§. 28

FIrst to demonstrate this Truth, and Necessitie of Wee­ping in the Regenerate; Wee have the Author and Finisher of our Regeneration, not only once, offering vnto vs in this [Page 71]Text a Testimony of his Wee­ping, but in the dayes of his flesh offering vp Prayers and Suppli­cations with strong crying and teares, Heb. 5.7. Whence al­though wee conclude not with Chrysostome that wee finde our Saviour not only often Weeping, Chrys Hom. 6. in Math.and never Laughing: But not so much as, [...], Lightly smyling, because the Scripture doth not mention it: Nor with Bernard, Bern. in Sentent. That Thrice only in the Gospell hee Wept. 1. At his Birth, for the generall Mise­ry of Mankinde. 2. In this Text, for La [...]arus. 3. Over Hie­rusalem, immediatly before his Passion: Yet wee must consent vnto Cyprian? Si ille flens orabat, Cypr. de O­rat. Dom.qui sine peccato erat, q [...]antt magis Peccatores sic oportotlorar [...]; If hee prayed Weeping who was with­out Sinne, how much more [Page 72]must Sinners pray Weeping? Christs life though it hath a spe­ciall Excellency to demonstrate this Proposition, because the Light of Truth shined as per­fectly in it, as in the Scripture; Yet his Doctrine Math. 5.4. pronouncing those Blessed that mourne, and promising comfort for their reward, doth plainely confirme that as Comfort is properly and only due vnto the Regenerate, so they are inclined to Mourne before they be thus rewarded; He foretold his Dis­ciples, Iohn. 16.20. That they should Weepe and lament; Having in the foregoing verses promi­sed the assistance of his Spirit, whose Nature is Love, and Name Comforter: Yet hee will first see the Weeping effect of our Griefe, before we can feele the loving and comfortable [Page 73]supply of his Grace; Hee will have vs first powre out the wine of our Teares, before he powre in the Oyle of his mercy. And the Lord, Ierem. 31.9. Having established by promise the Co­venant of Regeneration, addeth this Proviso, They shall come with Weeping; As if the Promises of Grace and Mercy, were the Whetstones of our Griefe; Signes, not Salues of our Cala­mity; Memorials, not Medi­cines of our Misery. Be afflicted, mourne, and Weepe; Let your Laughter be turned into Mourning, and your Ioy into Heavinesse, Iam. 4.9. Were the Apostles most strict and sacred Iniunction pre­scribing to Weepe, declareth it to bee an inevitable Decree in the Court of heaven, and more inuiolable, and inuiolated by those that are in the State of [Page 74]Regeneracy, then the Lawes of Medes and Persians.

§. 29.

We doe all professe to be the Seruants of the living God, But as of old, Levit. 21.20 none that was blind or had any blemish in his eye might serue at the Altar; So now, none can sincerely serue the Lord that are blemished with the want of Weeping; And a­mong many Reasons this may be One, because for that impe­diment in the eye, wee cannot well shew our inward Sorrow­ing by outward Weeping. Which Necessitie of Weeping, Hierome positively confirmeth, Hier. ad Eustoch. Concluding, that, Longus risus perpeti compensandus est fletu, Much Laughter must be recom­pensed with much Weeping: And els where, that not onely [Page 75]the Inhabitants of the Materiall Hierusalem, Hier. in 1. cap. Thren. remembring in their afflictions and Miseries, all their pleasant things, that they had in the dayes of old, mour­ned and Wept; But the Mem­bers also of the Mysticall Hie­rusalem repenting and groning for anguish of Spirit, must ac­knowledge they have erred from the way of Truth, and wearied themselues in the way of wickednesse and destruction. Levit. 1.14. Levit. 5 7. The most frequent Sacrifices a­mong the Iewes were Doues and Pi­geons, which of all Fowles doe most often lament, and there­fore the Lord ordained them to bee often vsed in his Sacrifices, as the most significant Embleme of Weeping: August in Ioan. Tract. 6. Wherevnto Au­gustine elegantly alluding, saith, that the first visible manner in which the Holy Ghost [Page 76]descended from heaven, was like a Dove vpon our Saviour in his Baptisme; To teach vs that as in the Arke of Noah ther were a Raven and a Dove, So in the Arke of the Church there are Ravens knowen by their Croking, and Doves knowen by their Groning, the infallible witnesse of the Spirit abiding in them, which baptizeth and washeth them with Teares. The Lords breaking the Heads of Dra­gons in the waters, mentioned Psal. 74.13. is Allegorically expounded by Interpreters, to bee the weakening and washing a­way of our strongest and vilest Sinnes by Weeping. The Pro­phets for the most part received their Commissions to prophecy by Rivers, as Ezechiel by the Ri­ver Chebar, Ezech. 1.3. Dan. 10.4.Daniel by the Ri­ver Hiddekel, Matth. 3.6. the Baptist by the [Page 77]River Iordane; And all of them preached and prophecyed not so much with words as Wee­ping: Which course of Weeping, Greg. de Al­log. l. 3. c. 34 Gregory requireth as con­stantly in every constant pro­fessor, to bee sought for, by Prayer from the Lord; Iosua 15.19 as Achsah petitioned her father for Springs of waters, vnto whom he had given a South-land; Mat. 25.44. For many doe feed the hungry, lodge the stranger, cloth the naked, visit the sicke, and doe other good workes, wherein the Lord hath only gi­ven them a dry and South-land; With which (saith the Father) they must not bee contented, but must further desire the Blessing of the Springs of wa­ter; The Vpper Springs, that through the love of heaven; And the nether Springs, that through the feare of Hell, they [Page 78]may bewayle the Sinnes they have committed.

§. 30.

But as a Coach drawen with many horses, doth easily runne; So the Necessitie of this heavie (as it seemeth to some) weight of Weeping, may bee tolerated with more ease, if wee consider that the Saints in Scripture have begun before vs to beare this in­evitable burden in the heate of their day. Wee find Iobs face, foule with Weeping, Iob. 16.16. Paul protested, Act. 20.31. That for three yeares he ceased not to warne every one with Teares, day and night, knowing well, as Augustin obserueth, Plus gemitibus quam sermonibus, plus fletu quam afflatu, There is more good to be done in Popular Ser­mons with [...]ighing then [Page 79]speaking, with Weeping then Words; And that,

In Weeping our Precepts must be exemplified by our Practice. Iacob wrestled with God, and preuailed, Genes. 32.28. Which Wrestling the Prophet sheweth was by Weeping, Hos. 12.4. and his Pre­vailing by Praying. Daniel mourned three full weeks, Dan. 10.2. David made his bed to swimme, and watered his couch with Teares Psal. 6.6. Lachry­misque suis ieiunia pavit, And his Teares were his meate day and night, Psal. 42.3. And that Sinnefull Woman, Luk. 7.38. which,

Stood at our Saviours feet [Page 80]behind him Weeping, washed his feet with Teares, and wiped them with the haires of her head. And why should I adde more. Cypr. de. B [...]n. Poti. Inspicimus tantum pauca de multis, vt de pauc is intellig antur & caetera: For the time would faile me to tell of Annah, Samu­el, Ioseph, Ieremiah, Peter, Mary, Timothy; It were too tedious to insist in the examples of these and other Saints, subiect to like Passions as wee are; All whom wee finde, Quod voci deerat, plangore replêre, Where words were wanting have filled vp their complaints with weeping. Whose good example we ought the more carefully to obserue, for that the same light that shi­neth forth in the Scripture, shi­neth also in the conuersation of the Saints, and is reflected from them to our eyes, as from a [Page 81]Glasse; so that they are said, To hold forth the word of Life, Phil. 2.16. as the hand doth a Torch or Candle, that wee in the darkenesse of this World, might follow them in this Val­ley of Teares.

§. 31.

NExt we adde Reasons, not for Confirmation, but Ma­nifestation of this Truth: For see­ing Grace doth not abolish, Aquin. 1, 1, 8, 3. 2 Cor. 10.5. but perfect Nature, Naturall Reason must then do seruice & homage to Grace; bringing into captivi­tie, as every thought, to the O­bedience of Christ, so this also, That the most Regenerate are most inclined to Weeping.

§. 32.

First because the most Regene­rate have a renewed Apprehen­sion, cleerely to discerne be­tweene the best and the worst things: For being purified by Faith, Aquin. 2, 2, 7 A. I. C. Per fiaem fit in nobis Appre­hensio timoris, Faith worketh in vs the Apprehension of Feare. Although the Lord enlightneth every one that cometh into this world with the Light of Rea­son (wherein the very Angels exceed vs not, Cont Aea. dem. l. 2. c. 7. as Augustine saith considently, though Acumine sensuum, In quicknesse of senses they doe exceed vs) yet hath he appoynted Precepts and Rules to guide Reason, which if man follow, hee doth well; But if not, nothing well. The Rules being Spirituall and Supernatu­rall, the Naturall man receiveth them not (being the things of [Page 83]the Spirit of God) for they are foolishnesse vnto him, 1 Cor. 2 14. neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned; But the Regenerate having received, not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, doe know that generally Mankinde is in bondage to sensuall Wise­dome, & commonly frame their lives thereby: Yea that the Sway of this knowledge, is so mighty, that in many plaine and euident causes, of good and euill, the poore ruines of reason, which are the remnants of Gods Image in the soule, are put out of countenance, in so much that many times, by Men of vnder­standing, for feare or flattery, Evill is embraced for Good, and Good for Evill. Now though this seemeth not strange to the Regenerate, because they [Page 84]know, Cypr. a [...] Demet. Senuisse iam Mundum, & non illis viribus stare quibus prius steterat, That the World is be­come weake through age, and is not so strong as it hath bin; yet what greater Reason to weepe can reasonable men have then this generall mistaking of Good and Evill, throughout al most the Passages of this life; And that in those very Instincts, which are left as the Principall Guides of Reasonable man, by which his naturall estate is con­tinued, and without which, mankinde being yeelded vp to the guiding of his naturall Cor­ruption, must needs have ruined and destroyed it selfe: There­fore the Regenerate knowing that, Aug. contr. [...]. l. 1. c. 5 Nihil est foedius risu irrisione digno, There is nothing more lothsome then laughter, worthy to be laughed at, and that most [Page 85]men follow the worst things, insomuch that as they come in­to this world blind, so they goe out, neither knowing, nor ca­ring, nor asking, what they have to doe here, nor what is chiefly good for them while they bee here; And that for the most part they doe what they see done, or what their owne Lust will have done, spending their time in Custome or Concupis­cence; It would melt a heart of stone into Weeping to thinke how the Demeanour or rather Misdemeanour of our present estate, doth declare that wee are here met together to no other purpose, then to play the Wret­ches and Fooles; As if it were our appointed taske to labour for Vanity, to bee imaginarily pleased, but really tormented and eternally.

§. 33.

Secondly, the most Regene­rate are most molested in this life with continuall conflicts; Wherein Preces & Lachrymae ar­ma sunt Christianorum, Ambros. Weeping and sighing, and Groning are their only Armour of Defence and Offence, the only Weapons of their spirituall Warrefare, by which they obtaine both safetie and Victory. For the most fiery Anger hath often beene quench­ed with Weeping, the most stony hearts of most cruell Tyrants have beene mollifyed with Weeping; And as many drops doe soften hardest stones, so many Teares have softened the rigour of severest Iudges, and tyed the Tongues of all Accu­sers: Cypr. [...]pist. [...]7. Therefore Cyprian exhor­teth, Incumbamus gemitibus [Page 87]assiduis, & de precationibus crebris; haec enim nobis sunt arma caelestia, quae stare & perseuerare nos fortiter faciunt; To bend our selues care­fully and continually to Wee­ping and Praying; for these are our heavenly Armour, which make vs stand and persevere vn­to the end. Weeping in all the suites of the Saints hath proved so strong an Aduocate, that sel dome hath it let any suite fall, a­gainst whomsoever it pleadeth: Sure I am whensoever with Wee­ping wee sue vnto God in our Devotions, though our case seeme most perilous and paine­full to men, it is most pitifull and powerfull with God; And when our selues seeme most for­saken, wee are most victorious: When wee perfume our Pray­ers with this Water of Life; we purchase the fauour of God, and [Page 88]repeale the sentence of his In­dignation: Whereas when Wee­ping ceased, it were easie to give instance, that the Heavens be­came like brasse, at the losse of so precious Waters, and the Earth like Iron, at the absence of so fruitfull showres; For as by the Teares of the Godly are declared the first sparkes of their Fearing the Lord; So their Teares are Tokens of the Lords Love to them. Till Death there­fore close vp their Eyes, they never leave Weeping; And then in Weeping are their Soules cary­ed vnto the Haven of ever­lasting Rest; That as by Wee­ping they first passed from Sinne to Grace, so is their Weeping, Mundi melioris origo, Their Passage from Grace to Glory. Thus although, Hier. ad [...]. Grandis sit labor, grandius tamen est praemium, esse [Page 89]quod Martyres, esse quod Apostoli, esse quod Christus est, Great bee our paines, yet greater is our re­ward, to bee what the Martyrs are, to be what the Apostles are, to bee what Christ is, who all Wept in this Valley of Teares. But wee should seeme to speake swelling words, if wee continue in the clouds of Generalities; And if wee should descend to some solid particular Examples, it were infinit (though easie) to demonstrate that Weeping con­quereth most, when it complai­neth most, and comman­deth most imperiously, when it entreateth most humbly: Ther­fore our Teares are, Cypr. Epist. 26. Arma divi­na, & tela quae nesciunt vinci, The armour of God, and Weapons which cannot faile vs. For what the Apostle saith of the fruits of Faith, may likewise bee said [Page 90]of the Teares of the Faithfull, who through Weeping subdued kingdomes, Hebr. 11.3 [...], 34. wrought righteous­nesse, obtained Promises, quenched the violence of the fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weaknesse were made strong; Nay in all things wee are more then Conque­rours through him that enables vs to Weepe.

§. 34

Thirdly, The most Regene­rate, are most replenished with Grace, and therefore most en­clined to Weeping. They are filled with all the fulnesse of the Grace of God, Ephes. 3.19. Though not with the Essence or essential Vertue of Grace, Aquin. 3.7.10. O. (as A­quinas speaketh) which is proper onely to Christ, yet with a cer­taine Intention and Extention of [Page 91]Grace, according to their con­dition and capacity; Therefore as the Faculties of the Soule doe proceed from the essence of the Soule; So Weeping doth proceed from that Grace of God, Aquin. 12.110.4.1. which is in the very Essence of their Soules as in it proper Subiect, and not in any particular Facultie of their Soules. As Vessels full of liquid substances are aptest to distill the Liquor that is in them; So the Vessels of Gods Mercy pre­pared vnto Glory, are readiest to discover the good Treasure of their hearts, by their propen­sion to Weeping. Thus when the Lord powred vpon the house of Da­vid and Inhabitants of Hierusalem the Spirit of Grace and supplicati­ons, they powred out Teares for him whom they pierced: But it was the deadly and indelible Iniquitie [Page 92]of the Iewes, That when the Lord called to Weeping, and mour­ning, and baldnesse, and girding with Sacke-cloth; there was no­thing but Ioy and gladnesse, slaying Oxen, killing Sheep, eating flesh; and drinking wine, Isa. 22.12.13. Sanctified Weeping is a wash­ing of Sinne, and the Regene­rate know, Cypr. de O­rat. Domin. that, Opus est quotidi­ana sanctificatione, vt qui quotidie delinquimus, delicta nostra sancti­ficatione assidua repurgemus; We have need dayly to bee sanctifi­ed by Weeping. If vnfained Passions in the Soule of naturall men will soone worke effects in the body; Because the Soule and Body are so firmely and fa­miliarly vnited together, that whatsoever Ioy or Griefe hap­peneth to the one, it is presently communicated to the other: Much more doe the Soules of [Page 93]the Elect made free from Sinne, Rom. 6.18. impart to their Bodies this ser­uice of righteousnesse, whose Bodies are not Mistrisses but Handmaids; Weeping when their Soules are affected, as may bee exemplyfied in all the fruits of the Spirit, mentio­ned, Gal. 5.22. For as Love can­sed Abraham to weepe for Sa­rah, Genes. 23.2. As Ioy caused Ioseph to Weepe, when his bow­els yerned vpon his brother Beniamin, Genes. 43.30. As Peace moved Iacob and Esau to Weepe at their meeting, Gen. 33.4. So every Grace is mani­fested by Weeping Eyes; Hierom ad Fursam. for Spe­culum mentis est facies, & taciti oculi cordis fatentur arcana, The face is the mirrour of the minde. And the dumbe eyes of the Re­generate shew the secrets of their hearts. And it is a part of [Page 94]the Spirits Intercession for vs to helpe our Infirmities with gro­nings, Rom. 8.26. which cannot be vttered, otherwise hee dwelleth not in vs: So that without this Wee­ping, Man is, Nec quicquam nisi pondus iners, Nothing but moo­ving Rubbish.

§. 34.

Fourthly, The Regenerate have renued affections, tenderly taking compassion on the mise­able condition of others. For every one knoweth that Teares proceed most from the Foun­taine of Mercy, but chiefly in Love, for with the same eyes that wee love, with the same we Weepe, Calpur. Flaceꝰ De­clam. 16. Aug. Conf. 4.4. said one. As many times such is our owne Condi­tion, that, In solis gemitibus & Lachrymis est nobis aliquantula requies, Our Weeping onely doth [Page 95]diminish the anguish of our mi­series, Aquin. 12. Q 38. A. 2. c. because (saith Aquinaes) It is a contentment to man to doe an Act befitting the estate wherein hee findeth himselfe, and nothing doth agree better with the condition of a misera­ble man then Weeping; Matar. Hom. 15. [...], Our very Teares are a comfort to vs. And because as by Weeping wee cast out that which affli­cteth vs, and empty that hu­mour which oppresseth our hearts, and thus finde ease in our owne afflictions: So our Weeping is sweete and comforta­ble even to those whom we de­sire to cōfort, by Sympathy, fellow feeling, and Compassion; therefore saith the Apostle, Rom. 12.15. Weepe with them that Weepe; Because even by nature those that groane vnder any burden [Page 96]of Affliction feele his hand sweete, which laboureth to dis­charge them. So that in Huma­nitie as well as in Divinitie it is true, August. Hom. 50. that, Sicut comes Poenitentiae Dolor est, ita Lachrym [...] testes Do­loris, As Griefe is the compani­on of Remorse, So Teares are testimonies of Griefe. And not only every good eye will ex­presse his Griefe, for those that be in distresse, because there is no Accident of humane calami­ty which is not incident to our selues; but it is so naturall for a man to feele Compassion, when others like himselfe doe suffer, that there is none so wicked, or worthy of death, but men doe pitie him, when hee is at the point to die. Hence it is, that a Friend from whom Pitie ‘More [...] Lachryma Sol [...] madentis ount,’

Wresteth Teares as the Sun [Page 97](melteth the Snow) in the midst of the misery of a comfortlesse Soule) doth mitigate and mol­lifie his Calamitie, how great soever: For, Arist. Eth. lib l. 9. c. 11. [...], The sorrow­full are comforted, when friends condole their Sorrows, saith the Philosopher: Whereof hee yeeldeth two Reasons; One is, for that naturally they who groane vnder any burden feele his hand sweete, which laboureth to dis­charge them, or which helpe to support them; But friends that endeauour by Weeping to ease them (as it were) of the burden, which presseth them downe, doe sweeten their paine, and make them endure their Af­fliction, with more Constancy and Resolution: Secondly, for that they seeing their friends participate with their Griefe, [Page 98]know thereby that their Affecti­ons are sound, and that they love them entirely, which is the sweetest thing that may happen in this life; For by Nature wee desire, if wee cannot bee relie­ved, yet to bee pitied, to see some who condole our Misery, who wish vs well, who want not Will, but power to relieve vs. Wherefore these (I hope) or the like Grounds, derived from the Principles of Nature, may perswade vs, That the most Regenerate are most in­clined to Wee­ping.

§. 37.

ANd first; What end or num­ber is there of the Vanities, which our Eyes are weary of beholding, and are worthy of Weeping. Hath a Spirit of Slumber put out our eyes, that wee cannot see this Grace of Weeping (the Path to Piety and Practise of all Vertue) disgraced [Page 102]without controll? But like dumbe Dogges men hold their p [...]ace, or with Solomons Sluggard fold their hands in their bo­somes and give themselues to ease and drowsinesse, whilst Sa­tan causeth Contempt and Opinion of Sufficiency, the basest and most noysome weedes, to damme vp the flood gases of Weeping, that the choice Plants in the E­den of God may not bee wate­red with this dew of heaven. Ah Lord! Aug Conf lib. 1. c. 5. Miserere vt loquar, Bee mercifull that I may speake. Thou that fillest all things, why are not thy Seruants filled with Power, Micah. 3.8.and Iudgement, and Might, by thy Spirit, to declare vnto Ia­cob this transgression, and to our Israel this Sinne: Amos 6.1. Why doe they not cry, and spare not, Why doe they not lift vp their Voices like Trumpets, and cry, [Page 103]and cry againe, Woe to them that are at ease in Sion; Luke 6.25. Woe vnto them that laugh now, for they shall mourne and Weepe? That though some deafe Ad­ders will not bee charmed and cured; Yea, though fewe or none of the swinish herd of ha­bituall Sinners, accustomed to wallow in the mire of wanton­nesse and Securitie, and deeply plunged into the dead Sea of worldly pleasures; Though none of them will bee washed with Weeping, but turne againe to their vomite, and trample the Pearles of all Admonition vnder feet; Yea turne againe and rend their Reprovers with Scoffes and Scornes, ma­king Iests and songs of them: Yet some, Quos piget imitari, Aug. Conf. lib. 8. c. 6.no­lint aduersari, That are not with vs, may not be against vs; And [Page 104]others may bee deterred, reclai­med, and awakened to prevent and suppresse the spreading Gan­grene of Securitie and Lascivious­nesse; That thou, O Lord, mayst worke thy worke in such as be­long to thy Grace, for nothing is impossible to the worke of thy Grace.

§. 38.

Listen not then (you that nourish your hearts in delights vnto the day of slaughter) Listen not vnto the allurements of your flesh, that corrupt case of flesh and blood, wherein your soules are pent, as Prisoners in a loathsome Dungeon: Which as it shamefully abuseth and abaseth your soules; So your Soules will one day finde it not only a Deceiver and a Traitour, but a Forger of false Assurances. [Page 105]Listen not vnto the Enchaunt­ments of the world, or of your owne corrupt hearts, promising vnto your selues Mirth, Plea­sures, and Iollitie, lest ‘Exigua ingentis vestr [...] solatia lu [...]tu [...].’

For one drop of mad Mirth, you bee sure of Gallons and Tunnes of Woe, Gall, Worme­wood here or thereafter. Listen not vnto that bewitching Ima­gination invenoming our Soules with a fond and false conceit, that Weeping is an Effeminate­nesse of minde, or Imbecillity of Na­ture, because in the esteeme of Worldlings, Women only and Children through weakenesse of iudgement be most addicted to Weeping. By nature indeed the Woman is the weaker Vessell, Theophyl. i [...] loan. cap. 20. p. 571. [...], Soone moo­ved to Weeping, and subiect to many either passionate Affections, [Page 106]or affectionate Passions. But the Adamantine hearts of such as seldome or never are dissolved by the blood of the Immaculate Lambe into the true Teares of Contrition, or Compassion, ‘Hos non Nobilitas, generesaue nomina tangunt,’

May justly cause them to be branded with Basenesse of minde, and charged with hard­nesse of heart: Seeing of what­soever degree or condition they bee, those are [...], the only raven Sots of our time, whose whole imployment is to emasculate in themselues the Hereicall vigour of this heavenly Vertue: And (asmuch as in them lyeth) enfeeble the hearts of the Lords people, as the faint hearted Spies of Israel, that they enter not into the pro­mised land by the Sole way of the Weeping Crosse, which the [Page 107]Lord hath appoynted and pain­ted out. And therefore some dreadfull death and vnexpected, doth commonly surprise them, condemning their cruelty, Aelian lib. 14 c. 22. as once the cruelty of the Tyrant Trysus, who when hee thought to stop all occasion of Conspira­cie against his owne Person, first he commanded his Subjects not to speake one with another, ci­ther privately or publikely, so that they were enforced to ex­presse their Meaning and Minde by the Motions of their hands and eyes; From which, when likewise he restrained them they mourned grievously with great weeping and lamentation: At length when the Tyrant haste­ned to inhibite their mourning, they killed him and his Mini­ons with the weapons of his owne Guard. These are, [Page 108] [...], Hom. Iliad. 9. (as the Greek Captaine called his compani­ons) the Women not the Men of Greece, the Carpet-knights of our nation, that begin Christia­nity in the Delicatenesse of Agag, continue it in the Voluptuousnesse of Herod, and being brought vn­to a wicked (if not wretched) Death like Nahal, worthy of their miserable life, are buried as Iehojakim with the Buriall of an Asse, Ierem. 22.18. ignobly, ingloriously, with­out Weeping or Lamentation. But heere I must stop, lest like Hipparchion, I bee stricken blind, for saying there are Moates in the Sunne. Yet it would grieue an heart of stone to see how furi­ously, Aug. Cons. l. 6. c. 4. Insani sunt adversus antido­tum, quo sani esse possunt, Men are enraged against the Physicke, whereby they might bee cured. For as those Grounds that lye [Page 109]low are commonly moorish, so this base part of the World wherein wee liue, is the Vale of Teares, that true Bochim, our mourning place; In which it is the Voyce of every Man.

To acknowledge that hee be­ginneth, continueth, and endeth his life with Teares. We begin with Teares; If a child be heard cry, it is in Law a lawfull proofe of his life; Else if hee Weepe not, we say he is dead borne, be­cause stillborne: At our end and parting, God will haue Teares, which he doth not wipe off, vnlesse we Weepe; Or at least, vnlesse we be in that case that David and his people were in, and Ieremiah, 1 Sam. 3 [...], 4 Lam. 2.11. and the Iewes that Wept vntill they had no more power to Weepe. It is our destiny as we are Men, to [Page 110]Weepe; But more as wee are Christians. To sow in Teares: And God loveth these Wet seede times, and they are so sea­sonable for vs, that heere one saith, My belly, my belly, with the Prophet; Another, mine head, mine head, with the Shunamites child; Another, My son, my son, with David; Another, My fa­ther, my father, with Elisha; One crieth out of his Sins, as David; Another of his hunger, as Esau: Another of an ill Wife, as Iob; A­nother of treacherous friends, as the Psalmist; One of a Sore in body, as Hezekiah; Another of a troubled Soule, as our Saviour in the Garden; Every one hath some Crosse, some Complaint or other, to make his cheekes wet, and his heart heauy.

§. 39.

Why are wee not then con­tent to weepe heere for a while, on condition that wee may weepe no more? Why are wee not ambitious of this blessed ease? Certainely wee doe not smart enough with our evills, that are not desirous of this rest Wee can doe no other thing (saith the Moralist) not learne, Plin. Praf. lib. 7. not speake, not goe, not eate by naturall inclination, but Weepe: And yet, Your peruerse disposi­tion, vnto every naturall action, saue onely to this (most necessa­ry) of Weeping: Hence it is that our miseries are like waues, which breake one vpon another, and tosse vs the more with per­petuall vexations, because wee are vaine and foolish, and wish not with Weeping to bee in our [Page 112]Haven; Because we are sicke, and grieue not to thinke of our reme­die; Because we are still dying, and are loth to thinke of life, therefore before our Teares bee dry, they are ready to bee over­taken with other Teares, in other particular Afflictions. Oh! our miserable Infidelity, that though we see a glorious Heaven aboue vs, yet wee are vnwilling to goe to it; We see a wearisome world about vs, and are loth to Weepe that we may thinke of leaving it. Oh! that the Lord would teach these Men how much they are mistaken, that thinke to goe to Heaven with dry Eyes, and hope to leape immediately out of the pleasures of Earth, into the Para­dise of God, insulting over the drooping estate of Gods distres­sed Ones. Hierom. &. Beda in Math. 26.75. But as Peter could not Weepe while he was in the [Page 113]High Priests Hall, so these Men cannot Weepe where they haue offended. Yet let the know, they must haue a time of Teares, And if they do not begin with teares, they shalend with thē. Alas how are weak & wretched Sinners de­ceived by their sottish sence: they sweetly swallow without distast the poisonous pleasures of Sinne which bane the Soule; but they cannot rellish Weeping, the prin­cipal expeller of this poysō, they can no wayes enforce it downe. Whereas a Soule once infected with Sinne cannot possibly bee recovered to the State of Grace, but it must first bee bruised with Weeping, as Corne is grinded with the Milstones: And this bruising maketh a broken and contrite heart, that Sacrifice which the Lord doth never des­pise. But this Vertue (as other [Page 114]Vertues) is not loved enough, because shee is not seene; And her contrary Vices loose much detestation because their vglines is secret. If in ancient Sacrifices of Pagans, they carefully obser­ved the Generositie of the Beasts that were to be sacrificed; So as their Priest comming to bran­dish a naked sword before their Eyes, if they were affrighted, were chased from the Altar; Whereas if they stood still with­out amasement, were esteemed worthy to bee sacrificed: Then dejected Spirits, which are af­frighted, and doe shunne the bright Sword of the Spirit when seasonably it would extort Weeping, and cause vs to shed Teares, Degeneres animos timor arguit, Their Feare argueth their dastardly Profession of Grace and goodnesse, and are alwayes [Page 115]worthily contemned of good People, for their Basenesse and Hardnesse of heart. And that Weeping is the effect of a con­trite and mollified heart, wit­nesseth that Encomium of the Heathen Poet

§. 40.

For Weeping may not bee esteemed base (without mani­fest Impiety and Blasphemy) which is so highly esteemed of the Lord, lest wee condemne the Generation of the Iust, and fre­quent practise of our Saviour. How much our Saviour regar­deth Weeping, he evidently de­clareth, in that it was his plea­sure not onely to Weepe so of­ten for our example, but that [Page 116]the often Weeping of his Servants should be every where registred in his Word; And that the Weeping of those Women that followed him to his Passion and in his Passion, should be recor­ded in his Gospell; Luke 23.27 and the shed­ding of their Teares mentioned with the shedding of his owne Blood. Certainely when hee would not (as observeth a Di­vine Lawyer) so much as speake to Herod, nor answere Pilate, al­though he were vrged, yet with­out request hee spake to those that We [...]t after him. Seeing then hee did more at the silent teares of poore women, then ei­ther at the entreaty or command of powerfull men; And, if it were onely for that wee are bound in all things wee say or doe, to haue respect to his Ex­ample, We must not once thinke [Page 117]ought that may disparage so ho­ly a Vertue. Wherefore as Leo­nidas said, it was better to goe into the field with an Army of Harts, a Lyon being their Cap­taine, then having but one Hart for the Captaine, the whole Ar­my consisting of Lyons; So it should be our hearts desire and prayer to God, that the Masters of our Assemblies, Magistrates and Ministers (in whom to stirre vp this Grace of God, I principally intended this Weeping Trea­tise) might bee furnished and en­dued with this Lion-like Vertue. And iustly may it be called a Lyon-like Vertue, for as it is the Nature of the Lyon, ‘Parcere subiectis, & debellare superb [...].’

To spare the prostrate, and to devoure the obstinate; So it is the nature of Weeping to ob­durate the proud that Weepe [Page 118]not, and to proncure Grace vn­to the Humble that Weepe: Without which likewise even Faith in Gods Promises may proove Presumption. But forso­much as Rulers and Gover­nours of others haue plentifull matter aboue others to exercise their Weeping: Seeing (as the Historian hath well observed) Men are more bitter and trou­blesome vnto their Gouernours, Xenophon in Praefat. Hist. then any flocks of Sheepe or Herds of Cattell vnto their Keepers or Leaders: I thought with the Prophet, Ierem. 5.5. I would get me vnto the Great Men, and would speake vnto them, for they haue knowen the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God, They know that Weeping is the most infallible Signe of a bro­ken and contrite heart; They know that, Ezech. 24.16. not without speciall [Page 117]reference to a Iudgement, did the Lord say to Ezechiel, that when hee tooke away his Wi [...] he should neither Mourne nor Weepe, They know that, Cypr. Epist. 6. Rece­dente hac disciplina dominica rece­dit & Gratia: When the sacred chastening of our selues depar­teth, Grace departeth: And would to God those Great Ones did not presage that the constitution of too many of their Soules is exceeding defec­tiue, dangerous, and desperate in this respect. And therefore see­ing, Nulla major flendi est causa, Seueca lib. 4 Controu. 1. P.quam flere non posse, There can be no greater cause of Weeping, then when we cannot Weepe; Not vnto vs, or the best Teares of the best of vs, may we sacri­fice as to our owne nets; Bles­sed onely be that Divine Provi­dence evermore, which hath [Page 120]made our Dread Soveraigne to cry downe this vniversall Wantonnesse by his owne Ex­ample, Whose Weeping in pub­licke and Private Devotions, like Hezekiah or Iosiah, as it may bee said to procure our present Peace and Plenty, so will it be chronicled in ever Blessed me­mory till the dayes of our mour­ning be ended. But because a King is praised, Sentiendo copiosius quam loquendo; By silence more then by Speech, I leaue it to the Hearts of all, to comment vpon my Silence, and doe one­ly pray,

That the Lord of Heaven and Earth would consume his Enemies, like a Snaile that mel­teth, and that the Heart of every one may speedily wither in the [Page 121]midst of his bowels, Socrat. lib. 7 c. 22. & 41 who hear­tily and vnfainedly prayeth not for the peace of so meeke, so mild, so mercifull a Theodosius, and preferreth not his prosperity before his owne.

§. 41.

Know we not that Weeping is the surest forme of Supplica­tion to obtaine any thing of the Lord? With whom. ‘— Lachryma pondera vocis habent.’

Teares are words, and more then words; For the multitude of words is not so perswasiue, as a few Teares are prevalent, be­cause words may proceede from the Tongue onely. But Teares commonly from a broken Heart possessed either with Feare or Loue; Weeping may seeme a Ser­pent to devoure vs, but if we step boldly vnto it, we may take it by [Page 122]the tayle (as Moses his Rod) and it will foorthwith turne into a Rod of Comfort. Psal 23 4. Why then should we be so afraid of Wee­ping, which is so highly com­mended, so straightly comman­ded, and so indifferently com­municated to all that loue the Lord Iesus; Who loveth accep­teth, preserveth, honoureth, bles­seth, and never forsaketh them that Weepe? Euseb de Vita Const. l. 1. c. 22. If the Inscription of Constantines Crosse could assu­redly perswade him of Victory, much more may we through Instruction of the Weeping Crosse, fully belieue, [...], To prevaile with all and in all. If Weeping argueth both the Mag­nanimitie of the Saints, for, Vir fortis non est minus laudabilis in luctu, quam in bello, Our Courage is no lesse praise-worthy in Weeeping then Warring, saith, [Page 123]devout Bernard; Bern Serm. 10, de m [...]do viven. And excellen­cy of the Saints, as the very Hea­then by nature did maintaine, for [...], Zenob. Cent. 1. Prou. 14. They affirmed that the most ex­cellent were most enclined to Weeping. If Weeping (I say) argueth the only true excellen­cy and generous Magnanimity of the Saints, Servants, and Soul­diers of the Lord vpon earth, vnjustly and vndeservedly doe Wanton Worldlings condemne it, because they affect it not. A­las, they doe not know, neither consider that Weeping over­commeth the invincible God, appeaseth the intractable Man, and tormenteth the Devill more then Hell-fire. For, Aug. Hem 50. Nec Vehe­mentius Satan prosternitur, nec acriores dolores insligimus, quam quum plagas peccatorum plorand [...] sanamus; Satan is never more [Page 124]shamefully vanquished, or cruel­ly tortured, then when we cure the wounds of sinne with Wee­ping. Alas! They know not that Weeping only is the water that quencheth the heate of Gods anger, that qualifieth the force of his iustice, that recove­reth the losse of his mercy, and exciteth in our hearts, the spring of all his comforts. Chrysostome called it, Chrys ad pop. Anti­och. Hom. 5. [...], A Medicine which is able to cure the eyes; But we adde fur­ther, that this Soveraigne Medi­cine hath vertue in it to excere­brate all Cares, to expectorate all Feares, to euacuate all Griefes, to exhaust all Passions, and to ex­hilarate the whole Man. If we should part with all we haue, all our delights, all our desires, we part with no more then nothing, [Page 125]for the enjoying of this Grace, which doth more sweetely re­fresh vs, more abundantly satis­fie vs, and more fully assure vs of the favour of God, then all that we are able to part from; For so much as Weeping doth infallibly prooue our Vnion with God, Chr [...]s. Hom. 6. in Matth. [...], Nothing combineth and so fast vniteth vnto God, as teares, saith Chrysostome. Weeping then is a signe that two Extreames, the Mourner and the thing mourned for are combined into one. For as they that Weepe for Earthly things are earthy; So they that Weepe for Heavenly things are Heavenly and vnited vnto God, Though not Naturally, yet Spiri­tually; Not transformed in Na­ture, but changed in Affections and whole manner of life: That [Page 126]as Iron cast into the Fire, shew­eth that it hath taken the Quali­ties of the Fire, and yet ceaseth not to remaine Iron; So hee that Weepeth is partaker of the Puritie and Sanctitie of God, though still hee abide Man. Weepe then, O Christian, and vilifie the false Imputation of Pu­sillanimitie; Cypr. ad Demet. Esteeming it more modest and Religious, Erranti­um imperitiam silentio spernere, quam loquendo dementium Insa­niam provocare, Tovilifie their Ignorance by silence, then to provoke their phrantick mad­nesse by replying; for Weeping is the Language of Heaven, and the strongest voyce to call vpon God. Howsoever, Lord grant, I may not only be permitted, but ena­bled to Weepe.

§. 42.

And the rather, because none of the most Regenerate in their greatest abundance of Teares and pronenesse to Weeping, doe we ever read to haue bin satiated or satisfied with Weeping, but (as a thirstie land) to haue desi­red more of this Heavenly Moisture. For, so farre are we from Superfluitie, that with much labour and watchfulnesse attaine we to Sufficiency of any Grace in this State of Mortality. It is a ruled Case in Divinitie, That Faith or any other Grace, can­not bee consummated in this Life; In which we see through a Glasse only, and darkely; Vn­till it doe terminate in Glory, and that which is imperfect be done away. Not that Weeping can bee continued, where our [Page 128]maine Comfort is, that all Teares are wiped away: But that, as Faith then shall be tur­ned into fruition; So Weeping into the accomplishment of Ioy eternall. Great then is the For­getfulnesse, that I may not say the Impudency of Bellarmine, Bellar de Com. Co­lum. in Epist. ad Iesuit. who in the Epistle to his Frater­nity boasteth of such supera­bundant Weeping in his Ignati­us & Xauerius, that they were constrained, A Domino tempera­mentum petere. To pray God to restraine their weeping. Which Excesse of Weeping, never hap­pened (for ought I finde) vnto Ieremiah, David, or other true Saints, though [...], Infal­libly inspired of the Lord; But rather wished for fountaines, and gloryed in Rivers of Teares. By which Incredible and False Assertion, as we may conjecture, [Page 129]what wide Difference there is, betweene the (not Superstitious only, and Supererogating, but) Blasphemous Saints of Rome, and the truely Sanctified Saints of God, Canonized in the booke of Life; So

We may perceiue how farre we may trust his Iudgement, and what credite he deserveth in Matters of Faith, when as he so intollerably luxuriateth in the Morality of Weeping, flatly contradicting the Tenour of Scriptures, and common Currant of purer and Primitiue Fathers, which to avoyde Tediousnesse I spare to insert.

§. 43.

That his Assertion is Incredi­ble, the Person of whom it is [Page 130]affirmed, confirmed it. For in Ignatius by Profession and Edu­cation abloody Souldier (which were enough for Confutation) our Weeping and his Warring habituated in wickednesse, can no more subsist, then Light and Darkenesse together. Mistake me not, for a Transgressour of a­ny common Place. The Lord (I acknowledge) may haue his Saints among Souldiers. But Ig­natius his Conversation is not so sup [...]rannuate as the Story of Pope Ione which hath gained by the Age of it, now scarcely to be believed; being (as it were) but a Matter of yesterday: And from whom the issue of blood hath runne ever since, and can never, neither will be ever stop­ped, so long as his Iesuiticall Lo­custs are aliue, the only fiery Py­racmeus, and Masters of all Vil­lanies [Page 131]in the world; neither can all their Indices Expurgatorij be able to blot out the memory of their cruell and bloody Facts, or free them from these attributes Attributes. But this Assertion is one of those many things, which Aut nequiter dissimulat, aut turpi­ter ignorat, The Cardinall either foolishly dissembles, or was grossely ignorant of.

§. 44.

The Falsehood of his Asserti­on may easily be perceived, if We consider that the Fountaine, Forme, and Fruit of Weeping are not Morall, but Theologicall Vertues, in which there is no Excesse. 1. The Fountaine of Weeping is Faith, Love, Repen­tance, in which, Cyr. Epist. 76. Spiritus Sanctus non de mensura datur, sed super Credentem totus infunditur; The [Page 132]Holy Ghost is not given by mea­sure vnto the Regenerate, Aquin. 37.10 c. even when we enjoy these according to our condition, state, and end prefixed vnto vs by the Lord, and therefore no Weeping; For as Streames doe resemble the Nature of those Fountaines whence they spring; So Teares doe expresse the Property of those Graces whence they pro­ceede. 2. The Forme of Weep­ing (which giveth it Beeing) is Sorrow, which the Apostle ap­prooved. 2 Cor. 7.11. When it encreased not exceeded, there­fore so consequently the For­med, Aquin. 1 80. 1 6. Weeping: For, Quamlibet Formam sequitur aliqua inclinatio, quae est appetitus rei habentis illam formam, Every forme hath some Inclinarion which is the appetite of the thing Formed; Therfore as to Encrease, is the Inclination [Page 133]of Godly Sorrow (as reache [...]h the Apostle) so it is the Property of Godly Weeping. 3. The Fruit of Weeping is Ioy, Psal 126.5. They that sow in Teares shall reape in Ioy, 1 Pet. 1.8. Even Ioy vnspeakable and full of Glory; In which as there is no Mediocritie, so neither in Weeping: For here (me thinkes) if any where, so farre as nice Restrictions will permit, that Philosophicall Ax [...]ome hath place, Propter q [...]od vnumquodque est tale, id ipsum est magis tale. Qua­lities in the Cause, are proporti­onable in the Effect. Worldly Weeping (I confesse) may ex­ceede and become vicious; For being a Morall Vertue; it should consist in a Meane or Mediocri­tie, limited by Prudence: But Godly Weeping is a Supernatu­rall Grace, inseparably attending & accompanying all other Gra­ces [Page 134] (Gratum facientes) as hath beene prooved; Looke how the Rationall Soule implyeth the Animall, so doth Godly Weep­ing lustifying Graces, being In­dividuall.

§. 45.

But Bellarmine might haue learned, not only in Scriptures, but in Schoolemen, Bonau. in 4. Sent-Dist 16. P 1. A 4. Q. 1. & 2. Aquin. in Suppl. Q 3. A. 2. That Contri­tion must be augmented and en­creased; And, That Contrite Weeping can never so displease rectified Reason, as to exceede for Sinne: Vnlesse as one of S^t. Iudes Sensuall Separatists, or tea­chers of Sensuality, he would de­lude the Simple with Sensuall Wisedome, That Whorish Teares of every Hypocrite and Reprobate, are Teares of true Contrition; which hath beene shewed to bee no other then [Page 135]worldly Weeping for Sp [...]ll things, commonly in the out­ward sences, or in a sensuall res­pect, and no Godly Weeping in inward Humiliation, wh [...]ch is the very Essence of Co [...]trice Weeping, Bonau. in 4 Sent Dist. 16. P. t. A. 1. Q. whereby the Will disliketh and dissenteth from Sinne, And is not to be taken for the bare outward Effect of true Contrition. As it is true, Eras in adag. Ch [...]. 4 Cent. 9. [...], There is nothing sooner dry then a Teare, so there is nothing sooner out of season then Worldly Weeping; Which if it be fresh, finds some to commiserate it; If stale, is rather entertayned with scorne then commiseration: But Teares of Repentance come ne­ver out of time: They can never be shed either too soone, or too late, or too much. But the De­meanour of their Pope Nicholas [Page 136]the Third seemeth more Religi­ous and Devout then that of Ig­matius or Xaverius, Plat in Vit. Nich. 3.Qui semper d [...]m solennia ageret, Lachrymas funderet; Who alwayes Wept, when he worshipped, saith the Antiquary. Finally we reade of a Stone in Arcadia called Asbeston, Aug. de Civi [...] Dei. l. 21. c. 5. which being once made hot can never be cooled. A [...]d why may not every blessed Mourner bee like the Salt in Sicilie, which in the fire swimmeth like Water? Or like the stone Asbeston, which once being hot cannot be coo­led? Aug de vera & fal. Penit. c. 13. But Augustine is punctuall in this point, Non est saetis quod doleamius, sed non semper doluisse do eamus, It is not sufficient to Weepe, but we must Weep [...] that we haue not alwayes Wept. Pel [...]s l 2. Ep. 76. And Isrdore observeth, that the Lord in indgement doth afflict them with diverse diseases that [Page 137]quench this Motion of his Spi­rit. But lest any should thinke the Matter not Tanti; For mee, Firmiter valeret, Cypr. Epist. 30.si ab Eva. gelica Lege non dissonaret, This doctrine should [...]a [...]e gone for currant if it had not gone awrye from the Gospell. And were not openly professed by the Mooke Grace Civility of many Morall Prote­stants. Lactant. Instit. l. 3.6.4. For as Arcesilas having considered the Co [...]radictions and Oppositions of Philosophers among themselues, in the end contemned them all, Et constituit novam non Ph [...]losophandi Philoso­phiam, And inv [...]nted a new Phi­losophie not to studie Philoso­phie: So Worldlings and Atheists expending the differences in Weeping, haue resolved not to Weepe. But I haue done: Yet all may conceiue by this little, That no Iesuite, quà Iesuite, ever [Page 138]Wept with Iesus, August. Conf l. 12. c. 32. Gracious God, Verbo tuo pasce nos, ne error illudat, Feede vs with thy Word, that Errour deceiue vs not in Weep­ing with Iesus.

§. 46.

AS Internall and Spirituall Ioy, arising from Peace of Conscience, Assurance of Remis­sion of Sinne, and Testimonies of the Favour of God, are the Inheritance of the Regenerate; So Weeping is and must be their Por­tion in this Vale of Teares. Aug. Conf. l. 10. c. 21. For in them, Contendunt laetitiae flendae cum letandis moeroribus, Mourne­full Mirth striveth against joy­full Sorrow. Their Life is tem­pered with Sweete and Sowre, [Page 139]and therefore they must looke for a mixture of both; ‘— Vsque ad [...]o nulla est sincera volup [...]as’

Never is Assurance of true Ioy sealed to Man without Weeping. The wicked indeed hunt after nothing but Mirth, never caring how lawlesse it be, so it bee pleasant; For where the World is the God, there Pleasure is ever the best Devo­tion: But mortified Soules haue learned to scorne Sinfull Ioyes, and affect either solide delights or none; And had rather Weepe for want of Mirth, then be trans­ported with Wanton Pleasure. As in Eliah his Sacrifice there was both Fire and Water, 1. Kings 1 [...].38. where the Fire consumed the Water on the Altar; So in the Sacrifice of a Contrite Heart, there must be both the Fire of Believing, and Water of Weeping; And [Page 140]in the end▪ the Fire of Faith will dry vp the Streame of Teares. The whole course of Nature in the innumerable and severall changes thereof, instructeth vs dayly, that Rejoycing and weep­ing haue such intercourse in this Life, that our inward thoughts doe often breede an outward showre, and that showre a Sun­shine; So that although to day we Weepe not, yet to Morrow perhaps we cannot but Weepe; To day, we may reade Salomons Song of Songs, to morrow per­haps we must point out the La­mentations of Ieremie. This va­riable Condition in the Rege­nerate, evinceth not alwayes mi­sery threatned against them, nei­ther giveth it any being of Mi­sery vnto them, or in them; But rather worketh both Sense and Cure of all their miseries. Now [Page 141]if we would know, Moveat tantos quae causa dolores, What may be the Causes of their so much Weeping; Bern de Mode Vi­ven. Serm. 10. Bernard sheweth vs foure causes. 1. Our owne Ini­quities. 2. Worldly miseries. 3. Compassion of others. 4. The Loue of eternall Glory: For the First, Psal. 6.6. David made his bed to swimme, and watered his Couch with Teares; For the Second, Psal. 120.5. Davia likewise bemoa­ned his woefull Sojourning in Mesech, and dwelling in the Tents of Kedar; For the Third, our Saviour Wept ouer Hierusa­lem; For the Fourth, Luke 19 41 Psal. 137.1. The Church by the Rivers of Babylon sate downe and Wept: All which more compendiously w [...] reduce to this Dichotomie, Sinne and Pu­nishment, Hinc illae Lachrymae, Hence proceede all our Teares. For Sinne (being the cause of the [Page 142]Lords hatred & hostility against vs, the Seede out of which all misery groweth, and the Debt, for which we should be cast in­to perpetuall Prison, were it not pardoned) doth no lesse make vs miserable, then the Punish­ments of Sinne. Seeing then, so long as, ‘— Manent Sceleris vestigia nostri.’

Sinne is the first Cause why the Regenerate doe Weepe, their Weeping would bee easily excused, if it could be perceived how their Thoughts are justly distemper [...]d, First at the Corrup­tion of Sinne in themselues, Next at the Dominion of Sinne in others: Were it but for these two only, I know not why any, whose vn­derstanding is enlightned with Grace, should haue Pleasure or Liberty (almost) to doe any thing, but only to Weepe.

§. 46.

And first, who but a stranger to a wounded Spirit, can with dry eyes humble himselfe be­fore the Lord in Affliction of Conscience for his owne Sinnes, when as, if but in the end of one day hee should examine his Thoughts, Words, and Workes, from his waking in the Mor­ning to that houre, when he be­holds the spots of his Soule, his Decayes of Grace, his Neglect of Duties, his Coldnesse in Re­ligion, his Fall from his first Loue, and the many breaches of his Conscience; Surely, such a one is (though a Monarch in this World) more to be pitied then a Galley-slaue, that in such Mi­sery pitieth not himselfe with Weeping. Quid miserius misero non miserante seipsum? There is [Page 144]none in (Augustines judgement) so miserable as that Man that commiserateth not himselfe. Aug. Conf. lib. 1. c. 13. But if hee finde himselfe lapsed with Peter [...] into Perjury, with Manasseh into Idolatry, with David into Adultery, with Paul into Blasphemy, or the like grie­vous and scandalous Sinnes, then doe they know that, Cypr. Magnum peccatum magnâ deleri vult Mise­ricordia, Great Sinnes must bee wiped away with great Mercy, and great Mercy must be sued for with great Weeping: There­fore nothing but Chattering like Cranes, Mourning like Doues, or making beds to swimme with Teares can bee sufficient to expiate the hainous­nesse of these iniquities. Aug. de Nupt. & Concup. l. 2. c. 2. Our dayly conflict with Sin, Etiamsi non sit damnabilis, quia non perfi­cit iniquitatem, est tamen misera­bilis, [Page 145]quia non habet pacem, How­soever it bee not damnable, be­cause it accomplisheth not sinne, yet it is miserable because not peaceable. Thus also enclosed in the horrible pit (as the Pro­phet speaketh) of terrour in Conscience for our Sinnes, be­sides outward Vexations from the Dragons and Ostriches of the World, the immediate Malice of Satan, and in a manner the Floods of Gods Indignation, going ouer our Heads and Hearts, there must bee in vs a great Mourning, as the Mourning of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddon, before we can be true­ly reconciled to God: And in this case, Hoc ipso sunt Majores tumores, quo minores dolores: The lesser our Weeping, the greater is our Wickednesse. For so much as we could neither see [Page 146]our sinnes nor sorrow for them, did not the Lord both enlighten our vnderstandings and soften our Hearts in Weeping; the Re­generate can and doe forget all things, and among all things themselues also, to finde the Fa­vour of the Lord, and to seeke it by Weeping. As the highest Heaven draweth all the inferi­our Orbes with the Circumfe­rence thereof, although they haue naturally a contrary course or motion, so our Reason ena­bled by Grace, draweth all our Appetites, to this service and Sa­crifice, although they haue pro­perly an Inclination cleane con­trary to Weeping. Where then were our iudgements? Where were our right Wits? Nay, Where were our Inordinate Selfe-Loue, which is alwayes carefull to auoide both losse and [Page 147]harme; If when the Lord en­lightneth our vnderstandings, we should drowne our Sinnes in Wantonnesse and not in Weep­ing? In all things we are bound after Repentance, to seeke no­thing but the Honour of God, and the Contempt and Abne­gation of our Selues; Which we doe most, when wee Weepe most: therefore the more Teares we shed for our Sinnes, the more we doe both loath and lament the service we haue done them, the sooner seeke wee to with­draw our desires from their sub­jection, and the surer are we to finde the Favour of God: What then should Penitent sinners do? But live in Lamenting the Er­rours of their life, and consume all their dayes which are to come, in bewailing every part thereof, which is past, and [Page 148]watching against the depraved Passages to come; Rejoycing chiefly, when they can bee sor­rowfull for their sinnes, even when all Dishonours and Pu­nishments doe runne vpon them for the same. Repentance being absolutely necessary to Saluation (for except we Repent, Luke 13.3.We must perish) and there can be no true Repentance without Mourning and Sorrowing, 2 Cor. 7.10 in respect that it is a Godly Sorrow that worketh Repentance to Salvation. Since it is then either Weepe on Earth, or Weepe in Hell, Woe vnto vs if we deferre our Weeping, woe vnto vs if wee Weepe not for our deferring it, Woe vnto vs if we Weepe not as soone as we can, And Weepe not for this, that we wept no sooner.

§. 48.

As for the Dominion of Sinne in others, what Heart, vnlesse it be in danger of Finall Hardning, may not be provoked to Weep­ing in Indignation: When espe­cially it beholdeth Wanton Worldlings to rejoyce in that condition of life, for which they can never sufficiently lament. For they Rejoyce in their Sins, which will eternally ruine their Bodies and Soules. Exitus au­spicio gravior; Their end is much more horrible then their Begin­ning; They beginne in Plea­sure, but they end in Paine. When Dolphins leape and play in the Sea, it is a sure signe of some Tempest approaching; And when the Wicked sport and Solace themselues in their Sinnes, it is an infallible Argu­ment [Page 150]of their ruine at hand. Of which ruine all they likewise are Partakers, that Weepe not for the Sinnes of others, because their not Weeping sheweth, 1 Tim. 5.22 they are guilty, and doe pre­sumptuously Partake of those very sinnes which others com­mit. For of sinnes some be Fau­tors, some be Authors, Of both, the Heathen wittily, Seneca. Nihil inte­rest faveasne Sceleri, an illud fa­cias, It is in a manner all one, to commit and to commend a Vil­lany. But Divines say more, Non caret scrupulo occultae Societa­tis,Gregor.qui manifesto discrimini non oc­currit; Hee is suspected to be an Abettour of evill, who endevou­reth not to abandon evill. For so much then as, Seneca. Vitia serpunt ad vicinos, & Contactu nocent, Sinnes of others are like Plague-sores, which breath out an Infectious [Page 151]savour to all that approach them: For the fuller Explication of this Trueth, it will not (I hope) seeme tedious, if I insist a little, and consider two things in our Participation of other mens sins; 1. The Degrees, 2. The Dan­ger of our Participation; The more to informe and enforce our Weeping.

§. 49.

For the First: As Lawyers make two Degrees of Accessuries, or Participatours, One Antecedent before the Offence committed, Another Consequent after it is committed; So in Divinity we may be Partakers of other Mens sinnes, both before they bee committed and after: For Sinne is like the Serpent Amphisbaena which hath one Sting in the Head, and another in the Tayle, [Page 152]and powreth out Poyson at both ends, and that, Ore trisulco, With a Threefold sting. For first, be­fore the Working of any Wic­kednesse, others may be Parta­kers of it, 1. By Counsell, 2. By Commandement, 3. By Provocation, 1. Other Mens sinnes may be made ours by Giving evill Counsell, 2 Sam. 16.21. and so sinned Achitophel in advising Absolom to vnnaturall Lust: 2. By Comman­ding, and that, either Directly, Commanding by direct Pre­cept of Word, as the Murther of the Lords Priests is imputed to Saul, 1 Sam. 12.21. because he commaunded Doeg to fall vpon them; Or of Writ as the killing of Vriah is imputed to David, 2 Sam 12 9 for that hee wrote vnto Ioab to set him in the Forefront of the battell: Or else Indirectly, by indirect au­thorizing of others to worke [Page 153]Wickednes, Prou. 26.8. And thus as he that bindeth a Stone in a Sling, to be discharged at all adventure; So is he that giveth honour to a Foole, setting him in place of Authority; For he that putteth a Sword into a mad-Mans hand, is guilty of the mischiefe com­mitted by him. 3. By provocati­on, as it were even by daring of others to any Sinne, 1 Kin. 217. 2 Kin 9.36 as Iezebel vrged Ahab to op­presse Naboth for which of­fence, as the Doggs licked Na­boths blood, so they devoured her flesh; In like sort the com­mon Provocations to need­lesse Oaths, Prou 1.14. frivolous Con­tentions, excessiue Drinking, and the like, Prou. 7 18. fall within the compasse of this Fault; Or by alluring intisements to Profite or Pleasure.

§. 50.

After a Sinne is committed, others may bee guilty of it, 1. By Consent, 2. By Conniven­cy, 3. By Defence. And first Consent maketh vs guilty of o­ther Mens Sinnes, whether it be Expressed in Deed, Psal. 50.18. as when thou sawest a Thiefe then thou con­sentedst with him, and hast been Partaker with the Adulterers; Or in Word, as he that biddeth an Heretique God-speed, [...] Iohn 11. is par­taker of his evill deeds, Or else if it be by Suppressed Consent, for there is, Consensus Silentij, A Consent of Silence, When Sin is not rebuked by those, that are warranted thereunto by speciall calling, according to that Com­mandement, Leviticus 19.17. Thou shalt in any waies rebuke thy Neighbour, and not suffer Sinne [Page 155]vpon him: The reason heereof is, for that as, Malum Consilium inducit in Peccatum; Sic Malum Silentium relinquit in peccato, evill Counsaile leadeth vnto sinne, so evill silence leaveth in sinne; And it is a great want of charity to deny that favour to a Man, which must bee afforded to a Beast, yea to an enemies Asse: Exod. 23.24 But if a Man want warrant to re­prooue, Ezech. 9 8. then he must mourne for the offence, and Pray for the offender, so happily he may es­cape the generall scourge when it commeth. 2. Connivency, when we winke at sinnes committed by others, and this especially is the common Sinne of Superi­ours, to whom the Sword of Authority is commited, Rem. 13.4. for cut­ting off Malefactours; There­fore, Qui tolerat aliena peccata, cum tollere possit, sua facit. Hee [Page 156]that tollerateth the sinnes of o­thers, when he may take them away, maketh them his owne: This was it, which the Apostle so sharpely censured in the Co­rinthians, 1 Cor. 5.1. who neglected the rod of Discipline against the incestu­ous Person; 1 Sam. 2.17 And this was it, that pulled downe an endlesse iudgement on Eli his house. 3. By Defence, when wee defend the sinnes of other men by Les­sening, Excusing, Iustifying, or Countenancing of them; When men are blinded or besotted with violent Passion, to extenu­ate or justifie their owne sinne­full actions, Iona. 4.9. as Ionah did his an­ger, is vsuall; but to become a Proctor or a Patrone of other Mens Sinnes (seeing every one is naturally prone to mislike that evill in others which they allow in themselues) this be­wrayeth [Page 157]an Affection strangely depraved and poysoned with Wickednesse: Salomon casteth these two into an equall ballance of Abomination before God, Prou. 17.15 To justifie the Wicked, and to condemne the just; And therefore this kinde of iniquity is branded with a double curse, one of God, Isa. 5.10. Woe vnto them that call evill good; Another of Man, Prou. 24.24 He that saith to the Wicked thou art righte­ous, him shall the people curse, Nations shall abhor him.

§. 51.

Next the Danger and Damage that commeth by this Contagi­on is exceeding great: Yet the slight regard and slender con­ceit that most Men haue of their owne misdeeds, wherein they be sole and principall Agents, doth evidently shew that they make [Page 158]small or no Conscience of bee­ing Accessaries to Sinnes wrought by others. But it is the voyce of Heaven, That those that bee Partakers in Sinnes, Reuel. 18.4.shalbe Parta­kers in Plagues: Yea it is a Rule of Equity, approved both by Naturall and Civill Reason, that, Accessorium sequi congruit Natu­ram Principalis, It is meete that the Accessory be esteemed of the same nature with the Principall: And according to the Practise of all Nations in the best gover­ned States, Agentes & consentien­tes pari poena plectuntur, Actours of Sinne and Consenters to Sin are punished alike. Now as the Execution of this Iustice in tem­porall Causes restraineth Mul­titudes from much Mischiefe: So ought it to curbe vs much more in Cases of Conscience, & that for these two Considerati­ons.

§. 52.

First, because as in humane Lawes, there be no Accessories in some offences, but all Principalls, as in Treasons or Attempts a­gainst the life of the Prince, and wilfull Murthers; So it is to be judged of all sinnes whatsoever; For in true Construction of Divinity, every Sinne is a wil­full Murther of the Soule; And it is attempted against the life of the King of Kings, because the Redemption thereof, cost the Sonne of God his life. And this Consideration, though it con­cerneth all Men most neerely, yet especially the Masters of As­semblies, whether Civill or Ecclesi­asticall, because the Neglect thereof, is such a kinde of Idola­try, as transformeth them into Idols themselues, making them [Page 160]to haue Eyes that see not, Eares that heare not, Hands that han­dle not the workes of Righte­ousnesse: But aboue all it boreth out the Eyes, and maketh them as blinde as ever was Sampson or Zedekiah. And every inferiour Mans participation of other Mens Sinnes, is most vsually layd to the charge of the Supe­riour: Insomuch, that as in the body Naturall, when we see one goe or doe amisse, though his feete or hands bee the next Actours of his Errour, wee say not, Are you lame? But, Haue you no eyes? or Can you not see? So what ever Swervings be in the Body either Politick or Ec­clesiasticall, the blame lighteth not commonly vpon the Imme­diate Delinquents, but vpon the Principall Opticke Peeces in Church and Common-wealth; [Page 161]Whence Men say, Haue you no Magistrate? Haue you no Mini­ster? Because these being as Guides and Guardians of the rest, should either prevent or re­forme their Aberrations: And it is an old Saying, and a true one, Qui non corripit, corrumpit, Hee that reprooveth not, re­formeth not.

53.

Secondly, the equall Punish­ment and danger of all delin­quents, as well of Consenters to Sinne, as Actours of sin, should make vs every way most watch­full in this Participation of other mens sinnes; Because as Volun­tary Escapes among Men are punished Lege Talionis, By the Law of Requitall, as the Goaler wilfully suffering any Prisoner to escape committed to his Cu­stody, [Page 162]suffereth as in case of the Party escaped, be it for Debt, Fellony, or Treason; so likewise in Gods Iustice, when Magi­strates suffer Malefactours to passe vnpunished or vncontrou­led, that come within their com­passe. As it was threatned to Ahab for letting Benhadad goe, 1 King. 20.42. 1 King. 22.34. 1 Sam. 3.13 whom the Lord had delivered into his hand to be put to death: And as it was threatned to Eli, for not restraining his Sonnes, when they made themselues vile: The like Sentence may all Men justly feare, who neglect the abandoning and punishment of offences in their severall places; For, Aug. Epist. 182. Illicita non prohibere Consen­sus Erroris est, Not to restraine Sinne is to maintaine sinne: Es­pecially being tyed thereunto by solemne oath, which wrap­peth men into a double danger; [Page 163]One, of the Sinne, which they suffer vncensured, Another, of Taking Gods Name in vaine, which can never escape a feare­full Affliction. And therefore Augustine searching out the spe­ciall reasons, De Civit. l 1. c. 9. why in common Calamities of Warre, Famin [...], and Pestilence, Good Men often perish with the Bad, saith, Iure vitam istam cum ijs amaram sen­tiunt quibus peccantibus amari esse noluerunt, They iustly tast the bitternesse of Gods wrath, who would not bee bitter in rebuking the transgressions of his Will.

§. 53.

And thus, if we consider the degrees and danger in Partici­pation of other Mens sinnes, Lord! With what bitternesse of Spirit may the Godly groane; How should they [Page 164]charge their Eyes with Teares, their Brests with Sighs, Their Tongues with Complaints, and their whole Bodies with Dis­quiet? How ought they not to double the force of their Weep­ing? When they see Sinne so audacious, when Esauisme, Hypo­crisie, Irreligion, Iniquitie, and the loue of the World so abound? When delayed and perverted Iustice is turned into Hemlocke, and tur­neth some men out of their wits, maketh others ready to destroy either themselues, or their ad­versaries, yea sometime their Iudges? What man vnlesse he be a Cain, or of the brood of Cain, can deny himselfe to be his bro­thers keeper seeing he cannot o­therwise keepe his owne Soule from the pollutions and punish­ments of other mens sinnes in a froward & crooked generation?

§. 54.

But heere if (inverting our Saviours speech) I should some­what straine at Camels, Mat 33.24. Exod. 9.16. and swallow Gnats; Complaining with the Prophet; The Leaders of this People cause them to erre, and they that are led of them, are destroyed, both City and Countrey would (I feare) quickely report, that my Com­plaint were causelesse. For mine owne part I professe and protest that no Child of the Prophets should be lesse troubled with Io­nahs Passion, would the Lords Mercy make mee in this matte an Ignorant, and the great Ones Innocency my words all imper­tinent. Yet who can but Weepe, when hee seeth that such as are, In seculo primi, in Christi Familia vltimi, Hiereny ad [...]. Placed neerest on Earth [Page 166]vnto the Lord, either most Op­posite to the wayes of Grace and workes of Godlinesse in themselues, or wanting all cou­rage in defence of the Lord; servants, and Oposi [...]ion of his Enemies; or when hee seeth their cruell Pitty toward the Wicked like water powred vp­on Lime in stead of quenching to kindle the rage of their ini­quity. Eccle. 8.11. When wee see Men ar­med every way with Gods owne Authority, Isay 26.10. and knowing the Iudgement of God (that they which commit such things, Rom. 1.32. are worthy of death) yet not only doe the same, but haue plea­sure in them that doe them; When wee see such as with Da­vid should fight the battailes of the Lord, Oba. 11.12. yet with Edomites in the Prophet, either standing on the other side, in the day that [Page 167]Strangers and Forrainers cast lots vpon Hierusalem, and are as one of them, or looking on in the day of oppression, if not speaking proudly in the day of our distresse; o at the best, more charitable and mercifull, th [...]n the God of Mercy hath allowed or commanded them; When we see (I say) these and the like Abominations committed by Great Ones in Authority (Pa­trons of Profannesse and Perse­cutors of Godlinesse) what can we doe but Weepe and Waile, beholding such Men (for some private interest or base engage­ment) Which in all likelyhood entred into their Places and Of­fices, Plutar. like Stratocles and Dromi­clidas, as into an harvest of Gold) corrupting or interrupting pub­like Iustice, whereby their supe­riours are abused, Inferiours op­pressed, [Page 168]Religion discountenan­ced, and the Righteous discou­raged, by their murdering Ex­ample, or forbearance of the Wicked.

§. 55.

I know how well mercy be­commeth the mouth of Gods Minister, and that we should not bee Whetstones for Rigour and Seuerity: But withall, I resolue with Augustine, Aug. de Fide & operib.Saevire nolumus, dormire nolumus, As I would not perswade to Cruelty, so I would rouse vp from Securitie. Though Wee haue not so learned Christ in his Word; Yet the indeleble Notions of Nature haue (I am sure) imprinted this in our hearts, that most People are like Sheepe, easilier following exam­ple, then led and driven by lawes and Statutes, and therefore [Page 169]

The incurable Member must be cut off, if it were onely for feare of further infection; for a little Leaven leaveneth the whole lumpe of a Church or Commonwealth; and Sinne the more it is spared, the more it spreadeth. When then We are dayly vexed with the sense and sight of Sinne, Nos flendo ducimus horas, We doe Weepe, and must Weepe, and in Weeping may feare to presage concerning the Abettors (and such as should be suppressours of Iniquity) what may become of them and theirs; Iudg. 5 23. The Angel of the Lord cursed Me­roz, and the inhabitants thereof with a bitter curse, because they came not to the helpe of the Lord, to the helpe of the Lord against the mighty. Esth. 4.14. Onely thus much the [Page 170]righteous bee perswaded with Mordecai: That helpe and com­fort shall appeare vnto them out of another place, when Weep­ing they open their grievances vnto an higher Iudge, whose sentence is no dead Letter, 2 Kin. 8.12. but Direfull Revenge Could Elisha Weepe, when he foresaw what evill Hazael would doe vnto the children of Israel, And should not the Regenerate Weepe fore­seeing the inevitable evill, which by the toleration and conversa­tion of the Wicked cannot but ensue? The Regenerate there­fore are no lesse grieved at the sinnes of others, then at their owne; seeing, the Lord is alike dishonoured and offended by both: Not as fearing to feele some evill procured by our owne sins, but out of true Loue to God in seeing and hearing the [Page 171]vnlawfull deeds of others, We must Weepe and vexe our righ­teous Soules from day to day. Thus as Samuel mourned for Saul, 1 Sam. 15.35. Iere. 13.17. Luk. 19.41.Ieremiah for the pride of his times, Our Saviour for the security of Hierusalem, and as Rivers of waters ranne downe Davids eyes, Psal. 119.130. because Men kept not the Law: So none can bee assured that his heart is sincere before God, if in the like cases he be not disposed to Weeping. Vae tacentibus de te, quoniam, Do­mine, loquaces muti sunt; Woe to the Tongue-tyed in thy Cause, O God, for the most Talkatiue are too silent. He bea­reth no dutifull respect to the Lord, that can behold Trans­gressours, and is not grieved. It grieveth a friend to heare or see the disgrace of a Friend, but the Regenerate (who are called [Page 172] Christs Friends, Iohn 15.15.) should shew but poore friend­ship, if they should not be affect­ed at wrongs done to his Maje­stie. He cannot be truely Reli­gious that in comparison be­moaneth not, when he conside­reth the fiery jelousie of the Lord will breake foorth sudden­ly and inevitably with Stormes and streames of Indignation vp­on such swarmes and Millions of People, as in his sight and to his knowledge, for some Wretched Vanities of this momentany life, heape vp wrath against the day of Wrath, even all the hor­rours and tortures of which any created nature can be capable e­verlastingly.

§. 56.

Secondly, Punishments of Sinne cause the Elect to Weepe more [Page 173]excessiuely both in Number and Measure then others; Although they feare them not, but dayly expect them, because they dayly deserue them. Knowing that they dayly offend, they know also that Divine Iustice will not suffer sinne to bee vnpunished: And often, Hier. ad Eustoc. Secura eorum scit Cons­cientia, quod non propter peccata patiantur, Their secure Consci­ences know well, that they suffer not for their Sinnes. Yet, it is an infallible marke of Hypocrites, to discerne the face of the Skye, and not to discerne the Signes and times, in time of their visitation, and not to know the things which belong vnto their Peace, but then to haue them hid from their eyes. It argueth desperate hardnesse of heart, par­ticularly in Ahaz, 2 Chio. 28.22. that he was not humbled by Afflictions, but [Page 174]in the time of his distresse hee trespassed yet more against the Lord; And generally in every Reprobate, that, though they bee smitten, Iere. 5.3. yet they will not sor­row, though they be consumed, yet they refuse to receiue Cor­rection. When the Regenerate Weepe; Bern. super [...]ant. Serm. 26. Non quia percussi plorant, arguunt ferientem, sed provocant Pictatem, Severitatem flectere sata­guni. Beeing smitten they Weepe, not because they accuse the Smiter, but they implore his Mercy, because they would ap­pease his Iustice. It is then the Symptome of a Sanctified and Mollified heart to Weepe as David, 2 Sam 24. [...]7. when he saw multitudes swept away with the Pestilence; Iere. 9.1. and as Ieremiah wished his head were waters, and his eyes a foun­taine of Teares, that hee might Weepe Day and Night for the [Page 175]slaine of his people. Though we haue no cause of dejection for our owne particular Grievances, wee haue more then cause to Weepe, for the Miseries of o­thers, for whom the Lord reser­veth heavy hammers of wrath, to breake their Obstinacie, to bridle their boldnesse, and to beate downe their Rebellion a­gainst him, that so, if it be possi­ble, hee may draw them to an higher, or driue them to a deeper Consideration of themselues.

§. 58.

Lastly, Where the Spirit of God worketh a thorow Medi­tation of misery, hee maketh the very Horrours of Hell to bee a meane of Mourning; And to speake vnto vs, Indg. 16.20 as Dalilah to Sampson; Vp and arise, for the Philistines bee vpon thee Hell, [Page 176]even Hell it selfe, in the worst sense, not the Graue of the bo­dy, but of the Soule, is at the doore, nay behind the doore. For, Aug. de Gen. cont. Manich. l. 2. c. 28. Nihil sic revocat no [...] a Pecca­to, quemadmodum inhiantis Gehen­nae Cogitatie, Nothing so power­fully draweth vs from Sinne, as the Meditation of the Horrours of Hell; In which as Popish wri­ters presumptuously make Maps of Hell, as if they had surveyed the Regions of it; So Protestants on the other side, are (mee thinkes) too briefe in their wri­tings and meditations of it, though it bee as impossible to apprehend the horrours of it by Contemplation, as to bepaint the Situation of it by Descripti­on. Yet the Regenerate, not confounded (as ordinary Pro­fessours) with a short fit or flashes of Hell in their Consciences, [Page 177] ‘Omnia soliciti plena timoris habent.’

Doe alwayes feare, and take no rest, before in their perplexed Agonies they get pardon in Christ, even by Weeping; Gi­ving all diligence to make their Salvation sure, and to escape so great Condemnation. They sup­pose not that God created Hell­fire only, to punish the Devils and Damned Soules, but rather to keepe sinners from Damnati­on, to incite them to Mortifica­tion, and to raise them to Glori­fication: For, so much as a Man feareth the punishment that hee hath deserued, so much more carefully will he both Weepe and avoyd those faults which he hath committed. Senecae. Non cito perit ruinâ, qui ruinam timet, He that feareth destruction is neither ea­sily nor often destroyed in it. Thus they awaken and arouse [Page 178]themselues to fore-see Hell in it owne shape, and to fore ap­point themselues, not against the first Death, which they cannot auoyde, but against the Second, which they may, if they get their part in the first Resurrecti­on by Weeping. Whence it commeth to passe that heere al­so they bewaile not their owne estate onely, but as Christ (knowing that, Cypr. de Discipl & Hab. Virgin Qui cupiunt esse Christiani, debent quod secit Chri­stus imitari, Who desire to bee Christians should imitate the deeds of Christ) They weepe for others, and lament the stupiditie of infinite sorts of People, that see one another, like silly fish, taken out of the Pond of this World by Death, but thinke not of the Fire into which they come; They see Atheists and Epicures boldly and beastly sit­ting [Page 179]downe (as Israelits in the wildernesse) to eate and to drinke and rising vp to play) neuer ca­ring to consider, nor hauing any mind or power to thinke of that horrible Monster, neuer enough feared, that dreadfull Page and follower of death.

Thus they weepe not now, because they see not with whom they haue to beginne when they haue done with Death, which is but the beginning of their Wee­ping: In which, Tanto quis (que) tole­rabiliorem habebit damnationem, quanto hic minorem habuit Iniqui­tatem, Aug in Enchir. cap 39. Their Damnation (as Au­gustine proueth pithily) will bee more tollerable, by how much their iniquity hath bene the les­ser in this life. Whereas nature, euen meere Nature, and not only the Platonists and other wise and [Page 180]learned Heathen amongst Greci­ans and Romans, but the Vnlette­red Sauages and Scythians also, haue and doe out of Natures In­stinct, and Diuine Impression, know and admit of a Place of euerlasting well and ill beeing after death, for the soules of men. But these Monsters of men, though they willfully shut their owne eyes, and blot out the Principles of Nature, doe make the regene­rate to shed many Teares, be­cause they feare not the wrath to come, Cypr. de vnit. Eccl. Quod metuerent, si cre­derent, quia non credunt omnino, nec metuunt; Si autem crederent et ca­uerent, si cauerent euaderent; vvhich they would feare, if they be­leeued; But because they beleeue not, they feare not, For if they beleeued, they would regard it; And if they regarded, they would auoid it. They consider [Page 181]not how fearefully they will finde themselues deluded, when their seared Consciences awake, worse then Ionas in the Tempest, even in a Gulfe, (Horresco refe­rens) of Fire and Brimstone; Where no rocke, nor moun­taine, nor arme of flesh, nor army of Angels, can protect them from the irresistible Indignation of the Almighty. But Plura do­lor prohibet, No more of this. It is then for these Considerations that the Regenerate are enclined to Weeping, and tha their hearts are so often as Limbecks; Some­times distilling their Weeping out of the Weedes of their owne Offences, by the fire of true Contrition; Sometimes out of the bitter Hearbes of o­thers Iniquities, by the heate of tender Compassion; Sometimes out of the Gall and Worme­wood [Page 182]of Temporall and Eter­nall Iudgements, by the Flames of Spirituall Contemplation.

§. 59.

AND now, what Dolefull Complaint may wee not iustly pant forth, for that wee neither See the iust Causes of our Weeping, nor Sorrow for them? As if the Lord had neither enlighte­ned our Vnderstandings, nor softened our hearts for this Worke; But concealed in this our day, the things which be­long vnto our Peace, and hide them from our Eyes. Aug. Con­fess. lib. 8. cap. 9. But alas, oh Lord! Vnde hoc Monstrum, & quare istud? How long will it be before our secure Soules be a­wakened [Page 183]to Weepe, that the Causes of our Weeping may be weakened? Thou that hast hi­therto in Patience expected our Weeping, we beseech thee now in Pitty call vs effectually to Weeping. Oh! Amos 5.1. That we would heare, as the Prophet chargeth, The Word which is taken vp against vs, euen a Lamentation, before the Lord turne our Feasts into Mourning, and all our Songs into Lamentations, Amos 8.10 and before hee bring vp Sackcloath vpon all loynes, and baldnesse vpon euery head; And before hee make it as the Mourning of an onely Sonne, and the end thereof as a bitter day. How ought wee to humble our selues in this our want and Defect of Weeping! Wee may as iustly pleade as euer Cyprian, Cypr. E­pist. 2Scelus non tantum geritur, sed docetur, Sinne [Page 184]is not only wrought, but taught; And euery where wee may see with this same Father, Quod & dolori sit & pudori, What may make vs both Weepe and blush: For the fore-mentioned Causes of Weeping (and all other Cau­ses) may as palpably be found a­mong vs, as euer; Onely wee want Grace to lay them to heart. Is it nothing to you, all yee that passe by? Behold and see, where is that Place, ouer which wee may not Weepe, as once our Sauiour Wept ouer Hie­rusalem; That the impenitent Multitude, which vilifie all other meanes of Grace, might be mo­ued (if it were possible) by Weeping to bring forth fruites meete for Repentance? And who seeth not, Indignation is come forth from the Lord, who hath so often set his Trumpet to [Page 185]the mouth of his Prophets, Cry­ing, An Eagle commeth against the house of the Lord, because the People haue transgressed his Couenant, and trespassed against his Law? May not euery one see Ieremiahs Almond rod and seething Pot, in the heauie Mes­sages and Iudgements of the Lord, vttered against vs touch­ing all our wickednesse? What then remaineth, but that we take heede, Ne sit minor Medicina, quam vulnus, Cypr. Epist. 31. That our Cure be no lesse then our wound; That our VVeeping be no lesse, then our wickednesse; Ezek 22.6. That wee VVeepe, if not as Ezekiel, to the breaking of the loynes, and melting of the heart; Amos 5.16. Yet as A­mos, VVailing in all our streets, and saying in all our high wayes, Alas, Alas, Calling the Hus­bandman to Mourning, and such [...] [Page 188]And yet we alwayes want either Remembrance or Disposition to Weepe. For sometimes Satan doth stupifie and benumme our Soules, and then wee haue little or no feeling of our Sinnes; Sometimes we are so sensible of our Sinnes, so apprehensiue both of the Number and Deformity of them, that wee become there­by either ashamed or affrayed to bewayle them; That the Shame and Feare which Satan tooke a­way when wee committed Sin, hee restored againe when wee should Lament them. And not onely doth Commission make vs sinfull, but wee are guilty of euery Sinne wee hate not; For though wee cannot auoide all and euery Sinne, Yet wee should hate all and euery Sinne.

§. 61.

And thus hauing totally pol­luted our Liues in Thought, Word, and Worke, with the In­cestuous brood of Actuall trans­gressions; Wee passe ouer a great part of our Liues in do­ing nothing, a greater in doing things to little purpose, but the greatest part in doing euill. VVe do either through Ignorance, not knowing God; or Negligence, not following God; Or through Malice, resisting God, liue as without GOD in this world. VVee are so voyde of loue, that wee are hard and seuere to our neighbour, as if wee had no sense of his sorrow, or Sorrow for his sufferings: VVee are so peruerse in our Conuersations, that wee abuse our Superiours by Flattery; Our Inferiours by Con­tempt; [Page 190]our Equals, by extreame Dis­daine. Oh how little doe we ei­ther desire or discerne that which is Good; How little doe wee see or shunne that which is Euill! VVe may finde our selues in the passages of all our Acti­ons, not onely foolish, but sense­lesse; VVhence it is, that as a beastly and sauage Life seemeth Ciuill to them, who haue beene continually brought vp in the same, because Custome changeth into Nature; So wee esteeme not our condition miserable, be­cause wee neuer knew what it was to be happy: Thus through continuall Vse we confirme our Impudency, and our Impuden­cie taketh from vs all Opinion of Sinning. In a word; That it fareth thus with vs, wee haue (if wee search our soules) our owne Iudgements for Iudges, our own [Page 191]Thoughts for VVitnesses, our owne Consciences for Executi­oners, our owne Memories for Registers of our Iniquities. Now how little we do VVeepe for all our Personall Sinnes (Al­though no man can be priuie to the priuate VVailings of other, yet) our little Reformation doth testifie; For Godly VVeeping euer proceedeth from Displea­sure against Sinne; and Displea­sure against Sinne is accompani­ed with Hatred of Sinne; and Hatred of Sinne bringeth forth Reformation: So that the Ar­gument is vnanswerable from the First to the Last, That where is no Reformation, there can be no holy Lamentation, although the Head were VVaters, and the Eyes a dayly fountain of Teares. VVhereupon we conclude with Anselme, Quid ergo restat, De. Mister. hom. l. 1.O Pec­cator, [Page 192]D [...] Miser. bominu l. 1.nisi vt in tota vita tua deplo­res totam vitam tuam, VVhat then should a Sinner doe throughout his whole life, but VVeepe for the Sinnes of his whole life.

§. 62.

Next, if wee consider the Sinnes of others, wee may see that as our Age is the last of all A­ges,, so it is the Sinke of all their Sinnes, and the Puddle of all Profanenesse. Cypr. Epi. 2. Admonetur aetas omnis auditu, fieri posse, quod factum est; Nunquam aeui senio delicta mo­riuntur, nunquam temporibus Cri­men obruitur, nunquam Scelus ob­liuione sepelitur; Exempla fiant, quae esse iam facinora destiterunt. Succeeding Ages are taught, that that may bee done which hath b [...]ene done; Sinne neuer dyeth, but becommeth exemplary vn­to vs; And what was Execrable [Page 193]vnto others, is our example. Corruptions are bred in our Civill Bodies, as Diseases in our Naturall Bodies: At first they be not discerned easily, but they proceed insensibly, till that come to passe, which Livy observed in the Romane Senate, Decad. 1. lib. 10.Nec vitia nostra, nec remedia ferre possumus, We can neither endure the Ma­ladie, nor the Medicine. But few can, or (at least) will be perswa­ded that our Sins which threa­ten our desolation, are so incom­parable or transcendent, that they haue not beene parallelled in former Ages: Yet if they con­sider, Iohn 3.19, First that as this is the Con­demnation of the World, that Light is come into the World, and Men loue darkenesse rather then light; So there was never more Light of Knowledge then now, and never more darkenesse of [Page 194]Impietie then now; For there could not bee such darkenesse of Sinne, if there were not such Light of Grace: But in that we openly reject all Goodnesse, we giue height to our Sinnes; And therefore are worse then prede­cessours in ancient times, because we might bee better. Next, if they consider, Isa. 5.2. that as no Man e­ver planteth a Vineyard, but he will looke for fruit from it; So by how much our Meanes of Grace are greater, by so much are our De­fects greater: But search wee all Records, and compare such helps, such Care, such Cost, such Expectation, with our vnfruitfull Workes and Wickednesse, and see whether any ancient times did ever parallel our times in In­iquity. Lastly, the Ancient of times, to whom all times are pre­sent, hath told vs that these last [Page 195]times shall bee worst; And our Experience doth justifie him with all, but the wilfull, that the Filthinesse of the People hath filled our Land from corner to corner: that now Atheisme, Blas­phemy, Ignorance, Infidelity, Impe­nitency, Hypocrisy, Intemperancy, Pride, Lust, Gluttony, Drunkennes, Sacriledge, Slaundering, Simonie, Lukewarmenesse and Neutralitie in Religion, Lingering after Super sti­tion and Idolatry, Falsehood in Dea­lings and Friendship till all burst againe, Van [...]ty in following the Fashion without shame or medestie; Vnto all, and aboue all these; we adde Covetousnesse, and Wan­tonnesse, especially in Sabbath-breaking, the very scumme of all Impiety, the Dregges and Lees of our Nationall Impurity, that now, Flagrant vitio Gentis (que) suoq:, aboue all Nations vpon the earth [Page 196]our People burne and boyle in these iniquities, more then euer Sodome in Lust, or Samaria in any Lewdnesse, that now the rest of the workes of Darkenes, which like hatefull Night-Birds, were wont to seek Corners, to avoide the wonderment of the World, doe declare themselues as the sinnes of Sodome, and Men never blush to commit them openly. Which if they bee not speedily affronted and confronted, what can be expected, but that these iniquities be not purged from vs till we dye? But, Lord, ‘Des meliora pijs, errores (que) hostibus illos.’

So let all thine Enemies pe­rish, Iudg. 5.31. but let them that loue thee, be as the Sunne when hee goeth foorth in his might. How little wee doe Weepe for these Abominations in others, is too too manifest, (Nisi nos manifesta [Page 197]negemus) by our little care that we take for the Reformation of others. When the Heathen So­lon was demanded, what City or Countrey was best governed; That (said he) where the not wronged, as well as the wron­ged doe punish Vice and perse­cute. Wickednesse. But now, Videntur peccata aliorum, Hier. ad Gauden.sed non planguntur, quia non vindicantur, We see apparantly the Sinnes of others, but bewaile them not, because wee reforme them not. As if for this Duty, namely to reforme others, the Magistrate did not beare the Sword, the Minister should not sacrifice his dearest blood, and all Men were not bound to pull others out of the fire by discreete Admoniti­on, or fervent Prayer, that the Lord would be pleased to shew them their Misery and his Mer­cy; [Page 198]That so by this good En­deavour of all sorts of Men, Cypr. de bono pudi­cit. Vitia castigentur, vt odiantur, Sinne may be reprooved, that it may be ha­ted. But alas! as the chief Rulers confessed not Christ, lest they should bee cast out of the Syna­gogue, Ioh 12.42. For they loved the praise of Men, more then the praise of God; So the Feare or Loue of Men, whose breath is in his Nostriles, haue taken away cou­rage from our hearts, and our hearts (I feare) from the Lord. And yet lest any should bee dis­couraged with Singlenesse in this kinde of Sincerity, as though, [...], One were none to doe any good; A Father teacheth vs, that [...], Chrys [...]t. One Man truely Zealous suffi­ceth to reforme a whole multi­tude. [Page 199]Now if we neglect in our Severall Stations and Vocations, to reforme Sinne in others, it can­not bee perceived that we pitie them, or truely Weepe for their Sinnes. But our carelesse Con­sideration of the fearefull condi­tion, and wretched end of Impe­nitent Sinners where wee liue, working in vs so little or no care to reforme them, giveth but small testimony that our stony Hearts or Leaden Eyes can yeeld any Teares; When as all things doe Weepe for them, be­cause these Wretches forsake the common Lord, vse all meanes to betray and crucifie him a­gaine, regard Man and the de­ceitfull alurements of the Devil, more then ei [...]her the Benefits or Threats of the Almighty; And fasten their thoughts vpon the cretures, contemning the power, [Page 200]Wisedome, and Goodnesse of the Creator. Therefore the Hea­ven Weepe for them, the An­gels Weepe for them, the Saints Weepe for them, all Creatures Weepe for them, and Christ Weepeth more for them, then ever he did for the desolation of Hierusalem, because their Sinnes defile others, deforme the Creatures, and depresse them­selues into the deepest Gulfe of Woe.

§. 63.

But because for mine owne part, Aug Conf. l. 3. c. 2. M [...]gis misercor gaudentem in flagitio, quam dura perpessum de­trimento perniciosae voluptatis, aut amissione mise [...] ae faelicitatis, I pitie more a great deale impenitent Sinners rejovcing in sinne, then others howsoever grievously af­flicted with Crosses or Calami­ties: [Page 201]If wee consider, First, the publike punishments of Sin, which are alwayes infallible evidences of the Lords displeasure against sinners; Wee may perceiue that though the Lord hath smitten vs more then the Men of Beth­shemesh, yea then the Assyrians, 1 Sam 16.19. 2 Sam. 19.35. at one time; Yet we rejoyce rather in our Sins, then lament them. Verely wee haue seene with our Eyes, even those Iudgements which may be abundant matter of Weeping, and are very neere fore-runners of the great and terrible day of the Lord. Wee haue seene prodigious Appariti­ons in the Ayre, incredible In­vndations in the Sea, wee haue had incomparable Earthquakes, fearefull Fires in our Houses, Extraordinary Plagues in the most Populous parts of this Kingdome, grievous and pining [Page 202]Famines, vnseasonable Seasons, and many more Visitations, all which we haue felt in such extre­mity and vehemency, of which these parts of the World are not naturally capable: So certaine it is that the Finger of God hath beene in them. Ezek. 21.9. And even now, the Sword is sharpened, and also fourbished; It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; It is four­bished, that it may glitter; Should wee then make Mirth? Or should we not rather Mourne and Weepe? May we not com plaine. Cypr. ad Demet. Ecce irrogantur divinitus plagae, & nullus Dei metus est; Ecce verbera desuper & flagella non desunt, sed trepidatio nulla, nulla formido est. Si non interce­deret rebus humanis vel ista censu­ra; Quanto ad hue Major in homi­nibus esset audacia facinorum, im­punitate secura? Behold, Behold, [Page 203]We feele the Iudgements of the Lord, yet we feare not the Lord; What if Man were not thus pu­nished, how much more secure would his boldnesse be, through the impunity of his Sinnes? Death and Bloodshed, Strife and Sword, Calamities, Famine, Tribulation, and the Scourge, these things the Lord hath crea­ted for the Wicked to punish them. For there is no Evill (of Punishment) but the Lord hath done it: Amos 36. And every such evill is inflicted for Sinne; Lam 3.37. So evident it is that whatsoever common Punishments doe befall vs, they are from the Lord, and likewise for sinne. Esth. 4.3. If Mordecai then and the Iewes had cause to Weepe, at the bloody Decree of an Earthly King; Isa. 22.4.5. how much more cause haue we to Weepe at the Revelation of the Righteous [Page 204]judgements of God? And with the Prophet, to Weepe bitterly, and not be comforted, because of the spoyling of the daughter of our People. For now is a day of trouble, and of treading downe, and of Perplexitie by the Lord God of Hosts. What shall wee then thinke or say of these punishments, Numb. 16.46. but as Moses and Aaron of one suddaine Pesti­lence, There is Wrath gone forth from the Lord, and the Plague is begun. Hos 4.1. For the Lord hath a Controversie with the Inhabitants of our Land, be­cause there is no Trueth, nor Mercy, nor Knowledge of God in the Land; By Swearing, and Lying, and Killing, and Stealing, and committing Adultery, they breake out, and Blood toucheth Blood; Therefore shall the land Mourne. And therefore doth [Page 205]our Land Mourne, and yet we doe not Mourne, for all these Signes of our displeased God.

§. 69.

Yet the Terrour (if there were any tendernes left in our hearts) the Terrour that hath taken hold of some amongst vs, should vndoubtedly haue made vs, Mittere legate pro doloribus nostris Lachrymas, Cypr. Epist. 31 [...] To send our Teares as Messengers of our Sorrowes: Yea the Tragicall ends and events of others, should haue sounded in our Eares, ‘— Lachrymosa poemata Puppi.’

And haue affrighted vs, asto­nished vs, and so mooved vs to Weeping. For some of vs hedged about with increase of all out­ward blessings, yet having abu­sed them, though they bred se­curitie for a while, we haue seene [Page 206]their feare at length seize vpon them most violently and sud­dainely: Some of vs enjoying strength of body, yet having a­bused it to Intemperance, the Lord practised Martiall-law, and did present Execution vpon them, turning the height and Pride of their Strength into Lamenesse, Blindnesse, Deafe­nesse, Diseases innumerable, Though hee deferreth most of them vntill that solemne day of Iudgement to come: Others a­mongst vs having knowledge, but thereby elevated and puffed vp in their Soules, we haue seene them like Angels of Light fall from on high into the Darkene, of Ignorance, Errour, Curiositie, In­constancie, Discontentment, Passi­ons. We haue heard of Theft, Perjury, Robbery, Murther, Par­ricide, Fratricide, Homicide of [Page 207]all sorts, as perpetrated, so plag­ed (and what can bee more hor­rible?) in the very acte of Sin­ning. And yet wee are farre from Weeping, that wee conti­nue fearelesse and carelesse of the like vntimely shamefull Ends: Never blessing the Lord that in Mercy and Patience suf­fereth vs, and giveth vs all good things. Thus when the Conni­vence of our Heavenly Father, like the Indulgence of Eli towards his Sonnes, hath made so many of vs wanton and disobedient, wee never feare though hee worke extraordinary and rare judge­ments on others in our Israel, whereat our Eares should tin­gle, and our Eyes Weepe, lest when hee beginneth with them, hee likewise make an end with our Selves: Iob 18.19. Consuming all Wamons with a totall Destru­ction, [Page 208]without any dispensation, not leaving the least remem­brance of them vpon Earth: And Rooting out Houses as well as Inhabitants, Zachar 5.4 Making the Stones at every Ioynt to Weepe, the Beames and every Pinne to Weepe. And both Stone out of the Wall, and Beame and every Peece of Timber may Weepe; yet We, more insensible then the senselesse Creatures, never Weepe with them, ne­ver joyne with them in their mourne-full Anthems.

65.

Great is our Priviledge, through the great Mercy and Patience of the Lord at this houre toward vs, in that wee heare neither noise of Warre, nor newes of an Enemie: Deus nobis haec otia fecit, The Lord [Page 209]hath turned our Swords into Mattocks, and euery man sitteth vnder his owne Vine. Yet be­hold, Cypr de Lapsis. Lachrymis magis quam ver­bis opus est, ad exprimendum dolo­rem; Wee haue more neede of Teares then Words, to expresse our gracelesse & grievous Lack of Weeping, voide of naturall Compassionatenesse, and pangs of common humanity, whereby wee are bound to commiserate the Miseries of afflicted Ioseph in forraine Nations, though this Christian Duty be often enioy­ned vs by Authority. When Alexander saw the dead corps of Darius; and Iulius Caesar, the head of Pompey; and Marcus Mar­cellus, Syracusa burning; and Sci­pi [...], Numantia sporled; and Titus, Hierusalem made even with the ground, they could not abstaine from Weeping; although they [Page 210]were Heathen and Mortall Ene­mies. And if wee were not hewen out of the hardest rockes, if the Image of GOD but in a meane measure were repaired in our Soules, ‘Tum mea cum multis iuncta querela foret.’

Then wee, and others, and all men professing the same Faith which is in Iesus Christ, could not but groane and grieue to heare the insolent Depopulations, Op­pressions, and Persecutions, which cruell Might and Malice haue wrought in other Countries (be­yond hope of recouery) which heretofore were Seminaries of Piety and true Religion, and Sanctu­aries for the distressed members of Christ. And yet for all this, wee doe not shed one Teare, let flie one Sigh, or troubled groan, nor abate any of our Pompe or Prodigality; But rather like [Page 211]corrupted flesh, wee swell higher for these strokes; And as sense­lesse limbes, wee feele not the cutting and cauterizing of our owne members. Oh! that wee had Grace as well as Space, to Weepe (at least) in Humility and Sincerity, and to learne by the stripes of others, not to dreame of stability in our present Peace and Security, when as our Ini­quities are thus at the highest pitch! To Weepe (I say) and Learne by others more righte­ous then wee, before the Lord doe bring the Doctrine of De­solation vpon our selues, and make vs Weepe with many bit­ter Teares, when our Cities and Countries are made Habitations for Dragons, and Courts for Ostrid­ges, and our selues deprived of Lands, Liberties, Hier, ad Geront. V [...] ­duam and perhaps Liues too. Sed nostri temporis ma­la [Page 212]periculosa sunt tam loquentibus quam audientibus, vt ne gemitus quidem liber sit; Nolentibus; i [...] nec audentibus nobis flere quae pati­mur; But the Sinnes of our Times are dangerous, both to the hearers & speakers of them; So that as some will not, so o­thers dare not Weepe for our Sufferings. Yet as the Lord in Ieremiah saith, Ierem 7.12. Goe to Shiloh; So let vs goe to our neighbour Na­tions, and behold and see, what the Lord hath done to them, for the Wickednesse of his People there; Whose Wickednesse, our Wickednesse may as truely bee said to iustifie, as ever Samaria did Sodome; And the Lords Iu­stice then, is his Iustice now.

§. 66.

Furthermore, is it not high time for every true hearted [Page 213]Christian, to rend their cloathes with Ioshua, to fall downe, and Water the Earth as well as their cheekes with Teares? Where­as, if they consider the present condition of the sincerest Ser­vants of GOD at home, they may see that, Cypr. ad Demet. Excogitat nouas poe­nas ingeniosa Crudelitas, They in our owne Israel are intollerably persecuted both by the vnrigh­teous words, and workes of the Wicked. In Primitiue Times, as Augustine often observeth, Sa­tan like a roaring Lion persecu­ted with insatiable Cruelty, drinking vp the blood of the Saints; But now like a crafty Serpent, hee vexeth them in as high a degree, with all indigni­ties and disgraces; for the Sword of the Tongue woundeth a ge­nerous Heart, as deepe as the Sword in the hand doth the Bo­dy. [Page 214]It is strange to see in such a reformed Church as ours, how they that, Hier. in A­polog adu. Ruff. Coniuncti de perfidia, ad maledicta confugiant, Are conuin­ced of sinne, Flie to slaunders; How they that sit in the seate of the scornefull, should so boldly, impudently, and (which confir­meth their Impudency) with Impunity, fill their hearts and mouthes with disdainefull, ma­licious, and enraged preiudices against the Simplicity of the Servants of God. Cypr. Epist. 42. Iactare gesti­unt, quae probare non possunt, No scoffes, no Taunts, no Slaunders, no Reproches, no vncharitable Censures, can Malice invent, or Tongue vtter, which hath beene dipt in the Fire of Hell, that is not now a dayes discharged with Gnashing of teeth against their pra­ct [...]ses and Profession, as against their proper Obiect. Vbicunque [Page 215]viderint Christianum,Hieron ad Furian.statim illud de triuio, [...], Where­soeuer they see an Israelite in­deede, in their bas st proverbiall Scommes, they condemne down­right both the manner and mat­ter of his Conversation. Which work of Satan, though the same holy Cyprian adviseth vs the ra­ther to vilifie, Cypr. Epist. 52. because it is their lot, Qui Conscientiae suae luce clares­cunt, vt alienis rumoribus sordiaen­tur, whose consciences are cleare and cleansed, to be defiled with the Scourge of tongues: Yet for so much as by our Office, Men haue their Christendome, Hieron, ad Holiod. their Communion with Christ, their Absolution from Sin, their Marriages consecrated, yea the Salvation of their Soules, and whatsoever Grace accompa­nieth Salvation; And were without it, no better then Ba­stards, [Page 216]Pagans, and Vessels of wrath; Let it bee our Wisedome and Christian Resolution, to thinke as basely of men (though the greatest in our severall Charges) thus abasing vs, 2 Cor. 11.22. Phil. 3.4, 5, 6. who vpon the search may be found, nothing inferiour to themselues, either in birth or breeding: Considering withall that we are entrusted of the Lord with the most pretious Treasures of the Gospell of his Sonne, and Soules of his People. Oh the honour that hath beene formerly done by Heathens, to them that had but the false face of Prophets! I shame and grieue to compare the Times and Men. Onely, oh God, Be thou mer­cifull to the Contempt of thy servants. This (I confesse) hath beene the Complaint of the Godly, Hier. ad Iu­lian. almost in all Ages; Be­cause, Difficile est pressam malis in­nocentiam [Page 217]non dolere, It is hard for Innocency oppressed with Mi­sery not to grieue: Yet as sinne never so much abounded, so Sin­ners were never so much trans­ported with imbittered and im­placable Opposition to Sinceri­tie, as now; When as, Aug. Epist. 64. Hostis nostri vires sentit nemo, nisi qui ei bellum indixerit, none feele the Power, of Satans Virulency, and Malice of his members, but they that War against him. To evidence or ex­emplifie this Trueth, were too long, neither is it needfull: so that now, for this Sinne, the Reader ‘Quascun (que) aspiciet Lachryma fecere lituras.’

What B [...]otts or Errours soever he findeth heere, may impute them justly to my Teares: Re­solving hereafter to content my selfe either to cast downe my heart in Pitying, or to lift it vp [Page 218]in Praying: Bernard. de Considerat. l. 3. c. 2. Seeing our Com­plaints for this Sinne are laugh­ed out of Courts authorized to punish it, with a Plus facetiae — quam Iustitiae; Or no more re­garded then the humming of Bees. Sometimes then we may deplore the extravagant Hypo­crisie of the Times, gaul'd and grieved at the Conscionable Conversation of the little Flock of Christ, because it condem­neth their outward Formality, and Temporizing, and maketh it plainely appeare, that their present Case without Conver­sion is wretched. Sometimes wee may implore the helpe of Heaven, either to [...]estraine the Hellish Virulencie of rayling Shimeis, Mich. 7.9.and malicious Doegs: Or to giue vs Grace and Patience, To beare this Indignation of the Lord, because we haue sinned a­gainst [Page 219]him; Vntill hee pleade our Cause, and execute Iudge­ment for vs: Knowing that, Hier. contr. Iovinianum. l. 2. A­mara est veritas, & qui eam prae dicant replentur amaritudine, The Truth is bitter, and they that Preach and Professe it are filled with Bitternesse. For, that of Hezekiah his Song, according to the Vulgar Translation, may fit­ly be appropriated to our Age, and is verified in our Nation, Ecce in pace amaritud [...] mea ama­rissima; Which according to the Hebrew, our Translation readeth, Behold for Peace I had great bi [...]ter­nesse; But the Vulgar, Isa. 38.17. Behold in Peace my bitternesse is most bitter: Bern. super Cant Serm. 35. Whereupon Bernard play­eth no lesse Elegantly then Mo­rally; Amara prius in nece Marty­rum, amarior post in conflictu Haere­ticorum, amarissima nunc in mori­bus Domesticorum; Bitter first in [Page 220]the death of Martyrs, more bit­ter thereafter in Conflicts with Heretiques, most bitter now through malice of Professours. Thus it was foretold of old, but now fulfilled. Howsoever, ‘Quae venit indignè, poena d [...]lenda venit.’

We cannot chuse but Weepe, in all our Indignities & wrongs Yet our Comfort is, that a Day will come, in which the high and everlasting Iudge, with the brightnesse of his Com­ming, will then at furthest, be­fore Men and Angels, bring foorth our Righteousnesse as the Light, and our Iudgement as the Noone day. In which ‘— (Scelesta tanta est iniuriae Lingu [...]) —’

Those Doggish Tongues and barking Dogges that now do­mineere over the Lambes of Christ, will bee everlastingly cashired from the presence of the [Page 221]Lord, and joyes of his Eternitie: For the Reviler, no more then the Drunkard, Adulterer, 1 Cor. 6.10. and the rest of that impure and impeni­tent Crue, shall never inherite the Kingdome of God. Cypr. de Vnit. Ec­clesia.Quid facit in pectore Christiane Luporum feritas, & Canum rabies? What doth Woolfish cruelty, and Dogged Fury in the mouth or heart of a Christian? Wherefore, as the meeke Spirit of God, never abi­deth with their vntamed Affe­ctions; So shunne thou, Oh my Soule, their cursed Anger, for it is fierce: And hate thou their Wrath, for it is cruell.

§. 67.

Lastly, if we would consider our Reall and Actuall Grievan­ces, we could not but Weepe in a generall Humiliation, before the Lord come vpon vs, with [Page 222]his Wrath never more to be ap­peased. Cypr. Epist. 34. If there were any, Tho­mae similis, qui minus auribus cre­dat; nec ocuiorum fides deest, vt quis quod audit, & videat, Like Thomas the Apostle, who belie­veth not our report; What our report cannot, his owne sight and senses may perswade him. I am sure, the Ministers and Men of God (of inferiour degree) the more Experience they haue in their holy worke, the lesse Re­ward and Respect they finde in the World. Which misery, though Christ & Paul foreseeing, Luke 10.7. enacted as the Law of Heaven in more then Mede and Persian irrevocability, 1 Tim. 5.18 That the Labourer is worthy of his hire. Yet that briefe Statute (so ample and strong in it selfe, that the very Metaphoricall Phrase, not only determineth the Quantitie and [Page 223]Qualitie, but yeeldeth an impe­rious Reason of the strict per­formance thereof) is of no force, and counted a strange thing in our Peoples estimation. If the meanest Drudges (bv pre­cepts both Leviticall and Evan­gelicall) may not bee vnrewar­ded, Deut. 24.14 Iam. 5.4. vnlesse Men will incurre in­evitable Condemnation in their Consciences heere, and in the last Iudgement hereafter: Then much more barbarous is their Injustice, and Iniquity hainous, ‘(Est aliqua ingratin meritum expr [...]brare voluptas)’

That feede the Ministers of the Lord with the Bread of Affliction, and the water of Afflction, that is, That with-hold earthly Food, from that mouth that feedeth them with Heauenly Food; That depriveth him of his due Apparell, that adorneth them with the righteousnes of Christ. [Page 224]How fitly Cyprian his Com­plaint, comparing Primitiue Times, with Succeeding Times, may bee accommodated to our Times, Cypr. de Vnitate Ecclesia. let all Men Iudge. Domos tunc & fundos venundabant, & Thesauros sibi in coelo reponentes, distribuenda in vsus indigentiuas pretia Apostolis offerebant; At nunc de Patrimonio, nec decimus damus; They sold their Houses and Lands, and laying vp Trea­sure in heaven, they brought the Price thereof to the Apostles to be distributed to the Poore; But now out of our large Patri­monies, we pay not so much as the due Tenth. VVhereas then, now a dayes Men, by detayning sacrilegiously Gods portion from Gods Servants, against all Equity both Divine and Hu­mane, doe certainely pull downe vpon their Soules, Bodies, [Page 225]Goods, and Posterity, (which if I would runne into Particu­lars, could plainely proue, by speciall and almost insinite In­stances in this Kingdome) that heavie and horrible Curse. Ma­lachi 3.8.9. In robbing the Lord of Tythes and Offerings. Where the Lord himself fighteth not with shadowes, Cypr. Epist. 75. nor is so zealous for a Ceremonie. But whereas, Ali­quandiù erratum est, non ideo semper errandum est. We haue for some long time thus sinned Sacrilegi­ously, wee must not therefore continue in that Sin. It is high Time therefore to beseech our Improper Lay-Impropriatours, for Gods sake who commandeth our Maintenance, for their soules sake, which reape the fruit of our Maintenance, for the Words sake by which we are warranted to demand our Maintenance, and [Page 226]for Christs sake in whom wee deserue our Maintenance, that they would haue his Ministers in due account, that the Wor­ship of the Lord, which they magnifie in word, but repute in­deede to bee little worth, may not be so meanely and sordidly maintained. That they would consider our Maintenance doth claime and include all necessa­ries: Lege, Quos nos hostes 234. de ver [...]. Sig­nif. For, Alimentis legatis, cibaria & vestitus & habitatio debentur, By the Civill Lawes, Hee that bequeathes a man Maintenance and Nourishment, intends hee should have Bed and Bord, Ap­parell and dwelling. And there­fore that it is not some poore part of our maintenance in most Parishes, 1 King. 12.31. (with which our bare reading Predecessours, like Ieroboams Priests, made of the lowest of the People, and most of them taken [Page 227]from their Shops and Trulls were contented) which heeretofore hath beene payed by Custome more then Equity vnto others before vs. Is the Reward of our Worke due vnto vs, which wee would willingly bestowe a­mongst Stationers every yeare That wee may finde that our Preaching hath, as delivered them from Sinne, Sorrow, and Ser­uitude, so likewise seasoned them with the Power of Godlinesse. Lest not onely the Superstition of Papists, but Idolatry of Heathen Muffians rise in iudgement, and condemne them, because they Repented not; But whilst wee enformed their Vnderstandings, Satan perverted their Aff [...]cti­ons with Irreverence and Irre­ligion.

§. 68.

And here, because, Iusto de­sunt sua verba dolori, I want words sufficiently to bewaile this grie­vous Sinne; I know not how it commeth to passe, that Ministers are ever worst Oratours in their owne Cause; either too Modest to Pleade for themselues, Or too Timorous, contenting our selues at every Balaks beck, Num. 23.25 nei­ther to Curse nor Blesse, where the Lord hath cursed; And threatned to make them (though Princes) like Orch and like Zeeb; Psal. 83.11.12. yea, all their Princes like Zeba and Zalmunna, which haue said, Let vs take for our possession the habitations of God. And all men may know, that all the mi­racles of the Apostles were sa­ving Miracles, save only in Ana­nias and Saphira; Act 5.5. their Sacrilegi­ous [Page 229]Alienating Church-Goods. And the Sonne of God did ne­ver worke any Miracle by force and violence, Mat. 21 12. save onely when hee met with this Sinne of Mer­chandize in the house of GOD, then, and onely then in all his life did the Lambe of God play the Lyon of the Tribe of Iudah. There­fore although now, Noscanimus surdis, Wee haue small hope that our Maintenance may bee aug­mented; Yet this barbarous and Sacrilegious Outrage, not onely causeth Lamentation, Weeping, Math. 2.18. and great Mourning, like vnto the Voyce heard in Ramah, pene­trating the clouds, and ‘Horrendâ grauiter c [...]lum pulsante querelâ’

Knocking at the Gate of Hea­ven, entereth into the Eares of the Lord of Sabboth; But like­wise the most Imperious and Im­pious Church-Robbers that ever [Page 230]have beene, or ever shall bee, will never bee able to stop the mouthes, or stay the pennes of them that having wearied their bodies, wasted their Spirits, spent their Patrimonies, and worne out their Hopes in that Sacred Function; Which de­clare their Grievances of all sorts vnto the World, as Atha­nasius wrote his, Socrat l. 2. c. 1. [...], Bookes in which he complained of his Abuses and Afflictions; which may tell these inexcusa­ble and selfe condemned (Legom enim Dei scriptam in Cordibus ho­minum,Aug Con­fes. l. 2. c. 4.ne ipsa quidem delet Ini­quitas) Blood Suckers, that our Maintenance, the Churches Pa­trimony, like the vnseene coale of Fire in the Apologue, burneth vp the Sacrilegious Eagles Nest, and consumeth all their owne Patrimonies: So that by their [Page 231]vniust Purchases of Parsonages, they Purchase Aceldama to them and theirs.

§. 69.

And whilst wee thus Com­plaine of intollerable Inhuma­nity, wherewith the Inferiour sort of the Clergie is dayly broy­led, and beggered, and abused: Doth the Laytie thinke to be ex­empted? Certainly true ever, as well as wise and grave, hath that saying of the Ecclesiasticall Historiographer beene found, [...], Socrat, l. 5. in Proamto. There is alwayes an inseparable Coniunction and Communion in Church and Common-wealth; For if the one doe Mourne, the other either doth or shall shortly groane. And what shall I say? I should [Page 232]be censured either as insensible of Digression, or transported with Passion, if I would stand to fill vp an Induction, with our Iewish and Iniurious Bargaines, our fraudulent Conveyances, our Disapoyntments of Trusts, our wrongfull Detrusions of Money, Goods, and Lands, our more then Turkish Couzenages, and Oppressions, Aug. Con­fes lib. 3. c. 3. for which, Hoe laudabilior, quo fraudulentior, A man is more praised, the more hee is Perfidious. And which may cause vs to yeeld the Iuyce of our Teares, as well as exhi­bite Bills of Complaints, whilst wee are content quietly to bee racked, crushed, and spoiled: But these I purposely omit, for ‘Haec animus meminisse horret, luctu (que) refugit.’

My Soule sigheth at the Sight and Sense of these Sinnes, and shunneth them in sighing.

§. 70.

Yet all this battery doth not serue to make a breach into our Soules, and to cause vs the more to abhorre our Sinnes; Or at lest to conceive some feare in committing them, which being fully apprehended, might in time draw vs all together to for­sake them. Assuredly wee are possessed with the Spirit of Fu­rie, wee are filled with the Poy­son of Serpents, wee are like the deafe Adder (as Dauid said of Wilfull Sinners) in stopping our Eares against the Voyce of the Charmer; Psal 58.4. Mic 6.9. for we heare not the rod, nor him who hath appoin­ted it. Thus wee declare, Mat. 17.17.20. that wee are as Christ called the Iewes, Not onely a Peruerse, but a faithlesse Generation. For if wee had Faith as a Graine of Mustard [Page 234]seede, wee would Weepe; For Mustard feede hath it name, [...], Because it maketh the eyes to weepe. So that, hee that hath Faith as a Graine of Mustard seede, hath so much Grace as to make his Eyes to Weepe. But, Credere se in Christum quomodo di­cit,Cypr. de v­nitate Ec­cles.qui non facit quod-Christus fa­cere praecepit, How can that man say hee beleeveth in Christ, who doth not what Christ comman­deth him to doe; And no Duty more frequently doth he com­mand then to Weepe; There­fore where is no Weeping, there can bee no great evidence of Faith.

§. 70.

GOe to now, Iam. 5.5. ye that live in pleasure on Earth and are Wanton; yee that nourish your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Weepe and howle, before Mi­sery and Mischiefe come vpon you. Take the advantage of this acceptable Time, and make much of this day of Salvation, and blessed opportunity. For this, Gird thy selfe with Sack­cloth, Oh Sinner, Lament, Iam. 4.8. and howle before the Lord, ‘Qui iuvet, & molius, quam tu tibi, consulat, opto,’

VVhom I beseech to be more mercifull vnto thee, then thou art mindfull of thy selfe; That the fierce anger of thy God, Ierem. 7.29 may [Page 236]be turned backe from thee. Let vs cut off our hayre, and cast it away, and take vp a Lamentati­on on high places before the Lord reject vs, and forsake vs, as the Generation of his VVrath. Oh let vs not bee so dull and flow to beleeue all that is writ­ten in the Law and the Prophets; Cypr. Epist. 31. For there is fire, as wel as water; There is Death as well as life; And there is hell, as well as Hea­ven? Shall all goe to heaven? Or is hell onely prepared for Turkes, Iewes and Infidels, whose Hearts being hardened in Sin, know not how to VVeepe for their pre­sent Misery and future Indigna­tion? And not much rather for Christians not touched with Sor­row; VVhen insensate with Sinne, they call not to minde, that the Lord will afflict them in the day of his fierce Anger. [Page 237] Quia qui non fleuit, Bern. Serm. de Miser. Human.quando erat tempus flendi, aeterno luctu lugebit, sed sine fructu, For he that Weep­eth not, when the Time is to VVeepe, shall VVeepe Eternal­ly, but irrecoverably. Faine would I free mine owne Soule from the Blood of Soules, with some Weeping; And I should thinke my Weeping some part of my Happinesse, If, ‘— Alijs (que) d [...]lens sim causa del [...]ris,’

It might worke in any, a God­ly Weeping to Repentance. But as how much the longer any fil­thy liquor standeth in a Vessell, so much the more is the Vessell fowled and stained, and so much the hardlyer can the fowle staines be washed away; So the longer time that Sinne remai­neth in our hearts, with an vn­controuled Custome, the more are our vnhappy Soules soyled [Page 238]with the staines thereof, which are the more hard to bee wa­shed away by Weeping. And seeing after our Baptisme, Titus 3.5. [...], VVhich is the La­ver or VVashing of Regenerati­on, Our Life is nothing else but a Fowling of that which was washed; VVee must wash and Baptise our Soules with Teares, Lachrimae enim paeni [...]entium pro Baptismate reputantur apud Deum, Bern. Serm. 10. de Modo bene Vin. For the Teares of the penitent are accounted as Baptisme with the Lord. As death depriveth a Man of naturall Life, So Mour­ning destroyeth the Body of sinne, which is the Sensuall Life: Aug. de Temp. Serm. 141. Oh therefore, Moriamur, ne moriamur, Lachrymemur ne Damnemur, Let vs Dye for a time in this Life, lest wee dve for ever in the next Life; And let vs Mourne for a sea­son, [Page 239]lest wee bee damned for ever.

§. 71.

And although it bee vaine to Weepe for worldly desires and crosses, yet true Teares for sin, and the smart of Sinne, are never forcelesse nor frui [...]lesse. For if Alexander, Quint. Curt. when hee had read a large Letter written to him by Antipater, wherein were divers accusations against his Mother Olympas; Answered, that Anti­pater knew not that one Teare of a Mother would blot away ma­ny Accusations: Much more may wee bee assured that the Teares of Repentance will blot away the memory of many sins, though they be written like the Sinnes of Iudah, With a Pen of Iron, and graven with the point of a Diamond. Oh say not then, [Page 240]Thou canst not Weepe, For if not, it is because thou lovest not Christ, Bern in Cae [...]a Dom. Serm. 9. Lachrimae enim testes amo­ris sunt, For our Teares are to­kens of our truest Loue to Christ. And if thou Weepe not for the Loue of Christ, yet Weepe for the feare of Hell; And if neither for this, thou canst Weepe, Nec times Mortem nec amas Vitam, Verely thy state is dangerous, for thou neither fearest Death nor lovest Life. Who therefore hath Eares to heare, Matt. 13.9. let him heare; Let all learne of our Saviour to require and yeeld, in this most serious Matter, their best Affection and heedfull Attention. For what shall Men doe with their Eares and hearts, if they Hearken not to these things, and affect them not? Aug. de Verbis Dom Serm. 25. Seeing we Ministers, Quod admonemur, admonere debemus, [Page 241]What we are Taught, are bound to Teach others. Oh! Let vs See, Heare, and Vnderstand, lest we be such as haue Eyes and see not, Eares and heare not, Hearts and vnderstand not the Impor­tance of this Fire, which our Sa­viour hath sent downe for ever into his Church to bee taught, Heard, and beleeved. From which, Quia aversi sumus, Aug. Conf. lib. 4. c. p. 16per­versi sumus; Revertamur, ne Ever­tamur. Because wee are averse, we are therefore Perverse: Let vs returne lest we be destroyed: Lest our Weeping bee without reliefe, because without Repen­tance. Many indeed, we know, Chr [...]s. Hem. 6. in Alath. Weepe when they bury their Friends or Children, yet Weep­ing doth not raise them from the dead; others Weepe when they loose their wealth, yet Weeping doth not recover it; others weepe [Page 242]when they are wronged, yet Weeping doth not right them; Some Weepe like Haman, when their proud Purposes bee Cros­sed; Some like Ahab, when their covetous Designements are not effected, ‘Heu, quantum insano iuvat indulgere doleri!’

Oh the great delight we take in our wretched Weeping! But what Man, Woman, or Child doth not deserue to be cast both Soule and Body into that Sul­phureous Tophet, where is no­thing but euerlasting Weeping and Gnashing of teeth? And who almost Weepeth for it? This (I know) is an ordinary Notion, and this we know all, and vnderstand it, Sed Doctrinaliter, non Disciplinaliter, (as saith the Schoole-man) But by way of Doctrine to disprove an Erour, not by way of Discipline to di­tect our Lines.

§. 73.

Oh that we were not so stif­necked and obstinate in the cu­stomes of our licentious Lives! Thus to bee caried with the Sway of App [...]tits, rage of Sen­sualitie, tempests of Affections, without any discours [...], Rule, or Restraint of Reason. Then should we know, that the End for which the Lord exerciseth vs with Weeping, is to renew his defaced Image, that is to beget a right vnderstanding in vs. We are all bound to declare that Dif­ference, whereby Nature hath distinguished vs from bruite Beasts; Which consisteth not in outward appearance and be­haviour, but chiefely in disposi­tion of Minde and Vnderstand­ing: VVhich is so neere a resem­blance of the Lord, that it is his [Page 244]Image in vs, and that nothing in all his Creatures can so cleerely expresse him. Aquin. 1. Q. 39. A. 2. c. For, as God vn­derstandeth and loveth himselfe, so Man by his Intellectuall Facul­tie, is apt, and inclinable to vnder­stand him and loue him: And the more perfectly, Man vnder­standeth and loveth God, the more liuely doth he expresse his Image. But where is the Image of God? VVhere is our Vnder­standing? If we vnderstand not our estate, if wee vnderstand not our dangers: VVhich did wee vnderstand, wee would expresse some care and diligence how to avoide them. For assuredly they want vnderstanding that beleeue not their Dangers, and with all care and diligence, endeavour not to avoide them. In Scrip­tures, the dangers of our sinn full estate are frequently exprested [Page 245]by Fires and Flames, by Scorching and Burning, and the like: which if we duely did consider, wee would often aske our owne hearts, Isa 33.14. who among vs can dwell in the devouring Fire? Who among vs can dwell in everlast­ing Burnings? What therefore Augustine said of the Damned in Hell, the same let vs say of the obdurate in heart, Aug▪ de [...] Des. lib. 21 c. 2. Mirabile est ardere in ignibus, & tamen vi [...]ere; Sed mirabilius vinere inig [...]ibus, nec dolere; Si autem hoc creditur, cur non & illud? It is wonder­full to burne in fire, and yet to liue; But more wonderfull to liue in fire, and not to Wee [...]e. If we beleeve the one, why not the other? Let vs then fixe the eyes of our Soules, vpon the vn­valuable pretionsnesse of our Conformity to the Image of God, that the false represen [...]a i­ons [Page 245]of this flattering World, may not frustrate the Lord of his End, and draw vs from Weeping: Which emplanteth in the Sanctified Soule by the Spirit of all Comfort, such vn­conquerable Comforts, as are able to keepe vs in resolution a­gainst all Malice and Cruelties whatsoever; And truely per­swadeth vs, that after the ap­proaching Period of a few and evill dayes, having beheld the face of God in Righteousnesse, Psal. 17.15. we shall be satisfied, when wee awake, with his likenesse.

§. 74.

Let it not seeme grievous to Weepe, for never in any (espe­cially Halcyon) dayes of the Go­spell, was more barbarous Inhu­manity, perfidious Treachery, and exorbitant Impiety, studied, [Page 247]exercised, practised among Christians, then now, a fearefull Presage of the fiery Triall. I say not this, [...], to emendi­cate Attention: For it hath been formerly shewed, that our Sins are so trāscendent, that they have not beene parallelled in former ages; And I wish vnfainedly, Adherbal apud Sa­lust. Vt haec vana potius forent, quam mise ria nostra meis verbis fidem faceret, That these things were false, farre rather then our misery should finde them true: But Ex­perience as well as Obseruation teacheth mee to Complaine, Hieron, ad Ch [...]oma­tun In Patria nostra rusticitatis vernacula Deus Venter est, & Sanctior est ille qui ditior est, In our Nation the Slave of Inhumanity, their Belly is their GOD, and the Richest are accounted most Religious. Wherefore let it not seeme tedi­ous to the Adulterers and Adul­teresses [Page 248]of the World, that hunt after the Love and friendship of the World, to cause their beds to swimme with Teares. For as Dauid when hee had defiled his bed with Adulterous Embrace­ments, Psal 6.6. therefore chiefely Wept vpon his bed: So let every one plentifully powre forth his Teares, for as much as every one (commonly) maketh in these dayes of Peace and Rest, his Bed the Place where his particular and Personall Iniquities are first hatched and enacted; Mica. 2.2. For it is vpon their beds that Men devise Iniquities and worke evill, that when the morning is light they may practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. To hinder the course of Divine Iu­stice by mortall meanes, will be more impossible, then for a man to beate the Lightening backe [Page 249]againe into the Clouds with his breath. Luk. 12. There is nothing cove­red that shall not bee revealed, neither hid that shall not bee knowne: Sooner or later the mad [...]esse of Sinners shall bee m [...]de eviden [...], [...]f not in the Sin as Zambri and Gozbi their fury; Num. 25.8. Yet as Dauids, in the punish­ment, hee did it secretly, saith Gody, 2 Sam. 12.12. but I will doe this thing before all Israel, and before the Sunne: Thus will the Lord of Hosts be famous in every Sin­ners Infamy. I say therefore in the word of the Lord, Ioel. 1.5. as the Prophet, Awake yee Drunkards, Weepe and howle: I say it not onely to the Drunken with wine and strong drinke, but with Sin and Affliction; And without Presumption (I hope) I may confidently say with Cyprian, Cypr. de lapsis.Sa­cerdotem Dei nec occulta vestra cri­mina [Page 250]fallunt, That the true Mini­ster and Servant of God cannot be ignorant of your secret Sins: Hee that disclosed vnto Elisha, the Counsell of the King of Sy­ria, doth often reveale the Se­crets of the People, vnto his Servants the Prophets, Amos 3.7. howso­ever it seemeth mervailous and incredible in our eyes. Yet it is wonderfull to see, how the Wisedome of the children of this World, beareth with, and performeth all things in obedi­ence to their Masters, save only to their Ministers, which in the Spirit of Truth, teacheth obedi­ence onely to the Faith which is in Christ Iesus. The Marchant sendeth his Factours to Sea, and no danger doth stay them; The Husband man sendeth his Hindes into the Field, and no weather must hinder them; The Captaine [Page 251]leadeth his Souldiers into the Battell, and no Death must ter­rifie them; Rich men displace, disgrace, nay devoure and de­stroy, and they are suffered pa­tiently. Thus wee see that in this latter age of the World, we are so rebellious to all that is of. God, that nothing seemeth more bitter and grievous then spiritu­all Obedience. We can be con­tented to abide any Truth, but not heavenly Truth; Any Wis­dome, but not Godly Wisdom; Any Lawes, but not Holy Lawes; Any Crosse, but not the Weeping Crosse, through which wee must enter (if ever) into the Kingdome of Heaven. Oh let vs not still be infatuated with a Reprobate Minde, to yeeld all Obedience vnto any Direction, and so much to bee scandalized at the Word of Ex­horcation, [Page 252]as if every word were a blow levelled to vndoe vs! For, Aug. Epist. 166. Nulla est peior Mors animae, quam libertas erroris, No death of the Soule is more dangerous, then Liberty to Sinne. And yet none seeme to Worldlings grea­ter Sinners, then such as are cloathed with Weeping Gar­ments: Their faire wedding gar­ments doe not onely cover ma­ny a foule sinne in themselues, and enwall them from all Dan­gers, Disgraces, Distresses, and Disasters in this life, to all which they are exposed and hastened, which want them; But much more embolden them to execute all Extremity and severity both in Word and Worke, against those that are rude and rough in the out side, bruised with La­bours, wasted with Miseries, which could never weare soft [Page 253]rayment, because of their heavie burthens. Yet, those I could humbly beseech to remember, that (though Apocryphall) which most renowned Fathers, both Greeke and Latine, have frequent­ly inculcated in their Writings, Wisd 6, 6. Mighty Men shall be mightily tor­mented.

§. 75.

And therefore, seeing the signes of the Figge-Tree doe bud amongst vs, and the Messen­gers of the Lord (as once Cato shewed a greene Figge from Carthage in the Senate, signifying that Carthage was too neere Rome, for the Romanes to be se­cure) doe put vs in minde how neere we are to the Gulfe, where is nothing but Weeping and Wailing, when wee are least en­clined to Weeping; Let vs pray [Page 254]the Lord, that these things bee not the beginning of euill. And as our sinnes haue often occasi­oned some Men, as Miraculously (I dare say) to open their mouthes, as those Christians in Lybia, Euagr. lib. 4 cap. 14. whose tongues Onorichus King of Vandals cut out for the Gospels sake, and yet spake plainely and distinctly in Con­stantinople: So, ‘— Nosperne mea praesagia lingua.’

Thinke it not strange, that not onely the Voyce of the Preacher turneth Exhortation into La­mentation, but that the Pen of the Scribe doth expostulate our want of Weeping: Seeing it can and will be but poore Com­fort for any Watchman or Mes­senger of the Lord on his death bed, Hieron. ad. Nepot. that remembreth Hieromes charge to Nepotian, if as Pericles the Heathen rejoyced on his [Page 255]death bed, for that none of his Citizens in Athens had ever worne a Mourning Gowne through his occasion; So he be perswaded that none ever mour­ned in Spirit through his Prea­ching whom Theodorus the Tra­gedian wil condemne, who said, That, Plutarch. desus lande [...], Not to make others laugh but to make them Weepe and Mourne is onely wonderfull; for wee may not thinke that Vengeance, no more then Wic­kednesse can haue an end. That the Lord taketh in hand to roote out or destroy vs, no Man can affirme; but to say that which we see and heare, the Sword is Drawne, Sharpened, Ezek. 22.2. and Four­bished, and why not against vs, assoone as against others, our Sinnes being as (if not more) ex­orbitant [Page 256]except we repent, and as the Ninivites, Luke 13.3. Iona. 2.8. wee turne from our evill waies in Mourning and Weeping, that the Almighty may turne from the Plagues hee hath devised against vs. As it is curious and aboue our reach to search whether the Almighty intendeth to wast vs or any o­ther Nation, so it is Ridiculous in the multitude of so many ap­parent Signes of our displeased God, not to be afflicted, mourne, and Weepe; Vnto which we are so frequently exhorted, where our Warchmen are not asleepe, or our Seers blind. Oh! Let vs well consider, how dangerous our case is, how inexcusable our folly, and how damnable our Security: That the Messengers of the Lord may not seeme, Tor­menta quaedam adhibere; To tor­ment Men before their time, be­cause [Page 257]they tell them of the wrath to come; Observing, Searching, Vrging, Pressing, Applying, Preaching in season and out of season, compare Scriptures with Scriptures, Sinnes with Sinnes, and People with people, whence they may most firmely con­clude, Qui junguntur in culpa, Cypr. Epist. [...]8.nec in poena separantur, That Com­panions in Sinne must be Com­panions in suffering. If Leonidas when hee saw his Souldiers di­ning after too sumptuous and su­perfluous a manner, desired them so to Dine as they that were to Sup in their Graues; It is not a­misse to exhort a Luscious and Lascivious Gentry, a Covetous and carnally minded Commonalty, to Rejoyce as though they rejoy­ced not, and to awake the com­passion of the Almighty by. Weeping, before dreade and [Page 258]amazement doe dull our sen­ses, distract our thoughts, and leau [...] vs no liberty but only to Weepe.

§. 76.

Thinke we then of these, that wee may redeeme the Time wee haue mispent, if not in Houres, yet in Teares, That the Lord our God beholding our Contrition, may accept our Teares in lieu of our Times. The Lord keepeth an account of all our idle houres, how idly wee haue consumed our Dayes, in the Workes of va­nity: Aug. de Catechiz ruidb. c. 14. Oh then, Flectamur, ne frangamur, Let vs bow, lest wee be broken! Oh that wee would Redeeme the Time with Weeping! For which some hope of Com­fort yet is left in vs; In asmuch as the Lord hath a Booke of Ac­counts, wherein our Sinnes are [Page 259]set downe, So, we know he hath a Bottle wherein our Teares are put, if we be wise for our owne good, and learne of the Vnjust Steward, Luke 16.1. to make the best of our Opportunities. Yea, but when must wee Weepe, that the chil dren of this World may not al­wayes be wiser in their Genera­tion, then the Children of light? Say not in thy Heart, What are the appointed Times of Weeping? Which we conceive to be either Generall, the whole Time of our Life, therefore called the Valley of Teares; In which as there is no Time, in which wee either Sinne not, or suffer not for sinne in our selues or others; So there is no time of our Life, which (if it were possible) should bee free from VVeeping. Or Particular, as 1. After speciall Sinnes, whe­ther Palpable or Secret, as Peter [Page 260]after his Deniall went foorth and VVept bitterly: Mat. 26.75 2. In speci­all Afflictions, when the Lord by Crosses correcteth our dul­nesse and sharpeneth vs, 2 King. 20. as Heze­kiah in his sickenesse: 3. Be­fore our speciall Services to the Lord, Luk 7.39. as that Sinnefull Woman which VVept, before shee wa­shed our Saviours feete: 4. In Prayers for speciall blessings, as Hanna for her sonne Samuel. 1 Sam. 1.10 Oh the glorious Crownes of those blessed Mourners! That dayly purchased a Pardon of course for their ordinary infirmities, that washed and scowred their Soules every Morning and Eve­ning with VVeeping, more due­ly then our ordinary Professors their Face and Hands with wa­ter; And euery day, as they run into arrerages, had the blacke debt of their sins crossed with [Page 261]the red lines of the blood of Christ by VVeeping. There­fore, (as Bernard beseecheth vs) let vs remember our sinnes with Teares, Bern de moào vi­vend [...] Ser. 10. Quia qui non habet cordis contritionem in Lachrymis, non ha­bet mundam Orationem, For hee that hath not Contrition of heart in Teares maketh no pure or accepta le Prayer. Let vs pretermit no day vpon the fore­mentioned Occasions without VVeeping, whereby wee may make our Peace presently with our Lord and Consciences, and so enjoy his wonted favours; I, a Fauour (I dare say) including all other fauours. But oh the woefull and dangerous conditi­on of those Soules which weepe not! but shutting their eyes a­gainst so cleere a Light, either willingly sit downe in palpable Darkenesse, or fall backe from [Page 262]the sincerity of their VVeeping: Never fearing, lest the Lord stripp them naked, and set them as in the day they were borne, I, make them as a VVildernesse, set them as a dry land, and slay them with Thirst. Hos. 2.3. Aug. de Bapt. cont. Donat. lib. 2. c. 6. For, Quis dubitaverit hoe esse sceleratius pec­catum, quod est gravius vindica­tum, VVho will doubt that to be the more grievous sinne, which is more severely punished? But because it is not for me to judge them; That I leaue to the high and impartiall Iudge. For vs, as we would saue our Soules, let vs VVeepe, that we may carefully preserue our Soules from the v­niversall Contagion of VVan­tonnesse and Profanenesse. In other duties the Philosophers [...], Hieron. ad [...]emet­ [...]dem. [...]ccle [...], 7.16 and Solomons [...] ­vermuch, may haue place; But let vs never feare that our disere­tion [Page 263]can hate Lasciviousnesse too much; Let vs awaken our Zeale to a ferquent Opposition and dayly Reclamation of such Wickednesse: No man may sit still, and thinke to avoyde the judgement of God, if he be but a bare spectatour of sinne, as hath beene prooved. For the most private or Common Christian is an Actour and not a Witnesse only of Publick, Common, and crying Sinnes, vnlesse at least he Weepe for them. Must all [...]srael be smitten for one Achans secret Theft; And will the Lord spare vs in the multiplied multitude of our publicke Iniquities? Verely in this alone they are enemies to Christ, that are not enemies to Sinne, and love to doe nothing. But briefely, if wee finde any o­therwayes minded, let vs hate their Opinions, striue a­gainst [Page 264]their Practise, pity their misguiding, neglect their cen­sures, labour their recovery, pray for their Salvation, and Weepe because they Weepe not.

§. 77.

Let not the Salvation of our Soules bee so little esteemed or regarded, as not to Weepe for our present Misery, Especially when our present Misery, doth threaten vs with present Mor­tality. I doe of set purpose passe over the just, though mise­rable occasions of our Weep­ing; Which are as monstrous as miserable, yea Miraculous; seeing, Aug. de Ciut. Dei l. 10. c. 12. Homo maximum est mira­culum, Man himselfe is the grea­test Miracle that Weepeth not: For who is there that seeth them not, or hath not his part in them? Wherefore then should [Page 265]the evill that is suffered bee re­ported? Or wherefore should the Evill that is fore-told be neg­lected, more then the Evill that is suffered? Whence wee may infallibly conclude, the Day of our Visitation is come already, seeing [...] [...]orning of our Evils hath appeared: The Morning even of the Evils of our Suffe­rings, as well as of our Sins. It is not a Comete or an Eclipse that wee stand vpon: We see a Mor­ning, or rather a Day of Evils, in which whosoever are most secure, Isa 30.13. are as a breach ready to fall swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking commeth sud­denly at an instant: Or, stand but like the Walls of a ruinous house yet vntouched, which in all likelihood must bee pulled downe, as well as the rest: The Lord graunt the Ruine thereof [Page 266]be not so fearefull, as it is like to bee certaine. Which that wee may prevent, let vs be exhorted and perswaded. 1. To begge of the Lord with all importuni­tie and continuance in prayer this mercy, that hee would melt and soften our hea [...] in Wee­ping; Resolving [...]er to ap­peare before the Lord, but still to remember the Petition of the Prophet, Ierem. 9.18. That our Eyes may run downe with Teares, and our Eye-lids gush out with weeping. 2. Eccles. 7.2. To goe more often into the house of Mourning then wee doe, that is, Not onely to converse with the humble & tender hearted Chri­stians, which in Sorrow for the hand of God vpon them, and Affliction of Spirit doe Weepe; But to resort to the house of God, where the Law as a Sword may shed, and the Gospell as a [Page 267]Sunne may thaw thy heart into reares, by the continuall Preach­ing of the Word. 3. To looke much & often vpon him whom wee have pierced; Remembe­ring the Passion of our Saviour, The Poverty, Banishment, Ignom [...] ­nie, Temptations, Apprehension, Araignement, and Death, which hee suffered for vs; Considering him on the Crosse, how he was digged, his side with a Speare, his hands and feete with Nailes, Socrat. l. 1. c. 13. and those so bigge, that Constan­tine made thereof an Helmet and a Bridle for his owne vse in Warre: This Meditation and Application of his blood-shed will dissolue more easily the hardest heart into Weeping, then the hottest blood of Goates can the Adamant. 4. To set some time a part by Fasting for the afflicting and humbling of [Page 268]our Soules, when wee perceive the Lord displeased with vs: For in all our Afflictions the Lord intendeth our Weeping, not that, as Esau, wee should Weepe onely, and still keepe Revenge, or other bosome-Sinnes within; But put away the froward heart, hate and abhorre the Sinne, that doth so easily be­set vs; Vnto which Action, Fasting is a speciall Meanes to helpe it forward. As a Rider breaketh his horse, that he may travell him, both the way and the Pace which hee shall thinke fit; So a Mourner must beat downe his owne Inclinations, and tame his flesh by Fasting.

§. 78.

But I may not, nay I would not seeme to prescribe, onely give me leave to Exhort; For, [Page 269] Non est tenuitatis meae dictare vo­bis, &c. as said Bernard; It suteth not with my meane Knowledge to direct you the Meanes, but with my Conscience to rub your Memories. Wee exhort and be­seech you therefore, Cypr. de lapsis. Cum lachry­mis nostris vestras lachrymas jun­gite; Adde your Teares vnto our Teares, that all of vs, Quam magna deliquimus, tam granditer defleamus, May Weepe as bit­terly, as wee have sinned grie­vously. Oh therefore! before the Lord shake off the dust of his feete against vs, and turne to some other Nation more wor­thy, let vs open the dores of our hearts, that he may come in and sup and stay with vs: Let vs la­bour, our Soules may Weepe in Secret, as Ieremiah, for that is the right Method in the Practise of Weeping. The Heart is. Ori­ginally [Page 270]evill, the Treasury and Storehouse of Wickednesse; therefore as it was first De­formed with Wickednesse; so let it first bee reformed with Weeping. For many wee see whose Weeping is not from the heart: Si de corde procederent illa lachrymae, Bern. in Sent.non tam facile solueren­tur in risum, If their Teares pro­ceeded from the heart, they could not so easily be turned in­to laughter. But away with that Sycophanticall Hypocrisie, that ad­viseth men to beginne with out­ward Abstinence from Sinne as the more easier, and so by de­grees to come to inward Morti­fication. The heart, as our Sa­viour teacheth, is surcharged with the superfluities of all wic­kednesses, and thence floweth Corruption, which hath conti­nuall Eruption, into corrupted [Page 271]Action. So that it is impossi­ble, our outward Actions should be Reformed, while as the heart remaineth vnpurged with Wee­ping. Ierem. 4.14. Listen wee then to the Prophets Counsell, O Hierusalem, wash thine heart: Iam. 4.8. And to the A­postles, Clense your hands you sinners, and purifie your minde you double minded: which both Washing and Purifying must be by Weeping. Let none thinke they doe Lament enough, when they haue brought their outward man to some Weeping; Their hearts yet inwardly swel­ling with aboundance of Abo­minations. For, the heart, as it is the Fountaine of naturall Life, and of a Sinfull Life; so must it be the Fountaine of Spirituall Life by Weeping: For so much as Weeping alwayes bringeth with it a wonderfull change and [Page 272]palpable alteration of Heart and Life. Chrysost. de Iob. Serus. [...]. [...], &c, For alwaies and every-where Weeping chan­geth the forme and fashion of our Life, faith Chrysostome. All other Weeping, is but the Vi­sour of Weeping, not the face; Or if the face, not the Heart. It may bee a Weeping for the Iudgement, not for the Sinne; As the very Devils doe Weepe and Howle to bee tormented. Every Weeping is not a Signe of Grace; Happy onely is that Weeping, for which the heart is the holier.

§. 79.

But as my Purpose is not to flatter any one (though it bee a maine Sinne in our dayes, Hier. ad Celan. Ma­sron. Vt qui adulari nescit, aut inuidus aut su­perbus putetur; To esteeme every one either Proud or Invious, [Page 273]that cannot flatter) so my earnest desire is, that none should flatter or deceive themselues, to thinke that by the externall Act of Mourning and Weeping, they may either turne the Wrath of God from them, or be reconci­led to his Mercie and Favour: Vnlesse where is a Fire of Euill as of Malice and Envie, we seeke to quench it; Where is a Sinke of Euill, as of Vncharitablenesse and Coverousnesse, wee seeke to clense it; Where is a Roote of Euill, as of Pride and Hypocri­sie, wee seeke to extirpate it; Where is a Storme of Euill, as of Oppression and Cruelty, wee seeke to asswage it. Against these and the like Sinnes the Lords Messengers have cried both late and early in all Ages, but more importunately in our Age, then ever: [Page 274] ‘— Sed quid decuisse iuvabas?’

Yet their labour hath been for the most part as Water poured vpon the Earth; As a Fire kin­dled, where no man warmeth, himselfe; As meate dressed, when the Guests refuse to come; Or as when a deafe man is taught, or a dead man is cured, so our Message is rejected and despised. Cypr. Epist. 30. Thus, Animus aegro­rum Medentium respuere solet in­dustriam, Our Sicke thinke they haue no neede of the Physitian; In so much that nothing may seeme now to remaine for vs to doe, but only to Weepe. For in this case it is, that the good Sama­ritan said vnto the Host, Take care of him; Luk. 10.35. In which words (as Bernard excellently) Petitur [...] te cura,Ber. de Con­sider. lib. 4.non curatio, He enjoyneth not the Minister to Cure, but to take Care for the Wounde [...] [Page 275]man: If the Wounded man, as Babylon, will not be Cured, Ierem. 51.9. Ezek. 33.9. hee shall die for his Iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy Soule. Seeing then, Dolendum à Medico, quod non delendum à Medicina, The Physitian may bewaile; where his Physicke cannot prevaile; In these our desperately obstinate Times, wee have done our part when wee Weepe, and wee shall assuredly recvive our reward. If wee cannot turne the Streame, yet if wee endeavour to Swim against it, it shall be out glory: For even without Conquest, it is glorious to have resisted. Therefore as Paul told the Phi­lippians, Phil. 3.1 [...]. So let all Faithfull Pa­ [...]tors tell the Enemies of Christ, even Weeping, that howsoever neither their words, nor Works, nor writings prevaile with them; Yet they must Exhort to Wee­ping, [Page 276]that all may be inexcusa­ble, that even Idiots, Women, and Children, may not iustly say in their deepest Desolations, Nonne haec praescîsse oportuit nos an­tea, Should not these things have beene told vs before? Where­fore though Israel play the Harlot, Hosh 4.15. Isa. 61.6.yet let not Iudah offend; Seeing the Lord hath set Watchmen vpon her Walls, which shall never hold their peace day nor night; But like the Valiant Ones of the Lord shall cry without, Isa. 33.2. and as it becommeth Ambassadours of peace, shall Weepe bitterly. Cer­tainly, if wee could be perswa­ded of these things, wee should not much neede to be exhorted to Weeping, but as the Israelites, when the Angell had rebuked them, for disobeying the Voyce of the Lord, Iudg 2.5. lifted vp their Voyce and Wept, and called [Page 277]that place Bochim: So our Wee­ping would turne our Churches into Bochims; And make our Ser­mons and Supplications in all Places, Ezech. 2.10 as Ezechiel his Rowle of Prophecie, wherein was written Lamentation, and Mourning, and Woe.

§. 80.

AND now, Oh Sacred Wee­ping! What shall I say of thee? Shall I say thou art an ho­nourable Vertue? Or shall I terme thee some heavenly Dei­tie? Verely it seemeth thou art a Deity, and that God hath im­parted some part of his Dominion vnto thee: That he hath made thee his Vice-Gerent vpō earth, and invested thee with his owne [Page 278] Authority to Blesse and Comfort. As the Lord doth comfort in heaven, so doth Mourning vp­on Earth; And as onely the Lord maketh the Righteous blessed in heaven, so Mourning (by his Blessing) maketh the Vnrighteous blessed vpon earth: For, Math. 5.4. Blessed are they, not, Blessed shall they be that Mourne; Because after Sinne none are blessed, but Mourning Sinners. Whom then may wee esteeme Blessed in this Life? The Rich? The Witty? The Wise? The Mighty? The Honourable? Alas! Miserable Comforters are they vnto o­thers, and Miserable Comfor­ters are they to themselves, who esteeme themselves or others blessed, by being any, or all of these, in which is neither trust nor tast of true Felicity: Blessed are they that Mourne. It can­not [Page 279]be denied, but Mourners are almost alwayes corrected, yet wee may see them alwayes comforted; In that their Cor­rection proceedeth from the Love and Favour of GOD, ei­ther as a Bridle restraining them from the Licentiousnesse of Sin, or as a File and Hammer consu­ming the Drosse or Rust of Sin. Neither doth the Lord abridge Mourners of these earthly com­forts, which dare weigh with our discontentments in this life. His greater Light of Spirituall Comforts, doth not extinguish the lesser of earthly Comforts: Health, Wealth, Friends, Repu­tation, Competencie, as they may occasion, but not limit our Rejoycing; So they cannot bee Comforts if they delight vs not.

§. 81.

Behold then, this Corrasiue Divinity may bee a sole Sove­raigne Cordiall of Comfort, to those that in the Time of their troubles goe out of themselues, and with Weeping eyes looke vpward to the God of all Con­solation, Psal. 30.5. Whose anger endureth but for a moment, and in whose favour is life: For their Weep­ing may endure for a Night, but joy commeth in the Morning [...] Behold, Isa. 30.19. the Lord doth wait that he may bee gracious vnto them, at the voyce of their cry; For when he shall heare it, hee will answere them. Oh happy hand which is so heavy vpon mourn­full Sinners, that it suffereth them not to lye senselesse in their Sinnes, heaping to them­selues wrath against the day of [Page 281]wrath. It may be a Comfort a­boue all comforts, that this hea­vy hand raiseth them by VVeeping out of the ordour of their sinnes: For he that hath so loved them, will not leaue them; He that hath begunne his worke in them, will accomplish it, even as every Naturall cause leaveth not the worke vnfinished, which it beginneth; As the Vertue of the Seede ceaseth not in the blade, not in the Eare, not in the Leafe, not in the Flowre, vntill it bring forth fruit to perfect ripenesse; As the Bird never forsaketh her young, vntill she see them able both to flie, and to provide for themselues: So the Supernaturall Cause of all Causes is mooved by his infinite goodnesse and Loue, to finish the worke which hee hath begunne. Feare not then, Oh VVeeping Soule, The [Page 282]workes of the Lord are perfect workes; Deut. 32.4. Hee who hath begunne to loue thee, will never change, but will persist to perfect all his Gifts and Blessings vpon thee, that thou mayest rejoyce after thy VVeeping. For wherefore did he turne thy heart from Sin? VVherefore did he provoke thee to VVeeping? But because thou shouldest Wash and be cleane, and Rejoyce in thy cleannesse. The Eagle feeling his VVings heavy, Aug. in Psal. 103. is said to plunge them in a Fountaine, and so reneweth his strength; And every Christian that feeleth the heavy burden of Sinne, bathing himselfe in a Fountaine of teares, becommeth liuely and lustie like the Eagle: And as the Raine-bow in the Cloud, Gen. 9.15. denounceth a present Showre, yet withall assureth, that VVaters shall no more become [Page 283]a Flood to destroy the earth: So the Raine bow of Sorrow in the heart of a Sinner, may extort Teares from the eyes, yet never showreth downe the overflow­ing waters of Confusion vnto Death, but the everflowing streames of the everlasting Cove­nant of Grace, Mercy,2 Cor. 7.10and Repen­tance vnto Salvation not to bee repented of. The cause then of our Dulnesse and Discontent­ments in the dayes of our di­stresses, Isa. 36.6. is our dependance vpon the Reede of Egypt, or worldly meanes, whilst wee neglect the Principall meanes of VVeeping. Our corrupted Nature and Car­nall Friends, will direct vs in Crosses and Calamities to Com­pany, Musick, Discourse, Gaming, and the like, which are but as the drinking of hot VVines to qua­lifie a burning Fever, a little plea­sing [Page 284]to the tast, but much encrea­sing both the Paine and Danger of the Disease; And like the Fire, which ‘Que (que) magis tegitur, tantò magis astuat Ignis.’

The more it is covered, the more it burneth. VVhereas all blessed Mourners may well assure themselues, that as after their Mourning they finde some preparation and beginning of all and every Grace they want or Weepe for: So what ever Grace by VVeeping is prepared and begunne in them, it will bee per­fected and perpetuated. The Lord in VVisedome ‘— Curis aeuit m [...]rtalia corda.’

Suffereth Corrasives, Cauterizes, Cuttings, and Launcings to be our Portion in this life; that wee VVeeping may bee both com­forted and defended by his mer­cy, that wee VVeeping may bee [Page 285]prepared and guided to his Glo­ry, that wee VVeeping may bee delivered from the Plagues which the VVicked shall en­dure.

§. 82.

Now that wee may haue Life and Comfort in Weeping, that wee may neither be beguiled throgh Infidelity and Vncertainty of our Hopes, nor benummed through Deadnesse and dulnesse of out Hearts; Let vs first ground our Faith in Christ through his VVord and Spirit; And then set often before our eyes our everlastingly joyfull Estate and Condition. And for the first, Consider,

§. 83.

1. The Weeping Soule draweth the Lords speciall Loue and Favour [Page 286]to it, in most speciall manner; for though the Lord beholdeth all things, yet his more speciall Eye is to the Mourning Spirit. God hath a generall care of all things, Isa. 66.1, 2. but the grieved Soule is his par­ticular Treasure. Hier. ad Ocean. O faelix fletus, qui Dei oculos ad se trahit, Oh happy Weeping which draweth the Eyes of God vnto it! Great then should bee our Comfort when we are enabled to Weepe, forsomuch as it draweth the Lords speciall Favour to vs. And heere (because it is no shame to learne Wit of Heathens, neither is it materiall, in whose Schoole wee take out a good Lesson) the Gracelesse Gentiles observed that Weeping ever portended prosperity, and fore­signified Felicitie. Arrian de Expeditione Alexandri. When Alex­ander beganne his Persian Warres, the Marble Statue of Orpheus i [...] [Page 287]Pieria, is said to Weepe: Which so wonderfully astonished all the Kings Sorcerers and Sooth­sayers, that only Aristander the Telmissean Soothsayer could inter­pret it to prognosticate all pros­perous event, and good successe vnto the King. And that wee might the more fully be assured of the Lords Favour, he promi­seth vnto all sincere Mourners the assured Comforts of out­ward Blessings, 1 King. 21.29. which Ahabs Hy­pocriticall Weeping wanted not. Isa. 1.19. For if we be willing and obedi­ent, that is, willing to obey the former Commandement (men­tioned Verse 16.) of Washing and making our selues cleane with VVeeping, wee shall care the good of the Land, that is, we shall not only haue the blessings of Heaven, but the blessings of the Earth also. Thus when wee [Page 288]feast the Lord with the Water of our Weeping, he will fill vs with the Wine of his Blessings, and powre downe a Blessing without measure, when in any good measure wee Weepe for our Sinnes.

§. 84.

2. That for all Blessed Mour­ners are already prepared and now revealed so pure and constant de­lights, so Noble, so Generous, yea so Angelicall that Heaven it selfe hath no better, but onely in degree and manner of fruition; For so transcendent are the Ob­jects of their thoughts aboue all other Men, that the Excellency of their Iustification, the Sweetenesse of their Recanciliation, the Glory of their Adoption, the Assurance of their Salvation, and their Freedome from the Feare of Death and Hell, [Page 289]doe breed in their Hearts, Plea­sure and Ioyes, so farre excee­ding the Mirth of any World­ling or professed Epicure in Quantitie or Qualitie, that a sweeter or more ravishing mirth never entred into the Heart of Man, as testifieth the Apostle: 1 Cor. 2.9. Which cannot be vnderstood of the Ioyes in Heaven, for the most Regenerate heere cannot tell what they shall bee, Math. 5.4. but of those Ioyes, with which all Spi­rituall Mourners are comforted in this Life. In which respect the Gospell is truely said to bee the tidings of great Ioy, and in­deed of so great Ioy, as the Heart of Mortall Man cannot receiue: Yet true right, title, and sweetenesse thereof belong one­ly to those that Mou [...]e; For the Spirit of God applieth and Preacheth those g [...]d Tydings, [Page 290]To the Poore, Luk. 4.18. the broken heart­ed, and those that Mourne, &c. Therefore as the inward Facul­ties of the Soule are capable of greater Pleasure then the out­ward senses, partly because they are more Noble and Divine, and partly because their Object is more excellent which is God himselfe and all Goodnesse: So the more perfect those Faculties are, the more perfect Pleasure they apprehend in their proper Objects. But Mourners haue the inward Faculties of their Soules, more perfect and cleere then o­ther Men; Because nothing ei­ther defileth or defaceth the in­ward Faculties of the Soule, but onely Sinne, which they con­stantly wash away with Weep­ing. Hence it must needs follow, that Mourners onely enjoy pure Pleasure in this Life, as procee­ding [Page 291]from the purifyed and san­ctified Faculties of their Soules, washed by Weeping from Cor­ruptions of Sinne. In our Mour­ning then, Cypr de Immort. Deus non sanguinem nostrum sed fidem quaerit, The Lord seeketh not our Blood, but our Beliefe, Not our Death, but our Faith: For by Faith onely are the Comforts of the Gospel then plentifully dispensed, when we are most vncomfortable, and doe Mourne most for Sin: And if wee truely Mourne for any Grace of the Spirit, the Gospell assureth vs of it, in some compe­tent measure. It is then (after a sort) ingenerate and naturall vn­to the Regenerate to Weepe: Which Action of Weeping be­cause some would violently and by force restraine, Pelus. lib. 2. Epis. 176. & l. 3. E­pist. [...]. a Father tel­leth vs, they fall into diverse and dangerous diseases in stead of [Page 292]Ioy and Comfort. Mourners therefore are filled with the good things of the Gospell, Luk. 1.53. and haue the Spirit of Consolation. Woe therefore and thrice woe is vnto that Soule, whom the de­sire of this Blessing draweth not to Weeping.

§. 85.

3. That the Lord maketh spe­ciall Provision in all Dangers and Distresses, for the safety of those that Weepe: So that Weeping may bee truely called, Na [...]. in laude Hieron. [...], The greatest and safest Guard of Mans Life. For Mour­ners are never forsaken, but in the midst of their Miseries, Mercy doth compasse them about; They are never cast off, but are alwayes by the Mercies of God safely guarded; The Mercies of God doe defend them for the [Page 293]present, and will deliver them in the time to come. For the pre­sent, it doth enable them, not onely willingly, but joyfully, and desirously to suffer the Mo­mentany Afflictions of this life: For the future time, it prepareth for them an eternall Crowne of Glory, to which all the wailings and VVeepings of this Life, are an Ordinary and almost necessa­ry passage: As therefore when the sixe Angel, Ezech. 9 2. like Men were come downe against Hierusalem, with every one his VVeapon in his hand to destroy it, first there was a course taken to set a marke on the foreheads of them, that sigh and Weepe for all the Abo­minations that were done in the midst thereof. The reason may be, By VVeeping we are vnited vnto God (as is formerly shew­ed) and so we possesse God, and [Page 294]haue God. Cyprian de Orat. Do­minica. And therefore, Cum Dei sunt omnia, habenti Deum nihil deerit, si Deo ipse non desit, Seeing all things are Gods nothing can bee wanting to him that hath God, if Man himselfe bee not wanting to God, In the want of VVeeping. And the Sword of Vengeance is never drawne, till particular order be taken for the safety of Spirituall Mourners: And if it come to passe that they be swept away in any common Calamitie, yet their death is so precious in the sight of the Lord, Isa. 57.1. that it is their happinesse to be taken away from the Evil [...] to come. But to strengthen vs vnder all burthens, we have one joy (that were all our Sorrowes doubled) could make vs lightly beare them: And this is, the Trueth of Gods Promises. Of which we haue an experimentall [Page 295]Knowledge, Theodoret. l. 5. c. 24. like that of Theodo­sius the Elder, who, when hee Wept, had the weapons of his e­nemies turned into their owne bowels: Socrat. l. 7. cap. 18. And like that of Theo­dosius the Younger, who, while he Wept, and Prayed, had an hun­dred thousand Saracens drowned by Angels in Euphrates. There­fore the onely way. 1. Either to keepe backe those Punish­ments our Sinnes haue deserved, is to Weepe; For Gods Anger in Scripture is often compared to Fire which no Water, but the Water of Weeping can prevent or extinguish. 2. Or to take a­way Punishments when they are inflicted; As Manasseth, ‘— Scelere ante ali [...] immanier omnes’ 2 Chron. 33.13.

Who did more evill then the Nations did before him; His Weeping having broken the fetters of his Sinnes, broke like­wise [Page 296]the setters which detained him in Prison. 3. Or to sancti­fie our Afflictions, and mitigate the Paine and Poyson of them, when they cannot be removed; Thus Crosses often are as no Crosses, 1 Cor. 7.36 and they that Weepe as though they Wept not: When we through feare doe Weepe in Confession, Deprecation, or Supplication for Mercy, ‘— Nostra est timer iste Volupta [...]s’

Our crosses cannot affright or grieue vs so much as our Teares doe cheere vs in Weeping.

§. 86.

7. That Mourners are in a most happy State, for they haue assurance of the Remission of their Sinnes. Our Sinnes are written in a Booke, in the Booke of the Lords Remem­brance; Vnto which our Teares are like vnto a Water-Spunge. [Page 297]If wee Weepe, then our Sinnes are blotted out of that Booke of Remembrance; Chrys. hom. 2 in Psa. 51 [...]. For our teares are the great Spunge of our Sinnes. Hier [...] [...]. ad Iulian. So that Peccatores pristi­num recipiunt gradum, si sordes fle­tibus lavarint. Sinners are sure to have their Sinnes pardoned, if they have washed them with Weeping. The Mourning Sin­ner onely ‘Ille verus vitium purgas in am [...]e no [...].’

Washeth away his old Sins with the new Water of Teares. If wee can then but vnfainedly Weepe for our Sinnes, wee are safe. When the Streame of our Sinnes, and the Streame of Gods wrath for our Sinnes, come a­gainst our Soules, if wee can get the Streame of our Teares, to meet with the streame of Christs blood, the Streames of our Si [...] [Page 298]and of Gods wrath are either dried vp, or turned another way: Because our Weeping maketh our Sinnes both seene and not seene; Seene vnto our selves, and so a­mended; Not seene vnto the Lord, and so remitted. As the Teares of Vine-branches doe cure the Corporall Leprosie; Plin. lib. 23 in Proaemio. So the Teares of those Vine-branches graf­fed into the true vine Iesus Christ, doe cure our Soules of Sin that Spirituall Leprosie. And wee have the Lords infallible Pro­mise, Zachary 13.1, That, Then, that is, whensoever wee doe Mourne for our Sinnes, as for our First-borne, Wee shall have a Fountaine opened for Sin and for Vncleanenesse. The Reason is, Non Vindicabit Dominus bi [...] in id ipsum, Hieron. ad Castratium The Lord will never pu­nish one Sinne twice: For what wee punish in our selves with [Page 299]Teares, the Lord will never pu­nish with Torments, according to that of the Prophet, Nahum. 1.9 Affliction shal not rise vp the second time. Thus if our heads be Fountains of Teares to bewaile our Sins, Christs heart wil be a Fountaine of blood to wash away our Sins. Not that Weeping meriteth Re­mission, nor that it apprehendeth it, for so only Faith bringeth Re­mission of Sins, but as it is a ne­cessary and inseparable Atten­dant of Faith in apprehending Remission. For when wee hold out the hand of Faith to receive Gods Mercy, wee doe it with Weeping eyes, lamenting our Mi­sery. And therefore though it be Faith that apprehendeth Mer­cie and Pardon, yet because this Faith is (in a manner) a Weeping Faith, yea even then most of all Weeping, when it most of all ap­prehendeth [Page 300]Mercy: Math. 5.4. Therefore is the Promise of Comfort and Remission of sinnes so often in Scripture made vnto Weeping.

§. 87.

Secondly, As for the eternally ioyfull estate of blessed Mour­ners, as it is incomprehensible, so vnexpressible. For all Com­forts and Graces our soules can have here, in this time of Rege­neration, are in Comparison not only mixed and dilute, but short and suddaine flashes of comfort, to our never ending Ioyes in Glorification. Here our Know­ledge is darkned with Ignorance, there God himselfe is Fulnesse of Light to the Vnderstanding; Heere our Memories are clouded with forgetfulnesse, there is con­tinuation of Eternity without intermission; Here our Wills are [Page 301]vexed with Distractions, there they shalbe without disturbance; Heere our Affections are tossed with Passions, there the superi­our part of the soule pleaseth it selfe in the Vision of God, and the inferiour is satiated with the fruition of his pleasures. And thus though the comforts of Mourners in this Life be greater then they cā either ask or think, yet are they still soyled and stai­ned with Thoughts, Phantasies, Forgetfulnesse, Infirmities, Affecti­ons, which can never be remo­ved, till after this Life we be per­fected in our Vertues, and freed from our Frailties, never Mour­ning, but ever Praising our Crea­tour without Defatigation or sa­tietie. These and the like incom­prehensible and vnexpressible Comforts, although they be de­layed for a while, [...] [Page 302]si nondum res,Au [...]ust de doct. Christ. lib. 1. cap. 22tamen spes nos hee tempore consolatur, If not their Helpe, yet their hope doth com­fort vs in this Life. They are sure, though secret Comforts, and such as by Reason of the hiddennesse of them, make ma­ny to thinke it is the most per­plexed life in the world, to turne our carelesse Living into holy Mourning. Yet when the day of our Refreshing shall come, all these and many more Comforts shall wee suck, Isa. 6 [...].11. and be satisfied with the breasts of our Conso­lations. Now our Teares are as Vailes vpon our faces, oversha­dowing our Happinesse, that it cannot be seene: But when they shall be wiped away, then at last shall be a Day of full and finall Refreshing; In which, as they whom their Mothers comfort, the Lord will comfort vs, and [Page 303]we shall be comforted. Our Sun shall no more goe down, neither shall our Moone withdraw it selfe; For the Lord shall be our everlasting Light and Life, when the dayes of our Mourning shall be ended.

§ 88.

But for so much as we are so far from Vnderstanding the full Felicities which Mourners shall enjoy, as we are from enjoying them; For no man doth vnder­stand them, but they who doe enjoy them. And because it is the Confession of blinde Phylo­sophie, that our Vnderstanding of heavenly things, is, [...], As the eyes of Owles that cannot be­hold the Sun; I conclude vnto Mourners, 1 Reg. 10.16. as the Queene of Sheba vnto Solomon. It was a true re­port [Page 304]that I heard in mine owne Land, of thine Acts & thy Wis­dome; Howbeit, I beleeved not the words, vntill I came and mine eyes have seene it, and be­hold the halfe was not told me. Thus, we are further from hea­ven, then the Queene of Sheba was from Solomon; And wee heare of our joyes there as shee of Solomon; And our report of them is true, as their report of Solomon; But our report is not beleeved, no more then the re­port of the wisdome of Solomon, But when they shall enjoy those Comforts, they will confesse, that not halfe the Good & Glo ry was reported on earth, which they finde in heaven. Where likewise, Cypr. d [...] M [...]rt. Dominus est daturus eis Gloria sua ampliora praemia, qu [...]ru circa se fuerint desideria maejora, The Lord will reward with [Page 305]greater Glory, those that with greater desire, longed after his presence in Weeping, Isa. 61.7. When everlasting joy shall be vnto all Spirituall Mourners. *⁎*