Quàm malè eſt extra legem viventibus, quicquid meruerunt ſemper expectant.

Petronius.

FAt Swine cry hideouſly, if but touched or medled with, as knowing they owe their life to every one that will take it. Tyberius felt the remorſe of conſcience ſo violent, that hee proteſted to the Senate, that hee ſuffered death daily: Whereupon Tacitus makes this good Note, Tandem-facinora & flagitia in ſupplicium vertuntur, as every body hath its ſhadow appertaining to it, ſo hath every ſin its puniſhment: And although they eſcape the laſh of the Law, yet vengeance will not ſuffer them to live (as the Barbarians raſhly cenſured St. Paul Act. 28.) quietly at leaſt. Richard the Third after the Murther of his two Nephews, had fearful dreams and viſions, inſomuch that hee did often leap out of his bed in the dark, and catching his ſword (which alway naked ſtuck by his ſide) he would goe diſtractedly about the chamber, every where ſeeking to finde our the cauſe of his own occaſioned diſquiet. It is as proper for ſin to raiſe fears in the ſoul, as for rotten fleſh and wood to breed worms. That worm that never dyes, is bred here in the froth of filthy luſts and flagitious courſes, and lies gnawing and grabling upon mens inwards; many times in the ruffe of all their jollity. This makes Saul call for a Minſtrel, Belſhazzar for his carowſing cups, others for other pleaſures, to put by the pangs of their wounded ſpirits, and throbbing conſciences. Charles the fourth after the Maſſacre of France, could never endure to bee awakened in the night without Muſick, or ſome like diverſion, hee became as terrible to himſelf as formerly hee had been to others; but above all, I pity the loſs of their ſouls, who ſerve themſelves as the Jeſuite in Laucaſhire, followed by one that found his glove, with a deſire to reſtore it him; but purſued inwardly with a guilty conſcience, hee leapes over a hedge, plunges into a Marlepit behinde it unſeen and unthought of, wherein hee was drowned.

Veſtium curioſit as, deformitatis mentium & morum indicium eſt.

St. Bernard.

OUr firſt Parents, who even after the Fall, were the goodlieſt creatures that ever lived, went no better cloathed, than with leather; no more did thoſe Worthies, of whom the world was not worthy, Heb. 11. 37 And ſurely, however our condition and calling, afford us better array, and the Vulgar like a Pohemian Cur, fawn upon every good ſuit (purpuram magis quam dominu • colunt) yet wee muſt take heed that pride creep not into our cloaths, thoſe Enſignes of our ſin and ſhame, ſeeing our fineneſs, is but our filthineſs; our weakneſs, our naſtineſs. It is a ſure ſigne of a baſe minde to think hee can make himſelf great with any thing that is leſs than himſelf, and win more credit by his garments than his graces. St. Peter teacheth women, 1 Pet. 3. 3. to garniſh themſelves, not with gay cloaths, but with a meek and quiet ſpirit, and not as thoſe mincing Dames, whoſe pride the Prophet Iſaiah inveighes againſt, as punctually as if he had viewed the Ladies Wardrobes in Jeruſalem. Rich Apparel are but fine covers for the fouleſt ſhame; the worſt is Natures garment, the beſt but follies garniſh. How bleſſed a Nation were wee, if every ſilken ſuit did cauſe a ſanctified ſoul; or if wee could look upon our cloaths, as our firſt Parents did, as love-tokens from God.

Quicquid propter Deum fit, equaliter fit.

St. Auguſt.

IT is ſaid in the ſeventh of Gen. verſ. 5. That Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him; Where the word All, is a little word, but of a large extent; hee doth not his Maſters, but his own will, that doth no more than himſelf will. A diſſpenſatory conſcience, is an evill conſcience, God cryes to us, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , hee will have univerſal obedience both for ſubject and object. Wee muſt bee intirely willing in all things to pleaſe God, or wee utterly diſpleaſe him. Herod did many things, and was not any thing the better. Jehues golden Calves made an end of him, though hee had made an end of Baals worſhip: Hee that doth ſome, and not all Gods will, with no deſire and affection at leaſt, doth but as Benhadad, recover of one diſeaſe, and dye of another; yea if hee take not a better courſe with himſelfe, hee doth but take pains to go to Hell. Then ſhall wee not bee aſhamed, when wee have reſpect to all Gods Commandements, Pſal. 119. 6.

Sordet in conſpectu judicis, quod fulg •• in conſpect • operantis.

Gregor.

GOd can finde flaws in that for which wee may look for thanks. This makes Nehemiah crave pardon of his zealous Reformations; and David cryes out, Enter not into judgement with thy ſervant, O Lord, for no fleſh is righteous in thy ſight. Yee are they that juſtifie your ſelves before men (ſaith Chriſt to the Phariſees) but God knows your hearts, for that which is highly eſteemed amongſt men, is abamination in the ſight of God. A thing which I ſee in the night may ſhine, and that ſhining proceed from nothing but rottenneſs, but bee not deceived (or if you bee, yet) God is not mocked, when hee comes to turn the bottome of the bag upwards (as the Steward did Benjamins) all our ſecret thefts will out, all our colluſions come to light; His Law is a Law of fire, Deut. 33. 2. His Tribunal of fire, Ezek. 1. 27. His pleading with ſinners, in flames of fire, Iſa. 60. 15. The trial of our works ſhall bee by fire, and before God who is a conſuming fire. Happy are they that are here purged by that ſpirit of judgement and burning.

Bona res neminem ſcandalizant, niſi malam mentem.

Tertullian.

GOod meats diſpleaſe none but the diſtempered pallats; and muſt the wholeſome diſhes bee barr'd the table, becauſe they offend the aguiſh? No, Scandal in this caſe is medicinable. You know the Phyſitian offends the ſick, that hee may the more ſurely cure him. If to do well cauſe diſcontent, wee then offend not againſt men, but their errors; and in this regard, wee are tender to the perſons themſelves when wee ſtrike down their ignorance. In Matth. 8. where our Saviour taught the abrogation of Jewiſh Ceremonies, and that the worſt meats could not defile us, the text intimates the Phariſees were offended; nay, and his Diſciples from hence ſeem to intreat his ſilence, Maſter, Seeſt thou not that they are offended? But did our Saviour regard it? Let them alone, ſaith hee, They are blinde leaders of the blinde. Chriſt meant to teach us when men grow diſcontented at the truth it ſelf, the offence is taken onely, not given, and they be ſaid then rather to make, than to receive a ſcandal: Which may ſerve to reprove too many in our Church, who ſtill cry out of weakneſs, who ſit not eaſie though on their mothers 'knees, they complain her cloaths do offend their tender eyes, her Rites ſay they are ſcandalous, and they muſt bee relieved by that text in Saint Paul, If meat offend my brother, I will eat no meat while I live. It follows then that for their weak ſakes, wee muſt forbear thoſe weak ceremonies. But is the reaſon the ſame? to eat is a private action in common converſe, wherein each man is true Lord of himſelf, hee may command his actions, and therefore in this caſe to uſe connivency is ſtill to be thought moſt commendable. But wee ſpeak of actions publick, ſolemnly deſigned for our Religious meetings, actions enjoyned by Laws, and approved by the far more, which is the rule of Laws; ſhould the Church give content to ſome few that diſlike, ſhee would diſpleaſe multitudes, that approve her Ceremonies, and ſo inſtead of a pretended ſleight offence, ſhee ſhould run her ſelf upon a true groſs ſcandal.

Non omne quod licet, etiam honeſtum eſt.

Paulus Canoniſta.

IT is a Rule of the Canoniſts, and they borrowed it from their own Innocentius. In all our actions three things muſt bee obſerved, Quid liceat; Quid deceat; Quid expediat: What is lawfull, What decent, and what expedient. Our actions muſt not bee lawfull only; for hee that doth no more than hee is bound to, is rather wary than good, and hath learned only ſafe diſhoneſty, how by keeping the Kingdomes Laws, hee may abuſe her people. There is a difference between ſtrict Law and honeſty. In rigour things may bee done, which yet are neither decent in the actor himſelf, nor expedient for the Commonwealth. Its thus in the Church too: Many things hath God here left in their own ſelves indifferent; hee hath therefore not forbidden them, becauſe they may oftentimes bee done in ſafety, and yet cannot wee bee free, except wee become injurious. Is there no way to ſhew our own liberty but in our neighbours deſtruction? Grant theſe things to bee lawfull, yet they may bee unſeemly, and ſhall wee ſhame our ſelves? They may bee expedient too, and ſhall wee endanger others? It is not enough to keep the firſt Precept to forbear things unlawfull: A Chriſtian man muſt bee wary too in matters of indifferency.

Quae per rationem innoteſcunt, non ſunt articuli fidei, ſed praeambula, ad articulos.

Aquinas.

TO behold this goodly Fabrick of the world, may ſoon force a Pagan to confeſs that there is a Deity, but to know that this God is both three and one; or that of theſe three, one was Incarnate: Here nature is blinde, and requires help from a clearer light. To inſtance in the Reſurrection, to ſee the Grave open, the Earth trembling, the Angels attending, did no doubt perſwade the Watchmen themſelves that Chriſt was riſen, but to beleeve that hee roſe both God and man, This proceeds from the Spirit alone, who only can enlighten them that ſit in darkneſs. Our domeſtick abilities may ſome way prepare us to entertain faith; when it is received, they may perchance confirm or awaken it; but wee muſt confeſs the authour of it to bee the Holy Ghoſt alone, and the word his inſtrument. Notwithſtanding where thou mayeſt uſe theſe helps, neglect not the benefits of ſuch outward teſtimonies; for though faith come by hearing, yet let Chriſtians bee ſpectators too, and learn, as well to ſee God in his Works, as to beleeve him in his Scriptures, though that hee that made thine eye, as well as thy ſoul, exacts a tribute no leſs from thy fenfe than from thy reaſon. Theſe lower powers are made for his glory; and when they are imployed to viler ends, remember that thou doſt not more abuſe thy ſelf, than wrong thy Maker.

Mors optima eſt perire, dum lacrymant Sancti.

Seneca in Hypol.

SOmething is to bee given to Cuſtome, ſomething to Fame, to Nature, and to Civilities, and to the honour of deceaſed Friends. For that man is eſteemed to dye miſerable, for whom no friend, no relative ſheds a tear, or payes a ſolemn ſigh. I deſire to dye a dry death, but am not very deſirous to have a dry Funeral. Some flowers ſprinkled on my grave would do well, and comely; and a ſoft ſhowre to turn thoſe flowers into a ſpringing memory, or a fair rehearſal, that I may not go forth of my doors as my ſervants carry out the entrails of Beaſts. But that which is to bee ſaulted in this particular is, when the grief is immoderate and unreaſonable; and Paula Romana deſerved to have felt the weight of St. Jeroms ſevere reproof, when at the death of every one of her children ſhee almoſt wept her ſelf into her grave. But it is worſe, yet when people by an ambitious and a pompous ſorrow, and by ceremonies invented for the oſtentation of their grief, fill Heaven and Earth with exclamations, and grow troubleſome, becauſe their friend is happy, or themſelves want his company.

It is certainly a ſad thing in Nature to ſee a friend trembling with a Palſie, or ſcorched with Feavers, or dried up like a Potſherd with immoderate heats, and rowling upon his uneaſie bed without ſleep, which cannot bee invited with Muſick; nothing but the ſervants of cold death, poppy, and wearineſs, can tempt' the eyes to let their curtains down, and then they fleep only to taſte of death, and yet wee weep not here: The ſolemn opportunity for tears, wee chooſe when our friend is faln aſleep, when hee hath laid his neck upon the lap of his mother, and let his head down to bee raiſed up to Heaven: This grief is ill placed, and undecent.

Ne •• me lacbrym is 〈◊〉 , nec 〈◊◊〉 Faxit: Cur? V • lit • vi ••• per ora vi • ••• . Ennius.

SOlemn and appointed mournings are good expreſſions of our dearneſs to the departed ſoul of our friend, and of his worth, and our value of him; and it hath its praiſe in Nature, and in Manners, and publick Cuſtome; but the praiſe of it is not in the Goſpel; that is, It hath no proper and direct uſes in Religion. For if the dead did dye in the Lord, then there is joy in him; and it is an ill expreſſion of our affection, and our charity, to weep uncomfortably at the change that hath carried my friend to the ſtate of an huge felicity. But if the man did periſh in his folly, and his ſinnes, there is indeed cauſe to mourn, but no hopes of being comforted; for hee ſhall never return to light, or to hopes of reſtitution; Therefore beware leſt thou alſo come into the ſame place of torment; and let thy grief ſit down, and reſt upon thine own turf, and weep till a ſhowre ſpring from thine eyes to heal the wounds of thy ſpirit. Turn thy ſorrow into caution, thy grief for him that is dead, to thy care for thy ſelf who art alive, leſt thou dye, and fall like one of the fools, whoſe life is worſe than death, and their death is the conſummation of all infelicities. The Church in her funerals of the dead uſed to ſing Pſalms, and to give thanks for the redemption, and delivery of the ſoul from the evill, and dangers of mortality. And therefore wee have no reaſon to bee angry when God hears our prayers, who call upon him to haſten his coming, and to fill up his numbers, and to do that which wee pretend to give him thanks for.

Ne excedat medicina modum.

Galenus.

CUt not too deep, nor lance too far; Nam non medicina iſta, ſed clades eſt, ſaid Germanicus in Tacitus, when hee ſaw a great number of Souldiers put to death for Mutiny, ▪ Beriere nocentes Sed cum jam ſoli poterunt ſuper • ſſe nocentes. Spoken by Lucan of Scylla; hee let out the corrupt blood, but when there was in a manner no other blood left in the whole body of the Commonwealth; and this was not to cure, but to cut off a Commonwealth. And therefore in all puniſhments let this bee your rule, and let the ſeverity of your juſtice bee regulated by this prudential and merciful Aphoriſme; Poena ad paucos, met us ad omnes perveniat, let the clap fright all, the Thunderbolt ſtrike but a few. For principi non minùs turpia multa ſupplicia quàm medico funera, it is as great a ſhame for a Magiſtrate, as for a Phyſitian to have many dye under his hand. To ſave whole multitudes, is a work of Gods mercy; and that Prince deſerves the name of Gods Vicegerent that imitates him in this particular. For which reaſon it was that Scipio when hee put thirty of his Souldiers to death, ante ſuas lachrymas quam ipſorum ſanguinem effudit, ſhed his own tears before their blood.

Si molliora fruſtra ceſſerint medicus ferit venam,

Senec.

Et efflatur omne priuſquam concutitur,

idem.

NOthing is ſtruck with the Thunderbolt, which is not blaſted before with lightning; firſt to uſe gentle means before wee take a more ſevere courſe. For great ſpirits are for the moſt part like the Coloſſus at Tarentum, which you may move with your finger, but cannot wag if you put your whole ſtrength to it, it a ratio eſt libramenti, Plin. Much reſembling in this the Pyrrhite ſtone, which may bee gently ground, or cut with a ſharp tool, but if you preſs it hard, or handle it rudely, it burneth your fingers; So great men may be wrought upon in a civil courteous way, but if you think to bring them to goodneſs by authority and power, you will then put them in minde of their own ſtrength, raiſe enemies, and oppoſition, where you did expect a compliance, and friends; and ſo inſtead of ſaving others, you will deſtroy your ſelf.

Suâ ſponte cadentem maturius extinguere vulnere, inhumanum eſt.

Cice.

TO break the bruiſed reed, to trouble the grieved ſpirit, to ſtrike the breath out of a mans body, who is giving up the ghoſt, is cruelty upon cruelty. And therefore it was the complaint of Cyprian againſt the perſecutors of Chriſtians in his time, in ſervis Dei non torquebantur membra ſed vulnera, they laid ſtripes upon ſtripes, and inflicted wounds upon ſores, and tortured not ſo much the members of Gods ſervants, as their bleeding wounds.

Tota funeris pompa contemnenda eſt in nobis, non tamen negligenda in noſtris.

Cice.

THough the pomp of Funerals concerns not the dead in real and effective purpoſes, nor is it with care to bee provided for within themſelves; yet it is the duty of the living to ſee their friends fairly interred: For to the dead it is all one whether they bee carried forth upon a Chariot, or a wodden Beer, whether they rot in the air, or in the earth, whether they bee devoured by fiſhes, or by worms. When Cryton asked Socrates how hee would bee buried, hee told him, I think I ſhall eſcape from you, and that you cannot catch mee; but ſo much of mee as you can apprehend, uſe it as you ſee cauſe for, and bury it, but however do it according to the Laws. There is nothing in this but opinion, and the decency of ſome to bee ſerved. Let thy friend therefore bee interred after the manner of the Country, and the Laws of the place, and the dignity of the perſon. For ſo Jacob was buried with great ſolemnity, and Joſophs bones were carried into Canaan, after they had been embalmed, and kept four hundred years, and devout men carried St. Stephen to his burial, making great lamentation over him. And Aelian tells, that thoſe who were the moſt excellent perſons were buried in purple, and men of an ordinary courage and fortune, had their graves only trimmed with branches of Olive, and mourning flowers. It was noted for piety in the men of Jabeſh Gilead, that they ſhewed kindneſs to their Lord Sanl, and buried him, and they did it honourably. And our bleſſed Saviour, who was temperate in his expence, and grave in all the parts of his life and death, as age and ſobriety it ſelf, yet was pleaſed to admit the coſt of Maries oyntment upon his head and feet, becauſe ſhee did it againſt his burial; and though ſhee little thought it had been ſo nigh, yet becauſe hee accepted it for that end, hee knew hee had made her Apology ſufficient; by which hee remarked it to bee a great act of piety, and honourable to inter our friends and relatives, according to the proportion of their condition, and ſo to give a teſtimony of our hopes of their reſurrection.

In ſpiritualibus nihil perfectum.

Auguſtinus Serm.

TO prove this, that in ſpiritual things nothing is perfect, wee may afford a kinde of ſpiritual nature to knowledge. And how imperfect is all our knowledge; what one thing do wee know perfectly? whether wee conſider Arts or Sciences, the ſervant knows but according to the proportion of his Maſters knowledge in that Art; and the Scholar knows but according to the proportion of his Maſters knowledge in that Science: Young men mend not their ſight by uſing old mens ſpectacles. Almoſt all knowledge is rather like a childe that is imbalmed to make mummy, than that is nurſed to make a man; rather conſerved in the ſtature of the firſt age, than grown to be greater; rather a ſingularity in a deſire of propoſing ſomething that was not known at all before, then an improving an advancing, a multiplying of former inceptions; and by that means no knowledge comes to be perfect. St. Paul found that to be all knowledge to know Chriſt; and Mahomet thinks himſelf wiſe therefore, becauſe he knows not, nor acknowledges Chriſt as Paul did. Though a man knew not that every ſin caſts another ſhovel of brimſtone upon him in hell; yet if hee knew that every riotous feaſt cuts off a year, and every wanton night ſeven years of his ſeventy in this world; it were ſome degree towards perfection in knowledge. Hee that purchaſes a Mannor, will think to have an exact ſurvey of the land; but who thinks of taking ſo exact ſurvey of his conſcience, how that money was got that purchaſed that Mannor? We call that a mans means which hee hath; but that is truly his means what way hee came by it; and yet how few are there (when a ſtate comes to any great proportion) that know that, that know what they have, what they are worth. Wee have ſeen Wills where the Teſtator thinks hee hath bequeathed all, and hee hath not known half his own worth. When thou knoweſt a wife, a ſon, a friend, a ſervant, no better, but that that wife betrayes thy bed, and that ſon thy eſtate, and that ſervant thy credit, and that friend thy ſecret, what canſt thou ſay thou knoweſt? But let us conſider this Theſis in ſpiritual things, of a more rarified nature than knowledge in faith, hope, and charity; and wee ſhall finde all theſe to fall within this poſition, and that there is nothing in any of theſe three, perfect. And firſt for faith, if you remember who they were that made that prayer, Domine adauge, and the Apoſtles themſelves prayed, that their faith might receive an increaſe, Lord increaſe our faith; you muſt neceſſarily ſecond that conſideration with a confeſſion, that no mans faith is perfect. There are men that abound in faith, that is in compariſon of the emptineſs of other men, or of their own emptineſs before they imbraced the Goſpel, they abound now, but ſtill it is as God hath given the meaſure of faith to every one, Rom. 12. 3. not as of Manna, a certain meaſure, and an equal meaſure, and a full meaſure to every man; no man hath ſuch a meaſure of faith as that hee needs no more, or that hee may not loſe at leaſt ſome of that. And as our faith is not perfect ſo neither our hope, for ſo argues the Apoſtle, Jam. 4. 3. Yee ask and receive not, becauſe yee ask amiſs; you cannot hope conſtantly, becauſe you do not pray aright; and to make a prayer, a right prayer, there goes ſo many eſſential circumſtances, as that the beſt man may juſtly ſuſpect his beſt prayer; for ſince prayer muſt bee of faith, prayer can bee but ſo perfect as the faith is perfect; and the imperfections of the beſt faith wee have ſeen, Chriſt hath given us but a ſhort prayer, and yet wee are weary of that. Some of the old Hereticks of the Primitive Church abridged that Prayer, and ſome new fangled men of theſe times have annihilated, evacuated that prayer, becauſe, ſay they, the ſame Spirit that ſpake in Chriſt, ſpeaks in their extemporal prayers, and they can pray as well as Chriſt could teach them.

And again (to leave theſe) which of us ſayes over that ſhort prayer with a deliberate underſtanding of every petition as wee paſs, or without deviations, and extravagancies of our thoughts in that half minute of our devotion? I throw my ſelf down in my chamber, and I call in, and invite God and his Angels thither, and when they are there, I neglect God and his Angels for the noiſe of a flye, for the ratling of a coach, for the whining of a door. I talk on in the ſame poſture of prayer, eyes lifted up, knees bowed down, as though I prayed to God; and if God or his Angels ſhould askmee, When I thought laſt of God in that prayer, I cannot tell: ſometimes I finde that I had forgot what I was about, but when I began to forget it, I cannot tell. A memory of yeſterdayes pleaſures, a fear of to morrows dangers, a ſtraw under my knee, a noiſe in mine ears, a light in mine eye, an any thing, a nothing, a fancie, a chymera in my brain, troubles me in my praier; ſo certainly is there nothing, nothing in ſpiritual things perfect in this world; not in credendis, in things that belong to faith, not in petendis, in things that belong to hope, nor in agendis in things that belong to action, to works, to charity, there is nothing perfect there neither. I would bee loath to ſay that every good word is a ſin, that were to ſay that every deformed, or diſordered man were a beaſt, or that every corrupt meat were poyſon, it is not utterly ſo, nor ſo altogether, but it is ſo much towards it, as that there is no work of ours ſo good, as that we can look for thanks at Gods hand for that work; no work that hath not ſo much ill mingled with it, as that we need not cry God mercy for that work. There was ſo much corruption in the getting, or ſo much vain-glory in the beſtowing, as that no man builds an Hoſpital, but his ſoul dyes, though not dead, yet lame in the Hoſpital; no man mends a High-way, but hee is, though not drowned, yet mired in that way; no man relieves the poor, but hee needs relief for that relief, In all thoſe works of charity, the world that hath benefit by them is bound to confeſs and acknowledge a goodneſs, and to call them good works, but the man that doth them, and knows the weakneſs of them, knows they are not good works. It is poſſible to Art to put a peccant humour out of a ſick body, but not poſſible to raiſe a dead body to life. God out of my confeſſion, of the impurity of my beſt actions, ſhall vouchlafe to take off his eyes from that impurity, as though there were none, but no ſpiritual thing in us, nor faith, nor hope, nor charity, have any purity, any perfection in themſelves.

Nobis cum ſemel occidit brevis lux, nox eſt perpetuo una dormienda.

Catullus:

THe Gentiles and their Poets deſcribe the ſad ſtate of death ſo, nox una dormienda, that it is one everlaſting night to them, a night; but to a Chriſtian, it is dies Mortis, and dies Reſurrectionis, the day of Death, and the day of Reſurrection; wee dye in the light, in the ſight of Gods preſence, and wee riſe in the light in the ſight of his very eſſence. Nay Gods corrections and judgements upon us in this life, are ſtill expreſſed ſo, dies Viſitationis, ſtill it is a day, though a day of Viſitation, and ſtill wee may diſcern God to bee in the action. The Lord of life was the firſt that named Death; Morte morieris, ſayes God, Thou ſhalt dye the death. I do the leſs fear, or abhor death, becauſe I finde it in his mouth; even a Malediction hath a ſweetneſs in his mouth, for there is a bleſſing wrapped up in it, a mercy in every correction, a reſurrection upon every death. When Jezabels beauty exalted to that height, which it had by art, or higher than that, to that height which it had in her own opinion, ſhall bee infinitely multiplied upon every body, and as God ſhall know no man from his own ſon, ſo as not to ſee the very righteouſneſs of his own Son upon that man; ſo the Angels ſhall know no man from Chriſt, ſo as not to deſire to look upon that mans face, becauſe the moſt deformed wretch that is there, ſhall have the very beauty of Chriſt himſelf; So ſhall Goliahs Armour, and Dives fulneſs bee doubled, and redoubled upon us, and every thing that wee can call good, ſhall firſt bee infinitely exalted in the goodneſs, and then infinitely multiplied in the proportion, and again infinitely extended in the duration.

Solus Deus verè feſtumagat.

Philo Judae.

IT hath been diſputed by many both of the Gentiles, with whom the Fathers diſputed, and of the Schoolmen, who diſpute with one another, anſit gaudium in Deo de ſemet; whether God rejoyce in himſelf in contemplation of himſelf, whether God bee glad that hee is God: But it is diſputed by them only to eſtabliſh it, and to illuſtrate it; for I do not remember that any one of them denies it. It is true, that Plato diſlikes, and juſtly, that ſaluration of Dionyſius the Tyrant, to God, Gaude & ſervato vitam Tyranni jucundam, that hee ſhould ſay to God, Live merrily, as merrily as a King, as merrily as I do; and then you are good enough to imagine ſuch a joy in God as is only a tranſitory delight in deceivable things, is an impious conceit. But when as another Platonique ſayes, Deus eſt quod ipſe ſemper voluit, God is that which hee would bee, if there bee ſomething that God would bee, and hee bee that, if Plato ſhould deny, that God joyed in himſelf; wee muſt ſay of Plato as Lactantius doth, Deus potius ſeminaverat quam cognoverat. Plato had rather dreamed that there was a God, than underſtood what that God was, Bonum ſimplex, ſaith St. Auguſtine, to bee ſincere goodneſs, goodneſs it ſelf, Ipſa eſt delectatio Dei, this is the joy that God hath in himſelf, of himſelf; and there ſayes Philo Judaeus, hoc neceſſarium Philoſophiae ſadalibus, this is the tenent of all Philoſophers (and by that title of Philoſophers, Philo alwayes means them that know and ſtudy God) ſolum Deum verè feſtum agere, that only God can bee truly ſaid to keep holy day, and to rejoyce.

This joy we ſhall ſee, when we ſee him who is ſo in it, as that hee is this joy it ſelf. But here in this world, ſo far as I can enter into my Maſters ſight, I can enter into my Maſters joy. I can ſee God in his creatures, in his Church, in his Word, and Sacraments, and Ordinances, ſince I am not without this ſight, I am not without this joy. Here a man may tranſilire mortalitatom, ſayes the divine moral man. I cannot put off mortality, but I can look upon immortality; I cannot depart from this earth, but I can look into Heaven. So I cannot poſſeſs that final, and accompliſhed joy here, but as my body can lay down a burden, or a heavy garment, and joy in that caſe; ſo my ſoul can put off my body ſo far, as that the concupiſcences thereof, and the manifold, and miſerable incumbrances of this World, cannot extinguiſh this holy Joy.

De fiderium generat ſatietatem, & ſatiet as parit deſiderium.

Bern.

THere is a ſpiritual fulneſs in this life, of which St. Jerom ſpeaks, Ebrietas foelix, ſatietas ſalutaris, a happy exceſs, and a wholeſome ſurfeit, Quae quanto copioſius ſumitur, majorem donat ſobrietatem, in which the more wee eat, the more temperate wee are, and the more wee drink, the more ſober. In which (as St. Bernard alſo expreſſes it in his Mellifluence) Mutuâ, interminab ili, inexplicab ili, generatione, by a mutual, and reciprocal, by an undeterminable, & unexpreſſible generation of one another, the deſire of ſpiritual graces begets a ſatiety, If I would bee, I am full of them, and then this ſatiety begets a further deſire; ſtill we have a new appetite to thoſe ſpiritual graces; this is a holy ambition, a ſacred covetouſneſs, and a wholeſome dropſie. Napth alies bleſſing, O Napthali, ſatisfied with favour, and full with the bleſſing of the Lord. St. Stephens bleſsing, Full of faith, and of the Holy Ghoſt; the bleſſed Virgins bleſſing, Full of grace; Dorcas bleſſing, Full of good works, and of Almſ-deeds; the bleſſing of him, who is bleſſed above all, and who bleſſeth all, Chriſt Jeſus, Full of Wiſdome, full of the Holy Ghoſt, full of Grace and Truth. But ſo far are all temporal things from giving this fulneſs or ſatisfaction, as that even in ſpiritual things, there may bee, there is often an error, or miſtaking; even in ſpiritual things, there may bee a fulneſs, and no ſatisfaction, and there may bee a ſatisfaction, and no fulneſs; I may have as much knowledge as is preſently neceſſary for my ſalvation, and yet have a reſtleſs and unſatisfied deſire, to ſearch into unprofitable curioſities, unrevealed myſteries, and inextricable perplexities: And on the other ſide, a man may bee ſatisfied, and think hee knows all, when God knows, hee knows nothing at all; For, I know nothing, if I know not Chriſt crucified, and I know not that, if I know not how to apply him to my ſelf; nor do I know that, if I imbrace him not in thoſe means, which hee hath afforded mee in his Church; in his Word, and Sacraments; if I neglect this means, this place, theſe exerciſes, howſoever I may ſatisfie my ſelf with an over-valuing mine own knowledge at home, I am ſo far from fulneſs, as that vanity it ſelf, is not more empty.

Reſurrectio à peccato, & ceſſatio à peccato, non eſt idem.

Durand.

EVery ceſſation from ſin, is not a reſurrection from ſin. A man may diſcontinue a ſin, intermit the practiſe of a ſin, by infirmity of the body, or by ſatiety in the ſin, or by the abſence of that perſon, with whom hee hath uſed to communicate in that ſin. But reſurrectio eſt ſecunda ejus, quod interiit, ſtatio. A reſurrection is ſuch an abſtinence from the practiſe of the ſin, as is grounded upon a repentance, and a deteſtation of the ſin, and then it is a ſetling, and an eſtabliſhing of the ſoul in that ſtate, and diſpoſition; it is not a ſudden and tranſitive remorſe, nor only a reparation of that which was ruined, and demoliſhed, but it is a building up of habits contrary to former habits, and cuſtomes, in actions contrary to that ſin, that wee have been accuſtomed to, elſe it is but an intermiſſion, not a reſurrection, but a ſtarting, not a waking, but an apparition, not a living body, but a ceſſation, not a peace of conſcience.

Now this reſurrection is begun, and well advanced in baptiſmate lachrymarum in the baptiſme of true, & repentant tears. But to put off this repentance to the death-bed is a dangerous delay. For is any man ſure to have it, or ſure to have a deſire to it then? It is never impertinent to repeat St. Auguſtines words in this caſe, Etiam hac animadverſione percutitur peccator ut moriens obliviſcatur ſui, quidam viveret, oblitus eſt Dei, God begins a dying mans condemnation at this, that as hee forgot God in his life, ſo hee ſhall forget himſelf at his death.

Compare thy temporal, and thy ſpiritual ſtate together, and conſider how they may both ſtand well at that day. If thou have ſet thy ſtate in order, and made a Will before, and have nothing to do at laſt, but to adde a Codicil, this is ſoon diſpatched at laſt; but if thou leave all till then, it may prove a heavy buſineſs. So if thou have repented before, and ſetled thy ſelf in a religious courſe before, and have nothing to do then, but to wreſtle with the power of the diſeaſe, and the agonies of death, God ſhall fight for thee in that weak eſtate, God ſhall imprint in thee a Cupio diſſolvi, St. Pauls not only contentedneſs but deſire to bee diſſolved, and God ſhall give thee a glorious reſurrection, yea an aſcention into heaven before thy death, and thou ſhalt ſee thy ſelfe in poſſeſſion of his eternal Kingdome, before thy bodily eyes bee ſhut. When even thy death-bed ſhall bee as Elias Chariot to carry thee to heaven, and as the bed of the Spouſe in the Canticles, which was lectus floridus, a green and flouriſhing bed, where thou maieſt finde by a faithful apprehenſion, that thy ſickneſs hath crowned thee with a Crown of thorns, by participation of the ſufferings of thy Saviour, and that thy patience hath crowned thee with that Crown of glory, which the Lord the righteous Judge ſhall impart to thee that day.

In divinis nihil minimum.

Tertul.

IT is a wanton thing for any Church in ſpiritual matters to play with ſmall errors, to tolerate, or wink at ſmall abuſes, as though it ſhould bee alwayes in her power to extinguiſh them when ſhee would. It is Chriſts counſel to his Spouſe, that is, the Church, Capite vulpes parvulas, take us the little Foxes, for they deſtroy the vine, though they ſeem but little, and able to do little harm, yet they grow bigger, and bigger every day; and therefore ſtop errors before they become hereſies, and erroneous men, before they become hereticks. Capite, ſayes Chriſt, take them, ſuffer them not to go on; but then it is Capite nobis, take us thoſe Foxes, take them for us, the bargain is between Chriſt and his Church. For it is not Capite vobis, take them to your ſelves, and make your ſelves judges of ſuch doctrinal matters, as appertain not to your cognizance; nor it is not Cape tibi, take him to thy ſelf, ſpy out a recuſant, or a man otherwiſe, not conformable and take him for thy labour, beg him, and ſpoyl him, and for his Religion leave him as you found him; neither is it Cape ſibi, take him for his eaſe, that is, compound with him eaſily, and continue him in his eſtate, and errors; but Cape nobis, take him for us, ſo detect him, as hee may thereby be reduced to Chriſt and his Church. Neither only this counſel of Chriſt to his Church, but that Commandement of God in Levitious, is alſo appliable to this, Non miſereberis pauperis in judicio, Thou ſhalt not countenance a poor man in his cauſe, thou ſhalt not pity a poor man in judgement.

Though a new opinion may ſeem a poor opinion, able to do little harm, though it may ſeem a pious, and profitable opinion, and of good uſe, yet in judicio, if it ſtand in judgement, and pretend to bee an Article of faith, and of that holy obligation, matter neceſſary to ſalvation; Non miſereberis, thou ſhalt not ſpare, thou ſhalt not countenance this opinion upon any collateral reſpect, but bring it to the only trial of Doctrines, the Scriptures.

Neither doth this Counſel of Chriſts, Take us theſe little Foxes, nor this Commandement of God, Thou ſhalt not pitty the poor in judgement, determine it ſelf in the Church, or in the publick only, but extends it ſelf (rather contracts it ſelf) to every particular ſoul and conſcience, Capite Vulpeculas, take your little Foxes, watch your firſt inclination to ſins, for if you give them luck at firſt, if you feed them with the milk and hony of the mercy of God, it ſhall not bee in your power to wean them when you would, but they will draw you from one to another extream, from a former preſumption to a future deſparation in Gods mercy. So alſo, Non miſereberis, Thou ſhalt not pity the poor in judgement: Now that thou calleſt thy ſelf to judgement, and thy conſcience to an examination, thou ſhalt not pity any ſin, becauſe it pretends to bee a poor ſin, either prove ſo, that it cannot much endanger thee, nor much incumber thee, or poor ſo, as that it threatens thee with poverty, with penury, with diſability to ſupport thy ſtate, or maintain thy Family, if thou entertain it not.

Many times I have ſeen a Suitor that comes in Forma pauperis, more trouble a Court, and more importune a Judge, than greater cauſes or greater perſons; and ſo may ſuch fins as come in Forma pauperis, either way, that they plead poverty, that they can do little harm, or threaten poverty if they bee not entertained. Thoſe ſins are the moſt dangerous ſins, which pretend reaſon why they ſhould bee entertained; for ſins which are done meerly out of infirmity, or out of the ſurpriſal of tentation, are (in compariſon of others) done as ſins in our ſleep, but in ſins upon deliberation, upon counſel, upon pretence of reaſon, wee do ſee the wiſdome of God, but wee ſet our wiſdome above his, wee do ſee the Law of God, but we inſert, and interline, non obſtantes of our own, into Gods Law.

If therefore thou wilt corruptly, and vitiouſly, and ſinfully love another, out of pitty, becauſe they love thee ſo; if thou wilt aſsiſt a poor man in a cauſe, out of pretence of pitty, with thy countenance, and the power of thy place, that that poor man may have ſomething, and thou the reſt that is recovered in his right, if thou wilt imbrace any particular ſin, out of pitty, leſt thy wife and children ſhould bee left unprovided; if thou have not taken theſe little Foxes, that is, reſiſted theſe tentations at the beginning, yet nunc in judicio, now that they appear in judgement, in examination of thy conſcience, non miſereberis, thou ſhalt not pitty them (as Moſes ſpeaks of falſe Prophets, and by a fair accommodation of all bewitching ſins, with pleaſure or profit) If a Dreamer of dreams have given thee a ſign, and that ſign bee come to paſs; If a ſin have told thee, it would make thee rich, and it have made thee rich; yet if this Dreamer draw thee to another god, if this profit draw thee to an Idolatrous, that is, to an habitual love of that ſin (Tot habemus recentes Deos, quot vitia, ſayes St. Hierom, Every man hath ſo many Idols in him, as hee hath habitual ſins) yet though this Dreamer (as God proceeds there) bee thy brother, or thy ſon, or thy friend, which is as thine own ſoul, how near, how dear, how neceſſary ſoever this ſin bee unto thee; non miſereberis, ſayes Moſes, Thine eye ſhall not pity that Dreamer, thou ſhalt not keep him ſecret, but thine own hand ſhall bee upon him to kill him: And ſo of this pleaſurable and profitable ſin; non miſereberis, thou ſhalt not hide it, but powre it out in confeſſion; non miſereberis, thou ſhalt not pardon, no nor reprieve it, but deſtroy it, for the practiſe preſently; non miſereberis, thou ſhalt not turn out the mother, and retain the daughter, not leave the ſin, and retain that which was ſinfully got, but deveſt all, root, and body, and fruits, by confeſsion to God, by contrition in thy ſelf, by reſtitution to men damnified; elſe that will fall upon thee, and thy ſoule which fell upon the Church, that becauſe they did not take their little Foxes, they endangered the whole Vine.

Sicut inviſibilibus eſt Sol, in intelligibilibus eſt Deus.

Nazian.

VVHen wee conſider the liberality of our King, the bounty of our God to man in Chriſt, it is ſpecies ingratitudinis, it is a degree of ingratitude; nay, it is a degree of forgetfulneſs, to pretend to remember his benefits ſo, as to reckon them, for they are innumerable.

Bonitas Dei ad extra, liberalit as eſt, it is the expreſſing of the School, and of much uſe, that God is eſſential goodneſs, within doors, in himſelf, but ad extra, when hee comes abroad, when this interior goodneſs is produced into action, then all Gods goodneſs is liberality. Deus est voluntas omnipotens, is excellently ſaid by St. Bernard, God is all Almightineſs, all Power, but hee might bee ſo, and wee never the better. Therefore hee is voluntas omnipotens, a power digeſted into a will, as willing as able to do us all, all good. What good? Receive ſome drops of it in St. Bernards own Manna, his own Honey, Creans mentes ad ſe participandum, ſo good, as that hee hath firſt given us ſouls capable of him, and made us ſo, partakers of the Divine Nature; Vivificans ad ſentiendum, ſo good, as that hee hath quickned thoſe ſouls, and made them ſenſible of having received him; for grace is not grace to mee, till it make mee know that I have it, aliciens ad appetendum, ſo good, as that hee hath given th • t ſoul an appetite, and an holy hunger, and thirſt to take in more of him; for I have no grace, till I would have more; and then, Dilatans ad capiendum, ſo good, as that hee hath dilated, and inlarged that ſoule to take in as much of God as hee will.

And leſt the ſoul ſhould loſe any of this by unthankfulneſs, God is kinde even to the unthankful, ſayes God himſelf which is a degree of goodneſs, in which God ſeldome is; nay, in which God ſcarce looks to bee imitated, to bee kinde to the unthankfull. But if the whole ſpace to the Firmament were filled with ſand, and wee had before us Clavius his number, how many thouſands would bee; if all that ſpace were filled with water, and ſo joyned the waters above, with the waters below the Firmament, and wee had the number of all thoſe drops of water; and then had every ſingle ſand, and every ſingle drop multiplied by the whole number of both, wee were ſtill ſhort of numbring the benefits of God, as God; but then, of God in Chriſt, infinitely, ſuper-infinitely ſhort.

To have been once nothing, and to bee now co-heire with the Son of God, is ſuch a circle, ſuch a compaſs, as that no revolutions in this world, to riſe from the loweſt to the higheſt, or to fall from the higheſt to the loweſt, can bee called or thought any ſegment, any arch, any point, in reſpect of this circle; To have once been nothing, and now to bee co-heires with the Son of God, that Son of God, who if there had been but one ſoule to have been ſaved, would have dyed for that; nay, if all ſouls had been to bee ſaved, but one, and that that only had ſinned, he would not have been contented with all the reſt, but would have dyed for that. And there is the goodneſs, the liberality of our King, our God, our Chriſt, our Jeſus.

Ad patriam itur per ipſum mare, ſed in ligno.

Auguſt.

VVHich way think you to go home to the Heavenly Jeruſalem, you muſt paſs through ſeas of difficulties, and therefore by ſhip, and in a ſhip, you are not ſafe, except other Paſſengers in the ſame ſhip bee ſafe too. Therefore ſaid Chriſt to James and John, Non eſt meum dare vobis, it is not mine to give, to ſer you on my right, and on my left hand; Non vobis, quia ſinguli ſeparati • ab • liis rogatis, not to you, becauſe you conſider but your ſelves, and petition for your ſelves, to the prejudice and excluſion of others. Therefore Chriſt bad the Samaritan woman call her husband too, when ſhee deſired the water of life, Ne ſola gratiam acciperet, ſaith St. Chryſoſtome, that hee might ſo do good to her, as that others might have good by it too. The Spouſe ſaith, Trahe me poſt te, draw mee after thee. When it is but a mee, in the ſingular, but one part conſidered there is a violence, a difficulty, a drawing, but preſently after, when there is an uniting in a plural, there is an alacrity, a concurrence, a willingneſs, Curremus poſt te, wee will run after thee; if wee would joyn in publick conſiderations, wee ſhould run together.

Quantumlibet ſis avarus, ſufficit tibi Deus.

St. Auguſtine.

ACcuſtome thy ſelf to finde the preſence of God inall thy gettings, in all thy preferments, in all thy ſtudies, and hee will bee abundantly ſufficient to thee for all. Bee as covetous as thou wilt, bee as ambitious as thou canſt, the more, the better; God is treaſure, God is honour enough for thee. Avaritia terram quaerit, ſaith the ſame Father, adde, & Coelum, wouldeſt thou have all this world? wouldeſt thou have all the next world too? Plus eſt, qui fecit coelum & terram, hee that made heaven and earth, is more than all that, and thou mayeſt have all him.

Upon this, St. Cyprians wonder is juſt, Deum nobis ſolis contentum eſſe, nobis non ſufficere Deum, that God ſhould think man enough for him, and man ſhould not bee ſatisfied with God, that God ſhould bee content with Fili da mihicor, my Son give mee thy heart, and man ſhould not bee content with, Pater da mihi ſpiritum, my God, my Father, Grant, mee thy Spirit, but muſt have temporal additions too. Non eſt caſtum cor, ſaith St. Auguſtine, Si Deum ad mercedem colit; as hee ſaith in another place, Non eſt caſta uxor quae amat quiae dives, ſhee is never the honeſter woman, nor the lovinger wife, that loves her husband in contemplation of her future joynture, or in fruition of her preſent abundancies; ſo hee ſayes here, Non eſt caſtum cor, that man hath not a chaſte, a ſincere heart towards God, that loves him by the meaſure, end, proportion of his temporal bleſſings.

And indeed what profits it a man, if hee get all the world, and loſe his own ſoul; and therefore that opinion that there was no profit at all, no degree towards bleſſedneſs in thoſe temporal things, prevailed ſo far, as that it is eaſie to obſerve in their Expoſitions upon the Lords Prayer, that the greateſt part of the Fathers, do ever interpret that Petition, Da nobis hodie, Give us this day our daily bread, to bee intended only of ſpiritual bleſſings, and not of temporal; ſo St. Hierom ſaith, When wee ask that bread, Illum petimus, qui panis vivus eſt, & deſcendit de • olo, wee make our Petition for him who is the bread of life, and deſcended from the boſome of the Father, and ſo hee refers it to Chriſt, and in him to the whole myſtery of our Redemption. And Athanaſius, and St. Auguſtine too (and not they two alone) refer it to the Sacramental bread; that in that Petition, wee deſire ſuch an application of the bread of life, as wee have in the participation of the body and blood of Chriſt Joſus in that Communion. St. Cyprian inſiſts upon the word Noſtrum, our bread; for ſaith hee. Temporal bleſſings cannot properly bee called ours, becauſe they are common to the Saints, and to the Reprobates; but in a prayer ordained by Chriſt for the faithful, the Petition is for ſuch things as are proper and peculiar to the faithful, and that is for ſpiritual bleſſings only. If any man ſhall ſay, Ideo quaerenda quia neceſſaria, wee muſt pray, and wee muſt labour for temporal things, becauſe they are neceſſary for us, wee cannot bee without them, Ideo non quaerenda quia neceſſaria, ſayes St. Chryſoſtome, ſo much of them as is neceſſary for our beſt ſtate, God will give us, without this laborious anxiety, and without eating the bread of ſorrow in this life, Non ſperandum de ſuperfluis, non deſperandum de neceſſariis, ſayes the ſame Father, It is a ſuſpicious thing to doubt, or diſtruſt God in neceſſary things, & it is an unmannerly thing to preſs him in ſuperfluous things. They are not neceſſary before, and they are not ours after; for thoſe things onely are ours, which no body can take from us; and for temporal things, Anferre poteſt inimicus homo invito, let the inimicus homo bee the Devil, and remember Jobs caſe, let the inimicus homo bee any envious and powerfull man, who hath a mind to that that thou haſt; and remember Naboths caſe, and this envious man can take any temporal thing from thee againſt thy will. But ſpiritual bleſſings cannot bee taken ſo, • idem nemo perdidit, niſi qui ſpreverit, ſayes St. Auguſtine, No man ever loſt his faith, but hee that thought it not worth the keeping.

Perfect a obedientia est ſua imperfecta relinquere.

Auguſt.

THis Peter and Andrew declared abundantly when they left their Nets and followed Chriſt; yet however in this leaving of their Nets, there is no example of deveſting ones ſelf of all means of defending us from thoſe manifold neceſſities, which this life layes upon, upon pretence of following Chriſt, it is not an abſolute leaving of all worldly cares, but a leaving them out of the firſt conſideration, primum quaerite regnum Dei, ſo as our firſt buſineſs bee to ſeek the Kingdome of God; For, after this leaving of his Nets, for this time, Peter continued owner of his houſe, and Chriſt came to that houſe of his, and found his mother in Law ſick in that houſe, and recovered her there. Upon a like Commandement, upon ſuch a ſequere, follow mee, Matthow followed Chriſt too; but after that following, Chriſt went with Matthew to his houſe, and ſate at meat with him at home. And for this very exerciſe of Fiſhing, though at that time when Chriſt ſaid, Follow wee, they left their nets, yet they returned to that trade, ſometimes upon occaſions, in all likelihood in Chriſts life, and after Chriſts death, clearly they did return to it, for Chriſt, after his Reſurrection, found them fiſhing. They did not therefore abandon, and leave all care, and all government, of their own eſtate, and diſpoſe themſelves to live after upon the ſweat of others, but tranſported with a holy alacrity, in this preſent, and chearful following of Chriſt, in reſpect of that then, they neglected their nets, and all things elſe. Not to be too diligent towards the world, is the diligence that God requires.

St. Auguſtine doth not ſay, Suae relinquere, but Sua imperfecta relinquere, that God requires wee ſhould leave the world, but that wee ſhould leave it to ſecond conſiderations, that thou do not forbear, nor defer thy converſion to God, and thy reſtitution to man, till thou have purchaſed ſuch an eſtate, bought ſuch an office, married, and provided ſuch, and ſuch children, but imperfecta relinquere, to leave theſe worldly things unperfected till thy repentance have reſtored thee to God, and eſtabliſhed thy reconciliation in him, and then the world lyes open to thy honeſt endeavours.

Others take up all with their net, and they ſacrifice to their Nets, becauſe by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. They are confident in their own learning, their own wiſdome, their own practiſe, and (which is a ſtrange Idolatry) they ſacrifice to themſelves, they attribute all to their own induſtry.

Chriſtus non quaeſivit per oratorem piſcatorem, ſed de piſcatore lucratus eſt imperatorem.

Auguſt.

CHriſt having a greater, a fairer Jeruſalem to build than Davids was, a greater Kingdome to eſtabliſh than Judahs was, a greater Temple to build than Solomons was, having a greater work to raiſe, yet hee begun upon a leſſe ground; Hee is come from his twelve Tribes, that afforded Armies in ſwarmes, to twelve perſons, twelve Apoſtles, from his Juda and Levi, the foundations of State, and Church; to an Andrew, and a Peter, Fiſher-men, Sea-men. Hee ſent not out Orators, Rhetoricians, ſtrong, or fair-ſpoken men to work upon theſe Fiſher-men; but by theſe Fiſher-men hee hath reduced all thoſe Kings and Emperours, and States which have imbraced the Chriſtian Religion, theſe thouſand and ſix hundred years.

When Samuel was ſent with that general Commiſſion to anoint a Son of Iſhai King without any more particular inſtructions, when hee came, and Eliab was preſented unto him, Surely, ſayes Samuel (noting the goodlineſs of his perſonage) this is the Lords anointed. But the Lord ſaid unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, nor the height of his ſtature, for I have refuſed him; for (as it followeth there from Gods mouth) God ſeeth not as a man ſeeth, man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord beholdeth the heart. And ſo David in appearance, leſſe likely, was choſen. But if the Lords Arm bee not ſhortned, let no man impute weakneſs to the inſtrument. For ſo, when David himſelf was appointed by God to purſue the Amalekites, the Amalekites that had burnt Ziglag, and done ſuch ſpoyl upon Gods people, as that the people began to ſpeak of ſtoning David, from whom they looked for defence, when David had no kind of intelligence, no ground to ſettle a conjecture upon, which way hee muſt purſue the Amalekites, and yet purſue them hee muſt, in the way hee findes a poor young fellow, a famiſhed, ſick young man, derelicted of his Maſter, and left for dead in the march, and by the meanes, and conduct of this wretch, David recovers the enemy, recovers the ſpoyl, recovers his honour, and the love of his people.

If the Lords Arm bee not ſhortned, let no man impute weakneſs to his inſtrument. But yet God will alwayes have ſo much weakneſs appear in the inſtrument, as that their ſtrength ſhall not bee thought to bee their own.

When Peter and John preached in the ſtreets, the people marvelled (ſayes the Text) why? For they had underſtood that they were unlearned. But beholding alſo the man that was healed ſtanding by, they had nothing to ſay, ſayes that ſtory. The inſufficiency of the inſtrument makes a man wonder naturally, but the accompliſhing of ſome great work, brings them to a neceſſary acknowledgement of a greater power working in that weak inſtrument. For if thoſe Apoſtles that preached, had been as learned men, as Simon Magu • , as they did in him (This man is the great power of God, not that hee had, but that hee was the power of God) the people would have reſted in the admiration of thoſe perſons, and proceeded no further. It was their working of ſupernatural things, that convinced the world; Peter and Johns preaching did not half the good then, as the preſenting of one man, which had been recovered by them did.

Twenty of our Sermons edifie not ſo much, as if the Congregation might ſee one man converted by us. Any one of you might out-preach us. That one man that would leave his beloved ſin, that one man that would reſtore ill-gotten goods, had made a better Sermon than ever I ſhall, and ſhould gain more ſouls by his act, than all our words (as they are ours) can do.

Oportet hominem fieri unum.

Clem. Alex.

MAn muſt grow in his conſideration, till hee be but one man, one individual man. If hee conſider himſelf in humanitate, in the whole mankinde a glorious creature, an immortal ſoul, be ſhall ſee this immortal ſoul, as well in Goats at the left hand, as in Sheep at the right hand of Chriſt, at the Reſurrection; men on both ſides. If hee conſider himſelf in qualitate, in his quality, in his calling, hee ſhall hear many then plead their Prophetavimus; wee have prophefied, and their ejecimus, wee have exerciſed, and their virtutes fecimus, wee have done wonders, and all in thy Name, and yet receive that anſwer, Nunquam cognovi, I do not know you now, I never did know you. Oportet unum fieri, hee muſt conſider himſelf in individuo, that one man, not that man in nature, not that man in calling, but that man in actions.

Origen makes this uſe of thoſe words, as hee found them, 1 Sam. chap. 1. Erat vir unus, there was one man (which was Elkanah) hee adds, Nomen ejus poſſeſsio Dei, This one man, ſayes hee, was in his name Gods poſſeſſion, Nam quem damones poſsident, non unus ſed multi, for hee whom the Devill poſſeſſes, is not one. The ſame ſinner is not the ſame thing, ſtill hee clambers in his ambitious purpoſes, there hee is an Eagle; and yet lyes ſtill groveling, and trodden upon at any greater mans threſhold, there hee is a worm. Hee ſwells to all that are under him, there he is a full ſea; and his dog that is above him, may wade over him; there hee is a ſhallow, an empty Riter. In the compaſs of a few dayes, hee neighs like a horſe in the rage of his luſt over all the City, and groans in a corner of the City, in an Hoſpital.

A ſinner is as many men, as hee hath vices; hee that is Elkanah, poſſeſſio Dei, poſſeſſed by God, and in poſſeſſion of God, hee is unus homo, one, and the ſame man. And when God calls upon man ſo particularly, hee intends him ſome particular good. It is St. Jeroms note, That when God in the Scripture ſpeaks of divers things in the ſingular number, it is ever in things of grace. And it is St. Auguſtines note, that when hee ſpeaks of any one thing in the plural number, it is of heavy and ſorrowfull things; as Jeptha was buried in Civitatibus Gilead, in the Cities, but hee had but one grave, and ſo that is, they made Aureos vitulos, Golden Calves, when it was but one Calf.

Multa relinquitis ſi deſideria renunciatis.

Gregor.

VVE read Mat. 4. That the Apoſtles left their nets when they followed Chriſt. Their Nets were ſuch things as might hinder them in the ſervice of God: ſuch nets, even theſe men the Apoſtles, ſo well diſpoſed to follow Chriſt, had about them. And therefore let no man ſay, Imitari vellem, ſed quod relinquam, non habeo; I would gladly do as the Apoſtles did, leave all to follow Chriſt, but I have nothing to leave; alas all things have left mee, and I have nothing to leave. Even that murmuring at poverty, is a net, leave that. Leave thy ſuperfluous deſire of having the riches of this world, though thou mayeſt flatter thy ſelf, that thou deſireſt to have, only that thou mighteſt leave it, that thou mighteſt imploy it charitably, yet it might prove a net, and ſtick too cloſe about thee to part with it. You leave your nets, if you leave your over-earneſt greedineſs of catching; for when you do ſo, you do not onely fiſh with a net, you fiſh for a net, even that which you get proves a net to you, and hinders you in the following of Chriſt, and you are leſs diſpoſed to follow him, when you have got your ends, than before. Hee that hath leaſt, hath enough to weigh him down from heaven, by an inordinate love of that little which hee hath, or in an inordinate and murmuring deſire of more. And hee that hath moſt, hath not too much to give for heaven, Tantum valet Regnum Dei, quantum tu vales, Heaven is alwayes ſo much worth, as thou art worth. A poor man may have Heaven for a penny, that hath no greater ſtore, and God looks that hee to whom hee hath given thouſands, ſhould lay out thouſands upon the purchaſe of Heaven. The Market changes as the plenty of money changes; Heaven coſts a rich man more than a poor, becauſe hee hath more to give. But in this, rich and poor are both equall, that both muſt leave themſelves without nets, that is, without thoſe things, which in their own conſciences they know, retard the following of Chriſt. Whatſoever hinders my preſent following, that I cannot follow to day', whatſoever may hinder my conſtant following, that I cannot follow to morrow, and all my life is a net, and I am bound to leave that.

Dilige, & dic quod voles.

Auguſt.

LEt the Congregation ſee that thou ſtudieſt the good of their ſouls, and they will digeſt any wholeſome increpation, any medicinal reprehonſion at thy hands. Wee ſay ſo firſt to God, Lord let thy Spirit bear witnes with my ſpirit, that thou loveſt me, and I can indure all thy Prophets, and all thy vae's, and the woes that they thunder againſt mee, and my ſin: So alſo the Congregation ſayes to the Miniſter, Dilige, & dic quod voles, ſhew thy love to mee, in ſtudying my caſe, and applying thy knowledge to my conſcience; ſpeak ſo, as God and I may know thou meaneſt mee, but not the Congregation, leſt that bring mee to a confuſion of face, and that to a hardneſs of heart; deal thus with mee, love mee thus, and ſay what thou wilt; nothing ſhall offend mee. Thus dealt Paul, Heb. 13. 22. I beſeech you brethren, &c. And the ſtrangeneſs of the caſe is exalted in this, that the word there is ſolatii, I beſeech you ſuffer a word of comfort; What will you hear willingly, if you do not willingly hear words of comfort? With what ſhall wee exerciſe your holy joy, and cheerfulneſs, if even words of comfort, muſt exerciſe your patience? And yet wee muſt beſeech you to ſuffer even our words of comfort, for wee can propoſe no true comfort to you, but ſuch as carries ſome bitterneſs with it; wee can create no true joy in you without ſome exerciſe of your patience too. Wee cannot: promiſe you peace with God, without a war in your ſelves, nor reconciliation to him without falling out with your ſelves, not eternal joy in the next world, without a ſolemn remorſe for the ſinful abuſes of this. Wee cannot promiſe you a good to morrow without ſending you back to the conſideration of an ill yeſterday; for your hearing to day is not enough, except you repent yeſterday. But yet though with St. Paul wee bee put to beſeech you, that you would ſuffer inſtruction, though wee muſt ſometimes exerciſe your patience, yet it is but a word of inſtruction, and counſel; and though inſtruction bee increpation ſometimes, yet it may eaſily bee ſuffered, becauſe it is but a word; a word, and away: Wee would not dwell upon increpations, and chidings, and bitterneſſes.

Lacrimae ſanguis animae;

Aug. Ser. de tempore.

THe repentance and contrition of a ſincere Chriſtian for his ſins upon his death-bed is ſuch, that at more pores then his weak body ſweats drops of water, his ſad foul weeps blood, and this more for the diſpleaſure of God, than the ſtripes of Gods diſpleaſure.

I •• i verè iraſcitur Deus cui non iraſcitur; & nihil eo infoelicius, cui nihil infoelix contigit:

VVHom God loves hee chaſteneth, Heb. 12. 6. Which rule of divine Occonomy, is ſo general, and without exception, that even thoſe duties that are promiſed a reward here as Almſdeeds, are yet to expect the payment of this reward, with ſome mixture of affliction, the hundred fold which ſome men are promſed to receive, though they bee ſecular bleſſings, as houſes, lands, &c. yet muſt they bee with perſecutions, Mar. 10. 30.

Licet in modum ſtagni fuſum equor arrideat▪ magnos hic campus mantes habet; tranquillitas iſta tempeſtas eſt.

Hieron.

IT was more ſafe for Peter to bee called Satan by Chriſt, than for Judas to bee called Friend; ſuch an appellation was a Sarcaſme in a complement; as when God tells his people by his Prophet, Hoſ. 4. 14. I will not viſit, &c. Gods not viſiting here was the greateſt plague imaginable, and their higheſt affliction was, not at all to bee puniſhed.

Triticum non rapit ven ••• inanes, pal • ae tempeſt ••• jactantur,

Cyprian. de ſimpli • i • at • Frela.

THe Church is the Barn-floor, the ſincere and hypocritical Chriſtian are the corn, and the chaffe in that floor, perſecution and heretical doctrine are the two winnowing windes to diſcern betwixt both; the corn is ſolid, and immoveable, and will ſooner bee ground to powder, than yeeld either to the rough blaſts of perſecution, or thoſe ſmooth flattering gales of hereſie, whereas the chaffe is carried about, and diſtracted, with every winde either of perſecuting, or pleaſing doctrine, Eph. 4. 14.

N • tu • & elinguis ne hoc qui dem habens ut rogare poſsit, hoc magis rogat quod rogare non poteſt,

Hieron. Tom. 1. Epiſt.

THe Cripple that cannot ſtir, works more upon our charity, than the importunate ſturdy beggar that follows the length of a ſtreet • and the very dumbneſs of thoſe impotent perſons in the Goſpel, was rhetorick equally as powerful with our Saviour, as all thoſe acclamations and Hoſanna's of the Jews, the fear and modeſty of that poor woman in the Goſpel, that bluſhed to ask the cure of her bloody iſſue, had it by a touch; that very touch was an effectual prayer, and every finger a ſeveral votary to beg the bleſſing.

Ant ubi mors non eſt ſi jugulatis aquoe?

DEath meets us every where, and is procured by every inſtrument, and enters in at every door, by violence, and ſecret influence, by aſpect of a ſtar, and the ſtink of a miſt, by the emiſſions of a cloud, and the meeting of a vapour, by a full meal, or an empty ſtomach, by watching at the wine, or by watching at prayers, by the Sun or the Moon, by a heat or a cold, by ſleeping nights, or ſleeping dayes, by water frozen into the hardneſs and ſharpneſs of a dagger, or water thawed into the floods of a River: by a hair, or a raizor, by violent motion, or ſitting ſtill, by Gods mercy, or Gods anger; by every thing in providence, and every thing in manners; by every thing in nature, and every thing in chance. It was a ſad arreſt of the looſneſs and wilder feaſts of the French Court, when their King Henry 2. was killed really by the ſportive image of a fight; and many Brides have dyed under the hands of Maidens dreſſing them, for uneaſie joy, the new and undiſcerned chains of marriage.

Anceps forma bonum, mortalibus exigui donum breve temporis.

Senec.

I Have rend of a fair young German Gentleman, who living, often refuſed to bee pictured, but put off the importunity of his friends deſire by giving way, that after a few dayes burial, they might ſend a Painter to his Vault, and if they ſaw cauſe for it, draw the image of his death unto the life, they did ſo, and found his face half eaten, and his midrife, and back bone full of ſerpents, and ſo hee ſtands pictured among his armed Anceſtors; ſo doth the faireſt beauty change, and it will bee as bad with you, and mee, and then what ſervants ſhall wee have to wait upon us in the grave? what friends to viſit us? what officious people to clean • e away, the moiſt and unwholeſome cloud reflected upon our faces from the ſides of the weeping Vaults, which are the longeſt weepers for our Funerals.

Quid fit futurum cras, fuge quaerere.

Horace.

LEt no man extend his thoughts or his hopes toward future and far diſtant Events. This day is mine, and yours, but yee know not what ſhall bee on the morrow, every morning creeps out of a dark cloud, leaving behinde it an ignorance and ſilence, deep as midnight, and undiſcerned as the phantaſmes that make a chryſome childe to ſmile; ſo that wee cannot diſcern what comes hereafter, unleſs wee had a light from heaven brighter than the viſion of an Angel, even the Spirit of Propheſie. Without revelation wee cannot tell whether wee ſhall eat to morrow, or whether a ſquinzy ſhall choke us. St. James notes the folly of ſome, who were ſo impatient of the event of to morrow, or the accidents of the next year, that they would conſult Aſtrologers, and Witches, and Devils, what ſhould befall them the next calends, againſt this the Apoſtle oppoſeth his counſel, that we ſhould not ſearch after forbidden Records; for whatever is diſpoſed to happen by the order of natural cauſes, or civil counſels, may bee reſcinded by a peculiar decree of providence. When Rithilda the widow of Albert, Earle of Ebersberg had feaſted the Emperor Henry the third, and petitioned in behalf of her Nephew for ſome lands formerly poſſeſſed by the Earl her Husband, juſt as the Emperour held out his hand to ſignifie his conſent, the chamber floor ſuddenly fell under them, and Richilda falling upon the edge of a bathing veſſel, was bruiſed to death, and ſtaid not to ſee he • Nephew ſleep in thoſe lands, which the Emperor was reaching forth unto her, and placed at the door of reſtitution.

Quid brevi fortes, iaculemur quo multal ja •• te pr • m • t nox,

Horat.

AS our hopes muſt bee confined, ſo muſt our deſignes, let us not project long deſignes; the work of our ſoul is cut ſhort, facile, ſweet and plain, and fitted to the ſmall portions of our ſhorter life; and as wee muſt not trouble our inquiry, ſo neither muſt wee intricato our labour, with what wee ſhall never enjoy; this rule doth reprove ſuch projects as diſcompoſe our preſent duty by long and future deſigns; ſuch which by caſting our labours to events at diſtance, make us leſs to remember our death ſtanding at the door. Seneca tells of G • n • cio Corneliu • , a man crafty in getting, and tenacious in holding a great eſtate, and one who was as diligent in the care of his body, as of his mony, that hee all day long attended upon his ſick and dying friend; but when hee went away, was quickly comforted, ſupped merrily, went to bed cheerfully, and on a ſudden being ſurprized by a ſquinzy, ſcarce drew his breath untill the morning, but by that time dyed, being ſnatched from the torrent of his fortune; and a likely hope, bigger than the neceſſities of ten men; this accident was much noted then in Rome, becauſe it happened in ſo great a fortune, and in the midſt of wealthy deſignes, and preſently it made wiſe men to conſider how imprudent a perſon hee is, who diſpoſeth of ten years to come, when hee is not Lord of tomorrow.

Aetate fruere, mobili curſu fugit.

Sen.

MAke uſe of this inſtant; for this inſtant will never return again, and yet it may bee this inſtant will ſecure the fortune of a whole eternity. The old Greeks and Romans caught us the prudence of this rule, but Chriſtianity teaches us the Religion of it. They ſo ſeized on the preſent that they would loſe nothing of the dayes pleaſure. Let us eat and drink, for to morrow wee dye, that was their Philoſophy at their ſolemn feaſts, they would talke of death to heighten the preſent drinkings; I had reaſon to ſay that Chriſtianity taught us to turn this into Religion. For hee that by a preſent and a conſtant holineſs ſecures the preſent, and makes it uſeful to his nobleſt purpoſes, hee turns his condition into his beſt advantage by making his unavoidable fate become his neceſſary Religion.

Non a • cipi • u • brevem vitam ſed f • cimus.

Senec.

VVEe complain the day is long, and the night is long, and wee want company, and ſeek out arts to drive the time away, and then weep, becauſe it is gone too ſoon, And as the revenue of Egypt, and the Eaſtern Provinces was but a little ſumme when they were to ſupport the luxury of Mark Autony, and feed the riot of Cloopatra, but a thouſand Crowns is a vaſt proportion to feed an Hermite. Juſt ſo is our life, it is 100 ſhort to ſerve the ambition of an haughty Prince, or an uſurping Rebel, to trample upon the enemies of our juſt or unjuſt intereſt; but for the obtaining vertue, for the purchaſe of ſobriety, and modeſty, for the actions of Religion, God gave us time ſufficient, if wee make the out-goings of the morning and evening, i. e. our infancy and old age to bee taken into the computation of a man.

Omnia crede mihi etiam falicibus • ubia ſunt.

Sen.

EVen the beauteous ſpring hath blaſts and ſharp froſts, the fruitfull teeming Summer is melted with heat, and burnt with the kiſſes of the Sun her friend, and the rich Autumne is full of ſickneſs, and wee are weary of that which wee enjoy, becauſe ſorrow is its biggeſt portion; And when wee remember that upon the faireſt face, is placed one of the worſt ſinks of the body, the noſe; wee may uſe it not onely as a mortification to the pride of beauty, but as an allay to the faireſt outſide of condition, which the ſonnes and daughters of Adam doe poſſeſſe. For look upon Kings and Conquerors. I will not tell, that many of them fall into the condition of ſervants, and their ſubjects rule over them, and ſtand upon the ruines of their Families: But let us ſuppoſe them ſtill Conquerours, and the greateſt that ever were, yet whatſoever tempts the pride and vanity of ambitious perſons, is not ſo big as the ſmalleſt ſtar which wee ſee ſcattered in diſorder, and unregarded upon the pavement and floor of Heaven: And if wee would ſuppoſe the Pilmires had but our underſtandings, they alſo would have the method of a mans greatneſs, and divide their little Molehills into Provinces and Exarchats: And if they alſo grew as vitious, and as miſerable, one of their Princes would lead an Army out, and kill his neighbour Ants, that hee might reign over the next handfull of a Turf; but then if wee conſider at what price, and with what felicity all this is purchaſed, the ſting of the painted Snake will quickly appear, and the faireſt of their fortunes will properly enter into this account of humane infelicities.

Proper a vivere, & ſingulos di • s ſ • ngulas vitas p •• a; nihil intereſt i ••• diem & ſ • culum.

Sence.

HEe that would dye well, muſt alwayes look for death, every day knocking at the gates of the grave, and then the gates of the grave ſhall never prevaile upon him to do him miſchief. This was the advice of all the wiſe and good men of the world, who eſpecially in the dayes and periods of their joy, and feſtival egreſſions, choſe to throw ſome aſhes into their chalices, ſome ſober remembrances of their fatal period. Such was the black ſhirt of Saladine, the Tombſtone preſented to the Emperour of Constantinople on his Coronation day; the Biſhop of Romes two reeds, with flax, and a wax taper; the Egyptian Skeleton ſerved up at feaſts. Theſe in their ſemblances declare a ſevere counſel, and uſeful meditation; and it is not eaſie for a man to be drunk with joy, or wine, pride, or revenge, who conſiders ſadly that hee muſt ere long dwell in a houſe of darkneſs, and his body muſt bee the inheritance of worms, and his ſoul muſt be what he pleaſes, even as a man makes it here by his living, good or bad. I have read of a young Hermit, who being paſſionately in love with a young Lady, could not by all the Arts of Religion and mortification ſuppreſs the trouble of that fancy, till at laſt being told that ſhe was dead, and had been buried about fourteen dayes, hee went ſecretly to her vault, and with the skirt of his mantle wiped the moiſture from the carkaſs, and ſtill at the return of the temptation, laid it before him, ſaying, Behold this is the beauty of the Woman thou didſt ſo much deſire, and ſo the man thereby overcame his inordinate paſſion; and if we make death as preſent to us, our own death, dwelling and dreſſed in all its pomp of fancy, and proper circumſtances, if any thing will quench the heats of luſt, or the deſires of money; or the greedy paſſionate affections of this world, this muſt do it.

Non expectavit Chriſt •••• Saul 〈…〉 in media inſa • i • ſuperavit,

Chryfoſt.

VVHen Saul, ſee Act. 9. 4. was yet breathing forth ſlaughter, then came a voyce ſaying, Saul, Saul, why perſecutest thou meo? Then when hee was in the height of his fury, Chriſt laid hold upon him. And this for the moſt part was Chriſts method of curing. Then when the Sea was in a tempeſtuous rage, when the waters covered the ſhip, and the ſtorm ſhaked even that which could remove Mountains, the faith of the Diſciples, then Chriſt rebukes the wind, and commands a calm; then when the Sun was gone out to run his race as a Gyant, then God by the mouth of Joſhuah bids the Sun ſtand ſtill. Then when that unclean ſpirit foamed and fumed, and tore, and rent the poſſeſſed perſon, then Chriſt commanded them to go out. Let the Feaver alone, ſay our Phyſitians, till ſome fits bee paſſed, and then wee ſhall ſee farther, and diſcern better; but Chriſt in the Text above, itayes not till Saul being made drunk with blood, was caſt into a ſlumber; but in the midſt of his raging fit hee gives him phyſick, in the midſt of his madneſs, hee reclaims him. Then when his glory was to bring them bound to Jeruſalem, that he might magnifie his triumph and greatnes in the eye of the world; then, then ſayes Chriſt to this tempeſt, bee calm; to this unclean ſpirit, come out; to this Sun in his own eſtimation, go no further.

Non in fine ſed in principio converſus latro.

Cyril.

IF thou deferreſt thy repentance till the laſt, becauſe of the Theefs example, thou deludeſt thine own ſoul; the Theef was not converted at laſt, but at firſt, as ſoon as God afforded him any call, hee came; but at how many calls haſt thou ſtopped thine ears, that deferreſt thy repentance? Chriſt ſaid to him, This day thou ſhalt bee with mee in Paradiſe. When thou canſt finde ſuch another day, look for ſuch another mercy; a day that cleft the Grave-ſtones of dead men; a day that cleft the Temple its ſelf; a day that the Sun durſt not ſee; a day that ſaw the Son of God (may wee not ſay ſo, ſince that man was God too) depart from man. There ſhall bee no more ſuch dayes, and therefore preſume not of that voice, bodie, this day thou ſhalt bee with mee, if thou make thy laſt minute that day; though Chriſt to magnifie his mercy, and his glory, and to take away all occaſion of abſolute deſperation, did here call the Theef unto him when hee was at the laſt gaſp.

Novit Deus vulnerare ad amar • m.

Auguſt.

THe Lord, and only the Lord knows how to wound us, out of love; more than that, how to wound us into love; more than all that, to wound us into love, not onely with him that wounds us, but into love with the wound its ſelfe, with the very affliction that hee inflicts upon us. The Lord knows how to ſtrike us ſo, as that wee ſhall lay hold upon that hand, that ſtrikes us, and kiſs that hand that wounds us; Ad vitam interficit, ad exaltationem proſternit, ſaith the ſame Father, No man kills his enemy becauſe his enemy might have a better life in Heaven, that is not his end in killing him. It is Gods end, who therefore brings us to death, that by that gate hee might lead us into life everlaſting. Ask of mee, ſaith God to Chriſt, Pſal. 2. 8. and I will give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance. Now how was Chriſt to uſe theſe Heathen when hee had them? Why thus, Thou ſhalt bruiſe them with a rod of iron, and break them in peeces like a Potters veſſel. Now God meant well to the Nations in thus breaking and bruiſing them: God intended not an annihilation of the Nations, but a reformation; for Chriſt asks the Nations for an Inheritance, not for a Triumph; therefore it is intended of his way of governing them, and his way is to bruiſe and beat them: that is, firſt to caſt them down, before hee can raiſe them up; firſt to break them, before hee can make them into his faſhion.

Facies Dei eſt quâ Deus nobis innoteſcit.

Auguſt.

THat is the face of God to us, by which God manifeſts himſelf to us, God manifeſts himſelfe to us in the word and Sacraments: If wee ſee not them in their true lines and colours (the word, ſincerely and religiouſly preached and adminiſtred) wee do not ſee them, but masks upon them; and if wee do not ſee them, wee do not ſee the face of Chriſt. And I could as well ſtand under his neſcio vos, which hee ſaid to the negligent Virgins, I know you not, or his neſcivi vos, which hee ſaid to thoſe that boaſt of their works, I never knew you, Matth. 7. 22. as under this fearful thunder of his mouth, You ſhall ſee my face no more: I will abſolutely withdraw, or I will ſuffer prophaneneſs to enter into thoſe means of your Salvation, Word, and Sacraments, which I have ſo long continued in their ſincerity towards you, and you have ſo long abuſed. Bleſſed God, ſay not to us yet, Yet let the tree grow another year before thou cut it down; and as thou haſt digged about it by bringing judgements upon our neighbours, ſo water it with thy former rain, the dew of thy grace, and with thy latter rain, the tears of our contrition, that wee may ſtill ſee thy face here, and hereafter; here in thy Kingdome of Grace, hereafter in thy Kingdome of Glory.

Reperit Deus nocentes,

ſaith Theocritus, who was an Heathen.

IN which ſaying the natural man hath a firſt, and a ſecond leſſon: Firſt, That ſince God findes out the Malefactor, he never ſcapes; and then ſince God doth finde him at laſt, God ſought him all the while: though God ſtrike late, yet hee purſued him long before, and many a man feels the ſting in his conſcience, before hee feels the blow in his body; that God findes, and therefore ſeeks, that God overtakes, and therefore purſues, that God overthrows, and therefore reſiſt, the wicked is a natural concluſion, as well as a divine. So that for this Doctrine a man needs not bee preached unto, a man needs not bee Catechized; a man needs not read the Father's, nor the Councels, nor the School-men, nor the Eccleſiaſtical ſtory, nor Summiſts, nor Caſuiſts, nor Canoniſts, no nor the Bible its ſelf for this Doctrine. For this Doctrine that God findes out the guilty perſon, the natural man hath as full a Library in his boſome as the Chriſtian.

Non judicandum de cru • e ſecundum preoedicamentum quantitatis ſed relationis.

Luther.

VVE muſt not judge of a calamity by the predicament of quantity, but by the predicament of relation; to what God refers that calamity, and what hee intends in it. It was a wiſe and a pious counſel that Gamaliel gave that ſtate, Abſtinete, Act. 5. 33. forbear a while, give God Sea-room, give him his latitude, and you may finde that you miſtook at firſt; for God hath divers ends by inflicting calamities, and he that judges haſtily, may ſoon miſtake Gods purpoſe. It is a notable expreſſion which the Holy Ghoſt hath put into the mouth of Naomi, Ruth 1. 19. Call not mee Naomi, ſaid ſhee there, Naomi is lovely, and loving, and beloved; but call mee Mara, ſaid ſhee, Mara is bitterneſs; but why ſo? For, ſaid ſhee, the Lord hath dealt very bitterly with mee; bitterly, and very bitterly; but yet ſo he hath with many that he loves full well. It is true ſaid Naomi, but there is more in my caſe than ſo; The Almighty hath afflicted mee, and the Lord hath teſtified againſt mee; teſtified, there is my miſery; that is, done enough, given evidence enough, for others to beleeve, and to ground a judgement upon it, that hee hath abandoned mee, utterly forſaken mee for ever. Yet God meant well to Naomi for all this teſtification, and howſoever others might miſ-interpret Gods proceeding with her.

A Deo doctus non ſolùm, divina diſcit, ſed divina patitur.

Dionyſ. Arcopag.

HE that is throughly taught by Chriſt, doth not onely beleeve all that Chriſt ſayes, but confirms him to all that Chriſt did, and is ready to ſuffer as Chriſt ſuffered. Truly, if it were poſſible to fear any defect of joy in heaven, all that could fall into my fear, would bee but this, that in heaven I can no longer expreſs my love by ſuffering for my God, my Saviour, a greater joy cannot enter into my heart than this, to ſuffer for him that ſuffered for mee. It is ſaid. Matth. 24. 30. That at the day of judgement ſhall appear in heaven the ſign of the Son of man; this is frequently, ordinarily received of the Fathers, to bee intended of the Croſs; that before Chriſt himſelf appear, his ſign, the Croſs, ſhall appear in the Clouds. Now though the ſign of the Son of man may bee ſome other thing than the Croſs, yet of this ſign the Croſs, there may bee this good application, that when God affords thee this manifeſtation of his Croſs in the participation of thoſe croſſes and calamities that he ſuffered here, then thou haſt this ſign of the Son of man upon thee, conclude to thy ſelf, that the Son of man, Chriſt Jeſus, is coming towards thee, and as thou haſt the ſign, thou ſhalt have the ſubſtance, as thou haſt the croſs, thou ſhalt have the glory; For this is that which the Apoſtle intends, Phil. 1. 29. Unto you it is given (not laid upon you as a puniſhment, but given as a benefit) not onely to beleeve in Chriſt, but to ſuffer for Chriſt. Where the Apoſtle ſeems to make our croſſes a kinde of aſſurance, as well as our faith: For ſo hee argues not onely to beleeve, but to ſuffer; for howſoever faith is a full evidence yet our ſuffering is a new ſeal even upon that faith.

Et cum blandinis pater es, & pater es cum coedis.

Auguſt.

I Feel the hand of a Father upon mee when thou ſtroakeſt mee; and when thou ſtrikeſt mee, I ſee the hand of a Father too. I know thy meaning when thou ſtroakeſt, it is leſt I ſhould faint under thy hand; and I know thy meaning when thou ſtrikeſt mee, it is leſt I ſhould not know thine hand: As God ſaw that way proſper in the hand of Abſalom, 2 Sam. 14. 30. hee ſent for Joab, and Joab came not, hee came not when hee ſent a ſecond time, but when the meſſengers came to burn up his corn, then hee came, and then hee complied with Abſalom, and ſeconded, and accompliſhed his deſires: So God calls us in his own outward Ordinances, and a ſecond time in his temporal bleſſings, and we come not, but we come the ſooner, if he burn our corn, if hee draw us by afflicting us.

Contemptu famae contemnuntur & virtutes,

was ſo well ſaid by Tacitus, that it is pity St. Auguſt. ſaid it not.

THey that neglect the good opinion of others, neglect thoſe vertues which ſhould produce that good opinion; therefore St. Jerome proteſts to abhor that paratum de trivio, as hee calls it, that vulgar, that ſtreet, that dunghil language, as long as my own conſcience reproaches me of nothing, I care not what all the world ſayes; wee muſt care what the world ſayes, and ſtudy that it may ſpeak well of us. For though it is true, that a fair reputation, a good opinion of men, is not a foundation to build upon, yet it is a fair ſtone in the building, and ſuch a ſtone as every man is bound to provide himſelf of: For, for the moſt part moſt men are ſuch, as moſt men take them to bee, neminem omnes, nemo omnes fefellit, all the world never joyned to deceive one man, nor was ever any one man ever able to deceive the whole world.

Scinditur incertum ſtudia in contraria vulgus.

Virgil.

THe Poet here layes the greateſt lenity, and change that can bee laid to this kinde of people, that is, in contraria, that they change from one extream to another; where the Poet doth not onely mean that the people will bee of divers opinions from one another; for, for the moſt part they are not ſo; for, for the moſt part, they think, and wiſh, and love, and hate together; and they do all by example, as others do, and upon no other reaſon, but therefore becauſe others do. Neither was that Poet ever bound up by his words, that hee ſhould ſay in contraria, becauſe a more milde word would not ſtand in his verſe; but hee ſaid it, becauſe it is really true, the people will change into ſundry opinions. And whereas an Angel its ſelf cannot paſs from Eaſt to Weſt, from extream to extream without touching upon the way between; the people will paſs from extream to extream, without any middle opinion. Laſt minutes murtherer, is this minutes God, and in an inſtant Paul whom they ſent to bee judged in hell, is made a judge in heaven, Act. 28. 6. the people will change; therefore as David could ſay, I will not bee afraid of ten thouſand of men, Pſal. 3. 6. So hee ſhould ſay, I will not confide in ten thouſand men, though multiplied by millions, for they will change. Wee finde in the Roman ſtory many examples (particularly in Commod us his time, upon Cleander, chief Gentleman of his chamber) of ſevere executions upon men that have courted the people, though in way of charity, and giving them corn in the time of dearth, or upon like occaſions; there is danger in getting them, occaſioned by jealouſie of others; there is difficulty in holding them, occaſioned by lenity in themſelves; therefore wee muſt ſay with the Prophet Jer. 17. 5. Curſed bee the man that truſteth in man.

Sequamur patres tanquam duces no • tanquam dominos.

Cajetan.

LEt us follow the Fathers as guides, not as Lords over our underſtandings; as Counſellors, not as Commanders. It is too much to ſay of any Father, that which Nicephorus ſayes of Chryſoſtome; In illius perinde atque in Dei verbis acquieſco, I am as ſafe in Chryſoſtomes words as in the word of God. It is too much to ſay of St. Peter himfelf, that which Chryſologus ſayes, that hee is Immobile fundamentum ſalutis, the immovable foundation of our ſalvation; & Mediator noſter ad Deum, the Mediator of man to God. The holy Patriarchs in the Old Teſtament were holy men, though they ſtrayed into ſome ſinful actions: The holy Fathers in the primitive Church, were holy men, though they ſtrayed into ſome erroneous opinions; but neither are the holieſt mens actions, alwayes holy, nor the ſoundeſt Fathers opinions, alwayes ſound.

Molius eſt mihi non eſſe quàm fine Jeſu eſſe.

Aug.

I Were better have no being, than bee without Jeſus: I were better have no life, than any life without him. For as David could finde no being without Jehovah, a Chriſtian findes no life without Jeſus. For what Jehovah was to David, Jeſus is to us. Man in general hath relation to God as hee is Jehovah, being wee have relation unto Chriſt, as hee is Jeſus our ſalvation; ſalvation is our being, Jeſus is our Jehovah; and therefore as David delights himſelf with that name Jehovah, for hee repeats it eight or nine times Pſal. 6. a ſhort Pſalm. And though hee ask things of a diverſe nature at Gods hands, though hee ſuffer afflictions a diverſe nature from Gods hands, yet ſtill hee retains that one name, hee ſpeaks to God in no other name in all that Pſalm, but in the name of Jehovah. So in the New Teſtament, hee which may bee compared with David, becauſe hee was under great ſins, and yet in great favour with God; St. Paul, hee delights himſelf with that Name of Jeſus ſo much, as that St. Jerome ſaith, as he loved him exceſſively, ſo hee named him ſuperabundantly. It is the Name that coſt God moſt, and therefore hee loves it beſt. It coſt him his life to bee a Jeſus, a Saviour. The Name of Chriſt which is anointed, hee had by office, hee was anointed as King, as Prieſt, as Prophet; but his name of Jeſus a Saviour, hee had by purchaſe, and that purchaſe coſt him his blood. Of a devout uſe of this very name do ſome of the Fathers interpret that Oleum effuſum nomen tuum, that the Name of Jeſus ſhould bee ſpread as an oyntment, breathed as a perfume, diffuſed as a ſoul over all the petitions of our prayers, as the Church concludes for the moſt part all her Collects ſo, Grant this, O Lord, for our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſts ſake.

Nihil de cauſâ ſuâ deprecatur, qui nihil de conditione ſuâ miratur.

Tertul.

IN which the Father deſcribes a patience of ſteel, and an invincible temper. Hee means that the Chriſtians in thoſe times of perſecution, did never intreat the Judge for favour, becauſe it was not ſtrange to them to ſee themſelves, whoſe converſation was in Heaven, deſpiſed, and condemned upon earth. They wondred not at their miſery, they thought it a part of their profeſſion, a part of the Chriſtian Religion to ſuffer, and therefore they never ſolicited the Judge for favour; they had learnt by experience of daily tribulation the Apoſtles leſſon, Think it not ſtrange when tribulations and tentations fall; that is, make that your daily bread, and you ſhall never ſtarve, uſe your ſelves to ſuffering, at leaſt to the expectation of ſuffering, acquaint your ſelves with that, accuſtome your ſelves to that before it come, and it will not bee a ſtranger to you when it cornes.

Sanctus in irâ Dei emendari non vult, erudiri non vult.

Auguſt.

A Saint is loath to fall into Gods hands, loath to come into Gods fingers at all when hee is angry; hee would not bee diſputed with all, nor impleaded, nor corrected; no, not inſtructed, not amended by God in his anger. The anger of God is ſuch a Pedagogy, ſuch a Cat • chi • m, ſuch a way of teaching as the Law was. The Law is a School-maſter, ſaith the Apoſtle, but the Law is ſuch a School-maſter, as brings not a rod, but a ſword. Gods anger ſhould inſtruct us, but if wee uſe it not aright, it hardens us. Though Gods anger bee one of his wayes, yet it is ſuch a way as you may eaſily ſtumble in, and as you would certainly periſh without that way, ſo you may eaſily periſh in that way. For when a ſinner conſiders himſelf to bee under the anger of God, naturally, hee conceives ſuch a horror as puts him farther off. As ſoon as Adam heard the voyce of God, and in an accent of anger, or as hee tuned it in his guilty conſcience to an accent of anger, when Adam heard God but walking in the Garden, but the noiſe of his going, and approaching towards him, Adam fled from his preſence, and hid himſelf among the trees. Much more then if the Lord come in anger, if hee ſpeak in anger, if hee do but look in anger, a ſinner periſhes: Hee did but look, and hee diſſolved, hee melted the Nations, Hab. 3. 6. David was an obſequious patient to take any phyſick at Gods hand, if there were no anger in the cup. He provokes God with all his emphatical words, Judge mee, prove mee, try mee, examine mee, Pſal. 26. 1. bring not onely a candle to ſearch, but even fire to melt mee. But upon what confidence is all this? For thy loving kindneſs is ever before mine eyes. If Gods anger, and not his loving kindneſs had been before his eyes, it had been a fearfull apparition, and a dangerous iſſue to have gone upon. So alſo Pſal. 139. 23. Try mee, O God, and know my heart. But how concludes hee? And lead mee in the right way for ever. As long as I have God by the hand, and feel his loving care of mee, I can admit any weight of his hand, any furnace of his heating. Let God mould mee, and then melt mee again; let God make mee, and then break mee again; as long as hee eſtabliſhes, and maintains a rectifed aſſurance in my ſoul, that at laſt hee means to make mee a veſſel of honour to his glory, howſoever hee rebuke, or chaſtiſe mee, yet hee will not rebuke mee in anger.

In ſcalâ prima aſcenſio eſt ab humo.

Baſil.

HE that makes but one ſtep up a ſtair, though he be not got much nearer to the top of the houſe, yet he is got from the ground, and delivered from the foulneſs and dampneſs of that. So in Davids firſt ſtep of prayer, Pſal. 6. 2, 3. O Lord bee merciful unto mee; Though a man bee not eſtabliſhed in heaven, yet hee is ſtepped from the world, and the miſerable comforters thereof. There are certain ſteps and aſcenſions of the ſoul in prayer; and though a ſinner may grow up to this ſtrength of devotion, to ſupplications, to prayers, to interceſſions, to thankſgivings, yet at firſt, when hee comes firſt to deprehend himſelf in a particular ſin, or in a courſe of fin, hee comes baſhfully, ſhamefully, tremblingly, hee knows not what to ask, hee dares ask no particular thing at Gods hand, but though hee bee not come yet to particular requeſts for pardon of paſt ſins, nor for ſtrength againſt future, not to a particular conſideration of the weight of his ſins, nor to a compariſon betwixt his ſin, and the mercy of God, yet hee comes to a Miſerere mei Domine, to a ſudden ejaculation, O Lord bee merciful unto mee, how dare I do this in the ſight of my God?

And thus likewiſe in the regeneration of a ſinner, though hee come not preſently to look God fully in the face, nor conceive nor prefently an aſſurance of an eſtabliſhed reconciliation, a fulneſs of pardon, a cancelling of all former debts in an inſtant; though hee dare not come to touch God, and lay hold of himſelf by his body and blood in the Sacrament, yet the Evangeliſt calls thee to a contemplation of much comfort to thy ſoul, in certain preparatory acceſſes and approaches. Behold, ſaith hee, that is, look up, and conſider thy pattern, behold a woman difeaſed, &c. Matth. 9. 20. ſhee knew there was vertue to come out of his body, and ſhee came as neer that as ſhee durſt; ſhee had a deſire to ſpeak, but ſhee went no further, but to ſpeak to her ſelf, ſhee ſaid to her ſelf, ſaith that Goſpel, If I may but touch; but Chriſt Jeſus ſupplied all, performed all on his part abundantly. Preſently he turned about, ſayes the Text; and this was not a tranſitory glance, but a full ſight, and exhibiting of himſelf to the fruition of her eye, that ſhee might ſee him: Hee ſaw her ſaid St. Matthew here, hee did direct himſelf upon others, and leave out her; and then hee ſpake to her to overcome her baſhfulneſs; hee called her daughter, to overcome her diffidence; hee bids her bee of good comfort for ſhee had met a more powerful Phyſitian than thoſe upon whom ſhee had ſpent her time, and her eſtate; one that could cure her, one that would, one that had already, for ſo hee ſaid preſently, Thy faith hath made thee whole; From how little a ſpark, how great a fire; from how little a beginning, how great a proceeding? Shee deſired but the hem of his garment, and had all him.

De infirmitate blandimur, & ut liberius peccemus libenter infirmamur.

Bernard.

VVE flatter our ſelves with an opinion of weakneſs, and wee are glad of this natural and corrupt weakneſs, that wee may impute all our licentiouſneſs, to our weakneſs and natural infirmity. But did that excuſe Adam, ſaid that Father, that hee took his occaſion of ſinning from his weaker part, from his wife; that thou art weak of thy ſelf, is a juſt motive to induce God to bring thee to himſelf, who hath ſurely born all thine infirmities. But to leave him again, when hee hath brought thee, to refuſe ſo light and eaſie a yoak as his is, not to make uſe of that ſtrength which he by his grace offers thee; This is not the affection of the Spouſe when the perſon languiſhes for the love of Chriſt, but it is when the love of Chriſt languiſhes in that perſon. The former weakneſs is a good motive for mercy, if in a deſire of further ſtrength wee come to that of Lazarus his ſiſters to Chriſt, Behold Lord that ſoul whom thou loveſt, and hast dyed for, is weak and languiſhes; Chriſt anſwered then, This weakneſs is not unto death, but that the Son of God might bee glorified, Joh. 11. 3. hee will ſay ſo to thee too, if thou preſent thy weakneſs with a deſire of ſtrength from him, hee will ſay, Why will yee dye of this diſeaſe? Gratia mea ſufficit, you may recover for all this, you may repent, you may abſtain from this ſin, you may take this ſpiritual phyſick, the word, the Sacraments, if you will, onely as God ſaid to Joſhua, bee valiant, and fight againſt it, and thou ſhalt finde ſtrength grow in the uſe thereof.

Acceptus in gratiam, hilariter veni ad poſtulationes.

Bernard.

VVHen thou art eſtabliſhed in favour, thou mayeſt make any ſuit; When thou art poſſeſt of God by one prayer, thou mayeſt offer more; This is a Religious inſinuation, and a circumvention that God loves, when a ſinner husbands his graces ſo well, as to grow rich under them, and to make his thanks for one bleſſing, a reaſon and an occaſion of another; ſo to gather upon God by a rolling trench, and by a winding ſtair, as Abraham gained upon God in the behalf of Sodome; for this is an act of the wiſdome of the Serpent, which our Saviour recommends unto us in ſuch a Serpentine line, as the Artiſts call it; to get up to God, and get into God by ſuch degrees, as David doth, Pſal. 6. 2. from a miſerere, to a ſa • a, from a gracious look, to a perfect recovery; from the act of the Levite that looked upon the wounded man, to the act of the Samaritan that undertook his cure; from deſiring God to viſit him as a friend, to ſtudy him as a Phyſitian.

Medicinae ars a Deo data, ut inde rationem animae curandae diſceremus.

Baſil.

GOds purpoſe in giving us the ſcience of bodily health, was not determined in the body, but his large and gracious purpoſe, was by that reſtitution of the body, to raiſe us to the conſideration of ſpiritual health. When Chriſt had ſaid to him who was ſick of the Palſie, Mark. 2. Thy ſins are forgiven thee: And that the Scribes and Phariſees were ſcandalized with that as though hee being but man, had uſurped upon the power of God; Chriſt proves to them by an actual reſtoring of his bodily health, that hee could reſtore his ſoul too in the forgiveneſs of ſins. Hee asks them there Whether it is eaſi • r to ſay thy ſins are forgiven thee, or to ſay, Ariſe, take up thy bed and walk. Chriſt did not determine his doctrine in the declaration of a miraculous power exerciſed upon his body, but by that eſtabliſhed their beleef of his ſpiritual power, in doing that which in their opinion was the greater work; purſue therefore his method of curing; and if God have reſtored thee in any ſickneſs by ſuch means, as hee of his goodneſs by natural means hath imprinted in natural Herbs and Simples, think not, that that was done onely, or ſimply, for thy bodies ſake, but that it is as eaſie for God to ſay, Thy ſins are forgiven thee, as to ſay, Take up thy bed and walk: So it is as eaſie for thee to have ſpiritual Phyſick, as bodily; becauſe that as God hath planted all thoſe medicinal Simples in the open fields for although ſome do tread them under their feet, ſo hath God depoſited and prepared ſpiritual helps, for all, though all do not make benefit of thoſe helps which are offered. Now this is Gods method, as in reſtoring bodily health, hee ſaid, Surge, tolle, ambula, Ariſe, take up thy bed, and walk: So to every ſick ſoul, whoſe cure hee undertakes he ſaith ſo too; our beds are our natural affections, theſe he doth not bid us caſt away, nor burn, nor deſtroy: Since Chriſt inveſted the nature of man, and became man, wee muſt not pretend to deveſt it, and become Angels, or flatter our ſelves in the merit of mortifications not enjoyed, or of a retiredneſs, and departing out of the world, in the world, by a withdrawing of our ſelves from the offices of mutual ſociety, or an extinguiſhing of natural affections; but Surge, ſaith our Saviour, Ariſe from this bed, ſleep not lazily in an over-indulgency to theſe affections, but Ambula, walk ſincerely in thy Calling, and thou ſhalt hear thy Saviour ſay, Non eſt infirmitas haec ad mortem, theſe affections, nay theſe concupiſcencies ſhall not deſtroy thee.

Membra etiam animae ſunt.

Baſil.

THe ſoul hath her limbs, as well as the body. Surdi audite, coeci aſpicite, ſaith God in Iſa. 42. If their ſouls had not ears and eyes, the blinde could not ſee, the deaf could not hear, and yet God calls upon the deaf, and blinde, to hear and ſee; as St. Paul ſaith to the Epheſians, The eyes of our underſtanding being inlightned; So David ſaith, Thou haſt broken the teeth, Pſal. 3. i. e. the pride, and the power, the venome, and malignity of the wicked. And thus the ſoul hath her bones too in that expreſſion of Davids, Pſal. 6. 2. for Davids bones here, were the ſtrongeſt powers and faculties of his ſoul, and the beſt actions and operations of thoſe faculties, and yet they were ſhaken; for this hereditary ſickneſs, original ſin, prevails ſo far upon us, that upon our good dayes, wee have ſome grudgings of that fever, eve • in our beſt actions wee have ſome of the leven of that ſin; ſo that if wee go about to comfort our ſelves with ſome diſpoſitions to Gods glory, which wee finde in our ſelves, with ſome ſparks of love to his Precepts, and his Commandements; with ſome good ſtrength of faith, with ſome meaſure of good works, yea with having ſomething for the name and glory of Chriſt Jeſus; yet if wee conſider what humane and corrupt affections have been mingled in all theſe, our bones will bee troubled, even thoſe that appeared to bee ſtrong works, and likely to hold out, will need a reparation, an exclamation, O Lord healtheſe too, or elſe theſe are as weak as the worſt.

Qui fine ullà intermiſsione orat honeſt à quadam impudentia, agit impndentem.

Nazian.

INceffant prayer hath the nature of impudency, wee threaten God in prayer, as Nazianzen adventures to expreſs it; hee ſaid his Siſter in the vehemency of her prayer would threaten God, ſhee came to a Religious impudency with God, and to threaten him that ſhee would never depart from his Altar, till ſhee had her petition granted; and God ſuffers this impudency and more. Prayer hath the nature of violence. In the publick prayers of the Congregation, wee beſiege God, and wee take God priſoner, and bring God to our conditions, and God is glad to bee ſtraitned by us in that ſiege. And therefore the Prophet David executed before, what the Apoſtle counſels after, pray inceſſantly. Even in his ſinging he prayed, And as St. Baſil ſaith, Etiam ſomnia justorum preces ſunt, a good mans dreams are prayers; hee prayes, and not ſleepily in his ſleep, but with a holy fervent extaſie and rapture.

Neſcit diabolus quanta bona de illo fiu • t, etiqm cum ſoevit.

Auguſt.

LIttle knows the Devil how much good hee doth us when hee tempts us. For by that wee are excited to have our preſent recourſe to that God whom in our former ſecurity wee neglected, who gives us the iſſue with the temptation. I know what infirmities I have ſubmitted thee to, and what I have laid and applied to thee, I know thy ſickneſs, and I know thy phyſick; whatſoever the diſeaſe bee, my grace ſhall bee ſufficient to cure it. For whether wee underſtand that de gratra miraculorum, that it is ſufficient for any mans aſſurance in any temptation or tribulation, to conſider Gods miraculous deliverances of other men in other caſes, or whether wee underſtand it according to the general voyce of Interpreters, i. e. bee content that there remain in thy fleſh matter and ſubject for mee to produce glory from thy weakneſs, and matter and ſubject for thee to exerciſe thy faith, and allegiance to mee, ſtill theſe words will carry an argument againſt the expedience of abſolute praying againſt all temptations; For ſtill this gratia mea ſufficit, will import this, amount to this, I have as many Antidotes, as the Devil hath poyſons; I have as much mercy, as the Devil hath malice▪ There muſt bee Scorpions in the world, but the Scorpion ſhall cure the Scorpion; there muſt bee temptations, but temptations ſhall adde to mine, and to thy glory. And therefore is it conduceable to Gods purpoſes in us (which is the rule of all our prayers) to pray utterly againſt all tentations as vehemeutly as againſt ſins. God ſhould loſe by it, and wee ſhould loſe by it, if wee had no tentations. For God is glorified in thoſe victories which wee by his grace gain over the Devil.

Salvus factus • s 〈◊〉 nihilo non de nihilo tamen▪

Bernard.

THou bringeſt nothing for thy ſalvation, yet ſomething to thy ſalvation, nothing worth it, but yet ſomething with it. Thy ſelf hath a part in thoſe means which God uſeth to that purpoſe, thy ſelf art the inſtrument, though not the cauſe of thine own ſalvation. Thy new creation by which thou art a new creature, i. e. thy regeneration is wrought as the firſt creation was wrought. God made heaven and earth of nothing, but hee produced the other creatures out of that matter which hee had made. Thou hadſt nothing to do in the firſt work of thy Regeneration thou couldſt not ſo much as wiſh it, but in all the reſt thou art a fellow-worker with God, becauſe before that there are ſeeds of former grace ſhed in thee.

Nullâ • o Deus perinde atque corporis aerumna conciliatur.

Nazian.

A Mo •• ning ſpirit, and an afflicted body, are great inſtruments of reconciling God to a ſinner, and they alwayes dwell at the gates of Atonement, & reſtitution and Bonaventure in the life of Chriſt reports, that the holy Virgin mother ſaid to Elizabeth, that grace doth not deſcend into the ſoul of a man but by prayer and affliction. Beſides a delicate and proſperous life is hugely contrary to the hopes of a bleſſed eternity. And certainly hee that ſadly conſiders the portion of Dives, and remembers that the account which Abraham gave him for the unavoidableneſs of his torment was, becauſe hee had his good things in this life, muſt in all reaſon with trembling, run from a courſe of banquets, and faring deliciouſly every day, as being a dangerous eſtate, and a conſignation to an evil greater than all danger, the pains and torment of unhappy ſouls. So then hee that deſires to dye well, and happily, above all things muſt bee carefull that hee do not live a ſoft delicate, and voluptuous life; but a life ſevere, holy, and under the Diſcipline of the Groſs. No man wants cauſe of tears, and daily ſorrow. Let every man conſider what hee feels, and acknowledge his miſery; let him confeſs his ſin, and chaſtiſe it; let him long and ſigh for the joyes of heaven; let him tremble and fear becauſe hee hath deſerved the pains of hell; let him commute his eternal fear, with a temporal ſuffering, preventing Gods judgement by paſſing one of his own; let him groan for the labours of his pilgrimage, and the dangers of his warfare, and by that time, hee hath ſummed up all theſe labours, and duties, and contingencies, all the proper cauſes, inſtruments, and acts of ſorrow, hee will finde, that for a ſecular joy and wantonneſs of ſpirit, there are not left many void ſpaces of his life.

Nemo mala morte unquam moriebatur, qui libenter opera charitatis exercuit.

St. Hieron.

THis the Father with all his reading, and experience verifies. I do not remember to have read that any charitable perſon ever dyed an evill death; and although a long experience hath obſerved Gods mercies to deſcend upon charitable people, like the dew upon Gideons fleece, when all the world was dry; yet for this alſo wee have a promiſe which is not onely an argument of a certain number of years, but a ſecurity for eternal ages, Luke 16. 9. Make yee friends of, &c. When faith fails, and chaſtity is uſeleſs, and temperance ſhall bee no more, then charity ſhall bear you upon wings of Cherubims to the eternal Mountain of the Lord. I have been a lover of mankinde, and a friend, and merciful, and now I expect to communicate in that great kindneſs, which hee ſhews that is the great God, and Father of men and mercies, ſaid Cyrus the Perſian on his death-bed. Now I do not mean this ſhould onely bee a death-bed charity, any more than a death-bed repentance, but it ought to bee the charity of our life and healthfull years, a parting of a portion of our goods, then when wee can keep them, when wee cannot then kindle our lights, when wee are to deſcend into our houſes of darkneſs, or bring a glaring torch ſuddenly to a dark room that will amaze the eye, and not delight it, or inſtruct the body; but if our rapers have in their conſtant courſe deſcended into their grave, crowned all the way with light, then l • t the death-bed charity be doubled, and the light burn brighteſt when it is to deck our Herſe.

Prima quae vitam dedit h • ra carpſit.

Seneca.

VVHen Adam fell, then hee began to dye; the ſame day (ſo ſaid God) and that muſt needs hee true; and ſo it muſt mean that upon that very day hee fell into an evill and dangerous condition, a ſtate of change and affliction; then death began, i. e. the man began to dye by a natural diminution and ap • neſs to diſeaſe and miſery; his firſt ſtate was, and ſhould have been ſo long as it laſted a happy duration; his ſecond was a daily and miſerable change, and this was the dying properly: This appears in the great inſtance of damnation, which in the ſtile of Scripture is called eternal death, not becauſe it kills of ends the duration, it hath not ſo much good in it, but becauſe it is a perpetual infelicity, change or ſeparation of ſoul and body, is but accidental to death. Death may bee with, or without either; but the formality, the curſe and ſting of death, i. e. miſery, ſorrow, anguiſh, diſhonour, and whatſoever is miſerable, and afflictive in nature, that is death: Death is not an action, but a whole ſtate and condition, and this was firſt brought in upon us by the offence of one man. But now though this death entred firſt upon us by Adams fault, yet it came nearer unto us, and increaſed upon us by the ſins of more of our forefathers. For Adams ſin left us in ſtrength enough to contend with humane calamities, for almoſt a thouſand years together: but the ſins of his children, our forefathers, took off from us half the ſtrength about the time of the flood; and then fell off from five hundred to two hundred and fifty, and from thence to an hundred and twenty, and from thence to threeſcore and ten ſo often halfing it, till it is almoſt come to nothing; ſo that wee have not now time enough to get the perfection of a ſingle manufacture, but ten or twelve Generations of the world muſt go to the making up of one wiſe man, or one excellent art; and in that ſucceſſion of thoſe ages, there happens ſo many changes and interruptions, ſo many wars and violencies▪ that ſeven years fighting, ſets a whole Kingdome back in learning and vertue, to which they were creeping, it may bee a whole 〈◊〉 .

Debilem facito manu, debiem pede, lubricos quatedent •• , vita dum ſupereſt bene eſt.

Sen.

THe Gout, the Stone, and the Tooth-ach, the Sciatica, ſore eyes, and aking head, are evils indeed; but ſuch, which rather than dye, moſt men are willing to ſuffer; and Mecaenas added alſo a wiſh rather to bee crucified than to dye, and though his wiſh was low, timorous, and baſe, yet wee finde the ſame deſires in moſt men dreſſed up with better circumſtances. It was a cruel mercy in Tamberlane, who commanded all the leprous perſons to bee put to death, as wee knock ſome beaſts on their head to put them out of pain, and leſt they ſhould live miſerably. The poor men would rather have endured another leproſie, and have more willingly taken two diſeaſes than one death. Never therefore account that ſickneſs intolerable, in which thou hadſt rather remain than dye; and yet if thou hadſt rather dye than ſuffer it, the worſt of it that can bee ſaid, is this, that this ſickneſs is worſe than death, i. e. it is worfe than that which is the beſt of all evils, and the end of all troubles, and then you have ſaid no harm againſt it.

Levius fit patientia quicquid corrigere eſt nefas.

Horat.

ALl impatience howſoever expreſſed, is perfectly uſeleſs to all purpoſes of eaſe, but hugely effective to the multiplying of ſorrow, and the impatience and vexation is another, but the ſharper diſeaſe of the two; it doth miſchief by its ſelf, and miſchief by the diſeaſe. For men grieve themſelves as much as they pleaſe; and when by impatience they put themſelves into the reti • ue of ſorrows, they become ſolemn mourners. Maſſurius Sabinus tells, that the image of the goddeſs Aug •••• • was with a muffler upon her mouth, placed upon the Altar of Volupi •• , to repreſent that thoſe perſons who bear their ſickneſſes and ſorrows, without murmure, ſhall certainly paſs from ſorrow to pleaſure, and the eaſe and honours of felicity, but they that with ſpite, and indignation bite the burning cole, or ſhake the yoak upon their necks, gall their ſpirits, and fret the skin, and hurt nothing but themſelves.

Nolo, quod cupio, ſtatim tenere, nec victoria mî plaoet parata.

Petron.

SIckneſs is in ſome ſenſe eligible, becauſe it is the opportunity, and the proper ſcene of exerciſing ſome vertues. It is that agony in which men are tried for a Crown; and if wee remember what glorious things are ſpoken of the grace of faith, that it is the life of juſt men, the reſtitution of the dead in treſ paſſes and ſins, the juſtification of a ſinner, the ſupport of the weak, the confidence of the ſtrong, the Magazine of promiſes, and the title to very glorious rewards. Wee may eaſily imagine that it muſt have in it a work, and a difficulty in ſome proportion anſwerable to ſo great effects: And therefore if you will try the excellency, and feele the work of faith, place the man in a perſecution, let him ride in a ſtorm, let his bones bee broken with ſorrow, and his eyelids looſened with ſickneſs, let his bread be dipped in tears, and all the daughters of Muſick brought low; let God commence a quarrel againſt him, and bee bitter in the accent of his anger, or his Diſcipline, then God tries your faith. Can you then truſt his goodneſs, and beleeve him to bee a Father when you groan under his rod. For in our health, and clearer dayes, it is eaſie to talk of putting truſt in God. Wee readily truſt him for life when wee are in health; for proviſions when wee have fair revenues; and for deliverance when wee are newly eſcaped; But let us come to ſit upon the margent of our grave, and let a Tyrant lean hard upon our fortunes; let the ſtorm ariſe, and the keels toſs till the cordage crack, or that all our hopes bulge under us, and deſcend into the hollowneſs of ſad misfortunes, then can you beleeve when you neither hear, nor ſee, nor feel anything but objections? Faith is then brought into the Theatre, and ſo exerciſed, that if it abides but to the end of the contention, wee may ſee the work of faith which God will highly crown. The ſame I ſay of hope, and of charity, or the love of God, and of patience, which is a grace produced from the mixtures of all theſe, they are vertues which are greedy of danger. And no man was ever honoured by any wiſe, or diſcerning perſon for dining upon Perfian Carpets, nor rewarded with a Crown for being at eaſe. It was the Sire that did honour to Mutiu • Scoevola, poverty made Fabritius famous, Rutilius was made excellent by baniſhment, Regulus by torments, Socrates by a priſon, Cato by his death, and God hath crowned the memory of Job with a wreath of glory, becauſe hee ſate upon his dung-hil wiſely and temperately; and his potſherd, and his groans mingled with praiſes, and juſtifications of God, pleaſed him like an anthem, ſung by Angels in the morning of the Reſurrection.

Marcet virtus fine adverſario.

Cicero.

GOd loves to ſee us ſtrugling with a diſeaſe, and reſiſting the Devil, and conteſting againſt the weakneſſes of nature, and againſt hope to beleeve in hope, reſigning our ſelves to Gods will, praying him to chooſe for us, and dying in all things but faith, and its bleſſed conſequents. For ſo have I known the boyſterous North-winde paſſe through the yeelding aire which opened its boſome, and appeaſed its violence, by entertaining it with eaſie compliance in all the Regions of its reception. But when the ſame breath of heaven hath been checked with the ſtifneſs of a Tower, or the united ſtrength of a wood, it grew mighty, and dwelt there, and made the higheſt branches ſtoop, and make a ſmooth path for it on the top of all its glories. So is ſickneſs, and ſo is the grace of God. When ſickneſs hath made the difficulty, then Gods grace hath made a triumph, and by doubling its power, hath created new proportions of a reward, and then ſhews its biggeſt glory, when it hath the greateſt difficulty to maſter, the greateſt weakneſſes to ſupport, the moſt buſie temptations to conteſt with. For ſo God loves that his ſtrength ſhould bee ſeen in our weakneſs, and our danger.

Deteſtabilis eſt coecitas, ſi nemo oculos perdiderit niſi cui eruendi ſunt.

Senec.

BLindneſs were a moſt accurſed thing, if no man were ever blinde but hee whoſe eyes are pulled out with tortures, or burning bafons: And if ſickneſs were alwayes a teſtimony of Gods anger, and a violence to a mans whole condition, then it were a huge calamity; but becauſe God ſends it to his ſervants, to his children, to little infants, to Apoſtles, and Saints, with deſignes of 〈◊〉 to preſerve their innocence, to over •• ome tentation, to try their vertue, to fit them for rewards, it is certain that ſickneſs never is an evill, but by our own faults; and if wee will do our duty, wee ſhall bee ſure to turn it into a bleſſing. If the ſickneſs bee great, it may end in death, and the greater it is, the ſooner; and if it bee very little, it hath great intervals of reſt; if it bee between both, wee may bee Maſters of it, and by ſerving the ends of providence, ſerve alſo the perfective end of humane nature, and enter into the poſſeſſion of everlaſting mercies. However, if all the calamities were true concerning ſickneſs, with which it is aſperſed, yet is it far to bee preferred before the moſt pleaſant fin, and before a great ſecular buſineſs, and a temporal care; and ſome men • wake as much in the foldings of the ſofteſt beds, as others on the croſs, and ſometimes the very weight of ſorrow, and the wearineſs of ſickneſs preſſes the ſpirit into ſlumbers, and images of reſt, when the intemperate, or the luſtfull perſon rolls upon his uneaſie thorns, and ſleep is departed from his eyes.

Solatium eſt pro honeſto dura tolerare, & ad cauſam patientia reſpicit.

Senec.

IN all ſufferings, the cauſe of it makes it noble, or ignoble, tolerable, or intolerable. For when patience is aſſaulted by a ruder violence, by a blow from heaven or earth, from a gracious God, or an unjuſt man, patience looks forth to the doors which way ſhee may eſcape: And if innocence, or a cauſe of Religion keep the firſt entrance, then whether ſhee eſcapes at the gates of life, or death, there is a good to bee received, greater than the evils of a ſickneſs; but if ſin thruſt in that ſickneſs, and that hell ſtands at the door, then patience turns into fury; and ſeeing it is impoſſible to go forth with ſafety, rowls up and down with a circular and infinite revolution, making its motion not from, but upon its own center, it doubles the pain, and increaſes the ſorrow, till by its weight it breaks the ſpirit, and burſts into the agonies of infinite and eternal ages. If wee had ſeen St. Polycarp burning to death, or St. Lawrence roſting upon his gridiron, or St. Ignatiu • expoſed to Lions, or St. Sebaſtian pierced with arrows for the cauſe of Jeſus, for Religion, for God, for a holy conſcience, we ſhould have been in love with flames, and have thought the gridiron fairer than the marriage bed; and wee ſhould have choſen rather to converſe with thoſe beaſts, than thoſe men that brought thoſe beaſts forth, and have eſteemed Sebaſtians arrows to bee the raies of light, brighter than the Moon. For ſo did thoſe holy men account them; they kiſſed their ſtakes, and hugged their deaths, and ran violently to torments, and counted whippings, and ſecular diſgraces to bee the enamel of their perſons, and the oyntment of their heads, and the embalming their names, and ſecuring them for immortality. But to ſee Seja • us • orn in peeces by the people, or Nero crying, and creeping timorouſly to his death when he was condemned to dye, more majorum, to ſee Judas pale and trembling, full of anguiſh, ſorrow, and deſpair, to obſerve the groanings and intolerable agonies of Herod, and Antiochus, will tell and demonſtrate the cauſes of patience and impatience, to proceed from the cauſes of the ſuffering, and that it is ſin onely that makes the cup bitter and deadly.

Non eſt magnum audiri ad voluntatem non eſt magnum.

Auguſt.

BE not over-joyed when God grants thee thy prayer, the Devil had his prayer granted when hee had leave to enter into the herd of Swine, and ſo hee had when hee obtained power of God againſt Job. But all this aggravated the Devils puniſhment; ſo may it do thine, to have ſome prayers granted. And as that muſt not over-joy thee if it bee, ſo if thy prayer bee not granted, it muſt not deject thee. God ſuffered St. Paul to pray, and pray, and pray, yet after his thrice praying granted him not that hee prayed for. God ſuffered that if it be poſsible, and that let this cup paſs, to paſs from Chriſt himſelf, yet hee granted it not.

Tentemus animas quae deficiunt a fide, naturalibus rationibus adjuvare.

St. Hieron.

LEt us endeavour to aſſiſt them who are weak in faith with the ſtrength of reaſon, though God hath not given the Miniſter a power to infuſe faith into men, yet hath God put it into his power to ſatisfie the reaſon of men, and to chafe that wax to which hee himſelf vouchſafes to ſet to the great ſeal of faith. And truly it is very well worthy of a ſerious conſideration, that whereas all the Articles of our Creed are the objects of faith, ſo that wee are bound to receive them de fide, as matters of faith; yet God hath left that, out of which all theſe Articles are to bee deduced, and proved, i. e. the Scripture, to humane arguments. It is not an Article of the Creed to beleeve theſe and theſe books to bee, or not to bee Canonical Scripture, but our arguments for the Scripture are humane arguments proportioned to the reaſon of a natural man. God doth not ſeal in water, in the fluid and tranfitory imaginations and opinions of men; wee never ſet the ſeal of faith to them, but in wax, in the rectified reaſon of men, that reaſon that is ductile, and flexible, and pliant to the impreſſions that are naturally proportioned unto it, God ſets to his ſeal of faith; and therefore faith it ſelf by the Prophet Iſaiah is called knowledge, Iſa. 53. 11. By his knowledge, &c. ſaith God of Chriſt, i,e. by that knowledge that men ſhall have of him, Inſomuch that it is not enough for you to reſt in an imaginary faith, and eaſineſs in beleeving, except yee know alſo what, and why, and how you come to that beleef. Implicite beleevers, ignorant beleevers, the adverſary may ſwallow, but the underſtanding beleever, hee muſt chaw, and pick bones before hee come to aſſimilate him, and make him like himſelf. The implicite beleever ſtands in an open field, and the enemy will ride over him eaſily: The underſtanding beleever is in a fenced Town, and hee hath out-works to loſe before the Town bee preſſed, i. e. reaſons to bee anſwered, before his faith bee ſhaked; and hee will ſell himſelf dear, and loſe himſelf by inches, if hee bee ſold, or loſt at laſt.

Anima ſpiritualiter cadit & ſpiritualiter reſurge • .

Auguſt.

SInce wee are ſure that there is a ſpiritual death of the ſoul, let us make ſure a ſpiritual reſurrection too. Aud • cter dicam, ſaith St. Jerome, I ſay confidently however, God can do all things, hee cannot reſtore a Virgin that is • a • n from it to Virginity again, hee cannot do this in the body, but God is a Spirit, and hath reſerved more power upon the ſpirit and ſoul, than upon the body: And therefore I may ſay with the ſame aſſurance that St. Jerome doth; no ſoul hath ſo proſtituted her ſelf, ſo multiplied her fornications, but that God can make her a Virgin again, and give her even the chaſtity of Chriſt himſelf. Fulfill therefore what Chriſt ſaith, Joh. 5. 25. The hour is coming, and now is, &c. bee this that hour, bee-thy firſt reſurrection; bleſs Gods preſent goodneſs for this now, and attend Gods leiſure for the other reſurrection hereafter; and then doubt not but what glory ſoever thou haſt had in this world, glory inherited from noble Anceſtors, glory acquired by merit and ſervice, glory purchaſed by money, and obſervation, what glory of beauty, and proportion; what glory of health, and ſtrength ſoever thou baſt had in this houſe of clay; the glory of the latte • houſe, as it is Hag. • . 9. ſhall bee greater than of the former.

Qui peacat quatenus peccat, ſit ſeip ſo detetion.

Clem. Alex.

IN every ſin a man falls from that degree which himſelf had before. In every ſ • hee is diſhonoured, hee is not ſo good a man as hee was; impoveriſhed, hee hath not ſo great a portion of grace as hee had; infatuated, hee hath not ſo much of the true wiſdome of the fear of God as hee had; diſ • armed, hee hath not that intereſt, and confidence in the love of God that hee had; and deformed, hee hath not ſo lively a repreſentation of the image of God as before. In every ſin wee become prodigals; but in the habit of ſin wee become bankrupts, afraid to come to an account. A fall is a fearful thing, that needs a raiſing, a help; but ſin is a death, and that needs a reſurrection; and a re •• rection is as great a work as the very Creation its ſelf. It is death in ſemine in the root, it produces, it brings forth death; it is death in arbore, in the body, in its ſelf; death is a divorce, and ſo is ſin; and it is death in fructu, in the fruit thereof; ſin plants ſpiritual death, and this death produces more ſin obduration, impenitence, and the like.

Tranſeant injuriae pleraſque non accipit qui neſcit.

Seneca.

HEe that knows not of an injury, or takes no knowledge of it, for the moſt part hath no injury. But alas, how many break their ſleep in the night about things that diſquiet them in the day too, and trouble themſelves in the day about things that diſquiet them all night too. Wee diſquiet our ſelves too much in being over tender, over ſenſible of imaginary injuries. They that are too inquiſitive what other men ſay of them, they diſquiet themſelves; for that which others would but whiſper, they publiſh; and therefore that which hee adds there for moral and civil matters, holds in a good proportion in things of a more divine nature, in ſuch parts of the Religious worſhip and ſervice of God, as are not fundamental, non exp • dit om ••• vide • e, non omnia audire, wee muſt not too jealouſſy ſuſpect, nor too bitterly condemn, nor too peremptorily conclude that whatſoever is not done as wee would have it done, or as wee have ſeen it done in former times, is not well done.

Antequam unlneramur monemur.

Origen.

BEfore our enemies hit us, God gives us warning that they mean to do ſo. When God himſelf is ſo • ar incenſed againſt us, that hee is turned to bee our enemy, and to fight againſt us (it was come to that Iſa. 63. 10.) when hee hath bent his bow againſt us as an enemy (it was come to that in the Prophet Jeremy, Law. 2. 4.) yet ſtill hee gives us warning before-hand, and ſtill there comes a lightning before his thunder. God comes ſeldome to that diſpatch, a word, and a blow, but to a blow without a word, to an execution without a warning, never. Cain took offence at his brother Abel, the quarrel was Gods, becauſe hee had accepted Abels ſacrifice, therefore God joyns himſelf to Abels party; and ſo the party being too ſtrong for Cain to ſubſiſt, God would not ſurprize Cain, but hee tells him his danger, Why is thy countenance cast down? Gen. 4. 10. You may proceed if you will, but if you will needs, you will loſe by it at laſt. Saul perſecutes Chriſt in the Chriſtians, Chriſt meets him upon the way, ſpeaks to him, ſtrikes him to the ground, tells him vocally, and tells him actually, that hee hath undertaken too hard a work, in oppoſing him: This which God did to Saul reduces him; that which God did to Cain wrought not upon him, but ſtill God went his own way in both, to ſpeak before he ſtrikes, to lighten, before hee thunders; to warn, before hee wounds. In Dathan and Abi • ams caſe, God may ſeem to proceed apace towards execution, but yet it had all theſe pauſes in arreſt of judgement, and their reprieves before execution, yet when Moſes had information and evidence of their factious proceeding, hee falls not upon them, but hee falls upon his face before God, and laments, and deprecates in their behalf, hee calls them to a fair trial and examination the next day, Tomorrow the Lord will ſhew, Numb. 16. 5, and they ſaid, Wee will not come, verſ. 14. Then God upon their contumacy, when they would ſtand mute, and not plead, takes a reſolution to conſume them in a moment, and then Moſes and Aaron return to petition for them, verſ. 25. And Moſes went up to them again, and the Elders of Iſrael followed, and all prevailed not, and then Moſes comes to pronounce judgement, Theſe men ſhall not dye a common death; and after, and yet not preſently after that hee gave judgement, execution followed, verſ. 31. God opened his mouth, and Moſes his, and Aaron his, and the Elders theirs, before the earth opened hers. In all which wee ſee that God alwayes leaves a latitude between his ſentence and execution, which interim is ſphaera activitatis, the ſphere in which our repentance, and his mercy move, and direct themſelves in a benign aſpect towards one another.

Vili vendimus coelum, glauci more Chriſtiani ſumus.

Tertul.

HOw poor a clod of earth is a Mannor? How poor an inch a Shire? How poor a ſpan a Kingdome? How poor a pace the whole world, and yet how prodigally wee ſell Paradiſe, Heaven, Souls, Conſciences, Immortality, Eternity, for a few grains of this duſt. What had Eve for heaven? ſo little, as that the Holy Ghoſt will not let us know what ſhee had, nor what kinde of fruit, yet ſomething Eve had. What had Adam for heaven? but a ſatisfaction that hee had pleaſed an ill wife, as St. Jerome ſtates his fault, that fruit, ne contriſtaretur delicias ſuas, leſt hee ſhould caſt her off whom hee loved ſo much, into an inordinate dejection; but if hee ſatisfied her and his own uxoriouſneſs, any ſatisfaction is nothing. But what had I for heaven Adam ſinned, and I ſuffer, I forfeited before I had any poſſeſſion, or could claim any intereſt; I had a puniſhment before I had a being, and God was diſpleaſed with mee before I was, I was built up ſcarce fifty years ago in my mothers womb, and I was caſt down almoſt ſix thouſand years ago in Adams loyns. I was born in the laſt age of the world, and dyed in the firſt. How juſtly do wee cry out againſt a man that hath ſold a Town, or ſold an Army, and Adam ſold the World, he ſold Abraham, and Iſaac, and Jacob, and all the Patriatchs, and all the Prophets; and if Chriſt had not provided for himſelf by miraculous Generation, hee had ſold him too.

Agnoſcere nolumus quod ignorare 〈◊〉 poſſumus.

Cypri. de mortal.

THere is no meditation more ſerious, than upon the vanity of the world, no conſideration more ſeaſonable, than of the brevity and uncertainty of time it ſelf, no knowledge more wholeſome, than of the diſeaſes of the minde; no contemplation more divine, than of humane miſery and frailty. Which though wee read in the inſcription of every ſtone, ſee in the fall of everyleaf, hear in the knol of every bell, taſte in the garniſhing and fancy of every diſh, ſmell in the ſtench of every dead corpſe, feel in the beating of every pulſe; yet wee are not ſenſible of it, wee will not take knowledge of it, though wee cannot bee ignorant of it. In which conſideration the Wiſe man, whoſe words are as goads and nails, verſ. 11. pricks us deep with the remembrance hereof, ſo deep that he draws blood, ſanguinem animae, the blood of the ſoul, as St. Auſtin termeth our tears, Lachryma ſanguis animae. For who can read with dry eyes, that thoſe that look out of the windows ſhall bee darkned; who can hear without horrour, that the keepers of the houſe ſhall tremble, or conſider without ſorrow, that the daughters of Muſick ſhall bee brought low, or comment without deep fetched ſighs upon mans going to his long home, and the mourners going about the ſtreets, to waſh them with tears, and ſweep them with Roſemary.

Infans nondum loquitur, & tamen prophetat.

Auguſt. Serm. de bono pat.

IT is lamentable to hear the poor infant which cannot ſpeak, yet, to boad his own miſery, and to Prophecy of his future condition, and what are the contents of his Prophecie, but lamentations, mournings, and woes? Saint Cyprian accords with Saint Auſtin in his doleful note, Vitae mortalis anxietates, & dolores & procellas mundi quas ingreditur inexordio ſtatim ſuo ploratu, vel gemit • rudis anima teſtatur, little children newly born, take in their firſt breath with a ſigh, and come crying into the world, as ſoon as they open their eyes they ſhed tears to help fill up the vale of tears, into which they were then brought, and ſhall bee after a ſhort time carried out with a ſtream of them, running from the eyes of all their friends. And if the Prologue and Epilogue bee no better, what ſhall wee judge of the Scenes and Acts of the life of man, they yeeld ſo deep ſprings of tears, and ſuch ſtore of arguments againſt our aboad in this world, that many reading them in the books of Hegeſias the Platonick, preſently brake the priſon of their body, and leaped out of the world into the grave. Others concluded with Silenus, Optimum non naſci, proximum quam primum mori, That it was ſimply beſt never to bee born, the next to it to dye out of hand, and give the world our ſalve, and take our vale at once.

Optima quaeque dies miſeris mortalibus avi primi fluit.

Horat.

THe prime ſcope of the book of Eccleſiaſtes, is to ſtir up all Religious mindes to ſet forth towards heaven betimes, in the morning of our dayes, Chap. 12. verſ. 1. Remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth; to enter ſpeedily into a ſtrict courſe of holineſs, which will bring us to eternal happineſs, to dedicate to God and his ſervice, the prime in both ſenſes, that is the firſt, and beſt part of our time. For as in a glaſs of diſtilled water, the pureſt and thinneſt firſt runneth out, and nothing but lees and mother at the laſt; ſo it is in our time and age, our beſt dayes firſt run, and our worſt at the laſt. And ſhall wee offer that indignity to the Divine Majeſty, as to offer him the Devils leavings? Florem aetatis diabolo conſocrare, faecem Deo reſervare, to conſecrate the top to the Devil, and the bottome to God, feed the fleſh with the flower, and the ſpirit with the bran; ſerve the world with our ſtrength, and our Creator with our weakneſs, give up our luſty and able members as weapons to ſin, and our feeble and weak to righteouſneſs. Will God accept the blinde, and the lame, the lean, and the withered for a ſacrifice? How can wee remember our Creator in the dayes of our age, when our memory, and all other faculties of the ſoul are decayed? How ſhall wee bear Chriſts yoak, when the Graſhopper is a burthen unto us? when wee are not able to bear our ſelves, but now under the ſole weight of age? What delight can wee take in Gods ſervice, when care, and fear, and ſorrow, and paine, and manifold infirmities, and diſeaſes wholly poſſeſs the heart, and dead, all the vital motions, and lively affections thereof.

Senes in limine mortis, vitae ſunt avidiſſuni.

Ariſtot. de long. & brevi. avit.

IT was Ariſtotles obſervation, that old men that have their foot on deaths threſhold, would then draw back their leg if they could, and at the very inſtant of their diſſolution, are moſt defarous of the continuance of their life; and ſeeing the pleaſures of fin like the apples of Tantalus running away from them, they catch at them the more greedily, for want is the whetſtone of deſire, and experience offereth us many inſtances of old men, in whom St. Pauls old man grows young again, who according to the corruption of nature, which St. Auſtin bewayleth with tears, Malunt libidinem expleri quam extingui, they are ſo far from having no luſt or deſire of pleaſures, as being cloyed therewith, that they are more inſatiable in them than in youth; the fleſh in them are like the Peacocks, Quae cocta recrudeſcit, which after it is ſod, in time will grow raw again, ſo in them after mortification by diſeaſes and age it reviveth. Sophocles the heathen Poet, might paſs for a Saint in compariſon of them, for hee thanked God, that in his old age hee was free from his moſt imperious Miſtriſs, luſt: Theſe men on the contrary, deſire to enthral themſelves again in youthly pleaſures, and concupiſcence in them is kindled even by the defect of fewel; it vexeth them that their ſins forſake them, that through the impotency of their limbs and faculties, they cannot run into the like exceſs as in former times: Their few dayes before death, are like Shrove-tide before Lent, they take their fill of fleſh, and fleſhly deſires, becauſe they ſuppoſe that for ever after they muſt faſt from them. Thus they ſpur on their jadiſh fleſh, now unable to run her former ſtages, ſaying, Let us crown our ſelves with Roſe-buds, for they will preſently wither, let us eat and drink, for to morrow wee ſhall dye.

Reſpice ſepulchra & vide quis ſervus, quis dominus, quis dives, & quis pauper, diſcerue ſi potes vinctum a rege, fortem a debili, pulchrum a deformi.

Aug. l. de nat. & grat.

THe hand of a dead man ſtroaking the part, cures the Tympany; and certainly the conſideration of death, is a preſent means to cure the ſwelling of pride in any form in this life; many things make odds between men and women, as birth, education, wealth, alliance, and honour; but death makes all even, Reſpice ſepulchra, ſaith St. Austin, Survey mens graves, and tell mee then who is beautiful, and who is deformed. All there have hollow eyes, flat noſes, and gaſtly looks, Nereus and Thirſites cannot bee there diſtinguiſhed. Tell mee, who is rich, and who is poor; all there, wear the ſame weed, their winding ſheet: Tell mee who is noble, and who baſe and ignoble, the worms claim kindred of all: Tell mee who is well houſed, and who is ill; all there are beſtowed in dark and dankiſh rooms under ground. If this will not ſatisfie you, take a ſieve and fift the duſt and aſhes of all men, and ſhew mee which is which. I grant there is ſome difference in duſt; there is powder of Diamonds, there is gold duſt, and braſs-pin duſt, and ſawduſt, and common duſt, the powder of Diamonds reſembles the remains of Princes; gold duſt, the remains of Noble-men; pin-duſt, the remains of the Tradeſmen; ſaw-duſt the remains of the day-labourer, and common duſt, the remains of the vulgar, which have no quality or profeſſion to diſtinguiſh them, yet all is but duſt. At a game of Cheſſe, wee ſee Kings, and Queens, and Biſhops, and Knights upon the board, and they have their ſeverall walks, and conteſt one with the other in points of ſtate and honour; but when the game is done, all together with the Pawns are ſhuffled in one bag: In like manner, in this life men appear in indifferent garbs, and take divers courſes, ſome are Kings, ſome are Officers, ſome Biſhops, ſome Knights, ſome of other ranks, and orders. But when this life like a game is done, which is ſometimes ſooner, ſometimes later, all are ſhufled together with the many or vulgar ſort of people, and lye in darkneſs and obſcurity, till the laſt man is born upon the earth, but after that, Erunt ipſis quoque fata ſepulchris. The grave which hath ſwallowed up all the ſons of Adam, ſhall bee ſwallowed up it ſelf into victory.

Theodoro parum intereſt huminc an in ſublime putreſcat.

Eraſmus.

ALthough the heathen Philoſophers made little account of Burial, as appeared by the ſpeech of Theodorus to the Tyrant, who threatned to hang him: I little paſs by it whether my carcaſs putrifie above the earth, or on it. And the Poet ſeems to be of his mind, whoſe ſtrong line it was, Coelo teg • tur qui non habet urnam, which was Pompeys caſe, and had like to have been Alexanders, and William the Conquerors; yet all Chriſtians who conceive more divinely on the ſoul, deal more humanely with the body, which they acknowledge to bee membrum Chriſti, and templum Dei, a member of Chriſt, and temple of God. If charity commands thee to cover the naked, ſaith St. Ambroſe, how much more to bury the dead? When a friend is taking a long journey, it is civility for his friends to bring him on part of his way; when our friends are departed, and now going to their grave, they are taking their laſt journey, from which they ſhall never return till time ſhall bee no more; and can wee do leſs then by accompanying the corpſe to the grave, bring them as it were part on their way, and ſhed ſome few tears for them, whom wee ſhall ſee no more with mortal eyes. The Prophet calleth the grave Miſcabin, a ſleeping chamber, or reſting place; and when wee read Scriptures to them that are departing, and give them godly inſtructions to dye, wee light them as it were to their bed; and when wee ſend a deſerved teſtimony after them, wee perfume the room. Indeed if our bodies (which like garments wee caſt off at our death) were never to be worn again, wee need little care where they were thrown, or what became of them; but ſeeing they muſt ſerve us again, their faſhion being only altered, it is fit we carefully lay them up in Deaths Wardrobe, the grave; though a man after hee hath loſt a Jewel, doth leſs ſet by the casket, yet hee who loves much, and highly eſteemeth of the ſoul of his friend, as Alexander did of Homer, cannot but make ſome reckoning of the Desk and Cabinet in which it alwayes lay: Wee have a care of placing the picture of our friend, and ſhould wee not much more of beſtowing his body. If burial were nothing to the dead, God would never have threatned Coniah that hee ſhould have the burial of an Aſs, nor the Pſalmiſt ſo quavered upon this doleful note, Dederunt cadaver ſervorum tuorum coeli volucribus, O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance, thy holy Temple have they defiled, and made Jeruſalem an heap of ſtones, the dead bodies of thy ſervants have they given to the fowls of heaven.

Mors non eſt exitus ſed tranſitus & temporali itinere decurſ • ad aeterna tranſgreſſus.

Cyp. de mortal.

VVHich is verified from Rev. 14. 13. And I heard a voice from heaven &c. From whence wee may learn firſt, That if all that dye in the Lord are bleſſed, from the very moment of their death, and this bleſſedneſs is confirmed by a voyce from heaven: Let us give more heed to ſuch a voyce than to any whiſper of the fleſh or devil. Whatſoever Philoſophy argueth, or reaſon objecteth, or ſenſe excepteth againſt it: Let us give more heed to God than man, to the Spirit than to the fleſh, to faith than to reaſon, to heaven than to earth; although they who ſuffer for the teſtimony of the Goſpel ſeem to bee moſt miſerable, their skins being flayed off, their joynts racked, their whole body torn in peeces, or burned to aſhes, their good confiſcate, their arms defaced, and all manner of diſgraces put upon them: Yet they are moſt happy in heaven, by the teſtimony of heavven it ſelf, the malice of their enemies cannot reach ſo high as heaven, it cannot touch them much there, much leſs awake them out of their ſweet ſleep in Jeſus.

Secondly, If the dead are bleſſed in compariſon of the living, let us not ſo glew our thoughts, and affections to the world, and the comforts thereof, but that they may eaſily bee ſevered, for there is no compariſon between the ſtate of the godly in this life, and in the life • o come, for here they labour for reſt, there they reſt from their labour; here they expected; here they hunger, and thirſt for righteouſneſs, there they are ſatisfied; here they are continually afflicted, either for their ſins, or with their ſins, and they have continual cauſe to ſhed tears, either for the calamities of Gods people, or the ſtroaks they themſelves receive from God, or the wounds they give themſelves; there all tears are wiped from their eyes: Here they are alwayes troubled either with the evils they fear, or the fear of evil; but when they go hence, death ſets a period to all fear, cares, ſorrows, and dangers. And therefore Solon ſpeaketh divinely, when hee taught Croeſus that hee ought to ſuſpend his verdict of any mans happineſs till hee ſaw his end.

Laſtly, If all that dye in Chriſt are bleſſed, as a voyce from heaven aſſureth us, wee do wrong to heaven if wee account them miſerable, wee do wrong to Chriſt; if wee count them as loſt, whom hee hath found, if wee ſhed immoderate tears for them from whoſe eyes, hee hath wiped away all tears, to wear perpetual blacks for them, upon whom hee hath put long white Robes. Whatſoever our loſſe may bee by them, it cometh far ſhort of their gain; our croſs is light in compariſon of their ſuper-excellent weight of glory, therefore let us not ſorrow for them as thoſe that have no hope. Let us not ſhew our ſelves infidels by too much lamenting the death of beleevers. Weep wee may for them, or rather for our loſs by them, but moderately, as knowing that our loſs, is their gain; and if wee truly love them, wee cannot but exceedingly congratulate their feaſts of joy, their rivers of pleaſures, their Pſalms of Victory, their Robes of Majeſty, their Crowns of glory. Water therefore your plants at the departure of your deareſt friends, but drown them not; For whatſoever wee complain of here, they are freed from there; and whatſoever wee deſire here, they enjoy there; they hunger not, but feaſt with the Lamb; they ſigh not, but ſing with Moſes, having ſafely paſſed over the glaſſie Sea; they lye not in darkneſs, but poſſeſs the inheritance of Saints in light. They have immunity from ſin, freedome from all temptations, and ſecurity from danger, they have reſt for their labours here, comfort for their troubles, glory for their diſgrace, joyes for their ſorrows, life for their death in Chriſt, and Chriſt for all.

Ut Romae mori non poteſt qui Romae non vixit, ita qui in domino non vixit, in e • non moritur.

Cor. Alapide.

AS a man cannot dye at Rome, who never lived at Rome; ſo none can dye in Chriſt, who never lived in him, and none can live in him, who is not in him; Firſt, then wee muſt labour to bee in him, and how may wee compaſs this? Chriſt himſelf teacheth us, I am the Vine, and my Father is the Husbandman, every branch that beareth not fruit in me, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit be purgeth, that it may bring forth more fruit; as the branch cannot bear fruit of it ſelf, except it abide in the Vine, no more can yee, except yee abide in mee. Hence wee learn that wee cannot bear fruit in Chriſt, unleſs as branches wee bee ingrafted into him. Now that a graft may bee inoculated, 1 There muſt bee made an inciſion in the tree. 2 The graft or Syence muſt be imped in. 3 After it is put in, it muſt be joyned faſt to the tree. The inciſion is already made by the wounds given Chriſt at his death, many inciſions were made in the true Vine; that which putteth us in, or inoculateth us, is a ſpecial faith, and that which bindes us faſt to the tree, is love, and the grace of perſeverance. If then wee bee ingrafted by faith into Chriſt, and bound faſt unto him by love, wee ſhall partake of the juice of the ſtock, and grow in grace, and bear fruit alſo more and more, and ſo living in the true Vine, wee ſhall dye in him, and ſo dying in him, wee ſhall re-flouriſh with him in everlaſting glory.

Nihil melius aterna lex fecit quam quod unum introitum ad vitam nobis dedit, exitus multos.

Sen. Ep. 10.

VVE come but one way into the world, but wee go a thouſand out of it: As wee ſee in a Garden pot, the water is poured in but at one place, to wit, the narrow mouth, but it runneth out at a hundred holes. Some dye by fire, as the Sodomites; by water, as the old world: By the infection of the aire, as threeſcore and ten thouſand in Davids time: By the opening of the earth, as Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, Amphiraus, and two Cities, Buris, and Helice. Some meet with death in their Coach, as Antiochus, their chamber as Domitian, their bed, as John the twelfth, the Theater, as Caligula, the Senate, as Caeſar. The Temple, as Zenacherib. Their table, as Claudius. At the Lords Table, as Pope Victor, and Henry of Luxenburg. Death woundeth and ſtriketh ſome with a Pen-knife, as Soneca a Stilletto, as Henry the fourth. A ſword, as Paul. A Fullers • e am, as James the Lords brother. A Saw, as Iſaiah. A ſtone, as Pyrrhus. A Thunder-bolt, as Amiſtatius. What ſhould I ſpeak of Felones de ſe, ſuch as have thrown away their ſouls. Sardanapalus made a great fire, and leaped into it. Luoretia ſtabbed her ſelf. Cleopatra put an Aſpe to her breaſt ſtung therewith, dyed preſently; Saul fell upon his own ſword. Judas hanged himſelf: Deronius cut his own veins. Heremius bear out his own brains. Licinius choaked himſelf with a napkin. Dortia dyed by ſwallowing hot burning coals. Hannibal ſucked poyſon out of his ring. Demoſthenes out of his Pen, &c. What ſeemeth ſo looſe as the ſoul in the body, which is plucked out with an hair, driven out with a ſmell, frayed out with a phanſie? Verily that ſeemeth to bee but a breath in the noſtrils, which is taken away with a ſcent; a ſhadow, which is driven away with a Scare-crow; a dream, which is frayed away with a phanſie; a vapour which is driven away with a puſſe; a conceit which goes away with a paſſion, a toy that leaves us with a laughter; yet grief killed Homer; laughter Philemon; a hait in his milk, Fabius; a flye in his throat, Adrian; a ſmell of lime in his noſtrils, Jovi •• ; the ſnufte of a candle a childe in Pliny; a kernel of a raiſon Anacreon; and an Iceſickle one in Martial, which cauſed the Poet to melt into tears, ſaying, Onbimors non eſt, ſi jugulatis aque? What cannot make an end of us, if a ſmall drop of water congealed can do it? In theſe regards wee may turn the affirmative in the 1 Cor. 15. 55. into a negative, and ſay truly, though not in the Apoſtles ſenſe, O death where is not thy ſting? For wee ſee it thruſt out in out meats, in our drinks, in our apparrel, in our breath, in the Court, in the Country, in the City, in the Field, in the Land, in the Sea, in the Chamber, in the Church, and in the Church-yard.

Domiviam poteſt a • eſt • um utendi 〈◊〉 abutend • .

Juſtinian.

GOd may lend thee out even to Satah, ſuffer thee to bee his Bayli •• e, and his inſtrument to the vexation of others: So hee lent out St. Paul to the Scribes and Phariſees, to ſerve them in their perſecutions; ſo God may lend thee out. God may let thee out for a time to them that ſhall plough and harrow thee, fell, and cleave thee, and reſerve to himſelf but a little rent, a little glory, in thy patience; So hee let out Job even to Satan himſelf; ſo God may let thee out, God may mortgage thee to a ſix months Fever, or to a longer debilit; ſo he mortgaged Hezekias. God may lay thee waſte, and pull-up thy fences, and extinguiſh their power, or with-draw their love, upon whom thou haſt eſtabliſhed thy dependance; So hee laid David waſte, when hee with-drew his childrens obedience from him; ſo God may lay thee waſte. God may let out all his time in thee in this world, and reſerve to himſelf onely a laſt year, a laſt day, a laſt minute, ſuffer thee in unrepented ſins to the laſt gaſp; ſo God let out the good, Theef. God is Lord of all that thou haſt and art; and then hee that is Lord owner, Proprietary, may do with that which is his, what, he will. But God will not, cannot deveſt his Domirſion, nor ſell thee ſo, as not to reſerve a power, and a will to redeem thee, if thou wouldeſt bee redeemed. For howſoever hee ſeem to thee, to have ſold thee to ſin, to ſadneſs, to ſickneſs, to ſuperſtition, (for theſe bee the Iſhmalites, theſe bee the Midianite Merchants, that buy up our Joſephs, our ſouls) though hee ſeem to ſell his preſent eſtate, hee will not ſell reverſions, his future title to thee by a future repentance, hee will not ſell, but whenſoever thou ſhalt grow due to him, by a new, land a true repentance, hee ſhall re-aſſume thee into his bed, and his boſome, no bill of divorce, and reenter thee into his revenue, and his audit, no bill of ſale, ſhall ſtand up to thy prejudice, but thy dejected ſpirit ſhall ſpirit ſhall bee raiſed from thy conſternation to a holy cheerfulneſs, and a peaceful alacrity, and no tentation ſhall offer a reply to this queſtion, which God makes to eſtabliſh thy conſcience, ubi libellus, Where is the bill of thy mothers divorcement, &c. Iſa. 50. 1.

Unde illi cura cordis cui ne ipſa quidem adhuc • ris circumſpectia.

Bernard.

POu • Domine cuſtodiam ori meo, was the prayer of David, Set a watch before my lips. And in the Law of Maſes, the veſſel that had not the coveting faſtened to it, was unclean; and therefore the inner parts of a fool are reſembled to a broken veſſel, which hath neither part entire, nor covering. Hee can keep no knowledge while hee liveth, Eccleſ. 21. 14. Hereupon thoſe more nobly bred amongſt the Romans, learned firſt to hold their peace, and afterwards to ſpeak. For hee is an ill treaſurer of his own thoughts, that keeps not the doors of his lips ſhut; and that heart is never locked faſt upon any ſecret, where a profuſe tongue layes intereſt to the key. And therefore nature hath provided well by fortiſying this member, more than any part of the body, ſetting a garriſon of the ſtrong and ſtout men about it, Eccleſ. 12. doubly intrenching it with lips and teeth, not ſo much to oppoſe a forreign invaſion, as to allay mutinies within, for the tongue is an unruly member, and ſides much with the perverſeneſs of our will; and therefore reaſon ſhould keep ſtrict Sentinel upon it, and as well direct, as guard it. Nature hath proportioned us a double ear and eye to a ſingle tongue, and reaſon interprets inſtantly. Wee ſhould hear, and ſee twice, ere wee ſpeak once

Natum eſſe Dee ſempiternum eſt.

TO bee born with God, is to bee eternal with God, ſpoken by St. Auſtin againſt the Arrians, and the Father opens himſelf by his old ſimilitude, Sicut ſplendor qui gignitur ab igne, as light which is begotten of fire, and defuſed, is co-equal with the fire, and would bee co-eternal too, if fire were eternal; So the Son with the Father, this being before all time, the other muſt kiſs in the ſame everlaſtingneſs. The Father thinking his reaſon built too ſlenderly doth buttreſs (as it were) and back it with the authority of an Apoſtle, ſuch an Apoſtle as was ſometimes a Perſccutor, and therefore his Authority moſt potent againſt a Perſecutor where hee ſtiles Chriſt, the Power and Wiſdome of God. If the Son of God bee the Power and Wiſdome of God; and that God was never without Power and Wiſdome; how can wee ſcant the Son of a Co-eternity with the Father? For either wee muſt grant that there was alwayes a Son, or that God had ſometimes no wiſdome, and impudence, or madneſs, were never at ſuch a growth of blaſphemy, as to belch the latter. If the reverend allegation of a learned Prelate, or thoſe more ſacred of an Apoſtle, cannot bring up the mouth of a malicious Heretick, hear the voyce of a Prophet, and a Father warbling upon that too. Before mee there was no other God, and after mee there ſhall bee none, Iſa. 43. 10. Quis hoc dicit, pater an filius? (ſaith Ambroſe) Who is here, the ſpeaker; the Father, or the Son (hee cometh over him with a ſubtil Dilemma) if the Son, thus hee ſaith, Before mee there was no other Cod; if the Father, After mee (ſaith hee) theſe ſhall bee none: For both the Father in the Son, and the Son in the Father muſt bee known; when thou nameſt a Father, thou haſt alſo deſigned a Son, becauſe no man is a Father to himſelf; when thou nameſt a Son, thou confeſſeſt alſo a Father, for no man is ſon to himſelf, the Son therefore can neither ſubſiſt without the Father, nor the Father without the Son, the one being from everlaſting, wee may not depoſe the other from the like Omnipotency.

Vereor ne dum propter te fugis, propter alios ſis in pericul • apud dominum.

Athan. in Epiſt. ad Drac.

TO avoid all occaſions of publick ſervice for the Church under a pretence of humility, or recluſeneſs, ſpeaks (too broadly) the delinquent, refractory; your Anchorite that digs his grave in ſpeculation meerly, and your Moale that is earthed wholly in an affected ſolitarineſs, are not liable ſo properly to obſcurity, as death, ſuch elaborateneſs tends not to perfection, but diſeaſe; and wee finde an Apoplexy, and ſleep, no leſs on their endeavours than in their name; all knowledge is duſted with them, and it is no more a nurſery of vertues, but a Tomb. And (indeed) ſuch ſ • lk-worms ſpin themſelves into flyes, diſanimate heartleſſe flyes, fit neither for Church, nor Commonwealth. The Laurel, and honour of all Secular deſignes, is the execution, and the happineſs of thoſe ſacred ones is not intayled barely to the knowledge of them, but to that fac & vives, and that not at home onely in thy particular intendments, but abroad alſo in thy ſervices for the Church; ſo that hee that retreats at any alarm, or ſummons of his God, for the common affairs of the Church, to hug, and enjoy himſelf in his ſolitary ends, runs himſelf on the ſhelves of a rough cenſure, that of the father to his Dracontius. To ſtand by, and give aim only whilſt others ſhoot, and thou thy ſelf no mark-man, proclaimes thy lazineſs, if not thy impotency. What a nothing is thy arme, thy bow, thy ſhaft? if not practiſed, nor bent, nor drawn up; or if ſo glorious a mark, the Church, why not levelled at? either ſhee muſt bee unworthy of thy travel, or thine of her. If therefore this thy mother implore thy aid (ſo Auguſtine counſels his Indoxi • s) on the one ſide, have not ambition on the other, lean not to a l •• ie refuſal, weigh not thine own idleneſs with the neceſſities and greatneſs of her burthens, to which (whiles ſhee is in travel) if no good men will adminiſter their help, Certe quomodo naſceremini non inveniretis, God muſt then invent new wayes for our new birth.

Occidar modo imperet.

Tacit. Annals.

AMmbition whither wilt thou? Nay, whither wilt thou not? To the pinacle of the Temple for the glory of the world, though thou tumble for it to thy eternal ruine. The Greek Philoſopher Eudorus will beg of the gods, that hee may behold the Sun ſo near, as to comprehend the form, beauty, greatneſs of it, and afterwards hee cares not if hee burn, as if there were no ſuch Martyrdome as what Ambition fites. Let mee bee killed, ſo that hee may reign, was the reſolution of Agrippina for her Nero. But lo, how the event crowns the unſatiateneſs of her deſires; hee gains the Kingdome, and firſt digged out thoſe bowels which had foſtered him, and then that heart which was the throne of ſuch an aſpiring thought, Cruelty, ſhall I call it, or Juſtice, when the vain-glory of the mother was penanced with the unnatralneſs of the ſon. Thus lofty mindes (furniſhed with a ſtrong hope of the ſucceſs of their deſignes) have imbarked themſelves into great actions, and propoſing humane ends, as ſcales to their high thoughts, have been waſted into ſtrange promotions, but after they have (a while) ſpangled in that their firmament of honour, they become falling ſtars, and ſo the ſucceſs proves as in-glorious as the enterpriſe was bold and deſperate. Wee have ſeldome met with any eminency that was ſudden and permanent: Thoſe which in their dawn of fortune break ſo gloriouſly, meet with a ſtorm at noon, or elſe a cloud at night. The Sun that riſes in a grey and ſullen morning, ſets cleareſt: And indeed, Ambion is too haſty, and is hurried violently to the end it aims at, without cautiouſneſs, and circumſpection to the mean; but humility hath a calm, and temperate pace, and ſtoops it along in a gentle poſture, yet at length attains her mark, but ſlowly, as if it went unwilling to honour, and ſleighted thoſe proffers which others ſue for.

Primatus fugientem deſiderat deſideratum horret.

Chriſol.

IT is a trick of primacy to fawn where it is not crouched to, but look coy where it is over-courted; like ſome Weather-cock which in a conſtant and churliſh wind break fairly towards us, but in a wanton blaſt-turn tail. Hence it is that in matters of Authority, and preheminence, pride hath for the moſt part the foil, humility the conqueſt, that ſtoops baſely to the title, or the profit, and loſes either, this in a modeſt diſtance, keeps a loof, till worth invite it, and at length gains both; fo that it is in wayes of promotion, as in ſome Water-works, where one engine raiſes it to make it fall more violently, another beats it down that it might mount higher. The advice then of St. Peter comes ſeaſonably here, Humble your ſelves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, 1 Pet. 5. 6. The words are not without the ſtrength of emphaſis, here is an humiliaini Crowned with an ut exaltet, humble your ſelves that hee may exalt, as if humility were ſo neceſſary a diſpoſition to preferment, that without it God might not exalt.

Habet hoc vitium omnis ambitio, non reſpicit.

Seneca.

THe thirſt of Eminency is headſtrong, and runs with a looſe bridle. It is to ſee much below ſatiety, that it ſtill deſires, nay it is hungry even in ſurfeit, and is ſharpned with the fruition of that it coveted, ſo that the birth of this childe, is but the conception of another, one honour rooms not the greatneſs of his thought, and an ambitious deſire ſeldome anchors any where, but goes on ſtill with a full ſall, till it hath compaſſed the Cape it is bound for. This man makes Government the ſtall both of his pride and tyranny, his projects are loftily cruel, ſo are his actions too, yet ſtill in a hot ſcent of promotion, which (if they want a Trumpet for others commendation) ſhall borrow one from his own, and ſo at one applaud his deſignes, and juſtifie them. And indeed this titilation, and itch of honour, if it once finde in the boſome of the receiver a fair admittance, doth ſmoothly inſinuate, and cheat upon the powers of reaſon; but when it is throughly ſeated, and enthroned there, it is no more a gueſt, but a tyrant, and leaves the poſſeſſor, not a Maſter, but a captive; and in this caſe, I know not whether St. Auguſtine will pity his Anrelius, or excuſe him, Quod ſi cuiquam facile ſit gloriam non cupere dum n • gatur difficile eſt ea non delectari cum offertur, in his 64. Epiſtle. However the Father ſeems there to plead onely for the delight in glories offered, not in the unjuſt proſecution of thoſe denied.

Si nil attuleris, ibis Homere for as.

Ovid.

IN wayes of ſufficiency, and worth, it is the ſi nil attuleris, damps the preferment; the age can inſtance, in ſome languiſhing and weak in their intellectuals, men without ſap, or kernel, who (having their ſtore-houſe well fraught with that white and red earth) have ſtumbled on the glories of the time, as if fortune would make them happy in deſpite of vertue; when others of Chriſts followers (were truly his Diſciples) are ſent abroad with their ite & predicate, bare footed, without bag or ſcrip, but their Commiſſion large, omni creaturae, the wide world is their place of reſidence; no particular roof to ſhelter them, or place of rotiredneſs to lay their head in. Nay ſome that have ſerved a triple Apprentiſhip to Arts and Sciences, and ſpent in theſe our Athens the ſtrength of their time, and patrimony, men throughly ballaſted for thoſe high deſignes, well kerned both in years and judgement, hee mouldring for non-imployment, and daſhed for ſlowneſs of promotion, when others of cheap, and thin abilities, men without growth or bud of knowledge, have met with the honours of advancement, and trample on thoſe dejected book-worms which diſſolve themſelves into induſtry for the ſervice of their Church, yet meet neither with her pomp, no • her revenue; nay, ſome that have waſted their lamp, and burnt their Taper to an inch of years, have ſpent thoſe fortunes in the travels of Divinity, which would largely have accommodated them for more ſecular courſes, and enforced to retire themſelves to the ſolitarineſs of ſome ten pounds cure, and ſo ſpin out the remainder of their age in a diſcontented contemplation of their miſfortunes: and (I pray God) not in a murmuring againſt his Church. Where the fault lyes, hee that hath but ſlenderly tranſ • iqued with the occurrences of the time, may judge. Spiritual promotions are ſlow of foo • , and come for the moſt part halting, or in a by-way. Times more than calamitous, when the inheritance and patrimony of the Church ſhall bee thus leaſed to avarice and folly, when theſe her honours which ſhee intails upon deſert, ſhall bee heaped upon a golden ignorant, who rudely treads on thoſe ſacred Prerogatives. Strange monument of weakneſs, he that reels under his own burthen, ſtoops to be oppreſt with the weight of others, and loe how hee tumbles to a mortal ſin (the School-men do ſtile it ſo) directly oppoſite to a pair of vertues, Juſtice, Chaſtity; unjuſt, that the revenues due to worth, ſhould be packed upon bulkleſs and unable perſons, and uncharitable for him to undertake the guidance and paſturing of a flock who was never trained up in the conditions of a ſhepherd. Neither is hee an enemy only of a double vertue, but a companion of two ſuch ſins, which ſeem to brave, and dare the Almighty to revenge on the prophan • r, Inc • uſion, Perjury; firſt, in ruſhing on the profeſſion not legitimately called; then in purchaſing her honours.

Pompa mortis magis terret, quam mors ipſa.

Seneca.

VVHy ſhould this ſad toil of mortality diſhearten us? Groans and Sighs, and Convulſions, are the bodies paſſing-bells, no leſs cuſtomary, than natural, and more horrid in the circumſtance, than the thing, the retinue and complement of death, ſpeaks more terrour, than the act. The Adverſary, the Judge, the Sentence, the Jaylor, the Executioner, more daunt the Malefactor, than the very ſtroke, and cleft of diſſolution. Are wee ſo fooliſh as to fear that (ſayes the heathen) which will daſh or ſplit us in the whole, no, it is the port which we ought one day to deſire, never to refuſe; into which (if any have been caſt in their younger years) they need repine no more than one, which with a ſhort cut hath ended his Navigation. For there are ſome whom ſlacker winds mock, and detain, and weary with the gentle tediouſneſs of a peaceable calm; others ſwifter wafted by ſudden guſts, whom life hath rather raviſhed thither, than ſent, which had they a time delayed, by ſome flattering intermiſſions, yet at length, muſt of neceſſity ſtrike ſail to it. Some faint-hearted Adrian will (to his power) linger it, and fearfully expoſtulate with a parting ſoul. Quae nunc abib is in loca, pallidula, rigida, nudula? As if the divorce from the body were everlaſting, and there ſhould not bee (one day) a more glorious contract.

When a confident Hilarian, ſhall dare all thoſe griſly aſſaults, Soul get thee out, thou haſt ſeventy years ſerved Chriſt, and art thou now loath to dye? Again ſome ſpruce Agag, or hem'd Amalakite, would bee palſie-ſtruck with an amara mors, death is bitter, death, mors, death is bitter, death is bitter, 1 Sam. 15. When a Lubentius, and a Maximinus have their breaſt-plate on, with a Domine parati ſumus▪ Wee are ready to lay off our garments the fleſh: And indeed, ſaith St. Auſtin, Boughs fall from trees, and ſtones out of buildings; and why ſhould it ſeem ſtrange that mortals dye; Some have welcomed death, ſome met it in the way, ſome baffeld it in ſickneſs, perſecution, torments. I inſtance not in that of Baſil, to the Arrianated Val • ns (it is too light) that of Vincentius was more remarkable, who with an unabated conſtancy thus ſhuns the rage of his mercileſs Executioner, thou ſhalt ſee the Spirit of God ſtrength • n the tormented, more than the Devil can the hands of the tormenter. And that you may know a true Martyrdome, is not daſhed either at the expectation, or the ſenſe of torture; as Barlaam will hold his hand over the very flame of the Altar, and ſport out the horridneſs of ſuch a death, with that of the Pſalmiſt, Thou haſt • aught my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. Seeing then wee are compalſed with ſuch a cloud of witneſſes, what ſhould ſcare a true Apoſtle from his Cupio diſſolvi? Let us take his reſolution, and his counſel too, lay aſide every weight, and run with patience the race ſet before us, Heb. 1 • .

Iniquitatem damnare novit Deus, non facere.

Auguſt.

GOd knows how to judge, not commit a crime, and to diſpoſe, not mould it, and is often the Father of the puniſhment, not the fact. Hence it is that the dimneſs of humane apprehenſion conceives that oftentimes a delinquency in God, which is a monſter of our own frailty, making God not onely to foreknow, but predeſtinate an evil, when the evil is both by growth and conception ours, and if ought ſavour of goodneſs in us, it is Gods, not ours, yet ours too, as derivative from God, who is no leſs the Patron of all goodneſs, than the Creator; and it is as truly impoſſible for him to commit evill, as it was truly miraculous to make all that hee had made good. And therefore Ter • ulli •• in his firſt book, de Tri •••••• , makes it a non poteſt fieri, a matter beyond the liſt and reach of poſſibility that hee ſhould bee artifex mali operis, the promoter and ingineer of a depraved act, who chalengeth to himſelf, the title no leſs of an unblemiſhed Father than of a Judge. If any then fall off from goodneſs, hee is hurried no leſs with the violence of his own perſwaſion than concupiſcence, and in thoſe deſperate affairs, Gods will is neither an intermedler nor co-partner; Cujus ope ſcimus multos ne laberentur retentos, nullos ut laberentur impulſos, ſaith Aug. by whoſe hand of providence, wee know many to bee ſupported that they might not fall, none impelled that they ſhould: And in his anſwer to that fourteenth Article, falſely ſuppoſed to bee his fieri non poteſt, ut per quem a peecatis ſurgitur per eum ad peecata decidatur, for one and the ſelf-ſame goodneſs to bee the life and death of the ſelf-ſame ſin, is ſo much beyond improbability that it is impoſſible; let this then ſatisfie our deſire of knowledge, Et ab illo eſſe quod flatur, & non ab illo eſſe quod ruitur; That his providence is the ſtaffe and crutch on which wee ſo lean, that wee yet ſtand our corrupt affections, the bruiſed and broken reed, on which if wee ſo lean, wee fall. If any then go onward in the true rode of Divine graces, no doubt, but the finger of the Almighty points out his way to true happineſs; but if hee wander in the by-paths of a vitious and depraved diſſoluteneſs, his own corrupt affections becken him to ruine. How then can wee without ſacriledge and robbing of divine honour, make God the Father of ſo foul and unwaſhed a crime as obduration, perditio tua ex te Iſrael, If deſtruction dog thee, thank thy corrupt affections, not blame thy Maker, for hee doth but leave thee, and they harden. To lay then with ſome depraved Libertines, the weight and burthen of our ſins on the ſhoulder of predeſtination, and make that the womb of thoſe foul-enormities, may well paſs for an infirmity, not for an excuſe. For though God from eternity knew how to reward every man either by crown or puniſhment▪ yet hee never enjoyned any man either • neceſſity, or a will to ſin.

Compeſeat ſe humana temerit as & id quod non eſt non qu • rat, ne id quod eſt, non inveniat.

Auguſt.

MOrtal thoughts ſhould not carry too lofty a ſail, but take heed how they cut the narrow ſtreights and paſſages of divine Predeſtination. A buſie prying into this Ark of Gods ſecrets, as it is accompanied with a full blown inſolence, ſo with danger; Humility here is the firſt ſtair to ſafety, and a modeſt knowledge ſtands conſtantly wondring, whilſt the proud apprehenſion ſtaggers, and tumble • too, Here is a ſea unnavigable, and a gulph ſo ſcorning fathom, that our Apoſtle himſelf was driven to his 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . O depth, and in a rapture, more of aſtoniſhment, than contemplation, hee ſtiles it the Sacrament and myſtery of his will, being ſo • ull of unknown turnings and M •• nders, that if a naked reaſon hold the clue, wee are rather involved, than guided in ſo ſtrange a labyrinth. To inquire then the cauſe of Gods will, were an act of lunacy, not of judgement. For every efficient cauſe is greater than the effect. Now there is nothing greater than the will of God, and therefore no cauſe thereof. For if there were, there ſhould ſomething pre-occupate that will, which to conceive were ſinful, to beleeve blaſphemous. If any then ſuggeſted by a vain-glorious inquiry, ſhould ask why God did elect this man, and not that, wee have not onely to reſolve, but to fore-ſtall ſo beaten an objection, becauſe hee would; but why would God do it? Here is a queſtion as guilty of reproof as the author, which:ſeeks a cauſe of that, beyond, or without which, there is no cauſe found; where the apprehenſion wheels, and reaſonruns giddy in a doubtful gyre. Here a ſorupulous and humane raſhneſs ſhould bee huſh • d, and not ſearch for that which is not, leſt it finde not that which is: Let him that can diſcry the wonders of the Lord in this great deep, but let him take heed hee ſinks not down then with this aſpiring thought, this ambitious deſire of hidden knowledge, and make not curioſity the picklock of Divine ſecrets, know that ſuch myſteries are doubly barred up in the coffers of the Almighty, which thou mayeſt ſtrive to violate, not open, and therefore if thou wilt needs treſpaſs upon the Diety, dig not in its boſome; a more humble adventure, ſuits better with the condition of a worm, ſcarce a man, or if ſo expoſed to frailty. It is a fit task and imployment for mortality to contemplate his works, not ſift his myſteries, and admire his goodneſs, not blur his Juſtice. If any therefore ſtagger at thoſe unfathomed myſteries of Gods Election and Predeſtination, and his reaſon and apprehenſion bee ſtruck dead at the contemplation of Gods eternal, but hidden projects; let him ſeaſon a little his amazement with adoration, and at laſt ſolace his diſtempered thoughts with that of Gregory, Qui in fact is Dei, &c. In the abſtruſe and dark myſteries of God, hee that ſees not a reaſon, if hee ſees his own infirmity, hee ſees a ſufficient reaſon why hee ſhould not ſee. Mee thinks this ſhould cloy the appetite of a greedy inquiſition, and ſatisfie the diſtruſt of any, but of too querulous a diſpoſition, which with the eye of curioſity prying too nicely into the cloſeſt of Gods ſecrets, are no leſs dazeled than blinded, if not with profanation, hereſie. Divine ſecrets ſhould rather tranſport us with wonder, than prompt us to inquiry, and bring us on our knees to acknowledge the infiniteneſs both of Gods power and will, than ranſack the boſome of the Almighty, for the revealing of his intents. Is it not bleſſedneſs enough that God hath made thee his Steward, though not his Secretary. Will no Manſion in heaven content thee, but that which is the Throne and Chair for Omnipotency to ſit on? No treaſury but that which is the Cabinet and Store-houſe of his own ſecrets? Worm and no man, take heed how thou ſtrugleſt with thy Maker. Expoſtulation with God, imports no leſs peremptorineſs, than danger; and if Angels fell for pride of emulation, where wilt thou tumble for this pride of inquiry? as in matters therefore of unuſual doubt, where truth hath no verdict, probability finds audience. So in thoſe obſtruct and narrow paſſages of Gods will, where reaſon cannot inform thee, beleef is thy beſt intelligencer, and if that want a tongue, make this thy interpreter; ſo thou mayeſt evade with leſs diſtruſt, I am ſure with more ſafety.

Etſi domine ego commiſi unde me damnare potes, • u tamen non aml • ſiſti unde me ſalvare potes.

Anſelm.

O Bleſſed Jeſus, though I have committed thoſe tranſgreſſions for which thou mayeſt condemn me, yet thou haſt not loſt thoſe compaſſions by which thou mayeſt ſave mee. And therefore if our ſouls were inſuch a ſtreight that wee ſaw hell opening her mouth upon us, like the Red Sea, before the Iſraelites; the damned and ugly feinds purſuing us behinde like the Egyptians; on the right hand, and on the left, death and ſea, ready to ingulf us; yet upon a broken heart, and undiſguiſed ſorrow, would I ſpeak to you in the confidence of Moſes, Stand ſtill, and behold the ſalvat • on of the Lord. Thou then which art oppreſt with the violence and clamor of thy ſin • , and wanteſt an Advocate either to intercede, or pity, hear the voyce of the Lamb cry unto th • e, I will hear thee out of my holy hill. Is any heavily loaden with the weight of his offences, or groans under the yoak and tyranny of manifold temptations, Come unto mee, I will refreſh thee. Doth any hunger after righteouſneſs, Behold, I am the bread of life, take eat, here is my body. Doth any thirſt after the wayes of grace? Loe I am a living ſpring, come drink, here is my bloud, my bloud, that was ſhed for many for the remiſsion of ſins; for many, not for all. Hath ſin dominion over thee, or doth it reign in thy mortal heart? Are the wounds of thy tranſgreſſions ſo deep, that they cannot bee ſearched, or ſo old, that they corrupt, and putrifie, here is that good Samaritan that will either binde them up, or pour in oyl; but art thou not yet dead in treſpaſſes, are not thy ulcers paſt cure? Are there any ſeeds of true life remaining? is there any motion of repentance in thy ſoul • , will thy pulſe of remorſe beat a little, haſt thou but a touch of ſorrow, a ſpark of contrition, a grain of faith? know there is oyl of comfort for him that mourns in Sion, Iſa. 61. 3. not a tear drops from thee in ſincerity, which is either unpitied, or unpreſerved, God puts it into his bottle. On the other ſide, is there a Pharoah in thee, a heart unmollified, a ſtone that will not be bruiſed, a flint unmalleable? I, both mourn for it, and leave it. But is this heart of ſtone taken away? and is there given thee a heart of fleſh, is it ſoft and tender with remorſe, truly ſacrificed to ſorrow, then know there is balm of Gilead, for the broken heart, balm that will both refreſh and cure it. T ••• then which groaneſt in thy ſpirit, and art drawn out as it were into contrition for thy ſins, thou which haſt waſhed thy hands in innocency, go cheerfully to the Altar of thy God, and cry with old Anſelm, Etſi domine ego commiſi unde me damnare potes, tu tamen non amifiſti unde me ſalvare potes.

Qui pectus ſuum tundit & ſe non corrigit, aggravat peccata, non tollit.

Auguſt.

VVHere there is an outward percuſſion of the breaſt, without remorſe of the inward man, there is rather an aggravation of ſin, than a releaſe. That ſubtle fallacy of the eye, pointing towards heaven; that baſe hypocriſie of the knee, kiſſing the earth; that ſeeming auſterity of thy hand, martyring thy breaſt; gains from God neither applauſe nor bleſſing, but the curſe of the Phariſee, whoſe example would have chid thee to ſuch an outſide of devotion: Is then thy repentance diſguiſed? Hath it a touch of diſſimulation in it? Is not thy old corruption clean diſgorged, but muſt thou again to thy former vomit? Hypocrite, thy Altar is without fire, thine Incenſe without ſmoak, it ſhall never touch the noſtrils of the Almighty, thy prayers in his ears ſound like braſs, and tinckle like an illtuned cymbal; all this formality of zeal is but a diſeaſe of the lip, Give mee thy heart, my ſon, ſaith God, Prov. 23. I will have that or nothing, and that clean too, waſhed both from deceit and guilt. Thoſe blanchings and guildings, and garniſhings of external zeal, are as odious in the eye of God, as thoſe of body in a true Chriſtian: This gloſs, this paint of demureneſs, ſpeaks but our whoredomes in Religion, and the integrity of that man is open, both to cenſure and ſuſpicion, that is expoſed either to the practice of it, or the approbation. A villain is a villain, howſoever his garb or habit ſpeak him otherwiſe, and an hypocrite is no leſs, though ſleeked over with an external ſanctity, and dreſſed in the affectations of a preciſer cut. Let us bee truly that what wee ſeem to bee, and not ſeem what wee are not; let there bee doors, and caſements in our breaſts, that men may ſee the loyalty betwixt our heart and tongue, and how our thoughts whiſper to our tongue, and how our tongue ſpeaks them to the world. Away with thoſe meteors, and falſefires of Religion, which not onely by-paths us in a blinded zeal, but miſ-leads others in our ſteps of error. Let us then put off the old man in our pride, vain-glory, envy, malice, hatred, and (that foul diſeaſe of the times) hypocriſie, and let us put on the new man in ſincerity, faith, repentance, ſobriety, brotherly-kindneſs, and (what without it diſparages the tongue both of men and Angels) charity: That ſo at length wee may receive that everlaſting benediction, Come yee children, in herit the Kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world.

Bonum cauſatur ex integra cauſa, malum autem ex ſingularib us defectibus.

Tho. Aquin.

GOd expects perfection, perfection of parts, where man expects acceptance. Now as unto that which is good, ſo unto that which is perfect, there muſt bee an intire concurrence of all requiſites. The defect, or want of any one thing required, may cauſe an imperfection, but to the conſtitution of perfection, there muſt bee a meeting of all things required; It will appear in the cauſe ſpecified, Lev. 22, 21. The ſacrifices of Beeves, or of Sheep, there mentioned, muſt bee perfect. Now if the beaſt had wanted but any one part, an eye, an ear, an horn, an hoof, any one of theſe defects had cauſed an imperfection, and the ſacrifice had been imperfect, and ſo no acceptance of it. But now to have made it perfect, to bee accepted, it muſt have all, and every one of the parts, every member of the body in its number, and proportion. Now the equity holds in all duties of worſhip. To what end is our worſhip, if not accepted; if wee will have it accepted, wee muſt have it perfect, there muſt bee all theſe things in it that God requires. Now God requires in worſhip, not onely that wee uſe his Ordinance, but his Order, as outward, ſo inward. Now when there is this perfection that God requires, then may a bleſſing and acceptance bee expected. But if that Order, that ſpiritual Order which God calls for, bee wanting, if wanting in any one part of it, there the duty is imperfect, there no acceptance can bee looked for, but rather a breach. Wee may ſee it exemplified in the Law of the Peace-offerings, Levit. 7. Firſt, ſee the Ordinance of God, verſ. 11, 12, 13. There is the ſubſtance of the ſacrifice preſcribed, then the Order is, that they bee eaten in due time, verſ. 16. It ſhall bee eaten the ſame day that hee offers his ſacrifice, that the fleſh bee clean, verſ. 19. And the fleſh that touches any unclean thing, ſhall not bee eaten. That the perſons that do eat it muſt bee clean, verſ. 19. And as for the fleſh, all that bee clean ſhall eat thereof; that is, all that eat thereof muſt bee clean, as appears by that which follows, verſ. 20. So then as here is the Ordinance preſcribed, ſo the Order of eating, that they may bee eaten purely, that pure things bee eaten, that they bee eaten of pure perſons; there Peace-offerings thus eaten, were accepted, becauſe here was perfection from the concurrence, and integrity of the cauſes conſtituring perfection. But now if any one of theſe things were miſſing in point of order, it made them imperfect, and ſo unacceptable. If not purely in regard of time, though p • re fleſh, and eaten by pure perſons; yet no bleſſing, no acceptance, but a breach, verſ. 18. It ſhall not bee accepted, it ſhall bee an abomination, and the ſoul that eateth of it, ſhall bear his iniquity. If not pure fleſh eaten, though by pure perſons, yet not onely no acceptance and bleſſing, but an uncomfortable breach, Even that ſoul ſhall bee cut off from his people, verſ. 20, 21.

Sacramenta ſunt fodinae gratiae, diſpoſitio eſt vaſculum gratiae, promajore diſpoſitione, & affectu tuo majorem gratiam reportabis.

Euſeb.

FIll the mens ſacks with food as much as they can carry, ſayes Joſeph to his Steward, Gen. 44. 1. Look how they came prepared with Sacks and Beaſts, ſo they were ſent back with Corn: The greater, and the more Sacks they had prepared, the more Corn they carry away: If they had prepared but ſmall Sacks, and a few, they had carried away the leſs. A prepared heart is a veſſel that ſhall bee filled at the Sacrament. Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it, Pſal. 81. 10. Now the more or leſs the heart is prepared, the greater or leſſer is the veſſel. According to the ſize and capacity of the veſſel, ſhall it bee filled. Fill ſuch mens hearts with ſpiritual bleſſings, with vertue from Chriſt, with the comforts of the Holy Ghoſt, ſayes the Lord at the Sacrament, fill them with ſpiritual food as full as they can hold, as much as they can carry. What a ſweet comfort is that? Who deſires not to carry away from the Sacrament as much as may bee? Then bee careful to prepare our hearts, and prepare them to the purpoſe, the larger is our preparation, the larger is our veſſel, the larger our veſſel, the larger is our largeſs and dole at the Sacrament. If wee carry not away as much as wee would, it is our own fault, that by preparation wee did not furniſh our ſelves with a more capacious veſſel. The poor pittances that many go from the Sacrament withall, make them droop when they are gone. They may thank themſelves; for if Joſaphs brethren had brought ſmall Sacks, they could not have carried away much corn out of Egypt. Let men come with hearts ſo prepared as they ſhould, and they ſhall bee laden and filled with as much as they can carry.

Quicquid recipitur, recipitur ad modum recipientis.

Ariſtotle.

SAcraments work according to that diſpoſition wherein they finde ſuch as receive them. Such as are the receivers, ſo prove the Sacraments unto them. It is in this caſe as it was with the woman under jealouſie, and ſuſpicion of uncleanneſs, drinking the curſed waters, Numb. 5. 27, 28. And when hee hath made her to drink the water, then it ſhall come to paſs, that if ſhee bee defiled, &c. Look then as the woman was, ſuch was the work of the water. If ſhee were clean, the water did her no hurt; nay, it did her good, ſhee conceived ſeed, ſhee became fruitfull, but if ſhee were defiled and unclean, it wrought with a miſchief, Her belly did ſwell, her t • igh did rot, and ſhee became a curſe. It is ſo in receiving the Sacrament. As men are that receive it, ſo is the work and efficacy of it, either for good or hurt, either for bain or bleſſing; if a man bee prepared with repentance, and ſo bee clean, then the Sacrament brings a bleſsing, it makes a man fruitful. But if a man bee defiled, and unclean, as every impenitent ſinner is, then it banes and miſchiefes him, hee proves a more rotten, and wretched ſinner than before. An unwholeſome and diſeaſed ſtomach that every food it receives, it alters, and rather nouriſhes the diſeaſe, than the body, and turns wholeſome nouriſhment to matter of grief and vexation. So an impenitent ſoul coming to Gods Ordinance in its fins and defilement, doth but turn the wholeſome nutriment of the Sacrament to the feeding of its diſeaſe, and the increaſing of its own ſorrow and miſchief; as the water that made the clean woman fruitful, made the unclean woman ſwell and rot. God curſes the Sacrament to an impenitent, defiled perſon, and ſo makes a ſad breach upon him inſtead of a bleſsing.

Pertunte ſole, pereunt omnia.

Seneca.

FOr a man to bee ſtupid and ſenſeleſs under corporal afflictions, argues a very ill temper of ſpirit; but for a man to be ſtupid and ſenſeleſs under ſpiritual afflictions, under ſuch a ſpiritual affliction, as this, the loſs of the Son, the loſs of Chriſt as a Comforter, argues a very ill temper of ſpirit indeed. Strive therefore, O deſerted ſtupid ſoul, to affect thine heart throughly with thy loſs; thou haſt loſt more than Job when hee had loſt children, ſubſtance, health, honours, and friends; nay, thou haſt loſt more, than if thou hadſt loſt this world; nay, thou haſt loſt more, than if thou hadſt loſt thy life; which is of more worth than the world; thou haſt loſt Chriſt, which is richer than the world, and ſweeter than thy life.

What an infinite loſs were it to this world to loſe the Sun? It were at once to loſe all. Pereunte ſole, pereunt omnia; for all things ſerviceable for the uſe of man, depend upon the motion and influence of that glorious body. What a loſs then is it to the leſſer world, to loſe Chriſt the Son of Righteouſneſs? It is to loſe all good at once, for ſoul and body. All graces cloſe and wither, when Chriſt departs, as all fragrant flowers, when the Sun withdraws his influence. And when theſe flowers wither in the ſoul, a man is a moving dunghil, that ſtinks in the noſtrils of God and man where ever hee comes. A man that hath loſt Chriſt, may truly ſay, as ſhee when the Ark was loſt, That his glory is departed. As the Sun in the glory of the greater World; So Chriſt the Son of Righteouſneſs, is the glory of the leſſer world, to wit, man.

Thou haſt loſt that in the world, that is more worth than the world, and which all the world can never help thee to. Thou haſt loſt that which would make the worſt condition in this life, a Heaven, whereas the beſt without it, is but a Hell; thou haſt loſt that which would have been to thy ſoul a continual feaſt; whereas now thy ſoul is in a continuall famine and leaneneſſe. Thou haſt loſt thy ſpirits, and thy ſoul as in a dead-palſie, ſo that thou art a living dead-man, fit for no ſpiritual ſervice. Thou haſt loſt thy head, thou haſt loſt thy eyes, thou haſt loſt thy hands, thou haſt loſt thy cloathing; nay, thou haſt loſt thy beſt Father, thy beſt Husband, thy beſt Friend; all, all this, and much more comfort is Chriſt to man. Thou haſt great reaſon then, O deſerted ſoul, to lay to heart thy loſs.

Ignis focalis immateriale non urit.

Ariſtoteles.

THe ſorrows of Hell are ſuch as principally torture the ſpirit. The fire which wee make, can onely burn, and torture the bodies of men, becauſe this onely of man is material; immaterials, as the ſouls of men are, our fire cannot faſten upon, but that ſtrange fire, which God hath kindled in Hell for all that diſobey him, burns the ſouls of men, though immaterial ſubſtances. Nay, ſo ſtrange is that fire, that it burns theſe immaterial ſubſtances moſt fiercely, as being the moſt ſinfull part of man; for it is onely ſin that pitches and defiles the ſoul, and makes it combuſtible; which otherwiſe would never burn if all the fiery Artiſts of Hell did blow the bellows.

Now juſt ſuch is that fire which conſcience kindles upon the breach of integrity, to wit, a fire that burns inwardly, and conſumes the marrow of the bones, and drinks up the ſpirits. The Arrows which conſcience ſhuts in upon a man, upon the breach of ſincerity, are ſuch as pierce principally the ſpirit. As long as Job was patient under Gods hand, hee felt the Arrows of the Almighty, onely without him, as I may ſay, to wit, in his body, in his children, and ſubſtance; but when hee brake out, and curſed his day, hee preſently complains that hee felt the Arrows of God within him, and that the poyſon of them drank up his ſpirits, Job 6. 4. All that which before hee felt without, was nothing to that which hee now felt within upon his ſpirit. As the torments which damned wretches ſhall ſuffer in their bodies, are nothing to thoſe which ſhall continually flye up and down in their ſouls. So David, after hee had made breaches in his integrity, God filled his loynes with loathſome diſeaſes; but this was nothing to ſpeak of; God made things ſtrike into his heart, and then hee roared, I am feeble, and ſore broken, I have roared by reaſon of the [diſquietneſs of my heart.] David felt pains gather about his heart, and then hee cryes out.

The heart is the mark that God principally aims at, when a Chriſtian hath turned aſide from his upright courſe; other outward parts hee may hit, and deeply wound, but this is but to make holes into the heart, where the ſeat of unſoundneſs that principally offends him, is.

The Fire which Conſcience kindles, it may flaſh forth into the eyes, and tongue, and hands, and make a man look fearfully, ſpeak deſperately, and do bloodily againſt the body; but the heat of the fire is principally within, in the furnace, in the ſpirit; it is but ſome ſparkles, and flaſhes onely, that you ſee come forth at the lower holes of the furnace, which you behold in the eyes, words, and deeds of ſuch men.

Invidia eſt vitium permanens.

Ariſtoteles.

ENvy is a long lived thing, it will live as long as there is any marrow in the bones; It will hunt a David long, through Ziph, En-gedi, many Wilderneſſes, though never ſo long; it will finde a Dart to throw at a David, till it hath killed him, or ſtabbed it ſelfe. Envy fights deſperately, and unweariedly, it will never give over as long as there is breath; it will eat no bread till it hath done its work, killed a Paul, or ſterved it ſelf. Envy is all ſpirit, all evill ſpirits move; it is a ſpirit of the right breed for the Devil, it will fight, and fight till death; it will work to the utmoſt vires, as long as nerves and ſinewes binde bones together; it is everlaſting burning, which nothing will quench but its own blood.

Ab extremis miſeriae, quies.

Seneca.

I Would ſpeak to ſuch from this ſentence which are quite undone, which have loſt all mony and joy too; which have many ſufferings upon them for Chriſt, but can make no joy out of them. Surely I can gueſs your pain, you are blinde; you know not who hath ſtript you, not when hee will return it again. It is impoſſible for a man to joy under long ſuffering, unleſs a man can look to the end of it. This makes heavy afflictions light, long afflictions ſhort, to look where they end.—Our light afflictions which indure but for a moment, work about a far more exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory. Long-ſuffering is but a moment, when compared with eternity of glory. The great Heaven at a diſtance, makes a little heaven at preſent, a heaven in hell, to that ſoul which hath it in its eye. As thoſe lower heavens, give a great luſtre and vigor at a diſtance to beholders, and raiſe much; ſo doth the Heaven of heavens. It is a heaven to behold heaven afar off, where ever the body bee. It was Canaan to Moſes, to ſee Canaan afar off. The fight of the end ſhortens the way; ſuffering is deadly long when a man can ſee no end, when a man is in darkneſs, and can ſee no light, it is hard to bring the ſoul to joy in ſuch darkneſs. A man muſt look upon affliction from one end to the other, that would fetch in joy to his ſoul from ſuffering. At one end of long ſuffering for truth, is a father; at the other end, a reward, which if ſeen well, will make the longeſt ſuffering very ſhort, and very ſweet.

Media gratiae, ordinem creationis ſubeunt.

Aquinas.

THe means of Grace have the order of Creation ſtamped upon them; Chriſt, the great Wheel, that turns all other wheels of our ſalvation, is made unto us, what hee is, and made of God—Who of God is made unto us, Wiſdome, Righteouſneſs, &c. 1 Cor. 1. 30. Chriſt is a full ſea indeed, but not a drop to us, but as made of God. So wee are made able Miniſters of the New Teſtament, not of the letter, but of the ſpirit. Could ſuch a poor man as I, by ſpeaking a while to the ear, turn the heart from ſin to Chriſt, did not a creating bleſſing ſit on my lips? Divine inſtitutions have the formality of a creation in them, becauſe they have what they have, and doe what they doe, from ſupreme power onely, above all cauſe and reaſon: Therefore are Inſtitutions and means of Grace, not ſo much as mentioned, Col. 1. 11. Giving thanks to the Father [who hath m •• e us meet] to bee partakers of that inheritance of the Saints in light. Onely the Father is here mentioned; Means are ſo beſide likelihood and reaſon, to ſo noble an end, as to make and fit ſouls for heaven, Giving thanks to the [Father] who hath [made] &c. None elſe worthy to bee ſo much as mentioned in this noble work.

Alterius perditio ſit tua cautio.

Iſidor.

FOr the wickedneſs of them that dwell therein, it is that a fruitful land is turned into a wilderneſs, ſaith David, Pſal. 107. And the Heathen Hiſtorian ſaith little leſs, when hee tells us that the ruine and rubbiſh of Troy, are ſet by God before the eyes of men, for an example of that rule, that great ſins, have great puniſhments. But now ſay the Learned, not to bee warned by others, is a ſure preſage of ruine. Scipio beheld, and bewayled the down-fall of Rome, 〈◊〉 the deſtruction of Carthage: And when Hannibal was beleagureing Saguntum in Spain, the Romans were as ſenſible of it as if he had then been beating upon the walls of their Capitol. A ſtorm oftentimes begins in one place, and ends in another. When the Sword rides Circuit (as a Judge) it is in Commiſſion, Ezek. 14. 17. And when I begin, ſaith God, I will make an end, 1 Sam. 3. Wee cannot but fore-ſee a ſtorm, unleſs wee bee like thoſe in St. Bernard, Qui feſtueam quaerunt unde oculos ſibi er • ant, that ſeek ſtraws to put out their eyes withall. If wee break not off our ſins by repentance (that there may bee a lengthning of our tranquility) a removal of our Candleſtick, may bee as certainly fore-ſeen, and fore-told, as if viſions and letters were ſent to us from heaven, as once to the Church of Epheſus. God may well ſay to us; as to them of old, Have I been a wilderneſs unto Iſrael, a land of darkneſs? or as Themiſtocles to his Athenians, are yee weary of receiving ſo many benefits by one man? Bona a tergo formoſiſsima, our ſins have long ſince ſolicited an utter diſſolution and deſolation of all, and that wee ſhould bee made an heap, and an hiſſing, a waſte, and a wilderneſs, Quod Deus avertat.

Hoc ſcio, me nihil ſcire.

Socrates.

CHriſt thought St. John worthy to lay his hand on his holy head in Baptiſme, who thinks not himſelf worthy to lay his hand under-Chriſts feet. The more fit any man is for whatſoever vocation, the leſs hee thinks himſelf, Who am I, ſaid Moſes, when hee was to bee ſent into Egypt, whereas none in all the world was comparably fit for that Embaſſage. Not onely in innumerable other things am I utterly unskilful faith St. Auguſt, but even in the holy Scriptures themſelves, (my proper profeſſion) the greateſt part of my knowledge, is the leaſt part of mine ignorance. I in my little C • ll, ſaith Jerome, with the reſt of the Monks, my fellow-ſinners, dare no • determine of great matters. This is all I know, that I know nothing, ſaid Socrates, and Anaxarchus went further, and ſaid, Ne id quidem ſcire quod nihil ſciret, that hee knew not that neither, that it was nothing that hee knew. This is the utmoſt of my wiſdome, ſaid one, that I ſee my ſelf to bee without wiſdome. And Si quando fatuo delectari volo non longè mihi quaerendus eſt, me video, ſaith Seneca, if I would at any time delight my ſelf in a fool, I need not ſeek far, I have my ſelf to turn too. Thus the heavieſt ears of corn ſtoop moſt towards the ground: Boughs, the more laden they are, the more low they hang, and the more direct the Sun is over us, the leſs is our ſhadow; ſo the more true worth there is in any man, the leſs ſelf-conceitedneſs; and the lower a man is in his own eyes, the higher hee is in Gods. Surely the Baptiſt loſt nothing by his humility and modeſty in the third of St. Matth, for our Saviour extols him to the multitude, Mattb. 11. And there are that doubt not to affirm (where they have it I know not) that for his humility on earth, hee is dignified with that, that place in heaven, from whence Lucifer fell. Sure it is, that hee that humbleth himſelfe ſhall bee exalted. If men reckon us as wee ſet our ſelves, God values us according to our abaſements. The Church was black in her own eyes, fair in Chriſts.

Ignis congregat homogenea, ſegregat heterogenea.

Ariſtoteles.

IT is one and not the leaſt property, of the Holy Ghoſt to aſſimilate, and make men like it ſelf. As fire turns fuell into the ſame property with its ſelf; ſo doth the bleſſed Spirit inform the minde, conform the will, reform the life, transform the whole man more and more into the likeneſs of the heavenly pattern, it ſpiritualizeth and tranſubſtantiateth us, as it were, into the ſame image from glory to glory, as the Sun, the fire of the world, by often beating with its beams upon the pearl, makes it radiant and orient, bright and beautiful like it ſelf. And this is the property of the Holy Ghoſt as well as of fire, congregat homogenea ſegregat heterogenea; it unites men to Saints, and ſeparates them from ſinners; For what communion hath light with darkneſs? It maketh diviſion from thoſe of a mans houſe, if not of his heart, and yet cauſeth union with Gentile, Barbarian, S • ythian, if truly Chriſtian, Coloſſ, 3. 11. Oh therefore get this fire from heaven, ſo ſhall you glorifie God, Matth. 5. 16. and bee able to dwell with devouring fire (which hypocrites cannot do, Iſa. 33.) get warmth of life and comfort to your ſelves, give light and heat to others, walk ſurely as Iſrael did by the conduct of the pillar of fire, and ſafely, as walled with a defence of fire; and if any man ſhall hurt, ſuch fire ſhall proceed out of their mouths to devour them. So that a man had better anger all the Witches in the world, than one of thoſe that are baptized with the Holy Ghoſt, and with fire; eſpecially if they bee much mortified Chriſtians, ſuch as in whom this fiery ſpirit hath done with the body of ſ • n, as the King of Moa • did with the King of Edom, Amos 2. burnt its bones into lime.

Mali in area nobiſcum eſſe poſſunt, in horreo non poſſunt.

Auguſtinus.

THe wicked may bee with us in the Floor, they cannot in the Garner; For there ſhall in no wiſe enter into the City of the Lamb, any thing that defileth, or that worketh abomination▪ Heaven ſpewed out the Angels in the firſt act of their Apoſtacy and albeit the Devil could ſ •• ue himſelf into Paradiſe▪ yet no unclean perſon ſhall ever enter into the Kingdome of heaven; without ſhall bee dogs and evill-doers; no dir • y dog doth trample on that golden Pavement, no droſs is with that gold, no chaffe with that wheat, but the ſpirits of juſt men made perfect amidſt a Paneg • ris of Angels, and that glorious Amphitheatre, Heb. 1 • . 22. In the mean while, Dei frumentum ego ſum (may every good ſoul ſay with that Father) I am Gods wheat: And although the wheat be as yet but in the ear, or but in the blade, yet when the fruit is ripe, hee will put in the ſickle (becauſe the Harveſt is come) and gather his wheat into his Barn, into his Garner.

Fider famem non formidat.

Bernardus.

IF bread fall, feed on faith, Pſ. 37. 3. So Junius reads that Text. Jehoſaphat found it ſovereign, when all other helps failed him, 2 Chron. 20. 6. and the captive Jews lived by faith, when they had little elſe to live upon, and made a good living of it, Hab. • . • . To this text the Jews ſeem to allude in that fiction of theirs, that Habbakkuk was carried by the hair of the head by an Angel into Babylon, to carry a dinner to Daniel in the Den. It was by faith that hee ſtopped the mouths of Lions; and obtained promiſes, Heb. 11. and by faith, that one in Queen Maries dayes, anſwered her Perſecutors, If you take away my meat, I truſt that God will take away my ſtomach. God made the Ravens feed Elias that were more likely in that Famine to have fed upon his dead carkaſs, and another time cauſed him to go forty dayes in the ſtrength of one meal. Faith fears no famine, and although it bee but ſmall in ſubſtance, and in ſhew (as the Manna was) yet it is great in vertue and operation. The Rabbins ſay, that Manna had all manner of good taſtes in it, ſo hath faith, it drinks to a man in a cup of Nepenthes, and bide him bee of good cheer, God will provide for him, who likes not to bee tyed to the ſecond ordiniry cauſes, nor that in defect of the means, wee ſhould doubt of the providence.

It is true, God commonly worketh by means, when hee could do without, that wee may not neglect the means, as being ordained of him. David ſhall have victory, but by an ambuſh, a Sa •• 5. Men ſhall bee nouriſhed, but by their labour, Pſal. 128. 2. But yet not ſo as that hee doth all in all, by thoſe means; hee made Graſs, Corn, and Trees, before hee made the Sun, Moon, and Stars, by the influence whereof, they are, and grow; yea to ſhew himſelf chief, hee can, and doth work other-whiles without means, 2 Chron. 14. and againſt means, ſuſpending the power and operation of the natural cauſes; as when the fire burnt not, the water drowned not, the Sun went back ten degrees, the rock gave water, the iron ſwam. And then when hee works by means, hee can make them produce an effect diverſe from their nature, and diſpoſition; or can hinder, change, or mitigate their proper effect. As when at the prayer of Elias it rained not for three years and an half, and hee prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruits.

A man would have thought, that after ſo long drought, the roots of trees and herbs, ſhould have been utterly dryed up, and the land paſt recovery; But God heard the heavens (petitioning to him that they might exerciſe their influence for the fructifying of the earth) and the heavens heard the earth, and the earth heard the corn, the wine, and the oyl, and they heard Jezreel, Hof. 2. 21. Let all this keep us as it did our Saviour, when hee was tempted in the fourtth of St. Matth. from diffidence in Gods Providence, and make us poſſeſs our ſouls in patience.

Hang upon the promiſe, and account it as good as preſent pay, though wee ſee not how it can bee effected. God loves to go a way by himſelf, Hee knows how to deliver us, ſaith St. Peter, 2 Pet. 2. and hee might ſpeak it by experience, if ever any man might. The King ſhall rejoyce in God, ſaith David of himſelf, when hee was a poor exile in the wilderneſs of Judah, Pſal. 63. 11. but hee had Gods word for the Kingdome, and therefore hee was confident, ſeemed the thing never ſo improbable, or impoſſible. Wee truſt a skilful work-man to go his own way to work, ſhall wee not God? Looſe wee then any particular means, ſaith one, It is but the ſcattering of a Sunne beam, the breaking of a bucket, when the Sunne and the fountain is the ſame. But wee for the moſt part do as Hagar did, when the bottle was ſpent, ſhee falls a crying ſhee was undone, ſhee and her childe ſhould dye, till the Lord opened her eyes to ſee the fountain. It was near her, but ſhee ſaw it not, when ſhee ſaw it, ſhee was well enough. If thou hadſt been here, ſaid Martha, my brother Lazarus had not dyed; as if Chriſt could not have kept him alive, unleſs hee had been preſent: So if Chriſt will come and lay his hands on Jairus his daughter, and Eliſha ſtroke his hand over Naamans leproſie, they ſhall bee cured. So the Diſciples beleeved that Chriſt could feed ſo many thouſands in the wilderneſs, but then hee muſt have two hundred pennyworth of bread. But our Saviour ſoon after gave them an ocular demonſtration of this truth, That man lives not by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Preventus diabolus in accuſatione, Ultra nos accuſare non poterit.

Origen.

BE ſure before thou come to the Sacrament to renew thy repentance in confeſſion; one ſweet advantage ſhalt thou have by it amongſt others, and that is this, our ſelf-accuſations in • our confeſſions, will bee a prevention, and a diſappointment of Sathans accuſations againſt us: The Devil even at the Sacrament will bee laying in againſt us; It is good therefore to take a courſe to defeat him. Hee will bee pleading againſt a man, Lord ſhall this man bee welcome to thy Table? Shall hee receive the benefit of thine Ordinance? Hee hath done thus and thus, I can lay to his charge theſe and theſe ſins. Thus by his accuſations, will hee ſeek to put in a bar againſt a bleſſing upon us. Now when a man before the Sacrament renews his repentance, and hath in his confeſſions brought in the accuſations againſt himſelf, Satan is prevented; for then wee do, as I may ſay, furniſh the Lord with an anſwer to ſtop Satans mouth; for then will God bee ready to anſwer for us, why Satan thou accuſeſt this man of nothing whereof hee hath not already to the full accuſed himſelf; hee himſelf hath accuſed himſelf of all this already. Thou comeſt too late, all thine accuſations ſhall bee no bar to my bleſſing. The elder brothers noſe ſwells at his fathers kindneſs, and goodneſs to his prodigal brother, and therefore Luke 15. 30. hee rips up all his courſes, and throws the filth of them in his face, that hee was one that had devoured his Fathers living, and had ſpent it among Harlots. And this hee doth now whilſt they are at the feaſt, at the fatted Calf, and good cheer. Yet all this doth the Prodigal no hurt, the muſick ceaſeth not, the feaſt is not broken off, nor hee thruſt out of doors again. And how comes it about that all this did him no hurt? becauſe the Prodigal had prevented his brother, hee himſelfe had accuſed himſelf to the full in his confeſſions when hee came to his Father, and ſo by his own confeſſion, had took out the ſting and poyſon of his brothers malicious accuſation: So that his brother comes too late, now the feaſt and the merriment goes on nevertheleſs. So will the Devil bee ſnarling againſt, and picking quarrels againſt men, even in the Feaſt time; but he comes too late to do them hurt, if they themſelves have firſt put in the bills of their own indictments againſt themſelves in their confeſſions before their coming to the Sacrament.

Hamine non eſt ſolammodo neceſſarium ut Chriſtum i • ipſius paſsione depioret, ſedmagis ſeipſum in Chriſto.

Bernard.

BEhold, ſaith the Baptiſt, the Lamb of God that takes away the ſins of the world. Upon the Croſs wee behold Chriſt taking away the ſins of the world. On it wee ſee Chriſt crucified, wee ſee his hands, feet, and ſide pierced; now this ſight ſhould ſo affect us, as it ſhould pierce the very hearts of us. What, the bleſſed Son of God to ſtrip himſelf of his glory • to humble and abaſe himſelf to the ignominious and accurſed death of the Croſs? the glorious Son of God thus abuſed, and abaſed; the onely begotten Son of the Father, to make ſuch bitter lamentation, My God, my God, why haſt thou forſaken mee? What may the cauſe of all this bee? Alas, all this was for our ſins. It was not Judas, nor the Jews, nor Pilate, nor the Souldiers, but they were our ſins, thy ſins, my ſins, that put the Son of God to all this ſorrow. Wee, wee, and none but wee, were the evill beaſts that devoured this Joſeph. Our ſins were ſo hainous, and had ſo provoked the Juſtice of God, that there was no way to ſatisfie Gods Juſtice, to appeaſe his wrath, and to make our atonement, but by the precious blood of the Son of God crucified on the Croſs. And ſhall I now ſee my ſins lye ſo heavy upon him as to make him ſweat blood; ſhall I ſee him even ſqueezed under the huge weight of my ſins; ſhal I ſee my ſins crown him with thorns, nail his hands and feet to the Croſs, gore his ſide with a ſpear, with an unpierced heart? Oh the deep ſorrow that our hearts ſhould bee filled withall, when wee ſee Chriſts body bruiſing and bleeding upon the Croſs. It ſhould bee with us then, as it was with them, Zech. 12. 10. They ſhall look on him whom they have pierced, And how ſhall that ſight affect them? And they ſhall mourn, and bee in bitterneſs for him, as one that mourns for his onely Son, as one that is in bitterneſs for his firſt born. How bitterly will ſuch a man mourn? ſo bitterly ſhall they mourn when they look upon Chriſt whom they have pierced. And great reaſon, for is it not a matter of greater ſorrow, to pierce the onely Son of God, the firſt born, the firſt begotten from the dead, than to loſe one onely or firſt begotten ſon? So here, when wee look upon Chriſt whom wee have pierced, this ſight ſhould fill our hearts with bitterneſs, ſhould make our hearts full of ſorrow. Not onely with an Hiſtorical ſorrow, or a ſorrow of natural compaſſion when wee hear, or ſee ſome ſad, or ſorrowful event, this is nothing; but with a practical ſorrow, with an unfained ſorrow of heart, that wee by our perſonal ſins, have had our hands imbrued in the blood of the Son of God, that our ſins envenomed thoſe thorns, thoſe nails that pierced him, and by their venome made them put him to ſuch bitter torment; have wee hearts conformable to Chriſt on the croſs? Thou beholdeſt a broken Chriſt, thou beholdeſt a bleeding Chriſt, behold him therefore with a broken heart, with a bleeding heart, with a pierced ſpirit. So behold Chriſt on the croſs, as the Virgin Mary beheld him there. And how was that? Woman ſayes Chriſt, behold thy Son. How did ſhee behold him? Simeon tells her, Luke 2. 35. That a ſword ſhould paſſe through her ſoul, then did a ſword pierce through her ſoul, when ſhee beheld him pierced on the croſs, that ſight was a ſword through the heart of her. So when we ſee him pierced, it ſhould bee as a dagger in our hearts. Oh wretch that I am, that my ſins have been thorns on his head, nayls in his hands and feet, a ſpear in his ſide. Lord, ſaith David, when hee ſaw the people ſlaughtered by the Angels ſword, Lo • I have ſinned, and I have done wickedly, but theſe ſhe •• what have they done? So let every one ſay, Loe I have ſinned, I have done wickedly, but this innocent and immaculate Lamb, what hath hee done? It is I that have ſinned, and it is thou, O Lord, that haſt ſmarted. It is I that have ſinned, and it is thou, O Lord, that haſt ſuffered. It is I that have put thee to all theſe ſorrows, my oaths, my uncleanneſſes, my luſts, my covetouſneſs my drunkenneſs, theſe were the Judaſſ • s that betrayed thee, theſe were the Jews that crucified thee. Lord I have eaten the ſowre grapes, and thy teeth were ſet on edge: Lord • I played the theef, and thou reſtoredſt the things the • tookeſt not.

Quid tam ad mortem quodnon Chriſti morte ſalvetur?

Bernardus.

HE was wounded for our tranſgreſ • ions, with his ſtripes wee are heated, Iſa. 53. What ſweet comfort may faith retch hence? Look upon the wounds of Chriſt on the Croſs, as on the Cities of Refuge, where the purſued ſoul by the avenger of blood, may flye for ſafety and ſanctuary. Indeed I am a grievous ſinner, I have wounded my conſcience with my tranſgreſſions, but behold my Saviour here wounded for my tranſgreſſions: I have cauſe to bee troubled in my conſcience for the wounds my tranſgreſſions have made therein; but yet my confcience needs not ſinke in a deſpondency of ſpirit, whiles I look at theſe wounds of Chriſt; here bee wounds for wounds, healing wounds for ſtabbing wounds; curing wounds, for killing wounds. Hee was wounded for our tranſgreſsions; what wound ſo deadly, that may not, or cannot bee healed by his death and wounds. What comfort is here for faith in the wounds of Chriſt crucified, They pierced my hands, and my feet, Pſal. 22. They pierced his ſide with a ſpear, and there came out water and blood; nay, there comes out of theſe wounds honey and oyl unto faith. By theſe paſſages may our faith ſuck honey and oyl out of the rock, and may taſte, and ſee how good and ſweet the Lord is. The nayls, the ſpear, the wounds, all preach unto faith a reconciled God, That God is in Chriſt reconciling the world unto himſelf. The Lords bowels are laid open by theſe wounds, ſo as through them wee may ſee the tender bowels of his mercy, and ſo as through them, mercy flows from thoſe bowels unto us. Oh my Dove that art in the clefts or holes of the rock, Cant. 2. 14. Some of the Ancients underſtood thoſe clefts of the rock, the wounds of Chriſt, in which the Dove, the Church hides and ſhelters her ſelf. However it may bee alluded to, that ſhould bee our work of faith when it ſees thoſe clefts of the rock opened, like a Dove, to betake her ſelf thereunto, for ſhelter and ſecurity againſt all fears and diſtreſſes that wrath and guilt may put the conſcience to. Do any fears of wrath trouble thine heart? Doth any conſcience of guilt diſquiet thee with the fears of hell? Why now for thy comfort, behold the holes in the rock where thou mayeſt bee ſheltered: Dwell now in the Rock, and bee like the Dove that makes her Neſt in the ſide of the holes mouth, Jerem. 48. Neſſel thy ſoul in the clefts of this Rock. See, and fully beleeve thy peace to bee made with God in Chriſts blood, and look upon him wounded for thy tranſgreſſions, with ſuch a faith, as may fill thy heart with an holy ſecurity againſt all ſuch fears.

Hannibal vel victor, vel victus, nunquam quieſcebat.

Auguſtinus.

THe Devil left not our Saviour at the firſt and ſecond temptation, this Maſter-flye Beelzebub, though beaten away once and again, yet returns to the ſame place. Hee ſolicits and ſets upon our Saviour again, and again (as Potiphars wife did upon Joſeph for all his many denials) and is not onely importunate, but impudent. Stand wee therefore ſtill upon our guard, and look for no eaſe here.

The Roman Captains when they had once triumphed, took their eaſe ever after. So did not Cato, and is therefore highly commended. So may not wee, if ever we will bee approved as good Souldiers of Jeſus Chriſt. Our whole life is a continual warfare, and wee muſt look for the continual hail-ſhot of Satanical aſſaults and ſuggeſtions.

When Xerxes fought againſt the Greeks, the Sea was full of ſhips, ſaith the Orator, the Earth of ſouldiers, and the Air of arrows. So fares it with the Saints under Satans batteries, no truce, but continual conflict. St. Paul ſounds the alarm, Eph. 6. Arm, arm, Take the whole Armour of God, and bee ever in your harneſs: And St. Peter gives the reaſon, Becauſe your Adverſary the Devil as a roaring Lion, walketh and watcheth, night and day ſoeking whom he may devour. For our incouragement, as the Devil is a roaring Lion, ſo is Chriſt the Lion of the Tribe of Juda, that delivereth us, and maketh us more than Conquerors, holding the Crown of glory over our heads, as wee are fighting, with this inſcription, Vincenti dabo, To him that over-cometh, will I give. Fight therefore, and faint not, your reward is ſ •• e, your Armour is of proof. Get on both theſe peeces of defence (as the girdle of truth, breſtplate of righteouſneſs, ſhooes of peace and patience, ſhield of faith, helmet of hope, and thoſe alſo of offence, as the ſword of the Spirit, and darts of prayer. It is ſaid of Sc • va at the ſiege of Dyrrachium, that hee ſo longreſiſted Pompeys Army, that hee had two hundred and twenty Darts ſticking in his ſhield, and loſt one of his eyes, and yet gave not over till Caeſar came to his reſcue. The like, and ſomewhat more is reported of Cynegrius the Athenian in the Perſian wars. Theſe did thus for a corruptible Crown, or temporary honour, what ſhould not wee do for an eternal? Hold out, and hold faſt that thou haſt, that no man take thy Crown from thee. Gods Spirit ſets up a ſtandard in the Saints, Iſa. 59. 19. And ſtronger is hee that is in you, than hee that is in the world. That old Serpent hath his head ſo bruiſed, and cruſhed by Chriſt, that he cannot now ſo eaſily thruſt in his mortal ſting, though hee aſſay it never ſo often, unleſs wee dally with him, and lay our ſelves open, unleſs wee tempt Satan to tempt us by inconſideration, ſecurity, or venturing on the occaſion. Vitanda eſt glacies ſi nolis cadere; hee that taſtes of the broth, will have a minde to the meat. The Nazarites might not, not onely drink wine, but forbear to eat of the grape, whether moiſt, or dry, Num. 6. 3.

Saturitas ventris ſeminarium libidinis,

Hieronymus.

A Full belly, and a foul heart ſcarce go uncoupled; for indeed how ſhould they? Per membrorum ordinem, ſaith St. Auguſtine, Ordo vitiorum intelligitur, as in the Anatomy of our bodies, the parts of gluttony and luſt are linked together, ſo are the ſins themſelves. And therefore the Apoſtle joyns them, Rioting and Drunkenneſs, Chambring, and Wantonneſs; firſt Rioting, and then Wantonneſs, that leads on this, and not onely this, but a whole troop of rebellious actions, ſecurity, diſobedience, idolatry. Thus when the Fools barns in the Goſpel were filled with Corn, there was no thought of God the Benefactor; all the care was about, Soul take thine eaſe, eat, drinke, and bee merry. And indeed, this eating quite takes away our ſtomach from all holy duties. I need not tell you of Adams ſurfeit, the Iſraelites in their Paradiſe of Canaan, fell to eating too, and by eating fell, as hee did, from their God: And this the Lord fore-told them in the 31. of Deuteronomy, when ſayes God, I ſhall have brought Iſrael into the land that floweth with milk and honey i • nud they ſhall have eaten, and filled themſelves, then will they turn to other gods, then and not till then; and juſt ſo they did. For in the very next Chapter, at the 15. verſ. you have Jeſhurun, which is Iſrael, waxed fat, and kicking, and then ſaith the Text, Hee forſook God which made him. Well therefore did the Church of Chriſt preſcribe faſting to a Religious end, to bridle and keep in the luſt of the fleſh, ſo to prevent ſins to come, and puniſh our ſelves for thoſe already paſt. And this laſt St. Paul calls an holy chaſtiſing and afflicting himſelf for that thorn in his fleſh, which forced him to his watchings often, and his faſtings often, to his Caſtiga corpus 〈◊〉 . To correct the in ward man, and bring his body under the laſh. And this was Chriſts reaſon of faſting before tentation. Now Chriſt abſtained thus not for himſelf, for the Devil could not have prevailed had hee not faſted: There were no faulty deſires of the fleſh to be tamed; no poſſibility of a freer, and more eaſie aſſent and compliance of the ſoul with God, who was already perfectly united to the Deity; but as for us he would ſuffer death, ſo for us too, hee would ſuffer hunger, that firſt as a Saviour, this laſt as an example, pointing us that had need, for hee had none, the beſt way to encounter the evill ſpirit of concupiſcence, which is not caſt out, no nor kept out neither, but by faſting.

In Praedicando Evang elium non merita perſonarum, ſed officia ſacerdotum conſiderantur.

Ambroſius.

HOlineſs becomes every man well, but beſt of all publick perſous, and that not onely for example of good, but liberty of controling ill. The Snuffers of the Sanctuary made to purge others, muſt bee of pure gold themſelves. Thus Herod feared John, not cauſe hee was a powerful Teacher, but a juſt man. This holineſs caſts a more dazeling luſtre than any other accompliſhment whatever. But now ſuppoſe the Prieſt ſinful, ſhall the people notwithſtanding follow his doctrine, his doctrine, whoſe life is not the uſe, his voyce, whoſe hand points a contrary way? Nothing more, for what if the Sacrificer bee unclean, is the offering ſo? Was the glory of Iſrael, the Ark, any whit leſſened when it came from the Philiſtims? Did the breath of the Lord his anſwers paſs by the leſs regarded, cauſe a Saul propheſied. Scripture is Scripture, though the Devil ſpeak it, no mans ſins ſhould bring the ſervice of God into contempt, nor may good bee refuſed, becauſe the means are accidentally evill. It is a groſs dull capacity that cannot diſtinguiſh betwixt the work, and the inſtrument, the weakneſs of the perſon, and the power of the Function. You know no unclean Viands were for the table of an Iſraelite, no birds of prey, fit company for a Prophet; yea, Sampſon made much of his honey, though in a putrified Lion; and if Ravens are ſent to preſerve an Eiah, hee willingly accepts their courteſie, and diſlikes not the meat, cauſe the waiters were black. Theſe then of the Law are leſs ſcrupulous, than ſome of the Goſpel, who diſdain the graces of God when not ſerved in the pureſt veſſel, and loath their Mannah, if not out of the Tabernacles golden Pot.

Utilis eſt ſcientia Gentilium, dummodo in uſum Chriſtianum convertatur.

Hadrianus Sextus.

LOe a Viſion appeared to mee, ſaith Ezekiel, a whirlewind, and a fire; to ſhew, the Prophets of the Lord muſt have light with them, as well as noyſe, underſtanding, as Tongue. Gods Miniſters are Angels, and theſe called, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , from their manifold knowledge. I ſpeak this meerly, for that there is a generation that ſquare out the Divines ſtudy by the Scripture-canon onely, all other rules being crooked, and of no uſe. Would you know the reaſon, the leſs learning, the leſs ſtipend▪ And indeed good Letters have not a little pined away, ſince Divinity began to officiate at the Tables end for the Trencher.

Now it is true, Scripture was ever the Levites predominant element; but if you will make him a perfect mixt body, the Arts are neceſlary ingredients. And therefore though Hadrian the Sixth, in his Tract, de verâ Philoſophiâ, cryes down humane learning with a noiſe of Fathers, yet hee concludes utilem eſſe ſcientiam Gentilium dummodo in uſum Christianum convertatur, that to ſhave and pare the captive woman, and then eſpouſe her, was ever held lawful Matrimony. Look back upon the two famous patterns of Jewiſh and Chriſtian Divines, Moſes learned in all the Wiſdome of the Egyptians, and St. Paul wiſe in all the Learning of the Grecians, a great Artiſt▪ and a good Linguiſt; and no leſs may wee expect from the reſt of the Apoſtles, to whom it was not ſaid, Follow mee, and ſtreight way bee Fiſhers, but follow, and I will make you Fiſhers. They were to learn▪ ere they were to teach, to bee Diſciples, before Apoſtles. No man is born an Artificer, his ſoul coming as naked into the world, as his body, not having ſo much freedome as to ſet up in the meaneſt Trade without ſerving an Apprentiſhip. And for that, Dabitur in illâ horâ, to ſpeak without coming, was a promiſe made to the twelve Apoſtles when they ſhould bee called to the Bar, not the Pulpit. The which place, however ſome of late years in my poor diſtracted Country, have made it ſcandalous, requires both learning and induſtry. And thus much St. Paul intimated, when hee ſent for his books, finding as great want of them, as his cloak in Winter.

Ut hilarem ita celerem datorem diligit Deus.

Bernardus.

IT is ſaid of the unjuſt ſteward, Luke 16. that what hee did was with diſpatch, hee called his Maſters debtors and bid them ſit down quickly. God delights in expedition, as well as cheerfulneſs; Give Alms with a cheerful heart, and countenance, not grudgingly, or of neceſſity, for God loves a cheerful giver, 2 Cor. 9. and therefore give quickly; when the power is in thine hand, and the need is in thy neighbour, and thy neighbour at the door. Hee gives twice, that relieves ſpeedily. The more ſpeed, the more comfort. Neither the times are in our own diſpoſing, nor our ſelves. If God had ſet us a day, and made our wealth inſeparable, there were no danger in delay, but now our uncertainty, if it quickens not, deceives us. How many have meant well, and done nothing, loſing their Crown with lingring; to whom that they would have done good, is not ſo great praiſe, as it is diſhonour that they might have done it; their death oftentimes preventing their deſires, and making their good intentions the wards of their Executors; who many times prove the Executioners of their wills and eſtates. This therefore ſhould bee as a word of advice and caution to all rich men. Let their wracks bee our warnings, who are equally mortal, equally fickle. It is a woful, and remedileſs complaint, that the end of our dayes ſhould out-run the beginning of our good works, which are commonly ſo done, as the poor may thank our death-beds for them and not us, our diſeaſe, rather than our charity. For hee that gives not till hee dyes, ſhews that hee would not give then, if hee could keep it: And they that give thus, give by their Teſtaments, it is true, but I can ſcarce ſay they give by their wills; the good mans praiſe, Pſal. 112. was, that himſelf diſperſed his goods, and not left them behinde him, and his diſtribution is ſeconded by this retribution of Gods, That his righteouſneſs indured for ever. The Saints of God are like Dorcas in the Acts, rich in the good works, which ſhee did her ſelf, and not intruſted others to do them, being her own Executrix. Let us therefore do good in our life time. Our Saviour tells us, Matth. 5. That our good works are our lights: Let your lights ſo ſhine before men, that they may ſee your good works, and glorifie your Father which is in heaven.

Now what man will have his candle brought behinde him, and not rather carried before, that hee may ſee which way it goes, and which way himſelf goes by it? Let us therefore do good in our life time; Early beneficence hath no danger, many joyes, Iſa. 58. 8. For firſt, the conſcience of good done. Secondly, The prayers, and bleſſings of the relieved. Thirdly, The gratulations of the Saints, are as ſo many perpetual Comforters, which will make our lives pleaſant, and our deaths happy: when every one of us may ſay to his ſoul with that rich man in the Goſpel, but upon better grounds, S • ul take thine eaſe, for thou haſt treaſure laid up not for many years, but for ever.

Dives verè Chriſtianus non amat divitias ſed mavult.

Auguſtinus.

CHriſtians may entertain the unrighteous Mammon in the Goſpel, not onely as a ſervant, but a friend, but by no means as a Lord. There is great vertue in the true uſe of riches, if there bee a qualification in our deſires. And therefore St. Auguſt. (10. Serm. de tempore, 5. Serm. de verbis Apoſtoli & cap. 10. de Civit. Dei) diſputing of that impoſſible Analogy between heaven and a rich man, a Camel, and the eye of a needle; would have a rich man underſtood there to be Cupidum rerum temporalium & de talibus ſuperbientem, ſuch an one as joyns avarice to riches, and pride to avarice; not prohibiting a moderate and timely care of neceſſary temporals, but their inordinate appetite, not their propriety and poſſeſſion, but the difficulty and eagerneſs of that purſuit. A wiſe man, as hee will not make riches the object of his purſuit, ſo neither of his refuſal, Non amat divitias ſed mavult, was St. Auguſtines; hee weighes them ſo evenly betwixt deſire and ſcorn, that hee doth neither undervalue, nor over-prize them: Hee makes not his minde his cheſt, but his houſe, in the which hee doth not lock, but lodge them; hee loves them not properly but by way of compariſon, not as they are riches, but as they are not poverty: yes too, as they are riches, they may not onely bee temperately loved, but deſired, but prayed for, prayed for as our daily bread, not abſolutely for our ſpiritual improvement but by way of reſtriction; firſt, humbly with ſubmiſſion to the will of God, then conditionally, ſo they prove advantagious either to our civil, or moral good. For otherwiſe if riches are purſued, either with an unlawful, or an unbridled deſire, they lead our reaſon captive, blind-fold our intellectuals, and ſo damp and dead all the faculties of the inward man, that in way of conſcience and Religion, wee are benummed meerly; Nabal himſelf not ſo ſtony and churliſh, not half ſo ſupine and ſtupid as wee. And therefore your earthly ſenſualiſts have this woful brand ſet upon them by the ſpirit of, They are men of the world, they have their portion in this life onely, Pſal. 17.

Quid quaeris brevi immittere vaſculo totum mare?

Hieronymus.

TO endeavour to expreſs fully the joyes of heaven, were as vain a work as to endeavour to put the element of waters, or whole ſea, into a baſon. And this may appear, from that ſtory of St. Auguſt. concerning St. Jer. of whom St. Auguſtine ſaith, Quae Hieronymus neſcivit, nullus hominum unquam ſcivit; what St. Hierom knew not, no man in the world ever knew: yet of the joyes of glory, of heaven, in the fruition of God, St Hierom would adventure to ſay nothing, no not then when hee was diveſted of his mortal body dead. For as ſoon as hee died at Bethleem, hee came inſtantly to Hippo, St. Auguſtines Biſhoprick, and though hee told him, Hieronymi anima ſum, I am the ſoul of that Jerome to whom thou art now writing, about the joyes and glory of heaven, yet hee ſaid no more of that, but this, Quid quaeris brevi immittere vaſculo totum mare? Canſt thou hope to pour the whole ſea into a thimble, or take the whole world into thy hand? and yet that is eaſier than to comprehend the joy and glory of heaven in this life. Nor is there any thing that makes this more incomprehenſible, than that ſemper in 1 Theſſ. 4. 17. That wee ſhall bee with God for ever. For this Eternity, this Everlaſtingneſs, is not onely incomprehenſible to us in this life, but even in heaven, wee can never know it experimentally, no not in heaven, and all knowledge in heaven is experimental; as all knowledge in the world is cauſal (wee know a thing, if wee know the cauſe of it) ſo the knowledge in heaven is effectual, experimental; wee know it becauſe wee have found it to bee ſo. The endowments of the bleſſed, thoſe which the School calls, Dotes •• a • or • m, are ordinarily delivered to bee theſe three, Viſio, Dilectio, Fruitio, the ſight of God, the love of God, and the fruition, the injoying, the poſſeſſing of God.

Now as no man can know what it is to ſee God in heaven, but by experimental, and actual ſeeing of him there; nor what it is to love God there, but by ſuch an actual and experimental love of him; nor what it is to injoy and poſſeſs God, but by an actual injoying, and experimental poſſeſſing of him; ſo can no man tell what the Eternity and Everlaſtingneſs of all theſe is, till hee hath paſſed through that Eternity, and that Everlaſtingneſs; and that hee can never do, for if it could bee paſſed through, then were it not Eternity. How barren a thing is Arithetick? and yet Arithmetick will tell you how many grains of ſand will fill this hollow vault to the Firmament. How empty a thing is Rhetorick, and yet Rhetorick will make abſent and remote things, preſent to their underſtanding. How weak a thing is Poetry, and yet Poetry is a counterfeit Creation, and makes things which are not, as though they were; how infirm, how impotent are all aſſiſtances, if they be put to expreſs this Eternity. The beſt help in my poor judgement that can bee aſſigned, is to uſe well, Aeternum veſtrum, our own Eternity, as St. Gregory calls our whole courſe of this life, Aequum est ut qui in aterno ſu • peccaverit, in aeterno Dei puniatur; it is but juſtice, that hee that hath ſinned out his own eternity, ſhould ſuffer out Gods Eternity; ſo if you ſuffer out your own eternity in ſubmitting your ſelves to God in the whole courſe of your life, and glorifying him in a conſtant patience under all tribulations; It is a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation unto them which trouble y •• , and to you which are troubled, everlasting reſt, 2 Theſſ. 1. 6.

Magna parvis minime exprimuntur.

Seneca.

SAcred Communication, is to make ſuitable demonſtration of infinite love. Great love is not ſuitablely expreſſed by ſmall things. Springs make Channels, Streams, Rivers, ſuitable to their ſtrength, they make their rent without, ſuitable to their bubling within, under ground. Heaven is but a ſuitable expreſſion of the love of a God: It is but ſtrange, ſuitable to ſuch a fountain; but legible writing out of infinite love. Were not heaven made communicable, infinite love would bee but half expreſſed, it would bee far more in it ſelf, than known to us: It is with Chriſt here in this world, as it is with a Chriſtian, a Chriſtians fortune here doth not ſuit his titles, called a King, and hath nothing. Now are wee the Sons of God▪ but it doth not appear what wee ſhall bee. Why wee ſhall bee but the Sons of God; his meaning is, that now Title and Revenew do not agree, nothing in poſſeſſion that ſpeaks out the Sons of God, the Son of a King; State and Title do not fitly and fully expreſs one another; So it is with Chriſt, now his love, and his expreſſion of it, are ſhort one of another: Many expreſſions of love are made here, but they all expreſs it but brokenly. Heaven will ſpeak out an infinite love, it will demonſtrate it to the life, to all ſenſes at once, which is ſuch a demonſtration of a thing, as here man cannot make of any thing. There a man ſhall have the advantage of all ſenſes together, to fathom infinite love; Hee ſhall hear it, ſee it, taſte it, &c. hee ſhall ſee the fountain where, and how it riſeth; the Ocean how vaſt it ſpreads, and how broad it bears, Chriſt demonſtrates infinite love fully, fitly, therefore is heaven made communicable to poor earthen creatures, Partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light, Col. • . 12.

Qui Gehennas met • it, non peccare me • uit, ſed ardere. Ille autem peccare metuit, qui peccatum ipſum ſic ut Gehennas odit.

Auguſtinus.

THe Object of repenting ſorrow, is ſin. It is ſin that ſpecially afflicts and diſquiets a repenting ſoul, that is the thing that wrings and pinches it. Where was it that the Prodigals ſhooe did ſpecially wring him? Luke 15. 21. Father I have ſinned againſt heaven; that is, againſt God in heaven: Hee doth not ſay, Father, I am in a depth of miſery, ready to periſh with hunger, in that pinching diſtreſs that I would bee glad to eat husks with Hogs. But Father I have ſinned. This is the grief of a repenting ſoul, that Gods Majeſty hath been offended in, and by his ſins, this was that which lay heavieſt upon, and ſat cloſeſt to Davids heart. Hee neither cryes out of his diſcredit, and ſhame in the world, nor yet ſpeaks a ſyllable of wrath or hell, but Pſal. 51. 3:4. My ſinis ever before mee, against thee onely have I ſinned, and have done this evil in thy ſight. My ſin is ever before me, not Hel and damnation is ever before mee; Not the fame and reproach of the world, but my ſin is ever before mee. It is this, Lord, that pinches and diſquiets mee, that I have ſinned, and done this evill in thy ſight. A good heart fears more the committing of ſin, than the ſuffering of puniſhment following it, Prov. 30. 9. Give mee not poverty, leſt I bee poor, and ſteal and take the name of my God in vain. Hee doth not ſay, leſt I bee poor and ſteal, and bring my ſelfe under the Magiſtrates ſword, or thy wrath; but hee looks onely at the ſin, leſt▪ I ſteal, and take thy Name in vain. Hee fears the prophaning of Gods Name, more than the bringing of his name and perſon in queſtion. And to this purpoſe is that which Elihu charges Job withall, Job 36. 21. Regard not iniquity, for this thou hast choſen rather than affliction; that is, thou haſt rather choſen ſin and iniquity, than poverty and affliction; as if hee had ſaid, Inaſmuch as thou haſt vainly, and raſhly expoſtulated with God, verſ. 20. deſiring death, rather than to bear this affliction; thou art guilty of iniquity, and ſinneſt in this thy choice. This therefore implies that a good heart would rather chuſe affliction than iniquity, to ſuffer affliction, than to do iniquity. Now as a good heart is more afraid of ſin, than affliction and puniſhment, ſo likewiſe a repenting heart, is more grieved or ſin committed, than for ſorrow to be ſuffered. We ſhall find David in great anguiſh and diſtreſs of ſpirit, Pſal. 25. 17, 18. The troubles of mine heart, are inlarged, Oh bring thou mee out of my diſtreſs, wringing, preſſing anguiſhes; look upon my affliction, and my pain. Here bee troubles of heart, diſtreſſes of ſpirit, affliction and pain, but what is it now that thus wrings, diſtreſſes, and pains David? See the laſt words, And forgive all my ſins, not forgive all my puniſhments; Davids ſin, not his puniſhment, was his pain. Wee ſhall ſee the like in him, 2 Sam. 24. 10. I have ſinned greatly, I beſeech thee to take away the iniquity of thy ſervant: Hee mentions not the taking away of any ſmart; nay verſ. 17. Hee is willing to bear it, I have ſinned, let thine hand bee againſt mee. Hee begs that the puniſhment may bee laid upon him, but begs that his iniquity may bee taken away. Let God bee pleaſed to take away his iniquity and hee is nothing ſolicitous for the puniſhment. The offence of God troubled him more, than his perſonal ſmart: So that Gods heart were but towards him in the pardon of his ſin, hee did not care though Gods hand were againſt him ſmiting him with temporal chaſtiſement. And this will better appear, if wee do but compare Pharaoh with David, Exod. • . 8. Intreat the Lord, that hee may take away the Frogs from mee. The Frogs troubled him more than his ſin againſt God. Take away the Frogs, but no mention at all of taking away his ſin. And when afterwards a confeſſion of ſin is extorted from him; yet was it not his ſin that diſquieted him. Exod. 9. 27, 28. not take away my ſin, but take away the Thunderings, and Hail; Lord, ſayes David, Take away the iniquity of thy ſervant: Oh! ſayes Pharoah, Take away theſe filthy Frogs, and this dreadful Thunder.

A repenting heart is more troubled, than a Thunder and Frogs. It ſeems more filthineſs in ſin than in Frogs, or Toads, or ever elſe can bee preſented more ugly to it.

A repenting ſinner hath his eye upon God, and upon his Law, Hee ſees the hollneſs of God, that hee is a God of pure eyes, that cannot behold iniquity, Hab. 1. 13. Hee ſees him a good, gracious, patient Father, and ſo it cuts him to the heart, to have offended ſuch a Father, and God. Hee looks upon the Law, and ſees it to bee holy, juſt, and good; and this galls him to the heart, to have violated ſo holy, and ſo pure a Law.

Now wicked men, they look wholly at the juſtice and wrath of God, at the curſe of the Law, and ſo nothing troubles them, but the fear of hell and death. If theſe might bee avoided, the offending of an holy and good God, the violating of an holy and good Law, would not a whit afflict, or diſquiet them: Nay it is remarkable in David, that though hee had upon Nathans meſſage to him, confeſſed his ſin, and Nathan upon his confeſſion had pronounced the pardon of it; yet after this hee cryes out, My ſin is ever before me, againſt thee onely have I ſinned. Mark then, that even pardoned ſin, forgiven ſin, vexes and diſquiets a repenting heart. It pinches him, and diſquiets him, though it be forgiven; it grieves him that hee hath ſo plaid the fool, and that ever hee was ſuch a beaſt to offend ſo gracious a God. When the Prodigals Father ſees him coming afar off, hee runs to meet him, ſhews compaſſion to him, falls upon him, and kiſſes him. That kiſs was the ſeal of his pardon, as if hee had ſaid. Behold, I forgive all thy ſin; as when David kiſſed Abſolom, and Eſau kiſſed Jacob, they both did it in token of full reconciliation. And yet for all this, ſee how the Prodigal ſpeaks; hee ſayes not, O Father, from the ground of my heart, I unfainedly thank thee, Oh how great is my Fathers goodneſs thus to pardon mee, &c. but Father, I have ſinned againſt thee. I, but his Father had kiſſed him, and thereby teſtified that hee had freely forgiven him, what need hee confeſs his pardoned ſin? Why is hee not rather in the confeſſion of praiſe, than in the confeſſion of ſin. Oh no, a repenting ſinner is ſo affected and grieved with the offence of God in his ſin, that though God have pardoned and forgiven it, yet hee cannot but mourn for it, and be afflicted with it, that ſo holy a Law hath been broken by him, that ſo good a God hath been offended by him, Pſal. 25. 6 7. Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies, remember not the ſins of my youth. If God remember mercy, hee forgets, and forgives ſin. If God forget it, why doth David remember the ſins of his youth? Yes, ſo will a true repenting heart do: It will remember the ſin that God forgets, it will mourn for the ſin which God hath forgiven.

Nou eſt poenitens ſed irriſor, qui adhuc agit, unde poeniteat.

Bernardus.

REpentance not onely confeſſes, but forſakes the confeſſed ſin, Job 34. 22. If I have done iniquity, I will do no more. That is the language, and the reſolution of true repentance, Eph. 4. 28. Let him that ſtole, ſteal no more. True repentance makes men do as God did, when hee repented him, Gen▪ 6. 6. 7. And it repented the Lord that hee had made man on earth, and it gri • ved him at his heart: But that was not all: And the Lord ſaid▪ I will deſtroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, both man and beaſt, &c. for it repents moe that I made them. Nay, repentance in man goes further, one Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and hee was ſpared from the common deſtruction; but hear, not one luſt or ſin findes grace in the eyes of a man that truly repents, but all muſt bee drowned in the flood of the tears of Repentance. It is with a man that hath the griefe of true Repentance, as it was with Nehemiah, Neh. 13. 7, 8. I came to Jeruſalem, and underſtood of the evill that Eliaſhib, had done for Tobiah, in repairing him a Chamber in the Courts of the houſe of the Lord, and it grieved mee ſore: But hee reſts not there, but goes further, therefore I caſt forth all the houſhold ſtuffe of Tobiah out of the Chamber. What ſhould Tobiah do with a Chamber there? Therefore he not onely outs Tobiah, but out goes all his ſtuffes too. So doth repentance, when it conſiders all the evill, that Satan and corruption hath done, and how they have taken up Chambers in the heart, that ſhould bee the houſe of God, it is grieved ſore, and thereupon it outs Satan, and all his ſtuffe; neither Satan, nor his ſtuffe ſhall bee chambered there any longer. So doth repentance diſpoſſeſs Satan of the ſoul, as Chriſt diſpoſſeſſed his body of him, Mark. 9. 2 • . Thou dumb and deaf ſpirit, I charge thee to come out of him, and enter no more into him; So repentance caſt Satan and filthy abominations out of a man, that they enter no more, they are caſt out for ever. Tears of repentance are not onely wetting, but waſhing tears, Iſa. 1. 16. Waſh you, make you clean; David • tears waſh his couch, Pſal. 6. and ſo much more waſh himſelf.

Baptiſme is called the Baptiſme of repentance, Luke 3. 3. In Baptiſme there is a waſhing away of ſin. And how is Baptiſme the Baptiſme of repentance? If in repentance there were not the doing away of ſin. If a man could ſhed a ſea of tears, yet if hee do not drownd his ſin in that ſea, what were hee the better? If a man ſhould weep his eyes out, yet if hee weep not his ſins out, to what purpoſe were it? Whereſoever repentance is, there muſt neceſſarily follow this forſaking and caſting off our ſins. Try therefore thy repentance by this, conſider what have thy ſins, thy beloved ſins been; is thy drunkenneſs, with loathing and indignation forſaken? are thine oaths, uncleannes, covetouſn • s, curſes, &c. with loathing and indignation abandoned? It is a good ſign, but how idlely talk they of repentance, who becauſe they have blubbered out a few tears, think all is well, when yet they ſtill live, and lye in their ſins, and hold them as faſt as ever the Mariners when they found out Jonas, yet fain they would have ſaved him, wondrous loath to caſt him over-board. Many ſee their ſins, and know them to bee dangerous ſins, but yet exceeding loath to ſhake hands with them, loath to throw them into the ſea, but will rather adventure their own caſting away, than caſt them over-board. Never deceive thy ſelf therefore, though thou haſt ſighed, cryed, prayed, begged mercy, yet if ſtill thou live, and go on in thy ſinful courſes, there is no truth of repentance in thee.

Dives in Evangelio damnabatur, non quia abſtulerat aliena, ſed quod non donaret ſua.

Anſelmus.

EVery Chriſtian ought to imitate the high pattern of his Creator, whoſe beſt riches is his bounty. Hee that hath all, gives all, reſerves nothing. In our creation he gave us our ſelves, in our redemption hee gave us himſelf, and in giving himſelf for us, gave us our ſelves again that were loſt. Onely good uſe then commends earthly poſſeſſions, and hee alone knows the true uſe of the unrighteous Mammon, that receives it meerly to diſburſe it. For what commendation is it to bee the keeper of the beſt earth? that which is the common coffer of all the rich Mines, the earth, wee do but tread upon, and account vile, becauſe it hides thoſe treaſures: whereas the skilful Metalliſt, that refines theſe precious veyns for publick uſe, is rewarded and honoured. If therefore your wealth, and your will bee not both good, if your hands bee full, and your hearts empty; you deſerve rather pity, than commendation, and may bee ſaid to have riches indeed, but neither goods, nor bleſſings; your burthens being greater than your eſtates, and your ſelves richer in ſorrows than in mettals. And this was the rich Gluttons caſe in the Goſpel, who was damned, not for taking away any thing from poor Lazarus, but becauſe hee relieved not his wants. It is reported of Warram Archbiſhop of Canterbury, being on his death-bed, ſent his ſteward to ſee what ſtore of corn was in his Treaſury, and when anſwer was brought, that there was either very little, or none at all, the good man cried, Nimirum ſic oportuit, that it was very fitting it ſhould bee ſo: For when ſaid hee could I dye better, than when I am thus even with the world.

Vera virtus radices agit.

Seneca.

THings have their ſpecification from their form. Chriſt in the ſoul, or truth in the heart, is the form of a Chriſtian. Hence is that expreſſion, Hee is a Jew that is one inwardly, ſo hee is a Chriſtian which hath Chriſt in him, and hee upright whoſe heart is ſo; therefore is uprightneſs annexed in the 94, Pſal. and the 15. verſe, to that which is its proper ſubject, and without which, it ſubſiſts not, nor can, to wit, the heart; Ʋpright in heart, all the upright in heart ſhall follow righteouſneſs. A good man is called a good man as hee can derive goodneſs from within; Luke 6. 45. A good man out of the good treaſure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. Truth treaſured up in the heart is the onely true treaſure, and then out of this treaſure, motion made to this, and to that expence from hence upon God, upon man; this is a good man, and bringeth forth that which is good, an upright heart. A man is noted for an evill man, as evill ſeiſeth the heart. Son of man, theſe men have ſet up Idols in their hearts, ſhould I • ee inqu • red of at all by them? Ezek. 14. So to ſet up truth in the heart, as that, and onely that which I love to bow down to, and bee governed by; this is an upright heart. It is ſaid of the Devill, that hee abode not in the truth, becauſe no truth is in him, Joh. 8. 44. whilſt hee was in heaven, heaven was not in him, but pride, and that is hell where ever it is. Truth in the heart, and wee abide in truth, that is, wee walk in it, and ate ruled by it. Luſt in the heart, and let the creature bee where hee will, in heaven, or on earth, hee abides in this, is led up and down by this, and not by truth, and ſo is called according to that which is in him, and informs him a ſinful, deceitful hearted man. There is truth in the heart, • or in the midſt of the heart, the expreſſion is, I think with alluſion to the natural form of the heart. The heart hath a tunicle, and a ventricle, one to cover it, the other to hold life, bloud and ſpirits, and theſe ſmall ventricles are in the midſt of the heart and theſe the life of the heart; Truth within the tunicle of the heart is not enough, it muſt bee in the ventricle, in the midſt. The expreſſion imports th • s much, that if truth bee not in the ſoul as the ſoul of the ſoul, as the life bloud in the heart, giving life and motion to all, the ſoul is not healed by it of its unſoundneſs, and ſo conſequently no upright heart. The Pſalmiſt ſpeaking of a righteous man, ſaith, That his mouth ſpeaketh wiſdome, and his tongue talketh of judgement: But is this enough to give the formality of a righteous man. Many can talk very ſoundly, and judiciouſly, and yet very unſound at heart: Obſerve therefore what follows, where hee centers the formality of integrity, the Law of God is in his heart, none of his ſteps ſhall ſlide, Pſal. 37. 31. the ſmall lines of truth, the ſtring of the heart; the Law of God, a Law in and unto the heart; binding and looſing that which lives as it were a life by it ſelf, continually moving when all other parts are ſtill; that this organ which makes ſo many ſteps to others, and yet not making one ſtep, but in, and under the Law of Truth and Chriſt, this is an upright heart.

Meditatio paſcit ſcientiam, ſcientia compunctionem, compunctio devotionom.

Auguſtinus.

MEditation gives a man a ſight and knowledge of himſelf, of his ſins, of the riches of Gods mercy in Chriſt; and ſuch knowledge is it, which works compunction of ſpirit, wee are to bee taken up in the duties of Thankſgiving and to bee more than ordinarily inlarged therein. There is no ſuch way to inlarge the heart in that duty, as by meditation to heat, and warm our hearts. So Pſal. 104. 33. 34. I will ſing unto the Lord as long as I live, my meditation of him ſhall bee ſweet, I will bee glad in the Lord. There is nothing ſo feeds ſpiritual joy, and ſo maintains and holds up that holy flame that ſhould bee in a mans heart, as doth meditation; that is the oyl and fuel that keeps ſuch fire burning; the ſweeter our meditation is, the more is the heart prepared and inlarged to prayſes, and thankſgivings, and joy in the Lord. Therefore as in other Religious exerciſes, ſo more particularly in the Sacrament, one ſpecial duty to bee done, is to take up our hearts with ſerious meditation. And for the better raiſing and feeding this meditation, it is good when wee are come to the Lords Table, to do as Solomon wiſhes to do in that caſe. Prov. 23. 1. When thou fitteſt to eat with a Ruler, conſider diligently what is before thee. Hee adviſeth it for a mans better caution, if hee bee a man given to his appetite, that hee may not bee deſirous of ſuch dainties as are ſet before him. But in this caſe it is good to conſider what is ſet before us, to provoke our appetite, and to ſtir up in us a longing after thoſe dainties. Conſider therefore what is ſet before thee, what is done before thee. Conſider the Sacramental promiſes, the Sacramental elements, the Sacramental actions. Behold then, and meditate what a feaſt God hath prepared for us, and ſet before us, ſuch a feaſt as that, Iſa. 25. 6. A feaſt of fat things, a feaſt of wine on the lees, &c. Alas how lean are our ſouls, what hunger-ſtarved ſpirits have wee, but here bee fat things full of marrow to feed and fat our lean ſouls. How dead and dull are our hearts, but here is wine upon the lees, wine that goes down ſweetly, That will cauſe the lips of thoſe that are aſleep to ſpeake, that will refreſh and quicken our ſpirits. Here wee ſee the bread broken, the wine powred out. Here wee ſee Chriſt crucified before our eyes; now wee ſee him hanging, and bleeding upon the Croſſe, we now ſee him preſſed and cruſhed under the heavy burthen of his Fathers wrath. Now wee ſee him in the Garden in his bloody ſweat. Now wee may behold him under the bitter conflict with his Fathers wrath upon the Croſſe. Behold the man, ſaith Pilate. This is our duty by meditation, to preſent unto our ſelves the bitterneſs of Chriſts paſſion, Exod. 24. 8. And Moſes took the bloud, and ſprinkled it on the people, and ſaid, Behold the bloud of the Covenant. So here, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the ſins of the world: And behold the bloud of that innocent, and ſpotleſs Lamb; yea behold him now ſhedding his precious blood to take away the ſins of the world, and look upon him as the Scape-goat, bearing and carrying our ſins upon him. Repreſent we unto our ſelves in our meditations, as lively as wee are able, all the ſorrows of Chriſts paſſion. This Chriſt commands, and makes it one main end of the inſtitution of the Sacrament, Do this in remembrance of mee: Therefore appointed hee the Sacrament, that therein wee might in ſpecial manner meditate upon his paſſion, and his love to us therein. David had a Pſalm of remembrance, Pſal. 38. in the title. But for the death of Chriſt his love in it, and the benefits by it, wee have not onely ſome Pſalms of remembrance, as Pſal. 16. 22. and 69. and others; But beſides, the Lord Chriſt hath to the worlds end appointed a Sacrament of remembrance, that this great work of Chriſts death, and his infinite love and mercy therein, might above all other works bee meditated upon, and had in remembrance.