce quack, or offer to stir against him, to such a wretched an estate hath he brought them. And therefore it is no marvel that he should make no doubt of keeping sure possession of this dumb, deaf, and blind man. The third, in regard that man hath made a base ad dishonourable peace with the Devil, yielding himself to be his slave, and by resting well contented with this his servitude. Plutarch reporteth of Appius Claudius, that Rome being about to make peace with King Pyrrhus, causing himself to be led to the Senate▪ for that he was blind. He no sooner came into the Senate-house, but he said unto them, My Lords, and ye the rest of the noble Senators of Rome, I am informed, that you are concluding a peace with Pyrrhus, that ancient enemy of your blood, and this renowned commonwealth: I should take it for a great favour from the Gods, that as I am blind, so I were deaf likewise, that my ears might not hear so great an infamy and reproach to Rome. The Moors take a cowardly Spaniard captive, they carry him to Te●uan, from thence to Manuecoes, from thence to some poor Farm, using him more like a dog than a man, he makes peace with his Master, and turns Moor: Just so doth it succeed betwixt Man and the Devil; He leads him from one sin into another, from a lesser to a greater misery; His usage is such, that he makes his peace with him, and in the end turns Devil. This is the Sheep's making peace with the Wolf, the Chickens with the Kite, the Mouse with the Cat, and the Hare with the Greyhound, etc. Not to complain of this so great a misery, is to be dumb, and blind. Os habent, etc. A mouth they have and speak not, eyes and see not, neither do they cry with their throat. Caietan renders it, Non mussitabunt, They will not so much as mutter at it. He that is not with me, is against me. As if he should say, if I shall free this man out of the Devil's clutches, the Devil will not help me in it. For this is one of the greatest injuries and distastes, which the Devil can receive, in regard of that great competition which the Devil hath therein with God. And one of the greatest wrongs that God can receive, is, That the Devil should win a Soul from his service, which he hath purchased at so great a price as his most precious blood. And one of the things that the devil takes most offence at, is, that God should cast him out of that soul, which he hath so long possessed by his subtlety and his tyranny. Ob. Some Doctors do doubt why God should punish the Serpent, being he was not in the fault. And the answer thereunto, is, That he deserved to be punished, for becoming Satan's instrument. Sol. Which may serve for a fearful warning unto Bawds, and the like unhonest Solicitors, who woe other folk's affections to commit unlawful Actions, as elsewhere we have delivered. He that is not with me, is against me. In such a professed war as this, none may be Neutrals. Many can play with both hands; Ill must betide all neutrals betwixt God and Satan. but here no daubing will serve the turn. Alciate styleth such Neutrals by the name of Bats, neither good Mice nor good Birds. And oftentimes they have the worst of it: for if the other two make peace, they are hated on both sides. In the wars of Italy, those of Sona stood à la mira, at the gaze, taking part with neither party, but looking for their advantage where the blow would light. But they that waged war thus between themselves, joined afterwards together, that they might the better set upon them, and ●ake revenge of this their neutrality and double dealing. Solon made a Law, That whosoever, when the commonwealth should be at civil wars within itself, should show himself a Neutral, should lose both life & goods. And the reason thereof might be grounded upon this, That one of them must needs be the juster side, and then it were a ●oule fault not to adhere thereunto. In Kingdoms that are at odds, there are wont to be double spies, and these have their signs and countersigns, which they often change & alter as occasion serveth. But in this difference between God and the Devil, it is not possible to do so. For the Devil hath for his sign, the Character of that beast which is spoken of in the Apocalips; And God 〈◊〉 for his sign, Signum Dei 〈◊〉, Apoc. 3. The sign of the living God. But God is not contented only with this, but that by word of mouth thou declare whose thou art. Saint Ambrose expounding that place of the Canticles, Pone me ut signaculum supra cor ●uum, Set me as a seal upon thy heart, saith, That God will have this sign set upon thy forehead, upon thine arm, and upon thy heart; upon thy forehead, by confessing him; upon thine arm, by serving him; & upon thy heart, by loving him: So that, Quinon est mecum, contra me est; he that gathereth not, scattereth; he that buildeth not up, pulleth down; and he that planteth not, rooteth up what is planted. If I by the finger of God cast out Devils, doubtless the Kingdom of God is come unto you. Saint Matthew hath it, If in the Spirit of God I cast out, etc. Making the finger of God to be God's Spirit. In which opinion agreeth S. Hierome, S. Chrisostome, S. Ambrose, Gregory Nazianzen, and Athanasius. And if any man shall ask me, What is then to be understood by the Spirit of God? S. Gregory, S. Ambrose, and S. Austen answer, The Holy-Ghost. And rendering the reason thereof, they say, That the repartition of gifts is by the fingers, & the Holy-Ghost is that person in the Trinity, which doth distribute these gifts both to men and Angels. Athanasius and S. Hierome give another reason; The Son, in the Scripture is called the Arm of God, as also the Hand of God; and as the arm and the hand proceed from the body, and the finger from both, so the Son of God proceedeth from the Father, and the Holy-Ghost from them both. Euthimius saith, That the finger of God and the spirit of God signify God's power. The Magis of Pharaoh not being able to make those Gnats which troubled the Egyptians, or (as Rabbi Solomon and some latter Writers will have it) those Lice which were sent to plague them; said, Digitus Dei est hic, This is the finger of God; that is, the virtue and power of God: whereby his power is pointed at as it were with the finger. Of this opinion is Tertullian: and further addeth, That God calls his finger, his power; for that the least part in God, which is his finger, expresseth God's omnipotency. And that he might not wrong this his greatness, in this action of his, of casting Devils out of men's bodies, he useth this phrase, If I by the finger of God, etc. The casting out of Devils not always a sign of the coming of God's Kingdom. Acts 19.14. Saint Chrysostome doubts of this consequence; Simo in digito Dei eijcio Daemonia, perveniet in vos regnum Dei, If I cast out Devils by the finger of God, the Kingdom of God shall come unto you. Before that God did incarnate his Son, there were some Exorcists amongst the jews, which in God's name, and by his virtue and power did cast out Devils. And in the 19 of the Acts it is said, That there were certain sons of Scena a jew (the Priest) which did this. And josephus makes mention of one Eleazar, who before Vespasian and his whole Army did cast out many Devils. And of Solomon it is said, That he left some exorcisms behind him, in which the name of God was called upon, when as yet the Kingdom of God was not come. By which S. Jerome understands the coming of our Saviour Christ, in his Exposition of that place of S. Luke, Regnum Dei intra vos est. Hereunto I answer, That one of the tokens of the time of our Saviour Christ, was, his casting out of Devils; as well as those other, That the Blind should see, the Deaf hear, the Dead arise, etc. But because this Prophecy is not so fully expressed in the Scripture as the rest are, it is sufficient, that our Saviour Christ wrought this miracle amongst the rest, in confirmation that he was that promised Christ and Messias, as also that he was the Son of God. Whence it followeth, The Kingdom of God is come unto you. When a strong man armed keepeth his Palace. Saint Matthew and Saint 〈◊〉 make this sentence somewhat clearer. How shall any one enter into the house of the strong man, unless he first bind the strong man? And presently Saint Luke gives the reason of it, When a strong man armed keepeth his Palace, etc. Our Saviour Christ compares this strong man to Beelzebub. And so S. Chaysostome and S. Augustine style him. First, because his power is absolutely great; as we say, a great Mountain, or a strong Tower. job endears this his power in diverse and sundry places. Secondly, In regard of our weakness the Devil is said to be strong, as well in his offensive, as his defensive arms. Humane goods, whereon men commonly place their hearts, Saint Ba●il compares them to an highway Robber, who hides himself in some bush or thicket, that before the Traveller be aware of him, he may the better set upon him. So the Devil comes masked and disguised with an appearance of earthly blessings, and baiting our tastes therewith, he plays upon us. And therefore it is said in Wisdom, That God created these goods for a snare to catch fools. Wisd. 14. If the Devil should tempt us, and go plainly to work with us, discovering his foulness unto us, Who would look after him, or have any thing to do with him? But because those evils which work upon the Soul are not seen, and those of the body do much affright us; we stand more in fear of the Devil, than of sinning, suffering ourselves basely to be subdued by our own proper affections. Saint Bernard saith, That three enemies do continually assault us, but that none of them without our consent can do us any harm. So that the greatest enemy which each man hath, is himself; and for to work his own ruin, he need no other help but himself. All hell's power were too weak, if thou didst not put the weapons of thy consent into his hands; thou thyself givest him the cords wherewith to bind thee, and the sword wherewith to cut thine own throat. His own iniquities shall take the Wicked, & he shall be holden with the cords of his own sin. Prou. 5.22. Armed with these weapons, Why Satan is styled the Prince of the world. he becomes Master of the house of our soul (as it seemeth to Saint Hierome,) or of the world (as Irenaeus expounds it.) And therefore Saint john calls him the Prince of the world. So that it was necessary that our Saviour Christ should come, & should manacle him, & take these his weapons from him, wherein he so much trusted. And that we way the better understand how this imprisonment past; First of all, it is to be noted, That God never consents to the Devils tempting of a good man, beyond his power of resistance and subduing of him. God is faithful, 1. Cor. 10. which will not suffer ye to be tempted above that ye be able; for if he should have liberty without limitation, there should not be that holy man whom (like job) he would not bring to the dunghill. Secondly, By our Saviour Christ's coming into the world, the power of this tyrant was much lessened; not that his prison is less strict and hard than before, but because God communicating his grace to the Faithful, makes them more strong and valiant in their resistance. Thirdly, Since his tempting of our Saviour, his hands are bound, & his force & power hath failed him (as Hilary & Irenaeus hath observed) for when he saw himself so shamefully overcome, he turned coward, & grew so fearful, as well by the virtue of his divinity, as the force of his command, Vade retro Satana; that he never after durst attempt to tempt our Saviour Christ in any visible form, nor do either him or those that follow him, that hurt which he willingly would. And as in the Garden, saying but only Ego sum, I am ●ee, he made the Roman soldiers so afraid, that they flew back & fell to the ground; so by saying Vade retro Satana, Go behind me Satan, he made the Devils so afraid and put such cowardice into them, that trembling and crying out, they made haste to forsake those bodies they possessed. Saint Jerome saith, That our Saviour Christ speaketh here of this imprisonment, How can any one enter into the strong man's, etc. Fourthly, By our Saviour Christ's death, did the Devil seek to shake off this his fear and cowardice, by mustering up all the rest of his forces; God so permitting it, that the Victory might be the more glorious and the more famous. This is that which our Saviour Christ said unto the Pharisees, as ministers of Hell, This is your very hour, and the power of darkness. But after this he remained in straighter imprisonment than before, Luke. 22.53. As you may read in the Apocalips. I saw an Angel come down from Heaven, having the key of the bottomelesse-pit and a great chain in his hand; Apoc. 20. And he took the Dragon, that old Serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and he bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomelesse-pit, and sealed the door upon him, that he should deceive the people no more, till the thousand years were fulfilled, for after that he must be loosed for a little season. By these thousand years, the Saints do understand that space or term of time which is to be before the coming of Antechrist; and those effects, which did succeed after the death of our Saviour Christ, prove, that till then his imprisonment was to be more strait, and that the Angel did not only tie a chain to his feet, but also put a barnacle about his rongue, and a ring in his nostrils, that not only the strongest men should escape his snares, but those that were little children, and tender infants. Luke. 8. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and when he findeth none, he saith, etc. Euthimius hath observed, That our Saviour Christ's casting out of the Devils, the Evangelists call it, a going or coming forth. Exibant ab eo daemonia, clamantia per loca in aquosa, The Devils went out crying in watery places. S. Matthew useth the word, Arida, Dry places. The Greek word, signifies both these. Origen by these places, vnderstandeth Hell. But since those Devils, which entered into the swine of Gennezaret, did desire of our Saviour Christ, that he would give them that mansion, it is not to be believed, that when they go out of men's bodies they would for their pleasure make choice of the bottomless pit; The Devil finds no rest but where he may do mischief. Saint Jerome declares the same in the word, Solitudines. And your Exorcists do conjure them, to get them to the mountains and the woods; pretending to excuse the hurt which they do, remaining among the concourse or press of people. The Angel which accompanied young Tobias, imprisoned the Devil called Asmodeus, who had killed Saras seven husbands, in the deserts of Egypt. And further saith, That the devil could not there find any rest; because he should not there meet with any people to deceive them. Not that the devil can have any rest; but in doing mischief he feels the less torment. Cheering himself (like the envious man) with other men's miseries. I will return (saith he) unto mine house whence I came out. Not that he can freely return thither when he listeth, but because he strives and endeavours to do it: And for that his experience teacheth him, that he there suffers least pain. He taketh to him seven other spirits, worse than himself. He lights upon a house, whence all Virtue is banished; Well fitted for such a guest, and seven more such companions as himself. There are three sorts of persons possessed with Devils. Three sorts of persons possessed with Devils. One sort of them, are spiritually possessed, by reason of their mortal & deadly sins; For he that committeth sin, makes himself the servant of sin, and willingly puts himself into the power of the devil. Others are corporally possessed, as the Energumeni, and such as are Lunatick· And Saint Austen reporteth, that many young children being baptised, suffer this torment. And Cassianus saith, That many Saints of God have suffered the like, God so permitting it, that they might be refined and purified, as gold in the crisole. The third, consisteth of both those kinds. Now, which of these three do you take to be the worst? Saint Crysostome, and Gregory Nazianzen do affirm, That the party that is spiritually possessed, is in the worst and most dangerous estate: And the reasons are as strong, as they are clear. Which indeed are most clear. The first is, That the devil can do us little harm, unless we fall into sin. For without the help of sin the devil cannot destroy both soul & body. For though the devil do put it into the fire, it is our own heart that must forge the work. Saint Paul doth defy all the creatures both of Heaven, Earth, and Hell. And why? For I am persuaded (saith he) that neither Death, nor Life, nor Angels, Rom. 8.38. nor Principalities, nor Powers, nor things Present, nor things to Come, nor Height, nor Depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the Love of God, which is in jesus Christ, yet he durst not defy sin. For that alone is more powerful to do us hurt than all other creatures put together. No creature so hurtful to man as sin. Saint Chrysostome asks the question, Why the devil persuaded Joseph's brethren to put him first into a pit, and then afterwards to sell him? And he answers, that it was the envy and hatred which they bore unto him for his dreams sake. And that other weapons, the devil needed none. And in that Parable of the Tares, where the devil sowed his Tares amongst the Wheat, A lesser ill to be possessed in body than in soul. it is said, That although he had not sown them, yet the good seed would have been lost through the carelessness & negligence of the husbandmen, For negligence in things so necessary is a greater devil, than that of Hell. In this sense Saint Gregory Nazianzen said of Arrius, Satius illi esset a daemonio vexari, It had been better for him to have been tormented by a Devil. The second is, For that the goods of the body, are not comparable to those of the soul, Tange cuncta quae possidet, Touch all that he hath, Said the Devil to God, when he talked with him concerning job. In a word touching the goods of the soul, the least thereof is of more worth than all the world. And the goods not being able to be compared one with another, neither can their ill. Nay, rather to lose these goods of the body, turns oftentimes to our greater gain. Perieramus, nisi perijssemus, We had perished, if we had not perished, It was the saying of a Philosopher in a storm, when the throwing of his goods overboard, was the saving of his life. But that Soul that shall cast his sins overboard, and drown them in the bottom of the Sea, that they may never be able to rise up in judgement against him; is a happiness beyond all happiness, and not to be exchanged for the whole Empire of the World. What booteth it a man, to gain all the world, and to lose his own soul? Therefore it is a less ill, to be possessed in Body than in Soul. For sin only is that true evil, which depriveth us of true good. Likewise, He that is spiritually possessed, is in worse case than he that hath a devil in soul and body: And of this truth there are two evident reasons. The one, that to have a Devil in the body, is no small occasion whereby the Soul is saved. Saint Paul said of the incestuous person, Let him be delivered unto Satan, for the destruction of the Flesh, 1. Cor. 5.5. 1. Tim. ●. 20. that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord jesus. Whither it were by way of excommunication, (as it seemeth good unto Thomas) the Devils tormenting him, following his excommunication, (as Caietan will have it) or whither he did deliver him over to the Devil, as to God's Executioner, without excommunicating him, (as Saint Hierome is of opinion) or whither the Apostles had licence to do all or any of these at their pleasure; sure I am, that Saint Ambrose saith, That the delivering over of these Sinners unto the Devil, was a putting of them into some pain or grief of body by the hands of the Devil, as he tormented job, to the end that they might be drawn to repentance for their sins. And this agrees with that of Saint Chrysostome, That Saint Paul did deliver the incestuous man over to the Devil, tanquam pedagogo aperiens ei poenitentiae ianuam, As to a Schoolmaster, opening to him the door of Repentance. Saint Hierome saith, Tanquam Quaestionario, as to an Informer or Bailiff: But they differ in this, That when the Informers accuse, & the Bailiffs attach, it is commonly for others good; but when the Devil accuseth or lays hold of a man, it is for hurt. Saint Ambrose saith, That when the Devil had got leave to tempt job, he got it for to work his destruction. Wilt thou take the Devil with a hook like a Fish, or with a string like a Bird? Yes, thou shalt lay that poison for him as a bait, wherewith he thought to destroy thee. Wherein is to be seen the wisdom and omnipotency of God, in that he turns these tricks and subtleties of the Devil against Man, to Man's benefit; who being willing to swallow him up at a bit, chokes himself, and doth rather benefit than hurt him. Wherein is plainly to be seen, the good hap which this dumb man had in suffering in his body; for if his hurt had laid only in his soul, they would never have brought him to our Saviour Christ, and it might have so fallen out, that he might have remained for ever in this his misery: so that the torment of his body, was the occasion whereby he remained sound both in body and in soul; as commonly those did whom our Saviour cured. The second reason is, That there is no Christian can be supposed to be so wicked, that it being put to his choice to choose one of these two, either to be dumb, deaf, and blind, or to be one of those blasphemous jews, who said, In Beelzebub eijcit Daemonia, In Beelzebub he casteth out Devils? would not rather make choice of this man's misfortune, than of the jews hardness of heart. He brings seven Devils worse than himself. When this foul Fiend enters into a man, he makes way for a great many more of his fellows. For the Devil being rather the Souls Bawd, than its Bridegroom, he bears no love thereunto; but God, because she is his true Spouse, is tender of her, and will not suffer the least wind of sin to blow upon her, but will look lovingly and carefully unto her. But of this we have treated heretofore. And it came to pass while he spoke, a certain woman amidst the multitude, lifting up her voice, etc. Our Saviour Christ's Sermon did not make the least gap in the hard hearts of the Scribes and Pharisees, but it wrought such great admiration in the breast of a certain woman called Marcelia, that lifting up her voice amidst the Doctors, and praising our Saviour Christ, she cried out aloud, Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. These Pharisees condemns thee for one that hath made a covenant with Beelzebub; but I say, that from the very instant of thy conception thou wast a holy man, and that therefore blessed was the womb that bore thee, etc. and that the leprosy of original sin did not work upon thee, as it did upon all the rest of Mankind. And that those paps which thou suckedst being likewise blessed, they could not give milk to a Sinner. And because thy conception and thy birth were both holy, God's blessing be with that mother which conceived and brought forth such a son. Saint Augustine saith, That it was not only Marcelia that uttered these praises of our Saviour, but that many others also being taken with the strangeness of this miracle, fell into an extraordinary commendation of him. But if the Gospel make mention of one only, it may be understood, that Marcelia was the first that sung in that tune, and that many others followed on, and bore a part therein. And this suits well with that of Saint Luke, They glorified him, saying, A great Prophet is risen up amongst us: One while confessing him to be God, another while, the Messias. Of this applause and commendation of our Saviour, we have two forcible reasons, The one, That general good which Christ did here upon earth, and more particularly that which he did to this poor miserable man: For, to do good, but especially to the Poor, is a powerful motive of praise. Confitebor Domino nimisin ore meo, in medio multorum laudabo eum, qui astitit a dextris pauperis, I will acknowledge God with a loud voice; in the midst of many will I praise him who stood at the right hand of the Poor: This doth that phrase (as Saint Augustine hath noted it) infer, of Nimis in ore meo: not between the teeth, nor in some by-corner, but in medio Multorum, in the midst of the Congregation. And therefore saith Eccles. Splendidum in panibus benedicent labia multorum: He that succoureth the poor, he that slaketh hunger, all the World shall ring of his praise, and thousands of blessings shall be thrown upon him. All Nations of the earth did evermore celebrate and honour those that were public benefactors to the Commonwealth; and the citizen's thereof, by erecting Statues unto them, that there might remain an eternal memory and immortal fame of their noble actions: As Pliny reporteth of Athens; Plutarch, of Lacedemonia; and many Historiographers, of Rome. Leo the tenth did bring down the price of salt; for the which Rome thought themselves so much bound unto him, that they did set up his Statue in the Capitol, with a motto that spoke thus, Optimi liberalissimique Pontificis memoriae. But your Kings and Princes now a days, do make such a common practice of pilling and polling the Commonwealth, that to see any good come from them, may be held as great a miracle as that we have now in hand. Ephraim is an Heifar used to delight in threshing. Now to thresh, Ose. 10 11. To thresh, in Scripture, is to rule with tyranny. Isa. 25.10. is taken oftentimes in Scripture, to rule with tyranny and oppression. Arise, o thou daughter of Zion, and fall a threshing. For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and Moab shall be threshed under him, even as straw is threshed in Madmenah. The proportion of the comparison holds in this, That as your heifers do tread the corn underneath their feet, till it be troad all out of the ear; so your Princes trample upon their Subjects, till they have drawn from them the greater part of their goods: and if here and there an ear escape him, and go away whole, he may cry, Godamercy good luck; Princeps postulat, & Iudex in reddendo est. The Prince, he will have some strange tax or new imposition laid upon the Subject; your reverend judges they will invent a way to do it, and say, There is good law for it; and ever after it shall be a Precedent, or a ruled Case. And whence doth this arise? Marry from this, That the one is a thorn in the Subject's sides, and the other are brambles. And for this cause, in that Fable of the Trees, none did desire to be King, save the Bramble. And this is the reason why Princes are soothed up by their Flatterers, and Cushion-sowing Courtiers under King's elbows; but these Earwigs, howsoever their Prince may affect them, I am sure they are neither esteemed nor applauded by the People. And if these Flatterers grow fat and full, the Commons have poor commons, and are poor and hunger-starved. But because this King of Heaven did good unto his People, he was praised and commended by them. So saith Saint Matthew, The Multitudes wondered; and seeing the Dumb to speak, the Blind to see, the Lame to walk, they magnified the God of Israel. The other, The force of our Saviour Christ's words. Ecclesiasticus saith, That the words of a wise man are like so many nails that strike the soul through, and wedge it fast. If a wise man's words have that force, what efficacy shall God's words carry with them? Esay 45.15. A certain woman lifting up her voice, etc. Esay called our Saviour Christ, The hidden God, Verè tu es Deus absconditus; Hidden in the Heavens. And for this cause some do derive the name of Coelum, à Coelando. job he saith, Nubes latibulum eius. He was likewise hidden in his mother's womb; Quem coeli capere non poterant, tuo gremio contulisti. Who would think that this immensity which the Heavens could not contain, should be shut up in so straight a room? He hid himself also under his humanity, insomuch that the Devil's eyes, being so sharp sighted, and able to discern things afar off, could not know him, when his Divinity was hidden under those pains and torments which he endured. Esay saith, Quasi absconditus vultus eius, It was hidden from the World's knowledge; Quis cognovit sensum Domini? Who knew the meaning of the Lord? The greatest Clerks in jerusalem said, In Beelzebub eijcit Daemonia, Through Belzebub he casts out Devils. And if any man shall press me with that place of Saint Paul, That he was manifested and made known to the World; I answer, That he did hide himself, but the Father did manifest him in the Cratch; he hid himself in the manger, but his swathing clothes driveled on by the Ox and the Ass, and the rears that trickled down his cheeks, did discover him to be Man; the Kings sought to conceal him, but the Shepherds did reveal him in the Temple; his mother, bearing him as a Sinner in her belly, who was to redeem the World, did hide and cover him, but Simeon and Anna the Prophetess did proclaim him to the world; his kneeling down in jordan before he was baptised, did hide his worth; but the opening of Heaven, and the voice of the Father did declare him to be his Son; and the Holy-Ghost descending down upon his head in the form of a Dove, did manifest his Majesty. Upon the Cross, the Nails, the Gall, the Vinegar, his wounds, his stripes, his shame, and his being forsaken of his Father, did hide his glory; but the Centurion, the Thief, his Executioners, the Sun, Moon, Stones, and Sepulchers rendering up their Dead, did manifest his power. And here the Scribes and Pharisees calling him the Minister of Beelzebub, seek to hide him; but Marcelia and her companions with a loud voice, make him to be known what he was. A certain woman, etc. In the weakness of this woman God did discover the greatness of his power. God is wont by weak means to confound the Mighty. Of judith it is said, That a woman of the jews did confound the pride of Nebucadnezar: And here it is said, That a jewish woman gave the lie to all the power and wisdom of jerusalem; striking the Scribes and Pharisees dumb, confounding their understanding, and making them ashamed. For Marcella●eeing ●eeing them thus convinced by the reasons of our Saviour Christ, she lifted up her voice aloud, in token of victory, and to show that our Saviour had the better of them. King Balthazar in the midst of all his mirth and jollity, was with a hand that he espied upon the wall, strucken as dead as a door nail. Pharaoh with a blast of God's mouth was drowned in the Deep; Flavit Spiritus eius, etc. These were strange things, but much more strange was it, That a poor silly old woman should with two or three words confute the wisdom of jerusalem, and put them to such a nonplus that they had not a word to say. Blessed is the womb that bore thee. She reckons it here as a great blessing to the Virgin Marie, that she was the mother of such a Son; which is an epitome of all her praises and excellencies. The Evangelist say no more, because all that may be said of her, is contained in this one word, Mother. And because some blasphemous persons had taken this name from her, in the general Ephesine Council, celebrated in the time of Pope Celestine and Theodosius the Emperor, whereat were present two hundred Bishops; it was concluded, That the most blessed Virgin should be called Theotocos, that is, The mother of God; for that our Saviour was both God's Son and hers, having his filiation from them both. The same was likewise defined in the Calcedonian Council, under Leo the twelfth. So that the same Holy-Ghost which assisted these Counsels, had prompted also this woman's tongue. Saint Bernard saith, That this great name Theotocos is the greatest this divine lady hath, or can have. And because the name of Mother of God, may seem to detract something from the sole omnipotency of God, from his goodness, from his wisdom, & all other his excellent and singular attributes; left men might sin in overpraising her, & giving too much unto her in that kind, Epiphanius saith, It was fit that Heaven should put a task and a tye upon this our tongue, lest it should lash out too far. And therefore her Son when he was upon the Cross, and took his last farewell of his mother, he said unto her, Woman, behold thy son, giving her that name, rather than of Mother, lest some superstitious people might attribute the Divine nature unto her, and so rob God of his honour. And the breasts which thou hast sucked. She praiseth her womb and her breasts. Christ's conception in the heart, is presently discovered. There are two things entertain a sweet correspondency; a woman's conception in her womb, and the manifestation thereof in her breasts. Just so doth it succeed with the Soul, in its conception of God, and the breast of the just man, who thereupon doth manifest the guest that lodgeth there. Between the Vine and the Wine there is that good correspondency, that the flowers of the Grape participating of its sweetness, sends forth a most pleasant odour. So likewise when the flowers of Christ begin to bud in the Soul, the breast of Man doth straightway thereupon breath forth a most sweet and redolent odour. Beatus venture, Blessed is the womb. This was Man's first Heaven; the first place wherein God bestowed this his greatest happiness and blessing upon Man. It is a happiness to Man, when his Understanding sees God, and when his Will loves him, taking pleasure therein as in his chiefest good. Now, the first eyes that saw God, and the first will that loved God, and placed his joy & delight therein, was that of our Saviour Christ; and Mary's womb being the receptacle of this happiness, it came to be man's first Heaven. The first Adam was earthly, because form of earth; the second, heavenly, because form of Heaven. Before this time he had no set habitation, For he dwelled not in any house from the day that he brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, etc. His glory was represented in Tabernacles & Tents, poor Palaces, iwis, for God: Solomon did better it with his Temple, which Fabric was the world's wonder; but not so worthy 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 dwell there. Some seem to doubt, or rather wonder, why God should so long defer his coming in the flesh. He stayed so long, that the Holy-Ghost might prepare and dress up this Temple of the Virgin's Womb, Vt dignum filij tui habitaculum offici mereretur, spiritu sancto cooperante, praeparasti, Thou didst trim up, o Lord, the body and soul of this blessed Virgin, and didst furnish her with thy cheese Graces, that she might be made a fit and worthy palace for thy Son. Blessed is the Womb. This commending of the Son, was a great honour to the Mother. The common currant is, That children do battle much upon their parents worth. And therefore they do so usually blazon forth the noble actions of their Ancestors. And by how much the more ancient they are, the more glorious is their coat of Arms. True it is, that fathers do sometimes participate of the glory of their sons; according to that of Ecclesiasticus, He that teacheth his son, Eccle. 30.3. grieveth the enemy, and before his friends he shall rejoice of him. Of mean men, they many times come to be famous and renowned throughout the World. Homer relates of Hylacius, that the valour of his sons did give him (amongst the Cretenses) the name of God. And when the Senate of Rome did crown any of their citizen's, their fathers were ennobled thereby. And joseph, having incurred the hatred and displeasure of his brethren, because he dreamt that the Sun, the Moon, and the twelve stars did adore him, the sacred Text saith, That the father, Rem tacitus considerabat, did lay it up in his heart; as one that did imagine, that from the prosperity of the son, there might some honour redound to the father. Cornelius Tacitus relateth in his Annals, that the Emperor Tiberius being importuned by many, that amongst other his surnames, he would assume some one of his Mothers, for his greater honour; made answer, That the Mother was not to honour the Emperor, but the Emperor the Mother. Christ's pedigree the noblest, & of longest continuance. But this their glory is so short, that looking back whence they came, they can make it scarce reach so far, as their great Grandfathers. But the glory of our Saviour jesus Christ, our Redeemer, did reach as far as unto King David, and could draw his Pedigree from the Patriarch Abraham. Whom, that he might honour them the more, he styles himself in the Gospel to be their son, Filij David, 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, judges, and Captains, in the end, there being an intervention of two and forty generations, the glory of Christ attained to the hundred Grandfather. And by calling himself the son of David and of Abraham, he revived 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 near upon the tract of these latter times, that there was no wall now between the Mother and the Son, her blessed Womb, and his most happy Birth; what a glory must it be unto her, & what a happiness unto us? Emisenus treating in a Sermon of his, touching the assumption of our Lady, and with what honour she was received into Heaven, saith, Those great rivers of glory which the Son had gained both in Heaven and in Earth, returned back again that day, employing their best & speediest course in the honouring of his Mother. Saint Ambrose styles her the form of God; Either because she was the form or mould through which God did thus transform himself, by taking our humane shape upon him; or else, because the graces of God, though not in so great a measure, were translated or transferred over unto her. A mould made of earth, is not bettered by the mettle which it receiveth, though it be never so good gold: But by the gold of Christ's Divinity, the V●gines Womb was much the better and the purer by it. And therefore it is said, Beata, quae credidisti, Blessed art thou that didst believe; For all etc. the types & figures and promises of God, remained more complete and perfect in thee, than in any other creature. Quin imo, beati qui audiunt Verbum Dei, & custodiunt illud. But he said, yea, rather blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it. These words may carry with them a threefold sense: The one, That the word Quin imo may be adversativa, implying a kind of repugnancy or contradiction; and that correcting, as it were, what Marcelia said, he doth mend and better her speech. Dost thou (saith he) term my mother blessed? Thou art deceived; for she is not blessed for that she bore me, but because she heard my word. And this sense is taken out of two places of Saint Augustine. The one, in his tenth tract upon Saint john; where he saith, Mater quam appellas foelicem, non inde foelix, quia in ea verbum caro factum est, sed quia Verba Dei custodit; That mother of mine whom thou callest blessed, was not therefore blessed, because in her, the Word was made Flesh, but because she laid up the word of God in her heart. The other, in his thirty eight Epistle, which he writes to a Gentleman called Letus; who being newly converted, was shrewdly laid at by his mother (persuading him all that she possibly could, that he should not proceed in this his determination:) And proving unto him, That in this cause he ought to deny and hate that mother that had brought him forth according to the flesh, and to follow the Church, by which he was regenerated & borne anew according to the Spirit. Amongst many other weighty reasons to move him thereunto, he urgeth this amongst the rest; Thy King and thy Emperor Christ (saith he) had a mother, and such a mother as never man had the like: and being one day busy in preaching, (which was Heaven's business) they told him, That his mother and his brethren were without at the door, expecting that he should come forth unto them. But he stretching out his hand to his Disciples, said, Quae matter? Et qui fratres mei? Who is my mother, and who my brethren? My mother and my brethren are they who do the will of my Father; as for any other Kindred or blood I acknowledge none. Summing up (saith Saint Augustine) in this number, etiam ipsam Virginem Mariam, even the Virgin Marie herself. For the name of Mother is terrestrial, temporal, and transitory; but that kindred which is contracted by hearing God's Word, is celestial and everlasting. If this doubt had had its occasion thus, or that the case stood so, that this good and holy woman Marcelia had not known and acknowledged our Saviour jesus Christ to be God, nor the blessed Virgin to be his mother, this ●ence had then been very plain, and no scruple to be made of it: for the dignity of mother should not have come to a lesser degree of grace, than that which the Virgin enjoyed. The second sense or meaning is, That this particle Quin imo is comparativa, The Virgin not blessed for bearing Christ but believing in him. comparatively spoken, or by way of comparison. Thou callest my mother blessed, for that she is my mother; thou sayest well: but more blessed is she in that she hears my Word. This sense is likewise taken out of Saint Augustine, Libro de sancta Virginitatepunc; Where he saith, Beatior suit Maria concipiendo ●ente, quam ventre, Marie was happier in the conception of her mind, than of her womb. And anon after, Foelicius gestavit cord, quam car●e, She bore him more happily in the Spirit, than the Flesh. This opinion is followed by Saint Cyprian, justine Martyr, and generally by all the modern Doctors; and this of all other is the plainest, and that which doth best open o●r Saviour Christ's intention and purpose. First, Because the Greek word, which answereth to Quin imo, is neither a Negative, nor an Affirmative. Secondly, because this happiness being granted unto those who saw and beheld our Saviour Christ with their eyes; it is not to be supposed, that it should be denied to his Mother that had brought him forth, and bred him up. Besides, the Virgin said of herself, All nations shall call me blessed, Not only for that abundance of grace which God had bestowed upon her, but also for that he had enriched her with so many great privileges, whereof the dignity of a Mother was not the least. Saint Austen endearing the greatness thereof saith, That the heart could not conceive it, nor the tongue express it: And Anselmus, That next to the greatness of the Son, there was not any greatness either in Heaven or in Earth, which was any way comparable to that of the Mother: And S. Bernard, That by how much the more was her vicinity with the word; by so much the more was her excellency in Heaven. Whence some Schoolmen infer, that this dignity doth exceed all those other treasures of grace which were to be found in the Virgin. justine saith of Olimpia, that howbeit she might boast herself much of the Kingdom of Troy, from whence she was descended, & from other kingdoms which she might claim from her father, her brother, and her husband, who was Philip King of Macedon; yet could she glory in no one thing more, than that she was Mother to Alexander the Great, who was Emperor of the world. How much more strongly doth this reason hold in the most blessed Virgin? To be the wife or daughter of a King a greater honour, than to be his Mother. Yet notwithstanding all this, nothing comparable is the dignity of a Mother to that of a daughter or a wife. And if it had been left to this our most blessed Virgin's choice, whether she had rather have been the Mother of God, or his Spouse and best Beloved, she would questionless have rather chosen to have been his Beloved. And the same is employed by those several employments of Martha and Mary. As the Virgin was a Mother, she did Martha's office, affording her bre●●s to our Saviour Christ, wrapping him up in his swaddling clouts, breeding him and attending upon him: But as she was a Daughter and a Spouse, she did Mary's duty, having her ear still eyed to his mouth, and diligently listening to those heavenly words that proceeded from thence. And there arising a quarrel betwixt these two sisters, which of them loved our Saviour best; our Saviour soon decided the controversy, when he said, Mary hath chosen the better part. And this is made clear in the example of the Queen Mother, and the Prince that is heir to his Father's Kingdom. The Queen no doubt hath a great part in the King and Kingdom; But the Prince more, who must one day command all. King S●lomon honoured his Mother much, and as soon as he had taken possession of the Kingdom, he offered his service unto her, and that he and all that he had was at her command, but in conclusion he left that to his son Rehoboam. Of his 〈◊〉 will (saith Saint james) begot he us with the word of truth, that we should be at the 〈◊〉 fruits of his creatures. Vt Simus initium, One Commentator hath it, Vt principa●um habeamus, that we may have principality. The Greek, That we may be the Majorasgos, The elder sons and heirs of his Kingdom. In the Stocks and Lineages of men, there are innumerable differences of more, and of less; of higher, and lower: But that which doth advance and advantage us most, is the hearing of God's word. The glorious Doctor Saint Austen saith▪ That which passeth amongst Na●●ons, passeth likewise amongst Men. God preferred the jews before all other Nations, Non fecit taliter ●●ni nationi, etc. He had not dealt so with any other Nation, etc. Nor had they that odds and advantage of others, in regard only of those great and many wonders that he had wrought for them, but because he had revealed his heart and bosom unto them. The fineness of friendship, and the pure alloy thereof, doth not consist in this, that my purse is open unto thee, and that thou share with me in my wealth and riches, but that there is not that secret in my heart, which I do not communicate unto thee. I have termed ye my friends, for whatsoever was delivered unto me of my Father, the same have I made known unto you. The Apostle Saint Paul asks the question, What advantage the jew had of the Gentiles? And what Circumcision did benefit them more than others? And his answer is, A great deal; First, because God hath more particularly revealed himself unto them, etc. Many wore the favours which God had done them; but the greatest that ever he did them, was the revealing of his Word unto them, the imparting of his secrets unto them, and trusting them therewithal. And so it passeth likewise betwixt man and man, where there is true love and friendship indeed. It is said in the third of Saint john, He that hath the Bride, john 3.29. is the Bridegroom; but the friend of the Bridegroom rejoiceth greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice. The Evangelist here treateth of Saint john Baptist, and saith, That to the Husband of the Church, which is our Saviour jesus Christ, the Spouse merely belongeth; but for the office of a friend, such a one as was Saint john Baptist, it appertained unto him, to assist this loving Couple, and to keep the Bridegroom and the Bride company, and to hearken unto them with a great deal of contentment and pleasure. Si Verbum Dei, (saith Saint Augustine) etc. If the Word of God which is preached in the Church, thou shalt receive it with fullness of Faith, and trueness of devotion; that Word shall become whatsoever thou wilt have it to be: It shall be unto thee like Manna, which fitted itself to all men's tastes, there being not that palate and appetite which it did not please and affect, according to it's own relish. The third sense and meaning, which is no less literal than the former, presupposeth two things: The one, That this woman was strucken into a double amazement or astonishment. First, Of the strangeness of the miracle. Secondly, Of the incredulity and obstinacy of the Pharisees. The other, That these words are more directed to the praise and commendation of the Son, than the Mother. And therefore when as here Marcelia lifted up her voice and said, Blessed was that mother that brought thee forth, and the paps that gave thee suck; her main and principal intent was, the commendation of her son, and inclusively an honouring likewise of the mother. But our Saviour Christ was willing thereupon to show and make known to the World, how unequal an estimation this is, which we make of these kind of goods; for, to cast out Devils, and the doing beside of strange and wonderful miracles, worldly men, and those that look only on the outside of things▪ prefer them usually before the justification of their souls. And this woman crying out, occasioned by the greatness and strangeness of this miracle, Blessed be the womb that bore thee, & the breasts that thou didst suck: He presently adds thereupon, Nay rather blessed are they which hear the Word of God and keep it. If thou dost so much admire and wonder to see Devils thrown out of men's bodies, thou wilt marvel much more, to see them cast out of their souls. And being that my Word is so powerful, as to free souls from this servitude and tyranny; more happy aught ye to hold me, for those famous and renowned miracles which by my Word I work in your souls, than for those which by my works I do upon your bodies. Thou therefore who preservest both body and soul, bring us to everlasting life. THE NINETEENTH SERMON, UPON THE MONDAY AFTER THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. LUC. 4.23. Medice, cura teipsum; Quanta audivimus in Capernaum facta? Physician, heal thyself, etc. Nothing more fierce, than the fury of the people. THe Argument of this piece of Scripture, is a Plesto or Suit in law between our Saviour Christ and the Townsmen of Nazareth, where our Saviour Christ had been bred up. A woeful case, not only because it was with an Incorporation, but with an ignorant company of Townsmen, that were envious, and apt to mutiny, A tribus timuit cor meum, (saith Ecclesiasticus) There be three things that mine heart feareth; Eccle. 26.5. Treason in a City; the Tumultuous assembly of the People; and False accusation. Homer said of Pallas the Goddess of War and Discord, That she delighted much in three things: The Owl. The Dragon. And, the common People. The Owl is the emblem of Ignorance. The Dragon, of Envy. The common People, of Fury. These three Beasts did conspire against our Saviour Christ; laying to his charge, That he contemned his own Country, because he had not wrought such miracles there, as he had in Capernaum. Entering one day into the Synagogue, and sitting him down in the Chair, he opened the book of the Prophets, and the Law; where he lighted upon that place of Esay, Esay 61.7. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, therefore hath the Lord anointed me. And expounding that place of himself, he said, Vtique dicetis, Luke. 4. etc. Ye will surely say unto me this Proverb, Physician, ●eale thyself: Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do it here likewise in thine own Country. That Physician doth amiss, who is forgetful of his own house, and does famous Cures in other men's houses. We have heard that thou hast done great miracles and strange wonders in Capernaum; Fac & hic in patria tua, Let us see if thou canst do the like in thine own. And this is the Charge, the Complaint, and the Accusation which they make against him. Quanta audivimus facta in Capernaum? The occasion of this Complaint, were needless jealousies. Generally, the whole Nation of the jews were jealous of their own profit, and envious of other men's prosperity. Esay calls them Zelantes Populos, A jealous People. Esay 26. And the Nazarites did the rather pick this quarrel with our Saviour, by reason of the neighbouring occasion that was given them. Capernaum was a most fair & beautiful City, as well in regard of the goods of Fortune, as of the nature of the Seat; it was situated near unto the Sea, upon the river of jordan, in that most fertile and pleasant soil of the Province of Galilee; her buildings were stately and sumptuous, excellent was the commodiousness & conveniency of its situation, for Havens, for Shipping, for Traffic, & for its number of rich and wealthy citizen's: but was made much more glorious by many other particulars, some whereof we shall repeat unto you. First, It pleased our Saviour Christ to make choice of this place for his habitation; The glory of Capernaum. whence it came to pass, that they called it his Country, and his City. Secondly, Because he there first began to preach the Gospel; fulfilling therein (saith Saint Matthew) that Prophecy of Esay, The darkness shall not be according to the affliction that it had when at the first he touched lightly the land of Zebulon, and the land of Nepthalie; nor afterwards, Esay 9.12. when he was more grievous by the way of the sea beyond jordan in Galilee, of the Gentiles; The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwelled in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thirdly, For those many miracles which he wrought therein; as that of him that was sick of the Palsy, and let down from the house top; that of the dumb man that was possessed with a Devil; that of the Centurion's Servant; that of the woman, who touching the hem of his garment was cured of her bloody Flux, which she had been sick of so many years before. here did he raise up the daughter of the Archisynagoguian; and here did he give sight unto the Blind; besides many other, unmentioned by the Evangelists. Fourthly, After his Resurrection he threw a thousand favours upon that Country. A few paces from that City he appeared to Peter, Thomas, john 21. and Nathaniel, who had fished all night and caught nothing; willing them to cast the Net out upon the right side of the Ship. And, as Brocardus reporteth it, upon a stone of that river he left the print of the soles of his feet three several times. With these his favours he had stirred up such envies and jealousies in those of his own Country, that they said unto him, Physician, heal thyself. But our Saviour Christ directed all these to the Nazarites good, to the end that these their jealousies might master their incredulity and rebellion, and put spurs to their desires. A father hath two sons, one much made of, the other neglected and disgraced; this kind usage makes the better beloved of the two, obstinate, churlish, and unquiet: And because that jealousies and envy may break this his hardness of nature, and mollify this his stubborn condition, he calls this slovenly, tattered, and despised child of his, and says unto him, Thou art my son and my beloved. This fair kind of course did God first take with the jews. For his love to them did he plague Egypt, divide the sea, drown Pharaoh, rob the Egyptians of their jewels, suffered not their garments to grow old, nor their shoes on their feet to wear out, fed them with bread from Heaven, gave them water out of the rock, a Pillar serving them by night for a Torch, by day for a Tent: In conclusion, these his over great favours and courtesies toward them, made them so hard hearted and so unthankful, that they provoked God by a Calf, giving thereunto the glory of their deliverance out of Egypt. This their adoring of a Beast was a strange kind of beastliness. God hereupon called this ragged child unto him, and threw his love upon the Gentiles, who lived before in disfavour and disgrace; and said unto the Gentile, Thou art my son. You see him now cast off, Deut. 31. that was yesterday a Favourite, and carries that thom in his bosom, which doth continually prick him: And therefore it is said, I will give them a Spirit that shall sting them; a worm that shall still lie gnawing at the very heart of them. Yesterday God had his house & his habitation among the jews, his name was called upon by them; but now you see them cast off, trodden under foot, trampled on, hated, abhorred, infamous, without honour, without a City, without a Temple, without Prophets. The calling of the Gentiles, the miracles that are wrought amongst them, the many favours that are afforded them, are so many nails driven through their souls, & with tears guttring down their cheeks, they now cry out with jeremy, Our Inheritance is turned unto strangers. Saint Ambrose saith, That God did do this of purpose, that through an emulation of zeal, the jews might be converted unto Christ. Which is all one with that of Saint Paul, Rom. 11. Through their fall, salvation cometh unto the Gentiles, to provoke them to follow them. In a word, To be thrust out of favour, and to have another come in grace in his room, cannot but be a great torment and affliction to the party disgraced. Quanta audivimus? What great things have we heard? 'tis natural in all men to love their Country. The reasons which they may allege for themselves are these: First of all, Amongst those good seeds which God hath sown in our breast, one is, The love of our Country: Many have preferred it before the love of friends, kindred, parents, nay, before themselves, their estates, and lives. Thomas saith, That next unto God we ought not to bear so much love to anything, as to our Country: he proves it to be an heroical virtue, to enjoy that name, for the which we respect God, to wit, Pity. And they that deny this love unto their Country, we hold them to be men devoid of pity, barbarous, and cruel. Saint Augustine in his Books De Civitate Dei, Thomas, and Valerius Maximus, quote many examples of men most famous in their love to their Country: As of one Codrus, whose enemies having received answer from the Oracle, That if Codrus should be slain in the battle, they should lose the victory; entered in disguise, of purpose to be killed. Of Curtius, who for Rome's safety desperately leapt into that deep pit. Of Sylla's Host in Praeneste, who taking that city by force of Arms, and making Proclamation, That all the citizen's should be put to the sword, save his host; said, I will not receive my life from him that is the destroyer of my Country. Of one Thrasibulus, whom the Athenians went forth to receive with so many Crowns as they were citizen's. Numberless are those examples which we find in profane stories. And in those that are sacred we meet with that one of David, and that other of judith, who adventured their lives for their Country. In a word, Nature (as Saint Hierome saith) planted this love with that deep rooting in our breasts, that Lucian said, That the smoke of our own Chimneys was far better than the fire of other men's. And Plutarch affirmeth, That every man commends the air of his own Country. Hierocles styles this love, a new God, and our first and greatest father. Silius Italicus introduceth a father notifying to his son, That not any fouler sin did descend unto Hell, than a man's opposing himself against his own Country. This love being so due a debt, and so deserving our pity, it causeth no small admiration, that Christ our Saviour should grow so cold toward his own Country, and multiply such a company of miracles upon other the Cities of judea and Israel, and perform so few in Nazareth, where he was bred. Secondly, This difficulty is increased by the Nazarites just request; alleging, That since he had preached in his own City such a new and strange kind of Doctrine, there was a great deal of reason that he should confirm the same by miracles: For, put case that this had not been his own native Country, yet was it a general debt, which he had paid to other Cities. Thirdly, because in expounding that place of Esay, Esay 61.1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me, that I should preach the Gospel to the poor, he said, That that prophecy was fulfilled in himself, being that anointed Messias there spoken of: Which being so, it was fit that he should prove it by those signs and miracles which were prophesied of the Messias. Fourthly, Marc. 6.5. This difficulty is endeared by that which the Evangelist S. Mark reporteth of our Saviour Christ; to wit, That he could do no great works in Nazareth: As if his virtue and power had been hindered and debarred of doing them; insomuch that it made our Saviour Christ to marvel much at it. Fiftly, If the sins of Nazareth did thus bind his hands, more were those of Capernaum, which he compared to Sodom; Luc. 10. For if the miracles had been done in Tyrus and Sydon which have been done in you, they had a great while a go repent, sitting in Sackcloth and Ashes. Therefare it shall be easier for Tyrus and Sydon at the judgement, than for you. Greater were those of Bethsaida and Chorazin; Vae tibi Bethsayda, vae tibi Chorazin etc. And greater were those of jerusalem; Math. 11. whereof Ezechiel said, Samaria dimidium peccatorum tuorum non peccavit, vicisti eas sceleribus tuis. Sixtly, He had done other greater honours to Nazareth; there he was incarnated in the womb of the Virgin Marie, which of all other miracles was the greatest. He took his name from Nazareth, as it appeareth by that his title upon the Cross; by that which the Devils roared forth; and by that which our Saviour himself said to Saint Paul, I am jesus of Nazareth, Ego sum Iesus Nazarenus, etc. And therefore having given the more, it was not much he should give the less. Seventhly, Miracles were that milk which the jews were bred up with, and had been anciently accustomed unto, judea signa petunt, etc. The jews demand a sign. Esay importuned King Achab, That he would ask signs from Heaven, Earth, or Hell; Pete tibi signum à Domino, etc. Moses and Gideon desired signs, and therefore his children should have been bettered thereby, and more especially those of his own Country. After that joseph had furnished Egypt with corn, he set open Granaries to the neighbouring Provinces. Lastly, It was prophesied of the Messias, That he should be no accepter of persons: He was Lord of all, & to all (in all reason) he should show himself equal and indifferent: so that it seemeth to carry a great show of sorrow and resentment with it, which those of Nazareth objected unto him; We have heard what thou hast done in Capernaum, do it here likewise in thine own Country. But for the better understanding of that which our Saviour Christ did answer to this complaint and accusation of theirs; First of all, we must suppose, That our Saviour Christ showed himself with his most blessed Mother, in four occasions: For albeit it be a holy thing for the children to honour their parents; yet this honour is to be done them when God's cause interposeth not itself, who is the universal Father of us all. But when there shall be an encounter of our liking and love towards two several fathers, he that created me, and he that begot me; we are to have recourse unto our heavenly Father, in regard of whom, all the other fathers in the world are but Stepfathers. In this sense Saint Gregory doth expound that place of Saint Luke, Luke 14. He that forsaketh not father and mother to follow me, is not worthy of me. Which is to be understood in such things which appertain to our spiritual salvation; as it is noted by the said Doctor, and Clemens Alexandrinus. Christ's works of two sorts. Secondly, Saint Austen noteth, That in our Saviour Christ two kind of works may be considered: The one, Of a pure Man. The other, Of a Redeemer and heavenly Master. In the first, he was subject to his mother, and his father joseph: so saith S. Luke, Et erat subditus illis. In the second, he was to have recourse unto his heavenly Father; And therefore he said, Nesciabitis, quod in his quae patris mei sunt, oportet me esse? He was at the Wedding by his mother's appointment; but when he came to the working of the miracle, he said, Quid mihi & tibi Mulier? Woman, what have I to do with thee? And when they advised him whilst he was preaching, That his mother and his Kinsfolks were waiting there for him; he answered, Quae est M●ter mea, etc. Thirdly, We have two Countries: Earth the one. Heaven the other. In that, our Bodies were borne. In this, our Souls. Now, when the desires of the Earth encounter with those of Heaven, our recourse must be to Heaven: following therein the advice of David, Audi Fili●, & vide, obliviscere populum tuum, & domus patris tui, Hear o Daughter, and see, forget thy own people, and the house of thy father. Our Saviour's natural Country was Heaven; but here on earth, Nazareth. Now this Country did not desire miracles for to increase their belief, but for other respects, which we will declare hereafter: And therefore Christ would not work any miracles amongst them. Why our Saviour would work no miracles in Capernaum. And assuming those reasons which Christ might allege for himself: The first is proved by that Proverb which our Saviour cited, No Prophet is accepted in his own Country. Or as Saint Matthew and Saint Mark have it There is no Prophet that is honoured in his own Country, nay rather doth not suffer dishonour. And this is made good both by divine 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 river, leaving him to his venture, to sink or swim. Exposito autem illo; which the Syriac 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, Act. 7. Exod. 2. Pharaoh sending after him to have him apprehended. Afterward, being Captain and Commander of the People, they did often mutiny, Num 23. and not only did murmur in secret against him, but with open throat did publicly blaspheme. Exod. 15. Num. 14. Aaron and Marie that were so near allied unto him, used him like a Turk or a Moor, because he had married an Aethyopian woman. Dathan and Abiram upbraided him to his face, ask him, Num. 16. Whither he meant tyrannously to usurp the Government? joseph was so honoured by the Egyptians, that they accounted him as a second King; Vno tantum regni solio te praecedam. His brethren put him down into a pit, and sold him for a Slave. David was beloved and honoured of the people, and of all the whole land beside; but his father in law, 1. Kings 19 and his own son sought to take away his life and kingdom from him. Esay 65. Esay was spit at by the people, and ill entreated by them. jeremy was mocked, scoffed at, Hier. 20. and disesteemed; and at last they set him in a pair of Stocks. Pashur the Highpriest smote jeremiah the Prophet, and put him in the Stocks which were in the high gate of Benjamin, that was by the house of the Lord: And (as Tertullian reporteth it) was lastly stoned to death. At the Prophet Elisha, the boys did hoot in the streets, crying out Baldpate, bald pate. Elias, 3. Reg. ca ult. Micah. 2. was persecuted by King Ahab and his Queen. Michah, was continually clapped up in prison, Et alij ludibria & verbera experti, etc. In humane Stories we read, that Hannibal was banished from Carthage after he had triumphed over so many Roman Emperors. Lycurgus, was pelted out of Lacedemonia with stones, the Oracles having as it were celebrated him for a god. Solon, was thrust out of Athens after he had given them such wholesome Laws. Themistocles, after he had ennobled his Commonwealth with sundry honourable services, was forced to fly to the Persians, where King Xerxes received him with a great deal of honour. Books are so full of these examples, that it were an endless labour to relate them. That glorious Doctor Saint Jerome gives it as an advice, That he who desires to be famous, must forsake his own Country. He that goes to Flanders, or to the Indies, after he comes home is the better respected. Clement the Pope reporteth, That in the Primitive Church the people would flock to the Sermon of a stranger. The fourth Carthaginian Council made a Decree, that it the Bishops did pass through any Towns that were not within their own jurisdiction, that the Governors of those places should invite them to bestow a Sermon on them. In a word, The first in whose nose Lazarus stunk, was Martha. For there is no Prophet that is esteemed in his own Country. Some man may chance to ask me, upon what this monstrousness in nature is grounded? Saint Ambrose, Saint Jerome, and Saint Chrysostome are all of opinion, Luke 4. That Envy is the leaven of this ill, as it was of all other evils in the World. Saint Chrysostome asks the question, what hurt a Prophet doth, that Envy should thus bite him with her venomous teeth? And I answer, Because she doth not envy the bad, but the good. Cain (saith Saint jude) did therefore kill his brother because his works were good. Thomas saith, That Envy is a sorrowing or repining at another man's good; The nature of 〈◊〉. for that it is presumed, that it doth lessen and diminish their own honour. For the hurt which a man may do to himself and others, our wishes against that man proceeds not so much of Envy as of Zeal. And so is it noted by S. Gregory. A Tyrant goes forth with the Vare of an Alcalde de corte; it grieves me, and I am heartily sorry for the harm that he doth to the Commonwealth, and his own conscience. Saint Augustine proves, That it is charity to desire the hurt of a man's body, for the good of his soul. According to that of David, Imple facies eorum ignominia, & confundentur, Fill their faces with shame, and they will be confounded. Neither is that sorrow which I receive for mine enemies good fortune, to be termed so much envy, as enmity. Saint Augustine saith, That every equal, envies his equal, because he hath got the start of him, and is crept before him. And this is the most usual and ordinary kind of envy, as it is delivered by Aristotle in his Rhethorickes. The Inferior envieth the Superior, because he is not equal unto him; the Superior, the Inferior, lest he should come to equal him. The principal harms of this vice are three: The first, It p●ts great incredultie into the breast of him that envies the fel●citie of the Envied. And this it easily effecteth: for, whatsoever is first soured by the Will, is ever ill received by the Understanding. The second, If the prosperity be very notorious indeed, it torments the very heart of the Envious, for that it is an eclipsing and obscuring of his reputation and honour. The third, When the Envious can no other way do him hurt, he endeavours to take away the life of him that is envied; as Cain did Abel's, and as Saul would have done the like by David. And for that those of Nazareth did behold our Saviour Christ, when at most, to be their equal; and seeing that he dispeopled Towns, and peopled dispeopled Deserts, they did so much envy this his glory, that first of all they did not believe in him: secondly, they sought to discredit him; and not being able otherwise to hurt him, they went about to break his neck. Some one perhaps will ask me, What advantage the Natural hath of the Stranger, for to set such an edge on our envy? I answer, That too much familiarity causeth contempt, and this our Saviour's conversing with them, was the cause of their neglecting of him. To be Towne-borne children, to be bred up from the cradle to the School, and from the School, to boy's sports and pastimes, is a great enemy to the future conceiving of a worthy opinion of that Prophet, judge, or Governor. And therefore it is well observed by Saint Jerome, They do not weigh his present worth, but have an eye to his former infancy. They that are nearest Neighbours to a good Corrector or Inquisitor, are farthest off from conceiving a good opinion of him. Plutarch saith, That the spots in the Moon arise from the vapours of the earth, for that the earth is nearer to this than any other of the Planets. And, as it is in the Proverbes, Laruin vezinzad, siempre mancha; None soil and spot our name worse, than those that are our nearest neighbours, especially being ill conditioned. Admiration waits not, but on things that are rare. Besides, Common things never cause admiration: according to that of Saint Augustine, touching the justification of our souls. For though this be a greater miracle than the casting of Devils out of our bodies, yet we make no such wonder of it. And in another place he saith, That the motion of the Heavens, the influences of the Planets, the course of the Stars, the Waters, Winds, and Tempests, are marvellous miracles; for albeit that they keep on in their course by the order of nature, yet, that nature should conserve this order for so many Ages, it is a very great miracle: yet we make no such wonder of it. And because our Country, and all that good which it containeth (es pan casero de cada dis) is every day bred with us, we make no such wonder of it, it is not dainty unto us; and because it is common, we account not of it. Again, there is this difference betwixt secular and Ecclesiastical Princes; That in them we love the succession of blood, & much esteem of this line all descent in nature; and for this cause we covet a natural King, and abhor the election of a Crown or Sceptre. But in these other, we covet strangers, and abhor our own blood, it seeming unto us, That Wisdom and Prudence is treasured up in some more hidden and secret place: making use of that saying of job, Sapientia de occultis. The second reason why our Saviour did not do those miracles the Nazarites desired, was, To teach both Prince and Prelate not to have an eye to flesh and blood, but to worth and desert. judas his Bishopric being void, two worthy persons were in competition for it, Mathias and joseph, who being our Saviour's Kinsman, had the surname of Just: but the lot fell upon Mathias, because no man should presume to think, that flesh and blood should strike the stroke with God. Math. 4. The jews had the descendencie of Abraham for their refuge and defence, but Saint john Baptist did advise them, That the boasting of their pedigree would be no safe Sanctuary for them to fly from God's anger. For the affection to flesh and blood must not make a Prince to swerve from the way of justice, like those Cows that carried the Ark to Beth shemesh. That there is a Melchisedech that neither acknowledgeth father nor mother, nor any genealogy, it is a great privilege of divine both favour and power. Ishmael pretended the birthright by the flesh; Isaac, by the Spirit: but when God came to sentence this business, he said, Eijce ancillam & filiumeius, Put them both out of house and home, mother and son. The mother was in no fault; but God would not that the son should gather heart by his mother's presence. By the same Plea did Abimeleck the son of Gideon pretend the Kingdom; Os vestrum & caro vestra sum, jud. 9 I am your bone and your flesh. In the Palaces of your earthly Princes this point is much stood upon; but the Prince of Heaven could not be drawn out of this respect to do any miracles in Nazareth. The third reason was, To challenge any thing from God as due, is the way to go without it. because the Nazarites seemed to claim these things of our Saviour, as it were by right, and as their due; when as God doth confer these his heavenly blessings upon us, merely of grace: we can challenge nothing, it is his bounty that we must be beholding unto. Saint Ambrose saith, That our Saviour Christ cured strangers, and not those of Nazareth that were his Countrymen, Because this medicine was of grace, not of place; not tied to their Nation, but his inclination. Divine blessings are conferred by creation, not transferred by propagation: it is like unto your showers in May, which go scudding and coasting along, leaving (as Amos saith) one field wet, and another dry: and this is a kind of fortune or lot that falls upon one that lest thinks of it; and this Language of Lot is often used in Scripture. Those of Capernaum, Psal. 30. Wisd. 1. Coloss. 1. Eph. 1 those of Bethsaida, those of Chorazin, and those of jerusalem, were happily greater sinners than they; but God did not remove from them neither his Miracles nor his Doctrine. But no farther reason hereof is to be required, than Gods own will, who may do with his own what he thinks good. The fourth reason for confirmation of what is past, may be the Nazarites curiosity; Why more here, than there? Or why more to that man, than to me? And other innumerable demands which the Flesh is wont to propose. It is a kind of rashness, not to submit our understanding to God's divine providence: this is a smoke that blinds the eyes of Reason, it is a buzzing about the celestial flame, like the Butterfly that flutters about the light of a candle, who, quaerendo lucem, invenit lathum, seeking after light, scorches her wings, and procures her death. The general cause (ask thou never so many questions) is the will of God; this is causa causarum, the cause of causes. Why were more miracles wrought in Capernaum, than in Nazareth? Voluntas Dei est, (saith Saluianus) Why? God would have it so. Now, to ask of God a reason of his will, is, as if a slave should ask the same of his Master, a Subject of his Sovereign, or the Clay of the Potter; Esay 4●. Vae qui contradicit fictori suo testa de samijs, Woe be unto him that striveth with his Maker, etc. And woe be unto those that will seek to know more than God, and that shall demand a reason of his actions. Shall the Clay say to the Potter, What dost thou do? or, Why dost thou make me thus? Woe be unto him that shall say unto his father, What hast thou begotten? or to his mother, What hast thou brought forth? The best understanding of man in things appertaining unto God, is not to understand; and the truest knowledge, not to know. Thou condemnest that stranger, who makes a foolish judgement of the Laws of that Country which he doth not truly understand; and darest thou be so rash, as to censure the Decrees of Heaven? job 11.7. Canst thou by searching find out vestigia Dei, the steps of God? Weigh well, I pray ye, the word Vestigia, and if too much curiosity in natural causes, is counted a great fault, and that the soundest Philosophy is that, which enquiring after the first causes, hath recourse unto God; What are we then to do in those things that are supernatural and divine? Theodoret doubteth, Why Moses saying, That Tigris and Euphrates spring from Paradise; so many other Authors should avouch, That their wellhead is in the mountains of Armenia▪ Whereunto I answer, That for as much as some Rivers are hid underneath the earth, and begin to rise and show themselves some leagues farther off; so Tigris and Euphrates, having their springing from Paradise, are buried in the earth, and afterwards break out again into diverse parts; God so ordaining it, That he might cut off man's superfluous curiosity. For there might have been some so curious, that following the rising of these Rivers, would have pretended to have made a discovery of Paradise. But God did shut up the passage to this their humane curiosity, lest they should have gone on in the pursuit of this their intent, either through want of provision in those sandy and desert places, or through the inaccessablenesse of those mountains that interposed themselves; or through the barbarousness and cruelty of the people bordering there about. Math. 13. Morc. 6. Incrudelity, a main stop to Christ's, Miracles. The fifth reason is set down by Saint Matthew, and Saint Mark; He wrought not many miracles there, by reason of their incredulity: Not that he hated his own Country, which he had so much honoured with his Conception, (saith the interlineary) but for Nazareths incredulity. And this is made apparent by that Fac & hic in Patria tua: In other places they talk much of thy many and great miracles, but this City will not believe there is any such thing: and yet thou hast here the same power thou hadst there; Therefore, Fac & hic in patria tu●, Medice, cura teipsum. How can we believe, that thou dost such famous Cures in other Countries, when as thou sufferest thine own Countrymen and thine own Kinsfolk to be sick? The like argument was used by the Scribes and Pharisees at the foot of the Cross, This man saved others, and cannot save himself; How should we believe, that by his power he freed so many, being he cannot free himself? Let him come down from the Cross, and save himself, & then we will believe he is the Son of God. Our Saviour Christ proved this their incredulity by two examples: The one, Of Elias, who when the Country was much oppressed with Famine, God sent him to a woman of Sydonia, to the end that she should sustain him. And this poor Widow woman having in all her house nothing more in the world but a little meal, only with one words speaking of the Prophet's mouth, spent a great part thereof in making a Cake for him, baking it on the embers; repairing Elias his present necessity with the hazard of her own life and her sons: and having so much reason as she had on her side, to doubt of the Prophet's promise, That she should neither want meal nor oil till it should rain in Israel. For Elias not being able to succour himself, she might very well suspect with herself, How he should be able to relieve others. This was a great and wonderful excellency of Faith; it is much celebrated by S. Ambrose and Saint Chrysostome; and our Saviour Christ counterponeth it to the incredulity of Nazareth. The second example is of Naaman the Syrian, who believed that she-slave of Israel, who told him, There was a Prophet in Samaria that could cure him of his Leprosy: and craving leave of the King, because he was Captain general of all his men of War, he came to the Land of Israel to seek out Elisha, bringing great gifts and rich presents along with him: and washing himself in jordan seven times, (though at first he believed, that with his word only he was able to cure him) he left with his disease, the error of his Idolatry. In a word, he well deserved that the Prophet should heal him; but those Lepers of his own Country did not deserve the like favour, for their incredulity. And other Cities receiving the benefit of his miracles, these that were his own Natives miss of them. The word Audivimus doth condemn them: For this alone was sufficient for their Faith, Fides ex auditu, Faith comes by hearing; and the Gentiles had no other testimonies. Besides, Nazareth was made partaker of many powerful testimonies; as that testimony of S. john, of that voice from the Father; of the coming down of the Holy-Ghost in the likeness of a Dove; as also those Testimonies of the Scripture, which were seen to be fulfilled in him; besides the testimony of his Doctrine, For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the Scribes. Math. 7.29. And the testimony of his life, that was so blameless, that (as Thomas saith) it did qualify his Doctrine. So that his life was a greater testimony than his Doctrine; and his Doctrine, than his Miracles: And he that will not believe the more, will hardly believe the less. The sixth, In not showing any miracles amongst them, he showed therein the more love to his Country: God sometimes never more our friend, than when he denies us our requests. For if these his miracles would have done Nazareth any good, this their accusation might have seemed somewhat just; but being that they would have turned to their hurt, and being that this their envy towards him, would from a great good have drawn greater hurt, and from a great favour, greater ingratitude, and more incredulity; the less he did, the more was his love. This did our Saviour utter by Saint john, If I had not done those works which none after ever did, they should have no sin. Mat. 26. And by Saint Matthew our Saviour said the like of judas, It had been good for him that he had never been borne. And Saint Peter saith of him that was converted, ●. Pet. 2. That for to put his hand to the Plough, and afterwards to look back, it had been better for him, that he had never begun to walk in the way of godliness. S. Augustine saith, That God grants us many things when he is angry with us, which when he is friends with us he denies us. So that he showed himself a greater friend to the Nazarites, by denying them those miracles which they desired, than if he had granted their request; because they would have served but for their farther condemnation. The Servant that knows his Master's will, and doth it not, Luk. 12. shall be beaten with many stripes; Vap●labit multis, saith S. Luke: but he that knows it not, and therefore does it not, Vapulab●t paucis, This man's punishment shall be small in comparison of the others. Saint Chrysostome saith, That a bad Christian is like a treacherous Soldier, who being honoured and well paid by his King, turns Traitor, and joins with his enemy. And Guaricus the Abbot saith, That to carry a man's self in the Church like a Christian, and to talk like a Christian, but to live like a Gentile, is, to march under Christ's banner, and to take part with Antechrist And for these kind of men God hath stored up treasures of his wrath. The seventh reason was, The Nazarits foolishness, in desiring miracles without any profit unto them at all. Five sorts of persons required miracles, but got them not. 1 The Devil, in that his temptation, Dic ut lapides isti panes fiant. 2 The Pharisees, Alij tentantes signum de Coelo quaerebant. 3 King Herod, Quis est iste de quo ego talia audio? 4 The rich Miser, Pater Abraham, mitte unum ex mortuis, etc. 5 The Nazarites, Fac & hic in patria tua. Miracles never wrought, but where Good was likely to ensue Whatsoever Miracles he had bestowed on these, they had been all cast away. In ancient times God wrought some miracles, where his Omnipotency seemed most to appear: As in making the Sun stand still; and in dividing the Sea in twain. Others, wherein his justice seemed most to appear; as in the Flood, the burning of Sodom, and the swallowing up of Dathan and Abiram, etc. But when he came into the World, in all his miracles his Mercy seemed most to appear. For he wrought not any one miracle but was for man's benefit, respecting more others good than his own fame. And in Capernaum, where he wrought so many miracles, Saint Basil and Saint Hilary both affirm, that out of that City he chose many of his Apostles and Disciples. Being no more than what is declared in that verse of David, Principes Zabulon, & Principes Nepthtalim; to whose Tribes Capernaum did appertain: as appeareth out of that place of Saint Matthew, Leaving Nazareth he went and dwelled in Capernaum, which is near the Sea, M●th. 4. in the borders of Zabulon and Nephtalim, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esayas the Prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon and the land of Nep●htalim, by the way of the Sea beyond jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, etc. Many more beside were converted in Capernaum: And he that promised Abraham to pardon Sodom, if he could find but ten just men therein; and he that left the ninety nine sheep, to follow that one that was lost, and when he had found it, took it up and kissed it, and laid it on his neck; and he that swept his house clean, to look his lost groat; and he that suffered the tares to grow till reaping time was come, that he might not hurt the wheat; it was not much, that he should do miracles in Capernaum, where the Centurion and his Servant were converted, as also he that was sick of the Palsy, besides the chief Ruler of the Synagogue, and his whole house. Whence it is to be noted, That what the Devil could not effect with our Saviour Christ, (to wit, That he should do miracles to a needless and unprofitable end) the Nazarites went about to bring to pass, showing themselves therein his true children. So that our Saviour might very well say that unto them, which he said to the Pharisees, It is the nature of the Devil's sons, to fulfil the desires of such a Father. God commanded Abraham, That he should sacrifice his son; and the Devil being desirous to equal God, commanded the Gentiles to sacrifice their sons; They did sacrifice their sons and daughters to Devils. 〈◊〉 that wicked King of Israel, applying himself to the desires of the Devil, the Scripture gives this touch, That he did sacrifice his son to Moloch, Insuper & filium suum consecravit, transferens per ignem, secundum Idola gentium. The eighth reason is, That faintness and weakness, that lukewarmness, or rather coldness, wherewith the Nazarites did desire these miracles from Christ. And these their poor diligences, may sufficiently be proved by this, That they never went out of their own City, nor left their houses, for to hear our Saviour, or to see his miracles, as those of judea and jerusalem did by troops, and others that flocked unto him from the utmost borders of Tyrus and Sydon. Neither did they send any embassage or message unto him, entreating him to come unto them; nor so much as bring any sick body unto him to be cured. Whereas Capernaum did dispeople itself, to go forth to hear his Word. The Centurion came forth likewise to seek him, beseeching him humbly on his knee, That he would be pleased to make his Servant whole. Others did untile their house, to let down him unto him that was sick of the Palsy, etc. The comparison of one that follows a suit in Law of his own, which imports him much; and of him that follows another man's cause, which concerns him little: the diligences of the one, and the carelessness of the other, are true emblems of the different conditions of Christians. Some follow the business of their salvation earnestly and industriously; othersome negligently, The several conditions of Christians, in seeking their Salvation. making a mere jesting matter of it, and a thing of nothing. Herod desired to see our Saviour Christ, but he would not step a foot out of doors to look after him: Whereas the Queen of Sheba came from the utmost parts of the earth, to seek after the wisdom of Solomon, only upon a bare report. But the Nazarits would not wag a jot, to go see our Saviour Christ, having so short a journey as they had to make: And behold, a greater than Solomon here. Quid, de nocte? (saith the Prophet) What, by night? The morning cometh, and the night; if ye seek, seek. He borroweth this Metaphor from one that stands Sentinel, who hears the word that is given afar off, Ha de la vella, Que hora es? Ho, you of the Watch, What hour is it? And he presently makes answer, Quien da vozes sin para que? Who is be that calls without a cause? I say, That the morning comes, and the night; or rather, That the night succeeds the day, and the day the night. Who knows not this▪ If thou wilt farther inform thyself, come where I am. Those that dwelled in the mountain of Seir, being persecuted by the Chaldaeans, sent to know of Esay, When that persecution should cease? This is that Custos, Quid de nocte? Sentinel, What seest thou by night? It vexed the Prophet, and made him grow weary of them, that sitting lazing on their tails at home in their houses, they should send to know his mind. Onus d●ma ad me clamat de Seir, To Jerusalem did the Idumaeans cry out unto me: Si quaeritis, quaerite; Being in that great danger as thou art, dost thou stand off, dost thou hang tail, and wilt not make a little more haste to come unto thy Saviour? If there were nothing more, this were enough to condemn Nazareth. The ninth; It might happily be, That Nazareth did desire miracles, for the honour and glory that might thereby redound unto her; as that it might be noised abroad in the world, That a Citisen of theirs, a Towne-borne child of their own, had done these and these famous miracles, such and such singular wonders; and that she was to be esteemed as Lady and Mistress of this so rare and rich a Treasure; and that our Saviour being borne there, he was bound (as they thought) to keep house there, and to make Nazareth the only seat of his ordinary residence. The love of honour amongst citizen's, is so savoury and so sweet a thing, that Cicero in many places sticks not to say, That there is not any thing that Nature doth more covet: & that men are not so much to esteem the●● lives for the present, as that fame which is to live in their posterity. Celebremus nomen nostrum, said those of the Tower of Babel, That we may get us a nam●. And to this end are directed your Scutcheons, your Arms, your Coats, your Tombs, your Sepulchers, and stately monuments. And if such a poor City as Peleas, remained so famous by the birth of Alexander; if Ithaca, by Ulysses' being born there; it was not much, That Nazareth should boast herself, and think it a great glory and honour unto her, to have the Son of God to be he● Citisen. The Nazarites likewise might very well desire miracles for temporal ends, as well for the City in general, as themselves in particular. As those of I●●escas desire, That the Virgin de la Charidad should do famous miracles, to the end that some might grow rich by entertaining of guests; others, by selling of fruits; others, by their service and attendance, etc. And so was it with these of Nazareth; but they took their mark amiss, in seeking to shut up such great glory in so narrow and little a corner of the world, as that was, confining him to a Fac & hic in patria tua; When Peter would in Mount Tabor have had Christ's glory cooped up in so straight and small a compass, coming upon him with a Si vis, faciamus hic tria Tabernacula, and If thou wilt, let us make three Tabernacles. Two Evangelists say, Luke 9 Mark. 9 That he knew not what he said. And Origen addeth, That it was impulsu Diaboli, by the Devil's persuasion. The like may be said of Nazareths request, Fac & hic in patria tua. Christ's glory was to show itself abroad to all the whole world, and to shine to all Nations; and wilt thou Nazareth make a Monopoly of it, and take it all into thine own hands? The tenth and last, Because Miracles are neither necessary, nor of themselves alone sufficient for our salvation. Not necessary, because many have been, and daily are converted without them; as S. Matthew, the good Thief, and they of Niniveh. Miracles not necessary to Salvation, nor sufficient. Not sufficient, considering that so many and such strange miracles could not convert a Pharaoh, a judas, or a Simon Magus, etc. Many do repeat in the church that Lesson of the jews, Signa nostra non vidimus. God doth not now work miracles in his own Country, nor in our Church, his own Spouse and best beloved. Those former times were much more happy, and far more enriched, not only with his miracles, but also with those of his Servants: Peter did heal with his shadow; Stephen saw the Heavens opened; Philip in Samaria did cure by hundreds. There is no Arithmetic that can sum up the full number of those wonders that they wrought. And now it seemeth that the fountain of his grace is drawn dry: But the truth is, That forasmuch as the Church then was in her infancy, and as it were but new crept out of the shell, there was a necessity of the working of them; but after that the Church was well grown up▪ & began to grow stronger & stronger in the Faith, there was no such great need of them. Saint Bernard saith, That the widow of Sarepta had now no such great need to be relieved with Oil and Meal. O (saith one) if I could but once see a miracle, if an Angel should but speak to me, if a dead man should arise and speak unto me, etc. What should I not then do? But the truth of it is, That he that will not believe the Scriptures, will not believe an Angel that comes from Heaven, nor one that shall arise from the dead. Though God never yet was, no● ever will be wanting to those that put their trust in him, by affording them sufficient means for their salvation. Nemo Propheta acceptus in patria sua. It is an ancient complaint, That Prophets live unhonoured in their own Country. Now (sweet jesus) because thy Country does not honour thee, wilt not thou accomplish their desire? In all that whole discourse of thy life, thou didst fly from honour; When they sought to make thee King, thou didst shun and avoid it; From that Inscription on the Cross, thou didst wry the neck and turn thy head aside from that glorious Title of, jesus of Nazareth, King of the jews; Thou didst ever declare Humility, to be thy Daughter and Heir; Discite a me, quia mitis sum, & humilis cord, Learn of me, for I am meek and humble. Thou wast that Butt, 'gainst which the dishonours of the World did shoot their shafts. Opprobrium hominum, & abiectio plebis, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people. Hereunto I answer, That our Saviour Christ did direct all his miracles to this end, that thereby they might be brought to believe that he was the Son of God, and the promised Messias; as it appeareth out of the tenth of Saint john, Vt cognoscatis & credatis, quia pater in me est, etc. That ye may know and believe, that the Father is in me, etc. And in the eleventh, Vt credant, quia tu me misisti, That they may believe, because thou hast sent me. And being thus received by us, The desire of honour 〈◊〉 always to condemned. to be the Son of God, it turned to our salvation, and the Father's glory. And as that famous Physician who desires to be known, for the recovery of those that are sick, and for the conservation of the Commonwealth; and as that wise and learned Doctor who desires that his grave and good Instructions might be hearkened unto, not for his own glory, but for the benefit of those that hear him; is not to be held an ambitious or vainglorious fellow, but a very honest man, and worthy much commendation: Even so stood the Case with our Saviour Christ. And Saint Gregory doth prove this Doctrine by Saint Paul's own act; 2. Cor. 11. Who writing to the Corinthians, speaks much in his own commendation, not so much out of an hope-glorious humour, to broach his own praise, but to bring others therereby to believe the Truth. For it is an ordinary thing with the World, not to esteem of the Doctrine where the person is disesteemed. But I tell ye of a very truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, etc. God, in the dispensing of his favours, respects no persons. He allegeth these two examples, of the Widow, and of Naaman, for to take away all suspicion of partiality. If thou shalt object that God was partial towards women; we answer, That he did likewise favour Naaman. If towards great and noble persons, he did also sustain the poor widow of Sarepta; If towards the common and base sort of people, He likewise cured Naaman that was a great Courtier; If the richer, he provided also for the poor; If towards the poor, he likewise cured Naaman that was rich▪ If towards young folks, such as was Naaman, he had also a care of the widow, who was an old woman; If towards old folks, Naaman was young, etc. In veritate Comperi, quia non est acceptor personarum Deus, etc. Of a truth I have found, that God is no accepter of persons, etc. Then all that were in the Synagogue were filled with wrath. Whether it were our Saviour's zeal, in declaring himself to be the Messias out of the authority of the Prophet? Or whether it were for his comparing them to those of Tyre and Sydon? Or for that he had equalled himself with Elias and Elisha, which were the two bright Suns of that commonwealth? Or that by the examples of Naman the Syrian, and the widow of Sarepta, he did signify unto them, that the grace of the jews was to be passed over to the Gentiles? Or, for that he had taxed them of their incredulity and unthankfulness? Or whether their hearts through Envy did swell and rise against him? Whether any one, or all of these together wrought upon them? Sure I am, Repleti sunt ira, The men of Nazareth are grown wondrous angry. This place pointeth out two things unto us. The one, The good requital Truth finds upon Earth. When they should have held themselves happy in enjoying so sovereign a good, and when they should have been proud of having so heavenly a Citizen, and have humbled themselves on their knees before him, & adored him; then, even then, they grew hot and angry with him: and transported with this rage, they would have broken his neck by throwing him down from a steep rock; fulfilling th●● saying of Solomon, Prou. 15.12. A scorner loveth not him that rebuketh him, neither will he go unto the wise. Amos 5.10. Agreeing with that of Amos, They have hated him that rebuked in the gate, and they abhorred him that speaketh uprightly. Another cause of this their cruel determination, for to throw him down from the rock, was as well their Envy as their Anger. Envy she said, Do not you see how this Carpenter boasts himself? Nun hic est faber, & filius fabri? & sorores eius, apud nos sunt? Anger she said, Cast him down headlong from the Pulpit, or pluck him out of Moses Chair, for a blasphemer, by head and ears; Envy a dangerous beast. for that he goes about to make himself our Messias, and our King. A brace of fierce beasts, I assure you; Envy first opened the door to all those evils that are in the world: By the Devil's envy death entered into the world; and by death, a troop of miseries. For although the Devil were the Author thereof, yet did Envy put spurs to his heels. The Trojan Horse was not that which did so much harm to Troy, as that Grecian who invented this stratagem. Only this one good, Envy bringeth with it, That it proves its owner's Hangman. And for this reason Saint Augustine compares the Envious to the Vipers, who gnaw out the bowels of those that bred them. And Saint Chrysostome, That it is a lesser evil to have a Serpent in our bosom, than Envy; for that was a curable hurt, but that of Envy is not so. Ovid in his Metamorphosis paints forth Envy's house, and the qualities belonging to her person. Her house is seated in a very low bottom, whereunto the beams of the Sun never come, no light, no air, no wind: for the envious man hath not any thing on earth, wherein to take comfort; being therein like unto those that are condemned to the pit of hell. The qualities appertaining to her person, is sadness of countenance, heaviness of the eyes, bitterness of heart, venimousnesse of tongue, & veins without blood; she loves solitude, shuns the light, knows no law, nor does no right, she weeps when others laugh: In a word, she is Pestis mundi, porta mortis, the plague of the world, the door of Death, the murderer of Virtue, the pit of Ignorance, and the hell of the Soul. Anger, a sin no less hurtful than Envy. And Anger is no less fierce a beast, than Envy: Of whom Ecclesiasticus saith, That as Mildness resideth in the bosom of the Wise, so Anger abideth in the breast of the Foole. Who but a Fool (saith Plutarch) can suffer a coal to lie in his bosom? Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place unto the Devil. He that goes to bed in anger, invites the Devil to be his bedfellow, There is not any vice that gives him so free an entrance, nor puts him into a more general possession of our souls: for there is not that mischief which is not hammered and wrought in the forge of an angry man's breast. Prou. 17.3. A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty, but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both. Seneca saith, That as humane industry doth tame the fiercest beasts, as the Lion, the Tiger, and the Elephant, so ought it to tame Anger. Now to say, Which of these two furies is the fiercest? is not so easy a thing to be decided: For, if Envy be kindled upon light occasions, as that little short Song which the Dames of Jerusalem sung in David's commendation; if it be so large sighted, that our neighbour's fields of Corn, and his flocks of Sheep seem better and bigger than our own; Joseph's party coloured Coat seeming better to his brethren, than those Shepherds mantles wherewith themselves were clad: if it be the vice of little children, Parvulum occidi invidia; What shall we say then to the impetuousness of Anger, and the violence of Wrath? Or who is able to withstand its rage? Anger is cruel, and wrath is raging, Prou. 27.4. saith Solomon; but he concludes with this short come-off, Who can stand before Envy? Who will oppose himself to the violent and swift torrent of a River that sweeps all before it? Such a thing is Anger, for the time it lasteth: but that will slack again of itself, as your spring-tidings fall back again into their own beds. But Envy will not so soon shift her foot, she will abide by it, and never give over. And Saint Cyprian renders the reason of it, Quia non habet terminum; it is not to be limited, but like a Worm or a Canker, by little and little rotteth and consumeth the bones; Solomon calls it, Putredo ossium. But Anger is a thunderbolt that strikes a man dead on the sudden; so saith Seneca. And if Saint Augustine term Envy, a plague; and if another great Philosopher call it Monstrum monstrorum, the Monster of monsters, and the most venomous Vipar upon earth: Saint Chrysostome here on the other side saith, That the Devil being in man's bosom, is less hurtful than Anger. Much hath been spoken of Envy, and much of Anger; and that ill cannot be said of the one, which may not be affirmed of the other. So that this proposed doubt (Which is the worst Beast of the two?) may remain for a problem; which let others resolve, for I cannot. But (which makes fit for our purpose) being both such fierce Beasts as we have delivered unto you, they did both conspire against our Saviour Christ, leading him here to the edge of a hill whereon their City was built, to cast him down headlong: and afterwards never left persecuting him till they had nailed him to the Crosse. And they cast him out of the Synagogue. etc. Aristotle saith, That Man governing himself according to the Laws and rules of Reason, is of all other Creatures the most perfect, or to speak more properly, the King of all other living Creatures: but if he shut his eyes, and will not see reason, he is more fierce and cruel than all of them put together. The reason is, because other creatures never pass beyond the bounds of their fierceness and cruelty, receive they never so much wrong; Incursus suos, transire non queunt: Which (as Seneca saith) is for want of discourse. But man, who hath Understanding for his weapon, is able to invent such strange cruelties that may exceed the fierceness of the fiercest beasts. Nor is this any great endearing of the business; for both Bede & Ambrose say upon this place, That the Nazarites were worse than the Devil: the devil lead our Saviour Christ up to the top of the pinnacle of the Temple; those of Nazareth, to the edge of the hill on the side or skirt whereof their city was built. The Devil did only persuade him to cast himself down from thence; but the Nazarites would have done this by force. These (saith Ambrose) were the Devil's Disciples, but far worse than their Master. Saint Paul saith, That there are some men that invent new mischiefs, Inuentores malorum. And the devil being the universal Inventer of all our ill, the Sinner that invents new mischiefs doth outreach the Devil, and goes beyond him. And questionless, in not passing the bounds of Gods divine will and Empire, the Devil is more moderate than Man: For the Devil asked leave of God for to tempt job; but Man will not be so respectful as to ask his leave, but will not stick to kill thousands of men without licence. The Nazarits base demeanour towards Christ Bonaventure saith, That they thrust him out of the City for a blasphemer, for proclaiming himself to be the Messias. It is commanded in Leviticus, That the Blasphemer should be carried forth of the City, and be stoned to death. And therefore our Saviour Christ, extra portam passus est, suffered without the gate; jevit. 4. Act. 7▪ and Saint Stephen was stoned without the City. And our Saviour had no sooner said in the presence of Caiphas, Amodo, etc. Henceforth shall ye see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven, but the jews presently cried out, Blasphemavit, He hath blasphemed. So likewise our Saviour expounding that prophecy of Esay, the Nazarites might also take occasion to say, Blasphemavit. And this their offering to throw him down from the edge of the hill, doth no way contradict their stoning of him; for they might have done that after they had thrust him down: dealing by him, as Saint Hierome reports Saint james (whom they call our Saviour's brother) was dealt withal; they first threw him down from the Rock, and afterwards cut off his head. To cast him headlong down, etc. Methinks it seemeth somewhat strange unto me, That our Saviour should come down from Heaven to Nazareth, for to give life unto men, and that Nazareth should seek to tumble him down, thereby to work his death: That with the loss of his own life, and the price of his most precious blood, he should redeem them from death; and that they in this unthankful and uncivil manner should go about to take away his life. O, ungrateful People! God was not willing to bestow any miracles on them, who would not entertain so great a miracle. God useth to requite the thanks of one favour, with conferring another greater than the former. So doth Saint Bernard expound that place of the Canticles, He made his left hand my pillow, and I doubt not but he will hug and embrace me with his right hand. For I shall show myself so thankful for the one, that my Spouse will vouchsafe to afford me the other. But those courtesies which Nazareth had received, they so ill requited, that even to the hour of his death none did our Saviour Christ greater injury. Our Saviour never any where so ill treated, as in Nazareth. Nay, in some sort this their wrong was greater than that which Jerusalem did him; for this City treating of the death of our Saviour, did observe some form of judgement, and only the Ministers of justice had their hands in it: but Nazareth in a most furious manner, like the common people when they are in a mutiny, hasted up to the edge of the hill, to throw him down headlong, contrary to all Law and justice.. In Jerusalem there were some that did not consent unto his death; but in Nazareth, all of them conspired against him: Omnes in Synagoga repleti suntira, All that were in the Synagogue were filled with anger; and that on the Sabbath day, when it was not lawful for them to gather sticks and make a fire, etc. How Christ is said to ha●e passed through them. But he passed through the midst of them, and went his way. The common received opinion is, That he made himself invisible to them, and so got from them, leaving their will and determination deluded. Saint Ambrose and Be●● say, That he turned their hearts▪ Cor Regis in manu Domini, & quo voluerit, etc. The heart of the King is in the hand of the Lord, and he turneth it, etc. Like unto those Officers of the Scribes and Pharisees who went forth to apprehend him, who altering their purpose, returned saying, Numquid sic locutus, etc. Did ever any man speak thus? He might likewise take from them their force & their strength, that they might not be able to put forth a hand to hurt him; and leaving them like so many blocks, might pass through the midst of them, as being the Lord both of their souls and bodies. And as he once left the jews with their stones frozen in their hands, so now leaving the Nazarits astonished, Per medium illorum ibat. This Ibat doth enforce a perseverance and continuation, in token that God will leave his best beloved country, & that city which was most graced and favoured by him, if it be so graceless as to prove ungrateful. When God carried Ezechiel in spirit to the Temple, discovering great abominations unto him, and said unto him, These things my People commit, Vt procul recedam à Sanctuario meo, They give me occasion thereby to forsake them, and to get me far enough from them. So hath he departed from Israel, from Asia, Africa, & many other parts of Europe, forsaking so many cities & temples so much heretofore favoured by him, and so much made of. Nazareth signifies a Flower, a Crown, or a Garland; and the Nazarites were once the only Flowers in God's Garden, that is, in his Church; they were religious persons that were consecrated to his service, and therefore Nazareth is by them more particularly called Christ's own Country, for that therein he had been often spiritually conceived. But because of the Nazarits, jerem. doth lament, Thatthey being more white than milk, were become as black as a coal▪ by reason of their unthankfulness. Therefore in Colleges and religious places, with whom God communicates his favours in a more large and ample manner, they ought of all other to show themselves most grateful: for the more a man receives, and the more he professeth, the more he ought to do. Cum enim crescunt dona, rationes etiam crescunt donorum Dei, so saith Saint Gregory. But he passed through the midst of them, and went his way. We ought to p●ay against sudden death. Sap. 4. Howbeit death to the Justice is not sudden, nor can be said to take him hence unawares [Though the Righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest,] The Church notwithstanding doth not use this prayer in vain, A subitanea & improvisa morte, libera nos Domine, From sudden death good Lord deliver us. Saint Augustine in his last sickness prayed over the penitential Psalms, and shedding many tears, said, That though a man were never so just and righteous, yet was he not to die without penitence. Saint Chrysostome tells us, That when Fear at the hour of death doth set upon the Soul, burning as it were with fire, all the goods of this life, she enforceth her with a deep and profound consideration, to meditate on those of that other life which is to come. And although a man's sins be never so light, yet than they seem so great and so heavy, that they oppress the heart. And as a piece of timber whilst it is in the water, any the weakest arm is able to move it, but being brought to the shore hath need of greater strength; so sin whilst it floateth on the waters of this life, seemeth light unto us, but being brought to the brink of death, it is very weighty, and it will require a great deal of leisure, consideration, and grace, to land it well and handsomely, and to rid our hands of it. Of this good, sudden death depriveth us: And although it is apparent in Scripture, That God doth sometimes permit the Just to die a sudden death, as Origen, Saint Gregory, and Athanasius Bishop of Nice affirmeth; as in jobs children, on whom the house fell when they were making merry▪ and in those who died with the fall of the Tower of Siloah; who according to our Saviour's testimony, were no such notorious sinners, yet commonly this is sent by God as a punishment for their sins. Mors peccarorum, pessima, (i) esse debet, An evil death was made for an evil man. And Theodoret expounding what David meant by this word Pessima, saith, That in the propriety of the Greek tongue, it is a kind of death, like unto that of Zenacheribs' Soldiers, who died suddenly. And job treating of him that tyranniseth over the world, saith, Auferetur Spirit●● oris sui. Cajetan renders it, Recedet in Spiritu oris sui, He shall die before he be sick, without any pain, in the midst of his mirth, when he is sound and lusty. Their life being a continual pleasure, at their death they scarce feel any pain, because it is in punto, in an instant. Sophonias requireth of them, That they will think on that day before it come, Esay 30. wherein God will scatter them like the dust. Esay threatening his People because they had put their trust in the succours of Egypt, saith, This iniquity shall be unto you as a breach that salleth, or a swelling in an high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in a moment; and the breaking thereof shall be like the breaking of a Potter's pot, and in the breaking thereof there shall not be found a sheard to take fire out of the hearth, or to take water out of the pit. And the word Requisita mentioned by the Prophet, intimateth a strong wall that is undermined, & rusheth down on the sudden. How much their security is the more, so much the more is their danger, because it takes the soldiers unawares. But if this so strong a wall should chance to fall upon a Pitche● of earth, it is a clear case, that it would dash it into so many fitters & several little pieces, that there would not a sheard thereof be left for to take up so much as an handful of water, or to fetch a little fire from our next Neighbour's house. This effect doth sudden death work, it is a desperate destruction to a sinner: And therefore Christ (though without sin) seeks to shun it, that he might teach thee that art a Sinner, to avoid it. Secondly, our Saviour sought to shun this violent death, because his death was reserved for the Cross, as well because it was a kind of long and linger death, as also for diverse other conveniencies, which we have delivered elsewhere. God oft defers his punishments, that our sins may grow to maturity. Passing through the midst of them, he went his way. Our Saviour Christ might have struck them with blindness, if he would, as the Angel did those of Sodom; or have thrown them down headlong from the Cliff: but because they complained, That he wrought no miracles among them, as he had in other places, he was willing now at his departure from them, to show them one of his greatest miracles, by taking their strength from them, hindering the force of their arms, and leaving them much astonished and dismayed. Though now and then God doth defer his punishments, for that the sins of the Wicked are not yet come to their full growth; yet we see that he spared not his Angels, nor those whom he afterwards drowned in the Flood, nor those of Sodom, nor of others less sinful than they, nor his own children of Israel, of all that huge number (being more in number than the sands of the sea) not suffering above two to enter into the land of Promise; how is it possible that he should endure the petulancy of this peremptory people, these grumbling Nazarites, who in such a rude and uncivil fashion, in such an imperious and commanding voice, should presume to say unto him, taking the matter in such deep dudgeon, Fac & hic in Patria tua. But as when the Roman Cohorts came to take our Saviour Christ, they fell backward on the ground at his Ego sum, I am he; which was a fearful Miracle; for no cannon upon earth, nor any thunderbolt from Heaven, could have wrought so powerful an effect: so now passing through the midst of them with a grave and settled pace, leaving them troubled, angry, & amazed, he proved thereby unto them, That he was the Lord and giver both of life and death, etc. THE TWENTIETH SERMON, UPON THE TVESDAY AFTER THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. MAT. 18. Si peccaverit in te frater tuus. If thy brother shall trespass against thee, etc. Our Saviour Christ instructing him that had offended his brother, what he ought to do; gives him this admonition, Offences how and when to be forgiven, and reproved. Go unto thy brother and reconcile thyself unto him, and if thou hast offended him, ask him forgiveness. Notifying to the party offended, that he should pardon him that offended, if he did entreat it at his hands: but if he shall not crave pardon, he instructeth Peter, & in him all the Faithful, What the offended and wronged person ought to do. If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him, etc. and if he hear thee, thou hast won a brother: but if he will not vouchsafe to hear thee, proceed to a second admonition before two or three witnesses: and if he will not hear them, tell it unto the Church: and if he shall show himself so obstinate that he will not obey the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a Publican. So that our Saviour Christ's desire is, That the party wronged should pardon the party wronging, and reprove him for it: for if it be ill not to pardon, it is as ill not to reprove. For to entreat of a matter so dark and intricate, In treating of divine matters, we ought always to crave the assistance of God. that the Vnderstanidng were to take its birth from the ordinary execution of the Law, there were not any thing less to be understood: for there is not any Law less practised, nor any Decree in Court less observed. I desire that God would do me that favour that he did Solomon. God give me a tongue to speak according to my mind, the pen of a ready Writer, clearness of the case which I am to deliver, true distinction, grace, knowledge, or (as Bonaventure styles it) resolutionem in declarando; Wisd. 7.15. and to judge worthily of the things that are given me. For, so many are the difficulties, the questions, and the arguments, as well against the substance of this Law, as against the manner of complying with it, that there will be necessarily required great favour and assistance from Heaven, for to make any settled and full resolution amongst so many sundry and diverse distractions. But in conclusion, it is the best and the safest council, to adhere to that which is the surest, and not to make any reckoning of that course which is now a days held in the World: not of that which is in use, but that which ought to be used; not so much the practice of the Law, as of Religion. For if the abuses of the world, and traditions of men, were to tonti●ue in force by pleading of custom, & by that means made justifiable, they would give the checkmate, & stand in competition with the laws of God. Colloss. 4.6. S. Paul saith, writing to the Colossians, Let your speech be gracious always, and powdered with salt, that ye may know how to answer every man. And S. Ambrose expounding this place, saith, That the Apostle begs grace of God, that he might know how to speak with discretion, when time, place, and occasion shall oblige him thereunto: As also, when (upon the same terms) to hold his peace. And this is that which I now desire of God. If thy brother shall trespass against thee. Here sin is put down in the condition of this obligation. Sin a monster, and why. For it is a kind of monstrousness which we never, or seldom aught to see. We styling that a monster which comes forth into the world against the Laws of Nature. And in this sense, sin may be said to be a monster, because it is against the Laws of God. Ecclesiasticus saith, That God did not will any man to sin, nor did allow him any time wherein to sin, but allotted him a life, and place wherein to serve him, and a time to return unto him and to repent as oft as he should offend his divine Majesty; but to sin, he never gave him the least leave in the world, Dedit ei locum poenitentia, He gave him a place for repentance, saith the Apostle Saint Paul; so likewise saith job. And therefore God having made the Heaven & the Earth, and all that therein is, he did not then presently make Hell; For, if Man had not sinned there had been no need of it. For where no faults are committed, a prison is needless. The Prophet Esay was very earnest with God, Esay 64. that he would come down upon Earth, Oh, that thou wouldst break the Heavens and come down, and that the M●●●taines might melt at thy presence, etc. He alludeth to that History of Mount Sinai, where God descended to give the Law unto his people with thundering, lightning, and fire; wherewith he struck such a fear and terror into them, that the people had great reverence to the Law; And therefore this holy Prophet saith, What would they do if thou shouldest once again come amongst them? A fancy tua, montes fluerent; The proudest of them all would let fall their plumes, and humble themselves at thy feet, which are here represented in the word Montes, or mountains. And those souls which are now frozen and as cold as ice (figured in the word Aquae, or waters) would gather heat and be set on fire. With this desire did the son of God descend from the bosom of his father; but he bringing that humility with him, that was able to make the highest mountains to stoop, and to bring down the proudest heart; and fire, for to burn and dry up many waters; yet men's breasts waxed colder and colder, and their souls were more and more swollen with pride. The Glorious Apostle Saint Paul writing to the Romans, That God made his Son our propitiation; Whom God hath set forth to be a reconciliation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness by the forgiveness of the sins that are passed, etc. He did exercise upon his son the severest justice that ever was, or shall be seen again; for the remission of precedent sins. To the end, that Man considering how dear our former wickedness and forepast sins cost our Saviour; Man should be so afraid of offending, that he should never return to sin any more. Some may happily ask me the question, Why the death and passion of our Saviour being so powerful and effectual a remedy against all kind of vices whatsoever, yet sin still reigneth so much in the World, as never more. Whereunto I answer, That upon the Cross, our Saviour Christ gave sentence against all whatsoever, both present, past, and those that were to come. And deprived the Prince of the World of that Signiory which he possessed, so that all of them were to suffer death and to have an end. But they did appeal from this sentence of death, to the Tribunal of our passions; And for that they are such interressed & such blind judges, they have set these our Vices again at liberty, giving them licence to work us as much, if not more harm than they did before. So that Gods sending of his son into the World, and his suffering death for our sins, did not generally banish all vice, but did serve rather to some for their greater condemnation. If thy brother shall trespass (In te) against thee. Saint Augustine expoundeth this In te, to be contra te; and in this sense it ought to be taken: for it is the express letter of the former Texts, as also of those that follow, and generally agreed upon by all the Doctors: The interlineary hath it, Si te contumelia affecerit. Saint Peter anon after asks our Saviour, How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I shall forgive him? Whereupon Theophilact taking hold of this word Contra me, notes, That if his brother should sin against God, he could hardly forgive him. Saint Luke delivers the same much more plainly and clearly, If thy brother have trespassed against thee, rebuke him; if he repent, forgive him: If he offend thee seven times a day, and seven times a day shall turn unto thee, forgive him. Hugo Cardinalis hath observed, That if the word In te be the ablative case, than it is the same with Coram te: but if it be the accusative, than it is all one with Contra te; and the Greek doth admit of no Ablatives. In Leviticus God had said long before, Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart, but reprove him. And upon a second admonition, Take unto thee two witnesses, and tell it to the Church. Manle do concur and run along with this sense, no difficulty in the world interposing itself. The second sense, which Saint Augustine also treateth of in the same place, is, If he shall trespass against thee, that is, before thee. This opinion Thomas followeth, and the greater and better part of the Schoolmen; howbeit there are great arguments and strong reasons to the contrary; and many grave Authors, to whom this sense doth not seem so plain, as to ground thereupon any divine precept. But leaving this to the Schools, the precept of brotherly correction concurreth with any whatsoever heinous ●in, or grievous trespass, whither it be Against thyself; Brotherly correction hath place every where. Against thy neighbour; or, Against God. For to prove this truth, diverse Authors follow these two paths: The one, That although our Saviour Christ in this his first instance, speak of that sin or trespass which is committed against myself; yet by a necessary kind of consequence he inferreth likewise any sin that is committed against my Neighbour, and against God. Against my neighbour, because I ought to love him as myself, and to be as sensible of his hurt as of mine own. Against God, Because I am bound to pr●ferre his glory before mine own good: And if I being wronged, God will 〈◊〉 I not only pardon him, but that I also comply with the precept of brotherly correction; how much more will he tie me, that I should deal ●indly in ●his kind with my brother, he having 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 scandalising and proooking of me, it doth hurt and offend me. And Hadrianus the Lawyer saith, That he that sins against God, sins against any whatsoever faithful believer, and leaves him injured and offended. For he that wrongs the Father in the Son's presence, wrongeth also the Son; and he that wrongeth the Master in the presence of the Servant, wrongeth likewise the Servant: beside, Love, which makes things common, makes others injuries ours. And if God take those injuries which are done to thee, to be done to himself, (as he said to Saint Paul, Why dost thou persecute me? And by Zachari●, He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye) it is not much, that thou shouldest reckon those wrongs that are done to God, to be done unto thyself. The zeal of thy house, & of thy honour & authority, seeing how the enemies of thy word slight & contemn it, consumes my flesh, & drieth my bones. The like love must make us sensible of the sins of our neighbour, for that they are members of this mystical body of the Church. Who is sick (saith Saint Paul) and I am 〈◊〉 grieved? Either forgive them this offence, or blot me out of the Book of Life, said Moses, having a fellow feeling of his brethren's faults as had they been his own: and therefore begs of God, that he would either forgive them, or blot him our of the book of Life. Again, Another man's sin proves to be my hurt; for God's justice punisheth the Righteous with the Sinful. For the the sin of Achan there died in Ay, three thousand soldiers: for the sins of the sons of Ely God's people were overthrown by the Philistines, jos. 7. 1. Kings 4. 2. Kings 12. 2. King● 24. jonas 1. Math. 8. and the Ark of the Testament taken captive: for David's sin in numbering the People, seventy thousand of his subjects perished by the Pestilence: By jonas his disobedience, they that went i● the same bottom with him were shrewdly endangered: the Apostles ran the like hazard by judas. Moreover, Sin is sometimes wont to make the earth barren, and to shut up the windows of Heaven, that they may not send down any rain to water the dry and thirsty places of the Land: and so Sin being a general hurt to all, it is generally done against all. If thybrother shall trespass against thee, etc. The very name of a brother is a reason for this Precept: for it was condemned in the Levite and the Priest, That they passed by, saying their prayers to themselves, but took no pity of that poor man that lay almost for dead upon the way, wounded by thieves. Contrary to that lesson of Ecclesiasticus, He gave every man a commandment concerning his Neighbour; Eccle. 17. and a Turk or a Moor may as well be our neighbour as another: And if that housekeeper be condemned that hath not a care of the Cat or Dog that lives within his doors, (for all this did S. Paul understand when he said, He that provides not for those of his family is worse than an Infidel,) How much more than will God that thou be careful of thy brother's health, wh● hath one and the same Father with thee in Heaven, and to whom ye both da●●● say, Our Father, etc. And who hath one and the same mother with thee, to w●●, the Earth, in whose womb ye were both engendered, and borne anew by Baptism. A●os 1.11. For three transgressions of Edom, (saith the Lord) and for four I will 〈◊〉 turn to it, because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all 〈◊〉, etc. Edom was the Metropolis of Idumea, and her sins being come to the number of seven, (which in Scripture expresseth a kind of infidelity God faith, I will not turn to it. But suppose they were fewer, yet some of them it should seem were very foul ones; & amongst the rest, this of their vnsheathing of their sword against their brother. The Idumaeans were descended of Esau, as the jews were of jacob. And in the conquest of the Land of Promise God commanded his People, That they should not do that hurt to the Idumaean, as they had done to the rest of the Nations; Quia Frater tuus est, He is thy brother, and thou ougtest to procure his good as thou wouldst thine own. This benefit, by the Idumaeans was repaid to God's People with a thousand injuries, when the Philistines and those of Tyre overcame the Israelites; as you may read in the second of the Chronicles and the second: For the Idumaeans did buy many jews with intent to make them their slaves. Likewise when God's People had necessary occasion (ask leave of the Edomites) to pass through their Country in peace, they withstood them with their swords in their hands. In a word, the enmity which Esay bore to jacob for his mess of pottage, & the blessing that he had stolen from him, neither he nor his posterity could ever yet digest it; though he and his House had received many, and those very good courtesies at the others hands. And therefore it is not much, that God should condemn an enmity so ancient, and so inueterated a hatred, especially of one brother against another. Tell him his fault between thee and him alone, etc. And this is the divine Law, Charity is to be practised towards all Men. Gal. 6.1. as it appeareth by the Epistle o● Saint Paul to the Galathians, If a man be fallen by occasion into any fault, ye wh●ch are spiritual, restore such a one with the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burden, and so fulfil the Law of Christ. And in that of his to Timothy; and in that of S. james, james 5. If any of you have erred f●om the truth and some ma● hath converted him, Let him know, That he which hath converted the Sinner from going astray out of his way▪ shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. Levit. 19.17. And in Leviticus it is set down as a Precept belonging to the Law of Nature, Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart, but thou shalt plainly rebuke thy Neighbour, and suffer him not to sin. Eccle. 17. God hath given every man a charge concerning h●s Neighbour, (●s we said before.) Saint Paul draws his comparison from the members of the body, which by the Law of Nature are bound reciprocally to succour one another in case of necessity. And Augustine takes his from the thorn, which paining the foot, carries after it the eyes, ears, and hands, all the members of the body naturally inclining to the repairing of that hurt. Another natural reason which your holy Fathers, learned Doctors, and great Philosophers render, is, That he that can (if he will) hinder or put by a hurt that is ready to fall upon his brother, and doth it not, is condemned to be himself the hurter and harmer of him. Thy poor neighbour is ready to starve and perish through hunger, thou being able to relieve, dost not do it; he dies, thou art his Deathsman, thou art the murderer of this thy brother. Si non panisti, ●ccidisti, saith Saint Ambrose; Thy brother is sinking & ready to be drowned; thou mayst save him by reaching out thy hand unto him▪ thou deniest him thy help, it is thou that drownest him. Thy Neighbour's house is on fire, it is in thy power to quench it; thou wilt not do it, it is thou that hast burnt his house. Tell but a Blasphemer, a Drunkard, or any other lewd liver, of his faults, though never so fairly, never so mild and gently, he will begin to swagger with you, and ask you, Who made you sir a justice of Peace? meddle with that which you have to do withal, you take more pains than you have thanks for your labour. But hereunto thou or any man else that is thus charitably minded, may make them this answer, I have complied with mine obligation; I am a Christian, and am bound i● charity and brotherhood, to tell you friendly my mind, and I can be but sorry, that my council cannot prevail with you: this I am tied unto by the Law of God and of Nature. And this position wants no proofs. The necessary circumstances of this precept are many: The first is, That the sin which is to be corrected and reproved by us, be certain, and well known unto us: and this is proved out of this word, Si p●●cauerit, If he shall trespass, etc. as it is well observed by Thomas. We must not find fault upon a bare suspicion or presumption, but must have a good ground for our reproof, He that would reprove an other, must first correct himself. and go upon an assured knowledge. To go about to pull out a sound tooth, and with a sharp instrument to open the gums, it cannot choose but be a great torment unto him that without just cause is thus cut and lanced. No less grievous and painful is it to hunt after wickedness in the house of the Just; Prou. 24.28. or (as Solomon saith) to be a witness against thy Neighbour without a cause. Many men are like unto your Ferrets or your Bloodhounds, they go nosing and hunting after faults in other men's grounds; and as job saith in another place, When there is peace, they are jealous of treason. Of which kind of men Saint Auste● saith, That prying into other men's faults, they do not look into their own. And therefore thou oughtest not to be so busy in reprehending what is amiss in thy brother, as inquisitive in correcting thine own errors. And therefore Saint Bernard gives us this Item, Tam diu quisque sua peccata ignorat, quam diu al●●na explorat, See how long a man is searching into other men's sins, so long is he ignorant of his own. This is the condition of ill natured men, and such as complain of the times, and of Fortune. The less fortunate things go with us, the more suspicious we be, saith Tacitus: And this is a Fate that follows base and abject minds; and therefore the Vulgar never put a bridle upon their jealousies. In a word, this is a hard course that they take, jealousy a true Symptom of baseness. and in all sorts of men blameworthy, but most in those that have most power: for albeit by their place and office they have freer liberty to inquire; yet when their wits are thus a woolgathering, they shamefully use to err, qualifying evil for good, and good for evil. And if men's judgements grounded upon good probabilities and fair appearances, prove many times false, and therefore have this caveat given us by Christ, Nolite s●cundum faciem iudicare, judge not according to the face; suspicions will hardly fall out to be true. There are some things so notoriously bad, that it were foolishness to think them to be good; othersome, whom the intention makes to be good or bad, but are not so in themselves. The Good take these in good part, leaving the true judgement thereof unto God, (as Saint Augustine hath noted) and the Bad, in bad part. Mala mens, malus animus, A good Soul hath good thoughts; but a bad Soul, bad imaginations; idle suspicions and needless jealousies wait upon them. Saint Augustine and Saint Hierome are both of opinion, That he that suspects ill of others, cannot possibly live well himself. David desired of God, That he would judge him, According to the judgement of those that love thy Name, and take all things in good part. jam. 4. And Saint james whispers in thine ear, W●● art thou that judgest another man? He treats there of those that judge the secret intentions of the heart, none but God having such jurisdiction over it. If thy brother fall (saith he) his sin is not laid to thy charge; and if he rise again, it is not put to thy reckoning; he that now stands, may fall, and he that is fallen may rise again. That man from whom we expect least, may be a Saint, and that man from whom we expect most, may be a Sinner; for neither is our love certain, nor our fear secured. In Leviticus God hath commanded, That none should serve in his Sanctuary, or press to offer the bread of his God, having either too long or too short a nose, or a nose that stood awry. Where that nose is taken to be somewhat of the longest, which goes nosing and scenting after other men's lives and actions: and that of the shortest, which quickly takes snuff, and frets and fumes at the wagging of a Feather: and that to be crooked; which wrists things indifferent, and to the worse part. And therefore God said by Ezechiel, That he would cut off the noses and ears of his People, Ezech. 23. and lay his indignation upon them, and deal cruelly with them. The second circumstance is, That the sin which we find fault withal, be grievous: for though light sins (as Origen hath noted it) deserve correction, yet we have not so precise an obligation for the reprooving of them, as those that are more heinous. In this circumstance suit your grave doctors & your summists: and Saint Augustine proves the same out of the words of the Text, Lucratus es fratrem tuum, Thou hast won thy brother. Now that is not said to be won again, which hath not been lost before; we do not give a brother for lost for light sins, and such as ordinarily accompany our humane frailty; but when his sins are so notorious, that the Church doth proceed against them with Excommunications and grievous censures. And if men will hardly bear with small faults in their brethren, God forbid but that they should have an eye to those that are of a higher nature. Likewise, he that will correct another man, must be free himself from that sin which he reproveth in another. Pro●. 20.9. Who can say (saith Solomon) I have made my heart clean, I am free from my sin? Who (saith Saint Augustine) can so far forth commend himself in this life, which is a continual temptation, that he carries a clean heart? Saint Paul adviseth thee, Gal. 6. when thou takest thy brother to task, & goest about to correct him, That thou consult and consider with thyself, lest thou thyself stand on the like terms, and art liable to the same reproof. The third circumstance is, Old sores must not be rubbed up. When we see our brother doth still persever and continue in this his sin. For, for a sin already past, and for the which there hath been a precedent sorrow and amendment, correction is no further needful; for it being dismissed God's Court, and being blotted out of the book of his remembrance, man ought not to enter a new Action against it. If he will not vouchsafe to hear thee, that is, obey thee, (for Audire and Obedire is all one; In auditu auris, obedivit mihi) you may do as in Christian charity you see cause, always carrying a discreet hand in the business. But if he shall forthwith hearken unto thee, and obey thy instructions, thou must then forbear to inflict any further punishment or correction upon him, than his own contrition and submissive obedience. Saint Augustine tells us, That the end of correction is, to put a bridle to our sins, [In hamo & fraeno maxillas eorum constringe, Put a bridle in their mouth, and a hook in their nostrils] and as to the Horse that carrieth himself well and handsomely with one bridle, it is needless to clap two; so that Sinner that will be ruled and governed with the bridle of the fear of God, it is superfluous and more than needs, to check him with the curb of correction. The fourth circumstance is, When we have some probable hope of doing good upon our brother. The Physician is not bound to cure that Patient of whom there is no hope of recovery; much less if he fear greater hurt will follow thereupon. And this fear or jealousy may be occasioned two manner of ways. Either in regard of the hardness of heart, or obstinate condition of the party that is to be corrected: Or in regard of the foolishness of the party correcting. For that it is a business that will require a great deal of discretion: and that amongst all other difficulties belonging to government, there is not any poyn● that is half so hard as this. First of all, For a stubborn heart and an obstinate breast, correction is no convenient means; the means must be regular, and make some good end the aim they shoot at. Now those means from which I can hope for nothing but hurt, ought not to oblige me to undergo so thankless an office; Contest not with that man on whom thou shalt but cast away thy labour. A Father takes pains and lives poorly, and only to make his son a Gentlemen; He gathers together a grea● deal of wealth, but knows not for whom: Did he but know that his son would prove a Devil, he would sooner fire all he had, than leave it to such a son. If the Goldsmith did but know before hand, that his refining of silver would turn all to dross, Some grow the worse for being reproved. Prou. 25.20 he would rather break his bellows & crisols in 1000 pieces, than once offer to set himself about such an unprofitable piece of business. Now there are many men which are made worse by correction, Acetum in nitro, q●i cantat carmina, cord pessimo, There are some kind of persons, on whom to bestow reprehension, is to pour Vinegar upon Nitre; to be like unto him that singeth Songs to an heavy heart. It is lost labour to correct a Scorner, and such a one as makes but a sport & Maygame of sin. Among many other of Pythagor●● his Emblems, one saith, Ignem gladi● ne laeseris, Do not reprehend a choleric Foole. When David sent those his ten soldiers to Nabal, to entreat him to send him some provision; though he returned a harsh and churlish answer, Abig●l being a discreet woman, said not one word to him till his anger was overpast. jeremy brings in the comparison of a wild Ass, which is so wilful a beast, and so violent and headstrong in the time of her lust, that if any shall seek to stop or hinder her in this her course, she will kick and fling at him, and break his bones in pieces. I●r. 2. Thou art like a swift Dromedary that runneth by hi● ways; and as a wild Ass used to the Wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind by occasion at her pleasure, Who can turn her back? All they that seek her will not weary themselves, but will find her in her month. There are some Sinners of that knotty disposition, and so wedded to their own will, that if you shall but cross their humour, you will hardly escape without a stab. Si contuderis stultum in pila, non a●feretur ab eo stultitia ●ius, Though thou shouldest bray a Fool in a Mort●r, among wheat brayed with a pestle yet will not his foolishness depart from him. Secondly, The little discretion of his that correcteth, doth disoblige him from that duty. Ye that are spiritual, saith Saint Paul, restore such a one with the spirit of meekness. Gal 6. This is not a business befitting carnal men. For albeit one weak man is most affected with another man's weakness; and one that is sick, more sensible of another man's sickness; yet I am sure, That the good, bewails the misery of the bad, and that the evil man is always cruel. Correct him in the spirit of meekness. With that tenderness, as a man would put a tent into a wound, or make clean a Venice-glass; for our nature is more apt for a soft than a rough hand. Eliah, standing in the mouth of the cave where he hid himself, flying from Iezabel●●urie ●urie, grew somewhat choleric and angry, that God should suffer his Ministers to be so much wronged: And God appearing unto him, though his zeal for the Lord God of Hosts was great, yet because it had not its dams of discretion to qualify the eagerness thereof, a mighty strong wind rend the mountains and broke the rocks before the Lord; after the wind came an earthquake; and after the earthquake, came a fire; and after the fire, came a still and soft voice. And it is added in the Text, that the Lord was not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in that still and soft voice. Reprehension must be guided by discretion. Signifying thereby, that he had the weapons of the winds, of earthquakes, and of fire, for to shake, overthrow, and burn down to the ground the tallest and strongest towers and walls of his enemies; but withal, that he was of a sweet nature, and that his vengeance was mild and gentle. There are some corrections that tear up the trees by the roots, like a whirlwind; that shake and terrify the Conscience, like an earthquake; and that burn and consume our honours to dust. But God is not in them. He that will correct another (saith Saint Paul) must consider what manner of Man himself is. And that, as his brother hath sinned to day, so he may sin to morrow. To day, thou findest thy brother guilty, and to morrow it may so fall out, that he may come to be thy judge. It is fit (saith Petrus Crysologus) that there should be correction, to serve as a bridle to those that are headstrong; but withal, That as a loose rain does no good, so too hard a hand may do hurt. Lucian saith, That our hart is a white, or mark whereat shafts be shot: Whereof some are delivered with that force and strength of the arm, that passing quite through, they do it much hurt; others again with so slack a string, and that weakness, that falling short of the mark, they do no good at all. We must draw them therefore with that cunning, and with so dainty a delivery, that we may stick just in the white, and hit the right mark. That Arque, obsecra, increpa, of S. Paul, argues a quick and nimble delivery. And that of Ovid, Precibusque minis regaliter addit, is somewhat too Lordly and Commanding a style. What saith Ecclesiasticus? If thou blow the spark it shall burn, if thou spit upon it, it shall be quenched; Eccle. 28.12. and both these come out of the mouth. A kind word is as soon given as a cursed, and costs us but one and the same labour, as coming out of one & the same mouth. But as a hasty brawling kindleth fire, and an hasty fight sheddeth blood▪ so on the other side mildness doth quench malice, and deads' those coals of choler which are ready to break forth into flames of fury and madness. Sermo mollis (saith Solomon) frangit iram, A soft answer putteth away wrath, Prou. 15. but grievous words stir up anger. What says job? His friends had given him a reprehension as foolish as it was sharp and bitter. Whereunto he answered, How shall the mouth that is distasted, eat that which is not seasoned with salt? Or what appetite will a sick and weak stomach have to an egg, or a chicken that is not boiled with salt? Yet far more unsavoury than either of these is an indiscreet reproof, and words out of season. The Seventie translate it, Who can eat bread without salt, or suffer imprudent correction? And as distaste in our meats may arise from too much or too little salt; so correction may have so little salt in it, that it may make the Sick to dislike it, and refuse io eat it; and on the other side, it may have so much, that he will not be able to swallow it. What good can he do, who in his correction doth discover the passion and hatred of one that is offended, the imperiousness of a proud spirit, the taunting checks of a railing tongue, and the intemperate joy of an envious heart? In a word, No creature must be touched with a gentler hand, than man, saith Seneca. The fifth circumstance is, That he that hath a sullied conscience of his own, ought not to be the broom to sweep another man's, so saith S. Ambrose, Saint Hierome, Saint Chrysostome, and Thomas. Therefore, o man, art thou inexcusable (saith Saint Paul) for in that thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. It is a woeful case, that thou being a judge, shouldest be found guilty. This the Devil doth only, whom God styleth his brother's Accuser. Thy lips are like Lilies distilling Myrrh: Myrrh is bitter, but preserves from corruption; and the Spouse saith, praising the lips of her Beloved, Although thy words (saith she) are bitter, yet I see that they make for the saving of my life, and the preserving of me from de●th: In a word, they drop from white lips that are whiter than the Lily. Saint Augustine saith, That a secret Sinner may reprove a public offendor; but the cause being principally Gods, and he that reproves him, his Minister, it must of force be some hindrance unto him, with a leprous hand to cure another man's leprosy; or fearing lest God might say unto him, Why dost thou take my Law in thy mouth? etc. Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. Thou must not look that he should come unto thee of his own accord, for no man will willingly come to be corrected; nor must thou send one to call him unto thee; for being not thy Subject, thou shouldest show little civility in it: nor would I have thee to write unto him; for Paper being but a dead instrument, it may persuade but little, and perhaps run the danger of losing. But I would have thee to go to him in person, as the Physi●ion to the Sick, and wait a fit time and opportunity: for, albeit thy coming unto him may carry with it some inconvenience; yet thou mayst chance to see the gate set wide open unto thee, and to afford thee free entrance, and so give occasion unto thee to gain a Brother. Our Saviour saith of himself, That ●e went to win those whom he knew wished not well unto him: And therefore he likewise saith unto thee, No ●eue●ge must be sought. Vade, Go; for he that seeks after his enemy, and speaks kindly unto him, shows that there is no imposthume of malice remaining in his heart. Our Saviour spoke unto him that gave him the buff●t on the f●ce, not having (as Saint Chrysostome hath noted it) opened his mouth before, though he had many and sundry occasions given him so to do; to the end that the standers by might understand by his mild answer, that he did not bear that injury in his bosom, to be revenged of him hereafter. He that swallows an injury, pocketing it up for a time, putting on the face of dissimulation, till he see his opportunity, as Absalon did with Ammon, and as joab did with Amasa; Prou. 19.28. it is a manifest token that they meditated revenge: The mouth of the Wicked swalloweth up iniquity. The Crocodile without a tongue, is the Hierogliphycke of inexorable enmity. Quien calla, piedras opana, saith the Spaniard, He that says nothing, is providing a stone to fling at thee. Which Proverb suits more properly with a particular injury done to a man's own person: but as for those other sins that are committed against our Neighbour, or against God, I am no more bound to seek out the sin, or him that hath trespassed in that kind, than I am bound to seek out a poor beggar to give him an Alms, being no Prelate or Magistrate, on whom this obligation is more strictly laid. Go and tell him his fault. This being Preceptum affirmatiwm, an affirmative Precept, it doth not always bind a man to the performance thereof, but in its due time and place. The Chirurgeon doth not open an imposthume till it come to its ripeness; nor the Fisher strike at the Fish, till he hath swallowed the bai●, and offers to be gone. God stood waiting our first parent's leisure, till they beheld their own nakedness, and saw in what poor case they were; and afterwards fell to reprooving of them. Saint Augustine saith, It is charity in a man to forbear to reprehend, if he have not a fit time to do it. Even in your Pulpit-reprehensions, a wise and discreet Preacher ought to observe his times & his seasons, that those pearls may not be lost by being laid out to the fury of beasts. Because I know your manifold transgressions, Amos 5.12. (saith Amos) and your mighty sins, as your afflicting the Just, your taking of bribes, and your oppressing the Poor in the gate, etc. Therefore the Prudent shall keep silence in that time, for it is an evil time. 'Tis in vain to correct a man in the heat and height of sin. It was never counted wisdom in any man, to draw his sword against a fool or a mad man, though he come towards him with a naked weapon in his hand. Saint Gregory in his Pastoral doth highly extol the wisdom and discretion of Abigal, who forbore, while Nabal had digested his wine: applying herself to that rule of Ecclesiasticus, Control not thy neighbour when he is in his cups; 1. Kings 25. but let him alone till he come to be his own man. You will not water your horse when he is hot, nor offer a Bull meat when he is bitten and baited, nor put forth to sea when you see a storm over your head. God stood looking a good while, to see whither Da●ids affection would yet slacken towards Beersheba, that when the heat of his lust was overpast, he might tell him his own. Eccl. 8. Kindle not the coals of sinners when thou rebukest them, lest thou be burnt in the fiery flames of their sins: For if a man should tell them of their faults while their choler is up, you shall but kindle the coals the more, and work both their and your own destruction. The Spies that were sent into the Land of Promise, did raise up such a fear fall fire amongst the Israelites, that without any more ado, they would presently return back again into Egypt, and with a full and open mouth cursing one while Moses, & another while Aaron; those two brothers laid themselu●s flat on the ground, suffering these Arrows of the mutined Vulgar to fly over their heads. In a word, Men are to observe fit times and seasons: Eccle. 20.19. A wise Sentence loseth its grace, when it cometh out of a Fool's mouth; for he speaketh not in due season. And because this time and season is ver●e doubtful, Caietan adviseth thee, That if thou shalt forbear to correct thy brother, it seeming unto thee, that the unseasonableness thereof doth quit thee of this obligation; do thou endeavour to make this preparation in thy mind, and when thou shalt see a fit time, take it, and tell him of his fault: for then this precept ties thee to reprove him, and then use thy best discretion to work him to a sense of his sin, that thou mayst save a soul. between thee and him alone. Thou must intimate his sin unto him in secret, Reprehension must be private. it mu●t be a private reprehension, having a care of his credit and reputation: for God would have a Soul so to be won, that the body may receive no harm thereby. A good name is to be chosen above great riches, Prou. 22. Eccle. 41.12. for that shall continue with thee above a thousand treasures of gold. A m●ns life endeth tomorrow, but a good name endureth for ever. Saint A●gustine calls him cruel, that is careless of his credit, & neglecteth a good report, but more cruelty is it, to hurt another man's good name. In a word, The cure of some Sickness is so much the more commended, with how much the less detriment it is done: And therefore, Corripe inter te & ipsum solum, With a great deal of secrecy bury thy brother's sin in thy bosom. And as the Grave will not give thee up his Dead, though thou shouldst beg it on thy knees, (for therein the Grave is inexorable, and not to be entreated) so thou must not disinterre and open the secret of thy brother, nor reveal the same to any man whosoever, though he should importune thee thereto with tears, and beg it of thee on his knees. Fidens, quod non te disrumpet, He hath that trust and confidence in thee, that thou wilt not play the Viper; then do not thou break open thy mother's bowels, but keep that close which is committed to thy secrecy. Tell thy friend of his fault, for peradventure he did not perceive ●is own error, or happily others might have raised some false report of him: so that it may be a sin proceeding sometimes from another man's malice, and sometimes from his own ignorance. There are some tongues so slippery, that sometimes they utter that they would not. A Fool is ready to burst till he have unfolded a secret; it is a crooked pin in his throat, he must out with it before ever he can be at quiet. Ecclesiasticus fetcheth a comparison from the woman that is in labour of that she goes withal, who is in great pain till she be brought a bed, and delivered of her birth: As also from the Dog who hath an Arrow sticking in his thigh, and is never quiet till he have shaken it out. And such a kind of man as this, is incapable of correcting; for having first published his brother's faults in the open Street, with what face can he come unto him to give him a brotherly admonition. joseph being minded to open himself to his brethren, and to make known unto them, Gen. 45. how unbrotherly they had dealt with him when they sold him into Egypt▪ he commanded every one to go forth, insomuch that there was not a man besides themselves, that tarried in the room where they were. God corrected Cain when he found him alone by himself. Gen. 4. Num. 12. So when he was angry with Aaron and Mirian, and resolved roundly to chide them, he called them aside, sharply rebuking Aaron, and sound punishing Mirian. Saint Augustine saith, Tha● open sin deserves open punishment, and that public faults must have public correction: but secret sins, secret admonition, unless they be very hurtful to Church or Commonwealth, as matters of heresy, or Treason against the King and State; and than it is fit to acquaint the Clergy with the one, and the Council with the othet. If he will not hearken unto thee when thou hast him alone, tell him thereof the second time before one or two. This condition taken in the first sense de iniuria propria, touching an injury done to mine own person, is very facile & easy: for having first taken him aside, and privately acquainted him with the wrong he hath done me; if this fair proceeding will not prevail with him, I may then lawfully tell him his own before one or two witnesses, that they may see (as Euthymius saith) that I comply with my duty, and with that which God hath commanded me to do. In the second sense, touching the sinning against our Neighbour and against God, this seemeth to some somewhat too hard a course; for the sin being secret, the party reprehended before two witnesses, may reply and say unto me, That I lie, that there is no such matter, that I defame him and call his name in question, and complaining of me to the justice, he may prove the defamation upon me, but I not prove the delict upon him. Saint Hierome saith, That these two witnesses ought likewise to be his reproovers, and to put to their helping hand to raise him that is fallen: who cannot be Correctors of him, the sin not appearing, in regard it is secret. Saint Augustine likewise saith, That he that correcteth a man must take one or two witnesses unto him, that the correction may be the more effectual, and the more substantial. For, By the mouth of two or three every word is confirmed, (so saith the Law) Id est, in testimonio vel sermone, by the testimony or speech; using the figure Metonimia, when the cause is put for the effect. For this inconvenience sake, some say, That before I correct my brother the second time, I should make one or two witnesses acquainted with his fault, that they may join with me in the correcting of him, and to the end that the correction may be the graver and the more effectual. And to him that shall reply, How can I reveal that sin which in itself is secret? They answer, That it is a less ill, that two or three should know of it, and that by them he should rather suffer loss in his fame, than in his soul. Against these two witnesses we have the authority of Saint Augustine, who willeth, That if any religious person shall commit any notorious sin, or other scandalous action to his calling, thou shalt first teproove him for it in secret, and if then he shall not amend his fault, to reveal the same to his Bishop or Superior. And he sets it down as a ruled Case, That it were rather cruelty than charity, not to open the wound of the Soul. And his reason is, Ne deterius putrescat in cord, Lest it grow worse and worse, rankling and festering in the heart; as it is in the hiding of a wound in the body from the eye of the Surgeon. Nor let them think that you do this out of malice or ill will, for you offend more in suffering your brother to perish by your silence, than by revealing his fault for his good. T●is opinion of Saint Augustine made Thomas to confess, That after the first admonition, I may reveal to the Prelate the delict of my brother, as to a father: for in very deed, your Prelates have in this kind far greater authority. So that s●ch or such a sin being to be revealed, supposing two preceding witnesses, may be revealed to the Prelate, as to a judge; but no witnesses preceding, only by admonition, as to a father. Against this Truth there is a great argument grounded out of the said Saint Augustine, In his rebus, etc. In those things wherein the sacred Scripture sets down no certainty, the custom of God's people, or the decrees of our Ancestors are to be held for Law. And the custom and use of our Ancestors is, That these delicts should be revealed to the Superiors; one while, by denunciation; another while, by accusation, without any preceding admonition: so is it ordered in their Edicts, without exception of any kind of faul●s whatsoever. I answer, Your Edicts are so far forth to be understood and approved, as that they shall not any way thwart or infringe the Law of the Gospel, in that which appertaineth to admonitions & witnesses: & that therefore your superiors have not put these things in their Edicts, for that they are to be presupposed. And if he will not vouchsafe to hear thee, tell it unto the Church; or make it known to his Prelate, for so doth Saint Chrysostome and Saint Hierome expound it. Nor doth our Saviour Christ here treat of the secular judge, nor secular Laws, but those that are Ecclesiastical. And therefore he saith, Dic Ecclesiae, Tell it to the Church; for the power of Excommunication did belong unto the Synagogues, as appeareth by Saint Mark and Saint john. Mark. 1. For the casting of the blind man out of the Synagogue, was the same as Excommunication is now amongst the Christians. But first of all, two witnesses are required, to the end that shame may work the Delinquent to amendment of his fault: but if this medicine shall not cure this his malady, than sharper corrasives are to be applied to this Sore, Vt qui non potuit pudore, saluetur opprobrijs, That him whom shame could not recall, reproach should; so saith Saint Hierome. If he hear not the Church, let him be unto thee as a Heathen and a Publican. God's favour towards his Church. Such Sovereign authority hath the Church by the presence of Christ, and such is its firmness, that it being as an immoovable Pillar of Truth, The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it; And of such continuance Christ's favour towards it, that he seals this assurance with an E●ce, etc. Behold, Mat. 18. I am with you till the end of the world; And such the especial providence of the blessed Spirit towards it, that he that shall despise it, his case is to be accounted desperate. These two Truths the Church by long and many experiences hath made good unto us. The one, That he that honours and respects the Church, receiveth very great and singular favours from Heaven; He that shall glorify me, (and in me my Spouse and Ministers of my Word) I will glorify him. And of these the Histories are full, both Divine and Humane: Of David, of josias, of Alexander Magnus, Theodosius, and Charlemaigne; who triumphed over powerful enemies, for that they had respected the authority and dignity of the Church, preferring still the same before the honour of their own Crowns. The other, That they who have despised and contemned it, have ever been held base and vile. They that contemn me, (and in me my Spouse and my Ministers) shall be esteemed base and ignoble: As amongst the Hebrews it was to be seen in a Saul, an Ozias, & a Manasses: Among the Romans, in a Pompeius Magnus, who profaned the sacred Temple of Jerusalem, yet durst not come to touch its Treasure; so Cicero affirmeth, etc. Thomas hath observed, That God ever showed himself more merciful in revenging his own wrongs, than those that were done to the Ministers of his Church. The People of Israel worshipped a Calf, and proceeded so far in wronging the Majesty of God, that they sticked not to say, Exod. 32. This is that God which with a mighty hand & outstretched arm freed us from the Captivity of Egypt. God punished this their iniquity with the death of some of the principal offenders. Dathan and Abiram rebelled against Moses, Num. 16. and the earth swallowed them up alive. Sit tibi tanquam Ethnicus & Publicanus. If he shall not be obedient to the Church, but shall despise the sentence of his Superiors, When the Salve can do no good, the Saw must. Let him be unto thee as a Heathen man and a Publican. In Leviticus God commanded, That they should not offer unto him any Sacrifice of honey; but he required the first fruits thereof: he will at first have honey, that is, mild admonitions, gentle persuasions, and friendly advice; but if these will not serve the turn, he unsheaths his sword, and cuts thee off from the Church pronouncing this sentence against thee, Let him be to thee as a Heathen and a Publican. He doth here point out two sorts of People, which Gods people did shun and avoid. The one, Him that was a stranger to his Law. The other, Him that was a public offendor therein: both which he wisheth us to fly from. From the one, That they may do us no hurt; For, a little leaven will sour the whole lump. From the other, That being thereby ashamed of their sins, they may repent and amend. Wherein he seemeth to moderate the rigour of the Old Testament: for in deuteronomy he commandeth, Deut. 17. The Gospel more mild than the Law. That he that will not hear the Highpriest, that man shall die the death; and that son that shall not be obedient to his father, shall be stoned to death. But God now showing himself more mild and gentle, is contented that we should only shun the company of such as are disobedient, being no better than cankered and rotten Members, which may chance to infect and putrify those other sound parts of the body. And albeit the excommunicating of those that converse with them (which course the Church now taketh) may seem somewhat of the severest, for that it comprehendeth not only the nocent, but the innocent, as well the not offending, as the offending; yet said the Samaritan woman, The jews do not use to keep company with Samaritans: And they accused our Saviour Christ, for that he did eat with Publicans and Sinners; and because he did but talk with a Samaritan, they called him, by way of scorn, a Samaritan. These latter conditions of denunciating my brother to the Church, and of using him like an Heretic or a Moor, have seemed to the World to be somewhat too hard teaching; and baptizeth the Denunciator by the name of Delator, or privy Accuser, or an Informer or Promoter. And even in those Communities and Commonwealths which have renounced the Laws of the world, it hath been held a point of honour and of nobleness, not to enter or stand forth by accusing or denunciating in causis alienis: For he that shall do so, is accounted but a base minded fellow; and one that hath no worth or goodness in him: and he had need have an extraordinary assistance of God's spirit, that shall take this task upon him, when Zeal and Honour cannot agree upon the point, one swaying this way, and another that: which distraction is made the more, the more great and powerful the persons be that ought to be thus corrected. First, I answer, That one and the self same thing may be said to be sour and sweet, after a diverse respect. Saint Matthew saith, That the way to Hell is broad and large. The Damned, they say it is a hard way, Ambulanimus vias difficiles, etc. To correct and to be corrected shall be easy to the Spirit, but hard to the Flesh. And put case it be sour, yet the ajudas de Costa, those good supplies which the Justice shall enjoy in this present life, and the hope of reward in the future, will make it sweet. Secondly, I answer, That Fear and Cowardice propose sometimes difficulties where there are none; All fear and cowardice must be laid aside in the correcting of our Brethren. and he that is afraid that he sh●l not draw water from his brother's breast and eyes, How shall he hope to draw water out of a rock or a stone? There is a great deal of controversy and much ado touching that sin of Moses, for which God denied him entrance into the holy Land: S. Paul saith, That it was incredulity. The opinion of the Hebrews is, That this his sin was, his not speaking to the Rock. God spoke unto these two brothers, and said, Loquimini ad Petram; which Moses struck once or twice with his Rod, etc. Now if two words would have been sufficient for to draw water out of a rock, Is it much that Man should draw it out of the heart (though it were made of stone) and convey it, as by a Conduit, to the eyes? Solomon saith, That many do excuse themselves of fulfilling Gods commandments, alleging their want of strength and ability; That it stands not with their health, to fast on half holidays, nor to eat Fish in Lent, or on fridays [Vires non suppetunt.] Hereunto I make a twofold answer: The one, Deus est Inspector cordis, It is God that trieth the heart and reynes, he knows whither thou have strength or no: thou canst not cozen him with a false Dye, thou mayst cozen thy Physician with a lie, but thou canst not cozen God. The other, Ipse intelligit; God knows well enough, That thou canst not do any good thing without his help, for he must assist thee with his grace in this life, and with glory in the life to come, And will reward every man according to his works. Leo the Pope saith, That he that thinks with himself, that it is a hard thing to be corrected▪ must have recourse to God's mercy, & to entreat his favour that he will free him from this his evil custom, and so to humble him, that correction may seem sweet unto him. Lastly, Albeit at first the party reproved will show himself harsh & sour unto thee, yet upon better consideration he will con thee thanks, and like better of thy plain dealing with him, than if thou hadst soothed up his sins; He that reproves a man shall afterward find more grace than he that deceives him with a flattering tongue. To S. Austen, the corrections & admonitions of his mother were unsavoury; but afterwards he confessed, That he was much more beholding to her for having reduced him to the right way, than for bringing him forth into the world. Who is it that maketh me glad, (saith Saint Paul) but he that is made hea●ie by me. The Scripture is full of rewards and of threatenings, both in the favour and disfavour of the Corrector and the Corrected. Of him that correcteth Crysostome saith, If thou shouldest give innumerable riches to the Poor, thou shalt not work that good thereby, as thou shalt by saving a soul; for there is no price comparable with that of the Soul: Fructus justi, lignum vitae, By living well himself, and by gaining his brother's Soul. Saint Augustine saith, That every Christian should desire that all should be saved; and he that contemneth correction, doth in part deny this desire. And the Apostle Saint james, That he that shall convert his brother, and remove him from his error, shall save his soul from death: In which words are comprised as well his own, as another's soul. Thomas saith, Correction is eleemosina spiritualis, a spiritual kind of alms; and of so much more price than any other alms, by how much the soul is of more price than the body, & by how much the goods of Grace are to be preferred before those of fortune and of Nature. He that succours the Poor, when he gives most, he can but lay down his corporal life for him; but he that raiseth up him that is fallen, bestows a spiritual life on him, and performs the office of an Apostle. So that to correct and ●o be corrected, brings with it so much interest, and so much gain, that every man may account it for a great happiness. The incorrigible man is so threatened in the sacred Scripture, that the very fear thereof is able to quell his spirits, Prou. 29. and to make him turn Coward. A man that hardeneth his neck when he is rebuked, shall suddenly be destroyed, so saith Solomon: The Hebrew phrase is, Vir correctionum, he that liveth so ill, that a man had need to carry always in his hand a rod of correction for him; and instead of amending his faults, daily adds sin unto sin, whereby he is overtaken with sudden death, which in a Sinner is of all other evils the greatest. Other lesser threatenings are set down by Solomon, Povertie and shame shall be to him that forsaketh discipline: and now here he saith, Sudden destruction shall come upon him. So long may he persever in the hardness of his heart, that God's justice may overtake him, and shorten his days by sudden death. The truth of this is apparent in Pharaoh, to whom so many fair warnings and admonitions served but to make the heap of his sins the higher, till at last, with those heaps of waters he was overwhelmed suddenly in the sea. It is written in the Book of Wisdom, That those cruel and many stripes which were bestowed upon the Egyptians, could not draw so much as one tear from their eyes, nor procure the liberty of God's People of hard-hearted Pharaoh: He that refuse●h correction shall be o●ertake● with su●●en destruction. But when they saw the death of their firstborn, than they howled & wept, and Pharaoh himself was moved and made piteous moan, and gave present order for their departure. But here (I pray you) observe with me a fearful kind of obstinacy; for they had scarce dried their tears, scarce had they covered the graves of their Dead, when lo, those that had entreated for their departure, as fearing they should all die the death, Omnes mori●mur, for so saith the Text, falling into a rash and unadvised consideration, followed after them, as if they had been a company of Fugitives, forgetting the former torments which they had endured. And a wise man rendering the reason of this so foolish a resolution, saith, This their hardness of heart carried them 〈◊〉 it were perforce to this so disastrous 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 supply the defect of that punishment. O, that Sinners would be so wise as to enter into discourse with themselves. The Adulterer, whom God hath freed from a thousand notorious dangers of his life and credit; though his brethren have not checked him, yet hath his own conscience corrected him with greater severity, and far more sharply; 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 supply what is wanting to his torments. Another in some bad fashion hazards his honour, God miraculously preserves him more than once or twice, that he may take warning thereby, and reclaim himself: he mixes a thousand bitter galls with his sweet delights, he affrights him with sudden assaults, this doth no good on him: he strikes him with a Lethargy that deprives him of his senses, & thus through his own wilfulness & hardheartednes, he is haled violently as it were by the hair of the head, to this so miserable an end; Vt quae de●rant tormentis suppleret puniti●. In favour of the reward which the Corrected shall receive, A patient ear shall reap great profit. Prou. 15. Solomon proposeth many grave sentences to that purpose; The ear that hearkeneth to the correction of life, shall lodge among the wise, not only in earth, but inheaven; for, Quicquiescit arguenti, gloriabitur. Amongst other pledges, that a Soul may assure itself that God wisheth it well, is, the sending of a Legate unto him to advise him of his faults. Si corripuerit me iustus in miserecordia, hoc ipsum sentiam, (it is Saint Bernard's) I will receive him as sent from God. Labia ●ua distillantia myrrham primam: Cant. 4. Myrrh is bitter, (as before hath been said) but preserveth from corruption; so are the words of my Beloved, they are bitter, but are directed to the saving of my life, and to preserve me from death. Saint Augustine draws a comparison from him that is frantic, and one that is sick of a Lethargy; the one falls into folly, the other into a profound sleep: he that binds the one, and wakes the other, is troublesome to them both; but being both recovered, they both give him thanks. 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 have you to note, That he that doth a wrong, doth ever receive more hurt than he that hath the wrong; Qui alterum ladit, plus sibi nocet, He that hurts another, doth most hurt to himself; for the hurt that the wronged receiveth, is outwardly, and in body; but the hurt of him that wrongeth is inwardly, and in soul. And therefore Saint Paul saith, Ye that sin against your brother, sin against Christ; he that despiseth these things, despiseth not man, but God. And our Saviour Christ, He that shall call his brother Fool, is worthy of Hell fire: So that the wronged cannot receive the third part of the harm of the party wronging. Plato is of opinion, That he that doth an injury to another, doth the greatest to himself; and cannot (if he would) study to do himself a worse mischief. David was much wronged by Absalon, (for what greater offence could a son commit, than to rise up in rebellion against his own father?) but he considering with himself, That his son had done himself the greater hurt, called out unto the men of War, and said unto them, Seruate mihi puerum Absalon, Spare my son Absalon, and see you do not slay him. And therefore our Saviour Christ teacheth us this Lesson, If thy brother receive the greater hurt of the two by the wrong and injury that he doth thee, do not go about to be revenged of him, but rather take pity and compassion of him; as thou wouldst be grieved for him, who thinking to give thee a wound, should put a stoccado upon himself, & die in the place. Reprooue therefore thy brother, and if he shall hearken unto thee, Lucratus es fratrem tuum. Thou hast gained thy brother. God hath a great desire, that thou shouldst win thy brother to thee, & gain his soul. To this purpose he put that Parable of the Shepherd that went forth to seek his lost Sheep; of the woman that swept every corner in her house over and over, to look her lost groat: Which are but expressions of that great care which God taketh in seeking after a Sinner, and the desire that he hath to reduce him to his obedience. To the like end did he propose that other Parable of the prodigal Child; whose argument ends in the great joy wherewith his father welcomed him home, after he had given him for lost. And here in this place he wi●ls every one of us by one means or other, The best service we can do to God, is to reclaim a sinner from his sin. to win our brother: first, to deal with him by fair means; if that will not serve the turn, then by foul, making his fault known to the Prelates of the Church. So that it seems, that God when he cannot work us for Heaven by fair and gentle persuasions, by love and entreaties, then will he use blows & stripes, & beats us thither before him, making us to feel the weight of his heavy hand. Hath not God commanded thee, That if thou meet with an Ox that is fallen, thou shouldst not pass forward on thy way till thou hast holp him up? 1. Cor. 9 And yet (saith Saint Paul) Nun est Deo cura de Bobus? What doth God care for Oxen? Yet if he will that thou relieve a silly Ox, how much more will he, that thou take pity of a Sinner that is fallen? Saint Chrysostome treating at large, How that Servant was condemned by his Master, that kept his Talon wrapped up in a Napkin, not putting it out to some good use or other; saith, That there was sufficient cause enough to condemn him, that he would not venture his Talon for his Master's profit, and the good of his brethren. God so enrich us with his grace, that we may use our Talon well, that when our Master Christ jesus shall come and call us to account, we may not be found unprofitable servants; which God grant for his mercy's sake. THE XXI. SERMON, UPON THE WEDNESDAY AFTER THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. MAT. 15. Tunc accesserunt ad eum ab Hyerosolimis Scribae & Pharisaei. Then came unto him from Jerusalem, the Scribes and Pharisees. THis Gospel is an Embassage which the Scribes and Pharisees performed coming from Jerusalem to Gennezaret, Ewie, the guide that brought the pharisees to our Saviour. a Country of Galilee where at that time our Saviour resided. But so foolish an Embassage, from a Nation so grave, and from a commonwealth so flourishing as that was (as Saint Hierome hath noted it) was never delivered by any but themselves. The Carthusian says, That these Pharisees were of Zanedrin, that supreme Council which succeeded those seventy Elders chosen by God, for to assist his Servant Moses in the government of his People. And Theophilact saith, That the Pharisees were despised throughout all the Cities of that Kingdom▪ but that those of Jerusalem were counted the gravest amongst them, more respected than the rest, and of all other the proudest and most insolent. Who seeing some of our Saviour's Disciples, To eat with unwashed hands, they made a journey of purpose unto him. The occasion which added wings to their feet, & the determination which they had in their breasts, was not that which they here published, but the many miracles which our Saviour wrought in the Land of Galilee: for there was not that sick body, if he could but come to touch his garmenr, but that he was presently made whole. And this (as Saint Chrysostome hath well observed) was the cause of their coming unto him. Tunc accesserunt, Then, and not till then did they stir: his fame was now spread abroad, and when it had reached to Jerusalem, it grew so great, that it struck the Scribes and Pharisees into such astonishment, and stirred up such envy in them, that desiring to lessen our Saviour's honour, cut the wings of his fame a little shorter, and disgrace and discredit him in his person, they took hold of such a foolish and frivolous occasion, as the like was never heard of; As his Disciples washing, or not washing their hands; picking a quarrel with him: and to colour the matter the better, they pleaded Custom. They came unto jesus. It is a very strange thing in my understanding, That the Scribes and Pharisees making so little reckoning of that which did import them so much, they should now make such a do about that which did import them so little. The rarest and greatest accident that the World ever saw, was Christ's coming into the World. The jews did earnestly desire it, and beg it so instantly at God's hands, that it was the very mark and white whereat the sighs and prayers of the Saints did aim and shoot at. And when the fame of this his coming was blown abroad, trumpetted far and near by the Kings of the East, the Sibyls, and Prophets, the diligences of Herod, and the death of those innocent Babes; the supreme Council sent some of their Levites to john Baptist, To demand of him, What art thou? For they standing much upon their authority and greatness, they would not stir one foot out of doors themselves: but here now they come in person from Jerusalem to Galilee, upon so slight an occasion as the washing or not washing of the hands, making much ado about a matter of nothing. In ordinary businesses we will trust our servants, sending one this way, and another that way; but in things that more nearly concern us, we will take the pains to go about it ourselves. But Envy and Love are wont sometimes to change hands, making Mountains Molehills, and Molehills Mountains; little, much, and much little. In point of Love, we have a plain example thereof in jacob, whom Leahs fruitfulness more importing him than Rachaels' beauty, (for Christ came from jacob by Leah, and not by Rachael) yet jacob served fourteen years for Rachael, an● was well contented with it; whereas for Leah he would have thought half a year too long a time. And such again might have been his love, that Leahs bleerenesse of the eyes, might have seemed more pleasing unto him than the fair looks of Rachael: Ojos ay (as it is in the Proverb) que de laganas se enam●ran, It is as a man's mind or fancy takes him. In point of Envy, many more are the examples, for the Envious taking pleasure in the hurt of the Envied, that he may do him a little ill, suffers much himself, and neglecting his own proper good, which concerns him much, he desires much another man's hurt, which concerns him little. And much to this purpose makes that comparison of the Cow which is bitten by a gad-bree or dume-flie, specified by the Prophet Osce, Ephraim is become a wanton Heifar: Another Translation hath it, Like a Cow that is stung. A Fly makes a Cow to run up and down as if she were mad, and makes her either headlong to break her neck down the Cliffs, or to bemyre herself in some Bog where she is stifled. It is a strange thing, that so little a creature should thus trouble and disquiet so great a Beast. But this, and more than this doth Envy work upon light occasions. Joseph's Dream and his coloured Coat wrought much upon his Father and brethren, though grave and wise persons. That little short Song, Sa●● hath slain his thousand, and David his ten thousand, did so disquiet Saul, that it thrust a thousand jealousies into his head, & much troubled him for a long time after. Saint Gregory saith, That the envious man doth suffer two Hells; one in this life, and another in that other life: and in some sort, this is the greater Hell of the two; for good being here a torment unto him, he lives less tormented in Hell in that other life, where there is nothing but ill. Hence Antonio de Milan drew a discreet conceit, That Go● 〈◊〉 not do the Envious a favour in affording him Heaven; for he receiving ●o much torment from so short and transitory goods as those of this life, he would live much more tormented in Heaven, where there is so much good, without any the least show or sign of ill. Why do thy Disciples not wash their hands? Here we are to consider, who it is that makes this criminal Accusation; then, against whom it is made: painted, but rotten Sepulchers, whited, but stinking Dunghills; against him that was blameless in his life, and in his Doctrine divine and heavenly. The Apocalyps paints out a woman rounded and circled in on every side with Light, the Sun being her Mantle, the Stars her Crown, the Moon her Chapines; and a Dragon waiting to devour the son which she was to bring forth. Nor is there any thing (saith Chrysologus) whereon Envy dares not to venture; Coelum tentat, Terras urit, Reges urget, Populos vastat, It tempts Heaven, torments Earth, presseth Princes, and oppresseth the People. In a word, Envy is grown so bold and so insolent, that it dares to set upon God, not contenting herself, that men should be only Homicides, Fratricides, Patricides; but also Deicides, seeking to quit God of his life. Why do thy Disciples transgress the tradition of the Elders, That they wash not their hands, when they eat? They said before to the Disciples, Your Master eats with Publicans and Sinners: And here in this place, to their Master, Thy Disciples wash not their hands. Such whisperers, and mutterers as these, Informers as great a plague in a common weal as the flies of Aeg●pt. are like unto those flies which go buzzing still about men's ears, and where they light and rest themselves, they usually leave behind them worms and maggots; And therefore, whereas David saith, Et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit, And hath not set in the chair of Pestilence. The Hebrew hath the word Susurronis, In the Tale-bearer or Informers Chair. Because your flies of Egypt are a kind of plague 〈◊〉 pestilence. If Moses had not destroyed them, they had destroyed the Egyptians. One little spark is enough to burn a whole house; and one malicious tongue, to undo a whole City. Therefore shall God destroy thee and pluck thee from out thy Tabernacle, and thy root from out the land of the living. Psal. 52.5. It is the prophecy of King David against Doeg▪ the Edomite, who did whisper in King Saul's ear the relief which Abimelech the Priest had given him of the Shewbread, and of his giving him Goliath his sword; wherewith he kindled such coals of wrath in the King's breast, that he slew seventy Priests of them when they were in their sacred robes, together with their wives and children: He likewise overthrew their houses. And therefore the Prophet saith, So shall God destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee and pluck thee out of thy Tabernacle, and root thee out of the land of the Living, So that there shall not be any relics of thy lineage left alive. A frog is the Hieroglyphic of a whisperer, or flattering sycophant, and of a Court tale-carryer; his eyes are ready to start out of his head, to pry into other men's faults; he leads his life in mire and mud, and the filthy puddles of sin; he is tailelesse like an Ape, discovering still his own shame, and yet is still mocking and gibing at other men's defects. The writer of the Revelation, saith, That he saw issuing out of the Dragon's mouth (by which he means Antichrist) eight foul fiends, like unto frogs. Apoc. 16. This similitude he took from the effects; for that they are troublesome creatures, importunate, still bawling and croaking out their malice, and living in the mud, they no sooner stir but they trouble the water that is clear, still, and quiet. And this is the picture or representation of a Whisperer, who is ever troublesome, importunate, and a great babbler, and living in the mudd●●●his vices, troubles the peace and quiet of the Commonwealth. The Naturalists do much endear the poison of a certain Fish called Torpedo, or the Crampefish; of whom they report, That he doth benumb the arm of the Fisher, the venom where of passing from the Hook to the Line, and from the Line to the Cane, makes his hand to shake and tremble, that he is forced to let fall his Angle-rod. They likewise say of him, That he darts his poison from the sea, on those that walk by the shore side: but your Whisperers and Tale-tellers diffuse their poison a great deal further; it is a woeful and wretched case, that any ears should be found to receive such poison. Solomon saith, A mouth that speaketh lewd things I do hate; reading therein a Lecture to the Princes of the earth, That they should hate and abhor such Earwigs. Pliny saith, That there is so great an antipathy and contrariety between the Ash tree and the Serpent, that the Serpent will sooner pass through hot burning coals, than by the leaves or boughs of this Tree. And for a token that Princes should abhor these venomous Serpents, these Court-whisperers, they were wont to wear Crowns of wreathed Ash. David puts it amongst those pledges of Heaven, Psal. 1●. 3 He that doth no evil to his Neighbour, nor takes up a reproach against him. Why do not thy Disciples wash their hands, etc. Amongst other innumerable differences of the just man and the Sinner, four fit well for our present purpose. (1.) The first is, That the just hath no eyes save to look upon his own sins; and the Sinner hath not any save only to pry into other men's faults. The Egyptians had an eye, and that a strict one too, over the Children of Israel; but so had not the Israelites over the Egyptians: And the Book of Wisdom rendering the reason thereof, saith, Only upon them there fell a heavy night, but thy Saints had a very great light. David's eyesight served him to see the Sheep that 〈◊〉 stolen from his subject, but had never an eye to look out to behold his own robbing of another man both of his wife and his life. Our Saviour Christ said of the Pharisees, That they could spy a moat in another man's eyes, but not see the beam that was in their own. David, though he were in grace and favour with God, yet did his sins so trouble him, that he thought no man was so great a Sinner as himself: Which made him to cry out, Peccatum meum contrame est; and anon after to come upon his knees unto God, Psal. ●1. 1. with, Have mercy upon me, ● God, according to thy loving kindness, and according to the multitude of thy mercies blot out my transgressions. Here he embarkes all the mercies of God, he makes a stop and stay of them, he arrests them, that they may not go from him, having so great need of them as he had. So must thou, and I, and all of us, desire & beg the like at God's hand; and to think with ourselves, that no man's sins in the world are more or greater than ours. The second is grounded upon a certain kind of language & phrase of Scripture, The godly look carefully to their ways. which saith, That he that feareth God will look well unto his ways, have an eye to his actions, and throughly examine his own conscience: Qui timet Deum, convertetur ad corsuum; but he that doth not fear God, minds none of all these. And of this mind is Petrus Chrysologus, treating of the Prodigal, Abij● in Regionem longinquam, He went into a far Country: This journey of his (saith he) was farther off in point of his understanding, than of place; for there is no Region more remote than that which removes us from God, and makes a Sinner to go on in the wickedness of his ways. Saint Paul doth earnestly advise us, What is ●ent by 〈◊〉 of Time that we should redeem the time, Because the days are evil, that is, so short, that they vanish in an instant. jacob styled a hundred thirty eight years of his life, Malos annos, Evil years, for that they 〈◊〉 full of trouble and vexation. A man that is much employed, and full of business, his ordinary phrase is, No tengo bora mia, I am not mine own man, no not for an hour; I am so taken up with business, that I am made as it were a slave and drudge unto them. Solomon called those, Evil days, which were spent in searching into other men's lives, in reading Histories, and other worldly actions which do little or nothing at all concern us. The Apostle would have us to redeem them; Redeem those thou hast sold and misspent; for many were with me. Thy Angels did guard me. And amongst those many that had not an eye unto their ways, I had always a care to look unto my steps. The third is, That the Sinner looks upon the just, (3.) The godly make use of the Sinner for their own good, so doth not he of them Prou. 25. as on the Attorney that accuseth him, the Executioner that torments him, & the Cross that grieves & afflicts him; The Sinner doth behold the Just with attention, and seakes to take his life from him, because in looking upon him he beholds his own condemnation. The Elephant troubles that water which represents his own foulness unto him: And the Ape breaks that glass wherein he sees his own ill-favoured face. A righteous man falling down before the Wicked, is like a troubled Well, and a corrupt Spring. But the just man looks upon a Sinner, as upon a wand that beats the dust out of him; as God's Hangman, or the Instrument to execute his will. So King David looked upon Shimei when he cursed him; so God's People upon Pharaoh and Nebucadnezar; so the Prophet, on the Lion which took his life from him on the way. Saint Augustine compares the Sinner to a Millstone and a Winepress; the one cleanseth the Oil, the other purgeth the Wine. But it is not so with the Wicked, for they are like dust that are scattered before the face of the wind: The Hebrew renders it, Like a Measure that levels out a thing to its just breadth and length, & defends it from colds and heats. Saint Augustine expounding that place of Genesis, Major seruiet Minori, That Esau who was the elder brother, should serve jacob that was the younger; asks the question, Wherein Esau did serve him, being that he was always an enemy unto him? And his answer is, That he did serve him even in his forsaking of him and his persecuting of him. The fourth and last difference is, (4.) The wicked like the fly will be always sucking as ●he botch. That there being many things worthy commendation, and of much virtue and goodness, in the Just; the Sinner will neither have an eye to see them, nor a tongue to praise them; but to find out the least moat or atom of ill, he is Eagle-eyed. And like unto the Vulture, over-flying the pleasant fields, and passing by the sweet smelling pastures, pitches upon the blade bone of an Ass, or the carcase of some stinking Carrion: or like unto the Fly, who having the whole body, and that a fair one too, to light upon, makes choice to fall upon no other place but some tumour, or swelling. Those that did accompany the Spouse, envying her prosperity, Cant. 1. did murmur and gibe at her, saying, That for a Queen she was somewhat of the blackest. Whereunto she answered, That indeed she was black, yet fair withal. Aaron and his sister Mirian murmured against Moses, Because he had taken an Aethyopian to wife: Is it not a fine thing, (said they) that a Governor of so many Souls, a Ruler and Commander over God's People, should marry with a Blackamoor? The Rule which we are to observe, is matter of Virtue; let us fix our eyes upon other folk's virtues, and turn them aside from those good gifts which are in ourselves, Aemulamini charissimata meliora; but in matter of vice we must do the contrary, etc. Why do not thy Disciples wash their hands? The seeing of one do amiss, is many times the condemning of all: And this Leprosy cleaves closest to the Vulgar. Saint Augustine saith, Th●t the state Ecclesiastical hath more particularly a great unhappiness in this with the Common people: for though such a woman be an Adultress, yet for all this, other husbands do not think a jot the worse of their own wives: And though such a man's son be a Thief, they do not therefore hate their own children. But if a Minister do amiss, or a Churchman commit such or such a sin, they presently cry out against the whole Body of the Clergy; and what is but light in others, is heinous in them. Why do ye also transgress, etc. Sweet jesus, They having thrown so many injuries upon thee, & those in the highest nature [In Beelzebub the Prince of devils, etc. a Glutton, a Samaritan, and the like reproach full terms] how comes it to pass, that thou didst then answer them so mildly, and now upon so light an occasion as this, thou growest so angry with them? I answer, The occasions are many. (1.) Patience once wounded, turns to deadly rage. First of all, They had so overlayed him with injuries, and so wronged his patience, that it seemeth he desired but some good occasion to tell them their own, and what kind of people they were; Quis dabit mihi Spinam & veprem exoptanti? O, that I could but alter my nature, or change my condition; O, that I could of a Rose become a Thorn. Moses his Rod was turned into a Serpent, and such a Serpent, that it devoured those other Serpents of the Enchanters of Egypt; whereby God did then seem to say, King Pharaoh hath made him a Dragon, thinking to devour my People alive; Ad te o Draco magne, But I will turn myself into a Dragon, and will swallow down whole both him and all his People. (2.) Envy hath more of the Devil's venom in it, than any other vice. Secondly, Howsoever light this occasion may seem to be, there lay a great deal of malice hidden under it, and a great deal of envy. Other vices have much of the Devil's venom in them, but none of them so much as Envy. There was a great deal of envy covered under those words, when the little children cried to Elisha, Baldpate, bald pate; whereupon the Bears came down amongst them from the mountains, and tore forty two of them in pieces. This punishment may seem to exceed their offence; but the name of Baldpate did include much malice. For it being a fashion amongst the Prophets, to wear long hair like Nazari●es, they in derision call the Prophet, Baldpate. And justine Martyr farther discovereth this their malice, and saith, That some of the jews were of opinion, That the Devil had dashed Elias in pieces on the top of some high mountain; and that these children's meaning was, when they cried, Come up thou Baldpate, that the Devil would do the like by him. This their malice was likewise holpen on by their Parents, who read this Lecture to their Children. And fit it was that Bears should be their Executioners; for a Bear being at his birth an unshapen lump of flesh, the Dam thereof by licking of it brings its eyes, mouth, and nose into a form. In like manner, the parents of these children had shaped them according to their own mind, and informed them what they should say. In a word, These Scribes and Pharisees finding fault with the Disciples not washing of their hands, taxeth maliciously the uncleanness of their hearts; and from that little sanctity that they would enforce upon his Disciples, they would fain infer, That their Master had but little holiness in him; Wherein they showed the great malice they bore unto him. Besides, There are some things which in Noblemen and Gentlemen are but toys and trifles to speak of, which in those that profess a state of more perfection, are grievous crimes. A young Gallant rounds the streets at night, courts his Mistress at her window, entertains her ears with music, and this in him is not held any disgrace at all; but a grave Churchman, an old Deane, or a Cannon doth the like, this in him is a foul fault, and esteemed to be a heinous sin. David was a man of great strength; Samson stronger than he; cut off David's hair, and you abate not one jot of his strength; but cut off Sampsons', & he grows as weak as water, and ye may do what ye will with him, because his strength was in his hair. Thirdly, Saint Hierome saith in an Epistle of his to Demetriades, (3.) 'Tis base in any, to seek his own credit, by the discredit of another. That nothing doth more discover the baseness of man's mind, and the unworthiness of his disposition, as to seek to credit himself by discrediting of others, and to pretend estimation not by the good in himself, but the ill in others; and comparing themselves with men of mean deserts, seek to shine through others darkness. Esay likens the heart of an ill natured man, to a troublesome and tempestuous sea, which seeking to cleanse itself, Esay 57 casts all its filth upon those shores which are next to it. The proud Pharisee kneeling before the Altar, boasted himself saying, I am not as other men; these men are thieves, I am not so; these men are covetous, I am not so, etc. In your balances, the one cannot come up unless the other come down; the Moon gives not her light till the Sun hides his head. Luke 18, In a word, It is the manner of some men to rise by other men's falling, and to grace themselves by disgracing others. Pharaohs Magi could increase evils; Moses caused Frogs, and they caused Frogs; Moses, Flies, and they Flies: but they could not lessen nor stop evils; bid them take away those plagues, they could not do it. So there are some men, all whose worth and power consists in adding evils to evils, but not in taking them away. But God runs a contrary course, he always doth good, but never does that is il: Sicut malum inter ligna syluarum, Some delight in nothing but doing evil. He is a Pippin among Thorns, he invites us with his Fruit; they scratch & tear our flesh. And albeit the washing of the hands was a very light fault, yet one little and another little comes in the end to make a much. His Disciples do not wash their hands, they do not fast with john Baptist, their master keeps company with Publicans and sinners, he observes not their Fasts, he hath made a compact with Belzeebub, Non est à Deo, He is not of God. See what a malicious conclusion they make of these premises. Fourthly, It is a hateful thing to God, That a man should commend Vice, and condemn Virtue; He that justifies the Wicked, and condemneth the lust, (4.) The wicked are wholly given to condemn Virtue and commend Vice. Esay 5.20.23. both are an abomination to the Lord. Esay repeateth the same lesson in the fifth Chapter of his Prophecy, Woe unto them that speak good of evil, and evil of good; that justify the wicked, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. And for the better qualifying of the greatness and heinousness of this fault, in one place the Scripture calls it abominable; and in another, bewails it with a Vae, or Woe; which (as Saint Gregory hath noted it) is commonly athreatning of a perdurable punishment. And therefore Esay farther addeth, As the flame of fire devoureth the stubble, and as the chaff is consumed of the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their bud shall rise up like dust. Fiftly, Our Saviour returns the point of this weapon upon their own bosoms, by coming upon them with a Quare & vos, convincing (as Saint Hierome saith) this their slander, with a truth. (5.) He that would reprove an other, must▪ first redress himself. The like befell him in the case of the Adultress, when the Pharisees asked him, If they should stone her or no to death, according as the Law commanded: whereunto he answered, Let him that is without sin cast the first stone; it is but a slouer●ly trick to go about with foul hands to make another body clean. Aristotle faith, That the eyes have no colour, (nature so holding it fit) to the end they might the better receive and discern all other colours. In like manner, he that will reprehend other men's faults must himself be blameless. David's sin was known to all the world, yet he made confession thereof only unto God, Against thee only have I sinned, etc. because God only had the power to punish him. For he only (saith Saint Augustine) doth justly punish, in whom there is not any thing to be found that deserveth punishment; The punishment of sin belongs only unto God. and that man is fit to reprehend another, in whom nothing is to be found worthy reprehension. Those of Israel sallied twice out against those of Benjamin, desiring justice at God's hands of that cruel sin which they had committed, but were both times overcome. Saint Gregory saith, That they went forth against them to revenge God's honour, and the wrong that was done to their Neighbour; but God did not give them the victory, because they had an Idol amongst them which they adored. Now he that will punish another man's sins, must first purge himself of his own sins. The representing of man's own sins to himself, is a great Tapaboca, or stop-game, to play upon other men's faults. To that Sinner who useth to cast his sins like a wallet over his shoulder, God saith, Statuam contra te faciem tuam, I will make thee to see that which thou dost not see, and I will bring those sins which thou hast thrown behind thy back, before thy face, to the end that being ashamed of thine own doings, thou mayst not find fault with other men's actions. Esay. 6.5. Woe is me, I am undone (saith Esay) because I am a man of polluted lips. The Prophet had seen God in a Throne of great and wonderful Majesty, and he would have published and proclaimed the same to all the World, but he saith That he durst not presume to do it, because his lips were polluted. The Chaldae word is, Gravis ore, My lips are of too heavy a dulness for such high Mysteries. The seventy Interpreters render it, Vae mihi, doleo compunctus, My sins stop my mouth, when I consider mine own life, I dare not question another man's. The Pharisee censured Marie Magdalen to be a Sinner, and our Saviour Christ to be no Prophet; but our Saviour set●ing before him a reconuention of many grievous sins, he left him amazed and ashamed. God took away the poor innocent babe which David had by Beersheba, pretending therein (according to Theodoret) to bury this his sin under ground, because he being appointed by God to punish Adultrers' & Murderers, they might not tit him in the teeth & say unto him, Rom. 3.5. And why do you the like? Saint Paul asks the question, Is God then unjust? And he answers thereunto, God forbid, else, How shall God judge the world? If thou shouldest ask a Philosopher, Whither it were possible for God to sin? He would answer, It is not possible, because he is Causa prima, & norma universalis, The prime cause, and universal rule. But Saint Paul's answer is, That it is not possible that God should sin, because he could not then conveniently govern the world. For he can hardly reform sin in another man, who had need to reform what is amiss in himself. Three Kings did conspire against the king of Moab, 4. Kings 3. they besieged his City, and he seeing himself in a desperate taking, took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. Cajetan saith, That this Sacrifice was not done to the God of Israel, as some have imagined, but to those Idols which that King did worship; and that after this so cruel an act, there ensued so great a plague in the Israelites Camp, that they were forced to raise the siege. Facta est indignatio magna in Israel. The Hebrew hath it, Ira magna: The Vulgar renders it, Israel was sore grieved, and departed from him, and returned to their Country; but the wrath of God entered into their Army, for that they had sacrificed their sons & daughters to Devils, according to that of David, Sacrificaverunt filios & filias suas daemonio. By whose example the King of Moab learned to offer this kind of sacrifice; and God was highly offended with them for it, and therefore would not suffer such as had played the Idolaters in sacrificing their children, to take away the Kingdons' of other Idolaters, who perhaps were less faulty than themselves. Alexander layingit to a Pirates charge, that with two ships he had robbed at sea; he returned him this answer, Thou robbest all the World, and no man says any thing unto thee; and I, who to pick out a poor living, put forth to sea but with two poor little barks, must have theft and piracy laid to my charge. The like answer did a Bishop make to Pope Gregory the second, when he kept his Sea at Auignon, Who giving him a shrewd check, for that he did not reside in his Bishopric; he told him, It is now full three score and ten years that the Pope's Sea hath been kept out of Rome, and your Holiness now reprehends me for living but three days from my Bishopric. To this purpose suits that answer which Vriah gave to King David. 2. Reg. 11. This valiant Captain took up his lodging, and laid himself down to sleep in the porch of the King's palace: And the King ask him, why he did not go home to enjoy the ease and pleasure of his own bed? He made him this answer, The Ark of God dwelleth in Tents, and my Lord joab General of your Army, and the servants of my lord abide in the open fields; shall I then being but an ordinary soldier, go into my house to eat, and drink, and lie with my wife? By thy life, and by the life of thy soul, I will not do this thing. This was a severe reprehension in Vriah, to his sovereign. For if a subject shall out of such honest respects refrain from going home to his own house; much more ought the King to have abstained from lying with another man's wife. Nor is that History of judas much amiss, who being Governor of the people, and finding Thamar great with child, would needs execute that law against her, of adulterous women; But Thamar proved, That he that was to judge others, should not himself be a delinquent. Now we come to the last reason of this our Saviour's sharp and quick answer unto them. There were two Truths prophesied of our Saviour Christ: The one, his Meekness and Gentleness. And of this, Christ as he was meek in reprooving, so he was stout in revenging. there are many prophecies. The other, The stoutness and courage wherewith he was to revenge the wrongs and injuries done to the poor. Saluos faciet filios pauperum & humiliabit calumniatorem, He shall save the children of the poor, and shall humble the slanderer. Saint Austen, justin Martyr, and many others, understand this to be spoken literally of Christ. For Calumniatorem, the Greek reads Sycophantam. And so do they call your Promoters and Informers. Whether it were, because in Athens they had a Law, that none should bring figs to that City to sell; Or whether it was forbidden in Greece, that any should enter to gather figs in another man's orchard; (Whence he that informed thereof, came to be called a Sycophant) Or upon that witty conceit of Aesop's, who, when a certain servant had eaten some figs▪ and laid the fault upon one of his fellows, gave order, that both of them should drink lukewarm water, and the eater of them, having vomited up the figs▪ they called him Sycophant. Our Saviour then shall save the poor, and humble the slanderer. He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. Esay. 11. Iraeneus expoundeth this place to be spoken of Gods protecting and defending of the poor. He is their tower of defence in the day of trouble, their hope in distress, and their shield of comfort in their tribulation. And that God doth revenge with greater severity, the wrongs that are done to his friends, than those that are offered to himself, is a favour so usually with him, and so generally known, that I need not to insist thereupon. One while, because he thinks himself much beholding unto them, that they will resign up their own right, and leave the cause of their wrongs to him; and that they will put their hope, and their trust in him. Sub umbra alarum tuarum sperabo, donec transeat iniquitas, i. Calamitas. Defend me o Lord, whilst this storm passeth over my head. Another while, that he may show more love to his friends than to himself. In the old Law, he gave great proofs of this Truth; and in the new, he gave far greater testimonies thereof. Esay draws a comparison from the Lion, who having his prey between his claws, a company of Sheapeheards come crying after him, making a great noise and clamour, but he makes no great reckoning of it. And is all one with that saying of our Saviour, Non rapiet quisquam de manu mea, No man shall snatch them out of my hand. Abimelech took Abraham's wife from him, and God at midnight appearing unto him, in the midst of his mirth and lust, he spoke unto him in a fearful voice, E● morieris, Thou art but a dead king. The like befell Pharaoh. Procopias saith, That God did declare as much when he appeared in the fiery bush. They did whip his people with the rods of briers, and did burn them up, by enforcing them to find straw for to heat the ovens wherein they were to bake their bricks; and God saith, De●t. 30. It is I that am whipped, it is I that am burned in the fire. Moses treating of this protection of God, takes his comparison from the Eagle, whose care and vigilancy in breeding up of his young ones, God's protecting of his children in the old Law, differing from that in the new. is exceeding great: but in the end, shows himself very cruel to that young of his, whose eyes he exposeth to the beams of the Sun. All this love and care, ran along with the written Law. But in that of Grace, giving us greater pledges of his love, he draws his comparison from the Hen, whose love and care exceeds all other indeering whatsoever. Mat. 25. She scorneth and contemneth her own life for the safeguard of her chicken; she fasts, that they may feed; she is content to be lean, that they may be fat; and now and then dies that they may live. Saint Austen hath observed, that because the Devil spoke unto Christ, That he would make those stone's bread for to relieve his own hunger; he refused to do it. But if it had been to relieve thine, or mine, he would have done it. As he turned the water into wine at the wedding, not for himself but for others. And at that meal in the mountain, where he multiplied the loaves and the fishes, whereof himself did not eat a bit. Why do ye also transgress the Commandment of God. He wounds them with their own weapon, & retorts the force of this their argument upon themselves, and sends them away ashamed. He drives them to a demur, and puts them to ponder upon this Vos custodias, Of the Law, These suns that were to lighten this commonwealth; For a man to commit that which himself should punish, i● as strange as shameful. Eccl. 20. these North-starres, by which the people were to sail through the sea of this world. Concupiscentia spadonis euag●nauit i●uencam. Eunuches were appointed for the guarding and keeping of women, as the use is now in Constantinople: But, that a gelded man through lust should defile a maid, being bound to preserve her honour: That he that should clothe the naked, should strip them bare: That he that should keep the Laws of the Commonwealth, should be the first that should break them; is as strange, as shameful. Phi●●●● thrust Zambri and a daughter of the Prince of Midian through with his spear, and pinning them to the ground, did an acceptable sacrifice to God. Za●bri was of the Tribe of Simeon, who in the company of his brother Le●ie, had taken that cruel revenge of the Prince of Sichem, for the ravishing of Dinah, that they left not a man living, nor a house standing. Now his grandfather having used so great rigour in punishing of such a dishonesty, he of all other should not have committed this sin. For this reason the Angel used the like rigour with Moses, whither it were because he had not circumcised his children, or whither it were because he took his wife along with him in that his journey, or whither it were that he had manifested the cowardice & fear that he had of Pharaoh; the Angel made semblance that he would kill him: for he that is a Lawgiver, a Captain, and a Governor, is bound to much more. And why do you also, etc. Here is a Why for a Why, they have as good as they bring. And here two considerations offer themselves unto us: The one, That he that shall do a wrong, shall be paid in his own coin; that very day that a man shall do an injury by taking away the good name of his brother, he puts a tax upon his own reputation, seals the same, makes it his own Act, and is bound to make repayment thereof: And this is a Quare & vos, Why do ye also, etc. This is to throw stones against Heaven, God pays every man in his own coin. or to spit against the wind. David cut off Goliath his head with his own sword after that he had reviled God's people; jacob with Esau's own clothes, stole away the blessing from him, by putting on his hands and his neck the skin of a Kid: with this deceit he grieved both his father and his brother, but he was paid at length in his own coin: Joseph's brethren sell him, they dip his Coat in the blood of a Kid; so the same trick that he had put upon another, was afterwards put upon himself: Vzziah would needs play the Priest, and when he was putting on that sane lamina, 2. Chro. 26. or Frontlet which the High-Priests did use in their pontificial Ceremonies, behold, he was leprous in his forehead: see how he was paid in his own coin, he had no sooner put it on his forehead, but he was punished in his forehead. King Ahab did bring home the grapes of Naboths' Vineyard in Baskets; he is paid in his own coin, for the heads of his sons were likewise delivered up in baskets. A servant of Alexander Severus sold lying favours, words that were but smoke; but see how he was paid in his own coin, he was stifled to death with smoke; fumo pereat, qui fumo● vendit. It is noted by Saint Gregory, That the great rich man's greatest sins lay in his tongue, and therefore he suffered more pain and torment in his tongue, than in any other part of his body. Saint Paul▪ Before he was converted, busied himself wholly in chains, gyves, fetters, and imprisonments; he went purposely to Damascus, with a full resolution not to leave one man alive; but he suffered afterwards in that wherein he had sinned, and was paid home in his own coin: for, as it appeareth in the Acts of the Apostles, he himself had been imprisoned sixteen several times, and as one that had been set up as a sea mark, to bid others beware of running the same course as he had done, he adviseth, Ne quis circum●eniat in negotio fratrem suum▪ q●oniam vindex est Dominus de his omnibus. The second consideration is, That the wrong which thou shalt do unto another, shall not only be repaid thee in the same coin, but with use upon use, thou shalt pay double the principal; Redditurum fanor● noris, saith Hesiod: And job, If any blot hath cleaned to my hands, let me sow, and let anotherreape, yea, let my plants be rooted out. And again, If mine heart hath been deceived by a woman, job. 31. or if I have laid ●ait at the door of my neighbour, Let my wife grind unto another man, and let other men bow down upon her. It is misery enough to be paid home in his own coin, and men for the most part when they have returned wrong for wrong, rest reasonably well contented therewith; but with God, I must let thee know, that the case is far otherwise; for it is usual with him, to revenge wrongs sevenfold. The Prophet said to David, 2. Reg. 12. Because thou hast taken the wife of Vriah to be thy wife, I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy Neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this Sun; thou tookest one wife from thy Neighbour, and thy Neighbour shall take many from thee. This was that which David charged Saul withal, when he marched over the mountains with his People, persecuting him to the death, The King of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as one would hunt a Partridge in the Mountains: 1. Reg 26. Why should the King my Lord be at so much pains and cost to take away my life from me, it is as if thou shouldst go about to kill a flea, or take a Partridge. A great Lord goes a hawking with twenty Horse, and as many Spaniels, and I know not how many cast of Hawks, he returns home at night with one poor partridge in his pouch, which is scarce, worth two Royals, the charge thereof coming to two hundred, and the tiring out of his body, to two thousand. Now if he should employ all this in hunting after a Flea, far greater were his folly. All the hurt you can do me, is no more than the kill of a Flea; but the harm that you receive thereby is exceeding great, as well in regard of the wasting of your Treasure, as in the toiling and trying out of your person. Ye also transgress the Commandments of God by your Traditions. The zeal of good is good; True zeal carries with it both lightning and thunder. but when men are zealous of the less, and neglectful of the more, it is not zeal, but passion. When your lightning doth not accompany your thunder, all is wind: there are some zealous Professors that are all thunder and no lightning; they make a great noise with their words, the wind whereof grows high, but the light of their good works doth not shine to the World. The Pharisees were a kind of Alharaquientoes, men that would make a great deal of do and pother about nothing; they keep a strange kind of coil about the washing and not washing of the hands, a thing scarce worth the talking of; despising in the mean while the keeping or not keeping of God's Commandments. A Stacke of straw is on fire, and a Prince's Palace full of infinite riches is all on a flame; thou runnest to save the stack of straw, not caring what becomes of the Palace. Art thou more careful of straw than of gold? The like (saith Saint Gregory) happeneth in men's vices; Pilate took a great deal of care that Christ's death might not be laid to his charge, and washing his hands, as if he had no hand in the business, sticks not to say, I am innocent, etc. but made no reckoning of delivering him over to the will and pleasure of the people. The jews held it to be a heinous sin, to enter into the Praetorium or judgement Hall, Lest they should be defiled; but they accounted it no sin at all, to nail our Saviour Christ to the Cross, when they cried, Sanguis eius super nos; they held it a grievous sin, that the bodies of those that were crucified, out of the observance to their Sabbath, should hang upon the Cross; but accounted it no sin at all, to thrust a Spear into our Saviour's side after that he was dead, showing in his death the love they bore him in his life: they take no offence, that Christ calls them Hypocrites, false Prophets, and Transgressor's of the Commandments of God; but when he tells them, Hypocrisy strains at a gnat, & swallows a Camel. That which enters in at the mouth, defileth not the Man, this is that they are angry at, and this is Tragarse el Camelo, y desalar el mosquito, To swallow a Camel, and strain at a Gnat, to see a moat in another man's eye, and not the beam that is in his own: Like unto that Whale which swallowed up jonus at a bit, his body and clothes all at once, and devours Pilchers one by one; and this was the Pharisees fault. Origen observeth, That the washing of the hands was now turned to superstition, for therein they placed a great part of their fouls salvation. Who can choose but laugh at these men's ignorance and blindness, that they should swallow and digest many other foul faults, and should here be so nice and dainty, as to quarrel with our Saviour about his Disciples washing or not washing of their hands? Your Traditions; (saith our Saviour) because for covetousness of gain they had introduced many; and amongst the rest, this of the frequent and often washing of the hands, Non manducant panem (saith Saint Mark) nisi crebr● laverint manus, They eat no bread till they have often washed their hands▪ Theophilact reads it Cubitaliter, up to the elbows. At our Saviour's own Table▪ and at other places where now and then they were invited, they ever behaved themselves in▪ a decent & civil manner, as Petrus Chrysologus notes it unto you; but they made little reckoning of this superstition, and of many others which the pharasaical avarice had brought in; as to deny sustenance to our Parents to swear by the Temple, but not by the gold of, etc. for, by making the gold more sacred, they presumed men would fear to filch any of it away▪ The Priests did purposely multiply Laws; for where there are many Laws, there are many transgressions, and where there are many transgressions, there are many gainful comings in. God complaineth by the mouth of Esay, Exactores spoliaverunt populum meum, Esay●. The Extortioners beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the Poor. Vatablus renders it, Racemando spoliant; for by plucking off now a bunch, and then a bunch, they leave not in all the Vineyard a Grape that is scarce worth the gleaning. Nicetas by these Exactors and Extortioners vnderstandeth the Priests; and saith, That as your covetous Misers, after they have cutdowne their Corn and made it into great cocks, & carried home their harvest, fall a raking & a gleaning over and over again, contrary to the Leviticall Law; so these men having devoured the greater part of the Richer sort, they fall a raking of the poor, and take from them that little that they have, by ordaining most unjust Laws. The Sons of Ely the Scripture calls, the Sons of Belial; and farther saith, That they did not know what did belong to the Priest's Office, Nescientes Dominum, neque Officium Sacerdotum. Which Vatablus renders thus, Nescientes Domi●●●, ius fecerunt contra populum, Not knowing the Lord as they ought to have done, they made a Law against the people, in favour of their own covetousness ● for they being to receive the Offerings of the flesh sod, to the end that they might not powder it up, and keep it to themselves, they brought in a new custom, That they should give it them raw, that they might either put it into past, salt it, sell it, or otherwise do what they list with it. The World was always and will be still the same; Many laws in a Commonwealth bring gain to some, but loss to most. that which we see the Scribes and Pharisees did then, the like course do they now take (which govern the Commonwealth) with your Vintners, your Victuallers, your Butchers, your Fruiterers, your Hearbe-wives▪ and a world of other Trades, imposing many Laws upon them, not so much for that they import the good government of the Commonwealth, as for the private benefit and maintenance of your Clerks of the Market, your Alguazils, Attorneys, Promoters, and all the rest of that rabble, which live upon these fees of Hell: And the knavery hereof is to be seen in this, that when these Officers meet with false weights, or water mixed with wine, & the like, it is a wonder if they prohibit them to come any more to the Market, or to banish them the Country; but rather clapping a mulct upon them, they continue them, and keep them still a foot, as an Inheritance that brings them in profit, or as a Farm that affords a set rent to their purses. You shall have a Vintner brought a dozen times one after another into the court, and as often fined, and yet be suffered still to sell wine; ●ee the Officers well, and ye shall fallen at what rates and with what weights you will: In a word, No man breaks in his trading, but he that cannot content these Exacto●s. 〈◊〉 saith, Covetousness the only God, that commands the world. That Covetousness is the only God that commands the World; and one while it encounters with a brother; another, with a father; and now and then with God, and is the only Tyrant that doth most domineer over our souls. Saint Paul cured a certain maid having a Spirit of Divination, which gate her masters much vantage by divining▪ Acts 16.16. but now when her Masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone; they caught hold of Paul, and bringing him, before the Magistrate they complained of him, That he troubled the City. For Covetousness is such a Devil, that the Devil himself cannot (though he would) cast it out of doors, where it concerns a man's particular intere●●. And when the Devil shall afford a man apparel for his back, meat for his mouth, and money in his purse, if God should cast this Devil out, the party possessed would complain for the loss of his company. In Andaluzia, out of mere covetousness they suffer their she-slaves every year to be got with child, that she may bring them a Turk or a Moor, (as others keep Mares for breeders) that when they grow up, and are able to work for their living, they may bring them in daily gains, like horses that are hired out; albeit they lead therein a course of life contrary to all both humane and divine Laws. But they suffer this Devil to dwell in their house for covetousness sake: but that this Devil shou●● dwell in Priests, Sine miserabili gemitu (saith Saint Bernard) dicendum non est, It is a most miserable and lamentable thing. For your Traditions, etc. Sometimes the cause of a sin is greater than the sin itself: To break the Law, is ill; but for to maintain their Traditions, worse, for this is a contempt of the law, & of him that established the same. Euerie-foot the Prophets repeat, Haec dicit Dominus, Thus saith the Lord▪ it seeming unto them, That there can be no contradicting of this Proclamation, no reason given against it. For, to acknowledge God to be infinitely wise, and to allege reasons withal against that which he commandeth, is to make him ignorant. In Leviticus God said, Levit. 16. Stand in awe of entering within my Sanctuary; notifying thereby unto us, That there should dwell in our souls such a reverend opinion of God's Majesty and omnipotency, that whatsoever was not God, we should account as nothing compared therewith. Amongst other his Robes and ornaments belonging to his place & Calling, the high Priest had his Rationale judicij, & his 〈◊〉 auream; it was raiment of silk set with twelve stones, wherein were graven the names of the twelve Tribes; and in the midst thereof certain letters which spoke thus, Vrim & Thummim, Illumination and Perfection; which our Interpreter expounds to be, Doctrine and Truth; in token that the Doctrine of the Law, which is the perfection of our understanding, aught to be graven in the Priest's breast, and communicated to the People. That same Zona aurea, or golden girdle, was that same Lamina or plate of gold, which being fastened to his Mitre, did serve as a frontlet to the Priest's forehead: whereon was written Sanctum Domino; signifying thereby, That that which the Priest ought more especially to have before his eyes, is the holiness and pureness of our Lord God▪ To this end was directed that terrible thunder and lightning on the Mount, which struck the people into such a fear, that they cried out, Non loquatur nobis Domin●●, Let not the Lord speak unto us; fearing lest they should be strooken down to the ground in a swoone. Why, o Lord, didst thou appear in so terrible and fearful a manner? That they might have a respect to the Majesty of God, and stand in fear of his power, that they might the better incline their hearts to keep his Laws. The Sibarites, came to the Oracle of Delphos, to know how long their commonwealth should continue. Plato discoursing of a Commonwealth in general, in his Books the Republica hath put three signs or tokens of their duration and continuance. The one, That their Princes should not lie. The other, That the bad should not be more than the good. The third, That the goings out, should not be more than the comings in. For, That the Princes should be Liars, the good few, and their expenses excessive, are in all Commonweals sad vigiles of their end. But the Oracle made answer, That that Commonwealth should so long last and continue, whilst Man was not more esteemed amongst them then God. Whereupon they were persuaded, that their Commonwealth should endure for ever: It not being able to sink into their heads, that so great a monstrousness as this should once succeed in their State. But it afterwards happened, that a delinquent fled for succour to the image of Pallas, & the Governor willing his guard to lay hold on him, and to take him from thence, he shifted himself from the Goddess, and clung close to the Statue of the King's father, so that none of the Officers durst offer to touch him; and so that Kingdom was overthrown. So this despising of God's commandments, and the preferring of their own Traditions, was the dissolution of the jewish Synagogue. For, besides Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions, Traditions, how far forth to be regarded which carry so great authority in the Church, treating generally of such Traditions, which are certain ancient Customs inherited from our forefathers; there are certain other Traditions in the World annexed to particular States, which in their own nature are things indifferent. As your courtesies and compliments amongst Courtiers; The giving of the right hand; And your Titles of Worship, Lordship, Excellency, and the like. Such a great Lord calls for drink, his servant brings it, and delivers it him upon his knee. Thou sneezest, he that is next unto thee puts of his hat, not that that does hinder thy farther sneezing, but because it is a Tradition, and a received custom so to do. Others, are reduced to Sanctity and Holiness. A Clergy man goes in a grave habit: A Friar, in a patched frock; Thou respects him for this and holdest him the holier man, not that he is so, but because it is Tradition. The Dominicans, reckon less of those religious orders, that wear a hood of cloth; the Augustine's, of those that wear one of Linsey-woolsie: not because it mattereth much, but because it is Tradition. But to put as much observance in these Traditions, as in the Laws of God, is a despising of God. Irritum fecisti mandatum Dei, Variety of traditions. Thou makest the Commandment of God of no effect. Of these Saint Austen saith, That every one should keep that custom, that he finds shall make for the peace and quiet of the Church, as also of those we converse withal. As much as in you lieth, having peace with all men. Others there are, wherein the opinion of the world can do more than the faith of God. Your great Lords will impawne their estate to maintain a Tilting or a Tournying, or in making a Mask for to do their Mistress service; They will be liberal and bountiful to a common Buffoon, or jester, but will scarce give a royal to the poor. And this is Tradition. julian the Apostata made a Proclamation, that no Christian should enjoy your Military ornaments; and many took this for such an affront, that they who before would have fried at the Stake for God, did deny him for worldly respects, and for the preserving of their honour. Gentlemen, not measuring their expenses by their means, it so falls out, that oftentimes they want a royal to buy bread to put in their mouths, yet their vanity so far overswaies them, that they will not be without a coach, a lackey, a page, an old beldame, and a squire. They take up commodities at dear rates, they run in debt, never think of paying it, and in the end are utterly undone; this also is Tradition. Your Captains and Soldiers stand much upon the Laws of your Duel, and highly adore them; which being well examined, are the greatest & absurdest fooleries man can imagine? The Lie, must have the bastonadoe; the bastonado, drawing of blood; and drawing of blood, death, etc. One shall strike thee with a cudgel, that shall break thy shoulder-blade; And the Soldier will say, He had good hap that he did not lame him with a cane. And this is Tradition. Your hucking Merchants, your cunning Tradesmen, & generally all that buy and sell, use to cog & lie: It is not good, it is not good, says every buyer, And this too is Tradition. Your Catchpoles, pole their prisoners; Tradition the Church's perdition. your Registers, register falsehoods; And this is Tradition. Saint Cyprian saith, That the Church's perdition hath been, that Christians are not contented with sinning through weakness, through ignorance, or through malice, but through opinion; whence it cometh to pass, that they seek not excuses for their sins, but authority to maintain them, thereby the better to perpetuate them. They that are condemned through error, are easily cured; but when they have opinion in their favour, and a general consent, and are authorised by custom, they are such currant money that none refuses it, nor seeks to remedy the same. Insanientium multitudo (saith Seneca) fit sanitatis protectio, The madness of many, doth privilege madness. This passeth in these foresaid Traditions. And so are they received of all, etc. They said unto Micheas, All the Prophets with one general consent▪ prophecy good unto the King. But how do they deliver this message well, if God do reveal it to be ill? It is Tradition. But the Law of God, aught to be the rule whereby we are to level our actions, and the court wherein we are to give account of our doings. Tertullian saith, That our Saviour Christ, Chest not called Custom, but Truth. was not called Custom, but Truth. Ego sum via, verit●●, & vita, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And Custom must be qualified by Verity, and not by Antiquity. For God hath commanded, saying, Honour thy Father and Mother, and he that doth the contrary let him dye; But ye say, Though he honour not his Father or his Mother, he shall be free: Thus have ye made the commandments of God of no authority by your Traditions. In this honouring of our Father and Mother, he likewise includes their maintenance, and that we should not see them want. But ye say, That he that shall take from Father and Mother and give it to the Temple, doth comply with the Law. Munus quodcunque ex me obtuler● De●, tibi proderit; It will profit thee, but it is better to give it unto God. Origen saith, That this error did arise from another that was more ancient. For when men were not willing to pay a debt, they did offer it to the Temple, and did notify the same to the Creditor. Corban, id est, donum est, I have given it to the Temple, and therefore thou art not to require it at my hands. This was a ravening kind of covetousness. God would have bread set upon his altar, to the end that he that was in necessity might be relieved; Our offerings are no honour to God, when they harm another. which was David's case when he was hungry and in want, and God took it well. But how can he take it well at thy hands, that thou shouldst take away the bread from thy hunger-starved Father, or from a poor needy soul, to offer it on the Altar? Athanasius reporteth another effect of covetousness far more brutish and abominable, who when he fled from Alexandria where he was Bishop, for fear of the Manichees and the Arrians, they exercised so many cruelties upon the Catholics, that treating them in a most inhuman and cruel manner, they condemned it to be a sin to succour the poor, and the streets being full of wretched and miserable people, no man durst look upon them, nor offer to relieve them, lest they should be accounted sinners. This people doth honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. There are a certain sort of Sinners that are boasting Sinners; Two sorts of sinners, the one shamle●ly bold. one will boast himself so far to be thy friend, that there is not the sin that he will not do to do thee service; that he will slash this man, & slay that man, & swear any thing that thou wilt have him, though never so false: finding fault with such a one, That he is notworthie to be esteemed a friend, because thou canst not trust him with the murdering of such a man, the taking of such a purse, the robbing of such a house, nor with thy whoredoms nor adulteries, and the like. The Gentiles in the Primitive Church did murmur against the Christians, saying, That they were an unprofitable, impertinent, miserable, and niggardly kind of people; and the reason of it was, for that they would not eat with them till they vomited up their meat as they sat at board, nor drink with them till they were overtaken with wine. Tertullian makes an Apology in their defence, and saith, That Christians, should not only be Christians but also to seem to be that which they are. S. Augustine confesseth in his Confessions, That the World in his time was grown so shameless and so impudent, that it was held a shame not to be shameless. To be a Sinner is bad, but to boast of sin ten times worse. Another sort of Sinners there are, which seem to be Saints; The other seemingly hol●. 1. Tim. 1. Habentes speciem pietatis, (saith Saint Paul) Having a show of godliness: Like unto these Pharisees, who seeking outwardly to make great appearances and shows of sanctity, as rough and coarse clothing, pale and wan faces, smoky countenances, public prayers, humbling themselves on their knees in the Streets, their Fast, their open giving of Alms, their Philacteries, which were certain skins of parchment wherein the Commandments were written at large (Dilatant philacteria sua) the skirts of their garments stuck inward with sharp needles to let them blood, Mat. ● 3. and the often washing of their hands up to the very elbows; yet notwithstanding all this, their conscience was a very Dung-mixen, they were fair without, but foul within. Saint Chrysostome compares them to a Sword that hath a rich scabbard, but a leaden blade, Erue animam, & videbis pulchritudinem. Luke. 11. Here is a goodly fair show, a beautiful appearance of sanctity and holiness; but unlace these men's breasts, and look into their souls and consciences, and then shall you see them in their true colours. Your great Merchants have many suits of goodly hangings, rich clothes of State, fair Canopies, and costly Bedsteads; but they have their Brokers to sell them: beside, they have great store of dainty delicate householdstuff, and other fine curiosities, as Rings, jewels, and chains, all choice ware; but they are none of their own, and therefore cannot be said to be rich. In like sort, the Pharisees were the Merchants & Brokers of this sanctity and holiness, they carried it about with them for to sell and to make their best profit of it; and for that the people were much affectioned to this outward asperousnesse and strict-seeming course of life, they held them for Saints descended from Heaven. In Leviticus God commanded, That there should be no Linseywoolsey, no weaving of Woollen and Linen together, because the one being so course, & the other so fine, it might be so curiously intermixed, and so cunningly carried in the workmanship, that it might prove a cozening and cheating kind of commodity. josh. 9 The Gibeonites deceived joshuah with another invention like unto this; they clad themselves in old clothes, put old clouted shoes upon their feet, laid old sacks upon their Ass' backs, full of dry and mouldy bread, brought along with them old Leather bottles, with here a patch, and there a patch, as if they had had some great long journey of it, and had come from some remote region, they themselves reporting that they dwelled a far off, when as indeed they were near Neighbours; with which sleight of theirs, joshuah giving credit unto them, was cozened. This deceit is to● oft (I fear me) put in practice; a bare foot, a patched frock, a wan cheek, a lowly look, a wrying of the head, a lifting up of the eyes and hands, a knee-submission, a beating of the breast, and a weak whining voice, spinning out a Yes verily, and every other word they deliver, to it's full length; sell us this simulated sanctity and counterfeited holiness, for that of Heaven, being merely an earthly invention, and an hypocritical trick, Osee 7. of purpose to deceive: it is (as Osee saith of Ephraim) as a Cake on the hearth not turned, which is scorched and burnt on the outside, but raw and dough-baked within. It is the inner part that God loves, it is the heart and soul of man that he likes best of; as for the outward carriage of the body, a thief or a villain can put himself into his true postures, and feign and dissemble the business as well as the best of them all. Yet withal let me tell you, That God doth require of a Christian the semblance of a Christian, and that as he is a Christian, so he seem to be a Christian: for albeit the Root gives life unto the Tree, yet if it have neither leaves nor boughs, it is but an unseemly sight. Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus, Philip 4. (saith Saint Paul) Let your patient mind (for so the Vulgar render it) be known to all men; for if it be wholly hidden in the soul, it will hardly be perceived. Saint Augustine expounding that place of Saint Matthew, Beware of false Prophets, which come unto you in Sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening Wolves; saith, It were fit that because the Wolf puts on the Sheep's skin, that the Sheep should lay aside his own skin, and clap on that of the Wolf. There were two Altars belonging to the Temple; the one without, which was of stone, whereon the beasts were offered; the other within, which was of gold, whereon Incense was offered. God was served in them both; but in conclusion, the inward Altar was so far preferred before the outward, that Philon saith, That one poor crumb of Incense offered from a tender heart, and a merciful soul, was of more worth than all the sacrifices that were offered without; Regard ye me not because I am black, Ca●t. 1.5. for the Sun hath looked upon me. Saint Bernard saith, That the Spouses despising of this outward beauty, did arise from that great esteem wherein she held the inward brightness and resplendour of the soul, which is a fire which consumeth and burneth up the beauty of the body. David calls the Church one while the King's daughter, another while the King's Bride; but he paints her richliest forth unto us in her soul. The King's daughter is all glorious within: not despising also the beauty of the body; Clothed in a Vesture of gold wrought all with needlework, and set forth with diverse and sundry colours very beautiful to behold. The Bridegroom adviseth his Spouse, That she should wear her colours in her heart; and as if that were not sufficient enough, he wills her to wear them on her arm. Our Saviour Christ in his praying and other occasions, 1. Cor. 14. used these exterior acts. Saint Paul saith, I will pray with the Spirit, but I will pray with the understanding also: There is the use of your tongue set down, If I pray with my tongue, the Spirit also prayeth. So that God will have the exercise of soul and body both together. First, Because God being Creator of both, it is fit that he should be served by both. Secondly, For man's satisfaction▪ For in regard that Man cannot see man's Faith, nor that pity and compassion that he beareth in his bowels, it is requisite that he should manifest the same by some outward signs; for he can hardly show himself religious towards God; who is irreligious towards Man. And therefore it is said, With the heart we believe unto Righteousness, but with the mouth we confess to Salvation. Occasion is offered to receive the Sacraments, or a necessity of giving a testimony of our Faith; here every Christian is bound to manifest the same by outward signs. Thirdly, The sanctity and holiness of the Soul doth give force and virtue to that of the body, and that of the body doth confirm and augment that of the Soul; the heart gives vigour and virtue to devout eyes, to hands lifted up, and to knees humbly kneeling on the ground. And these outward ceremonies do strengthen, increase, and inflame the Spirit and inward devotion. 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 up more zeal and fervour in himself, being that by them the heart's affection is the more set on fire. And Saint Cyprian, That by humbling ourselves upon our knees in the sight of God, we are not to endeavour to please and serve him only with the thoughts and meditation of the soul, but also with the disposition of the body, and the voice of the tongue. David drawing near to his end, a little before he died did much endear this Doctrine to his son S●lomon, 3. Kings. 2. Have a care that thou keep the commandments of thy Lord thy God, and all the ceremonies belonging thereunto, as it is written in the Law of Moses; that thou mayst prosper in all that thou dost, and in every thing whereunto thou turnest thee. But their heart is far off from me. The whole man, take him all together, Of the whole Man, God most desireth the heart, why. may make sweet music in God's ears, (like unto an Organ, which by different Keys makes different sounds) but God delights most in the music of the heart, for the lips, the feet, and the hands being capable of suffering violence, the heart is not subject thereunto. The cleanness of the heart ought to perform the exercise of all the virtues, but Fast, Prayers, and Almesdeeds coming forth of a soul heart, like waters flowing from a foul 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 Vessels. Saint Augustine's saith, That that which God principally forbids in the Decalogue, are the desires of the heart; whereunto the Schoolmen add the exterior act, though there is no wickedness like to the inward wickedness: and if the outward be more punished, it is because of its more hurt through its ill example. The works of Virtue are not all equal, yet all of them have one ground & foundation, which is the love & fear of God. Abraham was charitable, David humble, Eliah zealous, Moses mild, job patient, Martha solicitous, & Marie devout; God must be paid in all these several coins. Let every man look unto the cleanness of his own soul▪ and let him exercise himself in that which he is able; crying out with the Psalmist, To thee will I confess in the uprightness of my heart. It was a great goodness of God's mercy towards us, to place our felicity and our good in a thing so proper unto us, that no man is able therein to hinder us. If he had enjoined us Fasting, we might have complained of our weakness; if Almesdeeds, we might have complained of our poverty, and so have excused ourselves; but for the keeping clean of our heart, and for to love and fear our God, as none can 〈◊〉 us thereof, so none ought to outstrip us therein. For the expenses of the Sanctuary, neither might the Rich offer more, nor the Poor less; and this was a type and figure of the spiritual offering of our ●oules, wherein we are all equal & alike: and that not without the great providence of Heaven, to the end that no man might have cause to allege an excuse. Hast thou traveled abroad to plant God's Religion amongst Infidels? No: Hast thou kept thy body under by disciplining thyself? No: Eatest thou flesh in Lent? Yes. For th●se things every one may allege many excuses, but for the foulness of the heart, there is no excuse. We read in the Legend, That the Devil met with Machari●s, and told him, I have the odds of thee in a thousand things; thou fastest, and I never eat; thou watchest, and I never sleep; thou sometimes takest pains, and I am never idle: yet thou hast one great advantage of me, to wit, thou hast a clean heart, and mine is full of rancour and malice, etc. To pray with the tongue only, no● pleasing to God. This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. This is an excellent Lesson for those that pray and sing in the Choir; that prayer which is only with the tongue, God makes little reckoning of it. Saint Cyprian saith, That the Church doth admonish the People▪ that at the time of divine Service they should have their hearts in Heaven, Sursum corda: And although their answer be, Habemus ad Dominum; yet many do repeat it by rote, like Parats, without any kind of attention at all. Thou desirest of God, That he would hear thee, when thou art so far off from thyself, that thou dost not hear thyself, and wouldst have him to be mindful of thee, when (God knows) thou dost not mind thyself. It is a woeful thing, that men should say Service as if they did not say it, and that they should pray as if they did not pray, and that they should sing as if they did not sing. The Lateran Council saith, Studiosecelebrent, & devote quantum Deu● dederit: And they willed it so to be done, In virtute sanctae obedientiae. Saint Paul, Be fulfilled with the Spirit, speaking unto yourselves in Psalms and Hymns, Ephes. 5. and spiritual Songs, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts. Whereupon Saint Hierome saith, Audiant hi quibus psallen●i in ecclesia officium est, Let your singing men give ear to that which they sing in the Church. And Gratian puts it in the Decretals: And the Gloss saith, Non clemens, sed amans, clamat in a●re Dei, It is not the loudness of the voice, but the lovingness of the heart that rings in God's ear. In a word, The power of Prayer must come from the Soul. Saint Gregory saith, That Abel's Sacrifice was so well accepted of God, because he had first offered the same in his heart; and that it was not so much esteemed for that it was of the best of his flocks, but for the devotion wherewith he offered it up: And cain's, out of a contrary respect so slightly regarded. But in vain they worship me, teaching for Doctrine men's Precepts. By these Precepts of men, he understandeth those which are contrary to the Laws of God, as it is well noted by Irenaeus. And in those days there were very many among them, as Thomas, Saint Hierome, and Epiphanius hath observed. Saint Paul saith as much, Improoue, rebuke, exhort, for the time will come when they will not suffer wholesome Doctrine, but having their ears itching, shall after their own lusts get them a heap of Teachers, and shall turn their ears from the truth, and shall be given unto Fables. Where Faith is endangered, there must we not use a soft and smooth hand. Now the Pharisees following jewish Fables, and applying themselves to the precepts of men, did turn away from the truth, they placed their holiness in outward ceremonies, they received the offerings of stolen things; God abhorring nothing more. The Saducees did deny the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the dead, final judgement, reward, and punishment. The Galileans denied obedience to any save to God. The Herodians did believe, that there was no other Messias but Herod. The Esseni, that men ought not to sacrifice in the Temple, nor swear upon necessity, nor have propriety of goods. To all these our Saviour saith, They worship me in vain. They do but lose their labour in honouring me and in serving me. That which goeth into the mouth defileth not the man, etc. To the clean all things are clean. There is no meat in its own nature, that hurteth the soul. Saint Paul saith, To the clean, all things are clean; but to the unclean, nothing is clean. For, the sin is not in the meat, but in the use thereof, and when we ought to abstain. God saw all that he had made, Gen. 1.31. and l●● it was very good. The forbidden tree was good, but it was Adam's disobedience that made it bad: Every creature of God is good (saith Saint Paul) and nothing aught to beeref●sed, if it be received with thanks giving. 1. Tim. 4.4. But the forge wherein this is ill forged, is the heart. Out of the heart come evil thoughts. The heart in Scripture, What is understood by the Heart. Rom. 1. Mat. 16. Deut. 4. Mat. 22. is sometimes taken for the Understanding, Their foolish heart was full of darkness. Sometimes for the Will, Where is their treasure, there is their heart also. Sometimes for the Memory, Let not my words depart out of thy heart all the days of thy life. And sometimes for the soul, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. From a good soul, come good thoughts and good works; and from an evil soul, evil thoughts and evil works. As this fountain is, so are the waters that flow from thence, either troubled, or clear. And as to repair a sickness, we must have recourse to its cause; so all your Saints address themselves to the soul. David desired of God, that he would give him a new heart, fearing that the heart that now he had, would never leave its wonted tricks, but run according to its old bias. Create in me a clean heart, o God▪ and renew a right spirit within me. Psal. ●1. And if that may not be done, than he desires an Amplius lava me. Wash me till my spots be taken away, and that I be whiter than the snow. Fiat cormeum immaculatum in iustificationibus tuis etc. At the door of Paradise, God placed one, or many Cherubims. For Cherubin, is there in the plural, being set there to cow Man, and to keep him back. So many Cherubims were not set there for Man only, but for the Devil, who had taken of the fruit of the tree of Life, and delivered it unto Man. But the Devil is far more greedy of the heart of Man, than of the tree of Life. And therefore we are to desire of God, that he will be pleased to set a guard upon it. From the heart, comes Murders, Adulteries, Fornications, Thefts, false Testimonies, and Slanders. Here is a powerful hellish squadron which assaults the heart. Saint Paul makes a larger muster of all these soldiers, These are the known works of the flesh, dishonesties, filthiness, uncleanness, fornications, adulteries, witchcrafts, The Heart hath many enemies all within itself. sorceries, enmities, contentions, emulations, angers, debates, dissensions, envies, drunkenness, and murder. There are no countries, regions, nor cities, (saith Saint Chrysostome) that contain such a company of enemies, and all of them conspiring against a poor miserable heart. What, so many ravening wolves, against one silly sheep? so many greyhounds let slip, against one cowardly hare? so many kites, against one single chicken? so many eagles, against one poor pigeon? so many vultures, so many harpies, so many fowls of rapine? and still the more, the more hard the prey is to be got; What then shall that heart do, which hath not wherewithal to defend itself. And the greater is our fear (saith Origen) for that all this Army of our enemies stands armed against us even within our own doors. For sin, is so far forth sin, as it is voluntary. For if our Will would but stand sentinel without, it were impossible for sin to enter. So that the greatest enemy that we have, is our own proper Will. And therefore our Saviour saith, That From the Heart, come murders, etc. These are those spots wherewith man's soul is sullied; These the stains, wherewith he is defiled. For those things which man eateth, Non coinquinant hominem, do not defile man. By the Prophet Esay, God prophesied of the wretched ruin and miserable desolation of Babylon, and paints it forth so to the full, that there shall remain no more relics thereof than of Jerusalem: It shall be made (saith he) a dwelling for Hedge-hoggs, and a standing Pool of filthy stinking waters, and as a City that is utterly overthrown and destroyed: all shall be as heaps of earth and hollow banks, wherein shall be bread all kind of creeping worms, and vermin, and venomous creatures; all shall be pits, wherein shall be puddles of water for to make an habitation for Toads, Snakes, Adders, and Serpents. This shall be the wretched condition and miserable estate of this great Babylon. He farther addeth, That he will sweep it with a broom; a place so foul and so sluttish, as well in respect of those heaps of earth and rubbish, as also those filthy pools and stinking puddles of water, How is it possible that he should come to sweep it and make it clean? I will sweep it clean from its sins. For all other kind of filthiness whatsoever, in respect of the foulness of sin, No foulness to that of sin▪ are nothing filthy. The Hedgehog, the Adder, and the Serpent, in the holes of the earth, nor the poisonful Toads in the puddles of water, are not able to debar us of entrance into Heaven: but he that is sullied in sin, and is not washed clean with the blood of our Saviour Christ, let him never look to come there. The Hedgehog with all his prickles shall not hurt thee, nor the Adder wi●h his teeth, nor the Serpent with his sting, nor all the venomous Vermin in the World: The standing pools and stinking puddles shall not soil thee; but the heaping up of money, and thy keeping of it close in thy Chest, when the Poor are ready to starve for hunger, & have not a penny to buy them a loaf of bread; that is it shall soil thee, and make thy soul all mud and filth. That foulness which shuts us out from Heaven, is that of sin, and nothing else but that. And therefore it is said in the Apocalyps, Nihil coinquinatum intravit in regnum Coelorum, Nothing that is filthy shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. And therefore Saint Chrysostome adviseth us, That we should have an eye unto that which defileth us, & seek to avoid it. Which that we may so do, God give us the grace for his mercy's sake, etc. THE XXII. SERMON, UPON THE THURSDAY AFTER THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. LUC. 4. When he was come into Symons House, his mother in Law was held with a great Fever. Our Saviour Christ having thrown out that talking Devil in Capernaum, and enjoined him silence, Christ refuseth no house, where there is a will to entertain him. Saint Luke here recounteth his entering into Peter's house; not into that which Peter and Andrew had in Bethsaida, being Naturals of that Country; for neither that protinùs of the Evangelist, nor the Sabbath, wherein they were to walk but a mile, will give way thereunto. And though Peter had not a house in Capernaum, yet his mother in Law might have had one there, or he might have bestowed one on her daughter in dower. And albeit Peter had made a renunciation of the propriety, yet might he have a reservation of the use thereof, as he had of the Nets & fishing Rods. S. Mark saith, That he went into the house of Simon and Andrew; whither it were because it belonged to them both, or whither or no because it might have been Peter's fathers house, and the father's house we use commonly to call it likewise the son's house. And though the house was poor and mean, yet was it no such great wonder, that he who had left the Palaces of Heaven, and made choice to be borne in so poor a thing as Bethlem, should for one day make so mean a house his Inn, especially the will of the party that entertained him, being so rich as it was to do him service. And Symons wife's mother. Saint Ambrose in his book De Viduis, reckons this mother in law of Peter amongst many other that were most famoused and renowned in the world. And from this name of Socrus, which signifies our wife's mother, or a mother in Law, Tertullian and Saint Hierome doth infer that Peter was married; for Mother in Law signifieth, an affinity derived from marriage. And howbeit it seemeth unto Saint Hierome, That the wife of Saint Peter was already dead, yet Clemens Alexandrinus affirmeth that she was alive, and that she afterwards suffered martyrdom for maintaining the Faith of our Saviour Christ. But in fine, it is a plain case that he had a wife. jesus rose up and came out of the Synagogue, etc. Our Saviour Christ divided his whole life into these two stations: From the Synagogue to the Sick; And from the Sick to the Synagogue. Where (as Saint Luke reporteth it) he preached the Law. Acts 15. In Jerusalem (saith Genebrard) there was a principal Temple, which had in it four hundred and eighty Synagogues, some more honourable than the other, and some less; and in all the Cities of that Kingdom there was great store of them, which occasioned our Saviour to say, They affect the chief places in the Synagogues. There, with a strange kind of silence did the people hearken unto them, and it was counted a great punishment, to deprive any Citisen of this so great a good. In these Synagogues our Saviour Christ spent the greatest part of his life, and when he went out of them it was to cure the Sick, or to relieve others necessity's. And though now a days a Preacher comes sweeting out of the Pulpit, and goes to a friends house where he hath warm Napkins clapped about his neck, and is much made of; yet our Saviour Christ goes here from Mary's business to that of Martha's, and from that again of Martha, to that of Maries; from the Synagogue to the house of Peter, because Peter's wives mother was sick. Chrysologus saith, That it was easy to be seen, what was the motion that carried him along to Peter's house, Vtique non discumbendi voluptas, sed iacentis infirmitas, Not so much for his own ease, as to case the Sick. He entered into Symons house, and Symons wife's mother, etc. Our Saviour Christ had a great desire to cure her, and this good Widow had as great a care to welcome him and to serve him; and her Fever did more grieve her out of the hindrance of her service, than the cause of her torment: And Christ on the other side, did accept of this invitation more for to recover the Sick, than to recreate himself. The Sick did desire more to give him kind entertainment, for to manifest her love, than to receive health for to mitigate her pain. Both their desires rested well satisfied; that of Christ, in healing the Sick; and that of the Sick, in serving of Christ. And though the Angels might envy this her care, yet did she seek to outstrip the Angels in her desire to serve her Lord. Here may we see the practice of that which Ecclesiasticus recommendeth unto us, Eccl. 14. Let no● the portion of thy good desires ouerpasse thee, give and take, and sanctify thy soul, etc. Give away the goods of the earth, and thou shalt receive those of Heaven: According to that of S. Paul, 2. Cor. 8.14. Let your abundance supply their wants, that their abundance may supply yours; for by this chopping and changing of poverty for plenty, and of plenty for poverty, neither of both have cause to complain. That emblem of Alciat is well known unto you; A lame man and a blind man met bo●h by chance at a river, the lame man guided the blind man, and the blind man carried the lame man on his shoulders. In like manner (saith Chrysostome) we must succour one another; the whole must cure the Sick, and the Sick must give the whole loving and friendly entertainment. Chr●st brings heal●han holiness wheresoever he comes. The whole house was enriched by this reception of our Saviour; the mother and the daughter, by being not only made whole, but holy. If giving entertainment to an earthly Prince inricheth the whole house that receives him, with earthly blessings; How much more shall their happiness be, who feast the king of Heaven? God hath often notified unto us the great content that he takes in hospitality, especially towards the poor & the stranger. That thou shouldst lodge and feast a King, thou countest it a great fortune and happiness unto thee, for honours, favours, & rewards follow thereupon; but in entertaining the poor, thou dost him this kindness for no other respect in the world, but because he is the Image of God. Hosp●talitatis nolite oblivisci, quidam enim, etc. Alluding to that hospitage of Abraham▪ who thinking he had entertained strangers in his house, entertained Angels. And S. Austen and S. Gregory, Some men (say they) thinking that they only feed the Poor, they are mistaken, for therein they feast our Saviour himself. Chrysologus saith, That in the breast of the Blessed it is not possible there should be any desire or longing; but if it were possible to have any, sure it would be that of relieving the poor. The Son of God hath not a pillow whereon to lean his head. Why did Christ take pleasure in such a strange kind of poverty? Because thou shouldest take pleasure in giving him entertainment. When Abraham went forth to meet the three men from out his Tent, bowing himself down to the ground before him who he thought was the chiefest among them, he said, Lord, if I have now found favour in thy sight, go not I pray thee from thy servant; Gen. 18. let a little water I pray you be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the shadow of this Tree, and I will bring a morsel of bread that you may comfort your hearts, afterward ye shall go your ways. They accepted of his kindness, and thanked the good old man; but he using none of these courtly compliments, in his plain country fashion assured them that they were heartily welcome, and that he thought himself beholding unto them, that they would take such as they found. Abraham he runs me to the beasts, & takes me a tender and good Calf, kills it, gives it to his servant, who hasted to make it ready; then he hies him in to Sarah, & wils her presently to make ready at once three measures of fine meal, to knead it quickly, and make Cakes upon the hearth. The cloth is now laid, bread, butter, milk, and the Calf which he had prepared, is set before them; they fall too, & Abraham he in the mean while stands by, and waits upon them. When they had eaten, they took their leave and went on their way, and he likewise went with them to bring them on the way. This virtue Lot had learned from him: Saint Paul commends him highly for it: And Peter styles him, Just, He was righteous both in seeing and hearing. Chrysost. 2. Peter. 2. saith, That he stayed waiting for these strangers in the street, & at the gates of the City, till it was late in the night, that they might not light into the uncleanly conversation of these wicked citizen's. So that it was late ere he met with these Angels and adoring them as Abraham had done before, he said unto them, My Lords, I pray you turn in now into your servant's house: Gen. 19 And the Angels making show that they would abide in the Street all night, he pressed upon them earnestly, and in a manner pulled them in by force; Coegit illos, He was wonderful instant upon them. This enforced courtesy of his, they afterwards fully requited, by notifying unto him, How that Sodom was to be destroyed with fire from Heaven. And although the Angels made haste to be gone, and to have Lot to get him packing out of the City; yet they deferred the punishment a while, that he might have time to warn his sons in Law to be gone. Lot thereupon went out and spoke unto his sons in Law which had married his daughters, & said, Arise, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the City; but he seemed unto his sons in Law as though he had mocked. Then the Angels hasted Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters which are here, left thou be destroyed in the punishment of the City. And as he prolonged the time, the Angels caught both him and his wife, and his two daughters, by the hands, and brought him as it were forth by force, and set him without the City; so he was saved, and the rest were burned. In this virtue of Hospitality there are many famous women much renowned in the Old Testament; as the Shunamite that entertained Elisha, and the widow that harboured Elias; Rahab who received the Spies that were sent to jerico: All of them being so happy in this their hospitality, that it seemeth God sent them such good guests, more for the good of those that gave them this friendly entertainment, than that of those who were entertained by them. And if a man shall pay so well for his Lodging, how much more will God requite it? Symons wife's mother was taken with a great Fever. Many of the Saints have been at a stand, immagining with themselves, That being there is so great a difference between the Old Law and the New, between God and God, a God of Vengeance and a God of Mercy, between a Lion and a Lamb; that Christ's friends should have had a privilege, and that scarce a house of theirs should have known what sickness, danger, or death had meant. In the Flood, Noah's house was preserved; in the flames of Sodom, that of Lot; and in that general massacre of the Firstborn of Egypt, the houses of the Hebrews were untouched: Ezec●. 9 4. And God sending the man clothed with Linen, which had the writer's Inkhorn by his side, to take notice of the people of Jerusalem, he commanded them to set a mark upon the forehead of his friends, that he might overskip them, and not touch them in the day of destruction. But here now, a friends house is not privileged, 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 evermore a greater token of his love & favour, than prosperity: what said job when he sat scraping his sores upon the Dunghill? In my prosperity I only heard thee; but now in my affliction I see thee. S. Chrysostome saith, That Cain in killing Abel, thought that Heaven would do him those favours which it did his brother; but he was deceived, for God did better love a dead Abel, than a living 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 never seen to be so honourable as afterwards, when God had clapped the thorns (which were the fruit of our sins) upon his own head, The thorns of Christ are the triumph of our troub●●s than did they recover so high a Being, and grew to that worth, that the heavier God lays his hand upon us, the more is his love toward us. The mark of our happiness is the Son of God, not glorified, but scourged, spit upon, crowned with thorns, torn with whips, and nailed to the Cross; and therefore to be conformed to the Image of his Son, is fitting for us. In the Apocalyps, Apoc. 1.15. his feet are put into a hot fiery Oven. This was a ritratto or picture of his many troubles: and though this Oven or fiery Furnace speak them much; yet sure they were far greater, and beyond the tongues expression. The Angels did scatter the coals of God's wrath abroad in the World, sometimes lighting in one place, and sometimes in another; but whose coals could be hotter than his, whose feet, like unto fine Brass, lay burning as in a Furnace? She was taken with a great Fever. The Evangelist here amendeth our usual manner of speech: Prosperity the soul's bane. for with us it is commonly said, Tengo grandes calenturas, I have a great Fever, whenas indeed the Fever hath thee. God often afflicts the soul in the sense, that the soul thereby may be made sensible. God, like the Bridegroom to the Spouse, speaks a thousand sweet words to the Soul, he courts her & woos her with an Aperi mihi, soror mea, etc. Open to me, my sister, etc. but this makes her the more to shut the door against him. The Soul when it is in prosperity, grows proud, it is deaf, and will not hear; she must be wrought upon inter angustias, she must feel the rod before she will have any feeling. jonas in the Whale's belly, God is seldom thought upon but in our misery. the Prodigal in the pigsty, the Sick in his Fever, thinks and calls upon God: we listen unto the Devil when we are in the midst of our Feasts▪ our Banquets, our Maskings, our sports and pastimes; but only hearken unto God inter angustias, when we are afflicted and in misery. God being willing to cure those that were stung with the Serpents, made a Serpent of brass, and caused it to be set up, that by looking thereon they might be healed. Gregory Nissen asks the question, Whither it had not been a shorter cut, and a more speedy and effectual remedy, to have made an end of all these Serpents at once? But he answers thereunto, If he should have freed them from those Serpents, Which of them would have lifted up his eyes to Heaven? And therefore let those Serpents continue still, and those wounds of the body, seeing they cure those of the Soul. According to that of Solomon, Prou. 20. The blueness of the wound serveth to purge the evil. Saint Gregory the Pope saith, That the wound of the Soul is taken away by making another wound of repentance and true sorrow. Euthymius citeth to this purpose that verse of David, Qui dat nivem sicut lanam, Snow to the earth is as wool, because it keeps it warm, and gives heat thereunto, for to bring forth flowers and fruits wherewith to glad the Spring and beautify the Summer: Ano de nieves, ano de bienes, (saith the Spanish Proverb) A year of snow, a year of joy. The snow of sickness and of affliction, in stead of cooling the Soul, it gives it heat and fruitfulness, that it may bring forth flowers and fruits of good life. She was taken with a great Fever. The Physicians call a Calenture or burning Fever, Calorem extraordinarium, An extraordinary heat, or calidam intemperiem, a hot distemperature, which being kindled in the heart, and taking fire, disperseth itself through all the parts of the body, catcheth hold of them, offends them, and discomposeth that harmony of the humours, wherein our health consisteth. Saint Isidore derives it from Fervour, or that haste and speed wherewith it runneth and disperseth itself through our bodies. Valerius Maximus saith, That in ancient time they did offer sacrifice thereunto, as to a Goddess, because of all other sicknesses, a Fever is that which commonly comes to make an end of our lives. For as heat well tempered gives life; so being distempered it brings death. But if we shall go philosophising from the infirmities of the body, by way of analogy, or proportioning them to the soul; Love to the soul, is as Heat to the body. And when it doth not exceed the Laws of God, which is the life of our soul, it enjoys perfect health; but when it grows once to an excess, it falls into a Calenture, or burning Fever. And this excess succeedeth two manner of ways. Either by loving that more, which ought to be loved less. Or by not loving that enough, which ought to be loved most. The Spouse said of her Bridegroom, Ordinavit in me charitatem, Cant. 2.4. Two things cause a fever in the soul. He showed his Love unto me, He made exceeding much of me, He brought me into the wine cellar, and Love was his banner over me: He stayed me with flagons, and comforted me with apples, when I was sick of Love: His left hand was under my head, and his right hand did embrace me. Extraordinary was this Love of the Bridegroom to his Spouse, preferring her before all other things whatsoever. God likewise being the greatest in Nature and Essence, aught to be the greatest in our Love and Affection. How God ought to be loved. Next under God enter those goods of Heaven & of Earth. And Good, being the mark whereat our Love shoots, our greatest Love should direct itself to the greatest good. And this is to observe an order and good temper in our Love.. Now touching the disorder of our Love, our Saviour said, He that loves Father or Mother more than me, is not worthy of me. Again, In not loving God, to whom we owe so much love, this excess in the contrary may turn to immodesty and impudency; And make us break out with those Castaways in job, into these desperate terms, Get thee far from v●, we will have no knowledge of thy ways. Besides, In employing our love so wholly upon the Creatures, we may chance to choke that love which we owe to the Creator. Saint Austen expounding that place of john, Love not the World, neither the things that are in the world, saith, That our heart is like unto a vessel, 1. john. 2. which if it be filled full with the World, it cannot receive God; being like to that piece of ground, where the Tares did choke the Wheat: So that of force we must empty the vessel, and weed well the ground of our hearts, that the love of God may fructify in us. This inordinate love doth set the heart, like a Calenture, on fire. From the heart come all our evil thoughts, Mat. 25. and go festering through the faculties of the soul. And ●inne, when it is finished, bringeth forth death, saith Saint james. She was taken with a great Fever. As there are diverse kinds of Fevers, so have they a correspondency with the diverse infirmities of the soul; your young men are soon rid of their Fevers, especially if their fits be not violent: but an old woman that is taken with a great Fever, will hardly recover 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 himself from them. One single stick is easily broken; but more being bound together, very hardly. A threefold cord is hardly broken. The like reason may be given of old sins, upon which, custom hath drawn a necessity. Saint Austen treating of the State of his own sins, saith, That he was fast fettered with three strong chains: The one, of his own Will. The other, of an ill Custom that he had gotten. The third, of a kind of necessity, which did keep him as it were by force in this so hard and cruel slavery, Tenebat me, dura seruitus. They besought him for her. The motives of this intercession, were: Pity hath always a prayer in readiness for those that need it. First, For that this good old woman, was of so sweet a disposition, and so loving a nature: Which was much in so old a woman; and no small matter, considering she was a Mother in Law. It may be, Mothers in law in those days, were more loving, and better beloved than they are now. And one great argument thereof is, That our Saviour Christ should put the love 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. Matthew. I came to set a man at variance against his Father, Mat. 10. & 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 chain. And so it ought to be: For, if the Husband and the Wife, by Matrimony remain one flesh; the Daughter in law ought likewise to be so with the Mother in law, though not in the self same degree, wholly and altogether. The second motive, was the entreaty of the Apostles, who (as Saint Mark maketh mention) interceded for her. And such pitiful hearts, and tender bowels as theirs were, being sought unto by so good an Hostess, who desired so much as she did, to serve them, could not choose but take pity of her, and speak a good word for her. Besides, the miserable pain she was in might have moved the hardest heart to compassion, much more theirs, whose eyes had seen in what an ill taking she was in. And kind hearts are soon sensible of those sorrows which the eyes shall impart unto them. Two things required, that our intercession may be effectual. They besought him for her. In the intercession of Holy men, God attends two things; The one, That we persuade ourselves that they are prevailent with God, and that they can effect much with his divine Majesty. The other, That he is well pleased that we should make use of them, for the honour that he receives thereby, & the good that we reap by it. A King is well pleased that men should have recourse to his Favourite, the more to honour him. It was a great honour to Christ (saith Gregory Nazianzen) that he was the Mediator betwixt God and Man. Saint Cyril gives the same attribute to the Apostles; and deuteronomy, to Moses, Medius fui inter Deum & vos, Deut. 5. I stood between the Lord and you. But here is the difference, That the Saints have need that others should intercede for them, but our Saviour hath no such need, sed accedit per teipsum, ad interpellandum pro nobis. All other Mediators are through our Saviour Christ; & that prayer which hath not this mediation, Saint Augustine saith, That in stead of removing sin, it reneweth sin. And Saint Ambrose, That Christ ought to be the Mouth by which we are to speak, the Eyes by which we are to look, and the Hands by which we are to offer. In a word, The Saints of God are very powerful with God, through Christ our Lord. And therefore it is said, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name shall be granted unto you. Some make a doubt, Whither this be to be understood of the Saints that are living, or those that are dead? That it is meant of the living, there are many proofs thereof in Scripture. To jobs friends God said, Go to my servant job, job 42. Gen. 20. and my servant job shall pray for you; for I will accept him, etc. Abimilecke having taken away Sarah, and God threatening him with death, and the King pleading ignorance in his excuse; God said unto him, Give Abraham his wife again, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live. Exod. 32. Moses by his intercession procured the pardon of six hundred thousand persons. The People said unto Samuel, 1. Reg. 7. Do not thou cease to pray for us. 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, preserved the lives of two hundred seventy six persons. Saint Basil cities that place of David, Psal. 34. The eyes of the Lord are upon the Righteous, & his ears are open unto their cry. Those two sons which joseph had in Egypt, Ephraim and Manasses, the one signifying forgetfulness, the other Prosperity, jacob adopted them for his own, Sicut Reuben & Simeon reputabuntur mihi. Rupertus asks the question, Why jacob having so many sons, would adopt these two of joseph rather than the rest? And he answereth it thus, that Joseph's forgetting of his former troubles, and the prosperity which he now enjoyed, was procured by the prayers and tears of jacob. He stood over her and rebuked the Fever. Our Saviour used this ceremony, Vainglory evermore to be avoided. saith Saint Chrysostome, the better to cover and dissemble the miracle, to the end that he might not as then make his Divinity so manifest unto them. And as your Physicians are wont steadyly to behold the colour and complexion of the Sick, look on his tongue, and feel his pulse; so in a manner our Saviour Christ used the like kind of ceremonies, having a vigilant eye over those that are soul-sick, and what course is to be taken for the curing of a penitent Sinner, and to know how to distinguish betwixt leprosy and leprosy. Many of the Saints did, the better to dissemble their miracles, use ceremonies, though there was no necessity of them, nor were essential for that business: so the Apostles by laying their hands on the Sick did heal them. Secondly, Saint Matthew saith, Tetigit manum eius, The touch of the hand was enough to cure the sick: for the flesh of our Saviour Christ, for that it was the flesh of God, gave life and health to all that touched it, Virtus de illo exibat & sanabat omnes, A certain virtue went out from him and cured all men. Our Flesh will infect other flesh with its sickness, but health and life was a privilege appertaining only to our Saviour Christ's flesh, which (as it is noted by Saint Augustine and Saint Cyril) by the union with the Divinity did quicken and give life. Spiritus est qui vivificat, caro autem non prodest quidquam, It is the Spirit that quickeneth, as for the Flesh, it profiteth nothing: as an iron being heated doth burn by its union with the fire; so the Flesh of our Saviour Christ, etc. And from this divine Flesh, the virtue thereof did extend itself to his very clothes. Si tetigero tantum fimbriam vestimenti eius, saluaero, said the woman that was troubled with the bloody Flux, If I can but come to touch the hem of his garment I shall be whole. Malach. 4. Malachi prophesied thereof in these words, Sanitas in pennis eius, Health shall be under his wings; and as feathers are to birds, so to man are his clothes. Thirdly, When a sick body is grown so weak that he can scarce put forth his voice, the Physician leans down his head the better to hear him: and when he is so weak that he cannot rise of himself, the Physician lends him his hand, Apprehensa manu eius (saith Saint Mark) curavit eam. This burning Fever had brought this good old woman so low, that Christ did bow down his head to hearken unto her, and took her by the hand to help her up. Nor was it much that our Saviour Christ should raise those that were fallen, for that he came into the world for this end, and had so great a desire thereunto, that he was willing to fall himself, for the raising up of us. Nay, it was a Precept of old, That if a Beast should take a fall, a man should not go on upon his way till he had holp him up. This desire of his is much endeared by the Prophets; He bowed the Heavens and came down, he got upon the Cherubins and flew, saith David. And in another place, Stretch forth thine hand from on high, and deliver me out of many waters. The Sinner being almost drowned in the mud of his sins, cries out unto God to lend him his hand to get him out; but he weighed so heavy, that he pulled God after him. Zach. 9 Zacharie saith, Thou also through the blood of thy Covenant hast loosed thy prisoners out of the pit, etc. Where we are to weigh this same, Thou also; for though thou wert so great and powerful a God, yet it cost thee the best blood in thy veins, to take those out of the pit that were fallen thereinto. Man for disobedience shall be condemned by the creatures. He rebuked the Fever and it left her. He spoke the word, and the Fever obeyed; he commanded it to be gone, and it was gone in an instant. Origen saith, That one of the foulest and shamefullest things that the Creatures shall lay to Man's charge at the day of judgement, is, That all other creatures from the creation of the World having been obedient to God's Empire, without digressing in the least point or tittle, only Man hath been inobedient, impudent, & shameless. This is the general opinion: but to reduce this to our present purpose, and to show how obedient this Fever was, we know that God useth his Creatures as so many whips and scourges. One while he makes use of those that are without life, as of waters & darkness, No creature but is pliable to the will of God. in those plagues of Egypt, etc. Another while, of those that have life, as the Serpents of the Wilderness, the Lions which in Samaria slew the Assyrians, the Bears which killed the little children which mocked Elisha, etc. All do move and obey at the beck of God's brow, at the cast of his eyes, as the second causes at the motion of the Primum mobile. The like succeedeth in the Angels; nor is it much, considering the great good which they enjoy. But which is more, it succeedeth so in the Devils, who tug at the Oar in Hell's Galley. Our Saviour Christ commanded some Devils, That they should not speak a word, nor offer so much as to open their lips, when their hearts were ready to burst because they might not speak their mind. But it is a lamentable case, that one man should serve to punish another man, and be made the instrument of his hurt, or become his Hangman. Pilat commanded the Roman Soldiers to whip Christ; and they might have been excused, had they not exceeded their Commission. It was decreed in Heaven, & foretold by the Prophets, That he was to be whipped; but the justice of God contenting itself with a few stripes, these bloody villains gave him 5000. & but that his hour was not yet come, they would if it had been poss●ible have whipped him to death. A common Hangman dare not exceed the order of the judge; but Man, when God makes him the Executioner of his wrath, breaks the bounds of his Commission, and runs riot. Man being set on by God, is like a Mastiff that is set on by his Master, who is easily put on upon Bull or Bear, but hardly taken off. Esay saith, That God made Zenacharib the rod of his wrath, Esay 10. and the staff of his indignation; and that he commanded him to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them under feet, like the mire in the street; but exceeding his Commission (God's purpose being only to humble his Children, and bring them to repentance) he afterwards scourged him sound for it. judignatio mea in manu tua; God had put this chastisement into the hands of a tyrant (as his instrument) who had not the wit to carry himself accordingly, & therefore he punished him according to his deserts. He rebuked the Fever and it left her. Saint Augustine delivereth some men's opinions, who affirm, That things without life, as Sickness, Pestilence, & Famine, were occasioned by evil Angels, one while for our good, another while for our hurt; but always for the service of God, and to show themselves obedient to his Empire. And this is the true sense and meaning of Imperavit febri, He rebuked the Fever; and of Vocavit famem, He called a Famine. Psal. 100L. Not that a Fever or Famine have any ears to hear or understand any thing, but because the Angel to whom the power is committed, doth hear and obey his will. In this Article there are two manifest truths. The one, That the Angels, as well good as bad, are many times ministers of our punishments, by famine, pestilence, barrenness, tempests, sickness, & death. And this truth is made good by innumerable stories in Scripture; as in that of job, whose Corn the Devil destroyed, threw down his Houses, carried away his cattle, and killed his Children; That of Sarah, who had seven husbands slain by Asmodeus the Devil; Those plagues of Egypt, whereof (saith David) the Devils were the Instruments; He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, indignation, and wrath, and vexation, by the sending out of evil Angels, Psal. 78.49. where God makes them his Hangmen or Executioners. And in another place, Fire and hail, snow and vapours, stormy winds, which execute his Word, etc. Psal. 148. Of good Angels there are likewise many stories; as that of those that came to Sodom; and that of the Angel that slew the soldiers of Zenacherib. The other, That to have things without life to be obedient to the Empire of our Saviour Christ, Even things without sense are obedient unto God. there is no such necessity that they should be moved and governed by Angels, either good or bad, as Saint Hierome and Saint Augustine have both observed. For albeit towards us, and in themselves they are insencible, yet towards God they are not so, He calls the things that are not, as if they were. Nor is it any thing strange, that the Heavens or the Earth should have ears, or that those things should answer and obey at Gods call, whose end is God's glory: the waters at Gods command gather themselves into heaps, and when he says but the word, they again withdraw themselves: he prescribes bounds to the Sea, [Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further:] at his Word again, Psal. 106. the Sea is made dry land: he lays his command upon the fire to give light, but not burn, curbing this his active quality, as it did in the ●irie Furnace, when the children came forth untouched. At this Word the waters gushed out of the hard Rock; the Winds are at his command; death and life, sickness and health, and all things else whatsoever, do truly and punctually obey his will; and so in this place, he had no sooner said the word, But her Fever left her. And rising up, she presently ministered unto them. In regard that she was an old woman she might very well have excused herself from doing this service, but her health was so perfect, her recovery so sound, and her strength so increased, that without further tarriance, She presently ministered unto them. Your earthly Physic is long a working, and the Cures prove imperfect, but God's physic works contin●ò presently; for, All God's works are perfect. But it is not so in nature. Pierius makes the Vulture the emblem of nature, Auolatus tarditate, being a kind of Tortoise in his flying. First of all, it is intimated here unto us, What hast a Sinner ought to make to get up. S. Peter being in prison, the Angel said unto him, Surge velociter, Arise quickly; Acts. 12. and without any more ado, not staying upon his gyves, chains, the gates, or the guards, he presently riseth up and gets him gone with all the speed he could. Noah puts the Crow out of the Ark, Dimisit Corvum, qui egrediebatur, & non revertebatur: The Hebrew Text hath it, Exivit, exeundo, & redeundo; He began to make wing, but seeing such a vastness of waters, fearing to fail in his flight, he returned back again: but being entered, carrying about him the sent of those dead carcases which had perished by the Flood, he went to and fro so long, till at last he went his way and was never seen any more. Many there are that will put one foot forward, and pull two backward, make you believe that they mean to go on well in virtue and goodness, but being discouraged with the difficulty of getting up that hill, and having a month's mind to follow the sent of their former stinking (howsoever to them sweet seeming) sins, at last they are utterly lost and never more heard of; so apt is sinful man to leave the best and take the worst. He that hath received a benefit, must express his thankfulness. Secondly, By this her service this good devout old woman made known her bodily health; and by the joy and comfort she took therein, she manifested her soul's health. At the very first voice of Ezechiel, the boughs began to move, but as yet they had not life in them, [Ossa arida, audite Verbum Domini] they were afterwards knit and joined together, and set in very good order: but they had need of another kind of voice than Ezechiels' to give them spirit & life. Saint Augustine expounding that place of Saint john, Verba mea, Spiritus, & vita sunt; saith, That this Spirit and life is in himself, and not in thee. For that Penitent which doth not give some sign or token of life, hath not yet obtained life; and that, He that in his service and attendance doth not make show that he is free of his former Sickness, his health may justly be suspected. Saint Paul gives us this Lesson, He that steals, let him steal no more, but, etc. He must not only content himself with not stealing, or with working for his living, and that it is enough for him to have laboured hard; but of that which he hath got by the sweat of his brows, he must give part thereof to the Poor, if not for the satisfaction of his former thefts, yet to show himself a good Christian by observing the rules of charity. Zacheus did perform both these; the one, in making a fourfold restitution to those whom he had defrauded by forged cavillation, the other, Ep●. 4. by giving to the Poor the one half of his goods. Let all bitterness, and anger, and wrath, crying and evil speaking (saith the Apostle) be put away from you, with all maliciousness. First of all, there must not abide in your breasts the least smack of bitterness, anger, wrath, evil speaking, nor any other maliciousness. But because it is not enough to shun evil, unless we do also: he thing that is good; he addeth in the second place that which followeth anon after, Be ye courteous one toward another, and tender hearted. For a good Surgeon ought no● only to take away the pain in the leg, but also to enable it to go. Thirdly, She did discover this beginning of her amendment and recovery, by employing this her health in the service of our Saviour Christ; and by laying it down at our Saviour's feet, she showed that she was not ill bred. If he that is recovered of a sickness, when he is able to set foot on ground, and to walk up and down his chamber, shall have recourse unto God, and give him thanks for this his restored health, it is a sign that God gave it him. Thanks slowly given (saith Seneca) lessens the benefit received. Aristotle tells us, That the Athenians admitted no other Temple, save that of Thankfulness, to the end that they might not be slack and dull in making their acknowledgement. And if he be blamed that is idle and slow in rendering of thanks, What shall we say to him that never comes to offer his service, but is careless in committing of sin, and offends daily more and more? The emblem of ingratitude The Moon may serve for an emblem to these kind of unthankful persons; who receiving all her light from the Sun, in requital of this so great a kindness, seeks to cloud him by her of●en eclipses. Being herein like unto him who sets himself down under the shadow of some Tree, and afterwards plucks off the Fruit thereof, and tears down its boughs. Now when the Sun was down, all they that had sick folk of diverse diseases, brought them unto him, and he laid his hand on every o●e of them and healed them. They stayed till the Sun set, for the observation of the Sabbath was so strict with them, that they held it not lawful on that day to cure the Sick, much less to bring them abroad in a bed or a chair: And therefore said the Priests unto the People, There are six days in which men ought to work, in them therefore come and be healed, L●c. 13.14. and not on the Sabbath day. Amongst those Sick which received health, Saint Matthew saith, Why the Devils ro●ed when our Saviour cast them out. That there were some possessed with Devils, and that the Devils did roar and cry, notifying the force where with they were driven forth their bodies, and withal confessing him to be the Son of God: First, That he might let them alone (saith Saint Augustine;) Secondly out of a pride of heart, to the end that none might presume, that any man (as being but man) was able to cast them out of their habitation, and deprive them both of their power and pleasure. But our Saviour Christ, He saffred ●hem not to speak, because they knew him to be Christ. This proposition may admit a double sense. The one, That this particle Quia, Because, is declarative: nor would he suffer them to speak, Quae? What? T●a● our Saviour was the promised Christ. The other, That this particle is causal; he would not permit them to speak, And why? Because they knew he was the promised Christ. And as when Peter confessed him to be jesus Christ the Son of the everliving God, Mat. 16.20. He charged his Disciples, that they should tell no man that he was jesus Christ; so here he inioyneth the like silence to the Devils, etc. In this second sense, this sequel may be made, That the Devils knew Christ; but is not to be gathered from the former: for they might speak this, either mētiend●, or adulando, in a lying, or flattering manner, though they had not any knowledge of him: so that which of these two is most probable, it is yet depending to be proved, whither they knew him or knew him not? In favour of the former, to wit, that they knew him, we read in the Gospel, That the Devils had thrice confessed Christ, To be the holy one of God, to be the Son of God, and the Son of the most Highest. In this very Chapter one of these foul Fiends said unto him, What have we to do with thee thou jesus of Nazareth? Luke 4.34. Art thou come to destroy us? I know who thou art, even the holy One of God. And now here, The Devils came out of many, crying and saying, Thou art the Christ the Son of God. In the first Chapter of Saint Mark many Devils said the like: And in the vl Chapter of Saint Matthew, they called him the Son of the Highest. Where it is to be noted, That albeit our Saviour Christ permitted the Devils to take the name in their mouths, of the holy One of God, and of the Son of the Highest; yet did he never suffer them to preach, that he was the Christ. For although the name of Messias and of Christ be all one; yet the names of Christ and of the Messias, were the most notorious amongst the jews. Both the Wise and the Ignorant did expect him and believed in him; but all of them did not know that he was to be the Son of God. And therefore our Saviour Christ put this question to the greatest Doctors amongst them, pretending to prove the divinity of the Messias: What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Math. 22. Again, The name of Son of God, of Holy, and of Highest, may be attributed to any holy Prophet whosoever, that is the Son of God by Grace; but the name of Christ was the name of their Messias, and of their King whom they looked for, and that he should come to redeem Israel. And if the Devils did publish him, they did withal put in the hearts of the jews a great hatred against Christ; as well by seeing the glory of their Messias placed upon so mean and poor a man; as also by seeing him thus applauded and proclaimed to the World by the Devils, presuming thereupon, that he had made some Covenant and confederation with them. Before Pilate they laid two things to his charge: The one, That he made himself the Son of God; and of this they made least reckoning. The other, That he proclaimed himself King of the jews. And this they held the heynouser crime. Two things Whereof the jews accused Christ. Luke 23. And Pilate hearing that he was the Son of God, began to be afraid; And would not take this for a sufficient cause to put him to death. But when he heard that he took upon him the title of King of the jews, he presently pronounced sentence against him. And the Roman soldiers, flouting at his Kingdom, put upon him the ensigns of a King; a purple robe on his back, a sceptre in his hand, and a crown on his head. So that the thing which did most trouble them, was, The name of Christ. And therefore they said unto him, Si tu es Christus, dic nobis palam, If thou be Christ, declare it here openly before the people, and tell us plainly of it. But because he would not provoke them nor give them occasion before hand, lest they might accuse him in the Tribunal of Rome, he would not make answer unto them, nor give them any farther knowledge that he was the Christ. In favour of the second, to wit, That they did not know him; we have on our side the temptation of our Saviour jesus Christ: for if the Devils had known him, they would not have tempted him. Secondly, They knowing him to be the Christ and the Messias, they must likewise know him to be the natural Son of God: for the Devils could not be ignorant of that in Hell, which the most learned in judaism had attained to here on earth. Thirdly, (and it is the reason of that glorious Doctor Saint Hierome) No man hath known the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son was willing to reveal it. If the Father then did not reveal his Son to the Devils, nor the Son himself reveal the same, why then surely they could not know him. But some one will say, That the Son did reveal himself to the Devils, not by infusing any light of Faith into them, as he did into those three Kings that came unto him from the East, and to the Prophets that were before them; nor the light of Glory, as he hath to the Blessed▪ but by the light of his miracles and prophecies, and by some secret and hidden signs of his presence, (for that is S. Austin's opinion) which the Devils might better attain unto than men. And this reason sufficiently proveth, That they knew him before they tempted him; yea, that they knew him even from his birth; for than did they presently perceive in jesus Christ our Saviour and Redeemer, Miracles, Prophecies, and great signs of God. And albeit the miracles were not then so many as those which he wrought afterwards, when he had unfolded and spread abroad the sails of his Omnipotency; yet a few were enough to make the Devil, who hath so great an insight into natural causes, to conceive and see how far short Nature came in this great business. Fourthly, 1. Cor. 1. The glorious Apostle Saint Paul treating of our Saviour Christ by the name of Wisdom, saith, That none of the Princes of this World knew him; for had they known him, they would never have crucified him. And this may likewise be understood of the Devil, whom our Saviour styles the Prince of the world: but in case it be understood of men, the Earth not coming to the knowledge thereof, to whom God might have revealed it, hell could hardly know it. In this doubt there are (me thinks) two truths that are most certain. The one, That the Devil had not a full and assured knowledge, that our Saviour Christ was the natural Son of God: for his knowledge was not the knowledge of Faith, nor any clear vision, but only opinion. And as a man of very great understanding being without the light of Faith, howbeit by the miracles and prophecies of our Saviour jesus Christ, he might happily believe that he was the Son of God; yet some one doubt or other will be still remaining, that he may not be that promised Son. So the Devil, ever since our Saviour Christ was borne, had many, and those strong suspicions, that God was become Man: These jealousies and suspicions were daily by so much the more increased in the Devil, by how much the more our Saviour Christ went daily discovering the signs and tokens of his Divinity; till at last, seeing himself as it were convinced by the evidence thereof, that he might put himself out of this perplexity, he first goes about to tempt him, and afterwards to solicit his death. And this is the opinion of that glorious Doctor Saint Hierome, upon the vl Chapter of Saint Matthew, where he saith, That all the Devils did beat upon this ha●●●, went nosing and winding of it out, and were wonderful both fearful & jealous of the same, but that none of them did assuredly know so much. And Saint Augustine in his books De Civitate Dei, saith, That our Saviour and Redeemer jesus Christ manifested himself so far forth to the devils, as himself was willing, and he would no more than what was fitting, & thought that fitting, which was sufficient to daunt and terrify them, & to free those that were predestinated, from his tyranny. And this was the track that they did tre●d in, and all that they could gather out of his miracles and former prophecies. Gregory Nazia●●●● saith, That the Devils had a great deal of knowledge of the pains & torments which they did feel when our Saviour Christ did cast them forth of the bodies which they had possessed. And of this knowledge, that is to be understood which is here delivered by Saint Luke, Because they knew him to be Christ. The other, That God did hold this their knowledge in suspense & in doubt, by taking flesh in the womb of an espoused Virgin: Which was purposely done (as Ignatius saith) that he might be concealed from the Devil; for otherwise, the Devils could hardly be ignorant that he was the Son of the Virgin Marie, and not the Son of joseph. THE XXIII. SERMON, UPON THE FRIDAY AFTER THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. JOHN 4.5. Venit Iesus in Civitatem Samariae, quae dicitur Sychar. And jesus came into a City of Samaria, which was called Sychar. This Story a most excellent demonstration of God's mercy. Prou. 8. Prou. 2. IN matter of Conversion, this action of our Saviour's seemeth of all other the most famous for the manifesting of God's mercy. In matter of Faith we know very well, That he that shall seek him as he ought, shall find him: And of this Truth God hath given many testimonies in Scripture, They that seek me● early shall find me: And in another place, If thou seekest her a● sil●er, and searchest for her as for Treasures, thou shalt find her. And elsewhere it is said, Seek and ye shall find, Esay●5 ●5. knock and it shall be opened unto you. We know likewise, that some have found him that have not sought him, I was found of them that ●●●ght me not: but none did light on him with so little labour, and at so cheap ● rate, Rom. 10. as this Samaritan. S. Paul was tumbled off from his horse on the ground, and was strooken blind; the Adulteress passed through a purgatory of 〈◊〉 and confusion; Marry Magdalen for her part poured forth a sea of tears; and the good Thee●e was fain to betake himself to a great deal of faith, love, patience, and hope: but this woman, I know not what labour or pains it cost her, more than the letting down of a Bucket and rope into the Well to draw a little water. That such a dishonest woman as this was, whom five husbands could not suffice, and had entertained a Ruffian or Swashbuckler to be her companion and champion; that so base and vile a woman as she was (consider her which way you will) in her lineage, her fortune, her life, her behaviour, her age, o● whatsoever else that savours of baseness; that Christ should make choice of her to publish his name, to be as it were one of his Evangelists and Preachers of his Gospel, cannot but appear to the World to be one of the greatest demonstrations of Gods both bounty and goodness. This made Esay to cry out, Good news, good news I bring you, I have joyful tidings to tell you, Fountains have gushed forth in the Desert, waters have shown themselves in the Wilderness, and rivers appear where there was nothing before but dry land. Grace doth usually follow the steps of Nature, and though ordinarily your Brooks and your Rivers keep themselves within their own bounds and precincts, yet sometimes they leap out of those beds that were purposely made for them, and overflow those brinks that bind them in, watering those thirsty places that stood in need of their refreshing. Just so stands the case with Grace; for although it commonly keeps its usual and ordinary course, yet now and then it swells above its channels, and riseth out of its bed, making the wilderness a pool of waters, the barrainest grounds most fruitful, and the greatest Sinners the greatest Saints. And here some one perhaps will say, I will wait for the like coming of God's mercy: but let me tell him, whosoever he be, That this is not a going for water to the Fountain, but that the Fountain should be brought home unto us. It is sufficient, that we have so frank and free a God that will now & then confer these his great favours upon us without our seeking of them: But what will not he do for thee, if thou shalt seek him with thy whole heart? Such a one, our Saviour compares to that Merchant which sought after precious pearls of inestimable value. Wherein he notifieth unto us that extraordinary diligence wherewith we are to seek after him; and this is that Via Regia, or the King's Highway in which we must walk, if we mean to find him; and this was the tract that was troad in by all the Saints of Heaven: Hi sunt qui venerunt ex magna tribulatione, etc. These are they which came out of great tribulation, etc. Others our Saviour compareth to hidden Treasure, which is found by chance, and seldom happeneth; and this it was this woman's good luck to light upon, which was revealed to some few, but from thousands of others hidden and concealed, etc. He came into a City of Samaria called Sycar. The Saints do render two reasons of this journey. Saint Cyril saith, That news was brought unto the Pharisees, That Christ had more Disciples than john Baptist, though Christ himself did no● baptise; which raised such an enraged envy in the hearts of them, that it coming to our Saviour's knowledge, he left judea and went for Galilee, Being enforced to pass through the midst of Samaria. Wherein he gave to the Ministers of the Gospel a twofold Lecture. The one, A discreet fear is better than a forward boldness. Math. 10. That they ought sometimes to prefer sufferance before boldness; and rather to dissemble some fear, than to show themselves too forward; and to fly from the sword of anger than to oppose themselves against the edge thereof. And therefore it is said, If ye be persecuted in one City, fly into another. Many account it a great point of valour, and that they prove themselves to be stout men in standing stiffly to their Cause, and maintaining it with an undaunted resolution; but this is rather Weakness than Fortitude, For in some occasions, the greatest Victory, is to suffer himself to be vanquished. The other, (and let this be the second occasion of our Saviour's journey) That the Minister of God's word, who is to love all, to desire all should be saved, and that all should have the hearing of the Gospel, not to sow all the seed of God's word in populous Cities. Clemens Alexandrinus compareth our Saviour to the Sun, which inlightneth the World, expelleth Darkness, augmenteth Plants, fomenteth Flowers, breeds Gold in the veins of the Earth, Pearls in the shells of the Sea, inricheth and beautifieth all Creatures, and leaves no corner of the earth, which he doth not visit and comfort with the beams of his light and splendour. The Pharisees murmuring, that our Saviour Christ cured the sick on the Saboth, he said unto them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. It is said in Genesis, john. 5.17. Gen. ●. 2. He rested from all his work which he had made. True it is, that God had then put an end to all the works of his Power, but not to all the works of his Love.. For in doing good deeds, the three divine persons never take any rest. And as his love in itself is perpetual, so doth it still continue towards his Creatures. Dionysius styleth Love, Mobile, incessabile, ●eruens, & superferuens, God's love doth never rest, but is still working. He might likewise have termed it Vniversale; for there is not that worm whereunto it's virtue doth not extend itself. In a word, As that Husbandman in the Gospel, did not leave out any part of the land, but did sow the same all over; so our Saviour Christ did plough that holy Land, which had the happiness to have him set his feet thereon, and did sow in it the seed of his Word; and by his Apostles did afterwards spread the same abroad through all the World: and here now, falls himself a work at Sichar. And there was jacobs well. That the memory of dead friends should be so powerful with God, as to make him afford favours to the living, it is much; But that the places where his friends lived, should work this effect upon him, it is more than much. But the Well of jacob teacheth us this truth, & the good fortune that this woman had to find our Saviour sitting there, where Abraham had erected an Altar unto God; where he had received those great promises for his posterity; where jacob digged that Well, which was a great relief to that City. God treating of anointing David King, willed it to be done in Hebron. And why there more than in any other place, Abulansis renders this reason, That, that people did not deserve so good a King as David, 2. Reg. 2. but a Tyrant like his predecessors. And because in Hebron, Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and jacob were there interred, he would that it should be in Hebron, that the place might supply that defect which was wanting in the people's desert. Our Saviour Christ being born in Bethlem, the Angels came to tell the tidings thereof to the Shepherds. And why to the Shepherds? What advantage have they of Grace, Nature, or Fortune, above other men? Saint Jerome saith, That the ancient Patriarches had fed their flocks in those fields; and that in this, as likewise in Rachel's being buried there, consisted this their happiness: So that, not only the Saints of God, but those places wherein they lived, or died, will be a means for thee to meet with God. As in the place where sinners meet, as in your Conventicles of Heretics, and Witches, the Devil comes amongst them, offering them imaginary fountains of delights: So, in holy places thou shalt presently meet with God, who will offer thee fountains of living waters, etc. Tertullian treating of the Amphitheatres where men went in to kill one another, said, Tot daemons, quot 〈◊〉, That there were as many Devils there, as there were Men. And a woman that was a Christian coming from these sports, the Devil entered into her. And being asked how he durst do so to a servant of our Saviour Christ, made answer, I found her within the limits of my jurisdiction. Wearied in the journey. It was no wonder that he was weary, it being a journey, of such painful circumstances. First, In that our Saviour went foot; a travail which in long journeys is wont to tire out the strongest and ablest men. Those Posts which foot it, and those Soldiers that march long and hard marches, remain oftentimes surbated and lame of their feet. David pursuing those thieves that had fired Ziklag, one part of his Soldiers were so tired out with their travail, that they abode behind, and were not able to go over the river Bezor. 1. Reg. 30. And David afterwards flying from his son Absalon, the Story saith, That he and all his people were so weary, that Achitophel being advertised thereof, would have set upon him at midnight, presuming that being so weary as they were, they would not be able to defend themselves. The Prophet Elias flying from jezabel, 2 Reg. 16. came so bruised and so leg-wearie, to the shade of a juniper Tree, that he desired of God, that he would be pleased to take away his life. The second circumstance was, The scorching heat of the Sun, which in the Summer time is so troublesome, that a Shepherd or Herdsman can hardly endure it. The Children of Israel were afflicted in Egypt with the tale of their bricks, with the gathering of straw for to make them, with their skins rend and torn with rods of thorns and briers, and tormented with many miseries: And God leading them one Summer through the Desert of Arabia, which was a hot sandy ground, it seemed unto him, that it was intolerable trouble for them to travel in such heats, and to march on as it were in despite of the Sun; He spread a cloud over them like a curtain. Which i● all one with that of Wisdom, Psalm. 78. Sap. 18. Thou madest the Sun that it hurted 〈◊〉 not in their honourable journey. jonas being parched with the heat of the Sun in the Confines of Niniveh, did suffer such great torment, that he held death the lesser pain of the two. The Sun beat upon the head of jonah, that he fainted & wished in his heart to die; and said, jonoh. 4.8. It is better for me, Lord, to die, than to live. The glorious Doctor S. Austen saith, That the Sun did not know our Saviour jesus Christ till the hour of his blessed death, and that his then retiring of himself, the hiding of his head, and the withdrawing of the beams of his light, was not only in pity and compassion of his Creator, but to show his sorrow and repentance for that small kindness which he had used towards him when he went his journeys. The third circumstance was, The extreme heat and drought of the Country of Samaria; the heat of those sandy grounds being (as the Poet saith) very furious and raging; Furit ●stus arenis. This must needs cause thirst and weariness in the hardest constitution whatsoever; How much more must they work their painful effects upon so delicate and tender a body and complexion as that of our Saviour Christ? Wearied with his journey. The ends which God intended in wearying out himself, were not without some deep mystery; Non frustra fatigatur jesus, (saith S. Austen) jesus did not take this pains in vain. First of all, He was willing thereby to honour our sweats and our labours, and to give a savoury relish to our travels and pains taking. Reason's why Christ would thus wear out himself. Psalm. 69. Those waters which pass through a golden Mine, are very sweet and pleasing to the taste; and your ●quae, waters, in Scripture are taken for poenae, punishments. Save me, o God, for the waters are entered even to my soul. The many waters of affliction were not able to quench my love. But these our pains passing through those veins which are far better and more precious than gold, do give a sweet and pleasing savour to Heaven itself. The horn of the Unicorn makes those waters wholesome, Psalm. 29. which before were full of poison and venom: Ou● Saviour, whom David calls a Unicorn, makes our pains to turn to our good. In that day shall seven 〈◊〉 take hold of one man, Esay 4. saying, We will eat our own bread, only let us be called by thy name, and take away our reproach. The name of Woman signifieth weakness, and the number of seven, multitudinem, a great sort: whereas he saith, That seven women shall take hold of one man; the meaning is, That our weaknesses, and our pains and punishments in this life, shall take hold on that one man our Saviour jesus Christ, and beseech him to take pity of us, and that he will do us but that grace as to suffer us to be called by his name, it is all we will ask of him; all the World will else shun and abandon us, as persons affronted and disgraced: Aufer opprobrium nostrum, O Lord take this reproach from us. Secondly, S. Bernard saith, That God could have redeemed Mankind at a less rate, but that he was willing by this so painful a course to banish slothfulness, laziness, and unthankfulness out of man's heart. For if God journeying in the heats, suffering the scorching of the Sun, and neither eating nor drinking, tireth out himself thus for thy sake; How canst thou be so lazy and ungrateful to this his great pains and weariness, as to sit still upon thy stool to take thy ease and do nothing? How careful were those two Tobies, in devising how they might requite Raphael for the pains which he had taken in his journey? What shall we give him to content him? If we should give him half of that we have, nay (said the young Toby) if I should become his slave, Tob. 12. I cannot recompense the love and kindness that he hath shown unto me. Esay treating of our Saviour Christ, saith, Et factus est saluator in omni tribulatione eorum, & Angelus faci●i 〈◊〉 saluabit eos: The Seventie translate it, Neque Angelus, sed ipse Dominus saluabit eos, He shall be their Saviour in all their tribulations, not any Angel, but God himself. And here it is not an Angel that takes this pains, and thus wearies himself, but it is God himself. Is it much then, that thou shouldst be careful and painful, and toil and moil to do good, seeing thy Saviour hath set thee so good an example, and will so well accept and reward this thy labour and service? The reason whereof is much strengthened and increased, by considering what a powerful God our God is, Esay 40. and what a poor thing is Man. All nations are as a drop of a Bucket before him, and are counted as the dust of the balance, which is with a very little, little less than nothing. And as it is in the book of Wisdom, Sap. 11.22. As the small thing that the balance weigheth, so is the World before thee, and as a drop of the morning dew that falleth down upon the earth. S. Ambrose questions God, Why, o Lord, so much for so little? And his answer is, That this doth endear thy ingratitude, and his love. This is a thing to stunne a man, and to make him stand astonished; that the Sea should go after a drop of water, as if therewith it should augment its immensity and vastness; that Totum should seek after Nihil, he that is all in all, after a thing of nothing, as if thereby he should better his Being; that God should seek after a wench that was a water carrier, and being so weary (as he was) he should sit him down upon Jacob's Well, and there entertain himself in talk with her, How can she ever be able to requite so great and undeserved a kindness? This reason is also the more endeared, considering how little it concerns God, and how much it imports man. What is it to God? Nothing. What canst thou give unto him? If thou shouldst undo thyself in his service, thou shalt not add one dram of glory unto him. What is it to Man? The greatest happiness that can befall him, in that God should tire out himself for him who is not worthy the looking after. Much (saith Saint Bernard) ought man to meditate on this his weariness, considering how dear man did cost God. It were mere idleness in man, to think that God made him for nothing, or to sit still & be idle. In the sweat of thy brows shalt thou eat thy bread: This was poena culpae, a punishment appointed him for the fault he had committed, that every bit of bread should cost him a drop of sweat▪ and this lighted upon our Saviour himself, The great cost & pai●es that Christ was at for our redemption. as being our Surety: the debt was ours; but he standing bound for us, was forced to pay it, we failing therein. Meus cibus est, ut faciam voluntatem patris: And here the meat that he was to feed upon, was a hard crust to gnaw upon. The conversion of this woman; he was to tug for it and sweat for it, Esay 53. He shall see of the travel of his soul; and shall be satisfied. His body traveled with weariness, his soul with thoughts and cares; but he shall see that which he desired, and be satisfied. Saint Ambrose discoursing of these our Saviour's pains, saith, That for that he did esteem 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 ransom cost God a great deal of labour and sweat, it is not much, that the price of finding God should be thy labour and thy sweat. Laurentius justinianus saith, That God had contrived it so, that the Nin●uites should see jonas gaping for breath, & al-to-berayed with the filthy slime and oil of the Whale; to the end that this so sad and sorrowful a spectacle, should be of equivalency to those miracles which he wrought amongst them, and should persuade them to Fast, Sackecloath, and Ashes, etc. Philon declaring that place of deuteronomy, Deut 20. That he that had planted a Vineyard, and not eaten of the fruit thereof; and that he that had built him an house, and not dwelled therein; and that he that had married a wife, and had not enjoyed her company, should return back from the War: this learned Doctor saith, That the reason of this Proclamation was, for that it was not held fit, Heaven is not gotten with a Song. that another should for a song (as they say) and doing little or nothing for it, come to enjoy the fruit of another man's labours. Will God, That thou shalt not enjoy another man's house, or his Vineyard, for nothing; and shall he give thee Heaven for nothing? Zenon inferreth the self same consequence, from that place of Genesis, Gen 3. He will not but thou shalt get thy bread with the sweat of thy brows; And dost thou think thou shalt purchase Heaven without taking of pains? 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 muffs, their banquets, their music, their Comedies, their Gardens of pleasure, etc. as if this were the way to go to Heaven. But I would have thee to know (saith Greg. Nizen) that Heaven may be here fitted and prepared for us, but not enjoyed. Do not thou weary out thyself in seeking after that which our Saviour Christ could not find. When I see a man fare daintily and delicately, choice and nice in his diet and his clothes, and as greedy after his profit as his pleasure; I would fain know of him, being so great a Lover as he is of a merry and pleasant kind of life, being wholly given to jollity, How he dares to go treading and counting these his steps, towards Hell? Doth he think to lead the same life there? jesus then wearied in the journey, sat down on the Well. A Traveller comes all dust and sweat, and exceeding weary to a fountain, he washes himself, makes himself clean, drinks, sits down, and so seeks to shake off his weariness. But our Saviour coming extreme weary to this fountain, nei●her washes himself, makes himself clean, nor drinks, but only sat thus, as being wearied, that this woman might take notice of his wearisomeness, and this his troublesome journey; and so Caietane, and the Cardinal of Toledo, do expound the word sic; that he sat even thus upon the Well. The ends why God expressed himself to be thus weary, are no less deep and profound, than the former. First, Because out of this his weariness, the sinner might apprehend his love. Theodoret deriveth the name of God from a Greek word, which signifieth, To run. And they gave this name unto God, who took the stars to be Gods. Damascene, that he was therefore called God, because he succours our miseries, and relieves our necessities with that haste and speed, that thereby we may perceive how much he loves us. Leo the Pope, expounding that place of Saint Luke, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, saith, That these words which our Saviour used to his father, were not words of complaint; but a Lecture which he read unto Man, making upon the Cross 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 (dear Father) that thou wilt give Man eyes to see, The end why thou hast forsaken me. For that thy natural son, 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 love which I bore unto Man, seeing his disease was so desperate, that it was requisite that I should taste of this so bitter a potion, and that if I had been so necessitated and so sick as Man was, I could not have done more for myself. We have two principal fountains of Love to consider in God. The one, In his Creating of us. The other, In his Redeeming of us. In creating us, he poured forth the rich treasure of his Love, Thy hands made me, and fashioned me, etc. The Beasts, Birds, and Fishes could not say so much. All the rest of the creatures had their being, God only speaking the Word, Ipse dixit, & facta sunt. But when he came to the creation of Man, he said, Faciamus hominem, etc. Tertullian, and Saint Austen are of opinion, That God took the form of Man upon him, because he had created him after his own image, and likeness. Wherein he manifested most strange pledges of his love, not only because he was the workmanship of his own hands [howbeit Aristotle says, that every man bears a love and affection to that which his own hand hath planted, and for which he hath taken pains. As God said unto jonas, Thou weepest and takest on for thy Gourd, for which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it to grow;] but for the good affection that he had placed upon man, and for that he had taken Man's likeness upon him. God's love to Man in his Creation. The like in his Redemption. But much more are we bound unto him, that he hath redeemed us. He created us by his power, but he redeemed us by his love; so that we owe more to his love than his power. His taking of our weakness upon him, was our strengthening. Thy power did create me, but thy frailty did refresh me, said Saint Augustine. He calls our Redemption a second Creation: And as we use to sing in the Church, What benefit had our birth been unto us, if we had not received the fruits of Redemption? So likewise may we say, What good would our creation have done us, if we must have perished had we not had the profit of Redemption? Secondly, For to put a Sinner in some good hope & assurance; for why should not I rely upon God's love, being that he hath taken such a deal of pains form, and hath wearied out himself to give me ease? Zacharie represents our Saviour Christ unto us with wounds in his hands; Zacar. 13. and ask the question, What are these wounds in thy hands? How camest thou by them? or, Who gave them thee? This answer is returned, Thus was I wounded in the house of my friends. Rupertus & Galatinus are both of opinion, That this is a metaphor drawn from a Labrador or Husbandman, who hath his hands hardened, and a kind of thou or thick skin grown upon them through too much labour. So that seeing Man was condemned for his offence, to dig and plough the earth, Christ undertook that task for him, as one that was willing to suffer for his friends. Za●har. 13.5. I am a Husbandman; for Man taught me to be a Herdsman from my youth up: for, to ease them of this burden, I was willing to bear their punishment. He than that shall take such pity and compassion of me, he that shall undergo such a deal of trouble for my sake, makes me to have a strong hope and belief, that he will deny me nothing. jacob wrestled all night with God, the Patriarch in that struggling got a lameness, and God grew so weary, that he cried unto him, Let me go. Gen. 32.26. But jacob answered, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. Was this a good time, think you, to crave a blessing? Yes marry was it; for I standing in need thereof, and God waxing weary for my sake, What shall I ask, that he will deny me? Thirdly, Christ shows himself weary, to the end that by this his great pains he might save the sinner from perdition. Saint Augustine saith, Fatigatus jesus, quia fidelem populum invenire non poterat, That jesus was weary, because he could not find out a faithful People. The Shepherd that seeks after his lost sheep, may weary out himself very much in seeking of him out; but much more will he find himself so, if he do not find him. It is not so much God's pains that he takes, but our sins, and our wand'ring so far out of the way from him, that makes him so weary. And if a Sheep had but the understanding to know the pains that the Shepherd takes, the care and weariness that accompanies such a strange kind of straggling, besides his being endangered of being devoured by that Wolf the Devil, which lies in wait for his destruction; he would be better advised, and fall a bleating after his Shepherd Christ jesus, and hasten into the Fold. Fourthly, The fear of a man's own hurt and condemnation; for though God now show himself unto thee weary, and as it were quite tired out in seeking after thee, who refusest to be found while it is day; thou shalt see him hereafter in pomp and majesty, to thy great fear and terror. Now, he calls unto thee, invites thee, and entreats thee to come unto him; now, thou findest him here, sitting and staying to see if thou wilt come unto him, being marvellous willing and ready to do thee good, and to supply thy necessities; he is now all pity and mercy, but hereafter he will be all rigour and justice. Nothing hath put God to half that pains, as hath thy sins; it is they that have wearied him, they that have wounded him, and they that have crucified him: Our sins the cause of all Christ's sufferings. and if therefore now thou shalt not take the benefit of these his pains, wounds, and crucifixion, they shall hereafter condemn thee. For you was my side opened, and ye would not enter in, saith Saint Augustine; my arms were spread abroad to embrace ye, but ye would not come near me; and therefore these my wounds shall be the Atotrney to accuse you, and the Witness to condemn you: and all those things which heretofore did represent unto you reasons of confidence and assurance, shall now drive you into the depth of desperation, and make you call unto the Mountains, with a Cadite super nos, Fall upon us and cover us. The Quail keeps a mourning and complaining in her kind of language, when she sees the Sun; and the Condemned they will likewise howl & lament, when they shall see Christ in the Heavens. The Angels did ask, Who is this that comes from the earth so glorious and so bloody? I have fought a bloody battle here upon earth, triumphing like a Conqueror over the Devil & Death, etc. But then they replied and asked him, What, blood and wounds in Heaven? to what end, I pray you? They are memorials of the wrongs I received: And in the day of vengeance I shall say unto you, Behold the Man whom ye have crucified. Ye shall then take notice of these wounds, & of this Cross of mine. So that those things that are now our strong tower, our defence, our protection, our assurance, and our love, shall be our fear, our cowardice, and our condemnation. In Exodus God commanded, That they should not seethe the Kid in the milk of its Dam. Lyra and Clemens Alexandrinus make this Gloss thereupon, That God would not have that which was the beginning of its life, to be the instrument of its death. And this may be verified of the weariness and wounds of our Saviour Christ; neither the torments of the Devil, nor the fire of Sodom, nor the water of the Flood which drowned all the world, nor hell itself ought so much to fear thee, as to see thy God thus wearied and wounded for thee. Sedebat sic, He sat thus. Saint Chrysostome, Euthymius, and Theophilact say, Sedebat sic, non in cella, aut in loco honoratiori, sed in terra, He sat thus, not in a chair, or some more honourable place, but on the ground: Conforming himself according to the time and place, he sat him down as well as he could, not being curious of the softness, easiness, or conveniency thereof. Wherein are condemned two sorts of persons. The one, They, who for one hours' pains, will have a thousand dainties to delight themselves withal, and for one hours' labour, a thousand refresh. They endear this storm and tempest of theirs more than any Galleyslave that tugs at the oar; they extol their labour so high above the skies, that there is no earthly reward that can recompense their pains. It is such a strange thing for them to put themselves to any trouble, and so vain is their presumption, that the sea and the sands are too little to content them. And this is commonly the condition of base people, that are preferred to honourable place. The other, They who will not be pleased with accommodating themselves as well as they can, or content themselves with that which is sufficient for them, but are still seeking after more than is enough: And this is too common amongst us. Christ the only Well of refreshing water. He sat thus upon the Well. A woman (saith Saint Augustine) eme to the well, and found a Fountain there which she little thought of. And he farther saith, That he sat him down upon the Well, to the end that we should not seek to draw water out of this depth, but endeavour to draw water out of that Fountain which is above all the waters in the world. This Well is the water of life, let us draw from hence, that we may drink of the cup of Salvation. One of the attributes of Christ, is Oil or Balsamum poured forth and scattered abroad, whose property and quality is to swim upon the water. The water drawn from the Well gives a great deal of trouble, and little satisfaction; it is a brackish water that quenches not the thirst: but this sovereign Fountain affordeth us that sweet and comfortable water which quencheth the flames of the fiery lusts and affections of this life, and allayeth the thirst of our sins. Of that water of the mystical Rock which in those days of old did quench the thirst of six hundred thousand persons, Thomas and Lyra affirm, That it followed the Camp, and that God would not that any other water should give them relief, but the water of the Rock; 1. Cor. 10. which was a figure of our Saviour Christ: This Water was Christ. This woman came for water to Jacob's Well, but this could not quench neither her nor thy thirst, but another Fountain that sat upon the lid or cover of this Well. His Disciples were gone into the City to buy meat. Saint Chrysostome hath observed, That our Saviour Christ and his Disciples had but little care of their belly; yet it being now high noon, and having had so long and painful a journey, they were enforced to go buy them some victuals. Esay●. W●● unto that land whose Princes eat betimes in the morning, and Woe unto them that rise up early to follow drunkenness. He that hath not broke fast at one of the Clock in the afternoon, what will he say or think of him that rises up to eat by daybreak? Seneca saith, That Gluttony hath reached farther than possibly the wit of man could reach. Nat●●e makes gold and pearls; Art, money and jewels; & of all this, Gluttony makes a dainty dish to please the palate. And in another Epistle he saith, That we need not so much wonder at our many sicknesses and infirmities, having so many Cooks and Kitchen Books, so many inventions of sundry sor●● of dishes and several kinds of services, every one of them being itself a sickness. Philon paints forth a Glutton, in the Serpent, to whom God said, Terram comedes. First, Because he trails his breast upon the earth, which is his food. Gluttons compared to Serpents for diverse reasons. Secondly, In regard of the poison which he always bears in his mou●h▪ so the Glutton hath always his mind on that which he is to eat; and poison in his mouth, because he goes eating of that which shortens his life. Thirdly, For that God admitting the excuse of Adam and Eve, did not allow of the Serpent's excuse: Maledictus super omnia animantia, Cursed art thou above all the Creatures, etc. Which was all one as if he should have said, That others sins might receive excuse, but to forsake God for to fill the belly, is inexcusable. They went into the City to buy meat. Saint Chrysostome saith, No Travellers in this life ca● want that which is sufficient. That it is superfluous providence in a Traveller, to carry with him an Alforias, or a Walle●, because he shall never want upon the way, that which shall be sufficient to satisfy his hunger; and he farther addeth, That it is a needless care in the Soldiers of jesus Christ. The fiercest beast dies not of hunger, nor the Cork tree in the Desert, though never so much peeled, at any time swerveth. All the trees of the field shall be filled etc. And can the Servant of God than want? When I s●nt●yee forth without a scrip, was there any thing wanting unto you? If there be any need at all of provision (saith the said Chrysostome) it is for our journey for that other life: for, beside that it is a long one and a narrow one, there is no bai●ing place by the way, no Inn, no Victualling house, no Fountain, no Well, no Brook, nor Shepherd's Cottage: It is a Sea voyage, wherein you must carry all your Matalotage and provision with you ready killed, & powdered up. The rich Glutton, when he was gone hence, because he made not his provision before han●▪ could not meet with so much as one drop of water. It was about the sixth hour. Saint Cyril saith, That the Evangelist sets down this word About, in token that even in the least things we should have a great care of the truth, considering how hateful a thing a lie is. And here he gives a reason of his Sedebat, why he sat there. The one was, His extreme heat and weariness. The other, (which was the main cause) His expecting of the woman of S●maria's coming to the Well; waiting there for her, as an Huntsman for his Game; and haet want of water makes the way for her to come thither, Ies●● sitting there all the while. Saint Augustine saith, Sede●a● iuxta p●t●um, ●ed 〈◊〉 qui●s●ebat, He sat by the Well, but took no great ●ase; his body rested itself, bu● not his soul. Philon saith, That a man's sitting doth not argue case, but to sit, and to lean the hand on the cheek, as it seemeth our Saviour upon the Well-lid, is the posture of a pensative man, Exod. 2. and one that is full of care. Moses flying from Pharaohs Court, the Scripture saith, That finding himself weary he sat him down by a Well; and that losing the sails to his thoughts, his mind was on Egypt, casting with himself what they talked of him in the Prince's palace; and being doubtful what fortune should be fall him, got him to Midian. Ioseph● brethren (saith the same Doctor) sat them down in Egypt, unloaded themselves of their sacks and wallets, as men that were willing to rest themselves; but what with the sorrow that they took for their father, whom they left behind them in the land of Canaan; and what would betide them with joseph, they found but little ease. Esay painting forth God in his Throne, circled about with Seraphins, Esay. 6. saith, That every one of them had six wings: With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. Saint Bernard asks the question, how they may be said to fly, and not to fly? And his answer is, That this was a Miracle of Love, that made them assist for God's glory, and yet fly abroad for man's good. It is a Type of our Saviour Christ, who resting his body on the cover of the Well, set the cogitations of his soul upon its wings; considering with himself, how far those sheep were gone astray, which he came to bring back again unto the fold, and what a deal of labour and pains he was to take, being scattered so far asunder as they were. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Our Saviour Christ being weary, and this woman being likewise weary, let no man in this life, be he righteous, or be he a sinner, look for any ease or rest in this life. If Gods elect children come bruised and broken to Heaven, passing through fire and water, broiled, roasted, sawn, dragged on the ground, whipped, and quartered, Sancti per 〈◊〉 vicerunt regna, etc. And if the places of Scripture, which endear the torment of the just are many, many likewise are the endearments of the torments which sinners suffer. So that both of them ply the oar in the Galley of this life. Si impius fuero, va mihi; si iustus, non levabo caput, etc. But the just hath a double advantage. The Just yet have a double advantage over the Wicked. The one, That their pains are savoury unto them, because they suffer them for God's sake. Saint Gregory saith, That in the midst of his greatest miseries, the just doth enjoy a kind of secret glory. And that job upon the dunghill did enjoy this comfort, thinking upon the piece of pot-shard which God had put into his hands; weighing & considering with himself, that as the fire doth harden the clay, and makes it a purer and better kind of Earth than before; so he himself should be much bettered by this fiery trial of his, and be purified the more by these sores and boils that broke out upon his body. But the sinner doth not enjoy this happiness, even his very pleasures are painful unto him, and his solace turns into sorrow. The other advantage is the end of the Iust. Saint Bernard treating of the two thieves, saith, That they came both weary, and their bones broken, to that other life, They had the same prison, the same shackles, bonds, torments, & cross. But Quam ●imiles cruces, quam dissimiles exitus habuerunt, How equal their crosses, how unequal their ends. Wanton women usually subject to two great miseries S●e● came to draw water. This woman it should seem, was borne under some unhappy Star, That having buried five husbands, she should be so poorly left amongst them, that she must be forced to fetch water herself at the Well, & be driven to draw it up. But there are two great miseries that accompany your women that are wanton and lascivious. The one is, That they commonly come to a great deal of need and want, scarce having bread to put in their mo●ths. Why runnest thou about so much to change thy ways? Thou shalt not prospero thereby. The Prophet speaketh here of his people, I●rem. 2.36.37. in the metaphor of an Harbour, who pilling this and that other m●n, and causing the richest & wealthest Citizens' in jerusalem, to waste and consume their means upon them, come themselves in the end to dye in an Hospital. She gathered it out of the hire of a Harlot, and they shall return to the wages of an Harlot. He follows the same metaphor still, Micah. 1.7. proving that the wages and riches of Harlots seldom thrive, and as they are wickedly gotten, so are they vilely and quickly spent. The price of a Whore, is scarce worth a loaf of bread. So that, though such a one should chance to gain a Million, yet (as Solomon says) were it a King's patrimony, it would be all wasted and consumed: For such a one shall be brought to that low estate, that she shall be ready to starve for lack of food. And albeit, speaking in the general, our never offending of our God, be a good means for the purchasing of prosperity to ourselves; yet to grow into wealth by this base course, is but Vigilia inferni, Hell's 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 poverty. The other is, She lets out herself, that she may hire others. Ezech. 16.33. That your H●rlot is 〈◊〉 to bestow money to maintain her Lovers and to find her friends. So Ezechiel complained of his people, They give gifts to all other Whores, but thou givest gifts to all thy Lovers, and rewardest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy fornication. There are some Whores that sin out of Covetousness, I will go after my Lovers, Hose 2.5. that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. Hose 2.8. And because they do not acknowledge whence this good cometh; For she did not know that I gave her corn and wine etc. they come to suffer great hunger. For God takes away those blessings from them, for the which they give thanks unto their Lovers. Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, Host 2.9.10.11. and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax lent, and discover her lewdness in the sight of her Lovers; and no man shall deliver her out of my hand; I will cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days and all her solemn feasts, I will destroy her vines, and her figge-trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my Lovers have given me. Others sin out of lasciviousness and wantonness, and these come to be so vile and so base, that they woe men both with their person and their substance, giving money to boot. And the more that time flies from them, and that their goods forsake them, the more they pursue their pleasures and endeavour to enjoy them. Let it be in thy Litany, That God would deliver thee from this evil, That the more thy Vices fly from the, the faster thou shouldst follow after them: For when thy youth inviteth thee thereunto, and that thou injoyest these humane pleasures and delights, even than it is bad; but when Time goes away from thee, Age comes upon thee, and that it is high time that thy Vices should leave thee, or thou them▪ that thou shouldst then follow after them, that is far worse, and the very utmost of iii. 〈◊〉 My days (saith job) have been more swift than a Post, job 9.25.26. they have fled, and have seen no good thing. They are passed as with the most swift ships, and as the Eagle that flieth to her prey. Woman give me drink. When our Saviour craved water of her, waterdropped from him, and he sweat hard for it. And Saint Chrysostome saith, The first step to justification is mercy and pity. That Christ was willing that the Samaritan should confess this Alms upon him, in token that the first step to our justification, should be mercy and pity. Petrus Chry●logus saith, That our Saviour Christ did crave this humane mercy of her, that towards her he might exercise his divine pity. If you withhold the water a while in the Fountain, and keep it back from its course, it gusneth forth in greater abundance; so is it with the milk in the breast; and so likewise is it with Almesdeeds, which still return a double requital. Saint Ambrose expounding that place of Saint Paul, Pietas ad omnia utilis, saith, That the man that is pitiful, though he suffer weakness in respect of the flesh, Vapulabit, sed non peribit, He shall be beaten, but shall not perish. For there is nothing in a greater disposition to make God to pardon a sinner, than is Pity. Give me drink. God gave way to his thirst, that he might make way the better to that hunger and thirst which he hath after the soul of a Sinner; which is so great, that he only is able to endear the same; it is meat and drink unto him, and so savoury to his taste, that none is able to express the true relish thereof, sa●e only he that knows it. But here he made choice to manifest this his desire rather by his thirst, than by his hunger. First, By taking occasion from the water which this Woman drew out of the Well. Thirst a greater torment than hunger. Secondly, Because it is the more vehement passion of the two, and doth commonly more afflict and torment us; yet in the end, he did not drink, drowning that his thirst in that other thirst which he had after this poor soul. The enamoured. Spouse did not eat, though she were hungry, because her Beloved was sick, and had no stomach to his meat. Our Saviour seeing this Samaritan had no great mind to drink of this living water, doth not drink himself, though he were athirst, and much desired to quench it with this dead water. Samson having a Fountain near at hand, would not drink, though he were thirsty, till he had got the victory over his enemies. Saint Augustine saith of S. Laurence, That he did not feel the fire of the Tyrant, so strongly was he affected with that diviner fire. While the Heart is above the stars, the heel hath no feeling of the Stocks. So our Saviour was not sensible of his own thirst, nor of his wearisomeness, nor of the Sun's heat, out of the desire that he had to obtain his pretended victory. Saint Ambrose expounding that place of David, Cucurri in siti; saith, That it may be read, Cucurrerunt in siti: and he proveth it out of the Greek word, as also that which followeth, o'er suo benedicebant, & cord suo benedicebant: The letter treateth of the Scribes and Pharisees; so that our Saviour Christ had thirst, and they had thirst; he thirsted for their life, they thirsted for his death. And this was one of the reasons why our Saviour Christ did sweat blood in the garden; for that the Priests, the Scribes, and the Pharisees had decreed his death in that their sacrilegious Council: for albeit they had already treated before of his banishing of him from amongst them; another while, of throwing him down from the side of a steep hill, and attempted many other disgraces and violences upon his person; yet were they not come till now, nor was it ever to be supposed that they would have been so cruel, as to desire the shedding of his divine blood, & to pursue him with that eagrenes as they did unto death. And because no other desire could satisfy that their bloodthirsty desire, than the desires of our Saviour's blood, to leap out of those his sacred veins, for their and our good; therefore, Factus est sudor sanguinis, etc. To this end tended that Fac citius of judas: he had already driven the bargain, and the price for which he sold him agreed upon, and his feet did now itch to be gone, that he might receive his money; in token that Christ had a greater desire to be sold, than he had to sell him: and therefore he said unto him, Quod facis, fac citius, That thou dost, do quickly. The like end he had in the institution of his blessed Sacrament; the delivery was promised, but before judas delivered him up, he delivered up himself; Praestabilis super malitia, (saith joel) not only because God's mercy overcomes Man's malice, but because it prevents it. How comes it, that thou being a jew requirest drink of me? When this Samaritan woman did petition our Saviour Christ, saying, Sir, give me of that water; he might have made her this answer, How is it that thou bee●●g a Samaritan, askest drink of me? But she was a woman, and weak, and therefore she spoke as she did; but our Saviour would not touch upon that string. For, to take too much liberty to ourselves in our own proper cases, and to use hypocrisies and finesse in those of other men, is the condition of naughty and ill natured people. Saint Chrysostome saith, That when any scruple did arise, our Saviour took upon him to excuse it, Christum cavere oportebat, It concerned Christ to look about him, Howsoever it did this Samaritan woman. Absalon being up in rebellion against his father, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto h●m, and said unto Absalon, God save the King, God save the King: Then Absalon said unto Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? 2. Reg. 16. & 16. He made no scruple to take his father's Kingdom from him, and his life; but could find fault with Hushai for forsaking his friend David. So blind are men in seeing their own faults, & so apt to condemn others of that crime whereof themselves are most guilty. Yet notwithstanding, this woman was not quite disheartened herewith, she was not clean dashed out of countenance; she had her boughs rend and torn, like unto daniel's tree, yet at the root she had some greenness and sap remaining. Saint john said to the Bishop of Philadelphia, I know thy works, there's hope of a ●ree, if it be never so little green. Apoc. 3.8. 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 virtue, may make the tree to wax green again. Those trees that have no show of verdure, no sign of greenness, are commonly condemned to the fire. Thou sufferest thyself to be subdued by the world, the flesh, and the Devil; thou forgettest, if not forsakest thy God, thou runnest on in thy sins, and makest no reckoning of them; yet there are some pawns and pledges of Heaven's love, whereon thou mayest ground thy hopes, and betake thyself one day as seriously to God's service, as thou hast earnestly followed thine own foolish pleasures. Ezech. 16. Ezechiell charging his people in the metaphor of a little pretty young maiden child, whom God had protected from her cradle, reckoneth up one after another the many courtesies and kindnesses that he did her, the rich apparel and jewels that he bestowed upon her, and all to this end, that when she should forsake his house and run away from him, she might carry with her some memorial of his love; for God's favours never are forgotten, and are never unwelcome, come they never so late. Take compassion, o Lord, upon me, when I cry unto thee, jerom. 3. For thou art my father and the guide of my youth. And God will then reply unto thee, Be thou still of this mind, and see thou forget not to consider with thyself that I am thy father and thy first love, to whom thou didst make the first tender of thy good will and affection; and let this be a Motive unto thee to make thee to leave thy vile courses, and to repent thyself of the wrongs thou hast done me, and to bewail thy many slidings from me, that I may run with open arms to receive thee and hug thee in the bosom of my love. It was an especial providence of God, that the Babylonians burning and destroying all the jewels & spoils of the children of Israel, they suffered them to carry along with them to Babylon their instruments of Music, which was, to put them in hope that they should one day return again to jerusalem their beloved Country. For in a strange land they could not play upon their Harps, nor sing the Songs of Zion, Quomodo cantabimus canticum Domini, etc. Saint Chrysostome saith, That this woman gave wonderful great tokens of her Predestination. First, in those scruples that she made. Secondly, in the desire and willingness that she had to be saved. Scio quia Messias ve●it. But Hell is full of good desires. Gilbertus the Abbot saith, That it is an ordinary thing with sinners to say, O, how I do desire to live a godly and a holy life; and yet complying with all those other desires of the body, they never comply with those of the soul. Saint Ambrose treating of the good desires which the Prodigal had when he kept hogs, to forgo that base kind of life (Surgam & ibo ad patrem meum) saith, It little importeth to say, I will go, unless I put the same in execution. Otherwise, these weak purposes of ours are rather deceits, wherewith the Devil goes entertaining & deluding us. And as it is a folly to put any hope or confidence in weak influences, which never take effect; so those our idle and dangerous determinations, which possess and hinder the will, and still cry Cras, Cras, are but the cords that draw us along unto death. Consider with thyself the great good which the desire of Heaven worketh on the Just, and that little good which it worketh on thee, and thou shalt then plainly perceive, that it doth thee more hurt than good. Again, Though this Samaritan discovered a great deal of ignorance in her discourse with our Saviour; Christ respects not our knowledge, but our Faith. yet Christ offering her the water of Life, she said, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the Well is deep. And this was not much to marvel at in so mean and silly a soul as she was: Nicodemus was a Doctor of Law, and yet betrayed his great ignorance; Art thou a Master in Israel, & knowest not these things? It was sufficient, that he showed his care in matter of Faith. Our Fathers did worship in this Mountain; It was sufficient, that he discovered his affection to those things that concerned his soul. Sir, give me of that water, that I may not thirst, nor come hither to draw. Our Saviour having used this Woman thus kindly, and continued so long in conversation with her, his Disciples at last coming unto him, The leaving of sin a sure mark of our Predestination thinking it now time to high her home, leaving her Water-pots behind her, she made all the haste that she could to the City, magnifying the person of our Saviour Christ, and abhorring her former lewd life, she turned over a new leaf, and made public profession to all that she met with, for what end they were borne. Your Diamond will shine even in a Dunghill, and your Mariner's Needle in the darkest nights will ever look towards the North. Do not allege Peter unto me, saying, Lord, whither shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life: nor his confessing of Christ to be the Son of the living God; but when he was charged with the denial of his Saviour, with maledictions and execrations, than did he show what he was. Lux in te●ebris l●cet, & ●enebrae eum non comprehenderunt; Those thatare predestinated, are H●espe●es deal Viti●, Vices Guests, and oftentimes entertainers of sin. But as the Children of Israel being Captives in Babylon, did upon every light occasion discover the love which they bore to jerusalem, [Si non proposuero jerusalem in principio l●titi● meae, etc.] so this woman did presently discover the embers that lay hid in her breast. If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, etc. here begins this woman's Catechism; Christ dealing with her as Schoolmasters do with little children when they teach them first to read; or as Riders with young Colts, before they begin to break them, using them very gently, and smoothing and stroking them with the hand. Saint Augustine understandeth by this gift, the water of Life; and by the water of Life, the holy-Ghost. And he allegeth in favour of this sense, that place of Saint john, If any man thirsteth, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth in me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow Rivers of living Water. And the Evangelist adds, That our Saviour uttered this sentence, Concerning the Spirit, which Believers should receive. S. Cyril understandeth thereby, the Grace of the holy-Ghost; Theodoret, the Word of God; S. Ambrose, Baptism. The proportion consisteth in three things: The first, That as living Water doth enjoy an inseparable union with the fountain from whence it flow●th; whence it followeth, that it can never be dried▪ up, nor have any evil savour, like those dead waters of your Cisterns and your standing Pools, which are dried up, stink and putrify, & breed filthy vermin: So in like manner the grace of the holy-Ghost, the Word of God, and the blessed Sacraments, enjoy the self same union with that first beginning from whence they proceed. The second, That as your living water doth enjoy a kind of life, & uncessable motion, (for which cause the Scripture attributeth thereunto the actions of life, The Floods are risen, the Floods have lift up their voice, the floods lift up their waves, Psal. 93. Eccles▪ 1. etc.) So the grace of the holy Ghost, the Word of God, and the blessed Sacraments, cause in the Soul the effects of life. The third, That as your living Water doth ascend to the height of its birth and Being; so the Grace of the holy-Ghost, the Word of God, and the blessed Sacraments, ascend up even as high as to God himself, because they had their birth & Being from God, he being the Spring or Wel-head from whence they had their rising; Fiet in eo sons aquae salientis in vitam eternam. If thou knewest the gift of God. First, he setteth down the original of all our ill; which is, our not knowing, or our want of knowledge: Ignorance a main cause of all our evil. According to that of Pope Clement, in an Epistle of his to the Council of Toledo. And it is a most assured truth, That the first step to i'll, is the ignorance of good. Solomon saith, Without knowledge the mind is not good. Prou. 19 He calls it the knowledge of the soul, which is the only thing that importeth us for Heaven: As for the knowledge of the World, and the wisdom thereof, it is but foolishness with God. Secondly, he doth not say, If thou didst but know who it is that talketh with thee, thou wouldst have given him water without ask thee for it, All that Man can give unto God, is to praise him for what he receiveth from him & wouldst have offered him to drink, of thine own accord: though comparing Man with God, Man cannot be said to bestow any thing on God by way of gift or donation; all that good correspondency which can be held on man's part, is to show himself thankful for the favours which he receiveth from God's hand. If God shall give me wealth, he doth it to the end that I should serve him; if he give me honour, he doth it to the end that I should maintain his cause, & c Anna, samuel's mother said, O Lord, if thou wilt look on the trouble of thy handmaid, 1 Sam. 1. and remember and not forget thine handmaid, but give unto thine handmaid a man child, then will I give him unto the Lord all the days of his life. Nor doth this earth's poverty owe aught more for those favours which we have from Heaven. This made Saint Augustine to say, Da quod iubes, & iube quod vis. And the truth of this is grounded upon that which is delivered in the last Chapter of the first of the Chronicles, when as David and the Princes of the people made a plentiful rich Offering of three thousand talents of gold, seven thousand of silver, and as many of other metals, 1. Chron. 29. etc. This holy King said, Who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own hand we have given thee. None can offer unto God, save what they have received from God; Quis prior reddit illi, & retribuitur ei? Thirdly, Christ did lay a double bait before this woman. Two baits at which women usually bite. The one, Curiosity of knowledge. The other, Desire of receiving. Two things wherewith that sex of theirs is soon taken: and as the holy-Ghost hath said, That in another third thing woman's appetite is insatiable; so likewise is it in these two: and for this cause they compare her to a Lamp, which goes still sucking in the oil with which it must continually be maintained. No doubt of Gods giving, if there be none in our ask. Fourthly, Gregory Nazianzen hath observed, That our Saviour Christ did put a doubt in the Samaritans desire, forsitan petisses, he put a doubt in her ask, but not in his giving. To show unto us, That albeit woman be covetous in receiving, yet God is more bountiful in giving. To receive, is proper unto Creatures that are in need and in want: all Creatures have their mouths still open, craving their fullness from God; and God he is always ready at hand to satisfy their hunger. Open thy mouth wide (saith the Psalmist) and I shall fill it. The soul desireth but one only thing, which is thyself, o God, this will suffice her: Nam unum est necessarium, for one thing is necessary. But the Flesh through its many longings, desireth many things; yet let it desire never so many, it shall be sooner wearied with ask, than God with giving, if it be for its good. Abraham did entreat for Sodom till he waxed weary of his suit; and had he been earnest therein, and not have given it over, it may be God would have spared that City. What shall I return to the Lord for all that he hath rendered unto me; I will take the Cup of salvation, and will call upon the name of the Lord. Man is disengaged by paying, and is impawned by receiving: but God holds himself fully satisfied for those former favours he hath done thee, to the end that thou mayst crave new courtesies from him; he looks not to have old scores paid, and desires nothing of thee but a thankful acknowledgement. And this is the reason why Christ became a suitor to this woman for a little water; he was willing to beg of her a draught of dead water, that she might beg of him a cup of living water: dealing with her as a father doth with his pretty little son, begging an apple of his child, that he may thereby take occasion to throw upon him a thousand favours. Phi●●p. 4. The Philippians made much of the Apostle, who thanking them for this their kindness, saith, I rejoice in your care for me; I speak not because of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate to my affliction; not that I desire a gift, but I desire the fruit that may further your reckoning. The rendering of thanks for one courtesy, is a requiring of another; but I do not thank you to this end, but that ye may reap the fruits of your charity extended toward me. But some one will say, If God be so free handed, and so bountiful in giving, knowing our necessities, why doth he drive us to beg these his favours? Saint Augustine answers it thus, That God will have us to exercise ourselves in the petitioning of our desires; Vt possimus capere quae praeparat dare, That we may be made capable of those kindnesses which God is willing to confer upon us. Thomas he puts the question thus; Either God will give me this or that, or he will not give it me: For his will is immutable; and begging, be it in what kind so ever, seemeth to be Quiddam accessorium. But his answer is, That begging is the means which God hath appointed and preordained, through which you may receive that blessing which God before all ages was determined to give unto you. So that Prayer, is that rope or cord by which we draw up water from that deep Well of Gods ever flowing bounty. Lastly, another doubt is put, whether she were willing to beg this living Water or no, at Christ's hands? For the sinner will every foot be craving of the goods for the body, but for those of the soul he often stands upon a Forsitan, being careless whether he have them or no. It is our daily petition, that God would give us the daily bread of this life, but take not so much care for that of the other. The sons of Reuben, & of G●d in passing over jordan, saw certain fields that were very fertile and fruitful, and those pastures seeming good unto them for their flocks, besought Moses and the Princes of the people that they might have the possession of them; losing 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 forgo the desire of those that are heavenly and divine. If thou knewest the gift of God. When the rich denies the poor a cup of cold water, a morsel of bread, an old shirt, or the like, a man may say unto him, Si scires donum Dei, If thou didst but know what thou deniest, and to whom thou deniest; Now thou dost not know so much, neither dost thou think so much, but the time will come when God shall say unto thee, Thou sawest me hungry, and gavest me not to eat; To such as were weary thou hast not given water to drink; job. 22. & hast withdrawn bread from the hungry. A Cavallero comes into the Church, kneeling upon one knee, like a fouler when he makes a shoot at a fowl, casting his eye on every side of the Church, rolling them this way and that way; O! if thou didst but know whom thou adorest, or if thou couldst but see the reverence wherewith the Angels stand in God's presence! The Merchant, he will swear and forswear for his commodity; The Soldier, he will turn Turk upon point either of profit, or of honour; The Gamester upon every bad cast, or every little hard carding, will curse and blaspheme; O! if thou didst but know whose name thou takest in vain in that foul mouth of thine, or that thou wouldst but consider whom thou blasphemest, etc. Lord, thou hast not wherewith to draw, and the Well is deep. There is not any History that can more endear the great reckoning that God makes of a soul, than to see how our Saviour Christ doth here suffer, and endure the ignorances of this vile foolish woman. Do but weigh & consider the Majesty which God doth enjoy in Heaven, not as he is in himself, for Man's imagination is but a thimble-ful in comparison of the incomprehensibleness thereof: but as the Scripture paints him forth unto us. Daniel reckons up his pages by thousands, his servants by hundreds of thousands, the Heaven of Heavens (saith Solomon) are strait and narrow Palaces for his dwelling, Excelsior Coelo est; 3. Reg. 8. The wheels of his Caroche are the wings of the Cherubins. After that job had spent many Chapters in expressing his power, and relating his famous Acts, 2. Chron. 2. he addeth Omnia haec ex parte dicta sint viarum eius. We hear little, and we know less; But if God should thunder out his greatness, who were able to abide it? Quis poterit sustinere? But that this God, only Good, only Holy, only Mighty, only Merciful, and only Infinite, should entertain talk so long with a poor silly woman, being so lewd a creature, and of so evil a life, shows what a wonderful great love he beareth to a distressed soul. Thou hast not wherewith to draw, and the well is deep. Let us suppose that the waters, in sacred Scripture (as before hath been said) did signify troubles; And let us likewise here deliver unto you, that they also signify pastimes and delights: And not only humane but divine, so far as to become the Symbolum and sign of happiness. That they signify humane happiness, we may ground it upon this reason, that they are inconstant, fugitive, transitory, and slide away as water, Omnes morimur, & quasi aqua dilabimur, said the woman of Tekoah to King David. We must needs dye, and we are as water spilt on the ground. And this Truth may be verified as well in men's persons, jer. 2.13. as their goods. They have forsaken me▪ the fountain of living waters, to dig them pits, even broken pits that can hold no water. Qui bibit, etc. (saith job) Which drinketh iniquity like water. Quasi aquam super aquam refectionis educavit me, job. 15.16. etc. (saith the Psalmist) He maketh me to rest in green pastures, Psal. 23.2. and leadeth me by the still waters. They are likewise the symbol or sign of happiness. First, Because Water is the Mother of fullness and abundance. For that land that is without Water, voyceth out famine and hunger; Sicut terra sine aqua tibi. Secondly, Because nothing else can satisfy & quench our thirst, when we are taken with the Calenture of Gold, of jewels, and Pretious-stones; and then will the soul cry out for Water. Thirdly, Because nothing in comparison of Water can suit so well with a thirsty appetite. This truth being supposed, the Samaritan woman uttered one most certain and approved Experience; And one most gross and foul Ignorance. Worldly contents not attained without much toil. The Experience is this, That the Water of humane content, must be drawn out of so deep a Well, and with that strength of the arm, that not any thing can cost us more dear in this life. Dalila placed her content in knowing where Sampsons' strength lay; and the Scripture saith, that she did sweat and toil, and take no rest, jud. 16. till she could come to the bottom of this Well. Ad mortem usque lassata est. It was death unto her, till she had obtained her desire. Saint Ambrose compareth humane pleasures and delights to the Serpent, who all his life time goes trailing his belly upon the earth, and eateth and licketh up the dust thereof. Boaetius compares them to the honey in your Bee-hyves, which although it be sweet, yet it leaves a painful sting sticking in us. Seneca doth celebrate that saying of Virgil, who calls them Mala mentis gaudia. The water that came up to Tantalus his chin and glided away by him, signifieth as much. And to take such a deal of pains in the pursuit of these transitory pleasures and delights, as it betrays our Ignorance; so it makes us to think that the sweet taste of this living water, is tied to the rope and bucket. Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never be more athirst. Our Saviour here sets down the advantages, which the living water hath of the dead; The chiefest whereof is, That he that shall drink of the water of this Well, shall soon 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 final peace. Saint Austen understands this difference touching the thirst of the body; but divers other Doctors, of the the thirst of the soul. But the Plainest and the surest is, that it embraceth both, and to clear this opinion, Let us first of all suppose, that (laying aside the thirst of the body) all do generally suffer the same in the soul. And he that from the clouds should behold this vale of the world, shall perceive it to be like a desert, full of filthy standing pools of stinking water, and that all men go thirsting after the same. And Saint Austen saith, Ipsum desiderium sitis est anim●. For, as a man cannot live without the desire of the soul, so can he not live without thirst. Inquietum est cor nostrum, donec ●eniamus ad te. This our saturity and fullness is reserved till we come unto God, who is our Centre. Satiabor, cum apparaverit gloria tua, I shall be satisfied, when thy glory shall appear. In the interim, we must of force live tormented with hunger, and thirst. Secondly, We are to suppose that this living Water, whether it be the Holy Ghost, be it Grace, or the Word of God, or Baptism, doth not in this life quench either that thirst of the body, or that of the soul. Touching that of the body, we know that many Saints of God, ravished with some deep contemplation, have forgotten all hunger and thirst, without any torment or trouble, even to the abhorring of meat. Nor is it much that the holy Ghost should work this effect in man, seeing that the vehement passions of sorrow and of joy, though in a different manner do daily cause the like. For this our not eating nor drinking occasioned by passion, doth debilitate our forces, and weakens our strength; but being assisted by the help of the holy Spirit, it doth not only conserve, but renew our strength, and put as it were new mettle into us; as was to be seen in Elias, who with that water and bread which the Angel gave him, went up to Mount Horeb, & there fasted 40 days. And diverse weak men have (holpen by Grace) endured such hunger & thirst, as hath made the world to stand amazed at it. But the holy-Ghost doth not always work these effects, save only when it seemeth good unto him; nor at all times, nor towards all persons, no not to the very Saints themselves; for those that have been the greatest Fasters, have come in the end to suffer hunger and thirst. And if we shall treat of the thirst of the soul, it is a plain case, that this living water doth not quench it, but that the holy-Ghost doth to the Righteous add more thirst after the goods of heaven, and those celestial joys: According to that of Ecclesiasticus, Qui edunt me, adhuc esurient; so that till we come to see God, no man shall see himself void of thirst. Thirdly, The thirsting and hungering after these earthly goods and humane blessings, many seek to quench the same by filling themselves full, and not denying to their eyes (as Solomon saith) any thing whatsoever their heart desireth underneath the Sun. But their thirst grows still more and more, and their hunger increaseth, like him that hath eaten salt meats, or drunk brackish sea water. All that is in the world (saith Saint john) is either the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life. Imagine three Rivers to thyself; one of delights, 1. Io●n. 2.16. The Rivers of this world are three. a second, of riches, and a third of pride and vanity: this is all the good that the world affordeth, and he that shall drink of the water of any of these three Rivers shall still be more and more thirsty. And for this cause it is called Aqua concupiscentiae, the water of concupiscence; a lusting with desire: and as he that shall drink and swallow down these his desires, cannot choose but grow more and more thirsty; so he that shall drink of this water, shall desire to drink more: And (as Solomon saith) he shall follow the birds which fly in the air. The truth whereof is well proved by that rich man in the Gospel; who having food sufficient for many years, yet did toil and labour (as if he had been in great want) to fill his barns and his Granaries as full as he could cram them, making more and more store, as if he should never have provision enough, he thought all the rooms that he had were too little, I will pull down my Barns and make them bigger. Ob. And if any man shall ask me, If this rich man shall not be able as long as he lives, though the years of his life were never so many, to eat out that which he hath stored up, why he should take such a deal of cark and care for his diet and his drink? I answer, That for the feeding of his body much less might have sufficed him, Sol. a little thing would have served the turn; but it seemeth in the Story, that he sought to satisfy his soul, and that he invited his soul to feast itself, and to make merry, 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 variety of sports; Vt quia qualitate rerum non potest, saltem varietate satietur, That if the quality could not, yet the variety of them might some way give content: In a word, as well doth the Covetous as the Prodigal die of hunger. Solomon after that he had entered into such a full river of delights, and enjoyed such a plentiful harvest of all kind of worldly pleasures, having the World at will, comes forth with two Horseleeches of that insatiable appetite, that they still followed him, and never left crying, Affer, affer: And who could not find in his heart to curse that Creditor almost to the pit of Hell, who shall still bawl upon a man, & be as discontented being paid, as if he were unpaid. Others there are, which seek to satisfy this thirst with the goods of Heaven, taking only from the earth as much as is sufficient for them; like unto Gideons' soldiers, who passing along by the river side, took up water in the palms of their hands. God approving in the warfare of this life, that we should enjoy the goods of this life by snatches, and not to lie at rack and manger, Enjoying this world as they enjoyed it not: Whereas those that lay down upon their breast, and like dogs lay lapping up the water, were reproved by him. Now by this time the advantage appeareth clear unto us, which living water hath over that which is dead: he that shall drink of this water, whither it be this natural water, or the symbolical water of humane delights, he will quickly become thirsty again. For neither with the one water is the thirst of the body allayed, nor with the other of humane pleasures, that of the Soul: but he that shall drink of that living water that I shall give them, shall thirst no more, reserving its satisfaction and fullness to that other life. This sense the Cardinal of Toledo follows. Yet me thinks there is a plainer explication of this place, to wit, That he that shall drink of this dead water, be it natural, or symbolical, shall have thirst both here and there, in this, and in that other life: in this, because the more water he drinketh, the more he thirsteth: in that other, because Hell is a lake where there is no water. The covetous rich man could not there get so much as one poor drop of water; the thirst there is too raging and too hot to be quenched. So that this very word Iterum, Again, doth imply an eternity in their thirst; but he that shall drink of the living Water, shall not suffer an eternal thirst, because this his thirst shall be allayed in Heaven. Shall thirst no more. In part, it may be verified of the fullness of this life. First, Because albeit the holy-Ghost doth augment the thirst of those divine goods, giving the Righteous a taste thereof, as he did in Tabor to the three Disciples, when he gave them a relish of his glory; yet that thirst & desire which they had at first to enjoy that good, was not wearisome and troublesome unto them, but rather that one little drop, that one small crumb, seemed so savoury to Peter, that he could have rested well contented therewith for many Ages. So that those drops of water which are derived from the fountain of that celestial Paradise, howbeit they augment our desire, yet they give us withal such a pleasing taste, that Christ calls those happy that enjoy them. And Ecclesiasticus saith, That they surpass in sweetness the honey and the honey comb; The remembrance of me is sweeter than honey, Eccle. 24.23. and mine Inheritance sweeter than the honey comb. They that eat me shall have the more hunger, and they that drink me shall thirst the more: And Saint Augustine saith, That as in Heaven there is fullness without fastidiousness; so on earth there is a desire & a hope, but no grievous torment. Whereof we have proof from many places of Scripture, which invite us to drink of these living Waters: As in Esay, All ye that thirst, etc. Thou sweatest and labourest, and all to no purpose, because thou betakest thyself to those false brackish waters; have recourse rather to those faithful Waters, which, as jeremy saith, make that good which is promised in Ecclesiasticus; Eccle. 5 23. Draw near unto me ye unlearned, and dwell in the house of Learning; Wherefore are ye slow, and what say you of these things, seeing your souls are very thirsty? Your souls perish for very thirst, and only the water of Wisdom is able to quench it. And this is the Argument of the eight chapter of Wisdom, which is very excellent to this purpose. Secondly, He that tasteth the well of life will no more relish the bucket of Samaria Because this living Water doth in the Righteous quench the thirst of humane delights: and this woman here had scarce heard the news of this Water, but she leaves her bucket and her rope behind her, as if she cared not now any more for earthly water, or worldly pleasures. Melior● sunt ubera t●a vino; [Another letter hath it Amores tui] the wine of the Vine makes me sleep, but the sweetness that I taste from thee, and thy dear love (my Beloved) do in a manner ravish me, and quite alienate me from myself, and do assuage in my breast my disordinate appetites. One drop of the water of Heaven 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 ordinavit in me charitatem] He gave me to drink of the wine of this cellar, and my love was reform. Before I loved, but now I abhor that which I loved, and love that which I abhorred: Wine is usually a spur to sensuality, but my Beloved did not give me of this Wine, but of that which King Lemuel gave to those that were comfortless, and of a sorrowful heart. Noli Regibus dare vinum, etc. It is not fit for Kings to drink wine, nor for Princes strong drink, Prou. 31. lest he drink, and forget the Decree, and change the judgement of all the ch●lderen of aff●●ction: give ye strong drink to him that is ready to perish, and wine unto them that have grief of heart; let him drink, that he may forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. True it is, that in this life our thirst cannot be fully quenched, by reason of those manifold sins whereinto out of our weakness we cannot choose but fall, and that very often, while we bear these bodies of sin about us. Domine da mihi hanc aquam. Lord, Give me of this water. Our Saviour Christ had so endeared this water, Men usually cover, what is specially commended. that he set an edge upon this woman's desire, to enjoy it. The Serpent spoke so much of the forbidden Fruit, that Eve, contrary to God's command, did eat thereof. The Queen of Sheba heard so much good spoken of Salomon's wisdom, that she undertaken a wonderful great journey, that she might both see and hear him. Abigal did so highly recommend to David the nobleness of pardoning of an offence, that of a fierce Lion, she made him as gentle as a lamb: the woman of Tecoa told David so handsome a tale, that he pardoned his son Absalon. Some do seem to wonder, that the sin of dishonesty being so hateful a thing in God's sight, that permitting other sins in his Apostolical College, as Pride, Covetousness, and Treason, he did never wink at this kind of sin; and having anciently so severely punished them, that he should now with this woman deal so mildly and so gently. The drowning of the World was for wantonness, & such like dishonesties; the burning of Sodom, for unnatural uncleanness. The punishing of David by the untimely death of Bersabes son, & by visiting himself with sickness, was for his adultery with Vria●s wife. Ezechiell calls jerusalem a pot, and the Princes thereof flesh; because that City was much given to sensuality. And he saith, that he will put fire thereunto, until all the flesh be consumed, Ob. and that the pot be melted. How is it (o Lord) that thou we●t then so severe, So●. and art now become so mild? I answer, That it is wisdom in a Physician to apply different medicines; sometimes Lenitives, and sometimes Corasives. The sins of jerusalem were grown hard and brawny, (saith jeremy) Why criest thou for thine affliction? 〈◊〉 30. 1●. Thy sorrow is incurable; because thy 〈◊〉 were increased, I have done these things unto thee. All these balls of wild fire were no more than thy hardness of heart had need of. But those sins of this Samaritan, and those of this Adulteress, were sins of weakness, and these must be discreetly dealt withal by the soul's Physicians. There are some that we must preach nothing unto but thunder, death, hell, and damnation. Others, grace and mercy, and win them to amendment of life, by affectionating them to the delights of Heaven, Considering thyself, lest thou be also tempted: For if thou be sharp, Gal. 6.1. tart, and bitter against weak consciences, God may chance to suffer thee to fall into the like frailties. judge charitably of thy neighbour, and censure him by thyself; and seek rather to comfort, than cast down a soul, etc. Lord, give me of this water. How powerful a thing is private interest! This woman found excuses not to give, but none not to ask. The Ancients did paint forth Interest, in Mercury the god of Wisdom, with a bunch of keys in his hand; for the covetous man opens another man's breast, for to receive thence, and shuts his own, that he may not give: and for both these things he is very prudent and wise. The Pharisees had many reasons and places of Scripture, for to persuade themselves that john Baptist was not their Messias; to wit, for that he was of the Tribe of Levi, that he wrought no miracles, that he lived in the wilderness, and removed from the conversation of men, contrary to that prophecy of Baruc, Baruc. 3. 3●. Cum hominibus conversatus est, He dwelled among men. The only thing that did speak 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 prevail against all the rest, because it was in favour of their own particular interest. And it is a strange case, that the holiness of Saint john should be sufficient to make them to conceive that he was the Messias, but not sufficient to make them do that which he commanded them. Voca virum tuum, Call thy husband. Wife's ●ot to do any thing without the 〈◊〉 of their Husb●●d. Ma●ach. 2. Theophilact gathers this note from hence, That Christ's willing her to call her husband, was to advise us, that a wife is not to crave or receive any thing, no not so much as a pot of water, without the leave 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 separated. Malachi treating of a married wife, saith, Nun residuum spiri●●● eius est? Is she not the remainder of his breath? Whither the allusion be made to the formation of Adam (as Saint Chrysostome hath observed) for that with the same respiration wherewith God had created the soul in Adam, he likewise created that of Eve; or whither it have relation to the husband, for that the self same spirit which gives life unto him, is to give the same likewise to his wife. Saint Augustine in a mystical kind of meaning understands by the man, the understanding; but the plainer & truer meaning is, That our Saviour in willing her to call her husband, would thereby give her occasion to confess her fault, & not to dismerit the mercy that was offered unto her: for, to draw from a woman's breast such immodest and dishonest weaknesses, will require a great deal of dexterity and cunning. The servant that ought ten thousand talents, presently confessed the debt, and the King forgave it him; Inconfessione debiti solutionem invenit, His confession was his solution, so saith Saint Chrysostome. But he was a man, and his fault less foul; but for an old woman to lie at rack and manger with her Lover in these her elder years, will ask much labour, and no less skill, to bring her to confession. Obstetricante manu eius eductus est coluber tortuosus, To take the subtle winding Snake out of man's bosom, we had need of God's helping hand; that's the Midwife that must do it. For to sin (saith Saint Chrysostome) the Devil putteth great confidence into the breast of a sinner; but to confess the same, he infuseth far greater shame: so that dishonesty doth not only disjoin us from God, but removes us, like the Prodigal son, a great ways off from him, in regionem longinquam, into a far Country. God hath given us so noble and so gentlemanlike a nature, (saith Saint Hierome) that Sin doth make us melancholy and sad; but Virtue, cheerful & merry. And from hence (saith Saint Augustine) arise those remorcements of conscience, those inward stings of the soul, which like the flies of Egypt disquiet a Sinner. Our Saviour Christ therefore did here make mention of her husband, (Como mentado la soga, en casa deal a horcado: as if one should talk of a halter in the house of one that hath been hanged) to the end that her sin might trouble her conscience, work some remorse in her, and make her to confess the foulness thereof, to the intent that by this means she might come to taste of the living water. Thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now haste is not thy husband. women's incontinency. S. Chrysostom saith, That not any one of these was her husband; & some modern authors follow this his opinion. And this may be grounded upon that which Saint Hierome hath in an Epistle of his to Rusticus, Post sex viros invenit Dominum, After six husbands she found the Lord. Irenaeus saith, That all save the first were Adulterers. But these several senses suit not with this Text. Athanasius saith, That they had a Law in Samaria, that they might not marry above five times; and that the incontinency of this woman was so great, that having buried five husbands, she took a friend into her house: to whom Saint Hierome adding those five which had been her husbands truly and indeed; said, Post sex viros, After six husbands. And though these were not Adulterers, yet is it▪ sufficient proof, that Sensuality is a brackish kind of water, which causeth more thirst▪ and, for that Woman is an impatient creature, and much subject to long after this & that other thing, Ecclesiasticus styles her Multi●●la. If she be thirsty, and one cannot satisfy the same, she will solicit six, nay sixty to allay this her thirst. And therefore Saint Hiero●e equals vidual continency with virginity, in regard of those her forepast pleasures: for like the Phoenix she revives again, by kindling the fire with the wings of her own proper thoughts; and therefore in that respect prefers chaste widowhood before Virginity. For in every kind of vice one sin calls upon another; but it is most seen in these two, to wit, sensuality, and heresy: And this peradventure is the reason, why the Scripture commonly calleth Idolatry, Fornication. Saint Ambrose treating of 〈…〉 in law's burning fits of her Fever, saith, For●asse in typ● mulier● illiu●, 〈…〉 languebat varijs criminum febribus, Peradventure in the figure of that 〈…〉 flesh languisheth under the Fea●ers of diverse crimes. It may likewise be 〈…〉 it was a stamp of this old woman, who was all this while in a hot burning ●e●uer. When Abimelecke fell in love with Saraah, some make her to be 〈◊〉 years of age; when Paris stole away Helena, she was fifty years of age and upwards; In that Sea voyage of the Argonauts, wherein went ●as●or and 〈◊〉 her brethren, she was about some twenty years of age; and from that time to the destruction of Troy, Theodoret puts thirty years, and Eusebius ninety. So that according to one account she must be fifty, and according to the other, ●n h●●dred and ten: and yet notwithstanding all this, she was married afterwards to Deiphoebus, Theseus having stolen her away the second time. Isiodore saith, That aged dishonesty is the sweetest and the hardest to be left off. But because many times the tiring of ourselves out with sin, makes us to grow weary thereof, and at length to loathe it, and utterly leave it off; God is wont to deal with Sinners as Fishers do with their Fish, who give them li●e enough till the poor fools have played themselves weary, and then will easily land them where they list. — Et quae non puduit far, tulisse pudet, saith Ouid. I was not then ashamed when I did the sin, but I had no sooner done it but I was ashamed. They have painted the god of Love with Torches and with Wings, to show, That there is a time wherein these pleasing delights do flame outright in us; and a time again wherein they betake them to their wings, and fly away from us, and are never seen again. David, as it were by way of hyperbole, said of a Sinner, Astitit omni viae non bonae, malitiam autem non odivit; It is an ordinary thing with most men to loath sin at last, and to fall into a dislike thereof: So did Solomon, Sin at one time or other grows loathsome through sa●●etie. who after so plentiful a harvest, such a fullness of pleasures as he had, yet cried out at last, Vanitas vanitatum, & omnia vanitas. 〈◊〉 likewise saith in another place, Non est timor Dei ante oculos eius; he paints forth a sinner that hath cast behind his back the fear of God, and the shame of the world, and hath so wholly delivered himself up to all manner of delights, that he comes at last to abhor his own wickedness. Moses Varceras in his Book which he made of Paradise, saith, That when Eve had eaten of the forbidden Fruit, it seemed then as loathsome and unsavoury unto her, as before she tasted it, it appeared sweet and pleasant to the palate. Saint Augustine reporteth in his Confessions, That the Divine providence did defer his Conversion many days, as if it had been necessary for the clearing of his error, that he should lie a little longer in the mire of his sins, Quasi necesse esset adhuc S●rdi●●●e. And the reason of this truth is, Worldly pleasures whereunto compared. That worldly pleasures have a fair show and a sweet appearance; but if a man be drowned in them, and come once to the lees, there is not any Rododaphne more bitter: they shine & give a light at the first like lightning, but anon after they leave us in a more than Egyptian darkness. This ●ence may be given to that place of Micah, where treating of his people, he saith, Ad Babylonem venies, & ibi saluaberis, Thou shalt come unto Babylon, and there thou 〈◊〉 be saved. And to that which Solomon hath, Impius, cum ad profundum peccat●●●● veniet, contemnet, The Wicked when he comes to the depth of Sin, he shall contemn it. The Disciples did wonder to see him talk all alone with a woman; Though none of them did ask him what he made with her. And had he not been as well God as man, they might have had some ground for it. For conversation with women (according to Saint Basil) is that leaven which soureth the soul; be a man never so holy, never so good, Tamen in ipso congress, etc. In the very meeting yet, the diversity and sex is soon discovered: And therefore he saith, That that man is happy which hath least to do with them, but most happy that doth never see them. S. Cyprian saith, That for a man to be environed on every side with flames of fire, and not be burned; Nazianzen, That Flax should be near the fire, and not take flame; that a young man should be in familiar conversation with a young handsome maid, and not be tempted with an evil thought, is a miracle. Theophilact delivers unto us, That after that miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, the Apostles remained in the company of certain devout women which had followed our Saviour Christ into the Desert, and were endearing unto them the greatness of God's power; and that to divert them from their conversation, Coegit illos, he enforced them to embark, and to put forth to sea; and a fearful tempest followed thereupon: in token, that amongst those rough billows, furious waves, and tempestuous winds, they did run less danger, than in the conversation of those good and holy women. One of the names (amongst many other) which the Philosophers and diverse other godly men have given unto women, was, Tumulus Vivorum, The Grave or Sepulchre of the Living. And as upon your Tombs and Sepulchers there are Epitaphs written, which speak thus, Hic jacet, etc. Here lies such a one; so upon this living Sepulture, innumerable Epitaphs may be put: Here lies the Prophecy of David; here lies the Wisdom of Solomon; here lies the strength of Samson; Here, the valour of Hercules: for woman is that shelf or quicksand, wherein the valiantest, the wisest, and strongest men in the world, have hazarded both their lives and reputation. THE XXIIII. SERMON, UPON THE SATURDAY AFTER THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. JOHN 8. Perrexit Iesus in Montem Oliveti. He went into the Mount of Olives, etc. Our Saviour Christ the evening before, had preached in the Temple till that the drawing on of the night enforced him to make an end of his Sermon. Every one of his Auditors hied them home to their own houses to ease and rest themselves; but our Saviour Christ, who had never a house of his own to put his head in, nor was invited to any of theirs, betook himself to the Mount of Olives, as at other times he was wont to do; which stood in that distance from Jerusalem, that it was but a walk, as it were, or easy Sabbath days journey: in the midst whereof was that little Brook beset with Cedars, bending towards Bethania, where Martha and Marie dwelled. here our Saviour Christ spent that night in prayer, but early in the morning came again into the Temple, and all the People flocking about him to hear him, this History happened of the woman that was taken in adultery; whereof we are now to treat. What is typified by the Mount of Olives. He went into the Mount of Olives, etc. Saint Augustine in a Sermon De Verbis Domini, (taken out of that Tract which he made upon john) calls the Mount of Olives, Montem chrismatis & unguenti: And Bede addeth, That the top of this Mount doth typify the height of our Saviour Christ's pity and mercy. And the Evangelist here adviseth us, That he came from the Mount of Olives to the Temple, where this Story succeeded; because a work of so great mercy and clemency, could not conveniently come from any other place. Moses descended down from Mount Sinai, but with so rigorous a Law, that he broke the Tables in pieces, that all the People might not thereby endanger their damnation. Sinai is a Bush, and from Bushes what can be expected but bruises and brushing, and all sharpness of rigour? But from the Mount of Olives, nothing could come thence but Oil, which is that common Hieroglyph of mercy and compassion. First, For its softness and sweetness; and therefore did the Divine providence so order the business, that Priests and Kings should be anointed therewith, signifying thereby, how loving, mild, and gentle they ought to be. Secondly, Because it strengtheneth and enableth those members which are weak and feeble. Deus ol●um permisit (saith Clemens Alexandrinus) ad levandos labores. Your Wrestlers did use to anoint themselves with Oil, not only that they might slip the easier out of their Adversary's hands, but also because it made their joints and their limbs more strong and nimble. Thirdly, For that it is a sovereign salve for all kind of wounds; for there is not any thing that doth so comfort, so supple, so assuage and disperse any malignant humour, and cure any festered sore, sooner than your precious Oils. The Samaritan cured with Oil the wounds of that Traveller whom he found wounded on the way to jerico. Esay complaineth, Luk. 10. That no man would suck and draw forth the blood from the wounds of his People, Esay 1.6. nor anoint them with Oil; Vulnus & plaga tumens non est circumligata, nec sota oleo. Fourthly, For its stillness, softness of nature, and little noise that it maketh; beat it or batter it never so much, pour it out never so violently, it makes no noise, but shows itself still and quiet; whence grew that adage mentioned by Plautus and Plato, Oleo tranquillior, Moore still than Oil. Fiftly, For the virtue that is in it for allaying of storms at Sea, and repressing of the rage of the billows, for (as Pliny and Celius affirm) Oleo mare tranquillatur, With Oil the sea is calmed. Sixtly, Because there is not any liquor that doth more spread and diffuse itself; Oleum effusum nomen tuum, Thy Name is as an ointment poured out, said the Spouse to her Beloved: Cant. 1. And the Saints declare the same of the person of our Saviour Christ. Seventhly and lastly, Because amidst all other liquors it is still upppermost▪ and is always swimming aloft, and evermore keeping itself above the rest; all which are proprieties of pity and compassion, of mercy and loving kindness, which is soft, supple, and sweet this is that which giveth ease to our troubles, and remedy to our pains; this is that which refresheth and strengtheneth our weak and feeble Members; this is that which cures our wounds and assuages the swelling of them; this is that which suffers and saith nothing, though never so hardly used; this is that which composeth differences, turbulent strifes, & the raging enmities of this World's sea; and this is that which is a general salve for all sores, a friend at need, and the greatest representation of God's glory: for he is not seen in any attribute that he hath, so much as in this, Misericordia eius super omnia opera eius, His mercy is above all his works. And to this purpose Pieri●s reporteth▪ That it was concluded by a joint consent, that the Images of the gods, should be wrought of no other kind of wood save that of the Olive. He went unto the Mount of Olives, and came again into the Temple, etc. Our Saviour's ordinary Stations and employments. These were our Saviour's stations, from the Mount to the Temple, and from the Temple to the Mount; in the Mount he prayed, in the Temple he preached. These are those two employments of Martha & Marie, figured in Lea & Rachael▪ herein is summed up the perfection of Christian religion. Where it is to be noted, that Marie was still ravished as it were, with the love of our Saviour, and the sweetness of his words; and Martha with the care to do him service. Rachael was very fair, but barren; Leah foul & tendereyed, but fruitful. The contemplative life is wonderful beautiful, but not fruitful; Action is to be preferred before contemplation. the active life is foul and bleere-eyed (nor is it any wonder, having its hands continually busied about wounds and fores) but is fruitful in children and he that enjoys the beauty of Rachael, and the fruitfulness of Leah, the contemplation of Marie, and the practice of Martha, hath attained to the height of Virtue and Holiness. Ecclesiasticus commendeth the son of Onias for these two qualities, As a fair Olive tree that is fruitful, and as a Cypress tree which groweth up to the Clouds. The Olive is the emblem of fertileness, for its fruit and its multitude of branches, and sprigs sprouting forth of it, sicut novellae Olivarum. The Cypress is the Symbol of beauty; for although it beareth no fruit, yet it shoots up like a Pyramid, to an extraordinary height: and both of them make the stamp of a holy Prelate, whose mercy and compassion is most fruitful, and whose prayer is most beautiful and pleasing: for there is not any thing that man can imagine to be more fair, than that a creature by this means should come to grow so sweetly familiar with his Creator. Ob. And all the People came unto him, and he taught them. Some man may doubt, How the effects of God's Word being so powerful and so full of life, [Viws est Sermo Dei, & efficax poenetrabilior omni gladio] and this People showing themselves so devout in hearing him; it should come to pass, that our Saviour coming so early into the Temple, and tarrying there all day long, to teach and instruct them in the truth, they fell into so many sins as they did, and in the end into the greatest that ever was heard of? Sol. But that may be answered of those the Faithful that were then, which Saint Bernard speaketh of those that are now, That many profess themselves to be Christians, and apply themselves to all those obligations that are befitting Christians, and perform all other Christian actions, and come (out of custom) to Sermons, to divine Service, to the celebration of the Sacrament, & adoration in the Temple. And this is no great matter for them to do, considering they are borne and bred amongst Christians; in far stricter duties is the Moor tied to his Mahomet, and to the Laws of his Koran; and in a far more rigorous manner is the Gentile bound to his false gods, for that they sacrificed their sons and daughters to Idols; Immolaverunt filios suos, & filias suas Daemonijs, For mine own part, I confess (saith this holy Saint) in all humility, That as the young Heifar being accustomed to eat and tread out the Corn, takes the yoke patiently; so do I come to these duties of a Christian, and of a religious man, Most Christians are led by custom more than by devotion. more out of custom, than devotion. Would to God that what this Saint said of himself in humility, might not too truly be said of many Christians amongst us, who submit themselves to the yoke of the Law, for the feeding of their belly, and out of long custom. Adducunt ei mulierem deprehensam in adulterio, & statuerunt eam in medio. They brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and set her in the midst, etc. This woman was peradventure drawn to commit this foul sin, out of the assurance that she had that this business would be closely carried, and out of that good love and affection which she bore to the Adulterer, and he to her; who happily had sworn unto her, That for her sake he would be content (if need were) to lay down a thousand lives. But this love did end in leaving her upon the Bull's homes, with danger both of her life and honour; and this secret came to light in the sight of all Jerusalem. There are four manifest truths in matter of secrecy. The first, Not to rely upon secrecy; because, Nihil opertum, quod non re●detur, There is nothing so closely carried, which is not at last brought to light: the rea●on is, because there is no sin, be it committed in never so secret a corner, which doth not come forth in the end, and utter its voice aloud in the gates of the city. So God said unto Cain, presuming that that fratricide of his, because it was done in secret, should have been buried for ever, and never have come to light, If thou do well, thou shalt be rewarded for it; if ill, sin lieth at the door. Gen 4. And when Cain made himself as if he had been ignorant what was become of his brother Abel; the Lord said unto him, The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the earth: And in Scripture it is an ordinary kind of language to say, That our sins do cry out for vengeance. When one of joshuahs' soldiers hid a wedge of gold, Nicholaas de Lyra noteth, Sin, if nothing, will be it own discoverer. job. 24.14. That the original word signifieth likewise a Tongue; for though it were hid and buried under ground, yet did it cry out. job painteth forth the wariness of an Adulterer, He waiteth for the twilight, and saith, No eye shall see me; and disguiseth his face; Like the Owl, he comes not abroad till it be dark night, he plucks his hat down in his eyes, he muffles his cloak about his face, he first looks on this side, and then on that, lest any one should chance to espy him: In a word, such lewd livers as these, like unto your wild beasts, keep themselves close, watching for the darkness of the night: Psalm. 104.20. In ipsa pertransibuut omnes bestiae agri, Thou makest darkness, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the Forest creep forth; and so it is with these beastly minded men. Solomon makes another kind of description thereof; A man breaketh Wedlock, and thinketh thus in his heart, Who seeth me? I am compassed about with darkness, Eccle. 23.18. the walls over me, no body seeth me, whom need I to fear? But the truth is, That Walls have eyes as well as ears; beside, the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the Sun, beholding all the ways of men, the ground of the deep, and the most secret parts. And this man that thinks himself so close and so cunning that no eye can find him out, shall be punished in the streets of the City, and shall be chased like a young horse-Foale, and when he thinketh not upon it, he shall be taken: thus shall he be put to shame of every man, because he would not understand the fear of the Lord. Saint Augustine saith, That none seek to carry these kind of businesses more secretly and more cunningly, than your married woman, that hath a care of her reputation and honour; but she also, for all her sly carriage, shall be brought out into the Congregation, and examination shall be made of her children; her children shall not take root, and her branches shall bring forth no fruit; a shameful report shall she leave, and her reproach shall not be put out. Solomon after he had made mention of four things that left no sign behind them, nor were to be traced out, or followed by the tract; to wit, The way of an Eagle flying through the air; of a Serpent gliding through the Rock; of a ship sailing through the sea; & of the ways of a young man in his youth; he further addeth, Talis est via mulieris adulterae, The way of an Adulteress may very well be likened unto these, for that great artifice and cunning wherewith she dissembleth this her treachery, as being only privy to this her foul play, and wiping her lips, she sits down full gorged at her husband's board, and tells him that she will fast, contenting herself with bread and water; to the end that by this her fasting and leading a godly life, she may gain a good report, and be free from the razors of malicious tongues: but in the end, (as before we have said) Nihil occultum quod non reveletur, Nothing so secret which shall not be revealed. For Sin evermore leaves a print behind it, like those footsteps of Baal's Priests; those steps of our forefather Adam; that core of the cut Apple that choked all Mankind; and those crumbs and relics of their feastings, who said, Nulium sit pratum quod non pertranseat l●xuria nostra, Let there be no meadows in which our riot may not revel. The Devil, who assures us most of secrecy, takes off this cloak which he casteth over us, and discloseth these our secret sins, when he hath a mind to open our shame. David being a wise and discreet King, took extraordinary care for the concealing of his adultery; Forsitan tenebrae conculcabunt me, tu fecisti abscondite: he carried the business so closely, that he thought it should not be discovered; but by those Letters that he wrote unto the General of his Army, That he should put Urias in the forefront of the battle, and where the greatest danger of death was; joab smelled out David's drift, and showed the King's Letter to some of his Captains; who did blaspheme God, for that he had set a King over them, who for to satisfy his lust, set so little by the life of so brave and valiant a Soldier, and so serviceable as Urias was, and so well deserving of his Majesty. Sin cannot be concealed from God. The second, That though a sin be kept secret from the eyes of men, yet is it not possible that it should be hid from the all-seeing eye of God. The Sun hath not so clear an eyesight as God hath; The Sun pierceth into the bowels of the earth, it discovereth the bottom of the Deep: in the one he hath certain Shops or Worke-houses, wherein gold, silver, and precious stones are wrought; in the other, Pearl, and diverse other rich commodities, as Coral, Amber, and the like. But although the Sun reacheth to the utmost corners of the earth, and the most hidden secret places of this Universe, by his virtue and heat; yet are there many which he cannot come near unto with his light and splendour: but from the eyes of God there is not that vein or least cranny in the earth, nor that shell, though never so small in the sea, that can hide itself; Sicut tenebra eius, ita & lumen eius, As the darkness is his, so is the light also. In that beginning when God created the World, he divided the night from the day, and the light from darkness: but this was done for humane eyes; but to those diviner eyes there is no night at all, and innumerable are those places of Scripture which prove the truth hereof unto us. The third, That God many times affords us a greater favour in publishing a secret sin, than in letting it lie hid and reserved against the day of Wrath, for our eternal and public confusion. Sin while it is hid, more dangerous to the Soul, than when it is discovered. The Schoolmen make a question, Which is the more grievous, the public or the secret sin? and it is a plain case, that the public carries with it more grievous circumstances of scandal, harm, and infection; and therefore David styles it a Plague or Pestilence: but the secret sin is always more dangerous, because it is in some sort incurable; there is no neighbour to admonish thee of it, no witness to denunciate against thee, nor no judge to punish thee for it, nor no Prelate to reprehend thee therefore; for sin once reprehended in persons that have any shame in them in the world, turns to amendment. Saint Augustine reports in his Confessions, That his mother had two Maid servants, one a well grown wench, the other a little girl; and that when they went for Wine to the Tavern, the bigger would drink a good hearty draught, the lesser did but sip a little; but by sip after sip she grew by degrees to be a good proficient: and falling out one day before their mistress, the bigger complained of the lesser, That she did drink up the Wine; whereof she was so ashamed, that she would never after so much as offer to take it. Public sins, all labour to amend: When a house is on fire, there is not that Tyler or Carpenter, or any near dweller, but will hast in and help all they can to quench it. Secret sins are like a smoky fire, which lies smothering & not flaming forth, wastes and consumes inwardly: and this is the cause that it is conserved and continued like a secret Impostume, which occasioneth our death because it cannot be cured. Iosh 7. Upon achan's sin they did cast lots by Tribes, by households, and by particular persons; and when the Delinquent was discovered, Ios●●ah said, Give thanks unto God, that thy sin is brought to light and made known to the world, and that thou shalt smart for it in this life; for had it been kept secret, thy punishment had been immortal. David's Adultery being brought forth upon the open stage, [In consp●●tu Solis huius] and nathan's reprooving him for it, was the future occasion of all his good. It could not choose, to this adulterous woman that was thus taken in the manner [Con el hurto en las manos, with the theft, as they say, in her hand,] but be a wonderful grief & vexation, that she should be carried publicly through the streets, all the boys of the City hooting at her, men and women pointing at her with the finger, and crying shame upon her, and that at last she must be brought into the Temple, and there be set in the midst of that reverend Auditory and Assembly, as a spectacle of shame and infamy. But the opening of this her wound, was the curing of it; this which she thought was her ruin, was her remedy; & this her marring was her making. The World held her to be a most unhappy woman; for there being so many Adulteresses in the City, Whorings had overspread the land, and blood had touched blood; that this flash of lightning should light upon her alone, Hose. 4. and that this sudden thunderclap should not only voice her dishonour, but her death. Whereas the Adulterer was by all adjudged to be a happy and a fortunate man, that by good hap he had escaped out of the hands of justice, either by flight, or greasing the Officers in the fist. Others sticked not to say, Siempre quiebra la soga, por lomas del gado; the weakest still goes to the wall: howsoever, the more certain truth is, That she was happy, and the Adulterer unfortunate. The fourth, That every sin is to be made public either in this present life, or in the life to come; and this saith the aforesaid Letter, Nihil opertum quod non reveletur; and not only public notice to be taken thereof, but to be accompanied also with shame and confusion. And this the Scripture proveth unto us in many places; and for the amending of these two mischiefs there is no means so powerful, as to have recourse to repentance; from whence proceed these two effects: The one, That it covers our sins, Blessed are they whose sins are forgiven, and whose iniquities are covered. The other, That it doth blot them out of God's remembrance, according to that of Ezechiel, At what hour soever a Sinner shall repent him, I will no longer be mindful of his sin. Haec mulier modo deprehensa est in adulterio. This woman was taken in adultery in the very act, etc. Man's disrespect is oft an occasion of the woman's fall. All these words carry w●th them a kind of emphasis which endear the aggravation of the Accusation, Haec mulier: For howbeit the sin of adultery may be greater perhaps in the husband, by giving by his little respect and his bad example, occasion to his wife to play the Whore. [For as Thomas saith, He that treateth with another man's wife, se & suam discrimini exponi●, exposeth himself and his own wife to a great deal of hazard▪ because he soweth bitterness in the marriage bed, contrary to that rule of Saint Paul, Husbands love your wives, and be not bitter unto them. For which cause they took out the gall from that beast which was sacrificed by married men unto juno, for that the Head (which is the man) ought to be obliged to more continency, to more virtue, to more wisdom, & more fortitude, as Saint Augustine tells us] yet notwithstanding, this fault is held fouler in the woman. Eccle●iasticu● treating of an Adulteress, saith, ●he getteth shame to herself, and her reproach shall never be blotted out. I know not whence it comes to pass, that the remembrance thereof is so soon blotted out in man, and that it should stick by a woman all the days of her life. Adultery how punished in former times. She was taken now. Now, even in the nick: it is not a sin of any ancient standing, it cannot plead prescription, that it was so many years since, or time as they say out of mind: for time doth either cover or lessen the offence; or it may be pleaded, that it was formerly punished. But this is not a quarter of an hour old, now, even now did we take her in the manner, In adulterio, in the very act of adultery. And here notifying the same unto our Saviour Christ, they fall a aggravating the heinousness of the offence; and this is proved unto us by four forcible arguments. The first, That there were punishments ordained against Adulterers by all Nations whatsoever. Some did burn them alive, if we may believe Lucian; so the Philistines burned Sampsons' Spouse; and so judah gave order to have his daughter in law T●mar burned. Some again did use to quarter them; and Euclides makes mention of a King that executed this law upon his own son. Others plucked out their eyes, as Valerius reporteth it. And others did whip them and cut off their noses, as Siculus stories it of the Egyptians. Others (saith Caelius) did hang them. Others did stone them to death, and that was Moses his Law. Others did tie them to two trees, which being bowed down by violence, letting them suddenly go, did with a jerk rend one limb from another, etc. Hence may be argued God's chastisement; Per me Legum conditores iusta decernunt. Prou. 6. Solomon saith, That as it is not possible that a man should carry fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burnt, or go upon coals, and his feet not be burnt; no more is it possible, that a man should lie with another man's wife, and that the justice of God should not take hold of him. And therefore it is said, Non erit mundus cum tetigerit ●am, He that goeth in to his Neighbour's wife shall not be innocent, whosoever toucheth her: The Hebrew letter hath it, Innocent, indemnis: The Septuagint render it, Insons, impunitus. So that for other our sins, it may be God will let us escape unpunished; but in matter of adultery, let no man expect the like favour. And therefore he commanded, That in the Sacrifice of the Adulteress they should have no Oil; to signify, that it was a fault that deserved little or no mercy. The foulness of this sin, and how heinously the Saints have thought of it. The second Argument of aggravation is, that many of the Saints have given to Adultery the name of the greatest and foulest offence. Philon saith of it, Ad●●terium malificiorum maximum, Of all wickedness Adultery is the worst. Cornelius Tacitus affirmeth the like in his Annals. Pope Clement reporteth, That Saint Peter was often wont to say, Quid in omnibus peccatis Adulterio gravius? That amongst all the sins there was not any more heinous than Adultery. job by way of hyperbole breatheth out this, job. 31. If I have sought to betray my friend, and have laid wait at the door of my neighbour, let my wife grind unto another man, and let other men bow down upon her. In the Book of judges it is called Magnum nefa●, ●●●quam tantum piaculum factum est in Israel, jud. 20.6. A villainy, the like was never committed in Israel. And a little before, Adultery is said to be Iniquitas maxima. And a great proof of this truth is, the comparing of it with other ●innes, and the heinousness wherewith they qualify it above the rest. The murdering of 〈◊〉 seemed a less sin to David than his adultery with Bersheba. And Saint Chrysostome proves this out of that act of Abraham's, who entreated Saraah to give out, that she was his sister; for if it should be known that she was his wife, making lighter of murder than adultery, they would not stick to kill him. Dan. 13. Susanna esteemed less of death, than the dishonour to herself and her house. Homer stories it of Ulysses, That when he was absent from his wife Penelope, he was solicited and earnestly laid at by Circe's the Sorceress, who promised to make him immortal: and howbeit he did verily believe that she was able to make good her word, yet did he less reckon of immortality, than of committing adultery. Solomon proves, That thieving is a less offence; for many men steal merely out of pure hunger, ut esurientem impleant animam, that their hungry souls may be satisfied. But the Adulterer hath no excuse at all; the Thief may make satisfaction, Reddet septuplum, He shall restore seven fold; the Law requires no more of him: but the Adulterer, with all that he hath, is not able to make satisfaction; all the wealth and lands that a man hath, cannot balance (be they never so heavy) the wrong that is done by an Adulterer. In a word, The sin of Adultery is without all question of all other sins the greatest. Summus saeculi reatus, Tertullian calls it. Saint Cyprian, Summum delictum. And yet the Scripture confounds these two, and styles Idolatry, Adultery: As in that of Hosea, Omnes adulterantur, quasi clibanus succensus, They ha●e all committed adultery, Osee 7. they have run a whoring after strange gods, and are all as hot as an oven. Saint Hierome understanding here upon this place, The Idolaters, etc. The third argument is, The harm which ensues upon this sin: Clemens Alexandrinus terms Adultery, Pestem maximam. job, a fire that sweeps all away, makes havoc and ruin both of root and tree, and every branch thereof, omnia eradicans germina, Rooting out all the Plants, even to the children and nephews. job. 3●. Such adulterated Plants (saith Wisdom) though they take deep rooting, and spread abroad their branches, yet shall they not enjoy any stability or firmness. The Roman Emperors made good proof hereof, for such as were given to Adulteries, never saw any succession of their own. The like did Herod, who rob his brother Abimileck of his wife: and so diverse others. Filij tui sicut n●●ellae Olivarum, which are never ingraffed into any other Tree. And the Church, though she be so cockering and indulgent a mother, doth disfavour them and reprove them. The fourth & last is, Nature's dislike thereof, Adultery disallowed even by Nature. which thinks herself extremely wronged and injured thereby; Which seemeth much to aggravate the quality of the offence. First, In the men; who perhaps though they do not come thereby to be infamous, yet they are not able with all that they have, to recompense this so foul an affront; so saith Solomon. Alexander writing to his mother Olympias, Prou. 6.35. styles himself the son of jupiter; but therein he exceedingly wronged his mother, in making her an Adulteress, though it were by the greatest Deity of Heaven. Secondly, In the beasts, in whom there is a resentment of ●his wrong. In which kind, Pliny, Aeli●●, and diverse other Historians tell strange tales. But above all, God holds himself therein greatly offended; especially this sin being committed by Christians. First, Because Matrimony is a Mystery, which represents the union of the marriage of God with his Church. And for this cause God calls them both but one flesh; They are 〈◊〉 more twain, but one flesh, let not man therefore put asunder that which God hath coupled together. Where if you note it, he speaks in the singular; for otherwise they would not conveniently represent so strict a union. Secondly, Because God is the author of marriage; God created man and woman, and being wedded each to other, he said, For this cause shall man lea●e father and mother, and cleave unto his wife. And for David his adultery, the Lord said unto him, 2. Reg. 2. The Sword shall never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised me, and taken the wife of Vriah the Hittite to be thy wife; it was not Vriah, but I th●● was despised. Where I would have thee to weigh well the word Me, who in the beginning of the world did authorize marriage; Me, who in the Law of Grace was personally present at my friend's marriage, and there unfolded the sails of my Omnipotency, working there and at that wedding my first miracle. S. Paul saith, If the husband be of the household of the Faithful, and the wife of the Unfaithful, non dimittat illam, let him not forsake her: but if she shall be unfaithful to her husband, 1. Cor. 7. he may lawfully then leave her. So that God seemeth to be more offended, that she should not keep her faith toher husband, than that she should not profess the Faith of Christ. But this they said to tempt him. They put on a show of zeal, and feigned a dissembled desire of knowledge, and to be satisfied concerning this point: but the truth was, that they went a fishing, to see if they could catch our Saviour in some answer that he should give them contrary to the Law, to the end that they might accuse him as a Transgressor. The Scribes they were jealous of their Law, the Pharisees of their Religion; the one sought to pick a hole in his coat upon some quirk and quiller of the Law; the other, for the wronging of their Religion: and therefore they said unto him, Seeing thou art a Master, to whom it belongeth to expound our Laws, and that thou takest upon thee at every bout to unfold Moses his meaning; Moses law commandeth, That such should be stoned; Levit. 20. Deut. 22. What sayst thou therefore? Euthimius saith, That they took our Saviour Christ to be so merciful a minded man, that they did well hope that he would wrest and wind the Law which way he listed, if not utterly overthrow it. And they did ground these their suspicions upon some Sermons of his which he had preached, wherein he had delivered to the People, That it was lawful to cure the Sick on the Sabbath day; which was a new kind of doctrine in their Law. Saint Gregory and Saint Ambrose do both affirm, That they did verily persuade themselves, That our Saviour Christ could not choose but ●e caught in the trap, and necessarily fall into an error, one while by pardoning contrary to the Law; another while by condemning, contrary to Grace. jesus autem inclinans se deorsum. But jesus stooped down, inclining his head towards the ground. Saint Chrysostome saith, That for the Pharisees it was a most severe act of justice; but for the Adultress, a most noble act of mercy. These Hypocri●● he deprived of ●is sight, and would not cast his countenance towards them, which is one of God's severest chastisements; Thou turnedst away thy face from me (saith the Psalmist) and I was troubled. For a King to turn away his face from a Favourite, it will shrewdly trouble him; What perturbation must that then cause, When God shall not cast his eye towards us, but turn his favourable countenance from us? Hide not thy face, o Lord, from me, lest I be like unto those that descend into the pit; O Lord, to deny the light of thy countenance, is to condemn me unto Hell: and the greatest torment of the Damned is, that they are debarred thy sight; Curio faciem 〈◊〉 abscond●●, & arbitrar●● 〈◊〉 inimicum tuum? All my happiness consists in those thy eyes, and to deny them unto me, is to use me like an enemy. Towards the Adulteress our Saviour carried himself as became a sovereign Prince; for it is a common thing with Kings and Princes, to turn their eyes aside from a woman that is shameless and of a lewd and infamous life; the sight of a husband is a fearful thing to a wanton wife, so is the eye of a severe father to a graceless son, so the austere look of a King to his servant that hath played the Traitor: how then shall God's countenance scare us, when he shall look askew upon us, and knit the brow of his heavy displeasure? When the Adultress did behold herself in that Crystal Glass, Christ jesus, in whom there was no spot nor least speck of blemish in the world, and did see what a freckled soul she had of her own, how foully bespeckled with a loathsome morphew of this overspreading sin; In what a confusion must she needs be, and how dashed out of countenance? David was as valiant a King, and as brave a soldier as ever drew sword, & one that fought the Lords battles; yet he considering the foulness of this his adulterous sin, weeping & sorrowing for the same, when he saw God's eye was fixed on his fault, and that he had withdrawn his wonted favour from his person, he felt such torment in himself, that in the bitterness of his soul he was forced to cry out, Turn away thy face, o Lord, from my sins. What then should this weak, this poor and wretched woman do in this case? jesus stooped down. Saint Cyril saith, That our Saviour herein did advise your judges, that before they proceed to sentence, they should well and truly consider of the cause alone by themselves, and proceed with a great deal of leisure & deliberation. Before that God did condemn the pride of those that built the Tower of Babel, he said, Descendam & videbo, I will go down and see what they do. And the cry of the sins of Sodom coming to his ears, he said the same again: for there is no wisdom nor discretion in it, as Nicodemus said, to condemn a man, Unless he first hear him speak for himself, john 7.51. and know what he hath done. This is that which David said, Do righteous judgement, o ye sons of men. Suiting with that of our Saviour, judge not according to the face or outward appearance. Daniel summarily shuts it up all in this, The judgement was set, and the Books opened. Dan 7. He stooped down. For albeit a judge ought to bear himself upright, judge's must incline to mercy. yet he ought still to stoop and incline himself to mercy. Christ looked down upon the earth, and considered with himself, that he had made this woman of earth. If a judge may even in justice save a Delinquent, if he shall find a way open for mercy; he may comfort himself, that it is God's fashion so to do, and this may be his warrant. Elisha said unto Elias, by way of petition, I pray thee let thy Spirit be doubled upon me: This was a hard suit. Theodoret asks the question, Ob. Wherein the difficulty did consist? And he answereth, Sol. That it did not consist in miracles, nor in grace, but in that Elias his Spirit was so sharp and so bitter: I destroyed the Israelites with fire from Heaven, and punished that people with three years famine; if my spirit should be doubled upon thee, upon the like occasion thou wouldst consume them all, and make an end of them at once. He lift up himself. When he was to give sentence he stood up; for albeit a judge should in the medijs incline unto mercy, yet in principio, and in fine, he ought to deal uprightly, and exercise integrity. Let a judge use a Delinquent with a great deal of courtesy and sweetness, let him seek out all the means that he can, to save him and to set him free; but in the apprehending of him, and the sentencing of him, let him be upright and sound in that he shall resolve upon; And in point of justice, let not the beam of the balance lean aside, nor his fancy oversway him, nor any fear of great men's displeasure terrify him. Gracious an● righteous is the Lord, Psal. 25. therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The Lord as he is sweet and gracious, so is he upright and just; and therefore it is fit that a judge should not only know the Law, but should also sincerely execute the Law, not interpreting the same according to his own pleasure, but according to reason and equity. With his finger he wrote on the ground. All that comment upon this place, do agree in this, That he wrote in this manner, and why he did it: And first of all, Saint Hierome saith, That he wrote on the ground the sins of those that had accused this Adultress: According to that of jeremy, They that depart from thee shall be written in the earth; jerem. 17.13. their names shall not be registered in the book of Life: wherewith he left them confounded and ashamed, and did prove thereby unto them, that they had neither any zeal to the Law, nor any desire to observe the same. This was a blazoning forth of the honour and glory of our Saviour Christ, beyond that of the Romans; here was a parcere subiectis to the purpose; and a debellare superbos with a witness. And whereas the Scribes and Pharisees set upon him in this their pride and bravery, when they saw their own sins set down before their eyes (which to a Sinner is a terrible and most fearful sight) they let fall their plumes, and hung down their heads for shame, being so basely dejected, as none could be more. I will lay all thy abominations before thee; O, this is a sad and heavy spectacle, What humane eye can endure to behold them? especially when God shall raise up our old sins, which we thought had been forgotten and buried in the pit of oblivion. O, how true is that of jeremy, and how pat to our present purpose, The yoke of my transgressions is bound upon his hand, they are wrapped and come up about my neck. My heavy sins are continually before his eyes, as he that tieth a thing to his hand for a remembrance; the horror whereof hath made my strength to fall. What a dismal thing is it, to see those my wickednesses which I thought had been quite out of his remembrance, and that he had cast them behind his back, to be brought before my face, and he to hold the beadroll of them in his hand, written in great capital letters, Circumuoluta sunt in manu eius, like a piece of cork under a clew of thread. Esay paints forth certain impudent and shameless Sinners, and presently anon after saith, Their destruction is written down, and when I see my time I will speak thereof. job. 13. O how doth job complain hereof, Thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth. He calls these bitter things, the sins of his youth. Saint Chrysostome saith, That he borrowed this metaphor from a judge, who takes the pen in his hand for to pronounce sentence, setting down the offences of the Delinquent. And therefore job saith, I see that thou lookest narrowly unto my paths, as though thou wouldst pronounce sentence against me. And therefore Saint Hierome saith, That Christ wrote on the ground. And as a judge exposeth a Butcher to public shame, by hanging his false weights about his neck; so thou, o Lord, having ready written in thy hand the yoke of my transgressions, thou exposest me to shame, by wrapping them about my neck. Saint Ambrose saith, that our saviour wrote that which jeremy prophesied of jeconiah, Terra, terra, s●r be hos viros abdicatos, O Earth, earth, write these men destitute, jerem. 22. etc. And in one of his Epistles he saith, Thou seest a moat in thy neighbour's eye, but not the beam that is in thine own. A late Commentator hath this note hereupon, That our Saviour wrote down the sins of this Adulteress, that he might see them satisfied; bearing himself like a pitiful judge, who freeth a poor debtor, but takes a note of the debt that is to be paid; Wholly to forgive the same, the party not being satisfied, could not stand well with his justice; and to condemn her wholly, could not suit well with his Mercy. And therefore he was bound to pay the debt for her. Supra dorsum meum fabricaverunt peccatores. Another letter says, Scripserunt. He entered into bond for us all. But although it be most certain, that he wrote some letters, or some sentence, against the sins of these her accusers (and therefore the Greek text saith, Hoc digito scribebat in terra) yet what that was which he then writ, there is no certainty thereof. And it is a great indicium or token that they did not well understand those Characters, because upon that writing they did not depart and go their way. But upon those words which our Saviour afterwards said unto them, Qui sine peccato est, Let him that is without sin, And presently thereupon the Evangelist addeth, Audientes haec unus post alium abijt, That hearing these things, they went their way one after the other. Secondly, Saint Austen saith, That he wrote on the ground, for to signify that the names of the Accusers were not writ in Heaven. Alluding unto that which he said unto his Disciples; Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. Or, for to show that it was he himself, which with his own finger had writ the Law in those Tables of stone; and withal to intimate, that the new Law was not to be written in ragged stone, but in fruitful ground; not in the roughness of the Law, but in the softness of Grace. And Saint Ambrose in the Epistle formerly alleged, doth in a manner repeat the very same words. So that by all these circumstances, it plainly appeareth that he noted them out to be transgressors of the Law, and to be such a kind of people that had not the fear of God before their eyes, being neither just in their judgements, nor merciful in their Works. Let him that is without sin, etc. He had recourse to the rigour of the Law, by condemning the Adulteress to be stoned to death, which was an infamous kind of death, Achan, Naboth, those false judges that wronged Susanna, and good Saint Steven suffered in this kind. He had recourse likewise unto his mercy, by absolving her of this her sin. For their condemning of her to be stoned, who were faulty in the same kind themselves, was a kind of absolving her. And this limitation (as Saint Cyrill hath observed it) was iuridicall, and according unto Law. For as she was to be stoned by the Law, so she was to be stoned according to the Law; But the Laws do not permit that the transgression of the Law, should be righted by those that are transgressors of the Law. So that when our Saviour said, Let him that is among you without sin cast the first stone at her; he understood by sin in that place, the sin of Adultery, for otherwise it had been contrariam actionem intentare, and the reconuention had not been so strong and forcible. When the Pharisees found fault with Christ's Disciples for their not washing of their hands, he retorted their own weapon upon them with a Quare & vos? And here treating with him touching this woman's Adultery, he gives them this answer, Qui sine peccato est, etc. Saint Austen makes a question, whether the Adulterer himself were there or no? And his resolution is, that the rest were there. So that in the Accusers there were two foul faults to be found, which are inexcusable. The one to let go a Delinquent for particular interest, and private gain, as we read in the Maccabees, of Ptolomeus his freeing of Menelaus from his accusation, notwithstanding he was the cause of all the mischief wherewith he was charged, and a man that deserved death in the highest degree: the Text there saying, that he was Vniversae malitiae reus. The other, That they who should have been preservers of the Commonwealth, and maintainers of justice, should be the Caterpillars of the Commonwealth, and the overthrowers of justice.. And if any body shall ask me, how they being faulty themselves, should dare to accuse this woman of the same crime. Saint Austen in his Confessions renders this answer, Fortis inscriptio, quam nulla delevit iniquitas. Though God hath printed with such deep letters in the paper of our Consciences, the hatefulness of sin; yet notwithstanding those many sins of our own, we will not forbear to condemn other men's sins, though we be faulty of the same ourselves. A Merchant apprehends a poor petty Thief, brings him before a justice, and causes him to be whipped, not considering that himself is the greater Thief of the two. Diogenes told the judges and other subordinate Ministers of justice, That the greater thieves did hang the lesser. David's adultery being put in the third person, 2. Reg. 12. he told the Prophet Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die, Filius mortis est. How dost thou condemn that in another, which thou dissemblest and smootherest in thyself; Fortis inscriptio, quam nulla delevit iniquitas. Absalon had a great Councillor called Achitophel; David had another as wi●e as he, called Cushai: now when Cushai saw that Achitophel took part with Absalon, he said unto David, I do not so much fear thy son, as this Counsellor of his; for he hath a shrewd pestilent pate of his own: wherefore I think it very fit, That by your Majesty's leave I should get me likewise to the Camp, to see if I can overthrow his council. Thither he hasted, and kneeling down before Absalon, he said unto him, I am come unto thee, because I see that God doth favour thee; and I had rather worship the Sun rising, than setting. Thy father is old, etc. Notwithstanding all this, Absalon titted him in the teeth, saying, Is this thy love to thy friend? Where it is to be noted, That though the Son had rebelled against his Father, yet it seemed ill unto him, that a Servant should be false to his Master; Fortis inscritpio, quam nulla delevit iniquitas. Satisfaction must go before absolution. Woman, Where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? Before that he would absolve her, he would infrome himself, Whither any body did accuse her or no? For as long as any party found himself aggrieved, his absolution was of no force. If the oppressing of the Poor cry for vengeance, What shall the dishonouring of a Virgin, and the adulterated bed do? And therefore this Memento is given thee before thou offer thy Sacrifice, Thou shalt call to mind, whither thy brother have any thing against thee or no: First make atonement with thy brother, and then present thy Offering to God. Abimelech craving pardon for his offence, Gen. 20. God said unto him, Deliver the man his wife again; This must be done first. No man, Lord. And jesus said, Neither do I condemn thee. It is a great happiness in a Sinner, Mercy an argument of goodness, in whomsoeverit be found. Hosea 11. to fall into the hands of God. Man, the wickeder he is, the crueler he is; and the more ill, the less pitiful. But God, by how much the more good he is, by so much he is the more mild and merciful; I will not destroy Ephraim in my fury, because I am God, and not Man. There was not that man then, that would have borne with Ephraim, nor excused his backslidings: But I am God, and therefore patient, long suffering, and full of goodness. Daniel when he was put in the Lion's den, the King commanded the door to be sealed with his own seal, Ne quid fieret contra Danielem, Lest they should change their purpose concerning Daniel, and plot some other villainy against him; conceiving the hands of these men to be less secure than the claws and teeth of those hungry Lions. 2. Reg. 24. And this was the reason why David when he was to take his option of those three Scourges which God had set before him to make choice of, upon that vanity of his in numbering the People, either Famine, War, or Pestilence; flying from the hands of men, he would by no means admit of War or Famine, but of the Pestilence, that he might wholly put himself into the hands of God. God of his infinite goodness, etc. THE XXV. SERMON, UPON THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. JOHN 6. MAT. 14. LUC. 9 MARC. 6. Post haec abijt Iesus trans Mare Galileae. After these things, jesus went his way over the Sea of Galilee, etc. Our Saviour Christ, in that matter of multiplying the loaves and the fishes, providing for the necessity of those people that did follow him, wrought two miracles as famous as they were cheerful. In the one, he gave food to four thousand persons, besides women and children, with seven loaves & a few fishes, and they being all satisfied, there were twelve baskets full remaining. This miracle is mentioned by Saint Matthew and Saint Mark. In the other, That which the Church doth this day solemnise, which was the more famous, not only for that the guests were five thousand, besides women and children, the loaves five, the fishes two, and the leave twelve baskets full; but for that all the four Evangelists wrote thereof; and much the more, for that it was an occasion (as it is observed by Saint Chrysostome) because our Saviour did preach that excellent Sermon of the Mount, for whose Doctrine that miracle was most important. After these things our Saviour went, etc. Saint Augustine and Saint Hierome are of opinion, That the occasion of our Saviour's withdrawing of himself was, the death of john Baptist; the joy for whose birth being so general, it was not much, that the sorrow for his death should be great. And this suits well with that Text of Saint Matthew, When the Saints either dye, or otherwise depart from a places it is much weakened. who reports it to be after the death of Saint john▪ This his departure thence, showed his sorrow for his friend's death: but that kingdom had greatest cause to lament and bewail Saint john Baptists death, and Christ's going from them; for what is a Kingdom without them. The Saints of God are the force and strength of Kingdoms, the walls and bulwarks of Cities, the hedges about a Vineyard, the foundation to a Building, bones to the body, life to the soul, and the chief essence and being of a Commonwealth. And whilst they had Christ and Saint john among them, there was not any City in the world so rich as that; but the one being dead, and the other having left them, jeremy might very well take up his complaint, and bewail their misery and solitude. Esay treating of the misfortunes that should befall Shebna the Highpriest, saith, Auferetur paxillus qui fixus fuerat in loco fideli, & peribit, quod pependerat ex eo, The Nail that is fastened in the sure place, shall depart, and shall be broken and fall, and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off. Now paxillus is that which in poor men's houses is called the Rack whereon they hang spits, or a shelf whereon they set their vessels; which in rich men's 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 pair of Racks, strike in certain pins into the wall; and as the shelf falling, all falls with it that depends thereupon, so when the Highpriest (being a good man) dies, all good perisheth with him in the Commonwealth, because the chief good of the State dependeth thereupon. The Homicide had five Cities to fly unto for shelter, but he could not return home to his own Country till the death of the Highpriest. And Philon rendering the reason of this interdiction, saith, That the Highpriest is a Pariente or Kinsman of all those that live in his Commonwealth; Qui solum habet ius in vivos & in mortuo●: as every Citisen hath his particular Kinsmen, to whom he owes an obligation, to acknowledge the benefits he receives from him, and to revenge the wrongs that are done to him; In like manner, the Highpriest is the common Kinsman of the Living, to whom he owes an Obligation to accord their discords, to cut off their suits in Law, to quit their wrongs, and to desire the peace and prosperity of them all. In conclusion, he being as it were a common father to all, in so great a loss, in so sensible and general a sorrow, when a common misfortune should compound particular wrongs, when all men's hearts are so heavy, their eyes so full of tears, their minds so discomforted, it is a fit season for a Homicide to return home to his Country. And if the death of a Highpriest, who happily was no holy man, causeth in a Commonwealth so general a grief; the death of john Baptist, and our Saviour's departure from this People, What effect of hearty sorrow ought that to work? God threatened his People by Esay, The Lord shall give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction. Esay. 30.20. When the King of Israel commanded Micheas to be cast into prison, he said unto him, Su●●enta tecum pa●e tribulationis, & aqua angustiae, Feed upon the b●●ad of affliction, 3. Reg. 22. and the water of affliction. In the Hebrew both places bear the same words: but Esay afterwards saith, That though God's hand shall be heavy upon 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 have threatened you with the famine of my word, I will send a famine in the land, Hose. 8.11. not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing the Word of the Lord. But God recalls this threatening oftentimes, Et non faciet avolare à te ultra Doctorem tuum, and will not cause thy Teacher to fly from thee. But john Baptist being dead, and our Saviour withdrawn himself, that Country could not rest in a more wretched estate. Secondly, The death of john Baptist made him leave the land, and put forth to sea, making a separation between him and them: for when God gets him gone from thy house or thy city, thou art beaten out of doors (as they say) with a cudgel; even than doth a man go turning back his head, like a Hart that is hunted and pursued by Hounds, never letting him to be at rest, but chase him with open mouth from place to place. God cannot absent himself from his Creatures, nor can his immensity give way to the utter abandoning of this goodly Fabric, and wonderful Machina of the World: yet so great is the hatred which he bears to sin, that he also commands us to get us out of that City where Sin doth reign; signifying thereby unto us, That if any thing can make him to absent himself from us, it is our sins. God had his house and his residence in Jerusalem; so says Esay: Esay 31.9. God had his house and his hearth there, as if he had been one of their fellow citizen's, and a Town dweller amongst them: but their abominations made him to abandon that place. Ezechiel saw the glory of God how it went by degrees out of the Temple, staying one while here, & another while there, resting itself now against this pillar, now that, till at last, The glory of God was clean gone out of the Temple. Their abominations did as it were drive him out by head and shoulders, & shooved him forth by little and little. Esech. 8.6. The great abominations that the House of Israel committeth here, causeth me to depart from my Sanctuary. josephus in his book of the Wars of the jews saith, That when Titus and Vespasian came and besieged Jerusalem, the gates of the Temple flew wide open, in token that their sins had thrust God out from thence. And Cornelius Tacitus addeth, That they made a great noise at their opening, in token of his loathness and unwillingness to leave them: howbeit he spoke like a Gentile, having reference to the multitude of their own gods. The Poets likewise have feigned, That Troy's vices were Troy's ruin, and had banished the gods from them; for had they been present with them, neither the fire that consumed their City, nor all the power of the Grecians had been able to have done them the least harm in the world: So says Saint Augustine in his books De Cinitate Dei. The Syrians tied their gods to the Altars of their Temples, with fetters and with chains. And albeit Saint Chrysostome saith, That they did use them as they deserved, yet the intention and purpose of that People was not to detain them there as prisoners and malefactors, but only to have them in safe keeping, and to make them sure from getting away from them; thinking themselves utterly undone if they should deprive them of their presence. W●e unto them, when I shall go from them. If God be with us, no ill but is good; if God be not with us, no good but is ill. Deut. 31. Because God was not with me these miseries came upon me. Samson as long as he had God with him, neither Hercules, Milo, nor Theseus, were comparable unto him; but when God left him, there was not any man more cowardly; jud. 16.20. He thought to have escaped as at other times, but he knew not that the Lord was departed from him. Saint Mark, renders another reason, Marc. 6. ●●. Come ye apart into the Wilderness and rest awhile. So great was the number of those that followed him, that he had not any fit place for to give them entertainment, and to make them to sit down and eat. And our Saviour well witting that these his followers were faint and weary, he was willing to give them a little ease & rest. The soul is a strong and able Spirit, immortal, incorruptible, unweariable, like unto that of the Angels; but the body is weak, feeble, and mortal: It had need in the midst of its labour to rest itself, that it may return afresh thereunto. men's bodies being like unto iron tools, which being dulled with working must be ground a new, that they may have an edge set upon them, and perform their work the better. In the Statue of Nabuchadnezzar, the Gold, the Silver, and the Brass were lasting metals; but the Clay was not so: And though the stone had not broken it, by little and little it would have mouldered away of itself. Sambucus made an Emblem of this subject. The bow cannot always stand bend; nor the treble string of a Vial stand still strained to its height: Birds cannot always fly, nor fishes swim, beasts cannot continually labour, nor the eyes watch, nor the feet walk, nor the earth, nor the plants thereof still afford us fruit. In a word, Quod caret alterna requie, durabile non est. Aristotle saith in his Problems, That he that walketh upon a plain even ground is wearied more through that uniformity of motion, than if he went up hill and down hill, which doth give a greater ease unto the joints and muscles, etc. In like manner, uniformity of life is commonly wearisome and tedious unto us, and there is no life which is wholly moulded after one fashion, that is held happy, unless it enjoy some variety. Even those exercises which are most savoury unto us, are (if we do nothing else) most wearisome unto us. Eating, sleeping, hunting, and gaming, if we continue them long, how unsavoury, and how unpleasing are they unto us? And the reason of it is, that our nature will by no means suffer and endure any continued exercise, whether it be weighty, or light, but holds it a mere tyranny, and extreme cruelty. jeremy doth complain, for that in Babylon they did not allow the Captive Israelites any time of rest: Our necks are under persecution, we are weary and have no rest. Saint Luke saith, Oportet semper orare; Saint Paul, Sine intermissione orate. Luk. 11. The one bids us to pray continually; The other without ceasing or intermission. But that word Semper, doth not imply a continuation of time, but a complying of our obligation, and the full performance of our duty in that kind. Our Saviour Christ therefore, seeing his Disciples were weary, and being sensible of his own weariness, when he sat down to rest himself by the Well of Sichar, he was desirous that they should take their ease, and said unto them, Come rest ye a while. R●st is to be ●ounted pains w●e● we take i● but to enable us for further pains. Let no man think it strange, that he that undergoes so painful an office as preaching, should unbend the bow, and rest himself a while; who only rests himself the more that he may take the more pains. Whence it is to be noted, that God is so frank and so liberal, that the Rest that is taken to this end, God puts it to the same account as his painstaking, and rewards it as any other the best service that he doth him. So doth Saint Basil expound that verse of David, I will always give thanks unto the Lord, Psal. 34. his praise shall be in my mouth continually. Now David's thanks giving, and praising of the Lord, was not continual; For, he had his hours of sleeping, of eating, of conversing with his friends and servants, and other his hours of recreation; but because those hours of taking this his ease and rest, were directed to the better enabling him to serve God, God accounts of them as if they had been continually employed in his service. True it is, that those hours of our rest and recreations, aught to be few, and short, a Requiescite pusillum, Rest a while. A short come off. Let those that wield the world, and their ministers take their rest; but let them rest but a while, for if thou allowest thyself eight hours to sleep, six to play, and four for to walk, thou robbest thy obligation of its true time, and makest those that are suitors, to shed tears. And this is contrary to Christ's doctrine, and condemns it in thee, when he saith unto thee, Requiescite pusillum, Rest a while: And here will I also rest from further prosecuting of this point. And a great multitude followed him. The Gospel saith, That the men that followed him, reckoning those to be men (which the Scripture usually so understandeth) that are from twenty upward, were to the number of five thousand; S. Vincent Ferrar saith, That with women and children, they were some fifteen or twenty thousand: never any Prince in the world retiring himself into the Desert so well accompanied, and yet so all alone; so well accompanied, in regard of the multitude of the men; and so all alone, because all or the most part of this people followed him either out of necessity, curiosity, or out of malice. All the Court doth attend and wait upon thee, because thou commandest all; but thou art never more alone, than when thou hast most company: for all those that accompany thee, are not all of thy company; they go not along with thee, but with themselves, following thee not so much out of affection, as affectation, more to see thy miracles, than to receive thy instructions. The pledges of true friendship indeed, are, to hazard a man's life for his friend, to condole with him in his miseries, and to rejoice with him in his happiness: but since wicked presumption (as Ecclesiasticus speaketh) hath sprung up to cover the earth with deceit, Eccles. 37. and that private interest, like the jacke-daw, hath only learned to prattle the language of love, there is no trust to be had in these pledges. A true friend hard to be found. There is some friend which is only a friend in name; and hast thou not seen, that when heaviness remaineth unto death, a companion and friend hath been turned to an enemy? There is some companion which in prosperity rejoiceth with his friend, but in the time of trouble is against him: There is some companion again, that helpeth his friend for the bellies sake, & taketh up the buckler against the enemy; There are perhaps some such, that dare, nay will not stick to lay down his life for a good friend indeed: And there are some likewise, which for their own interest will hazard both goods and life, and all that they have; but if they did think they should fail of their ends, and that it should not turn to their greater advantage, they would not venture one farthing, though it were to save thy life. When Adoniah usurped the Kingdom, and proclaimed himself King, 3. Reg. cap. 1. the Princes of the Blood took part with him, joab, David's General, besides diverse other principal Captains and Commanders, and most of the valiantest men of War, as also Abiathar the Highpriest: In a word, the Clergy and the Laity were both mainly for him; and yet having all these on his side, he was all alone. All the strength of the Army was not with Adoniah: many understand this of the King's Guard; but for our purpose, it may be better understood of all those who professed themselves to be Adoniahs' friend's, but were not true in heart unto him, nor did not stick so close unto him as they made show; for they did not so much respect Adoniah, as their own ends. The King's sons thought he would prove their best brother; the Nobility, their best King; joab, that he would pardon his murdering of Amasa and Abner, and that he should hold his place of General; Abiathar, That he would not put him out of the Priesthood, though there was I know what prophesied to the contrary. But the proclaiming of Solomon was no sooner heard, but they left one by one, and went their ways, till they had left him like a single proposition to stand alone by himself, having no champion to make good his Title. Seneca pressing this Argument, saith, Many Flies come to the Honey, many Wolves to the Sheepfold, many Ants to the Wheat; yet the flies are no friends to the honey, nor the wolves to the sheep, nor the ants to the corn: Nor art thou to esteem those thy friends that accompany thee, for they are no better than flies, wolves, and ants, which seek not thee but themselves. And if thou shouldst but hear, after they have professed themselves thy friends, fawned upon thee with flattering terms, and vowed what a deal of love and affection they bear unto thee, what they talk of thee behind thy back, and what they mutter and whisper of thee in by-corners, thou wouldst then see and perceive that all thy prosperity, is the fable and common byword of their wrongs and discontents. Because they saw his Miracles, which he did on them that were diseased. All the Miracles of our Saviour Christ, were directed to the repairing of our miseries. First, for the furthering of our Faith, which depending upon the Will, comes by benefits to be well affectioned thereunto, and to incline to Knowledge and Understanding. The other, To show by sensible signs, the end which caused him to come into the world, which was to cure our Souls infirmities. The third, That it might appear unto Man, that the only motive thereunto, was his Mercy. Now the jews did neither fix their eyes, nor their thoughts upon any one of these; but only upon their own proper ends. Either because he should heal them, or fill their bellies. And therefore, albeit some say, that the Evangelist did set down this reason, that he might thereby advise us, that our Saviour was bound as it were to do that he did, for these people that followed him, yet I do rather believe, that he set down this passage, to give us thereby to understand how unobliged he stood to do them this so great a favour, and how kind he was of his own accord, to those that did so ill deserve any kindness at his hands. And therefore he discovereth their minds, layeth open their intentions, and manifesteth their private interests. Because they saw his Miracles, etc. And therefore Saint Paul saith, He did shut up all in unbelief, That is, He did permit, that they should all fall into the net of sin, that he remaining wholly disengaged, his obligation should by his mercy & his pity of them, be the more esteemed, by how much the more it was undeserved. Quia videbant signa. As if he should have said, That they sought rather after meat, A true friend hard to be found. than after him that was to give it them; and therefore he said unto them elsewhere, Ye have followed me because I have filled your bellies, and given you fullness of bread. For there are some people that seek after God for worldly blessings, and never think upon him but in time of want and necessity, and then if God do not relieve them, they care not a pin for him. Elisha was with Ieh●ram, 3. Reg. 3. and reproved him because he never sought after him, but in time of hunger and thirst. Micah went weeping and crying after those that had stolen away his silver god, but because he made use thereof for his own private interest, when a greater conveniency of gain was offered unto him, jud. 18. he forgot the former, and thought thereof no more: It is better for thee (said they) that thou shouldst be a Priest of a whole Tribe, than of one particular House. Philon commenting upon cain's answer unto God, [the Seventie rendering this Translation, Si proijcis me à facie tua, à facie tua abscondar, If thou cast me from off the face of the earth, let me be hid from thy face] saith, That it was all one as if he should have said, If thou wilt not bestow upon me the blessings of the earth, keep those of heaven to thyself; if I may not enjoy the pleasures & delights of this world, let virtue and goodness for me go a begging, I care not for it. Many make use of God as they do of a Felt, to defend them from the Sun and the rain, which heats and storms being overpast, they hang it up against the wall; serving God as many servants serve their Masters, not so much for love, as gain. And this ariseth from hence, that they know no other good save that which their senses set before them, and this is the mark whereat they shoot. And hence it followeth, that in the predicament of those things that are good, God of all other is the most disesteemed, and least accounted of. According to that of Saint Augustine, Omnia diligimus, omnia amamus, & solus nobis vilis est Deus. For the good of this life, men will do much more than they will for God; they will go I know not how many leagues, some by sea, others by land, for these temporal respects, but will scarce stir a foot out of doors for God's service. If they would but take half that pains for their salvation, as they do for their damnation, they would all of them be Sainted in Heaven. Out of the pleasure that some take in hunting, they care not whither they eat or no for two or three days together; but it goes against their stomaches to fast but one day for God's sake. Out of the delight that some take in play, or in rounding the streets, they will scarce sleep in thirty nights one after another; but will not watch one in humbling themselves upon their knees, and praying unto God: For these worldly vanities they will not stick to impawne their whole estate, but it goes against the hair with them, to spend so much as one poor Royal in God's service. Upon a Prince, or the Prince's Favourite, they will make no bones to bestow some great and costly Present, but grudge to offer up to God a poor hunger-starved Lamb. Of these kind of men Malachi much complaineth, Ye offer the lame and the sick, and ye snuff at it when ye have done, Malach. 1. No labour or cost more tedious to man, than that which is bestowed upon Religion. and think ye have been at too great charges with God, as if the worst of your Flock were not good enough for him. Caligula gave to the repairing of the Walls of Rome six thousand Sextercios, which are fifteen thousand Crowns; and upon one of his Mistresses he bestowed as many Sextercios to buy her a Kirtle, making his Whore equal in cost with the Commonwealth. Tibi soli peccavi, & malum coram te feci: These words of David are diversely commented; but one of the senses upon that place is this, O Lord I have only offended thee, against thee only have I sinned, thee only have I despised; I was careful that the people might not come to the knowledge of this my sin, and that it might be hid from Urias his house; I was more fearful of men's eyes, than I was of thine, which are brighter than the Sun. And hereunto did that holy King David allude in his 48 Psalm, Wherefore should I fear in the evil days, when Iniquity shall compass me about, as at mine heels? That sin which he made least reckoning of, and cast behind him as it were at his heels, were those cords that did most wring him. It was an old Proverb, Oculus habet in solea; that which he should have made most reckoning of, he put it under the sole of his shoe: but God, whom he should have esteemed above all, him he made least account of. When jesus lifted up his eyes and saw, etc. Saint Matthew and Saint Mark both say, That he went, together with his Disciples, into a Bark, and that he crossed over to the Desert which was on the other side of the River, and the people that followed him taking notice of the voyage that he was to make, whither it were that they wanted ship-room, or that the wind was against them, they ran on foot thither out of all Cities, and came thither before him, waiting for his coming. Our Saviour being disimbarkt, went up to the Mount, saying unto his Disciples, Rest a while. He went forth to see the people that followed him, and when he saw them, being moved to pity and compassion of them, because they were like Sheep that had no Shepherd, he entertained them with much courtesy and kindness, and having instructed them in many things concerning the Kingdom of God, he afterwards cured those that were sick. And when the day was now far spent, his Disciples came unto him, saying, This is a desert place, and now the day is far passed, therefore I pray you dismiss them and let them depart, that they may go into the Villages and Towns about, and buy them bread, for they have nothing to eat: but he answered and said unto them, It is better that ye should give them to eat. When jesus had lift up his eyes. To behold one earnestly, is a token of love and care: and herein our Saviour not only showed a token of his affection, but also of his providence. That it is a sign of Love, Esther said unto King Assuerus, If I have found favour in the sight of the King: Esther. 5. she did take the eyes to be the Archiue of favour; and therefore did petition him, That he would entertain her suit with the eyes of grace and favour. The Prince of Poets painting forth jupiters' favouring of the Trojans, being driven by tempest on the African Coast; expresseth it thus;— Libiae defixit lumina regnis:— Inclining Dido's breast to take pity and compassion of them, and to supply their wants, and to feast them in her famous city of Carthage. That it is a token of Providence, Ioues Statue with three eyes doth exemplify it unto us; beholding things past, things present, and things to come. This agrees with that other, Firmabo super te oculos meos, I will fix my eyes upon thee. But this looking here, must be a looking with care and attention: and therefore we have here a Seeing and a Seeing, it is echoed and redoubled unto us, Cum sublevasset oculos, & vidisset, videns vidit afflictionem suam: Vide Domine, & considera me. There are some eyes which look, but do not see: Of the rich Fool job said, job. 27.19. He opened his eyes and found nothing. Your Hare's sleep with their eyes open; and Hermolaus reporteth the like of jupiters' Guard. Of your Images and Idols David said▪ They had eyes, but did not see. And S. Luke saith of S. Paul, Being open eyed he saw nothing. Others there are who see, but will not see; these see a poor Soul, but turn their eye aside from him, because they will not see him: contrary to Salomon's council, Turn not away thine eye from the Poor. They will not afford them their eye, lest their heart should follow after; such men will not take notice of the wretched estate of the Poor, lest the pittifulnes of so miserable a spectacle might chance to move them to charity, and draw something out of their purses. Saint Bernard cities the Spanish Proverb, Ojos que no veen, cora çon que no quiebra, What the eye sees not, the heart rues not. Boaz knew well enough the great want and necessity wherein Ruth and Naomi lived; but he did not relieve this their poverty, because he did not see it: but when he saw the one of them gleaning the scattered ears of corn that were left in the field, his eyes wrought upon his heart, and taking compassion of her, he advised his Reapers, That they should purposely leave some ears for her to pick up. O Lord (said Martha to our Saviour) Hadst thou been here my brother had not been dead; for hadst thou but seen thy sick friend, and the affliction of his sorrowful sisters thy servants, thou couldst not choose but have taken pity of us. The Chroniclers of those Time's report of Alexander the Great, That he had Cor durum, & avarum, a hard and covetous heart: but his covetousness he overcame by his ambition of command and empire; and his hardness by his eye-pittie. Diodorus storieth, That seeing in Greece a great number of poor souls that were naked and distressed, the tears trickled from his eyes, and took order that they should be furnished forthwith both with clothes and money. If then a heart that is naturally hard, cannot endure to see men in misery, and not relieve them; How much more shall God, who is made all of mercy and compassion, extend his pity towards us? The Princes of the Philistines found this to be true, 1. Sam 6. when making the similitude of their loathsome and painful disease in gold, they presented them before the Ark, conceiting with themselves, That God but looking upon the mere similitude of their Emeralds, his bowels would be moved with compassion towards them. Pulchriores sunt oculi tui vino; Wine quickens the spirits, it comforts & cheereth the heart; but the eyes of God are more lovely to look to, and far better than the best wine. Cum sublevasset oculos jesus, & vidisset. There was a time when God did put the repairing and remedying of our miseries in our eyes; Sicut oculi ancillae in manibus Dominae suae, ita oculi nostri ad Deum Dominum nostrum, etc. As the eyes of a loving and faithful handmaid are always attending on her Mistress, observing every the least cast of her countenance; so our eyes should be still bending, & as it were hanging continually over that divine Fountain, till we draw from it the water of Mercy and of Pity. O Lord, thou art bound to take pity on me, The eye is a prevalent orator with God. because I have mine eyes fixed and nailed as it were to thy mercy. This care God did represent unto us, when he commanded Moses to erect that dead brazen Serpent, to the end that those who were stung by those living serpents, might by looking thereupon be healed; As many as are bitten, and look upon it, shall live. Num. 21. That Precept of Leviticus tended to this purpose, The seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land, Levit. 25. it shall be the Lord● Sabbath, thou shalt neither sow the field, nor cut the Vineyard. This was Nature's feast of rest; obliging us to lift up our eyes to Heaven, and to beg of God our daily bread. For too much plenty & abundance doth make us oftentimes to abandon God's providence, and to grow forgetful of the care that he hath of us. Out of the same reason he would not that the promised Land should be Locus rigatus, a watered land, like to that of the overflowing of Nilus, but that they should expect and look for their water from Heaven: for in Egypt, the power that they had to open at their pleasure the waters of Nilus, and to enrich their grounds therewith, was no small means to make them forget God. But Experience crying out with a loud voice, That our eyes do not endeavour to look up so high as they should, and that when they ought to lift them up to heaven, they cast them down to the ground: The remedying of our miseries was made over to his eyes; giving us thereby such good security, that to behold his eyes, and to be cured, is all one. The Fabric of the Temple being ended, Solomon made a most devout prayer unto God; wherein he did earnestly petition him, That he would be pleased to look down upon this his house with a gracious and favourable eye; for, o Lord, if thou shalt but vouchsafe to grace this Temple by beaming forth thereupon the resplendent rays of those thy eyes, which are the light and life of the Church, I shall give it for granted, that it shall surely stand in thy grace & favour; Let thine eyes be open to this house night and day. 3. Reg. 8.29▪ There is no gage or pledge so sure, as God settling of his eye upon us: for men's eyes do commonly follow the desires of their hearts; and because our good, and the best estate we have, cannot rest well assured in the hands of our desires, for that for the most part they are our greatest enemies, and oftentimes prove our Hangmen and Executioners, God gave them over to the lusts of their own hearts: so that there is no trusting to our own eyes. God left Adam to his own liberty, and trusted him with the Empire and domination of the whole earth, but he lost it in the turning of a hand, to give content to his longing wife. Ne contristaret del●●ias, saith the glorious Doctor Saint Augustine; fearing more her sorrow, if he should not have satisfied her longing, than the loss of Heaven, Earth, and God. Afterwards, God fearing the like frailty in man, when he had shut up that small remnant of mankind in the Ark, (which he was willing to free from the fury of the Flood) he shut it too, took away the key, and hung it at his own girdle; doubting with himself, That if he had left it in Noah's hands, though he were so good and holy a man as he was, it would not be safe in his keeping. Amongst other innumerable reasons, there are two that we may specially rely upon, and confidently build upon them: The one, That the eyes of God's providence are still watching over us, and taking care of our good. Saint Cyrill saith, That our Saviour looking upon this hungry people, and that had followed him thus afoot, did represent God's beholding from the top of that high hill of his eternity, all those things that either are, were, or shall be. For as Boaetius saith, Cunctorum, spectator est Deus, God oversees all. Of men Saint Austen saith, That all that have been, or are in the world are poor beggars which eat of the crumbs which fall from God's Table; And as your poor wand'ring beggars which are almost hunger-starved, stand at the gates of a rich man that is a great alms giver, with their scrips and pilgrim staffs, expecting an alms; so all men both great and small, rich and poor, from the king to the beggar, stand weighting at this great Housekeepers gate, looking for some relief from him. Nor is there any man so rich, or so happy, that is not forced to be one of God's beggars. And that Kingly Prophet David saith the like of the beasts of the field in diverse places, The eyes of all wait upon thee o Lord, Psal. 145. and thou givest them their meat in due season, Thou openest thy hand, Psal. 147. and fillest all things living with plenteousness, He giveth fodder unto the cattle, and feedeth the young Ravens that call upon him. By cattle, he vnderstandeth whatsoever beasts of the field: And by the Raven, whatsoever fowl of the air. And he did purposely and more particularly put here the Raven, either because those old ones do not acknowledge their young, for that they are white when they are hatched, the dam and her mate being of a contrary colour: Or because it is such a ravening bird, that according to Ari●●otle and Pli●ie, the old ones do banish their young ones as soon as they are able to fly, and shift for themselves, into some other region further off, that they may not rob them of their food and sustenance. In a word, great and small, high and low, have their maintenance from God; Who is it but God, that feedeth the young Ravens when they call upon him? Of the trees and plants that holy King Da●id saith, Saturabuntur ligna campi, & Ce●ri Libani, etc. Of the Angels, Planets, & Stars, a Philosopher saith, Greges Astrorum semper pasci●. And as the Shepherd numbereth his sheep, and puts a mark upon every one of them; so our Lord God doth number the multitude of the Stars, and ca●●eth them by their names. The glorious Saint Chrysostome tells us in a metaphorical language, That in those immense spacious walks in Heaven, there are other more beautiful fields, other Fountains, other Flowers, other Groves, and that God doth sustain and maintain them all, All live under his protection. Since than that all things live so secure under his divine providence, Why should man distrust, especially seeing that he hath an eye and a care to his wants and necessities; Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth in the highest clouds, and yet doth behold from above, whatsoever is in heaven or in earth? The sight is not qualified by seeing great things, but by perceiving the least atoms or motes that are in the Sun. In an Epistle which the glorious Apostle Saint Paul wrote to the Romans, he calleth God, the God of Hope; for he looking down upon us doth enrich us with such assured hopes, that we may hold them more firm and sure unto us, than any present possession of those lands or goods which we enjoy. The second reason is, That if any thing can grieve God's heart, it is our misery and necessity; and therefore he makes such haste to help us, as if it were his own case; My sister, my Spouse, thou hast wounded my heart with one of thine eyes, and with one hair of thy neck. Cant. 4. ●. The hairs are the symbol of thoughts and cares, for as the head is full of hair, so is it full of care. The ●ye of the Huntsman doth more harm than the Arrow which he shoots; for he that doth not throughly eye his game, seldom kills: and therefore the Spouses Beloved says unto her, Every one of thy cares, especially when I see thee look upon me, are so many darts sticking in my heart. Abbot Guaricus discoursing of the Prodigal, saith, That when his father saw him so ill accoutred, compassion did more strongly possess him, than the passion of sorrow for his sins did his son. When Abraham was swallowed up as it were with sorrow, Gen. 22 as he unsheathed his sword to sacrifice his son Isaac; Dominus videbit (saith the Text) id est, providebit; which was the good old man's answer, when his son asked him, Vbi est victima, pater mi? My father, where is the Lamb for the burnt Offering? The Septuagint read Apparebit; the Tigurine, Videbitur. For God seeing us suffer for his sake, is of itself a present help in our time of need. Many of the Saints do ponder the grief which God did discover for that dearth which Israel endured, 3 Reg. 17. and the care that he took in allaying the sharpness and tartness of Elias his austere and sour disposition, who when he had caused the windows of heaven to be shut up for three years, yet he appointed him a Raven to be his Steward, to bring him in provision, that he might not suffer in that common cala●●●tie; yet giving him this check by the way, It is not fit that thou alone shouldst eat, and 〈◊〉 the rest of my people starve; but since I have past my word, this Raven shall take care of thee. Saint Chrysostome saith, God's care to work his children to mercy That this was a severe reprehension of the Prophet Elias. That a Bird that hath no pity of her own brood, should take pity of thee; that a bird that by nature is cruel, and lives upon rapines and spoil of others, should be a Minister of mercy unto thee: and thou that shouldest have been a mediator betwixt God and his people, shouldst be a provoker of him to vengeance; he cries out against him, Absurdum est, o Elias, Thou hast committed a great absurdity, o Elias. Saint Augustine further addeth, That the Raven which heretofore showed himself unthankful, in not returning again to Noah's Ark, is now so far altered from that he was, that he brings thee bread and flesh, affording thee thy daily food; it had not been much for thee to have expected an alteration likewise in the Children of Israel. Procopius tells us, That the Raven is an unclean creature by the Law; and being that I, who was the Lawgiver, did dispense that thou shouldest take thy food from him, Why mightst not thou as well have asked a dispensation of me, for this so long an interdiction. And he entertained them kindly. The grief which our Saviour had conceived for the death of john Baptist, did not cause him to withdraw his sweet and comfortable countenance from others. For the mourning for the Just, is not a hooding of the face to conceal ourselves and our sorrow from the world; The Saints of God, lament the loss which the Earth sustains by the taking away of the righteous from amongst us, but not their death. For he beholdeth not his death with the eyes of death, but quickly passes it over. It is the fool that thinks all is ended with them in death. But it is nothing so. Good counsel the only prop of every commonweal. Eccl. 22.16. Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat. He here took counsel, what were best to be done in this case? It being (as Plato saith) amongst all other things the most Sacred and the most Divine. And Ecclesiasticus telleth us, that counsel makes things stable, durable, & secure. As a frame of wood joined together in a building cannot be loosed with shaking; so the heart, that is established by advised counsel, shall fear at no time. Whence shall we buy bread. Here our Saviour consults with Philip, how, and which way this may handsomely be done. This is a prudent proposition for a Prince, when occasion is offered of some extraordinary expense, to treat with his Counsel, how and which way these moneys are to be raised and ordered? He that goes about to build him a stately palace, will first ask counsel of his purse, how he shall be able to compass it. A King that breaks his League, and is to enter into a War with his neighbour Prince, will first consult with his subjects, how he shall undergo it. For, to go out with ten thousand against an Enemy, that brings twenty thousand into the field, is not wisdom. And he must have an eye unto this V●de, whence, and which way he shall levy both men and money? For if it must be from the blood of the poor, that blood which is thus wrung from them, is to draw the best blood out of his own body, to the endangering of his life, if not of his soul. Those Princes seldom or never thrive, who misled by evil counsellors, say with Rehobaam, Whereas my Father did burden you with a grievous yoke, 3. Reg. 12. I will yet make your yoke heavier; My Father hath chastised you with rods, but I will correct you with scourges; And my least part, shall be bigger than my father's loins. So unmerciful and intolerable are the greevances & oppressions which Kings Ministers exercise upon the poor, that the widow weeps, and the orphan sheds teeres, & the teeres thatd, ●ckle from their cheeks, howsoever Kings may conceive they fall to the ground, I must boldly tell them, that they ascend up as high as Heaven, and are there turned into flashes of Lightning, 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 upon what ground they go, For if the cause be honest, pious, and necessary, as to keep soldiers from starving, that lie in garrison; to bridle the insolences of the enemies of the Faith; to supply the necessary provision of the King's house, and the like, it is well and good, and God forbid but we should thinks that to be very well employed, which is so spent; and it is fit that every man that is of ability should contribute to the charge. But to impoverish some to enrich others, to pill the Commonwealth to make fat a favourite, to dispeople towns for to make forests, & to put Naboth out of his lawful possession, nay and his life too, to make thyself a house of pleasure, and gardens to feast and banquet in, etc. I will leave this to their own consideration, without pressing this point any further, least contrary to Salomon's Counsel, by wring the nose too hard, I might happen to draw blood, and so offend the head. Whence shall we buy bread? From the beginning of the world until then, Christ never commanded us to shear the sheep, but to feed them it was never propounded in any Prince's Council, how the Hungry should be fed, or any care taken, how the Naked should be clothed: But how to raise money for the Prince's expenses, for the more magnificent maintenance of his Majesty, and for the upholding of his Estate, this is every day's example. And if the royal Patrimony shall be impawned, there shall be sitting upon sitting, project upon project, 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 burdens on the backs of the Poor; but whence the Poor should be fed, how your decayed Towns should be repaired, how your ruined Commonwealths restored to their former honour and greatness; let the great ones advise upon that, (if it stand not with the hurt of their greatness) for I can say little unto it. Saint Bernard hath observed, That our Saviour Christ said thrice unto Peter, Pasce Oues meas, Feed my Sheep: but that he never said unto him, no not so much as once, That he should shear them. Signifying thereby, That it is the office of a good Prelate, to have an especial care that his Sheep be well fed, both with spiritual and corporal food, and not to study the raising of his Rents, the racking of his Tenants, nor his own private profit. Whence shall we buy bread. Our Saviour Christ consulted with all his Disciples concerning this business. And therefore he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And although the Disciples took care for the provision of these things, they did not lift their eyes up any higher, then to the distribution of their alms. But our Saviour 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, etc. How many loaves have ye? He began first with Philip, either perhaps because he was not present at what had passed; or because he seemed to take the greatest care, how these should have wherewithal to eat; or because he was less frugal and provident than the rest (as Saint Chrysostome noteth it;) or because he was not so quick witted, and of that nimble apprehension as his fellows, (as it seemeth to Saint Cyrill.) In conclusion, two necessities encountering together; one of the body, another of the soul; one of bread, and another of faith; our Saviour Christ began first with that of the soul, having recourse to that his office of a Saviour, who made more reckoning of the more, than of the less. Two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them. Saint Mark saith in the name of the rest, Let us go and buy two hundred penny worth of bread. Whereunto Philip answered, that two hundred penny worth of bread would not be sufficient for them; nay two hundred royals would not come to a bit a man. Philip regarded more Christ's purse, than his power, and so do many their own. At which time he had turned his eye aside from our Saviour's omnipotency, placing his eyes upon 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 son's omnipotency. So short sighted is man's wisdom, that in seeing ordinary means fail, he holds the relieving 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 fearful thing to think, that man sinning, hopes that God will pardon him; and that suffering hunger and nakedness, God should not help him. Thou committest a mortal sin, thou reckonest not much of it, hoping that God will be good unto thee, and forgive thee thy trespass; thou sufferest hunger and nakedness, and yet despairest of comfort, fearing more to be starved to death, than to be damned to hell. Canst thou hope then for so great a favour as to be saved by his mercy and pity towards thee, and shalt thou despair in these lesser things of the infinite providence of God? It is a great shame for thee so to do, and such a foulness, as none in a Christian can be more. Hence is it that thou hast recourse to evil means, for to free thee from hunger. But this is a strange kind of ignorance in thee: First, because the devil hath not the power to do thee good in this kind. Pharaohs enchanters did add plagues to plagues; flies to flies; frogs to frogs; serpents to serpents; blood unto blood; but take them away they could not. All the devils in hell cannot slack that hunger which God sendeth. Psal. 65. Secondly; because God hath reserved this care to himself, Thou preparest them corn, for so thou appointest it. The Hebrews hath it, Because it is thy preparation, and thou providest it for us. Thou o Lord dost furnish us with food, because it appertaineth to the office of thy providence. Act. 14.17. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. So that the Evangelist Saint Luke saith, That albeit the Creator of heaven and earth, did not suffer himself to be seen by humane eyes, yet he left testimonies behind him, whereby they might know him; as by his preservation of the world, his cheering of man's heart with food and gladness: and for this cause he commands, That we should beg our daily bread of him. And as he only can give us the Spiritual and Sacramental bread, so he only can give us that material bread that must sustain our bodies, as that other doth our souls. There is a little boy here, which hath five barley loaves, and two fishes, But what are they among so many? Whether this were a boy belonging to the Apostolical College, (as it seemeth to Euthimius) or some boy of one of the Towns thereabouts, as Chrysostome and Theodoret would infer, I will not stand to dispute it: but it seemeth somewhat strange unto me, That there was not any one man in all this Apostolical College, which did not seek to rid their hands of this people, or despair of their being able to give them entertainment. Some said, Dimitte eos, Send them away, dismiss them, what should they do here? Saint Philip he comes in with Ducentorum denariorum, Two hundred pennyworth of bread will not serve the turn. Saint Andrew, Quid inter tantos, What's a pound of butter amongst a kennel of hounds? What's this amongst so many? Only our Saviour Christ useth them with a great deal of courtesy and civility, he only favours them, and is willing to bid them welcome. Saint Ambrose saith, That if they had been fifty thousand, as they were but five thousand, they should all of them have gone away satisfied and well contented. job saith, If I restrained the Poor of their desire, etc. The multitude of the Poor did never cause fear in me, as being well assured, that God hath enough in store for them. Now if man bear so brave a mind, because he is made after the image of God; What a noble mind must there be in God? In a covetous man's house there is too much penury for the poor, but too much excess for vanity. When Nabal denied bread to David and his soldiers, the Scripture saith, That he had provided a feast for a King. And the rich Glutton in the Gospel having his table plentifully furnished, denied the crumbs to poor Lazarus, that fell from his Table. There are three things which my soul hateth; whereof one of them is, A rich man a liar. Saint Augustine by this rich man, a liar, understandeth the unmerciful man, who though he abound in wealth, still answers the Poor, No ay, I have not for you; but the merciful minded man still saith, Para todos ay, I have for you all; but the covetous man, No ay para nadie, I have for none of you. Here is a boy that hath five l●aues. It was great charity in God, Only our Saviour impoverished himself to make others rich. to give away the provision of his own College. Seneca treating of the liberality which one man ought to use towards another, saith, Dabo egenti, sed ut ipse non egeam; succurram perituro, sed ut ipse non peream; I will be mindful of the Poor, but not forgetful of myself; I will relieve him that is ready to perish, but will look to it that I may not perish myself. For, What rich man did ever make himself poor to make a poor man rich? Only our Saviour Christ did so, When he was rich, he made himself poor, that by his poverty we might be made rich. To give of our superfluities to the Poor, is a virtue; to part with part of that which doth not superabound, as the Widow of Sarepta did, is more than a virtue; but to give all away that is necessary and needful for a man's own life, only our Saviour Christ did this. By whose example, many Saints afterwards became excellent Almoners; who were contented to suffer nakedness and hunger themselves, that they might fill the belly of the Hungry, and clothe the back of the Naked. And amongst the rest of these Worthies in their time, (whose memory shall never be forgotten) very memorable was that of Paulina Bishop of Nola, who to free another from slavery, became a slave himself. Make the People sit down. Saint Austen saith, That the circumstances made this miracle the more remarkable. First, it is the fashion of the World, to have the meat set on the board, before the guests sit down. At that Feast which the King made at his son's wedding, Behold, I have prepared my dinner, mine Oxen, Mat. 22.4. and my Fatlings are killed, and all things are ready, etc. Ester 1. King Assuerus made a great banquet for the Princes of his Kingdom, in the Court of the Garden and the King's Palace; but the Vigiles were far longer than the Feast. But God's Feasts have no need of prevention or solemn preparation. God created the earth rich in herbs and plants, before it enjoyed the benefit of either Sun or Water, (as Saint Chrysostome hath noted it) and therefore Christ had no need of Sun or Water, to furnish and set forth a full table for man. He took all his Disciples opinions, and they all agreeing, that there was not bread sufficient for them, nor money wherewithal to buy it; when they held it to be a desperate case, than did our Saviour say unto them, 'Cause the People therefore to sit down. Where the word Therefore is to be considered. Saint Chrysostome saith, That he went about to prove 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 poor a provision there should be so rich an overplus. In the feasts of this world, there is much remaining, because there is much provided, which doth commonly extend itself more to vanity and ostentation, than necessity. And that of much, much should be left, it is not much: But of a little, to make a great deal; God can only do it. Of much to make a little, is every day's practice; for your Cooks and Manciples know how to lick their own fingers, and for the most part are all of them thieves, and unfaithful Ministers. But of a little to make much, is a Blazon that only belongs unto God: For (as Saint Augustine saith) he did feast this people, Non solum pro bonitate, sed pro potestate; Not only out of his goodness, but also out of his power: For God was not here willing to express himself only to be good, merciful, and pitiful, but likewise to show himself powerful and liberal. Joseph's brethren seeing their sacks full of corn that before were empty, and finding their monies in the mouths of their sacks, they said one to another; What Miracle is this that God hath wrought amongst us? joseph was the man that did it, but they could not believe that such an extraordinary kindness could come from man, but from God. Men, when they fill their sacks with come, they empty their purses; But to fill the sack and the purse too, that is only proper unto God. The third circumstance, is the order therein observed: Per quinquagenos, & centenos. They sat down by rows (saith S. Mark) by hundreds and by fifties. Whereas in your great feasts now adays, all is disorder and confusion. Homer saith, That when the guests be many, nothing can be savoury, for commonly all is noise and disorder for want of good government. Plutarch reporteth, that the Emperor Paulus Aemilius was wont to say, That no less prudence was required for the well ordering of a feast, The Church why styled a well ordered Army. where there are store of guests, than for to marshal a great Army. The Holy Ghost styles the Church, a well ordered Army. The one in regard of its beauty; for which it deserveth to be beloved. The other for its order; for which it ought to be esteemed. In this feast there was good order taken for their sitting down, as also for the equality in distribution of their fare. And where this decorum is kept, a little will suffice many, and where it is not, much will not suffice a few. Those houses where this order is observed, live always in plenty; where that is lacking, there is poverty and want. ●. Chron. 22. David was a poor King; In pa●pertate mea (saith he of himself) Accord to my poverty, I have laid up such and such talents for the building of a Temple to the Lord: But because David was a good husband, and lived in an orderly fashion, never any King bestowed so many and so rich rewards upon his Subjects as he did, nor was at greater charge when occasion required it. For the materials of the Temple he had disbursed a hundred thousand Talents of gold, and a million of Talents of silver. He made shields of gold, he had gathered together a great mass of iron, and other metals, besides a world of wood; and yet when he died, left the patrimony royal disimpawned, having in his Treasury three thousand Talents of gold, and seven thousand of silver, which being reduced to our monies, would hardly come to be summed. Solomon was so rich a Prince, that all the garnish and service of his Palace, and other his houses of pleasure, were of the finest and purest gold. And silver, the Scripture saith, Want oforder brings in all confusion. was in no price or estimation in his time, being as common as the stones in the streets. And yet, he having no wars, nor any forcible occasions of other extraordinary expenses, laid tax upon tax, and tribute upon tribute upon his subjects, and dying in the end very poor, he left the revenues of his Crown so deeply indebted, that his son Rehoboam was enforced to impose new tributes and taxations, by which he came to lose ten parts of his Kingdom. The holy Prophet jeremy noted this disorder in Eliakim King of juda, the son of josias, Thou allegest (saith he) that the Majesty Royal doth suffer want and necessity; and that for this cause, thou oppressest the poor, the fatherless, and the widow. Thy father, was not he King as well as thou? Did not he maintain the state and greatness of a King? Did he not afford many favours for the ease of his subjects? yet we do not hear any complaint of his grinding of the faces of the poor, nor of his wring and racking of his vassals. Partiality in all things to be avoided. The fourth circumstance, is the equality and fidelity of his Ministers, for although they were but poor, yet did they not regard their private interest. For although many of the guests were known unto them, and that they had been particularly beholding unto some of them, yet did they carry an even hand towards them all. The Ministers of Princes should be like unto the stomach, which doth equally and faithfully repart that which it receiveth, through all the parts of the body. David, that regal Prophet, prints out the stamp of a perfect King; and one of the conditions is, That he should fix his eyes upon Ministers that are faithful, even-handed, full of integrity, disinteressed and true both in their words and deeds. The government of Traian was famoused throughout the world, for that he never suffered to be about him a lying Minister, a covetous thief, nor any that dealt unfaithfully; for from the Minister's unfaithfulness, of force an ill name must fall upon the King. And put case, that we must of force endure one of these two mischiefs, either a bad King, or bad Ministers, it were the less hurt, that the King should be bad. For the Ministers being the King's hands to dispatch all businesses, they would amend what is amiss in his decrees and proclamations, and the like. The faults which in Ministers ought most to be shunned, Ministers of State seldom good, if needy; if covetous, never. and for which they ought most to be reproved, is, to be poor and covetous. For all that is poor, and hath no good estate of his own to trust to, will take away that which is another man's, unless the King shall give him sufficient allowance for to maintain him. And hence it is, that we see many Ministers, who entering into their office with five bare barley loaves, it seemeth unto them that our Saviour Christ hath made them dispensers of his bread, and that it is multiplied by their hands, since that in so short a time they have so many baskets over and above full of bread. When joshua made a partition of the land of promise, and every man was to have his portion proportioned forth unto him, he laid out nothing for himself, expecting that the people should allot him out some convenient share. For as Theodoret hath noted upon that place, Magistrates are not to treat of their own particular profits, but of the common good. The like nobleness and faithfulness Philon hath noted in joseph, who being able (if he would) to have interessed himself in that immense mass of wealth, which by his industry did accrue to the patrimony royal, did not acquire to himself one single penny more than his stipendary allowance from the King. There are some who are like unto Bell's Priests, who devouring the King's treasure, and feeding themselves fat with his wealth, make him believe, that the God Bell did eat up all that which was brought in unto them. The Spleen or Milt in man's body, is the stamp or Hieroglyph of these kind of people, which the fatter it grows, and the more it swells, the feebler and weaker are the rest of the members of the body. Less convenient is that Minister which is covetous, Covetousness never satisfied for though he have never so much, yet is he never satisfied. Valerius Maximus reporteth, That it was propounded in the Senate of Rome, That two persons should be nominated to go for Spain against Viriatus, and the worthiest of the two to be made choice of; the one was Servius Sulpitius; the other, the Consul Aurelius; and the Senators referring the choice to Aemilianus Scipio, to elect him whom he thought fittest for that employment; his answer unto them was, I like of neither of them; for, Alter nihil habet, alteri nihil sat est, The one of them hath nothing, and to the other nothing is enough: not approving the one, because he was too poor; nor the other, because he was too covetous. Your full fed Flies are wont to be less painful to the wounds of the Poor, because their fullness hath its bounds and termination. But this example is nothing to the purpose for your richer sort of Ministers; for your Flies, and so all other birds and beasts, have their limits and bounds in their fullness, whereupon they rest and dwell, as the sea doth in the sand: but your covetous men, the richer they are, the greedier they grow, and more hurtful to the Commonwealth; for a poor Minister will content himself with small matters, but the rich Miser is insatiable. The Prodigal keeping hogs at a Farm-house in the Country, suffered a strange & raging kind of hunger, but when he could get no better food to satisfy the same, he was well content to take part with the Swine. The rich man in the Gospel had the world at will, wanted nothing, neither for his back nor his belly; Thou hast much goods (said he of himself) laid up for many years: but all this would not satisfy his insatiable desire; The Barns are not big enough, & my Granaries too little for my hunger, I will pluck them down and make them bigger. jesus took the Loaves, and when he had given thanks, he, etc. It is first of all to be noted, That our Saviour took the Loaves and the Fishes first into his own sacred hands, that he might thereby show himself to be the author of this miraculous multiplication. Secondly, He did lift up his eyes unto Heaven, in token that he had this power from Heaven. Thirdly, He gave thanks unto the father, as he was Man, because he was pleased to work so great a miracle, for the spiritual and corporal good of man, which he accounted as a kindness done unto himself. Fourthly, He did bless the loaves and the fishes, giving them the virtue and power of multiplication. Fiftly, The partition and division of them, he did put them into the hands of his Disciples, that they might divide them amongst them, and minister them unto them. And all this was a type of the blessed Sacrament. He could have as well created loaves and fishes anew, but then peradventure the people would have thought that God had sent them down from Heaven, as he did rain at the prayer of Elias, or Quails in the Desert, or as Manna; and so they would have diverted their eyes & their thoughts from the virtue of those divine hands. And therefore it was fit & convenient, that he should add an augmentation unto them, but not create them: as at the wedding he turned the water into wine, which he could (if he would) have created anew. Saint Augustine saith, That this multiplication began in the hands of our Saviour Christ; Saint Chrysostome, That it enlarged itself in the hands of the Apostles; Saint Hilary, That it endured till it came to the hands of the Guests: The virtue was all one, but it extended itself to all, that the service might be the better performed, and the miracle made the more notorious and manifest. Our Saviour Christ was willing that this multiplication should be by the hands of his Apostles, for to fasten upon all Clergiemen this liberality & bounty, Clergy men ought to be liberal. in distributing of bread, and doing almesdeeds. A Bishop puts on his Pontificial robes in the Church, and in the Church he puts them off again; and when he comes forth, his office is to enrich the widow with his purse, and to spend his portion upon Orphans and fatherless children. judas returned the money for which he sold his Saviour, to the Temple, and the Priests entering into council, What they should do with it? they decreed, That it should be spent upon the Poor, because it was the price of the blood of the Highpriest, who was the Father of the Poor. Saint Bernard saith, That the Priest that hath his part here upon earth, must not look for a part in Heaven; Si quid habuerit prater Deum, Then God have mercy upon many. pars eius, non erit Deus. Saint Cyril, That when Bishops servants pass up and down the Streets, and enter into unknown houses, he that looks upon them ought to presume, That they go in there to seek after the Poor to relieve them. And Saint john saith, That the Disciples presumed this of judas, job. 13. when our Saviour said unto him, Quod facis, fac citò. Many stick not to say; I shall dye ere long, and then I will give all unto God. What an ill account do these men make (saith Saint Cirill?) All Clergy men have to their heirs those that are their enemies, who every moment desire their death. And because their enemy shall not have it, they say; Let us give it unto Christ. Nihil invenerunt viri divitiarum in manibus suis, The rich found nothing in their hands. Saint Augustine gives the reason, Quia nihil posuerunt in manibus Christi: Because they deposited nothing in the hands of Christ. They did all eat, and were satisfied. Eusebius Emisenus saith, That there was a very savoury contention between five loaves and five thousand men, besides women and children; And that every one did resolve to make an end of their piece of loaf and their fish, as well for to satisfy their hunger as for that it was so savoury to the taste. And in that bread which they thought would have been but two bits a man, they had thirty, and the same imperceptibly and insensibly increasing, those five loaves were too hard for those five thousand persons and their hunger. Our Saviour Christ was herein desirous principally to prove, That in his house, there are all sorts of dainties and fullness. The world seeks to disgrace God's hospitality, and good house-keeping; alleging, that to be his friend, and to dye of hunger, is all one: And, that God is good for heaven, but not for earth: Because he doth interdict their pleasures and delights. This unjust censure of theirs, is repeated by many of the Prophets in the name of the castaways of this world. As Malachy for one; It is in vain to serve God, and what profit is there in keeping his commandments? This is the scoffing and flouting of fools, at those who serve God. Saturati sumus panibus (saith jer.) & benè nobis erat, & malum non vidimus. The Hebrew hath it; Eramus boni, id est, foelices. The Prophet doth reprehend his people, That through their Idolatries they were come to those miseries of their captivity, and that if they did not labour to amend, he would lash them with sharper whips. And this stubborn people replieth; Nay rather, since we have forsaken God, the world goes well with us; for we eat and drink, we are merry, sound and lusty, and happier than before. But since we left of sacrificing to the Moon, our life hath been a continual misery, and a perpetual poverty. Peccavi; quid mihi accidit trifte? Secondly, God was willing to do this for his own honour's sake, and for the good of those whom the world had delivered up into his hands hungry, surbated, and sick. All these he heals, all these he fills, and all these he comforts, to the end that it may remain as a registered and notorious truth, That God is a good God, both in heaven and on earth. When God did descend from the Mount to give the Law, Exodus saith, The children of Israel saw God, and did eat and drink: so that their seeing of God did not put them beside their eating and their drinking. And our Saviour Christ said, That which enters in at the mouth, defiles not a man, And by Esay, My servants shall eat and drink, and be merry, and ye shall perish. Abbot Gilbertus saith, That the Prodigal forsaking his father's house, entered into a stricter kind of order, where he had fasting enough, whereas in his father's house, the very hinds, and meanest of his servants had their bellies full of meat. The world is a Cosiner and a Cheater, it promiseth mountains of gold, The world's entertainment mean and uncertain. but performeth molehills of nifles. Her provision is on the one part very bad, and on the other very poor and miserable. She will give you bread, but it shall be the bread of lying, moulded up with stones and sand. Suaviss est homini pani● m●ndacij, (saith Solomon.) This bread hath a goodly outside, and carries a very fair show with it, but when thou comest to the chewing of it, it will break thy teeth. Postea impl●bitur os eius calculo: Like unto that which they gave unto jeremias when he was in prison. Cibavit me cinere. It is a counterfeit confection to proffer you that wine that shall prove to be your poison. Fel draconum, vinum eorum, venenum aspidum insanabile. What stomach can digest such bad bread, and such bad wine? This seeming fairness, this sophisticated beauty, may very well reui●● the remembrance of Eve's Apple, and that face of the Serpent, which (according unto Beda) had the appearance of a very fair and beautiful Damsel. And Ecclesiast●cus, alluding hereunto saith; Fly from sin as from the face of a Serpent. Ecc. 21. Wherein poison comes covered with a golden coat. Besides, her provision is so poor, that if she should give all to one, she would leave him still as hungry as if she had given him nothing at all. So that he remains hungry, to whom she gives little, & he also to whom she gives much. She gave the Prodigal very little, & he remained hungry. She gave Solomon very much, & it seemed unto him, that all was but air that he had eaten, Vanitas vanitatum, & omnia vanitas. S. Ambrose citeth to this purpose the fable of Midas, who was all his life time hungering after gold, and besought the gods, that whatsoever he touched might be turned into gold; and they granting his petition, he perished through hunger, For his meat and his drink turning itself into gold, his hunger increased upon him, till it had wrought his death. Saint john saith, in his Apocalips, That he saw a black horse, Et qui sedebat super eum, habebat stateram in manu sua. By the black horse, Beda understands sin; by him that sat thereupon, the Devil. The balance which he held in his hand, was not that of justice, but of scaricitie and misery, for to weigh the bread which he gives in allowance to his servants, Apoc. 6. which he delivers out unto them by ounces, and by drams. And anon after he says, that he saw another upon a pale horse, and his name was Death. Who had power to afflict with hunger the four quarters of the world. These were the horsemen on the one side; but there was heard from the other side, a loud voice, which said; A measure of Wheat for a penny, and three measures of Barley for a penny. But ye that take part with the black horse, must not touch neither on the wine nor the oil there mentioned, it is not for your mowing; signifying thereby, that when the vassal of the Devil, of the World, and of the Flesh, perisheth of hunger, the Justice shall have their food good cheap. They eat and were satisfied. There is no mention made in this feast of drink; because meat doth increase thirst, and drink doth quench it. And of God's good blessings we remain always more and more thirsty. Dionysius the Carthusian saith, That he gave unto the loaves and the fishes the virtue and power of quenching their thirst. Liberality must be waited o● by frugality Take up that which is left that the fragments may not be lost. Our Saviour here showed great care for the saving and gathering up of that which was left. First, for to discover the virtue of Alms deeds, as Saint Cyrill observeth it. Saint ●●sten saith, That the field of the poor is the fertilest, For he that sows in that▪ receives a hundred for one: Nor there is not any Merchant that hath so quick a return of gain, and so plentiful, as that husbandman that sows his seed in such a piece of ground. And he that gets least, is he that ventures least. But some one will say, How can I want, or be in need, if I keep my fruits safe under lock and key? etc. I answer, that because thou keepest them so close, thou mayst want them; but if thou shouldst scatter them abroad, thou shouldst have God's plenty. He that sows not, reaps not; Date, & dabitur vobis, Give, Luc. 6. and it shall be given unto you; and if your store shall not increase, Come and blame me; Have I peradventure been to my People like a Wilderness without fruit? jer. 2. The like conceit doth S. Chrysostome touch upon, expounding, Communicating to the necessities of the Saints. Saint Gregory treats the very self same Doctrine, upon that place of job, If I despised him that passed by because he was not clothed. And Saint Ambrose in a Sermon which he makes of Fasting, puts this difference betwixt paying that which thou owest, and giving of alms to the Poor, to whom thou art not indebted; that the one is in profit of him that receives it; the other in profit of him that gives. And therefore in Scripture Alms is called Benedictio, A Blessing, which is that which augments our wealth. Secondly, Our Saviour was willing that they should gather up the fragments, to the end that the greatness of the miracle should be the more notorious, and that they should see of five loves twelve baskets full of what remained, besides that which they carried away in their bosoms, their sleeves, and their pockets, especially your women and your children. And howbeit some of them might keep them as relics of this so rare and strange a wonder, yet the diligence therein used might be very wise and devout. Saint Chrysostome gives us this note, That albeit this miracle ought to have left a firm and assured confidence in every one of them, yet they were so wholly forgetful thereof, that our Saviour was driven afterward to put them in mind thereof, Mat. 16. Marc. 8. and tax them of this their oblivion. There are other moral reasons given for it, writ by diverse upon this place, which I purposely omit. When the men had seen the miracle that jesus did, said, This is of a truth the Prophet that should come into the world. They considering the greatness of the miracle, but not so much potentiam, as qualitatem & novitatem, the power, as the quatie and novelty thereof; they cried out, This is the Prophet whom the World expecteth. Saint Augustine saith, That greater is that miracle which God worketh upon the multiplication of their wheat harvest; but because it is so common, they make no great wonder of it. It is natural unto us more to admire new, than great things. Seneca treating in his Natural Questions, of our extraordinary comets, which do so much amaze the world, saith, That the Heavens, the Stars, the Planets, strike no admiration into us, though it be a marvellous and strange work, because we see it is so ordinary with us. The Sun is the fairest Creature that ever God dispatched out of his hands [Vas admirabile, opus excelsi;] yet the beauty of its beams doth not draw on any admiration; but its Eclipses, because they are rare and seldom. So likewise in the harmony and concord of the Heavens, their influences, and their Stars, together with their disposition, and the beauty of the Orbs; Knowest thou the course of Heaven? etc. The greeks expound this place, of the Clouds; job. 38. Who can declare the nature of the Clouds? Who, it's music and harmony? Who can make the music of the Thunder to cease, or stop the course of the Lightning? etc. And all these, though they be such strange wonders, do not move us to admire them; but upon any change or alteration, we stand astonished at the novelty thereof. When jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him to make him a King, etc. Courteous behaviour is the greatest gain. Our Saviour Christ had gained so much good love and opinion amongst them by this his kindness that he had showed toward them, that after the people were dismissed (as Euthimius hath observed it) they determined to make him their King, not only offering him the Crown, but seeking perforce to set the same on his head. And if the consideration of his miracles had been the occasion thereof, they could not have taken a more discreet resolution; and not only they, but all the world had a great deal of reason to put their helping hand thereunto. For first of all, he is painted forth to be so wise, that all jerusalem was strucken dumb at the wisdom of his words. Fit qualities for a King. Secondly, He was as fair and beautiful to see to, as the Sun in all his glory. Thirdly, He was of that force and power, that he did drive out of his temple with whips and scourges, the greatest power of the world. Fourthly, He was so open handed, so liberal, and so bountiful, that with five Loaves and two Fishes, he did fill the bellies of fifteen or twenty thousand persons. Fiftly, He loved man so well, that for his sake he willingly laid down his life, and offered up his most precious body and blood upon the Crosse. So that there being so many strong and forcible reasons to draw us to love him, Who would not willingly make choice of him to be their King? But let us that are Christians, acknowledge him to be our King, and show ourselves so loving and obedient unto him, that we serving him in holiness and trueness of life, and wholly relying upon his love and favour towards us, may come at the last to be heirs of that his heavenly Kingdom. Which God grant for his mercy's sake. THE XXVI. SERMON, UPON THE MONDAY AFTER THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. JOHN 2. MAT. 21. MARC. 11. LUC. 10. He found sitting in the Temple, sellers of Sheep, Oxen, and Doves, etc. Our Saviour went up to jerusalem to the Passeover, The greatest miracle that ou● Saviour ever wrought, was this. & entering into the temple where the law was read, where the Laity did pray, he met with a most base & vile market, where they sold Sheep, Oxen, Kids, and Doves, Money-changers, and Usurers, having their banks. Wherewith enraged, like a Lion he sets upon the owners of them, upon the beasts, birds, and tables; and making him a whip of the cords that bound their farthels, or those halters wherewith they tied their beasts, there was never any Roman Cohort that did that as he did; he overthrew their tables, scattered their moneys down on the ground, and falling to whipping and scourging of them, he chased them out of his father's House. Saint Hierome and Saint Chrysostome reckon this of all other to be the greatest miracle that ever our Saviour wrought, preferring it before the giving of sight to the Blind, of hands and fee● to the Lame, of life to the Dead, etc. And without doubt it is a thing much to be wondered at, that one single man, and such a one as amongst the jews (especially those of the Temple) was held in such base esteem, should venture to trample them under his feet, and to whip both great and small, and that not any one of them should dare to open his mouth against him. Which was such a discovering of his Omnipotency and Godhead, that we must imagine it to be a most foul fault in them, either not to acknowledge him to be their Messias, or not to lay hold on him and bind him in bonds, for a mad man; as they afterwards said, Sure he is mad. He found them in the Temple selling Sheep and Oxen, etc. The Messias was prophesied in the days of judaism, to be mild, gentle, lovely, and peaceable; Zephan. 2. jer. 11. Esay 16. Es●y 60. Quirite mansuetum, saith Zephaniah: jeremy, Quasi Agnus mansuetus: Esay, Reparabitur in misercicordia solium eius: And in another place, Decl●nabo quasi flwium Pacis. For his first coming was to be in all mildness and peaceableness; and therefore amongst many other circumstances which made this act so famous, the greatest is, That his modesty should so break out beyond its wonted bound●, so many other affronts and injuries having not been able to move his patience. And albeit reprehending the Pharisees, his patience found itself offended, that he did not stick ●o tell them to their face, You are of your father the Devil: & preaching to the People, the hinges of the door to his words did creak, and did noise forth his displeasure, causing great admiration in the hearers, He that hath ears let him hear, etc. yet he never took a whip in his hand, as he did now, to punish either them or their faults; which is a manifest sign and token, that as his divine fury did exceed its bounds, so did the occasions by them given. First of all than let me give you to understand, That God's breast can by no means brook the avarice and covetousness of the Priests. Saint Cyril, Saint Chrysostome, and Saint Augustine say, That those lashes were not only laid on the flocks of Sheep, and droves of Oxen, but also on the Merchants and Priests. And Pope Anacletus, and julius the first, affirm, (which is no more than the Text saith) Eiecit omnes de Templo, He drove them all out of the Temple, as many as there bought and sold: where the Priest's (as it is noted by Beda) reserving those beasts alive, which were offered up in the Temple, they made sale of them for money; some of which beasts did pass from one master to another, ●ix or seven times, like a jewel that is brought into an Almoneda or public outcry, to be sold. Deut. 14. In deuteronomy God commanded, That those that lived far off from the Temple, might make sale of th●ir first fruits and tenths at home, turning it into money; and when they had so done, to take that money along with them, and coming to the Temple, to bestow the same either in Oxen, or Sheep, or Wine, or whatsoever else he had most mind too: but these Priests for their own greater gain, had their cattle and their moneys there in a readiness, for to truck to their advantage, and make profit by putting it forth to use. Now our Saviour Christ not permitting the Merchants to make his Temple a house of contractation, would much less give way that the Ministers of his house should be Merchantmen, and such as should trade and deal in the world. Saint Gregory writing to Nepotianus, saith, Clericum negotiatorem, ex paupere divitem, v●pestem fuge, A Clergy man that shall drive a trade in the world, an● be a great Negotiant, whereby of a poor Minister he becomes a rich Merchant, fly from him as thou wouldst from the plague. Saint Crysostome is of opinion, That a Merchant seldom or never can please God. And in another place he saith, That few of them are saved. And Saint Augustine renders the reason of it, That out of their greediness of gain they live in an everlasting kind of lying, blaspheming at their losses, and forswearing for their profit. And ●s Aristotle saith, There is no great gains without great fraud; Quoniam non cognou● literaturam: Which Saint Augustine renders in another letter to be Negotiationem tuam, introibo in potentias Domini, Because I never traded nor contracted in this dealing and winding of commodities too and fro in the world, I hope through God's mercy, to see myself with him in his glory. And if in a Lay man trading and negotiation be so dangerous; What shall it be in a Clergy man, whom the Cannons of the Council so grievously censure and condemn. The honour of Priesthood. The Priesthood is so sovereign and so divine a calling, that in its pureness, it admits of no Medium in its sliding or slipping, but falls from one extreme to another. And therefore God walks always with a wand of justice in his hand, to beat out the dust of their imperfections. This made him say unto Moses, Sanctificab●r ab iis, qui appropinquant m●hi. Origen discoursing, That God is a fire speaketh in his name, Exod. 28. Qui iuxtà me est, iuxtà ignem est, He that is near unto me, is near unto the fire. Now then, if a Priest being partly apparelled in linen, and partly anointed with oil, shall draw near unto this fire, he had need be very circumspect and careful, that not so much as the least spark thereof light upon him. Paulus Scaliger saith; That the Ancients painting forth a Priest, place in one of his hands, a dial or mariners compass, and in the other the sun. The compass, to show, that he should be the loadstone of the Common wealth. The sun, that he might give such clear light, that no tongue might be able to tax him: That they might make good that saying of Pythagoras; Aduersus solem ne loquaris. And because the clouds of the earth should not darken the pureness of their light, God did ordain, that in the land of Promise, those of the tribe of Levi, to whom the Priesthood did appertain, should have no inheritance allotted unto them. Who then (will you say) shall find them food and raiment? It is answered, The Lord himself is the●r inheritance. Numb. 18. They had the Lords portion amongst them, and did enjoy the fruits of the earth without any labour. Alij laboraverunt▪ & vos in laborem illorum introistis. The Priesthood served them (as Pelusiota saith) as a Mediator betwixt God and man, being bound to serve and honour the one, and to correct, and instruct the other. And therefore this Doctor saith, That the Priest ought to be all eyes, and only blind to Covetousness. But many have turned their eyes into nails, to scratch and scrape together a great deal of wealth. judas out of covetousness sold the Saviour of the world. And would to God he had stayed there. But when he returned the money to the Temple, he recommended covetousness to the Priests, and making them heirs of all that he had, he left nothing for himself, (as the Bishop of Hostia hath observed) but a halter to hang himself. Hence it cometh to pass, that the first step of a Priest, is Covetousness, and even the first desire, wherewith he entereth into those sacred Orders. And when he gets in by this door, you may give him for lost, and count him the child o● perdition. Ezechiel painting forth the abominations of the Temple, places at the entrance of the gate, the Idol of Zeal. The Seventy interpret it, Statuam possidebitis, To wit, the Idol of Avarice. And if the root of all evil be placed thus at the entrance, it is not much that the Temple should be full of abominations within. The second occasion, was the Priests cloaking of this their Avarice, Covetousness worst, when cloaked wit● a show of Holiness. with the colour of Holiness, and service of God. And to make of scandals, services; Gods breast could not brook it. It is the common fashion of the world to disguise a lie, with an appearance of truth, and to daub vice with the colour of virtue; These are the ordinary impostures of Hypocrisy. But some hold them to be so hurtful, that if they should be suffered and borne withal any long time, the world would be utterly undone by it. That a woman should dissemble her evil feature, and the foulness of her skin, with rich and well made clothes, and with borrowed colours, and that her beauty being not her own, but a falsehood and lie from the head to the foot; she should make it to appear as a truth: That a Merchant should carry the name of a very rich and wealthy man, though he owe a great deal more than he is worth: That a Huckster should sell Barajas Olives for those of Seville, etc. Let it pass, Mundus in maligno positus est: It is a naughty world. But that an Apothecary should put upon a box of poison, a Rotulo, or written Scroll of wholesome physic, and say rats bane is sugar, it is not a thing to be endured. Less are we to suffer deceits in the medicines and confections for the soul. He that should have seen the beasts, the birds, the boards, & the store of money that was there, and the great noise of the sacrifices that were there to be made, would have thought it had been the Priest's zeal, divine worship, a relieving of the poor, and an easing of those that came a far off to the Temple▪ that they might with the less trouble perform their devotions, but all this was nothing but covetousness, and their greedy desire of greater gains. And perhaps for this reason, Saint john called it the Passeover of the jews. Erat proximum, Pascha judaeorum, The jews Passeover was at hand. Not my Passeover, but yours; where you do not treat of my honour, but of your own profit, Vias vestras, & sabbatha vestra, odivit anima mea, (saith the Prophet Esay.) And the Prophet Malachi calls these their solemn feasts, dung; Behold, Malac. 2.3. I will cast dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts. Not because they were so in themselves, but because theirayme was their own private Interest, which is no better than a dunghill in the sight of God. The third occasion, was their disrespect to the Temple; where God ever pretended, that his Majesty should be more especially respected. Regna●it deus super omnes gentes, sedet super sedem sanctam suam. The Majesty regal upon earth is respected throughout the whole jurisdiction of his Crown, but much more where he hath his throne and chair of Estate. God, as he is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords over all the nations of the earth, ought much to be respected; but more especially, where he hath his throne in every one of his Kingdoms. In heaven, at the right hand of his father, which is the supreme throne of his greatness and Majesty. In the Synagogue he had the Propitiatory; and in the Temples, josh. 5. the Sacrarium. When the Angel appeared unto joshua with a drawn sword, and commanded him to put his shoes from off his feet, divers grave Doctors do concur in this, that this Angel was the Son of God, as he had before appeared unto Moses in the bush, commanding him the like. Wherein he notified two things unto them: The one; the reverence that they ought to bear to that place, where he did so especially manifest himself; For the ground wherein thou standest is holy ground. By our feet, are meant our affections; by our shoes, our cares. And many nations took from thence the putting off of their shoes, when they entered into the Temple. The other; That against those, who should lose this respect to that place, the sword was drawn to slay them, and fire prepared to burn and consume them. Ezechiel painting out the abominations of the Temple, saith; Behold there came six from the way of the upper gate, which looketh towards the North, and every one of them had, Vasa interfectionis, the vessels of slaughter in his hand. The 70 translate it, Septem secures, Seven hatchets. It is Theodoret's observation, that against all Zenacharibs' Army, God sent forth but one Angel only; but against the prophaners of his Temple, six, according to the number of the days of the Week: because there should not that day pass over their head, wherein some new Executioner or other, should not but rise up to torment them. In multitudine misericordiae tuae introibo in domum tuam, adorabo ad Templum sanctum tuum in timore tuo. Caietan reads it, In multitudine gratiae tuae. He that is predestinated to salvation, hath that respect to God's house, that if he did not persuade himself that he stood in his grace and favour, he would not dare to presume to put his foot within the doors thereof: and should he presume so to do, he would lean himself against the corner of the first pillar he came at, not daring (like the Publican) to lift up his eyes. But your pharasaical Hypocrite makes as bold with god's house as with his own: He lies here and lies there; swears here and swears there; murmurs here and murmurs there; he lives there as if there were no God; and lives here as if God did not see him. And that which causeth the more fear and horror is, That many times they meet at the Church for to treat and talk of their greatest villainies. Saint Jerome against Vigilancius saith, Confiteor timorem meum, I confess my fear. When entering into the Temple of the Martyrs, I conceive any anger or evil thought in my mind; or when sleeping I have had any evil dream, it makes my body and soul to tremble: Now then, when entering into God's house, I quake and tremble when I am to receive, what can I do withal? By Ezechiell, God complains of those rich men that built their houses near unto his, Qui fabricati sunt limen suum iuxta limen meum. joining wall to wall to my house, they have profaned my name with their abominations, And I consumed them in my wrath. Being then, that God cannot endure such bad neighbourhood, Will he bear with those impudencies that as it were in despite, ye do before his face? Saint Jerome hath noted upon Esay, that amongst other things that Solomon offended God in, one was, That he had built up such a high Turret in his palace, that it overtopped the Temple, and did overlook it. For God's house ought not to be inferior to man's; What shall we say then to those that make it a den of thieves? It hath been observed, That all those great and powerful Princes which have presumed to press into God's Temples, have come to an evil end. Sabellicus reports of Pompey, that having been formerly very fortunate, after thathe had presumed to profane the Temple, by entering into the Sancta sanctorum, nothing afterwards prospered with him. The fourth occasion was, Christ's great zeal to his House, The nature of ●●ue zeal. Zelus domus tuae come●it me, The zeal of thy House hath devoured me, or eaten me up. Where it is to be noted, That it is one thing to eat and feed upon the zeal of God's House, and his service; and another thing, to be eaten of it: one while there is an Ecclesiastical; another while a secular judge, which is very diligent in his office, out of the hatred that he hath to Delinquents, and he is held to be a very zealous man. But he eats, grows fat, and waxeth rich with this his zeal; and such a one eats of the zeal of the house of God, but is not eaten of it. But there are others that are dried up and consumed of the zeal which they bear to the Service of God; [Tabescere me fecit zelus meus] who wasting their wealth, their health, and their lives in this their zeal, do more resent the wrongs that are done to God, than those that are offered to themselves. Saint Paul saith, Quis scandalizatur, & ego non uror? Which made Saint Chrysostome to say, That of six hundred thousand miracles, one cannot be found that may be compared with this his zeal: his own tribulations and torments, he calls them Glory; and the offences done unto God, he calls Fire, which burns him. Lo here a miracle, a strange kind of zeal. Zeal is the Child of Love; but it is somewhat more inflamed, and more pure than Love.. To Love we attribute two powerful effects: The one, Love and zeal wherein different. That it is the author of the greatest acts and noblest exploits that man can perform. Esay in his ninth Chapter maketh an enumeration of God's greatest acts, To us a Child is borne, to us a son is given, the government is upon his shoulder▪ etc. And for an upshot of these his glorious acts, he addeth this, Zelus Domini exercituum faciet hoc, The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall do this. Amongst God's attributes, we consider a celestial competency in the greatest mysteries of his life, and of his death; but in the end, Love gets the victory and glory of the day. The second effect of Love is, To convert itself wholly to the service of the thing beloved. He that is enamoured of God, will willingly pardon the injuries that are done to himself; but those that are offered to God, he will never forgive. And Ecclesiasticus renders the reason of it; Cognovi quod in multa scientia, multa sit indignatio, He that hath little knowledge of God, finds himself but little offended, when the Majesty of God is wronged and abused; but he that knows much, is much offended, when offence is offered to the party he loves. A little child is never offended at vice or vicious men: Cum essem parvulus, sapiebam ut parvulus; but a well grown man, will like Mathias, kill an Idolater, or like Phineas, slay a fornicator, and set upon a blasphemer, etc. or upon a whole city, like Simeon and Levi. Et cumfecisset quasi flagellum. God's chastisements here, more in show than substance He made as it were a whip. For the chasticements of God in this life, seem to be whips and scourges, but they are not; Quasi morientes, & ecce vivimus. No like, is the same; & that which is as it were such a thing, is not the thing itself. Our life seemeth to be death, but it is not death; our portion poverty, but it is not so; Sicut egentes, multos autem locupletantes. There are three reasons of this Truth: The one, That these whips come short of those scourges at the day of judgement, which will be most fearful and most terrible. Saint Matthew calls them but the beginning of sorrows, Ha● autem initia sunt dolorum. Those are not sorrows, Mat. 24. which are so soon ended. Of Antiochus his cruelties, whose soldiers slew in three days fourscore thousand persons, captivated forty thousand, and sold as many more for slaves, not pardoning either old men, women, or children; the Text saith, Propter peccata, etc. For the sins of those that inhabited the City, God was a little angry. Of those cruel torments which the Martyrs endured, being fried, roasted, broiled, dragged, quartered, and sawn in sunder; Wisdom saith, Wisd 3.5. They are punished in few things, but in many things shall they be well rewarded. Another reason, Because these whips are not directed to our hurt and perdition, but for our amendment; as judith said in the siege of Bethulia, Haec ipsa supplicia, non ad perditionem, sed ad emendationem evenisse credamus. They are the whips of a father, that will not kill his son, but correct and amend him. And therefore David calls this whip, Virgam Directionis, The rod of Direction. The third and last, Because whips and scourges are perforce; for, to give one a stripe or a lash, you must perforce hold the whip in your hand, and strain yourself thereunto. And therefore it is said, Cum fecisset quasi flagellum. Christ had never a whip about him, the Merchants themselves put it into his hands. Seneca saith, That the nature of the gods are so far from anger either towards others, or in themselves; and of that goodness, clemency, lovingness, and peaceableness, that if they stretch out their arm, or lift up their hand to punish you, you yourselves must force and drive them thereunto by your sins and offences. And therefore Esay saith, Indignatio non est mihi, Quis mihi dabit Spinam & Veprem? Saint Hierome, My People will not believe that I can be angry, they take me to be so good & so loving, that they cannot presume that any anger can proceed from my breast; Who will furnish me with a Thorn or a Bramble, that I may make my People to fear me? job treating of the Devil, said, Ipse est principium viarum Dei, job 40. He is the chief of the ways of God. Saint Thomas saith upon this place, That God hath two ways: The one of mercy. God hath two ways, one of justice, another of mercy. The other of justice. The former is mentioned by David, Vniversae viae Domini, misericordia, & veritas; All the ways of God, are Mercy and Truth. God was Author of the first, by creating man in Paradise, for to translate him from thence to heaven. But the devil running a contrary course, gave the first beginning to the way of justice.. For if there had been no fault, there had been no punishment. Two things Eliphaz told job, when he came to comfort him: The one; That God was never Author of the death of the righteous. The other; That many sinners perished at the breath of his nostrils. Quin potius inveni multos, flante deo perijsse. Where, by the way, Saint Gregory hath noted, That for to breath, outward air is necessary; the air must be without; so that thou art he, that makest thine own rod, and that providest materials for God. According to that of Solomon, Prou. 5. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his own sin. The gluttony made the whip for thy gout; thy uncleanness, for thy pocks; thy sweats and colds, for thy sciatica; thy paintings, for thy Migraines in the head, thy wrinkles in thy forehead, and the stinkingness of thy breath; thy Covetousness, for thy insatiable and unquenchable thirst; and thy ambition, for thy continual torment. The King of Tyrus said; Deus ego sum; I am a God, But God hereunto made answer; Producam ergo ignem in medio tui, Ezech 28. 1●. I will produce a fire in the midst of thee. Whereupon Theodoret saith; Thy pride and ambition shall be the twigs that shall make a rod to lash thee. And from hence we may collect these two things. The one, That for God to make an end of a sinner, neither thunders, God needs no weapons to destroy the wicked. nor lightnings, nor earthquakes are necessary; but that the breath of his mouth, or the twinkling of his eye, is sufficient. In thered sea he did turn but his eye upon Pharaoh, and presently overturned all his Chariots. That which is to be feared, is that hand wherein the whip is: A hempen cord is more to be feared in the hand of a valiant man, than a dagger in the hand of a child. Miseremini mei, miseremini mei, sal●ēvos amici mei, quia monaus Domini tetigit me. job called all his stripes, The touch of God's hand; and this is that which ought to be feared. The other, is the whip of Hell, those here are but gentle stripes, and short; but those in Hell full of torment, and more heavy. First, for that the latter are eternal, A fire is kindled in my rage, and it shall burn, even to the lowest hell. So that a worse misery cannot be imagined. Our Saviour Christ said to Magdalen; Optimam partem elegit sibi Maria, Mary hath chosen the better part; And the reason was, Non auferetur ab ea in aternum, It shall continue with her for ever. But of the damned we may say, Pessimam partem elegit, All pains but pastimes to those of hell. He hath chosen the worse part, for that his torment shall endure for ever. Secondly; for that the former are more gentle. For there is no pain in this life, which hath not some declination: And therefore your sorrows upon earth are compared to rivers that ebb and flow. But Hell is like a standing pool, that is always at one and the same stay. And therefore it is said in the Apocalips, Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. Take these things hence, make not my father's house, a house of merchandise, etc. Twice (as it is observed by Saint Augustine) did our Saviour Christ work this miracle. The first; when he first began to preach. The second; towards the time of his passion. Of the first; Saint john only makes mention. Of the second; the rest of the Evangelists. And albeit the circumstances of the doing thereof were not one and the same, yet the occasions were both alike. So that if we shall sum them up both together we shall see in our Saviour Christ the print or stamp of a most perfect Prince, who proceeded with exceeding great equality, without accepting of persons, or any other partiality in the world. Not permitting that either hatred, love, fear, or his own private interest (which, according to Isidore) are those four enemies to justice) should make the beam of the balance to sway awry. There is not any business of greater difficulty in the world, than to govern, it is the Art of Arts; and the Science of Sciences; not only, because to hit the vain aright of such v●rious dispositions, is a thing as it were impossible, so inscrutable a thing is the heart of man: but also, for that man amongst all other creatures is the most ungrateful, and forgetful. In that pretention of the Priesthood, there was great debate and contention amongst God's people; for the better according whereof, and to appease this tumult, God commanded, that every one should put a rod or wand into the Tabernacle, and that which they should find to be budded forth the next morning, he whose it was, should enjoy that dignity. And in the end, there was but one only rod that was budded. Gregory N●ssen asks the question, Why in the passage of jordan, God commanded, That every Tribe should put a stone into the bed of the river; and would here have but one only rod to bud? whereunto he makes answer; That it is not much, that the remembrance and acknowledgement of a common benefit should be common: but to govern with perfection, & for the budding forth of such fair flowers, it is enough, if amongst many there be but one to be found. For this is a white crow, a black swan, etc. And it was fit that the person of our Saviour Christ should be a pattern and example which they should look upon and imitate, who govern the world; to the end, that though they do not attain to the perfection of government, nor reach to the true height thereof; yet at least, they may love it and desire the same; according to that of Wisd. Love justice, ye that judge the earth. Many things may he that governs, draw from this pattern. Magistrates must be bold in reforming public abuses. The first is; Courage and Valour. There was not that man, though never so valiant in jerusalem, no nor in the whole world, whom the authority of the Priests would not make to turn cow. And here our Saviour Christ with a whip of cords chases them all away, leaving them amazed, ashamed, and confounded. The Scripture blazons out the noble deeds of David, and the valiant Acts of his Captains. Ecclesiasticus saith; That David played with Lions as with Kids, and with Bears as with Lambs. Eccles. 47. 2. Reg. 23. 1. Chron. And that Adino of Ezni, one of his mighty men, slew eight hundred at one time. That Abishai the brother of joab, lifted up his spear against three hundred and slew them. That Benaiah slew two mighty Giants of Moab, and slew a Lion in the midst of a pit in the time of Snow; and another Egyptian man of great stature; he having a spear in his hand, and the other but a staff, Virum dignum spectaculo: Who had a lance like a Weaver's beam. All these were famous acts; but none of them came near to that of Samson, who with the jawbone of an ass, did set upon three thousand armed Philistims which came to take him, & slew a thousand of them. God had famous Captains amongst his people, who with celestial fury did set upon his enemies, killed men of moustrous might and stature, and valiant huge Giants. But that one with a whip only should cast out such a rabble of jews, force out so many merchants, and drive so many Priests out of the Temple, none but our Saviour could do this. If (saith Saint Jerome) with a bare whip in his hand, such a fearful number fled from his presence, What terror shall he cause in the day of judgement, when with a naked sword in his mouth, he shall pronounce the sentence of eternal death? He that shall not assume valour and courage unto him, and shall not put on a stout resolution in reforming public abuses, let him not govern at all, Noli quaerere fieri judex, nisi virtute valeas irrumpere iniquitatem. If thou dost not find in thyself spirit and mettle, to cast down to the ground (laying aside all humane respects) those gross abuses that are not to be borne withal, though the multitude should never so much oppose thee, seek not for the Vara or Rod of a judge. job. Si expavi ad multitudinem nimiam, & despectio propinquorum terruit me, Let this and that plague light upon me, etc. But if neither the people's multitude, nor my friends and kins folks importunity, could prevail with me to make me pervert justice, and to fail in the execution of good government, why then o Lord, etc. A●hish King of the Philistimes, banished David out of his Kingdom, though he knew how much his person did import him, for fear of his Prince's displeasure. Vivit dominus, quia rectus es, sed satrapis non places. Here was a cowardly King. The second thing, that he that governs may draw from this pattern, is; Magistrates must heed morethe conversion of the offendor than the correction of his offence. A true weight and measure in punishing. To those that sold the Doves, he said, Auferte ista hinc, For this was not in itself an unlawful kind of trading, had it not been in regard of the place. Besides, they were poor people, and if there were any indulgence or favour to be shown in those scourges of our Saviour, it should have been used towards them. But some judges, Dan palos de ciego; bestow their blows like blind men; so as they hit some body, they care not whom. The Fruiterer sells fruits that are not ripe; Go thou and root up all the trees that are in his garden. There are many, in drinking wine, that take a cup too much, go thou presently, & pluck up the Vines. Plutarch in his book of moral Virtues, reports, That Lycurgus commanded the same to be done in Thrace. A madheaded Colt, that is wild and kickish, it is not good counsel to kill him, but to break him of his knavish qualities and to make him tame and gentle. Nor is it good advice to destroy the Vines, but that men should be brought to drink moderately, and to temper their wine with water. In a word, The delinquent ought not always to be cut off and destroyed, but to be brought to amendment. And it is very fit and convenient, that a judge should now and then dissemble, and make as though he did not see. Nun dissimulavi, nun silui, nun quievi, saith job. Saul in the beginning of his reign was a very good King, Puer unius anni erat Saul, cum regnare caepisset. Saul was a child of a year old, when he began to reign, so humble and meek minded was he then, and though he were wronged very much, and much evil spoken of him behind his back, Dissimulabat non audire, He would take no notice of it, 1. Reg. 10. but made as if he knew of no such matter. The book of Wisdom saith, That God doth dissemble our sins, Sap. ●1. 20. and maketh as though he saw not the sins of men, because they should amend. And the Apostle Saint Paul saith (taxing the Athenians of that idolatrous Altar of theirs, whereon was written, Unto the unknown God;) That the time of this their ignorance God regarded not, Act. 17.30. but now he admonisheth all men every where to repent. But when a judge is forced and driven to punish, the best course is (if he can) to work the offenders amendment. Mercy to be preferred before justice. If our Saviour Christ should have whipped the Doves, they would have flown up and down the Temple, and that was no good means for to drive them forth. And if a Governor shall at any time exceed, the excess of pity is the less evil. Saint Gregory saith, That false justice, is all indignation; and that true justice, is full of compassion. The glorious Doctor Saint Ambrose calleth Mercy, The better part of justice; and that out of the bowels of justice, Mercy is begot. Saint Gregory, That the one without the other, is lame and imperfect. In the Ark of the Testament, Aaron's rod and the pot of Manna were placed together, Severity and Softness, justice and Mercy; which ought to be the judge's Compass whereby he is to shape his course. One of the severest punishments which is in the holy Scripture, is that which Zacharie painteth forth touching impiety, Zac. 4. in the Ephah, which was a kind of pot or measure containing some ten pottles, being stopped close with abal of lead of the weight of a Talon, and a woman sitting in the midst thereof, whose name was Wickedness. And lo there came out two women, and took up this pot by the two ears from the ground, and carried it to the land of Shinar. Great were the Idolatries of this his People, and it was fit that they should be severely punished; yet notwithstanding, these two women that carried this pot into a strange Country, had wings like a Kite, quasi alas Milui; which make many planes, and a smooth flight: but the word in the original derive these wings from another Bird, which signifieth Pity. And therefore Montanus renders it thus, Ala● Ciconiae, They had wings like the wings of a Stork; Which is held to be a Fowl full of pity. Of some rigorous judges the Delinquents may very well say, Would to God that my punishments and my faul●s were weighed together in a balance, than would plainly appear to the eye of the World, with what inequality the judge hath proceeded against me. The third thing for our learning, which we may draw from hence, is, That our Saviour proceeded more severely and more rigorously against your Usurers and Money-changers, breaking and throwing down their tables, and scattering abroad their money. First, Because in itself, and it's own nature, it was an unlawful kind of trading, and therefore fit that the occasion thereof should be taken away, and have no longer footing, especially in the Temple. Secondly, Because money is a thing that clingeth close to the heart of man. The glorious Doctor Saint Chrysostome did weigh this well, in that case of his, who stole the wedge of gold in the spoils of jericho. joshuah turning himself towards the Sun and the Moon, he said unto them, Sol contra Gabaon ne movearis, & Luna, contra vallem Ayalon. He made likewise a Proclamation, That none should privily convey away any gold, silver, or other prisall. Achan lighted on a wedge of gold, took it up, and hid it. Where he observeth, That the Sun and Moon obeying the order and command of this valiant Captain, one of his own soldiers refused to obey him, and only because the wedge of gold was wedged too close to his heart. He likewise threw their money about, and scattered it all abroad, in token, That when the covetous man lest thinks on it, Divitias quas devoraverat, evomet, & de ventre eius extrahet illas Deus, He shall vomit up the riches which he hath swallowed, and God shall pluck them out of his belly. In ancient time they did stamp or engrave upon their coin an Ox, a creature that in his feeding goes still backward: which is the hieroglyphic or emblem of a covetous man, Prou. 23. who the more he eats, the more backward he goes; Set not thy eyes nor thy thoughts upon riches; for when thou least thinkest of it, they shall betake them to their wings like an Eagle, and shall fly up to heaven. Riches that are ill gotten, fly up to God's tribunal seat, and there like so many fiscals or busy Attorneys, accuse thee for an unjust possessor of them, and cry out as loud against thee, as the blood of Abel against his brother Cain. Old sores requi●e much scraping. The fourth thing that we may draw from this pattern, is, That a Prince ought more sharply to correct those abuses and vices which are grown old through custom; especially those of your great and powerful Ministers, who commit them without controlment by public authority. God deliver us from those Ministers who sell that for their private profit, which they are bound to do gratis out of their Office; and from that Priest which makes sale of the administration of the Sacraments; from that Confessor that will be sound paid for his Absolution; From that judge that will be bribed before he will do justice; and from that Secretary that makes suitors come off roundly for their quicker dispatch. These be things that send many of them quick to hell. The Pharisees should have kept their Temple clean from all covetousness, have banished your Merchant's banks, and have favoured and graced those their Sacrifices; in stead whereof they sold those beasts that were to be offered, made money of them, and put the same forth to use and profit, as others did. Ezech. 22.26. Sacerdotes eius, contempserunt legem meam, & à sabbatis mois overterunt oculos suos, & coinquinabar in medio eorum, The Priests of my Temple have broken my Law, and have defiled my holy things; They have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither discerned between the unclean and the clean; and have hid their eyes from my sabboth's, and I am profaned amongst them. Where I would have you by the way to weigh that same word, coinquinabar. For the Ministers of a State being thieves, they make their Lord & Master likewise a thief, thou hast made my house a den of thieves, by being thyself a companion of thieves: According to that of Esay, Socij furum. And therefore Christ lasheth them with whips; a sitting punishment for thieves. Saint Jerome saith, That he is a thief, and makes the Church a den of thieves, Qui lucrum de religione reportat, Who out of the duty of his Ecclesiastical dignity, makes private gain and profit to himself. Saint Gregory is of the same mind. And as Theodosius the Emperor said: Quid poterit esse securum, si sanctitas as incorrupta, corrumpatur? What can be secure, if incorrupted Sanctity shall be corrupted? Which is all one with that of job; That a Governor should rob widows, and devour their houses, being bound to defend and protect them; job. 24. that he should strip that poor man naked whom he ought to clothe; this is a great cruelty. There is a curse that lies upon them that shall lead away the Ass of the fatherless, and take the widow's Ox to pledge, that shall rise early for a prey, cause the naked to lodge without garment, and without covering in the cold, and to pluck the fatherless from the breast, etc. It is so due a debt which Princes owe, to favour, succour, and defend the right of the poor, of the fatherless, and of the widow, that Cassiodorus in his thirty nine epistle, saith, That it is as needless and superfluous a business to ask it at his hands, as to sue to that which is heavy to descend downward, or to that which is light to ascend upward. But Saluianus lamenting the miseries of his times, complaineth, That your great and powerful Ministers, in stead of complying with their obligation, and in stead of favouring and defending their poor Vassals, sell them justice at a dear rate: Verifying that lamentation of jeremy, Aquam nostram pecunia bibimus, & ligna nostra praetio comparavimus, Selling unto them the water of their wells, and a stick of fire from their hearthes'. And would to God they would but sell their water and their wood, as others use to do at common and ordinary rates; for then there would something remain to the buyer: but there is a new kind of tyranny now adays, Sale of offices, the ruin of a Kingdom. he that sells, wraps and wrings all he can unto him, but returns nothing; takes all, but gives not a dodkin to the poor: whereas he that buys, gives all that he hath, and receiveth nothing. And therefore in that Country or Kingdom where the Great ones are all so generally bad, it is no great wonder, that Religion, justice, and whatsoever else belonging to government, should be sold and set forth to sale. jeroboam made of the lowest of the people, Priests of the high places. Who would give most money might consecrate himself, and be of the Priests of the high places which; thing (as the Text saith) turned unto sin to the house of jeroboam, even to root it out and destroy it from the face of the Earth. Simon Magus sought to buy the grace of the holy Ghost: What his graceless pretention came to I need not tell you, Act. 3. you knowing already how dear it cost him. The Emperor justinian said, That the selling of justice in a Commonwealth was the utter undoing of it: for why should not that judge or Officer rob and steal, who paid so great a sum of money for his Commission? What would a Thief, an Adulterer, or a Murderer care, if he knew he might redeem his offence with money? He that buys, must of force sell; So said Alexander Seu●rus: And therefore he would never consent (as Lampridius reporteth it) that any office, at least of jurisdiction, should be sold in the Empire. The Priests therefore of the Temple selling the said oblations, it is not much that our Saviour should whip them, and that he should call them thieves. The last thing that a governor may draw from this pattern, is perseverance. There are many which are (as the Gloss hath upon the decretals) Primo fer●ens, & postea deficiunt, Hot at first, and afterwards grow cold. When they are a little warm in their place, they flag and fall off, punishing one, and freeing another, and both unjustly: They wink at thieves and robbers on the high way, they cancel Deeds, falsify Records, conceal Writings, alter Evidences, foist in false indictments, set delinquents at liberty, facilitate causes, and a thousand the like disorders, to the great detriment and disauthoritie of justice.. And therefore they make the Crane, the Hieroglyph of a good judge, which never changes his plumes, but is all of one and the same colour, both in his youth, and in his age. Out of this History, I shall infer three or four conclusions. The first, if the selling of birds, and beasts in the Temple, be so offensive in the sight of our Lord God: What shall the selling in the Church be, of benefices and Ecclesiastical dignities? Who although they make no public sale of them, or open profession of it; yet do these men sell Doves in the Temple, Qui de impositione manus pretium accipiunt, Hinc enim est, quod sacri Canones symo●iacam haeresim damnant. The second, If God so punish this slight respect which is shown to his Temple, where there was neither the Ark of the Testament, Aaron's rod, the pot of Manna, nor the book of the Law; How will he punish the profaning of that Temple, where himself is consecrated in the Sacraments of his blessed body and blood, and where his holy word is preached? The third, If he be so highly offended with the profaning of a dead Temple; what will he say to the profaning of that living Temple of thy soul, which he made choice of for his delight & recreation? Delitia meae, esse cum filijs hominum. Origen expounding that place of Exod. Dominus Zelotes nomen ei●●, saith, That there is not any thing that puts more jealousy into God's bosom, than that soul which after it hath received Baptism, confessed the Faith, and made a marriage with God by receiving his blessed Sacraments, should afterwards become a whore to the Devil, the World, and the Flesh. The last, If he did drive out of this earthly Temple, the Merchants and Priests, in this sharp and severe manner and with such a deal of disgrace; Apoc. 22. What will he do when he shall come to cast them out of that glorious Temple of Heaven, Foris, canes impudici, Out with these dogs. And till they come thither, Apoc. 22. the good and bad fishes shall be both together; the chaff and the corn, the tares and the wheat; the ministers of Christ, and the priests of Beliall. But then, that powerful voice of the judge, pronouncing this heavy sentence, Ite maledicti in ignem aeternum, shall separate the one from the other with an eternal banishment. Destroy this Temple, and in three days, I will build it up again. The turbation of this scourging being overpast, the jews came unto our Saviour and asked him, Quod signum ostendis nobi●▪ quod haec facis? What sign showest thou unto us, that thou dost these things? The rest of the Evangelists renders it thus, In qua potestate, haec faci●, By what power or authority, dost thou do these things? Seeming tacitly to grant, that it was ill done, and worse permitted, that any market should be kept there. But because it did not appertain unto all to amend those things that are amiss, but to him that hath power & authority so to do, they said to him; Whereby wilt thou make it appear unto us, that thou dost not usurp another man's office, and meddle with that which belongs not unto thee? Whereunto our Saviour answered, Soluite Templum hoc, & in tribus diebus excitabo illud. In which words he did prefigure forth unto them, his Death, and Resurrection. Which were two such Mysteries, as did most discover all God's Attributes. Touching his death our Saviour had said already, Si exaltaveritis filium Hominis, cognoscetis quia ego sum. But they were like blind men, groping against a wall, in this knowledge of his person. And therefore he said unto them; When ye shall have lifted me up upon the Cross, ye shall then know, Quis ego sum, Who I am. Which ego sum, is a blazon, only belonging unto God: and this the Cross did discover. Zacheus clambered up upon a tree, that he might see our Saviour Christ, as well in regard that he could not come near unto him for the press of the people, the throng was so great; as also by reason that he was but a little man, and of a low stature. Whereupon Origen gives this note, That there are not any Giants in the world, no not the tallest of them all, but are Pigmies and dwarves when they come to look God in the face; and must be fain to clamber up to those fair goodly trees of the virtues, & to the top bough of perfection; which will cost us a great deal of trouble and labour, before we can get up so high. And therefore our Saviour Christ to save us so much pains, and that we maywith greater ease come unto him, he saith, Exaltate, etc. Put me up upon the Cross, and not only you, that boast yourselves of Learning, and Religion, but the ruder rabble, those soldiers that whipped me, and those that did execution upon my body shall come to know me. And this shall be your Cognoscetis quia ego sum. These words, Vidimus gloriam eius, gloriam quasi unigeniti à patre, We have seen his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father. Saint Chrysostome declares them of his death; for than he showed himself of what house he came, and whose son he was. Saint Paul saith, If they had known what they had done, they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory. Where Chrysostome observeth, That in a gallant season they called him the Lord of Glory, having never before showed himself such a glorious Lord, as then: His arms stretched out upon the Cross, were those two spreading wings wherewith he flew up to Heaven; and under which he did clock and defend us here upon Earth from the rapine of the Devil, as the Hen doth her Chickens from the Kite. S. Jerome, and Hugo Cardinalis, allege upon this occasion that verse of David, Et sub pennis eius sperabis. As also that place of Malachi, Orietur vobis sol justitiae, & sanitas in pennis eius. And the Sun pulled in his head as well for shame as sorrow, when he saw another Sun to appear, that was greater than himself, whose beams spread abroad salvation to the whole World. The Title of the fourth Psalm is, Pro sanguinolento, For the bloody man. Another letter hath it, Danti aternitatem, To the gi●er of eternity; The one agreeing well with the other, for that Sanguinolentus, to wit, our Saviour that suffered for us upon the Cross, and there shed his blood for the Remission of our sins, was that which did dare nobis aeter●itatem, gi●e us eternity. 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 upon the neck of it, Soluite templum hoc, etc. Where it is noted by Saint Cyril, That our Saviour did not command them to destroy his body, but did thereby advise them, what they would do unto him; Ye shall destroy the Temple of my body, and I will build it up again the third day, and this shall be a manifest, a certain, and a sure sign unto you. Other his Miracles, though they were signs sufficient enough, yet were they not so effectual, because by those other, the converted were but few; but in the Resurrection, they were without number, Act. 2.3.4.5. as it appeareth out of the Acts. Our Saviour Christ's answer was somewhat of the darkest to their clouded understanding. And albeit they drew from thence a different sense and contrary meaning, yet might it serve as a sign unto them, that he was able to do that which he did. And they that would deny, that he could destroy the Temple, and build it up again in three days, which was but a material Temple; would more stiffly deny, that he could dye, and rise again the third day, by his own virtue and power. Saint Matthew accuseth these men to be false witnesses. Hic dixit, (which was the jews accusation) Possum destruere Templum Dei. First; because they did wrest the sense and true meaning of our Saviour. Secondly; because they did alter and change the words. Thirdly; because their proceeding against him was malicious. Whence I may read this lesson to your Lawyers, your Registers, and your Scriveners, That one Tiled, or Tittle, may condemn them of falsehood. When our Saviour Christ said of Saint john, Si cum volo manner donec veniam, quid hoc ad te? john. 21. If I will that he tarry till I come, (when Peter was so inquisitive of him, what should become of the Disciple whom he loved, and leaned in his bosom) what is it to thee? Do thou follow me. Then went this word straight amongst the brethren, That this Disciple should not dye. But the Evangelist did correct this their mistake, For jesus said not to him, He shall not dye; But if I will that he tarry till I come, job. 6. job. 11▪ what is that to thee? job said, Ye shall not find iniquity in my tongue. But Zophar, one of his friends laid it to his charge; Dixisti enim, Purus est sermo m●●●, & mundus sum in conspectu tuo, For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes. And albeit it may seem, that he charged him herewith upon his own confession, yet Saint Gregory gives it for a calumny and slander, because Zophar had altered and changed his words. God make us so pure both in Doctrine and life, that when this Temple of our bodies shall be destroyed, it may by the mercy of our Saviour jesus Christ be raised again. THE XXVII. SERMON, UPON THE TVESDAY AFTER THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. JOHN 7.14. jam die festo mediante, etc. Now when the Feast was half done, jesus went up into the Temple and taught, etc. Seven continued days one after another, the Feast of the Tabernacles was celebrated in the chief city jerusalem, which was one of the three principal Passovers of the jews: solemnising the same in remembrance of that benefit which God did to that People, in leading them forty years through the Desert, Levit. 25. not having any house wherein to dwell, and yet not wanting tents or booths wherein to lodge themselves. To this Feast came all of all sorts, from all parts of the land of Promise, building themselves Cabins in the fields. josephus saith, That they used Tents, from whence they went to the Temple, and performed their Offerings for their families, according to their ability. Christ came on the Tuesday to this Solemnity: of this opinion is Saint Augustine; though some others are of the mind, that he came thither at the very beginning of the Feast, though he did not make himself known till he saw a more convenient time. He preached to the People; and so deep was his Doctrine, that the jews wondering thereat, said one to another, Quomodo hic literas scit, cum non ded scerit? How knoweth this man the Scriptures, seeing that he never learned? And howbeit this their voice of admiration was secret, and whispered in the ear from one to another, yet Christ made answer thereunto in public, showing therein the pledges and tokens of his Divinity; saying openly unto them, My Doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me: He that shall truly endeavour to do his will, shall know it is his; but he that preacheth his own proper doctrine, seeks after his own honour and commendation; but he that preacheth God's Doctrine, can neither lie nor offend therein. The jews did lay a double slander upon him: The one, Seducit turbas, He seduceth the People. The other, Sabbathum non custodit, He keeps not the Sabbath. But this his answer gives a blur to them both: Moses (saith he) gave you a Law, and yet none of you keepeth the Law, Why go ye then about to kill me? For ever since that he cured him that lay so long at the Fish-poole, they sought after his life. In a word, this muttering and whispering of theirs tended only to the apprehending of him; but not any one of them dur●●●y hands upon him, because his hour was not yet come, and many of the People being won by his miracles and his doctrine, believed in him. jesus went up into the Temple, and taught, etc. One of the greatest benefits which the world received by our Saviour's coming, was, That he reading in Heaven's Chair, to so wise and discreet a company, who by only reading in the book of his Essence, were instructed in all kind of truth; did not for all this disdain to become a Schoolmaster to little children here upon earth, accommodating the profoundness of his deep learning, to our rude and weak capacity; accomplishing that of Saint john, Erunt omnes docibiles Dei, They shall be all taught of God. joh. 6.40. And this may be verified of those Angels and blessed Saints that are in Heaven, and of those faithful ones that are upon earth: for the very self same truths he taught them in the Temple of his glory, which he did these other in his Church; only differenced in this, That they see them, and we believe them. Many Doctors have sat and read in their Chair here upon earth, but because they drank not of the water of his Doctrine in this School, but in the du●tie puddles of lies and falsehoods, job 13. they were, as job saith, The farmers of lies, and the followers of perverse opinions. And as there are Artisans for Idols, which carve them, gild them, and adore them; so are there Artisans of lies and false opinions, which frame them, set them forth with painted eloquence, and adore them, as if they should guide them to the end of their happiness. He taught. The Evangelist doth not here set down the Theme of his Sermon: Wisd. cap. 8. but in the Chapter of Wisdom Solomon saith, She teacheth soberness and prudence, righteousness & strength, which are the most profitable things that men can have in this life. Christ's doctrine pleasing and profitable Two things the Scripture doth every foot repeat of this celestial Doctor: The one, The profitableness of his Doctrine, Ego Dominus doce●s utilia, so saith Esay, I am the Lord thy God, which teach thee to profit, and lead thee by the way that thou shouldst go. Esay 48.17. job. 8. And Saint john saith, Verba quae loquor, spiritus & vita sunt, The words which I speak are spirit and life. The other, The elegancy and sweetness of his delivery, Diffusa est gratia in labijs tuis; such heavenly dew did drop from his lips, and diffuse itself in that abundant and plentiful manner. Which graces of his poured forth thus gracefully, Cant. 5.13. the Spouse toucheth upon in the Canticles, His lips are like Lilies dropping down pure myrrh. In the Lilies is painted forth our Saviour's beauty; in the Myrrh, the profit we reap from him, which is very great; Myrrh being a principal preservative against corruption. Mirabuntur omnes. Wisdom despised of none but fools. They all marvelled, etc. S. Chrysostome and Saint Cyril are of the mind, That this admiration was amongst those that were the most incredulous of all that company. It is an ordinary thing in your hearers, when they hear a famous Preacher, to admire him, acknowledging his Doctrine to be so deep, that it exceedeth man's capacity: for Wisdom is so superexcellent and so divine a thing, that in whomsoever it is found, it causeth great admiration; Things high and eminent shall not be so much as mentioned in comparison of her, job 28. Prou. 3. so saith job. And Solomon, It is to be preferred before all riches. Every man doth prize and esteem it save the Fool: he that is most wise, doth most honour the Wise; but he that is a Fool, makes little reckoning of those that are wise. Fools hate knowledge. Prou. 1. Homer styles wise Apollo, a god multarum manuum, of many hands, because he hath a hand in every thing; a hand for to lighten the blind understanding, a hand for to guide the soul in the way of virtue; a hand for to govern the Commonwealth, and to appease the tumults and rebellions rising therein; a hand to conserve the same in peace. In a word, as Apollo, who is the Sun, by expatiating and spreading abroad his beams through diverse parts both of sea & land, gives a being and a life to all things; to metals in the veins of the earth, to pearls in the shells of the sea, to trees, plants, birds, beasts, men, etc. so a wiseman is Vita generalis reipublicae, The general life and livelihood of a Commonwealth. Themistius calls him Deum, a God. Horace, Rex Regum, a King of Kings, etc. And if any man shall say with Saint Paul, Scientia inflat, 1. Cor. 8. That Knowledge and Wisdom puffeth up, and affords matter unto man of pride and arrogancy; Clemens Alexandrinus answers thereunto, That the word Inflat doth likewise enforce, that it doth breath and inspire into us noble and generous thoughts. Filijs suis vitam inspirat, saith Ecclesiasticus: The Greek Text renders it, Exaltat, Euebit. Eccl. 4. Wisdom exalteth her children, it gives them a new kind of Being, new hearts, new resolutions, to undergo glorious enterprises: In a word, Qui illam diligit, diligit vitam, He that loves her, loves his l●fe. So that if it be an occasion of arrogancy, it is not so in itself, but by accident, when it lights on an insolent breast, which converts good into evil. Your Kings and Princes have in all ages honoured wise men with great titles & preferments; and not only your wise & prudent Princes, but those of meaner parts and abilities, and even your worse sort of Kings. Dionysius the Tyrant sent to Plato (that he might come to see him) one of his fairest Galleys, with store of dainty provision, and well accompanied; and at the Haven where he was to land, had provided a Coach with four horses to be ready to receive him, that he might come in the greater pomp to his Palace: and all this honour he was willing to do him, for that he was a wise man. And if such men as he should cause such admiration in the world, What admiration must he raise in men's minds, in whom all the treasures of God's wisdom were deposited? Whence we may consider, that if a few drops of that sovereign fountain did strike the People into such admiration; when in Heaven we shall see the fullness of that river, or rather immensity of that great sea, What admiration must it needs move? Yet notwithstanding Saint Augustine saith, Mirabantur omnes, sed non omnes convertebantur, They were wonder-strucken, but not spirit-strucken; many did admire, but few were converted. The like success for the most part have the Sermons of your famous Preachers: Ezechiel reporteth, That it fell out so with himself; That morning (saith he) that he was to preach, the citizen's would call to one another saying, Let us go and hear the Prophet, let us see what new thing will now come from him: they enter in thronging, sit them down, bear themselves very gravely, and hearken diligently to my words, but are far off from putting them in execution, being only unto them like a smooth verse, or a musical Song, with a sweet and pleasing heir; nor was there any, of that harsh ear, who will not one while commend the voice, another while the tone; this man, the ditty; that, it's air; but go not a step further, setting up their rest there. Music passes along by the door at midnight, it wakens thee, thou ●isest out of thy bed, thou gettest to the window, thou hearest it, thou takest delight in it; but when it is gone out of thy hearing, thou returnest back again to bed, layest thee down, and fallest again asleep, as if thou hadst heard no such thing at all. Levani oculos meos (saith Zachary) I turned me, Zachar. 5. and lifted up mine eyes, and looked; and behold a flying book. Then said he unto me: This is the curse that goeth forth over the whole earth. Sa●nt Gregory saith, That this book is the sacred Scripture, wherein (as Lyra notes it) are written the curses and chastisements against the sinful men of this world. A flying book. When there doth appear in the air any new strange sight, the Vulgar, he wonders at it; the wise man, he is afraid of it; because it is a usual prognostication of miseries and disasters. As those fearful fightings that were seen in the air in the time of the Maccabees, your Comets, your Crucifixes of fire, and your showers of blood. The like effect doth God's word work, Some stand wondering at it, and some grow sad upon it. The Seventie translates it: Vidi falcem volantem, I saw a flying sickle; Which (as Pierius noteth) signifieth the time of Harvest. Mitte jam falces, qu●●iam maturae sunt messes, Thrust in your sickles, for the harvest is ripe. In token, that when the word of God, and the malediction in holy Scripture comes to be little or nothing at all regarded, and when the earth in stead of corn, brings forth nothing but thistles and thorns, james 1. it is high time to cut it down. Saint james compares the word of the Lord to a lookingglass. And Saint Bernard calls it the Looking-glass of Truth, which nor flatters, nor deceiveth any man: But he that shall look therein, shall find himself to be the same he seems. Saint A●gustine hath in a manner the very same. In a looking glass, one beholds the grey hairs on his head, and the wrinkles that are in his face, and when he hath turned his eye off from thence, the figure thereof is blotted out of his remembrance. Another, he looks (especially if he have not seen himself a long time in a glass) and wonders at himself, he knits the brows and cries out, I am grown old and weak, and drawing near to my grave, Quod senescit, propè interitum est; He that is old, hath one foot in the grave. And therefore he had need make good provision, being so soon to go his journey. But he that shall set before him (as a glass) the Law of perfect liberty, as one, who with a great deal of heed views a deep pit, or some remote place, This man shall be happy in so doing. How knoweth this man the Scriptures, seeing that he never learned? Learning is not gotten without labo● The admiration of the people was increased, by their considering with themselves, That our Saviour Christ had never been brought up in any University, nor had cracked so much as an argument in the Schools, especially in matter of learning. And as it is in the Proverb, Nunca mucho, costo poco, Much is never got with a little; Eccl. 1. That is to say, Qui addit scientiam, addit laborem, All things are full of labour. In the multitude of wisdom, is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. That is; it cannot be come by without great pain of body and mind. Or, as Aquila translates it; Addit tormentum. Holy job asks the question, Vbi invenitur sapientia? Where is wisdom to be found? And the first conclusion is, Non invenitur in terra suaviter viventium, It is never to be found amongst those that are enemies to labour. Solomon saith in his Proverbs, That it must be got as we get treasure, dig and delve for it. There was never in this world any famous man in learning, Prou. 2. who had not studied very hard, and taken a great deal of pains. Vt thesaurus, effoderis ●am, t●nc intelliges. Plutarch reports of Plat●, That he never excused any trouble of body, or of mind. And of Demosthenes, That he would Scotch and notch his hair cross-ways, that he might keep in for three months together, and follow his study. All your great Philosophers did break their brains, and died in travelling after the search of knowledge. The solitudes of a Saint Jerome, the caves of other Saints and Doctors make this truth clear. Antiquity celebrating Saturn for an inventor of learning, put in his hands (as Tertullia● noteth it unto us) a pickeaxe, in token of the great pains that he must take, that means to be a good scholar. Minerva, Goddess of the Sciences, they painted close by Vulcan, who with an axe did cleave her head in twain; signifying thereby, That to fetch out truths, and to make them appear plain and clear, it will cost us either our life, o● the beating of our brains. Of the Lacedæmonians Valerius reporteth, That they had a Statue of Apollo that had four ears, and four hands; signifying thereby, That wisdom is got by much hearing, and much labour. They looking therefore on the learning of our Saviour jesus Christ, so divine on the one side, and so without any labour or pains on the other, it was not much, that they should thus admire him. Again: A strange effect, when the cause is secret and hid, it evermore causeth admiration. If the Sun should show his face on the sudden, Admiration usually the child of ignorance. and his beams break out in the midst of a dark night, it would cause great fear. The Sun doth still enjoy an equal light, though to the ignorant it seem, that it shines brightest at midday. The light and splendour of jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour that Sun of righteousness, was always one and the same; but because he was a free Sun, and not tied, as that other, to a set course, discovering his beams when he thought best, with a Lux in tenebris lucet, he struck all the standers by with amazement and confusion, wondering who this should be, and saying one to another; V●de hic literas scit, cum non didicerit? How knows this man the Scriptures, seeing he never learned? And this admiration is the more augmented by that which the glorious Evangelists Saint Matthew and Saint Mark mention, Scandalizabantur in ●o, They were offended thereat. Their indignation being greater than their admiration, envy working more upon them, than the grace that was offered them; remaining only thereat astonished, as men that are surprised with some sudden or unexpected accident: Suiting well with that which Saint Chrysostome and Saint Cyril says of them; to wit, Mat. 13. Mark 9▪ That these were those incredulous and unbelieving people. Whence hath he all these things? Is he not the Son of a Carpenter? and is not his mother called Mary, etc. Whence it followeth in all probability, that they had ripped up his course of life, and made a strict examination of him from his childhood, his youth, and better grown years; concluding all of them in the end, That he had spent his time in helping joseph in his trade, 2. Tem. 2. Deut. 29. and not in applying himself to learning; styling Learning the wisdom of divine mysteries. The holy Apostle Saint Paul saith to his Disciple Timothy, Quia ab infantia sacras literas nosti. And in the 29. chapter of Deut. it appeareth, That amongst the Hebrews, there were some that professed the teaching of this kind of learning, which was the Grammatical and Historical sense of the sacred books, which did dispose them to other things of greater moment, and to mysteries of a higher and deeper nature. Epiphanius saith, That they were expounders of the Grammar, and were therefore called Grammatis S●ribae. Being therefore grounded and confirmed in this their opinion, That he had not learned their first rudiments and principles; they said, (wondering with themselves) Under hic literas scit? Whence hath this man his learning? But all this made the worse for them, and their proceeding appears still fouler and fouler. First of all in this: O ye jews (saith Chrysologus) ye do not wonder, that a Virgin should bring forth, that God apparelled in humane flesh, should treat and converse with you, (as it is prophesied by Bar●ch) nor, that the blind should see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the lame walk, the dead rise, the Devils tremble: And do you wonder that he should show himself thus learned, having not learned? you admire that which ought least to be wondered at, & are undmindfull of that which ought most to be marvelled at. Secondly, It was a foul fault in them, to see such singular learning, accompanied with so unblameable a life; and such strange miracles, and that they should not once think that this was from Heaven. Especially they knowing, that Adam, and Solomon, did enjoy this blessing. Of Salomon's wisdom, and whence he had it, 3 Reg. 5. 2. Chron. 2. the History of the Kings, and that of the Chronicles, delivereth the same unto us: and of Adam the Schoolmen do affirm, That he could hardly have given all things their proper names, (as Saint Chrysostome hath observed it) if God had not infused that knowledge into him, to call them after that fitting and convenient manner. And this knowledge was communicated to Christ even from the very instant of his conception; by means whereof he saw all things in their proper species, besides that blessed knowledge whereby he saw them in God, as in a glass. john 3.34. Of this infused knowledge Saint john saith, God gave not the spirit by measure unto him; but it was without limitation: for he that is son and heir to his father, is not to be stinted as those that are servants. And therefore it is said, The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him; the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of council and might, the spirit of knowledge, etc. This infused knowledge was settled in others by fits, not in all times & all places, nor so generally in all things, as in our Saviour Christ, from whom it sprouted as water from a Fountain. That fountain of the Rock, struck by the Rod of Moses, it had been a foul sin in the Israelites to have searched into the veins of Nature, whence these waters gushed out, and not to think on God's grace, from whence this favour flowed: And no less absurd was it in the jews, to seek in the Schools and Universities, after those veins of living water, of that divine learning of our Saviour Christ, which was that true rock; and not to direct their eyes towards God, who is the true giver of knowledge. Lastly, It was a foul fault in them, to think that God is tied to humane means, 1. Reg. ●. knowing quod Deus scientiarum Dominus est, That God is the Lord of sciences, and that it was the Holy-Ghost that taught and instruucted those the Prophets, taking one from following the herds of Cows & Oxen▪ and another from keeping of Sheep. Amos 1. Non sum Phopheta, (saith Amos of himself) I am not a Prophet, nor the son of a Prophet, but a Herdsman of Tekoah. And of David it is said, That he took him from the Sheepfold, following the Ewes with young. He endued Daniel being a child, with wisdom: and joseph with understanding to declare King Pharaohs dream. Nor was it needful for him to draw these men out of the Schools of Athens, nor to take them from forth the Universities of Greece, etc. As soon as ever our Lord God had discovered to the glorious Apostle Saint Paul the beams of his light, he presently departed to Arabia and to Damascus to preach the Gospel: he might have gone first to Jerusalem to take acquaintance of those other Apostles of more ancient standing, and to confer with them what he should preach: but this did not seem unto him a convenient means to credit his Doctrine. Nec veni Hierosolimam ad Antecessores meos; to the end that the Gentiles might not presume, that this his Doctrine was of the earth, Gal. 1. and not of Heaven, as afterwards he told the Galathians; The Gospel which was preached by me, is not afterman, neither did I receive it of man, neither was I taught it but by the revelation of jesus Christ. And the Ephesians, What I received from the Lord, I delivered unto you. But because the jews did surpass all the world in passion and malice, they did attribute all to the Devil, whom the Gentiles had made their god. My Doctrine is not mine, etc. The Commentators make three expositions upon this place, My Doctrine is not mine, but I have received it from my father. The Doctrine of the Father and of the Son, as he is God, is one and the same, as is their essence; nor is there any other difference more, than that he hath received it from the Father: but as he is man, it is in itself diverse, as is their nature; because it is an accident and an infused habit, though the truth thereof in both, is one and the same. Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine expound this saying of our Saviour, as he is man; and that this Doctrine of his, was not his, but of his father that sent him abroad to preach and publish it to the World. And the same Saint Augustine in some other places delivereth it of Christ, as he was God; but affirmeth in the end, That it may be interpreted either way. Saint Cyril & Saint Chrysostome declare this of Christ, as he is God: but which way soever you take, either sense doth signify, That Christ is the Son of God. The second Exposition is, My Doctrine is not mine, that is, It is not only mine, but his that sent me. And this sense and meaning is founded upon many places of Scripture; wherein this Negative Non, is the same with Non solum, Not only. As for example, It is not ye that speak, Mat. 10.20. but the spirit of the father which speaketh in you, (i) Not you alone, but the spirit of the Father. Again, john 5.45. Do not think that I alone will accuse you to the Father, there is another also that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust, because ye believe not that which he wrote of me: that is, He doth not only believe in me. Thirdly, He that believeth in me, doth not believe in me, john. 12. Marc 9.37. 1. Cor. 15.10. but in him that sent me. In the fourth place, Whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me; That is, Not only me. Lastly, I laboured more abundantly than them all, yet not I, but the grace of Godwhich was with me. The third, It is not mine, nor did I invent it, nor is it the Doctrine of men, but of God. Many Philosophers have out of an overweening conceit, gone a wand'ring, and invented new sects and strange Doctrines, that they might have the honour to be accounted authors of novelties; answerable to that which God said of certain false Prophets, They speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord: Woe unto the foolish Prophets, that follow their own spirit, jer. 23.15. Ezech. 13.3. and have seen nothing. And it is Antichrist that shall be called, Pater errorum, The father of errors. Our Saviour Christ teacheth us here two things: The one, That God is the Fountain of Wisdom; and that as the Earth cannot yield its fruit without water from Heaven, so the heart of man cannot afford any fruit without the Doctrine of God. Concrescat ut plunia doctrina mea, fl●at ut ros eloquium meum. The Husband in the Canticles was willing to insinuate as much, when he compared the breasts of his Spouse to two little Kids, Cant. 4. Duo ubera tua sicut duo hinnuli Caprae, Thy two breasts are like two young Kids that are twins, which feed among the Lilies, pouring forth in due season their milk unto us in a plentiful manner. Some Commentators understand by these two breasts, the two Testaments, which like two breasts spring abundantly, communicating unto us the milk of their Doctrine. The other, That every one ought to acknowledge and confess, That whatsoever good he enjoyeth, is of God▪ The Rivers return again unto the place from whence they come. The rivers of our good do flow from that immense Sea, by love, and are to return by thanks; Vt iterum fluant, That they may flow again, and never grow dry. And this may prove as a general rule, and approved truth, in all those blessings that befall us. But more particularly ought we to acknowledge the same, that are Preachers of God's word; for he that praiseth himself, and prizeth his own worth, (this is my opinion) cannot hope for any fruit of his labours; 1. Co●. ●. 7. Neither is he that planteth, any thing; neither he that watreth; but God, that giveth the increase. That Gardner is a fool or a mad man, that doth attribute to his dib, to the water of his Well, to the labour of his hands, and the sweat of his brows, the flowers and fruits of his garden; it is not thou, nor thy pains, but Heaven that gives thee all that thou hast. What hast thou that thou didst not receive? 1. Cor. 4.7. 1. Cor. 8.2. And in the eighth Chapter he saith, Qui puta● se aliquid scire, nond●m cognovit quemadmodum oporteat scire, If any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. Aristotle first putteth down Mod●m, and then Scientiam; the means first, and the knowledge afterwards. And the Apostle saith, That he that presumes that he knows, is not yet come to the means of knowing; Thinking themselves wise, they are become fools. The wisest men have evermore been the meekest and the humblest; in Saint Augustine, humility and wisdom suited so well together, that no man was able to judge which was the greater. Solomon said of himself, Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man: Prou. ●0. 2. and the reason of this acknowledgement is, for that if a man look well into himself, the wisest that is will hold himself a fool. We are not sufficient of ourselves to think so m●ch as a good thought; but if a man look once into God, he will acknowledge all to be from God. Saint Augustine com●ares him that preacheth, to the Sowers seed-leape; and as the seed-leape hath not whereof to boast of the sheaves of Corn, nor of those mows of wheat that are stored up in the barn; no more hath the Preacher for carrying God's Word in his mouth. Quis credet (saith Esay) auditui nostro? Saint Chrysostome saith, That he confessed, that what he preached was not of himself, but of God; Olivam uberem, pul●hram, speciosam, fructiferam, vocavit Dominus nomen tuum, ad vocem loquelae grandis exarsit ignis in ea, & combusta sunt fruteta eius. Saint Gregory saith, That this fat, fair, & fruitful Olive, is a fair & fruitful Preacher; fruitful, for the fruit of his works; and fair, for the elegancy & force of his words; but feeble & weak in regard of his flatteries, which are that great voycewhich setteth on fire, burneth, and destroyeth the fruit. We will magnify and extol our own tongues. A Preacher should never boast of his parts. There are some kind of Preachers who thank their tongue for their preferment; Godamercy tongue, it is that that hath got me this my honour; it is that that hath raised me to such high place; nor am I to serve or magnify any other Lord or Master, than this. Nolite loqui sublimia gloriantes. Saint Chrysostome saith, That Vainglory is that moth that fretteth and consumeth the sublimest and highest things: And therefore, Nolite loqui sublimia gloriantes. Saint Augustine saith, That he that preacheth in a high strain, and flies through the thickest clouds, and highest mysteries of Divinity, had need of the jesses of Humility, lest through vainglory soaring too high, he scorch his wings, and like Phaeton come tumbling down. The eyes of the Spouse, her Beloved compares to the eyes of a Dove: For amongst all other Birds, the Dove lifts up her eyes unto Heaven when she feeds, The Dove of all Fowls the most thankful as if she did give God thanks for the good she receiveth: and ever since that she returned with a green Olive branch in her mouth, to Noah's Ark, she hath been taken for a thankful Bird; as on the contrary, the Crow is held to be an unthankful Carrion. Of this thankfulness or grateful acknowledgement, there are many symbols or emblems in humane Authors; as in the Sunne-Dyall, with all the hours specified therein by distinct figures, with a hand pointing out this Letter unto us, In umbra desino; that is to say, To the Sun do I owe my motion and being. As likewise in the Shell full of pearl, lying open to the Sun and the dew of Heaven, with this word or motto, Roar Divino, that is, By the help and favour of the Sun of Righteousness; for without this divine dew, there is no virtue in ourselves. As also that of the Olive amidst the craggy cliffs, without rooting or moisture, with this wreath coming out of it, A Coelo, My happiness is from Heaven. Seneca saith, That he that acknowledgeth a debt by words, which he cannot satisfy by deeds, hath paid what he owes: And Cicero renders the reason thereof, It is not all one (saith he) to pay the debt of a benefit received, as that of money; for this is not paid till the money be restored: but he that doth acknowledge a benefit, and confesseth a kindness, being not otherwise able to make satisfaction, hath already made repayment. Of this kind are the favours conferred by Kings, which we can no otherwise requite, than by our serving & magnifying of them. And therefore much more those that come from God, from whose free hand we receive whatsoever good we enjoy; nor are we able to repay it in the same money, but by our serving him, and magnifying his holy Name: According to that of David, Sacrificium laudis, etc. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thankesgi●ing, and will call upon the name of the Lord; and will pay my vows unto him in the presence of all his People; in the Courts of the Lords House, and in the midst of thee, o jerusalem, will I praise the Lord. If any man shall do his will, he shall know of the Doctrine, etc. Your damnable Will is the occasion of your miserable blindness; if ye would but do the will of my Father, you would then know that my Doctrine is his. In humane speculative sciences, the Understanding goes before the Will; but in that knowledge which the Divines call Mystical, which is the wisdom of Heaven, the Will is first: And therefore Saint Augustine saith, That the knowing of a Doctrine, is the reward as it were of believing it; Understanding is the reward of Faith, if thou understandest not, believe. And Esay, Unless ye believe, ye shall not understand. It is the privilege of the deepest mysteries of our Faith, to believe them before we know them: He that loveth truth (saith Saint john) cometh to the light. Our Saviour Christ did not so much endeavour to have us to understand, as to believe. john. 3. This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. john. 6. In Heaven our happiness consists in seeing; but on earth, in believing. Taste and see how gracious the Lord is, Earthly food is first seen; after the sight, follows the taste: The woman saw that the fruit was pleasant to the eye; whereupon she took of the Fruit, and did eat. Here the sight did precede the taste, but in Heaven we first taste, and afterwards see; there the taste precedes the sight: and in my opinion, Saint Chrysostome and Saint Cyril do not differ much from this sense, being that they make bonam voluntatem, dispositionem intellectus, the goodness of the Will, to be the disposition to the understanding: but a depraved Will is like unto an infirm eye, which through its indisposition doth not see the light. The places of Scripture which confirm this Doctrine, are without number. Ecclesiasticus saith, More truths will one holy soul sometimes declare, than many unholy Doctors and Philosophers, which wander out of the way, and wear out their eyebrows in search thereof. Intellectus onus omnibus facientibus eum, Understanding is a burden to all that d●e it. Gregory Nazianzen hath noted, That the Prophet did not say, God's word the truest wisdom. Praedicantibus eum, To them that preach it; but Facientibus, To them that do it: I understood thy commandment, and therefore hated the way of Iniquity. The second part is a cause of the first; because I did abhor all the ways of wickedness, I attained to so much knowledge of thy Law: I am wiser than the Aged, Psal. 119. because I have sought thy Commandments. Solomon saith, My son seek after wisdom, observe righteousness, and the Lord will show it unto thee. job. Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom, Hos●a 10. and to turn back from evil is understanding. Osee. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, etc. according to the translation of the Seventie. Saint john saith, john 8. If ye shall abide in my Word, ye shall know my will. Esay. To whom shall God teach his wisdom? To whom shall his Doctrine be revealed? Shall it happily be to those that are weaned from his milk? To those that have Aloes on their nipples? or to those that when the Prophet shall command them something on his part, shall answer, Manda, remanda, expecta, reexpecta; What doth the Preacher mean to grind us in this manner, and to repeat so often unto us, Haec mandat Dominus? etc. All these places prove that conclusion of the first chapter of Wisdom, In malevolam anim●m, non introivit sapientia. Saint Augustine saith, That the two sisters Leah and Rachael, represented this order. First, fruitful Leah was married, representing the fruit of good works; next, beautiful Rachael, representing the fairness of wisdom and knowledge. In the right erudition of man, the labour of operating those things that are right, are preferred before the will of understanding those that are true. And Saint Bernard persuading a friend of his to this truth, speaketh thus unto him, Experto crede citiùs illum sequendo, quam legendo consequipossis, & aliquia magis invenies in syluis, quam in libris; Believe me who am experienced herein, that thou shalt sooner come unto him by following, than by reading him; and shalt meet with something more amidst the Woods, than thy books. The shady trees, and the solitary Rocks will throughly instruct thee in that, which many learned tutors are not able to teach thee. Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he whom they go about to kill? And behold, he speaketh openly, etc. This place expresseth the Empire, the security, and liberty of God's word. And this is specified in that commission which God gave unto jeremy, jerem 1.10. when he nominated him to be his Preacher, Behold, I have set thee over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to pluck up, and to root out, and to destroy, and throw down, to build, and to plant. This general power was granted unto him, with a non obstante, no man could put him by it. Notable to this purpose, is that History of Moses with Pharaoh; On the one side, we are to consider the great interest wherewith he went unto the King, about the liberty of the Hebrew people, being so much enslaved, enthralled, and so sorely taxed beyond all right and reason: On the other side, so many scourges, so many plagues, so much fear, and so much death; and yet notwithstanding he durst not cause him to be apprehended, nor to be put to death, nor had not the power to touch upon that thought. And questionless the reason thereof was, that he acknowledged a superior power proceeding from God's Word, which Moses did ever and anon repeat unto him, Cant. 1.8. Haec dicit Dominus, Thus saith the Lord: I have compared thee o my Love, to the troops of horses in the Chariots of Pharaoh. Rupertus saith, That all God's Cavallerie against the power of Pharaoh, was only Moses Rod; this made that great King turn coward; this struck a terror into him, made his heart to tremble within him, and maugre his greatness to acknowledge God. The Beloved says then to his love, As that Rod was God's Army, wherewith like a Potter's Vessel, he broke that King and all his Host in pieces; so thy Army, o my Church, shall be my Word, which shall be as it were another Moses Rod, against those that shall withstand it. Virgam vigilantem ego video, I see a waking Rod, saith jeremy: And God answers thereunto, Benè vidisti, quia ego vigilabo super verbum meum, Thou hast well seen, for I will watch over my Word. Saint Paul puts it to the question, What will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness? And no less worthy the observation is that History of Amos, There was a false Prophet called Amaziah, an Idol Priest, whom Ier●boam had placed in bethel, who could by no means endure Amos; Amos. 7. whether it were because he swayed much among the people, or for that by his Sermons (as Saint Hierome hath noted it) he had withdrawn the People from those sacrifices wherein Amaziah was interessed; he laboured with him, both by cruel threatenings and gentle persuasions, that he would get him gone into the Land of judah, Get thee into the land of judah, and there eat thy bread, and prophesy there. But when he was most threatened, then did he preach most against jeroboam, not sticking to say, jeroboam shall die by the sword; his wife shall be a Harlot in the City, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy hand shall be divided by line, and thou shalt die in a polluted land, etc. For the Word of God, the more it is threatened, the freer it is; and like the Cammomile, Dum premitur, surgit uberior, The more you seek to suppress it, the more it shows itself. Certain Pharisees advising our Saviour Christ, to get him gone out of Herod's Dominions, and to fly the Kingdom; returned them this answer, Tell King Herod, for all this his heat and spleen against me, that I will cure the sick, and cast out devils, to day and to morrow, Et tertia die consumer. Signifying thereby, that he would live for all him, as long as he listed, & die when he listed. S. Ambrose when the emperor Theodosius was so mightily incensed against him for his boldness in preaching, said unto him, May it please your Imperial Majesty, it becomes not an Emperor, nor is it in his power to impose silence upon the Preacher of God's word: Nor does it befit a Preacher to hold his peace where there is just reason to reprehend. The one is an affront offered unto God, whose Legate he is that preacheth; the other, cowardice in God's Minister, who carrying with him the warrant of God's word, ought not to be afraid of any thing. Many do excuse themselves of using reprehensions, for that they suppose they will be Sin provecho, without profit, and work little good upon their Auditory. And yet our Saviour Christ did severely reprove the Pharisees, though they were never awhit the better for it, that others might reap fruit thereby, and be admonished by other men's harms. judgen ●t according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement. Our Saviour Christ said formerly unto the Pharisees, Why do ye seek to kill me? For ever since the time of the forementioned Miracle, they sought to slay him, the common people charging him with a Daemonium habes, etc. But Christ making no reply to the vulgar, passing that over, went about to prove the small reason that they had to plot his death, because he had done this good deed upon the Sabbath day, Vnum opus feci, & omnes admiramini. Saint Chrisostome expoundeth this admiramini, to be a condemning of him to be a transgressor of the Law. On the Sabbath (saith our Saviour) ye Circumcise; and Circumcision is no breach of the Sabbath, much less the healing of him that is lame. Circumcision healeth the soul, but woundeth the body: But I in less time cure both body and soul. Circumcision is of the ancient Fathers, the Sabbath of Moses: you suffer the Circumcision, and so did Moses. If of this work there followeth no transgression, neither aught there of mine. The jews hereunto might answer, Circumcision is of the ancient Fathers, and confirmed by Moses; but thy work is of a base, vulgar, and ordinary person. Whereunto our Saviour answereth, Nolite iudicare secundum, etc. judgement ought to be made only of men's actions, without acception of persons. Ye magnify Moses (as Saint Austen saith) and Abraham, Isaac, and jacob; and ye despise me, my works being more strange and wonderful: Without doubt ye are accepters of persons. The Pharisees might reply, Circumcision is a divine precept, but thy work is not so. This argument is of no force; for the observation of the Sabbath, was likewise a divine precept; but because that of the Circumcision was the more ancient of the two, they did prefer this before that: And therefore Christ's work, being greater than the Circumcision, we are to suppose that it was divine, and by consequence to be preferred before it. To conclude, it seeming to the Pharisees an unworthy thing, that the authority of a common man should be paralleled with that of the ancient patriarchs, they condemned him for a transgressor. Whereupon our Saviour says unto them, Nolite iudicare secundum faciem. First of all, he here condemneth in judges the accepting of persons, contrary to so many places of Scripture, which condemn this inequality. 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 have patience with those judges, which for hatred, love, or profit, shall be moved to pronounce an unjust sentence; nor with those princes and potentates of the World, which in matters of justice, shall carry an uneven hand. And he commandeth those Kings that were to reign over his people, that they should bear the book of the Law about them, and should read therein all the days of their life, Deut. 17. That they may learn to fear the Lord their God. For, If the fear of God doth not bridle them, they are headstrong and cannot be ruled. judges, have for their bridle, God, and the King; Kings, only God. And against those that shall lose their respect towards him, he saith, Hear therefore o ye Kings, and understand, Wisd. 6. learn ye that be judges of the ends of the Earth; Give ear ye that rule the multitudes, and glory in the multitude of people: For the rule is given you of the Lord, and power by the most high, which will try your works, & search out your imaginations. Because that ye being officers of his Kingdom, have not judged aright, nor kept the Law, nor walked after the will of God; horribly and suddenly will he appear unto you; for an hard judgement shall they have that bear rule. And the mighty shall be mightily tormented. To many great sinners, God gives a long life, having an eye to the ill that waits for them; but bad Governors and judges, he cuts short, and permits them not to live out their days. Deut. 1. And therefore, Nolite iudicare secundum faciem, ita parvum a●dietis, ut magnum. And because, sticking many times upon Gods recommending unto them the cause of the poor, and the favour that should be shown them as well in their person, as matter of justice; and considering on the other side, their misery and want, some pitiful judge, contrary to justice, many incline to favour his cause; our Saviour addeth, Rectum iudicium judicate, Let not your eyes, nor your hearts, be carried away with the misery of the poor, nor the prosperity of the rich. And as God hath commanded, Regard not the Person of the mighty, So likewise he saith, Regard not the Person of the Poor, but judge rightly. And this sense is that which is pretended in the Text. Secondly, he condemneth all kind of rash judgements, & all doubtful things where there are not manifest proofs, or some indicia, or signs of evil, there to lean to the better part. And so Thomas teacheth them. To judge solely upon suspicion, is mere rashness, which commonly ariseth from these three grounds. Rash judgement altogether to be auded The one, That the judge is vicious himself; Stultus, omnes stultos aestimat, so saith Ecclesiasticus: The thief thinks all to be like himself, etc. The other, proceeds from passion, which commonly judgeth ill upon light occasions, of him whom he either hateth or envieth. The third, from long experience of things past: And therefore Aristotle saith, That old men are very jealous and suspicious. And this is the least unblamable; for suspicion is apt to entertain a sinister opinion, but experience will go upon certainties. There is great difference betwixt doubt, suspicion, and judgement. There are indicia, or signs, that are sufficient for doubting, which are not sufficient for suspecting; and for suspecting, which are not sufficient for judging: and all of them recover more or less force from the quality of the persons whom they concern; for there are many indicia or tokens which are sufficient to condemn 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 adventure to do it; for when as they sought to stone him, their stones were frozen to their finger's ends; so now they had the cramp in their arms, their hands were benumbed, and their strength failed them; discovering therein the greatness of his power. At his wisdom they remained astonished, and at his power they were forced to yield. And these are the two attributes of a powerful and absolute Prince: Power without Wisdom, is an unruly beast, that runs on to his own destruction; and Wisdom without Power, is too weak for achievement; nor is there that rash action, which a powerful fool will not put himself into. Dionysius the Tyrant was wont to say, That then he did enjoy the sweetness of his Empire, when he did execute his desires in an instant. Power and Wisdom, are not to be severed in a prince. Power is a headstrong horse▪ and Wisdom serves as a bridle to curb and restrain its fury. The Wiseman alluded hereunto, when he said, That God had given him wisdom like the sand that lies on the sea shore, which repels the waves, though never so great, and bounds them in. Plutarch saith, That to a bare absolute power, not bounded in with this sand, malice and mischief was never wanting. The Emperor justinian in the entrance to his Institutions, saith, That in the Majesty royal, the beauty of arms is not only necessary, but the force also of learning. He attributs Force to Learning, because that bridles the strongest thing that is, which is Arms. Our Saviour Christ then, being the true pattern of so great and glorious a Prince, as none greater; Power and Wisdom could not choose but concur & meet equally in him; To whom, with the Father, and the Holy-Ghost, be ascribed all Power, Honour, and Glory, etc. THE XXVIII. SERMON, UPON THE WEDNESDAY AFTER THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. JOHN 9.1. Praeteriens, jesus vidit Caecum. And as jesus passed by, he saw a man that was blind, etc. Our Saviour Christ going out of the Temple, seeking to shun those stones which they pretended to throw at him, The eye of divine pity ever fixed upon poverty. he cast his eye upon a poor blind man that was borne blind: for it is the privilege of poverty and humane misery, to have the eye of divine pity to look down upon it, and to favour the same; so that he healed him at once both in body and in soul: the History whereof is no less large than it is pleasing. Christ had said, For judgement I am come into this world, that they which see not, may see, john 9.39. and that they which see might be made blind. Now here he began to fulful this prophecy, by revealing to the Pharisees, Antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum. He left them so blind, that they took up stones to stone him to death; & in that very instant, meeting with this blind man, he made his eyes so clear and so perfect, that those did not know him, who held conversation with him. And thus did the case now stand betwixt the Gentile and the jew; the one was stark blind, and the other did see perfectly; the jew enjoyed none, the Gentile much light, The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; Esay 9.2. and they upon whom the light shined, dwell in the land of the shadow of death. And in another place, We waited for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness; Esay 59.9. we grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noon day as in the night, we are in desolate places as dead men. The Spouse speaking of her Beloved, saith, En ipse stat post parietem nostrum, Behind the wall of our humane nature: and our Pharisees groping and stumbling in the dark, broke their heads against the wall. That place likewise of the 29 Chapter may be hereunto accommodated, Esay 29.14. Behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this People, even a marvellous work, and a wonder, by giving sight to one that was borne blind: For the wisdom of wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. The Scribes and Pharisees had the light of the Scripture, Esay 6●. 1. and did look for the Messias; For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. But they were unthankful for this light, that curse of job lighting upon them, Let them look for light, but have none, job. 3 9 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 jesus passing by, etc. This business 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 relieving of our miseries. The Bush wherein God appeared unto Moses, which did burn, and yet was not burned, did represent the stubble which his people did gather to bake their brick, and those fiery tribulations which did burn, but not consume them. And if any man shall ask me, How this Bush could be on fire, and not be burnt? I answer, That God had such present use of the fire, that it seemed to overslip the bush. The Prophet Abacuk went to carry food to the shepherds that were in the field, but the angel taking him up by the hair of the head, carried him away into Chaldea, & landed him in the Lion's Den in Babylon; for daniel's hunger required that haste, that the reapers in the field were forgotten; which was an extraordinary care and especial providence of God. But why doth the Evangelist say, Praeteriens, passing by as it were by chance? And Ezechiel under the similitude of an Infant, delivering unto us, That as soon 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, Ezech. 16. I saw thee polluted in thine own blood. Hereunto I answer, That God doth dissemble his care, because thou being not able to pay the principal, nor any desire to satisfy this his great care and love towards thee, he would draw thee (if it were possible) to the acknowledgement of that debt which is due unto him: for it is a common custom amongst men, not to make requital of that care and love which hath been shown unto them. A Goldsmith makes a cup for you, you pay him for the weight of his plate according to its ounces, and for the fashion according to its workmanship; but you do not pay him for his love unto you, for Love is so noble a thing, that it cannot be repaid but with Love.. And if man's love cannot be repaid, much less Gods: but if it dasheth thee out of countenance, Love cannot be repaied but with love. to see what a deal of love God expresses towards thee, & that he makes thee the mark whereat he aims all his care; yet at least show thyself so thankful as to satisfy him for thy workmanship, as thou wouldst the Goldsmith for the fashioning of a piece of plate, whither he had by chance, or purposely made it for thee. God demanded of job, Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? As if he should have said, Because thou camest not then into the world, thou mayst haply think that I made this so fair a fabric either by chance, or for my own pleasure, [Ludens in orbe terrarum] and not purposely for thee; but I would have thee to know▪ that I made this so princely a palace for thee, furnishing it with all things fitting for thee, and that if I had not foreknown that thou shouldst enjoy the same, I would not have made it. But if thou shalt not repay me for my care and my love, that I made thee for the end of this so great a work; yet thankfully accept of the work i● self, because thou art he that receivest benefit thereby. Our Saviour as he passed thus along, was very angry, and much offended; but he had no sooner met with this blind man, but his anger was allayed, Christ even in his sufferings mindful of our solace. and grew more calm and mild. In Caiphas Court, a sea of injuries & affronts came tumbling in upon him; and even then in this great inundation that broke thus violently in upon him; he no sooner turned his eye aside upon Peter, and beheld those two Fountains of tears that flowed from his eyes, but that he presently seemed wonderful well contented. The book of Canticles introduceth the Beloved speaking to his Spouse, Cant. 5. I have mixed my myrrh with my spice: o friends, drink of my wine, yea, drink abundantly, o Beloved; for the end of his bitter draughts proved to be a most pleasant wine for our palates. In any other breast than that of our Saviour, the stones of the Pharisees would have made a great noise: but malice is a very shallow water, but goodness a very deep Sea. A stone in a shallow Well will make a great noise, & will dash the water about thine ears; but in a deep Well you shall scarce hear the sound thereof. But this comparison is somewhat of the shortest; for it is one thing to suffer, and another in suffering, to take compassion. But the goodness of our Saviour Christ did patiendo compati: non solum erat patience, sed compatiens. Saint Bernard saith, That he did not only suffer ill, but did requite ill with good, Retribuebant mala pro bonis, & odium pro dilectione mea, They returned evil for good, and hatred for my love; But to return good for evil, is the highest round of Virtue's ladder. Solomon saith, That wisdom is fairer to behold, and more beautiful than the Sun, Speciocior est Sole: For the Sun is eclipsed by the darkness of night; but the wisdom of the Father, neither malice, nor injury, nor any other affront can cloud or darken it, but serveth oftentimes as an occasion to beam forth greater favours upon us. Saint Bernard compares our Saviour Christ to the Bee, which always labours and takes pains for other folk's profit: a swarm of Bees lights in thy garden, leaves thee honie-combes and wax, all this not costing thee so much as one crumb of bread. But this comparison likewise comes a little too short; for the Bee being offended, stings thee; But our Saviour Christ enriching our house with worldly goods and heavenly blessings, doth not hurt us, though we provoke him never so much to anger; he brings us in Honey, but leaves no sting behind him. Better and more proper is that comparison of the Vine, whereunto our Saviour compares himself, Ego sum vitis v●ra, I am the true Vine, which if you cut and prune, it yields you a hundred for one. As jesus passed by, he saw, etc. Here pity overcame passion, and clapped a bridle on the hastiness of his anger; Pity ever profitable to them that use it. 1. Kings 30. for pity never blots out those businesses that require haste. David marched in great haste with his soldiers after certain thievish Amalekites, that had burnt and spoilt Zicklag; in which hot pursuit he found an Egyptian in the field, who was ready to give up the Ghost, for he had eaten no bread, nor drank any water in three days and three nights. Whereupon David made a stand, relieved him, and restored him again to life; for the which he well repaid this his kindness; for he brought him to the place where these thieves were eating, drinking, and dancing for joy of the spoil they had taken; from whom David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken away. Some spiteful man will not stick to say, We are now as pitiful: not considering in the mean while with himself, that he would never forgo a Play, to go hear a Sermon, never omit other his worldly business, to go visit an hospital, or to give an alms to the Poor. job complaineth, That when he sat scraping his sores upon the dunghill, his brethren passed along by him, not so much as once vouchsafing to look upon him, job. 6. but hasted speedily by him, like the downfall of a water from a rock, which swiftly glideth down to the bottom of some low valley: Praeterierunt me sicut torrens in convallibus. The seventy Interpreters render it, Non respexerunt, They did no whit respect him, nor so much as offer to look after him. Imagine (saith Thomas) that four go hand in hand together all one way, and that one of them falls into a pit, whilst the rest pass on and let him alone: In like manner might job say, that his brethren dealt so with him; being that neither nature, nearness of blood, old acquaintance, nor long bred friendship, could move their hearts to pity, or their eyes to tears. jesus saw a man that was blind from his birth. And his Disciples asked him saying, Master, Who did sin, This man, or his parents? that he was borne blind, etc. This is an old fe●tered wound, that we took in the fall of our first parents, to be too curious in other men's faults, and too forgetful of our own. Saint Chrysostome saith, That there is scarce one to be found, even amongst those that are most perfect, which are not infected with this vice. If a man walk abroad in a morning into the fields, his neighbour's inheritance is more in his eye than his own; and when he comes home at night, he presently asks what news there is stirring? And is well pleased with any tidings that are told him, especially of other men's misfortunes. Plutarch makes this simile; That as in Cities there use to be some unlucky gates, whereat nothing enters, or goes out that is good, save dunghills that lie in the street, and persons that are condemned to death; so likewise into the ears of the Curious, nothing enters that is good. It was the saying of a certain Philosopher, that of all kind of winds, those were most troublesome, which did whirl our cloaks from off our shoulders: In like manner, of all sorts of men, the Curious are most to be abhorred, which unwrap the cloaks of our shame, blow open our disgrace, and rip up the graves of the dead: and as Xenocrates said of them, They enter not into other men's houses with their feet, but their eyes. He saw, etc. This might very well assure them, that he looked upon him with the eye of Love.. First, because it is God's nature and condition, when he doth one favour, to engage himself for many other courtesies. And therefore, Whom God once favours, he still follows. having done him the favour to look upon him, he was now obliged to give him his sight. Cicero saith, That it is the property of a noble breast, to him that owes much, to desire to make that man more his debtor. Est animi ingenui, cui multum debeas, eidem & plurimum velle debere. The bestowing of one favour upon me (saith Ecclesiastic●●) makes me the bolder to beg another; And since thou hast stuck unto me in my life, o Lord, do the like in my death. God did reveal unto David by the Prophet Nathan, perpetuity of his Kingdom; and after this so great a favour, he further addeth, Therefore is thy servant's heart ready to pray unto thee. Ezechias had received extraordinary kindnesses from God's hand, and these were motives to make him intercede for farther favours. In a word, one courtesy conferred upon us, encourageth us to crave a second. But that the conferring of one favour ●hould lay an obligation, or make one desirous to do another on the neck of that, this only holds in God, as a peculiar nobleness belonging unto him. And for to secure us of all those favours, which we can expect from his greatness, the Church saith of our Saviour Christ, that was offered up for us, Nobis pignus datur, A pledge is given us. Now a pledge is always pawned for less than it is worth. Having therefore thus impawned the infinite treasure of his person, what will he not bestow upon us? If he have given thee eyes, will he not give thee hands? And if he have given thee hands, will he not give thee a heart? So that Gods doing of one favour, is the assuring of many. In the Wilderness when all Agars' bread and water was spent, and seeing her son ready to dye for thirst, she lifted up her eyes to Heaven calling upon God, Et exa●diuit dominus vocem ●●eri, And the Lord heard the voice of the child. His giving ear unto her, was a sign that he would give her water, & suddenly a Well was discovered unto her, etc. Here were two favours done her already; First, His hearing her. Secondly, His granting her her request. But God did not stop here, In gentem magnam faciam cum, Gen. 21. I will make him a great Nation. Secondly, Because man's wants and necessities being looked on by the eye of God's love and pity, his goodness never leaves him till his remedy be wrought. And therefore it is said by the Psalmist, Psal. 142. I poured out my complaint before him, I showed before him my trouble: so that when I present my griefs & tribulations before him, if he once but look upon them, I am sure he will help me. This kind of cunning Martha & Mary used with him, Behold, he is sick whom thou lovest. Ezechias opening Zenacharibs' letter in the Temple, fraught with such a deal of pride & arrogancy, 4. Reg. 19 exercised the same trick, Lord open thine eyes and see, & bow down thine ear, and hear the words of Zenacharib, etc. And as our sins do cry unto God for vengeance, so our miseries do cry unto him for mercy. God plagued the Princes of the Philistines with that foul and grievous disease of the Emmerods'; but upon their presenting the Images of them before the Ark, he freed them of that evil. Thou knowest my shame and my reproach, etc. And if my prayers do not sometimes pierce Heaven, it is because my persecutions and afflictions have ascended thither, and notified my misery: and when man is ashamed to speak, yet that will speak for him. Who did sin, this man, or his parents? Saint Cyril saith, That the Disciples having whispered amongst themselves touching this man's misfortune, Sin the occasion of all evil. they asked our Saviour, Quis peccavit? etc. Wherein they went wisely to work, in attributing punishment in the general, to sin; for by attributing them many times to natural causes, as to the Sun, air, water, and other distemperatures, the fruit of God's chastisements is lost. Petrus Crysologus treating of those tears which our Saviour shed at Lazarus death, saith, That he did not bewail his burial, for he knew how happy he was in being out of the world; but the occasion. He thought upon Adam's apple, that had been the cause of so much hurt, and this was it that made him to weep. And this his weeping was, as if he should have said, What a deal of sorrow hath this one act of disobedience in him, brought upon all mankind, and consequently upon me, who must bear the burden of his and their offence? O Sin, How dear will it cost both Man and me? In a word, There is not any one thing so often repeated in Scripture, as, That Sin is the cause of our miseries, De humo non egreditur dolour. And in this respect, very just and lawful was this their demand, touching, Quis peccavit? Who sinned? First, Because they did desire to see it verified, whether this favour which they muttered amongst themselves, were well employed or no: for it is a common custom in Court, when the King shall cast a favourable eye upon any one, and graciously look upon him; not only to examine his life, and to question what he is, but to rip up that of his fathers and predecessors, to slay those that are alive, and to disinterre those that are dead. And howbeit for provisions of offices, and for the conferring of Court dignities, and other public preferments in the Commonwealth, it is fitting for Kings and Princes to take a strict view and examination concerning the honesty and ability of those they advance; yet in the relieving of wants & necessities, all such diligences are unnecessary and unjust: For a Prince, or any other rich and powerful person, (saith Saint Chrysostome) ought to be like a good port or haven, which should receive into her protection all sort of passengers whatsoever, but to those that have suffered shipwreck, and are without present relief and help, upon casting away, should more especially stretch out her arms, and take them in before they sink. Secondly, For that they attributed the blindness of Celidonius to the sins of his parents: for albeit God doth punish the sins of the fathers in the children, even to the fourth generation; yet this punishment is never in the soul, but in the body, for the souls are not by race and descent; neither hath the soul of the son any kindred or alliance with that of the father, as the body hath; only the sin of Adam hath somewhat thereof, as being the head and root from whom we all come. Thirdly, They would have reduced this punishment to his own proper sins, for that he was borne blind; for though God doth use anticipation in doing favours for some services that are to be done, yet doth he never punish sins not yet committed: but it is rather the blazon of his justice, to punish with a slow hand; as it is of his mercy, to pardon speedily. Fourthly, to attribute punishments to faults committed, is a good judgement, and an approved censure, for our own sins, but not for other men's. When our Saviour Christ said to his Apostles, One of you shall betray me; every one looked first into himself, demanding of him, Rabbi, Master, Am I the man or no? And though he showed them a fair evidence, He that dips his hand with me in the dish, etc. yet none of them fixed their eyes upon judas, nor took notice of the sign then given them. The Pharisee is not so much condemned for his own proper sins, as for the scorn and pride wherewith he despiseth others, I thank thee, o God, that I am not like other men. Emisenus saith, That there can be no greater misfortune, than to make those sins mine, which another man doth commit for his pleasure or his profit, both which I make to be mine, by judging rashly of them. Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, Man the Epitome of the World; the Eye, of Man. but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. Some man may ask me the question, Why God should make choice of these his eyes, to make them to be an instrument of manifesting his works, rather than the hands of the benumbed, the feet of the lame, the tongue of the dumb, the raising of the dead, or the torment of those that are possessed with Devils? I answer hereunto, That all these miracles might serve very well for God's glory. And of Lazarus his death our Saviour said, That it was pro gloria Dei, for God's glory. The Eye is the Heart's market place. But in the Eyes there is a more especial conveniency (as S. Chrysostome hath noted it) than in other the parts of the body: For as man is the sum and Epilogue of all the naturalities of the World, for which reason they call him, Microcosmos, A little World; so the eyes are the sum and Epilogue of man. And as Aristotle saith, That the Soul is all things, 〈◊〉 a certain kind of manner, because all things are come under the compass of i●'s apprehension and understanding; so the eyes in a manner are all things, because they comprehend all things in them, the heavens, the planets, the stars, the elements, birds, fishes, beasts, plants, and stones; nor do they only see in the eyes, corporal creatures, and visible substances, but likewise the invisible passions of our soul; as love, hate, pride, humility, & the like, so saith Pliny. And therefore Saint Augustine styles the eyes, the heralds of the heart. Saint Peter tells us, That there are eyes full of adulteries: In a word, 2. Pet. 2. The eyes ●as Solomon saith) are the open market place of our bosom. And in another place, All the ways of man are in his eyes: And Ecclesiasticus, Ex visu cognoscitur vir. Our Saviour Christ did restore this man to his sight, and made his eyes become clear, to the end that in them might be clearly manifested the most famous works of God. Irenaeus, Saint Chrysostome, and Saint Ambrose say, That he made him without eyes, that by bestowing them afterwards upon him, he might manifest to the world, That God his Redeemer had created him anew. Saint Austin harped upon the same string, treating of Malchus his ear. Saint Augustine saith, That God making these eyes of so base a matter as c●ay or dirt, intermingled with spittle, representeth the mystery of the Incarnation, wherein God did raise and lift up our nature to the admirable union of his heavenly condition, from whence the Word became flesh, which gave light to this blind man, and those that sat in the shadow of death, having the eyes of their souls darkened with sin. Saint Ambrose affirmeth, That Christ taught us by this miracle, that for to recover our soul's sight, we must put dirt upon our eyes, that is, we must think upon our own baseness and frailty: For the principium or beginning of Christian perfection, is, for a man to know himself. Nor were his works only manifested in these his eyes, but all his other perfections and attributes; as his omnipotency, in restoring his eyesight, or rather making him new eyes, moulded out of dirt; his justice, in letting the Pharisees live in their blindness; and his goodness and bounty, in giving light to this blind man. Neither he nor his parents, etc. Saint Chrysostome asks the question, Why God would manifest his works in this blind man so much to his cost, being that he might have taken for this purpose, means of good, and not of hurt? Saint Ambrose saith, That our Saviour Christ was willing to take our sins as a pledge or gauge of his glory, that he might make it thereby the surer: For those that impose Tributes, or settle their Rents, are always careful to have good security; and of all other assurances, Sin the only Security that God could have of man, for his Glory. the best is, that the State thus engaged or impawned, be properly belonging to the debtor. And if God should ground his glory on our goodness, we cannot give him any good security for it, because this is others goods, and not our own: but our sins are our own, and whatsoever is ill in us, properly belongeth to us, and are so perpetuated to our persons, that they can never fail us. Christ did redeem us from the captivity of our crimes, but in this his redeeming and ransomming us from sin, this holy Saint saith, That he had a kind of interest of his own: Reason's why God suffereth many corporal defects, and weaknesses in man. for although God did not remain thereby more powerful, more merciful, more just, etc. Habuit tamen quod ad cultum suae Maiestatis adiungeret, He had something by the bargain, that gave an addition to the worship of his divine Majesty. And as it is in another place, by giving us liberty, Sibi etiam aliquid acquisivit, He got somewhat also to himself. What did he get by it? He got in a manner all his glory by it; he got to be reverenced, served, praised, acknowledged, and adored, to be as well a Saviour as a God: so that in some sort God may be said to be indebted to the ill that is in us. Tertullian saith, That God then loveth this our flesh, when it is fullest of miseries, for by giving remedy thereunto▪ his attributes are known 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 inbred ill that is in us, those good things would not be known and acknowledged, which come from God. In the 113 Psalm, David makes an enumeration of those marvels and prodigious wonders which God multiplied in the behalf of his People, at their departure out of Egypt: And after that he had related many of them, he endeth with this, Go on as thou ha●● begun, o Lord, with these Nations. For although the profit will be ours, the honour will be thine: and whereas these Nations do point out their gods with their fingers, it is fit we should also know that we have a God amongst us, and not a god of wood, as they have. The second reason is Saint Bernard's: Amongst all his other attributes, 2. Reason. none in our opinion, none (considering his natural condition) is to be compared with that of his being misericors, a merciful God: He is called Pater misericordiae, The Father of mercy; which presupposeth our misery: and to multiply his blessings and his goodness upon us, we having no sin nor evil in us, he could hardly do it. If he should have dealt thus with Adam before his fall, and with the Angels in their blessed estate, it might have been an effect of his bounty, but not of his mercy, which is above all his works. But some man perhaps will say, O Lord, to throw evils upon us, that thou mayst afterwards remove them from us, is no such great favour. Yes marry is it, and that an extraordinary favour; for we do not know health, but by sickness; the seizing of that sound upon us, shows what a blessing a sound body is: Speciosa misericordia Dei, quasi nubes plwiae in tempore siccitatus, As rain is welcome in a drought, so is God's mercy to the Afflicted: and so to this blind man was his sight. The third is Saint Chrysostom's: God sometimes takes from us what is good, 3. Reason. God never takes any thing ●rom us, but 〈◊〉 return a better. that he may give us that which is better; whatsoever God doth repair by miracle, is better than that which is possessed by nature, as it succeeded in the wine at the Wedding. Saint Bernard treating of the conversion of Saint Paul, saith, That it was a great happiness that he was strucken blind, for by this his blindness he was taken up into the third Heaven, & there saw such things as man may not utter; and when he came to receive again the eyes of this his body, he possessed withal the eyesight of his soul: and so did it likewise fare with this blind man. The fourth reason is, God inflicting the evil of punishment upon man, 4. Reason. Nothing which God inflicts upon us can savour of injustice. God therein doth not do man injustice; for (as Saint Chrysostome saith) there is in this life no more than one good, and one ill; the good consists in serving God; the ill, in offending him. Let no man therefore complain of his misfortunes, for there cannot be any disaster so great, that can hurt thee in the least hair of thy head, Capillus de capite vestro non peribit. And if a man do not run hazard in the loss so much as of one hair, there will be much more care had, that the better and more material parts shall not perish. Many in jerusalem having eyes, remained blind; and this blind man having no eyes, came thereby to enjoy his sight both in body and in soul. Seneca saith, That the want of eyes caused in many the want of sinning, & was a great occasion of their innocence of life, and inculpabi●itie. The fifth reason is, That it is no injustice in God, 5. Reason. No man but deserveth more than God doth lay upon him. to inflict punishment upon us; for albeit there be no proper precedent sin, neither in ourselves nor our Parents, yet the original sin that we are liable unto, may draw, and that justly, most grievous punishments upon us; as Saint Augustine hath learnedly noted concerning little infants which suffer sickness and death. So that Gods freeing of man from punishment, is mercy; his not freeing him, no injustice. Thou hast many debtors, thou forgivest one, and suest another; it is a kindness to the one, but no injury to the other. One owes thee a great sum, thou art contented to ●ake a little; for this, thy debtor owes thee a great deal of thanks. God took away this man's eyes from him, he might likewise have bereaved him of his feet and his hands, he is bound to thank him that he spared him the use of those. Besides, this cannot be said to be so much a taking away of that which is due, as not a giving of that unto him, which he might, if he would. The good things which we enjoy, are from God, and he may distribute them as it best pleaseth him. Again, the arm is to defend the head, though it run the hazard of being lost; a Citisen for the safeguard of his Commonwealth, a Subject to save his Sovereign's life, a Christian for the glory of Christ, a Creature for the honour of his Creator, and Martyrs for the maintenance of their Religion, have not refused to lay down their lives: it is not much then, that this man should be contented with the loss of his eyes, that the Works of God might be made manifest. 6 Reason. The sixth reason is, That because the heart doth commonly follow after the eyes, it is better to want eyes than to have them. It is the common opinion not only of the Philosophers, but of God's Saints, That the eyes are principium ●alorum nostrorum, The induction to all our ill. Lucian calls them, Prima amoris vi●, The only door that opens unto love. Plato, Principium amoris nostri, The entrance to love. Dionysius, Adalides, or Deuces amoris, The guides or ringleaders to love. Seneca, Animae finestrae, The window to the soul. Saluianus, The casements to man's breast. Clemens Alexandrinus, That the first encounters and skirmishes sally from forth the eyes. Nazianzen styles them, The prime instruments of our bewitching. In a word, The eyes were the ruin of Lot's wife; the eyes, The bewitching of the children of Israel, Videntes filij Dei, filias hominum, etc. The eyes, overthrew Eve in Paradise; the judges that would have wronged Susanna in Babylon, David, Samson, and Solomon, might all of them very well say, Vt vidi & perij, My sight undid me. jeremy complaineth, That all the Daughters of his City were utterly undone by their eyes, Depredatus est oculus meus animam meam in cunctis filiabus urbis. Saint Peter, That many Castaways have their eyes full of Adulteries. Plutarch reporteth, That a certain Conqueror entering the City in triumph, casting his eye aside upon a handsome young woman, had his heart taken prisoner by her; and sending his looks still after her, he gave occasion to Diogenes to break this jest upon him, That this fair maiden had like a Chicken wrung his neck thus aside, looking still backward as his Chariot went forward. 7 Reason. It is God alone must fashion us anew The seventh 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 only, can mould and fashion us anew. Man considering the World's great beauty, was desirous to search out the author thereof; and the Devil boasting forth and assuming to himself the glory of this admirable piece of work, blazoned it forth unto them, I am the Lord of all this Universe, I made the world, and I possess it. Whereupon, Man gave unto him the honour of God, the greater part of the world adoring him in his Idols. God finding himself thus wronged, did permit in man these maims and defects in the eyes, hands, and feet, and other the like monstrous mis-shapednesse. Now if the Devil had the power to repair these imperfections, he might then enjoy this glory: But if all the Idols (as Baruc saith) being put together, cannot give sight to the Blind, how can they then be God? Baruc 6. The wonderfullest work that God ever made, was Man; and in Man, the greatest artifice and workmanship, are his eyes. Our Saviour therefore had so ordered it, that this man should be born blind, that his eyes being fashioned & given him by his hand, the world might acknowledge him to be their God and their Redeemer. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, etc. Saint Ambrose dwells much upon these ceremonies. And much ado is made about the cost and cure of this poor man's eyes. O Lord, thou hast restored other men by a bare word only, so didst thou revive the widow's son lying on the beer; and so didst thou raise up Lazarus from the grave, thy voice alone was sufficient. In the creation of man, thou didst only use the dust of the earth, and therefore man is said to be made de limo terrae. And albeit some do affirm, that man was made de luto, of the dirt, or mould of the earth, yet the Hebrew word, expresses it to no other fullness, 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 beside, and all those other lives tha● God hath given man? There are ●hree reasons rendered. The first of Saint Cyprian, who saith, 1. Reason. That this blind man had not only laesa● potentiam, the faculty disenabled where the sight did reside, as many blind men, who having the organs of their eyes whole, and the apples clear, see nothing at all; But this man had otherwise the organs of his eyes wanting unto him, the hollow places thereunto belonging, being like shop windows close shut up, and skinned over as the rest of the face, and that our Saviour did fill up those empty holes with dirt which he had moulded and knedded together into a mass or lumps of clay, with the help of his spittle. And this was the reason, why they afterwards said unto him, How were thine eyes opened? But to give a man an arm, a hand, or a foot, it may sooner be imagined, than made by any but by our Saviour Christ, who was God. Whence I infer, That because God had breathed the spirit of Life into Man, there were certain Heretics that sticked not to say, that the Soul of Adam was of the substance of God; they might better have said that it was made of the substance of the eyes of this blind man. The second, 2. Reason. For that the Pharisees did attribute these our Saviour's Miracles to the Devil, he did prove in this blind man, that only the virtue of God was powerful to work this wonder. First, Because no natural virtue can give sight to the blind. And therefore by consequence the Devil could not do it, whose miracles are wrought by applying the natural virtue of the Creatures, as Saint Austen teacheth. Secondly, He made good this his miracle, by curing him with this clay, or dust, which was very good means rather to put out, than do any good to the eyes. Whereas if the Devil should have cured him, he must have done it, by applying some helpful virtue that had been accommodated and fitted for the sight. Only it is God that can work these strange effects by contrary causes. The third, is of Saint Ambrose. Our Saviour Christ was willing to advantage this man's sight both in body and in soul: 3. Reason. And therefore it is a far greater miracle to create the eyes, than to raise up the dead to life. This blind man was to be the battalion that was to withstand many great encounters, and contradictions; As the strict examination of his blindness, what were his parents, what his birth, what his breeding: And therefore it was requisite that he should be armed with a great deal of light, with a great deal of courage, constancy, and resolution, not only to answer the arguments, which the passion and hard-heartedness of the judges were to press him withal, but to suffer banishment, & extrusion from their Synagogue, which sentence of excommunication they were to pronounce against him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day, etc. I must not let slip the short time of my life, death draws near, and it behoves me to make haste. We must make hay while the Sun shines. The Husbandman when he sees the ground is throughly soaked with rain, he hastens to the sowing. Saint Austen calls good Works, the Seeds of blessedness, which we must sow in our life time, that we may reap the fruit of them hereafter, They went forth weeping, sowing in tears, but they shall return with joy, bearing sheaves in their bosom. I must work, etc. Good God, What doth this import thee? It importeth Man to look unto it. In that correspondence which God holds with Man, he will that they be partners and share gains alike: and therefore he calls our good, his; and his glory, ours. Our Saviour 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 giving the World to understand thereof, he discovereth Christ's glory, uttering thereupon, I shall show unto you, how fit it was that he should suffer for my sake. The night cometh, when no man can work, etc. Every one hath his day, which is the period of his sowing season, and of his labour; which done, he may have the happiness to take his quiet rest in the night. He that shall go about to make of night, day, shall find he is much deceived; for, The night cometh when no man can work. That which importeth is, That while we have time, we do good: for to this end Time is given unto us. And if the fig tree, because it did not bring forth fruit in its due time, was cursed by our Saviour: what shall become of the sinner that at no time brings forth any fruit? Saint Bernard much condemneth those men, which seeks after occasions for to pass away the time, as to game, chat, read idle poems, and tell tales and lies, to wear away the time, lest otherwise it should seem tedious unto them. The time which God gives thee for Repentance, to crave pardon for thy sins, to sue for grace, and for to purchase glory, thou lettest it run on without any fruit: far better it were for thee to redeem this thy ill spent time; for he that redeemeth his time by Repentance, redeemeth all sorts of time whatsoever, Even 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 understood touching the time of Repentance; according to that saying of Saint Paul, Redimentes ●empus, etc. Redeeming the time, etc. The present with good works, the past with repentance, the future with perseverance, and a full purpose of amendment of life. In a word, Repentance doth not lose one hour, no not one minute of time. The good Thief, in the very last hour, did repair all the lost years of his life. Humility a great help to the curing of a sick soul. Go to the pool of Siloam, etc. First this blindman did herein show a great deal of humility, in that he was not scrupulous what they should say of him that should see him pass through the city with his eyes full of dirt. For points of honour are oftentimes scandals to the Soul, and make the infirmity of the disease incurable. Naaman the Syrian stood upon point of honour, that Elisha should come unto him, 4. Reg. 5. and lay his hands upon his leprosy; As also that he should bid him to wash himself in jordan; whereat 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, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean? Which said, he turned and went away in a rage. Saint Chrysostome saith, That the Pharisees did not believe in Christ. What, said they with themselves, shall we be so respectless of our honour, as to subject ourselves with the vulgar to so base a man as he? Saul made less reckoning of losing God, than the world's honour, Honora me coram populo: So as Samuel would but honour him before the people, come what would of the rest, The like are Obedience & Faith he did not greatly care. Secondly, He showed a great deal of Obedience and Faith. The waters of Siloam were not able of themselves to give sight to this blind man; but I believe (said the blind man) that they will work this good effect upon me: He might have willed me to do that which might have carried with it a greater reason of hope; But the sheep (saith Chrysologus) must go to his feeding, and his folding, whether it shall please the shepherd to lead him forth. The scholar must learn that which his master teacheth him. The sick patient must be ruled by his Physician. He hath liberty (saith Saint Chrysostome) to speak unto his Physician, that he will do his best to cure him, but not to prescribe him the Physic that he shall minister unto him. The like course we are to take with the heavenly Physician of our souls: Sick patients may pray, but not prescribe. For it were a strange kind of unmannerliness in us, besides our diffidence to rely upon an earthly Physician that can only cure our bodies, and not put our trust in God, who can cure both body and soul. The Chirurgeon comes to thee with Cauteries, and lays corrosives to thy sores, thou patiently indurest it, and not once openest thy mouth, and shalt thou not as well bear, etc. Thirdly, he expressed a great deal of thankfulness. Saint Bernard applies this virtue to those words of Ecclesiastes, The rivers come out of the Sea, and return much bettered back again to the Sea; as giving thanks for the water which they received: for the acknowledging of one kindness, is the drawing on of another. And if those rivers should have rested themselves contented with the waters they had received, and not have paid the Sea his due Tribute, that bounty would not have been bestowed upon them. In like manner those good things which we enjoy, flow from God, that immense Sea of goodness, and they are again to be returned unto God through our thankfulness; and when that ebbeth in us, the other never floweth from him, Cessat gratiarum decursus, ubi non est recursus. The rain from heaven ariseth from the vapours of the earth: And when there are no vapours, there is no rain. Saint Augustine desired of God, That he would be pleased to reveal the secrets of Scripture unto him, promising in requital of so great a favour, a perpetual acknowledgement thereof. Confiteor tibi quicquid invenero in libris tuis. Ecclesiasticus commending the noble Acts of David, as his wrestling with bears, tearing the jaws of Lions, killing of Giants, and overcoming the Philistims, he concludeth, That all these things succeeded luckily with him, because he was thankful to the Lord, Eccl. 47. and directed his heart unto him, and established the worship of God. Fourthly, before our Saviour Christ had given this blind man the eyes of his soul, he proceeded fairly, maintained Christ's honour against the pharisees that opposed it. And this, as I may so term it, his honourable carriage prepared the way for him to attain to the height of virtue. The Romans had two Temples adjoining each to other, (as S. Augustin reports it) the one of Honour, the other of Virtue: But no man could come unto that of Virtue, unless he first passed through that of honour. And Valerius Maximus relates unto us, That M. Marcellus a Roman Senator, being desirous to build one sole Temple to Honour and Virtue, the Priests would not permit him to do it; Alleging, That it was not fit, for if by chance any miracle should happen in that Temple, they were not able to avow, to which of the two it ought to be attributed. joseph fled from the enticements of his wanton and lascivious Mistress, for that it was an offence both to God, and his own honour, Quomodo possum hoc malum facere? My Lord hath trusted me with all his whole house, if I should be false unto him, I should hazard my happiness in heaven, and my honour on earth. In a word, the Acts of Honour are sometimes so heroical, that they seem to be miracles of Virtue. He went his ways therefore and washed, and came seeing. First, He returned such a strange altered man from that he was before, from the Pool of Siloam, that his nearest 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 turn over a new leaf, and truly change the form and course of his life, must not seem to be the same man that he was before. It is Philons' note, That it must far with him as it did with Enoch, of whom the Scripture saith, Transtulit eum Dominus; from this earthly life, he must pass to a heavenly life. Esay did prophesy, That upon our Saviour Christ's coming, the dens of thieves should be turned into Gardens, and that the Lions should become as mild and gentle as Lambs; Esay 35. In cubilibus ubi Dracones habitabant, orietur viror iunei, etc. Si dormiatis inter medios cleros pennae columbae de argentata, Psal. 68 etc. The Translation renders it, Inter medios tripodes; Though ye have lain amongst the Triue●s and blackest Pots of Egypt, yet through repentance you shall be as the wings of a Dove covered with silver, & her feathers with yellow gold. Upon Saint Paul's conversion the People did not know him, Nun hic est (said they) qui expugnabat Jerusalem? Act. 9 Is not this he that hath done much evil to thy Saints at jerusalem? So likewise they said of this blind man, Nun hic est qui sedebat mendicans? Is not this he that sat and begged? Of a poor beggar, he came to be a learned Doctor, and did confute many of the best and learnedst Students of jerusalem. Secondly, He was an Instrument of God's omnipotency and power, whose blazon is, to overcome swelling pride and puffing arrogancy, with the lowest baseness, and the weakest frailty. Pliny reporteth, That Rats did dispeople one city, and Coneys another; but much more was it, to overthrow Phar●●h by Flies and poor silly Gnats. If a Lion fear a Cock, and a Bull a Wasp, out of a kind of instinct of nature; Why should not a man stand in fear of such a Fly or a Wasp, Dan. 3. whom God furnishes with a sting? The Babylonish fire did no hurt to the three children that were in the midst of the fiery Furnace, but the flames that came out from thence, did burn many of those Ministers and Officers that were appointed to throw Faggots into the Furnace; Viros autem qui miserant, interfecit flamma ignis. The Hebrew translation renders it, Scintillae, The poor little sparks that flew from out the flame; etc. Thou, o Lord, that canst of a spark make a flame, increase our Faith, and inflame our love towards thee, that we may with this blind man steadfastly believe, and so come to see thy Glory, etc. THE XXIX. SERMON, UPON THE THURSDAY AFTER THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. LUC. 7.11. Ibat Iesus in Civitatem Nain. And jesus went into a City called Nain, etc. A Most famous encounter the Evangelist doth here recite unto us, which happened at the gates of the City Nain; he tells us of a Lion that was devouring & swallowing down a Sheep, and of a David that ran in and took it out of his throat; of a Thief that had stolen a most precious jewel, and of a judge that taking him in the manner, with the theft in his hand, took it away from him, leaving him confounded and ashamed: Of two Fountains, the one of bitter waters, the other so sweet and savoury, that it took from those bitter Fountains all its gall and bitterness: Of Death and of Life, Death turning coward upon this encounter, and flying (according to that prophecy of Abacus) from before the face of our Saviour Christ: And of a young man that was carried out of the City upon a beer to be buried, whom his mother went to accompany to the grave with tears in her eyes, and many more beside. Upon which occasion, our Saviour showed himself Lord of Death and Life. jesus went into a City called Nain, etc. The Evangelist had formerly mentioned that miracle of Peter's mother in Law, that of the Leper, & of the Centurion's servant; and continuing the same strain, he here goes on with a factum est deinceps, And it came to pass, that the day after, he went unto a City called Nain, where in the very gate of the City he met with a sad company, that were going to a solemn Funeral, full of tears and sorrow. And albeit this may seem to be a casual thing, and that happened (as we say) by haphazard; yet was it the main and chief care of our Saviour Christ, to pry into every corner of that holy land, and not to skip over any one place therein, which he did not measure forth with his feet; so that he did not omit that misery whereunto he did not giu● a remedy: Suiting with that saying, Et sanabat omnes, And he cured them all; showing therein, what a good account he made of his office of a Saviour, since his first coming into the world. There are two things which make a man very eminent in his office. The one, His inclination and good intentions, which are the feet of our soul. The other, His pains taking, and continual occupation in all kind of Arts, as well Mechanical, as Liberal. And in very truth, in all both good and evil exercises, so powerful is man's natural inclination, That although a man may smother it for a time, yet like fire under ashes, it will at last break forth into a flame, and discover his true disposition. A thief will never leave his inclination to thieving, Natural inclinations hardly admit a change though he hath often escaped the gallows: Nor a Cheater to his cogging; nor a Merchant to his trading; nor the Mariner to his navigation; nor the Huntsman to his hunting; nor the soldier his disposition to war, though he have discontinued it never so long. David was grown old, and well strooken in years, when his son Absalon rose up in rebellion against him, and yet they could not persuade him from going into the field, though the whole Army were against it, and cried out, Thou shalt not go forth. And they gave him a very good reason for it in the words following: For, if we fly (said they) they will not care for us, neither if half of us dye, will they care for us; but thou art worth ten thousand, etc. And this is a kind of voluntary violence, which with a sweet kind of pleasingness hales the heart of man along. And the like reason may be rendered of continual occupation and employment, it is death to such a one to be idle; and he is no longer well, then while he is in action. Saint Gregory hath well observed, That job upon every the least occasion of happiness that befell him, it was his fashion of phrase, and a usual custom with him to say, The Lords name be praised. So that afterwards, having formerly used himself thereunto in the tempest of his disasters, and those bitter storms of his adverser fortunes, it was never out of his mouth. These two things were subsisting in our Saviour Christ in a superlative degree. First, so great was his inclination and desire to save, that for others welfare, he was careless of his own, Secondly, he was so solicitous of this his business, 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 unadvisedly) Had it not been better for our Saviour to have been in the mount of Olives, or in the garden of Gethseman, or on the hills of Ephrem, than to go thus from house to house, from Castle to Castle, and from City to City? 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 Country to be left out, which should not find the favour of his divine influences. Thirdly, the exercises of the life active, Contemplation and action must never be severed. and contemplative, are those two wings, whereby the soul sores up to heaven. And because one wing will not serve the turn to reach to so high a pitch, we must not only serve God in our prayers and meditations, but also in the relieving and succouring of our neighbour: And therefore our Saviour Christ spent the nights in prayer; Per noctabat in oratione: and the days, in healing bodies, and curing of souls. Petrus Damianus, upon the life of Elias and Elisha, saith, That there is no remote solitary mountain, which doth not ground its retiredness upon some one example or other of the Saints. One, is a friend to the world, and a lover thereof; and this man alleages, That Elias spent many days in the widow of Sareptaes' house; And that Elisha sojourned with the Shunamite, that was a great and principal woman in her country: And that both of them did treat with great Princes and Potentates. Another is a friend and a lover of delicacies, and allegeth, That Elisha and Elias did accept of them. But these men do not consider, That if these Prophets did forgo their solitude, it was more for the good of others that lived abroad in the world, than themselves, as also for the raising up of the dead: And if they did receive good entertainment, 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 jezabel his wife. It is a thing worthy the consideration, That our Saviour Christ having not so much as one penny of money wherewith to pay Caesar his Tribute, willed Saint Peter to open the fish that he had taken with his angling rod. Our Saviour permitted Peter that he should catch such a multitude of fishes, that the nets did break with the fullness of them: But now he would not have him catch, but one only fish. For a Churchman ought to fish for all the fishes that he can possibly take; and the more he takes, he doth God the more service: but for those money-fish, that have pence in their bellies, he must take but one only, and that too for to pay Tribute, not for himself, nor to satisfy his own covetous desires, or his idle pleasures. Ecce defunctus efferebatur. Behold there was a dead man carried out, etc. This word Eccè in the Scripture, requires the eyes of the body, and the eyes of the soul, This life is nothing but a Procession of quick & de●d insinuating a great deal 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 daily carried forth to their burial, it seemeth a superfluous labour, and a needless kind of diligence; especially, being that this our life is no other thing but a continued Procession of the quick and the dead. When Adam saw Abel was slain, and lay dead on the ground, being the first man of whom death had taken possession, he was so heart-strucken, and so amazed thereat, so fearful, so sorrowful, and so sad, that for many years after he was not freed from this fear and horror, nor were the tears dried up from his eyes. For albeit that God had notified unto 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 fleshed himself in man's blood, cutting down more lives than a Sith doth grass in your fair and goodly meadows; this his fear and horror began by degrees to slack and fall off. An Eclipse of the sun doth strangely entertain the sense's attention, not only for to see so fair a Planet leapt up in mourning weeds, but also for that it so seldom happeneth: But the Eclipses of men's lives, though they be the fairest suns upon earth, they so hourly, nay so momentarily succeed with us, that we can scarce (which way soever we look) turn our eyes aside from them. No objects more usual than those of our mortality. And not to speak of those lingering deaths, wherein through sickness we lie languishing a long time, besides those occasioned by famine, pestilence, and war: yet those other sudden and unexpected deaths which daily succeed, may every hour find our eyes occupied. For we see them ever and anon written on the wall, as was that of Balthasar; hanging on the oak, as that of Absalon; dipped in a dish of milk, as that of Sisara▪ represented in a dream, as that of Holophernes; appearing at a feast, as that of jobs children; put in the porridge pot, as that of Elishaes' Disciples, Mors in olla; in the bed, as that of Adulterers; and in the Apoplexy, as that of your Gluttons. Yet notwithstanding all this, and that it is every day's example, None less regarded, or remembered. yet such and so great is the solicitude and care which the devil takes to blot the remembrance of the dead from out the hearts and heads of the living, That at every step we see the dead carried forth to their graves, and are so far from engraving the thought thereof in our breasts, that at every step we forget it. There is not that man alive, which doth not feel and experiment death in himself, complying with that sentence of God, Morte morieris, Thou shalt dye the death. Man is no sooner borne into the world, but death's process is out against him, which is not long in executing. As the week wasteth the candle, the worm the wood, and the moth the cloth, 2. Reg. 14. so (as the discreet woman of Tekoa said to David) We must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. The rivers have recourse to the Sea, and are swallowed up in the deep, an● this is the end of them; so is it with our lives, they bend from their very birth to the bed of death, we leap from our swaddling clothes into our winding sheen. This is the end of all flesh. Seneca compares this our life to an hour glass, and as the sand runs out, so runs away the hour; so as time runs on, our life runs away; and as it was dust, so to dust it returns. When two Ships sail each by other, it seemeth to them, That the one flies like an arrow out of a bow, and cuts the waves with a swift wing, and that the other is a slug, and sails very slowly. And therefore of the way of a Ship in the sea, and of a young man running on in a wanton course; Prou. 30. whereunto may be added the uncertainty of the day of our death; Solomon saith, That they were things too wonderful for him, and past his finding out. Efferebatur. He was carried out. The word Efferebatur is worthy our consideration, it being a plot and devose of the devil to carry the dead out of their Cities to be buried, The remembrance of death affords two benefits. for to blot the memory of the dead out of the minds of the living. In the remembrance of death, the Saints of God found these two great benefits. The one, Amendment of life. The other, Happiness in death. Touching the former, it is by one common consent agreed upon by the Fathers, That the perfection of our life doth consist in the continual meditation of death. Plato called Philosophy, Mortis meditationem, A meditation of death; affirming, That the whole lesson of our life, was to learn to dye. The like saith Gregory Nazianzen, Many Saints and Doctors have demurred upon this point, In that God should defer till the day of judgement the reward of the body, this may seem an inequality to some, but there is none at all in it. For the dust and ashes of the body, do persuade and preach unto us the contempt of the world. Asahel being slain by Abner, 2. Reg. 2. Why the reward of the body is de●erred till the day of judgement. lying dead on the ground, as many as came to the place where Asahel fell and died, stood still as men amazed; This is that valiant Captain, this that undoubted Soldier. There is nothing that doth so quell the courage of Man, and daunt his spirits, as death: it is nature's terror. Those Spies that were sent out to discover the Land of Promise, were strucken into a great fear and amazement at the sight of those huge and monstrous Giants, In comparison of whom (said they) we seemed as Grasshoppers: Dreading, that they were able to devour them alive, and to swallow them down whole; And therefore made this false relation at their return, N●m. 13. The land through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the Inhabitants thereof; but the people that raised this evil reporr, died by a Plague. More truly may it be said of Death, That he devoureth the Inhabitants of the earth, this is he that tameth the fiercest Giants. That dream of Nabucadonezars', which might have been powerful (receiving it by revelation) to make him abate his pride, and lay aside his arrogancy; the Devil presently blotted these good thoughts out of his remembrance. The like course doth the Devil now take with us. He doth not go about to persuade us (as he did our father Adam) that we are immortal: But in two things he goes beyond us, and is too cunning for us. The one, That our death shall be delayed: God saith, Mors non tardat, Death lingers not. The Devil says, Tardat, It lingers. Moram faciet, It loiters. My Lord will delay his coming, (said the servant in the Gospel) But this feigned supposition was his certain perdition. Ezechiel did prophesy the ruin of jerusalem, and the death and destruction of her citizen's, telling them their desolation was near at hand, There shall none of my words be prolonged, Ezech. 12. but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God. But the Devil did otherwise persuade with them, making them to say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, And he prophesieth of the times that are far off. The wanton woman in the Proverbes, which invited the young man to her bed and board, sought to entice him by this means, The good man is not at home, he is gone a long journey; Prou. 7. Therefore let us take our fill of love, etc. From this vain hope of life, ariseth, that our greediness and covetousness to enjoy and possess the goods of this life. And a little, being more than enough for him, yet it seemeth unto man, much cannot suffice him. And it is an evil thought in man, and much to be pitied, that a man should afflict himself for that which neither he himself nor all his posterity shall live to enjoy. O foolish man, dost thou think thou shalt return to live again in those goodly houses that thou hast built, and to reinjoy those pleasant gardens, and orchards that thou hast planted? No, But mayst rather say to thyself, These my eyes shall never see them more. Why then so much cark and care, for three days, or thereabouts? The Romans would not build a temple to Death, nor to Poverty, nor Hunger; judging them to be inexorable gods; But more inexorable is Death, for man never returns again from Death to Life. And therefore the Ancients painted Death with the Talons of a Griffine. Saint Luke painting forth the vigiles of the day of judgement, and the anguish and agony of the World, he saith, That many shall wax fearful, and trouble their heads to see and think on those things, Which shall befall the whole World. Pondering in that place, that they shall not be sensible of their own proper danger, nor the adventure wherein they stand of their salvation, or condemnation; & yet cease not to afflict themselves with the loss of the World, and that the world shall be consumed and be no more. But o thou foolish man, if thou must dye & return thither no more, what is the world to thee? when thou art at an end, the World is ended with thee. And if thou be'st not to enjoy it any more, what is it to thee, if God do utterly destroy it? And all these evils arise from the forgetfulness of Death. We should set it always before our eyes. Luk. 9 He lives secure from Danger, that thinks upon the preventing of Danger. Saint Chrysostome expounding that place of Saint Luke, He that will follow me must take up his Cross daily, and so come after me; Signifying that what our Saviour pretended, was, That we should always have our death before our eyes. 1. Cor. 1●. I die daily (saith the blessed Apostle Saint Paul) My imagination works that daily upon me which (when my time is come) Death shall effect. There is no difficulty that is run through at the first dash, and there is not any difficulty so hard to pass through as Death. A Shoemaker that he may not lose the least piece of his leather or make any waist of it, casts about how he may best cut it out to profit, & tries it first by some paper pattern, etc. Plutarch reporteth of julius Caesar, that he being demanded which was the best kind of Death? Answered, That which is sudden and unlooked for. julian the Emperor dying of a mortal wound, gave thanks unto the gods, that they did not take him out of this life, tormenting him with some prolix and tedious sickness, but by a hasty and speedy death. And for that they do not believe the immortality of the soul, they hold a sudden death a kind of happiness: but a Christian, who confesseth that there is a judgement after death, desireth a more lingering and leisurely kind of dying, for to prevent future danger both of soul and body. In Leuiticu● God commanded, That they should not offer any creature unto him which did not chew the cud, or which had not a cloven hoof: And he therefore joined these two things together; for, to swallow the meat down whole is very dangerous for the health; and the foot not clo●en, very apt to slip and slide: and in a mystical kind of sense is as much as if he should have said, That he that shall swallow down so fearful & dangerous a thing as Death, without chewing & meditating thereon, shall doubtless slide, if not take a fall as low as Hell. Neither youth nor age can privilege from death. The only son of his mother. In the order of conveniency, it seemeth fitter that the old mother should have died, than the young son. But as there is nothing more certain than death, so is there nothing more uncertain than the time of our death; the young Bird as soon falls into the snare as the old one; and your greater Fish as soon taken with the hook as your lesser Frie. Psal. 7. If the Wicked turn not, God will whet his sword, bend his Bow, and prepare for him the instruments of death, and ordain his Arrows against them. For old men that stand upon the graves' brink, death hath a Sith to cut them down; for young men that stand farther off, he hath his Bow and his Arrows. Saint Augustine saith, That God taketh away the Good before their time, that they may not receive hurt from the Bad; and the Bad, because they should not do hurt to the Good. As soon goes the Rich as the Poor, the strong as the weak. The only son of his mother. Not that he was her only son, but her best beloved son. Solomon styles himself, Vnigenitum matris suae, His mothers only begotten son; not that he was the only son of Bershabe, as it appeareth in the first of Chronicles; but because he was so dearly beloved of his mother, as if he had been her only son: he was his mother's darling, her best beloved, the light of her eyes, and her heart's comfort, she cherished him, made much of him, would not let him want any thing; yet all this care and providence of hers could not shield him from death. There is a man in the City that is of a strong and able body, and abounding in all worldly happiness; There is another (saith job) that is weak, hunger-starved, and his wealth wasted and consumed; both these death sets upon, and lays them in the grave. He exemplifies in the King and the Giant; for the rest, he makes no more reckoning of them than of so many little Birds, whom the least fillip striketh dead: but he sets upon a King like a Lion; a poor man hath many means to hasten his death, but Kings seldom die of hunger, of penury, of heats, or of colds, etc. And a Giant seems to be a perdurable and immortal Tower of flesh; but in the end, both Kings and Giants fall by the hand of Death. And since that Death did dare to set upon the Son of God, and his blessed mother, let neither High nor Low, Rich nor Poor, hope to find any favour at Death's hands. joshuah did stop the Sun in his course, Moses the waters of the red Sea, joseph did prophesy of things to come, and many of God's Saints wrought great Miracles: but there is no miracle to be wrought against Death. jer. ●. jeremy tells us of certain Serpents that cannot be charmed, charm the charmer never so wisely: of this nature is Death. Ecclesiasticus introduceth a dead man, who speaketh thus by way of advice to the Living, Memento judicij mei, sic enim erit & tuum, Heri mihi, hodie tibi. That man was never yet borne, nor shall be hereafter, that shall not see death, or escape this heavy judgement. Solomon commanded the child to be divided in the middle, about whom the two mothers did contend; and that sentence which he did not then execute, shall be executed upon all living flesh: for all men being in regard of the body sons of the Earth, and in regard of the soul the children of Heaven, every one receives this sentence from the judge at his death, Let the earth return to the earth from whence it came, and the Spirit to God who gave it life. She was a Widow woman. The word Erat, She was, carrieth with it a kind of emphasis; she was a sorrowful and forlorn Widow. A Widow ought to be a rule and pattern of perfection to all other women, she should be the glass wherein they should see their faults, and what is amiss in them: In a word, she was a woman irreprehensible, and without blame. Nor (according to Saint Paul) hath the Virgin or the Wife that tie and obligation upon them as she 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 Wedlock. When Absalon entered into the wives and Concubines of his father, the King gave command they should be shut up like so many Recluses, because they had opened the door unto him, as if the King had been dead. And Widows are to live so separated and severed from the world, as if they lived not in it. Isiodore expoundeth the Spanish word Viuda, which signifies a Widow, to be qua●i vidua, divided from her husband as the Vine from the Elm, which was its prop and stay, which being taken away, the Vine lieth level with the ground, and without any comfort. The Hebrew deriveth the name of Widow from a certain word which signifieth both bound & dumb; now to be bound and dumb, are the conditions and properties of him that is dead, who is neither able to move nor speak: So that the vulgar Translation calls a Widow Sterilem, barren and unfruitful, as it is in job and in Esay. Another letter styles her Eradicatam, job. 24. Esay 2●. plucked up by the Roots as a tree that is quite rooted up, that it may never grow nor wax green again. The smell of thy garments is like the smell of Frankincense; They must not smell of Amber, nor of Civet, but of Frankincense, which they offer up in Incense: for a widow ought to lead the remnant of her days so near unto her husband's Tomb, that her garments should savour of that incensorie perfume. Of such Widows as these God hath that especial care, that none shall do them any wrong; for the tears that drop down from their cheeks ascend as high as Heaven. And as the vapours that are exhaled from the earth, come down again in lightning and thunder and terrible tempests; so prove the Widow's tears to those that shall unjustly cause them to weep, and draw those watered drops from their eyes. Heliodorus pretended to rob the Temple of jerusalem, and to take away the portions that were deposited for the maintenance of Widows, who wept most bitterly: this general lamentation made way to God's Tribunal; he sent down one on a goodly fair horse armed at all points, who overthrew Heliodorus upon the pavement, and presently two young men fell upon him, and whipped him with scourges till they left him as it were for dead. For this cause did God comfort this Widow at the gates of the City, where the judges had their Tribunals, notifying unto them, that they should take Widows into their tutelage & protection; and the rather, for that a supremer judge, the judge both of Heaven and Earth, was willing to take so much the more care of them, by how the more was their solitude and private course of life. Saint Hierome writing to Furia and Eustochius, uttereth excellent things of those that are true Widows indeed, and of those that are Widows but in jest and sport. Of the former, judith and Anna, samuel's mother, were notable examples: And amongst the Gentiles, Artemisia Queen of Caria, who not desirous to bu●ie her husband in Urns of silver or gold, buried him in her own bowels by drinking down his ashes: in contemplation whereof, there is a very medicinable herb called after her name, Artemisia; which all Widows in stead of other herbs or flowers, aught to have lying by them upon their Estradoes, their beds, and their chamber windows. Of those other fabulous widows, Alcione may serve as an example, who took on so extremely for the death of her husband, that the gods were fain to comfort her; and when they had given her comfort, she was metamorphised at last into a Bird bearing the same name: of which Saint Ambrose saith, That it lives about rivers of waters, the feathers thereof being green, and the beak red, in token that those Widows that so quickly receive comfort, their life is commonly green and youthful, and their words red and full of amorous passions, launching themselves forth like Ships, into a sea of vices and voluptuous pleasures, turning their vails to sails, which fail with every wind. Christ taking pity of her, etc. It is not here said, That he pitied the son, but the mother; for they that die are not so much to be pitied as they that live: for if he that dies go to Hell, we wrong God's justice if we take any commiseration of them; and if they go to Heaven, their happiness doth not require it, having more reason to envy than pity them. Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt, because she sorrowed for the burning of Sodom: and in Heaven, as there can be no misery, so is it impossible that there should be any commiseration; so that pity is only to be reduced to those that live. The Scripture calleth death, Rest and Sleep. Saint Paul saith, I would not have you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep, 1. Thess. 4. that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. And Ecclesiasticus giveth us this advice; Eccl. 22. Weep moderately over the dead, seeing he is at rest. The Scripture calls life a Warfare, a pilgrimage, a Husbandman's task or day labour, job. 7. a navigation, etc. Man's life is a warfare upon earth, and his days like the days of an hireling, etc. The soldier desireth to see the end of his War, and the Traveller his travel ended, to return again into his own Country; an hireling looketh for a reward of his work, a Mariner for a good voyage, and man for death, Gaudent vehementer cum invenerint mortem. Great was man's misfortune, that he was to enter into a sea so full of miseries. But (as Nazianzen saith) death again, was great gain unto him. Ch●ist more moved with those disasters which happen unto us, than we ourselves. Taking pity of her, etc. Greater was Christ's sorrow and compassion for this disaster, than that of this Widow woman; for that harm which happeneth unto us, toucheth us in comparison but lightly, but toucheth God even in the very apples of his eyes; and this did Christ's mercy and pity manifest, in the haste that he made in other his miracles: He had many suitors to entreat him to raise up Lazarus, as Martha and Marie: so likewise to restore the Centurion's servant to his former health, he was solicited by the Priests and the Elders: Here only his mercy moved him thereunto, and therefore it is said, Misericordia mot●s. In the fiery Bush that flamed, and was not consumed with the fire, God did represent those fiery scourges wherewith they scourged his People, and the fire of those Furnaces wherein they baked their brick; and therefore he said unto Moses, Vade, Go thy ways; which is all one as if he should have said unto him, It is I that am thus scorched and scourged, and therefore Vade, hast thee to Pharaoh. But some will object, If God be so hasty to help his People, why did he suffer them to be imbroiled 40 years before they could cast out the Ammorits & the jebusites, especially it being the Land which he had promised unto them? Whereunto himself gives this resolution, Their sins were not yet grown up to their height. So that his leading them all this while through the Wilderness, was a less misery than their remaining in Egypt; and therefore he dismisseth Moses with a Vade, giving him full power and Commission to free his People; willing him to hasten away, that they might be eased of their torment, as if himself had felt the smart thereof more than they. He could not endure that his friends should suffer affliction; and because he had said, Cum ipso sum in tribulatione, he would not be taxed of the breach of his word. So that when God is with thee in thy tribulation, he will give an issue to thine afflictions, because he suffers in them as well as thyself; and if he do not come in to help thee, it is because thy sins have made him unsencible thereof. But do thou movere à peccato, and thou shalt find him (as it is here in my Text) miseri●ordia motus. He said unto her, Weep not. It caused much admiration, & seemed somewhat strange to those that were there present, that our Saviour seeing the tears and anguish of this sorrowful and wretched widow, should upon so sad an occasion say unto her, Noli flere, Weep not. We know that there are diverse and sundry sorts of tears. Some are occasioned by the excessive sorrow and grief of our own sins; of this nature were those tears of Marie Magdalen, of David, and of Peter. Others are drawn from us upon a fellow-feeling and sorrowfulness for other men's faults: of this kind were those of Saint Paul, 2. Cor. 2. Out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote unto you with many tears, so much was he grieved with the news he received from them of that incestuous person, and the punishment of Excommunication inflicted upon him. And to the Philippians, Philip. ●. I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ. And those tears likewise which those men shed who did bewail the miseries of jerusalem, Ezech. 9 whose foreheads God commanded to be marked with the letter Tau. Others are shed by us merely out of compassion for other folk's misfortunes; and such as these were the tears of our Saviour Christ, He beheld the City, and wept over it. So likewise at Lazarus death, jesus wept; john 11.35. Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the Poor? And jeremy did never make an end of weeping for the miseries of his people. Others, the devout meditation of Christ's bitter torments extort from us, According as it was prophesied by Zach. They shall look on me whom they have pierced, Zach. 1●. 10. and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first borne. Others gutter down from us out of a vehement and earnest desire we have to our celestial Country, and to the enjoying of that our heavenly habitation. Of this quality were those of David, Woe is me, that the time of my pilgrimage is prolonged. And in another place, My tears were my bread even day and night. And all these several sorts of tears spring from the Fountain of Grace, and are comprehended under the style of blessedness, Beati qui lugent, Blessed are they that weep, etc. There is another sort of tears which flow from natural pity and conceived grief, for the death of our parents, children, kinsfolks, and friends; as also for loss of wealth, honour, health, and the like; and when the Scripture mentions them, it doth not reprehend them. The Shunamite bewailed her dead son; Marry Magdalen, the loss of her brother Lazarus; and humane Histories recommend these tears of pity unto us: Alexander wept when he met with a troup of poor miserable greeks that were all tottered and torn; and they who upon such sad and miserable spectacles are not tender eyed, and hearted, are cruel creatures. Viscera ●orum cruaelia, (saith Solomon) and Saint Paul styles them, Si●● affectione, Void of natural affection. Now these tears may offend two manner of ways: First, In their excess; for God will not have us to bewail that thing much, which in itself is little. Saint Augustine hath observed, That after jacob began to mourn for the loss of joseph, and the bereaving him of Benjamin, which mourning of his continued almost the space of twenty years; God withdrew those Regalos and favours from him which he was wont to confer upon him: before, the Angels ascended and descended the ladder; before, the Angel gave him strength to wrestle all night long, etc. before, he enjoyed prosperity, wives, children, and victory against Esau: but afterwards, the more tears, the more sorrow fell upon him; for God never grants to the tears of the earth, the comforts of Heaven. And although he permit a mannerly and moderate kind of natural pity, Eccl. 22. Eccl. 38. according to that of Ecclesiasticus, Super mortuum modicum pl●ra: And in another place, Quasi dira passus, incipe plorare, My son, let tears fall down over the Dead, and begin to lament, as if thou hadst suffered great harm thyself. Such few drops he favoureth and cherisheth, but if they be excessive, or overmuch, he condemneth them as unlawful, and as a wrong done unto God. For the losing of God, or the loss of his love, thou mayst well weep World without end, because it is an incomparable loss; but for the outward losses of this World; Incipe plorare, Begin thou to weep, but quickly make an end. The second offence is, That a man having cause enough to bewail his own sins, the loss of his Soul, and of God; doth notwithstanding lament these earthly & transitory losses, neglecting the former. This disorder Christ sought to rectify and amend in those tender-hearted women of jerusalem, who wept so bitterly to see how ill he was used by the jews, and how heavy the burden of his Cross lay upon him. Daughters of jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, etc. He went and touched the coffin. The first place is taken up here by his mercy, which is the wel-head of all those blessings which we receive from his bountiful hand. God's mercy the Spring from whence all his blessings flow. His Providence doth conserve us; his wisdom protect us & govern us; his Goodness, sustains us; his Liberality, inricheth us; his Grace, healeth us: And all this flowe●h from the fountain of his Mercy. The ancients styled jupiter, Optimus maximus; Because (as Cicero notes it) the attribute of Beneficence is more grateful and acceptable in God, than his Greatness and Power. In the second place, came in his words of comfort, Noli f●ere, weep not. In the third, his hands, Tetigit loculum. here he exerciseth his hands, his tongue, and his heart. If we cannot imitate the hands of our Saviour Christ in doing good; yet at least imitate his heart, and his tongue. For Pity and words cost nothing, and are wanting to few. They made a stand, that bore him. Here he showed himself Lord both of the living, and the dead. And therefore Saint Luke useth this word Domin●●, Han● cum vidisset Dominus, When the Lord had seen her. These that bore him thus to his grave, are first of all a stamp or token of the goods of this life, which carry us step by step from our honours, riches, delights, and pastimes, to the house of eternal lamentation and mourning. Secondly, they are a stamp or token of i'll & lewd company, which say to an unexperienced & ignorant youngman, Come along with us, and let us lay wait for blood. They are like those highway robbers which persuade men to rob, & kill, saying, We will make ourselves rich, etc. Or like those carnal men which cry unto us, Come, let us take our pleasure. Of this People the Prophet Esay complained, saying, This is a People robbed & spoilt, they are all of them snared in holes, they are hid in prison houses, they are for a prey, & none delivereth, for a spoil, & none saith, Restore. The Devil and his Ministers lead your wilful young men away captive, clap them into Hell's Dungeon, and there is none that delivereth them, or to say so much as, Alas poor man, whither wilt thou run on to thy destruction? Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. He called him by the name of his age or youth, because that had brought him to his grave; for it is sin that sises out our lif●, and cuts it short. Youth is a kind of broken Ship which leaks & draws in water at a thousand places, so that of force it must quickly sink. El●hu said, That if a young man will be obedient and be ruled, he shall enjoy his days in peace; but if he will be headstrong, & vngouerned, Morietur in tempestate anima ●ius, & vita inter effoeminatos. The Seventie render it, In adolescentia; for, a Tempest at sea, and Youth, that is tossed too & fro with its unruly appetites, is all one. Et vita inter Effoeminatos: Another Letter hath it, Scortatores. The connexion is good, for Youth runs itself quickly upon the Rocks of death, Prou 31. through its sensualities and lewdness of life. There are two daughters of the Horseleech, which still cry, Give, give: And the Wiseman pointing them forth unto us, saith, The one is, Infernus; The other, Os Vuluae: The Grave the one; and Lust the other. And the Wiseman did link these two together with a great deal of conveniency and fittingnesse; for if Lust be never satisfied, the Grave less. This truth is likewise made good, forasmuch as the Scripture styleth Sin, Sin is death itself. Death, If I do this I must die the death; So said Susanna to the judges that made unlawful and dishonest love unto her. And Cain seeing himself charged with fratricide, at that very instant he gave himself for a dead man, Whosoever shall meet me, will kill me. Youth then being a house whereinto the rain doth drip so fast, and at so many places, it is no marvel, that life should cease and soon decay. It is proverbially said, Love is as strong as Death: The character of a young man And as Love doth usually set upon young men, so doth Death; and where Love striketh Youth, Death may spare his Dart. The Ancients painted a Youngman stark naked, his eyes with a Veil or Bend before them, his right hand bound behind him, and his left, left at liberty, and Time following him close at the heels, and ever and anon pulling a thread out of the Veil. He was drawn naked, to show with what little secrecy he had used his delights and pleasures; with his right hand bound behind him, to express that he did not do any thing aright; his left free and at liberty, signifying that he did all things aukwardly and untowardly; he was portrayed blind, because he doth not see his own 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 sat up and began to speak. The Dead presently obeyed the voice of the Living. And he sat up. God cryeth out aloud to those that are dead in their Souls, yet do they not obey his voice; Arise thou that sleepest, etc. He began to give thanks unto him that had done him this so great a favour; Thou hast delivered me, o Lord▪ from the doo●es of death, and therefore I will celebrate thy praises, and magnify thy name in the Gates amidst the Daughters of Zion. It is Saint Chrysostom's note, That the word Doores is put here in the plural number, because many are the dangers out of which God delivereth a sinner, That all may speak of thy praise, and talk of thy wondrous works. And there came a fear upon all. It may seem to some, That the word Love would better have become this place, and been fitter for this present purpose and occasion: All (a man would think) should rather have expressed their loves unto him, sung forth his praises, and offered their service unto him. In those former punishments of a World drowned and overwhelmed with Water, of a Sodom burned and consumed with Fire, it was very fit and meet that it should strike fear and amazement into all: But in such a case as this, What should cause them to fear? Hereunto I answer, That nothing doth strike such a fear and terror into man, as the great and wonderful mercies of God. A Roman Soldier told julius Caesar, It much troubles me, nor can I be heart-merrie, as oft as I think on the many favours that I have received from thy liberal hand; but do rather hold them as so many wrongs and injuries done unto me; for they are so beyond all requital, that I must of force prove ungrateful, which makes me to fear, 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 severer justice.. jacob did in a manner utter the same sentence against himself, Minor sum cunctis miserationibus tuis, The least of thy mercies is greater than all my merits; nor can the best services that I can do thee, make satisfaction for the least of those favours which I have received from thy bounteous liberality. Grant, o Lord, that what is wanting in our own worthiness, may be made up in the mercies and merits of our Saviour jesus Christ; To whom, with the Father, etc. THE XXX. SERMON, UPON THE FRIDAY AFTER THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. JOHN. 11.1 Erat quidam languens Lazarus. Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus of Bethanie, etc. PEtrus Crysologus calls this, Signum signorum, The raising of Lazarus Christ's greatest miracle. Mirabile mirabilium, Virtutem virtutum; The sign of signs, the wonder of wonders, and the Virtue of virtues, or the power of powers. Saint Augustine, Miraculorum maximum, The miracle of miracles, which of all other did most predicate and blazon forth Christ's glory. Saint Hierome prefers it before all the rest that he wrought here upon earth. By this prenda or pledge of his Divinity, Death remained confounded, the Devils affrighted, and the locks and bars 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 Majesty and glory. That a valiant Warrior should make a brave and gallant show on horseback, having his Courser adorned and set forth with curious and costly Caparisons, it is not much; but to seem handsome and comely in Death's paleness, weakness, and foulness, being so ghastly a thing to look on, God only can do this. Ante faciem eius, (saith Abacuc) ibit mors, Death ●●all fly before his face. Christ doth deliver us from a double death, the one of the soul, the other of the body, He delivered them from their distresses, Psal. 107. ●0. 1. Cor. 15.54. Death is swallowed up in victory. He that drinketh takes the cup in his hand, and doth therewith what it pleaseth him: so did our Saviour deal with Death, & therefore he called it a cup, drinking the same up at one draught; Death is a large draught, but Christ swallowed it down. wherein he drank a health to all Believers. Saint Bernard upon 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 pass; and after thou hadst drank thereof, thou saidst, Sitio, I thirst. The Flesh was afraid, but the Spirit got the victory over Death, with that ease, as a good Drinker doth of a good cup of drink when he is very thirsty. In a word, Not only because this was a miracle wrought upon a dead person that had lain four days buried in his grave, but because the sacrilegious council of the Scribes and Pharisees had laid their heads together, and plotted the death of our Saviour Christ; as also in regard of those other circumstances, That the deceased party was nobly borne, and that many of good Quality came to visit him in his sickness, and did weep and bewail his death, did our Saviour perform this miracle. Amongst all those miracles which our Saour Christ wrought, Saint Augustine gives to this the first and prime place: and indeed it seems to be an epitome and short sum of all those other miracles that he wrought in the whole course of his life; for in the resurrection of one that is dead, there is given sight to the Blind, ears to the Deaf, a tongue to the Dumb, feet to the Lame, motion to the Paraliticke, etc. And therefore Saint john with this miracle doth (as it were) shut up and give a close to the proving of his Divinity. A certain man was sick named Lazarus, etc. Therefore his Sisters sent unto him. Here we may consider the good advisement and discretion of this noble pair of Sisters. When Marie Magdalen treated of the reparation of her own soul, she went herself in person, passing through a world of inconveniences; but for the restoration of her brother to his bodily health, she thought it would be sufficient and serve the turn well enough, to send her Servant with a letter to our Saviour. The Worldling for the health of his body will round the world; but will not stir a foot for his soul's health: For to esteem of things as they are, and to give them their true weight, and to put every thing in its proper place, is not only the mark of a prudent, but of a predestinated person. Egypt taxed Moses of ingratitude (as Phylon hath noted) in his life, for that he did forgo Pharaohs Palace, refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter, and chose rather to suffer adversity with the People of God, those poor Israelites, than to wear the Crown of Egypt, and to enjoy the pleasures of the Court; esteeming (as Saint Paul saith) the rebuke of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. But first of all, he was not ungrateful; for concerning those good blessings which he enjoyed, he was more bound to God for them, than to the King. Secondly, he showed he was no fool in doing as he did; for better is one crumb of bread in the Lord's house, than all the prosperity of the world without it; Than to enjoy (to use Saint Paul's words) the pleasures of sin for a season. I had rather be a Doorkeeper (saith David) in the house of the Lord, than to dwell in Tabernacles of sinners. Nazianzen reporteth, That the Emperor Valens offering Saint Basil his favour, and to be a friend unto him, if he would but be a friend to E●doxius the Arian; he told him, That he should highly esteem of the Emperor's favour and friendship, but he was to esteem more of Gods. Saint Augustine saith, That Adam did eat of the Apple, Ne contristaret delitias, etc. lest he should grieve his Love; not led along with carnal concupiscence, but with a friendly affection. Suiting with that of Saint Paul, That Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived: but it had been better for Adam to have displeased his wife, than to grieve the spirit, as Saint Paul speaketh of a sinner. In a word, fathers, mothers, children, wives, friends, and all our kindred and acquaintance, are to be had in less esteem than our souls, and our God. And therefore Marry Magdalen went in person for to seek out Christ, for her God, and for her soul; but did not so for her brother. Behold, he whom thou lovest is sick, etc. The Saints do much ponder the discretion of this letter. The first consideration is, It's briefness and shortness of style; Imagination ca●not desire an elegancy more brief, nor a briefness more copious. Ap●leius●coffes ●coffes at the long and spacious Orations which the Priests made of their Syrian Goddess. Elias mocked at those of Baal's Priests continuing from morning to high noon; Clamate voce maiori, (said he) Cry aloud, 3. Reg. 1●. 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, etc. Our Saviour Christ advising us how we ought to pray, saith, When ye pray, use no vain repetitions as the Heathen; Mat. 6.7. God regards not the length of our prayers, but their strength. for they think to be heard for their much babbling. It is now the fashion of the World, to amplify reasons, and to enlarge its discourses with the ornaments of Eloquence, the flowers of Rhetoric, choice Phrases, and a great deal of artifice and cunning; but that of Heaven consists of few words, but is full of spirit and devotion: one single Pa●er noster uttered with fervour, is of more force, than many vosarios without it. When a Vessel sounds, it is a sign it is empty. Moses treating with God, said, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither at any time have been, Exod. 4. etc. but I am slow of speech, and slow of tongue. Moses was herein mistaken; for I would have thee to know, that a talking tongue and a dumb heart do not suit well together. Divine Bernard asks the question, Why God in the Lord's Prayer did put this word Qui est in Coelis, Which art in Heaven, being that he is present every where, and in all places? And his answer is, That his desire was, that our prayers should proceed with that fervency and forcible ejaculations, as if God could not hear us unless by our prayers we pierced Heaven. As for our harps, Psal. 137. we hanged them up upon the Willoughes. Ruffinus saith, That your Willoughes are but barren Trees, and without fruit; and when Prayer proceeds from a dry heart, and a barren and unfruitful soul, it is like the Harp there spoken of, that hangs upon the Willoughes by the waters of Babylon. In a word, your laconical kind of Language, that which is short & full, Nazianzen saith, That it is The uttering of much matter in a few words; and the fewer the words are, the greater are the voices of our desires. When the Devil left jobs lips only free from biles and sores, he did not do it out of any pity towards him, but out of a desire that he had to draw some word of impatience or blasphemy from them: but he was both deceived and ashamed, when he saw that he employed them in these only four praiseworthy words, Sit nomen Domini benedictum, Blessed be the name of the Lord. And say the Devil should have bereaved him of the use of his lips, and that he should not have been able to have uttered a word, yet his desires would have spoken their mind in a loud voice. Cum invocarem, exa●diuit me Deus justiciae mea: He calls him, Deum justiciae meae, The God of my righteousness, not, The God of my Prayer: And why so? The reason is, Works outspeak Words Because Works outspeak Words. Saint john saith, That he saw under the Altar the souls of the Martyrs, Crying with a loud voice, How long Lord? etc. But if these souls were severed from their bodies, how could they cry? Saint Gregory resolves it thus, That their desires did cry out aloud. Moses did not unfold his lips, nor once open his mouth, and yet God said unto him, Why dost thou 〈◊〉 unto me? only because his desires did set out a throat. So Abel's blood was said to cry out against Cain. So that with God a few words will suffice. Besides, your better sort of women ought to be very sparing of their words, Auaritia in verbis (saith Plaut●s) in f●eminis semper laudabilis. Of a lewd and naughty woman Solomon reporteth, That she inviting a young man, irretivit ●um sermonibus, provoked him with her words. Ecclesiasticus saith, That wisdom and silence in a woman, is the gift of God: Nature may give beauty, blood, prosperity, and other good gifts; but wisdom and silence God gives: Sicut vit●a cocci●●● labia tu●, Cant. 4. ●. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy talk i● comely. Those your women's hairs which are dis-she●●led and blown abroad with the wind, they did use to br●id & bind them up with a red ribbond; And therefore the Bridegroom compareth his spouses' lips to a thread of Scarlet, or some red coloured fillet to bind them up, the better to show, that she should not be too lavish of her tongue, but of few words, and those too upon fit occasion. The second consideration in this their discretion, was, That they called him Lord, Domine, etc. Your greatest Kings and most powerful Princes upon earth, have no dominion or empire over the soul, neither are they able to add or take away one dram of the spirit. 3 Reg. 1●. But thou, o Lord, Thou art the universal Lord both of Heaven and Earth, and we are thy handmaids and servants; and therefore thou canst not deny us thy favour. Saint Ambrose, expounding those words of David, Seruus tuus sum ego, I am thy servant, saith, That they who have many Lords and Masters here upon earth, cannot cleave unto God; Seru●● t●us sum ego, serui dominati sunt nostri: Those creatures which God hath given us to be our slaves, flesh, the dainties, the delicacies, the delights, & pleasant pastimes of this world, shall have dominion over them. The third, Quem amas, He whom thou lovest. Amatus, or beloved, is a more honourable name than that of Angel, Beloved, a name of great pre-eminence. Apostle, Martyr, Confessor, or Virgin: Lucifer, was an Angel; judas, an Apostle: The Heretic will not stick to say, that he dies for Christ's cause, and that he is a Martyr and a Confessor: your vestals, styled themselves Virgins; yet all these names, have been liable to sin, to misfortune, and Hell. But the name of Beloved, is not compatibl● in that kind, And Christ hath got the start of Man in his love, For he loved us first, And where he once loves he never leaves off. Besides, Two things I would have you to note, which are usual with the Saints and children of God. The one, to set before their eyes the favours they have received, to allege them, to show themselves thankful for them, and to praise and commend them. God's favours seldom come single. The other, Not to show themselves forgetful of their services towards God; Knowing that it is God's condition and quality, when he bestoweth one favour, to engage himself for a greater. Ezechias alleged unto God his holiness and goodness of life: 4. Reg. 20.3. O Lord, remember now how I have walked before theein truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good ●n thy sight. Saint Gregory presseth hereupon; Were it not better to allege thy misery, than to represent those many good things which thou hast done, all which thou hast received from his hand? But with God, to allege them, and to show ourselves thankful for former received favours, is a powerful means for the receiving of far greater benefits and blessings from him. After that David had made a large muster of his tribulations, He saith, Conuersus, vivificasti me, & de abissis terrae, iterum reduxisti me, Thou hast quickened me, and hast brought me again from out the deeps of the Earth. Where I would have you to ponder the word iterum; For God never does one single favour. The righteous ever mind full of God's service, forgetful of their Mat. 25. Secondly, the righteous are forgetful of their own services, for that they hold them so mean and so vile, that they judge them unworthy God's sight. And when in that general judgement God shall say, I was naked and ye covered me, etc. The Saints shall answer, Lord when did we see thee naked, etc. And it is noted by Theodoret, that these are not words of courtesy, or out of mannerlines, but of mere forgetfulness. For it is their fashion, so to despise their own services and deservings, that they do wholly forget them. The fourth consideration of their discretion was, That so especial is the favour which God shows unto his friends; and the grief which he conceiveth of any that shall befall them, that they held it a greater point of Wisdom to allege that he was his friend, than their brother. Saint Bernard saith, That albeit the defect of my services do dishearten me, yet God's great mercies, and his many favours do encourage me: For it is not God's fashion to forsake his friends. And therefore saith Saint Austen, Non enim amas & deseris. The Princes of the Earth are now and then well content, their friends should suffer, because in them, Power and Love is not equal: But those in whom these attributes go hand in hand, ought not to suffer their friends to miscarry. They would seem here to put this upon Christ, and to make this cause his own. O Lord, That we should lose our brother, it is no great loss, because in thee we have a brother: But thou (o Lord) amongst so many thy professed enemies, hast lost a great friend. It is the condition of God's Saints to grieve for the death of the Just, Injuries done to God, more grievous to the righteous, than if done to themselves. because God receives a loss in them; and to resent their own proper injuries, not for that these injuries are done to themselves, but for that they are injuries done unto God. Tabescere me fecit zelus meus, quia obliti sunt verba tua, inimici mei: Upon which place, Genebrard gives this exposition, That mine own injuries, do not so much offend me for that they are mine, but because they are offences done unto thee. And David in his thirtieth Psalm treateth of some crosses and affliction, that God by sickness had laid upon him, after he had built his palaces, Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled. I was loath to dye, Psal. 39 not for mine own sake, for it were happiness to me if I should dye to day or to morrow, but not for thee, What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? What service can David do thee, when he is laid in his sepulchre? But o Lord, in his life, in his honour, in his crown, and in his kingdom, he may do thee good service: This, o Lord, concerns thee, and must run to thy account. The like bold insinuation did Moses use, when he said, O Lord, pardon this people; lest the Egyptians should say, Thou hadst plotted this of purpose to lead them out into the Desert, and there to make an end of them, having no body to help them. Tibi soli peccavi, & malum coram te feci, ut iustificeris in sermonibus tuis, & vincas cum iudicaris; Saint Augustine gives it this interpretation, Tibi soli peccavi, viz. Tibi solum sum relictus. O Lord, this wound was only made for thee, that thou alone mightst heal it; all other Physicians have quite given me over, there is not any one upon earth that knows how to cure me, and therefore I lay the same open only to thee, Vt iustificeris. Thou hast ordained a Law, That at what time soever a Sinner shall repent him of his sin, and turn unto thee, thou wilt blot out his offences: O Lord, I am sorry I have offended thee, I confess my fault, and acknowledge my sin before thee, and therefore it must be put to thy account, to pardon me; otherwise it will be said of thee, That thou dost not comply with thy promise. Secondly, These two sisters did pretend to strengthen this our Saviour's love to their brother. No love where no relief. For it doth not stand with the rules of friendship that a man should love, and not relieve the necessities of him he loveth. One telling Theophrastus, That two such were very great friends, & that the one was very rich, and the other very poor; He returned him this answer, It cannot be, being they be friends. This very argument did these sisters urge our Saviour Christ withal: Lazarus being thy friend, and thou being life itself, why hast thou suffered Death to lay hold upon him? Again, There is no force that is able to resist Death, but Love, Love is as strong as Death. Death hath been so audacious as to enter within our doors; let Love revenge us of this his presumption. The Athenians placed loves Statue betwixt Mercury and Hercules, the one the god of Eloquence, the other of Fortitude. To show that Love doth not consist so much in words, as in works. Thou hast vouchsafed, o Lord, to honour our brother with the name of friend, now manifest the same by thy strong arm, and thy powerful hand. The fifth, was their having recourse unto him, that had caused this wound and was only able to cure it. First, for that God is highly offended that we should have recourse to any but himself. Secondly, Because no Physician, nor earthly physic can minister health without the will and pleasure of our heavenly Physician, He woundeth, and he maketh whole. The former is notified unto us in Ah●ziah, who finding himself sore sick of a fall through the Lattice window of his upper chamber: sent (fearing he should die of that bruise) to consult with Baalzebub the god of Ekron. Which Messengers Elias meeting withal, said unto them; What is there no God in Israel that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Eckron? 4. Reg. 1. deliver therefore this message from God unto your king, Thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, Osee 4.12. but shalt die the death. Hosea doth likewise complain, That his People had recourse in their doubts unto Idols, My People ask council at their stocks. Lyrae renders it, In simulachro ligni. This my People is so foolish, that they go to ask council of a piece of wood. The seventy Interpreters turn it thus, In virgis suis: Whereupon Rupertus hath observed, That this was a kind of superstition which clove unto them from the Chaldeans, from whom they had received this infection; for it was a fashion amongst them, when they would know what should befall them, to throw up a couple of sticks as high as they could fling them; or two arrows tied together, and marking the one for good luck, and the other for bad, they mumbled I know not what words, and that which in the falling fell uppermost, did prognosticate the success. Ezech. 21.21. Ezechiel reporteth, That the King of Babylon coming with a great army, doubting with himself, whither he should go against Rahab or jerusalem, coming where there were two ways to take, used this superstition of the two Arrows, Quaerens divinationem. The King of Babel stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, consulting by divination, and made his Arrows bright, etc. and the lot lighted against jerusalem. This difference there is betwixt him that is a Saint of God, and him that is not; that he in his griefs hath recourse first unto God, and next to humane remedies; whereas the other hath first recourse unto Physicians: & when they notify to the former, the danger wherein he is, he falls to a confession of his sins, a hearty repentance, and to the receiving of the blessed Sacrament. The Ancients did picture Health in the form of a handsome fair damosel sitting in a Royal Throne; for without health there is no pleasure in royal Thrones, in Sceptres, nor in Crowns: for the better conservation whereof, we are to use temperance in our diet. The Serpent is the Symbol of Prudence, without which it is impossible to preserve our health. The foolish and undiscreet man, that makes no reckoning of the falling of your Sereno's, or evening dews, oftentimes blasting those that are in them; as in Spain, and the like hot Countries; of your Sun's heats, and your Snows colds, your foul and pocky Whores, lose oftentimes their healths, if not their lives. But above all, we must have recourse unto God, for God is all in all; and without God, little importeth temperance, prudence, Physicians, or Physic. The sixth consideration of their discretion, was, That they did propose their misery, but not prescribe the remedy; for it is sufficient, that we propound our necessity unto God. Saint Augustine saith▪ Amanti, sat est nunciasse, It is enough for him that loves, to intimate his mind. And Saint Bernard, Sic melius tanquam non orantes, oramus; tanquam diffidentes; confidimus, etc. A modest kind of demanding, and a diffident seeming confidence, doth oftentimes further a suit, and promote the thing we pretend. Ezechias being threatened by Zenacharib, 4. Reg. 19 did before God unfold his menacing letter; O Lord, (said he) thou mayst read in these lines the pride and arrogancy of this blaspheming King. Saint Peter when his soul melted into tears, did not tell God what he pretended by them; Which caused Saint Bernard to say, Lachrimas Petri video, precem non audio, I see Peter's tears, but hear not his prayer. The blessed Virgin said no more than this, Vinum non habent, They have no wine. And therefore, Psal. 37.5. Commit thy way unto the Lord, and trust in him, and he shall bring it to pass, etc. The Sister's good will was well known to our Saviour, but they did not publish the same: for the Just never ties himself to his own will, Not my will, but thy will, ● Lord, be done; His will must be ours. It was our Saviour's saying to his Father, when praying in the Garden, he besought him, Let this Cup pass from me. And in another place, I descended down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of my Father that sent me. Anselmus saith, That a sovereign will in man, and which doth not submit itself unto God's will, is the will of Worldlings, and savouring too much of the earth; and this superiority would (if it knew how) rob God of his privileges, as proud Lucifer endeavoured to do. And in another place, he terms a man's own proper will, Pestem & lepram mundi, The plague and leprosy of the world; and that God doth punish nothing more upon earth; and that there had never been any Hell, The perverseness of man's will. had it not been propter propriam voluntatem, for this self-will of ours. Saint Bernard saith, That it converteth good into ill, and that it loseth the reward of Fasting, whereby Heaven might be gained: Alleging that of Esay, Behold, Esay 58.3. in the day of your fast you will seek your will. Cassianus reporteth of a holy Hermit, That a friend of his at the hour of his death ask his advice, How he might be saved? Answered, That he was never wedded to his own proper will. Taulerius reporteth of a certain Divine, That he did oftentimes desire of God, That he would direct him to a Master that might teach him the way of his salvation; and that at last he met with a poor man that was all ragged and torn: God give you the good day, said he unto him: To whom the other replied, I never had bad one yet: What meanest thou by that, quoth he? He told him, I did ever place my happiness and content in submitting my will to God's will; and because his will divides itself into good and evil, contenting myself with his good will and pleasure, I have always led a contented life. But what (said he) wouldst thou do, if God should cast thee into Hell? He answered, My Soul hath two arms; the one of Humility, the other of Charity: with the one I would obey; with the other I would take hold on God himself, and would force him to descend down with me into Hell; and having him along with me, I should enjoy all happiness and content. Leo the Pope saith, That the dispossession of our own proper will, Omnes fid●les instruxit, omnes Confessores incendit, omnes Martyres coronavit; Instructed all the Faithful, inflamed all the Confessors, and crowned all the Martyrs. Ecce, quem amas infirmatur. Behold, He whom thou lovest is sick. This Ecce implies matter of admiration; Behold, one that is beloved of God, and that is sick. The Angel said unto Gideon, The Lord is with thee thou valiant man. But he answered with a kind of admiration and wondering, Ah my Lord, If the Lord be with us, why then is all this evil come upon us? This is a secret hidden from the eyes of the flesh; wherein we are to acknowledge these two truths: The one, That Tribulation conserveth Virtue. The other, That God gives tribulation to his best friends, as a reward of their great and good services. Touching the former, In that earthly Paradise, Virtue was conserved in its perfect rest and quiet, because the goods of the body did concur with the goods of the soul. But this concord was broken through sin; and then virtue, amidst its ease and pleasure, lived in greater danger; but in its tribulation, in greater security. Caietan saith, That the certainest and most assured sign that Virtues are such strangers here upon earth, is, for that they have need of so many materials of persecutions for their preservation. Fire being in its own sphere, is solely by itself conserved without any fuel to maintain it, or breath of air to blow it: the like succeedeth with Virtue. Touching the second, Saint Ambrose saith of job, That before the storms of affliction fell upon him, he was a holy man; yet for all that had he not the reward of holy, The best reward that God can give his followers Virtutis praemium non habebat, God had not rewarded him for this his virtue: He had showed himself a valiant soldier in peace, but not a Conqueror in war; and that his troubles and afflictions bestowed upon him the Palm of this his victory. He saith likewise of joseph, That the temptation of his Mistress clapped the Crown of Chastity upon his head; and the wrong he received by imprisonment, was the Touchstone of his valour. Your earthly Crowns are made of gold, but your heavenly Diadems, of the thorns of tribulation; Necesse fuit, ut tentatio probaret te, It was needful that thou shouldst be tried by temptation. But this is a Theme which hath been beaten upon heretofore, and in many places much insisted upon, and therefore I will pass it over. Man's misery the blazon of God's Majesty. This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, etc. That great & dangerous diseases honour the Physician that doth cure them; that great and terrible tempests recommend the Pilots skill that can preserve the Ship amidst those cruel flaws and raging seas; that great victories ennoble the Captains that obtain them, is a manifest and known truth: but that those storms which prick and pain my feet, should serve for flowers in God's hands; that those stones whereat I stumble, should serve as Diamonds for his Crown; this is a hidden treasure, and a secret mystery of heavenly Philosophy; but so certain, that in case God had not created the world for any other end than to throw tribulations upon his friends, it had been a famous piece of work, and a most glorious Fabric: for so great is the glory which a Saint draws from his sufferings, that he makes no reckoning of the pain that he endures. And it is fitly termed glory, for that all our felicity consisteth in the seeing of God, Tribulation openeth the eyes of the Soul, whereby we come to see him the better, Vexatio dat intellectum, It is a kind of glory to suffer affliction. Heretofore (said job) Auditu auris audivite, nunc autem oculus meus videt te, In my prosperity, o Lord, I had some knowledge of thee; but now in my misery sitting on the dunghill, I have seen thee with mine 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 misery made more clear. After that man had fallen by sin, God gave that to him for a punishment, which before he had bestowed upon him for entertainment: He had placed him in Paradise, to dress & keep it; afterwards he allotted it him as a chastisement, In the sweat of thy brows, & c·s and the mystery is, That Gods disfavour is Hell, his favour, Heaven: but trouble and affliction sent us by God, is like unto Moses his Bush, which the more it flamed, the fresher it seemed; for (as it is observed by Saint Gregory) the fire did serve there in stead of water: Suiting with that of Saint Paul, Licet is qui foris est, noster homo corrumpatur; for by how much the more the body is dried up and withered away, by so much the more doth the soul grow green and flourish; and by how much the more the outward man waxeth weak, by so much the more the inward man waxeth strong. For the glory of God, etc. Before your great battles are fought, they first begin with skirmishes; in your Tilts and Tournaments they begin with proffers and flourishes; between Love and Death, after either's brauadoes, the war is now ended: Love skirmisheth with Death, and hath gotten himself such great glory in this conflict, that with a general shouting all cry out aloud, That Love will win the field. There are many, who not truly looking into the cause of their punishment, cry out with job, O, that my grief were well weighed, job. 6.2.3. and my miseries were laid together in the balance, for it would be now heavier than the sand of the sea. And in another place, He hath multiplied my wounds without a cause. And David complaineth, I did not enter into the cause of those many stripes which God had laid upon me. But to all this it may be answered, That the cause thereof is the glory of God. The stench vapours itself from forth the earth, it environs the circumuicining air; the Worms are knawing on Lazarus carcase: all this loathsomeness, this stench, and these Worms, turn to the glory of God. That Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, etc. The titles whereby the Spirit of God makes these Sisters, and their brother known, are those their services expressed to our Saviour Christ. Marry, who anointed his feet, Martha who feasted him; and Lazarus, his beloved friend. For the greatest nobleness that a soul can enjoy, is, To serve and love God; Fear God and keep his Commandments, etc. This is the only true valour in man. Philon expounding that place upon Genesis, These are the generations of Noah, etc. He saith, That God willed Moses to make a Pedigree or Genealogy of Noah, but he did not make it by fetching it from his famous ancestors, as your Noblemen and Gentlemen do now a days, but from his Virtues. Those forefathers, and great grandfathers, which made Noah so renowned, were his obedience, his constancy, his fortitude, and his piety. This is the true nobility of God's Saints. The divine Histories that blazons forth job, describes him thus, job. 1. He was an upright and just man, one that feared God, and eschewed evil, etc. But why did he not make mention of his Fathers and his Kindred and Alliance? Because God's Saints, boast not their parentage, but their virtue. Saint Chrysostome proveth at large, that a man ought not to be commended for any thing, but his virtue. And he rendereth three very good reasons for it. The first is, That all other our goods end with our lives; Nothing more properly ours, than Virtue. but virtue endureth for ever. The rest are bona aliena, they are not ours, but of others. But virtue, is bonum proprium, It is our own proper good. And Saint Chrisostome treating of Nabuchadnezzars' Statue, much condemneth the means that was used for the increasing of his honour, and authority: For he dishonoured himself by having that to be honoured; showing thereby, that he relied more upon a Statue of mouldering metals, than his own body and soul: representing those therein, that are honoured more in the world for those outward goods of the body, than those inward goods of the soul; confessing as it were, that because they have not any thing in them that deserveth honour, they erect them Statues to be adored. The second, None of all these exterior goods doth satisfy the soul, but Virtue fills the Vessel of man's heart. Saint Ambrose interpreting that verse of David, Accedite ad Deum, & illuminamini, (id est) illuminabimini; addeth thereunto, Accedite, & satiamini; accedite, & liberamini; accedite, & dimittemini: Come unto God, and ye shall be enlightened, for he is the Light; come unto him, and ye shall be satisfied, for he is the Bread of life; come unto him ye that are thirsty, for he is the Fountain of living waters; come unto him and be freed, for he is freedom itself; come unto him ye that desire pardon, for he is the Remission of sins. In all humane goods the cretures have the start of man. The third, These humane goods are so base and so vile, that none can truly commend them. Art thou bold? A Lion is more bold than thou. Art thou strong? A Bear is far stronger: Art thou beautiful? a Peacock goes beyond thee: Art thou brave and gallant? A Horse in his rich Caparisons is a more glorious sight: Livest thou in great Palaces? a jackedaw, nay a Spider lives in greater and far more sumptuous: Art thou a curious Workman? The Bee is a better: Art thou nimble of body? The Hart is more: Hast thou a good eye? The Eagle hath a quicker: Hast thou a quick sent, every Dog will out-nose thee: Art thou a good husband? The Ant is a better. It is a shame therefore that thou shouldst boast thyself of those things wherein the bruit beasts do surpass thee. In a word, it did stead Lazarus more to be our Saviour Christ's friend, than nobly borne, or anciently descended. The goodness of God's condition toward Penitents, expressed two manner of ways. First, he never remembers their sins. Esay 38.17. Which anointed his feet with ointment. Here are two truths touching the goodness of God's condition, pointed forth unto us: The first, That during all the time of Marie magdalen's perdition and profaneness, there is not the least print or show in God's book concerning any such matter, nor any memory thereof remaining upon Record; Marry the World calls her Maria la Peccadora, Marie the Sinner, and represents nothing else unto us but her sins: but God doth not so, nay he doth not so much as think upon 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 sins behind thy back. It is a Spanish phrase, Echar all trançado, of that which is no more to be seen. Saint Augustine expounding that place of jeremy, Ecce, ego obducam ei cicatricem; saith, That the Chirurgeon cureth the wound, but doth not take away the scar, but there is some mark thereof still remaining; but God not only cures the wound, but therewithal quite quits the sign, as if there had never been any such thing at all. Saint Chrysostome addeth hereunto, Cum sanitate reliquit pulchritudinem: Nor shall it be an excess of speech, to affirm, That Marie magdalen's repentance made her appear more fair and beautiful than Saint Agnes the Martyr, S. Agatha, or S. Cicile. Secondly, he never forgets our services. Mat. 26. The second is, That God never blotteth out of his remembrance those services that he receiveth from us, nor will suffer his friends to be forgotten: And therefore our Saviour saith touching this sinful woman, Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, there shall also this that she hath done, be spoken of for a memorial of her; ye may chance to forget it, but God will not. Your Kings nominate Chroniclers to write down the services of their Vassals, and the famous acts of the valiant and stout men of war; josaphat the son of Eliud (as we may read in the book of the Kings) erat à Commentarijs, 2. Reg. 8.16. was the Chronicler. But Kings either not read them, or soon forget them: In Assuerus his Annals is set down the good service 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 far from forgetting such services, that he useth to assume unto himself a name from the service that they do him: he said unto jacob, Gen. 31.13. Malach. 3.16. I am the God of Bethel where thou annointedst the Pillar, where thou vowedst a Vow unto me. Corresponding with that of Malachi, Scriptus est liber monumenti coram eo, And a book of remembrance was written. Anonother letter hath it Recordationis, agreeing with the common Translation. Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, etc. 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 lives in plenty, prosperity, and enjoys his health; but not that a sick man, nay a dead man, should find a friend, etc. job made it his complaint, My friends and familiar acquaintance forsook me, and would not look upon me in my misery: And he draws his comparison of their sudden departure, from those downfalls of water in the Winter, which glide away with all the speed that may be. Solomon compares them to a rotten tooth, and a weary foot. The Harlot is likewise the hierogliphycke of false friends; whose embraces and kisses are like those of judas, for money: your Quicksilver is likewise a symbol of the same, which forsaketh the gold in the Chrisoll; these are all of them things that fail in the time of need. The World hath not any one thing whereof it is more unmindful, than the Dead; Oblivioni datus sum, tanquam mortuus à cord, O, that the Dead should be forgotten by that heart which gave 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 misery increaseth in the world, by so much the more friendship decreaseth. Saint Chrysostome saith, That the best friend that ever was, ascended up unto Heaven. Saint Augustine, That a friend is like a Physician that loves the Patient, and hates his disease; but if Death come betwixt him and home, his skill is at an end; for he that can recover health, cannot recover life: this is only reserved for our Saviour Christ, who is Medicamentum vitae, & immortalitatis gratia. This Physician styles Lazarus, his friend, in health, in sickness, and in death. Manus eius tornatiles. That Artificer which levels his work by his eye, commonly goes crookedly to work, and commits many disproportions; but he that works in a wheel as Turner's do, or in a Press as your Printers, keeps a continual evenesse and equality, in sickness and in health, in prosperity and adversity, in Winter and in Summer; and such an Artisan was our Saviour Christ in all his actions. Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, etc. It is an ordinary Language in Scripture, Death, whither temporal or spiritual, called a Sleep, & that fitly. to call Death, Sleep; whither it be the death of the soul, or the body. To him that was dead in the soul, Saint Paul saith, Arise thou that sleepest, etc. Some sinners are so sound asleep, that neither lights, loud call, nor shogging of them can awaken them; Percussi eos, & non doluerunt, I smote them, and they grieved not. Saint Augustine confesseth of himself, That he lay long in this Lethargy; and descending to vices in particular, he saith, That God calling upon your thieves, for to have them to make restitution; upon your revengeful natures, that they should not seek revenge; and upon your Sensualists, that they should leave off this their beastly course of life: some of them answer, That they cannot; others, That they dare not. Other Sinners there are that hear God in their sleep, taking their dreams to be revelations; considering with themselves, That God is wont to speak in dreams and in visions; job. 33. For God speaketh once or twice in dreams and visions of the night, when sleep falleth upon men, and they sleep upon their beds, than he openeth the ears of men by the corrections which he had sealed, that he might cause man to turn away from his wickedness, that he might hide the pride of man, and that his life should not pass by the Sword. The death likewise of the body, is, and that very fittingly, termed sleep. First, For the rest that they take: The Philosophers called it Tempestatis p●rtum, the Haven to our weatherbeaten lives; Perigrinationis finem, the end of our pilgrimage here upon earth; Omnium malorum medicamentum, A remedy against all diseases. jud. 3. Secondly, For the danger wherein it leaveth sinners: Holofernes laid him down to sleep, fully persuading himself, that he should have enjoyed judith in his arms when he awaked; but alas poor soul, before ever he was aware of it, Gen. 20. he found himself in Hell. Abimilecke got him to bed, with hope to have his pleasure of Saraah, but in the dead time of the night he found himself in the hands of an angry God. To the rich man that invited his soul to take his fill, Luk. 12. for there was store enough for many years, Hac nocte, etc. This night shall thy soul be taken from thee. Saul slept very sound and carelessly in his Tent, when David might have given him his passport for another life. 1. Reg. 2.6. And therefore no man ought to lay him down to sleep with less heedfulness, than if he were now lying on his death bed. Your reckless sinners feel a harder passage of it, and far greater torment than the Iust. Death useth to bring great torments with it: First, In separating the soul from the body. Secondly, In foregoing those things it loveth, as gold, silver, lands, houses, wife and children, which are all of them strings whereunto the heart is tied; besides the venture of our condemnation for ever, and the agony of so many fears that will in this dissolution seize upon us. From all which the Righteous, though they threaten him never so much, remaineth free and untouched. Christ's passions differing from ours. He groaned in the spirit, etc. The Greek word signifieth to roar, to cry out aloud, to wail, to lament, and to be much moved: According to that of Theophilact, Et turbavit semetipsum, And was troubled in himself: It did awaken in the sensitive part of him, those affections or passions, which (as Aristotle saith) are like unto dogs, who in hearing any noise, fall presently a barking till that their Master do still them & make them hold their peace. In us it is a kind of imperfection, because these affections or passions fall a bawling without any reason in the world, and no just occasion being given. But in our Saviour Christ, these passions were not without cause, as Saint Augustine hath noted it, Saint Gregory, and Saint Hierome; neither can they press him further than he is pleased to command them. If here our anger take hold upon us, it is like a fierce mastiff, which being set on by his Master, taketh hold on the Bull, and will not let him go, though he be rated off again and again. In conclusion, two things doth here recommend themselves unto us. The one, That our Saviour Christ was angry. The other, That he was moved to much compassion. His anger was occasioned through the jews incredulity, (as it is noted by Cardinal Tolet and Cajetan) whose hardness and unbelief was such, that he was forced to take Lazarus his life from him, to disconsolate those two kind Sisters, to draw tears from their eyes, and sobs from their breast, and afterwards to return himagaine unto the world, and only that some might be drawn to bele●ue. Saint Cyril saith, That this his anger was against Death and the Devil, as if he had threatened their overthrow, and vowed their destruction; as it is prophesied by Osee, O mors, ero mors tua, O death, I will be thy death. etc. Vbi posuistis eum? Where have ye laid him? etc. O Lord, Why shouldst thou ask 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 sick of sin, that it is a phrase of Scripture to say, God doth not know him. Thou lendest thy friend thy Horse or thy Cloak, the one is returned to thee so lame and so lean, the other so ill used and so utterly spoilt, that not knowing thine own, thou sayest, This is not that which I lent. Of an untowardly and ungracious son the father will usually say, He is none of my son; so said God to the foolish Virgins, and to those that had wrought miracles in his name, Nescio vos, I know ye not. Your Robbers on the Highway disfigure the faces of those whom they rob and murder, to the end they may not be known. And there is nothing that makes the Soul fouler, than Sin, Denigrata est facies eorum super carbones: and it being so fair & beautiful before, it is no great marvel that God should not know it. So that now our Saviour seems not to know the place, there being so great a difference between the one place and the other [that of the life of Grace, and that of the death of Sin] that he here asks, Vbi posuistis eum? Where have ye laid him? Saint Chrysostome allegeth, That he used the like question when he called unto Adam, saying, Adam, Adam, ubi 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 wretchedness and in misery: Who caused this so great an alteration in thee? Saint Cyprian saith, That this question was made more to the Sin than to the Sisters; and that Lazarus representing Mankind, he said, (speaking of our sins) Vbi posuistis eum? Where have ye laid him? I placed him in Paradise, and ye have put him in the grave. The like is reported by Petrus Crysologus; and he calleth the Grave, the Cave wherein the Devil hides his thefts: and because the beginning of all this harm proceeded from woman, he asketh the Sisters, Vbi posuistis eum? Where have ye laid him? For there are many women (God having placed man in honour, happiness, and health) which bring man to his grave. The other, A Sinner through sin is removed so far from God, Sin discoasts a man from God. (in Regionem longinq●am) that God asks, where he is? For if it were possible for man to hide himself from the all-seeing eye of God, doubtless he would hide himself in the land of Darkness, that is, of Sinne. And therefore it is said, Psal. 1.6. The Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous, and the way of the Wicked shall perish. And jesus wept. Reason's why Christ wept. Of this shedding of tears we have rendered many reasons elsewhere: Those which now offer themselves are these: The first is of Saint Ambrose and Saint Chrysostome, who say, That Christ was moved to weep, by seeing Marie and Martha weep. Christ seeing the Widow of Naim weep, said unto her, Noli flere, Weep not; and in the house of the chief Ruler of the Synagogue, he sought to divert their tears; and yet here these of Marie seem to extort by force the falling of these tears from his tender eyes. Marry had accustomed herself to talk with our Saviour in this ●ind of Language, it being a cipher which only our Saviour understood; and because she talked to him in tears, he answers her in tears. The exhalations of Mary's heart ascend up to the heaven of Christ's eyes; and these humane tears draw down divine tears, obtaining that by grace which was impossible for nature to compass. The second is of Saint Hilary and Epiphanius, who affirm, That he thinking on the obstinacy of the jews, and their final perdition, broke forth thus into tears. For no man can comprehend what an offence to God is, save God himself; and therefore none, o Lord, can so truly bewail sin, as thyself. And it seeming to our Saviour Christ, that two eyes were too little to lament their misery, he added five wounds, which served as so many weeping eyes, not shedding water, but blood. Saint Bernard saith, That in the Garden our Saviour did sweat blood, that he might weep with all his whole body; treating therein touching the remedy of the mystical body of the Church. Eusebius Emis●nus saith, That he did groan and weep, in token that we ought grievously to lament and bewail our sins. jer. 9.17.18. And to this purpose saith jeremy, Call for the mourning women, that they may come, let them make haste, and let them take up a lamentation for us, that our eyes may cast out tears, and our eye lids gush out of water. And why, I pray you, so much weeping and lamentation, Quia ascendit mors per fenestras, Ibid. 21. (as it followeth anon after) Because death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our Palaces, to destroy the children without, and the young men in the streets. The Soul is gone forth, and Death hath entered in, weep therefore, The death of the soul is a true death; that of the body but a shadow. etc. The death of the body is a type of that of the soul: And therefore Saint Gregory saith, If I shall walk in the midst of the shadow of death. He saith, That the departing of the body from the soul is but a shadow, but the departing of the soul from God is a truth; and as a shadow is a refreshing in Summer, so is death to the Righteous. The Wicked stick not to say, There is no comfort in the end of man: But God's Saints say, Thou hast covered us with the shadow of death; When the fire of Hell did threaten us, Death did shelter us with its shade. Cada uno habla de la Feria, como le va en ella, Every one speaketh of the Market as he makes his pennie-worths. The Just hath no cause to weep, because he that enjoyeth God, enjoyeth all the happiness that can be spoken or imagined; but the Sinner may cry out, Ego plorans, & oculus meus deducens aquas, quia longè factu● est à me consolator. It being the soul of my soul, and now severed so far from me: thou hast cause to bewail a body without a soul. It is a lamentable thing, (saith Saint Augustine) that we should bewail other losses, and not that of our soul: Men careless of nothing more, than of their souls. Quid tam malè de nobis meruit anima nostra? How hath our soul so ill deserved of us? He there considers the great care we have of a new suit of clothes, that neither the dust, the moth, nor the least wrinkle should hurt it, but are very curious in folding of it up. He that buys, hath an especial eye to two things: The one, to look very well to that he buys, be it pearls, apparel, or horses, and will first make proof and diligent enquiry of their goodness, etc. The other, To cast about with himself, how he shall be able to pay, and to drive the price as well as he can. Do thou likewise endeavour to use the like diligences concerning thy soul; consider first, what kind of stuff 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 look to it the better, and esteem it the more and not set so slight by it as many do. Dead Lazarus the emblem of a Sinner. Take ye away the stone: He stinketh already, for he hath been dead four days. Lazarus being now four days dead, lying stinking in his grave, and with a tombstone upon him, doth represent a Sinner, that through long custom is grown old in his sins; That which might well have been cured, having 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 deal of difficulty. And therefore the Wiseman saith, That a Young man enured to ill, Age will not make him give it over. Chrysostome calls Custom, Febrim furiosam, a hot burning Fever; 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 soul: agreeing with that language of Saint Paul, Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies. Plato reprehending a certain Scholar of his, of some ●ight faults; which he confessing, but making light of them, his Master told him, Custom is no such light thing as you make it. It is Saint Hieromes observation, That jeremy said, O Lord, I know not how to speak, because I am but a child. And Esay, Woe unto me that I have held my peace, for I am a man of polluted lips. The one, God cured by only touching his mouth with his finger: the other, he was fain to cauterise with a hot burning coal. Old sins, like old sores, hardly cured. Now the infirmity being all one, why should the remedies be so disequall? I answer, That the sin of jeremy was but a child as it were, very young and tender, and therefore any the least remedy would serve his turn: but Esay was an old grown Courtier, etc. Saint Augustine dwells much upon this word Quatriduanus, his four days lying in the grave. The Evangelists make mention of three dead persons which our Saviour raised up to life: not that he had not raised up more, but because these do represent the deaths of our souls. The daughter of the chief Ruler of the Synagogue which went not out of her house, A threefold death of the Soul. represent those our secret sins which pass in our withdrawn rooms, and the closest by-corners about the house: The young man of Naim, those public sins which proclaim themselves in the Market place, and coming out of doors, offer themselves to every man's view, your widows sons being generally lewd and ill given: Lazarus, those that stink and grow unsavoury through their too long custom of sinning, having lain long in this grave of death. Saint Augustine saith, That the name of three, in Scripture, betokeneth many sins; but that of four, more than many. And this phrase of speech is used by Amos, Amos 11. For three transgressions of Moah, and for four I will not turn to it; signifying thereby, many, & more than many. O terque quaterque beati, implies a world of happiness: to the like sense sounds this word Quatriduanus, Four days since. Whence it is to be noted, Gods love seen by the delays he useth in his punishing. That sins when they begin like the waters to swell so high, they leave their bed and run over the banks, causing a miserable inundation. God's anger growing weary in the expectation of our amendment, draws his sword at last to cut us off. The sins of Sodom cried out so loud, that the clamour thereof came to God's ear; so shrill was the noise, that it broke through those other inferior heavens, and ascended up to the Throne of Thrones, where he sat in his Imperial Majesty. God was wondrous angry at it, yet had he this patience with himself, that before he would execute his wrath upon them, he said, Vadam & videbo, I will go down and see whither they have done altogether according to that cry which is come unto me, etc. What greater evidence, o Lord, Genes. 1●. of thy love, than these thy delays? God did bear with them yet a little while longer, and he did look and stand waiting to see whether Sodom would amend the foulness of her sin: so that when he came down to see how things passed, had he found them sorrowful for what they had done amiss, and repenting themselves of their former evil life, he would have sheathed his sword, and withdrawn his displeasure. The same conceit passeth in that Parable of the Tares; the Tares grew up amongst the Wheat, and the servants ask their Master, Wilt thou that we go and pluck up the tares? He said unto them, No, let them grow up both together. And why so, o Lord? It may be they will die and wither away of themselves; if not, the harvest will come ere long, and they shall be cut down, bound up, and cast into the oven. So that God's patience, you see, is great; but when we persever in ill, God's anger comes like an inundation upon us. But I will conclude this point with Saint Austin's own conclusion, Sub tali resuscitatore, de nullo iacente desperandum est, Let no man despair of rising, be he never so much cast down, having such a one to raise him up from Death to Life, as our Saviour Christ jesus, who is all Love, and Mercy, and Goodness, and the Resurrection of all those that rely upon him by Faith. He stinketh already. Martha here showed herself of somewhat a queasy stomach, and too dainty a nose, but so did not our Saviour Christ. Giving us thereby to understand, That a sinner savours ill to all the world, but not to God's nostrils. When God showed unto Peter the sheet full of snakes, and lizards, and willed him to eat, it caused a very great horror in him: But understanding afterwards, that the mystery was in that which was signified thereby, and not in the doing of it, he did acknowledge that there was not that sinner upon earth, that was cast out from God's bosom. You may come to be loathsome unto yourself, job. 7. but not unto God, I am a burden unto myself. job said this of himself, even then when God's eyes were gracious unto him, and looked favourably upon him. My flesh is clothed with worms and filthiness of the dust, my skin is rend and become horrible; I cannot endure the ill savour that I bear about me; I have not eyes to behold mine own wretchedness. But God hath an eye to look upon thee, and a heart to endure thee, and loves thee more than thou lovest thyself. Those five and twenty young men which Ezechiel painteth forth clapping nosegays to their noses, some say that it was to defend them from the evil savour, as if they should have given job a pomander to drown the stench of his sores, being on the one side nothing but plasters, and noisome unctions, and onthe other amber, and musk. But Isidorus Cladius reads, Applicant odorem malum ad nares meos. They turn their eyes towards the Sun, and putting their faces from me, they seek to avoid the evil savour that comes from me. The translation of jonathas doth favour this conceit, Obuertebant podicum faciebus eorum. In the honour of their Idols, and in their scorn of me, they did use the greatest incivility could be offered unto any. They are a stamp and emblem of those sinners before whom Virtue, and Holiness of life savoureth ill; but the mire of Vice and Sin smelleth sweet. We know that the savour of God is a sweet smelling savour: Christi bonus odor sumus, We are a sweet smelling savour unto Christ. His name is a precious balm; His garments smell of sweetness. But as unto weak eyes the Sun is hateful; so to a depraved scent, this sweet odour is unsavoury. Yet God will not take a loathing at sinners, though like Lazarus, they lie stinking in their graves. For, albeit their sins do offend his nostrils, yet will he not turn away his eye from a sinner, nor pull back his hand from the dressing and curing of him. And as the father is not squeamish and queasy stomacht, to help his child that is fall'n into the mire, and is nothing all over but filth and dirt, but doth take him up and comfort him, and wash him, and clothes him cleanlier and neater than he was before; so doth God with Sinners, when they have fall'n over head and ears into most foul and loathsome sins, etc. He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. He cried out aloud; for many, following the error of Pythagoras, did verily believe that the souls of the dead did remain in the grave with their bodies. Why the heathen erected Pyramids over their deceased. To this purpose were erected those famous Pyramids of Memphis, and of other parts of the World, I say these their Pyramids were directed to this end; for they persuading themselves that the soul was a fiery substance, they imagined it to be in form like a Pyramis. Saint Austen saith, That at the sound of this voice, Death was struck with astonishment. David in a Psalm of his, setteth forth the obedience which all creatures bear to the voice of God, as well lightning, rain, & thunder, as the rest; The voice of the Lord breaketh the Cedars, Psal. 29. 〈◊〉 the Cedars of Libanon: There is not the tallest Cedar in Libanon, which a flash of lightning, or a crack of thunder will not rend and tear up by the roots, and consume it to ashes. The voice of the Lord maketh the Wilderness to tremble, it divideth the flames of fire; it maketh the Hinds to calf, and discovereth the Forests; there is not that least of living creatures, the poorest or the smallest Worm, that hides itself in holes and in the Rocks, which is not brought to light, and shows himself when God calls unto him. Phylon prosecuting this argument, weighs with himself the forcible violence of the Winds, in that they turn up the sturdiest oaks, making the roots even with the tops; in that they overwhelm the tallest ships, and that they level with the ground the goodliest and the greatest buildings. Yet all these are nothing, compared with the powerfulness of this our Saviour Christ's voice, which made Hell gates to shake, struck Death dead, and made the Devils roar for fear, etc. Then he that was dead came forth, ●o●nd hand & foot with hands, etc. The difference betwixt Lazarus rising out of the grave, & our Saviour. This dead man came forth, his feet and his hands being bound; which caused Saint Ba●il to cry out, Miraculum in miraculo, Here's one miracle upon another: To raise up one that was dead, was a strange and a ghastly kind of miracle; but that being now alive, he should go, being bound hand and foot, was another as strange & great a miracle. Lazarus (had God been so pleased) might have left his winding sheet in the grave, his Kerchief, and the napkin that covered his face and eyes, as our Saviour Christ did in his Sepulchre; but Lazarus here brings them out with him, in token that he did rise to die again; but our Saviour Christ rose never to die any more, though Lazarus died some thirty years after this his resurrection, as it is left us upon Reco●d by Epiphanius: And this was the reason, why the Sepulchre of our Saviour remained shut, and that of Lazarus left open. Lose him and let him go. Occasions to sin must be avoided. 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, fly as far from them as thou canst. Saint Bernard finds fault with Eve, and reprehends her severely for it, That she would presume to look upon the tree of Life, that tree of good and evil, which she was so strictly enjoined to abstain 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 reply and say, That the eyes or the hands do only incline a man to this or that, let him take this also from me, That the eyes are an Indicium and manifest sign of a sin committed, at least a great occasion of that which may be committed. Saint Cyril saith, That God appearing unto Moses, and those twenty Elders or Ancients of the People, in a throne of Saphires of the colour of Heaven, was done only to take away all occasion from that People, of Idolatry. The Egyptians did adore the Creatures, and did pull other things, though never so great, under their feet, in token that only that Majesty ought to be worshipped and adored. Athanasius saith, That Gods appearing unto Moses in the Bush, Why God appeared to Moses in a Bush. and not in any other tree that was either bigger or better, was, because that the jews being inclined to Idolatry, would have made them gods of Cedar, Pine, or Oak, to the diminution and lessening of the authority of the true and living God. And therefore to remove this occasion from them, he appeared in the fiery Bush, whereof they could not so well make any Image or figure. God of his infinite goodness loosen us with Lazarus, from the bonds of our sins, etc. THE XXXI. SERMON, UPON THE SATURDAY AFTER THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. JOHN. 8. Ego sum lux Mundi. I am the Light of the World, etc. Our Saviour Christ preaching to the People, had invited those that were thirsty, to drink, If any be athirst, let him come to me and drink. There was a great stir amongst them; some said, That he was a Prophet; others, That he was Christ: but the Pharisees persevering in their hardness, said, It is not possible that so much good should come out of Galilee. But this dust was laid with that plea of the Adulteress, putting the matter into their own hands, leaving it to themselves, to judge her whom they had so maliciously accused. This business being ended, Christ went on with his Sermon, and spoke again unto them saying, Ego sum lux Mundi, etc. I am the light of the world. Theophilact noteth, That he went about to overthrow that which the Scribes and Pharisees had alleged, Out of Galilee ariseth no Prophet. Ye hold me base and mean, for that I am of Galilee; I am so far from taking any lustre or brightness from thence, that I give light unto all the World. He would likewise prove that he was the Light, by that act of his, touching the Adultress. If he could discover such secret and hidden sins from the eye of the world; if he could banish and drive away before him such thick and dark clouds, he might very well say, Ego sum Lux mundi, I am the Light of the world; and whosoever shall follow me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. But the Pharisees looking for another, would not give credit thereunto, but in a rebuking kind of fashion said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself, and therefore thy Record is not true; thou mayst boast thyself to be this and this, but we shall hardly believe thee. Whereunto jesus answered and said, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true, for I know whence I came, and whither I go; for I came into the world to lighten those that sit in darkness; and therefore I say unto you, that I am the Light; but you do not know neither my beginning nor my end. God's judgement every way complete And it is a needless scrupulosity in you, to doubt of this mine own testimony; First, In regard of its truth, being so true, as nothing more. Secondly, In regard of its quality, being so faith-worthie. Now that this our Saviour's testimony is firm & secure, quoad veritatem, he proves it unto us, in that he saith, If I judge, my judgement is true, for I am not alone, but I and the father, etc. That it is likewise good, quoad qualitatem, it cannot otherwise choose, in regard that he is the son of God, who is worthy of all faith and credit. But if the Scribes and Pharisees will needs find fault, let them find fault with their own ignorance, because they judge according to the outward sense, not according as things are, but as they seem: Secundum carnem iudicatis, Ye judge according to the flesh, and therefore your judgement is very uncertain. I see not as man seeth; 1. Reg. 16. for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord beholdeth the heart: According to that of Esay, Non secundum v●sionem oculorum iudicavit. What, do ye think that I only give ye this testimony, and that I go about to deceive you? No, you are in an error; For I am not alone, but I and the father that sent me; and your own Law alloweth the testimony of two to be true and authentical. But than did they say unto him, Where is thy father? jesus answered, Ye neither know me nor my father; for if you know not me, who teach daily in your Temple, how can you know my Father? etc. His pretention was to prove, That his light was powerful to scatter those clouds of darkness that had shadowed the eyes of their understanding, if the thick dust of their sins had not hindered their sight. I am the Light of the world, etc. Amongst other innumerable names which the Divine Majesty doth enjoy, (as Eusebius Caesariensis reporteth) one is, Christ why called the Light of the world. 1. Io●n 1.5. The Light; This is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, That God is Light. Of this Light, the Scripture telleth strange things. The first, That it is inaccessible; according to that of Saint Paul, He dwelleth in the light that none can attain unto. Aristotle saith, 1. Tim. 6.16. That the clearest eyes are in order and disposition to this Light; as the eyes of the Owl in respect of the Sun: the chiefest and the highest of Angels, hath need of more ability for the light of this glory, that his eyes may not be dazzled with the beams of this Light. The second, That whatsoever light or beauty is to be found in the World, is wholly derived from this Light; the Moon, the Stars, the Planets, and the celestial Orbs. Dionysius saith, That they receive their light and splendour from the Sun; and that the Sun, and all that is above the Sun, Angels, archangels, Thrones, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, etc. And whatsoever is contained in Heaven and Earth, receive their motion and light from this Light. The third, That if the Light should fail, the World were nothing worth; for then the life and being of the World could not subsist; the creatures, the fruits, the Elements, the actions of men, the birds and beasts, without this light were not able to last and continue. Whence I infer, That the world remaining in such palpable darkness, better news could not betide us, than this glad tidings of our Saviour, Ego sum Lux, I am the Light. A man looseth himself in a stormy and tempestuous night, The benefit of this Light he findeth himself in a dark and mountainous Wilderness, compassed about with pitchy Tents of darkness, with horrors, fears, lightning, thunder, with the howling of Wolves, the shrieking of Owls, the rushing of Rivers, the roaring of torrents, the blustering of winds, the croaking of Frogs and Toads, the scratching of bushes and briars, with weariness, cold, rain, snow, and all this in an Egyptian Darkness, able to quell the stoutest heart, and make Courage turn coward: what a world of sighs would he send forth, if those were able to disperse the Clouds and clear the Sky, that he might have light? he is in as pitiful case, if not worse, as he that is tormented with a sharp burning Fever, or with a furious Apoplexy, in a long and tedious winter night: for he may better pass it over with the conveniency of a good bed and Chamber, clean linen, and a little sleep; comforting himself, that the day will at last appear, and that he shall see the light. And if in a dainty fine April morning, it gives a man such great content, to see the Trees apparelled in green, the lights and the shadows which the Sun beams paint them forth withal, the drooping and wither-starued herbs raising up their hanging heads, holpen by the dew of Heaven; the Flowers and the Roses discovering the beauty of their faces; the singing of the Birds, which with their music entertain the light; the bleating of the Kids and Lambekins, the Herdsman going forth with his cattle, the Falconer with his Hawks, and the Huntsman with his Hounds; What discomfort on the contrary must he take, that hath lost himself in avast Wilderness in the manner afore mentioned; or keeps his bed, tired out with a long and tedious sickness? etc. Ego sum Lux Mundi, I am the Light of the world, etc. Out of the desire that man had to enjoy more light than God had given him, baited with the Devil's promise, he bit; Eritis (said the Devil) sicut Dij, scientes bonum & malum, Gen. 3. Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. By which offence he was clouded with the darkness of sin: verifying therein that which was afterwards verified by Esay, We looked for light, and behold darkness. In the beginning of the World, when all things remained in that dark Chaos, every thing was so poor and miserable, as nothing more: by Light, God drew light out of darkness, he therewith did beautify and enrich his Creatures, he did cheer and clear the Elements, he did banish darkness, he gave those goodly and lively colours to the whole Universe, and all of them jointly remained so jocund, so merry, and so well pleased, that in their dumb kind of Language they gave great thanks to that Light. Man remained in a Chaos no less dark, through sin; and those that had the best sight, did confess, We groaped, like blind men, against a wall at noon day. God did prepare great Lights for to rid away this gross Darkness, as patriarchs, Prophets, Kings, and famous Captains: but as in the darkness of Egypt, That bright flame of the Stars could not illighten that horrible dark night; So likewise in that night of the old Law, those (though most excellent) clear Lights could not expel that darkness. God for to repair his People's discomfort, did promise to give them a great Light; The People that sat in darkness saw a great Light, That is, The people shall see it, so saith one of the Prophets; for, for the more assurance of the Prophecy, they use to put the preterperfect for the future. Orietur vobis Sol justiciae, saith another Prophet, A S●n of Righteousness shall rise unto you. The People cried unto God, That he would fulfil his word; they did weep, lament, sigh, and mourn; all the Creatures at last, remained so perfect, so prosperous, and so rich, and held themselves so happy, that clothing themselves with new joy, they gave the good day to this Light. The Histories are full of those prodigies and wonders which happened at our Saviour's birth. Baruc; The Stars shine in their watch, and rejoice; When he calleth them, Baruc 3.34. they say, Here we be; and so with cheerfulness they show light unto him that made them. And though those three Suns had given advice thereof, (which Pliny speaketh of) and those nine Suns whereof Bartolomeo Risana maketh mention; besides those Kings, Shepherds, Sibyls, simeon, Anna, and the Prophecies; yet this Light had not displayed his beams, but now clearing the earth with his wonderful Miracles, he saith, Ego sum lux mundi, I am the Light, etc. Two occasions offered themselves for this Revelation. The one, The liberty and life of the Adultress; for the freeing of whom, he discovered the secret sins of her accusers, leaving them not only amazed and ashamed, but aggrieved and offended: and it seemeth that he answers to this their complaint, Ego sum Lux mundi. Of force the Light must drive away darkness, and discover those secrets which are hidden under the cloak of the night: This is the argument of that Parable, No man lighteth a candle, and putteth it under a bushel, but sets it on a candlestick, that it may give light to all that are in the house. My Father did not send this Torch into the world to put it under a bushel, and therefore you need not to be so angry, or think you are wronged. One of the fearfullest accidents that ever was or shall be seen, was, That the Light coming into the world, and all other creatures remaining so rap't with sudden joy at this so rich a treasure, Man only should shut his eyes against his own good, giving jeremy just cause to cry out, Stand astonished, o ye Heavens, at this, That the Thirsty should despise the Fountains of the waters of Life, and that the Blind should mislike the Light. Whosoever (saith Saint Bernard) had but seen our Saviour's tears, sighs, and sufferings, and all for our sins, and to redeem us from damnation, would have sworn, no news could be so welcome as the coming of this Sun of Righteousness, to illuminate the world, and to lighten those that sat in darkness. But as your Quail rages when the Sun riseth; and, as Pliny saith of the Athlantes, That they curse it with a thousand curses, because it parcheth and burns up their grass; and as those (saith job) tharnish for Whales, do curse the day; and as he that is asleep is offended when the light awakes him, and as weak & infirm eyes cannot endure the beams of the Sun; so these Pharisees were offended and grew very hot and angry, that the glorious Light of our Saviour Christ should discover their sins. Some man perhaps may ask, whence this hatred grows? Saint john resolves it thus, As in the natural World, The reason why some hate and shun it. amongst birds and beasts there are many that cannot endure the light of the day, & coming in the night out of their caves & holes, seek their food in darkness, according to the Prophet, They seek it from God; But when the Sun begins to peep forth, he shuts them up in their dens, and makes them afraid to show their heads: so in the Moral World, there are children of darkness and of the night, which cannot abide the light of the day, That their Actions may not be called into question. The night is the sinner's cloak; The Light, the Herald that proclaims all humane Actions; & such are those of these men, that they have not the face to come abroad, or to stand in the light. And therefore whilst our Saviour Christ was writing on the ground with his finger the sins of those that accused the Adulteress, they sneaked thence, and shrunk away one by one, Vnus post unum. It seemeth a thing impossible, that the Light being so lovely and so amiable, so fair and so beautiful, that any man should hate and abhor it, and curse and damn it to the pit of Hell. But it should seem (me thinks) much more impossible, that this Light being God himself, that man's eye should find any thing in it, that may draw on a dislike and hatred thereunto. But Saint john pondering the distasted palate of a sinner, saith, They loved Darkness more than Light. john 6. And the book of Wisdom renders the reason thereof, Do not you marvel that we should abhor it, seeing that the Light doth discover unto us the foulness of our lives, the treasons and treacheries of our hearts and bosoms, which we seeking to cover with the night's mantle, it proposeth us to the open view of the world, and to the shame of the day, job. 29. Oculus adulteri (saith job) obseruat caliginem, The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight. They dig through houses in the dark; but the morning is even to them as the shadow of Death. Many are the deceits and errors of the night. He that travails in a dark night, takes Rocks, to be Castles; Trees, to be Houses, Bushes, to be Men; Stubble fields, to be standing Pools; high banks, to be even ground; and that which is far off, to be near at hand. In the City, a man is taken for a woman, a woman for a man, a widow for a maid, a maid for a married wife, the mistress for the maid, the knight for his footman, and the churchman for a whore's champion. All is masks and vizards, and disguises; and it is only the Light that doth banish these deceits and false dealing. I am the Light of the World, etc. The other occasion that offered itself for this Revelation, was the great noise and clamour of the people: Some crying out that he was a Prophet, others that he was the Christ; but the Pharisees, that he was a Galilean, job. 7. Out of Galilee ariseth no Prophet. In conclusion, There was dissension amongst the people for him. They could not see the light, without the beams of the Light. And therefore he saith unto them, Ego sum lux mundi. And condemning those that were most passionately bend against him, calling him in disgrace Galilean, and that so bad a Country could not afford a prophet; while they were upbraiding this unto him, he tells them, Ego sum lux mundi. Galilee could not give any lustre to him that was the light of the World. The country doth not give an honour to the Man that was borne there, but the Man to the country. Your most populous Cities, have your most heinous Delinquents. Amaziah King of juda, sent a proud message to joash King of Israel, Come let us see one another in the face. To whom joash returned this answer, The thistle that is in Lebanon, sent to the Cedar, etc. As if he should have given him this short come-off, To boast to be borne in Lebanon, and to be but a poor thistle, is an infamy and reproach unto thee; But to be borne in a barren Desert, and become a Cedar, is a great honour and reputation. What boots it thee to be a King lineally descended from David, and that thou wast borne in jerusalem, if the coarseness of thy actions bewray thee to be a thistle? There are many that are an honour to their house, and many again that are a disgrace unto it. Many ennoble their country, and many make it to be accounted base and had in contempt. Some are made to honour it, some to dishonour it. Eve was made of better earth than Adam, yet we see in her actions she was less noble, etc. In man's life the●e are two ways, and he had need of a Guide. He that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, etc. That a man may not err in his way, he hath not only need of a light, but a guide also. Thou travailest in the night, thou comest to two several ways, and thou meetest with no man; the day appears, the light overcomes the darkness, but not thy doubting of the way, and therefore thou hadst need to have a guide. In this journey of man's life, there are two ways; The one the narrow way, that leads unto Heaven, the other the broad way that leads unto Hell; the one to good, the other to ill. The light that dispelleth the darkness, will not serve the turn, but we must likewise have a guide to direct us and to tell us, This is the way, and those are the towers of the City. Solomon saith, That there are ways which seem unto man to secure life, but lead unto death. Cogitationes mortalium timidae & incertae providentiae nostrae, There is no humane thought certain, no providence secure, And therefore we had need of a guide. Saint Austen craveth of God in his Confessions, Heale me o Lord of my painful grief, and ease me of my heavy load; for whatsoever I say or do, is for me a doubtful question, Et ipse est languor meus. As necessity doth allege for her part, that it is necessary to eat, for to live; for if our natural heat did not find something whereupon to work and spend its force, our life would quickly be at an end. But as the having recourse to this necessity, is sweet to the sense of our Taste; it allegeth, that this maintenance is the medicine of hunger, and that to the Sick we are not to give physic by ounces, who hath a good stomach, and is continually hungry: and for that what we eat must necessarily pass through the Taste, our delight presseth itself forward, importuning for the Tastes sake, that something more be done, than that which is due to necessity: and because necessity will be satisfied with a little, and much will not suffice our Taste, Factus sum quaestio. The like plea passeth with the eyes; I place them upon colours, upon the beauty of Flowers and Roses, upon the curious Pieces of the famousest Painters, and upon those more lively Pictures which God hath painted; presently there grows in me a contention, betwixt Curiosity and Temperance: for Curiosity doth so flatter & soothe up the eyes, that it makes them ofttimes to slip awry, Periculosa, & illecebrosa dulcedine; This befalling me many times before ever I do so much as once dream or think upon it; happening as it were unawares, which is one of the greatest miseries, and the most to be pitied either in mine own, or any other man's life: For I know not how far my passions may trespass upon me, they having taken possession of my heart, and living (like Inne-mates) within the doors of mine own house. Nay rather even then when I think myself to be freest from them, and most secure, as if they had roused themselves from some heavy sleep, they rise up with greater force, and eagerly set upon me, so that I am at perpetual question, and at continual odds with myself from top to toe, from the crown of my head to the sole of my foot. And therefore in so dangerous a doubting, it is fit (o Lord) that thy Light should be a guide unto my feet, that I may know what, and how much I ought to minister to my necessities, and to my senses. Plutarch reporteth of the Whale, That he hath a very little Fish that serves as his Gentleman-usher, and as a guide to lead him through the perils and dangers of the Deep; and he showeth himself so thankful, that when this little Fish enters with others into his maw, he acknowledgeth his kindness, and becomes his Guard or Sentinel whilst he sleeps. The Wiseman sends the Sluggard to learn of the Pissemire; so may we send the blind man to learn of the Whale: for, far greater are the dangers of the sea of this life; the way is more dark, and therefore walk not without a Guide, etc. But shall have the light of life. The favourable influence of Light, The glory of the Sun. is a prosperous Prognostication of life. When Alexander was borne, the Historians report, That he had the Sun for his Ascendent. Pierius sets down for a symbol of Life, a Sun with a Star in the midst of it, which ariseth from out the said Sun. Ezechias made choice of the Sun for a pledge and token of his life: and as the benign aspect of the Sun doth favour and further our life, so the rigorous aspect thereof doth threaten death and destruction. Cyrus did dream, That he had the Sun between his hands; Whence the Astrologers did divine, That he should be short lived. Sambucus did put for an Emblem of the Pestilence, many dead persons, and over them a Sun which did burn and consume them. But more favourable is the influence of the Sun of Righteousness, who is the Light of life. Saint john painting forth in his Apocalyps that superexcellent City of the celestial jerusalem, saith, That there is no need of Sun nor Moon, Quia lucerna eius est Agnus, The light which illuminateth it, is the Lamb, that Light of Life. The candle when it burns, we say it is Vela viu●; but this is an impropriety, for the flame is not its Soul. Your Glow-worms may be termed in some sort Luzes vivas, living Lights; because (as Pliny reporteth) they shine in our mouths, our hands, and our clothes: but these are but short Lights, the Carbuncle out-shineth all these, yet all is too little for the immensity and vastness of Heaven, nay for the least corner therein, the Sun in its greatest glory shall seem there but as a Candle. But shall have the light of Life, etc. By this Light, the Saints and Doctors understand Faith; for in regard that it is Principium justificationis, The first beginning of our justification, Life is attributed thereunto. It hath been a thing often repeated by our Saviour, Mat. 5. Rom. 8. Luc. 17. Thy Faith hath made thee whole. And Saint Paul, The ●●st lives by Faith: He begins with Faith; for, He that will approach near unto God, must first believe. It was the Apostles suit to our Saviour, O Lord increase our Faith, and so we shall go on from Faith to Faith, and from Virtue to Virtue. Christ testified by many, yet not embraced of the Pharisees. If thou bearest Record of thyself, thy Record is not true. Saint Augustine saith, That there preceded so many testimonies of our Saviour Christ, as the patriarchs, Prophets, Prophecies, Sibyls, Kings, Shepherds, Simeon, Anna the Prophetess, and lastly john Baptist, whom they held to be some Divine power sent down from Heaven; that our Saviour ask them, Whether the Baptism of john were from Men, or from God? They durst not deny that it was from God, lest the People should stone them. And adding to these testimonies, the works that himself wrought, If ye will not believe me, yet believe my works; for if I had not done those things which no man else hath done, they had not sinned, but now they have no excuse for their sin. And for the testimony of his Doctrine, Nunquam sic locutus est homo, Never man spoke as he spoke: God may speak so, but Man cannot. What shall we say to that testimony of his father in jordan, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased? And that of the Holy-Ghost in the form of a Dove, which (as it is observed by Saint Hierome) sat upon our Saviour's head, because none should presume that the voice proceeded from Saint john? And that of the Son of God himself, Though I bear Record of myself, yet my Record is true? Complying with that which was spoken by the Evangelist, There are three which bear Record in heaven, the Father, the Word, & the Holyghost: any one of these Testimonies might have given satisfaction to a heart free from passion; but all of them put together, were not able to move such rebellious breasts and such obstinate hearts as theirs were. Great was the hardness of Pharaohs heart, since after so many strange prodigies, he said, I know not the Lord. Moses did not see our Saviour Christ, nor had any more witnesses than his Rod: neither were his wonders so great as those miracles which our Saviour wrought: so that the Pharisees being more hard than Pharaoh, said, If thou bear Record of thyself, etc. Three conditions required in every Testimony. If I bear Record of myself, yet my Record is true, for I know whence I came, and whether I go, but you cannot tell, etc. The circumstances of my Testimony admit no exception, and those that are required, are commonly three, Natura, Conditio, Via. Nature, Whether it be a man or a woman. It's Quality and Condition, Whether he be a Freeman or a Slave, an old man or a young, a Clergy man or a Lay man. The Way, whether it be of Virtue or of Vice. Our Saviour Christ doth not allege any one of these circumstances, but only tells them, My testimony is true, for I know whence I come, and whether I go. Which was as much in plain language, as to tell them that he was God, I am God, and the Son of God, in whom there cannot be the least sign or show of a lie; and his proof is, I know whence I come, and whither I go. Man is not able to know from whence he came, nor whether he is to go; for this is a privilege proper only unto God. Saint Augustine interprets this of our Saviour Christ, The Sun knows his setting; for the material Sun knows it not; and none amongst men do know their setting and their end. Your Astrologers do erect Figures, prognosticating other men's successes, and casting their nativities, but neither truly know their own, nor other men's fortunes; for it is a thing reserved only for God: The Wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou knowest not whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth. No man can attain unto the inspirations of the Holy-Ghost, nor to the designs of his actions. Of all those secret sins whatsoever, which man committeth alone by himself, as Sorcery, Perjury, Murder, & the like, no one man in all the world can give testimony thereof, but God can, for he is present at all; Thou knowest my lying down, and my rising up, thou seest my ways, and understandest my paths afa●re; if I ascend up into Heaven, thou art there; if I go down into Hell, thou art also there. From Solomon was hid the path of a Ship in the Sea, of an Eagle through the air, of a Snake through the Rock, and of a young man in the flower of his youth; but from God's eye nothing can be hid. The knowing of this truth will draw on the confessing of another; to wit, That of the things appertaining to God, none can give testimony but God. No man ever saw God, so saith Saint john; Who then shall give us testimony of God? The only begotten Son, which was in the bosom of his Father, he shall do it▪ Of the Father, the Son shall give Record; and of the Son, the Father; & of both, the Holy-Ghost: In a word, every one of these Divine Persons, of himself; but Man cannot do it but by revelation. Thy Record is not true. Yes, it is; for I am the Light of the World, and of the Light none can give Record but the Light. If any man should say unto the Sun, Prove it unto me that thou art the Sun, it were a mere folly, if not madness, for his beams do prove it and proclaim it to the World: In like manner, that the Pharisees should say unto our Saviour Christ, Prove unto us, that thou art the Light, was a mere blindness in them; for, No Man could do that which he did, unless God had been with him. Upon a Glass the Sun is usually so translated, that it were a foolishness to ask a testimony, Whether it be the Sun or no? And upon the humanity of our Saviour Christ, the beams of his Divinity were in that sort transferred, that it was hardness of heart, and obstinate wilfulness, to desire further testimony from God. Saint Paul saith, He that drew light out of darkness, he did enlighten our souls, that they might see the beams of the light of God, in the face of his Son jesus Christ. And for this the natural light was sufficient: but in the Pharisees this was so blinded through the dust of their sins, that they could not see this Sun. The Seal that is imprinted in Wax, shows itself as clear as if it were graven in Brass or Steel; but with time or with dust it comes to be blotted out, in that manner, that the stamp and letters are not known. So doth it succeed with a Sinner, with this natural light, when it is once darkened through sin; whence it cometh to pass that he falleth into those foul and gross ignorances which the brute beasts would not fall into. Ye judge after the flesh. He proves by another reason, Christ the ●●ly true Sun that seeth all things. that his Record is true: Ye judge according to the Flesh, by that which is not, but by that which seemeth so to be; but I judge according to the heart, I search and try the very reynes. Saint Ambrose called the Sun, Oculum Mundi, The World's eye; not only because it affords us that light whereby our eyes have power to see, but because it sees all things: and in case that it being in the other Hemisphere, it doth not see that which passeth in this; yet Gods eyes see all that is both in this, and in that other world. Orpheus' called the Sun, Oculum justitiae, The eye of justice; whose office it is, to discover whatsoever is dark and secret. Antiquity painted him sitting in a Ship, governing the same as a Pilot; for beholding the Stars and the Mariner's Compass, he doth not only discern the dangers that are above the water, but those hidden Deeps which are under the waters. But neither the Sun of Heaven, nor those Suns of the earth can reach into the withdrawing rooms of man's bosom; only the eyes of Christ can look into them, which are far brighter than the Sun, His eyes are brighter than the Sun, Eccl. 23. Hier. 17. Apoc. 3. I am the Lord that searcheth the heart, and trieth the reynes, so saith jeremy and Saint john. The beams of the Sun discover the atoms and motes in the air, but not the thoughts and secrets of the heart. But the beams of the Sun of righteousness, discover our smallest thoughts. It was the fool that said in his heart, There is no God. And though this saying came not out of his mouth, yet he found it published in the market place; because God diveth into the heart. The Spouse compares him to that Goat, which the greeks call Dorcas, for its quickness of sight, as Saint Gregory Nyssene hath noted it: If a man hide himself in darkness, shall not I see him? The Kings of the Gentiles, pretending to have the world to take them for gods, they gave them to understand, that they did know the thoughts of men. To this alludeth that, which joseph said to his brethren, An ignoratis, quod non similis in augurandi scientia? Cicero saith, That among the Persians, no man could be King, who was not skilled in the Art of Divination. And for this cause, innumerable Witcheries, and Sorceries were multiplied and increased amongst them. But it is a foolery to imagine, That any man can enter into them but God. To which God be ascribed all honour, power, and glory, now and for evermore. Amen. THE XXXII. SERMON, UPON PASSION SUNDAY. JOHN. 8. Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato? Which of you will reprove me of sin? Inconveniences which would have followed the peccabilitie of Christ. Our Saviour Christ's innocence, by many forcible reasons and strong arguments, we have elsewhere sufficiently proved: Now shall I prove unto you the inconveniences which would have followed his peccabilitie. First of all, The blood of our Saviour Christ was that wherein the Church washed herself, These are they that washed their Stoles in the blood of the Lamb: And he could not make them white, Apoc. 7. had he not been whiteness himself. The blood of her Beloved puts colour and beauty into her cheeks. Sanguis eius ornavit gen● me●s. She speaks of the beauty of the soul; and he could not make her fair, had he himself been foul. And therefore saith Saint Paul, It was fit he should be so, that he might be a high Priest, holy and undefiled, etc. The second inconvenience that would follow thereupon would be this, That our Saviour Christ could not be a competent judge, had he been a sinner, as he was not. He that judgeth another, himself being faulty, condemneth himself. And for this reason, a judge that is notoriously known to be a corrupt and naughty man, may justly be refused. judas acknowledging himself to be a delinquent in the Incest of his daughter in law, Tamar▪ was so far from proceeding in judgement against her, that he said, justior me est, 2. Reg. 11. She is more righteous than I. When joab advised David of the siege of Rabbah, and what a number of men he had lost in that service, the King might have justly cut off his head for his rash and unadvised approach to the wall; But David durst not condemn him, and put him to death, because he was an Accessory, or rather the principal in the business: and therefore joab charged the messenger that carried the news, saying, If the King's anger arise, so that he say unto you, Why went you nigh the wall, etc. (the story is worth your reading) then say thou, Thy servant Vriah the Hittite is also dead. This point did that kingly Prophet touch upon in those words so diversely commented on, Tibi soli peccavi. O Lord my sin was against Urias, against those soldiers that died for his occasion, against those which did blaspheme thy name, and against the people, whom the robbing of another man of his wife, and the kill of her husband, hath scandalised, and been an occasion of great offence unto them. But that which doth most afflict and torment me, is, That I have committed this against thee, and that I have thus sinned against thee; For in any other person whatsoever in my kingdom, the rigour of justice might have restrained him from so foul a sin, but this did not once enter into my thought. And therefore he comes with a Tibi soli peccavi; iumping with that saying of Saint Paul, Qui iudicat me, Dominus est, He that judgeth me, is the Lord. The world hath not that man in it, whom his Propria culpa, Sin maketh the most valiant man a Coward. The sins which himself hath committed, do not move or daunt him, and make him turn Coward, saving Christ, who was made perfect by nature, Nemo mundus à sorde, neque ●nfans unius diei. How can he be clean that is borne of a woman? john Baptist was sanctified in the womb of his mother, job 25. and was bred up from a child in the wilderness. Saint Peter was he that loved most, No man free from sin. Saint john that was most beloved, Saint Paul passed through the third heaven, and did afterwards defy all the world: Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? And job was so bold to say, Would my sins were weighed in a balance▪ etc. And in another place, Show me my sins and my iniquities what they be. Also David, I have run without iniquity. judith passing through the midst of an Army of Barbarians, breaks out into these words, The Lord liveth that would not suffer his handmaid to be defiled; There was not that rough-hewne soldier, that did so much as offer to touch her. Let us set side by side with these Saints, the unspottedness of those Virgins, the constancy of those Martyrs, and the courage of those Confessors that suffered for Christ's sake. In a word, all the worthy squadrons of those blessed Saints that are now in heaven will say thus (as Saint August. hath noted) of themselves, which Saint john did confess, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. As also job, If I wash myself with snow water, and purge my hands most clean, yet shalt thou plunge me in the pit, and mine own clothes shall make me filthy. job 9.30. For, to be without sin, is the blazon or cognisance of God alone. Many did live very well assured of their innocence in particular cases; as jacob, That the Idols of his father in Law Laban, were not received by the servants of his house. As Benjamin and his brethren, that Joseph's cup was not in their sacks. Saint Peter, that he should not deny his Saviour Christ, had a thousand more importunate women set upon him. The Pharisee, he thought with himself, I am not as other men, etc. yet all of them may say with Saint Paul, I am conscious of nothing to myself, yet am I not hereby justified; for God's eyes see that which man's eyes see not. In a word, the noble Acts of the greatness and power of God, as his creating of the world, his conserving it, his redeeming of mankind, his justifying of souls, his seeing the thoughts of the heart, his calling things that are not, as if they were, his commanding the waters, the winds, death and life, and all those other wonderful things which job specifieth of God, (to whose 38 chapter I refer you) may make him confidently to say, Quis ex vobis, job 38. arguet me de peccato, Which of you can rebuke me of sin. Which of you can, etc. Saint Chrysostome saith, That the greatest testimony of our innocence, is that of our enemies. Non est Deus noster, sicut Deus eorum, i●imici nostri sint judices; Our God is not as their God, let even our enemies be judges; And fit it was, that this testimony should precede and go before, as well in regard of our Saviour's life as his death. Two things required in men of eminency and place, conscience, and fame In regard of his life; for public persons that are placed in authority, seated in high and eminent thrones, that have great governments, offices and dignities committed unto them, are not only bound to be virtuous and holy, but also to be so esteemed, which they must mainly strive and endeavour. So that in a Prince, be he Ecclesiastical or Secular, two obligations ought to concur in him. One of Conscience. The other of Fame. Public persons must look to their fame as well as to their conscience. A particular Christian, which doth not give occasion whereby to be condemned of his neighbour, may live satisfied and well contented with the testimony of his own 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 Subjects. Saint Augustine saith, That he that relieth on his conscience, and is careless of his good name, is cruel towards himself. We must not do good only in God's sight, b●t also before men. For fame (though false) doth fall heavy upon public persons. In the Temple, there was a vessel of brass, a very fair 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 sins, had offered, Looking-glasses why placed about the Laver of the Temple. who forsaking the world had consecrated themselves to God, to the end that the Priests which did enter to offer sacrifice, should wash themselves in that water and behold themselves in those glasses; and it was God's intent and purpose (according to Philon) That they should place no less care in the cleanness of their life, for to offer sacrifice, than those women did, in appearing good to the world: beholding in those glasses the least mark or spot in the face. And in the 28 chapter of Exodus, God commanded, That when the Priest should enter or go forth in the Sanctuary, he should bear bells about the border of his garment, The use of Bel● in the border of the Priest's garment. to the end that the noise and sound thereof, might make his going in, and his coming forth known. And the Text addeth. Ne moriatur, Lest he die the death. And the glorious Saint Gregory saith, That the vestures of the Priests, are their good works: Sacerdotes tui, induantur iustitiam, Let thy Priests be clothed with Righteousness: And these are to sound aloud, being not holy only in their tongue, but also in their actions. There must be a bell, and there must be a clapper, preaching and doing must go together; one will not do well without the other. Our Saviour Christ adviseth us, That we should hide our works, and not make them known, Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth: Lest the wind of vainglory chance to blow away the fruit thereof. Private persons must conceal their works, but men of public rank must show themselves examples. Gen. 39.3. But in a Prince and a Prelate, God would have their works to be more public, that they should not only be holy, but also seem so, for the good example of the people. God placed joseph in the government of Egypt, because his life was so notoriously good, that his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. It is a thing worthy the consideration, That a Slave in the house of an Infidel, should profess so much virtue, so much truth, so much faithfulness, so much courtesy, and so much modesty, that he should make him ruler of his house, and put all that he had in his hand. Oh how well beseeming are these and the like good things, for the government of a kingdom. In regard of his death; and that likewise for many good and great reasons. First, it was fitting, Our Saviour's innocence exemplified by his death. That the testimony of our Saviour's innocence should precede, to the end that it might appear to the world, that the Devil by this his death was robbed and spoiled of his Empire, through his righteousness. Saint Augustine delivereth three things upon this point. The one, That God did justly deliver man over to the Empire of the devil; for that he suffered himself to be overcome by his subtlety and cunning. The other, That so great is the signiory and dominion, that the devil hath over him, that he neither can with all the strength that he hath, overcome his temptations, nor avoid death, which he incurred through sin. Not that the devil had any more right or power over him, than a hangman hath for the tormenting of a delinquent, who receives his command from the judge. The third and last, which is likewise of Leo, and Saint Gregory the Pope, That God might very well free man from the slavery and bondage of the devil by his virtue and power, without doing the devil any wrong. Even as a judge who hath delivered over an offender to the hangman to torment him, may change his mind and set him free; yet notwithstanding was willing to treat this business by way of justice, as if the devil had proper right thereunto. First, for that it had been but small glory to God's greatness, that the Creator should ●on●est with his creature, and an infinite power with a limited. Secondly, That he might not make his justice suspected. Christ's equal proceeding against the devil, a pattern for all Magistrates. For he that hath the least justice on his side, doth now and then fly to his force and power. The devil was to be overcome (saith Saint Augustine,) by justice, and not by might. Miro aequitatis iure certatum est (said Leo the Pope.) Whence the Princes of the earth may learn this lesson, That since the Prince of heaven proceeded so fairly and so justly with so base and bad a creature, having no tye or obligation thereunto; let not any Prince of the earth presume to say, Sic volo, sic iubeo, sit pro ratione voluntas; But rather hearken to that of job, If I refused to be judged with my servant, etc. Besides, it is to be noted, That the devil did exceed his Commission; and that God having given him power for to torment sinners, he fell a tormenting of our Saviour Christ, who was most innocent; he pursued him to the death, till he had placed him upon the Crosse. The cause was propounded in the Tribunal of the most blessed Trinity, the devil was condemned and deprived of that power which was given him. And so is that place of Saint Paul to be understood, De peccato damnavit peccatum: joh. 11. And that of Saint john, Now is the judgement of this world; now shall the Prince of it be cast out. That happened to the devil, which bef●ll Adam, God gave him free leave and full liberty to enjoy all the trees in Paradise, save one only and no more; and he only pitched his palate upon that, and tasted but of that one, and no more. God gave the devil leave to tempt all, only interdicting him, That he should not touch upon our Saviour Christ, and yet he pushed most at him. And to the end that this fault and punishment of the devil should remain notorious to the world, The Cross and death of Chri●ttormented the devil more than himself. it was fit that the testimony of his innocence should go before, and that he should say, Quis ex vobis, etc. Which of you, etc. Guaricus saith, That the death & Cross of our Saviour Christ, was more the devil's death and cross than his. For our Saviour Christ rose again the third day, but the devil never since was able to lift up his head. And as two going forth upon a challenge into the field, are usually both run through and slain; so our Saviour Christ and the devil were both nailed to the Cross: Christ to his greater glory, the devil to his utter destruction. If I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? The truth is the Blank and Mark of our understanding; and being that man ought naturally to love it, it is a metaphysical case that he should come to abhor it. In satisfaction of which difficulty, we have already rendered three reasons: Whereunto we may here add that other which our Saviour Christ gave unto the Pharisees by Saint john, joh. 8. Ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. There are some stomaches so overladen with evil humours, That they no sooner receive good meat, but they vomit it up again, and by a depraved disposition, turn that which is sweet into sowernes: In like sort, there are some souls so full of hatred, envy, covetousness, and uncleanness, that they rise at God's truths, and are ready to spew them up, though they be sweeter than the honey or honeycomb. To him that is sick of a Quartane, the brawn of a Capon is unsavoury; but a pickled pilchard, a strong onion, and a piece of powdered beef, have an excellent relish with him. To a breast surcharged with the things of this world, of force the doctrine of heaven must be unsavoury. Eyes that are covered with clouds as with a curtain, hate the light, and cannot endure the splendour of the Sun, Bonitatem, & disciplinam, & sci●ntiam docemini. Saint Jerome renders it bonum gustum. Truth less welcome to the ●ares of men than flatteries and lies. And from hence ariseth one of the greatest abuses in all the world, to wit, That we are readier to believe an enemy that lies unto us, than a friend that tells us the truth. In all Arts, either Li●●rall or Mechanical, we give 〈◊〉 ●redit to them that are therein most eminent; As to the best Divine, the best Physician, the best Lawyer, and to him that is our best friend, because we are fully persuaded that he will not deal doubly with us, but deliver us the very truth, and represent things as they are. In the salvation of the soul, we will not believe our Saviour, who is the best Artist, and our best friend; but the devil, the world and the flesh, which are our three mortal enemies. The first, being the father of lies, the first cause and first inventor of them, that is to say, Ex proprijs loquitur, out of his own Mint he coins them; the other two have inherited and professed lying time out of mind, five thousand years ago, and upward. If it be not as I tell you▪ tell me I pray, when did the world treat truth? Solomon styles it Divitem mendacem, The World, the Flesh, ●nd the Devil, all liars. A rich liar. As for the flesh, when did that ever leave off to lie? it was one of Sampsons' fooleries, That he knowing the intention of his false hearted Dalila, and that her purpose was, to deliver him up into the hands of the Philistims, and having thrice caught her with the theft (as we say) in her hand, yet for all this fair warning, would not take better heed, but melting with two drops, two poor tears that trickled down her cheeks, sticked not to reveal unto her the secret of his strength, and where it lay. And Dalila complaining, Thou hast thrice beguiled me, and told me lies, yet this good honest man never titted her in the teeth with her lightness, and her treason. It is a strange kind of blindness, That thy flesh should commit so many treasons, and pop thee in the mouth with so many lies, and yet thou shouldest still believe her. But the Moors believe Mahomet who lies unto them; The Gentiles, those Idols that deceive them; and only Christ comes to be the descreydo, a man of no credit among us, and to whom we will not give belief. S. Bernard talking in his name with a Christian, asks him the question, Why dost thou more affect my enemy, and thine, than me? I did create thee, I did redeem thee with my blood, I did bear thee up in the palms of my hands; Sure it is, because thy soul is full of evil humours. A fool receives not the words of Wisdom, unless thou tell him that which is in his own heart. It is Salomon's, As is an house that is destroyed, Prou. 18. so is wisdom unto a fool. Eccl. 21. There is nothing more pleasing and peaceable than a well built house, and nothing more unpleasing and unpeaceable, than an old ruinous house that is ready to fall. And so is wisdom to a fool. If I say the truth, etc. One of the most lamentable miseries of this age is, That truth doth not carry that credit and estimation as a lie doth. As the true sores of a poor wretched creature doth not move man's heart to that pity, as your false ones do: so truth do not generally go so far as doth a lie. For a lie is no sooner sown, but it presently grows up, and spreads itself amain. o good God, how easily is it believed, how willingly entertained! Our Saviour Christ being risen, the High Priests, and other the Prelates of those times, persuaded the soldiers, that were set to guard the grave, that they should give it out, that his Disciples had stolen him away. But how my Masters (replied the soldiers) can we do this without danger to ourselves, or be able to answer the matter? For if the Precedent should call us to account, and examine us about it, either we must answer that we were asleep, and testigos dormidos (you know) no hazen ●e, Sleeping witnesses will not be admitted for proof, nor stand good in Law: Or that his Disciples did set upon us, and took him thence by force, which likewise will hardly be believed, and will not sound half handsomely. First, that silly fishermen should set upon soldiers; Secondly, the stone not being taken away, we cannot well avouch that they stole him away; yet notwithstanding the Clergy were instant upon them, and told them, do you but say as we bid you, and it is enough: for, If it come to the Precedents ear, we will work with him well enough. Whereupon having withal well greased their fists, they published the theft. And the glorious Evangelist Saint Matthew tells us, Mat 28. This saying is noised amongst the jews unto this day. The like passeth in point of Heresy: What hath ruined so many Kingdoms, destroyed so many Churches, What mischiefs have proceeded from lying. and tormented so many Saints, but the lies of your Arch-Heretikes, who will not pardon God himself? In a word, God was to come into the world, for to give testimony of the truth: Whereas for the receiving of a lie, one wicked man's asseveration is sufficient. Osee saith, That there is no truth in the earth, no mercy, no knowledge of God, but that all is lies, thefts, murders, and adulteries. Mendacium, furtum, homicidium inundaverunt. Where the word inundaverunt is worthy your weighing. A river while it runs between two banks, and keeps it s●lfe within its bounds, the ways are free and open to all; But when it leaps out of his bed, and overflows the fields, and the high ways, you know not in the world how to find sure footing, nor where you or your horse may safely tread. There were evermore lies in the world, but now they have broken their bounds in that strange manner, and leapt so far from forth their bed, that no man well knows which way to take. What a world of Evidences did David show unto Saul of his love unto him? What notable services did he do him, in that hi● single combat against Goliath? In getting so many victories against the Philistims? In playing unto him upon the harp when the devil tormented him? Afterward Saul pursuing him in the mountains, hunting after his death, as if he had been a bear, or wild boar, once David took away his spear, and the pot of water that stood at his bed's head; another time he cut off the lappet of his garment. This Saul saw with his eyes, and confessed it with his mouth, saying, justior me es, Thou art more righteous than I. And yet in the end he gave more credit to those lies which your Court whisperers buzzed into his ears, than to those truths which himself fel● with his hands. He that is of God, heareth Gods words, ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. God's word how to be heard, that the hearing it may testify our Predestination Saint Augustine and Saint Gregory expound this place of your Pr●cogniti, and those tha● are predestinated. And S. john doth divide all the whole world into two sorts of persons, Qui ex deo est, non peccat, qui peccat ex diabolo est. The children of God, and the children of the devil; The one hears Gods Word, the other hears it not. And though this be not a sense so suitable to the Text, because Christ doth there point out the immediate cause of that their incredulity, and that this was not so much a predestination or reprobation, as that their present hardness of heart, and unbelief; yet notwithstanding I must give you to understand, That to hear the word of God, is a great Prenda and pledge of our predestination; especially, being accompanied with these four concurring circumstances. The first is, Audire, To ●eare the word· Blessed are they that hear the word of God. Four circumstances requi●red to the hearing of God's Word. This is the first step. And he that doth not put forward a foot to this, is not to be accounted a child of God. The husbandman in the Gospel sowed his seed in four several parts of the ground; and if in any one of them he forbore to sow, it was because he did not take it to be his. Many birds are taken and delighted with the light, as your partridges and your pigeons: But your wolves, bears, bores, and other wild beasts fly from it all that they can. It is Chrysostom's note, That when God went about to catch Paul, the light went afore the voice. For the voice will affright the blind; but the light will make him in love therewith. Saint Paul preaching to the jews, said, The light of the Gospel was principally ordained for you, But seeing ye put it from ye, ye judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life. Act. 13. And treating of the Gentiles, he saith, That they did glorify the Word of God, and that they did believe it and give credit thereunto. And when the Gentiles heard it, they were glad (saith the Apostle) and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were ordained unto eternal life, believed, I am the way, the truth and the life. And he that looseth this way, looseth the truth, and looseth life everlasting. The second is, A●dire cum frequentia, To hear the word frequently and very often. The earth that is extraordinary dry and scorched with heat, the drops of water which it receiveth, it turneth into toads. And he that seldom frequents sermons, it is to be feared they work little good upon him, if not turn to his hurt. Many will come to hear Sermons, but with a prejudicate opinion, and are more careful to pick a quarrel against the Preacher, than profit themselves. The frantic patient that throws stones at the Physician that cures him, puts himself in great peril. In a word, The Word of God is the Souls sustenance, and being ministered slowly, it is no marvel if it fall into a Consumption. The third is, Audire cum attentione, To hear diligently, and with attention, freeing the soul from all worldly cares and encumbrances: for as the eyes cannot jointly and at once, behold both Heaven and Earth; so the Soul cannot attentively at one and the same time, behold the things of the World, and of God, If any man love the world, the love of the Father abideth not in him. When a great and principal River is divided into many Rivulets or little streams, so much the less water will every one of them have. The like succeedeth with that heart which is divided into many cares and desires, Foolish and noisome lusts drown men in perdition and destruction. And Solomon saith, 1. Tim. 6. When thou sittest with a Prince, observe what is before thee, and put thy knife unto thy throat, if thou be a man given to thy appetite. A Christians sitting at the King of Heaven's Table, is the hearing of his Doctrine; this is that Board whereunto Wisdom inviteth us. Where the Bread of wholesome Doctrine is set before thee, Prou. 23. which strengtheneth the heart of man, and the Wine of Grace, which cheereth and comforteth the heart: At which Table whosoever shall come to sit, must consider with attention that which is set before him, casting out of his mind all other worldly things. Those Ministers that were employed for the apprehending of our Saviour Christ, finding him preaching to the People, they harkened unto him with that earnest and diligent attention, that they had quite forgot to put that in execution which was given them in charge by the Pharisees: and being demanded by them, Why did ye not bring him along with you? They returned this answer, Never any man spoke as he spoke. The glorious Doctor Saint Augustine, before that he had unwound himself out of the error of the Manichees, he went of purpose to hear Saint Ambrose, but not with intention to give any credit to his Doctrine, but to delight himself with the elegancy of his phrase, and being ravished with the sweetness of his words, had his heart taken, as well as his e●re; his attention supplied the fault of his intention; this was that putting of the knife to the throat. The glorious Apostle Saint Paul goes a little further, and calls God's Word, not only Cultrum, but Gladium, not a Knife, but a Sword, Take unto thee the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God: What then? Marry he gives thee a caveat in these ensuing words, Si tamen habes in potestate anima●● tuam, That thy soul be not distracted with the troublesome businesses of this world. Saint Chrysostome compares the soul of the Just, to a Pool of Water which stands all alone in some low Valley, where there is all stillness, The soul of the just, & that of a sinner, wherein differing. reposedness, freshness, clearness, and the Sunbeams purest brightness. Solomon likeneth the Soul of a sinner, to a troubled and tempestuous Sea, The heart of the Wicked is as a raging sea. The fourth is, Audire cum conservation, To hear with a retention, and to lay up the Word of God in our hearts, Blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it; Not they who hear the Word of God, and forget it, taking it in at one ear, and letting it out at another; but they which hear it and keep it. It is Saint Gregory's observation, That the Physician doth despair of that Patient's stomach, that cannot keep its meat, but throws it up as soon as it receiveth it. Saint Chrysostome adviseth, That he that heareth a Sermon should do as he doth that comes out of a Bath, presently to retire himself, get him to his Chamber, there keeps himself warm, wrap good store of clothes about him, that the ill humours may the better be exhaled and drawn from him. Plutarch telleth us, That many take no pleasure in Flowers, or care any further for them, than to look upon them, smell to them, and have them in their hands; bu● the Bee draws from them both honey and wax, and the Apothecary makes many medicines of them against diverse and sundry diseases. Many hear Sermons only for their pleasure, for the elegancy of the style, delicacy of words, gravity of sentences, and the gracefulness in their delivery: but this is but to make a nosegay to smell to for a while, and cast it anon after into a corner. Men are never worse, than when they think all is well. Say we not well, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a Devil? One of the greatest miseries than can befall a Soul, is, To become so appassionated to it's own disagreeable disposition, it's disjointed judgement, and erroneous opinion, that it persuadeth itself, that it proceedeth prudently and wisely in all that it doth, not sticking to say in its heart, I thank God I have my wits about me, I am in the right way, I do well in this and in that, in persecuting this man, and bringing that other to the stake; flattering and soothing up themselves with a N●me benedicimus? Do we not do well in so doing? The frantic man useth to call the Physician that cures him, Fool; the Blockhead, him that is discreet, Coxcomb; the Ruffian, him that is religious, Distracted; and here the Pharisees accuse our Saviour Christ, to have a Devil, and to be a breaker of the Law: And it were well if they would stay here, but they make the matter far worse by saying, Say we not well? To sin, is not so great an ill, as to ground our sin upon reason; not so great a fault to commit it, as it is to maintain it; it is an evil thing, to work revenge, but far worse to seek to defend thy revenge by reason, for that is but to wage an argument against God and his Law; to deny unto him Providence and Wisdom, and to firm and set as it were under thine own hand, That God did not see so much reason as thou didst, to revenge thyself, alleging in favour thereof, some particular exception (more than God did ever wot of) against this his general rule. Passion (saith Aristotle) blinding Reason, as smoke doth the eyes, maketh white seem black. Envy so blinded Joseph's brethren, that the Scripture saith, That they could not afford him a g●●ll w●rd, nor speak unto him in a mild and civil manner; but in this their malicious humour were fully persuaded that they did him no wrong at all, first in throwing him into the pit, and afterwards in selling him. Zoylus the Rhethorician, sy●amed the Dog, for his foul mouth and evil language, would rail against Plato, Socrates, and other grave Philosophers; and being asked the reason, Why he should wrong these good men? Passion altars all properties to itself. answered, For mine own part, I could have been content to have spared such good people, but Passion would not give way thereunto. O this Passion, What an evil property it hath; it makes Innocence Sin; Christ, a Witch; God, a Devil. Clemens Alexandrinus reporteth of Antisthenes, That he had rather be a mad, than a passionate man; for the passionate man will seek a knot in a bulrush, Better to be mad, than passionate. so will not the mad man. In conclusion, when a man shall secure himself in his sin, and the Soul go confidently on to it's own perdition, yet persuades itself that it is in the right, and runs on fairly towards the goal; that man, and his Soul, should be thus blinded, Saint Cyprian saith, That it is a great and strong evidence of God's anger; for such not acknowledging their error, will hardly crave pardon: beside, the passionate man lives so secure, and yet so deceived, that those of Hell do not make a more rash censure of the Just: Nos insensati, vitam illorum estimabamus insa●iam. Say we not well, etc. God doth not say so, nor the Angels, nor Heaven, nor Earth; but we ●ay so, we that are Pharisees say so, and think we say well in so saying. There are a certain kind of men that would seem to know more than God himself: When some man of power, or some great rich person shall say, I know it is so; it is received as God's Oracle, though God oftentimes betrays their ignorance to the world, to show them their error. It is a great haughtiness and pride of heart in any man, to stand so much upon the authority of his person, as to say, Basta, qúe you lo diga, It is enough, that I have said it. Pilat saw no cause why he should crucify our Saviour Christ; but the Pharisees roundly told him, it is enough, that we have delivered him up into thy hands, without thy further enquiring into the cause. The Devil when he cannot persuade a sin by reason, he allegeth the authority of some noted person or other, and by how many great and grave men it is approved, etc. Suiting with that of Seneca, Insanientium multitudo, est sanitatis protectio. I have not a Devil, etc. Other whiles our Saviour nipped the Pharisees, took them up short, and used sharp reprehensions to them; as, You are of your father the Devil, a wicked and adulterous Generation, etc. But here he is as mild with them as a Lamb, and makes them this soft and gentle answer, I have not a Devil. Which temperate behaviour of his was grounded upon three reasons: First of all, because he that upon the vying of an injury will not (though he have the better cards in his hand, and that it be in his power to put the other to the worst) revie upon him, but let it pass, manifests to the world a more noble and more glorious testimony of his mildness and patience, than he that suffereth and endureth when he cannot otherwise choose, wanting not so much will as power to revenge a received wrong. Patience when most to be applauded. That is a generous patience, when a man hath a smooth and easy way to work revenge, and yet rather chooseth to pocket than to press an injury. On the Vigiles of our Saviour's being apprehended, our Saviour Christ said unto his Apostles, Luc. 22. He that hath none, let him sell his coat and by a sword. Whereupon saith Saint Ambrose, Sweet jesus, Why Swords, being thou wilt not give thy Apostles leave to draw them? and wert angry with Peter, and didst reprove him for drawing his sword in thy defence? Whereunto this glorious Doctor maketh us this answer, That their patience might appear more noble, by having Swords by their sides, and yet not offering to draw them. Let a Christian therefore wear a Sword, but let him not unsheathe his sword, to the end that all men may see, that if he do not revenge an injury, it is not for want of a weapon to right himself, but out of a superaboundance of sufferance and patience. Isiodorus Pelusiota disputing the reason why Christ cursed the Figtree, leaving it fruitless for ever, Never man eat fruit of thee hereafter while the world standeth, saith, Marc. 11.1. That the jews considering those innumerable miracles which our Saviour wrought, and more particularly for the good and benefit of that people, might happily presume, That Christ had power to do good, but not to do hurt: and therefore that it might appear unto them, that he had power of and over all, howbeit he did not in many of them punish their wickedness and ingratitude, yet did he punish it in the Figtree, which was their true type and figure. Secondly, Christ would teach us this lesson, To suffer injuries a great nobleness. That the best means to break anger in an enemy, and to assuage his choler, are either soft words, or silence. Saint Chrysostome saith, That to give a fair and gentle answer to an angry man, is more than to prophesy of that which is to come; for the gift of Prophesying God gives it Grati●, and it costs the Receiver nothing; but to suffer an Enemy, costeth much. Gregory Nazianzen expounding that place of Saint Luke, Unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other; addeth further, If thou hadst three cheeks, thou oughtest to offer them all for to keep him quiet. But some man will say, When that Varlet, that base Slave smote Christ in ●aiphas his house, he did not offer him his other cheek, but told him as one th●t was sensible of the wrong he had done him, If I ●aue evil spoken, job. 18. bear witness of the evil; but if I have well spoken, why smitest thou me? Saint Augustine answereth hereunto, that to turn the other cheek to an angry man, is not so much to be understood the part operis, as de preparatione animi, No● in regard of the work, by offering the cheek, as of the preparation of our mind; for that were but to put a sword into a mad man's hand. And in another place he saith, That it is an hyperbolical kind of speech, for that Christ did pretend, That he that is offended should be so far from revenging a received injury, that he should rather willingly receive a new, than revenge an old wrong: And therefore if our Saviour Christ returned this answer to that rude and rough-handed Soldier, (●ur me caedis? Why smitest thou me?) it was either because this his flattery, which he was willing to express to the High Priest by this his cruelty, should not thereby be authorised, or because it might not be presumed, that Christ had lost the respect due to the Priest; or because that no man should suspect, that there remained any rancour in his breast, or desire of revenge, (which they that heard him say, That the Son of Man should come with power and Majesty, and that he had another Kingdom, where legions of Angels should show themselves for to do him honour, might well suspect;) or peradventure he returned him that answer for to pacify him, itbeing so mild ●nd gentle. In a word, The Rock in the Sea, A patient man whereunto resembled. the Anuile in the Forge, the Just in the earth, continue still quiet; the one enduring the waves, and suffering the surges of the seas; the other the strokes of the hammers, and the third, the injuries of his enemies. My enemies have compassed me about like so many Bees, so many Bulls, and so many Dogs, grinning their teeth at me, but it neither troubles me nor grieves me, for I am sufficiently revenged of them. Saint Augustine doth here ask the question, How (o thou Kingly Prophet) art thou revenged of them? Marry, by instructing them in the truth, and by dissuading them from their errors. job having received great injuries from his friends, as taunting words, and false testimonies, the revenge that he took of them, was, To pray unto God for them, and to give them good and wholesome council, Iob●. as Saint Gregory hath noted it, Fly therefore from the face of the sword. Thirdly, he read a Lecture unto Princes and Prelates, of that mildness and gentleness; which they ought to profess towards their Subjects. Saint Bernard saith, That if Christ did condemn Peter for drawing his sword, when they came to lay hands on his Master, and for cutting off of Malchus his ear, it was, That Choler did not well become him, who was afterwards to be a Governor of the Church, where he should meet with many a Malchus. There is not any thing that doth more conserve Sceptres and Crowns, than clemency and truth. Alexander Severus was so soft and mild an Emperor, Clemency, a profitable virtue. that some did murmur thereat, saying, he would draw his Empire into contempt, and be less esteemed of his Subjects. Whereunto he answered, Though it should be of less esteem, I am sure it will be more secure and durable. Saint Augustine, Saint Gregory, and Saint Jerome, make this doubt, Why our Saviour did not as well reply to their calling of him Samaritan, as for telling him that he had a devil: And they resolve it thus, That concerning these two injuries, the one was an affront done to his person, the other to his Doctrine: for the wrong that was done to his doctrine, because it touched the honour of his father he was bound to answer thereunto. For a servant must not be silent, much less a son, in the agravios, and injuries that are done unto God. God promised Moses to make him a Captain and Governor of another more noble and more honourable Nation, desiring that he might cut off and make an end at once of that rebellious people. But Moses besought him, saying, My good Lord, this were a great honour for me, but I am content to forgo it, because thou shalt suffer in thine honour if thou destroy this people, Exod. 32. Lest the Egyptians speak, and say, he hath brought them out maliciously for to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from off the earth. This were but to run the censure of evil tongues, and the hazard of thine honour. Our Saviour Christ did not resent any thing so much as affronts and dishonours; this made him to break forth into this passionate speech, Ye went out with swords and ●●aues to take me, as if I had been a thief. Again, Thou knowest my reproach, and none knows it ●o fully as thou. To these shall we add that other, Saturabitur opprobrijs; all his other torments made him still more and more hungry, and abated not the edge of his stomach; but he was glutted with his reproaches, and the affronts that were offered him, he had his belly too full of them, more than he was well able to bear. God's honour must ever be preferred before our own. Amongst other causes of that his mysterious swea●ing of blood in the Garden, the Saints set down this as the most principal, That the dishonour did there represent itself unto him, of seeing himself stark naked upon the Cross, and that he was to be made a spectacle unto the world, his blo●d like a faithful friend, having recourse to the bashful modesty of the whole body, as it is wont upon some occasions to have recourse unto the heart. In a word, he did evermore give approved pledges & tokens of the great reckoning that he made of his honour: but when his Fathers lay at stake, he was forgetful of his own; And therefore not answering to that of Samaritanus es tu, Thou art a Samaritan; he mildly replied, Ego Daemonium non habeo, I have not a Devil, but I honour my Father, etc. I seek not mine own praise, but there is one that seeketh it, and judgeth. Truth can never be altogether suppressed. Ye seek to blot my name out of the world's memory, and to bury my honour and authority with the infamy of a Witch, a Sorcerer, a Devil, and a Glutton. And though I do not seek to repair this wrong, There is one that seeketh after it and judgeth. There is not any thing so hid and buried, that, though it lie covered for a time, is not in the end discovered. Of Fire and of Love, Ulysses sa●d, Quis enim celaverit ignem, Who can hide them? but the same may be better verified of the Truth. Well may falsehood and passion, assisted by tyranny and power, hide and bury itself, but in the end, There is nothing so secret but shall be revealed: Mat. 10. For time is a great discoverer of truths. Plutarch reporteth in his Apothegms, That at the sacrifices of Saturn (whom they adored for the god of Time) the Priests had their heads covered till the Sacrifice was fully ended; a ceremony which was not suffered by any other of the gods: And the mystery thereof was, That Time doth cover things now and then for a while, but discovers them at last. And therefore Pindarus said, That the latter days were the faithfullest witnesses. Time sometime sleepeth, but it awakes again. But in case it fall asleep, and never wake any more, Est qui quaerat, & iudicet, God is still ready at hand, who searching out the truth, will judge his own cause. Oblivion hath two bosoms, Oblivion hath two bosoms. 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 have thrown the bodies and ashes of the Saints, to the end, that being devoured by fishes, or drowned in the deep, they might not be adored on earth, as we may read in the History of Saint Cl●●ent, and diverse others. In the earth men bury the Dead; Highway Robbers, their spoils; thieves, their thefts; they that are either subdued by conquest, or banished their country, their treasure; as Cacus did those cows he had stolen in his cave. But God causeth those things that are the heaviest and the weightiest, and cast into the bottom of the Sea, to swim like cork above water; and maketh the earth to vomit forth her most secret and hidden treasures. For, Nihil occultum, etc. There is nothing so secret which shall not be revealed. There is one that seeketh it and judgeth it. O Lord, Thou remittest this cause to thy father, judge's ought to be free from passion. and thy father remits all unto thee. I answer, when I took the rod to revenge the wrongs and injuries of the world, I was not to be like unto sparks that are quickly kindled, nor subject to any the least passion of anger; for a judge that is so affected, cannot be a competent judge in his own cause. And therefore, Est, qui quaerat, & iudicet. My Father is to redress this wrong, he is to look unto it. Whence I infer, That if our Saviour Christ, in whom there could n●t be any kind of passion, did remit to his Father the judging of his cause; hardly can a judge of flesh sentence his own cause. King David being at the point of death, willed his son Solomon that he▪ should take away the lives of joab and Shimei: He thereupon caused joab to be slain; but only confined Shimei. The reason that induced him to mitigate Shimei his sentence, and not that of Io●b, was, because the offences which joab had committed, were not done directly against his father David, but against Abner and Amasa, whom he had ill killed; Whereas Shimeis fault was, in affronting the King's person: and because it might happily be thought that he might be carried away with too much passion or affection in this his father's cause, he deferred his death, till he should fall through his own default, which he afterwards did; and than Solomon reckoned with him for the old and the new. 2. R●g. 14. The woman of Tekoah receiving her instructions from joab, entered the Palace, and having put on mourning apparel, as a woman that had now long time mourned for the dead, and falling down on her face to the ground, and doing her obeisance, she spoke thus unto him; I am a poor widow, my husband is dead, and thine handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, so the one smote the other and slew him: And behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, crying out, Deliver him that smote his brother that we may kill him for the soul of his brother whom he slew, that we may destroy the heir also; So shall they quench my sparkle that is left, and shall not leave to mine husband neither name nor posterity upon the earth; and I myself shall remain a miserable mother, not having any child left me to be a stay and comfort unto me in my old days, Woe is me that I must be deprived of both my sons in one day. The King pitying her wretched condition, said unto her: I will take order for the freeing of thy son. And to send her away well satisfied, vowed unto her, by that his usual asseveration (as the Lord liveth) there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth. Whereupon she taking her leave, said unto him, Let my Lord the King show himself as free from passion in his own proper cause, as he hath in another man's: Wilt thou free my son that hath slain his brother, and wilt thou not free Absalon that slew Ammon? Rupertus saith, That E●es hurt consisted in the misprision of the fruit, and the ill judgement that she made in the choice of the apple: For being too much wedded to her own appearing good opinion, the eyes of the body persuaded those of the soul, that in so fair a fruit, it was impossible to find death. Then took they up sto●es to cast at him. Tyranny and persecution, evermore attended the Saints of God: But there was this difference betwixt them and our Saviour Christ, That your Tyrants did seek to reduce these other to the adoring of their gods, one while with promises, another while by threatenings; now with courtesies and kindnesses, and by and by again with sundry sor●s of torments. There was scarce any famous Martyr which did not tread in his martyrdom in this path; nor any Tyrant which did not take this course with them. And perhaps they followed herein the steps of Nabuchadnezzar, who, (as the glorious Doctor Saint Chrysostome hath observed) for those who would not adore his Statue, had a hot fiery furnace, whose flames ascended forty nine cubits in height; and for those that did adore it, he had all sorts of exquisite music and choice instruments: warring against virtue with pleasure, Daniel 3. and with pain. But our Saviour Christ was always ill entreated by the world. In the desert, the devil once offered him stones; The Pharisees many times. When he was borne in Bethlem, he had not wherewithal to defend him from the cold, but was forced to be laid in the cratch among the beasts. Whilst he lived here in the world, he had not any to relieve his hunger. The day that he entered in Triumph into jerusalem, he went forth into the field to seek after figs. Dying, he had not any one that would give him so much as a jar of water, when he cried out Sitio, I thirst, they gave him vinegar and gall to drink. Pope Leo saith of him, The days that were appointed for him, he began them in persecution, and ended them in persecution. In his infancy, he began with the Cross, and at his end he died on the Crosse. Which was (as Gregory Nazi●nzen saith) a Prognostication, That that Disciple that will seek to follow his master, shall never want a cross to carry, nor matter wherein to suffer. But jesus hid himself, and went out of the Temple. Why Christ withdrew himself from the Pharisees. Upon this place we have formerly rendered four reasons, why our Saviour Christ avoided these ●tones by flight; and now adding others anew thereunto, Orig●n saith, That he withdrew himself, out of compassion, considering that his counsels made the Pharisees more rebellious and more hard than before. Rebellem non vult perdere, He shunned the occasion, that they might not be utterly lost, accommodating himself to that of Saint Paul, D●te l●cum ira, Give way to anger. One of God's great mercies is to fly from a sinner, that he may not be bound suddenly to destroy him. In Exodus, he gave his people an Angel to be their guide; saying, I will neither be your Captain, nor your Guide, for through your stiffe-neckednesse and rebellion, ye will run great hazard under my command. In some Parables, the holy Evangelists put the word, Peregrè profectus est, He is gone afar off. For albeit God be always present, yet it is his exceeding great mercy now and then not to be present. For there is no compatibilitie with his divine presence, and our shamelessness and looseness of life. And so putting on as it were a kind of dissimulation, he makes as if he went away from us, and did not see what we do. Euthymius saith, That our Saviour Christ would rather exercise his patience in flying, than his power in punishing, Fugiendo magis, quam puniendo. For although he should have destroyed them, yet would they never the sooner have repent; Complying with that of the Prophet Esay, Dissipati neque compuncti. In the garden he made those that came to take him to ●eele and fall on their backs, with an Ego sum, I am he. But they not acknowledging this his divine power, proceeded on in their apprehending of him. A hard heart can never be mollified. God deliver us from the resolution of a Reprobate, for there is not that miracle either in heaven or on earth, that will bridle and restrain him. Of those which began to build the Towet of Babel, the Scripture saith, Nor will they yet leave off. But such is the goodness of God's nature, and is so kind and loving unto us, That he doth to the ill good, though they turn this good to 〈◊〉. But he does not do any ill unto them; for his patience is such, That he doth not think it much, that even those that were most ill, should enjoy some good. Hugo de sancto victore, declareth that place of the Proverbs, Prou. 26. Answer a fool according to his foolishness: And, Answer not a fool according to his foolishness. After this manner, i● a fool sh●ll amend by reprehension, give it him: but if there be no hope of amendment, give it him not. God doth commonly treat of the most good, and the least ill; but the wicked man, of the least good, and the most ill. Wherein, he proves worse than Pilate; For he laboured to set our Saviour Christ at liberty, using the means for the effecting of it, to have him well whipped, Luke 23.16. I will chastise him and let him lose. But the jews would not rest con●ented with that, but went on in accomplishing the greatest sin that was ever committed in the world. Pope Gregory saith, That our Saviour Christ hid himself and went out of the Temple, flying from the stones which they were about to fling at him, for to show, That the world was all this while in an error, in holding it a point of honour, Revenge in man a symptom of Cowardice. and a brave and manly action to answer affronts with affronts, injuries with injuries, and to revenge them to the full, holding it baseness and cowardice either to suffer a wrong, or shun the occasion thereof: Wherein he hath showed his great love unto us. For he applying himself to the estimation which man maketh of his honour, permitteth us to defend our reputation, though it be with the hurt of the Aggressor or Assailant, and that we should not fly that we might not lose it. So that Christ flying from the Pharisees, and hiding himself, casting their sins behind his back, whilst he showed them his back; and seeking to hide their faults, by hiding himself from them, he did more for them, than they did for themselves. It is likewise a point of Honour, That a husband, ●erem. 3. should not receive the wife which hath been false and treacherous unto him. But God saith, As a woman rebelleth against her husband, so have ye rebelled against me; Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet turn again to me saith the Lord, and I will heal your rebellions. Then shalt thou call me, saying, my Father, and shalt not turn from me. To whom with the Son and the Holy Ghost, be all honour, power, etc. THE XXXIII. SERMON, UPON THE MONDAY AFTER PASSION SUNDAY. JOHN. 7. Miserunt Principes Sacerdotum Ministros, ut apprehenderent jesum. The Chief Priests sent their Officers to apprehend jesus. HEre, No policy prevalent against the word and wisdom of God. the chief of the Priests (waiting on the voice and cry of the people, & watching which way they were inclined, & beholding how they were ready to mutiny, & that many daily were converted, convinced by those miracles, which were so great both in quality & number, that they could not be wrought by any but the Messias, whom they had so long looked for) fearing some alteration both in their State and Religion, and devising with themselves, how they might cut off this Good, as if it had been some Canker or Plague of the Commonwealth, They sent Officers to take him. In which Discourse is discovered the force and efficacy of God's Word, and how little the industry and policy of man is able to prevail against this Divine Wisdom. The High-Priests sent to take him. The motive hereunto was their envy, Envy of all vices the most unfortunate to itself, & fortunate to others. a vice so unfortunate and so unlucky, that accounting for its felicity, and for its good, another's ill, commonly the ill raineth down upon the head of the Envious, and the good, upon that of the Envied. Joseph's brethren threw him into a pit, and then sold him, and all but out of envy; and this their selling of him, was the means of his excelling of them; and their casting of him down, the raising of him up: thus purposed adversity turned to future prosperity. Haman that was King Assuerus his Favourite, had listed God's people in several rolls, with a full resolution to have them massacred all in one day; he had set up a high gallows whereon to hang Mordochey: this his envy was the means that God's people found favour, Mordochey was advanced, and Haman hung on the Gallows which he had made for another. The like success had Saul with David; and Nebucadnezars' Princes, with poor Daniel; and the jews, with our Saviour Christ: which is no more than was revealed in that parable of that Stone, which being rejected by that People, fell upon them, and made mortar of them; that Stone being afterwards made the head Stone of the Corner. Of the Lynx the Naturalists do report, That he covereth his urine, as the Cat doth her d●ng; and that this his covering of it, is the means that a Stone is congealed thereof, of great both virtue and beauty. The High-Priests sent, etc. By Saint Matthew our Saviour did point forth to the Pharisees a truth, Mat. 23. which doth suit well with this present purpose, W●e be unto ye Scribes and Pharisees, because ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven; for ye yourselves go not in, nor suffer them that would enter, to come in. That Gardiner's Dog that would neither eat Coleworts himself, nor suffer others to eat them, is of the Devil's condition, that will neither do good to himself, nor let others enjoy it: And in some respect the Pharisees were far worse; for the people had not the Devil for their North-star, nor their Guide, neither did they trust him with the zeal and care of their good: but the Scribes and Pharisees were the Lights of Israel, the Guides and North-Starres of the People, who with the clouds of their passions did darken the very beams of the Sun itself. Saint Luke crieth out, Luk. 11. Woe be unto ye Scribes and Pharisees, ye that are Interpreters of the Law, for ye have taken away the Key of knowledge, and of the Scriptures; ye entered not in yourselves, and them that came in, ye forbade; ye will not that any shall control that which ye teach. What, doth any one of the Chiefe-Priests and Pharisees believe in him? In the High-Priests and the Pharisees all the wisdom is deposited, as for the Common people, they are ignorant and unlettered; if therefore none of these principal men believe in him, let him that believeth in him, go for a condemned man. From the head comes all the ill to the body Natural; and mystically the same may be said of these and the like Heads. Gen●●is rendering a reason of Gods sending a Flood upon the earth, saith, The whole earth was nothing but filthiness and corruption. Like Priest, like People. And to him that shall ask, Why this hurt and calamity was so general? it is there answered, There were Giants in the earth in those days: The sons of God, those that were great and powerful Princes linked themselves with the daughters of men, with those that were the basest and vilest among them, & begot upon them such vicious Giants, that they corrupted the whole land. Phylon reporteth, That Goliath the Philistine was the first that presumed to lay hand on the Ark of God, and that afterwards all the people followed his example, The whole head was sick, and the whole heart was hea●●e, etc. It was enough to know, that the heads were so sick and so weak; for thereby it is to be presumed, that the whole body of the People was full of tumours and swellings. It is a most grievous sin, and God doth punish them with a grievous punishment, who pull down where they are bound to build. The Israelites being much affectioned to the Midianitish & the Moabitish women, at their persuasion fell to the adoring of Belfeg●r, Psal. 106. They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and did eat the Offerings of the Dead. God for this being so angry with them, that he said unto M●ses, Num. 25. Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the Sun: And why against the Sun? To the end that the natural sun should condemn these the Sons and Princes of thy people. The Spouse went forth one night to seek her Beloved, and meeting with the Watch, they treated her ill, and took away her Cloak from her. It is a hard case, that he that should apparel and protect the Naked, should rob him of his clothes, and trample him by oppression under his feet. They sent Officers, etc. Ministers for ill, are never wanting. A Tyrant shall never want Executioners to torment; nor a judge, Sergeants to arrest; nor an Usurer, knights of the Post to lie and swear; a Lady, a waiting maid to cover her sin; a Noble man Pages, to bring him Love-letters; a Gamester, cheaters to foist in false dice and cards; Dancers, Fiddlers; nor Princes, Ministers. Lucifer had no sooner propounded in hell, who amongst them would adventure to tempt Christ, but innumerable numbers of the principal di●ells stood forth, offering him their service, with promise of their best endeavours and diligences. Saul had no sooner asked the question, who would undertake to apprehend David, but presently all the Courtiers belonging to the Palace, proffered him their lives and their persons to bring him in. King Ahaziah had no sooner spoke the word, Who will rid me of this same troublesome Eliah who will not let me live in quiet; when forthwith your Quinquagenarians and Captains over fifties, every one of them proffered him their service; one saying, I will serve thee; and another, I will serve thee, etc. That servants should obey and serve their Lords, the Law of God commands it: Saint Paul saith, Servants obey your Lords according to the flesh, as ye would obey Christ. And Saint Peter further addeth, Servants be subject to your Masters with all fear, not only to the good and courteous, but also to the froward. 1. Pet. ●. By froward are meant those that are austere, sharp, severe, rough, and harsh: as likewise those that are wicked men, and great sinners. Solomon tells us, He that feareth the commandment, he shall be rewarded. Prou. 1. ●. But we are not to obey them against God: And this the Apostle noted forth unto us in that word, Carnalibus, in the flesh, that is, That they have not one dram of jurisdiction over the spirit or soul of their servant. And not contented with this, he goes a little further and addeth, Tanquam Christo. For, as Christ will not command you any thing that is against the good of your souls; so neither is a master otherwise to command his servant. And if he should command you the contrary, ye are not to obey him. And this was that which the Tribes said to their General joshua, josh. 1. As we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey thee, assuring ourselves, that God is with thee as he was with him. There are many Courtiers that think that their Princes do them a great favour, when they command them this or that thing against God, Honest service little respected by earthly Princes. that they may show what hazard they would run to do them service: Whereas he that will serve him in only Licitis, et honestis, Those things that are lawful and honest, gets no preferment, nor is not held by the world to be a fit servant to attend a Prince. Though indeed (if it be duly considered) he ought for that to be the more esteemed by him: No policy prevalent against the wisdom of God. God must be served by us before man. First, because to serve a Lord against a man's King, is Crimen lesae maiestatis, Treason against a humane Majesty, so, to serve a king against God, is treason in the highest degree against a Divine majesty. Secondly, because your instruments, although they be inanimate and without a soul, yet God is wont to punish them with a severe and heavy hand: As he did the Serpent, Upon thy belly shalt thou go, Gen. 3. and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And if upon the Serpent which sinned not, God doth lay so heavy a hand; what shall become of that instrument that is a partner and shar●r in the sin? Our Saviour Christ cursed the figtree: and Athanasius saith, That at that very time that he cursed it, It is bad service to share in other men's sins. it came into his mind that it had covered those with its leaves, that had so highly offended him in Paradise. A heavy judgement for those that will serve to be cloaks and bawds to those sins which are committed against God and his holy Laws. Thirdly, God doth permit, that for honest servants, and knavish servants, there should be masters accordingly; masters that should use them well, and masters that should use them ill. And though for a while till their turns be served, they use them well, enriching them, and raising them to honour, yet afterwards they come to use them so ill, that they eat them out of all that they have given them, calling in that which they but lent them, and engaging the● for more than they are worth; and at last a fire comes down from heaven, and consumes all the wealth that they have thus ungodly gotten, as it did upon those Captain's wh●ch were employed by their bad King, against good Eliah. The Cuttle-fishe is a stamp, or Emblem of your Princes, that have a great train of servants attending their persons, as this fish hath of fins: but devours them, as this fish doth his tail and fins when he is hungry. Our longest life but little. Yet am I a little while with you. He calls little, that little which was now left him of his life: For he was to suffer about the feasts following, which was now near at hand. The longest life, the Scripture styles little: and the greatest troubles that we pass therein, likewise little. Antiochus his Ministers, persuading one of those valiant Maccabees, That he would free his body from those cruel torments which he was to endure, 2. Mac. 7.36. if that he would obey the king; answered, My brethren that have suffered a little pain, are now under the divine Covenant of everlasting life. Eleazar rendered the like reason to those his friends which importuned him, That albeit he would not eat Swine's flesh, yet he should make show that he did it: Whereunto he replied, That such dissimulation did not befit his age and authority, 2. Mac. 6. Lest the younger soul through mine hypocrisy (for a little time of a transitory life) might be deceived by me; I should receive malediction and reproach to my grey hairs. Saint Peter hath it Modicum passus, etc. And there are two reasons of this shortness of life. The one, That life in itself is short, Ecce mensurabiles posuisti dies meos, Behold thou hast measured out my days. The Greek word which answers to mensurabiles, signifieth a measure of four fingers. job 9 The other, because it flies away swifter than the wind, My days have been more swift than a Post, and have seen no good thing. They are passed with the most swift sh●ps, and as the Eagle that flieth to the prey. Va●ablus hath it, As a Ship that goes as swift as thought, or as the Mariners and Passengers could wish it; Pagninus, Like a Pirates man of War, which because it goes light laden, seems rather to fly than sail: Or, Like an Eagle that flieth to the prey. The Eagle when she is sharp set, and pursueth her prey, cuts the air with her wings swifter than the wind, so that that which our Saviour's says, is this, Tell the high Priests that sent ye unto me, that I have but a little while to live, and that when my hour shall come, I myself will put myself into their hands; and if that they are so willing to have me dye, tell them that I desire it much more. Christ must be sought while he may be found. Ye shall seek me and shall not find me. I came to seek you, ye shut the door upon me; ye therefore shall seek me, but ye shall not find me. Euthymius expoundeth that prophesy of David, of the jews, Conuertentur ad vesperam, & famem patientur ut canes, & cirevibunt civitatem; It shall be so late ere they be converted, that the world shall be at an end, and in the interim, they shall suffer hunger like dogs, which among all other beasts suffereth the most hunger: Hambre canina, a dog's hunger, is spoken by way of Proverb in the Spanish tongue. They shall run rounding the world after their Messias, but he having retired himself to heaven, never to be seen by them any more here on earth, this miserable people shall hardly be able to find him. Nichola●● de Lyra saith, That that they sought him in that siege which Titus and Vespasian laid to jerusalem, when they saw themselves swallowed up in so many miserable misfortunes, yet could they not find him: for albeit God's bowels are never shut up for the pardoning of sin, yet are they shut up for the punishment thereof; and even then did they look to find him, when his sword was already drawn. So that that Language of Amos, For three transgressions, and for four, etc. Amos 2. The number of three expresseth many sins, but the number of four, more than many: And therefore when the Sinner shall come to this number, God will not pardon him, Quatenus ad poenam, As touching the punishment of sin, though he forgive him the guilt thereof. Saint Chrysostome saith, That in the siege of Jerusalem many were converted to our Saviour Christ, repenting themselves of that which they had alleged against him to Pilate, If we let go this man, the Roman● will come and take our Kingdom and our Nation from us, etc. Saint Augustine saith, That this prophecy (You shall seek me, Act. 2. and shall not find me) was fulfilled in that Sermon which S. Peter made, whereof S. Luke makes mention in the Acts; where many of them did repent, and were converted to Christ, to the number of three thousand persons; but that others did despair of pardon, considering the greatness of their offence. But letting pass the people of the jews, this sentence doth advise all sorts of persons, That they do not let slip the time of their good, whether it be in regard of the person, or of the time which is offered unto them; for afterwards, they shall seek and shall not find. In regard of the persons, Good never truly liked, till lost. Good was never truly known till such time as it is lost; The covetous Richman did acknowledge in Hell, the Riches that were hid under Lazarus his Rags; The Damned confess amidst their slames, the wisdom of the Righteous, whom before they held to be Fools or mad men: The Prodigal in the Pigsty knew the advantage that his father's household servants had of him: The Hebrews in their life time offered Moses a thousand Agrauio's and injuries; when he slew the Egyptian, he was forced through them to fly the Country; when he was their Captain and Commander, they multiplied mutinies upon him, murmurings, disgraces, and were so mad at him, that they would have stoned him to death; and yet after he was dead, if they had known where his body had been buried, they would have worshipped and adored him. King Ahab called Eliah while he lived here, The Troubler of Israel; and Queen jezabel she would have his life taken from him; the People too, they complained of his too much rigour and severity, and that he had petitioned God, That they should have no rain for so many years, and that he took no pity of those poor souls that were ready to starve for hunger in the streets: but when he was taken up into Heaven in a fiery Chariot, Elisha then cried out, My father, my father, the Chariot of Israel, and the Horsemen thereof; That is to say, Now Israel shall know, that thou wert more their Protector and Defender, than their armed Chariots: Or as Saint Ambrose hath it, Now Israel shall know, that thou wert he that did govern them, and that did repress their violent passions, and bridle their wilful and headstrong affections, which were more hot and furious than those of Beasts. In humane Histories there are infinite examples that avouch the truth hereof, but none can allege for the present, nor the world never yet did, nor sh●ll, produce a man so persecuted, so abhorred, so trampled upon, Never any m●● so hated of the world, as Christ. and so much despised and neglected, as our Saviour Christ; Eradicemus eum de terra Viventium, Let us root him out of the land of the Living; as if he had been the plague of the Commonwealth. But the World did afterwards acknowledge, That there was no man that deserved more to be beloved. Time a precious jewel. In regard of the time, for the World hath not any one thing of so great price, as is Time, Fili, conserua Tempus, My son preserve Time; so saith Ecclesiasticus. Precious things ought charily to be kept and conserved, whereof none is more precious than Time. Seneca writing to Lucilius, saith, Who can too highly esteem of Time? Who can give it the price that is due unto it? All things else are Aliena, They are not ours; only Time is ours: it is a Treasure that properly belongeth unto us, which we may bestow as we will ourselves. Now in the last and great day of the Feast, etc. This was one of the famousest Feasts that the jews had; they solemnised the same on the fifteenth of September, and it did last seven days. Of the Ceremonies and Sacrifices of this Feast, Levit▪ 23. Num. 29. Leviticus, Numbers, and josephus in his Book of Antiquities maketh mention. All these seven days the Hebrews lived in the field, and in Cabins covered with boughs, in remembrance of that time that God led them through the Desert in Tents and Tabernacles: and therefore it was called the Feast of Tabernacles, That your posterity may know, Why instituted. Levit. 23.43. that I have made the Children of Israel to dwell in Booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; God pretending therein, That when the children of Israel should see themselves seated in so populous a city as jerusalem, strengthened with such strong walls, and such proud and stately Towers, that they did strike a fear and terror into Damascus, and all the heathen round about them; fortified with so many several sorts of Arms, illustrated with the Temple, which was one of the miracles of the world; the memory of their forepast misery might melt the vainglory of their present prosperity. For the forgetting of our first rising, causeth commonly pride and arrogancy: your wiser sort of men, when they see themselves raised to the highest round of Fortune's wheel, they always set before their eyes their base beginning. Amongst those other Vessels of gold and silver on his Court-Cupboord, the Emperor intermixed some of earth, in memorial that he was raised from being a Potter, to the honour of being an Emperor. Amos did never forget that he had been a herdsman, though God had exalted him to be a Prophet; Armentarius ego sum. Pride incident to Man. David never denied that he had been a Shepherd. Sinners when they come to be Saints, they are never unmindful of the miserable estate of their sins; Quorum primus ego sum, Whereof I am the chiefest, saith Saint Paul. For a man to be puffed with the state of a new fortune, and to forget his former base and mean estate, is a thing proper to base, ingrateful, and foolish persons: and this forgetfulness causeth him to fall into discourtesies, incivility, pride, and bad behaviour. Good men are very rare. If any man thirst, let him come unto me. Some say, That he calleth unto all that are thirsty, as elsewhere he called to all that were weary and heavy laden with the burden of their sins. Others, That he calleth unto those that thirst after Heaven; and so putteth it down conditionally: For albeit all do thirst after happiness in the general, yet those that attain to this true happiness by a lively Faith, are few. Things are by so much the more rare, by how much they are the more precious; as we see in Gold, Pearls, and Precious Stones, in clothes of Tissue, Lawn, Silk, Scarlet, and delicacy of Diet. Amongst this number, we List Good men, which are very rare, and very precious: juvenal terms them, The Monsters of the World, and he draws his comparison from a Mule great with Fole. Cicero saith, That it is a rarer thing: for, to see a Mule bring forth a Foal, is very frequent, but we seldom see a perfect wise man. David said of himself, ●sal. 71. I am become as it were a Monster unto many: A King so prosperous, so much favoured of God, and so good; a Monster? a King so powerful, such a pardoner of his enemies, and so liberal towards them; and he a Monster? a King which watered his couch with tears, and did mingle them with the water that he drank, and did cover his flesh with Sackcloth; and he a Monster! Caietan translates it, Tanquam Miraculum. It is the definition of the Just, That a man, the World walking that broad way which leadeth to destruction, that he should take pleasure to go the straight and narrow way, it is Miraculum, A mere miracle: That a man, when all men beside shall say, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die; that he should say, Let us fast and pray, let us repent us of our sins, that we may not die tomorrow, it is Miraculum, A mere miracle: That a man, others believing and loving those things which they see and enjoy; that he should love that which he enjoyeth not, and believe that which he seeth not, but hopeth for, it is Miraculum, A mere miracle: That a man should desp●se Go●d, and esteem no better of the honours and pleasures of this world, than of the dirt that he treads under his feet, (these being the Idols that man's heart doth usually most adore) it is Miraculum, A mere miracle. Eccl. 49. Zacharie and Ecclesiasticus call jesus the Priest the son of josedec, and those his friends that were in his company, Viros portentosoes, Prodigious men: By whom some understand, Sidrac, Misach, and Abeanego, those three Children which returned with Zorobabel to Palestine. But Saint john doth endear this in his Apocalyps, Apoc. 12. where making a description of the Just, he saith, A great sign or wonder appeared in Heaven. And that this conceit may extend itself a little further, there are two things to be supposed. The one, That God painting forth by Esay the greatness of the world, compares it to a drop of water, Quasi stilla situlae, As the drop of a Bucket: Who hath measured the waters in his fist, and counted Heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in a weight, and the hills in a balance: All Nations before him are as nothing; all the world and its greatness is as a drop of water, it is a dust, and counted by him less than nothing. But of the Just we may say, Signum magnum apparuit in Coelo, It is a great miracle in Heaven. The other, That beholding from Heaven the breadth of the earth, it seemeth but a poor Cottage; the least of the Stars is greater than the earth, and being beheld from thence, it seemeth to be the palm of a man's hand; and the Sun, which is a hundred and seventy times bigger, seemeth in comparison about the bigness of a Buckler. And that a man should be just, it is Grande miraculum; and that he should thirst after Heaven, it is Signum magnum; and therefore it is here said, If any man thirst, etc. If any man thirst. He inviteth him that is thirsty, to desire it: First, Because Heaven is to be gained, Labour & sudore, By labour and by sweat; Heaven not gotten without pains. and for this cause it is called in Scripture, a Crown, a Reward, a day's Wages: now for to clamber over so many walls, We had need be very thirsty, and have a good desire unto it. Secondly, Because such precious water is not fitting to be given unto him that hath no great mind unto it. If in those lesser things here on earth, he that gives makes such reckoning of the esteem that the pretender holds of that he sueth for; What shall it be in that good, which being enjoyed, the soul is not able to comprehend it? for, in the matter of giving and receiving, so necessary is the gusto and contentment that a man takes therein, that he that gives with disgust▪ gives not, and he that receives with disgust, receiveth not what is given: And therefore Seneca in his book De Beneficijs, setteth down the decorum that is to be held therein. Ecclesiasticus saith, There is a gift which is not profitable, and there is a gift whose retribution is manifold. In receiving, this reason carrieth the more force with it; for who is he that will give to him that hath no desire to receive? And with God it is more forcible; for he will have all his gifts to be our rewards, and therefore he calls those, our gifts, which in all strictness are his. The Lord respected Abel & his gifts. The Lambs that were offered were Gods, All the best of the Woods are mine, etc. yet out of his goodness he calls them Abel's. All that we offer is his (Quae de manu tua accepimus, reddimus tibi) yet he styles it ours: so that the loathing and distaste of receiving, takes away the desire of giving. When the People of Israel began to say, Our stomach is weary of that light meat, presently Gods providence judged them unworthy of that favour. Whence it is to be noted, That this unwillingness doth not only rise from a little liking which man hath of Heaven, but of the great liking that he hath to these earthly goods. And this is a two fold fault: The one, That we should despise the fountain of living Water. No appetite so fierce as that of a sinner. The other, That we should thirst after the water of loathsome and dirty puddles. Who will forgo clear and sweet waters for those bloody pools of Egypt? Exodus saith, Quicquid habueris de plwia, convertetur in sanguinem; Who will leave the sweet waters of Siloah, jer. ●. Exod. 4. Dan. 7. which silently glide along, for to drink of that fiery lake whereof Daniel speaketh: wherein (as he said) one sorrow is, That they should despise the sweeter Waters; another, That they should thirst after the muddy Waters of the earth? There is no impetuousness of the fiercest Bull, nor of the furiousest Horse, comparable to that of a Sinner which thirsteth after his vain appetites and idle desires. Saint Hierome and Theodoret both say, That in this Si quis he neither dismisseth nor enforceth, but that he publisheth the general desire which he hath to communicate his spiritual Graces. What meant by the water of life. He that believeth in me (saith the Scripture) out of his belly shall flow rivers of Water of Life. To the Thirsty that shall drink of this water of Life, that shall not succeed to them as befalleth those that drink of dead standing Pools, who within a little while after have greater thirst than they had before; for they shall have within their breasts a living Fountain, whence great rivers of water shall flow; they shall enjoy such a fullness of all good, that they shall have enough to communicate unto others. Saint Gregory & Saint Chrysostome understand by this Fountain, the Holy-Ghost, from whom every good thing doth proceed. Esay 42, 43, 44. As saith the Scripture. Albeit there be many places in the sacred Scripture, which prophesy the abundant plenty of spiritual Waters, there is none that can say, That this is alleged in particular. Origen is of opinion, That that of the Proverbs hath the most appearance, Bibe aquam ex cisterna tua, & fluenta putei tui: Prou. 5. Ezec●. 35. joel. 2. or (as the Hebrew hath it) Et fluenta de medio putei tui: so that Fluenta, is the same as Flumina, as it seemeth to the Cardinal of Toledo. This spoke he of the Spirit which they that believed in him should receive. And this blessed Spirit is fitly compared to water, The Holy Ghost Why compared to water. in regard of its effects. The first effect of water is, To cleanse: Ezechiel, I w●ll pour upon you clean water, and ye shall be clean. But all the water in the world cannot wash a Blacke-a-moore white; indeed there is no water that can make that which is black, white; but the Holy-Ghost can do this, it can add a new cleanness and a new beauty thereunto; 2. Cor. 4. Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow; it shall not only lose that whiteness which it had before, but shall surpass the snow in whiteness. In like manner, a Sinner may be so washed and so cleansed, that he may remain more pure and more fair than the Innocent. Again, water cleanseth, but as it washeth, so it wasteth and weareth out that which it washeth, as it is to be seen in your Linen: but the Holy-Ghost reneweth the Soul, giving new force and new strength, Thy youth shall be renewed like the Eagles; and though our outward man be corrupted, our inward man is revived yet day by day. The second effect is, To fertilise and fructify the earth: The holy Spirit worketh this with great advantage; My soul without thee is barren, but by thy favourable influence it bringeth forth the fair fruits of Charity, joy, Patience, Long-suffering, Goodness, Gentleness, etc. All these things worketh one and the same Spirit; and therefore it is called Vivificator, A Quickening Spirit. The third effect is, To quench thirst: Only the Holy-Ghost can quench the thirst of the Soul; all other humane goods increase our thirst, as it is proved in many places. And therefore David did desire of God, that he would quench this his thirst; My Soul thirsteth after God, the Fountain of living water, and woe is me, etc. He doth sigh and groan for his God and his glory, because only that is able to quench his thirst. Never man spoke as this man. The High-Priests and the Pharisees asked the Officers that were sent to apprehend our Saviour, Why they had not brought him with them? and the Officers answered, Never any man spoke like this man. Wherein two things are to be considered: First, The force of God's Word. Secondly, The little fear & great security which he enjoyeth that preacheth, as also he that heareth, and obeyeth. Many excellent Divines have harped upon this string, and great endeering have been delivered by Ecclesiastical and Secular Historians. Saul sent to take David, the Officers found him playing upon his Harp, and were so ravished with the sweetness of his Music, that they forgot themselves and what the King had given them in charge: He sent others more stout and resolute, The power of God's word. and the like happened to them. The King being enraged with anger, and waxing wondrous choleric, went himself in person to apprehend him, using high language, and throwing out great menaces & threatenings against him; but he was scarce come thither, when he fell a prophesying; who (according as some will have it) catching hold of a Harp, began to play upon it, and to sing; like unto some Sergeant, who finding him whom he goes to apprehend, dancing at some Wedding in a Country Village, layeth aside his Mace, and falls a dancing with the company. The Fables report, That Orpheus with his music made the torments of Hell to cease, leaving those Tormentors in astonishment and amazement. And great, questionless, is the suspension which Music causeth in our minds. Touching Eloquence, rare is that endearing of Cicero, The force of Eloquence. whose Oratory a Poet called, Flexamina, & omnium rerum Regina. That of Marcus Antonius, that famous Roman Orator, was so singular in this kind, that the Senate sending a Band of soldiers to cut off his head, he did earnestly entreat them, that they would but give him the hearing of three or four words: they did so; but those his words were so powerful, that forsaking their former fierce resolution, they sheathed up their swords, and gave him his life; and which was much more, they so melted into tears, That hanging their heads in their bosom, and casting their eyes to the ground, they all fell a weeping. Plutarch telleth us, how that Palemon, a handsome young man of Athens, but of a most loose and dishonest life, came in one day to hear Xenocrates in that kind of wanton fashion and habit, that any Who●e or Courtesan could not trick and set forth herself in a more lascivious manner: on which occasion the Phlosopher taking hold, did plead in favour of Honesty, with such strength of words, such excellent language, and such extraordinary eloquence, that in the presence of the Auditors Palemon stripped himself out of all his gay clothes, plucked the Rings out of his ears, and off his fingers, continuing from that time forward, a very honest man, and a good pattern to others. No less wonderful was that which befell Phyletus a Disciple of Hermogenes the Enchanter, who came to dispute and maintain argument with Saint james the elder, relying much upon his Sophistry; but the Apostle preached with that powerfulness, that Phyletus returning back again to his Master, told him, Magus abieram, Christianus reaco, I went forth a Magician, but I am returned a Christian. To this purpose the Fables report of Hercules, That with chains of gold which came forth of his mouth, he haled after him all the World. But neither the truths of humane Histories, nor the lies of artificial Fables, can attain unto the force and power of Divine Eloquence. Esay foretold us as much; All Nations shall flow unto him; borrowing his Metaphor in this word Flow, from some great and principal River, which without any violence, runs along with that strange force and swiftness, that nothing can resist it, but sweeps all away that stands in its way. Being one and the same comparison with that of Saint john, Out of his belly shall flow Rivers of water of Life. From hence (and that very fitly) we may draw a second consideration; which is this, If from every one that enjoyeth this Spirit, there flow forth great rivers of living water, well may those good men live without fear, and secure from all harms, wrongs, affronts, and tyrannies. Consider with thyself in a River, the force of the water, the impetuousness and fury of a swift Torrent, the violence of a great stream, wherewith a hundred Mills are driven; Who will dare to keep it back? Who will offer to stand in its way? Who can resist it? Of the coming of our Saviour Christ it was prophesied, That he should banish all fear and cowardice from out the hearts and breasts of his friends. David compares the just man, to the Moon when she is at the full, He shall be established for ever as the Moon, and as a faithful witness in the Heaven. Alcyat saith in one of his Emblems, That a Dog then barketh most, when the Moon is at the fullest; whether it be by some special influence that it then worketh in the Dog; or whither it be occasioned by the maculas or spots in the Moon, representing unto him the form and shape of another Dog: but though the Dog bark never so much, yet doth the Moon walk her Station securely through Heaven; and though Tyranny bark never so much at the Just, yet shall he walk in safety. The Spouse in the Canticles complaineth, That Tyrants had taken her cloak from her: The Church calleth this her Cloak, the Martyrs; we see some of them roasted, some fried on the Gridyron, some sawn, some dragged at the ●ailes of horses, some with their skins plucked over their ears, and some tormented with sundry other torments, the Devil blowing the coals of cruelty in the mouths and hearts of the Executioners. But in the end, those cuts and slashes pass no further than the cloak, they wound the body, but not the soul. God of his mercy give us the grace to endure this our fireie trial, when persecution shall set upon us, that being purified in the Furnace of Tribulation, we may be like Gold that is refined, and shine with glory in the sight of God, To whom, etc. THE XXXIIII. SERMON, UPON THE TUESDAY AFTER PASSION SUNDAY. JOHN. 7. Ambulabat jesus in Galileam, non enim volebat in judaeam ambulare, quia quaerebant Iudaei interficere. AFter these things, jesus walked in Galilee, and would not walk in judaea, for the jews sought to kill him. After these things, that is, after those great miracles which he had wrought in Capernaum; and after that most deep and learned Sermon of his body and blood, Saint john saith, That our Saviour Christ retiring himself from judaea, went and wrought miracles in the Cities of Galilee, because the jews sought to kill him. And because the envious Murmurer may chance to say, That he withdrew himself from judaea, lest the Scribes and Pharisees should discover his tricks, and find out his false play; the Evangelist addeth, That there was no such matter to be feared, but that waiting for the hour of his death, already determined in Heaven, he was desirous in the interim to slink out of the way, to free and deliver his body from that malice and danger which he saw it was like to be subject unto in judaea. The Greek Texts read, In judaea & Galilaea; but Saint Augustine, Saint Cyril, and Saint Chrysostome read it in the Acusative, In judaeam & Galileam, (id est) Per Galileam. Saint Chrysostome saith, Non poterat ambulare in judaeam; which is all one with Nolebat, He could not; that is, He would not: which is an usual phrase of speech. jesus walked in Galilee, etc. It is made a general doubt amongst all the Commentators, God's power never more seen than in his Passion. Why our Saviour Christ, being able to triumph so easily over the power and malice of his enemies, should withdraw himself from their presence, whom he might (if he would) have trampled under his feet? To proole which point were a needless labour, there being 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 Devils roared forth, affrighted, and turning cowards in his presence, are sufficient proofs thereof; likewise Death's cowardliness confirms the same, Egredietur Diabolus, ante faciem eius ibit Mors; the overthrowing of the Roman Cohorts with one only word; his causing the stones to freeze to their fingers that had so often sought to stone him to death; his leaving them lying on the ground in a swoon that came to apprehend him, are testimonies without exception. Why then at every step doth Christ retire himself, and seek to get from them? Saint Augustine makes this difficulty seem greater in his books de Civit. Dei; For, reprehending Cato Vticensis, who that he might not fall into Caesar's hands, killed himself, he saith, That for a man to fly from tribulation and danger, is a kind of Cowardice. And Saint Paul saith, Acts 20. I know that bonds and afflictions abide for me at jerusalem, but I pass not at all, neither is my life dear unto me, etc. Esay going about to relate in his 52 chapter that which our Saviour was to suffer, doth first set down by way of interrogation, Who will believe that which Gods arm is to suffer? He calls his divine power his Arm, because God showed his power in nothing more than in his passion. Tertullian in his book de Patientia saith, That God did not express 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 maxim & miserando manifestus, Who showest thy omnipotency in nothing more, than in pitying and pardoning offenders. But what hath the strength of suffering to do, with the weakness of flying? Petrus Chrisologus in a Sermon of his, De fuga Domini, taxeth the Evangelists for relating our Saviour Christ's flying; For a soldier (saith he) should publish his constancy, his valour, the strength of his arm, and advance the noble Acts, and conquests of his Captain, but not his weaknesses and his fears. Behold again the difficulty, in regard of that our Saviour's great anguish, both in body and soul, Why Christ desiring to die, did fl●e to avoid death. before he was to dye. None in the world did ever more desire to dye than he did, as hath already been proooved unto you. If then (sweet jesus) thou dost so much desire death, and that the jews hunt after thee for no other end, Why dost thou fly? Before that I resolve this doubt, we are to confess and acknowledge with all possible humility, that man's understanding comes far short of God's thoughts. Esay saith, see how much distance there is between heaven and earth; so much is there between the imaginations of God and man: And therefore the Spouse said, God's Counsels unsearchable. That they were high and black; high like the Palm tree, and black as the Raven's quill. Who (saith Ecclesiasticus) can count the sands of the sea, the drops of the dew, or the days of the world? Now if humane wisdom cannot attain unto those things, which she hath as it were between her hands, she will less be able to search into the secret counsels of God. And therefore the Wise man doth advise thee, Seek not into those things that are too high for thee. This way being thus made, let us now proceed to the reasons of the Saints. The first is of Saint Augustine and Saint Chrysostome. Our Saviour Christ was God, according to his Divine 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 unto them both. All his words and deeds still tended to this, that he might be believed to be both God and man. Saint Augustine saith, That his withdrawing himself aside as a man, did not withdraw from his power as he was God; and his throwing down of his enemy flat on the ground, as he was God, did not take from him his weakness, as he was man. If Christ should not have shown in the flesh, the condition of flesh, in vain had he taken flesh upon him: and if he should always have done the works and actions of a God, and given perpetual pledges of his Divine nature, to what use would have served his clothing himself with humane flesh? If Christ should have been a continual Miracle, what room would there have been left for faith, or what reward could that have received? The second is of Chrysologus, which is this: That there is not that man be he never so powerful, never so valiant, but doth sometimes show the weakness of a man, in hiding and withdrawing himself. But here he saith, Artis est, non timoris, Sacramenti est, & non Pavoris. It was not out of any fear, or cowardice that our Saviour fled. It is a kind of daringness, boldness of spirit, and great courage to draw our enemy but into the field, or to toll him along into the marketplace, and there to vanquish him in public, and obtain an open victory. Mat. 6. Epiphanius saith, That Christ used this boldness in the garden, as well in his sweeting of blood, as in those his prayers that he made unto his Father, so full of agony and anguish, to the end that by showing himself thus weak, death might the more boldly set upon him. joshua used the like slight with those of the City of Ay; We flying, they will follow us, than ye shall rise up from lying in wait, and destroy the City. Agesilaus, one of the Lacedaemonian Captains, Iosh 8. took the same course when he besieged the Phocenses; Alcybiades, with the Vizancini: Advantage against an enemy, no Cowardice. And the world never had any famous Captain which did not do the like upon occasion: julius Frontinus in his book of Stratagems quotes you a world of examples. Be ye wise as Serpents, said our Saviour; the Serpent advantageth himself more by his craft and subtlety, than by his strength and force; the experience whereof was to our grief to be seen in Paradise. And therefore it is observed by God's Saints, That he was more subtle than all the rest of the beasts of the field, therein advising us, That with the devil, the world, and the flesh, it is now and then the wiser and safer course of the two, to retire ourselves and to fly from him, than either to wait for him, or to resist him. Philip king of Macedon turned his back and fled before the Athenians, leaving his Shield behind him, wherein these letters were engraven, Bona fortuna: And some soldiers upbraiding him with this his flight, he told them, He that flies, may return again to the battle, but not he that dies. There was a Captain belonging to the Emperor Charles the fifth, who made so famous and honourable a retreat out of France, that it was called, La bella retyrada, The fair retreat. Men fly sometimes to come on the fiercer. Christ said unto his Disciples, If they persecute you in one city, fly unto another. Rem●gius saith, That this was a precept; Thomas, That it was only a licence and permission: For when a Christian man flieth without wrong to the faith he professeth, and without detracting from the good opinion and credit of Christian Religion, it is wholesome counsel. And this did the patriarchs of old follow, jacob fled from Esau, Moses from Pharaoh, Elias from jezabel; To fly in time of persecution, how far lawful. and those Prophets which hid themselves in the house of Abdias; and many Saints in the Primitive Church fl●d from the cruelty of the Tyrants of those times. Tertullian saith, That upon no occasion it is fit for a Christian to fly. But Saint Jerome avoucheth, That this opinion is contrary to the doctrine both of Christ and of his Church. Athanasius defending his flight, made a book concerning this subject, wherein he proveth, That any man may fly in time 〈◊〉 persecution, so that he do not endanger his conscience: but when it comes upon those terms, we must rather hazard the body, than peril the soul; and with Samson, rather encounter with a Lion, 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 Pusillanimity. Saint Ambrose ponders this in his Exameron, That that very Elephant which valiantly breaks through a whole Army, is mightily afraid of a mouse. The great Machabean who with his valiant Acts did ennoble fame; 1. Mac. ●. 9.9. and who, for not to spot his honour, did at last most gloriously lose his life, did sometimes give ground and make a retreat from his enemies. Saint Paul escaped being let down in a basket by the walls of Damascus: And Saint Augustine saith, That it had been a tempting of God, and so a sin in him, if he had not done it. Yet afterwards, being prisoner in Macedonia, and that all the rest of the prisoners saved themselves by flight, he would not then fly, though he were thereunto entreated by the Gaoler. David was of that true mettle and courage, In some cases it is fortitude to fly. that he fought with Lions and Bears, making no more reckoning of them than of so many lambs; and without once breaking of his Spear, he slew 800 Philistims, besides that stout Giant which outbraved Israel, and struck a terror into them. And yet did it not seem cowardice in him to fly from Saul, nor from his son Absalon. Upon this occasion he made that his 18 Psalm, wherein he gives thanks unto God, not only for giving him arms of brass for to fight, and even to break a bow of Steel asunder, but that he had given him likewise the feet of a Hart to fly. Wherein he alluded (according to Thomas) to that History which he recounteth in the second of the Kings, 2. Reg. 4. when he fled from Saul through briers and bushes, rocks and mountains. In a word, the world styles rashness, daringness; and fear, cowardliness: but God bewaileth this with a Woe be unto ye that call good evil, and evil good. The third reason is, That Christ withdrew himself out of judea to give way to his enemy's rage and anger. For a choleric man is so furious, that if he have a present occasion offered him, that there is not any powder will sooner take fire than he; and therefore it is Christian wisdom to fly from him. The Scripture compares him to a bear, Like a Bear robbed of her Whelps: of whom your Naturalists report, That for very rage she will eat and devour her own paws. job 40. And job, Tigris perijt, eo quod non habuit praedam. And another letter hath it, Vrsus perijt, eo quod non est consecutus praedam. Saul being enraged that he had not overcome his enemies, slew himself. Such a one is like a swelling river that overflows its banks. It is a hot fiery furnace, whence issueth out a thick smoke, and after the smoke a flame. Ecclesiasticus saith, As the vapour and smoke of the chimney goeth before the fire, Eccles. 22. so evil words, rebukes and threatenings, go before bloodshedding. The smoke is not that which burns, though it blinds and causeth the eyes to water; but who will abide the flame thereof? Who will tarry the coming of a Bear that hunteth after her prey? Who the falling of a swift Torrent? The soundest counsel is, to fly. And in the dangers of the soul, this doctrine importeth us much more. As the Hart that is wounded with an arrow that is poisoned, flies to the rivers of water, so the heart that is touched with the venom of the Devil, of the world, or the flesh, must fly unto that fountain, which is God, My soul thirsteth after God, who is the fountain of life. The fourth, That though he were able to have trod down all his enemies under his feet, Why Christ desiring to die would fly to avoid death. yet he flieth from them● For a man will not always show all that he knows; nor do all that he can. Your foolish Princes make ostentation of their power; but wise Princes, of their justice.. The one make their power, their reason; the other make their reason, their power, Sit pro ratione voluntas. Pilat pressed our Saviour Christ with his power, Knowest thou not that I have power to set thee free? Power should never be shown but in extremity. but because he was a Tyrant, he forgot his justice. But our Saviour Christ he forgot his power, and reads unto us a Lecture of Prudence; Teaching us, that we must reserve our power, and our wisdom, for some good occasion. The fifth and last, That albeit our Saviour Christ felt the anguish and agonies of death, yet were they nothing like unto those his enemies felt for to work his death. For his death was not to be at their appointment, nor how and when they would have 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, The greater Chris●● shame, the greater our redemption. For the greater his shame was, the greater was our redemption. The Pharisees would not have it on a festival day; Our Saviour Christ, that it should be upon a festival day: for it was to be the greatest feast that was ever made for man. The Pharisees would have had him rid out of the way presently; Christ that it should not be till his hour was come, and that he had finished all things that his Father had given him in charge. And for this cause, when they sought after him, he fled from them; and when they did not seek after him, he came himself into the Shambles. Elias fled from jezabel, that he might not dye by her hand, and yet afterwards sitting under the juniper tree, he desired death. The juniper tree was a Type and figure of the Cross, for which was reserved not only a willingness, 3. Reg. 15. but also a sit season to die. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence and go into Iud●a. Vainglory not to be affected. These great and wondrous works of thine (said his brethren) are not fit for these Galileans, being that they are but a rude & ignorant people; Get thee to judea, for there are the High Priests, and the Doctors of the Law, for whom the examination and judgement of these wonders is reserved. Euthymius saith, That our Saviour's brethren went hypocritically to work, and that making honour the bait, they would with that have drawn him along to judaea. Saint Chrysostome, That they did herein tax Christ of a kind of dastardliness and fearfulness; as if they should have said, Lord, thou dost on the one side pretend honour; an done the other side thou art afraid that thy Miracles should be examined, and come to the touch: and this makes thee fly from judaea. So that it seemeth to this sacred Doctor, That Christ's kinsmen were doubtful of the truth of his works. Whence it followeth, That those whom the Evangelist here calleth Christ's brethren, were not of the Twelve: because he saith of them, His brethren believed not in him. But others, We know and believe that thou art the Son of God. But that place of Saint Matthew doth prove it more plainly, where when Christ preached, one came unto him and told him, Thy mother and thy brethren stay without to speak with thee: But he 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. jacobus Alphei, Simon, and judas, he presently says, These did persevere 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 counsel, was Ambition; and that it seeming unto them, that they should have some share thereby in Christ's glory, said unto him, Transi hinc. And to him that shall object that of S. john, His brethren believed not in him; I answer thereunto, That they did not believe that he was the promised Messias: But withal, That they did not doubt of the truth of his works; but did only desire to see them qualified and approved by the Scribes and Pharisees, who were well skilled in all the prophecies. My time is not yet come. Two things make this opinion of Saint Augustine's very probable. Men covet honour, though with the hazard of others. The one, That it is very common and usual with men to seek to get honour and profit from the prosperity and glory of a kinsman. And albeit it is very likely that they did know, that in judaea they would seek to take away his life from him, yet the thirst of their ambition was so great, that they affected honour, though it were to be effected at the cost of their kinsman's life; as the sons of Zebedee did their seats. And he might as well have said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: God useth no partiality in the dispensation of his favours. for it is not God's fashion to confer favours for respect of country, or kindred. The Princes of the earth oftentimes take this course, making a coward, a Captain, and putting a Hare into a Lion's place: But God doth not hold him worthy of reward, or of the least praise, who is not privileged as well for it by his own proper virtue, as by blood and alliance. The jews accounted it a great honour unto them, that they were the sons of Abraham, but because there was no show of worth in themselves, our Saviour takes them up very short, We must not rely on others Virtue, but our own. telling them; Ye are of your father the devil: And therefore there is no honour due unto you. And it is Aristotle's saying in his Ethnics, Ab hu quae à natura insunt, nec laudamur, nec vituperamur. Many Pagan Princes did follow this track. Plutarch reporteth of King Antigonus, That a young Soldier preferring a suit unto him, he returned him this answer: I evermore bestow my favours on those that deserve the same in themselves, and not in others. Pyrrhus' King of the Epyrots, his sons urging him to tell them, which of them should be his heir, and succeed him in his Kingdom? answered, He whose sword hath the sharpest edge. The other, Is our Saviour's Christ own answer, My time is not yet come. Which (according to Saint Augustine) was, as if he should have said, ye would have glory, and take no pains for it. And therefore he saith unto them, Your time is always ready, but with me, my Cross must go before my glory, I must mount by humility. Now from these two considerations I will draw this one profitable p●int, That when a favour is thrown upon a man, Honour where no merit is, adds to our shame, not to our shining. upon any other Title or Claim, save his own proper virtue and merit, it is rather an affront than an honour. They give thee an office, or some dignity, because thou hast presented them with some foolish babble or other, or hast carried a shooe-clout in thy pocket to wipe such a Noble man's shoe; it is an infamous Title, both in the giver and the receiver. They do thee some favour for kindred's sake, and because thou art of their blood; it is a Title of little honour to him that receives it, and of less Christianity in him that gives it. They prefer thee to be the Prince's servant, what good does that do thee? It is so base a Title, That no Noble Spirit will desire it. Thou gettest thy pretention by offering thy love and service to this or that Court Lady; it is a dangerous pretention. Thou art raised by such a Lord, because thou hast served him in his unlawful pleasures; this is a damnable Title. God confers his favours upon no other Title than a man's own proper virtue. Upon Noah: But why? Because thou wast upright before me in thy generation. And in the day of judgement, who are they that shall be rewarded? and why shall they be rewarded? Come ye blessed of my Father receive a Kingdom, For I was hungry, etc. Upon this Title is grounded the reward of a good death, Blessed are they that die in the Lord, for their works follow them. Not because he was an Apostle, a Prophet, a Doctor, Worship should not wait but upon worth. a Confessor, a Prince, a Prelate, can he pretend a reward; but because he was a good Christian and did all the duties belonging thereunto. Their works follow them as a handmaid doth her Mistress, or a Page his Master. If thou wilt have honour, strive to win it. Your Ancients set two vessels before jupiter, The one of exceeding sweet liquor, the other exceeding sour; and no man could come to taste of the honey, unless he did first try the gall. The Romans had two Temples adjoining each to other; one of Honour, the other of Virtue: but there was no coming to that of Honour, but by that of Virtue. My time is not yet come, but yours is always ready. I expect eternal and perdurable glory, but ye short and momentary in regard of mine. Christ must suffer, and so enter into glory. But this time is not yet come for you, Your time is always ready. That season suits best with you that is seasoned with honours and pleasures: This is the North-star of the world, All sail by it. S. Augustine in his books de Civit. Dei, proveth with great elegancy, That the Romans had not any God which they so much adored, as that of Honour: and for the Author of this truth, he allegeth Sallust, Ista ergo landis aviditas, & cupido gloriae, omnia illa miranda fecit laudabilia scilicet atque gloriosa, secundum existimationem ho●●num. This greediness of humane glory, triumphed over all the rest of the things in Rome; and not only in Rome, but in Greece. And in most of your other Nations, there was not a Captain or Philosopher which did not eclipse all the other virtues that he enjoyed, with the shadow of this desire of Honour. This did Seneca, Plutarch, Aristotle, and Plato pretend. And Socrates himself, who did so much blaz●n his poverty, and seemed to take a pride in it, came to be an Idolater of Honour and Fame. This pill they swallowed down, and conceiving a kind of immortality to be leapt therein, crammed their conceits therewith, making the discommodity of life, dangers, sweats, troubles, etc. seem savoury unto them: Honour a bait which all men bite at. Which is a kind of birdlime which clingeth so close to our hearts, that God's greatest Saints do complain and bewail the great difficulty in being loosed and freed therefrom. Saint August. did entreat of God with tears and sighs, that he would free him from this plague, Domine sine secatione tentamur, tu nosti de hac re ad te gemitum cordis mei, & flumina oculorum meorum. And if a Saint so humbly minded, as none more, doth thus weep, sigh and groan, what shall become of him that is as arrogant as he is ignorant? And in another place, this Sacred Doctor saith, The purer thou art from this uncleanness, the liker shalt thou be unto God. And in an Epistle of his, he saith, That by how much the Moon is more full and fair in our eyes, it participateth so much the less of the same; which is all one with that of Ecclesiast. Eccl. 43. The light thereof diminisheth unto the end, and groweth wondrously in her changing. These words seem to carry a contrariety, but it is not so: for the Moon doth decrease to our seeming towards the end of its waning; and yet even at that very time it increaseth wonderfully, receiving from the Sun by the contrary part a far greater light. It seemed then to these kins' folk of jesus Christ our Redeemer, That the Feast of jerusalem was a fit time for to gain much honour, and therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and manifest thyself to the world. Whereunto he answered, ye desire to see me in great honour and estimation with the world, expecting out of my reputation and credit, to reap unto yourselves a temporal reward; but I do rather desire to see myself dis-esteemed of the world, because thereupon dependeth your spiritual promotion. Saint Bernard discoursing how the blessed Virgin Mary, Kindred the overthrow of many Prelates. and the glorious Saint joseph went to seek jesus when he was lost (when he was 12 year old) amongst his kindred and acquaintance; saith, That many miscarry by their kinsfolks means. And I myself have known many Prelates of very good parts, and extraordinary gifts, of whom I have been afraid, that their kinsfolk have been the cause of their condemnation, and casting down into hell. For it is a woeful case, That for 200 Ducats pension, which a Prelate bestows on a Student, he should oblige him to run over all the Divine Service, and not to leave out so much as any one prayer, and that he should confer on a kinsman thirty thousand Ducats pension, without obliging him to pray a Paternoster, or say an Aue-Mary. Two bloody mischiefs come unto us by our brethren and kindred. The one in point of precedency, Envy working most upon those that are brethren; especially, if one get the start of the other, or chance to be preferred before him. As the History of Joseph's brethren proveth it unto us; who (for those his dreams of his future prosperity) put him down into a pit, and sold him away. So stood the case in Abimilecks' business, who for Superiorities sake, and that he might reign, slew at once 70 of his brethren. Holy king David could not escape this mischief: His brethren could have eaten him (as we say) with salt, to see that he should pop forth, and enter into the field with that mettle and courage against that great Giant Goliath, himself being the least amongst his brethren. And was it not so I pray, Envy never greater than amongst brethren. with Abel and Cain? For a brother of all other can least endure that a brother should outstrip him, though it be Gods own handiwork to advance and prefer him. And the sons of Thamar are a type and figure thereof, who strove and struggled in their mother's womb. The other in regard of the desire that they have to see a brother or a kinsman prosper, only that they may suck from him, and wholly disfruit him, as if he were a tree of their own orchard, which, of these two mischiefs, is the greater. For in the first, the envious brother loses, and the envied gains. In the second, all rob that tree which affords them fruit, and that brother or kinsman that is owner of it. I remember a memorable saying that was uttered by a holy Prelate, relieving (being importuned thereunto) two of his brethren with 200 Crowns, for to buy them Oxen to till their ground. I shall (said he) desire of God, That this poor pittance which I now give you, do not consume the rest of that which ye now enjoy. My brethren, to facilitate their request, told me that I was a single man, had no body to care for, Kindred will cleave to a man in his prosperity, but never look on him in adversity. that I was a Guarda de Vinas, a Vinekeeper, a Churchman, and an overseer of souls, Sed vineam meam non custodivi, But I did not keep this my Vinyard so well as I should have done: for I could not defend it from my brethren and my kinsfolk, one plucking this from me, and another that, till they had left me nothing to pleasure either myself or the poor, whom I ought most to have respected. If thou be rich, all thy kindred will be like so many horseleeches to draw thy blood from thee; but if thou be poor, not a kinsman that will look upon thee. That mirror of patience, that holy man job saith in his 31 chapter, Despectio propinquorum terruit me, There was not that kinsman that would look upon me in my misery, but beheld me with disdain and scorn, and would not afford me any the least comfort. Vain is the confidence in friends and kinsfolks; vain is the confidence in Princes. And therefore o Lord let us rely upon thee, who never failest those that put their trust in thee. To God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, etc. THE XXXV. SERMON, UPON THE WEDNESDAY AFTER PASSION SUNDAY. JOHN. 10. Facta sunt enzenia Hierosolymis. The Feast of the Dedication was celebrated at jerusalem. THe Feast de las Enzenias, or of the Dedication, was celebrated in jerusalem: The Greek word signifieth, Renovation. Three Feasts of dedication among the jews. 3. Reg. 8. The jews had three Feasts of this name: The first, in remembrance of the great solemnity made by Solomon when he had finished the Fabric of the Temple, which was one of the Miracles of the world. The second, in memorial of the re-edification thereof, Esdr. ●. done by Zorobabel and the Princes of juda, having Cyrus his Warrant for it, who restored the gold and silver which Nabuchadnezzar rob the Temple of. The third, in remembrance of that Altar which judas Machabeus built anew, which Antiochus had profaned by placing thereon the Statue of jupiter Olympus, 1 Mach. 1. and offering thereon costly and sumptuous Sacrifices. And this is that Feast whereof the Gospel makes mention; it was celebrated on the twenty fifth of November, which in the jewish account was the ninth month, about the beginning of Winter; and therefore it is said, It was Winter. Now our Saviour Christ passing along through the porch of the Temple, the jews flocked about him, both Nobles and Plebeians, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us doubt? How long wilt thou hold us in suspense? if thou be the Christ, tell us so plainly without any more ado. But jesus gave them so unsavoury an answer to this their unmannerly demand, that they took up stones to stone him. The feast of the Dedication was at jerusalem. It is the language of the Scripture, Man's Heart, God's Temple. and especially of the Apostle Saint Paul, to call our Breast, Heart, or Bosom, God's Temple; as in that to the Corinthians, Ye are the Temples of the living God: And he citeth that place of Leviticus, As God hath said, I will dwell among them, 2. Cor. 6. Levit 26. and walk there. And Saint Ambrose further addeth, That as in a material temple made with hands, there are Porches, Floores, and Altars, etc. so within us we have all these things. Phylon saith, That an honest, a holy, and devout Soul, is the Altar whereon God is adored. But here we are to consider, That our heart, or the soul of a Christian man, is a higher roofed Temple, and far more spacious. After that Solomon had made an end of building his Temple, he said, O Lord, I have built thee an House to dwell in, but it is too little for thy greatness; for if the Heavens, and the Heavens of Heavens are not able to contain thee, how much more unable is this House that I have built, it being but a Thimble as it were, in comparison of thee, for that thou art higher than the highest Heavens, and deeper than the profoundest Depth. What House is that (saith Esay, in a slighting kind of manner) which ye have 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 powerful hands, be so small a House for God to dwell in, (for which cause Saint Paul said, He dwelleth not in Temples made with hands) How great a one will that be, which man shall make for him? So that t●e least unworthy, and the least narrow house, is our breast; Greater yet is God than our heart, and yet God saith, If any shall open, I w●ll come in unto him, and will sup with him. This is that Temple which God desires should be renewed. After that the Temple was profaned by Ant●ochus, the Text saith, They did wisely consider with themselves, That that Altar should be destroyed, and a new one built: for they thought it not fit to offer Sacrifice unto God upon that Altar, where●n Antiochus (whom the Scripture styleth, The Root of all wickedness) had performed so many abominations. They therefore built a new Altar, and did institute a Feast in memorial of its re-edification; wherein they gave thanks unto God, That he had given them a time wherein they might truly serve him, as they had done heretofore. Now as the council was good in the Maccabees, To build a new Altar (for had they made the old one never so clean, Man's Soul must be renewed, to make it a fit habitation for God. yet the forepast abominations would have caused a continual horror) so will it be very good council, utterly to destroy a foul Soul, which hath been an Inn for Vice, and an habitation for Devils, and to create it anew, that there might not remain any relish of its former ill: And David seemeth to desire as much of God in those words of his, Create in me, Psal. 51. o Lord, a new heart. When Liquor hath laid a long time in a Vessel, though you wash and rynse it never so much, it retaineth somewhat of its ●ld odour. The adultery of Bershabe, and the murder of Vriah, hath laid a ●ong time in my breast, and though I have washed and rynsed it with I know not how many ●ees and Sopes', yet have I no hope to make it as clean as it was before: and therefore, o Lord, I beseech thee, that thou wilt create a new heart in me, wherewith I may love thee for ever. But if this cannot be, because the soul is immortal, perdurable, and incorruptible, Renew a right spirit within me, that there may not remain any sent or savour of my former foulness; establish such a spirit in me, that I may never fall from thy service; a spirit that may repair 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 convert many unto thee, and that they may truly serve thee. The glorious Doctor Saint Ambrose touched upon this string, David (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 seem to be created anew; for to cleanse it, was all one as to create it. Baptism the foundation of Christian building. It is the resolution of a man that is truly penitent, to desire to leave a lewd life, and to avoid all occasions thereof. Anselm saith, That the first renovation which God effecteth in our souls, is in Baptism: This is the foundation of our Christian building, so saith the glorious Apostle Saint Paul. Afterwards the eyes of our Reason being cleared, one layeth his foundation on Gold, another on Silver, a third on precious Stones, a fourth on Wood, a fifth on Hay, a sixth on Straw: and though Hay and Straw be sometimes taken for Gold, the fire will try the fineness of it, and purify all. The second renovation is by Repentance: When thou hast an old beastly tattered garment, thou makest thee a new one; thy soul is all to be rend & torn, exceeding foul and filthy, cloth it anew. The first regalo or kindness which the father showed to the prodigal child, was, his new apparelling of him, A●ferte stolam primam. This is the greatest kindness thou canst do to thy soul; and that thou mayst not do as little children use to do, which are well clad to day, and a few days after are nothing but rags and totters; do not ye make your garments of paper, which the least blast of air rends asunder, but put on jesus Christ our Saviour and Redeemer, which is a Raiment that will last for ever. And it was Winter. Saint Gregory saith, That the Scripture sometimes setteth down the circumstances of time and place, to signify by them, Circumstances of Time and Place in Holy Writ, of great significancy. that which is not expressed by word of mouth. And that this circumstance of Hiems erat, It was Winter, though it may be referred to our Saviour Christ's walking from place to place, yet doth it declare the frostinesse and icy coldness of the jews hearts. By coldness, the Scripture understandeth the malice of sin; whence it is to be noted, That the History of the Maccabees calleth this Solemnity, jerem. 6. 2. Mac. 1.18. The Feast of Fire; Whereas we are now purposed to keep the Purification of the Temple upon the twenty fifth day of the month Chasleu, we thought it necessary to certify you thereof, The feast of Fire. that ye also might keep the Feast of the Tabernacles and of the Fire, which was given us when Nehemias offered Sacrifice, after that he had built the Temple and the Altar, etc. It appeareth by the sixth Chapter of Leviticus, That God did conserve a perpetual fire in his presence, The Fire shall evermore burn upon the Altar, and never go out. Levit. 6.13. At their departure into Babylon, they hid their fire in a deep pit, and at their return they found it turned into a thick water like a jelly; Nehemias he takes it forth and setteth it in the Sun, and presently it became fire: the drops that remained, they did sprinkle or bedew the Altar therewith, and they forthwith took fire; so that it was fitly called the Feast of Fire. But that they who solemnise this Feast should be all Frost and Ice, is a thing very worthy our consideration. This is our ruin and perdition, That the very same day that we treat of renewing our souls, which is the feast of the Fire of our Spirit, there should be such a great coldness in us, etc. Take heed your flight be not in the Winter, nor upon the Sabbath: Our Saviour having revealed unto his Disciples, whether it were the evils that should befall jerusalem, or the ensuing miseries of this world, or those that should threaten the Soul at each particular man's death, or all of them jointly together; and supposing that none would be able to abide them, but that they would be forced to fly from the evil to come; he gives them this aviso, Take heed your flight, etc. Our Saviour would not have them to betake themselves to flight, neither on the Sabbath day, nor in the Winter. Not on the Sabbath day, because their Law did not give them leave to go any more than a thousand paces, a matter of a mile. But say some one should have ventured to break this Law, and to have gone further, he could not have lighted on an Innkeeper to bid him welcome, got no meat, no fire to dress it, nor have met with any company on the way, but have traveled all alone in a fearful kind of solitude. Not in the Winter, in regard of innumerable inconveniences, as rain, dirt, bogs, ice, frost, snow, rising of rivers, and days short and dark. Saint Gregory expoundeth this place of those evils which threaten us at our death; but be it in our death or in our life, the world hath not any creature that is more threatened and terrified than a Sinner. Who can look Sin in the face? our best course is to fly from it, and to have recourse to the Sanctuary of Repentance; but we must take heed that we do not fly on the Sabbath, or in Winter. In die illa (saith Zacharie) non erit lux, Zach. 14 6. sed frigus & gelu, In that day there shall be no clear light, but dark. Saint Hierome saith, That the Prophet speaketh of the destruction of jerusalem by Titus and Vespasian: and because the misery and calamity thereof would fall out to be so terrible and so fearful, that no man durst abide it, they treated of their flying from it. But that time shall prove unto them to be extreme cold, and exceeding dark; as if he should have said, If they should have fled for God's service, God will help those that fly for him, but not from him. the Pillar of fire should have gone before them and directed them in their way; but when they shall fly to his disgrace and dishonour, the days shall be cold, and the ways dark, etc. Here are condemned your cold and frozen Confessions, your slack & slow restitutions, Penitence compared to a Storm. Prou. 30. your lukewarm intentions; being like unto those of the Sluggard, of whom Solomon saith, Vult & non vult, He will and he will not: and these are very hurtful to the soul, for they cause more security than salvation; These being a generation that are pure in their own conceits, and yet are not washed from their filthiness. Caesarius Arelatensis compareth Penitence to a Storm or Tempest, where the winds, thunders, and lightnings play their parts: the wind at sea rends sails, splits Masts, cracks Cables, teareth up Anchors, and breaketh the Oars in pieces: Penitence must rend the sails wherewith thou sailest in this world with the wind in the poop, it must crack asunder the strong Cables of thy wilful affections, it must tear up the Anchors of thy ill fastened hopes, and break those Oars of false and deceitful Court-favours, which thou falsely supposest shall row thee ashore to some safe Harbour. On land, the wind turneth up the tallest Cedars and hugest Oaks, though they have taken never such deep rooting. There are men in the World that have taken deeper rooting in worldly riches, in their honours and their pleasures, than either the tall Cedar, or the sturdy Oak; and there is nothing that can rend them up by the roots, and make them stoop, but the stiff wind of Penitence. These men must have the Waters of Grace to quench the flames of their covetous desires, and of the fiery lusts of the flesh; Every night (saith David) I will wash my bed. The fire of Concupiscence which is kindled in this bed, must be quenched with the watery tears of the eyes; and in stead of that fire, take unto thee the fire of Zeal, of Charity, and of Love, that may inflame the Soul, kindle the Will, and enlighten the Understanding; Ignem veni mittere in terram, etc. Thou must likewise have the thunder of God's judgements in thine ears, to strike a terror into thee of God's Majesty, to make thee fearful to offend, and keep thee in a continual awe of keeping his commandments, etc. And jesus walked in the porch of Solomon. There is no Falcon that flieth so high, gives so many wrenches to the Herne, or makes more stoop with desire to seize on his prey; no enamoured Gallant, that half so much rounds the doors of her he adoreth; no Shepherd so trudgeth through the Mountains, seeking after his lost Sheep; no poor Soul more seeks after the house of some rich and well devoted Almes-giver; nor doth the Sun fetch so many turns through the world, as the Son of righteousness doth to recover a lost soul. Saint Augustine before he had got out of his error, said, Circumuolitabat â longe misericordia tua, Thy mercy did fly about afar off. Sin doth separate us from God, and removes us far from him. Long à peccatoribus Salus, Salvation is far from the wicked. But his mercy though it stood aloof off, yet his eye did still watch over me, which is a great argument of God's love towards me. And from hence it ariseth, That there is great feasts and joy made in heaven for one soul that is converted; like unto those congratulations, and fellow-feelings which the Shepherd desireth others should entertain him withal, when he hath found his lost sheep. Great is the Shepherd's joy when he finds his lost sheep. But this is more especially verified in God, it being his Delitiae, esse cum filijs hominum. Then dost thou walk with great delight and contentment through thy soul's Temple, when thou dost contemplate the high mysteries thereof; Then dost thou walk through thy understanding, when thou art zealous in the love thereof; Then dost thou walk through thy will, when thou dost call to mind the great blessings from Gods bountiful hand, with a desire to be thankful and serviceable unto him; Then dost thou walk through thy memory, when thou dost occupy thyself in holy things; Then dost thou walk through thy eyes, when thou dost exercise thyself in works of pity; Then dost thou walk through thy hands, when thou dost make a bed for the poor, and bind up the wounds of the wounded; Then dost thou walk through thy tongue, when thou givest wholesome counsel to thy brother. In a word, then doth thy soul take her ease & rest, sitting as it were on a Throne, and on a living Altar, far better than that which is made of stone; for one single sigh offered up upon this Altar, is able to prevail more than many on any other Altar. jesus walked. Christ omits no means even to reclaim the Reprobate if it might be, Exod. 3. That our Saviour Christ should use so many diligences for a soul that is predestinated for heaven, it is well and good; but for such a reprobate people as this, that he should take such pains, it is but lost labour. God called unto Moses, saying, Go and speak unto Pharaoh, that he let my people go; But I know that he will not let them go. What says Clemens Alexandrinus? O Lord, if thou knowest so much, Why dost thou put thyself to so unnecessary a trouble? Why dost thou lose so much time? Whereunto there is given a twofold answer. First, That he that is of a pitiful nature and kind condition, doth not content himself with the justifying of his cause, but useth all possible means to remedy what is amiss, and to set all things right. S. Bernard did labour as it were with might and main, as no Galleyslave could tug more at an Oar, to reduce a Monk that had violated his Orders and gone astray; and when a friend of his told him, What mean you to meddle in so thankless and hopeless an Office, and a case so desperate, where there is no good to be done? This man is flown out so far to check, that he will never be reclaimed. To whom Saint Bernard mildly answered, Non recipio consolationem, ubi fratris video desolationem, I take no consolation, where I see my brother's desolation. A tender hearted mother takes care of her son in a desperate disease, using all kind of diligences, though they prove unprofitable. Secondly, Saint Barnard saith, That God doth not oblige Prelates, that they cure sinners, but that they procure to cure them. He doth not reward a Preacher according to the good that he hath done, but according to the pains that he hath taken; and he cities that place of Saint Paul, I have laboured more than ye all. 1. Cor. 15. He doth not say, I have done more good than any of you all; for the reward is not given according to the measure of the profit, but the pains; not for the saving of Souls, but for his sweeting to save them. And for the better instructing us in this truth, our Saviour Christ after so many miracles done, so many Sermons preached, and all to no end, doth not for all this forsake this people, and give them over, but comes here unto this great Feast, to direct them in the right way, Et deambulabat, etc. Then came the jews round about him. The Wolveses here come about the Lamb, as your Dogs about a poor Beggar, as your bigger Vessels about a small Fisher boat, or as your Sodomites about Lot's house, or Saul's soldiers about David; In modum coronae, They had shut him in on all sides, as a band of soldiers beset a Castle, or as the Wicked, the Just; which is as much to say, In circuitu Impij ambulabant, The Wicked walked in a Circle: And they learned this of the Devil; of whom Saint Peter saith, He goes about seeking whom he may devour. They came about him: Upon so good a day, a day of good works, and on the day of the renovation of the Temple, when they were to treat of the renovation of their souls; Circumdederunt, They came athwart two walls, which would have made even the Devils of Hell to have turned cowards. The one was, The respect to this so solemn a Feast. The other, To the Temple, and the sacred Pledges thereunto belonging. None but Reprobates will store up injuries, revenge, treasons, gaming, banqueting, whoring, and the like villainous actions, for the Sabbath day. Nazianzen saith, That the principal end of this or the like Feast, is a remembering of God, and a grateful acknowledgement of those many favours we have received from him: but that which was then, and is now a days most practised, is, a forgetfulness of God, and an unthankfulness for benefits received. Where I would have you to observe, God did his greatest works always on the Sunday. (nor is it unworthy your noting) that God did on the Sabbath day do the greatest works that ever he did; he rewarded the Angels, crowning them with glory, he threw the Dragon & his followers down from Heaven, he freed his people from Egypt's captivity, he was borne into the world, after so many sighs he rose again, he sent his holy Spirit, he overcame the unbelief of Thomas; & on the Sabbath day he shall judge the Quick & the Dead. In a word, all your festival days whatsoever, were instituted in memorial of extraordinary favours conferred upon us: and all these, the Ingrateful repay with new offences. God will have his Temples honoured. Touching the Temple or Church, wherein God is to be honoured, Nilus saith, That a Christian should bear no less respect to this his holy place, than if he were in Heaven. jeremy maketh a fearful threatening against Babylon, applying it against her, and against her King and the Medes, Acuite sagittas, implete pharetras, arma, arma: And why so? Vltio Domini, & ultio Templi. He weigheth there the wrongs which Nabuchadnezzar had done to jerusalem, by dishonouring Matrons, deflowering Virgins, killing little children, tormenting old folks, burning houses, their robberies and their spoils; and yet all these he passeth over in silence; the Prophet (as one that found himself thereat much aggrieved) pressing only the profanation of the Temple, and that he had made it a stable for his Horses. They came about him. Amongst many other things that they laid to our Saviour Christ's charge, one was, I can destroy the Temple; wherein they did not only accuse him of blasphemy, for making himself of the same omnipotency with God; but for his irreverence also, and disrespect to the Temple. Saint Augustine in his book de Civit. Dei, reporteth, That the Goths having sacked Rome, as many as betook themselves to the Churches of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, remained free; so much could the respect of sacred places prevail with these cruel Barbarians: but it would not serve our Saviour Christ's turn with the jews, though he had made a Law touching the immunity of the Temple. They came about him. Here was that prophecy of David fulfilled, Lost is that Commonwealth, in which Magistrates and their Ministers are both faulty Many calves encompassed me about, and the fat Bulls besieged me. Euthymius saith, That by your Calves he means the common people; and by your Bulls, the Noble men. And he saith, That they all came about him, and compassed him round in form of a ring; and that they roared like Lions, and snarled at him like so many dogs: when in a Commonwealth the bulls are confederate with the dogs, when the Lions take part with the wolves; When your Patritij join with your Pleybeians, your Nobility with the Commonalty, and all to do mischief, give that Commonwealth for lost and undone; when your Governador and his Alguazil; when your Alcalde, and his Procurador; when your Oydor, and his Escrivano; when your Secritario and his Oficial, do go hand in hand together, it is all one. Chrysostome expounding those words of Saint Luke, Dimitte nobis Barrabam, Luk. 23. Loose Barrabas, He saith, That they that were thieves, did desire a thieves liberty. And if they sought so earnestly to save a thief, it was not much that they should condemn the innocent. Esay bewailing jerusalem's ill hap, who having heretofore been holy, had now turned whore, entertaining all sorts of men, one while thieves, another while murderers, etc. Rendering anon after the reason; Principies infideles, socij furum. It is no marvel that Princes should strike hands with thieves, being that they are willing to share with them in their thefts. Heretofore Princes were wont to favour the good, and punish the bad. David saith of himself, That when he did bethink himself a mornings, he propounded to himself not to pardon any notorious offender, nor to spare the life of the wicked, nor those that were ill members of the Commonwealth. In matutino interficiebam omnes operantes iniquitatem, Oh what a happy estate of a Commonwealth was here for a Prince? hating the wicked so much, he could not choose but favour the good. But now the world was grown to that pass, That your Herod's, your Pilat's, your High-Priests, and your Pharisees, in stead of doing of this, when they bethink themselves in the morning, they call their Page unto them, and say, Go to such a one, remember my service unto him, and know how he hath slept to night, etc. Now adays your Governors are adored in their Ministers: because they serve them with the hands of judas, and bring bribes unto them, strangling justice with this close covetousness. They came about me. They did fill and shut up the door through which he was to pass, thinking there to make an end of him: but when either God, God will not suffer his children to fall into the hands of the ungodly. or a man whom God favours, is thus enclosed on every side, this hedging of him in will not serve their turn; for he hath wings to fly from them. To this purpose David being persecuted by Saul, composed some of his Psalms. The King's Soldiers had once compassed him in round, In modum Coronae, Vowing, that he should not escape their fingers, unless he had the wings of a bird to fly from them. In the Lord put I my trust, Why say you then unto my soul that she should fly like a Sparrow to the Mountains, etc. But having God for my shield and my defence, I may safely lay me down to sleep and take my rest. O Lord, a great squadron may affright a very good man, when he shall see they have beset him: But why should I fear as long as thou dost guard and protect me? Thou art my refuge in tribulation, etc. Saul sent some to apprehend David; Michal saved 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 trick, which Mich●l had put upon them? Some Hebrews make answer hereunto, That God had dammed up the window, or cast a mist before their eyess that they could not perceive the manner of his escape. Eccl. 21.9. Ecclesiasticus saith, The congregation of the wicked, is like tow wrapped together: Their end is a flame of fire to destroy them. An Army of Reprobates can no more stand against the godly, than bundles of Tow or Flax before a flaming fire. How long, etc. The jews coming round about our Saviour, they said unto him, Quousque, etc. How long dost thou make us doubt? As Love transformeth a man, so doth Hate, Vulnerasti cor meum soror mea, said the Bridegroom to his Spouse. Another letter hath it, Excordasti: Which alludeth unto that which the Spouse answered, Ego Dormio, & cor meum vigilat. But how can the Spouse sleep, and her heart wake? yes, her husband had stolen away her heart, and that waked with him when she was asleep. Now Hate, no less transformeth than Love.. Saul did not live in himself, but in David; Haman not in himself, but in Mardochee; the Pharisees not in themselves, but in Christ. And therefore they say, Thou causest our souls to doubt, Thou hast robbed us of our souls, we are not ourselves, but as bodies without a soul. Entry of all sin the worst, and hardest to be cared. And in token that the cause of this their suspension, was Envy, they confess these their so many distractions, vexations, and torments of the mind. All other kind of sins bring pain and torment with them, but it is after they have tasted of their sins; but Envy torments before hand. The Pharisees had scarce seen Christ's Miracles, and the applause which his doctrine had in the world, when they began to suffer, and to be grieved. 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 Envy, because it makes another man's good his ill, that which to other vices is death, is to Envy, life. It is the fire of brimstone, which the more water you throw on it, the more it burneth. They came about me like so many Bees who are exasperated and grow angry with those that do them no harm but good. They waxed hot like fire among thorns, which no water can quench. Animam nostram tollis. Where I would have thee to weigh the word Tollis, Thou takest away our soul, Men are ever ready to unburden themselves of their miseries. Esay 63. thou makest us to doubt, etc. Thou art in fault, that we live in this pain and passion. It is the common course of your greatest sinners to lay the blame of their sin upon God, O Lord, Why hast thou made us to err from thy ways (saith Esay) and hardened our heart from thy fear? It is a sin inherited from Adam, who laid the fault of eating the apple upon God, The woman which thou gavest me to be with me, Gen. 3. etc. She that thou gavest me to be my companion, to be my cherisher, and my comforter, Who would have thought, that she would have entreated any thing at my hands, that should not have been very lawful and honest? The sick man is wont to lay the fault on the Climate wherein he liveth, and on those meats wherewith he is nourished. Seneca tells a tale of a certain Shee-slave, who one morning when she awaked, finding herself blind, laid the fault that she could not see, upon the house, desiring that she might be removed to another. The cause of your Eclipses is the earth, which interposes itself between the Sun and the Moon: Whereas he that shall impute the fault to the Sun, shall but betray his ignorance. Of the Eclipses of these jews, the cause thereof was their passions, their covetousness, and their envy. If our Saviour Christ preached unto them, they desired Miracles; if he wrought Miracles, they desired Doctrine; from his works they appealed to his words, and from his words to his works; and laying the fault on the Sun, they said, Animam nostram tollis, Thou makest us to doubt. If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. In three words they uttered three notorious lies: The subtlety of the jews in circumventing our Saviour. The first, Dic nobis palam, Tell us plainly; for all that thou hast hitherto said unto us, is as nothing. The second, Dic nobis palam, and we will believe thee. The third, Dic nobis palam; for that is the reason why we have not hitherto believed thee. Saint Augustine and Saint Chrysostome have both observed, that in these their lies there was a great deal of craft & subtlety; which was this, That the jews did still presume, that our Saviour Christ would boast himself to be King of the jews, and that he was temporally to sit in David's Throne; & they went about to draw this from him, that they might have some ground of accusation against him; and therefore they thus cried out unto him, Dic nobis palam, Tell us plainly: for in all the rest that they desired of him, our Saviour Christ had given them full satisfaction. For if Palam be to publish a thing openly, and not to do it in hugger-mugger, or in some by-corner or other, I have always preached publicly in your Synagogues, and in the midst of your Market-places, And I said nothing in secret. If Palam shall carry with it a kind of boldness and liberty, ye may call to mind my whipping of you out of the Temple, the severity of my reprehensions, and that I called ye the children of the Devil, that I might publish your evil thoughts to the world, etc. If Palam shall signify, Clearly or Manifestly, what more clear or manifest truth could ye hear, than that which I have preached unto you? Will you that I shall tell you in a word, who I am, I and the father am one. Of the material Sun a man may complain, That an earnest eyeing of it, and a steady fixed looking thereupon, may make us blind; but on the Sun of Righteousness no man can lay this fault, for he himself gives that light whereby our eyes are enabled to see; Psal. 19 The commandment of the Lord is pure, and giveth light unto the eyes. And therefore Saint Paul calls the old Law, Night; and the Law of Grace, Day: In that Law the Sun had not showed itself, all was clouds and darkness; and albeit they did enjoy some light, it was but a glimpse, or as the light of a candle through some little chink; but when the Son of God appeared in the flesh, that darkness of the night was driven away, and the day appeared, etc. I told ye and ye believe not; the works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness of me. The jews wanted nothing to make them believe, but a willingness to believe. Our Saviour Christ had proved himself to be both God and Man, by such convenient means, that it had been folly, if not mere madness, to have desired better proofs thereof: strong were his reasons, strange his miracles, profound his discourse. In a word, his words & works were such, that they made Admiration stand amazed, and Wonder itself, to wonder. Your not believing me (saith our Saviour) cannot arise from my not speaking unto you, but from your wilfulness; but if ye will not believe in my words, give credit to my works. Where by the way it is to be noted, That our Saviour Christ having innumerable testimonies to allege in his behalf, those shall first be represented unto you, which are set down by Saint john, Tres. sunt qui testimonium dant in Coelo, etc. There are three which bear Record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, 1. john 5.7. and the Holy-Ghost: and there are three which bear record in the earth, the Spirit, the Water, and the Blood. Which we have treated of at large elsewhere. Io●. ●. 39. Act. 10.43. The second is, That of the Prophets and Prophecies, Search the Scriptures; and they (saith our Saviour Christ) are they that testify of me. And Saint Peter he averreth as much, Omnes Prophetae testimonium perhibent, To him also give all the Prophet's witness, etc. And here we may more especially consider with ourselves, one great and singular wonder, That these the Prophets living in diverse times and places, & prophesying different things that should befall our Saviour Christ; as one, his stripes; another, his buffet; a third, his patience; a fourth, his silence, etc. All of them did compose an excellent piece, & did set forth a most absolute and perfect picture of the Messias, for it was the hand of the Holy-Ghost that directed the pencil: and, that the seventy Interpreters without seeing one another, without conversing or communicating their minds, should all of them jump and agree so well together, and extract one and the same original, was a great wonder. That the Statuaries of Greece, living asunder in different Cities, should frame a figure in several pieces, one making the leg, another the arm, a third the head, and all of them meet in handsomeness, shape, feature, and proportion, as heart could wish; this likewise (if it be true) was a great wonder. But in the Prophets the circumstances were far greater; as that of time, for that they were in different ages, and of different estates, conditions, and qualities, etc. The third is, The testimony of his own miracles; for (as Athanasius and justine Martyr have noted) by an especial Divine providence it was so ordered, that none of the Saints that were either before or after, could do any of those same miracles which were prophesied of our Saviour Christ. And this did he himself deliver to the Disciples of john Baptist, Tell him (saith he) from me, The Blind receive sight, Mat. 11. the Halt go, the Lepers are cleansed, the Deaf hear, and the Dead are raised up, etc. The Common people also did testify of him, Testimonium perhibebat turba. In conclusion, having so many and sundry testimonies, he would not here make use of any other, than the testimony of his works. Why our Saviour would prove his Divinity by no other testimony than his works. First, because such of us as remain here as his Agents upon earth, may by this testimony prove his Divinity. Secondly, To the end that no man should pretend to hold himself to be the Son of God by Grace, unless he give testimony thereof by his works. There is no great heed to be given to words, Quid verba audiam, cum facta non videam? Our Saviour Christ would take no notice of those Virgins who in good words proffered their service to the Spouse, but performed nothing less in their deeds, because they had not their Lamps lighted and ready at hand; Show me thy faith by thy works. Clemens Alexandrinus expounding that place of Saint Matthew, Mat. ●1. Regnum Coelorum vim patitur, The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence; saith, That this force or violence is not to be done, Contentiosis orationibus, sed rectae vitae assiduitate. A true Christian glorieth in nothing more, than in his sufferings for Christ. And hence was it that many of God's Saints did not rest contented with the doing only of good works, but by showing also some open evidence of them. Nemo mihi molestus ●it, (saith Saint Paul) ego enim stigmata Domini jesu in corpore meo porto; Let no man trouble himself in enquiring after me, or to ask, Who I am? the print of the irons wherewith I am branded in the face, doth plainly speak my name, and publish to the world my profession and condition. He borrowed this metaphor from your branded slaves, or as Anselmus will have it, from some device born by the soldiers of the Roman Empire. Saint Chrysostome ponders the word Porto; a Slave may bear a mark in his face, but makes no great brags of it, nor indeed hath any great reason so to do: but Saint Paul he boasts thereof, as an Ensign doth of the Colours which he carries; suiting with that of the Bridegroom, Wear me in thy heart, as a Spouse doth her ring on her finger, or as a Lover doth his Mistress favour on his arm. But ye believe not, for ye are not of my Sheep. Saint Augustine understands by these Sheep, the Preachers of God's Word, because they hear the voice of their Shepherd; but this his opinion may not stand as a general sentence. First of all, Because many not predestinated, do believe, hear, and obey, as judas, and others that were not of Christ's Sheep. And many again of the Predestinated, did not as then believe, (as S. August. hath noted it) which afterwards came to believe. Now the Sheep is a fitting figure or symbol of him that is predestinated to salvation; and touching those in particular to whom our Saviour said, That they were not of his Sheep, who notwithstanding had enjoyed such powerful and plentiful means to believe, if they had been in the number of Christ's Sheep, doubtless they would have believed: and therefore we are diligently to weigh these words, Ye believe not, etc. Next, we are to consider the conveniences which are betwixt the Sheep and the Predestinated. The first is, They hear my voice. There is no living creature more obedient to what he hears, or more apt to hear; the least whistle of the Shepherd is the Sheep's North Star. When God reprehended Elias at the mouth of the Cave, there came first a great wind, And God was not in the wind: then anon after came an earthquake, And God was not in the earthquake: after that, a flaming fire, And God was not in the fire: at last there came a soft whistling sound, and then God passed by. But why should he make his appearance in a whistle, or a soft noise? Hot fiery Spirits unfit for the Ministry. Marry therein he plainly told the Prophet, You, out of the abundance of your zeal and hot fiery spirit, would have all to be winds, earthquakes, and lightnings, thundering out nothing but damnation and vengeance; and howbeit I hold this to be a fitting course to be taken with an idolatrous People, and such as are Rebels to my House, yet for those that are my Sheep, a whistle or a mild word is enough. The second is, The meekness, softness, and evenness of their nature and condition: Beati mites, B●essed are the Meek in spirit; your Reprobates are sour, unsavoury, and unquiet: In a word, they are like Goats, you shall scarce meet with a Reprobate but leads a troubled life, like a Thief that looks every hour when he shall be hanged, Gen. 4. Deut. 28.65, 66, 67. or in such a distraction or dejection as Cain lived in; Curio concidit facies tua? Why is thy countenance fall'n down? And as it is in deuteronomy, The Lord shall give thee a trembling heart, and a sorrowful mind, and thy life shall hang before thee, and thou shalt fear both day and night, No torture to a guilty conscience. and shalt have none assurance of thy life: in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were evening; and at evening thou shalt say, Would God it were morning; for the fear of thine heart which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. The heart of the Wicked is fearful, and every bush represents a Dog unto him that bites him. In the midst of all his pleasures Hell represents itself to the Reprobate, his soul is consumed with sorrow, & quasi pendens ante se, He looks like one that is condemned to be hanged. But the Justice doth enjoy an inward comfort, a heavenly joy, singing cheerfully with David that sweet Anthem, Psal. 85. Inhabitat gloria in terra nostra, etc. Surely his salvation is near to them that fear him, that Glory may dwell in our Land. The third is, the point of profit. For in the Sheep (which signifies the Elect) there is wool, milk, butter, cheese, and flesh: But it is not so in the Goat, (whereby are noted the Reprobate) as hath been observed by Saint Hilary and Saint Chrysostome. The fourth is, The sheep walks in ways that are plain, quiet, and secure: But the goat goes clambering on the tops of dangerous rocks, browzing amongst bushes and thorns; and at last waxing weary, falls down headlong to hell. Ambulavimus vias difficiles, lassati sumus via iniquitatis, We have walked through craggy paths, and have tired ourselves in the way of iniquity. The ungratefulness of man's nature. Many good works have I showed ye: for which of these works do ye stone me? They took up stones for to stone him, and wh●n they had them in their hands ready to fling at him, he forced their attention, and made them whether they would or no to hearken unto him. Many good works have I showed you; for which of these works do ye stone me? It is an easier thing for a man to grow unthankful and forgetful of a great number of benefits, than one single good turn. One or two courtesies, men usually rest thankful for them, and bear them still in memory; But (as the Spaniard says) Los muchos, se vienen por muchos, à oluidar, Many, for that they are many, are forgotten by many. Their muchness, Four fair mothers that ever bring forth foul children. Psal. 106. lessens their remembrance. There are four fair mothers that bring forth very foul children: As Truth, enemies; Familiarity, contempt; Hope, despair; and Muchness of benefits, muchness of oblivion; Incontinently they forgot his works. David doth there treat of the adoration of the golden calf, and his meditation thereupon is, That the many favours that that people had received from God's hands, being so fresh as they were in their memories, as the flies, (which for their sakes he sent to afflict the Egyptians) frogs, gnats, water turned into blood, darkness, the death of their firstborn, the Israelites passing safe through the red sea, the drowning of Pharaoh and all his chariots and horsemen, and the Law given them on the Mountain: yet notwithstanding these great and singular favours, these wondrous signs and tokens, as the like were never done, that yet for all this, they should like a broken bow so suddenly start aside, and fall so quickly into so foul a sin, as none could be more derogatory from God's honour, They suddenly forgot his works. The greater were God's benefits, the more was their oblivion. And the reason of it is, That laying more upon a man's shoulders than he is well able to bear, it is a thousand to one that his load and he do not fall both to the ground. The less the benefits are, the more cheerfully a man receives them. And why so? Marry I shall tell you why: Because than there is some hope that a man may live to requite them, and to discharge that debt, for the which (in thankfulness) he stands bound. But when they are so great, that we are not able to make satisfaction, such extraordinary courtesies, are repaid oftentimes with unkindness, if not with hatred. Thou owest thy neighbour a sum of money, be it more or less, nor does it grieve and afflict thee to see this thy Creditor, or to look him in the face, but rather takest pleasure and comfort in his company; yet if all that thou art worth, shouldst thou sell thyself to thy very shirt, be not able to discharge that debt, thou hadst as lief see the devil, as him. Quintus Curtius reporteth, that Alexander grew to hate Antipater, and for no other reason in the world, but that he had obtained so many victories, and reduced so many nations to his obedience, that he did tacitly demand that requital of him, which he was not able to make him: and conferring many favours on those soldiers which had done him but little service, he neglected Antipater that had done him most. The same reason is to be rendered of Hannibal and Carthage▪ of Lycurgus and Lacedemonia, and of Saul and David: but there is no example to that of a woman in this kind; serve her never so faithfully, entertain her never so royally, court her day and night, feed her humorous disposition, waste both thy purse and thy body, and consume all that thou hast to give her content, yet in the end will she grow to hate thee; and that which thou thinkest should be the means of winning her, will be the cause of losing her: she will like a Lymbeck, draw whatsoever is good from thee, first by drops, then by drams, afterwards by ounces, & lastly by pounds, till she have sucked thee dry, & that thou hast wholly spent & undone thyself in her service. In a word, (that I may grow to an end) the jews in those former times were evermore wonderfully beholding unto God for those many benefits & favours which he had thrown upon them; but now his grace and mercy (like a River rising from forth it's bed) extending itself so far, that he came himself in person to visit them, and in such an especial manner, as none could be more, saying particularly unto them, Non sum missus nisi ad Oues Israel, I am not sent but to the Sheep of Israel; Why this was so great a favour, that it overcometh man's imagination, the weight whereof pressed both it and them to the ground. But God so support us with his grace, that we may thankfully bear in our hearts the remembrance of his manifold benefits. To whom, with the Father, the Son, etc. THE XXXVI. SERMON, UPON THE THURSDAY AFTER PASSION SUNDAY. LUC. 7. Rogabat jesum quidam Pharisaeus, ut manducaret cum illo, etc. A certain Pharisee requested jesus, That he would eat with him, etc. ROgabat jesum, etc. And one of the Pharisees desired jesus, that he would eat with him. The Circumstances of Mary's perdition. The whole History of Marie Magdalen is reduced to these three estates: Of a Sinner; Of a Penitent; Of a Saint. For all which she was most famous. In that her first estate of her ●ewd course of life, she obtained a plenary pardon, and full remission of her sins. Were she either Widow (as Saint Hierome would have it) or one that was never married, (as common opinion cries it) Petrus Chrysologus saith, That she had made the City so infamous, that she might more fitly be called, Peccatum Hierosolimae, quam Peccatrix, The Sin of jerusalem, than a Sinner; because by reason of the bad fame and evil report that went of her, the whole City did suffer therein, and was in a manner spoilt and undone; some being taken with her beauty, others with her graceful behaviour, not a few with the pleasantness of her wit and liberal language; but most with her ill example, occasioning murmuration in some, & obduration in othersome, causing them not only to speak ill, but also to do ill: In a word, she was Pestis generalis, A general plague, and Commune scandalum, A common scandal to all. The circumstances of her perdition were strange: The sin of dishonesty hath two properties First, In that her sin was a sin of dishonesty; wherein we usually see these two effects: (1.) It sticks of all others the closest to the Soul. The one, That it clings like birdlime to our souls. Thomas saith, That it is Peccatum maximae inhaerentiae, That it is a sin of all other that cleaveth closest unto us, and sticks longest by us. Saint Hierome, That it much resembleth the Bird called the Phoenix, which doth revive and renew herself with the fire which she kindleth with the motion of her wings. Thou mournest, thou bewailest and repentest thee of the dishonest sin which thou hast committed, and desirest to give it over, & that it may die in thee; but with the wings of thy thoughts thou blowest those coals afresh, and makest them flame more than before, so that thinking to kill the lusts of the flesh, thou dost quicken them & give them new life; so that what thou bewailedst before for dead, thou now embracest as living, and huggest it in thy bosom, as a man clasps his dearest friend in his arms, that after some long swoon recovers again. A holy Hermit that led a devour and solitary life, talking one day with the Devil, demanded of him, Which amongst the Sins, was the greatest? He told him, Dishonesty. And he replying, What, are not Blasphemy, Murder, and Swearing, far greater sins? Whereunto he answered, In point of Divinity these are the greatest; but the Rents and Incomes of the sins of the flesh are far greater: and this is the reason why I do not tempt any with blasphemy or murder, but some one desperate person or other; but with dishonesty, all sorts of men; the Merchant employs his Stock in that kind of trading which shall turn most to his commodity, the Usurer puts forth his moneys where he may have most profit, and best security. There is not any other sin that like a plague hath spread itself so generally over the world, Gen. 6. as that of the Flesh; and this was the cause that God repented himself that he had made man: and if at any time in the world there hath been any one that hath showed himself so valiant as to resist the assaults of hell, yet in the end the very same party hath been shrewdly encountered with the concupiscence of the flesh, as Saint Gregory hath noted it of Solomon, Et non custodivit quae mandavit ei Dominus, 3. Reg. 11. It made him break God's command. (2.) It bli●●s the Understanding. The other effect is, that it blinds the Understanding, as we shall show you hereafter. The second circumstance is, That it is an impudent and shameless sin; Marry Magdalen by this means losing all fear of God, and shame of the world. When a River runs between two banks well planted with trees which serve as walls to hedge it in, the waters thereof do no harm; but if these Rivers break their banks, and make their way over those walls, they overflow and spoil all that is in their way. Whilst our life shall be bounded in betwixt shame and fear, no great harm can come of i●▪ but when a Soul shall live devoid of shame or fear, Lord have mercy upon it. Our Saviour Christ, taking it to be the extremity and utmost of all evil, said of a judge, I neither fear God nor Man: He that shall cast up his accounts with Heaven above, and with his Honour here beneath, and when he hath made this reckoning, shall think with himself, that he hath nothing to lose, What bridle can restrain him? One of the reasons why God commanded, That a man should not defame his neighbour, was, That he should not make his sin perdurable. Saint Hierome saith, That we should rather privately admonish, than publicly punish, Lest if such a one should once lose shame, he should dwell in his sin for ever. Amongst noble Natures, Honour is the bridle of Vice; and in case they should not profess Virtue, yet will they have a care to uphold their credit. Saint Augustine saith, That God did not augment the Monarchy of the Romans for their virtue, because whilst they adored false gods they could hardly profess it; but because having set Honour before their eyes, it was a great bridle to curb in their vices. The third circumstance is, That she should purchase herself the name of a Sinneresse in so populous a City. This was it that made the Evangelist say, Behold, a woman in the City which was a Sinner, (this of Saint Luke was a great endearing of the offence) De qua septem Daemonia eiecerat, Out of whom he had cast seven Devils. Now by these seven Devils is to be understood the manifoldness of her sins; this is Saint Gregory's opinion: but Saint Ambrose will have thereby to be understood seven real Devils indeed, He dried up the issue of blood in Martha, and drove out the Devils in Marie; and it is no small proof thereof, that two Evangelists should express the same in plain and full words: for when one Evangelist sets down a thing in dark and obscure terms, another usually explains the same; but Saint Mark and Saint Luke both, herein agree and say, Out of whom he had cast seven Devils; and Saint Hierome in the life of H●lar●on and Prosper likewise affirmeth, That this was a chastisement which God did often use in great sins. The fourth circumstance is, The great hurt which she occasioned to the souls and bodies of men, a great cause whereof was her extreme beauty. Sambucus, The force of Beauty. amongst some of his Emblems which he hath made of humane beauty, he paints forth in one of them, a Lion, a Hare, a Fowl, and a Fish; for there is not any creature more courageous than a Lion, nor any more cowardly than a Hare; nor any creature higher than the Fowl, nor lower in his mansion than the Fish; all which, render and yield themselves prisoners to beauty. Balac lived in great fear of God's People, and when he could not get Balaam to curse them, advising with his Council, (Balaam being the first projector) he sent (as Lyra noteth it) a squadron of the fairest women that his Country could afford, amongst the Israelites, who did bear in their Banner for their Device the Image of Belphegor; and they who before did seem to that King to be invincible, rendered themselves captives to the beauty of those Moabitish women; Et initiati sunt Belphegor, & comederunt sacrificia mortuorum, They married them, and adored their Idol; and (as josephus sets it down) it was not only the common people, but many of the chiefest amongst them, that offended in this kind. For the flesh being not only baited, but blinded with this outward beauty, it hath no eyes to behold the light of the Sun, Supercecidit ignis, (that is) The fire of Concupiscence fell down, and they saw not the Sun: The light of mine eyes is not with me; thus David discoursed with himself, treating of his adultery. hosea 7. Osee compareth Adultery, to a heated Oven, whence comes forth the flame which burns, and the smoke which blinds. Seest thou a man besotted with the love of this or that woman, Adultery compared to a heated Oven. and of that doting affection towards her, that having suffered for her sake, in his honour, his estate, and his health; if he do not take up himself in time, and look out some remedy for this sore, you may boldly say he is blind. Saint john painting forth the fall of Lucifer, saith, That the bottom less pit was opened with a key; (for Lucifer, according to Rupertus, had the first handsel of hell) and from forth that infernal pit, there went out such a thick smoke, that it darkened the Sun and the Stars. And this is the stamp and figure of him that shall throw himself down headlong into the bottomless pit of dishonesty, whence cometh forth so much smoke, that it blindeth the Sun of the understanding, and darkneth those stars of the faculties of the soul. From these circumstances do I draw the difficulty of Mary magdalen's Conversion; grounding my supposition upon these three truths. God's glory greater in our conversion than creation. The first, That for God to justify a soul, is a far greater matter than to create heaven and earth, and all that therein is. This hath been proved elsewhere. And job expressed as much, when he said, The creating of me was the least of thy mercies towards me, Exaltare (saith David) Exalt thyself o God above the heavens, Psal. 108. and let thy glory be upon all the earth, that thy beloved may be delivered. So that if we should put into the one hand of God, the world created; and into the other, a soul converted; the glory of this hand is the greater. And there are two very good reasons for it: The one, For that in the creating of the world, God had no repugnancy or resistance; To convert a sinner, is a work of wondrous difficulty in regard of man's perverseness. but in the converting of a soul, he may meet with opposition, by reason of man's perverse will, Et qui creavit te sine te, non saluabit te sine te, For though be created thee without thy will, he will not save thee without thy will. God takes more pleasure in converting a soul, than in all the rest of those wonders which he wrought with his hands, Auerte oculos tuos à me, quia ipsi me avolare fecerunt, Turn away thine eyes from me; for even they have made me fly away. Auolare is the same in that place, as Superbire, inflare. Rabbi Solomon renders it, Insolentior factus sum animo. To see thy eyes heretofore so withdrawn from me, and now so busy in beholding ●e. So great is the contention, which is betwixt the love of God, and the love of the world, between the desires of the flesh, and of the Spirit, That the one doth strive to take the sword out of the others hand: — Alterius vires, subtrahit alter amor. Plotinus calls Love a Painter: Divine Love, that paints; and humane Love, that paints: This painteth forth our felicity in riches, beauty, and feasting; That, in poverty, tears, and fasting. For, to engrave such an image as this in our hearts, to paint such a picture, we must blot out all those colours, which any other love hath drawn there. The other, For that in creating the world, God did not show himself to be weary, but made it as it were a kind of entertainment, and pastime, Ludens in orbe terrarum: But in redeeming mankind, he was wearied out, even to the shedding of his blood, and the losing of his life. The second truth is, That it is the easiest thing in the world with God, to enrich a sinner with his grace. God sent jeremy to the Potter's house, who beginning to work upon a piece of clay, it not fadging to his mind, he tore it in sunder, and moulding it anew, fashioned it afterwards to his own good liking and content. Cannot I deal by you as the potter doth with his clay? Is my power less than his? Noah kept a Lion in the Ark, but he continued still a Lyon. But our Saviour Christ in his Church turns the Lion into a Lamb, The pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bolls before the Altar. Saint Jerome saith, Zachar. 14. That he did prophetically decipher the time of the new Law, wherein the black-souted Caldrons, should be so bright and beautiful, The justification of a sinner, set out by diverse apt similitudes. that they should serve for flagons full of flowers, and bolls of sweet and precious odours. Esay treating of the facility wherewith God doth work this change and alteration, draweth his comparison from a little cloud, which a contrary wind taketh, and makes it disappear in a moment, I shall put away thy transgressions like a cloud, and thy sins as a mist. Esay 44. Ecclesiasticus compares it unto ice, which the Sun no sooner shines upon, but it is melted, Thy sins shall melt away as the ice in the fair weather. Eccles. 3.16. David borroweth his comparison from a frozen Torrent, set upon by a furious South-west wind, and letting loose those waters, causeth them to leap out of their beds. For your frost and ice are the waters fetters which keep them close prisoners, Hibernis vinculis soluta, saith Nazianzen. And Nivale compede vinctum, saith Horace of the river Iberus. But all these comparisons are too large and spacious in respect of Gods lest breath, which in an instant doth banish sin from our breasts, and inricheth it with grace. The third, That in regard of Man, it is a thing of great difficulty; especially, if the foul fiend hath got the mastery and possession of our will. When a man hath hired a house for term of life, with the liking and consent of its owner, for to put such a one out, we must necessarily have the absolute Posse and power of the king, we must have his authority to turn him out. The devil having taken a long lease of the house of thy soul, with thy good liking and consent, thou must have God's absolute power to eiect him, and thrust him out: Not that the devil is so powerful as some make him, howbeit the Scripture termeth him, Vectem concludentem, a strong bolt which goes athwart a door; Prou. 30. and Serpentem tortuosum, a winding serpent which clewes himself up close, and upon the least advantage takes hold (like the Cuttlefish) with his claws; but because God, howbeit he can do whatsoever he will, is now and then content to give him leave to work upon our will. This difficulty is somewhat the more increased, Woman the hieroglyphike of weakness. Prou. 30. in regard that Mary Magdalen was a woman, which is the Hyerogliph of weakness, There be three things (saith Solomon) hidden from me, yea four that I know not. The Hebrew letter saith, Three or four things are too hard for me. The Hebrew renders the word, Admirabiles. The Seventie, Impossibiles, Impossible for him to know. On the one side, because they are wreathing and winding too and fro; on the other, because they leave no sign or print behind them: the one is of an Eagle in the air; the other of a Serpent upon 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.) Even such is the way of an adulterous woman, Which eateth and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have not done ill. When a woman is greedy in devouring good morsels in secret behind the door, and wiping her lips, tells the world she hath fasted and eaten nothing all that day; when she commits folly in a corner, and boasts herself in public to be honest, saying, There is not that woman living that lives more honestly than I do; the devil having taken such possession of her soul, it is a desperate piece of business. All these circumstances of difficulty, and many more which we omit to set down, are to be found in this story. But in those things that to us seem impossible, God is wont to show his wisdom and his power, Great is the Lord, and great is his power. And as a Physician (saith Saint Augustine) doth take pleasure sometimes to light upon an incurable infirmity, not so much for his gain as his fame; Mary's conversion affordeth hope to the most desperate sinners▪ 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 believe. To give knowledge (saith the Apostle) to all sinners, That there is in God a power, a wisdom, and a will, for to heal them of their infirmities, be they never so foul and enormous. So that this conversion is the bait of humane hopes, and the reparation of our desperation. Had we none other to cast our eyes upon in the Church, but the Virgin Mary, and john Baptist; where were our hopes? The Church therefore doth set two Maries before us. The one free from sin, the other full of sin. The one takes away Vainglory from all the righteous, and the other banisheth Cowardice and despair from all sorts of sinners. At the presence of the Sun, all the lights of heaven withdraw themselves, and hide their heads in a cowardly kind of fashion; but when the Moon once begins to shine, they recover their former boldness and liberty. The Sun presideth over the sons of the day; the Moon over the children of the night. He that cannot come to be a Sun, let him live in hope to be a Moon, Osee 2. or a Star. What says Hosee? I will give her the valley of Anchor, for the door of Hope. The Prophet there touching upon the History of Achan, who in the spoils of jerico hid the golden wedge, contrary to joshuas' proclamation, wherewithal God was so offended, That the Army marching to a City called Ay, was overthrown, and the Israelites turning their backs like so many hares, it seemed the door of Hope was shut against them for entering into the Land of Promise. But the delinquent being convinced, and stoned to death in the valley of Anchor, and all his family, God forthwith gave them victory over their enemies. And therefore he saith, I will give them the Valley of Anchor for a door of Hope. Saint Jerome renders it in another letter, I will give to my Church the valley of perverseness, or of the perverse, for to raise up the hopes of dejected hearts, as a Paul, a Mary Magdalen, etc. All this concerneth that her condition and state of sin wherein she stood; which Saint Luke painteth forth in those his first words, Behold a woman in the City which was a sinner. Of Mary's repentance. 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 Saviour Christ (as heretofore hath been proved) and that our Lord did direct his discourse to a soul that had sustained so many losses, one while proposing the shortness of this our life; another while, the fearful horrors of death, together with the bitterness of sin, the terror of judgement, the torments of hell, etc. Why shouldst thou so highly prise thy beauty, that thou shouldst adore it? Why, being the Image of God in thy soul and thy body, shouldst thou be so much affected to the foulness of sin? What was it that made the Angels so foul? etc. smelling so sweet of Amber, Musk, and Civet, how canst thou endure the evil savour of hell? Pro sua in odour, foetor, Thy soft bed is wearisome unto thee, and being not able to abide in it all night long, thou shiftest thy bed, and canst thou then endure the bed of eternal flames, motheaten mattresses, sheets of snakes, and bolster and pillows of worms gnawing continually on thy conscience? Thou changest thy gowns and thy dress twice or thrice a day, and canst thou suffer the everlasting raiment 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, ut canes manducaverunt linguas suas prae dolore. Thou canst not abide in thy house, no not one hour; and canst thou live clapped up in the dungeon of eternal death and damnation? O how many lie there in endless pains and torments, never to be released, for far lesser sins than thine! What canst thou hope for, what canst thou expect? Is it that the earth should swallow thee up alive, as it did Dathan and Abiram? Or that fire should come down from heaven and consume thee, as it did Sodom? or that God should shower down lightning and thunder upon thee, as he did upon Sisera? what can such a mad foolish woman think will become of her, when she grows thus bold and presumptuous? Oh, if thou wouldst but weigh with thyself what thou losest, and that which thou mightest gain! as also the hurt that thou dost unto thyself! Oh, if thou didst but see the miseries whereunto thy sins have brought thee! Thou hast been so haled and pulled by that infernal Wolf, that thou hast scarce an ear left to hear thy Shepherd's whistle. And yet for all this I come through the bushes and briars, and those steep and dangerous rocks of thy sins, to look thee out, and like a sheep that hath been long lost and found again, I desire to bring thee back again to the fold upon my shoulders. Oh, if thou didst but see the inward love of my bowels; or if thou didst but know the great danger thou art in; or if thou couldst but loathe this thy lewd and evil life! etc. With this threatening sermon, expressing so many and such terrible hellish horrors, Marry Magdalen was mightily moved, her heart melted within her, and God's justice did beat so strongly at the door of her breast, that at last she let him in. For in a word, his words are that fire which warmeth souls, that hammer which breaks the hardness of our hearts, that shaft which pierceth the bones and marrow, that sword which divideth the reynes in sunder, and that induction which gave an accomplishment and final conclusion to the rarest Repentance that ever was seen. And when she knew, etc. God gave her knowledge. First, of her sin. Secondly, of the danger of her soul. Thirdly, of the misery of her estate. The Law entered in by giving her this knowledge, We had not known sin, but by the Law. And Saint Paul saith, Death reigned from Adam to Moses, it ended in Moses. For the written Law gave us some light; but that of Grace, much more. Now besides this general help, God did enlighten Mary Magdalen, by discovering the foulness of those vices which she loved, and the fairness of that virtue which she hated. Touching their foulness, notable is that place of David, The foulness of sin. Illuminans mirabiliter à montibus aeternis, turbati sunt omnes insipientes cord, God doth enlighten the sinner, that he may see the face of his sins, from the which he will fly the more, if he shall but behold those foul fiends of hell. This is a remedy wherewith God cureth the greatest infirmities. Where by the way it is to be noted, that the rule for the griefs of the body, is far different from those of the soul: In those, the sick patient hath a breathing time of ease, and by degrees grows better till the danger be past; but in these he grows worse and worse. The husband is sick; his wife says unto him, Por mi vida, que no es nada, My life for yours, We may dally with the sickness of the bodi●, not of the soul. it is a thing of nothing; his daughter, Manana se po●ra V. M. levantar. To morrow Sir, by the grace of God you shall be able to rise, and be as well as ever you were; the neighbour's Regalo de●e Ser, This is a Ladies fit, a gentle visitation. The Physicians they withdraw themselves out of the room, 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 soul, that which is fittest for it, is to notify unto it, that it is either at Heaven's door, or Hell's gate. Saint Augustine confesseth, that his conversion was by these steps, Tu autem retorquebas me ad meipsum, ut viderem quam ulcerosus essem, Thou hast notified unto me (o Lord) my danger, by making me to turn mine eyes upon myself, that I might see my sores: advising me of that which jeremy uttereth, Thy wound is incurable. God likewise did Mary Magdalen a great favour, in discovering unto her the fair and beautiful face of Virtue, The fairness of virtue. kindling in her breast those hot coals of Love.. A sinner in his vices and vain pleasures, is like unto a horse, of whom job saith, That in hearing the noise of the trumpet sounding to war, he enters into the battle with great courage, scorning all kind of fear whatsoever. Virtue (me thinks) should not be of worse condition. And the just knowing his own strength, and how fair and beautiful he is in God's sight, it is not much that he should courageously enter the lists, laying aside all fear. Secondly, she knew the season of this her happiness, That jesus sat at Table in the house of Simon the Leper, and she would not lose so fair an opportunity; which being once lost is hardly recovered. The vocations and inspirations of God, Psal. 78. are every day's example, The waters saw thee and were afraid, the depths trembled, the clouds poured out water, the heavens gave a sound, thy arrows went abroad, the voice of thy thunder was round about, the lightnings lightened the world, etc. Saint Augustine saith, That the Prophet here treateth of the effect of God's word, and compares it to those things which pass and quickly disappear, as the noise of a rushing of waters, or of some greatwhirle-wind, or arrows shot with a strong arm, or of thunder and lightning. These are things whilst they last, which do much amaze, move, and disquiet us, The earth saw it and was moved at it. But these things do not long continue, but quickly pass away. And therefore our good consisting in its good effect, it were a great laziness and foul slothfulness in us not to take occasion by the foretop. What says Lucan? Semper nocuit differre paratis? Good occasions must be embraced with speed. Sophonias? Coruus super liminari, Cras, cras. Saint Jerome hath observed that the Hebrew letter signifies a knife; In token that the deferring of a good occasion, is the knife that cuts our souls, and the sword that kills them. The damned do eternally bewail their lost occasion, Desideria occidunt pigrum, For the sluggard desires, and desires, and holds one hand upon another, but never sets his hand to any thing; but Marry Magdalen, ut cognovit, As soon as she knew that jesus was in Simons house, etc. The Evangelist saith not, That she stayed to take her Mantle with her, nor that she opened any coffer, or took any Balsamum out of such or such a box, but, ut cognovit, as soon as she knew where he was, she bestirred her stumps, and made all the hast she could. And when she knew that he sat at Table in the house of Simon the Leper, it was a watchword unto her, that this was now a fit time for her to come unto him. For he that would not loathe the company of a Leper, and pardon those faults which that Table might afford, would not be queasy stomached towards a sinner, Cant. 5.4. etc. My well-beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and mine heart was affectioned towards him. My well-beloved his putting in of his hand, is my calling of me. And therefore our Saviour Christ when he saw Mary magdalen's modesty, and that out of bashfulness she forbore to press too near upon him, he made signs unto her, imboldning her thereby to come unto him. She brought a box of ointment, etc. This was a certain sign and assured token of her general change and alteration. In the old Law, those women that did wholly give over the world, and did consecrate themselves to the Temple, did offer up those glasses, wherein they before beheld themselves, being a jewel of great esteem amongst women, as being a means to preserve their beauties, and repair those wrongs that any spot of foulness should do the face: And Moses made a Lavatorie of Copper, for the Priests to wash themselves in, adorning the same with these kind of glasses. For she that shall forgo the world, and strip herself of all even to her very glass, wherein she was wont to look, the holiest Priests may look that woman in the face without sinning. There are certain sinners which will not let slip any occasion that offers itself unto them. Petrus Chrysologus likens these unto devils. Amongst the Gergesenes, our Saviour Christ commanding the devils that they should come out of those men that lived in the fields in the Sepulchers and graves of the dead, as if they were houses of peace and pleasure, they besought him that he would suffer them to go into the heard of Swine, to wit, out of one filthy place into another; and so in like manner from sin to sin. Others there are, that all their life long, have tied themselves fast to Occasions girdle, & have as it were sworn and made a vow, never to forsake her: These two sorts of sinners jeremy pointed at; If the Blackamoor can change his skin, or the Leopard his spots; Now, which will first change his skin and condition, either the tanned Negro, jer. 3. or the spotted Tiger? The sinner which lies at rack and manger, Relapses into sin are dangerous. and is chained fast to the ring of the cratch, or he that accustomes and uses himself to change and alter every hour; and like the Chameleon, puts on as many colours as come near him; Which of these two Estates I say is the more dangerous? I answer, That amongst Reprobat people there is not a pin to choose: But amongst those sinners that hope for heaven, That of the Chameleon seemeth to be the more dangerous; because it may be presumed from his ordinary reincidencie, that in the confession of his sins, he never truly reputes himself of them; whence great Sacrileges are wont to succeed. But for the other, it may so fall out, That he may be as constant in good, as he hath been before in ill. And she stood at his feet behind him. Retrò, at his back; Whence we may consider a wonderful and strange kind of change▪ God will never e●e our sins, if we will eye them ourselves. When Marry Magdalen did cast her sins behind her back, God did set them before his eyes: but when Mary Magdalen did set them before her eyes, and grew fearful and timorous to look him in the face, and had not the heart to press into his presence that was to be her soul's best Physician, God did cast her sins behind his back. Saint Augustine touches upon this string, upon those words of David; Auerte faciem tuam à peccatis meis, Turn aside thy eyes o Lord from my sins. Oh thou sinner (saith the same Father) I shall give thee a good remedy for this, Tu inde non avertas, Do not thou turn thine eyes from off thy sins, and God will turn away his: but if thou shalt cast them behind thy back, God's eye will be still upon them, and punish them severely in thee. Standing behind. In that lookingglass of Christ, she saw the foulness of her soul, and she startled at it, Statuam contra te faciem tuam. In a glass that which is fair, seemeth more fair; and that which is foul, more foul. There are some glasses which makes all those appear fair which fall within the view of them. A glass standing in a window, makes the opposite wall glitter and shine the more. The Rainbow leaves that fairest, which leaneth nearest to it. The Sun setting upon a dark cloud, makes him become as bright as gold. In like manner our Saviour Christ laid open to Mary Magdalen the foulness of her sins, that he might leave her more fair and more beautiful than she was before. Standing behind. Petrus Chrysologus cries out, Marry Magdalen what meanest thou by this? Comest thou as one that is sick to seek a Physician, and when thou shouldst come to him, dost thou fly from him? Whereunto he answers, That as one unworthy to look him in the face, she made choice to stand behind him; and if it possibly could have been, she would not that he should have seen her; though such was her wretched case, That she was driven to desire his favour and best furtherance. The sick Patient cannot fly from the Physician which is willing to cure him. In this perplexity and anguish of her soul, she resolved with herself to shun the sight of our Saviour Christ, though not utterly put herself out from his presence. David did desire of God, that he would not forsake him in his anger, nor go away from him in his displeasure: Which seemeth contrary to that rule of S. Paul, Give place to wrath; and contrary to jobs desire, Quis mihi det, ut in Inferno protegas me, & abscondas me, donec transeat furor tuus, etc. Saint Augustine saith, The way to fly from God, is to fly unto him. That if it were possible for a sinner to fly from God, it were not the worst remedy to hide himself whilst his fury be overpast and his anger quite gone. But it being of necessity, that he must fall into God's hands, and that a sinner can no where hide himself from his all-seeing eye, the best counsel were to advise him, That to escape God's hands, he should put himself into God's hands, and prostrate himself at his feet. jonas flying from God, told the Mariners, I fear the Lord God of heaven, which made the sea, and the dry land. If God then be the God both of sea and land, Why didst thou seek to fly from him by going to sea? By or near unto his feet. When a Huntsman woundeth a Dear with a forked arrow that is sent from a strong bow, though the Deer may bond and stand up for a while, yet at last he sinks and falls down at the Keeper's foot. Our Saviour Christ had wounded Mary Magdalen with the arrow of his word, he struck her to the very heart, the barbes thereof sticking in the sides of her soul, Sagittae potentis acutae cum carbonibus dissolatorijs. This Deer of his was so sorely wounded, That she was forced to fall down at his feet in the house of Simon the Leper. One of the greatest glories that was prophesied of our Saviour Christ, was, That he should make his enemies his footstool. And in another place, His enemies shall bow themselves down before him, and lick the earth. And this is one of the greatest happinesses that can befall God's enemy. And she fell a weeping. Pliny saith, That one of the Offices which Nature bestowed on the eyes, The office of the Eye. was, That they might serve as a Limbeck or stillatory to the heart; from whence it might distil its sadness and sorrow, and easing itself of so heavy a load, it might thereby enjoy some comfort. Saint Gregory expounding that place of the Lamentations, Mine eye casteth out water, because the comforter that should refresh my soul, is far from me, saith, That as the Gardener doth derive the water from the Estanque or pool where it is kept, and conveys it to the borders in the garden, or the plants in the orchard: so a true Penitent aught to direct the tears of his eyes to every one of those sins which he hath committed. And because Mary magdalen's tears were many, the Evangelist saith, That she did Rigare lachrymis, Shower down tears. Saint Bernard saith, That tears work two effects: Tea●es work two effects. The one, To water the heart. The other, To wash it. And therefore he that doth not gutter down tears, hath commonly a hard and a foul heart. Hard, because tears are they that soften and mollify the heart, as Water doth the earth: And as in a ground that is destitute of water, howbeit Fruit may grow therein, yet doth it never come to its perfect ripeness, It withered as soon as it came up, because it wanted moisture. In like sort, the Soul which is not made tender with tears, although it may bud forth some flowers and leaves of good intentions, yet it never comes to bear fruit. Fowl, because there is not that Collyrium or medicine which can so cleanse and clear the eyes of the Soul, as Tears, though the eyes of the body should wax blind with weeping. She began to fall a weeping. We know the beginning of these tears, but not the end; for that fountain of tears which had its Wellhead and spring at the feet of our Saviour Christ, did never grow empty or dry in the eyes of Marie Magdalen. Saint Basil asks the question, How it comes to pass that tears sometimes should come upon us without desiring them, and at other times, though we desire them never so much, we are not able to shed a tear? And his reason is, That we have them now & then, God being willing to give us a taste of them; for the Soul that once tasteth of the sweetness of tears, will not leave them for a world: for, as those vapours that are exhaled from those salt and bitter waters of the sea, being converted into clouds, are afterwards resolved into a sweet and savoury water; so those sighs and sobs arising from a sad and sorrowful Soul for having offended the Majesty of God, being converted into Clouds of fear, resolve themselves at last into most sweet & most savoury tears. Tears sometimes denied us for our punishment. Otherwhiles God denies them unto us, though we seek after them never so much, in punishment of our forepast negligence: for it is no reason that he should on the sudden enjoy so great a good, who by long exercise hath not deserved them. Saint Augustine after that he was converted, saith, That his eyes were two Fountains, and that he was very well pleased they should be so; Fluebant lachrymae, & bene mihi erat cum illis. David after that he had said, That every night he washed his couch with tears; that is, Per singulas noctes, Night after night; Tears for sin must never have an end. (according to Saint Chrysostome) he addeth, Amplius lava me, he calleth for more and more tears still: for weeping must have a beginning, but never have an ending. In Heaven God only dries up our tears once and no more. God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. But Marry magdalen's tears, Tears the delight of a Penitent. many a time and oft did he wipe; for enjoying through her tears so great a good, she then took most pleasure when she wept most. jacob had put on a purpose, never to leave off weeping as long as he lived; Surely I will go down unto the Grave to my son mourning, I shall never have dry eyes till I see my son joseph. If he did desire to shed such eternal tears of sorrow, it is not much, that Mary Magdalen should desire to shed eternal tears of joy. She fell a weeping. Chrysologus cities to this purpose that verse of David, Praise ye the Lord ye Waters that be above the Heavens. Psal. 14●. Some understand by these waters that are above the Heavens, the Angels; some, the Crystalline Heaven; others, What is meant by waters above the heavens. the waters of the Clouds which are above the air, which the Scripture calleth Heaven: But I (saith Chrysologus) considering these tears that were poured forth upon our Saviour's feet, cannot but confess, That these are those Waters that be above the Heavens. The History of the Kings maketh mention of the gifts which the Queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon, and that none in all the world had at any time brought such rich Presents, 3. Reg. 10. nor so precious in their quality, nor so many in their quantity: The like may be said of Marie magdalen's tears, never was there that woman in the world that shed so many, and such rich and precious tears, as she, nor that presentedthe like from her eyes, to the true Solomon. Zachary sets forth David for an example of the penitent, Et erit, qui offenderit ex eye in illa die, sicut David. In the new Law it is said, That sinners shall rise up with that zeal and earnest fervour from their sinews, as did David: But the Prophet had not then the example of Mary Magdalen; if he had, he would have preferred her before him in that deluge of tears. God treating of cleansing the world of its sins, he rained down more & more water; but that was not a sufficient or effectual remedy: on Sodom he rained down more & more fire; but that likewise would do no good. Since that neither water of itself, nor fire of itself, will do the deed, let a Lee be made of fire and water together, for there is not that spot or stain, which that will not take out. This Lee, is the tears which come from the vapours of the brain, and the fire of the heart. Saint Augustine weighing how mute Mary Magdalen stood, says unto her, Quid quaeris? Quid dicis Maria? What wouldst thou have? What dost thou seek after? What, nothing but weep? Why dost thou not speak? She had found too much sorrow to find a tongue. Deep sorrow wants a tongue. They grieve but little that can express their grief: No marvel then if she were dumbe-strucken, that was so heart-strucken. The sweet songs of the Sirens have been turned into sorrowful sighs; the pleasing and delight fullest voice, being altered by the heat of the blood, hath admitted of a change, and been turned into sad howl and doleful notes. And as at the death of some great Captain, the drums beat harsh and dead, and render a doleful sound; and in stead of shrill and cheerful flourishes, the trumpets sound hoarse; so now in this our Marry magdalen's death (who was the chief Captain and Ringleader of the vices of that City) a hollow sound of sighs was heard, and a grievous noise of confused groans and broken throbs, breathing out these woeful words: o my good Lord, I have been like unto the Serpent, for on the one side I sustained myself by the earth, without once offering to lift mine eyes from the earth; on the other side, I did prostrate myself, laying traps and snares for thy feet, soliciting the men of this City to tread thy Laws under their feet. Oh Lord, since I have thus played the Serpent, tread thou upon me, crush me in the head, and bruise out all the venom that is in me. O sweet jesus, the Serpent useth to enter in between the rocks, and rub off her old skin, and leaving it there behind her, to renew herself again: I much desire to cast off my old skin, and to leave it in the wounds of these thy feet, and on my strong rock Christ jesus. I wot well o Lord, that so vile and lewd a woman as I am, is to be made no more reckoning of, than the dirt that is trod under foot in the streets, Mulier fornicaria, quasi stercus in via conculcabitur. But many times the dung of the earth doth serve for the roots of trees and other plants: and because thou art that Divine plant, whose branches reach up as high as heaven, permit o Lord, that I though but dirt and dung, may lie at thy feet. The Cananitish woman did show a great deal of humility, when she termed herself a dog: but Marry Magdalen much more, Why Christ should not suffer his Apostles to wash his feet, when he had washed theirs. terming herself dung. And she wiped his feet with the hairs of her head. S. Ambrose asketh the question, Why some of his Apostles did not wash our Saviour's feet, either before or after that he had washed all theirs? He renders two reasons: The one, for that Mary Magdalen had washed them, and he would not that this lustre which those her tears had given them, should be lost by washing them with ordinary 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 divine feet, with the tears of our eyes. That mystical laving of the Apostles feet, which was directed to the cleansing of their souls, could not fit with our Saviour Christ, who was free from the least filth of sin: If any Lavatorie likes him, it is that of our tears, because in them the heart is softened Besides, Those eyes and hairs which were so well employed, did express her good desire and thoughts. And there is not any Sacrifice so acceptable unto God, as to see the desires and thoughts of our hearts to be offered up at his feet. Chrysologus saith, That after God had seen the resolution and courage of Abraham in the sacrificing of his son, he cared not a rush for all the rest; and therefore cried unto him, Lay not thine hand upon the child, neither do any thing unto him; Gen. 22. for now I know thou fearest God, etc. 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 itself at my feet, Cont. 9.4. My sister, my spouse, thou hast wounded mine heart: Thou hast wounded my heart with one of thine eyes, and with a hair of thy neck. Following the selfsame Metaphor, to wit, That the hairs are the thoughts, and the eyes, the desires. As if her beloved should have said unto her, One desire, one thought my spouse, one resolute determination, one firm purpose, hath quite robbed me of my heart. And he that shall endear the delight that he takes in one single hair, will take much more pleasure in that whole skayne of gold. Bonaventure says, That she did behold our Saviour by stealth, and peeping through the lattice of her hairs, did ever and anon snatch a sight of him; But after that she had once enjoyed the brightness of his face, and the sweetness of his eyes, whence he shot forth such sweet shafts of love, and that did light so right upon her, that her heart was taken therewith; It seeming unto her, That the sky was now clear, and the weather very fair and prosperous, she did unruffle the sides of her hairs, and spread them abroad to the wind, finding so good a gale. And as he that hath escaped many dangerous fits of death at sea, is never satisfied with kissing the earth when he comes ashore: so Mary Magdalen thought she could never have her fill of kissing the blessed earth, of those her Saviour's most holy feet. And as the Traveller that hath passed through the deserts of Arabia, his mouth being as dry as those sandy grounds, or as tinder that is ready to take fire, being driven to drink of foul and unsavoury puddles, no sooner comes to a clear fountain, but he rushes hastily to the water, and never makes an end of drinking; so did it far with Mary Magdalen, etc. With her hairs. Absalon's hair was Absalon's halter; The Hair hurtful unto many. Sampsons' locks served as bands to bind him fast; the Philistims by those hairs haling him to prison. My hairs have been no less cruel to me, than theirs were to them. God, he is said to have a head of gold, but hairs as black as the Raven. But I, being a Raven in my soul for blackness, had my hairs of gold, etc. And anointed them with ointment. Saint Gregory saith, Mary's entertainment of our Saviour, expressed in two things. That Mary Magdalen entertained our Saviour Christ at this feast, with two great regaloes, or dainties. The one, That it was she that made him the feast. For albeit the Pharisee had invited him, he had not set before him one savoury morsel: For what could savour well in the house of a proud scorner that is given to mock and scoff? And howbeit for the body, the cheer was good enough, yet if it had not been for Mary Magdalen, the soul might have fasted. But she did supply that defect, by affording matter to our Saviour, to tax the Pharisee of discourtesy, etc. Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house, and thou gavest me no water to my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears. Thou gavest me no kiss: But she since the time that I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. Mine head with oil thou didst not anoint, but she hath anointed my feet with ointment, etc. The other, That at the feet of our Saviour she made a general sacrifice of all those things, wherewith she had before offended him; as of her eyes, mouth, hairs, hands, heart, and soul, not leaving out so much as that her ointment, which is that which women are loathest to leave, and do latest and hardliest part withal. Saint Bernard saith▪ That Mary Magdalen did climb up to heaven by the same rounds, by which she went down to hell. We make a rope of our vices, and a ladder of our sins, by which we descend to hell. In some, their eyes are the instruments of their destruction, in others their hairs, in others their dainties and delicacies in; Marry Magdalen, all whatsoever she possessed: She was the net that swept all the vices unto her; and all those good blessings which God had bestowed upon her, she had made them weapons wherewith to offend him. And as the soldier that yields himself, holding his weapon by the point, offers it to the Conqueror; so did Mary Magdalen, o Lord (said she) with these weapons have I offended thee, but now I here lay them down at thy feet. If this man were a Prophet, he would surely have known who, etc. God doth so kindly and so lovingly entertain all those that are penitent sinners, that it would make a man think that he had not known them. He that hath killed thy brother, if thou know him not, thou welcomest him to thy house, and settest him at thy table: behold here the immensive Love of God, for that which thou dost out of mere ignorance, God doth here do it out of clear knowledge. If thou shalt bewail thy sins and offences, thou shalt find God after that manner, as if either he had not known thy faults at all, or if he did know them, that he had quite forgot them. In a word, here the board of a sinner is made the chair of holiness, and of virtue. If this man were a Prophet. Your Hypocrites which desire no more but the bare name of Prophets, The nature of a Prophet should be rather sweet than sharp●▪ and to be only esteemed for such, are commonly severe and sharp: but those which profess to be so indeed, will rather offend through mildness and softness, than roughness and austerity. Saint Chrisostome saith, Melius est Deo, de misericordia rationem reddere, quam de austeritate. It better agrees with God to render an account of his mercy, than of his severity. If God be naturally kind, Why should a Prophet be cruel? One of the reasons, Why the day of judgement ought to be desired, is, That we may see the faces of those who being very well satisfied of their own sanctity, are out of a loathing of other folk's sins, ready forsooth to turn up the stomach. Your Vultures are all females, (according to the opinion of your Naturalists) and conceiving by the Air, they are the stamp and Emblem of your Murmurers, which tear and rend the flesh alive, as your Vultures do dead carcases: and if thou wouldst know whereupon they ground this, thou shalt find it is in the air. True zeal never disheartneth, but encourageth the weak. If he but knew who, and what manner of woman this were which toucheth him. The judgements that are most prejudicial to a Commonwealth, and most contrary to God's nature and condition, are the discrediting and disgracing of present virtues, with the reproachful remembrance of forepast vices: some do this out of zeal forsooth; but true zeal never disheartneth or discourageth those that are weak. How can that be zeal which persuades itself, Que el sap●, siempre es sapo, That once a toad and ever a toad. This kind of zeal I should hardly give credit unto, though it should descend down from heaven; especially when I consider with myself, God in a moment can make of a sinner a Saint. Que del sapo, puede hazer dios Perdiz, That God of a toad can make a Partridge. What saith jeremy? Orietur sicut mane justitia, Consider the thick duskiness of darkness, and then again the glorious brightness of the light, being on the one side such near neighbours, and trenching one upon the other; on the other so contrary, and so far asunder, that there is nothing more differing, than light from darkness, nothing in that extreme distance. A bird passes in an instant over fields, mountains, valleys, rivers, and seas, and flies from extreme to extreme, Quis mihi dabit pennas sicut columbae, etc. Who will give me the wings of a Dove? What wonder is it then that God should pass from the foulness of sin, to the fairness of grace. The hardest thing in the world, is to unteach a man that which he hath learned: and therefore the Philosopher did demand a double Salary for teaching those scholars that had been read too before by some other Philosopher. But this shows the force and power of God's Spirit, for that which humane industry cannot end in many days, grace will end in an instant. Your aqua fortis will eat out any written character, and cleanse those blots and blurs of ink, which the dashing of the pen or any the like accident hath occasioned, but you shall never be able to write any letter well again in the said paper. But your eye-water, that of tears, is far more forcible and strong than your aqua fortis, for it doth not only cleanse the soul of its former blots and blurs, but there may be written therein anew very fair letters, The efficacy of penitential tears. and handsome Characters. Aristotle saith, That your Plants are watered with the water of the earth, and with the water of heaven; but affirmeth with all, That that of heaven worketh the more wonderful effects: 2. Reg. 19 So likewise are there tears of the earth, and tears of heaven; but these work heavenly effects. The History of Elias in that contention and opposition which he had with the false Prophets, ●alls out very pat for this purpose: He poured water on the Sacrifice, and filled the trenches full therewith, fire descended down from heaven, and licked up the water, till there was not one drop left. The comparison is not much amiss of him, Who after that he had fed upon many dishes, falls roundly to that which was served in last, because he finds it more savoury and pleasing to his palate, than any of the former. As this fire that came down from heaven, consumed the beasts that were sacrificed; with them the wood, the stones, and at last the very water: so was it with this Sacrifice which Mary Magdalen offered to our Saviour Christ; To Christ they are more savoury than wine. He fed upon all those dainties she had set before him, her box of Alabaster filled with costly ointment, her dishevelled hairs, her pretty mouth, her fair hands, her sweet kisses, her modest looks, her blush and her bashfulness; but most of all on her tears, Lambebat, he did lick them up, they were so sweet and savoury to his taste, and left so pleasant a relish behind them. jesus answered and said unto him, Seest thou this woman? Petrus Chrisologus saith, The reason of the demand. That our Saviour in this his answer shows unto us, that he was first of all desirous to cure him who had least feeling of his grief, not thinking that he was sick, because he felt no pain. And that these open and public tears of Marie Magdalen, should discover the secret & hidden sores of the Pharisee, making the same serve as a medicine for his malady, and a means to open his eyes, who as yet had them blinded with self-love. Vides hanc mulierem? seest thou this Woman? No, Simon thou dost not see her; For thou dost imagine her to be a sinner, whereas indeed she is a Saint, Many sins are forgiven her. Christ ever ready to forgive sinners. That the sins of Mary Magdalen were many, the reasons before alleged, the seven devils driven out of her, (delivered by Saint Mark and Saint Luke) and the name of Sinneresse in so populous a City, are sufficient testimonies of this truth. But a stronger proof thereof are those words uttered by our Saviour Christ, Many sins are forgiven her. Wherein we are to consider his frankness and freeness in forgiving: Showing his power and omnipotency in nothing more, than in pitying our infirmities, and pardoning our offences. For, that so great a forgiver of sins should say, Many sins are forgiven thee, doth argue, that her sins were many. And would to God, That those many devotos▪ or servants, that are devoted to Mary Magdalen, be not more for those many sins which she had before she was converted, than those many deservings which she afterwards had. For we have reason to be jealous of ourselves, that we are more affected to sins than tears, to carelessness than repentance. For we daily see in our lives and conversations many sins like unto hers, but little or no repentance like hers. Many comfort themselves with the tears of this holy woman, this blessed Saint of God; it seeming unto them, that they have a kind of confidence in their breasts, that they likewise shall bewail their sins as she did. It is no wonder to see them sin at every step, but it were a wonder to find them every foot weeping. They will follow her in her faults, but not in her amendment; in her sins, but not in her tears. Nazianzen saith of himself, Diutius vivendo, nihil aliud assequor, quam ut maiorem vitiorum aceruum colligam, By living long, I get no other good, than make the heap of my sins the bigger. The child of God weeps, and it grieves him to the heart that he cannot amend as he would; and that the longer his life lasteth, the more sin he treasureth up: but the sinner doth treasure up vengeance for the day of vengeance, but never sheds a tear to wash away his sins, and to quench those flames of hell, which without them, his soul may eternally suffer. O Lord grant us the grace, that as we have sinned with Mary Magdalen, so with her we may return again unto thee; and that having t●e like repentance, we may find the like forgiveness of our sins. Grant this (sweet jesus) for thy mercy's sake, etc. THE XXXVII. SERMON, UPON THE FR●DAY AFTER PASSION SUNDAY. JOH. II. Colligerunt Pontifices, & Pharisaei Concilium. Then gathered the high Priests and Pharisees a Council. THe high Priests and the Pharisees called a Council, to sit upon the weightiest cause that was ever consulted of upon earth: wherein four things did concur. First of all, A Council for to deliberate what course were best to be taken; for amongst many, the truth would be the better debated; and in grave businesses, it is fit that persons should be called thereunto, that are men of Authority and Learning. Secondly, therefore the high Priests are called to this Council. Thirdly, the Pharisees, who sat as judges upon all matters touching doubts of Faith, and causes of Religion. Fourthly and lastly, The cause of this Council or Consultation; which was, our Saviour's raising up of Lazarus. For they saw that this Miracle had converted many, Collegerunt ergo Concilium, They called therefore a Council. Hitherto all goes well, a fair course was taken; but in the end they marred all by plotting mischief against our Saviour Christ. It had been better for them to have received him, to have approved those prophecies which were foretold of him, and to have enlightened the people by instructing them in this his doctrine: but they met together for no other end, but to eclipse and darken the sun, then when the beams thereof did most shine. Then gathered the high Priests and the Pharisees a Council. After that the devil had tempted our Saviour, finding him somewhat sharp and sour towards him, Saint Luke saith, Reliquit eum diabolus ad tempus, The devil gave him over for that bout, and would have no more to do with him for the present: but left him then of purpose, waiting for a better season and opportunity, Vsque ad tempus, For a time. Euthymius asks, for how long? And his answer is, Till that the Priests and the Pharisees had called a Council. This was the devil's plot, though they did not then think so when they met in Council. And yet they were no sooner sat, but that Sacrilegious decree went forth from amongst them, To put him to death. Some man perhaps will ask me, How the devil could hope to get the greater victory of our Saviour Christ by this means, working the same more by the high Priests and the Pharisees, than by himself? First of all I answer thereunto, One that serves on horseback is imagined to be of greater force and power than he that serves on foot. And as a certain gloss hath it, which Thomas allegeth, The wicked are the devil's horses; and being horsed upon the high Priests and the Pharisees, it is not much, that he should presume to take away our Saviour's life. If the high Priests and the Pharisees had been horsed upon the devil's back, the danger had not been so great: But when the devil shall ride upon high Priests and judges, etc. it is a fearful thing. Secondly, Saint Ambrose saith, That albeit the devil be the Author of all mischief, yet hath he sent forth many learned and nimble witted scholars which have wonderfully advanced his cause; suiting with that of the Apostle, who calls the wicked, Inuentores malorum, Inventors of evil. The devil was the first Inventer thereof, but afterwards there were some men that discovered much more malice. Magellanes was the first that passed the straits, but afterwards others went so far beyond him, that he is cast behind. Thirdly, the devil by himself alone, can commonly do little, unless we serve and supply him with materials. Satan can do little without us. Comestor reports it to be a tradition amongst the Rabbins, that in the making of the golden Calf, the devil performed two Offices; the one of a Smith, the other of a Mettall-founder: but, that the Hebrews furnished him with Materials, they found the stuff, for the women (who commonly are most superstitious, and by consequence fittest to be the devil's instruments) furnished him with their earrings, bracelets, & jewels of gold. Here now in like manner the devil did employ his best industry and diligence; he was the cause ofthiss Consultation, and the plotter of this Council: but the high Priests and the Pharisees were they that ministered the materials, helping him with their voices. They called a Council. Peace is the fruit of Grace. The fruits of the Spirit, are Love, Gal. 5. joy, and Peace. And for that sinners live aloof off from Love and joy, they must likewise of force live far from Peace. How can a troubled sea enjoy a Calm? But the wicked are a troubled Sea. In a word, There is no peace to the ungodly. Esay 67. But how comes it now to pass, That they are at that peace and unity, that they join together and gather a Council against our Saviour Christ, with so unanimous a consent, that there is not a voice wanting, but run all jointly for his death? First of all I answer thereunto, That the wicked usually enjoy a kind of league and alliance, and confederate with a joint consent for their own private profit, and another's hurt. But they never enjoy any peace, So saith Saint Augustine, Eos copulat non amor, sed malitia, It is not love, but malice that thus links them together. They confederate themselves, not that they love, but that they hate that which they ought to love; wanting not so much understanding, as will. Philon compares them to Reapers, who fall a singing but have no other agreement in their music, but that they disagree alike. He compares them likewise to the colds and heats of a quartane Ague, which being a perpetual distemper, yet both jump and meet at such an instant, and such an hour. Viam pacis non cognoverunt (saith David,) They have not known the way of Peace; But to shed innocent blood, their feet are very swift. job thus painteth forth the mystical body of the devil, The Majesty of his Scales, job 41. is like strong shields, and are sure sealed; one is so set to another that no wind can come between them: one is so joined to another that they stick together and cannot be sundered. The wicked (saith Lyra) are the flesh of this body, and are like shields, and as arms made in the manner of scales, Se praementibus, The wicked have a league, no love. One pressing upon another: A shield upon a shield, and a scale upon a scale, so close knit and joined together, that the air cannot get in between them, Considering on the one side their ill neighbourhood, and on the other, their strict league and amity. David asks the question, Why do the Heathen rage, the Kings of the earth band themselves, and the Princes assemble together against the Lord, and against his Christ? Is there any man that knows the cause of this discording concord, of this accursed combination? That Esau should rise up against jacob, Ishmael against Isaac, Cain against Abel, the brethren against joseph, jezabel against Naboth, the two old Lechers of Babylon against Susanna; it is not much to suffer one enemy that persecutes me, having many friends to protect me. But that the Gentile, the jew, the King, the Vassal, the Clergy, and the Laiety, should all cry out against our Saviour Christ, this requires a Quare? Why they should do it? The reason is, because every one of the Saints in particular, and all in general, were persecuted for his sake, and Christ for his own, Vnum contra unum, The world consisteth of nothing but opposition. is the world's Motto. God (saith Solomon) created all things in an opposition, Omnia secundum litem fiunt (saith Heraclitus.) And that great Orator and Poet Laureate, Petrarke, telleth us, Sine lite, atque offension, nil genuit natura parens, That Nature, who is the mother of all things, and common parent of this great universe, brought forth nothing into the world without strife and contention. This is it that makes the holy man to set himself against the profane; and the profane against the holy. And so in the rest. And because every one of God's Saints, though they were seasoned with all the other virtues, yet were they more particularly pointed at for some one especial virtue. And to this purpose is that usual song in the Church; Non est inventus similis illi, There is none like unto him. But our Saviour Christ was that universal glass, where in all the virtues were to be seen in their most perfect and supremest degree. For this cause, the envy of Cain wageth war against those favours God did to Abel; the little honesty of Joseph's brethren, and his master's wife, against his great both honesty and goodness; the proud and harsh nature of Esau against the meek and sweet disposition of jacob: But against our Saviour Christ, all the wicked in general have combined themselves; Come let us oppose ourselves against the just, because he crosseth our actions, and liketh not of that we do. They called a Council. There is not any one thing more precious, or more necessary than a Council. There is not that man (saith Saint Chrysostom) be he the wisest man in the world, but in fine is a man, and hath need of Counsel: only it may be said of God, Who was ever his Counsellor, or was able to advise him? What saith Saint Augustine? Ego senex & Episcopus, paratus sum à puero doceri, ay, though an old man, and a Bishop, do not scorn to learn of a child. Exod. 18. Moses did not scorn the Counsel of his father in Law jethro, though a Priest of Midian; not so much regarding his calling, as his Counsel; his person, as the project. The Counsel which joseph gave to Pharaoh, imported him more than if he had enriched him with much treasure: For treasure decreaseth through waist; but Counsel increaseth through use. Treasure divided amongst many, comes in the end to a little; and he oftentimes wants, that supplies others wants: But Counsel, the more it is imparted, the more it profiteth, Good counsel a precious Gen●me. Gal. 2. returning back again to the fountain from whence it came. The Apostle Saint Paul, after that he had been rapt up to the third heaven, and having been now some fourteen years an Apostle, he saith, That he went up to jerusalem, and communicated with them of the Gospel which he had preached among the Gentiles: and presently rendereth a reason thereof in the words following, Lest by any means I should run, or had run in vain. No marvel then, if he that is not such an Eagle as he was, nor hath been rapt up into heaven with him, should be so foolishly wilful, as not to advise with his Counsel, but suffer himself to be carried away with his own passion, and proper opinion. Counsel therefore aught to be pure and sincere, free from malice, passion, and ignorance. Saint Ambrose tells us by way of demand; Ill counsel produceth ill effects. Who amidst dirt and mud, will seek for a clear fountain? Who will take water out of a foul pool? How then can he give me Counsel that knows not how to follow it himself? Never yet was a blind man fit to be a blind man's guide, He that is a fool walks in darkness. Eccl. 2. Throughout the Scripture we do not find the Counsel of the wicked to thrive with them. The History of the Macchabees reports unto us certain wicked persons that resolved to make a league or covenant with the Nations; from whence sprung the ruin of all Religion. The rash counsel of a company of young heads, was the loss of ten parts of Rehoboams' kingdom. For such counsels have two great enemies (Anger, and Hast.) That Counsel of jeroboam for the erecting of two calves, for to detain those that went to offer sacrifice at jerusalem, blotted his house from off the face of the earth. That of Pharaoh against the children of Israel, Exod. 1.8. Behold the people of the children of Israel are greater & mightier than we, come let us work wisely with them, etc. was the original of their utter perdition. But no Council was comparable in mischief to this Council. They called a Council against jesus. These words, Against jesus, are not of the Evangelist, though they be to be found in many Missals: and they carry with them a great Emphasis, Against jesus, that is, Against their Saviour. That of Saint Ambrose, treating of Christ's agony in the garden, of his mystical sweat, and his prayer to his Father, is worthy your consideration, Father if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me; Where he saith, That the●e were there and then represented unto him the pains and torments which this people were to suffer for his death, and being desirous that they should not be undone by their own wilfulness, he said, Let it pass. So that it was not the fear of death, that thus wrought with him, but the desire that he had to divert his people from so great an ill. Against jesus: What endearing can the conceit of man imagine to be greater, than that God should sweat blood for their good, that went about to do him all the mischief they could. 2▪ Mac. 4. The Book of Maccabees endearing the malice of one Simon of the Tribe of Benjamin, reporteth, that he spoke much evil of an holy man called Onias; as that he was a Traitor to the Temple and to the City, and that he held intelligence with Heliodorus, advising him to take thence the Orphans and the Widow's goods, that were there deposited. Howbeit Onias was a Father to his Country, a Protector of the people, a Mediator betwixt God and them, and a well wisher to the general good: and yet this wretched Villain, that was himself a Traitor to his Country, called him a betrayer of the Commonwealth. This was great malice, but nothing to this Counsel here assembled against jesus. And as Rupertus hath observed it, whilst they were treating of this business against jesus, they kept out all that which might any way make for jesus: Neither Law nor Prophet entered into this Council, the Counsellors were Anger, Hatred, Covetousness, and their own private interest. Mark with whom, and without whom they enter into this Council. Against jesus. No man that desires a good end in his businesses, would willingly give them a bad beginning. Dost thou take the burden of governing a Kingdom upon thy shoulders? Psal 2. Take this Lesson then along with thee, Be wise now therefore ye Kings, be learned ye judges of the earth, etc. Moses nominating joshuah to be his successor, gave him in charge, That he should evermore have the Law before his eyes; Sic intelliges, & diriges viam Domini, By setting the Law before thee. This is that Apprehendite dis●iplinam, which the Seventie translate, Osculamini Filium, Kiss the Son. He that goeth on some great employment abroad in his King's service, gives his first entrance thereinto by kissing his hand, receiving his instructions, and offering him his service, though it be with the hazard of his estate and life. O ye Kings look unto it, ye have taken a great charge upon you, a dangerous enterprise; Osculamini Filium, Kiss the Son, who is the Wisdom of God, and beg of him as Solomon did in his government, that he will give ye the light of Understanding, to know how to rule aright, and shoulders of br●sse to bear up so great a weight. Vae filij desertores, ut f●ceriti● concilium, & non ex me, & ordiremini telam, & non per spiritum meum. Another letter hath it, Vae filij Apostatae: Whether he calls them Apostatas either for the Idolatries of Egypt in R●meses, which was that Country which Pharaoh allotted unto them, near unto the City Eliopolis, so much celebrated for that famous Temple of the Sun, (this plague of adoring the Sun, cleaving still close unto them) for albeit God had published a most rigorous precept in Exodus against it, Exod 17. yet this Idolatry continued till josias his time, who burned the Chariots and Horses of the Sun: Or whether it were for their Apostasy, in delivering themselves over to strange Kings, openly professing to the world, We have no other King but Caesar. Saint Ambrose and Irenaeus treating upon that place of Esay concerning this Counsel, understand it thus, That they did contrive a Counsel, but God was not in the plot; they spun a thread, but the Spirit had no finger in it: & being that it was not called in God's name, nor by the Spirit of God, it must of force be done in the Devil's name, and by his suggestion; and all this Aduersus jesum, Against the best friend they had. What shall we do? for this man doth many miracles. As the just hunger and thirst after right, so do the wicked after blood. The very first word they spoke, discovered their evil intention towards him: This their What shall we do, is not a consulting with God, or having recourse to the Scripture, where God hath revealed unto us, what course we are to take in such cases; but a condemning of their dulness and slowness, that they had not made an end of him no sooner. There are many sinners, who no longer than they are plotting villainy, or committing one sin or other, think themselves idle fellows, and loitering companions: as the Just, who are always hungering & thirsting after righteousness, so the Wicked thirst after blood. Sap. 3. In the time of their vision they shall shine and run through as the sparkles amongst the stubble, with that haste and speed as the sparks leap from one side to another, in a field where the stubble is very dry; so do the Just hasten and run on from virtue to virtue. In like sort there are sinners that are swift in sinning, and think themselves idle when they are not ill occupied. Four or five devout persons come from a Sermon, and say one to another as they walk homeward, Trust me (my Masters) it is high time that we should begin to amend our lives, and that so many truths that the Preacher hath delivered unto us, should bring forth some good fruit in us. Another as hungry after sin, as these after goodness, comes to his fellow, pulls him by the cloak, draws him out of the Church, & says unto him, What a Devil makest thou at a sermon? come let us go to such an Ordinary, there we shall be sure to have the door open, and some good fellows or other to game withal and spend the time. Your Courtesans they steal out by couples, saying to each other, What should we do here? we misspend our time, for my part I shall lose by the bargain; no longer sin, no longer gain, let us high us home therefore, one customer or other will come unto us. Good is that comparison of the Physician and the Apothecary, when a Commonwealth stands sound and in health, and the one saith to the other, Que se haze compadre? How goes the world Gossip? No nada por nuestros peccadoes, Not very well I assure you, thanks to our sins, which have drawn this punishment upon us: And the reason of it grows from this, that no longer than they are ministering of purges and syrups, they think their time lost. So is it with a sinner that hungers after sin; there are some men which every night get them to bed without any more ado, laden with mortal sins by the dozen, and yet think themselves to be Saints: But being thus heavily laden, darest thou presume to lay thee down to sleep? take heed lest they press thee too hard, & that thou accompaniest thy sleep with death. O good ghostly father (say these men) I know not what this heaviness of sins mean, that you talk of, I find no such matter, I thank God I sleep sound, I am not troubled with dreams, but take my rest as quietly as any man in the world. Say you so my masters, you shall give me leave not to believe you; for albeit by long custom of sinning, you do not feel the weight of this tower, nor the height of this mountain that you bear upon your backs, notwithstanding all this, you shall dream (as the Prophet saith) fearful dreams: and howbeit we are not to give credit to every idle dream, yet may ye take these for revelations, and advertisements and intimations from Heaven. jeremy. And if thou wilt see and behold whether the sins of thy life weigh heavy or no, take out thy heart and lay it on thy shoulders, and then thou shalt see whether the weight of thy sins be heavy or no. He alludeth to an ordinary rule in philosophy, That nothing seemeth heavy in its own Element. When a Worm diues into the bottom of the sea, and lieth there, he feeleth not the weight of innumerable quintals of Waters which he hath upon his back; but if upon dry land he hath but a Cuba de agua, as much water as a Hogs bladder will hold, it troubles and torments him much. And therefore, o thou sinner, if thy sins weigh not heavy, it is because thou hast made thy heart their natural centre: so draw it out of the element of Sin, into that of Grace, and thou shalt then perceive, that thy shoulders will not be able to bear them, and that the burden of them will be too intolerable for thee: Pondus eius ferre non potui (said job) My sins were more than I was able to bear. What shall we do, etc. Thou workest miracles, assure thyself there will be many that will say with these High-priests and Pharisees, What shall we do? Thou art a noted man for thy virtue and holiness of life, thou excellest the rest in the City wherein thou livest, provide thyself therefore against the combats of Envy, for thou wilt be encountered therewith. Scarce hath the soldier entered into the field, glittering in his golden Armour and his plume of feathers dancing on his crest, when lo, a thousand bullets fall as thick as hail about his ears. When David had killed Goliath, and the Damosels of jerusalem sang, Saul hath slain his thousand, and David his ten thousand, Envy presently followed him at the heels. The low shrub or little tender sapling that hath his dwelling in the vale, shrouding himself in some humble bottom, is not beaten by the winds; but if it grow up like the Palm or the Cedar, or be seated on the top of some high hill, it is shaken with every blast. Like the Apple tree among the trees of the Forest, Ca●t. 2. so is my well-beloved among the sons of men. An Apple tree in the midst of a Mountain, amongst Oaks, Ashes, Cork trees, Brambles, and Briars, shall be much envied, and ill entreated. What shall we do? for this man, etc. Before, they said he was indaemoniated, a Sorcerer, a bibber of wine, and a friend of sinners; but now, This man doth many miracles: before, they were so harsh and so sour in their reproofs and reprehensions, that they broke forth into wrongs and reproaches; but now in a more civil kind of deportment, they say, This man doth many miracles. It is a great comfort to those Preachers, who out of their zeal to God, plainly and nakedly reprehend the sins and vices of the times; for albeit some of their Auditors do for the present speak evil of them, when they shall afterwards call themselves to account, they will then speak well of them. Some there are that paint Vice clothed; others, stark naked; but amongst Painters the latter is held the more excellent piece. Sharp reproofs work sweet effects. Alexander did laugh at one of Apelles his Apprentices, for painting Helen rich in her clothes, but foul in her face. Your fiery cauteries make the pained Patient to blaspheme God, & rail against his surgeon, swearing by no small oaths, That a Turk is not half so cruel and so hard hearted as he is; but when he sees the Cancer stayed by this cauterising, and that he now waxeth well and sound, he can then say, Gran oficial es fulano, Such a one is an excellent Surgeon. It is a great comfort for us that are Preachers, when our Hearers souls shall so smart with our sharp reprehensions, that they shall exclaim and cry out against us, That we deal too roughly with them, and that we lack a Lady's hand in the searching and dressing of their wounds and sores. But when these men shall be freed of this their passion, and shall find what good effect our Cauteries have wrought upon their cancered consciences, though now they curse and revile us, they will then thank us and pray to God to bless us. For this Man doth many miracles. All the words that were uttered in this Council were mere fopperies and fooleries; Wickedness is mere foolishness. and it seems very strange & much to be wondered at, that the sin of malice being pecado tan pensado, so premeditated a sin, that they could not pick any other hole in our Saviors' coat, or pitch on some other more foul and heinous offence, whose circumstances might have carried more colour for Christ's death. They did foully overshoot themselves herein saith Osee, It would make a man stand amazed as oft as he but thinks with himself, That proceeding in that malicious manner, as they did against him, they should so much betray their ignorance: But questionless, it ariseth from that of the Philosopher, Omnis peccans est ignorans. Even in the sins of malice, ignorance hath a great stroke: for a sinner knows not well how to leave, or choose. Chrysologus saith, That the devil in tempting our Saviour, went foolishly to work; and that he had forgot the office of a Tempter. Many Saints style malice blind: For there is not any sin that treads surely, but still goes hoodwinked. The old judges in Susanna's business behaved themselves so simply, That a little child took them in a lie, and bewrayed their folly. Joseph's brethren brought the childless coat home to their father without any hole or rent, dipped in blood, and told him, A wicked beast hath devoured him. Gen. 37. This beast had torn the flesh, leaving the Coat whole. He that buried ●is Talent, when he was called to account, answered; I knew that thou wast a ha●d man, looking to reap where thou hadst not sown. If I am such a one as reap w●ere I do not ●owe, Why should I not reap where I do sow? The jews being desirous to conceal our Saviour's resurrection, did multiply an innumerarable company of fooleries; whereof Saint Augustine convinceth them. In a word, in the Sacred Scripture, the sinner in every place bears the name of a fool: but not any one folly can compare itself with this; Let us kill this man, for he doth many Miracles. jeremy saith, Dabis eis sontum ●ordis laborem ●●um. Saint Gregory the Pope saith, That by this labour is understood all that good which God did for that people, by taking flesh upon him, by being borne, by living, and by dying. All this was a labour unto him, and this labour served the people in stead of a Shield against God himself: For, they did not only make of his Miracles and benefits, Shields for to defend themselves from God, but swords, nails, whips, and thorns, for to quit God of his life. Saint Paul did bewail those Heretics, which did deny the Cross of our Saviour Christ, (being the efficacy of our remedy and redemption) and calls them enemies of the Crosse. No better doth it fare with those, being they make poison of Treacle, and matter of infirmity the means of their salvation. Saint Chrysostome saith, Philip. 3. That they are worse than Devils: for one Devil doth not persecute another, but these did persecute their best friend and benefactor. The Devils held their peace and did obey, and at the most, They went out crying and saying, Thou art the Son of God. God commanded in Exodus, That they should not boil the Kid in the milk of the Dam; and Philon expounding that place, saith, That he held it a thing unmeet and unjust, that that should be the instrument of its death which had been the beginning of its life. And it suits well with that of Gregory Nissen, who saith, That the Miracles which God doth, are man's milk, dealing with him as with a little child. This man doth many Miracles, etc. If he had been a robber on the High way, but being he came to make plain the way; If he had robbed thee of thy wealth, took away thy life, or eclipsed thine honour; but being he came to give health to thy body, to enrich thy soul, and to defend and maintain thine honour (as was to be seen in the case of the Adulteress) What can be said in your excuse? S. Augustine and S. Chrysostom pondering the ill carriage of this bu●●nes▪ Why (say they) did Esay prophesy of the Miracles of your Messias, but to the end that ye should receive him and adore him? (I pray take the pain to read over that whole chapter for your better satisfaction, which will be worth your labour: but in stead of receiving and adoring him, we have said with those Farmers in the Gospel, Let us kill the Heir, And the inheritance shall be ours. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe in him. This is another most foul folly of theirs, contrary to all Scripture. If we let him alone (say they) all will believe in him. Whereas by taking his life from him, his death (wherein they were deceived in their judgements) was to be Semen fidei, the seed of faith; and augm●●tum Ecclesia, Esay 53. The augmentation and increase of the Church. Si posuerit animam suam pro peccato, videbit semen longaewm, etc. (It is Esayes prophecy of him,) When he shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, and shall prolong his days, and the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travel of his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, etc. Let them then take away his life, and there is no Arithmetic that can sum up our happiness, and their misery. The Romans will come, and take away both our place and nation. Here is another blind consequence; if we let him live, the Romans will come and take away our place and nation. Whereas, they might rather have inferred this conclusion; The Romans will come, and they likewise will believe in him. For it is not much, That he that could convert a jew, should convert a Roman; considering that the Romans amongstall their gods had not one that could work a Miracle to win them. But suppose that the Romans should not have believed, and should have treated to destroy them; he that raised up the dead, was not he of power to resist the power of the Romans? One judith triumphed over Nabuchadnezzar. One Elisha blinded those of Syria, and led them into Samaria. One Elias consumed with fire, ahab's Quinquagenarian Captains, and their soldiers. And none of all these had the like power to that of our Saviour Christ. Besides these vain discourses, they had another no less blind and impious; If we kill him, the Romans will not come. It being rather an assured truth, that they would come only upon this, Dan. 9 as it was foretold by Daniel, The Messias shall be slain, and the people of the Prince that shall come, shall destroy the City and the Sanctuary. Had they not put our Saviour Christ to death, jerusalem had stood and continued, but having put him to death, there shall not be one stone left upon another. Simeon and Levi, Gen. 49. brethren in evil; Into their secrets let not my soul come, for in their wrath they slew a man, and in their selfe-will they digged down a wall. It was Jacob's prophecy against his two sons, Simeon and Levi, of whom these Pharisees did descend, as it is noted by Nicholas de Lyra. Let not my soul enter into their Council, for in their wrath they killed a man, and digged down a wall. All which was but a signification of their kill of our Saviour Christ, and throwing the walls of jerusalem down to the ground. Murus ante murale, Christ was the bulwark to this wall: So Esay styles him. This Council made their Country desolate, For Titus and Vespasian had not otherwise been of power to destroy it: but the Priests and the Pharisees fearful of their evil, destroyed the fountain of all goodness. The Romans will come. Great is the torment which a soul suffereth, being placed betwixt two extremes, Susanna, betwixt the fear of God, and the fear of the judges of Babylon; a damsel betwixt poverty, and the pursuit of a rich wanton: If I consent, I lose God; if not, I perish for want of food. A Physician betwixt a great weakness of body, and a double Pleurisy; if I let this sick man blood, he dies through weakness; if not let him blood, of his grief. The rich man that enjoyeth another man's goods, if I restore (saith he) I must stand without doors and beg; If not restore, hell's door stands ready open form. Coelum undique, & undique pontus: on the one side is Scylla; on the other Charybdis; So in this case (say the Pharisees) If we let this man alone, it is ill with us; if we take away his life, worse. But he that shall find himself perplexed, suffering out of his fearfulness betwixt two evils, let him not once think of thwarting God; for then, both those evils will fall upon him; as it is well observed by Saint Augustine, Saint Gregory, and Saint Basil. So stood the case now with these men, either they did believe that Christ was the Messias, or they did not believe it; if believe it, it was a notorious wickedness in them, to prefer a Temporal kingdom before the open profession of their faith. And if they did not believe it, they had no cause given them to fear any temporal harm from the Romans, but the Spiritual damage of Religion. The Prince that says, Cut off this Heresy for the conservation of my Crown, doth not make any great reckoning of his faith. What saith Saint Augustine? Quia temporale regnum spirituali praetulerunt, utrumque amiserunt, Because they preferred a temporal kingdom before a spiritual, they lost both. Experience teacheth us, That Faith and Religion conserve Kingdoms. Which Saint Chrysostome proveth unto us in his 64. Homily, jud. 5. and Achior the Ammonite notified as much to Holofernes at the siege of Bethulia. And here we may take up a just complaint against your counterfeit Christians, your dissembling Politicians, and their damnable Positions, who losing in part the name of Christians and of Catholics, bear themselves high upon the name of Politicians and Statesmen, living wondrous well contented therewith; who are a kind of cattle, that do so highly prise their Courtly carriage, their courteous behaviour and fair demeanour, that they seek to reduce the cause of Religion, and Faith, to civility and courtesy; judging all the rest mere rusticity and clownishness: alleging in their defence, That many things must yield and give way to the times; as also to dissemble with the times. And that for the public peace, which ought above all things to be esteemed, they affirm, That war ought not to be waged for matter of difference in Religion, as well because it cannot be rooted out ofmens' breasts; as also, because the obligation of Religion is not so precise a thing, that we should for the same adventure and hazard either our goods, our persons, or the peace of a State. They say, That that which doth most of all concern a Statesman, is above all things to have an eye to the good of his Country, and the profit and benefit of the people therein; but by no means to enter into a War, nor to draw too much envy upon them for cause of Religion, leaving that care to Clergymen, or to Preachers, or to God himself, Who, if the Church shall receive any injury by the new broached opinions, is able of himself to revenge his own quarrel. In a word, There is not that mere Politician or Statesman, that is not desirous to sleep in a whole skin, and to look well enough to himself for one, without thrusting himself into quarrels and contentions for points of Religion. Whence it comes to pass, that they forsake the Patrocinium and protection of the Church, and upon foul terms put the Catholic faith into their enemy's fingers. He that doth not prefer the cause of Religion before all things else whatsoever, doth not deserve the name of a Christian; for Faith, Divine Worship, and Religion, difference a Christian from a Gentile: He then that shall slight the same, and make light account of it, how shall he enjoy this name? If unto great sinners, our Saviour saith, Nescio vos, I know ye not; though they confess and esteem of faith, What will he say unto Politicians and Statesmen? The general voice of this Sect, is, Let us first regard our temporal means, be it private or public; for religion and truth, so no hurt thereby come unto us, let it shift for itself, what is it to us what hazard it runs? Summa perversio (saith Saint Augustine) frui utendis, & uti fruendis. Your Politicians set up their rest and delight in enjoying temporal goods, and in making use of spiritual goods. Pilat was a Politician, for the jews alleging unto him, If thou let this man loose, thou art not Caesar's friend; he condemned our Saviour Christ to death, preferring Caesar's friendship before Christ's life. jeroboam was a Politician, who made two cal●es for the subjects of his kingdom, that they might not go up to jerusalem. Those were Politicians, which in Saint Augustine's time enforced him to write those his books de Civit. Dei, alleging, That they had many bad years, misfortunes, and disasters for professing the Law of Christ. Those were Politicians, That knowing Christ, would not confess him openly before men, Lest they should be thrust out of the Synagogue. joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, were Politicians, for that they sought after our Saviour Christ by night, for fear of the jews. Politician's are those, of whom jeremias said, Since we have left off to burn ●●●ense to the Queen of heaven, jer. 44. and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have had scarceness of all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by famine. Against all which our Saviour Christ said, What exchange can be made for a man's soul? The temporal Monarchy of the whole world cannot be an equal Counterpoise to Religion. This Sect had its first beginning from Cain: God had revealed unto father Adam the coming of Christ; Adam unto his sons; and Cain supposing that he should lineally descend from Abel, and that he should be thrust out and disgraced, resolved to remove that block that stood in his way, preferring the temporal good of the body, before the spiritual good of the soul. The Romans will come. The harm was not hatched in Rome, but in the envy of your breasts; Private interest must give way to the general good. the general loss did not so nearly touch you, as your own private interest. There are some Governors in a Commonwealth, which apply themselves wholly to their private profit. King Don Alonso of Arragon was wont to say, That if he had been Emperor when Rome flourished, he would have built a Temple before the Capitol, where the Senators should have laid down their own particular benefit. A conceit worthy such a King, who knew very well, what Interest will work in a Governor. Moses did desire to see God's face, Exod. 33. Show me thy face: But God's answer to him was, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. The Prophet hereupon struck sail, and let his desire fall. What Moses, art thou now turned coward? What had it been to thee to have lost thy life, for to behold God face to face? We find afterwards, that desiring pardon for his People, he said unto God, O Lord pardon this People, though thou blot my name out of the book of Life. wouldst thou not forgo thy life to see God's face, and wilt thou part with this and that other life for thy people? That was a particular good, this a common; and a Governor ought mainly and especially to have an eye unto that. Those Cows which carried the Ark to Bethshemish, never turned their heads at the lowing of their Calves, because being guided & led along with the love & zeal of the common good, they forgot their particular longings and desires. He that governs, must fix his e●e upon this White, without turning it aside through the importunity of wife, children, or kinsfolk, etc. The Romans will come. This was but to give a colour to the violence of their envy and malice. All the world is a Mask or disguise. Dionysius the Tyrant entering into a Temple of Idols, took away from the chiefest amongst them a cloak of gold: and being demanded, Why he did it? his answer was, This cloak is too heavy for the Summer, and too cold for Winter. Taking likewise a golden beard from Aesculapius, he said, That his father Apollo having no beard, there was no reason his son should wear any: all which, was but a mask for his covetousness, Sim●lata sanctitas▪ duplex iniquitas. Hence come our contrary nick-naming of things, terming good, evil, and evil, good; sweet, sour, and sour, sweet. The tyranny and cruelty wherewith Pharaoh afflicted God's people, he styled it wisdom, Come let us deal wisely. jehu called that passion and spleen which he bore against Ahab, Zeal, Behold my zeal for the Lord. 4. Reg. 10. 1. Reg. 18. Those perils of life whereinto Saul put David, he proclaimed to be God's quarrel, Go and fight the Lords battles. And here the Pharisees call this their conspiracy, a Council, and their private profit, Zeal, etc. Ye perceive nothing at all, neither do ye consider, etc. This was Caiphas speech; as for joseph of Arimathea, of whom Saint Luke saith, Luk. 3. That he did not consent to the council and ●eed of them: And for Nicodemus and Gamaliel, it is very probable, that they had no finger in the business: but as it is in the proverb, The head draweth the rest of the body after it, as the Primum mobile doth the rest of the Heavens; and therefore he said, Ye know nothing: for that when in a Commonwealth a Citisen differs in his opinion from a company of impudent and wicked persons, and lives therein with God and a good conscience, presently they say, Que sabe poco, That he is a man of no understanding, and knoweth not what he speaks. The reason that Caiphas renders is this, It is expedient for us, that one man die for the people, rather than that the whole Nation should perish. At that very instant when the Highpriest was to pronounce this decree, the Holy-Ghost and the Devil moved him thereunto both at once; the one directed his heart, the other his tongue: but in Caiphas his purpose and intention, it was the wickedest Decree, and the most sacrilegious determination that was ever delivered in the World. God could not be well pleased with Caiphas for desiring the death of the Innocent; nor yet displeased with his death, for that it was decreed in the sacred Council of the blessed Trinity, That one should die for the sins of the people. But in God and Caiphas the ends were divers; this out of malice to our Saviour; that out of love to Mankind. Nor is it inconvenient, that one and the selfsame proposition should have a different sense and meaning. Destroy this Temple, and I will build it up again in three days: The Pharisees understood this of the material Temple, but our Saviour Christ, of the Temple of his body. That which thou dost, due quickly: Our Saviour Christ spoke this of judas his treating to sell him, but his Disciples understood him as concerning the preparation of the Passeover. And so in this place, It is fit that this man should die, (saith Caiphas) that we may not become captives to Rome: and Heaven saith, It is fit that he should die, because the whole World should not perish. The persecution and death of a Martyr turns to the Martyrs good, but to the Tyrant's hurt. Mat. 26. Surely the Son of man goeth his way as it is written of him, but woe be to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed, it had been good for that man if he had never been borne. Heaven could not invent a more convenient means than the death of Christ, for our good; but the world could not light on a worse means than the death of our Saviour Christ, for it's own ill. Caiphas treated of temporal liberty, the Holy Ghost of spiritual liberty; Caiphas of the safety of his own Nation, the Holy-ghost of the saving of the whole world. And therefore Saint john addeth, Non solum pro Gente, (or as the Greek Text hath it, Pro ea Gente) sed ut fili●s De●, qui erant disper●i, congregaret in unum; Not only for that Nation, but that he might gather the children of God together that were dispersed throughout the world. Origen hath observed, That Caiphas prophesied, but that he was no Prophet. First, Because one action of a Prophet doth not make the habit or denomination of a Prophet. Secondly, because he did not attain unto the sense and meaning of the Holy-Ghost, the knowledge whereof in point of prophecy is necessary. S. Ambrose saith, That Caiphas pretended one thing, & uttered another, & therefore that he sinned in the sentence which he pronounced, because hisintent was bad & unjust; as it was with Balaam, who as he was a Prophet could not curse the people of Israel, but as they were particular persons, they did sin and err: so that the Holy-Ghost serving himself with the tongue of Caiphas, as the instrument, the Highpriest did but determine that which the Holy-Ghost had before decreed. The same words out of diverse mouths may be diversely relished. Rom. 8. Whence we may take occasion to weigh and consider the good and the ill of an intention, since that one and the self same words are so good and so ill. Saint Augustine pondereth upon those words of Saint Paul, Qui filio proprio suo non pepercit, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum, Who spared not his own son, but gave him for us all to death. This word Tradidit, is verified both of the Father, and of the Son, Tradidit semetipsum pro me, He delivered up himself for me. As also of judas, Qui autem tradidit cum, dedit & signum, He gave them a sign that was to betray him. And of Pilate, Tradidit voluntati eorum, He delivered him up to their will. The delivering of him up, was all one and the same: but the Father and the Son did this out of their mercy and love to the world; but judas and Pilate, out of hatred, treason, Mat. 26. and injustice. Saint Ambrose saith, That that murmuring about the ointment [Vt quid perditio ista unguenti facta est? What needed this waste?] was uttered by judas, and the Disciples, in one and the same words: But in them they proceeded out of a good mind; but in judas, out of avarice: for the Disciples had therein a respect to the poor; For this ointment (muttered they) might have been sold for much, and been given to the poor. But judas out of the profit that he might have made thereby unto himself, by filching some of it away, if he had come to the fingering of it. Saint Hilary expounding that saying of our Saviour Christ, Pater maior me est, My Father is greater than I, saith, That it being heard from Arrius his mouth, Act. 19 it savoured like gall; but from our Saviour's mouth, like honey. In Corinth, certain Exorcists, sons of the Prince of the Priests, would take upon them to cast out an evil spirit, Pessimum, the Text styles him. Who did demand of them, Who gave you licence to execute this Office? Vos autem qui estis? What are ye? jesus I acknowledge, and Paul I know, but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was, ran on them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. Saint Paul did cast out devils in the name of the Lord jesus Christ, and these men likewise did use the name of the Lord jesus Christ: How comes it then to pass, that the success was so contrary? I answer, The intention was different. Their words were the same, but not their intent. It is expedient for us that one man dye. The natural consideration of this place, is the conveniency of Christ's death: It was expedient for heaven, earth, angels, men, as well the living as the dead. Whereof I have treated at large elsewhere. This spoke he not of himself. Saint Augustine, Hoc in eo egit propheticum Chrisma, etc. The gift of prophecy, made him to prophesy his own evil life, and that he did prophesy ignorantly and foolishly. Saint Chrysostome, Vide, quanta si● etc. The grace of prophecy, touched the high Priests mouth, but not his heart. Whence Saint Chrysostome doth infer, how impertinently the Heretics do impugn the lives of the Priests, with an intent and purpose to overthrow the force and power of Ecclesiastical dignities, and their sacred command and authority. Moses his doubting, did not hinder the gushing of the water out of the rock; nor the malice of Caiphas, God's good purpose. Of Treacle, the Physicians say, That it hath a little touch of poison in it, and it being its natural condition and property to fly to the heart, though it be hurtful one way, yet it carries its remedy with it. So in like manner, the holy Ghost made use of Caiphas his tongue, as the instrument of letting forth that divine blood, whose shedding was our salvation. Of a lewd wicked fellow Plutarch reporteth, That he uttered a very grave sentence, and that Lacedamonia gave order, that it should be ascribed to another, Answering to our à semetipso non dixit. This was not a bird of his hatching. job seemeth to be somewhat moved and offended, That God should aid the wicked in their distress, Thinkest thou it good to oppress me, and to cast off the labour of thine hands, job 10. and to favour the Council of the wicked? But the divine providence is wont to make use of the Counsels of Tyrants, and such as are enemies thereunto, but does never assist and help them forward. Saint Paul telleth us, That some did preach our Saviour Christ through envy, others for opposition sake, and by way of contention; and saith withal, In hoc gaudeo, & gaudebo, In this I do and shall rejoice. And Christ's Disciples advising him, that some did cast forth devils in his name, made them this answer, Nolite prohibere, Forbid them not, For the indignity and unworthiness in the person of the Minister, doth not destroy the grace of his function and dignity. This spoke he not of himself. From so bad a man could not come so deep a Mystery, only God could put this so rare a conceit into his head, as the delivering up of a Son, for the redeeming of a Slave. jesus therefore walked no more openly among the jews. Seeing death now near at hand, he withdrew himself; reading a Lecture therein unto us, That when we are about to die, and drawing on to our last home, we should abandon the world, and retire ourselves, Remit mihi (saith David) ut refrigerer priusquam abeam, & amplius non ero, Give me leave (o Lord) to dispose of myself, and to render thee an account of my life, before I go hence and be seen no more. For to propound your cause before a judge, you prepare and address yourself unto him before hand; and shall you be negligent and careless when you are to appear before God? Amongst the judges of the earth you have a Vista and a Revista, Preparation against death necessary. Hearing upon hearing: a primera, & segunda instancia; a first and a second instance. But with God you cannot enjoy the like benefit, his Court allows no such course. The Motto that is written there over his Tribunal, is, an Amplius non ero, I shall be no more. We may not die twice, for to amend in our second death, the errors of our former life. There is no reversing of judgement, no appealing from this judge to that, or from one Court to another. That which will concern and import thee most, is, That thou condemn thyself, before God condemn thee; and that thou kill sin in thee, before God kill thee in thy sin. This is the only way to secure danger, and to kill death. Many sit up so long at play, that at last they are fain to go to bed darkling. This our living in the world, is a kind of playing or gaming, whose bed is Eternity: Walk while ye have light, lest the night come upon you, and darkness overtake you. Study to give over th●●●lay in some good time, do not continue your sports in this world, to the very 〈…〉 stoppling out of the candle, lest ye run the danger of going to bed darkeling. He went thence into a country near unto the wilderness, etc. If it go ill with thee, and that thou canst not live well and quietly amongst some men, fly from the society of them. Our Saviour Christ hies him to the wilderness amongst the beasts, and carries his Disciples thither with him, holding their fellowship to be less hurtful and dangerous, job 30. Frater fui Draconum, saith job, I am a brother to the Dragons, and a companion to the Ostriches. Inter Scorpiones habitavi (saith Ezechiel) I dwelled among Scorpions. Albeit by their habit and shape they seem to be men, they are indeed no better than Dragons and Scorpions: and therefore of the two, it is the lesser evil to live amongst these known wild beasts, than such beastly minded men. Your Wolves that are clad in sheep's clothing, our Saviour marks out to be the utmost of evil. S. Ambrose treating of the sorrow which the stones showed at our Saviour's death, and that they were so sensible thereof that they did split in sunder, saith, That our Saviour found more pity in those stones, than in his people's breasts. Whence by the way it is to be noted, That when those that govern and sit at the helm are generally naught and wicked, it is needful then for us to fly unto the wilderness: for it is better to live with Dragons and Scorpions than with them. When there is an earthquake in the City, all haste out of it and get them into the fields. All the foundations of the earth shall be shaken; What do ye stay for then, Why do ye stand looking and gazing one on another as if you had nothing to do, when destruction is so near at hand? In a word, Daniel is cast into the Lion's Den, and the same is sealed with the Kings own Signet, not for any hurt that he had done the Lions, nor for any harm that he had done his companions and playfellows, but thrown in thither by the malice of the Princes of the people, and the judges of the land. O Lord deliver us from the oppression of powerful Princes, and the unconscionable dealing of corrupt judges. That there should be but one bad Governor, or but one bad judge, it is ill: because such a one is the fountain whereof all do drink. Si autem nequam fuerit totum corpus tuum, tenebrosum erit: But that there should be two such bad members in a Commonwealth, is a great deal worse. Of those two naughty judges that wronged Susanna, God said, Et egressa est iniquitas à babylon: Your briberies, your thefts, and your adulteries took life from them, in whom they should have died. But when the whole Bench of judges shall be bad, get thee gone into the desert, fly to the wilderness: for it is too great a boldness then, not to be as others are. He that hath a mangy hand, covers it with a cloth, binds it up close, and dissembles the matter as much as he can; but if he see other men in the same case as himself is in, he looseth all shame. The first day that a man enters into the Palace, or some place of government, etc. He saith, Dominus sit in cord meo, God be in my heart: but after some six weeks he changeth his mind, and saith, Let us make profit of our places, as others do. Birds that are free and at liberty, talk as Nature hath taught them; but being put into a Cage, prate according to the use and custom of the Country: Your Thrush of Castille, and that of Cataluna have one and the same note in the field: but in the Cage one says Deu, and the other Dios. I fear me I have troubled your patience too long, and therefore I will rather here abruptly end, than tire you our. God of his infinite goodness, etc. THE XXXVIII. SERMON, UPON THE SATURDAY AFTER PASSION SUNDAY. JOH. 12. Cogitaverunt Principes sacerdotum, ut & Lazarum interficerent. THe High Priests consulted, that they might put Lazarus to death also. This Gospel containeth divers and sundry mysteries: but the first and chiefest is, a resolution taken by the Priests to put Lazarus to death. As if God could not raise him from a violent death, who had raised him from a natural death. They thought with themselves, that Lazarus holding his life by miracle, it would be an addition of credit and reputation to our Saviour. And, as to take away his life, they had no other reason but his many Miracles, so did they likewise seek to cut off Lazarus, thinking it very unfit, that he should be a witness to make good the greatest Miracle that ever our Saivour wrought, and that by his life and words, he should notify Christ's Divinity to the jews and Gentiles that came to visit him. The High Priests consulted. God the only Lord of all. That the Devil hath the disposing of the governments and dignities of the world, is a notorious lie; though when he tempteth any, he would seem to make it have some appearance of truth. He said unto our Saviour Christ, All this will I give thee, Representing unto him a brief cosmography of all the whole world; Insinuating, That he was Lord of all, and had the bestowing of all. The like speech he used, when being asked of God, from whence he came, he answered, I am come from compassing the earth, I have rounded my Heritage. And doubtless, He that shall narrowly look into those who command and rule the greater part of the world, will (I fear me) believe, that the devil did put the same into their hands: but the truth is, That God is the sole Lord of all. S. john styles him in his Apocalyps, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and paints him forth with many Crowns upon his head, And on his head were many Crowns, Apoc. 19 in token that he hath the donation of Sceptres and Crowns. Artaxerxes styled himself the great King, and had appertaining to his Empire 127 Provinces. Nabuchadnezzar was a mighty Prince: but these and all that ever were, or shall be, are but Pigmies to God, It is God that gives and takes away Kingdoms. Per me Reges regnant, By me Kings reign. And when he divided it amongst the sons of Adam, he did limit them their bounds, beyond which they were not to pass. When the most high God divided to the nations their inheritance, Deut. 32. when he separated the sons of Adam, he appointed the borders of the people, according to the number of the children of Israel. The Statue of Nabuchadnezzar, which signified the Empires of the earth, was but a Statue in a dream, and so vanished like a dream. The Kings and Emperors of the earth, some dye, others are borne, are here to day and gone to morrow, Hodie est rex, & cras morietur. But God's Empire endureth for ever. Pliny saith, That the election of Traiane may be a sufficient argument to prove, That God setteth up Kings, not only among Christians, but the Gentiles; Suiting with that of Homer, Ex jove, Reges. This truth being supposed, some man may ask me, How comes it then to pass, that God places in that City where his name is called upon, where he hath his house and his Altar, these high Priests, who after they had decreed the death of Christ, did treat of kill Lazarus? Which difficulty is the more augmented, because for the most part, the governors of this world are naughty men; as was to be seen in the Roman Empire. Thales Milesius, the prime wise man of Greece, being demanded, what he had observed in the world to be of most difficulty? Answered, Tyrannum senem, To see a Tyrant come to be an old man. Irenaeus saith, That God setteth up some, because they are worthy to bear rule, others, because they are unworthy. But where there is a good Governor, that Commonwealth he favoureth. Phocas was a most cruel Emperor of Constantinople; whereupon a holy Monk in a corner of his Cell, thus complaineth unto God, Curio fecisti eum Imperatorem? Why didst thou make him Emperor? Who had no sooner made his moan, but he heard a voice from heaven, saying, Non inveni peiorem, I could not find a worse. In Thebes, there was a great Hypocrite, which was even ready to die out of the great desire he had to be a Bishop; who had scarce obtained that dignity, but that he fell a spoiling the Commonwealth: but an Angel told him, That he was not made Bishop because he deserved to be a Bishop, but because that Commonwealth deserved not a better Bishop. Ill Rulers sent by God to punish the people. According to that of job, He causeth the Hypocrite to reign for the sins of the land. Being all one with that which jeremy said of his people, Dabo eos inferuorem universis regnis terrae propter Manassem, filium Ezechiae. Anastasius reads it, Per Manassem. For, as a good King is a great cause, why God with a gracious eye doth look upon his people; so a bad king is the means that he useth for the punishing of them. Saint Gregory, the archbishopric of Milan being void, wrote to the Clergy, that they would oblige God by prayer and by fasting, to give them a good Pastor. For, as God is pleased with his people, so he gives them Prelates accordingly. The Queen of Sheba considering the wisdom of Solomon, 3. Reg. 10. said, That nothing did more manifest God's love towards his people of Israel, and the desire of their perpetuity, than in having given them so wise a Governor. And josephus reporteth, That he being but twelve years of age when he first began to govern, the people listening to that sentence which he gave at his first sitting in judgement, touching the two women that contested about their child, Let the infant be cut in twain; Many laughed at it, deeming it to be a childish sentence; but afterwards wisely weighing the discreet course that he had taken in justifying the truth, without any further proofs or testimonies, they then cried out, De coelo elapsus, This King is sent us down from heaven. And albeit the heavens, planets, and stars, are to man's seeming far off; yet in regard of those influences which they cause in inferior bodies, they are near at hand. And albeit they are incorruptible, yet do they afford great favours to corruptible things. If heaven behold us with a propitious eye, and the planets with prosperous aspects, the earth doth enjoy much fruitfulness and abundance. But chose, our souls are not subject to those material heavens; but to those heavens of our Prelates, and Governors. Behold, I create a new heaven, and a new earth. This may be understood of the Ecclesiastical Estate, and the Secular; of Superiors and Inferiors. When these heavens afford a prosperous light, the earth is beautiful, pleasant, plentiful, and fertile. And so on the contrary, jeremy saith, I beheld the earth, and lo it was empty, I beheld the heavens, and could see no light in them. What light then could there be in jerusalem, 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 device and drift of theirs was derived from the devil, and from hell. There are some thoughts that are engendered and bred in our flesh, as the rust in the iron, the rottenness in the wood, the moth in the cloth, and the worm and mites in butter and in cheese. Our flesh is a dirty puddle, which sends forth such foul and thick vapours from it, that if you do not make great haste to expel and drive them thence, they will quickly cloud and darken the light of the understanding. It is sick of the kitchen, the gutter, whitherall the dust and sluttishness of the senses, gathers and meets together to make such a stink and stoppage, that the water of God's grace can hardly get through, and cleanse the same; it is a most grievous and heavy burden, not only because it is so painful and intolerable, but also because it is inevitable. All the plagues of Egypt were removed by Moses his prayer, save only the flies: And these are those our thoughts and cogitations, being inexcusable, as importunate and troublesome, which are engendered in this our body of flesh. Every one bears 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 favour with his king; some, their great and strong Alliance; others, their dainty and delicious fare. And every one of these, is like unto the beast that is tied to his rack and manger, whereon his thoughts do continually feed. This is that same, Trahit sua quemque voluptas, Every man is wedded to some one kind of pleasure, or other. The Schoolmen set down two sorts of thoughts. The one, which flesh and blood produceth. The other, which are sown in us. Cogitatio innata, And, Cogitatio, ab alio lata. That which is bred in us. And that which is otherwise brought unto us. Some herbs grow up in the earth ofthemselues; others are sown: So some thoughts have their breeding in man's breast, others are sown there; and it must of force follow, that they are sown either by the devil, or by God. Of those of the devil, Saint Paul saith, Let no temptation take hold on you, but that which is humane. That the very thought of some extraordinary beauty should trouble and disquiet thee, the thought of thy Prince's favour, of Signiory, or any other temporal good, this is a humane temptation; but the kill of Lazarus, and the selling and betraying of our Saviour Christ, is a devilish temptation. And therefore Saint john saith, That the devil had put it into judas his heart, that it was he that had sown this bad seed there, and thrust this thought into him. But whether or no, this thought be of the flesh or of the devil; sure I am, that it is the general doctrine of the Saints, That we should not nourish any evil thought, nor let it like a bottom of yarn, wax warm in our hand. Esay complaineth of his people, That they conceived mischief, and brought forth iniquity; that they hatched cockatrice eggs, and wove the spider's web; that he that eateth of their eggs dyeth, and all that which is trod upon, breaketh out into a serpent. As out of an aspic's egg (saith Aristotle) being kept warm and cherished, is hatched the Basilisk; so from our thoughts, taking warmth from the heat of consent, is bred the Basilisk of sin. This is for the sheep to breed up the wolf, or to give suck to that toad which shall venom thy breast and work thy death. The Greek Text saith, Consultaverunt consilio, They did lay their heads together, they sat in Council, they did not only think upon, but consent to the greatest malice and wickedness, which ever the devil or hell could imagine, Vt Lazarum interficerent, To kill Lazarus. This is the end of our thoughts, when they are not cut off in time; Sin is so great an Usurer, that it goes daily gaining more and more ground upon man's breast, till it hath brought it to a desperate estate. They were grown to that desperation, that they said unto filthiness, I am thy servant. Saint Jerome saith, That as the covetous thirst after money; so do these after dishonesty. They are like those that go down into a deep well; they knit rope to rope, and one sin to another. Why died I not in the birth? Or why died I not when I came out of the womb? Why did the knees prevent me? And why did I suck the breasts? Wherein the Prophet painteth forth unto us the four estates of a child. The first in the womb. The second, when it is borne. Four estates of a child, and whereunto alluding. The third, when it is swaddled up. The fourth, when they give it the teat. S. Gregory doth apply these four, to the four estates of sin. The first, in the thought which conceives it. The second, in the ill which bringeth it forth. The third, when we put it on like a garment. The fourth, when we nourish and maintain it. Saint Augustine painteth forth these four estates, in these four dead folks: In the daughter of the Archisinagoguian, who stirred not from home. In the son of the widow of Naim. who was accompanied to his grave. In Lazarus, who lay four days dead. And in him, whom our Saviour Christ did not raise up at all; saying, Let the dead bury the dead. The jews were murderers of all God's Saints. They consulted to put Lazarus to death. Our Saviour's death was already concluded on, and now this cruel people treated of making away Lazarus. Of whom our Saviour Christ said, Vt descendat super vos omnis sanguis iustus à sanguine Abel, ad sanguinem Zachariae, etc. It is no marvel that they sought to kill Lazarus: for in him was summed up all the blood of the just that had been shed in the world. And the reason that makes this to seem so, is, because all the just that died in the world since Abel, were a Type and figure of Christ: And if they did die, it was to give testimony of his death; and had it not been for our Saviour Christ's death, his had not preceedd. And for that the life of the just was a shadow of that of our Saviour Christ; in taking away his life, in whom all the lives of the world were contained, they were guilty of all the rest, and as much as lay in them, were the Homicides of the whole world. And if he that carries but one man's death about him, finds no place of safety upon earth, What rest shall he find, that hath so many deaths crying upon his conscience? Saint Chrysostome treating of the sin of Cain, saith, That it was greater than that of Adam. For, besides his losing in the turning of a hand, the greatest Empire that ever the world had; we cannot imagine any sin to be greater than the barring of all mankind from heaven, the depriving him of grace, and of the friendship of God: yet notwithstanding, this seemeth to be the greater, and he proveth it by the sentence that was given upon the one sin & the other. God sentencing Adam, said, Cursed is the earth for thy sake, etc. The blow of the curse was to fall upon Adam; and as the father which makes show to throw the candlestick at his son's head, but flings it against the next wall; so God says, Cursed is the earth for thy sake. But with the Serpent, and with Cain, he proceeded otherwise. To the Serpent he said, Thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field, upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. To Cain, Thou art cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth, to receive thy brother's blood from thine hand, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength, etc. He did not forbid him to tread upon the earth, but he forbade him to enjoy the fruits thereof, etc. Secondly, The voice of thy brother's blood cryeth unto me from the earth. Saint Ambrose saith, That he heard the voice of Abel; for with God, the dead speak as well as the living. The Hebrew hath it, The voice of bloods; putting it in the plural number (as Lyra hath noted it:) For he had shed so many bloods as Abel might have had children. For, albeit they had neither being nor life in themselves, yet they might in their cause and beginning: It cries to me from the earth. Not from his body, for though thy brother should have forgiven thee, yet the earth would not pardon thee, to see itself violated by a Traitor. And if God would have but given way thereunto, a thousand mouths would have opened to swallow thee up alive; but being he would not consent thereunto, it goes choking those seeds which might have served thee for thy sustenance and delight; and shaking thee off from thence like a banished man, this Writ is gone out against thee, A vagabond and runagate shalt thou be upon the earth. Thirdly, All the superior and inferior creatures were to be his persecutors and his tormentors; the heavens with thunder and lightning; the Angels with fearful apparitions; the beasts of the woods, and men, shunning his company; and God himself chastising him with a continual trembling. But some will say, How could God persecute him, since he published a Proclamation, That whosoever should kill Cain, should be punished sevenfold, Sextuplum punietur: The Seventie Interpreters render it, Septem vindictas exoluet, Seven several revenges shall be taken of him. Procopius answers hereunto, That this Proclamation was made against Cain; For, a man cursed by God, persecuted by heaven, by earth, by Angels, by men, by beasts, and by himself, would have held it a happiness to dye; but God would not that he should enjoy so great a blessing: But that he should live seven generations, and that in every one of them, God would take severe vengeance of him, Septem vindictas exoluet; till that Lamech should come, who gave him a sudden and violent death. And this is a notable place against all kind of murderers, and man slayers. David would not drink of the water, though he were thirsty, which his soldiers brought him, because it had cost them the hazard of their lives; and therefore offered it up in sacrifice to God. They did pour forth innocent blood like water in the siege of jerusalem. David did shed the water, because it seemed to him to be blood; and others shed blood as if it were but water: some take blood for water, and others, water for blood. Cogitaverunt, ut Lazarum interficerent. Esay 59 They consulted to put Lazarus to death. This their rage and fury can not be sufficiently endeared. Esay saith, We roar all like bears, and mourn like doves. These are both extremes. The Bear is a very furious beast, the Dove very mild and gentle; the one doth shake the mountains with his roar, the other scarce throbs forth her mournings from her breast; the one, if you rob her of her young ones, is all rage and fierceness itself, Like a Bear robbed of her Whelps; the other is softness and gentleness itself, who if you take away her young, useth no other resistance but mourning, and a soft murmuring; and therefore Osee saith, that she hath no heart. It was noted of this people, That they were like doves that mourned with their friends, but like furious bears towards their enemies. What greater fury than to seek to kill Lazarus? What madness more notorious? Marsilius Ficinus saith, That there is a twofold madness. One, of the brain. A twofold madness. The other of the heart. The one long, the other short. The one makes men mad, the other angry. Aulus Gellius reporteth of the Sclavonians, That when they are angry, they kill (like the Basilisk) with their very looks. Ecclesiasticus saith, Eccl. 30. That Envy and Wrath shorten the life, and bring age before the time. Solomon saith, That three things move the earth, and that the fourth is not to be endured; pointing out the fourth to be a Slave, that is made his Master's heir: for a Slave being seated in honour, grows to be so insolent, that it is a thing insufferable. Better may this be verified of the appetite, which being a Slave, if it once through wrath rebel against reason, it treads it under foot, captivates it, and ill entreats it. Because that for his sake, many of the jews went away and believed in jesus. One of the greatest miseries that can befall a soul, To take occasion from good to do ill, is hellish malice. is, To make good, the occasion of ill. As one of the greatest pledges of God's love, is, to take occasion from ill, to do good; so one of the greatest pledges of malice, is, to take occasion from good, to do ill. God gave unto the children of Israel the gold and silver of the Egyptians (whether it were in requital and payment of their troubles, or that he was Lord of all, and so might dispose thereof as he listed;) and of this gold and silver they afterwards made a calf, giving thereunto that glory and worship which was due only unto God. Osee saith, they did the like with Baal, I multiplied their silver and gold, Osee 2. which they bestowed upon Baal. God gave them a brazen Serpent, to the end that by looking thereon, they might be healed of the bitings of the Serpents: From this favour, they took occasion to commit Idolatry, 4. Reg. 18. offering incense thereunto, as unto God, till such time as Ezechias broke it in pieces. God doth proceed by contrary courses: From Adam's sin he took occasion to redeem the world; and (as it seemeth to Saint Augustine) if Adam had not sinned, God had not come in person to redeem him. And Saint Gregory calls it Foelix peccatum, A happy sin; because it brought with it so sovereign a Redeemer. And in many other occasions, we may say that of a sinner, which Esay saith, Recepit de manu domini duplicia pro omnibus peccatis suis. And that which David saith ofan ungrateful people, Pro iniquitate, vide tentoria Aethiopiae. He there sums up the many and great favours which he had received; and in every one of them we shall find, pro iniquitate. They consulted to put Lazarus to death. The blank and mark whereat they shot, was to darken and eclipse the name of our Saviour Christ, and to cast a cloud over that glory which could not possibly but show itself, in seeing Lazarus to be raised up from death unto life. This damage the Lord did repair with two great honours. The first, That most solemn triumph wherewith they received him, whereof we shall treat hereafter. The second, of certain Gentiles which came according to the custom to the feast. Leo the Pope saith, That the Romans made a religion of it to adore the several gods of all Nations; and therefore they entreated Saint Philip, that he would be a means that they might have a sight of our Saviour Christ, and that they might be admitted to speak with him: Saint Philip communicated this matter with Saint Andrew, and they both acquainted our Saviour therewith. And jesus answered, The hour is now come, that the Son of man shall be made manifest. The Apostles did not understand the mystery thereof: but our Saviour Christ took that his coming to be the despertador de su muerte, the awaker and reviuer of his death: For although he employed both his life and his person in Israel, yet his death was to draw the Gentiles to his knowledge and obedience. And these Gentiles being so desirous to see him, and to talk with him; taking this to be the vigil of his death, and vocation of the Gentiles; He told them, Now is the hour come, wherein the Son of man is to be glorified, not only amongst the jews, but the Gentiles also. He calls his death his glorification. For, albeit to dye, be weakness, yet to dye as Christ died, was unspeakable valour, and virtue. Christ's death his glorification. He never showed himself more strong, than when he was most weak; and never looked sweeter than when death was in his face. He had horns coming out of his hands, And there was the hiding of his power. Abacuc. 3. Those hands which were nailed to those arms of the Cross, were those horns wherewith he overthrew the power of the world, and of hell. jacob said of Simeon and Levi at the hour of his death, In their selfe-will they digged down a wall, which the Seventie translate thus, Eneruaverunt taurum, They weakened a Bull: By this bull, Christ why called a Bull. understanding our Saviour Christ. First, for its beauty, Quasi primogeniti tauri pulchritudo eius, Deut 33. His beauty shall be like his first borne bullock. Secondly, For that as the bulls strength lies in his horns, so did Christ discover his strength upon the Cross, Ibi abscondita est fortitudo eius. Thirdly, because (according unto Pliny) the Bull looseth his fierceness, when he but sees the shadow of the Figtree: And our Saviour Christ showed himself most weak, when he saw the shadow of the Cross, desiring pardon then of his Father for his enemies, who like dogs against a Bull, had with open mouth set themselves against him, Many dogs are come about me. Psal. 32. But he repaid (though not allayed) their rage with this so loving and so sweet a prayer, Father forgive them, etc. The Pharisees seeing themselves thus mocked and deluded, and that their plots and intentions took not effect, they broke forth and said, Perceive ye not, how we prevail nothing? and how that the world goeth after him? And albeit Saint Chrysostome saith, That these speeches were uttered by his friends, thereby to persuade the Pharisees that they should not tire out themselves any longer in persecuting of him, seeing it was to no end, but all went cross with them; Saint August. yet saith, That they were the speeches of his enemies, which bemoaned their own disgrace and misfortune. There could not be any blindness more foul and beastly, than that of the high Priests and Pharisees; who having had so many trials, how little their power and their tricks could prevail against our Saviour Christ, that all this while they could not perceive that this was God's business, against which, nor counsel, nor wisdom can prevail. Saint Peter preaching Christ's resurrection, the high Priests and Pharisees called him before them, notifying unto him, That he should not any more touch upon that point: but he told them, That he was bound rather to obey God than man. And perceiving his resolution, Dissecabantur cordibus suis, They burst for anger when they heard it, and consulted to slay both him and his companions. But Gamaliel a Doctor of the Law, being there present, and one that was honoured of all the people, advised those that sat there in Council, Act. 5. to put the Apostles forth for a little space out of the Council house: which done, he then said unto them, Men of Israel be well advised what ye do concerning these men: Time will prove whether this be a Truth or a Lie that these men utter. It is not long since that one The●des boasted himself to be a Prophet, who was followed by some four hundred Disciples, but in the end he was condemned to death, and they all which obeyed him were scattered and brought to nought. After this man, rose up judas of Galilee, and drew away much people after him, but he in the end also perished and all his followers. And therefore I now say unto ye, forbear a while, and refrain yourselves from these men, and let them alone: For if this their doctrine be of men, it will come to nought; but if it be of God ye cannot destroy it. In a word, Time will bring this to light: but to go about to take away their lives now from them, were to set yourselves to fight against God. The like did the Prince of the Ammonits deliver to Nebuchadnezzars Lieutenant General, at the Siege of Bethulia; If God favour and protect this people, all Nebuchadnezzars forces are not able to subdue them. And this was that which made job so confident, Be thou on my side, and let all the world be against me, I care not. Saul did use all his best endeavours, and employed all the force and strength he had, to work David's death, one while in his own person, seeking to nail him with his Spear to the wall; another while by setting upon him with his soldiers; but never yet could the power of a King prevail without God's permission, against a silly fly. God's protection is above all his works: so the Princes of the earth, the high Priests, the Pharisees, the Clergy, and the Laiety, did cry out against Christ, but were forced to say in the end, We prevail nothing at all. They were strangely blinded, that they could not perceive God's power herein. Lord so open our eyes that we may see the light of thy glorious Gospel. To whom, etc. THE XXXIX. SERMON. MAT. 26. MARC. 14. LUC. 22. JOH. 18. Of St. Peter's Denial, and Tears. OF Peter's denial, there are two opinions, as opposite, as false. Two opinions concerning Peter's denial. The one, That Peter had lost his Faith. Grounding the same upon the testimony of Saint Ambrose, Postquam Petrus fidem se perdidisse defluit, maiorem gratiam reperit, quam ami●it, After that Peter had bewailed his lost faith, the grace he found was more than that he lost. And in that our Saviour's reprehension to his Disciples at his departure to heaven, He reproved their unbelief and hardness of heart, Where he excepted not Peter. Mar. 16. This opinion is primarily contrary to those words of our Saviour Christ, I have prayed for thee (Peter) that thy faith might not fail thee. Luk. 22. Secondly, it is contrary to natural reason. For, to pass suddenly from one extreme to another, though God doth it by extraordinary ways, yet neither Nature, nor Art, nor the Devil doth it, be it either from ill to good, or from good to ill. Nemo repentè turpissimus, said the Poet. The sanctity of Peter sure was one of the greatest; and to pass suddenly from a Saint, to an Infidel, (which is numbered amongst those sins that are the most heinous) it cannot sink into my head. Besides, Faith is like unto your Ermine, who had rather mori, quam foedari; rather die, than dirty itself. And therefore Faith is clothed in white; a colour wherein the least spot or soil shows foulest. Corresponding with that of Saint Paul, Having the mystery of faith in a pure conscience. The conscience wherein Faith is to reside, must be pure and clean: and as it goes soiling, so it goes lessening and losing itself. And as is the blood of the soul, and the last humour which is vomited forth, as it is to be seen in those that are sea-sick; so is it in the virtues of Faith, Peruenit gladius (saith jeremy) usque ad animam, The sword hath entered even unto my soul. Saint Jerome, That the sword is come unto the soul, Quando nihil in anima vitale reseruatur, When there is not any vital thing that is reserved in the soul, when all goodness is gone out of it. How Peter may be said to have lost his faith. But Saint Peter was not come to that desperate pass, his case was far otherwise. And if Saint Ambrose say, That he lost his Faith, he understood thereby, that loyalty and fidelity which Peter ought better to have kept, or that confession of his faith, which upon that occasion he was bound to have made; according to that of Saint Paul, With the heart we believe unto righteousness, but with the mouth we confess unto salvation. And for that reprehension which our Saviour Christ bestowed upon his Disciples at his departure for heaven, Of Peter's Fall. it is a clear case, that it was not directed to Peter, as appear by the words following, where it is said, That the rest, when they were told by the women that he was risen from the dead, it seemed unto them as a feigned thing, neither believed they them: But Peter was one of the first that ran unto our Saviour's Sepulchre, and revealed to the rest the glorious resurrection of his Lord and Saviour. Other Doctors excusing Peter, say, That in this Denial, he spoke Amphibologically, his words carrying a doubtful or double meaning, and yet might admit a good construction; and this opinion S. Ambrose, S. Hilary, and S. Cyril touched upon: but the truth is, that S. Peter did grievously sin therein, and that he had lost his love, but not his faith. The occasions of it. Some treating of the occasions that made God to turn his eye from Peter, some (they say) were on Peter's part, others on our Saviour's. And the first and chiefest occasion was Saint Peter's confidence and presumption. Saint Ambrose professeth, Quod non erat humanae infirmitatis, sed divina potestatis, That it was not so much out of humane fra●ltie as divine power; Such a thing, that all the strength and force of humane weakness could not perform. Leo the Pope, Haesi●are permissus est, ut nemo auderet de sua virtute confidere, He suffered him to stagger, that no man might dare to rely upon his own strength; Using it as a calling-card for confident Presumists. Saint Augustine expounding that place of the Proverbs, Neque declines ad dextram, neque ad sinistram, Do not decline neither to the right hand, nor the left, doth put the difficulty in declining to the right hand. We do acknowledge two ways in this our earthly pilgrimage. One of life. The other of death. That it is a dangerous piece of business to decline to the way of death, it is a clear case; but to the way of life, very dark and intricate. S. Jerome saith, That the just man should have a care not to decline to the right hand, because he may chance to offend God out of his double diligence, as Vzza did, in staying the Ark, lest it might fall to the ground. Saint Augustine saith, That our best service may be unacceptable, if not sinful, through our own presumption. And so did Peter sin, presuming on his own proper valour, and settled resolution: which made our Saviour Christ say unto him, Thou shalt deny me thrice; and he replied thrice, Rather than I will deny thee, I will dye a thousand deaths. O Lord, either thou tellest me thus out of the fear of my weakness, or to try me what I will do, I have but one life to lose, If need were I would dye with thee, etc. He promised that which was not in the power of his strength to perform. Man promiseth he knows not what, because he knows not himself. The Angel knew not what would follow: for had he had this knowledge at the first, that alone would have lessened his contempt. Adam knew by revelation, That his marriage did represent that of our Saviour Christ with his Church; but he knew not the Media, or means that led thereunto. Saint Peter would never have presumed so much on himself, had he known what would have followed thereupon: So that he promised that which he was not possibly able to perform. But if presuming on our Saviour Christ's favour, he had told the wench that stood at the door, I am one of Christ's Disciples, and I will lay down my life for the testimony of his truth, and mine own faith; he had secured his life: For it was not possible that our Saviour Christ should be false of his word, If ye seek me, suffer these first to go their way. But evermore those men that most presume, are most deceived. Pharaoh pursued the children of Israel, boasting as he went, I will not leave a man of them alive, I will at once make an end of these Slaves: But this presumption of his succeeded so ill with him, that he and all his were made food for fishes, They su●ke like lead to the bottom of the sea. And anon after it is said, Thy wrath did devour them, as the fire consumeth the straw. They perished first like lead, because they descended even to the bottom of the sea: and they perished like straw, because they afterwards floated above water; to the end that the children of Israel might behold in their drowned bodies, the powerful hand of God. That proud Philistim Goliath, vaunted himself, and cried out unto David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the field. He was an able and a valiant man, but his valour was nothing answerable to his arrogancy and presumption, so that for all his great brags, himself was made a prey for the Vultures. God would have his friends to be valiant, yet cowards; weak, yet strong; fearful, and yet confident: and, that the one should grow from the consideration of their own weakness; and the other, from their affiance in God. Moses fled (being afraid) from the Serpent; but being animated by God, he was so bold, as to take him by the tail. Tobias out of fear, fled from the fish, but encouraged by the Angel, he set upon him, and was strong enough to tear his jaws in sunder. And therefore Saint Paul saith, All things are possible unto me, in him that is my strength and my comforter. And he might as well have said, Without God I can do nothing, In deo meo (saith David) transgrediar murum, In my God, I will leap over a wall; Whereas without him, he is not able to crawl over a Threshold. The Scribes and Pharisees did presume that they should enjoy those former good times and golden ages of their great grandfathers and forefathers; but they were not confederate with them in shedding the blood of the Prophets, and therefore our Saviour made them this answer, Behold, Ma●. 23. I send unto you Prophets and wise men, and Scribes, and of them ye shall kill and crucify. And of them shall ye scourge in the Synagogues, and persecute from City to City; that upon you may come all the righteous blood that was shed upon earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous, unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the Temple and the Altar. And yet ye are not ashamed to say, That if ye had been in the days of your fathers, ye would not have been partners with them in the blood of the Prophets. Benadab king of Syria boasting much of his power, he of Israel answered him, Let not him that girdeth his harness, 3. Reg. 20. boast himself as he that putteth it off; He that fights for the victory, let him not glory as he that hath got the victory: for the success of war is doubtful. The like judgement ought every one to make of the victory and the war that is waged with the soul; which whilst it liveth in this mortal body, cannot assure itself; so various and doubtful are the successes of this war. When jacob had some difference with his father in Law about the Idols which Rachel had stolen, Gen. 31. he told him, Except the God of my father Abraham, & the fear of Isaac, had been with me, etc. The Commentators here question it, why jacob did not as well say, the God of Isaac, as of Abraham? And Paulus Burgensis answers thereunto out of the opinion of the Hebrews, That God was never called the God of any man, God not called the God of any man, while he liveth. whilst that man was living: because he doth not then enjoy a sure estate. And therefore in regard that Abraham was dead, and Isaac living, he said, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac. After that brave resolution which Abraham had to sacrifice his son, God said unto him, Now I know that thou fearest God. But here another doubt now offers itself, That Abraham having shown such a great and extraordinary token of his love, why God did not say unto him, I now know that thou lovest God. The reason is, That when a just man comes to the top and height of his love, he may presume of himself, that he hath then begun to love. And, for that fear is the first step to love, he said, Nunc cognovi quod timeas, etc. By the whole drift of this discourse, that conclusion of Ecclesiasticus remaineth clear, Lift not thyself up in the thought of thy soul, like the Bull. Let not thy thoughts and hopes make thee do the things that are vain and foolish. He instances in the bull, an untamed beast, which doth not acknowledge heaven. Why wilt thou leave thy leaves and thy fruit, and remain like a dotard in the desert? job saith, job 4. If he laid folly on his Angels, how much more on them that live in houses of clay? If in the purest steel, he found rust, and in the finest cloth the Moth, etc. S. Augustine saith, Nullum peccatum facit homo, quod non possit facere alter homo, si desit rector, per quem factus est homo, Man doth not commit that sin, which another may not ●oe, if that Ruler do not direct man, by whom man is made. Truth's seldom heard in Prince's Courts. The second occasion on Peter's part, was the Palace of Caiphas. Saint Ambrose saith, That Peter coming to warm himself at the Palace, came to deny the truth. For where Truth itself was taken prisoner, he had need of a great deal of courage, that should not incline to a lie. Aeneas Silvius reporteth, That Frederick Archduke of Austria, would go a nights disguised through the Taverns and Victualling houses belonging to the Court, only to hear what they said of himself, and his Ministers; & being demanded, why he did expose his person to that peril? his answer was, Because in Court they never tell truth. Plutarch recounteth of King Antiochus, That having lost himself a hunting, he lighted upon a Cottage where were a company of shepherds, and ask them being at supper, What the world said of the King and his Ministers? The King (said they) hath the report of a good honest gentleman, but that the State was never worse governed than now, for it is served by the greediest and the gripingest Ministers that were in the world: and when he came back again to Court, he told those that were about him; Since I first took possession of this my Kingdom, I never heard the truth of things till yesterday. Amongst four hundred Prophets, which Ahab consulted, 3. Reg. 22. only he met with one that would not lie unto him, and the King hated him for telling him the truth. Saint Ambrose calls the Palace, Basilica, deriving it from the Basilisk, which kills with its look. Of this creature Aelian saith, That he vomiteth forth his poison upon a stone: And it fits well for Peter, whom our Saviour Christ termed Petram; upon whom the devil (whom the Scripture styles a Basilisk) vomited forth his poison. Our Saviour Christ received much kindness and courtesy in the house of Martha, of Zacheus, and the Pharisee; but in Herod's Palace they made a fool of him; In that of Pilate, they whipped him, and crowned him with thorns; and in that of Caiphas he received so many affronts, that God only knows what they were: according to that which David said in his name, Tu scis impropirum meum, & confusionem meam. The third occasion was, That he would enter into the Palace, by being brought in by the hands of a woman. S. Peter's sin like that of Adam. Saint Bernard saith, Si infidelitas intrat, quid mirum, si infideliter agate? Maximus Tirronensis saith, That Peter's sin was much like unto that of Adam: there being employed in both of them, a man, a woman, and a devil. Adam had a warning not to eat, Peter not to deny: Eve was the occasion that Adam did eat; and Cayphas maid-servant, that Peter did deny. In a word, a woman was the instrument of all our deaths, and threw down to the ground those two Columbs and pillars of the world: but Peter's fall was the fouler, for Eve proceeded with enticements and flatteries, and Adam suffered himself to be overcome, Ne contristaret delitias, Lest he should grieve his Love.. But this woman (saith Saint Augustine) proceeded with threatenings; now a woman is very powerful in matter of allurements, enticings, dalliance, and deceiving, through profession of love: but in matter of fear (as Saint Gregory hath observed) she is very weak. A woman triumphed over Samson, David, Solomon, Sisera, and Holophernes, by making love, and using deceit: but here a maid, with only a bunch of keys hanging at her girdle, triumphed over Peter, by fear. The fourth occasion was, Saint Peter's offering to thrust into the Palace. joseph could not avoid the occasion, because his Mistress called him unto her; David did cast his eye aside by chance: but Peter did seek occasion, And he that loves anger shall perish by it. He doth not say, He that loves war or victory, but he that loves danger. Many of the children of Israel did cut off the thumbs from their fingers, because they would excuse themselves from profanation, by singing the songs of Zion; and being importuned thereunto, Sing unto us one of the songs of Zion; They answered, How shall we sing one of the Lords songs in a strange land, etc. Osee saith, Non vocabis me ultra Baalim, sed vocabis me vir meus. Baalim is the same, as Vir meus, But because there was an Idol that was called Baalim, God said, Do not call me Baalim; to the end that no man may presume that thou yet bearest Baalim still in thy mind, or for to take all occasion from thee, of thinking thereof any more. On God's part there are likewise very good reasons. Man bya sight of his own weakness is taught to pity an others. The first shall be of Saint Gregory. Saint Peter being to be a Pastor, it was fit that he should fall into so foul a fault, lest that afterwards he should be scandalised by other men's offences, and carry too sharp and hard a hand towards sinners. Saint Augustine touches upon the same reason, in his books de Civitate Dei, persuading the Bishops of Galilea, Reason's why Christ suffered Peter to deny him. That Clemency should sway more with them, than severity; love, than power; softness, than sharpness; for, there is no man that lives without sin. And if our Saviour Christ should have censured Peter after his first denial, he would not have reaped from thence so much fruit, as now he did. The second shall be of Saint August. who says, That it is a wholesome medicine for a proud man, to suffer him to fall into some grievous and manifest sin; to the end, that the foulness of that fault may abate his pride. Saint Peter was so peremptory and so presumptuous, that he did press this point with such a deal of confidence and boldness, that he told his Master, Though that all men shall be offended by thee, yet will I never be offended. M●t. 26. And Christ then telling him that he should deny him thrice, he presently replied thereupon; Though I should dye with thee, yet will I not deny thee: but you see how this his courage was afterwards cooled. Which presumption of his, when he saw his great weakness, he humbly bewailed with many a bitter tear, which turned to his exceeding great good. And this reason is confirmed by Saint Chrysostome, who saith, That God permitted Peter to deny his Master, that he might thereby learn to rely more upon God, than himself. Saint Peter gave less credit to Christ's words, than his own resolution: but the success thereof did put him out of his error. Leo the Pope saith, That God did suffer Peter thus to fall, that the holiest might take heed not to trust too much to their own strength. Euthimius further addeth, that this negation of his, was as it were a Fiador, or surety, against any boasting or glorying in those so many miracles, which were afterwards to be wrought by Peter. Saint Paul saith of himself, That the pricks that he had in his flesh, did serve as so many Piguelas or lines to your hawks jesses, that he might not sore too high, being puffed up with these his many revelations, Ne magnitudo revelationum extollat me. The third shall be of Leo the Pope, who saith, That God did permit in Peter so great a sin, Vt in Ecclesia remedium poenitentiae conderetur, For the better founding and establishing in the Church, the authority and efficacy of repentance. The like reason is rendered by Saint Jerome, By Peter's fall (saith he) was manifested the virtue of repentance, against the poison of sin: which is all one with that of Saint Paul; I was a blasphemer, a persecuter, etc. And God was content to give way thereunto, for the better instruction of those that were to believe hereafter. He that makes treacle, tries it first upon his own child, etc. God sent jeremy to the Potter's shop, that he might see how the broken vessel was to be new moulded again, and come out better than before. And shall not I be able to do as much with you, as the Potter with his clay? Where it is to be noted, That as the clay oftentimes receives a better form and fashion than at first, and for more honourable use: So (saith Saint Chrysostome and Euthymius) Peter was made much the better by this. First, because it was a very good warning unto him, not to presume any more on himself. And therefore Christ ask him whether he loved him? He durst neither say I nor no. Secondly, because God pardoning this his disloyalty, it was but a further inflaming of his love, and setting his heart more on fire in the zeal of his service; according to that saying of our Saviour Christ, He little loves to whom little is forgiven. In a word, it was a fulfilling of Abacucs prophecy, If thou didst heretofore tread one step in the way of death, thou shalt now tread ten for it in the way of life. Peter more injurious to Christ, than all his enemies Psal. 142. 〈◊〉 ●. 12 Then he began to curse himself, and to swear, &c, This his negation or denial, was foretold by David, I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was none that would know me. As also by jeremy, They have denied the Lord, and said it is not he. S. Peter had learned in the school of Christ, Let your Communication be yea, yea, and nay, nay. The maid asked him if he were not one of Christ's Disciples, He answered, I am not. But she replied unto him, Thou art; For thy speech doth bewray thee. But he, that he might avoid all spies, or any further inquiry, Began to fall a cursing, etc. How now Peter? Art thou well in thy wits? knowest thou what thou dost? Thou that sawst thy Saviour so glorious in Tabor, Thou that confessedst him to be the Son of the living God, Thou, whom he called, together with thy brother Andrew, to be fishers of men; Thou, to whom he stretched forth his hand in the sea, to save thee from drowning; dost thou not know him? I know him not. O Peter lament thy ignorance, for thou hast been more cruel to thy Master than all they that conspired against him, and laid their heads together to torment him: for as for them, some bound his hands, others his neck, others spat in his face, these buffeted him, those plaited thorns on his head, others pulled him by the beard, and tugged him by the hair, one pierced his side; but thou didst run him through the heart. O Peter (saith Saint Augustine) What is become of your courage now? What, of your great brags? What of this your protestation and strong resolution, I will lay down my life for thee? And of that your, Why should I not follow thee, and die with thee? There was no torment that troubled job so much, as that his friends should forsake him, My friends and familiar acquaintance stood afar off from me. David was not so sensible of any of all his persecutions, as that of his son Absalon; And julius Caesar took it not half so tenderly at any of the other Traitor's hands, as of his son Brutus, and therefore said unto him when he stabbed him, Et tu quoque Brute? Ha Brutus art thou in this Conspiracy? Gentiles and jews, ecclesiastics and Seculars, Patritians and plebeians, did all conspire against Christ; but none of those injuries that they offered him, touched his heart so near as Peter's Denial of him. That judas should sell him, betray him, and deliver him up into his enemy's hands; that the high Priests, Herod and Pilate should desire his death, and consent thereunto, it was nothing, because they hated him and were his professed enemies: But that Peter should deny him, to whom he had made such glorious promises, and having so often made offer unto him of his life, that he should play the Renegado, and deal thus and thus, etc. Then the Lord turned back, and looked upon Peter, and Peter went out and wept bitterly. Saint Luke like a good Painter draws me Peter first with a coal, but now he gives him his more lively colours. The first variegation and garnishment that he gives this piece, was, our Saviour Christ's looking back upon Peter: How he looked on him, we have handled elsewhere. The effect, which this his looking on him wrought, was the making of his heart to melt like wax; and the turning of Christ's eye, the turning of Peter's eyes into two fountains. The Astrologers say, That he that is borne in the aspect of Mars, is stern and cruel; in that of jupiter, merciful and courteous; in that of Mercury, industrous and eloquent. The beams of the sun enlighten the air, dispellclouds, fertilise the fields, breeds pearls in the shells of the rivers, coral in the bottom of the sea, gold, silver, and other metals in the veins of the earth, and like a well ordered clock, governs all the world. What shall the Son of righteousness do then with the beams of his Eyes? Sidonius Apolinaris reports of those of Thracia, The power of Christ's eyes. That for to signify the virtue and power of the eyes of our Saviour Christ, they did paint a sun, whence three Rays, or bright-shining beams broke forth: the one, raising up one that was dead; the other did break a stony heart; and the third did melt a snowy mountain; and the Motto was this, Oculi Dei, ad nos. The beams of Christ's eyes raise up the dead, break rocks, and melt snow, A fancy tua (saith Esay) montes defluent. The fire which they hid in the transmigration of Babylon, the children of Israel found at their return, turned into water; but exposing it to the beams of the sun, it grew again to be fire, to the great admiration of the beholders: which is a figure of Saint Peter, who through his coldness became water, but the beams of the Son of righteousness, raised a great fire out of this water. Pliny reports of certain stones in Phrygia, that being beaten upon by the beams of the sun, send forth drops of water: But the beams of the Son of righteousness did not only from this Petra, or stone Saint Peter, draw tears, but whole rivers of water. According to that of David, Psal. 114. Which turneth the rock into water-pooles, and the flint into a fountain of water. Saint Ambrose seemeth to stand somewhat upon it, why Peter did not ask forgiveness of his sins at God's hands? Inuenio (saith he) quod fleverit, non invenio quid dixerit; lachrymas lego, satisfactionem non lego; I find that he wept, but do not find what he said; I read his tears, but read not his satisfaction. The reasons of this his silence, and that he did not crave pardon of God by word of mouth, are these: First, because he had run himself into discredit by his rash offers, and afterwards by his stiff denial; and therefore thought with himself, That it was not possible for him to express more affection with his mouth, than he had uttered heretofore, Etiam si oportuerit me mori tecum, non te negabo, etc. And that tongue which had denied him, to whom it had given so good an assurance, could never (as he thought) deserve to be believed. And therefore our Saviour questioning him afterwards concerning his love, he durst not answer more than this, Thou knowest, o Lord, whether I love thee or no. Secondly, he asks not pardon by words, because the pledges of the heart are so sure, that they admit no deceit. And for that, Lachryma sunt cordis sanguis, Tears are the heart's blood; S. Ambrose therefore saith, Lachrymarun preces, utiliores sunt, quam sermonum; quia sermo in precando fortè fallit, lachryma omnino non fallit: The prayers of tears are more profitable, than of words; for words in praying, may now and then deceive us, but tears never. S. Chrysostome saith, That our sins are set down in the Table-book of God's memory; but that tears are the sponge which blotteth them out. And endearing the force of tears, he saith, That in Christ's soldier, the noblest Act that he can do, is to shed his blood in his service, Maiorem charitatem nemo habet, etc. For what our blood shed for Christ, effecteth; that doth our tears for our sins. Marry Magdalen did not shed her blood, but she shed her tears: And Saint Peter did not now shed blood, but he shed tears; which were so powerful, that after that he had wept, he was trusted with a part of the government of the Church; who before he had wept, had not government of himself: The efficacy of Tears. for tears cure our wounds, cheer our souls, ease the conscience, and please God, O lachryma humilis (saith Saint Jerome) tuum est regnum, etc. O humble Tear, thine is the kingdom, thine is the power, thou fearest not the judge's Tribunal, thou inioynest silence to thine accusers: if thou enter empty, thou dost not go out empty; thou subduest the invincible, and bindest the omnipotent. Hence it is that the devil beareth such envy to our Tears. When Holofernes had dried up the fountains of Bethulia, he held the City his: and the Devil when he shall come to dry up the tears in our eyes, when he hath stopped up those waters that should flow from the soul of a sinner, he hopes he is his. Elian of Tryphon, the Tyrant, reports of this one unheard-of cruelty: Fearing his Subjects would conspire against him, he made a public Edict, that they should not talk one with another; and being thus debarred of talking one with another, they did look very pitifully one upon another, communicating their minds by their eyes. And being forbid by a second Edict, that they should not so much as look one upon another, when they saw they were restrained of that liberty likewise, wheresoever they met one another, they fell a weeping. This seemed to the Tyrant the damnablest and most dangerous conspiracy of all the rest, and resolved to put them to death. The devil is afraid of our words, afraid of our affections, but much more afraid of our tears. O Lord so mollify our sinful hearts, that whensoever we offend thee, our words, our affections, and our tears, may in all devotion and humility present themselves before thee, craving pardon for our sins. Which we beseech thee to grant us for thy dear Son Christ jesus sake. To whom with the holy Spirit, be all praise, honour, and glory, etc. THE XL. SERMON. The Conversion of the good Thief. MAT. 27. Cum eo crucifixi sunt duo Latrones, unus a dextris, & alter a sinistris. There were crucified with him two thieves, one at his right hand, an other on his left. THere are three most notable Conversions, which the Church doth celebrate. That of Saint Paul. That of Mary Magdalen. That of the good Thief. The one, living here upon earth. The other, now reigning in heaven. The third, dying upon the Crosse. Of all the rest, this seemeth to be the most prodigious and most strange. First, because Mary Magdalen saw many of our Saviour Christ's miracles, heard many of his Sermons; and beside, her sister's good example might work much good upon her. Secondly, Saint Paul saw Christ rounded about with glory, more resplendent than the Sun; had heard that powerful voice which threw him down from his horse, and put him in the hands of that dust whereof he was created. But the Thief neither saw Miracle, nor Sermon, nor example, nor glory, nor light, nor voice, save only Christ rend and torn upon the Cross, as if he had been as notorious a thief as those that suffered on either side of him. Again, How much the quicker is the motion, and the extremes more distant, repugnant, and contrary, by so much the more strange and wonderful is this change and alteration. This thief was a huge way off from either believing, or loving our Saviour Christ: and that he should now on the sudden and in so short a space, pass from a thief to a Martyr, from the gallows to Paradise, must needs be an admirable change. Mira mutatio (saith S. Leo) ut insidiator viarum, usque ad Crucem reus, sit Christi repent Confessor, This is a wonderful change, that a highway robber, condemned here to the Cross, should in the turning of a hand come to confess Christ. In this one action did all the attributes of God shine and show themselves in a most glorious manner; and especially his wisdom, in making these extremes to meet and join together so on the sudden, and as it were in an instant. Eccl. 3. Ecclesiastes saith, That there is a time to be borne, and a time to dye; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to slay, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build; a time to weep, and a time to laugh: All these extremes did his wisdom knit and link together. In this action meet those two extremes of being borne, and of dying; for as much as we see this thief dye to the world, and to be borne anew to Christ. (And the death of the righteous, the Church styles it a birth.) Those of planting, and plucking up that which is planted; because grace is here planted in the soul of the thief, and sin plucked up. Those of slaying, and healing; for that our Saviour Christ receives these mortal wounds in his own body, and healeth those of the thief. Those of building, and breaking down that is built; In regard that the body of sin is destroyed, and the building of grace is set up in him. Those of weeping and laughing; in that the thief doth now bewail his sins, and laughs for joy to hear the gladsome news of heaven. In a word, the more incurable that the diseases are which a Physician cureth, the more (saith Saint Augustine) is his skill and cunning to be commended. God's omnipotency, was likewise seen herein: Saint Chrysostome saith, That it was so great a Miracle, that the Sun should be darkened, that the earth should tremble and shake, that the stones should dash their heads one against another, or that the veil of the Temple should be rend in twain; as was the enlightening of a blind understanding, the mollifying of a hard and stony heart, and the removing from the soul, the veil of its ignorance. And the truth of this may very well be proved by Moses his rod, to whose Empire, though the earth, the sea, the elements, light, darkness, and all creatures whatsoever were obedient, yet could it not move hard-hearted Pharaohs breast. He likewise discovered his omnipotency, in making the Thief an instrument to revenge himself of the Devil, of the Pharisees, of Pilate, and of the people. Of the devil, who (as Saint Ambrose saith) had blasoned it abroad to the world, and triumphed greatly therein, That our Saviour Christ having but twelve Apostles, he had won one of them from him; persuading him, that it were the better life of the two to be a thief, than an Apostle: but for a judas, a poor base thief, which stole but blanks and farthings, from the poverty of that sacred College, Christ won a thief from him, which had spent his whole life in the devil's service and had committed many famous robberies and notorious thefts. thieves are the devil's weapons: but our Saviour Christ being the stronger of the two, took from him the greatest thief in the world, leaving him with his own sword confounded and ashamed, Cant 1. I have compared thee o my Love to the troops of horses in Pharaohs chariots. Solomon had great store of horses of the Egyptian race for to furnish his chariots, and to fear his enemies (as the French use to wage war against Spain with Spanish Gennets,) He then saith, that as Solomon made war against the Egyptians, with the horses of Egypt: so the Church confoundeth the devil with his own Arms, which are thieves and robbers. Confounding and making ashamed Pilate, the high Priests, the Pharisees, and the people, with the tongue of a thief. There is not any thing in the world more infamous than a thief. Of all baseness it was the greatest, that our Saviour should die as a thief. It was much that he should become man, Exinanivit semetipsum; more that he should take upon him the form of a servant; Formam serui accipiens; and more than that, That he should be no more esteemed of than a worm of the earth; and more yet then this, That he should take upon him in his Circumcision the image of a sinner; but most of all, that he should die as a notable thief, betwixt two thieves. In the garden he said, Ye come forth to apprehend me as if I had been a Thief. There he was taken like a thief, here condemned to death as a thief, that no man might take pity of him. There is no man that dies by the hand of justice but is pitied of the people, save only the thief; not one that takes compassion of him. He that seeth a thief hung up in the highway, useth as he passeth by, to say, Benedictum lignum, per quod fit justitia, Blessed be that gallows, on which such good justice is done. The Church receiveth the jews, the Moor, and the Gentile, but will not entertain a thief. In Leviticus, God did forbid the Weasil, and the Mouse, and the frog, also the Rat, and the Lizard, and the Chameleon, and the Crocodile, and the Mole, as unclean and unfit to be eaten: and if you will but read in the natural Histories the conditions and properties of these creatures, you shall see that they are all thieves. It made many men marvel, That the Crocodile being so great a creature, the divine Historian should reckon him up amongst these other contemptible & small creatures. And Rodolphus Flaviacensis renders the reason of it to be this, That they have all of them thievish qualities. The Crocodile more particularly swims in the sea, runs on the land, one while by day, another while by night; she lays a very little egg, which afterward grows to be a great beast, and goes still increasing as long as she liveth; and is not only the stamp and figure of a Sea-pyrat, but of a Land-robber, which night and day seeks all occasions to rob and steal. Like unto that thief which in some poor country village, begins first to fall a pilfering of some six royals, and from this so small a beginning, raiseth his stock to fifty thousand Ducats, and comes at last to be a Regidor, a Cavallero, and a Titulado. And by this so vile and errant a thief, as is here now treated of, our Saviour Christ did confound all jerusalem. He might have made use of the tongue of a Prophet, or an Evangelist; but as Samson showed his valour in conquering a thousand armed men with the jawbone of an Ass, which had not approved itself to be so great, had he made use of Goliath his sword, or Hercules club, or of Theseus his mace, so our Saviour Christ, etc. God's mercy in this case, did also show itself exceedingly. Saint Augustine saith, That this Conversion was an especial Miracle of Christ's affronts and wounds. He delivered up himself to the shame and reproach of the Cross, that he might glorify this thief. That he might save a thief, was the intent of his dying between two thieves. And in another place, he saith, That he was nailed on the Cross, and suffered his blood to be shed, that he might cleanse a will that was grown so aged and foul with sin. Thomas saith, That it is Gods great mercy, that those that are grown old in their sins, should be saved: For, having by ill and long custom their taste so quite marred and spoilt, they abhor that which should give them health, and dye in the end by the hands of their own foolish longings. On their graves that died by the fire of God's wrath, whilst the flesh of their quails was yet between their teeth, this Epitaph was put; Sepulchra concupiscentiae. For commonly, these their masters and their delights are both buried together. And therefore S. Paul saith, 1. Cor. 10. Now these are ensamples to us, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. The truth is always answerable to the figure: and if you prolong your longings as they did in your life time, your death like theirs will be likewise bad. Saint Bernard treating upon that place of Saint Matthew, Mat. 3. The axe is now put to the root of the tree, saith, That the tree doth for the most part fall to that side, whereunto the weight of its boughs causeth it to incline; and that our lustful longings and desires are the boughs of this tree, inclining the contrary way. And therefore if a man's whole life shall lean wholly unto sin, and incline itself to wickedness, it must be Gods exceeding great mercy, if it fall at last unto Grace. God's mercy was also the more, in regard of this thieves blaspheming of him, The thieves likewise reviled him. Saint Augustine, Epiphanius, Anselm, Saint Jerome, Saint Ambrose, and Beda saith, That the plural number is put here for the singular; and that only one thief did blaspheme, by the figure Synedoche, or Analogia, as it seemeth to Saint Augustine; which (according to Saint Jerome) is a figure frequently used in Scripture. Saint Luke saith, That the soldiers gave our Saviour vinegar to drink, whereas the rest of the Evangelists speak only of one. Exod. 32. Dan. 1●. Act 4. Psal. 2. Heb. Of the calf, Exodus saith, These, o Israel, are thy Gods. Nabuchadnezzar said to the three children, Sydrach, Misech, and Abednego, speaking of the Statue of gold, Ye will not worship our Gods. David treating of Herod and Pilate, as appear by that of the Acts, saith, The Kings of the earth band themselves, and the Princes are assembled together against the Lord, and against his Christ. Saint Paul in his Catalogue which he makes of the Saints, saith, They stopped the mouths of Lions; Daniel being the only man that did it: so, Secti sunt, When it was only Esayas that was sawn asunder. Again, Circuierunt me loris, which had only reference to Elias. And it is a very usual phrase both in the Latin and the Spanish tongue, to say, Alexandro's, Annibales, Scipiones, etc. And a main argument hereof, is that sharp and severe reprehension wherewith he rebuked his companion, that blasphemed Christ; saying unto him, Fearest thou not God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? Who if he had blasphemed our Saviour, would never have so roundly reproved him. Of a contrary opinion to this is Saint Jerome, Saint Chrysostome, Cyril, Hilary, Thomas, Origen, Theophilact, Euthimius, Saint Ambrose, and Saint Mark, and Saint Matthew seem to express as much in plain terms: but be it in that sense that they would have it, it is but so much the more endearing of God's mercy, who also hath compassion even of the beasts of the field. According to that which Esay prophesied, Esay 43. job 58. The wild beasts shall honour me, the Dragons and the Ostriches, because I gave water in the desert, and floods in the wilderness to give drink to my people, even to mine elect: as if he should have said, It is not much that the stars of heaven should praise me, or the Choir of Angels, or the children of God, which are captivated by their knowledge of me, & the benefits that I have heaped upon them. But that a thief, a villain, one that was bred up in bushes, and lay lurking to do mischief in the thickest of the woods, and in mountainous places, that such a one should praise and magnify my name, it must have an Epithet beyond more than much. Lastly, The divine providence showed itself, in having hid and laid up such its treasures in a thief, Hast thou entered into the treasure of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, job 38.22. which I have hid against the time of trouble? etc. In the frozen breast of a sinner, and in those storms of our sins, as thick and as hard as hail, God hath hidden and stored up (as Saint Gregory saith) against the day of trouble, the great and rich treasures of his grace. There were two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. The doubt which in this story doth most gravel men's thought, is, That of two thieves which were crucified on either side of our Saviour, the one should be saved, and the other damned. S. Aug. renders two reasons thereof. And first of all we are to suppose, that there it not any cause of predestination: Before that they had done either good or evil, I loved jacob, and hated Esau; So saith Saint Paul. And in another place, Hath not the Potter power out of the same mass or lump, to make one vessel for honour, and another for dishonour? Some for to serve in the kitchen, and some to set upon the table. The judgements of God are secret, which we must rather reverence than inquire into, crying out with the same Apostle, O altitudo aivitiarum, etc. Secondly, it is to be supposed, that of our vocation to faith, there is likewise no cause given. And therefore in this point, we must take Saint Augustine along with us, who saith, Quare hunc trahat, hunc non trahat? id est; Ad fidem, noli iudicare, si non vis errare. judge not, why he draws this man to Faith and not that. And here Saint Augustine brings in the example of Pharaoh and Nabuchadnezzar, whom God sought to draw unto him with one and the selfsame kind of force and violence: But the one did follow him that lent him his hand to direct him, and the other refused to be guided by him. They were both men according to nature; both Kings, according to their dignity; both had sinned alike, Quoad culpam, for they had made God's people slaves, and used them very ill and hardly; and quoad poenam, they were both of them punished with stripes from heaven. The warning was alike to both: but how then comes it to pass, That the means being in both alike, the ends should be so diverse and different? That the one should acknowledge God's power, and repenting his wickedness, sorrowed with tears, and said, I Nabuchadnezzar praise and glorify the King of Heaven; But the other persisting in his obstinacy, said, I know not the Lord, Who is the Lord? etc. In this account may come in those two servants of Pharaoh, which were fellow-prisoners with joseph, whereof the one was saved, and the other hanged. We may likewise put into the reckoning those two, of whom Saint Matthew saith, that grinding in one mill, The one shall be received, and the other refused. Mat. 24. And those two, who standing by Aaron, when he was offering incense, the one was strucken dead, and the other remained alive. And as in the Tribunal of judgement, God shall put the sheep on the right hand, and the goats on the left, and shall separate the good fishes from the bad, and chaff from the corn, and the tares from the wheat; so in the Tribunal of the Cross, Leo the Pope saith, he condemned the blasphemous thief, and saved the good thief. The second moral reason, was to teach us in those two thieves, The nature of Hope and Fear. the easiest and the safest way to heaven: To wit, That a soul should live between hope and fear. Fear is the bridle which holds in Hope; Hope is the anchor which secureth Fear. Fear makes thee a coward, considering what thou art, & the small worth that is in thee: But Hope makes thee confident, considering what God is, and his infinite clemency. Upon these two virtues, God employeth all his favours, Gods eyes are upon those that fear him, and those that trust in his mercy: For he hath his eyes nailed unto those which fear him, Gen. 49. and place their hopes on his goodness. jacob prophesied of Isachar, That he should be a strong Ass, cowching down between two burdens. It is a common saying, That those are not to be trusted that live between two Kingdoms: because borderers (for the most part) are a bold and unruly people. But here it is quite otherwise, The best people for heaven, are those that live between the Fear of hell, and the Hope of heaven. Saint Augustine declares the extraordinary happiness of this virtue of Fear, Beatipauperes Spiritu, Blessed are the poor in Spirit, For they that have much to lose, live still in fear. A stout Roman being threatened by Caesar, told him, Mihi senectus metum ademit, Old age hath made me fearless: He had but a few years to live, which made him esteeeme the less of the loss of his life. But the righteous considereth with himself, that he hath eternal years to lose, I had those years still in my mind; jude. w●e therefore unto them that have followed the ways of Cain, and are cast away by the deceit of Baalams' wages. There are some which build too much upon their own confidence, like unto Balaam, who having been both disobedient and covetous, would yet notwithstanding dye the death of the righteous. Num. 33. Without Hope, what good can man enjoy? The devil used all the tricks and devices that his wit was able to invent, to put job out of hope: For which end he made use of two means. Satan's practice to deprive job of Hope. The one he took from the earth, by procuring that those his friends, on whom he most trusted, and hoped for greatest comfort from them, should cast him down, and drive him into despair, by their bitter words and sharp censures. The other from heaven, by getting fire to descend from thence; speaking in these two thus unto him, What shouldst thou now do but despair and die, seeing thou hast nothing to hope for either from heaven above, or earth beneath. He hath not only robbed me of my leaves and my boughs, tearing down my branches, but hath rend up my hopes by the roots. And yet for all this, saith patient job, Though he kill me, yet will I trust in him. Saint Ambrose saith, That God doth most of all resent the sin of desperation; Not because of all other sins it is the greatest, but because it is most prejudicial to man: for it shuts up the passage to blessedness, and bars the door of heaven against us; God being more sensible of the hurt we do ourselves, than of the wrong we do him. And therefore judas his despair did much more trouble him, than did his selling of him: for in selling him, he did but show what little reckoning he made of his Humanity; but in his despairing, the base opinion that he had of his Divinity. Vae illis (as before) qui in viam Cain abierunt, Gen. 4. Woe unto them that have followed the ways of Cain. Now the worst of those ways that Cain took, was his despair, Maior est iniquitas mea, quam ut veniam merear; as if he should have said, God either cannot or will not pardon so grievous and heinous a sin as this is. Yet we see, that God did permit, that he might lay some good ground for our Fear, that one of the thieves should be damned: and that it is neither our dying side by side with Christ, nor his bedashing us with his divine blood, neither the prayer which he made to his Father with tears in his eyes, nor the having of the image of a Crucifix, or of the Virgin Mary hanging at our bed's head [but the wearing of Christ in our hearts by Faith] could do this thief any good, or keep him from leaping at once from the Cross unto hell: and yet he would that the other should be saved, not only as he was a thief, and to find pardon of that particular offence; as to lay a foundation for the Hope of forgiveness, for all other sins whatsoever committed by us in this world, and to the end, that his absolution (as Saint Augustine saith) and his indulgence might serve as a comfort to all Christians, For, as in Adam we lost Paradise; so in the thief we got it again. Certain desperate fellows uttered by Ezechiel, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is perished: But God in answer says unto them, I will open your Sepulchers, and put life into those your dry bones; do ye not therefore despair. And for the better engrafting of this truth in his people's hearts, he raised up a whole field that was full of these bones, etc. Arnoldus the Abbot saith, Non habet metas divina clementia: Sat, qui invocet; erit, qui exaudict: Sat, qui poeniteat; non de●rit qui indulgeat: Gods mercy knows no bounds, nor limits. Let man call, and God will hear: let man repent, and God will forgive. We indeed receive things worthy of that we have done, but this man hath done nothing amiss. This whole History doth depend upon these four points. The first point, are those motives, which moved this Thief to be converted. The second, The great good hap that he had. The third, The diligence that he used on his part, that God might pardon and favour him. The fourth and last, The favour that he did him, and the great reward he bestowed upon him. Amongst other Motives, the first shall be the Title of the Cross, jesus Nazarenus Rex judaeorum, jesus of Nazareth King of the jews. It was prophesied, That his Kingdom should take its beginning from the Cross, Motives iuducing the thief to his conversion. Dominus regnabit à ligno. The jews did secretly honour the word à ligno; The Saints did openly reverence it. Christ had given great pledges in his birth, that he was à King, by Angels, Shepherds, 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 Devils themselves, by the whips of the Temple, and by his last Supper. Here be some standing here which shall not taste of death until, etc. In his passion. My kingdom is not of this world; and ye shall see the Son of man coming in power. But in his death he gave far greater pledges. All the creatures gave testimony of their Creator; The devils cried out (so says Eusebius Caesariensis) Pan magnus interijt. And howbeit, on Pilat's and the people's part, the Title of the Cross was placed there in scoff and scorn of him; yet the divine providence made use of these living instruments. And as in the creation he walked on the waters, so in the reparation of mankind, he passed through punishments and pains; of our Saviour Christ, making their jests turn to earnest: The same consideration being likewise to be had, concerning the Crown, the Sceptre, and the Robe of purple, which in derision they put upon him, etc. Hilary and Bonaventure both say, That our Saviour Christ's Patience, was one great Motive; In heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost bear witness; Io●. 5. In earth, the Holy Ghost, Water, and Blood: All these testimonies prove the Divinity of Christ. But to let pass those of heaven; The Holy Ghost doth prove that he was a Divine person, whose voice was so powerful when the Spirit took his leave of his body, that it forced the Centurion to say, Vere filius Dei erat iste, Mar. 15. Truly this man was the Son of God. The Water (which was miraculous) proves, that he was a Divine person; for it is not possible, that water should naturally flow from a dead body. The Blood, that proves it, not only in regard of its muchness, but that it was shed with so much patience. For though his wounds were many, and his torments great, yet like a sheep before the Shearer, he never once opened his mouth, or showed the least resistance. And Euthymius, and Theophylact add, That the prayer which he heard him make to his Father, Father forgive them; (which was the first that he uttered on the Cross) did work that amazement in this thief, That he said with himself, Sure this is no man: And thereupon began to have an assured hope of the forgiveness of his sins. For (thought he) he that is so desirous to pardon those that had used him so cruelly, not only tormenting him in his body, but also scoffing and flouting at him, to vex (if it were possible) his soul, will surely far more willingly pardon me, who being heartily sorry for my sins, desire to become his servant. I have heard that the Kings of Israel are merciful: but none of them all had so generous and free a heart, as our Saviour Christ. Tertullian saith, That he came into the world, for to show himself a God in his suffering; making Patience the badge and mark of his Divinity. Patience the badge of Christ's Divinity. And that the power which he showed in pardoning, being so great; much greater was that which he showed 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 Traitor to his board, to bid him welcome, to feast him, and make much of him, that finding himself so kindly used, he may make him surcease from his plotted treasons, winning him unto him by these and the like courtesies, well may a man do this; but that God should admit a judas to his table, that he should eat with God, God witting, That he would go from the table to execute his treason, to sell God, and to deliver him up into the hands of his enemies, only God and his patience could suffer so great an injury: which made Saint Augustine to say, A potentia discimus patientiam. S. Chrysostome, Origen, and S. Jerome, are or opinion, That the alteration of the sun and the elements, wrought the same effect upon the thief, as it did upon Dyonisius in Athens, when he cried out, Either the world is at an end, or this man is God. Vincent Ferrariensis saith, That the shadow of our Saviour Christ did enlighten this Thief. And that the shadow of Saint Peter healing bodies, it was not much, that the shadow of Christ should heal souls. Whereunto may be applied that of David, Thou hast shadowed my head in the day of battle. Petrus Damianus saith, That the blessed Virgin might be a means of this Thief's Conversion, by entreating her son, that he would be pleased to open the eyes of his soul: Whether she were moved thereunto, because the good thief did not revile Christ, or whether (which Saint Augustine reports, though some attribute the same to Anselmus) That in her journey to Egypt, he being Captain of the thieves, did the blessed Virgin many good services, being much taken with the prettiness of the child, and the sober and modest countenance of the mother; sure I am, that it was a happiness so sole in the world, & consisting of such strange circumstances, That no man did, or ever shall enjoy the like good luck. And as we cannot expect a second death of our Saviour Christ; so such a second happy encounter as this was, cannot be hoped for. This Thief came in that good time, when as heaven did shower down mercies; when there was a plenary Indulgence and jubilee granted; when God did pour forth the balm of his Blood for to ransom man; when the doors of heaven, and the wounds of Christ were equally open; when the fountain of living water, did cry out in the midst of the world, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink; when our Saviour had such a longing desire to see the fruit of his labours and sweats; when he had put that petition to his Father, which began with Ignosce illis, Forgive them: And it seeming unto him, That his Father was too slow in granting his request, he did thus pitifully complain unto him, O my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why came I into the world? Why was I borne in poverty, lived in labour, and died in sorrow? What? Have I laboured then in vain? Secondly, it was his happiness, (as Saint Gregory Nissen hath observed) That he enjoyed our Saviour Christ's side, and his shadow; that he was so close under his wing. He that sails in a little Bark with a powerful Prince, as it succeeded unto julius Caesar, Caesarem vehis, & fortunam eius, It is not much that he should be favoured. Saint Ambrose saith, That as long as Peter stuck close to Christ's side, he did set upon a whole squadron at once; but when he was gone but a little further off from under his wing, a silly maid did outface him, and made him turn coward. And when he began to sink in the sea, because he was near Christ, Christ stretched out his hand unto him to save him, whereas if he had been but two strides further from him, he might have been in danger of perishing. Saint Cyprian styles him, Collega Christi, Christ's Colleague, His fellow and companion. When one goes forth into the field upon a challenge, one girts his sword unto him, another buckles his armour, and others accompany him into the field; and if he get the victory, all do share in the glory of the Conqueror. In that his combat in the desert, the Angels did wait upon him: In that combat of his death, an Angel comforted him. The Thief, he goes along with him for company, and all do partake of his glory. Thirdly, Saint Chrysostome saith, That he met with another happiness, to wit, That he died as Christ did, upon the Cross: God having proposed heaven unto us in Conquest; only he shall enjoy it, that can get it by force of Arms. But the Cross doth excuse them this labour; For, it being heaven's key, The Cross is heaven's Key. whosoever shall come therewith, may enter without any violence; but others must be forced to knock, and that hard, at the gates, and it is well if with a great deal of labour he can get in at last. Saint Bernard saith, That the leagues which are between earth and heaven, are without number; but he that hath a familiar, let him bestride but a stick, and with that wooden horse he will travel in two hours from Madrid to Rome: This virtue the Cross enjoys, with much more advantage; do but fasten yourself to that, and in an instant you shall be conveyed to heaven. And expounding that word, Dum veneris in regnum tuum, this Saint saith, Et tum vidit, Then, even than did he see him taking his journey for heaven, and said unto him, Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom. Fourthly, it was his good hap to stand mainly then for Christ's honour, when in a manner all the world had forsaken him, Quando Petrus (saith S. Chrysost.) negabat in terrae, Latro confitebatur in Cruse, When Peter denied him on earth, the Thief acknowledged him on the Crosse. When judas (saith S. Ambrose) sold him as a Slave, than did the Thief acknowledge him for his Lord. O my good Thief (saith S. Aug.) What couldst thou see in a man that was bloodless, blasphemed, abhorred, and despised? What Sceptre? what Crown couldst thou hope for from him, whose Sceptre was a reed, whose Crown thorns? etc. David commanded his son Solomon, 3. Reg. 2. that he should show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and cause them to sit down and eat with him at his own table, because they stuck close unto him in his tribulation. Fiftly, That he had the good hap to be there just in the nick when Christ was crowned with a Crown of glory, and had made this his wedding day, and all things were ended according to his own hearts desire: and therefore so noble a bridegroom could not but confer answerable favours; and so great and generous a King, do no less than bestow a Crown upon him Shi●ei railed against David, when flying from Absalon, he went half naked and unshod, by the skirt of a mountain; but when the war was ended, he prostrated himself at the King's feet, and said, Let not my Lord impute wickedness unto me, nor remember the thing that thy servant did wickedly, when my Lord the King departed out of jerusalem, that the King should take it to his heart: for thy servant doth know that I have done amiss. But Abishay the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei die for this? because he cursed the Lords anointed? Shall four words of submission save the life of this blasphemous dog? But David said, Shall there any man die this day in Israel? Dost thou not know, that I am this day King over Israel? Make account that they now crown me anew, and that it is fit that I should show myself frank and generous, not conferring favours according to the merit of him that asks them, but according to the liberal disposition of him that doth them. This good fortune no man may expect, much less depend upon: and therefore Eusebius Emisenus saith, Repentance must not be delayed. Periculosum est in ultimum diem promissa securitas; And that the example of the Thief, doth not favour deferred amendment till a man's death: And though we are not to straighten Gods franke-heartednes; and howbeit it may be presumed, that in that hour many thieves are in God's secret will saved; yet did he only leave this one public example unto us, Only this one, (saith S. Bernard) that thou mayest not presume; and only this one, that thou mayest not despair. And weighing those words, Verily, I say unto thee, to day shalt thou be with me in Paradise; he saith, That he did bind it with an oath, as he used to do in matters of greatest moment and difficulty: To thee only, not to any other, shall befall the like extraordinary good hap; for thee only, was this Hodiè ordained. Here then mayest thou see the rarest accident that ever happened, earth and heaven reconciled, whilst rivers of Divine blood, run streaming from our Saviour's side for our salvation. But some one will ask me, How comes it to pass, that this Thief in so short a space knew the set time and season of this his happy chance, when as jerusalem in so many years could not light upon the like encounter? S. Augustine, S. Chrysostome, and Leo, answer hereunto; That he had Christ for his Master, who revealed the same unto him, complying with that delivered by jeremy, De coelo misit ignem, & eru divit me. Gregory Nissen saith, Replevit eum eruditione Spiritus Sancti. Cromatius; In ipso crucis candelabro sol resplenduit, The Sun did shine unto him upon the candlestick of the Crosse. Theophilact doth here apply that parable of Saint Mat. No man doth light a candle, and set it under a bushel. In a word, this light was so powerful, that it awakened this drowsy and sleepy thief, snorting in the security of sin, leaving him so well instructed, that S. Augustine saith, He remained as a Master in the Church. First of all, he used extraordinary diligence in taking hold of this treasure, leaving all, that he might not lose this, He gave God all that was in his free power to give him. He had his hands and his feet nailed unto the Cross; only he had left free unto him his tongue, and his heart: employing in Christ's service, whatsoever was in his freedom to perform; as his tongue in defending him, and his heart in loving him. Secondly, He did not stand waiting for the last plucks of Hope. Emisenus saith, That it was not his last hour, but the first, wherein he knew his Saviour Christ to be God. It is now sixty years since (dear beloved) that some of you have known him, and yet ye defer your repentance till the hour of your death. Thirdly, he confessed his sins, and how deservedly he did suffer, We indeed receive things worthy of that we have done. For he that will go about to crave pardon for his sins, the first step to forgiveness, is to accuse himself of them. David entered in this way, and the Prodigal, when they cried Peccavi; so did the Publican, Propitius esto mihi Peccatori. And the Wise man teacheth us to get in this way, Dic tu prius iniquitates tuas, ut iustificeris. justus in principio sermonis accusator est sui. Saint Bernard addeth, Sui non alterius, He is his own accuser, not another man's. Saint Chrysostome, That if the Thief had not confessed the faults of his life, he would never have presumed to desire Christ to remember him in his death. Saint Augustine, That if Adam had not sought to excuse himself, God would never have thrust him out of Paradise. Saint Chrysostome doth much lament it, that our Saviour saying; One of you shall betray me; and prophesying the bad end that he should make, judas should not confess his fault, but should so boldly utter as he did, Is it I Master? He should have left out then Nunquid, Is it I? and said, Ego sum, I am the man; then had he not lost heaven by a word. Saint Gregory, That the Thief never showed himself so subtle and so crafty in the office of thieving, as now; for with this his last theft, he repaired all the thefts of his forepast life, Alij latrones, latrocinio vitam perdunt, hic autem latrocinio vitam f●rator sempiternam, Other thieves by thieving lose their life; but this thief by thieving, handsomely robs heaven, and goes clean away with an everlasting life. Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom, etc. As this petition was a very humble one, and a modest one; so was it a most discreet one. First of all, all man's happiness doth consist in Gods having us in his remembrance. Those that are predestinated, Man is nothing but as God remembers him. have their names writ down in the book of Life; of the Reprobat there is no mention made in that book. David asks the question, What is man that thou art so mindful of him? Saint Augustine saith, That the second part of this verse is an answer to the former. Qu●a est homo? What? Quod memor es eius. For man is neither more nor more worth, than as far forth as he is in God's good remembrance. Natural Philosophy doth multiply the definitions of man; but in Christian Philosophy, there are only two. Two definiti●ons of man. The one, Deum time, & mandata eius ser●a. Hoc est omnis homo. All man's being doth consist in fearing God, and keeping his commandments. The other, Quod memor es eius, His good continuance in God's memory; and this is employed in, Memento mei, Remember me. I do not desire that thou shouldst make me a free Denizen of thy Kingdom; nor that thou shouldst honour me, as thou dost those that have truly served thee; but only that thou wilt be pleased to remember, That though I do not dye here for thee, yet I die with thee: And that it grieves me to the very soul that I had not known thee, that I might have suffered the torment of this Cross in thy service, and for thy sake, and that I might have laid down my life, nay a thousand lives, if I had had so many, for thy love. O Lord have therefore mercy upon me, and suffer me to suffer not only so long as my life, but as the world lasts, so that at last thou wilt but think upon me. Considerabat (saith S. Augustine) facinora sua, & pro magno habebat, si ei, in fine mundi parceretur, He did throughly weigh his own wickedness, and would take it for an exceeding great favour, that when the world should have an end, he might have his sins forgiven him. He had happily heard that which our Saviour Christ said, Videbitis filium hominis, venientem in potestate, etc. Saint Gregory doth discourse very wittily of the Theological and Moral virtues of this Thief. And beginning first with his faith, he compares it with that of Abraham, of Esay, of Moses, of the three Disciples, of Nicodemus, and Nathaniel, with that of Saint Paul, and that of the Canaanitish woman; and he seems to prefer it before all theirs: For, if Abraham believed, Gen. 15. he spoke with God in person, he had many present favours done him, and fair and ample promises, of f●r greater future blessings. If Esay believed, it was because he saw him sitting in his throne in great State and Majesty, Isay 6. guarded round about with Seraphins, which cried, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts, the whole world is full of his glory. If Moses believed, it was because he beheld him in a flame of fire, Exod. 5. out of the midst of a bush, seeing the bush burn with fire, and yet the bush not consumed. Mat. 17. If the three Disciples believed, it was because they saw him transfigured in Mount Tabor, in that glorious manner, That his face did shine as the Sun, and his clothes were as white as the light; whilst a bright cloud shadowing them, they might hear a voice from heaven, saying, This is that my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; not between two thieves, but between two Prophets. If Saint Paul believed, it was because he had been rapt up to the third heaven, and had seen strange sights, etc. If Nicodemus and Nathaniel believed, if the woman of Canaan, and many others, they were moved thereunto by the Scriptures, and by our Saviour Christ's miracles. But this Thief neither saw him in his offered favours, nor in his Throne of Majesty, nor in the fiery bush, nor transfigured in the Mount, nor knew any thing of the Scriptures, nor of his miracles; only he knew that judas had sold him, that his Disciples had forsaken him, and that he was reviled and hated of the people, etc. Et tanquam in gloria adorat, And yet he adores him (saith Chrysostome) as if he were already in glory. Videt (saith S. Augustine) in cruse, & rogat quasi sedentem in coelis, He sees him hanging upon the Cross, yet sues unto him as if he were sitting in ●eauen. Huic fidei, quid addi possit, ignoro. What more may be added to this Faith, I know not. Those were wavering in their faith, which saw him raise up the dead; and yet this Thief firmly believes, who saw him hang upon the Crosse. Leo and Eusebius Emissenus, endear this his belief. He did verily believe, That our Saviour Christ should rise again; for he would never have made a suit unto him, whom he saw was a dying man, if he had thought there had been an end of him. He assuredly did believe the immortality of the soul, and looked after another life; being more careful thereof, than his fellow-theefe, who desired only this temporal life; saying unto Christ, Salua temetipsum & nos, If thou be that Christ, save thyself and us. This our good Thief believed that which Christ spoke before Pilate, My Kingdom is not of this world: Quite contrary to those Apostles of his, who strove for chairs of pre-eminence, one desiring to sit at his right hand, the other at his left, supposing his Kingdom to be a temporal Kingdom. No more was his Hope. Again, His Hope was no less great than his Faith, Quis credet ei, qui non habet nidum, etc. Who will ground the hopes of his happiness upon that man, that hath not a house to put his head in, nor a bed to sleep in? yet this Thief had set up his rest upon him that had no resting place. Great was the hope that Daniel had in the Lion's Den, but he there saw that the Lions did lick the shoes on his feet, like loving Curs. Great was Aminadab's confidence, who was the first that adventured to set upon the sea, and to enter the deep; but he had seen great prodigies in Egypt. Great was that assurance of David's, when being beset round on all sides by Saul, his soldiers said unto him, Transmigra in montem, sicut passer. But he answered, Ego dormivi & somnum coepi, surrexi quia Dominus suscepit me, they would have had him fly like a bird unto the hill; But he told them, That he would lay him down, Psal. 4. and sleep in peace, for the Lord was his keeper, and would make him dwell in safety. He had such confidence in his God, that he took no great care concerning his enemies. Lastly, His Love was no less great than his Hope, Love (saith Solomon) is as strong as death. But here Love was much more strong than death, for death was now scorned by Love.. They hung not him up upon the Cross for any love that he bore to our Saviour Christ; yet before he died, he would have given a thousand lives to have purchased his love, and it was a greater grief & torment unto him, that he saw he was not crucified for Christ, than the Cross itself was unto him. So that beginning to suffer like a Thief, he became to dye like a Martyr. Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso. To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise. Never did any former ages see a favour comparable unto this. First, in regard of that which heaven is in itself; being that next unto the hypostatical union, it is the greatest good that the omnipotency of God can give us. All other good leaveth us still hungry; this only affordeth fullness, I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear. All do seek after heaven, and do appetere Deum, as their ultimum bonum, Desire the fruition of God, as their chiefest felicity. But because they neither know what God nor heaven is, they have scarce peeped in with their heads within the doors of that Supreme Princely Palace, but that they are ravished with that strange and unspeakable admiration, that blessing themselves, they break out in this manner; This surely is God. The glory of the heavenly Paradise. Their weak apprehension not being able to conceive the least glory of that great Deity, so that Esay might very well say, I am found of those that seek not after me. The capacity of our conceit, and the model of our imagination, is but a thimbleful, in respect of that immense Ocean of God's greatness. And therefore true is that saying, That the Just doth find that which he doth not seek for. And if the crumbs which fall from that divine Table, do rob a man of his understanding, banish all other thoughts from him, and do as it were alienate him from himself, how will he be transported, when he shall drink at the fountain of that river of delights, and when God shall say unto him; Open thy mouth wide, and I w●ll fill it. So incomparable is the greatness of this good, That God suffers himself to be robbed by the labours and sweats of man. When we buy a thing dog-cheap, we use to say it is stolen. Put in one scale, fastings, almsdeeds, sackcloth, and ashes, the torments of Martyrs, the troubles of Confessors; and in another scale, one hour, nay one minute of heaven, and in reason of buying and selling, heaven is robbed by us. And hereunto doth allude that phrase in Scripture, Et violenti rapinus illud; And the violent take it by force. Now then, that after so many thefts, robberies, deaths, our Saviour Christ should grant so great a good to this Thief, a greater favour cannot be imagined. Secondly, in regard of the advantage he had of others. We know, that in glory, some shall enjoy more, some less, As one star d●ffers from another in brightness. All shall enjoy eternal glory, but not all the same degrees in glory. But consider I pray you the great advantage that this Thief made; for he held it to be a great happiness unto him, if God would be but pleased to afford him any the least corner of heaven. Abbot Arnaldo, a grave and ancient, Authorhathaduentured to say, That God had given him the chair wherein Lucifer sat. S. Cyprian saith, Quid tu Domine amplius Stephano contulisti? etc. Oh Lord, what could that Protomartyr Saint Stephen enjoy more, or that thy beloved Disciple which did lean his head in thy bosom? And (as Cirillus jerosolimitanus saith) What could the long services of those that endured the heat of the day, obtain more at God's hands? But God makes them this answer, I do not thee no wrong, didst thou agree with me for a penny? Some labourers were working hard at the Vineyardfrom the first hour; others from the third hour; others began at the ninth hour; others when the sun was upon setting. First came Adam, than Noah, after him Abraham, and the rest of the holy Prophets: but the Thief came just at the Sunne-setting. Saint Chrysostome saith, That the same day that Adam was cast out of Paradise of the earth, the same day did this Thief enter into the Paradise of heaven. The word Amen, or verily, doth imply as much. Aniently the Tribes were divided & set apart upon two hills; the one breathing forth curses, Cursed is he that honoureth not his Father, Cursed is he that leadeth the blind out of the way: the other blessing; Blessed be thou in the City, blessed in the field, etc. Only the difference was in this, That to these their maledictions and cursings, they did ever say Amen. For (as it is in the Proverb) Para el mal sobrava pann, For ill, there was never yet clothe wanting; there was stuff still enough ready at hand. But to their blessings, they answered with silence, reserving their Amen, or, So be it, for the coming of our Saviour Christ, from whom all our good was to come. And Theodoret gives us this note withal, That those that silenced their Amen, were those that were to be fathers unto Christ, according to the flesh. Fourthly, in regard that this favour is made the greater by its quick dispatch, Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso, To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise. Theophylact and Tigurino, read, Amen, dico tibi hodie, Making there the point. But this ought not to be received, as Cassianus proveth it, but that this Hodie must go hand in hand roundly along with Mecumeris. And justin Martyr saith, juxta fluenta plenissima, gratiam simul accepit & gloriam, Grace and glory with a full tide, came flowing in both at once upon him. S. Ambrose saith, That our Saviour Christ made this exceeding great haste, Ne dilatione gratia minueretur, Lest the favour he intended to do him, should be lessened by delay. This favour far exceeding all the rest in the world beside; As that of Alexander towards Perillus, demanding a dourie of him for his daughter; and that of the Gardener, who had the Kingdom of Sidonia given him; or than that which Herod offered to his daughter Herodias, or Assuerus to Queen Hester, Mar 9 Ester●. Si petieris dimidiam partem Regni mei, etc. If thou shalt ask the one half of my Kingdom, etc. And because Bis that, qui citò dat, He doth a double courtesy that doth it quickly. Lest delay might lessen the Doners bounty, He therefore saith, Hodie mecum eris, This very day shalt thou be with me, etc. S. Ambrose saith, Quod magis ve●ox erat premium quam petitio, That the reward was quicker than the request. Seneca says, That he that gives, must not give slowly: for the willing mind wherewith it is done (being therein the most to be esteemed) it looseth much of its estimation by its slow proceeding. Leo the Pope saith, That it was a great favour from Christ, to put this so humble and so discreet a petition into the Thief's heart; but a far greater favour to give him such a good, and quick dispatch. joseph foretelling Pharaohs servant of his liberty, being then his fellow-prisoner, said unto him, Memento mei, Have me in remembrance with thee, when thou art in good case: But for all the others fair promises, he continued two years after in prison. But the Thief had no sooner said Memento mei, but his Saviour saw him dispatched. O happy thief, thou didst negotiate well, and with a good judge, that could dispatch thy business so quickly, and so well. Lastly, in regard of its bounty and freeness, the reward outvying the request; having more favour done him than he desired. His reward exceeds our requests. Vberior (saith S. Ambrose) est gratia quam precatio. God hath used (and still doth) the like liberality towards many. Abraham desired a son to inherit his estate, and a son was given him, from whom God was to descend. jacob begged Benjamin, and god gave him both Benjamin and joseph. Tobias desired that he might see his son in safety, God returneth him home unto him sound, rich, and well married. judith craved Bethulia's liberty, God gave her that, and Holofernes head into the bargain, and victory against Nabuchadnezzar. Anna prayed for a son, God gave her one, that was a Saint, a Prophet, & God's favourite. Solomon desired wisdom to govern his kingdom the better, he had that and much more, besides infinite store of wealth bestowed upon him. Ezechias sued unto God for life, and whereas he would have been contented with two years holding of it, God granted him a lease of fifteen years to come. The servant that owed 10000 Talents, desired to be but forborn for a time, and the whole debt was forgiven him. But God never dealt so frank and freely with any man, as with this thief, for he but only entreating him to be mindful of him, he gave him heaven, Qui merita supplicum excedis & vota, sings the Church. Theophylact saith, That your Kings, Princes, and great Captains, when they obtain any notable victory, they reserve the principal captives for their Triumph: So Saul spared King Agag, and the best things: so the Emperors of Rome, Zenobia and others: Titus and Vespasian, most of the young men of judaea. But that our Saviour Christ should enter in triumph into heaven with a thief, it seemeth a thing of small glory to the Triumpher, and little honour for heaven. But Abbot Guericus answers hereunto, That it was a new and most noble kind of victory, Nowm & pulcherrimum genus victoriae. The kings of the earth get victories over their enemies, by treading them under, by kicking and spurning of them, by contemning and tormenting them, as appear by Histories both humane and divine: This is a tyrannous kind of revenge, and revengeful cruelty. But that of the King of heaven is a noble revenge, and a sweet victory. The enemies of a king of this world will kiss the earth for fear; but those of the King of heaven, for love. And therefore it is said, Inimici eius, terram lingent. Again, S. August. saith, That Christ did enrich and illustrate heaven with the person of this thief; so far was he from doing him any the least dishonour. For it is a great honour to heaven to have such a Lord and Master, as shall make of great thieves, great Saints. S. Chrysost. hath the same, and further addeth, That by seeing one reign in heaven, who wanted earth to live on; every man may live in hope to enjoy the like happiness: For it is not likely that he will be miserable to any, that was so liberal to a thief. The Doctors do doubt whether this Thief were a Martyr or no? For he that is a Martyr, it is not the greatness of the pain, but the goodness of the cause that makes him a Martyr. Achan was stoned to death, and Saint Stephen was stoned to death: But Achan was no Martyr, because he died deservedly for his sins. The like reason you will say may be rendered of the thief. But S. Jerome, Eusebius Nissenus, and S. Cyprian style him Martyr; not because he suffered for Christ, though he suffered not without Christ; but because suffering with Christ, so great was the sorrow which he conceived for his sins, that Christ taking this his torment to his account, as if he had suffered for his love, made of the Cross a Martyrdom. S. August. saith, That on the Cross he acknowledged Christ, as if he had been crucified for Christ. Eusebius Nissenus, That albeit he began with the punishment of a Delinquent, yet he ended with the glory of a Martyr. And S. Cyprian, That Christ did convert the blood which he shed upon the Cross, into the water of baptism, and that presently he placed him in Paradise. justin Martyr and Irenaeus understand here by Paradise, some other place of joy; but rather earthly than heavenly. Irenaeus proves it by the Priests of Asia. But it is most certain, That by Paradise is to be understood, the blessed presence of our Saviour jesus Christ. And that he went from the Superficies of the earth, up to that heavenly Palace, etc. To which God of his great goodness bring us all, Amen. THE XLI. SERMON. Of the Lord's Supper. JOH. 13. Sciens jesus, quia venit hora eius. Our Saviour Christ knowing that the hour was now come; For which were reserved God's greatest Grandezas, or Greatnesses. The blessed Virgin called for wine at the wedding, but our Saviour Christ answered, My hour is not yet come. They carry him up to the top of a mountain, thinking to throw him down headlong from thence: but he told them, My hour is not yet come. They go forth to apprehend him, and yet, his hour was not come. But now, Sciens, quia venit hora eius, When he knew that his hour was come. There was not any thing in the world which he called his, but this hour; and this he calleth his, because it was the hour of our good and happiness. The hours of his honour, Christ never counted any thing his, but our happiness. when the Magis bowing to the ground, did adore him; when he entered in Triumph into jerusalem, drawing all the City after him; when he showed himself so glorious in Mount Tabor; when the temptation in the desert being ended, the Angels came to serve him; when all the creatures were obedient to his Empire: All these hours were as strangers unto him, he did not reckon them as his; but that hour wherein he was betrayed, tormented, and crucified for mankind, This hour (he saith) is my hour. Exinanivit semetipsum, formam serui accipiens. Thomas saith, That all the servant gets, is his Lords, as the fruits of the garden, and of the trees, etc. And he made himself a servant, that he might make us Lords. Esay 55. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and ye that have no silver, come buy and eat: Come ●say, buy wine and milk without silver, and without money. Saint Bernard asks the question, How a man can buy without a price, or sell without money? And his answer is, That in buying and selling betwixt man and man, there must of force some bargain be driven, some price proposed; but with God it is not so, for, all that which we can buy, is from God. In the world, he that buys, remains with that which he buys, and he that sells, with the price thereof. God sells heaven unto us for our fastings, our prayers, and our tears; and heaven, and the price thereof, remains at home within ourselves, and in our own keeping. And this is, Hora eius, His hour. In the Creation, God had his own hours, and our hours; Hours for himself, and hours for us: But the world being created and fully finished, he gave us all the hours appertaining to Time, Et requievit ab universo opere, quod patraret, Gen. 2. He rested from all his work which he had made. Rupertus saith, That when the Scripture maketh mention, That God walked up and down in Paradise; it speaks of God after the manner of man, who when he hath ended all his businesses, sits him down to eat, takes his rest, and gets him afterwards out to walk in his garden, there to take his pleasures as one that hath now nothing else to do. So that when God was all alone, he had some hours of his own; but after that he had once made himself man, all those hours, were made ours. In token that he who beareth on his shoulders the burden of a Commonwealth, ought not to account so much as an hour to be his, but that they are all allotted for other men. Those that now adays govern the world, make many hours their own; They must have their hour to eat, their hour to sleep, their hour to talk, their hour to play, their hour to walk, making their government a matter of recreation, casting all care behind their back, and never so much as once thinking of their obligation. And whereas they should be in continual occupation, using their recreations sparingly; they change lots, as if government were conferred upon them, to sit still and do nothing, at least to follow their pleasures and delights, whence great hurt doth accrue to themselves and others. To themselves, because God will not call them to account for those hours, wherein they did not game, walk, etc. but for those, wherein they did not dispatch businesses. To others, because thou art not thine own man, but art to spend thy time for the good of those that God hath committed to thy care, to receive their informations, to peruse their petitions, and to give a speedy dispatch to their just pretensions. For what hurt they receive through thy default, it is put to thy account. Saint Bernard saith, That such Offices and places as these, are not for weak men, effeminate persons, and such as are given to sports and pasttimes; the weight of this charge is great, and therefore had need of a strong back, or the shoulders of an Atlas. It being so, How comes it then to pass, that so many do desire and hunt so earnestly after these great places? My answer is, because they look not upon the weight and peril thereof, but the pomp and estimation that waits upon them. Saint Augustine saith, That if worldly honours be taken for ease, there is nothing more sweet, nothing more pleasing, But with God, nothing more miserable, more wretched, or more damnable. Now when jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world, unto the father, for as much as he loved his own that were in the world, No love like to that of our Saviour towards us. [unto the end he loved them.] So far was Christ from repenting himself of his love towards his, that he gave them all possible pledges of this his love. Great is the love and affection that a Thief hath to thieving, insomuch, that though he know he shall be hanged the next morning, yet he takes pleasure in robbing. A fine delicate lover is he, who knowing that to morrow he shall lose his life for his love, lasheth out into greater extremes of love than before. Many at their first entrance into love, promise many sweet contentments to themselves, who if they had but thought what sour sauce they should have to this their sweet meat, they would never have made love. But our Saviour Christ saw his death before his eyes, and yet that he might perfect his love when his hour was come, he showed more and more love still. Saint Augustine saith, That he took flesh in the Virgin's womb, that he might receive limbs and members from thence, to deliver them up to the cruelty of the Cross: As a head, to have it crowned with thorns, a face to be spit upon and buffeted, a mouth to be distasted with vinegar and gall, hands and feet to be bored and nailed, a side to be pierced. And though he knew that this his love to mankind, was to bring all this torment and misery upon his sacred person, In finem dilexit eos, Unto the end he loved them. The nearer his death grew, the greater grew his love. That comparison of the river is not much amiss, which takes its head or beginning from a small fountain, and by little and little goes increasing, till in the end it seems to be a Sea. We cannot say that there was any thing little or small in our Saviour Christ: but in some sort, taking from his infancy, it may comparitively be thus understood, His love was little at the first, it began to pearl forth in those his tears in the cratch; it went on, drawing more water in his Circumcision; in his exile into Egypt, in his fastings, prayers, penitences, sermons, miracles, and when he came to wash his Disciples feet, and to give unto them his body and blood, then was it full sea with him. The jews did put this question, How can this man give us his flesh to be eaten? Saint Augustine tells us, I will tell you how; In the beginning was Love, & that Love was with God, & God was that Love; and this may serve as an answer to all questions that may be demanded in this kind. And as in all other things from his childhood, he went (to our seeming) growing up still more and more; so did his love likewise go daily increasing, even to the hour of his death, showing that he loved us unto the end. When a mountain takes fire, at first the fire is but small, but by degrees grows greater and greater, till it comes at last like another Aetna to be a mountain of fire. jeremy saith, That he saw a seething pot, The pot by little and little comes to take heat, till at last it falls a boiling, but the fire under it may be so great, that it may bubble and run over, throwing out all that is within it. In our Saviour Christ's breast, the fire of his love did always seethe and boil apace, but in the end this fire grew to so great a flame, that it threw out that his flesh, and made that his blood to overflow which was knit to his soul, and Divinity. That man which Ezechiel saw in the first chapter of his Prophecy, one with his feet standing upon a Sapphire, who was all fire; but from the head to the girdle, the fire was secret and hidden; but from the girdle downward, even to the very feet, all was on a bright flame. His feet stood upon a Sapphire, which is the colour of heaven, to show unto us the blessedness which he did enjoy from the very instant of his conception, as also to signify unto us, that all the life of our Saviour Christ, was a flaming fire of Love.. But in those his younger years, it was for a while as it were smothered and repressed, but afterwards broke forth into those flames, that when his hour was come, and that he was to dye, Those whom he loved, he loved unto the end. Some have sailed over the whole Mediterranean, have touched upon the coasts thereof, and entered up into its rivers; Others have past the Straight, and arrived at the Cape de buena Esperance, of good Hope. There was a man that rounded all the world, as if he had stood in competition with the Sun; but for all this, his Navagation was not at an end. Every day more countries are discovered: but in the sea of Love there is not that place, which the Ship of the Cross hath not sailed into, Omnis consumptionis vidit finem, & in finem dilexit eos, He saw the end of all consumption, and loved them unto the end. Three kinds of friendship. Aristotle sets down in his Ethics three kinds of friendships. Honestum, Vtile, jucundum. That is, grounded on Honesty, Profit, and Pleasure. That which is grounded upon profit, will cease, when that ceaseth: Thou hast a friend, that furnisheth thee with monies; no longer furnish thee, no longer a friend: So says Seneca in an epistle of his to Lucilius. That which is founded upon pleasure and delight, lives or dies, as those delights live or dye in us. But that which makes Honesty its aim, that endureth for ever. My friend (saith Seneca) I ought to love him so well, as to follow him in his banishment, to relieve him in his necessities, and if need were to dye for him. Saint Augustine saith, that Seneca lived in the time of the Apostles, and that it is very probable, that he had some communication with Saint Paul, and that the Apostle related unto him what our Saviour Christ did for his, That he accompanied them in their banishment, enriched them with the riches of heaven, and in the end laid down his life for them. This is that, In finem dilexit eos, He loved them to the end. A great love can never endure a long absence. Theodoret saith, That Saint Peter having heard from Christ's own mouth, a Ter me negabis, Thou shalt deny me thrice, He would fain have fled many Leagues from that occasion; but that his love was so great, that he held it a less ill to deny him, by following him, than to confess him by flying from him. He took so much pleasure in his presence, that he chose rather to hazard the loss of his soul, than of his beloved sight: Holding it a less unhappiness to deny, than not to be in the eye of him, whom he loved so dear. Saint Bernard treating of that petition which Moses made unto God, Either blot me out of the book of life, or spare this people, gives us this note out of that place; That so great was the love which the Prophet bore to that people, that albeit God did offer him to be chief Governor over a far better and greater people, yet could he not endure to be divorced from them, nor to absent himself from their company, and therefore made choice rather of this so sad and grievous a resolution, Aut deal me de libro vitae, etc. o Lord either pardon them, or condemn me: My love towards them can better abide death, and hell, than their absence. Plut. saith, That Love is like ivy, which if it cleave but to a stone, or an old wall, will rather dye than forsake it. Christ said unto his Disciples, Unless I go hence, the comforter will not come unto you: All their felicity consisting in the coming of the Holy Ghost; But I go to provide a place for you. Nobody but I, can open the gates of heaven unto you. Our Saviour said, Lift up your gates o ye Princes, etc. Where S. Chrysostome observeth, That it had been sufficient, had he but only said, Open the gates. But he did not say, Open, but, take the gates away, heave them off the hooks. For heaven, that is never shut against any, hath no need of gates. His Disciples might have said unto him; Lord, since we shall receive so great a good by thy departure; Fuge, assimulare Caprae, hinnuloque ceruorum. Yet so great was their love unto him, that with tears in their eyes, they desired rather their own hindrance, than his absence. Many nations of the world made their gods prisoners, chaining them fast with strong irons; For, in seeing themselves to be forsaken by them, they presently accounted themselves but dead men. Pausanias reporteth, that the Lacedæmonians had tied fast the Statue of Mars with cords of silk. And Alexander ab Alexandro saith, That Hercules was bound fast with fetters of gold. And Plutarch in his Problems, recounteth the like of Apollo's Image. And the sacred Scripture delivers unto us, That Micas the Idolater followed with tears in his eyes, those thieves which had stolen away the Idols belonging to his house, or his household gods. And Laban upon the like occasion, pursued jacob. For it is impossible, that any body should suffer or endure the absence of his God. Two powerful Loves therefore wrestling and struggling in the breast of our Saviour Christ: The one, to return to his father from whence he came; The other, not to depart from his Spouse here on earth; his Love did lay a plot how he might go away, and yet stay. And this was the upshot of his Love.. When the devil had now put in the heart of judas, etc. It is noted by Saint john, That at the same time as our Saviour Christ was busied about the performing a point of that so meek and lowly a humility, as his washing of his Disciples feet, and communicating unto them his body and blood; the very same time did the devil enter into judas his breast. Saint Chrysostome addeth, Admirans, dixit; That the Evangelist spoke this, as it were in the way of admiration; Cum diabolus misisset in cor, When the devil had put it in his heart, etc. Our thoughts are like gravel stones got into the shoe, which Satan puts into man's heart, and made such haste to thrust them into judas his heart, that he was much perplexed and troubled therewith some few days: but the battery continuing, he fell at last to a final resolution, and when he was resolved what he would do, himself made the offers of selling our Saviour Christ. Quid vultis mihi dare? What will you give me? In which sale of his, two notable follies are to be noted. The one, His selling of his Saviour upon trust. S. Mark and S. Luke say, They promised to give him money. The other, His selling of him at so low a rate, standing to their courtesy what they would give him. The devil offered our Saviour Christ all the whole world. But judas 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 covetous wretch, even with the devil himself looseth his credit. And therefore the Church styles him a very Pedlar, the basest and worst of merchants. judas mercator pessimus. Saint Gregory saith, That judas did banish from the world three things of great price and value. The one, True Love: For ever since that false and treacherous kiss of judas, mens affections have likewise grown to be false, judas banished out of the world all Vert●●, Love, and Fear. and love to be counterfeit and feigned, using strange disguises. Many embracing those in their arms, whose throats they cut in their hearts. The other, Virtue: For hypocrisy puts on a show of Sanctity, masks herself with Holiness, and dissembles good desires. The third, Fear: For he that is nor afraid to betray God, What will he stand in fear of? Gregory Nazianzen saith, That in selling our Saviour Christ, he lost all the right and claim that he had to his blood: for no man can challenge any right to that which he sells; so that he did utterly renounce all kind of remedy, or any soul comfort whatsoever. Saint Bernard saith, That by committing treason against the Lord both of heaven and earth, he had so highly offended therein, that neither of them, would give him any reception or entertainment at his death; only, having hanged himself, the Element of the Air kept him tottering there to his further disgrace. When the devil had put it in his heart. There are some sins so foul, and so enormous, that for to cease upon them, a man had need to have judas his heart, and the devil's hands. He that is weak and frail, may sin out of a natural inclination, or some long continued custom, and every occasion will be sufficient to make him fly after his game, as the Hawk doth after her prey, etc. But to do ill to him that doth us good, we had need of the help of a judas, or a devil. joseph being wooed by his wanton Mistress told her, Quo modo potero. Being bound unto my Master with so many chains of his love and kindnesses towards me, How can I do him so great a wrong? Saul was much more beholding to David, than joseph to Pataphar, yet the devil took strong hold of him, Spiritus Domini malus urgebat Saul. But let no temptation take hold on you, but that which is humane. He layeth aside his upper garments. S. jerom in his Epistle to Celancia, saith, Nihil est imperiosius amore, There is nothing of more power and command, than love. Love's triumphed even over God himself. Gen. 41.44. Pharaoh leaving over the government of Egypt unto joseph, said unto him, Without thee shall no man lift up his hand, or his foot in all the land of Egypt. It may seem that God said the like to Love, who drew God down from heaven to live here upon earth? It was Love, who led him along through the streets to Mount Caluarie, triumphing there over his power: It was Love, and only love. O Love, if thou be so imperious, as to triumph over God himself, Who shall be able to resist thee? Absque tuo imperio, etc. Without this Love, we can neither stir hand nor foot, no not breath, or live one hour. He layeth aside his garment. Well did he repay that kind love of theirs, in casting their cloaks before his feet, when he road in Triumph through jerusalem, carrying palms in their hands. And he in stead of washing the palms of their hands, disdained not to stoop so low as to wash their feet. Saint Bernard saith, That the Spouse did complain, that the Guards of the City had taken her cloak away, Tollerunt pallium meum: Do not ye therefore complain if ye be stripped stark naked for God's sake, since he was pleased to lay aside his garments to do you service. He began to wash the Disciples feet. He had said before, No humility like our Saviour's. Knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands. And Hilary addeth, Etiam proditorem. So that God having put Christ into judas hands, Christ puts himself under judas his feet. O judas (saith he) though thou hast given thy heart unto the devil, yet I pray thee give me thy feet, that I may bathe them with the tears of mine eyes, Thou hast put all things under his feet, The birds of the air, the beasts of the field, and the fishes of the sea. This is much: But if God should have revealed unto thee, that thou shouldst see his son washing judas his feet, etc. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the Sun, and the Moon was under her feet. Heaven being to clothe her, what could it clothe her better withal, than with the Sun and the Moon? But a greater wonder is it, to see the Son of heaven under judas his feet. O heavens, are ye not ashamed to see those hands which created you, which did border you about with light, as with a rich embroidery, to be soiled with the foulness of such feet? For to look her lost groat, the good wife swept her house over and over, turning and sifting this and that other heap of dust, leaving no corner unsearched, till she had found it. God hath two houses: God hath two houses. The Church Triumphant, The Church Militant. He did turn the first upside down, when he kneeled on his knees to wash judas feet. Saint Jerome saith, Quantumcunque te humilies, humilior Christo non eris, Be thou never so humble, Christ will be more humble than thou canst be. For he will put himself under thy feet, As he did here stoop to judas. O Lord, for so forlorn a soul, which must be lost at last, so much pains for so little profit, so much lost labour for one that is lost. First of all, a Father's care over his sick son, to whom he beareth love, is far different from that which the Physician takes, who only cures him for his own private profit and particular interest. Secondly, Because Love can never be subdued; where it finds one lost, it thinks all lost. At the Wedding there was but one found unfit for his garment, Yet this inference was made upon it, Many are called, but few are chosen. Saint Augustine saith, That one is a great loss, where there is great Love: and with the loss of judas, Love was so much aggrieved, that Saint Ambrose saith, That the freeing of the Thief out of the Devil's hands, was done in revenge of the loss of judas. The Devil was much joyed that he had robbed our Saviour of such a friend, as one of the Twelve; but he had been as good let him alone, for he lost a Thief when he was upon the Gallows, and thought he was sure then his own. Plus amisisti, quam rapuisti, Thou lost more than thou got'st; thou robbest God of a Thief, that had been thine but a few days; and he robbed thee of another thief, which had been thine for many years. He began to wash, etc. Being to bestow upon them his body and blood, he thought fit first of all to begin with the making clean of their feet, by which the Scripture understands, our defects and foulness of our affections, in token of that disposition and preparation wherewith we are to come to the receiving of so divine a Sacrament. All the whole life of our Saviour Christ was a pattern of poverty, and that in the highest degree. The portal wherein he was borne, was hung with Cobwebs in stead of Tapestry; the Cratch and a lock of Hay, were the sheet and pillow to his cradle; all the whole space of his life, he had not a place where to lean and rest his head: his death was upon Mount Caluarie, a place full of dead men's sculls and bones, whose bodies had suffered by the sword of justice.. But for the institution of this divine Sacrament, he had made choice of a goodly large Hall, well furnished, and handsomely set forth; and for the consecration of the Wine, a Cup made (as some think) of a costly Agate, which is offered to be seen in the Asseo of Valencia. First, to signify unto us, That gold, silver, and precious stones, are on nothing so well bestowed as on the service of God. Secondly, That he that sits down at this sacred Table, must come accompanied with great riches of virtue, The holy Sacrament not to be received, but with a great deal of preparation. and great pureness of conscience. To your great and solemn banquets, those that are invited come thither in a sumptuous and gallant kind of manner, your Romans did clothe themselves all in white, for they held such an invitation ●o sacred a thing, that it was held a great shame and infamy to any that should fully the same with any kind of deceit or treason. The Gospel condemned him that came unto the marriage without his wedding garment. Saint Cyprian saith, That we ought to please those Divine eyes, even with our outward habit. Saint Hierome tells us, That when he had dreamt in the night any dishonest dream, he did tremble & quake for fear when he entered into God's House. Abulensis reporteth, That the cause of Oza's death was, for that having lain that night with his wife, he presumed to touch the Ark. The Libertine Council doth admonish us, That they who are to communicate, aught to abstain eight days from conversation with women. The same advice is given us by Saint Augustine and Saint Hierome: and it is a strange Doctrine to my seeming, No preparation sufficient for the Holy Supper. That he that is to say Mass every morning, should spend the nights with his she-friend, Let every man first try and examine himself, and then let him so eat of this bread, and drink of this Cup, etc. so that a man either must examine himself, or must not; If he must let him weigh his worthiness and unworthiness; if he shall find himself unworthy, he must rather excommunicate & remove himself from the Altar. Saint Augustine saith, That one of the mainest reasons why our Saviour Christ at his last supper, possessed with such perturbation the breasts of his Disciples, telling them, That he that dipped his finger with him in the dish should sell the Son of Man and betray him, was, That every one might be afraid of himself, and might say not without some suspicion and jealousy, What Master is it I? For there is no man so Holy, no man so Pure and free from sin, but it will well beseem him to come wi●h a great deal of respect and reverence, and a due examination of himself to this celestial Table. job when he sat down at the table used to fetch a sigh, Antequam comedam suspiro. David did moisten with his tears the bread which he did eat. Did these good men hold themselves unworthy of that material bread; What ought we to do, when we come to the receiving of this divine Bread? Dionysius, de Ecclesiastica Hierarchia; Clemens Romanus in his Apostolical Constitutions; Hilary, Theodoret, Datianus Alexandrinus, hold (contrary to the opinion of the Saints) that judas did not then and there communicate with the rest. He came then to Simon Peter. Saint Austen saith, That Saint Peter first broke the ice, saying, Washest thou my feet? O Lord, in thy transfiguration, Christ's Humility, the character of his Love.. the resplendor of thy Glory did throw me down at thy feet, and shall I then suffer thee to throw thyself down at my feet? Heaven did reveal unto me that noble confession which I made, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God: Since then, that I have confessed and acknowledged thee to be the Son of God, shall I permit to see my Saviour humble himself at my feet? Clemens Romanus a Disciple of Saint Peter, reporteth in his Apostolical Constitutions, That as often as Saint Peter did call this action of his to mind, so often did he shed tears, to see Christ at his feet: whence we are to weigh and consider the great modesty of Saint Peter, who was not so much astonished to see jesus Christ at the feet of judas, as to see him at his own feet. All the compliments which Peter used with our Saviour Christ, are worthy commendation, full of discretion, reverence, and love: Only his default was, That he would strive and contest with our Saviour Christ, for want of true knowledge of those ends, whereunto Christ's actions were directed. So that if mannerliness may be a fault in any man▪ it was now in Peter, for refusing to have his feet washed; the mystery whereof had he but known, he would not have made so nice a matter of it. Saint Cyrill treating of the ends of this act of our Saviors', saith, That he desired by all means possible to engraft Love in Man's breast; & to give us to understand, That without great humility, there can be no great Love.. Guarricus saith, That our Saviour Christ did love man so well, yea, & in such a manner of fashion, that he resolved with himself to jump & agree with him, & to shape himself according to his humour, and to do any thing whatsoever, though never so mean, so as it might make for his good. And when he saw that Man was so proud, that he would not submit himself to serve him, he said, Well, seeing Man will not be brought to serve me, I will submit myself to serve him, & stoop to so low and so base a service, as to wash his feet. This made him dye between two thieves▪ Our Saviour's art in gaining of wretched Man. He was well content at his death, to want all other comforts the world could afford him, only he could not be drawn from man's side; that would have gone to the very heart of him. Thou art fair (my beloved) and comely. S. Bernard saith, That this repetition doth point out a twofold beauty unto us. The one of his Divinity, wherewith he doth beautify & deify the Angels, and the Saints. The other of his Love, which made him debase himself so much, as to wash his Disciples feet. The first, is of greater admiration. The second, of much more consolation. Ibi pietas magis emicuit, ubi charitas magis refulsit, There Piety did glitter most, where Charity shined most. Some man may ask me the question, Why the rest did not seek to excuse themselves. I answer, That this courtesy being complemented and pleaded by Peter, and consented unto by Peter, the rest had nothing more to do, or say therein. If I shall not wash thee, etc. Laurentius justinianus saith, That the good old man was somewhat daunted with this threatening, and now yielded and submitted himself in such sort, that whereas before he had, being entreated, denied to have his feet washed; being thus threatened by our Saviour, he now offers to have both his feet and his head washed. O Lord wash the whole man in us with thy blood, that we may appear clear in thy sight, etc. THE XLII. SERMON. Of our Saviour Christ's death. JOH. 19 Baiulans sibi Crucem, etc. Bearing his Cross, etc. Affliction altars the very form of Man. WHat with the spittle, stripes, blows, buffets, mocks, scorns, scourges, thorns, his beard and hairs clotted with blood; our Saviour Christ was so much altered from that man which the Spouse paints him forth to be [Candidus, rubicundus, Cant. 5. electus ex millibus, My wellbeloved is white, and ruddy, the chiefest of ten thousand] that jeremy could say, Hier. 29. He is a man, yet who can know him. Esay. 43. And Esay, He had neither shape nor comeliness. Or as another letter hath it, He had not the form of a man. And he himself did not think himself to be a man, Psal. 21. saying; I am a worm and no man. And it seeming unto Pilate to be the lesser revenge of the two, to see him dead, than to be thus wounded and torn by them; and that there could be no enmity, no malice, so raging and so cruel, which with so sad a spectacle, and so woeful a sight, would not lose somewhat of its fierceness and violence; leaning himself against the window, and looking wistly upon him, he breathed forth these two words; Ecce homo. Behold here a Man (saith S. Austen) fitter for the grave than a throne; ye did heretofore envy him for the great applause which the world gave unto his Miracles, but now his Misery may blot that out of your breasts. First, I would have yeto consider, what manner of thing Man was when he was moulded by the hands of God in the Creation; how rich, how wise, and how perfect a creature he was. In his Incarnation, in what a prosperous estate did he live, how mightily envied by Hell? In the Resurrection, how glorious, and how immortal? And how God again by the hands of Man, is mocked, scourged, spit upon, and contemned. Secondly, if a Pilate taking pity of our Saviour Christ, could say unto the people, Ecce homo, Behold the Man! for to move them unto p●ttie: it is not much that a Preacher of the Gospel, whose duty it is to preach Christ crucified, should say unto Christian people, Ecce homo, Behold the Man. No man will trust the pity and compassion of an enemy. Saul remained much amazed and confounded, when David stole from his beds-head his spear and his pitcher; and when in the cave he had cut off the lappet of his garment; and with tear did propound and promise to himself to love him and favour him all his life long: yet David would not believe him, because no man that is w●se will trust an enemy. jonas who was a figure of our Saviour Christ, being overwhelmed in the Sea, the waves thereof did assuage their rage & waxed calm: But our Saviour Christ, being overwhelmed in the Sea oft hese his torments, he couldnot allay the fury of those billows which grew still rougher and rougher in the turbulent breasts of his people; for there was but little good to be expected from so professed an enemy: yet he that is a Christian hath our Saviour Christ to be his Friend, his Lord, his Father, and his God. And representing himself unto us in this pitiful and lamentable manner, what heart is there so hard, which will not be moved to commiserate so wretched a case? Saint Paul had made unto those of Galilee a description of our Saviour Christ upon the Cross; and it seeming unto him, that they were not moved thereat, but that their hearts were hardened, he cried out aloud unto them, O ye foolish and senseless Galathians, who hath bewiched you? Is it possible that Christ crucified should not make your hearts to melt within ye? This is a mere stupidness and insensibility. Behold the Man. If it will not move us to behold him thus tormented as a Man, Ch●●st on the Cross the only ob●ect of Admiration. let it grieve us at least to see God suffer so much misery for Man. Vidimus eum (saith Esay) quasi percussum à Deo (quasi percussum Deum) For so Saint Chrysostome renders it. Beatus, qui intelligit super egenum & pauperem. Happy is he who under the humanity of man, will find out the humanity of God. Lindanus commenting upon this verse, saith, That the word Super in the Hebrew, with its points or pricks, signifieth God: So that in the first sense, it may be said, Beatus qui intelligit Deum, egenum & pauperem. Blessed be those eyes, that under so many miseries, behold God's greatness. Zacharias doth paint out jesus the Priest with loathsome and unseemly garments, and that a stone with seven eyes stood looking upon him. Can the stones find eyes to see God whipped, spit upon, & crowned with thorns? And shall man be so blind as not to behold him? Saint Luke titles Christ, mortem, & spectaculum. Men see many things with admiration, but they see not the Angels: and many see the Angels, but they see not God. But our Saviour Christ torn and tormented on the Cross; Men, Angels, and God, may behold this with admiration (if it were possible that God could be subject to admiration) but men are apt to be taken therewith. The Angels also did admire the ensigns of the Crosse. And to God, the Son said; My God, my God, look upon me. In a word, if there be any thing that may cause a general astonishment, and admiration in all creatures whatsoever, it is our Saviour Christ crucified. The flood was a cause of great amazement, beholding the waters, the heavens, and the dead bodies. The burning of Sodom, and the swallowing up of Dathan, were things to be admired: but to see Christ so cruelly tormented as he was, and Pilate in pity of him, leaning himself in the window, and saying, Ecce homo, doth drown all other kinds of astonishment and admiration. Et baiulans sibi crucem. And taking up his Crosse. When Pilate did look that the jews would have rested satisfied and well contented, then did they cry out louder than before, Away with him, away with him, crucify him, crucify him. And being overcome by the confused noise of that rascal ●abble, going from the window up unto his Throne, which the Evangelist calls Lithostratos, a place paved with square stones, pronouncing sentence against him, he condemned him to the death of the Crosse. Saint Chrysostome saith, Senten●iam non tulit, sed tradendo eum, permisit illos sua uti tyrannide, That he did not pronounce sentence against him, but by delivering him up into their hands, he permitted them to use their own Tyranny, He delivered him unto them to do what they would with him. But the more probability is, that he pronounced sentence against him. job. 1●. First, because Saint john saith, He sat down in the judgement seat: There being no need of his sitting down, had he not been to pronounce sentence. G●llius, Vlpianus, and Pliny report, That with the Roman judges, it was so inviolable a custom to sit down when they pronounced sentence, that they accounted that for no sentence, which was pronounced standing: In token, that any sentence either civil or criminal, aught to proceed from a well settled mind, and a stayed judgement. Secondly, Saint Luke saith, Pilate gave sentence, That it should be as they required. Where we are to weigh the word, Luke 23. Adiudicavit, Gave sentence. Thirdly, The jews had alleged for themselves, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death. Pilat pronounced the sentence of death against Christ. Which is to be understood (as the Cardinal of Toledo proves it) Unless the sentence of the judge do precede, and go before; and then they may. The Tenor or substance of that which Pilate pronounced, your grave Doctors deliver the same in different words, but the sum of it is this. We Pontius Pilate by the will of the immortal gods, and by the authority of Roman Princes, being Precedent of this sacred Empire, condemn unto death, jesus of Nazareth, for having made himself King of the jews, as appeareth by the testimony of the High Priests of jerusalem. Wherefore we will and command, that he be carried from this place, forth of the City, to the place of Execution, commonly called Golgotha, and there to be crucified between two thieves, Dismas and Gismas, here convicted and condemned for their thefts and robberies, to the end that this his death may make for the good and safety of this people, and for the peaceableness of this Common wealth. Dated in jerusalem, in Lithostratos, vulgarly called the Pavement, Pasquo parascevae, or Preparation of the Passeover, about the sixth hour. No age, ever knew a more cowardly judge, or a more unjust sentence. Pilat a cowardly judge. First, because having said in public, Ego nullam in eo invenio causam, I find no cause of death in him: and thereupon, washing his hands before the multitude, he made protestation, That he was innocent of the blood of this just man: God not suffering him to have a mouth to say the contrary. Secondly, because the innocence of our Saviour Christ, was notorious; not only because all the Prophets had given sufficient testimony thereof, Huic omnes prophetae testimonium perhibent; but the people, Bene omnia fecit. Pilat's wife, judas, the Devils, and the Precedent himself, who (as Sixtus Senensis reports) writing to Tiberius Caesar, confessed, That the High Priests had accused him out of envy; and that by the common voice and consent of the people, he had delivered him up to their will, against the testimony of his own conscience. Thirdly, Because both the judge, and the Accusers, did proceed against him contrary to all Law and justice.. First, by receiving those as sufficient witnesses against him, which in all right and equity, ought not to be admitted, Sciebat, quod per invidiam tradidissent eum. Cap. Testes, q. 3. Leg. Vaius. §. de quaest. Testium ultro accusandi, non est credendum. And which was more, offering themselves to be witnesses, contrary to the Law, Vnius. Secondly, because no judge can condemn any, unless he himself confess, or be convicted of the fact that is laid against him; whereas our Saviour Christ was not only innocent of any crime, but in right of law likewise, because no man could convince him of sin; for although he was falsely accused, yet was he not convicted. And when the judge knows, that the accused is innocent, he ought strictly to examine the witnesses, seeking occasion to free him; as Daniel did in the case of Susanna: but Pilate was willing to wink at the matter, albeit he saw well enough, that the testimonies were not convenient and fitting. And therefore Saint Ambrose saith of him, That he washed his hands, but not his heart. He did likewise swallow down one circumstance of great consequence; to wit, a new Edict of Tiberius Caesar's, wherein express commandment was given (as Suetonius sets it down) That the chastisements of death should not be put in execution, till ten days full and complete after publication of sentence: But Pilate made a short come-off with our Saviour, and gave him a quick dispatch. This sentence did surpass all the unjust sentences that ever were pronounced. That of jezabel against Naboth; That of the judges of Babylon against Susanna: For these had some form of a Legal proceeding. But of this Esay saith, De medio iudicij sublatus est, generationem illius, quis enarrabit? Another letter hath it, Seculum illius. It is a bad world, when an innocent person shall be put to the punishment of the Cross, without sufficient witnesses to condemn him, or without lawful hearing, in discharging himself of such things wherewithal he is charged. But as Saint Gregory saith, Si ipse indebitam mortem non suscepisset, nunquam nos a debita morte liberasset, Had not he undergone an undeserved death, he could never have freed us from a deserved death. Christ being thus delivered up to the damnable will of those, who desired to put him to death, and the cruelest death that Tyranny could invent, they threw a halter about his neck, and laid a most heavy Cross upon his tender shoulders, and being guarded along the street by the Roman Cohorts, Fear and jealousy, spurred up the jews to crucify Christ. they carry him away to Mount Caluarie. Their Fear and jealousy, prompting them to take this course with him. First, That he might not as heretofore escape their hands. Secondly, That in case he should escape their hands, the Temple should not serve his turn. For, as Gellius doth affirm in his Noctibus Atticis, Those that were condemned to carry their Cross, had not the benefit of taking Sanctuary. Thirdly, Because the death of the Cross was so infamous a death, that none but thieves and traitors to the Common wealth, could be condemned to this shameful kind of death. And this (as S. Chrysostome hath noted it) was confirmed by the authority of Rome. Fourthly, Because they would even then presently put him to begin his suffering. For, it was a common ceremony amongst them, that they who were condemned to death, should have a napkin fastened before their eyes, lest by seeing the Executioner, and the instruments of death prepared for them, they might chance to fall into a swound, or faint in the way. But they would that Christ, to grieve him the more, should have his punishment set before his eyes. Fiftly, The divine providence (saith Saint Augustine) had so ordered it; for it was very fit and convenient, that the Cross which Kings use to wear on the tops of their Crowns and Sceptres, and Knights of diverse noble Orders on their breasts, That the Prince of heaven should first bear the same upon his shoulders, converting thereby the greatest infamy into the greatest glory that ever was in this world: so that that which on the one side was a sad and heavy sepctacle, on the other is a great and glorious mystery. The people making a confused noise, the Trumpets send forth a hoarse voice, the drum's a dead sound, the thieves go cheek by iole close to our Saviors' side, the criers lift up their voices, and ball out aloud; This is the justice, which the Emperor of Rome, and Pontius Pilate in his name, with the consent and approbation of the Princes of jerusalem, hath commanded to be done upon this man, as a seditious person, a blasphemer, an impostor, a broacher of new erroneous doctrine, styling himself the Messias and Saviour of the world, the King of Israel, and the Son of God. He had to Mount Caluarie (according to the testimony of some grave Authors, Mount Caluarie why so called. which have measured out that space of ground) 1021 paces, which amount to somewhat more than 3000 feet. And it was called Caluarie, either from the sculls of those that had been there put to death, (as Saint jerom would have it) or from the scull of Adam, who was buried there; of which opinion is the glorious Athanasius, Basill, Origen, Tertullian, and Saint Augustine: To the end that it might be there more especially verified, Sicut in Adam, omnes mori●ntur, ita in Christo omnes vivificabuntur, As in Adam all men were dead, so in Christ all men shall be quickened and restored to life. The Divine Providence had likewise so ordered the business, that the place where our Saviour Christ was to die, Christ suffered in the midst of the world. should be in the midst of the world. And howbeit some Doctors do not admit, that it is in rigour and strictness just in the middle, according to a Geometrical proportion or Mathematical account, yet most do agree in this, that it was in the midst of the land of Palestine, (as it seemeth to josephus in his third book, De bello judaico, as also to Aristeus) Or it may be said to be in the midst of the world, Per Privilegium, By way of Privilege, Because that was the place where God had showed his greatest miracles. And of this mind, is venerable Bede: yet notwithstanding of great force is that place of David, Psal. 74.12. Operatus est salutem in medio terrae, He hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. Ezech 5. And that of Ezechiel, Ista est Jerusalem, in medio gentium posui eam, & in circuitu eius terras, This is jerusalem, I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are roundabout her. As also the authority of Saint Jerome, who expounding this place, terms it, Meditullium terrae, & umbilicum; The very navel or middle part of the earth. Which opinion is strengthened by S. August. discoursing on the 75 Psalm. Of the manner of their crucifying of our Saviour Christ, there is this and that doubt made, and one more probable than another. The common received opinion of the Saints, is, That the Cross being fixed in Mount Caluarie, they hailed him up first with cords, and afterwards nailed him thereunto. And so seemeth it good to that sacred Doctor Saint Gregory, Saint Bernard, Saint Cyprian, and the revelation of Saint Bridget confirms the same. But Saint Jerome, Anselm, Antoninus, and Laurentius justinianus say, That the Cross being laid all along on the ground, they first nailed him unto it, and afterwards reared it up. And this part is much favoured for two reasons. The one, Because it was a more fitting and facile way to be done. The other, Because in the Holy Land there is an especial place to be seen, where they nailed our Saviour Christ, which is a little ways off from the place where the Cross was set up. But take which opinion you will, the plain truth is, That it was one of the cruelest torments which our Saviour Christ suffered; for they having first nailed his right hand, they did so stretch and strain the sinews, that they were forced with cords to draw out his left hand at full length, to make it meet right with that hole which was bored in the Cross for that purpose. And because they might stretch it out so far, that the nail that fastened the right hand, might break the flesh, and tear the sinews, they were fain likewise to bind his right arm with cords to the Crosse. And with this so violent a force and extreme reaching of his arms, the bones of our Saviour Christ's body were so dislocated, and disjointed, that you might plainly tell them; that prophecy of that Kingly Prophet David, being then verified, Dinumeraverunt omnia ossa mea, They numbered all my bones, etc. Hilary saith, Christ's nailing, the cruelest part of his Passion. That our Saviour Christ gave here greater signs of his sorrow and grief, than in all the rest of those bitter passages of his passion. And Rodulph, and Saint Bridget affirm, That of all other his torments, this was the greatest. And it is a thing worthy our consideration, That our Saviour Christ should be more sensible of this nailing of his hands, than of that Crown of thorns which they plaited on his head, those cruel stripes wherewith they scourged him, and that vinegar and gall which they gave him to drink. Whereof there are two reasons rendered. The one natural, which Thomas toucheth upon. Delivering unto us, Two reasons proving him more sensible of this torment than any other. that so intolerable is the pain and anguish of the sinews, that many that were crucified, through the extremity of the pain, did swound and were deprived of their senses. And therefore our Saviour's torment must needs 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, He doth not say, Clavarunt, but effoderunt: Like one that digs a pit in the earth. The other, moral, because he held us in his hands: And therefore it is said, Omnia tradidit Pater in manus suas, & non rapiet eas quisquam de manu sua, The Father hath delivered 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 pain he felt, was in the nailing of his hands. Leo the Pope saith, That to those that were crucified, they did use to put a veil or bend before their eyes, when their hands were nailed, and that they took the like course with our Saviour Christ, but his Love had so ordered the business, that he had eyes to see his own hurts, but not ours. The Prophet Zacharie asks 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 have made of the wounds in our Saviors' side, and his sacred feet, but that Man was abiding in those the wounds of his hands, In manibus meis scripsi te, I have written thee in my hands: And therefore made more reckoning of them. And at the day of judgement he saith by the mouth of Zacharie, Aspicient ad me, quem crucifix●runt, They shall look upon me whom they have pierced. Zachar. 12. The sinner shall open his eyes, whose name being written (like a posy) in those hands, and himself worn by them, as a ring of remembrance, shall see his salvation nailed to those hands, which his sins had nailed so fast to the Crosse. In a word, as in the garden, having more care of his, than himself, he said in an imperious kind of manner, Sinite hos abire, Suffer these to depart. And on the Cross he said unto his Father, In manus tuas Domine, commendo Spiritum meum. Upon which place Saint Augustine saith, That he there called the faithful, his Spirit and his Soul; taking no care of his own spirit or soul; for that was united to the Divinity. So that in this regard, for that he held us in his hands, he felt more the torment of his hands, than of any other part. Never did humane Nature receive so great an injury as the death of the Crosse. Tostatus expounding that place of Deut. Maledictus a Deo, qui pependit in ligno, Cursed is he that hangs upon the tree, saith, That it was an injury done to God himself, that a creature created after Gods own image, should dye on the Cross, Nefas est (saith Cicero) vincire cives Romanos, scelus, verberare, prope parricidium necare: Quid dicam in cruse agere? It is a heinous act to bind a Citizen of Rome, a villainy to scourge him, and in a manner parricide to kill him: What shall it be then to put him on the Cross? Pliny saith, That the Romans did set up certain Crosses, whereon they hung those dogs, which did not give warning by barking; when the Gaulus did scale the Capitol; which surprisal was prevented by the gaggling of the geese. Suidas saith, That when any one did die a bad and unfortunate death, they did put a Cross upon his grave. Scaliger reporteth, That upon a time, there was a strange kind of headache in Rome, which had spread itself over all the City, which was so extreme painful unto them, that many of them did hang themselves in their own garters, choosing rather to die, than to endure the pain thereof; and some did hang themselves for fear of that sickness, before ever it had seized upon them: Whereupon the Senate being desirous to prevent so great a mischief, published a Proclamation, punishing therein these desperate offenders with the infamy of the Cross, that dishonour might cut off that inconvenience, which life could not persuade. Now so great then was the love which our Saviour Christ bore unto us, that he deposited in the infamy and reproach of the Cross, all that honour which he had gotten himself by his miracles, his doctrine, and unblameable life, leaving them all hanging on the Cross, as a Trophy of his love. Hercules' erected pillars, where he thought the world had ended and extended its utmost bounds, as a Trophy of his prowess and valour; bearing this letter or inscription, Non plus ultra. Our Saviour Christ showed his Love unto us to the end, in that his Trophy of the Cross, with this letter or inscription, No Love can go beyond this Love: And therefore the Cross is the North-star of our comfort and hope. For what can he deny us, or what will not he grant unto us, who on the Cross showed such exceeding great love unto us? But some man perhaps will ask me, How can so bad a thing be able to afford comfort? Saint Basil clears it with this answer, That the death of our Saviour Christ did alter the nature and quality of things; turning joy into sorrow, and sorrow into joy. And therefore it is said, Vae vobis qui ridetis, Woe be unto ye that laugh. And as we see sometimes that the fire doth not burn, that the water doth not drown, and that wild beasts do not bite; because the divine Omnipotence doth truck and exchange the activeness of those Elements, and beasts; so Christ took away the sorrow & pain of the Cross, and placed thereon joy, Comfort, and Hope. The daughters of jerusalem went forth to see King Solomon with that Crown wherewith his mother had crowned him on his wedding day, and the day of the joy of his heart. But Theodoret demandeth, How can a crown of thorns become a crown of joy? I answer, As it is a crown of Love it may. Nilus, in an Epistle which he writeth to Olimpiodorus, Proconsul of Egypt, saith, speaking of the Cross, Per hanc desperabundis undique spes annuntiatur, Every part of Christ affords a sinner confidence. To him, to whom (in all seeming) there remaineth no reason of hoping, the Cross promiseth hope. There is no man so bad, no man so sad, to whom this doth not assure joy and comfort. Consider Christ from the sole of the foot, to the crown of the head; and all that we there find, are nothing else but reasons of confidence, and of comfort. His head bowing, his hands broken, his feet fettered, his side opened: with his head he beckons us to him; with his arms he embraceth us; with his breast he doth warrant us safety. The heart of man is inscrutable. There were many that murmured at man's making, because he that moulded him, had not made him with a window in his bosom. But though thou shouldest be jealous of all the rest, yet canst thou not be jealous of Christ, nor of his Love, since that he lays open his bowels unto thee. They had now set up the Cross, leaving our Saviour Christ naked thereupon, as already hath been delivered unto you. And that History of the King of Arragon, Don Alonso, further addeth, That the most blessed Virgin being sensible of the great shame which her beloved Son suffered upon this occasion, and desiring much to cover him with the veil which she had on her head, the earth heaved itself up by degrees, & served in stead of a ladder to perform this good office. And though the Evangelists do not set down all the particulars that passed then and there, yet this is so singular in itself, that I thought it not fit to have it left out. Upon the discomfort which Christ showed in some few words that he uttered, Christ's Deity more concealed at his death than any time before the Devils made a great muttering and whispering amongst themselves, that he was a mere man and a sinner. And having gone always on in their blindness, in not knowing of him, at this last push they bewrayed their blindness more than ever heretofore. Eusebius Caesariensis saith, That albeit all the whole life of Christ was a covering, and discovering of the treasure of his Divinity; yet at his death he did hide it in that manner, and kept it so close, that innumerable Legions of Devils came to flout and scoff at him, as if they had now gotten the victory; so doth that place of Esay express this their triumphing over him, Infernus super te, conturbatus est in occursum adventus tui, suscitavit tibi Gigantes: by whom he understands the devils, which said to our Saviour Christ on the Cross, Et tu vulneratus es, sicut & nos, & nostri similis factus es, detracta est ad inferos superbia tua, Thou hast hitherto deceived us, but now thou shalt cousin us no more, we know now well enough what thou art: We will now be Gods, Super astra Dei, exaltabo solium meum, & similis ero altissimo, Thou wouldst feign likewise have made thyself a God, but thou art wounded and infected as well as we, with sin. Now thy eyes wax dim and dark, thy face pale and wan, thy tongue furred and swollen; thy lips black and blue; and thy whole body nothing from top to toe but stripes and gore blood. Caesarius, that was a contemporary of Saint Bernard's, saith, That he did ask a certain Devil, from whence he came? And that he should make him this answer, I come from assisting at the death of Abbot Gerardo. How dared thou (said the other) set upon so holy a man? Whereunto the Devil answered, Ego presens fui super brachium crucis, quando Dei filius expiravit; I was present at the cross, when the Son of God expired. And Didimus saith, That Lucifer did assist there at that time, accompanied with great squadrons of Devils in most horrible and fearful shapes. E●s●bius Caesariens●s, expounding that verse of the 21 Psalm [Circundiderunt me vitul● multi, & aperuerunt super me os suum, circumdiderunt me canes multi. Salua me ex ore L●onis, & a cornibus unicornium humilitatem meam: Dogs have compassed me, and the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me; they pierced my hands and my feet; I may tell all my bones, yet they behold and look upon me; They part my garments amongst them, and cast lots upon my Vesture, But be thou not far off, o Lord my strength, hasten to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword, my desolate soul from the power of the dogs; save me from the lion's mouth, and answer me in saving me from the horns of the unicorn, etc.] saith, That this was a Prayer which the son made unto his father, entreating him that he would free him from the Dogs, the Bulls, the Lions, and the Unicorns, who coming upon him with open mouth, did cast a cloud of heaviness and sadness before those his Divine eyes. Eusebius likewise expounding that verse of the 54 Psalm, [Timor & tremor venerunt super me, & contexerunt me tenebrae, Fear and trembling are come upon me, and an horrible fear hath covered me.] saith, That as in holy Scripture many Devils are called, spirits of Fornication, and of Horror, so some men are called Ruffians, Raggamuffin's, Swashbucklers, etc. Contexerunt me tenebrae, is there set down, to express the infinite number of Devils attending then upon our Saviour. They did cover him like a cloud, but they could not comprehend him. To whom may be applied that place of Saint john, The light did shine in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. God permitting it should be ●o, Malice is ever it's own foe. to the end, that that place of Saint Paul might be verified; Tentatum per omnia He was tempted in all things. ●ut this Temptation proved worse than the former to him: For the bait being thrown out, he catcht at the mortal and weaker part in God, and was taken forthwith by the hook of his Divinity. Gregory Nissen applieth to this purpose that history of David, when Saul throwing his spear at him, he left it sticking in the wall, David remaining unhurt. Quousque irruitis in hominem, interficitis universi vos tanquam pariete inclinato. Saint Jerome expounding this place of our Saviour Christ, calls him parietem, because he was our wall, Murus, & antemurale. So saith Esay. And parietem inclinatum, because he hung upon the Cross inclinato capite, & maceriae repulsae; like unto a wall that is pushed and shoved at; For, as some setting their shoulders against a wall, and seeking by main strength to throw it down to the ground, they themselves usually fall with it, which thrust it down, one remaining without an arm, another without a leg, and some without their lives: So the jews and Romans, setting to their shoulders to overthrow the life of our Saviour Christ; one lost his Kingdom, another his Monarchy, this man his goods, that man his life, & many both their bodies and souls. This is that Interficitis universi vos; And as that spear which Saul threw did not touch David, but smote the wall; So the nails, wounds, scourges, and thorns touched our Saviour's Humanity, but not his Divinity. So that the spear which was flung at him, missing his Godhead, and hitting only his Manhood, the Devil was thereby taken, mocked, overthrown, amazed, and astonished. In Exodus, God being willing to give an end to the plagues of Egypt, he commanded that every family of the children of Israel should on a certain night kill a Lamb, and that they should sprinkle the posts of the doors of their houses with the blood thereof; and, that when the Angel should pass by, slaying the first borne of Egypt, he should skip over the posts that were sprinkled with the blood of the Lamb, which the Israelites that night had eaten to supper. S. Chrysostome saith, That the Angel did fear the blood of that Lamb, because it was a type and figure of that true and most innocent Lamb, who was to have his blood sprinkled on the posts of the Crosse. If then an Angel of God were afraid of the blood of a beast, because it was a figure of that blood which was to be shed on the Cross for the saving of sinners, and such as were Gods chosen people; What fear and terror shall the blood and death of our Saviour Christ, God, and Man, strike into Hell? Saint Paul saith, Triumphans illos in semetipso, Triumphing over them in the Cross, subduing powers, principalities, etc. It is Anselmes' observation, Coloss. 2. that the triumphers of this world, make their triumph by shedding the blood of their enemies: The difference betwixt our Sauiour● triumph, and those of Men. but our Saviour Christ triumphed over the devils, and over sin and death, by shedding his own proper blood. God did anciently in those times of old, take the same course with his enemies, as other t●●umphers in the world were wont to do. Glorificabor in Pharaone, etc. I will get m● honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his Host, Exod. 14. upon his Chariots, and his Horsemen, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. God made himself then to be known by destroying, drowning, and killing of them. But now he would get himself a name, and fame, by dying himself on the Crosse. This strange and new kind of victory, Esay painteth forth by introducing our Saviour Christ, who ascendeth all bloody up unto Heaven; and by bringing in those Angels who ask the question, Who is this that comes thus stained and died in his own blood, and yet is both fair and valiant? Who is this (as it is in the Text) that cometh from Edom, Esay. 63. with red garments from Bozrah? He is glorious in his apparel, and walketh with great strength. Wherefore is thine apparel red, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the Winepress? And the answer to this demand is, Ego propugnator ad saluandum, I am mighty to save: I spoke in righteousness and past my word to save the World, and to take them out of the hard bondage of the devil, of sin, and of death; and I have performed my promise, and been as good as my word, by leaving their enemies overcome, by ●reading them underfoot, and by staining all my raiment with blood, and by bringing down their strength▪ to the earth. But, Quare ergo rubrum est vestimenium t●●m, Why is thy raiment red? What, a Conqueror, and yet so be●●●eared with blood? It is answered, I trod mine enemies under my foot, as he t●at crushing grapes ●readeth in the Winepress; and my garments are sprinkled▪ and my ●ayment stained with their blood. Calcavi eos in furore meo, I trod th●m in ●●●●●●ger, and trod them underfoot in my wrath, for the day of vengeance was in 〈◊〉 heart, and the year of my redeemed was come. And so I was their saviour. But how could this be said of the Devils, and of Sin, being that they have neither of them blood? 'Tis true, But humane nature hath both flesh and blood; Whereof they had made themselves Lords and Masters. And because I had (saith Christ) put on this particular nature, not in regard as it was in me, (for so it was impeccable and without sin) but in regard of the rest of mankind, from whom it was inseparable and not to be removed, and so must need Sin, whilst that was about them: Christ was prodigal of his own innocent and precious Blood, that he might save ours which was altogether tainted and corrupted. He endured the Cross, that we might receive the Crown; he cast himself into the Arms of Death, that he might raise us up to eternal life: for which his great and unspeakable Mercy towards us most wretched, vile, and miserable Sinners, to him, the Father, and the Holy Ghost, three Persons, one true and ever living God, be rendered all Praise, Honour, and Glory, Might, Majesty, Power and Dominion, as most due, World without end, Amen. Laus Deo. A Table of all the principal matters contained in this Book. A Abraham. HOped, where he had no reason to hope. page. 68, 69. In sacrificing Isaac, he sacrificed the joy and content of his life. 187 His courage was again tried by being forced to forsake his country. 275 Adam. For a foolish longing lost the greatest Empire. 273 His knowledge was infused. 466 If he had accused himself, he had freed his posterity. 288 The sight of Abel being dead, was a terror to Adam ever after. 489 He laid the burden of his transgression upon God. 564 He knew by revelation, that his marriage did represent that of Christ, and his Church but he knew not the means. 608 If he had not excused his fault he had not been shut out of Paradise. 625 He 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 Usually the child of Ignorance. 465 Christ on the Cross the chiefest object that ever it had. 639 Advantage. Against an Enemy no cowardice. 551 Adultery. How punished in former times. 418 The foulness of the Sin. ibid. Condemned even by nature, 419 Affliction. Beneficial. 27 But not to the wicked. 28 Why God afflicteth his children. 63, 69, 179 It altereth the very form of Man. 638 Ambition. A strong temptation. 90 Blind in what it pursueth. 228 It knows nor reason nor religion. 229 The nurse and mother of many Cruelties. 230 Three sorts of Ambition. 229 Anger, See Wrath. It ought to be restrained. 58 Sometimes necessary. 126 As hurtful a Sin, as Enuy. 328, etc. Angels. The Protectors of God's children. 89 Their Power. 97 They rejoice at our coming to Heaven. 282 Evil Angels. To what services deputed. 97 Antechrist. His wonders shall be lying and deceitful, yet many. 120 Antiquity. The praise of it. 41 Apparel. How to be limited. 235 The abuse of it. 236 B Baptism. THe foundation of Christian building. 558 Bethesda, the figure of it. 165 Beloved. A name of good pre-eminence. 502 Bells. The use of them. 526 Beelzebub. Why resembled to a fly. 295 Benefit, See Courtesy. Well bestowed, if much desired. 546 Beauty. The force of it. 571 Blessing. Why Isaac would have conferred the blessing on Esau. 227 God measures out his blessings to us more by Love than Wisdom. 262 He substracts them from the ungrateful. 270 C Centurion. HIs behaviour justified. 36 His faith commended. 34 Capernaum. The glory of it. 23, 315 Why Christ would work no miracles there. 318 There began the preaching of the Gospel. 315 Change. A change to be seen in all things. 247 Charity, See Mercy and unmercifulness. Much respected of God. 100, praised of Men. 307 Must be practised towards all. 337 How it differs from covetousness. 439 Chair. What is meant by Moses his Chair. 212 Chastisement, See Punishment. God's chastisements whereunto resembled. 244 To what purpose they serve. ibid. More in show than in substance. 452 Children. What care Parents should have of them. 226 If virtuous their Parent's glory. 310 Christ a Schoolmaster even to these. 462 Four degrees of childhood, and whereunto alluding. 602 Christ. See Death. His coming to judgement. 93 With what Majesty it shall be. 96 & 97 His combat with the devil. 71 How called the hope of the Gentiles. 142 Why called the Son of David rather than of Abraham. 149 His transfiguration, and the reasons of it. 184, etc. The necessity of it. 187, The quality. 188 Glorious in his Passion three manner of ways. 192 His body twofold, Natural, and Mystical. 193 His Passion the fountain of our glory. ibid. He suffered, only because he would. 200 His willingness to dye. 219 Why called the Son of Man. 223 His blood why shed in the Vine-yard. 265 If conceived in the heart, soon discovered. 309 His Pedigree, the noblest that ever was. 310 His works of two sorts. 318 No Monopoly to be made of his Worth. 326 As he was meek in reproving, so he was stout in revenging. 359 He brings Health and Holiness, wheresoever he cometh. 374 Compared to the Sun. 388 The only Well of living Water. 394 A Controller of curious niceness. ibid. The prerogative of his flesh. 379 More moved at our disasters, than he was at his own. 494 Why without peccabilitie. 524, etc. His innocency exemplified both by his life & death. 526 Never any so abused by the World, as he. 537 543 He must be sought, while he may be found. 543 His power never more seen, than in his Passion. 549, 605 He proves his Divinity by no other testimony, than his works. 556 Always ready to forgive Sinners. 583 Why called a Bull. 605 His life was to bring the jews to knowledge, his death the Gentiles. 605 His Humility the character of his Love.. 637 His company a sure protection. 622 Every part of him affords a Sinner confidence. 645 His Deity when most concealed. ibid. His blood ought to be much regarded. 647 The difference betwixt his Triumph, & those of Men. 16 Christians. Led more by Custom than Devotion. 414 Many now worse enemies to Christ, than were the Pharisees. 267 Many Christians why called sheep. 567 Church. Why persecuted. 65 Likened to a Rock. ibid. Her greatest persecution is to want persecution. ibid. Her firmness. 250 Gods favour towards her. 345 Why styled a well ordered Army. 440 In her infancy she needed miracles. 326 She thrives, because watered with the blood of Christ and his Martyrs. 251 Clemency. A profitable virtue. 534 Communion. Two dignities to be considered in it: One of the Person that receiveth Christ; the other of the Preparation, wherewith he doth receive it. 33, 636 Confession. When to be made. 203 The only way to absolution. 281 Without it no true comfort. 288 Satan would keep us from it. ibid. Contemplation. Must not be severed from action. 488 Nor preferred before it. 413 Conscience. If guilty, the greatest torture. 567 Cooperation. Necessary in things that concern the saving of our Souls. 147 Counsel. Where good Counsel is wanting, all runs to ruin. 436 State Counsels more to pill the poor, than to preserve them. 437 No man so wise, but may need good Counsel. 587 Ill Counsel produceth ill effects. ibid. Country. Every man must love his own Country. 275 316 Conversion. Three conversions celeberated by the Church. 615 That of the Thief miraculous. 616 Covetousness. Foolish and unnecessary. 8 The root of all evil. 234 Nothing worse than a covetous man. 263 No Vice more severely punished. ibid. None so hard to be reform. ibid. The only God that commands the World. 264 Men usually covet what is especially commended. 407 Covetousness and Mercy, how they differ. 439 Never satisfied. 441 Naught in a Magistrate. ibid. Worse in a Minister. 448, 457, 489 Courtesy. The receipt of a courtesy is the engaging of our liberty. 226 A good turn is a strong fetter. 253 Courteous behaviour the greatest gain. 445 Court, Courtier. The Courts of Princes like the pool of Bethesda. 162 The life of a Courtier is wholly upon hope. ibid. Crosse. Heaven's key. 623 The death of the Cross an injury to nature. 644 Cruelty, See unmercifulness. Curiosity. Dangerous in divine matters. 125, as also in searching into other men's lives. 477 Curiosity and Temperance are still at variance within us. 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 enemy. 74 Natural to shun Death, and to seek Life. 219 Christ's willingness to dye. ibid. Christ's death to be considered two manner of ways, etc. 222, etc. As a man's life is, so is his death. 243 Why called a change. 247 We ought to pray against sudden 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 die. 426 Little regarded or remembered. 489 The remembrance of it affords two benefits. It is incident to all. 490, etc. The living more to be pitied, than the dead. 494 Death a large draught, but Christ swallowed it down. 499 Why termed a Sleep. 509, etc. Christ's death how different from ours. 510. The death of the Soul a true death, that of the body only a shadow. 512 Why the Heathen erected Pyramids over their dead. 514 Christ's death, the Devil's worst torment. 528 549 Why Christ desiring to dye, fled to avoid death. ibid. etc. Christ's death did alter the nature of things. 645 The Devil never more deluded than by Christ's death. 646 Preparation against death necessary. 597 Devil. He lays upon Man three burdens. 17. His description. 71. His trade is wholly to do evil. 80 Why he appeared to Eve in the form of a Serpent. 81 His subtlety. 82 A great provoker to Gluttony, and why. Ibid. His malice oftentimes outruns his Wit. 85 He is all tongue. 88 A false interpreter of Scripture. 89 He hath three gins wherewith to entrap man, suitable to his ages. ibid. A great Bragger, but a mere Bankrupt. 90 Compared to a fly 91 His imprisonment. 92, 304 His tyranny over those that follow him. 134, 286 Always foiled by his own weapons. 269 God alone must untie his knots. 283, and dissolve his bargains. 284, and overcome his strength. 287 The way to punish him, is to praise God. 289 Why God permits him to rage against Man. 292 Till he be out of us, no good can enter in. 293 The Devils have their several employments. 294 All at unity against man. 298 No Thief nor Tyrant to the Devil. 299 His competition with God. 301 How he is said to possess what he hath, in peace. ibid. Why called the strong man. 303, and why the prince of the world. ibid. The casting out of Devils, not always a sign of the coming of God's Kingdom. 302 Three sorts of persons possessed with Devils. 304 Whether the Devils knew Christ, or no. 384, etc. His rest, is to do mischief. 304 God turns his tricks to man's advantage. 306 He can do nothing against us, without us. 585 Discourse. What discourses Christians should use. 218 Disobedience. Man shall be condemned for it by all the creatures. 380, etc. Doctrine. Christ's doctrine both pleasing and profitable. 462 Dog. A name which in holy writ implies the lowest baseness. 157 Dumbe. Dumbness in a Christian the greatest misery. 288 Dumb ministers the Devil's best agents. 289 Dust. The period and the principle of all things. 7 E Earth. THe basest of all the Elements. 7 Eloquence. The force of it. 547 Enemies. Not to be hated for divers reasons. 43, 47, 48 but loved, by the example of Pagans. 44 of Christ. 52, 59 Only Gods instruments to punish our sins. 57 Excuses of the flesh against this loving of our his Enemies, and their confutation. 59 Gods child thinks it no hard precept, to love Enemies. 60 Not safe trusting an Enemy. 639 Envy. The Nature of it. 125 Earthly things more envied, than spiritual. 183 A godly kind of envy. 202 Three mischiefs arise from envy. 320 A dangerous Beast. 328 Envy and Love, alike humorous in making contrarieties. 342 The boldest of all Vices. 353, and the most venomous. 356 A fortunate Vice to others, unfortunate to itself. 539 Never greater, than among brethren. 556 Hard to be cured. 564 Eye. The office of the eye. 578 How Gods Eyes may be drawn unto us. 66 A weeping eye causeth a bleeding heart. 170 The eye is the store-house of favour. 432 Difference of eyes. ibid. The eye of divine Pity ever fixed upon our poverty. 474, 478 The eye is the heart's market place. 479 The epitome of man. ibid. A great misleader of the heart. 482 Gods pain in curing it. 483 The power of the eye. 613 F Faith. IT hath two wings, Prayer and Alms. 22 The Centurions Faith. 34 The Woman of Canaan. 142 Faith▪ how said to be great. 36 The weakness of it in the Disciples. 61 The power of it lively. 158 Things above the reach of reason, hard to be believed. 178 Without faith in Christ, no remission of sins. 199 No true knowledge of Christ without Faith. 385 Christ respects not our Knowledge, but our Faith. 400 Fasting. The antiquity of it. 11 The efficacy of it. 12, & 79 What to be observed in Fasting. 13 What to be avoided. 14 Three sorts of Fasters. 20 True Fasting. 21 Our Saviour's Fasting, differed from that of Moses and Eliah. 78 Motives to Fasting. 79 Fear. The occasion of many cruelties. 191 Nothing in the world but we ought to fear it. 225 Fear ties a man to his duty. 248 The fear of the Lord, a strong defence. 249 A discreet fear, better than a forward boldness. 387 Feast. The feast of Tabernacles, why instituted, and how solemnised. 544 Three feasts of Dedication among the jews. 557 The feast of Fire. 559 Flattery. Hated of God. 116 Fly. See Persecution. No flying from God. 134, 138, 560, 578. Flight in Winter. 560 We must fly to God. 504 Friend, Friendship. Wherein true friendship consisteth. 313 It is not found amongst kindred or brethren. 556 Three sorts of friendship. 632 A true friend hard to be found. 429, 430 False friends whereunto compared. 509 G General. THe main thing in a General, is to free his soldiers from fear. 71, 73 Gentiles. Their calling. 38, 269 Glory. The Glory to come how excellent. 186 Glutton, Gluttony. Gluttons compared to Serpents. 395 Gluttony, of all Vices the most dangerous. 237 It ill beseems a Ruler. 395 God. A sure Paymaster. 21 His Majesty not to be described. 107 Ever ready to help his children. 30. etc. His Bounty towards his suppliants. 30. How we should behave ourselves towards him. 34 His help never comes too late. 68 Why he deferreth it sometimes. 69 Particularly the God of the Faithful. 75 His friendship the surest. 86 He makes the Devil's practices our preservatives. 87 His children, why called Sheep and Lambs in holy Writ. 154 He proportions his favours and dis-favors, according to our capacity, 156. and as he pleaseth. 166 The least of his favours not to be valued. 157 His respect in comforting the distressed. 164 He pitieth when none else will. 170, 174. He prevents our necessities. 172. How he may beseen of men. 184, etc. Signs whereby to know whether we seek him. 202, etc. When he may be said to be absent from us. 256 He looks for fruit where heebestowes his favours. 258, 266 He requires nothing of us, but what is for our own good, 258. and he requires notmuch. 259 Our destruction grieves him more, than his own dishonour. 261 He labours our conversion. 266, 267 He substracts his blessings, when we prove ungrateful. 270 His Bounty. 282 Why called the hidden God. 308 By weak means he confounds the mighty. ibid. More to be honoured than our Parents. 318 His works and ways must be reverenced, not discussed. 322 Sometimes most our friends, when he denies us what we ask. 323 No respecter of Persons. 327 Protects his children otherwise in the new Law, than he did in the old. 360 Why called the water of Life. 401 Ever forward in relieving our necessities. 435 His favours seldom come single. 502 He never forskes his friends. 503 We must fly to him in all extremities. 504, etc. Why he appeared to Moses in a Bush. 515 His honour must ever be preferred before our own. 535 His counsels are unsearchable. 550 Not partial in bestowing his favours. 554 The way to fly from God, is to fly unto him. 578 The only Lord of all. 597, etc. No striving against him. 606 Not called the God of any man, while he liveth. 609 He delayeth not his favours. 628 His reward exceedeth our requests. 628, 629 His absence terrible. 633 He hath two Houses. 635. Good. Never truly liked, till utterly lost. 543 If public, to be preferred before the private. 181, 185, 594 Gospel. Milder than the Law. 346 Grace. Enableth us to do what Nature cannot. 50 The order of it different from that of Nature. 108 Not obtained without diligence. 166 H Hair. Hair hath been hurtful unto many. Harlot. The price of a Harlot no lasting portion. 397 Her manners. ibid. Hardness of heart. In the jews without paralelle. 206 They that live in it, justly suffered to dye in it. 58, 117 Marks whereby to know a hard heart. 296 A hard heart can never be mollified. 537 Health. Life is no life without it, 239 Heart. It cannot love and hate both at once. 117 Man's heart, God's temple. 557, etc. Of the whole man, God desires only the heart. 369 What is understood by heart. 371 It hath many enemies, and all within itself. ibid. The heart of the Earth, what. 130. Hearers. Curious hearers reproved. 124 Heaven. The joys of it. 194 Not purchased without violence. 230, 391 545 In our passage to it, no ties of Nature to be regarded. 311 The glory of it. 627 Hell. The pains of it how dreadful. 244, etc. All other pains, but pastimes to these. 453 Honour. Despised of Christ. 327 Never without its burden. 35 Gods children more ambitious to deserve it, than enjoy it. 192 Earthly honours brook no partnership. 228 The desire of honour not always to be condemned. 327 Honours where no merit is, adds but to our shame. 554 Desired of all. 555 Hope. More prevailent with man than fear. 190 The nature of both. 619 Satan's practice to deprive job of his hope. 620 Hospitality. Pleasing to God. 375 God the only keeper of it. 443 Humility. Twofold, one of the Understanding, another of the Will. 33 The only way to Heaven. 217 No Humility like our Saviour's. 635 Hunger. A great temptation. 80 Why Christ would hunger. 78 hypocrisy. Feigns the good it hath not. 15 A kind of Stage-play. 16 The Hypocrite hath no hope of Heaven. 18 The danger of hypocritical and lukewarm Christians. 268, 301 Hypocrisy strains at a Gnat, and swallows a Camel. 262, 368 I Ego, I. A Word of great authority. 45 jealousy. A true symptom of baseness. 338 jews. A jealous and envious people. 315 Gods many favours toward them. 316 Their subtlety and incredulity. 565, 566 The murderers of all God's Saints. 602 In nature both like the Boar and the Bear. 604 Ignorance. A main cause of all our evil. 401, 591 Images. What difference betwixt the maker of them and the worshipper. 151 Incredulity. A main let to Christ's miracles. 322 Incontinency. Is a Sin which hath two properties. 570 Informers. Like the flies of Egypt in a common weal. Ingratitude. The first fault that ever was committed. 143 Never unpunished of God. 144 No cut to unkindness. 224 God substracts his blessings from the ungrateful. 270 It is usually the requital of goodness. 330 The Emblem of it. 383, 568 To return evil for good, a devilish sin. 635 Inheritance. God's inheritance may run a twofold danger. 248 Injuries. Must be patiently digested. 47 When, and how to beforgiven. 333, etc. To suffer them is true nobleness. 533 Intercession. Not to be understood but of the living. 379 Two things required to make it effectual. 378 jonas. Whence descended. 132 Reasons moving him to fly. 133 Why he would be cast into the Sea. 136 The Mariners charitable affection towards him. 137 judged. No small comfort, that Christ shall be our judge. 94 Two properties of a judge. 95 He must not be rash. 137 judges must incline to mercy. 421 A good judge compared to a Crane. 458 judgement. Why attributed to Christ. 94 judgement how to be guided. 471, etc. All shall appear in judgement. 98 The day of judgement desired of the Iust. 99 Pilat's judgement against Christ. 640 The most unjust that ever was. 641 judas Foolish two ways in the sale of our Saviour. 634 The vileness of his fault. ibid. justification. A greater work than either the creation of the World or of Angels. 294, 572 The first step to it is mercy and pity. 397 Set out by diverse apt similitudes. 573, 582 K Knowledge, See Learning, Wisdom. TO know thyself the beginning of perfection. 480 L Lamb's. A Name attributed to the just, and why. 154 Law. Whereunto useful. 40 The law of Taliation. 46 Laws if many, gainful to some, but loss to the most. 363 Learning, See Wisdom. Not gotten without labour. 464, etc. God the giver of it. 466 Lent. Why called the Spring of the Church. 10 Liberality. Must be waited on by Frugality. 444 Life. This life only a procession of quick and dead. 489 True life, is to meditate on death. 1, 4, 490, etc. Short life content with short allowance. 8, & 542 Whether better a public or a private life. 107 An evil life the loss of Faith. 128 Long life the enlargement of sin. 136 Life seldom wearisome to any, 174 The evils of this life are only seeming evils. 179, 180 Life without health no life. 239 Why desperate sinners are suffered to live long. 241 Nothing permanent in this life. 243 This life is only toil and labour, both to the wicked, and the just. 396 Light. Twofold. 188 The excellency of that light which is spiritual. 189 Christ, why called the Light of the World. 517 The benefit of this Light. ibid. etc. Reason's why some hate and shun it. 519 What is meant by Light of life. 522 Looking-Glasses. Why placed about the Laver in the Temple. 526 Lord. A name implying Honour and Power. 32 Love To love ourselves we need not be commanded. 42 We must love our enemies. 43 The causes why we cannot. 49 How our love must be ordered. 56 The perfection of it, how to be discovered 57 Never without fear. 92 How God should be loved. 377 Gods love is always working. 388, 435▪ 475 etc. 477 It cannot be repaid but with love. 475 No love where no relief. 503 Gods love seen by his delays in punishing. 513 Love and Hate transform a man alike into their objects. 564 Nothing more tedious to one that loves, than the absence of what he loves. 633 Love triumpheth over God himself. 635 Liar, Lying. The World, the Flesh, and the Devil, all liars. 528 The mischief of lying. 529 M Madness. TWofold. 604 Magistrates. Should be free from what they punish in others. 360, 457 Like shepherds they should feed their flocks, rather than fleece them. 437 In choice of State ministers, what ought to be regarded. 441 Magistrates should be bold in reforming public abuses. 454, etc. More heed the conversion of the offendor, than the correction of his offence. 455 Two things they should specially look unto, their conscience and their fame. 526 They must be examples. 527 Christ in his proceeding against the Devil, a pattern for all magistrates. ibid. That Commonwealth is lost, in which the magistrates and their ministers are both bad 563 They should ever have God's Laws before their eyes 588 Ill Rulers sent by God to punish the people. 600 They should account no time their own, but other men's. 631 Malice. Will never be assuaged. 530, 562 Blind and simple in all her practices. 592, etc. Ever her own foe. 646 Man. The name of man imports three things. 3, The quality of his thoughts. 601, His pride and vanity. 2, Two definitions of him. 625 Defers his promises. 159 His attributes, oblivion, and baseness. 3 His best knowledge is to know himself. 4, The benefit arising from this knowledge. 6, 7 His only supporter God. 160 Nothing his own in this life. 251 Nor can he do any thing of himself. 252 The Vine of all plants, most resembleth him. 255 God is able to make of him what he pleaseth. 256 Good men are scarce. 259 Nothing so foul as man, without his God. 279 He is the Devil's Citadel. 285 Why Satan is so malicious against him. 291 Of all creatures the most furious, if not guided by reason. 329, Christ's Art in gaining him 637, The Devil not more cruel. 381, 425, 598 Why God suffers in him so many corporal weaknesses and defects. 480, etc. 506 Inferior to the creatures in all humane goods. 508 His ways are two, and he needs a guide. 520, 608 Masters. How to use and esteem their servants. 25, etc. They must visit and help them in their sickness. 31 The benefit of having Christ our Master. 115 Meditation. Like Gunpowder. 5 Meekness. Prevails upon the fiercest persons. 51 Memory. The true use of it. 3 Mercy, See Charity, Pity, Love.. God's omnipotency seen most in his mercy. 54 The practice of mercy brings with it the greatest glory. 55 It differenceth Gods children from those of the Devil. 100 Works of mercy most enquired after in the day of judgement. 105 Mercy and justice the two Poles of God's government. 108 Mercy a sure motive to Mercy. 153 Merciful men the fittest to be about Princes. ib. God defers not his Mercy, but to augment it. 159 Not so plentiful under the Law, as under Grace 165 Gods Mercy ever in competition with man's malice. 260 He that would find Mercy must seek it. 387 judges must incline to Mercy. 421, 455, etc. An argument of goodness in whomsoever it is found. 424 'Tis God's care to work his children to Mercy. 435 He delights in no attributes of his own, so much as this. 481 'Tis the Spring from whence all his other blessings flow. 496 Sometimes so great, that we cannot think on it, but with terror. 498 Merits. Utterly cried down. 148, 321 Ministers, See Preachers, Magistrates. Miracles. When to be wrought. 85, 324 Why not in use now. Ibid. Hypocrites favour them much. 120, etc. The nature of Christ's miracles. 122, etc. How they differed from those of the Devil. ibid. Why miracles should be desired. 123 More frequent in the time of Grace, than under the Law. ibid. Prophecies more available. 190 Neither necessary to salvation, nor sufficient. 326 Christ's miracles, all wrought for the reparation of our miseries. 430 Mirth. See Sorrow. The best Physic. 167 Money. The instrument of all mischief. 274 Moors. Of all people the most fearful, and why. 73 Mortification. If true, never without mirth. 19, 20 Moses Chair. What it meant. 212 N Ninive. THe greatness of it, 132 How the Ninivites shall rise up in judgement against Christians at the latter day. 132 O Oblivion. HAth two bosoms. 535 Offence. See Injury. Offerings. No honour to God, when hurtful to others. 366 Offices. The sale, of them the ruin of a Kingdom. 457 Olive. Why the Hieroglyphic of Mercy. 413 What was typified by the mount of Olives. 412 Order. The want of it any where, brings all into confusion. 441 P Paradise. See Heaven. Parents. MVst be loved of their children. 275 They must have a care of them. 226 Partiality. In all things to be avoided. 440 Most of all in judgement. 472 Passion. See Christ. Death. Christ glorious in his Passion three manner of ways. 192 Punctual in discribing it. 220 It should be seriously considered. ibid. & 222 'Tis the fountain of our glory, 193 Passion altars all properties to itself. 532 Patience. Christ's Patience more staggered the Devil than all his Miracles. 55 The excellency of it. 68 Once wounded, outrageous. 356 Patience and Hope the only means to bring us to Heaven. 156 Acceptable to God, and profitable to ourselves 169, 172 A patient Ear shall reap great profit. 349 Patience when most to be applauded. 533 A patient man, whereunto resembled. 534 Patience the badge of Christ's Divinity. 622 People. Nothing fiercer than their fury. 314 Persecution. Whether Lawful to fly in time of persecution. 551 Persuasions. If false, the most dangerous invasions. 202 Peter. Two opinions concerning his denial. 607 How it may be said, he lost his Faith. ibid. The occasions of his fall. 608 His sin like that of Adam. 610 More injurious to Christ, than all his Enemies 612 Why he asked not pardon for his denial. 614 Pity. Hath always a Prayer for them that need it. 378 Ever profitable to them that use it. 476 Pharisees, and Scribes. Their wicked behaviour towards Christ. 113 Their office. 112 What they were. 210 Physicians. Ought to visit the poor. 31 Christ the best. 171, 177, 380 Bad Physicians, the Butchers of a Commonweal. 177 Place. Many have often fared the better, for the place in which they were. 388 Pleasures. Of this life altogether vanity. 186, 197 Whereunto compared. 410 Power. Never to be shown but in extremity. 552 Poverty. The whole life of our Saviour was a pattern for it. 636 The poor more respected of God than the rich. 30 They have usually the nobler minds. 189 Forsaken of all. 277 As necessary for the rich, as the rich for them. 374 Praise. All the retribution that man can make to God for all that he receiveth from him, is to praise him. 401 Precedents. More available than Precepts. 214 Predestination. A special mark of it. 155 Preachers, Priests, Prelates. Ought to have but one Wife, one Vine, one Living. 254 Their several names in holy Writ. 260 How the World useth them. ibid. Hot fiery spirits unfit for this office. 567 The unworthiness of the Person, no prejudice to the Function. 597 Christ's preaching powerful. 100, 106 The office of a preacher. 133 The efficacy of jonas his preaching. 139, 141 The best preachers, have not always the most Auditors. 141 Priests are to be both Shepherds, and Christians. 196 Three sorts of preachers. 213 Those of loser life, to what resembled. 214 Their main aim is the glory of God. 215 The honour of priesthood. 448 A Preacher should never boast of his parts. 468 He must reprove boldly. 471 Preaching and Practice should never be severed. 527 Like Priest, like People. 540 Kindred the overthrow of many Prelates. 555 Ignorant and sluggish Prelates, the destruction of God's Vineyard. 253 Prayer. Prayer and Alms the wings of Faith. 22 We must pray for our enemies. 52 Reasons and inducements hereunto. 53 The excellency of Prayer. 114, efficacy. 144 Why God sometimes denies us what we pray for. 130, 149 Prayer must be our practice in adversity. 138 Vocal prayer necessary. 148 What we are to demand in prayer. ibid. Importunity in prayer pleasing to God. 151 We must pray discreetly. 157 Not with the tongue only. 370 Sick patients may pray, but not prescribe. 45 Heartless prayers like soundlesseinstruments. 501 Our prayers must not be long, but strong. ibid. Pride, Presumption. What kind of sin. 7 Man's presumption. 230 The bane of the Soul. 257 Never unpunished. 609, 610 Princes. See Magistrates. Should regard their people. 216 They little respect honest services. 541 Profit. Private profit regarded of every one. 418 Prosperity. Always envied. 182 Finds Friends, Adversity none. 198 Worldly prosperity can follow no man farther than the grave. 243 No sure token of God's love. 376 The Souls bane. ibid. Providence. Distrust of God's providence the cause of much evil. 438 It reacheth always to the preservation of his children. 563 Punishments. See Chastisement. Gods, different from those of earthly Princes. 109 He proportions them to our sins. 102 He useth them only for preservation. 168, 249, 261, 486, and yet many times prolongs them. ibid. 332 We are punishable even for our thoughts. 169 The less we are punished here, the worse our estate. 179 God labours to conceal both his Rewards and Punishments. 190, 207 Princes have a threefold end in punishing. 247 Great punishments not be inflicted without great consideration. 267 Gods punishments of two sorts. 268 R Recreations. Lawful if moderate. 10 Necessary. 428 Redemption. Christ took great pains for it, & was at much cost. 391 The greatness of it may be seen by the greatness of Christ's shame. 553 Reformation. men's reformations, wherein differing from those of God. 271 Religion. Sin never more odious than when masked with Religion. 40 Man's wantonness in matters of Religion. 122 The dishonour of Christians is to differ in Religion. 298 No cost more tedious to man, than that which is bestowed upon Religion. 431 Religion must not be guided by policy, but contrary. 594 Repentance. How it is to be framed. 9 The Ninivites Repantance. 140 It is never to be delayed. 10, 141, 624 A pattern of it. 177, etc. What may cause it. 281 Two things required of every true penitent. 293 We must hasten it. 382, 484 Humility, Obedience, & Faith, required thereunto. 484 The nature of it. 486 Gods goodness towards the truly penitent. 508 Of Mary's Repentance. 574 Reprobation. Never discovered to any. 207 Gods prescience not the cause of it. ibid. Reproaches. Christ more sensible of them, than any other injuries. 535 Reproofs. Not always in seison. 297 Brotherly correction is to have place every where. 334 He that would reprove another, must correct himself. 338 Reproof when to be used. 339, etc. how. ibid. They must be private. 343 We must not refuse to reproved. 348 To reprove a sinner is the best service we can do to God. 350 The most faulty ever most ready to reprove. 399, 424 Sharp reproofs work weak effects. 590 Resurrection. Christ's Resurrection the greatest Miracle. 128, etc. 460 That, & his Death, two Mysteries discovering all God's Attributes. 459 Revenge. Belongs only to God. 43, 46, 342 In man a symptom of cowardice. 538 Riches. Their vanity. 21 How they may be sought. 22 Not so much respected of God, as poverty. 30 They may be possessed, but not desired. 233 Usually accompanied with Pride and Cruelty 239 Righteous. They are the strength of the land in which they sojourn. 426 God allows them not Bread for nothing. 63 Sensible of God's wrongs. 74 Very rare. 544, 545 Secure in all Storms because God is with them. 67 They long after the day of judgement. 99 Called Sheep and Lambs, and why. 154 They rejoice in afflictions, why. 185, 396.566 Despicable without, but ●ich within. 188 Mindful of God's service, not of their own. 502, So likewise of his injuries, not their own. 503 Rivers. Three in this World. 405 S Sacrament. See Communion. Sacrifice. The greatness of the jewish sacrifices. 105 Salvation. Diversely sought after by Christians. 325 Scribes and Pharisees. Their austerity and hypocrisy. 112, 210 Their office. ibid. Scripture. Never to be searched unto the depth. 45 Scorning. A vice particular to the jews. 116 Security. A dangerous state. 532 Sermons. Ought to savour more of salt, than sugar. 124 Servants. How to behave themselves towards their Masters. 25, etc. Service. If good, a sure motive to draw on a recompense. 29 Little regarded of earthly Princes. 541 God must be served before Man. ibid. It is bad service to share in other men's sins. ibid. Sheep. God's children why so called. 154 Sinne. Not feared of Men, but only for the suffering. 70 All sins not punished alike. 101, 170 Sin undermines the Soul by degrees. 128 It draws destruction after it. 135 Occasions of sin must be avoided. 147, 181 515, 611 The foulness of sin. 204, 372, 575 It is the cause of all misery. 205, 279, 478, 589 Desirous to do more than it is able. ibid. God not the author of it. 208 We must not judge of a man's sinfulness by his sufferings. 589 They always go by shoals. 264 The lesser ever punished by the greater. ibid. Sin causeth the translation of Kingdoms. 270 Sin separates Man from God, and from himself. 280, etc. 511 Hard to be removed. 285, 378 Of all other things most hurtful to man. 305 It drives us far from God. 331 A monster, and why. 334 The sin of Cain greater than that of Adam. 603 The leaving of sin a sure mark of Predestination. 400 It is ever attended on by shame. 410 Grows loathsome through satiety. ibid. Four principles concerning the secrecy of sin. 415 It will discover itself. ibid. Nothing so terrible to man as the sight of his sins. 422 'Tis only for sin that God forsakes us. 427 Sin itself, a scourge to the sinner. 453 Old sins must be strongly reproved. 456 Sin the only security that God could have from man for his glory. 480 Sin is death itself. 497 It should be our Slave. 502 It so altars a man, that God cannot know him. 511 Custom in Sin, whereunto compared. 513 Old Sins hardly cured. ibid. Sin makes the most valiant man a coward. 525 No man free from it. ibid. We may not dally with it. 575 Relapses into it, dangerous. 577 Let us eye our Sins, and God will not. ibid. Why God suffers his children many times to fall into Sinne. 611 Sinner. To Sinners all things work together for the worst. 131 Their society must be avoided. 181 No Sinner but is sometimes touched. 204 Desperate Sinners why suffered to live long. 240 Sinners, Slaves to their sins. 265 Usually taken in their own snares. ibid. They love not to be checked. 273 Their miserable estate. 279 Whereunto compared. 279 Their posture. 280 Four differences betwixt a just man and a sinner. 354 Two sorts of sinners. 367 We must never despair of their conversion. 399 Always ready to disguise & excuse their sins. 595 Better to suffer with the Saints, than to be dignified with Sinners. 500 Dead Lazarus the emblem of a sinner. 512 He savours ill to all, but God. 514 Fierce in his appetites and desires. 546 God would have none despair. 574 Compared unto swine. 278 Slander. See Reproach. Soldier. Only honourable when religious. 25 Sorrow. Of two sorts. 20 A sharp Sword. 167 If deep, dumb. 580 Soul. Why knit and linked to a body of Earth. 4 Her faculties. 49 To heal the Soul, we must wound the body. 377 Two things cause a fever in the Soul. ibid. The great reckoning which God makes of a Soul. 403 Noble, when it serves God. 507 God only can satisfy it. 508 Man careless of nothing more, than of this. 512 A threefold death of the Soul. 513 The soul of the just, wherein differing from that of a sinner. 531 Partiality of judgement in things spiritual the bane of the soul. 532 The labour and love of Christ in looking after a lost Soul. 561 Spirit. God's spirit, the best Schoolmaster. 32 Stoning. An infamous kind of death. 423 Sunday. God did his greatest works ever on this day. 562 Sun. The glory of it. 521 Christ the only true Sun. 523 Superiors. Ought to respect their inferiors. 216 Sut●rs. Not to be repulsed but with much mildness. 231 A faint suitor, shows how to be denied. 325 Swine. Sinners resembled unto them, and why. 278 T Tears. OF diverse sorts. 495 Faulty two manner of ways. 496 They work two effects. 578 More savoury to Christ than Wine. 583 Their efficacy. 614 Temptations. Our Saviour hath sanctified them unto us. 71 The general good which is derived from them 75 We may not thrust ourselves into them. 76 They wait upon perfection. 77, 84 Christ could not be 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. God's temple ought to be reverenced, and why. 110, etc. 450, 562 The public temple is to be frequented. 161 Thankfulness. See Ingratitude. Required for benefits received. 382, 475 The Dove of all fowl the most thankful. 468 Our thankfulness a motive to God's bounty. 485 Thief. The conversion of the Thief, in all respects miraculous. 617 'Twas the blazoning both of God's mercy, and omnipotency. 618, as also of his divine providence. 619 By what motives he was induced to his conversion. 621 His Faith not to be paralleled. 626, Nor his Hope. ibid. Christ's bounty towards him. 627 Thirst. A greater torment than hunger. 398 Spiritual thirst never satisfied. 405 Thought. The quality and variety of man's thoughts. 601 Thresh. To thresh, in Scripture, is to rule with tyranny. 307 Time. How redeemed. 354 Torments. Hell torments everlasting. 171 Tongue. It must go with the Heart. 60 A good and an evil tongue. 290 No scourge to the evil one. 296 Trading. The best ever with God. 146 Traditions. How far forth to be regarded. 365 Their variety. ibid. The Church's perdition. 366 Tribulations. More profitable for us than Prosperity. 376 Gods Eye is always upon the Tribulations of his Children. 478 The Preseruatives of Virtues. 506 The best Reward that God can give his Followers. ibid. Triumph. Christ's Triumph, wherein differing from those of Men. 647 Trust. The surest tye. 257 Truth. Seldom welcombe unto any. 328, 528 Can never be suppressed. 535 Hardly heard in Prince's Courts. 610 Tyrants. Ever their own torturers. 299 Their ferae, the mother of their fury·s 100 V Vainglory. EVer to be avoided. 379, 553 Victory Temporal victories gotten by fight, spiritual by flying. 76 Vice. Hard to be removed. 24 Ever afraid of Virtue. 111 Never wants Agents. 541 Vine. The Vines of the faithful spring out of the blood of Christ. 251 Every man's soul is a Vine to himself, and he must dress 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 be too much honoured of any. 309 Blessed, not for bearing Christ, but believing in him. 311 Her dignity. 312 Unkindness. No cut to unkindness. 224, 613 unmercifulness. Of all sins most abhorred both of God and Man. 240 The fearful estate in which such are. 240 unthankefulness. See Ingratitude. Usurpation. The first original of Kingdoms. 299 W War. EVer betwixt Man and the Devil, and that by Gods own appointment, and why. 75 Water. The Emblem of happiness. 404 The waters of Paradise only tasted, ravish the Soul. 407 What is meant by the water of Life. 546 The Holy Ghost, why compared to water. ibid. Waters above the Heavens, what. 579 Weariness. Christ was weary. 389 Wealth. Brings with it Woe. 86 Weep. Why Christ wept. 511, etc. Whore. See Harlot. Wicked. Have no peace. 586 Wickedness mere foolishness. 590 Widow. What quality of life is required in a Widow. 493 Will. Nothing so perverse as man's will. 118, 505 It is his own overthrow. 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 Winepress. What it signifieth in Holy Writ. 250 Wisdom. See Learning. Despised of none but fools. 462 A wise man how profitable, and whereunto resembled. 463 True Wisdom ever accompanied with Humility. 468 Gods Word the truest. 469 Wisdom and Power not to be severed in a Prince. 473 No policy prevailent against God's Wisdom. 539, 588 Witness. Three conditions required in every Witness. 522, etc. Wives. Must do nothing without the consent of their husbands. 408, etc. Woman. The Hieroglyphic of weakness. 573 Though devout, yet dangerous to converse with. 62, 411 Wanton women subject to two great miseries 396 Two baits at which they usually bite. 402 Their Incontinency. 409 Man's disrespect a frequent occasion of their fall. 417 Works. If good wishes were good works the wicked would soon be saved. 400 We must work while we may. 483 Works outspeake words. 501 Word. God's word man's best sustenance. 87 Effectual by whomsoever it be uttered. 209, 211 Compared to a lookingglass. 464 The truest Wisdom. 469 The majesty and efficacy of it. 470, 547 How to be heard. 530 The same words out of diverse mouths, may be diversely 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 show. 91, 175, etc. A mixture of good and evil. 272 Worldly contents not attained without much toil. 404 The World's entertainment poor and base. 444 Wrath. God's 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 liberty the bane of youth. 274 Liable to many miseries and disasters. 497 Z Zeal. IF true, it carries with it both Lightning and Thunder. 362 Without action, no mark of a Christian. 414 The nature of true zeal. 450 Wherein different from Love.. 451, etc. Erata, For Callite, read Catelli. 137. For make, mark. 414. For Abulansis, Abulensis. 388. For Luuriabantur, Luxuriabantur, 122. For Bulzebub, Beelzebub, 125. For Sun, Son. 31. For Stavit, Stabit. 166. For hath, that. 4. There may be some other literal escapes, but such as an ingenious nature will willingly excuse, because they may be easily corrected. FINIS.